One of the unforgettable days ...

I will never forget this day ... !!!
The vicious earthquake had already struck and created havoc in Nepal. This was the day when I was traveling back from India. Torn between the wish to stay back and spend a little more time with my then recuperating father and at the same time feeling the need to be in Pokhara at the earliest for my dear friends and loved ones ... My sweet thoughtful and anxious loved ones in India and specifically my cousins were absolutely against my early return. They wanted me to delay by few more months as they thought that Nepal was still not safe. As always, I prayed about it and found peace with my decision to go ahead.
Before leaving for the airport, I was at this hotel restaurant about to have breakfast and suddenly this strange and very strong fear and apprehension gripped me. It just flashed to me - what if, this breakfast would be the last meal of my life !!!! What happens if I don't even make it to Pokhara and I die trapped under the hotel rubble in Kathmandu itself where I was supposed to have a overnight stay. Etc etc etc .... It was terrifying !!! There was this delightful, assorted display of buffet breakfast right in front of me and for sometime I totally lost my appetite. I grappled with my fears and when I thought I couldn't, I prayed for strength​ and guidance. By the time I was done praying, I felt a fresh surge of strength and love flowing through me. And as a mark of my new found strength, I had a hearty breakfast and proceeded​ towards the airport.
I called up a dear in Nepal, from the airport and expressed my concerns. I also gave him my hotel address just in case something bad happens, so he knows where I'll be found, dead or alive. He told me not to die and thoughtfully advised me to stay awake in the hotel, make a note of all the exit gates and ask for a room on the lower floor. By God's grace nothing happened and I'm grateful to God that I'm alive to tell this story .. 

New life hack learnt

     This is the part of my life where I silently remove myself from anyone who hurts me more than they love me, drains me more than they replenish me, brings me more stress than they do peace, and tries to stunt my growth rather than clap for it. I think .. (correction) I'm sure that I've done more than enough talking and trying to make things work with certain people…I'm done.
     And, on the day's I feel that tug to go back to what has hurt/drain/brought stress to me, I need to read and remember all of this, all over again.

Travel therapy

"You start dying slowly if you do not travel, if you do not read, if you do not listen to the sounds of life... You start dying slowly if you become a slave of your habits, walking everyday on the same paths… You start dying slowly if you avoid to feel passion and their turbulent emotions; those which make your eyes glisten and your heart beat fast. You start dying slowly...if you do not allow yourself, at least once in your lifetime, to run away from sensible advice…"

~ Pablo Neruda

Gratitude : For the frightening scares

    There are countless things to be thankful for in life – so many, in fact, that if you tried to list them all, you’d have no time to actually enjoy any of them.

    Chances are, though, that there are plenty of things that would never even get close to making your list because you either take them for granted, or you consider them undesirable. We may not realize it at the time, but when we encounter something that really scares us, it can unleash all sorts of wonderful things in our lives.

    Most commonly, it is instances that involve near death – either of ourselves or a loved one – that jolt us out of our listless existence and make us value every little detail from thereon in.

    These events open our eyes and fill our hearts with a gratitude that might not have been there before. Suddenly we are able to look at things through a whole new perspective and appreciate the people and things we have around us.

    It might feel a little strange to be thankful for what is likely to be a highly distressing period, but if you emerge from it with greater zest for life, then this is something to celebrate. After all, life cannot be defined by a single episode alone.