Many firsts before the FIRST WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!!!

Happy anniversary to me (us)!!! I don’t know somehow my neurons get highly excited about all the special days (which is exactly opposite with my husband) in my life. So yes, I am excited, happy and exuberant. But sadly today is the last post of my three day anniversary blog marathon (I have to start thinking about other topics now).

In today’s post I want to write about all the firsts in my life that I have done after marriage. This quick recap of one year makes me feel so special and loved and definitely, makes me realize how wonderfully we have spent the last one year. Like they say “It is not the years in your life but the life in your years that actually count”. So, may be it is just one year of my marriage with Raghu but somehow it feels, as if I have been living this life forever. I have experienced so many beautiful and unique things in this one year. So here goes the list of what I did from last monsoon….

1.  We both are ardent animal lovers and hence, we always skip the idea of taking an animal ride. But for the first time I went on an Elephant ride in Munnar and through out the ride we kept on screaming and talking to Lakshmi (our Elephant’s name and even after one year I remember her). We even fed her some fruits at the end. By the end of the ride, my husband was already feeling connected to her and the good bye was very painful.

2. Being born in coastal Karnataka, we both are very much exposed to the rich cultural heritage of the land. In Thekkady we got an amazing experience watching Kalaripattu and Kathakalli (Art of Kerala). I must add, we were taken to a different zone altogether.

3. Being animal lovers, we opted for a Jungle Safari through a river flowing amid the forest in Thekkady. Growling like tigers and wanting to see them, we finally satisfied our optic nerves by Deer and rare birds (I want to believe they were rare).

4.  I have very strong water phobia. Yet, taking a ride on the Alleppey water boat was worth the time. But the best part was seeing sun set and sleeping on the floating water. Trust me, I didn't get good night sleep. Visions from titanic were haunting me!!!!

5. Our next trip was to a resort in Byndoor, Sai vishram. Sai Vishram is located just next to the sea shore. Being a private resort, Sai Vishram offered us a range of water sports - ice berg, Jet Ski, Kayaki but the best part was we got to see dolphins in the sea jumping around happily (couldn't capture the moment as camera was not allowed). I can’t explain the joy we felt. It was indeed one of the best moments of my life. And like Life of Pi movie, fishes started flying (as the fishermen were trying to catch them) and some even ended up in our boats. We even got to blow some hot air balloons (once again, first in my life).

6. My wish of spending a night in a tree house was fulfilled in Chikamagalur. Early morning when dawn fell upon us, birds were chirping and when I opened my eyes, the entire forest was submerged in fog. Slowly drop by drop veil was lifted and the early morning sight made me feel nature is a magic in itself (and my husband was snoring loudly only to wake up late, missing out everything!!!)

7. I had been to Madikeri many times in the past but every time, I missed the Tibetian colony and the Golden temple. Finally, I got an opportunity to visit the colony and the golden temple. I felt as if I was not in India. Buddhist priests were all around the place and some beautiful religious songs were heard in the back ground. So serene and so peaceful!!! If you guys visit Madikeri, do not miss on this!!!

8. After this, came the experience of a life time. My first flight!!! Well now after travelling so many times it doesn't feel any special but my first flight was breathtakingly amazing. Especially, the high speed takeoff and landing.  I ate everything offered to me on the flight in spite of not being hungry (just to taste the food) and enjoyed the views through my window. I kept clicking pictures and jumped in joy like a small kid!!!!

9. Our next trip destination was the freezing Manali (yeah in the month of January) and undoubtedly Manali had a lot to offer. My first time snow experience (I was not ready to leave the snow and finally, I caught severe fever), my first paragliding experience (my husband was extremely scared and he told me often to find a new husband after paragliding), my first skiing experience (people were falling like crazy but somehow we survived the fall) and my first crane experience (view through the crane was simply superb). And how can I forget the traditional Himachal costume!!! So three words for Manali trip - Awesome, Awesome and Awesome!!!

10.  In Kulu, we went for River rafting. I was really scared before the rafting but the flow of water was not as fast as expected. Water was extremely cold and I don't know if river rafting only was my first experience or a frozen feet as well. So after 6 kms of river rafting our feet were completely frozen and we couldn't walk for a while. Yet, when my husband was shivering in cold I was screaming in joy. We even had to jump (with frozen feet) on the raft to get through some rocks. Simply, amazing!!! 

11. When I am talking about all the firsts, how can I leave out my first Burkha experience? I don’t know somehow I didn't feel offended but nice. I kept forwarding my Burkha cladded photo to everyone. 

12. After we shifted to Jeddah, all my firsts were taken a back seat and cooking and feeding my husband became my priority. But this time when we had gone back to India, I got a chance to sing with background music that too along with my husband (icing on the cake). I felt like a super star. I sang badly and I don’t care but how many people actually get a chance to sing in front of a crowd that too with live background music??

So here goes the list of everything that I have done for the first time in my life. I feel elated to share these moments with my husband and am glad, that I got to experience everything because of him. I hope to experience many more firsts in the coming years and post it every year. After all what is life without any fun in it? Right??? These might not sound great for people who climb Mount Everest but for me, these tiny moments complete my life and complete and compliment me as a human being and as a wife!!!!