Bansky & Lane – A Year Since We Got Married

“I Love You”

This is how I precisely concluded the last blog post on the Bansky & Lane series. For starters, Bansky is the nickname of my wife Banupriya and Lane is mine. As many of you might have guessed, I am writing this post celebrating our first anniversary.

30th August day is a special day for us. It’s not only our wedding day but also Bansky’s birthday. As the most famous Chronicwriter suggested, probably we should go ahead and celebrate this day as BanGok Day. Believe me, I badly wanted to write and publish this yesterday, on our special day. But the only reason it got deferred is, I wanted to spend the whole day with her and for her.

One of our most fav pic  –  PC: Sharath Kumar

We knew each other for just 6 months before we got married, and that’s not a lot of time to know and understand a person. As they say, knowing someone is totally different from being with them and we are no exception. Obviously, like any other couples living together, we either complain over the habitual differences for life or eventually adjust and get used to it.

A great relationship is about two things: First, appreciating the similarities, and second respecting the differences.

To be honest, I always wanted to marry someone who has similar taste as mine and appreciate things the way I do. But, now I realize the importance of having a person with a completely different taste and perspective in your life. Though both of us have contrasting views and preferences, we continue to appreciate the differences and learn from each other. Of course, there would be arguments and small fights at times, but don’t you think those are inevitable in a relationship.

I really don’t believe in the concept of soul mates. I bet on the relationships that evolve over time with lots of love and tiny compromises. I sincerely wish ours matures that way too.

She is a simple, no-nonsense person and that’s the trait which I admire a lot. At times, what really dazzles me is her wittiness. The below tweet is one such example. Sorry, it’s hard to translate to English. I can go on and on about her, but don’t think it’s the right place. In the interest of time, both yours and mine, I better conclude it.

While wife cooking alone in the kitchen and me trying to be romantic an all

Me: Un samayal araiyil ….
Wife: Puli moota#EKSI

— Gokoulane Ravi (@gokoulane) July 26, 2019

Dear Bansky,

I dedicate this blog post to you.
Thanks a ton for putting up with me for the past one and half years.
Thanks a ton for having my back always and saving my head often by being a great emotional support.

Cheers to many more awesome years to come.

Yours Awesomely
Lane

P.S.: I Love You

Bansky & Lane

Finally, I get to write this post that was overdue for quite some time. Today is a special day in my life and the sole reason behind me publishing this post early rather than the last day of the month as usual. If you are wondering what’s so special about today? It’s the same day (19th March) last year I got engaged to my wife Banupriya. I can’t find a better occasion to write about our marriage and don’t want to procrastinate it further.

Ours was a typical arranged marriage. If the term sounds alien to you, let me try to explain. It means, we both are incapable of finding our partners on our own and our families pitched in to help with the matchmaking.

We first met on Feb 15th, 2018 at a mall, solely to avoid the typical guy visiting the girl’s home episode. With the blessings of both our families, we were allowed to talk in private. Believe me, all I was given is some 40 odd minutes to decide on my life partner and that’s how Indian arranged marriages work. Never like before, meeting a girl felt a bit weird. Like anyone who knows me would have guessed, I did all the talking and she was patiently listening. Blame the chatterbox in me. Though I liked her, I was inconclusive to give out an answer as she spoke a little that day and that seems to have disappointed both our families. I didn’t want to completely rule her out as I liked her, so we decided to resume our conversation the next day. We both felt more comfortable conversing over the phone than in person and she started to open up a bit. After the call, I found her to be a simple, confident and independent woman. So, I blindly trusted my instinct and momentarily said YES. A month later, on March 19th, 2018 we got engaged in a small ceremony at her home.

Throwback, a year ago. Engaged to Bansky

Though we had a solid 6 months gap between our engagement and wedding, it’s a big no-no for the couples to hang out alone before the wedding as her family was a bit conservative. However, that left us with no other choice than meet secretly after our work hours. Out of several meetings during our courtship period, the most memorable one was taking her out for the first time to the UDH Cafe. As time went on, Nelangarai beach became our favorite hangout spot. For us, that place holds a lot of beautiful memories.

