Cleverbot

Cleverbot is an app! Totally in love with it, it speaks absolute nonsense!!  xD  I just spent the last hour and half talking to it  xD   Give it a go  :)   It might drift to a completely different topic but its cute! Gotta lurrrvvvvvvv it!!!  <3

Hey there  :)

I know its been a while and we haven't really posted. We were caught up a bit with exams and clinical training and stuff  :o

Just found this on http://chibird.tumblr.com/ and thought I'd share it with you all  :)   

It really makes a heap of sense  <3  

A 'Bandh' to 'Bandhs'

Those of you living in the state of Goa, India may have witnessed the bandh held yesterday, June 6th, 2011.

For those of you who are not aware what a 'bandh' is, it means 'closed' in Hindi. It is basically a strike or a protest brought on by political activists wherein the general public are forced to stay in their homes, shopkeepers are not allowed to open their shops and modes of public transport are stopped. 

These bandhs are called on by certain parties to get their way by invoking fear in the hearts of the common people. You may wonder how and I'm planning on telling you just that.

3 years ago, when we first arrived in Goa, we were in the dark on such matters, life just seemed fun. But as time went by, the glamor of living in Goa gave way to horror and realization of how things really worked here. 

Back to our topic, some days ago, it was announced in the papers that there would be a 'bandh' on the 6th. The reason for this is as follows:

In Goa, there are 2 types of schools- The local schools and the high class schools ( Thats what I had gathered from those who've lived here). The high class schools are horribly expensive and the rich and some medium class people send their children here. The fees charged are somewhere around Rs. 28,000 per year! The local schools ( Village schools) are attended by people who can't afford the luxury of the other schools. The fees here are around Rs. 800 per year. Now the high class schools have English as the medium of instruction whereas local schools have 'Konkani' as their medium ( Konkani is the native language of the Goan people). Sometime ago, it was suggested that with modernization and evolution of the new era, the children who didn't have English as the main medium, faced problems later in life ( College, work opportunities, etc.)

People went about demanding equality for all, an opportunity for English medium for the fortunate and those not so fortunate. It became a topic of discussion everywhere till finally, the Government agreed that Goa did need a change for the better and English won.

Now, a few days back, some political parties came up with a new twist- If English was taught in schools, people wouldn't make much of an effort to learn it at home and eventually, in say 15 years or so, Konkani would die out!

The bandh was held as scheduled to prove their point and we spent the whole of yesterday cooped up in our home, not that we were complaining though  : P   We enjoy holidays  : D

However, after hearing what happened, it became a bigger issue. 

Politicians disagree on points and force their opinion on the public without giving them a choice! They say India is a democracy, they say people are free here and have a right to choose what they want out of life. I've come from a country in the Middle East where freedom is not a word commonly heard. How is India different from these countries?? They claim to let people's voice's be heard and some other nonsense I really dont want to go into. So how are they better than the Middle East in terms of freedom?

These parties force people to live in constant fear of being stoned or beaten up. They give no thought to anything, there are no factors, they stone everyone, children, women, old people, the sick, injured, EVERYONE!!!

These people claimed that the bandh held yesterday was a success cos people stayed in, most schools were closed, etc. My question is which mother would allow her child to take the public bus on a day when she knows that crazy people are waiting out there to stone her precious child? No matter how against the bandh people are, no human being values anything more than their life and so, nobody moved out of their houses! 

These LUNATICS stoned buses with innocent children in them. I mean, how can have the heart to do something like that? Where is your sense of humanity people???? You'll are so concerned about the future of your language that you'll have lost all concern for the future of the state ( The children).

I personally feel Goa needs to implement English into the schools. I've heard college students struggle to find words to string together to make proper sentences! And these people are the future doctors and engineers of our state, these useless idiots who cant understand text books and who have no idea what is said to them till it is explained in their local language!

English is a universal language, wherever you go, you need it! It is important for communication with the outside world. If you cant speak proper English, how in the world are you living????

Im not against Konkani or anything, I respect the language though I know very little of it, it is a beautiful language and should be kept alive as long as Goans exist. I just feel like Goa needs this to move forward. India has been a developing country for far too long! Indians are smart people and can do wonders but if they cant speak, what good are their brains? I doubt companies want translators along with their employees to translate the Konkani that flows out wonderfully from our mouths!  : P

I think the Shiv Sena or whatever other parties taking part in this should sit and really think about the future of Goa. Soon the beaches will stink and the price of alcohol will rise and then what good will Goa or the Goans be??

