Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Just another day!

It was twilight before I could realize. I knew
I should return but the allure was so amazing, I could barely sense.  I did not know what thoughts were transpiring my mind. I did not even know if I was even having any thought at that moment, anything at all! Some say, thoughtlessness is difficult to attain. With such breathtaking vibrancy, it might not be as arduous. It was difficult to fathom my thoughts, or the absence of it. 

The bright golden flowers in the mild sunrays seemed so vivacious yet so tranquil, they could devoid anybody of thought. The vivacity and exuberance gave the impression of them having some sort of conversation… perhaps about the day or may be the many onlookers or may be something that I might never have contemplated. I wish I understood. Better even, if I could commune with them. That is so implausible, at least at present. 


Eventually, I assented the fact that I should return and capitulated to time. Who doesn’t! I headed off with the freshness and grandeur of those flowers on my mind. What an amazing way to wrap up another day!

Sunday, August 27, 2017

Enigma

The feeling ...
Of ardor delectation
Of serene exhilaration
Musing to write down thoughts
While searching for the perfect words
For happiness that glances
Reason unbeknownst 
To the joyous prances.

The feeling ...
Of breeze's resplendence 
Of frolic silences
Willing to paint a reverie
That doesn't unveil the mystery
Elation beyond measures
It's Enigma
That the heart treasures.


Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Blue Sky, white fleeces of clouds
Greeny trees and the breezy shroud
Turqoise Sea and the golden sand
Mystical colors of nature reverend!

Copyright © One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved.

The Turquoise Silence


    #Episode I
The moment dawned. He is never going to see her like before, ever again. It was beyond belief that this can happen. This was never meant to happen. He believed that they were inseparable, eternally. May be this was one of the reasons of his silence. He was sure that they had a lifetime, and time was their greatest allies. Indeed, time was! But there are certain phenomena, which even time cannot perturb. This most certainly seemed like to be a foundational archetype.

The perplexing nature of their bond was always palpable. However, the mystifying factor made the bond even more special. That specialness was beyond dimensions, definitions, and any form of nomenclature! There was some sort of innateness, which perhaps both knew, but none ever confirmed about the fluidity of their feelings. There are no known reasons for this holding back. Maybe it was the belief that time would always be with them. Probably none was aware of the existential paradox that was to transpire. 

There has been a phase where both would be together without even uttering a single word. It would appear as forever to others but they would not realize the span of their silent conversations. There also has been phases of razzmatazz which both took great delight in. She was coy, sometimes. Her demure and magnanimous munificence would amuse him. And she would get amazed by his affable vastness and bequeathing sensitivity. However, none ever uttered any conformance towards each other. Every passing moment, however, was a bystander to the harmony that their bond accorded.

Almost everything is destined to change. Their bond was no exception. They can never get together. He can see her, but not like before. There would still be silence, but it would be filled with void. Why is it that realization dawns at the dusk! None knew that their greatest friend (time) could be this difficult a component. The two entities that (every other entity, including they themselves, believed) were meant to be eternally together are now destined to never meet again, ever! If only…!
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A Little Something:

There is no name given to "He" and "She" in this episode. You are at liberty to imagine. Let your imaginations flow. Please comment below suggesting who are "He" and "She" according to your imagination.

There are plans of writing a few more episodes to "The Turquoise Silence" series. Each episode will entail a different story yet there are possibilities of a connection among the episodes. Keep reading!
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Copyright © One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved.

Friday, March 10, 2017

The Magical Lantern

#FoodieTour
Distance or effort doesn’t count when it comes to have good food. I knew, my flight would reach Bangalore well past lunch time and I might have to eat the in-flight lunch. However, my plans are made and modified around food, not the other way around. I skipped the in-flight lunch, and settled for a can of juice instead. It was year-end and I do not even need that as a reason to celebrate. As soon as my flight landed in Bangalore, I called The Lantern to reserve a table for me. By the time, I reached Ritz Carlton, it was almost 3 o’clock in the afternoon. 

There was no body in the restaurant when I walked in. I was warmly escorted to my seat. I was told, as other tables were available I could choose any one, though that place is reserved for me/ Nevertheless, I chose to be seated there, as I liked that place the most.



