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Vietnam (September 2007)

May 202011

This is in continuation to my post on Cambodia

After a few days in Cambodia, we headed to Vietnam where we spent a week or so. Visited Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Hanoi and from there a trip to Sappa Valley.

HO CHI MINH CITY (HCMC)

Well, we flew into Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) straight from Siem Reap. Took Vietnam Airlines. We had friends in HCMC who had helped us arrange for our visa, which we got on arrival. But it’s recommended that you get a visa before you go.

HCMC is a busy city – it’s the commercial capital of Vietnam. It’s fantastic for shopping (can beat Bangkok hands down!). Our friends had a really nice apartment with a rooftop gym and swimming pool. We reached late at night were taken to the rooftop straightaway for some wine and good food

Cho Ben Thanh Market

Next morning we went to Cu Chi Tunnels. These are a network of underground tunnels that were used by the Vietnamese people during the Vietnam war. They hid in these tunnels, had schools, hospitals and were used by the guerilla fighters to fight the Americans. Quite an interesting concept. If you are in HCMC and have time, you might as well go, but don’t keep a day just for Cu Chi Tunnels. The concept of the tunnels of course is great and very unique, but you can’t really see the tunnels nor can you go inside many. So in that way it’s pointless. There is a firing range there and you can fire a range of guns (including the AK-47), which is interesting. Here’s a link on the tunnels http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%E1%BB%A7_Chi_tunnels

Entrance to one of the tunnels

On a captured Amercian tank

HCMC has a great night life. Great places and very affordable. Alcohol prices at The Sheraton were the same as most of the pubs in Mumbai!

NHA TRANG

We flew to Nha Trang (Pacific Airways) next and this was probably the best of all other places in Vietnam that we visited. Beautiful beach. Nice hotels. Awesome food. We stayed at this hotel called Vien Dong – http://www.e-travelvietnam.com/hoteldetail.asp?iData=749&iCat=354&iChannel=23&nChannel=Hotels decent hotel (3 star). Walking distance from the beach and like everything else in Vietnam – cheap! It was just $25/room per night.

The highlight of our stay at Nha Trang was Scuba Diving. Nha Trang has a number of companies that offer scuba diving, snorkeling and other such activities. We went through one which is called Sailing Club (http://www.sailingclubvietnam.com/aboutnhatrang(nt).php). We were picked up early morning from our hotel and taken to the diving site on a large boat. On our way, they explained the procedure and made us sign the forms. Once we reached, we put on our suits and dived with an instructor, one at a time. It was scary as hell when we first entered the water and had to go under. Our natural instinct is to try and stay above water, but you have to force yourself to get inside which is scary! We went about 8 meters deep and saw beautiful fish and coral. The entire thing lasted 40-45 minutes. They were ready to take us in for the 2^nd time, but I opted out. Once was enough!

We spent the evening at Sailing Club’s restaurant/bar on the beach – excellent multi cuisine restaurant. Extremely cheap alcohol The place came alive post 11pm and it was one big party which went on till the wee hours of the morning.

We were in Nha Trang for 2 days and had breakfast at this restaurant called Veranda both days. Excellent food. Near Sailing Club – http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g293928-d1540746-Reviews-Veranda_Restaurant-Nha_Trang_Khanh_Hoa.html

Nha Trang is famous for its Mud Baths. Now we didn’t know what it was all about, but decided to go nonetheless. It’s very simple, ask your hotel for a cab to take you for the mud bath. The cab will take you and wait there for you till you are done and bring you back. And that doesn’t cost a bomb!

It was quite an adventure! Its good fun, try it for sure. Takes about 2-3 hours. You can stay on longer and swim in the mineral water swimming pool for as long as you like. If I remember correctly, the entire thing was about $5 per head.

HANOI

After two great days in Nha Trang we flew to Hanoi (Vietnam Airlines) from where we were supposed to go to Halong Bay. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do that because of a typhoon. If only we had known, he would have stayed at Nha Trang for another day or two. But Halong Bay is supposed to be great. MUST DO.

