Unforgiven...

After hibernating for a long time from blogging and being frustrated with the limitations here, I’ve deceided to try this for a well. Hopefully it should continue well…See you there!

The great smoky mountains, I finally went there last weekend! This was one of the places that was in my must-see list when I was in the US the last time, but somehow things didn't work out and I didn't get to go there. Being given another chance, I of course jumped at it. Another reason being, one of my close friends lives in Charlotte. So it was a good proposition to spend time with her and also see the Smokies with her (she being pretty much the authority on it since she's gone there so many times owing to the proximity). I left it all to her to plan our trip.

   Landed in Charlotte on a bright, warm and sunny Thursday evening. Trust me , it was a sight for sore eyes to see so much greenery and pretty flowers in bloom all around. Charlotte's a lovely place...winding roads, a small downtown, oops sorry uptown as they call it, not too many skyscrapers. It has the perfect blend of a city that's in harmony with nature. Queen city is the right name! Being treated to good home food was one of the added pleasures of the trip.

   We all set out early next morning, the destination for the evening being the town of Gatlinburg (which is called the gateway to the Smokies). We went through the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains, Lake Lure and then finally entered the Smoky mountains. Here it's all about driving through the forest...stopping ever so often at all the overlook/vista points and drinking in the beauty of the place. It had the typical spring green colour. Could still see some remnants of the fall colour and some of the bare winter effects. Apart from driving around, camping would be the next best thing here, but the weather currently didn't permit it. My friends were blaming me for the cold wave that washed over this place, they were like can't you leave the cold back there, it was fine here, until you landed :-) We did a small trek that led to a lake (forgot the name now). Spent some time playing around. Our next stop was in Clingman's dome, the highest point in the Smokies (more than 6200 feet altitude). We couldn't spend too much time there 'coz it started lightly snowing :-(  We then took off for Gatlinburg. Now this is delightful little town. We walked around almost the whole town, taking in all the sights, the wooden cabins in the mountains all around, the street full of travellers, the different stores offering all kinds of merchandise, the different eating places and entertainment centres. A very bubbly town. In the morning after a hearty doughnut and coffee breakfast, we headed for another trek to Laurel falls. This was about 1.5 miles each way. It had gotten a lil cold, so the trek seemed to take more out of all of us than what it would have in normal circumstances. Nevertheless, like all treks, the destination was worth it. We then headed back to Gatlinburg to eat at their famous Pancake Pantry. Yummy pancakes and waffles...having eaten our full, we started the drive back to Charlotte, again on the way stopping by at various vista points.

   It was a short trip. There is so much more to see and trek and camp there. I hope someday I can come back and do that in the right weather. I've seem some pictures of the Smokies in fall, and it's absolutely breathtaking. But spring, spring somehow gives me a lot of satisfaction, it marks beautiful beginnings, holds promise of the good things that will follow soon...and the spring green is one of a kind, it instantly fills you with joy and hope...It was a well deserved vacation, enjoyed being in the midst of nature, enjoyed the company of my friend so much, it was like being with family...

    I think nothing compares to the joy of travelling, I had missed it so much, hadn't gone out of Chicago in the three months I've been here (due to work, weather and other places I was seeing in Chicago itself). I felt so much more alive after this...it's hard to stay without travelling, especially if you're used to it all your life, it becomes difficult, you start feeling restless and that something-is-missing-feeling stays with you. Thankfully, the Smokies rid me of it :-)

 

Like how much more awful can it be...Mid April almost and it snowed like crazy, it was windy AND it rained. All three on a single day. Aaarrghhh, how I long for some sunny and bright weather...where I can take a stroll without thinking a hundred times about how the weather is outside and without having to put on three layers of clothes and all the other accessories that go with it...

  In other things, I had an amazing trip in the Smokies...will write about it in detail in a separate post...time...time...I need more hours in a day, or maybe not, I might just end up using those extra hours to just sleep!!

 

 

I had this conversation with a few friends over the weekend about the growing number of Indians here in the US. Indians who are settled here, who's life has a meaning here, and for whom India is a distant second home. What is it that attracts not just Indians, but Asians in general to this country? At the end of the conversation, the conclusion was "the dollar". The root cause is money, definitely not rocket science to figure out, but we thought if we argued long and hard enough we could come up with other reasons, which we did, but again when you dig for the root cause there is only one. It's just about an overall better life...better quality of products and education (this point is debatable), comfort and convenience, the choice available to people in everything and the money you make per hour. But my question is home is home right? Why would I abandon it beacuse it doesn't look good, because it's struggling to make changes, because it's winning some and losing some? Maybe abandon was a strong word to use here...everyone should pursue better opportunites available for them isn't it? After we all have one life and we all want to be happy. Happiness is of course influenced to a very large part with money. It's like I'd rather be unhappy with money than without it!! Fair enough. Case closed!

