The Alchemist...

There are only two kind of people in this world..... One who has never read this book and the other who has read it zillion times :) And I belong to the second category ...

So, what makes this book so special? The simplistic thoughts and the inspiring wisdom behind it is probably the winning element. If you ever have raising doubts on your destiny or capabilities, then this one is your medicine. The story about a shepherd on his journey and spiritual quest to achieve his dreams will truly touch your heart and soul. However , this post is not a review blog .... I just want to share some of the many beautiful thoughts that I keep coming across everytime I read this beauty.
 
“when you really want something, the whole universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
 
“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”
 
“The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.”
 
“Don't give in to your fears. If you do, you won't be able to talk to your heart.”
 
“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too.”
 
“If you start by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll lose your desire to work towards getting it.”
 
“You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it's better to listen to what it has to say.” 
 
“But if you believe yourself worthy of the thing you fought so hard to get, then you become an instrument of God, you help the Soul of the World, and you understand why you are here.” 
 
“Before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream.”
 
“When you possess great treasures within you and try to tell others of them, seldom are you believed.” 
 
“I have inside me the winds, the deserts, the oceans, the stars, and everything created in the universe. We were all made by the same hand, and we have the same soul.” 
 
“Never stop dreaming.” 

Stay Positive and take care :)
 

A trip to the Fish Land ...

This one was listed in our checklist for a very VERY long time ... a visit to the famous Billingsgate market. Despite the fact that we both are avid seafood lovers and belong to two different coastal parts of India , the urge wasn't strong enough 'may be' to wake us up and get us going at morning 4. Yes! I am not kidding :) This largest fish market of the world opens at 4 am to trade off the best variety of fishes, lobsters and crabs one can think of.

However, we were so much in love with our precious early morning sleep that we had an excuse at our disposal everytime we planned to visit this place. Sometimes I didnt have my camera with me, sometime we had slept too late and its necessary for adults to complete atleast 6 hours of sleep, yes please! and at times my alarm chose to let me enjoy the much awaited weekend sleep and decided not to buzz ;). You name it and we used that excuse to keep us going until we reached a point when we realized that probably this is the last weekend we are spending at canary wharf. It was time and we knew it ! So, this Saturday when my alarm rang at 3:25 am , we both were awake and ready!

After walking for almost 20 minutes in the streets of the cold,foggy London, we reached the entrance of the Billingagate market. We were witnessing an ancient and iconic tradition of this country. I saw a couple going inside the building, sipping coffee in paper cups and my first thought was - 'Oh, so we are not the only crazy ones in the city ;)' ... And when we entered the building, I was inside a hundreds of years old fish market that has got a history of its own. I always hate to visit fish markets because of the staunch fish smell that compels you to stop breathing but this place was bursting with  freshness. This must be probably the most cleanest fish market one can ever come across.

 

 

We both were there for 2 very different reasons. Abhay always love to visit such markets and explore the variety of sea food nature provides. He has immense knowledge about the variety, no doubt his 'Konkan' genes must be contributing to it. I, on the other hand, was there for 3 major reasons : A) To accompany Abhay B) To see this iconic tradition C) To take good pictures !! I realized I had lost Abhay moments after entering the market. It was hard to track him as he was pacing up through the lanes, inquisitively looking around at the variety of fishes and crabs.

I allowed him to have some good time with his first love i.e. food and I dragged my Canon 1000D out of my bag when I caught attention of all the fishmongers. Almost immediately I had a gentlemen posing for my camera but I tried to focus on the fishes instead ;) haha. I knew I had declared myself a 'Tourist' right then! I started visiting different stalls, framing and clicking when one old man came to me and asked me for a pound for the picture I just happened to clicked.

