LULLABY

LULLABY

She looked at her child. The child was looking back at her with eyes that could melt anyone.

The mother and the child looked at each other. The baby looked at her as if requesting her not to make him sleep.

Nothing doing! came the mother's reply.

He pouted his lips and made cute eyes at his mother. Though, just looking at her son made her the happiest lady in the world, she really wanted to make him sleep. 

Sleep was just not for his son. 

But the times have changed. She had a new plan that day and she was going to execute it!

She took him in her arms.

He was born before 5 months. After 7 years of marriage and innumerable visits to the infertility clinics, she had given up. But, good things happen only when you least expect it and when she found herself pregnant, her joy knew no bounds. 

The motherhood is the most joyous period in a woman's life and she couldn't wait to see her baby.

After 280 days, Aaditya was born. He was such a sweet boy and she had cried when she first held him in her arms.

Those moments were always etched deep into her heart and soul.

So, when her precious baby cried in the middle of the night, she felt her heart bleed. He used to wake up and cry his heart out. Who can bear to see it? That too, especially a mother? No, she couldn't. 

Though she was ready to spend sleepless nights to make her son sleep, it was just a mystery for her. It was a few days after that she found the reason for her little one's incessant cry. Wet diaper.

She had researched a lot when choosing a diaper. There were many and her mind was overloaded with specifications. But, only the best for her kid, and she was ready to spend the time and energy for it. She had chosen a particular diaper and it looked like she hasn't done a very good job. Weren't those diapers supposed to keep him dry? 

That is when she heard about Pampers. Pampers keeps the baby dry and so the child could enjoy the whole night's sleep without waking up from the wet diaper.

Having found a  solution for her problem, she was sure about her son's good sleep.

As she held her son in her arms then, she felt a surge of emotions running through her. She promised herself that she would make him the greatest person alive, that she will take care of him forever, and much much more. 

Aaditya started recognizing his mother at his 3rd month, and now made a sound, which could very well be called 'cooing'. 

She started talking to him. 

'What does the baby darling want?'

'Don't you want to sleep?' 

And Aaditya, as if he can understand his mother's talk, gave another cooing sound. It was a language that only he and his mother can understand.

She too started making nonchalant sound and he laughed out loud.

'Now, shall we sleep cutie pie?'

And as if giving consent to his mother's request, he gave another cooing.

She made him lie down on the bed and on tickiling him with one hand, she lifted both his legs and in one sweeping motion, the old diaper was off. The soft bottom was wiped clean and it was time for the new Pampers diaper. 

He was laughing the whole time and this just surprised his mom, because it was always crying when changing diapers .

'What made you so happy today?'

'Won't you share it with your mom?'

'Won't you?'

He was laughing, when she had completed replacing the diaper.

The mother and the baby duo laughed heartily and the mother changed his clothes as well. She took him and placed him in his cradle. As soon as she placed him in it, he extended both his hands in an embracing position. 

'What dear? Are you afraid?'

'Amma is here. Amma will be here till you wake up'

Aaditya pouted his lips and was on the verge of crying. She gently started to rock him and started a lullaby. 

Aararo... Aararo...Aariraro,

Kanmaniye... Ponmaniye...

Kannurangu...

Aararo.. Aararo.. Aariraro...

Chella mayile... Pon mayile...

Kannurangu...

Kannurangu...

Aararo.. Aararo... Aariraro...

Kaaninmaniye... 

Kannurangu...

En Chellame.. Kannurangu...
Aararo... Aararo.. Aariraro...
Aararo... Aararo...

The smooth voice calmed him down and the smile returned. He too started rhyming his cooing with her.

Soon, his eyelids became heavy and he was fighting it hard to keep his eyes open. She continued her lullaby and he was finally asleep. 

She gently took his palms and placed it on her cheeks. She looked at him, her baby sleeping with a smile fixed on his face. She wished to God that his smile should forever be there, even when he grew old. She wanted him to be happy always. Happy forever.

