Of roller coaster rides and more at the Young India Fellowship.

Yesterday I wrote the first examination of my very first term at the Young India Fellowship. I'm here for a one-year PG diploma in liberal studies and leadership. We had three courses this term, but only one exam. Wondering how, and for heavens sake, why? Well, of course, because we're awesome! The first of the courses was the Foundations of Leadership, taken by legendary Dr. Dwight Jaggard, a renowned professor from the University of Pennsylvania. Our final assessment for the course was carried out by means of a Group Discussion. No exam policy, FTW! The second course was on Statistics and its application in the modern world, taken by another UPenn stalwart, Prof. Santosh Venkatesh. But what is a mathematical class doing on the curriculum of a liberal arts course, right? That's what we were wondering too before the course began. But over the course of the class it dawned upon us how important basic statistical understanding is to make sense of common phenomena around us, right from Pizza Hut's 30-minute-or-free guarantee to general elections and exit polls. We were graded on the basis of a number of group case studies, ending with a final report that reflected our individual understanding of the course. It may have been a rather difficult course to cope with, given the insane amounts of coursework, the American model of teaching which Indian students are not accustomed to, and the short duration of the course (3 weeks!) But it was an intense learning experience, something I'm sure most, if not all, fellows from my batch will cherish.

The third course may as well have been the highlight of the entire term. The mention of a History class for most students conjures up a mental picture of big yawns and long siestas in the lecture theater. But when it is taught by one of the decorated historians of our country, Prof. Rudrangshu Mukherjee, a history course instantly translates into an enlightening journey that you begin to miss the very moment it ends. And that's what is happening today, as the first term of YIF is coming to an end and I'm reflecting on my time here over the past five weeks.

It has been a roller coaster ride, yes. There were butterflies in the stomach, there were exciting thrills, and then there were moments when you thought you were going to fall off the edge and die. But you held on for dear life, enjoying the ride, maybe secretly waiting for it to end, and in your heart chanting all-iz-well-all-iz-well-all-iz-well. And now that it has ended, you are walking out the other end, marvelling at your show of courage and taking a short break before getting in line again, for another ride of the roller coaster, of course!

Sometimes I have out-of-body experiences. It's like I am in the moment, but not really inside me. I'm standing in a corner and watching a conversation or an episode unfold. It makes me look at things objectively. I had such an experience yesterday in the cafeteria. The exam had just ended, officially ending with it our first term, and spirits were high. Everyone had only two subjects on their lips - the exam and their plans for the weekend. Our next term begins on the 31st, so there are a good 4-5 days for which we can choose to sit back and relax a little. For about an hour I was sitting in the middle of the cafeteria and listening to snippets of different conversations. Some were planning to go to the Valley of Flowers in Uttarakhand, some to Kasol or Shimla, and still others to Amritsar. Some were going home for Rakshabandhan and the holidays. For those who plan to stay on campus, movie nights and drinking trips were being planned. I was sitting right there, as blank as a television screen that's been dead for days, and I knew not what to do with myself now that the term had indeed come to a close. I had had loads of ideas and plans until the day of the exam. Yet, this morning I was at a loss.

And that's when I had an epiphany.

Every day for the last five weeks, I have had things constantly going on in the back of my head. The usual - what kind of career I'd like to have after the YIF, what I'd like to achieve while I'm here, what all I'd like to do in my spare time in this one year, and so on. I brought with me here a set of 10 great books that I had collected over the last couple of years but never had the chance to read. I hoped I'd be able to read them all this year. I also wish to resume writing stories. I wish to improve my essay writing skills (which are little more than rudimentary at best) and perhaps try to write for journals and newspapers. I wish to be careful about what I eat, and to get fit and healthy in this one year. I wish to learn a new dance form and take up singing all over again. There are just so many things I wish to do here, and yet, I have always found little or no time at hand to do most of these. Classes, assignments, socialising, freelance work, recuperating from illness - I've been swallowed up whole by the YIF ever since I stepped on campus on the 15th of July. I always tell myself, "Let me just get free from xyz, then I shall sit down and read at leisure" or "Let this particular task be done with, then I'll work on abc". I don't even have to say anything. You know it never works out that way.

But what now? I suddenly have 4 free days at hand, and I am not hounded by any classes or assignments during this time. Come to think of it, if I divide my freelance writing assignments over these 4 days, I do have some time on my hands to do the things I want to. Does that happen often? No. Do I realise the significance of it? I didn't, until yesterday morning. Before my Eureka moment, that is. I was in a happy bubble, excited that the term was over, looking forward to chilling with friends for a day, then probably travelling to someplace, and then heading home for 2-3 days. Holidays mean relaxation and no work, right? RIGHT?