The menu was wonderfully designed, it was neither too extensive nor too limited. The variety and range in each category was nicely thought out. I chose Granny Smith mock-tail and Crystal Prawn Dumplings to start with. The dumpling skin was velvety soft. The prawn filling was extremely delicious. The Granny Smith was refreshing. The hint of cinnamon and a tang of mint complemented the freshness of the green apples perfectly. If anyone can relate, just imagine the feeling of having a sip (or morsel) of something; and after you gulp it down, you immediately want to reach for the next sip - just because the taste was so wonderful, you just cannot imagine living without it, even for a moment, but then again hesitate thinking that it will end sooner, if you take immediate sips. Granny Smith was exactly that. 
I had Chilli Chicken for main course. I would not have Chilli Chicken in any restaurant unless there is no other choice. However, this time I made an exception, just hoping to get a good surprise. And it really was. The sauce had a very nice fragrance. The dish was really good. I was satiated after having the Chilli Chicken. 

Dessert- To have or not to have, that was the question. I could have done without having a dessert. Then again, every meal could be done without a dessert. It’s not an option, it’s a choice! Finally, I made that choice. And what a choice it was! Warm Ginger and Lemongrass Soufflé with Raspberry Chilli Sorbet. It looked like a marvel. The sorbet was placed in a caramelized sugar shaped in a flower cup. The simplicity of presentation enhanced the grandeur of the dish. I got completely immersed in admiring the beauty of it. On being asked by the waiting staff about the taste of the dessert, I realized that it’s been ten minutes and I have not even tasted it. I just touched the Soufflé with my spoon. I literally just touched it and warm gooey goodness oozed out of it. The sight was a splendor. It was like magic. It had a nice rich creamy texture yet it was so light. It just melted in my mouth. The sorbet had that slight sour-sweetness of raspberry and a zing of chilli which elevated the dish to a whole different level. A dash of the lemongrass flavor was doing wonders to the taste of the soufflé. And when you taste a bit of soufflé and a bit of sorbet together, it’s like a burst of magical explosions happening in your taste buds. It felt like time has taken a pause to relish the moment. By far, that’s best dessert I ever had. 

I was happy to have made that choice to go to The Lantern for a rather late lunch. To sum up the experience, the restaurant had a nice ambiance, be it the inside seating area or even the outside layout. The décor was reminiscent of the oriental setting. The staff was great. They were keen on making everything go perfect. The food was fantastic, both in taste and presentation. I might as well take the liberty of saying that it looked wonderful, but it tasted better (as opposed to the reverse in most of the places). I had a wonderful experience.

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Links for The Lantern:
https://www.zomato.com/bangalore/the-lantern-restaurant-bar-the-ritz-carlton-bangalore-residency-road
http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/india/bangalore/dining/the-lantern
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Copyright © One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

‘Bliss’ful Memories

#FoodieTour
It was a lazy afternoon. There were things for which my attention was more needed, but at that moment the only thing I could think of is to let everything just be! I thought of stepping out of my house and exploring the afternoon in its full splendor. I started walking, sans a destination. But, then again, why think of a destination when you can have a beautiful journey. I witnessed the warm breeze melting with the fragrance of the flowers, mused over the clouds forming and reforming, and beheld the afternoon folding its crease to a beautiful twilight.

Roving, I reached near the Forum Value mall. I had no intentions of going inside the mall, probably because I did not have any rationale to be there. Nonetheless, I still moved in. There were no activities going on in the mall, which otherwise is a quite regular thing in the Forum Value. There, standing in all its glory, was Bliss, the chocolate lounge. The sight of so many varieties of chocolates at one place was reason enough for me to walk in. I had never been to Bliss before (every time I visited the mall prior to this specific visit, was for some work. And by work, I mean for only getting/purchasing essentials, and never for leisure stroll). However, this was a different jaunt.

Bliss’s appearance theme was chocolate; no surprises there. The seating area had comfortable couches. I was given the menu as soon as I seated myself. I certainly needed more time to zero in on the flavor of the chocolates. Hence, I opted for a spiced hot chocolate and a mushroom sandwich to start with. The hot chocolate arrived before I could decide on a single chocolate flavor. The sandwich arrived immediately after. I gave my decision-making forces some rest and immersed in the delicacy. The sandwich bread was wonderfully soft. The cheese melted into the mushroom slices, giving it a rich, creamy texture and a slight nutty zing. The show stealer, however, was the spiced hot chocolate. The amalgamation of the rich dark chocolate with the hot milk was lip-smacking. The subtle hint of the cinnamon aroma and its sweet-spicy taste elevated the experience of the beverage to a whole another level. The purple twilight, the amazing sandwich and the heavenly hot chocolate was a perfect combination one could ask for. That defined the word ‘Bliss’. How aptly named!

