Beauty of Kashmir

Hi, there

Excited to be a part of #Speakeasy2.1 blog challenge hosted by Dipika and Ruchi.

Travelling is one of our (me and Mr. hubby) favorite thing. We do travel a lot and love to collect the memories and hence my blog is “Memory Flies”

 

As soon as I read the theme “Most memorable travel” my mind starts hopping and makes me realizes our all memorable travels. It is very difficult for me to pick out the one. My dream destination of India is the South pole "KANYAKUMARI" and the North pole “KASHMIR”. Thanks to Mr. Hubby fulfilled my both dreams.  Today I am sharing my KASHMIR tour which was in 2018 with small kiddos and family. Traveling in hilly areas with small kids is not that much difficult.

KASHMIR the word itself gives the feeling of immense beauty and warmth. Kashmir is the place that you can feel and rejuvenate yourself. The peaceful nature and beauty of Kashmir attract travelers from all over the world every year. Due to its geographical location, it is one of the coldest regions of the country. Beautiful grassland and valley mostly covered with white snowflakes char chand laga dete hain in beauty of Kashmir.

  

Jammu and Kashmir is the northern state of India. Due to its impeccable beauty, it is called the crown of India. The lush green garden, snow-capped mountains, cold water valley through the green mountains, sky touching pointed long pine trees, lakes and streams, and many more due to which it is one of the best travel destinations in India.

We visited Kashmir two years back but still whenever I saw the snaps of our trip I can feel that heavenly beauty. We traveled with small children including toddlers and it was not at all hectic travel for us and kids. Trust me, our kids enjoyed this tour more than us.

Wanna feel the heaven? Stay tuned with the full post.😊

 

The best places in Kashmir :

There is a huge list on the internet of which place you should visit in Kashmir. Here I am sharing my favorite places in Kashmir.  Enjoy this virtual tour with me.

1. Srinagar :

Srinagar is the largest city and summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It lies in the Kashmir valley on the bank of Jhelum River. Throughout our tour the Jhelum River with us at every point and at every nook. We were surprised to see the varied beauty of the Jhelum River at varied points. Srinagar looks beautiful from the sky. Check out the real beauty of Kashmir here.

 

2.   Dal Lake :

Dal lake is named the “Lake of flowers” and known as the “Jewel in the crown of Kashmir”. It is one of the most beautiful lakes in India and is the main tourist attraction. The beauty of Dal lake is filled with a floating garden, colourful shikara, and houseboat.  

Dal lake is not only about the floating garden but yes it is a floating city too. I was surprised to see that people have their houses on this floating lake and use boats for traveling like we used to have bus or auto. 

The floating market is one of the most beautiful places where you can have a variety of shopping with a vide range of food items, clothing, shawls, and antique pieces of Kashmir. Ask your boatman and he will land you at your spot and will wait for you till your shopping is over. Don’t forget to buy the wooden shikara antique piece. Be sure to bargain properly otherwise you will end up paying a huge amount for tiny things. 

 

3.   Shikara ride:

 

“Dal lake gaye aur shikara ride nahi kiya, aisa to ho hi nahi sakata.”  Shikara is the colourful oak boat where they can take you on a ride for site seeing. This 2 hours shikara ride gives you the immense beauty of the floating world. The floating garden is one of the most wonderful experiences.

PS: Google

The up and down movement of the oars cutting the lush-green water creates a magical sound at every interval. That gives you the soothing peace. Just lie down inside the colorful boat and give a beautiful treat to your eyes and peace to your mind.

 

The best time to have shikara ride in the early morning if you want to see the beautiful lotus. Otherwise, you can have this ride in the afternoon too. But make it as early as possible because the day closed very soon. Once you went on the floating shopping market then your times will go up.😀

Another wonderful experience was the photography - Kashmiri girl costumes with flowers and jewellery. This should be the must must part of your shikara ride.

 

4.   The Mughal garden:

One of the best places in Srinagar. I want to stay over there 😎 with all our kids. We all moms had lots of masti with small kids and feel good to be a small again with them. The landscape and architecture mesmerized you. Surprised to see such three-tier big green landscaped with colorful flower bed, maintenance and cleanliness. Everything was awesome.

 

The details of this Mughal Garden:
 

Chasm-e-shahi, Shalimar, and Nishat bag constitute the famous Mughal gardens of Srinagar. The Shalimar bagh is considering the high point of Mughal horticulture. The Shalimar Bagh was built by Mughal Emperor Jahangir for his wife Nur Jahan in 1619. This garden is lined with trails of chinar trees.

