What is Home?!!

This question is bothering me for last few weeks. What is Home? Is it a house with four walls? Or is it the people you live with? If the people also move out of the house will it make any change? Does it bother you less? I am living outside my city from last 2 years. I moved there with the person I loved the most. But still something is missing. It's not like that my new home or city is not treating me well. It welcomes me wholeheartedly.  

It gives me warm hugs and blesses me with rains. Even as I write this, so many beautiful faces flash in my mind. Although they are now far away from my sight. Whenever my flight touches down on the land of my hometown, I feel that I am free here. Of course, there's another level of excitement rushing through my mind and body to meet the known faces, but the fragrance of the city makes me feel alive. It makes me feel that I don't need to wear a mask of professionalism or need any kind of filtration. Because the city knows it all.

The roads, the flyover, metro, footbridge, buses, yellow taxis, and trams - all of the modes know every single story which you never shared with anyone. The hours you spent leaning on the window pane, brooding over life, trust me, they know it all. The city knows when you first cried for a balloon. When you roamed around the city holding your parents' hands. When you were in awe looking at the decoration of Durga Puja pandal or the big Christmas tree in front of Park Street. When you got scared to look at the swarm of people in the maidan to enjoy the book fair. And you held your mother's finger tightly. The first school picnic, the first family tour, the first fight with friends - this city knows all stories. My teenage rebellion phase, scrimmage with my sister, bunking classes in college, and sneaking out with friends to roam around Victoria Memorial - my city knows my secrets.

When I cried after the first heartbreak, my city of joy soothed me. When I didn't want to cry in front of anyone, my city knew my safe shelter. I vividly remember the day without saying anything to anyone, I took a metro ride and reached St. Paul Cathedral church just to cry in front of Jesus. There was no one in between us. Jesus knows my sorrows.

When I finally found the man of my life, the city knew the first heartbeat I felt. The feeling of holding his hands and roaming around the city freely, falling in love, and getting married here - the city knows it all.

My city, my secret holder, and my confidant - I love you. I miss you. I badly want to come back.

You are my home my house my city. 

One day I will come back for sure, even when I may not be as young, I envision myself sitting in a coffee house, recalling all the cherished memories we've shared. I can never forget. Despite not offering many amenities, your comforting embrace is unmatched. You are my sanctuary, my abode, my city.

A Thankless Job

 Happy National Flower Day!

On March 21st, we celebrate National Flower Day to evoke the beautiful season of Spring. Spring is the season of color and fragrance. After the cold and chilly winter when all the greenery of nature slept for a while, it's an alluring way to muse upon the colors of nature.

Have you ever given thought to the fact that all of these beauties of nature wake up in the morning and fill the air with hue and colors but never expect anything from us?

These miniature elements of nature bloom every single day to embellish Mother Nature, as if they are the ornaments or jewels of nature. Just as women like to accessorize themselves, it's our Mother Nature's joy to adorn the flowers. In our humdrum life with a basic routine, we often forget to enjoy the beauty of nature. And then, we post with a hashtag using a new trendy word, feeling FOMO. It's true that in our busy lineup schedule, it's tough to take out time. But when technology grasps our minds and compels us to look at the screen, it becomes our duty to look up and immerse ourselves in the beauty of nature.

Whenever you are walking on the road or simply gazing at the full moon at night, it will bring you more comfort than anything else in the world. The sound of dry leaves and the colors of flowers are much more realistic than filters. I pledge that whenever I hit the road for a trip without any workload, I pay my respects to all the smallest elements of nature. I say thank you to them for making my life and my surroundings so colorful.

The same goes for people as well. There are so many people who are making our lives easier through their contributions, but we never say thanks to them. If you are reading this, my urge to you is that if you find someone who is making your life easier or more beautiful through their smallest contribution, say thank you to them. For me, "Thank you" is not just a formal word but a small word to convey that we are grateful to have you beside us.

