Notting Hill Carnival

The first carnival of my life! Notting Hill Carnival is supposed to be largest carnival of its kind in Europe and we were all the most enthusiastic to be part of this great event.

check this link for more details of this carnival.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notting_Hill_Carnival

Monday,the bank holiday is supposed to be the most spectacular day and the preceding day, Sunday is meant for kids.

Rak and me embarked on the journey around 9.45 and reached the place around 11.00. We dint have to search much for the place as there was a huge crowd flowing in and all we had to do was make sure that we followed the herd :)

I almost missed Rak near the carnival entrance only but to see him with his hands outstretched.On closer inspection, my guess was proved right! Free drinks! Not to be left out, i too collected my can and we set out further for more goodies....

The drink was some tropicana stuff and chilled! I wonder how people could drink such chilled stuff on a cold morning..but eager not to waste any free stuff, we both gulped it down. :D

and then where to go next? our herd seemed to come to a stop still with crowds sitting/standing around in groups. Both of us were so proactive enuf that we were lost in this huge crowd with not even a map!

But we dint bother much and decided to follow the universal instinct. People seemed to be oblivious of what others did and everyone just seemed to be taking snaps,eating and drinking.

But as i said, some people kept moving further down the road and so we decided to take a stroll. The roads were crowded by people on both sides and we had to walk right through the middle. I kept getting the feeling like we were like celebrities walking down an aisle with our fans on both sides of the road except for the fact that noone even noticed that we existed here :) . However i felt so bold in walking down the road like that along with Rak.

Occasional stunts were given by one gang consisting of some muscular guys and hip shaking girls who were painted and dressed like some red indian tribes..we tuk some snaps of them and found a bigger crowd in the road to the right of the one we had intially entered. We found some place in a wall near some Indian people(they were speaking hindi). We clambered up the walls which were armed with pointed iron railings to keep off the trespassers. We supported ourselves on the branches of the trees stooping over and awaited our carnival. Rak was so indignant when he found our neighbour Indian girl smoking. He felt that Indians should not forget their culture nomatter which country they are ! Better said than done!

It was funny to hear songs in foreign languages..funny because it sounded weird without being able to understand them and i wondered how we mite sound to others!

Some girls loaded with beer joined us on the walls.. We dint have to wait much and the floats started to float in....The music was amazing and there was not a single soul who dint atleast tap their feet to the rythm. We could feel the pounds of the music in our hearts and that is why Monday, the Bank Holiday and main day of the event is meant only for adults though i did find some kids in there.

The floats were amazing.Rich vibrant colours and costumes added with wonderful music made every scene spectacular.

It was then that it struck me that these carnivals resemble the festivals we have back in India the only difference being that here they celebrate just being alive and kicking whereas in India, even our joys are divided by communities and religions. Yet, when i asked myself the question as to whether i would like my native ones more, the answer was a strong yes. Maybe its because as they say old habits die hard! and moreover they do have a more emotional touch..

ok back to the roads....There were men and women walking on long sticks and their elegance made us hold our breath. Rak kept clicking on and i shall paste the link in this post.

After some 5-10 floats, we saw people milling towards our direction and we couldnt make out a thing. But the sight of a big crowd coming towards you is a little tempting to flee and so we dint resist. We got down from the walls and decided to head the crowd. It was funny in the sense that first, we dint know where we were and 2, we dint know where we were headed.But still we kept floating :D

We found the much awaited makeshift toilets...first timers :D....seemed quite ok i should say..and by then we were in middle of the crowd. We kept going until we reached a junction where the crowd seemd to disperse in 3 directions and we were again confused. But the sign of foods helped us in making up our minds. We headed straight to find many food stalls loaded with delicious aromatic food. It looked very enticing to taste the food and give commentaries like in some travelogues but we were skeptic.Hams were also plenty within and Rak had already confused me that Hams meant the backside of pigs! So better hungry than puking, we moved around.

