Greek Love

When its summer time, what could be better than a beach and sand; a mountain on the side maybe.. Isn’t it awesome to have best of both worlds! Nice warm sun in the afternoon and very chill evenings that you actually pull out your cardigan (or in my case buy one)! Thats how I describe Greece, the land of amazing views, history, culture and food! There could be no better place in June and July to visit if you’re thinking romance.

Greece does not need to be an expensive affair. Planning the trip according to your needs and comfort is the fun part. I personally love the initial prep that goes into planning a holiday. I sat endless nights with my fiancé to plan hotels, travel bookings, what else to see while enjoying a glass of wine and some take away food.

After the initial struggle to get the visa in place we were all excited about our honeymoon! Its funny how so many of my friends have told me that as their D day for the wedding approaches, each one seems to be optimistic and looking forward to the trip after the wedding more than the wedding day itself! I must admit both of us weren't any different, we were beaming and looking forward to the Greek experience.

View from our Hotel in Santorini

We took our flights early June and stayed in for a good ten days. Both of us are enthusiast but I am more of a realist; I kept my foot down and wanted to spend quality time in places rather than travel all over Greece (one can always return to see more right). So we started with the mystic Santorini, one of the beautiful islands of Cyclades. For those of you who are dreamers, I am sure each one of you must have wondered which place is this when you saw the white houses with blue roofs with the sea on one side in a picture. Well that is Santorini’s most picturesque caldera view. Funny thing but Standard Chartered had a whole big picture of the caldera view put as part of their credit card promotion in the lifts at my office, I would always get into that lift and calmly smile, little did I know I will be going to witness it for whole 3 nights! The volcanic islands was a day trip we both enjoyed but could not take a dip since we had a small accident the day before and thus i recommend taking the big bikes rather than a scooty or simply hire a car, its easy and very effective to travel.

The famous Oia sunset (Santorini)

Our next stop was Mykonos, also known as the party island. Yes it did justice to its reputation, we were relaxing on a beach at noon and suddenly the music got louder at 4pm and everybody (young kids) started to dance like crazy. For me a party means evenings and late nights so this was a whole new way to see how much you can party. Everybody was drunk by 6pm just as we decided we felt too old for this stuff and left by 7pm. They say Paradise beach is the best for these early evening parties.




Obviously the market scene here was also very lively, actually I cannot discount Santorini for that too. Both the places have lovely markets, designer jewelers and high end watches seem to be the flavor of the month. Good food and drinks at all spots to refresh your holiday. Mykonos tourist area can be all walked around. There are few old mills which make a tourist spot for clicking pictures here as well. Infact, I will link a few videos we made over there to give you a feel (pls don't laugh at the quality of the video).

Lastly, we did Athens, the mystical land of Gods and Goddesses. The stories seem alive as you walk around Acropolis. There was so much to do here that 3 days seemed a little unfair. Lonely planet helped us in figuring out the most secretive restaurants and the dishes to choose in there. There is a beautiful street full of roadside shops and sellers that goes unto the Acropolis hill, I loved walking up and down just absorbing the culture Greece had to offer. Off course I cannot end without mentioning the opera we witnessed though the story was simple but the experience was overwhelming.

We came back with a smile on our faces and lots of small gifts for our extended family now. Trips aren't complete with the last minute memorabilia that you pick for family. 

To Fast or Not to Fast

So a bunch of my married friends observed Karva Chauth yesterday night. For those who do not understand what that means can google or simply understand it as a Hindu ritual where the wife fasts for the long life of her husband (without water) and finally breaks her fast after seeing the moon and then her husband through a netted vessel in the night. Bizzare, right? Is there any scientific proof that it helps? No, but there are these beautiful historic tales and situations when wives have done this and brought back their husbands from the clutches of death!

Now, I don’t have a problem with the entire thing and I respect women who fast for their husbands but I do have a problem with everything becoming a social activity (read hundreds of pictures of husband wives on Facebook showing them all dressed and breaking their fasts). Why this need of public display. What does it solve? Is it to be socially accepted as husband and wife by our society? Or is it simply that we have very few festivals to celebrate?

So a friend of mine pinged me asking if I am keeping the fast. I had considered keeping one only if my husband would fast for me I said. Thankfully, she is also a logic driven female and said she had to keep it last year since it was two days after the wedding and all eyes were towards the new bahu and now she is contemplating. Well our new generation is confused whether to blindly follow our mothers or to stand up and say, let me decide what I wanna do, let me have a healthy discussion and weigh options, let me be me.

I would love to see a more equal society where “mere pati mera devta hai” does not stand true any more. I know it would hurt peoples sentiments (read my granny). But I am equally surprised and happy that I can at least speak to them and tell them that I too can make my decisions! Recently I told my granny that I don’t need a mangal surta around my neck, red sindoor on my head, bangles and many more things on me to show that I am married just as my husband. I am equally committed and she just smiled! That’s a good start… 

Nothing is Everything..

