The year that was 2025

2025 was the fastest year ever in my life from the Germany chapter. 

I have only two three topics to talk about in 2025. The first being the home sweet home. 

We shifted to our own home around mid January and suddenly it will be a year that we are staying in this wonderful place. It's warm, it's cosy, it's home, for the time being. 

It was not easy to be living in such a big house and maintaining it along with carrying out the daily chores. But my husband made it look easy and doable. We learnt to do so many things on our own, from managing the Gas therme unit to removing the overflowing water from the pump in the cellar. It made us self reliant, self sufficient and taught many things on the go. 

The second topic that kept me engaged was the Adhyatmavari group.

The spiritual movement that was started in March 2023 got bigger and made rounds on the social media where Maharashtrian people from many countries in Europe got to know about the Adhyatmavari group. Many new joined the movement, many old left, but it's part and parcel of life. A community was formed on WhatsApp and many new spiritual initiatives were launched. Many speakers including the revered Mr. Nilesh Oak spoke on the Adhyatmavari group forum. We should keep on enhancing the knowledge that we have to understand our spiritual history better. 

No matter how many people turn up or remain in the group, I think it's my duty to carry with it as long as I can. That's a यज्ञ (Yagya) that has been started due to the grace of Shri Ram and Shri Krishna and I will carry it out with my utmost capacity. 

The third topic that I have to talk about it is the Fitness routine which I could incorporate in my schedule, thanks to the grit and determination. The weight training has been a game changer and keeps me highly motivated thanks to the app called Hevy where I can log all my workouts. The progress that I have slowly made working out at home is a testament that working out need not always be in a fancy gym. If you have the will and the wish to transform yourself for a healthy and mobile aging, strength and resistance training will be the saviour. Motivating women post 40 to take up strength and resistance training has also been my focus this year.

Last but not the least, all my friends and family members who have been there with me during this wonderful time deserve a mention and an ovation. My parents were thrilled to see our beautiful house and stayed with us for some time to enjoy the nice weather and company. I could personally meet and connect more with friends who were only online and that was an absolute pleasure. I realised that I am a very boring person (have the same routine since months with no surprises or late night parties or binge watching) and there are many like me who enjoy my company, so that's not as bad as I had thought. And the two men in my life deserve a special thanks for letting me carry on with all the different activities that I do in my life and for also bearing my outburst sometimes. I am thankful for the beautiful people in my life. 

The year 2025 made a great impression on me.

It made me calmer. 

It helped me let things go easily.

It helped me realise that everything is temporary and that we are here to just play out our parts.

It made me come closer to myself, to my inner peace of mind and I love where I am today, this headspace and this tranquility. 

I am ready for 2026 and hope to make a little difference in this big world and continue with all the existing endeavours and also undertake new projects. 

Jai Shri Ram 

Blog Marathon - February 2023 - Day 27 - Happiness is within

My son had a week off from school last week. Schools in Germany have holidays every six weeks on average. To keep kids and teachers stress-free and enable them to take a break every now and then, I think this has been the norm for many years. My son spent last week meeting different friends. He has a friend from his old primary school, and he loves to hang out with him on every vacation. He often goes to his house, as his friend has a big house and a separate room for himself. They laugh a lot and talk a lot, and the friends' mom and I are grateful for their friendship and make every effort to meet up on a regular basis. So my son spent a night out with that friend, and then he planned to go swimming with two other friends from the primary school who stay close by.

Blog Marathon - October 2022 - Day 31 - German driving licence ✅

A project called the German driving license

I had been vying for it for more than a year now, and finally, when it landed in my hands, I felt on top of the world. I feel elated, proud, and independent! What is it that you say has made me so happy today?

It's the license to drive in Germany! It's the much coveted German driving license for which I have spent a lot of time, money, and energy!

I have not celebrated my birthday this year yet. Though it was on October 4th, I refrained from celebrating it around that time. I had promised myself that my birthday gift would be my German driving license, and I have successfully achieved it in this birthday month. Now it's time for a big party, and my parents will be coming in the next week.

The process of getting to this day was not easy.

The first thing that one has to do is do an eye-test, a first aid course, and then go to the local Drivers and Vehicles Licencing Authority (DVLA) office to submit these documents along with a translated copy of their previous driving license. Once these documents are accepted, an invoice is sent to you where you have to pay the fees for the theory and the practical exam well in advance. From the time your documents are accepted by the DLVA agency, you have a time limit of one year to complete the theory and practical driving. Your time starts now :D

The next step is to start preparing for the theory exam. The driving school where you enrol gives you a code to the online app where you can study for it. There are mock tests, explanations, videos, etc. People don't show up for the theory exam unless they practice all 1000 questions and pass every practice test. Out of those 1000 questions, only 30 questions are asked in the exam. I studied for it from January to March this year; gave the exam in March; passed it on the first attempt; and started the driving lessons in April.

