Dhoom Machale….!

A reluctant home coming to the city I grew up in. Few odd jobs; lots of interior designing and we were set! New school, new schedule, new people. Yes, a new set of people I knew I would love to know and interact with.
So the boy gang (husband and friends) hung out quite a lot and the women  ….well, we kept doing our stuff at my own homes. Finally, a day dawned and I formed a neat little WhatsApp group to interact with the women batch of the gang.

And we set sailing; well, a few of us really got surfing. And soon we met for a Scrabble game and potluck. Simple food, great spirits and a stunning wardrobe. The girl gang was making it’s presence felt.
Now it is a Dhoom machale group! No more ‘let’s see’ and ‘bai ka time hai’ excuses. We are simply eager to meet. And it’s always a spirited, enthu and a fashionable meet. Palazzos, skirts, LBDs, high heels, tattoos and high spirits.

In this mad world of competition, jealousy, one-upmanship, ego and straining relationships; you sometimes come across fellow humans, who share the same zeal for life. Given the zeal is shared by a group of women; spices the gathering further. Where else would  you play Scrabble, share recipes, home-made wine, spend precious brain cells deciding on what  dress each one has, watch educative movies, get tattoos, join Zumba classes, help children bond and dance crazy at an all-girls party!


Together we gel like salt and water but each unique like a surprise cheese bite in a tikki!

One teacher and cook, one professor, one boutique manager, one writer and one enjoying the new joys of motherhood. So what does get us together? Dance, Food, Movies, Games  nah!!! Plain women bonding to come together. I read just this morning that there are workshops to help people refocus, reconnect and hold your breath… ‘to find happiness’! Our ancestors would turn in their graves, roll in them actually; laugh out loud before they nod their heads in dismay. Happiness seems very simple when you make the time, hold a smile for a fellow human being, mean what you say and laugh silly!!!

Here’s a silent prayer saying, “Touch Wood” to our friendships and just an observation; “Who says women don’t get along?”

Dhoom machale!

Trekking, nature and much more!

Early morning waking in a bus, among a group of nature enthusiasts. Fun, singing and a short break later; I took my first step into the jungles of Brahmagiri. “It starts here,” I told myself; a promise that this is one among the many trips into nature.

And it was an important first one. The best of the trekking group, middle of the jungle with special permission, waterfall, scenery, campfire, zip lining, tents and photography.

Thinking back, life couldn't be better and life couldn't be more hopeful. I managed squeezing in my love for trekking and jungle between my kids, writing, job, husband and the haunting purpose of life. Yes, I squeezed in three days of serene jungle, pure air and water and camaraderie at the campfire. But I squeezed out a lot.  Fulfilling one wish, which was tucked away in some corner of my heart; I opened up a world of possibilities.  Yes, it was possible to break away and get three days for myself.

“But you have two children!”, was the steady query from anyone with whom I shared my jungle diaries not to mention my zooooooooooooin zip lining adventure. And I simply smiled, “Yes, I do. Two adorable children and my husband takes care of them when I go trekking.”

So what does this jungle experience give you? A lot of jungle (if you go during the right time of the year), lots of greenery, cool shadows, shrubs -twines-trees, colourful flowers, berries you've never seen before, different insects, pristine waters, beautiful good earth and different shades of the sun. If lucky, you’ll get a spider wrapping a fly in its web, snake skin left behind, some foot prints, which only the guide can recognize. But it leaves you with much more. The amazing jungle photographs, may be the materialistic souvenirs in your hands but the entire outdoor experience calms you as you experience nature is its best raw form. Moreover, life just seems simpler. Living in the wilderness, without the paraphernalia that we otherwise think we can’t live without. And not the cottage/tent kind of a luxurious outdoor holiday but a real basic one-with- mother nature kind.

As we left the next day, singing and laughing all our way back, we took turns to say our bit to the gang. Well, what could I say, “It was great? “I’ll come back for more?” Or that “nothing is better that being so close to nature”? All this and to that I added, “I want my children to trek, to see nature as it is and care about it in the future.” What a thought, Touch Wood!