How the Spiderwick Chronicles changed my life aka the story behind HappySong

May 2008

Prasad’s Multiplex

The four of us (Raam, Anand, Rohit, and I) had gone to watch a late night show of The Spiderwick Chronicles, a magical fantasy adventure film. On our way out of the theatre, I spotted a tiny puppy, his head protruding from under the frame of the metal detector frame. He was the cutest little thing I had ever seen… naturally I called the boys to come have a look. The security guard told us the puppy did not have a mother so we decided to take him and drop him off to Blue Cross so he could get a fair chance at survival.

On the way back home, we started discussing the pros and cons of bringing a pet into our life. The four of us are all business partners in an advertising agency and also neighbors, besides being the best of friends.  By the time we reached home, Happy Singh was ours.

Happy takes away a lot of our work stress and we don’t even realize when he does that. He goes to office everyday and has been since he was a puppy, riding in the car, his head jutting out of the window, barking at all and sundry. 

Happy has changed me. I have lost a lot of my irrational fears and become a kinder person too along the way. I am not scared of dogs anymore. I love them and play with any stray I see. I carry biscuits in my car for dogs that don’t have homes. I can pretty much pet any animal, in fact – cows, camels, and cats because I don’t fear them anymore.  I don’t jump at the sight of an insect or bug, beautiful or not. And i am grateful for this. 

Happy has changed our lives phenomenally.

It hasn’t been an easy ride always but I feel blessed that we decided to keep him. It didn’t matter to us that Happy was of unknown parentage.  He is a dog and a loving one at that and that’s all the matters.

Happy now stays with Raam mostly, as we are not neighbors anymore. But he is as much  part of our lives as he was then, when we were.

{Photo: Raam and Mahesh play some form of football at Deccan Trails, the only time we took Happy on a trip. Shot with my Nikon D3100}

PS: The name of my business - HappySong is an adaptation of the name Happy Singh.

Studio Happysong goes live

I have news to share!

My dream is finally taking shape and i am happy to share another Material Girl avatar. Visit Studio Happysong on Facebook and share some love please. It's taken me a long time to get here with many twists, turns and bumps along the way.

PS: The page is a WIP and only about 20% ready. I have lots more to share and will soon by and by. Do share your feedback... I'd love to hear from you.

{Pic: Shot on my recent trip to Benares, at the temple in Sarnath, using my DSLR}

Never say never: A lesson learnt

I once very confidently told my kid cousin that i could NEVER wear anything animal print. And i hadn't. Until recently, that is. When i picked up these ballerina flats from Westside recently because i really liked them. Yes, the shoes are blue and it looks like dots but, the print is most definitely an animal print.

Yes, never say never. Not even in your head.

{My new favorite pair from Westside, on sale for Rs. 499} 

Sing a Happysong!

A new year. A new beginning. Happysong. A long burning dream that is slowly taking shape, slowly becoming tangible, slowly becoming real.

There are lots of ideas that have made their home in my heart over the years and i am slowly weaving the various threads into one.

I hope you will support me in this journey.

I kickstarted something. With love. It's taken me a while to get here but now that i am here, i don't want to be anywhere else.

Have a blessed year you all. And may all that you dream become real.

XOXO
Ambica
Singing the Happysong (tunelessly though!)

A road trip to Belum Caves

I live less than 250 kms from India's second largest cave system and i didn't know about it. Belum Caves is near Kurnool and is a natural cave that is a whopping 3.5 km long (only 1.5 km is open to the public though!).

Raam and I are going tomorrow on a weekend road trip to Belum caves. Wish me luck and a good trip people. (The sky is such a gorgeous blue... this promises to be a good drive for sure, if nothing else!)

And you all have a lovely weekend.

XOXO
Ambica

{Read my previous travel stories here.}

{Photo: Shot on my previous road trip with Raam when we went to Vijaywada, Kondapally and Machlipatnam, in July 2011.}

Food for thought

I learnt to carry biscuits in my car from my sisters whose cars are always full of Parle G biscuit packets. I share them with dogs when i find them scavenging for food in garbage heaps. (I also give them to anyone who asks me for food.) These dogs are harmless and well behaved and it takes me a minute or two to feed them.

