What will you do today if you die tomorrow?

Out of the blue, I beginned to ask some of my close chums - What will you do today if you die tomorrow? 
The answers were interesting enough to keep me going with the question among other people. I wish I could publish all the answers.

I have listed down some of the answers which ranged from indifferent replies to elaborate, enthusiastic ones.

Bandish Soparkar : I would live the day exactly as usual.
Niranajan Navalgund : I don't know. For someone who focuses on giving the best in every possible moment, the question holds little relevance. Right?

Pratyush Pahuja : You see all these people on the news. Murderers, rapists, convicts and you just wish that someone, somewhere would just end these sons of bitches. My last day or not, I would very much want to be that someone. 

I know we should obey the law and play by the rules for a safe society. But it's not working. What good is the law if it can't protect people? 
So, yeah. I would resort to vigilantism.

Max Pace : I'd go and take like 5 grams of coke. 3 acid tabs. Go shooting. Then, rent the biggest bike I can and ride it over a cliff.

Shashank Shukla : Die today.
Sri Manikandan : I will go for a drive! That's all I will do.
Eshan Kalyanikar : Go to Himachal. Just run!
Samaksh Wadhwa : Go on a solo trip to Himachal today!!
Lakshay Tewathia : I'd go sky-diving, that's all.
Kajal Sharma :  I would go and kiss Aseem.
Aditya Kanojia : Spend rest of my time in my mother's arms and die with no regrets.
Priyanjana Das : DANCE. Fall in love.
Chaitanya Kumar : I will drink coffee with my girlfriend on Sydney Bridge.
Arihant Jain : Live free without inhibitions.
Kai Dai : Stay with my lover.

Nivesh Bhagtani : Just stay close to my immediate family with all my family members around me. I would make them swear to not to mourn my death to psychological depression and would also seek forgiveness for not being able to make them proud and make their lives better. (Though there's not such expectation from them but I take it as my obligation for every sacrifice they have been making for me till date).

Sagnik Das : Visit London and watch Chelsea Football Club play.
Asmita Agrawal : I would probably regret my whole life and how I spent it.
Burhan Shah : Seek mercy from lord.
Mallhar Mohapatra : I would have the costliest bottle of wine and watch Chick Flicks.
Chittresh Dhawan : I will seek doctor's advice on which organs I can donate and donate them.

Shaurya Gahlawat :  I will travel as much as I can, wherever I can and I will eat everything I can.

Jyoti Sharma : I would go out with my best friend and spend time with my parents. One day is not enough but still I will pack and keep my lappy, hard-drive and my sketches and die with them. Lastly, I will pray that I get the friends which I have now and sketching talent, love for anime in my next birth too.

James Byron Durance : Probably go outside and forget about the impending clock. Failing the viability of that. I suspect, there would be liberal libation and dance.

Ayesha Parvez : Pray a lot, thank god for my life, spend time with my family and loved ones.

Sharmishtha Chatterjee : I would eat eel, lobster and octopus. I would go to Disneyland in Paris for the second time with my family and two or three of my friends. I would leave notes for them all and write a badass will.

Pranav Suri : I'd write a letter for the world to see, apologize for all the wrong I did, thank for all the good it did to me. Also, what I learned about it in all the time I had.

I believe that to have a legacy after death, it is important to write something worth reading or do something worth writing. Since, I won't have time for the latter, I'd try to achieve the former via my letter. The idea is do die in peace, with no regrets or agitation.

Bidhan Shrestha : If today was my last day, then I'd do things I like, go to a new place, be with people whom I love and celebrate the last day with them with a happy smile.

I'd share what I have learned from my life and my journey to this end point.. And say goodbye to everyone.

Lastly, I would hope the death may be quick and wouldn't hurt much.

Ayush Agrawal : I would record numerous video messages for people I love and send them to other people they don't know. And, it would be mentioned when that video is to be shown to the person for whom it was recorded. 

Like the letters in P.S. I Love You.

