KASOL..A PIECE OF PARADISE ACROSS PARVATI VALLEY

Kasol is like love, you can feel it but not really put it words. Its that childhood drawing you grew up drawing come alive. River erupting from the mountains by the pine trees and some cottages nearby. Much like heaven.

Its an Israeli backpackers heaven which the world tells you, and they are not wrong, as I discovered that Israelis and many European travelers have discovered India way better than we have. Brilliant scenery, live and raw music, some fine art, delicious food and ofcourse the premium cannabis.
I could see and smell weed plants in every possible corner, from the farms to the sewage pits.

I think my words can’t do much justice, thus making a visual tour for anyone who dreams of a little heaven. Though I feel the pictures won’t really justify the reality, but for now this is the treat ;) Here is the picturesque Kasol for you.

That’s the view you sit by and wonder, if it was a lie or did it actually happen.

Pretty pine trees by the mountains

I dream, just dream of a house like that. One day, I tell myself.

The most refreshing tea I have ever had. This mint tea took me back to Pratham cafe by the Parvati Valley. 
The owner plucked these mint leaves from his kitchen farm. 

Mom told me, hills are risky in the monsoons. Sure mom, they are. But that’s when I get to see them with their necklaces, clouds. :)

Ya, every corner, literally!!

Well, Bhuntar to Kasol was like moving in a wonderland. That was out of my bus window.

You wake up, walk by and sit by this tributary and think how should your day should look like :) Well, brilliant, ofcourse!

Also, some snow clad peaks peeping out.

IWalked back half way through this pine forest thinking it was never going to end and I would get lost!

S   Sigh, how my childhood scenery came alive.

The bed of fog over the valley, pinch me.

...and here’s yours truly at her happiest self just sitting by the Parvati Valley!

Kasol happened like lot of other places which  just happen to me, often. *wink wink* The universe conspires and takes me places mostly :) That’s something you start believing when you find yourself in places like Kasol.

Goodness I meet while traveling

If I had to tell you about my priority one love in life, it surely will be travelling, without a second doubt J

Being a female traveler in India, comes in a big package of some brilliant goods and little bad’s. 

Often everywhere we read and hear the bad ones usually rank high. But, I discover for myself every time on the road that the bad’s are just a tiny little percentage of the package.

One thing which never ceases to surprise me every single time is the goodness which is still so much present everywhere around. I realize the world and specially India is so very full of good people. People who go out of their way to share, help, care and cooperate. All it takes me is to reach out and ask. 

I have always noticed and now come to believe that the basic humans instinct is to connect with one another. It could be over something as simple as the color of the trees or maybe over the same brand of Decathlon bag on our shoulders while climbing a hill, which I just did half an hour back J We tend to connect and communicate, it’s innately present in the our human nature.

The goodness I discover everywhere just doesn’t find an end. It’s a constant which can be felt everywhere. The more one travels the more one discover that.

All we need to do is worry less, believe more and explore the goodness in ourselves and that of the people around J 

Well that was talking about the goods for the heart, here is what you get for the soul while wandering :)
Out of my cafe table right now.

Logging off from Mcleod Gang, India  J

So little time all the time

I sit back in my bed today morning, planning and sorting out itinerary for my next travel to Kodagu :)
I must tell you, probably quitting this job has been one of the most liberating feelings I have surfed lately. And one of the biggest realisation which has stuck me is that there is so much to know, so much to learn, so much to travel, so much to read, so much to watch, so so so much to do and so little time. There has been so much which I have missed out in the past few years which I want to catch up with now :) Not that I did not live at all in the past, but a 9-6 corporate job takes much much more than it gives. Not that I have any regrets about it as I got to learn a lot, meet a lot of interesting people and ofcourse did some awesome travel too ! I might go back to a job in some months again, but for now with whatever little time I have stolen for myself, I want to make the best of it :D

But when I look in retrospect there is much more I could have traveled and learned and explored and one thing which brings me here today is that in the world of limitless possibilities I have a clock ticking in my mind which pokes me every passing minute that I can do a little more.

I wish, just wish for time, some more time and some more time to soak into the wide open ocean of life.

Something which frustrates me a little is that is the thought that I may not be able to travel to all the places in the world, read all the awesome literature or even know about all the awesome songs or learn all the magical arts and crafts. I am in the process of making peace with the fact that how much ever I might consume there will still be something left untouched. Time I wish for you to be a little sweet to me :)




p.s: I am not a perfectionist and lately I have even given up the urge to be one, because that is one thing which steals so much fun out of so many things ;)

Straying partners: Acceptance and beyond ! This one for all my girlies :)

As I promised to myself a week back that i'd return back here more often and pamper myself a little solace with words and some old Hindi romantic songs like this ! My little share of the heaven :)

As a promise of confidentiality to my friends whose stories I am going to share today, lets call them Ragini and Vani.

