A Dream Holiday!

Awww Holidays!

We love them, we enjoy them and we die for them. Don't we?

Holidays are just crazy. They are fun, thrilling, rejuvenating and at the same time nerve-biting. Planning for a holiday is another challenging task. Choosing the right destination, right travel partner and the right time to go. And then comes the much dreaded leave applications to our bosses, keeping fingers crossed that by every chance he/she is in a good mood that day. But once the leave is approved, you just can’t wait, counting days, planning things, packing stuffs and picturing a dream holiday.

Sitting in my workstation its only Mauritius, Singapore, Australia and Kashmir I hear all day (Yes I work for a travel house).  Most of my colleagues (the lucky asses) have traveled far and wide; some have even mapped the globe.  London, Bali, Kaula lumpur, Hawai……….you name it and they would have travel tales to share. So snuggled in my cabin I would wish that some day it comes my way too………..traveling the world without having spent a single penny from your pocket. A dream job, what say?

So I spent my 4 years and 4 months here; cribbing all throughout, until God finally heard, played his cards and sent commands to my Boss’s brain who very happily offered me a trip to Bhutan. A 4 nite 5 days trip with the best of accommodation & travel arrangements completely sponsored for me and my husband as an incentive. When I was told this, it sounded unreal – too good to be true. But then a rare opportunity which I immediately grabbed and decided to kick the ass of boredom.
I barely had 02 days time to prepare, pack and get going whereas still pinching myself to feel that its happening in real. 
And here came my 1^st international tour that too without holding a passport :P

The 04 days just went like a dream...............

When we boarded the flight, we were given face tissues/wipes on which they proudly wrote – BHUTAN: The land of gross national happiness. These lines had already started making me happy. And happy indeed was the entire experience of visiting a country still ruled (though not governed) by King & Queen, where there are royals and non-royals but no rich and poor, where people still don’t really relate to this post-modern world, where everyone wears their traditional dress with pride, where schooling is free to all, where cheese and chillies are the staple ingredient in every food, where cleanliness is GOD and happiness the measure of GDP. A Place where you can relax and just soak into the scenic beauty, a place which just lets you be. A quaint paradise, a blessed kingdom. An almost idyllic place as if like it just walked out of some fairytale book.

Also interesting is the feeling of being in India as you are surrounded by all products starting from ice-cream, soaps, jams, maggi and also the TV channels that are Indian brands, leaving you with only Handicrafts as something to take back home as a souvenir. But we could hardly touch them as they were super expensive giving me to understand the much influx of European travelers to this country who seem to have a fetish for their handicrafts. But then our pockets refused to open, and so we stuck to the idea of key chains and book marks for our family. 
04 days seemed less literally. Given a choice I would have extended this dream for few more days. Well I guess this is all I could steal from the destiny as of now. Never the less, I can never thank GOD enough for this. So glad that this whole thing happened to us. We loved every minute of this whirlwind tour.
 Sharing some of the pictures...........

                            The clouds playing with the peaks..............clicked from inside of aircraft

                                                      

                                                      The capital valley: THIMPU

                                                    The Quaint and breathtaking - PARO

............AND IT PAINS IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD!

*It would be just a shit post for you if you are not an animal lover or have never been with pets. In such a case, pls stay away ........

Its pain again that is bringing me back to writing. It was just getting difficult without words this time around. Coz it pained like this after a long long time.

I lost my 03 months old pup “dolcy” yesterday to severe Anaemia. 02 months back my family lost our 04 year old dalmecian “Buzo” to Jaundice. What they meant to us is perhaps only to be understood by animal lovers which by Gods disgrace are so few in this world.

In the last one week of Dolcy’s suffering, our next door neighbour stopped visiting us at all. They even didn’t appreciate the idea of their 07 year old daughter coming over who otherwise has been visiting our house religiously for every single day in the last 05 years. Today when couple of my colleagues inquired about my absence yesterday I told them the reason. And I got some strange reactions. One being  “Oh dear pls don’t worry. I will gift you one on your bday” Some were indifferent enough, as if its not a reason to mourn at all asking me “are you sad?”  I could barely hold back my tears and I said that I am happy (which I am in a way to not see her suffer anymore).
To this part of the world “They are just dogs”.

Dolcy was suffering from the last 20 days. Each day we saw her condition deteriorating. My husband and my sister (yes we all started putting together to take care of her) nursed her day in and out. There was a proper chart being maintained for monitoring her health throughout the day. They half slept most of the nights and the last 02 nights were just sleepless. Our Vet doctor would call every now and then to learn about her health (Have you honestly heard about doctors calling 10 times in a day to know about their patients). A doctor in true sense and meaning of the profession. His assistant was sent to our house everyday to take her treatment forward. When Dolsy had almost collapsed in the morning, it was him who pumped her heart and brought her back to life. For this part of the world “They are Gods children”

Buzo was wrongly diagonised. Infact we couldn’t even find a good vet in Asansol (my in-laws place) to treat him. During Dolcy’s time we were fortunate to meet this doctor and his whole team. After a point in the treatment I could sense how helpless they were. The availability of medicines, equipments is so difficult for animals. Most of the things being unavailable in India. One out of around  50,000 pharmacy shops might keep veterinary medicines .There is no oxygen mask and no blood banks for them either. Medical Science has so prioritized lives.....  For this part of the world “They are always secondary”

By the evening her condition deteriorated and finally she opened her eyes to say a final goodbye. Those eyes and that look will remain captured in my eyes for life. Both Buzo and Dolcy lived as our children for each single day of our existence. What pains is the fact that they would never come back. What pains is the fact that we couldn’t do everything possible for them due to lack of treatment. What pains is the general attitude of the people to treat them as waste or just a show piece in their house. Some even hating them.  One life hating the other is so unbelievable and that pains the most. 

