Day 22- Ringing in Wintery Love

In the past 22 days, every waking hour of mine has elicited one emotion for sure- that of hope. The hope to find some prompt to post. Some fodder. Any grub that I can latch on to.

Today too was no different. I kept looking out for a sign that would tell me, “There! There’s your today’s post!” which came in the form of aloo-methi ki sabzi** and rotis! And while making them I kept feeling jubilant because to me aloo methi always meant that winter was round the corner.

 

So when I went to check on the WordPress site for today’s prompt, I secretly wished that it would have something suitable for my state of mind. Voila! It sure did.

Elicit

As it turned out our dinner did elicit a sense of nostalgia in me. It took me home to Delhi where we would all be layered in our winter-wear, too cold and lazy to walk to the dining table so keep ourselves snuggled inside the razai and be served with hot and steaming chapatis and aloo methi ki sabzi or even methi ke parathe by Ma. Right when we would think that ringing in winter couldn’t get better, she would go one notch higher and serve us gajar-ka-halwa! And that would officially welcome the season.

Even though there is no “winter” here, there are signs still, that we have come to look forward to seeing that could elicit a certain kind of wintery love. So when those signs present themselves nothing can stop me or Namnam from feeling inexplicably happy.

 

** Aloo-Methi ki Sabzi- A curry made with Potato & Fenugreek leaves

Day 16- Wordless Wednesday

Since words are on an indefinite strike I thought I will go wordless.

Some pictures that I clicked while taking a walk today.

Let me offer you all these views as a thank you, especially to my fellow blogathon-ers, for not letting me give up. For being there. For giving the push. This is what I have loved the most by far about this blogathon. This handholding that binds us, keeping us from tripping. And this is what makes me never give up on blogging ❤

Did I say words were on a strike?! 😉

Rambling #13

Every morning I wake up with a sincere intention to blog, with a mash up of things in mind to ramble about. But as the evening approaches I find myself signing off the day with a terrible guilt of not sticking to the plan, and an even firmer plan to blog the next day. I’m not joking when I say that this rambling-challenge is what strikes me first when I wake up in the morning..it seriously is. There’s so much that I feel like saying that I find it exhilarating whenever I am able to type all that I want to say in words. But at the same time its been pretty draining as I am not very good at keeping the flow of thoughts smooth for long. My score-card has been abysmal whenever I have taken up such daily blogging challenges. And every time I end up feeling guilty and ashamed of my own lack of focus and earnestness.

Anyway the week so far has been largely eventful and fulfilling. We got a chance to attend International Day in Namnam’s school.  The idea behind this event, from what I understood was to bring all the students from different nationalities together with their families, expose them to each other’s culture, let them appreciate their identities and embrace each other. While the idea was certainly welcoming, the gust of people thronging at all the stalls was a little chaotic in the beginning. Having said that, the general vibe was pretty electric with children and parents and grandparents loitering about eager to try out different cuisines, cheering for their kids’ and friends’ performances, enjoying every moment to the fullest.

Yesterday was about taking my parents to meet one of their friends, getting them to witness another fairly older part of the city which they realized had a more charming effect on them, letting them experience the Dubai Metro and in the end treating them to a yummy Peshawari lunch 🙂

Today they got a feel of the city’s more modern representation when they took a ride up the world’s tallest building. The enchanted, wonderstruck look on their faces as they took in the view of the city from the top was unmissable.

The weekend is almost here. Which reminds me that I had promised Ma that I would make Tiramisu for her. Now is the time to get on with it.

So bye bye for now..

 

New city, new blog- A new abode, virtual and real :)

Welcome here!

Hello from the United Arab Emirates!

Yes, Deeps family has shifted base. And UAE is going to be our new abode. Dubai to be precise. A city which may not be entirely unknown, which we have visited plenty of times. As visitors. And yet here we are, learning to find our footing as its residents with a lot of excitement and some jitters of the unknown.

Why, a new blog, you may wonder. Well, just for fun! 🙂 I thought that branching out to a new blog may relate well with the sentiments behind moving base to a new country. So it would be fun to chronicle the experiences, the anxieties, the moments that I may go through as a new resident who’s trying to fit in and make a space for my family and self.

The excitement that goes with shifting bases wouldn’t be entirely different from the thrill that a new blog would bring, would it?

From new friends that are waiting to be made to new blogs waiting to be found to new roads and routes waiting to be explored to new posts that are waiting to be read to new rules and regulations as an expat that are waiting to be adhered to, to new challenges that are waiting to taken up, the journey of learning to get around a new city is oh-so-similar to learning to get around the blogworld with your new blog, isn’t it?

My primary blog took shape while I was moving from Oman to Qatar and it grew on to become a virtual extension of me for the next 6 years. Now I’m hoping that this blog too would help me grow, find myself, perceive the things happening in and around me and accept my new domain with open arms, in the same way.

I have not clipped my other blog, the primary wing to my thoughts. I can never do that. I am just adding a new wing so my flight can be even more liberating, gratifying and fulfilling.

So here’s hoping that I am able to embrace my new space just as the space accepts me and my family into its welcoming fold 🙂

Here’s to new beginnings, new hopes, a newer chapter..