This morning on my way to the workout i saw a frail mother with 5 even more frail puppies. Even though i was getting late for my workout, i stopped and left a packet of biscuits for them. They were so scared, they ran away. But the moment i left, they pounced on the biscuits. 

I go to Raam's after my workout to meet Happy and walk him. When i went there this morning i check in the kitchen for leftover food. There was plenty of rice that i mixed with curd and carried it back with me. The dogs were still scared of me and scooted the moment they saw me. But the moment i opened the box and stepped back, they came running back. At least the ones that had the energy to do that. 

I am not sharing this story here to tell you how good i am or what a nice person i am. I have been feeding dogs on the road since a really long time now. But i didn't talk about it for so long because i know you shouldn't talk about it when you help someone.

I am sharing this here because it is a simple thing to do and a good thing to do and maybe it hasn't crossed your mind yet. I am hoping that at least one person reads it and does something for these really adorable homeless dogs. 

It doesn't take much - neither time nor a lot of money; it takes about 30 seconds to open a packet and leave it on the road and a monthly quota of biscuits will cost you about Rs 200-Rs 300 which is really so little. Biscuits don't spoil and you can carry a packet or two in your purse or more in your vehicle.

If you love dogs then it will give you a lot of joy to feed even that one dog. Try it. And if you do... please share your story with others so someone else gets inspired. 

I love Hyderabad Series: Char Minar Ki Qasam - Char Minar, Mecca Masjid and Laad Bazaar

Faces and places

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” 

― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

Char Minar, Mecca Masjid and Laad Bazaar - Being a tourist in my own city.

I don't know how many times i have gone to these places, but i don't tire of the sights and sounds of these places. The crowd, the colors, the noises, the language, the vendors, the food - it's like being transported to another city of another era. And i always find something new every time i go and remember something old from a previous visit.

Char Minar - A guided tour

A lot of people do not go inside the Char Minar, stare up at it from outside and say 'what's the big deal?'. That's a mistake. Buy a ticket and go inside. Sit for a while on the benches set along the perimeter. Look and listen. 

Then look for a guide or let one find you and don't spend time bargaining. The Rs 125 that he will charge you is worth it. (Watch the video... and you may agree with me.) 

Tall tales: Let the guide take the lead, enjoy his stories and then brace yourself to climb the 54 really horrendous steps to the first floor of the Char Minar. He will tell you more stories, show you the other landmarks of Hyderabad which will look like tiny specks, but it is fun nevertheless! The guide will also take your pictures, even if you don't ask him to! 

Say bye-bye to the guide once he has finished showing you around. Stay for a bit and just enjoy the view from atop the Char Minar. Then brace yourself again for the even more horrendous walk down the 54 steps of the circular stairway. 

Material Girl Recommends: Look for a photographer when you are back on solid ground again and have regained your breath. You can get a picture taken with the Char Minar in the background. If you have your own camera, he will do the honors for Rs. 5 a shot. 

Pause, now's a good time to take a break 

There are many places you can find around the Char Minar for a quick bite. There is a Cafe Coffee Day outlet if you don't have a strong stomach. If you are one of the bravehearts (or should i say ironstomach?) you can try any of the local cafes where you can sip on a cup of hot Irani tea and try Osmania biscuits. Try a slice of Dilkhush - a bread with a sweet stuffing, usually cake leftovers and nuts. 

We went to Nimra Bakery to rest our feet. The tea was good and not too milky, which is usually the case with Irani tea. We also packed a box of Chand Biscuits to take home. 

Material Girl Recommends: The best place to park your car is inside the Lad Bazaar lane. Go inside the lane till the first crossroad, turn left and drive slow till the second left turn. You will find a marketplace with lots of parking space. Walk back to the Char Minar directly and do not get distracted by the shops in Lad Bazaar. You can come back after! 

