To me the best thing about vacation is brainstorming the places to visit and then making a tentative plan for the entire trip. Online reviews and Google comes to rescue for searching a comfortable hotel/resort, book safaris in advance and design the itinerary all by myself.

Years of traveling has made me a planner and I often look out for off beat destinations in India to avoid unruly crowd, commercialization of tourist places and to experience the thrill of meeting new challenges all the way. Traveling together to some known and some unknown destinations has made the nature lover, the adventure enthusiast and the history buff in my family come out in open. We now appreciate the ruins of history and pristine beauty of mountains in the same breath.
A first-hand narrative description of our trip can be read in a series of seven blogposts I published recently on my other Blog, here.

An Indian wedding is a perfect blend of traditions, grandeur, delectable cuisine and sacredness of celebrations. The unbound enthusiasm and the flow of emotions of all the family members have to be seen to be believed.

My children have attended many Tam Brahm marriages of their paternal relatives in Chennai but have never seen any Rajasthani marriage from my side. They were too small to remember anything about my brothers’ marriage in 2004, son was hardly four years and daughter was just a few months old.

During my recent  visit to Udaipur in May 2013, I got a chance to take them to a typical Marwari marriage.  And they were really amused to notice the stark differences between the rituals and proceedings of marriages of two states of India. My daughter quipped that she wants to get married in Rajasthan so that the groom comes riding a horse

A trip to hometown is more than just yearly rituals to me. It’s the time to connect with family & friends, explore some new and some old places that remain unchanged. Vacation is ‘my time’ when I do things at my own pace, follow my passion, and get in some real life. It is the time when blog posts can wait and there is no pressure to sign in to check mails and social media interactions. I completely enjoy every moment of the laid back life and mom’s yummy food.

Networking takes a back seat and I live in the real world. The day begins with an early morning walk alongside lake Fateh Sagar, reading regional New paper ‘Rajasthan Patrika’ and gorging home cooked simple yet authentic Rajasthani breakfast.

There are a few moments in life when you are truly & completely happy. My yearly visit to hometown in Udaipur, Rajasthan is one such occasion when I wish I could stop the time and live in those moments forever. Though many old familiar houses have given way to high rise apartments now and there are very few familiar faces to greet, but every visit is worth preserving the childhood experiences and keeping them afresh…..from authentic Daal Baatis to exotic Gatte ki subji filled with nuts and dried fruits…they leave no stone unturned to pamper me with their love and let me indulge in my favorite food.

Home is where the heart is….my heart belongs to Chennai, the place where I got married and have been living since 1996. I have wholeheartedly accepted the city and have accustomed to the traditions, climatic conditions and the food here.

But even after spending a good 17 years in Chennai I feel that a part of my heart still lives in Udaipur. The place where I grew up, studied and spent the most beautiful years of my life with family and friends.

And why not, if one is the place of my birth than the other made me a complete woman! I take it as a special privilege of belonging to the two different cities at once.

You can take a girl out of desserts, but you can’t take desserts out of a girl. Oh yes, I was born with a dessert spoon! According to my nanny my mom was feasting on hot Malpuas dipped in creamy Rabdi a few minutes before she went into labour pains, much to the chagrin of my stressed out doctor father.

Desserts were an important part of our everyday meal during growing  up years in Udaipur, Rajasthan. Our family was certainly not an exception in a state where a day starts and ends with a sweet, what with people queuing up in food shops before the day breaks, fishing out hot Jalebis floating in warm milk for breakfast.

“So you are a housewife and you blog at your free time, lucky you” I am still trying to figure out what the young blogger wanted to convey when we met in a blogger meet recently. Am I lucky because I am a housewife, a blogger or because I have extra free time?

To me ‘Time’ is a luxury if you are bound with responsibilities and also have a passion to follow. I feel that only the achievers know the secrets of how to tame this elusive element of life called ‘Time’ and make the most out of both the worlds.

I was at loggerheads with time twenty years back when

‘It’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary.’ Paulo Coelho.  Life is harder when you complicate the simple things and my cooking follows suit to a greater extent. Most of the days I prefer dishes which need less time to cook, have fewer ingredients and still retain the freshness & nutrient quotient intact. These simple recipes are a perfect antidote for those busy days when you are hard pressed for time and need something healthy and filling which can be thrown in just minutes.

This warm Chickpea and Veggie Salad falls in the same category. I defer to call this recipe just a simple salad, with Olive oil, mixed veggies, bread croutons, herbs, spices and protein packed chickpeas, this recipe makes a complete meal in itself. I could happily start and end my breakfast, lunch and dinner with a bowl of this chickpea and veggie salad.

‘ If you truly love Nature, you will find beauty everywhere‘. ~ Van Gogh.  Early morning walk with my hubby is one activity I eagerly look forward to each day. Its a wonderful time I see some of the miracles of nature unfold as we walk along the narrow lanes and parks nearby.

The dim sky, the fresh morning air, quietness and the gentle pace of life is so enchanting.  The thumping of joggers zipping across, symphony of chirping birds, cling-cling of the milkman and the newspaper boys on cycle break the silence of nearly empty roads.

I have started appreciating these simple and small beauties of nature more and more after my new found love for photography. During one such walks I picked a few colorful leaves dressed in morning dew.

Creativity has no boundaries and is best expressed when the mind is free and the world is your canvas to work upon. For the last couple of days South Indian cinema and politics is abuzz with a certain ban on the release of a Tamil movie. Though I don’t follow the happenings from the field of cinema or politics much, but this one caught my eyes. People in the shops, morning walkers, school children, my maid and not to forget the screaming TV channel anchors, everyone seems to be worried about the freedom of expression overnight.

Anyways, hope both the sides resolve the issue amicably soon and the freedom of an artist to express art without any boundaries or political pressure is restored and also the powers of politicians to bring in peace and justice are appreciated.

Anyways, hope both the sides resolve the issue amicably soon and the freedom of an artist to express art without any boundaries or political pressure is restored and also the powers of politicians to bring in peace and justice are appreciated….