Today I want to write about ancient Egypt..I had been to a art museum in Nashville and the concept was about ancient Egypt, the land of enigma and awe...

It had many artifacts from the Egypt museum in Cairo and the most exciting part is, they have recreated the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen, exactly as it was in Egypt and it was pretty amazing. Of course, it didnt have the sand of the desert or the musty smell you would expect in a tomb of thousands of years, but it did have friendly descriptions of what the hieroglyphs on the tombs meant in english and also some good lighting and of course air-conditioning (Its easy to not notice it, but imagine how hot it will be in a desert). ok anyways, coming back to the main topic, the hieroglyphs described what was the purpose of mummification and what actually would happen inside the tomb (or what they 'believed' would happen inside a tomb)- it goes like this - The main part is played by Sun God. Ancient Egyptians believe in Sun God as one of the supreme Gods and that Sun God undergoes a journey from dusk to dawn in the netherland and fight evil demons before he can rise again.
The night is divided into 12 hours and the Sun God begins his journey from Hour 1 at the entry point to the netherland, and he has to cross the netherland in these 12 hours (fighting evils on the way) and regain his sould. The Pharaohs aid the Sun God in regaining his soul and cross the netherland. In turn the Sun God helps them in uniting with their soul and attaining afterlife. So it is like a mutual understanding. So the journey goes like this..The Pharaoh and the Sun God start their journey on the solar boat across river Nile in the netherworld. They believed that river Nile flows across in the netherworld also. They also believed that people grow plants and other grains in the netherworld and the netherworld is more fertile than the actual world because the soil there is more fertile. ok, so the pharaoh and the Sun God start their journey in the netherworld at hour 1. They are protected by other Gods and Goddesses and Pharaohs. They continue their journey quite smoothly till hour 4. At hour 5, the river nile dries up and the desert begins. At this point the solar boat magically becomes a giant serpent or snake that can slide across the desert sand. Also the evils try to fight with the Sun God and the Pharaoh. But the other Gods and Goddesses kill those evil demons and aid the Sun God and the Pharoah in reuniting with their souls. This happens at hour 6. From then on they move across the desert till hour 12 to the end of netherland. At Hour 12, the Sun God rises and all is happy and the Pharaoh has reunited with his soul and has attained afterlife.
The ancient egyptians believed that the Pharaoh will protect his people once he attains afterlife. Also the Sun God takes on different forms at different times of day and night. He is depicted as a Scarab beetle in the morning (because the beetle lays eggs in dung - rejuvenates life from dead) and as a ram in the night.
That is the gist of mummification. But there are lot of other details related to mummies. One story that is really of interest is the origin of mummification. Why and how did mummification actually start? There was a great King of Egypt called Osiris. He was brutally murdered by his brother and his brother dismembered his body and threw the parts all over egypt. Osiris's wife Isis collects all his body parts, wraps them in linen and then brings him to life with magic. Osiris becomes the Lord of Underworld (or Netherworld). They have a son called Horus who went on to become a great king of Egypt. (I just read another version of this story at wikipedia..so I think this is one of the famous versions). So driving back to the original reason, we went into this story, whatever Isis had done has become an inspiration for Mummification.
ok, so what about all those things that go into the tomb along with the mummy. Since the Pharaoh is believed to attain aterlife after mummification, he would very much lead a normal life in the afterlife (kind of confusing..but thats how it is). So he would need all the things that he would need in the normal life. So they placed food, furniture, clothes and jewelry (which is a string attraction for the robbers) in the tombs. One very interesting point is, it is not necessary to place real food or real life size furniture in the tombs. Even if you place a replica of the item, it would come real with magic. Also they used to keep toy workers to help the king to do agricutural work and other things. And they would all come to life with magic. These wooden figures were called Shabti or Ushabti (I think in the later part of the century) and they were also placed in coffin-like boxes. So that explained one long lasting doubt I had when I watching the movie "Mummy". What were all those dummy skeleton soldiers doing in the tomb??
And there were many other things at the Museum, but I will write about those in the next blog..this had already become pretty long. By the time I came out of the museum, I was all enchanted about ancient Egypt. One great marketing skill I had to appreciate at the museum was, they had the gift shop immediately after you step out of the museum...in fact there is no door in between...so you are in this trance and you walk into this gift shop, you feel like buying something and take a part of Egypt with you to home. I had to be literally dragged out of the shop to stop buying any of those expensive goods!!

