Distance

Once upon a time,
They were so close that even the air couldn't get between them.

Now,
They are so far apart that even the depth of an ocean is not enough to fill the gap between them.

What is PCOS and what food did I take to cure it?

Click here for Part - 1

Did you ever come across girls on social media or in your real life flaunting their hairy body (like on legs, hands, upper lip, chin, and other body parts where they have unwanted hair) and calling it as "feminism" or "taking pride in being a girl without hiding true self?"

Although I really really appreciate their guts to overcome the embarrassment of having hair on their body unlike other "pretty" girls, I really DO NOT support the tags which they use to flaunt themselves in this way. The main reason for girls to have such dense unwanted hair on their body is due to hormonal imbalance and they're trying to flaunt themselves with it by tagging it as "feminism" ? How stupid one can be to do that? Instead of educating girls about the cause of their unwanted hair issues, you're trying to make them be some false feminists? Our bodies were not meant to have this unwanted hair at all! We're women not men, so I urge you to be someone who takes care of their body instead of using it to fool young girls talking about false feminism which doesn't concentrate on real issues but flaunting a hormonal imbalanced body!

The biggest disease people (my stress is especially on girls and Indian girls) are suffering from is ignorance. Whenever you TRY to share some knowledge with people, they give looks as if they know everything or they don't wanna know because they think they know it already or they think the information they are going to get is useless.

That is why, we never wanna know the root cause of some diseases like for example PCOS until it attacks you and makes your life a living hell.

I was ignorant too. I'm not saying I'm the most perfect girl who had a perfect lifestyle since childhood. No. I had all the facilities to be healthy but I was ignorant towards it and stuffed myself with food which I thought was "healthy". Sometimes, I go "one piece of this or that wouldn't harm me at all" and I have given the same reason for more than 100 times and thats what has made me a victim of PCOS today.

Now, when I came to know about my PCOS condition, I also came to know that it is a VERY common Syndrome that's attacking girls all over the world and you can easily find the statistics on Google. 1 in 5 girls is suffering from PCOS. So when I had this information with me, instead of finding the root cause of this, I was falsely "assured" by few doctors and few friends saying that it is OKAY because almost EVERY girl is suffering from it and all I need to do was change my "diet" and eat "healthy food". One cannot be more vague than this cuz I eat nothing but healthy when am at home!

I mean, are you people crazy to take any kind of disease which you're attacked with so lightly? Why aren't you doing something about that which is threatening your regular lifestyle and infertility??? Do you ask this question to yourself? If you don't, you're as ignorant as any uneducated person.

So, let's jump in to get some information about PCOS.

Let's go with the basics of PCOS.

PCOS is caused in women when they develop more male hormones (Androgens) than female hormones (Estrogens) in their bodies.

So, every woman has ovaries in their body and those ovaries produce "eggs" every month.

1) There is a part in our brain called Pituitary gland which releases a hormone called Leutinizing Hormone (LH) to induce the formation of eggs. So, every month when this Pituitary gland releases LH, there is a sudden spike in LH levels. This is what causes the eggs to be formed. Only and only when there is a "SPIKE" in LH levels, the ovaries produce eggs. Not when there is no spike in LH levels. This is a very important point to remember.

What actually happens at this stage is that when a sperm comes and fertilizes the egg, this egg will develop into a fetus.

But, if the egg is left unfertilized, these eggs will be excreted from the body in the form of periods along with the lining of the uterus.

THIS is what usually happens when a woman is not suffering from PCOS.

So, what happens when someone is suffering from PCOS? What makes them not produce any eggs and thus leads to no periods?

Well, the answer is very simple.

LH levels in someone who is suffering from PCOS is constantly high and hence there is NO SPIKE which should occur monthly. Hence, as I mentioned earlier, eggs are produced only and only when there is a spike in one's LH levels.

2) Why do we get unwanted hair then?

When women have too many eggs in their system, there is a little sac around those eggs which produces Androgens in your body and these Androgens are converted into Estrogens (female hormones) by an enzyme called Aromatase Cytochrome P450 (that's not really important but I'm a trivia slut!). BUT, what happens is that if this enzyme is blocked by something (for example, Glyphosate which is found in GMO foods) then there is no way that these Androgens (male hormones) are going to get converted into Estrogens.

That's the reason why you have unwanted facial hair on your upper lip, chin, etc.

