Yellowstone Memoir...

July 4th (US Independence day) 2010 long weekend took us to one of the most beautiful places Kitten & I have ever visited till date. Well, come to think of it, Maldives still tops the list for us, but then, people can hardly forget their honeymoon destination, one way or the other ;-)

This time, we both were surprised at my lack of efforts & preparations for this trip. In normal situations, I tend to get hyperactive for over a month before the trip – researching the place to stay, the route to take, even the type of rental car to choose. May be my sister’s visit to USA a month before YSNP trip took much of my excitement & energy. This time, the only efforts we had put till was to book our flights.

Flight
There are quite a few nearby airports which take you as close as few miles from the airport. The closer airport you choose from, the expensive the flights are going to be. Hence, if you have time and can drive, I’d suggest to take flight to either of Salt Lake City (5-6 hours drive from West Entrance) or Denver, Colorado (approx 9 hours drive).
Southwest, our trusted airline, gave us, as always, the best deal for Chicago - Salt Lake City - Chicago. We booked ourselves on a direct flight from Midway Airport on Friday evening and return with a stopover in Denver on Tuesday evening.

Stay

As the travel date got closer, we realized that a lot more planning was yet pending. As expected, hotels / lodges in the park were out of question for our trip, which eventually was the busiest season of the year. We pondered over staying outside the park, but dropped the idea after reviews from the gurus of our trusted travel guide – Tripadvisor. The only option left for us was Camping.

It took some efforts to convince Kitten for the adventure. Getting her agreement was just a part of the exercise. Next we had to search for the camping ground and buy a tent. After thorough research, I found an awesome deal - Coleman’s 2 person tent for 50 bucks on BJ’s Wholesale. Next, the search for the camping ground. To our much dismay, half of the camping grounds are non bookable in advance (you get early in morning and get your spot) and other half take booking only on phone. All of these are managed by a single body called Xanterra.

It is recommended to book as early as possible for your trip. Since we did not follow that advice ourselves, we relied on checking daily with Xanterra for a spot availability. We got ourselves a spot in Madison campground a week before our trip. However, this was in an RV/tent area. We were lucky to get a spot so close to travel date, however, staying between RVs isn’t the best way to camp. It is like sitting in a class surrounded by big bullies on either side (remember the good ol’s school days :-)) . You don’t exactly get the association with nature. So, I religiously called Xanterra a few times every day, hoping to get a spot in tent only area. Viola – two days before the trip, we got ourselves a spot in the tent only area in Madison grounds… SWEEETTT…..

The Preparation
Looking at my participation, or the lack of it in the initial days, Kitten took over the task of planning for the places and activities for our trip. Between the two of us, we ended up g

etting almost 4-5 books on YSNP. This was a first of its kind for us, but worthwhile nevertheless. We did most of the reading or the quick reference while driving from one spot to another in the park.

Reaching the Park
After parking our car at ‘Park Ride & Fly’ parking near to Midway airport, we started our trip with a couple of beers and Mexican food at the airport lounge. The flight was on time and we hovered over the Salt Lake City with fading day light. The best part about the airport was the rental counters inside the terminal, cutting down the wait for the shuttle buses. We had booked a Hotwire deal just a week before the

trip for a full size car. Check in process through Avis was perfectly smooth. We started the drive at approx 9 PM in almost new but not so impressive Chevy Imapala. The trusted GPS was the only source of direction for us this time. Another new, since every time before we have had a back up map set just in case if the GPS fails on us. We reached the overnight hotel at about 1 AM and slugged into the bed.
After a refreshing breakfast & strong coffee in morning, we hit the road at about 10 AM. On the way out from the hotel, we spotted a Walmart and thought to get the fuel (coal, wood & starter fuel) for the camping. We had read somewhere that it is expensive to buy the fuel from the parks and it is advisable to get your own.

After a few short enroute breaks, we reached the West Entrance (West Yellowstone) by about 1 PM. There were long lines, as could be expected, at the toll entrance. After paying $25 for the two of us & the car, we took off for the 20 mins drive to the Madison campground. The check in here again was smooth. The rep explained us the do’s and don’ts in the ground and provided us with a map and choice for the camp site.

Ours was almost towards the end of the ground and pretty secluded. It was surrounded by camps from all directions, and the only thing we possibly would have wished for was to have a site at the corner or the end, so you have trees or open space at one side. However, since this was our first camping experience, we were more than happy to be in centre and not worrying of the bears/bison approaching our tent :-)

Park
The weather was much cooler than Chicago or the drive from SLC, and I was immediately hit by a bad headache. Too much tired to really put the efforts to fire the fuel, we had some dry

snacks, after which I went to take an hour long nap, while Kitten went to brush up her skills on wild life photography.

Norris Basin

Refreshed and ready to explore the park, we hit the road at about 3 PM and headed first for the Norris basin. It is about 14 miles from Madison campground and took approx 20 mins to reach.

There was a park volunteer walking a group through the basin and explaining the formation and the specifics of each geyser. We followed him for a while before taking the route on our own. Coming from the cooler park surroundings, it felt nice to be amidst the warm geyser

s.Norris Basin is in a valley form and is filled with hundreds of geysers, each having its peculiarities. I couldn’t help but imagine these hot geysers pumping out super boiled sulphur and water in the coldest of sub zero winter temperatures. Nature never stops amazing us.

Though it was breath taking, Kitten reminded me that a lot more lay ahead. We took off from the basin at about 5 PM.

Mammoth Spring

The next stop for us was Mammoth Springs, up north in the park.

It was about 21 miles from Norris basin and took us another 40 mins to reach. Before going to explore the springs, we went in a cafeteria to have some amazing burgers and coffee.The first thing you will notice here is a very artistic thumb shaped white stone structure right next to the road. There is a beautiful fall formation which seems surreal. We hiked to the top of this fall and there were some pristine pools with clear blue waters.There is a one way drive route just behind the springs, approx 5 miles long which takes you to the top of the spring.

The view from the top is breath taking. There is a large pool of water which appears like a lake frozen in time. Also, this is an ideal place to give a view of the entire valley. Tip – reach here at around sunset to get the most of the view.

First Encounter to Bison

The night falls quickly in the park. We left Mammoth at around 8 PM with ample sunlight. The drive back to Madison was very scenic in the fading day light.

Kitten was a little bit upset for not spotting a single bison till now in the park.

Just as we spoke about it, there were two humungous bisons right next to the road, rubbing them in the earth to shed off their furs. It was as if they were dancing just for us. It was amazing yet scary to see such huge animals in the wild yet so close to us.