Just, videos instead of letters.

Mohan Vasudevan : Call all my friends over and drink wine and make merry all day long.

Gavin Rodrigues : I'll do everything I like doing. 

I'll live life to the fullest and try to fulfill as many as my dreams and be a good person and leave everyone with good memories of me and put a smile on people's faces.

Siddarth Rajikumar : Drive away to the end of dawn, meet and talk to a lot of people and eat different kinds of food along the way. Hopefully be on the edge of a lake or a beach when I would be dying.

Atharva Chaudhary : Do all the drugs and have a lot of sex and that in some music festival abroad.

Jeanne Bis : I would party like crazy. I would see all my friends, drink and spend the night with the hottest guy.

Antareep Das : Maybe listen to my favourite band over and over again. I will do charity. Give away all my stuff to the poor and needy. Listen to my favourite band and prepare to die.

Jordan McBride : I would face my fear of jumping out a plane bollock naked. Or a bungee jump.

Rony Kaushik : I'll go to Machapuchare and sit there for rest of my time and think about what all I've done in my life and who will be affected when I am not there and also if I had a few more days, how much soccer could I have played.

Shashank Kare : I would have dahi gupchup and kulfi, then talk to my parents and my friends and tell them how much I love them, and then just go to sleep knowing that I played my part well.

Prasanjay Yadav : I would be with my loved ones for the entire day like a normal day. Will have few rounds of drinks and sleep to death.

In a life, one gets a lot of 'todays'. Why waste them and wait for the last 'today'?

Shriya Saha : Run away and get lost in the mysterious and eldritch parts of the world.

Himachal Pradesh - Katagla, Kasol

Before I embark on the journey of words about my one day trip to Katagla, I had the impulse to read about these travellers and explorers and share succinct versions.

• George Herbert Leigh Mallory and Andrew Comyn "Sandy" Irvine : Were they the first ones to reach the summit of Everest before they disappeared on 8th June, 1924 almost thirty years before Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the summit? The 1999 Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition organized by regular Everest expedition leader Eric Simonson and advised by researcher Jochen Hemmleb led to the discovery of Mallory's body.
• Amelia Earhart : Amelia Earhart, the first female pilot to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937. On July 2, 1937, the Lockheed Electra carrying Amelia Earhart and navigator Frederick Noonan was reported missing near Howland Island in the Pacific. The pair were attempting to fly around the world when they lost their bearings during the most challenging part of the expedition: Lae, New Guinea to Howland Island, a tiny island in the center of the Pacific Ocean. No trace of Earhart or Noonan was ever found.
• Peng Jiamu : Chinese biochemist Peng Jiamu disappeared during a 1980 expedition in China's Lop Nor (Lop Nur).
• Gaspar and Miguel Corte-Real : Both are Portuguese explorers and two of the three sons of João Vaz Corte-Real. In 1501, Gaspar embarked on his second expedition to Newfoundland from where two ships returned to Lisbon but Gaspar's ship was never heard from again. In 1502, Miguel beginned his journey to search for his brother only to end up with the same fate.
• Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett : In 1925, Fawcett journeyed into the Brazilian jungle in search of the Lost City of Z that he believed existed somewhere in the unplumbed depths of the Amazon. Following a final dispatch on May 29, he and his two companions disappeared, later assumed to have been murdered by Amazonian tribesmen. 
• Ludwig Leichhardt : In April 1848, in the company of five white men, two Aboriginal guides, seven horses, 20 mules and 50 bullocks, Leichhardt left the Darling Downs in southern Queensland bound for Western Australia's Swan River settlement. Shortly after, the entire party vanished with almost no trace. During the next 90 years, nine major expeditions tried to solve the mystery of Leichhardt's disappearance.
• Michael Rockefeller : Michael Rockefeller disappeared off the south coast of Netherlands New Guinea in 1961. In the November of 1961, he was on an expedition to collect woodcarvings by the Asmat people when his catamaran overturned. His two local guides swam to shore while Rockefeller and Dutch anthropologist Rene Wassing stayed with the boat as it drifted out into the Arafura Sea. The next day when the boat was approximately 10 miles away from the shore, Rockefeller decided to swim to safety. Wassing was rescued the next day while Rockefeller vanished in the blue expanse of the sea.
• Everett Ruess : Only 20 at the time of his disappearance, the writer, artist and environmentalist was last seen near Utah's Davis Gulch in 1934. Ruess set out alone into the Utah desert taking two burros as pack animals, only to end up disappearing forever. 

