For those who write and read

“A writer is someone who spends years patiently trying to discover the second being inside him, and the world that makes him who he is: when I speak of writing, what comes first to my mind is not a novel, a poem, or literary tradition, it is a person who shuts himself up in a room, sits down at a table, and alone, turns inward; amid its shadows, he builds a new world with words. This man – or this woman – may use a typewriter, profit from the ease of a computer, or write with a pen on paper, as I have done for 30 years. As he writes, he can drink tea or coffee, or smoke cigarettes. From time to time he may rise from his table to look out through the window at the children playing in the street, and, if he is lucky, at trees and a view, or he can gaze out at a black wall. He can write poems, plays, or novels, as I do. All these differences come after the crucial task of sitting down at the table and patiently turning inwards. To write is to turn this inward gaze into words, to study the world into which that person passes when he retires into himself, and to do so with patience, obstinacy, and joy. As I sit at my table, for days, months, years, slowly adding new words to the empty page, I feel as if I am creating a new world, as if I am bringing into being that other person inside me, in the same way someone might build a bridge or a dome, stone by stone. The stones we writers use are words. As we hold them in our hands, sensing the ways in which each of them is connected to the others, looking at them sometimes from afar, sometimes almost caressing them with our fingers and the tips of our pens, weighing them, moving them around, year in and year out, patiently and hopefully, we create new worlds.”
― Orhan Pamuk

(This was posted on the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OrhanPamukAuthor of the author today. I am merely sharing it here)

Amritsar

http://travel.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?280207

This mouth watering food blog got me interested in Amritsar the first time (Yes, not the Golden temple or Jalianwala Bagh or Wagah border but a food blog!!!) because I just happen to love good food and I am ready to become a travelling mule for it, and thus this article had me drooling.

Thus, the moment, Jacob, mentioned that he wanted to explore Amritsar and invited me to join in, the weekend trip was set and we plunged with our usual enthusiasm to plan how to reach, where to stay, what to do, in short how to get the maximum travel experience we could get out of the 3 days we had. And after countless the usual second thoughts and discussions later we were ready with everything in place.

Amritsar located in Punjab, India, is known for being the seat of Sikh religion and culture due to the Golden Temple. It is well connected from New Delhi by trains and flights ( u can check any travel websites for the details or click http://wikitravel.org/en/Amritsar ) best time to visit being from October to March.

Deciding to brave the 42 degree summer heat, we landed in Amritsar after an uneventful 6 hr train ride, went over to Radisson Blu, a relatively new but beautiful property, on the outskirts of the city (it's location being it's disadvantage, as u are left with very little options to explore the city, if u wish to explore the city and enjoy the food this property is not for you). That night we decided to explore a punjabi cultural haat called Rangala Punjab at the Haveli Resorts in Jalandhar about 2 hours away from Amritsar. Instead of the hotel cab, we used a local cab service (Arora Travel Agency), which charged us half the price with excellent service.

Rangla Punjab is set in the form of a small punjab village, with tableau showing life in a punjabi village, a cultural  programme of Bhangra, Gidda, plays etc with an open air stage and sitting arrangements on traditional jute cots, an amateur magic show, some games and a traditional punjabi meal  at the restaurant (all this in 440 INR)

Bhangra

The India way of doing popcorns

Punjabi thali in Punjabi dining style.

playing Stapu

Trying my hands at Pottery.

The open air sitting area.

It was fun imbibing the ambience of rural punjab and indulging in games, trying hands at pottery, watching the performances (which were pretty average though).

The next day was dedicated to being tourists, we started at 1 (this time taking the hotel tour package), went to Jalianwala Bagh, in the crazy heat ( U can google for the gory history associated with it. ) then enjoyed a finger licking meal at Surjit food plaza (one of the yummiest chicken that I  have ever had) before heading off to the Wagah border (about 30 - 40 mins away from Amritsar) for the evening time closing of gates ceremony at the India Pakistan border. (The ceremony takes place twice a day once in morning and once in evening any local person or hotel staff where u are staying can provide u with the information)

Wagah border 

The Jallianwala Bagh

Guard Ceremony at Wagah.

Huge crowd and street dancing.

Flag races

The ceremony included patriotic songs and street dancing, a few races by some enthusiastic adults, flag lowering and salutation ceremony by the army on both sides of the gates, but to get to all of this meant braving a long walk of about 1-2kms (because the car parking is about 3 kms from the area of the actual event) in the heat with dust, a mammoth crowd and  a huge scare, when for a silly security theater, I and Jacob got separated in the male and female queue, not knowing where and how we would meet in the crowd (more scary since cell phones don't work in the area due to army jamming). But we did manage to catch up with each other again and then using the entrance for foreigner's gallery (basically it's a huge stadium like area with steps for seats, a part of which is reserved only for foreign visitors) which leads to a sitting area reserved for foreign travelers we were seated on the stone steps of the open air auditorium (which turned out to be a real time pain in ass). As for me I found the whole ceremony pointless (probably 'cuz I believe in world with out border, thus making it difficult for me to identify with the concept of nationalism) but to Jacob it was a celebration of nationalism, but we were both glad when 45 mins later the ceremony was over and our poor bums were relieved.  

After getting back, we had our usual lengthy dinner (lengthy enough to make two or three food posts) before leaving to visit the Golden temple. The temple is a beautiful sight at night, the Gurudwara, decorated with real Gold is situated in midst of a man made lake and thronged with devotees. And being a Sunday the queue was thousands long, when we reached, but thanks to some cooperation from the locals we managed to get in. (Tip - u need to keep your heads covered within the complex)

The Golden Temple at night

The temple periphery.

Golden Temple during the day.

