Sunscreen, sandals and sand dunes!

What a perfect weekend! Even the rain clouds that lingered ominously on Sunday morning seemed to lose heart around mid-morning giving way to a gorgeously beautiful day. The drive was long, sometimes notoriously slow, but it was absolutely worth it- the trip to Montauk, at the eastern tip of Long Island. The drive took us (me and M) through some of the reputedly “rich” areas of New York State, where “THE” parties happen and “THE” people hang out. But to me, it was just a beautiful drive where rolling meadows, vineyards and rows of fields with sunflowers and corn dotted the roadsides.

Montauk itself is so happily appointed on a hill and on a sunny day the sight of the white waves crashing on to the rocky shores, against a seemingly endless blue sky is sure to lift to anybody’s spirits. 137 spiral steps and several cramped muscles later we were on top of the famous Montauk lighthouse and the view was to die for.

Being on long island for four years, I had never visited the open ocean before and the stagnant ‘sound’ is kind of dull when you have been used to foot high waves of the Bay of Bengal. Finally standing on the beach with the Atlantic Ocean crashing around my feet, I felt like a kid in a candy store. Thankfully the beach was not that crowded, and it took a lot of persuasion from M to make me move. Left to myself, I would have stayed there for a really long time.

A walk along the beach bare feet and another scenic coast-side drive later, we were in another beach where the white sand dunes offered the perfect contrast to the blue sea. We rented a beach umbrella, dabbed copious amounts of sunscreen, adjusted our shades and went to sleep, with the sound of the giant sea monster roaring in our ears. Bliss!

At the end of the day it was easy to ignore the aching muscles (not so much today, I am still wincing) and sand in our hair. The stuff that legendary weekends are made of..Truly!

Oh I almost forgot- the icing on the cake- picnic lunch that included home-made pav bhaji :).

The Resurrection

I hope the title says it all. I feel like writing again. "There she goes again!", some may say, but seriously, I feel like writing again. I read my very first post and thought that that could have been written way better. I observed a very subtle, time-based transition in the quality of writing. So if nothing else, I can at least improve the way I write.

A lot has happened in the three years that this blog has been dormant. For one the elusive PhD is over...yeah I graduated :). I have a job..yay! India has a new Prime Minister ;). My bamboo is almost a feet tall. Ok you get the picture. So it is time that I take an active stand and comment on such important things like my alarm clock's snooze button. Heh!

Yes. I don't know whether snooze buttons on alarm clocks have been around for a long time, but believe me they are a godsend. The extra fifteen minutes of sleep that I get snoozing feels wonderful. It is almost as if you have been given the gift of time. You eventually get up later than planned (Great! get stuck in traffic on the way to work), but you can at least tell yourself that you make an effort (almost everyday ;)). Back home, my Dad was the 'snoozer'. He would patiently come and 'try' to wake me up at frequent intervals. I am not a morning person. But unfortunately, for two straight years, I had to get up at 4 every morning (if you have spent your high school years in India, you'll know why too) to read about things like the 'Van de Graff generator' or the 'trajectory of a projectile' and so forth (physics can be interesting, but some of the topics are just plain abstract, especially at 4 in the morning). I won't digress from the main point here. There my Dad was, waiting to wake me up with a cup of coffee (which was reheated every 10 minutes), and I would keep saying 'another 5 minutes' Dad. Well, it has been 9 years since then, and the 'begging for extra time' bit has not changed. Long live 'SNOOZE' bars.

Phew....that's a start...right? It feels good to be back.