Offbeat Scribbles

The Zealous Gift

“This is perfect!, this is it.”, sighed Zoe half asleep, half awake. She then went on to enter her credit card details to make the payment. She was happy, in bliss.

For the past one month, Zoe has been up online for hours, from morning till night. There’s not a single ecommerce site that she hadn’t been to, in pursuit of that one item, the perfect gift for Mark, for his birthday.

Mark’s birthday is in a week and Zoe wanted to gift him something memorable, something that could or would bring a smile on his otherwise grumpy face.

It isn’t easy to get anything for Mark, for he keeps high standards, he seeks and expects perfection in everything. Zoe doesn’t know much about perfection, a poor imperfect being, so getting this gift was pretty tough on her.

‘Your order is placed’, popped up the message on the app. Zoe got up from her chair to wash her face, weak yet gleaming, exhausted yet proud. Looking in the mirror, she realised dark circles had formed around her eyes. ‘A face mask should do the trick. Maybe tomorrow, but now I need to crash ‘, she spoke to herself.

She took her phone to send a goodnight text to Mark. There were 2 unread messages from Mark. She quickly opened the messages. It had pictures of gifts send to him from his family.

Suddenly all her happiness faded, for her item didn’t seem to stand out. It didn’t seem special anymore. She thought to herself, ‘my gift will be just one in many’.

‘I need to get something else, something different, something zealous’, she reminded herself before restarting her search online on the nth night.

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My poison

A sip of you from you

Brings forth the inevitable

Death is closer with each sip

For you are my very own poison.

I struggle to stay away

But this addiction devours me

I got no choice than to cave in

To this cup of my very own poison.

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Setting Sun?

What is the setting sun?

Is it a sun that lost it’s shine?

This sun isn’t setting or settling,

For it’s shine is around, always.

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My Sunshine

When you smile,

I feel warmth.

In the cold winters,

Be my sunshine.

When you are near,

I feel strength,

In this chaotic world,

Be my sunshine.

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It’s drizzling

As a stream of droplets slide down my face,

I discover a newly defined contour of my face

The mountains stay dry and the valleys become wet,

I wish it to transform into plain and fertile land.

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Shorts

An unexpected entry, nevertheless, welcomed with an open heart.

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Maybe later

“It hurt, it really hurt”, I whimpered. Tears rolled down my cheeks, my cries of pain remained unheard, deafened by the noisy fan and the blaring television. The flesh of my thigh was boiling in the hot gravy that was accidentally slipped onto it. “That’s definitely gonna leave a scar, hope it doesn’t turn out worse”, I murmured to myself. Still, I didn’t have the guts to check and confirm the extent of the damage. ‘Maybe later’.

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Weekend Getaway from Bangalore -> Thondanoor, Melukote

Total drive distance – ~170 km. This trip involves visits to temples, so dress appropriately.

Start around 8 am from Bangalore. Could start earlier to spend more time at each of the places.
Stop for breakfast after 55 km – 1 hour (Vattika Vegetarian Restaurant https://maps.app.goo.gl/Gretm3xhvYBk4T2c7). There was a lot of waiting period here, probably due to the time at which we reached there.
Drive another 115 km and reach Thondanoor 1-2 hours (some popular places added) –
Ancient Hoysala Shri Parthasarathi (Shri Gopalakrishna) Swami Temple https://maps.app.goo.gl/rFHZhMmh2ZdUJbTw8. Sri Nambinarayana Swami Gudi https://maps.app.goo.gl/tYJqb11qKoSe2RjQ9 Thonnuru Kere https://maps.app.goo.gl/JjKSL2EgsFNecXNHA

Drive another 20 km to Melukote 5-6 hours (some popular places added) – Dhanushkoti-Seetha Kund https://maps.app.goo.gl/8PNaMeyjx4cXuL9g8 Raaya Gopura https://maps.app.goo.gl/TGfzmx56WoGkA34F6 Akka Tangi Kola https://maps.app.goo.gl/P13ikA8b8AwEfENt9 Shri Cheluvanaarayana Swami Temple https://maps.app.goo.gl/6AbLVgNEQAb7sU2c9 Melukote Kalyani https://maps.app.goo.gl/YVS21hxdjTaCXutu8 Yoganarasimha Swamy Temple https://maps.app.goo.gl/M47QEpMacnFCSoQh8. There are a few more places, all are at walking distances. A small trek uphill is involved, however car can be driven to most places, good parking facility.
Purchase laddu and have puliyogare and chakkara Pongal at Subbanna Mess https://maps.app.goo.gl/KYvf9s9LER7p3RqQA.
Head back to Bangalore by 6 or 7 pm or checkin to a hotel for a Mysore exploration the next day.
Stop for a short break/ dinner at KFC/ CCD/ Meraki after 80 kms https://maps.app.goo.gl/1EuVPpYgVcmwu3ht7. There is Shivalli right before this for vegetarians.
Reach Bangalore around 11 pm. Heavy traffic to enter Bangalore, plan return time accordingly.

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Vietnam Itinerary – Day 8

There was a long wait to checkin at Noi Bai International airport. After what seemed liked hours, checkin was completed. We searched and found the lounge to which we had access via Tata Neu card and a priority pass. The lady at the lounge mention they were cleaning up the food, so we rushed and grabbed what we could. The lounge closes at 2 am.

We arrived at Kolkata airport in the morning. Here we had to collect our luggage and checkin again. Doing this in the early morning drove us nuts. Once checkin was done, we accessed the lounge here.

The lounge doesn’t have a restroom inside, so we just had an early breakfast and then walked out.

We reached Bangalore by 9.30 am and reached home by KIAL bus with sweet memories of Vietnam.

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Vietnam Itinerary – Day 7

Today we decided to explore Hanoi on the hop on hop off bus. After checking out from the hotel, we had the whole day to explore Hanoi.

We bought the ticket online, also available to buy at the boarding point. There are many operators and you cannot interchange. We had our bus starting at Opera House. Buses usually operate every 30 mins, but due to off season, our bus operated every 1 hour.

Earphones were provided on the bus plus the Vietnamese hat and a raincoat. As it started to drizzle, we took one whole round on the bus without hopping off. We visited Hoa Lu Prison, women’s museum etc which were close to Hoam kiem lake. In the evening, we took one last round on the bus. We had taken a 24 hour pass. Passes are available for no hop off, 4 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours.