(Wo)man on the Wander (lust) - Mystic land Part -II

I have A sprint in my legs as i touch this mystic land. I am on the Temple road and my feet lead me to through the narrow lanes as i ask for an address.

I have left Pune for a journey with a secret desire in my mind. A desire to meet His Highness the Dalai Lama. My home work was done and i knew he would be there when i reach Dharamshala. Hurriedly i ask for his abode and understand that he stays in a temple very near from where i am at the moment.


Tsuglag Khang is the official residence of His Highness. As i walk further one sees many foreigners near the temple. All having some sort of batches in their neck. I try to read them – some wear Korea, some Japan, some Germany, some UK, some Spain etc. Each one talking their own language but all in unison with each other. Their facial features, their color, their stature, the texture of their hair all so different, yet their body language was the same and they all jelled so well. What kept all these diversities together, i wonder?? They all had come for HH Dalai Lama's discourse here in Dharamshala.

Me not a follower of any Buddhist sect, but HH holds a special place in my heart for no reason at all. You can ask anybody on the streets about the where abouts of HH and they are more than happy to lead us the right way. I have become more impatient to see HH so ask a Tibetan passer by 'where is HH Dalai Lama??' He answers in a heavy Tibetan accent ......'Abhi abhi chale gaye' (he has just now left) – his words left me dumb and i was lost for sometime...... the sprint vanished from my feet. I sat there in front of HH chair, thinking he was here some time back and i missed it.... i just felt lost for some time. The place had an intense aura of peace, i felt a soothing effect on me. We went around the temple and seeing the grandeur of the place i surely forgot that i was sad for sometime. The temple looks very very ordinary from the exteriors but it has a grand interior. The statues that stand there are immensely beautiful. They are painted with gold and the expressions are so real.









The monks sit with their pray wheels and chant something. Big pray wheels are a major attraction for travellers like me and it requires so much effort to spin them. I sat there for some more time and left the place surely with a promise of coming again soon.





The day is half past and i was not feeling tired. Had one more thing in mind, of going to the baby home in the Children Village. After address hunting and going down the valley near the lake reached the baby home. We were simply welcomed by them, nothing was planned. They were the ones who were right there when we entered. They were these tiny kids for whom we had come all the way.Right from the age group of one- and- a- half to four years. They all flashed a million smiles when i asked them for a picture. They all were so neatly dressed, bright colors adorned them. Their boots were so neat and colorful!!! They were very cute. They looked like fresh lilies of all colors deep inside the valley, wondered how could their parents abandon them??? We didn't follow a word of what they said nor did they follow of what we said but as its rightly said "SMILE and LOVE knows 'no' language. "




After spending hours with them and just gesturing we clicked. It was difficult parting from them but ..... We left the place as we had to walk the valley back before dark.


The walk was beautiful. Eating green juicy apples on the way we went down the valley with ease. The innocent baby faces and their grip when they held us refused to leave us though we were quiet far from them now. The valley was full of greens. All the flora lived so happily together. It was a sight of perfect symbiosis. It was 'live and let live.'




Some trees helped the weaker ones with support with their branches without dominating the weaker one, the trunk of bigger trees helped the creepers to climb as if a child playing with an elder fondly. Everything around is so unconditional here...The tree tops reaching the clouds, their branches open so wide, the dense shade the trees bestow, ferns growing on the bark of the pine, the brook bubbling its own way all so carefree yet caring for all around, none trying to belittle the other, winners ALL in true sense........far far from the rat race that we see in the city.




The place moves so slowly in its own pace, nobody is in a mad rush to reach the finishing line...after loving the west coast and the sea for so long i have started loving these mountains ..... nestled far and far away where the mountain tops romance the clouds and the mist engulfs them in a moment ...... 'Dhoond bahut hai madam' ( the mist is dense, madam) my guide says. I trot my way through it with my hands in my pocket.




I am loving this word 'Dhoond' and me in my own ' Dhoond of thoughts' reach my so called abode that i have made here. As i open the door of the gallery of my room the dhoond enters inside......'is it a dream???' i ask myself. If 'Yes' i just want to bask in it......and so i do.......

(Wo) man on the Wander (lust) – The Journey Part I

(Wo) man on the Wander (lust) – The Journey

They say you need a calling if you want to go to the mountains.

And what if they are the world’s tallest mountains – The Himalayas.

Years together I have pacified myself with pictures in the magazine and my virtual traveling just to get the feel of it. Until a Yeti (??) from the mountains granted my wish, so say I. ‘Yeti’ because I really cant imagine a delicate fairy nestled in the rustic mountains.