 

The most beautiful garden is Nishat Bagh. This was built by Nur Jahan’s brother Asif khan in 1633. Nishat Bagh is a garden with views of the Pir Panjal mountain range. It has 12 terraces representing 12 zodiac signs

 

The Chasm-e-shahi garden: It is one of the smallest gardens from the two of Mughal gardens. The garden is renowned for the natural spring of refreshing digestive mineral water. This water is so pure that you don’t need to use any filtration.  It tastes awesome as I filled two-three bottles from here.

 

5.   Gulmarg :

The most awaited spot in the whole tour was postponed for regular three days due to the atmospheric condition. Finally, we got a chance to visit there. 

 

Gulmarg is a town, a hill station, a popular skiing destination. Gulmarg lies in a cup-shaped valley in the Pri panjal range of Himalaya at an altitude of 2650m from Srinagar.

Some important tips for the Gulmarg visit.

#Always listen to your tour guide as they have full knowledge of everything.

#Do not go for pony riding over here especially with kids.

#There is a long queue for Gondola so do try to reach over there as early as possible. Before 6 a.m.

#Be aware of the costing of each activity.

#You have to know the skill of bargaining.

#Do not waste your money if you don’t know skiing, diving, or any complicated activity. Because you can not learn in 15 minutes and it is practical. So take a smart decision.

#Do try to have a small activity which is pocket friendly and give you toons of memory.

#Prefer to have your own woollen jackets and shoes.

#You will have Maggie and Kavaha and not fancy fast food over here. It is at high altitude so please avoid eating chips kinds of fast food.

 

6.   Betab Valley at Pahalgam :

 

Betab valley is situated at a distance of 15 kilometers from Pahalgam. Pahalgam is one of the most beautiful places and I cannot sum up here in a small paragraph. It is the best spot to visit everyone. It is famous for the movie Betab starring  Amrita Singh and Sunny Deol.

 

 

You will find yourself in the middle of the mountain. The valley is surrounded by snowflakes mountains. The landscape is fulfilled with Chinar, deodar, pine, trees and the main attraction is River LIDDER with its bluish and greenish water. You will surprise to see the clean water and it does look like 3D water.  You can have sightseeing, trekking, and camping or have a family picnic by spending the whole day.  Just plan your stay for 2, 3 days to enjoy this beautiful spot.

 

 

 What is the best time to visit Kashmir?

 

Ideally, March to October is the best time to have your Kashmir tour. Winter is the most beautiful where you can have snowfall and beauty. But the most preferred season is summer where you can have a visit to almost every tourist spot especially the Tulip Garden and Sonmerg. We are unfortunate to have this place.

 

This was one of the most memorable travels in my life. What is yours? Do you feel the heavenly beauty of Kashmir? Do share your thoughts.

 

 

Thank You Dipika and Ruchi for such awesome prompt and challenge.

 

This blog post is a part of  #Speakeasy Blogging Challenge by Dipika and Ruchi.  

 

For details geographical information Reference: 

www.wikipedia.org

www.kashmirhills.com

©Neeta Kadam. This article and image are the property of Memory Flies. Any unauthorized use or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author is strictly prohibited.

EVS Printable for 2 nd Grade

Online school is a new digital move of our India. Our kids are really blessed to have such a type of digital school at home. Hats off to the teachers who are doing such a great job for students. For some people, it may be a headache and for some people it is worthy. Alas, different people have different opinions. But for me, it is such a blessing to have an interrupted education at home. Instead of indulging in TV, TAB, a smartphone child can seat for a school and have their education. 

PS: Freepik.com

Yes, everything has it's pro and cons and this digital school also have some cons. We will not discuss that over here. Due to this pandemic, we have no other option. We should appreciate schools and school teachers for their hard work. They do focus on completing the syllabus and we should take care of clearing the concept of our children.

How to clear the concept in studies?

Parents need to help their child to understand the concept. We do get a chance to know what are the main problems with our kids? Do they really understand whatever the teacher teaching? Do they able to cope up with the studies? What kind of problems they actually face? etc.

We as parents need to sit with our children and should take an effort to clear their basic concept. Because once this pandemic over and everything will get to the routine at that time our child should not be blank. We have to pay attention to that our child should have an ample opportunity to clear the concept.

 

Students learn quickly and forget quickly too😊. We need to give them practice with the hands of learning activity. Here I am sharing out some practice worksheets which are helpful in learning the lessons, new vocabulary, and the whole chapter concept. I don't believe in rote learning and hence I designed these worksheets. These are, especially for 2^nd grade. This 2020 offers to homeschool of our child and hence we should give them an ample amount of practice.

What is the subject?

