Happiness Is Everywhere

If there is one thing life has taught me, it is this: Happiness is everywhere.  We only have to look.  For me, it is in all the little things.  Looking at old photo albums with my family, singing songs, trying a new recipe,  a coffee with my friend, walking on the terrace…

Did you know that March 20 has been designated as International Day Of Happiness by the UN? Its goal is “To promote happiness as a universal goal and aspiration in the lives of human beings around the world”.

How nice. Happiness is my favorite D.I.Y project. I choose it, consciously.

Happiness is everywhere

I’ve been enjoying walking all week. In spite of the heat it was nice being outdoors. Bangalore gets hotter each year, thanks to the trees disappearing and the abundant construction work. I dread to think what the next two months will be like. But when I think of the good stuff – everything looks brighter. There will be raw mangoes, lots of watermelons, festivals to celebrate, some travel and the A to Z Challenge in April!

It is also vacation time for schools. Generally summer vacation is a time when we go visit family in other cities and take in a bit of sightseeing. Since I grew up in my Grandmother’s house in a joint family, it was always others visiting us.  I actually got to travel when I started working and I vowed to see as many places as I could. It helped to be in a sales career as it involved plenty of traveling.

My happiest memories are of staying in hotels in Chennai during our annual sales conferences. We’d have such fun at the resorts, experiencing fantastic training programs mixed with a great time with colleagues. It was exciting as we personally could not afford those luxurious resorts. Our personal trips usually involved budget hotels, and that – only if our family was out of town. We have a lot of family in this city. The tradition is, no matter what the relationship, if we have relatives in a particular town or city, we’re expected to stay with them. Now this is not something we prefer to do these days. I am laughing as I write this, recalling all the crazy memories. In retrospect, of course, I can only think of it as good fun. And great fodder for gossip between my Mom and I.

Now when Sury travels to Chennai he simply prefers to go stay in a hotel even though his Dad lives there. Our favorite online booking site is Makemytrip.com which is very convenient and efficient. They offer Chennai hotel bookings at big discounts especially when we book our stay along with flight tickets. Sigh. This summer, Sury will be traveling quite a bit. We’re trying to figure out which places we can tag along.

For now, however, I get my pleasures from the little things in life like a digital vacation. Still not riding my scooter, though. Sigh. I’ve got to get it serviced – I am sure the battery is dead. I am waiting until April first week since there’s major renovation going on in our building basement. I doubt if I can get inside my garage now anyway.

So let me share some photos from my walk back home a couple of days ago. You’ll never guess where I clicked some of them!

I loved the sight of these watermelons – which greeted us when we entered our favorite supermarket.

You know I love trees – and this one nudged me as I walked past.

At the base of the tree, was this lovely foliage. I was fascinated to see those light colored leaves mingling with the vibrant green – so many shades!

Buttercups always take me back to a place during my childhood

A little tank on the side of the building had this – so pretty! I like the reflections on the water.

Can you guess where these photos may be from? They are from the front yard of our Traffic Police Station! Indeed, happiness is everywhere!

And – I end the day looking at these skies. Summer skies are always beautiful. The setting sun’s rays seem to spread a positive message.

Sundays In My City is my favorite meme and it is hosted by the gorgeous Unknown Mami. Let’s go visit her and from there, travel the world together.