Life - part Deux

Fun.
Stress free.
Enriching.
Sanity.
Quality.
Endless possibilites......

....all these sorts of words are back in my work-life. They had somewhat disappeared over the past year or so. In fact, I no longer really differentiate between my work-life and other-life, it's just that fun. I think I am slowly regaining my balance and calm. Let me add one more for good measure - awesomeness! :-)

The Dharma Bums

The Dharma Bums is a book by the most well known writer of the beat generation, Jack Kerouac. I recently re-read this book. I couldn't remember large parts of it from the first time I read it. What I do remember thinking is that the writing style was unique and free flowing. It took me a while to get adjusted to it the first time but the more I read, the more I liked it. I hadn't read too many books until then where the words just flowed so smoothly, as though pouring in directly from the author's thoughts into paper. No big words, no flowery language. Just an open mind and free flowing thoughts with no specific goal or story. A glimpse from his life and experiences...

Like most of Kerouac's books, this one is also autobiographical. He lived a rather Bohemian life, wandering around with his belongings in a rucksack, climbing mountains, spending time with like-minded people, writing poems, doing poetry readings, discussing philosophy, drinking wine and trying to discover the meaning of life. He was heavily influenced by Buddhism and truly a child of the free-spirited generation of his times.

While some of the content is somewhat trippy and his version of Buddhism can be a little new age-y, I still enjoy his books and writing style. But Kerouac isn't for everyone. Some of my friends find his works kind of pointless. It really depends on your personality as with everything else in life. Anyway, if you ever find yourself wanting to try one of his books, I would recommend this one.

Thought of my day

I saw this Douglas Adams quote on a friend's status message on Facebook today and realized how appropriate this has been for me especially this year! Despite the fact that it comes out of a (brilliantly) funny book, it's so true for me. :-)

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be."

Peru - part 3 (Day 2 of the Inca trail)

Ashwin wrote up part 2 of the awesome trek here: The Inca trail to Machu Picchu – Part 2

Peru - part 2 (Day 1 of the Inca trail)

Continuing the chronicles of our Peru trip, check out Ashwin's post on day 1 of the Inca trail: Inca trail to Machu Picchu - Day 1 

Peru - part 1 (Cuzco and the Sacred Valley)

We recently returned from our first vacation in the Southern Hemisphere - Peru! We spent a few days in Cuzco city, 4 days hiking the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, a few more days at a rain forest along the Amazon river and finally one day in Lima. I can tell you right off the bat that the highlight was the hike, more so than reaching Machu Picchu itself. Although MP was pretty darn amazing, it would have been less interesting to get to it by train. The 4 day-3 nights trek to Machu Picchu was nothing short of spiritual!

Main square in Cuzco city

Cuzco is a small, hilly, picturesque city located at ~10000 ft altitude. Having had my sleep cycle disturbed with a long lay over at Lima airport, I dozed off almost immediately after boarding the short, half hour Lima-Cuzco flight. Woke up suddenly about 10 mins before landing in Cuzco only to be stunned out of my mind at what I saw from my tiny airplane window. Snow capped mountains sticking way the hell above the thick cloud layer right next to my plane!! Or at least it looked that way - as though I could stick my hand out of the plane and touch them! They were breathtaking! Immediately after the awe passed, a disturbing thought crept into my sleep laden head - that the pilot had to be particularly experienced to be landing at an airport that is ringed by mountains so close by and with a shorter than usual runway. Well, I'm still alive and in one piece. :)

There were tiny villages all along the Sacred Valley.

Having never been to this altitude before, as soon as we got off of the plane at Cuzco airport, at least 3 of the 5 of us friends traveling together felt it. I couldn't tell if it was the altitude alone or a combination of altitude, hunger and lack of sleep but boy did we feel it! I think it was the latter but our breathing felt a little harder, speech was slightly slower and so were our movements, just a wee bit. :) It felt a bit strange, like living in slow motion. I think it's safe to say that the first thought that went through my mind was this - how the hell are we going to hike the Inca trail!?!? :)

Ollantaytambo

We had pre-arranged for a taxi to take us to our hotel. It was waiting for us when we walked out of the tiny airport. All we wanted at this point was some food and a decent bed to crash for a few hours before venturing out to explore the city. We were all cold and tired. As we rode in the cab through the city, everything seemed awfully familiar to Ashwin and myself. It was so much like being in India - the traffic, stray dogs, roads, buildings, bill boards...everything! At some point Ashwin screamed, "Just like India!!" This became a rather frequently recurring thing throughout our trip!

