What is With Me?????

Oops! I did it again. That people is my middle name. I keep putting myself into stupid sticky situations, and just don't know how to come out of it with my peace of mind intact. I can easily say that its the other people, but I know it is not, it is me, and this is a completely me thing that I need to work on.

Though I am quite well guarded against vulnerability to people, than what I was before, the guard does slip once in a while. And I let people into my heart and emotions, a lot deeper than what I want to, or need to. I like people, in general, and genuinely enjoy communicating with people, knowing them. Of late I have lucked out so many times, found such amazing friends, that I keep wondering, how come?

The issue here though is different, when someone suddenly turns a blind eye or deaf ear to me, for no apparent reason, it bothers me. I was watching 'Samantha Who' just today morning, and something very similar to what I go through. About the series, Samantha is a woman suffering from amnesia, and barely remembers anyone from her past life. So she bumps into a man, her ex-boyfriend on the street, who she had been stalking earlier, and is surprised, by the way he runs away from her. When she finds out the reason, she gets to him by hook or by crook,to let him know that she is not stalking him anymore and does not wish to either. He tries to escape, but she keeps catching up with him, till she tells him her side of the story. I am so like that, I just cannot handle it when I know someone is misunderstanding me, or someone suddenly behaves weirdly without any apparent cause.

I never get it when supposed friends, do a sudden u-turn, and just stay away or shut up, without any visible reason. Though I don't mind them walking out on a friendship or whatever they thought the relationship between us was, I think I have a right to know why. I cannot pretend to be nonchalant, because I am not, and it bothers me when I have invested time and emotions in a relation with someone, and that person simply turns cold. These are not imagined friendships, but a real two way thing, where the person on the other side, has bonded with me and been as open with me, as I have been with them. So it feels very strange when they turn cold, suddenly. It bothers me, and I need to clear the air, if you have an issue, say it out aloud, and leave, but have the sensitivity and etiquette to do that much atleast.

I hardly ever lose close friends, atleast to unknown causes, so when it happens it like a nagging pain, till I know why.This happened recently when someone got in touch online, was very friendly, and shared a lot of things. I was touched at the fact that someone so openly trusted me, and could share so much. And honestly I cannot take people lightly. I did think about this person as a friend then on, as I am sure would anybody, if I went and discussed my entire life with them. But now, there is a sudden point where there is refusal to talk, and I find it strange. Forget about a hi or hello, there is no response to my greetings either. Its OK, if you suddenly feel you don't want to be my friend, there is no rule which says you need to be. I have no intention of invading into anybody's life at all, but I don't like being given a cold shoulder just like that either. I need to put a formal end to this, if there is no continuation, just clear it up and move on for both our sakes. And here I am not talking about someone you meet at the store counter, I am talking about someone, who is a friend, or atleast someone I thought is a friend after the exchanges we had.

I don't expect friends to lay their lives for me, and it is quite understandable if they are busy, or whatever, but I do expect that they will be nice enough to not suddenly run away without a word. the problem with me here is not that I want to maintain the relationship, but that I need to know why. If you come upto me, share your life with me or propose a friendship, I take it seriously, if you don't then please don't come knocking on my door. I take it seriously enough to genuinely care for you, which is not about talking everyday or hugging, or sending gifts each other's way, but it is about caring for you as a person. After I have gladly invested that for someone, coldness from them, is not taken lightly by me. And I do deserve an answer.

Maybe I am naive, and should learn the art of not caring, and not giving a damn. But that is so not me, I try so hard to pull back when I feel myself really beginning to care for someone, but it gets difficult when they put their most vulnerable side right up in front of me. Maybe I need to just not care, but that would just add to my list of undesirable characteristics I have developed over the years, under the guise of practicality. I just don't know what lesson to learn from this, so as not to get into such a mess yet again, ever, because it will bother me till I can talk it out with the said person, and I don't want to turn into stalker Samantha.

New Place, Same Goofy Me!

The city of Melbourne and its suburbs are said to have a great network of public transport, consisting of buses, trams and the metro. You simply go to a website, put in your address, the place where you want to reach, and it chalks out an entire travel plan for you. Is that not cool, I thought to myself. What did I know then, that I was just challenging fate, trying out things too soon, to do it right, being my clumsy, goofy self.

