Grace & Gratitude

It was Saturday, but fortunately was better than the other Saturdays which I spend curling up in my bed from Friday night to Saturday evening.  It was Saturday evening, and I casually texted a guy I met at the workspace about the trek, thinking maybe we could go for it, the next weekend. The guy called back, "When are we leaving? Where shall I come?". And on the other hand, I hadn't even decided which trek... Spontaneous plans are the best. In Bengaluru, in the nearby range, i.e. 60-70 km, two treks are famous, Skandagiri Hills Trek and Nandi Hills Trek. Nandi Hills trek is a short one, 4 km, to and fro. Skandagiri is difficult and is 9 km to and fro. Finally, 8-9 months after coming to Bengaluru, I was about to go on a trek, for real. Three of us.  We boarded the trek bus...from where? Well, does that really matter? And like kids and adults, we had wanted 'the window' seat. One of us gave up. But I and the other guy, didn't. So we took the window seats. In th

"You never know your limits until you push yourself to them"   Last night my friend reminded me "You were going to post a blog every month, what happened to it?" Today after hitting my new maximum pace, I am here to write 'on running'. It's really difficult to remember when I actually started running. As a 10-year-old the maximum distance I could hit was 200 meters at a great pace. As an 11-year-old, I absolutely hated running. At 600 meters I used to get blackouts. The thought of running even just 1 kilometre used to be one of my worst nightmares, and the idea of running 10 kilometres was out of my sight. It was the CoVid time when I ordered a new pair of running shoes and just went to a nearby park and started running. That was the beginning, which came to an end really soon. After diligently playing football, I discovered my untapped potential and stamina, realizing that I was no longer experiencing blackouts. However, my football sessions abruptly en

It's only been two weeks since I arrived here, and I swear my life hasn't been as eventful as it is now. Some things have happened offline, and some online, but this city has turned out to be a lucky one for me, at least for now. For the past few months, working from home had put me in a sweet comfort zone. Coming to Bengaluru felt like stepping into a completely new world. When I landed at Bengaluru airport, all I remember was being anxious and scared. While working from home, it was all "Eat. Code. Sleep. Repeat." But here, it is about meeting new people, pursuing new hobbies, networking with people from different domains, and most importantly, exploring my area of interest. The excitement of meeting new people made me nervous initially, but I eventually met some amazing people and had great discussions with them. Some online friends became offline friends, and unfortunately, it was the other way around as well, but that's how it goes. I started pursuing my inte

I was just scrolling through my phone gallery, and I came across the pictures from Rishikesh. The holy Rishikesh. In February 2020, just a few days before lockdown, we planned a sudden trip to Rishikesh. How it was planned, or how long it was, doesn't really matter. The only thing that matters is the only adventure we had there, the river rafting. This was the second-best thing that happened in 2020. The first is that I got my first SDE internship. My first river rafting. My relationship with the deep water isn't really good. And above that, I don't even know how to swim. But I wasn't scared of it. Adventures never scared me; the only thing I would like to go on even on the last day of my life. Though the definitions of adventures differ for everyone, mine is different like everyone else. So, I saw the Ganges for the first time, unlike what is described in the science textbooks. It reflected the bluish-green colour, surrounded by majestic mountains. Wow! couldn't be

I personally love Sundays very much if, by chance, I don't spend them just dozing in my bed or cleaning house, taking off the co-webs and listening to my aunt about how filthy my room is. Else Sundays are splendid. Today, nobody is at home, so the atmosphere is really peaceful. Since the covid started, I hardly remember when I spent my day alone and this stillness. That's just one reason to love Sundays. Another is it gives you a chance to heal from the past week, from the regret of not accomplishing tasks or not doing exercise, or the day when you were supposed to be functioning, but you were just stretching like a cat and blaming the damn winter. So, Sunday is meant to wash off all the sins and start fresh. (At least to think that this week will be much better than the past one) I wrote all my sins in the dawning and promised myself to be sounder this week. (Don't tell me that promises are made to break :P). And then I went to explore my city. Though I call this my hometo