First time outing to the UDH Cafe

Neelangarai Beach – Fav spot

Again, fast forward, we got married on 30th August and it was her birthday too. I deliberately chose that date so that I don’t have to remember 2 different dates in the future. It was quite a simple wedding blessed by the presence of dear friends, family, and wellwishers. Since then it was one hell of a roller coaster ride.

From food to music, movies, and colors we both have contrasting views and preference. Instead of fighting over the differences, we appreciate it and learn from each other. Both our lives have changed tremendously post marriage, in fact, we both are interdependent on each other for a lot of things, but never invaded one’s personal space. There were many instances where she proved to be a very supportive, responsible, practical and mature person. But, that’s not all. Your perspective on her will change when you unexpectedly get hit by her mischievousness and wits. Overall, she is quite a cool person unless you mess up with her and I have learned it the hard way :D.

I dedicate this post to you, Bansky, my dear wife. You know I am nowhere good with cheesy words and romantic gestures. How about I conclude this post with an “I Love You”. Cheers to lots of awesome times ahead together.

Trip To Remember – Trekking Sar Pass – Part 3

As you guessed, it’s my monthly target that pushed me to write this blog post. But, I love to write about my travel. I just love to revisit those beautiful memories and feel nostalgic about the same.

Day 6 – 23rd May 2017

As usual, I woke up early that day. As it was still dark outside, I spent time listening to music inside the tent until the sun showed up in the east.  To my surprise, no one except the kitchen staff was awake and they served me some hot tea. Then, I found myself a spot and got lost in the music and the serene nature. Slowly my trek mates started coming out of their tents and the kitchen staff served delicious Poha along with some hot tea. We didn’t just stop with the Poha, a couple of rounds of MoMos went on too, courtesy Mrs. Tarkur (I call her The MoMo Aunty). It wasn’t just the hot MoMos that added warmth, the burning woods inside her shop made the cold morning much pleasant.

Kitchen staffs in action

Lost into music

Lovely Kids

Much needed for a cold morning

Mrs. Tharkur preparing MoMos for us

How Beautiful

It’s Poha for the breakfast

A little later, we packed our lunch and was all ready to leave the camp. Our camp leader gave us 2 choices. One, an easy route and nothing much exciting on the way. Next, a relatively tough route with a waterfall along. Can’t expect anything less from our energetic group, we unanimously voted for the tough one. The best part was, our camp leader Mr. Bharath even agreed to accompany us to the waterfall. It was a bit steep route with a couple of small streams on the way. Walking further we stumbled upon a small waterfall and started clicking pics assuming that it was the one that our camp leader mentioned about. Then we realized, it was just the trailer and the main picture yet to come. I was simply awestruck by the view when we reached the waterfall. The sheer force of water and the sun rays escaping through the dense trees made the place look magical. The feel of cold water droplets splashing on my face is indescribable, even just thinking about would give me goosebumps. We spent some time there enjoying the nature and clicking some pics. As our camp leader headed to Grahan getting farewell from us, we continued trekking to our higher camp.

Droplets ❤

The path is never easy

The little waterfall

This place is magical

Joy Max

Smile says it all

With Bharath, Our camp leader

The route was a bit steeper than I imagined, but the energy in the group kept us going. As usual, I enjoyed trekking in my own phase. Out of nowhere came our lunch point, a tiny shop where we ordered some hot Maggi and had it along with Chapatti and Potato Curry, the ones we picked from the camp. We resumed after our lunch followed by some rest. From the lunch point, it didn’t take us much time to reach our next higher camp Padri (9300 ft), actually quite earlier than expected. Cant expect anything less from our young and energetic group.

Maggi being made

Yummy….

