Travelling has become part of my life. In fact life is a journey and even if you are not travelling, you are travelling in time.

Doesn't matter how many times I travelled to different countries, excitement to see a new country is always high in me. This travel, God was ready to give me a totally new thrilling experience.

My flight was booked in advance which was supposed to depart at 11:15PM  from Bangalore. I had connecting flight in KL, Malaysia to Brunei.

Although it was my business travel, we booked in AirAsia, budget airlines, because of few limitations.
It was Thursday, Friday was holiday for Ganesh puja in India, which means a long weekend.
So what for me? I was anyway travelling to another country where Friday was working day. But no, "Wait" this holiday had an impact on me.

As per my calculation and previous data analysis, It generally takes 1.5 hours to 2 hours to reach Bangalore Airport from my home. Yes, Bangalore airport is almost in different city.

1 hour buffer should be good enough. I travelled in international flight many times and I knew that from taking boarding pass to reaching boarding gate takes max of 30 min so reaching airport 1.5 hours to 2 hours before take off should give enough comfortable time.

I planned to leave by 7PM from home and I should reach max by 9PM. 30 Min buffer and 9:30PM should also be before ticket counter closing time which is 1 hour before flight departure.

After packing and finishing few errands, I managed to book Uber only 15 minutes past 7PM. Mostly Uber arrives within 5-10 minutes as my house is close to main road but long Ganesh Puja holiday and traffic of people going to their hometown was choking the movement.

Continuous call to Uber driver, tracking him till he reached my home only by 8PM. Two sweat drops rolled down from head to ears and neck thinking of unexpected. I sat inside taxi and said "All is well, All is well" to myself.

Impact of Ganesh puja was yet not over. Traffic in my area was crawling while I was still hoping that once it reaches ring road, taxi can run faster. I can't do anything else other than keeping hope alive.

I never missed flight so I was kind of sure that I will not miss this time as well.
All horns were adding sound effects in thrill ride and traffic lights were it seems planning to ruin my trip. I told driver that flight is at 11:15PM and we should go fast. He stared at me and moved his eyes back on road.

Once I am out of city limit, it takes 15-20 min only to reach airport. While on ring road we need to pass one railway station KR Puram area. Our taxi started crawling like tortoise once we reached there. Till now I was sweating from everywhere(yes I mean it). It was not hot but I requested driver to switch on AC.

After 30 min of struggle on that 3KM stretch our taxi got some speed.
Highway was also covered with buses going to different city and taxis to airport. By the time, we conquered this fight and reached airport, my watch showed 10PM. I paid money immediately to driver which I was holding in my hand to save whatever few seconds I can.

I took my luggage out from car trunk, put on trolley and ran to airport. Bangalore airport domestic and International departure are in same area.

I saw AirAsia written on one window and ran there. One flight attendant told that it's domestic Airasia flight window, go to International on other end.

I ran again, as fast as I can. My mind was running faster painting all possibilities  in background. I scanned all windows till end and couldn't see Airasia written on any window.

"Did they close already ?"
I missed a heartbeat. "Now I need to justify why I missed or pay for another booking."

I  just shook my head to drop all these thoughts and focus on current situation.
Saw an AirAsia attendant and rushed to her. She pointed at window 57 and said "It was, now they are closed".

"What???"

I ran to the window shoving my trolley as fast as I could.
"Madam, my ticket and passport."

"Where are you flying to sir?"
"KL and then connecting flight to Brunei."

"That flight window is already closed sir. It closes one hour before departure."
"But I came 1 hour 15 min before departure. It took me time to find departure window as Domestic and international flight windows are not mentioned clearly."

"Now you can't do anything. You Can't fly!!"
"So what are my options?" I asked.
"Can't sir!!. Your flight is non-transferrable and it will go in -no show."

Can't was bouncing in my head.
I also Can't give up so easily. I reeled in my mind.

She said, go to AirAsia ticket issuing counter. They might be able to help.
Time was running out faster than ever, as if, I was trying to save someone's life in ICU.

 I ran to ticket counter and just jumped inside the room.
"Excuse me sir! You can't come inside like this."

"I need urgent help as my flight is about to depart and window is closed." I said in one breath.

"Which flight?" she asked as if she got chance to have some fun time with me.
"Flight to KL" I replied.

"No chance. Window is closed. We can't take any passenger now"
Again one more "Can't".

"What are my options? when is the next flight. Can I use my return ticket at least from my current booking?" I asked.
I was expecting "yes" as an obvious answer, but when you are in trouble, obvious is not so obvious.

She pretended as if she is busy entertaining other passengers at counter.
"Next flight is only on Saturday night. Since all the legs are booked under one PNR. If you don't fly onward, this ticket will automatically expire."

So next flight only after 2 days and a loss of around 1000 Dollars. Flight will be costly also if I book just 1-2 days before.

No, not one more "can't" again.

I tried to calm down. Took bottle out of my bag and drank one gulp, trying to swallow what was happening with me.