Wrong. They don't have to mean the same for everyone. You don't necessarily have to 'chill' and to go out and party as soon as you get some time off of a hectic work schedule. You must take some time to peace out. But mental rejuvenation does not have to mean socialising or partying at all. You could in fact pull out your list of things-to-do, pick up one or two that bring you happiness, and go at it! I know this sounds like something even an 18-year-old would know. There may seem nothing monumental in what I'm blabbering on and on about. But how often do we actually do this for real? I know most people, including I, don't. We're so taken in by this cycle of work-party-work-party harder that to take some time off to do things alone and to disappear from the social scene for a while sounds blasphemous and lunatic. We're afraid to go off the radar, to miss out on things, to not be there when something funny happens to someone. We ultimately fall back into the old routine without having taken the little time we'd got free to reflect, rejuvenate, or achieve something more meaningful to us than maddening assignments, ELM pitches and the social calendar.

Sitting in the middle of a crowd of fellows, I suddenly felt overwhelmed by this realisation. I slunk away from the cafeteria and dragged myself all the way to my room. There I lay down to take a nap; I had barely slept the previous night, and my head was spinning. 5 minutes went by, and then 5 more. Sleep eluded me, while thoughts continued to play ping pong between the two parts of my brain. Eventually, having let go of all hopes of falling asleep, I opened my laptop and started typing furiously. That's partly where this blog entry has emerged from. I realised, while counting sheep and trying to fall asleep, that I do not really want to travel this weekend or party or watch movies with friends. Okay, some part of my mind does want all that. But it's inconsequential as compared to what I actually wish to do. I want to put my disarrayed life back in order. I want to finish reading Janice Pariat's Boats on Land. I want to work on an essay for a German competition. I want to finish editing the manuscript I currently have in my hand. I want to go out for a movie and a nice lunch with my family. I want to be away from the fellowship and its overwhelming impact on all spheres of my life right now. I want to join the chords left loose, to meet the people I've left behind, to have some semblance of my old life back, even if for 4 days. If I can do that, I'd consider this vacation more than well spent, and would be more than happy to get back to slogging away at the YIF for another excruciating yet enlightening term.

~

That said, here's leaving you with some pictures from my first term at the YIF. Good times with good people. I couldn't have asked for more from life at this juncture. Every step is a learning experience. Looking forward to many more!

Remember the creep from the railway platform in Jab We Met? Here's him. Immensely talented and equally insightful, Asif Basra, who took our orientation workshop.

The hearty laughs, and the beautiful skies.

The insights, and out-sights. (Thank you, Mitra.)

The Welcome Dinner that had no official 'welcome', and for a lot of mad ones, no dinner either. Just a lot of dancing and revelry with beautiful people.

The Namesake, the IIT Bombay, the Bose, the Gujju, the Kohli, and the one-without-a-surname.

My amazing feedback group for Dwight's Class. The perfect way to embark on a path of self-discovery and improvement is to have wonderful people giving you feedback and encouragement at every step. Thanks, you guys.

"Pramath said let there be Dwight. And Dwight said, let there be white!"

My trippy room. Put on some psychedelic music, switch on these twinklers, and you have yourself the perfect road to another world. Who needs chemical substances?

And that's the 'travel' corner of my room. I plan to fill it up with memories from the best of my travels, both in the past and in future.

I realise I have written on my blog after very long. But sometimes there's more life in and around you than you can possibly put down in words.

To writing, and to living. Cheers!

To diet, or not to diet, that is the question.

Stepping into a new stage of life, meeting hundreds of new people, and making new friends has never been an easy job for me. I am the kind of person who'd stay well within her comfort zone if she only had her way. But thankfully for me, I never have my way, because I'm much more ambitious than that frog at the bottom of the well. And so, in another 4 days I start with my one-year residential Postgraduate diploma in liberal studies. At this point, I probably couldn't have asked for a better thing in my life. But guess the only thing that's been troubling me about this transition? Well...all that weight I've accumulated over the past year or two!

I tried dancing, brisk walking, Yoga, and whatnot really, but every attempt lasted only about a few days at best. After that, I'd just find a new excuse to stay home, sometimes entirely justified, sometimes not quite. And then, 10 days ago, my mom came home in the evening with printouts about a new diet she'd heard a lot about in her office. She was talking about the world famous GM diet, I soon found out. On researching some more I was pretty convinced that this was what I needed to do in order to shed some kilograms and detoxify my body at the same time.

It was essentially a one-week-long diet, where each successive day you are to eat only what is specified in the diet chart. Day 1 was all fruits (except my summer favourites, mango and litchi, of course). Day 2 exclusively vegetables. Day 3, a combination of them both. Day 4, bananas and milk. And so on until the final day. It looked doable, and didn't quite look like a crash diet to me. I was allowed to eat as much as I wanted  as long as I stuck to the list of allowed items for the specific day. And so I went for it from the very next day. I stuck to the prescribed list of items for each day, and I rarely, if ever, stray from it.