3) Not just those little sacs but also our Adrenal glands produce Androgens. So, if you have an over active Adrenal, means, if you're stressed all the time then you are going to get these symptoms.

Sometimes, high levels of LH are accompanied by high levels of Insulin and this is why your hormones are all over the place and you suffer from "hormonal imbalance".

This is what causes PCOS Symptoms like: unwanted hair on face and body, irregular periods (skipping periods for more than a month or two months or in some cases more than 3 months), low metabolism which means you easily put on weight, acne, depression, etc. These are all short term symptoms and the major symptom which is caused when PCOS is left unattended and untreated for long term is that it causes INFERTILITY which is the main concern for every female out there.

PCOS - PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome

Poly - many
Cyst - little fluid filled bags in the ovaries due to hormonal imbalance.

Now, we know the science part of PCOS. Let's talk about how it is caused and is spreading like a wildfire among girls.

The main reason for ANY health disease is SUGAR in all kinds of food we take. Yes, that's the only evil thing which is worse and making you addicted to all kinds of unhealthy food and diet and thus leading you to be prone to illnesses like PCOS.

As Indians, especially girls, we can't just avoid Sugar all the time. It's nearly impossible. People THINK they have sweet tooth and thats why they crave for sweets all the time. NO. It's all in your head and although I don't have a sweet tooth, I'm a foodie and I love to eat desserts every now and then and used to get dessert and chocolate cravings as a part of my PMS (which I don't suffer from anymore). When I tell you that you can easily stop your sugar/sweet cravings, please believe me cuz you can! If I can do it, anyone can do it.

Now, since we as humans have evolved so much that we have ALL different foods that involve sugar and hidden sugars in them which is making our health go worse. All you have to do is educate yourself about these foods which you think is healthy but actually NOT at all healthy if taken in huge amounts every. single. day.

Another main reason to be prone to not just PCOS but many ailments is being in our own COMFORT ZONE and LACK OF EXERCISE. Lack of physical movement, and no, by that I don't mean just walking here and there and calling it as an exercise at the end of the day. If you look at our ancestors and the women especially, they used to have big families and there is work always for them to be engaged in. Now we have all kinds of comforts and don't bother ourselves with helping mom in the kitchen, not bothering about yoga, early morning jogging, etc., cuz we are addicted to being in our own comfort zone.

So, two causes:

1) SUGAR.
2) LACK OF PHYSICAL MOVEMENT.

Now, lets talk about how one can cure PCOS problem naturally.

Now, I have already talked (link) about how Carbohydrates (includes sugars too) are the main cause of many problems in every body's life. Please keep your carb intake as LOW as possible. Consume only and ONLY healthy carbs in your diet. I know its very difficult to cut out all carbs from your daily food intake but make it gradual and you'll eventually end up having your own perfect diet if you're consistent about it.

Unhealthy Carbohydrates:

Refined flours like maida, store bought refined attas to make rotis/chapattis, all kinds of white and brown bread since they're refined, white or basmati long grain rice, pasta, noodles, etc.

Healthy Carbohydrates:

Millets like raagi, jowar, sorghum, rolled oats (NOT steel cut oats), brown rice, black rice, etc.

So, unhealthy carbohydrates are the ones which you should absolutely and ruthlessly cut out from your diet. Don't expect results when you've cheat days to eat Burgers and Pizzas from fast food centres. Btw, did I tell you that you can make your own burger and pizza if you are just a lil bit creative and that you can replace those unhealthy carbs with healthy ones? Follow few Keto recipes on YouTube to get some ideas about how to make your own pizza and you can absolutely have as many pizzas as you want without worrying about the carbs anymore!

The second thing is that you've to include some kind of exercise in your routine even if its just for half an hour. Run, jog, yoga, zumba, weight lifting, whatever it is, just include it and you'll have wonderful results and you'll feel more positive than before!

Here's my short diet plan which I am following since two months:

Since I'm doing Intermittent Fasting, I have only Brunch and Dinner in huge quantities with 5-6 hours gap between each meal and rest of the time, I fast.

Brunch:

Almonds + Walnuts +
Veg dry curry/rolled oats or leafy veg curry (spinach mostly) + 1 boiled egg + paneer + keera + sometimes carrot (once or twice in a week) + berries (indian blackberry, strawberry, etc) or any kind of fruit (except banana) but not in huge quantities. (Include flaxseed rotis or raagi rotis along with veg curry if you prefer so).