With immense thought storming with myself my inner compass directs me to Himachal Pradesh. I sow this thought in my friends mind and she readily agrees. A quick flight to Delhi where I catch upon her and we start for our further journey. A delicious lunch with a big glass of butter -milk as lunch was only needed to proceed further via Chandigarh and Nahan for a night halt. Though Nahan is at the footsteps of Himachal Pradesh, we still got a long way to go.




Next day the gears are shifted for the climb higher. Saddling a local Himachali as a guide we proceed. The place where we trying to reach beckons for years for known and unknown reason.


The road is serpentine endlessly and the river flows in the opposite direction to where we are heading. Huge massive mountains are carved as roads on one side and the other side a deep valley with this river flowing endlessly. The river is so restless and is continuously bubbling and times blushing in a mad rush. She has a trait in her and changes names as she passes different places. At times she calls herself the Yamuna, at times the Satlej, at times the Ravi, at times the Chenab or at times the Chandrabhaga. It’s her mood I suppose…but at the same time she does not change her identity. She faces the treacherous mountains, the rugged terrain, the plains, the rocks that try to stop her path – she hardly dithers – she just flows in her stride urges herself up every steep slope she encounters, gracefully!!!. (Wo) man I say you got guts!!!











The road is endless and picturesque. As our car climbs the altitude we see fog in the valley. It’s so carefree…. it’s got the whole valley to go wherever it wants to. For a moment its there and the next moment its not to be seen. Mountains are lined one after another the near ones look darkest, then the next darker, then dark, then fadest, then fader and then fade till blur, then only the outline, but they all there standing so majestically.







My guide whispers these ranges are the Dhauladhars. 'Ah the Dhauladhars' I murmur. Never thought i could see them, i feel elated. As I open the window a freshness in the atmosphere prevails and an aroma / a sweet scent grips you. I take deeper breathes with closed eyes to understand it better. “It’s the sweet smell of the pine trees,” says my guide again. Pines stretched far and wide on the Dhauladhars, the deodars lined up in an un- uniformed manner, the foliage on the mountains thickens as one tries to looks deeper in the valley. The moss on the branches lazily drape themselves in kith and kin of the forest. A spring seems to find its way and rushes down the valley, it surely has 'that spring' in it.












In this wilderness you see colourful prayer flags tied from one end to another between the valley. They look so amazing....flags of all colors amidst the wilderness......and i am liking the every bit of it!!!



I can't get my sight out of this wilderness and don't want to miss even the slightest frame that i capture. The road is lonely and seems to travels alone. Amidst the backdrop of the greens you suddenly see serenely walking monk in his royal maroons. 'How can one walk alone in this wilderness?' i wonder??? But he looks so calm and unaffected of anything happening around him. His head low, with an umbrella that supports him while walking. I see more of them some alone, some together in a group of three....The maroons look so vibrant that i could not stop looking at them..but they are in there own world chanting their prayers with beads in there hands.






With so many thoughts in my mind and a childlike leap in my heart (that i am liking this place) i leave the car at crossroads to walk the narrow streets of Upper Dharamshala.



to be continued.......

Happy touring girl

A friend says, "Am sure you will put some of your own pictures, instead of the ones from the virtual world......"

Await my blog on this destination soon.....

Give a thought ...

It is hard to wait for something you know might never happen..
but its even harder to give it up when you know its the very thing
you wanted.


Words are under control until you speak them..
but you come under their control once you have spoken them.


A seed while growing makes no sound
A tree while falling makes a huge noise
Destruction shouts and the creation is always quiet
This is the power of silence.


What is forgiveness???
A cute little girl gave this lovely reply, "its the wonderful smell a flower gives when it is being crushed!"


The more respected you are as a leader, the more effort you've to make to look in the mirror and discover you are doing wrong.
You need to constantly challenge yourself.


In life when we face choices, just throw a coin
not because it settles the question, but while the coin is in air you will know what your heart is hoping for!

This one is my favourite

Even a small dot can stop a big sentence.
But....a few more dots can give a continuity
Amazing but true.
Every ending can be a beginning!

' That ' and ' This ' Thing called LOVE

"That thing called love" - by Tuhin Sinha. This book caught my fancy among all the books at " crosswords” a few years back. I browsed through the pages with my specs on, guessing whether this author has actually found that elusive thing called 'love.' Eventually I ended up buying this book and finished reading past midnight but found nothing new.

What is 'love'? Does it happen only once in a lifetime? Some argue that love is a very natural and spontaneous reaction and spreads its radiance and sunshine when it enters one's life. Its an all encompassing experience . Love is beautiful and makes one beautiful. Love changes all.........Love means the desire to be with one another all the time; love makes us jealous and possessive; Love means the pleasure of giving everything without expecting anything in return...atleast that’s what the romantic poets have said thru the ages!!