But you know what the problem with such a diet is? You cannot for the love of God eat the same thing over and over again, all through the day! I ate cucumbers and tomatoes and salad greens and sauteed broccoli and fruits and cottage cheese and sprouts and everything that was in there. But I could only ever digest a serving or two of each, fussy eater that I am. So I ended up consuming way less calories than a normal person of my age and lifestyle is expected to eat daily to maintain a healthy metabolism. I noticed changes in my weight within the first 2-3 days, which was exhilarating and incentive enough to go on with the diet. But I seldom stepped out of home that week, I slept way too much, and I generally felt weak and oppressed. By the fifth day I was on edge. I wanted it to be over as soon as possible. I'd stopped caring about how much weight I was potentially going to lose or had lost already. I'd read that the diet would make me feel light on my toes by the seventh day, but did it? I don't think so.

It may not have been a crash diet on the face of it, but it did end up being one! And so I knew it wasn't for me after all. Then, two nights ago, I came across this new thing called the Honey Diet. I was hesitant even to read it at first, but it turned out to be pretty interesting. And honestly quite ideal too.

Healthy and balanced diet - check.

Suited to Indian dietary habits - check.

Suited to every person's individual needs - check.

Expert advice and fitness tips - check.

What else do you need, really? Input your measurements on the website, calculate your BMI, enter your lifestyle details, and arrive upon your suggested diet plan. And it's certified healthy, because sugar - one of the biggest underlying causes for most people's health-related woes - is entirely replaced by honey, a sweeter and infinitely healthier alternative.

I think the honey diet is what I'm going to try out next. Let's see how it works for me. I'll keep you posted (or not?)

My Travel Diary: The Best Moments of 2015 - USA!

Continuing from where I left off in the last post:

III) United States (NYC, Connecticut, New Jersey)

This one has been the most grandiose trip of my life so far. Everyone around me was excited, but funnily enough, I didn't feel a thing! I got my passport made, got my 10-year US visa, packed my bags, and even got some of my hard-earned money converted into USD, just so I could at least buy presents for my friends and family with my own money. It's a different kind of feeling, you know, especially when your mom is funding the rest of the trip and your relatives are taking care of your lodging. I haven't written much about my US travels till now, having mainly concentrated on the wedding of my cousin that I attended there. I have a few US posts in mind for the coming days, but for now, here are some of the highlights - the best moments from my US trip.

We were in the states for 13 days, staying at my uncle and aunt's house in Trumbull, Connecticut. They showed us around Trumbull and a few neighbouring towns and also took us to New York thrice. The fourth time, Mom and I took off on our own, taking the inter-state train from Bridgeport to Grand Central Terminal in New York. From there we walked to 51st and Broadway, where we were scheduled to begin our day-long bus tour of NYC for which I had already bought tickets on Groupon. We had no phone reception (international roaming is expensive!) so I looked for wi-fi signals wherever I went. Before I had left Delhi, I was told by many people that "USA has free wi-fi everywhere". But it's funny how I found it at very few places, mostly big departmental stores in Trumbull and Starbucks outlets in NYC. The saying 'no free lunches' seems to have become passe now. Apparently "no free wifi" is the new motto to live by in this world.

On our day-long bus tour of the city, we stopped for a bite and some much-needed rest at Bryant Park. This guy carrying an "Accept Jesus" sign was walking around, grabbing several eyeballs but apparently not many takers. I picked up my camera and was trying to slyly take his picture. I was trying to be discreet but I did want a photo badly. And suddenly, what do you think he decided to do? He stopped right in front of me, hid behind his signboard - understandably for anonymity - and posed for the lens! I took his picture and mouthed a grateful thank you. I don't know why my mother thinks American people are rude and unhelpful; I think they tend to be pretty cool!

Towards the end of an entire day of sightseeing by bus and on foot, we were utterly exhausted and famished. My mom desperately wanted to eat Chinese that day. It was one of those cravings of hers that won't leave until satisfied. Luckily we spotted a Chinese/Thai restaurant across the street from where our bus had left us. We stood outside for a good minute, considering whether to go in or look for better options. We finally decided to eat there, little knowing the surprises that awaited us.

