We head home today, from Blantyre, a city in Malawi 🇲🇼 and what are the top things on my mind, what am I looking forward to, I pen here..
1. Having a good, relaxed flight back. We change at addis ababa so it’s 4+1.5+5 hrs of travel overall, Ethiopian AL.
2. Masha ofcourse. We will hug & cuddle & meow talk asap.
3. I will see how all my plants did while I was away. They are usually fine with a week’s absence but it was much longer again this time. Grateful for friends who are taking care of masha & the plants but I am ready to pour love on them myself.
4. HOME! Being back home is what I am looking forward to.
5. Cooking our meals, watching the sunrises and sunsets, sleeping on our bed and walking around our neighbourhood.
6. I will pick swimming back up 🤣
7. I will also give running a try 🤣🤣
8. Planning for the next trips 😃👍
9. I will lift more weights, row more (after lake Malawi kayaking) and read more (books) 🤣🤣🤣
10. Enjoy Dubai weather, beaches, drives, groceries and infrastructure overall.
Happy Valentines Day to all who believe in love and celebrating this day. Even though i appreciate it, I don’t indulge much into it. Its difficult however to remain unaffected when everyone around is reminding you of it and asking you of your plans for the day. Love can have many meanings. One of them is caring. You care for those you love isn’t it? & I am thankful for having such ppl in my life. Being thankful is one thing and expressing it is another and that is equally important if not more. The ideal would be to keep doing that all the time, through your actions, your words, your gestures but the ideal doesn’t exist usually. So, I feel, days like this remind you and give you a chance to rectify, to express and be thankful. Believe me it can make a lot of difference.
I am spending this special day mostly in bed trying not to move my neck much because the body didn’t know of any better time to punish me. I was putting on my jacket last evening to go for a walk and bringing the hands back down wasn’t easy. Since then I have this strange pain in my upper back/neck/shoulder region and I had to skip office today. Had an enjoyable doctor visit which is the only consolation. Nothing to worry, he said. We take our fitness so much for granted & then a silly ignored remote corner of the body decides to remind you of their existence and importance. huh. They should know that I am always thankful for them but that’s what I wish.. you know, I almost got offended when mom suggested one must have a hot water bottle at home.. we, thankfully again, have never needed it and never thought we will need it. Maybe I was not quite right. But I don’t think hot water bottle can ease this kind of pain 🙂 .. I don’t know. But a hot water bottle I must get…
Edited to add:I do have a hot water bottle now 😅 but I don’t remember using it all that often. It just lies in the medicine cupboard for emergencies. I am grateful I can say this. Also 12 yrs older from the day I typed this post and one thing still holds true, not taking my health for granted at all.
I get nostalgic quite often, so yesterday during the birthday call to Beena, when Amit asked our almost 2-year-old nephew if he would like to go on another road trip in a motorhome, my imagination went on overdrive taking a trip down memory lane.
Last September we toured south of Germany, the Bavarian alps in a camper that slept the 5 of us comfortably; I say that especially considering a 1+ year old & overall ease & budget. It was our first time travelling in a camper, so this midsize vehicle also felt huge.
What an experience and initiation into a new world altogether! No hotels, no packing and unpacking, only loads of flexibility & fun.
Our first motorhome experience, Germany 2018
Would I recommend it to others- highly.
Did we have a great time – ofcourse.
Did it leave me wanting for more? Hell yes! always.
For such an extensively gorgeous, naturally blessed piece of earth a 2-week road trip felt way too short. We kept our pace relatively easy but out itinerary had quite a lot to see.
What happened as a result is we didn’t get to explore in-depth & soak in the ambiance of every lake and mountain we came across thoroughly. Like my heart desired. Safe to say that while I can live there for months to satiate my soul, that trip had fuelled us up just enough for now. With joy, wonder and excitement. Well, enough of raving about feelings and emotions. Let me break our journey down by days to recount what we did.
Day1. Flew into Munich from Dubai, got introduced to our vehicle and then picked up our travel companions coming from Brussels via train but not before having a memorable motorhome drive into the city.
Day2,3,4. A drive to Berchtesgaden via Frasdorf which I remember for its playground that was an exhibition the company Richter’s playground equipment and a Turkish restaurant that had very hospitable Afghani staff.