She gently kissed the palm of his hand, and this made him to give a stir in his sleep.  When he grew older, he will reciprocate the affection and kisses.

For now, she wanted him to have a good sleep and Pampers will help her achieve it.

She rocked the cradle again for a few minutes and smiled happily at her son.

Her wish had been granted with Pampers.

This post is written for Indiblogger Happy Hours contest for Pampers.

Resurrection!

When we were little, nothing could stop our dreams. Sky was the limit and sometimes, even it couldn't hold us back. Those were the times that we were nourished with ideas. Not just ideas, but dreams, hope, ambition, passion and everything else. 

Growing up consisted of dreaming all one wanted to be. Each day had a different dream and as a child, no one stepped back and doubted their intentions. No constraints. Life used to be an open ground and as far as you can see, you can see just the green grass. 

What happened when adulthood knocked at the gates? It didn't kill the dreams. It just made the dreams less important. It planted priorities in our lives. The passion of that little child lost to the priorities. And finally man lost his life to the priorities.

When was the last time you did something, that actually interested you? How many of us still do that?  

What will you do if you are blessed with a care free life? Conquer the world, fly to Pluto! Everything, right?

Now, coming to the life led by the person typing this. It is not very different from what most do. Instead of burning passion, the passion has been buried. How to resurrect it? We are not well versed with voodoo techniques. 

So, let me do what a mortal can do - Writing the wishes down.

Don't be discouraged to read further. I promise you that my wishes are not crazy. Not crazy enough for me! How crazy can one get? Curious? Read on.
                            
1. The world is such a beautiful thing. It doesn't matter whether you believe in God or not, you have to accept that the creation is an absolute wonder. When the whole world is such an adorable piece of art, how can one sit idle. This is it.
I will travel.

Traveling to different places, eating different food, meeting different people. You get to know their culture, their likes and dislikes as a community, their way of worship. Everything. Everything what the other person does is always interesting. I have heard someone say it. Human beings are one curious bunch of people. May be that is the reason behind my travel instinct, but the final word is, I would like to travel the world. 

By traveling the world, I do not mean going to exotic foreign locations, staying in five star hotels and sipping champagne. In my dictionary, travel means to go exploring.
We have not found even half of the nature's glory.

So, Exploring.

2. In the early days, man used only hand gestures for communication. The sophisticated form of communicating through a language came much later.
Isn't it a wonder? How the people would have made a language? Different people in different areas, yet they speak similar languages. Aren't these making the head go a little fuzy. 

Language. Language is the form of communication. Way of expressing.
My second wish if I could live a care free life is, to learn a new language. As a true Indian, I am familiar with my mother tongue and English. But I want to know more. 

I have always dreamed of knowing at least 5 languages. All the languages completely. By learning the language, you can learn about the human mentality and behavior.
I am not aiming to be an anthropologist, but a new language is such an exciting option.

3. Books. What can I say about them? They are absolutely the love of my life. What if I could make the 'love' a little better?
I must have been seven or eight when I made the decision. 

I have written a short story and when it circulated among the family, resulting in praises for me, I decided that I wanted to be a writer.

If I could live without any worries for the rest of my life, I think I could fulfill the dreams of that seven year old girl. Seeing my name as the author's name is a long standing dream. And I would like to make it into something more than just a dream.

4. The river is flowing slowly. The river bed is looking fertile and the sun is about to set. The sun is seen with a red hazy background. The trees have started to look like a silhouette.

What will I be doing? 

What will I do with a guaranteed happy life?

I would like to see myself etching that stunning scenery. The pencil sketches had always been my favorite. The stroke of the drawing pencil against the matted paper was something to die for. When you have completed a drawing, the happy feeling that spreads within you is simply irreplaceable.

