There are four books in all and the first three have already been made into movies.

Twilight

New Moon

Eclipse

Breaking Dawn

The story is based on the unlikely human-vampire romance of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen. Bella has moved from Phoenix where her mother has remarried Phil to live in Forks with her father Charlie.  The town is small and is part of the Olympic Peninsula which just happens to be the rainiest part of the U.S.

She is a junior in high school and is not exactly the most coordinated person. Tends to be clumsy, falls a lot and hurts herself often. Hates being the center of attention and is an average student. But she has one irresistible charm specially to Edward Cullen…the smell of her blood.

Edward Cullen is a vampire, but with a conscience. The Cullen family is a set of “vegetarian” vampires who do not drink human blood. They do not wish to be monsters and so will sustain themselves only on animal blood of animals that they hunt for themselves. Unfortunately the smell of Bella’s blood makes Edward want to kill her instantly.

As he struggles to control himself he realizes that there is more to Bella than her delicious smelling blood, he can’t read her mind. This is a special gift that Edward has. Thoughts of everyone around him for a few miles come pouring into his brain unbidden, and while he tries to read Bella’s mind he can not get a single thought. This makes her a puzzle, a challenge and in short totally irresistible to Edward.

And so begins a love story where there seems no possible hope for a future unless Bella is changed into a vampire as well. After all you can hardly kiss the thing that you want to kill. Unfortunately Edward does not want to convert Bella as it feels selfish for him to make her throw away her human life. Her ability to attract trouble makes him act like a guardian angel as he is just too worried that he may lose her.

Naturally there is a whole lot of trouble that finds Bella in all four novels and Edward has a hard time keeping her safe. Throw in the fact that Bella’s best friend is a shape shifter werewolf who is in love with Bella and is the natural enemy of vampires and you have enough emotional turns in the book. Jacob Black is out to convince Bella that she can have a far more human and natural existence with him rather than Edward Cullen, but it seems like he is fighting a loosing battle.

I’d rather not spoil the books for you by talking about plots and places. Just remember that if you enjoyed Harry Potter and felt sympathetic towards Angel (remember Buffy’s Vampire boyfriend?) you will enjoy the Twilight Saga!

Pearls in Gurgaon (Delhi)

It Sells

An entire range of Infant wear. I got Roary the Racing Car socks and Ben Ten undies for Rehaan here. I picked up some good hosiery shorts for him as well.  They also have a fine range of lingerie for those of you looking for some hard to find stuff. And its quality stuff so expect to pay for it. Still its well stocked and has almost all your “special” needs.

Postal Address and Some Directions to Get There

SG-97, Galleria Shopping Complex, DLF Phase -IV, Gurgaon

Tel – 95124-4057650

Its right behind the bakery. So follow you nose from the parking to the bakery and take the first turn right behind it.

How I discovered it

On my last trip to Delhi I was ably guided to the place by Mrs.Sapna Sethi. Thank you so much for leading me to the great place. I spent a bomb but was happy with every single thing I picked up. Wish I had picked up more of the Calvin K stuff.

Unfortunately I was unable to join my husband right away because I was attacked by repeated pain in the left side. After umpteen tests done after my husband had already reached Leh, I was diagnosed with a kidney stone. The medication was so strong that I used to feel nauseated half the day. Still it was going to take more than a kidney stone to stop me from exploring Leh. So as soon as the doctors released me I was on my way.

Leh is primarily a Buddhist town. There are monasteries that you can visit all over the state. Hemis Monastery is the wealthiest and biggest. Located about 47 km from Leh it takes about an hour and half to reach.  The people at the Base were all raving about it and we went and had a look. It was indeed worth visiting this place of worship on the west bank of the river Indus.  The sound of the prayers vibrating through the main prayer hall will stay with me forever.

It was on our return from this holy place that I met one of my husband’s colleagues who enthralled me with tales of a local Buddhist healer called the “Dolma”. The lady in question was said to be blessed with miraculous healing powers which included everything from curing bad bouts of flu to serious stuff like cancer. In fact she drew crowds to her from all over the country. In the winter months she goes down to Dalhousie to escape the severe cold.

When he came to know about my kidney stone, the gentleman in question advised me to go visit her. While it did intrigue me I dismissed it as local superstition and forgot about it. The fact was that I should have paid more attention. The next time he met me a week later. The first question he asked me was if I had been to see the Dolma for my kidney stone. I felt foolish, smiled and said no. So I was not altogether surprised when on the following Sunday his wife and he came and honked outside our room.

He had decided to bring me to the Dolma, whether I believed in it or not. Reluctantly my husband and I got into the vehicle with them and we set off the short distance into Spituk town where she lived. He explained to me that she did not speak anything but the local language but her husband and daughter would translate for us. He also added, she usually does not need to be told the medical nature of the problem to heal it.