Spent 3 nights in the romantic campsite Grafenlehen at the National Park Berchtesgaden (https://www.camping-grafenlehen.de/de/) where the atmosphere surrounding our pitch was simply amazing with the great panoramic view of Watzmann, Grünstein, Jenner and more. The sounds of a stream nearby & the star-studded night sky was a definite highlight.
We had to be very judicial with those 2 days we had in the national park.
Day 1 was dedicated to the wild & romantic Almbach Gorge (Almbachklamm); with its thunderous waterfalls & winding hiking trail, it’s one of the most beautiful gorges in the Bavarian Alps.
If given a chance to go back, I would hike it again and this time I will make it to the other end. Sigh! The beauty! That evening we strolled around the lake Königssee which we had plans to go again to, the next day.
Day 2 was spent taking a boat ride through Lake Königssee, the jewel among Berchtesgaden lakes. Germany is a country of lakes among many other things. Seeing so many lakes was a very special experience. Lake Königssee with its emerald green color and nestled at the foot of the imposing eastern wall of Mount Watzmann in the heart of the National Park is one of nature’s true masterpieces. The greatest luxury in these fast-paced times is silence. As soon as we boarded one of the attractive electric ecofriendly passenger boats, all the noise, hustle and bustle was left behind. During the crossing to St. Bartholomew the boatman played his trumpet to lure out a charming echo from the steep rock face. In St. Bartholomew there is a lovely pilgrimage church, renowned for its wine-red onion domes. Our nephew had the most fun time here splashing in the pristine lake water entertaining us all. We took a pitstop at this island & head on to the next lake using the same boat. Lake Obersee, which can be reached only by foot and is nestled between the slopes of the famous Mt. Watzmann massif. Make sure to time yourself to avoid missing the last return boat though. And that leaves you wanting for more. I could easily spend a couple of days just around these lakes. Hiking trails aplenty all around the place. On the return ferry ride, you simply let the impressive nature’s splendour soak you.
Every time I reminisce this trip, the amount of joy I get in revisiting this first leg of our road trip is enough to satisfy my cravings. We drove south-westwards to get mesmerized by so much more this land has to offer, I will need another post to describe that.
Day5. Started with a drive on Rossfeld’s Panoramic route. on our way back after the downhill drive I remember having a little scare with burning tyre smell that led us to have a short workout break by the nearby supermarket. We then headed on to and camped(boondocked) at a small town called Bichl. No euros were spent that night.
Day6. Drove to lake Kochelsee and spent major part of the day there picnicking. Headed to gorgeous town of Ettal via Walchensee & camped at a regular parking lot paying at the parking meter.
Day7,8. Drove on via Plansee to the magnificent Lake Constance which is also called Bodensee that lies partly in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The camping ground we chose here was something else. Fabulous facilities, vast property and we got a great deal for 2 nights. This gave us a day to explore the surroundings next day, the orchards and biking trails are a must see. Must experience.
Day9. Drove to Schluchsee and then spent some time at Titisee (both are pristine lakes) and finally camped at a quaint little unpaved free parking by a winding turn at the mountain top, realizing next morning that all the water sounds we slept to came from a nearby waterfall.
Day10. After a morning hike to the waterfall, we drove to Todtnau for an adrenaline pumping ride on Hasenhorn Rodelbahn, a hike to Triberg waterfallafter that, had a priceless sunset party by the side of mountain road and finally settled in at camp Mulerweise for the night.
Day11. Headed into Wildbad, relaxed by the stream and ended the day with a swim in Vital Therme, had home-made khichadi, card games and drinks from the store just on the other side of the street. This wasn’t a proper campground but one could pay separately for each service they use, and the parking costed minimal. It was quiet and lovely. we picked berries and little nephew got access to a playground.
Day12. Drove to Stuttgart. Met our friends and had a wonderful time celebrating their daughter’s birthday in their farm on the vineyard. What an incredible blessing. Laughter, food, cake and catching up.
Day13,14. Drove to Cologne, a 2,000-year-old city spanning the Rhine River in western Germany which was going to be our final stop before heading to Belgium. We walked quite a lot here on both the sides of the Hohenzollern Bridge. This tiered-arch bridge between the cathedral and Köln Triangle dates to the start of 20th century, and when it was rebuilt after the war it was restricted to just rail and pedestrian traffic. We walked over it with impressive views of one of Europe’s great rivers towards the tower of Groß St. Martin Church and the towers of Cologne Cathedral directly ahead. Also, the busy network of trains that shakes the whole bridge every now and then. You can’t help but notice how the bridge is taken over by the “love locks” craze in the last decade or so. Actually, we didn’t explore any other city as much in this trip but as far as Cologne is concerned, we were smitten by its beauty in the most unique way.
