Top 5 places on my wishlist

:) :) :) cannot stop smiling while thinking of this topic. I have been over my husband’s head all the time every time he says that we got to earn big for our kids. And I, I always have the same answer I got to earn big for myself.  The kids, please ask them not to expect much after me. They would have enough education, marriage, but after that, I am all to myself…J

I always dream to travel the world during my life time. I keep saying – “I want to travel so much that every time someone talks about his or her dream destination, I should have an answer that yes I have been there.”

First five instant places that come to my mind when I think about my dream are:

1. PARIS

I am sure Paris, without any second thought is one of the most sought of dream destinations. I am dying to get myself clicked kissing at the top of Eiffel Tower… … ♥♥♥. The city of love and lights top my list.

2. TAJ MAHAL BY MOONLIGHT

I have seen Taj Mahal along with my parents when I was a kid long time back. I also had the funny ‘holding Taj’s top in your fingers’ picture. I cannot find that picture in my albums now. God knows where it has vanished. I revisited the monument of love some time back with my husband and some friends.

The Taj Mahal is said to look at its best - shimmering like a fairytale castle built for a legendary princess, under the full moon light. I have heard that the administration does not let people go all the way in and allow to watch it from the main gate. Still, I am very much ready to spend Rs 500 for half an hour trip to main gate of Taj Mahal on a full moon night.

Following words says it all…

“She smelled the way the Taj Mahal looks by moonlight.”

                                                                   ~ Raymond Chandler, The Little Sister

3. KASHMIR

There won’t ever be a single living creature who do not want to go to heaven. The famous lines – “Is duniya mein agar jannat hai, to bas yahi hai… yahi hai… yahi hai…” meaning – “If there is heaven on earth, it’s here, it’s here, , it’s here.” have made the task easier.

I know the pictures in traditional Kashmiri dress on a boat in Dal Lake looks dam funny, but I want to look funny and have that picture in my album. I have a picture of my aunt-uncle (bua ji and fufa ji) where aunt is offering water to fufa ji from a pitcher both dressed in traditional dresses and that’s a million dollar picture♥♥♥.  I want it too with my love.

4. LAS VEGAS

The most popular city of US. City of dreams - known popularly for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and nightlife, Las Vegas cannot be a miss. Chuck Palahniuk said “Las Vegas looks the way you’d imagine heaven must look at night.” How can one miss the chance to heaven…J

My dream to go high after drinking – “Pee k Tull.” must be full filled here.

5. VENICE & ROME

Again, Venice and Rome – Lovers paradise. I really fancy the hearth taking views of Venice and Rome in movies. I have to travel there.

The complete list is long as I talked about my retirement dream… ;)

Image source: Various sources at google

Posted in response to IndiSpire

10 questions I hate being asked

Being curious is no big deal. It’s the basic human nature. But then, there are some questions you really never want to answer but cannot avoid. Being a married girl with a 2 year old kid, many of my hate list questions are from the same background.

Image Source - http://lmaohaha.com/funny-quotes-about-cheating/

Here goes the list…

1. What is your salary? How much do you earn a month?
• It’s none of your business aunt.
2. I speak to my husband about going to my mom’s house and he says – “Why? What would you do there?”
• Come on, you need a reason to visit your mom!
3. What gift do you want for <occasion>?
• I have a straight philosophy. Gift is not a gift if it’s given after asking. Let you mind work, find out my like/dislike or find out what I am looking for these day if you want to give a useful gift.
4. Now when I have a baby, people ask – “So, when are you planning another little one?”
• Are you kidding me? Do I look such a fool to trap myself again! At least not for some years.
5. Amita, your brother/sister/brother in law would graduate this year. Would you help him/her get a job?
• Dear, I myself had to struggle a lot in getting the break. I do not own a company.
6. When is your brother getting married? What kind of girl is he looking for?
• How do I know?
7. When are you getting married, dear?
• This used to be most hated question. Every time some asked me I felt like running away screaming – “Help!”
8. What are your future plans?
• I plan to run away on a never ending vacation. Want to join?
9. When people get to know I am from well versed family – “Why do work?” “Why don’t you stay home and enjoy?”
• Go and lock your daughters/wives/ into home. Don’t bother me.
10. You must be feeling lucky that you have got an understanding mother in law?
• Wonder if she also get to hear the same question. :P

Written in response to Indispire

Amita - No Limits; Endless; Truth; Friendship

What does your name mean to you? Do you like it or hate it? Why?

