Delightful reveries

"All of us talk of going on a journey, to sit with peace, and enjoy the nature's bounty. Maybe, to Kerala, Kashmir, Darjeeling... It is an outward journey, from our home. But why do we make this "outward journey?" To enjoy the nature? Reconnect with ourselves? Relax? And also maybe to ignite the spark in us, soothe our frayed hearts, calm our chattering minds to make a start to begin the journey within. And it may work, for a little while. And then, back to square one. We make a promise, every single time, that on returning, we shall stay the same. But the world outside is happy enough to bring us back to our old ways. Or maybe we are not strong enough to withstand the pressure of not going back to the old ways.So what does it become?            The journey to nowhere. Maybe. Since we enjoy nature during the trip..it can't be the journey to nowhere. So what is the journey to nowhere???  Life. I feel so. Well not exactly journey to nowhere, j...

Writing is not a skill .It is an art , of carefully choosing the choicest words,and weaving them together in a fashion that would entice him/her to read more. Writing is not an art .It is the science , of applying the mind's most brilliant ideas and presenting them to the world on paper. Writing is not science , it is the skill of laying carefully, the thought processes that bog the brain and heart, everyday, every night. Great writings do not just exist. They create, Imagination in the mind of the reader; Dreams in the eyes of soul;A world of fantasy to the dreamer;A place of escape to the weary; Another world to the traveler; Description to the blind; Solace to the seeker. They become a friend to the friendless. Great writings provide courage and comfort, warmth and inspiration,and knowledge. They can inspire and sadden at the same time.Be sarcastic yet joyful and provide love yet inject darkness. Not everyone can write so. Hence writing is not a skill,it...

                                                              Golden light:);)                                                                                                                 Illuminati                                                 The busy quietness of an evening.

And I'm back with a bang!!!! Meanwhile, this is what happened in AshVland: A poem ;) It rains noisily, I jump and run fast, Trying to find shady trees, my feet splashing against puddles and wet leaves. I run for cover, when I hear footsteps, following me to the tree. My heart lurches and races and pounds to be free. These are the footsteps of my past whose eyes stare at me, boring into the back of my body. I breathe heavily trying to forget my past, watching a thin tree run past. I almost trip, still living in the past. Finally find  a tree, Heave a sigh of relief, only to find that,my past has followed me quietly, to my grief. I try to stare back at it, look it in the eye, it gleams of failures wrought on it. I shut my eyes, unable to bear, try to disconnect, leave it under the tree, yet the heart looks back as I run in front, trying to become free. The rain has stopped. So that was the poem!! How did y...

This post will be close to my heart always..as it celebrates one year of my blogging and independence day of my country (India):)) There cannot be a prouder moment in my life! One year of blogging=A roller-coaster ride. ;) And yes, I have improved. But this is the first year only and there is still a longg way to go.I will improve my blog ,I promise:) and myself too.I can call myself a one year old baby (in blogging) who has taken that first step with her right leg:)) Blogging celebrates diversity of thoughts & on Independence Day we celebrate unity in diversity !:) So thank you all! Please do continue with me on this journey! Loads of luv, AshV:)

Here, I will be sharing the stages of them growing up:) The cuute babies! They haven't opened their eyes yet:) Looks like they're smiling! Feeding time. Them feathers are growing!! And I'm their family photographer ;) Almost full grown! I'm proud of them:') Though I didn't do anything:P 

All for a rainy day:) I can hear the footsteps of rain , As it walks along roads and pathways , Creating lil puddles . Puddles of joy , That once were eagerly awaited for. I can hear the rain , Softly talking to the trees And bringing the soft breeze, That chills me, down to the bone. I can hear the rain , And feel its little droplets Fall on my face and arms, As I open myself, to the rain .

