God's own, they say !

Settled comfortably in the slopes of Western Ghats, Kerala has been one of the most enchanting travel destination for travel freaks. The last thing you would expect from Kerala is to be a tropical paradise, and it truely is!

The beautiful backwaters of Kerala are a complicated labyrinth of canals, rivers, lakes and inlets where sea water and freshwater meet each other. Houseboats were traditionally used to transport harvested rice from the backwaters, but today they are mostly used for tourism. You get to choose from over 2000 houseboats roaming the canals. However, the best way to wander in those canals is by a kayak, since huge houseboats cannot sail amidst smaller canals where you get to see the wildlife and locals going around with their daily activities.

The water-ride in the Cochin Port is another cookie in the basket . It is a major port on the Arabian Sea – Indian Ocean sea route. It was naturally formed by the great floods of Periyar. In the same ride, they give you a quick tour of Paradesi Synagogue and describe the Jewish practices, and their discipline -

just a nice different experience. You would also get to see from a little distance (at the entrance of the harbour), gigantic Chinese fishing nets operated by huge machines to earn a livelihood, solely by fishing. The Dutch Palace falls in your plate next, built by the Portugese. It was given to Raja Varma later. Followed by the Dutch Palace is St. Francis Church, built originally by the Portuguese; believed to be the first church built by Europeans in India. Vasco da Gama was originally buried here.You would also see innumerable big and small ships (containers and cruise vessels) taking goods/passengers to places far and wide.

Munnar, well known for its verdant hills draped in exotic tea plantations will take your breath away. A hundred of pages would be less to scribble the experience in this wonder-land.
Those fleeting few grey moments, suspended between inky blackness and early morning light, provide the most drama at times. Like they did one early morning, when we peeped out into the balcony, just to soak in the spectacular scene unfolding in front of us. The sky was still a dark purple, the silhouette of the mighty tea plantations looming large in the distance. Behind the ever-lasting greens, the dark purple subtly embraced the tinged pinkish-orange, even as the horizon appeared clear and cloudless.

We watched in awe as the pinkish orange turned into surreal gold, as the sun rose from behind the lush green dewy hills - a disc of deep crimson. I thought of the drawings I had done during art classes in primary school. But this was for real ! Just a few minutes, and the sun was over and above the hills, drenching everything in crisp bright light. We stood spellbound, cold notwithstanding.  The first rays also served for the birds to shake off their chirping and myriad calls; just the background score that this breath-taking sight needed.

As the morning wore on, we ventured out along narrow, winding roads up the hills, flanked for the most part, by deep gorges on one side and towering hills on the other. Occasionally, the dense foliage cleared to reveal a hamlet on either side. A walk to remember!

Getting drenched in the monsoon rain, sipping a steaming hot cup of ginger tea, feeling the raindrops on your palm amidst such marvellous picturesque paradise, is a unique experience of its own kind. Far far away from the noisy, dawn to dusk hustle bustle of our daily routines, the glorius sound of silence would provide you a perfect "me time"! .

Do not miss a luxuriant and easy way to achieve an instant calm and rejuvination with the most divine ancient Ayurvedic ritual  - Shirodhara. Practiced for more than 5000 years, Shirodhara oil treatment is based on ancient principles of Ayurvedic medicine. Translated from Sanskrit as a holistic healing Science, Ayurveda aims to harmonize the body, mind, senses and soul. Ayurveda may be an ancient Indian therapy, but its appeal is thoroughly modern. This holistic system of diet, herbal remedies and massage has become popular with thousands of celebrities, spa-goers and harried workers who wish to regain a balanced and healthy life. While you go on to choose one, make sure the ambience is worthwhile and the equipments do not need refilling and restarting, creating unnecessary bomb-blast sounds that would end up damaging the entire bliss.

I could go on writing about this little heaven on earth; I could go on visiting it year after year! God's own, they say!

Letter from an Empath!

While I love to help others, I'm not responsible for fixing your life or catering to your toxicity. I'm not responsible for managing your triggers, walking on eggshells or telling you what you want to hear in order to keep the peace. I am not your emotional punching bag, nor am I your emotional sponge. I do not exist for your pleasure or as a site for your projected pain. My responsibility is to myself - to be my own person and stay true to myself; to heal my own wounds, manage my own triggers, and engage in self-care so that I can give to others authentically without depleting myself in the process. My responsibility is to maintain healthy boundaries, especially with those who are unhealthy.

If I Should Have a Daughter

When Sarah Kay herself narrated this one !

Instead of “Mom”, she’s gonna call me “Point B.” Because that way, she knows that no matter what happens, at least she can always find her way to me. And I’m going to paint the solar system on the back of her hands so that she has to learn the entire universe before she can say “Oh, I know that like the back of my hand.”

She’s gonna learn that this life will hit you, hard, in the face, wait for you to get back up so it can kick you in the stomach. But getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air. There is hurt, here, that cannot be fixed by band-aids or poetry, so the first time she realizes that Wonder-woman isn’t coming, I’ll make sure she knows she doesn’t have to wear the cape all by herself. Because no matter how wide you stretch your fingers, your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal. Believe me, I’ve tried.

And “Baby,” I’ll tell her “don’t keep your nose up in the air like that, I know that trick, you’re just smelling for smoke so you can follow the trail back to a burning house so you can find the boy who lost everything in the fire to see if you can save him. Or else, find the boy who lit the fire in the first place to see if you can change him.”

But I know that she will anyway, so instead I’ll always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rain boats nearby, ‘cause there is no heartbreak that chocolate can’t fix. Okay, there’s a few heartbreaks chocolate can’t fix. But that’s what the rain boots are for, because rain will wash away everything if you let it.

I want her to see the world through the underside of a glass bottom boat, to look through a magnifying glass at the galaxies that exist on the pin point of a human mind. Because that’s how my mom taught me. That there’ll be days like this, “There’ll be days like this my momma said” when you open your hands to catch and wind up with only blisters and bruises. When you step out of the phone booth and try to fly and the very people you wanna save are the ones standing on your cape. When your boots will fill with rain and you’ll be up to your knees in disappointment and those are the very days you have all the more reason to say “thank you,” ‘cause there is nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline no matter how many times it’s sent away.

You will put the “wind” in win some lose some, you will put the “star” in starting over and over, and no matter how many land mines erupt in a minute be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life.

And yes, on a scale from one to over-trusting I am pretty damn naive but I want her to know that this world is made out of sugar. It can crumble so easily but don’t be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it.

“Baby,” I’ll tell her “remember your mama is a worrier but your papa is a warrior and you are the girl with small hands and big eyes who never stops asking for more.”

Remember that good things come in threes and so do bad things and always apologize when you’ve done something wrong but don’t you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining.

Your voice is small but don’t ever stop singing and when they finally hand you heartbreak, slip hatred and war under your doorstep and hand you hand-outs on street corners of cynicism and defeat, you tell them that they really ought to meet your mother.

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