Bored in the Skies

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I was on the flight to Bombay from Kuwait... was bored and wanted to avoid conversation with my co-passenger... iPad to the rescue. :D

Painted this on the iPad on the app Procreate with my fingers (didn't have a stylus at the time.)

Was exporting my images from the iPad to the PC when I remembered about it. :)

More World Records

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In my previous post, I accounted how I have been lucky to be part of a team that entered the Guinness Book of World Records. Today’s post is about more world record-breaking feats… albeit I am not personally involved with them, but they are special to me for they are from my home away from home.

On 10th November 2012, Kuwait celebrated 50 years of the Kuwaiti constitution and what a celebration it was. Being away from Kuwait I missed experiencing the whole thing first hand… but, I have been eagerly following every news link and YouTube video related to the event.

Kuwait celebrated the milestone with a mind-blowing fireworks’ show that lasted over an hour… and the whole shebang cost a whopping KWD 4.1 million (~USD 15 million). The show was not merely an hour of fireworks… but included laser shows, 3D image projection, large kites, floating dragons and lanterns and all this spread over the coastal stretch of Gulf Road.

I was lucky that two of my friends, Matt and Cajie, both avid photographers and adventurists were in Kuwait and they have taken some amazing pictures and videos of the event. They braved the impossible traffic and took extra efforts to get the best possible vantage points to set up their gear and record the amazing show… which in its brilliance and extravagance broke some 7 world records. One of the new records created was the use of 77,282 firecrackers.

I included one each of the amazing photos these guys clicked… as a teaser to what you would find in their blog and flickr accounts. :)

Copyright - Mathew Jacob

Copyright - Cajetan Barretto

And the rest can be found here…

Mathew Jacob (His blog)

Cajetan Barretto (His Flickr Account)

Here are some of the other pics of the event I found online… Credits are on the pics.

A few videos of the event...

A Moment of Poignancy!

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This here is a moment of poignancy… as I stand at the threshold of a new life.  
Tonight is a sleepless night for me. As I toss and turn in my bed, thoughts flooding  me… tumbling about in my head, am trying to catch hold on some semblance of order in the chaos. So, here I am… trying to put the thoughts in writing.

The decision to leave Kuwait was made the year I came down to Kuwait. I never liked the place. As free as I have always been at least in my heart… this country chained my spirits. It was a constant struggle for me… me banging my head against the golden bars that held me caged.

I am pampered, beyond anything I could have imagined, by my folks with whom I am put up… a life that I could not expect even at home.  Back home, I would have to do little daily chores to prevent mom from thinking that I am completely useless. Here, I had no such restraints… I didn’t even have to do my own laundry! Breakfast would be ready before the princess in me opened her eyes… yes… everything was available even before I asked for it. A lovely apartment (I love large spaces… and this one has one of the biggest rooms ever)… the sweetest, nicest uncle and aunt who love me as their own daughter and a job that paid me enough money that I did not have to spend on anything else but me (or save for a future which I think is overrated). 
Yes… it is a dream life.

But, it all came at a price… something about the place made me feel lonely (past tense… it would soon be clear why).

Like they say, life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans… something happened that turned my life upside down.

Cupid struck! 
Since, cupid is a chubby little naked boy who doesn’t really think his actions through… I fell in love with my schoolmate of yore who is doing his doctoral research in the top management institute of India. Between his thesis and me… we had a lovely one year of online courtship with an occasional meet-up when I went down to India. I was like the little kid who has been given a wonderful toy, a toy which he never knew he wanted… but now that he has it he cannot let go… and losing it would break his heart. Kuwait and my work here kept me away from a happiness I never realized I didn't have. The second year of our courtship started a downhill slide… the physical distance destroying any chance for proper communication and slowly I (not we… 'coz he still holds steadfast) drifted apart. I don’t really know when I fell ‘out’ of love… but it was a heartbreaking time for the two of us. That’s something that the two of us can never forget.

I hated Kuwait even more for dashing my dreams and plunging me in to a lonely abyss with all the material comforts one could ever want… but a heart that was a complete void.

