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One Year of Marriage: When the Rubber Meets the Road + 7 Lessons
Our wedding was majorly two things. Magical and fleeting. I was so busy going from one ritual to the next that before I knew it, I was unwrapping gifts! I felt different alright but I was yet to grasp the true meaning of the 3-day long ceremony. While unboxing one of those gifts I realized that a wedding is both, an end and a beginning. The end of a nerve-racking ceremony and the beginning of my marriage. When you are taking your 7 vows at the wedding altar, it is impossible to fully understand their gravity in the truest sense. You just sit side by side in front of the…
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Bali: Culinary Ecstasy
No trip is complete without food – local food, to be exact. And Bali conjured up dish after dish of mouth-watering delicacies with a pinch of yum and oh-so-much love. Being hearty eaters, we dug in. Our biggest culinary moments are all about gorging on exotic cuisines and we rarely say “No” – even if it is almost raw mussel. Our favourite things in life are big portions of food cooked with love and sunny days. Trust me, we are frugal that way. So while we were in Bali, we did what we do best. From fresh sea-food to drinks served in a treasure chest, we left no stone unturned. And today,…
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Bali: Hidden Gems
“Life keeps leading us on journeys we would never go on if it were up to us.” No matter where you are now, do this. Close your eyes and imagine sitting on top of a rock surrounded by lush greenery, listening to the pounding of a fierce waterfall only inches away from you and soaking in the water-laden breeze. This is what dreams are made of. And life took us there. No, actually Hari did. Life just played along. On Day 2 of our Bali trip, we realized that this island is way more than beaches and brew. So, we chased a waterfall instead. Turns out, in the heart of…
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Bali: Lessons on Religion & New Friendships
On the edge of a vivid green rice field awash with the first rays of sunlight, a farmer offers a slice of his breakfast to God. He smiles as he arranges banana slices, bright yellow marigold petals, frangipani, a few grains of rice and a burning incense stick on a small tray made of palm fronds. As the fragrant smoke drifts along the slope, he prays for a rich harvest. Followed by a rhythmic sweeping of brooms to clean dwellings, the day is set into motion with gratefulness to God for driving away demonic spirits and a smile as bright as the day. Welcome to Bali, a province where respect…
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Bali: A Coffee Date to Remember
We’ve all been on coffee dates. But can you recall a date where you have tasted 7 different kinds of coffee and 5 different kinds of tea? Now I can. Welcome to Cantik Agriculture Luwak Coffee – where, of the many popular Bali gems, you get to taste Luwak, Salak and Arak. It was on Day 3 of our Bali trip that our white Fortuner pulled up in front of Cantik plantation. Kadek, our young and energetic guide for the day, informed us with a laugh that ‘Cantik’ means ‘cute’. He introduced us to our Cantik guide, a smiling girl with chubby cheeks. I couldn’t quite pronounce her name. She…
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Bali: The Land of Golden Sunsets
Oh Bali, you are so beautiful! Quite a few years back, I had come across a picture where a girl in a blue dress and a Muji hat was standing in front of the iconic Bali gate. The picture was carelessly beautiful and the intricately designed gate cast a spell on me. Since then it had always puzzled me how can something as simple as a gate have such an impact on me. It was just a gate. Just another picturesque frame. It took me 2 long flights, 3 security checks and a 3-hour drive to realize that it wasn’t just any gate after all – it was the Gateway…
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Work Trip: Christmas in Pune – The Last 2018 Hurrah!
I couldn’t think of a better post to start 2019 with than my last travel experiences. Of the many things that 2018 has been for me, the most exciting has been travel (aside from my marriage of course). I’ve been lucky enough to go on 3 trips last year! More so because my dry spell on the travel front had been an excruciatingly long one till 2017. Come 2018 and the travel bug in me got pampered good. I welcomed the change with open arms and an open mind. May, 2018 – Thailand September, 2018 – Chandipur December, 2018 – Pune Pune was a work trip. My colleagues and I…
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Stillness & Reflections in the Days Leading up to Christmas
November hasn’t been too kind to me. Like every year, I stepped into November holding on to the remains of Durga Puja. I like November because it’s the month of change. You get to feel the warmth on your toes slipping away slowly, you are hit with a fresh cinnamony smell on the streets, you feel a hint of cold air sweep past your ears on tip-toe, you see the daylight fall off the sky quicker than before. It’s beautiful how these little unnoticeable things around us grow like saplings from a seed and then one fine day, sprout into winter. (In today’s blog, I’m going to share pictures of…
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Honeymoon Travel – A Short Video to Keep Things Interesting
It’s been quite a few months since our honeymoon trip and I had been itching to tell you about our adventures. But then I thought why not show you what we’ve been up to. But before that, let me tell you how the destination decision came to be. So, while we’d been dating, we decided to go to Andaman and Nicobar islands for our honeymoon. It was all final. We we were looking at beautiful pictures of Andaman together, we decided to visit Havelock island, go on a nice little cruise, hit up the beach as much as we could, binge on street food etc. But then one fine evening…
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Every Person Deserves a Champion
We all need a champion in our lives. Because life isn’t always roses and rainbows. And let’s face it, it isn’t easy to dig yourself out of every low point in your life. Help is always handy no matter how much we deny it. Thankfully, help can be found right around the corner if you are willing to look for it. I have found help in my well-wishers, my faith in God and in as insignificant things as my daily chores. Surprisingly, help has been delivered to me from unexpected sources too. I’m going to talk about one of those today. So today, I decided to tell you about the person…