I really liked the movie...something was very right with the basic tone of the movie. I liked all the characters, each one had an important role in the scheme of things. The best was the 'grandpa', he was adorable! There were instances where I didn't know if it would have been simpler to laugh at what they did or feel sad! I think the movie addressed some basic questions. I liked the scene where Dwayne comes to know he's colour blind and refuses to get into the car and then Olive goes and just holds him and he realises he can't screw up things for her and walks back into the car...that was beautiful. There is no need for words at times...All in all, quite a funny movie, the characters' quirks adding the punch in every scene. A good watch. Liked it better than 'Babel'. 'Babel' I thought was rather over-hyphed. Did Cate Blancett have to do such a non-meaty role? Of course the movie does bring out the helplessness and no-control that we have on some circumstances that's just beyond reasoning...

 

One of my close friends drove up from Detroit this weekend and we had such a rocking time here! We had nice conversations, good food and drink, we met up with a couple of other common friends, we visited Millenium Park and Navy Pier, took the riverwalk to see how festive downtown was with St Patrick's day celebrations...The river of course was all green (I didn't like it though). Everyone on the roads screaming and guzzling in Irish beer, it was a great atmosphere all around. In the night we went to this bar called Beer Bistro, it had the longest list of different kinds of beer I had ever seen (or known!). Had a wonderful time there and the night ended for all of us around 2.30 AM in the morning!

  Now that my friend is back in Detroit, I'm left with wishing the weekend had continued (we want it all, don't we?). You know how different it is when you do something with say just someone you know (like a colleague or aquaintance) and someone you really "know know"? It's amazing, the comfort factor, the sheer joy in doing small things (like just pulling each others' legs, having a drink etc), especially if you're experiencing all this after a while...

  And...I'm now the proud owner of a kickazz camera...Pay your respects to my brand new (should I also say "factory sealed"? hehe) Nikon D40 :-)  The world of never ending possiblities, here I come...yohoooooo

 

Something that feels right or something that is right? Which one would you pick? The quandary in life on doing the right thing or doing something because it feels right...maybe there is no distinction or maybe there is, that thin line of separation...

 

Why did Ludlum have to write "Sigma Protocol"? It starts off well, but oh man how it deteriorates...I was so disappointed! I mean is this the same guy who wrote the Bourne series, or my personal favourites "Road to Gandolfo" and "Road to Omaha"? I'd just finished Pamuk's "My Name is Red". Somehow I didn't like it (I loved his "Snow" though). Thought I'd take a break by reading something mindless and Sigma Protocol was lying around in the house. What a terrible mistake!! Anyway guess it wasn't Ludlum's best. I have this quirk, once I start a book, I can't not finish it however uninteresting it is, so I just have to complete a book no matter what! Thankfully I'm now reading Styron's "Sophie's Choice" and it's going good so far :-)

Pink Floyd's best song in my opinion. Amazing how someone else's penned words seem to reflect your own thoughts...

 

 

 

 

If you've read Conversations with God (part 1), you'll know what I'm talking about. The duality that exists within us. The contradicting and conflicting duality. How they complement each other, how both the good and bad make up for the complete you. My friend sent  me this "quote" of Barry Lopez which I found completely relatable:

"How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one is fully aware of the blood, the horror inherent in life, when one finds darkness not only in one's culture but within oneself? If there is a stage at which an individual life becomes truly adult, it must be when one grasps the irony in its unfolding and accepts responsibility for a life lived in the midst of such paradox. One must live in the middle of contradiction, because if all contradiction were eliminated at once life would collapse. There are simply no answers to some of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making your life a worthy expression of leaning into the light."

This is so true, isn't it? Nail on the head. I think so.

 

So I've finally stopped cribbing about the freezing weather here...I'm ok with it now...in fact, today I happily strolled around in an open air mall (it was around 15F)... I'm warming up (literally!) to this place I guess...and also am back to my enthusiastic old self (after all those I'm-feeling-so-blue days). Going out with some people here (I mean friends) has been fun...there is so much to experience here...looking forward to all the coming weekends :-)

Phew! What a relief to be myself again!