Then… I met Nawaab sahib.

Well, I didn’t actually meet him at that time… I already knew him before… it is just that I re-discovered him in a way.  It was again online on a forum for NRIs (you see a trend here… the online part… wait till you hear the rest), that we chanced upon each other.  We had chatted up each other on the forum before… and once, for some unknown reason I even shared an extremely personal moment of my life which I wished to forget with the Nawaab, and felt vindicated by the support he gave me that day. But, this time it was different… something stronger clicked… some gears locked in place and the wheels started turning really smoothly, liked a well-oiled machine. The guy drove me crazy (still does by the way and always will)… and I had to meet the face behind the mystery, the intrigue, the intellect… the man behind those words that held me enthralled every time I read them.

With prior experience of this ‘falling in love’ phenomenon… I already knew what was happening to me. And over our very first phone conversation – which went on for the better part of a lovely night – I told him as much. The conversation was the most fun I had ever had in a long time… and his voice… ooh la la… it is pure magic. We decided to meet up and the rest is history. 
No… Not really!

We met… and the story carried forward… somewhere in all this, I realized that I hadn't really let go of my past. Things between the Nawaab and me could have really gone sour because of that. But, for some reason it didn’t. Soon, the past stopped mattering to me and the present took a delicious hold over me. Life looked ready to bloom and there was always this smile on my face. And the best part… this country that I hated so much, took on a different color… the color of love… seen through a lover’s eyes.

But, all good things have to come to an end… and well, if you have to end up in the annals of historical lovers, you cannot be together with the person you love.

In true Romeo and Juliet / Laila and Majnu style (don’t get it wrong… no one is ‘really’ dying in this story)… I am packing my bags to leave the love of my life and go back to the city of my dreams.

I, once again, am  putting distance between me, love and my love and have decided to choose a single life over the happiness, trauma and the emotional roller coaster that are a couple’s forte!

Love, why do thee hate me so much? :I

Birthday Twenty12

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A sweet birthday... 
Mom's and Papa's visas got done...
Aunt made yummy payasam...
Some bitter-sweet telephonic conversations... old and beautiful memories re-ignited...
Hundreds of wishes from friends all over the world...
A short and impromptu, but, fun drive along the seaside with the Nawaab... And this gorgeous bouquet... pure white roses enveloped in lush jealous green... (the vase specially chosen by the Nawaab to match my room in Bombay!)
A perfect end to a perfect day! 


Thank you, everyone... for making my day memorable and special!

Electric, Beimaan Mausam!

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Aaj mausam bada beimaan hain...bada beimaan hain... aaj mausam

Aane waala... koi toofan hain... aaj mausam

Kya hua hain... hua kuch nahin hain

Baat kya hain pata kuch nahin hain...

Mujhse koi khataa ho gayi hain..

Iss mein meri khataa kuch nahin hain...

Khoobsurat hain tu rut jawan hain...

 

Aaj mausam bada beimaan hain...bada beimaan hain... aaj mausam

 

Kaali kaali ghata darr rahin hain

Thandi aahein hawa bhar rahin hain

Sabko kya kya ghumaan ho rahein hain

Har kali hum par shakh kar rahin hain

Phoolon ka dil bhi kuch badghumaan hain...

Aaj mausam bada beimaan hain...bada beimaan hain... aaj mausam

Aye mere yaar, aye husn waale...

Dil kiya maine tere hawaale

Teri marzi pe ab baat tehari...

Jeene de chaahe tu maar daale

Tere haathon mein ab meri jaan hain

Aaj mausam bada beimaan hain...bada beimaan hain... aaj mausam

*sigh*

The weather outside is so lovely… I could describe it if I try… but it would do no justice to its beauty.

Dark clouds lumbering about in the sky… guarding the sun… keeping a tab on its peeking. And when the sun manages to raise its sunny head… the desert is bathed with an ethereal glow and a soft warmth… and then the guards take their positions again. The sun in its misty veil looks a shy bride… surrounded by her hefty bouncer cloudy guards.  

There is a nip in the air… a slight chill… the promise of rain… the sense of an impending storm… again.

