Oh i've been to Heaven .... And back... :)
Ladakh is one place which everyone must visit at least once ... The landscape is postcard- picture-perfect! - pristine, demure, breathtaking and at the same time magnificient n awe-inspiring ...
The people (ladakhis) are also very nice n sweet folks... Imagine what they go thru at a place where winter temps go down to minus 30!!! N all u get to eat in winter is potatoes n dals (if u r vegetarian - which most of them are, being Buddhists ) ... Schools are shut for 3-4 winter months (nov to feb) ... some kids are sent away by parents to boarding schools in delhi n dehradun... all this I knew before I touched down at leh airport... Courtesy a pretty ladakhi
Teenaged girl named Rinchen (ladakhi name means princess) who was sitting next to me on the flight!
She also wrote down a few Buddhist chants for me....which was really sweet! We exchanged email ids ... She's not on orkut or fb! ... And also invited me to stay over at her place ... (not possible, this time around!)
Coming back to d landscape, there was this inexplicable feeling of Wow which comes to u when u walk out of leh airport and breathe d freshly baked air! like a fren of mine who visited the place last year (or last-to-last yr) says - ' one could never think bare rocky mountains could be so beautiful!' ....
I so so much agreeee! There are layers and layers of chocolate chip n vanilla (some mixed, some pure choc, n mountain ranges all around u... Each mountain looks different from d other...
Each tries to outdo the others in enamouring d beholder... !
But these gigantic mountains can also have a dangerous side - landslides are not new in this geography... the treacherous weather is not helpful either!
And who knows this better than d brave Indian Army!
Pls salute them while u're reading this...
Right from leh, all above, u see only army camps all d way - providing tourists with refreshment and restroom facilities....
And they brave d rough n ruthless weather at altitudes ranging from 11800 feet - Leh, to 18000 plus feet (khardungla pass)... Kudos to these guys!!!!
the trip was over in a tizzzy ... :) time flew... N so did we... Back from heaven to our respective cities.... :) but trust me d scents, d picture of this stupendous place stays with u...even after u're back to d hustle n bustle of mundane life !!!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
day 44 - trip diaries - I
am writing this post at 4 am ... At costa coffee, @ delhi airport, in the company of 7 other girls who were unknown-till-9hours-ago...
excitement galore at the next 6 days :)))))) always wanted to go to L-square for a long tym... Didn't know it would happen like this... :)
Nice concept... This is... Travel with unknown ppl... far off place - 11500 feet above sea-level - different backgrounds, languages, professions, likings, .... All put together... One is an ex-airforce, one's a journalist, 2 of us from investments, one from a banking kpo, one's an auditor, one's an ad web designer... 3 more to join us in next 15 min...
the costa guy here looks totally bewildered....we've been laughing like crazzzieee over d silliest of things - right from 12.30 till 4 am.... Ladies night out... Full blast - Haha... High on cold coffees, juices, pastries, icecream.... Midnight feasts at complete abandon! ... All of us who had proclaimed dat we're Oh-so-sleepy... have not slept a wink ...
I think dats d thing about women bonding... Its instantaneous... Similarly dislike is also instantaneous... But that's not the case here, thankfully! There are some stuff that only my women-frens understand ... And I have only a fingerful of them!
Got to go, tym for the next flight! Will keep writing whenever I get d network!
excitement galore at the next 6 days :)))))) always wanted to go to L-square for a long tym... Didn't know it would happen like this... :)
Nice concept... This is... Travel with unknown ppl... far off place - 11500 feet above sea-level - different backgrounds, languages, professions, likings, .... All put together... One is an ex-airforce, one's a journalist, 2 of us from investments, one from a banking kpo, one's an auditor, one's an ad web designer... 3 more to join us in next 15 min...
the costa guy here looks totally bewildered....we've been laughing like crazzzieee over d silliest of things - right from 12.30 till 4 am.... Ladies night out... Full blast - Haha... High on cold coffees, juices, pastries, icecream.... Midnight feasts at complete abandon! ... All of us who had proclaimed dat we're Oh-so-sleepy... have not slept a wink ...
