Nepal Chronicles!

Back here after a hiatus of 5 years, majorly to document the epic holiday in Nepal back in January to attend a friends’ wedding. The planning began in December with the husband’s cousins joining us for a trip along with some other friends and how time flew!

We landed in Kathmandu on a cold Sunday night, being in Bangalore for the past 8 years had us forget what cold winters are and it struck us bad as soon as we landed in Delhi, we did not come out of the quilt and had the sister switch the heater on for the day and a half before boarding the flight to Kathmandu. The airport seemed like straight out of a 70’s Bollywood movie, with old wooden furniture and extreme chaos at the baggage collection. We came out and waited for a cab our hotel had sent to pick us up at the airport. At the hotel, we met our gang for the next 8 days and it so lovely to see Abhi’s cousins whom we met after a long time. Our time in Nepal was split between Kathmandu and Pokhara. The next day was planned to visit the Chandragiri Hills via cable car to catch a glimpse of the majestic Mount Everest. The cable car ride was picturesque and the view from the mountain had us looking for the peak hidden in the fog. This was the first time ever in life that I had seen a snow-capped mountain and it felt surreal that it was the majestic Everest. The weather was extremely cold and had us our first encounter with the Nepali Momos and boy, I have never eaten a better version. The Bhaleshwar Mahadev temple on the hill is a treat to the eyes. We spent some time on the hill clicking pictures soaking in the view of the Everest. Back to the town, we went to Thamel for some shopping, it is a quaint neighborhood in Kathmandu with all sorts of shawls, masks, and other souvenirs. The next day we took a flight to Pokhara and had a stay in an Airbnb villa. The town has a spectacular view of the Annapurna range and we spent the evening walking towards Fewa lake in search of our much-delayed lunch. The weather was rainy and extremely cold, we planned a tour of the town the next day with visits to the umpteen number of caves, the Maheshwar cave, Gupteshwar Mahadev cave and not to forget the bat cave, which housed lacs of bats. We also visited Davis falls and ended the day with a walk around the beautiful Fewa lake, the periphery of the lake is a lovely area with a lot of shopping options, little cafes, pubs and has a very cosmopolitan feel. We ended the day with dinner at Pokhara Thakali Kitchen to enjoy the traditional Nepali meal. We had booked a cab for visiting Sarangkot the next day to see the sunrise and the effort that we had to take to get up at 5 AM to reach the sunrise spot by 5:45 was worth every pain that we took to get there. The sunrise point is a building with 2 floors with terraces that accommodate tourists, we went to the second floor and I was still questioning my decision to drag myself out of the bed until I turned around to see the most majestic view of the Annapurna range on one side and sunrise on the other side. The Annapurna range was sparkling with snow on its peaks and as the sun started coming up, the lovely play of colors on the peaks was a treat to the eyes. We spent the next 2 hours soaking in the beauty of the range and sipping some hot coffee to save us from the chilling cold. We checked out of the Airbnb and moved to the Raniban Resort for our last day of stay in Pokhara. the place is up in the mountains and has the most spectacular view of the Annapurna range, so much so that we chose the place just to spend time whiling away taking in the beauty around us. The manager was a super sweet host and arranged a campfire in the night for us. The next had us back to Kathmandu for 3 days of wedding celebrations and a short visit to Darbar Square and Pashupati Nath temple. The Darbar square area speaks of the history of this little country and houses multiple historical monuments like the Kumari House, the museum and the old palace. Sadly the 2015 earthquake hit this area massively and we could evidently see the harm to the museum and the other monuments.

The 3 days of the wedding were spent in fun, frolic, food and a lot of dancing which hit me quite bad with a viral fever towards the day of return and 2 weeks of recovery post the trip. Leaving you with some pictures of our Nepal travel.

To My Valentine!

The fact that I miss you terribly bought me back to my badly neglected blog space. But it made me realise how beautiful it is to read documented memories and how very important it is to write to be able to come back to reading them. So this one is for us!

