The love of my life...

Like the first drop of the summer rain
and the distant hoot of the chugging train,
A long forgotten song that you loved
and the flutter of every butterfly that moved

Like the dew drop struggling on a lotus leaf
The conversation with your friend sharing your grief
A cup of coffee from mom early in the morning,
or a lazy sunday spent sleeping, eating and doing nothing!

A phone call from your childhood friend
The endless conversations with your girlfriend
The presence of the one person to come back to at nights
despite the arguments and the silly little fights

The fun in getting lost in a new place
The joy of being the reason for the smile on someone's face
A long walk along the seaside in solitude
or guzzling on the pizzas, dosas or any other good food

The joy of receiving a hand written letter
A nightout with friends in playful banter
The quick sleep stolen after the alarm rings
are some of those that define... the love of my life!

A week in Manali

The room

The art of holidaying evolves for everyone over time. Earlier, holidays were more about activity, sightseeing and checking off everything there is to see in a place. Now it has evolved into something that values time, values each day, each hour and every activity done over the period of 1 week. 2 of my friends and me took a bus from Delhi to Manali. Reaching there Monday morning, we decided to chuck the prebooked hotel and took up a small cottage in the hills in Old Manali. At 100 Rs per day, this was one of the best cottages that I have ever stayed in. Overlooking the snow capped peaks and situated within an Apple orchard, this place was ideal for a lazy holiday.

Walk to the lake

The day we reached, we hired a car and went white water rafting in river Beas. The snow melted water was extremely cold. A 14km ride and 600 per head was worth the bone shattering swim. Later towards the evening, we visited the Dussera mela in Kulu which is held every year for 20 days. The next day was mostly about long walks, coffee shops and trek preparation.

The lake

Beas Kund lake is a popular trek that starts from Solang valley and is usually completed in 3 days. Situated at a height of 4471m, the trek to this glacial lake is a steep ~1000m climb in about 7-8 kms. Terrain is mostly through boulders, snow mounds and ridge crossings. Difficulty: Moderate. We decided to start from Dhundi and finish the trek in a day. We had taken about 6 hours to reach the lake and another 3 to return to the base. We actually had to take off our shoes and cross a river during the trek. The lake is surrounded on all 4 sides by snow capped peaks and is a delight to the eyes. Completing this trek in 9 hours gave us inexplicable satisfaction and incurable enervation. We had slept through most of the next day.

The next three days, we ended up holidaying in the most amazing way possible. There is a small cafe along the way to Manu temple called the Drifter's Inn. We had spent more than 5 hrs each day at this place playing every board game possible. Scrabble, Jenga and Monopoly were declared the winners. The cafe served some of the best continental food. Completed reading "A fine balance" by Rohinton Mistry and slept for more than 10 hours each day.

Focus on Jenga

Scrabble time!

Thats all about the week that was. A calm and peaceful Diwali it was!