We reached a typical small local home where the Dolma’s husband, Dorjee, smiled and welcomed us. The daughter gave us water and we sat uncomfortably on the low seating chairs that were placed in their visitor’s room. The Dolma was in the prayer room, where we would have to join her after we removed out shoes. The lady looked like a sweet old granny and gave us a friendly smile as we entered. She did not look scary or intimidating at all.

Then she asked her husband, who had followed us into the room, who required healing. I came forward and sat down on the mattress in front of her. She took some sheathed grains of rice and closed her fist as she said a prayer. Then the grains were thrown in the air and caught on a small “Dumroo” a sort of a two sided drum which is narrow in the centre. She then announced that I had a problem in my left side, which was instantly translated by Dorjee. True.

She next said that it was a stone. True again. She put down the dumroo and took up a hollow metal pipe in her hand. She cleaned the pipe with water and then asked me to raise my shirt. The put the pipe all long my left kidney and sucked hard. I felt weird holding my t-shirt up as she placed the pipe on my body in eight different spots along the left side. I looked back at my husband standing behind me who tried to smile in a reassuring way. It was not enough to prepare me for what followed.

The lady took the empty pipe she had been using to suck air from my body and tilted it into a small white saucer. And to my total horror and surprise a black liquid along with tiny stones came flowing out into the saucer. To say that I could not believe my eyes was an understatement. And my husband’s gasp summed up all that I was feeling. Amused at my amazement Dorjee picked out the largest kidney stone and presented it to me in my hand.

I still have the kidney stone and carry it with me in my purse. My doctor friend examined it and said that it did have the calcified kidney stone look. If anyone else had told me a story so fantastic I would have dismissed it as a figment of their imagination. Unfortunately it actually happened to me, and my husband bore witness to the fact! I don’t think I have ever had a more bone chilling or spiritual experience after that.

Packing time can be the most traumatic week that we ever have in a place. In my case I find the unpacking more tiresome. You can read all about my last posting, packing and moving here. The double shifting that each posting ensures with one move to a TMQ (Temporary Married Quarter) and then to a home (which could be non status) is exhausting to say the least. Then once you are feeling that you are settled in and now comfortable in your new home, you’ll be allotted status accommodation and will have to move again.

It sure is a moving experience for kids as well. They have to leave behind best friends with tears on their faces and march into this unknown station with their dads and moms. After a couple of postings even they become immune to the move. I think that’s the reason why they are able to adjust quickly to new situations as adults. Plus they learn to make friends at a drop of a hat. At least there is some good coming out of it all.

I’m getting ready to bid farewell to a friend who has been recently posted out. It just makes one wonder about the eternal cycle of Fauji life!

How do you feel when the world wants you to get some fresh air and drink tea, when all you want to do is wish that you could die. When all that you can think of is the past and the future seems impossible? When you wish that you had died with your husband so that you could be together?

As Holly works through her demons she gets by with support from friends and family and most importantly the list that her dead husband left back for her. A single note with a mission for each month after his death till the new year. Notes which she lives for and which have become the center of her attention. How will she cope when all the notes are over?

Thank You Prabhjot for lending me this book! I had not heard about it or the movie made out of the novel starring Hillary Swank and Gerald Butler. And if you had not told me I must read it I would have probably missed out on a beautiful although tear jerking story.

Some one mentioned in passing that his novel, the Alchemy of Desire was autobiographical. My response to that would be dear God I hope not! He seems to have taken a note out of bollywood and one out of playboy and strung together his book.

There is so much sex that its sickening reading about it. There is an attempt to get into the mind of an American woman from the era of the British Raj living in India, but there too the issue of homosexuality overrules the story just as it gets interesting.

He seems to think that if he does not throw in a sex scene every ten pages the reader is going to get bored and look away. That is a good possibility of that happening as it is quite a plot less and dry tale otherwise.

Drifting along the life of the narrator from each stage of his life interspersed with his sexual encounters with his girl friend and future wive, one gets the feeling that he really has no story to tell at all.

Personally I read it because Naipul called it a brilliantly original novel from India. And now after struggling through 518 not particularly original pages, I’m wondering if he has finally lost it.

If the answers to such questions intrigue you then you need to read Time’s Eye written as a collaboration by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. It deals with the road not taken. A possible interference by a wisdom older than ours as the human race. A reshaping of the planet before it destroys itself completely.

It also brings in historical practices and myths in touch with the so called modernity that we claim now days. The loss of knowledge and the rebuilding of worlds is a fascinating experiment. I was left a bit cold at the ending, but other than that it was an interesting insight into how a world may be reclaimed by people with new alliances.

