My new travel blog – Untravel

Hello everyone,

So I have recently started my own travel blog – www.untravel.in, which should explain why I have been inactive here. I wanted to share it with all the subscribers of this blog as well, and I’ll be really happy if ya’all can subscribe to it too. I hope ya’all like it. Here’s the latest post on Untravel, about my trip to Hampi: http://untravel.in/2015/04/10/untraveling-hampi/

Untraveling Hampi – http://www.untravel.in

Do share your comments on how I can improve my blog design or writing 🙂

India winning hearts at #CWC15 !

Adelaide dressed in the tricolor!

Let’s face it, in the run-up to the World Cup 2015, 8 of 10 Indian cricket fans thought we were headed for a disaster. We were just back from our tour in Australia, and no one can blame us for ground low expectations from this brand new team facing the bigshots in the upcoming world cup. Having said that, one thing no one could (can) take away from us was that we were the fucking defending champions!

Now here’s a fact about Indians, no matter how liberal we think we are, eventually everything in this country does come down to religion, and Indians will do anything to safeguard their belief. We are a country that predominantly thrives on faith and hope, that’s evident in everyday life around the country. And when we say cricket is a religion in India, we really aren’t exaggerating.

So when the World Cup began, we all donned our pseudo-liberal cloaks and prepared ourselves for failure, because let’s face it, can we really face the world with this new team?  Our bowling has no attack, our batting looks good only on paper, our fielding stood on the lone shoulder of Suresh Raina, and the biggest downfall – we weren’t playing in India. So just like we involuntarily scribble HINDU / MUSLIM on our admission forms, we all got ready to support India as a formality even though in our heads most of us were cheering for the stronger teams like South Africa, Australia, or even New Zealand (why not?)

We avoided the warm-up matches, including a few great performances by our players, because hey, warm-up matches don’t count. We were still convinced we’re good for nothing. But nothing yells patriotism to Indians more than an India vs Pakistan World Cup encounter! And to add fuel to the fire, you had the ad campaign by Star Sports. We all stood together cheering for our country against our neighbors, but even in the unanimous outrcry of love and support was this tiny fear of what if our more than mediocre team lets us down? We can accept a WC defeat but a loss against Pakistan would be apocalypse. We put the target of 300 on the board and then the nervousness took over as we all doubted our bowling. But they didn’t disappoint and the nation roared in all its glory that evening! We claimed we didn’t care about a WC victory anymore, because somewhere in the back of our mind we thought it wasn’t coming to us anyway.

And then we prepared ourselves to face the team that most of us were cheering for – South Africa. Always a tough one choosing between the team you think deserves to win vs the team you’re deemed to support. Melbourne wasn’t Adelaide, and to clear this square wouldn’t be an easy feat. But what happened at MCG yesterday took everyone by surprise – and you’re fooling yourself if you try to deny this. No one expected our out-of-form Indian batsmen to face the unfailing precision of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. No one expected a victory by no less than 130 runs. No one expected a new team struggling with weak form to beat the WC favorites in each and every aspect of the game. No one imagined that Indian bowlers could challenge ace batsmen like ABDV with their pace attack on a seaming pitch in Australia. No one expected MCG to Bleed Blue 10000 kms away from the home country of the defending champions. But it all happened, and we all stood together once again, but this time with renewed faith and confidence in this team that was making us all so proud despite our constant suspicion.

The beauty of cricket is that it doesn’t matter how strong or weak a team is on paper. What matters is how your players play as a unit on the given day, and that’s where Indian team is winning our hearts, and that’s what we want them to keep doing. Miracles happen and who better than Indians to vouch for this. Full marks to MS Dhoni for making this team work together like a firework – if I had any doubts about his captaincy until today, they no longer exist! And going forward in this WC, I hereby give up all my false pretense of supporting any other team, because that cup fucking belongs to us and I know my team just won’t give it back!!!

How travel changes your life

Blog published on the High Sierra website a year ago, when I had just started traveling! A lot has changed since then, but the love for travel has only increased! How travel changes your life.

There are only two kinds of people in this world – A) People who love to travel B) Boring people. Fortunately or unfortunately, I fall into category A. Why do I say “unfortunately”? Because, sometimes this ‘keeda’ of travel and adventure can cost you a lot – and I mean not just financially.

