There's a joy in knowing that we haven't lived our last days as children :)
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Cruising with music
Music has this way of taking you on trips and bringing you back. And sometimes not.
This is where I've been led to on this dark, cold, rainy summer night.
You realize as days go on by that you're not getting any younger; that there are so many things you want to do but haven't done as yet. And as time goes on by, you realize the days don't matter any more because it's the year that counts. As one grows up, days melt into years and before you know it, they flash in front of you. And leave you breathless - in a good way and a bad way. Both. You realize that there’s a need to do things, sometimes at the cost of others’ happiness. But it’s ok, we grow up, and so.
This is where I've been led to on this dark, cold, rainy summer night.
You realize as days go on by that you're not getting any younger; that there are so many things you want to do but haven't done as yet. And as time goes on by, you realize the days don't matter any more because it's the year that counts. As one grows up, days melt into years and before you know it, they flash in front of you. And leave you breathless - in a good way and a bad way. Both. You realize that there’s a need to do things, sometimes at the cost of others’ happiness. But it’s ok, we grow up, and so.
There are days you wish to just sit on a boat somewhere on a calm sea, and just be. You want nothing but that vast expanse in front of you and music, perhaps. A stillness that is brought forth by the steady rocking of the boat you’re settled in. Anchored.
And then it gets too hot. And you want to get back to the firm confines of land. A place you can dig their feet into and feel the sand hold on to you. Sometimes not though, especially when tides turn. It makes sense to have a drink or two or three maybe, and a good meal. Food for thought, body and soul. With butter garlic prawns on the side please. And Kings. Soul-warming food. Heartwarming desires.
Somewhere along the way, a dance or two takes place. A moment caught in time and let loose – to dance dance dance the night away. To let go, forget and just be. To feel the sweat, heat and high. To groove and move. To not think and to just live. To live in that moment that’s set loose in time. To have not a care. To just leave it all there.
In the midst of it all, when it’s hard to let go and live in the moment, one questions faith. Are we as strong as we believe we’re not? Do we know what we believe in, or who? Do we know if there are whispers such as prayers? Or blackness. Or anger. It helps to know that the candle still burns when it has to. That collected prayers don’t melt like candles do; that what flows from it is not a river of hot wax but the searing strength of faith. Faith. Funny how we lose it and how it shows up when you least expect it to. It helps to know that it’s around somewhere.
At the end of the day, it’s overwhelming to know that the world is still yours. That it’s as much yours as anybody else’s. Yes, we all have space; a place of our own.
It helps to know that the sky’s not our limit. That sometimes we don’t even need to go as high as that to know what it feels like to soar. That there are colours all around us. That there’s someone who’s got our back and there’s also someone who keeps us rooted to the ground. It helps to know that we can soar.
It helps to know that that walk on a beach is always open.
It helps to know that the walk isn’t always alone. And if it is, it’s never really lonely. Unless you make it to be.
It helps to know that the sun will set.
It helps to know that there’ll be dawn soon enough.
It helps to know that the night in between could be as marvelous as you make it to be.
It helps to know that love isn’t as overrated as we believe it to be.
It helps to know that the world’s mine, just as much as it is yours.
It helps to know that you can always be the star you wanted to be. Even if you’re almost hidden inside the sea.
It helps to know that at the end of the day, there’s going to be that smiley even if the fries on your plate are finishing.
Photographs: Babushka Chauhan
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Boredom, hunger and an AHA moment
All of the above, as the title suggests, can only lead to one thing - a great way to ease those hunger pangs! According to my cognitions at least! For someone who eats, lives, dreams and thinks of food on quite a regular basis, the end result could've only led to food consumption.
Here's what boredom, hunger and an AHA moment led to:
Here's what boredom, hunger and an AHA moment led to:
PAV BHAJI
The AHA moment led to the creation of this because - a) it's simple to make, b) it can never go wrong, c) it so breaks the monotony of an otherwise mundane meal pattern, d) it allows you to throw in whatever vegetables you wish to, and last but not the least, e) it tastes marvelous! It reminds you of fun chaat evenings with family and friends, it reminds you that dinners don't have to be complicated and boring anymore and that it can be those comfort foods you almost always need!