5. Luck. Fortune. Are they even related?
Might be, at least for some. I would say I am fortunate to have seen and enjoyed this much in my life. What about the underprivileged? What wrong did they do? Nothing. Yet, they have to struggle to get a morsel of food, that you are yet to appreciate. 

If my life is going to be happy enough, I would like to make some other people happy too. I cannot play God, but I can do my part.
I can teach a child for free. I can start a school for them. I can sponsor some children.
You can ask me whether I can do all these now? Why not?

But, Charity begins at home.
Only if you are steady and happy, you can take others into your wing.

When I sat down to think about what I wanted to do, I never thought I will come up with this. But I have. I have surprised myself.

So, come on! Go and make yourself a wish list and proceed on towards fulfilling it.
Now, which one should I do first?
#BefikarUmarBhar

Quikr Nxt

A few years back, shopping existed in only one form and that certainly was not the online way. This era could very well be called as the era of Online Shopping.
Online shopping gives you the comfort of shopping at your place, at your time and pace. You can buy it or you can skip it for a better one. The life is full of options and online shopping gives you many such options.
Quikr is one such online shopping portal. It offers you services according to your place. You can access it from your computer as well as from your mobile. It offers various products. You can use it to find a house for rent as well as for sale. You can find a new or a used product from various sellers from your city.
You can go through the pictures provided and select one according to your preferences.
Now Quickr has an other feature. Which is Quickr Nxt - a chat option.
Whenever you look at an item, your mind is filled with all possible questions.

According to me, the 3 advantages that the Quickr Nxt chat option has over the conventional phone conversation is as follows.

The first advantage would be

Sharing of photos instantly

Even though the specifications would be mentioned in the ad for a product or house, you will definitely have something more to ask. If you have been looking for a house, you can contact the seller through the Quikr Nxt chat option and ask for even more photos. You can ask for the view of the whole house or the view of a particular room. The seller can send you the photos immediately and if it is to your liking, you can proceed with your purchase.
Even though you can call and clear your clarifications, it will certainly not be as satisfying as seeing a picture.

And the second one is

The Backup

Not all of us are blessed with photographic memory. The Quikr Nxt chat option also has an other useful feature. It saves all the chat you have done. And as I have said above, you can share images. As soon as you get the picture you had requested, you see once or twice. But later when you are sitting idle in front of the television, your brain wakes up and reminds you that you have missed some important information. That is when Quikr Nxt comes in useful. You can go and revisit your chat history. The pictures will be there. The details will be there. You don't have to worry about forgetting the intricate details.
But when you call and talk to a person for any query, it is human nature to forget little details later. So, in this criteria the chat option certainly has the advantage.

And the third one would be

Do not wait

We are living in a very busy world and we certainly cannot expect anyone to be extremely free all the time. Whether you are using the Quikr Nxt feature as a buyer or as a seller, you need not wait for the other person to pick his or her call. The person might be busy and as a result she might be unavailable to take your calls. If there is no chat feature, you just have the option of calling. And when you ultimately decide to purchase from that seller and call the person to settle the deal, the seller might be not available to pick your call. You might try once or twice and then you will fret and leave that deal. Some might even consider things like these as a bad omen and that would be the end of it. But a good deal might have been lost for both the buyer and the seller.

When you are using the Quikr Nxt option, you can send a message to the seller and you can do your own work. The seller will surely reply as soon as he or she is available. Then you can settle the deal. A good offer wouldn't be lost anymore.

You can also use the Quikr Nxt feature in both your mobile and desktop.

Although the Quikr Nxt feature offers many advantages, I found the above three to be the best features. These three will make the chat feature certainly useful and even more beneficial for the prospective buyers and sellers.

This post is written for the Quikr NXT Happy Hour at Indiblogger.

Go sleek!

I first heard about Asus when I went mobile hunting for a new phone with better RAM.

And now comparing both ASUS ALL IN ONE PC ET2040 and ASUS EEEBOOK
X205TA, I think I will be more in need of the later.
Asus EEEBOOK X205TA is a Notebook launched by Asus.

