My cousin was amused because I selected the dessert first before I decided on the main course, when we went out for dinner at a nice restaurant. I would always plan the dessert first every time I was giving a party. At one time a friend of mine served me a chocolate brandy cake that did not have to be baked. It was absolutely delicious. Though my friend promised to give me the recipe she never did. I knew it was a recipe from a Swiss cook book. I have always longed to make that cake but search as much as I might, I have never been able to find the recipe on the internet…sigh.

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The first variation in the pendulum of my daily schedule will be the time I get out of bed, of course. Then, the routine is pretty much the same: make coffee, read the paper while drinking it, water the garden and make breakfast. There could be ‘exciting’ differences when a tennis match is televised live and it happens in the morning for us because of the time zone we live in. If this happens every thing else is put on hold. On a ‘normal day’, after the morning chores are done it will be sitting at the computer, playing Boggle, or ‘feeding the worm’, much to the enjoyment of my daily helper. She loves to watch me playing Bookworm and is always amazed that the worm never gets any fatter even after gobbling up so much! Getting up lunch can be an adventure if I feel like trying out a recipe garnered from the internet. A nice cool bath and I am ready for lunch. It is then time for visual entertainment, a movie or a favorite TV program till tea time. Oh, yes, we are just as religious about it as the Brits. Evenings are always very pleasant, sitting out on the porch, enjoying the natural breeze or the churning of the air by the fan, chatting, and doing the daily crossword. Casual visitors are most welcome at this time of the day and before we know it, it is time for dinner, more boggling or watching a soccer game, and then snuggle into bed to read. It is always a full day, even if one day is not so different from the other.

I have enoyed reading his books, reading the pithy repartees he had given, and comments he had made. It is difficult to imagine that a person who had people laughing at what he had to say should have had to endure so much sorrow. They do say that clowns are the saddest people on earth don’t they? Living in a culture that is so very different from any western culture at any time in history, I sometimes wonder how is it that even as teenager, when I first read Mark Twain, I could sort of feel what he was trying to say through Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. I remember being spell bound by a TV production of Huckleberry Finn. There was a bare stage with just Huck on it. But he narrated his story so vividly that one could imagine every thing that he was talking about. Oh, I would have loved to meet Mark Twain, though I am sure that on meeting him I would be struck dumb with awe.

It takes only about two minutes for a small spark to reach an out of control inferno. Whether it is in your work place or your home (especially your home) you should have all the appropriate small water fire extinguishers. There are different kinds for different fires, for example electric fires. These water fire extinguishers should be checked regularly to ensure they are in proper working order. Correct use of water fire extinguishers save lives, and even the children in your family should become familiar with how to use one. At your place of work you should always attend fire lectures.

It is always a delightful surprise when I get a call from one of my former students. It is lovely to hear them share with me their joys and achievements, and occasionally, their sorrows. There is nothing more satisfying than knowing that somehow one managed to make a difference in someone’s life. Having been a teacher practically all my life, I can never think of any other job that would have given me greater satisfaction. Of course, I had difficult students and difficult situations, but I would not have it otherwise if I had to start life all over again. I used to write comments on the assignments that were submitted and I never know how they were received until one batch of my students complained that I did not care for them enough because I do not comment on their assignments! The best thing that happened to me as a teacher was when a class that was graduating gave me a little hand written booklet which contained drawing of the crazy things that happened in my class and the last page of the booklet was a ‘wall of friendship’ where every brick carried the signature of one of the students of the class. I cannot ask for greater riches than the affection and regard my students gave me, and continue to remember me.

Fire safety is an all the time concern for everyone or it should be. Fires are one of the top reasons for accidental deaths and property damage. In fact, it’s much easier to prevent a fire than to cope with the after effects of a fire. Everyone should have powder fire extinguisher in their home and all the family should know how to use it. Make sure it is in working order. Your local fire company should be able to tell you if it is properly filled. Fire safety is of utmost importance in the wintertime because furnaces are one leading cause of fires.

I do not know if you would call the stage production of ‘Amadeus’ as a cool event, but I take it that anything that strikes you as terrific, amazing and enjoyable is ‘cool’. According to this interpretation I would choose seeing one of the stage productions on the life of Mozart as cool, indeed. Of course, the movie is unforgettable but one cannot expect that kind of effect to be produced on stage. Some times I feel that I liked the stage version as much as I do the movie, which I have seen several times. One is left to wonder whether it could be really true that some one would have been so envious of Mozart that he would plot to see him dead. I can never understand how, Mozart who had so many wealthy, influential admirers was given a pauper’s burial. That will always be an enduring grief for me.

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It is not easy to really pick just one place out of the thousand places one dreams of visiting but I would pick Barcelona not only because what I have read about it makes it out to be a marvelous place, but may be, just may be I might to actually visit it someday in my life time. My impossible dream places include the Antarctica! But Barcelona is special. It has such a fascinating history and it has a geographically ideal location to attract tourist in their thousands. But what I want visit Barcelona is for its very unique architecture and shopping. Read ‘shopping’ as written in huge, bold but friendly letters!

Flying into Leh is quite a thrill because the flight is over glaciers. When the captain announced that we were passing over glaciers all the passengers rushed to one side of the plane from where we got the best view. It was awesome and I was frightened that the plane might plummet down because every one was on one side of the plane! In that plane load of tourists, I was the only Indian and dressed in a saree. I was most delighted and pleased when the Buddhist monks in the monasteries gave me a very special treatment exclaiming, ‘Indian, Indian…’ I guess they had seen too many tourists to be enthralled by them! The Tibetan women did not want their photographs taken because they had some superstition about it. It is amazing how the monks built those huge, beautiful monasteries on the sheer side of mountain. Getting up to them takes quite an effort. To reinforce my memory of my visit to Leh, I cannot forget the terrible time we had getting a flight back to Delhi. Leh was certainly a very ‘cool’ place in every sense of the word.

I like this song from the movie, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’. It sort of sums up any one’s life, doesn’t it? Where does the time go, one wonders, whether you’ve been busy or just relaxed and enjoying your day. There is always something that you wanted to do that you did not get to do and you go to bed murmuring, ‘tomorrow..’ like Scarlett O’Hara. What’s new with me? Well, I have decided that I will just do what I feel like doing, and if I cannot get everything done, then that is no big deal. But then, something really nice happened for me. My birthday came along and my sister took me out shopping and then to dinner at a nice restaurant in town. The house has now taken on a nice new look because I used my sister’s generous offer to buy stuff that I had always wanted to change the decoration of the living and dining rooms. That was the most delightful event that happened recently.