Well the title of this article may seem odd to many but this revelation happens to each one of us. I may want to warn you right at the start that this state of nothingness may be both productive and counter productive.  Some people may enjoy this state to the utmost and may never want to leave it which then becomes a question to each and every average man's life.

Okay, to rest some raised eyebrows let me try and bring some context to what I mean when I say nothing is a state. Recently, I quit my high paying job as a banker to pursue my dream. I have a very supporting husband, 2 loving set of parents, friends and family. I had been upset with how my career had been shaping out, I felt I was losing control and that my work was not turning out the way I had pictured it in B School or in my dreams. All seems fair so far right? No! When I mention that I quit to pursue my dream, did I tell you my dream? Did I tell you that I haven’t really figured out what I want to do even after spending 27 years on earth in the most fortunate circumstances possible! Now, I have reached a state of nothingness, I have nothing going on… or so I imagine. Nothing as far as work is considered that used to take the good part of my 24 hours. I often sit down with a paper to jot down things I like to do and come up with an awesome list but when it comes to relate it to work, it seems unlikely that I become a dancer, artist, party organizer or a fashionista that makes similar sort of dough that I minted earlier. I am the happiest when I am left alone to dance or cook!

I haven’t still told you the something part. Well, have you ever imagined that when you embrace the fact that there is suddenly all this time in your hand that you can allocate to new stuff or things you always wanted to do, how would that feel? I feel soo awesome, I feel I am like superwoman again who can decide her own future, who can choose to either travel or start my own firm! I have the power to choose my own new job and also my life. I feel beautiful and am relooking at my body that I have been ignoring since the time I got married. I am giving more time to relationships.

My state of nothing has finally given me the time to introspect and rejuvenate. I will start to again challenge myself to achieve new heights, new goals, new hobbies. Its an exciting phase, I wish that each one of you also gets to be as lucky as I am. Each human being deserves to smile and slow down to reinvent and find their somethings….

EuroTrip!

Now a couple of my next posts would be entirely about my memoirs of Europe! Yes, I did finally get a chance to complete one of my dreams (though I am a bit sad that it is complete now). Ever since I have started dreamt of travelling, Europe was the first thing that resonates in my mind. It had this romantic feel to it that I thought was mostly correlated to Italy. To my dismay, I could not eventually go to Italy and Greece but I should keep some desires for later too.

First I want to tell you that planning a trip to any country abroad can require serious home work. Right from getting best deals on tickets to fly to visas, travel cards for money, accommodations, travel within the country and places to see; it can all seem quite a mess if you don’t plan on time. For me I would say my trip was easy because it was an exchange term from my college (IIMB) to a college in France (IESEG). My major worries were sorted out by our exchange club who made sure we get all the best deals without going anywhere. We could easily trust these guys as everybody gets the same bargain and we can contact them anytime through a reputed channel. We even learnt little French so that communication may become easier for us. Yes, accommodation for 3 months was also a nightmare worth mentioning but my French connection (aka a French friend) helped me like an angel to get that sorted out too.

It is always a good idea to take advice from people who either stay there or have travelled to Europe, read travel blogs and be prepared at all times; more importantly it is good to go with friends and enjoy. I know planning can be a nightmare but sometimes we get so picky about little things and deals that we start to miss the bigger picture and the reason why we went out to travel at the first place; to enjoy, to relax, to learn, to rejuvenate.

All the little mistakes and problems seem worth it if you have good company and they make great stories to tell back home too. Like the time I lost my passport, wallet, all my identity cards, phone, I pod, some jewellery and lots of other stuff. It has become a good conversation starter and really gets me animated every time I recall that incident. More than it being a mistake, I see it as a very big learning experience; it made me realise how small we are and how important it is to have family and friends. I was a complete no body without my identity cards and no money, it made me humble. It made me thank God all the more that I had friends, and a family to reach out and eventually return back to home.

Gokarna and the off season

There is nothing like a beach entirely to yourself and the fact that you did not pay anything extra for that feeling. The ride up from Bangalore to Gokarna was splendid, long straight roads with sights that reminded me of my good old travelling days in doon. The daybreak during our journey was a scene right from the movies where i am listening to songs in the car and everyone else is sleeping. Cant say I did not cry because I got so emotional, but I thank my stars that my friends din't notice.
After about 12 hours of journey we finally reached our destination~ Gokarna!! The place was as good as my friends had promised it would be. There was a beach and a shack where we will be spending 3 glorious days doing absolutely nothing but relax. We ate good food, laughed a lot and swam the entire day!
This was the perfect holiday and it being spontaneous was even better. Although we had to change hotels cause we din't like the first one, the next one was opening up to Om beach, so it made more sense.
To sum it all up, we had a good time. Six friends, lots of beer, food and the ocean!! What could be better. :)

