Berthless in Salzburg

..and to think that,all these years,I thought Indian Railways could do a better job.During our return journey from Salzburg to Dusseldorf,i changed my mind. I’ve seen shaky berths,torn seat covers,dirty compartments,all sorts of roaches encroaching the seats, but to date I haven’t seen a missing berth in any Indian train. But ,this DB train from Salzburg had a missing berth.And ,to our dismay ,it was in our compartment.After all that careful planning to the minute,to not miss the train, hoping to catch a good night’s sleep ..we were berthless.Waited up for the ticket checker (what is he called ,actually?) for almost an hour. And in that one hour,we were discussing various possibilities (would he ask us to sleep on the floor ? We should sue these guys ..perhaps they would give us an all paid flight ticket to any destination any time of the year) .And when he did come ,finally after an hour ,he was pretty matter-of-fact about it.Perhaps what he really wanted to say was “Thank your stars,the whole compartment isn’t missing,its after all a berth !”.And the berths were uncomfortably small (not a problem for me,considering that I am not at all tall.).

Indian Railways,vaazhga ! For all the cockroaches and ants and rubbish in the compartments, you still rock !

At the peak

 ”All the birds have flown up and gone;

A lonely cloud floats leisurely by.

We never tire of looking at each other-

only the mountain and I.”

                                   – Li Bai

True. Found peace at 1874 m .

Interesting quote

Saw this quote on tv yesterday  (one big banner at the Champions League Final),

“History will be kind to me ,for I intend to write it”

Googled and found out that this was said by Sir Winston Churchill.

Confidence ?or Arrogance ?

Its only words..

Words fly ,like daggers,every harsh one ,piercing his heart.He stands there,visibly hurt,but doesnt say a word.Quietly picks up his bag and leaves .She sits there,all alone at home,wondering why she shouted at him.She shouldnt have.So true,words hurt more than knives.Leave wounds so deep ..perhaps time can heal the wounds but the scars will always remain.She thinks deeply .Finally ,she calls him up.At the other end of the receiver,a voice ,a voice that she loves ,spoke up ” Yea,what happened?”.”Uh,nothing ,just called up to find ..if u reached. ” Two minutes of silence ensues. Those two minutes wherein a million things unsaid are understood.I’m sorry,I didnt mean it.I know you didnt mean it,its ok.

“Not yet.Ok then dear,will call  you later.”

She keeps the receiver down.So funny,she thought,Sorry seems to be the hardest word to say ..especially when you feel guilty.”Sorry” gets stuck in your throat when you’ve to say it to a loved one.

Did you know ..

.that to get rid of the onion smell after cutting onions ,you can rub your hands on stainless steel ??? 

And if  you dont want to cry your heart out while cutting onions,wear swimming goggles ( I just imagine – Operation Onion Cut.What you need : knife,onions and swimming goggles.)

Courtesy : http://www.videojug.com

Your take?

Self-deprecation is but a mask,for pride.

What do you think ?

[P.S :-Atleast the two people,who surely read this blog(Also,this post is very small,so I know you two will definitely read it ) ,your take!]

Learnt the hard way

Pizza Hut’s specialty of the month here(Dusseldorf) is “Indien ” .Really sucked.The first time I had pizza with boiled kathirikai and avarakai and cabbage as toppings .And of the three,2 veggies are not really my favorites.Veena pona antha pizzavukku oru 12 euros azhuthom.

Lesson learnt: Never try “Indien” stuff,out of India.

Much Ado about Nothing

Priya’s anxiety knew no bounds,as she watched her little two year old playing.Yea,i can sense your doubt,why should a mom be anxious when her kids playing ?After all,every mother would be relieved to get a few minutes peace while their little one finds something to occupy herself.But,this little one,was playing,with a bunch of 50 paise coins.

And that sent Priya’s thoughts flying back,years behind,to the time when she and Preethi were playing on the porch .Ever since her kid sister had been born,Priya had been getting lesser and lesser attention from her parents.Or,so she thought.Tsk,it was always “shes a baby,Priya,give it to her.let her have her way,poor little thing”.She didnt quite know whether she loved her sister or not.She stared at the little one,who was in turn,staring at her.Her role model,her elder sister.Preethi’s motto in life,atleast at that age was,”Anything my sister can do,I can do better”.

Priya decided to have some fun with Preethi “Look,I can swallow coins ?Can you?”

Preethi looked at her elder sister in awe ” Show me”.

Priya placed the coin on her tongue and closed her mouth.She opened it again,and lo,the coin was gone.Well,we know the stupid trick dont we ? But poor little Preethi was clueless.She was amazed.But she had no idea of letting her sister get the better of her.She said,”I can do it too”.She placed the coin in her mouth and well,you guessed it,swallowed it.

She started to suffocate,tried to tell Priya that the coins stuck,but couldn get her words out.Priya didnt think for a second.She ran into the house,crying “Amma ! Papa coina muzhungitaa ma “.And then,what happened ,after that,was something Priya wouldnt forget for a long time.Blood,blood and more blood from her sisters mouth.All the neighbours desperately trying to help the little thing.Finally,they held her upside down and gave quite a few whacks.And out came the coin !

Priya was filled with remorse.She wondered what would happen if her parents came to know that she was partly the reason for this whole accident.She looked apprehensively at Preethi,who was sitting quietly nursing her really sore throat.

“Uh,hows the throat now?”

Preethi looked at her, her innocent eyes holding no grudge against her elder sister,and croaked ” I still did it better than you,didn’t I?” .

It was this moment,this precise moment that Priya decided that she,after all,loved the little pesky attention-clamoring,but all the same ,lovable little idiot.

And,yea,I survived to tell this tale . [ Definitely with loads of extra fittings.Solra kathaiya Cheran maathri solla koodaathu .Shankar maathri extravagantaa sollanum ]

Thought for the Day

If we can’t write what we want to write, why should we write at all ?

If everything you do in life needs others’ approval,then are you doing it for yourself or for others ?Why do it at all ,then ?

The first animal on Mars

Bad news for choco lovers here.