Mecca Masjid

You have to walk through a sea of humanity, barrows and street vendors selling everything from underwear (made as Indonesia) to bangles to clothes to jewelry to hairclips to utensils to guavas to reach the Mecca Masjid.

The guide at Char Minar had told us that the Mecca Masjid fell down 3 times till soil brought from Mecca was used in its construction. The masjid is an imposing stone structure that houses a mosque as well as the remains of the Nizams. 

We were, however, distracted by the 200-odd pigeons and the 5 goats who had made the Mecca Masjid their home. You can buy jowar grains from the Ittar Sellers sitting just outside the mosque to feed the pigeons. Or you can just stand there and take a lot of pictures. 

We visited the tombs first and were blessed by an old man with poor eyesight who asked me if i was studying in college. (Yeah, that feels good always and i had to preen a bit here. Sorry.) 

We walked to the mosque and admired the beautiful red and blue flooring, the tall ceiling and the cloth bags suspended from the ceilings that probably held gorgeous chandeliers. There is also a dirty pool in front of the mosque in the centre of which you will find a very beautiful fountain

A few pictures later we left the mosque and waded through the sea of humanity to go to the Laad Bazaar. 

(If you'd like to read more about the Mecca Masjid, then head to Madhu Gopalan's Aadab Hyderabad. You can also watch this NDTV video on YouTube.)

Material Girl Recommends: Always carry a lightweight stole or a shawl in your bag. Useful to cover your head with, if it gets too sunny. Also useful when you visit religious places. I carried one because i knew it would get cold in the evening. Also, wear footwear that is comfortable but also easy to take off and wear again. 

PS: You can get a good picture of the Char Minar from the Mecca Masjid from the raised platform just near the entry gate.

Last stop: The shining, dazzling, sparkling, bling of Laad Bazaar or Choodi Bazaar

Laad means lacquer; and laad bazaar has plenty of shops selling lacquer bangles to justify its name. But you can also find so many other things besides laad bangles to shop for. Bangles, bangle boxes, laces, zari borders, rhintestone studded hair barrettes, local perfumes (or ittar), costume jewelry, mehendi, sequins and beads, blingy fans, colorful lungis, fabric, and clothes - you can buy it all here. You will have to like bling, at least a little though, to be able to shop here.

If you are an out-of-towner, and are looking for a keepsake, then you can also find replicas of the Char Minar being sold here. Keep your eyes open and you will find lanes to your left and right where there are more shops selling many more things. 

Mera Wala Blue: People bring their new clothes to Laad Bazaar so they can get matching bangles. The shopkeepers will find the exact shade of your dress or sari and make a set of bangles to wear. 

Say, if you have a blue dress with pink and white flowers, he will make a bangle set with a lot of blue and a little bit of pink and white and he will place the colors in a beautiful way so that you will never want to separate the bangles and will simply buy new ones even if you need the same shade of blue to match another outfit. 

Material Girl Recommends: Evening is a good time to visit Laad Bazaar... the shops are over-lit with too many bulbs, and glow brighter than a bride on her wedding day. It makes for a very pretty sight but it is also more crowded in the the evening and can be a little overwhelming. 

Every shopkeeper will ask you to enter his store. It can get a little annoying but don't let that bother you - this is how the place functions. Also, you can bargain. The guide told me to start with 40% and go up to 60% but since i did not have to buy much, i just didn't bother. 

The photo walk date with my niece Akansha turned out to be interesting and a lot of fun - she is an excellent travel companion. She has a new found interest in photography and me, in iPhone photography and we hopefully will go someplace again.

{All photos shot by me with my iPhone4. Find me on Instagram: instagram.com/ambicasrimal}

Street Shopping + Selfie

After the what feels like the 20th Bombay trip i finally managed to do some street shopping on my last trip.

Bombay is the mecca of street everything... the street food and the street shopping are just fantastic there but i have never been able to indulge in either in any of my recent trips.

