Tourist in my city - Delhi!

On a particular Sunday night in February, sleep dint come to me like it always does. I tossed and turned so much so that I was bored. I woke up, walked out of the room so I don’t disturb my partner. I tried to read a book with a flashlight and at early dawn, I gently drifted away to sleep.

This whole incident left me groggy when it was time to wake up time. So I decided to call in sick at work. It is impossible to work with a headache and groggy feeling. I function very poorly in a state of mind like this one.

I slept in longer than usual. When I woke up, I felt the need to take a relaxing hot bath. As expected, I felt relaxed post the shower. As if the ablutions washed away my discomfort of a sleepless night. A relaxing hot bath seldom fails to calm me. 

I know at a rational level I should stay in, but a holiday like feeling refuses to go away. I donned my sneakers and mask and headed out. And here, in no particular order of importance, is how I spent my day despite the doom and gloom all around me:-

• Playing Tourist. This is undoubtedly the best way to explore your city. The opportunity to pull out your curious caps while the excitement is of a vacation mode. An unusual day like this one, allowed me to sparkle as I hit the road on a Monday morning, where otherwise people would be heading out to work.
  
  
• Flying Solo & Free. I know, sounds cliched, I was exhausted from work calls. That day I let my guards down and marched right into the world with courage and enthusiasm. It was as if my spirit was on fire that day. I was content going from one spot to another, in a cab. Talking to cab drivers about how their lives were during the last year, their earnings, their perspectives, etc. It felt great to talk to strangers and learn about their life. That is what makes us humans, isn’t it? Connecting with people and sharing our experiences.
  
  
• Reader. I see myself as an avid reader and reading in nature is magical, it is a haven. While I visited some historic monuments in the city surrounded by a garden, I also carried a book with me. I sat there in its sylvan surroundings and read. Read to my heart's content. With no one and nothing to distract me, no task to be done, no chore calling for my attention. It was blissful. 

Quite literally, it was travelling back in time as I wandered off through the city. They say that at least five cities once flourished on the site where Delhi now stands; and undoubtedly each one of them has left some evidence behind in the form of parks, monuments, landmarks or structure of the city. It felt the best use of my time to explore this heritage. You bet, yes I did the rounds of the usual suspects: Qutub Minar, Purana Qila, Humayun’s Tomb, Safdarjung’s Tomb, all of which were much less crowded. One because it was a Monday morning, second covid fear and third of course there aren’t any foreign tourists in the mix.

As for myself, now I will wait for the city to heal, will wait for it to find its way out of the glorious mess and a mountain of the dead the capital is currently buried in. I will stay home as I plough my way through my summer reading list and call of duties at my job. I will look out from my window taking in the beauty of nature, the best way I can. And I will be dreaming of hills, where I can escape the heat for a glorious few days in the months to come.

Thanks for reading! Here are a few more pictures from that memorable day. Tune in again soon.

©Shweta, 2021. All Rights Reserved.

     Humayun's Tomb

                                 

Qutub Minar

Till the Spring Lasts

                                                                                                                                             

The days are getting longer and nights shorter. Finally, spring is here! It is time to make the most of the pleasant weather in Delhi and other tropical regions too. For spring is short-lived it is best to get most of it. Picnics, outings, and visits to all the places you have been putting off. The sun with a blink of an eye is going to engulf us into its heat.

It has been over about 4-5 months, I visited the Lodhi Gardens in Delhi. It is one of its kind. And now is the best time to visit such a park. Taking a brisk walk by the sides of the lush greenery and colourful flowers is enchanting.

Springtime to me comes as music to the soul, with flowers glooming bright in its seasonal bed-chamber. The spring flowers bring an inner smile, the kind that burns warm and long. Making us feel light and content, with colours illuminating our world after long wintry cold days.

As of the Lodhi garden built in the 15th century, my favourite is a sprawling green park at the heart of the city where once upon a time Delhi rulers’ mausoleums rest surrounded by 90 acres of garden. The impeccable serene green setting and natural beauty echo its rich history. The gardens tranquil ambience, large spread jogging track, indigenous butterflies, birds and trees and flowering plants are what makes this park spring heaven. My love for old edifices, historic museums, forgotten ruins makes this a jewel in the crown.

The breeze in spring brings mild cool air rather than our usual winter chill, making me want to make the most of it before it dissolves into summer. Just exploring as much possible in this jubilant fiesta and storing them as memories for the rest of the year, for the harsh summers in Delhi isn't going to be merciful. 

©Shweta, 2021. All Rights Reserved.