Once inside, it took me only about a minute to realize that the entire staff was Indian. From what I could tell, even a few of the guests occupying the tables were Indian! The music playing in the background was an eclectic mix of Arabic and Mediterranean. We ordered hakka noodles, and guess what? They tasted exactly like that food we call "Chinese" here in India but which is basically our own version of the authentic Chinese cuisine. Absolutely nothing about the place was even remotely Chinese! In many ways, though, I was glad to have come to this restaurant. After a heady day out and about in New York city, a touch of India was all I needed to put a smile on my face. The picture above wasn't taken in one of my finest moments, I admit - it is downright terrible. But the memory of this place and of this moment is good enough to mandate the inclusion of this picture here. Cheers to our Indian Chinese food! What would we do without it? (My sister would literally die a painful death.)

For many people, the Empire State Building is New York City. It is its most charismatic and most enduring symbol indeed. I visited the 86th floor observatory of the building and also crossed paths with it several times. But this remains my personal favourite shot of the tower. Took it on Memorial Day, when the building had been illuminated in the colours of the US flag.

Taken from the top of our tour bus while crossing the iconic Brooklyn Bridge. Traffic is so fast and so relentless on the bridge, you aren't even allowed to stop the bus for a moment and click a decent picture. But the view from the bridge? So gorgeous, it would take your breath away.

The view from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building. One of my first impressions of New York City. And it was love at first sight!

 

And that, my friends, is the magnificent Grand Central Terminal in its stunning entirety. This station is unbelievably huge and every bit as beautiful as it is described to be. It connects the inter-state trains coming into New York with the subway system within the city. I remember the very first time I read about this place. It was in the "The Third Level", a fantasy fiction story in my class 12th English textbook about a 31-year-old who accidentally discovers a third level at the Grand Central Terminal, while in reality there exist only two. Back then I could never have imagined even in the most far-fetched dreams that I'd one day be standing on one of those very levels inside that very terminal. In that sense, it's often good not to dream too big. Let life surprise you at every turn in the road!

My favourite TV series Gossip Girl is set in NYC. I have probably watched all six seasons at least 4 or 5 times. Roaming around the city, the sights that were completely new to me didn't however feel so unknown. It felt like my favourite show was playing out right in front of my eyes. I was in a state of total bliss! And not just that. So many movies I've watched - from You've Got Mail to Friends with Benefits, all those superhero films and rom-coms, and in fact nearly half of all Hollywood movies ever made - have been shot in and around New York. To say that this trip was in fact a dream (that I never saw, but nevertheless) come true wouldn't be stretching it too far. I'm thankful for this, as I am for all of my other blessings.

BUT! Just as the US trip had to come to a sad if inevitable end, this blog post also has to end if I wish to have any chance at getting some sleep tonight. So here I am, signing off with the promise of writing again super soon. More travelogues in the offing. So stay tuned!

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My Travel Diary: The Best Moments of 2015

This year has been fairly good to me so far. Within the past six months I've been on vacations to four destinations as different from each other as they could possibly be. If Bombay had sands and the sea, Dharamshala had mountains and snow. The United States marked my first step onto a foreign land, while soon after came a road trip to Nainital, the land of lakes and lush greenscapes.

Things have been looking up on the personal front. I've taken a big career leap, putting on hold all dreams of being a civil servant and jumping headlong into a year of liberal arts, writing and finding myself. Confused? Why, yes, I got selected for the Young India Fellowship 2015-2016! That also means I'll be shifting base from Delhi to Sonepat, Haryana (not too far from home - lucky me). The course starts in another 10 days. More on that later (in a blog post soon to follow).

It's a Sunday today. I never write or, for that matter, do anything of any consequence on a Sunday afternoon. I am generally not even awake by 1 p.m. I'm usually found comatose on my bed, striking funny poses and drooling onto the pillow on a Sunday afternoon. But today is different. I woke up at 7 a.m. and have been awake ever since. Read Lolita for a while, then drifted on to reading online articles about solo travellers, and then on to browsing travellers' pictures on Instagram. And that's when the pangs of nostalgia struck. In that single monumental moment I realized - no matter how much you travel, the wanderlust bug will keep biting and pinching you in the derriere as long as you're not travelling. Every time I look at people's travel pictures, I experience this intense, haunting, all-consuming desire to take off with my camera to a far-off destination. It just doesn't go away!

So this afternoon I found myself browsing through pictures from my travels during these past few months, and reminiscing. I instantly knew I had to do a post chronicling some of my lesser known travel stories and moments from this past half-year. So, here goes.

I. January 2015 - Bombay

I kick-started the year with an impromptu trip to Bombay with my mom. My exams had just concluded (in late December) and it had been exactly a year since the first time I visited Bombay. I wished with all my heart to visit again, albeit alone. But that was not to be, because Indian parents and their worries. Mom decided to accompany me. Within the next few days, we booked 2 Rajdhani tickets, packed our bags, made our reservations, and I bought my camera to take along. Our seat wasn't confirmed till the last day because of the holiday rush.

