Simplicity

Life is simple. I had made my life really complicated in the past. But, now I thrive simplicity.....

Few simple things in my life now -
1. Love, pure love - When I get confused about some relation, I simply close my eyes and send love to that relationship. It helps me come out of that complicated situation. 
2. Drink water - No one is stopping me to drink water...It is completely my simple wish to keep myself hydrated. 
3. Sleep - as much as I can, as according to a study, we can overeat but not over sleep!
4. Read - Relation with a book is so uncomplicated. I don't have to take appointment with my book to read it!
5. Listen to my child - Simply lending my ears to him is spending quality time with him. I don't have to take those complicated workshops to do this. 
6. Walk - I miss greenery in Dubai but still I can walk. It is so simple, no need to wear those complicated gadgets, I just steal time from my daily routine to do that. 
7. Tea - Nothing unwinds me but tea. Depending on my mood I either drink green tea or masala chai! Love both :-)
8. Shower - Long hot shower after walk is refreshing. Something simple, I look forward to this simple activity everyday.
9. Simple home made food - I like to cook simple dishes and had learnt to do this over a period of time. Once I spent two hours to make those fried samosas and felt horrible after eating. I don't say that I don't eat samosa, I only eat them outside. I am cutting down on that now. 
10. Pray - Simply connecting with the supreme is something which completes my day. I thank God for everything I have and feel blessed. 

Roads in Japan

Date with Flamingos

Sometimes I wonder why 24 hours in a day is not enough for me. I usually plan my week in advance and any last minute "coffee meeting" is difficult for me to adjust in my schedule. Still, I think, I should be prioritizing my activities to steal more time to read and explore Dubai. 

Lately, I went to a bird sanctuary for flamingo watching in Ras Al Khor with two friends. My taxi driver had no clue about this place and he commented in hindi - "Madam, I have been driving in Dubai since past ten years and had NEVER heard of this place!?" Well, I was proud to guide him the directions with the help of my google map. 

Our eyes couldn't believe what we saw.....more than 300 flamingos in the heart of a desert city - Dubai! We reached there just before the bird's feeding time. To my surprise, the care taker allowed me to go near the water body, with a warning (which I ignored) that they will all fly. As he predicted, to our disappointment, they all flew in a group to some other invisible place. And there we were, sad and hoping for a miracle. Our last respite was the feeding time. We waited patiently and finally the person-in-charge arrived. We carefully watched his action of throwing the feed in the water. Yes! the birds started walking (not flying) towards their food. They were only half or may be less in number, but that also excited us. We admired them like children who just found their lost pet. We examined their moves carefully, their needle legs and wondered how they can stand on one leg for so long. Their S shaped neck and black coloured lining under their feather mesmerized us. This left me thinking - yappari, how beautiful nature is!

A Special Friend

Sometimes we happen to meet people randomly and a small conversation turns into a life long friendship. When I had just shifted from Japan to Dubai, I was looking for some like minded people.
Unfortunately, friends cannot be bought in a shop. They just walk-in our lives and before we know, they make a permanent place in our heart. I like making friends who don't judge me and who have accepted me after seeing me in my worst condition.

One year ago, I happened to meet a beautiful lady in the play area (in our building) who came up to me and said-"Hi"!  I wasn't expecting this gesture from her and replied - "Are you saying hi to me!?" and we started chatting. We chatted as if we were long lost friends. Our friendship flourished. We were there for each other when required, and also gave each other enough space to breathe.  

But today, my heart cries as she is shifting to a different address. We will no longer be living in the same building. I will miss the time we had spent together - especially our coffee and shisha sessions. Though, we will be physically apart now, but I guess, our friendship will be alive. I wish her all the best for her decision and hope our friendship remains forever.

