Being Grateful…

Whenever I crib about what I don’t have in life, my Husband will always point out  about what I have in my life ..He is sure that one can be happy if he/she is grateful in life..

So this prompted me to explore benefits of being grateful..

If I am grateful:

•  I can be thankful & happy about good things in life, and I can acknowledge everything that I receive in my life..It helps me to shift my focus from what I lack to what i have ..
• I will  start appreciating simple things that I previously took for granted..
• Comparing myself with others will reduce…Why’d I compare if I am thankful of what I have as of now??
• I will be more optimistic and my relationship with others will be very good…
• I can face daily challenges with a smile and cope up with stress…

So let me try to be grateful for all obstacles in my life as they have provided strength to me to continue and move on in my life..

Finally, I should be really  grateful that I don’t  have whatever I wish for ..My life would  really have been boring if I had everything..Then there will be nothing to look forward in  my life….

 

It’s OK to cry at times..

Sometimes things won’t happen as we wish and we could be depressed to the core..

I feel it is OK to shed some tears at those times and try to come out of it..

Why should we repress our feelings ??? If we repress the same, then pain will only intensify…

Why can’t we show our true emotions out at least to ourselves???

I personally don’t see tears as sign of weakness – I feel expressing our feelings as tears might help us to move forward in life..

If I Cry, it doesn’t mean that I am weak – It’s my way for coming out of stress..

If we feel bad to cry in front of others, we can always cry when we are alone, that usually most of us do…

I really don’t accept that men shouldn’t cry like women…Why men shouldn’t cry???

They are also human beings and not machines…Why men should take all stress to themselves and not let it out???

Atleast for crying, there should be no gender disparities…

I feel being a crybaby  at times is not wrong…

Rest in Peace, Swathi..

I was shocked, when I heard that a young girl Swathi, who worked in Infosys was hacked to death at Nungambakkam Railway Station, Chennai, yesterday morning..She was waiting for train to reach her office..The person killed her and also escaped from the spot..

I am totally upset on hearing this..I don’t know that girl..But my mind is full of questions on the way she was brutally killed..

I can’t even think of her family’s condition , how grief stricken they will be now..

Now Railway Police had released the picture of the suspect killer..I hope they will arrest him soon…

I don’t  even want to think on question why he killed her..Whatever be the reason, he doesn’t have any rights to kill her..

I want to ask following questions to the killer :

• Do you know how bad is to shatter her dreams and  make her end her life suddenly??
• Do you know how many sacrifices her parents would have done to bring her up, educate her ?? You better ask your parents..I am sure you will never understand as you lack basic good qualities…
• Are you really human??? I doubt it…
• I  really pity on your parents as they should be ashamed now for bringing you up like this…
• What did you get by killing this girl?? Don’t you have self  conscience??

Now let’s come to question of safety – I am travelling in Chennai suburban trains for past 8 years..I board at a station which is small and not as busy as Nungambakkam…I have traveled early morning and also at late night trains..There may be lack of CCTV  at some stations…

This cold blooded murder happened at early morning and there had been passengers during that time….Nobody had even tried to stop the murderer and he had escaped easily..I watched in news that nobody is ready to be eye witness for this murder as of now…

Now we are questioning about safety for women …

But I strongly feel, in addition to safety aspect, I think it is high time that we ask the following questions to ourselves:

• Why we have become less compassionate towards our fellow human beings??
• Why we fear to stop any injustice?? We need not be like film heroes, but at least can’t we even try to stop any wrong thing which happens before us???
• Will we behave in the same way if our relatives/friends face this situation??

This indifferent attitude of ours is not only in Chennai, but also all over our country..

I know we will feel pity of her and Media will talk about her for some days and  after that we all  will conveniently forget the same…Unless there is a change in our thinking, nothing will change here…

RIP Swathi…

Personal ???

I am thinking about one topic now – Why am I not ready to reveal more personal details in my blog??

I really don’t know what stops me in doing that..

I know I am contradicting myself  as I started to blog so that I can be totally  be myself here… But  I don’t feel the urge to reveal more personal things now..