Jerk chicken seemed to be the star in almost all the stalls and we kept peeping in almost every stalls to figure out what it was. Finally hunger got the bets of us and we treated ourselves to fried rice and a BBQ(thats barbeque) chicken....Wow! i loved the touch ups they have used!

and then we kept wandering along the streets viewing all the activities going around.. On some lanes,loud music was set up and open discos were going on. Got to see the real life DJs...wow the black are really kewl...the way they keep on babbling in the rock and roll rhythm is really amazing..

Finally we chanced upon one more lane where the crowd was mightier. We came across several floats again. These were more vivid ones and more livelier.

Most of the floats were from the West Indies and their energy and stamina levels,both for men and women alike are awesome. They kept dancing and shaking their hips to the loud overflowing music.

The road on which this event was taking place had apartments on either side and some apartments were cashing in on their locality ...they were offering comfortable carnival watching spots. Beers were also being sold and people dint seem to mind the high rates..

Police kept patrolling around ..but people dint seem to be unruly and we couldn't see any police cordoning. They were mainly there to guide people in finding their way to their destination.

Oh, and i saw some people smoking grass......they just wrap some straw kinda stuff in a white paper, light it and keep puffing off it.

6 hours at the carnival started taking the toll on us and we had to retreat by 5.00. There was no difficulty in finding our way back and the police did a mighty good job. Even in a crowd, there was no fear of unwanted poking and so there was no need to loose cool.

we graced upon KFC on our way back and the place was so crammed up. I guess they couldnt manage the carnival crowd and so the place was strewn with empty boxes and ketchups.But we were so hungry to be put off by all this mess and we promptly cleaned off a table and started gluttoning.

However i couldnt finish mine and Rak had me scared that buses wouldnt allow eatables on board. I believed him so much that i made a funny scene by trying to hide the KFC box behind my legs while boarding the bus,only to find people inside eating and drinking comfortably.

I was so exhausted to pick up a fight and so we spent our return journey musing over the carnival.

Rak badly wanted the stamina of the carribean people and i wanted their stature.

Wishing hard on these,we made our way back home and ended up our day with a movie and a round of home food :D

gluttony! long live thy glory!


here are some pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/geniusinside/NottingHillCarnival?authkey=1wjcbP5gIWo

Marks Of life

last time i had been to a party, i noticed a sweet shy girl tallying around her mom...So i thought of engaging her as well and i invited her to the antakshari we were deep in....Her mom stared at us for a few seconds and then politely denied it. It was only later that i came to know that she was deaf as well as dumb...... Later she tried to communicate with me and i was shocked to face the truth ....It hurt me a lot but it was too late to repair the damage.....I dunno if i would ever meet her again but i would like to render one heart felt apology to her ....This certainly created a mark in my life.......in the sense that i would never be able to forget that

I recently read that one who muses the past never lives and to thrive on , one needed aspirations.....Yaaa i do have aspirations......i wish our downstair aunt sends me more laddus and sweet paratas.......

its been really hectic a couple of weeks and never got a chance to blog..

n yaa one very funny incident.............my inlaws have a very different dialect than mine and the last time i visisted them, it happened so that i had asked for a cup of black coffee while my aunt was boiling milk.......in her hurry to give me the coffee,,the milk had boiled over....i had not noticed the entire incident and when it came to my notice ,, i saw my aunt saying something which i comfortably interpreted as she had burnt her fingers.........my civility tuk the better of me and i promptly emptied the cold water i had in my hand over her hands...............i stood there expecting some appreciation for my on the spot leverage....only to find my aunt stunned...........then a laughter broke out as she explained that she had meant that the milk had overflown and nothing had got burnt :D

the aunt who lives in challisery has a sweet little house similar to the old ones heard in stories.......and this time when i went home, i recognized one universal truth...........infant recognize their mother by the usual dresses and smells,,, he he i got this conclusion when i had to wear my cousin's dress and my niece was always crying out to me to hold her whenever she saw me......however my voice did give me out and the poor little thing was such a confusion when she was amicably in my hands whom she had believed to be her mom and she heard her mom's voice from somewhereelse........ :D

i realised one more thing like though i like villages and all, i dont like to stay permanently there ....its all for a vacation!!!

