An Ideal Way of Spending A Sunday Winter Morning

Cup of coffee

Winter months bring laziness to all. Even my pet dog becomes lazier than usual. Somehow, the mornings turn out to be the worst when you have to wake up early and get ready for school, college or office. We love to lounge languidly on our beds, and wrap ourselves with our warm blankets. And so, we all love Sunday mornings when one can lie on his bed as long as one wishes.

The best way to galvanize yourself on a chilling Sunday morning is to wrap yourself with a blanket and sit in the warm balcony where the sun is just overhead, along with a cup of steaming, hot coffee in one hand and an interesting book in the other. As the warm rays of the sun fall on you, you slowly sip your cup of coffee and become engrossed in the book you are reading. This gives a wonderful pleasure and makes winter really special. One can never have such a pleasant experience other than a Sunday, chilling winter morning!

Crazy Superstitions

Broken Mirror

Though we do not believe in superstitions, our minds often convince us to follow them. There are superstitions from almost all aspects of our daily lives and most have unknown origins. Here are some of them, which most of us do really follow some times.

We often find black cats on the streets. It is said that if a black cat walks towards you, it brings good fortune. But if it walks away, then it takes the good fortune with it. 
Most of us are sensitive and catch cold very easily. If you catch a falling leaf on the first day of autumn, you will not catch a cold all winter. 
Now here goes a good one. Breaking a mirror is said to bring bad luck for seven years. To aid this, take the shards of glass and bury them under the moonlight. In ancient times, mirrors were said to be the windows to the viewer’s soul.

Black Cat

We are often troubled by dreadful nightmares and fall sick. Well, its prevention is very simple. Just hang a horseshoe in your bedroom and it will keep all nightmares away. 
Most of us hate lizards. But still, if you ever dream of a lizard then it signs that you have a secret enemy. 
It is bad luck to light three cigarettes with the same matchstick.  
If you want an everlasting friendship and your friend gives you a knife someday, then you should give him back a coin or your friendship will soon be broken.

However, the above mentioned are nothing more than superstitions, but you never know, even superstitions might come true.

Chinese Celebration of New Year

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Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is one of the most dynamic, stimulating and colorful festivals celebrated by the Chinese. Celebration of Chinese New Year varies widely all over China. People spend huge amounts of money to buy presents, decoration materials, food and clothing. As the day nears, excitement mounts and spirits soar high.

It is the tradition of every family to clean their houses to sweep away any ill-fortune with hopes for good incoming luck. Windows and doors are decorated with red colored paper cuts and couplets with popular themes of “happiness”, “wealth” and “longevity”. In the evening, the streets burst at the seams with colorful fanfare and festivity. People perform cultural dances while brightly-lit floats gliding on the water adding magic to the night.

On Chinese New Year Eve, families gather for a sumptuous reunion dinner. For 15 days, home visits to families and friends are sweetened with traditional New Year goodies like love letters (crispy egg rolls), pineapple tarts and barbecued pork. Gifts of mandarin oranges are exchanged for blessings while children receive “hong baos” (red envelopes filled with money) for good luck. “Yu Sheng” a tantalizing raw fish salad which symbolizes prosperity adds specialty to the evening.

The Haunted Library

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Haunted Library

Many of us are bookworms and often pay visit to libraries .But have we ever imagined that libraries can be haunted too? Well, here goes such a library. The National Library in Kolkata, situated on the Belvedere Road, it is known for its collection of rare books. But the residence of the former Lieutenant Governor of Bengal has a more eerie side to it.

The new building at the library has got another mystery behind it. At the time of its construction, some of the workers met with accidents and died on the spot. It is believed that their spirits still haunt the building.

Two of the eyewitnesses said that they had seen black images fading in front of their eyes. Both fell sick four days later. Some of the students who go to study there have even complained that they could here footsteps of the governor's wife. At late nights, the staffs even saw people in the library whom nobody knew. The shifts of the guards keep changing and most of them do not want to do the night shifts.

You never know what lurks inside the walls of a library. So be aware book lovers while your visits to a library!

The New Musical Sensation - Natalie Di Luccio

How would like to hear a Canadian artist singing a Bollywood song??? Natalie, a Canadian singer came to India in January, 2009 on an invitation from the Bollywood musician Tushar Parte. She sang with the tunes of various artists like A.R.Rahman, Sonu Nigam and others. She was also a part of the Michael Jackson tribute song, sung by Sonu Nigam and other artists. Here goes a Bollywood music, sang more beautifully and melodiously than it’s original version, by the versatile singer ,with a huge potential and possibilities, Natalie di Luccio.

