Anantam Resort Kasauli: I left there a small piece of my heart

 

In the serene,  picturesque mountains of Kasauli is nestled a small, cozy, and beautiful luxury property known as Anantam Resort, which genuinely deserves a shoutout straight from the heart. 

I was there sometime back to break the monotony of mundane metro life and to feel better after a bad bout of endometriosis flare-up, and trust me, at just 5.5 hours away from Delhi, it was more than a perfect choice.

The view from my room was so extraordinary that even after three days and constantly admiring it, I still did not have enough of it. I wonder how the mountains always do this to me. Just the fresh breeze relaxes my nerves and wants me to compose, and I sit smiling, wondering if I should weave poetry or prose, or should I grab the book whose pages I have been turning for days without being able to soak into the joy of a reader. True travel and books both turn me on, and it is a pure blessing if I get the two together. 

Even better, Anantam resort gave me a pool in my room to enjoy the view from my pool and jacuzzi, and rejoice in Mother Nature and my world of words. The amenities, the luxury and the unparalleled hospitality in the lap of Mother Nature in deep forests were a rare combination. I wonder if my desire to move to the mountains permanently came alive once again.

I took mini strolls on either side of the resort, which were therapeutic, and they also arranged for a taxi for us to Kasauli Mall Road and Toy Train Railway station, which were so rustic and far from developed. I was so glad to see the old world charm, including the church, honestly. 

The constant drizzling and occasional sun playing peekaboo with the mountains added to my joy. The weather was so beautiful and I carried some of that joy with me back, which gave me energy to restart some passion projects that got paused without my wish. 

Also,  if I think about them, I can’t forget the super delectable food I had there. It was truly to die for. For a person like me who has been on a diet forever, to let go on vacations, it's a double treat if the chefs are awesome and value quality. No, this is not a sponsored post but written out of pure joy to have a laid-back and joyful weekend in the mountains quite close to Delhi, and I am sure it shall be my go-to place quite often now on. 

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If you relate to my writings, you can find copies of my eight published works here: The Fragrance of True Love, Destiny's Favorite Child, Dare to Defy The Destiny, Empowered Women Empower Women, Soulful Letters On COVID, For My Future Grandchild, I Live to Love You, Soft Strings Of My Heart, and Brave Inked Emotions. Additionally, as the founder of the Endometriosis Support and Awareness Group of India and the Emotional Wellness Support Group of India by BIE Initiative Authors, I invite you to join my mission or reach out to me for any women's health-related (physical, mental, emotional) support you may need.

Paris Diaries: I overcame my worst fear in Disneyland Paris and How♥️ #TravelHeals #MemoirsSeries

 

Before I delve into this precious memoir, let me share my secret superpower with you today. It has actually stemmed from my biggest weakness which is I am very emotional and thus feel hurt easily and though I am getting better at it but still trusting people comes naturally to me. Thus it is understandable that I get heartbroken often and hit rock bottom but my superpower is that almost always I am extremely self-motivated and know how to lift myself up without any help. The lower I hit, the more is the energy with which I bounce back all smiling, concealing all the pain in my heart forever. Today is one such day when I am feeling the strongest and thus wish to make this important announcement.

No matter how short or how long a life I live I now want the world to know my story and hence I am going to write and leave all here absolutely honestly and unabashedly without hiding any single fact. This is going to be my perspective and so no one should feel offended, you may have your viewpoint. By here I mean in my new forthcoming book to be released soon and it shall be called ‘Unapologetically Yours Truly Roma’.

Continuing from my Paris Diaries, today I want to write about my Disneyland experience where the universe earnestly helped me every bit and I had to use my mental power to defeat my physical pain. Just to give you a little bit of background I did not get my Schengen Visa until the last minute and was recovering from a bad bout of viral when I came to know my manifestations have yielded a positive result. Obviously, I didn’t get sufficient time to prepare as I wished nevertheless, I was soaked in happiness to the core.

My Europe trip commenced perfectly as I spend the first four super fun and chilling days in Madrid but it was in the super breezy Valencia when while sipping chilled Sangria my throat went soar and the viral fever relapsed which gradually I kept subsiding over the next six days with Augmentin, enjoying in different parts of Spain but enroute Barcelona to Paris, a critical endometriosis flare up kicked in along with severely cramping menstrual cycle. 

