Festival of Delights!

Hello friends! Welcome!

शुभ दिवाली! Happy Diwali!

Diwali is not only just a festival of lights,

But, a festival of energy and delights!

This joyous atmosphere,

Which usually arrives in mid-October/ mid-November in the month of Kartik/कार्तिक,

Is for me, more than anything else, a time of abundant happiness!!!

Diwali/Sanskrit Deep Avali/दीप आवली,

Meaning a row of lanterns,

Brightly starts off with धनतेरस/Dhanteras!

The day joyfully fly’s away in cleaning and decorating the house!

Narak chaturdashi, the second day of Diwali,

Is known as the day when god Krishna triumphed over the Narakasura.

In my opinion,

Narak Chaturdashi encourages everyone to win over negativity, which, I think, is today’s Narakasura….

Then, we welcome my favorite day of Diwali! Lakshmi Pujan!

This day, happiness abounds!

People in new clothing, an infectious cheer in the air and smiling faces with satisfaction,

Along with god Ganesh,

Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity is mainly worshiped.

This day brings friends, families, everyone together!

The 2 days, namely बलीप्रतिपदा/ Balipratipada or Padva and Bhau beej,

Celebrates the relation of husband/wife and brother/sister respectively.

Diwali is, I believe,

An amazing motivation to be unique, to do something new!

Friends! How do you enjoy your Diwali? Am curious to know in the comments!

A moment of pride! Inspiration to continue the joyride.

Hello friends! A grand welcome!

When passion,

Consistency and my family, you dear readers comes together,

I experienced, attracts attention!

Yes friends!!!

Our blog has recently been featured in Sakal,

One of the top newspapers!

Author Vijay nipanekar,

With his offbeat and unique writing style,

Highlighted some amazing moments of this blogging journey!!!

click to read/वाचण्यासाठी क्लिक करा

This landmark moment not only gives me a feeling of pride,

But also is an opportunity, my dear friends,

To thank you!

Celebration of an awesomely unique relation!

Hello everyone. Welcome! By god's grace, I hope all’s well with you! 😊

There are many kinds of relations in our lives.

That of friends, within the family; our mother, etc.

Within our family relations,

There’s an awesome connection! 🤔😲

In English, it’s known as aunt...

In Deutsch or the language of Germany, they say Tante. In Marathi, it’s known as काकू/Kaku.

Although the word aunt has various meanings in various languages,

One of the meanings is; father’s brother’s wife….

My reason for calling this relation unique,

Is because

This is one of the support of the Indian family; or should I say? Once used to be…

Due to the families slowly getting smaller and smaller,

This aunt is sadly beginning to vanish somewhere.

If luckily, the family’s together that’s to say lives in one house,

Then this aunt factor balances the workload of the home.

We only visit our extended family now during the festive season.

To be happy and to be relieved from this stressful world for a while,

Families should try and come together more often.

I consider myself lucky that my aunt, behaves with me more like a friend!

Can this openness,

Become the answer to today’s commonly observed, stressed family relations? 🤔

How’s your experience? Any memories?

Or, what do you think about; Aunt?

do share in the comments! 😊

!from celebrations! To satisfaction. How’s the transition?

Hello Friends!

Ganapati Bappa! Morya! गणपती बाप्पा! मोरया!

As the celebrations of Ganesh Chaturthi are in full swing and

The cheerful atmosphere is being sweetened by the prasadam of Modak,

The thought of visiting my beloved Bappa smiled in my mind and we took immediate action!

The joy, surprises? Or just for fun.

Whatever you call it, traveling can be as great as the rising sun!

Began our journey to the city of dreams, Mumbai!

From cracking jokes, munching on food to a coincidental sound of the band Baja,

We were greeted by the navsachi line at Lalbagcha Raja!

around  noon we joined the queue heading towards the Lalbagcha Raja.

At first, the excitement was all high!

Soon, my nice misunderstanding of; it’ll be just 1 or 2 hours and we’ll be there!

Disappeared in the trickles of sweat and roar of hunger.

Then, motivation came from the cheery voices of people saying Ganapati Bappa Morya!

But you know what? After a few more hours, the legs shift to auto-walking, mode..