So here goes!
Potatoes - 2-3 (depending on size), boiled and mashed
Carrots - 1-2 (depending on size), diced, boiled and mashed
Beans - a handful, diced, boiled and mashed
Peas - a handful, boiled and mashed
Tomatoes - 3-4, finely diced
Onions - 2, finely chopped
Green chillies (optional)
Coriander to garnish
Ginger garlic paste - 1.5 tsps
Pav Bhaji masala (I found Everest, use whatever) - 2 tsps/1 tbsp
Lime to garnish
Salt to taste
Because I might feel like Nigella Lawson, I throw in the carrots and beans together, boil them and mash them.
Similarly, boil and mash the potatoes as well.
Add a tsp of ghee or some oil, throw in the ginger garlic paste, onions and saute till translucent.
Next go in the tomatoes, the pav bhaji masala, chilli powder (if you wish to) and salt. Let the tomatoes cook till soft and till the masala starts leaving oil (that's when it's cooked).
Do keep crushing the tomatoes as and when unless you prefer chunks of them in your meal. This is how it'll start looking.
Add in the vegetables, give it a good stir and cook for 2 minutes. Add in a dollop of butter at the end. I don't need to explain what butter can do to a meal, do I?
Garnish with lime and coriander. Serve with paav (which I didn't have) or bread.
It sure does taste much better than the pictures look! :)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
The Anna Hazare craze and why I'm not that into it
The post title should illuminate enough the fact that I’m just not that into this entire Anna Hazare craze. I have nothing against the man and believe his intentions to be good, for after all, he is trying to fight something that has affected every one of us at some point in time. It’s the craze I’m not so crazy about.
I know this post, appearing at the time that it is, can be an easily discarded post and perhaps even lead you, the reader, to curse me or judge me or throw a mental rotten egg at me or whatever it is that you choose to do. However, free expression of thought and emotion (or not) has never really stopped me from saying what I think or feel. It won’t.
And so here goes. Why not so crazy about the craze? Because it’s just another farce; I’m bold enough to say. Another farce that has been sensationalized thanks to our so called twitter and facebook generation. Another time bomb that is waiting to blow up right in the public’s (i.e. our) face – something that is definitely not going to be pretty. And the best part is that the government knows this. As do a lot like me.
I’m not trying to be or sound pompous, for what will that get me? I despise corruption as much as Anna Hazare does. Or maybe more, who knows? I realize that corruption has seeped so deep into our system that, like Hazare correctly points out, the war against it has just begun. I despise corruption for what it has done to the country, for what it has done to its citizens, for what it has done to our mentality. I cannot think of voting or paying my taxes without a curse or even wanting to hold a government job because of how corruption makes me seethe. And yes, it does. I have become a pessimist because optimism is just for dreamers – for dreams that corruption long dethroned. I would love to work for my country, to see my dream of becoming an Indian officer come true, of knowing that I can actually look up to the system, of being able to be proud of my duty towards my country, of being able to realize from within that I want to do this as opposed to having to do this, that and the other. You get the drift!
However, I far from believe that corruption or anything else for that matter can be tackled the way it is currently being tackled. So today we decide to fast indefinitely because, lo and behold, we just feel like it or perhaps because no one will listen to us otherwise. Or we chose to sit in front of railway tracks or important ministerial buildings and hold innumerable dharnas because well, that’s what we’re great at doing. I don’t get the drama.
Why doesn’t this reflect the non-cooperation movement that Mahatma Gandhi led? Because we’re not the same people anymore. If today I know that we really want this not because we have people power but because we have will power, then I will reconsider my philosophies. If today we know that we’re in this not because we’re here to achieve a greater good but because we’ve to start at the grass root level, then I’m no one to pass the comments I currently am.
