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The Best of Ruskin Bond

An un-put-downable book after a long time…


I happened to get hold of “The Best of Ruskin Bond” an anthology of his prose and poetry and was totally enthralled  by his work. The stories are autobiographical and describe his childhood, the various personalities that have influenced his life. His love of nature and trees comes through palpably specifically in “Bird Life in the City” and “In the Garden of My Dreams.”


“At Home in India” is something that each one of us should read and share especially if anyone has any difficulty in articulating their patriotism.


The travel writings immediately transported me to Mandakini valley as I almost felt myself seeing the Alkananda and the Ganga. This book has put Dehra Doon on the top of my travel list!! An awesome inspiration for a person wanting to write about my travels…


I do not know the
technical definition of a ‘short’ story but these are about 5/6 pages
long and they commanded my attention like no other in the recent past.
There are several sentences that have stayed with me long after I put away the book. Here are a  couple from “The Kitemaker” but every story is a treasure by itself. 


“Now everyone hurried, in a heat of hope, and delicate things like kites and daydreams were trampled underfoot.”


“There is a great affinity between trees and men. We grow at much the
same pace, if we are not hurt or starved or cut down. In our youth we
are resplendent creatures, and in our declining years we stoop a little,
we remember, we stretch our brittle limbs in the sun, and then, with a
sigh we shed our last leaves.”


Trees, humans, Bond, India, short stories
http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/sites/default/files/book_image/9780140246063.jpg
Image taken from Peguin India  http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/en/content/best-ruskin-bond

Go grab the book and read!
Cheers!

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Tree Remains (Wordless Wednesday)

Pune, Trees,

A large number of trees have been cut in Pune and other cities for development. What happens to them? Are they sold for firewood or to be used to make furniture etc? No one knows. Here is the root and stump of a an obviously old and big tree left over after it was cut.

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Potholed Wonders

Somehow I have noticed that when people say ‘I love travelling’ it usually means foreign exotic destinations. Ask such people about something in their own city and one is more often than not likely to get a blank look. But of course there are exceptions!!


I admit I too had not done much ‘sight seeing’ of significant places close to my city, or indeed in the city itself. Something that I have been consciously working to overcome over the last year or so. This post is about one such wonderful place that I visited recently.


Potholes usually evoke images of roads riddled with holes and pits with traffic mayhem all around. So when I read about possibly several hundred years old naturally formed potholes near Pune which are geological wonders themselves I just had to go there… 

Natural potholes, geological wonders Pune
Natural potholes seen near Pune



These are at a place called Nighoj about a couple of hours drive (approx 90kms) from Pune. The road is excellent except the last part when one has to lurch across the country roads to actually reach the river bed. We are going to see potholes remember?? Jokes apart, these are formations in the bed of the River Kukdi.  The irregular jagged ‘holes’ or craters seem like a canyon and open up suddenly as one trudges along the hot rocky river bed. Despite seeing some amazing photographs in a magazine, the sight took my breath away.

These potholes are formed in the layered basalt rock of the river bed and extend for quite some distance and were about 25 feet wide and deep where we stood. The depth may be more in other parts according to reports. Being the peak of summer, the river had hardly any water, thanks also to the dam that is built on it. This showcased the full glory of the potholes and made them easily accessible as well. 

nighoj
Dam wall visible in the distance

The holes are shaped like a pot being wider in the centre

Geological wonders

A huge plus was that the river bed was very clean. There were a couple of temples on both sides of the river and a Laman Jhoola built across it. One can see the potholes slowly end and the river bed gets the usual flat appearance downstream.
 

Pune, Geological wonders
Temples and Laxman Jhoola


The area is home to the uncommon Capparis decidua. En route one passes several pomegranate fields as well as onion fields enroute where the harvested onions are stored in makeshift huts called ‘Kandyachee chaal’ कांद्याची चाळ (depending on the season you visit).

Kandyachee chal, pune
कांद्याची चाळ


 We were very lucky to see a colony of Swifts. It was a beautiful sight to see the birds feed their young ones. A binocular is a must!! Their nests are washed away every time the river fills up and they rebuild them again the next year. Tip: Keep utter silence so as the birds are not scared off.

Colony of Swifts

If you are in Pune with half a day to spare do visit this amazing place.The famous Ranjangaon Mahaganapati Temple is located close by on the main Nagar Road and can be easily added to to the itinerary.  
🙂
Happy travelling!

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April 2014 Rewind

April 2014. Its has been a very hectic month quite contrary to my expectations. I had signed up for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and picked a theme as well which meant I had to stay focused. If exercising can be tedious or boring then writing 26 different and interesting posts was even more difficult. I am happy to have completed the challenge but what a month. Besides the blogosphere there was so much happening all around me.

In India, the FX channel was broadcasting the popular US serial The West Wing. I began watching as I am a big Martin Sheen fan but soon was totally enthralled by the workings of the west wing and characters therein. It was the seventh season that depicted the whirlwind election campaign in the US.

The West Wing (1999) Poster
Image from IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0200276/?ref_=ttep_ep_tt

Coincidently we in India to have ongoing general elections and I kept contrasting and comparing the styles, rhetoric of the politicians. I realised there were many similarities in election politics – effects of conservative voters, immigration issues, religious beliefs, minorities and so on. Of course The West Wing is a TV serial but it must be based on some facts. Ours is a very real campaign with real issues. We will not know our exit poll results till May 12, 2014 but for all of April we were  glued to the TV news channels, or on the Internet for updates and speeches and interviews. That encroached on thinking time for my blogathon…

April is also repotting time for my succulents. This meant having to take extra care of them post-repotting. The rising temperatures meant all house plants needed more attention.

