Magic Moments

My mother hasn’t called me up since last Wednesday. It’s just been two days and I don’t want to sound like a baby in the crib seeking attention, but it’s getting me feeling sad. Away from home and always in this feeling of constant transition has drained me a lot. Friends and well wishers are around but there’s this emotional need that has grown with time and has me craving for home. But what is home anyway? I have grown my own safe haven of familiarities and comforts here in these few months. But still, this feeling persists. ~ On gratitude front I have a lot to talk about.   Last Monday when I and my hostel mate were travelling from Delhi to Dehradun by train, life turned happening. Our AC chair car was stopped at Roorkee station for an uncertain time period. Upon inquiring we found a certain luggage train had derailed and the tracks were being repaired. And it could take hours. Slowly and steadily, by and by, the crowd grew thinner in our berth. Everyone started t

It has been a while since I wrote in this space. It has been a while since I wrote anything at all. So much has happened in this span of a month and a half. So many developments in the lives of people around me, so many speculations in my own mind, so many misunderstandings and also so many occasions to have sheer fun and make memories. College life is happening indeed, a lot less stressful than the job life. But then I wonder if I am doing it wrong. Perhaps I am not putting in the effort that I ought to. But this whole process is just allowing myself enough liberty to do things, try things and learn and make mistakes. Now that it's time to go home for the Diwali break, I have this weird feeling developing inside my stomach. Like I am in a limbo, missing all the places in transition, all the people I have bonded over here and virtually. So this is a quick write up to just say 'Hi' , 'Hello' , 'I am alive and well.' Haha! How are things at your end? An

Exploring Places The more you venture into the jungle, the more it tries to swallow you up. The more you dare tread near the tall trees, the more it tries to gobble you up. Experiencing a bit of that feeling I once had while reading 'Kafka On The Shore'. I am taking my Alexa rank to the next level with  Blogchatter .

I am so lucky to have people here who appreciate me and acknowledge my presence around them. They barge into my room to help uplift my mood through their laughable banter and the day's comic happenings. They cheer me up when I am down. I truly feel stress relieved around them. Everything seems light, every goal seems achievable at that moment. Such people should be in everyone's life. I have got myself a good study and ideas partner. We are in sync most of the times, discussing further action plans and to do lists. We are not in a hurry to go back to our rooms to sleep, we agree on doing hard work when things demand it, and we share stuff well. I am grateful for this. Conversations are great when the other person talks more than me. I am a great listener but when it comes to conversations, I sometimes struggle to keep it going. With her, it is always free-flowing.  Though I don't like spending time on social media that much, chats these days have become a

I have always been the one to leave first. Be it luck or circumstance, it has always been this way. Some of the times it has been my decision to venture out of my comfort zone first before all my peers decide to do the same and I am left behind, alone in the old world. The decisions are out of fear of being left alone, most of the times. Or is it self-preservation instead?  I am a person who takes time to adapt, make new friends, get accustomed to new surroundings- an unlikely one to leave first- yet I do. You might think me selfish, but I am just afraid, and I decide to take care of myself first. Some might see this as a major risk-taking attitude, but I mostly see it as fleeing before the 'desertion' hits me instead. Now that's a strong word indeed. I am always in search of safe ground, always so insecure and calculating my moves lest I end up being alone on the island. Paranoiac. Several things bother me at once. What if my peers get on with their lives leavi

Source: Spiritualityandpractice One Friday evening, as I was feeling a bit lonely and homesick with nothing much to do, not even strolling on the terrace viewing the ever so beautiful mountains since it was raining hard- thus it also contributing to my gloomy mood, I decided to watch Before Sunrise. Yes, once again. A first for me. I rarely re-watch a movie. Yearning for a light-hearted yet meaningful conversation this was the best choice I had. My hostel mates were out in the city and all the people I called up were busy. Luck by chance. Thanks to the superb uninterrupted internet connection I had a great 1 hour 40 minutes that evening. "Experiencing the otherworldly. When morning comes, we would all turn into pumpkins." Even though it sounds like a cliche today, unplanned trips, adventures in life, serendipity and providence are romantic. Before Sunrise has all of these, when strangers indulge in light conversations, grow intrigued about each other's live