Image source: Asus.com

It is 11.6 inches in length and it will be easier for me to carry it wherever I go and it won't be a problem to fit it into a bag. And also it's weight is just 1 kg which makes it still more easier to carry it. And also it is ultrathin with only 1.75cm as it's width. When you travel you have a lot of things to carry and when you need a laptop device to carry with you, it certainly would be nice if it is light weighted and small. And as this notebook is quite small and sleek in it's appearance, I would go for this.

Image source: Asus.com

And coming to it's battery life. We all know the feeling when you run out of battery in the middle of a presentation or in the middle of your favorite movie. Battery power is never enough and some doesn't lasts even throughout a single movie. Asus EEEBOOK X205TA boasts of 12 hours battery with web browsing and 13 hours battery with the music playing and 11 hours battery with video playing. And if it does what it claims, then I will be able to watch three movies continuously without the battery draining out. And as I do long travels, it will certainly be useful for me with it's long lasting battery claim.

Asus EEEBOOK X205TA runs on Microsoft Windows version 8.1. And as I prefer using a system with Windows, I would prefer this because of the Windows.

It also has a slightly larger touchpad which is 36℅ more according to it's claim. Larger touchpads are always a big yes for me because it is easier to navigate the pages than in the crumbled ones where you have to lift your finger multiple times to access the pages.

It also has Intel Atom 4th generation Quad core processor which has a speed of 1.33 GHz to 1.83 GHz. It also runs on 2GB RAM. Most systems come with 1 GB or less than 1GB RAM and ASUS EEEBOOK X205TA has 2GB and no one will complain.

All these makes me want to cry out loud in the realization that I can play games as much as I want. I can start a game in one tab and in another tab I can very well browse any social networking site and I am sure I won't get stuck in the middle. It had happened to me previously and you will have no other option than to shut down the system and restart. But with a Quad core processor and a 2GB RAM, I guess I can play to my heart's content.

ASUS EEEBOOK X205TA also has Microsoft Office installed in it. As the world now is in need of constant presentations and Excel sheets, it is one added benefit. You need not buy it separately and it saves the cost.

And coming to the storage part of it, ASUS EEEBOOK X205TA offers 1 TB storage free for one year and 500 GB storage free for two years. Because of the huge storage capacity, I would be able to store all my PDF books, my presentations, my projects and everything in it and I need not worry about buying a separate hard disc for it.

And also it comes in four colors - Blue, Red, White and Gold. I can choose my favorite color and need not worry about buying only the black coloured ones.

Image source: Asus.com

And as this Notebook has everything a student would need and at an affordable cost, I think I would prefer this for it's sleek style and it's features.

You can know more about  ASUS EEEBOOK X205TA here.

You can know more about ASUS ALL IN ONE PC ET2040 here.

A healthy child makes a happy home

When Sheela opened her window that morning, she saw the mist that was covering her neighborhood. The winter season had started already. The germs that were lurking before would rise to the surface causing innumerable problems. The winter diseases were always worse than the diseases that occurred during other seasons.

Sheela was a house wife and she usually got up early to prepare breakfast and lunch for her husband and son, before they went to work and school.

She had got up early that day too. She started her regular chores.

The clock struck seven and it was time to wake her sleeping son. The school bus would arrive by eight, and she always made sure that he was there prior to it.
That day when she entered her son's room to wake him, she saw that he was awake.

She was surprised at it because, it had always been tough for her to wake him up. She went and sat near him.

Her son, Arjun sneezed loudly. He sneezed again. And again.
He then opened his tiny eyes which had started to water from the sneezes, and looked at his mother.

Sheela took him in her lap and asked her 5 year old son whether he ate anything outside home, like ice cream or a cold drink.

Arjun denied eating anything and Sheela couldn't help but believe her son.