The world is beautiful yet petrifying, pleasant yet adventurous, secure yet mysterious.
This is the place I would like to go to again with more than three days in hand, with blithe disregard to all the life events and complete focus on the beauteous moment at hand. I had the most uncomfortable bus journey of my life from Chandigarh to Bhuntar. After the night journey, I took a taxi from Bhuntar to Kasol at around 6 am. The driver dropped me at the spot from where one has to trek to reach Katagla or Chalal. 

 The way to Katagla and Chalal

 Turn around and I get this view

 Front view

 The bridge, one got to cross to reach 

the guesthouses, home-stays and cafes

 I couldn't resist the urge to walk 

near the river and click a few pictures 

while the morning sun shines

 Plan was to reach Chalal but I was too knackered 

to walk further from Katagla. 

This way was bewitching 

because of the stone wall, how the rays fell 

and the constant music of the river.

Mother's Guesthouse in Katagla, 

300 rupees a night excluding food.

Yet again, I was allowed to hear the music 

of the euphoric river day in and day out.

Himachal Pradesh - Shimla

Sublime Moment : While reading Dale Carnegie's How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking, an excerpt reminded me of the speech I was uber-excited to give on my school farewell day but abashedly, the audience applauded to bring me to a halt.
With a meek demeanour and an embarrassed mien, I bolted from the stage. 
It took me a few minutes to let go and exit the back-stage, and join my friends in the audience. 
Few minutes later, all of the abashment was replaced by fragments of disbelief and ecstasy when my name was announced for one of the the three titles - Miss Know-How aka Miss Talented which was my fifteen minutes of fame. 
But the exasperation in me was persistent enough to poke me for days to have performed a half-done piece following meticulous efforts and sedulous practice.
The fault wasn't in what I had to say but how prolix it was.
It's my moment which I had to let go realising we are either achieving something or learning something, and I learnt. 

We all have our little moments that are hard to let go. I would be delighted to read yours and share them on my blog (or else, just read).
You can e-mail your moments to wanderlustgluttony@gmail.com

I have been to Shimla quite a number of times, usually I travel from Kasauli in the morning and return to Kasauli in the evening. Spending three to four hours and having a repast there would suffice.
Suggestion :  Go to  Aunty's if you're looking for Chinese food. This bistro wouldn't prove the authenticity of the Chinese flavours but the Indianised version of it.

Below are the pictures of

 A glimpse of Shimla after alighting from the lift 

which takes us to the Shimla Mall

 Once you reach the top floor via the lift 

and you see this building, it means you're at the Mall

Shimla Mall Road 

 A beautiful embossed picture on your right which

you are bound to notice while walking the Mall Road

Delectable Chinese food at a very reasonable cost at Aunty's. 

This restaurant is dim-lit and has seats for just 18 people.

 Another view of Shimla 

 Christ Church, Shimla

 The Lakkar Bazar is all about novelties

and the Mall is about brands and a few products of Shimla

I have stayed at the Hotel Willow Banks which is right on the Shimla Mall Road. Beside the hotel, there is a cafeteria serving delicious brownies and soups. One can stay here and take evening walks. Shimla Mall looks beautiful in the evening; lights, colourful products in the shops and the crowd contributing to the beauty.

