Fog...

The night that went by was no ordinary night. It brought the first fog of the season. Dense, grey, white at times, it brought alive the fears frozen around.

It was not just another fog, it was a manifestation of how the soul is feeling inside of me right now. Clueless, looking for the right road, anxious about any wrong turn I might take and fearing the realization that what if I reach the point of no return. 

Many times, during the journey back home, I sat like a statue in my car, not knowing if I'm driving right, not knowing if i should have waited, not knowing what waited for me after inching ten meters. But it did not feel new. Afterall, the soul has been fogged down for days.

It just took the onset of the fog today, for me to realize, what's ailing my soul.

It's the dense fog, surrounding me, gaping at me and I have nowhere to go...  

Up Away In The Clouds...

Being the workaholic Cappy, I suck at taking a break from work. And so I attempted to break from that pattern. Fourth of July saw me gathering my dear ones and driving to a quaint cantonment town amongst the clouds of Solan - Kasauli.

We started early morning and the beautiful scenary enroute just added to our fervour. The pitter patter of the rain drops had become our companion through out the journey and even greeted us as we entered the cantonment.

What waited there for us was memorable scenic beauty, the unforgettable moments at the Jogger's Trail, lazy banter at the balcony where clouds became our companion and then came the most beautiful part - the trek upto the Manki Point ( Hanuman Temple).

On day 2, we decided we wanted to check out the Manki Point which was within the Cantonment Area. Since any electronic device is not allowed there, we could not capture the beauty that surrounded us but the memories would stay etched in our hearts forever.

Climbing 300 stairs for a lazy bum is no easy task and thus by the time we reached our destination, I was huffing, puffing and panting. I could actually feel the streak of sweat trickling down my spine. I was expecting this but what I wasn't was the sight that greeted me there.

The most refreshing gush of breeze nipped through my being and it felt that I have suddenly risen from my slumber. After a quick visit to the temple, we walked towards the other side of the hillock which was facing the valley.

The clouds had flown in to welcome us and they were dancing aorund, teasing us in a rythmic flow. I looked down and all I could see was white. Not a single spec of another color was visible. I leaned on the ralling, stretched my arms and took deepest of the breath that I could.

As the sparkle of freshness filled through me, I felt as if I was suspended in air, up away in the clouds and no ground beneath me. My soul was drifting away with the clouds.

And then suddenly, the chants of Raghu Pati Raghav Raja Ram started reverberating across the valley. Some sort of peace had fallen upon all of us. One by one, each one of us tied the red kalava on the morpankhi tree and possibly wished for a pie in the sky.

It was sheer magic at 6400 feets up in the air. The stroll down the hillock was all about reminiscing what we felt up there. And then it was time to bid adieu to the beautiful clouds.

I may be back to where I belong, back to the daily grind, back to where I live life but some part of me is lingering around in the clouds. A part of me is still standing over the hill top, near the ralling, arms stretched, a wide grin adorning my face......up away in the clouds....

Mirage...

A mirage tells you that a paradise is nearby...but the beauty of mirage is that the paradise never appears...its a fool's paradise...

Of all the people, it's the earthy goat who should remember the deception that the mirage offers. Walk past it and pretend it never met you enroute the journey of life...

Wishes For My Darling...

I met this sweet girl almost 2 years back and it has been a memorable journey since then. We've laughed together, we've danced together, we've chatted away to glory during our offsites, we've gazed outside the train window together and we've shared the kurkuri idlis at YBR, don't know how many times together.

Well this one is all about you darling. As you're getting ready to set onto the journey that will initate the next phase of your life, here's a bouquet of wishes coming right your way.

May you be blessed with all the happiness and best wishes that the universe can bestow upon anyone. I wish & pray that a bed of roses adorns the path on which you are about to set your foot on.  May the holy fire around which you shall take your pheras, protect both of you from all the trials & tribulations that life tends to throw our way. May small good luck trinkets adorn each nook and corner of the home which is going to be yours.

Make lots of memories, smile a lot, dance a lot, hug your dear ones as many times you want coz this is the most special moment of your life and will always stay close to your heart.

May you live happily ever after ...Princess!!

May God bless you...

Mixed Bag...

As I look back at the month gone by, all I can say is that it was a mixed bag of news and emotions.Some of it good and some of it was not so good.

Two of my best buddies became proud parents. They've been blessed with angelic daughters and I totally am in love with both of them. I wish, I could just fly out to meet them as soon as possible. On one hand I was rejoicing in the happiness of my buds becoming mommy & daddy, on the other hand I got news that I was not expecting.

A very dear friend of mine lost his father to cancer. We had not been in touch for quite some time and when I got his text, I was speechless. I couldn't speak with him at that moment but met up with him soon.

What is it about endings and beginnings that they always go hand in hand and leave you with mixed feelings. Why can't they survive without each other? Everytime I see myself getting sandwiched between a creation & a culmination, I keep thinking about this question and fail to find the right answer. The answer that might put my anxiety to rest, the answer that would explain the circle of life, the answer that would explain this unsaid rule of life.

