Dentistry!

Hmmm.... well every time i've been to the dentist (either for myself or accompanying someone) I've always been fasinated by the Job. I really enjoy being there and experiencing how a dentist performs his skill. To me this particular work seem very talentfull and intricate.

I dont know if the dentist enjoys answering my inquisitive minds asks but i surely enjoy the whole experience. Everytime i go there i learn something new. Like today when i accompanied mom to our dentist Dr. Rathnadeep Patil who's an expert at his job, i learnt that theres a technique to the way you brush, and how it is really important to use a very good quality tooth paste and tooth brush if you want to avoid any gum or tooth problem. A very good way to est if your are using the right tooth paste is to check if it contains Triclosan in its ingredients, if it does then its a good tooth paste to use. And since Colgate Total has it i shall switch myself from Pepsodent to Colgate Total:-) Also its very important to use floss to clean your teeth.

Like i just happened to ask doctor to just check my teeth as i experience pain sometimes and guess what, i came to know that i actually have a gum infection which can get serious but its at a initial stage so can be cured. Just imagine how lightly i was taking my pain not realising that it can get serious.

All in all i simply enjoy watching the dentist perform his task as its really interesting to watch...:-)

All geared up in my mind - reached TGDC Top 100

Dad and I recently decided to take part in the The Great Driving Challenge, a friendly competition that will have the driving and navigating skills of ten finalists put to the test. So far we have made it in the top 100 list and this news has brought back memories of a road trip in April 2007 that took us from Mumbai to Ooty and back. It was a special trip because we were going to visit my youngest sibling, Vivek, and see him participate in a theatrical play as well as a parade at the Lawrence School’s 149th Founder’s Day event. The journey started at around 10 a.m. when the whole family (minus my younger sister who was busy with college) along with my aunt and uncle got inside our roomy Ford Endeavour and we pulled out of the gates of our apartment building listening to the sweet melodies of golden oldies.

Dad, entertaining us with his singing, floored the Endeavour once we got on the highway. We were in and out of the Bhatan Tunnel in no time and reached the immaculate toll plaza for the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Some portraits were clicked inside the car by my uncle while much of the scenery outside was also the subject of sporadic shooting by me. The Mumbai-Pune Expressway gave way to the Pune-Satara Expressway as our SUV whizzed past tunnels carved in hill sides and rugged landscapes that were canopied by an overcast sky. Lush vegetation and crops would signal a town or village up ahead and we passed through many of these throughout our trip such as Majgaon, Korti, Ozarde, Hitni, Kanagala, and Aralagundi to name a few. In four hours we had reached the Satara-Kolhapur Expressway and Bangalore was 712 kilometers away.
The Taswade Toll Plaza came in to sight soon after and we breezed through it. Our plan was to stopover for the night at Belgaum (sometimes written as Belgaon on expressway signs) which was at a distance of approx. 90 kilometers, but before that we needed to grab some lunch. Noticing a sign post for the Hotel Sai International, Dad meandered from the expressway to enter the parking lot of the place. The hotel looked great from the outside, a colonial style building lined with palm trees. Sadly, the hotel’s exterior was the only pleasant thing about it. The restaurant had slow service and the food that reached our table! Let’s just say we were really hungry so chowed it down anyway. By 4 p.m. we were on the road again, next stop being Belgaum. I’ll have to break this post in to segments, so my fellow readers you’ll have to wait for my next entry that will take you down the Golden Quadrilateral!

Visit to London and Cotsworld

We Landed in London At 7.30 pm. The next day we went for a 1 day London Tour. Our London tour consisted of the following

1. 1st destination was the most posh and expensive locality in London- Belgrave Square.


2. Next we Saw the Hyde Park- the largest of the 9 parks in London.
   
3. Then we went to the famous Buckingham Palace where the Queen stays and also saw the changing of the guards.
   

4. Then we saw this statue of Duke of York who commanded the British Army who was so much in debt that when he died everyone’s one day salary was cut to raise 30,000 pounds

5. Then we saw the Parliament Square, and there amongst the many statues there was a statue of Nelson Mandela.

6.We then went to the Trafalgar Square, from we then proceeded to have lunch in Covert Garden where there was this fabulous market- Jublie market which had all handicraft stuff.

