This is a statement made by my australian colleague. One day Priya gave me Chapathi and aloo curry for lunch. I got it heated up by putting it in the microwave before lunch. The smell was good. I never knew another person was there in the cafeteria. When came back to my table with the dabbas she commented,
Colleague:"U R Lucky".
Me : Thanks
Coll : It smells good. Was this prepared by your wife.
Me : Yeah.
Coll : Then surely you are lucky. My husband will be jealous of you. I cook OK but not this delicious smelling kind. You are lucky. Enjoy.
Me : Thanks.
Thanks Priya.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
St. Kilda Beach
After visiting Williamstown before Priya came decided to visit St. Kilda Beach. My friend was saying good things about this place and I thought since this is near to our house, lets go there. Again its a quite beach. No waves nothing. But atleast people were there. There were few people who have come to take sun bath. The travel to the beach was one of the worst I have faced all through this 3 months. There were three school kids shouting all sorts of foul language and disturbing. Nobody bothered to speak to them or even control them. All three are on their own. And they were creating all sorts of disturbance to the people.
They didnt even respect an australian old lady who told them that it is not necessary for the people in the tram to adjust to their behaviour. But still the kids were shouting. We got down near one of the stops which is closer to St. Kilda beach. Like our MGM and kishkintha there is a fun world named as "Luna Park" in St. Kilda. Since both of us thought we have outgrown all those rides we didnt venture there. Instead went directly to the beach. Assuming that St. Kilda will be similar to Willamstown, I never thought we can touch the ocean or even walk along the coast. But it was quite pleasant. Except for the waves it is similar to our beaches in chennai. No, no dont compare with Marina which is much bigger than this. But these guys are good in marketing. They have water rides here. Like you water scooter and other things. We are planning to venture into those next time.
Priya wanted to get into the water. Since I was wearing the sports shoe I was not interested. And was not comfortable leaving the bag and the shoe on the shore and get into the water. So, after a few debating session within myself. I decided to carry the bag on my shoulder and the shoes in one of my hand and ventured into the water. It was toooooo chill. But it was a good experience. People were swimming and enjoying the water. After an hour or so we started home with a resolution that next time we go to St. Kilda we are going to wear sandals and have backup dresses incase we venture into water scooter and other stuffs. Let us see what happens.
They didnt even respect an australian old lady who told them that it is not necessary for the people in the tram to adjust to their behaviour. But still the kids were shouting. We got down near one of the stops which is closer to St. Kilda beach. Like our MGM and kishkintha there is a fun world named as "Luna Park" in St. Kilda. Since both of us thought we have outgrown all those rides we didnt venture there. Instead went directly to the beach. Assuming that St. Kilda will be similar to Willamstown, I never thought we can touch the ocean or even walk along the coast. But it was quite pleasant. Except for the waves it is similar to our beaches in chennai. No, no dont compare with Marina which is much bigger than this. But these guys are good in marketing. They have water rides here. Like you water scooter and other things. We are planning to venture into those next time.
Priya wanted to get into the water. Since I was wearing the sports shoe I was not interested. And was not comfortable leaving the bag and the shoe on the shore and get into the water. So, after a few debating session within myself. I decided to carry the bag on my shoulder and the shoes in one of my hand and ventured into the water. It was toooooo chill. But it was a good experience. People were swimming and enjoying the water. After an hour or so we started home with a resolution that next time we go to St. Kilda we are going to wear sandals and have backup dresses incase we venture into water scooter and other stuffs. Let us see what happens.
Photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/guruprgl/StKildaBeach?authkey=E3kpIPn-rY4#
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Albert Park Lake
Near our house, in Union Street, there is a huge lake, "Albert Park Lake". I have never ventured there before. So decided to go there and have some fresh air to breath, yesterday. We both left home at around 5pm just to see what is there. The lake was just across the road. I loved it the moment I saw it. It has clear pathways to walk around or to jog around or to cycle around. We both took some photos and decided to go for a walk. Initially since there was a island blocking our view, we thought that the lake is small. Infact pretty small. But when we started walking enjoying the beauty of the lake and the birds in it we realised it has to be big.
So we kept on walking around. The weather was also good that it wasn't rainy or it wasn't sunny or it wasn't windy. So we enjoyed the breeze and just kept walking around. It was a fun. Lovely fun. Walking hand in hand with your partner in a place like that is really a fun. No doubt about it. Seriously. The lake wasn't of any particular shape. It zig zagged and we walked around. After an hour or so we realized it is more than we thought and then we took rest to walk further. Both of us felt we need something to drink and we ended up in a small restaurant. It serve coffee tea and various other snacks for people doing their regular chores. We both had a refreshing coffee and took a water bottle. Infact the opposite shore or the area from where we started was not at all visible.
It is important to mention that all along the walking area there were various excercising equipments to do push-ups and other things. People who dont want to spend money to Gym but at the same time consious about their health did use those to excercise. Fortunately or unfortunately, the lake was toooooo huge. With all the remaining effort we started walking back to the place we started. And atlast after two hours of walking we reached the place where we started. In between there were places where you rest and have a picnic or even a barbeque party. When we reached the starting point i felt as if i have finished trekking a huge mountain. And the information board said the entire pathway is 4.7kms. Thank God I read it at the end else I am sure I would not have walked all along. It was tough for me.