Keeping my best humour awake at that early hour of the day, I asked him if I can compensate by giving him a hug and it worked ;) :D When nothing works , a lady's charm is all it takes ;) The old man said that I am a smart gal as I could catch his weakness :D B-)

 

 

 

 

After clicking some 120 pictures and giving some strangers few hugs and smiles , I finally decided to see what Mr Kini was upto! Oh there he was, struggling to decide the lucky crab that he was planning to buy. There were so many variety of each species available that 'confusion' is inevitable. After 10 minutes of brain mulling, he finally got 11 pounds and 50 pence out of his pocket and asked for the biggest crab from a bunch. The fishmonger confidently  picked up a live crab and put inside a blue polybag and handed over to Abhay! You must be joking! A live crab? I didn't know that !! 'We are not going home with a live crab' I insisted.After 5 minutes of debate, he convinced me as usual! Sigh! Later we also bought a bunch of prawns that I am supposed to use for preparing Oriya Prawns Curry (Mom! Please be ready for narrating the recipe).

The crab that was going to bite me :P or atleast got a scream out of me :D

After circling around some 7 odd times , we decided to head to the cafeteria to have a cup of coffee. The place reminded me of the old cafe houses of Mumbai. There was nothing fancy about that place and I loved it! Brought back memories of my  school canteen rooms. Abhay and I chose to sit in the second table on the left handside corner and I happened to find out that the Mayor of London had sat at the exact same place where I did on his visit :D No big deal! Just sharing :) Btw , the cappuchino was one of the best I have had since a long time. Even if you a vegeterian , I would still recommend you to visit that place to taste that coffee. :P 

 

 

 Abhay getting coffee for me :) 

Having coffee at 4:30 AM in a winter morning inside a fish market -This is possible probably only with Abhay :P Loved that half an hour we spent over there! One of the beautiful moments of my life. The silence of the morning mixed with the hustle and bustle of the fishmongers , there was this indescribable feeling ! You don't have to try too hard to feel the beauty of life.

Finally , we made our way to the exit . With a live crab , a kilo prawns, bunch of pictures, swollen eyes and tons of lovely memories :)

 

Its a milestone!! :)

Wow!! I can't believe that this is my 100th post :) It may be just a number for others but for me its a reminder that I have come a long long way since the day I had started it :) I have always loved blogging and expressing myself in this space whenever possible but the last 1 year has been extremely special. It has helped me understand and express myself better at a time of my life when I am far away from my home and my dear ones and trying to find my own space in this stranger land.

Thank you my dear BLOG for being a friend in need today and always and Thank you to all you lovely people who have taken time out of your busy lives and have joined me in this beautiful journey .......

Leaving you all with the promise that I will come back and continue sharing and deciphering the beautiful thoughts that life teaches me everyday. Till then stay positive and think good thoughts because ....

 

The Tinkerbell in me :)

I hate to throw away things. I remember, as a child, I used to have buckets of waste things piled up with the hope that someday I will make good use of it and that day would never arrive. I used to hold on to those until one fine day my Mom would happily clean my room and send all the things to probably where they belonged - 'The Bin'. Things have not really changed much. I still hate to throw things that I think can be reused!

When I woke up today morning , I saw an old and empty bottle of men's perfume that I had bought for Abhay last christmas. I knew this bottle will find a place in the trash the moment Abhay will wake up and use its last drop. Compelled by my old habit... I quitely kept it in the drawer and left for work....

And when I returned , I converted it into a money pouch :) :) You don't believe me , do ya?
But would you believe if I show you what I did and how I did it ? Afterall, seeing is believing ;)

Step 1 : Get the bottle of perfume 

Step 2: Take out the cover

Step 3: Get some thread and a needle

Step 4 : Turn the cover inside out and sew both the open ends , ignoring my terribly unmanicured hands!

Your money pouch is ready :D :D

Do you believe now ?? Genius isn't it ?? ;) Afterall , its none other than the Tinkerbell in me :D
Now whether I will really use this money pouch or not is a different question ;)

The Checklist : Day 2

Do you remember THIS and THIS? Lets see how did I fare on the last day of the lovely weekend :)

Yippee! I got all the checks :) :) Well , I didn't sleep as much as I had thought I would ... but then who wants to waste the lovely weekend sleeping anyway :)


WENT FOR A WALK :)

I and Abhay finally went for a walk today morning to bid farewell to the autumn... this is possibly the last phase of autumn of this year....Shades of yellow , crimson and orange were absolutely mesmerizing

 

 

 

 

 

READ SOMETHING REALLY THOUGHTFUL!

