in 48 hours..

It really is not difficult to turn an intention into action - and booking tickets for Madhya Pradesh after months of planning is the one of finest instance I can cite.

The date was finalized, bags were packed, and off we went to, what was once the largest state of India, and is also known as “Hindustan ka Dil”, Madhya Pradesh.

This 48 hours trip had it all – the joy of travel by all means of transport, the bliss of relaxation, and lessons from history.

Train journey is in itself an experience which starts right from the station, including food, people, the rush of things, and the best of all - the co passengers.

The journey was not long in terms of distance but somehow it felt like eternity. As the train got slower and was about to halt at the station, somehow my heart beat was racing inversely proportional to the speed of the train.

A day or two away from the swarm, where you can hear Silence can do wonders to an otherwise normal life. We spent an evening in the forest amongst the trees, along with the flowing river, where the chuckles of water were not letting us ignore their presence and were constantly reminding us of how incredible nature is.

Hours turned into minutes, and minutes into seconds when you are having a remarkable conversation and before you know its dawn. I guess now I know what the Chinese meant when they said that a single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.
While we were trying to run away from darkness, the night was getting closer to perfection. The perfect symmetry of trees by the road, the lights of a billion stars, the music which seemed to be coming straight from the heart - there was nothing else that could have been added to make it more perfect.

A lazy morning was spent on the swing taking me back & forth into childhood, while my feet were holding on to the present.

I can assertively say that our eyes may have gotten tired and legs may have hurt but our heart for sure was delighted!

Pics -http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=368633&id=795269007&l=f431d4b27d

let go..

As I m packing yet again, to move houses all I could think is how I could collect so many things in such a short span. There are boxes & boxes of things which seem to be never ending and if I back calculate I must have had spent a fortune collecting these things, which now seem to me a liability, holding me down.

This dreary exercise has taught me whether it’s your favorite jeans, relationship, people or even empty shoe boxes we need to learn to let things go.Everything has a life cycle and clinging on to things won’t breathe life into them, the more things we are attached to the more difficult it is to move on, relocate or simply be the one you wanted to be.

This does not mean that you should become like a vagabond, but keep things which are important close to your heart, things you will value forever & things without with life is meaningless, love the people you are with, I don’t say it often but I do and I hope they know it :)

Dilli Darshan

How often do we do the touristy thing in our own city? For us historical monuments are “ghar ki murgi” as we almost pay no regards to our heritage.

So it all started when a friend visiting from another state asked me to be a tour guide for a day and introduce him to Delhi’s rich culture to which I gladly said yes.

Our itinerary included Chandni Chowk, Gaki paranthe wali, Jama Masjid, Red Fort, India Gate (yes all in a day ;) And what better way to travel other than public transport, so we used them all (metro, cycle rickshaw, auto and we walked on foot as well our feet still are recovering)

Day started with the visit to old Delhi and trust me every step forward it seemed to me that I am going back into time in the great Mughal era, while the only disconnect was the dressing & camera ;)

Chawadi Bazaar & Chandani Chowk was a delight, what food, what people, what a place!

I can’t remember how many samosas I ate or the cups of tea I had, but what bliss. Next couple of hours and more was spent on foot across purani dilli soaking the history.

Then we were at the glorious India Gate which ironically is for soldiers of the British Indian Army who lost their lives while fighting for the British Empire, so much for commemoration. The sky was lovely & the people were friendly and the weather was just perfect, tried to capture some of the moments.

P.S. My photos have a story to tell I hope they will inspire others to pay a visit to our splendid history :)

Pics -http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=362309&id=795269007&l=f87ad06049

a fair with culture

One day weekend started with waking up at 11 AM and logging straight onto gtalk which in turn made a JIT plan in less than 60seconds.

By 12:30 we were on the road off the Surajkund Mela *yay achievement*

As we were progressing towards the venue, comes in a call, redirecting us to Tughlaqabad Fort (which we were convinced was right behind Surajkund)

Quick trivia – the fort was built by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq, the founder of Tughlaq dynasty, of the Delhi Sultanate of India in 1321, which was later abandoned in 1327 *wiki*

After couple of hours of mindless jokes, innumerable portraits and cooked up stories we moved towards our initial planned destination.

In the backdrop of Surajkund Lake held a colorful festival showcasing the artists, painters, weavers and sculptors from Andra Pradesh for this year and its culture was shown in colors, materials, architecture, furniture and decorations along with mouth watering food and some amazing foot tapping rhythms .

By the end of the day our legs were aching with pain but on our faces we had a smile which needed no explanation.

what a way to spend an awesome Sunday!!

Pics -http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=360162&id=795269007&l=60e19bdcc6