Distinctiveness - Travel and Lifestyle Blog

For past 10 months, a lot of people have been asking me how I have been. And I’ve always maintained that I’m fine. But I guess it’s time I brush aside those fake one-liners and honestly ask myself, “ How am I doing, actually?” I thought I would give up blogging after Baba passed away. Yet here I am, remembering Him, and trying to make a comeback of sorts. I remember how He always encouraged me to write, saying that it was important to have different aspects of one’s life, and not just work till you drop. How do you cope with life after losing that pillar of your world? How do you get a grip on yourself and try to fix your messed up life? How do you take that step ahead, knowing that now there’s no one to fall back to if you make a mistake? Simple, You don’t. There’s no written protocol, no Standard Operating Procedure. Like they say, life simply doesn’t come with an instruction manual. I remember I used to have a decent life, not a care in life, no worries. I had my pare...

How do you communicate with the departed? What if there’s no last meeting, what if You are 2 days late? In a first of its kind in my blog, I’m writing a letter to Dog-Heaven, where my beloved angel is probably spreading her love and her laughter… Dear Scamper, It’s been two months now, but I think of You every day. You are always in my mind. I’m sorry I couldn’t write to You earlier. I am sad. I am still gutted but I understand why You left my side. You have been fighting illness for the past 2 years and more, to the point where finally You had to give in. I am still hollow today, hurt beyond imagination at this loss. But don’t worry too hard, dear, I’ll make it through. I remember the first time I saw You, I remember it so clearly that I feel younger right this moment. I go back roughly 12 and a half years , that enchanting morning when the quirky 14 year old version of me rushed into the living room and saw You sitting solemnly in a little box. You little face was puzzled...

What is the most common free advice you get when you are down? -           “ Time is the best healer” This has to be the universal counsel for people going through a low point in their lives. One phrase, translated in probably all the languages in the world, ending with a wise smile and a nod from the adviser. And every receiver of this free bit of good will has different phrases going on inside of them, all which basically reflect on one idea – “Wait till it happens to you, JERK!” Thankfully, I have come to a point in my journey, where I can have a say in this matter. I have, like the rest of us, always given free advices at will. In fact, this is something every person is capable of. I have, of course, used the widespread phrase Time is the best healer many a times, but the beauty of our world is that Aristotle was right; The Earth is, in fact, round. What goes around, unfortunately, comes around and about a year ago, the positions had ...

I was thinking that the number 8 has been unlucky for me recently. But why? When I first started following Manchester United, Nicky Butt used to clad the number 8 jersey. Not my most favorite player in the world, but he did what was required from him. In came one Wayne Rooney to take over the number 8 and hit the right chord in me. When he moved on to number 10, Anderson took over the number 8. That is one for the future. I tried harder, had to be something worse. But no matter how deep I went, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the number 8, except of course, for 8 th March, International Woman’s Day. You might be tempted to think what could be wrong about the day, but 8 th March has actually been a memorable day in my life. It was the day I first confessed my feelings to the only girl I ever fell in love with. I proposed and got disposed, sadly. But, with some divine intervention probably, what followed was a memorable 8 years together, which unfortunately could not proceed to ...

I have been pondering over my next blog article for quite some time now. My emotional instability during this period vetoed me from concentrating on my blog. But I needed to take a break from all that and return to my passion despite the fact that a lot was changing in my life. Summing up all courage remotely available within me, I decided to emphasize on what a part of my life felt like, as I was finally walking alone. Moving on is strange. You are always hoping that with each day, things will get easier, but there’s like a small cloud of sorrow over your head all the time and it’s always raining tears. And then, suddenly you get tired of the rain and long for a little sunshine. For the first time in days, you want to move forward and leave the pains behind. So you think all’s done and dusted and you are ready to start a new life. What is behind has been left behind and you are all ready to look ahead with renewed vigor and enthusiasm. The laughter and fun seem to be back, again, with...

For those who know what it feels like to have a dog to call one’s own, there is nothing better than walking through the front door after a day’s work and seeing a furiously wagging tail and barks of love. Just drop the bag and get showed in licks of love as you are pounded by a ball of warmth. I love Dogs. There is no doubt that they are my most favourite mammals in the world! I have been fortunate enough to have grown up in the company of great friends, many of them dogs (pun intended!). When I look back at childhood, there was Kitty at my ancestral place in Coochbehar. She’d drink tea, love to go to walks with us kids, she just loved all of us. I have so many beautiful memories with her. Jespa arrived from Nepal when I was in class 8. My life changed instantaneously, ‘coz here was someone who needed to be cared for and loved and attended to and who’d give back so much more. Jespa was a gem, from saving my bicycle from being stolen to irritating people I loathed, She always knew what...

What are emotions? Scientifically these are hormones gone wild, technically they are all about bodily senses and bodily sensors, signal and receiver, all biological. But what about what we feel? I have been through strange emotional turmoil in the process of growing up for the obvious reason – Love! Everyone should fall in love I feel, just to experience these feelings of strangeness. How depression can make you skip dinner or get you drenched in rain without you even feeling it. But why do we feel sad? Why do we cry? How can we love and hate the same person the most in the world? I wish I knew. I am a very emotional person, I cry while watching every other movie. I feel emptiness in my stomach every time something bad happens. Something as little as missing home brings tears to my eyes. Right now all I can do is write in my blog about it, but I might have to visit a psychiatrist soon! Music triggers my emotion like very few people can. Sadness means listening to depressing numb...