” But still. Like air, I will rise.” – Maya Angelou

I am rightly reminded of this quote by Maya Angelou in these times of Corona breakout. As of 24th March 2020, we have all been under strict self-isolation mode in our homes. Life seems somewhat suspended or rather barricaded, as if we have been caged. Initial days were spent in being morose about it, sharing sad updates on Twitter and following the daily tally of cases.

But gradually the storm within ceased and I reminded myself that this too shall pass. We are all going to be like the proverbial phoenix and rise from these ashen times, recharged and grateful. That for me is the biggest takeaway from this pandemic. This is what makes the gratitude post the most special one of the year so far.

Intrigued? Pin it for later!

♥ Holiday with family ♥

I am very grateful for the lovely 23 days holidays I got to be on in the hills of Uttarakhand. The last leg of the trip was spent in the gorgeous Swiss valley resort where my cousin owns a cottage. So eight of us piled into it and made the most of the company, food and all the trials that came, courtesy of being snow bound. We had trouble getting one of the cars uphill through the snow, the house was freezing cold due to all the snow on the roof, low water supply, water dripping right over my face when I lay in bed one night and many more. But we overcame all of that to have a ball in the clean and crisp mountain air with a stunning view of snow clad Himalayas.

In fact this was the first time my cousins had come in the snow and the excitement of that itself was too much to take in. We went out for drives, lunches and general adventures in the 4 nights we spent there, before heading back via Nainital and Jim Corbett to Delhi. I am so glad I had this holiday before the self isolation happened.

I got to sample some amazing food on this holiday and this collage doesn’t do it justice at all. Did it set you drooling yet? 😉

♥ Blogging news ♥

I was happy to see I managed to post 7 times in March, even with all the travels and low internet connectivity. I was lucky enough to be invited to stay at two very gorgeous resorts while on this holiday, to review them on my blog. Have posted a review for one of them and you can find it here. Rest will follow soon – so stay tuned.

At the moment I have taken to writing small fictional pieces, inspired from the photographs I took on my holiday. If you are interested, then you could have a look at this one – The Gossip in the Fig tree

♥ Spring is in the air ♥

I am so grateful for how the skies have turned cleaner and bluer during just one week of the lock down. In fact Mother nature seems to be on a reset mode and the animals enjoying the reprieve from the insensitive humans. The weather has been gorgeous with light rain showers and cool breeze daily. Night skies are inky blue with moon and the stars clearly visible. Icing on the cake is the rise of springtime bloom all around me. I am glorying in the profusion of colors and fragrances all around me.

I managed to share a gorgeous Weeping Willow tree that I came upon in these hills, in a Thursday Tree Love post which you will find here

♥ Health & Fitness ♥

I was walking in the mountains throughout and was happy to see my progress on the app. But now because of this lock down, I am home bound and chaffing to go out. I am hoping to start a light yoga practice at home, as soon as I am able to settle into a routine with the household chores.

♥ Culinary escapades ♥

The lock down called for some innovative cooking to economize the food supplies, ration usage of utensils and at the same time eat healthy. So I have been trying to make one pot meals or have as much fresh fruits and salads as I could. I am just grateful that I had the time and foresight to stock up on the right food stuff, which was all available at that time.

♥ A very happy to me ♥

Last day of March was my birthday and I managed to bake a cake which I also shared with some neighbors. One of them gifted me a lovely box of chocolates and cupcakes made by her daughter. I found a bottle of wine and dressed up for the event. Grateful to be able to rise to the occasion and enjoy my night with a laugh-a-riot movie on telly.

Special mention to all the lovely birthday messages and phone calls I got; some were very unexpected and made my day all the more blessed. Thank you lovely people for all the love and attention.

♥ Books & Movies ♥

Reading has been a very distracted affair for me in this entire month and I have barely managed to read one book while at least 5 lay abandoned. Fingers crossed for a better reading spree in April.

I have been binging on movies on Netflix, Prime and Hotstar this month with Panga, Chhapak, Good Newz, Jab pyar kissi se hota hai, Andaz apna apna, etc. The last two are oldies but fun watch movies.

Panga and Good newz were terribly scripted and directed movies but I liked Chhapak for the brave front it puts up about a very sensitive topic. I just wish the movie had not been so slow and meandering. Too much space wasted in the romance being built up between the two protagonists in a very round about manner – not needed. The actual topic seemed to have lost some of its shine with the slow pace of the movie. I applaud the cast and crew for the brave effort though.

---

So there you have it folks, my March is all wrapped up and we head for another 14 days of Lock down till mid April at least for now. I have a nagging suspicion that this will continue till May end at the very least and I add a special prayer of gratitude for the healthcare professionals around the world for their selfless service in this time.

Joining up with Vidya for the Gratitude Circle Linky

 

| Twitter | Pinterest | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | 

⇐ You can catch my previous Gratitude post here ⇒