We need to take a stand here, we need to fight against these people who terrorize us and force us to become hand puppets in their climb to power!! They cant force their opinions on us!

I love Goa, I want to see it prosper. But if people cant even understand what you say to them half the time, I doubt the future holds anything great for us...

Stand up for what you believe in, only then will life be worth living.

Something to call my Own :D

Its FINALLY done!!!! After hours and hours of nonsense, I've FINALLY managed to make our very own header  : D  : )  : )

We had downloaded the previous header from an online site ( Very generous of them, we owe them loads for giving us something to start with) but somewhere at the back of my head was that nagging thought that somewhere around the globe, someone or 'someones' shared the same header under a different blog name   : o

So after much thought and surfing through the net on 'How to's', this is what I've come up with  : )  Its pretty simple, I know, but its our own and I'm proud of it   : )

Hope you guys like it  : )

My Signature

Ok, I FINALLY got my own signature thingie to add at the end of e-mails and stuff  :D  :D

I got it done at www.mylivesignature.com, its got instructions on how to add them to blogs, emails, etc.  :)

Come on! Give it a go!

xoxo

"You don't need to be on the same wavelength to succeed in marriage. You just need to be able to ride each other's waves." - Toni Sciarra Poynter

For my BFF N,

For always being there for me even though you are millions of miles away <3

I wanted to click a picture for you and your gorgeous fiance K ever since you told me about the wedding. Never really had a clear idea ie until i went to this beach (Candolim beach). Did a really quick job and not sooo happy with the pictures :( but i hope you'll love them anyway <3

Daily Bread

Coconut cake

Daily Bread had always been a place to visit on our list. So when we got the opportunity, Esther and I along with our cousins decided to go there!

Daily Bread is pretty close to the Panjim bus stand, just a 5 minute walk from it  :)   We entered the place and really didnt know what to choose  :P

There's a variety of stuff to choose from, from salads to cookies, gorgeous looking pastries and my absolute favorite- Gelato  : P   The Gelato comes in soooo many amazing flavors  x ) 

Just a bit of advice- The Triple Chocolate cake is NOT to be eaten alone  :D  :D  That is, if u happen to be a poor eater  :P

*****************************

Esther's take - as Elaine said, trying out different food places was definitely on our TO DO list this summer. We had heard A LOT about this place from people we knew so we decided to give it a try. So one saturday morning, we went over to try some breakfast.

One thing i found cool (and soo did the nice people we met there say) was that it was an amazing place to hang out (unlike the upper floor in Mongini's Borda :|).

We decided to have the all chocolate pastry - they melt the top layer of chocolate so it tastes like HEAVEN. Unfortunately even tho i have the biggest appetite EVER, i couldnt finish it. The pineapple fruit cake was good (nothing sooo special about it though).

I would wanna try out the sandwich bar next time i go

XO

'Mango of Goa' cake

Croissants  <3

Bread  :P

Oooohh!!! Totally LOVE these cookies  :D

YUMMYYYYYYYYY!!!!

Gelatoooooo!!!!

Inside Daily Bread

The chocolate cake we had! Chocolaty delight   :D

Amy's Pineapple cake which she totally loved!

We do love clicking pictures of ourselves, don't we?  :P

:)

So I was randomly checking out videos on YouTube and I chanced upon this particular one by the Plain White T's!! Its called Boomerang  :)  Its an adorable song ( in my opinion) n definitely deserves a listen  :)  Hope you guys like it!

Ooh!!! N you gotta LOVE Tom Higgenson's expressions here!!!  

♥  ♥  ♥

Shit filled packages of Love

So what connection do Banana's have with roses?

Nothing actually :P its the Banana peels that we are interested in :) And thats why in March - along with my friends Siraj and Ayesha, i started my *POTASSIUM* filled compost project.