Tip - The traffic literally stops when there are bisons on or near to the road. It might seem thrilling to be so close to these animals, but it is strongly suggested not to get out of your car to get any closer. These beastly animals can be real quick.

Campfire
After an hour long trip, we reached back to our campgrounds. The daylight was almost gone and the fumes from tents all around were bringing delicious smells. This time, we bought firewood from the campground office and it burnt like paper. May be something was wrong with our coal, which didn’t burn in the day.
It was getting chilly and first thing we did was to change into warm clothes. Dinner consisted of some ready to eat meal packets (pav bhaaji & bisibeli bhaath with budlight beer. Alas, why did I not get Corona :-(…
By 10, we were packed inside our tent. We were worried about the cold, but the tent and our comforters gave decent protection. We slept like babies.

First Morning
It feels amazingly fresh to wake up in nature. We overslept to our original plans and got up at around 8 AM. After a lazy, yet delicious breakfast consisting of bread butter jam, tea and some dry snacks, we packed up and left the tent site at about 9.30 AM.
Tip – You keep your stuff (minus the expensive items) in the tent only for your entire stay. We didn’t know this beforehand and thought we would need to uproot the tent everytime we went out :-)

Canyon Village
The route from Madison is via Norris basin (14 miles) and further east 12 miles. The famous Upper & Lower Falls are best seen from these points.

It is a less known fact that the lower falls are twice the height of Niagara Falls, and equal if not more majestic. There are many points on either side of the falls, from which these two points can be observed. Do plan to drive on the other side the falls, to the Artist Point. It provides magnificent view of the falls. There are maps available at Canyon Village for more details. Also, there is a good gift shop at Canyon Village, though we did not purchase our trip magnet from this place :-) (we got it from Old Faithful gift shop)

Hayden Valley

The next destination for us was Lake Village.

Enroute is the Hayden Valley – the most scenic drive with picture perfect clouds and the most gorgeous combinations of colors nature can provide. Remember the standard Microsoft Windows desktop image with clear blue sky & green earth… this is where you will find that picture from… Trust me, if you are crazy to click the pictures, the 16 miles drive from Canyon Village to Lake Village is going to take far more than 2 hours… :-)
There are some volcano formations and geysers all throughout the way. There would be parking places where you can get in to see these.

Lake Village
The best place to have food while having the view of the snow clad mountain ranges & the lake. There is a lovely Lake Village lodge, one of the best places to stay in the park. The food in the cafeteria is simply awesome. Don’t miss the Bison chilli, one of the best chilli we have ever had.
After lunch, we spend another half an hour taking in the gorgeous view before heading for the next destination – West Thumb.

Yellowstone Lake

The route to West Thumb takes you along the Yellowstone Lake.

With each destination, we found we were looking at something, which could without doubt feel as good if not superior to the previous one. It is only so much your mind can take in a day. We were overwhelmed by the beauty of the nature by now. That being said, this was the most pristine and beautiful lake we had only imagined till date. We would have stopped countless number of times, trying to capture in within our soul, the images which a camera would never be able to capture. Though the pictures of our SLR came great (that’s what everyone who saw them has been saying), but trust me, it is no match to the actual beauty of the place.

West Thumb Geyser Basin
On approaching this place, the first thought that crosses our mind is that finally we have reached a manmade park.

The neat rows of cars lined up in parking lot, the trees grown in a line all gives an impression of a park entrance. It could have not been farther from reality. We saw here the bluest of blue color in water we have ever seen, in the Black Pool. Don’t get confused by the name though :-)
Towards the lake side, there are benches which brought us the memories of Fateshsagar… Once an Udaipurite, always an Udaipurite :-) Sitting there, we remembered our good ol’ days of Fatehsagar and missed Udaipur’s famous Panditji ke bread pakode and chai…

Continental Divide

On the route from West Thumb to Old Faithful, we crossed Continental Divide twice. e rivers on the east of this line flow to Pacific Ocean and the rivers on the west flows to Atlantic Ocean. Read somewhere in Geography in school, saw it on this trip.... :-)

Old Faithful

It was almost 5 PM by now and we had to hurry up for the Old Faithful as we had booked our dinner slot for 5.30 PM. The Inn has the most luxurious eating place in the entire park. You need to book this in advance by calling Xanterra. This is the oldest Inn in the park and was actually formed as the tourist attraction around the most predictable geyser in the park – Old Faithful. The geyser erupts every hour (+/- 8 mins). There is an auditorium sort of seating arrangement to view the eruption. To kill the time before our show, I fancied imagining people around me huddled together with their popcorns bags and soda mugs all set to view the grand show of the nature. And what a show it was… There are some things about which you have heard and have imagined, but the reality still manages to awe you. This in true sense was one of the life’s breathtaking moments. A fountain of boiling foaming sulphurus water reaching heights over 100 feet is a site which in my limited capability is beyond description. According to the people around us (who were not viewing this for the first time), this show was the most spectacular of that day. It is said that if one eruption is spectacular, the next one will be milder comparatively and vice versa.

The Inn itself is an amazing old building. Very picturesque, both from inside and outside. By the way, we missed on the dinner as we would have either missed the geyser eruption or would have reached campground late. This is in our to-do list for the next time now.

Second Night
We sensibly came on time this day. There was enough daylight left for us to cook the food and enjoy without the need of lantern and torch. The dinner was sumptuous sev puri, chana masala and bread, with some budlight lime (this would be the last time I’d have this beer. Why did they even came up with this flavor, and why in the hell’s name did we go for it… We actually emptied the remaining cans after our dinner in the fire). Night falls quickly, and soon we were deep in dreams… Totally exhausted from so many amazing memories of this day.

Last Day
On Monday morning, we got up on time and had a quick breakfast and packed the tent. The check out process was a breeze. You just drop the paper (which they provide at check in) in the check out box on your way. We had some fire fuel left, which was handed over as a parting gift to a family which was on their way in to the ground.

Great Fountain Geyser
This geyser is supposed to go almost 2-3 times the height of Old Faithful. However, this erupts once in 2-3 days. How we wish that we had known about this one before. We reached this place by about 10 in morning and were told that it was scheduled for 3 PM the same day. Since we had so many things to cover, we decided to skip this one. And hence it goes in our list for the next trip.

Fountain Paint Pot
It is a small lake sort of. Enroute there are few beautiful geysers, worth stopping at each and spending a few minutes taking pictures. I think we were already overwhelmed from the previous day at this point and were just covering the places since they were there.

Grand Prismatic Spring

If you read the last line I wrote above, you are going to find it contradicts totally to what we saw in Grand Prismatic Spring.

