Postcards From J

 Time to reflect on a year gone by and time to welcome a brand new year! Here's wishing you life's best... May 2010 bring you all that you dream of. Love and light to all! PS: Picture taken at the very pretty Candies, Bandra. Batti Bandh was being observed one evening!

Yes, I've dropped the "postcard from j" prefix. Thought it's time I grew up. After my last-minute August trip out of Bombay, I had resolved to blog often. If nothing else, the least I was expecting myself to do was update pictures on my photo-blog * and find an outlet of expression. But work and the attractions (and ease) of social media (read: Facebook, and of late, Twitter) ended up mocking my so-called resolve. 2009 is coming to a close. And I, for one, have HATED this year. Funnily, my reasons are beyond comprehension. 2009 came, sat around, and is now leaving, and somewhere inside me, I feel a sense of loss. A terrible sense of loss. I really don't know what I did with this year. It was supposed to be MY year when January came along. I promised myself that I will look after myself, make amends for my unhealthy lifestyle, find ways to make my life more meaningful, give more of my time to those who need it... The only time I invested in me was that week-...

It had been a rather emotional roller-coaster of a week before today. He said, "Nice to see you smiling today..." It was his birthday. And I could only say in the silence of my heart, "For you, a thousand times over." Thank you, Mr. Hosseini.

Snapshots from the final day of Ganeshotsav near my home...  Ganpati Bappa Morya!  A passing truck of devotees taking their Ganesha idol for immersion ('visarjan')  The traditional 'mandal' band guys waiting to kickstart proceedings...   Fireworks to signal merriment  Traffic snarls and crowds everywhere Gulal and dancing   The talented 'mandal' band Drumming up a frenzy...   More! With every ounce of energy...   We bid adieu!

It's been more than a week since I got back from my last-minute trip to Mangalore and Bangalore. This was NOT a holiday as most people believe. And as the days wore on, I knew it was the right thing to do. All the long-distance travel was solo – train from Mumbai to Mulki (Dakshin Kannad), bus from Kinnigoli to Bengaluru and finally flight out of the Garden City back home to Mumbai – and it was very important I spent a lot of time being by myself and away from the chaos that is Mumbai. I'm not sure if the trip fulfilled its purpose entirely, but it just felt great being on my own for a bit and as I look back, I realise there have been quite a few lessons from my 8-day jaunt: 1. First and foremost, it is extremely important to take a break from people sometimes. Coming from an HR person, that sounds ironical. But trust me, this has been one of the most significant learnings on this trip. Okay, I can't really take a complete break from people, but at least a break from peopl...