 Everyone knows how delicate roses are. They need plently of sunshine, water, weed uprooting and airing of the soil. Add to that a lot of love and you get beautiful roses. I recently found out that roses also love Potassium a lot and what has more thrown away potassium than anything else? Banana peels :D

so thats when the 3 of us started the whole, Banana a day habit. I would dispose off the banana peels in an unoccupied pot in the garden so that nature would work its magic on it. a month later with 93 banana's, i stopped adding to my little pile of dried banana peels (I did add a shovelful of rose fertilizer to provide good bacteria to the mix).

It didnt take me long to forget about the pot of composting peels - my entire april was full of exams. Now with holidays in May, i finally remembered it. to my surprise the peels were completely dried. I just added water to it, smashed it a bit and put it in a plastic bag to transport :P

The Potassium compost :D

The transportation part was the scariest :P It didn't stink AT ALL on the first day. Sadly, the 2nd day when i was supposed to travel to Panjim to put it for my roses there, i opened the bag and smelled what could only be described as the public toilets (*with a hint of the soil after rain smell :) ). I put it in 2 bags just in case. The entire bus journey i kept wondering if the people on the bus would notice that i had SHIT in my bag. Thankfully no-one did :P (*if they did they would probably throw me off the bus thinking i was some sort of weird stinky kid who didn't have a shower for weeks or worse still - that i shat (is that a word?) in my pants :| )

We reached Panjim in one piece and rushed home to mix the compost in the soil my roses were already growing in :) (*if they could speak Im sure they would have yelped in joy ^_^)

NOTE - since my hands were full of mud, i decided to give the task of clicking the gardening pics to my younger brother Benjamin. Sadly, in most of the photo's (which didn't turn out blurry -.-) all you can see is my hand and some mud -.- He sucks at following my expert (*yea right) opinion :P

anyway, this brings me to the point. If you have plants - treat them like kids. Take a little trouble to help them grow.Cause who wouldn't wanna wake up to a garden full of beautiful plants? :)

The Beatification of Pope John Paul II

I still remember that day, the day Pope John Paul passed away. April 2nd, 2005 was a black day for the world. And yes, Im not just saying Catholics. Pope John Paul was a man who touched the hearts of everyone, regardless of religion.

I remember seeing my mother cry that day, and being 15 at the time, I didnt really understand why. We grew up in Kuwait and, like most children our age, cared more about attaining a social status than to read the newspaper daily..

My mother then sat us down and began to talk about him, the wonderful things he had done, the kind, gentle person he was. And then it all made sense.

Pope John Paul II was born Karol Józef Wojtyła On 18th May, 1920 in the Polish town of Wadowice.

He was the youngest of three children of Karol Wojtyła and Emilia Kaczorowska. His mother died when he was 8 years old.

He was ordained a priest on November 1 ( All Saints Day ), 1946. Pope Pius XII appointed him auxillary Bishop of Kraków on July 4, 1958. On 26 June, 1967, he became an Archbishop.

In August, 1978, he was elected Pope after the demise of Pope John Paul I.

Wojtyła became the 264th Pope according to the chronological list of Popes and the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years. At only 58 years of age, he was the youngest pope elected since Pope Pius IX in 1846, who was 54.

I remember watching documentary after documentary on how wonderful he was, how he tried to maintain world peace, the numerous trips to various nations and the good he did everywhere he went.

The Pope with Bill Clinton

Pope John Paul II with Princess Diana

The Pope with Mother Teresa

He even forgave the Turkish gunman who shot him and seriously injured him on May 13th, 1981 in St. Peter's square in Vatican City! In 2008, Mehmet Ali Agca applied for Polish citizenship and asked to continue the remainder of his sentence in a prison in Poland as he wanted to live in the country where the Pope was born!

"I shall be proud of becoming a member of the noble Polish nation, if my request to be granted Polish citizenship is accepted," Agca said in a petition addressed to the Polish president. The petition was submitted to the embassy and made available to The Associated Press.
"I am not a stranger to your country because the national hero of Poland, Pope Karol Wojtyla is my spiritual brother," Agca said, referring to John Paul by his other name.

Pope John Paul talks to Mehmet Ali Agca

On Saturday 2 April 2005, at about 15:30 p.m., Pope John Paul II spoke his final words, "pozwólcie mi odejść do domu Ojca", ("Let me depart to the house of the Father"), to his aides, and fell into a coma about four hours later.

He died at 21:37 p.m. from heart failure. He had no close family by his time of death.

