ME-TIME Weekends

For majority of people who slog through all weekdays can better share their eagerness with me with the word..no the whole idea of "Week End". But, how often do you have "me time" weekends? I am sure few. We look forward to weekends as a way to socialize, waste ourselves, party hard or may be just to lazy around.

I am writing this post today on a Monday evening, and bet me I had no Monday blues, this time:) I had two successive really good "me time" weekends. A Sagittarius spirit that I am, I love to meet people, make friends and be on the roll. But that bug of my time bit me, and I chose to make peace with myself. Yes, you need time to love yourself too! Ah, you will say, you are already in love with yourself, So let me put, when did you go for exercise last time, or woke up at 6 on a Saturday/Sunday morning, or cooked something to pamper yourself. If you did, then you don't need to read further..you are already in sync with yourself, lad! But if you didn't, especially since sometime now, you ought to read it with a belief that loving oneself is equally important to giving love!

So, I will first list out what all I did in my "me time weekends"

1. I woke up at 6 am in the morning, went for running and did some exercise...the adage "healthy mind resides in a healthy body" is true indeed..and I do all this with a motive!  

2. I read- I am not a bibliophile, nor do I read regularly. But importance of reading can nonetheless be ignored, and I wish to read more and more..... I spent my time finishing the autobiography I am on, "Before Memory Fades" by Fali S. Nariman 

3. I cooked- Not like some extravagant lunch. But I discovered some good salad recipes and tried my hand at it.

4. I cleaned- I no more have a maid to clean my house, and so I went on a spree with my tools to clean the house. Bet me, its not that easy, but the satisfaction once you get done with it, goes beyond words!

5. I slept- yes, I slept like a baby. To have a proper sound sleep is as essential as any other physical activity. It refreshes one from inside out.

These are the ones that kept me majorly occupied. But the important part is that one spends time with one own self. By loving own self I do not mean that one should turn narcissist. All I wish to share is that it feels utterly good to be with oneself, to do things which you want to do for your won existence. For the lazy ass I am, one who lives under the bondage of procrastination, its rejuvenating..and its relaxing. I didn't stepped out of the house except for my morning walk or buying grocery..And I feel so fresh after these two weekends! I dreamt, I planned, I wished ....and I did it :-)

And these are my Monday Musings :) :-)

Have a great week ahead!

Just Be

Just Be. That's what a friend told me during a long telephonic conversation. I was baffled with the internal turmoil that had accumulated within me. And so I called him to make him hear my rants against what was subdued under the multiple layers of me. Me? But who is that? Is it a congregation of limbs with some awareness of its existence. My existence is no where beyond me having that sense. If there is pain, its within me. If its happiness, that too lies inside me. No one can make me feel good or worse unless I start to acknowledge that. Didn't I know that. I did. But have I or you, the reader, has reached that stage... My friend told it will come...and when it will come you will realize that!
What is the point of getting attached to something or someone? Why to crib about getting up early? Why to worry about maid not turning up? Why to force oneself to reach office? Why to get occupied in office gossips? Why to indulge in ass-licking of bosses? Why to worry about promotions? Why to feel awful for the guy you like not liking you? Why to feel shattered for a relationship that has turned sour?Why to worry of earning that money? Why to be in that mad rat race? Why to be under that constant fear of loosing everything when the blatant truth is nothing belongs to me?!?!!?!

The energy lies within me. Energy to nullify or multiply the effect of these is ME. I am nothing but I can only be everything. A decision can be good or bad but being indecisive doesn't makes me go anywhere. Attachment or detachment are flip sides of one coin, but that coin is me..why to get flipped all the time. Mistakes are part of life..but lesson learnt is valuable. Why to get embroiled by the externalities, where it is me where lies the fire! I am in charge of my own self, whether in real I exist or not. I have to be undeterred and unconfined.

I am waiting for that realization to come, my friend! And I will wait for it to come!