I chose a driving school with a one-man show. He was the owner and the instructor himself. He did not discuss with me how he planned to do the driving lessons. On the first day itself, he took me on a highway to see how good or bad I was driving. The reason was that I already had an Indian license and he thought that I was a perfect driver. We all know how we drive in India. Rules and traffic signals are followed on one's whim and fancy. But here it is altogether a different ball game. People drive here with a sense of responsibility towards others and the environment. It's very systematic and within the rules and regulations.

The driving instructor was inflexible and hardly smiled or talked. For the first two or three lessons, he kept on shouting at me, and I couldn't understand what I did wrong. I slowly started ignoring his cold nature and concentrated only on the end goal, which was to get a driving license. I blocked all his tantrums and coldness toward me and kept the driving license as the only target in front of me. I could hardly do three lessons of 90 minutes with him as he was extremely busy and proudly boasted of working 60 hours a week. But he had no empathy or understanding of how to deal with people. Maybe he dealt differently with youngsters who were his regular students. But for me, it was not easy to face him and do the driving lessons. But thanks to my resolve in concentrating only on the final product, I was finally able to have the license in my hands.

I watched a lot of Youtube videos of different driving instructors in Germany, and that helped me a lot to understand things that my driving instructor never told me. Parking, watching the traffic, predicting what other drivers will do, and doing other similar things are all good signs that you are becoming a better driver, and the videos talked about these finer points.

God bless the driving examiner who came to examine my driving skills. I have never seen a person like him. He was very warm, friendly, and very helpful. He gave me chances to make corrections and, in the end, told me that the exam was not perfect but good enough to hand over the license to you. He discussed the improvement areas with me and asked me to be a responsible and vigilant driver on the road. I can't thank him enough for bringing a ray of hope and happiness into my life, which was otherwise marred by the cold attitude of my driving instructor.

Nevertheless, all's well that ends well. I am elated today and won't be able to sleep tonight. I would like to thank everyone who helped me achieve this; my family and friends, especially my husband, who was confident that I would get the license soon. He stayed at home when I had driving lessons at odd hours and took care of our son and the home. I also thank my instructor. He taught me to drive and brought me to this point, though my driving style was not very great. I would never want an instructor like him ever again in my life.

I hope to be an inspiration to other female friends in Germany. Nothing is impossible. If you set your mind and heart to it, you can achieve anything. Managing a job, house, and kid and doing this side-by-side was not short of hiccups, but was also not unattainable. Being able to drive gives you a sense of independence and a lot of mobility. It gives you a sense of achievement and fulfillment.

If you have any questions about the driving license in Germany, I would be able to help you with it. I've completed a thesis on it by now. ;)

Blog Marathon - October 2022 - Day 30 - Do what you love

It's almost the end of October. It's also the second-last day of the Blog Marathon challenge that I started on 01.10. Many people had shown interest to join me in this challenge, but sadly no one completed the challenge, due to festivals, and personal goals. I started the challenge and I am proud to have completed it successfully. Tomorrow is the last day and then I will be relieved and will have completed the word given to me. Commitment is commitment, come what may, isn't it?

Today the time in Europe is set back by one hour and people can sleep one hour longer till the end of March. But the evenings will be shorter and by 5:30 pm it will be almost dark. That's something I don't like about wintertime. There is a change in weather, the days become shorter, and a feeling of sadness creeps in somehow. I don't know if it's in my head, but shorter days mean the shorter presence of the sun and if there is no sun, there seem to be no signs of life. But life has to move on, we have to look ahead. We have to utilize the time in winter for causes that give happiness. 

I see to it that I go out in nature, no matter how cold it gets in winter. Nature brings me peace, and helps to connect with myself. I do a lot of self-reflection when I go for walk. I also do a lot of meditation and chanting and listen to songs that lift my mood. Having a hobby, and being passionate about something in life helps to attain peace, balance, and happiness. It could be a small thing, a small ritual of doing something with a whole heart. It could be half an hour of walking, jogging, writing, singing, running, painting, or praying. Anything that connects you to that supreme power and your inner energy channel, anything that helps you be hopeful and look forward to tomorrow should be taken up in life. Dedication and perseverance go hand in hand and it brings the best qualities out. It helps us to be on the right path and gives us the energy to move ahead in life. 

Things that we like don't let us be lonely and they fill our hearts with gratitude, empathy, and love for others. 

Blog Marathon - October 2022 - Day 29 - Forgive and forget?

