The Might of the Mighty

Himalayas - the mighty Himalayas enthrall one and all for ages.

I felt the might on our visit to Kishtwar - a remote part of Kashmir. You can feel the power of nature all around you and realize how puny and insignificant is Man in front of the might and harsh glory of Nature.

Crystal blue sky, clear whiff of air, over powering snow capped mountains and Chenub flowing through the gorge made the setting for a perfectly peaceful time in Kashmir.

'Peace' and Kashmir might sound a paradox considering the last few decades of so-called politico unrest in the valley but let me reiterate - Salute to another Mighty force - Indian Army - we are at peace!!

The place is not part of tourism map and has very little villages around. The locals survive on Saffron and Sapphire - their pride produce and the immense social work by the Army - Youth employments - women empowerment - orphanages are few of them.

Our travel to Kashmir interestingly had a huge influence of any B-grade Hindi movie and years of negative information which has made us believe the worse - Kashmir is a life-death experience to an extent we start considering ourselves as martyrs. So our journey to and fro to our destination left us with high levels of adrenalin rush at each sharp bend of the mountains. So what about the true martyrs?

As we take in the beauty with awe and spun heated discussions over a drink or two on the so-called Kashmir issue, the effort of many armed men and true martyrs quietly slips by...the true martyrs spending days and months without family or social life in such remote areas just for our 'peace'. Men who take guarding their motherland an individual responsibility, takes in all the worries and hard work to give us the platform in social circles to sip a glass of wine and flaunt our 'achievements' in terms of money - cars - brands owned. What a Farce and Shame!

The Indian Army men truly lives up to the Might of the Himalayas while we get lost in our cosmetic achievements. Both stand tall in their true glory!

Hail the Might of the Mighty Himalayas and the Mighty Indian Army!!

Calcutta - City of Joy?

I would say YES
Any visitor will say a big NO

Phuchka at Golpark.....adda and chai at Nandan with a self taught singer singing all beautiful Rabindranath numbers....tram trips via Victoria...holding on to the 'tinawalla' bus tickets under the watch strap...sneaking for a noon show at New Empire....hopping to savor Nahoums brownie....quick visit to the Academy for the art shows...lazying round to catch up with Nandikar's evening plays and fish cutlet.....window shopping and pitch haggling with Gariahat footpath vendors.....pick up a Bedwin roll...casually enter Someplace Else for Nandan Baggchi's Jazz....stroll on Park Street and check the books and mags from the street vendors....feel athletic with Badminton bats and quick shots with your friends on a Bandh ridden road.....flow with the crowd on Ashthami Pujo....feel proud to hop on a Metro and listen to soothing Rabindra Sangeet....visit relatives with one full 'bhaar' of mishtidoi....check the handicrafts and trade fairs and obviously the glamorous Book Fair where in at least 20 people are lost and found everyday and people from chandannogore invariably loose their slippers.....the serpentine lines on 25th December and on 31st at Zoo...Botanical Gardens....the picnic parties at Maidan....people of all class enjoying their fullest....women in merc's gauging on the roadside Bhelpuri...the smile is the only constant factor in Calcutta!

The simple pleasures of Calcutta - the range Calcutta has to offer to all sects makes the city so special and unique!!

Dont judge the book by its cover - feel it!!!

shift+alt+del: homosapiens

One FB friend asked about the reason warning calls are sounded by animals in forest for predators - My thoughts: I guess they still dont know that there is a greater predator who can wipe out all animal population and I strongly feel predators should start giving warning calls!!

We are presently fighting a cause for justice to a tigress killed by a speeding vehicle inside Bandhavgarh NP. Its been about a week now and as usual justice is still 'on the way'. My thoughts presently are - isn't it funny that we fight our own war created by us!

I wonder what will happen to this world without us. Lot of land for animals to live in peace, no global warming, no pollution in the name of development, no disasters like Tsunami/Cyclone/Volcano, no nuclear bombs, no weapons of destruction.....all evils seems to be pointing to one source.

Would we realise or creep to our deaths and the destruction of Earth itself - maybe that's the cycle of existence!

One step forward or two steps backward?

We coin it Development - calculating 2+2 on mobile calculators, driving down to your next street neighbourhood, trying to enjoy nature in airconditioned cars, googling for knowledge sitting at one place and paying lakhs to treat back pain, cutting down forests to make concrete jungle and them blaming global warming for rising temperatures.

