Z is for zzzzzz

Caught this little monk sleeping standing up at one of the monasteries in Ladakh. He remained in this position for about 10 minutes after which he woke up to his head nodding off !

He saw me observing him keenly with my camera in hand and he ran off sheepishly :P 

Y is for Yacht !

I took this snap while sitting on the banks of the Toronto Bay. There were many boats passing by. A few of them were sail boats like the one above, but most of them were speedboats. 

The speedboats were sleek and fast, rushing by with a roar as their owners raced them over the waters. I am sure there is some sort of adrenaline rush and thrill in riding a sped boat, but somehow I preferred these slow and sedate Yachts to them.

I felt very serene and peaceful looking at them ... I believe that they were trying to tell me that life is all about slowing down and savouring every mile of the journey instead of speeding through it !

X is for that Xtra Mile !

Going the Xtra mile means going a little beyond what you are used to. Moving out of your comfort zone, challenging yourself to do more than you think you are capable of and doing it with a positive attitude. In my opinion, Excellence comes only when you are willing to go the extra mile. 

Going the extra mile helps not only in our work but also in the way we lead our lives and in our attitude towards others.

The A to Z challenge has taught me a lot about going the Xtra mile.I knew I had a hectic schedule in April, I knew I would be travelling but inspite of that I threw myself headlong into the challenge. And yet, everyday I pushed myself to write, and I found that I wrote not because I had to but because I truly wanted to!

I think there is one person who gets all the credit for making this challenge the fun filled journey that it has been ! 

First, she motivated all of us to be a part of this challenge and then she went ahead and made a FB page for it so that none of us feel as if we are writing in isolation. Being a part of a group really helped. We all felt a sense of camaraderie and discovered a wonderful support system. The FB page became our haven, we gathered there to brainstorm and share ideas, to laugh and encourage each other with gentle words or with a kick on the butt as required!

Bad internet connection or not she made sure the alphabet of the day thread was pinned early every morning so that we could link our posts to it. She even linked our posts herself when we were travelling or otherwise occupied. Then she quietly went a step ahead and shared and tweeted our posts so that they get a wider audience.

Not only that, in her own gentle manner, she has been pushing, prodding, cajoling each one of us into writing every day, motivating us when ill health or too much work make us falter.

This challenge would not have been the same without the cheer and sunshine she brought to it. And the best part is that no one asked her to do all this. She has been doing it because she wanted to, because she cared and because she is such a wonderful soul!

She in the true sense has been going the Xtra mile!

So on behalf of all the A2Zders I would like to raise a toast to Corinne Rodrigues.

Here is to you Corinne, Thank you for making this month so special for all of us !

W is for waterfalls !

I saw the Niagra falls from the Canada side. They look even more spectacular from there because you can see the  complete horse shoe formation.

You can also see the Maid of the Mist boat in the above picture. The Maid of the Mist takes you almost till the falls and it is an experience never to be forgotten.

I took the following picture from the boat. The roar of the falls was almost deafening and we were completely drenched with water. 

it did feel that we were in the presence of something much more powerful and immense than us ! 

The view from the top !

By the way, do any of you know what Nirjharini - The name of my blog means :P