I think dats d thing about women bonding... Its instantaneous... Similarly dislike is also instantaneous... But that's not the case here, thankfully! There are some stuff that only my women-frens understand ... And I have only a fingerful of them!
Got to go, tym for the next flight! Will keep writing whenever I get d network!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
day 43 - The 3 Musketeers !!!
Sunday May 9 - the historic day when Sud, Abhi n I had a long overdue Reunion time! (those who know us will know what I mean by 'historic':D and those who don't, will realise by d end of this post:D !!! )
The 3 of us decided to catch a play at NCPA (more on d fabulous play in d next post), and d programme was quickly charted out...
These 2 chaps were supposed to pick me up en route... And no surprises, they were late dan d original schedule by an hour!
(courtesy d hunger pangs dat sud felt post an aftnoon-long session of bowling...and then, he also needed to top up his snack binge by a vanilla-icecream-in-coca-cola! !)
Anyway, we were on our way with the poor cabbie who had a half-struck expression - as if he would burst into d SRK song - (badi mushkil hai, ... Main roun ya hasoon, karoon main kya karoon) any moment!
Sud wanted me to showcase my new-found singing talent in d cab itself.... and I had to wriggle out of d situation by remembering suddenly to call mona, our super-busy common fren... And have a loudspeaker chat ... (again poor cabbie uncle bore d brunt of our noisy commotional talk...) we decided within 2 min of d conversation to drop by mona's bldg (on d way it was!) n have a Fab 4 reunion... And den jab we al met...it was a flurry of quick, loud cross-talk, jokes, reminiscence of funny ol school incidents... Etc etc... All while d poor cabbie sat staring far away ! :D
And then again we resumed our onwards journey to ncpa...
We reached d play in the nick of time... The seats were on a first-cum, first served basis, but man! Were we lucky! ! We were amongst d last to arrive but got the finest seats! 3 cool last row seats raised to d finest height providing a marvellous view of the whole stage!
After the absolutely delightful play (more praise on d plays will follow soon), we strolled onto marine drive... Omg, the place is jampacked on sun eve....! Caught sum of their funny poses on my phone- cam... And we were about to walk towards d awesome intl cuisine resto nearby....when.... Sud sud-denly decided he wanted to take a royal warrior-like ride on d Victoria - a familiar british era-leftover seen on MD and norman point on weekends!)
It was only when Abhi n I refused to give him company atop d buggy dat he finally relented... Plus d guy was charging 200 bucks for a ten min ride!
Even walking towards d hotel was no less an adventure... We happened to see a rolls royce parked on d road and these 2 were moving around so suspiciously like a stealthy paparazzi that the driver of d car thought we were upto some thin...
Li'll did he know we were just plain crazie fellas lurking on horse-dung-in-d-air filled narmn pt streets at peak dinner time... By d tym we reached d resto, we learnt there was a one-hour wait involved! I guess d emptiness of our brains finally got to our stomachs... And we realised we'll have to go to an udipi hotel nearby to satiate our sudden hunger! Which we did!
Bickerings between abhi n sud continued all thru... Non-stop!!!
Finally, on our way back home, sud finally made me sing 3 songs! While Abhi played d part of sridevi in mr. India (angry at the kids wala scenario) ...
Whoa, thank God for simple-hearted frens... Frens who're happy in d slightest of joys, who can share and laugh at d same ol school jokes! Frens who prove that the best things in life are....... FREE! :)
The 3 of us decided to catch a play at NCPA (more on d fabulous play in d next post), and d programme was quickly charted out...
These 2 chaps were supposed to pick me up en route... And no surprises, they were late dan d original schedule by an hour!
(courtesy d hunger pangs dat sud felt post an aftnoon-long session of bowling...and then, he also needed to top up his snack binge by a vanilla-icecream-in-coca-cola! !)
Anyway, we were on our way with the poor cabbie who had a half-struck expression - as if he would burst into d SRK song - (badi mushkil hai, ... Main roun ya hasoon, karoon main kya karoon) any moment!