Yesterday my son came with his German friend for dinner. I had prepared Upma for dinner because we had noodles late for lunch and no one was feeling very hungry. They both were talking about a third friend with whom they fought. That friend cursed them and said bad words to them it seems. I have no idea what exactly transpired between them. But they both came home leaving that third friend alone. That German friend had bread and butter for dinner at our place, they played for some time, and then my son and my husband accompanied him home as it got dark.

Today morning that German friend who came yesterday went to that third friend in the morning and they both called my son out to play. My son very happily, forgetting everything that happened last evening went to play with both of them as if nothing had happened. I am now kind of used to this behavior of kids. One time they fight and the next moment they forget it and come together. Can we as adults ever do that? Are we able to forgive and forget so easily? I know many families who have stopped talking to each other just because there was a misunderstanding and they were not able to forget and move ahead and the relationship has been spoiled forever. They have not met or seen each other for festivals or any other important things in each other's lives. How much time do people lose in taking unnecessary ego trips and spoiling their lives by hating their family members? We just have one life, then why not spend it loving each other, and being there for each other? Why have grudges against each other? Why spend time having negative feelings for people when we just take birth on this earth only once? Life is too short to fight over trivial things. 

Seeing my son and his friends fight and come back again as if nothing has happened fills my heart with hope. I want them to be happy and always together. With time, they will become mature and have a better understanding of people and things. And I am looking forward to this journey with him. 

Blog Marathon - October 2022 - Day 26 - Mad over Fridge magnets

When you go on a vacation to a foreign country or a different city or state, what do you bring back home as a souvenir from there? Do you have the habit of bringing some or the other thing from that place, or do you prefer to just go, visit, eat, click photos, have a good time and come back?

I don't remember the exact moment when it all started, my love for fridge magnets and its collection, perhaps from the first trip to Germany in 2002. And then I kept going back there in the coming years.

My trips outside Germany to Croatia, Turkey, Russia, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy helped my love for fridge magnets grow exponentially. I told all my friends who traveled to different destinations than these to get magnets for me. So even though I haven't really travelled to Brazil, Spain, Bulgaria, the United States, China, Japan, Scotland, and Ireland, my friends and family got me fridge magnets which adorn the new refrigerator here. I have a heap of magnets in Bangalore, which I left there and couldn't bring to Germany. Those magnets are carefully packed and stowed away in boxes. I wonder if they will ever see the light again!

I've tried to stop buying magnets many times, but I can't! If I don't utter a word about buying the magnets, my son or my husband make sure to buy one! I don't know what attracts me to these magnets. Those are the snippets of the wonderful time I spent in those places, I think, and I like to relive those moments by looking at the magnets. It's like taking a world tour from the confines of your home!

I don't know when the next trip will be. But there is surely a fridge magnet waiting for me somewhere to become a part of my collection.

Blog Marathon - Post 25 - The helping syndrome

I was discussing a very delicate topic with a group of friends at tea today. We generally meet up and talk about general issues like life, happiness, travel, hobbies, etc.

"Men are happier than women."

There were three women and two men in the discussion. The women laughed loudly on this statement, and the men just grinned. Do you think there is a difference in the way men feel happy, and the women feel delighted? What exactly is the difference?

Blog Marathon - Post 6 - The power of music

It was a rainy day today. It was dark, gray, and the clouds were sprinting from one end to the other. I had to go to the city center twice at different times in the day. I couldn't cycle due to the rain. I avoid cycling when it is raining. I had to take the bus and the tram to reach the destination. Being a Sunday today, the city center was not abuzz with people. Fewer trams and trains and people gave it a very deserted look. It suddenly has begun to feel as if the winter has arrived. It has got colder compared to the last few days. I was waiting for the bus. The bus would have come only in another 20 minutes, and I had no other option but to wait for the bus there. Suddenly, something pleasant fell on my ears. Something that made me feel warm on that cold and rainy afternoon. I looked around.

Blog Marathon - Post 1 - The blogkeeper

October came with pomp, just like the other months announcing an end to 2019 soon. It's festival time in India where people are celebrating Navratri (9 nights), a festival celebrating 9 goddesses. People celebrate by playing Dandiya and Garba during the nights dressing their best with the best of music. Women wear different colors for 9 days to office. The festive atmosphere lifts the spirit of one and all. With October, the Autumn arrived in Germany and brought rainy weather, gray and dark days, hardly giving way to the sunlight. It's a sign that days will now become shorter and winter is just around the corner. In this gray and dark days, I have something that keeps me going. I manage the blog Antarang along with a friend in Stuttgart, Ms. Anagha Mahajan, which is for women writers. And yesterday, it featured a whopping 18 posts for September 2019 written by different women around the globe in Hindi, Marathi, and English.

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