Technology 2.0

The fiancé and I recently invested in new pieces of technology, or let's just say I invested for both:). Our phones decided to go kaput at exactly the same time - maybe that's proof of how much we use it to keep in touch (hear that AT&T? we should get a massive billing discount).

So we got an iPhone and a Blackberry Curve, for him and me respectively. I would have loved to play around with an iPhone, but they don't support corporate email - how utterly disappointing..hopefully Version 2.0 will. I gotta say, despite an uber cool Blackberry iWant an iPhone...it is simply genius!

The Agony and the Ecstacy

My brother and sister-in-law have just become parents of a beautiful chubby boy named Tarun Sinha Murlidhar..he is adorable, and was even more so, in the hospital because he wouldn't cry there.....
but as soon as they arrived home, we got a taste of his lung power and he bawled his way through the first 24 hours of his homecoming...

Ahh...the pain and joy of bringing a human into this world...all said and done, forget the parents, I am exhilirated to be a bua...can't wait to spoil him...

San Fransisco or Seattle of Canada - Glorious Vancouver

I spent 2 days in Vancouver - sort of a whirlwind trip considering its all the way on the West coast and there are no direct flights, so it took me all of 11 hours to get there...Vacouver is gorgeous....I stayed on Robson street - a fashionable, people watching place, full of high-end boutiques and gourmet restaurants.

The city is surrounded by mountains and the vistas are absolutely breathtaking. There is a boulevard area in downtown from where you can gaze onto the lake and the mountains for hours...added to that, its Fall here and the red and yellow leaves strewn on the ground created a dreamy walkway and perfect setting for a Bollywood song:-)

There are the usual touristy things to do like Granville Island, Stanley Park, shopping on Robson street, etc. but what is truly amazing about Vancouver is its beauty and how the Canadians excel at enjoying their time in nature. The only way to describe Vancouver natives is that they are laid back..I mean I thought I was lazy, but these folks straddle to work at 10AM and leave at 4PM to roller blade, skate, bike, etc in nature...I guess they really appreciate and are grateful for the fact that they are bestowed with such natural beauty...or maybe as my brother says, "We, in America, just don't know how to have fun"....

Vancouver is gorgeous, and I would tend to agree that it is more the Seattle of Canada - the similarities are striking. However, given a choice between the two, I'd rather make a trip to Vancouver (anyday!)..just the view of the lake and mountains is worth the 11 hour trip...(oh! and also, the amazing variety of excellent Indian and non-Indian restaurants and the shopping!!!)

PS: I forgot to carry a camera (yeah I know, that was pretty stupid), but this pic (thanks to Google images), really brings out what I saw in Vancouver downtown...

Going Pink

We went Pink.....The Walk for Breast Cancer ....

.....with $1500+ raised along with a matching contribution from our company...

Cucinare 101

This past week we had a pretty unique team outing - an Italian cooking class in Boston's historic North End (and rumored Italian mafia stronghold) at a Peruvian - southern Italian fusion restaurant called Taranta. We were divided into teams of three - staffed at three stations - meat, mozzarella and ravioli. I stayed at the Mozzarella station and learned how to make cheese from the start - breaking the curd, melting it into hot water till its a gooey mess and finally cutting the firm cheese and seasoning it with pepper and salt. As is clear by now, cheese is definitely a favorite of mine. The whole exercise was loads of fun..especially with the wine pouring like water...

We ended the night with a five course meal complete with the most deliciously tangy key-lime mango mousse...now only if they had taught us how to make that in the class! I only wish every night, after another cooking experiment, the table would be set with candles, vintage wines would be served and plates of appetizing food would (sort of magically) appear from nowhere...and every bite of dessert would feel like I had died and gone to gourmet heaven....

The Kingdom

I have been waiting to see The Kingdom - Partly because I lived in Dubai for a long time and mostly because I was very curious to see how they would portray the tension between the Americans and the Saudis and the cultural differences and post 9/11 animosity. I was, in any event, prepared for a pretty one-sided picture i.e. the Saudis being the bad guys and the Americans being the good guys.

Boy! was I in for a pleasant surprise! The movie not only turned out to be pretty factual, but was also refreshingly different in that it showed the Saudi side of the story as well. It din't paint a single character in black or white - just shades of grey. It raises deep ethical questions about revenge, patriotism and most importantly, how we find ourselves in a vicious circle of hate - For every one of their own killed, Americans want to kill ten Saudis and for every Saudi killed, Saudis want to kill ten Americans...where does it end?

The film is based on the 2003 bombing of a Western housing compound in Riyadh and follows the journey of an FBI team that wrestles their way into Saudi to find the perpetrators. From the language to the setting (most of the movie was shot in Phoenix, Arizona and not Saudi), this is a very well made film - realistic and thought provoking..

Mission Accomplished...

Shooting for the Stars and boy! did we get there fast...the Walk for Diabetes was this past Sunday and was a phenomenal success. There were atleast 500 people who showed up for the walk, including toddlers and those on crutches..its heart rending to see such enthusiasm, courage and dedication. I am still awaiting the stats on how much we collected and how many walkers actually did the 4 mile walk, but it was extremely satisfying to walk with fellow fundraisers for a common cause!

It was a balmy day with plenty of fuel (ironically, MacDonald's sponsored the fruit packs!) to keep us going all round the Charles river esplanande, across Boston and into Cambridge. As soon as I started the walk, I chanced on a rainbow across the river, created by a boat splurting water (that's the best way I can describe the phenomenon!). A beautiful sight and testament to the fact that there is still hope, there is always hope for a cure!

Thanks to all of you for your encouragement, monetary and otherwise. This was a very worthy cause and good practice for The Walk for Breast Cancer on October 14.