I am a 23yr old girl, living in Mumbai with her parents. I think it’s important to mention this because this is the only thing that explains why it took me 23yrs to understand and realize that my true love resides in traveling alone to the different cities and sites of the country. Being in a joint family is difficult – your vacation plans begin with their plans and end with their plans. For 23yrs, the only places I have travelled to have been Agra (Mom’s native), Pune, Lonavala & Khandala (every Mumbaikar’s tourist destination) & Delhi (I don’t even remember this trip, I was too young)

So, now you must be wondering, how then do I fall into category A? Yes, I am coming to that. So once I graduated, like everyone else, I took up an easy convenient good-paying job in my own city. But I realized there was something missing in my life. For the first one year I thought it was the separation from college life that was causing this imbalance. I eventually realized it wasn’t, I had to quit my job to get rid of the negative thoughts that kept badgering me 24*7. I took a 4 month break, but still couldn’t figure what it was. May be a career change, I thought…and I shifted alliances.

The new job was exciting and fun…it kept me busy at all times and this kept all the negative thoughts at bay. But one year into this job as well, I found myself in the same situation as before – not sure if what I’m doing is right… constantly fearing that something’s amiss… not sure what that ‘something’ was. This time I chose not to run away and find a solution to this. I sat online for hours at stretch, reading articles related to different fields of interest – fashion, beauty, politics, travel, sports. I realized how travel blogs caught me off-guard everytime, and how rapt with attention I would be every single time I was engrossed in reading a travel experience. This was my cue – I figured that I was struck by the symptoms of a travel freak who was not letting herself explore places, and that this would make me an unhappy and a “Category B” boring person if I let it pull me in.

And that was it…I left my job again to join a place where I would be allowed to travel! I signed up for the research division of history project…it didn’t pay me much and it was definitely nowhere next to the salary hike I would get at a corporate, but this was exactly what I needed!

We were constantly on the run for almost two months, during which we visited around 10 cities across India! For me, this was the first time ever that I stepped out of my immediate vicinity, and travelled ALONE to so many places!

The bubbling banter of Benares, the dare devilry of Delhi, the arrogant charm of Agra, the peaceful mirage of Mysore, the bustling enthusiasm of Bangalore, the over-shadowed poise of Pune, the excavated beauty of Lothal & Dholavira, the glory of Gujarat! India is so much more than just its one over-hyped quality – “unity in diversity”. It’s a land with beauty in every particle, a story in every pillar, a legacy in every building. It is beyond just the Taj Mahal or the Gateway of India. The real India resides among the hills of Manipur and the ghaats of Banares, the roads of Bangalore and Mumbai will tell you a different story of development, and the palaces of Udaipur and Mysore will flaunt its grandeur.

I am glad I have finally discovered how travelling makes me happy, and though this seems to be putting me completely off-track with my career, I’m sure somewhere down the line I will be able to find a way to manage both at the same time. This has been an adventurous ride for me, because as I mentioned I had never traveled before this, whether alone or in a group – this trip marked new beginnings in many ways! I want to explore India before any other place in the world, because I truly believe this country has so much more to give than can ever be covered by any blog or journalist!

Up In The Mountains (Dharamsala, India)

#traveldiaries 🙂

12 Wonderful Book Quotes You Should Know About

Inception in McLeod!

The backyard of my house!

I wokeup to the sound of the daily alarm. I turned to my bedside table…but it wasn’t there. My phone was ringing from the other corner of the unfamiliar room…strange…I never sleep without my phone. I got up reluctantly and put the crying alarm to rest…yes yes, I’ll go to work, whatever! But let me wakeup first…I’m still not out of that dream I was having before the alarm played villain. There I was, curled in my sleeping bag, staring at the clear blue morning sky shining through my window, listening to the chirping of a variety of jungle birds. The tingling sound is still ringing in my ears. What a beautiful dream!

I yawn lazily and look around my cluttered room. It’s only before a couple more stifling yawns that I notice a strange dissimilarity. The last 24 yrs of my life I have spent in my room and yet I have never seen it so differently. The blankets are different and so is the bed. Why is there a suitcase at the corner? And what are the toiletries doing in my room? Oh and that, yes…that’s definitely a sleeping bag. But what am I playing at, sleeping in a sleeping bag in Mumbai heat? The heat…ummm, where’s the fan? Why is it so cold? And so peacefully quiet that it almost leaves you disoriented? And I’m surely awake, but I can still hear those birds from my sleep!

Just a dream, I tell myself. An illusion. You’ve just been wanting to travel for so long, its driving you nuts now.

I reach out to door that definitely does not belong to the room I’ve grown up in, a little hesitantly. If this is a dream, I don’t want it to end. The door swings open with the faintest, yet he most audible creak…wait a second…WOW!

