I eat where Nicole eats...

Nicole who?

Our very own Nicole Kidman my dears

No kiddin around there

I have had the privilege of eating at Peters Sushi

A quaint little Sushi bar in Nashville which is frequented by Nicole...

The sushi was lovely especially the fusion sushi which was made with some sort of Lingam sauce

An interesting combination

The weekend has been fun

Sushi dinners, a bit of shopping (my famous off shoulder dresses - one has been bought-phew), a barbeque dinner last night that involved way too much preperation and over the top cleaning up at the end of it and a nice bottle of cabernet sauvignon

I'm still grabbing my 8-9 hours of sleep every night...something I am going to conciously try and do while I am in Nashville

But last nights sleep was rudely interrupted by work calls from the other end of the planet

For some insane reason my client who was well informed of my annual leave decided to ask me to pop by for a meeting

WHAAAAAT

Which in turn meant I needed to sort it out with my office at 3 am

Go figure

My boss was wonderful enough to say he's taking care of it and that I should go back to having a wonderful vacationa

Thank you very berry much I will...

Any one has any news for me?

Target

I survived the first day of jet lag in the States

Over the last couple of years I have worked out the best system to fight jet lag

Sleep over the first sector to London and then kill yourself staying awake till you get home

This wonderfully painful system helps in adjusting the body to local time

Yesterday spent the day chilling out and going to 'Target' just to pick up the general stuff I need to enhance my stay here

This morning my wonderful sister went grocery shopping to buy all the wonderfully fatty foods I love to consume by the dozen while I am on holiday

Ahh the joys of being on vacation

Today I start my shopping expeditions

Wish me luck

And I am well rested now considering I slept for 11 hours last night

Ahh the joys of being alive

You know where to find me - uhm check the mall...

Coming to America

I have been doing this trip every single year for the last 5 or 6 years and still it kills me every single time

Coming to America is fun but the journey here is exhausting every single time

I got lucky leaving Bombay. Got upgraded to Club class on my first sector to London. British Airways club class is absolutely amazing... Flat beds, the service, the food...Sinpmly A class and I highly recommend it to everyone that can afford it...I know I can't ;)

I managed to sleep all the way to London - thank God for that

But Heathrow airport was simply a mess that morning

Snake lines that went on for miles (and remember I haven't even mentioned here the number of lines I had to stand in to get to the aircraft in Mumbai airport)

First the line to get out of the plane, then the line to get into the bus to change ternminals...then the line to pass security to enter the terminal, then the line to change buy duty free, then the line to cross security to enter my flight to Miami - Sheesh

There was no hope of getting upgraded on my sector to Miami

And to make it worse, I was stuck with over 8 kids under the age of 5 - out of which one 4 month old sat right next to me and a three year old right in front of me

I couldn't sleep for a second and it was a long long flight

Finally at Miami and I am pleased to announce that a) My bags made it this year -yipee and b) Immigration was cleared in less than 20 minutes as compared to the regular 60 minutes it takes every year and c) Miami airport has been revamped -nice pleasant change

My flight out of Miami was delayed so I ended up sitting at the airport for 8 hours...

God bless ipods and friends that come and sit with you for a while during transit...

But I'm finally home in Nashville

And Arete, I can't wait to see you too - enjoy your trip to Disneyworld

How has your last 36 hours been?

Across the world in 30 hours

So I wanted to sing the song I always sing before catching a flight but I realised I did that one already a couple of months ago...

Any guesses for which song it is...

C'mon its pretty obvious if any of you even know me for a second...

All right I swore I wasn't gonna do this but what the hell...

"All my bags are packed
I'm ready to go..."

Ok I'm gonna stop right there...

Simply because it is a big LIE

I have not packed

I have not even showered yet

I still haven't finished updating my i-pod

I have not got my foreign exchange yet

And I am still waiting for all the parcels I need to carry across the planet

Hmm

But its just another year and just another 30 hour journey across the globe and I will be ready to take off and charged up to survive the trip

So without further ado I must wish myself














See you from the other side...

And oh before I forget, in typical Noojes style hear me say...

