Of a boy and a girl

Ok so this is a story of a boy and a girl ( well realistically man and woman , but it sounds better that ways ) , so this boy and girl had been married for a while and like most of the marriages their marriage had ups and downs but anyways, this story is not about their marriage, moving on..

Now this girl was the practical sorts , head over heart mostly and the boy was emotional variety . Now in course of her job , the girl had to be in U.S. for some work for three months . So she went and since she had few friends around and she had been to the country before she knew her way around and with work and everything she was having a good time . Also in the meanwhile the boy planned a trip and spent a week with her and they went around a few places spent a good week together and then the boy went back to India to take care of his work.
After 10 days it was the girls birthday , although the girl was cool about being alone on her birthday , the boy insisted she spends her birthday in Newyork ( hour and half away by train - and it was a weekend ) . They discussed how she would spend her birthday - watching a broadway show , which she had never done before and probably get a tattoo done visiting the Met museum and generally spending a night in NY. The hotel booking and everything was taken care by the boy so she gets a nice birthday treat. So on her birthday she left for NY , spent some time in time square  browsing through the street shop, had a quick lunch , took all birthday calls from mom dad uncle aunty cousins and the boy also. Then she went for Mama Mia, ofcorse she had her first broadway theatre experience and such a wonderful show !

Next stop was MET museum just couple of blocks away, as she left the hall she got another call from the boy, to check  about the show and then asking to turn  right , well that was crazy why should she ..he insisted and well she did. And there he was standing right in the middle of time square with a single orchid stem to wish her birthday. Saying she was stupefied will be an understatement , she was laughing crying all at the same time . There was her boy in person to wish her birthday  and to spend just  few hours with. He just spent 3-4 hours with her because he had a return flight next day morning , but that feeling will last her a lifetime ! 

This article is written for Indiblogger contest for British airways 

These are a few of my favourite things ..

Remember this song from the movie Sound of music ?? Everytime I listen to it I am filled with happiness and hope. And I am hopeful this year, more hopeful in the begining of 2014 than ever before. Isn't that a good thing ? Suprisingly I dont have any particular reasons but why should I question a good feeling ? I go on hoping for a wonderful 2014 (Touchwood !! ) 

 What about you? Now that the whole Euphoria of new year and year end break has settled , how are you finding yourself ? Got back into the routine or like me still trying to find your bearings :) :)

Since we are in topic of all things new , I thought i will share a new (to me) blog I discovered recently and i am totally in love. I adore the photos and the life the author seems to have , all fresh and all french ..yes that's the dream ..someday !!!! Do check out Manger , classy and delightful. I love love love the photos and most of the menu she share. I will defintely trying this Garlic soup recipe

soon and so many more recipes she has.

 Again may be a little in the day (i am over 30) but I lived my life pretty much without makeup- occasional lipsticks yes but nothing more, its time to experiments and learn things and since i am regular reader of IMMB blog and like it's truly democractic format - by the reader for the reader, so will be leveraging it a lot in my 'fashionable' 2014. 

Here is wishing you a fulfilling 2014 and happy Lohri, Talk to you soon !

STOP. THINK.

I was doing a wonderful post about our  recent trip to Coorg but the images all around me are so disturbing that i had to stop writing that and write this.

I am sure all of you would have seen / heard the tragedy in uttarkhand, its shocking to see those images and be witness to all the death destruction and loss. A beautiful heavenly region is now reduced to piles of rubbish and mostly due to human negligences. My memories of char dham yarta that we undertook few years ago is filled with beautiful sceneries, great family time and wonderfully warm people. Trying to fit that image into what i see today on TV is heartbreaking.

Clearly our generation has lot more disposable income than our parents generation and traveling a lot more, exploring right from Leh to Kanyakumari. This is good, we all know tourism is good for any economy there are many countries where tourism is the mainstay but its time we thin about sustainable tourism. Every time one steps out of home there is quiet a lot of damage we do to the environment and not just air pollution, think about travel size shampoo and moisturizer bottles. Bed sheets that we expect to be changed everyday even though at home i do it once in 3-4 days.

For those of you who have not been to Uttarakhand, it really really beautiful. Postcard beauty types, with Himalyas on one side and Yamuna / Ganga / Alaknanda river running on other side. Unfortunately its one of the poorest state of India, himalayan range at its best is treacherous , getting even the basic supplies to corner of state is quiet a task and expensive affair  and despite having one of the hardest working population in the country there is abject poverty every where. Summer tourism is actually a great source of income for most of the families in this region and now after this tragedy it would take decade to build their life back to where it was before.

I wish now Uttarakhand has to start afresh we can implement something like Tibet,  where one is required to spend a minimum amount every day and tourism is strictly controlled by government hence is controlled and brings great riches to the area.

Visiting every nook and corner of our exotic country is a wonderful experience, there is so much history, beauty and culture at every step. However lets be mindful of all the damage that we do to environment. May be plant a tree for every road trip we take ? Use a cloth carry bag, avoid travel size packs, recycle & reuse and just be little conscious of our surrounding. Lets not wait for another reminder from God to really wake up ..... leave something beautiful for our kids to enjoy !