Damn! I was booked for Disneyland Paris the next day. Deep in my heart, I was still a Disney princess and I was set to live my dream. How can my frail health stop me? I channelized all my inner power the next morn at 4 a.m. and meditated deeply. Soon my mind was in peace and joy flew in my veins. I dressed up comfortably, ate a proper breakfast, took my medicine, and started off calmly from my Eiffel Tower Air bnb to Disneyland Paris.

Standing at its gate felt like a dream. I gifted myself a beautiful mini mouse hair accessory(you can judge me on this if you feel this is not age appropriate 😁, if you are a regular here, you know the kind of rebel I am) that I joyfully flaunted the whole day. The rest of the day went in a blink. From contemplating that because I am scared to even sit on a merry-go-round, my expensive Disneyland ticket shall be a sheer waste of money, I actually enjoyed every single wonder offered there, even the 360 degrees star wars roller coaster though the cameras there did capture me keeping my eyes closed. My husband dear bought that exorbitantly priced picture as a memoir of how I set an example by overcoming my fear. Only I know how I managed on the second day of my cycles with an acute endometriosis flare-up and viral fever refusing to budge. 

But who cared? I loved every ounce of the experience and trust me it indeed is a marvel every which way. Reliving the fairy tales we grew up reading, with your child is a real high. Like little babies, we kept hopping from one queue to another so that we don’t miss any wonder here. The longer the wait, the more our excitement soared. We managed a Disney-themed buffet lunch in between where I rested and popped in my next set of meds. I still remember the super customized Disney theme yummy desserts. They too pumped me to discover the next park though I had already covered close to sixteen thousand steps.

Travel does this to us, it heals us, it pumps energy into us and it alone has the power to make us kids again. No matter how cliched it sounds, every moment of that day in Disneyland Paris is forever etched on my heart as the sweetest memory. I am glad I planned this trip after so long. I find travel really therapeutic and given a choice I can travel 365 days a year. Experiential learning is the best learning we can give to our children it is extremely critical in widening their horizon of thought.  Personally to me, it was an eye-opener, for I realized my incredible internal power. Have you tried discovering yours? My thoughts have begun to meander now so I will better stop here, until my next post of this series about…keep guessing😊

This is the second post in the #MYPARISDIARIES Series, you can read the first one here.

If you like what I write, you can grab copies of my seven published works here: The Fragrance of True Love, Destiny's Favorite Child, Dare to Defy The Destiny, Empowered Women Empower Women, Soulful Letters On COVID, for My Future Grandchild, I Live to Love You and Soft Strings Of My Heart

Nainital Diaries 2021: Quenching the Starving Souls of the Wanderlusts in us

We have a perennial love affair with Nainital. We fell in deep love in these beautiful mountains while we were doing our engineering in Pantnagar. We used to hit this serene beautiful lake city almost every month and were so smitten by its charm. You won’t believe we have so many tiny precious memories associated with each nook and corner here and it indeed is priceless to get to relive them. Thus this year as the Valentine’s Week commenced we made an impromptu plan to hit Nainital for a vacation. Within moments everything fell in place as if the universe itself has conspired to make us revisit the place where our love saga began, with our little love this time to make it all the more memorable.

I know for the paranoid me it was a giant leap of faith to go for a holiday during the COVID times but this time the deep desire of a wanderlust feeling claustrophobic for the last eleven months without a vacation took over. I tried to secure all ends though, as we decided to drive our own car and stay with an Airbnb HomeStay which took only one guest at a time. So it was just their family and ours.

I felt as excited as a baby as we commenced our travel at 6 a.m. on 12th Feb’21 and needless to say the journey was as beautiful as the destination. It was foggy with zero visibility for a small stretch but the rest of the drive was as smooth as a cake. We set our feet in Nainital around 11a.m. and I felt so overwhelmed, can’t describe that feeling in words. It was as beautiful as ever exactly like it always was, untouched, unscathed, pristine natural beauty. 

Our home stay was a heritage home built by Rohan’s grandfather and staying there was one of the best things that happened to us in this vacation. Yes, Rohan was our super host and I can take his name so casually because by the end of our four days stay he was more of a dear friend than our host. We felt as with we were staying at a beautiful home away from home with super yum home cooked food by Rohan’s wife Achla and his five year old cute little daughter Gargi always around playing with Arsh. It was one of the most relaxing holiday ever.