If I would not have been so full, I would have had another of the hot chocolates without a single thought. I had to get some of their chocolates too. The staff at the counter helped me in choosing the flavors of the chocolate, which I packed for home. They were equally delightful. That entire journey, if I may call it so, was sort of serendipitous. Every subsequent time I visited Bliss, hot chocolate (spiced, simple dark, and white being the different varieties) became my usual order. Though it was not a first of a kind of my “journey”s, and certainly not my only visit to Bliss, it definitely was a memorable one.

Memories are enigmatic. They can make us relieve cherished moments time and again. Life is all about treasuring old memories, venturing into new journeys, making new memories there, and then cherishing them forever. Let life be redolent with memories. After all, it’s One Life To Live!

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P.S. : The chronicled experience here entails for my visit to Bliss-the Chocolate Lounge years back (2012-2013-ish).
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Copyright © One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved

Sunday, February 5, 2017

On Attainment of 7 Wonderful Years

Dear Life Lovers,

It’s been a great journey of seven wonderful years now. We are now in our eighth year of the blog. I must say, the journey till date has been exhilarating and enlivening and all of you have been a great part of it. Some of you have been there with me since the very inception. I thank you all for staying up all these years. Some of you have recently joined us. I welcome you and thank you for joining. I hope and wish, together we will make the imminent days even more worthy.

On the accomplishment of 7 years, some special things have been planned to come our way in the forthcoming days. Let us all wait together for some surprises to come our way, may be even in the form of giveaways/gifts (ssshhhh…that’s a secret among us).

Please extend your help in making One Life To Live better by sharing your thoughts. Please fill up  this form 
to give your suggestions, opinions and wise insights. It will mean the world to me.
Love,
Ipsita
One Life To Live

P.S. All information/ opinion shared in the forms will be kept anonymous. Privacy laws of Blogger/Google will be strictly adhered to. Please do not worry about any of your inputs being misused.

Copyright © One Life To Live. All Rights Reserved

Friday, January 27, 2017

One More Journey To Remember

My phone rang. It was my mother calling me to ask if I had left or not. It was 5 minutes past my scheduled time to leave for the airport. I told her that I have been ready for quite a while now, almost half an hour and was waiting for the cab driver to call me. My mother asked me to give a call to the driver and not wait any further for the call, which I was anyways going to do. I called the driver, hoping (or rather sure) to hear that he has reached and was waiting outside. Normally, the cab driver reaches 10 minutes prior and gives a call to inform me of his arrival. However, today was not one of those “normal” days. To my utter shock, the driver told me that he would take another 10 minutes to reach my house.

It takes an hour approximately from my house to the airport in the morning, when there’s no traffic or any other obstructions. My flight was scheduled at 9.50 am. I had already checked-in by web the previous day. I just had to drop my luggage. The airport from which I was supposed to board the flight is a very small airport and it never takes much time to complete the procedure even when it is “crowded” (which is equivalent to a maximum of ten or so people in any queue, check-in, or security). So, taking this into consideration, I must be there before 9 am to maintain a balance between a good in-time boarding and not having to wait too long because “the flight is delayed…”! This also implied that I start from home before 7.45 am, if I account for medium traffic. For keeping a safe window, I had planned to leave my house before 7.30 am.

As per all the calculations, I would still be in time, albeit to the last minute, if the cab reaches in the next 10 minutes.  If that would have gone as per plan, it would not have been another journey to remember. I was waiting outside for the cab to arrive any minute now. As the watch hands inched past 7.45 am, I started getting worried. With each passing second, I was consoling myself that it was the last second of waiting. Finally, the cab reached at 8 am! I have no idea how I was so composed at that moment, I should be panicking! Then again, I strangely always find composure in the tensest of moments. So, I hopped on to the cab. The cab driver asked me about the flight’s departure time. On knowing that it was at 9.50 am, he said that he had assumed it to be 10.30 am and hence the delay. I have no clue why he would assume something like that, even when I had sent a written request of all the details well in-advance. This was not something to be pondered over at that moment. The main concern was to reach airport before 9 am safely. I told the driver not to panic and drive safely. After all, better late than never!

