….Lipton PureLeaf Raspberry Tea. This stuff is truly delicious! I have never been a fan of tea–of any kind, until I was introduced to the green tea frappucino at Starbucks. My goodness, that stuff is good. Yeah, not much tea-like though! Then, I tried citrus-flavored green tea (also by Lipton), which is refreshing. However, the raspberry tea is just awesome! I have been looking everywhere for a bigger pack of it, hoping it will be cheaper. I have only been able to buy a 2-serving bottle for $1.49+tax at the market at school. I have been, in pursuit of this amazement, to Smart & Final, Vons, Walmart, Target, Big Lots, CVS, and Rite-Aid. Nowhere is the deliciousness to be found–not even on Amazon! If anyone knows where this is to be found in a larger pack of bottles, please let me know. With the summer heating up (to 97F today in San Diego!), there would be nothing more enjoyable than sipping on this PureLeaf Raspberry flavored Iced Tea.

If you are looking for something new, with far few calories (the PureLeaf Raspberry Tea is 80 calories per serving, and 150 per 8 fl oz bottle) than a green tea frappucino without whipped cream (290 calories for a 12 fl oz Tall), and have never tried these iced teas, give it a shot. I don’t think you will regret it for one minute. Cool relief on a hot, hot summer day. Mm, Mm, Mmm good.

PS If you have not tried Starbucks’ Green Tea Frappucino, which is usually available every summer, you are missing out! It’s quite good, but not for the calorie conscious. It’s a treat for the self, once in a while

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1. Reminiscing

Recently, just around Earth Day, I bought some seeds to plant. I did have plants before, but only 2-3 have survived my neglectence. I was determined not to let that happen to these seeds. I took care to peek at them everyday and water them as needed (but not too much). I planted sunflower seeds (those are the large leafed ones), basil, and some perennials.

If you noticed, these are all in little pots. I do have larger ones that I plan to transplant these into. I’m not sure when is the best time to do that, so any suggestions are welcome, but I think the roots have to be pretty strong for the plants to withstand the move.

It really is amazing how hard seeds, with just a little soil, water and sunshine can grow into these brilliant green little plants. I really, really hope they live to be healthy strong plants!

Sad Update: I discovered two fat little caterpillars feasting on my sunflower plants I got rid of them, but the plants are in dire state. I am not sure they will make it. Boo. I hate insects.

I am a dreamer. It’s true-I find it hard to give up on things that are important to me. Having said that, the past few months have been really emotionally challenging for me for many reasons. I haven’t blogged; I haven’t known what to blog about when there are so many things troubling me. Some things I understand, some I don’t.

Anyway, here I am. And I’ve been thinking. A lot.

I read a recent CNN article about this man, Munoz, who, for the past couple of decades, has been spending more than half of his $700 salary to feed the hungry and the homeless on the streets of New York. We are all (hopefully) charitable in some manner through our lives. This man though, and his story touched me. To think and care about complete strangers in this manner-evening after evening, day after day? Pretty incredible.

I am fortunate. I have loving exceptional parents, who have cared and provided for me everything I wished for growing up. I am only just beginning to realize how monumental a task parenting is, as I’m seeing a couple of my friends starting to embark on it. I probably have never thanked them enough for doing everything they did, in whatever manner they did, because I attribute a lot of what I am today, to them.

Love is a strange thing though. I know my parents don’t agree with me right now, but no matter what, I just cannot find the words to blame them for how they feel. I understand, but do they? Maybe they do, and they simply don’t like it. Yes, love is remarkable. It is unending, and we have this ability, as humans, to display our affection, to many people, in many different ways.

On that note, let me share this with you; I’m not usually one for quotes, but this I found to ring very true:

“The big difference between people is not between the rich and the poor, the good and the evil. The biggest of all differences between people is those who have had pleasure in love and those who haven’t.”
-Paul Newman (as Chance Wayne in “Sweet Bird of Youth”)

What good are the riches of the world if there is nothing worth living for? We work hard all our lives, to get a good job, a good pay, and we hope, that will help us lead ‘the good life’. Yes, money is necessary, but not beyond the necessity of love.

Related posts:

1. Love conquers (a lot, if not everything)
2. Love in India: Shah Jahan & Mumtaz Mahal
3. Fickle thing called love..

This video pretty much sums up the life of an IITian. Of course, not everyone gets lucky enough to study with a girl. This made me really nostalgic, having spent most of my adult years at IIT. Enjoy

Related posts:

1. If cricket were a religion, Sachin Tendulkar would be God.
2. Love conquers (a lot, if not everything)
3. Back on better server..

So after much dilly-dallying, we have finally moved to our own servers. The blog was hosted on a free server for awhile now and I was not very happy about it. It used to go down every once in awhile making it hard to blog when we wanted to. Its not like we’ve too many visitors every day or that we blog regularly. But we are hoping to blog a little more regularly in the next couple of weeks. So we wanted to be on a server which wouldn’t die on us.

But the moving hasn’t been entirely smooth. The export/import tool of WordPress hasn’t been altogether successful. We lost some of our posts, which I was able to bring back from the backup but the comments were altogether lost. We apologize to all the people whose valuable comments we destroyed.

Even though the changes are not apparent, the loading times and the site’s functioning and up time should improve. Hope you enjoy your stay here and we also hope that you will take something home from our lives and maybe share a story or two about yourselves.

