My summer reading list

 While its common to hear of writer’s block, not sure if any one faces a readers’ block. In the ups and downs of life i often go thru phrases of reader’s block, and at best i am able to pick one or two book over a month. However, this summer [post made june] that changed, and how!

Books I read this summer [*missing, Lessons in Chemistry] 

By far this has been my most successful season of reading. Unfortunately, it had to come to an end at some point. I guess one reason for it is also because I haven’t found another good book to sink my teeth in. The hunt is on though. 

Amongst the summer reads, the one that I enjoyed the most would be Lessons in Chemistry . It had all the masala of a good read- drama, feminist woes, etc

But thee one that shocked me[rather spooked] was def Verity! What a find it turned out to be. That’s one unputdownable book. In terms of drama, i also loved The shadow lines and Independence. 

I am glad i laboured through ‘the Forty Rules of Love’ else I would have walked the earth not knowing the beauty of Rumi, what a tragedy that would be. 

Now i hope to broaden my reading sphere to pick some non fiction, and topical books. These are more laborious in nature, and not as fun. Be that as it may, reading has been my source of gaining knowledge and it’s about time i expanded the sphere. Fiction will always be my first love, but about time to spread this love!

The Patna Magic.

The summer of 2023 was supposed to be the magical one. Nikhil and I along with Aman & Sanju, had planned to make the most awaited Europe trip this summer. Oh how we planned and searched and dreamed about the most suitable route to take, the cities to cover, the flight options , the hotel stay. One particular Sunday evening, the four of us met at MGF mall Barista to go over Europe plans, even tolerating bad coffee for the sake of the larger mission.

Cut to June 2023, there was no further word on the holiday plans.  Absolute silence. I could see that my most cherished plans of taking time off post 16th June ( submission of key reports to RBI) were pretty much going to be reduced to some days off in Gurgaon, plonked in front of the TV.

So I did the next practical thing that I could think of  I booked tickets for Nyra, Nyra’s maid (B) and myself to travel to Patna for a 2 week stay!! Honestly I don’t know how I planned this but I knew I wanted to be physically away from Gurgaon  

My time in Patna from childhood has always been so painful that I often wondered would I ever come back here oft my own choice! And here I was doing exactly that! 

Everything aside (someday I may have the courage to share more ) the magic of Patna for me has been that it’s like coming back to my source code- the most unadulterated side of me. Patna is a package deal- the less good, more bad and even more ugly. Nevertheless, returning to it, willingly or not, always helped me to align my thoughts and intent- and to physically and emotionally will a future for myself, one that is successful and happy [the antithesis of how i mostly feel in Patna]. For the longest time and all through my growing up years, the strongest feeling I had in Patna was that of wanting to get out, at any cost. With marriage and motherhood, that yearning to get out is no longer there [maybe i did get out], but that raw feeling of wanting to create a future for myself is still there. 

I spent my days in Patna mulling over what this future for me should look like- a new role at work, or something more. While that clarity still evaded me, I did have an aha moment when hours of self reflection brought me to the realisation that my purpose in life is to Thrive! I feel this in every cell in my body. I can’t just exist- i need to thrive, no less.

There was this beautiful moment when i wanted to do more with ‘thrive’, write a book, start a blog, start a business- anything and everything seemed possible. Indeed when I am thriving success is just a byproduct. 

And that’s the Patna magic! Having a clarity of my purpose is like embracing a missing [&lost] part of me, and feeling whole again.

with Veer

                                                         WithTvisha 

Outside Disneyland, yes, in Patna 

En route to Patna with Nai Nai and B