Sud wanted me to showcase my new-found singing talent in d cab itself.... and I had to wriggle out of d situation by remembering suddenly to call mona, our super-busy common fren... And have a loudspeaker chat ... (again poor cabbie uncle bore d brunt of our noisy commotional talk...) we decided within 2 min of d conversation to drop by mona's bldg (on d way it was!) n have a Fab 4 reunion... And den jab we al met...it was a flurry of quick, loud cross-talk, jokes, reminiscence of funny ol school incidents... Etc etc... All while d poor cabbie sat staring far away ! :D
And then again we resumed our onwards journey to ncpa...
We reached d play in the nick of time... The seats were on a first-cum, first served basis, but man! Were we lucky! ! We were amongst d last to arrive but got the finest seats! 3 cool last row seats raised to d finest height providing a marvellous view of the whole stage!
After the absolutely delightful play (more praise on d plays will follow soon), we strolled onto marine drive... Omg, the place is jampacked on sun eve....! Caught sum of their funny poses on my phone- cam... And we were about to walk towards d awesome intl cuisine resto nearby....when.... Sud sud-denly decided he wanted to take a royal warrior-like ride on d Victoria - a familiar british era-leftover seen on MD and norman point on weekends!)
It was only when Abhi n I refused to give him company atop d buggy dat he finally relented... Plus d guy was charging 200 bucks for a ten min ride!
Even walking towards d hotel was no less an adventure... We happened to see a rolls royce parked on d road and these 2 were moving around so suspiciously like a stealthy paparazzi that the driver of d car thought we were upto some thin...
Li'll did he know we were just plain crazie fellas lurking on horse-dung-in-d-air filled narmn pt streets at peak dinner time... By d tym we reached d resto, we learnt there was a one-hour wait involved! I guess d emptiness of our brains finally got to our stomachs... And we realised we'll have to go to an udipi hotel nearby to satiate our sudden hunger! Which we did!
Bickerings between abhi n sud continued all thru... Non-stop!!!
Finally, on our way back home, sud finally made me sing 3 songs! While Abhi played d part of sridevi in mr. India (angry at the kids wala scenario) ...
Whoa, thank God for simple-hearted frens... Frens who're happy in d slightest of joys, who can share and laugh at d same ol school jokes! Frens who prove that the best things in life are....... FREE! :)
Saturday, May 8, 2010
day 42 - Seasons....
Just like there are seasons outside,
So they are inside...
The ones outside change only when the time comes,
The ones inside arrive and leave in a random manner...
Sometimes both are in sync, sometimes not so,
Sometimes with Joy we rise, in Sadness we sink....
Sometimes when its Spring outside, its Autumn inside,
When hope blossoms outside but withers within.......
Sometimes when its Summer outside, its Raining cats and dogs inside,
While the sun scorches our body,
The raindrops cleanse the Heart and Soul....
Sometimes its stark Winter outside, while the Heart is warm,
Sometimes there's a storm and its Thundering outside,
While the mind is surprisingly, very calm.......
Now when I'm out in the sweltering sun, whats the need to crib?
When I know deep down inside, there's just a switch I need to flip....
We aren't always in tune with the Seasons outside,
But just listen carefully to the song humming on your lips....
Just like the Seasons outside need to change when the Time comes,
So also no one bad season can continue within us Forever.......
And while Eternal Spring is what we all crave for,
We do know that the entire package comes alongwith it!
So they are inside...
The ones outside change only when the time comes,
The ones inside arrive and leave in a random manner...
Sometimes both are in sync, sometimes not so,
Sometimes with Joy we rise, in Sadness we sink....
Sometimes when its Spring outside, its Autumn inside,
When hope blossoms outside but withers within.......
Sometimes when its Summer outside, its Raining cats and dogs inside,
While the sun scorches our body,
The raindrops cleanse the Heart and Soul....
Sometimes its stark Winter outside, while the Heart is warm,
Sometimes there's a storm and its Thundering outside,
While the mind is surprisingly, very calm.......
Now when I'm out in the sweltering sun, whats the need to crib?
When I know deep down inside, there's just a switch I need to flip....
We aren't always in tune with the Seasons outside,
But just listen carefully to the song humming on your lips....
Just like the Seasons outside need to change when the Time comes,
So also no one bad season can continue within us Forever.......
And while Eternal Spring is what we all crave for,
We do know that the entire package comes alongwith it!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
day 41 - sometimes .... Just sometimes... ambivalence....is bliss!