Source : Quotefancy "When the ego dies, the soul awakes." - Mahatma Gandhi Why do you have such a huge ego? You cannot wear your family's name on your sleeve as an identity forever. The world wouldn't see you through the eyes of your parents who have pampered you so much for the better part of your life. Here in the real world, you will get what you give. Respect begets respect. Selfishness begets selfishness. Hate begets hate. And your 'i don't care', 'i don't give a damn', 'i am paying money for that', 'i will do as I please' attitude will give you the same. Respect is earned. Agreed. But you should give it first to earn it back. The other person should and must be respected by default despite his class, caste, job and family background, until and unless he proves unworthy of it with time. I stand strongly by this belief. There can be no excuse for disregard. The way you speak to me about people tells m

Guest Post By Shivani Pandey A year ago I chanced upon the magnum opus of my favorite author Paulo Coelho. Certainly, some accidents are blessings in disguise. It was a period of emotional turmoil both in my personal life and my educational sphere. I thought a novel would be a good refreshment but little did I know that this would have an effect on my mind and soul that would last for a lifetime.  The novel speaks about a lad who despite being a scholar wishes to travel the world. He embarks upon a journey as a shepherd unaware of the fact that this would be a life-altering one. He gathers the courage to follow a vague dream which often people like me disregard. He interprets the dream as the language of God- the way God communicates with his creations. He believes that to seek one's destiny, one needs to hear the signals that He sends. I personally have started paying heed to the omens that the universe sends- good or bad- and things have changed for the better.  The

The "Haunted" Tree: Dehradun Joining in with Parul for #ThursdayTreeLove Thank you Kashish for this click. My hostel mate goes through rough terrains (:P) to get me a picture of unique trees.

You are calm when I reach the hilltop. You watch the sunset peacefully. Your man from another star has left you and you are heartbroken. I don’t offer any words, just sit beside you and gaze into the horizon. I’m scared you’d break down any moment. “Can I live with you? For a few weeks..,” you ask. “Sure, stay longer,” I offer without thinking. We pick your bag and hop in a ride for my one bedroom apartment. I make room for your things, introduce you to Muffy- my feline housemate, show you around, make some fun talk as you perch yourself on the raised platform near the window. Your mind is miles away and you’re not listening. We cook rice and fish curry for dinner, talk about the days of yore, laugh over Muffy’s adorable antics and I am relieved that you’re back to being yourself. That’s the moment you explode, burst out crying. I try to hug you, hold you close, but you are inconsolable. “He thinks I’ve some issue,” you speak between hiccups. I know quite well why he’d

Maggi Point (No Filters) - The view is far far better than this capture Mango Orchard It happens for a reason. Everything. I truly believe this adage. The people that are around me today, with whom I spend my time, share my thoughts and life experiences have come to my life in this phase for a reason. I hope I learn from their perspective of life and also give them food for thought in their day to day life situations. I don't know where from I got this energy to walk 3.5 km from hostel to the Maggi point to watch the sunset view. Whenever we were tired and asked her how far it was, she said it was just near the next turning. The last turning didn't come for the next half an hour. I was nearly exhausted by the walk but it was all so worth it. Like trekking. And the sun made patterns of yellow and red on the far-off mountains before setting down changing the hues to dark green. It was beautiful. Mesmerizing indeed. And I couldn't believe such a sight w

A majestic tree spotted at FRI, Dehradun The scene looks so serene, so foreign that it's hard to believe it is in India. FRI - A beautiful place to be. Want to visit the place again, for yet another evening walk. Linking the post with Parul for #ThursdayTreeLove