Thanks to everyone who reads my blogs and encourages me to write more and more.

Passion and Profession

 It's been a long time since I've written anything. Honestly, I've almost forgotten how much I used to love expressing my thoughts through writing. After a prolonged period of dusting off my skills and reconnecting with my inner writer, today, I want to dedicate this particular blog to some special people whom I dearly love. I might not have met these beautiful souls if it weren't for my profession.

Let me start with a thank-you note. Thank you so much, my Baccha Party; my life would be incomplete without you.

As you can deduce from the name of my blog, today I will talk about my profession. I am among the fortunate few who have turned their passion into a profession. Professionally, I am a teacher—the creator of all professions in the entire world. When I was in 2nd or maybe 3rd grade, I firmly decided that I would become a teacher.

Honestly, I never wanted to be just a teacher to my students. I always endeavored to be their friend, philosopher, and guide. I believe that the core essence needed to become a good teacher is love, empathy, and patience. A teacher's duty is not only to teach the syllabus but also to prepare students for life. A school is the second home for any child, and teachers are their second parents. Therefore, it becomes our responsibility to make them comfortable enough to speak their hearts out without hesitation. A teacher always leaves an impression on the minds of children, which can be either good or bad, depending on the teacher's ability to handle the child's psychology. Sometimes, it takes a toll on teachers when they have to handle a lot all at once.

Teaching is a profession where we need to step down one step so that our children can move ahead.

Speaking from my personal experience, I have been in this profession for the last 12 years. I started as a private tutor and then gradually became a teacher in a school. Every year, I meet so many students, each with their unique identity, which never fails to amuse me. I see myself in them, as I've never truly left my school life behind. Thus, I never got the opportunity to miss my school. As a teacher, I have always been fortunate to receive unconditional love from my kids. I don't like the idea of calling them my students; I prefer to address them lovingly as my kids or baccha.

I don't know how much of an impact I have made in their lives, but in my life, they are my rainbow. Their happy faces bring me joy, while their sad faces bring darkness. Sometimes, I become emotional seeing them grow up. The first student I ever taught is now in 12th standard—it feels surreal. When I look back, so many faces and memories flood my mind, and I cherish all the moments I've spent with my students.

I truly believe I am blessed to have chosen—or perhaps it was destiny that made me—a teacher. I couldn't find more happiness and love in any other profession.

However, it's also one of the most stressful jobs in the world, emotionally and physically draining. Then there are people who ask, "How much do you earn?"

In my opinion, it's not about the materialistic things you earn in life, but rather about doing the same thing every day with the same passion. When passion becomes your profession, you've already won half the battle. You need to find your spark whenever you feel trapped in the same routine. Trust me, if you don't love your job, it's difficult to survive for long, as eventually, you'll stop enjoying your workplace and everything will become mundane.

Whatever you do in life, do it with passion. Although there's another side to the coin—most people, especially in our country, never get the opportunity to follow their passion. But let's save that topic for another day.

For now, let's end the chit-chat. See you next time.

WHAT WOMAN WANT

What Woman Want??
Sorry, but being a "WOMAN" even I can't crack the answer. I have tried though. Trust Me, but I can't. Most of the men are often sarcastically asked WHAT WOMAN WANT? I am sorry to say all the "MEN" out there but you also don't know what you want either.
During this Lockdown period I gave it
a little bit time. Don't worry I have thought about it after finishing my duties. ☺️☺️ What I have realized that its not about only Woman who doesn't know what she wants. We, human beings both Man and Woman never figure it out what we want. Everyone wants to be the most sorted person in life. At least they pretend to do so. We try too hard to separate Black and White and ended up mixing it. When the situation turns into Grey we do not know in which way to go. It happens with everyone of us. Being confused about your desires is pretty normal I guess. So why people always make it a big fuss that What Woman Want? We, women express ourselves may be in an emotional and weird way. Men expressed it may be in a more practical way. Our approach may be different but at core of our heart we all are same. May be we should just sit and be compassionate about each other a little bit. When we will nag next time try to understand it and when you will be frustrated we try to make the situation easier for you (even though we do it). Both men and women go through a lot in their respective life journey. We are not judging you. We don't have the luxury for it. So, please stop judging us with the PHRASE "WHAT WOMAN WANT"?
Let's just sit with a cup of tea and try to Re-phrase the line "WHAT WE WANT?"  
   

