Contributions to my “Obsession”

This is more of a sequel to my previous blog “Obsession with Sunrises and Sunsets” !!
But I’ll get to that a bit later.

The last 20-odd days have been by far the happiest and most exciting days for me in this year !! It all started with my first solo trip on my birthday and the subsequent blog describing the entire experience. I have also been able to do a lot of other important things but don’t necessarily need a mention here !!

But something I would definitely like to mention here is the realization I have had in these 20 days – I need to trust and follow my gut a lot lot more !! I wish I had realized this a lot earlier in life but…. better late than never !!

I have been absolutely over-whelmed with the kind of response I have been getting for my blogs. These were absolutely huge blogs in terms of the length but what was really, really heartening was the effort each and everybody took – not only in reading but also feeding back their views and comments !!  The kind of details in the feedback was an indication that people had read the blogs with a very keen interest and that in itself was a very, very big achievement for me. Fortunately for me so far, almost all of the feedback has been very “constructive and encouraging” !!

People liked the description of my entire solo trip in the first one while the second invoked a strong urge in quite a few to try solo skydiving. The response to the third blog has been quite different and interesting. The third one was all about how and why I was obsessed with sunrises and sunsets. I did mention in the end that it would be difficult to find someone who’s not all interested in watching a sunset or a sunrise…… and I thought it was a good end to my blog.

Little did I know that it would actually be the beginning to another one !! People, starting from my father to my very close buddies, started sending me pictures of the sunsets and sunrises they had captured. Some even sent me pictures that they had taken after reading my blog. Now that was something really really special – people relating to something that’s so close to your heart is an amazing feeling to. And this blog is dedicated to all those people……

1) My Dad sent me this first thing in the morning after he read my blog. This was captured when he had been on an outing to Tarkarli with his school friends. (He’s close to 65 years old now and so are his school friends but they still get together at least twice in a month – now that’s what I call Friendship Goals !!)

It was really heartening to receive this pic – the first of its kind feedback…

 

2) One of my friend’s from the Army sent these beautiful clicks of the sunsets he had captured:

 

3) These two pics are really special since these were sent by Shailendra, a very close banker friend who is currently posted in a remote village somewhere in central Maharashtra. He travels 12 hrs. one way every 15 days since his wife is posted about 400 kms. away in Pune. For a newly married guy, this isn’t the best way to start but I, for one, envy him for being able to get the best of both – the rural and urban life of India !!

He sent these two pics – the timestamp on the second one (sunset) shows he actually took it after reading the blog !! And that in itself makes it very very special.

 

4) The next two are actually my dream sunrise pics. These were clicked by Pravin on a flight to Chennai from Hyderabad in January 2018. I am absolutely thrilled with the fact that he was reminded of these by the blog and he thought of sending them over to me !! That’s a very very special kind of feedback !!

 

5) Speaking of Pravin, this one was clicked when we were driving back from Nagpur after his wedding. We had started before dawn, around 0400 hrs. since we wanted to reach Pune (about 720 kms away) the same day. The early morning time is the best when it comes to cutting distances and so I was completely focused on driving. I had Zafer by my side and Om, who was completely sloshed, sleeping flat on the rear seat (little did I know then that in his sleep he had conspired to choke both Zafer and me with his deadly farts !!)

We were heading west from the east and hence the rising sun was behind us. As the first lights of the day hit us, the rear view mirror was filled with a beautiful saffron – orange hue. It was an amazing sight and I was relishing it through the corner of my eye.

And there it was, the rising SUN behind us……. Its not always that you get to see the SUN in your rear-view mirror and I didn’t want to miss this one at any cost !! Since there was absolutely no traffic on that highway, I could afford to slow down a bit and allow Zafer to get a proper angle of it. And he did an excellent job with it too………

I had to add this here because it was Zafer who reminded me about this. The pic is close to 3 years old but he still remembered this after reading the blog !! It is indeed flattering, to say the least, when you get feedback of this kind !!

I appreciate the fact that I am still a newbie in this world of blogging and I am still in the honeymoon period – riding on the excitement of doing something new and the encouraging feedback. That the real test will be the continuity and consistency of my blogs!! But I would want to look at all this with more optimism than realism and hope that this positive start will provide enough fuel to sustain for a longer time!!

Cheers to many more beautiful, mesmerizing and blissful sunrises and sunsets !!