She then made him ready for school and fed him in between the sneezes. She gave him hot water in his water bottle and packed a couple of throat lozenges along with his lunch.

After the school bus took off, Sheela returned home and called her mother. Her mother gave her some home made tonic recipes.

The grandmother was worried that her dear grandson had caught cold and wanted do something. Her beloved TV show was running and in between the show, there was an ad about Dabur Chyawanprash. It had Amla and other 40 more ingredients to develop immunity. The Grandma watched all this with intense concentration.

That evening Grandma decided to visit her daughter and  Arjun. On the way she asked the auto driver to stop at the local supermarket.

Arjun returned home with fever and Sheela took him to a nearby clinic and was surprised to see many children of Arjun's age waiting there. No wonder Arjun caught cold and fever. His whole school must have had it, thought Sheela.

When they returned after the visit to the Doctor, they were surprised at the Grandma standing there at the door waiting for them. The sick Arjun was quickly pampered and put to sleep. And worried duo of the mother and the daughter discussed about Arjun's health.

Children are the ones who bring peace and happiness to the family. When the child falls sick, the adults find themselves finding it tough to look beyond their child's sickness and the whole family becomes filled with gloom.

The same thing happened at Arjun's home and his mother and Grandma was worried sick. Arjun was coughing and sneezing for a week and for that one week, his home oozed sadness.

The next Monday, when Arjun started going to school again, Sheela started a new routine her mother had advised.
She gave Arjun, Dabur Chyawanprash daily. Her mother had even bought it for her and she was told the goodness in it by her mother. She wanted to improve her son's immunity and that seemed a good way.

After one year

The climate had dropped to a record low that year. Sheela had not seen such a harsh climate in her life.

As her routine, she started making breakfast for her son. Her husband had gone soon today and she made use of that extra time in preparing Arjun's favourite lunch.

The clock struck seven and she went to her son's room. Arjun was sleeping peacefully and for a moment she didn't want to disturb her son's sleep.

It had been an year since she started giving her son Dabur Chyawanprash and she had seen her soon becoming healthy.

He had not fallen sick after that single episode in the past year. She was not even afraid when she saw a little boy sitting next to Arjun in the school bus coughing and sneezing. Her son had good immunity and she can breathe a little. She was happy looking at her healthy son and as the proverb goes, Health is Wealth and only a healthy child can be happy and only if the child is happy, the whole house is happy.

And then it was time to wake Arjun.

This post is written for a healthy child makes a happy home contest by Dabur in association with Indiblogger.

QUICKER WITH QUICKR

                                                    QUICKER WITH QUICKR!

The morning was dark and misty. The sun was yet to show his face to the earth. I could feel the chillness entering my ears and nose.
I went back inside and all I could see was an empty house with huge boxes stacked up at one corner. Without the things, the room seemed particularly empty.
It had been my home for the past twenty years. It had been a wonderful past. But it was the past.
We had packed everything and the movers had taken everything to send it to our new destination.
Bangalore!
Yes. We were going to Bangalore.

I made my way to the car and once i shut the door, i felt the rush of emotions surfacing. I had been living there for ever and suddenly a new place was beckoning me.

With one final look at the closed gate, we were off.

The travel would be a long one and i closed my eyes and decided to while away the time napping.

                                                            --------------------------------

The move to Bangalore or Bengaluru was a sudden one. We had not expected it and when it stared us in the face, we were shocked. Sometimes, or rather always, our human minds fail to accept the changes in our lives. Though it is said that Change is the only constant thing, we always feel uncomfortable when we are faced with a new challenge in our lives. That was what we felt.

Moving to a new place was challenging if you are entirely new to it. Though we had always been on the move, Bangalore was different altogether. We knew no one there and it made us panic when we had to decide on a place.

You first need a place to live, right?

That was when one of my friends suugested Quickr. She also said that Quickr had different pages for every region.