This place rates at the very top in Kitten’s best of YSNP. For me, it co-wins along with Old Faithful & Hayden Valley & Yellowstone Lake and … :-) well, each of these places was a beauty & I loved them all.
This spring is a vast body of water, may be a couple of hundred yards or so in diameter, or that was what it seemed to be, covered with so much mist that you cannot see the other side. You find the most beautiful formations of blue & red (primarily, besides other colors too) mist. It felt, we were transformed in a fairy land. There was a strong wind, which was making lovely formation of the mist. After clicking countless snaps, we just stood there letting the mist fall on our faces and feeling connected with the nature.
On the way to Old Faithful, we found a lot of by lanes leading to different points. By this time, we truly thought we were done absorbing any more beauty.

Old Faithful Again
Since on the previous day, I was busy clicking the snaps of the geyser eruption,

we decided to go again and watch it one more time before our way out of the park. This time we decided to watch it from the other end. It came magnificently, as if ready to touch the sky again. It was another superb show which lasted for almost 5-7 mins.

Before leaving the park, we went to have a filling lunch in one of their cafeterias. Bison chilli did not disappoint again (though not as great as we had in Lake Village Lodge). On the way, we encountered a herd of Elks to see us off the park

Goodbye YSNP

We started from Old Faithful at around 2 PM.

We had originally targeted to leave YSNP by noon, but the extra 2 hours were totally worth. We drove south, stopping every once in a while to click snaps of the snow clad mountains in the backdrop of the beautiful lake.

Too tired to enjoy Grand Teton series by now, we stopped for a few clickable sites, before leaving GTNP by around 7 PM. We were staying overnight in Pocatello, which is about 3 hours from GTNP. The route through US 31 is till date the most beautiful route for Kitten & me.

Next day we covered Salt Lake and Temple Square in Salt Lake City before catching our flight back home… An end to the most amazing vacation - Yellowstone.

Memoirs of Maldives...

I can go on writing about Maldives for ever. There is so much that we experienced there. I am writing this blog coz during our research, we couldn’t find the consolidated information all in one place. I thought it might be a good idea to share a few of our trip details.

Feel free to add your experiences, ask questions if you need more details, or simply, enjoy this memoir.

The Choice of Destination:
The journey for choosing the honeymoon destination was quite eventful. It involved months of research and discussions. We started somewhere in July'07 with a long list of foreign and domestic destinations. It included places as far and exotic as Switzerland, Italy & Mauritius to as near as Kerala & Kashmir (at one point of time when it seemed that I might be in US during January & visiting India for just about a week, we also thought of Jodhpur & Jaisalmer).

Two elements, which attracted us equally, were the height & the depth, i.e. mountain & the sea. We chose water over heights as our final candidates were Andaman & Nicobar (A&N) and Maldives. However, at this time of our search, Maldives seemed expensive of the two.

We almost decided on A&N after hearing so many good things about the place and more so because of the fact that it is not a typical crowded destination. Apurva, a friend of ours, helped immensely by sharing her experience as a honeymooner there. Well, I'd say that we were destined to go to Maldives. Actually, our marriage was supposed to be in Nov' 07 but because of the non-availability of dates, we had to postpone it to end of Jan' 08. This gave us some time to re-look at our choices and we realized that the rates were more economical for a Feb travel to Maldives.
The Country:

We started looking at what constituted Maldives. It is a group of islands scattered across the Indian Ocean. There are 26 atolls (which are islands/island groups of coral that encircles a lagoon) that forms about 2000 coral islands. Many of the large islands are just a single resort.

Reaching Maldives:
The choice for travel was easy as there are not many carriers flying from India. They include the national carrier Indian Airlines (rechristened Indian), Jet Airways, Sahara (JetLite now) and Srilankan Airlines. We decided on Indian for the flight convenience and the cost advantage. The round trip fare cost us around 14,000 per person from Bombay – incl. of taxes (with base ticket price of 10,000, we were luckier to have lesser taxes then). The itinerary constituted early morning Mumbai to Bangalore , Bangalore – Male reaching there local time at about 11 AM. Return was the same way. It was about 1.5-hour flight from Bangalore to Male.

You get the transit visa on entry in Maldives, so needn't worry about that before hand. Just carry your passport along with. The customs and immigration is pretty much simple on both sides. Maldives being a tourist destination, they try to make things as simple as possible for their guests.

Selection of Resort:

Our first criteria was that if not for the complete stay, at least a part had to be in the water bungalow. Based on our budget, we planned to go for a 4 night trip, which we planned to break in 2 nights in water bungalow and 2 nights in super deluxe suit. We realized later that most of the deals are based on a 3 night or 5 night basis. However, we were lucky to get a few good 4-night deals from Prasanna, our agent.

Our second criteria was to select a good resort but not a very expensive one. We went through the exhaustive list of resorts in Maldives categorizing them according the stars and ratings. Few of the resorts which we liked were either fully booked, were expensive or did not promote Indian tourists. Don’t get surprised. For us also, this realization came the hard way. I got negative response from some of the good resorts which were in our list. When I contacted the agents, I was told that few of these resorts, which have a major crowd coming from UK, do not highly encourage Indian tourists.

We wanted to go for an island, which was not very close by to the Male airport. We wanted to enjoy the seaplane ride actually. Our choice was about 100 kms giving us about half an hour ride and an awesome view of the atolls & resorts below us.

Our fourth criterion was that the island should be large enough to keep our interest span as we had plans to spend most of our time on the resort property. Based on this, Sun Island resort proved ideal choice being one of the largest island resorts in Maldives.

For the February first week, we were getting deals ranging from $100 - $150 for a night's stay in a 1-2 star resort to about $400 - $1500 per night for a deluxe 5 star resort (rates only for the stay).

We finally chose Sun Island resort, which is a regular 5 star resort. We decided for a full board package with 2 night in super deluxe and 2 nights in water bungalow. There was some confusion between our agent and the resort who had booked our 2 nights in deluxe instead of super deluxe. When we reached the property, all the super deluxe were booked for our stay. So we stayed for the first night in deluxe, and got a free upgrade in water bungalow for one extra day (we surely did not mind that J)

Reaching the Resort:

The islands are scattered in a long radius around Male, the international airport. There are two options to reach the resort – speed boat (called Dhoni) or sea plane transfer. I would suggest that if your island is more than 20-30 kms from Male, it is worth spending extra for the seaplane transfer. Flying in the small aircraft that carries about 15 passengers, not very high in the sky, the experience is simply amazing. And the journey in speed boat might not suit everyone for longer distances. Since our resort was slightly over 100 kms from airport, we chose the seaplane. We were charged $150 per person for roundtrip seaplane transfer.

