Hello again!!!!

Hi Guys!

I am back after a loooong pause! I was a bit too busy for blogging! Now that I am fine, I think I will continue with my old series of Desi Light packers and come up with new ones too! See ou all again soon with some new quality posts!

Carol Vorderman counts-down her primetime on TV!

I was browsing through the news sites on the net and was shocked to read that the co-hostess of the longest running British TV show 'Countdown'  in Channel 4, is stepping down after spending her 26 years of sizzling time with the programme.  She is leaving the show this December. 

Countdown is a very popular afternoon show which tests our skills on numbers and words and has been giving many,almost three decades of top-notch afternoon entertainment. The generation which has grown-up along with Countdown is a very gifted generation indeed!

Countdown was the first programme broadcast on Channel 4 when it launched in 1982. The show started with Richard Whiteley as the host and Carol Vorderman as the co-hostess. Both of them gave this words and numbers game so much of their creativity and hard work , that this program earned sky-high fame for itself and for its originators.  The show was temprorarily suspended due to the sudden demise of Richard Whiteley in 2005.  Carol Vorderman carried the show after Richard along with Des Lynham , who was later on replaced by Des O' Connor.

I remember the countless number of countdown late-afternoon lunches with my husband V, both trying to frantically come up with words and form the equations with numbers amidst the abandoned lunch, feeling elated when Carol is outwitted by our equations involving numbers, with a "Even I can apply for this job!" bragging. But alas! we didn't realise that someone- else would apply for the job so soon! We'll miss you Carol for sure!

The successor to Carol for this coolest math job of the country is the enviable Rachel Riley, 22, from Oxford University. The answer to the question "Will she be another Ms. Vorderman?", only time can tell! But for onething, the ardent Countdown fans like us will take time to get used to the show without Carol as it did with Mr. Whiteley missing!

There are no 'Adieus' Carol! I am sure we'll be seeing you soon! Good luck for all your future ventures! Hope the 'Countdown' saga doesn't end with you!

Desi 'light'-packers Episode 7!

10:30 AM, Sunday

9, November 2008

Dublin

California, United States

The gas cooker was at its full blast trying to cope up with the speed of the cook , preparing a leisure Sunday meal. She was cooking at her maximum speed, but very cautiously as the exhaust vent, along with the microwave, had lost its life the previous day. She was taking extra care not to wake the fire alarm up while cooking without the exhaust vent.

"It's been ages since you had a haircut!", the lady raised her voice.

"I'm going mom! ", he said in a feeble pleading tone.

There was a knock at the door precisely at that time. He got up from the sofa and walked to the door to see who the visitor was. The lady who was cooking exclaimed "They have come!". I followed him to the door.

"Oh! I didn't know that people come home here to give a haircut!", I said with a mischievious laugh.

Both of them, caught off-guard for a moment, started laughing. He looked through the magic lens and opened the door, still a smile remained on his face.

"Hi! 'ow u doin'?", came a shout from the familiar short dark man.

"We are doing fine", he replied reciprocating the enthusiasm.

We were expecting them to come. One was a known face, the short dark man and the other was the familiar, tall , heavy-built lady from the apartment maintenance department.

The tall lady waved her one free hand towards me with a cheery and chirpy "Hi!" and I replied back.

They both were carrying a rather heavy black GE microwave, the exact replica of the one in the kitchen and heaved it towards the living room carpeted floor. When they stood up, I asked,

"How are you doing K?"

He replied, "I'm doin' fine! I'm doin' fine! Where are you these days? I don't see you down at all!"

"I've become a bit busy, K!", I , showing my hands in the direction of the lady, who by now had switched off the stove and had started removing the pans from it, said, "She is my mother-in-law! She is with us for sometime. So I don't get to come down often these days!"

"Hi ma'am!", waved K towards my mother-in-law and she replied with a shy "Hello!"

The tall lady by this time had noticed the numerous photographs on the fridge, held in place by fridge magnets.

" Where are these photos taken? They look lovely!", she asked.

"Are you a photographer?", asked K  looking at the photographs to him.

"No, not professionally! But I do have an interest in photography", he replied shy-hesitantly.

"These pictures were taken in Holland last year when we went there for the tulip flower festival!", he started explaining the lady, who was by now examining the photos one-by-one. Kearney joined them in looking at all these pictures.

"Are these tulips through-out?", the lady asked, pointing at one of the photos.

"Yes! " he continued, "It is a 34 kms stretch full of tulips, the name of the place is......"

