Happy Birthday to me :)

    

So it was my birthday last week. I had an awesome day. And No, I am not telling how old I turned. Quite a girlie thing ;-)

20th Jan! This day has always been special to me not only because it’s my birthday but also because I share my birthday with a special love of my life – My Dad! We were born on same date and same day, different years though. lol. Interesting na! It’s been years that we have been celebrating our special day together and every time my amazing parents have been great in making it feel like the world has stopped turning – in a good way – in my honor.

Birthdays always makes me feel like a celebrity. Why? Because my phone is ringing every five seconds with people texting and/or calling, writing on my face book wall, sending me birthday mails or sending messages on twitter or LinkedIn. I do feel loved and blessed. Much Gratitude!

Now coming back to the D day …  I am glad that on that day I decided to skip office. (ahh, the luxury of making your own schedule...) I believe it's a big deal to have this one day out of 365 that is completely dedicated to your being - a day on which you do all that you want and the way you want ;-)

Like every year my darling mom - dad woke me up with their warm hug and countless blessings. I am grateful to them for the love and support they've given me all my life. And most of all, I'm grateful to God for giving me the grace to celebrate another birthday so I began my day by going to Bangla Sahib Gurudwara with mom to get the blessings of babaji J Can’t forget to mention here, I had a beautiful bouquet of flowers and chocolates delivered at my home in morning. It’s been almost a week and I am still clueless who sent it. So my dear well wisher if you are reading this blog please let me know your name so that I can at least thank you for the lovely gesture J

In afternoon, I visited a beautiful place called “Kingdom of dreams”. I think it will be difficult for me to describe it in words how wonderful the place was. I actually felt like a princess in this beautiful imitated kingdom. To add to its charm my friend gifted me a crown and actually made me Princess for a day. We ate, talked, laughed, and of course, took pictures ;-) I am thankful for the laughs we shared, the bonds we made, the memories we created, and of course, the gifts I received. Hehehe.

We also watched the night show of a stagecraft musical dance performance called “Zangoora” in a world class theater - Nautanki Mahal. The whole set was animated and was designed by Wizcraft. It was no less than a wonderland and I was deeply involved in this magic world with the people I love. They spoiled me beyond reason that day by pampering me and fulfilling each and every wish of mine. I am grateful to god almighty that he has given me many reasons to smile and appreciate this beautiful gift we all call Life.

Because certain relationships need no “TAGS"

Just for a minute, close your eyes and think of all the people who mean a lot to you… May be the images that flashes to your mind is your family, some one you love, few favorite relatives, few people who were once major part of your world or few close friends with whom you share a very special bond… I believe these are few handful of people we tag as “important”  J 

In this post of mine, I will not talk about these important people, because we already know their worth. These are the people who occupy a major share of thoughts in our mind… To an extent these are the people who hold the power to make us happy or to leave us crying…

But here I talk about the unnoticed, overlooked, unacknowledged, in fact not so important relations, The ones we hardly chose for ourselves… They do not hold any special place in your lives and their absence may not even be noticed, yet their presence makes you at ease. These are the people who don’t expect anything from you, yet unexpectedly make you happy,

I am sure most of you don’t get what I am saying, and have already termed me as insane!!

Umm let me try once again, Do you have any smile friends? Few people with whom you hardly ever talk to, yet whenever you meet them, be it what ever mood you are in, you exchange smiles?

It could be a little girl who waves her hand to you whenever you enter the community park… Or any face book friend whose updates motivates you for life whenever you are down, or any fruit vendor who suggests you to take apples instead of grapes because he believes they are better Or even an attendant of a restaurant who hardly even knows your name, but knows the table you would love to occupy and reserves it for you whenever he sees you walking in  J 

Or it could be even an old colleague whom you are meeting after a long time and he asks your whereabouts! His life of course is not affected by you but still he is concerned. Or an acquaintance, with whom you hardly ever interact comes up to u and asks if you are fine because he has been noticing your missing smile, broken arm or something of that sorts… These people are hardly your friends but they are important. For they give us the happiness which mostly goes unnoticed.

Just for one day, think beyond the important people in your life and concentrate on these people who touch your lives in a special way, spare, even if it’s a minute out of their own busy lives and make you smile!!

