A Shawl , a wollen cap and a pair of gloves : Trek to Beas Kund

Have no fear
For when I'm alone
I'll be better off than I was before
I've got this light
I'll be around to grow
Who I was before I cannot recall


For someone coming all the way from Andaman and the other coming from Mumbai for trek inHimachal, you would think the planning for the trek to be to the T. And so it was, atleastaccording to us. We knew we would go to Manali from Delhi, trek to place where we would find snow for sure and ya, that was our plan. And for all this planning , one of us decided to carry a shawl( yes, a shawl for a trek to beat the cold!!!) and mind you he carried only a shawl and nothing else, second person carried a pair of woollen gloves and yours truly , carried a woollen cap. Between the three of us ,we though we were carrying enough to beat the nature.

Day 1 :
After we landed in Manali we decided to hire a guide and settled on our itinerary.
It would Manali to Solang en rout a water fall, solang to Dundhi (Camp for the night), Trek toBeas Kund and come back to Dundhi for the night and then head back to Manali.

So we started for the first leg, 17kms to solang.

The waterfall 5kms away was visible right from the start and didn't look promising. But for the three of us it was just the start and 5 kms was piece of cake,that's what we thought.Hmmm.... After, I think, walking for 2 kms , we knew that it was going to be long and painful day, but we kept the thought to ourselves, least we should show any sign of weakness this early. And mid-way through the steep 3km hike the signs of weakness were loud and clear, not that we admitted , it was evident from our walk and appearance. Finally we got to the waterfall. 5 Kms closer and it still didn't look promising. What we found there was a temple like millions of temples in India under a tree and firangs like millions of them in India, reading a book basking in the sun. I don't know whats with them to walk 5kms to read a book. Anyways, we decided to drop our bags and hike to have a even closer look at the waterfall. And to our surprise what do we find there, some more firangs and yes they too were reading... as if 5 km walk wasn't sufficient for them to read, I guess they understand things better as they go higher up.

We decided not to disturb them any more and moved on. This stretch was rewarding as we walked through apple orchards, tiny villages where life was ancient as it could get. And then it had to happen, we hit a road block..... Army camp.... Our guide was doing this particular trek for the first time and decided the best way would be to jump over the compound and walk through the army camp.Manali, 4 guys, tresspassing a army camp... didnt seem a wise thing and convinced him to walk around the camp. After walking around for half an hour , we found walking through the camp was the only way. So 3 wise men did just that and finally reachedSolang.
Walk from Solang to Dundhi is not much to write about.

At Dundhi it was time for us to setup the tent and spend the night. After having trekked for 21kms, next leg , 7kms, from 3000 m to 4200 m, seemed impossible. As it hap pend, there were 3 women in their early 40's at the camp, who liked to call themselves girls.They asked where we were headed and with pride we told them we would scale to 13500 feet, and assuming that this is where their trek would have ended and would not even dare to venture any further, we asked them about there trek. And the reply" Ah... we three girls trekked to 19000 feet, just came back form a six day trek". :-O . We walked away with our pride shattered and, well we slept like logs.

Click to Say Cheese

Take out a digital camera and you don't have to say cheese for me to smile. Oh, I so love cameras.
When Aamir Khan in DCH said the first word he uttered wasn't mama or papa but camera, I laughed at the ridiculous attempt at humor. But the last couple of years Ive been proven so wrong by likes of him, not only was their first word camera its the only word you hear from them while travelling .In times like these , when its so happening,not only does the tiny object help you capture those precious moments of life, it also brings out the "true" you , the "inner most" you and captures it.And how thankful should we be.

You have the self obsessed. They are self sustaining kind. They don't need no backdrop, light, reason/occasion. Camera is out and there is one and only one subject, the person holding the camera. They thank the lord for the small LCD screen for without one they wouldn't have been able to see their TINY ego. Its no surprising then, that they never seem to be satisfied by the image of themselves.They say looks can be deceiving but these 'smart' souls are not deceived by the image of themselves and continue clicking till eternity for the right look to be captured.

