Life Experiences by Tilak

I recently travelled to Pushkar from Delhi NCR and the trip cost me less than INR 5000. I booked AC bus the cost was around INR 3000 for the to and fro. Stayed at @zostel Pushkar got a competitive last minute discounted rate of INR 1200 for two nights. Travelled around mostly on foot. Clocking around 15000 steps daily.  Eating street food - Poha, Dal Pakwan and Lassi costs around INR200 per meal.  The beauty of sitting at Varah ghat and watching the evening aarti is priceless😊

I have grown up in Mumbai. The mornings felt terrible. Just waking up and ensuring that I'm able to get in the right local. Weekends were all about catching up on pending sleep. Then I moved to Delhi NCR about two decades ago. Life was slower, easier to commute to office in my own car. Life seems good. Here I developed a habit of going for morning walks. There are some very good public spaces where one can spend quality time with nature in the heart of a crowded Delhi life. I have grown fond of this life. The slow mornings tend to be the way I want to live my life. I'm tired of trying to impress people. I don't.  I'm living a tranquil life. And enjoying it. Sharing a glimpse from my today's morning walk where I could see the national bird. So blessed to see it today😊

A few years back, when I walked in a Decathlon store in Delhi NCR. I was mesmerized.  The brand really stood for its slogan of all for sports and sports for all. The encouraged sports and made sports fun. After them many brands joined the process and eventually created a space where fitness and healthy living was celebrated - even if only as a marketing tool. It helped bringing a positive change.  Today I find elderly couples wearing sneakers and strolling in parks for a morning walk. I find youngsters and office goers getting together for a friendly cricket, football or even basketball game. I see gyming becoming a culture over the last few years. Today, while participating in a marathon, I noticed something for the first time - I saw parents and grand parents are bringing children to marathons and inculcating the habit of walking/ running from an early age. These children will grow up with fitness as an integral part of their lives.  They will embrace fitness as a lifel...

I miss the good old days. Sundays used to be special as that was the day when dad personally went to the butchers shop and got mutton for the house.  Sundays were synonymous with Mutton curry and rice.  Some Sundays, whichbwere around birthdays in the family, we all gathered at my Aunty's place.  The celebrations were almost always potluck dinner.  We had songs and dances with someone singing, someone playing the guitar, someone whistling ....we had so much fun with so little. Ordering food from outside was almost non existent. Something changed and today all I see are food ordered from outside with Netflix playing in the backdrop and one or two friends drinking together. I miss the good old days. They were so special. 😊

Freedom looks very different at 40 than at 20. At 20, freedom is to parties, to go pub hopping, to socialise till you drop, eating out at expensive restaurants etc etc.... At 40, I'm beginning to realise freedom is to be able to have slow mornings, nature walks, netflix binge at home or picking up a good book with home cooked delicacies. Sounds like a cliche but that seems like the only fact. But I guess you have to reach this age to really feel it. 😊 live free:) we live only once...