The Australian Camp Part- 3

Night Falls Upon the Mountain

We lived upon the clouds for two days.  The wooden lodges of the Australian Camp turned into our den when it was impossible to stay outside of the blanket, and each night we fell into sleep hearing the sweet resonance of rain falling.
I remember the sound of thunders falling upon the Annapurna Mountain and extremely chilly wind coming through the minute gaps of our wooden door, and every time I felt I was alive.
Nights became cozy and full of laughter with Luis's stupid game of cards (well, I was hardly a winner, so it WAS stupid :p ). All WiFi and electricity were shut down after 10pm and it was like we were back to the primitive age of mankind.
The thrill and smell of adventure under the smoky light of hurricane- it gave me goosebumps time to time. Sometimes the reason was parented with the fear of leech getting under my blanket, but yes, what adventure is an adventure without a little fear of everything? :)

These are some snapshots of how evening changes its shades and colors and turns into an exotic mirror of surprise to nightfall.

Evening falling: Shades of cloud

Behind the cloud!

To the limitless freedom!

Playtime!

Fly and fly! Catch the sky!

Dinner time :D

It was the last night that we spent in Australian Camp. We missed the hot shower, pieces of cloud through our wooden window, snowy mountain floating around us like House of Greek Gods. Yet, the next venture was something really different and amazingly unique!
Will be back with our story of Trekking to the village Reebhan. :)

Stay tuned!

Be Woman: Be Yourself

Happy International Women's Day!

Through the whole day I have heard many sugar-quoting; some of them might actually come true, but for instance lets say we are not buying it.
It's time to unquote the sugar.

I would start with some factual information followed by a story of a little girl.

Do you know there is an International Men's Day too which is on November 19th?
I bet very few are aware about it. However, everyone knows the exact date of International women's day and every year it is celebrated with great joy, many events take place, many slogans are heard many promises and demands are made.
But, have you ever seen anything happening on the particular day which is attributed to the men?
At least I have not.

Let me tell you a story.

Once there was a little girl who badly wanted to go outside and play with the nature. She wanted to explore the secrets of butterflies, wanted to touch the green meadow, wanted to feel the rain.

Dialogue Exchange Program of British Council: Youths Are Raising Voice

10 Youth Leaders with South Asian Regional Director Stephan Roman and other officials of British Council

Today we attended an open discussion and dialogue exchange program hosted by British Council. This event took place at EMK Center, Dhaka. We, ten youth leaders of Bangladesh, met Asia's Regional Director Stephan Roman, and discussed on various issues which the youths of Bangladesh are frequently facing in this country.

Demands were made.

Up for School: We Demand Safe Environment for Children Education

Our campaigning "Up for School" is a stand for securing a ground for safe children education through worldwide and a symbol of rejection to the incident "2014 Peshawar School Massacre" in which 145 people, including 132 schoolchildren got killed by terrorist attack in Peshawar, Pakistan. This is an International Campaigning conveying the message that every child has the right to go to school, without danger or discrimination. For this campaigning we have taken some initiatives as awareness raising, making documentaries, signing petition and spreading voice in support of this cause.

We campaigned and stood for the cause on a liberal ground seeking for the proper establishment of human rights and we are thankful to the teachers and all those beautiful children who supported us from the beginning to the end.

Here are some clips of our campaigning while we visited two of the schools of Bangladesh for the making of our documentary.

Save Bangladesh: If Democracy Is Dying, Then What All This Leadership Is About?

He said halfheartedly, "Sorry, no one is particularly ready to come forward. They're all afraid to take any step. Specially in this condition. Saying that it's not safe"

I looked upon  my friend's face, exasperatedly " What do you mean? Are they safe enough if they would not take part? Are they safe by any means?"

He replied making a face sort of I-don't-know-what-to-say, "They're saying that's a different case. Plus such movement can be turned into political agenda"

I controlled my temper.
"Okay, So taking part in some movement to protest against this unstable political situation generating violence which is causing deaths after deaths of innocent people everyday, doing all sort of damages to our daily living state, left us with no security and guarantee of life even if we didn't do anything- this whole thing makes a definition of political agenda. Right."

I knew I had to start it alone, so I turned around and added, " If that's what leadership actually means, I better start like an ordinary person. I will go alone, and campaign, as an individual. We can campaign for Palestine, Pakistan and everything, but just not for our own country.
No.
Because that's when it becomes all political.
Of course it's political.
If the problem lies in politics, how could anyone solve it without tempering it? Still I tried to make it as much prompt and liberal as I could. But I guess, no one is ready to take such vast responsibility"

Valentine's Day Special Post: 10 Reasons Why You Must Love Yourself!

Happy Valentines Day!

A day dedicated to love and acknowledgment of love celebrated by millions and billions has given me this thought totally out of the box.
For years after years I have been observing this day is particularly tagged for those people who are in love with each other. In few cases this day happened to be celebrated with family and friends for the acknowledgment of the love people have for their "other" relationships.

But today I would not talk about celebration of this day rather would share a particular idea that I have been thinking over the concept of Valentines Day.