After his death, he was succeeded by Pope Benedict XVI, who having worked in close association with the late Pope was inspired by his kindness and selflessness and believed him to be a man of miraculous powers.

Inspired by calls of "Santo Subito!" ("Saint Immediately!") from the crowds gathered during the funeral, he spent no time starting the process of Beatification, which would normally not start till 5 years had passed since the death of the person.

His Faith in the late Pope was not in vain. In 2006, Sister Marie Simon- Pierre was cured of Parkinson's Disease, which had left her crippled so she could hardly move. After she prayed to the late Pontiff in June 2005, she was cured overnight and her neurologists were baffled to discover that all indications of the disease had disappeared!

"I was sick and now I am cured," she told reporter Gerry Shaw. "I am cured, but it is up to the church to say whether it was a miracle or not."

It was confirmed a miracle and today, the 1st of May, 2011, the Benediction of Pope John Paul was held in Rome. His coffin was exhumed  on April 29th, 2011 and is left at the altar all day for devotees to pay their respects after which it will be moved to its final place of rest.

The Feast of the Divine Mercy falls today this year. It was instituted by the late Pope and it was after the first Mass of Divine Mercy Sunday that he passed away.

Pope John Paul II inspired the lives of many and his beatification is celebrated worldwide. He still lives on in the hearts of millions.

Cracking the Friday market in an hour

Friday market is what the Goans call the Mapusa market (*why though i have no idea? maybe becoz u get better deals on friday?). My neighbor told me that Friday is the day when most of the sellers from all over Goa come to Mapusa.

Anyway lemme tell u, an hour is NOT ENOUGH time to spend here. Our plan was to actually go to panjim, water our rose plants, hang out for a bit and then rush home to pick up our younger brother from school. Plans changed within 5 mins and we ended up going to Mapusa with our grandmom.

*Note - please carry an umbrella/hat. u dont wanna die of heat stroke in this :P

U cant live in Goa and not have a pretty bag/jhola :D 

All the pretty pretty spices to make those *Masala's we love 

I know quite a few people who would've died looking at this. your personal favorite tea?

Summer season = fabulous fruit season

U can actually get good tees and stuff here - clicked this line of night dresses coz they seemed pretty ^_^

I wasnt actually allowed to click pics in this guys stall becoz he was selling rare antiques. Still happened to grab a pic of these Antiques roller skates :D Imagine skating in these #FTW

It is a personal dream of mine to get these for my cupboard door handles someday

I did mention that you could get anything you wanted here right? right? :P

cant think of anything smart to say here -.-

Ok, so while we were messing about with all the fruits, Maria decided to pose with the melons and i went along to lift the jackfruits. Sadly all the white juice *DHEEKH* came on my hands. apparently it ruins your clothes and spreads fast. thankfully they put some oil on my hands and wiped it off with tissue. it was weird because so many old ladies came up to me and started trying to help :) #awww

should i add one of these to my collection of 6 suitcases? pretty no?

If i had the money (*read Rs 17,000) i would definitely buy this ENORMOUS clock (*im thinking it would be bigger than one of our TATA Sumo tires :O). Tres antique and tres unique. And yes, this orange pair of wooden antique macau fish (*i wasnt allowed pics of that). I should really win a lottery or something :C

Did i tell u that elephants are really lucky? sleeping on this would bring a lot of luck and good dreams according to many legends

If you arent drooling when you see this picture, you arent normal! Goan pork sausages *yummmmmmmy

I had miniature baskets like these when i was a kid ^_^

And this is not it! infact there were soo many more things which i didnt click photo's of becoz we were running out of time like the lovely material you could use as wraps on the beaches or these cute wooden carved stamps i saw (*the stamps were really adorable btw - especially the monkey ones) and i regret so much for not buying it coz what imagine the stuff u can do with the wooden monkey stamp (*starts thinking of decorating gift wrapping paper, or tees or napkins for parties etc).

and just a hint - dress normally when you go there. The sellers there are pretty observant about small small things like clothing and accents and stuff - you definitely dont want them quoting tourist prices to you (*even if you are a tourist) 

30 more days for college to start again so im sure the chance of having it is high :D :D and yes! also thinking of going to the chor bazaar soon (*just for the heck of it - sounds dangerous no? :P)

Until then, 

xoxo