In continuation to my damn good mood, as mentioned in my previous post, I want to share some new stuff I learnt... :)
I've always been an extremist - - - binary...either 0 or 1... To me, d middle path sounds synonymous to an inability to take a stand... And I detest people who can't take a stand (as a matter of routine) ...
So what learning am I talking about?? in the last few months I've learnt dat sometimes, though very occasionally, its OK to not take a serious, involved view of certain events/situations, esp when they have already occurred despite yr best intentions... you've already made yr best efforts, n they've not worked....... at such times, it feels good to step back, stay in neutral zone, be ambivalent in your reactions - not too hot, nor too cold, just room temperature! keep yr calm, feel good about most ppl (sorry we can't feel good about 'all' ppl :D:D )... Sometimes, its soothing to not try and slot / compartmentalise every single thing, or relation... Like a fren told me yesterday, somethings don't fit in any single dimension...
Sometimes, ambiguity is nice, mild curiosity is nice, constant humming (neither silence, nor pounding) is sweet...
it just is..... !!!! :)
I've always been an extremist - - - binary...either 0 or 1... To me, d middle path sounds synonymous to an inability to take a stand... And I detest people who can't take a stand (as a matter of routine) ...
So what learning am I talking about?? in the last few months I've learnt dat sometimes, though very occasionally, its OK to not take a serious, involved view of certain events/situations, esp when they have already occurred despite yr best intentions... you've already made yr best efforts, n they've not worked....... at such times, it feels good to step back, stay in neutral zone, be ambivalent in your reactions - not too hot, nor too cold, just room temperature! keep yr calm, feel good about most ppl (sorry we can't feel good about 'all' ppl :D:D )... Sometimes, its soothing to not try and slot / compartmentalise every single thing, or relation... Like a fren told me yesterday, somethings don't fit in any single dimension...
Sometimes, ambiguity is nice, mild curiosity is nice, constant humming (neither silence, nor pounding) is sweet...
it just is..... !!!! :)
day 40 - advice - free free free....... No thx !
For some peculiar reason, I'm gonna write some boiling stuff Tode, nope, I'm not in a foul mood, on d other hand, m in a damn good mood.... :D but dat doesn't stop me from spewing some pent-up anger!
So here goes -
some ppl are born advisors.... U speak to them of an issue concerning yrself n then dey start bombarding u with advice which u don't need or which even they wouldn't Follow. Themselves. They start thinking just coz u have shared this issue/s with them, u're Oh-so-vulnerable! And they can take d liberty of saying whatever they want, to whoever they want.
My feedback to them -
'Oh damn, before playing God, kindly realise dat u too have yr weaknesses, how will u feel if someone makes fun of u or taunts u from them...??? This is blatant abuse of the trust and faith someone has placed in u... Its a mockery of the word ''friendship''.
We are not perfect... Every single one of us makes mistakes..sometimes a series of them.... As long as our intentions were never wrong, no one, I repeat, NO ONE, except yr parents, has any right to criticize u for it... Solicited advice is welcome, unsolicited... No way!'
N yeah, now dat I've spewn this out of my system, I also hv realised dat I too must be objective in what I advice others.. N that too, only wen asked for it! :)
So here goes -
some ppl are born advisors.... U speak to them of an issue concerning yrself n then dey start bombarding u with advice which u don't need or which even they wouldn't Follow. Themselves. They start thinking just coz u have shared this issue/s with them, u're Oh-so-vulnerable! And they can take d liberty of saying whatever they want, to whoever they want.
My feedback to them -
'Oh damn, before playing God, kindly realise dat u too have yr weaknesses, how will u feel if someone makes fun of u or taunts u from them...??? This is blatant abuse of the trust and faith someone has placed in u... Its a mockery of the word ''friendship''.
We are not perfect... Every single one of us makes mistakes..sometimes a series of them.... As long as our intentions were never wrong, no one, I repeat, NO ONE, except yr parents, has any right to criticize u for it... Solicited advice is welcome, unsolicited... No way!'
N yeah, now dat I've spewn this out of my system, I also hv realised dat I too must be objective in what I advice others.. N that too, only wen asked for it! :)
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