Adventures in London: Issue 123

It was my first full week of working in 3 weeks, which meant there was a LOT to catch up on. It has been a busy week, but I am focused on ensuring I don't let the stresses of life get to me. Nothing can be accomplished if you focus solely on the stress and anxiety of situations. Take a step back, take a deep breath and you will realise everything is achievable.

On Wednesday the 'boys' and I went out for a pint at the local pub. It is nice to have a team that is family again. A team that you want to be around, that you can laugh with (or at). We are a quirky bunch, but we are a 'family'. We ended up at the labyrinth that is called the Porterhouse. It was an early night of half pints and chips!! Just the way to celebrate the night before TG and the adventure of a weekend I had in store.

On Thursday, a mate from New York came for a weekend visit to London. It was an interesting visit to say the least. Sometimes one needs to learn to say 'No' or learn not to get carried away invites. If I am not careful I could let me a vampire into my house - - yes yes I have been watching too many True Blood, Vampire Diaries, Twillight movies. Speaking of, let's look at the facts about vampires and shape shifters (aka werewolves). The myth of garlic and holy water have been disproved. You have to welcome them into your house, they cannot walk in the sun (unless they have a charmed ring with a witches spell) and the only way to kill them is with a wooden stack through the heart. Ironic don't you think; the only way to kill a soulless creature is with a dagger to the heart. On the other hand there are the shape shifters or werewolves (they are different people!!). Shape shifters and werewolves exist to eliminate the world of vampires (it is always good to have a purpose in life). What triggers their transformation is a bit of a mystery as neither of the documentaries mentioned above have a consistent story. If you go back to Underworld, then the legend has it the way to kill a werewolf is with sliver.

You know I have no idea where I was going with all this. There was a point I swear. Something to do with the material possessions and the notion of which creature is actually more evil and menacing. I've lost my point while trying to make coffee....

So back to the post. Thanksgiving night was spent welcome my mate from NY. After a hiccup at airport (first of many to come) she made her way into Central London. Post work, we went to Champagne Charlies and then took a mini-tour of SoHo. At the end of the day it was an okay evening, not really my cup of tea, but heck.

On Black Friday in the Entler household it is tradition to watch the Nebraska vs Colorado college football game. This year was the last game ever that these two teams would play as Nebraska is moving to the Big Ten next year (note: I am typing this, but have NO CLUE what I am saying). A few of us made our way to Waltham Cross after work for an evening of American football, bacon dip, artichoke dip, pizza, wine & beer and a slumber party! It was the perfect way to end the week. It is the sign that we are all starting to settle down; a night in by the fireplace, eating tasty game food and curling up on the sofa under the duvet is the ideal night!!

On Saturday after heading home for a quick shower, it was off to Borough Market for the start of our frozen tour of London. Really not the day to be outdoors, but as it was the only day to take my guest out and about there was no choice. Thankfully mulled wine came to the rescue - for those outside of Western Europe you have no idea what you are missing. Statistics show that it take 21 days to alter ones habit. It has been nearly 1 month since I gave up eating beef; officially I gave it up 9-Nov (upon my return and entry to Mumbai). Walking around Burough market was certainly a test of willpower as one of my favourite stalls is the burger stand. I refrained and opted for the cheesy sandwich at the Raclette stand - - DELICIOUS!!!! Definitely the way to go if I may say.

After Borough at a Christmas market at Southwark Cathedral, we walked along the Thames towards Big Ben. It seemed like a good idea, but when we reached St Pauls, it was evident that it was way to cold to be outdoors. We stopped for mulled wine along the way, but the freezing weather was just too much. We had to call the walking tour quits and decided to take a taxi to Hyde Park to enjoy the Winter Wonderland carnival. It is a cheesy market, but I rather enjoy the Winter Wonderland christmas market. I have yet to experience the rides and all, but it is worth the trip for some holiday shopping, mulled wine, doughnuts and sausages. Again the burgers were very alluring, but I resisted. This no beef thing is going to be more of a challenge that I thought.

