Street Musicians Across The World

"If music be the food of love (life), play on..." - using a part of the famous lines of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare... music transcends all boundaries and brings people together.

Here's my tribute to the wonderful street musicians all over the world who perform in public squares, gardens and markets to enthrall different sets of tourists and locals everyday for a paltry reward.

1. At a local market in Bangkok here is a blind guitarist playing his music to the passerby. He has a microphone and an amplifier to be heard around!

2. An elderly couple performs almost non-stop at the Plaza Mayor, Madrid, belting out popular Spanish songs like Besame Mucho.

3. One of my favourites... Sitting on a chair at Miradouro in the Alfama region of Lisbon this old man can give many trained classical guitar professionals a run for their money... his playing was effortless and soulful!

3. An accordian player with hi-tech gadgets plays different genre of music seated under a lamp post outside the Royal Palace of Madrid.

4. At the Kapellbrücke, Lucerne, this old man played his small accordion while people walked on...

5. This performance was one of a kind... alphorn players at a square in Lucerne.

Things to do before I die... a random list!

See Whitney Houston in action... live on stage, wherever it is!
Concert (s) at the Royal Albert Hall
Cats, Phantom of the Opera (musicals) in London
Visit country side in England... see Anne Hathaway's cottage
Visit Trinity College
See Niagra from both sides
Ride a gondola in Venice
Visit Monaco, Casablanca and a thousand places more...
See the Statue of Liberty
Go to Times Square, casinos in Vegas (and lose all my money!)
Greece, Bahamas, does the wish list end anywhere... NO!

I'll get this list organised someday, for sure! :D

Goa in the monsoon...

About 3 months ago I decided that we'll celebrate Anushka's 1st birthday in Goa. Joy and my parents readily agreed, and so did my sister after a little cajoling! As a start to the preparations I called my Goan friend who is now a resident of Hyderabad though, and asked for the things that we could at this part of the year. His first reaction was why now, go in October. It took me a few weeks to make him understand that it was because of Anushka's birthday that we were going to Goa, and that cannot happen in October!

Sometimes I feel happy that I don't just listen to what people have to tell me; I have drawn a lot of flak from various quarters for this though! Many other friends and acquaintances warned us, discouraged us, all saying that it's going to rain, and you guys will have to stay at the hotel throughout your trip!

It did rain, sometimes there were little showers and sometimes it rained quite heavily. But to our great luck the rains did not affect our plans not even once... maybe I can call it 'Anushka Luck'! Light grey skies, with a drizzle once in a while, greenery in abundance, comfortable weather, just a few people on the beaches, lovely food... what more could we have asked for! Little Anushka was also enjoying I guess... her food habit and sleeping habit just changed during those days... she was an absolute darling!

Do I still have to say that we had a wonderful time through the four days! :)

My Trip To Kolkata

Well this took me a while, to write about my trip to Cal. Cal is always fun, but this time it was indeed special. We went to celebrate Anushka's Annaprashan. There were 4 events for her, and surprisingly, she took all of them really well, with minor discomfort and crying. Great job for a 6 and a half month old!

I celebrated my birthday in Cal after 10 years, with family! I went to Tangra ... after 6 yrs! In fact as a family we went to eat in Tangra after probably 14 years! We even forgot the name of our favourite restaurant and ended up going to another! Kim Fa and Kim Ling don't sound too different, do they ;) I felt nostalgic while driving down the lanes of Tangra.

Joy and I went to Henry's, a very old Chinese shoe store in New Market. Joy needed to buy shoes. Sadly, the store is no more the way it used to be, the glory days are gone. Joy and I did our usual walking on Park Street , Free School Street; it's like a ritual walking on these streets, eating chicken rolls! This time we also went to Braganza's... don't remember after how many years! Also, walked past Uncle Anto's house, just that he is no more.... We spent an entire afternoon on this side of town and headed back home taking the metro rails, another one of our favourites!

Through the 4 events, I met a lot of relatives, friends, some of them after about 10 years or more. Felt at home in fact. No matter how much settled I feel in Mumbai, Cal is still home. that's where my heart belongs.

After a 2 week stay at the place I belong, I had to pack multiple bags, for me, Joy and Anushka, and head back to Mumbai, with lots of fond memories, hundreds of photographs, Anushka's gifts and her 55 new dresses! :D

Travelling begins again!

After a year and two month break Joy and I start travelling again, but now, we have a new little member joining us! I think I am more thrilled that Anushka is making her first trip rather than the fact that I am going somewhere after so long.

Well, this time we are not going to any exotic location nor to a spell bounding scenic place, but to the place where we belong... our own city of joy! Going to ones hometown may not always be a very exciting option, for some it is so matter of fact. But, for Joy and me, Kolkata is no less than any great place; just that one has to have the eyes to look out and enjoy. 

We are going to Cal to celebrate Anushka's Annaprashan. Besides meeting family, friends and relatives, Joy and I have planned a few outings which we'll have to squeeze in as the days are going to be quite hectic. Looking forward to this trip as this is my first after becoming a mother, that is adding more excitement! Will come back and post about all the fun times that Joy and I are going to have!

By the way it's my birthday tomorrow, guess it's a good way to start a trip! Bon voyage to me! :)

Childhood travel dreams and memories!