If we for a moment whiff back about a century from today - we the same specie would mentally calculate distances, find places without refferring to navigators, climb up 50 stairs at one go, go to doctors for a chit chat only, plant trees to enjoy fresh air, walk miles to meet friends and relatives and not pollute air with cars and in the bargain not have back pains.

So are we going one step forward with so called 'mechanic development' or in reality putting two steps backward?

All these diseases, pollution, global warming, destruction of natural habitat and animals, imbalance in the ecological system are due to such destruction in the name of development - computers, cars, Airconditioners, paper and printers, mobile, electronic appliances at home.

Time we reset our clocks and start learning from our ancestors to live life healthily.

Jump off the train.....

Sorry if the post heading is mis-leading - I am not planning or even giving ideas on how to jump off a train!!

The train has a connotation - for me and by me - its the sequential standard and best practice of Life. You know - the kinds like you are born - pass all the major degrees as told - get a fat job - get married - have first kid - then the second - keep working to climb the corporate ladder like many of your co-passengers - feel satisfied with life - wife and kids - start the same chain with your kids - die in oblivion in your own world. The only motion a man goes through on this train is the change of bogies....

The first half of the journey is definitely confined in the train when you are stuck with your parents in one bogie - then Jump Off!!

Dont catch another train - just walk - enjoy everything around - take in the spirits - hear the music - live life for yourself and others who are sometimes thrwon out of the train - the ones which by their unchosen fate are so-called as ''orphans'', ''deprived''. Gain strength - share love - live and die with a smile of utter satisfaction of experiencing the world beyond the train.

Such smile has been enjoyed by many stalwarts who have inevitably jumped off the train - greats in music - social work - literature who as society say ' live beyond the boundries' and are seldom understood by people peeping out from the train. But this doesnot mean you jump off the train with hopes of becoming the Great!! No-one has ever done that - here consequence is not important - its the journey - discovery - experience - sharing which gives you the smile and not what comes out of it.

No train - no sequence - talk to people - travel - meet souls - give the magic touch - smile with people who are grumpy - touch hearts with whatever you have - smile within when you give and get - enjoyyyyyyyyyyyy!!

Life is beyond just the train - enjoyment is at every corner - pick up your soul - love and enjoy...

care and love

Let me be clear that the name has nothing to do with any beauty care or personal care - its an orphanage and aptly named.

There are about 35 children from the age group of 3- 13 girls and boys.

The word orphan and orphanage is heart rendering and one will probably go with a different bend of mind - lot of sympathy but when you face such children - the smile in their face and the confidence will make you feel puny in front of them. You will forget all your woes and struggle which till now has been the 'worst in the world'.

How does a child survive physically or mentally without parents - a great mystery......how do they come to terms with the concept that they are alone in this world and still have the spirit and strength to smile.

My conclusion - they must be super humans - they must have reached the higest form of mental and physical strength which people wont even dream of - kudos to such children who stay and grow up in an orphanage considering their fellow orphans as their family - sharing their woes and happiness with their adopted family and surrounding and living happily ever after.

My deep regards for such children and a lot to learn in true sense.