Camp Padri

Padri is like a valley cleared for cattle grazing. One can see mountains with snowy peaks surrounding it. Cattles passed by the camp all the time, can’t blame them, after all, it’s their place we were occupying.  We had a lot of time to relax that day with most of my time spent in the company of music lost in thoughts. Soup, tea and dinner were served in the meantime. Post dinner something really interesting happened. As a tradition, signals were exchanged between our camp and yet another higher camp Nagaru using torchlight. All we could see was a tiny spark of light flickering in a pattern far away from the mountains. Nagaru is the highest camp in this trek and it would take us another couple of days to reach there. In my case, sleep comes out once the food goes in and it was cold to stay out. On the contrary, my tent mates were wide awake with playing both Uno and music. So, I switched to another tent full of similar sleepy souls and dozed off to glory. That’s how yet another awesome day on the trek came to an end.

Snow covered mountains

Cattle grounds

UNO Night

One of my fav pics, Kalyan Ji.

Day 7 – 24th May 2017

The day started witnessing one of the best sunrises ever. The view of Sun rising over the mountains from the camp was stunning and the lighting was perfect to click some photos and selfies. To our surprise, they served Penne Pasta for breakfast along with some hot tea. We resumed our trek after bidding our farewell to the camp leader.

Sunrise over the mountains

Mountains, Breeze and Flare, What else I could ask for. #SmileIsAllWhatIHaveGot

The glasses aren’t mine

Penne Pasta for the Nastha

This one lovely view ❤

The route was initially steep downhill. With a bit of rain last night, it was damp and slippery. We had to carefully watch each of steps, luckily the Bamboo stick (pole) that I carried along came in handy. We came across a stream, think I can call it a small waterfall, from there the route elevated steep uphill, crazy mountains I must say. Out of nowhere on the route, we encountered a small tent shop which sold chocolates, chips and packed juices. Though the prices were up to thrice the MRP, it seemed fair to pay considering the location and the fact that we would be their only customers for the day. Energized by the brief rest along with some snacks, we continued our journey.  The route was a bit flat until our lunch point, I even saw a  tree burnt by lighting and my favorite Rhododendron flowers on the way. The lunch point was the most scenic of all. A perfect place to take a lot of pictures with mountainous background and I didn’t miss it either.

Steep & Slippery

Crossing the stream

Route Markers

A shop from nowhere

Rhododendron flowers

Burnt by lightning

So Relaxed

Panorama from lunch point

It was all fine till then, the route was kinda flat until we reached this spot which I call the great wall of Mingtatch cos it looked like a wall between us and the camp. It was a highly steep zigzag path uphill, so steep that they even had supporting ropes to hold and climb. It was not just the tough path that caused trouble, the most unpredictable mountain weather had also decided to join the party uninvited and It rained all of sudden. We took shelter under the tree covering ourselves with the rain cover and Pancho. Added to the steepness, rain made the path slippery too and that wasn’t fair at all. Just a slip and we would be dead in the valley few thousand foots below us. That was one of the scariest parts of the trek for me. Somehow we safely managed to reach Mingtatch (11200 ft), our next higher camp.

Steep climb starts here

Steep wall of Mingtatch

Finally…

Rain clouds out of no where

Within a few minutes, the clouds disappeared, the sun shined back and there wasn’t a trace that it rained. Mysterious mountains, I must say. The hot Tea and Potato Pakodas they served felt heavenly. The dispersion of sun rays through the clouds at the time of sunset was an awesome view to watch. I whiled away clicking pics and playing our favorite UNO. Then, as usual, sleep followed the dinner and yet another awesome day on the trek came to an end.

Tea & Pakodas

Dispersion of rays

Heavenly view

A lot of trees

To Be Continued…

My Love Turns 50

When my beloved Chennai Bloggers Club (CBC) came up with this “love theme” contest for the Valentine’s Day, I was thinking of too many things to write. At a point even thought to drop out of it. But today, it hit my mind that there wouldn’t be a better moment than now to write about her. So, this contest is just a reason to write about her.

If someone asks me, what’s the best thing happened in my life so far, I would blindly point to her. I might be one of the worst things happened to her, I am such a disappointment as ever and she really deserves someone better. I have been troubling her for a few years now, 28 years and 6 months to be precise. I am 27 years and 8 months, have also added the 10 months that I troubled her in her womb. Yeah, this post is about my dear mom.