I know all these things around me are real…these trees, these mountains, that snow-capped peak in the distance, these cattle grazing around my house, these birds that have filled the morning with the most beautiful melody, the velvety sound of a waterfall not very far away. And in the middle of all this, me. Me, in flesh! This breeze hitting me is real, and so is the sweet smell of wet soil. This is not a memory or a longing desire built with my imagination.

This is reality, but being real doesn’t stop this from being my dream.

Being a Mumbai girl through and through, “peace” for me was just a concept in the books. As I stepped into the shoes of a solo female traveler, I can’t begin to explain the number of insecurities and uncertainties that clouded my brain. I won’t say they don’t trouble me anymore, I see myself questioning my choice every now and then. But still, there’s something about this city that doesn’t let stress stay with you for long. The winds here answer your questions, the water washes away all uncertainties, the peaceful aura of this place cleanses your being. My house stays unlocked at night but there’s no one who tries to barge inside, I sit on the rocks in my backyard with nothing but the sound of birds for company, and I return only when it gets too dark or too cold. I visit Illiterati café for lunch, and the crowd around me dissolves into nothingness. And the Café dog – Fondue, reminds me of a long-lost childhood friend. The Dhauladhars speak to me in ways I can’t explain…or understand. Day after day, I see the concept of time being redundant…and being from Mumbai this is saying a lot. And above all, this trip has made me love myself more than anyone else, and it’s the best realization ever!

McLeod Ganj is my dream served on the platter of life.

Bhagsu waterfall…not far away from home.

View from Cafe Illiterati

 

 

Fondue…or as Advitya says “Bhondu”

 

Dhauladhar range!

The quintessential Indian parent

Ok, for starters let me say that I’m not some parent-hating whacko who finds a fault in everything they do. I love my parents. Now do I love them to the over-publicized and absurdly advertised melodramatic levels that, if I may add, only benefit movies, brands and advertisers? No, I don’t, and I’d like to keep it at that.

PS: Hereon, everyone (from teenagers to 35yr old single men and women) living with their parents are referred to as “kids”, for the lack of any other word.

Ever thought about how very annoying it can be for someone to cook for their 35yr old single daughter just because she is a mother? She gave birth to you, and because that wasn’t a huge favor already, she has to look after you even when she has crossed the silver jubilee of her life because she truly buys this bullshit sold by advertisers that “there’s no such thing as a meal cooked by your mother”. No really, pasta gives me a lot of happiness and I don’t have to make my mother toil for that. It is ridiculous how our parents sincerely and almost religiously BELIEVE that we are their responsibility FOR LIFE! From our eating to lifestyle to marriage to babies to our babies kids (not necessarily in that order always), our parents truly believe that their life in not fruitful until and unless they make us go through all these stages in life in the way THEY have imagined it. And then they transfer this belief to us, and we live all our lives controlling our kids, and the chain never ends.

They don’t want you to move out because what will relatives say. They get a minor heartattack if you tell them you don’t want to get married before 30, because you’re a girl and what will people think. You will never go up to them and tell them you’re gay, because you analyze their over-reaction about “what will people think” and you know the verdict. They want you not to drink and smoke because their parents told them that girls should not drink and smoke and what will people say. It’s not even funny how much of our parents beliefs are just based on “what will people think” that they almost don’t stop to think about their own happiness or yours above this.

Ever seen those Hollywood movies and wondered why we aren’t kicked out of our own house after college to sort our own life and clean up our own mess? Ever wanted to bring your boyfriend home, and not worry about your parents being there? There are so many things I can go on and on about. “Things” that all kids face while their parents impersonate Hitler in the garb of “our culture” and “our values”. If “our values” mean that teenagers must learn to have relationships (because that is inevitable) but make every possible effort to keep it hidden from their parents, then aren’t we going wrong somewhere? Why is “our culture” so dismissive of healthy conversations with parents? I know friends (ADULTS) who lie to their parents about their smoking and drinking habits and say it is only because they “respect” them. Only in India will you see fashioned lies being dressed as respect, and being completely acceptable, even applauded at times. Ours has to be the only culture which inherently embraces lies, even advices it at many levels.

Wouldn’t it make their life so much easier if they were freed of this burden of responsibility once their kids are settled? Once they accept that they don’t “have to” serve their kids for life just because they made one horrible mistake of bearing them. You can always call them over for meals if you feel like cooking for them, and that will be better because that’s when love and respect will truly show, from both sides. There won’t be the “have to” take care from parents and “have to” respect from kids.