If we cared a damn about anti-corruption the way we are showing it to be, then trust me, we’d have seen the difference already – not in voice but in action. We wouldn’t skip that signal, we wouldn’t pay that bribe, we wouldn’t have the bus conductor take less money minus issuing a ticket, we would pay our taxes, we would be transparent, we would not lick anyone’s ass, we would not ask for favours, we would tip the waiters at the restaurant adequately, we would not get fake DLs, we would not take those free TVs and booze the government offers us during every election campaign, we would not steal, we would not fight, we would not lie, we would not be the way we are today and we would live in a very Utopian society. If we were to be even a tad bit like the people we were when the non-coop movement took place, then we’d be talking. If we knew what it really took to get something, if we knew even for a fraction about how it pinches, then we’d do something. And something big.
Right now, we’re all fasting and chanting and doing street theatre and sitting comfortably in our couches and twittering/fbing away and sensationalizing this thing I call a farce. Are we that ignorant/stupid to try and become aware of corruption NOW? And try to fight it NOW? The honest truth is that we’re comfortable where we are. We give that tenner or twenty or lakh because we have many more. We’re secretly and not so secretly happy. We’re not the change we want to be. We’re really not the people we want to see. I’m honest to God and to us, we’re not. Let’s just ask those who have nothing, what corruption means to them. Let’s just ask the beggar kid whose life and 5 rupees got robbed, what he thinks of anti-corruption, shall we? If we cared a damn, do you really think we’d have come this far, into such a shit hole where coming out is going to take so unimaginably long? If we’d cared enough, we’d have made anti-corruption our way of life, not a flashing piece of breaking news.
Just food for thought.
Especially for all those who really really do care.
And I believe one of them is you.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
I'm done with all the bullshit! I'm done being nice and courteous! I'm done being the farce we call "good manners".
I'm volatile and I will be volatile. I am choosy, picky and finicky and I will damn well be choosy, picky and finicky. And let's just see what anyone has to say about my so called code of conduct.
I'm tired of all this drama and niceness and politeness and what not. And for someone who is stuck in this vortex of a kazillion pressures from all over - life, family, career, choices, ambitions, needs, relationships, "settling down" - life feels like nothing but a bucket of never ending crap. Do this, do that, no don't do this, why did you not take this up? are you crazy? what are you doing with your life? you are so capable! you could've done this, you this that and the other! Ugh.
I love this phase of life - early adulthood - where all one thinks about is what one wants to do with life, what one wants to become - personally and professionally, who one chooses to date, where to head the next weekend, when to go drinking and have a mad effing time, when to just paint the town bright red and so on. What a fun phase of life! New and regular doses of income come crashing in and it's time to have fun and live life and not really think about who?what?where?when? and the many questions that entail "growing up" and "settling down". But I'm also slowly (and at a pretty quick rate) beginning to despise this phase because of the pressures it brings with it. And what tops the list? Career. And a handsome groom somewhere in the horizon. It suddenly feels like there's so much to think about and do which you haven't been doing which makes you feel stupid and perhaps frustrated! And the awareness that you're not growing any younger is just the icing on the cake.
Ugh. I need a mental break. I need that drink or two or three or four.
I'm volatile and I will be volatile. I am choosy, picky and finicky and I will damn well be choosy, picky and finicky. And let's just see what anyone has to say about my so called code of conduct.
I'm tired of all this drama and niceness and politeness and what not. And for someone who is stuck in this vortex of a kazillion pressures from all over - life, family, career, choices, ambitions, needs, relationships, "settling down" - life feels like nothing but a bucket of never ending crap. Do this, do that, no don't do this, why did you not take this up? are you crazy? what are you doing with your life? you are so capable! you could've done this, you this that and the other! Ugh.
