Travel Diaries..

My recent trip to Los Angeles made me realize how much I enjoy traveling…

I could meet many wonderful people and mainly I could discover the local culture of L.A by traveling through the local trains and using Lyft. The drivers were very interactive and explained about the lifestyle and the city culture..

It’s completely a magical world with lot of glitz and glamour.. Celebrities,movies and entertainment industry…

Though the city was widespread in multiple directions, it was in an orderly manner.. Traffic wasn’t congested and they followed the rules strictly unlike New York which is also a metropolitan.. Accessibility throughout the city was amazing..

 Pik: Aerial view of the city at night..

Coming to food options , there were mostly Mexican varieties but I couldn’t resist eating Indian cuisine, so tried very little of Mexican.. Indian restaurants were in every nook and corner and I relished all the dishes..

L.A is a very diverse city with multiple cultures and people, still everyone has their own space and fit in very easily.. The celebrities live in a very ultra posh area called ‘The Beverlyhills’ all the high end shops and funky cars are seen in this area.

Pik: RollsRoyce parked on Beverlyhills /Rodeo Drive

Hollywood is a place where aspiring youth come for movie or tv opportunities and strive for their livelihood..
Downtown L.A has most of the business and corporate offices.

WeHo(West Hollywood), NoHo (North Hollywood) , Sunset strip all these areas are in the close vicinity of Hollywood and people of all walks of life live here. WeHo is famous for its LGBT community..

There are hills on one side and then there is the awesome Pacific Ocean on the other end of the city. That really amazed me, both landscapes in one place..!

Pik: Santa Monica beach during sunset

And then there are such amazing theaters and theme parks in Burbank like The Universal Studios, The Disneyland Park, Walt Disney studios etc which provide entertainment for a weekend getaway and a major tourist attraction.

Pik: Universal Studios Neon Sign

The 4 days I spent in L.A made me fall in love with the city.. The weather  was amazingly awesome with cool breeze during nights and minimalistic hot in the mornings.. It’s a complete contrast to the weather of Minnesota 🙂
This trip was a surprise from my husband for my birthday and it was even more special ‘cos of my cousin’s visit. He organized a surprise cake and we celebrated  in a park in Downtown L.A.. I got so many gifts and wishes from folks from India too…!!

I’ll forever cherish this special birthday and this trip and look forward to visit it again .. 🙂
 Pik: Our Green friends..! 😊

 

Birthday…

I am ecstatic about birthdays… 🙂 The month of February brings bliss to me.. Its my birthday month..!! 😀

Since my childhood I have been very eager to celebrate my birthdays…! I was so much fired up to have a birthday party and celebrate with everyone.. I”ll be completing 24 this year and am super excited for many more adventures and surprises of life..!

During my childhood, my parents would invite relatives and family and there would be a splendor celebration to mark the occasion of my birthday with delicious goodies. Every year my birthday cakes were of various models like those of Mickey mouse, Doll cake etc. Me and my brother would buy new clothes and he would get thrilled for all the cake and delicacies.. He loves me even more on that day !! 😉

The feeling to wear new clothes and distribute chocolates in the school with one of the best friends is something I can never explain in words, there used to be cat-fights among my friends to accompany me for the chocolate distribution 😉 There is an aura and so much of happiness on that day I feel like a STAR 😀

Birthdays after marriage are getting more special ‘cos of the day it coincides with.. VALENTINE’S DAY..! 😛

I look forward to celebrate this special day each and every year and feel the amazing person I”m..!! I just lovveeeee birthdays….. I reminiscent all the wonderful memories associated with my birthday and keep having fun..!!

And this Sunday is my birthday.. Do wish me 😉

 

Superstitions & Science..!

In India, we have many superstitions which are followed from centuries. I think that superstitions are those beliefs which are passed on from one generation to another without verifying the true reason behind them.

Let me discuss some of the superstitious beliefs and possible scientific reasons for them..

• Don’t wash your hair on a certain day: 
  • We are told not to wash hair on specific days, maybe the reason behind it would be to conserve water. Water was not readily available at homes in olden days and they had to carry the pots from so many miles to take a bath so maybe it was a rest day and bonus reason Water conservation 🙂

 

• Don’t cut nails after sunset:   
  • In ancient days, electricity wasn’t available and they had mud lamps i.e diyas and they wouldn’t produce as much light as of a fluorescent lamp. Since nail clippers are very sharp objects, they could harm and hence this superstition came up.

 

• Swallow Tulsi (Holy Basil) leaves, never chew:  
  • It is widely believed that Tulsi is a form of Goddess Lakshmi and hence not to chew the leaf. But, the scientific reason is it has arsenic in it and it causes discoloration of teeth hence it should not be chewed.

 

• Do not sleep with your head facing the North:
  • We hear that sleeping North means, inviting death but we don’t know the reason for it. Our ancestors actually knew about the relation between Earth’s magnetic field and human body’s field. They probably made this rule of sleeping with your head in the South because of the harmful effects related to blood pressure and other diseases that asymmetry with the Earth’s magnetic field would create. Hence now we know..!

 

• Don’t go near a Peepal (Sacred Fig) tree at night:

  

  • We hear lots of stories of ghosts and Peepal trees and so not to venture near Peepal trees at night. But, our ancestors probably knew about photosynthesis and the effects of inhaling carbon dioxide in the night. Later stories were woven to discourage people to go near Peepal trees at night making it a superstition.

   

• Bathe after attending a funeral ceremony:
  • Dead bodies have bacteria and other micro-organisms which can cause infections to living beings and hence our ancestors would have created a set of rituals to be performed after the disposal of the body to prevent the deadly diseases.

 

• Saying to sit down immediately after someone sneezes:
  • Sneeze can travel at about 100 miles per hour, so with such high speeds their is a chance of heart missing a beat. So the reason to sit down immediately after a sneeze is to relax the body and then proceed but, it had got down to a superstition saying sneezing while stepping out causes bad luck which indeed isn’t true..

 

My analogy for a superstition into existence: Some unexpected incident or accident would had taken place in olden days with our forefathers. These incidents are then associated with a normal incident which happened concurrently with that accident. Then these normal incidents are then marked as superstitions by the people which do not take time and effort to seek the correct and feasible reason behind the unexpected “bad” incidents or accidents. Thus marking them as a superstition.

We are getting to know that many superstitions are actually science based facts , but they were advertised in a wrong way and people believed without understanding the purpose. I think its time to think about its reason at least once before following blindly…!