Country of Liberty

In my trip to US, I covered mid parts which are Minneapolis and Texas and New Orleans; Eastern part of Boston and New York. Although it was over month long trip, I wont take the liberty of commenting much on US culture since that requires furthur observation. Few snippets is all I can offer.
Minneapolis and Rochester - kind of dry place - not much to see although I tried catching up with their much publicised Contemporary Art museum which to my eyes looked ridiculous with wall length canvas with a black stroke in-between (my due apologies to all modern painters). It is supposed to be one of the coldest parts of US so people are not very fast paced or lively. They have sky walks all through to avoid the harsh climate and like the climate - people were bit stony and cold.
Boston - the tea party - did buy some tea with the same tag! Its a historical city with British Architecture and the famous harbour where American Revolution budded. The quincy market reminded me of Calcutta New Market which has its old flavour harmonised neatly with the new generation of marketers. There were street performers with their jiggs and music. Interestingly, contrary to our city setup - US marks the downtown as the city which is mostly the hub of commerce and activity while people live in and around the main downtown. To get the flavour of culture - one has to visit the downtown. MA being the seat of education with MIT, Stanford - the student culture is more vibrant. A old city with young crowd thronging the streets to shop or visit museums or just hang around Quincy Market.
New York - needs a special mention. Vibrant, positive, multi-cultural and lingual - I felt quite at home. Street are mostly unkempt, people have a maddening pace and its true that the 'city never sleeps'. I can strongly conclude that atleast in the Eastern parts and New Orleans - people are mostly on the street - enjoying live performances, hanging around, eating cuisines like Euthopian one(I tasted myself) more so in the evenings and weekends.
Houston - got the flavour of BIG. Everything was enourmous - from the quantity you order to malls to even people flashing their ornaments and dresses.
New Orleans - party city - Bouboun street where people hang around drunk for days together. The seat of Mardi Gras - the extremely friendly French Quarters. A city undaunted by the havoc and destruction of Katrina.
Interestingly, contrary to popular belief - Americans are not shameless in their dress sense(we believe they are mostly half naked) or showing their emotion publicly and its definitely not true that one can do anything on American Streets. They are pretty conservative and the recent trend is more to be family oriented. They love eating out, travelling and ofcourse shopping. Consumerism is high and responsible and one can easily get lost in the variety although all makes are Chinese!!! Wastage is high - food, water, gas, paper - all comes in such huge quantity that its bound to get wasted. Cities are not that clean as one would love to believe, beggars are plenty - infact, one data says there are about 19000 homeless in LA itself. Crime is very high - they have channels dedicated to crime reporting but one thing is for sure - corruption doesnot affect the basics like education, health system, food which I guess makes living much easier.
People are generally happy go-lucky, friendly(not like Europeans) and inquisitive. I feel their past makes them much more open to different cultures, races, religion - I would say every American has little of every kind of flavour across the world although they are very protective about their individuality too. The race for money keeps up the positive pace but also makes them loose themselves easily to drugs and crime. I found a growing influence of hinduism amongst them in the form of yoga, meditation which although for some are fads.
Capitalism, liberty and freedom makes the Americans grow in their mind and also creates bad sheep - a tough balance to strike.
Last but not the least:
Population of China is under control!!
Obviously - more than 70% reside now in US!!!!

Vote Do...Vote Do

Vote Do....Vote Do!!
A good campaign for literates to arise and awake to be part of a change in the whole election process in this country.

All these years our motherland has seen sleeping literates who though participate in fiery discussions on economy, politics but when it comes to action even to the extent of voting - they shudder giving lame excuses like what's the use? whom to vote - all are same!! The process is complicated to get registered!!

But surprisingly, I strongly feel this country is still functioning despite high level of corruption and an illegal parallel system only for few people may it be politicians or goverment people who still has some element of morality and truthfulness embedded in them. So if we ignore the mass so called 'netas' who just mud sling at each other, beg shamelessly for votes only prior to elections, resorts to money laundering and cheap ways to capture the golden eggs(votes in this scenario); we still can spot few who for whatever reason it might be have done some good at the end of the day - may it be the Railways, or Foreign Ministry or even uplifting education and electric facilities in villages.

Interestingly, despite the poor being still poor and our ''netas' even after 60 years still promising the basics of Roti - Kappda - Makan which should have been done long back, people even in remote villages today has developed a sense of practicality and deeply observe how their voted netas have performed in the last phase and are no more influenced by gifts or threatens, to vote the most eligible candidate. The other marked difference in the Indian electorate is the shelving of the concept of ideology - its hard to find a party sticking to any basic ideology - all are mix and match to form the goverment for which they are flexible enough to do away with any staunch idelogy and accept the change in the favour of people(not though very voluntarily!)

So Dear Netas - Mind your own business and responsibility - your performance is counted and observed by us every minute and you maynot have a good appraisal or can be even cruelly chucked out of your cushy job if the performance rate is not extraordinary. Mind this that its the toughest job to please millions and also look at your own benefits - its either way for you!!

Although I cant vouch 100% on the system - its too early but at least there has been a start to clean it and choose only those who are performers and less of tall talkers. The young generation of savvy politicians are also most welcome in this system and are wanted for the radical change required in economy or society as a whole.

All in All - its a feel better system working in this country after 60 long years - Better late than Never as the saying goes!!