So here's some exciting news! But first, see this. Two eggs!!!! Now for the surprise! Lo and behold.. One of them hatched!(:Today morning:)) And the mommy pigeon, looking at them and us, in an alert manner!! Hoping the other one hatches soooooonn :D Also, this is my 20th post!! So thank you all!:):*

 Spending an afternoon watching vehicles whizz by and people walking by, sipping Hyderabad's iconic irani chai ,  along with  osmania biscuits   and samosas in the city's famed Garden Restaurant with the Clock Tower looming large,   is indeed a memorable pleasure, as it reminds one of the slow paced, fun filled life, before the advent of the modern technology. 

"The seat beside her was empty." The seat next to her in the library was empty."She cared a naught". She cared a naught. For,she was lost in that book. "Her hair flew around her face, playfully". She took that bit of hair and tucked it gently, behind her ear. "While she waited for him, she whistled a song quietly, to herself." She hummed her favourite song while reading the book. "The song done, she drummed her fingers on her lap, looking for something else to do. Craning her neck in every direction, she tried to spot something that would interest her, something to pass time for. She spotted a book, lying on the ground, staring at her helplessly. She picked it up and dusted it off. Why it was her favourite! The one she had been searching for, a week ago-To kill a mocking bird. She settled herself comfortably on the seat , and started reading." She flipped the page. She hadn't noticed, that a man had filled in the seat next to her, ...

On what seemed like a normally hot summery afternoon that soon turned rainy, the pigeons came into the balcony, as usual, flapping wings and making sounds as though just to irritate me. They stayed there till rain stopped.   The next afternoon, to my surprise, I find the pigeon, very comfortably seated, in a tulsi pot. A tulsi pot that too!! What a choice!! No amount of shooing or clapping hands would budge the pigeon. The problem only escalated, towards the evening, when the maid servant tried to shoo it away.Flapping its wings and making that irritating noise, it almost pecked her! Of course, the mother instinct had come into play. By now you would've understood. It had laid an egg!!!                                                                 Excitement building on? Stay tuned for updates!:)

  All of us have heard seven notes. What seven notes? But of course,  the seven "musical" notes! :) Now you know what I'm talking about. Music. I daresay, Music has played a very important role in everyone's lives. Be it instrumental, unplugged,rock,metal, rap, pop, classical,folk, fusion anything, Music is just music. It knows no barriers,no boundaries. It is free flowing, moving from place to place, touching hearts and souls. Music has played an important role since time immemorial. Music is a medium of expressing happiness & celebrating it. Though there also has been music for the sad times. When you listen to music, it is just you and the music.All else fades away. Feeling sad/upset? Listen to music! Feeling happy? sing along! Mood off? Music to the rescue again! Music. music. music. What would I have done without it? For me, it's always the motto : No music. No life. I'm addicted to music. Are you too?  Do you share your feelings and thoug...

Deep inside everyone's heart is a huge hole,filled with desires that can never be fulfilled, promises that are empty, and countless daydreams and fears that are the darkest of secrets. They maybe known or unknown. Yet, making a huge impact without making themselves known.  That, my dear friend, is the irony of life. Because these deep secrets help us go through our and we draw inspiration from reality, to fantasize these empty dreams, and build castles in the air.

Another leaflet out of her diary.. "I hated the chemistry lab. Too spooky. I could hear eerie sounds whenever I entered it. Its doors cringed and creaked when opened. Since I had to get a doubt on chemistry cleared, I mustered the courage to go into the lab. I opened it, and saw my teacher working on an experiment with the fuse box. She had long nails and wore a pale, expressionless face, and always looked and seemed like a ghost to me. Just as I was about to ask my doubt, the lights went out. She used the fuse box and lit a tiny bulb. By then, the little courage, faded away. I saw my teacher, she had turned into a ghost! She reached out to grab me, but I tried to run away as fast as I could. I ran on and on, without any direction. I didn't see that I was running into a tree, and  BAM! I woke up, pale,panting and sweating. It was but a nightmare."

