Paulo Coelho-ing

1)Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.

2)“I don’t live in either my past or my future. I’m interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you’ll be a happy man. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we’re living now.”

3)“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it"

4)"When I had nothing to lose, I had everything. When I stopped being who I am, I found myself."

5)"A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires."

6)"Love is not a habit, a commitment, or a debt. It isn't what romantic songs tell us it is - love simply is."

7)"Certain things in life simply have to be experienced -and never explained. Love is such a thing."

Lets Go Anywhere :D

When I learnt driving this year, ( and scared my instructor with my affinity for accelerators and fourth gears) I always thought driving was more fun than being driven around [I maintain,driving in highways gives me a high. My mission in life : drive along the sea. Road to Kalpakkam, or Port Blair or Marine drive]. Well, to amend, I like being driven around in jeeps. Open jeeps. Gives a safari feeling,doesn't it? And the places I went to in open jeeps, remote corners of jungles and middle of nowhere in deserts. Is it a wonder I have fallen in love with this vehicle? It takes me places.:D

Desert Night -The skies were never ending, inky black with thousands of stars when the jeep started climbing the desert. Desert for miles at end, a feeling you have entered a globe, or a live planetarium that tells you are in the beginning of time? I never felt so overwhelmed...or tiny. I was staring up at the open roof at the skies and then it was time to get down. The sand was cold! [ yeah, we all removed our shoes just once,to walk and see how the sand felt]. And it was pitch black. We were grabbing for each other's hands, and wondering which one is which, and went further in the desert to get our bonfire lit. Once the bonfire was lit, and everyone's faces were finally visible. We huddled up in blankets enduring the desert chill, sat on rugs, stared at the bonfire and the skies, drank up [hey,it helps the cold. *shrugs*], ate our dinner. We heard jackals howling in the distance, till then I was sure I was listening to the silence. [ yeah,you heard me.That's exactly what I mean]. Oh,and our guide told us 50 km to the west was Pakistan border. I would have loved to have seen that.
When it was time to go, the jeep had come for us again. We chased long eared rabbit, apparently only seen around there.
Its fast!
And as we got down the desert,it got considerably warmer, the magic was wearing off, and we got off the jeep, it was time to close the bottle.

The evening on Jim Corbett- Granted, we only saw paw prints [but they were fresh!], back of a wild boar scurrying to the deeper part of the forest, a herd of spotted deers, and not a whisker of a tiger, I still loved the jungle ride. Firstly, jeep rides are lot more fun standing up and you can feel like Superman because of the wind 'whoosh-ing' past your cheek. And you are snaking your way into the jungle,where it is eerily quiet. Even the birds had stopped calling. It made me feel they were watching us, and were aware of our presence. [ How could they not? with the amount of noise made.I'm surprised they didn't come out and ask everyone to shut up] But the trees, the river, the sunset between the green, and the moonlit night in the thicket of the jungle. I was surprised my imagination didn't go into overdrive and start imagining a Woman in White asking for lifts. The evening got colder and colder, and I was hammered into my seat, both hands in my pocket, and hoping I would not fall out of the jeep since I was sitting on the side or because our driver went crazy on the wheel.
Have I mentioned how tall the trees were? It made you feel claustrophobic and free at the same time. Especially in the night.

Getting back to the city after all that was strange. :D


So, Jeeps are officially my favorite form of transport. The can take you anywhere,nowhere,everywhere.They are a lot more fun.
And why don't tigers attack jeeps? Apparently, it looks like a bigger,but not edible,beast.
Lmao.

PS- being driven around is only fun when a hot guy in his sleek, sexy car takes you around. And he plays old rock and roll songs in the car. ;) or maybe just bike rides?

PPS- I'm still not confident about my driving,so if you ever risk sitting with me,make sure you are insured. :D

<3>

Take it slow this time, will ya?

I never thought of myself as sentimental, ( or maybe I have a hard time admitting I am?) so it becomes quite a discovery when I hold onto old stuff that have long gone. Old friendships, yeah the ones you think can last forever, are disintegrating right in front of my eyes and I am trying to hold on too tight, like a jealous guard of a treasure chest. My old notebooks, diaries,drawings, magazines, notes I used to pass my friends, even blank papers which I saved from my schoolbooks because they weren't used, are lying dusty underneath the old table which we got as a hand me down in Chennai. Honestly, my mother has been after my life asking me to sort them out, throw the useless ones away or at least dust them. :P

But I can't. I can't decide what I don't want, I want to keep them all. ( greedy? :D) Likewise, distance and time puts dust on a lot of relationships I'd rather keep on the shelf, than accept things as they are and clear them out. Relationships are trickier than memories, I have learnt. You just can't neglect the growing dust. And this year, I saw a lot of it.

And that weren't the only things changing. My life was changing, I discovered my love for travelling. ( I have been travelling my whole life and I realise I can't give it up only after I walk into the main city of Jaiselmer and look at the golden houses. -.- too late for epiphanies,dont you think?) And along with adrenaline-rush experiences come car accidents,jeep-tilting,creepy isolated villages, disastrous reunions, much anticipated meetings that don't happen and sacrileges in jungles. [ I'll make a list of things I can't forget later :p]

So 2011, take it slow,will ya? I had one hell of a year and I'd like a quiet pace of life back for sometime please.

Oh,on my birthday that is just days away now, I'd like to know what i want on that day. (another clearing head session needed) For planning purposes,you see. :D