Blog marathon March 2016: post 4

An unusual not so lazy Friday

Having slept very well (around 10 hours) the previous night, this Friday started off to my surprise with me being full of energy and keen on going to the office. (Which is not the case normally on other Fridays) In office I had a usual whole new list of to do tasks for myself to be done before the EoD. Had it been for another Friday I am sure I would have carried on those tasks for the coming Monday. Strangely I kick started the work early and started scratching out the tasks one after another. 

After doing so much of hard work on a Friday morning I surely earned a break. Strangely one such break literally came up walking to my desk in the form of DHOKLAS: Homemade garmagaram dhoklas with yummy chatni!

It happened so that one of my office friend on a huge public demand got us all a huge dabba full of dhoklas and fresh mint coriander chatni to die for! We all waited till everybody who was interested in having dhokla gathered and then opened the dabba, pounced on it and finished all its possible traces! Although I am not that die hard fan of this dish, I ended up loving it more than anything else! All thanks to its homely touch and all the expertise put in to make it so delicious! Thanks aunty! Awaiting the next round of dhoklas eagerly :)

It was as if that with dhoklas, it kick started our food spree for the day: The next delicacies that followed were Paddus (Appe), Fruit bowl, Maggie, Namkeen plus our normal lunch! All this in just the first half of the day!

Having hogged so much needless to say I was damn sleepy and unwilling to work (something very common for all the Fridays: As we put it: 'I am in Friday mood dude!'). Somehow this telepathy was conveyed to my trainer sitting across the ocean in Germany who happened to ping me at 3 saying "Its Friday Shreya. Let's continue with the KT (knowledge transfer) on Monday" As I wanted nothing different I humbly obliged. :) 

I had good 2 hours till I left office. So with some more friends we all gathered in a training room and started chitchatting, listening music, dancing and what not. Soon the clock ticked 4 and we all rushed to the game room and had 3 amazing games of carom! By the time these games were done I got a call from my other set of friends for tea. This tea break was to be clubbed with a farewell to one of our friends' who would be flying to Germany soon and had her last working day here. The tea party followed by photos and farewell goodbyes went on till 5! That's exactly when I realised its time for me to rush to the bus stand!

Yes, I was supposed travel to my Aunt's place who stays practically in the other part of Bangalore and travelling there is equivalent to travelling to Pune from Mumbai (runtime 2.5 to 3 hours) This travel included all the means of commutation: Volvo via nice road (That road the nicest thing in Bangalore) followed by a cab to nearest metro station, the the much awaited metro ride, a bus and a share auto! Whoa! That's how I managed to reach her place at 8 sharp!

After so many travelling stunts and an eventful day we had a simple but yummy dinner and I did not even realise when I felt asleep! 

So wasn't this an unusually eventful Friday!?! :) 

Blog Marathon Post 3

Royal Rajasthan

2014- The year whose summer vacations were marked with chilling colds of Kashmir, had its special Diwali celebration planned for us in Mount Abu!

Yes! That was our first destination in a week long planned trip to Rajasthan Mewad! With ofcourse needless to mention: Veena World! The next in line were: Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Pushkar- Ajmer, Jaipur!
Having reached Jaipur airport in the morning pre first day of Diwali, we were warmly welcomed by our tour leaders at the arrival gate and we proceeded with the fellow group members in small jeeps to the very famous hill station situated in the Aravalli ranges in Rajasthan on the Gujrat borders: Mount Abu!

WE!!!

Following the tradition of the tour: First day evening we had an intro session with our tour mates: A mixed group of 52 odd people exhibiting diversity at its best! I almost immediately made few new friends of my age group and from then on there was no looking back: For the next 7 days wherever we went, what ever fun we did, we all were the partners in crime! Well this friendship did not end  with the tour, in fact we still are in touch and am sure would always be!

