Old maybe gold but give the new their due.

"Old is gold" is a quote we all have been listening to from childhood. Our parents, teachers, elders, friends etc. all of them convey to us this same message through a variety of ways. At every stage of our life we are actually made to realise the importance and verasity of this statement. I don't question the statement but in the recent past i realised that its not right to just blindly follow this and do injustice to the "new"- The Present.

"Old times" never come back and I suppose it's just as well. What comes back is a new morning every day in the year, and that's better."

What is new now will be old in a few moments from now...I do agree that the old friends, old memeories and past experiences play a very important role in our lives and remind us of some of the finest moments of our life but have u ever wondered that because we are so overwhelmed by the people in our lives that we create a barrier around us and by choice and just refuse to allow the new people around us to be counted in our list of "great friends"....its really ironical.

I see a lot of people around me including me who choose not to be a part of the present and continue to live with their past glories....what i really don't understand is "How does one define past?" Its something that is very relative...what you experienced a minute back is past this minute! So when you say....New...how do u define it or how do you conclude that this is new? I feel its an on going process each one of us is evolving with time and so is everything around us....I experience a new me every few minutes but does that stop me from liking myself? No..infact i find my self improving everytime...so then why is it that we complain about the new people around us and we do not even try to break the initial ice? Are they not jus as new as you are at that moment? I was discussing this with a friend and this one statement of his totally convinced me about this thought that was troubling me.He said:

"If you bought 22 K gold a few years back does that mean that the 24 K gold available today is of no use or is by any chance less valuable?".....

All i want to convey is that we all need to open up a little to embrace the present and enjoy to the fullest the things that are sent our way. I would conclude with these last lines:

We seem to be going through a period of nostalgia, and everyone seems to think yesterday was better than today. I don't think it was, and I would advise you not to wait ten years before admitting today was great. If you're hung up on nostalgia, pretend today is yesterday and just go out and have one hell of a time.

Finally on a Vacation!!!

I had been longing to go for a vacation after I joined college but it seemed like a distant dream because I was so much overburdened with all the assignments and research papers etc. But finally god did answer my prayers and I got an invitation for a three day trip to Alibagh, a coastal area 180 kms from Pune. So I decided to bunk college for two days and go for the trip.

We had hired our own 25 seater bus and the journey started on 11th August at 8 am. It felt so good to be back with old friends to enjoy a vacation. It was a lovely drive to Alibagh as the vast stretch of land across the road was lush green, the clouds were flying low through the mountains and the serpentine highway was pitch black and endless due to the rains. We halted at Khandala for tea and I just cannot put into words the scenic beauty there. I felt so fresh and full of energy after seeing the beauty around. We then continued with the journey and we didn’t realize when the remaining 4 hours went by while playing anatakshari!

After a long lively journey we reached our destination the Kashid Beach. We were put up in this small and sweet bungalow so with both lodging and dining taken care of and we sure now that we were destined to have a great holiday! The two days that we were there were full of masti, fun and excitement. We spent hours playing volley ball and cricket on the virgin beaches of Alibagh. It seemed that suddenly time had gone back and each one of felt like a kid as none of us had any hang ups or prior commitments or responsibilities for those three days. The fact that there was no network coverage for mobiles was a blessing in disguise for all of us! The evenings were spent playing dumb sharades and memory games, singing and pulling each others legs while wining and dining went along side. Then we used to have this post dinner session that started at mid-night where in half of us used to play cards and the rest used to have brain storming sessions about some of the weirdest and interesting topics…..right from technology to psychology…it was so much fun. Then finally we used to force each other to bed at 4AM!!!

The three things that I enjoyed most and that made my vacation a success are:

The long walks on the beach all alone listening to my favorite music and singing along aloud with no one around me. I felt so light and relieved. Initially while I was walking alone I was upset as the not so good things that were going on in my life flashed in front of me. But as later as time went by I realized that by the time I was walking the last time on the beach before leaving for pune, I was feeling happy, light, re-energized and full of life. I had let out my worries, frustrations and hang- ups through this.

There was this heavenly place that we happened to find out. There was a virgin waterfall something like what I could imagine in my dreams only and had seen in some romantic Hollywood movies! Clear and chilled water flowing through the rocks and the lush green surroundings were a sight that I l never forget in my life time. The place seemed like a different world altogether, so wild yet so serene, so loud yet so calm, so scary yet so beautiful……here are a few pictures of this place but had cameras been able to capture the real beauty….it wouldn’t have been worth it!

And finally what I enjoyed most at last was that I was able to in true sense go for a vacation! It was perfect as it included my friends, a great place to stay, good food, no hang ups, a lot of time for myself, amazing destination, it gave me peace of mind and the same time a chance to get crazy….it gave me a lot of time with friends and last but not the least a long awaited VACATION!!!

So I would recommend all you people to definitely take some time out and treat yourself with a vacation…………it is impossible to put I words the feelings when you are convinced at the end of it that it was all worth it!