Hanoi is a very crowded and dirty city. Its full of shops and cafes, and we did most of our souvenir shopping from here. We didn’t think there was much to do, so we booked a tour to Sapa Valley. These are organized tours that book you on a special tourist train that runs between Hanoi and Sapa Valley. A bus picks you up from the station and takes you to your hotel. Usually, breakfast and trekking are included in the package. You leave Hanoi at night and reach Sapa Valley early morning.

Train to Sappa Valley

Inside the train

After a modest breakfast (which was just bread and butter) your guide will take you for a trek through the village and to a waterfall and back. It’s an exhausting trek because of the terrain. Its hilly and looks like any hill station in India. Nothing great if you have been to Himachal or Kashmir, but better than spending time in Hanoi. We did the trek and sat at this small little bar on the way back (just because he was playing Floyd!). He was playing music from his computer through winamp and soon we took over his playlist and played whatever we wanted! We ate and drank for a few hours and ended up paying what came to Rs. 500 per head! Brilliant price! The next day we were on our own and went and had breakfast at a really nice café close to our hotel. After that we went around the local market and caught the train back to Hanoi at night.

A local cafe at Sapa

The tribals of Sapa

We flew back to Mumbai from Hanoi through Bangkok.

In case you are taking a flight to Vietnam or Cambodia through Bangkok, please take an airline which will fly you from India to your destination and back. We took Thai Air/Air India for Mumbai-Bangkok return and Air Asia from there. If you do that, you’ll have to take Visa on arrival at Bangkok, both on your way and on your return. If you take an airline which will fly you through (even if there is a stop at Bangkok), you won’t have to do that. That was quite a bummer – we had to pay for the visa twice AND had to waste 3 hours both ways.

Other than this little problem, the trip to Vietnam was Epic! It was nothing like we thought it would be and were quite pleasantly surprised!

Cambodia

Travel 4 Responses »

May 142010

54. Angkor Wat

You may not think that Cambodia and Vietnam are like the best places for a vacation, but you’ll be surprised. Just like India is NOT the land of snake charmers, Cambodia and Vietnam are NOT underdeveloped war stricken counties! Both countries are extremely beautiful, there is more than enough to see and do, and they are also extremely reasonable and tourist friendly.

We started our journey from Mumbai. Took a flight to Bangkok and flew to Phonm Penh (the capital of Cambodia) from there.

Advice – Try and get a direct flight to Cambodia or Vietnam if you don’t want to get out at Bangkok or if you are spending a few days there. OR check the terminal of your flight from Bangkok to Vietnam/Cambodia. We flew Air Asia to Phnom Penh from Bangkok and the terminal was outside, near the check-in counters of local airlines. So we were forced to take visa on arrival, pay 1k Baht both on our way as well as on our way back. If you are taking a low cost airline, then build in the cost of 2 visas on arrival.

We landed at Phnom Penh and were joined by two of our friends from Hong Kong. We were 6 people in total. Our friends had come earlier that day and had a chance to visit the Killing Fields Museum. The photographs were enough to shake us up.. For those who don’t know, Cambodia was under the Khmer Rouge regime in the 70s led by Pol Pot who executed over a million Cambodians (including children).

Killing Fields Museum

We stayed at the Hope and Anchor Guesthouse at Sisowath Quay. The place had a nice café and bar as well (http://www.hopeandanchor-cambodia.com/restaurant.html). Its best to stay in this the area. Its facing the Mekong River, so great view, there are lots of hotels, shops, restaurants and pubs and its also close to the place from where you can take a boat to Siam reap. Went to a nice bar in the evening called FCC. Pretty nice place, and of course, very cheap!

Siem Reap – The gateway to Angkor Wat, Siem Reap is a nice little city. The BEST and believe me, the BEST way to go is by boat. Its a little expensive as compared to other modes of transport (US$25/head) but its worth it. Don’t even think twice. I read up a lot and was considering bus as well, but decided to take the boat. It’s an experience in itself! It’s about 3-4 hours to Siem Reap and you MUST get on the roof of the boat. Most people do that, and it’s thrilling! Well, you could almost fall into the water if you aren’t careful. The view is great, lovely little villages on the banks throughout. Closer to Siem Reap there was an entire floating village. Quite interesting.