Kawal - A miracle habitat for tigers

The struggle for survival for a tiger – Kawal
Diya


On the northern most tip of Andhra Pradesh, lies the district of Adilabad. Nearly 40 percent of Adilabad’s area comprises of sanctuaries and national parks of dry deciduous teak forests. Situated amidst these forests, is the extremely scenic Kawal wildlife sanctuary.

Established in 1965 with the purpose of safeguarding the endangered species in their natural habitat, an area of 893 sq kms was set aside owing to the richness of Kawal’s bio-diversity.

The beauty of this forest immediately catches the eye as one venture’s inside. The entire Kawal range in the distance encircles a vast area of flat expanse where nature and its bounty once thrived.

It’s dense and thrilling once you start walking inside from any point of the buffer area. The saddest part is since it’s not declared as a tiger reserve although it has about 9-10 tigers as per the last census you can view the security lapse, good bit of felling everywhere. And the most interesting part is even after all this anarchy, tiger and other animals like sambhar, cheetal, Bear thrive with all the human population in and around which itself is a wonder.

Good combinations of Darwin’s theory of existence – thrive through mutual respect and fight it out for survival.

A 280 kms drive from Hyderabad via Siddhipet, Karimnagar, Lakshattipet to reach Jannaram village will take about 5hrs. A night long or early morning journey gives you the leverage of reaching there in the morning and straight head for the buffer area or the core parts by walking with the local rangers. The DFO office is at Jannaram and he will be helpful enough to get you a forest ranger to escort you towards Alinagar/Dongapalli side or Nirmal side of the forest.

The walk leads you through villages, small tribal encroachments together with hoof marks and paw marks of Bear, Deer. All kinds of living beings seem to live in harmony without any confrontation but sadly we humans don’t like to be at peace. So you get to see the major human interventions in the form of extensive felling everywhere in the name of cheap politics.

The only other lodging is the forest guest house in Jannaram which can be facilitated by the DFO. To understand and feel a forest in your own sweet time and pace nothing can beat Kawal since it is not commercialised or organised.

Tourism would be not only good for the forest due to increased publicity but is a haven for nature lovers for all its diversity.

Note: All nature lovers must be aware that Kawal is not like any other national park or reserve and one needs to be very responsible and respectful towards the flaura and fauna there. Special care needs to be taken with regards to maintaining sanctity and peace of the place due to its delicate balance between wild animals and humans. Since there are no specific rules, one needs to be more careful and take the help of forest officials when entering the forest. Responsible tourism is a great way towards giving focus to wild life conservation.

JAI HO!!

JAI HO! JAI HO! JAI HO!

Jai Ho to what??
India - our great country portrayed as a slum - dog? or we Indians dancing to the tune and proud and happy of our great slum heritage as if that's all we have - I would say we have come a long way from depicting India - land of snakes and elephants to land of slums, hoodlums, shit..... JAI HO to westener's who made an OSCAR....BAFTA....CANNES from it!!

So why are we clapping and exultant? Some would say - its an India based movie - India has indirectly made news through the gallis - dirt - cows - dons - riots. How about putting our country in news for the right things for a change - rich culture - heritage - history - science - medicine - worldwide influence with vedas or even kamasutra.

Others say - 3 Indians got to Oscars - kudos to their talent but went to Osacrs again for wrong reasons - songs like cholli ke pecche sound alike!!! I wonder why didn't Rahman make it to Oscars with one of his great origional scores!!

But does Indians know we once made it not only to Oscars but its highest award - Lifetime Achievement for the very right reason - Satyajit Ray - how many clap to that? His movies are specially archieved in Hollywood and different other parts of the world as a rich glory and art.

I would not be surprised if the whole 'firangee' crew of Slumdog(together with Dev the actor who doesnot know the name of our Prime Minister) is slyly laughing on our sheer ignorance and stupidity of being proudly part of a masala block buster like any other B-Grade Bollywood movie with all gory scenes from the dark lanes of Mumbai.

I also wonder - what message did the Oscar guys give us? The award which has gone to greats like Ben Hur - Titanic is sharing the space with Slumdog with 9 nominations!!!

A big thought to ponder......

JAI HO! JAI HO!