Probably the last weekend I really wanted or needed, but I survived. Was actually pleased to see Sunday night and was happy to curl up on the sofa and catch up on X-Factor. I have spared you from the X-Factor updates this year, but next year you all in the States will know what I am talking about :-)

Well, hope you all are warm and enjoying your TG break

xx

T

Adventures in London: Issue 122

How can you follow a week in India/Malaysia? I definitely suffer from the post-holiday blues. It has been nice to return to the office, but then you are also quickly reminded why you were so happy when you were on holiday and away from it all. I have faith that things are going to change. I have decided to fast for 10 weeks. The last time I did this something good came about, so I am hoping for the same. Don't miss understand me, I am not do this in order to get something out for it. That is not my intention. All I want is a sense of discipline and a chance to show my devotion to to a greater power and to accepting that I do not possess the ability to control everything that surrounds me. I think that has been the hardest concept to accept. We are often mistaken that if we get ourselves involved and 'do' that we can somehow alter the course of path. If you have watched sliding doors then you are well aware that what is meant to be will be.

This week has been about settling back to life in London...cold grey London. How I miss the 30 degree short and shirt weather!! In addition to a new outlook on life, I also brought back with me some sort of parasite. Serves me write to be quite fair. With the amount of food that I ate in both Malaysia and India it was only a matter of chance that I got something. The doctor's initially thought I had Malaria, but thankfully I didn't. I was just going to be hungry non-stop and eat EVERYTHING in my path. Sounds like a dream, but it is actually rather annoying. You finish your plate (which a new concept for me), but within 30 minutes your tummy is rumbling with hunger pains.

I was pretty out for the count Tuesday through Friday checking in with the doctors on my progress and results. With the weekend I thankfully felt better and was able to join the real world again. My Mom's cousin was in town for the weekend so on Saturday I met up with my cousin and his family. The evening was meant to start at the Fifth Floor cocktail bar at Harvey Nichlos (which it did for me). The Fifth Floor at Harvey Nichlos is a cute trendy bar. They make a perfect old fashion there so they have an 'A' in my book. Unfortunately, Deval Mama and family were unable to join me due to train complications so we went straight to the restaurant.

It was a lovely evening catching up with Darshan since my return from Asia. We spoke about marketing and analysing return and Deval Mama told stories about his uni days with Dad. Who knew Dad was a film buff too. They aimed to see 52 movies in a year...flipping brilliant if you ask me. Makes you wonder...on average how many movies do you reckon you see? At the theatre the old fashion way. Going to have to count them this coming year. I doubt I would hit 15, 12 even. I tend to buy on DVD or wait for Sky Premiere. I was not entirely able to eat as desired, but it was nice to be able to stomach food and enjoy the company of family.

It was vital that I bounced back into eating shape as Sunday was the Americans in London family Thanksgiving celebration. Silas and Brenda hosted the 3rd annual meal for the 14 of us and what a meal it was. Let me see if I can remember what all was on the dinner table (and eventually in my belly)

1. Turkey
2. 2 types of stuffing
3. Brussel sprouts
4. Cranberry sauce
5. Green bean casserole
6. Cream corn bake
7. Carrots (aka the only thing I did not eat)
8. Sweet potato pie
9. Beet root salad
10. Mashed potatoes
11. Grilled lamb

For dessert there was homemade pecan pie, pumpkin squares and apple cinnamon sticky balls. Wondering what the last dessert was? It was a dessert that I made up for the holiday. It is my variation of Gulab Jamun made especially for TG. I don't remember how I made it exactly (as I made it up as I cooked); it involved carmelising the apples in port, butter and cinnamon. It was then mixed with flour, scottish cream, nutmeg and more cinnamon. The syrup was made from brown sugar, water and cinnamon sticks. Was a gamble, but I believe it paid off. I am getting a 'rep' for my balls (did anyone else just giggle or is it just me). Reckon you will be reading about more inventions in the coming posts.

I definitely have the post-holiday blues, but spending the night with the London family was a lovely welcome. Could not have asked for a better weekend.

Hope you all are well and looking forward to your TG celebrations (for where it is celebration of course)

xx

T

PS: Aarti Mami, thank you very much for the festive top. I got a number of compliments on the shirt. Thank you again for a lovely visit.

Adventures in London: Issue 121

For the first time in 5 years, I was not in New York to cheer and photograph the ING NYC marathon. I was supposed to be running it this year, but the miscommunication of rules and gauging of money meant I did not renew my place. I think it would have been difficult to be in New York. I want ever so much to run a marathon and when the time is right I know I will. I just need to be patient.

