The Forgotten Fort in Nurpur | Guestpost

Driving back to Jammu from Dharamshala, we sighted the ruins of a fort on a hillock and stopped to enquire about it.  A passer-by informed us that this was the Nurpur fort and though is in ruins, it’s got a temple and a school functioning inside it.

Intrigued, we decided to take a detour and headed for a viewing of this fort. Nurpur fort lies just 25 kms before Pathankot and was about 65 kms from Dharmshala.

Hit the Ground Running | Planning for the Year Ahead #AditisPen

So, for the last two days I have been sitting, a pen and my 2018 Stigu planner in hand, working on my Intent Calendar for the fist six months of the new year (planning the entire year seemed a bit daunting).

I am the least organized person you'll ever meet, to add to that, one of the biggest procrastinators. So I can't really say what got into me when I set to plan for next year. I really took it seriously and went all guns blazing on this one. I think the last two months of consciously creating balance between my multiple passions and moving closer to my truth has had a drastic impact on me.

I am more productive, and less anxious. I am creating more, and doubting less.

2017 was a year where I focused more on my role as an entrepreneur. And while that has been such a great experience in all its high and lows, I let my writing suffer as a result of my guilt. All that time I wasted, all those anxious tears I let out, I could have been writing! Sigh!

Well, there's always some insight in your hindsight.

A Walk in the Woods | Guespost

In a forest of a hundred thousand trees, no two leaves are alike. And no two journeys along the same path are alike. -- Paulo Coelho

Not too long ago, I took a walk in the woods. I felt like I needed to take a break from everything… the telephone, the computer, the sounds of the neighborhood… So, I grabbed my camera and left the house. It was a walk that I’ve taken many times because the nature preserve is a short walk from my house. Was there anything new that I could discover on the path? As I started on the path, I could see that the leaves were gone from the trees. I looked down and saw that I was walking on a blanket of fallen leaves.

Life Lessons through Travels | A Roundup of 2017 #AditisPen

I sit writing this on a grey December evening. The temperatures have dropped down in London and though I would have liked to hold on to the autumn colours a little longer, I can’t deny the long winter nights. They have arrived.

December is a month for reflection, to sit back and take note of how the year has gone by, learnings and achievements, and to plan ahead. We are always reinventing ourselves, most of the times we are unaware of this, but each new experience, a new memory, paves way for personal growth. We mould, we change and, yet we stay the same.

We are all a collection of memories after all, so what memories did I create this year? What stories do my travels tell? What do they teach?

Creating Balance

Since my last meltdown, I've been trying to find this balance. Balance between whom I wish to be and whom I need to be. Balance between my multiple passions. Balance between the highs and lows, the hopes and despairs...

Little Kook Cafe, Athens

The beginning of October saw us wandering through the streets of Athens. This is our anniversary month, of our marriage, and also the first time we ever confessed we liked each other. So October means a lavish holiday and Greece it was this year. The sea breeze, the sunny skies and a whole lot of Greek food!

Athens is the historical capital of Europe. But alongside the magnificent Acropolis, the ancient Agora and the many archaeological sites spread across the city, is also a very vibrant cultural life.There is a crackling energy in the air, and each neighborhood, from Plaka to Monastiraki to Psiri, has a vibe of its own.

Pushing Past my Fears

I am going to write for myself today. I am going to push past my fears and write.

About feeling guilty, having low self-esteem and in all this feeling lonely.

July and August were months of hustle. We were creating something out of passion and worked furiously to launch India’s first dance inspired online store.  It has been received well. Since the launch, we have had a steady average of one order per day, which to me shows promise. As I write this, I have two bulk orders come in. Pushing forward, we’ve taken feedback from customers and are working on the next range of products which will be coming out soon.

Hustle. Harder. You. Will. Get. There.

But Where? Where exactly do I want to be?

Somewhere in the last few months - pushing myself, getting things done, creating endless list of to-do’s and ticking them off – I got disconnected. Disconnected from myself, from the bigger picture and purpose.

'Love Scenes' captured by Dan Llywelyn Hall

We all have that one moment in our lives, the one that we'd like to carve in stone, or press between the pages of a book, or capture in some way to perfectly depict the mood of the scene, to make it timeless.

I know, I do.

And more often than not, these scenes are about love. Love, no doubt, is timeless. And when an artist like Dan Llwelyn Hall, uses love as his muse and picks up some of the greatest scenes in antiquity, literature and film to inspire him, the result is engulfing.