You love you family, friends, relatives, husband or wife, boyfriend or girlfriend, kids, but what about YOU?
What about loving your own self?

The Australian Camp Part- 2

Camp Behind The Himalaya

Enjoying the beauty of majestic Himalaya was not the only goal, rather we had come here to absorb something more from the nature. I have always believed that we always learn better when we're close to nature. Trust me, mother nature is the greatest of all the teachers. And everyday mother nature is teaching us the most important lesson of our lives: how to live.

Do not let the smoke, bricks and coins embrace you, or you'd get alienated from the core of the nature, and you'd forget how to live, and eventually you'd forget yourself.

This International Sustainability School's camp had opened up a new dimension in front of me and we learned a lot, through laughing and at the same time depth of sincerity. This is what I am going to tell you today.

Turn Your Greatest Weakness Into Your Greatest Strength: Guest Blogger Post by Traci Lawrence

"It's an honor for me to have Traci Lawrence, an insightful author who's sharping her intellect and potentials through blogging side by side. She has honored me with an excellent post on lifestyle category in which she has radiated the power of turning your greatest weakness into your greatest strength.
I enjoyed her writing.
She has a deep ocean of thoughts to share.
Let's find out her secrets!"

~Anima Choudhury ( www.anima-choudhury.blogspot.com )

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The Australian Camp Part -1

Our feet finally touched the peak of Australian Camp. The Australian Camp was established by some Australians, who found it hike-friendly and fairly easy trek in the beautiful foothills of the Annapurna. Through the whole journey we had enjoyed the ravishing eyeshot over the valleys and breathtaking sight of the Annapurna Mountain range. But for now, we were relieved to see the beautiful wooden lodges and also restlessly waiting to get a hot shower.

Trek Notes:A Journey To Australian Camp- Amusement and Difficulties Part-3

Trek Notes: A Personal Journal
Day 2: From Annapurna Conservation Area to Australian Camp, Nepal
Height: 2000 meters from sea level
Time: Minimum 6 hours

The Liebster Award: History, Purpose & Achievement

Back in the September 2014, I woke up in a morning with a sudden surprise.
I found that +Erin Tracy , who was a passionate blogger with this beautiful and productive blog "A Day in the Life of A Simple Girl" had nominated me for "The Liebster Award.

I was blogging for 7 months. I had no idea about how to promote my blog, or how to get traffic. I was writing just because I wanted to write, or loved to write. Though I admit frankly that I did get upset time to time for lack of traffic, and I passed many days over thinking that why I did not get readers after so much effort I had given. Truly, it's a depressing factor. But, all of a sudden this declaration of getting the Liebster Award pulled back all the enthusiasm I was losing gradually.

My Scrap-Blog of 2014 : Off Topic

Normally we make scrapbooks to preserve our precious little, funny, sweet, weird, interesting memorable stack of events so that if sometime we want to look back, we don't have to brainstorm. We just can turn over the pages, and those memories are there, smiling back at us.
For this year, I am not making a scrapbook.
I will be making a scrap-blog.
Let's get a tour throughout the year of 2014 and see what memorable events have taken places.

This year has been the most eventful year of my life including so many memorable incidents. So here it goes, my Scrap-blog:

Blogging Tips: 4 Basic Things To Keep In Mind In Order To Have A Successful Blog

I have noticed so far that every beginner blogger goes through one particular phase which usually decides whether you are going to be a successful blogger or not. If you can overcome the phase, the rest of the path is smooth as silk. But here is the challenge, because statistics says, 95% of bloggers just give up because they cannot pass through this one single phase in the beginning line. Success neither pop out of the window, nor falls from the sky, that's what we all know, but just not ready to accept. What I have learned in this nine months of my blogging period is that it's only my patience, confidence and consistency which had led me so far. Otherwise I don't have a sponsor to promote me, or a SEO expert boosting my blog up everyday. So how did I do it? 

Answer is simple. I won the basic battle against the most depressing state where most of the bloggers fail just because they suffer from uncertainty. 

Do you remember the one incident of your life when you cannot find your key and have searched in every possible and impossible places, but all the time the key was on the table right under your nose?

Yeah, the key is right under your nose.

Trek Notes:A Journey To Australian Camp- Amusement and Difficulties Part-2

Trek Notes: A Personal Journal
Day 2: From Annapurna Conservation Area to Australian Camp, Nepal
Height: 2000 meters from sea level
Time: Minimum 6 hours


Lunch Break

From the previous tale of my journey, the road was comparatively smooth, though it was full of small pebbles; but somehow the crushing sound of trodden pebbles under our restless feet gave me a sensation of adventure! After encountering with a handful new good and bad experiences, we came to know that we have already crossed half of the way, and indubitably, the easiest part is covered. We stopped by for a short lunch break and though I was really under a leech-traumatic condition, still I could not restrain myself from admiring how amazingly beautiful the place was; Such mind soothing greenary, mild green pulpy grasses, and a beautiful road going between the pine trees.

