About

“Passion” has become a buzz word these days. So many books I’ve read give this advice: “find your passion or be passionate about what you do, and only then true happiness and success will follow.”

But I sincerely fail to understand what exactly is passion? Literally, it means an unending or boundless energy or a driving force for something.

So, what’s my passion? Honestly, I don’t know. I am yet to find that one thing to which I can devote my entire life. Until then, I am going to try and explore everything possible. As Paul Beaver has said –

Life is short. The world is big. It awaits your exploration. If you’re not living on the edge, you’re just taking up way too much space.

That is why, I am committing myself to this blog – Life Beyond Usual. So, what’s this all about? Read on!

What is Life Beyond Usual?

I lived a typical normal life – school, college, office, work, marriage. As I was approaching 30, I introspected my life (probably my “mid-life crises”) and realized that life indeed is very short and I didn’t want to wait – to settle, to have enough money, to have some free time – to do all the lovely things I have ever dreamt of. The best time is NOW!!

In this blog, I intend to document my experiences while exploring my life and trying to find ways of living life beyond usual. The objective is not only to share the knowledge which I acquire in the process but, hopefully, to find my “passion;” and even if I don’t find it, the journey would still be full of surprises and a life well lived.

Why going public?

You may think, “she can do whatever she wants; what’s the point of blabbering it to public in social media.” I get it. I used to be the last person to post updates on any social media platform as I always gave preference to my privacy. However, seeing the struggles of my peers and friends, I felt compelled to share the little things I did, which made me immensely happy and satisfied with my life.

So, the main reason for going public about my journey is two-fold – one, to be held accountable, and two, to show different facets of life. By sharing my journey, I intend to give some courage to people to look beyond the usual life and live every moment fully.

What to expect in Life Beyond Usual?

What to expect in this blog? Well, typically it is said to have a niche; but, I simply love doing so many things that I cannot choose just one among them. So, instead, I am going to cover all the stuff I do while exploring my life. Still, you can expect about –

Travel

I have been travelling solo full time since 2017. In fact, I was crazy enough to leave my well-paying secured full-time job as a legal advisor to pursue my dream of solo backpacking out of India for months together. So, I will be sharing my travel experiences about places, people and cultures. I am a slow-paced traveler who generally explores off-beaten places (though not always) with lots of adventure activities.

Fitness and Sports

Since I have keen interest in outdoor activities and you could find me monkeying around more often, I will also share my experience with general fitness. Being an Ironman 70.3 finisher (triathlon comprising of 1.9km swim, 90km cycling and 21km running) and an aspiring full Ironman triathlete, I would also be documenting my Ironman journey. But trust me, I have a mouth full of sweet tooth, so the struggle is real !!

Sarees and beyond

Okay, this one is quite different from the other two topics. The only reason why I chose to write about it is that – I simply LOVE sarees. Although for today’s generation a saree is reserved for special family occasions, I am a monkey who grew up admiring her mother draped in sarees 24×7, which made me fall in love with those six yards of sheer elegance.

So, I have a soft corner for handloom, saree draping styles, anything handmade and sustainable fashion. In fact, I have undertaken #100sareepact to be more faithful towards my love for sarees and increase my knowledge about them.

Apart from the above broad topics, I might cover anything under the sun – anything I may find interesting – like lifestyle, food, books, relationships, fashion, handicraft, etc; after all it’s my blog and this is my take on things and life – he he he 🙂

Come and be part of my journey!

In the end, I would like to quote one of my favourite passages from Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl that totally resonated with me and forced me to introspect my life –

Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a world, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.

Life is so much more beyond studying, getting good grades, securing a job, getting married, having kids, and then taking care of your family; of course, all this is part of life, but not the only part.

So here I am, trying to find my “Life Beyond Usual” and to paint my life with as many colors as possible; whatever might be the result, it is still going to be a colorful art!!

If you are interested in knowing more about my journey, do check out featured section of the blog.