You know your days are going well when..

-Your brother voluntarily opts to prepare French toasts for you in the morning, almost every other day.

-And oh, those French toasts are deliciously tasty as well.

-On a bright sunny morning, you put sunglasses on your already handsome doggy and instead of wrestling to take them off, the doggy strikes a pose.

Yeah, he's cool.

-All your life you are tagged as skinny and underweight but with a lot of hard work (read a lot of eating) and improved diet plans, you gain around 5kgs in mere 5 months and shut everybody's goddamn mouth. Trust me, this thing made me THE happiest.

-Your workout sessions at home, start showing breathtaking results and you finally have more than just traces of calf muscles, biceps and triceps. Told you, I'm gonna be a strong lady soon.

-After consistently pestering, you succeed in convincing your parents to plan a trip to Kashmir. Yay!

No wait..what if I just jinxed it.

-You spend your Valentine's day with some of the most awesome people in your life in the most awesome weather at a place where you've wanted to go since many years.

Surajkund Crafts Mela 2014

-You have more than one reason to be happy. Period.

_______

Words

Let's collect words. Let's collect words of mesmerism and passion. Of how a soft rush of wind plays with a tuft of hair coming out of the woolen cap. Of being tucked away from the world's madness for a while, closely in the arms of the mother. Of the moment cold feet gently kisses the warm grass beneath. Of holding tight a hot cup of tea with cold, slender fingers. Of taking in the intoxicating smell of books, stories and snippets, old and new. Of enjoying breath vapors on a chilly winter day. Of basking in the sunshine and watching your pet keep its head on your lap. Of the first few driblets of water that touch the parched palate. Of the insignificant laughter and echoes that follow you in the depth of the night. Of being a daisy while everyone else is just a rose! Of leaving blissful imprints in others' lives. Of those few moments of peace when you saunter slowly down the street, sublimely soaked in the rain. Of talking about epiphanies of our lives with people who belong to us, only us. Of the overwhelming aftermath of making sweet love and sinking in his chest to hear the deep pulsating sound. Of feeling beautiful even though you see a scarred face, smiling back innocently in the mirror.

Of unbeknownst miseries that may lie ahead and also, of the cloudless yet surreal present that has been unwrapped for you to give life another chance.

So shall we, love?

_____

Image Source

The Lunch Box: Spoilers Alert.

While returning from the cinema hall today in the evening, my mind jostled in a haphazard stream of thoughts. One moment, I shared the experience with my friends on Whatsapp like how much I loved the movie, its story line, the characters and their unparalleled acting and in the next, I stepped into an oblivion state where I just wanted to contemplate, refusing to get distracted by the presence of a slender old man, murmuring something incessantly and begging for money at the traffic signal or by those little kids offering a stick of rose or sometimes, just their desperate needy look, or even by the light drizzle, highlighted through the head lights of numerous vehicles.
Amidst the noise of a monotonous rushing life, I sat there in an auto, stared into space, in the darkness hovering behind the street lights...in an oblivion state, wiped off irrelevant fragmented thoughts and brooded over the beautiful thing I watched. That which made me calm, relaxed even when I was stuck in the middle of Delhi traffic.

The moment I walked out of the movie hall, I knew I was going to write about it on Mirage. But what? Certainly not a review. I'm not really good at reviewing things. I have realized this lately. Moreover, I believe that this movie deserves something better than just a plain two-line review. It was moving, undoubtedly but what was that one thing, if you may ask, that made it so special for me?

The movie was real. Very real! The narration...how randomly beautiful it was. The part where the male lead writes about the reason why he spent the previous night watching his late wife's favorite TV show, right there, all I wanted was to keep listening to the remarkable narration. I felt I became was a part of the story. That small apartment with pale walls, the narrow passage where clothes hung on a string, the dining table where the mother secretly read those letters, the kitchen where she cooked delicacies...I lived there. That little girl with two pigtails, jumping carefully across the big puddle to avoid muck on her neat school dress and turning back to wave goodbye to her mother...I was her. I so was! Then, I became her mother...a simple housewife, essaying to woe her husband by making delicious lunch for him but ending up discovering the emotions she always longed for, in her friendship with an old man. The old man who devoured various dishes made by her. And it was all because of a wrongly delivered lunch box or perhaps, rightly received.

There is not a good, satisfying reason to convince that I was able to connect with the main characters but somewhere beneath the story line, realism of the movie struck me more than anything else and made the experience even more fantastic. It was warm and comforting. Yes! Comforting. There was a settling charm in the story which made me feel at ease, kept me intact and gripped till the end. Till that subtle happy end.

Honestly, I don't remember the last time I watched a movie which had such an impact on me...which made me write a long blog post. But I guess, this is the reason why I cherish watching The Lunch Box.

An excellent movie.
Indeed!
______

In other news, I am leaving for a three day holiday with my cousins to Lansdowne, Uttarakhand, this weekend. Apart from the regular holiday stuff, I shall be carrying a brand new Monopoly. Yes, that super awesome board game which consumed hundreds of hours of our adorable childhood.
:D

Pretty excited, I am. Yay!

A Much Needed Vacation

Untouched roads, mystic river, hidden waterfall, chilling on a hammock, witnessing a shooting star, chasing a glow worm, pleasant weather, majestic mountains all around and a private home stay on the river bed. Sigh!

