Tag: family

Happy Father’s Day: Celebrating The Superman In Your Life!

Posted in SaffronStays DiariesTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Remembering those sweet memories and with a wide-eyed kid’s perception, the man of the house appeared as a big strapping man off to conquer the world. In a way, he was conquering the world, for YOU; to make you the happiest and luckiest child in the world. Dad. Papa. Daddy. Baba. Pops. He was there, every step of the way, right from your first crawl to your first doddering steps to you running at full speed.

It is often said, that a child needs the mother the most. But what is equally true, is that a child wants his father the most. He is the tallest guy with his head held high when you are graduating, when you earn your first salary and when you are building a family of your own. A man of few words, his actions speak ten times louder than words.

So today, on Father’s Day, let’s take a trip down the memory lane to reminisce about those sweet memories of our childhood, where the bond between the father and the child only grew stronger with time.

Protecting You From the Monsters

Watching over you, always
Source: Pinterest

Every night, without fail, before you went to sleep, he checked your room for monsters and ghosts. He made sure that there was no one hiding under your bed or hiding in the cupboard waiting to startle you in the middle of the night. Your father was the all-powerful monster-hunter ready to wield his imaginary weapon to shield you from from the imaginary monsters and ghosts. Hail, Daddy!

The First Sixer


Having the time of your life
Source: Pinterest

Now that you are grown up, you can wield the bat like a pro but it was your father who taught you how to hold it properly. It was he, who threw the ball countless times so you could at least manage to touch the ball with your plastic bat. It was with that plastic bat, that you him for a four! And then a six! With his bottomless patience and love for you, was how he taught you to play and enjoy.

The first bicycle ride


Learning to fly
Source: Huffington Post

When you graduated from a bicycle with training wheels to one without them, it was your father’s firm and patient hands guiding you to stay upright. Even when you requested him to not to leave the handle, he let you go so that you could learn do it independently. But he was right there next to you when you fell off the bicycle, encouraging you to get back on. And boy! did you fly like the wind.

Teaching You to Drive

Ready. Set. Drive
Source: The Spruce

One of the big accomplishments, is to drive a car. And he was the teacher who taught you the brake from the accelerator. He was the one to make you understand the purpose of different gears. Even when you were afraid of banging the car, it was his faith in you that helped you learn and manage the drive of your life. And you earning your driver’s license was all the vindication he needed.

The First Beer

The first validation you got that you were an adult was when your father gave you your first alcoholic drink. With that first drop of booze you felt extremely proud at being treated like an adult. Helping you to become the person that you are today, he was ready to let you spread your wings.

On this Father’s Day, why don’t you take the time out of your busy schedule and look back at those happy memories with your father and do something special for him?

So, do you have any memories with your father that you would like to share?

The feature image was sourced from Just a little simpleton.

Gharwale-Baharwale: Families That You Did Not Know Existed

Posted in Community tourism, Maharashtra, Weekend getawaysTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment
Have you ever seen someone’s name flash on your phone and wondered how that person became such an integral part of your life? We all have these friends who walked into our lives unexpectedly and stayed on to become much more. On this International Day of Families, we want to shout out to those ‘families’ who may not be related by blood or name, but those groups whom we cannot imagine our lives without.

  • Bridge-playing buddies

seniors playing cards bridge
Friends get better with age.
Those Sunday afternoons seem so boring without the gang, eh? Ask your parents or your grandparents who their closest pals are and they’ll most likely mention the gang they play cards with at the neighbourhood club. In fact, why limit it to only a gymkhana? This International Day for Families calls for an outing with this bunch, and don’t the weekday prices at most our properties sound lucrative too?

  • Social Work Club

social workers take a break
A little breather from work can work wonders.
So you and a bunch of mates rally together to produce some socially relevant difference to the world? Why not get together today and chill out over a drink. For all the work you guys have done, ya’ll deserve a little break, no? So meet up, discuss the week that was and just unwind after that last piece of activism.

  • MBA group

suit drinking working
Drinks on?
If you’ve spent 2 gruelling years with a bunch of individuals who were equally intent on finding themselves and building up their careers, you will know that you all know match on that same wavelength. They say friends made during an MBA course are friends for life. Here’s your chance to put that saying to test: Make sure you and your entire gang land up at a designated bar tonight. Drinks on the last one to arrive!

  • Co-Teachers

Nobody gets teachers the way teachers get each other.
Squabbling kids, botched education systems and immense knowledge are such a great link to connect with others. If you’ve ever been a teacher, you know exactly how important your colleagues from work are. Gather up your co-teachers and head for a relaxing weekend (sans the noise and stress) at Parsi Manor, Matheran. Consider it as a vacation for those who truly deserve it.

  • Train travellers

Who said train journeys have to be bad and boring?
Who said train journeys have to be bad and boring?
Always catch that 9:14 local, do you? You’ll surely have a train gang then. Given this new age digital boom has left very few people getting their heads out of their devices, but when they do, you’ll see how friendly your train buddies can be. Try exchanging numbers and meeting up outside, and you now have a new group to hang out with!

  • Hobby class gang

Birds of a feather fly together.
Have you and your significant other signed up for a hobby or health class together? High chance is that you’ll have already formed a clique within the class. Why not plan a trip around the said hobby or health fad? Like practicing some yoga out on the porch at Verandah by the Valley on an early monsoon morning?

