Monday, December 31, 2007

The Holiday Ends - as does 2007

The house is strangely silent just now because the last of my family has left today for home. I've just put Peanut down for a little nap. The excitement of the last few days has been a little too much for her, and she has had a bit of a cough and cold. But is recovering fast, thank you very much.

I contemplated doing a 'Last year's highlights, New Year's resolutions' kind of post, but I got bored with the idea quickly. Just the fact that 2007 has given us Peanut makes it the most special year ever. Enough said.

It was a nice sort of end to this year, having my family down here. Over the last couple of days, we went to Murud-Janjira, a few hours away from Mumbai. The drive there and back wasn't too great since Peanut has decided to hate her car seat, but squalling infant notwithstanding, it was good fun overall. We even got to see the Janjira fort, it really is quite beautiful.

My cousin Anjali remarked on how amazing it was that the fort had been built out in the middle of the sea, and such a long time ago. I agreed that it was amazing, but was more amazed by the fact that no matter which monument I go to see in India, some idiot called Raju has been there before me, declaring his undying love for Pinky by scratching their names on the wall, complete with the obligatory drawing of a heart. Whatever, guys. Get a room. And write on the walls there!

Anyway, a few photos:

View of the Fort from the boat.



Inside the Fort.


A shot from one of the highest points in the fort - you can see the Pond covered with moss. It was quite a climb to get this Bird's Eye View. I hope you appreciate it.



An artistic shot Vijay took of Peanut and me inside the fort. (Note: artistic was the word he used. I said 'unclear' - but he quite likes it anyway.)

Oh, and this is a big one for me - I've been lamenting how I've not seen a sky full of stars in the longest time, like ten years or something - and it was on my 'Things to do before I'm 30' list - well, I saw a sky full of stars - two nights in a row! And it was really amazing. It wasn't really like millions of stars, but it was thousands, I think - and anyway, we take what we can get, given how rare this sight is nowadays. We took a bottle of wine out and sat on the beach on a couple of mats, passing around roasted almonds and cashews, just looking up at the stars, and listening to the sound of the ocean. I will spare you the bad joke I made about sitting on dari-yaan by the dariya. (note to self: do not attempt humour in Hindi again).

And since this was a very important moment for me, I attempted to take a photograph of starry night sky, as below.


As you can see, this did not work very well.
Vijay scoffed at my attempt, and said rather condescendingly that he would show me how it was to be done. The next night, he spent half an hour adjusting the camera settings, exposure, lighting, and took the following photograph.


Brilliant.

I always say, if you must fail, fail in style.

Anyway, just believe us, there were a lot of stars in the sky. Just imagine them or something.

Oh, and before I forget - A Happy New Year to You!




19 comments:

  1. @ the last two pics - LMAO!!

    Can we please have a few - just a few piccies of Peanut up? I miss her wonderful expressions and your captions and Ganju's comments!

    Your two nights out in the stars sound soooo lovely.. :sigh:.
    Happy New Year to you all! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely! As usual laughed my head off, Y.
    Hope you all have a wonderful new year.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What fun! Happy New Year to you all!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Happy New Year..The views from the fort are breathtaking..

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow! May the stars continue to shine bright this year :)

    Happy New Year!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow! May the stars continue to shine bright this year :)

    Happy New Year!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy New Year! Hugs to Peanut.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Suki: Come on, don't weaken my resolve! May post pics again soon. Ganju's comments are always going to be around to enjoy :-)

    Dipali: Thanks, dear. Hope you had a great new year's eve?

    Moppet's Mom: Yes, it was great fun actually :-)

    Timepass: Thank you, at least SOMEone appreciates the effort of climbing twenty thousand steps to get that pic :-)

    Cuckoo: Amen, and you too!

    Stuti: Will pass on the hug to the snotty little baby ASAP

    Dipali: :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Damn. I was going to comment on your blog a little earlier and if I had I would have got a response. But I just missed out. And so once again I am relegated to the zone of the non-response. In that respect this blog is just like my actual life.

    I would comment more but I feel under tremendous pressure when I comment here these days. It's almost like a job. Speaking of which, I'm so glum that I have to go to work tomorrow while you sit at home and make fun of your friends and family.

    And I can never ever apply for maternity leave. It's a biological conspiracy I tell you. A biological conspiracy.

    ReplyDelete
  10. poor ganju!!


    HAPPY NEW YEAR to Y, Vijay and Peanut.

    please keep up the cheer and the clean ol fun!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hope you guys have a great year ahead.....

    ReplyDelete
  12. Just don't let li'l Peanut near a camera, ok? With the genes in her, it may not be her calling...

    I hope this year works out even richer for you guys. I'm sure Peanut will do her best to make it so!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hey, I can see some stars!! No, wait! That was the dust particles on my laptop's screen :D

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ganju: Guess what? It's your lucky day! I'm responding!

    Sameera: Please don't waste your sympathy on Ganju - he's always been a bit of a drama king.

    Shilpi: To you and family too, esp. little Kabir.

    Sue: Yes, photography may not be the best option for her. All the best for the new year to all three of you.

    CeeKay: :-P, go clean your laptop!

    Mona: Thanks sweetie.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Lovely post. busy trying to keep a straight face :-) Wishing you, hubby and Peanut a wonderful year ahead!!!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Happy New Year Y, V , Peanut, K and Z.

    Uncannily similar photographs taken by us of the Murund Janjira...quite a breathtaking place...

    ReplyDelete

Hi there. Go on, say it. Well? WELL?