The picturesque Nakki lake in Mount Abu followed by the semi climb to Guru Shikhar and a visit to beautifully sculptured Diwara temple the next morning was a good kick start to our tour. Meanwhile that morning was not just another morning but as we say it in Marathi: Diwali Pahat (Narak chaturdashi where in we massage our body with scented oil and have a bath before sunrise). I thought that being away from home, this Diwali we won't find a chance to do these things. Nevertheless I was happily proved wrong by our tour guide dadas who took it upon them to wake up very early, draw rangolis and light a diya outside every room! Hearing a soft knock on the door we (mom and I) woke up and were taken aback by those lights and beautiful rangoli. To top it all we had a dada standing at the door with a goodie bag containing the sugandhi oil, soap and faral! What a beautiful start for the day it was! From that moment on I never had a thought that we are going to be away from home for Diwali, because I knew that Diwali 2014 would be made special with this family!

The Udaipur City Palace!!!

Playing games and antakshari all along the way we zoomed in to our next destination Udaipur- The city of lakes! Its no new news that I have a soft corner for places surrounded by water bodies; I almost immediately fell in love with Udaipur too! That afternoon we visited a vintage car museum just on the backside of our hotel and we had the evening for ourselves! Late that evening we all dressed up in traditional wear and celebrated the festival of lights with Laksmipoojan followed by few crackers (very few keeping in mind the environment!)

Sunset: Udaipur City Palace

The next day we visited the Lake palace and I was taken aback by its beauty and immensity! A refreshing lake ride to the palace, a rejuvenating lake facing garam chai ki pyali at the crystal gallery, followed by the very beautiful sound and light show depicting the historical marks of Mewad and the Rajas brought us to the end of our stay in Udaipur!


 The next on cards was Ajmer Darga preceded by Chittorgarh fort on its way! The Fort till date glows in its every corner with the heroic deeds of its Kings and the Queens. Having watched the TV serial: Maharana Pratap during that period made me connect with the history and the place more!


 The visit to Ajmer Sharif Darga was a different and a nice experience in itself! We headed the same night to Pushkar- a small city on the banks of Pushkar lake having a sacred value! The next day was Pushkar sight seeing and a small pooja performed by all at the bank of the river! 

3 Monkeys!

We headed to our last destination: Jaipur: The pink city! The Hawa Mahal- Palace of winds, Amer Fort, City Palace, Birla Mandir, Sanganeri printing showroom, and Jantar Mantar were few amazing places we visited before we came to an end of the amazing week long tour! 

Love you DV!

Good byes like every other time were difficult, but we dispersed to our respective homes with a bag full of amazing memories and experiences and the new bonds to cherish for!

Thank you team Veena World!

Cheers to our RR Group!

Hope to meet you guys again somewhere for yet another marvelous experience!

Love,
Shreya

Blog Marathon Feb 2016 (Post 2)

  KaShMir 2014- A trip to heaven and back...

 Unlike our other trips, this trip to Kashmir was planned quite at the last moment!It was the month of April 2015 when we (Mom and I) were chalking out various possibilities of a week long trip: 

• South India - DONE
• Konkan- DONE
• Rajasthan - STRIKE OUT- Definitely not a place to visit in the hot month of May 
• North East; Himachal- STRIKE OUT- considering the motion sickness problem I have with zigzag roads
• Abroad: Singapore: Done; Dubai: again a bad idea considering we were planning a summer vacation!
• What remains? Some snow clad but still a pleasant place which won't be unpleasant for me as well!!!

And that is how we decided on Kashmir- amazing weather, not too zig zag roads, gives us the pleasure of being in a hilly region and to top it all it gives us the contentment of experiencing snow for the first time ever!

Without wasting a minute more we booked our tour (a 7 day package) with Veena World, one of the finest travel agency with amazing service, which presents us with amazing bunch of memories and few new precious ties which go on for years to come!

Finally the day had come when we took a morning flight to Delhi and from there to Srinagar! It took a little longer than it would usually have taken at the other airports to get out of the airport (of course for the security reasons!) But the moment we came out, I knew that all that we are going to do for the next 7 days is relax and breathe in real fresh air! 

The route through Kashmir was planned: Srinagar- Gulmarg- Sonmarg- Pehelgam- Srinagar!

YUHU!!!ICE COLD WATER RIDE :)

We met our fellow tour mates formally that evening in the houseboat in Srinagar! Amazing group that it was! The houseboat stay followed by a river ride and Kashmiri Kawa tea welcomed us to this heavenly place!