A thunderstorm is waiting in the wings… the rumble of a million heavy drums and the crackle of brilliant lightning waiting to arc across the sky… as soon as the sun sinks in the ocean.

Yesterday evening, the electric storm was breathtaking… a fierce show of sound and light.

The thunder shook my building tower and the lightning struck bright coloring everything in its path in electric blues and purples.

Unfortunately, there was thunder in my head… and blinding flashes too. My stupid headache did not allow me to stand in the balcony of my 19^th floor and feel the crackling air that makes one’s hair stand on end. The air all charged up… humid and chilly… the landscape, all misty and waiting for the downpour to quench a deep thirst… and the exquisite smell of damp earth. (This has to be bottled up and sold… I would buy it for sure.)

Fat drops of cold rain splashed on my window pane… leaving a trail of dust. Neither the headache nor the dusty rain could dampen my spirits.

I was held in enthrallment by the booming drums in the sky and the gorgeous lightning. As I tweeted and updated my status on FB, there were threads of fear running through my head about the storm… but it was soon overpowered by its wild awesomeness.

Even though I fell in to a delirious, fevered sleep... with the thunder beating against the walls of my head... I still had a great night.

And today when I woke up... the drums in my head had softened their beating and the air still smelt divine... 

The mausam is still beimaan! 

Pathos Of Parting

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It is finally time… the countdown is rapidly nearing its end. The last few days… the scrambles to tie up all loose ends, to wind up things those have stretched along. Three long years eddying to a date when I’ll board the plane back to Bombay. Much loved Bombay.

Yet, there is that tug at my heart… a sadness that overwhelms… something beautiful that had just blossomed would soon be thrown in to the backwash of the plane that takes off, effectively killing it.

The corners of my eyes are wet… a storm brewing behind the irises. There is a tremble on my lips as I say goodbye to the country I have never really loved. There’s a lump in my throat that refuses to go away when I think about the love that bloomed in this desert; which shall never find its way again in to my heart.

When I bid adieu to that love… it is an everlasting farewell… something I cannot erase even though I want to.

Parting is such sweet pain… in the anticipation that there would be a meeting in the future. But, when that hope is dead… parting is just torture.

The castles in sand that I’d painstakingly built… their halls would never be decked again. The lights are all out and the windows barred… the drawbridge pulled up and the moat’s flooded. 

Life would go on… There would still be a tomorrow… where I wake up to the cold sun.

The spring has passed… the snow falls thick… the winter deepens, darkens and freezes the moments of happiness in crystal cages.

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go

I'm standin' here outside your door

I hate to wake you up to say goodbye

But the dawn is breakin', it's early morn

The taxi's waitin', he's blowin' his horn

Already I'm so lonesome I could die

So kiss me and smile for me

Tell me that you'll wait for me

Hold me like you'll never let me go 

'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane

I don't know when I'll be back again

Oh, babe, I hate to go 

There's so many times I've let you down

So many times I've played around

I'll tell you now, they don't mean a thing

Every place I go, I think of you

Every song I sing, I sing for you

When I come back I'll wear your wedding ring

So kiss me and smile for me

Tell me that you'll wait for me

Hold me like you'll never let me go 

'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane

I don't know when I'll be back again

Oh, babe, I hate to go 

Now the time has come to leave you

One more time, oh, let me kiss you

And close your eyes and I'll be on my way 

Dream about the days to come

When I won't have to leave alone

About the times, I won't have to say... 

Oh, kiss me and smile for me

Tell me that you'll wait for me

Hold me like you'll never let me go 

'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane

I don't know when I'll be back again

Oh, babe, I hate to go

November Rain...

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© Image Courtesy:  VisualizeUs

Got wet in the rain yesterday! Drenched by November rain!

It wasn’t intentional… the office car was parked far from the building’s entrance.