Picturesque views along the Sacred Valley

We reached our hotel about 20 minutes later - the Ninos hotel. If you ever find yourself in Cuzco, I highly recommend this hotel. It's a cute hotel with a central courtyard and a basic cafe where you can find decent breakfast, sandwiches etc. It's clean and well maintained. The staff is friendly and helpful and the proceeds from this hotel go towards helping poor Peruvian children. We were greeted at the hotel with coca tea, which instantly warmed us up! Among many other useful properties, Coca tea is said to help with adjusting to higher altitudes. We drank tons of coca tea through out the trip for as long as we were at the higher altitudes. After some food and a few hours of sleep we were ready to explore the city.

Ruins of Chinchero

Cuzco is just like a small hill station in India. (There....I said it yet again!) It has a central square which is surrounded by tons of restaurants, touristy gift shops, tour companies and night clubs. We spent the next 3 days acclimatizing to the altitude (a few hours into the first day though, we were breathing normally already), exploring interesting Inca ruins around the Sacred Valley and shopping at the local markets. (I bargained here...just like India!! :))

On the evening of the third day in Cuzco, we went to the LLamaPath (our trek company) office in order to get the orientation on the hike with great excitement, anticipation, and some anxiety too (about the altitude). We had trained for several weeks for this trek and the moment of truth had finally arrived. I don't think it had still sunk in that we were really going to do this until we actually started on the trail the next day! :-) Next morning, we woke up at 3:00 am, our backpacks and duffel bags ready and walked over to the main square to meet up with our trekking group. We boarded the LLamaPath bus that would take us to the trail head (called km 82), along with our trusty guides and amazing porters.
  

Circular terraces of Moray

Salt mines of Maras

 More to come...

To adventures and more

I haven't posted anything here for a few months now. But I'm not giving up on this blog just yet! Since my last post, a lot has come to pass.

We (my dance school) established a professional dance company and staged our first pro-show! Woo hoo! I learnt a lot through the adventure that was the show prep and enjoyed every practice session thoroughly. As usual, never a dull moment in my dance classes. :)

After that was over, Ashwin and I set out with a few friends on an adventure vacation to Peru - our first trip below the equator. We trekked the Inca trail to Machu Picchu and spent a few days in a rain forest. We had prepared for the trek to Machu Picchu by hiking around here almost every weekend, building stamina gradually. I plan to write about our vacation in a little more detail soon.

It's been a fun few months. I'm happy to note that this may be the fittest I've been in a while! Anyhoo, those were the two major highlights of the past few months. I've learnt a lot more about myself during this time which has prompted me to rethink certain things. The adventures continue! More on that later.

The beauty of movement

It's been a little over 25 years now. What began as a hobby, something I was 'made' to do as a child came back to stick with me for life. I feel like my real journey with it started only in the last five years though. It is now something of an undying passion, a window into inexplicable other-worldly bliss and a change from this-worldly mundanity (there is such a word, I looked it up :)). I am speaking, of course, about Bharatanatyam.

My parents were (still are) heavily into classical music and dance. My mom didn't have the opportunity to learn when she was little so she sent me to take dance lessons when I was 4. Growing up, it was just another of my hobbies and didn't particularly enjoy it. At that time, I only went to classes because I was made to. I did my Arangetram to make my parents happy. Now, I cannot live without Bharatanatyam. It has taken me several years to understand it, make friends with it and absorb it....but I finally did.

It has taught me the beauty of movement and of letting oneself flow freely into space in a way that awakens the inner calm. Movement that energizes, yet brings into focus a certain stillness. It has challenged me with intellectual and emotional complexity...and of expanding mental boundaries and letting go of conscious feelings. I have also learnt the importance of practice, rigour and focus. To me, it is a spiritual experience without the bounds of any defined religion. It is a way to channel my energies. It allows me to dream, forget worries and be at peace, in the present, devoid of ego and absorbed in the moment.