I decided to carry out her advice and i logged on to the Bangalore page of Quickr.

Oh Boy! Was i surprised!

The page had different categories that i could search for and as i was resolved to find a place. I clicked on the Real Estates category. It further asked me to tick my preferences under the houses for rent category. i selected my preferences according to the area we desired and the number of rooms we needed and whether we needed furnished houses or not.

The search results were amazing. It showed me many houses under my selected preferences.

I spent a lot of time browsing through various houses. Each person had posted the house description and their conditions too. It was easy to select according to your interests. 

After going through many houses for rent, i narrowed down on two of them. I called the owners through the given numbers. One was a house broker and the other was through the owner itself.

I told them that i will decide after visiting the houses personally and i had to make a quick trip to Bangalore.

After visiting, i liked both and after consulting with the family members, i decided on one.  Everyone were happy with the selection. And i was happy that it was over in few days rather than few weeks. Quickr made us save our precious time before actually shifting there.

                                                   -------------------------------

The travel to Bangalore was smooth and we had placed the boxes of things at our new house. We then had to start the tedious process of unpacking and arranging. We decided to do it slowly since we were all tired that day. Though we had shifted most of our things, some were left out since it was too large or too old. The large ones could have occupied too much space while shifting them or the old ones would have damaged further. So they were not part of the troop and it was time to buy things.

The Quickr page had them too and all of us enjoyed the online search experience it gave. Soon we were visiting the owners and placing a bargain and buying things. Everyone found something for them.

My Grandpa who always wanted to learn something new, found some interesting courses for him through Quickr. Soon he found himself going to new classes and learning new hobbies. He was enjoying himself and he had made some good friends through his classes.

 My Grandma is a multi-lingual and at her new place, she found a language class to learn Kannada and soon enrolled in it. It was fun seeing them enthusiastic at what they were doing and it was nostalgia all over.

Quickr made us a way for adjusting ourselves beautifully in our new place, which had been so frightening in the first place.

Thus Quickr saved the day.

And i have been learning from my Grandma too.

Danyavadagalu!

This post is written as a part of It's just Quickr in Bangalore contest for Indiblogger.

Thanks for reading.

The dream of an ordinary girl!

The smooth shining skin,
Like the porcelain in appearance.

With a glow that fades the room!
With a brightness that makes the sun shy!
With a radiance that emanates from it!

The skin that gives the bearer the confidence!
The skin that you will fall in love with!

                        _____________

         The dream of an ordinary girl!

That night she dreams of her beautiful skin,
Only to wake up and look at the sin!

In the morning light, in the vanity mirror,
The red papule makes her scream in horror!

Gathering her nerves, she gives it a little press.
Even the sun looked at her, when she screamed in distress!

Tiny colourless drops falling from her eyes!
She looks at it again and sighs!

What should she do?

She wanted what every girl wished for!
The clean and supple skin!

The skin that will reflect the light!
With the touch that is buttery soft!

But now she is suffering the nature's wrath!
What did she do to get it?

What can be done?
Remedies are better said than done!

                          ___________

Every girl dreams of that day,
When everything goes her way!

Two souls unite together,
To be in the holy matrimony forever!

She wanted to be the best bride,
But the pimple is hurting her pride!

Not many more days for that day,
Where everyone will be happy and gay!

She had chosen a red silk Saree,
And invited all the friends for the party!

So much had gone into the plan,
And that too in a very short span!

Pimple had arrived unexpectedly,
And mother looked at her worriedly.

Turmeric and Neem were Grandma's way!
But it needed time to have its say!

Not much time was left,
For her to experiment.

Work dominated her pace,
And Pimple ruled her face.

The Bride's day was coming near,
And she was creeping with fear.

The bride's usually looked the best!
The glow glooming the rest!

She had wanted that day to be her's!

She tried every trick in the book,
But nothing helped her better the look!

Countless prayers were said!
But all the treatments had failed!