Narendra Modi’s youth brigade!

I know, that’s a very strong headline I’ve put up there, and may be controversial too. I also know that the tag has a striking resemblance to DA – Dumbledore’s Army; and all Harry Potter worshippers must be chanting the unforgivable curses under their breath! Please don’t jump the gun, this is not what it looks like.
Indian politics thrives on division. Among the many great things that we could have (and should have) learnt from the Britishers, unfortunately, divide and rule is the only trait we picked up! Whether it is on the basis of religion, or gender, or caste, or at times – state; our political parties uphold this one unwritten law above any other. Some would point back at me and say “But this is a democracy, you have chosen this government.” And that is where the problem lies.
On Friday the 13th, we all saw Narendra Modi being announced and officially appointed as the PM candidate for BJP for Mission 2014! And with this announcement, I noticed one more such division…only this time, for the very first time, it was positive. A divide of age and positivity.
In light of the last few years of massive outrages and revolts, people have now started calling todays youth very arrogant and unstable. They think we are never happy with anything we get. I disagree, we are just not ready to settle for anything mediocre. They think that revolt is in our blood, we are not open for a peaceful conversation. I disagree; discussions can happen only when someone is ready to answer your questions, and answers are what we are clearly not getting from our present day governance. They say we don’t have a vision. I disagree; we know exactly how much potential our country has and we are just demanding a supplementary rise in resources to match that potential. The youth of India today only wants change – and change is what they see in Narendra Modi.
When Narendra Modi goes up on that stage and speaks about Gujarat as “Mera Gujarat…”, we visualize a Prime Minister who will be equally proud and passionate about his country. When NaMo folds his hands to thank the sea of soldiers and ex-servicemen gathered at Rewari, we visualize a Prime Minister who will not stay silent when our soldiers are killed at the border. When he writes a letter to MMS pointing out in brief the errors of the food security bill, we visualize a Prime Minister who won’t settle for ordinary. When NaMo asks the crowd at Hyderabad to join in the chant of “Yes, we can”, we visualize a Prime Minister who will take us out of this puddle of corruption and incompetency at least a step ahead towards a brighter future. Just a few days after his appointment, it was Narendra Modi’s birthday…and I realized how miraculously NaMo has become a symbol of hope for the youth. I saw tweet after tweet wishing their “future PM” a very happy birthday, and this was undoubtedly the first time I’ve seen the youth so positively united for a political appointment! What is more surprising is that, NaMo has never pro-actively chased this youth support like his rivals have. But somehow, just by being frank and vocal and downright concerned – NaMo has won himself an army of youngsters.
Elections happen every 5 years, and we all know what the results have been like in the last 60years. Our electoral rates continue to sink every year, and so does our administrations standards. But something about the enthusiasm of my generation makes me believe that Election 2014 will be a different ball game! The youth today is more interested in current affairs than ever before, and this interest is probably the reason every party is trying its level best to woo us over. Luckily for NaMo, he didn’t have to work too hard to do this. Most youngsters who support NaMo today, do so mainly because they cannot bring themselves to support Congress. NaMo is the alternative young India is craving for; and come 2014, young India will (hopefully) pull all strings to ensure this alternative becomes the solution!

Kargil Vijay Diwas – Lest we forget?

The real heroes!

26^th July 1999…the day the nation split into a simultaneous cry of happiness, satisfaction, victory and grave loss – mixed emotions. Everyone was delighted, India stood victorious after the 60 day long Kargil War, it had finally come to an end! And at the same time, no one wanted to celebrate because this victory came at a very heavy price – so many brave heroes lost, so many families torn apart, so many memories tarred in one blow.

And today even though we have crossed 14years from the Kargil Vijay Diwas – the mixed feeling of happiness, pride and remorse doesn’t fail to affect us all. When I woke up today morning, the first thing I noticed on my phone was the date – 26^th July. And I immediately switched on my television to browse through all the news channels…now I feel stupid to even admit this. I was expecting at least a few of the zillion channels to be showing a tribute for our war heroes…even if it was Barkha trying to force the patriotism out of her.

Well, what was I expecting? Politics behind Amartya Sen’s comments, and budgeting of the Rs. 12 and Rs. 5 meal was what flooded all the channels. Uddhav Thackeray has come out in support of Modi, but at the same time does not oppose Amartya Sen. Wow, what an achievement!

