We have a really special connection with the city of Nawabs: Lucknow. This is not a city to be associated with Christmas. 

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ 
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla 
in collaboration with Dr. Preeti Chauhan

 A person who has not travelled, has only read the cover of the book: Father Augustine. Travelling is as essential as food and water. It may not feed us directly, but it definitely helps in the absorption of nutrients! (metaphorically). Now you must think, travelling is for jobless people. But the truth is, we all need it, irrespective of how busy we are in our lives.

Travelling is not just for the rich. It's not about the destination, but about the journey and company.

One should travel not to escape life, but so that life shouldn't escape us. Travel is therapeutic and it has been clinically proven to reduce stress. And travel could be anything from a night away from the city to a fortnight in a country across the world. Again, it's not the destination, it's the journey.

So what's the first obstacle that comes while planning travel? It's mindset. Many people just don't have that ability to think that they can travel. Again, it can be a short bus ride just outside the town you are staying, just to freshen up your mind and soul. You have to include the desire to explore in your regular planning.

The second hurdle that comes is the budget of course. Usually people think that travelling is expensive. No wonder it is, but if you are truly passionate, it can be squeezed in your normal budget. Firstly, you neither need to travel in first class nor stay in luxurious hotels.

Then it's all about priority. If you are really passionate on doing a bucket list trip, ditch eyeing that iphone. Stop eating out and other unnecessary necessities. All those expenses would add up in making your dream trip a reality. Invest in SIPs. Open a recurring account. Start a Fixed deposit. If there's a will, there's a way!

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The third hurdle is the lack of leaves. Aim for weekends first. Then look around for long weekends. Add leaves to your long weekends to make them longer. Take work from home option, if your workplace permits that. Basically if you are really willing to go explore the world, nothing can stop you!

 Balancing asanas have an immensely positive role on our brain functioning. It's believed that these kind of practices helps establishing the equilibrium between the right and left hemispheres more efficiently. Our mind becomes calmer and more efficient. Because of their calming effect, practice of these asanas pacifies our anger and we become more balanced in our conduct.

However balancing asanas are difficult. Some of these can never be learnt in later stage, especially in females (say post 20) unless you are very fit. Examples are Bakasana and some like Mayurasana should not be attempted by females. Asanas like Natarajasana and Garudasana can be done  on regular practice. The simplest balancing asana is the Vrikshasana or the tree pose. It involves standing on one and folding hands in prayer pose on top of the head. This Asana has all the benefits of the balancing ones yet it's so simple to perform.

Like every other balancing asana, Vrikshasana helps in increasing concentration. This is because it helps to focus.Hence should be practiced by the students from an early stage. It's highly beneficial in ADHD patients.

Since it calms down the Nervous system, it helps to treat depression and anxiety. As a result, it also keeps blood pressure under control. 

It strengthens the legs and hips and also increases neuromuscular coordination.

It increases stamina by testing our endurance and patience.

Challenges: 

This is not for people with instability issues. Always consult your physician before starting any new physical activity. 

Elderly people should proceed with caution while attempting this Asana.

If you suffer from vertigo or giddiness, its best not to practice this, or should be done only under expert supervision.

Enthusiastic practitoner with instability issues may take the support of a wall or door .

In short, one should proceed with caution if there are any bodily issues or old age. Otherwise, this is an easy asana with excellent benefits. Let's reap its advantages by practicing it everyday! 30 seconds, 10 times if possible.

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This post was created for the Blogaberry Creative (Monthly) Challenge with theme word (health).

If you are a backpacking traveller like us, then either you must be a fan of Air Asia or you hate to fly by this low cost airline although you do that frequently. I can't count the number of times I have flown through them and hated them. Malaysia, Australia, Singapore, Bali, Phuket and a number of domestic destinations. Malaysia has been a transit zone a number of times but sadly, it had been the same old boring airport, until this time.

As I stated in my earlier post, we travelled to Phuket with our full family through Malaysian airlines.

So this was the first time I got to see the "real airport", although we had flown a number of times before to and from KL. So I was really excited to explore the real thing and observed some cool facts which I thought of sharing with you all.

Kuala Lumpur International airport or KLIA has 2 terminals: KLIA1 and KLIA2. Terminal 1 is the main airport which is the busiest in the country and Terminal 2 is the low cost one, from which Air Asia operates.

We had a stopover of 6 and half hours and it flew by in a jiffy! First of all, in order to reach the departure gates, one has to board a bus. I know, it's strange. I am not at all a fan of boarding the bus but in this case, it was compulsory. There were 37 gates for which the bus had to be boarded.

The area which we reached was an interesting one. There were a couple of pianos which you could play. I had seen a piano in an airport before in Rome airport but I had dared not touch it. This time, I played as many songs I could!

There is a very efficient coffee bot machine. It's not an ordinary dispenser, you can literally customise your drink with the strength of coffee, milk and sugar, after choosing your variant. My latte cost me 8.9 Ringitt.

There are many places to eat and shop and if that's not your jam, then you can watch the planes land and take off, which are clearly visible in every lounge.

In a nutshell, it was time really well spent.