There are always some persons who hurt us in our life..Our reactions to them might vary – some might get angry, some might cry…But I totally ignore them and will never forgive or forget what they did to me..I know I am not matured enough and I am so sensitive…

In my life, I have met many interesting characters, who can provide material for my blog for a long period…If I start writing about them, I will never face writer’s block….

But I am not ready to write about them now..I don’t even want to relive those hurtful moments again…Who Knows, I might change later also…

I will always share my happier moments and  When I am sad, I will rant in this blog for sure..But my deepest secrets, as of now, will be mine…

My Cooking Stories…

To be frank, I have not even prepared a cup of coffee/tea for myself/others before my marriage..

I know I am a somberi**** (Lazy) …I have to admit the truth..

I have been in hostels while studying and when I came on leave, I had everything given to me by family without me not doing/even caring to do anything..

Then after my studies, I joined job and pretended to be busy 24/7..hahahaha…

My amma used to pester me to learn to cook, but as usual, I didn’t listen to her..

Ok, after my engagement, amma asked me to learn cooking…I replied that I will learn from my mother in law after marraige..

I was working after marraige and in weekends I started observing cooking style of my mother in law and started cooking..To my surprise, it turned out well..Even others in family started to praise my cooking…

After learning  some basic cooking, I started to experiment with new recipes in kitchen..Started browsing for various recipes online and first prepared them in less quantity for others to taste..If they all liked, then prepared the same in a elaborate manner..

Like many, I also had many kitchen disasters…Once I tried to prepare aval upma*** (Poha)..I kept aval immersed in water and found that as aval quality was very thin, totally all aval became like koozh*** (porridge) and it was so watery that we have to drink…hahahaha…

Inspite of all disasters, I continued to cook ..I plan before starting to cook & usually multitask…I don’t like to  spend more time in Kitchen..I like to cook different varieties, but within a time frame…

Me & my husband are totally different in our food likes & tastes..He likes rice, sambar, etc while I dislike the same..I love to have tiffin, chats, north indian varieties which he doesn’t like..

I prepare breakfasts which we both like, lunch what he likes, and dinner what I like many times..So there is a balance and we eat what we both like with some adjustments..I feel that good presentation of food is also vital…

My amma  still couldn’t believe that I cook pretty well…

Many times I think of posting some of my recipes here…But due to my laziness, I don’t take photographs of what I cook…..

I feel writing recipes requires a lot of patience…

I really wonder how Ms.Padhu of Padhuskitchen (http://www.padhuskitchen.com/) posts many superb recipes in her site..Generally I check her site regularly before trying any new recipes that I don’t know..Her recipes are so good that the end results are always the best…

Before my marraige if somebody had said that I would enjoy cooking, I would have laughed!!!!! But now after marraige, I really enjoy cooking…

Happy Cooking to all…

Vacation Series – 5

Next day morning, we had breakfast and checked out from our hotel..

We started to Delhi as we had our flight that night to Chennai..

On our way, we visited Corbett Museum..Some of the photos clicked there are:

We continued our Journey to Delhi…We had lunch at Bikanerwala hotel again..We had Thali, Lime soda and ice cream..Food is really good and hotel also nice..

We finally reached Delhi around 6..We roamed around near airport for shopping, but couldn’t find anything interesting…My driver told that shopping areas are away from airport and so we returned to airport..

We had dinner in airport and were informed that our flight is delayed by an hour..We waited there and finally boarded and reached Chennai..

I feel Nainital is very beautiful, even though it is crowded with  tourists..You have to select  hotel to stay carefully..If you are OK with crowds and sound, you can book at any hotel in Mall road..But if you want to stay in quiet place, select any hotel away from the Mall Road..

Even from early morning, all tourist places are crowded..So please plan accordingly..

In Corbett, you can go for jeep safari…We didn’t see any tiger, but going inside the jungle was really nice…

So this is all about our short vacation and we really enjoyed a lot…

Vacation Series – 4

Next day morning, we had breakfast and checked out of our hotel in Nainital..