THE ROAD AND THE VIEW!!!

 The next day we headed to our first destination- Gulmarg! The road which led there was beautiful and the temperature kept on dropping as we travelled more and more in the mountains! It took us 4 hours to reach there with a break of 90 minutes for lunch. The restaurant where we had lunch offered us with not only delicious warm food but also a breathtaking view of a valley I would never forget! After reaching the hotel we had the entire day for ourselves. We decided to take a stroll to get to know that beautiful place better. But it did not go that way, as the temperature dropped more. That was the first time when I was actually exposed to cold. But I found it damn awesome to open my mouth and  to see the vapours coming out every time i uttered a word. That was something new for me and indeed super funny :P
 
Gulmarg (meadow of flowers) is a known place in India for its winter sports and I could see how much famous that place was from the amount of tourists flooding in that tiny place. The next morning we were all given huge furry jackets, gloves, caps and all possible stuff to cover ourselves from the biting cold and that's how we started for the very famous Gandola ride (cable car) which took us to its first phase at the height of  3,747 m (12,293 ft). As the height increased, the oxygen level dropped distinctly, but we were already given instructions by our able tourist guides for how to tackle the situation. Each one of us was asked to carry a camphor with us and inhale it whenever necessary. 

WITH THE PILLARS OF THE TOUR!

Here I would indeed like to appreciate all the efforts taken by all our tour guides and not only did their job at par but also went out of the way to reach out to every single person especially elderly people and small kids. Kashmir being a place crucial to tackle in all aspects (may it be geographic or political) these tour guides exhibited their expertise and presence of mind at every single point, right from changing a route or taking a halt predicting the weather conditions to staying back at the hotel or going ahead when a curfew gets declared at a place we needed to en-route. They nailed it at their job without making their tourist group of 52 people realize the gravity of the situation! Thank you all of you, as had it not been for you all, we would not have been able to enjoy that place to the extend to which we did!

NOT JUST A POSE!

Gulmarg was super fun as for the first time I experienced snow, played in it, learnt how to ski,
had a bike ride in snow mountains when it started snowing heavily and had garma garam Maggie (pahadiyo mein Maggie khane ka maza hi kuch aur hai ;) )


The next destination we headed to was Sonmarg (meadow of gold). The journey from Gulmarg to Sonmarg is till date the best journey I have ever had. The view that road presented us with is beyond description. Snow clad mountains with river flowing on one side... totally

OUR SONMARG HOTEL!

picturesque... totally surreal! To top it all we landed in the hotel which was covered with snow from all its sides. The view from the room was spine-tingling!!! The ledge ride on and from the snow clad mountain right in front of the hotel was marvelous. 


With these brilliant snowy memories of snow we continued to Pehalgam- a village in the heart of Lidder Valley and quite known for the famous Betaab Valley which of course gets its name from that Bollywood movie!

BETAAB VALLEY!

 Lush green that it was, we had one of the best walks of our lives in that beautiful place. With every breath I felt as though the freshness in that air is increasing our life span by years! Lucky people who have been staying in such an enraptured place for years!

PEHALGAM VIEW!

With these bag full of memories we approached our last halt for the tour: Srinagar! And a thought suddenly pinched me that with this we are again slowly heading back to the city life. The last 5 days all for ourselves, cut from the world seemed to have flown away and what struck was the reality that 'I can't stay here forever!'
Srinagar though was not like just another city! It had its own charm- Moughal gardans and Dal lake! But the best part was the boat ride in Dal lake. Because it was not just another ride! As we sat in the boat: Mom me and my new friend with the same name Shreya, we had this princess feeling, especially when we wore the kashmiri costumes and clicked some amazing pictures and I kept muttering my very favourite song: kashmir ki kali hu mein...

With these unforgettable memories of our trip to heaven...we were back...on earth...

A wish for peace in this heaven!!!

A big thanks to our tour guide dadas!

A wish to visit this heaven again with my new friend with the same name ;) 

Cheers!

Love

Shreya!

Time flies...

