The Andamans!!!!!!

Peace in an otherwise busy life..beauty of nature untouched in an otherwise polluted environment and co-existence of land and water in a blended and harmonious way is how i would like to define the mystic Andaman and Nicobar Islands!!!

Far away from the mainstream world situated in the absolute south of India, the Andamans are a world of their own.The closest connection by land is Port Blair after which you either take the sea or air route to reach the Islands.The water borne jetties like Makruz are easier to book and give you a real feel of the life an island. in the journey for quite a time there is just the vast ocean for as far as one can look.The horizon is  a blend between the calm ocean and the gracious
and accepting sky.The feeling of not seeing land for a long time makes one understand the safety it gives us and the feeling of being completely surrounded by water is a revelation of sorts.

For our trip we selected to be on the Havelock Islands for the major time and on reaching the island you realize that you have come far from the hustle bustle of city life.the feeling of " Welcome to the Andamans" hits you at that very moment.For lodging there are numerous options available for the tourists but it is always advisable to pre-book. The government run Doplhin Niwas which was our humble abode for 2 days requires proper followup  :). The lodge opens into the Vijaynagar Beach or better known as the Beach no.5 where mostly all the lodges are stationed . For the second half of our trip we settled into the much youth friendly Emerald Gecko which had huts and villas made of bamboo.While the Dolphin Niwas is a brick and mortar structure and has great rooms Gecko is filled with hammocks, beach tables and the likes.

The most popular beach of the area is the Radhanagar Beach and rightfully so . The beach is a vision to the eye with the wide expanse of ocean and the flora and fauna covering it in a brilliant way .Before you enter the beach make sure to eat the mango slices dipped in spices and mustard....slurrp!!! Also do make a point to have the divine coconut water ..it really different from the one we get in our cities.

We started walking on the beach and the touch of the water on ones feet makes you realize the still yet vibrant nature of the ocean .We had our share of fun with swimming in the waves and then moving to the other side of the beach where we reached by mistake a divine place for snorkeling. Snorkeling is one of the few adventure sports in the Islands. People generally use and they should take coaches for this activity if they dont know how to swim. But we did it anyhow on our own as we know well enough to swim ...we saw the fishes living in peace as we swam over them...the feeling was surreal to say the least.

Next up was the major adventure sport of the island...Scuba Diving ...there are many providers who give this experience along with trained divers ...We chose to go with Andaman Bubbles whose main guy looks like a carbon copy of Raghu Ram of roadies fame....take my word on it :) . They provided us each with a trained diver and they gave us the required training before going in with the equipment.We went in till 10 meters inside water as we took the beginners course ..they also provide the training for other levels.

To say that it was once in a lifetime experience would be an understatement..at one point deep inside all you can hear is your own breath...you can see a life so peaceful that it makes you feel wonderful and understand peace in a new way altogether.

Andamans is not Goa.there are no late night parties , no parties ..it shuts down at 8.30 but this is the USP of Andamans ..its a world of its own and has its own beauty to be discovered.It gives you the chance o enjoy solace and be with yourself like never before.

This was our journey in the Andamans..It was beauty beyond words ,peace beyond limits and love with no boundaries.Hope you have a great one too!!

The Song Therapy!!

After a pretty average day at work, coming back home one gets busy in the routine schedule which leads to further structuring of life. But at times this leads to life becoming so structured it becomes frustating for the person.

One such day was experienced by yours truly today where the last thing after coming back home was to get into what i get into each day, the house work. So it was time to get the lazy bum out of the house and put on those sport shoes which had been lying in the corner of the room for quite some time now.

Once out the fresh air touched my face but that was not enough to lift my spirits considering the grumpy mode in which i had left work.Took two rounds of my society walking aggressively as if on a mission but then got an idea and switched the songs on in my phone.

There was a slight glitch , I had forgotten the headphones in my bag nicely put away in an organised manner.one impulse was to give up the idea and give up walking, the other said what the heck for once in a blue moon I will stop thinking what the others think and do what I want .

So I put on the song in speaker mode and started running ...and I ran like I had never did...the songs, the running , the adrenaline rush  made me feel smile and laugh and be happy. I laughed with people looking at me ..the running laughing idiot. :)

But what I realized in that instant was how busy we get and how mixed our lives get in the routine ..we get so busy being the perfect employee , the good daughter or son, the good friend, the good companion ...that we forget to give time to the good "me"..