7.Then we went to the St. Paul’s Cathedral which has the world’s largest cript. The church was absolutely huge and one the most beautifull I’ve ever seen.

And to end the trip we went last to the London eye from where one can see the whole of London.

Our next destination was Cotsworld where we were going to be staying in an area called Bourton on the Water. We took a train from London to Cotsworld which was 1hrs and 40 mins duration. From the station to Bourton on the Water was 30mins by car

1. Bourton on the Water was a little place with flowing stream. The ducks in it were very beautifull almost looked like they were just out of a canvas painting.

We visited many shops which had a lot of the traditional stuff.

Then we had the very Famous Cream Tea. It was light English Tea with Freshly made Scones wit clotted cream.
We also visited the Sudeley Castle. From inside, the castle was maintained as it looked in the times it was in use.

All in all my trip to London and its countryside was an absolutely an amazing experience. I simply LOVED IT!!!

Bandra Worli Sea Link

Its never about Quantity! Its all about Quality!!! said someone long ago and i completely agree for while we harp and boast about our long drives and adventurous journeys with zest and pride here's one example of a similar journey but not between two cities or states but simply between a few stations within the city. A to and fro drive of approx 45 kms!! For those who'll know I am talking about a drive between Powai and Lower Parel but through Mumbai city' s latest miracle monument- the Bandra Worli Sea Link!

Our plan was to spend a day at the Phoenix Malls browsing around...eating whatever...and of course clicking pictures! It should have been a simple drive up and down but then it would not be US, would it?? hee hee!

We left our house at around 11 and ten minutes away form our house realised that we did not carry our camera along. Now, we were not going to any nature park or any heritage site to need a camera and could have carried on but NO! Beauty is in the most unexpected corners and special moments can happen anytime ...thus you got to stay prepared! As such we turned back to get our camera and after getting it started...again!!

The weather was perfect for a drive...the clouds were spreading out and drizzle was making an occasional lazy appearance as we approached the magnanimous looking sea link! The air conditioner was switched of and the glasses were rolled down to usher in the wild breeze and the talkathon of the waves!

The city hits you with its magnanimity when you are cruising along the sea link and this is the only place in the city where the slow traffic is not as much a hindrance for you get that much more time to enjoy the drive...

I'll let the pictures tell you the rest of the story... Please note that there are empty bus stops too!! Thats more notworthy than the sea link! what say?

(All things being as beautiful as they are the sea link should not have cost as much as it did!!)

The Driving Challenge - A Family Mission!

We came across the driving challenge one Sunday morning and it wont be an overstatement to claim that life was NEVER THE SAME SINCE!!! Wow! that's larger than life but its been fun since then to not only put up the profile page on the site but also to garner votes and to relive all the lovely, crazy and adventurous drives we have had thus far! A lot of long lost friends have come back in touch and many incomplete conversations have re-opened!

However the best part is to realise how much joy it gives each one of us when you are doing what you love and love so dearly! In this case its the driving and travelling part! Who would have thought something that we did as a family for our own sake could end up in us contesting for a challenge wherein you drive around 3100 kms in a brand new car and hell!...get paid for it if you do well!!!! This is bliss and its only the beginning...

Until yesterday i still believed to some extent that this was too good to be true...everything was too nice about it...making me too happy! and despite having got myself busy with pushing my friends and fellow women to vote for me and dad, the number of people in the race were so many that i had almost planed to take the route anyway in our own car...for we have got ourselves too charged up to not take a drive now!! But we are now in the last 100 couples of the 1080 that were contesting for the final seats!!!! Phew...now that's a crowd!

There is some evaluation that's too happen and hence fingers are still crossed(not while typing of course!!) and hopes are high for my bag is packed an the camera is out and the diary is hungry... the drive is on for sure!

THE TIME HAS COME TO MAKE THE JOURNEY…

There are two kinds of travelers…one who move from one point to another and the other who explore while on the move, making the journey a wholesome experience in itself. I am proud to fall in the second category and never have been able to understand how can there ever be any travel without the experience of the journey!

Even if it’s a mundane 1 hour 45 minutes flight from Mumbai to Chennai for my film shoots I can’t help but make a travelogue of it. Be it observing the people around or trying out something new on the flight…it’s the world I can create between my destinations that makes me look forward to traveling.