It was a bittersweet evening, but spending the day with my family eating donuts and soft shell crabs is a great consolation prize to not running :-) Thanks to the social networking world of twitter I was able to follow the NYC marathon. It is rather amasing just how much detail people post. Does not compare to watching live in person, but I was able to follow in just enough detail. Was rather strange cheering a blackberry and tearing when Geb dropped out of the race.

On Monday, my aunt, uncle and I flew to Kaula Lampur (KL) for the evening. The only thing I knew about KL was from the 1999 movie Entrapment when Catherine Zeta-Jones & Sean Connery attempt to steal $8billion from the International Clearance Bank on NYE in the Petronas Towers.

Seeing the Petronas Towers in person is amasing. The 88 floor buildings took 7 years to construct and were the tallest building in the world from 1998 to 2004, but were surpassed by Taipei 101. After 9/11 these Petronas towers are the tallest twin towers in the world.

Upon landing and checking into the hotel, we were off to enjoy KL night life. I am a person of agendas and schedules...I am from a family of that, but when holiday the words 'plan', 'schedules' all go out the window. If you embrace that sentiment it is a lovely sentiment. Before deciding on where we wanted to eat, we enjoyed some starters and beverages at a cute bistro bar at the Towers. After enjoyed some dunkels and hoegardens (and a heart to heart conversation on the direction we take and choices we make), we found a cute Italian restaurant where we enjoyed a lovely dinner and phone call from Mom :-) I am generally not one to share my food or what I order (unless at a family style restaurant). That said, I have LOVED sharing and ordering lunch and dinner with Sunil Mama. So although Tini won't share, my official self will.

Did you know that the tourist visa laws for foreign visitors have changed? Earlier this year, the government in Delhi tighten their visa rules after an arrest in the US of a suspect terrorist who visited india on a multiple entry visa. What does that mean now for the rest of us? Visitors now require to have a 60 day gap between visits. So if you are planning on leaving India to say visit Malaysia for a few days, you need to request permission from the IHC to re-enter!!

Before I get to the conclusion of that story, in the morning my Aunt and I went site-seeing around the country side of KL. The first stop on our 'especially for us' tour was the Batu Caves, the home of the most popular Hindu shrines outside of India worshipping Lord Murugan. Dating back nearly 400 million years (how you count that high is beyond me), this limestone cave became the home to Tamil celebrations and murtis in 1890. The entrance of the cave sits 43m above ground (or 272 steps) and is nearly 100m above ground. At the base of the cave is a 42.7m tall statue of Lord Muruga finished in 2006 after nearly 3 years of construction by 11 devotees.

Upon climbing the 272 steps and taking photos of the numerous monkeys on the way, we entered the vast cave. Before continuing into the caves and temples, we stopped first at the priest for a blessing and raki. During that blessing (how I wish I understood Tamil), I vowed to go veg for the day. I always wondered about people in churches where tourists are constantly roaming around. Does it take away from the spirituality of the place? Truth is, I don't believe it does. There was such a grand holiness about the cave. It was in the air and I felt it cause I had faith that it was there. I didn't even notice the other tourists walking around. I simply focused on the beauty and the serenity of the environment I was in.

The rest of the tour was less enlightening (or breath-taking). The next stop was to Gombak, to see the art of batik designing. Batik is a traditional Malaysian clothing using wax resistant dyeing techniques. The factory tour lasted for about 10 minutes and from there we were given time to roam the store and shop (this was the theme of the rest of the tour).

After the batik shop, we drove over to the largest pewter factory in the world, Royal Selangor (founded in 1855). Pewter is a malleable metal alloy consisting of tin, copper, antimony, bismuth, and lead (in case you wanted to try to whip up a batch). Before concluding out tour, we made a stop at a Malaysian chocolate "factory" and drove through Embassy row (little did we realise that the tidbit fact that the Indian High Commission was outside of town would become useful in the near future).

Would you rather...

... stay in a country where you don't know anyone? OR

... forego the remainder of your trip and fly back to London? OR

... risk it and fly to Mumbai and hope they let you into the country?

I went for the last option. I researched the other options, but decided the risk was worth it. With a small prayer "My temple is my heart and my devotion is my life" and I a promise to give up eating beef, I got on the flight for Mumbai.