Environmental studies for 2nd grade. This pack includes 3 chapters.

My family

Plants and types of plants

Usages of plants

What is the content of the printables?

Word search: 

This word search grid helps the student with the spelling. Every child love to find the word in the grid and this is the way you can teach them new words. You don’t need to mug up the spelling. You can check out my post on how to teach spelling here.

Descriptive writing: 

If you want your child should learn to write by themselves without mugging up anything then use this sheet. Just give out the simple words or they may already know the words from the above grid. Ask them to make a small sentence about a family. They will be happy when they came to know that they can write on their own.

Multiple Choice Question: 

Currently, this is a new one and exams are going like this only, right?  This worksheet is useful but for that students need to clear the concept. To solve any multiple-choice questions child should know the lesson properly and without practice that is not possible. 

And printable contains many more activities. 

 

Tips for parents:

1. Do not study only for the test.

2. Try to think beyond that and make sure that your child can have clearance in each topic.

3. Never measure their performance on the basis of marks.

4. Try to teach them in an easy play way.

5. Try to include small activity and teach them the basic concept.

Yes, I emphasize basic concepts because as a teacher I saw high school grade students are unable to understand their lessons just because they do not have their basic brush up at the primary level. So please focus on the practice instead of rote- learning.

If your child finds any difficulty in types of plant lessons please go through this video. It might help your child. Link : https://youtu.be/RCYQzcZGXiM

You can take printout as many times as you want or just flip this printable in the file envelop and use a marker so that you can use it over and over again. It will give out a good amount of practice. 

Click here for free download.

Sharing is caring. 

If you want to purchase the whole pack please write to neetakadam399@gmail.com. You can comment down with your email id.

Till then

Happy Learning.

Monsoon through my lenses

At the back of my school, there was a creek. Due to continuous rainfalls, the water in the creek logged, and slowly it enters our school ground. We were eagerly waiting for that and checking the level of water. Because at a particular level we got the holiday. Then viola…. Screaming, laughs, and lots of cheering! We went always with a group of 8 to 10 people and enjoyed the monsoon. Only one or two people had an umbrella and rest of us were trying to hide in the same one 😀

PC: Alamy stock photo

I am missing those days. How many of you have these kinds of childhood monsoon memory? Do you still remember your school incident guys? Comment, please.

Me and Mr. hubby love to have the monsoon ride on a bike. This monsoon ride rejuvenates us from the busy weekdays. This is one of the best ways to refresh our minds and body. Sipping tea on a roadside stall with hot pakodas… 😋 and adoring nature give us relaxation. It is one kind of meditation for us.

We are grateful to have our home at this place where we have a beautiful monsoon. People used to plan for a monsoon trekking and we are blessed to have such kind of road trip whenever we want throughout this monsoon season. Feel this monsoon through my lenses and comment down which picture you like the most.

Now our daughter is also a part of our “Pagalpanti” 😊 She asked whenever she wants to have a ride but we insist her to wait for the monsoon. She asked me what is the monsoon? 

I simply replied it is a rainy season. She said that I know mamma, but what it is exactly? How it works? Why clouds are black and grey? Blaa…blaaa….blaa..

Hmmm, kid’s mind have a lot of queries. I tried to explain in a kid’s manner. Monsoon is the rainy season where we have heavy and cold winds. These winds bring rain. Due to the black and grey clouds, we have rainfall.

Unfortunately monsoon in this year 2020 adds more trouble with COVID -19. Mumbai was flooded and most of the buildings were collapsed due to this heavy rain.

 

Back to the topic,😀we experience this greenery in the month of July to August. Monsoon start from the June and it may end in November too, kidding but yes last year we had monsoon in winter too. The bottom line is you will not find this greenery after august. Because the grasses tend to increase more and it looks like a mushy green forest.

I like monsoon very much. Sipping a hot cup of coffee, ginger cardamom tea with kanda bhajji and hot piping khichdi with pickle and papad, tomato soup, love to have all this with chirping sound of rainfall. Being a foodie I love to have all monsoon season foods + festive food in our home.

What is your favorite comfort food for the rainy season?

 

Hope you like our monsoon photography. Don’t forget to check out my FACEBOOK PAGE page.

 

 

©Neeta Kadam. This article and image are the property of Memory Flies. Any unauthorized use or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author is strictly prohibited.