Photo by Marie Tevosyan on Unsplash

Unannounced Hibernation

Hello there - Happy New Year 2021

Photo by Hans-Jurgen Mager on Unsplash

I know, I know it has been a while I have been writing and sharing my posts. But, you see I had to take a hibernation from my creative writing to keep me going in this period of the pandemic. I needed a change of routine & plans. I put my mind on a hiatus, no more thinking of ideas to write, edit & edit over & over and then bring a piece to life to schedule publishing. 

The last couple of months has enmeshed our lives, with the new challenges thrown at us by pandemic, and it still is in various parts of the world. We all had to re-think our priorities & pay attention to tiny bits of our day to day life which never crossed our mind, demanding more attention than ever before. More to a point, where we were getting our butts kicked and our hats blown, so much so that I needed some time to breathe. To soak in the change in my reality. 

So, I had to take a step back from my writing and refocus my energy and set the course of the wind to see how this site and my passion for words could thrive as a parallel universe outside my steady life. 

This was not a ‘good-bye’ but only ‘so long’ — for a short time.

I cannot express adequately how much I appreciate and value your time, patience and your support. It is in this spirit I took the liberty to best serve my well being by taking care during these extraordinary times as I hope you are doing the same & did the same last couple of months.

I intend to keep this rhythm of writing going. 

Till then, keep your spirits high, be kind and live to your fullest each day! :)

©Shweta, 2021. All Rights Reserved.

From the Dragon's Mouth: 10 True Stories that Unveil the Real China

Source: Shweta's Phone

Title: From the Dragon's Mouth

Language: English

Genre: Non-fiction

Pages: 288

Rating: 4/5

Excerpt:

Fuentes spent a few years living and working in China as an international journalist. The 10 short stories are portraits of citizens of the country she met during her stay. The book is a panoramic view into the psyche of the people, circumventing censoring authorities, about Chinese culture, history since the Chinese Cultural Revolution, etc. The book project began with a series of interviews with the locals Fuentes takes on. They talk about family, power, and the rest of the world; what makes them who they are; why they live in a dictatorship & why they are anarchic.

My Thoughts :

The book is an eye-opener to a world unknown to us, proving how fact reads better than fiction, claiming my attention for reading non-fiction yet another time. The book is an intimate sneak peek into China through the eyes of its people, voices of everyday people victims of all the ill fate. It a book unlike any other I have read thus far.

I found it interesting to read such differing accounts of life in China from rich, poor, migrants, journalist, an entrepreneur, a taxi driver and much more. The book captures the lives of different classes of people thriving there. For anyone interested in China or for anyone who just like well-written non-fiction, this book is for you.

©Shweta, 2020. All Rights Reserved.

Off the Traveler's Track

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

In the time before Great Pandemic in 2020, I was a frequent traveller. I received my first passport stamp back in 2016 To Europe and before 2016 my travel dominated in exploring my country in domestic travel. 

I recently finished reading Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert. It was a trip down the memory lane on how it felt like to travel endlessly. Much of the book is an insight & fact-based research on trying to make sense of marriage while on exile from her own country with her lover Filipe. They lived as a nomad moving from one hotel to another, one city to another. They did miss their real life, in a home, a stationary home. Travel and real-life give rise to a potent realization. The book is good, insightful & heavy on research than personal essays. 

I took thousands of pictures in varying locales over the years. It is a bliss, a ticket to the past, as I was conjuring up potent remembrances. Yet countless other photos are mere background noise, long expunged from memory, a placeholder of life on the move.

Then, the pandemic put a stop to most travel around the world. During the mandatory lockdown, I only went outside for essentials & food, not even for exercise. I’ve spent countless hours in video calls with family & friends. I embraced my hobby to keep the creativity flowing, started experimenting with colours & dabbling with brushes more than ever before, and read books rather voraciously. Kindle came to my rescue during the complete lock-down! I could buy ebooks since the shipping services had all come to a halt. 

How we all miss travelling, going around making memories. Even stepping out to a cafe. Seeing new places & learning about a new culture. And that’s the beauty of travel — it forces us outside our comfort zones & pushes us into the unknown sphere of our lives. Our lives are ceaselessly unspooling stories. How we make sense of them tells us about ourselves. Humans are eternal explorers, endlessly curious about life around them. On an eternal quest to look forward to keep moving. 

Much has changed, while other things remain the same in our lives. We can no longer hop on a flight or train to a new place without being fearful. We can no longer plan our vacations we grew up thinking — One day, I’m sure I’ll visit this place for the requisite sightseeing and explore a new side of life. In our hearts, we are so eager to go someplace new, beyond the grocery stores or workout, for mere entertainment. Feels like the 2020 pandemic has pushed us back in time before the world had so many different sources of entertainment, not to forget, we still have our internet keeping us connected. 

As I go through the old pictures, taking me back to the places I once visited, surfacing in my thoughts ever so fresh, like it was the only yesterday. 

I wonder when will it be next?