My Whimsical Wanderings

Hey you! Yes you! I am writing this half-asleep half-awake at 3 in the night (or morning if you have to be pedantic about it!) dealing with my current state of insomnia! Sleep deprived yet so happy, a combination of which is so unlike me. Thinking about you. The way you tell your stupid stories. The way you laugh, the way you describe your family and the way you crack your lame jokes is” perhaps” something I am always looking for! (Added perhaps only because my defense mechanism is afraid to admit anything just like yours!) Meeting you, listening to you, kissing you and even just singing (it takes creative liberty to describe it as singing )our favorite songs is so very ordinary yet feels surreal. I thought I was a broken person who can never ever love someone again. A person who’ll always be looking for real love fully knowing that there is nothing but disappointment out there. Masquerading my true emo-boy sentiments as a joke to make people laugh. That was before you met me and every...

 2020 was a year with ups and downs and challenges that I faced with stern determination to stay happy, calm and sane. It felt like hosting a fufaa-ji at an Indian wedding. You are angry and frustrated but you still can't ruin the wedding because of him. To get some sanity and peace, I decided that this year needs a special end and a visit to Kashmir seemed like a great way to do so. So, being a meticulous planner that I am, I started carefully looking at options, travel ite.... No wait, that's a parallel life I wish I led. Here is the real story of how I "planned" for Kashmir. I booked Kashmir trip with a travel group on the last day of my Rishikesh trip that I was part of  which had been organized by same group: "OnHisOwnTrip". I don't know why, but I get anxious if I end a trip and there are no more confirmed trips in sight(What's wrong with me? Do not open that box!). Confirming this trip gave me assurance that I will spend New Year in mountains ...

I recently watched this show Indian MatchMaking on Netflix and surprise surprise I have an opinion!  If you think characters of Indian Matchmaking are outrageous just look around you and you will find: A boy desperate for a any hot girl which he prefers to call "attractive" so nobody can call him superficial and materialistic, that's Pradhyuman A mom who wants her son to be married by a certain age, that's Akshay's(and every desi Indian) mom A mom who wants her son to have kids by a certain age, well that's Akshay's mom as well(and again every desi mom)! An aunty who is super concerned about your marriage, that's Sima Aunty Sima Taparia from Mumbai A person who hates her job and pursues travel under social pressure, that's Aparna. A didi who pretends to be cool but then asks you why aren't you planning to marry at 30, that's Pradhyuman's sister. A father who is disinterested in his son's marriage, th...

लॉक्डाउन के दौरान जब ये खबर आई कि रामायण फिर से दिखाई जाएगी, तो इसे सुनकर विक्रम बहुत खुश हुआ। ज़ोर से आवाज़ लगाई और अपने बेटे विहान को बुलाया। कहा आज से रामायण आएगी, साथ देखना। आजकल के बच्चों को उससे बहुत सीखने की ज़रूरत है। इतने में उसकी पत्नी उसका खाना लेके आई। निवाला लेते ही विक्रम ग़ुस्से से चिल्लाया और बोला: “ये कैसा खाना है, तुम मेरे लिए खाना तक ढंग से नही बना सकती तो कैसी पत्नी हो तुम!” ये कह के ग़ुस्से से थाली फेंक दी। शाम को रामायण में कुछ ऐसा सीन आया जब राम सीता से कहते हैं - “मेरी दासी बनके नहीं रहना, मेरी अर्धांगिनी, मित्र, सखा, साथी बनके मेरे साथ चलना“। विहान तो उस दिन कुछ सीख गया।

This winter I travelled to one of the most unique and cool(freezing, literally!) places one can visit. I went to Russia to experience how it feels to stand at edge of the world and pleasure of chasing Aurora Borealis.  I started my journey with YourTravelGenie, a unique travel group that helps you travel to awesome places but more importantly with more awesome people and a superb host — “Sadda Apna” Genie who managed each and every aspect of the trip, from showing us wonderful places to getting us all super drunk. We started with our flight to Moscow dealing with immigration uncles bewildered by the fact that people can go to Russia as a tourist! As soon as we reached Moscow, the first realisation I had was that I have grossly underestimated Russian Winter (my Delhi se hoon BC attitude getting better of me as usual!). But then we boarded the bus and this feeling was overpowered by a good solid mix of various alcoholic drinks that made a burn so intense that I forgot about cold...