I loved celebrating birthdays as a child. I remember surprising my parents by inviting all my school bus kids to an unplanned party and put my parents on the spot, who'd then run around making my birthday arrangements! But, that was it!
Growing up, I dreaded my birthday, either cuz I didn't have enough pocket money to treat my friends (which was, unfortunately, the norm!) or having to spend the day out with 'The Guy' (you know!) or just going too philosophical 'Why should i celebrate?', 'what have i achieved?' etc. etc.
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| The Turbanator, they call her! |
But this year, I was ecstatic! I loved every single day of my life, I loved the people in my life (even those who have moved halfway across the world!), I loved what I was doing for a living, I loved what i was doing otherwise, etc etc. And i was determined to make my birthday special! I wanted to plant 28 tree saplings indicating my 28th Birthday and asked mum to help me arrange saplings at home. Later, i realized, I could surround myself with loved ones, and i texted 10 friends asking them to join me on a weekday to plant trees!
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| The mandatory Bday ritual! |
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| Mum, dad and Varsha with an auto full of plants! |
Anantagiri Treks and Thrills, is a beautiful eco-resort in development in Vikarabad District of Telangana. How i met the founders in itself is a beautiful story (for another blog post). My mum couldn't join because of her knee ache, but i knew her heart was in the trip! So, 8 of us started from Hyderabad (Secunderabad, specifically) to Anantagiri Hills. Our day began at 5 AM, and we reached the resort by 9 AM (though technically it is a 2 hour ride). We stopped mid-way for many pictures!! We had yummy mum-made pulihora (tamarind rice) for breakfast and headed to dig the pits for planting!
Planting is #@$%^ hard!
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| Yea, we have a poser in the group! |
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| My attempts at digging a pit! phew! |
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| That doggy was a real help! |
Digging the pits for 50 plants seemed impossible after a point. Thankfully, generous maamu (founder) asked the JCB guy to dig the pits. It took 8 of us, plus help from 3 workers, four full hours to plant just 50 saplings! If we also did Sai's mulching technique, it would have taken us ages! So, he managed whatever he could! We were exhausted, burnt! Thanks to Abhilash, Harsha, Kamal and Savvy for their physical strength in digging the pits! We also cooked our own food. Well, Savvy did most of the cooking, others chopped vegetables and I entertained :D
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| These swings are frikkin painful for your bum! |
We had lunch in an amazing bamboo tower! We desperately wanted a nap after that spicy sumptuous lunch, but we decided to go for a mini-trek. I am supremely bad in such activities, but i managed good and the view was worth it. I think i understand why people put themselves in so much pain for adventure now!
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| I took the selfie! |
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| That white thing in the background is where we started from! |
We also wanted to go kayaking and freshwater lake swimming, but, Varsha's parents would have disowned her if she went home any late. So, we headed back home with exhaustion and gratifying emotions!
What a day! And may i have many many more such birthdays!
P.S. Birthday was on 24th July. I finally found time to make a post a month later! yayy!
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