Srishti Kumari

Tag: evenings

  • Relaxed Evenings Feel Beautiful

    Try it once

    Photo by Reggi Renaldi on Unsplash

    You know, I have never been an evening person. I mean evenings were, and they have been just a small phase of a few hours, big in summers and too small in winters, to just come and go. At least for me, this was the case.

    Yes, I used to go for my walks; I used to go out to the terrace to see sunsets a few times, and sometimes just to take really long walks to clear my head after my evening tea. Yeah, gladly, walking used to be there, and I have truly enjoyed those evenings. Only I know how much those 1-2 hours have saved me for days, weeks, and months to keep my sanity intact. It was simple. Evening meant evening walks. And I eagerly used to look forward to my evenings.

    Something changed recently. Now I have a treadmill indoors, and since monkeys come uninvited on the terrace anytime, I started walking indoors on the treadmill. And I must say I enjoyed that as well. But, something started feeling off. I didn’t fully get it initially, but now I think I have an answer to that.

    See, when I used to go for my evening walks on my terrace, it was an outdoor activity. The sunset, the colourful sky, then a bit darker sky, almost the whole city view from the terrace, the trees, the farmlands, twinkling stars, breezy air, and the freedom to move more freely and flexibly as I liked. Some days I used to put my headphones on and listen to whatever I wanted, and some days I was more interested in listening to the chirping of birds and noises coming from the nearby highway. I was not only walking but also spending my time outdoors, in the nature I am surrounded by. And honestly, that felt great.

    Walking on a treadmill is nice. It’s great for low-intensity cardio and overall fat loss. But sometimes I feel bored. Watching podcasts while walking on a treadmill is fine. I do that. And it’s a great way to move my body indoors. And honestly, it’s the least I can do, especially when I am not exercising or working out much.

    So yeah, I think I need to work on my relationship with my treadmill walks and my exercises a bit more intentionally.

    But you know, a few days back, something made my evenings a little happier and more relaxed. A few days back, I was just not feeling good enough to get on my treadmill. Not even for a slow 1 km walk. I was also feeling a bit low emotionally and wanted to feel relaxed, fresh, and relieved somehow.

    Didn’t have any plans or an idea what to do. So, just randomly, I thought of having a quick shower to just feel a bit fresher and healthier. It was around 5 or 5:30 pm. I took a quick shower, put on my clothes, and decided to have my evening tea on my balcony. I went to the kitchen, made my cup of tea, grabbed a few biscuits, took my cell phone, and sat peacefully on my balcony.

    You know, something instantly changed. I swear! I sat there, watched the beautiful sunset, and gazed at all the trees, plants, fields, and farms. Felt the evening wind, saw my neighbourhood birds after many days, and happily soaked in all the good vibes nature and the universe were sending to me. And then I realised what was missing in my evenings.

    My evenings used to have nature, sky, sunsets, birds, evening winds, and the outdoor atmosphere every single day, at least during spring and summer. Yes, I arranged my walks inside, but evenings have their essence outside.

    That evening I decided that my indoor walks would be followed by a quick shower and a relaxed sitting on my balcony. The outdoor, feel-good evening vibes I feel on my balcony are not possible in the closed hall where our treadmill is placed.

    Despite all the hotness and grumpiness summer brings with it, I am still happy for the evenings it has brought me. Not very hot, not at all cold, just a bit relaxed, and relieved after a tough day, to remind us to pause and relax a bit as well.

    I am glad I met these summer evenings, this time, a bit differently.

    What about you? How’s summer treating you?

  • Shaam ka Naashta

    Rare no?

    Photo by Raghavendra Mithare on Unsplash

    I remember, back in the school days, when I was in an all-girls residential campus, shaam ka naashta, I mean our evening snack was the more or less regular thing just like our breakfast. It didn’t matter what the snack was, be it a fruit, nuts, rusk, packet bhujiya, or sometimes noodles, dhokla with our sometimes not-so-good tea.

    It was a thing back then. When I shifted to Delhi for my college studies and started living with my parents, mealtime just got too erratic. Of course, college timings and late classes were the obvious reasons. Some days, I used to have my breakfast after 11 am and my lunch after 5 pm. It was bad. But that was it. My college years were far from perfect in any sense. Those years were haphazard throughout.

    So yeah, evening snacking wasn’t a specific thing for me then. And after that, I spent many years at my home doing self-study and exam preparations, coaching, etc., and breakfast, lunch, and dinner were the norm. Evening snack became occasional. And it is still now.

    For the last few days, I was asking Abhi(my partner and hubby) to make a chiwra snack for me. In bihar we call it choora ka bhujja. It is the regionally grown flatrice which is then shallow fried in much less oil until it becomes crispy, and then we add finely chopped onions, chilies, and during winters, also fried peas and groundnuts. It can be made in different variations according to taste and the way you want to relish it. We had everything at home that we needed. Abhi knows very well how to prepare it. But. But but but but but, for this particular thing we had to have a day when we both would be free in the evening, and we will have enough time in our hands. In short, you need evenings for an evening snack.

    Thankfully, today was that day. Abhi came home a bit early, and on my request, we managed to finally have our choora ka bhujja with fried peas, finely chopped onions, chillies, groundnut, and a bit of salt for flavour in our shaam ka naashta. Finally!

    I hope that this occasional snacking or shaam ka naashta remains in our lives. I don’t know why. I just want it to be. Maybe because it still reminds me of my childhood, my hostel days, when I used to look forward to it alongwith my friends. Maybe. I don’t know.

    Well, our naashta was really good. I liked the taste. It could have been crunchier, but it’s so sweet of Abhi to just make it for me within minutes. And I loved it that way.

    Happy Snacking!