There are two seaplane taxi services, which take passengers of near by island resorts together. There is a separate seaport for these planes. So, if you have chosen seaplane ride, someone with your name placard would be waiting to take you from Male airport to the sea port. This is a small and comfortable ride in an air-conditioned coach for about 10 mins. The seaport has an electronic display showing the status of the planes and the wait time, like any typical airport.

Unfortunately for us, the plane was delayed by almost 2 hours. We utilized this time by having snacks and a couple of drinks at the small bar within the seaport. There is a open deck / terrace area where you can relax and wait other planes landing and taking off. It seemed kind of funny watching those small planes land in water instead of actual land.

As these planes are shared for passengers going to near by island resorts, it lands (again in sea) near a wooden harbor which is more or less in center of these islands. Speedboats from each of these resort comes to pick up their passengers. You get to enjoy the boat experience for a small distance to your resort.

Don't get surprised to see your pilot acting as a bell boy, transferring your luggage from plane to the boat.

Accommodation:
There is a great choice of stay based on the budget you are looking for. The heavy tourist season is from November through March, which also is the best season to visit. Avoid going in rainy months of June – August, unless going out in sea is not a necessity for your vacation.


There are a few categories of suites available in most resorts. The classification is not rigid, but I observed the below pattern in most places:
Deluxe – A nice comfortable suite with all necessary amenities in the mainland of the island.
Super Deluxe – Deluxe suite just next to shore. You get a piece of beach right in front of you. Mostly, these are the suites, which line up the circumference of the island.

Water bungalow – A separation from the world. A luxurious suite on the sea, few yards to few hundred yards from the beach. Most of the water bungalows have the sun decks, which provide adequate level of privacy. They also provide the stairs to walk below the bungalow to the corals. Yeah, you guessed right, it is the one that shells most of your money too.

Food:
Most of the resorts have three choices of food packages:
Half-board – Breakfast and one meal (either lunch or dinner) is included. Tea, coffee, milk, juices included only with meals. No extra beverages in the day are included.
Full-board – Three meals are included, without any in-between snacks or beverages. Tea, coffee, milk, juices included only with meals.
All inclusive – Three meals, unlimited snacks, non alcoholic beverages along with house beer included. Tea, coffee, milk, juices included all 24 hours.

Most of the resorts and travel agents try to sell half board plan. This gives them the ala-carte business for the third meal. Be assured, this option will prove out to be more costly then the difference you pay by going full board. For us, the difference came out to be $50 per day for the two of us, which we realized was anytime worth it.

There are ample food options in most of the resorts. Many large resorts like ours have at least 2-3 other specialty restaurants, which can be worth a try.

An interesting aspect in buffet is that you have a dedicated table and waiter for your entire stay. They place your name tag and the waiter in charge on the table. The day you arrive and visit the restaurant for the first time, the head waiter allocates you a table. This gets fixed for you for all your meals. The advantage is that you needn't worry about the rush hour. Also, you can inform the waiter about your preferences on the first day, and be assured that it will be taken good care of for your entire stay.

There were two main restaurants, the larger one for deluxe and super deluxe suites and the smaller one with a little more privacy for the water bungalow guests. Since we stayed in both, we got to eat in both the places.

One needs to find the kind of packages offered in their choice of resort. For us, the all inclusive plan did not include specialty restaurants (like the Thai and Italian restaurant we had on our island). Nor does it include most of the alcoholic beverages other than the house beer (not most of the international brand beers either). Based on these factors, we chose to go for full board plan.

Drinks:
Drinks can be ordered in any of the restaurants, bars or the suite. There is a mini bar in each of the suite, which is adequately stocked. However, the rates for mini bar are pretty steep compared to the common bar rates. The rates are more or less same for most of the bars.

As with food options, there were bars scattered all over the Sun Island resort for the comfort of the guests. The rates were not too expensive for a 5 star standards.

Maldives has a policy discouraging bringing of liquors from outside. Even though you happen to pass through the security screening at the airport, the resorts do inform their guests about the fines on using liquors not purchased in the resort.

Note - In Maldives, water is not provided even in 5 star resorts. With almost $2 a bottle, it might constitute a sizeable amount for the trip. Even with meals, water is provided only in all-inclusive plan, which forced us to buy our own water during meal times.

Things to do:
There are so many things to do on an island that four days proved less for us.

Sea activities – Depending on your choice, you can go for snorkeling or diving (prefer early morning hours when you see a lot of under sea activities). If you are not carrying your own gear, you can rent the gear for both at very reasonable rates. We rented the snorkeling gear for two days and used to snorkel below Italian restaurant where the water was slightly deep as well as below our water bungalow. There are instructor led diving sessions for beginners too. Well for the less-enthusiasts, the option of lazying on the beach sun bed with a cool beer is never too bad.

Sea sports – There was a farther end of island with good many options of water sports. You can book the times for these or can just walk in for them. The choice included parasailing, sea biking & kayaking.
Daily excursions – There are daily trips which you can opt for. These are published in the reception area on a notice board. You can put your name and room number against the ones you want to be a part of. The excursions included a good many choices: Dolphin spotting, day on an uninhabited island (with lunch on the island), deep sea diving, etc. (I don’t remember many since we didn’t take these)

Spa – Something not to be missed. After the weeks of hustle bustle of marriage, we needed some good relaxation. Sun island had a lot to choose from, we went for the Laobi-Laobi massage (this was the only couple massage).

Biking – The island is almost 2 kms long and a km wide. Does not seem that big, but when the only way to go from one place to another is to walk, it might seem tiring. The only other alternative is to rent-a-bike. This is a must and to avoid the rush, I would suggest the first thing you do after check-in is to rent the bikes. These are normally sold out early everyday and there is a waiting period. For us, we could get them only on the second day of our trip.

Pool – There were two pristine clean pools on the island. Though we had almost equally clean sea in front of us, we didn’t opt for using pool though.
Cultural Evenings – There is a schedule of activities for each evening, which is published in reception for the entire week.
Shark Feeding - The resort had a shark feeding session in Thai Restaurant every night.