So here I was on a bright afternoon, out with the BB to meet a friend and her daughter, in the heart of the city. The route was simple enough. Straight down my street, I had to reach the tram station, get in, and it would take me exactly to where I needed to go. The GP told me to carry a lot of coins, because I would require them to purchase my ticket, and to take a full day ticket, which is like a whole days pass to travel by the trams.Good enough. I start walking, miss a couple of stops, and end up walking a lot of extra distance getting to the 3rd closest one to me. Wait for the tram, it comes, I get in, and then I don't know how to get the ticket. To me, a bus has a conductor selling tickets, and he asks you what stop, tells you the fare, you pay him, he gives you the ticket. And that's it. But in a country that is far too technologically advanced for the half-witted me, and where manual labour pays more than blue collar jobs, there was no conductor. There were some validation machines, but I had nothing to be validated. Feeling like a complete fool, i went to the driver and asked him for a ticket. he told me to go to the big machine at the back and get it. I go back, and still don't spot it easily. All this time I am holding onto the BB's hand, balancing his stroller, and hoping for dear life that I don't fall in the moving tram and look like a complete fool. So I manage to find the machine, enter the numerous details it needs, some based on pure guess work, and it asks me to put in the required amount in the slot machine.I did not have enough change, so ended up paying a few cents extra. Got my ticket and went and sat down. Called up the GP to boast about my great triumph at managing all of this too. And thank the lord who looks after children, that BB managed to be too happy/overwhelmed/ashamed of being with an inept woman for a mother, to not get upset or want something, or do anything crazy. I had to get off at the last stop, so that definitely did not need much of a genius I figured, and relaxed into my seat. The BB happily looking out of the window, I picked out something to read.

What I did not know then, was that this was just the start of my adventure. A few stops along the way, climbed in too men. I did not see them, because I was too deep into my reading, I just realised that someone came and sat in front of me, and adjusted the stroller, to make better space. Look up to see a man, who wore nothing on the upper half, was sweating like a pig and was constantly hitting himself. Before I could register it all, his friend pulled him up, he touched my head and walked off. Wow! I did not even realise what happened. I don't think anyone else on the tram cared, and as long as he went away, I kept quiet. But this man was mad, he got upto all kinds of antics post this, and pretty much all other passengers were upset. And then suddenly an announcement, saying the next stop would be the last stop, and the tram would not go further. It did not seem like a final stop or the end of tracks, and I was confused, but got off the tram with everyone else. And realised it was somewhere in the middle, there had been an accident ahead, and the trams could not go any further. So what do you think I do? I had no idea where I was. Fun is it not, first day out on my own, and I don't know where I am. I asked around, and a sweet guy, forthcomingly came forward and told me that I just needed to walk straight ahead for about a kilometre and I would get to where I needed to be. And that is how, walking down the road, I reached my destination

The return was a lot better, because the journey itself was uneventful, except that I got off a few stops too early. Waited at the same stop, for the next tram, hopped on and got off where I need to, and then walked back home from there.

And then the very next day, there is some more travel fun. I visit a friend's place for lunch. She is about two kilometres from my place, and so I walk down, have some lunch, chat up and leave. I strap the BB onto his pram, plug in some soul rendering music from Wake Up Sid, into my ears and start to get back home. And what do you know after about twenty minutes of walking I realise I have no idea about where I am. Pancic. Panic some more. Look around. A board with the street name. Uh-oh! I did not take the first turn I had to, and continued unabated on the street on which my friend lives. Can I please blame this one on Shankar Ehsaan Loy, because their music just left me day dreaming, humming along? Coming back to my predicament, I realise that I just did not want to walk all the way back now, because that would mean first covering back these twenty minutes and then another thirty minutes or so to home. I spot a bus-stop nearby, call my friend, get the details, and wait for the bus. It comes, I get in, again problem with the ticket. There is no ticket vending machine in the bus. Here, I have to buy it from the driver. I ask him for one, he is rude, and tells me to carry change next time. I tell him, I had no plans of taking a bus today. I tell him what stop I need to get off at, and go and sit. When we start nearing my stop, I stand up, only to see a big 'No Standing' written on the floor. All confused, I sit back down, thinking he would stop it at the stop, esp since I have told him where I need to get off. Well what do you know? He does not stop it, I go running to him and say, "I had to get off there", and pat comes the reply, "Well, you missed your stop." and he just goes on. Normally it would have been ok, but missing my stop, which is the last one on my street means, I go across the highway/freeway to the next stop. That means I cannot walk back, and have to again take a bus to get back to my stop. So I get off at the next stop, and so does an older man with me. I look across the street, and there is no bus stop there. So? How do I get back. I ask the man, and he tells me, buses going either way, come on the same side at this stop, and he told me which one to get on. Then he nicely looked up the time table, and his watch and said the next one might take a while, basically 15-16 minutes. He knew what happened back in the bus, because he was sitting upfront, and I guess he is a regular traveller of that bus, because he told me, that particular driver was a bit rough and rude. I thanked him profusely and he went his way.