Ignoring the mentally ticking stopwatch, trying my best to keep the sleepy body awake,

Finally we saw it, the idol of the Lalbagcha Raja and

For the first time in so many hours of turning at intersections of the line, trudging along,

the excitement, the energy returned in full force to shout, Ganapati Bappa! Morya!!

I just got a minute or so in front of Bappa.

But the experience was so, so divinely amazing….

In that moment you forget your tensions, your exhaustion or,

I might even say, that you forget even yourself.

This feeling itself, isn’t this the real god?

Proud of its history and gloating in the glory; Italy and I welcome you to our story!

Long, long ago…

Okay; actually not that long. 😃

Just a few days back; 😊 friends, you and I were astonished in the unbelievable Austria.

I hope that you enjoyed the experience!

Taking the euphoric celebrations through Europe another country further…

To see if our knowledge can cross the pizza/pasta boundary…

Yes friends. You’ve joined me in Italy!

Just like the well-known bliss of the Swiss,

So a Shakespeare play made this place famous?

You guessed it right! Our first stop happened to be Venice.

Freshening us up was the wet, cool evening breeze… like it was there just to tease.

I thought, the weather’s just perfect!

To go to the island, we boarded a boat.

As drops of water began dancing here and there…

For the first time in the entire trip,  everyone made use of a raincoat.

The sea has always fascinated me… Can’t say why, but it attracts me like the glue…

The waves are ever so calm… The surroundings so charmingly blue....

All this was so nice… We were in the Gondola ride…

Everyone was reminded of and my Indian readers also might remember this song…

दो लफ्जों की है, दिल की कहानी…

कुछ याद आया?

After the gondola ride, we visited a glass factory.

There, we saw a glass horse being made within a minute!

The Venice attractions, such as the Doge's Palace, Bridge of Sighs and others

Welcomed us onward to take a stroll through the city.

The next day excited us as we travelled to Florence…

We took a photo-stop at Piazzale Michelangelo, a hilltop square having a great view of the city.

And now… It was time…

That we see our most awaited Italian world-wonder…

The Leaning tower of Pisa!

Cameras/smartphones were clicking… collecting lifetime moments one by one we were picking.

What wonderful memories were we making!

Have you ever eaten a grilled sandwich or a bread roll? I tasted the Italian version… And the surprising fact? There the locals call it Panini/Panini…

Panini also happens to be the name of an Indian grammarian who is also considered the father of linguistics… Info source.

We entered the smallest country in the world, the Vatican City… there we were

In the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.

The cleanliness, discipline and the artwork of the great Michelangelo impressed us all…

The Roman Forum, the political and commercial center of

The historical Roman Empire attracted our attention…

With a visit to the Trevi fountain, we saw the Circus Maximus, the entertainment square

And a chariot racing stadium the of ancient Rome.

Cherishing lifetime moments we said goodbye to Rome…

And were off to our home sweet home.

Astonishingly unbelievable Austria! 😲

Very rarely; it so happens that,

We not only travel… We not only visit/go places… but,

We simply glide… float… Get lost in an experience! 😊

Hello everyone! Welcome aboard our wonderful journey through Europe.

Overwhelmed by the bliss of the Swiss,

We began the journey towards our next wonderland.

I’ve surely reached this conclusion that traveling and surprises   are always the best of friends.

For as we were moving towards our next travel curiosity,

A beautiful tram ride whistled out to us in Vaduz, Liechtenstein!

Showing the country’s cleanliness,

Greenery and natural wonder; the tram ride seem to ask,

How are you doing? Didn’t this make your day?!

Refreshed by the tram ride,

We arrived at the Swarovski Crystal World and Museum

At Wattens in the astonishingly unbelievable Austria!

The Swarovski Kristallwelten, better known as the Crystal Worlds,

_{Is a museum that was built in 1995 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Austria based crystal company Swarovski.}

_{The museum is decorated with many showrooms, each containing a different, eye-catching theme created from the} Swarovski _crystal.