You will find loads of such people, acknowledge them!! And look at the smiles you get from them!! Suddenly your handful of important people list will increase drastically!!

I did so today and I am feeling content from deep within. I smiled little more today, appreciated my beautiful life more, shared few hugs today and realized that to make a difference to some one’s life you don’t need a relationship name tag, may be all you need is a little kindness and a will to spread smiles J

Welcoming New Year in Aladdin’s castle: Jaisalmer!

Most of us spend our life as if we have another one reserved in the bank -- Ben Irwin.

I can relate to this as I know I don't have a reserve and I intend to leave no regrets in life and live this one dedicating it to my heart's desire J

Another year went by so quickly like speed of light. I began this year with many promises to myself including a positive outlook, my personal growth, wonderful memories, new achievements, a doze of maturity and lots of travel. Writing about how the past 365 days changed my life is definitely no easy task. People came and went, I cried, laughed, loved, cared, envied, desired, bitched, and above all discovered myself further.

2011 certainly hailed as super lucky to me. I began to blog, got deal of the year award, did bungee jump, participated in a car rally, got promoted, few dance shows and above all traveled a lot including one international trip. There could not have been a better way to end this wonderful year by adding one more chapter to my travel diaries and I chose to visit what people often call as Aladdin’s castle – Jaisalmer!

Traveling is exhilarating for me and the thrill of exploring things anew keeps the traveler in me tickling. I was excited to the core as I was about to spend this long awaited vacation with the people close to my heart. As soon as we arrived at the hotel we straight away went to the terrace. The views were unbelievable and the roof top was lovely overlooking an amazing red fort.  It was lovely!

The attraction in Jaisalmer is a beautiful fort that looks like it is has been carved out like a sand castle on a hill. Inside is a living city where about 1500 people reside. The fort is the oldest occupied fort in the world and it was amazing walking though the tiny alleys. It was really something else wandering the streets.  It really did feel like a scene from Aladdin and I portrayed like no less than princess Jasmine ;-)

After climbing a huge set of stairs and we came to roof top and I was amazed with the 360 view all around. That’s Jaisalmer for us - a wonder view. The architecture was incredible and the whole atmosphere out of this world.

But the most exciting part of the trip was still to be witnessed. Our trip to the golden sands of Thar Desert and to spend whole night there without a tent just below the open sky watching twinkling stars! Yes! You heard it right on the sand in the chilly December night J We hopped into the jeep. On our way we spent about half an hour in a ruined place which locals consider to be haunted [mostly getting ourselves clicked and just hoping if we could spot a ghost and the narrate story to our friends :P] lol

  

As the sun set it appeared God has painted a wonderful painting on the desert canvas.

We reached our destination for the night; a beautiful expanse of rolling sand dunes with not another soul to be seen. It’s mere 150km from the India/Pakistan border, and so has a strong military presence. As we took our seats around the fireplace in the star lit night sky, my friend started to play guitar and we all started singing sufi songs.  Post our musical performance; it was time to treat ourselves on conventional Rajasthani cuisine. We made delicious “lal maas” in the desert. Rajasthan's traditional food is a national treasure, undoubtedly. After dinner, we all slept in the cold sand below beautiful sky in that cold night and made it a night to remember through out our lives …. Yes, this memory will stay with me for many years to come. I spent the wonderful night with equally cordial people discovering the enticing vast desert. Locals in Jaisalmer told me not to miss the sunrise, as it was one of the most beautiful moments of the day and I was fortunate enough to see it early morning as I woke up. I took some beautiful shots of the sunrise in the desert. I was surprised by the nature’s wonder J

As all good things come to an end so did this magical night and we headed for our hotel. I can’t forget to mention that sitting on the roof top terrace of “Little Italy” restaurant overlooking the fort, with golden lights in the night and spending many lazy hours discussing the beauty of life with my dear ones was one of the marvelous moment of my life. The next few days were spent relaxing and enjoying the delicious local food (not to forget onion kachoris and bhel) and soaking up the sun.

What a wonderful start of the year it was! And soon came the time to pack our bags and return to Delhi. Jaisalmer is a dream come true for any traveler and I was also mesmerized by its beauty. The charm and the beauty of the city are awesomely alluring and I would love to visit this golden city with my dear ones again for sure.