Dinner:

Flaxseed rotis (2)/Raagi, Jowar rotis + veg/non veg curry (keep a check on your protein intake if you're eating non veg) + 1 cheese omelette.

On weekends, I have brown/black rice with lentils. I also include pan pizzas or burgers whenever I can. I also have dark chocolates like once in a month or two months. Desserts whenever I'm at home.

See, I don't miss out on tasty food while being on this diet!

I cook everything with healthy fats like ghee, butter, cold pressed coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil. NO REFINED OILS.

So, this is my short diet plan. You too can make changes according to your own body needs and come up with a diet plan which suits you. Please listen to your body, DO NOT starve your body. Healthy eating is called healthy only when you don't feel starvation and only when you meet your daily doses of minerals and vitamins.

P.S.: I've suffered from PCOS since almost 8 years now and I have recently come across Keto diet (low carbs, medium protein, high fats) which really helped me with my PCOS problem. This is my second month being on Keto. Let's talk more about this personally if you're interested.

Disclaimer: I'm not a dietitian. I'm not a Doctor. Do not start any kind of diet if you're suffering from serious health conditions. Please talk with your Doctor before taking any kind of decisions about your diet.

Please share this information with someone you know who is suffering from PCOS.

Sources: A shout out to my friend on Instagram: @sahityamadabhushi (A Doctor) for educating me about healthy carbs.

Links:

1. Dr. Eric Berg (Do watch all his videos on PCOS and Keto Diet).
2. Beer Biceps (Do watch his Keto recipes and PCOS meal plans).

Comments are welcome. Doctors, if you're reading this post, please leave your feedback.

Why am I on Keto all of a sudden?

So, I am finally trying to use my over active mind at night which doesn’t let me sleep to write down everything that’s happening in my life and in my mind.

Today, I wanna share something which I came across on June 1st, 2018 and how everything has changed now (July 24th, 2018).

I was on and off Twitter and that has become my go to social media website to get my daily dose of peeping into others lives and being up to date with politics which I don’t understand but try to.

I have finally decided that I should be off Twitter for few days and spend most of my time with my parents because I would be leaving for studies again to Delhi in a month.

So, while I was away from Twitter, the only source of entertainment I encouraged was watching YouTube videos. It’s very tricky with YouTube. You watch one cute puppy/kitty video and you spend rest of your day going through each and every one of them suggested by YouTube. So, I started watching more science videos, beauty related videos cuz I finally decided to take care of my skin and follow a skin routine. In that way, I have come across many videos suggested by YouTube about Veeramachineni Ramakrishna and his diet. At first, I thought it was just another fad and didn’t even bother to check any of his videos. But I have come to know that one of my friend’s sister was following his diet and lost few kilos over the course of a month without any stressful exercises. I thought I should give it a try and watch some videos on it and I did. I immediately got bored of it and didn’t bother about him for another 2–3 days until YouTube started suggesting me videos on Keto Diet.

I always come across this particular Doctor named Eric Berg and it irritated me a lot that I decided to watch one video and just be done with my curiosity and YouTube’s constant pestering about his videos.

You believe it or not, coming across his videos has been the best thing that has ever happened in my life. I started with one video but ended up binge watching MOST of his videos !!

So now, let’s talk about Keto.

Disclaimer: I am not a dietitian, not a doctor. I’m just someone who has experimented with Keto and found that it is the best diet or should I scratch that and say Keto = being on a healthy lifestyle and not just simply a diet? So, please consult your doctor before starting Keto if you’re suffering from serious health conditions. Although, I recommend you to keep reading this post and my future posts to know more about what I know about being on Keto.

Basic thumb rule to make other people understand Keto is that the food which you eat on Keto is: Low Carbohydrates(5%), Medium Protein(20%), High Fats(75%). These are called Macro nutrients which you should take on a daily basis. There are reasons why you should take these macros in that certain ratios.

Let me go one by one.

But first, lemme tell you what’s the meaning of the word “keto/ketone”?

Our body has two sources of fuel from which it derives energy and let’s you do work which you usually do. You burn calories when you’re working out and even when you’re resting/sleeping. The two sources are: Glucose and Ketones.