Boat from inside

Boat from the outside with everyone on the roof

Floating Village

9abc. Boat from PP to Siem reap

At Siem Reap you’ll find plenty of cute little hotels/guesthouses. And very reasonable. We stayed at the Golden Orange hotel (http://www.goldenorangehotel.com/). Highly recommended. Its owned by an american guy, so there is no language problem. There is free internet and wifi as well . All hotels in Siem Reap arrange a pick up for you as well. Just tell them your boat timings. It’s very easy to book these through the internet and it’s recommended that you do before going there.

We decided to go to Angkor Wat in the evening (If you buy a pass in the evening, you can enter the park after 5pm and the same pass is valid for the next day as well). It rained a bit and the place was gorgeous.

Angkor Wat in the rain

In the evening we went to the pub street. MUST go place it is! We had dinner at a place called Cambodian BBQ and had Kangaroo, Ostrich, Crocodile and Snake in the same meal. Quite good! And yes, you also get ‘herb’ pizzas everywhere. We didn’t have one… and I have no idea WHY!

Dinner at Pub Street!

Pub Street (Pub called Angkor WHAT)

Next morning we woke up early for Angkor Wat. If you go, you MUST go enter at 5am when it opens to catch the sunrise. The best place to view the sunrise is at the main Angkor Wat temple complex, in the small lake just in front of the temple complex. You can spend the whole day there. We spent just 1 day there, but one can spend a few more because the Temple complex is HUGE and can’t be covered in a day.

I am not going to write much about Angkor Wat, because there is just too much to write and there is enough information available on the net. Quoting from wikitravel ‘Stretching over some 400 square kilometers, including forested area, Angkor Archaeological Park contains the magnificent remains of several capitals of the Khmer Empire of the 9th to the 15th centuries, including the largest pre-industrial city in the world. The most famous are the Temple of Angkor Wat and, at Angkor Thom, the Bayon Temple with its countless sculptural decorations’.

All I can say is, the place is gorgeous… its absolutely worth a visit. I don’t know if something like this exists in any other part of the world. Here are some pics:

74. Angkor Wat

102a. Angkor Wat

97. Angkor Wat

90b. Angkor Wat - Bayon

More pics – http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=19224&id=601517952&l=ee97aec672

You don’t really need a guide, if you read up on wikitravel or have a LP that should be enough.

Best way to travel around – Tuk Tuk

Not recommended – The massages there! They are just about $5 for an hour, but really sad. Tried 2 places, looked very nice, but massage was below average.

Visa – You can get a visa on the internet! Yes, they have e-visa. Just need to fill up a form, pay the fee, upload a photograph and they send you the visa on mail. Please ensure you take 2 print outs – they are a little paranoid about these things.

We took a flight the same night for Ho Chi Minh City. Post on Vietnam is given separately.

The Trip to Kanha Tiger Reserve

Travel 1 Response »

Mar 192010

The Trip to Kanha Tiger Reserve

A long weekend alert! 4 days of chutti from work 26th, 27th, 28th Feb & 1st March. So a couple of friends decided to take off to Kanha Tiger Reserve.

The journey:

Started from Mumbai on Thursday night at 8.30 via Samarsata Express from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT a.k.a Kurla Terminus) to Gondia Station (Train arrives at 12.45). Another option is the Vidharbha Express (starts from Dadar Train Terminus at 7.25PM and arrives at Gondia Jn at 11.10AM).

Gondia is about a 3 hour drive from Kanha National Park. I would suggest taking the Vidharbha express as it reaches Gondia at 11AM and you can easily reach Kanha National Park (or your resort) by 2PM and also make it for the evening jungle safari.

Stay:

There are 2 main gates at Kanha – The Kisli gate & the Mukki Gate. The Kisli gate is the over commercialized area with lot many resorts and feels like a complete tourist destination. However Mukki is the less commercialized place with lesser resorts.

There is a MPTDC resort at the Mukki Gate called the Kanha Safari Lodge (Kanha Safari Lodge, Mukki | Tel: (07636) 290715, (07637) 296029 | E-mail: ksl@mptourism.com), this lodge is about 500 mts from the main entrance.