Himachal Pradesh - Kasauli

Subtle observation : It's always been told by my parents and believed in my family that a black cat crossing the street proves to be a bad augury. While returning from Shimla to Kasauli, a kitten crossed the street followed by our driver halting and shutting the engine off. The hills around us were scintillating at random places and the sky scintillated with the celestial bodies rarely witnessed in my city. With the headlights switched off, he waited for a car to pass as if it would obliterate the bad omen believed to be born by the kitten. That tiny little layover during our nocturnal journey got me into thinking regarding the beliefs followed by people around the world and their concurrence with the reality, and moved heartstrings in me.
Sometimes, I do get excited to know my life's prognosis in a way - sun signs, palmistry, superstitions. It doesn't require me to believe the answers but just hear something and feel ecstatic or disappointed for a few minutes of ephemeral belief (ironically!). At the end, a sturdy belief becomes of humongous importance rather than an ambiguous reality.

Sitting under the mild sunrays among the hills and pine trees, listening to my play list which hasn't been updated for months.
I am thinking I am happy to have the life I am living. But I haven't reached the point where I will be content and stop desiring for more. I won't reach that point until I become old and incapable of doing more adventurous task than the last one.

Kasauli is my second home. I remember the first time I came to Kasauli with mom, dad, Ria and dad's acquaintance, Suman. Suman carried a video camera which was a huge gadget during those days for munchkins like us. Seeing ourselves in a small window of the camera as we look and move while it records proved to be a great deal of astonishing fun.  We still have the video with Ria and I smiling without a tooth or two and speaking a few lines.

It's been more than half a century visits to this place and everything is as fresh as it will be for a city dweller visiting for the first time. 

I will take you through my recent visit and experience.
The weather was pretty hot to annihilate the hill-station effect.

On our way to Kasauli from Kalka Railway Station 

after a comfortable and convenient

Shatabdi train journey from Delhi to Kalka

The inevitable stop at Ishar for kulfi and gol gappe. 

They have introduced the chocolate kulfi 

which is equally indispensable from the To-Do List.

In my perspective, Modern Dhaba seems to give

 a tough competition to Giani Dhaba 

which are not far from each other. 

The Egg Curry and Chicken Curry here are sure

to be tasted and gorged into.

Mountain Lilies are always a spellbinding view 

witnessed for a few months of a year

 The Samavana Project of DLF where our family stays 

while dad leads the work there

Bhandara/ Langar in a nearby temple 

 The view from our place

 The display at the entrance of the Christ Church 

 Christ Church at around 6pm

Kasauli Mall Road

Heritage Market entrance

 And Heritage Market

 On our way to Mohan Meakin Temple

 As blissful as it can be

 Mohan Meakin Temple, Solan

Goa II

Just ended watching Season 5 and Jon Snow getting betrayed and murdered (GoT watchers, you got me).
Life is lending me a lot of free time and sedentary days. I see these days as my days of contemplation, boredom, anger, annoyance, journaling and writing, bonding and a few more activities accompanying today's human world. 
This is going to be the last post about my two-month solo trip. 

The cycling trip to Galgibaga Beach was one laborious task. One-fourth way covered and my bottle full of water ended up with a few drops. I found a place to park my cycle in front of a two-storied house and under a tree. A woman walked out the door and I requested her to refill my bottle. The house had three dogs, expending their energy barking at me. I continued cycling in the scorching heat once the lady returned the bottle. I stopped near a tower which looked like an abandoned lighthouse. The road offered me rippling mirages in front and dried out area with a few green plants on both sides. The bridge over the Talpona River and the way beyond looked alive with people around.

Struggling to reach Galgibaga Beach 

and little eerie observations 

seem worth a break 

Talpona River, clicked while crossing the bridge

The bridge over Talpona River

 The long way seemed lonely (sometimes!)

