Whooooosh…..

You know how sometimes life is just flash and bang, and the next thing you know you have lost almost 2 months? Yea… I’ve had one of those.

Looking through the archives, the last time I properly blogged was in the early days of September; that is a LONG time ago! But it’s been such an exciting and interesting period over the last couple of months that the dust is probably just starting to settle now. Let me take you through some of the awesomeness which took place over the last few weeks.

In the first 10 days of Ramadan, I started promoting my charity: water campaign. The aim was to raise USD 1,000 in the next 92 days for people who have limited access to clean drinking water. Fundraising wasn’t going to be tricky by any means I think; the most difficult part was to use the right mediums to make people aware of issues regarding the availability of clean water, and nature would effectively take it’s course from there on. The next few days had been a constant buzz of activity, connecting with people and devising a strategy with a whole bunch of friends – many of whom I have never actually met. What brought us together? Appreciation of social media, and the impact that a driven campaign can make in educating people and raising awareness for this cause.

At the end of Ramadan, I traveled to India for two and a half weeks. This was my first trip ‘back home’ in 13 years, and in all honesty – I wish I had been earlier! The love and affection that I got from our HUGE family was amazing. A lot of time was spent visiting relatives; at one point, we visited about 50 families in 4 days, across 5-6 towns and villages.

I got as close as I could to Janjira fort. The home to the earlier generations of my paternal family. For those who dont know, Janjira fort is built about 2 kilometres into the sea. It’s amazing to see that hundreds of years ago, people had the engineering skills to construct such a structure away from the land. The other fascinating thing about the fort is the 2 natural fresh water lakes in the middle of the fort. The amazing part is that the fort is surrounded by the Arabian sea i.e. salt water!

During my travels, I met some amazing people on the road, and witnessed some amazing sights. Ever driven above the clouds? I did

I also met a lonely cloud, as it wandered between the hills above this reservoir.

But this trip was not only about rekindling old memories; it was about forming new ones. I met a cousin and her family after 20 years. I saw so many nephews and nieces for the first time. I met people who I have never seen or heard of, and got close to them. I also met members of my future family. 14 guest bloggers told us of their memories while I was away, and reading back on them, I find myself in almost every one of the posts. A lot of memories, which were written about, go back to childhood, and I revisited mine in the 16 days that I was in India.

Part of the guest blogging experience was to place more eyes and ears towards the charity: water campaign. The comments left on the post have raised USD 195, and hence raised the grand total to USD 1,208. I would like to take this moment to thank all those who shared their memories, commented on the posts, and went a step ahead and contributed to the campaign! Your contributions, in every way, is helping people.

I have been ‘busy’ in the last 2 months, and I have missed blogging and tweeting a great deal. The last 5 weeks infact have taken me on 8 plane journeys to 5 different cities in Europe and Asia; some for work, and some for pleasure. I can’t say that all the journeys were pleasant. What I can say though is that part of these experiences introduced me to people, some of whom gave me grief, but a lot of them gave me immense happiness. Amongst them, I met a man whose history helped me understand the value of hard work a little better. His legacy, has taught me a little something about the value of the extended family, and his values have taught me a little something more about humility. He, ofcourse, is also known as my future father-in-law. My fiance, well she would be her.

Normal blogging service shall begin shortly!

[p.s. - Some holiday pics will appear in the blog albums in a week or two!]

Tagged as: Asia, charity, charity:water, Drinking water, Environment, India, Lake, Recreation, Travel