Maybelline New York Colossal Liner Black & Blue Heaven Sketch Liner

Today I'm gonna talk about two essential makeup product of my makeup bag. As you guys all know that I'm crazy about makeup. I couldn't go out without putting Kajal or Eye Liner. Most of girls like bold eyes. Wing Liner is a trend right now. So it's very important to choose a correct eye-liner for your precious eyes.

Maybelline New York Colossal and Blue Heaven Sketch Eye liner, these are the two products I swear by.
I always keep two liners and two kajals in my makeup kit bag. If I'm heading out for a long day or I'm going for a party then I prefer to use a long lasting and smudge proof eyeliner. On the other hand If I'm going to have a coffee or going out for 2-3 hours I prefer to use a pocket friendly one. These two products which I've mentioned are the perfect combination of my need.

Maybelline New York Colossal Liner Black 

Currently I'm a complete fan of this product. It's bold black in color and a perfect sketch tip allows me to get a perfect wing liner or a cat liner. Another advantage of this product is it dries out very quickly. It gives a

Maybelline New York Colossal Liner Black

matte finish and glides smoothly. My face tend to sweat a lot specially eye area. So, I totally swear by this one. After wearing it almost 6-7 hours or more than that I can say it didn't smudge a bit. It's water proof so in rainy days your wing liner wouldn't fly away for sure.

Price : Rs. 450/-

Shade : Black

Discount From Nykaa : 25% (Rs. 338/-)  

 

Now Nykaa is giving a great sale on the occasion of their birthday. So you can buy it in a very reasonable price.

Blue Heaven Sketch Liner

This is the third time I've bought it. I'm obsessed with this one. My makeup kit is incomplete without this

Blue Heaven Sketch Liner

particular product. When I travel I completely trust on this. It is also deep black like the Maybelline one. It also has a fine tip which help to draw a perfect wing liner. It too dries out quickly and its matte too. It glides smoothly on your skin too. But what it's disadvantage is it doesn't stay more than 3-4 hours. After that it starts to fade. It's not that much water proof as the Maybelline one. But its advantage is it damn pocket friendly. A beginner makeup explorer can easily afford it.

Price : Rs. 225/-

Shade : Black

Discount From Nykaa : 10% (Rs. 203/-)  

 

Now Nykaa is giving a great sale on the occasion of their birthday. So you can buy it in a very reasonable price.

With Love

**This is not a paid promotion.....
 

CHICKEN WRAP (THE WALKING STREET SANDWICHES)

I wrote two restaurant reviews but what I thought today that its always not possible to try everything at a time in a restaurant or in a food stall. So I come up with a new series called Food Reviews. Wherever or whenever I will eat some thing I will give you my review.

   I will start the series with a very popular food item now-a-days called Chicken Wrap which I had recently tried in Metropolis Mall.

   All the people of South Kolkata knows this place. Metropolis Mall of South Kolkata is one of the best hangout place for everyone. I willn't go on a long description. Keeping it very simple I'll just focus on the food.