Our other set of friends were staying at the Kanha Jungle Lodge, a Welcom Heritage property (WelcomHeritage Kanha Jungle Lodge | Telephone : (91) (7637) 236015 | Email : holidays@welcomheritagehotels.com | Website)

But I would really recommend staying at Muba at Mukki (Head Office (+ 91 – 771) 4266643, (+ 91- 771) 2536690 | Mobile 09425205655, 09301977677, 09826155133 | E mails : mdmubaresorts@yahoo.co.in| website : www.mubaresorts.com), this is where we stayed.

The Muba resort is run by Dr. Zafar Khan who belongs to Raipur and is a homeopathic doctor by profession and an environment & wildlife enthusiast by passion. The resort has mud-huts, rooms & cottages for accommodation. The beauty of the resort is that its located right next to the forest area and they conduct nature walks and treks within the buffer zone of the Kanha Forest.

Safari:

There Jungle Safaris at Kanha aren’t run centrally by the forest department. But, they are conducted by the individual resorts. There are 2 safaris in a day – morning safari (6AM – 12PM) & afternoon safari (3PM – 6.30PM). The forest is out of bounds after 6.30PM.

The safari charges for the morning safari are Rs. 2500 all inclusive (open jeep, driver, 1 guide) and each jeep can seat 6 people. The afternoon safari charges vary from resort to resort ranging from Rs. 1800 – Rs. 2500. Muba charged us Rs. 1800 for the afternoon safari.

There is a camp within the jungle where visitors can book an Elephant back tiger show. This essentially means that every morning 7-8 elephants roam the jungles and track tigers from their last sighting. If the Elephants can spot tigers, then a message is sent out through the jungle and the elephants return to the camp and take visitors right upto the point where the tiger was spotted. The charge for this is Rs. 100 per person and the elephants can take upto 4 people at a time.

About Kanha:

Kanha National park is located in Banjar and Halon valleys in the Mandla / Balaghat districts of the state of Madhya Pradesh. Kanha National Park is one of the India’s finest tiger reserves. It is spread more than 940 sq km in a horse shoe shaped valley.

Kanha national park is more famous for its wildlife, the natural beauty of its landscape is just as fascinating. One of the best locations to enjoy that bounty is Bammi Dadar, also known as the sunset point.

Kanha also shelters one of the largest populations of the tigers in the country. Some of the other larger animal species found in the park are sloth bear, leopard, striped hyena, spotted dear, wild boar, jungle cat, jackal and a variety of monkeys. Over 200 spices of birds have been spotted in the park.

The Barahsinga (Swamp Deer) is found nowhere in the world except Kanha.

Kanha Tiger Reserve is constituted on a “core-buffer” strategy. The entire National Park area of 940 sq. km. is visualised as a “core zone”, free from all biotic disturbances. A buffer zone of 1009 sq. km. surrounding the core is treated as a “multiple use area”. The buffer zone comprises almost 40 per cent of forest area and the rest is constituted by revenue and private land.

Our Trip:

Since we took the Samarsata Express, we reached Muba resorts on Friday at 4PM, hence missed the afternoon safari for that day. So we just looked around all the accommodation at the resort to pick where we want to stay. We decided on the Room (at Rs. 6000 for 2 nights & all meals), it was a good deal.

After settling in, we went around the resort talking to the manager and understanding the life in and around Kanha. Muba has nature trail which goes along the park in the Buffer Zone.

Our Safari:

On Saturday morning we went for the jungle safari with our friends. Started at 5.30AM we reached the main Mukki gate at 6AM and waited for the park to open at 6.15AM, once in the park, we immediately started following the trails to spot tigers. The presence of tigers is signified by the calls of the other animals. When a tiger is in the vicinity, the monkeys, jungle fowls and birds sound out alerts to the entire jungle. The guide who accompanies the safari is a trained ear in spotting these calls and leading us to the area where there might be a possibility of spotting the tiger.

Our guide Mr. Pritam Yadav has been working at Kanha for the past 27 years and is one of the oldest guides there and is one of the most trained persons there.

For the initial 2 hours we did not many animals barring a few deers, birds etc. Then we came across a fresh tiger Pugmark, an indication that a male tiger had just walked the trail of the jungle and would be around somewhere, then started the hunt for the tiger by following the trail.

However, we waited and waited and travelled to parts of the jungle where our guide Pritam was sure that the tiger was around. After waiting in silence for quite some time and hearing the calls of the animals, Pritam gave out a few calls of his own, but finally we gave up our chase. Later we got to know that none of the groups saw a tiger and even the elephants were not able to find one.

