Manali to Leh with Skyscanner

While I was writing first post about my Travel Planning experience with Skyscanner, I had to explore this portal for the first time. And planning for trip to Paris was awesome! Now since I have got hand on experience in planning a smart trip with my travel buddy Skyscanner, I thought, why not plan a domestic trip too... So here we Go!

By the way, if you really wanna know how I fell in love with Skyscanner, read my Travel Planning Post here- Trip to the Future with Skyscanner

They Say Ladakh is photographer's paradise, so how can I even think of not planning a dream vacation here? Ladakh has everything, snow covered peaks, gorgeously steep curves, blue lakes, chilling winds and everything one could imagine to experience on a heavenly trip.

Since I know Skyscanner is there to make planning part easier, I would simply sit and weave an imagination of a trip that I want to have. Uh-oh! I am not worried about calculating the budget, booking the flights or cabs, hotels etc. because my travel buddy is here to help me out.

Okay, here’s the plan:

Day1, 2, 3-Snoozing In Manali

Delhi to Manali- Ah! Once I am here, I would just want to freeze with the gorgeous white snow at least for two days. Sipping hot coffee and capturing the snow falling outside is something I would want to do. 

Day 4- Moving from Manali to Sarchu

Rohtang Pass (13050 ft) wuhu, no one would ever want to miss the thrill of traveling on this road. The plan is to wave Manali goodbye early in the morning and say Hi to Sarchu, undoubtedly through tranquil, serene and scenic roads.

After traveling 222 Kms, I would obviously want to eat some good food and take a sound sleep in a comfy hotel room. Sarchu, see you tomorrow morning!

Day 6- Sarchu to Leh

So, finally the road map to final destination is here. This 255 Kms of journey is going to be amazing because this entire route is loaded with Mother Nature’s wonderful creations. Once I salute to the gorgeous evening in Leh, all I would care to do is sit in my comfy hotel room by the window and plan the sightseeing itinerary.

***

PS: You must be wondering how I am so sure that I can plan this entire trip with SkyScanner? Actually, I have planned an international trip with the same. What? you don't believe me? Read this!

And look at this picture to know why this platform is really worth it for travel planning?

Visit Skycanner's official website here for more information on excellent travel planning...There you go!

This post is a part of Skyscanner travel wizard activity at BlogAdda.com

To know more about the contest, click here

And #WhatTheBlack Surprise Saga Begins

Heart of Stone

(Image Source: http://withrealtoads.blogspot.in/2014/07/words-count-with-mama-zen.html)

''Your heart it made of stone'', I yelled

While he stood silent in the rain

"Stones don't get injured, they are meant to hurt others" I continued

The feelings inside him seemed to be subdued

I cried to talk about it further, he wanted to conclude the argument

And finally he spoke ''Your name carved on this stone, is permanent''

***

PS: Writing for this prompt for the first time and this picture reminded me of human heart...made of stone!

This Poem is shared with Imaginary Garden - Word Count With Mama Zen.

Sailing on Feelings

Do we choose relationships or relationships choose us? Who knows? But when two people are sharing a single relationship, shouldn't there be few things to sail upon..Few rules or T&C? Because, feelings don't have anything to do when it comes to keeping the relationship, maintaining it and making it survive.

Feelings do play cupid in building a new relationships. They make human's silly mind believe that any of the relation it is going to start, is a) Awesome, b) better than previous ones, c) chances of its survival are higher and d) don't be afraid, everything will be okay!

And, mind surrenders! Congratulations, New Relationship (friend-friend, girlfriend-boyfriend, husband-wife, parent-child, more than friend-more than friend) has been born. Celebrations begin...

But, as soon as you come out of the celebration hangover and realise that simple abcd of love & relationships that your own feelings taught you is turning into complex programming language like c++. You try hard but cannot crack the codes of complexities, arguments, disagreements, broken expectations, allegations and loud cries/chaos.

And then, on one fine day, when you decide to take a break and gulp some beer down your throat, you suddenly realise, that the poor feelings that encouraged you to have a relationship fearlessly this time, have vanished...

You search for them here and there... ask the other party involved in this relationship if they'd seen 'em. After days and months of chaos, you finally realise that this particular relationship you shared with फलाना/फलानी has killed your feelings... So you decide to call off the relationship one day...