CHICKEN WRAP

We were there to have Dominos Pizza from the food court of Metropolis Mall. But when hungry stomach kicks you continuously it's not easy to wait for a long time. So we shift our mind from pizza to pasta. We walked straight towards the shop where pasta board was hanging. The manager told us about other items of their menu like Maggie, Burger, Sandwich, Momo and lastly Wrap. Hearing the name of Wrap I shifted my mind again from pasta to Wrap. Oh!!! I forgot to mention the name of the food stall The Walking Street Sanwiches .  We ordered two Chicken Wrap of 100 bucks each. Just after 10-15 minutes max to max two hot plates of Wrap came to us with some crispy crunchy potato chips and a packet of tomato sauce. so it became easy to wrap it up. Without admiring its beauty more than that I had my first bite. It was so delicate and yummy. A light crust on the top giving it another level. And with every bite creamy mayonnaise with veggies oozing out like lava. Chicken pieces are so tender, succulent and juicy that you want more and more. Potato Chips on the side plays a great role to tie up the whole dish as it breaks that creaminess of the filling with crispiness. I really don't like Tomato Sauce with this kind of dishes but for whom Tomato Sauce is life saving thing (ex. my husband) must finish the wrap with it. We wrapped the Wrap in just 10 minutes. Trust me, it feels so light on your tummy. Your hungry and angry stomach give a kiss but your little heart will ask for more. In just 100 bucks that Chicken Wrap is an ultimate winner.
Ufff!!!!!!! That's a piece of heaven on my hand. They cut the wrap into two pieces

**I will give it 3.5 star out of 5.

If you're there at Metropolis Mall and hunger kicks your tummy hardly and then give it a must try.... Or you can order it online
ADDRESS of THE WALKING STREET SANDWICHES : Metropolis Mall, 1925, Chak Garia, Hiland Park, Santoshpur, Kolkata

OPENING HOURS : 11AM to 10 PM
TAKE AWAY ONLY

With Love

** This Is Not a Paid Promotion


    

SPELLBOUND IN SIKKIM||TRAVEL BLOG (PART-3)

I hope all of you have read two previous parts of this series. If you missed then here is the solution
https://littlehapinez.blogspot.in/2018/03/spellbound-in-sikkimtravel-blog-part-1.html
https://littlehapinez.blogspot.in/2018/03/spellbound-in-sikkimtravel-blog-part-2.html

This is the third part of my new travel series Spellbound in Sikkim. I have already shared the first two part of my journey. Today I'll talk about my journey towards Gurudongmar Lake and Chopta Valley.

26/02/18

ON THE WAY TO GURUDONGMAR

So, a very good morning to all of you. I finished my blog on the night of 25th on which day we came to

Lachen. As I have mentioned earlier in my previous blog that we needed to start for Gurudongmar Lake at 5 o'clock in the morning. At 4 am we woke up. Finally it stopped raining and when we came out of our room I

4.30 am in Lachen

thought I wasn't in myself. The whole environment grabbed me in its arm. I totally lost myself and trust me I really didn't care to recollect myself. I was completely caught by the trance of nature's beauty. The scenery was so pure and so celestial as if God put everything with his own hand. That's why every bit of that blissful landscape is perfectly crafted. The sky covered itself with a navy blue bed-sheet and the stars were scattered like jasmine flowers. Some unknown proud mountains were giving guard to this majestic mother nature. Those proud mountains were wearing white crown which reveals their

This is the place where tyre punctured

royalty. Please tell me how can one remain steady after seeing such a beauty!!! Is this even possible? I don't think so. Even I don't want to. What I wanted at that point to live in that moment. As you can completely understand through my words that I was in the arms of nature. I didn't realize how much time I spent. Suddenly some noise broke my dream and reality welcomed me. It was 5.30 am then. Our driver was sleeping peacefully. Everyone was loosing their temper. Finally in between all the drama he came at 5.45 pm and we started for Gurudongmar Lake at 6 o'clock. We were all pumped up. So happy with whatever we experience with our eyes. Just after an hour our car stopped. Simon, our driver came out of the car and then he gave us a big surprise. Do you want to know the surprise??? The front tyre of our car became so tired

