The Subway Face

Travelling by the subway each day, I see so many people, some of them commonly become the "subway aquaintances". All of them are so different, yet similar in one aspect - They all have the "Subway Face". This is supposed to be an impassive expression that you put on when you are in the subway, to show that you are indifferent, you have stuff to think on your own and you are not interested in their conversation. Nothing to blame, especially when you are packed like sardines at a 9:03 am subway train. You do not want to laugh at this really funny joke the person sitting opposite you is telling, since you do not want to be the eavesdropper.

It's not easy to put on the subway face unless you have something to support you with that, like a book or your daily metro newspaper, or your apple gadget. Unfortunately, you can not stare out of the window into the grey walls of the tunnel, no fun in that. I find it extremely hard to sleep, with the operator announcing the name of each subway station through the microphone. So that's about it.

Ofcourse, there are still guys who manage to hit on their attractive counterparts when you are sitting in a morning subway, looking groggy eyed and trying to maintain your subway face. Some of the pick up lines I have heard so far range from extremely lame ones to the downright outrageous. There were some nice exceptions where the concerned person seemed to like it too :)

Then there are these absolute depressing experiences, the ones that result in the best FML of the day and might result in a bad day ;)

As days pass by, you become well experienced in maintaining your subway face whatever be the situation.

Spring's round the corner

Spring's just a spring away. Temperatures are rising, it's 1-2 degrees nowadays ;)
I have learnt not to get deceived by the sunlight outside, it could still be sunny with a -10 degrees! The trees are still barren, but there's no snow around.

Oh Dear Mother Nature,
your naughty tricks do not deceive me anymore. I know perfect spring would start only in April. There are people who stack away their winter tires and you decide to have a snow storm the day after that! There's a beauty about snow though, which I would miss. The white ground which is so heavenly, skiing trips... i won't miss the black ice and the wind chills though.

Looking forward to summer which reads as hiking, swimming, a weekend at some cottage :) ... ah, blissful days ahead. The days get longer and the nights shorter,

Life is a Tree

Disclaimer: I am not referring to the tree of life.

Life's like a tree, this makes sense when you look at a tree that has shed its leaves and all that remains are it's barren branches. When we are born, we do not have a choice regarding the time and nature of our birth. We also can not choose between parents, the life we would lead, the religion we would follow etc. That symbolizes the trunk of the tree, thick and strong, no choices, just accept... your childhood.

Slowly, the trunk gives way to branches, which leads to more branches and that goes on, till finally the branches give way to twigs and there is an end, The branches represent the choices we have, the decisions we make and we follow one branch. Ultimately, whichever path we follow, there is death in the end. However, some branches have seeds which end up having fruits. These are those tiny moments of accomplishments in life. As life progresses, the decisions we make increase. Every day we make choices, some are too subtle to even care.

Finally, there is the unseen, the roots of the tree, the foundation. I like to think of it as the 9 months we spend in our mother's womb. When the foundation is strong, the tree is magnificent and healthy.

Lastly, the picture is the tree outside my home, which brought about this philosophical note...

The Canadian Way Eh?

Post finally written after a suggestion from a nocturnal online friend who knowingly or unknowingly has inspired me to resume blogging! :)
The "eh?" is used in Canada at the end of almost every question.. "enjoyed your weekend eh?"
Where do I start about the past 5 months? It's been one crazy time with the confluence of cultures. So much to take in and a lot to watch. Made a few good international friends. (Un)fortunately, I did not even make an attempt to change my accent. Finally, at work, my team's got adjusted to the accent. I have this Chinese friend who amuses me a lot with her way of saying "rumali roti". She rotates her hands above her head (to show the way it's made). I really do not think we swing our hands that way when we make the roti.

Anyway, food was something I knew would be this way. ...
We have Indian masalas here, but the taste is not as good as in India.
The tea here at cafe shops is just caffeinated water! Even if you say double-double ( 2 spoons of milk powder and sugar each), it just becomes white caffeinated water. Be it Second Cup or Tim Hortons (Timmy's). Nothing gives me the same pleasure as having the masala/cardamom tea at Bangalore.
There's something about Timmy's though.. on a cold winter day, having a hot cup of chocolate milk. YUM. However, everyone feels the same way, so Timmy's is usually crowded on such days.
There's something about pets and people here. They absolutely LOVE pets, sometimes even more than their parents and can engage in a conversation about them for a very LONG period of time.

Reading the Hindu online has become a habit now. I think I follow more news about India now than when I was there!

My present Home...
So, I live at this place called Pickering, that's about an hour from the happening place - Toronto. That's where all the activities take place, very vibrant night life. Pickering is a quiet place.. mostly like the country side, lots of trails and frozen streams during winter. The best month was December, with a lot of year end parties and new year eve celebrations.
On weekdays, two hours everyday is spent on traveling to work in the "GO BUS". It is not as arduous as it seems, the GO buses are luxurious to say the least. The only lack wifi :)

So life nowadays, it's mostly discovering trails in Pickering/Ajax, that's a lot of fun. Next week is my first skiing trip and I'm totally looking forward to it. The ski resort is Devil's Glen at the south of Collingwood.