The Old Man At The Station

It was a usual day.  I alighted from the train and walked along the platform. There were many people -  a sea of people actually; all running towards their destinations. Some were college kids, with text books in their hands, memorizing some long theorem in their book.  And then there were the working people, who are always in a hurry. There were a few sales people with small bags of wonderful things. Their bags contained wonderful gemstone earrings, hair bands, clips and a large number of other things.

In the midst of all this, a little ahead of me was an old man. He looked very old. His hair was completely white. He wore a simple white shirt and brown trousers. He had a pair of spectacles. He carried a backpack which actually looked very cute on him.  There was something different and unique about this old man. He wasn't in a hurry towards any place. He did have a destination to reach, like all of us do, but he didn't rush. He took his time to enjoy every step. He observed his surroundings carefully with a look of contentment and peace.

After a while, I crossed him and started walking away. And then when I turned back, I could see him far away; strolling slowly and joyfully.

I sometimes wish we could all be like him. Being in the moment, and enjoying what it has to offer us. Instead, our society expects us to rush and reach our goals. It is a never ending race. People in MNCs are rushing to climb and reach the top of the corporate ladder. Children are made to rush to learn extra curricular activities and top their class with flying colors and grades. We even get to see people rushing to enjoy their weekends at malls, shopping centers, and restaurants. There is a rush for online shopping too!!

May be we can learn a lot from the old man - to quit the rush, to stop pushing so hard, to let go, just be in the moment, and enjoy the simple things of life!! 

Being Mindful

Living a mindful life is one of the biggest gifts we can give ourselves. Being mindful means just being in the present moment, without thinking about our past or worrying about our future. This is quite a rare concept for most of us as we live in a world where our minds are constantly bombarded with thoughts. We keep looking at our social media feed and that in turn makes our mind think about many random things.
We have thoughts about what our future will be like and this drains us of our precious energy.

The theory of mindfulness tells us to just be in the present moment. What is, is. It tells us that the only actual moment is the present moment. Like in the movie Kung Fu Panda, Oogway tells Po 'Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift, and that is why it is called the present.'

Cultivating the habit of mindful living is very difficult in the beginning, as we are not used to it. We have been taught to chase and rush in life. The busier you are, the more successful you are considered. But in reality, some of the most successful people are those who have traits of being in the present, without over thinking and analyzing things which are not in their control.

A wonderful person I came across was Thich Nhat Hanh. His videos and articles are wonderful. They explain the concept of mindfulness in a very simple way. He teaches us to let go those parts of our life that are not in our control, to stop overthinking and to just be in the present moment.

Mindfulness is a beautiful habit for all of us to cultivate.

Let's Be Grateful !! (Daily)

Life these days has become so fast paced that we go through most of our day in a mechanical way. We are not aware of most of the things happening. In the midst of all this, we forget to notice many of the small things we have that we can be grateful for.

Many of the things are taken for granted. We do it all the time. Think about it. How many of us are consciously aware and grateful for the water we drink, the food we eat, the clothes we own, our family. our friends, our planet earth, the air we breath, our freedom, etc. ?

It is proved that having an attitude of gratitude has many benefits. It helps us be peaceful with our life and takes the focus away from what we don't have. It makes us realize how fortunate we are to have so many things gifted to us by God. 

If we take a few minutes daily to just be grateful for 5 things, this will make a wonderful difference in our life. We can do this tiny exercise in office, while brushing our teeth in the morning or before going to bed. We can do it at any time. We can do it many times daily. The more we remind ourselves of what we have the more we have. The list will just increase. 

So, lets try this and make our life better and more peaceful! :) 

Prince Adrian Of Calpurnia :)

I am a fan of Hallmark movies because they have a cosy and heart-warming feel to them.  Sometimes when the world feels too cold, Hallmark movies warm up my heart.  One movie which has been my favorite for a while is ' A Royal Winter'.  This is the kind of movie I can watch while I'm lazing around in my pajamas and all I want to do is have a cup of chai, some rusk and watch a cute movie.