As for our family...............we will miss them as long as we live. In our world – they are just angels.

RIP BUZO & DOLCY.

Life questions in a fun meme!

Well, if not writing than atleast reading the posts of my blog pals is something I try and do every day. So I came across the author Preeti shenoy’s post which was a meme that she had participated in. I followed the link and found the whole thing pretty interesting.

Check out this blog for such memes.

So here’s my entry to their 99’er meme and I had loads of fun answering these interesting questions

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1)    Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?

            Well partially yes. In my case I feel its better to forget than forgive. I choose to      avoid people who do me any wrong.

2) What is your astrological sign?

        The Ram – “Aries”

      3) Do you save money for anything? What?

a.   For holidays

b.   For the rainy days

c.    For confidence above all.

4) What's the last thing you purchased?

A dozen of books from the book fair was the last most meaningful thing I purchased.

5) Have you ever had a relationship that you realized was lust not love?

Nope. Am far too sensitive to sense it all before I commit

6) In a relationship?

Oh yes, since last 12 years :)

7) How many relationships have you had?

Well, a relationship without commitment isn’t a relationship really. The one man I committed to is my husband today.  So technically just one. Short lived crushes not counted.


8) What do you want to tell us about your day?

Well has been a perfect start to this day. As I like it. Being on time in office, arranging my work for the whole day and starting off in the morning with some reading. Happy J

Hope the day continues to be meaningful like this.

9) Where were you yesterday?

At office and then for a short bike ride with my huby in the evening. Loved it.

10) Is there anything interesting within 10 feet of you?

I see a beautiful flower pot on my desk which is painted by some small children of an NGO, who gifted us for our continuous support to them.

Then an excellent calendar of Timesjobs.com, saluting the minds behind great finds (saluting the HR fraternity for their contribution of human assets to the company)

A beautiful poster of Thailand tourism, capturing their famous & graceful traditional masked drama.

11) Are you wearing socks right now?

Socks in summers? No way.

12) What's your favorite animal?

Dog. My dalmecian – buzo to be more precise.

13) What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?

My smile and ability to empathize.

14) Where is your best friend?

Not there. I have lost all best friends. Some to fate some to death. I only intend to make good friends now

15) How did you end your last relationship?

By never valuing it enough for a relationship really.

16) What is your heritage?

I am an Indian and then a Bong (Bengali as they say).

17) What were you doing last night at 12 AM?

Weaving……………

Dreams of course. I was fast asleep.

18) What's new?

 Planning a short holiday. Shhhhhhhhh! Its hush hush right now.

My office guys should not know :P

19) What is the key to seduction?

Eye contact and a seducing/refreshing body odor.

20) What was the weirdest thing that happened to you this week??

 That I spent the whole week without having chicken. Lols!

21) You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

 Save the dog ofcourse. And when I tell my boss the reason, I am sure he’ll understand. He is an animal lover too and I am not working with an unwavering boss anyways.

22) You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?

 a.   No I will not. I don’t need to except to the ones I love.

b.   I spend as much time as possible to all the people I love. Most importantly letting them know that I do. And visit jannat (Kashmir - India) with my huby for few days.

c.    No. Not then I guess.

23) You can only have one of these things: trust or love.

 Love ofcourse! It will even heal everything that breach of trust can do.

24) What's a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?

 So many of them. I just love music by my side for as long as possible. It’s a bliss

25) Who has your cell phone number (other than family)?

 My friends, my colleagues and boss and all these crazy people from insurance co’s//banks who drive me crazy with their phone calls :(

Cheers!
Sukku

गुत्थी!

गाँठ खोलने लगी मैं छत के एक कोने मे बैठे !
रंग बिरंगे धागे कुछ इस तरह से साथ थे
मानो कहने लगे “ना उलझो हुम्से बस ऐसे”!


लाल ने पकड़ा था पीले को कुछ ऐसे, और नीला था हरा को बड़े प्यार से जकड़े!
काला था सबसे तेज़, उन सब को अपनी मुट्ठी मे किए!
गुलाबी  भी कुछ कम नही, वोही तो था सब धागो को पकड़े!


मैं खोलती गयी, वो उलझते गये,
बस बदलता गया उस गुत्थी का रूप!
अब कुछ खुछ बात समझ आ रही थी,
कि मैं क्या करने जा रही थी!
बावरी सी हस पड़ी मैं, 
और उच्छाला उसे उपर आसमान में! 
गिर के पहुचि मेरी गुड़िया के सामने!
अब वो खिलौना बन चुकी थी!


मुस्कुराइ मेरी गुड़िया……………….लिए उसे अपने पास!
अब उसे करनी थी उस गोले से जंग!
बस घुमाया गोल गुलाबी को, सारे खुलने लगे थे!
किया उसने अपनी मा को दंग!
लेकिन तभी खेल बदल दिया उसने,
लिए उन धागो को संग!
बनाए फिर से उनके गोले अनेक, वो रंग तो फिर से आपस मे जुड़ने लगे थे!


हस पड़े हम दोनो, फिर गुड़िया अपने काम मे रमझ गयी!


क्या खूब सुलझी ये गुत्थी, 
वो जो सुलझ गयी…………… मैं सब समझ गयी.........!!!








-------------सुकन्या