Thanks to Indispire that it made me look out for such fun information about myself!

Well, “’Amita’, what does it mean?” I do get this question quite often and I love it. I love it when people are not aware of my name. Amita means ‘No Limits; endless; truth; friendship”. I fell proud when I realize that it’s a comparatively less common name.

Wow as per numerology, I am Powerful by expression, Intuitive by soul and Loving by personality. There is no reason I should not love my name…

What more? On a personal note, 

Amita ka Amit - some stupid daily soap

AMIT A - Amit, come here - This is how one of my friend used to call me in college

Amrita - Many times, people confuse my name with Amrita - I hate that

Amitabh bachchan - Sometimes, the legend has been named and his name pronounced as soon as people hear Amita...

If I have to go in details, here it is:

Amita is generally used as a girl's name. It consists of 5 letters and 3 syllables and is pronounced A-mi-ta. It has two origins – Sanskrit and Hebrew

Meaning: Friend; truth

Origin: Hebrew

Meaning: Boundless

Origin: Sanskrit

Here is how I tell my name- Amita is sign language if I have to (I do not know sign language, I go-ogled the signs)

Wait, I found a great site http://www.ourbabynamer.com/ which has some fun information on names.

Amita written in ‘Nautical Flags’.

	Symbol	Meaning
A	Alpha	I have a diver below, keep clear at slow speed.
M	Mike	My vessel is stopped, making no way.
I	India	I am altering my course to port.
T	Tango	Keep clear, engaged in trawling.
A	Alpha	I have a diver below, keep clear at slow speed.

I could not help but laugh at my stupid creativity:

I have a driver below, keep clear at slow speed. Oh, my vessel I stopped, making no way. I got to do this – I am alerting my course to port. Yippee, got the message – Keep clear, engaged in trawling. My god, it’s an infinite loop - I have a driver below, keep clear at slow speed.

 Amita written in Hieroglyphics - 

A- Arm

M – OWL

I – Reed

T – Loaf of bread

A – Vulture

Arm an Owl to Reed a Loaf of Bread and Vulture for meat.. :P

Too bad… I know. But this was what I could write instantly.

 I need to go back to work now!!! I loved writing this one. All thanks to Indispire

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Book Title:- A Thousand Splendid Suns

Author:- Khaled Hosseini

"A Thousand Splendid Suns", to be honest, i was bit reluctant to read this book given by one of my colleague. It was lying in the stack until one day i inserted my bookmark in it.

It was a treat ro read. At two or three stages, I had tears in my eyes. It's a historical + friendship + love + social story all clubbed together. what more can one ask for in one story! Myself being from different religion, I was immersed in a world completely different then my own.

The transition of Mariam from little harmless girl having thousand dreams to uneducated yet so intelligent woman is amazing. At times, I was surprised that how can a male author pen down female expressions so deeply. But they have done it so many times. Laila brought the much needed self respect and rebel in her own way.

It's heart-touching to see the friendship grow. Un-dying love never fails to impress anyone. Tariq's character leaves no stone turned to this. The detailed history of Afghanistan, war and people is also good. The author has very well demonstrated the cultural barriers and its benefits.
For example, although both characters were almost forced to wear the burqa, but both of them felt comfortable within it with each having their own reasons. The small story of a female prisoner who was sentenced to 5 years jail for eloping with the man she loved while the guy freed by saying that the woman lured him! It somewhere depicts the true male dominated society.

I was all smiles through the end. Thank goodness the author uplifted the society and emotions of both women despite the harsh realities. There were suns thousands of them shining splendidly after every rough path of life and of course by the end.

I wonder if I would ever be able to write a story with one fourth of this much detail and creativity ever!


As I have a new habit, here are some of my favourite lines from the book:-

My Favourite Lines from -  A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

How did you like the book? Would you go ahead and read it after my thoughts on it? Write your heart/mind in comments section. I would be glad to read out your end of thinking on the book.

Quotes from - A Thousand Splendid Suns- My Favourite lines

I could not help but re-read the following lines on the journey of - 'A Thousand Splendid Suns".