Like how Vincent Van Gogh (was it him?) said: "Keep your faith in all beautiful things; in the sun when it is hidden, and in the spring when it is gone"

 

The bitter cold(and windchill) almost killed me at downtown last weekend...I was there (not a good idea, but anyway) in downtown during the past two weekends. I loved the place. Chicago's downtown is wonderful, so full of life n energy n great places to hang out in. Well, for starters I went to some of the main places...

 John Hancock Observatory which has the most stupendous view of Chicago and Lake Michigan, is situated on the 94th floor of the Hancock Centre (Big John as it is called). The building was built on a path breaking crossbeam structure. I just have to go dine at their Signature Lounge on the 96th floor, surrounded with amazing views on all sides...some weekend for sure! The Field museum took almost the entire day. I loved the gigantic dinosaur fossil structures and the evolution section. The Egyptian section was great too (I've heard the Met museum in NYC is better in this Egyptian section). Loads of things to see...a lot to walk by, a lot of info to digest! The Adler Planetarium was just ok. We saw a show...fairly good, but I didn't come out overawed. The Shedd Aquarium was great. So much marine life (and some reptiles n amphibians n mammals) in one place...the dolphin show was not good, the one I'd seen in Sea World, San Diego last time was brilliant.

 So all in all I took 2 days to see these 4 places...worth it...they are afterall Chicago's landmarks. But the walk from the parking to the inside of the building is a killer. I'm not exaggerating! And it's such a pity, it gets dark so soon around 5.30 in the evening!

I'm hoping I can ice skate in Millenium Park sometime...Whole of last week has been bitterly cold (temperatures dropping down to around negative 11 F), so skating is not exactly what you'd want to do then! Also everyone's been telling me about the Sears Towers, again for the top view of Chicago. And ofcourse Navy Pier and a cruise in Lake Michigan...too cold n windy to go there now...sometime soon (though we did drive thru' Lake Shore Dr, lovely view, could see the top layer of the lake frozen, a very pictureseque drive)...

Oh yes, and atleast one skiing lesson in Wisconsin (it's an under 2 hour drive from here) should be good :-)

How could I forget, I went to this nice bar in one of the suburbs and got to listen to some live music. A couple of local bands played rock covers and surprisingly they were very good. Enjoyed myself!

 

p.s. I have been cribbing a lot about the awful weather here...really I think I can bear extreme heat much better than extreme cold.

How does it feel not to be close to someone with whom till now you only knew how to be close to? I mean, how can you stop not being close? How can you start talking about inane and mundane stuff when all this while you were talking, well, about the real things? Looks like for some people it is possible...Well, they say you need to move with the changing times...people change 'coz new people come into their life, their priorities change...But do their friendships have to change as well? For the worse?

 It struck me this weekend, that my relationship with a couple of my very close friends is almost on the verge of becoming a I-used-to-be-close-to-this-person relationship. How this happened, when it happened I don't really know...All I know is that it has and this has saddened me to no end...I have no clue how and where the cracks built up...or if there was a problem with the foundation itself, or was it the distance (out of sight...). More depressing is the fact that no one wants to do a thing about saving it. Maybe there is something better elsewhere that this doesn't need to be salvaged? Or is this just a way of life, losing people? I don't understand this anymore...

And here I was thinking friendship was something that weathers all times and can still be strong no matter what...ha! Duh. Time for a lesson eh? The bitter truth has dawned...and life goes on...

 

Oh my goodness, I had no idea a snowfall could be so absolutely beautiful. I have been in and played in snow a few times before and of course now I live here in Chicago which is like a "white city"! But I had never seen a snowfall. Aaah it's fantastic. Each snowflake I've read is distinct. (I was actually trying to distinguish!). Man, this was some experience. I just stood at the window watching for a while. And then went out with some friends for coffee, stood in the snow fall and sipped on to my favourite coffee from Starbucks...I was all covered up, did feel a lil cold, but what the heck, it was worth it!

   Really, it's unbelieveable how wonderful nature can be...literally makes you stop and stare even if it's the nth time the experience is happening to you...no wonder they say "A thing of beauty is a joy forever" :-)

Oh and it snowed in Scottsdale today, something almost unheard of over there...wowieee!!

Chicago. The city of jazz and blues. And the city where I am in currently and which will be my temprary home for the next few months. It's bitterly cold and it's snowing. But it's beautiful. The white blanket covering the entire area...

Actually this time it's on the other end of the spectrum, what I was excited about, what I did enjoy seem to be non existent this time...

Well, maybe it's just the initial settling in blues and the jet lag...lets see how I shape up!

More coming in later...