Monday, August 1, 2011

Whale rescue!

I have loved whales since I was 3 years old when I saw Shamu the whale at SeaWorld, San Diego. I was absolutely in love and yearned to be one of the trainers that got to swim with him!


This was probably the single most defining moment of my life that made me decide that I wanted to be a marine biologist....

Many years on....I am trying to finish my doctorate in marine biology in the beautiful city of Wellington, New Zealand. I recently got this amazing video of a bunch of people rescuing a whale and the whale putting up an amazing display of freedom afterwards. How beautiful is this?!

New Zealand has a lot of whale rescues over the years. There is even this amazing organisation called Project Jonah, who not only rescue marine mammals but also, have courses where you can learn to rescue them yourselves. Wouldnt that be something awesome to do this summer?

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Enchanting maps

Growing up...I was always fascinated by maps...They spoke of unknown places with unpronounceable names and made me day dream ever so often.... I still enjoy poring over maps making those hundreds of travel plans to have new adventures...

I used to have these placemats which I had to leave back home in India, that had vintage maps printed on them..Arent vintage maps lovely?



Even though google maps and the kind make our life easier, I still prefer good old paper maps to navigate myself on the road...The internet doesnt quite have the same feel,does it?

Here is a fascinating take on maps! How lovely!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

sunday morning on the way to the markets...

So...I have been trying to get back into a sort of schedule and realized I have been sorely neglecting my poor little blog, so here goes!

A while ago, I put up my first photo blog and to get back into it, I thought why not another photo blog!

I love Wellington on a sunny sunday morning where you get to go to the markets!


along lonely alleys...


a reminder of how much our CBD is reclaimed.




the museum of new zealand


citrus mongers pet sitting...



the beautiful colours of the fruit!




the incredible beauty of lettuce..



to end it all, eating a dosa and gazing at the throngs of people..

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Let your baby choose its name?

In the world of smart phones( which I  have to admit I am a part of!), there has been some crazy and silly applications or apps that we all love to use!

There is angry birds which is infamous for lack of productivity among office workers and there is things like the periodic table app and google sky map which nerd like me absolutely love!

Here's one that truly baffles me! It lets your baby pick its own name! Kick to Pick is its name and I am curious to see how many people will actually use it...

Monday, July 11, 2011

Interactive art

Wellington is a city full of interactive and outdoor art and I absolutely love it! It creates a tactile and engaging way of relating to areas which are otherwise just concrete walkways.

Here is an amazing pinscreen toy that I think Wellingtonians would embrace with both arms!


Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The future of music...?

Music pretty much keeps most of us, especially in the postgraduate world, going!! Can you imagine enduring all that research and analysis without music??

Music is one of those primal things that man has been creating since the very beginning and with the age of technology, there has been some interesting instruments and techniques...

This is the very first time however that I came across beatjazzing....how very intriguing!

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

The joy of disney

Sorry for the long hiatus from the blogosphere,but life came along and attention needed to paid there..However, as I immerse myself back into it, here is something that is definitely a blast from the past! Disney!!

I always was and always will be a huge fan of Disney!
Here are some of my favourite movies and songs from growing up...

I always identified with Belle! What with the books and being bored with the usual provincial life!

What a wonderful song this was in one of my favourite movies ever! Still makes me weep everytime I watch it...

This ones even under the sea! Double yay from me!

And the quintessential jungle book...wow!

But, here is an interesting take on the disney divas from the ever wonderful sarah's yes and yes.

Friday, June 10, 2011

a life full of colour!

One of the first things that really annoyed me about NZ winters was how grey it can be! Coming from tropical South India, this was unacceptable, even in winter! And then, I noticed that people around me seem to make it worse! They wear dark and grey and black all the time. Thats when I made a conscious decision that I will always try to add colour to my outfit. So, even though, the warm jackets are all black, they can totally go with a  pink scarf!