• One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs, Or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls.
• Learn this now and learn it well, my daughter: Like a compass needle that points north, a man's accusing finger always finds a woman. Always. You remember that, Mariam.
• There is only one, only one skill a woman like you and me needs in life, and they don't teach it in school. Look at me... Only one skill, and it's this: tahamul. Endure.
• She remembered Nana saying once that each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world. That all the sighs drifted up the sky, gathered into clouds, then broke into tiny pieces that fell silently on the people below.
• As a reminder of how women like us suffer, she'd said. How quietly we endure all that falls upon us.
• A man's heart is a wretched, wretched thing. It isn't like a mother's womb. It won't bleed. It won't stretch to make room for you.
• Give sustenance, Allah.Give sustenance to me.
• But remember my girl, what the koran says, 'Blessed is he in whose hand is the kingdom, and he who has power over all things, who created death and life that he may try you.
• Marriage can wait, education cannot.
• Because a society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated, Laila. No chance
• Love can move people to act in unexpected ways and move them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with startling heroism.
• And the past held only this wisdom: that love was a damaging mistake, and its accomplice, hope, a treacherous illusion.
• But the game involves only male names. Because, if it's a girl, Laila has already named her
• You can not stop you from being who you are.
• People…shouldn't be allowed to have new children if they’d already given away all their love to their old ones. It wasn't fair.
• Of all the hardships a person has to face, none was more punishing than the simple act of waiting.
• That I only have eyes for you.
• Tell your secret to the wind, but don’t blame it for telling the trees.
• The Chinese say it’s better to be deprived of food for three days than tea for one.
• One could not count the moons that shimmer on her roofs, or the thousand splendid suns that hide behind her walls
• Mariam is in Laila's own heart, where she shines with the bursting radiance of a thousand suns, but the game involves only male names. Because, if it's a girl, Laila has already names her.

This is how I felt after I read the book (click the link)- A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

Quotes from The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks- My Favourite lines

This is my first of such collection. Now onwards, i would try to note down the lines i like whenever i read a book.

Below are few lines I loved from the book "The Wedding" by Nicholas Sparks

• “What are we, after all, without our memories … without our dreams?”
• “Everything a baby does strikes a parent as the most magical thing he/she has ever seen.” 
• “Love I have realized is more than 3 words mumbled before bedtime. Love is sustained by action, a pattern of devotion in the things we do for each other every day.”
• “Gifts of the heart can't be claimed by anyone except the giver.” 
• “Is it possible, I wonder, for a man to truly change? Or do character and habit form the immovable boundaries of our lives?” 
• “How many people are ever given that chance? To have someone you fall in love with you ever over and over?”
• "Marriage is about compromise; it's about doing something for the other person, even when you don't want to.”
• “There is nothing quite peaceful as holding a sleeping child in the comfort of your arms and wondering how it’s possible to care so deeply.”

        Click the Link to read how I felt after reading "The wedding

The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks

Book Title:- The Wedding

Author:- Nicholas Sparks

Thirty years into the marriage can make any couple to be taken for granted for each other. Forgetting one’s marriage anniversary is no doubt the worst and most dreadful thing any husband can ever do his wife. This fact is well known and stated by all men – ‘ahh, Women..!”. But, the sinking feeling inside one's self when Wilson fears that his beloved wife Jane no longer loves him is the turning point in his life. Jane being the closest witness to undying love of her own parents Noah and Allie, Wilson himself being an inexpressive person by nature – He knows he has a hard time ahead to win her wife heart back. Noah gives him a perfect kick by confessing how he felt when Allie would not recognize him –

“Every time I read to her, it was like I was courting her, because sometimes, just sometimes, she would fall in love with me again, just like she had a long time ago. And that's the most wonderful feeling in the world. How many people are ever given that chance? To have someone you love fall in love with you over and over?”

I truly loved the book and enjoyed it thoroughly. I do not know how, but I somehow predicted almost all the coming events. That did spoiled my experience a bit, but despite of that, I could not help but smile throughout the romantic trip. I could not help but notice the special love and bonding shared by parent and children described so effortlessly throughout the book. Obviously I would also do anything as eternal as Wilson’s Daughter did for him. I could very easily picture my brother in place of his son and the anger over his dad to hurt his mom.