We started our Journey to Jim Corbett National Park…On the way to Corbett, our driver took us to a hill view point, small waterfall, etc…

The view from top of the hill was so mesmerizing…

Then he took us to  Khurpa Taal, a small lake, which he said that it  changes colour according to the season!!!!

Then we visited a small waterfalls which was nice…

We continued our journey to Corbett and reached there around afternoon…After having lunch, we started for our jeep safari in Corbett National Park…We hired a separate jeep and started for our 3.5 hours jeep safari…But we saw only Deers, monkeys, some birds etc..We didn’t see any tigers..However journey inside dense forest was very nice…

We also saw a Sita devi temple which is said to be around 100 years old..Then after around 3.5 hours, we completed our safari and started for our resort at Corbett…This resort was around 20 kms away from Corbett and was in a hill…We finally reached resort and took rest…

Room was good and these are photos taken from our room balcony:

To be continued…

Vacation Series – 3

We woke up around 7’o clock next day morning.. We got ready quickly and after breakfast we started for our sightseeing around 9’o clock…

We first went to Bara Pathar in Nainital..We can enjoy horse riding from this place..A person will accompany us and the horse ride was for about 1.5 hours up the hills..It was very thrilling as we saw many places like Tiffin Top (Dorothy’s Seat) ,Naina peak, suicide point, etc..We enjoyed a lot as it was first time horse riding experience for us..

Some of the Photos clicked there:

After 1.5 hours we completed our horse riding ..We then went to Eco Cave gardens..Ticket was Rs.50 per person and we were informed that we can’t go inside the caves as there was more water and it wasn’t safe..They also told that we can see the caves from outside..So we bought the tickets and went inside..

The place was very cool and there were many caves and water was full in those caves ..We enjoyed the climate there &  clicked some photos:

After that we visited the famous Naina Devi temple in Nainital..Temple was very Beautiful and was crowded..

From temple, we saw a nice view of Nainital lake…

Then we went for getting tickets to snow view point through Rope way…We were disappointed to hear that all tickets were already sold for the day..We were informed that we could get tickets only for next day evening trip…So we decided that we can’t visit snow view point as we are leaving to Corbett next day morning..

So we started roaming in Mall Road in Nainital..We thought of having lunch in Chandni chowk hotel in Mall road as we read some good reviews about that hotel..

We were in one end of Mall road & hotel was in another end..There was a big queue for Rickshaws and so we decided to walk..It was not hot and so we enjoyed walking by observing various shops in Mall Road..Finally we reached Chandni Chowk hotel..My husband ordered a Thali and I thought of eating some chats..But I was informed that as it was lunch time, there was no chats available..So I had butter Naan..Food was good and hot jalebis was very yummy..

After lunch we again started roaming in Mall road…We  saw Nainital lake and view was so good..We were not interested in boating, so we started shopping..There were many shops which had beautiful candles and we bought some candles..

Finally it was evening, we were so tired of roaming, so we decided to get back to hotel..When we called our driver, he told that he was stuck in heavy traffic and he was about 1 km away from Mall road…We waited for him for half an hour, but he can’t reach our place..So we walked that 1 Km and climate was very pleasant and saw many vehicles blocked due to heavy traffic..We finally boarded our car and started back to hotel..Our driver told that many vehicles were blocked on way to Nainital due to heavy traffic as it is peak season and also weekend..

We finally reached our hotel, had dinner and took rest…

To be continued…

Vacation Series – 2

Just 2 days before the date of our departure, there was heavy rain in Chennai in late evenings and early mornings..We were bit tensed as we had booked for early morning flight to Delhi..

Thank God!!!! There was no rain in the day when we started…We both were excited as it was the first flight experience for us!!!!

We reached Chennai airport in time…As we have browsed earlier regarding first time flying, boarding was easier..We remembered reading steps regarding first time flying and followed the same…

Our flight was on time and we boarded successfully..We didn’t get window seat, but still we enjoyed flying..

We reached Delhi on time..I got call from the Driver immediately after landing …He asked us to come to parking area..We reached there, located him and started our journey to Nainital..