Surrounding Beauty

that it lost its breathe in the mid way. We thought that it took a lot of time to save the tyre. But fortunately one fellow driver who was just behind our car came to rescue. Meanwhile we enjoyed the awesome view. We clicked a bunch of photos. It took 10-12 minutes to rescue the faint tyre. I pumped up again and imagined that the car won't stop till Gurudongmar Lake. Without my consciousness DESTINY was laughing at me. Just after 1 minute our car stopped again as all the car which was before us stopped there in front of a small tea stall. No it was not  tea break for sure. It was a break of our entire Gurudongamar trip. We couldn't go further as heavy snow fall became obstacle. I lost my each and every bit of enthusiasm which I gather drop by drop. Every one halfheartedly stepped down out of the car except me. I was so disappointed that I reluctant to move a single step. However, I saw everyone was happily accepting the situation and started playing with ice. My husband forced me to come down once. For him only I came out of the car. After looking everyone's smiling face I felt that accepting this situation would rescue me from being lonely. It's okay that we were not in Gurudongmar Lake but where we stood now whatever the place was extremely beautiful. I couldn't be

The Small Tea Stall

Our Hotel in Lachen

hopeless. I again taught me that accept everything. Whatever the situation is make the most out of it. I regained my energy. I filled my lungs with the icy wind. I played there, I clicked 100 pictures and I even fall on the ice. We didn't know how we passed two and a half hour there. Simon, our driver called us to have our breakfast. We had bread and Jam for breakfast. Believe me, that was the best jam -bread meal I ever had in my life. We had hot cups of tea too. After having our breakfast we were all agreed to leave Lachen as soon as possible. As we didn't want to face the situation what we faced last night. While coming back we were all so tired that we slept till we reached hotel. Then we packed our luggage, we had lunch (rice, potato-cauliflower fry, dal& egg curry) and again sat on our car. We bid GOOD BYE to Lachen and promised that we would visit again.      

 LACHUNG

Honestly, though I accepted my destiny but I couldn't engage myself in the beauty of nature while traveling from Lachen to Lachung. It was worthy scenario and obviously had everything to claim your attention. But

View from Chungthan

somehow I wasn't in that head space. We stopped once to have tea at Chungthang. It took almost 2.15 hours to over come 47km. After one and a half hour we stepped down to see Bhewma Falls popularly known as Amitabh Bachchan Falls.It is one of the tallest waterfalls of North Sikkim Dist. We reached Lachung at 3.30 pm but our room wasn't ready. The hotel workers suggested us to visit Kataou and

Amitabh Bachchan Falls

meanwhile they would clean our room. Here is a twist. Zero point had been already declared closed. So they suggested us another place call Kataou. To visit Kataou we should give 250 per head to our driver as he would take us there on his own risk. Even rules of visiting zero point is also same. We all were agreed to go to Kataou but not at that point of time. We decided to see sunrise on our way to Kataou. We kept all our bags in one room and went to explore Lachung. We were starving too. We had chai in our hotel and went out to have something. Walking on the roads of Lachung I found my lost hope and energy. It was beyond my expectation. I heard the sweet sound of Lachung river and I couldn't stop my feet to go there. But we had to stop to have omelet. It gave us enough protein and energy to enjoy the surroundings. You

View From Lachung River

know what I believe that I have a deep connection with water. As I go crazy when I see river, lake or sea. And this time I became completely mad because of that hill river. It was flowing like a proud queen. 

Lachung River

And how can I forget about the wind. Uff!!! It was as sharp as a knife. It was chilling cold and the scenic beauty of Lachung river captured me. I thought for a second that I should live here forever. Whenever I was about to loose my mind It is always my dear husband who come to rescue from my mind (though he thinks I don't have mind). We spent almost 2-3 hours and Then we came back to hotel to get some rest. At 8.30 pm we ate dinner. Dinner and lunch of both Lachen and Lachung was same. We discussed with our driver and resolved that we would leave for Kataou at 4am.

Without wasting a single moment we went to sleep.

GOOD NIGHT EVERYONE....
SEE YOU IN THE NEXT PART.....
WITH LOVE

** THIS IS NOT A PAID PROMOTION