My 2011

As the Christmas is rushing and the year is almost over everyone send wishes, blessings and kind words to each other. The atmosphere becomes lighter, brighter and full of love.

Christmas really brings miracles to people's life and makes them more sensitive. Last year was really blissful for me. Lots of longings came to a happy end and made me feel blessed with having all the people in my life who fill up my days with love and care.

The year of 2011 was eventful indeed. My sweetheart visited my country and the result was our engagement. We had a great time in Armenia and then I got an opportunity to visit India. I was happy but apparently I couldn't imagine myself how wonderful that trip would be. During those two months not only had I a chance to discover the most incredible country in the world but also I made friends from all over the world.

Just imagine almost 70 people from around 20 countries gathered at a place studying, traveling, eating, spending time together and becoming closer to each other. That was a really amazing experience. And today receiving so many greetings and well wishes from all of them I realize how much blessed I was to meet each of them. They really made my trip an unforgettable one.

Now I know that Bangkok is not the capital of Thailand but the city where my sweet Puk lives. I can see her in a mess of preparations for the wedding which is so soon to be. I wish I were there to help her anyhow. She is such a lovely and caring person. I just wish her a happy family life with lots of lovely kids and promise to bye a helmet when I am back in India :)

My sweet Melissa whom I called the best traveler of our group. She was always in search of new discoveries in Delhi. Her camera saw all the corners of the city. The Camera, Delhi map and Metro map were in her bag in search of new places to see, to eat and to buy. I remember the day when I saw her with her notebook making a list of sight seeings for her husband to travel in the city while she would be at classes. Every morning she would wake up earlier than everyone to manage to talk to her daughter left at home with her grannies. Amazingly she was also managing to take care of her business. I always admire this wonderful mother and woman and wish her a new addition to her lovely family.

Cuba - is not the farthest communist country of hot dancers any more but the place where Leticia enjoys the life the way she used to do in Delhi, so cheerful, joyful and enthusiastic like none can be. I will never forget the way she was teaching me to dance Cuban way, how she was speaking so quickly, making jokes and poking everyone. She was my roommate for two days at Agra and Jaipur hotels where I managed to see that behind this strong personality a big and soft heart is beating... I wish my Leticita lots of love and romance for the coming year.

Machu Picchu is my next destination whenever I plan to travel. Did you know this is in Peru? I didn't. This is the country of Jaime and Pamela. Yes, now I know Jaime who is not the bold headed and strange & funny man from a South American serial but the modest graphic designer from Peru who can dance a whole night without brake :) Actually I overestimated him a bit regarding dancing. Actually even the challenge to win a game couldn't make him dance:) I wish Jaime a big love, a wonderful girl who will understand his gentle heart and hopefully will make him dance.

Martha lives in Namibia. Firstly I loved her curly hair then discovered the cheerful woman. She was storming Palika Bazar all the time buying up everything for her daughter. That night in her room at the Jaipur hotel was one of the most unforgettable moments in India. She was infecting us with her laughter and will to enjoy her life to the fullest. I wish Martha all the best for her coming soon wedding and all the joy in her family.

My day is not a day if I don't get greetings from Ghana where Alice lives. My lovely Alice, thanks for making my days. "Teacher", your voice sounds in my mind all the time I remember our classes. I hope the coming year will bring a new beginning in your life, the one you deserve.

Zaur is going to become a Father for the first time. Or maybe the kid is already born? I am sure he is going to be a good father. There was so much love and dedication in his eyes when we were talking about his wife. He also helped me with a small gift to my niece living in Tashkent. So the day is not far when I will visit Uzbekistan where Davron, Zamira and Dima also live.

Vote for Halong Bay to become the next wonder of the world. It's in Vietnam - the country of our Bodyguard!!! He was making so much fun all around even with his little knowledge of English. But that was not a big problem because he would say "Yes" to whatever he was requested or asked. The last thing we heard from him was the news about his wedding. Now he must be enjoying his honeymoon. Hope to see new photos of his happy family life.

In Costa Ricca lives a Cosita Ricca Yorles and a gentleman named Ely who is desperately looking for Rimma from Kazakhstan.

My Moldavian neighbors Katya and Leta, Cherry and Tan from Thailand, Jose and Malala from Madagascar, Satish from Bhutan, Xong and Ekalath from Laos, Edmenty and Florence from Hait...