As you move out of the broken relationship's mess, you suddenly feel new buds of fresh feelings sprouting within you...And you smile, feel alive and feel good that your fragile feelings are coming back to you finally...Unaware of the fact, that they are meant to encourage you for trying out another new relationship and vanish again...

But even if we understand this truth, we won't give up on our feelings. After all, we are humans, we survive on feelings, rather than food...even if they break us...into pieces...!

Stealing fragrance from granny’s garden

The term ‘evocative travel experience’ takes me straight forward to my granny’s garden. During summer vacation, I would visit my grandma. I and my brother would jump together on the idea of travelling to granny’s home. Apart from loads of love and fairy tales (which come inherent with grannies), what fetched us towards granny’s place was her fragrant garden.

Yes, she had a tiny, beautiful and sweet-scented garden located in the backyard. A lawn that had lush green carpet of soft grass and was filled with beauties like Milk and wine lily, roses, mint, basil and Henna. Every morning granny would pluck some Henna and Basil leaves and crush them in big copper jar filled with water. She would sing beautifully while doing this. Me and my bro would wake up with her soulful & sweet voice enveloped in freshness of fragrance from her garden.

She would sprinkle the Henna and basil water at us while we would stand closing our eyes, feeling the morning dew freshness, which had blooming essence of mint, lilies, roses, Henna and of course, the Holy Basil. Nothing could beat that freshness… the joy of inhaling Mother Nature’s natural air freshener is beyond explanation. It actually requires words from the book of heavens to express how lively and gorgeous that fragrance was.

*Stealing the Fragrance*

Granny moved in with me because she had turned really ill. Dad couldn’t let her stay in our ancestral home anymore. She needed special love and care. But, she wasn’t happy staying away from her garden. She used to miss her daily routine of waking up with Uncle Sun and taking an aromatic bath (Yes, she would bathe with the scented water aka water with henna leaves and rose petals...aha! What a gorgeous granny I had), followed by worshipping lord Shiva, which was situated in her garden only.

She didn’t like the smoke could sense in city’s air. She claimed that she could feel carbon being tossed down her throat. This made us sad. We didn’t want her to feel suffocated L

Me, Mom, Dad and Bro, we all had sleepless nights to find out solution for this. Finally, my brilliant brother came up with the idea of stealing the fragrance from granny’s garden.

That was it, we travelled to granny’s place, with a clear intention of taking each plant, flower and fruit with us, which had essence of hominess. The plants in flowerpots were easy to transport, but the challenge was to arrest the fragrance of that entire garden somehow… But we were prepared to take up that challenge…with a glass bottle.

Yes, that glass bottle/jar was supposed to be our potion bottle. We carefully plucked the leaves of henna, mint, Holy Basil, lily and rose. We put all the herbs in that jar and tightened its nob so that not even the air can steal the fragrance.

While back home, we asked Granny to open the bottle and smell it. She carefully twisted the nob and a fresh and divine fragrance from the heavens, which has been struggling to be free, blown out in the air.

The bottle stayed with granny as long as she stayed on the earth, with us. And, my father placed it in her hands when she was leaving this world forever.

I never smelt anything as refreshing and gorgeous as granny’s garden. With loads of efforts, we were just able to steal a pinch of it. The herbs were so common and easily available in the surroundings. But the way granny had placed them together, had turned the scent so special…

Ah! I wish someone could steal such fragrance and fill it in a spray for me. I would love to visit my granny’s garden again and again, by just pushing the spray knob.

***

I would sincerely like to thank Godrej Aer and Indiblogger for bringing up this idea to Inspire a fragrance. 

PS: This post is my official entry to Inspire a fragrance contest organized by Indiblogger in association with Godrej Aer

Guys check out Godrej Aer's official page here. They have some awesome fragrances for your room, car and life, I would say. You can also checkout their facebook page. Also, don't forget to catch #InspireAFragrance on twitter. 

Sealed Staircase

The abandoned bungalow had its doors opened today.They said some auction was taking place but no one cared except little Asmara. She remembered going to that bungalow every evening and sit with the old lady on the staircase with tattered rug laid on it. 

The old lady owned that bungalow and lived alone in it. Asmara would visit her every evening because she thought that lady resembled to her granny, who passed away when she was 3. They talked about fairies, princesses and everything that could exist in the world of fantasy. 

Asmara sneaked into the bungalow, everything was labelled 'sealed'. The dining area, the living room and the rugged staircase too. Suddenly something pinched in her brain. She ran hastily towards her home...all winded and worried, she asked to her mom, "will they auction away the staircase too?"

PS: This post is linked to Magpie Tales

It shouldn't have rained...

‘It shouldn't have rained today’ worried about the clothes she left on the railing outside, she thought to herself; but the rain didn't care about her worries, it continued throughout the day.

Sitting at the corner seat in bus, on the way back from her office, she thought of all the bad that rain had possibly done to her in this particular season; arrgh! How she hated those droplets falling down from the sky.

Traffic jams are quite common during heavy rainfall, which obviously added to her anxiety; pretending to look aloof from all the chaos happening inside her head, she stared outside the window.

Two street kids were busy in sailing their paper boats in the still waters of rain…For a tiny second few flashes from memory lane overtook the internal chaos…she suddenly recalled how much she loved rainy season.

And yes, this post is written for Five Sentence Fiction's prompt - RAIN

The Black Wish List: Luxury Love

Black is powerful, it is intense and it is beautiful. Maybe that's what relates black with lushness. Think of luxury and you cannot complete it without black.

Well, there are countless glossy & classy black things I can ask for and that are what makes choosing only 5, really a tough job. But, after juggling up for hours, I managed to enlist the top 5 things I want to be labelled as black luxury of my life.

2012 Porsche 911 Black Edition

Look at the picture below and tell me, would you not want this baby to be yours? Porsche has been heart stealer for me always and the moment I read about this particular edition, I was totally in love with it. It is pure black magic. It has all the power to take over my mind, heart and desires. If you ask me to spend a wish in getting one thing under this sky, obviously this would be my choice. 

Black Watch

Time is utmost luxury and it should be treated that way...That's what inspires me to buy a luxury, black diamond studded watch!

I sincerely believe the watch will be as valuable as the time itself is

People mostly ignore the value of time. They do wrap a watch around their wrist but forget to take a look at it. Let me admit, I am one of those people, who don't carry a wrist watch, just because she knows that even if the watch is on her wrist, she won't be looking at it. 

So, to deal with a careless individual like me, I need a real luxury watch, which probably has black diamonds studded in it, so that I not only wear it everyday, but value the time. 

Black Piano

Having my room's finest corner adorned with lush black piano has been one of my deepest desires. 

Music has a lot to do with colors. Black is intense and deep, perfect to fit soul of music. Having a wood colored piano would not bring that feel and luxury to music, which a black, finely finished piano can.

Visconti Gorgeous Black Fountain Pen

Being a writer, I have always been fond of fountain pens. It hardly matters if the pen is costly or cheap, the ink must flow smoothly through the nib. But, as we are talking about luxury, I cannot afford not asking for a luxurious fountain pen. So this is what I have chosen to be in my wishlist-Visconti – The Forbidden City H.R.H. Fountain Pen.

Black Vanity Box

Needless to say, Black has a lot to do with beauty. Without Kohl, Lush Black Eyeliner, Gorgeous Black Mascara and what not? These are the interesting items, which have made me add a lavish black vanity box in my wish list. I am not a person, who prefers to go out with make, but at the same time, I don't consider applying kohl, eyeliner and mascara as makeup. 

***

Black IS Beautiful and it can't be expressed in a single post. Read two more posts for the same, here:

Black things I wanted as a kid

Love for Living Black Things

This post is a part of #WhatTheBlack activity at BlogAdda.com

Love for Living Black Things

When it is all about love for black things, then why only non-living stuff? Imagine, when talking about non-living items can give so much of happiness then how interesting and full of delight it would be to talk about living things. This beautiful thought inspires me to write one more post, where I am gonna talk about my love for living black things. 

Black Kitten

I love kittens, no matter black or white. But, I have a black cute kitten in my wishlist because of the fact that most of the people avoid adopting black kitties. Or worse, they consider these black cuties cursed and differentiate their love. Love is unconditional, it shouldn't be subjective...

Cuckoo Bird, कोयल

Not only me, but I guess everyone who has heard this black beauty's beautiful voice...Loves it. I don't want to cage this beauty. I rather want one to stay in my garden and keep singing the melody to make me feel good about life.  

Black Horse

Horse riding has been my dream since childhood. I would imagine myself riding a black horse with glossy skin and soft hair. If I get a chance to wish for a living black thing, then I guess that's what I would ask for. 

 Black Orchid 

May be I don't want to be stuck in the old school thoughts, where only roses could express your feelings. Orchids have been one of my favorite flowers and black shade is a heart winner. It has that appeal, the gorgeousness and uniqueness that anyone could expect from a flower. It dark purple veins and black outlook reminds me of a beautiful witch from ancient times...

Black Fish

I love the way these beautiful creatures wandering accross the glass of aquarium don't let you feel alone. You can spend hours looking at their beautiful skin and the way they compliment the green side of fake sea you have created within a glass box. This explains my love for fishes...But I prefer black fishes over others because their glossy dark color compliments the green setting of aquarium is the finest way. 

***

Black IS Beautiful and it can't be expressed in a single post. Read two more posts for the same, here:

The Black Wish List: Luxury Love

Black things I wanted as a kid

This post is a part of #WhatTheBlack activity at BlogAdda.com

Black things I wanted as a kid

When I close my big black eyes…They actually open from the other side…They open into a long black tunnel…Memory lane, which leads me to childhood days!

When I was a kid, I had a long wish list. Long enough to make me sleep before I could enlist my each and every demand in front of God. The list was filled with multiple colors but black had a special place in it... Why? Because It had been my mom's favorite color...i have handpicked a few I could recall to share with you all... Here they are, 5 of them!

Black Boat to Sail the High Seas

There were days when aka DD1 used to be only medium of entertainment. I remember watching the show अलिफ लैला  Alif Laila, which was telecasted Saturday night around 10:30 PM. My Mom would ask me to sleep by 9 PM but I somehow managed to keep my eyes open. I remember Sindbad The Sailor सिंदबाद जहाजी, sailing on his wooden boat. 

Next morning I would wake up as Little Sindbad. I would utilize entire sunday enacting as Sindbad. The only thing that would go missing was-A boat. However, I was little advanced. I didn't want to ride an old wooden boat. I rather needed a brand new tiny boat, which had gorgeous black exterior and comfy interior. And, I wanted to sit in it and sail through High Seas (which obviously was the pond located nearby my house).

Lush Black Scooter, a tiny one

I remember my father’s love for his favourite scooter…He would treat it as his personal horse and called it Chetak चेतक...(Let me tell you, History scholars have a thing for महाराणा प्रताप )...Crux of the story is My Dad believed that he rode a horse everyday, like महाराणा ...As a result, He preferred that old scooter over car.  But, the scooter wasn’t as स्वामीभक्त as महाराणा प्रताप's horse चेतक would have been. It took hours and kick after kick to start it. In fact, sometimes Daddy needed to incline it towards him and then try kicking again and again. And Worse, It stopped in the middle of the road and started all the drama. 

The family parade would also happen when we all had to go to market and Dad would find excuses to not take out car from garage and force us to accompany him on the scooter. He would somehow start his चेतक after all the efforts mentioned above and as we parked ourselves carefully on it, the खटारा would stop. Arrrggghhh! I hated it.

Well...That made me wish for a sheer black and classy scooter, which would start automatically or at least with a single kick. I wanted it to be lush black because I hated the color of खटारा, which was blue. And I also argued with my Dad that if his scooter was महाराणा's horse then why it wasn't black...? Well, I haven't seen any blue horse till date. 

And yes, I wanted it scooter to be tiny, so that I could drive it easily... :)

Black Helicopter, little one of course!

Like any other ambitious kid, I too wanted to be a doctor, an engineer, a teacher and a pilot too. However, I had taken flying a helicopter seriously. I preferred helicopter over airplane because I had noticed that pilot of helicopter sits under a glass and he can wave to the children waving back from earth. But, for that I needed a helicopter of my own. 