We came back to Muba Resorts at around 12.30 and had out lunch before preparing for our afternoon safari. The afternoon safari was ready at 3PM and Dr. Khan who had just arrived at Muba from Raipur, accompanied us for the safari. An avid bird watcher, Dr. Khan was equipped with Binoculars and a bird guide book.

Starting our Safari, we got a lot of information from Dr. Khan, he was better than any other Guide there. Again this time around too we did not spot any tigers, but saw some others and also with Dr. Khan along with us, we did spot some fancy birds.

We got back to from the Safari at 6.30 and went off to Kanha Jungle Logde to meet our friends for a drink, having done that, we got back to Muba and headed to dinner. We met 2 interesting people there who were fresh graduates and working with an NGO and doing research on the environment, wild-life and human life. They had been working on this research for the past 4 months, first at Nagarhole, then at Ranthambore & now at Kanha.

They had some great stories to tell about Kanha, about its people, about their research, their experiences etc. this was followed by a bonfire sit about with Mrs. & Dr. Khan, and being a wildlife fan, Dr. Khan himself had quite a few stories to tell.

The Trek:

Next morning Dr. Khan offered to take us on a trek to the forest buffer area in the hope of spotting some animals & birds. So at 7.45 AM we started our trek and spotted a few birds, however the fun part was on our way back, we spotted a fresh tiger pug mark!! Yes! Dr. Khan informed us that the Tiger was around and had spotted us in the area, however Tigers avoid confrontation, hence they don’t like to cross paths with humans and hence the tiger just hid away in the forest. That was the closest we got to a tiger at Kanha. Dr. Khan advised us to take a de-tour to the resort, as according to him, the tiger was in the vicinity and had take the exact same path which we did to get to that point in the forest.

We came back to the resort, had our breakfast, and then bid farewell to Dr. Khan and promised him that we would return to Kanha and stay with him once again.

Pictures of the trip Here

Next Trip coming up – Pench Tiger Reserve on the 2nd, 3rd & 4th of April 2010

Namu's Roka

Uncategorized 1 Response »

Feb 082010

DSCN9520a

Namu has roka‘oed’ ! Don’t know what Roka exactly means (funny cause Sahil and I also had a ‘roka’!), i guess its like an engagement but not as formal. it is somewhere before the engagement and wedding and basically means ‘baat pakki ho gayi’!

Its so cool! For all of you who don’t know, Namu (Namrata) is Sahil’s kid sister (these kids grow up so fast man!!). She’s going to be Sharmaji pretty soon.. he he! Kunal, her fiancée – the new addition to our family is a sweetheart. An absolute gem Humari ladki ki choice achhi to hogi hi na. But Kunal ki choice is even better i say!

Anyway, both munda and kudi work at Matrix Cellular in Delhi. They are both from a fauji background and also studied in the same college. So lots in common. The roka happened in Chandigarh on 30th Jan.

The Pictures are HERE

All our love to Kunal and Namu – muaaaaahs!

Delhi Bombay.. Bombay Delhi..

Uncategorized 2 Responses »

Jan 092010

North blk 2

I was inspired to write this after my last visit to Delhi. I was there for a week, the longest I have been in Delhi in many years. And after a few days I started feeling uncomfortable… a city I stayed in for so many years suddenly wasn’t very comfortable. Maybe living in Mumbai does that you!

And there are good and bad things about both cities. I mean I love Delhi for many reasons – the roads are great, the shopping is awesome (!!), houses are huge, everyone doesn’t live in flats without balconys, I have lots of friends and relatives who I love visiting and I have spent 3 awesome years in hostel, which I have very fond memories of… and of course the HCF from Nirulas (there ISNT a better ice cream sundae than that, anywhere!)

My post is not really about the good or bad things about the two cities, but about some people like us – North Indians who have lived or belong to Delhi, but are settled in Mumbai… and our plight!

I have been living in Mumbai for almost 7 years now and that’s the longest I have stayed in any place actually, as a grown up that is. I have spent 5 years as a kid in Delhi and 3 years while I was in college but the first 5 years hardly count, in terms of what I am meaning to say in this post.

