I Believe...

I Believe....

Life Will make us face our worst fears, no matter what,
Until,
we learn, that the our sense of security is probably the only illusion to be feared.
That life is nothing but a ride out there in the wild.

And that only those who dare to break out of the bubble of that illusion will experience what it means to be alive, Everyone else is just whiling away their precious lifetime secured in the cage.

 like the mother bird pushes the baby bird out of it's nest into the open sky to fly away to greater heights, so does life, 'cuz it wishes us to go farther, rise higher, fly free, explore the world and experience the best that is out there.

So, the time when u stand facing the worst u had ever thought could happen, don't give up, don't fall down go and grab it by the arm, it'll be opportunity knocking on your door. 

Roots

where lie thy roots?
they asked the traveler.
buried,
'neath the soil of love,
in the garden of his heart, she replied.

Why then you wander?
they asked the traveler.
In search of the garden,
where I shall bury my roots.

till when would u wander?
they asked the traveler.
till mine heart shall find his
till our souls shall entwine
our lives becoming one
and as one we shall roam again. 

Kasauli

Finally took my much awaited weekend break and went off to Kasauli, a tiny little mountain town, located in Himachal Pradesh India, approx 6 hours drive away from Delhi also well connected via trains (the nearest railway station being Kalka, from where u can take a cab, also from Chandigarh, 2 hrs away). I took the road, 'cuz I had heard a lot about the Himalayan Express Highway, and every word of what I had heard was true (clean roads, with rarely any potholes or rough stretch all this in the mountains!!! hats off). Stopped over in Dharampur, a small town at the outskirts of Kasauli and enjoyed a yummy meal at it's roadside diners.

 I stayed at 'The Kasauli Resort', a lovely property
(also recommend The Kasauli Regency, with a rooftop open air bar and diner) both of them are 2-3 kms away from the main town Kasauli but very well connected via state transport. The main attractions of the trip  for me were hiking through the countless trails in the valley, the scenery and of course the tiny little town of Kasauli, with it's stone cobbled streets and quiet life and The Live Guitar night at the Kasauli Regency.

For two days, I walked in the wonderland, surrounded by plush green valleys, watching the sun playing hide and seek with clouds over the tree covered mountains. I hiked through the valley, sometimes in silence, sometimes listening to the sound of wind, the birds singing, all the while drinking with hungry eyes of a drunkard the scenic greens of the valley, feeling delighted at discovering hidden tracks, stairways covered with carpets of green moss, corners hidden beyond the curtains of greens. Mersmerized by walls, trees covered with pearls of greens I walked surrounded by the mist, playing with the wisps of clouds, saw the sunset painting the sky orange while listening to the temple bells tolling far away, and spent the nights gazing at the star studded sky. Had impromptu conversations with locals, was baffled by a stray dog who adopted me and accompanied me all through my hike, I shall forever remember the look of kindness and affection that I had seen in the eyes of that tiny little animal.

I walked as if in a dream, letting the beauty of nature overwhelm my eyes, letting the peaceful calm silence the storm raging within me. I gazed longingly at the roads winding away beyond the curtain of the mist, wishing I could disappear around the next corner, to walk lost in the beautiful spectacle of nature surrounding me.

For two days I was a little girl walking in the wonderland of her dreams, wishing that the dream would never end and She would be left alone in her wonderland.

But all dreams end, and so I wished my wonderland adieu, with the promise to return again.

Green Green, Green every where

The Valley

View from my Balcony

Cobbled street at the Heritage Market Kasauli

The road goes on and on and on
To whence it goes, knows not a soul
beckoning the wanderer within to follow.

'Neath the sun,
sleep the dead,
lives, that once were
now remain just
names entombed.

the moss covered staircase, a cosy little place with sun and shade

The Gardener, tending his beautiful little garden, toiling hard, to  bring to our sight the joy  and beauties of his tiny little garden.

Artistic Recycling

A souvenir shop, run by a man who's turned his hobby into a living. 

Been a while since I have blogged (not that anyone would have missed me here, but I missed being here). What have I been upto??

I wish I could answer loads, but actually nothing. I have been for the most of my time confused, struggling to sort out my confusion, make decisions, get back my focus....no luck so far.

I have started work out, dancing and healthy eating to get back in shape, the diet has been working well so far, been partying a lot, and am going to Kasauli for weekend break this week and looking forward to exploring the place, write and paint.

Shall get back to u with tid bits from Kasauli, till then have a great time, stay safe and happy.

For those who write and read

“A writer is someone who spends years patiently trying to discover the second being inside him, and the world that makes him who he is: when I speak of writing, what comes first to my mind is not a novel, a poem, or literary tradition, it is a person who shuts himself up in a room, sits down at a table, and alone, turns inward; amid its shadows, he builds a new world with words. This man – or this woman – may use a typewriter, profit from the ease of a computer, or write with a pen on paper, as I have done for 30 years. As he writes, he can drink tea or coffee, or smoke cigarettes. From time to time he may rise from his table to look out through the window at the children playing in the street, and, if he is lucky, at trees and a view, or he can gaze out at a black wall. He can write poems, plays, or novels, as I do. All these differences come after the crucial task of sitting down at the table and patiently turning inwards. To write is to turn this inward gaze into words, to study the world into which that person passes when he retires into himself, and to do so with patience, obstinacy, and joy. As I sit at my table, for days, months, years, slowly adding new words to the empty page, I feel as if I am creating a new world, as if I am bringing into being that other person inside me, in the same way someone might build a bridge or a dome, stone by stone. The stones we writers use are words. As we hold them in our hands, sensing the ways in which each of them is connected to the others, looking at them sometimes from afar, sometimes almost caressing them with our fingers and the tips of our pens, weighing them, moving them around, year in and year out, patiently and hopefully, we create new worlds.”
― Orhan Pamuk

(This was posted on the facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OrhanPamukAuthor of the author today. I am merely sharing it here)

Amritsar

http://travel.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?280207

This mouth watering food blog got me interested in Amritsar the first time (Yes, not the Golden temple or Jalianwala Bagh or Wagah border but a food blog!!!) because I just happen to love good food and I am ready to become a travelling mule for it, and thus this article had me drooling.