Life in Caves

Air conditioned surrounding, stereo phonic effect, hidden from evils of the world - dont start imagining a new world is being created - its a LIFE IN CAVES.
A life well lived by our ancestors. Places where great meditators achieved the most impossible - control of senses and attainment of peace.
In todays world the whole enigma lies in our relentless try to achieve peace through different artificial forms. The more we try the more we see ourselves detached from nature and self. Machines which we use on a daily basis to make our life easier is making us detached from our inner self, confidence, power of brain. We get lost without mobiles, computers, TV etc and if we delve deep inside our souls we will find that we are no more self dependant, thoughtful individuals but weaklings totally sold in the hands of machines.
A short time travel to our past will reveal that we the same individuals had the power not only to control our senses of hunger, emotion, body temparture but also immense memory power, strength of mind to overcome all.
Sometimes I truly wonder whether we have really advanced as we claim or just evolving backwards into an ameba - the first one cell living vegetable.
The great director and philosopher Satyajit Ray;s movie Aguntuk is based on the philosophy which makes us think on our futile existence and the peaceful life of cave dwellers and tribals - people who are and were more connected to nature and their inner self.

A poignant thought.....

NEW YEARS RESOLUTION

Sounds so cliche' - the famous saying goes - ''resolutions are meant to be broken''....so let me make a list of resolutions which are meant to be BROKEN!!! hehehe

1. Work...work..work
2. Talk...talk..talk about changing the world
3. Plastic smile...laugh at social causes
4. Bitch and gossip about the world going wrong
5. Blame all except yourself for all dirts
6. See to it that everyone is happy all round except yourself
7. Get blocked in the pent called city and pretend to be happy
8. Dream what others dream to be part of the so called rat race
9. Love one and all while bitching about them behind their backs
10. Follow the above list to its fullest!!!

What a relief to have a good NEW YEARS RESOLUTION!!

HAPPY 2009!!

Five - Vidaniyas!!!

Surprises are always welcome but not all Life's surprise!!
The surprise or shock of Birth & Death is discomforting.

How about an organized time period for life?
Diya - you would live for another 10 years?!!! A pretty welcoming concept at least for me.
I will have the Time of my Life - Live Life Kingsize!!
No worries about retirement plans, future plans of settlement, savings - just go beserk!! What fun!!

How about listing the 5 most Things TO DO LIST?

Here is my list:

1. Would travel the world with my best friend Babla, meet the locals, eat their food
2. Save atleast 5 animals - Tiger
3. Make lifelong provision for an intelligent but deprived child
4. Meet all my loved ones - friends and family
5. Write a book on woman emancipation and direct a movie

If all Things to do can be Striked out in one lifetime; whatz the need to live with just few memories?

I envy people who can live life to its fullest in this world of uncertainity, surprises and shocks.

A tough lesson to learn.....

Guys - fill the comment section with your Things To Do List - such a comfort :)

Half a league....half a league....into the valley of death rode the whole nation!!

When was the last war we fought? Pakistan? Bangladesh?
Sorry guys; you would be disappointed to know that its not been that simple for our country with hostile nations and even more hostile politicians all round - we fight a proxy war day in and day out.
Its an ongoing war as the forces in India would confirm.
War against terror, internal hooliganism, political rivallry - not a moment of peace.

This has resulted in few major changes:

1. Attitude change among the citizens - they have taken it for granted and it takes very less time for events like Mumbai blast or the terror attack to slip to the 2nd and third pages of the news

2. People being taken for granted by our mighty politicians who feel they are beyond law - surprisingly most of the terror attacks are cruicialy timed near and around the elections!!! any thoughts?? I wont be surprised if we are fighting a hoax war internally - politicians sponsoring terrorist across the border to turn their political situation!! Nor isnt it eerie that everytime we fight these so called internal terrorism we threaten to take drastic steps but within few days we are back to square one!! So where is the great FIGHT!!!???
Too many grave questions with no answers at all and how does it matter - in a country with a population of 110 crores how does it matter to any big wigies if few die for their ulterior motives.

Please stop this never ending blame game - PAKISTAN being the catch word and lets all start concentrating on our internal policies and terrorists!!! If this part is taken care - no nation can be under any threat at all - that's a CHALLENGE!!!

I wonder how Bapu - the father of the nation would have reacted to all this!! JAI HIND!!