Both Ragini and Vani are my awesome girl friends from different parts of the world, with whom I evolved as a person and thus so much love <3
Like most of us both of them too had burnt their hands with love and molded their broken hearts with time and some wine ;) Whats strangely similar in their stories is that both of their last apparent crushes were happily married with a kid, but there was no infidelity involved as they never crossed the lines of "just friends" and both of them proudly managed to abort anything significant which could have happened.

Day before yesterday Ragini came home to meet me after a long while and was all smiles, she seemed unusually happy and not so cranky about her job which did not make her happy most of the times. After we struck little conversations she went on about a guy she had been telling me from past couple of months. He was apparently charming, interesting and not a pushy chaser which we all shun from a far off distance. They used to sweat out together at the same time and place.....  at an office gym, oouch  ;) it was somewhat a perfect fix to set up those flames ;-)

They were probably enjoying the first phase of knowing each other, it all started over some IM's followed by a couple of dinner and movie meetings. She was happy this guy didn't chase her  frantically and was a very happy company. I could see that hope in her eyes that 'maybe' he was her man.
As the evening progressed Ragini suddenly burst out in giggles, joking that probably she should check on him if he was married, Reminiscing her previous experiences with douches. What to do, demons haunt us. I instantly reacted and told her how she was a pessimist. Negativity usually makes me sick. Thus my sudden reaction. How I believe not to doubt people unless they give us reasons to. She got my peace of mind, that she had all the probabilities of being considered retarded and also the chances of damaging the relation. How she has to be positive, et al.

She calmed down, There came her phone getting flashed on my face with his handsome whatsapp picture and the usual curious me convinced her to check his public profile for more pictures, if we could find it. (BTW our very typical anti social Ragini doesn't have a FB account and quite firmly believes that FB is just a spy spot for everyone and anyone !) Bazinga !! we found his profile within seconds and took even lesser time to flip thru' the pictures and stumble upon one with a lady in his arms. Here came our eyes rolling out, in split seconds our heads processed, he was MARRIED !

She was very disappointed, but what brought her comfort was the fact that they were still just good friends and it had not progressed anywhere much ahead. So convenient it was for him to skip this portion of his life in all those talks and meetings, so easy it was to fool around on all those dinner and movie dates. So damn easy it was for him to just be a charming talker :) Ragini was a little shaken and happy at the same time, Happy that she discovered the truth very soon ! She left after a while leaving me with a stack of questions. It probably didn't disturb her as much it did me. I had a bad sleep followed by a lousy day at work. What probably shook me more was the thought that what if I get married to someone who strayed out of house like so many others? Would I be able to survive the agony? 
We all know the basics cliche foundation of marriages some 20 years back don't exist anymore. The norms have changed multifold.

Next day morning at my desk a little lost I confided in my friend and happily married neighbor. She is my angel at work, always welcomes me with a smile and gives me company on all those good and not so good days at work. She listened me out calmly and knew how disappointed I was about the whole idea of men cheating and flirting haywire, specially the married ones :(
There came her words of wisdom from a 10 year maariage; Pallavi this is the bitter truth of life and its not always fair and some men are 'like that'. She told me how she was mentally prepared if she had to raise her kids as a single mother if she ever faces something similar. Something just rang inside me, yes that was true, many men go stray at one point or the other. I have myself seen so many go! Why was it still so hard to accept?

Probably today I found the answer to that question, maybe men are evolutionarily and biologically programmed to do so, probably this was something beyond their control too, probably we girls didn't think the way they did and maybe we are plain different. Afterall humans were not designed to be monogamous. All these thoughts somehow calmed me a lot but in noway I could still buy infidelity. To me it was the big daddy of all sins. Thoughts like these have made me a little pessimistic about the whole marriage institution in the past. A big realization and acceptance came to me that in all probable situations it was anyday better to be single, but a girl would still need the support of a man to raise a family (like we have always seen at home !) but keeping a more realistic approach to all things (men) and still living at your terms was most important.

Yes it is- Acceptance of the world the way it is ! Acceptance of the things we cant change much ! Acceptance of the ecosytem as designed by his highness ! Acceptance of the differences!

A promise to myself to not get too lost and know when to move ahead !

The sweet little simple things in life :)

Today, I visit my blog after year’s altogether. For something which moved me so deeply that it brought back the urge to come back here and share. I first went looking for my journal, but it seems I have forgotten it in yesterday’s rush to leave office.

