Visiting home

-
So obviously Anu and I were talking (when she was here last weekend) about going home and shopping and enjoying and all those things... Thanks to mom, we always dream big and perfect!!! There is never plan B.... In this case it means, visiting India in December at the same time and spending a lot of time together shopping and @ Sarla's (I guess only Thane females know the significance of this!!!). I am sure as we will realize soon, many of these plans will fall apart... sadly :-(... But I guess we should be able to pull something off (IF our vacation overlaps)... 

It is interesting.... The first time I saw Sundara Mana Madhe Bharli in Thane and I heard some of the things people said, I was thinking... "These people have no idea how much India has changed". And now I feel like one of those people. Anu and I were talking about buying this and buying that from India and how it would be so much cheaper and I always talk about how our culture is different, how the education system is different.... And finally someone said... When was the last time you went to India?? That just caught me off guard.... Even when I visited briefly 2 years back everything seemed so different... Now whenever I talk to Ashwin, I really see the difference to quite some extent... he is sort of me 6 years back, only better, more informed and more confident!!!

Like someone said (I don't remember who!!)... When you leave your country, you have an image in your mind... And the image always stays, but things back home change... and in our day that change is happening really fast!!! Is it selfish to hope that things won't change? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dil ne tumko chun liya hai..........

-
I keep adding new songs to my iPod every now and then and keep listening to the new ones over and over again. Yesterday for some reason I decided to listen to some older songs and decided to go for Jhankaar Beats . I had completely forgotten how much I used to like this song: Dil ne tumko chun liya hai Tum bhi isko chuno na Khwab koi dekhta hai Tum bhi sapne buno na Dil ye mera tumse kuch keh raha hai Suno na.......... Not only had I forgotten all about this song, but I had also forgotten what a hardcore romantic I used to be. I don't know what about this song affected me so much.....The lyrics, the melody, the singer (Shaan, who else?), I guess everything about this song touched my heart. The past few years have been tough and I guess I sort of came to terms with it, but in the process put some of the old sweet memories somewhere in the back.......When I was listening to this song I was thinking, it would be so nice to have someone sing this for you.....And then suddenly that Pand
Read more

My Favorite Things To Do in Washington D.C.

-
Image
I spent a significant amount of time in 2023 living in Washington D.C. While a lot of the year was spent on managing a steep learning curve at work, traveling to conferences and shuttling between Atlanta and DC, I managed to explore DC a little. I had visited DC a few times before, but living here gave me an opportunity to explore it in more depth. I absolutely loved taking the Metro everywhere. It reminded me of living in Mumbai and I felt comfortable and absolutely safe. I took the Metro at all odd hours, even taking the last one at midnight a few times and never felt unsafe. There are several advantages to using the Metro in DC. It connects different neighborhoods in DC very well. The few times that I took an Uber/Lyft, I was stuck in traffic for long enough to regret my decision. On the weekends the charge is a flat $2 each way, no matter how far or close you are traveling. So, it seemed like a no-brainer to use the Metro.  Safety tip:  When traveling by myself, I generally tried t
Read more

Hiking in the Canadian Rockies

-
Image
Herd of Bighorn Sheep on the Trail I finally checked off an item from my bucket list - hiking in Banff and Jasper National parks! The Canadian Rockies are full of beautiful lakes, mountains and wildlife, and they had been on my list for a really long time. So, I was happy to check them off this summer. We went on a 9 day trip in the Alberta area and loved every minute of it. While we hiked quite a bit and saw tons of lakes, I will share some of the highlights in this post, that I think are not to be missed. Check out my post on hiking in the Colorado Rockies to read about appropriate gear and altitude adjustment. All of that applies here too.  Banff National Park : On day 1 in Banff National Park, we headed to Johnston Canyon and hiked the Inkpots trail . The canyon itself is beautiful and most people hike to the lower and upper falls. To get away from the crowds though, continue hiking further on the Inkpots trail. This leads to five cool springs where the water percolates from the
Read more