It was raining cats and dogs as we made our way to the railway station on the afternoon of 3rd January. Our seat was still not confirmed, and despite all our attempts to buy/bribe/plead our way into a seat or two, nothing worked. So we spent the dreadfully cold night sprawled out initially near the restrooms of our coach on cardboards/bedding generously provided by the train staff. Then in the middle of the night we managed to score a seat and took turns getting some shuteye. It was a nightmare, yet probably the most hilarious and adventurous journey I've ever been on. Reaching Bombay, we had aches all over our bodies but big grins lighting up our faces.

It ended up being a great trip, full of little joys and surprises. We went to the Elephanta caves by a ferry, hung around Colaba market almost everyday, visited many iconic places, and took a bus ride of the city too. We ate hearty breakfasts at the hotel every morning, and then took off to wherever our collective mood took us that day. It was a really memorable holiday for me. And now for the one picture that embodies the most adventurous rail journey of my life. (Psst...no one has ever seen this picture before. It's been my top secret until now!)

Bad camera selfie of an amused mother-daughter duo who've made the joint between two train coaches their transient living room.

That time I sat in the ferry driver's cabin on our way to Elephanta and listened to him talk about the art of navigating a boat.

II. March 2015 - Dharamshala/McLeodganj/Dalhousie

This one was a family trip of sorts, in that mom and I went ahead, while dad and my sister joined us after 4 days. It was one of our most unforgettable holidays as a family. I've already written about how the weather in Dharamshala was beautiful during that time, and with wild rains lashing down, there were crazy photo ops all around. What I haven't written about is the wonderful time we spent in Mcleodganj, some 10-11 kilometres uphill from Dharamshala city.

Mcleodganj is the residence-in-exile of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet. It also houses a number of Buddhist temples and a huge Tibetan population. That's what makes it a one of a kind experience. I was so taken in by the Buddhist vibe of the place (I'm a closet Buddhist, didn't you know?) that I just couldn't bring myself to write about it. Some things are best left unsaid, only to be cherished as an experience. But I did put together a compilation of some of my best pictures depicting Buddhism, and another one of the Mystical Himalayas on Behance. Go, see!!

One of my favourite moments from the trip was in Mcleodganj. Mom and I were strolling around, looking for a place to eat. Finally we settled for a restaurant that had canopied tables on the rooftop with a splendid view of the snow-capped Dhauladhars. At the top of the stairs that lead to the roof, there was the cutest little Lhasa Apso dog, waiting to greet us with an innocent little friendly bark! I fell in love with him. He kept scurrying in and out of the guests' legs throughout the time we ate our meal of mushroom soup and noodles. And needless to mention, my eyes kept following him in all of his canine adventures. While paying the bill downstairs I talked to the young restaurant owners and got to know that the little one was called Tracko. I was so enchanted, I took a vow to revisit that restaurant on my next trip, if only for sweet Tracko.

Look at those cute beady eyes!

Being able to eat with chopsticks, or even knowing how to, is one hell of a feather in your kitty. :D

Another run in I had with the local dogs was in front of the Dalai Lama's residence and temple complex. As I was standing there waiting for my mom, who was busy haggling with a street vendor, I observed a female construction worker sauntering in from my right, closely followed by her little one, who looked naughty from the very outset. On my left I saw a couple of big, shaggy-looking dogs coming down the street. I had a feeling they'd meet in front of me and the child would be terrorised by the dogs. They did meet too. But you couldn't possibly guess what happened next. The dogs suddenly got all playful around the little kid and began nudging and tickling him, while the little child, naughty that he was, giggled and enjoyed pulling the dogs' hair in return. It was such a surprising sight, and simultaneously so endearing!

If I'd had an option, I'd have stayed on in Mcleodganj for a whole fortnight and observed more, and maybe written much more. But I know I'll visit again. All in its due time. :)

Okay, this afternoon seems to have turned into evening without my moving so much as even an inch. I must sign off now (I'm hungry). But I'm not done yet. There are two more vacations I want to tell you plenty of stories from. So don't go anywhere; I'll follow up with the second part very soon. Until then, keep fuelling the wanderlust!

P.S. Find more pictures and stories from my travels on Facebook and Instagram.

Tranquility amidst adventure in the Kumaon Valley.

It all began on Whatsapp. But then, doesn't everything nowadays?

Six of us, siblings and cousins, communicate with each other via a group on whatsapp. Two weeks ago we were all extremely bored and frustrated with the oppressive heat in the city. As it always happens, one of us suggested a meet-up over the weekend. A movie, maybe? We went through the names and synopses of all the movies that were playing. Nothing worked out for all of us at the same time. And just then, out of the blue in his characteristic style, the youngest cousin (even he is almost 23 years old - gosh, we're old!) chimed in, "Let's go on a trip!"