The day finally dawned bright!
She had lost her fight!

She was ready to face her fate,
And pitied herself at her state!

Thick creams were applied,
Ladoos and Jalebis were supplied!

The proud Pimple stood alone,
The lonely warrior fighting on it's own!

The groom looked his handsome best,
She felt her life was it's worst!

She would soon lose her surname,
Still, her beauty was searching for fame!

He looked at her, as if it was the first!
In his eyes, she looked the best!

But, the woman needs her vanity!
So she can find her sanity!

The wedding was done finally!
Now, time to pose gleefully!

The cameras flashed bright,
Blinding everyone in sight!

The family picture was taken fast!
The wedding had ended at last!

The Bride and Groom looked at her!
And the picture was crystal clear!

Smiles were plastered on their face!
And love was evident in their gaze!

But she had eyes for only one!
Surely, the pimple had won!

She had lost to the mean pimple,
Only if the cure had been simple!

The photos will haunt her life long!
Singing the same melancholic song!

This post is written for Garnier Pure Active Neem contest at Indiblogger.
Click here to know more about Garnier Pure Active Neem face wash and know how it helps you keep your face pimple free.

A Visitor comes alive in Melbourne

I could feel my feet pressing against the sand. The sand feels warm and I could feel the warmth spreading to the whole of my body and also to my soul.

I brushed away the hair that was hiding my eyes and looked up into the sky. The sun was shining brightly and the clouds all around it gave a picturesque view. I stored the memory in my brain and I wanted to sketch it later.

The wind was blowing gently, giving away cool air amidst the hot atmosphere. I rolled up my beige pants up to my knees and I spread both my arms and smelled the breeze and entered the water. When the waves touched my feet, it felt as though it was dragging me towards it.

Everything felt different! Of course, it would!

Everything around was so new! Of course it would!

Now, let me introduce myself.
I am Tasha. Tasha Beckeay. I am coming from a different planet, Nadod. That is the name of my planet.

My planet is a beautiful one, where you wish for anything and you get it. There is no land. It is a water planet. That was the first time I saw a land. It felt nice to use the legs for walking too. I thought the best thing I could was swim. Now, I can walk too!

All thanks to Hura, sarcastically. He is the person I am searching for. You may want to know him, but you don't have to. He is the best person in our planet and he is my boy friend. We had a fight and he escaped into the timeline. I saw that he had entered this world here and I have come here to look for him.
From the future.

Don't ask me where is my planet, because you will not be able to relate to it. May be I will tell you later, if you ask me.
Now, I am here. Read on to know my story.

The beach looked wonderful to look at. All I wanted to do then, was to lie down in a corner and watch the waves hitting the shores all day and night. There was something mystical to it.

I had come here to Melbourne.
Everything felt alien to me, yet you will call me the alien. We aliens are not like you people imagine us to be. We look and act the same way as you all.

I came here before two days and got a job at a local cafe. There were innumerable number of cafe outlets there and i had been finding it difficult to go to my work place.

It was my day-off that day. The owner, Mr.Kevin was a sixty year old man and he was kind enough to give me a job inspire of my weird answers.  He had asked me to visit that particular site as I was new. His suggestion seemef good.

I returned to my apartment. I bought that place from my hard earned money from my planet. Before getting into the timeline, I converted all my money to your earth's money.

The next day dawned and I woke up energized. I had to start looking for my Hura. He must be there and I felt it.
That day was my day off too and I wanted to explore a little before going to work the next day.

I had always been an art fan and as per my boss Mr.Kevin's suggestion, I was going to Ian Potter Center at Federation Square. Mr.Kevin had splendid taste.

I thoroughly enjoyed the hours I spent there. But no Hura.

The  I was traveling in a tram. It felt good to sit in the tram and roam the city. But no Hura.

The evening was approaching. Where should I go? That was my thought then.