It was beautiful experience, followed by an equally wonderful discussion sitting on the edge of the lake before we decided to call it a day. The next day I decided to visit the golden temple again to see it during the day, while Jacob explored the city. We decided to get lunch from Beera's (which was good, but not as amazing as Surjit's) before returning back via an adventurous and hilarious train journey (I'll leave that story for another blog post)

We had an amazing time, which could have been much more amazing if it would have been winters, 

 but still we had our fill of the travelling experience and memories.

I Believe..

I like to travel for many reasons...

But sometimes I just want to travel, to break free from the bubble I live in, to challenge myself with the new, the unknown, the unexpected and to let the experience teach me, change me, but more importantly to remind myself that fear is just a figment of my sense of security and that it exists only as long as I let it exist. To remind myself, that it's not my fears that hold me back, rather my lack of will to fight them.

I simply travel, to wake up within me, the thrill lying dormant, the thrill of 'Being alive' that comes through the experience of living boundlessly.

So, Why is it that you travel?

Quoted in The Rivered Earth from Tirukkural

'They say love is the reason why


This soul of ours is bound with bone.


Then,


My soul will find yours.

26

Someone once told me, birthdays are magical days, but this year, there was no magic and I kept wondering why!! and then I realized that it's probably because -  

Even after 25 years of having been alive and kicking, I am still blundering around, trying to find my road, to find the fuel that shall turn on the light within into a raging inferno.....25 yrs of not coming in terms with my own self, of lacking an understanding of my self....What a shame and What a huge waste of a life.
            I am angry with myself for wasting away the gift of life, angry with myself at being so confused, angry with myself when I see people who've found their passions and what that passion can do to a human being and how that drive can make life such a beauty, angry that I can't still find mine because I had rather be a flower of a day, filled with passion, purpose and to have done something worthwhile in that one day, than having had a life time of nothing but existing....being passionless, makes me angry and my anger makes me weary of myself.

Wish List

March happens to be my birthday month (25th being the day), I am a disaster when it comes to wishing, most of the times I begin with 'I wish......Full stop. And I end up saying, go ahead life, give me whatever u think is best for me.'  And this I think is the reason of my disastrous wish response record, 'cuz I read it somewhere, 'If u want something, be specific about it.' So this year I have decided to break free from my usual wish making and make a tiny wish list of my own.

So for my 25th Birthday and the year to come ahead I wish for -

Surprise, surprise and lots of surprises.
A bunch of white daisies :D :D
A white and blue party dress and sexy sandals.
A beach vacation.
Hot air balloon ride and sand dune party.
A trekking trip and cottage vacation.
Determination and perseverance and patience to work hard and Clear the exams I am targeting this year.
May love find me and may I find love (of course I have lots of people of love), but here I am referring to the one and only ;).

This my tiny little Birthday wishlist. I shall keep u updated about it's progress through blog posts.

Love and smiles.

Mesmerizing Udaipur

The Jagmandir Island - floating in midst of the lake
the ferry dropped us here and then we never wanted to leave.
While we sat watching the mainland, the hill lined lake side lazing
under the peace and quiet afternoon sun.

The pool at the palace I was staying in
and if u think it's lovely by the day, It just turns magical by the night
I lay counting stars at night,
watching the night grow older, quieter
while I grew calmer within.

I went for a work trip to Udaipur, in Rajasthan, India for a couple of days. A beautiful town situated around three main lakes Udaisagar, Fateh Sagar and Lake Picola. Known as the 'Venice of East' It did live up to the description it has been adorned with.

It turned out to be a smashing fun trip as I and my friend Jacob, decided to explore the city on our own, walking it's streets (with a little help of helpful locals and internet) we discovered that the city had more than just stone palaces to offer, in terms of folk art, innovative ideas and experiences.

For three days, I broke free from the usual rush of life, and lived life in slow motion, holding on to each moment that came by, savoring each moment while it lasted before moving into the next. For three days I walked mesmerized by the beautiful city with it's majestic palaces, lakes, island hotel, moonlight lake view diners, peaceful lakeside afternoons and magical sunsets.

While we were mostly too busy capturing the moments and imprinting them as memories on the film of our minds, we did manage to capture a few as photographs on the lens of our camera. Here are a few

The City Palace, Udaipur all lighted up at night

I watched the sun slowly set, heard the birds calling those still
wandering away from homes back, and I knew why those
who were still out were not back in their nests
'cuz they were just as spellbound as I was with the magic the setting sun was weaving.

I never wanted to get out of the spell,
I never wanted to get down the hill we had climbed
I never wanted the music of the blowing wind to stop
I never wanted that moment to end
I just wanted to continue living in this moment
In fact in some corner of my mind I will continue living in that moment forever.

And not to be left behind,
the city began lightening up, to match up with the sunset with it's grandeur
while we just stood by as The Enchanted Spectators

And if u think it were only the nights that were magical
the days were no less, it was a magic of different kind.

This was a puppet show we attended, amateur but not bad with the music and dance.

This was at a vegetarian food joint 'the millets of Marwar' run by young cooks, who have worked
hard on their own recipes, tested them, added their own innovative touch
to the traditional Indian food, we were bowled over by their food
and I found this artist of Marwar paintings  and decided to get a few tips for this hobby of mine.

This was just plain hilarious, at a cultural haat  on the outskirts of Udaipur, showcasing different
dance forms that Rajasthan has to offer

The Aghori Dance

Taran taal another amazing dance form of Rajasthan

 The palace and it's beauties, the windows, the gateways, the beautiful glass work in and around.

This was terrifying, trust me it was one hell of a scary ride
I'm done with camel rides for a lifetime now.