I wish you all a Happy New Year and Merry Christmas. May all the success, happiness, health and prosperity come to your homes and may you always be surrounded with only good people and caring friends.

Lots of love and hugs to you from Armenia.

Moving in Delhi: Metro

Unlike going and coming back from classes by a taxi provided by the program we preferred not to move by a car in Delhi. Instead we were using Metro, Rikshaw and of course Bike.

METRO is the best means of transport in Delhi. It's very comfortable and flexible. We went to the Metro on the very first day оf my arrival and I was amazed to see how well designed and organized it was.  After several days almost all our group members had already learned the metro map by heart and could move around the city quite confidently. Whenever anyone was telling us a name of a place to visit we would open up our Delhi map to find it and then Metro map to see the route.

Despite of having a Metro in Yerevan and being used to traveling by it whole my life I saw a big difference between these two in Yerevan and in Delhi. Just imagine the one in Yerevan has only 1 line with 9 stations and short trains have two coaches. Delhi Metro has 6 lines with  more than 142 stations covering almost all Delhi area and Gurgaon as well.

It surprised me a lot when I saw police checking points at the stations with two different gates for both male and female. That was new to me and quite strange but in the meantime I felt more safe in a big and diverse city like Delhi. Another difference was double entry barriers at station for both entrance and exit. You can  buy either a token informing the cashier about the station you want to get off or a smart card. Tokens for each destination have different value. While entering the station you put the token on the display of the entry barrier and you leave it inside the entry barrier while leaving metro. Similarly it goes with the smart card and while putting it on the display the system is calculating the value of your destination and charges accordingly. So being unfamiliar to this I would always forget to get my card out again while leaving the station and would create queues after me trying to find it in my purse.

Smart Card

It was a huge fun every time being in Metro in a group of foreigners accompanied by an Indian(s). We would speak in different languages attracting the passengers' attention to us who were trying to hide their smile especially when we were repeating the announcements like "kripya, darvazoon se hat kar khare ho"  or "Agla station Udyog Bhavan hai". believe me it sounded quite funny and even we were laughing at ourselves. Whenever my sweetheart was not with us (it happened rarely) we were taking special coaches for women. These are separate coaches only for women to make their travel by metro more comfortable and troubleless.

Metro Map. New stations are being constructed yet...

Within two months of my stay in Delhi only once I traveled by Metro alone when I left the girls with their shopping at CP to get back to the hotel for another meeting. Imagine that was also the only time when the automatic announcement machine got broken and I couldn't get where actually I was. When I decided to clarify it with the lady standing next to me it appeared that I missed my station:) 

Unfortunately, it was prohibited to take photos inside Metro. Especially I regret about one poster which was announcing "Spitting in Metro is prohibited". However my friends managed to click some and I'll post one here. Hope they don't mind:)

Refreshing memories

I came back to Yerevan with enthusiastic plan to write down everything happened to me in India. but soon I dived in so many different projects and work that I left my blog for a while (again). While  am preparing new posts I decided to upload here some photos taken in India as a shower to my Tulsi not to fed away:)

Lotus temple - my first sightseeing destination in Delhi

People visiting Akshardham

Mandir - a Hindu temple at Chandni Chok , old Delhi

My favorite flower tree

Humayun Tomb - dedicated to a husband by a wife

Malls are everywhere in Delhi. This one I liked because of
its excellent decorated surroundings

Kutub Minar

Mother

Purana Qila

At Isckon temple in Vrindavan

Amber Forte, Jaipur, Rajastan

Red Fort, Old Delhi

Arriving in Delhi

My first meeting with India was through the illuminator of the airplane landing at Delhi International Airport. It was a long journey of 3 hours flight from Yerevan to Dubai, 8 hours wait at Dubai airport and almost 4 hours flight from Dubai to New Delhi. However I could feel neither tired nor sleepy but excitement to see the land which had been calling me for more than two and half years. 
Delhi was still sleeping and only street lights were welcoming us in the dusk.  The monitors in the plane went on and we could see the road on which our plane was landing. I don't remember how I went off the plane, how I passed the immigration desk, how I received my baggage I just wanted to get out of the airport as soon as possible to see my sweetheart one month after his departure. Finally the doors opened and there he was, my fiance, my sweetheart, my future husband for whom I am here...