So, as a grown up, this is the longest I have stayed in any place, and in a year’s time it would be the longest I have stayed in any place, EVER! I LOVE this city and I consider myself a mumbaikar. I do, and my husband does (he’s lived here for many more years than me) and our families and our friends, we all do. We love the city, we love the freedom, we hate the traffic, we get agitated when something happens to the city, we come together in times of crisis and we don’t want to live anywhere else. Why is it still, that people who are born and brought up in Mumbai think we are from ‘DELHI’ and keep letting us know, matter of factly whenever there is a discussion about cities that we don’t really belong to Mumbai, and that we just came and settled here?

Anyone in Mumbai who has lived in Delhi, or knows Delhi well, has lots of relatives there and goes there often, praises Delhi is a Delhiite! That’s the definition of a Delhiite in Mumbai. And if you are a Delhiite, well you definately arent a Mumbaikar!

The irony is, that when we go to Delhi, all we talk about is how Mumbai is so great, how it’s so safe, how life is so fast yet so fulfilling, how we can do whatever we want without bothering about anyone and basically how we love the city and how we think Delhi is so different and so difficult to handle after staying in Mumbai for so long. So Delhiites obviously don’t take this too well and we’ll all agree to the fact that Mumbaikars can’t adjust in Delhi and Delhiites can’t adjust in Mumbai. Fair enough. So we obviously aren’t from that city nor are we considered Delhiites

Still, if mumbaikars don’t think we are really mumbaikars, and obviously we don’t belong to Delhi then where are we from??

(and I just want to tell everyone here that everyone outside of Mumbai and from the north is NOT necessarily from Delhi! We have a huge country, with many states and cities… there are others… really!)

I am just curious – how does one become a true Mumbaikar? Like do I have to be born here? Or is it that I have to spend a decade here (or any other time limit) or that I should have relatives here or what? Is there any criteria?!

You know what I say when people ask me where I am from? I say ‘rest of India’ and I have always said that, even many years back when I wasn’t living in Mumbai. That’s because my dad was in the army and we have lived in over 10 cities. So I clearly am not from any one of them, or I am from all of them. So simply put, I am from Rest of India! Everyone understands that, but for some Mumbaikars, I am still from Delhi?!! It’s funny! And maybe it’s this attitude that forces people like us to defend Delhi! Yes, it’s true, we don’t like the place and don’t want to live there, but when Mumbaikars start off on Delhi, we start defending it!Human behavior is so weird…!

So after thinking and trying to justify where I really belong to, I think I will stick to saying that I belong to Rest of India!

A New Journey

Life 3 Responses »

Dec 172009

07122007651 Yesterday my grandfather’s soul left his body to begin a new journey. He left us early morning, very peacefully while sleeping. His expression was so calm, just like he would be while asleep.Am sure by now his soul is in a much better place, or maybe its come back, taken a new life… wherever he is, we hope he’s having a great time…

Nanaji was the most disciplined man I knew. All his life, he woke up at 4am, went to work, ate his food on time, went for a walk everyday and lived like most of us should, ideally. Till a few years back, he would even drive himself and go to college. Even till recently, when he was ill and couldn’t really do much on his own, he wanted everything to be done on time.

He used to teach at the SN Das Gupta College in Delhi where he coached students for entrance exams, especially the civil services. He was a part of this college even before partition! He stuck to it all his life… He loved politics and cricket and till the end he knew exactly what was happening in the world around him. He always wanted to watch news, even though he could hardly hear anything, and somehow he knew exactly what was happening…

He had a zest for life like no one else I knew. He has been quite unwell in the last 3 to 4 years, but whatever may happen, and however unwell he may be, he would want his hair to be dyed every week! He loved perfumes and so everytime any of us went abroad, we got him back a perfume and that really made him happy J. My cousin, who has stayed with him most of his life now lives in France. And he had come to visit my grandfather once and told him to come to France with him. So he insisted on getting his passport made, and once it came, he started going for a walk everyday (with our maid) to show us that since he could walk, he was capable of going to France…

He loved watching TV. News mostly, but he had this love for Ramayan and CID. So much so that he used to call our channel (NDTV Imagine) the ‘Ramayan wala channel’. I remember once he wanted to watch Ramayan and at the same time Star World was showing the Oscars. And obviously many of us wanted to watch that. So he kept saying ‘Ramayan laga do’ and we would say ‘Nanaji Oscars aa raha hai’. He finally got irritated and said ‘khasmaan no khaani Oscars…’ and we burst out laughing! And we let him watch Ramayan!

