Travels for Taste

Tales of travel and food with a touch of spice

The Day the internet failed……

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I wrote this piece on Monday evening ,the internet went up after a few hours ,after I wrote this , spent all of yesterday doing god knows what , so here I am updating my blog with stuff I should have uploaded long back …guilt guilt … sighh:)

It’ s been a very wet day , I woke up at half past 11 , quite late for a Monday morning for most of the world , including my hubby , but well ,probably acceptable for a retailer like me for whom a weekday becomes her Sunday . I would have typed 11:30 but the habit of saying half past so and so has finally seeped into my head thank to all the people around here at work in London , just another small, subtle but noticeable change at how one’s surroundings make us change our long learnt habits .

I do feel like stepping out and just talking a walk but my back has been sore for a few days and yes the weather isn’t helping at all in pushing me to step out , maybe if I treat myself to a new pair of wellis in a bright and cheerful pop colour it may help.

 

I just saw a movie ‘’Sabrina’’ on T.V as I tried many times unsuccessfully to get my internet up and running , I started cooking too , now am brewing some hot ginger tea and am frying some spicy , hot dal vadas (fried crunchy finger food made from ground dals) , waiting for hubby to get home .

I know that by the type I upload this to my blog, the whole moment will have passed away but just wanted to write about it.

I am at home alone , it’s still a bit bright outside , there is a slight drizzle, a lonely person is trying hard to stay warm in a thin flimsy wind cheater on the bus stop opposite our building gate .I feel grateful for being indoors, having a warm place to stay , food to eat , a husband that loves me to bits and pampers me rotten , a laptop on which I can type this piece onto and a fairly decent life with very few things to crib about ,of course it isn’t perfect , but then isn’t perfection another illusion, shall I just say that I am happy with my life for now , it does suffice for now, certainly does .

I have a book next to me that I want to read , I will after I write this and sip my tea as I wait for my husband to get back from work.

I know what’s for dinner, a spicy traditional fish curry with steamed rice, comfort food for the soul.(The fish of choice is Bombay Duck – or as we call it in Marathi my mother tongue – ”gatgate” or ”Bombil”)

I don’t want to call anyone though am missing home back in India real bad since morning. I am sedate in a way but totally restless in some far corner of my mind.

I am not sure what the reason for that restlessness is, but then if we always knew all the answers for what we feel and why, life wouldn’t be what it is, would it?

I have no idea if anyone will read this and if they do what would they think about it? Spot a few grammatical errors perhaps or maybe incorrect sentence construction. Some might even think, ‘’what garbage, just because blogging is free, everyone who can type thinks they can write’’ Partly true perhaps as well I guess…

Anyway , I am not writing for anybody , it’s more of a release, a diary of sorts , a catharsis even , who knows …just that I want to write this for now …

 

Aaah the husband’s back, now to get cracking on preparing dinner, catching up on how we spent our day and other daily stuff that life is made up of…..

Bye bye or as the babes in the new Fosters telly ad say ‘’Toodles’’ ….

 

 

 

 

Being a Workaholic… is it really worth it …???

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I am a workaholic , my father is one too , he is in his seventies and still quiet adamantly goes to work almost every single day of the week . My sister is one too , so I can safely say it’s all genetic 😉 Better can proudly saying that my alcoholism is genetic …err I am obviously kidding here .

But seriously , this blog post sort of started walking into my head when I saw the so-called Last episode of Law and Order Criminal Intent ,where Vincent D’Onofrio is meeting with his shrink (Typical ) and decides that he can step aside from his massive king sized hero or at least the one he portrays for his character (let’s be fair , he is pretty convincing in his portrayal of an intelligent copper all dedicated to busting criminals and doing it with Elan’) and continue his session with her and address and admit to himself that work has taken over his mind to the point that he cannot see beyond it .I did feel a pang of sympathy for his character then , but couldn’t help battle conflicting thoughts within my mind of how work is after all that integral part of us that gives us a sense of individuality , it is necessary and mandatory.Yet the ever elusive work – life balance is difficult if not impossible to achieve.

This Workaholism – It is quite a crippling affliction I must admit , I have been there and suffered that so to speak . Spent the ”golden years” of my early life slaving late into perfectly lovely evenings in India’s most happening city ,Bombay , chasing some mad goals.

It’s only when I was forced to take a sabbatical that I was forced to see the other side of life. My choice of a career and industry meant my better half and me had different days of the week off and that meant even lesser time together than was possible otherwise. At first it didn’t matter but when I wasn’t working crazy hours and actually spent time at home , it set me thinking , was it all really worth it ?

I mean yes there is a period in life when we have to work hard, make some money so that we can have a fairly decent last few days post retirement and all that . But somewhere in this mad rat race of early morning and lat evenings we completely miss out on the larger picture . I am not entirely certain whether I can list what make sup this larger picture just that it’s made up of a zillion tiny moments of togetherness ,love , picnics , family time , catching up with pals or simply taking a break from it all .

If you go on for years without doing so , there will come a day when you look back and try desperately to find out how was it and when was it exactly that life passed you by it will just leave a rather bitter aftertaste and a massive feeling of emptiness.

I do know that in a recessionary world where jobs are difficult to come by and most people are hanging onto what they have for dear life ,to ensure that they can continue to put food on the table if nothing else .

But it is very important to count your blessing and invest good time in the people who matter the most , for who knows ,when one day ,it might just be too late to regret.

I cannot say whether I will not ever slip back into the same mode but every opportunity to do so tempts me a lot , but I am firm about a decision that has come about with a lot of introspection , I do still want to chase a DREAM, I want to have a baby some day , I do want to be there for that baby for all its important life events right from its first step to the time he or she decides to fly the nest. It’s a tall order, I know but then that’s what makes life what it is . I also want to sit back and think when I am getting old and foggy and hopefully have a grandchild or two to spoil , that I tried and maybe failed at achieving a mad dream rather than not having tried at all !

I do know this that if a few years ag, I worried that my grave stone epitaph would have the words ” Here lies an over obsessed Workaholic, resting at last” , I shall probably have more pleasant words like …” I chased my dreams and now I lie in eternal sleep , smiling down on all that love me , happy knowing that… I DID IT MY WAY ”

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