MISS ME ;)

Q & A

Susie asked me five questions a few days ago but I'm running behind at the moment~Sorry Susie...

So, I will not waste any more time...Here I go...

Susie: There has not been one time that I've been in India, that I've not been reduced to tears by the amount of poverty and homeless children. This is one question I ask all people living in India. How does one deal with the immense poverty and frustrating stuff like beggarwallahs?

Noojes : Having been born and brought up in India, living side by side with poverty is something you learn to live with and respect at the same time.
The one good thing about the Indian way of life, is that giving to the underpriviliged is also part of most of the festivities and rituals.
The odd part that most Indians will never mention though, is the fact that we recognize most of the beggars on the street and even have our favourites that we give to on a regular basis.

Susie: Noojie, you are a very modern Indian gal, indeed! What are some of the ancient traditions, customs and things about India that you cherish, that are a big part of your life, that you blend into your very modern lifestyle?

Noojes: Uhm lets see. My family is fairly spiritual and religious but not ritualistic. However there are a few traditions that I cherished even when I lived in Australia. One of them is Diwali (the festival of lights) where we light oil lamps (diya) outside the house and decorate it with rangoli (coloured powder designs) on the ground. Doing the rangoli has been something I have done since I was a child and I still enjoy every second of it every single year. I usually take this one step ahead and even do the rangoli in my office too.

Susie: Tell us about your two years in Australia and what it was like when you first arrived there, the contrasts and all.

Noojes : Ok here is where you will think I am insane but the first contrast was the clean pure Aussie air that I took a breath of when I came out of the airport. The second was the vast expanse of sky that I could see with barely any skyscrapers around. It amazed me. The overall two years in Australia I usually describe as my degree from the 'University of Life'. I was happy, single and independent and enjoyed every single moment of it. And yeah I graduated with distinction too...

Susie: The day of or before the bombings in Mumbai, you said that you dreamed of mermaids. That really stuck in my head......did you figure out what the mermaids meant?

Noojes: I think mermaids signify 'seeing the beauty' in every situation. When you have so much and yet things have been taken away from you. With respect to the bombings, I guess it is a tribute to the spirit of this city and the way it bounces back every time we get hit...See the beauty...

Susie: You said you love Sex and the City. Being that I dont have any TV channels, I've rented all of them over this year and wow I love, love, love, Sex and the City too! I think i'm sortof a combo between Miranda and Samantha! What about you, which girl are you, Noojes? And, hows that search for the new Mr. Big going? (Mr. Big...YAAAR, GIVE HIM TO ME! Drool drool!)

Noojes: I am Carrie...There is just no other character that describes me best from SATC. However some of my friends think a better desciption of me is a mix of Rachael Green (Jennifer Anniston from Friends) and Carrie from SATC. As for the search of the new Mr Big - he doesn't exist...sigh

So, how did I do? Gimme a rating on my answers from 1-10...

Insanity defined

One week one post

Thats not good

But I promise you, if I had had one waking free moment I would have posted

And to make things worse, my blog was blocked for reasons beyond my understanding

Whatever!

So, where have I been and what have I been upto

Well you must recall my mentioning my boss giving me an unbelievable amount of work to do

The deadline was 20th July

Even though I had been working on it through the last 2-3 weeks, the last couple of days always involves burning the midnight oil

But honestly I never thought burning the midnight oil would lead to not sleeping for a single second before the mega presentation

Two nights no sleep and way too much caffeine in my system

And travelling to the other end of the country did not help either

I literally travelled for 11 hours for a meeting that lasted 5 hours

And the only meals I ate were breakfast on the flight and then dinner on the flight

I was a total zombie and wreck by the time the day was done

But the presentation went well

And if you think thats all that I had on my plate well then think again

My friend from Australia was visiting me the same week

So in the middle of all this commotion, I was entertaining her as well

And if thats not enough, my parents suddenly decided to leave town

And now that thats done, I need to start preparing for my trip

YES, I take off for a whole month

And yesterday I stepped out to start doing my shopping

And lo and behold

My car packs up on me

She refuses to start

No amount of sweet talking or rough handling by the mechanics got her to start

So I've left her stranded

And today being sunday she is lying there all alone

Boo hoo

So now you know what I have been upto

And that my darlings is "Insanity defined"

Calls I hate...