The easiest available source for fuel to our body is Glucose which we get it from “Carbohydrates”. The second available source is actually Proteins which get converted into Carbohydrates if you take too much protein. This is called gluconeogenesis. I’m not going to go in detail about this because its just too much science to discuss here. The third available (also second) source for fuel is “Ketones” which is a by product of burning fat i.e., if you don’t consume too much Protein.

At this point, lemme ask you a question. Do you eat rotis/chapattis as a part of your diet and still wondering why you don’t reduce weight? You will find your answer soon. 😁

So, whenever you eat foods which have lots of carbohydrates in it, like, rice, rotis, potatoes, starchy vegetables, sugar, bread, cereal, pasta, noodles, etc., these foods get converted into glucose and you’re going to get energy through glucose and NOT from your fats. Even if you consume less quantity of fats, if you’re a fat person, then your body will never be able to access that extra fat reserve in your body if you keep eating high carb foods.

What is a ketone though?

Ketone is a by product, a fuel, which gets produced when you BURN fat! The main point of being on a keto diet is to burn FAT and NOT CARBS as a fuel to your body. In this way, you’d be burning that extra fat which is stored in your body since ages!!!

But what happens if you’re on a high protein, low carbs, low fat diet? Wouldn’t that be beneficial?

NO.

When you consume too much protein, the body will take only that much amount of protein which is required by your body and the extra protein will be AGAIN converted into Carbohydrates, thus, making you be on Glucose fuel even though you consume low carbs. That’s the reason why you should keep your protein intake as medium.

Also, if you’re on a high protein, your uric acid levels will increase and you’ll eventually get gout or kidney stones because of it.

Do you know anyone who is on high protein?

I actually do. Two people in my life. One always eats only dal/lentils in her diet and ended up getting kidney stones and the other one was on high protein diet which means he ate lots of meat, as its considered healthy by many people which is actually not and he ended up getting gout.

How is it healthy to be on Low Carbs and High fats?! Isn’t that just the opposite of what you’ve heard all these days that Fat is the most harmful and evil thing in one’s diet?

Actually, no. It’s a big fat lie and a myth. Consuming fats, let me correct that word, HEALTHY FATS has never been a cause for concern if you just look at our ancestors food eating habits. They only consumed ghee, butter, unrefined coconut oils as a source of their fats and to cook food with it. What we use for fat or for cooking all kinds of dishes is “refined” oils which is THE most harmful thing on Earth right now. Just because it’s cheap, easily available, and the advertisements say all kinds of false things to make people buy their products, doesn’t mean its healthy.

The only oils which you should be using for cooking on a daily basis is, butter, ghee, cold pressed coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil, and other oils which are considered to be healthy, but NEVER EVER choose refined oils since oil is the most basic thing and the most common cause of many diseases.

So, when you make your body go low on carbs, you’ll eventually get into Ketosis. That means, your body will start adapting to this new fuel source from Fats. You’ve no idea how good you feel when your body burns fat for fuel ALL DAY! It’s the most cleanest fuel your body can get!

Believe me, this is just my second month on being Keto and there are many changes that has taken place in my body that am going to share one after another in my future posts.

But, why does our body burn carbs to get glucose as our primary energy source if burning fat is SO good to our health?

Well, wouldn’t you like to throw away the garbage out of your house first and THEN make it tidy and beautiful to be presentable?

Apply the same logic to your body. It burns carbs first because it wants to get rid of the least useful source of energy first and then use fat as your fuel. But, how can you access or tap into that fuel if you keep feeding your body more and more carbs on a daily basis, 3 times a day?

You can’t. You simply can’t. All you gotta do is reduce your carb intake as low as possible. Like really really low and no, it’s not an impossible task to achieve because if I can do this, you can too. 😊

I have been on keto for 2 months and now I clearly understand why it is called a “lifestyle” and not a “diet”.

Any diet which you’ve come across till now would most probably tell you to keep your calorie count less (they wouldn’t mention about the macros which are very vital to your diet), which usually translates to “starve yourself”. But, that’s not the case with keto. You need not starve yourself on keto, you can have as much food as you want without worrying about the number of calories you’re consuming(that doesn’t mean you should go overboard with it..it only means that you need to eat enough to satisfy yourself) and there are SO many variety of options available to you on Keto that you never run out of tasty food if you could just have some patience and creativity to make your own food. You can eat any kind of dish as long as it doesn’t have carbs and sugar in it. Just trust me on this, I would have never imagined that I would be so full and satiated without any cravings for something which I don’t cook because that’s how tasty the food is on Keto until my next meal (which is 6–7 hours time period between my two meals since I’m on Intermittent Fasting).