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Yaay, she is turning 50 today (20th Feb). It’s hard to believe she is 50, Afterall age is just a number. Haven’t planned any gift for her yet. Least I could do is write a blog post dedicated to her.

Probably she is the one with whom I had fought, argued, debated, disagreed and discussed the most. She had all the patience in the world to put up with a messy kind like me and yet be selfless and supportive. What really surprises me is her broadmindedness, which is a very rare trait from the people of a similar background of her generation. She would guess my mood even without me uttering a word and that’s a great instinct she’s got. She is very sweet. All my friends love her, not only for her yummy food but also her friendlier way of treating them. She has supported me in all my pursuits, she is the one who even insisted my dad to get me a computer. I can keep going on about her and exhaust the words. So, let me stop here.

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If you are wondering what kinda guy write about his mother for Valentine’s day post, yes, you are right, the one who doesn’t have a girlfriend. Just wondering is Valentine’s Day is only meant for couples?. I think we should take a chance to celebrate numerous love and friendships in our life. For me, my mom’s love is the most selfless love that I have ever felt. She will be my valentine forever.

Wish her a great health and awesome years ahead. Love You Ma.

This post is written for the ‘love theme’ contest by The Chennai Bloggers Club in association with Woodooz and Indian Superheroes.

Loveu Letter

Dear Love,

Hope you are fine?. Probably, I shouldn’t be asking you this question today. It’s valentine’s day and the whole world is celebrating you. You are the one of the best things that came across my life, wish you stayed bit longer. I can’t blame you either, both villains EGO and religion played their part in temporarily flushing you out of my life. You know what, it’s been years, but I still miss those beautiful moments being with you. You are awesome and magical, aren’t u?. You pushed beyond my comfort zones and made me do crazy things. I enjoyed it all until you left me one fine day, alone and dry. It was hard and disastrous for me. Somehow I moved on, filled my life with things that would fill your absence. But, there is this small void which I couldn’t avoid. The wounds are healed, but the scar remains and reminds you. All I now wish is for someone who could bring you back to me. This time, I am gonna hold you tight and gentle. I have learnt how fragile you are, so will handle you with care. Hope you don’t keep me waiting too long.

Many are happy today because of you, please stay with them forever. Many more are still hoping for you, you are their last hope. Reach them soon and keep them happy too. I can imagine the world with no air and no water, but not without you. Be there for us always.

Love You Love.

Yours Lovingly
Gokoulane Ravi

This is a post written for a Valentine’s Day – Write a love letter campaign organized by The Chennai Bloggers Club.

Visit http://www.chennaibloggers.in for more details.

Purer Than Gold & Sparkling Than Diamonds

He stood on the deck sipping a cup of hot coffee, it was a cold and breezy morning and his ship was sailing somewhere on south pacific. The combination mist and mast reminded Varun of titanic movie and his better half. He missed Shivani a lot and cursed his marine engineer job that caused the distance, they were married just for 4 months when he left for the voyage. He dreamt of her, hugging him from behind, until a beep from his mobile disturbed him. With frustration he shouted “OMG, can’t I even dream of being with my wife” and lazily took out the phone from his pocket and it read “5 more days for anniversary”. He sighed, being well aware of his awesome memory, he added multiple anniversary reminders on the day of his wedding and that’s what gonna save him. He was supposed to get sign off a month back and spend time with his wife, but his replacement got delayed due to some emergency and still got stuck here. Again he cursed himself, this reminder is of no use as the ship left the port just couple of days back and it would take another 10 days to reach the next port.

After a deep thought, he decided to order something online for her. But, he always wanted to gift her some jewelry on their 1st anniversary and even saved some money for the same. Something struck his mind and he rushed to his captain’s cabin.

Varun: Hi Captain (in a panicking voice)
Captain: Is something wrong with the ship, I had never seen you like this.
V: Captain, need your permission to use the SatPhone.
C: Any Emergency?
V: Not emergency, But Kinda important and personal.
C: Don’t take much time, you know it costs a lot.
V: Aye Captain, Thank You.