I love this phase of life - early adulthood - where all one thinks about is what one wants to do with life, what one wants to become - personally and professionally, who one chooses to date, where to head the next weekend, when to go drinking and have a mad effing time, when to just paint the town bright red and so on. What a fun phase of life! New and regular doses of income come crashing in and it's time to have fun and live life and not really think about who?what?where?when? and the many questions that entail "growing up" and "settling down". But I'm also slowly (and at a pretty quick rate) beginning to despise this phase because of the pressures it brings with it. And what tops the list? Career. And a handsome groom somewhere in the horizon. It suddenly feels like there's so much to think about and do which you haven't been doing which makes you feel stupid and perhaps frustrated! And the awareness that you're not growing any younger is just the icing on the cake.
Ugh. I need a mental break. I need that drink or two or three or four.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Old and new, known and alien
Today's been a strange day, in a good weird strange way.
I ate ice cream from Amruth Ice Cream after soooooo long. This small teeny weeny parlour tucked away in Malleswaram, Bangalore has been such a well talked about place. We do boast of our ever famous Corner House that is a signature brand of Bangalore's ice cream parlours, but we also have these small home-made family enterprises that have stayed just the way we've always remembered them to be. Small, no frills attached, no pretensions served kinda places. The ones where you could just stop by and come out of with a scoop of home-made goodness for not much really. I remember going there years back - perhaps almost a decade ago - and having their figs and honey scoop. Mouth wateringly delicious. And today, when I was at Ubiquitous's place, eating a bowl full of happy ice cream knowing it was from Amruth just sealed the deal of the otherwise wonderful evening I was already having.
Another small and non-pretentious place that has remained the way it always was in Mumbai, introduced to me by Ragini, is of course, Rustomji's ice cream parlour. Tucked off a street perpendicular to Marine Drive is this place I always stop by on my visits to Mumbai to eat their ever famous Biscuit ice cream. An almost garage looking space with freezers all over, paint peeling off the wall, letters falling off their name board, sounds of whirring and churning machines greet us with a few chairs as we sit and gobble down a fast melting and disappearing ice cream. *sigh* The goodness that one feels after eating from there is inexplicable. And when it involves ice cream served by happy old people, the experience just manifests into something bigger and better.
Rustomji's is a must try. Always.
So far, so good.
What made my day even more strange was my so-called re-introduction to two vegetables - tinda and parwal. That's what we call them in hindi - and that's all I know them by.
Now, these two vegetables are sooooooo close to my experience of home i.e. Allahabad. And because Nani is home, ma got us these vegetables to eat. However, all I could have of them was a bite. So I had tinda ki sabzi minus the tinda for lunch and the aloo parwal ki sabzi minus the parwal for dinner. Not because I'm a fussy vegetable eater (which I am I confess), but because I've barely eaten them and because they taste so alien to me. It's freaky how something so 'home-like" can seem so alien. It just reinforces the fact that I'm not all north-Indian as people believe me to be. That somethings which are so known can actually be so unknown to me. Sigh.
I ate ice cream from Amruth Ice Cream after soooooo long. This small teeny weeny parlour tucked away in Malleswaram, Bangalore has been such a well talked about place. We do boast of our ever famous Corner House that is a signature brand of Bangalore's ice cream parlours, but we also have these small home-made family enterprises that have stayed just the way we've always remembered them to be. Small, no frills attached, no pretensions served kinda places. The ones where you could just stop by and come out of with a scoop of home-made goodness for not much really. I remember going there years back - perhaps almost a decade ago - and having their figs and honey scoop. Mouth wateringly delicious. And today, when I was at Ubiquitous's place, eating a bowl full of happy ice cream knowing it was from Amruth just sealed the deal of the otherwise wonderful evening I was already having.
Another small and non-pretentious place that has remained the way it always was in Mumbai, introduced to me by Ragini, is of course, Rustomji's ice cream parlour. Tucked off a street perpendicular to Marine Drive is this place I always stop by on my visits to Mumbai to eat their ever famous Biscuit ice cream. An almost garage looking space with freezers all over, paint peeling off the wall, letters falling off their name board, sounds of whirring and churning machines greet us with a few chairs as we sit and gobble down a fast melting and disappearing ice cream. *sigh* The goodness that one feels after eating from there is inexplicable. And when it involves ice cream served by happy old people, the experience just manifests into something bigger and better.