For all the smiles you bring to my very boring self,
All the bear hugs I leave with and come back to, every single day
The way you hold my hand while crossing roads
And the sweet naps I take in your lap while you are glued to the television
For sharing the love of cooking,baking and eating
The boring movies I force you to download and always fall asleep watching
For listening to all that I blabber when I am upset
But holding me high when the lows surround me
And tolerating the shower of kisses I pour on you every morning when you are deep asleep

If they said there are no reasons in love, I do not agree,because I have a hundred and more reasons to love you every single day.

Happy Valentine’s Day love, you are and will always be the better of the two halves . I love you! ❤

Being a feminist….

I read an enticing piece on “rape culture” and I am worriedly astonished as to how right these lines from the article are.

“The worst possible thing you can call a woman is a
slut, a whore, a bitch.
The worst possible thing you can call a man is a
bitch, a pussy, a girl.
The worst thing you can call a girl is a girl.
The worst thing you can call a guy is a girl.
Being a woman is the ultimate rejection,
the ultimate dismissal of strength and power, the
absolute insult.
When I have a daughter,
I will tell her that she is not
an insult.

I am actually shocked by the revelation in these lines.There are certain things I have been hearing throughout my growing years :

“Stop crying like a girl”

“We have raised our daughters like sons”

“Being brought up in household with only sisters as siblings, he was also under the same restrictions that were imposed on his sisters, and so, explains his *girl like behavior* today”

“Be careful, there is a woman driving a car just behind”

How multiple conversations in a single day can become examples of gender discrimination and that people do not realize how difficult it becomes to make the ideas of feminism clear to those who may not mean to be gender biased but there “so called” statements absolutely put the other gender *read masculine” to be of a greater importance . I have friends, family and colleagues who absolutely agree that such statements mean no harm and that my feminist attitude is way too much for them to handle. Very less number of people actually care to understand that making such statements actually shows that you believe that females are weak, timid and as the above lines from the article say, “are an insult”,Really!

I do agree that in a patriarchal society, it requires a lot of strength, maturity and confidence to think apart and take a stand for bringing in changes to the social set-up,but, these are no acts of godly magnificence.

The concept of feminism is not about the greatness of womanhood, rather it is about similarity,balance and fairness,and, to make people understand that,

It is actually alright to not give your seat to a female in a bus, but it is not, to offer them a seat and pass lewd remarks on some or the other female walking on the street

It is not a big deal that you “allow” your wife to work, working out of home is way of life for you as well as for her, there is nothing too liberal about you if you help your wife in kitchen and take care of your kids. It is just that you take equal responsibility.

To not accept dowry or ask for it is no act of benevolence and it is just about believing in the right thing to do.

Glorifying womanhood and portraying a woman as the ultimate example of endurance and love is a myth, rather she is a human being who is equally susceptible to anger and impatience.

Cooking, cleaning and house keeping is the responsibility of all the people who stay in a house, and if a woman does not know how to cook or clean, doesn’t make them a lesser human being.

And  being a feminist has been and will always be and just about equality.

Of irritation,absent mindedness and a hearty laugh!

I travel to office by the BMTC bus. For all those who know, today I boarded a bus which just has a front door and no conductor,plus,I chose it over a volvo because it had place to sit. So, the bus took one hour to cover a distance of 5 kilometers and I was mighty irritated. I boarded a volvo for the second half of my journey but still reached office a good half an hour late.

Now, walking inside the campus, I reached the ground floor of my building and I see a newly opened “Au Bon Pain” outlet, and I mutter in my head, “There was a CCD here yesterday and now Au Bon Pain, these guys just don’t need time at all to set up the outlets. Anyways, I can come down for a soup and sandwich sometime,when I don’t carry lunch”.