There was a chill in the air and a freezing breeze… and big drops of cold rain splashing on my face… an exhilarating experience. It is my first soaking in Kuwait and being a Bombayiite / Mumbaikar, I just adore the way a city rain drenches. So, out I stepped, patent leather stilettos and all… trudged through the wet gravel of the parking lot and took longer than I would usually take to get to the car… just so that I could soak a li’l longer! :D

Got into the car, teeth chattering, hair strands beaded with crystal droplets… the dress wet n sticking to me… my skin burning with the fever that has been keeping me ill all week… and drove (actually, the driver drove) home with the smuggest smile on my lips.

I loved it… and can’t wait to get all drenched again.

And, I am ALL well today… no fever… no black-outs… just the persistent headache that has become my constant companion since weeks… or is it months… I dunno… can’t really remember a time when my head didn’t hurt.

A Desert Khamsin

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Some days we have sandstorms and then some days we have SANDSTORMS! This was one such day…  and my first experience of a menacing and beautiful desert storm.

Last year, in April there was a short flash of a storm that lasted a whole of 40 minutes… and a baby storm compared to this.

There I was...in the kitchen, buttering my toast and nursing my evening cup of coffee... and out the kitchen window I see this unusual cloud. It seemed out of place... so close to the ground. By the time I realized it wasn't a mere rain cloud but rolling barrels of dust...it had formed a menacing band across the horizon.

Even as I ran and got the cam... it had grown ever more menacing and was angrily rolling forward. I wondered about the people on the roads, they wouldn't even see it approaching...

Boy...would it be a surprise to them! And a lot of people got caught in the dust especially since it was a Friday (the weekend in Kuwait) and everyone would have been out having fun.

Within a span of 15 minutes the barreling clouds of dust had wrapped my building and everything was pitch dark...

As I write this, it is almost 5 hours since the storm started, I can hear the terrible wind banging against the enormous glass walls of my apartment… and fine dust has seeped in through whatever little gaps it could find through the doors. Everything smells of dust and outside the visibility is almost nothing.

It is scary but awesome at the same time… Nature’s wild,  beautiful scare tactics !

Here are some pics I managed to take from my bedroom window…

Of Heartaches And Homesickness...

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It has been eleven months since I have landed in Kuwait… and I have survived. Doesn’t sound like much of an achievement, does it? I know it doesn’t, but to me it is. From the hustle and bustle, the happening life of Mumbai to a much laid back lifestyle in Kuwait, it has been a herculean task to adjust…And no… I am yet to find that much needed equilibrium.

For an outsider it would seem to be a joke if I say that life in Kuwait is not fun. What lacks? Don’t we have everything here… loads of dispensable money, everything money can buy and more. Hmmm… yeah, we have all that here... but yet, I miss the pulse of life here. The excitement that is there even in the mundane when I am in Mumbai… that heartbeat of a city which keeps it alive is missing here. You find a tiny bit of that in Kuwait City, but it is no match for what I am accustomed to.
But, this ain’t a crib-fest against Kuwait; rather it is the pining of my heart for my home, my Mumbai! It just happens that when anyone points out one awesome thing after the other in this beautiful desert-land; in my mind I can picture something better in Mumbai… always!

There was a time when people used to flock to the ‘Gulf’ – the term given to the Middle East, in search of its vast non-taxable riches. But now, the Gulf is in the midst of an economic slowdown…we all saw Dubai lose some of its lustre. Kuwait has never been in your face or over the top or flashy, but it still is one of the richest countries in the area and well, in the world too… somewhere in the top Ten! But, the fact that it is has more sober and subtle roots maybe the reason that it does not appeal to the young crowd or the Generation Next as we call ourselves. The religion and culture in Kuwait though not as strict as in its neighbor are still far from forgiving.

Today, in spite of the pull of money and the promise of a luxurious future I still find it extremely difficult to curb the urge to return to India, to the city of my dreams, Mumbai! And, the argument against all those who tell me that I am throwing away a bright future is that money to me is a well-balanced income which I would easily get in Mumbai and luxury to me is being in the city I love, the city of my birth and being close to my loved ones. I cannot think of a better future than settling down in the concrete jungle of Mumbai in a 3-BHK flat overlooking the at times rowdy, at times serene sea… with the music of the never sleeping city buzzing in my ears.