We have now decided to go to this lake atleast once in a week to walk around. Let us see.
To know about Albert Park - http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/resources05/05_0451.pdf
We took enough photos there and are happy to share.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Diwali Celebrations
You dont love shades until you stand under the sun. The same way we miss out functions and all the extras we get during the festival season once we moved here. one major thing is the advertisements we used to get during the festival season in all the channels. And unfortunately we dont get any indian channels in melbourne and we feel like left alone. Thats when one of our friend here told us about the diwali celebrations in federation square. We thought of our regular diwali celebrations with sarams, busvanam and chakram. But unfortunately when we reached there nothing was there. The funniest part is they blasted a electric charam which will just make some sound and nothing else.
Because of all the safety measures and other stuffs, the fireworks happened in a secluded place away from the public. It was a good experience though. There were dance performance and also a performance by a stage group(sorry it didnt even sound like music to me). Dances were fantastic. One of the group from Shiamak Davar(am I spelling it right?) dance school. It was awesome. But as all good things has to end. The show ended with fireworks. But still it didnt fill up the void. Diwali means listening to the cracker blast from a week before and a week after the diwali function. Here it is complete SILENCE. Nothing else. Just to save and earn more money we need to miss more fun like this. Thats life. What to do?
Because of all the safety measures and other stuffs, the fireworks happened in a secluded place away from the public. It was a good experience though. There were dance performance and also a performance by a stage group(sorry it didnt even sound like music to me). Dances were fantastic. One of the group from Shiamak Davar(am I spelling it right?) dance school. It was awesome. But as all good things has to end. The show ended with fireworks. But still it didnt fill up the void. Diwali means listening to the cracker blast from a week before and a week after the diwali function. Here it is complete SILENCE. Nothing else. Just to save and earn more money we need to miss more fun like this. Thats life. What to do?
Return to Melbourne
After the sashtiabthapoorthi function as a family we had few get-togethers and visited few temples (specially on Oct 14th , birthday of my father). Then on 15th we started from chennai to melbourne. As I have already experience for carrying excess baggage, i was very clear this time that i should take only few luggages. But even then after packing everything we were left with 13 kgs of excess baggage. Everything packed is important and we cant leave out anything as it is. So I made up my mind that I am ready to pay and we came to the airport.
Fortunately in the airport when we checked in our baggage the person in the check-in counter didnt ask about excess baggage and all the baggages were checked in safely. I was so relieved. Our parents have come in taking the visitors ticket to bid bye to us. In case if the guy in the counter tells us excess baggage I was thinking of sending few things with them. But nothing happened. So we bid them bye and went to immigration. Since the documents and the tickets were perfect we had no problems. We were waiting in the lounge for an hour. When I was travelling alone the same one hour was like one decade. But since this time I had a company and that too it was my wife we were chatting and chatting and chatting.
We boarded the flight at 09:45 and the flight took off at 10:00 exactly. We landed in KL at 0425am the next day. Since I had my laptop with me I was not ready to sleep. But my wife was feeling sleepy and she slept immediatly. I need to tell about my wife. Her name is Priya. We both are of the same age. We got married five years back and after three years of love. Now since this is Priya's first international journey she couldnt get adjusted immediatly. So she started sleeping the moment we got a seat to sit. And i was watching the crowd. After an hour or so we went to have a coffee. Then we relaxed again. This time she was a bit fresh and I could relax. Then when the time to security check was nearing we went to a italian restaurant, as the inflight food will be served two hours after the take-off. We had sandwich and pizza.
We finished of the security check and boarded the flight. For the first time in my internation trips, I slept almost 75% of the time. We landed in Melbourne at around 20:30. The climate was chill. We finished off our customs check(nothing major was found). Then we came out. Thats the time when Priya felt the real chillness of Melbourne. We hired a taxi and came home.
Fortunately in the airport when we checked in our baggage the person in the check-in counter didnt ask about excess baggage and all the baggages were checked in safely. I was so relieved. Our parents have come in taking the visitors ticket to bid bye to us. In case if the guy in the counter tells us excess baggage I was thinking of sending few things with them. But nothing happened. So we bid them bye and went to immigration. Since the documents and the tickets were perfect we had no problems. We were waiting in the lounge for an hour. When I was travelling alone the same one hour was like one decade. But since this time I had a company and that too it was my wife we were chatting and chatting and chatting.
We boarded the flight at 09:45 and the flight took off at 10:00 exactly. We landed in KL at 0425am the next day. Since I had my laptop with me I was not ready to sleep. But my wife was feeling sleepy and she slept immediatly. I need to tell about my wife. Her name is Priya. We both are of the same age. We got married five years back and after three years of love. Now since this is Priya's first international journey she couldnt get adjusted immediatly. So she started sleeping the moment we got a seat to sit. And i was watching the crowd. After an hour or so we went to have a coffee. Then we relaxed again. This time she was a bit fresh and I could relax. Then when the time to security check was nearing we went to a italian restaurant, as the inflight food will be served two hours after the take-off. We had sandwich and pizza.