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Traveling with family ( with parents and kids ) doesn't come easy to us, especially who are used to backpacking. And even it's manageable in domestic travel, it's a Herculean task when it comes to an international voyage because firstly, time is short (the longer the trip, the more expensive it is, so there isn't room for slow travel) secondly, too much to explore ( you want to fully utilize your vacation) and lastly, eating habits of elders and kids are non compliant to local food. However, despite so many obstacles, it's absolutely joyous to explore a new country with the clan. I had travelled extensively with my parents, done 3 countries with them before kids, and Vietnam with both kids. Since Vietnam was quite of a challenge ( the younger one was really little and the dietary struggles were massive), this time we decided on a familiar destination Thailand, which we had explored as a couple 12 years back.

My major concern was that my little one and my mother shouldn't fall sick. They were the most fragile ones in the group. Thankfully, my earnest prayers paid well, as I was able to keep them fine, despite some meltdowns (yes, both of them). Meal times were challenging too, as I had to sacrifice my cravings for local food for Indian cuisine. There are 2 downsides to this. Indian food is overtly expensive abroad and the taste doesn't comply with our usual expectations. Secondly, you miss out the rare opportunity to try local food. However, by the end of the trip, I was able to bring my father (the Indian food loyalist) to fall in love with local Thai food.

So despite innumerable obstacles and my husband going mad at me at several ocassions, I would do this again. Because my parents have taken me to explore uncountable destinations, I would also love to do a bit of that. Secondly, they are not going to remain international travel fit forever, so I would like to take advantage of the ticking clock. Lastly, nothing is more exhilarating than cherishing on the good times spent together, and I know I would be treasuring our group photographs forever.

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This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ 
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla 
in collaboration with Dr. Preeti Chauhan.

 The capital of the archipelago of Zanzibar in the Indian Ocean is Zanzibar City, which is located in Stone Town, the erstwhile capital of the Zanzibar sultanate. In Swahili, the stone Town in known as Mji Mkongwe, meaning the old town. The stone Town is the place where you will find museums of slave trade. This place was declared as UNESCO World Heritage site in circa 2000.

The stone Town is not very far from the airport, so we stopped on our way to our resort, while driving from the airport. It's located on the Western side of the archipelago and is hotter than the rest of the island.

The stone Town is of immense cultural significance. It was the centre of the Indian Ocean slave trade and if spice trade too. During the British protectorate, it was the centre of commerce. When Zanzibar was acquired by Tanganyika (erstwhile Tanzania) to form the United Republic of Tanzania, Zanzibar retained a semi autonomous state, with Stone Town as the capital.

Political history aside, this place is an epitome of Swahili culture; which is a blend of African, Arabic, Persian and Indian culture. This is very much apparent from the architecture and food habits there. There is a big Arya Samaj Mandir. You will find many food items resembling Indian food like Pilao (pulao) , faratha (Paratha) etc. It's important to respect the local culture there, so even if you are tempted to roam around in bikinis after coming out of the ocean on the streets, please don't.

The Stone Town is also the birthplace of the world famous singer Freddie Mercury. This British singer/ songwriter was born here, and then brought up in Bombay, India, where he created music and became world famous. His band was known as "Queens" which churned out chartbusters like " We will rock you " , "We are the champions " etc. His home has been converted into a museum and you can explore it.

There are a lot of jewelry shops selling Tanzanite, the blue coloured semi precious stone native to Tanzania. The beach is absolutely beautiful and there are a hell lot of properties: both on the beach as well as boutique ones in the narrow alleys of Stone Town, which takes you back to authentic East African culture. And there are uncountable souvenir shops and restaurants.

History lover or not, this place is a must visit when in Zanzibar. 

There is something incredibly exciting about road trips. Alright, flying is fun. You can fathom the oceans and mountains and trenches and everything. But unless you really see the countryside, the trip is not complete.

Our Tanzania trip had 2 parts. The first week was a beach vacation which we spent in the island of Zanzibar.

The second part was in the African mainland, where we were up for the wildlife Safari. The very reason we chose Mikumi National park over Arusha or Ngorongoro or the Serengiti, was Mikum's proximity to Dar Es Salaam. For all the other three, we had to again take a flight from Dar. While we could take the road to Mikumi. Moreover, it is the fourth largest park in th country, after the above mentioned three, and was considered generously bestowed with wildlife.

Mikumi National park is located in the southern part of Morogoro district. It's around 300 kms from Dar, and a road trip through the Express A7 Freeway, it was a journey of 4 to 6 hours.

We started at half past five in the morning so that we could reach Mikumi on time. We booked an all inclusive package so that we didn't have to bother about anything. 

The country side is stunning with the mountain ranges of Uluguru flanking the highway. And there were endless fields of sunflower and agave all along. I had never seen so many agave before. I had known that they were harvested for sweetness. However in Tanzania, they are harvested for fibre. In fact, Tanzania is the largest producer of agave for fibre!

The best part of the road trip were the giraffes peeking from the side of the highway near the national park. All the perks of traveling by road!

I'm participating in #BlogchatterA2Z

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ 
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla 
in collaboration with Dr. Preeti Chauhan.