Black Feather Wings

This one is a funny story. I was 4 when I got a chance to become fairy in school function. My Dad wandered in the streets of town to get the best ever feather wings for me. The wings were there, serene, white and gorgeous. I looked so beautiful in white frock, crown and wings. 

Somehow, after playing the role of fairy in fancy dress competition, I started believing that that’s how I should stay every day. So I started wearing those feather wings on regular days. But kid’s life isn’t as easy as grownups might think. Mommy didn’t want me to ruin the white and flawless wings. She was worried or should I say she was helpless because of her habits of keeping everything neat & clean. 

ANYWAYS, my feather wings were locked inside the cupboard JUST because they were WHITE. I remember how I wished for BLACK FEATHER WINGS, which had no issues of getting dirty, while I played in dust. 

Black Notice board

This one totally goes for nostalgia. I remember my unforgettable school days, when blackboard and chalk pencils were used to write anything. Every morning, the nicely cleaned, intense blackboard encouraged me to grab the colourful chalk pencils and write my name on it. Being a little girl, I could never touch the even the lowest side of the board…writing anything was far less presumable… So, I always wanted a black board for me at home, with a box full of colourful chalk pencils.

***

Black IS Beautiful and it can't be expressed in a single post. Read two more posts for the same, here:

The Black Wish List: Luxury Love

Love for Living Black Things

This post is a part of #WhatTheBlack activity at BlogAdda.com

Shortcut to Zest: The Joy of Giving

When Me and My brain were busy in writing about all the existing and upcoming things/people/situations that would add zest to my life, my Heart jumped in.

Mind: What are you doing here?

Heart: How can you be so heartless?

Mind: Ah! How I wish I could

Heart: You have been busy in thinking of all the things, which would make you feel full of zest and happiness...all good, but I have a shortcut to zest.

Mind: And that would be?

Heart: Joy of giving...

Now I know why people often tell me that I have a good heart. This Mind vs Heart discussion helped me notice what I was missing. Yes, there are certain wonderful Joy of giving moments, which add up zest to my life.

Joy of Giving ∝ Zest in Life

Here are few things, activities I do for slum people and poor people whenever I get time. However, now that I know it not only gives me happiness but adds up zest to my life, I prefer to take out extra time and spend with them in meaningful manner. What I can really give them is My Time.

1# Slum Sundays: Entertainment

I often visit nearby slum area, where housemaids live with their husbands, who are laborers and kids, who go to municipality schools sometimes. Meeting with them is always a wonderful experience. The kids are so full of life, well mannered and active in learning new things. They often talk to me about their education, their hobbies and each one of them likes dancing. Talking to them makes me happy and keeps me happy all day.

Now I plan to go out with my iPod and speakers may be to arrange dance sessions on weekend. I am sure they will jam like crazy. 

2# Educating slum children for hygiene

However, those kids are not at all dirty. They take bath on regular basis and also try to keep their clothes and surroundings clean. But, what they miss is cutting their nails, washing their hair properly and wearing bathroom slippers while walking around. I donated them my bathroom slippers and gave them my nail cutter too. But, now I think educating them about daily hygiene would be more important than just giving them some hand outs. I think I just found a way to everlasting zest.

3# Spreading awareness about breast cancer amongst uneducated women 

Even educated women these days don't pay attention towards issues like breast cancer. So it is a matter of taboo for uneducated slum ladies. But now that I feel the urgency of spreading this education amongst them, I have started to lay down plans. Being an independent filmmaker, I can always use my skills to teach them, break the bars of unreasonable social beliefs. I am sure they will learn it and stay healthy.

What could add more zest to my life than the idea of preventing women from this life threatening ailment. 

4# Writing about them

As I plan to visit them on regular basis, it would be a great idea to blog about them. It would also keep me updated about my progress towards this cause. 

If I am successful in writing the blog about them on regular basis, I am sure this will double up zest in my life. After all, blogging is the way to zest and blogging for social cause would double up the fun. 

5# Trying to explore their hobbies and talent

The slum kids are really talented, but busy in playing ludo and playing cards all the time. I wish they could share their talents and hobbies with me and others, so that they can find a way to discover their inner talent. However, this doesn't seem an easy task but I am sure if I am successful in doing the above, more people will come together to join hands... This will multiply the feeling of happiness, contentment and zest.

