A visit to Paradise - J&K

Well I am not into describing entirety of the 5 days journey we had to Jammu and Kashmir (of which it would take 5-6 pages), but I'll just brief down the wonderful memories that have left their imprint on me. 

We(6 of us) started on the trip on 27th of november just the day our endsems bade farewell to us. Ofcourse born out of the excitement and enthusiasm, we didn't really care how it went. We took off by train to NewDelhi where we had to change back the train that took us to Jammu-Tawi. Thanks to the all time waiting status saga of seats in Indian railways, we could get some time to spare in the busy but alluring streets of New Delhi (where I had never been before), speaking of which I really found the place amazing. I don't know if the way that our Taxi took was through some specifically big posh area, but the greenery around the roads , the peacefulness of less heavy traffic  and holding & banners so aptly put up , really took me in an awe - "Mumbai is loads worst than this".

Whatever be the scene, we reached Jammu on 29th morning 11am . Our train was 3 hours late but all we could do was nothing (later we realized many of ours plans got ruined just coz it got 'late' at many a places). We took off for Katra in a bus, took a hotel for rent, relaxed in our rooms for a while and then tightened our belts to climb on the 12kms for the darshan in the holy shrine of Maa vaishno devi. I should mention like it started to rain when we reached Katra making us ponder 'What'll we do in such cold and wet', but fortunately it didn't rain anywhere later (I am not counting snow as rainfall :P ).

While climbing all up to 'bhavan' the thing that stuck me the most was the courage that people had to reach the temple. I could see old people over 50yrs age striding their way ahead, then parents with their children on back,  small kids with their small lathis- all moving forth the stony ways of the climb, which I should mention were so painful that even youths(not per se) like me had to pause and gasp badly for breath every half a km. And then the spirit of people, humming the word 'Jai mata di' all way long, did put a smile on my face - "India indeed has some things so unique with its sentiments".
We had the darshan around 11:30pm, then climbed another 2hrs to Bhaironath and then rolled back down to hotel by 5am. Return journey was pain in the hell, which I had never really imagined. Our knees had all given up :P.

Next day around 2pm we took off for srinagar hiring a package worth 11k INR that was supposed to take us through Srinagar, Gulmarg, Patni-top and places around. Sitting in the back seat of the Tavera moving up through the ups and downs & turns and rounds of the roadway, I could see the wondrous mountains, valleys and stretch of forests. It was indeed breathtaking with music at play in background. Pages from my past started flipping back and all I could do was let myself go free at that. 
We reached in srinagar around 9pm and the cold there froze our soul. But again seeing the people serving at dhabas move so efficiently through this, all I could do was hats off to the kashmiri spirit.

Me at Gulmarg

Next day off to Gulmarg was the most amazing one where we touched and lived the snow for first ever time along with great experience of skiing,sledging and rolling in it. Skiing, ought to mention, was the most difficult of all. I mean we were sweating literally like we had run 10's of kms, just around 10 min of doing it. 'People say it takes 1 month of training to learn so & then even the slope wasn't that good'- excuse we took back for not doing well :P.

Last visiting places were 'dal lake' and 'Adi-shankarcharya temple' which were awesome as ever. Dal lake especially was marvelous with shikaras & house-boats and markets floating so well over it, like it was another world set apart. We couldn't visit parks and other scenic places for which kashmir is famous, been bound in time limits(owing to traffic issues where a small accident can block the roads for hours & our laziness to move out of beds in such cold). The shredded leaves made 'The Green tunnel' look not as good as what some images assure.
Night stay on 2nd of dec at Patni-top was unforgettable. The cold there made our laptops, mobile and watches freeze to work anymore.
The ride back to Jammu next morning was again great with views so lively as paradise (won't mention the music & slipping back of memories again :P ). We took off to Amritsar on 3rd noon but owing to traffic again, we couldn't visit any a place there :( . Then what! Back in trains to our home :) 

The trip was indeed the brightest of the visits I ever had anywhere else.None of rumors of bomb blasts or curfews put us off. The all time helping nature of people in Kashmir really was unforgettable (especially our driver- respect!!). And then the Police force and the patriotic messages put around- woke back my feeling of serving the nation to its best.
 What I took back was more than the things I purchased, indeed much more. :)

Music back again

Its not the only Thing to what I normally tend to put myself into but again after  long I've decided i'll share some songs that with their beats just keep me mesmerized and make me forget all the worries that ever try to put me down. This is just a small list, yet a must hear for anyone who hasn't heard them yet. So here they are :-

1) The One That Got Away 

An awesome song by Katy perry. I like especially the part where she shows extraordinary emotions of regret of the past.
 It kind of reflects the feeling that true love never really dies and the willingness shown by her to be his 'Girl' in another life where they will be together as 'Us' against the world, is extraordinary.
Plus given that katy herself wrote(or contributed in writing) the song, I can't stop myself but to salute her.


2) Dare you to move

Another excellent sequence by Switchfoot. Rhythmic beats on guitar and drums as usual have portrayed a brilliant combination. Imagination will delve beyond the limits, Feet will lift in agitation, Constraints will be thrown away, Emotions will surpass their bonds - This is what this song assures.

Inspirational at its words it makes us realize that even though the world expects a lot from us, its we who have to "Dare to move" ahead of life.