_{The trip through the crystal world was truly mesmerizing.}

_{Energized by the creatively crystalline beauty,}

_{We took a walk through the streets of Innsbruck… observing the delightful wonders such as the Inns River, Maria Theresien Strasse, etc.}

_{The next day had decided to gift us with a truly astonishing experience…}

_{For as we began our drive towards Salzburg; meaning the salt fortress,}

_{We were, once again, lost in viewing the simply creative beauty of Europe….}

_{Be it the nicely built wooden balconies and houses… Neatly maintained gardens… What to pick? How much to click? 🙂}

_{Admiring the surroundings,}

_{We took a walking tour of the city of music…}

_{The morning flew away as we were engrossed in seeing the various attractions of Salzburg}

_{Such as the birthplace  of Mozart, Salzburg Cathedral, the Salzach River, etc.}

_{The afternoon smiled upon us,}

_{As we visited the Hallein salt mine or the Salzbergwerk Dürrnberg, an underground salt mine /museum in the Dürrnberg plateau above Hallein.}

_{To me, it was much, much more than just a visit… it felt like a magical adventure… 😲}

_{An adventure filled with inspiration, wonder and lifelong memories.}

_{In all, Austria is, I feel somewhat like this.}

Rarely it so happens that we not only visit a place,

But, get lost in the experience!

Hoping you’ll join in the euphoric celebration…

See you soon at another wondrous destination!

There are some things in life that no one should miss? at least once, do visit Swiss!

Hello everyone! Welcome!

Inspired and excited by the journey  through Germany/Deutschland,

The cool, fresh breeze

Embraced us as we moved towards the scenically serene Switzerland!

Beauty was abound…

Be it the sky, the mountains or even just the ground.

The snowcapped mountains… glittering with inexpressible splendor… neatly growing trees… wow! Just breathtakingly beautiful….

All this was there, we were having fun!

To me,

 It really felt as if god had ornamented this environment to welcome us into earth’s heaven.

_Just wandering around our hotel was a great delight,

_{However the clocks were saying, it’s time already. Just sleep tight!}

_{We obeyed the advice,}

_{For the experience that we had the day ahead can’t be valued at any price!}

_{Good morning! Called out the sunrise,}

_{We opened the window. The view was anything beyond the word; surprise!}

_{Just... just wow!}

_{With a really fast,  breakfast there we did, for everyone, be it young or old, was as eager as a kid!}

_{Falling in love, is only once, as they say.}

_{For the few minutes of walking, we were again charmed by the surroundings…}

_{Walking? Sorry. Such boring English. To me it was like; we were gliding away.}

_{Now, we could only exclaim, wow! Bravo! Awesome!}

_{Be it the cable car or the rotating Titlis Rotair,}

_{That lifted us high through the snowy air,}

_{The world around had just turned stunningly Wight, the mountain giving the message to dare.}

_{Climbing up, up and up…. we were there just to admire,}

_{At 10000 feet above sea-level,}

_{I realized that you’ve got to aspire at a very high level to reach your desire.}

_{On the mountain? It was superbly spectacular!}

_{Be it the fantastic ice-flyer ride….}

_{Or the wild, crazy snow slide!}

_{Indeed a fabulous experience… The magnificent sites…}

_{All this was as if we were in an ocean of delight!}

After this the nice Jacuzzi warmed us out by drinking our iced chill.

_{Stay in touch friends. Coming with another travel pill!}

This country attended 2 major war calls. Today it smiles through the beauty of Rhine falls!

An entire country was divided by a wall…

But today this place smiles through a beauty called the Rhine Falls.

Hello friends! Welcome to the land of poets and thinkers, Germany!

Herzlich willkommen in Deutschland, dem Land der Dichter und Denker!

Everyone was under the hangover of the naturally beautiful Netherlands.

The evening signaled of restless curiosity.

For we were entering Cologne, Germany’s fourth most populous city!

The Cologne Cathedral, being a world UNESCO heritage site and the largest Gothic church

In Northern Europe, attracted us all for a photo-stop.

After experiencing this first German fascination,

Dinner and sleep got our attention.

Having spent some time in cologne,

We wished each other Guten morgen/good morning in Stuttgart, our next German travel zone.

Because I am learning German as a foreign language/ Deutsch ALS Fremdsprache,

All this was like a dream come true!

From now onwards,

I was able to make real, practical use of my German language with native people!

The day started with a memorable visit to my most awaited attractions,

The Mercedes-Benz Museum!

This 8 leveled automobile museum,

Displays all the passed Mercedes-Benz models and the history of the luxury car brand.

With our cameras being in the; I  am busy! Mode

And an audio description about the museum complimenting the whole thing,

The journey of the car maker was an inspiring experience as we explored its story.