1. A letter and a Number = Avon (A1), Elle18 (L18) or i10

2. A gentle wind = Breeze

3. Shortage of self = Lakme (Lack me)

4. The mango path = Amway (AAm is mango)

5. Bodies of water found in nature = Ponds

6. Black mineral found in mines with a gate = Coal +gate is Coalgate

7. Use this to cut trees = Axe

8. A water based flower = Lotus

9. A savage beast = Brute or Puma or Tiger

10. Two generations of the same family = Johnson’s and Johnson’s

11. Mountain range with high peaks = Himalaya

12. Symbol of peace = Dove

13. What is found on a Queen’s head = Tiara

14. Found on top of God’s head in pictures = Halo

15. Doctor Burman abbreviation = Dabur

For eg. Opposite of dark and ugly = Fair and Lovely

1. A letter and a Number

2. A gentle wind

3. Shortage of self

4. The mango path

5. Bodies of water found in nature

6. Black mineral found in mines with a gate

7. Use this to cut trees

8. A water based flower

9. A savage beast

10. Two generations of the same family

11. Mountain range with high peaks

12. Symbol of peace

13. What is found on a Queen’s head

14. Found on top of God’s head in pictures

15. Doctor Burman abbreviation

Look out for the answers in a couple of days!

I get up in the morning and make karela juice. No I don’t drink it, it is for Jamshed. He’s got his medicals end of the month and is keen to show his doctors that he is not diabetic. Then I fill his tiffin box with sprouts and put it on the table from where he’d put it into his briefcase on the way out. If it is not there when he’s on his way out, he’s not going to carry it with him.

Next I started beating an egg with castor sugar for Rehaan’s egg flip. The so called cure for his long running cough, not that I see any difference in the cough. Anyway I get his tiffin packed and put it into his school bag. Fill his water bottle with water and shove it down the side of the bag in its pocket.

By that time Jamshed is ready to leave and I say goodbye to him and lock the door behind him. I head over to Rehaan and wake him up. Get him to drink the egg flip while he’s still groggy and does not know what is added to his Bournvita. Then he goes back to sleep for a while and I get his uniform in order and polish his shoes. Put on the computer to see if the internet is working.

Wake him up again and march him to the loo. Get him ready and feed him a couple of spoons of dalia till he protests. Then drop him to the bus stop. Chit chat with the ladies who have come to drop the kids. Crib about the heat and the humidity and walk back yakking about the ladies club or AFWWA coming up next. Decline invitations from the other mothers to come for a cup of tea and go home.

Then I get onto the computer and check my mail. See what news bits I have to write up for the day. Check on other assignments from employers. Look at comments that my articles on revenue sharing sites have got. Catch up with the latest status messages on Facebook. Then I begin work. Half way through I’ll go to put the daal into the pressure cooker. Three whistles to cook.

Back to writing. Again take a break when I get hungry and eat a sandwich or something. Finish about five posts and move onto a break with online games. Here come Treasure Island, Café World, Mafia Wars, Farmville and Word Twist. Then I move back to check my tarot site mail. See who wants a free tarot reading done and for what problem. Do a short reading for them and mail them the answers.

Again take a break from the computer and head over to the kitchen as the maid comes in. Tell her what I want her to do today and then come back to the computer after giving the daal tadka. Curse the internet speed when I see how much of a torrent has been downloaded from the last movie I am trying to download. Then I move back to work. Speak with my mom when she calls during the day. Write a blog post for one of my blogs.

The fauji phone rings. It is an officer’s birthday, says Jamshed, would you bake a chocolate cake? I’ll take it when I come home for lunch. Okay. Now I take out the eggs and butter to bring them to room temperature. Make the sabji for lunch and return to rush through a couple of more articles before its time for me to get Rehaan from the bus stop. I wave bye to the maid as my other hand flies over the keyboard.

I take the walk to the bus stop in the blistering heat and wonder when the bus will get there. Get Rehaan as he bounces out of the bus. He is sweating so much that his entire back is soaked and the shirt is a shade darker. Bring him home and give him a bath. Feed him lunch. The fauji phone rings again. I need to rig up a paper game for the ladies club and send it over to someone to take enough printouts.

Then I get back to work. Its play time for Rehaan while I wind up work for the day. Next finish baking the chocolate cake with Rehaan’s help. Call Jamshed to check if he is coming home for lunch after its 3 and then eat lunch alone. He can’t come home, and someone will drop by to pick up the cake I baked. Then I make Rehaan sit down to do his home work.

By the time we are finished the maid is back. So off he goes to the park on his cycle. I go sabji shopping and pick up bread on the way.  Next I welcome home Jamshed and give him a cup of tea with cake or biscuits. He’s skipped lunch after all. Now I get into the kitchen to cook dinner. As soon as I finish Rehaan is back. Again I need to bathe him and feed him. Now Jamshed goes for his walk. I sit and read Sai Satcharitra as I have to complete my saptah.

By the time he gets back its time for dinner and some television. The air conditioner comes on in the bedroom and I fall into bed exhausted. It is time to see a movie on the laptop with the full family, then its lights out. And no I’m not a working woman in the traditional sense of the word, but I’d like to see that smug woman cram more into her life.