My profession as an actor also provides the icing on the cake with shoots being held at beautiful and less explored locales. I will definitely share with you the details of my travel to Kodaikanal for my last film shoot where amidst the work at hand I could not help but take note of my mind keenly grasping the people and the aura of the place like the various different ones I have been to!

As actors we are required to understand the nature and soul of every character that we portray and likewise I tend to understand such character traits of every place I have visited or simply passed through even though with a brisk stop at the road side chaiwallah…

Hence road travel in my own car with my own people gives me that much more scope to explore and experiment and I am glad to having done that consistently over the years since a very young age.

Yes…yes…I owe that to my parents…my mother for being a supremely efficient planner and my dad for being an energetic executor…and of course- ‘ME’ being the ever so curious learner.
The time has come for me to graduate from a learner and take the initiative myself to make my journeys and make them an experience of lifetime…each time…

Pedometer- talking calorie counter

Pedometer! sounds good and hep right? Well to me it is definitely somethng new that i have come across.... This morning mom suddenly called me and asked me to read tis booklet and activate Pedometer. Well its a calorie counter while walking or jogging. I did activate it for her and it was so usefull that after mom came back from her walk we could actually find out the distance she walked the number of strides she took in how much time and how many calories she burnt.

Its a very motivating element in walking now. Because generally we calculate the time and km to find out how many calories we would have burnt based on the knowledge gathered from newspaper articles but what we dont know is that, that is just a vague method to a generalised finding. A pedometer is more accurate for it is specific to the person using it. Like this morning mom used it for her walk but before that we had to measure 10 steps of hers on her walk in cm or inches divided by 10 to feed the pedometer with the information of her weight and steps taken so that then it measures based on that.

Now just imagine how usefull a gadget it is to people who want to lose weight and be fit. No more guessing and calculating. All that one needs to do is just walk with the pedometer attatched to you and the rest is done by it.

I surely am very excited about this gadget and definitely will use it.Infact it isnt even that costly the one dad got is for $14.99 which is Rs. 743 but i think in india it cost about Rs.1100 that is what i found on the internet. Imagine where we spend so much on our shoes and gym and others this definitely it a great thing to have.

Also i did a little research on the internet and found that there are many different kind of pedometers like the one dad got is Sportline Pedometer. But there are others with different features. Like some even have radio along with the other features or some just measure the steps and distance like Sportline pedometer measures distance, stpes, time and calories burnt.

I'm definitely fascinated and impressed by it.

Thank you Pedometer!!

Mishty- our new addition to the family!

Mishty! yes thats sweet isnt it. Well thats what we call our sweet little new female lab pup. This happened the next day after Husky's birthday. We actually had been planning for a long time to get Husky a friend, a Girlfriend infact.:-)

She's an absolute darling. She's really calm and obedient. Seems like a moving toy But when it comes to Husky this little cute thing completely dominates over him. Its fun to watch them play with each other. She just doesnt give up with him while playing with him. Though she is just 2.5 months she's silent but aggressive with Husky only.

But very loving and a good friend to Husky. She is an absolute delight to have around.:-)

Husky's Birthday Party

Okay so here i am after a nice exciting weekend. . . . So as i told you all that we were going to celebrate Husky's Bithday which we did. I was definitely looking forward to the excitement but didnt know it would be that great. Wow what a time we had and more than US humans the dogs had a ball of a time with each other.

Well the day started by mom giving husky his 1st toy for the day. Then later in the evening as told one couple came to our place at 7.45 pm with their 2 beautifull dogs Elizabeth and Britney. The couple that came in with Elizabeth and Britney- Praveen and Zenia gave Husky a little basket of toys which were nicely gift rapped which you see above.

What a lovely and funny sight it was to see how Husky who's scared of Britney behaved when she came in. These three had lods of fun for about 2 1/2 hrs. They just freaked out on the buscuits and doggy treats that we fed them.

Then at 10.30 Tushi and Bullet came. What fun we had with these 5 dogs. All the while when it was only Husky, Elizabeth and Britney Husky was hiding under everyone's chair from Britney.

And the moment the other two came in our dear lioness Britney hid under the chairs from Bullet. It was reall good fun to see that. Tushi was being a good mother by controlling her son Bullet from bullying Britney. Amazing to see how these dogs also have such humanly traits or rather what we believe humanly traits.

