Looking Back, Smiling

I was going through my archives when I chanced upon this adorable set of photos. They are of my friend’s daughters. Anamika and I met years ago at another friend’s place to discuss starting a travel magazine. While the magazine did not happen, our friendship did and we spent some extremely pleasant times, chatting. Another reason to thank technology.

Her daughters recently had a birthday and I was marveling at how the time has flown. I’ve enjoyed reading Anamika’s blog – there’s something so captivating about the details of children growing up and their conversations.

Well, here they are – three years ago. I just love these photos!

Anamika Mukherjee is one of the best writers I know and has two published books, both of which are excellent reads. You will enjoy them.

Worth Every Gasp: A Lone Woman’s Journey In The Himalayas

Worth Every Gasp is the unique perspective of an Indian woman trekking alone through the Western Himalayas. The author sets out on a trek in Ladakh accompanied by her husband and a couple of friends. This trek is aborted when she develops pulmonary oedema, a potentially fatal form of high altitude sickness. Largely undaunted by this inauspicious start, Anamika bids farewell to her companions and embarks on a series of treks in Ladakh, Himachal, and Uttaranchal. She is accompanied, chaperoned, and sometimes bullied by her loyal guide Ballu, who is sometimes mistaken for her husband. As she meanders through the remote mountains, broad valleys, tiny villages, and high passes of the Himalayas, Anamika comes face to face with a wide range of landscapes, people, and improbable situations. She navigates through it all with the grace and elegance of an elephant on a dance floor, and emerges largely unscathed… apart from an irreparable scar to her reputation.

Her latest is Adopted Miracles

An honest, tell-all memoir of adoption, this book reveals what the experience is really like for all involved: the family, the parents, people around them, even the children. Coping with infertility and the trauma of fertility treatments, craving motherhood and envying other families, dealing with the strain of all this on her marriage, the nitty-gritty of the adoption procedures and, finally, relating to her children – there’s nothing Anamika Mukherjee shies away from.
This is the story of one family. It is the story of one adoption, yes, but it’s also about a woman and her dream, and about understanding that if a dream cannot be realized one way, there may be – there has to be – another way. And so, it is a tale of trial and triumph, a story of struggle and success.

Anamika blogs at The Twins & I

♥

What made you smile recently?

Have a great week ahead!

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