At first everyone was hesitant, even dismissive. "Chal bey. Koi nai jaane wala. Rehne de." But since he was so insistent, slowly everyone came around. Someone suggested Vaishno Devi, still another said Jaipur. The ball was in my court now. Everyone was waiting for the verdict of the "firangan", referring to my recent US trip. Now if you know me well, you'd know I'd jump at every chance I get to take a vacation to a new place. So I piped in, "Sure, why not? But only if we hit a hill station. It's too hot in here!"

And that's how it all started. Mcleodganj, Shimla, Mussourie, Nainital, and Jim Corbett were considered. After much deliberation and heated debate, Nainital was decided upon. You would wonder why, since Shimla and Mcleodganj are much more picturesque, and certainly cooler. Well, our reasons for choosing Nainital were infinitely more convincing - two of our cousins had a relative there! :P That meant: (a) No expenditure on accommodation = more fun in a smaller budget, and (b) meeting up with relatives and having much more fun in a new place.

Our parents were surprised, to say the least, at this sudden development. More so because we wanted no elders to accompany us. At least one adult member of each family was like, "WHAT? Are you crazy? Come on, at least let me accompany you." But we didn't relent and had our way in the end. A Toyota Innova was booked for the following weekend (20th-22nd June), the relatives were informed of our upcoming arrival, weather and clothing were discussed, and responsibilities were assigned. I, of course, got itinerary planning and camera duty. Everyone was so excited that the whatsapp group title kept changing every couple of days to reflect the progress in planning. At times such as these, I realize the kids in our family simply skipped out on the part where we were supposed to "grow up".

At 5 am on Saturday, six of us set out on our first road trip together. Less than 100 kilometres out of the city, we ran into the most luscious rain clouds you could have ever seen. My wristwatch showed 8 am in the morning, but the skies were as dark as ink. For an hour we were rained upon like hell. Songs played in the background, and we all chatted and updated our folks back home with photos. It was amazing.

Due to the incessant rains and weekend traffic, we reached Nainital in the late afternoon. Our hosts were the gracious Batra family, and we all stayed for two days at their wonderful home 5 minutes away from the Mall Road. Upon my soul, it was the most awesome location to have a home at. Check out the view from their balcony!

The first thing we decided to go for, after a hearty lunch and freshening up, was paddle boating on the Naini Jheel. Punctuality isn't necessarily a strong suit of us Delhiwallahs. But luckily we reached the boathouse ticket counter in the nick of time - to just manage to get on the last boats out to sail for the evening. It almost felt as if Naina Devi had welcomed us into her lap with open arms. Needless to say, the boating experience was one for the ages. We took truckloads of photos and paddled away till our legs felt like dead weights. The lake is HUGE. And intensely beautiful. Clouds were passing through the sky, but it did not rain while we were on the lake. Like I said, it was our lucky day from the very start. We ended our boat ride just before sunset.

Our stomachs were rumbling by this time, so we hit the Tibetan market near the lake. We ate momos at a popular joint called "Sonam" on the recommendation of our hosts. Though, for all that hype, they were pretty normal. Nothing extraordinary; in fact we get better momos in saddi Dilli. Following pet pooja, we browsed the various shops in the market and on Mall Road. We bought hats and posed for the camera in them. (Come on, what else are you supposed to do with them? Wear them back home in Delhi?? *the horror*) After a long walk on the mall road, we returned home, tired but satisfied with the day we had had. Dinner, music and dancing followed. And then we all lay down on mattresses in the drawing room for a good night's sleep.

Yours Truly.

Anyone else reminded of DDLJ by these cowbells? :D

Umbrellas of every possible, conceivable type, quality, and design are available in Nainital (and I think most other hill stations in the Himalayas - because I saw them in Dharamshala too).

This shop in Tibetan Market, in the same line as the Gurudwara, has the most amazing artifacts and accessories. It is a must visit if you are planning on buying souvenirs from Nainital for your loved ones back home.

Hard Rock Cafe did not open their outlet in Nainital, so these people set up their own indigenous HRC. Give it up for the jugaadu nature of us Indians! :D

The next day dawned cloudy and wet, and all our hopes of paragliding at Bhimtal were dashed. So we woke up at our own sweet pace and left for Sattal. Sattal as in "Saat (7) + Taal (lake)" a.k.a. the land of seven lakes. After a rainy one-hour ride downhill from Nainital, we approached the stunning forest-covered Sattal area. Thanks to Deepti (I hope you're reading this :*), we were guided to the campsite by her wonderful friend Rahul. He was also with us through all our adventure activities at Sattal Lake. And despite all our pleas, he only charged us a fraction of the cost we'd have incurred at the lake if we hadn't been with him. Pahadi people are really, really nice and warm. We were touched.