My husband went to my Kolkata home a couple of days ago and I wanted him to bring some of my old books from there. While packing the books he had no idea what he was bringing, and what pleasure will I get out of one of the books. When I started unpacking the bag I found my first atlas. It was bought probably when I was in class four or five, a few centuries ago (kidding, I am not that old!), and I can't believe that I still have it! This is the twenty fifth edition of The Oxford School Atlas, and is not quite relevant in today's times as the maps have The U.S.S.R., West Germany and East Germany in them. But, this particular map above is a special one as this is where my dreams of visiting Europe began.

While learning the names of the countires and their capital cities I used to quietly tell myself that I will visit these countries someday. My first attractions were Italy and Sicily probably because of their shapes.  At the age of thirteen I guess that was a good way to choose favourites! My father taught me that Italy was the boot and Silcily was the football. 

While going through the pages of the atlas a lot of memories came alive. It was fun to note that I have visited six countries in Europe already, and my dreams are still alive to visit the boot and the football!

What kind of a traveler am I?

I read many articles, blogs etc. on travel and travelers and this question came to my mind a few days ago. How do I describe myself as a traveler? Well, the answer isn’t quite easy. I am not a backpacker for sure and I’ll never be one. Globetrotter, not just yet! I don’t think I’ll ever have that kind of money to travel in a lot of style. I want to see the world at my own pace and interest with a good amount of comfort and leisure, yet at a fairly economic price. Hmmm, how does one do that? Don’t know the answer to the last question now, but I might figure it out one day. 

I travel a lot in my mind; maybe I can call myself a mind traveler, eh that’s a bad one! The day I have enough resources to go wherever I want to, I’ll sure coin a name to describe myself. As of now, I know that I cannot go anywhere with my one and a half month old daughter. I am just waiting for her to turn a year old; I have of couple of travel plans worked out in my mind already! Hopefully the plans on the mind will turn into real travelling experience with a little bit of luck! In the meantime I am on this wonderful journey of life, called 'Motherhood'!

My First Trip To A Desert

Desert Safari at the Dubai - Sharjah border...

 

                                                                                    I look parched and baked!

Lonavala

Joy and I wanted to take a quick break from the mundane Hyderabad life. The idea was to go somewhere and rest rather than going on a sight seeing tour. So we chose to go to Lonavala and Khandala.

We took a shared cab from Pune and reached Lonavala in the evening. We had a couple of names of hotels on our minds, so we started looking out for them. We checked into one, with the help of an auto rickshaw guy who took us around to find hotels.

The next afternoon the driver took us to Karla Caves, which was about 9 kms from where we were staying. These caves are the largest Chaitya caves in the country. We took the uphill, a little steep, road to reach the Karla Caves. When we reached there the driver told us that we needed to climb about 300 stairs to get there. For a moment it seemed like a monstrous task, almost impossible to achieve, but I am not the one to give up too easily. Joy was quite unsure whether I would be able to make it.

I did make it to the top, but to be very honest, it was not worth the effort. It was extremely hot, didn't expect that kind of heat in January; very unkempt entrance. Nothing looked nice! At the entrance of the caves there were three broken pillars with lions; the stairs to the caves were so dark that I chose not to climb anymore.

The driver was very surprised too see us back so early. He said, normally people take about one and a half hours to get there and come back, and we took about 45 minutes only!

Then we went back to where we came from, that is, back to the city of Lonavala, to go to Ryewood Park. I had heard about this park earlier, so I was quite excited about going to the park and sitting there for some time. As we reached there we figured it was just another park, and it was extremely hot to even step out of the car. We drove past that place with the quaint hope that we may take a stroll down the road and sit at the park on a pleasant monsoon evening.

The next place we passed was the Lonavala Lake. We didn't get off because it was absolutely dry. The city pamflets boast of this place as a replica of Chowpati, there was not a single soul around!

At this point we were rather disappointed with our plan to do a sight seeing tour. Therefore, we weren't even interested to see anything anymore. We reached Bhushi Dam. The place did not seem remotely interesting from the outside. As we went inside we realised that the place wasn't all that uninteresting. It was quite cool. So we decided to sit on the rocks, and we sat there for more than half an hour. Joy even had some tea.

After this, we set for the most awaited part of our day trip, Khandala. I just have one thing to say, this place is hyped beyond any limit. If anyone is planning a getaway from the maddening city life, it is good to check into one of the resorts and rest. There is nothing else to see.

Belgium

After Germany we went to Antwerp in Belgium. We reached there late in the evening, so we checked into the hotel and did not go out.

The next morning we went to Brussels. We got off the coach and went to The Grand Palace or Grote Markt Square. It is a vibrant part of the city where one can find people from all over the world. At the square one cannot miss the Godiva shop and the beer cafés and pubs! The narrow medieval streets around are lined with shops selling diamonds, crystals, souvenirs, and not to forget the awesome waffles.

Just a short walk from the Grand Place-Grote Markt is the Manneken Pis, a small bronze statue thought to represent the ‘irreverent spirit’ of Brussels. On the way to Manneken Pis one can see Tintin, Snowy and Captain Haddock painted on the wall of a building; a statue of Van Gogh and a man dressed like him.

Having been playing western classical music on the piano for 25 years I could not miss the statue of Béla Bartók near the central train station in a public square. He was a Hungarian composer and pianist, and was considered one of the greatest composers of the 20th century.

The Atomium adds splendor to the colourful city of Brussels.

Also visit http://chandrimawrites.blogspot.com/2009/04/chocolate-for-thought.html

Paris!