I almost made it through immigration, but the lady noticed the the '60 day' stamp and asked me to follow her to the holding room. It was a rather painless process - - fill out some forms, do a little interview telling them why you need to be let back into the country (the tip of printing out my travel itinerary was extremely beneficial) and voila signature -> stamp -> WELCOME BACK TO MUMBAI!!!

I made certain to make the most of the remaining days that I had in Mumbai. 15 days seemed like a long trip when I booked the tickets, but it has gone by like a blink of an eye. I spent the day on Thursday doing something completely new and exactly what I wanted to be doing; I spent the afternoon photographing India. What a beauty she is. I saw sites that I had seen before, but as I was solo I got to walk around on my own clock. My tour of SoBo (south Bombay) started at the gateway of India & the Taj. Rather than going inside the Taj, I walked along the boardwalk and enjoyed my surroundings. That is what this trip has been about ;-)

From there I went to Colaba and walked around a bit. During my last visit to India (in 2006) I had the desire to go to Leopold Cafe, so I made sure that I did on this trip. I took a break from the heat and enjoyed a jug of beer in the cute semi-open cafe on the main road. Some of you may know Leopold Cafe from Shataram. It is hard to think that this cute cafe was one of the first sites on the 28/11 Mumbai attacks. If you look close enough, you can see the bullet holes. Why would someone do such a thing?!

I digress.

I made a pleasant and impromptu stop by Hanmer MSL for a heart-filling conversation with its chairman over coffee. The rest of the day was spent shopping, taking photos and enjoying the sunset. It was such a beautiful site to see. Peaceful and liberating. Staring into the vast bay of water you gain perspective on life and what is important. What is it exactly...well this is something that is between me and the sea (or bay rather) ;-)

I am not normally one to answer the question, "What can we make you for dinner?", but when it came to my Mom's cousins' I had no reservations in answering. It was with much delight that I requested fry fish - the house specialty!! How I wish I could bottle that flavour and bring it back to London!!

It is clear and without question that family is family; there is nothing that can come between blood. It is amasing how you can just pick up where you left off with people. I don't speak often with my cousins, but no questions are asked or dwell on when we are together. Instead we enjoy our time; we laugh, we share stories, we tease each other and we battle over football teams. Will it be liverpool or man u?!

If nothing else, the one good thing that has come out of facebook is it has brought me closer to my family and has allowed me the ability to message and get to know my Dad's side of the family. The timing was not the best, but I was able to catch up with my uncle from my Dad's side of the family. It was a brief visit, but it was a visit nonetheless. Sometimes a moment in time can last forever and it is moments like those that you hold onto. You can wish you had more, but in life you give thanks to whatever is given to you no matter the size, volume or depth.

Aarti Mami, Sunil Mama - It has been such a blessed honour visiting with you. Words cannot describe the time that we shared, but I am pleased that we had the chance to spend time just us. I some times loose site of this, but this trip has reminded me that things workout just they way they are supposed to. Just have faith!

Looking forward to our next visit!

To everyone else, I hope you enjoyed my mini adventure in India/Malaysia as much as I have!!! It is back to London now!!

Miss you all and love you dearly :-)

xx

T

Adventures in London: Issue 120

Today was a fairly relaxing day. It is Diwali
time in India so the tradition is to make homemade sweets and snacks. The Diwali preparation made me remember my childhood days when Mom would pack the house to treats for us to eat. I am looking forward to spending Diwali in India/Penang. Will be great fun.

In the evening I spent some time with my Uncle visiting the sites a bit. We started first by going to temple. What an experience that was. The one thing I wish I did more regularly growing up was go to temple. From time to time I pray at home, but I don't regularly go to temple. I should find one when I return to London, there must be one near my flat.

After temple, we went to the Oberoi for a bit. We walked around and he showed me where the 26/11 attacks happened nearly a year ago. It is quite shocking and saddening when you hear what all happened on that day. I get chills just thinking about it. If you have no idea what I am talking about then (1) you live under a rock and (2) look it up. I cannot go describe what all occurred that day.

We ended our mini-tour with a stop at the CCI (Cricket Club of India) for a bottle of wine and lovely conversation. The notions of clubs are lost on my generation of kiddos cause we did not grow up in that world, but there is something old fashion about clubs. Don't know if I am making any sense.