This time too it happened serendipitously. My friend and i went to Bandra for an evening of drinking. It was late, and the shops on Linking Road were about to shut. My friend nudged me towards the shops and said 'go buy'. (I must have looked at the shops very longingly and i think he was very tired + sleep-deprived + drained after all the work = zoned out because i don't think any male would ever do that otherwise.)

So I shopped. Quickly. Because there was no time to lose.

This black and white top cost Rs. 150. Yes, just Rs. 150. Cool, right? (I wish i had picked up more. There were many prints and colors available with the same pattern.)

I also picked up a dress that i know i shouldn't have. It looks very horrid!

Some of my other purchases. They all costed less than Rs. 200 each. I also got some cute earrings and a belt. All this in i think 15 minutes. Super shopper, did you say? ;)

What more does a girl need to make her happy?!!! (Maybe a little bit more shopping time?)

Have a lovely weekend you all. :)

XOXO
Ambica

PS: I have a date with my niece... i barely know her and have hardly spent any time with her so i am a little nervous... hopefully we will get along!!

Happy Christmas, Doggy Style (no pun intended)

How do you get a rambunctious hyperactive dog to pose with a Santa cap? You don't.

You, instead, chase the dog around and wait for those moments when he holds still for a moment and click.

Happy Christmas. (In advance! I know it's too early but i couldn't keep these pictures to myself!)

Also, you should check this really adorable buzzfeed post called 23 puppies who couldn't wait till Christmas morning. It will make you smile, dog lover or not.

Update: Don't miss the video in the end.

Another Update: I forgot to share this Christmas video of how JetWest Airlines made Christmas special for one planeload of passengers. (Note: If Santa asks you what you want... please don't ask for socks and underwear)

We are the Cheesiest

Somak was participating in an Archery competition and we went to cheer him... cheesy style!

At 7:00 PM in the evening i remembered that i had wanted to get t-shirts made and i hadn't done anything about it... And the event was early in the morning next day... :(

But i kept my cool and made a few calls. Figured out where i could get them printed, called Raam and told him to make a design... which he did in exactly ten minutes!

Jyoti Art Studio, RP Road branch printed them for us. They cost 250 bucks apiece for the printing and includes the tee.

Fun, right?

I am sure glad we got these printed... It made everyone laugh and made one more day memorable!

You should try it too... for a special occasion or to make an occasion special.

{They also print Mugs, Photo Frames and a hundred other things. Jyoti Art Studio, RP Road, Near Bata Showroom. P: 66383338 E: jyotiartstudio@gmail.com} 

My first IG Feature: Happiness

One of my pictures on Instagram was featured by a group called nothingisordinary. Yes, it made me feel special!

Yesterday's theme was F! So i shared a picture of the Flying Fish Wind Vane that i shot in Lucknow recently...

In other news, Lonely Plant also liked one of my IG posts... so yeah, i is very happy right now.

(The picture on the bottom right is mine.)

You aren't on Instagram yet? Please download the app and meet me there.

PS: I took a Facebook break. And i feel good about it. 

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Bagsi

Hope you have a super duper year filled with love and happiness.

XOXO
Ambi

Happy Birthday Ma

My gorgeous mother turned 55 today or is it 54?

(Don't judge me... she suddenly told us she was two years older than the age she had been telling us because she checked her horoscope and found she had been wrong about her age!! So now, i am confused!!)

Happy Birthday Mummy... Love you loads!

PS: I know you read my blog and love it when i post something.

PPS: Doesn't her blouse look lovely? I picked the material from Nalli's for her because she didn't want to use the one that came with her sari... and yes, i am the one to blame for this new found love for getting prettier fabrics for the blouse!

Teacup candles

I have been doing a lot of traveling the last ten days but i am finally back with no travel plans ahead. :(

I have shared some pics of the trip to Bombay on Instagram already but the best is yet to be uploaded... the pics of my trip to Lucknow for a wedding that got as crazy as it could get! There is plenty to sort from and i hope to post them all this week.