  • Kid’s friend’s parents

Why should kids have all the fun?
Why should kids have all the fun?
This gang of people is one you definitely will not be able to do without. If you’re a kid reading this, you’ll know how close your parents have become. If you’re in your mid-20s, it’s quite possible that you have been out of touch with your school pals, but your parents still get together like a house on fire. And if you’re a parent, the fact that your respective kids spend some 8 hours together, get along perfectly and won’t trouble you while on vacation makes these co-parents just the best travel buddies. Right?

  • Kitty Party

Head out of the city for your next kitty party!
Head out of the city for your next kitty party!
From husband-bashing to ranting against your ma-in-law to discussing the kid’s college and your world tours. Your gang of gal pals is extremely critical for your monthly gossip sesh, and none may deny that. So after all the home and hotel kitty parties you have hosted and attended, it’s time you stepped up your game and stepped out of the city. That’s right! Host a party in a hill station or just take a vacation together. And in case you are looking at ideas for fun games and activities at your do, look no further. We’ve got you, girl.

  • Neighbourhood Pals

You know those familiar faces in your galli that don’t have names yet whose smiles prove to be just the best pick-me-ups after a long day at work? Next time stop and have a chat with them. Who knows you’ll probably make a new BFF and that smile could mean so much more then!
Here’s to all the small families we build outside our etched ones. Here’s to those who matter too!

Hello, Goodbye, Hello – The SaffronStays Express Mission

Posted in Karnataka, Ninja DiariesTagged , , , , , Leave a comment

It’s hard to believe it was only 2 days ago that I was sitting at office in Malad, Bombay, not knowing what was in store for me soon.  And then we, (as in Samir and I) were told that in two days we would have to pack for 20 days of South-seeing! There was like a surge of mixed feelings, like wondering how exactly I would pack 20 days into one bag and how I was going to finish my six pending articles with all the excitement!

This wasn’t just a “moment-I’d-been-waiting-for” cliched scene, it was THE moment I had anticipated since I decided to come back to Bombay from Melbourne (thus leaving all my travel dreams behind I’d assumed). Actually, it’s difficult to explain what this trip really spells out for me.  Sometimes clichés work best and this is one of those times ‘fo shizz’!

DSCN0006

Much packing and not many hours later, I was getting mentally prepared. I was nervous, not quite sure why.  But then again, Thoughts were speeding past my head in speeds I didn’t know existed.

Somewhere amidst all of that, I ended up in Mangalore today.

However, a traveler is about the journey as well as the destination, in my opinion. This story would be complete without a full blown account of the 19 hour bus ride! So here goes.

Day 0: Of backpacking and phone stealing backsides

Thursday the 14th saw me waiting at Andheri, with my parents in tow, waiting to see their “baby” off: / something I was warned I’d been picked on for at work!  Only half an hour late, our bus showed up and suddenly the entire journey mapped out like a virtual projection in my head!

I had planned on making that bus ride my last night of luxury in terms of sleep, but life had other plans for me! Super loud movies deserved my attention! If you know me well enough, you will know that bus rides turn me into and emotional ball of Tian’ness. It was probably a good thing that Samir and I had separate seats (for his sake). Because, for some odd reason I felt streams of saline pouring out of my eyes! ‘IKNOWRIGHT’? WRONG. I’ve never been able to puzzle that one out. Inevitable, though it is.

After I was over being a weirdo (as if!), there was a two hour “I lost my phone” scare at around 1 30 am! After countless silent prayers, trying to sleep and eyeing potential phone stealers suspiciously (also checking out hottie in the aisle in front), aunty next to me turned in her sleep to reveal a blinking red light of the phone I’d “lost” peeping from under her bottom. Yes, Yes. I had to.

It was 3:30 am when that fiasco ended, so much for getting the longest sleep ever. I promise the morning had more stories that the bus ride. So, here we go

Day 1: Of food and families…and more food.

Touchdown Mangalore.  Land of my forefathers, land I had never been to because I never thought I was missing out. Boy was I proved wrong!

After getting slightly duped by our rikshaw guy, we were greeted by our host, Winnie Lobo.  Walking into the little Manglorean lanes was quite refreshing after being cooped up for 19 hours.

And then it all began. The Manglorean way of life, that is. That means lots of talking and LOTS of food.

We started off with a breakfast one scrumptious sannas (fermented rice cakes) with coconut chutney and tea to get us all prepped up for our long day!

Then we chalked out our host meeting plan for the day, and got set to conquer the task at hand. But not without some lunch, our host insisted. J

We, then set out to meet some pretty kickass families. Our leads in Mangalore were slimmer than the ones we have in the other places along the way so while we were at it, we made sure we soaked in the culture as much as we could.

DSCN0048Here’s a picture of Samir being local!

Many hospitable families  with gorgeous houses(that you will soon see on the saffronstays website) later, we ended the day with some new-found friends and some delish kerela parothas and chicken curry! mmmhmm.

Best parts of the trip so far:

Every place has a dog.

DSCN0034

Our hosts were AWESOME! So was the entire neighborhood that refused to let us leave Mangalore without a ‘small’ bite at their place.

DSCN0073

Our last listing was such a nice experience.

DSCN0072

Thanks to everyone we met, we stumbled upon a bonus location as well!DSCN0077

Stay tuned to see where we head off to tomorrow 😉

Good Night world.

About the author: Tianna Coelho is a Bombay born, multi-continent bred, Melbourne-shaped writer with a default wanderlust addiction and an affinity for fashion,passion,chocolate and cuddles! You can read about her quirky discoveries and misfortunes on www.quirkazoid.wordpress.com as she tries to live vicariously through creating, discovering and immortalizing everything along the way!