And you would think it was just one stop now, and I was home right? No! I took the right bus, but gave wrong stop-name. Know why? Because the names of the stop on one side of the road do not match those across, basically because they are the names of the streets which lead inside. And how was I to know that? The driver this time round, however was a pleasant man, and he stopped at the next stop for me, which meant a little more for me to walk, but I reached home all the same,just a little worse for wear. So that was how my first two attempts at going places in my own have turned out. Am I daunted? Hell no! Because I have learnt, some, and I am sure I can do a lot better next time, and only if I keep doing it, will I get the hang of it isn't it? Surprisingly though I have never got lost, or gone the wrong place ever before, not even when I was new to Bombay and had just started traveling on my own, local trains and all.

A few things that I really liked, during these two trips, was that people around the place are very forthcomingly helpful when they see you with a child. Getting onto public transport with a stroller, and a child, would invariably mean people would help without even asking or expecting a word of thanks,. It almost seemed like a norm. Coming from Bombay locals, where heavily pregnant women stand through long journeys in crowded trains, and young students or women who have been there themselves, just sit in their seats, not giving relief to the women for a second, this was really amazing to me. A man even offered me his seat in the tram, when I was returning, since it was quite crowded and I was with the BB. When we were dropped off mid-way, because the trams could not go further, I was all bewildered, and even without me asking, people came and asked me where I wanted to go, and offered me directions. The guy who really guided me in detail, was an Indian, I believe a student out with his friends, and he did so his own, without my asking. I mentions Indian here, because I would never expect teh same courtesy back in India, atleast not proactively done. And that was indeed nice.

Just wanted to share my crazy adventures on the blog, and hence this overly long post!

The Fighter In Me... And You?

I believe its always easier to fight, when I am not fighting for a personal cause. I don't know if that is the way it is with most people or its just the other way round. I can fight for a larger cause, I can fight for the weaker people, I can even fight for animals, but I can never ever fight for myself, baring when the DH is my opponent. Possibly that is the only completely honest, true and absolutely open relationship I have in my life, and hence most precious and very treasured. But getting back to the point, how easy or difficult is it for a person to fight for himself?

Very recently, I was out with the BB one evening, when a Jeep, ferrying school children stopped in front of a building, and a child got out of the vehicle. There was a stray dog resting near the spot where he got off, and he immediately kicked it, I involuntarily screamed aye, and followed it up by telling the child that the dog hurts and he should not kick it that way, while he kept running away, and the bystanders looked on at me, like I am a crazy person. But I was unfazed and quite happy at what I had done, and did not mind it at all. But believe you me, if it had been me who had been pushed or shoved or even bitten for that matter I would not have uttered a word. It has always been this way with me. Maybe its my Libran trait that cannot tolerate injustice to others, but finds it beneath myself to actually speak out for me. This was the most recent incident that I could think of, but that is the way it has always been with me.

Somehow I never fight for myself. I think its so much easier to raise my voice, fight or work for others or for a cause, but I can never be assertive enough to do it for myself. It would have been all good, possibly had I been an ideal woman, with no grudges or grouses. Reality though is quite different. My lack of confrontational abilities, leave me frustrated from within. Sometimes it is pretty much impossible to confront at all. I am currently in quite a soup, where my name and image are being tarnished left right and centre, and everyone is using me to cover up their own backsides to be honest. I know it, and I simply sit quietly, avoiding everyone involved in the fiasco, rather than go and tell them honestly what I think of them too. A few words are being picked up from entire conversations and being misrepresented, I am being blamed for reacting to being accused of things, I am said to be thinking that I am too high and mighty, just because I openly did what I thought was the right thing to do, where everything was getting muddled up. An act that could have been a sweet and nice gesture has now turned out into a total mess. I am completely sure of what I did, and totally stand by my action, but I also stand up and hear silently all the accusations and blame, so that the others can keep fueling their personal interests. When earlier people have told me such stories about themselves, I have actually gone up and stood for them and fought, and openly. Some have appreciated my standing up for them, when they could not and then there have been the others too. But the point is why can I never just stand up for myself and say it like it is, when I am being wronged or need to be defended? I think I am just a non-confrontational coward.