 

Since the moment my feet touched the Indian land one thing was in my mind. I had been told and read a lot about specific smell one can feel right after getting off the airport. Despite of my efforts to smell something strange or unpleasant I could feel nothing but happiness for meeting people I hadn't seen for long time and those whom I new quite long but hadn't met yet. Even when I was asked if it was hot I said "no, it's quite normal" :) The only thing which looked strange to me was seeing so many people. Unlike the early morning hour when the sun was only starting to rise the airport was crowded with different different looking people and some of them were lying or sitting on the ground itself.
After warm hugs and introductions, bouquets of flowers and a cup of hot coffee it was the time to leave the airport for the Hotel we were supposed to stay.

Then only we realized that there was no one to meet us and take to the hotel. Before leaving for Delhi I made sure that I would be transferred to the hotel by a driver who would be waiting for us at the Gate with a banner announcing the name of Institution from which we got the scholarship. Simply he was not there even though our flight was delayed for about one and half hours. I tried to contact with one of the moderators to find out what was the problem. Finally one of them answered my call and ensured me that the driver was at the airport. After I asked him several times to check with the driver it appeared that "he is on way", then "he is looking for space for parking". In the end the driver (a nice man of around 50-60 who later became our driver taking us from the hotel to classes and back every day) arrived in the airport informing us that he even wasn't aware that he had to meet us... Anyway it happens sometimes but I wonder what two young girls are supposed to do appearing in a country for the first time, at 4 am without a mobile and without anyone to meet them. What if one of them didn't have a fiance ready to take them to the hotel. How would they contact the moderators? However I was insisting on following the rules and ethics of the scholarship instead of braking the rules from the very beginning and for that we had to wait for 2 hours.

View from my balcony

We reached the hotel and were welcomed by another nice Indian man  whom we later used to call Uncle. Lucky we were to arrive one of the first and to have a chance to choose the room we liked. This room had become my shelter for the next two months. In this hotel I met my dear friends. Here I had nice breakfasts and here I had reunion parties which I will never forget in my life.

My room at the Hotel

But then it was just a room with a big bed where I wanted to rest a bit before starting my journey to the new world called India...

Incredibly Nostalgic India

I am back home - my home in Armenia. Still I have such a feeling that I left my home. ...

I was in India for 2 months. That was a scholarship program sponsored by the government of India called ITEC/SCAAP. So I was both a student and a traveler but also went to visit my new family.

Cultural shock, climate, new experiences, likes and dislikes, new food, new people, friends and more than friends, new knowledge, parties, sight-seeings, discoveries, new family, new home and much more...I had experienced within these two months. But apparently the most important was the reunion with my sweetheart.

We traveled a lot all over Delhi - both New and Old and also managed to visits 3 cities - Vrindavan with the family and Agra and Jaipur with the whole group. Red Fort, Purana Quila, Lotus Temple, JNU, Qutub Minar, India Gate, Raj Path, Akshardham, Amer Fort , Agra Fort, Jantar Mantar and of course no visit to India without seeing the famous Taj Mahal. Food- lots of different restaurants and cafes with varieties of Indian food from North and South -Puri, Roti, Dosa, Raj kachori, Chana masala, Sabji, Thali, Khir, Lassi...so spicy and chili but so yummy. Moving round the city by metro, Rikshaw, Bike was such a great fun. But the most joyful pastime especially for girls - shopping in huge malls and street markets, Dilli Haat and at the buses...

Lots of interesting discoveries, events, people altogether was such a great experience to me and I want to write about each and every thing in detail. but now I just want to thank God for this opportunity I had, for those two months which changed my life a lot. i had so many apprehensions about the country I was going to spend my life. I was worried so much simply not to like it. I went , I saw and  I want to go back. Thanks to my sweetheart, his family, friends and of course my new wonderful friends I enjoined my life there.  Now I can say I really want to go back. Why? I'll try to give the answer through my posts about all the things mentioned above and much more. They say people cry twice in India, first time when they arrive and second time when they leave it. Hope you will enjoy the journey with me to India ...

India, I am coming...

My last night in Armenia before so much awaited journey to India. Yes, I am finally going to India for 2 months. All is set up for the trip and now I am so much sleepy and tired of the preparations that the only thing I can write is I am so much happy and excited. I am going to see India, my friends, my new family.

Amazingly this new adventure starts on the day when my sweetheart was born. So I want to wish my dear fiance to have such wonderful Birthdays every year. I big hug to you.