I took few deep breaths and instructed my mind to think "How can I?".
If someone is not helping in an organization, what can we do?

Escalate it to higher management.

I told her, "I want to meet your manager. Please call him".

She replied, "Please go to boarding counter. They might be able to help."
I ran back to boarding counter and repeated the same.

It was already 10:35PM by now. 40 more minutes to go.
"No sir, manager is busy with passengers. He can't help."

"I got very important meeting tomorrow as soon as I land and you don't have any flight tomorrow.
Check your records I am a frequent flyer in Airasia and also VIP passenger."
I cooked some story.

It seems it worked. She told " Okay, I will call the manager".
She dialled someone and spoke for a while. Then she told me
 "Go to ticket window and wait there."

I felt like she is just shooing me away as I am trying all ways to board the plane.
I had no choice though, but to do as she said.

I went to ticket counter and waited restlessly there. After good 10 mins, one guy came running and asked.
"Why are you late, sir?"

There was no time for discussion.
He told "follow me" and ran toward Airasia Domestic window where terminals were still open for other flights. I ran beside him with my luggage trolley telling him story of Ganesh Puja holiday and unexpected heavy traffic, booking taxi etc..

On way he instructed someone to collect my luggage and put in flight.
When we reached boarding gate, he jumped on the other side and took my ticket printout with passport.

"You have booked luggage? will this exceed luggage weight?"
"Yes, 25Kg is booked and sure this is in limit as I weighed at home"

No time to weigh luggage. He printed boarding pass, stickers to paste on luggage. In between another guy came running to collect my luggage. Manager instructed him how to put in plane as it was not going on conveyor belt.

He jumped this side and said "please run with me"

I started running together with him as I got only hand baggage which was a backpack.
20 more minutes to go for flight to take off, I just checked my watch quickly.

He took me to Immigration counter for crew members as there was no queue.

Immigration officer checked my passport and boarding pass and asked that guy "Why are we allowing him so late? You are not following protocol."

Manager told that there was some serious problem. Immigration officer didn't ask any further question. He stamped on passport and let me go.

We ran to hand baggage scan area. Ran through long queue "Sorry, my flight is leaving in another 10 minutes" I kept shouting without waiting for anyone's reaction and reached to scanning machine.

I repeated the same line in front of our army guys deployed there for security and scanning. He immediately kept my bag inside machine surpassing all bags in queue and checked and stamped my boarding pass.

"Run! Run!" he said. Manager was not seen anywhere.

I checked my boarding pass for boarding gate. Luckily it was near by.
People were already boarding the plane. I was just in nick of time.

Manager stood at the boarding verifying everyone's ticket.
I showed my ticket, he beam his barcode reader gun toward ticket and reported on walkie talkie.
"Passenger 256 boarding. Passenger luggage loaded in plane?"

"Luggage loaded" someone replied from other end.

I told him how grateful I was for the last minute adjustment and appreciated them for accommodating me. He looked at me in the eye acknowledging the pain I went through to get till here, then he went ahead with other passengers.

I walked slowly as a conqueror inside plane, glanced at the empty seat waiting for me which would have flown without me today.

As I adjusted the hand baggage I carried with me in the overhead bin, felt how badly I was sweating and smiled thinking the chain of events which got me till this moment. It was a sigh of relief when I sat in my seat “finally”.

Have I not instructed my mind to stop focusing on "can't" and start thinking "how can I" I would be in some soup.

Remember, whenever mind says "can't", listen to it as "How can I?"
This will make you look for solution instead of crying at closed door. This happens in every walk of life.

Try once yourself and you will be shocked with the result.

Few Brunei Pics
Follow me on Instagram

Couples in love sometimes fall in situation when they start contradicting each other for every small action. This breaks out dispute which takes days to sort out and sometimes ends up even with separation.

My name is Prashant. I am from Bihar, part of India where caste system is something enforced by our society. For your surprise, I am married to a person not from same caste, not from same state, neither from same country. yes, she is a foreigner from totally different world, different religion, different food habits, different beliefs and different lifestyle.


"So how both of you are going along?"

"Can she cook Indian food?"
"Can you eat her country food? what kind of food they eat?
"Is she able to manage with spicy food?"

"What's her religious beliefs?"
"Is she able to respect our culture?"
"What's her reaction on our long list of festivals?"
" can she do fasting for you?"
"How was your parent's reaction?"

I am always bombarded with lot of such questions and will be looked upon like an alien.

Yes, these problems are and will always be there. Many times she come up with statement "I don't understand why....................... "
These problems never created any difference between us although we debate on various such topics.

Cause of dispute:

To know how we handle this, first let's understand who you are?
A set of experience, beliefs, emotions, likes, dislikes, choices, a particular mind and a particular body is what "you" are. Similar combination but totally different kind what "Other" person is.

At a times, when part of both combination matches and overlaps perfectly, life moves in perfect harmony, full of joy and happiness. Physical and mental being is perfectly compatible.
Next moment when another part of both, totally different, failed to overlap, whatever you do you can't find it compatible and that is when dispute erupts.