Beach, after sunset

First time I went to the beach after sunset. Though I couldn't see the turquoise blue color of the sea but enjoyed the contrast: dark blue sea and milky white waves. When I was lying alone on the grainy white sand with my eyes closed, evening breeze was my blanket and sound of splashing waves was soft music. Never felt so close to nature. I was in trance and completely relaxed.

I became a secured and carefree child who was taking a nap and her mother about to wake her up. But when I opened my eyes, I saw my son was trying to wake me up as he was exhausted after playing with water and sand. Ohh... the reality hit me, I was transported back to the present: One hour cleaning the sand, drill from every corner of my home :-) 

Lizards for dinner?

When I said “Yes” to settling down in Japan with my future husband (who was staying Japan then), I was thrown with lots of comments like – “You don’t know Japanese”, “You will be served lizards for dinner", “The most expensive country in the world”.

My adventurous side ignored those comments and I started my journey with mixed feelings. Yes, I admit initially it was difficult but gradually Japanese culture started sinking in and became a part of my personality. Now, after eight years I feel fortunate to have lived in this beautiful country where nature is at its best. I have learnt a new language, am more hardworking and organized and have a healthy life style. Japanese believe kindness and gratitude as their religion. Today, I thank them for teaching me both and I feel fortunate to have stayed and known this country so closely.  

Old memories

I always wanted to visit Qutub Minar in the morning hours to click pictures.  So, this summers when my seven-year-old son and I were visiting my mother’s home in Gurgaon, India I managed to go there with my brother.  I loved the way they wrote the opening hours -sunrise to sunset.  We reached there before sunrise and as expected it was closed, so we had to wait outside for the concerned person to arrive. It was hot and humid and there were flies disturbing my son. There were few energetic morning walkers who gave us strange looks and few stray dogs that were able to go in and out of Qutub Minar complex. Finally when my son almost gave up his fight with the flies and my brother was about to loose his patience, the ticket master arrived and we were able to go in.

Few steps inside the complex took me back to my childhood days when I visited this historic place with my parents. In those times going inside the tower was allowed (not any more) and to my surprise I could recollect those old moments. Nothing has changed and it smelled the same after twenty long years.  I hear my son screech in excitement as we go near the 73 m tall red sandstone minar built in 1193 with Arabic inscription. The lush green complex is surrounded by several other ancient and medieval structures and ruins is collectively known as the Qutub complex. It looks heavenly in the morning sunlight and is a perfect click!

It started getting hot but we still had to cover the other half of the complex. We saw iron pillar that weighs more than 6000 kg with inscription in Sanskrit. It was interesting to see inscriptions in two different languages - Arabic and Sanskrit. Next we saw an unfinished structure called Alai Minar. It was intended to be two times higher than Qutub Minar. The complex had two mosques but we were too tired to visit them. Finally we decided to head back home. I left the complex with some fresh ever lasting memories and this time in a more modern way- in my DSLR camera.

Magical Sunsets

I couldn't believe my ears when my son said that in his next birth he wants me to be his mother again! He said that he will ask God whether he can choose his mom in his next birth or not, and if he can, then he will choose me. I was in tears. I remember his birth was the best gift to me ever but I remember those times when I just wanted to get away from him. Now, that I know how much he loves me I am scared that at some point I will have to cut the umbilical cord. I will have to do that as he will not need me as much he needs me now. Moreover, as a full time mom it will be very difficult for me to detach myself from him. Right now when I was preparing not so perfect but healthy banana wheat germ pan cakes I couldn't stop thinking about my son and our outings together.
Lately, we enjoyed our time at the beach during sunset. My son knows that I am fond of sunsets. What is so magical about that time? I wonder why every evening I look forward to seeing the sunset from my apartment. I sit with my cup and watch the ocean waves and reflection of golden orange sun on the surface of the ocean. Maybe sunset symbolizes the end of everything which starts. For me, I know over the years I will have to gradually and artfully detach and withdraw myself from my son's life.

Our Sunset Beach outing

Sunset view from my apartment

Banana wheat germ pan cakes