I am still recovering from all the madness but i wanted to pop in and say hello. So

HELLO! How you been?

***

I also wanted to share this lovely idea i just spotted on MarthaStewart that shows how you can reuse an old tea cup... very fancy and you don't have to pay a fancy price for it. Click here, if you'd like to learn how.

You can easily transform old bowls or an utensil you don't use anymore into a lovely candle. If you have old heirloom brass glasses or bowls... transform them... you will love to see it everyday on your mantle.

***

Thanks for coming by... and visiting me... i am almost at 100000 page visits and i am super-excited that i have slowly trudged along and come to this number.

***

Have a lovely week y'all.
XOXO

My first Ganapati Visarjan

This was an experience like no other! 

Every year a Ganesh idol is placed in my uncle's office on Ganesh Chaturthi and on the tenth day the idol is taken out in a procession and immersed with much fanfare. I have never participated in the festivities before except for the traditional lunch which is served on the last day. This time I decided to throw my reservations and join in the festivities even though I have plenty of concerns about the environmental issues associated with these celebrations. (I don't mean to sound like Ms. Holier than Thou... But I know I do. Eeks! Sorry!!)

I reached office by 6:00 PM and since it had already been pouring cats and dogs the roads were already flooded. We rolled up jeans, plucked our courage and literally waded in... 

I was given an over-sized kurti to change into so I could be part of the group. I grudgingly agreed. After that though there was no stopping me. Dress change complete, and after a hurried photo session my cousins and I walked out of the office and onto the street, into the pouring rain where are a DJ was dishing out some rather bizarre, but pacy, numbers. There were about 60 odd people dancing in the pouring rain like people possessed. The mood was rambunctious and the energy was palpable! 

We danced like monkeys who had been given a shot of I-don't-know-what. Not elegant. Not graceful. Not anything you'd want to see. But oh, I could do it again. 

A game of uttu followed. A star was suspended by a rope. You were given a stick and you had to break the star by hitting it. And all the while people would throw water on you so you couldn't see. Great fun, if you like mild forms of torture... Almost everyone had a go at it, including me, until someone got hit on the forehead with the stick and had to be rushed to the hospital for a bleeding forehead. The next player too managed to hurt someone else, when uttu was immediately stopped. 

Dancing resumed. Spirits were a little dampened but the festivities continued even as the rain kept pouring. After all the only way to keep warm was to keep moving. 

Meanwhile a 40 feet long trailer / truck was being readied for The Lord's journey. 

After the final puja, the idol was transferred to the truck and we all piled in. I immediately proceeded to do what I am best at... Fall and get hurt when I am doing the most harmless thing. Like walking. I didn't fall off the truck but I did manage to fall on one of those huge vessels, one of seven, that held the Prasad for distribution. 

I was tired, hungry, soaking wet and now hurt too. But that was forgotten soon enough. The moment we reached the main road and started distributing the Prasad packets. There were too many people and not enough hand to distribute. We ran out of the packed packets. We ran out of the leaf bowls. We purchased glasses enroute. Ran out of them. Ditto paper cups. We dished food onto people's hands. About 7 boys on my side of the truck were helping pass the food around. We were moving at a snails pace. Yet it wasn't enough. Even the bouncers joined in to help. (Yes,  there were two of them!) 

About 2 hours later we finally reached Tank Bund. It's just about a kilometre away from the office. The idol was transferred to the crane as chants rang in the air. Lord Ganesha was bid adieu and we headed back home, shivering and cold. 

Khamaaj, Shafqat Amaanat Ali Khan

This morning, i woke up very agitated, after having seen some rather bizarre dreams. I turned to music to make me feel better. And it worked. This song soothed me, gave me goosebumps and brought back some beautiful memories.

Thank you Mr. Shafqat Amanat Ali Khan. A few months ago, your concert had me enthralled and jumping. Today, a concert on YouTube had me mesmerised and soothed. 