The first thing we did was River crossing (albeit over a lake) and Flying Fox. The fox thing is where they deliberately swing your rope up and down a number of times so that you end up taking huge dips in and out of the water. Hanging mid-air over a deep water body was initially unnerving, but it turned out to be a lot of fun and a memorable experience. I was never really afraid of water or heights or for that matter anything else. But after this day, I can officially say that I am fearless. Cannot wait to try bungee jumping and skydiving now. Aan do!

Another fun thing we did was Kayaking. I'm glad we got the hang of it almost immediately. While some people were stranded near the edge of the lake because they couldn't row or navigate properly, we sailed around the lake at ease. I turned out the expert rower out of the two of us. Once we were alone in the middle of the lake, with all edges faraway and mountains surrounding us on all sides, I gently reminded my sister of that crocodile movie we had seen together - Lake Placid 3. Watching her squirm and yell out to me not to scare her like that was priceless! We also had a lot of tussles during this time, because I can be a hard taskmaster, and my sister wasn't rowing properly. So at one point I just forbade her from rowing, taking it upon myself to do the job. But she got bored pretty quickly and started rowing again. At this point I yelled out at her from behind, "Chappu mat maar, chill maar!" My cousins, who were within earshot, heard this exchange. And this sentence became the official one-liner of the trip.

 

One of the smaller, more isolated lakes in Sattal. As seen from the edge of a cliff.

View of the Sattal lake where we had just indulged in adventure activities. Seen from the same cliff.

I've wanted to get such a shot taken for so long now. Although this didn't come out too well, but I'm not complaining.

We came home broken and devoid of energy. But an hour later, we were off again to Mall Road for a last outing before our return to Delhi the next morning. We bought candles from the most genuine candle store in Nainital (Malhotra Candle-makers - don't buy candles from anywhere else!) We also visited Honey Hut, ordered funky honey-sweetened drinks, and took loads of pictures. Everybody was in their element on the last night. On our way back home at 11 pm, we picked up food from a restaurant called Machan. We ate, danced, chatted, and even heard ghost stories native to Nainital. The Batras - Charcha aunty, Anika, Hetu, Dhruv - and their friend Deepti Joshi (now ours too) were such fantastic hosts, we felt like we had left one home and come to live in another for two days.

We left Nainital at 8.30 am the next day. Most of the return journey was spent sleeping. We only stopped at Sagar Ratna in Moradabad to refuel ourselves. Our weekend sojourn finally came to an end at 5 in the evening when we reached home. All the fatigue aside, if someone had asked me that very same day if I'd like to leave for Nainital again soon, I would have shouted yes! Because you can simply never have enough of some things.

Here's to my amazing first road trip with cousins, and to many more such trips to come in the future!

~

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An Unforgettable Date with Uncle Sam: Part II

13th May 2015. It was nine thirty in the night, but the day seemed to have just dawned at the Uppal residence. Everybody was out and about. A makeshift throne was being prepared for the modern-day queen of 18, Cherrygate Lane. Turmeric and scented oils were being concocted in an urn to make the sacred haldi paste. Aunts and uncles, cousins and friends had descended from far and wide, and could be caught sitting around sipping on their teas and martinis. The air was festive, the mood exuberant.

 

I was the newest entrant into this huge conundrum of family and friends. So obviously I was going around greeting everyone, introducing myself to some of the members I didn't know (of whom there were many) and then slinking back into a corner and willing myself invisible. I have this thing where I get all clammy and self-conscious in the company of too many new faces. At social gatherings I generally tend to lurk on the sides, alone, until I'm forcibly included in a conversation. That's just how I am. But I digress.

So as I was sitting behind the kitchen table, updating my folks back home on our safe arrival, I heard footsteps coming down the wooden staircase. And then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a dainty little thing enter the room wearing clothes I wouldn't exactly call, um...festive. Why, it was our very own pretty bride Neha, all ready and dressed up down for her Haldi ceremony! Wearing her best clothes for the occasion wouldn't have been a very bright idea anyway. Much like stepping out on Holi in brand new, shining white clothes (something only Bollywood celebrities and other insane people do) isn't.

For all those who think traditional Indian ceremonies in the West lack the charm and ritualistic authenticity that is found here in India, what I observed was actually completely otherwise. For the entire evening, and for that matter the entire duration of the wedding, I almost forgot I was in the US and not in India. (Excepting the scenic locales, of course.) Sure, there initially was some confusion regarding what all to put into the haldi paste, and whether olive oil would do in place of mustard oil without bringing down the auspiciousness quotient of the sacred paste. But the rest of it was pretty much smooth and very much 'Indian'. Take a look.

The proud father beginning the haldi-lagaoing ceremony. Look at the smiles! So much feels.