Miscellaneous Pointers:
We started our search by fixing up the budget. Needless to say our final expense was close to one a half times that. Always leave a scope at least for 20-30%.
Tipping – The general thumb rule is to tip everyone who services you. The standard tip is $2-4 per person per day for the room cleaner & waiter. To both of these, you can pay together at the end of your trip. For all other misc services and in the bar & specialty restaurant, you can make the standard tip of about 15%.
Shopping – as you'd expect in any good resort, there are ample shopping options here too. If you missed anything at all, there are shops on the resort to take care of the needs. Also, there is a wonderful souvenir shop with cute gifts and memories to carry back.
Unlike other tourist destinations, in Maldives you don’t have a list of places and things to do. You don’t have to rush every morning to visit the places and the famous restaurants to eat. You spend your entire vacation on just one island. There is no hurry for anything, you have come here to relax.
Dress Code – On the island, as casual as possible. We carried a pair of formal hoping for a formal night, but realized that people were at ease and wanted to enjoy. In evenings, it was not uncommon to see most of the guys in shorts/khakis and girls in skirts/wraparounds. Some people did dress up a bit more elegantly in evenings. Though in Male, it is suggested to be slightly more conservatively dressed, a jeans & T-shirt would be just fine.
I loved www.tripadvisor.com for providing insights on everything, selection of resort, things to do and not to do, and what not.

I hope you enjoy this memoir and your stay in Maldives when you visit there as much as we did in our trip.

The Journey towards becoming…“COMMITTED”

The lazy bum that I have always been (my friends will vouch for that), I have always believed in making full utilization of the great work already done by the Blessed and Learned souls… (See Kritika, I am full praises for you, as always :-))

To continue the tradition, here’s a redirect to an amazing blog where in I am the centre of attraction (okkk… I did write a blog earlier ‘At First Sight… ’ where in I was assuming myself to be the key character, but then, it was a fictious piece of work, which just had the semblance of the lead actor with me somewhere…. Aaahhhh I go dreaming again…

Ok lets get back… What’s so special about this blog then… Well for one, it is a first hand narration of a true story and more importantly it is about my journey of how I ended up from being Single to Committed (ohh sorry, Happily Committed, I should write ;-)).

And I believe that all the credit for the wonderful piece of work goes to me… (I am sure none of you would disagree with me... well, you better dare not :)) After all it was my long friendship which inspired the writer in Kritika to write such a wonderful thing. Right???

Thanks Kritika for all these words, it means so very much to me :-)

http://kritikajoshi.blogspot.com/2007/05/most-important-day-of-my-life.html

P.S. Feel free to compliment on my blog side and comment on her blog site, errrr….. sorry, the other way round please ;-)

Cheers,

-= S a v y =-

SAVY’S COMMENTS: Kritika and I got engaged on 23rd April 2007 with our parents’ blessings in Amchi Mumbai. We have been friends for 9 long years (which suddenly look so less) and planning to get married on 27th January 2008.

Everyone's Invited :-)

Why should YOU change???

"Can't you behave like this for me, dear???"

"I expect you to change just this much for me, can't I?"

"I thought you'd love me enough to do at least this for seeing me happy, but now I realize that I don’t mean anything for you... :( "

These are just a sample few of the so very common situations I have seen people encountering (along with me of course at times as one of the sufferers). Why does one need to change for others? (Before answering love & respect & some other heavy weighted terms, just rethink again…) I agree that as social beings we need to evolve over a period of time; that we need to improve and grow. But why this forceful evolution of ourselves?

Who says that it is mandatory, if you are a part of the social jungle, to keep on changing yourself as and when it suits the wishes of near and dear ones of yours. But I raise a very fundamental question - if some one is really close to you, the person feels you close as a whole entity, or that is what should be, otherwise I don’t think it is actual closeness. Then why is it that one feels the burden of changing their persona (becoming something which they aren’t) just because it might not be in the picture perfect of the image which others have hold for you. What is the guarantee that tomorrow, the same person might not wish to see you again in some different dress?

As a human being when we are born, we don’t have a shape of one’s Self. Over a period of time, we evolve into something which was the result of an entire process of evolution, (and which is again an ongoing process). When earth as a planet evolved, we realize that it came in its present shape because of the all the special combination of components which must have been present at that time. What would have happened to earth if some kin or parent or spouse (or even parents-in law) of earth had come interrupting its process and putting their own demands in shaping? It would have been a totally different earth then what we see it today. I am not arguing whether it would have been better or worse - just different....

As a human being undergoing a similar process, all that I demand is that let me under go my own process of evolution. I am different from any other living or non existing creature, so there is no use comparing me to anyone else. Also similarly there is no use of wanting me to become something else. Even if I try, the end result in all possibilities might be even worse then what it is today.

No, I don’t mean in any ways that we should be closed to suggestions. Everyone in justifiable role has the right to give a frank opinion and advice as and when one feels that it might be beneficial for other’s growth. That is the true sense of being a social creature. What I am opposing is the emotional blackmailing which one thinks might be a useful tool in shaping other person into something which either in one’s course of evolution s/he can’t become or else with all his/her consciousness doesn’t want to become.

Don’t force on me or any other being something just because you want to see it in him or her. Rather gift that person an honest and friendly opinion.

For those, who follow others and let their course of lives be governed by them, just one statement - I am what I am and am proud for the same. If I follow what you want me to become, tomorrow, I might not remain what I am today too…

I can't live without I

Dont start correcting my language...The second "I" is intentional...

Having said so let me share how this great idea of writing this piece came to my mind... [Some clarification, its not one of those typical self bragging things you think it is… I have no such high thoughts / notion bout myself…]

This thought process was triggered by a comment (testimonial written for me by my very good friend – Melwyn)… He wrote that the middle initial of this person (me) is a BIG "I"…. I thought over it, and found that’s very true… I myself say that I can leave without everything but not ME…

Don’t start cursing me (in which ever language you are doing right now). I still assure its not self bragging article…

Don’t answer it, but ask yourself - what is it without which you cant live (something similar to Dil Chahta Hai scene where in you can close your eyes while thinking if you wish, and see which is the first person coming in front of you – hey I aint kidding it works, try it out man !!!)…

For all those who said / thought anything besides I or ME, I have a suggestion – dude, be practical and less philosophical… Tomorrow, if which ever person you saw, no longer exists (am extremely sorry for being so blunt, but accept the fact, life moves on), you will still live…

Ok, this philosophy has a backing… After seen the best of lovers, and the worst of enemies (these are the only two cases when u real strongly think bout someone), surviving the perishing (not dyeing but just not being there yaar)… of the other one, I feel and can say that the theory works…

So when someone says (like a lover, son/daughter, friend, or enemy too) that you are the most important thing in my life and I cant live without you, I will suggest don’t start filling in gas with pride... with all probability, tomorrow if you are no more (arre baba, I am not killing you)… the life will still continue and that person would still have some good moments in life… Yeah we do miss people, anyone in fact whom we come close to… and probably that’s what makes us different from animals (they are far superior in communication then us, which I will try to pen down in another blog sometime). But that missing someone doesn’t stop us from enjoying ourselves…

At this point if time, there are at least half of you who would like to hit me with what ever object u get hands on…. So let me make it soften it slightly… getting close to people is very good thing, giving them everything is even better… but what I understand is to accept the continuity of life… coz that’s the reason why the nature is what it is… it wants us to accept its mighty and surrender to it humbly… it wants us to love our surroundings (people included) but realize the person’s importance… you have an independent existence… you are a complete identity… the moment you try to associate / depend yourself on others, your identity starts getting diluted…

Well, that’s my views, am strong in them, as you would say, coz for me - I can't leave without I...