Honestly we planned nothing but yet our Valentine’s Day turned out to be perfectly scripted perhaps out of a fairy tale. We woke up at 5:30 a.m. and started early to watch the myriad hues of sunrise shades over the Himalayas. It was chilly yet the beautiful canvas behind the mighty mountains painted by Mother Nature herself, was beyond words. Our son went crazy trying to capture the beauty in his cam while we merrily strolled and posed and most importantly let our souls smile and relive our precious memories. Can there be a more beautiful morn. The most simple yet the most fulfilling and it was not it, as the lunch and dinner were going to be as beautiful. 

So yes in the afternoon we descended down to take a stroll on the Mall Road around the breathtakingly beautiful Naini lake as we reached Zooby’s, one of the most famous fine dine restaurant for our Special Valentine’s Day lunch by the lakeside. After all the fun and food and masti we hired a boat to sail back to Naina Devi temple, the place where we professed our love in front of God. The vibes their are soul-stirring, I was transported back in time and couldn’t resist smiling throughout. 

Back in the Homestay it was some naughty banter and cuddling with lots of giggles and anticipation for the much awaited bonfire night  celebrations. Little joys of life like these are what we love always. For a change we didn’t cut a cake this year rather made merry around a sizzling hot fire is extreme chilly star-studded night with S showing how effectively he can master the barbecue and little one having fun with blowing fire and setting up of the barbecue. I can only say it can only seldom get as perfect as this. It was beautiful, thoroughly beautiful. 

Oh yes, I forgot to ask for my Valentine gift but this holiday itself was the most worthy gift😊. Late that night I closed my eyes gently and expressed my gratitude to the Almighty for bringing S and me together in this life. It is like two imperfect pieces perfectly fitting into each other and completing each other to make a perfect combination. It’s a deep friendship of twenty years now from the day we first met in our teens and there is absolutely nothing as valuable for me than this bond of ours. That night I decided to weave this memorable trip in words for us to revisit and relive it as often as we wish and hence this piece. 

For our son Arsh too, this was a much needed break from the monotonous indoor online school life. He loved the astoundingly beautiful Jim Corbett Waterfalls and the trek to Tiffin Top or Dorothy’s Seat with a lot of lessons on professional photography from Rohan Uncle. He devoured the Bal Mithai as Naina Devi temple Prasad, his parents too always drooled over and shopped some gorgeous pieces of designer candles at the Tibetan market. 

For both of us, we didn’t shop but just breathed in and out our joy and felt ecstatic and loved. The journey from our nonstop candid banter to just peacefully holding each other’s hands and strolling with a smile silently, we indeed have come a long way.

Thus as always this time too I brought back a bag full of precious memories from our very favourite Nainital with a promise that we will be there again soon. Though we have always been wanderlusts, never thought travel can be so therapeutic and healing. I discovered a new calmness and my soul came to peace as if it’s chronic thirst has been quenched.

Our special thanks to Rohan of Langdale Homestay Nainital for making our trip so treasurable.

If you like what I write, you can grab the copies of my five published ebooks here: The Fragrance of True Love, Destiny's Favorite Child, Dare to Defy The Destiny, Empowered Women Empower Women and Soulful Letters On COVID, for my Future Grandchild 

Pure Love Can Move Mountains

Hey everyone, a warm hello to you from Delhi. Trust you must be soaking yourself in the festivities till brim. This year festivals have come in with a settling phase for me. Though amidst Ganpati in Pune and now Navratri, Dussehra and Diwali in Delhi, I have another reason to rejoice and that’s my birthday which always falls within. No matter how morose I feel due to leaving my Pune after  spending eight beautiful years there, I can’t escape Delhi’s Midas Touch that takes me back to the lanes of nostalgia. So yeah after sulking for a week, feeling sick, here I am once again bubbling in energy and my cheerful spirit. 

This was my simplest birthday ever. I have a habit of being surrounded by my friends and /or going on a staycation or a vacation with my boys, cutting multiple cakes, partying hard but this one was most different. Our stuff arrived from Pune a day before my birthday and so no points for guessing what I was doing in between attending your calls which were barely audible due to a perennial network issue in our Delhi home. Loved the Whatsapp video calls thing though which made me connect with so many of you and start smiling back gradually and get back to life. 