This week we had Holi and both my awesome flat mates have gone back home to their loved ones. I could not make it home like every other Holi from past 5 years I have been spending here in Bangalore.

My roomie Gargi has lately been my distress support and I was a little sad when I heard she will be not around for a week. Before she left I told her; how I am not a loner and how I hate being all alone these days. There were times in the past as growing up when I used to absolutely love my own company and you could leave me all alone in the house for months together :)  Gargi instantly held me and told “Pallo alone time is the best time when you are closest to yourself and you discover yourself even in more meaningful depths”. She made me very positive about the alone time I’ll have. I had to finally face the fear of answering the portions of me which I had been hiding for a while now :)

During all this alone time at house the only company I have is of my maid Asha who comes to clean the house at 7 sharp in the morning every day. I look forward to her ringing the bell so that I could have someone smiling at me and asking "didi bhalo bhashi?" (Meaning didi r u fine :) ) Today she was exactly 15 mins early so that she could manger some extra chores in the house. There are times like these when you realise the value of every single physical human company you have and I absolutely looked forward to seeing her. While she started her work, I prepared tea for both of us as both of us were up so early and I did not feel like heading for work so soon :) otherwise preparing tea on a weekday mornings is a task which usually goes undone ;)

I asked her to leave the work and have tea with me. After 5 mins with all her composure she came and sat across the dining table with me. Something I really admire about her is however small or insignificant her work might be, she never thinks anything little about herself. She completely understands that it’s trivial to be biased on work type and thinks no less of herself than any of us. She has absolutely no feelings of being any smaller than anyone.

Usually I have brief conversations with her on the usual weekends when she sometimes oils my hair.
Asha had a child marriage and also had a baby even before she could understand what it meant to be a mother.
While passing the rusks to her, I asked her if her husband and 2 year old kid were fine. If she was planning to go back to her village in Dhaka as mentioned few months back. Now that she told that there was no work back home and thus no reason to go back and most importantly she was happy here in Bangalore.

Typical me went ahead and asked what made her happy here because both her husband and she earned less than 6000 Rs. a month and how did she plan to work it out in future, because to us educated souls less money by default means lesser happiness. She started speaking with me in half Bengali and half Hindi she said, didi do you know Sundarbans?? I nodded in yes. “They are very beautiful, my village is very near to them, but my husband is very good.” I instantly smiled at her sheer innocence and intellect together, how much she valued and loved him. Questioning further, I asked what makes you say that, she said my husband has taken care of me. "aaamar husband Khoob bhalo (my husband is very nice)” is next what she shared. I was all smiles by now. I inquired if she ever studied and to my utter surprise she has till standard 6th. Curious me asked further, then why did you not go ahead? “Didi I got married after that :)” I concluded instantly that she was not happy about it. But then she went on further….telling me names of all jewelry ornaments in Bengali and showing me with her hands with what was worn where; “my husband bought me all those, he is very good bought me so many clothes and jewellery, but they are all in the village” (made me smirk! yes Jewellery did make all females happy, its universal :P )

She went on praising him and telling me how he had saved some money and bought her some earrings last month. How he feeds their son when she is out to work and occasionally cooks for her when she is not well.

I thought to myself how so many little things can make one happy, how easy was it to do these little things for each other to keep one going. How simple and reflective her statements were. How simple life is for her.

Her contentment with her life made me a little envious. Despite having so little of the luxuries we take for granted it was so easy was to be happy. Happiness for sure did not come from big fancy materials or comforts we are so used to in our lives. For Asha, it was these simple little things her husband did for her to make her happy. She is such a relief to me after having dealt with maids who had husbands coming home drunk and beating them up for more money. She is infectiously positive about things.

She filled me up with so much contentment and the urge to be even happier with whatever I had in my plate and be grateful to everyone who has stood by my in the past one big year of my life.