They both were awestruck looking at the flower display outside the glass windows of the coach. They were looking at the flowers fondly, the way they held their beautifully blossomed face high with pride. Their face glowed with such chirpy, vibrant colours pink,yellow, red, orange, green, reflecting the sun's rays casually, warning the sun, that the farmer cared for them so much, showered them with his love and their shine is like a child's face who has got all the love and care in the world from its mother. Their petals forming a bulb, just only slightly distracted by the gentle breeze, teeny-weenily deformed the shape of the bulb, was the only flaw....Oh God! now every flower is like that with the breeze...even a fault finding machine would never be able to find anything and anyone can bet a million dollars on it! Such is the dutch precision!

"I am going to have a very quick round of the garden as I have to head back to the airport for my flight!", said the lady.

Only then they both realised that the bus had come to a stop already and the lady was half out of her seat. They got off the bus with the lady.

"How long will it take for us to see the garden and cover it fully?", she asked the lady.

"It will take one full day if you want to do it leisurely!" , the lady continued, "This is the first time for you, I presume , so I am on my way. Bye . Nice meeting you two", she said with a smile.

"Not so soon!", he said with a smile, "You will not leave us without taking a photograph of us, I know!"

The lady laughed at this, "Sure! Sure! I will" and took the camera to freeze another Kodak moment of their lives!

To be continued.....

Desi 'light'- packers Episode 6!

The airport shuttle came to life sharp at 08:30AM and they both were seated in a two seater, in the second row of the bus. There were only two other passengers, as it was the first shuttle that day from the airport. One was an old lady with a small frame, in her mid-fiftees and the other was a rather stout tourist from SE Asia with a state of the art Digital SLR, big telephoto lenses and tripod almost occupying his entire seat.

"Which part of India are you from?", made them startle and turn back towards the direction from which the voice originated. It was the lady with the small frame who was smiling back at them. On close observation they found out that the lady was an Indian origin, but long-term stay outside has changed the colour of her skin considerably along with her slang.

"South!", he annswered and smiled back at her throwing the inevitable question back at her.

"I was born in Delhi. Which place are you from?", the lady asked.

"You know Chennai?", she asked and he replied, "I am from Thiruchirapalli"

"Oh! Yes! I know Chennai and Thiruchirapalli.... is it not Trichy which has the famous Srirangam temple?", she asked with her eyebrows crossed, looking at him as if she is expecting the answer in the affirmative.

On hearing her, his face glowed with pride and became soooo big as a child's face in trying to explain something in excitement. "Yes! Its the same place you are mentioning! It has river Cauvery running through it and many other temples", he said with eyes wide and a smile on his face with kiddish enthusiasm.

"Now! Who says me?", she murmured to him in a teasing manner that his face turned red and continued his conversation with the lady as if he has heard nothing at all!

" You must have heard about Akhilandeswari temple too", he continued.

"Yeah! I've been there when I was young. My parents took me. They are such beautiful temples ! I still remember", the lady elaborated.

"Where do you live at present?", she asked the lady.

"I have lived in Toronto Canada for 26 years now", the lady replied with a smile.

"Oh!", she exclaimed, "Thats a long time"

"Yes", the lady continued., "Before that we lived in Brussels, Belgium for 12 years, and every year we used to visit Keukenhof during this very season for the Tulip festival. We haven't missed a single year! It used to be very nice to drive down from Brussels to here, spend a day or two and return back! I am hopping over in Amsterdam this time on my way to India and thought that I had 7 hours time, I can visit Keukenhof and here I am! After 26 years!", the lady said.

"Wooooooooow! ", she said.

"Yes!", the lady continued, "It is a nice memory. See, from here and from now onwards it is just Tulip farms non-stop for 34kms", pointing outside the window and only then the two's gaze went outside window to see the ever stretching, never ending fields of flower mat, interwoven with such brilliant array of colours, spread like an ocean on both sides. For the first few minutes they found it too difficult to decide what to see and what to miss! After a few moments they have come to a conclusion that they are going to miss a lot for sure, even if they record whatever they see!

The heavenly mat stretched far beyond ones eyesight could reach, laced and fringed with such precision, that it was hard to believe, how all the plants could flower at the same height and time. They just wondered about God's creation for the nth time during the past two days.

"How are they maintaining such large farms with such dedication? Can we have entry access to get inside?", she asked the lady.

"Sure, their dedication and hard work has to be appreciated, othrewise the country wouldn't have had the world famous Tulip festival during this season. The farm owners usually give permissions to enter inside when we go and ask them personally. For that driving helps a lot!", the lady explained.

"Yes! That is true!", he said disappointment clearly etched on his face on missing a chance to get inside the farm just for the reason of not driving.