Tell me about you, what are your fighting skills, how much and how far can you go, when can you never do it, and what if anything makes you an unstoppable fighter? For me, I think it would be the DH and the BB, I can never take a word or hurt against them, no matter from whom it comes, but I let people walk all over me.

A Little This And A Little That

Its been a while, since I last opened this page, to create a new post for the blog. I did not really value, the twenty four hour Net connectivity I had back in Sharjah, till it was finally disconnected. To say I miss it now, will be putting it quite mildly. On the up side though, my eyes are thanking me profusely, for the much needed rest they are getting from the glare, as well as the greenery they are soaking in all around. Currently stationed at my in-laws, life is quite nice in terms, of food, sleep, rest, relaxation and everything. Since I got here, I have been running around doing too many things. Things that may seem mundane, but are supremely time consuming. A thousand phone calls a day is one such thing, followed by shopping ofcourse and such like. The shopping this time is strictly to the point, as per the many lists I have been drawing since the past couple of months. And yet, its fun.

Last week I managed a two day to Nashik and Shirdi. I had visited the Shirdi temple, once as a college student, with the DH, the, then my much besotted with me, boyfriend, and this time I went with the BB, it was just so unbelievable, quite like taking him out on the bike with us last time. It just makes me go awwwwwwww..... The temple itself is nice, and clean, very surprisingly, but the management, not so much. By the time, we reached the darshan area, we were actually being controlled by the crowd, it was nice having the protective arm of the DH around. I was happy, and really happy getting there. I did pick up a few momentos and gifts from a shop outside the temple, and a small idol, I had really hoped to carry with me, but in the last minute rush of getting everything, and visiting a few other sites, the entire package was lost somewhere. And yes, I am mighty depressed about that, because it makes me feel like Sai Baba does not wish to come to me with his blessings, or maybe its his way of saying, being a good person is more important than idol worship... I don't really know, but I am feeling very very bad about losing the package, and I am not someone who is bothered about losing things usually. There is a lot more from that trip, but hopefully I can do a dedicated post on that sometime.

For now, its life-in-limbo. I am in the middle, neither here, nor there, hanging somewhere in-between, too much of luggage has come in with us, and it is difficult to get the things I need out of the entire packing. We got lucky while coming here, and a lot of our extra baggage weight was let in without charges. But once here, the problems are not over. We are finding it pretty much impossible to find a person who ships personal goods. Limited air freight is what I may need to settle for, and that means, all my plans of having my comfort items around, is just going down the drain. I will have to cut down drastically even in my cargo package. So everyone's sympathies are most welcome at this point in time.

Also just learned how difficult it is to have a fight with the DH in the presence of his parents. It is just so tough to not be able to blow the steam right off. Have any of you faced similair situations?? How did you cope. I am so incapable of pretending to be all calm and cool when I am feeling the exact opposite. And if you need to know why, its because he has pushed the shipping of goods till the very last minute, and now I cannot carry things to my heart's content, and I do have the right to be absolutely furious at him for that, no holds barred. So what if he was busy with other equally important things, he had to sort this out in time. All is calm out here now though, and hence I am able to do a little post. :)

I go off to Calcutta for a bit, and the worst bit is, inspite of the gorgeous and dirt cheap goods available there, I simply cannot shop. So I am in quite a pitiable condition. I think I will eat and sleep all day long there, as a means of wallowing in self pity. And for a change my phone is ringing off the hook. Unfortunately though, when on a vacation, the phone is often in untraceable locations, those from where the sound does not reach, and I pick up the phone quite a while later, to find so many missed calls. I am really enjoying catching up with friends, re-connected after a couple of years with a dear dear friend, with whom I used to talk almost everyday earlier, and it feels great. And yes, thanks to all you ladies, who called up, and especially the ones with advice on how to work things out in Melbourne. Forgive me for not being prompt in my returning calls, but I really really am on a very tight schedule.

That kind of rounds off most of what has been up with me, and what I am up with for now, hopefully a few more posts can happen before I leave India. The BB, by the way is acting like a completely spoilt brat under the loving lenience of his grandparents. It will be tough getting him to be his former self later, me thinks!!

The Non-Sick Illness

People do such funny, laugh inducing posts on their illnesses, and all I do is rant about mine. So I thought I will give mine a try. Don't expect laughs, because I can't write funny for my life. My hardest attempts at doing it, makes me, myself squirm. And yet what do I have, if not my dreams?