Well, first thanks goes to my little boy who made a beautiful card with so many messages for me, he was the first one to wish me too after I woke up but mister husband says he has when I was sleeping, their fight over the claim still continues 😊. Got a lot of priceless hugs and kisses from him the whole day, my treasures forever. A cake, flowers, chocolates and a teddy bear delivered unexpectedly took me by surprise.That was hubby’s way of warming me up for the evening surprise date and I loved the whole celebration with my two lifelines first at home and then at a place with which we have a lot of memories of our dating days attached♥️.

The dinner date further did the trick and I was smiling and posing and enjoying to the brim. The birthday celebrations continued the next day with us visiting the Jagannath temple to celebrate Dussehra and then another birthday bash at another old adda of ours in Cannaught Place. Savouring the best food of Delhi satiated and made the foodie in me smile and I remembered my last poem, life is beautiful and I move on.

A peep into my phone time and again and some lovely wishes from all of you further accentuated my excitement and while I have not been able to write much for the past few days, I once again wanted to pen and to begin with my mandatory gratitude to all of you, my precious friends, family and readers, Thank you for taking our those precious time for this tiny mortal and blessing me on my birthday. Pure love has the power to move mountains and you do that magic to me. 

Words fail me to express my gratitude to all of you!

If you like what I write, you can grab the copies of my four published books here: The Fragrance of True Love, Destiny's Favorite Child, Dare to Defy The Destiny and Empowered Women Empower Women

5 Beautiful Temples You Can’t Afford To Miss In Goa

I first visited Goa with my mum dad and brother in my teens and need I say it was love at first sight when I saw the beautiful island from my aircraft before touching down. Next I visited the land of ethereal beaches with my husband post our wedding and the love only grew fonder and deeper. For the past many years it has almost become our second home and we visit it at least twice in a year. I have already written about its best beaches, properties reviews, eateries but today I wanted to show you the offbeat divine side of Goa which is very close to my heart, the five priceless temples , the hidden gems, you can’t afford to miss. If you are a vivid cultures' enthusiast and have a devotional vein you will definitely strike a chord with these.

1. Shri Mahalakshmi Temple: This historical marvel constructed in 1413 is the one of the most visited temples in Goa, I visited it in Navratri and the opulence and grandeur with which they are celebrated here were awesome. We had a great time soaking ourselves in the mixed culture celebrations, when one of the idols of Mahalakshmi were taken out on a chariot on the auspicious occasion of RamNavmi. It was a pleasure seeing this divine side of Goa. It was about 22 kms from Panjim and we drive there by our personal car. 

2. Shanta Durga Temple:  Again near Panjim, I particularly liked this relatively recently constructed temple( constructed in 1966 though its laterite mud shrine was built in 1738) because of the fusion of Indo Portuguese architecture in its design. We loved the entire large temple complex built at the foothills of Kavalem Village in Ponda and dedicated to Goddess Shanta Durga. Do check out the interesting tale behind this gorgeous monument, when you visit there.

3. Mangeshi Temple: 21 kms from Goan Capital, Panjim, this undoubtedly is one of the really adorable temples of the state dedicated to Lord Manguesh. Shifted here by Marathas, this temple is one of the most famous in the state. A word of caution here is, before visiting this place, please do check online its dress code and clad yourself accordingly.

4. Tambdi Surla Mahadev Temple: This one is perhaps the oldest temple in Goa, loved its ambiance, spiritual vibe and abundance of Mother Nature surrounding it. Everything about it is divine including the Shivlinga inside. This site is now declared a protected monument. Lord Shiva devotees gather here in large numbers during Mahashivratri and soak themselves in the ethereal joys of devotion.

5. Shri Saptakoteshwar Temple: Located in Konkan, I visited this temple in monsoons and loved its mesmerising one of its kind architecture which has hues of Mughal and Europeans cultures. It is an absolute must visit and even better if you can visit it on Gokulashtami. It is a temple with a great historical past worth knowing about.

So, it’s a half truth that Goa is all about, only sun and sand and seafood, there is also a rich, prestigious, multi-cultural historical treasure this state keeps hidden within. Do explore it the next time you hit Goa and I am sure you will find the hours you invest worthwhile! 

If you like what I write, you can grab the copies of my four published books here: The Fragrance of True Love, Destiny's Favorite Child, Dare to Defy The Destiny and Empowered Women Empower Women

Review of the Much Loved Global Family Edutainment Theme Park~Kidzania Mumbai

I have been guilty of being over-involved in working on the manuscript of my fourth book and not able to give time to the kid at all during his summer vacations and he has really felt it to the extent that for the first time ever, he expressed it to me. I realized my folly and worked to correct it and planned some worthwhile surprises for him, one of which was to gift him a visit to Kidzania Mumbai, about which, we have heard a lot regarding the incomparable hands-on experience it gives to kids in umpteen industries and vocations. Honestly, I had no clue that it is going to be such an amazing and enriching experience before we stepped in there. In fact, I will not be exaggerating if I say Kidzania is the best thing I did to my kiddo this summers.