For me it was the songs and a super average day at work that made me meet the real me after so many days ..find your let out...your secret getaway into meeting the real you and be with him/her for no other reason but just to let you know yourself better :)

The Next Year!!!

Its again that time of the year when people look back and say that they don’t have a clue of how the year passed while some will be seen making the age old statement :Oh, How time flies”.

Yes that’s a fact and we all know it so every time a year goes by we don’t have to lament on the year gone by but take something from the year and make it count in the memories of your lifetime. Each year you live should have something special in it to remember it by. There should not be even one such year which when you look back at your life feels like a year lost.

For being able to do that thing, here are a few suggestions:

1.       Capture and document each and every big moment of your life: If something big is happening in your year ranging from a wedding to your promotion, celebrate it and capture it before the next big thing comes and make a diary to remember your big events in the year by.

2.       Go on a Vacation: You must, must and you must definitely go on on a holiday..a big break in the busy lives that we have…take a break ..Breathe in the fresh air and enjoy the locales with your partner, friends or family because it is only at the destination you realise the value of the journey and the companions.

3.       Make time for Family: If you work away from your parents make it a point to visit your folks as much as possible and enjoy very big event of their lives too with them. They have given you their time and life…its time to return the favour.

4.     Learn something new: Every year make it a point to learn something new…what you can learn can range from cooking a new cuisine, learning the guitar or trekking…anything that you can look back in the future and say that year 2013 when I learned how to do photoshop. Anything you learn take a picture and document it also in your annual diary J

5.    Check if you are happy- give yourself time and ask yourself if you are really happy. If the answer is yes then move on and  keep enjoying but if the answer is No ,introspect and find out what can be done to make you happy again and do that. Try to move on from the negatives of life and be genuinely happy. Your happiness can be shared by others but felt only by you and body is that a great feeling J

This is my list of what I will try to do every year…if you have better ideas share and I will incorporate them in my next year activities J

Here’s wishing everyone a fun and love filled New Year!!!! J

Raise Individuals!!!

Hearing the news of the brutal rape of the 5 year old in Delhi yet again has shook the nation which has yet not fully come over the horror of the gangrape victim case in December 2012.

The first case drew the people to the streets demanding justice .Where the case made the people come in support of the victim, it also led to certain weird remarks from various people at different levels of leadership in our country. Some   said that girls should not be allowed outside of the houses without dupattas , the others said they should dress according to the culture of the nation.People even went to the conclusions to say that the consumption of western foods like chowmein incites men.

But the recent case has put a stop to all arguments however baseless they were in the first place. There is no possible reason on this earth to violate a 5 year old let alone torture her. She has not even lived properly and does not even realise the complexities of life. For her she’s just a kid like the rest of them.Why then in the tender age of 5 , she has been subjected to violence that will haunt her the rest of life if provided she is saved after the incident.

The basic problem lies in the mindset of the men and women of our society. We are too bound in the shackles of the society where the two genders are not deemed equal. When a boy is born in the family they say that the heir has come and when a girl is born they either equate her to the goddesses or out rightly say ‘isse to paraye ghar jaana hain’.Both the approaches are wrong  because from the moment they are born we associate the kids to their gender and sketch out their future.

We have to raise them as individuals and not gender biased kids. We have to teach our sons that they are equal to the girls. Just because they are born as guys they do not have access to any special privileges. Similarly the girls have to be taught that they are born as individuals and they have full right to choose their own lives. They are in no way lesser than the boys.

We have been born as two different genders to keep a balance in the world. But nowhere does this need to be established that men are the superior race or women are the delicate darlings. The ladies should be allowed to do their chores on their own and the men should be taught to respect them and not treat them as an inferior race and treat them as commodities. Unless this thinking changes in our existing patriarchal society, such incidents might just keep happening.

We have to remember that at the end of the day we are all individuals trying to complete our journey of life in our own ways. And that journey is way too precious to everyone and we should respect that about each other. We can’t find all the existing or potential rapists breathing, what we can do is try and change the thinking of our next generation so that we finally get a society where people are treated as individuals and not on their genders.

The Average Individual!!!!

Every time someone used to say that everyone has something unique or special, all i could say was “Ahaa, what”? I never believed in this statement. True we might be different in some way or the other but different is not unique and there’s nothing bad about being different but not unique.