Besides the amazing sites of Germany,

What I enjoyed most here was the polite,

Friendly nature of the people I interacted with!

What’s the time? A bird answer’s this question!

The day followed on with a visit to the Cuckoo clock factory in Titisee.

A 4 to 5 minute presentation told us the story of the cuckoo clocks.

Be it shopping for the clocks,

Or simply strolling around the area of the factory taking in the nature’s beauty were the ways in which the remaining day flew away.

Friends? Have you ever eaten/heard of the black forest cake?

The morning greeted us in the black forest region.

The black forest is an area with closely growing trees,

So close, that sunlight does not reach the ground!

Surprisingly, the black forest, Or at least the area where we were was empty of wildlife except for some birds blending in the atmosphere with their sweet sounds.

Cruising through the region,

We saw half-timber houses, ruined castles and much more!

The clean, splashy Rhine River and a warm atmosphere became the cherry on the cake!

Although not as high as those usually found in India,

We experienced some really jolly moments at the Rhine falls!

Be it the refreshing beauty that surrounded us as we took a boat ride to the source of the falls,

Or the cleanliness,

Everything there was amazingly amazing!

The journey through Germany or Deutschland,

Was so fun-filled and fantastic,

That the experience set our hopes on an even higher travel stand!

See you! Tschuss!

The world’s a beautiful place. This thought suits the country that brings a happy smile on the face. 😊

And there it dawned upon us, that this is love….

Hello friends! Welcome to the continuation of our experience through the euphoric Europe.

The beauty of Europe started working

It’s real magic on us as we arrived in Holland, Netherlands.

Every day when the sun rises,

It brings new surprises.

We saw these words turning into reality;

For the thing that we were going to see was beyond any of our imagination!

With the perfect weather on our side and excitement reaching the peak,

Wow!.... The 🌷tulips…

It was all so, so scenic.

The Keukenhof or the garden of Europe, got us spellbound by its splendor…

The vibrant, fresh tulips, lost in their own beauty...

Soothing the mind and spreading peace all around.

Perfuming the already pleasant atmosphere with their sweet fragrance.

Admiring the tulips, daffodils and other flowers there got me wondering,

Is this what we call love???

For us, it was as though time had stopped, for we knew not how the morning had gone by.

The rest of the afternoon took us on a canal cruise of Amsterdam.

The evening was spent in visiting the clog factory and cheese farm.

The day had given us memories that would be cherished for lifetime.

Smitten by the beauty of this nation…

See you at our next destination!

Famous for its sweet side. But which other discoveries does this country hide?

Hello friends. Welcome!

Thank you for joining in our euphoria through Europe!

After enjoying the lovely trance in France,

We headed off to the next country, Belgium!

As we took a halt at the grand place, we were positively surprised by the monuments of Brussels.

We took some photos with the statue of Everard t'Serclaes, a monument in Brussels.

It is said among locals that the statue of Everard t'Serclaes brings luck and grants the wishes of all who touch it.

After this enlightening incident,

We spent the morning photographing with the monuments of Belgium such as the Town hall,

The Atomium and even the famous Manneken Pis Statue!

The time had come to try and probably buy the thing which Belgium is known for,

The Belgium chocolate!

We had a great; sorry? Yummy afternoon!

Overall, it was an amazing experience, I must say

And now, the time had come to travel away!

But where?

Be hi on curiosity till the next post,

For now signing off, ciao. Your host!

Life gives us but one great chance. Greetings from France!

Dear friends, Bonjour!

Welcome to the continuation of our euphoric journey through Europe!

After being energized in the Queen's land,

We moved onward with the hope of making our journey grand!

Aboard the Eurostar; a high-speed railway service connecting London with Paris, Rotterdam, etc.

We were surprised by its comfort, cleanliness and most important of all punctuality!

The ride of the Eurostar was wonderful….

As the train crosses an undersea channel on the way,

We were fascinated by the brief scenery of the ocean.

Not only that, but the landscape was also something to keep looking at!

Frequently carpeted by the yellow rapeseed flowers, too captivated our sites.

The rapeseed. Also known as the Canola, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed. It is the third-largest source of vegetable oil and second-largest source of protein meal in the world.

What and how much to click?

With a manifold increase in our curiosity due to such natural beauty around,

We knew not how time had flown by but our feet touched Paris’s ground.

