Connecting with nature or self?

"आई थांब, तुझ्यासाठी काहीतरी बनवतो मी".

Mom, let me make you a cool summer drink.

After returning from school today, he chirpily offered to do something for me. These moments are rare and don't see the light of day often, so before his mood changed, I happily told him to go ahead. 

 

From mid-June on, the serious business of learning, studies, and exams is over, and now it's just some or other activities at school where kids can relax and enjoy the time waiting for summer vacations. As an Indian parent, I can never get comfortable with T's attitude towards school and learning in general, but I am also learning as a parent, and I try to accept the German school system and try to see something good in it. Side-effects of learning the Bhagwad Geeta. 

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 9 - Make hay while the sun shines

I have already posted about last Sunday when the weather was rainy and misty and everyone stayed indoors waiting for the sun God to grace us with his presence. From Monday this week, the sun God listened to my prayers and made a very gracious entry into the week and our lives. The temperature was not very high, somewhere between 18 to 22 degrees, but no one had any complaints. 

I walked a lot this week and almost completed my daily target of 10000 steps on at least three days of the week. I also walked on Saturday and as I type out this post on a Sunday afternoon, I am sitting on a bench below a tree overlooking the green fields and blue skies. I can smell the grass, the birds are chirping and tweeting. There are many different small plants near this huge tree, where I am sitting. They all have different shapes and leaves have different hues and colors. There are many people on the usual walking routes, some with dogs, some with friends and family. I am out alone, as always. My husband likes cycling and I enjoy walking. My son doesn't want to walk at all. He would even go in a car to the next building if he could. So more often than not, I head out alone with my BoAT headphones belting away my favorite old Bollywood songs.

Listening to Gulzar and Lata Ji's songs on Riyas Retro on the Gaana App, and typing the daily blog post amidst nature is pure bliss. I have no qualms that I don't have any human company. Nature is man's best companion, I feel. When I don't have any company to go for a walk, I often go alone. It's as if these green fields and the blue skies have a date with me and I don't want to miss it at any cost when the sun appears after a long hiatus. My German neighbor always talked about "Die Sonne taken", which means storing the sunlight in hearts for the dark days that may lie ahead in the Winter. And I understand every word of it and what she meant by it. I store every sunny day in my heart and my memories and play them out on sad, depressing, and gray days. 

We all cling on to the good memories and best times in our lives, when we feel low, don't we? It gives us hope and assurance that it's just a matter of time, bad days will be over soon and we will be soon basking in happiness.

I don't know what the next week will bring, but I was blessed enough to experience a lot of natural sunshine and beautiful landscapes this week. I am well-equipped to take on tomorrow. 

I will be back tomorrow with a new post, a book review that I am done reading today. 

Signing off for today,

Have a great week ahead.

Trek in the Italian Alps

Italy has always been one of our favourite countries for going on vacations. We have been there twice already and have covered Venice, Rome, Vatican, Pisa etc. This time, we decided to visit the German-speaking part of Italy, called South Tyrol. We got accommodation in a farmhouse called Obermairhof. An old farmer couple and their sons manage the farmhouse and do everything independently. For example, they supply apples to the famous organic food chain "Bioland". They are located in a small village named Parcines, and everywhere you see around this farmhouse are just mountains, clouds, and skies.

We visited a few towns around called Meran and Bolzano. They are popular tourist destinations, and it was good to roam around the streets with no masks or fear of Corona after almost two and a half years. These towns are more expensive than Germany but less expensive than Switzerland.

We ate the tastiest Bruschetta, Pizza and Pasta in friendly little eateries. The weather supported us quite well, and it was hot on most days except on two evenings, when it poured in some places and caused floods.

We took a cable car from Parcines and went to Giggelberg on Sunday. That was a place in the valley, and one can take up many trekking routes from that point. We are not trekkers, which was a new thing for us. My sixty-eight years old mother in law was with us and also my ten years old son. We chose the easiest and shortest trek route of three and a half hours which had an ascent and descent of 850 metres. 

We had the map of the mountain ranges and started following the map. We had to follow route no. 24 for some time, take route no. 25, change to 25B, and start the descent with route no. 2.

We started at about noon with no idea what was in store for us in the coming hours. We went up and down the hills on route 24. There were many people on that route. We met a couple doing the Meraner Hohenweg (which takes seven days to complete). Small kids, older people, and many groups of friends crossed us from the opposite direction or went ahead of us.