I think these are merely notions, reality is far removed from it. Love often makes one selfish and self centered. Love entails deceit and lying for no reason, it means show of power, glamour and money. People get into self deceit and self denial mode to cover the dark side of today's modern life/ love. It all seems so shallow,on second thought – it could simply be our over reacting hormones!

What do we talk about love?? What is that by the way? If one has money and power one has it all and they can if not true find a compromised love. I have seen people falling in and out of love so many times for reasons best known to them or for no reason at all. Which one is real love? Of course all of them are real so long as the the passion and fervor last. Then gradually it looses its color and sheen and the FLAMES turn to ASHES.

With the advent of internet and chat rooms in their many avatars people are lured into a false sense of longing which is mis-interpreted as love. But truly how can you love just a mail id or just a morphed photograph even though they are accompanied with saccharine sweet language and promises of eternal love and all the other accompaniments. This is the result of people loosing sense of reality and usually the lonely hearts of the world are sucked into a false sense of security and mental contentment. Surely some clandestine mails and private chats on the phone does not in anyway offer a true picture of the person on the other side of the net or the line., and in reality most of those resorting to such methods are already in cheating mode or have something to hide.

Lucky are those who can survive on virtual love!! May their unhappy clan increase. They will forever be slaves of feeling of possessiveness and mistrust – just imagine one wrong word typed or uttered would make their make believe world come crashing down.

With it comes immense frustration heart break and at times suicidal feelings – what else can be expected when a relationship ends with just a drastic change in tone as if this voice was not the one the other longed for or the hanging up of the phone or the press of the “DELETE” button???

All the more sad because we grieve for a virtual being, someone who was never truly meant to be there, only maybe boredom and some spare time was all that was required to start the relationship in the first place. And it is not only the gullible who suffer such relationships, even the so called worldly wise often fall for this trap. What a superficial world we live in, wherein we don’t even have straws to clutch at and still while it lasts we are in heaven only to experience the most horrible hell at the end of it and there starts the blame game!!

Ha Love!!!

A few months later I came across Durjoy Dutta's book 'Of course I love you - Till I find someone better '. It caught my fancy, i picked it up and saw the picture of a young author on the back cover . He could be writing sense i thought, but this time i dint buy the novel just moved away with cluttered thoughts on ' this ' thing called love….

As i surf the TV i come across a programme which says ' Emotional Athyachar ' - No comments!!!To each his own.

Back home i sit at my study thinking about this when I happen to glance at the window sill and i see Munnabhai sitting on it saying ' Love is nothing but Chemical Locha and nothing else'. Ya i nod in agreement and continue reading.

The words in the book fail to hold me further..my thoughts wander and as i zero in to an understanding i strongly feel it should be fear of failure or insecurity more importantly lack of faith and trust in the other that puts off love. This fear over takes faith probably.........Sad yet true!

I wade through the other books on the shelf and bring out the Old Wise Book, ponder deep into it and alas find the words my heart was looking for so long .....

Love is long-suffering and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, does not get puffed up, does not behave indecently, does not look AFTER its own interests, does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury. It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices FOR the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. TRUE Love never fails.

Wonder .....does ' IT ' really exists???? Hope it does. But i believe very strongly YES IT DOES!!!

Will you walk with me ?

Back to the Basics


Will you walk with me? Far behind? Where time stops??

Ya, I know the world is going much far ahead – ahead monetarily, glamorously, egoist, puffed with pride, belittling all and with a blind eye even to the closest. No- No I don’t blame them it’s the way of life and the world that it demands all this.

The journey with me wont be boring, I promise – nor will it be monotonous, it wont be anything of the above as it doesn’t fit in my world - provided you see it through my eyes – It will be a simple journey, a road less traveled.


After a long stressful and demanding few months both at office and personal front I decided to take a hiatus. A hiatus to detoxify my mind and body, so a runaway holiday that could be unplugged from the world somewhere far yet close to my heart.


A good 450 kms drive to my simple ancestral home nestled deep in the valley, where the tip of the coconut trees could be seen below eye level from the road. It’s the age old rustic home situated much in the interiors called ‘Taal Kokan’ in Marathi.

The roads are cuts curvaceously through the reddish brown soil on both the sides and bekons. It looks so beautiful that one feels this road should never end.

See there’s our house…can you?? Ya the same one with the dark brown rooftop in the valley, lets take a closer look at it.

