Happiness. Inspiration. Travel... Adding happiness to the world, one shot at a time!

Happiness is...acknowledging your gifts

If you set goals and go after them with all the determination you can muster, your gifts will take you places that will amaze you. ~Les Brown

Happiness is...a brand new, shiny, bright year! Bring it on, 2015!

May you always have great coffee and even greater company. Here's wishing you a fantastic year ahead.

Happiness is.. when a book ends on the right note

#theshotofhappiness #winter #warmheart

Happiness is...having the courage to walk inwards

Images: from the ever so generous www

Happiness is...endless cups of rose tea on a cold day

Remembering the endless cups of hot, nourishing tea. Looking over the water at Zhujiajiao, an ancient water town in Shanghai.

This winter, and always, may you have the tea you desire!

Happiness is...dreaming in colour

Sometimes the most extraordinary colors lie quietly, often in ordinary sights. From the streets of Switzerland, here are some colors to liven your Sunday!

Happiness is...waking up to a quote that resonates with you

Happiness is...putting your head down and getting to work

Two llamas enjoying the wee bit of sun shine in the valleys, Switzerland

Happiness is...being warned of the cows ahead, I guess!

But of course, only in Switzerland! In Zug.

Happiness is...a dream library

Prague

I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library. - Jorge Luis Borges

Happiness is...a golden sunset

Fishermen at Jakkur Lake, Bangalore

Happiness is...creating joy

Halloween decorations at a mall in the town of Zug, Switzerland

Happiness is...indulging in the colours of nature

Autumn shining through in Geneva, Switzerland

Happiness is...being in the land of happy cows

At Zurich, Switzerland

I did stay away from the book Eat, Pray, Love, because it was too popular (if there is something like that). I stayed away from it in all my snootiness. But then a few months ago, I happen to hear a talk by the author of this best (yes, euphemism and all) seller, Liz Gilbert, and I loved it and more than the talk, I loved her.
The ted talk is here, called Your Creative Elusive Genius

https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius?language=en

The earnestness, humour and honesty in that talk made me pick up a copy of Eat, Pray, Love. I loved it, and ever since I have read more books written by her.

Here is another talk, where Liz Gilbert shares the screen with Oprah for a candid chat on the Hero's Journey. Have you wondered what a calling sounds like? I have.

http://www.oprah.com/own-super-soul-sunday/Full-Episode-Elizabeth-Gilbert-Part-1-Video

Happiness is...fun, festival, folk and a whole lot of lights

Taken at a folk festival in Bangalore

Happiness is...looking good and feeling great

Great stories happen!

Happiness is...food we love

We know and we have seen before what Mosque Road (Bangalore) can offer for food lovers during Ramadan (For those of you who missed it, here is the link http://zenwithinme.blogspot.in/2014/07/happiness-isour-daily-bread-and.html)

Here is another treat on that very road, available round the year. The Bombay Chowpaty Kulfi near the mosque complex. oooohhhh the kulfi there, is something. No one can eat just one, should have been this kulfi's tagline. And, this statement is coming from a not-such-a-big-kulfi- fan-kinda-person.

They have quite a few flavours of kulfi there - but the Malai one will remain my favourite - on offer. It is delicious, melts in your mouth and leaves you with a haunting need to go back for more. Watching them take a kulfi(disc) and slice it in to tiny melt in the mouth units itself makes me want this a little more. (Kindly add a few thumbs up icons here)

Bombay Chowpaty Kulfi, Bangalore

I never laugh until I've had my coffee - Clark Gable

At the Kadukani estate, Coorg, Karnataka

Happiness is...finding the muse

Prague doesn't let go. Of either of us. This old crone has claws. One has to yield, or else. We would have to set fire to it on two sides, at the Vyšehrad and at the Hradčany; then it would be possible for us to get away - Frank Kafka

Prague

South Bangalore, you are such a treat!

I am a Bangalorean through and through. South Bangalore really kicks ass when it comes to staying green and somehow retaining the charm we loosely called the old Bangalore charm, doesn't it? When I first moved to the South, it terrified me. After all, the furthest I had been brave to drive to was the Sagar Hospital on Bhannerghatta Road. Then life happened. I moved to to the extreme end of South and that was it, I am now a convert.

Let me explain the joy of hanging out at this south Bangalore cafe in pictures. All photos taken on a phone, so kindly adjust maadi : )

And finally, we have the dessert. Some Mango Panna cotta to sweeten the deal.

I kinda ate a lot more there, than there is evidence for. It happens you know, when the food is good, and you are starving, that taking a picture of it loses priority.

This is at the Rogue Elephant cafe, Basavangudi. It is also the place where Basava Ambara (where you can shop for arty, classy, organic, antique-y stuff) is...so go ahead -chill, eat, shop -take in the Bangalore goodness.

Happiness is...Creativity

Source: Pinterest. Wisdom: Eternal

Happiness is...going fishing

Hello there, I am a Pied Kingfisher. Pretty, delicate, and let's say very focused. I am not as common as my friend, the white throated Kingfisher ..but hey! that's no reason for you to not know me. Look for me when you are near a lake, especially post rains.

I know, this is not the best picture of me..yea, it's a little blurry too. It won't be ever used as my FB profile picture, Sigh!

At Jakkur Lake, Bangalore

Happiness is...art preserved over a 1000 years

Every production of an artist should be the expression of an adventure of his soul.

W. Somerset Maugham

Paintings on the ceiling at the Brihadeeswarar Temple (The Big Temple) at Tanjore, Tamilnadu

Happiness is....being joyful

“I don't trust anyone who doesn't laugh.” ― Maya Angelou

At Yu (Yuyuan) Gardens, Shanghai

Happiness is...taking an umbrella to the waterfall

Yes, I did take an umbrella to the waterfall. After all, the best time to visit the Iruppu Falls is during the monsoon. In Coorg, near Nagerhole and bordering Wayanad, set in the Brahmagiri hills, this place is a treat.

The water roars as it falls about 170ft in two levels. This later moves on to become the Lakshman Thertha River. Of course, legend has it that Lakshman (Lakshmana) shot an arrow into the Brahmagiri mountains - lo and behold, Iruppu falls was born.