Finally, I was on my way to the airport. I was hoping every minute that there should not be any traffic and thanking my destiny for listening to my prayers. Every passing minute, I was checking if I was on time, verifying my result with the milestones and the map app. I traversed the first half of the entire distance milestone 5 minutes ahead of my calculated time. I began to hope, a notch higher. I was 10 minutes early when I crossed the 80 percent distance milestone. I was very hopeful now but I had no idea what was coming my way.

After a few kilometers, the cab halted. To my horror, it was a traffic jam. I would have reached in another 10 minutes or so, had it been not for that. The driver informed me that the traffic is because of a cycle rally. Who had to do a rally now!! Especially when I was getting late! I know this might sound unreasonable, but any reason was way past me at that time. I was holding myself up with the teeny tiny bit of hope that was there. The traffic cleared from that place and the cab moved forward. But, that was not the end to all the obstructions that were yet to come. It was just the beginning. The last stretch of road never used to have any obstructions, normally. That day, however, there was some work going on for which more than half of the road width was blocked for quite a stretch. That was causing the other vehicles to go in one single line. Everybody was not on a hurry. They were taking their time to drive through. But, that was affecting my plans of reaching the airport in time. I took out my passport and boarding pass. I kept the cab’s rent money on the front seat, apologizing the driver for keeping the money like that (for I had to hurry). I was ready to run as soon as the cab reaches the airport.

It was exactly 9 am when I stepped out of the car. There were just two people in the queue to enter inside but it felt like 200 people. As opposed to “normal” days, there were more number people in the queue waiting for baggage scan. My mother was on call with me. I had dialed her as I was reaching airport. I had requested her to be on call (via hands-free, to avoid any inconvenience because of holding the phone) till the baggage drop. When she heard that I was waiting in the queue for my turn to come for bag scan, she told, “maybe the other people in the queue are travelling by another flight. Just tell them that your flight’s bag drop will close in another five minutes. They will understand.” Somehow, I could not convince myself to skip the queue. It’s a herculean task for me to not go by queue protocols. Nevertheless, my turn for bag scan came. I pushed my bag into the scanner and in the meantime, I hurried towards the check-in counter to inform that I have yet to drop my bag, though I have checked-in via web (so that they do not assume that all check-ins are done and close the counter). When I came near the bag scanner to collect my bag, I saw my bag has been kept on hold. They informed that there was a power bank and I must take it out. “How can I forget a power bank in my bag? I can be so forgetful!”, I thought. I opened my bag and took out the power bank. They scanned it again. It was 9.06 am.

I thought I will never be allowed for baggage drop now. I planned to take it as a cabin luggage. But, then again, I would have to dispose stuff that are not allowed as cabin baggage. I decided to give a last try. There were around 6-7 people in the queue. I was apprehensive if I should cut the queue. I started asking them if they belong to the same flight as mine. They denied. I, then excused myself and went to the check-in desk. They did not disallow me! By the time, I moved out of there, it was 9.10 am. Without looking any further, I moved straight for security. Thankfully, I faced no hassles there. Just as I was completing the security procedures, the boarding announcement for my flight was done. I moved straight from the security counter to the boarding queue. In a few minutes, I was seated in my place in the plane. It was 9.21 am. It is till date my shortest airport stay. A meager 20 minutes or so. What wonderful 20 minutes, though! Also, when I boarded off that flight, I never had to wait for even a second for my checked-in baggage. I walked in to the belt, picked up my bags and moved on (a perk of being the last person to drop baggage, I presume).


It was another of my “simpleton” journeys that I would remember. We take on so many journeys in our lifetime. However, we barely remember a few of them. Generally, we remember journeys that we take to go for holidays or trips, but we tend to forget those which are more of “rudimentary” journeys. However, the rudimentary/ simple journeys have more in store for us, just like life! This is what I feel. We tend to focus on things that seem to be more eventful, but we forget/ neglect to enjoy the sweet nitty-gritty things. These sweet nothings add that extra punch of flavor to life, a flavor so elusive yet inevitable. I believe to think of life as a journey than a destination. So, why not make each journey a special one! After all, it’s just One Life To Live!

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About Me

My photo
As a blogger, one of the things I am often asked is "How/ When did you get started with all this?" For as long as my memory takes me back, I have always found myself pondering about a plethora of things. I have always loved reflecting on the small but wonderful aspects of life. Ipsita Contemplates has been very special and I love to get the opportunity to share my musings, my thoughts, and my perceptions with you. It is also a way to appreciate the essence of Life!