We finished of the security check and boarded the flight. For the first time in my internation trips, I slept almost 75% of the time. We landed in Melbourne at around 20:30. The climate was chill. We finished off our customs check(nothing major was found). Then we came out. Thats the time when Priya felt the real chillness of Melbourne. We hired a taxi and came home.
The Function
In our tradition when a man turns 60 he is reborn again. As far as i have read and understood. And the birthday celebration is not just cake cutting. Its celebrated with all homams for the wellfare and the goodness for him and the family. This is called as sashtiabthapoorthi. Sashti means 6 or 60. Abtha means age I guess. I am not good in sanskrit, so dont expect the correct meaning. Poorthi means completion. Traditionally this is a small marriage to celebrate the successfull married life the person has got during that time. Then people included another piece of tradition to render the sacred Rudram before the marriage. As it is when u listen to music or to rendering of sacred slokas our body gets rejuvenated and we are blessed by god.
So my father's star was on October 11 2008, Saturday. We decided that redering or rudrams or Rudra Ekadasi was to be performed on the previous day. It is usually performed by pandits who are well versed in rudrams. And in general the number of pandits or priests who renders it will be in odd numbers. I thought 3, 5,7 or 9 is not enough and requested for 11 pandits to render the rudras. It is for our parents and they have always given the best to us. So I wanted to return the favour. I wanted to give them the best I can. Then on 11th we had the sashtiabthapoorthi function. It was performed with making holy water (holy and not holi) with lots of slokas rendered and pooja being performed. Ultimately the holy water will be used for abhisheka of my parents. When head priest was performing the pooja for the holy water the others were performing homams like Mrityunjaya Homam, Navagraha Homam, Ganapathy Homam etc., It was so powerfull that we felt the vibration in the mandap.
On the evening of Rudra Ekadasi(rendering of rudrams 11 times and rendering chamakam after completing rudram) my father being a traditional person has arranged for carnatic "katha kalatchebam"(telling stories along with songs). The topic was Radha Kalyanam. We have also arranged for a professional photographer to cover the entire function and we have arranged for a photosession with the people who attended.
On 11th after the sashtiabthapoorthi we left the mandap tired but heart full of blessings and good vibrations. On a whole it was a wonderfull experience.
So my father's star was on October 11 2008, Saturday. We decided that redering or rudrams or Rudra Ekadasi was to be performed on the previous day. It is usually performed by pandits who are well versed in rudrams. And in general the number of pandits or priests who renders it will be in odd numbers. I thought 3, 5,7 or 9 is not enough and requested for 11 pandits to render the rudras. It is for our parents and they have always given the best to us. So I wanted to return the favour. I wanted to give them the best I can. Then on 11th we had the sashtiabthapoorthi function. It was performed with making holy water (holy and not holi) with lots of slokas rendered and pooja being performed. Ultimately the holy water will be used for abhisheka of my parents. When head priest was performing the pooja for the holy water the others were performing homams like Mrityunjaya Homam, Navagraha Homam, Ganapathy Homam etc., It was so powerfull that we felt the vibration in the mandap.
On the evening of Rudra Ekadasi(rendering of rudrams 11 times and rendering chamakam after completing rudram) my father being a traditional person has arranged for carnatic "katha kalatchebam"(telling stories along with songs). The topic was Radha Kalyanam. We have also arranged for a professional photographer to cover the entire function and we have arranged for a photosession with the people who attended.
On 11th after the sashtiabthapoorthi we left the mandap tired but heart full of blessings and good vibrations. On a whole it was a wonderfull experience.
Melbourne to Chennai
My father's 60th birthday was celebrated on Oct 10 and 11. It was a grand gala function. We all enjoyed it. It is a blessing from god to watch our parents get married. I pray to god that they live long and bless us all happiness. To attend this function I went to chennai on 08th Oct. My flight was in the very early hours of 08th. From melbourne it departs at 0115. It reaches KL at 0625am. My flight to Chennai is at 1925. So there is a 13 hour transit. When I enquired in the malaysia airlines ticketing counter. They gave me accommodation in a nearby hotel. The hotel was too good. Named as Concorde Inn. I was entitled for a free lunch also. So I to the hotel, took my room key card. Yes, card and no key. To open the room you need to insert the card in the slot provided in the door and then you can open the door. it was a good idea. Then took rest. Went to the restaurant at 2 to have my lunch and then came back watched CNN(that is the only news channel available) and then left the hotel at 5pm. Came back to the airport. The security check will commence only one hour before the flight's departure time. So I was roaming aorund the airport and at 1830hrs went to for the security check and was waiting in the gate to board the flight. As usual the flight was prompt on its time to depart exactly at 1925 and we reached chennai at 20:35. Then collected my baggage and within 15 mins i was out of chennai airport. My father, my wife and my inlaws were there waiting for me in the airport. After exchanging pleasantaries we came home.
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