Just a small little reminder to myself for the start of the day, to find bigger contentment’s in little things and gestures around me. Practice contentment and gratitude more often.

a little promise to myself to come back writing some more as it does align my thoughts and help me unwrap those peels inside.

and it is time for me to get going to start another crazy breathless day at work :)

With love.
p.s: it will make me really happy if Asha could make you feel a little alive. Feel free to drop me a signal :)

Freedom of a Free mind

FREEDOM OF A FREE MIND
Freedom is nothing… freedom is everything.
A free mind is one which has no boundaries of age, sex, color, religion, caste, country, culture, money, etc. It is the one which can reach to anyone and anything. For me a free mind is one which doesn’t have to justify itself to anyone, it is the one which doesn’t has to do things because someone wants it to do. It is free of worries and it is full of life. It is a mind which makes a person happy and content mentally and physically.
Freedom has meant so many different things to so many different people. For a toddler it means to let him cuddle anywhere he wishes to, for a teenager freedom means taking their decisions on their own with the support and trust of their parents, for couples it means to have faith on each other, for parents it means to be a part of their children’s lives. We observe so many forms of independence in so many types of individuals and all these forms are supported by a free mind.
One thing all of them have in common is a need to loosen and throw out the shackles of circumstances that they believe hold then back and curb their desire to fly.
I once was told that if you have an idea and an intellect to back it up, then there is no looking back, there is no one who can stop you.
Real freedom isn't dependent upon your external circumstances. Real freedom is right there in your own heart, mind and soul, you only have to recognize it.
Situations, values, cultures shape a person’s personality but to be able to feel what the mind wants and the heart feels is true freedom of being.
Being able to know what you truly want and being able to realize those wants is being free is.
Be what you are, how you are, be a free soul. There is a beautiful life ahead of worries you just have to realize it. God has sent us all with a purpose to solve, let’s live it.
At the end I would like to quote the prettiest one liner I have come across “Let’s celebrate life”

So close, no matter how far
Couldn’t be much more from the heart
Forever trusting who we are
and nothing else matters
- Title: Metallica – Nothing Else Matters lyrics

A lil sneak peek in my life....

I wrote this back in march of 2008... just posting in on blogspot now :)I m a hardcore Piscean I love my hometown Roorkee....and feel that no place on earth can match its serenity I cherish my family n frnds a lot I can get really close to you n u wouldn’t even be knowing my surname I hate people with unnecessary attitude and can show them more than they can handle I just love chocolates, DM’s Crackle & Hershey’s are myah all tym fav, unfortunately they show on me fast :( I mostly live in my own Dreamy Wonderland..... :) I just adore my dad for his patience n understanding I have a fetish for footwear I m a vegetarian :) I m very hyper at times :( I like pple with gud aesthetic sense; specially guys…. :P After being to hostel I started enjoying sitting ideal n star gazing it just brings me some positive energies. I am really bad at expressing my feelings I think making sum1 laugh is a real tuff job I like babies but not at the cost of keeping them ....lol's I prefer keeping distance 4m frnds brothers n guy frnds.... :P Tears make me really vulnerable I have got some strange philosophies in life n have never got to knw anyone to digest them straight in one go :P I like spending time alone once in 24 hrs I like black but I m too tired of wearing it......I always end up wearing black for anything big somehow I love applying loads kajal to myah eyes ^~^ I can be very irritating at times if some1's too sticky... Usually tall smart guys r dumb....: P I feel petting a poodle is better idea than courting a guy….. (lol) I think a woman can look very cheap in a sari if she wishes to carry it that way and can look very sensuous in a two piece even if she carries it gracefully!! ;) I share a very special bond with Librans n Capricorns! I can casually read faces, hands and hand writings but usually don’t do it as a matter of principle Mozart is kool n modern art makes evry1 a fool [wow, it rhymes ;)] I never wanted to study commerce ....I m doing honors in commerce :| I like visiting new places but hate traveling I can kill myah whole day sitting on Internet doing nothing at all.... I feel very home sick at times I m very confused /fickle minded at times I m very patient mostly, though not a patient listener I love myah sister a lot I rarely get bored but feel lonely at times I make frnds very easily I hate smokers n prefer keeping a distance from them I avoid typing sms'es I mostly spend my pocket money getting my cell recharged… :( I some day want to attend “Art of Living” classes I have an addiction for water sports I only keep good things in my memory rest move fast to the trash bin I have loads of black metal jewelry I have been wearing specs since four I can talk endlessly to some pple... I made frnds with some really weirdly astonishing pple, sum of them were thrice my age. I m good in keeping myah contacts if i wish too. Earlier I used to pen myself a lot but gradually dropped the habit somehow I miss school though hostel life is sweet candy dipped in lime soda I always carry an oxford pocket dictionary and disprin with me. I can cook pretty well I can’t dance, but can shake out with friends I can’t sleep over 6 hrs a day I have a sweet tooth “Hotel California” turns me on somehow I keep distance from IIT guys again as a matter of principle :P I like using a pencil instead of a pen Clean shaved men look gud I can be very dumb at times :( I never knew that I knw so many things about myself And I never knew that u r so interested in me that u read this so far???? Anyways Thanks….!!! U r a good reader…..!!