You have the artists. They are the ones who truly believe they will change the world with their unimaginable view. They take shots of sun in black and white to make a point that moon and the sun are the same. Stupid as we are, we get the point cause of their creative geniuses. They scale mountains and capture the lush green landscape in sepia mode and claim nature as truly beautiful.How I wish I had that kind of unimaginable view of the world.

Then you have the clickers. Before starting out , be it a trip(doesn't necessarily have to a long one..could be as short as a trip to local grocer) or your daily routine, they click to remind you of your life. You open the door "click", waiting for the lift "click", inside the lift "click", get out "click".Ahh, how thankful am I for making me remember such important achievements of life. They have a fantastic reason to do the same, "God of small things", beauty always is in the small things of life. Hmmm....

Last but not the least, you have people like me. They are the ones, for some odd reason, the camera never seems to capture their smile, excitement or inner happiness . Cant wait to be infront of one. Hoping my true emotions are captured this time round.

The Velvet Bulldozer : Albert King

For people who have gown up listening to the likes of Eric claption, Mark Knopfler the dream always has been to pick up a guitar and making it sound like them.Of course, some of us might have actually gone ahead and picked a guitar, only to realize that we aren't just as good as they are.(Then there are few naturally gifted souls, who as soon as they pick up the guitar, tujhe dekha tho, flows as smoothly as ShahRukh saying Kiran.I wouldn't name then as they are on the way to stardom and you would get to know later than sooner.)


Anyways, I don't know how to play the guitar nor do I have the technical knowledge of music to analyze music of one of the Three Kings of Blues. Well then , I am here to just suggest some real amazing blues that Ive heard off late.

Being a south-paw, there is an added pleasure in watching him play. With songs like Born under a bad Sign, Blues power and Others you obviously take notice of his guitaring skills but also take note of voice and singing style. Having influenced the likes of Eric clapton, Jimi Hendix , Stevie Ray and other, its no surprise that many of his songs have been covered by them.

Even if you aren't much of blues listener or want to start listening , Take it on little brother for he sure Knows how to play the Blues for You.

PS: This post is a confession of wanting to play the guitar for a long time and not coming remotely close. Its also meant to take a dig at someone (music runs in his blood) who enjoys violin shows.

1984

"That the choice for mankind lay between freedom and happiness, and that, for the great bulk of mankind, happiness was better."

With a choice to make between expressing my thoughts and having my thoughtscontrolled here I am, with my very first blog, ignoring BIG BROTHER.

Having tried my hand at reading the book 5 or 6 years back and failing to go beyond the three slogans of the party, this time round, with ages of time and insanity to kill, Ive achieved what lead character Winston did, love the Big Brother.

With a robotic life set for him by the party in Ocenica, Winstons instinctive need to break free is what appeals in this life of wanting to do something different yet following the routine. Optimistic of not being alone in the quest there is an intrinsic fear of being the lone lunatic, but he finds quite naturally, Julia, love of his life as the partner in crime. But before they could break the party down, they had to let souls free of the torcher brought about by not having had sex in a very long time. And hence, you have a series of rendezvous for love making behind the bushes etc etc , where you have no telescreen(Even if they had done it, the guy on the other side wouldn't have been too impressed :) ).

But now comes the interesting part, when they are caught making love. Its not the act which is illegal or immoral, its the thought which warrants their arrest and are taken to one of the four pillars i.e. Ministry of Truth. O'briens explanation of the world as they rule it and the reasons for the same would leave Smiths (of the Matrix fame) monologue on humans as kiddish.Ridiculing the past forms of governance, he sets about ensuring that dead men don't become martyrs as was a mistake made by the previous totalitarians. The book starts to haunt as O'brien methodically works on Winston to break his will, his desire and control his thoughts. Even before Winston its the reader who is curious to know about Room no. 101. Its here that the books succeeds in controlling you, as you doublethink , on your own life.

Its 2+2=5 for the book.