Rustomji's is a must try. Always.
So far, so good.
What made my day even more strange was my so-called re-introduction to two vegetables - tinda and parwal. That's what we call them in hindi - and that's all I know them by.
Now, these two vegetables are sooooooo close to my experience of home i.e. Allahabad. And because Nani is home, ma got us these vegetables to eat. However, all I could have of them was a bite. So I had tinda ki sabzi minus the tinda for lunch and the aloo parwal ki sabzi minus the parwal for dinner. Not because I'm a fussy vegetable eater (which I am I confess), but because I've barely eaten them and because they taste so alien to me. It's freaky how something so 'home-like" can seem so alien. It just reinforces the fact that I'm not all north-Indian as people believe me to be. That somethings which are so known can actually be so unknown to me. Sigh.
Companionship
It sucks to be lonely, to not have anyone to get back to, to not have anyone. Period.
It sucks to be alone, to not have someone to irritate and get irritated back by, to not have someone to talk to or even argue with, to not have someone to share conversations with.
Companionship - something we all love and need and want and desire and cherish and fight for and crave for. Companionship - to know that you have someone. Just that. And that's all it takes.
I get that life has its own ways, that it has a time for everything. But there's only so much and so long one can wait for. Beyond that, if life (or fate as some would like to call it) fails to deliver, everything seems to become lopsided and imbalanced. I never understood this need or this want for companionship and thought people to just be desperate. But today, I realize that we're not meant to be alone. Whether we ultimately become "alone" is a choice we make. We're not meant to be that way. I firmly believe so.
I thought our mind takes care of us as we grow up, that it rationalizes and helps us realize that our needs can be deferred for a bit, that we can hold on. But no, it just seems to get worse as we grow older. What I thought we could wait (almost endlessly) for - that perfect day when that perfect someone would walk by us and lead us into that perfect life is, well, just a few lucky people's fate. As we grow up, the word perfect fits almost anyone who makes us feel what we want to feel. Out fly those dreams and desires. In comes crashing reality - and it fits. It just does. Which is why reality isn't perfect, is it? We make do with each other, we fight, we compromise, we make up, we love, we give, we take, we scream, we laugh, we cry, we live. We never really wait for that perfect person or moment. We make what we have as perfect as can be. And that's how we live. Because we cannot wait. Because what we need, we need now.
It matters to have someone to get back to; someone to text, call, talk to, meet, live with, love, read with, cook with, eat with and so on. And that surpasses the need to be with parents. It really most definitely does. You want your life, your space, your home and with your someone.
Life sucks when there's no someone. It really does. And there's only so much one can be in denial about this. And I'm not even talking about those perfect charming people we dreamed of whenever we did.
Time, you old man, get moving.
It sucks to be alone, to not have someone to irritate and get irritated back by, to not have someone to talk to or even argue with, to not have someone to share conversations with.
Companionship - something we all love and need and want and desire and cherish and fight for and crave for. Companionship - to know that you have someone. Just that. And that's all it takes.
I get that life has its own ways, that it has a time for everything. But there's only so much and so long one can wait for. Beyond that, if life (or fate as some would like to call it) fails to deliver, everything seems to become lopsided and imbalanced. I never understood this need or this want for companionship and thought people to just be desperate. But today, I realize that we're not meant to be alone. Whether we ultimately become "alone" is a choice we make. We're not meant to be that way. I firmly believe so.