The problem started a few weeks back with some sneezing, a leaking nose, and a blocked ear. I went to a funny ENT specialist, who diagnosed it as an allergy and prescribed medicines accordingly, and that was it. I took the medicines, things seem to improve, and finally I felt cured of my affliction. A few days of feeling fine, and I am in a state, which neither qualifies as illness, nor as good health. It began with an irritated throat, and followed up with a dry cough. Since there was no pain, I did not really bother, nor did I dare venture to the doctor again.And so I have been dealing with coughing and the throat irritation the whole of last week.

The problem is, this kind of a thing, keeps me fit enough to go about my daily chores, I don't have an excuse to take it easy, and yet it keeps that nagging sense of illness in my mind, giving me enough excuse to pile on some self pity, bunk any work out like activities and gorge on food happily. This state of being is confusing, and not a nice place to be in to be honest. Its better to be on one side of the line which divides the healthy and the sick. This no-man's land area, where I am right now, is not turning out to be much fun!

The BB's Birth Announcement

When the BB was born, I had everything set in place. I need to have everything set in place for my peace of mind. I can be a bit like Monica from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. , though not so much anymore. I had no idea how groggy I would be post surgery, so I had made a written list of people to be informed, marked for those who needed to be called up immediately, those who were to be messaged and such like. I had even composed the message to be sent, and left it on the DH's mobile. Yes, I am super thorough that way, and I have to be, when my man is overly relaxed about everything.

Yesterday, I was thinking about the day the BB was born, and remembered the text message, they were four rhyming lines that had been sent out. And suddenly realised my mobile phone was the only place where I had a copy saved. The GP changes phones too frequently, and I had no expectations of him having a copy anywhere. And the one in which I had a copy, was the one which died when I had been to India in March this year.It just died, and I could retrieve nothing from it. I was worried about the photos mainly at that point, having completely forgotten about the important messages I had on it. And yesterday the realisation dropped on me like a bomb. I searched high and low, on my PC, hoping I had it on a mail or some document, but no such luck. Then I checked the memory card of my old phone, switched on each and every one of the DH's old phones and tried, but no luck. I was so angry, just so angry. Called up the DH, asked him if he had it with him anywhere, I was mostly blabbering and being incoherent, since I was totally upset at that point. No help from that quarter either. He suggested I ask the people we had messaged, and I knew there was no point, it has been over two and half years now, no body would have that message with them, still. And I gave up.

At around 4:30 the DH got back home. Its Ramadan, so he gets back home early these days, and the first thing I told him was get a pen and paper. Somehow like magic the lines came back to me, and he wrote them down. A bit here, a bit there, but finally we got them perfectly. I don't think I have felt the feeling of happiness and relief in a long long time. And thank God, my mind still has the capacity to recollect somethings. And I am putting the lines here, so that I don't lose them again.

We think you should know this,
This is a news you wouldn't wanna miss,
Our family has increased by one,
We now have a baby son.

======================
On a completely different note, my eyes had been giving me a scare, with blurred vision the past couple of weeks. But then by chance the BB took out my old pair of spectacles, and I tried them on to realise the new pair had the wrong power and was making me go cross eyed. Feel lucky to have realised the problem before I did severe damage to the eyes. And the BB was the one who broke the old pair, forcing me to go get the new one.

An Apology, Where Applicable

The chats, and messengers, should burn in hell I feel at times, and cannot help but thank the stars for them at others. While they are a great and inexpensive way to connect and stay in touch, they can lead to misunderstandings and mis-communications of epic proportions. An necessary evil you say? And I definitely agree.

The written word actually leaves a lot to interpretation. It is atleast a good fifty percent less than just talking, even if on the phone, where the voice is audible, with all its nuances. More than half of our interactions is more than just words, it is the tone, the expressions, the punctuations, all of which is simply unavailable when it is the typed written word. Facial expressions and body language obviously do not exist. So in a chat if I type 'You fool!', it maybe interpreted in a million ways, rudeness, bluntness, or even being mean, while it may have been said in the most jovial way possible, the reader will never know with surety. I have become a bit scared of chats and e-mails now, and feel the need to clarify every word I write for the fear of misinterpretation. And there can be so many, especially when interacting with someone I have never met, who does not know how I talk and I don't know about her. With so many blog friends, I am never sure when and where I am getting off on the wrong foot. It can be more tedious than fun. Sometimes things just click and fall in place, at others they just go bad, with faux pass after faux pass.