One disclaimer is: I have tried to put together what ever I have understood at the museum. This might not be the most accurate version and there may be some misunderstood version of a belief. And this is all what I have written from my memory ;)

Wanted to write about this from many days...but couldnt get time..now I have time..that too as a result of a strange situation..I am outside of my apartment, but I cant get in..no I am not locked out (well technically maybe yes)...I have my keys and I have the right key too..but I am not able to open the lock with my key...and this is not an ancient apartment either..its just 10 years old..just moved into it..so have to yet figure out how to open it...I could do it y'day but then maybe thats just a lucky break...

now I am waiting for my friend who can, I guess open the door with the same key..and luckily I have my laptop with me and it is able to catch my wireless network..(the marvels of wireless technology - never appreciated it so much)I have time to do something...

ok now coming to the real story..it is about shoes or sandals whatever u might call them..I have a problem with shoes..I love them and I hate them...I love buying different kinds of shoes..I like wearing a different one every other day..but then I hate when they are not comfortable..heels are a strict no - no for me..the only exception can be platform heels less than a inch. And the most arduous thing is shoe shopping..I just cant find the right one...I have bought so many shoes but none of them were perfect...

I guess 1 month back I went to shopping with my colleague. She was very helpful in finding good designs..so we found this great pair of shoes..they were just perfect..the heel is not too bad, the leather is ultra soft and they are this deep brown..a classic piece..and I found my size too!!.. I felt I was in the seventh heaven..I couldnt stop grinning and rushed to buy them..Though they were a bit expensive, I took a bold step and bought them.

Day One..Wore my new shoes to office..they were just great and I looked a little more taller and I couldnt stop looking at them and smiling to myself. I even did a small dance to myself wearing those pretty things..after some time..I felt a little pain near my toes..took a look at it..the shoe had a small knot and this was putting some pressure on a nerve point on my right foot..I guessed it might be becoz they were new..didnt pay much attention and then in the afternoon I walked around a bit and by the time I was at my desk, my first action was to slip my shoes off my feet and it felt better..a small suspicion rose in my mind..Will I be able to wear these shoes everyday??? The thought almost scared me..I swear..it was quite frightening..becoz I found these shoes after countless days of searching and I didnt want to lose them..

Day Two..wore the new shoes again to test my theory and assuring myself that it was just a first day fright...and then by the time it was 11:00 Am..my worst fears were confirmed..I cannot walk with these shoes for more than 10 minutes!! I felt a sinking feeling deep down in my heart..Do I have to return these too??? This will be my 4th time to return shoes after buying them...I didnt know what to do..looked at my right foot again..the skin on the nerve point was red and looked scary..didnt want to torture my feet anymore...and there it was, the final message..I HAVE to return these shoes...I never thought that this could be so bad..but I felt so depressed..the whole day I was feeling bad...that I can never find shoes that I like...

After another 10 days, I begged my colleague to come again with me to return the shoes and maybe find something better (which was highly improbable)..The shop keeper took the shoes back. I secretly wished that she would refuse and I can keep the shoes even if it meant I will just look at them everyday and never actually wear them..I wish I had taken a picture of them..they were so pretty :(

and then I searched around the shop to see if I could find anything better (I knew the answer - no chance). I came back home with a heavy heart...but then hope is a great boon to mankind...my hope of finding the "RIGHT SHOE" began to rise slowly..and my search for it continues...