• Telemarketers
• Bill collecting tele-agents
• Wrong numbers
• Crisis in the city
• Loved ones crying
• Someone dead
• Friends calling to say their marriage is hell

These are just a few

I just got the 'marriage is hell - Please think before you ever get married and DON'T do what I did' call

It left a dirty taste in my mouth

What calls do you hate?

BOMB-ay

Thank you for your kind wishes - seriously

I came home really really late last night after the horrific evening we witnessed

As a city, we have grown accustomed to living with constant riots or terrorism from time to time and the thing that I love most about this city is the courage with which it stands back up on its feet and jumps right back into the game

Nevertheless, during the horrific bombings of 1992 I was standing at Marine Drive eating ice-cream when I heard and saw black clouds of smoke from the Bombay Stock Exchange and Air India Building...Not pretty sight

A few years ago I was driving to a client meeting in the same area when the bombs went off at the Gateway of India

But yesterday was different

I was in the safety nest of my office in a meeting when a friend frantically started calling. I knew it was frantic when even after cutting her call she kept calling back

The first train that got bombed was at the station closest to my office

I ran to the television and there it was - ten minutes earlier

Another train had been bombed along the same rail line

And another

Oh My God

My mother was on a train - not a local but an out-station train coming back from Pune but on a train none the less

Telephone lines were jammed

I could not get through

Another bomb on the news on another train

I finally got through to my mother

She was on the train inching her way into the city - scheduled to arrive in 30 minutes

Another bomb on another train

Another skipped heart beat

My mothers train finally made it to the station and there was a total of 7 blasts

7 blasts too close to home

All in areas frequented by my friends and family

In an area that I go to work every single day

In an area that I am going right back to as soon as I press 'Publish Post'

Thank you for caring...

Just for today

Ever since I woke up this morning there have been way too many references to mermaids...

Just for today, I wish I were a mermaid...

The Sun God

The Sun God blessed us with his uhm her presence today

I ran downstairs and took in the sun

My body slowly adjusting to the heat after being in the airconditioning for so long

I realised that I hadn't seen the sun in days and I missed it

The wind blew slowly moving my hair out of place

My hand trying to move it back into place but in vain

My eyes squinted

My nose crinkled

The hot sun slowly entering every pore of my body

I started to feel hot

I walked into the shade

The cool wind following me

A naughty draft of wind tried to whisk me away

All it caught was my skirt...

Wink ;)

You ate what in the rain?

Rain, feel it on my finger tips
Hear it on my window pane
Your love's coming down like Rain,
wash away my sorrow
Take away my pain
Your love's coming down like rain ~Madonna















You guys are the best...
I felt so much better after all those smiles you left on my face thank you

Bombay city came to a standstill yesterday and no one was able to go to work or stay there.
Schools, colleges, the city and state courts - everything was shut
Alot of it in fear of the 26th July fiasco that happened last year

Last year I didnt make it home for 3 days
I probably should blog about that incident - maybe I'll do that on 26th July itself -hmmm

So yesterday I spent the whole day at home watching the pitter patter outside my window
In all fairness it was more lashing around than pitter patter

Out of sheer frustration if being at home the whole day I stepped out in the evening to eat sushi

There is nothing nicer than sushi and wine on a rainy rainy evening

And I am finally planning on going to work today - all the way across town

But as I sit here sipping my coffee and listen to the rain outside it just makes me wonder
"Should I pack an overnight bag just in case?"

I let the rain start washin...

There has been only one song running through my head all day...

Reason 1 : I still feel like shit
Reason 2 : I don't want to share it with anyone (strange for me)
Reason 3 : Its been raining cats and dogs



Kasey Chambers: On A Bad Day

Everytime my tears
Have ever fallen
I keep 'em in my pocket
For a rainy day

So when it's pouring
I take them outside
I let the rain start washin'
My tears away


Don't get me wrong I have not shed a tear

Sometimes its best to shut up and hold everything inside you

Or is it?

Sometimes I hate myself
Now is one of those times