I am coming ... :)

A Bride From The North

No, it's not a mistake. I am aware that Armenia is to the west from India. This is the title of my favorite movie from my childhood. I love each scene, every conversation here. It is filled with fun and joy, curious situations and drama. I used to watch it 1000 times and still I find it so much interesting and exciting.


Recently this  has been shown on TV quite frequently. I could see my mother watching it deeply dived in her musings about her elder daughter. Just like the Russian mother in this movie who doesn't want her daughter to be taken to Armenia and refuses meeting her would be relatives who came to ask for her daughter's hand for their son. Nevertheless story has a happy end showing the couple leaving for Armenia finally. This scene is accompanied with a soundtrack , a woman's voice is singing :  "In a strange country you will call "Mother" a strange woman ".

However this is a movie and where movies end the real life starts with its ups and downs.

Coincidentally my life has become so much consistent with the events in this story. I was making the biggest decision in my life - getting engaged with the one who came from thousands of miles afar and is going to take me there, away from my family, from my friends, from my everyday life, from my city which I love so much...

Only God knows how much strength it requires for my mother to bear all this. I understand her so well and I never wanted to hurt her or make her life complicated. The only thing I want is to make her happy by being happy even so far away from her....

For my sweetheart...

Chori chori solah singaar karungi
Aaj saari raat intezaar karungi
Soye hain mere piharawaa
Soye hain mere piharawaa

Golf with Karen Hovhannisyan

When we met for the first time on internet he didn't know anything about Armenia. Later he was telling me such things about our history or current issues that even I was not aware of. When we started the group he didn't know many Armenians. After two and half years he came to Armenia, spent 21 hectic days trying to manage meetings with each and every friend day by day, yet there were so many meetings left for the next time.

Among all Armenian friends there is a special one, Karen Hovhannisyan, who later became our QAVOR. Qavor is a very special and important person to Armenian families. This relationship begins when he is chosen to be the patron and  supporter of a couple preparing to get engaged and later married.

Karen is a golfer, the best golfer in Armenia. He is an amazing person, very humble and modest with very kind heart. Their friendship began in India where Karen went to participate in a Golf tournament . After spending two days with Ranu he came back very much delighted and touched by the gesture and warmth he had got, as if he found a family member in India.

As expected, starting from the very first day of Ranu's trip to Armenia Karen was with us trying to make our time unforgettable and full of events to different destinations. With him we attended open air dance classes organized by "Karin" folk dance troupe. Later we visited some travel destinations like Garni, Geghard and Khor Virap with his family -  his beautiful wife Stella and two wonderful kids Hranto & Sona. It was after all a family trip.

But the best sight we ever visited with Karen was "Ararat" golf club where he works and practices Golf. Honestly said,  before that I hadn't have much knowledge and image about this sport. But I definitely enjoyed it especially after seeing how my sweetheart was easily catching each instruction by Karen. After the first slipped stroke, he started playing as if he had taken at least several classes for some time and everybody were encouraging him not to tell anyone that it was his first ever visit to a Golf club :)

The club itself is a part of  a Yerevan district called "Vahagni community" the club itself is projected so that the players wherever they play could see Mount Ararat in front of them. We had a great time and lots of nice pics with Ararat in the background. The excitement was so much that Karen decided to take us there one more time and we had a session of a mini-golf. To our surprise the game ended with Ranu's victory. Well well, I would think it was Karen's sign of gesture but Ranu managed to hit the ball so that it appeared right in the hole with ONE SHOT only and that happened twice.... What to say ! Either he is very much talented or he had an  excellent teacher, or  both :)))

From the core of my heart I want to thank Karen for such a wonderful and unforgettable time spent at the Golf club. Special Note here to be mentioned: Most of the pics and videos we have is shot by Karen.

As for our other journeys, I'll try to write new posts.

My first MEHNDI

It's already 4th year once or twice a year Yerevan is hosting Indian Exhibition.  This is a trade fair of Indian goods, spices, clothes, jewelry,  and even wooden furniture and carpets. Each time it lasts for 10 days and people just flow there every day all the time. The most exciting thing about this fairs is Armenian young girls working at the stalls bridging Armenian customers with Indian traders. This becomes to be a real fun especially when people start bargaining. I would admit here that Indians and Armenians are the most active bargainers in the world. So imagine the scenario ....

The most famous purchase is scarfs. If you look  carefully at the young ladies passing in the streets almost every second one is having an Indian scarf over her neck.