Donald Strikes again

Here goes...the squaky donald strikes again at 11 :D when she is supposed to be watching movie ... :D
I think the noise might wake up my amma n achan......so better keep it low...which reminds me...i just love the serial which is aired on kairali around 9 in the morning.........glad that achan is also finding it amusing.......

amma is a different territory.......i enjoy exchanging words with her.........she is more sort of a companion than a mom.....well...being skeptical,,atleast for the time being........

really missing those long saturday chats with mittu............she was the last person on earth whom i thought i would miss but surprisingly yes...i do miss her a lot..........the long saturday chats we had about anything under the sun...the gossips ;), my aunts helpings.,,hearing news from my relatives...listening intently to the same old yarns.............ooo jeese that was some time.......

gulping down wotever food was served....hmmm...........that joy was something to be relished........

now its more like i'm pampered a lit too much.........i think i would soon loose wotever little maturity i had........ :D

hmmm........changes are happening to me ..and i can sense it in the people around me as well..........

i wonder wot was into the 3rd part of the movie............not feeling really sleepy..infact i'm stark awake.............wot if i watch it? hmm......i wish i had headphones.........

welll.let me go watch it..or else i'm sure to dream it...........

got to get up early 2mrw morning :(

but yes....i need to preserve it.......ok here goes....
welcome calcutta news!!!

bye bye doanald.............i leave u to ur musings........

until i have something really haash poosh n really fundaic theres not gonna be a blog

btb....i'm so happy that i downloaded a torrent.............that was the only file i could........ :D

wonder wot the electricity bill would b............

wotever i do..i shud not clean my ears for next month :DDDDD

Too Much of Family??

Looks like i'm being more involved with family of late......oops.....reminds me forgot to call ma......will call her 2mrw............wot a contrast isnt it? claiming to b more involved n yet forgetting ..:(

well tht exactly drives the point.......i'm not settled in for family.......i love family ..but its always been a vacation affair for me other than the casual talks sometimes during the week.........

how do people manage time? i dont get any for once..........i am always engaged with something or the other,,,,,,,,

why do people resist changes and how do some people embrace it like kids......

i am atleast in the part who resist ones.....

well can we classify it like cultures are nurtured by people like me who resist changes and development ..specifically technological is done by those who welcome changes?


too much of family is showing on me.....gotta reduce some pounds..........weekends of love n care shows up in form of extra lumps :(

am i too sarcastic??? who cares!!!


hmmmm..........there is a kid within every1 and is a man considered genius wen he constrains himself from his inner kid? man!!! this world is amusing............if a big shot plays kiddish,,hes so chweet!!! and if a normal person do so,,hes christened not competent enuf


wish there wud b old days wen (acc to my imagination) one cud dress himself up for the day and then engage himself in his own musings n spend time in the shade of a tree being pensive about all the worries of the world............blah blah................but that would be a world i would have enjoyed .....

family.........why does it keep coming back??? because its essential........mix n match of emotions packed up in a beautiful box-family..........

shud i??????


i need lakeside and a bench to ponder upon.........someone just pass on allawudein's genie if u ever come across him.........got some work to do........ :D

bad bad me

bad bad me...i dunno how to behave when i get bored..as for today...one girl,,very dear to me was explaining about her........same things which i have heard over the years..and being a little tired,,i couldnt respect h er talk and started yawning and pulling my hair,,,,,,,,,,,,it was only when she left off abruptly that i realised what i was upto............. ;(

i think this trait was passed on from my father..........it really shows when he gets bored though my ma manages to pull off in the same interest with which she started it.......

anywise shud overcome this..........

one more indecent thing of me happened............today while entering the pg,,i suddenly saw a new face in the living room..........the face looked somewot out of place and i was wondering what it was..........saw some extra facial hairs..but ofcourse that could be generic..........then i looked at the oddest of places......!!! mayb seeing the way i was staring,,my inmate offered me the info that the new homosapien was a male!!!! gosh!! it was only then i realised that the stranger was blushing to rootss............i quickly mumbled something and rushed to my room n was about to lock myself in when some girls came in and the usual gossiping started....i have come to realise of late,that i am not updated enuf of our daily events..........hmmm...........but i feel awful after doing that.........:(

oo my god...i hate the oily rich fud i have........really tired now

btb..........contrary to my and the popular belief,,i was not offered fud yday.......

gotta call ma.............

gudnite guys.......

hmmmmmmm...........one thing i have noticed is that women are underprvileged not only in backward countries but also in developed ones............i was reading about casanova today and the stark contrast baffles me............

