Where's the party tonite?!!

That was definitely the question last weekend...All in all it was a fabulous week.

Mom, bro, bhabhs and the babies finally came home and to say it was exciting is an understatement.

The kids have definitely grown since I last saw them and looked absolutely adorable! Plus mom had done loads of shopping for me (thank god I'd de-cluttered my wardrobe a week ago) and I was busy tryin stuff out in the wee hours of morning.

The following day....just couldnt bring myself to work, cos Aashu (Aashna my niece) had kept me awake till 4am (she wanted to play!!). Got through the day somehow with loads and loads and loads of emails to answer to, loads of work to do and well the usual stuff.

After that went for a swim (my new routine :) ) and then home to play with the kids again.

The following day was Thursday and I already had my plans in place .... DJ Suketu nite at the Fairmont.

Let work, went for a quick swim (an hour actually :P) and then home. I got dressed and the babies started gettin upset at the same time (they were both hungry). We still havnt found ourselves a maid so we were being driven up the walls what with quite some things to attend to - all at the same time!

But my sweet adorable friends decided to wait for me so that I could make it and join them (we had to get there before 11am for a free entry...)

Anyways got at the place jus in the nick of time and guess what...? The party had not even started. Anyways, quick trip to the ATM and back...and the place had started to pick the pace. Had a couple of drinks (Im sure diet coke qualifies as 'a drink') and then hit the dance floor.

After that there was no looking back. We stood our ground and partied the night away! Cant really comment on the music, coz after a while it jus doesnt matter any more...!!! But well it keep us going till 3 am so im guessin it qualifies for good.

Had friends gettin drunk...which was absolutely hilarious and fun. Seriously, I think the fun started AFTER they got drunk.

Heard some outrageous conversation in the loo....!!! Had a sindhi group of girls discussin....you'd never guess..... A trip to Shirdi!! And one of them wishing she could go to the Himalayas!

Infact the funniest conversation went like this...."S*** yaar I think Im really drunk!" "Arey, its ok....you go do suu- suu (pee) and you will be alright" (Wasnt it in Kindergarten that we last used the word 'suu-suu'...?!!)

Well, goin back to my friends who had a drink one to many....One of them ended up flicking stuff from the bar (no its not a habit and she didnt know she did it.........................she's not a kleptomaniac either!).

The other one decided she wasnt too drunk and could walk to the car by herself....and there were cops around! So everytime she swayed a bit too much and we went to hold her she would yell out "Dont touch me!" and yes, the cops were still around.... Thank god we were all girls...could be scandalous otherwise with a woman shouting 'Dont touch me'!!!

Anyways got her to the car and she decided to wave 'Bye' to every single passerby. Got outta there and the whole trip back she kept questioning me about the invite that I had for the 'Raaga Lounge' at Aviation Club for Saturday to reassure herself that we were all going.

Well....we didnt end up going there on Saturday, coz both my friends were on detox and the ones that were still sane had work to go to.

All in all was a fabulous week....plannin something for 7th September already...(Something's happenin at DMC)

So the eternal quest for party and fun continues.....Where's the party tonite?!!

Can’t take the violence no more!

Gosh when is this war going to end?

The whole time I was on vacation in Europe the one thing I had to connect me with the world was CNN. Every hotel I was in, bed-time was CNN time.

And all I saw was Lebanon being brought down to dust and the world’s nations not doing anything about it.

In fact they only seemed to have encouraged it further by keep quiet about all the violence.

One question I loved the reporter on CNN for was the one she asked the Israeli foreign minister. It was when he kept pressing the point that Israel was only acting as per a UN act to eradicate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

She asked him “But don’t you think you are violating the UN Human Rights by bombing civilian areas?” to which he replies “We had given out handouts to inform them to evacuate before the bombings started” and then the CNN reporter hits back with “But how do you expect them to get out if you have blocked all the roads, bombed the bridges and continue to bomb roads that people are using to get out?!”

It was brilliant. This was the first time I had seen any American lashing out at Israel and that too on American television. Wow!

But the result…zilch! It’s funny how the world’s greatest leaders fail to see what we simple civilians do.

I saw demonstrations in Nice, Monaco, Rome and yet don’t see a reaction.

I agree Hezbollah started this up by taking 2 Israeli hostages but Israel reacting in this way?! I don’t think it is justified any more bearing in mind they killed so many civilians.