Day15. All these 2 weeks we had a pleasant sunshine weather with just one evening of rains and come last day of the trip, in the morning as we got into the motor home to return it, it poured cats and dogs. Like Germany was crying seeing us go 🙂 what to do, corporate slaves got to get back to their workstations, but not before making a promise to return. This time for longer.
Until then, cherishing the memories and dreaming.
A train ride from Cologne took us to Brussels where we stayed for 2 nights with bro & family, it rained full time and it worked perfectly for all we wanted to do was stay in, relax, play with the nephew, eat, drink and prepare ourselves to get back to the other life we have.
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I came across this nostalgic travel summary in my email archives that I had written about a year after our trip taken in 2018.
फ़ोन के माध्यम से ही सही, मन है हिंदी में कुछ लिखने का।
कैसे हैं आप? इस पल अगर अपने मन और दिल से पूछें की कैसा लग रहा है, क्या महसूस हो रहा है या बस कैसे हैं आप तो क्या कहेंगे?
अपनी कहूँ तो कुछ ऐसा…
१) ये ब्लॉग ऐसी एक बैठक सा था जहाँ मैं या कह सकते हैं की हम लोग काफ़ी आते थे, कुछ कहते बहुत कुछ सुनते थे, याद है मुझे कि बेहद दिलचस्प दिन थे, बहुत मज़ा आता था।
२) कई बार इसकी वजह से घर में मन मिटाव जैसा भी हो जाता था क्यूँकि हम रम ही जाते थे, यहाँ इतना समय बिताते थे, कॉमेंट सेक्शन तो जैसे पजामा पार्टी हुआ करता था 🤩।
३) वो दिन बदल गए, उसको काफ़ी समय हो गया! अब बैठके कहीं और लगती हैं, अन्दाज़ कुछ और होते हैं, घर का हर सदस्य व्यस्त है अपनी -२ बैठक में।
४) आज शाम अचानक मन किया कि यहाँ आऊँ, मन खुश है, शांत है, संतुष्ट भी है, अच्छी यादों से ह्रिदय गदगद है और जहाँ आभार की भावना है वहीं कहीं एक अभाव सा भी है, ये स्वाभाविक ही है, ऐसा खुद को समझा लिया है मैंने। यही जीवन है।
५) पिछले साल इन दिनो हम दोनो अपने देश गए थे, परिवार से मिलने की ख़ुशी करोना ने दुगनी कर दी थी, उसकी वजह से जो मिलना नहीं हुआ तो मैंने मौक़ा मिलते ही बहुत समय बिताया मम्मी पापा के साथ। ख़ुश नसीबी ही समझो, कहाँ मिलता है ऐसा मौक़ा सबको।
६) तबसे ख़ुश नसीबी मेहरबान है मुझपे किसी की नज़र ना लगे 🙏🏼, वैसे हैरानी वाली बात भी हुई एक; मार्च २०२० से बचते बचाते जनवरी २०२२ में करोना भी हो गया हमको, मुझे पहले हुआ और इंडिया से नहीं आया, इब्न बतूता मॉल या दुबई मेट्रो से आया ऐसा मेरा अनुमान है, एक दो दिन कमर टूटी फिर हल्के सिम्प्टम रहे कुछ दो हफ़्ते में ठीक भी हो गए 😇🥰। जन्मदिन पर यही तोहफ़ा मिला इस बार। जीवनदान 😅
७) जन्मदिन से याद आया, ३१ दिसंबर को एक भूरी बिल्ली आयी घर में, नाम कद्दू, दरसल पमकिन नाम था हम उसको कद्दू कहने लगे प्यार से, बहुत खाता, बहुत खेलता और दाँत नाखून सब मारता था जब मन होता उसका। लेकिन कोविड जो मुझे १ जनवरी को पॉज़िटिव निकला, उसके दौरान कद्दू मेरे सिरहाने बैठा करता था 🥰… हमारा पहला अनुभव बिल्ली के साथ, कुछ दिलचस्प सा था। हम तो दीवाने हो गये, वो गया तो दूसरा फिर तीसरी, ऐसा होता रहा और आजकल लगभग तीन महीने से माशा है हमारे साथ, एक सुंदर सी बहुत बोलने वाली बिल्ली। खाती कम है और दिन रात बस एक चूहा है उसका, कहती है खेलो मेरे साथ और उस चूहे के पीछे पड़ी रहती है।
८) उसके साथ होने से घर में अकेले होने का भी एहसास नहीं होता, देखा जाए तो उसी की वजह से मैं मौरीशस नहीं गयी अमित के साथ। दुबई की जाती हुई गर्मी भी झेल लेंगे तेरे लिए प्रिय माशा 😅। तू भी क्या याद करेगी। मज़ाक़ एक तरफ़, माशा एक नशा है, इतनी अनोखी सी है, इंसान जैसी ही लगती है मुझे तो कभी कभी, वैसे मुझे जानवरो के साथ रहने का अनुभव कम है ये तो इंसानो से भी ज़्यादा संवेदनशील है, पता नहीं सही शब्द है ये या नहीं, लेकिन बहुत प्यारी है बिल्ली, ख़ासकर मेरे साथ, अमित को देख भाग जाती है, छुप जाती है या फिर पता नहीं क्यूँ डर के हिस्स करती है… अमित घर पर ना हो तो मुझसे ऐसे बात करती है मानो मेरी पिछले जनम की कोई रिश्तेदार या दोस्त हो।
