Coffee breaks

Who doesn’t like coffee breaks? I just love them. Why?? Because they allow me to sit and observe my surroundings if I am enjoying my cup of cappuccino all by myself. If I am not alone over the coffee break then it allows me to listen to the stories people have to tell or know their perspective.

Years before I wasn’t this observant as I am today. I was sort of party animal, a chatter box, less grateful (yes, I was). Though I loved myself even then 🙂 (yes, I did). I don’t know what changed me now. I am sure its not just the one thing but many factors that have bring this change in me. I love my solitude and can’t trade it with anything. I don’t feel lonely when I am alone. I have learn to enjoy my own company. Though that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy the company of my loved ones, my friends and family. Of course I do but to recharge myself I love to be left alone totally undisturbed.

When coffee breaks come as a surprise I love them even more. It happens recently on one busy day. Some days I am just on a skate board ride trying to fix up everything and making space for every chore that is on my to-do list. So after finishing dozen of work by 11am on Sunday morning I left home with my daughter to drop her to her violin class and I was supposed to pick her up in an hour. I made up my mind to steal that one hour from my crazy schedule of the day relaxing at the cafe. And drove straight to this cafe which isn’t so visible but one of our favorite cafes in the city – Guliyano. This one is a small cafe located in sector 3 of Vaishali, Ghaziabad in UP (Uttar Pradesh) state of India.

So that one hour was spent leisurely sipping coffee, observing people doing their work, stray animals wandering on road, group of ladies sitting on the bench knitting sweaters from the colourful and vibrant yarn, laughing and chatting unaware that they are being watched. I love to watch people talking and laughing without knowing that someone is watching them listening to what they are talking. Sometimes I weave a story out of these talks and sometimes they remain with me for a very long time and some are meant to give only a momentary pleasure.

Soon thereafter the coffee was over and so was my recently most cherished coffee break.

I wish all my readers and followers A great 2018. Love yourself enough, motivate yourself to achieve unthinkable and be the inspiration to someone.

Lots of love

A girl with a traveller soul.

Enchanting Gadisar Lake

This beautiful man-made reservoir, known as Gadisar Lake is in the golden city Jaisalmer in the Rajasthan State of India. Surrounded by banks and temples all around, it is a picturesque location. It is one of the main tourist attraction.

Visit this scenic place to spend your evening watching the sun as it goes down,giving its final goodbye kiss to the sky with a promise to return next day and embracing the sky with its orangish streak. The beautiful reflection of the sky make this lake more enchanting. The bells of temples, the calmness of the flowing water and the rustling trees is a sight that one can only feel and the serenity it offers can be describe only by poets in their poems. I will not do the justice even if I try hard to describe it.

There is a boating facility available so you can easily take a tour of the lake in a boat, capturing the beauty of the nature to admire it later and to add in your memories through pictures.

There are no food stalls around but many road side shops. You can get your souvenir  from there. Don’t forget to bargain as there is a lot of scope to do it. The souvenirs are very highly priced.

This beautiful lake was built by the first ruler of the Jaisalmer city, Raja Rawal Jaisal. It was built with an objective to fulfill the water requirement of the city.

A beautiful drive through the hills

The added advantage of staying in Delhi, the capital city of india, to me is that I don’t have to wait for long weekends to escape from the maddening rush of a metro life and the scorching heat of Delhi. It has numerous hill stations that can be reached easily for a quick recharging I need from time to time.

One such trip took me to Almora, a small Cantonment town in Kumaon division in Uttarakhand state of India, situated at 1638 meters above the sea level.

The mountain lover, me, got everything I required to recharge my batteries from this road trip through hills.

It was the month of August and so the monsoon season was at it peak.  The mountains are very risky during monsoon as the risk of mountain sliding is there and it can be life threatening too. But the risk we took was worth taking for those spectacular views and the experiences we had on our journey to Almora.

It usually takes 5-6 hours to reach Almora from Delhi by road but it was a 10 hour drive for us (all thanks to water logging on road and the traffic jams in the cities)

Once we were out of the cities and entered the mountains  the peace and tranquility surrounded us.

Mountains become fiercely beautiful in monsoon. The  thick and green vegetation that embraced these mountains during monsoon add to their beauty. The lush green grass and tall trees that sway with the winds, is a treat to the eyes that have become tired of seeing the concrete jungle all around.

The sound of the flowing water and the view of these seasonal waterfalls compelled us to break our journey every time we spotted one. The road side tea stalls and the plate of pakoras satisfied the foodie in me. Having ginger tea along with the assorted vegetables and paneer pakoras amidst the beauty of nature was so heavenly and it cannot be described in few words.

My stay at Almora was only for one night for some reason but the drive from Delhi-Almora-Delhi gave me the much needed break from the busy metro life.

I get fully soaked in the beauty of nature and its beauty. And I am awaiting another chance to slip to this place again.