Meaning of love: If we are in relationship, we feel that we can give command and you must follow because I love you. And if you do as I say, it means you love me back.

Back of your mind your ego says "You gotta do this to prove you love me"

If we love someone, our main motto should be their happiness. They can be happy only when they do what they love to do. So we should not only allow them to do what they like but also support and encourage them.

Whenever there is dispute, talk to yourself and say "I love him/her and his/her happiness is more important for me". Then next moment you wouldn't be fighting with each other but will be fighting with the misunderstanding which is the root cause of dispute.

I love drawing, painting and writing articles. My wife got no interest in these but she reads my article and gives feedback. Same way my wife loves cooking and I love trying new dishes and help her in improving her cooking skills.

Action Time: So here is your assignment for next week.
List down three hobbies and interests of your partner. Attach them with three different activities and make sure that all is done at least once in next one month. You have to be a part of activity with full energy.


Line to take home: Remember love means giving. If you expect something in return is less of love and more of selfishness.

"Just Married"
a sweet tagline not only excites newly wed couples but also triggers open the memory box of other married couples.

This immediately takes them to the feeling where every moment was fun, excitement, travel and great communication. "Boredom" was not even in the dictionary.

After almost four years of marriage, I still remember the day, I met her for first time. It was a friends group meet around a coffee table. In heat of discussion, topic came up that "how can someone kiss on very first meet?" My reply was
"Why not?"
"How can?"
I got up from my seat, walked to her and kissed her on cheek.
Her face immediately turned red followed with a moment of complete silence. it looked very stupid at that point of time.


Lot of stupid but sweet memories eventually got added in our memory box.We went on many unplanned trips, and added lot of thrilling adventure in our list. We still remember one of the stupid decision of travelling when I reached home from office asked to pack bag within 30 min and left for the trip to remote island. We were kind of sure that all means of transport and hotels are fully booked. We stood in 3 hours long queue for bus and reached boat station around 1AM. We managed to get boat ticket only at 10AM n morning over the counter that is 9 hours standing in queue. She kept on saying nice words behind me for such trip plan and I kept on listening. It was weird that time but turned into sweet memories now.
We also planned special days in unique weird ways and never missed any chance to give surprises to each other.

As the time passed, excitement and such events started fading away and turned into just memories with new tagline "Once upon a time."

Time threw more challenges. Also we turned into mom and dad, and completely submerged ourselves in that new role. We forgot that we have one more role, that is role of husband and wife.

Irritation and frustration meter was in red and we were not sure what's wrong. We used to talk for long hours before but now any talk turns into heated discussion.



We spoke with few friends to understand if they are facing the same problem and how are they managing this. We realized that most of couples are in same boat.
Few were addressing problem with one logic "live and let live". They reduce discussion and together moments. Mind their own business and don't disturb each other unless there is a dependency.

We were not ready to live like this and wanted to get the lost love back. After lot of research and trial we listed down ten commandments which enlivened out love again.

1) Plan weekend Getaway occasionally. If not monthly then at least once in six month. It gives some personal time away from usual environment. It also triggers mind to think in different way from generalized understanding about each other. even a trip to water park or amusement park, kids play arena or a full day shopping spree will meet the purpose.

2) Meet friends frequently. Meeting friends and spending good time sends some happy vibes and keeps you charged for long time. When you are in happy mood, bitter moment tends to go away.

3) Don't forget to give surprises on special days like birthday, marriage anniversary etc. When surprise is thrown on you, cherish it, enjoy and appreciate the effort & care of your partner. Even if you got kids, you still have right to feel excited and enjoy your birthday.

4) Go for sports occasionally. Outdoor games like badminton, tennis, etc or even indoor games like carrom, snooker, ludo, solving puzzles together will help in reviving love. It will also help kids to create a good bonding with family.

5) Remember to calm down. Don't attack when you are in fight mode, don't defend either. Both are different approach of fight. First calm down and try to listen to her/him. Repeat what you understood to make your partner feel that you are really listening. Think of solution for the problem.

6) Don't stand face to face during heated discussion. that is attacking position. Stand beside as if you both are fighting with problem/misunderstanding together.

7) Help your partner in kitchen. Surprise her with any quick dish you can cook when she is away with friends. Don't say that "I don't know cooking". You don't know till date you don't do it for first time. Who knows, a chef is hiding inside you.

8) Show your Love Emotion. Do you agree that anger is emotion so is love. When we show anger so openly, why not love? Be open in showing love and don't expect your partner should understand it automatically or read in your eyes.

10) Be STUPID last but most important: You can do some stupid things, plan sudden trips, going out in night to ice cream shop for no reason, sudden kiss or hug, and whatever your childish mind can think of. Be real stupid and your love life will never go down.

So what are you waiting for? If your partner is with you and you have happy personal life, you can jump high and touch the zenith.