 

I came across this picture after I happened to watch an episode of Satyamev Jayate about old age ....

 

 

And I couldn't stop myself from thinking about life and age... A person's age doesn't define his behaviour and actions , I believe mostly its the actions and behaviour that tells the age of a person sadly. He is 1 year old, he should walk... She is 2 year old, she should talk! Expectations for behaviour based on one's age is so common in our society and its rather unfortunate. You are the owner of your life and you should decide what you want to do and when you want to do it. Your age shouldn't decide it for you.

 

Btw, do you guys remember this ? :)

 

 

It feels great if you can make one smile and today , I feel great !! :)

 

And with this we have come to an end of this lovely weekend .... Hope you all had a very relaxing one as well....

 

Take Care and don't forget to take a smile :)

The Checklist : Day 1

Hello everyone !! am back! :) Do you remember this little plan that I had set for myself yesterday? Well! To my surprise , I have more checks than I had expected and amazingly its not the last one :D i.e Sleep and Sleep and Sleep :)

COOKED SOMETHING EXTREMELY SIMPLE :

Its aptly said :
“When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste.”

And since I have never ever succeeded in baking , the latter becomes my ultimate option! I love to cook simple food and I love to cook it the way I feel like :) Since we were at home on a weekend after eons , I wanted to eat some really simple home cooked dishes .... I played some music , prepared some tea and got on with my culinary skills (If there is any!)

Prepared some poha/chuda for breakfast!

 

 



And some herbal tea ... I am addicted to it these days!

 

And finally prepared the lunch of my life :)

 

(pardon my handwriting) :D

 

Btw, what is so great about that food on that plate? Well , nothing really! Its probably the world's most simple meal one can think of - Chapati - Alloo Gobi - Mango Pickle! But this simple meal got me the compliment of my life :) Abhay said that I prepared it even better than his mother !!!! I think now I can happily take retirement from cooking ! Wait a sec ... for that I need to get started first ... lol ... jokes apart ! We both had a very relaxing day and it felt nice :)

 

Moving on .... GRABBED MY SLR AND SHOT RANDOMLY!

 

No matter how much my fingers were itching to turn the dial to the auto mode, I made sure it stays on the Manual Settings and did shooting of this and that ...unfortunately just around the house ....Birmingham couldn't inspire me to step out ;)

 

 

Can't help it ! It was on sale :) :D

 

Abhay had got this cute felt flowers pouch for me from a local market

 

Beaded a keyring :)

 

 

GRABBED A CUP OF COFFEE AND STARTED READING A NEW BOOK!!

 

I intended to buy just one new novel but the moment I entered the store my eyes fell into 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho and I  just couldn't resist the temptation to read this classic again! And the store's business tactics of '3 for the price of 2' surely worked great on me as I came out of the store with these and 5 pounds less from my pocket!

 

I will soon update you about the other two... the prologue is surely very exciting and inviting! I am sure this will serve my month's appetite ...

All I need now is a cup of coffee and a quilt :)

 

DID SOMETHING FUN & CREATIVE!!

 

What is the easiest way to bring a smile on a stranger's face? Its very simple! Just smile and you will get a smile back...   

In attempt to do so , I made this 'Take a smile' - tear away sheet and punched it on our apartment's notice board. Hopefully few smiles have passed along! :) 

 

 

I will let you all know by tomorrow if I have succeeded in adding few smiles in this world :)

 

Hope you all enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed this beautiful day ! Will catch up with you all soon :) Take care and don't forget to smile :)







The Checklist

You know that my personal and profession world is taking the utmost priority and consuming all my time when my activities in this space becomes dormant! Oh yes! I have been extremely busy! Infact I want to use a better word to emphasize on the term 'Extremely' here .... I can literally visualize my daily schedule split into pieces - this one for work , that one for home , that one for food and this one for preparation for the next day etc etc. and there goes the 24 hours of the day

So , this weekend I decided to give myself a break and take things lightly. I have decided to pamper myself and do things I love to do! So what's in my agenda? Its pretty simple :)

Let's see how it goes! My past experience suggests that I am brilliant at diverging away .... Fingers Crossed X

:)

Have a lovely weekend !