Thus, the moment, Jacob, mentioned that he wanted to explore Amritsar and invited me to join in, the weekend trip was set and we plunged with our usual enthusiasm to plan how to reach, where to stay, what to do, in short how to get the maximum travel experience we could get out of the 3 days we had. And after countless the usual second thoughts and discussions later we were ready with everything in place.

Amritsar located in Punjab, India, is known for being the seat of Sikh religion and culture due to the Golden Temple. It is well connected from New Delhi by trains and flights ( u can check any travel websites for the details or click http://wikitravel.org/en/Amritsar ) best time to visit being from October to March.

Deciding to brave the 42 degree summer heat, we landed in Amritsar after an uneventful 6 hr train ride, went over to Radisson Blu, a relatively new but beautiful property, on the outskirts of the city (it's location being it's disadvantage, as u are left with very little options to explore the city, if u wish to explore the city and enjoy the food this property is not for you). That night we decided to explore a punjabi cultural haat called Rangala Punjab at the Haveli Resorts in Jalandhar about 2 hours away from Amritsar. Instead of the hotel cab, we used a local cab service (Arora Travel Agency), which charged us half the price with excellent service.

Rangla Punjab is set in the form of a small punjab village, with tableau showing life in a punjabi village, a cultural  programme of Bhangra, Gidda, plays etc with an open air stage and sitting arrangements on traditional jute cots, an amateur magic show, some games and a traditional punjabi meal  at the restaurant (all this in 440 INR)

Bhangra

The India way of doing popcorns

Punjabi thali in Punjabi dining style.

playing Stapu

Trying my hands at Pottery.

The open air sitting area.

It was fun imbibing the ambience of rural punjab and indulging in games, trying hands at pottery, watching the performances (which were pretty average though).

The next day was dedicated to being tourists, we started at 1 (this time taking the hotel tour package), went to Jalianwala Bagh, in the crazy heat ( U can google for the gory history associated with it. ) then enjoyed a finger licking meal at Surjit food plaza (one of the yummiest chicken that I  have ever had) before heading off to the Wagah border (about 30 - 40 mins away from Amritsar) for the evening time closing of gates ceremony at the India Pakistan border. (The ceremony takes place twice a day once in morning and once in evening any local person or hotel staff where u are staying can provide u with the information)

Wagah border 

The Jallianwala Bagh

Guard Ceremony at Wagah.

Huge crowd and street dancing.

Flag races

The ceremony included patriotic songs and street dancing, a few races by some enthusiastic adults, flag lowering and salutation ceremony by the army on both sides of the gates, but to get to all of this meant braving a long walk of about 1-2kms (because the car parking is about 3 kms from the area of the actual event) in the heat with dust, a mammoth crowd and  a huge scare, when for a silly security theater, I and Jacob got separated in the male and female queue, not knowing where and how we would meet in the crowd (more scary since cell phones don't work in the area due to army jamming). But we did manage to catch up with each other again and then using the entrance for foreigner's gallery (basically it's a huge stadium like area with steps for seats, a part of which is reserved only for foreign visitors) which leads to a sitting area reserved for foreign travelers we were seated on the stone steps of the open air auditorium (which turned out to be a real time pain in ass). As for me I found the whole ceremony pointless (probably 'cuz I believe in world with out border, thus making it difficult for me to identify with the concept of nationalism) but to Jacob it was a celebration of nationalism, but we were both glad when 45 mins later the ceremony was over and our poor bums were relieved.  

After getting back, we had our usual lengthy dinner (lengthy enough to make two or three food posts) before leaving to visit the Golden temple. The temple is a beautiful sight at night, the Gurudwara, decorated with real Gold is situated in midst of a man made lake and thronged with devotees. And being a Sunday the queue was thousands long, when we reached, but thanks to some cooperation from the locals we managed to get in. (Tip - u need to keep your heads covered within the complex)

The Golden Temple at night

The temple periphery.

Golden Temple during the day.

It was beautiful experience, followed by an equally wonderful discussion sitting on the edge of the lake before we decided to call it a day. The next day I decided to visit the golden temple again to see it during the day, while Jacob explored the city. We decided to get lunch from Beera's (which was good, but not as amazing as Surjit's) before returning back via an adventurous and hilarious train journey (I'll leave that story for another blog post)

We had an amazing time, which could have been much more amazing if it would have been winters, 

 but still we had our fill of the travelling experience and memories.

I Believe..

I like to travel for many reasons...

But sometimes I just want to travel, to break free from the bubble I live in, to challenge myself with the new, the unknown, the unexpected and to let the experience teach me, change me, but more importantly to remind myself that fear is just a figment of my sense of security and that it exists only as long as I let it exist. To remind myself, that it's not my fears that hold me back, rather my lack of will to fight them.

I simply travel, to wake up within me, the thrill lying dormant, the thrill of 'Being alive' that comes through the experience of living boundlessly.

So, Why is it that you travel?