Which is My Star…

[Before I start this blog, let me tell you that it is an incomplete blog (I cant say whether it is a story, article, stream of thoughts or something else...). I started it sometime back and for long couldnt give a justified ending to it. Thus I give whatever it is, in its raw and crude form, knowing perfectly well that it doesnt do any justice, but then it left me thinking for a while and it may do the same for you too... Still if you feel like complaining, be my guest...]

As a kid, like all kids of my age, I used to love stars… almost every night after dinner, I used to go to my terrace and stare at them for long hours. I used to search patterns in them and faces of known people. As I got in my teenage, other factors kept on coming, as besides seeing the stars,
an occasional luck to peek at face of the girl in my neighborhood who also used to come to gaze at stars…

In school and college, I used to love astrophysics. My favorite physics professor saw my interest and he used to give me extra doze of the subject. He also took me once to the solar observatory in our city. I dreamt at that time to be a scientist one day… what a dream it was…

Then came a time in life where in your dreams and aspirations are rather directed by people around you. I too started seeing my interest in what others surrounding me were successful in doing. Some were doctors, others engineers and accountants, but the thing which was hot, was IT, aka software…

Ok, I will agree that computers attracted me, but who will it not. There lies a machine which combines your TV, VCR, cassette player, video game, and well for some naughty stuff too. But then I never saw it as what software and the IT world used to see it. A dumb – idiot machine which needs to be explicitly told as to when to lift the pen, to what height to lift the pen, to…. Well I don’t care… Common, even in my school days, I used to like my computer practicals only because I used to play that space game on it whenever our lab in-charge was not there. I must never have made a single program my self then, or even at college in my graduation (hushhh, don’t ask how I cleared my exams – God bless all my wonderful friends ;-)). I was supposed to be a good student, but when it used to come to sit in front of that dumb terminal and type in some commands on that dull screen (the color of which changed from black, to white, to what not). I don’t know why they make the IDE so dull, it actually de-motivates your spirit to type your programs… ok may be not for all….

On public demand and, I would say the typical Indian family pressure, where parents want to see there son become an engineer and work in some crappy government office earning few thousand in salary and few tens of thousands in upper ki kamai, I was also kicked off by them in my career. I will not blame them. After all, what more or different a middle class family could think of. I didn’t have a family business like my friends, which could have saved me from the torture of those engineering years and more which was yet to come then. And in a small city, from where I came, there wasn’t much scope for innovative and creative thinking (which I still doubt if I have in any)

Ok, I went to college and succeeded to pass out too as a software engineer with ok ok results (remember what I said before, I hardly ever made any programs even in pracs then).

Job was not difficult, what with all these US companies suddenly finding us Indians as their messiahs, who could take away all there problems (and also many of their jobs). I never understood the concept of outsourcing. Why the heck you want to disturb your years old system with your most trustworthy people and give it to some one sitting thousands of mile away ready to screw your running system and happiness of your loyal people, and might be yours too.

But ok, at the end of the day the payer is happy, so who could be blamed. Let the projects run over cost and let most of them ending up some multiple times initial time estimations. But again that is not my point of discussion here.

When in college, they ask you to be innovative, creative, work on some real complex assignments. But they don’t tell you that son, in real projects, you might be working on a thing so simple that even a non matriculate kid could do it with the same efficiency. They also forget to tell you that you might be working on the same 1-2-3 programs for months and sometimes years at the end. Even worse, if you start with a mainframe project, you might actually start from rookie to manager in the same system… is it all worth the craze? Well it pays, so who’s gonna complain.

Even bigger reason. It sends you to different worlds. For us Indians, going on foreign land has always been a distant dream. Actually how many of our people even today have a passport. I doubt not many (which includes my parents too). This is simply because, for us it is something which is distant even in our dreams… may be I could compare it with going for Haj. Life’s greatest and ultimate dream.

But this far stretched dream became a common household term with the invasion of software in the country. Suddenly, one couldn’t find a suitable groom or bride, because all the good candidates were supposed to be the one’s who were onsite and had a H1B or greencard there…

Ok, I need to accept here that I too was one of them with a dream of going on a foreign soil and then cursing the system here right from infrastructure to people to quality of life, to what ever I could of India. It wasn’t as if I didn’t know that you are always a second class citizen in those countries. The color of skin is deep bound…

But then the best thing about this industry is that it doesn’t let you think too much. Before the blink of eye and before you could sit and ponder on what’s happening of your life, you have actually spend years and are bound to spend the remaining ones too.

Ok, I was telling that after college I joined a wonderful MNC as a developer. What a developer means and does, I have already explained. The job came with the ultimate dream – going to the US of A. the moment I landed on their soil, the world seemed to be so bright and lovely, for a moment I must have forgotten that there could be poverty, illiteracy and all those other things with which till now I had associated my country in this wonderland.

Ok, I know that most of you who have been there might have felt the same. What’s the difference…

The difference lied in my life…

AT THIS MOMENT, I AM ABRUPTLY PAUSING THIS STORY (hello, this is not my story by the way…) AND AM NOT GIVING AN ENDING. YOU, THE READER HAS THE CHOICE OF CHOOSING THE END WHICH YOU WOULD LIKE TO VISUALIZE IN AND SHARING WITH THE REST OF US (that’s what comment is for). GIVEN BELOW ARE SOME IDEAS TO START OFF…

[Yeah, before you start screaming at me for stealing this idea from Jeffery Archer’s “One Man’s Meat”, I will, like a rooky writer, my self give the credit for the idea to the original author. For those who haven’t read that story, plzzzz do so, its an amazing one…]

I Dare To Be Different...
One day I made a mistake which took me to where I am today, and shall I say a pleasant mistake... The mistake was that I sat one day thinking whether it was this which I wanted to do in my life. The mistake was I remembered the day when I used to gaze at stars and in that small city of a rusty country of mine. And then I realized that may be after I left college and joined the wagon of hordes trying to run the business for the world, I have never actually gazed the stars… One reason could be that I don’t have a space of my sky. I am surrounded by tall concrete structures with a magical world, but I cannot see the blues and the whites…