With all this in mind, I got into the lift to go to the 4th floor. Happily, I landed on the floor to find a completely different office. In confusion, I climbed the stairs to the 5th floor to see if I took a lift to the other side. On 5th floor too, a completely different set-up. Mighty confused, I board the lift to go to the ground floor. In the lift, I read, “you have taken a lift of block 3 A”. Oh!Ok, muttering in my mind, in the same building, I take a round of all the lifts to see which ones go to block 3B. I also make a note to check with my manager if at all,there are different lifts to different  blocks. Wondering all this, a sudden thought clicks my mind, where have the ATM machines gone from the ground floor? And the tube light suddenly lightens up,Oh My God!This is a different building altogether. : D

I was laughing out aloud reaching my desk, until I could wait to recite the whole thing to a friend online. Have you ever been in a situation where you have fallen prey to absent mindedness of this extent ? 😛 . Please share. I am all ears, and promise I won’t laugh. 🙂

Recipe-Pav Bhaji

I was in a hurry to dig in,so the slightly burnt pav, please ignore 😛

Since the time I can remember, this has been the most favorite dish in our household,Me, Sis, Ma,Papa all love it in equal measure. And what best time other than winters to savour the hot ,spicy mix of vegetables and spices. I tried to make a low fat version of it using a little olive oil and rice bran oil but it tasted heavenly, none the less. The recipe has been handed down by Mom and for me, I haven’t ever tasted a better version.So let me present you, the first ever recipe on my blog .

Ingredients (serves 3 people) :

2 medium sized potatoes

1 big cup cauliflower

1 cup cabbage

1 cup bottle gourd (diced)

2 big tomatoes (grate one and cut the other to be added with the other veggies to be boiled)

8-10 pods of garlic

1-inch piece of ginger

2 green chillies

3 medium sized onions (grated)

1 cup green peas

1 medium sized capsicum

1 tea spoon red chilli powder

1 tea spoon coriander powder

A pinch of turmeric

1 table spoon pav bhaji masala (I used MDH)

1/2 tea spoon cumin

2 table spoons of cooking oil ( I used a mix of olive and rice bran oil)

Salt to taste

Cut all the vegetables (potatoes,cauliflower,cabbage,bottle gourd). In a cooker, add all these with the green peas and pressure cook for 2-3 whistles. Grate the onions. Make a paste of ginger,garlic and green chillies. Add oil to pan,when it is hot, add cumin.
When the cumin starts to splutter, add the ginger-chilli-garlic paste. Cook till the paste becomes a light brown,throw in the grated onions and saute until the onions are nicely cooked and the raw smell vanishes. Add the grated tomato at this stage. Let it cook until the water burns down.Add capsicum and let it cook for about 30 seconds. Add salt,chilli powder,coriander powder and turmeric powder. Cook until you see oil leaving the sides. Then mash all the boiled vegetables nicely and add to the pan. Let all the vegetables mix with the gravy. Add the pav bhaji masala and mix well. Cook for 2 minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves, a dash of lemon and onion. Server with buttered pav and enjoy.

PS: I also added a little chat masala to the gravy.You can skip if you want it to be less tangy.

Twilight…

Taken at Bekal beach, Kerela. The couple had set a camera tripod to take pictures of the setting sun. One of my most favorite pictures from the trip.

My first baby

is my little sister. I remember holding Papa’s hand to take him to see her in the hospital,the tiny little thing, I remember trying to run away from Masi’s room to sleep beside her and Mummy in the middle of the night. The perfect child she used to be,no tantrums apart from being Mummys’ chipkoo and bawling with the wide open mouth and the loudest voice you could ever imagine for a 2 year old. The cute little thing with curly hair looked cuter when her 4 year old self stood on the top of a stool to be caught slurping a whole bowl of yogurt kept on the top of the fridge while Mom slept in the afternoon. I used to wonder at her simple choices for a kid all of 4 years old ,yogurt, dal, milk and roti for food, no throwing tantrums for toys or games or even chocolates. Her kindergarten school was right opposite our house and I remember dropping her in the morning right on to her seat in her classroom. When she moved to the school I was in, I used to go her in the recess to have our dabbas together till the time she was old enough to get my dabba along with her when I started an early morning Maths tution. Come summer vacations and both of us would land into some kind of art and craft classes. We used to ride on bicycles to every place and the times when I gave her a ride and dropped her to bring her crying self seated on the carrier with me dragging the bicycle for the fear of hurting her again,if at all I cycled with her in the backseat. Every single thing that was brought for us had to neatly divided in two portions,be it chocolates or pencils or crayons, I was a devil enough to take away her share sometimes without anyone getting to know.  Dancing on those bollywood songs playing the actor and actress to getting songs recorded for her dance practices to seeing her perform beautifully at numerous cultural events. The first time she spoke in an elocution contest and came running towards me after winning the first prize, to the wonderful results in board exams. The first time she went away from home for a crash course and hurt herself on the leg. I still remember how it broke my heart when she called me and told that she was in pain.