So lonely that even a train can generate some sort of excitement 

On my way back to Palolem, 

I am sure I would have dived 

if it weren't for my wounded foot

There were moments in hostel where we all would sit together, have long conversations, play a game, drink, listen to music and relax. During my six days, there were some leaving and some joining in. If you happen to stay for a month, I am sure you will get to meet many to hang out with and all the unplanned days will just plan themselves out.
On the day of leaving Palolem, I had a sullen face and a determination to come back with a long time in hand. I met a cheerful guy from Hyderabad to share some of my remarkable experiences during the small bus journey from the travel agency to the main bus. 
After Goa, I went to Mumbai. I was invited to Les Roches by a CS member. Unfortunately and embarrassingly, it was a party for the trendy and pretty men and women who knew how to dance Salsa. I happened to see Kunwar Amar and Macedon Dmello (Dil Dosti Dance actors) in the same party. My presence was an ephemera in a very glamorous side of the city which is the contrary of my low-budget travel lifestyle.

With all my heart, I wish to travel more. And as I will travel, I will keep on sharing my happiness.

Also, there is no perfect time to be grateful.

Thank you for your little contribution in taking out the time to read my words.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sh9HLBsZ89Q

Goa I

“Life is interesting when you start seeing the problems in life as little conundrums and put thoughts into solving each rather than into the conundrum itself.”

                                                                                                                                    

I know what I mentioned above is hard to follow. But once you take this little step ahead, life becomes a bit easier to survive happily.

I had booked a bed in the six-bed mixed dorm at the Summer Hostel in Palolem which meant that I had to get down from the train at the Canacona station. It became so interesting to talk to my new friends that I missed the Canacona station. While I was calm, I saw another woman walking past us towards the gate, red-faced, confused and panicky. Lucas, the guy from Germany walked to her and talked to her in German. Astryd (I got to know her name much later) sat with us and I did my little bit to calm her nerves by letting her know that she wasn't the only one who missed the station and that we can get down at Madgao (the last stop which is an hour away from Canacona). The funny thing, her grown-up son had already gotten down with his friend at the Canacona station.

On reaching Madgao station, we took an auto-rik to reach Agonda to drop her at her hotel and then to Palolem right in front of my hostel. 

I was knackered and carried an infected wound below my right foot. The days in Goa were beyond beautiful. Hiring a cycle and cycling to Agonda, Galgibaga Beach and Panem, going to a doctor, getting into an accident with a bike, going to The Leopard Valley for a party with the hostel mates and showing off some crazy body movements while dancing. Actually, the list goes on.

For the first three to four days, I had Marek to hang out with. He is a Polish guy in his thirties working in London. We went out quite a few times in the mornings while he took a dip in the water of the Palolem Beach and I sat at a restaurant reading Daily Teachings by Rhonda Byrne and pining for my wound to get healed. The wound restricted me from doing a major activity in Goa - going into the water.

It was his last night in Goa when we had our dinner together (first and last dinner, probably). The chairs and tables were set on the sands facing the sea. Candles on the table. Two of our hostel mates on our left (Surprise! Surprise!).  Music at every restaurant but distinct enough to not make a mess of the tunes. We started off with Golden Fried Calamari and Golden Fried Prawns and then the Sea Food Platter. I am sure I had overeaten and was ready to skip my breakfast the next morning.

During my cycling trips to Agonda and Galgibaga Beach, I was motivated to work on my stamina. It is super hard to cycle up and down those roads which sucks out all the energy especially for a person like me who does not exercise (not proud to admit!). A harrowing incident while returning from Agonda in my cycle was getting into an accident with a bike at a T point. The bike crashed into my cycle breaking the back wheel and lucky enough to be a little away from injuring any of my feet. So, it’s motorbike versus cycle. The man on the bike started yelling at me. The point is this is the first time I got into this kind of situation. Even though I know how Indians handle these situations on road, I was polite enough to apologize and let it go. Oh wait, no! This was not the way how this matter was going to be closed because the biker didn't stop. He thought this polite woman will be easy to bamboozle. I wish there were people watching me and recording the transition from an apologetic polite woman to a hot-headed witch retaliating and turning the man into a puppy who gives up. The man drove away. Smiling, I dragged my cycle to return to my hostel.