You might be thinking that you would definitely miss having rice or your favourite rotis/parathas…but if you just wrap your head around the fact that carbs are harmful and leads to many ailments if consumed in huge amounts, then you wouldn’t feel their absence at all because there are all kinds of healthy options to substitute your cravings for rice and rotis or cakes or chocolates!

Many people I know in my life are foodies and I bet they would be worried if I just mention the word “diet” to them because that means they don’t get to taste all kinds of different foods in the world. But, I don’t think you would miss much if you’re on Keto because I’m a foodie myself and I feel a lot better being on Keto than being off Keto and eating all kinds of nonsense in the name of being a “foodie”.

In my next post, I’m going to talk more about how you can keep your carbs low, What are healthy carbs and unhealthy carbs, How you can actually reduce the carb intake on a daily basis.

I am also going to talk about how I am curing my PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) of which I am a victim since almost 8 years now by being on Keto and how I reduced 9 kilos in two months WITHOUT exercise!

I will eventually talk about my diet plans which I am still working on to be perfect in my macro intake and calorie intake.

Do you know about Intermittent Fasting? If you don’t, you’ll soon and you’ll know many magical benefits of being on Intermittent Fasting (IF) which am already on!

Lemme know your views about Keto in comment section and feel free to ask any kind of question.

If you’re a doctor who is reading this post, please take lil' time from your busy schedule and educate us about advantages and disadvantages of being on Keto and your general opinion about Keto.

Why 13 Reasons Why?

Nah, this post is not about the review of the TV Show “13 Reasons Why”.

There was a lot of hype in the last few weeks for “13 Reasons Why”. Although I had exams, I couldn’t contain my curiosity to start a new series any longer(2 more exams left, easy ones, so excuse me). So, I too joined with them to know what it’s all about. Yes, I knew the show was about a girl who committed suicide. But, I didn’t expect the screenplay to be that way. Mind-blowing. It’s like re-defining the “hunting game” we all played (or still play) during our childhood, but only this time it’s about hunting for the truth. The truth about Hannah’s suicide. Why? Why did she do what she did?

This show has taken over a special place in my heart. Many have said that this show is boring, slow, and depressing. I didn’t find it that way. As I like to read books, a person narrating about their story with their point of view is totally interesting to me. It’s like reading a book about someone’s personal life and that is narrated by the same person we’re reading about.

If we are playing a game called “Tell the antonyms of this or that”, I would probably say “13 Reasons Why” is a total opposite of "Easy A" movie. Just my observation.

Well, the reason why this show has a special place in my heart is because, I had suicide tendencies too. If you follow my blog regularly, you would have read my Suicide Letter by now. Another reason is, a boy in my University recently committed suicide. I don’t know him personally. I didn’t even know a person like that existed in our University until he committed suicide.

Well, I will tell an even more depressing fact than the boy’s suicide in few minutes if you keep reading.

We planned for a farewell party the next day and we were busy decorating the room with all the ribbons, balloons, and posters. The whole day was so beautiful and fun, everyone co-ordinating to do something special for our seniors. And then suddenly, one of our classmates barges in and tells that “some” guy committed suicide. We were like, whaaaaa…t? I couldn’t believe what I heard and I was 98% sure that it could be a rumour. How could such a fun day suddenly turn into a gloomy day? Nah, that’s impossible. It must be a rumour.

But, no. It wasn’t. He really committed suicide and no one has any clue why he did what he did.

There we are, putting up posters which says “Let’s party!” and all of a sudden we hear the “suicide” news. See the irony that life brings you? Well, it was clear that day. Life is full of unexpected ironies like that. You never know when a storm will hit you when you’re quietly enjoying the wind in your hair.

I and one of my classmates have decided to stop the decorations and head back to our hostel since it was pretty late by then. On the way, we still couldn’t believe that the news was true and so we stopped a group of girls, who are practically strangers to us, to know if it was really true. And yes, they confirmed and it sent chills down my spine, to know that a guy ACTUALLY committed suicide when I just had suicide tendencies not more than a year ago.

Nope, I still haven’t come to the worst part yet.

So, me and my classmate were walking back, talking about why and how he could do it when he is in his full 20’s? How would his parents feel about this when they are like 1,8971 Kms away? How would their classmates feel like when they see an empty seat tomorrow in the class? How would their friends feel when they eat in the canteen and he is not with them and not going to be with them forever?