At Loss!

hmm..was not planning to blog today..but i found myself in a total loss that i had to kill some time here.

my options where..
1.the tv room cluttered with noisy gals..........Sometimes i get impatient with the animated expressions and can hardly control myself from asking them to tell the jist ..Not ofcourse if its funny!!...

2.A dumb reality show is going on and they are still pinned down in front of the idiotbox..am i turning rude now??i dont get the point..thanks to internal leakg and internet,,we know the results beforehand itself ....the only point y i watch it at times it to the admire the beauty of the contestants......and rarely to the songs....but then somebody starts singing along from my part of the audience.,its like forcing their music down the ears..........errr sgould get rid of this ... habit.,btb i cant imagine my state if any one of my inmates come to learn of my blogs............thanks to my bingo bogus login,that would be far-fetched fear........

this point actually enforcens the thought in me that siblings are the greatest blessings one can get......i mean we can shout at them,voice our own opinions..pull at them,make fun of them,be angry,be jealous..express it(fantastic!!).......moreover,,be your self...........and still everythign remains the same,,,,,,,,actually my siblings consider it abnormal if i am normal..............really siblings are a treasure............

3.the smoking kitchen...someone is really toturing our nostrils..forcing them to clear by fits of induced outburts...the worst part is that i'm going to have a tuf time refusing it..........only if friendhip and love were not measured in the intake of the spicy food prepared by one

today was an uneventful,rather normal day...i have got into the habit of sleeping to glory in the bus..feels like a cradle..but it would be silly of me to say so as i never had the privilege of sleeping in one..well,i made it up by sleeping in my cousins' cradle like an overgrown baby evn during my highschool..:)

one girl..oops i really dunno if i shud be mentioinig this...after having a debate sorta thing with her parents was inside the bus......she woke me up thinking i was overdoing the sleeping part.....but luckily it was not my stop

wot other thing could happen??

hmmm....i dont have to thik long..............

i think i prefer oriental fud over masala ones........

here comes the food...............arrgh..............here goes another debate!!!!!

and the winner is............

only if i could announce the winning title for today's blog.......my candidates were..........1.The stricker strikes again(if only it vould make sense)...2.GO Kartinnnnnnnnggggggg
and 3.heavenly bliss

since i am unable to decide on a topic,i may as well follow my hapzhard mind............oooo the striker did it again today.........this time it had to be agansha's music system......paapa......feeling sorry for her...........she had called over a friend to show her car when she found the door open and the music system phooooooooooossshhhhhhh !! gayab!!!

she had the police called in but cant say dey did a decent job..blamed her eventually for not finding any other evidence of forced breakin........now the security guards here are under our suspision........


this robbery saga has been goign on for some time now......someitmes i wish i could pull up a sherlock holmes stunt and bring the culprit to book.........but the reality is far more tuff............d idea simply doesnt strike............now i learnt to appreciate the old fella more........

hmmm now regarding go karting................wow~!!!! it was absolutely amazing.............i love the power and the recklessness it allows.....

got overtaken by a guy,girl n boy.............. but i did manage to overtake one guy...........

should practice it more often............was really dumstruck by some performances.......


hmmm.........regarding yday...........had been to a friend's home.......there i was asked to make tea.........but i hate to be feminish and so declined............however i did help them out in the process..........

had a bug bundle of clothes to wash today........

y o y did eve had to take the apple? if not everyone could have done away with clothes..............

but i guess then a major booming indsutry would have been swiped off........wot about matching accessories??? hmm........need to rethink...........

feeling so sleepy..........

now my motto is gonna be............early to bed and early yo rise makes a man helathy wealthy and wise....................hope i get wise atleast like that.......

one puppy is wining downstairs..............wishi could take it in and bring it up as my own!!

alas!! wishes have no boundaries!!!