Prologue

“And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” Abraham Lincoln .

I am an Indian woman in the wrong side of fifty, a passionate traveller , literature and music lover, and a cooking enthusiast.

Life is not always exactly what one wants. There are only few lucky people who get a life of their own choice. I am also not an exception. I am a typical Indian woman, born in an orthodox, conservative family in the first half of sixties in twentieth century. Like many Indian girls I had no ambition for myself in life except for being a good housewife, but things change with time. I started as an innocent, simple, naive girl unaware of the intricacies and complexities of life. Inherent qualities of a human do not change with time, but one can learn and get experience with the events that come in the path of life.

When my son asked me to write something about myself to create this blog I found that I have nothing much to say about myself. Since my childhood I have been very much fond of reading, and as a kid I would read whatever I had got whether I understood or not, I would make a meaning of my own with imagination. I revived my studies while teaching my son and found that books and examinations could be a pleasant refuge from the agony and pain of the day to day struggle and give a satisfaction as well for achieving few certificates which a thankless job of a house wife could not give. I learnt to swim at the age of forty eight, which had been a desire left in the bottom of my heart since childhood.

My parents were fond of traveling and I traveled different parts of India with them, I learnt to plan and travel from my father. I renewed traveling after a long break of almost twenty-five years. I love to travel, specially in Himalayas. Since 2015, I have been traveling solo and enjoy every bit of moments. The serenity, tranquility, purity and the vastness of Himalayas and the simple folks of that area rejuvenate my mind and body.

I love trying easy recipes and sometime I improvise or innovate with my own ideas because of the lack of available ingredients. I love gardening too but I don’t have much opportunity to do. One has to compromise sometimes with the situation.

I love music, all good musics and songs, irrespective of languages, enchant my spirit, but I have a passion for Gazals. I remain enthralled with the philosophical lyrics of gazals as well as their deep penetrative tunes. They make me realize the truth of life.

Future is always uncertain. I wish I could know what is going to happen next. Anyway, life is beautiful and hope is always the best of things.

This is my complaint about life
I spent so much of it without meeting you ( translated from Ahmed Faraz )