As I title this post "TIME FLIES", it reminds me of my Linguistics Professor Herr Bhatt (as we address in German), who had made use of this term for giving us an example of PUN! TIME flies & time FLIES :)
It's almost been two years since I last attended his class, 1.5 year since I wrote my thesis, 1 year since the preparations for German trip started, 10 months since I first landed at the Frankfurt airport, 8 months since I was back in Mumbai, 6 months since I taught at the university, 5 months since I got selected in Bosch and four months since I started working in Bosch, which equals 4 months since I moved to this new city- Bangalore! And I would bet there are only few months more till I leave this city again! Whoa... and this all seems to have happened yesterday! Time indeed flies... Life seems to be on wheels... constantly moving...
 Well, time flies...life accompanies it... but few strings always remain attached! These strings are memories, that we make while we are on the ride!

Over years I came across n number of people. Few shared good memories, whilst few brought along with them not so good memories. Few ties went on for years and are still flourishing, whilst few were left back over years. But no matter what bond I have had with them, they have definitely contributed substantially in moulding me over years.

I believe...
 Memories form a very crucial and a substantial part of our present! Make them your strength and you can co-exist with them and your present life happily and peacefully!

The best thing about memories, is making them! And the best thing for our on wheels life is to carry them along, without being burdened by them!!!

Make memories... capture them... take them along in your roller coaster life ride... because memories are experiences... and experiences make you rich!!! So... let's make our lives richer!!!

Cheers!

Retrospect 2015!

TWEnTyFiFteEn- A year that was, that is (as I am still writing) and would always be very special for me! A year that saw me grow as a person, that made me a better individual and which marked some beautifully crucial phases of my life!

On the last day of this happening year, as I take a pause to retrospect the happenings that happened this year, I have a SMILE on my face- A SMILE OF SATISFACTION, A SMILE OF CONTENT, A SMILE OF ASSURANCE that things have indeed fallen in place, the way they had to or if I may say, even better than I had thought of! What else would have I asked for!

A year that brought with it the Scholarship surprise in Germany, ends today having given me one of the most precious gift for years to come- that sense of achievement which comes with being a BOSCHLER at the age of 23! ;)

A monthly review of this wonderful year can be penned down in short as:

Jan brought with it lots of pressure of the last Masters semester and the added constant long processing work pressure for the German stay to follow! Thanks to our brilliant M.A. group (brilliant in every sense of the word), we all came out with flying colors and succeeded not only academically, but succeeded also to achieve a special place in the heart of our Professors and leave our "FURIOUS FIVE" mark on the German Department for years to come! (3 cheers to our team spirit! No one can beat us ever when we are together... we are indeed THE FURIOUS FIVE!)

A couple of days after our last paper, we flew to the land which has always been a part of us through books, the land which was long chased, ever since I started learning German! Thus April to August marked an extended academically rich and adventurous stay in Germany and around! Within 18 weeks of my stay there, I have visited almost 32 to 35 big and small beautiful places and experienced their culture hands on! I evolved more as a person! It was my first independent stay, which indeed taught me a lot!

August to November, back in India, brought with it the most amazing experience till date! The happiness and satisfaction of teaching at the same place where you were studying few months back! I completely thank my teachers who showed this trust towards me and offered me with this opportunity. The contentment I have gained by teaching and connecting with my students, who have indeed become in such a short span an integral part of my life, is beyond any materialistic happiness! Few bonds never perish, they grow with every passing moment! Glad and blessed to have found one amongst them!

After the student and teacher phase, came up the corporate phase of my life in November! November marked the beginning of my corporate career in Bosch, which would indeed go on for years to come!

With all the months being fantabulously happening, December didn't go unnoticed either! Rather it happened to be the highlight month of the year which saw the execution of a meticulously planned Delhi trip for the tennis and Federer lover within me! Having seen Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal play live, I literally had to pinch myself!

Such a rich and diverse year that it has been, I thank this year and my stars for shining upon me and making my life, a place which I need not escape from! The well-being of my near and dear ones has been an icing on the cake!

Today I pray and wish for the happiness of one and all in the upcoming year! Wishing all a very happy, prosperous and a satisfying 2016!

Few notes for myself: 1. Try to be a better person! 2. Be more helpful, tolerant, generous and calm! 3. Respect Nature and Be an environment friendly creature!

Cheers!

Love,

Shreya!