" May be redemption has stories to tell, Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell.. Salvation is Here!! " 

3) The Reason

Entertaining and Thought provoking. Video Further adds on to the fervour. The song is about the apologies a man wants to make to the girl of his life. He wants to take away all her pains and bury her sadness, by changing himself as he has found his reason to start over new.

On the canvas of my imagination I paint somewhere the love and affection that this song holds.

"I've found a reason to show .. the side of me u didn't know..

A reason for all that I do.. And the reason is You !! " 

4) We found Love

One of excellent song by Rihanna. Her voice is so awesome and especially with the context of this song, it has just grown out of bounds.
Video content might be bit repugnant for some (explanation for 38000 dislikes over 300 million likes), but the feel is just great.
Song describes feeling of a girl who is bereft of her love and about her hopelessness. Lyrics portray so much about our lives too, when we feel the same loss of hope and love,
These lines just take it all away -

"It's the way I'm feeling I just can't deny.. But I gotta let it go!!"

5) Ours 

A song that describes the realities of our life. A typical office girl worried over how her colleagues make fun of her and her love life, but gaining strength from the feeling that nothing matters to the world outside you.
Its only what you portray yourself, that comes out to you - better resembled in the video. Just love what a wonderful job Taylor swift has done.

"Don't you worry your pretty little mind.. People throw rocks at things that shine.. But they can't take what's Ours.. Stakes are high.. Water is Rough, But this love is 'Ours'."

I appreciate hindi songs equally well and even more of other english songs, but these are some of few I can keep listening to forever (not literally though :P ).

War and We

It was the same typical day and somehow scanning the newspaper, I got the look into this article. It talked about how the verdict of convicting 32 people in Naroda Patiya mass murder, has left its influence on the residents of the regions around.

Well if you are wondering what was 'Naroda Patiya Mass Murder', you are on same ground as I was while reading the article. It actually refers to the brutal mass killing of Muslims in the district of Ahmedabad(Gujarat) following the Godhra Train burning incident 27th Feb 2002. (Wiki can help you more with it :- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_violence )

What kept me stuck was the thought of this massacre happening around in some part of society I am living in. I may have been only 9 years old at the time, but  recalling upon now how horrifying would it have been for rest, puts me in doubt whether I really have grown up. What.. Wait! Am I talking that being grown we can accept such riots more easily? Is this more like a part and parcel of life?

I don't understand what to pen down. What I am left swerving around with, are the questions. Questions that put me back into the same doubt I have been asking everyone- Is any event destined to happen the way it happens or is it our discourse that make it happen? Questions that put me into doubt whether our country is really moving ahead or the same 'people' are ruining it, in some thoughtfully different way?

Answers may be beyond what lies ahead.. But with the reading of the article I gained better view of what an Ideal India would be like. And that's what I'll keep striving for. :)

You - SwitchFoot

This is just a brief put-down of thoughts that encircle me around whenever I listen to the music of this song. Its not just the lyrics that persuade me, but the way Switchfoot band has sieved the music with each and every word that flows around so perfectly with the rhythm, that keeps me spell-bound. These reflections are purely what I think and may be out of the context in which the song was really placed in the movie- 'A walk to remember', but still here they are :).

Here is the link for the song :- 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDadO8xKBEQ

It starts playing with the 'echo' that kind of reflects the void in something. Then the beat of drums transitioning to the music of guitar and synth, takes my imagination to a lonely wide-stretched road with me standing somewhere near its start looking along the horizon to which the road is extending to, pondering same typical thoughts of sorrowfulness. 

And then the lyrics flows out like magic :-

There's always something in the way,
There's always something getting through.
But it's not me
Its you.

The music with the words is so indulging that I go dumbstruck. It becomes so comforting- enlightening the bigger side of me. I'll put in now what the lyrics makes sense to me.

Sometimes ignorance rings "True".

Sometimes not even knowing about, brings us to the truth. Sometimes its not the knowledge but our ignorance that bring things closer. 

Hope is not in what I know.
Its not in me. Its in you.

Its that,I'm ignorant- and that brings me the 'hope'. Its my void that brings me the hope. Something precious is coming.

And then the repeated words again engulfs us back.

I find peace when I'm confused.
I find hope when I'm let down.
Its not in me. Its in you.

I know I've been put back. And now I look upon the sky from the depth I've fallen into.This brings me peace, which I constantly long for.

Then the most beautiful part :-

Hope to Loose myself for good.
I hope to find it in the end.

I have this hope that the good I strive for, I will someday loose myself in it. And someday I even will find it. And the Happiness thereafter is what soothes me now.

You might be wondering with the shift of thoughts from inspiring 'me' to inspiring 'you', what really is the person trying to say? But that's the real beauty. Its not just meant to put yourself up. Its not just for the person you are talking to. But the perfect switch between words really makes us think- Its for all of ourselves. Its for the entire self which we sometimes relate to 'you', 'me', 'I' or 'others'.

Though I may not have portrayed any good before but I assure this song will soothe your mind. Its to put us back - Back in fight from where we started giving up.

Some say this song is meant for 'God Almighty' or for a lover, but with the meaning you want to perceive, I'll just say - "Its not in me, Its in you. " :)