Like many others I have grown up watching and listening to the unique ones, Idolizing them, trying to be them. I had peers who knew right from the start what’s their passion in life..What they eventually want to be .But me the poor soul was the “jack” of all trades. They excelled in particular things..i averaged at most the things.I was not bad but I wasn’t excellent either. I was just avg  J

There were the “well done” lot and the “badly performed” and then there was me an a few of my friends J.Trust me when I say that we tried for both the categories but never achieved either. There were people who were great at studies but bad at extra-curricular, others sucked at studies but excelled at extra-curricular. WE did both but were never the shining stars in either J

Back then I used to get upset and jealous at both the categories, but years later and still an average person by all means. I have accepted it and am proud of the fact “ I AM AN AVERAGE PERSON” J.I am different in my ways, settled in my means and contented by my life.

I am the person who gets up each morning, gets ready according to the set routine, gets to his/her job,  slogs the day through, returns home and sleep. I am the person who loves sleeping more than doing something productive. I am the person who still treasures every compliment coming my way and each harsh statement made hurts still.

I am definitely not the iconic achiever who has the focus of her life who is doing work of his /her passion; instead I am doing what i like. I am not the one who is going out of the way but is following the old path coz it seems comfortable and nice J

Though some may say i take life easy and don’t break the boundaries …i like it that way J

I may have not had many epiphanies in life …but live a happy contented life with my near and dear ones. J

So all the average fellows like yours truly out there, smile cause we are different in our own ways J  

THE LAST DROP!!!

The swords were drawn, the sky was grim and the men had said their goodbyes to their families. The men had asked their children to keep fighting for the cause till their last breath. The battlefield was ready, and the prize was standing tall…This was different; it was not a battle for pride. It was a war for survival. They had no option but to fight it out.

No, it’s not the description of some prehistoric era fight. But the scene in front of my apartment as I saw it…the war was for the precious tanker which contained the most precious element for human survival –WATER. The fight was on between the apartments for luring the tanker guy to provide water to their apartment first. On a Saturday where in usual circumstances the day doesn’t start before 11, I could see all the residents down fighting for their right to survival…they could do anything to get it. Bargaining, bribe, requests, pleading.. anything …suddenly the tanker guy was the uncrowned king.

 

We always think that if something is given to us ..it will never end ..so use it as luxuriously as u want . This thinking had people wasting water in all activities of the day..right from watering of plants to the washing of their porch . One household could use gallons of water as water will never end and even if it does so what it’s a thing our next gen should worry about. Years of practicing this philosophy has led us to where we are now .I for one can actually visualize the third world war happening for water.

All I would like to say here is that make an effort to save whatever is left of the drinkable water. Use less ,save more. We can’t do anything to rectify the past but we can definitely do our best to save the future. If we don’t act now the day won’t be far ,when the scene in my mind would actually be replayed in every street, every area…The day is not far when all of us might see the Last drop …

The end of the Beginning.....

The waves washed her feet every now and then…this was where the most beautiful moments  of her life had been spent.. this was where he had asked her.. this was where she had her first kiss.. this was where she had the first love of her life…image kept coming in Ria’s mind one after the other as her life flashed across her eyes like a slideshow.

A sharp pain in her leg brought her back to the reality.. she bent down to see blood gushing out at the point where the broken branch had pricked her…this pain didn’t matter to her .The vastness of the ocean seemed to engulf her …it was ready to accept her after everything that had happened …she felt at peace after a long time.

Life had always been good to her …when did things go so awry ?

She could still remember the first time their eyes met in college…it was not love at first sight but yes there was a spark that flew from both sides..she liked him for the personality ,the way he interacted with the crowd and there was something else she couldn’t put a finger on but it attracted her. He had told her later that her eyes were what took his attention.

The conversations started when Prateik became the coordinator for the college fest and she was a part of the main team. Ria couldn’t take her eyes off him and listened intently to the way he talked, dealt with situations …she couldn’t still tell what was that one thing that made her go back to him for even the smallest of problems and he would solve them happily. He would say “ Don’t worry , I got this covered” and then would give her a smile that made her go week in the knees….yes she had her answer ..it was that smile ..a smile that made her believe that all in the world was good.

Anu told her it was one more addition to my long list of existing and vintage crushes. Ria conceded after all Anu had been her friend since she could remember. Anu was the only one person other than her parents who knew Ria through and through. So whenever she saw Prateik she thought about Anu’s advice and tried to keep his thoughts at bay. Somehow this time it was just not working. She couldn’t not think about him. And then when he asked her out, she could not say no….


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