If any of you have an answer, do share with me...

Farewell...

Wiki defines the noun "Farewell" as -

"A wish of happiness at parting..."

Couple of weeks back, I was informed that as per the business needs, my portfolio shall be reshuffled and I would move out of the accounts I was managing at that point in time. The impending portfolio change led to my operational leader throwing a farewell party for me.

Now this was a pleasant surprise. I wasn't changing jobs but only my accounts within the organization and yet there were people who wanted to acknowledge what I did. Why was this even more special? In none of my previous organizations, I ever got  a farewell even though I was loved by my team and gave my 100% as always.

Well the farewell was a nice affair... the friendly banter, digging up old memories, good food, delicious wine.

Even though I was still going to work in the same building, meet same people while traversing across the floors, make new memories, I somehow knew that I was going to miss what I had been a part of in the last year and a half. Through the daily office chores, the time out together, the crazy parties, the official snubs that we exchanged quite often, the unnerving meetings and so on so forth...each of this had become an integral part of my association with my erstwhile team.

Before calling it a day, my operating leader walked up to me, shook my hands and passed on his best wishes to me and said that hopefully we shall work again. Apart from our common interests and preferences, what we both also share is a background of hotels where we either studied or worked.

And in the world of hoteliers, we always say -

"You never meet once . You always meet again..."

The moment these lines flashed across me, I felt at ease. The sense of nostalgia settled around me comfortably and I knew it for sure that we are all going to be together again. For long, farewells have been synonymous with good byes, partings and endings.

I look at farewells a little differently...

Farewells for me are a beautiful dawn before the day of a new beginning. It holds the promise of a new phase in your life and hopefully a better phase than the one that just went by. It's about holding on to the cherished memories and getting ready to make some new ones. It's about keeping a place in your heart for special people and yet making space for the new ones who would enter your life. It's about letting go of the not so memorable moments and not get bogged down by them.

For the memories we made...

For the memories we will make...

For the faces known to me...

For the unknowns waiting for me...

For that, which beautifully concluded...

For what, that is yet to arise...

The best of the both worlds are going to be a part of my life...

As I stand at the juncture of culmination yet an initiation...

This is what I have to say...

Laters, baby...



Sun Kissed...

Horoscopes or rather horrorscopes ( as I call them) do tell interesting stuff at times. I don't blindly believe what these have to offer but I always enjoy a well written horoscope. Time and again, I have seen that some of the predictions do come true while many don't.

For past few weeks, travel was featuring a lot in my horoscope and that too with a recomendation to travel to a destination with a water body. I kept wondering how is that going to happen since my gang wasn't planning a vacation nor was any official trip lined up.

And then suddenly out of no where came this opportunity around 3 days back. A dear one had to visit Haridwar to pick up some stuff for an impending prayer session at his home and he was looking for partners in crime. The moment I got to know, I said "I'm in" and thus began the one day long memorable trip to Haridwar.

The drive that started at 0430 hours in the wee hours of Saturday and culminated around 2200 hours same day was memorable, refreshing, cleansing and it did put my flailing heart at ease. The drive through the sceninc beauty peeping from the blanket of fog took away all the sleep that was lurking in my eyes as I had not slept in the last 24 hours.

Haridwar greeted us in its full fervour. We were surprised to see scores of people from all parts of the world thronging to Har Ki Pauri and there was barely any space to walk. Someone told us that Maha Shivratri had brought them all together.

We found it impossible to get the ingredients and thus we decided to drive up further and there standing majestically, Rishikesh welcomed us. After the streneous 3 hours that we sent procuring what we had been looking for, it was time to unwind and let loose.

We searched for a ghat which wasn't overflowing with people and sat down to soak our aching feet.While my buddy went ahead and got busy with his staple dip, I had different plans.

I choose a beautiful rock in the middle of the river to sit upon, perched upon it, dipped my aching limbs, put on my shades and let my hair loose.

As the sunny rays and the warm wind untangled my thoughts and my brown strands, I felt myself relaxing. I closed my eyes and let life flash through in front of my eyes. I let the thoughts wander, without holding them back or questioning them for cropping up.

As I stood up many minutes later and started walking near the shoreline, I felt the sunrays reaching out to me. I looked up at the glowing sun and opened my arms to soak in all the light and energy.

I got sun kissed....

It was one hell of a hectic day but had many beautiful moments. Be it the drive through the bed of the fog... or the car traversing through green wilds... or the colors that greeted us at our destination... or the scores of bodies that surprised us... or the swarm of beautiful butterflies that danced around us... or the monkeys that rushed towards us when we offered food...or the walk down the stairs leading to the ghats and last but definitely not the least...the tryst with the sun.

My favourite moment?

Undoubtedly...when I got sun kissed.

Will definitely go there back soon to enjoy the reverie yet again...