We fly Wednesday evening for Penang and have some family coming for a visit so today was spent preparing the house for Diwali celebration. In the morning, many of the snacks were cooked and prepared. Unlike cooking at home with mom (where I spend the time watching TV), I made certain to be in the kitchen watching how each of the dishes were prepared and cooked. I think I have some idea now so will have a play when I am back in London :-) Thank the stars for YouTube and the tinterweb....if I forget I can always look it up (or there is always Skyping with Mom).

In the afternoon my Aunt and I went out for a few errands. It has been a sincere pleasure being able to spend such quality time with both my Aunt and Uncle. There is nothing like spending time with family.

We went to the market for some groceries. It is funny. I remember the first time I went to the markets in 1997 and was shocked to see people buying fruits and veggies outdoors. If there were not in a store injected with dye & preservatives under fluorescent lights surely you should not buy!! Moving to London has changed that mentality. There is nothing like going to the market for your shopping. In fact I almost prefer to it to grocery stores now for fresh produce.

After a lovely afternoon tea and pastry at CCI, I got to experience my first Diwali Rangoli. Rangoli is a traditional folk art in India around for over 5000 years as a way to decorate during Hindu festivities and symbolise the scared welcoming for the deities. The base material is a powder with various colors. The art of Rangoli is the patterns and designs are all done by hand. It looks simple, but after having a try at it, I can say there is a lot of skill that goes into laying the powder just right. I now understand why it would take days for the ladies at the hindu temple back home to create the Rangoli design for the Diwali celebrations. Blimey!

Diwali is the celebration of lights. It is five day celebration starting with Dhan Teyras. Today (Wednesday) is the third day which celebrates Chopda Pooja. What is that you ask? For Gujaratis (aka people from Gujarat) Diwali represents the start of a new business year. On this day, new account books are opened and presented to Lakshmi and Ganesh. Within the ledgers 'Subh' & 'Labh' are written which represent auspiciousness and merits respectively to invoke the two deities. It is the first time I have ever been present for a Chopda Pooja. It was quite blissful and I am pleased that through the technology of Skype, Mom was able to join in on the auspicious occasion. It was rather late for her, but she managed to stay up and shared in the arti and blessings of the day.

After the pooja and some down time, we took the overnight to Penang via Kaula Lampur arriving the next day in the afternoon to visit with my cousin Aashin and his wife Stuty who relocated here a few weeks back. In the last 6 times that Aashin and I have met it has been in 5 different cities across 4 different countries; Mumbai, Austin, New York, Rome, and Penang. Not a bad way to meet up I'd say; in fact after this realisation we are both keen to keep this up. Where shall we meet up next?!?! Who knows, but I am excited to see what we come up with. And with the way Aashin and I plan things, you never know where we may end up - hahaha.

What an amasing place Penang is. We have not even been here 24hrs and I have fallen for this place. Tempted even to apply for a job at the Coffee Bean just so I am re-locate. This is my first visit to Malaysia, so I had no idea what to expect. I have been to a few Malaysian restaurants, but that is saying you know what America is all about because you ate at McDonalds ;-)

Penang or Pulau Pinang means island of the areca nut palm (aka Supari tree). Penang is the most populated island of Malaysia with over 60% of the population being Muslim making Islam the official relgion of Malaysia. The other religions followed are Buddhism, Taoism, Chinese and Hindu.

We started Friday morning with a trip to Palau Tikus (literally meaning island of rats). Palau Tikus is the Borough Market of Penang is simply mind-blowing. It is a market like any other, but the fruit selection is out of the world. I did learn something new this trip...I am allergic to Jack Fruit. How did I discover this tidbit..how else, I had a bite and my tongue and throat started swelling. Best feeling ever!!! Good thing I have learnt to carry medicine with me. It is rather a shame too as it is quite a tasty fruit. I did my best to avoid tasting new fruits in the market. Thinking back, I should have just gone for it, what could have happened - I already took my medicine :-)

As they say, when in Malaysia eat as the Malaysians would. And so we did. The first dish we tried was Nasi Kandar, a popular Penang original dish. What is it exactly? It is a plate of steamed rice served with a variety of curries and meats. It is what my heaven would taste like - a bunch of curries mixed all together. DELICIOUSNESS! The name comes from when nasi (rice) hawkers would kandar (balance) a pole on their shoulders with two huge containers of rice meals. Is Nasi Kandar is the definition of balanced rice then that is just what I could go for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I am going through my photos from the day and realising that I ate way too much food. Not to long after the Nasi Kandar and daal I consumed coconut pani, a gingerbread cookie latte, an Oreo cookie donut, a root beer float, and shared a plate of sauteed clams, a plate of grilled string ray fish, and a plate of fried seafood. Lesson number two: do not consumer large amounts of sugar after 8pm as sleeping becomes a bloody nightmare. Contrary to common belief it was not Chendol withdrawal. Trust me when I say that by not posting a photo of this dish, I am doing you all a favour ;-)

