passion

Mumbai’s Rain: A City of Anticipation and MagicFocus

June 3, 2018ByteSizeblogger, Blogging, businesstravel, conversations, flow, Ideas, imagination, instapassport, instatravel, journeys, lessons, Life, Love, marinedrive, master, Mind, Monsoon, Mumbai, Musings, passion, rains, traveladdict, travelblogger, traveltheworld, wanderlust, wisdom

There’s something about Mumbai when it rains. The city slows, just a little. The streets glisten. The sea looks alive. But there’s also something about Mumbai when it waits for rain. The air is thick with hope. The sky teases with grey clouds. People glance up, waiting.

Anticipation fills the city.

And when the first drop falls, it feels like Mumbai breathes again.

The wait makes the rain sweeter.

That’s Mumbai—a city of moments.There is something to Mumbai when it rains. There is something to Mumbai when it expects the rain!

Stories a Brass Kettle

April 21, 2018ByteSizeblogger, Blogging, businesstravel, Chennai, coffee, family, filter, History, Ideas, imagination, instapassport, instatravel, journeys, kettle, lessons, Life, Love, Metaphor, Mind, passion, People, simple, traveladdict, travelblogger, traveltheworld, wanderlust

Objects have character. Don’t they? This brass kettle from another era sat quietly, serving filter coffee and cardamom tea for generations. Imagine what it has seen!

Families growing, stories flowing, and lives unfolding—all while it stayed still.

Sometimes, I wish it could talk, spilling tales of the people and the times. But its dents and marks do the talking. They hint at the lives it touched.

So, I let my imagination take over and weave my own stories.

After all, isn’t that what character is—a silent storyteller of time?

The Weight We Carry: Mind Over Matter

April 15, 2018ByteSizebaggage, blogger, Blogging, businesstravel, Ideas, imagination, instapassport, instatravel, journeys, kolkata, latergram, lessons, Life, Love, market, Metaphor, Mind, mindgames, passion, pulley, simple, traveladdict, travelblogger, traveltheworld, wanderlust, weight

It’s not always about the weight. It’s about how we carry it. A heavy object isn’t just physics. The mind plays its part, adding or easing the load. What’s weighing you down today? A worry, a regret, or just a bad day?

Sometimes, the trick isn’t to put it down but to carry it differently. Shift your perspective. Find a new balance. After all, the mind can make even the heaviest burden feel lighter—or unbearable. So, how will you carry your weight today? Lighten up.

You might just surprise yourself.

The Potter’s Quiet Emotion

April 13, 2018ByteSizeblogger, Blogging, businesstravel, Choice, entrepreneur, instapassport, instatravel, Job, journeys, latergram, lessons, Love, Metaphor, Mind, ordinary, passion, pots, pottery, simple, tall, traveladdict, travelblogger, traveller, traveltheworld, wanderlust

A mound of clay transforms into pots in hours. Each pot looks identical. But I wonder—does the potter feel the same shaping every one? Is there joy in the rhythm, or is it just routine?

Each curve of the clay carries a trace of his hand, maybe even his mood. A fleeting emotion, frozen in form. What stories would he share if asked about the pots?

Or perhaps, like the clay, he’s shaped by the act of creating—silent, steady, and a little mysterious.

A potter’s world is one of quiet emotion, moulded into shape.

The Ocean’s Eternal Charm

April 9, 2018ByteSizeblogger, Blogging, businesstravel, earth, eyes, Ideas, instapassport, instatravel, island, journeys, kotakinabalu, lessons, Life, Love, Malaysia, Metaphor, Mind, Nature, ordinary, passion, sabah, simple, traveladdict, travelblogger, traveller, traveltheworld, wanderlust, yacht

There’s something magical about the ocean. She kisses the shore endlessly, even when sent away. Her waves are calm one moment, terrifying the next. Yet, she never fails to soothe a restless soul.

Add to this the South China Sea at sunset—hues so breathtaking they need no filter. The sky and sea meet in a silent embrace, as if sharing secrets. It’s a moment that captures the ocean’s timeless charm: her power, her grace, and her quiet promise to amaze, always. Sometimes, all it takes is a glance at her to find peace.

(at Kota Kinabalu)

May 20, 2017Uncategorizedblogger, Blogging, culture, India, instapassport, instatravel, lessons, Life, Love, Madurai, Metaphor, ordinary, passion, Play, purpose, Reflection, roads, Rural, Stories, Temple, traveladdict, travelblogger, traveller, traveltheworld, Village, wanderlust

Being amongst the rural plains is always refreshing. For one there is colour. For another these are not ‘sanitised’ and ‘refined’. But as authentic as it can get. And in the raw jagged edges, I see my roots breach fresh ground

#village #Madurai #passion #rural #stories #culture #life #ordinary #traveller #instatravel #instapassport #blogger #travelblogger #blogging #traveladdict #traveltheworld #wanderlust #play #lessons #india #roads #metaphor #love #reflection #purpose
#temple (at Madurai, India)

May 1, 2016Uncategorizedblogger, Blogging, Children, destinations, Growth, imagine, instapassport, instatravel, kids, Learning, Love, Metaphor, mimdset, passion, Pattaya, startup, Thailand, Travel, traveladdict, travelblogger, travelinsights, traveller, traveltheworld, wanderlust

If you seek to grow, watch your children. In their curiosity, in their seeking, in their sense of play they teach us so much.