And the chirpy little sister, Anisha. I so envy the bond these two siblings share - it's amazing.

The adorable nani of the bride. A real fun person to talk to!

The bride's Bombay-wali mami. And the ecstatic looking bride herself. I couldn't imagine being half as happy as her if I were being smeared with haldi paste left, right and center. But then, I'm not half as sweet as Neha either. So.

The bride's bua and chachi (i.e. my mom) making sure her legs get some haldi-ka-nikhaar too.

The haldified Neha dancing to Bhangra beats with her awesome cousin Cashy Cash Akash.

And that's me, your 'phoren-return' narrator, with my dadi's sister - so technically my dadi-masi - so in short, dadi only. Duh.

By the time I went to sleep on my first evening in the US, I had already taken about a hundred and fifty pictures and added a posse of new relatives to my extended family tree. Way to begin a holiday! But like I said, this was just the first day. There was so much more to come, and I have so much more to tell you all. So stay tuned and I'll treat you to all my US stories as I keep taking trips down memory lane.

You can find the previous post in the series HERE.

And while you do that, also head over to Facebook and connect with me here. Only if you like, yo.

An Unforgettable Date with Uncle Sam: Part I

In the dead of the night on the 13th of May, we - Mom and I - set out for the Delhi airport, passports in hand, luggage in tow. The roads were not nearly as deserted as you'd expect at that time of the night, a fact that bears witness to Delhi's reputation of being a city that never sleeps. It took about a half hour to complete the various check-in formalities. Another hour went by without my realizing, and just like that, all of a sudden I was on my way to board the plane slated to take me on my life's first foreign trip. I was remotely conscious of the impossibly long journey that awaited us. Wondering where we were headed? Well, first to Abu Dhabi and from there on to New York. Yes, finally a date with the mighty Uncle Sam!

The 18 hours it took to transport us halfway across the globe felt like an eternity. I watched 2 movies and a couple of TV show episodes, ate 3 meals, had a couple of drinks and slept in several bursts of an hour or two. And yet I was wide awake when the plane began its descent at the John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens, New York. As I stepped out of the arrivals area and glanced back, the airport seemed small - tiny really - when compared to the airport I had just left behind in India. I felt proud.

Arrivals parking outside the JFK International Airport

It was evening but the sun shone brightly. That's when all those geography lessons on time zones and climatic differences seemed to finally make sense. In tropical India, you would never get to see the sun beyond 7.30 p.m. and that too at the peak of summer. But summers in temperate USA often witness the sun setting as late as 9 p.m.! The weather was pleasant and a chilly breeze blew. I soon realized what it meant when people in those New York-based TV shows would say, "what's the weather like today?" Because I was told that there was no climate per se; the weather could change dramatically from one day to the next! And we did come to experience that for ourselves over the next two weeks that exposed us to scorching sun, light and heavy rain as well as intensely cold days.

It was a two hour drive from JFK airport to what was going to be our residence for the next two weeks. Wait, did I completely forget to mention the reason why we were even going to the US? My mind must have skipped out on that part. Now normally I'd have loved to say that we were going to the US 'on vacation', but only if wishes were horses. It was in fact my cousin's wedding on the 17th of May for which we had been invited by our gracious hosts, Archana and Rajiv Uppal, to their home in Trumbull, Connecticut. Rajiv uncle is my dad's first cousin. He went to the US for higher studies way back in the 80s after graduating from Benaras Hindu University. Through hard work and determination, the couple have created a formidable identity for themselves and their two lovely daughters Neha and Anisha in this foreign land, while keeping in touch with their Indian roots. There is so much more I have to say about these amazing people, but I'll reserve it for later. 

The Uppals' home was every bit as beautiful as it was stately. Flanked by a pretty driveway out front, a back deck and a swimming pool beyond which lay woods on a small hill, the house had a dreamy quality about it. I got so lost in exploring the lush green surroundings that I inadvertently stepped on the swimming pool that lay covered in tarpaulin. And it turned out, it was filled to the brim! Luckily I escaped with only a few splashes on my dress and shoes. But now I can proudly boast about having walked on the surface of a swimming pool. How many people can claim to have done that, right?

Reminds me of my favourite lines every time, "Woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep".

 As I was saying, we went from the airport to our hosts' place chatting away about our families, the wedding and just how much fun the next four days were going to be. As soon as we landed at their doorstep, everyone came out with open arms and gave us a very warm welcome. There were many more relatives in the house and festivities seemed to be in full swing even at that hour. It soon became apparent that preparations were being made for a ceremony that was about to ensue. What was that ceremony? What happened next? I'll tell you all in the next post in this series. Keep watching this space for more stories from my unforgettable date with Uncle Sam.