Summer and Fall.

Ah, I have not been here for a while. 

Hawaii was excellent and I did go to India in July though! Rebooked as FOMO took over and kids had an absolute blast. Ayodhya, Varanasi, Ranchi and Bangalore. 

August took me to Monterey and MOMA, September-October took me on 3 hikes with Tom. There was Durga Puja pankti bhoj at home and of course classes at Goshala. 

I think I am happy to stay at home and be an indoor cat. 

Oct has some official paper work lined up along with Halloween outing with Miko. Nov starts with Dia de los Muertos outing - my first and I am excited! Dec has Kerala and Cancun lined up. 

Summer

Summer 2025 started officially. Hanuman Maui awaits and so does Island fun. India trip FOMO and we are back! Let’s see how June and July treat us. 

Oh and we will be handling June summer camp as well.. 

3rd Feb

44.

Past 2 months have had experiences go all over the place. I visited Braj bhoomi in December. I was able to be in the same room with someone I admire a lot. December also saw 2 camping trips - both turned out better than expected. https://www.cavesprings.com/ is highly recommended or rather the town of Dunsmuir is fun!

Jan was overwhelming. US politics, Mahakumbh, prices of eggs, Nvidia and Deepseek. But it also saw start of my teaching journey - let's where the universe is taking me with this. I was busy this month with work, home and projects. 

But I cannot shake this undertone of something being amiss. Why?

A Wednesday

A random Wednesday that ended at noon - no meetings or calls. Running off 1.5hrs away to Cataract Falls trail has been one of the major highlights in April. San Anselmo, Mt Tam, Mission San Rafael and Point Richmond were gorgeous! 

Travel

I came across this real on Instagram - Aurora

I did not know who she was - Norwegian musician, songwriter and singer - Aurora Aksnes. I like the way she talks. She reminded me of what I had written long back on Quora nine years ago - Why do we love to travel

"Traveling is the best way to discover ourselves. Whenever we travel we are not bound by the daily trivialities of leading a life of routine, of knowns. We open ourselves to possibilities and places that are new to us. We focus on just the travel - the present - free of past or future. The duration between the starting point and destination is free of our own complications and our conditioned mind. That is why it brings the best in us, everyone around us and every place we visit. And we love that feeling - we love to travel."

The only thing I'd want to add here is that as a traveler, one becomes an observer. Observer of humanity and observer of self - the awareness it brings in self is the reason why we all love to travel. It speaks to us - those moments where we are open to feeling and embracing the unknown. 

I love to travel. 

New Year, New Post!

Past two months have been this crazy or what! No updates here since Nov... :)

I recovered from the Holiday mood just this past weekend probably. Was able to get into the normal rhythm of things. First hike of the year was long pending. Hoping to be more regular there. 

I love walking aimless in cities, towns and in nature. It's my personal meditation. All I need is a light backpack with essentials, my phone, extra batteries and good walking shoes. I love it! 

My happy place :D

             

Yog

All my planned or accidental mediative attempts have resulted in distinct differentiation of sooksham and sthool - vibrations  resulting in feeling heaviness and lightness at the same time. They separate out and it implies that the lightness can move around. It can move around without me leaving the spot. I was floating but I was also connected. 

I have experienced that movement once - where I move so fast that I can see myself connected with the whole. 

#soundbath #experiences

retreat

I have to document this before I head out to my retreat. I hope I am not let down by the experience. I hope the 10 days are worth it. If not, it should turn out to be a good outing experience at minimum.

Each of us have our own path to walk.

Though the fun part is, I can see how it is all linked and inter related. Everything and every moment. How things happen as a flow and could have only happened since the parameters were set like that.

How energy of people shift and as they shift attraction and repulsion are caused automatically.

How everything impacts everyone.

How a small change in me causes a bigger change in my children. They, by the way, can quote Mahamrityunjaya Mantra and more. And I would get proud when they could identify a Michael Jackson song at one time - seems a long time ago.

How my intention plays out my life.

How I want to reduce my actions to increase the impact

How I can literally see this playing out in front of me in slow motion.

