Celebrating Autumn Equinox

Every fall around the time of Autumn Equinox a river walk is arranged along Akerselva the river that flows through Oslo. It's 8 km path is dotted with thousands of candles, music, dance, light sculptures, theatre, fakirs and fire show, illuminated waterfalls - making everything so mystical and cultural about this walk. At 8 PM all lights are switched off and thousands of people walk along the river on the candle lit path. Come join me in the 'River Walk by torch light'.

 photo sources BERart,  here, , here, here and here

Om Ganeshaya Namaha!!!

Whenever I visited a good friend of mine, I had my eye on a beautiful brass lamp she had and always wanted to get one myself. One day a couple of months ago she just walked into my house with a similar one....

  

2 days back the lord himself walked  into our house in the form of a gift from my husband's colleague from Thailand.  

I am so much ready for my favorite God's festival tomorrow . Let the lord remove all obstacles and shower success in all your endeavors.... 

Om Ganeshaya Namaha!

Self taught designer making waves in the fashion world

I loooove sarees, is a known fact to people who knew me :-) and have done some posts earlier here and here. Today I want to introduce a self taught designer from my city making waves in the fashion circles across the country , whom I have known for some years and am a proud owner of few sarees designed by him. To me, who likes to have sarees that are sober but at the same time have that little extra edge and also can be passed down as heirlooms -  Gaurang's sarees are a natural choice. In his unassumingly simple store tucked behind his father's matching center you will find the creme da la creme of Hyderabad vying to lay their hands on the best pieces to suit each and every occasion in town.  He made Uppadas and Kanjeevarams a rage and atleast one saree from Gaurang with his unique combinations and weaves is a must have :-). Gaurang just concluded a show at the lakme fashion week (some of might you have seen the pics) winning an award and with none other than gorgeous Kiron Kher as the show stopper. Get ready for some good eye candy. 

 

 

 

BLOOD CLOTS / STROKE

I am just copying this from a mail I got to reach as many of you as possible
STROKE: Remember the 1st Three Letters.... S. T. R.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
During a BBQ, a woman stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) ....she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Jane went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening

Jane's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital -
(at 6:00 pm Jane passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Jane would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

It only takes a minute to read this...

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough...

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' steps, STR . Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S *Ask the individual to SMILE.

T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)

(i.e. It is sunny out today.)

R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue

NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other , that is also an indication of a stroke.

The Sun, The Sea and The Sky

I am an amateur photographer who has to click about a 1000 pics to be able to pick 10 ok ones. Inspite of that I could capture some breathtaking sunsets in Greece. 

Beautiful sunsets are'nt just about the sun. Nothing can ever match the colourful spectrum of skies cast by the setting Sun.

 


 

 

Have a nice weekend

 Pic1 by Maxin Kabaykin , Rest by me

Recharged....

In the early years  of my stay here, I thought Norwegians were crazy to spend all their holidays and money lazing on the beaches  doing nothing. But over time I realised the need to calm down ,to totally decouple and recharge the tired body and mind - to be able to play hard,work harder and to cope with the shorter days and dropping temperatures in the months ahead . 

After having a series of city vacations with some beaches thrown in here and there , we all unanimously agreed to a JUST beach family vacation. I don't remember how exactly we zeroed in on Creta, Greece  and within a couple of hours flight tickets got booked, hotel and car reservations made and the travel was on the cards. The next couple of weeks saw us - read books, surf net, must do lists jotted down,  experiences exchanged with friends  and finally we landed at Chania - the biggest island of Greece.  Collected the rental car and after some trial and error efforts managed to get the GPS working and off we drove to  Pandora suites - the hotel we stayed in for the next 4 days before moving onto a beach resort at rethymnon for the rest of the stay.

 The old mediterranean town is charmingly crisscrossed with narrow winding stone tiled alleys lined with art and crafts, cafes,  overhanging balconies, beautiful old buildings with ornate doorways and all these converging into the magnificient harbor dotted by the light house.

what am I talking about Greece if I am not talking about the beaches . Early on we decided that we will not let a day go by without  visiting a beach and to visit a different one each day - as there are so many of them and so unique. 

  Be it the islet of elafonisi with its pink sands from the corals

 The natural pristine beach at Falsarna

 or some secluded beaches in the small towns

In trying to reach these places we also traveled extensively from the east to the west coast across the mountains , idyllic villages

olive orchards

some breathtaking gorges

and so much more....