Distinctiveness - Travel and Lifestyle Blog

The delights of finding a pocket of heaven on Earth Have you ever stumbled upon something unexpectedly good when it was least likely to happen? I’m sure you have. It’s beautiful how life works out sometimes. Hope and despair work hand in hand to churn up a magnum opus. That was what happened when we set out to visit Krang Suri Falls one July morning (Read: A drive to Krang Suri Falls ). After a seven-hour trip, we found only despair. Life gave us a shot of hope in the form of Kibo Restaurant and urged us to look up and seek the brighter side of things. Find the rainbow in the clouded sky. This is the story of what happened next. Drive to Shillong from Amlarem Krang Suri Falls to Shillong is a scenic drive Buoyed by a fulfilling meal, we continued our journey through rural Meghalaya, heading towards Shillong. The disappointments of missing out on Krang Suri Falls was immediately forgotten as we indulged in Meghalaya's picturesque landscape. There was a sight to behold at every...

My Five-Year-Old Proudly flaunts our jersey collection on the eve of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Have you ever been so happy that you began crying? So content that you sensed a hollow deep inside your chest? That you couldn't differentiate between sadness and joy? A month ago, I experienced such bliss, sitting in front of the TV. It was the final of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Argentina were battling France for the Holy Grail of Football at the Lusail Stadium. Millions of miles away, I was living every second as if my last All of a sudden there was a big void inside my chest. I could no longer feel the ground beneath me. Gonzalo Montiel had just converted his penalty kick. Argentina had won the game. Lionel Messi. World Cup. My head was spinning. I was struggling to breathe. It was as if I was dropping down an exceptionally deep gorge. Clad in the sky-blue and white stripes, I couldn't hold back my emotions. It had been a draining game, with Messi and Kylian Mbappe taking us all for a...

Image courtesy - ISRO The world as we know right now is built on success. We are programmed to embrace victories and ignore defeats. We are programmed to believe that the society only needs the winners and the losers can go back home. But what actually happens to people who fail? And are the most successful people always successful? Have they never tasted defeat in their lives? It was a question that bothered me all of a sudden today. The reason was simple: Chandrayaan-2

United succumbed to a disappointing 1-3 defeat in the Manchester Derby. Photo Courtesy - goal.com Have you ever felt so happy that it felt like your lungs would burst out of your chest? Have you ever felt so sad that it's hard to even breathe? Well, we are practically family then! While a lot of things make me emotional, nothing gets me going like football. So it was only fair that I was heartbroken at Manchester United's defeat in the Manchester Derby at the weekend. I had been following the Red Devils for almost 2 decades now and while I have seen them (on the television ofcourse!) lift every trophy possible, each defeat still hurts deep inside. And the loss to Manchester City ruined my Sunday, my dinner and a good night's sleep. Which brings me to my current predicament - why are we like this? (I am ofcourse assuming that I am not the only one drowning in my own pool of tears!). You see, we could easily be content with the first sign of achievement, the first ...

A picture from years ago, which always urges me to keep the wanderlust alive [Photo Credit - Sudip Pandit] I recently went on a long drive to fuel my wanderlust. The positive was that it was a long drive home and when you take the route home, the world always looks rosier. However, it was only when I was returning back, at the end of my holidays, that a certain thought struck me.  It was a beautiful afternoon outside, my stomach was full of the wonderful Pork curry I savored at Bongaigaon and my tongue was still relishing the reminiscent flavours. The road was empty, Mohit Chauhan was singing “Phir se Udd Chala” on the stereo and I was feeling a bit nostalgic, wishing that I could have spent a few days more at home. I snapped out of my daydream with the sound of drums beating at a distance.  Bit by bit, the sound got louder, until I realized the actual source of the sounds. As the long stretch ended in a turn, I saw a group of Bikers emerge from the bend, pa...

Laxmi Puja Prasad You might be tempted to question the source of motivation in a post about Festivals and Gorging, but in my opinion, there is no motivation greater than good food in this world. At least for me there isn't. I have gone to great lengths for good food in my life, but I shall not delve into that now. Let me start with a disclaimer: the rites and rituals of a traditional Puja has never interested me. But that doesn't mean I have never prayed in my life. Even though I embraced the ideologies of my strictly atheist Father at a very young age, I was taught the value of respecting others' views and opinions. And so, I remember praying when my first dog fell ill. Unfortunately, no one listened to a little boy crouching at a corner of his room, with tears in his eyes. From then on, the only times I prayed was to ask the Almighty not to take away a loved one, however, it seldom worked. Bitter and dejected, in my later years, I started praying to my own God...