Life is the most beautiful thing to have ever happened to anyone. Only if they look closer to see the cosmic plan in action - its riveting.

travel

I had read a long time back that one can travel the world without leaving their house. I had wondered what it meant and I had understood it as one can learn all the experiences within their home if they are observant enough. The world teaches nothing more. We learn from our experiences whether we have it in Europe or on a ship. It does not matter.

And I happened to re-read this while searching for the original quote : "You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself". I think I know this, a little better at this time but I have generally known this in my life. I have to live a life I believe in or I have change my belief. It cannot be one belief and another life.

The ability to extrapolate has been my strength. To take a grain of experience and to extrapolate it to how it can be has helped me a lot to expand my thought horizon. 

Oh Phish!

So the trip to NYC was awesome. I got to do my Manhattan adventure, the way I wanted it. I drove all the way to South Winsdor and it was fun!

So all the worries were just in my head! :D

NYC

I can potentially visit NYC alone and this thought scares me. I am wondering why. I have always wanted to travel solo and have also done in the past successfully. Yet here I am wondering if I will be able to do it properly! 

In love with myself...

I recently experienced a day which was unlike any of my recent days. It consisted in taking a day off to be on my own for no rhyme or reason. It was the best day that I spent with myself - the kind where I just traveled to see a place. No rush, no commitments but an open day to choose what ever came my way.

Every time I am in such a situation - I feel as if I am out of the system. It feels as if folks around me are the continuous fabric of a story and I am observing it from outside. 

On such days I do things I would normally not do.

And I fall in love with me on such days.

Small Towns and Big Cities

Small towns are their own kind of judge. They look sleepy, laid back and peaceful but there is a distinct sense of cruelty that is at play - especially for people who are different. Just plain different. Difference could be in the form of non-conformation to general "expected" behavior to an actual exception to what is can be considered as a misfortune. These towns have their own way of questioning the non-conformists, of putting spotlight on people who would rather be left alone, of expecting these folks to change one day to conform.

Big cities seem impersonal, in a hurry and harsh. Yet they are kind. They let people be. They let non-conformists feel safe, at home, at peace. They shift the spotlight to opportunities that can let the non-conformists grow and explore, at their own pace, like an old friend who understands and gives space and waits, without judging.

And I remember...

He hugged him and turned towards her. His concern was visible in his movement. His touch communicated more than his words could ever have. His voice betrayed his worry. Yet, his words were appropriate for the occasion. Very casual and normal under the circumstances. He waited for them to board the train. And waited long after the train left.

I left my heart in San Francisco

 

"What fetched me instantly (and thousands of other newcomers with me) was the subtle but unmistakable sense of escape from the United States."

~H.L. Mencken

How true these words stand in time and space! I am not sure of Mencken's (1880-1956) exact visit to San Francisco that inspired these thoughts but he was far removed from me in time. Yet, his thoughts echo what I felt in 2006. No dearer memory of the city remains as the first brush of the fog-draped morning in San Francisco that July. It had the magic of Europe spilling with energy of America amidst nature's marvelous nook. A fishing village that grew to be the biggest and the loveliest of the cities.

A city so unlike America that it enthralls its visitors and dwellers alike. It is a world in itself: self-contained,  artistic and so beautiful. Every aspect of it needs to be explored to savor its magic. There is a newness in this old city that showcases itself every time it is visited. It can capture one's imagination as a seductress and we must visit it again and again to get a fill of its mysterious self. 

"San Francisco has only one drawback. ''Tis hard to leave"

Rudyard Kipling

Hills and Beyond

There is this side of me that is totally fascinated by living and traveling in a certain way. It is the side that wishes for a small cottage in the foothills of a mountain or a remote corner of a lesser known hill. A place where I can read and write and spend my days away from civilization as I know it - for days.

To search and to discover

Things that are profound

Right in front of everyone 

Yet hidden for long...

Carmel-By-The-Sea

It is straight out of a book. Very picturesque and quaint. Very pleasingly old-fashioned and belonging to an era gone by. Pretty houses and streets. Art and Sea. A Dog Friendly Town. 

Carmel By the Sea is located on the Pacific Coast about 120 miles south of San Francisco.