Hyderabad For the New bies

A friend of mine asked me when my next blog would be out, and to be true I had no clue, that i would start writing if given just a line of motivation! I do not believe that i write well and that people anywhere would like to follow it... but surely it feels good to pen down your thoughts.
Now lets get back to business. Today I plan to tell you about a city that has changed me and my perspective towards life. As you know this was my first job, on top of that this was also the first time that I would be away from my family and friends! On June 29th, 2009 I started a new life, the life of a Deloitte professional. It totally changed the way I dressed to begin with, formals was the new dress code (i enjoyed it for about a month, now its a routine). I became more serious towards my career and started networking. Soon one day I realised, that I was here to stay in Hyderabad, the land of the Nawabs for at least a year or two and that there is more to one's life than their company and work.
Here comes the time when my friends and I started discovering the ups and downs of our city. We started with finding each of us a perfect or at least nearly perfect house. We (girls) found the best of them all (thanks to Isha's parents); few of the boys found a good bargain and the others a lavishly spacious empty house that they loved. All were satisfied with their findings but the best part is we all settled to stay close by in whitefields!
Next came the hassles of living independently, buying your own grocery, going shopping for household stuff, getting a maid at a reasonable price (which was not possible in whitefields atleast), bargaining with the auto wallas is a task on its own and it seems to come with only lots of experience.
When office started becoming usual came the urge to explore more about Hyderabad. We started (like any other home sick person would tend to) with FOOD! There are countless good restaurants here and surprisingly they believe in giving you a royal experience at a reasonable price! Dinner with friends (6-7) would cost you Rs350/person. :) A few good one's to start with would be...Nirvana, Angeethi, Sahib Singh Sultaan, Water Front, Chattees, Chutneys, Ours Place, Little Italy, Blue fox, Ohri's etc etc.
We also saw umm... malls :P, discs and pubs :P, multiplexes :P (u'll find it hard to get tickets here, so book well in advance). Well this could also be fun! In fact it was fun, loads of it. There are some heritage places also that we intend to visit like... Salarjung, Golconda fort, Char Minar... and yes we have seen Nagarjuna dam! it was a great day trip (outside Hyderabad) and Hussain Sagar lake along with the famous Eat Street :)

Birla temple is visited as soon as we need God on our side, plus it has a great view of the lake.
Life has been busy and I'm not sure why. Maybe its office or maybe its friends or maybe its just the idea to be financially independent that makes you soo busy. A couple of my friends go for playing regularly, others go to teach underprivileged children on weekends which adds a different aspect to their life.
All in all Hyderabad is a place for all. The people are very simple and sweet, they will help you if they understand what you say. There is something for each one of us that can be taken up as a hobby, there is time to sit back and introspect here. It is a slow city or should I say, you can choose your own pace here. :)

haridwar- the land of the holy ganga....

This is one place every person should visit. it simply has its charm. i being a non believer never thought that visiting haridwar would ever come in my list of memorable places. we were like always going to dehradun when my mom suddenly came up with a request to halt at haridwar for the night. as it is we were late to carry on our juorney dad obliged and we took a turn to the holy land of vaishnavs. there is something very peculiar about haridwar. you will see a lot of devotees from all sorts of backgrounds... some rich, some foriegners and a lot of poor people. we had to stay in our beloved railway rest house which is always available to dad, so i had the opportunity to realise how comfortably we live. there were hundreds of poor people just lying near the railway station waiting for trains (i guess).
next morning we got up late as usual and decieded to leave the car and go by rickshaw to halkipaudi (im not sure if i spelt it right). instead of that we took the tonga which is a type of a rickshaw with a horse as its driving force. it was fun. the horse was also a very obdient fellow. finally the sight of the river.... it brings overwhelming emotions to oneself. and taking the 'dupki' which is a must when u visit the ganga was litterally, like they say "a holy water bath". the water was damn cold but its all gud once ure in it. nothin can describe the place as seeing it yourself. the saints at almost every corner. the yogis and the beggars.the mais selling flower baskets.the small shops with beads and everything holy.its worth a visit.
we did try to buy some momentos but in vain. all the stuff was too cheap. a local guy tried to scare us with a snake in his hand(i did miss a heartbeat there, but we quickly turned away from that place). mom finally got a lantern to keep a diya.
food might again be a problem for people like us, who would rather not eat than to dine at a filthy place. u must believe me when i say we actually got out of three resturants before having our breakfast. we quickly wrapped our trip during noon as it had started to rain. the road to dehradun was also a pleasure cause it had trees on both sides and made us feel close to nature.