After searching his contacts he called his friend who is a famous fashion blogger

Varun: Hello, Hi it’s Varun here.
Friend: Dei, You alive?, what a wonder you have called, haven’t heard from you since your marriage.
V: Sorry ya, was kinda busy.
F: Okie Okie, Where you calling from? Back to chennai?
V: No No, I am still floating on the water, look, I am using satphone, can’t talk much, called you for a small help.
F: Tell me , tell me.
V: My 1st anniversary is on way in another 5 days and I want to gift my wife some jewellery, unfortunately still got stuck here, few months back you posted about one online jewellery site na.
F: Yeah, Stylori ah ?
V: I don’t remember the name an all, tell the site address, let me try.
F: Note it da, it’s www.stylori.com 
V: One more thing, How about the quality an all?
F: Don’t worry about quality an all, i myself had purchased from there, more than that, you know NAC Jewellers na, it’s their online wing only.
V: Then Ok, Will you help me choosing? , I am bad at all those and you know that.
F: No No, Your wife, you choose. and get me something when you are back da.
V: Hello… Hello… Hello… Think signal is dropping. Thanku Thanku.
F: Thu, You never change, bugger.

Again He rushed back to his captain’s cabin.

C: What’s now Varun?
V: Captain, need your terminal to access internet.
C: What ? !! Don’t tell me that you want to update your facebook status and check in in pacific ocean.
V: No Captain, Want to order something online for my wife and just realized that my 1st anniversary is just 5 days ahead.
C: Wow, congrats man, I understand, I know it’s really difficult and really sorry for still keeping you on the board, but have no other go. Wait will set it up, then you can go ahead and use it.
V: Thanks Captain.

Before going ahead, he spent sometime in deciding what to get her, then he narrowed in his mind to get a pendant and a set of earrings for her. Then, he opened http://www.stylori.com in his browser and browsed the numerous options. With no prior experience in buying jewellery, few educational articles regarding grading gold and diamond helped him to a greater extent. He was also glad about their “no questions asked” return policy as he feared her rejection towards his selection. He selected pendant and earrings that reflects her personality, modern yet simple. Then he customized Gold and Diamonds for their grade by choosing the best quality available and added them to the cart, his heart always wanted to get the best for her. What could have made him merrier than the discounts and option to send it as a gift with a special message to her. He wrote “Sorry, I couldn’t find anything more purer than your love and more sparkling than your smile to gift you. I tried my level best and this is all I could get. I Love You, I Miss You”. He made payment using his Credit Card to complete the order and closed the browser window with a big smile on his face.

He couldn’t call and wish her on their anniversary, so he called her 5 days later when the ship got to the port.

Varun: Hey, Happy Anniversary.
Shivani: It’s not yet anniversary sir, you was with me only for 4 months (Laughter), I really miss you. Wish you were around.
V: Same here, got my gift? like them?
S: Yeah, they are lovely da. I’m so happy. They made me to miss you more.
V: So, where’s my gift?
S: Awaiting for you at home, come back soon.
V: Yeah, I will..

Their conversation got extended for more than an hour. Let’s not shamelessly eavesdrop their private conversation.

Couple of weeks later, Varun got replacement and got signed off from his work. To surprise her, he reached home without giving her a single clue. He rang the doorbell and she got completely flabbergasted seeing him at the door steps. She jumped out of joy, pulled him straight, hugged him tight and kissed him right. He noticed her wearing his gifts, the pendant and the earrings, not only that, he also noticed the tears of joy run down her cheeks. He whispered to her, “Why are you wearing this now?”, She replied, “I missed you a lot, I feel like you being with me when I wear them, that’s why” and smiled at him. Again he realized, there is nothing as pure as her love and nothing as sparkling as her smile.

This entry is a part of the Stylori-Jewellery from the Heart contest, It’s just a mere attempt to amalgamate Style, Love and Story reflecting the brand itself.

organised in partnership with The Chennai Bloggers Club, Which I am proud to be a part of.