I thought our mind takes care of us as we grow up, that it rationalizes and helps us realize that our needs can be deferred for a bit, that we can hold on. But no, it just seems to get worse as we grow older. What I thought we could wait (almost endlessly) for - that perfect day when that perfect someone would walk by us and lead us into that perfect life is, well, just a few lucky people's fate. As we grow up, the word perfect fits almost anyone who makes us feel what we want to feel. Out fly those dreams and desires. In comes crashing reality - and it fits. It just does. Which is why reality isn't perfect, is it? We make do with each other, we fight, we compromise, we make up, we love, we give, we take, we scream, we laugh, we cry, we live. We never really wait for that perfect person or moment. We make what we have as perfect as can be. And that's how we live. Because we cannot wait. Because what we need, we need now.
It matters to have someone to get back to; someone to text, call, talk to, meet, live with, love, read with, cook with, eat with and so on. And that surpasses the need to be with parents. It really most definitely does. You want your life, your space, your home and with your someone.
Life sucks when there's no someone. It really does. And there's only so much one can be in denial about this. And I'm not even talking about those perfect charming people we dreamed of whenever we did.
Time, you old man, get moving.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Stories within stories
It feels great to read, to be able to immerse oneself in what's going on as the pages turn. Standing witness, sometimes from afar while sometimes right in its midst, as stories unfurl and narratives thicken. I love being able to read and be a part of the author's story and a part of the characters' kahani. Some rich, some poor, some literate, some illiterate, some political, some driven, some placid, some dynamic - it's overwhelming to know and be a part of so many and so much.
I've just finished reading Amitav Ghosh's 'The Hungry Tide'. Enraptured in the stories of Kanai, Piya, Fokir and so many left me spellbound as I closed the book to keep it away. A book that made me just look at the cover once, twice and thrice. Amitav Ghosh does that. His stories are miraculous, powerfully scripted and overwhelming. He is a writer I thoroughly enjoy reading. His work is intricate, ornate and vividly fine with details he doesn't spare a miss. His other books 'The Glass Palace' and 'Sea Of Poppies' are equally mind-blowing.
Another author I must mention as part of the Indian diaspora is Rohinton Mistry. He weaves magic. He's an author who is just so natural and bold, someone who is so fresh from the diaspora that tries so hard to be "Indian" all the time. I loved his book 'A Fine Balance' and I recommend it because that piece of fiction couldn't have felt more real. A story that shatters these rose tinted glasses we wear and delivers not just with words but raw untainted emotions of a reality we are so much a part of but fail to see, or are ignorant/unaware about.
I love reading these two authors, most often in an alternate order. One from the east who exudes the culture of West Bengal - the intellectualism, the fussiness, the depth of everything ornate, the finesse - and the other a Parsi whose work reflects the life of Mumbai, its spirit, its rawness, its heat and its tempo. I love how they both have a knack of weaving so so many stories of so many people into one piece of work. I marvel their talent. I thrive on their writing. I love how they are so natural, so transparent, so fine, so balanced, so real and what really seals the deal for me is how in-my-face honest they are. There are absolutely no pretensions and acts to become Indian, being a part of the diaspora and being the NRIs that they are. The best part is that I get what they are talking about and I love that they write where they come from. They do not act like translators to the West and are who they are - distinctly Bengali and Parsi respectively, and distinctly Indian. It matters, especially when you're an internationally renowned Indian author.
My days are a moving bubble and I know it. One day I'm a part of Piya's story, the next a part of Kanai's and so on. Today I'm a part of Holden Caulfield's story, the protagonist of J.D. Salinger's 'Catcher In The Rye', and I cannot wait to see what happens.
Reading. I'm so glad I have the time and inclination to do so. And Flipkart is the icing on the cake.
I've just finished reading Amitav Ghosh's 'The Hungry Tide'. Enraptured in the stories of Kanai, Piya, Fokir and so many left me spellbound as I closed the book to keep it away. A book that made me just look at the cover once, twice and thrice. Amitav Ghosh does that. His stories are miraculous, powerfully scripted and overwhelming. He is a writer I thoroughly enjoy reading. His work is intricate, ornate and vividly fine with details he doesn't spare a miss. His other books 'The Glass Palace' and 'Sea Of Poppies' are equally mind-blowing.