 

मी आणि माझी सई.........(From dad's corner)

ऐकले होते *बाप आणि मुलीचे जे नाते* असते, ते काहीतरी वेगळेच असते. पण जेव्हा स्वतः अनुभव घेतोय तेव्हा जाम भारी वाटतेय.मला नव्हते वाटले मी तुझ्यासाठी हे असे काहीतरी *सो कॉल्ड* पोस्ट वैगैरे लिहीन कारण आत्तापर्यंत तुझे माझे नाते नेहमी गुलदस्त्यात असायचे, पण का कुणास ठाऊक वाटले मला कि काहीतरी लिहू आपल्याबद्दल म्हणून लिहितोय .

प्रथम तुला *वाढदिवसाच्या अनेक अनेक शुभेच्छा*  खूप मोठी हो , हुशार हो , खूप शिक आणि जे काही शिकशील ते आचरणात असुदे आणि त्याच गर्व करू नकोस. तू सध्या वयाने लहान आहेस पुढे जाऊन वाचशील तेव्हा कळेल तुला मी काय बोललो आहे .

तुझ्या माझ्याबद्दल बोलायचे तर ,कदाचित तुला ठाऊक नसेल त्या दोन गायकांबद्दल म्हणून सांगतो तुला संदीप आणि सलील कुलकर्णी यांचे *दमलेल्या बाबांची कहाणी* ह्या गाण्यातली एक ओळ आहे ती म्हणजे *"आई म्हणण्या आधी सुध्दा म्हंणली होतीस बाबा"* हे जसाच्या तसे आपल्या बाबतीत घडले. तुला आधी पण बरेचदा सांगितले होते मी कि फक्त १० महिन्यांची होतीस तेव्हा पाहिल्यान्दा तू पप्पा असे बरोबर ९ वेळा बोलली होतीस. मला वाटले काय आहे, काय बोलतेस, मग लक्ष देऊन ऐकले तेव्हा समाजले पप्पा-पप्पा बोलतेस. अजूनही ते आठवले कि डोळ्यात पाणी येतं आणि त्या गाण्याच्या ओळी आठवतात. कदाचित त्या क्षणानंतर का असे ना पण तुझे माझे नाते अधिकच घट्ट होत गेले. खरे तर प्रत्येक बापसाठी मुलगी काय असते हे सांगायला नको.

त्या नंतर तुझी इवलीशी पावले टाकत-टाकत चालत राहिलीस. त्या पावलांची विडिओ क्लिप तुला दाखवली होती मी. आठवत असेल बघ तुला. आत्ताच बघ ना हे लिहितोय मी सकाळी उठून तर तू तिकडे पण उठून आलीस आणि विचारतेस काय लिहितोयस करून.
सध्या तर ह्या लॉक डाउनच्या काळात सतत तुझ्या सोबत असतो तर तुला जरा पण मी कुठे गेलो कि १० वेळा घरात विचारात बसतेस "पप्पा कधी येणार घरी??? पप्पा कधी येणार घरी???" अग बाळा..पप्पा कुठेही गेला तरी तू असतेस कि सोबत. तुला तुझा पप्पा सकाळपासून रात्री झोपेपर्यंत समोरच लागतो .

तुला वाटत असेल ना पप्पा कधीकधी खूप दम देतो. पण तसं नाहीये... दम देतो त्यापेक्षा १००० पटीने प्रेम पण करतो. आता भीती याची आहे कि माझे ऑफिस चालू झाल्यावर आपले कसे होणार… ना मला करमणार...ना तुला. पण खूप मज्जा येते तुझे सगळं करायला, अगदी शी शु पासून सगळे तुझे माझ्या कडेच असते आणि मी खूप एन्जॉय करतो ते .

हल्लीच एक सांगायचे तर तुझे केस कापायचे होते तेव्हा खूप रडलीस. पण नंतर मी समजावले. तेव्हा पण रडतच होतीस... पण जेव्हा तुला तुझे आवडते बार्बीचा एक सेट घ्यायचे प्रॉमिस केले तेव्हा मात्र लगेच तयार झालीस केस कापायला...शहाणी कुठची....! असो तो पण तुझ्या लहानपणीचं एक भाग आहे .आता मोठी होतेयेस. आता अजून खूप गोष्टी कळायला लागतील तुला .. पण काही नाही समजले तर नक्की पप्पाला विचार न घाबरता आणि तसे हि तू विचारशील हे मला पक्के ठाऊक आहे .

आज आठवे वर्ष लागलेय तुला .... अशीच अनेक वर्ष येतील तू मोठी होत राहशील ...पण आई-पप्पानीं सांगितलेल्या गोष्टी मात्र कायम लक्षात ठेव आणि मला विश्वास आहे तू ठेवशील ....

तुला (माझ्या *सईस* उर्फ *सयोस*) पुन्हा एकदा वाढदिवसाच्या खूप खूप शुभेच्छा...!