A trip to remember

After umpteen lunch table discussions, plans and formal mails, we decided (ofcourse by majority rule and not unanimously) to go to Shimla for weekend outing. We,  aka, "FinLeg Team" ( it's a self -proclaimed abbreviation which sounds cool to me, since that gives me a title space in the Finance Team) is a group of eleven people at Groupon India. Two of the team mates couldn't make it, and so I was the only female with a gang of 8 guys. And that is one of the reasons that this trip turned out to be so much fun!

Most of us Indians are bitten by the bug of being "adventurous" or "explorer". So if you tell your friends (esp the ones based in North India) that you are going to Shimla for a weekend holiday, they appear to shrugg off your vacation idea, devouring uninvited suggestion that it's too commercialised. But we were too lazy to account for any of such suggestion and went ahead with our pre decided destination. 

Journey with Indian Railways is amusing  and Shatabdi Express  is one of their finest luxury. The serving staff, who is never short of exuberant smile on their face, have all the patience to obey your incessant requests of tea bags, extra sugar, extra butter or coffee replacements. But towards end, they will serve a neat tissue napkin in anticipation of "bakshish" for the tireless patience and services rendered. I am sure for those of you quite familiar with railway journeys, must have come across those unyielding fellow passengers who are too passionate about their allocated seat and would be unrelenting to exchange the seat even given for Kuber's treasure!! Nonetheless, every time I travel, I enjoy my time spent on rails on board.

We hired a tempo traveller from Kalka railway station to reach Shimla, and the driver became our fellow for the rest of the days of or trip. Passing through Dharampur, we halted at "Giani Da Dhaba" to satiate our ravenous hunger. But the food was overrated and not worth to be experienced again. After a 3 hour ride, which was infused with gossips and chats, meandering our way through sharp turns in the backdrop of Himachal ranges, with bollywood music in the background score, Shimla had arrived. And it welcomed us with an amazing weather treat, concomitant with rain and hail bouncing on the road in front of our hotel. Shimla was the Summer Capital during British Raj and truly manifests the heritage till date (rest can be better read on Wikipedia, so I spare myself with further details !!). A stroll on the famous Mall Road in the late evening where the cold breeze made us shiver and freeze, was combined with continuous sessions of pampering ourselves with local spicy Chat, salted strawberries, ice creams and honey chocolates. 

Narkanda, a tourist destination appx 60 kms from Shimla, was all covered with fresh snow. When you are a part of "Guys gang" it can become challenging to live upto their energy and excitement. For someone who had seen snow for the first time (except in their refrigerators or as a ice cube in their drinks) it was a sight to behold. For someone who had nourished the "dream" to visit Narkanda, it culminated into over-excitement!! Playing with snow, sliding up and down, hurling snowballs at each other, posing against the picturesque background, gulping down freshly cooked omelettes and maggi, served with hot tea, was what made it a perfect enjoying get -together holiday. The drive to and fro from Narkanda & Kufri to Shimla was interspersed with the melodies from all era... ranging from classics of Mohd. Rafi, Kishore Kumar to wretched heart aches (esp mention: Oye raju....pyaar mat kariyo... ;) ) to shaking our legs on Baby Doll to travel feats of yuhi chala chal rahi.....

Late evening and night session was filled with dancing and singing our hearts out. Few showed the rare talent to imitate the evergreen expressions of filmstars of 60's & 70's era flashed on a TV channel in the hotel room, in their skilful duet performances. The photography and recording was strictly prohibited during this session ( a session which literally left us rolling on the floor). A long round of Dumb Charades played post midnight made me realize how aloof I am from the reel world and how my colleagues follow Indian movies ritualistically!!And bet me, it is not so easy to convince 8 guys not to play cards (as I personally find it boring) and to play Truth & Dare, esp after a drinking session and  a sumptuous dinner served in the hotel room! But persistence can help you achieve, if not everything, then for sure many things!! 

Slang, slurs, leg pulling, jokes, fun and frolic with colleagues on vacations/outings are perfect stress busters from the drudgery of corporate world. So this visit to Shimla, after my first visit which was 11 years ago, is crafted in my heart as a trip to remember........(always)!!