Modern Penang dates back to 1786 when Francis Light landed on Penang Island at the site of what is now called Fort Cornwallis. In honour of the British throne, Penang was renamed Price of Wales Island. Malaysia has been occupied by either the Brits or the Japanese and did not receive its independence until 1957.

That said, not all things in Malaysia are so young. The Leong San Tong Khoo Kongsi (Khoo Kongsi) is the longest existing Chinese clan in Malaysia with a family lineage dating back 650yrs. In 1835 the Khoo family had enough numbers to form a clan group and purchase the land for the first kongsi. Khoo is the family name and Kongsi means house.

35 years before the Khoo Kongsi community was built, the Kuan Yin (Goddess of Mercy) Temply was built by the first Chinese settlers on land gifted by the East India Company. It is one of the oldest and most import temples in Penang. Going there is certainly an experience. The traditions of a Chinese temple and the prayer ceremony differ in so many ways from those of Hinduism and Buddhism. It was my first time seeing how praying to the deities worked. I don't quite know how to describe it, so I am not.

After walking around in the Penang sun and heat all day there was only one thing to do...get a massage. Stuty and I decided to go to the Sanctuary and got a massage and full body scrub. It was absolute heaven. What is about massages that make them so lovely. There was a time when I did not like the notion of massages, but thanks to Bams I have been converted.

I had no idea what to expect from the massage or full body scrub, but it was just what was needed. My body was completely relaxed, my back felt at ease and my skin was as soft as a baby's bum (well maybe not that soft, but pretty darn close).

That evening after playing 21 card rumi (even better than 13 card rumi if you can imagine that), the kiddos went to Coffee Island for some ice cream and quality cousin time. This visit I have been blessed with quality bonding time with everyone. I truly could not have asked for a different programme whilst here. The coffee island is something that EVERY city should have. It is an outdoor restaurant with great music and focused on serving coffee (DUH!), ice cream, and food late at night. Like most Penang places it may even be 24 jam. There is the option to get beers, but all the cool kids order banana splits. We played a very intense and in-depth game of "Would you rather" which I have to say was great fun!! Before we knew it 3 hours had past, but that did not stop us...we played for another hour once returning to the flat. If we only wrote some of the questions down I would have a my questions of the issue set for the next 10 years.

On Sunday, we went to the Tropical Spice Gardens which was a pure joy. No picture could quite capture the beauty and serenity of this place, but rest assured I tried. I thought I knew about spices and stuff, but after this visit it is clear that I know diddley squat.

Did you know that large consumption of nutmeg can lead to a coma? Did you know that there are two types of cinnamon and it is bad to eat it raw? Did you know there is no health value for white peppercorn? Did you know the most expensive spice is saffron? Did you know the next top spice is vanilla? Did you know that tumeric is the healthiest spice that can be used for cooking and direct application to the skin? Okay I will stop!

The week ended with the Hindu New Year...fitting that the date is 7-11 :-) Oh that reminds me of a random thought. Coming to Penang has ironically made me miss the US of A more than ever. Who would have thought that I would feel more at home (home = USA) here than I do in London. They had EVERYTHING; A&W root beer, donuts, 7-11 slurpees.

I don't know what it is about donuts, but like Barca I ate a donut (or portion of) each day of my visit. Deja vu all over again, my last day in Penang involved me eating 3 donuts, but unlike Barca these were not simple D&D glazed donuts. Big Apple Donuts is definitely how angels eat. Check out their menu (http://www.bigappledonuts.com/the_menu.htm) it is unreal. If you happen to find one I can testify that the Ono Oreo, Wakeup Wally, and Dough Vinci :-)

It has been an amasing week and one that will stay in my heart for years to come. One never realises just how blessed they are. Life means nothing when you don't have family to share it with. And with a family like mine, I could not have asked for a better partner in crime :-)

Happy Diwali and Sal Mubarak

xx

T