I write whatever nonsense comes to mind, and often enough there are typos, syntactical errors and more so,while chatting. I type in haste and make a mess of it. Fortunately though my friends are kind and understand what I am saying, or they just prefer to not hurt my sentiments by telling me I need to concentrate on what I type. And honestly I cannot because, I am never really just sitting and chatting, I am either cooking or cleaning, or playing with the BB or doing something else alongside. Sometime I am standing, carrying the BB and typing, so it goes real bad. Mails are often dashed off in a rush, again no spell checks or proof reading, nothing. I really feel bad for the people who end up reading my garbled messages and actually manage to make sense of it. Sometimes it is so tough for me to leave an interesting conversation and head back to chores, and I often don't leave till the absolute last minute. I am usually casual about things, not attempting perfection, so there are more errors than required. The goofiness is always there too, goes without saying. All in all not a great combination, when communicating with someone through words alone.

Internet is such an indispensible part of our lives now, its an addiction and more, every little thing comes to mind, and I am off to look it up or write it down or whatever. The laptop is always onconnected, and I am always online. So are some others, but most of us are not really on the machine all the time, but on and off, running to and from the computer. Some are more disciplined, and do I admire them for that. They get online only when they are really and truly free, and enjoy the experience. Me on the other hand am almost always there, but never really available. And I feel really bad when I cannot talk to a person even though I am 'online' so to speak. It happened yesterday, with a blogger whom I really like, and who is hardly ever online. I had to rush off to my chores. I so hated doing it, but with all the time zone differences, the free times, just never ever coincide. And I was so afraid that I may have offended her. Then there is another, who was very friendly, poured her heart out to me and then suddenly stopped communicating, got busy I am guessing, but I cannot be sure, whether something upset her or its just lack of time. Electronic communication can get to hugely confusing and frustrating for such reasons, that I cannot term it anything but the devil then.

Besides that ofcourse there are comprehension issues, what if I mean something, and it is interpreted completely differently by the reader. And it happens so often, that I don't even get it anymore. Are there any rules to follow while chatting, any etiquette guides? If they are I am sure, don't multi-task must be one of them. And yet like with every other thing in life, I cannot only chat, except maybe the times I am online late into the night, with the rest of the family asleep. The blog friends, are friends, mainly through chats, I have not met any of them, and spoken to only a couple over the phone, but they are friends, and ones close to my heart. Its quite difficult to not communicate with them, the only way I do. And yet there is always the fear of being misread.

Do you ever feel this way? Have you ever had a communication issue on a chat? Need to know I am not the only one.

To anyone I might have offended without meaning to, over chats or mails, the title is for you, please accept my apologies, its the medium that is the issue, not the words that were exchanged.

Stop, When the Signs Say So

It is said, that if we look around closely, nature gives us clues about what to do or not for that matter. Unfortunately being a foolish human, that also means even when it is in obvious forms, I choose to ignore it, and go right ahead and do what I clearly should not.

The Al Ain Wildlife Park is a well known zoo in the UAE, and is famous for the variety of species it has. It is almost two hundred kilometres from home, and hence visiting it meant a day outing, which had to be planned. And the plan has been building up for almost three months now. We as a family are not big planners, we may wake up at noon on a weekend, and then decide to go to a place which is over a hundred kilometres away and just do it. It works out great here, because of the good roads, and amazing speeds though. So this planned trip not working out was getting to me. We just could not set it right, because this one meant leaving home at a decent time, so that we could spend enough time exploring the zoo, and then, also head home before it gets too late. The biggest problem was waking up in time to do it. So I finally fixed it for the three day weekend, where we would be rested enough to wake up early, but that turned out to be one stormy weekend. The weekends post that, the GP was not feeling to great, and it did not seem right to stress him out with the long drive ahead. And so the plan was stalled as always. But it never struck me once, that with so many obstacles cropping up, it would be best to drop the plan.

This weekend we decided to do it, come what may. Since the GP and I both love animals, we were atleast equally interested in doing this. Now the point is, I have been to another great zoo, and blogged about it, when Rakesh told me that the Al Ain zoo was an even better option, and convinced me that it was air conditioned, just like the one I had been to, but larger and better. So that is what I had in mind, and all the googling told me was about the location and timing. I dressed up in black jeans, and a full sleeved black shirt and off we went. What really struck me about the place, was that it is much greener than anywhere else in the UAE, and naturally so, not the cultivated greenery, but the natural one. From the time we started, we were amazed to see some greenery along the highway instead of the dead sand all along as we usually do here. Two hundred kilometres, and an excessively oily KFC lunch later, we reached the zoo.

