Stacking Memories in “Stone”

Some “golden” sunset memories from last year when I was enjoying the evening with my family. We didn’t need a restaurant or a shopping mall, just us and some stones and perhaps this river too…

The sun finally did hide behind the mountain and the night hurriedly set in, but the time that we spent together was priceless.

~ That whole time the river flew in its own joy, and so did we… ~

~ View from the opposite side ~ ~ My mother picked these stones from the thousands that were lying at the riverside and carefully stacked them up ~ ~ It was fun watching her do this, hehehe ~ ~ A very tiny and simple task I know, but “sweetest” thing in the world! ~

“We do not remember days; we remember moments.”
~Cesare Pavese

Last Day of the YEAR 2012

This is my favorite shot of this year. I took this photo in March. I was travelling when I captured this Himalayan beauty. I was on the way of making, probably one of the biggest decisions of my life, successful. Success is just another word, I believe. I mean yes I did stand up on my decision and it did work well for me. But journey is not over. It’s still going on, and hopefully will go on further…

Happy New YEAR everyone.

With lots of love and good wishes,

–Nandini.

Shabba-khair!

See you all in 2013

This Monsoon: Poetic Me!

It’s suddenly cold inside
Green lush fields outside
Its all grey and dark and but still
my love, how come so beautiful?
Salted peanuts flavoring my mouth
All I now crave for is your warmth
Little rain drops tickling the glass
I’m listening to our silent comforting talks
I know you are with me right here right now
That’s how I believe love is in me right here right now.

- Nandini Dhiman

……………………………………………

A photo from this monsoon, but taken on a different day:

Sudden poetic moments!
I was in the bus while I got the feeling to write. And I did!
Thanks to the rain and thunderstorms.

Colorful Beginning (- II) with “Fun”

In this post, I’m sharing few pictures which I took in the last few months but couldn’t share. I found them in my collection, and since they were all full of colors, I decided to put them here in my second post of this year. They are colorful in an artificial way (I don’t mean photo-editing here), as opposed to the natural colors in my previous post. I remember having fun clicking these silly things, which someone would seldom capture.

Hope you like them too. :)

Playing with the “Focus” – -

This one below is from the Diwali decorations -

And this one- butterfly shaped hair clip – is from my childhood, more than 14-15 years old. My mom had saved it, among the other childhood stuff. That’s what Moms do, don’t they? Sweethearts.

Once again, my best wishes to you for 2012. It will be better than 2011. Cheers!

A Beautiful Christmas Morning

. . . Merry Christmas . . .

Just looking at sky, beautiful shapes forming and dissolving into the blue again, and it is happening again and again, mesmerizing me, making me wonder… making me fall in love with the nature all over again. What else could I have asked for? I mean, I found love in its purest form… I’m grateful.

Hope this Christmas, you gave and received love, even if was little.

Gandhi Quotes

Yesterday, I wrote a little about Gandhiji in my post “Bapu for me“. Well, not just “about” him, but mostly on my thoughts about him and his philosophy and teachings. I wanted to share some of his quotes too in that post but couldn’t for some reasons. So thinking of doing it today.

Some of my favorite quotes of Mahatma Gandhi-

• Gandhi’s Talisman:

“I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?

Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away.”

- One of the last notes left behind by Gandhi in 1948, expressing his deepest social thought.

• A ‘No‘ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘Yes‘ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble.

• A religion that takes no account of practical affairs and does not help to solve them is no religion.

• An error does not become truth by reason of multiplied propagation, nor does truth become error because nobody sees it. Confession of errors is like a broom which sweeps away the dirt and leaves the surface brighter and clearer. I feel stronger for confession.

• As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.

•  Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.

• I look only to the good qualities of men. Not being faultless myself, I won’t presume to probe into the faults of others.

• I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.

• In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.

• It is easy enough to be friendly to one’s friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.

• Let everyone try and find that as a result of daily prayer he adds something new to his life, something with which nothing can be compared.

• Man can never be a woman‘s equal in the spirit of selfless service with which nature has endowed her.

• Morality which depends upon the helplessness of a man or woman has not much to recommend it. Morality is rooted in the purity of our hearts.

• My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God. Non-violence is the means of realising Him.

Learn and apply. Love and live.  

Weekly Photo Challenge – (Making) Faces

When friends are with you and it’s total fun time, then you can get as many funny faces you want. Here are some of them with two of my best friends when we were together in college. Those moments were the best and I miss that time a lot..

Say CHEEEEEESE!

This one is my favourite :-

Look to the Sky

“Cause when I look to the sky something tells me you’re here with me
And you make everything alright 
And when I feel like I’m lost something tells me you’re here with me
And I can always find my way when you are here” …[Train]

This Year- Coke Studio. Lovin’ it.

You eagerly wait for something and then it finally arrives. Full-on excitement because you do not know what’s there in it this time. Everything new and lots to explore. I was waiting for Coke Studio season four since last year when the season three got over. I have earlier shared several of my favorite Coke Studio songs. I just love everything it provides, the great depths of music, poetry, culture, languages. Let’s see what it holds for us this year. Episode 2 will be aired today.

Here is the link for the pool of soulful music: Season Four

Also, there is something else I was hoping or rather wishing for. An India chapter of Coke Studio.

“SSS: Seven Short Stories” Sunday

There were lots of stories, but I wanted to share just seven of them [according to the SSS title of my post].

These are thought-provoking real-life happenings shared by people from all over the world on the website MMT [Makes Me Think].

1. Today, after a 72 hour shift at the fire station, a woman ran up to me at the grocery store and gave me a hug.  When I tensed up, she realized I didn’t recognize her.  She let go with tears of joy in her eyes and the most sincere smile and said, “On 9-11-2001, you carried me out of the World Trade Center.”

2. Today, I pulled into a small gas station in the middle of the desert in New Mexico and realized I had left my wallet at my girlfriends house 5 hours away.  I had no money and