I have some favourite lines from the book which I would like to note in my diary –

                Here is the link to my Favorited lines from “The Wedding”.

Do you remember the most romantic moment from your wedding days? How did you like the book? Would you go ahead and read it after my thoughts on it? Write your heart/mind in comments section. I would be glad to read out your end of thinking on the book.

Man-Eaters Of Kumaon by Jim Corbett

Book Title:- Man-Eaters Of Kumaon

Author:- Jim Corbett

I picked this book as I bumped into the book store at my resort while on vacation to Jim Corbett National Park. The shopkeeper told me that it is the most famous book by Jim Corbett. Initially, I thought of it as a marketing trick, but soon realized that he was so true.

The book is a combination of stories or rather narration of adventures experienced by the writer while on hunting big cats who turned into man-eaters. The stories very deeply describe the exotic flora, fauna and the typical village life of Indian villages. I through enjoyed reading the book and could not resist to finish a chapter once I stared it.

Although I felt that the reason of near extinction of such beautiful creature is because of such causal attitude of hunting big cats for sport, but I really admire the love of Jim Corbett for tigers. His passion was very clearly visible. After every kill, I could not stop thinking the present scenario of Tigers. Although I went on an adventure trip while reading the book, I hated the parts where big cats were shot just for sport and collect 'trophies' of their skin.

My favourite part of the book was the incident where whole village vacated its home in the fear of a tigress turned man-eater. The narration of empty houses with their doors open made me feel present there. I also could not stop laughing when the author got his camp house filled with earthen pots filled with fresh milk as a gesture by the village.

Altogether, it was an awesome read and provided me a change in my reading interests.

Do you have fascination towards tigers? How did you like the book? Would you go ahead and read it after my thoughts on it? Write your heart/mind in comments section. I would be glad to read out your end of thinking on the book.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Book Title:- Great Expectations

Author:- Charles Dickens

Oh my god! I never expected that it would take an effort read a classic. People have been reviewing Great Expectations for 150 years. To be very frank, i found Great Expectations not so great to my own expectations.It was good, but not great.

The story gained some interest from the beginning but i found it boring, dull, lifeless, and flat in. Many times, i had to remind myself what the plot was about. But, as i forced myself to complete the book and not leaving it half read, i sincerely thank that moment. I regained interest in the story after more than half of it. I even asked for the summary to one of my cousins who had seen the movie, but still while reading it, i found it much better. May be this is the reason i always say that books are always better than movies!!!

Written in first person, the main character Pip and his decisions as well as expectations looked quite close to real life. Miss Haversham added some mystery to the story. The end was a bit surprising but not unpredictable. From the very beginning, i could make out ultimate fall of Estella.

But, i have a doubt, it is known as children's book. From where can children have so much patience to get themselves hooked to this story. May be my perception change once i have many more classics...:)

How did you like the book? Would you go ahead and read it after my thoughts on it? Write your heart/mind in comments section. I would be glad to read out your end of thinking on the book.

Letters from a Father to his Daughter by Jawaharlal Nehru

Book Title:- Letters from a Father to his Daughter

Author:- Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

“Many wonder what difference does upbringing make on children... On the learning path of "Letters of a Father to His Daughter" I can now make it out an answer to it... Wonder if I would ever be able to tell such complex things to my kid in such simple manner....”  This was my Facebook status message while I was in the middle of this wonderful little book. I was thoroughly impressed with Mr. Nehru knowledge about the world history, this too expressed in letters to his ten year old daughter 

The book is a collection of 30 letters written by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru , the first prime minister of India to his 10 year daughter Indira Priyadharshini later Indira Gandhi, who also became the prime minister of the country during a summer in 1928. 

The book is a true delight to read as a child with lot of excitement. Thank god I bought the original copy for this; I am going to keep it very safe for my kid. I would make sure he reads it when he is around 8 to 9 years old.

Coming to my favorite part of book, there were many. The letter “What is Civilization?” was so heart touching. The others include letter in which Mr. Nehru explained why man started sacrificing animals and imagined that he could stop the rain and hail like this. I also loved the fact that he let his daughter know that we worship god for a reason and not just its god.

Have you ever received or wrote letters? How did you like the book? Would you go ahead and read it after my thoughts on it? Write your heart/mind in comments section. I would be glad to read out your end of thinking on the book.