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1. Welcome..

Not everyone is perfect. We all have our imperfections and there are things about us that we can’t help but loathe. I’m not talking about narcissists but for an average human being, we see more faults in ourselves than others do. Sometimes we even go to the extent of hating ourselves because of these imperfections. But love changes it all. You will notice things in yourself that you haven’t noticed before. It is when you start looking at yourself through the eyes of your lover, you realize that you aren’t so bad after all.

If someone asked me who is the worst person on earth, I would gladly raise my hand and put my name first on the list because I know myself all too well and a really bad memory to remember it all (blessed are the people who can forget their mistakes easily). But ever since I met archana, I’ve done nothing but love myself. She has been a huge boost to my self-esteem. I thought I would list a few changes(both good and bad) I’ve seen in myself over the past few years since archana came into my life.

Learning Patience:

One of the first things that probably changed was my level of patience. I’ve always been eternally impatient. If i wanted something, I wanted it now and if I had to wait, I’d rather not have it at all. Yes, I was very spoiled being the first born and some sort of a child prodigy, I got preferential treatment everywhere I went. But the impatience changed the moment I met archana because I knew things would not happen in a hurry and that it would be a long long wait before we are finally together. Patience is extremely important in a long distance relationship because the distance will start showing on you eventually and at least one of the partners have to learn to bear the brunt to keep things in check, so you don’t lose the sight of the long term goal. I learned to be patient because as cliched as it might sound, good things come to those who wait. I am sure all this will pay off in a good way sometime in the future. (Archana, you better make sure it does ). I am not saying that I never lose patience. Like I said before, we all have our faults and I lose it to the silliest of things sometimes. But all is good in the end, we cant stay angry with each other for long.

So if you are in a long distance relationship, my advice would be to learn to be patient. I know that there is always a hurry to get together and get your life started as quickly as possible and the sight of couples walking hand-in-hand will always make you long for that feeling. If you know that he/she is the one for you, be patient and it will be really worth it when you are finally in their arms.

More changes in the next post.

Related posts:

1. Patience and perseverence
2. Ten favorite things about my guy
3. Changes: Wanting to be married

Originally posted here

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1. Here i am

Who was it that once said, “All the world loves a lover”? Well, whoever it was, he/she must certainly not have come from where I do. The part of the world where I come from hardly loves a lover.

It is, I think, a little strange that falling in love and wanting to marry someone of your own choice, rather than your parents’ in India is considered, well, somewhat of a taboo thing to do. Why should it be this way? And how did it come to be this way? Hinduism never preached that it was wrong or immoral to love another. (In fact, I’m quite sure it is the opposite).

In every language spoken in India, there is a word for love. In fact, the mother of most languages borne in India, Sanskrit, is supposed to have ninety-six words for love! It is the land of many love stories, buried in the past. There are mythological stories too, about Gods and who they fell in love with. These stories have touched and inspired me and made me think, and so, in the next couple of weeks, I plan to blog about some of these stories that I know of.

I will start with perhaps the most famous of them all. The story of Shah Jahan and his beloved Mumtaz Mahal that reflects the intensity and passion love can bring about. This is how the story goes:

Prince Khurram met Arjumand Banu at a bazaar. She was trying to sell him a piece of glass she insisted was a diamond for Rs. 10,000. The prince was so smitten that he not only purchased the diamond, but went straight to his father to announce to him that he wanted to marry her. Their wedding took place five years later, and they became inseparable. Arjumand was bestowed the name ‘Mumtaz Mahal’, meaning the ‘jewel of the palace’. And that she was, for Shah Jahan entrusted her with many matters. It is said that she became his political adviser and often accompanied him on his military campaigns.

Less than 20 loving years later, however, she died in childbirth. Shah Jahan, heartbroken, resolved to make a monument that would forever be a symbol of the love they shared. Mumtaz Mahal was buried in the Taj Mahal which took nearly two decades to be made. Upon Shah Jahan’s death, he too was entombed in the Taj, next to his beloved wife.

It remains today, a memento of love, with the perfection of art. This is a story of devotion and faith, and of undying love, encased in the wondrous beauty of the Taj Mahal.

Related posts:

1. Love in India: Salim-Anarkali
2. Beyond love
3. Love conquers (a lot, if not everything)

A warm welcome to all the loyal readers who followed us here and to the new ones who wandered here out of nowhere. Archana and me always wanted to have our own domain name for a long time now. As we are about to enter a new phase in our lives in the next couple of months, we felt it is the best time to make the move. While the whole site is still in an experimental phase, the functionality will always be intact. So we invite all of you, couples or single, young or old to share your experience of love with us. Once again, thanks for visiting and we hope you enjoyed your stay .

I took this picture in the morning when I was waiting to give a mock CAT. The guy is trying to shoot a bird with his catapult. It reminded me of the days when I really made a fuss to get one. Living in a city, we had trouble finding one but I got myself one when we visited our village during the summer. We had aiming competitions and I carried it around like it was a Magnum for Clint Eastwood. I was not a very good at aiming hence I ended up breaking up a few windows and those ornamental lamps which are mounted on either side of the gate (as if the damage done playing cricket was not enough ). Alas it did not last forever as the rubber thread which was used for slinging broke and the catapult eventually retired into the dark corners under the bed.