Driver said that he can talk only hindi and not English..So I started translating to my husband..

We stopped at Hotel Saravana Bhavan for having breakfast..My husband was happy as he loves south Indian food..I thought of having  breakfast at North Indian hotels..But he said that as we have 4 days in tour to have North indian food, we’d eat at Saravana Bhavan …So he had Mini tiffen & coffee and I had Uthappam & coffee…

After Breakfast, we continued our Journey to Nainital..Our driver said that it may take 6 to seven hours to reach there…

We were excited as we are going to cross Delhi, Noida in Uttarpradesh State, and finally reach Nainital in Uttarkhand State..

For Lunch we stopped at Bikanerwala hotel at Gajraula…Hotel was very nice and large..We were not hungry, so we decided to have chats…We had Dhokla, Aloo Tikki and Masala Lassi.. They were so yummy …

We passed through National Highways  and finally we started climbing hills…These are the photos that I randomly clicked from car while travelling..

Climate was pleasant enroute to Nainital and we finally reached around 5’o clock in evening..

Our Resort was half an hour away from Nainital …We were happy because we were away from crowd in Nainital ..The scenic view was so good and we reached hotel around 5:30 pm..

We checked in our room in resort and it was good and spacious – We had a nice balcony  and view from it was so mesmerizing – There was Oven, Electric Kettle, heater, in the room..Room was neat and clean…

These are the photos that we took from our room balcony in resort :

Then we started from our room around 6.30 pm and our Driver took us for a drive around our resort..We had nice vegetable bakora and hot tea at a small hotel nearby..It was tasty..

We also noticed that even at 7 Pm it was not dark and still bright…We visited Uttarkhand Government shop where they had candles, organic sarees and handicrafts..We bought candles from that shop and returned to our hotel..

We took rest for some time and left to restaurant in hotel for having dinner..Food was good and after dinner, went for small walk around hotel..Then after a long day, we were so tired and slept…

This was our first day at Nainital..

To be continued…

Vacation Series – 1

OK, Let me begin…

Me & my husband had been thinking of taking a short break from  our monotonous routine life for a very long time..

Finally we decided that we have to select a place quickly and plan accordingly..

My husband said that we can plan only for a short trip for 4 days …

We started looking for hill stations outside Tamilnadu ( Have earlier visited both Kodaikanal and Ooty)

I was fascinated by Manali a lot..But after some researching I found out that, 4 days trip is not enough for Manali – Minimum 6 to 7 days to Manali will be good..So, ruled out Manali from our list..

Then we found that Nainital suits our requirements better..

After zeroing on Nainital, we started looking for 3 nights 4 days package..When we contacted a famous tour operator, we were told that there is a package which covers both Nainital and Corbett in 4 days..We discussed and finally decided to book that package which starts from Delhi..

We finalized to start for our trip after 10 days and decided to book air tickets for both to and fro journey to Delhi from Chennai..

After  booking air tickets, we contacted tour operator and paid them for 4 days package to Nainital & Corbett..(Regarding tour operator, I had option of 2 famous operators – I selected the one which provided me a package which was both cost effective and good)..

We were happy that we finalized the tour and started preparing for the same as we had only 10 days time..

Our weekends were busy with shopping..I bought 2 pair of jeans, 2 short kurtas, 2 shirts,  shoes, sweater & backpack for me..Hubby bought T-shirts, Travel Bag, sweater, for himself..

We also bought some necessary medicines…I started packing for both of  us..

We were very excited about this trip because:

• It is the first time that we are going to visit North India  (I have been to Mumbai when I was just three years old, but how will I remember it!!!!! My husband  also haven’t been there)
• It is the first time we are going by Aeroplane  (Didn’t get any chance to fly earlier)
• It is the first time that I am going to test my talking skills in Hindi…Though I have passed 4 exams in Hindi, and I watch  hindi movies,serials etc and understand the language better, I haven’t got chance to talk in hindi many times in Chennai ..My husband doesn’t know hindi…I was thrilled as I am going to be the translator to him…Hahahaha…

So we both were ready to leave for our Vacation!!!!!!