Another author I must mention as part of the Indian diaspora is Rohinton Mistry. He weaves magic. He's an author who is just so natural and bold, someone who is so fresh from the diaspora that tries so hard to be "Indian" all the time. I loved his book 'A Fine Balance' and I recommend it because that piece of fiction couldn't have felt more real. A story that shatters these rose tinted glasses we wear and delivers not just with words but raw untainted emotions of a reality we are so much a part of but fail to see, or are ignorant/unaware about.
I love reading these two authors, most often in an alternate order. One from the east who exudes the culture of West Bengal - the intellectualism, the fussiness, the depth of everything ornate, the finesse - and the other a Parsi whose work reflects the life of Mumbai, its spirit, its rawness, its heat and its tempo. I love how they both have a knack of weaving so so many stories of so many people into one piece of work. I marvel their talent. I thrive on their writing. I love how they are so natural, so transparent, so fine, so balanced, so real and what really seals the deal for me is how in-my-face honest they are. There are absolutely no pretensions and acts to become Indian, being a part of the diaspora and being the NRIs that they are. The best part is that I get what they are talking about and I love that they write where they come from. They do not act like translators to the West and are who they are - distinctly Bengali and Parsi respectively, and distinctly Indian. It matters, especially when you're an internationally renowned Indian author.
My days are a moving bubble and I know it. One day I'm a part of Piya's story, the next a part of Kanai's and so on. Today I'm a part of Holden Caulfield's story, the protagonist of J.D. Salinger's 'Catcher In The Rye', and I cannot wait to see what happens.
Reading. I'm so glad I have the time and inclination to do so. And Flipkart is the icing on the cake.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
I hope the thirst for traveling is far from quenched. I cannot imagine my life without its share of travel no matter how few and far in between those trips might be.
I've had a fantastic month of March. Bangalore, Kolkata, Patna, Nalanda, Goa... and more in store which I hope materialize soon. It's been superbly overwhelming to see seas, mountains, rivers, clouds, ancient sites steeped in history and stories being told for centuries, excavations, traditions, festivals and family, over and above everything else. It has been a blessed month. Travelogues are what are missing and shall follow suite soon, with photographs :)
I realize that traveling goes beyond just hitting the internet to figure map plans and one's trip out. It also goes beyond who can and who cannot come with you, irrespective of who you'd like for company. I realize it's got to surpass the fear of traveling alone, which I had and still do to a large extent. I cannot imagine traveling alone - it's like asking me to go out to a restaurant and eat by my self - both of which are so so depressing. And unnecessary, in my opinion.
I realize that it's got quite a bit to do with money, but not how much we think or estimate it to be.
I believe it's got EVERY thing to do with how much you want it. The want, the drive, the thirst, the motivation - that's what decides whether we travel or not. Where, is secondary.
Like they say, where there's a will, there's a way. I believe that in this respect at least.
I hope this thirst is far from quenched!
I've had a fantastic month of March. Bangalore, Kolkata, Patna, Nalanda, Goa... and more in store which I hope materialize soon. It's been superbly overwhelming to see seas, mountains, rivers, clouds, ancient sites steeped in history and stories being told for centuries, excavations, traditions, festivals and family, over and above everything else. It has been a blessed month. Travelogues are what are missing and shall follow suite soon, with photographs :)
I realize that traveling goes beyond just hitting the internet to figure map plans and one's trip out. It also goes beyond who can and who cannot come with you, irrespective of who you'd like for company. I realize it's got to surpass the fear of traveling alone, which I had and still do to a large extent. I cannot imagine traveling alone - it's like asking me to go out to a restaurant and eat by my self - both of which are so so depressing. And unnecessary, in my opinion.
I realize that it's got quite a bit to do with money, but not how much we think or estimate it to be.
I believe it's got EVERY thing to do with how much you want it. The want, the drive, the thirst, the motivation - that's what decides whether we travel or not. Where, is secondary.
Like they say, where there's a will, there's a way. I believe that in this respect at least.
I hope this thirst is far from quenched!
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