Life - or something like it

I know all of you rushed to this blog, when you read the word "Giveaway" . We all love a good deal and especially when something is free.  This giveaway is sponsored by "Magical Homes " , and one of you could be the lucky winner. "Magical Homes is a site about décor and lifestyle. A place that you can walk in with a cup of coffee and find décor tips, relationship advice and even parenting guides. It's a site that endeavours to make your home a magical place. Magical Homes will also from time to time bring you offbeat products, that you can buy online. Products will be directly from craftsmen or from DIY by readers." To win the fabulous set of Silver and Blue table mats (set of 6) , all you have to do is: 1)  Tell us which article you liked the most from the website and why .You can find them  here . 2) Like them on Facebook here . This contest is open only to the residents of India and will close on 12th December.  Please do rememb

I know, I have done the disappearing act from my own blog again  and have not been visiting any of you blogs as well. Thank you for being such good friends and sticking around with me. I promise to read all the posts I have missed. I have them stored in my reader. I have a reason for absconding from the scene, as I was juggling too many things at the same time both personal and professional. One of the balls that I was juggling was the launch of my professional website 'The Scribbling Pad' . I finally launched it ten days back and voilà, here is the link for all you beautiful people The Scribbling Pad  and a snapshot of the site. Hope the people who need Content writing and Editing services are reading this blog. It has been an exciting time mixed with lots of hair pulling and harassing the designer who designed the website. I drove the poor chap up the wall with so many changes, till I was completely satisfied.  I have kept the website simple because I believe in,

Wine is bottled poetry - Robert Louis Stevenson A few days back, I had a chance to see the Four Seasons Winery of the UB group at Baramati near Pune, Maharashtra. Being related to the chief winemaker, Abhay Kewadkar, has its perks. Hubs and I travelled to Baramati one fine morning and reached the Winery in around two hours. The minute you get close to the Vineyards, you can see a majestic  building surrounded by vineyards. The building is styled as a French château and looks really pretty. The Winery has fourteen suites where people can come and live. The suites are luxuriously decorated and very comfortable. The suites overlook the vineyard and each one has a balcony where you can sit and enjoy the beautiful view of the rolling hills and the vineyard.            Beautifully landscaped interiors inside the Château The lovely stained glass windows Another beautiful piece          A swimming pool, Jacuzzi and a large party deck that overlooks the

I could see the bright light through my closed eyes, I knew it was there, I was sure that it was not a dream. I tried to speak, but my mouth felt as if it was taped shut. I could hear them speaking, there were words, low murmurs, sound of metal striking metal. I felt a pressure on my abdomen and heard water gushing some where. Photo Courtesy:  Free Digital Photos My heart was fluttering and I was unable to swallow. I wanted to move my hands and scream, 'I am awake', 'I can feel and hear you'. I tried to open my mouth to scream but no words came out. My hands felt as if they were made of lead. I used all my strength to move them, to lift a finger, to show them I was awake. No one could hear the scream inside my head. I was a trapped inside a nightmare, from which there no escape. My confused mind started playing tricks and I thought I was in a bad dream. A nightmare, that was so vivid that it seemed unreal. I thought, that I will wake up soon and feel silly abou

So you have decided to take in some Sun, Sand and Surf and are set to have a fun day on the beach. Pardon me, Mumbaikers, this post ain't for you. We all know the state of the beaches in Mumbai. For you to have fun on a beach, it should first resemble a beach and that is the most important part of the whole fun part. And remember how much ever we love to ape the West, never ever visit the beach in Summer when in India, like they do. All you will get, is some charred skin and your will totally end up looking like a peeling carrot. Don't you think we are brown enough already? Try to visit a beach in the winter, that is when you will have the most fun. There are some cheesy things you have to do on the beach. It is compulsory to do them else your body will be fed piece by piece to Zombies. Don't worry, I totally made that up. That is my hangover talking, after watching too much of the fabulous 'The Walking Dead' . So back to the Beach, here is how to to have f

The much awaited Monsoon finally arrived in my part of India, last month, albeit a bit delayed. Raindrops keep falling on my head every time I step out of my house, but it is still lacking that enthusiasm to become  a heavy downpour. The arrival of Monsoon in India means lush greenery blankets everything. The smell of the damp earth rises and seeps into your entire being and stirs a longing. The parched earth is soaked and everywhere you see the earth is welcoming this precious nectar. I have always had mixed feelings about the Monsoon. Most people consider Monsoon to be a romantic season.  There are things I don't like when it rains too much. The muddy roads: It is such a pain to go walking, you always end up with muddy shoes, muddy feet, dirty clothes..I guess you got my drift The clothes don't dry for days and they even smell if not aired properly.  You can never wear white clothes for the fear of getting splashed with rainwater. Everything that is crisp and cru