There couldn't have been a better vacation than this.

At Tirthan Valley, I had the most amazing time of my life. The place was simply beyond my expectations. I feel so blessed to have visited it with friends and experienced nth number of blissful and breath taking moments. Really, who would have thought that I would visit a place which is almost similar to what I used to draw in school - splendidly green mountains, sun peeking from behind, a river and an excluded  river side home.

=)

Tirthan Valley is an off-beat place in Kullu district. It is somewhat like a village lowly populated with warm and friendly localites. For someone coming from Delhi, it is a sheer surprise to receive so much respect and honor from others. We stayed at a home stay as no hotels are permitted. The owner, Khem Bharti did everything to make our trip a success. His main place was almost full so we were accommodated at another place owned by him. The idea of us staying, in a private home which was nearer to the river was scary at first, as we had no idea how it would be from the 'safety point of view'. But to our surprise, it turned out to be the best thing possible.

We slept to the sound of gushing white water and woke up to the heavenly view of the Tirthan river.

Here are some picture of my small beatific vacation.

Chilling on a hammock

Spellbound

The hidden waterfall

Picturesque, isn't it!

My friend caught me off guard.

View from terrace

Tea and pakora time

Double rainbow

 ________

P.S : I chilled on a hammock and now I'll strike it off my wish list. Bliss!

Drapes of Faith.

I sneak in

The drapes of faith

Veiling with elegance

The delicate hints of our breaths

Come, talk to me here

The sadness of yesterday

And ugly marks of the past

Entomb them

With that mischief

Glimmering in your eyes.

Talk to me

Over a cup of tea

All day long,

And all night too

Within the drapes of faith

Where I sneaked in.

Speak of those amber evenings

Laced with innocence and joy

When we laughed

Carelessly on the swings,

Of the gorgeous rain

When you told me I look beautiful,

Of the pink-orange notebook

And the picture of you

Safely stored

Narrate me the thoughts of Rumi

That poem which I adore

The one,

Which brought tears along.

Narrate me the words

Those were penned

Under the February sun

Fill crevices

With the moments, the desires

Which are secretly fading,

With the forgotten love

Like the love of color lavender,

Of the smell of dampened old places

And of those crazy, random songs.

Then again, for one more time

Talk to me,

Over a cup of tea

Within the drapes of faith

Where we sneaked in.

The to and fro.

I find, I lose

In the joy

Of crushing to death

The dead leaf

On the cold road.

The momentary satisfaction

From the crispy sound

That I hear

There I find, I lose

In the comfort

Of staring into nothingness

The charm in staying still.

Staying there

Right there in space

Yet gliding through thoughts

And chasing back to the start

In the sunshine

In the color yellow

And in the song

I find, I lose

That momentary satisfaction.

______________

News of the month, or year: I received three complimentary copies of my first publication a few days back. It's a literary magazine, kind enough to publish my poem (Haiku) Light Empowers which I wrote a little more than a year back. Needless to say, I am ecstatic beyond limits! =]

Here is a picture for you.

Now waiting for the next one to launch. It is almost hard to believe what I'd dearly wished a few months back has come true so soon. Like my wishes were strongly heard. #Touchwood

Time to strike off another entry in the list. BLISS!

****

Image source: Phone camera. Picture quality makes it pretty clear. :P

P.S: Merry Christmas!

Now this is 'something'..!!! :)

Yesterday, when I woke up in the morning, my mom called me and gave me a very very very good news. It was related to my brother's upcoming birthday. She told me that his birthday gift has been decided and that we would get it in a few days.

"But what's the gift?", I thought.

My inquisition level reached its top and in my mind, I immediately began thinking about different possibilities. About all the usual birthday surprises which are given with slight variations every time. But now I know that all those possibilities stand in complete vain because the gift is definitely not the usual one.

It's a 40-days old Labrador Retriever. And the best part, we just brought him home yesterday.

Yayyyyy..I am super-super happy!!! :) :)

My brother would be coming here on 30th of this month. So he would be getting his gift on the very same day. I am sure he would love the gift as it was his childhood dream to have a Labrador as pet. God, I can't wait to see his priceless reaction. :)

For you all, here are a few snaps of the new being of our home. 

And we are yet to decide a good name. Friends, help me out with this name thing. I am really confused.

Suggestions are highly welcomed!!

Surprise Surprise!!

Pale and cold morning

A droning day awaited

Milk and newspaper

Friends, phone calls

Laptop, facebook, blog

'Chasing cars' by Snow Patrol

Played it twice :)

Books, notes, History...urgghhh :(

Bored. Sleepy.

Time slowed down

Tic toc tic toc...tic...toc...ti...zzzzz...

Door bell rang

Courier received

A gift wrapped in Blue!

Eyes widened

Addressed to me

*smiles* *smiles*

Tore, scratched and opened

Found a white tee with a note:

"Happy new year, awara ladki"

Sent by my dearest brother

Yay...jumped in elation

Called up Ma, friends and of course my brother

Shared the ecstacy

Mood upgraded - super duper happy :D

Happy!

Happy!

The day ended.

And I'm still happy...yay! =)