They played a lot. Our living room was absolutly empty except few chairs for us to sit on so these 5 just had party time running from here to there. I must say Eli nad Britney were very active and adventurous. Especially Britney wo would jump in the air to catch the ball and even go and sit at our little raised window. While Husky was purely the baby of the party. He was such a gentleman n cute not being agressive with any one of them. He completely loved the attention.

Later i cut the birthday cake which was a special dog birthday cake made at the pet shop which was made of chicken with carrot toping. it was really cute to see them eat in their respective bowls when we gave it to them. And after that i served them vanilla icecream. This was fun while Husky Eli and Brit had their icecream straight from the bowl Tushi and Bullet sat quietly and were fed by spoon, and they ate it just like we would. It was really nice to see them enjoy their eats.

Finally we gave all the four dogs return gifts which were gift rapped. After they went we opened gifts given to Husky. They were nice. Also through out the party we took pictures and video.

All in all it was great fun and some first time experience for all of us.

Living In Style

Today while i was driving i happened to notice the streets around me like i always do, and i found some very cute moments amongst the people living on the streets. What caught my attention was while i was haulted at a signal i saw the littel girl getting ready for school and what was really nice is that while she was in her school dress she was very busy drying her tresses with atmost care..... she was a pretty dusky complexioned girl not more than 10 years from the looks of it.

After drying her hair she adjusted her uniform polished her shoes with great interest and tied her hair. Almost looked ready to be pictured. she went into her very small room where her family seem to set up. Along side i saw a young mother feeding some rice dal to her non interested son.

What was cute about the girl was in that very messy and dirty condition she looked absolutely fine little girl. Her interest in looking after herself with the minimilistic things around her really impressed me alot.

I guess everyone has a way of LIVING IN STYLE in their own posible ways.

Pets So Adorable

Its hardly been a year since Husky our labrador retriever has joined our family but has become such an integral part of our lives. Before we got him i always thought that we might not look after the pet well enough since we, people of today, live in such a hectic schedule. Hehehe but today when i look at us doting on husky like the way we do where we are celebrating his 1st birthday this coming friday with some labs coming in for a party its a lovely feeling.

The party we are hosting for Husky has this pair of female labs named Elizabeth and Britney and they are absolutely gorgeous looking labs. And then we have Tushi a female lab and her son Bullet. Oh what a time its going to be just imagine we are going to give Husky exclusive dog toys and a bed and pillow for him. Wow i wish i was a dog in the house lovely na?. And to top it all we have doggy treats for them and vanilla icecream which these five labs just love hogging on. Well i will definitely post more on this after the party.

Definitely anyone who loves animals is a very compassionate person. I never realised how beautifull a relationship one can share with ones pet. Like just sometime back i ran to my room to hide from husky n scare him like we do with children to see his reaction and i found no diferent a reaction than any one of us would, that of a surprsied/scared. Oh so... cute i just flipped for his cuteness. Adorable. He brings a smile to my face everytime i look at him or even think of him.

He's so much a part of my life that now i cant go anywhere if i've to look after Husky because i feel responsible towards him. I dont mind if i skip my walk but dont want to deprive him of his walk 3 times a day. And no matter how late i sleep i wake up early in the morning to take him for his walk. Imagine even when i go out am costantly following up with my mum and maid as to whether he's eaten or not whether he's walked or not. Infact all of us at home mom, dad, sister, brother are always thinking of him before ourselves. Almost like haveing a little baby at home. That reminds me that our maid- Ganga used to always make a face at the thought of us keeping a dog even told us that i will not look after a dog, But hats off to her today she's so fond of him that she plays with him talks to him and pets him. Now thats the power of a loveing pet.

Its amazing to see how sensitive this creature is that everytime i cry or am upset without me having to utter a word he comes to console me..... We are really ignorant if we think that these creatures that cannot speak are dumb. They definitely put us to shame with their qualities of loyalty, sensitivity and love.

I'm thankfull to 18th feb 2008 when i went to recieve husky from a near by hotel when he came as a pup all the way from kolapur. I think everyone shuld look after some animal or the other in any capacity possible. Just makes you a more beautifull person.

(note: the picture you see above was when Husky was 4 months old and now he's 13months old so will post a recent picture after his b'day party)