After walking on route 24 for some time, observing and absorbing nature, and clicking photos, we had to take route 25. 

That was all where it began. The route was extremely narrow, and a valley was on the other side. Our speed reduced considerably as we had to concentrate hard on every step. We could slowly feel difficulty in climbing. There was gravel on the route, sometimes just grass and occasionally just wet mud due to recent rains. We took turns to accompany my mother-in-law. Sometimes I was behind her; most of the time, Atul was behind or with her. Tanay walked with us, sometimes taking care of his jeeya (grandmom) and lending me a helping hand. He was a free-spirited bird making most of the time on the route, chatting away to glory, without any fear of the challenging course ahead.

Route 25B was the hardest, and our legs slowly started giving way. The route was so narrow that we couldn't take steps with both legs simultaneously. There was absolutely no space to do it. The narrow trail reduced our speed further. The boys were doing quite well, but we girls were almost struggling. We had no idea how long this would take, and we were already walking for four hours, with a few water and nature breaks.

My mom is a Trekker. She regularly goes to the Himalayas once a year and walks for many days together. I wonder what keeps her going. That day, the only thought on my mind was to complete the trek without slipping and injuring myself. So I constantly chanted "Shree Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram", which helped me focus and complete the trek though it took seven hours.

We are often unaware of our capabilities unless we are tested. And I think that trek, the nature and the decision to do it helped me reveal a different facet of my personality. I can also trek, though I could do it at a snail's pace! It was an ambitious journey, but the resolution to complete it was enormous.

There came the point when my mother-in-law went to a standstill and couldn't move ahead. Hundreds of thoughts flashed across her mind in that one minute. What will happen if I am unable to get out from here? Who will rescue me? It will be a lot of trouble for my kids to get me out of here. How will people reach me to save me, this and that? But she made a final attempt with her complete resolve and slowly moved out of that point. She narrated this to us later after completing the trek. We all were so engrossed in the path ahead, that the only thought on everyone's mind was to get out of the place safely and soundly.

We started the descent with route two, and then I realised that descending is much more complicated than the ascent, and the legs and the knees are strained to a greater extent than during the climb. After two hours of ascent, my mother-in-law and I could not lift our legs anymore. Then, it started to thunder, and some rain drops followed. I intensely prayed for rain to wait till we reached our final destination. It was getting darker, and the last cable car was supposed to leave at 7 pm from the point where we started in the afternoon. And indeed, the rain waited for us to ascend completely. At about 6:45 pm, we finally reached the endpoint, and Atul cheered us both for completing the trek. 

We both were speechless, and our legs were sore. We had no idea how we walked so much. We didn't see a single person after taking up route 25. We were the only crazy ones who dared to walk that route so late in the afternoon with zero preparations or ideas of how the course would be. 

After completing the trek, when I look back and think about it, it was one of the most challenging routes as it was also the very first one for us in the Italian Alps. Maybe next time, we will be better informed and prepared. One wrong step or slippage would have landed us all in trouble. But the Almighty, Shree Ram, was always with me, and he gave me strength and endurance and the courage to complete the arduous trek.

We hadn't eaten the whole day, and we went to a nice cosy restaurant and had warm soup and some Bruschetta for dinner. Our hearts were already filled with the adventure in nature, and our tummies were later filled with tasty food, and we called it a day. 

Love thy plants

We have a daily ritual in the evening where my mother-in-law takes the practice of Geeta Adhyaay (lesson) from my son and then narrates a story to him. This happens via WhatsApp Video call almost every day. Yesterday she recounted a story to him, and I was also nearby and happened to listen to it. I was so moved by it that I decided to write about it on my blog. It also brought tears to my eyes, and then in the evening, I happened to see a program on television about an old man who had a similar experience as described by my mother-in-law in her story. And that was a sign again, two times, I had heard about the same emotion and sentiment. How can this be?

Blog Marathon - Post 18 - Autumn hues

With the change in the season, there is also a change in my activity level. Suddenly from a week or so, I am feeling exhausted and moving around like a zombie. I lay in bed at 9:30 pm but sleep only by 11. I have to get up in the morning at 6:15 am and often feel groggy and tired. I met with a Brazilian friend today for lunch, and she complained of exhaustion too. I think it's the change in the weather and the seasons that tires the mind and the body. It's a significant shift from sunny weather and long days to short and grey days. The body prepares to store energy for the impending long dark nights, I think.