The Virus called USA

Creating pesudo wars to sell their arms industry
Killing lakhs in the false alligation of possessing nuclear weapons
Conquering countries after implicating under false excuses to gain hold on different parts of the world
Promoting and funding wild life protection and on the contrary creating the biggest illegal market for animal products and exotic pets
Having a big brother say on internal affairs of every other country
Creating a false hype in the international world to hide their own falling economy and turmoil
Greatest consumption of oil, food - a fact which they blame on countries like India
One of the most environmentally polluting country but a show off in international forums as a protector of different environmental issues
Making laws for themselves and implicating others on the same laws - nuclear laws
Creator of frankersteins - Bin Laden, Saddam. They seem to be much more truthful than the creator himself

The list is unending and the virus is soon catching up and spreading.
Any remedy?

Aamcchi Mumbai!!!

Conjested, bad traffic, crowded, polluted but has a throbbing heart and a beautiful self -that's my perception of Mumbai.

My Mumbai visit last weekend was in tune with fulfilling an overdue promise to a friend.

The drive from the airport to the city itself was like reminicising the past. Old world architecture, fountains at crossings, marine drive, old Parsi restaurants, sindhi houses, glamourous Victorai Terminus, roman churches, churh gate, gateway of India. Each nook and corner of the main city had a beautiful surprise in store.

Sadly, the subburb was quite a disappointment as compared to the main city. Match box houses, dirty roads, crowded bazars all added up to make you feel that you are on the same time visiting some other city. There are some parts like Malhad, Juhu(famous for its star presence), Band Stand which look in all this chaos a good attempt to polish off the dirt and filth and have an ultra modern look. Altogether quite a chaotic mixture not appealing to my taste.

Whatever might be the stark difference, the main beat of the city is definitely the people, or rather '' bindaas'' people. Spirited, enthusiastic despite all the traffic and expense hassles, enjoys whatever fun they can in the most least expense like having pao in chowpathy or just sitting in marine drive or just hanging around Gateway of India. The true spirit of Mumbai!!

Among the metros or even other happening cities, I would definitely rate Mumbai and Calcutta as best experiences in terms of a city - the perfect combination of heritage and vibrancy is sadly missing everywhere else.