Here's someone who truly believes in colour and she even impressed a whole bunch of people at TED! Jessie Arlington had inspired me to add more colour to my life and not be afraid to be myself! Go check out her blog, lucky so and so

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Monday, May 30, 2011

Mating habits anyone?

So, my first  ever guest post is on life of something new, an awesome blog by an equally amazing person....If you were ever curious about mating habits in India, go check it out!


While you are there, you might want to read about mating habits in Sweden and New Zealand. You never know when all this might come handy!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

BICYCLE!

On a completely unrelated note to the weddings....here is a super fun song that reminds me of some very dear friends....Oh, what a beautiful saturday it will be, when you start it with queen!

Weddings...

Growing up as a little hindu girl, I was always so jealous of those beautiful church weddings with a gorgeous white gown and more importantly, the part where the wedding is usually less than an hour and you get to kiss your husband!
As I've gotten older though, I think my perceptions are slightly altered but now I dream that one day I will be a multicultural wedding: an Indian one and a church one!
Here, however is a beautiful bicycle wedding from one of my favourite blogs there ever was!

Friday, May 27, 2011

how true...


In a period of time when I am trying to figure out where I draw the line at being there for others as opposed to being there for myself..I came across this wonderful quote. Instead of looking at what others have or do..we should be making the most of ourselves indeed!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Books,music and tea for a day like this please!

So, its really windy and wet outside and on a day like this in Wellington, all you want to really do is sit next to your heater on your bean bag, and drink some tea while listening to pretty music and reading a book......

Instead I get to come to the lab at 7am and work for the rest of the day, partly in a fridge!

Here's to wishing I could do the latter.....


As a lover of books, I love bookshelves!! I myself am a proud owner of an invisible one, sticklebook where it looks like it is hanging in thin air, but look at the ones on this blog!!





This beautiful song would do just fine! Its in a language that I dont even understand but I am strong believer in listening to music just because it touches your soul...

and a spot of some of these teas would be just perfect!

Here's to dreaming of a day like this.....

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

shoelaces

So, we all tie our shoe laces quite often....but somehow over the years I seemed to have lost my talent at tying laces....they keep coming off!!

Maybe you learnt about the bunny ears? Maybe you learnt from sesame street?


                                          

 Here's what is apparently the right way to do it.Who knew??

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Cute overload!!

So, I am a huge sucker for cute furry little animals and when I found this website, I realized I was in so much trouble! Go check out Cute Roulette!

In the meantime, here are some of my cute furry friends...


Bozo, who distinctly reminds me of the samba dancing dog in Rio!


Phoebe and Kahlua, who are the most vocal dogs ever!


Lucy, a dog who loves the beach more than I do..she even likes to surf the waves..


Nero, the most amazing dog I've ever met!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

A weekend to recover....

So, I recently was going through a tough time when a good friend suggested that we get out of the city for the weekend. Off we went to a town by a river and there I was inspired to use my camera after a long time. Here is the first of my many photo blogs to come...




                          Walking along a leafy pavement, you encounter intense bursts of colour...


                           Along the river....you walk in silence to find peace in your heart...






                                    Encountering one of the strange birds in New Zealand....



A burst of intense autumn!




The signs of a winter to come..




This was the entrance to a really old lift that went through a hill and walking down the tunnel was like being  Alice in Wonderland, shrinking as you went down the rabbit hole!


An old steamer chugged along the river as we drove towards the sunset..




Tuesday, May 17, 2011

SMILE

Did you know that the stimulation created by one smile is equal to that of 2000 bars of chocolate or 25000 pounds in your pocket?! Who would think that?? We sorely underestimate the power of a smile.


I have seen barriers melt when I have smiled in strange lands. I have felt my heart melt when someone smiled at me....How many times do you dig yourself out of the darkest places when a friend smiles at you? Here is a picture of me smiling when I realized that oceans can be warm too, something I had forgotten after 5 years of living in Wellington!

Here is an intriguing talk about the power of a smile :)

Has a smile from a stranger ever transformed your day?...opened doors?...made all the difference?