To be honest its a well planned, and very well maintained zoo. Nice visitors gallery, green walkways, laid out over a huge area, loads of animals to see. So it would have been paradise, except for the fact that there was no air conditioning of any kind. At 42 degrees, with over seventy percent humidity, this was not the ideal condition for a relaxed walk around. Worse still the BB is not used to so much heat, and he gets heat allergies at times. And I on my part, have developed an art of inappropriate dressing. The day we got caught in the storm in the middle of nowhere, was the first time in my life I wore a ganjee like top and had to end up being around people, who were not used to seeing women much, and even then in anything less than an abaaya. Fortunately I had something like a stole to wrap around me, and that was my only saving grace back then. And this weekend, I was dressed completely in black, in the direct heat, and walking, till my legs felt like they were burning.(See the photo for proof and my accessorising efforts. It was HOT.) I have to learn to anticipate, more than what I expect now. And damn the photo-ops.

We got our tickets, and entered the park, walked around a bit to find the air conditioning, just that every step we took, told us there was not going to be any. We walked around just one section, which had the lions, pumas and some such animals, most of which were hidden in their dens, getting respite from the heat. So we saw a very few animals to be honest. Fortunately the BB's stroller was with us, and we put him in, much against his wishes with the canopy unfolded. He turned completely red inspite of that. The zoo had these water mist forming devices, which were let on occasionally to cool the area, and every visitor just stood in them enjoying the cool mist. We just rushed through a very tiny segment of the place, and ran out into the cool of the car. And I am so going back there for a nice trip once the temperatures dip.

Some proof that we visited the zoo.

As we were on our way out, and I felt like I was being burnt into a crisp toast, especially due to clothes, I saw women in black abaayas. And I knew immediately that I needed to stop the self pity. These were women in two layers of clothing, and the top layer fully black, and synthetic. It was like a form of medieval torture in that wretched heat. Atleast my clothes were a more humane cotton. Why and how can people be so obviously oblivious, to cruelty I wonder. Are the women really used to it? Would they really mind not feeling quite that hot? Sometimes God really does put things into perspective, and I thank my lucky stars for being where I am, and not anywhere else. And my heartfelt sympathies for the ladies in black.

This was one of the amazing rock formations. Looks like a lion's head to me.

Once out of the place, it felt like a really bad thing to have driven so far for nothing. Fortunately though, there is a mountain the vicinity called Jebel Hafeet. A little over a kilometre to the summit, with a nice winding road, it seemed like the best we could do to make the trip worthwhile. I am not really a mountain person, but what really took my breath away, were these amazing rock formations, that are visible. To say the least, they are unusual and gorgeous. At the top the temperature was a good seven degrees less than the foothills. The view, was better from one of the viewing galleries on the way, because at the top, the bottom was a bit hazy due to the suspended sand. But the cooler temperature, was worth the climb.

Being a weekend, there was a lot of crowd here. Friday, the 14th of August is also the Pakistani Independence Day, and Man! were they celebrating. There we cars full of people holding out the Pakistani flag from the windows, with the flag draped on the roof or even the bonnet, loud patriotic songs playing. The Pathans would get off the vehicles, turn on the songs louder and dance to it. It was amazing watching it all happen, and I think this was the only time I could have observed Pakistani patriotism. And I guess its right when they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder. It was rowdy, but it was their way of celebrating, what is close to their heart.

And from there, we came back home. And relaxed for the rest of the day. Saturday was just about getting the grocery shopping done, and a drive along the beach in the evening. And that is what this weekend was like.

In The Eye Of The Storm

This weekend was scheduled to be fun, because it was a long three day weekend, and after a really long time, it meant a Sunday holiday. After an entire week of anticipating, and a little bit of planning, I could only plan a day trip for one day to a zoo, which eventually did not even happen. The problem is this is a desert, outings of the outdoorsy kinds don't quite work out in the heat. The SG turns up with allergic reactions on his eyelids, and me with my allergic congestion. Strange especially, since I have never faced any allergy issues ever before, but here it just keeps cropping up. Fortunately even the zoo is air conditioned, so it would have been a nice way to spend the day, since all three of us absolutely love animals. In this place you either visit malls, or nowhere, especially during the summers. And there is just about as much of mall visiting that we can do. The plan for the zoo trip was for Saturday, and that was the only day we had a plan for.