Starting from the next day my sweetheart came to Armenia another Indian Exhibition started in Yerevan. Apparently it was our first site to visit after he got his rest from 24-hour-long trip in 2 airplanes.

We went there to participate in the opening ceremony and to meet lots of friends from the group. This time it was not as big as earlier times but what I managed to mention that the products were of high quality and as always colorful and smell-full.

The very first stall we came up was offering different types of  Mehndi applications for women. Mehndi is an inseparable part of Indian culture. Generally women apply this on their hands and feet but it has some fantastic and auspicious meaning especially before marriage.  There is a special day before the wedding called Mehndi day when all the women and young girls from both of the bride's side and groom's side gather at the bride's place, invite a special Mehndi master and start partying while the master applies heena on their hands and feet.

At previous Indian Exhibitions I had the chance to watch how Mehndi is applied but never had it applied on my own hand. This time my sweetheart suggested me to experience it myself.

My first Mehndi

 
As you can see in the photo it was not applied totally on my whole hand but on a small spot. However I was very much excited and delighted.

The curiosity of the situation was the payment. As my sweetheart was carrying Rupees too he suggested the lady to accept Rupees as anyway she was going to India soon and there was no need to pay in Armenian Drams. Apparently she was confused and didn't know what to say.  "You could never imagine to earn Indian Rupees in Armenia. Isn't it ", I said. Well it was a real strange situation for her in fact whatever she got in Rupees was double of what she asked to pay in Dram :)

I enjoyed my first Mehndi for almost 10 days. Coincidentally and unfortunately it disappeared in the morning on my Engagement day.

Presents from India

What I like most in this world is receiving and giving presents. Moreover in presents I appreciate not its cost but its spiritual value and the reason.
Among all the presents that I got from India I would like to emphasize two of them that really touched my heart.
First one is a souvenir of Lord Ganesha sent by one of my fiance's best friends with a greeting card where he calls me "Bhabi" sister-in-law.
I was so much excited to see this and I really felt the love and care it was prepared with.

My souvenir from Manu

Lord Ganesha

And the second one is a wooden  key chain made especially for us. Before traveling to Armenia my sweetheart visited Varanasi (Benaras) with his brother, an Indian friend and an Armenian friend - Karen who is living in India since last 10 years. Karen is not a friend actually but through Ranu he became my brother. In India he is recognized as my brother by everyone and Ranu is calling him "my Sala" which means brother-in-law. I really love him so much, he is such a darling. Fortunately I can be sure that at least one family member I'll have in India when I move there forever.  Karen ordered this heart shape key chain with our names at the bank of Ganga "to gift it to his sister and would be brother-in-law".

From the core of my heart I want to thank both my Indian and Armenian friends from India for such a nice surprise. They are really special to me and I will carry the warmth coming from them in my heart forever .

Photography

I really like photography and I dream of having a professional camera and traveling all over the world. Well this is my dream but in reality I don't have even a simple camera right now and I always used to delay taking photography courses due to lack of time and resources. Despite of this I always used to believe that I have the sense of photography which gives me that passion....
Well , well, it was like that until I discovered what kind of great photos can my sweetheart get with one shoot and how many shoots it takes me to get a photo a bit reminding the one he got. Oh My GOD, it is really difficult to arrange the angle, compare the background with face and get perfect match of the farther and and closer objects, etc., etc... Another dream of mine was to have a good photo-session: in nature, at different backgrounds and with different poses. And now wherever we went if we happened to be alone I was the lucky one to have lots of great looking pics and he was the one who was destined to be shot by me.... Imagine his disappointment :(  "And you say you wanna become a photographer ?" .
He could manage all these things so easily. I discovered a great photographer, I'd rather say a master in my sweetheart. Thank you jaan :)

....But no, wait. I found the way out when I noticed one more thing. Whenever we visited any sight be it in Yerevan or out of Yerevan: historical sights, mountains, churches, monasteries,  he preferred taking pictures of people in the combination with a good background. I am a total contradiction. When I see landscape I forget about people, portraits, combination.... I like landscape, I get good pictures and let me say that obviously I am able to develop this skill.
So, honey again we end up being a perfect match. You gonna admire me and take my pics and I am gonna travel all over India and one day, believe me, I'll have my own exhibition of  "Incredible India through my camera"

I am back

After such a long time I am back again with lots of experience, sweet memories and thoughts to share.
My sweetheart and I spent 21 wonderful days together with lots of fun, extreme, adventures and hectic days. I simply didn't have a single minute to sit and share it in my blog. While leaving he told me: "Now you have lots of things to write in your blog". How come I could know then that I would catch a cold and would be lying in bed with 40 C high temperature after his departure. Everybody was teasing me like I couldn't bear the separation with my fiancé ... :)

Yes, we managed to get engaged too. But let's not mix everything. I'll try to enlighten every event and every cause in a separate post.

