Copenhagen

Sweden, Norway, and Denmark have always intrigued me. These three countries form the Scandanavia and have a high quality of life and are people are generally happy there. Finland and Iceland were also in my list, but for this year, I managed to settle down on Denmark out of all these countries. My neighbor from Dombivli, Vishal, with whom I literally grew up, stays in Copenhagen with his family. And I utilized this opportunity to the fullest extent and I have no regrets or complaints. It was the first time that I traveled with T on my own through Frankfurt and on a flight to another country. I have done that a couple of times between India and Germany, but not within Europe on my own. T was very excited as we approached the time of boarding and he literally had butterflies in his stomach, he said. He was so natural when he said that. Kids! They seek joy in every small thing, don't they?

The helping hand

It's the holiday season here in Karlsruhe. The schools closed on 26th July and will start on 11th September. You can see people scurrying with bags and kids on all the bus and tram and train stations. The weather is also thankfully better than the last two weeks where the heatwave had gripped Europe again. With no vacations planned, T and I are in Karlsruhe listening to other people's plans of going on summer vacations in admiration and awe.

Pleased to meet you!

The 2-year stint in Karlsruhe taught me many things.

It gave me time to do things I never did in my life in India. I explored swimming, cycling, painting, singing. I went to different cities like Colmar, Strassbourg, Cologne, Amsterdam, Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia. The last two destinations are Copenhagen and Vienna before I go back to India by the end of October. All these cities could be explored by cycle. And I didn't look at the cyclists with awe for the first time in my life!

Fit Tuber - A YouTube Channel promoting health and healthy habits.

I am always on a lookout for things that promote health. I like organic stuff. But it comes with a price. It is not always possible to live life without any chemicals or harmful stuff which we use almost daily, e.g. toothpaste and shampoo. YouTube has a lot of informative channels on health and other things, some are really good and some are very crappy. I happened to see a suggested video on my YouTube profile and I was intrigued. I am happy that I came across this channel and I would like to share with you all about it.

मी माझी

सॻळीच गणितं चुकली
सगळेच अंदाज फोल ठरले
इतरांना खुश ठेवायच्या नादात
स्वतःलाच हरवून बसले

मला नक्की काय हवं आहे मला कधीच कळलं नाही का?
इतरांच्यात सुखात मी माझं सुख शोधत राहिले का?
ह्या सगळ्यात मला नक्की काय मिळालं?
कोलमडून, एकटी पडले, अगदी जमीनदोस्त झाले

चुकां मधून माणूस शिकतो, त्याला शहाणपण येतं
माझ्या सारखी एखादीच
त्याच चुका पुन्हा पुन्हा करून
स्वतःलाच मूर्ख ठरवले

पण आता सावरले, माझेच मला उमगले
माझा आनंद माझ्याच हातात आहे
मला आता स्वतःसाठी जगायचं आहे
मला काय हवे आहे तेच करायचे आहे

एक दार बंद झालं की दुसरं दार उघडतं
काहीतरी हरवतं तर काहीतरी गव‌सतं
स्वतःच्या शोधात निघताना
एक वेगळंच बळ मिळून जातं

दोस्ती

जिंदगी हमें 

परिवार चुनने का मौका नही देती 

लेकिन वही अपने दोस्त चुनने की 

पुरी आजादी है मिलती 

मेरी जिंदगी में दोस्त गीनने शुरु करू 

तो रात यही निकल जाये 

उनको आज ना याद करूं 

ऐसा तो हो नही पाये 

कोई सुरज, कोई चांदनी,

कोई सुबह, तो कोई शाम जैसी 

कोई आस्मान, कोई सुरज की रोशनी 

कोई बारिश, तो कोई उस बारिश के बाद वाली धूप जैसी 

कोई चांद जैसी मद्धम, 

तो कोई शीतल छाया जैसी 

कोई मा की ममता जैसी और  

कोई हाथ में छडी लिये खडी जैसी 

किस किस का शुक्रिया अदा करूं 

किस किस को ये बताऊँ

तुम हो तो मैं हुन 

वरना मैं तो कुछ भी नही 

वरना मैं तो कोई नही  

Dedicated to

Sonali, Snehal, Madhuri, Aabha, Pallavi, Tejaswini, Shreya, Ajita, Anuradha Govil Kulkarni, Anagha Mahajan, Yashaswini Patwardhan, Sonali Gharpure and many others for showering their unconditional love and support on me in my good and bad times.

Thank you all and love you all.

Saee's new venture - Clean Eating!

Saee, my Yoga teacher turned friend has come up with an interesting venture. She now officially guides and counsels people for a healthy life. How does she do it? She is an advocate and follower of a movement called whole plant-based food (wpbd). What exactly is it?