As I was thinking, my eyes fell on something in the street. I got down from the tram and looked at the various street art happening right in front of my eyes.

It was hugely different from the art I saw earlier. But I liked that one too. It gave everyone a freedom of expression, didn't  it? I stood there for some time, before I realized that I should be looking for Hura!
I went to one of the riverside bars and from my view, I was able to enjoy the serene Yarra river.

The sun was about to set and the river looked wonderful. I scanned the faces for Hura, but no sight of him.

The day had gone off in a jiffy and I didn't even realize it.

The next day morning,  I was huffing and puffing as I was been walking at a lightening speed. I was late for work and it was just my third day.

I entered the cafe and I was afraid that Mr.Kevin would scold me. But he beckoned me to sit on a stool and gave me my morning breakfast. How wonderful he was!

I finished it soon and started my duties for the day. The breakfast rush had disappeared and I sat over a chair and placed my head on the table. I felt so tired. After an entire day touring the city, I should be.

Kevin sat opposite to me and started reading his daily paper. I scanned the paper ( yes, I can read your language too) and spotted a familiar name there. The news read,  Melbourne is the most livable city in the world.

On seeing my gaze, Mr.Kevin said it had been for some years now. And he said he was proud to be one of its citizens.
The most livable city! And I was sure I would find Hura there and take him back.

After work that day, I went to the Melbourne Museum. It was interesting to know about the city and its people. I was living there and I should know about it,right?
I went for some shopping too and I bought things for Hura.
Hura would be pleased. He must be!

The rest of the week went in work and scanning crowds for Hura. Till then, no sight of him. Where was he?

Do you know? No. It is not possible. You have not even seen him once! But you will try, won't you?

The weekend arrived with the festive mood for me. Those two days I was going to spend some time away from the city.

I went to the Yarra valley.
I went to a Vineyard now. The wine tasting was excellent, though I think I am not an expert. I just followed the instructions said to me and it was tasty.

When I go back I am getting some bottles of these.

And then I went to a wildlife sanctuary, where I saw the playful koala and kangaroos. It was my first time seeing different species of animals and Koala didn't let me down.

I spent the night lying down on the mud at a beach and spent my time starring at the stars.

I had forgotten about Hura the whole day. I was so immersed in the world around that I forgot about my world.

The next day, I went to the Philip Island Nature Park where I saw the animal with the black coat, the Penguin. Their gait was funny and the way they played with each other was so adorable.

I also went to a chocolate factory, where I tasted lots and lots of sweets. I prayed that it shouldn't add up to my calories.

I slept peacefully that day and I had not thought about Hura the whole day!

It was very early in the morning when I woke up. I realized that i had plenty of time before when I should go for duty.
I was lying awake in my bed.
I liked this city very much. I couldn't fond my Hura anywhere. So, I decided that I will stay there as long as possible and only when if he comes in search of me, I will go with him.

Seeing my worried face for some days, Mr.Kevin presented me with two tickets for a cricket match.
I went to the MCG to witness the final match between India and Australia. I had seen some matches before and I really love this game.
I was sitting in a seat and I was getting into the match mood along with the thousands sitting and standing there.
The nearby seat was empty. I was watching the match intently. I was following the ball's movement towards my left side, when a kid caught it and went red in the face. That is when I noticed that it was occupied.
And I saw him.
Hura was sitting there, looking at me with his mouth half open.
We hugged and the crowd cheered for the winning team.
When I was roaming around the city, I found this Tourism Victoria Website useful. you can visit it at http://www.visitmelbourne.com/India.aspx

You can participate in the following contest. Just answer a simple question and you can win 500 rupees worth gift voucher. The winner will be chosen by me. The last date for you to answer is Jan 4th, 2015.

Which of these places would you want to visit in Melbourne and why?
Answer in the comments section and win a voucher.

And the winner of the contest is 

SHANTI SHANMUGAM

Congrats Shanti! You will get your voucher soon!