When you think about it, it’s going to affect every single person he ever had any contact with.

So, we reached our rooms and I got freshened up. I was pretty hungry by then so I came to mess to have some food. I was visibly very very sad. Everyone could tell that and everyone was asking if I was okay or not. And one of my other classmates asked too. Let’s call her “A”. This was the conversation between us:

A: Hey!

Me: Heyy…

A: Are you okay? You look so sad!

Me: Yeah, I am, you know, the suicide…

(she walks off giving some kind of expression meaning that she doesn’t want to talk about it anymore)

*She invites me to her table after few minutes, and I go*

A: So, you okay now?

Me: I am. I will be.

A: You know… we actually should form a group and go and talk to Vice Chancellor if they decide to postpone our exams due to this suicide. And, what about tomorrow's party?

*I was literally yelling at her in my mind. WHY THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT EXAMS, NOW? WHO EVEN TALKED ABOUT POSTPONING EXAMS? AND, PARTY!!?? ARE YOU SERIOUS? OF COURSE, YOU CAN HAVE YOUR OWN CONCERNS BUT GIVE IT A DAY AT LEAST! A BOY JUST COMMITTED SUICIDE FFS!*

But actually, I just asked: Doesn’t this affect you in any way?

A: No. Why should it? Who is he to me? (and she shrugs her shoulders) *with an expression so convoluted as if I asked the most stupidest question ever*

--

Nope. I’m not exaggerating and I’m not even paraphrasing our conversation. I could still hear this conversation ringing in my ears whenever I think about it as clear as the day.

And, that’s it. I lost it. How can a suicide not affect you? How can a whole person who has vanished from earth, not affect you? How can you NOT think about others who could over-hear you is probably his classmate? You have walked the same roads he has walked before, you are going to eat in the same canteen he ate all these days. How can that not be profound enough for you? Could you at least have some respect for the dead?

Ugh!

The disgust I had for her that day is, I can’t even put it in words. All I could say is, whenever I see her from that day on, my whole body, literally hates her. Not just my mind, EVERY organ in my body HATES her for the words uttered by her.

So yeah, that’s the worst thing I ever heard in my whole life. That is why, I could connect to “13 Reasons Why” more than anyone could.

Oh btw, I am just 3 episodes in to this show when I wrote this.

Second day - Hampi

We lazily woke up at 8 in the morning. I was still feeling sleepy as we got out of our room to explore Hampi. I love my morning tea but I make sure to avoid having tea when I am outside my home cuz I have high expectations on tea and no one could make one like my mom. But, somehow I gave in to this morning drowsiness and had a tea just a few steps outside our room. I guess, that guy is one among very few people I came across in my entire life who is very close to making tea JUST like my mom. How many people you can find in your life who can make something JUST like your mom? It’s rare. That made my morning.

Other than books and tea, the one thing I can’t resist is beautiful hats! As we were wandering through Hampi Bazaar, my eyes fell on this beautiful white hat adorned with blue and pink nylon strip. I fell in love with it and I had to have that immediately! Believe me, purchasing that hat helped me a lot with the sun everywhere I went. :D

By this time, I was pretty hungry and searching for a good place to eat. People usually tend to have breakfast under shade, a nice hotel with a stable roof over them or a place where there were too many people which makes you think that food tastes really good there cuz too many people are there in one place. But, we came across this woman who has a small stall with only dosa, idly, and tea to offer. My friend who is from North is a fan of Dosas. :P So we both agreed up on eating dosas for 

breakfast.

I am telling you, if you go to Hampi, this is the best place to have Dosas. She makes authentic dosas, not the usual hotel made dosas, with very good chutney and aloo to the side. We had enough dosas to last for an entire day. :P

Let me skip the details about the architecture of Hampi and what to see and what not to see cuz many people on the internet already have a lot of suggestions for you.

But, please DO NOT miss the sunset from Hemakuta Hill’s sunset point. It was so magnificently beautiful that I felt like melting away with sun and be a part of the twilight with so many colors in the sky. It was so stunningly beautiful and calm to be present at that point that am sure nobody could describe you about the intensity of that beautiful place and you MUST see it with your own eyes.