It isn't just an art form to me, but a way of life.

Separate finances?

Hmm. I hope I don't offend anybody with this post because that's not my intention. I am just very curious to understand the thought process behind this concept. I have an undying curiosity to look into human beings' minds and figure out what makes them tick, what shapes their behaviour etc. With that said, here goes...

I've recently come across a few couples who seem to keep their personal finances separated. I am talking of course about happy couples. Perhaps our thinking is rather 'old-fashioned' but Ashwin and I just cannot possibly get ourselves to do that. Money has never ever been an issue between us and I can confidently say that it never ever will be. In fact, we started pooling our money together even before we got married. So what happens when such couples buy a house? How does that work?

Several questions pop up in my confused brain. Is it the case that in today's world people don't trust their marriage enough to pool finances together? Marriage does mean different things to different people. Though in my mind, it's almost equivalent to stating that the possibility of the couple separating is high. Are humans much more individualistic than in the past? Or is it a cultural difference that my mind does not compute?

Hurry less, live more

Here's a simple post on 'slowing down' from Zen Habits that I enjoyed:

How Not to Hurry.

No ground-breaking theories in there but if you're currently mired up in a crazy crazy world, consider it a reminder.

Do or do not. There is no try.

Life is short

A former colleague of mine passed away from cancer today. He was 30 and is survived by his wife and 3 little children under the age of 5. Although we worked together, I didn't really know him personally except that he was heavily into DJ-ing, fantasy football and loved big houses. But I still feel a heaviness and my heart goes out to his family, especially his little kids who will have no memory of him when they grow up, except from pictures and stories told to them. I feel a void inside and can't help thinking what if it happened to myself or someone I knew closely. I really don't know how I would handle something like this.

I am reminded that life can be every bit as fragile as it is resilient. Every bit as empty as it is full. Every bit as ephemeral as long-lasting. And we must never take it for granted. It reinforces my belief that we must follow our dreams and passions and live every day like it's the last one. It also reinforces my belief that we must expand our mental boundaries and get rid of pettiness from our hearts. In the grand scheme of things, the time and effort spent on pettiness is entirely wasteful. I am truly thankful for the wonderful life I've had so far and for my family and friends.

And always remember - Every passing minute is another chance to turn it all around. (Vanilla Sky)

So long and thanks for all the fish

It's been an interesting year and decade on the personal front. In a nutshell, the 'boring' part can be summarized as - completed undergrad, grad school and found a job. The interesting parts however: many friendships made, some lost, lifestyles changes, outlook and attitude changes, new opinions and ideas, self-discovery, new interests and passions, new curiosities everyday etc.....in short, that's been the passing of the third decade of my life! One in which I did my 'growing up' from a child to an adult. :-) 

At the cost of sounding cheesy however, I have to mention that the highlight of my decade has been Ashwin. I am fortunate enough to be among those people who can truly say that I've found my soul mate. I had imagined up this perfect relationship and marriage in my mind and was starting to get disillusioned halfway through my 20s that I was going to give up eventually and settle for some guy after succumbing to the pressures to get married. In fact, I had given up on anything magical happening and was terrified of marrying some guy who wouldn't "get" me ....that my life would become mundane and routine and be devoid of passion. That's when I met Ashwin. We almost didn't happen ...and yet we did. Six years later, we're still magical together and still perfect for each other. I got my fairy-tale marriage after all. I hope he did too. ;-)

As interesting as the past decade has been and as much as I'd like to freeze time right about....now, I'm all eyes and ears for the coming years. I've lived in 7 cities across 2 countries in the first 3 decades of my life and it has been quite a ride. Thanks to my parents, they've made some amazing opportunities and experiences possible for me, several of which have changed my outlook forever. They taught me to view every move, every change with a positive attitude and make the most of them. I'm excited about further new experiences and adventures in the coming years. Where will we be ten years from now? Hmm.....