So coming to the whole point of my blog post, I am writing about the lead character Adrian (played by Jack Donnelly). Before going into that, let me write a little about the movie.  The movie  'A Royal Winter 'is about an American girl Maggi Marks and the prince of Calpurnia, Adrian.

Maggi is a very talented and qualified girl.  She is a law grad.  She belongs to a family of intellectuals and is expected to do well in the field of law.  Maggi doesn't like working in the corporate world since she feels all she would be doing would be chasing deadlines, sitting in an office, wasting her time and energy doing a job that her heart doesn't connect to.  She gives an interview in a leading law firm and realizes the interview  didn't go well. She has to wait for 2 weeks for the result. It is during this time that her friend Sarah and she take a vacation to the wonderful town of Calpurnia. Maggi is very exhausted and stressed out with her career and job. Her friend Sarah is very nice and she tells Maggi to relax and keep her heart open to meeting the right guy (just in case they find a nice and caring guy).

Calpurnia is a small kingdom in Europe and Adrian is the prince of this kingdom.  His father is no more and he lives with his mother Queen Beatrice in the palace. Adrian is going to become the King soon.  Adrian is shown as a person who is very good at heart but doesn't like following rules. His mother wants him to be like his father but he sees things differently.

Adrian :-)

Maggi and Adrian meet each other on the streets of the kingdom by chance. Adrian wants to be hospitable and friendly with Maggi as she is a tourist visiting his kingdom. He also wants to make up for having spoilt her hat (that is how they first meet when he accidentally runs his bike over her hat! ). But Maggi is very shy and reserved by nature. (Just like me :-) ). She isn't the kind of girl who would randomly socialize with someone. She is shown as sensitive and introverted but very lovable.  The wonderful thing about Adrian is that he understands that about her nature in their first meeting itself. He realizes she isn't the kind of girl who would flirt with a guy. He sees that she is reserved and likes that about her.

After consulting with her friend Sarah, Maggi decides to meet Adrian that evening. He had invited her for a cup of coffee. As she isn't an extrovert and an outgoing girl, she is a little hesitant speaking with him. Adrian wants to get to know Maggi as a person and at this point he doesn't reveal that he is Royal.

After spending some time with him, Maggi also likes Adrian, but she doesn't know he is a prince.  While Sarah and she go to the museum they find out that Adrian is the prince and he has been hiding it from them. The media has also spoilt his name by calling him a playboy. Maggi is angry that she wasn't told the truth. But Adrian tells her that he wanted them to know each other as REAL people and not for superficial reasons. He then takes the risk of showing her his secret coaching center for kids (which he hasn't shown anyone before). His valet Felix tells Maggi Adrian is a wonderful person. He is good at heart. Maggi is pleasantly surprised. Adrian then invites Maggi for a royal dinner at his house. She is hesitant initially but accepts the invitation.

What I like about Adrian through all of this is that he makes the effort to get to know Maggi, all the time keeping in mind that she is shy, a little afraid, reserved and currently exhausted due to her career.  He sees a genuine person in her and that is what he likes. He gives her a chance to know him too. He doesn't go after social status, her talking skills, money, beauty or her community. He looks for her character and her heart. He is also very loving and protective of her. He ensures that she is fine. He is really caring! Some of his words like ' I'l make time for you', 'Stay', etc. are just beautiful!
It says so much about his nature.

In return, she respects him for who he is as a person, and inspires him to become a good king. She tells him to follow his heart and not try to be what others expect him to be. She tells him not to fall into the trap of peer pressure. She motivates him to do better in life.

Their connection is just amazing. It is so heart-warming. It is SIMPLE, GENUINE, LOW PROFILE and REAL. And that is why I love the story of Adrian and Maggi!! :-)

P. S.-  prince Adrian is simply the best :-)

Budget FriendlyTrips

If you are the kind of person who can't stay in one city continuously and wishes to keep backpacking then you are most likely what the world calls as 'Traveler', 'Nomad', 'Explorer', etc.  We have this strong desire to keep going. Be it a small journey to a nearby place or a more planned and long trip, the joy and satisfaction we get after returning back is something only we ‘Travelers’ would understand. It is something we can’t explain using words.