--

When we went inside Virupaksha Temple, one interesting thing happened. We became so thirsty climbing up all the rocks and climbing down again and walking on our foot to visit all the temples that we finished almost 2-3 bottles of water. There were so many monkeys in and around the temple, walking, jumping, and playing among humans without any fear. One monkey was sitting and just minding its own business. My friend thought he should have some fun and was trying to disturb it. Suddenly it tried to grab the bottle from our bag and I thought it is just making a retort because of my friend. Later, we thought it could be thirsty and that was its gesture to ask for some water. So, I saw this coconut piece shaped like a bowl and asked my friend to put water in it so that it can sip the water easily.

But what it did was to pour the water from the coconut piece on the ground and started drinking that way. What a beautiful uncivilized one. :D Here I am trying to teach some manners to it. :P

I will be visiting Hampi again in the future to explore more and to see the beautiful sunset just one more time. :)

First Day

How do I start? Where do I start?

People in my life usually ask me this question, “What is the best thing that happened to you in your life? What is that memory which you want to hold on to?”

I guess, now I have the answer. Nothing in my life happened so significantly that I could point out my finger to. Of course, there were many events before, that changed my life, but those warm memories that people look back to, and those beautiful happy moments which you want to hold on to forever, those things have happened in these 15 days.

I’m so glad I took this trip. I think a better part of mine has changed completely after this. Let’s see how much I can talk about these days on my blog.

--

First day:

I said goodbye to my roomies, I was sure as hell that I will be missing them as soon as I step out of the hostel cuz they were all the company I got in this world 24/7, when I needed them the most and even when I didn’t need them at all. :P

That was my first time wearing a backpack. Wildcraft karakoram, 60L. Friend suggested that I buy that one because this is going to be a long trip.

I felt so glad that we were going to travel in a car just after wearing the backpack cuz I was walking like a drunkard with a big load on my back. I underestimated it to be 5-6 kilos, and when my friend saw it, he told it weighs at least 15-17 kilos.

OH MY GOD. I felt like Karnam Malleswari. :P

My friend started in his car from Ahmedabad 2 days back and spent a night in Pune at his friend’s house. I knew he would look like one of those people who are sucked out of life after a long drive from Pune to Gulbarga. And yes, he looked the exact replica of what I imagined him to be. Sucked out of life, scraggy, hair and beard seemed like he didn’t comb for 10 days, sleep deprived. I was happy to see him although I couldn’t express my emotions as always because I got so better at hiding them that it feels like am faking my happiness if I ever tried to show it. I asked whether he slept properly or not in these 2-3 days of journey and he stated as a matter of fact “No. I didn’t.” I felt so sorry. We started from Gulbarga right away and didn’t talk much for good 10-15 minutes. I was overwhelmed at the thoughts running in my mind, about how much could change in these 15 days, how many different people I am going to meet, what all different conversations I am going to get myself involved in, how long I can hold a conversation with another person, how am going to live in a place where no one knows my name, my face, my religion, my past. Every thought was running in my mind with light speed and all I could do was breathe slowly. Thank god, my friend finally started talking.

We reached this unknown village just about time for sunset. There were so many beautiful hills around and all I could do was gaze and appreciate how perfect the nature is. We decided to climb a small rocky hill to have a better view of sunset. So we asked the villager if we could climb the hill or not and as we don’t know kannada, we managed to agree that we actually could climb the “gadda” (“hill” in kannada).

That was my first time climbing any kind of rocky hill of that high! It was not easy. I was panting heavily and almost out of breath as we reached half way of the hill. I even wanted to turn back but my OCD stopped me. I wanted to finish what I started and everything was worth it.

The sunset was SO beautiful that day! It’s been so long that I am surrounded by so much beauty around me. The whole village and the fields were spread as far as my eye could see. I was like, “How lucky are these people who live here and could enjoy the serenity of nature, away from city noise.”

Before we started retreating, I saw this smooth path down the hill that we didn’t know about while climbing up the hill. How could we miss it? Well, I guess that’s what the life is about. We see things more clearly once we reach our goal, the top. We would analyse, “oh wish I took this path…it was more or less easier than the way I took”. But, would it be worth? Would we appreciate the journey after reaching the top if we took any other path than the one we were destined to take? I guess, it’s a no.