There are so many little little things that were so cute about him. He loved dogs, and we have 2 of them. So when he ate, he would give them bits of food from his plate (however much we asked him not to!) and he would give equal amount to both. He was extremely polite – he would say thank you for just about everything to everyone. He always caught my mum’s lies. So if he had asked her to do something and is she told him that she had (and she hadn’t actually) he would know! She could never lie to him!

He wanted to file his returns every year (he had retired ages ago) and would get very worried if it wasn’t done on time. He would read stuff in the paper and mark it out for us – esp if it had anything to do with filing our returns! Other things that interested him in the newspaper, he would ask someone to cut it out and preserve it. He would be so upto date with things around him that he even told us and showed us articles about the voters ID drive being carried out in Mumbai and he insisted that we get our voter’s ID done. He was extremely possessive about his razors (he had 3 of them neatly lined up next to his cosmetics ). And when he had a car, he was extremely possessive about that as well!We wouldn’t let anyone take his car – barring my mom. He had a soft corner for his daughter

Mamma had a special bond with him. I think towards the last few years of his life, after my grandmother passed away, he relied on her for everything. Hats off to her for the way she looked after him. Her life revolved around him. She’s been a wonderful daughter and a great example for us. Mamma… you are too good

Nanaji was a sweetheart and we will all miss him. Hope he has a great journey ahead.

Love you nanaji…

Our Wedding

Our Wedding 1 Response »

Dec 142009

VX1Q5104

Ours was the best wedding I have attended till now…. Ha ha!

Well, I’m sure everyone must think the same way about their own wedding.

We (esp the bride and the groom) had a great time and we’ll always cherish the memories of wedding day and the few days before when all the celebrations had started.

We decided to get married in October 2008, when we were at our friend, Ikroop’s wedding. That’s the time we realized that we were ready to take the plunge!

We spoke to our parents and they were more than happy to get us married!

It all happened very quickly. We all decided to do a ‘roka’ ceremony in December, which was a really sweet small family affair. We all dressed up, exchanged gifts, ate nice food (all made ‘in-house’ by my super chef mom) and had a good time with close family and friends.

And then we were officially ‘engaged’! That’s when everyone in our office came to know that we had been seeing each other (though most told us they had guessed it). We could introduce each other as our ‘fiancée’ (which was a little difficult to do suddenly!).

After much debate on the date and month when we should get married we all finally decided to keep it on a weekend in June (just before monsoons, so that it’s not too hot, and neither rainy).

Our venue was beautiful – right at the southernmost tip of Mumbai (South Bombay), a beautiful Naval club facing the sea. We had 2 functions – Mehendi/Sangeet and Engagement on 5^th June 09 and Wedding on 6^th June 09.

More about all events and what all happened in the next few posts.

Just want to send hugs to everyone who was there (in person and in spirit) J

Love

Sonika and Sahil

We are 6 months old... young actually :)

Whats up 1 Response »

Dec 072009

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We completed 6 months of being married yesterday…

Its been a great 6 months – we’ve shifted houses, become totally domesticated (Sahil cooks on weekends, I clean the house and we’ve changed a zillion maids

Besides that, we’ve a lot of fun doing things together. We’ve taken many trips, some alone, some with friends. Starting with our honeymoon when we did a road trip to Teerthan Valley (Himachal Pradesh), to trips to dad’s camp (www.empowercamp.com), road trip to Ahemdabad with no music in the car (the car was brand new and we hadnt had the time to get one!) and recently a trip to Goa with Aneesh and Dipna.Thats not bad for 6 months, now is it?!

We have grown, our relationship has grown, we understand each other much more now. We get irritated with each other, which rarely happened earlier! And thats good – thats real! The best part is that we are super comfortable with each other. We can just spend hours sitting with each other, doing our own thing and still be there with each other.

And yes, when either one of us leaves town without the other, we both MISS the other one terribly

I think we overall, we are a damn cute couple

Here’s wishing us a Happy 3 months anniversary !

