Feb 26, 2013

The space within


Another challenge from Corinne of Everyday Gyan.

‘Write exactly a 100 words on the prompt and publish it on your blog – a story, a poem, a mini-essay’.
The prompt for this week was “sacred spaces”


 Most of us consider sacred space to be something physical. Something with natural beauty or spiritual significance.
For me, Sacred Space has no physical presence. It is something within us. A place where we retreat to discover our true selves; beyond ego, desires, anger and jealousy. A space we must nurture through contemplation and positive thoughts. 
 However adverse our outer circumstances might be, we can find tranquility, bliss and immense mental strength by simply withdrawing into this inner space. We do not need to look outside for answers. All answers lie within.

 Create your own sacred space, create your own Happiness.

Feb 20, 2013

Book Review - Peep Peep Don't Sleep


I haven’t reviewed a book for a long time so when I got an offer to review Ajay Jain’s book I jumped at the opportunity. Which self respecting travel Junkie would say to no to reviewing a travelogue ! 

Well not exactly a travelogue. You can’t really call "Peep Peep Don’t Sleep" a travelogue per se. It’s a very interesting book by Ajay Jain that is basically a compilation of amusing road signs that Ajay clicked during his travels. As most of us know, Ajay Jain is a full time writer, professional blogger and photographer. He is also founder of the fabulous travel café Kunzum


Ajay travelled by road for over 10,000 kms, mostly in the mountains and most of the road signs he clicked and compiled into this book have been put up by the BRO(Border Roads Organization).

While travelling through the mountains, the journey is never boring because the scenic beauty around us is always enthralling be it the rugged mountains of Ladakh or the lush greenery of Himachal. 
But what make the journey even more interesting are the road signs by BRO. You cant really miss the road signs put up by them if you have travelled in areas adjoining the Pakistan, China or Nepal border. I can vouch for the fact that the BRO road signs are a sight worth looking out for !
The BRO men don’t believe in putting up just simple boring road signs. Instead their road signs are witty and quirky. I like to think that the BRO men are a creative lot who are stuck high in the mountains and the only way they get to unleash their creativity is through the road signs they put up.Their road signs combine humour, caution, wisdom and philosophy all in to one !

Ajay’s collection is vast and fascinating.Here are a few samples from the book.
It seems the BRO authorities are actually wagging a finger of admonishment signs such as 
  

or something like 



 The BRO also tries to be witty with signs such as [Go Slow on my curves] and [darling I like you but no so fast]. 

The English may be funny at times but they do manage to get the point across!



They also get philosophical and give you advice on how to live your life well.


They are also quite proud of their achievements and rightly so.And they show it through such road signs:




A lot of people don’t pay attention to things like road signs while they travel. They concentrate on the scenery, click a few photographs of the nature around them and zoom off to the next destination. 
That is what makes Ajay's book so different. He looks at travel from a vastly different angle and perspective, and manages to capture something most of us would have missed.
This book is a must buy for all the quirky travellers out there !


(All images have been taken from the website
Peep Peep Dont Sleep.
 

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