My World

  Afternoon tea has always seemed as a sophisticated activity to me, something fancy, and something Fairy tale like and royal or something I have only seen at movies. It was a British thing in my mind. While here in Bangalore, I happened to notice the Spring High Tea taking place in Four Seasons Hotel. And I could not help but go to our first intimate tea affair at the Four Seasons Hotel. The place looked royal and romantic was my initial thoughts. We had requested for a window seat overlooking the beautiful pool and the greenery surrounding the hotel, and what a view it was. When our high tea set came in, I almost didn’t want to eat it because it looked so pretty. An array of finger sandwiches, tea cakes, mousse and delicate bites spread over the table with a choice of butter, jam and honey, woven with flowers on the tray.   It was straight out of a dream. My husband was hesitant to join me in this endeavor. Afternoon tea seems more of a girl's thing, he had said. But ...

None of us know what happens after we die. Perhaps you only know once you go to the other side. And the ones that have, have no means of letting us know. The body decomposes eventually, if buried or turned into ashes, but what happens to your soul? It his perhaps one of the biggest questions in life, ironically. There are many theories, sure, reincarnation, heaven, hell, just wander less soul wandering, and many, many stories of hauntings. Many of these are backed up by stories. Recently, watching the last episode of Riverdale put this question back in my mind. Riverdale is about the historic Archie Comics. I read a lot of Archie Comics as a child in the early 2000s; I knew the characters by heart. So when I heard about the Riverdale series, I was kind of curious but had not watched the series just yet. I started this September, just when the series had ended in August 2023, after 7 seasons. The first season was pretty gripping and intriguing, a fresh story with the ever so popul...

  My birthdays, as long as I can remember have always been surrounded with family and friends, cake, celebrations, nothing too extreme but close, intimate, personal. As I got older, the birthdays got less exciting; of course, it was only a reminder that I am getting older. But no matter where I went, I always made it back in time to celebrate my birthday with my family. My mornings would start with visiting the Golden Temple with my parents, coming back and taking shagun and   blessings from elders. The first meal of the day consisted of curd and boiled egg, that is then, pan fried: the Nepali way of celebrating birthdays, fond memories. Even after my wedding, I was blessed with the same love and pampering by my husband and my-in-laws It is different this year, though. This year there is no visiting the Golden Temple early in the morning or visiting our regular temples that we know from childhood. This year there is no shagun in my hand   or   tika on my forehead...

  This September weekend, something made us want to be rather a bit sophisticated   and we headed down to the Big Banyan Wines to have our own wine adventures. Having sipped on a glass of their fine Cabernet Sauvignon   not three weeks before that, made us curious, excited, spontaneous even, to see the place these delightful wines were being made. It was a beautiful day when we decided to go out to the winery, our first time, might I add, to see a winery and the vineyards. We have had our fair share of wines but this would be our first time paying a visit to a place where they make it. The place looked promising. Big Banyan Wines is located in the outskirts of Bengaluru, past Kengeri and near Ramohalli. It is tucked away from the city, away from the noise and traffic, in the havens of green. The vineyards is rightfully named after the over 400-year-old Big Banyan tree here and situated only a few miles ahead from the big tree. Founded by Italian guy Lucio Matricardi...