Missing ma and dreaming of samosas

My mother is a fantastic cook and there are some things that she makes that no one in our family can ever better. From the top of my head, foods that i remember include gulab jamun, idli, vada curry (a chennai special moong dal vada accompaniment to dosas), bhindi sambhar, bhaapia (a traditional seherwali dish), and of course samosas.

And the weather is perfect for it. (The weather is perfect for fried food everyday!)

And my mother is away. A 20-day trip has stretched to a month long one and today, i am missing her and the awesome samosas she makes.

Sitara Manzoor recently shared this aloo samosa recipe which is very close to how my mother makes it and i thought i'd share it with you guys. No i am not going to make it... but i can look at this picture, miss my ma and dream of samosas.

PS: I was trying to fill the passport renewal form for my parents but i got stuck since i don't know what my mother's birthmark is. :( 

Mr. Poirot, you really are the cat's whiskers. Sherlock, you aren't bad either

I am terribly fond of murder mysteries and crime thrillers. I own almost the entire collection of Agatha Christie's fiction and Erle Stanley Gardener. And i have read all of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books featuring Sherlock Holmes. Of them all, Agatha Christie's Poirot is my favorite character. To me he really is the best of them all.

And David Suchet, who plays Poirot in the 1989 TV series called Agatha Christie's Poirot is very adorable.

Right now, I am neck-deep in work, and pretty brain dead. Watching him play Poirot is pretty much the only thing keeping me sane right today.

So i thought i'd share this with you right now. If you love AC, then you can safely watch this TV series. Because i know you will enjoy it much. David Suchet brings Poirot alive.

And if you like Sherlock Holmes, then you might want to watch the BBC version called Sherlock that premiered, i think in 2010. There are just 6 episodes and it's very interesting to see the character in our day and age and using computers and GPRS and all that in solving them crimes. Rather awesome. And again, Sherlock and Watson are beautifully casted.

That's about as much as i can gab right now... i am going back to David Suchet and some much needed entertainment. I hope you all have been happy and good. :)

XOXO
Abmica

I want to go someplace beautiful

When you can't do something you want to do that very thing. It happens to me a lot. And right now, i want a holiday. I want it so bad, that i feel like i need a holiday. Work and life has kept me busy for quite some time now and my last holiday that lasted longer than 36 hours was almost a year ago.

I think i need Goa.

4 days in front of the sea, doing pretty much nothing but looking at the waves and sipping the occasional iced Mojito. Gorging on delicious food. Bike rides at sun down. Foot massages under a beach umbrella. The sand clinging to my feet after a dip in the sea.

I do need Goa. And i need lots of luck to make it happen.

{The Arabian Sea Bay of Bengal from a hillock: Vizag, Apr 23 2013 on a work trip} (Amended: Thanks to my IG friend @banglorean for his input and better knowledge of geography!)

Puppy love: Meet Raju and the story of other strays

Every morning, on my way to Yoga, i see beautiful dogs foraging in rubbish piles for food. I stop sometimes to give them biscuits but i know it is not enough. All of these dogs are well-behaved and friendly. I go all week-kneed and misty-eyed and just don't know what i can do to help. Some of them wear collars which some stranger put on them to protect them.  

A couple of weeks ago i was introduced to Raju. The mutt was adopted from the street by Santosh bhai, one of the supervisors at the factory. Raju lives in the factory, is loved by more than the 60-odd employees working there, plays in the factory and the grounds, and is taken care off.

And did I tell you about Tommy, the cantakerous dog that the people at my uncle's office adopted? I think his previous owners abused him and then threw him out on the streets. He barks and bites and is cranky but is still fed and cared for even though he may not be loved or petted by too many folks.

Why don't more people adopt mongrels? They are cute, friendly, and very, very, resilient. Maybe someone will use a mongrel in a movie or a TV advert and then this no-breed dog will get to be in demand. 

Hats off to people like Santosh bhai and Mahesh (who adopted Singh) who have very large hearts.