Do you know what’s the hardest part of climbing a hill is? It is climbing down the hill without slipping on any rock. And yeah, I had a pretty nasty scar on my left hand cuz I slipped down. First, I thought it was nothing cuz it was SO small that it didn’t hurt at all but it grew on me like this thorn stuck in my left hand that even a little strong wind blowing through my left hand could hurt like hell. It lasted almost my whole trip! 15 days!

It was almost dark by the time we made it to our car. On the way, we waved to this group of women in that village and they waved back with all the sweet giggles! That was one of the happiest moment which is going to be stuck at the back of my mind.

We started to Hampi and I saw one of the clearest skies ever after SO long time that I could see all the constellations I wanted to see like ever! Without the city lights around us, I was totally in bliss looking at the sky, looking at the Orion belt, looking at the Jupiter! It was a beautiful long drive I ever experienced!

We reached to Hampi at exactly 12 in the midnight. We were worried about getting a room cuz it was too late by the time we reached. But, as we entered Hampi, two guys approached us asking “Room chahiye madam? Room chahiye Sir?” Well, I was relieved hearing that cuz I started to worry about safety late at night.

We finally entered to one guest house and the guy asked us to pay 1300/- for a night! Wtf? What for? The room was not even that big and we only need some space to sleep cuz we wouldn’t even stay in the room since we will be out roaming. We finally agreed up on 800/- per night. Even that seemed a lot to me. If only we made it to Hampi by 6pm or so.

Well, that was my first day. I did something which I never imagined I would do. I saw something so beautiful after so long. All I could think of was “Life is beautiful”. :)

What is the rudest thing you have ever done?

So like, this question was posted on Quora and I have answered it long back but now felt like sharing it on my blog although I feel silly about this and also my blog is eerily silent now a days without any personal posts. So here you go.

My mom and dad come from a very poor family. They don't have 0.5% of the luxuries which I am enjoying right now. Especially, my mom didn't have enough food in their large family of 7 members. She wasn't lucky with studies either. As she didn't have proper education and since she needs to work and study at the same time, she discontinued her studies after 9th grade.

But, thanks to her luck that she found the most handsome and down-to-earth person in the world to marry. My father too comes from a very poor family background. He used to work as a coolie to pay his college fees (his brother and his dad used to work too but that wasn't suffice to feed the whole family of 6 members) and all that. Now, he is in a very good position that he doesn't think twice when I asked if I could pursue my studies in abroad.

So, I was in my 6th grade and that summer, my parents decided to take me to this famous exhibition which was going on in Hyderabad(we used stay in a town at that time and a trip to Hyderabad costs us pretty much). Like a kid I am, I used to throw tantrums "I want this! I want that!". My dad, however, doesn't say no to me because its just once in a year that we go to Hyderabad for such trips and likes to spend as much as he could. But, mom, you know how moms are when it comes to "saving money". At the end of the day, its me who wins at getting things done.

So, we bought this delicious wafers which was in chocolate flavor among other food items and some other things which was needed for my education.

One day, I decided to eat the wafers all by myself. You have NO idea how tasty they were and my taste buds could still remember that taste! So, I go running and was yelling at top of my voice telling that I have eaten the wafers without leaving anything.

Mom: WHAT!? You ate everything without sharing with me? How could you do that? We only go once in a year or once in two years and I don't get anything to taste! At least a tiny bit of it!? I do all this work and you can't even think of sharing it with me?

Me: ...

I mentioned that our family comes from a poor background cuz she never had a chance to taste different food items. And, when she has at times like that, it was me who didn't share it with her.

I didn't cry that day. But, that moment froze in my mind like forever! Even today I feel SO bad (I even cried few times) for not sharing at least a tiny bit of what we bought from the city. She does all the hard work without complaining ever. She roamed with me for an entire 4-5 hours in that exhibition and I didn't show even a tiny bit of gratitude towards her. I know I am a child and I couldnt think of "sharing" with someone else, but, I was rude to her, wasn't I? I still remember the anger and helplessness on her face. Whenever I think of this incident it breaks my heart and that I couldn't share that delicious wafer with her and that I could never see the happiness in her eyes for sharing it with her.

After that day, I have learnt a lesson about "sharing". I never ever ate something without asking my mom whether she likes to have it or not. Sometimes, I even force her to just to taste because I am trying to compensate for the mistake I have done years ago. I know she wouldn't remember that day, but I feel so sad even today for robbing her off having small pleasure like tasting a wafer.

Well, this all seems so silly now after writing a long para but that's the only rudest thing I could think of. -_-