Meditation by the poolside !

This year one of the resolutions I made was to spend more time on me – meditating , working out and doing yoga ! As well my usual me time at the local spas and those when I travel …

Given its mid January already I decided to kickstart my meditative journey right here at the Radisson Blu resort and spa in Alibaug. I’ve been planning on embarking on this journey since a friend of mine has been raving about how it has made him a happier , calmer and better person !

Iphone and iPad have apps that help with meditating and the one I have used is an app called the Insight Timer . (It’s free so you should definitely check it out and give it a shot).

So this morning I woke up and headed to the beautiful poolside along with my headphones and iphone to spend some me-time . It was really refreshing and I promise to do this more often as I found it relaxing , rejuvenating and really easy to do no matter where I am travelling to !

How many of your resolutions have you started working on ?

Udaipur Diaries : Staying with the Oberoi & Trident !

Having travelled to many countries globally & cities in India I have come to the conclusion that nothing beats Asian Hospitality. So we have decided that if one needs a luxurious or a comfortable holiday then one needs to look at properties in Asia & for those who want to travel for sightseeing and adventure then the world is their oyster !

Udaipur is a city of palaces . It is beautiful & scenic and offers you good food , good weather ( in winters) and the opportunity to experience & feel royal by staying with some fantastic properties. Our Udaipur experience was superb thanks to the Oberoi group and their Udaivillas & Trident properties. Luxurious , warm & very well located these 2 properties offer you just the right amount of heritage & culture along with all the modern facilities.

I felt like royalty as soon as I landed , my hotel’s pick up service was fit for a princess !

The staff too is warm , courteous & really polite . Of course the Udai Villas is a luxurious property you must choose when you are looking to spoil yourself and the Trident ( located in the same premises) is a more reasonable & equally beautiful property.

Christmas in Udaipur with the Udai Villas & Trident properties

A picture speaks a 1000 words and I cannot agree more , so I am sharing images from our stay so you can get a taste of the Royal experience we had at these properties and hopefully it will inspire you to book a flight to Udaipur and get to these Oberoi palaces as soon as possible !

My experience was made really special by the staff – Mr. Gopal & Roop Kumar ji ( who has been associated with the property , on behalf of the Royal family for more than 40 years) when they

picked me up from the hotel to take me to Bada Mahal for Peacock spotting and feeding ! I really felt like a princess !

We also witnessed a super romantic proposal at the jetty , while waiting for our boat for Jag Mandir and I can only say it was breathtakingly romantic. Anybody who wants to make his proposal a memorable one or plan a super romantic evening must take the help of the staff of the Oberoi Udai Villas and plan a meal for two , over looking the city & the lake.

I promise to go back and stay at Udai Villas with hubby dearest some day , it will be even better and super romantic ! Can’t wait to go back !

p.s. This was my first experience with an Oberoi / Trident property and I can only say it was perfect ! Usually a Taj loyalist I think I may have expanded my options here 😉

 

Birthday lessons for 2012 :)

Featured Artist : Kashish Parpiani

At 19 usually people have a sparkle in their eye and dreams that are yet to be fulfilled ( or figured out) . Some Tweens don’t even know what they want to do or be….this obviously doesn’t apply to 19 year old Kashish Parpiani , a photo journalist by passion and profession. I guess if photography and creativity is in your DNA then the fact that you start free lancing for the likes of HT and Mid Day at the raw age of 17 should come as no surprise nor should the fact that you cover the LFW Mumbai and your work is published in the Deccan Chronicle all at 19.

What really appeals to me about Kashish’s work is that he has an eager eye and possesses the ability to bring out the beauty in the most ordinary moments that we usually take for granted. His pictures tell stories in every frame.

A mass media student at Jai Hind ( yes TYBMM he says) Kashish has been the recipient of the prestigious Nikon Better Photography ‘Young Photographer of the Year’ Award in 2009 (Category-Wildlife) and has even published a 100 page book on Street Photography  alongwith his father and acclaimed photojournalist Mr. Mukesh Parpiani.

Jab we met – I met Kashish at a photography workshop last August. A newbie to the DSLR back then , he patiently guided me through using my borrowed Nikon D7000. We kept in touch since and even though we made a zillion plans to meet up they never seemed to materialize 😦 So when we decided to meet up last Saturday ( impromptu) we had so much to catch up on ! We plan to go explore Mumbai ( more like I will accompany him on one of his street photography expeditions :P)..looking forward to that !

His works are availble for viewing online and you may choose to follow @shootToframe

I see this boy go places ! Watch out for updates ! 🙂