Ranthambhore – tiger, tiger burning bright…..2

Ranthambhore - the largest expanse of dry deciduous forest in the world.
The Ranthambhore National Park, which is a part of the much larger Ranthambhore tiger reserve, lies in the Sawai Madhpur District of Eastern Rajasthan. The Chambal River forms a natural boundary of the Park towards the east, and on the eastern shore of Chambal lies the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. To the northeast of the Park, flows the river - Banas, a tributary of Chambal. Across the river Banas, lies the Keladevi sanctuary, while the Sawai Man Singh sanctuary lies to the south of the Park. Both these sanctuaries, along with the Ranthambhore national park, are part of the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve. Today, this Project tiger reserve spans over 1334 sq. km of area, of which 282 sq. km is the Ranthambhore national park.
We, the keen wild life enthusiasts started our trip from Hyderabad to Ranthambhore. The challenge was to make it to Jaipur and then Sawai Madhpur, in half a day, which is about 130 kms from Jaipur. The whole purpose was not to waste time to catch up with the tigers. We took the early morning flight from Hyderabad to Jaipur and then hopped in the connecting train to Sawai Madhpur(inter city express).
With a prior booking at Ranthambhore Bagh, which is owned by the renowned wild life duo Aditya and Poonam Singh, we had a car waiting for us at the Sawai Madhpur station.
The arid surrounding on the ride from the station hardly makes you feel that you are approaching the thrilling land of Machli, the star tigeress of Discovery. The distant horizon has streaks of hills covered with shrubs and small deciduous plants.
We were welcomed at the resort by a very excited and nice Boxer - Tyson, our first brush with an animal, which although being a pet had quite a wild side to it. The resort has a very personal touch about décor and the service, instantly makes you feel at home, thanks to Poonam and Aditya.
The evening trip was arranged from the resort for Ranthambhore fort. The unique feature of the park was that the fort was inside and the surrounding jungle giving it an extra romantic touch. The fort also housed a temple and as we entered through the first dilapidated gate, we actually entered the buffer zone of the park and interestingly Machli was spotted on the same roadside on our last day. So the thrill of seeing the jungles punctuated with birds, langoors, peacock and even crocodiles got us in the groove of the wild, which would stay with us all through the trip and even much after that. The presence of the temple made it a popular tourism spot for the localities’ in their colorful ghagra cholis walked up the fort of the mighty Rajput’s. The view from atop the fort overlooks the whole park and the Aravalli range. The park has scattered extensions of the fort that were the hunting palaces of the rajas. It is quite an irony to think that once those who were hunted now rule the palaces (one is inhabited by Machli and her three cubs), infact parts of the fort is a haven for leopards too.
Already on the adventure groove, we decided to do the night safari by walking. We started from one point of the jungle at about 8 in the evening and went deeper escorted by four guards with lathis and torches. The overall experience and the thrill to enter the unknown were too overwhelming. At a small peak, we sat down to enjoy the wilderness in all its glory. On our way back, our walk was duly rewarded by spotting few cheetals and a hyena.
To top all the excitement of the first day, we spent the evenings chatting with Aditya on his numerous wild life expeditions and listening to live Rajasthan folk in all its purity.
The next two days of our stay were planned with three safaris to the park – morning and evening. The park is categorized into five zones to evenly distribute the large traffic of visitors. The local guides informed that zone 3 & 5 were the lucky ones for sightings. There is a lottery system that happens to allocate the zones, one can feel the palpable excitement mounting from that very moment and all seem to be just interested to see the star – The Royal Bengal Tiger. On the contrary, we were there just to feel and absorb nature; sighting would be an extra bonus. As luck would have it, all the three times we got either zone 3 or 5 and altogether spotted about 7 tigers. We also got to spot sambhars, numerous birds, cheetals, Langoors, crocodiles and a mongoose.
The best sighting was by far zone 3, where the famous Machli resides with her three full-grown cubs. It is beside one of the very few lakes in the park, so quite a coveted territory and in that respect, Machli can be considered as the Queen of Ranthambhore. We had just entered the zone, looking all round for some good sighting when I noticed a yellowish orange head pop out from the side walk and within minutes we were following the two cubs going for their evening drink. They walked in their own pace, gallantly without being bothered about the over enthusiastic onlookers and the extreme palpable excitement all round. The other one we spotted resting under a tree, in a cool poise for all the paparazzi. The power, might and the beauty was glowing all round her and it made me seriously doubt the cause of killing or not making constructive efforts to save the tiger.
After all the excitement, we spent the last day in Manasorover Lake for bird watching. While you sit and see all your feathered friends, you feel at peace with yourself and one with nature. Kingfisher, tree pie, crane, Indian Roller, Geese made us have our own imaginary flights with them in a beautiful musical harmony.
The most dreadful account after three days of bliss was the journey back home. I wish it never happened and I still feel my spirit is hovering in the jungles.

STOP BEING AN ANIMAL!!......for Shoma!!

2 beautiful eyes
1 throbbing heart
1 baby womb
8 nipples for suckling
Does it amount to $ 12\kg

OR

A beautiful Animal to love and let live!!

STOP THE SAVAGE ANIMAL IN YOU.........
BE A VEGETARIAN!!

Children of the traffic signal!!

BMW, MERC, HONDA CITY to play around with; more than 5 kms of open wide space to run around, green grass and open sky to breathe fresh air. Sounds glamorous and ideal for many of us but for the children of the traffic signal - it is the road, cars and small patches of greens on dividers which make up for their working home.

In a country with a bursting population to reach the two billion mark soon and no attempts from the great Indian leaders to address the issue - it is no wonder or news to have 100's of unwanted children on roads. And if we have to even half believe the stark reality portrayed in the movie - Traffic Signal, it is a matter of utter disgust to see infants being used to steal sympathy for begging.

Kids of different size scooting around the signal points to hawk or beg with no fears of the monster called urban road. But I guess it hardly matters since if one die there will be an immediate replacement by 2 more who would still keep some of their innocance and once in a while forget the burdens of this dirty world and play around the cars or show their unkempt teeth - the undauting spirit of a child.

Lets stop claiming we are in the 21stcentury with brilliant scientific discoveries in contrast to unfed millions of children on road. Lets start discovering the stark truths taking place all round us and address them much before we organise big conferences on Eradication of Child Labour( India has the largest!!)

Please ARISE AND AWAKE and stop not till we restore the sprirt and innocance in every child of this nation.

Peace!!!

Birds tweet, humming sound of the bees, silence of the engulfing forest
The mind has come to rest….
At the feet of Almighty mother – Nature.

Seek peace, sounds of silence, a restful mind and soul
Seize and stop this moment of ecstasy
Surrender your heartbeats to this moment of Nirvana....