So, let's take a tour ....

Happiness

Happiness is when you are straggling for 29 months to get united with your soul-mate and you never give up while passing through so many difficulties and barriers. And finally when the day comes you don't know what you feel, how to behave and suddenly you see a miracle.

Standing at  the airport waiting hall I was really not feeling anything. I knew only that there would come someone to whom I had been talking in skype 22 hours ago. And everything was so usual as it had been for all the time we spent together ...in the net.

Yes, I met him in the net, fell in love through phone and kept my relationship in skype. So what? But doubts and frustration never left me...

It took only one second, one sight to fill up my senses with unexplainable feeling of being fulfilled and complete. No if and but, no doubt , no cry, just endless happiness...

A new phase in our life

Finally there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It seems like it wаsn't us waiting for such a long time, struggling, hoping, believing, falling in desperation, again standing up and trying our best to pave the way to our dream.

During this time we both managed to pass through all kind of soul and mind states: from happiness for each achievement to the deep depression (yes, even him). But we were always together even when it felt that no hope is left we still were holding on each other- hand in hand.

Now changes have come. First I applied for a scholarship to study in Delhi for 2 months and got the approval. Sigh ! Finally I can visit the city I am planning to live after marriage. Yet 3 months are left till I board the plane to fly to my sweetheart. Till then the struggle is not over. We still need to get visa for him to visit Armenia. And Oh My GOD he got it after 1 month.

Now we are planning our so much longed visits and formalization of our relationship. From now onwards everything will change and our near future will be full of events.

After 22 days my sweetheart will land in Armenia and we'll have 3 weeks to get used to the new form of our relationship, get engaged, as well as meet the group members and start the structural and legal establishment of our organization. So lots of things to plan for 22 days and to realize  within 20 days. After that I will continue working and getting ready for my trip to India in the meantime. I hope to enjoy it and get as much inspiration and enjoyment so that I would have the strong will to leave my country and move to another one - so diverse and new to me....

I feel I need courage and enthusiasm and of course the support of my dear ones to face all these changes. Hope they understand me and will help me smile while entering the new phase of my live where nothing will be same as it was till now....

Lovers' Park

Recently I have developed a new habit. Almost every day I have my lunch at Lovers' Park a well decorated park which is just in 3-4 minutes walk up the street I am working on.
This is such a pleasant place where one can feel the nature in the center of Yerevan. I usually go there with Nelly- my new friend from Facebook :) She works nearby too. We buy pancakes or other cookies from "Queen Cake" or "Arax" and enjoy it sitting on а bench surrounded by streaming water and trees. Everything is green and so fresh.

Despite of my allergy and strong restrictions not to be near trees and flowers and sit  under the sun I feel perfect there. Maybe that's because I really enjoy it being there.

The strength of positive mindset

My sweetheart and I have our motto: "Whatever happens, it happens for good". This has been the main pillar on which we have been creating our strength to pass trough all difficulties we have to face to maintain our distance love.

However, it is not so easy to follow it, as we are human beings. No one is able to be perfect all the time and sometimes we fall into desperation.

Some days ago we were discussing how important it is to have positive mindset. I was talking and talking without a brake trying to convince him that despite of difficulties and endless failures he shouldn't give up..... Then I turned to his Facebook page and saw that he had posted the same on his wall in 2-3 sentence just 1 hour ago :)

Well, I am not that much surprised at this match: we are one !!!

I am just posting here his thoughts:

"Whenever you try more and more to achieve the desired result even after failure, the negative perceptions around which prevail in majority against you always question your motive: why is s/he trying again and again? My answer is ..Because I choose so..!!!"

