Magic Moments

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 "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 thro...

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...