***

PS: You can read two of the previous posts here:

Defining Zest in my Life

Defining Zest Continues...

This post is a part of the #ZestUpYourLife activity in association with TATA Zest and BlogAdda.com

Defining Zest Continues...

If you have reached here accidently, then let me warn you, this is a serial post... (sirens blowing). Yes, and here I am gonna talk about the things that I think WILL add some ZEST in my life... Read the zest theory in the previous post, here.

Now that I have talked about all the existing things that still add zest in my life and will continue to do the same, my mind called for a गृहयुद्ध (civil-war). It has been arguing with me for all the wonderful zesty things I could talk about...So, I decided to talk about 5 such things/situations, which I never ever attempted before, but I am sure, if I ever try them, they will add LONG-TERM Zest to my life. 

Romantic Sunset Date @ Beach

Everyone has the idea of a perfect date...So do I. Restless waves yet calm seashore, amber sun slowly falling in the sea line far away and He & I taking heavenly sips of champagne in. Dressed in elegant white, we both look into each other's eyes, conversing the passion, love and affection without uttering a word. Ah! the moment I imagine us on this wonderful date, the silhouette image of us holding hands, witnessing the promise of eternal togetherness as the waves wash out feet on regular interval...I simply go crazy! 

I can feel blood rushing in my nerves with high speed and I wonder the moment this perfect date would come into my life in reality, how much energy and zest it would bring to me...Yippeee...pinch me.. will ya?

Balloon Safari

Every time I held bunch of balloons in my childhood days, I tried hard to stop breathing and loosen up my body and turn it lighter enough to be lifted up by those balloons. I am sure this childhood madness explains How I loved balloon safaris!

I have never been on one till date but I am sure it would be one hell of a memorable and zesty experience. I imagine myself standing in the box and screaming in joy as they light up the fire and get it ready for flying.

I want somebody to capture my photographs and record videos as I go crazy when the balloon is being lifted up in the air. I want to see the landscapes down, wave to the people standing down on the earth and look at the sky, mountains, birds and possibly everything I could glance at. Wuhu! It would be thrilling and I would remember such experience for a lifetime. 

Luxury Ship Voyage

Watching Titanic had a side effect on me. I could never imagine my bucket list completed without having a luxury ship voyage listed in it. 

I definitely want to go on at least half a month long journey on the ship through the wide, blue and gigantic sea. I think of a serene, luxurious white ship, which is an absolute beauty. Having my partner along on this journey would make it more than just memorable. Ah! Standing at the railing, looking at the dolphins jumping out of water and falling it in again, having scrumptious candle light dinner at the open deck of ship, followed by some good live music...ah! do you still think all this cannot add zest to someone's life?

Sky Diving 

This would be something I am going to name The Most Adventurous Experience of my Life if I manage to prevent my heart from sinking while jumping from a plane & if my parachute opens on time & if I come alive on the earth.

I firmly believe nothing on this planet can compare the feeling of flying or falling down from the sky. Imagine the thrill, the excitement, the fear and the adventure. I would love to see how earth looks from the skies (or how Gods see our earth, to be precise) if I could open my eyes during the process.

I don't just want to attempt but successfully perform the act of sky diving, so that I can have an example of my strength and survival for the tough times I face in rest of my life. This would certainly add up a hell of zest to my life. And I would add a big picture of me doing this in my living room, just to remind me How Strong I have been!

Scuba Diving 

I have always believed that there are three different worlds. The Sky, the Earth and the Sea. We live in the middle one, the safest of all. But, I always desired to explore the rest of the two. Scuba diving comes for exploring the sea, bearer of infinite secrets. 

Earlier I was afraid of going deep in water. But now that I know swimming, I have developed a deep desire of diving in the deep seas, where I can see the different creatures, the underwater environment and sea stones & plant. I want to keep my eyes open and take pictures from my mind's camera. These pictures will stay fresh in my mind for a long-long time...This will add zest and wonderful memories in my mind, for a lifetime. 

***

This post is a part of the #ZestUpYourLife activity in association with TATA Zest and BlogAdda.com