Here we stopped for lunch, not inside the place, outside of it :P

I never lived in heaven, but I was quite sure, Almighty has left a piece of it here. I went looking for more and found Anh and Dikshya chatting but something else had found me beforehand.

Trek Notes:A Journey To Australian Camp- Amusement and Difficulties Part-1

Trek Notes: A Personal Journal

Day 2: From Annapurna Conservation Area to Australian Camp, Nepal

Height: 2000 meters from sea level

Time: Minimum 6 hours


Though I already posted all the stories about my first trekking, so you might start to think what's so special in the next day? What is the difference?

So, let me tell you, that even if you trek for days after days, each and every day will be a new day revealing a bunch of new experiences, discovering a newer self within you on every step you take. That is what trekking is.
It is not a mere walk, it's a poetry. Every time you read, you find a new meaning.

A new morning, a beautiful one! <3

How Bucket List Can Be Your Source Of Motivation: Off Topic

Surprise!
Yes, off topics come as surprise packages, otherwise the enjoyment in reading gets reduced in half. So today's off topic is Bucket List. More or less all of us know what a bucket list is. Generally it is said that, A Bucket List is a list of things that one has not done before but wants to do before dying, but I want to pick the definition in my own way.
For me Bucket List is the list of things that keeps you motivated towards whatever you are passionate about, and never let the child inside you die. It makes you feel better every time you check out your list, and every time it triggers the energy within yourself to pursue your dreams. It is a list of some parts of your life that makes you feel alive in a true sense before you die actually. So, I have my own Bucket List prepared, do you have yours? Or do you want to make one right now?

Blogging Tips: Traffic Increases By Unique Writing or A Commercial Approach? (Politics Of Blogging)

In the beginning when I just started blogging, back in the month of February, it was all about drenching out what I experienced, how I felt about it, what I thought about it, my emotions related to those topics; everything was so personal, and so only "about me". Never ever I gave a thought about taking a commercial approach to drag some traffic to my blog.
Perhaps it was because I knew nothing about blogging. I wrote for six months without caring about traffics, or caring about whether my content was enough reader-attracting or not. I just knew, I felt so good whenever I wrote something. It was like creating own piece of yourself with words. How I feel about writing and what role writing can play in someone's life I guess I have already discussed it in my previous blog post, in Writing and Life.

But today, I am not going to show you the universal image of writing. Today we are here to re-think on what we think about blogging. And we will be discussing about one of the most important issues in someone's blogging career, that whether it is an unique piece of writing, or a commercial approach that brings you more readers, more traffic.

Trek Notes: Night-Stay At Annapurna Conservation Area- What To Do For Instant Recovery After Trekking (Nepal)

Trek Notes: A Personal Journal
Place: Annapurna Conservation Area (Bhadorure)
Height: Approximately 1869 meters from sea level

Dreams Must Come True 

I always dreamed to live in a cottage in the mountains from where the vivacious deep blue sky would seem much closer, and rest of the world would seem like a green fairy land. Well, the place was exactly what I imagined it to be. It seemed like we have reached far from the known world, after my first ever experience on trekking, finally we made it to the dream-land.

The house we stayed in

When we reached our destination we had an warm-loving people waiting for us to greet and we were welcomed with tiny bouquet of wild flower and a "tika" of  Dahi-Chini (sour milk and sugar).
Perfect representation of Nepali culture, right? :)

Trek Notes : A Journey To Australian Camp- Things To Keep In Mind For A Trekker (Nepal)

Trek Notes: A Personal Journal
Day 1: From Pokhara to Annapurna Conservation Area (Bhadoure), Nepal
Height: Approximately 1869 meters from sea level
Time: 3 and Half Hours


"Home is behind, world ahead"... 

Remember, this is the song Bilbo Baggins sings in "The Hobbit". That little hobbit who even after endless confusion, question and hesitation grabs his bag and sets his feet towards an unknown path because he cannot resist to quench his thirst for an adventure. Leaving his warm study-room, old books and delicious dinner made of fish fry with lemon juice, and above all, his most comfort zone behind, he sets his feet for the "unexpected journey" ! 

It reminded me of my very own state. I left my home very behind already, now the whole world with an unknown path was ahead. A little anxious I was. Then again I remembered what the Lady Elf of the Wood said to Frodo Baggins. "If you don't find the way.. no one will".. 

She was right, wasn't she? If I don't find my way, who else was there to find it for me?

Food Post: Chef Special Chicken Biriyani & Raita

Let’s Cook Up Some Story Mixed With History!

Biriyani.

The word itself makes you fantasize the mouthwatering aroma of finely cooked Basmati rice with deliciously spicy meat, gravy and moist yet nicely bringing a slight crisp flavor on the upper texture that makes it even tastier!

Chicken Biriyani

Though Biriyani is very popular dish in South Asian Region but if you just Google, you would definitely get super confused about its origin. Majority says it has originated from Mughlai Cuisine; some say North India; some say South India; there are also some who claim its origin to be either Persia or Lacknow!