It really is a shame that our soldiers and martyrs – who are undoubtedly the real heroes of our country – have always been considered less important than our politicians. This has been going on for years, and is just getting even worse with time. Today if I ask someone for the relevance of 26^th July, most of the teenagers will say it was the day when Mumbai came to a standstill due to the wrath of the rain Gods. Our tribute and remembrance of the war martyrs is now restricted to the telecast of “LOC Kargil” on UTV Action.

As a citizen of India, I feel ashamed of myself, that I see all this happening around me and there’s nothing I can do. I feel disgusted that even after 14yrs of his brutal assassination; Capt Saurabh Kalia’s family awaits a strong stand from our govt on his martyrdom. I feel sorry for the families of Capt. Vikram Batra, Capt. Anuj Nayyar, Capt. Manoj Kumar Pandey, Major Vivek Gupta and 500+ others, who lost their loved ones for us – for us, who no longer remember this loss. I cry everytime I read the last letter written by Capt. Vijayant Thapar to his family; because his last wish was that he never be forgotten, and we as a nation have failed miserably to accomplish that one wish!

I know there are many people who genuinely remember all these heroes, I know many are even trying to secure justice for Saurabh Kalia and many others. This post is not for them! Some might call me a pessimist for seeing only the negative, but I have only written what I felt. If you haven’t realized this till date, then may be 5yrs down the line you will, when teenagers won’t even know what the Kargil war was all about…and that day we won’t have anyone but ourselves to blame!

Copy of the last letter by Capt. Vijayant Thapar to his family!

The Indian Twitter elections!

It’s funny how social media works. Haven’t we all faced difficulty in answering the most basic question – ‘What is twitter’? Well, I don’t know about you, but I sure as hell haven’t found an answer yet. It’s a good thing though…the very reason the place is nice, is that we don’t know why we’re here!

Well, no…I am not trying to write a philosophical thesis about twitter. What I am trying to write about, is a thought that has been troubling me for quite some time now. Ever since a girl was jailed due to her facebook status about Baasaheb Thackeray. Ever since a handful of twitter accounts were dismissed due to their constant hate tweets towards Congress (and obvious support towards BJP). All these people became, if I may use the term, “twitter celebs” overnight!

A year back, twitter was a place where everyone could easily share their views on politics, have a healthy virtual debate over what the government is doing (or in most cases, what the government isn’t), discuss whether the AAM is genuine or just another party, and if Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev have any vested interests in all their ‘social’ stands. Oh and not to forget, every night at 9, we all left our work aside to listen to what Arnab has to say, and whether or not we agree to him today. But all this was great, only because all this was healthy. Well, at least for me.

But that was a year back…what I am now talking about is the unnecessary, and astoundingly aggressive politicization of social media. We can’t have those heated debates anymore, 5 minutes into a discussion these days and you start getting threatening tweets from the so-called ‘party executives’. People are suddenly being forced to take a stand on which party they support, and this stand is usually visible in their twitter bio’s. If you tweet in favor of NaMo, you instantly get trolled by the Congress boogies; one tweet in favor of Congress and the Sanghi’s attack! More abuse, more mud-slinging, more fights, and oh god, don’t even get me started on the abuses against journalists. We have now reached a stage where if a journalist even tweets something general, about his daily life, someone or the other will draw a weird inference and associate them to a political party. Every day I see the twitter trends, and at least 2 out of the ten trends are anti-NaMo or anti-Rahul.

What are we getting out of all this? Is this helping out any of the parties at all? If anything, this is just helping a few cronies earn more money from the parties by becoming ‘social media activists’. The fact that both the parties are not even silent anymore about their investment in social media campaigns, is itself very disturbing. Don’t we have enough of the campaigning in our real life already? Isn’t this ‘paid media’ the very reason we all hate our A-listed journalists? Hasn’t anyone realized that we all are becoming THEM? Supporting just one party and abusing everyone who supports the other, dis-regarding all mistakes made by your party but over-hyping the smallest errors made the other? I don’t like seeing my timeline anymore, where some congress supporter is forever talking about Narendra Modi in 2002, and some BJP supporter is forever finding Pappu – 24*7, 30 days a month, 12 months a year…FOREVER talking about politics! Twitter was one place I came to, every time I needed a reasonable opinion on matters political….Alas, it’s the place where I now feel strange (and a li’l afraid) to share my opinions anymore!

Well done, Congress and BJP! You have successfully ruined the one place where insightful political discussions once took place. Indians continue to live in a ‘democracy’ where ‘debates’ and ‘discussions’ are just words in the dictionary.

But just one question, are the 2014 elections being held on twitter?