6 things I enjoyed the most during the Blogchatter retreat in Varanasi

Varanasi is close to my heart. As a family, we often visit the Vishwanath temple and enjoy all the unique things this city offers. Blogchatter retreat in Varanasi came as a sweet surprise and a reason to explore the place from a different angle. When you travel with the team you have an agenda to follow bringing your planning into action. It’s not just the touristy thing anymore.

Travelling alone for work cum pleasure is a part of my professional life now and I am enjoying it. We all reached the hotel on time after coordinating with the hotel staff for the right pick-up point. It was around 10 in the morning when we entered the hotel but it seemed like lunchtime due to the bright sun up in the sky.

Ganga facing room

As I entered the premises, it was surreal. I forgot the humidity in the climate and just enjoyed the cool temperature inside. We stayed at Ganga facing Guleria Kothi. It was calm to see the Ganga flowing in front of you and different sets of colourful boats taking passengers on the routes of Assi Ghat.

Every boatman narrates stories of the ghats to passengers who are glued to the scenarios as they listen to the stories and imagine themselves in all places.

Poetry session

The Blogchatter retreat in Varanasi started with a poetry session with Umesh Kabir. It was interesting to hear how Kashi is older than history and is alive through ancestral stories carried forward to the new generation. As a blogger, I enjoyed taking notes from his session to create a blog post later and this time I jotted down on mobile for the first time. It is cool to discover new habits by doing different things. It was quick and I saved a piece of paper too during the process.

Art Class

Any form of art is soothing to the soul and painting is connected to me from my childhood. I remember taking different forms of art classes during my summer breaks. So this time, it was art by Ruchika Mehrotra. She gave us simple outlines to define Varanasi through ghats, temples and boats. To my surprise, I made a decent masterpiece that I brought back home as a souvenir.

The session gave us ample time to enjoy everyone’s company while painting a little and laughing together a lot.

Baba ke darshan during Blogchatter retreat in Varanasi

Varanasi is incomplete without Lord Shiva. Our itinerary was quite comfortable so I had time to visit Vishwanath Mandir. I came here after 12 years and the temple has been renovated for good. In the evening, the crowd was also scattered and I got the opportunity to take blessings and bring back Prasad for everyone in the family.

Not to miss Ganga aarti which was again spectacular and divine. In between the overcrowded stairs towards the ghat, I found my place to be a part of the aarti. It was difficult to differentiate the reason for sweat on my body which may have been because of the extremely humid climate or the aura created by the divinity of the place.

Gang of professionally working girls

Working from anywhere concept gives me immense power to be productive in my writing career. Though I wasn’t carrying my laptop with me that isn’t a hindrance anymore. When work comes, the entire team comes together to reach deadlines. The mobile is a professional tool now with many tasks finished with a few clicks.

I felt happy working by the window side looking at the ever-flowing Ganga letting my creativity juices flow with the same enthusiasm and finishing editing a Hindi article for a publication. I never knew re-visiting my mother tongue would be so fun as I studied Hindi last in 8th standard.

You often discover new abilities within you when you are busy exploring certain things for others

Embracing freedom and taking sole decisions

I am growing both spiritually and professionally. During the course, I am learning that all your activities are interrelated. You can’t put your actions in different compartments of life because one decision will affect the other decision for sure. Letting go and learning to be a spectator of life is giving me the strength to move forward professionally too. I feel the independence within me…independence to make sole decisions…decisions that may affect me positively and sometimes not so profitably.

I realize being the sole bearer of my life actions and their reactions. Your professional environment becomes your next school of thought after your family upbringing and your school nourishing.

I am thankful for a positive work environment at Blogchatter that lets me learn and grow as I move forward in life.

So hereby, I close my chatter about the lovely Blogchatter retreat in Varanasi and save it as one of the best memories of work and travel. Many more to come! Until then, you tell me about your last visit to a place that is still fresh in your memories.