Most of the people who love to travel would have experienced similar situations during their journeys. One common situation is when they over spend money during a trip without knowing that there are more reasonable options instead. I think this happens to most of us Travelers. Especially if we are completely new to a place and have no idea about the location, then we can end up spending more.

What can we do to save ourselves from over spending? What are the precautions we can take as passionate travelers? Well some of them are:

1. Read Well About The Place

Once we decide on a location, we should read as much as we can about the place. Many sites like Tripadvisor, Thrillophilia, etc. are helpful.  These sites contain actual reviews from other Travelers and we can use the information while planning our trip.

2. Transportation Details

The mode of transportation to reach a place is very important. If we know anyone living at the place we are planning to visit, we can get information from them about the best ways to reach the place. If not, we can always get information from reliable sites on the internet. Once we know the best way to reach the place, if we do the bookings in advance, we can save up on a lot of money. Flight, Tatkal Train Tickets, etc. operate on Dynamic Fare concept, hence we might end up spending triple times if don’t do the advance bookings.In our case, it is always planned at the last moment. We are trying to change!

Apart from this, the transport within the city is also very important. We should ensure we have a plan as to how we will travel within the city/destination.  Sometimes, we have cheaper options like local buses which can help us avoid cabs.

3. Accommodation

While there are many options to stay, the main points we need to consider is the safety, hygiene, facilities, comfort and the cost of the place.  If we take a little extra time to research on staying options, we can find some wonderful pocket friendly places. But this usually takes a little time and effort on our part.

4. Tour Activities

There are many tour packages available in most places these days. We need to carefully check the details of the package (what is included, excluded, taxes, etc.) We can compare the various packages and then decide if we wish to opt for one or just take things at our pace and travel as per our wish. We can compare the prices of all the available options and then decide.

5. Food

While we travel, we have to depend on outside food. Sometimes, we end up spending a lot of money on food which is actually unnecessary.  This happened to us while we traveled to Coorg. We stayed at a budget hotel, but the food at the place was extremely costly. We ended up spending a lot of money on the evening we reached. The next day morning, we backpacked away and found a small and simple place with fresh food and reasonable prices.

6. Shopping

Sometimes it so happens that we visit a city and feel tempted to buy a lot of things from there. While we visit local markets, we should always try to blend in with the local people there. If possible, we should speak in the local language. It is best if we find out if we need to bargain or not before we even go to the place. Also, we need to remember that we shouldn’t over buy things which we will never use. (This happens to me a lot L).

There are many more tips that can be used to have a budget friendly trip. At this point, I can’t think of anymore.

Hope we Travelers save up on some money and use it for another trip J

Happy and Responsible Traveling!!

Traveling to Offbeat Places

The tourism industry is doing well these days. We see many ads about packages covering the most beautiful places on television, the internet, social media and the newspapers.  So many offers are also available that it can get a little confusing deciding on the place and our travel plans. Some destinations have been famous right from the very start, and these days we see new places becoming famous.

Most people plan their vacations to well-known places.  They either take a package from a travel planning site, or plan something on their own.  For some, they consider going during festival time.  This is the time when they get to see important celebrations of the place.

I have been a little different while choosing a destination.  I prefer going to less famous places; destinations which are special, but which never made it to the ‘Top 10’; destinations which make a great holiday but are not given much attention by the tourism companies or ad agencies. The reason? Well, just that these are places which haven’t got too much hype from the media.  They continue to be what they naturally were, and authenticity is what we get to see. There is also less commercialization, whereby we don’t end up paying more than what we should be paying.

The best thing about going to a place that doesn’t come in the list of ‘Top Tourist Destinations’ is that the crowd will be less in such places.  And hence there will be less competition to visit the places within the city or destination.  We will be able to plan our trip with more flexibility, choosing to spend our time where we wish to, without being affected by the hype or the noise. We will also be able to find a nice and beautiful accommodation in such places.