Happy 2015 and 2016 ;)




 

Dec 2015 marathon Blog Post 4: Our journey through the heart-stirring Neuschwanstein Castle and the heavenly Austrian beauties!

Our journey through the heart-stirring Neuschwanstein Castle and the heavenly Austrian beauties!

After travelling and trekking to almost all the big and small, famous and remote, but beautiful places in Germany, it was now time to explore the SOUND OF MUSIC CITY Salzburg and the capital city of Austria, Vienna (Wien auf Deutsch).

 

This trip was slotted to be the last long planned trip of our four month stay in Germany. It was in the third week of  summery July. Summer being the peak season for tourism in Europe, we had researched everything thoroughly and planned our trip way back in mid May. For me the trip was all the way more special because my mom was also planning to visit me that time. Although her itinerary and visa was yet to get processed and we did not know that time if things would fall in place and if she would be able to come, with all hopes and keeping fingers crossed I made her Austria bookings also along with us! It was indeed a great risk monetarily, but at the end it was worth it! All hardships paid!

 

So having covered the important chunks and heritage cities like Heidelberg, Black forest of Baden-Württemberg and Rhine falls in a week long trip back in mid June, it was time to cover Bayern and club it with the Austrian trip. A meticulous planning of all the railways, roadways, ticket fare, hostel bookings, check-in, check-out timings, tourist places considering everybody's taste and much more was done by all of us by evenly distributing the tasks. Bravo to our co-ordination and planning, things went really smooth. Now when I flash back, I feel so proud of ourselves. This was the first time we all were visiting Germany, for that matter our first long stay away from homes, wherein we had to manage everything from scratch by ourselves! And we did it so well! Wow! 

 

So tickets were booked, hotels and hostel rooms were reserved, expenses were calculated, bags were packed, mom had arrived and we all were set for a week long Munich, Neuschwanstein, Salzburg, Vienna trip.

 

The mercury had raised to as high as 41 degrees (Europe's highest recorded Summer in past few years) as we were in Vienna, but still it did not stop us from following our plan and exploring the beautiful cities!

 

Munich, not just another city, had all the charm and aura a big city has, but still had that artistic historic touch which made it stand out from other big German cities, and also not to miss the Hofbraeuhaus  (Main Brewery for the beer lovers!). 

 

Words fall short to express the beauty and the charm of Neuschwanstein. A personal visit there is a must to actually experience it with your eyes! A small bit of information that I would like to add here is: this visit was peculiarly special for me. The reason is very silly and childish though! Back in last November when I bought my new phone Nexus 5, the very first wallpaper I had was of Neuschwanstein and I used to keep ogling at that beauty like mad, secretly wishing to capture a snap myself. Whoa! Who knew that time that within next six months my wish would come true :) Life and its miracles! The moment I captured the photo myself on my same phone, I was beyond limit overwhelmed, it was happiness of a kind! *_*

 

Yeah! The perfect click!

The lake below the castle! Paradise!

 

 

I, Me and the castle :P

 

 Followed by Neuschwanstein, we proceeded to the birthplace of Mozart and the SOUND OF MUSIC, the legendry movie !!!

 

                                                     Do Re Me do Re Me

                                                      Do Re Me Fa So La Ti

 

Salzburg! Paradise!

 

Little did we know it was so mesmerizing! The lakes, the greenery are all way beyond realism! How can a place be so serene, so beautiful!

 

Serene!

With a heavy heart, almost unwilling to step out of this paradise, we set out for our last halt Wien (Vienna). We stayed there at one of my aunt's place. She was so loving and caring! Her warmth made our tour all the more special! The city is architecturally so rich, I wonder how it has been maintained and restored after the wars! Hats off! Every single building there is carved. As you walk through the city,  you are bound to be awestruck!

 

With loads of memories, we headed back home. We headed back to OUR Goettingen, which was to be our home for another 5 days that's it!

 

Wonder how easily we get attached to few places, even though we are there only for a short while! I have indeed left a piece of my heart back there in Goettingen, my home (even though it was mine only for four months)!

 

Blog marathon Dec 2015 Post 3: The invisible Schloss Berlepsch!

The invisible Schloss Berlepsch!