Disclaimer: This is a special article written by his dad for her birthday. I hope you all like it. 

Corn Chat

Rain and corn ahh…!!  the endless combination.
 

PS: Google

Everyone loves to eat bhuna hua bhutta, especially in the rainy season. There are lots of recipes for corn. Till date, I do not even think of it because I always love to eat the roasted corn with lemon and chat masala that is also from the street vendor because I like the smell of roasted bhutta. They roast it on a koyala😋yum!

Thanks to Saee, I always try out the different recipes for her. Mother minds who always think about how to give seasonal fruit to our kids in a variety of ways. Right moms? So I checked out many recipes of corn. The simplest one which every child love is cheese corn. I tried a bit of them and our family's favorite is corn pakoda.

This corn chat is simple and can be prepared in 5 minutes. As a little bit lazy I try out something easy😉

Peel the bunch of corn and boil it in hot boiling water for 5 minutes and drain the water. You can use this corn in many recipes.

Chopped everything and mix with salt and lemon.

Your spicy chat is ready.

Detailed Recipe: 

Corn Chat  Course: Chat/ Snacks Cuisine: Indian   Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 5 minutes Total time: 10 minutes   Serving: 2 Author: Memory Flies   Ingredients: # 1 cup boiled corn # 1 small onion # 1 small tomato # 2 green chilies (as per your taste) # ½ tsp amchur powder # 1 fist coriander leaves # Dash of red chilli powder # 1/4th lemon slice # Salt as per the taste   Procedure: 1. Boiled corn in hot water for 5 minutes and drain it. 2. Chopped the onion and tomato in bit size. chopped coriander finely. 3. Chopped green chilies in big chunks if kids are eating. 4. Mix everything together, add salt and amchur powder. 5. Keep in mind amchur powder is also salty. So add accordingly. 6. Garnish it with nylon shev or crushed potato chips.  (Optional) Corn  chat is ready.

 
Hope you like this easy pessy chat recipe.

How do you eat corn in this monsoon? Comment below.
 

 

ANANDWAN products

 

In the era of local to global ask yourself a simple question:

Are you really going to use your local product?

Do you like to have your own local product?

In the digital world, we are really forgetting our DESI people who are producing their product and selling it. There are porter, carpenter, farmer, and many more who are willing to sell their product. Have you checked on the highway side, how many of them are willing to sell their product, and how many of us are really stopping there to see? The worst thing how many of us are doing bargaining with them?

We are forgetting that these people feed their families only on this sale. They are able to live their basic life only on the sale of their products. Think about it once and if you really want to do something good please do purchase from them.

PS: Shutterstock.com

We love to do shopping in a mall and from an online platform. We are very happy to pay a huge amount over there without concerning the quality. Yes, there are brands that are doing great work, but please tell me who gave them brand recognition?

We only! Right.😊 Then why we don’t want to promote our own “DESI” product. Yes, there are lots of drawbacks but if we start using them and giving feedback they will also improve up-to the level.

Anandwan is the place where all products are handmade. The huge team is making this valuable product. If we can purchase this it will be helpful for the organization.

Disclaimer: This is not the sponsored post. This is my views where I want to promote and making awareness about ANANDWAN products.

How many of you know about Anandwan? If the answer is no then please click here, 

If you know what is it then you must be wondering what kind of the product they make? For the detailed post about the product, please click here.

Well the answer is the place is called “MAHAROGI SEWA SAMITI” where people are having treatments of leprosy and also have basic life like food, shelter, and education. Yes “AMATE FAMILY” is doing a great job by serving this entire community. These communities producing all the above-mentioned products. All these products are handmade.

In today’s post, I am going to share how you can have access to this ANANDWAN PRODUCT. Yes, all these products are exported but if you start purchasing them it can be a local brand.

I am sharing with you only textile products.

# Product list: All products are “HANDMADE”

1.  Handloom

2.         Sataranji

3.       Personal Hygiene Kit: Daily usage.

4.       Travel handbag

5.       Gifting purpose

6.       Family kit

7.       Home décor kits:  Home furnishing, Ornamentation, Gifting items.

8.       Bedding sheet with pillow cover :

 

9.       Anandwan Handstitched Godhadies

# Total cost with post and courier charges:

# How to make payment: 

You can make payments via online and Paytm. Details are given below:

 

Contact information :

If you want to contact them directly, please find the details below.

 

There are more carpentry products too and they are really amazing. Check out on the second post link above. Many people trying to access this product. Hope you can have direct contact with them.

 

Till then “HAPPY SHOPPING”

&

Keep sharing.