We all have that one friend. Not the one that is a jerk, no. Not the one that gets good grades at school without studying, either. Also not the one who steals your longest fries, which might be the same as the first I mentioned. None of them is the friend I’m talking about. I’m talking about those friends that enlighten you, that teach you stuff, that help you keep loneliness away and bring new meaning to your life. We all have that one friend. I’m talking about books, good people. And our favourite ones, those that scarred us so deep that we have to read and re-read them over and over again, and each time we do it, we find things we didn’t find the last time. Books invariably change our lives in a wide array of ways. So today I would talk about books that have changed my life, particularly the  top-three books that changed the way I see life . Let’s start with the one I read most times. Maybe six or seven times, not that I can remember how many times I flipped through

Empress Ki Poster (behance.net) Empress Ki is the most elaborate, gripping, and thrilling series I have watched this year. And at 51 episodes , it is the longest Korean drama series I have ever watched. Even though the number seems daunting and too much, it’s worth it all. If you like period dramas, you won’t want to give this one a miss. It was in 2016 that I first read about Empress Ki, the historical drama that had garnered much praise and accolades from the audience and critics alike. Most Korean dramas are just 16 or 20 episodes long. So 51 seemed never-ending to me then. It wasn’t until 2017 that I decided to at least try the first episode. And I was hooked. But owing to the various circumstances I didn’t continue watching it. It was just last month that I remembered this epic story and watched it to completion within just a few days. Believe it or not, midway through it, I was almost literally pulling my hair out, in anticipation of what would happen next. I wou

I watched TVF's recently released dramedy 'Yeh Meri Family' after reading a tweet about it. Then when I was in the second episode a friend recommended it to me just the moment I was about to recommend the same to her. Just like telepathy. Then, I knew this adorable story of a 12-year-old Harshu and his family in The Summer of '98 was a very special one. Being a 90's kid, I could relate to each and every detail in the series. The siblings' fights were exactly similar down to the very argument on who had to bring the clothes from the terrace and who had to fill up the water bottles and put them in the fridge. How often as kids, we thought our parents are so uncool till that moment when we realized otherwise!  "Papa cool dikhte nahi, Papa cool hain." Planning with friends, being the obedient one when parents fight, and sneaking around the kitchen to find something to eat- this web series took me back to my childhood and relive it all.

View from the terrace of my hostel (No Filter used in any image in this post) July has been a special month for me. Not just because it is my birthday month, but because many new beginnings, many fresh starts, and many turning points of my life have happened in July. It's mid of the year when I have looked back at what the year was like for the first six months and have anticipated and dreamt about the coming six months. Goals and resolutions are reviewed in July. Forest Research Institute, Dehradun These initial days of college are all about fun, making interactions, creating friendships and increasing your network. It's less on course works and assignments. So we are trying to take full advantage of it. I have made a few friends at the hostel too, most of them are my juniors, with a huge age gap. But the good news is none of us can feel this gap. We visited the Forest Research Institute this weekend. It was a good trip. I stopped at almost every tree to take

View from the terrace of my hostel at Dehradun - Once upon a cloudy afternoon - ***** The picture that I had clicked on my phone camera was a bit dull in color and contrast. This filtered and beautified image was suggested by Google Assistant as I was uploading it to the Google Photos app. Loved this version. Much nearer to the actual scene. :D ***** Linking this post to #WordlessWednesday

"Every Moment Was You" (Letters in not so chronological order. Ramblings mostly.) There will be a time when I am gone, when I have moved away and moved on. May be you will miss me. May be you will remember the days we spent together- the fun and frolic. But even then, you will gossip about me, the same way as you do now. You will gossip behind my back as if I am some mundane commodity, a purpose of your laughters and entertainment. You will speak about me, my life- the tit-bits and tattle-tales, with the purpose of entertaining others and yourself. For having some more laughs in a day- Laughter is the best vacation after all. You don’t care it now, and you won’t care it then if I told you the umpteenth time that I don’t enjoy being talked about behind my back. My life stories are not yours to tell. You know my vulnerabilities and you take advantage of it without hesitation. May be I am just that to you- an entertaining story. You didn’t think of protecting my wea