Ice Cream

icecream

'Ice cream'.What comes to your mind from this word? Isn't it something related to fun? Well,thinking of ice-cream reminds me of a sweet and delicious joy. Ice-cream has added many funfilled days to my childhood. I'm going to share some of them with you.

In the hot scorching days of May and June,I love to have ice cream outside my school gate.A smile comes to my face seeing the ice cream chart hanging with pictures of yummy ice creams.I can't help licking every bit of the ice cream I have.

I have often enjoyed having Ice cream from Spencers.My mouth starts watering when I think of the chocolate cones with coffee beans scattered on them.Here I like to have ice-creams with my family because I believe that at times togetherness make ice-cream taste better.

Ice creams have many times filled up the refrigerator with their special,milky smell during my birthdays.I remember,once I got very angry on my mom as she gave away all the chocolate ice-creams including my share to the guests mistakenly. I quarreled foolishly with my mom that evening just for an ice cream.So you can probably imagine how much importance I give to an ice cream .

Many of my memorable days are also related with ice creams.The last day of class six,my friend gave us an ice cream treat.When we were all feeling sad for each other,ice cream made us forget our sorrow and enjoy the day till our heart's content.

Ice creams have always made my days special ans worth remembering.

Spectrum: the array of colors in my life

Spectrum 2010

They say good times don't last long.It is one of such good times I'm going to write about.It is an eight months practice for a grand event called Spectrum which was to be held in Netaji Indoor Stadium.It started from the summer of '09.You can't probably imagine a good time in summer ,under the hot sun.But this was truly a pleasant time.
There was very less pressure in studies .Everyday we used to board the our school bus at around 11:30 and return to school at around 3pm.Though the journey from our school to the practice ground was not very long,we used to enjoy every bit of it.We used to crack jokes and sing out loud .But    the worst part was  practicing under the scorching sun.At times we were also taken to an air conditioned hall. During the days practice,we used to feel impatient for recess when we would all sip packs of Frooti .We were also provided with delicious snacks like cakes ,sandwiched and cookies.Practices were really fun.Run throughs were held during the last two weeks where we had to perform in front of Ma'am Khaitan.To we students ,she was a very formidable person..The final week of practice was held in Netaji Indoor Stadium.These days were the best during the practice and  we were given lip smacking meals like pizzas,chowmien and such other tantalizing dishes.We used to share our meals and watch the performances of other groups.When our turn would come and we had to peroform Khukri dance(a traditional dance from Nepal,performed with daggers),we used to hurry to the back stage and get ready.

During the last four days of practice,we had to attend school at 5:30 in the morning and return home at 11:30 or may be 12 at night.The 25th of January-the final day of Spectrum was very exciting because the great television personality, Amitabh Bachchan would come to watch our performance.But at the same time it was also very nostalgic for us, because the eight months of practice had come to an end and we knew that we would miss everything of these special days immensely.We had become like the members of an extended family.We made new friends and also experienced the joy of sharing and caring.Our costume looked really funny with a green kurta ,a black coat,and a black paijama with orange garlands and a ear ring in one ear and a "karra" in one hand.People on the roads used to stare at us with mouths wide open. At the backstage,on the final day of practice,we took signatures of our dance teachers and embraced them with love.We were very nervous during the performance.Our performance came out to be one of the best of Spectrum 2010.We were all so surprised at the news.We never thought that  the audience would enjoy our performance that much .After all success comes after hard work!

The beautiful journey of spectrum 2010 will be there with me throughout my life as one of the most memorable time of my schooldays.

Funtime at Cafe Coffee Day

Can you think of a great fun Tuesday? I am sure you can't, its not Sunday after all. But we did have loads of them.. How? Hey, our school is in a "Happy Holiday" mode.... and we too.......... So we friends gathered at CCD and had a peppy fizzy evening with my sis.

We started off with "Devils own".. a mouthwatering combo of rich coffee, chocolate and vanilla cream. Hot choco-brownie complemented the drink just too well.. Our talks bounced from school to great music albums and  films. But of all, we enjoyed the topic of ghosts and paranormal stuff. 

We hummed together to the tunes of 'Love story' of Taylor Swift and 'Party in the USA' of Miley. It was great fun.

My friend Anwesha was eager to know about planchet and exorcism. Suchandra told stories about twilight and eclipse (She just loves these beats).

My sis told us about some movies like 'White noise' and 'Exorcist'. It was all so scary and creepy. We were getting goosebumps all over. Oh dear it was such a spooky night. All of a sudden there was a strong gust of wind blowing away dust and dry leaves on the road. We huddled up in fear. Suchandra was really scared the most (She will want to kill me for disclosing this!!!!! lolz) 

I loved all the chats and talks and the togetherness.. and I am looking forward to another day together.. :) :)