"Never give up. Sometimes Negatives overpower Positives, darkness Overpowers The Light, Evil overpowers Good, but remember nothing is constant...If there is a beginning, there must be an end..It's always Most Dark hour before Light spreads over this world...Keep Trying till you achieve with all big smile"

10 days

My sweetheart is in a business trip. Sounds strange? You'd say: "Does it make sense where he is if you are far away from each other anyway? ". Well, actually it does.

Unlike our usual routine when we are online for each other most part of the day and have video conversations in the evening lasting 1-2 hours, now he is hardly ever online during the day and we only speak on phone for 10-15 minutes in the evening.

He will come back on May 23 only. So instead of chatting with him I'll try to post new entries. And I have free evenings for one week. I am planning to watch movies and visit some dear ones or maybe go somewhere with them. I'll definitely go to Echmiadzin at the week-end with Shushanik.

Armenian DUDUK

Armenian DUDUK  sounds like talking to my soul . Nothing can be compared to its melody.
Here is a song by Helen Segara accompanied with DUDUK.

My Armenia

This is my Armenia. Although it may look small on the map but a great nation lives here - Armenians. We call ourselves Hay [hai] and our land Hayastan. Nowadays Armenia is situated in a small part of the highland called Armenian highland main part of which is now in the territory of Turkey.

Map of the Republic of Armenia

Our language is Armenian- one of the oldest Indo-European languages of the world. Our alphabet is unique. You can never see any letters like this in any language. The alphabet was created by Saint Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD.

Armenian alphabet

The first sentence in Armenian written down by St. Mesrop after he invented the letters is said to be the opening line of Solomon’s Book of Proverbs:

	Ճանաչել զիմաստութիւն եւ զխրատ, իմանալ զբանս հանճարոյ: «To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding.»
—Book of Proverbs, 1:2.

Main Hindi sikh rahi hoon

Although it's more than two years that my life is tied with India and I highlighted learning Hindi as top priority in my "to do list" , unfortunately due to busy schedule even at week-ends I couldn't do it properly till now. Also I ought to be honest and say that it comes from my laziness too. Anyway in the course of time while having my relationship with my sweetheart mainly in the net, as well as befriending more and more Indian relatives or friends of him, I managed learning some words sometimes even expressions in Hindi. Now with my poor vocabulary I somehow manage to speak to my sweetheart's mother who is the only member in his family not speaking English.  And whenever she asks me to learn Hindi asap, I say "Main thoda-thoda Hindi sikh rahi hoon"- I am learning Hindi little by little.

What we have now is:

Namaste / Namaskar/ Pranam - Greetings

Aap kaise hai? - How are you? (to elders)

Tum kaisi ho? - How are you?

Main thik hoon - I am ok

Main achcha / achchi hoon - I am fine

Achcha means good, fine. For masculine it ends with "a" , in feminine it ends with "i" - achchi hai.

Yeh bahot achcha hai - That's very good !

Mera dill - my heart

Meri zindagi - my life

Pati - husband

Patni / biwi - wife

Diwana/diwani - crazy

Main tumhara diwana hoon - I am crazy for you :)

Kya?  - What ?

Kya kar rahi ho? - what are you doing?

Kya hua ? - What happened? (the most frequently used expression by my sweetheart even when he knows or guesses what actually happened)

Kon hai? - who is that?

Kab? - when

Kahan? - where

Kitna? - how much

Kyon? - why  the reply usually strats with "kyon ki..." - because...

Phool- flower

Din - day

Raat -night

Pani - water

Nimbu pani - lemon water

Aaloo - potatoes

Dost - friend

Zaroor - of course, sure

Bilkul - exactly

Mujhe maloom hai - I know

Phir se - again

Sahi hai - that's right

Jao - go

So jao - go to sleep

And the crown of all the expressions I learnt  is the way I greet my sweetheart's Parents in their own native language - MAITHILI.

Gor lagai chhi - I am touching your feet

There are also many common words in Armenian and Hindi. My next post will be about those words.

A shower to my Tulsi

" Baby, Tulsi Leaves need some water. Give some rain...", said my sweetheart in the morning. 

Indeed, I haven't updated my blog since so long. It's not like I don't have thoughts to share but honestly said I have troubles with doing this. I could have written here like lack of time, being busy here and there, blah, blah, blah...but the real reason is that while being transformed from abstract form into written material my thoughts lose the essence, their real meaning. This has been a real problem to me since school. When we had some topic to write an essay I would speak on it for hours. My teachers would admire my ideas. But when I had to sit down and write all I had discussed the real tragedy used to start. Whatever I wrote seemed to be less than I wanted to express, whatever I expressed was losing it's shine. I always wanted more than had been done.