I love oxymorons. And irony. The world's full of them. So are we. Didn't get my point? Come, let me take you through a journey of the significance of these,umm what do I type,these cardinal words, as I see it. We are progressing at a very fast rate. Sending people to Mars, Big Data, Artificial intelligence, progressing in medicine etc. The knowledge, technology advancements have developed.But have we, as humans developed? Yes, in a negative way. Or, we have, Regressed. Instances of violence have increased. People have destroyed nature.We instead of learning to respect and nurture nature, are destroying her. This is how we are developing. Having evolved to being the most intelligent species on earth, we have, instead of increasing our respect for our Mother, only shamed and humiliated her. We are progressively regressing.  The oxymoron! With  increase in developments in medicine, it is only natural, that we be healthy. Sorry, not healthy, it should be natural that we ar...

So, here is part one, or what I have taken from her diary secretly;)  "Dear diary, Friends. Aha. Hit the spot. Sisters? Even better. Soul sisters and twins? Absolutely! Hit the sweet spot !! But not the best. What am i talking about eh? You must be thinking i have gone bonkers.:P No. Not quite. So, listen. One is pretty lucky if one has a very close friend or a twin.Then he/she can talk about everything under the sun, give opinions, share ideas and yet not be judged,for every move. One can even ask for advice on some matters, get other's perspective and broaden the horizon of one's mind.It helps reduce stress and lightens one up. But in some cases it would be the best when one talks to oneself.Sometimes, somethings are best when discussed with oneself.And I do this in my mind mostly and write it down in you.But it is of no use since you can't talk back to me or my mind. It is in these cases that i wish for something beautiful. That, my mind and soul com...

The last rays of the sun seem to have the midas touch, every place they seem to reach turns a beautiful golden yellow:). The sun seems to be in a hurry to set down and for night to befall. This beautiful time of the day produces a warm unexplicable feeling in my heart, that everything's going to be okay.And it also takes the girl, lets name her Arch, to her dreamland, a land of paradise, where her rules are only followed.We too wish of such a dreamland right? So, her dreamland is filled with many such beautiful ideas which are not otherwise possible on Earth. But,of course. Dreams are our unfulfilled desires, of houses filled with chocolates, of having superpowers, of a world with peace, that  promotes music,art, culture and of environment-friendly buildings, harmonious and religiously tolerant people,of a city filled with books, wishing those childhood dreams to come true:') She has a monologue, about various ideas in her paradise. The following series is her monologues ...

I would like to dedicate this post to my mom, since she was the driving force behind me to start this blog.She energizes,inspires and motivates me.Love you mom.This is for you.                                                              One never knows the value of moment until it is reminisced upon.                                For, it is a fleeting moment that defines happiness.                                And photography helps.The love for photography redefines it,                                gives it a new passion, a new meaning.             ...

Aha. So I would have caught you thinking,'why include sadness in this place?' Because sadness too is required.Only when we are sad, can we enjoy the happier times better. As then, we would know the value of happiness & joy, something we all take for granted.As the lines of a popular song go 'you only know you've been high when you're feeling low'. Now be true to yourselves.We do take it for granted that we will always have a happy ending for everything, do we not?. Sometimes we become sad, we cry without reason. which is good, as it releases pent up feelings. Feeling sad can help us introspect and improve.Sadness is not a sign of weakness or sensitivity, it is a sign that we are alive and have emotions and feelings. That doesn't mean we be sad most of the times! Because we need to move on in life, bettering ourselves.Only when we know the reason for our sadness, can we find a solution for it.And to tell you the truth, we can't remain sad for...

My bath time is the most wonderful time of the day. It is where i feel, that we show our true self to ourselves.We sing, we dance, we think just about anything under the sun and explore the deepest of our secrets within ourselves. We basically lay ourselves bare.We imagine the weirdest of the fantasies, of the happening of our secret desires, of writing a book one day,of creating a whole new world with psychic powers without needing to communicate with their lips as they can do with their brain,of thinking to be heroes and heroines or superpeople having superpowers...i could go on and on..It is where we get most of our ideas. We also plan for the day while in our shower. Though i don't know if the same can be said of a bucket bath( my term for taking bath with a bucket) as we are constantly reminded of reality by having to take water and keep pouring it n ourselves. or if the same can be said of a bathing in a tub. A tub is way too relaxing. It could induce sleep! But in case of...