But though a baby for me, she took all her career related decisions like a pro,gave a shot to what she believed in and finally succeeded to make it to one of the top 3 law schools of the country. I sometimes think,how nice had it been, if I had the same zeal for whatever I wanted in life. She actually worked hard, traveled to numerous places for her summer and winter internships and finally landed into the kind of firm she always desired. She makes me beam with pride. 🙂

We shop like crazy, read same books, plan stuff for Mom and Dad,but also fight like there is no tomorrow. However, we still can’t manage to stay without speaking to each other.

I once read about Taurian girls in a Linda Goodman book,she said that these are “tall” women. Tall, not by the inches, but by the soul. When me and mom worry about her stubborn attitude at times, I recall Linda Goodman’s words. She makes friends and stands by them, brings harmony and sweetness,has enough room in her heart for the people she loves and is surely one of my my most favorite people, the sister of my heart, my little baby.

 

The first blog marathon and bringing the blog back to action..

This has been a dormant space for the last 6 months or more and there was no other way to bring it back in action. When I saw the post on RM’s blog,I did not really give a thought as to how long will it last for my blog with travelling involved in the last week of January, but with the list of prompts ready at Dreamy Mommy’s blog, it did not really seem impossible. So here I am with the first post of the series.

I have never really made resolutions which would actually last for a year or so. They keep springing up and fading away, not a very great thing to do, but I can just list down some things that i intend to continue doing in the new year . So here it goes.

• Lose 4 kgs of weight, walk, change eating patterns and habits and lose the flab any which ways. I desperately want to get into those old-not-much-used set of clothes piling up in my wardrobe
• Keep cooking, and explore more recipes, try hands on baking,varieties of salads and soak in joy of mixing ingredients to create what brings satisfaction to the taste buds and the weight loss regime 😛
• Giving the best shot at work,learn more and keep updating myself with the current business scenario
• Plan investments  for the family
• Read more, complete the half read ones and explore the writings of different writers like Chitra Bannerjee and Devdutt Pattnaik, there is no magic like that of beautifully woven words
• Plan outings and trips with family
• Make personalized gifts, cards,videos and stuff,nothing can beat the joy of watching the expressions on the face of loved ones on receiving some of these
• Make peace with myself, don’t let aspirations and goals go haywire and cause trouble to me and my family

Keeping up with these is task in itself, but penning them down would surely help as a reminder. Wishing loads of happiness and good health to all of us.Hope all of us have a brighter 2014!

Letting go..

is what i fail to do. I am amazed at this ability of some people very close to me and yet I refuse to learn. Not that I enjoy holding on to stuff that should not matter, but its that stubborn attitude and *how could they/he/she* which refuses to leave. Knowing that it causes so much heartburn and pain,puts my love to test,and weakens me from within. Knowing that I have to extract good from life, from opportunities, from talents. Knowing that it hurts someone to see me troubling my self over stuff that could be avoided. Knowing that I am blessed to have those few relations I am proud of having built. I fail to learn.

And I put it here to remind myself, that I have better people to care about rather than breaking my head over issues that do nothing but devoid me of all pleasures, the ones which I refuse to acknowledge because anger makes me turn a blind eye to them. I have a future to build which I know I can make the best of. It just needs faith and a promise to myself that nothing ever in life should be big enough to make me forget my love and my family. And “letting go” is never a big deal :).

Love ..

You teach me to strive and thrive

and to catch what life throws 

in and out.

You make me smile at my silliest mistakes

and laugh through the utter crap I target at you.

I lose my temper and lose it all

I hit and I shout and I cry 

for somethings that are beyond control

Yours as well as mine.

A hug and a kiss is all

it takes to gain what is lost

and I pray that I live up to the love you shower upon me

all the time