Kidzania is a unique kids’ city, where the currency is KidZos and all decisions to earn or spend are taken by kids as its citizens independently. It has more than 60 miniature technological replicas of real industries of outside world like Maruti Suzuki Driving Street, Pepperfry etc and more than hundred other role-play activities in real time simulations like an aircraft pilot, a Times of India news reporter, a RJ of Radio City, a policeman or a fireman and many many others for 4-16 year olds to experience them first hand. In some of them they have to spend money like on Mad Over Donuts, Kinder Joy or Frooti factory, etc. to learn a particular skill set and earn money to perform some other tasks like in being an RJ, Reporter, or in extinguishing the fire or courier delivery and many more. At the end, whatever is your overall earning you can buy a gift for yourself from the departmental store or save the money in your atm. Isn’t the concept valuable? For a day the kids get the feel of the nitty-gritty of the real world.

My son was super stoked to venture the distinctive global theme park where he was greeted with a cheque of fifty kidZos which he must encash from Yes Bank to start transacting at different establishments. He decided to earn first so he took the map and identified what all professions he wishes to work on with the total kidZos he has.

It was a packed Saturday afternoon and kids diligently waited in queues outside the mini establishments so the first chance he got was to be an RJ and host a special #MothersDay Radio Show at Radiocity 94.1 which he thoroughly enjoyed, remembered to collect the money he earned through his hard work and went to Parle Factory where he manufactured candies. He was thrilled to savor the candies made by himself and paid some of his kidZos to learn the skill.

We had taken whole day passes for us, but were still sure that it was impossible for him to experience it all, so we let him choose some varied experiences to make it more enterprising for him. Next, he entered the Dettol hospital where he performed a liver transplant surgery on a dummy and learned greatly. This was followed by becoming a dubbing artist at Nickelodeon where he gave his voice for his favorite cartoon character in a professional setup. He was happy to earn too as a doctor and as a voiceover artist.

Next, he became a part of the Rising Star shoot on Colours TV where he auditioned and got selected to become a judge. He did a fabulous job evaluating the contestants which we parents enjoyed as the audience of the mega show. We all had crazy fun on the sets. It was lunch time by then and we enjoyed some pizzas in the picturesque food court situated there.

By this time the kid was on his own, so as he went and interviewed Shiamak Dawar as a Times of India Reporter, or went seeking a criminal as a Police officer or extinguished fire of a big hotel as a Fireman, we parents enjoyed at an exquisite parents’ lounge. 

There was no possibility that the kid gets lost as they had a band in their hand which they can swipe at any nearby kiosk to let us know where they are. This same band was used by them to check in for any activity. Also, there were extremely cordial and soft-spoken coordinators at every step to guide you and support you. This was great support for both parents and kids. 

As parents, we too enjoyed some special activities designed for us in between checking on our sunshine impeccably maneuver through poles apart role plays.

 I was touched when he spent 25 of his precious kidZos to work in Mad Over Donut outlet to make my favorite chocolate donut as a gift for #MothersDay. The experience of Inox Theatre which had Bollywood, Fashion and Music Industry as it’s part was worth cherishing too.

There were so many sweet memories we weaved that day and the kid got priceless knowledge of so many professions and vocations. I felt so good within, that I planned this visit to Kidzania Mumbai with him though it took us 2.5 hrs either side from Pune but trust me, it truly was worth it every which way. In fact, I recommend it to every parent to plan this rendezvous of your children with the real world at Kidzania Mumbai whether in summer vacations or otherwise. It is an absolute must, this is what I feel as a parent and as a coach and thus make this straight from the heart recommendation to you. It indeed is pure bliss and immense practical knowledge for all kids aged 4-16 under one roof! I am so impressed by the concept..Truly Yours Roma rates it a 10/10 destination, undoubtedly.

Copyright © 2014-2019 by Roma Gupta Sinha

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If you like what I write, you can grab a copy of my 3 published books here The Fragrance of True Love, Destiny's Favorite Child and Dare to Defy The Destiny