There's magic in the air

This was the view from my window when I woke up this morning.

I cannot even begin to describe the excitement that gripped me. It was pure glee .. and I started shrieking for B to come to the window. I have seen snow earlier, but that time it was not all around and on trees and just everywhere. This was a first.

There was ofcourse chaos on the tube with two inches of snow.. but for once I am thankful for that. I needed to be some place in a hurry so I had to take a cab and I passed by Regents Park which looked like Narnia. How I wished I could have stopped, walked around and taken pictures. Sadly, that was not to be. But its captured in my mind and I don't think I'll ever forget the thrilling feeling. It was all so so beautiful.

I leave you with a picture of the community garden which our living room window overlooks .. its pure magic.. and has left me in a high all day!

A bunch of reviews

There's been some hectic movie watching happening in the last few weeks.. and I would recommend nearly all of them.

The best one was yesterday, The Last King of Scotland. I don't generally read movie reviews, but B does and he insisted we go for the film though I wasn't sure. It was not a light afternoon film but was fabulous. For one, I got to know a lot more about Idi Amin. But more significantly, if you want to watch some fantastic acting, Forest Whitaker was outstanding. I read later that he has won a lot of awards for this role as well.

A few weeks ago, we finally got to watch Little Miss Sunshine. I totally loved it, especially the end. I didn't have very high expectations, but it was so crazy that it was a lot of fun.

Then there was Guru. I quite liked the film - some good acting, interesting theme. I would have liked an idealistic end but it was realistic in terms of being able to get away in corporate India with little punishment. I didn't like one part, the reaction of the investigation panel. To me, it seemed like they were moved enough by Guru bhai's speech to condone all he had done. But irrespective of the end, the means were wrong, and a good speech does not justify it.

Two other nice movies we watched at home were Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. I loved the first part. It felt so spontaneous that it was lovely watching it. The sequel seemed a bit forced but I loved some of the general dialogues. It all just seemed so natural. While I prefer neatly tied up ends, I liked the open end of the second part, leaving it to your imagination.

On a non film note, we finally went for Alegria. It was a lovely evening out. I didn't enjoy it as much as the Quidam, which is the first Cirque du soleil show I had been for. Maybe because that had much more novelty value so I feel I liked it more, or maybe it was more interesting. I'm not sure which, but it was still a lovely evening and an interesting one too.

Through rain, hail and storm

Yesterday, in one shot ,I was transported to Bombay.

It really was a very windy day .. and I could feel my overcoat being practically blown away on my walk from the tube to office. But I never imagined the transport services would be hit so badly. By evening the atmosphere was like an evening in Bombay when it had rained through the day. Bombay - Central line down, trains delayed and people discussing strategies of how to get back home. London - It was exactly the same with the tube line down in some of the outer zones, long distance trains being severely delayed or suspended.. and everyone making strategies on the best way they could get back.

I never imagined it would be this similar but I hear the the transport services cannot deal with anything out of the ordinary. I've warned to wait for the day there's even half an inch of snow!

The perky, persky, pain from the office

Three weeks and already I have a to-be irritating boss. My current boss is off on maternity leave in a four months and so there's this new 'dude' who has joined who'll be taking on part of her responsibilities. I am only hoping it is not some part that I feature in.

Day 1, he is being taken around office and goes into hyper enthusiasm about everyone's weekends including his. Its 8 on a Monday morning for gods sake - tone it down. If I thought that was the height of the high pitched enthusiasm .. I was totally wrong. Just two days and his jumping around like an excited puppy wants you to just tell him to 'sit'. All this ofcourse made worse by these open plan offices. Even when he is speaking to someone next to him, I can hear his evening pub plans from my desk. And if this was not enough .. he also has this 'I am not the boss but your pal' attitude ..which kind of falls flat when he is trying to be pals with the 21 year old trainee next to me.