This and more stuff had to be cleared off. And, no photos of my Jade and Adenium. They are camera shy!

Jade, repotting, bonsai
Mess to be cleared after after repotting

Then there was the Pune Heritage Week happening here organised by Virasat Pune. Eight days of a brilliant reconnect with the natural, architectural, cultural, artistic heritage of this great city (Pune). I could not miss this opportunity to see and learn about places, things so close to me. I met people who had lived here for years but had never visited heritage institutes right in their backyard. There’s a saying in Hindi “चिराग तले अंधेरा ” (Chirag tale andhera). Loosely translated it means there is darkness next to the flame of the lamp.

Heritage, Pune
Heritage building in Western Circle of Botanical Survey of India

Through April I read many wonderful blogs across the world. While I think I am getting along in terms of age, I realised people who are much older are ‘penning’ their thoughts …is that the right word? should it be typing or sharing 😉 That has motivated me to be more regular and creative in my posts.

Here is a list of some blogs that impressed me. Many blogs had interesting features which made the page more attractive and informative to read. Aaaaannd… most of them are women writers!

Here are a few, I will add these blogs to  my link list on the right panel in due course.

Linda Maye Adams: Soldier, Storyteller
Debbie blog: Debbie the “Doglady” online 
Vinitha: Pooh’s Den
Corinne  Rodrigues: Everyday Gyaan
Shilpa Garg: A Rose is A Rose is A Rose
MAJK: Saffire Blade
Jetgirlcos: Forty and  Fantastique
Usha Menon: Kuch Khatta Kuch Meetha
Rajlakshmi: Destiny’s Child
Sonia Lal: Story Treasury

These are just a few. The link list closed at 2015 this year which means there are many awesome blogs that I have yet to read. According to this article in DNA there are about 100 bloggers from India participating in the 2014 Blogathon.
Wow!

Lets stay connected and share thoughts!
Thanks AtoZ and the team who kept us motivated.
🙂

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Zero… Size Zero

This is the final post for the April 2014 A to Z
Blogathon. Its been a month of “exercising for fitness” and I was not
really sure I would be able to complete the challenge and stay within
the theme. Suddenly I had a gamut of ideas for blog posts which had
nothing to do with my theme. They were banished to the ‘drafts’ and
hopefully should be up soon. So keep visiting.


Thanks
to all of you who have visited and commented here. Its been a pleasure
knowing all of you and reading your thoughts. Do follow my blog on  GFC or on Twitter so
we can stay updated on our posts.

 Stunning models in fashion magazines look beautiful, lean and toned and whatever I do I somehow never achieve that look. Obviously a lot of it is due to superb photography, make up etc but size matters as well. I had a painfully thin frame and never ever was it considered to be beautiful. Rather it was looked down upon.

In my time, fat was beautiful.

Some years ago, the so-called size zero became quite the craze in India when Kareena Kapoor (an actress in India’s film industry) was down to this size for the 2008 film “Tashan.”

So thin was in.

Later on I saw the movie “Bride Wars” when this dialogue about a wedding dress by Vera Wang has stayed with me till now: “You don’t alter Vera to fit you; you alter yourself to fit Vera.”

I am not sure what dimensions qualify as size zero but I assume its something painfully thin as is evident in photos in the links above. Can one reach and stay in this size in a healthy manner? Obviously it would mean cutting down on food which will affect nutrition and energy levels. Will there be long term side effects? This is an eye opening article about models who go to all lengths to maintain the sizes required for their work.It involved eating less or not at all, sustaining oneself with drips but not much mention of exercise. The focus was only on the size and not on fitness. Fitness is not only size but involves overall strength, flexibility and endurance. Its the combination of these that makes a person fit.
But obviously the requirements of the fashion industry go beyond fitness. Appearances count.

So is it worth risking long term damage to our bodies to reach and stay at size zero? Thats a question we have to answer for ourselves.


If you ask me then its better to be happy with our bodies as God’s gift, try not to damage it wrong diets, wrong exercises, wrong lifestyles. 

Stay fit all of you. Stay healthy.
Cheers!

Disclaimer: All
suggestions are general in nature. Readers are advised to exercise
caution before implementing them and seek expert advise about what is
suitable for their specific needs. 

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Yes, I can

A common excuse for not exercising is lack of time. There is some
project near its deadline or a team member is non productive or the
boss is over demanding and so on. When work calls we Always find time… be
it at 10 pm or 4 a m.

So why not get up an hour earlier, do a few Sun Salutations and then begin work? If its late then do some stretching
exercises to help relax the muscles.

Its all a question of having the will to do it. In London I have seen
folks jogging in parks in lunch hour. Initially i was quite amused but locals
told me these executives use any free time in this manner to stay fit!!

If Yes, I can is your motto you will find the time to exercise And
work.

No more excuses.

Make this your motto “Yes I can”

Cheers.

Disclaimer: All
suggestions are general in nature. Readers are advised to exercise
caution before implementing them and seek expert advise about what is
suitable for their specific needs.

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X is for e(X)citment!

Whatever be your workout it has gone exciting. You should look forward to
every session and find it challenging and satisfying as well. Of course
getting bored once in a while is OK but if you find that you have to
drag yourself for exercise the something is amiss. Seriously.

Ask yourself:

  • Are the exercises too difficult?
  • Are the exercises monotonous?
  • Is there excessive DOMS?
  • Are the gym or accessory costs too high?
  • Are your  exercise goals too ambitious?
  • Is there a lack of camaraderie in the group?

The answers will help you overcome any hesitation and get you back to your workouts again.
Cheers!

Disclaimer: All
suggestions are general in nature. Readers are advised to exercise
caution before implementing them and seek expert advise about what is
suitable for their specific needs. 

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