A rainy day..
I think this is what almost everyone feels about a rainy day..Snuggle in a warm blanket on the couch and watch your favourite TV show or movie with a hot cup of coffee or tea or chocolate or maybe popcorn(personal preferences). Ahhh heaven!! Isnt it...we dont need a lot to make us feel happy, do we??

Then there is the other joy of actually dancing in the rain (note that the rain we are talking about is the normal rain and not a big storm or hurricane). I actually used to do that till my engineering days...somehow it was very liberating.
Havent tried it in the recent past...maybe I should try some time..I am only afraid that my neighbours might think that I have gone mad :)

And what I have not yet experienced till now, is sitting around a fireplace when its raining or snowing outside And maybe reading a good book with some hot pakoras...ahh my mouth is already watering..pakoras...nothing can replace them..

Seems like I am a little starved of the rain time joys...all that I do now on a rainy day is stare at my computer and figure out some sql query or Java code. And if it does rain on a weekend, then its either doing my groceries at walmart
or doing laundry, cooking or cleaning something...where is the time to snuggle on your couch and just look at the rain outside.

And here is a great idea that someone told me on how they would enjoy a light rainy day. Sit on the swing on your porch (I guess a covered porch) and just doze off watching the rain...I would love to try that too. For that, first I have to buy
or rent a house with a porch and then buy a swing also. That might take a long long time....sometimes it is so difficult to satisfy some simple pleasures!!

Well, anyways nothing is more refreshing than getting wet in the rain after a hot and humid day..its so relaxing..and now a new thought comes to my mind. How does it feel to feel the rain on a beach? I guess it will be awesome especially if there are thunders and then really really big clouds (kind of scary too!!), but I would like to try that too, hopefully soon.

ok those are my thoughts on a rainy day and there are many many more. But then its sometimes better to leave some things unsaid.

Switzerland - love at first sight...
I still remember my excitement when my travel agent told me that my flight is going to make a stop in switzerland and we have a lay over there for one night. I was so happy. At last I get to see switzerland or maybe land in switzerland.

Think switzerland and the first thought or maybe scene that comes in my mind is Sridevi and Rishi Kapoor dancing to the tunes of "Tere mere hoton pe.." in Chandni and then Shah Rukh and Juhi dancing in Darr...For many many years Switzerland
was the default destination for a foreign locale for Bollywood directors.

I can definitely say that my obsession for visiting Switz (henceforth I will use the shortcut becoz its becoming too tedious to spell out the whole name) at least once in a lifetime was, courtesy Bollywood. How else would have I seen those beautiful mountains and valleys and the antique shops. The sceneries are straight out of dreams (or maybe movies had given us a standard template of how a dream should be).

Anyways, enough with the prologue...coming straight down to my one night stay at Switz, the flight landed in the airport at around 5:00 PM (local time) and by the time we got our passports stamped and could actually go to hotel Hilton
(courtesy: srilankan airlines) it was around 6:40 PM. I tried my level best to absorb all the sceneries from the airport to the hotel (which was not very far away) through the tiny window of the aiport shuttle. I am glad I did that (you will soon see why).

Then we had dinner and it was already dark outside (it was january). I couldnt go outside. I knew no one in Switz, didnt have Switz currency and didnt know how to speak french or german (two of the 4 official languages of Switz). Plus there
was no point in going outside now as it was totally dark. How I tried to actually go outside and see something of the Switz landscape. The hotel itself was on a hill and it was just beautiful. I tried to see around as much as I can from the hotel
windows. But then my thirst for the beauty of Switz remained unquenched. The next day I had to get up at 5:30 AM, get ready, have breakfast and catch the airport shuttle at 6:30 AM and then once inside the airport, you cant see much.

My flight took off at 9:30 AM and I could catch a glimpse of the mountains from the small window of the aeroplane. Summing up, all that I saw of Switz was from windows, tiny ones and large ones. But then it didnt discourage me. I resolved to go back and actually go this time to visit Switz and not on some lay over. And needless to say, Switzerland will always remain my dream destination!!