That mistake actually made me restless. Now I was working but their was no motivation behind my work. I wasn’t able to find or justify my existence. What will I do when this IT will burst again, when the US would find some other better pastures or even worse, when I would want to tell my kids what it means like gazing the sky…
…
…

Life’s Like That…
But isn’t it late for me now to think on what I have lost or what I am going to loose. Anyways, I cannot change my past. Even if I want to, my life is cemented to this culture and life. My family doesn’t want to change it either… And why all the hue and cry for losing the culture and values. After all, we Indians also originated from the Aryans who came from Mongolia and we formed our different culture. Mongols/Chinese or whoever are the descendants of Aryans now, don’t curse us for changing the culture and all. And after all, the culture and values could never have given me this lifestyle and luxuries. Ok, I am a mean and selfish person, but I hold the right for it from whatever constitution you want to name…
…
…

Balance Is Possible...
One day I sat and wondered as to what I was doing with my life. Whether 10 years, 15 years, 20 years down the line, I will be a happy person, or would I repent on how I have wasted my and my family’s life just in search of some mirage which never existed. Whether I would be accepted and taken as one over here within this new world or whether I will still be rooted with my origins in India.

And I sought for help from everyone who could have helped me. Be it my parents, my family, my ol teachers and my soul. I had seen many friends, colleagues around me who were not happy after a struggle of their life….I didn’t want to be one of them… So I sought for a balance…
…
…


[Savy’s Note: Why did I write it if there was no sensible ending… well may be again, here’s something just to tickle your grey cells. Something again, to make you think, is it what you wanted to do and thing are equipped with the best of skills to do?

Honestly there could not be any right or wrong ending. It is very subjective and I respect what ever ending you feel is the one for you.

My ending is still undecided, as I need to go first to US to feel that :-))

Memories of a Trip - 26/7

It was once in a lifetime scare which none of us will ever forget.

We started walking from office at 5.30 in evening and reached home at 11.30 in nite. On the way the water was at places knee-waist-neck deep. What started as an adventurous trip ended in one of the most will-haunt moments for us!

After waiting for company bus for hour n half, we decided to try walking n finding some vehicle on the way. We reached western express highway at 8.30 and the way people were helping each other all throughout was one of the most inspiring and typical to Mumbai scene. At Greenfields and Fantasy land, where the water was almost gushing and taking anything and everything along with, people were forming human chains and trying to pull what ever living was there...

Once on bridge under the highway, we started calling whom so ever we could cal to ensure them that we were ok and there was absolutely nothing to panic about. The reality... even we were not aware of till then... there were options to go some where else, at someone's relative's place, but even the spirit was high and we wanted to make it to OUR home ourselves. (Besides the common thought... highway would be safest and no reason why walking there would be difficult!) Then the journey on western express highway began. In front of mahananda dairy, it was sumthin more or less like a river in monsoons. The flow was strong enuf to take away even the strongest in... and the traffic, there was bumper to bumper traffic all the way. Some had even stranded there vehicles and started on their own. Of many such sites, there was an Indica, which was almost in water above the windows. Hope there wasn't sumone inside, coz today's paper mentioned some 16 people dying coz of suffocation sitting in cars... people sat in cars for more then 30 hours... it definitely would be remembered as the worst traffic jam at least in till this date...

At 9.30, rains almost stopped and we thought that's the end, just to realize that worst was yet to come... it started pouring with all the more ferocity at around 10. Even now the energy and hopes were not down. We kept on walking without much thought or worries. We could even manage to sing songs on the way, to enjoy RAINS...

Once at kandiwali, we thought we could take rick now, but the spirits were so high, we thought to complete this once in a lifetime journey all the way on foot, and this was for better actually. At mahindra gate no 1, the bridge seemed to have collapsed and the water was coming opposite to us from lokhandwala. It was at places almost waist-neck deep. At 11.00 pm, almost 6 hours walking in rains and water, hungry and all tired, our spirits were almost dying. The thought that the home, what a sweet word which symbolizes safety and shelter was almost there...

We did managed to reach home, and almost safely and without much casualty. A journey which lasted almost 15 kms and more then 6 hours...Yeah, it can be said that staying back would have been better and what you did was foolish, but then who realized that it was nature's way to show the smallness of human being. Agreed that we are safe and alive but then it was a close encounter, which will make us feel it ourselves, next time some news channel shows pics of a flood affected life...

It shows what life means...

Savy

[Savy's Note: The Rain Gods were furious and the downpour was the punishment rather then the boon which it normally is... the skies couldn't hold the anger, and passed down what ever it held in its chest.Life was shattered and humanity once again evoked. It was one such moment when man stood for man...

Being a part of one such journey, here's what we met on the jounrey from Office to Home - 26th July 2005.]

At First Sight... Huh...

Love doesn't come through thin air... you need to cultivate it with time and passion... Love at first site is more for dreamers, but for someone practical and logical, it never is the case...

These were my views from past as long as I dare to remember, but yeah, before I met her...

I got a job in Mumbai and it was time to say good bye to Pune where I was doing my post graduation. I was all loaded with my bags of two years, panting and sweating, when I boarded the bus from Aundh at around 3.30 in afternoon. My seat no. 19 was occupied by a sweet looking girl. My heart started jumping thinking that she is supposed to be on my adjacent seat and has taken mine by mistake. I told her that you have been sitting on mine, and yours would be no seat 20. She smiled and very sweetly said that hers was seat 23 and she was waiting for her husband who had the seat 20, and would I be kind to take hers instead so that she can sit with her hubby. If only I could bring on my face what was in my heart. But I glistened a fake smile and told-why not. Why it always has to happen to me yaar...

Seat 23 was going to change my life, but for the moment, it was the company of a snobby looking gal with geaky specs and Ayan Rand's Fountain Head in her hand. I just wonder why I never happen to get great looking lass as companion in my journeys. But alas, God has ways to play with me, it seems...

Anyways, the bus started and so did the video movie. It was horrible, but the chances of any conversation to gal next seat seemed from Mars, so I tried to get the senseless plot of the typical Masala Bollywood murder mystery...

The voice came from Mars actually "How was the paper presentation in Mumbai last month?" More then shocked by the fact that she knew that I had participated in one, was the fact that she had such a real sweet voice...

On seeing the questioned look (I hope it wasn't frightened look, after all she was from Earth and not Mars), she laughed and excused for firing me with such a question without giving the base. She was studying in her final year in the college where the prelims for the zonal level paper presentation for Mumbai were held last month. I stood second over there and she had been impressed by paper. Though I wish it was my style or even better me instead. At least, the ice was broken...