  Well! Well! look who is out of hibernation. I know all of you must be shaking your head and tch tching at my sudden appearance. Not believing one bit that I will stick around for long. Believe me, this time I intend to do so. To tell you the truth, I have been caught up in work and have also been a wee bit lazy about Blogging. On the personal front, life was as chaotic as cyclone Thane making me go blue in the face, followed by long stretches of absolutely not doing anything. I spent that time just catching my breath and trying to resemble an actual Polar bear. As you can see from my blog I am a total movie buff. I spent a sufficient chunk of  time watching movies in movie theatres that too alone, as my better half is happy as a bear taking a snooze cozied up in bed rather than sitting in front of a screen. What he does not know is that after I die, I am sure to come and haunt him and sing horrible movie songs. The operative word is horrible songs and not sing horribly. Which w

Let me reintroduce myself, I am Vinita aka Lazy Pineapple. I thought the introduction was necessary since I have not posted in a long time. How have you all been? what's new in the blogging world? I have loads to catch up on and loads to share with you too. Life has been quite hectic since I have come back to India last year. It is one year since I been back and life has been moving at a break neck speed. I managed to co-author a book, underwent a surgery and started my own content writing company. I have already shared the details of the book with you in my previous posts. As for the surgical procedure, it was not life threatening but was routine only that I had to go under general anesthesia which freaked me out. Before the procedure I suddenly remembered all Robin Cook's books and people dying while getting operated. But I am in one piece and well. I started my own content writing company 'Write Solutions' and have one employee at the moment and that is me :)  

Today Hubs and I decided to eat out, no special day and nothing was planned, it was just a spur of the moment thing. Lancaster, where I live, is a quaint British town and has a limited choice of Restaurants. We have actually covered most places in the past three years. Today, we decided to travel on the road less travelled and drove into rural Lancashire for a bite to eat. We ended up at ‘The Stork’ , an old charming English Inn in the village of Conder Green a few miles from Lancaster. The inn has been there for centuries, at least since 1660, when it had a thatched roof. The current name dates from the 19th Century, as storks appear on the family crest of the then-owners of the estate. The view is of countryside with grasslands as far as the eye can see, sprinkled liberally with farm animals like sheep and horses. It is peaceful and a  perfect setting for winding down after a work day. We reached the pub when it was relatively quiet, soon the regulars to the pub coul

'Chai Garam', 'Chai Garam' (Hot Tea), Thanda Cold drink (Cool Cold drink) these words bring back memories of train journey in second class compartment of Indian Railways. Train journey in India has always been quite a thrilling affair for me. Right from booking the tickets to catching the train, settling in your allotted berth, the journey itself and finally reaching the destination. I remember standing in a long line in front of the booking window waiting for my turn to come. This was a time much before ticket booking agents came in to the scene. The constipated  booking clerk chewing Paan who is a master of everyone's fate and the restless crowd standing in the line are just distant memories now. I have not travelled in an Indian train in almost five years now and miss the constant throb of humanity, the sight sounds and the smells of the railway stations. The clack and clang of turning wheels, the fruit vendors and the cacophony of people hurrying off with

Most of the Hindi Movies are filled with Clichés. If we watch the first hour of the movie all of us can easily guess the outcome. In fact we can even write the dialogues and the screenplay. This was typical of mainly the movies of yesteryears when the hero was shown to be a man who could do no wrong and the villain was an evil person who was always power hungry and could do no right. The characters were etched out to perform those specific roles. These days things have changed in Hindi Cinema and you can see a Hero having negative shades in his character. But the habit of tying up the movie in a neat little bundle in which good scores over evil is still the basic formula. A Hindi movie without some crazy stuff in it will never be enjoyable enough for the viewers. It needs to have some Masala to make it a hit.  Some Crazy Stuff which a Hindi Movie should have : 1) A chase scene :  a)This is a must in every Hindi movie. It could be Hero Chasing the Villain or Villain Chasin

" A good   neighbor   is a fellow who smiles at you over the back fence, but doesn`t climb over it"  -  Arthur Baer Do answer this question truthfully: 'How many of you know your neighbours really well? Frankly, I don't know my neighbour in Lancaster at all. This was not the case when I was back in India. Even though Hubs and I moved houses each year we always introduced ourselves to the neighbours and were on friendly terms with them. Same was the case when someone new moved in as our neighbours. I knew how difficult it was to move houses and a friendly face always made it easier.  Growing up in Nagpur in India, we knew our neighbours really well and still do. The times were different, people were friendlier and more forthcoming and there was a sense of community which sadly is lacking these days. Then, people trusted each other and were less cynical. Earlier, people in Mumbai were tagged as being not a neighbour friendly group but now all of us living in

There is no dictionary meaning for eve teasing, Wikepedia describes it as : " Eve teasing   is a   euphemism   used in   India ,   Bangladesh , and   Pakistan   for public   sexual harassment ,   street harassment   or molestation of women by men, with Eve being a reference to the biblical   Eve ." After I moved to UK, I literally felt free, the lack of 'Roadside Romeos' was quite a pleasant change. I do not have to think twice about what I am wearing or how I look in a particular dress. I do not have to keep adjusting my Dupatta or check myself in the mirror many times to see if my dress was transparent or low cut.  There are no catcalls or random comments hurled at me or any other woman walking in the street. All women can actually take a walk without being X-rayed with lusting eyes or lasciviousness grins. Men will not rub against you, grope you or pinch you. You can actually give a smile and say 'good morning' to  a perfect stranger without the