In the course of time this complex (yes, I do call it a complex) was rectified a bit. Now I am running a blog in my own language -  Armenian. It goes ok though. And now a new challenge with English. The lack of vocabulary in English doesn't give me a chance to write properly to describe my musings. Actually I started this blog for that only- to challenge myself in writing in English. In fact I like writing long. But I got the clue. I will not write long posts. Instead I will start with short posts to train myself. 

Sweetheart I can't promise rain but at least I'll try to shower them :)

More water Sir?

India is really incredible and unpredictable

Tvorozhnik or Cottage cheese pastry

This is one of my favorite pastries since my childhood. Today I decided to have it instead of lunch (Hope my sweetheart is not reading this).


March is the month when you can never be quite sure what the weather is going to be like next day, even after 1-2 hours. I was sitting at my desk admiring the sunny day outside and couldn't wait till lunch time to go out. But when I went out unlike the sun and clear blue sky it was so cold. I bought my Tvorozhniks came back and now I am enjoying them with a cup of tea. So nice ... :)

Tvorozhnik...yummy

SURPRISE

my sweetheart made a surprise for me

You made my day. Love you !!!

Old Armenian Calendar

Here is the link to the website called Ancient Armenian Calendar according which we are now in year 4503.
As I studied it as a discipline I'd say that the writers are not so deep dived into the subject.
On the other hand you can find basic information on how the Armenian calendar was created, why we don't use it now, what kind of festivals we had in Ancient times etc.
There are also names of months, days and day hours. you can convert any date into Armenian calendar. I remember me learning them by heart at school. That was fun for me and classmates. Especially when we were traying to find out some dates according to calendar names.

I guess it is quite fascinating to check out your birthday as I did and found out that I was born at around Sharavighyaln (the hour) on Parkhar (day) of Margats (month), 4475:))

I also put the label in the sidebar for easier access to check the date avery day.

Ranu learns Armenian

It's almost two years we are together. During this time we've been trying to learn each others languages. Though I should admit it is me who needs to learn Hindi because I am going to live in India and communicate with people among which not all speak English. However my sweetheart tries his best to learn Armenian too. Here is a few pieces of his Armenian vocabulary with cute pronunciation of him.

Barev - hi, hello
Vonc es? -  how are you?
Inch ka chika? (he can never say chka) Wassup ?

Es lav em - I am fine
Shnorhakalutyun- Thank you
Shnorhavor - Congratulation
Shat lava - (It's) very good
Kyanqs - my life
Utem qez ... :)
Shat sirun - (It's) very beautiful

Whenever he calls on my land line and my mom picks it up he starts talking to her in Armenian. He even managed to wish my Mom on her Birthday. I was so much pleased and happy.
My sweatheart promised me to learn more. He always tells me that our children are going to be genious knowing so many languages, like Hindi, Armenian, English  as well as his native language Maithili, Russian, German... and much more :)

First Snow in Yerevan this year

It's snowing ... Finally it's snowing in Yerevan.
 I woke up in the morning and looked through the window. The ground was wet, but it wasn't raining. I was so glad I didn't have to carry an umbrella. just half an hour later, before leaving, I looked out again......

OMG It was snowing so heavily that it had already managed to lie down  ... This year the snow had not yet come: At least not for us here in the 3rd district. We have unbearable heat in summers, and in winter snow does not reach the place (perhaps that is one of the reasons why our district got the name India) That's why when I heard on TV yesterday that the snow having covered all the regions of Armenia  would reach Yerevan next 2-3 days I could hardly believe it .

I can't remember such snow since last 5-6 years. I am looking out of the window  it seems to be a wonderland. It's snowing .....

By the way, I haven't  managed to enjoy this yet. I came by taxi and ran inside. And suddenly remembered that unfortunately I forgot my camera at home, but my sister came for help. She knows that photography is my passion and after my desperate request she took some pictures and sent them to me. Here they are...

View from our balcony

The street we live in

our backyard

Tulsi leaves

Why I decided to title my blog "Tulsi leaves" is a long story. What is most important that they are best medicine when you caught a cold. The recipe is invaluable ..."If you have TULSI Leaves (Ocimum_tenuiflorum), boil it in water with salt and black pepper and extract the water and drink it".