Reason to Smile :)

Reason to Smile: I have found that when you love life, life loves you back !! :) My travel life is something that is extremely dear to me. The best part of it is that my friends know that :) There is nothing more than a feeling of blessing when they come together to put a plan for a trip and ask you to join!  Merwyn and company always are upto some plans almost every weekend. Bijapur was on their list this time around and I was just a spectator.  “Palaces, arches, tombs, cisterns, gateways, minarets, ...all carved from the rich  basalt  rock of the locality, garlanded by creepers, broken and disjointed by  peepul trees , each in its turn is a gem of art and the whole a treasury." The  city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural importance built during the rule of the  Adil Shahi  dynasty.  The city consists of three distinct portions: the citadel,  the fort  and the remains of the city.  Among th...

Reason to Smile: Yet another title that needs no introduction. A place known for its insanity, energy and zombie effect, I got to see the other side of Goa too this time. The moment I read a post on an event on Goa- Coastal Forts from Shikhar Ved, I was surprised and inquisitive as hell to know whether Goa can have a place that can sooth souls apart from giving you sleepless nights with food and drinks. I was delighted to know after the trip that it does :) Goa has many forts (obviously some parts of the forts have been ruined) that can capture your hearts and make you fall in love with them. We visited a few of them over a weekend with limited time that we were left with. Forts like Chapora, CaboDeRama, Marmugoa, Reis Magos, Aguada, Sinquerium and Corjuem were among-st the ones that had beautiful and static structures without any severe damages or walls with love birds signing off their identities :P It is sad to see when the youth doesn't understand that these magical and ...

Reason to Smile: I am sure the title needs no introduction. I was there this January 2018 with the new year just popping out of the system to tell me "Don't you think you need a break from work? :P" Yes, with all the mess happening around and stress that I kept feeling (for no reason) I knew I wanted to move out and be myself for a couple of days. I chose Uttarakhand for the mere reason that the destination is known for its peace, tranquility and serene nature. And that's exactly what I was looking forward to. To my utmost surprise, the place not only gave me those chills down the spine -  Literally (minus 18 degrees:P) but also ensured that I get in touch with my own deep value of surrendering to the present ! That's life and that's what I used to always believe in for the longest of times. To me, only such long curvy, hilly and the most tricky patches of the road trips have been able to bring back that sense of belonging and shake my beliefs developed...

Reason to Smile: It is this time of the year when all of us come together to celebrate Ganesh festival. One of the most sort after festival that it is, ignites tremendous amount of zeal and enthusiasm among the people of Maharashtra specially. Else, the festival is recognized globally merely for its authenticity and the energies it generates among Indians. A bunch of friends started to Pune and decided to hop for Ganesh blessings overnight. This indeed becomes one of those night-outs where all of us are more excited to seek the blessings than just have fun during the trip. One mid night halt at Mac Donalds for a bite and we were off to Shaniwar Wada for Ganesh Darshan. The Michael Schumacher that we saw in Prasad (he & his car - Oh boy!), was enough to make us reach early on there. We slogged out a lot for Parking his car and headed for our final destination. From 11.30 PM to 3.30 AM, it was a rollar coaster 'walk' to each and every Pandal (5 major ones) with immense...

 Reason to Smile: It is that time of the year when long weekends are celebrated like crazy :P So while we are always the last minute planners, why should we miss the fun of not making optimum utilization of resources available :P Hence there we are on the roads with our bags on our shoulders and totally not knowing where to wander !! This was the result of one whats app message from a partner in crime saying "Let's go somewhere. I can't sit at home for 3 days :P" "Chal" is my obvious reply and within an hour we were all set to go... Somewhere! LOL :D Cut to the time we got hooked on to our phones to check if we can shortlist some weekend getaways and most importantly get the stay or hotel bookings. The long weekend at this juncture became a challenge naturally. Most good places were booked and the others were selling it off for a bomb! After a struggle of about an hour more on this, we still could not succeed on finalizing some place or resort. We d...

Reason to Smile:  We all have friends whom we categorize in some ways by now. College friends, train friends, school friends, colony friends, Facebook friends, childhood friends, etc. But some friends are just "special" They are the ones who are always there to give you so many reasons to smile, laugh, enjoy and celebrate!  They are the ones who make you laugh so hard that your stomach aches and your head hurts !! And it is unbelievable how silly we can get in presence  of each other that we are not left sane even to judge how insane and crazy we can get!!  Thank you my gems for giving me such extraordinary memories !! Prasad, Mayuri, Rajith, Hemant, Manish, Ambica, Kalyani, Asmit - Love you loads!! # SpecialFriends   # Crazy   # DedicatedWeekend   # QualityTime   # LoveYouGuys   # BSE   # KinaraDhaba   # Breezer   # MidnightMarineDrive

Reason to Smile: When you treat yourself kindly and respect the uniqueness of everything that surrounds you, you will be giving this world an amazing gift.... YOU! Words are surely not enough for the place I visited over the weekend. I have been to many monsoon treks and recuperated capturing several waterfalls pictures in Sahyadris. But what I often miss is being completely drenched by them. I love bathing and taking those huge bumps of falls hitting hard on my head, back and shoulders! It is an unbelievable feeling to be there. It is not just a feeling of some massage on your body but for me its a mind set out totally free and completely void of inhibitions! Yes, we found one such waterfall this time. All thanks to my dear friends Rajjo and Sandy who just got enough bored to set out for an outing that did not just got us stress free but also ensured that it sets us apart from the places most people choose for an outing :) We honestly did not know or plan anything. We just kn...