Our Story...

About us 11 Responses »

Dec 072009

It all started with a prophecy…

you will meet someone in 2-3 months… be open to it. Or maybe something will start to happen by then, in the area of romance…

Sonika received this starnge sms in the middle of her friend Parul’s wedding. She had been thinking for quite sometime that she will meet her prince charming at Parul’s wedding, but hadnt come across anyone till then. And this sms… she was kinda shocked (and also excited . The sender – her friend Ikroop is extremely gifted and can literally see the future!

Sonika got back from the wedding and what Ikroop had said went somewhere at the back of her head and she didn’t give it much thought. Within a month, Sahil joined her company, in the same team she was. Well, being the chatterbox and social keeda that Sonika is, she would talk to everyone around and be friendly, but Sahil was this quiet ‘dude’ who didn’t seem interested, neither bothered.

Well, so be it. Sonika didn’t bother much either. Soon, the channel that they were working for was close to lauch and work became very hectic. Being in the same team and working on a lot of common stuff, they slowly became friends. They soon discovered that both were from a fauji background and had a lot of things common. Sahil was a few years younger and most of his batchmates from school turned out to be Sonika’s juniors from hostel. Whats more, both of them even went to Symbi for their MBA. So basically lots of common stuff. And yes, Sahil opened up and started talking!

Well, now Sahil has a blog and he writes about stuff he feels … very soon, all posts mentioned Sonika. Slowly they didn’t just mention her in the passing, but were also about her. Sonika was thrilled (so much attention man!!) and would wait everyday for a mail notification for an update on the blog. The moment that came, she would run to read it…. invariably the post would be about her!

Soon the channel launched and work became fully hectic. Sonika was handling the voting data for a show (reality shows… am sure you all must be familiar with those!), so she would have to be up till 2-3am everyday to get, collate and send out the data. Even though Sahil didn’t have to, he stayed up each night and gave her company through sms and chat. Awwww…. how sweet!

Come February and the talk of Valentines Day all over, they realised what sad love lives they had (sad meaning ‘no’!!). So they decided to go out on Valentines, just for fun. Actually, by then, deep inside, both of them had started liking each other, but never expressed anything of the sort.

Well, it was 12am, 14^th Feb had just kicked in and the door bell rang at Sonika’s place. Surprised, she opended the door to find a big huge bouquet of red roses waiting for her! She was excited and so thrilled, that she told half the world about it! They went out, had a great time and became really good friends. Bas, uske baad, roz raat ko der tak sms, baatein aur kya kya…

All their close friends were like – you guys are seeing each other right? And they were like ‘no ya, we are just very close friends’… their friends were like,’ Ya right, stop kidding yourselves! ‘

One evening in March, they were out with friends and it all just happened… they expressed their feelings finally! And yes, they immediately told all their friends that they were right!

And they soon told their families as well. Everyone met each other and soon they decided to get married!

And how can I forget Sahil’s proposal… it was the sweetest thing! One weekend, Sonika was at Sahil’s place, and he had friends over. It was a fun evening with everyone sitting outside (they have a jhoola and an aangan at their place… in Mumbai!!) and a friend of his was playing the guitar, everyone was singing – u get the picture right? Everyone ate (Chinese food) and then Sahil came out with fortune cookies. Sonika opened hers and it said ‘Confusious says, the man your are with loves you and will make a good husband. Sonika, will you marry me?’

Sonika just melted!!! That’s was just so sweet… she looked around and Sahil was standing in the do0r with roses and a ring… she obviously said yes!

This is their story in short (ya I know you must be wondering how I can call this short, but trust me, if I had to write the whole thing, it would have been a book!)

About our site

About us 1 Response »

Nov 252009

Hi everyone,

We’ve created this website to keep everyone posted about what we are upto and to discuss random things that we do or that come to our mind!

Even though the website is www.sonikasahil.com, it’s not a website just about us. It’s also about our family, our friends, it’s about what we do, where we go, who we meet etc etc.

So not only will we keep updating it with family and friends’ updates, pictures but we’ll also write about things that happen around us, things which we feel strongly about, anything funny we come across and maybe sometimes just absolutely random stuff.