This whole thing reminds me of my office in India. There, we had a Miss Perpetual Sunshine who joined the year before I left. Any given morning, irrespective of Bombay floods and crowded trains she was so chirpy and sugar sweet that it could make you diabetic. Its not like a normal sweet.. but a drippy sugar syrup.. making you ache for some bitter coffee instead.

Its makes me feel so weird to be bitching about people trying to be sweet and pally.. but if you've met the kind I'm talking about.. you'll know what I mean.

Being employed again

Its official - I hate my new job. Incase I had any doubts before joining that I might just be ok with it .. it's been proven otherwise. Also ..I keep thinking how this has been many steps back and my whole 'career change' plan has flopped.

That said, however underpaid I might be .. its nice feeling to be working again. Somehow I feel much more efficient when I'm working. Though I have much less time..I am way more organized...and effectively get more done. Its also been interesting meeting people from around the world and I'm totally enjoying the after office drinks. I never imagined how cosmopolitan London work places are.

The other big thing is a feeling of independence. Not that B ever even mentioned a thing about what I spent .. but its an ingrained feeling. Though very soon after I started studying I lost all regret of spending B's hard earned money and started thinking of it as 'our' money (*sly grin*) .. I now realise that I always did have that thought somewhere at the back of my mind. It feels good now.. to think ..that at the end of the month there'll be a cheque waiting for me.

Tonight I am also totally enjoying some 'alone' time. With all these months of being alone at home .. I quite enjoyed the time I had to myself (though perhaps I had a bit too much of it then). B is at some dinner with a friend and after ages am home alone .. and it feels quite good. (oops ..I forgot B reads the blog now) At any rate.. I had a nice quiet dinner catching up on what everyone has been doing. Now back to looking for a job .. to get myself out of this place asap!

Something new

I haven't done something new in a long long time. Infact, in all the last few months, I can remember little else except being perpetually gloomy. Well, I am no where close to being happy about my job, but with atleast some sort of job we can now think of other things. Also, given the horrible winter, we don't have too many guests these days..that's a lot of free time for us to talk!

So as of day after tomorrow, I might be one of these people in the picture. Yes, we are going to learn ice skating! I was assured today that the idea sounds far more cool than the experience will be. What the heck, I am excited to be doing something interesting for the first time. And maybe, just maybe .. in a few weeks .. tottering me (I can barely walk on a plain road without falling down!) .. might just be skating along.

A resolution and a wish

Its already a week into the new year. . and about time for resolutions. Usually, I make a long list of resolutions and true to stereotype, I break most by the end of the first month. For once, I want it to be different. So this time. I am making just one resolution I want to see through to the end of the year. Its something I've mentioned earlier in different contexts and that is .. getting to my ideal weight. That's it ..the one super tough resolution for 2007.

And the wish. My one word to describe 2006 is 'Low'. There were a variety of reasons .. but the predominant one being the struggle with getting a job, and finally having to accept an offer in something I am not interested. This year I wish for a change in jobs and one which is a lot closer to what I would like to be doing.

That's the simple list for what I want from 2007 .. just hoping it goes as planned!

Happy New Year

Wish you all a very very Happy New Year.. and hope all your dreams come true.

2006 has been a long year in some sense.. fraught with a lot of struggle and tension. In some sense..it also seems short with moving to a new country. In short ..its not a year I am going to forget easily. Though I know time is a continuum, somehow the new year brings with it new hope. So hope its a great year for all of you as well..I have my fingers crossed and hope my luck turned at midnight.

Here are some pictures from last evening, which B very enthusiastically took for my blog (have I mentioned, I finally broke the secret to him). Its along the south bank of the Thames. We have some friends over for the New Years break, so were taking them around. This is how we ended 2006.

St Pauls Cathedral

Lovely lights of the totally bare trees. Its my first winter here, and the trees without a single leaf do not fail to amaze me every time I see them.

The classic London picture.

The end of the walk for the evening, London Eye.

And the final thought for the year - What's the one word which describes the year 2006 for you?