Tea & Dark Chocolate

As usual, this was a good year too! I had loads of fun doing everything I did – work, friends, travel, photography, reading etc. Yes, absolutely no complaints at all. Travel - This was a great year for  me. We kicked off the year with a trip to Puri in February which turned out to be a trip for just shooting pics. I got to shoot such brilliant photos of the 12th, 13th and 14th century temples. There was a 10-day Vipasana trip I did in June to Dharamshala. Stayed there for 13 days, including the time spent in Vipasana course. Loved the course duration, but was disappointed by Dharamshala as a place in itself. There was this short trip to Maldives in July , and all the husband and I did here was laze out in our cottage in the resort during the day and walk by the clear waters in the evenings. And then there was this Europe trip with a girl-friend. A short trip to Goa in October proved to us that no matter what we did, we’d always make at least one trip to Goa eve...

Oh, this was a GOOD year for books, I must say! I got to read a variety of books in various genres this year, and explore new mediums too. And as the year ends, there is faint chance that I might be stocking up on paper books too. Am still in love with my Kindle and ebooks will still be my most favorite method to read, but the allure of leafing through the books (which I rediscovered as I saw a friend’s drawing room full of books. She made the drawing room into a library and I loved the time I spent in that room!) is catching on again and am starting by stocking up on graphic novels. I still read more than one book at a time, one by the bed side, one at the dining table. And I have started the non-fiction and books for work genres this year, and to my surprise, quite liking them too.   Here’s what GoodReads has to say about my year in books :-) Yes, 90 books, with an average of 293 pages per book! [That’s not bad, right? Well, I’ve also had a busy life this year...

Earlier this year, in September, I had the opportunity to make another trip to Europe. This time, it was with a girl-friend, and for 12 days, and we were headed towards the Central Europe – Czech, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary, to be precise. From top left corner, in clock-wise direction - Tribute to the lives lost in Stalin's rule at Devin Castle, Bratislava; Heroes Square in Vienna; Prague castle at night; Heroes Square in Budapest This was something we planned very well, and yet wasn’t a trip that was planned to the last minute. This was something like a backpacking, but wasn’t exactly backpacking in the true sense. We knew exactly where we were sleeping every night. That was the only thing that was planned. Every evening, we’d both sit in our room and decide a list on what we wanted to do the next day – a rough set of places to see, things to do , food to eat, photographs/locations to shoot etc. We didn’t always finish the list, and we were okay with that. We prioritize...

Some random thoughts that popped into my head this week... Of all that a person can go through, the feeling of not being wanted is the worst. [I read a quote from a book meaning this a long time ago, cant recollect what it is now!] "You want to know what love is? Its the thing that ruins you." - Alice Hoffman, The Ice Queen "Crying wasn't like riding a bike. Give it up, and you quickly forget how it's done" - Alice Hoffman, The Ice Queen "You should always be with someone who wants you, not with someone whom you want." [I've always found this statement by my Mom absurd. Why be with someone merely because they want you, I thought. But as with many things in which I've realized that Mom is right, am realizing this is right too, in its own screwed up, manipulated way of the world!]

There is this image in my head that I haven't been able to get over. In fact, I don't really want to get over that image, and so am not trying to. Its the image of someone reading a book.

A while ago, I realized that there are only two types of experiences in life - 1. the kind that will make for think back and chuckle with pleasure and 2. the kind that would be so appalling that they'll make people beg you to tell the story. So, in effect ,the outcome is just the same - you have a great story!   Now, don't go all out and tell me how we shouldn't be living for other people and shouldn't care for what they think of us, and hence a story shouldn't matter to me. Sorry, but it does. Not what people think of me. Not because it will increase my self-worth in my audience's eyes, but for the sake of the good story. Just that. A good story. Yes, am quite romantic that way!

As a teenager, I used to LOVE key chains. God alone knows how much pocket money I spent on buying silly key chains in various shapes and sizes ... that the money I spent on books, but the latter is something that gives me joy even today. The key chains, well, they don't... they make me realize the follies of youth. Those Chuimui-si-tum-teddy bear key chains, the ones that stick to the shirt, the shoe-shaped ones and what not... :) This love , I noticed, didn't entirely go away. Instead, there is a transformation in it now. I now carry items that remind me of happy times and sometimes people in my key ring at all times... and this morning, as I was sorting stuff in my handbag, I noticed that the bag was heavy only because of the heavy key ring, and just how many charms I carry on me! Presenting to you, the contents of my key ring...

  One week ago I had a long conversation with a group, an educated , seemingly sensible group of people, all of them extremely close to me. About how what women wear do not define them. About how even nuns , 6 year old children and 80 year old women get raped. About how what I wear is never an invitation, and is always subjective, like how a salwar-kameez is acceptable in most places but isn’t enough in many other places on this globe, about how I have to probably cover my ankles and head to not be lynched or jailed in some countries and how its all about freedom. About how women do not invite just because they are out at 9 PM, and how sometimes work might take them out too. About how it is important to raise our sons well , to teach them to respect women irrespective of what they are wearing. About how its not important that a woman should feel like a mother or a sister for a man to be able to not pass lewd remarks on her and that the fact that she is a human being is enough for ...