Travel, Read, Conserve

   As I mindlessly scrolled through Instagram Reels bidding goodbye to 2025, one post caught my eye - "20 things I did for the first time in 2025". Well, I don't have a list of twenty things, but I do have two interesting first timers: 1) I danced with my son at his wedding while 200+ guests watched me! Never in a million years did I think I could do this. And I wouldn't have been able to, without Ponti gently guiding me through the whole experience. For the three minutes on the floor, I actually forgot to be self-conscious and enjoyed matching my steps with the lyrics of ' Forever Young ' and the incredible voice of Joan Baez . 2) I hiked Aravaipa canyon in Arizona with multiple river crossings, sometimes in knee deep water.  I have never hiked through water, and this was a delightful and slightly challenging experience I got to share with my family. I actually went off trail and got lost at the beginning of the hike (also happened the first time ever in all...

“She’s bipolar. That word gets thrown around without a medical license all the time, mostly by boys to describe girls as crazy. It’s a derogatory dart meant to demean and dismiss its target. This latest book from Lisa Genova is funny, stark, poignant, and at times very dark. It is the journey of college freshman Maddy Banks as she receives a life altering diagnosis of bipolar disorder. As Maddy swings in cycles between her manic state, to one of severe depression, and tries to find a balance with the support of her medication, her therapist and some close friends and family - the reader also learns how to tread the waters of mental illness with empathy and hope. Like other books from Lisa Genova, this is a significant book with immense potential for contribution to the understanding of mental health challenges and the severity of bipolar disorder.  Maddy struggles, sinks to the lowest points, but remains resolute, and stand-up comedy seems to be her coping mechanism. After months ...

  When we made a trip to Arizona to spend a few days in Monument valley and Canyon de Chelly in March 2024 , we loved the experience but did not anticipate that we would be coming back for two more trips to Arizona this year. Watching the first pink glow of morning sunrise hitting Needles - the sandstone spires in Monument valley-  as our Navajo guide regaled us with beautiful myths and stories of the indigenous culture that have carried forward for generations through word of mouth, was a very different experience than we usually have in our National Park trips. The guided jeep tour through the floors of Canyon de Chelly with the towering canyon walls, wild horses, very adventurous water crossings as our articulate and knowledgeable Navajo guide narrated the wonderful Navajo settlement history in these canyons, the history of invasion by Spanish and the ‘White man’ (as he put it), petroglyphs and the ruins of Navajo settlements was so enlightening.  Shortly after, we lea...

Iceland had been on our minds for over a decade - ever since we watched Bollywood stars Kajol and Shahrukh prancing around on the stunning black sand beaches of Vik, under the sharp and craggy peaks of Vestrahorn, and behind the Seljalandsfoss waterfalls - in the famous ‘Gerua’ song. After settling the debate on whether Kajol looks better in the yellow saree or the red one, the real question came up - when can we plan a trip to Iceland? Well, it took 10 years, but it did happen this September! Few things that really made our jaws drop or were a first timer for us : Gender neutral bathrooms - This was such a natural thing and we saw it even in so many small coastal towns/ roadside rest areas. After the shock and resistance the first couple of times, we got used to it 🙂 Rainbow streets - Iceland celebrates diversity and has a famous pride parade every year in Reykjavik. It is striking that most of the rainbow streets lead up to churches, in Reykjavik but also in smaller cities like...

When I take stock of a normal year in December, I tend to think in terms of the vacations we went on, the warm moments spent with family (this year was made extra special by the rambunctious and adorable Iggy), and oddly enough, the highlights of what  transpired at work. I also divide the year in terms of the books I read, when I read them, where I was while reading a specific book, and the characters that have lived on and evolved in my heart - long after I have finished the book. The last book I read this year was Orhan Pamuk's 'Istanbul'. It is about the city and the Bosphorus strait, but it is more about the essence of Hüzün - melancholy - the permanent state of the city. He describes how Hüzün sets in on Istanbul, as the sun sets early in the evenings, in the teahouses packed with unemployed men, or the discolored and dusty apartment buildings looking over the Bosphorus. A city that has embraced its ruins but longs for the old glory of the Ottoman empire. People of...

  Rick Steve's book on Scottish Highlands had already prepared me with the interesting fact that while only 3% of Scots speak  Gaelic , 30% of the Gaelic speakers live in the Isle of Skye. So, entering the grocery store at Broadford, a cute-ish town in the Skye, and seeing all signs in Gaelic, delighted me! Ah ha.. the mental translation started, so Maesan=Fruits and Glasraich =Vegetables.  Given that all our Bengali hearts were already singing at the prospect of  "dimer jhol/bhat, chicken curry/bhat" dinners over the next 3 days in our Airbnb located at he heart of Isle of Skye , in beautiful Sligachan :)   Isle of Skye was our second stop in Scotland - filled with surprises, misadventures, and thrills that we  weren't exactly ready for.  After spending three busy days in vibrant, soulful, historical Edinburgh, we had boarded the train to Inverness - considered the gateway to Isle of Skye - on a sunny Tuesday morning. We got comfortable in the train, ...