Rome Diaries: Falling in Love

After half a day in Rome, I got a message from my sister, "How is it?" she asked. "As romantic as it is depicted in the movies?"

It sure would have been, if not for the scorching sun and the long queues. We had taken an early morning flight from London, reached our hotel in Rome around lunch time and headed straight to the Vatican city. You can't enjoy on an empty stomach now, can you?

"We haven't actually seen Rome, love. Give it a chance!" my husband reasoned in his genteel voice. I can't argue with Mr. Right and so ignoring my growling tummy, I opened my arms and embraced the city of Rome. And as it happened, I did fall in love. The next time a message popped up on my phone from my sister, I did not hesitate before replying, "Yes, yes it is!"

I don't know the exact moment I fell in love with Rome. It was not love at first sight, it was rather a slow build up, but Rome with its historic scenery, stunning architecture, and sunny piazzas did not leave any stone unturned to charm its way into my heart.

Prepare to Be Illuminated!

I have a smile on my face, even before I'm inside. Walking on the streets of Soho, the buzzing atmosphere and the non-stop entertainment, is making my head spin and I am looking for a perfect place to crash.

And that is when I peer in to this window. With lights ablaze, I can't figure out if this is an art gallery or a cafe. Undecided, I step inside do find out, that it is both.

Re-Discovering the Classics

We’ve been always told to never judge a book by its cover. But there is no shame if a beautiful cover entices you to pick up a classic. 

Many designers are foraying into the field of book designing with the aim that good literature is read by many, and one way of doing it, is by communicating what a book holds inside by depicting it in a modern way on the outside. The visual imagery that urges one to pick up a book is what new book covers are doing for the good old classics, and I for one, am totally buying into this so called ‘gimmick’As a book hoarder, nothing excites me more than the look and feel of a new book. And when some of my favourite classics are re-imagined in a way that connects instantly to the literature and the intent of the author, I buy the book without giving a second thought.

Read the rest of the post at Kubashi

Guerrilla Wars #WomenOfBlogging

Last week I was at Tate Modern, where I was introduced to the Guerrilla Girls -

" The Guerrilla Girls are feminist activist artists. We wear gorilla masks in public and use facts, humor and outrageous visuals to expose gender and ethnic bias as well as corruption in politics, art, film, and pop culture. Our anonymity keeps the focus on the issues, and away from who we might be: we could be anyone and we are everywhere."

They were formed in response to an exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1984 where a revolting fact came to light, that of sexism in the art world. Amongst the 169 artists represented, only 13 were women. When normal protest did not rouse any interest from the public, they found new ways to revolt using street art. In the middle of the night, they took to the streets of SoHo and pasted posters that named New York galleries that showed no more than 10% women artists and listed successful male artists who allowed their work to be shown in galleries showing little or no work by women.

10 Unique Experiences in Iceland

Iceland - it will leave you speechless and turn you into a storyteller. 

The thing with Iceland is, it offers you one breath-taking sight after another and you are left enraptured, not knowing that your soul will linger in the afterglow of the experiences - experiences of gushing waterfalls, bubbling springs, galloping horses, majestic mountains, daunting volcanoes, melting ice and dancing lights in the sky.

#SaturdayWordplay 18 - Propinquity

Why Do I Love Her?

I take on the baton of Blog Love from Vasantha

#SaturdayWordplay 17 - Miasma

#SaturdayWordplay 16 - Eidetic

#SaturdayWordplay 15 - Sobriquet & Dirge

Discovering Iceland through Folklores and Sagas

As I stepped off the plane onto the tarmac at Keflavik Airport I was met with cold wind and rain, and right there was my first introduction to Iceland's formidable climate. Over the course of next few days I happened to see the most beautiful and awe-inspiring dawns, and also stood cold and shivering on stormy nights, all in the name of an Icelandic experience.

Barren and remote, this island on the edge of the Arctic circle was discovered by Norwegian exiles as they set sail in their viking ships possibly fleeing conflict in their own lands. It is said that the first permanent settlers in Iceland were a Norwegian chieftain named Ingólfr Arnarson and his wife. They made home in a place he named Reykjarvík "Smoky Bay", probably due to the steam rising from the several hot springs around. Today we know it as Reykjavik - the capital and the largest city of Iceland.