Till it finally happened we were almost counting the time by the hour…

It was simply beyond even our dreams at the Eifel tower!....

More than during the daytime, the beauty enhances at night…

The tower just turn’s gold when it’s illuminated by thousands of lights….

The next day smiled away

As many of us were going to meet some childhood friends whom we now miss?...

For we began the morning and enjoyed the entire day in the Disneyland of Paris!

Be it the greeting of Alice in her wonderland or Meat up with Peter Pan,

The journey with the Pirates of the Caribbean or else getting charmed by snow White…

Everything was a smiling delight!

The evening dinner enveloped us in its high-class atmosphere with a performance/show.

Stick through the tour, excitement for sure!

Hold my hand, inviting you to the queen’s land!

Hello friends. Welcome!

How’s the joyride of life?

For new experiences and memorable memories to unravel, I believe one should travel!

So! Ready for the take off?

3, 2, 1?

Hello!. London!

With our co-travelers and with you dear readers,

The day began with a visit to the Madame Tussaud's wax museum.

Impressed by the selfless attitude of the amazing personalities

Who smilingly allowed us to take unlimited selfies,

We moved through the museum for a wonderful ride

Of a virtual taxi that took us through the history of England.

Next, the city welcomed us with its various attractions like Hyde Park, River Thames, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, etc….

The Hyde Park. Located in central London, is a major park in London. It’s also the largest of the 4 royal parks in London forming a chain from the entrance of Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Green Park past the main entrance to Buckingham Palace.

The park was established by Henry VIII in 1536 and opened to the public in 1637, and quickly became popular.

Big Ben. An UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987,

Is the nickname for the Great Bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London.

The tower stands 315 feet (96 m) tall. The climb from ground level to the belfry is 334 steps.

Westminster Abbey is a large, mainly Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster, London.

Our cameras and eyes were constantly busy at all these places,

Capturing the wonder around us and engraving everything in our hearts.

After some quick clicks in the area of Buckingham Palace,

As we had a similar experience in the  flyer of Singapore,

The London Eye, a 30 minute city-flight,

Became a perfect call for a sleepy night.

Next day saw us in travel for several hours. The beautiful landscape, the clean, green streets, the occasional, disciplined traffic, the structure of houses everything was just awesome.

Turning our eyes left and right, we arrived at another London site… *The Kohinoor*.

The Tower of London is a historic castle located in central London.

The Kohinoor, meaning the mountain of light in Hindi, Urdu and Persian is one of the largest cut diamonds in the world, weighing 105.6 carats (21.12 g),[a] and is part of the British Crown Jewels.

Presently it’s displayed for the public in the Jewel House at the Tower of London.

The journey through the Jewel House was wonderful!

Along with the Kohinoor, we saw the other crown Jewels as well. There,

We realized that culture and history was remarkably well-preserved.

Till our next meet

See you!

Why to Read?

Hello friends!

What’s up?

In the age of YouTube, Netflix, social media or PUBg, should we leave the evergreen method of learning and entertainment behind?

As today is 23 April/world book day, the below question wanders through my mind.

Why to read?...

Nowadays, we’ve got so many sources of entertainment/infotainment!

Then, why to read at all?

Because…

Reading forces our brain to think.

From the passive, effortless mode of consumption,

Reading takes us on an active, creative ride of imagination!

By stating this, am I against the above said and other sources?

Absolutely not!

I myself make use of YouTube/social media.

But reading? It’s a completely different experience.

When we read, we get to experience the lives of others,

Can know and avoid the mistakes people have made in the past or simply be happy!

In my experience, I have discovered that

Reading makes a person more empathetic,

More knowledgeable and above all, a global, open-minded human.

Along with this, research has found that Reading improves our overall wellbeing!

By the way,

Game of thrones, the super hit Television series,

Has also taken birth from a book!

Now, is reading interesting?

If you aren’t already, reading can make anyone go crazy about exploration and traveling!

With my utmost gratitude to the smart technology in our times, there are other ways of reading apart from a printed book! For example. Nowadays we have audio books, E-books,

The Kindle or just our Smartphones!

But, but, I don’t have time!

This is one of the most common reasons.

Friends, you know what,

If you’ve time for Facebook/Insta feeding, then you definitely have time for some light Reading.

See you soon!