The Pensive

Every one of us who watched The Lion King know this song-  Hakunamatata, where Elton John stole our heart by composing music for all those beautiful lines! Hakunamatata translates to "no problems" or "no worries".  I remember the most favorite line -  "Hakunamatata what a wonderful phrase . It means no worries, for the rest of your days! " In my growing years this song had a great influence on me. Such a scintillating and inspiring song this one is but once you grow and as you take a plunge in to your own life and experience the happenings around you, will you be able to sing Hakunamatata with out a second thought? source: here "Hakunamatata is for sure a wonderful phrase But can you say Hakunamatata in every single phase? To actually feel it, to rise and loudly sing, we need continuous practice of not giving a shit about a thing! With so much happening in the world around you From loneliness and war, to hunger and deaths, is it easy t...

Goa is a state in India famous for its beaches, churches, portugal forts, freedom in air, happening pubs, casinos, high spirits and other spirits at reasonable prices ;-). Goa is the poor man's Las Vegas. I visited Goa in June 2016 and the travelogue has been pending since then. Myself, Imran and my brother planned to go Goa as we had a long  weekend. We boarded a morning flight in Hyderabad and reached Goa roughly in one and half hour. As and when I entered Goa I could feel the sultry atmosphere and started sweating bad. We reached around lunch time and checked in to our beautiful Estrela Do Mar resorts near the Calangute  beach. The name felt fancy to me. Estrela Do Mar is a portugal / Spanish word which means star fish as per google. Humidity was severe, june being the rainy season and as almost half day was over, we were not sure of where to go. Resorts- Pathway to room. The beautiful night view After having a delicious lunch at resort which included fried ...

Fake emotions are the flavor of the day. Fakeology is not a real word but I like this cool term which is widely used by many. Wherever you go, whatever you do you cannot escape fake people and fake feelings. In the long run you can do nothing but learn fakeness a bit, so as to tolerate them or to just get rid of them. Generally fake people are quite sweet and seem empathetic when you discuss your problems. When you discuss your success, progress or some positive result in life, the same people shun it. Other than those real close friends who wish your well-being, it is not advisable to share your immense happy moments with all. Happiness feels good when shared with selective few who do not have any vice towards you. I had some strange conversations with few such people during my pregnancy revelation. I was trying to conceive from 2 plus years and when I became pregnant during the time, I was least expecting, it definitely felt like a big celebration to me but I was sensible enough t...

An  estuary  is a partially enclosed coastal body of  brackish water  with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.  Source : wiki The below shared image is of a  beautiful sangama point , where  Gosthani River  meets the  Bheemili  beach. This place, not much explored by tourists looks gorgeous and unused with clean , clear water ! We ended the year 2015 with our vizag trip and on the last day of the stay made an impromptu plan to travel to this sangama point in a boat which started at the river bank. It was great fun as it was totally isolated and I felt like I own the spot. I did not feel like leaving the place but we had to. As we reached the meeting point, there was no much water depth for the boat to keep rowing. It stopped as if brakes were applied, mid water and we had to hold the boat to not loose balance. It was dragged to the shore and the sight was so beautiful.  *...

Delhi , the capital city of India is impregnated with history. Every bend of the street, every nook and corner exude history. Too many kings, dynasties , invaders and their beautiful monuments have given Delhi a special status on the map of India. I am happy that I got a chance to stay for almost an year in Gurgaon which is a neighbor to Delhi. I got a chance to explore the rich food and culture the city can offer.  Delhi is known for its tourism and also the extreme summers and winters. When I stayed there, in the  month of December the day used to be foggy till 12 noon. In the nights just after 8-9 P.M. we used to shiver and the fog used to drench the car's window panes. But the chilly weather is enjoyable and the joy of eating hot jalebi or samosas in Delhi winter is incomparable! Delhi has tombs of many Mughal emperors. In December 2012 on one wintery evening we visited Humayun's tomb.  It is the tomb of emperor Humayun and is quite famous. The intricate desi...

Recently we got our baby photoshoot done by Suryakant Raut from Clickbaby.in  who is a maternity and baby photo shoot expert. He covers variety of occasions of new borns and  also makes creative videos and potraits. The session started at about 11:45 A.M. at our own place and lasted till 3 P.M. in the evening. When he entered with a huge trolley bag full of props and frames, it felt like some magic show or a dance show was about to start and when he revealed all his props and plans we all were exuberant and it sure felt magical. Even if you have all the  equipment, props and every thing set up for the shoot, with out real enthusiasm, patience and passion a baby photo shoot is a bad idea and Suryakant seemed to be having loads of them which gave me an idea that the session is going to be extraordinary. As it was scheduled on a hot summer day, I was worried that Zaara would get cranky and not co-operate at all but surprisingly she was enjoying the shoot and Suryakant wa...

Being a mother is a role to which I am trying my best to get used to. Though it is a beautiful feeling It is not always a bed of roses. Roses have some spiky thorns too. It comes as a package with elements like sleeplessness, disorientation, being zombie mostly, anxiety, still having the after effects of pregnancy hormones, losing your cool, trying to get used to the entire idea of a person completely dependent on you, freaking out a bit-OK a lot, not being able to do the things you usually do and so on so forth. Postpartum is tough and I am still dealing with it. A mother learns on job forever and the learning never stops. A mother comes as a savior to a new mother. With out my mother my new motherhood would have been terrifying! The duties of mother start immediately on the hospital bed even before she is cleaned up. As soon as the baby was cleaned up, she was neatly wrapped in a soft blanket and  brought to me and  I was instructed that I should breastfeed her. I was like...

July 9th 2016   is  a date I will always remember. I had a gut feeling that there was something different going on inside me from few weeks. I  randomly did a home pregnancy test, like I used to do in the past months hoping to see those magical two lines. But this time I casually did the test, like a routine act to rule out the possibility   but ...   voila it came positive. I couldn't believe my eyes. As I was still sleepy at 3:30 A.M. in the  morning, I rubbed my groggy eyes and looked at the test result, startled. I didn't know how to react, though I felt a jolt in stomach and performed a mental jig. More than excitement, I  was worried because I heard home pregnancy tests are not always absolutely correct. I woke up my husband and it was not really an announcement but a doubt I expressed,   "This thing here, it came positive!" image source: here I still remember the way I told him  and  it feels quite funny now. He to...