ENTICING AUSTIN

For the second time I went to Austin. Yeah, I didn't get the feel of the place in my first visit, I was so busy in completing the 'list to visit', I missed the pleasure of living it. This time I felt weird and sporty for what Austin is famous for, just because I did what I love to do, I ate and walked the streets.

Austin is a pleasant city, no one is either so busy to ignore you or in a hurry to overlook you. Everyone is welcoming you there to spend some time and feel the difference from the rest of your world. The first thing we did is Kayaking in Lady Bird Lake. Clean and quiet lake with turtles resting on the shore and swans chatting with their group. Beautiful girls swimming, Playful boys diving from anywhere and from whatever height they can get they are up to it. First timers falling from the kayak in the lake and the Second timers rescuing them. Lady Bird is full of mirth. Two hours passed by in a blink.

Austin was so inviting, the lively start in lake aroused us to reach more for the place and we headed towards the city. The city is Cool. This is the word that fits; COOL. People on the foot, on the bike with the coolest attire on, strolling with the loveliest company and having the warmest look. Believe me I am in love with the people of this city. Me and my husband wandered on the bridge capturing the activity of the Lady Bird lake and the beauty of the nature.

Then there was a huge growl, our head stopped functioning and we were so ready to eat anything which would not eat us first. Oh! yeah, our stomach was going insanely out of control with vacuum. We digged in 'Fran's Hamburger'. My husband loves burger so he was on the ninth cloud having those precious hunger killers. For me it was a nice change from my healthy diet regime. While gratifying my appetite my heart was drooling for famous cupcakes from 'Hey Cupcakes'. We decided to make space in our breadbasket, consequently we marched onto the street.

It was a gala street, every side was a refreshing sight. Gorgeous rural clothing stalls, funky accessories stands, delicious smelling popcorn vans, smatter and devoted singers with their guitars singing for the love of the music. Both sides of the street was mesmerized by the earthy folks and hypnotized harmony.

The day declined and with the evening, trees and shops were illuminated and at once the face of the Austin was changed into a resplendent lamp. But the energy of the people was increasing as the night was getting younger.



To make this visit memorable we went for the Bat watching at the Congress Avenue Bridge, which is the largest urban Bat Colony with an estimate of 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats in North America. As we reached there, the grass land under the side of the bridge was packed with happy children, Parents at ease even grass was greener!! With the darkness ,bats showed up from one side of the bridge, they were so small, at first I could not see them as it was dark and they were flying so fast, with in few minutes from all under the bridge the army of bats flooded out and it was spectacular, I never saw such a scene in my life. Man, they were so full of etiquette, they came out in a group, got aligned and flew in a perfect curvy lanes and I was sitting there in an awe with my jaw dropped. They did not disturbed me. It was miraculous.

You see good things are short lived, it started pouring, we had to run, that was so fun.
The entire day was so dynamic, we bid farewell to an authentic city with so much legacy. Its hard to resist for long, for sure to not to revisit. Till then I will always admire Austin's contribution to make the world more lively and weird.

KITCHEN TABLE WISDOM: A BOOK ABOUT THE ATTITUDE TOWARDS LIFE

The New York Times Bestseller "Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories That Heal". The beautiful book about life I recently read and fallen in love with the thinker and the author of this wonderful illuminative book, Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. Dr. Remen sees the medicine as a spiritual path. Her groundbreaking holistic approach for curing life challenging diseases has enlightened the physicians at all levels of training to remember their calling and strengthen their commitment to serve life. As a captivating story teller and public speaker she has spoken to thousands of people , reminding them of the power of their humanity and their ability to use their lives to make a difference. Dr. Remen has a 40 year old personal history of Crohn's disease and went through several operations and her work is a unique blend of the viewpoint of a physician and a patient.

The wisdom in her book comes from many places, a loving old grandfather, from sick people and dying people, from doctors and nurses, from children and the people who sit next to you or the man who stand behind you in the grocery store. She has captured all the healing story from the people whom we encounter in our life every day.

As I read her book I felt the part of mine in every chapter. Each story is so personal and subjugating, as I read down the stories I kept learning the new and trusted ways of dealing with problems. A person has to be normal and open hearted to accept the life delightfully; Oh! yes no matter however your life is treating you, you be good to life.

KITCHEN TABLE WISDOM is a book that will touch you, change you and connect you more deeply to life. If you want to laugh, to cry, to look at yourself and others in new ways and in the end to discover that your life is far richer than you knew and you are a better person that you ever dreamed, must read one of the Dr. Remen's script. With the elegance of simplicity she shows how physicians can become healers by no longer remaining mere technicians but by becoming alchemists of the soul. KITCHEN TABLE WISDOM will give anyone an intimate insight into what genuine healing is all about.

I highly recommend this book to everyone who wants to explore the better quality of life for themselves and for the surrounding ones.