Schloss Berlepsch... just an hour from Goettingen, which was my home for four months during my stay in Germany, was on our cards as the next trekking spot during the sunny month of July!

 

The impetus for choosing this place was The Outdoor Society Goettingen, with whom we were associated for our trekking cum hiking expeditions during our stay in Goettingen. Managed by four really beautiful, charming, friendly and amazing German girls studying in the George August University, Goettingen, this trekking group was voluntarily initiated by them as a part of intercultural activities for the exchange students. Our first interaction with this group happened as we registered for the first summer trek organized by them to Harzgebirge (a beautiful place, which indeed deserves a description in a separate blog altogether). We were a bunch of 35 curious minds, across all possible countries, with one common goal to explore the natures' beauty! We connected with these girls so well, that we happened to hang around together a few times later and also share our respective food cultures with each other in a Deutsch-indischer Kochabend organized by us! Its so wonderful at times to see how few relations unleash and flourish! Unfortunately Harzgebirge was the only trek we managed to do with them, the reason being the date clashes with our other pre planed German and Austrian trips!

 

But one day after their trek to Schloss Berlepsch, as they posted the pictures on Facebook, we could not help but to ogle at the beautiful roads leading to this Schloss (Castle). So being very enthusiastic we (4 girls + 1 guy) took it upon us to visit this Schloss by hook or crook  in our real tight travelling schedule :P We immediately googled how to go there and after getting all the possible minute details about the weather and winds there, we set out on the Sunday morning with our bag packs, packed with water and fresh sandwiches! Taking a regional train (R1) to Friedland, we started our hiking from there on! We were indeed guided by the direction arrows leading to the Schloss, and not to forget the Google maps too!

 

Singing, dancing, playing rapid fire along the whole way, we came up to  huge vast spread wheat fields, surrounded from all sides by cherry red cheery trees full of cherries *_* Being in a German province, away from our land, abiding by the stringent German policies, we hesitated at first to pluck the cherries from the trees and kept walking. Later we saw a German family actually walking around plucking and simultaneously eating the cherries. As if we were just waiting for this stimulus, we also started doing the same thing! What fun that was! For a while we actually forgot that we needed to increase our pace and make our way to the Schloss! After all visiting the Schloss was our goal, and not plucking cherries ;) Though that was the best part!



 

CHORI KIYA RE! CHERRY MERRY!!! ;)

 

After filling our stomachs with these deliciously sweet juicy cherries, we finally focused on walking towards the Schloss, which was still nowhere to be seen! Making our way through the fields, we climbed up for about 3 to 4 kms. But we royally missed our path and we did not realize it when! The arrows were no where to be seen. Google also gave up! It started popping up errors in directions! And we were totally lost. We still went ahead in a hope that we would be able to spot the castle. Come on the castle is huge and stands on a height! It should be viewable from somewhere atleast after walking for 10 kms, especially when we were again in the middle of plain wheat fields for acres to come! But no sign at all, neither of the castle nor of any soul to ask help for! Well reality struck us, that was a small secluded village in Europe! To add up to our disappointment, weather changed its colors! While it was not to rain, it started pouring and winds started flowing at a speed of 10 raise to n. We decided to head back, as if we had any other better option, but still I mean, we started our return journey!

 

To our delight, the weather got better and the descent was quick! We passed by the same hills and fields and the cherry trees, singing songs all the way, back to the train and our respective homes!!!

 



 

NEVER MISS A CHANCE TO GET CLICKED! COME WHAT MAY ;)



 

We laughed the whole way in train about whatever happened through out the day! And decided to keep this Invisible Schloss trip a secret! Our two guy friends who had very firmly denied to accompany us are still till date  unaware of the fact that we never ever found that Schloss :P Shuusssshhh let this still remain under cover!

But nevertheless we enjoyed a lot with the cherries and the roads and the photography all along!

Lesson learnt: never rely solely on Google maps! And be open to the adventures which lie on an extremely well planned trip as well! You never know what's in the box for you!

Just for your record... a googled photo of Schloss Berlepsh! The Invisible one!

 

 

THE SCHLOSS BERLEPSCH... INDEED INVISIBLE FOR US!

 

Love!