What started as discussion on the paper, soon engulfed on anything and everything from art to literature to psychology to philosophy. For me, it was a feeling that I can talk to this person as if I am talking to a mirror. We shared so much in common our thinking, aspirations, believes and values. At 7.15, when the bus touched Dadar, we realized that our names were yet to be shared. I never ever would have believed this if it wouldn't have happened with me that I could talk to someone-even more so-to a pretty (so what if a lil' bit geaky) gal, for more then 4 hours without knowing her name. We actually laughed out aloud on realizing it, and she very warmly shook my hand "it was very nice to meet you, I am Dakshita. Lets meet sometime, my number is"...

On way to my guest house, I was in a dilemma as to whether my theory denying love at first site it to be believed, or what happened to me was real? My logical mind was saying that people meet on journeys and even though you like some of them, you just forget afterwards and probably it was nothing more. I told my self you will also forget her soon and it was absolutely nothing...

I doubt if I had had any sleep that night, and first thing in morning was to call her up and ask to meet. Since she was also new in Mumbai, and had come to meet her aunt, I volunteered to take her to Café Sea Side in Banstand (my favorite)...

I had met her just a day before, but each moment waiting for her that day, seemed ages for me. I always thought that when I would propose to my love, it would be a real royal event in my life, with Champagne and roses. But everything in my logical self was happening in an anticlimax manner...

I was simply lost at words but again she had listened to what I had in my mind. She was in fact more bold and clear in expressing her thoughts, so effectively she spoke for both of us in the end...

Till this date, three years after our marriage and five years after that first meet, she listens to me before my speaking and I just see her admiringly as if we are meeting for the first time...

All my friends still pull my leg for my being logical with love at first site, but then exceptions are a part of our lives, aren't they :)

:-)

Savy

[Savy's Note: Here's a story I wrote after a long time which, though is a fictional one, but I have captured some of my real life moments in it too, which ones... keep guessing ;-)

Also before all the beautiful girls out there think that otherwise(it did happened when i first circulated the story around), let me clear - its purely fictional (read I am stil an eligible bachelor ;-))

Happy Reading]

The Race Against...

We are all running in a race. A race, where I dont know the end line, I dont know what lies for the winner, I just know that the guy next is running and if I dont, then surely I am gonna be a loser. Its only this feeling that makes me run, against the unknown, the unseen...

How many of us today are happy? How many of us don’t feel incomplete and craving for more? How many of us, can say today, true to their hearts as to what it is that they want in life and what they are looking out for – what gives them pleasure, what makes them happy… not me, I admit!

I remember it was June 2000, when on a typical June day (it is quite hot then in Udaipur), during my second year grad exams, it showered heavily and the climate turned very pleasant. Vaibhav, a very close friend of mine, and I, went to our regular hangout – Pandtiji’s Bread-Pakoda at Fatehsagar lake in afternoon. Rishabh, the third link in our friendship trio, (through intuition surely) also reached there searching for us, in around an hour.

The weather and the nature were at its wonder. It was drizzling and we were having rounds of chai and bread pakodas. Out of the habit and that age of getting elderly shoe, we tried to be a bit philosophical. Rishabh was to say – “Ashish, think, what does one need to be happy? Today, this 1.5 Rs. worth chai and 2.5 Rs. worth bread pakoda can give all the happiness one thinks of; it’s just that we keep on thinking of greater things, forgetting the worth of such small pleasures”. It followed by a healthy (and philosophical) discussion and few more rounds of chai and bread pakodas. The reason I remember it even after nearly 6 years is the fact that, even today, it is all one needs, all I need, to feel great. May be the chai costs 2 Rs and bread pakoda 3 bucks, and the climate of Udaipur is as pleasant as ever. Agreed, at that time, worth of money for 5 bucks is not something same as it is today for me. But the point I am trying to make it is whether my newer needs of today are dependent on my needs changing or it is governed by something else?

One sees people around running madly in all possible directions. Yeah, most of them seem to be doing great in lives and setting standards for the rest to struggle and crave high. But when one look back at times, the success and sense of achievements, which one used to get from smaller wins, is not anymore. One is running, and struggling to keep the pace with the guy next to him. He doesn’t know whether the path he is taking is really the one which will take him to his destination or not. He is rather not even aware of what his destination is, should be?

I remember my first year grad results day. I have never been a great student, but say the blessings of lady luck, that I managed to score reasonably well in my academic exams. I was working then as a trainee in NIIT centre. Immediately after I knew about my results, I was send for a task with my senior-Vikas. After about two hours of running and getting the work done, while returning back to the centre, I told Vikas, that I aint feeling some sense of achievement. Logically, I should be feeling happy that I have scored beyond my expectations, but somehow the feeling isn’t coming. I would always remember what he said – “Ashish, this is your entry in the real world. You will achieve success and wins over and over, but you might not always be able to celebrate and enjoy them.” I realize the meaning of those words now.

Today when one changes a job, people congratulate, for going in a better company, higher salary, perks, onsite, whatever. But the guy isn’t happy coz even after all that, he sees someone getting all of that and even more. The standards are not with one’s own wishes from life, but from what the guy next to him is getting.

How many of us can correlate with the fact that at times even the success of our closest friends makes us restless. One gets a feeling of not being successful in life, not being at a substantial position, whereas till yesterday things were perfectly fine with one’s work and life.

For most of us coming from service class families, our parents used to earn fraction of what we earn today (I do have heard of something called inflation). They used to support the entire family and we never ever felt that we were underfed or that our necessities were not met with. Today, for us, with all those fat salary package are never fulfilling our needs. It’s always less, like a mirage…

How many times have we heard – “When I settle in life, I will do …” The word settle has a very subjective definition, for some, it is a salary package of X amount, for others, it is a 2BHK fully loaded (with all amenities obviously) house. For others, it is after spending Y no of years onsite and after getting to a particular designation. Ask our parents what they used to think of the meaning of settled when they were of our age. If it is the case today, ever imagined what our kids would define as being settled???

The aim here is not to point that one should leave the competition and go to mountains forever (which I am sure some of us, including my self, at least fantasize of at times). The point is whether all this struggle and fight is making us happy and more at peace within our souls? Whether in this run, are we missing out something vital which makes us human? Whether we are able to rationalize and justify the run in itself? Are we doing to justice to people close to us, our families, and friends and off all of them – ourselves?

I am not trying to challenge the way we are today, nor am I suggesting a new system, all that I can try and aim for all is to take a pause and find out a rationalized answer to What We Are, What Are Our Strengths, What We Really Want and then gather our energies and proceed for the same!

Life is not long, but the moments we actually LIVE make it worth living…

Ashish