Winter Musings

  I love winters. The pleasant cold atmosphere mingling with the delicious aroma of hot beverages, tasty soups and cozy nights. The heavenly feel while sitting on a couch, being wrapped in a blanket while reading a novel and listening to old Hindi songs. That’s winter for me. The season brings back some good old memories of school days, college shenanigans and of companionships and life. But it all feels so far away now, as if it took place in a different timeline, a different era. Winter now brings in harsh winds of solitude. Its cold breeze turns the pages of the books lying in dust since decades. It makes me ponder over life and reality, a difficult feat because people say I love my fiction and dreams. There comes a day in many of our lives when we realize that no matter where we go, no matter where we are, where we live, where we have our accomplices, we feel like the misfits. The constant feeling that we don’t belong here, that these places don’t call me, that these people are...

  An old Shiva temple located deep in the forest in a wildlife sanctuary, lush green surroundings, a waterfall nearby and the chirping of birds and suggestions of wildlife around. Doesn’t it sound like a perfect setting for an adventure or mystery movie? This place is real and so is the temple. Nestled deep within the forest and surrounded by nature’s treasures, this temple stands a witness to the Kadamba rule in Goa. Situated in the deep forest clearing at the foothills of scenic Western Ghats, it may have escaped foreign invasions due to its isolated location. I am talking about the Mahadev Temple located in Tambdi Surla. The only existing example of a basalt stone Kadamba temple in Goa, this nirandhara temple has stood tall since the 12th century against a scenic background. It is located at the foothills of Anmod Ghat. The temple gets its name from the area it’s located in, Tambdi meaning the red colour of the soil present and Surla after the Surla River that flows nearby. ...

  I am sure you people must have heard and read stories of how people from small towns moved to cities and dreamt of a certain kind of life, how they fulfilled their big dreams etc. Well, today I am going to express my thoughts on the same. I was contemplating on my next topic when I came across this (to be honest, I was out of topics), so I thought, why not. So, let’s start with my virtual gossip session. I come from a small city. It’s only recently that my city is developing and coming on the map of development. It has some of the finest educational institutions, an airport, a state legislative building, big shopping malls and complexes. And yet, at the heart of it, it’s just another small city, where people know each other and have ‘mutual – mutual’ friends. It’s a place where gossip spreads in one school and reaches the other in hours. There are numerous temples and there are various cafes. Tagged as the ‘Mahabaleshwar of poor people’, this city has the most pleasant climate ...

  Hello all! Your favourite procrastinating lady is back after a short disappearance. I am pretty sure that by now you all are used to my disappearing and appearing scenes. So as promised earlier I am back with a blog on a Shiva temple located in Khidrapur. Fasten your seat belts and pack some snacks as I take you away from the hustle and bustle of this city to a serene village and the sounds of damaru in the background. I had wanted to visit the Kopeshwar Mahadev temple located in Khidrapur for a long time. There are many reasons. First, I like visiting Kolhapur, the place has pleasant weather almost similar to my native place Belgaum and the food is mind-blowing. The second reason was of course the architectural grandeur and beauty of the temple. And the most important reason is that it’s the temple of my favourite deity. I am a thorough and thorough Saivite. This god holds a special place in my heart. Maybe because Shiva feels so relatable. His way of expressing all the emotio...

 I have observed that many of my blogs start with a customary “when I was a kid...” I found it funny and hence I am going to make it some sort of a tradition now onwards. Anyways, when I was a kid I loved playing with my kitchen set. It was a big Barbie-themed pink kitchen set with small utensils, a cylinder, a basin and even a fridge. I would spend hours playing it alone (you see, I am the only child of my parents). Little did I know that my love for playing ‘kitchen – kitchen’ would soon develop into my love for real cooking. Thanks to watching numerous cookery shows sitting beside my mother I developed an interest in it. I used to spend hours sitting on the kitchen platform while my mom cooked. I would help occasionally. There are a lot of photos of mine in which I am helping my mother or at least trying to help.  After a minor fiasco in my 5th std which involved me dropping a vessel of steaming tea on the floor, I swore that I would never enter the kitchen again. Well well...