House in The Valley




That’s our house



The house has a big courtyard lined with aboli flowers looks so inviting and protective at the same time. A big clean drinking water well covered lightly with the net to protect the water from the felling leaves of the jamun tree beside it. A peep in the well and we can spot a tortoise and two fish who work 24x7 to keep the water clean.

Come sit with me on this waistline wall of the well and see the jamun tree. Five to six squirrels nibbling on the jamuns’, watch out for the parakeets too…see how the squirrels and the parakeets swing and relish on the same branch on the small fruits – mutual understanding and win – win situation for both – Life so simple!!!

Lets go a bit further and cross the neighbors courtyard…. Watch there are some at work…busy as ever, probably they are building their home, come lets see them closely...


Men at work




Ant nest




Awesome!!!!

Watch somebody is plucking some small fruits from this tall tree. What are they???

Careful it might burst on your head, he just plucks and throws…but where is he???

Can you see the plucker???



Oh it’s the Mangos teen – Kokum fruit.



Come lets collect it…

Oh look how much we collected….




Is'nt the color amazing???

Now lets climb this small cliff which leads to the field. Hey, see what’s here.

Wild black berries - Ya it’s the Kali Maina



Here some more – wow its laden with it…Pluck it folks but just be careful with its thorns



Wash it and eat it??? Did you say that??? Forget it just simply pop it, isn't it yum…Simple Pleasures of Life!!!!

Now here we reach our field and….Lo!!! Look at this. Jackfruit, any takers??



And see here Alphonsos’….and nobody grabs it. It’s hanging so low



Its lunch time and back home its simple food cooked on the Chula. It tastes the best and I can bet it’s the best in the world. Lets take a seista for some time...or say a power nap to continue our walk a little further.

Can you hear the hustle bustle of the winds ??…Give an ear.....give a ear more it sounds rhythmic...

Untamed Winds and Unleashed



Can you hear something more??? It’s the rambling of the Arabian Sea and we now stand here on the west coast, and here the land ends.

Ah!!! Here it is…the sea…i easily get connected…. its like meeting a long lost friend as if it says, 'now no going any further' ..here it is.........nothing beyond this.......the waves speak endlessly with me…as if they were waiting to meet me......so many stories they have.....stories that never end……every wave sounds different…every wave looks different…every wave with a different mood…desperate, and

More desperate....



It’s just so restless… for what??? Guess…

It just wants to hug the shore. See the width of the shore is so small compared to the expanse of the sea yet the shore holds the capacity to mellow it....

See it’s mellowed…



How come??? Touche' ah?? or is it Love???? Ya should be both…. Let them always meet

Many thoughts pass by, the sand, the shells, the conches, the waves; I wonder how far they might have traveled?? And what stories are hidden in them…. Someday I’ll surely unwrap them.

It’s a nice feeling to be in this serenity – a feeling of peace – far and away from the crowd




It’s late evening and am back home, after dinner when I lie in the courtyard I can see a mango tree which glitters…are they stars?? But the moon looks quite far…. How can the stars be so close??? Have a look once again – Oh My God they are glow worms all over…Dazzling…How beautiful.

My camera couldn’t capture this I tried hard but it just did’nt. Probably a higher resolution camera can help.

Felt a bit bad, but sometimes the mind captures better images than the camera and they last for a life time. So they are with me. So at times i feel best to call myself a techNO atleast dont have to fidget with these gizmos.

I close my eyes and visualize the day spent…

It was living in the basics. The birds, tortoise, fish in the well, squirrels, glow worms, the ants, the fauna and flora all dwell together.

I feel blessed that my roots belong to this part of the world where nature has showered everything in abundance, where the size of the peoples heart is as big as the sea…and their smile is simple but truly beautiful.

I get back memories…only promising myself to come back soon here.

Someday....

Yesterday heard a Hindi classical song. I was hearing it after years…many many years.

As a child my Kathak teacher used to make me master the steps with the tabla beats on this particular song. At that age i hated to do this.

When i heard this song again, i rose from my chair and tried tapping my feet in the same way as i was taught....but only ended frustrating over the fact that I never trained myself to learn it.

Perhaps

Someday I shall.....Someday for sure......

Someday travel extensively around the globe, hoping there were no boundaries.... just climb up the hill and wade down the slopes, or walk those pastures, talk with the birds or sit with the shepherd to hear his stories of some other land.........

Someday will sway in a hammock under a tall shady tree which i nurtured and read books which i have missed for long........

Someday i want to walk along the banks of the Ganges and reach Gomukh (the source)...someday i will.....

Someday wont follow the watch or be time bounded...but just move with the time........

Someday be free from commitment to others for others.........

Someday want to be with i, me, myself away in thought and isolation..........and just live.