On the way, I got two school-going boys who tried to help me out. A man who looked to be in his sixties straightened the back wheel by footing it. The boys accompanied me till a motor-vehicle repair shop. This day couldn’t have been better and I couldn’t have been more grateful to these strangers. With all the new troubles in life, one grows, discovers a part of himself and learns.

Below are the pictures of

Maria Guesthouse, a place where I usually met people and

had some good conversations 

 Dinner with Marek with the sea in front of us

Sea Food Platter

On my way to Agonda from Palolem

Demolition of sand houses at the Agonda Beach

Way back to Palolem 

Fortunate enough to witness this on my way back

Karnataka - Gokarna

24th February, 2016

Snehin, my CS host in Bangalore dropped me off at the bus station for my night bus to Gokarna which was scheduled to leave at 10 pm. To make my accommodation less of a problem, Snehin gave me the contact number of his friend Sagar who works at Zostel in Gokarna.

25th February, 2016

Early morning arrival in Gokarna and I was irritated at the situation of not being able to call anyone despite the full signal displayed on my phone. The call was to be made to Sagar to ask about the auto-rik charges from the bus station to Zostel.  Caveat - The auto-rik drivers literally charge double or triple of what is to be charged. If you're a Kannad, then you're saved. From some other state, saved to some extent. From some other country without any knowledge of the tariff, beneficial for the drivers.

I know I was overcharged for my ride as I didn't know the amount to be paid. 
Once in Zostel, I got a bed in a six bed female dormitory. First day was all about city walk to the temple city and Gokarna Beach, which was right in front of the hostel (Well, once you walk down a hill, you're very much there).

26th February, 2016

The next morning, I met Samarth and Aditya who were travelling from Kanyakumari to Kashmir to make a Vlog. Samarth is from Delhi and Aditya is from Bangalore. Gokarna was one of their stops.
We went to the Gokarna Beach in the evening to take a dip. The sea seemed to have receded a lot since morning. Minutes later, in order to show some guts I didn't really inculcate in myself and knowing that I can swim to some extent, I walked to the deeper end of the sea. 
Few seconds into the deep and my blood ran cold when I couldn't thrust myself forward towards the shore. Trust me, my heart skipped beats at the discovery while I started getting the uber-salty water into my nose and mouth (Right now, I am reminiscing this incident and writing it here, I am finding it quite hilarious). Samarth and Aditya didn't know how to swim. Thanks to Aditya's height that he dared to walk towards me, extended his arm and rescued me. During this little dramatic event, no one was actually at the beach to witness this and I am glad about it.
Aditya got the rescue part on his phone for the Vlog where he didn't forget to mention that a non-swimmer saves a swimmer. (Damn, I need to stop accepting that I swim. Somehow, 'the water pulled' was my defensive line). After a good shower and getting rid of the sand, we had a nice walk to the Kudle Beach for dinner. The day ended well with conversations with other people in the hostel.

27th February, 2016

The next morning, I was surprised to see five other girls in my room, asleep. A group of students from Narsee Monjee, Mumbai came to Gokarna for their trip.

28th February, 2016

They were leaving for Goa in the noontime. My plan was to leave in the evening but I changed my plan (flexibility!) and got a ride with them to the Gokarna station. I took a train ticket to Goa. 

It was a good coincidence to see the guy at the station whom I had met at the Kudle Beach during dinner with Aditya and Samarth. I met three more guys from Israel, Germany and Sweden who made great companions while waiting for the train and while in the train.

Below are the pictures of 

The view of Gokarna Beach from Zostel

 The way one needs to take to reach the Gokarna Beach from Zostel

Gokarna, the temple city 

Gokarna Beach once you reach there

Aditya and Samarth while walking to the Kudle Beach

A morning walk to reach the city for breakfast

Haven't reached the city yet, the way is beautiful 

The wall that made me smile in the morning 

20 rupees mein Upma, mast! (Upma for 20 rupees, a decent breakfast)