Change

Its a funny thing coming home . Nothing changes , everything looks the same, feels the same , even smells the same. You realize whats changed is you !!

Brad Pitt....The curious case of Benjamin Button

For a long time now I have been trying to articulate this feeling that i have experienced when everything around me has continued to function in the same familiar manner and yet I have felt the change inside me ..This has been triggered either by an incident or some real life changes which feels safe to deal with . Its not a tough thing to change yourself or the way of life due to some compelling environmental transition . But when the change is due to another person that's when it leaves me confused and seeking answers that I may actually not even be interested any more...

I have found that a person can completely change your whole perspective about him/her through an action or a reaction that I would not deem right to label under any category of emotional intelligence . The silliest of the actions does reveal the true subconscious self and the briefest of the expressions speak volumes about the inherent nature of the person and what makes him/her...I am not debating if that is good or bad .....I have experienced that as making a significant impact on the way I feel and have come back knowing that something has changed inside me ...

Its a strange feeling dealing with this change that does not come under the definition of anger or grief . You can be as mad as a mad dog or be grieved to a point of self pity but when it comes to the end you have to let it go...but once you change from within that how it goes for you...

A Gleam Of Sunshine

This is the place: Stand still my heart

Let me review the scene

And summons from the shadowy past

The forms that once have been

The past and present here unite

Beneath time’s flowing tide

Like footprints hidden by a brook

Yet seen on either side

The shadow of the linden trees

Lay moving on the grass

Between them and the moving boughs

A shadow though did pass

I saw the branches of the trees

Bent down to touch, to meet

The clover blossoms in the grass

Rose up to kiss your feet

Though thoughts deep rooted in my heart

Like trees dark and high

Subdue the light of noon and breathe

A low and ceaseless sigh

This memory brightens over the past

As when the sun concealed

Behind some cloud that near us hangs

Shines on a distant field

A Bohemian Get-Away

A Bohemian Get-Away…

Tucked away in the lush green environs of NDA road, Bohemian is an art & food lover's delight. It is very tastefully done up with Bohemian undertones in the colors, paintings and furniture that adorn the restaurant. The huge windows afford a panoramic view of the hills, while one enjoys culinary delights that tease the taste buds to the accompaniment of soothing strings of chill out music.

Our hosts and the owners of Bohemian Ketki and Shekhar have an interesting life. While Ketki explores her vivid imagination and creativity through her paintings and doing up the interiors in beautifully warm undertones of gold and red, Shekhar is the man tasting the food and exploring the possibilities of exotic creations on the culinary side

We were welcomed with refreshing cocktails, of which the place has a sizable choice in their menu. If you like your cocktails with a hint of sweetness and a slightly grainy texture, we loved the Melon Collins with fresh melons diced across the bar. For those of us who are a fan of tangy flavors, there was Passion Fruit Collins. The classic margarita was a brilliant concoction that went superbly well with our Fig Salad. This was a rather interesting concoction of lettuce, finely chopped beetroot and pieces of dried fig sautéed with lemon juice and a hint of mayonnaise.

Next favorite was the Mezze platter, which was accompanied with a number of interesting dips. These included the aubergine dip, the cashew and cheese dip and the Mohamra. The Mezze platter was an assortment of breads to be had with the falafels. The stuffed jalapenos, was our choice to satiate the spicy taste buds. And it did not disappoint. It was a burst of sweetness as put it inside your mouth, because of the caramel it was dipped in and progressively went onto become spicy. One of the most brilliantly balanced sensation on the taste buds. Throughout the evening we had an endless array of starters with fish, lamb and exotic dips that left us glued in anticipation for the next one from the kitchen.

The main course consisted of Tagine, a curry made from tomatoes, potatoes, herbs and mint served hot in an earthen pot. This tasted delicious with the bread or "cous cous", a semolina based dish, much like rice, but rich and buttery. The highlight of the meal undoubtedly was the Grilled Mediterranean chicken, another specialty. This came garnished with a salad of onions, potatoes, herbs, coriander and lettuce, alongside a creamy cheese dip. The chicken was well grilled, retaining its texture and the flavour of basil and mint with a tinge of sourness.

The Tiramisu and custard were as much a delight for the eyes as it was for the tongue. It made for the perfect encore to the orchestra of culinary delights we enjoyed. We enjoyed the same with as much delight as the main course and still came back craving for more.