I'm a very creative person. I never knew it myself, but now I know.  Rushing and hurrying, competing for the best food, etc. dampen my creative ideas. I need to take things at my pace.  This might be another reason I like uncharted places. I also feel that these places bring me closer to knowing more about the place.  I have always been a nature lover, and a person who enjoyed finding out about the history of the place I see. Uncharted places give me the wonderful chance to do just this. I get a chance to see and capture all the beauty of the place I’m visiting.

Not everyone is like me. And that is OK. I am considering the list of uncharted places worth a visit! 

Everyone is Unique

We live in a world where we are expected to follow the crowd and be like the vast majority. But what if we look at the world differently? What if we have a different set of ideas? What if we have the talent that is good enough to break mountains, but it is not part of what society expects?



Embrace Your Uniqueness!

Our world consists of seven continents and there are so many people in this world. Most of us live our lives following the pattern set for us by society.  A few years after we are born, we are put into a school. We grow up along with the other kids.  We learn so many subjects: Maths, Geography, History, Civics, Languages, Science, etc.  We have a huge syllabus given to us and are expected to clear our exam with flying colors.  After school is done, college starts. And then we get into a job. Once we get a job, we are considered to be professionally successful. And then the other parameters to success come in; like getting married, buying a house, going abroad, getting a car, etc. Come to think about it, everyone lives a similar life; one that has been outlined for us by a non-tangible, invisible entity called society.

In spite of the basic pattern of life that society has set for each person born, if we carefully observe we can see that no two people are the same. Everyone is unique. Each one of us has a special set of talents that we bring into this world as our own. But what society has done to us is that it has made us forget our authenticity. It tries to make us believe that the qualities we bring in are not enough; and that we should be like the ‘others’. 

If we look at the advertising industry today, we can see how many companies make us believe we are not pretty enough, or smart enough or talkative enough or don’t have the best painted wall. And we buy their products to make ourselves fit into the category they have set for us. Some of the false ideas fed to us are:

You should look young forever else your relationships are affected.

External beauty is all there is to life.

To be successful, you should be an extrovert.

You should own the perfect car and house else you are unsuccessful.

We have to be aware of what is being fed into our minds when we come across such ideas. Beauty isn’t external. People who are shy and reserved are also beautiful and have a lot to offer to the world. The perfect house and car are nice, but they don’t define everything there is to life.

I recently read an article which had a beautiful example.  A squirrel, a fish and a dog were asked to compete in a game. The game was that they had to climb a tall tree and reach the top of the tree. Whoever reached the top first won the prize and would be awarded a trophy. In reality, this game didn’t make any sense considering who was competing. A squirrel can climb a tree, but what about the dog and the fish? They have other talents. The dog can be judged for how fast he runs and gets the ball, and the fish for how well it moves in water. This is what happens to many people in the world today.

When we face such a situation, we need to remind ourselves that we are unique. Each of us has our gifts.  Some of us are great photographers and we can contribute by capturing wonderful moments of life. Some of us are great with kids, and we might be good as teachers or counselors. Some of us cook really well and it might be great if we start a food stall somewhere or write a Food Blog and teach others about our recipes and their benefits. There are so many things we can offer to the world if we just remember to remove the veil that society has put on us about how we should be. We can offer so many of our unique gifts to the world daily. We can make this a better place in our own little way. It needn’t be anything big or enormous. In fact, the tiniest and simplest things we do make the biggest difference.

The world would benefit greatly if we just accept ourselves completely and love ourselves unconditionally; if we don’t try to fit into other people’s ideas of “successful”; if we understand that we have our strengths and weaknesses and that is OK. That is all part of being authentically us and that is beautiful! 

Starting today, let’s be better to ourselves. Let us enjoy being the real us. And let us slowly change what this society has done to the world.

Be Real! Be You! J