Though this post is about online jewellery, I dedicate this to all of them who work away from their families.

Luck(e)y

Gifted Key Chain – Courtesy : Buddy

I had a set of loosely held keys that opens the boxes which hold delightful things. But few of them are special and exclusive ones, they are my Luck-Keys. Why do I call them Luck-Keys? cos they are luck(e)y ones, somehow I get them back soon whenever I lose or misplace them. They say “Luck marches with those who give their very best.” and it became true in my case. Yes, I started to lose my luck on those keys as I didn’t give my best and took the luck for granted. I was careless and overconfident that I am never going to lose them, even if I do, I would get them back soon. Once a carelessly and loosely held luck(e)y slipped out of my hands, then I searched for it all along, but couldn’t find and It’s gone forever. This is what made me conscious of my mistakes and I started holding them tight, even put them together in a key chain.

Do you think it’s just about bunch of metal keys, no It’s about people you know. And those Luck-Keys are the ones who love you and care for you. They might come back and be for you in spite of your stupid behaviors and angry words. But they would definitely slip out of your hands if you are taking them for granted and not paying attention to them. Do you know what’s inside those boxes, It’s your own JOY. So hold on to your Luck-Keys tight.

Note : What prompted me to write the above is a Key Chain gifted by my buddy to hold those loosely held bike keys which I kept on missing and misplacing.

Feelings Untitled – Me And The Mighty Lunar Beauty

The Mighty Lunar Beauty Image Source : Wikipedia

I woke up suddenly out of a nightmare at midnight,
Realizing its less scary than reality.
It was a romantic dream with a girl,
The girl who left me for various reasons.

My thoughts on her went so deep,
Recoiling memories both good and bad.
I felt pain intensify in my head and heart,
I broke out and start to weep.

After all my efforts to sleep back failed,
I Hoped some music would ease me out.
So turned on my player, To Inflame,
It randomly played her favorite song.

A sudden power outage hiked my rage,
More sweat oozed out of me like a grilling piece of meat,
And I heard my heart pound causing discomfort.
Wondered whether suffocation is same in hell.

I opened my netted windows to allow some air in,
Cool breeze rushed in with the soft light of the full moon.
I calmed down as I admire the mighty lunar beauty.
This time it reflected me rather than her.

You grow and shrink to the eyes of many,
But only few know you are same all the time.
You have dark patches and aren’t perfect either,
But to the contrary many adore you for your beauty.

Many admire you just for the light you reflect,
Which even wasn’t your own.
But only few reach you with will to know more,
To know really what you are.

Oh my moon, made me to realize so soon,
That you are more alike me.
In spite of my usual weirdness,
Few do love me, Don’t they ?

 

Evening After Summer Rain – A So Called Poem

Rain Through Glass Walls – Photo Courtesy : Aswin Yogesh

Rain is one of few things which excite me a lot. And I am such a rain lover.
My yet another experiment with poetry. Yet another So Called Poem.

In my office looking through those glass walls,
I see those giant dark clouds , hoping the rain falls.

I look at those clouds like kid look at a candy shop,
Hoping it gets over, my craving for rain drop.

The very first rain of summer starts pouring heavy to cool the land,
Inside the glass walls, I miss the smell of sand and drops on hand.

Sound of rain made me to sing songs along,
Hope the pour lasted much long.

Enough I said to those glass walls,
Time has come for me, To ride back home.

Clouds are dark while it still drizzle,
And I felt the cold breeze cut me like a chisel.

The breeze blew stronger and more cooler,
Portraying few purest acts of love and rejoice.

A mom covered and held her baby close to protect,
While a small girl shouts of excitement hugging her dad tight.

Couples on the ride gave no space between, Breeze the looser,
I pity on you, your every attempt made them only closer.

Even vehicles celebrated their own holi,
Splashing water on each other in jolly.

Rain, I wonder you come from where,
But you induce love and joy, make me feel heaven here.