The fact is this is what the US wants. The war is an excuse for bigger things to come. US has been waiting for Iran to get involved and then while Israel handles Hezbollah, US goes to war with Iran.

But Iran has played it extremely smart form day one. First working against the sanctions, then the nuclear program, then the threat to withdraw from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)…and now NOT participating in the Israel-Hezbollah war.

In addition to this the whole concept of the cease-fire has been seriously mocked. What with Kofi Annan declaring a cease-fire at 8am on 14th August 2006 – it is more like giving Israel a notice that finish the job before 8am or else you going to be questioned and we cant keep it quiet no more.

I dont really think Israel is going to pull out tommorow but if it does it will be a miracle.

Also, its high time the world gets together and fights back the bully that US is becomming by every passing day.

First its Afganistan, then Iraq, then...well the list continues. What I dont understand is why are we still treating the US as a super-power? Its economy cannot be depended upon even by the citizens of the US. There are no such US made products that if pulled from the market would make a big difference to consumers. The only contibution they have ever made is through their NASA space program (which off late has not had any major feats) which is hardly anythign especialy if they dont have proper books with which to educate their children or have people filing for bankrupcy left, right and centre.

At the same time I think even the US needs to realise what a monster it has made of Israel. The war between Israel-Hezbollah has already proved that Israel has limited regards for what US has to say which was obvious with how Isael negotiated with Condeleza Rice (if you want to call it negotiations!!). It is only a matter of time before Israel completely defines the US and goes its own way as a monster striking war at its neighbours.

For those are things that need to be considered only aftre Lebanon is put out of its misery. And for the sake of all the lebanese civillians I hope the cease-fire tommorow comes into act...

Back from vacation

It’s been a week since I got back from a FANTABULOUS vacation

Believe me when I say the flight from Paris back to Dubai was both mentally and physically challenging. Mentally coz….I jus didn’t wanna come back! Physically coz apparently my body followed my mind and I couldn’t bring myself to walk towards the flight gate…my legs jus wouldn’t obey me!!

Anyways all in all it was fantastic….in fact it was so over whelming that I haven’t yet found words to describe how I feel. I mean London, Germany, Brussels, Holland, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France….all in 20 days was too much but so exhilarating!

I was so tensed and tight like a wound up spring before I left….totally frustrated with life….a life which was typically work – home – work – home – work ….and now I’m in a little dreamland of my own – planning my next vacation.

Well, I will be going through my experience in each country in future posts, as I go through the videos (having seen so much in a matter of 3 weeks…I need a recap).

However, this is a note going on to everyone who is reading this post, if you feel you suffer from any of the below mentioned symptoms please…TAKE A BREAK!

Symptoms:
1. You are thinking of work first thing you wake up
2. You are still thinking of work while brushing
3. When people ask you ‘You don’t look well. Are you alright?’ out of concern, you retort with, ‘No! This is a new look I am trying.’
4. You scream your lungs out lashing at everyone around you at home…coz YOUR room is messy
5. All of the above

This was more or less my situation before I left for work. I had a problem with unwinding. I jus couldn’t do it. Work had taken over my life. I couldn’t bring a blank spot in my head even if my life depended on it. The only opportunity I had of taking it easy was when I went out with friends or family during the weekend.

I can tell you of so many msn chat sessions when I have over-reacted to simple msgs only coz I felt the tone was rude, which was completely my imagination.

I also know of people who have done the same….reacted in a large way to simple things.

To all those people I would suggest take a vacation. You earned it and more than that you NEED it. A vacation doesn’t mean a holiday where you sit at home or go out with friends and have yourself reachable by your office on your mobile phone.

No! Please take your self to a remote place where you don’t have a choice but to enjoy the sights and sounds are you.

I was never a very artsy person. Poetry, paintings, history, nature, landscape, etc….all went above my head. But on my vacation I realized a new side of me. One that made me spend 4 hours in the Louvre museum…ok I slept for half hour (I’ll tell you where later – might come handy if your planning a trip to Paris), made me enjoy the scenic beauty of Geneve and the beaches in Nice and the drive to Monte Carlo. I was staying up late…not coz I couldn’t sleep, but coz I was out seeing Rome by night….the magnanimous Colosseum, the roman baths….these were things that I never thought I would understand and there I was in London, standing at the Victoria memorial and actually interpreting what each sculpture represented.

So believe me when I say you need a vacation, away from everyone you know, to unwind you. Coz it really works…