Its said that February is the month of love; thats why its the shortest month of the year!” 😉 Well! the brouhaha over Valentine’s day sure does establish its supremacy as the most romantic one even as spring paints the town red, pink, purple, yellow. Basant Panchami (festival of spring) falls every year in February which has religious conotations for many even as some folks plan their wedding around this date.

So sit back with a cuppa your favourite brew as I meander back into my February memories and regale you with my happy tidings. I did have some downtime moments too but not going to rant about them here.

♥ A Spring Wedding

One such wedding in February was of my dearest friend R and the whole weekend was spent in Ladies night, Mehindi and the wedding reception lunch. The girly get together was at a pub with a dance floor; dresscode was sequins and so I decked in a saree even as other peeps had gone shopping for sequin-y dresses. And yes I rocked the dance floor in a saree – something which I am totally amazed at myself for doing so. I flaunted a newly bought saree at the reception and loved the heaps of compliments I got there ♥

♥ Farewell to a friend

February saw me bid farewell to a P who has taken up an exciting new work assignment; well actually her place of work is more exciting 😉 So she threw a going away party of sorts and it was a fun shindig where I once again gave into my Saree Swag. Not only tied the 9 yards but traipsed off in a metro from Gurgaon to Delhi and then walked three floors of stairs to reach the Barsati. Phew – I am quite getting the hang of it now. This was again a new saree and was a Xmas gift from R. Loved the looks I got on the metro from a gang of girls 🙂

♥ Travel & Lesiure

February saw me off for the first trip of the year which was to Dehradun where my bestie was babysitting her son. Its his 12th boards and he studies in a boarding school there. So both of us painted the town & neighbouring parts red with our gypsy shoes. One day was spent in Landour above Mussoorie and it was a rain laden chilly day which we just loved. Sat at Rokeby manor cafe by the window and enjoyed the rainy vista as the clouds rolled on and off in the valley below. Food was sublime and we kept digging into it for three gluttony filled hours. Infact the entire trip was about exploring food cafes in Dehradun. And also my bestie kept cooking some delish stuff everyday as she was pampering her son and his friends as they studied.

We went for a day visit to the Mindroling Monastery which turned out to be such an amazing experience. Brilliantly colourful and enormous statues of Buddha and other important deities inset on a rolling green expanse – I was quite stunned to find such a lavish and huge Tibetan temple in Dehradun. We finished this day with some amazingly fresh and hot thupka and momos at one of the cafes in this Tibetan district of sorts.

Another day was spent exploring the Forest Research Institute which is a splendid example of architecture and history. The bricked archways cordonned corridors seduced us with their perfection even as we wandered in a daze through them. The entire complex was bordered by a dense forest and some gigantic trees. I would have loved to laze in the green lawns with a book and lemonade – maybe some day soon!

♥ Books I read

I didnt get to read as much as I would have liked in February but the two books that I did finish were something else. First one was the Tattooist of Auschwicz which is based on a true account in the Second World War era. Second one was a book on Ayurveda and it totally blew me away. It was gifted to me by A and I am just so grateful to her for it. Some amazing learnings and lessons from both the books that I am looking forward to imbue in my life from here on.

♥ A musical evening

I chanced upon an advert about a classical evening being done in someone’s home. Turns out this young couple arrange to have seasoned musicians come into their home where they conduct a mini baithak of sorts. Simply loved this concept and the performance I went for was one of the best I have been too. There was such a medley of musically inclined folks gathered at this event and the conversations ranged from Led Zepplin to MS Subhalaxmi – go figure! I cannot wait for the next one and yes I did pull out a saree to wear to this do too 🙂

♥ Movie time

I had been hearing rave reviews of GullyBoy was have been unsuccessful to go and watch it yet. However, I did manage to see two really heart warming films on the telly this month. First one is called the Leisure Seekers which is all about an old couple and the challenges of growing old. Brilliant performances by the lead pair and some fuzzy moments about love and life. Second one is titled Everything is Illuminated and is based on the Second world war era narrative. Beautifully made movie with minimal dialogues; everything is very visual and presented in a surreal form. Do check both of them out if you are fond of cinema that makes you think and feel.

♥ Health & Fitness

After an initial  scare with my Thyroid readings in January, things have settled out really well in February. I started being as regualr as I could with a 3-4 km walk about thrice a week. Though outside food was on a high this months ( on account of my travels), my weight hasnt gone up and thats a huge blessing 😉

♥ First time pre-booked a cab for my very early morning train and was grateful when it turned up. I confess to spending a troubled night over it. Thank you Uber for this service.

♥ February was when my lease was up for a renewal and I needed some legal help with the new document. I was blessed to find a very helpful neighbour in my building who sorted it all out for me. Grateful to have such nice people around me.

♥ My ayurveda healer and mentor of sorts called me up to wish me for doing so well in my papers. His happiness at my result was something totally unexpected and I have been on such a high since. Grateful to the Divine for this success.

♥ Loving the smorgasboard of floral bounty thats springing forth in gay abandon all over town. I have been going nuts clicking the pics with my phone and have been meaning to head out with my camera before they disappear. Check out the blossoms and the awesome poppies – dont you just love Mother nature?

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Well thats all there is from me folks for this month’s gratitude post. I hope you all had a fabulous month too and incase you have written your post too; will head across and read that up for sure. Stay blessed!!

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Linking up with Vidya for the Gratitude circle for the month of February

 

You can catch my January Gratitude post here