Walking Kaleidoscope

Yesterday I walked by a busy road. I had had a bad day. The breakfast was not good, the kids were unhappy about the tiffin, the husband got late for a meeting, the maid didn't turn up, the lift was not working.. Phew! The walk was a breather. Amongst the crowd I was lonely. That's the way with things no? The more you are surrounded the more lonely you are?  More than loneliness, there was a sense of emptiness. A lack of purpose. I couldn't figure out why I was walking to where I was walking? What was the objective of my walk? What would I achieve out of it? I took a moment to stand and look at the lasser bys. One female who seemed to be walking in her reverie seemed of interest. She was walking just the way I was a few moments ago. Like some cosmic connect, she looked up, and smiled. Like she understood. Like she knew what I was thinking. For a brief instant we felt like we read each others thoughts. Her smile never faded. I noticed mine too was spreading. We crossed ...

Despite the pre-puja pandal work and a buzzing market nearby, the lane to the quaint cafe was deserted. That was only till you entered the space. The moment you stepped in, there was a sense of vibrancy, warmth, activity. The people, smell, conversations were part of the decor in this quaint cafe. I wanted to meander and absorb in the ambiance. Small cubicle like rooms had people spread out at leisurely pace. There in one of the rooms she was. Vibrant as ever. Exuding a kind of radiance which only self confidence can. Don't know why, but I felt like just observing her. Just being in her presence felt like being closer to life..and I wanted to tell her that. That's when our eyes locked. A fleeting recognition passed through hers. A playful smile that added an extra twinkle to the eye and a promise of life.  Its not the first time when I felt like a stranger knew what I was thinking, was reading my mind. I moved past the scene. The recognition was warming my heart and at the sam...

If you are woman, at some point of time or other you have felt like giving it up.. To prove that you are capable. To prove that you are not the weaker sex. To prove that you have intelligence. To prove that you don't need to prove. It's exhausting. More so, when you need to prove this to a woman. More so, when you want to protect a woman (to be) from this journey. If you are a woman, you have felt at some point of time or other that the approval, encouragement, support, love of a woman has meant much more, pushed you much more than a man's has. And yet, the biggest hurts are inflicted by woman around you... As the saying goes.. Humko Mita sake ye gairon me Kahan dum tha, meri kashti thi doobi wahan jahan paani Kam tha. 

 I recently had the privilege to talk to a group of parents and children (7-14 yr old) on perils of Digital communication at a workshop. I went in assuming whole lot of gyan, but what surprised me was the children giving all the gyan ..against digital medium. And now before you exult on the generation being saved from the evil clutches..a la star wars style..No, our kids are not giving up on digital medium. Not anytime soon. While this bunch was totally well informed about why they must not spend so much time on gadgets, it also explained why it wont give up on it. Here, I am listing few of the things why they love to spend time on gadgets and where I think their thoughts have come from. 1. Competitive streak - As parent we all want our kids to excel in their chosen fields. We are the first source where they learn that coming first in class gets you rewarded. Coming last, is not a good thing. it does not matter that you were a Picasso competing in a class of Einstein...

Marriage as they say is sacred in India (at least). An institution that classifies a relationship between a man and a woman as pure. What it also does classify any emotion beyond this relationship for the opposite sex as inappropriate, guilt laden and sinful (to an extent). Having been a person who thinks from heart, I find this hypothesis very unsettling. Agreed that I choose one person over others to commit myself to. But that choice comes at a point of time and time is not a stationary object. Also, I do believe that all human beings suffer from multiple personality disorders (or orders if you want it to be). With some people our funny side comes out, with others competitive. We find it relaxing in some peoples company and in some peoples company our passionate self comes out. Some people bring out the good in us and some people bring out or worst selves. Over a long period of time, it is possible to see the multiple personalities of the same person as well. However, to put this ...

We all have few checklists in life for which we have no reasons but we just want to tick the box. Visiting Gurudongmar and North Sikkim was one such item for me. After planning for 3 consecutive years and not succeeding, I finally managed it this year with my husband and kiddo along.  Day 1: A mid morning flight to Bagdogra and a rather chaotic and traffic struck drive took us to Gangtok by 7 PM. Our stay was at Hotel Prime View, which is pretty off the main market and rather peaceful, with very good food and hospitable staff. Gangtok is really a hill city bustling with traders, tourists and locals who come down to shop here for their regular supplies. Over the years it has grown beyond its capacity but there are spots for every type of tourists still..fine dine to local fare, desi to international cuisine, casinos and treks, night life and sleeping hamlets. We have explored Gangtok in our earlier trips and this time, it was just a night halt. Day 2: Our driver for the ...

We (Husband, 5 yr old kid and myself) decided to take a break from the regular hum drum of life. The choice this time was a road trip from Guwahati to Tawang. We had tried doing this circuit earlier as well in December but were dissuaded by reviews of extremely risky (read zero visibility on sharp turns) roads. This time however the weather seemed perfect to undertake the circuit.  While planning this trip, the first challenge we faced was fitting in everything in a 6 day duration. Ideal time to cover the circuit would be 8-10 days. We had to compromise on exploring the forest reserves (we wanted to cover Pakke, Nameri,  Doimara, Tenga if we had more time). Once the route was finalized the second challenge was finding accommodation. Due to festive season and political activities in the area, there was acute shortage and most online options were not available. We had to call some 20 people and take references of other hotels to get our bookings done finally. TIP- do...