९) हाँ, ख़ुशनसीबी इस बात की भी की इस साल मौक़ा मिला परिवार के साथ, ख़ास कर मम्मी-पापा के साथ एक नया शहर एक नया देश घूमा, नेदरलैंड । सुंदर तो है ही, चार चाँद लग गए जब मॉम डैड को वहाँ के मज़े लेते देखा… बकेट लिस्ट कहते हैं ना… बस वही। 😇🙏🏼🤩
१०) पिछले एक साल में हमारे भाइयों के परिवार में इज़ाफ़ा भी हुआ, एक बेटी, एक बेटा 😇😇.. हमें फिर से ताऊ ताई और बुआ फूफु बनने की ख़ुशी मिली, सबसे मिलना भी हुआ, ये ख़ुशी बेशक़ीमती है। बस सबका मंगल हो 🙏🏼.. सब ख़ुश, सुखी, ज़िंदादिल, सेहतमंद रहें… यही प्रार्थना है…
Believe me, no matter how many times we tell ourselves or the world that we don’t care what others think, it’s actually hardwired into our being via conditioning ever since to care. We care about a lot. We care a lot. So it’s easy to drift into guilt trips often. A reminder therefore is a must.
WordPress sent me a note of congratulations on being with WordPress for 11 years!
It made me smile and like most things it made me wonder, how lovely this whole internet thing is, the digitization, automation, calendar reminders etc… life is easier with them. Anyways thanks to that note I am back here this evening, wanting to pen down something.
Something I get very emotional about. Family, siblings, relationships, people in general. About love. Not limited to the romantic love but in general, all forms encompassing. About why it hurts when it is also the biggest strength in our lives.
Earlier this year I spent ten days in a meditation retreat (silent, vipassana) and these thoughts came visiting. While I was able to bring my mind back to ‘now’ while sitting for meditation, I allowed myself to dig deeper during the break times… to figure out the what and why and how and why not of love.
In some of the very close relationships around me, I notice and know that both the parties love and care for each other deeply. What I also notice is that their actions and words however do not show the love in ways the recipient would feel loved. This bugs me. Especially when I cannot tell one or the other about it without hurting them or maybe creating misunderstandings coz I sure am not an expert in communication when it comes to sensitive matters like relationships.
I have read about the love languages and it makes great sense to me. It can take a huge deal of constant effort to learn and speak in others’s love languages and I try. But reading about this concept of love languages also made it somewhat easier for me to understand the disconnect in the giving and receiving of love in some of those relationships, that had bugged me.
So here is what I came to conclude that afternoon-
Everyone deserves love..
Everyone is doing the best they can and know.
Our expectations are just that, OURS & EXPECTATIONS.
As far as what I can do from where I stand is to know that I have love for people, and that I must love without expectations, and that everyone else just like me is doing the best they know and can.
I feel most of my friends and family back home has about one to three different house helps to keep their homes in order 🙂 but I also feel their pain and frustrations when they share how it’s not always smooth going with them taking unexpected day off, not doing quality job, wasting stuff etc. I have tried hiring cleaning services here in dubai but with our lifestyle and my perfectionist levels I prefer doing it myself. With just two of us, it’s not too much anyway. Ofcourse provided we don’t let things pile up for one day when it becomes overwhelming or back breaking.