So Friday morning, I woke up and started to search the net to find any possible places to visit, and found some archaeological sites at the bottom of a travel guide site.The problem was, none of these places could be found on the GPS, except for Al Madam, which was a small town of sorts, very close to the Oman border. So that is where we headed to. Long well built highways, with large stretches of the vast desert on both sides, is the way leading to Al Madam. Something like wilderness, but of the desert kinds. Along the way, we saw a group of camels walking in the desert and parked for some nice photo-ops. They were not very close to the boundary wires, but I was excited none the less at seeing these animals. Unlike what I had expected, we don't really get to see too many camels around the place. A couple of camels actually lied down and lolled around in the sand. Something new seen.


We continued on our path and reached Al Madam. I was surprised to see expats in that place, because it was just such a small little place, could hardly even call it a town. It was tiny, really tiny. We drove around for a bit, the BG absolutely not wanting to take the SG out in the heat. There was no sign of any archaeological site, and we were just a few miles away from the border or Oman. And then the lightening began. A storm had been predicted for Sunday, so we expected Friday to be quite safe, but here, we were seeing the skies darkening, with heavy lightening and thunders. There was a lightening bolt striking about ever five seconds. The BG's protective instincts kicked in, and he decided it was time to rush back towards home, towards civilisation about a hundred kilometres away, and an about turn is what we did. I clicked like crazy to get atleast one lightening in my photo stock, but got nothing.

A little bit down the way, the skies looked clearer, the wind was not howling, and things seemed fine. A signboard, suggested we go right to get to one of the places on our list. And we thought we will give it a try. On hindsight, it was a bad bad idea. A little way down the turn, I saw a camel farm,(photo on the left) and thought it would be nice to go close. To do justice to my blog name, I persuaded the BG to turn the car into the sand towards the farm, which was at about a couple of minutes of walking distance from the paved road. This place was like a small settlement with about five or six houses. As soon as the car turned, we were stuck. the sand was soft and the front wheels went right in. An attempt to get it out would mean loads of sand flying everywhere, and the car going deeper inside. There were no people around either. I was dressed most inappropriately for such a situation, in a sleeveless ganjee kind of top, and believe me in small place, where women are covered from head to toe, it was terribly discomfiting. Trust me to get a sticky spot stickier for myself. Fortunately for us, while the BG was running around trying to get help, a car stopped by and the man, offered his help. He had a rope, he tied it to our car and tried to pull it out, the rope broke. After a while, he left. Then another man, I am guessing and Afghan, came with his truck, and he was determined. Just as the BG and he tried to tie the rope, the storm hit us. The sand was blowing everywhere, and the visibility almost killed. I panicked. This was not the best situation to be in with a child. And I had only myself to blame.Opening the car door for just a second, was filling it up with sand. But the man was determined, and kept working at it, and we gave it another try, but once again the rope broke. I got off and clicked photos, and the BG was irritated, I understood, but I wanted to have photos to look back at this experience. I could just click one or two, before the BG would lose it, and that is all I have. A couple of fruitless tries later, a couple of more men wandered into the scene. Mind you, the storm was in place by then. Finally, with two men pushing the car, one car pulling it from behind from really close, we got out. Aah! Thank God, atleast a part of our worries were over. I really wanted to walk down to the farm and atleast get a few photos, but did not, because the storm was getting worse, and the BG did not think it would be a good idea to waste more time, when we were so far away from home, in wilderness. The SG was remarkable, in that he did not get upset or anything, but just sat quietly through the entire thing in his car seat, while his father and I kept flitting in and out of the car.

This was followed by travelling through about 50 kilometres in very low visibility, at a very low speed. I could not get photos of the worst times, because at those moments I was sitting on the edge of my seat. From the look of it, I felt I had been transported to the winters in Delhi, with thick fog engulfing us. As we closed in on habitation, the visibility improved, since there were buildings and other man made structures to act as barriers. Closer home, it seemed impossible that we had been through the storm we had. Strangely enough, we got home by around six, and by eight, the sand storm had completely abated, and visibility completely restored. So guess the storm was meant for us. However, the was the BG and I are lusting for rains, maybe it just happened, so that we could get a small taste of the rains. And I would never have seen the real force of a sand storm in the open desert if we had not been there. There was a possibility of the storm recurring, and hence we dropped the plan the next day to hit the zoo, because it was in another emirate altogether. And as expected, there was no storm post the one we braved.

The photos below are a comparison in the visibility before and during the storm.