In seeing them at happy effortless play with kids with different skin colours, I learn that it is human to reach out and relate.

It is when I see them jump with joy at the sight of everyday occurrences (‘Yeahhhah, the Sun is back") needles me in the direction of wonder and joy.

And when they discard their shoes to walk barefeet, I learn the joys of feeling the earth. It teaches me a thing or two about staying grounded.

Watch kids. They can teach you a heap.

Try.

(at Pattaya, Thailand)

April 30, 2016Uncategorizedblogger, Blogging, destinations, Development, empathy, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, inspiration, instapassport, instatravel, jamshedpur, kindness, newyou, notestomyself, notestoself, passion, postoffice, railwaystation, startup, Train, Travel, traveladdict, travelblogger, travelinsights, traveller, traveltheworld, wanderlust

They come in all shapes and sizes. Boxes.

Some going far. Some just next door. They all sit shoulder to shoulder as the postmen gather and sort them at a train station. Perhaps with little idea of what’s in them.

The boxes themselves sit pretty. They have their own story to tell. A former Indian Prime Minister wrote a poem titles “Envelope” which went something like this

“The letter inside is yours
The address on the cover is his
Between the two of you
I get ripped open”

What’s inside us is far precious. When we keep ripping ourselves apart and let newer versions of us emerge, the address on the boxes keeps changing.

We see many new lands. We go places, as they say.

Rip yourself apart. Let the new you emerge from the boxes!

(at Jamshedpur, Jharkhand)

April 24, 2016Uncategorizedarrival, blogger, Departures, driving, highway, India, instapassport, lasvegas, latergram, Love, passion, quote, renewal, Roadtrip, sfo, Travel, traveladdict, travelblogger, traveller, USA, vegas, wanderlust

It was evening.

It was a long ride. It seemed like we had left San Fransisco ages ago. It was a comfortable road ride. A boring one at that. If you took away some superlative scenery that lurked beyond the windscreen, it would have been a damp squib.

This was quite unlike an Indian highway. Bereft of random breathlessness and excitement. Like there was no bull that shows up in the middle of the road on a whim. Or a tractor that decides to swerve and come face to face with you just as you were wondering if you were faster than then clouds in the sky. You get the picture, don’t you?

In any case, we were looking forward to the evening and night ahead. For up ahead was Las Vegas. Stories abounded about what all could happen there. The excitement in us seemed to cause the engine to purr a trifle more. A new tune played out in my mind.

It was then that I looked at the traffic that was coming out of Vegas. Headed home. I tried reading into the blank emotion on their faces as the cars whizzed by.

Yet, it was easy to recall my favourite line from ‘English, August’ that I read several years ago. “The ecstasy of the arrival never compensates for the emptiness of the departure”.

(at Las Vegas, Nevada)

April 23, 2016Uncategorizedalagar, blogger, celebration, chithiraifestival, crowd, culture, Dance, destinations, facesyoudontforget, festival, Festivals, India, instapassport, Love, Madurai, music, paint, passion, pretense, renewal, Tamil, tamilnadu, tradition, traveladdict, travelblogger, traveller, traveltheworld, wanderlust, work

He appeared with a tap on my shoulder. Amidst all the jostle that the crowd indulged in, he appeared calm. The surprise of the riot of colour on his face caught my eye.

He smiled and showed me the vessel he held. Ah money, I thought. It paints the town red. In this case, a deep devilish pink and adorned with trinkets in their glory.

The crowd continued to swirl and sweat in the middle of Madurai’s Chithirai Festival. I pulled out the wallet with great care and thrust a few notes into his vessel. It was his turn to be surprised.

Perhaps it was the quantum of money.
Perhaps it was the fact that I gave at all. Maybe it was the minor gymnastics I had to perform to pull out the wallet and extract a few notes.

His surprise gave way to a smile and lead to a pat on my head with a peacock feather that he seemed to pull out from nowhere.

Could he smile for a picture, I ask?
He stands, smiles and then in a minute dances to a new tune and melts into the crowd.

Long after he is gone, the azure blue stays with me. Have you wondered if you wear a paint to earn a living?
His devilish pink, trinket trodden face, with that warm smile did that to me.
(at Madurai, India)