At moments when I am sitting with a drink in my hands or even walking around barefoot in a freshly and fully cleansed home I feel the efforts are totally worth it.
So today I am sharing what makes cleaning fun for me.
1) Who are you doing it for? Know that you don’t need to do anything for anyone else. Do what pleases you. Live the way you feel comfortable. Since I like a clean home I know I am doing it for myself. It’s a blessing to have a cozy roof and physical abilities to keep it up.
2) You don’t need to do it all, NOW. I have mental note dividing chores into daily, weekly or once in a blue moon categories. Make your bed every morning, put your sheets in laundry every other week if not every week. Trash and dishes get daily attention while vacuum and toilet scrubbing gets done every other week if not every week. The weekly tasks depend on how much traffic has been in the house, how busy our weekends are and if we have visitors 🙂 thing is with just two of us and with in general clean living our homes stay cleaner for longer. Even dusting if not done daily is perfectly A-OK.
3) Set a timer for 10-15 min everyday. Set aside few minutes everyday to pick up stuff around the house and put it back to where it belongs. Believe me that’s the only way to have a tidy home in general. Also spot cleaning is a good shortcut. Like kitchen floors need a good wipe every night so when I walk in the next morning it’s a pleasant beginning.
4) Invest in good tools. Having functional products and tools to clean makes a big difference. Imagine trying to clean the greasy stove tops with dried food remains vs prepping the surface with a good cleaning spray and letting time do it’s magic before you just simply wipe everything up just once. I have learnt a lot about cleaning from watching YouTube tube videos in past years. I have learnt some formulae that makes cleaning anything and everything easy and more effective than I knew before like the mildew of shower curtains and the bath tub for example. While I don’t clean them everyday when I do, it’s quick, easy and so effective and remain in good state for longer.
5) Bonus tip. Music, plants, candles and ambient lights have powers I always enjoy. I love how they make me feel. Music makes cleaning an enjoyable task. I consider it as my workout of the day, especially the mopping session. Add fragrances to this list. A good smelling home feels more clean than it might be, anyday.
Usually there are many things going on without me even realizing. On the surface level I feel very calm and still as if there is nothing that bothers me and I am present in the moment, enjoying even the most mundane activities I am undertaking but when given a nudge, the mind shows signs that it’s not empty or blank. Today I will share with you the top 3 things on my mind right now…
There are a few people in my life I want to nurture my relationship with. They are on my mind quite often. The tricky thing however is my anxiety keeps me from making any plans to see them or at times even touch base. Which means if you and I have a good friendship and you don’t hear from me, chances are if you reach out I would really appreciate that. One such friend had a baby recently; meeting them is on my mind. Today I took the first step and called the said friend. I am ready to see her. I want to bake something to bring for them too.
I have meditation on my mind. I was filling up an application last wk and it occurred to me that I have in past decade, attended Vipassana 4 times, twice as student and rest as server. I am still far away from daily practice so I am going for another retreat as student with an intention to strengthen my dhamma and then continue at home on daily basis when I return from the retreat. It’s coming up soon (before this month end)
I also have psychology on my mind. The subject is fascinating and I have some books I want to get started with. I read 2 books of Dr. Brian Weiss and am on the 3rd one right now… he is a psychiatrist & these books are on how hypnosis & past life regression helped his patients heal their current life symptoms like a miracle. I want to study, learn & experience more on this subject.
What’s on your mind?
This post is inspired by you Swaram, otherwise I was lost and had nothing to post today 🙂 just like we struggle to decide what to cook until mom or sister or friend or anyone shares their menu and that way we decide what we are going to make. Thank you for inspiring me.
It’s Saturday evening. The winds have blown away all clouds after a few days of rain showers here in Dubai. The moon is lighting up the whole sky for now but the forecast says it’s gonna rain. At 19 degreeC and the winds it’s a very pleasant winter evening. I went on a leisurely 2 hours walk earlier in the afternoon listening to podcast from a beautiful Swedish person. Now I am simply lying on the couch, my view consists of these fairy lights indoor and the leaves swaying with the breeze outside.. the wind chimes creating a melody of their own.
Restful moments like this are a norm in our household.. I love being busy in the present moment, enjoying what ‘is’ right here right now.
Hope you are having a restful day wherever you are.
Mindspace 