Apart from the food what made Bohemian special was the evening …it was a beautiful rain kissed monsoon night on the large open terrace with comfortable bar stools across the outdoor bar and several comfortable seating not to forget the wooden swing . The music was soft and instrumental though Shekhar knew the perfect art of delighting his Mumbai guests with a jukebox inside we could not get enough of the smell of the hills and rains along with our drinks and food.

It’s a perfect get-away of you can to take time off for a night and enjoy a drive down to Pune ….

Sway With Me

I've had the time of my life
No I never felt this way before
Yes I swear it's the truth
And I owe it all to you....

And many many more …….Ode to dance are many – feet up in the air, head thrown back, wind through the hair and the heart in full abandon. One of the purest form of blending with the universe is to dance..we dance for our dreams, for tears, for laughter , for fears and for love..but we love to dance . I love to dance and this is not just love that you feel when you listen to some jive in a dimly lit pub where music is grinding and your body automatically starts this maddening sway …though this is the most common form of dance socially available today (with all puns intended) its great to have the love for pure dancing back in our lives. People are learning to dance again; they dance for fun and as a means to relieve the minds of the terrible stress that overhauls all of us.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should dance. Socrates learned to dance when he was seventy because he felt that an essential part of himself had been neglected. Stifling an urge to dance is bad for your health – It rusts your spirit and your hips and makes you croak and groan with the stresses of life . Dancing takes away the toil from your body and mind and brings back poetry and music in each movement. Dance is a poem of which each movement is a word involving the complete aspects of academic, physical and aesthetic interrogation. It is all about distangling the pretensions of life and connecting every emotion with the fine thread of movement and purity of the soul. The mind gives a distinct task to each muscle and while the eye is confused the body senses the need to rebound from one action to the other. The blending of the music with the body renders the music to exist not just as strains from the instrument but as a composite whole to the dancer

Be it the tantalizing and sassy SALSA ,the fascinating TANGO, the smooth flow of BALLROOM , the resilient and graceful BALLET , the lyrical CLASSICAL ,the harlem shake, moon walking HIPHOP, the progressive gliding WALTZ, the swing style of JAZZ or the social and tribal FOLKS …each dance style has its unique play with music and motions of the limbs . Our much loved unique BOLLYWOOD dancing cannot be forgotten for its tremendous spirit, force and fluidity. It is truly elaborate and has made a special place for itself among the different dance styles in the world.

To think that I forgot our favourite BREAKDANCE…I owe my tennis elbow to one of those attempts at that with the boys in my class. While over the years I have progressed to less injurious dance styles, it’s a must for every girl out there!!!

There are some thoughts about music and the random images it brings to the mind ...started while i was listening to Lotus Feet by Zakir Hussain ...More on it as the vision clears

A Dream

Merely A Dream…

The sun had now disappeared completely leaving only a faint glow along the horizon. The moon was bright in the sky hanging like a golden coin against a deep bank of velvet. The shinning silver light was trying to coat every nook and leaf like a stubborn watermark. I looked around …Light was sparkling off the water in the reflecting pool but the night was dark and empty. The air was light and heady with the smell of the late blooming azaleas and jasmine. The swan was still as if it was scared to move and break the silence of the night. I drifted though without brushing against the trees like a puff of cloud that was trying to find its way through the garden and yet wanted to linger on every leaf and bush. I was trying to find that familiar figure who I knew would be sitting against the stone curve of the pool blending with the sounds of silence…

What holds us back in life is the invisible architecture of fears and insecurities. It keeps us safe in our comfort nests, which in truth are the least safe and the most volatile place to live in. Truly said, the greatest risk in life is to take no risks at all. We love to live inside the walls that we build with our minds and with our fears. But every time we do that which we fear, we take back the power that fear has stolen from us – for on the other side of fear lives our strength. The more fears we walk through, the more powers we reclaim. The more we walk into change, the more we liberated feel. The more we do something that we have been scared of doing, it brings a new realization – this was not as bad and even if it was I have progressed onto something new. In this way we grow fearless and powerful and learn to live life by embracing everything that it brings with a strength that comes from being yourself. I prefer to call it the ‘true core strength’…