Monday 19 February 2024

India is my country – the last union territory

Do you know which was the last union territory formed in our country and when? Ladakh is the latest to be added to the list of union territories. It was added on October, 31 2019. Yes! That recent. Ladakh is a part of the cold desert stretch we have in the northern part of our country. Ladakh is a difficult, mysterious yet a breathtakingly beautiful landscape. And it was a tough decision to take to visit this place. I had mixed feelings about it, I was curious, yet intimidated and excited about visiting it. Finally, after extensive research about best months, travel agents, essentials, rules etc… we decided to visit this beauty in the end of May 2023.

Ladakh is amongst the challenging landings in our country. This airport is the highest commercial airport in India and one of the highest in the world. Yes, these are amongst the reasons for my mixed feelings. I approached Ladakh [like no other location] with an open and curious mind. Ladakh is like seeing many worlds in one location. It has so much to offer and the terrain changes rapidly.

‘Rustic’ is an understatement that is used for Ladakh. The huge mountains, were ‘in the face’, and felt like I was moving inside of a painting. Yes, these looked like huge 3D painted canvas where we could move around. Many times it seemed like a giant toddler was playing in sand and building hillocks; and little rocks rolled down from this toddler’s palms. And we were tiny beings lost in this world of giants. While these mountains seemed monochromatic, a closer look showed multiple colours – yellow, chrome, pink green and brown etc…. And that’s exactly why they seemed like a painting. An artist would surely use these colours to paint mountains. I was amazed at this.

Calm serene monasteries simply added to the magnificence of this unique landscape. Some mountains suddenly were green and others so filled with snow that it looked like a fur carpet neatly spread over humungous mountains. They looked so white that it seemed like a 3D project done by the gigantic school children [imaginary]. It’s difficult to express what my eyes saw and my soul felt. The white snow seemed like it engulfed so many civilizations and secrets and yet was so quiet and mysterious like death.

And then Hunder, a village in Nubra tehsil was the show stopper of my ladakh trip. Here my eyes saw beautiful streams of water, desert sand dunes with double humped camel and snowcapped mountains all in one frame! What an astonishing, 'never before, never after' kind of sight! I tried taking this on a picture and my camera didn’t do any justice to whatever my eyes saw, sharing a picture below. These double humped camel also called the Mongolian camels, are remnants of the silk route trade in India. Seeing these are like witnessing specs from History. I can only imagine how the ancestors of these camels would ply this silk route from China, Central Asia etc. via Ladakh to Kazakistan. It all seemed so surreal!

Hunder - Streams of water, grass, sand and snow capped mountains all in one frame

One more exciting experience here was visiting the Khardungla pass. It’s amongst the highest motorable roads in the world. This sounds very exciting; and in all practicality was bone biting, brain numbing cold to tread this experience. Walking on this snow filled road, without falling was a huge challenge in itself. Stepping out reaching the photo op post, clicking a quick picture took just a few minute but seemed like a humungous task. Tough, fun and to be done atleast once on the trip. Did I mention the air here is very thin, and the body doesn’t get enough oxygen here. Don’t intend scaring yet it’s the fact. When on the land of Ladakh, its mandatory to carry a can of oxygen for yourself and family. Yes, sounds scary, yet is the way of life on this terrain.

Khardungla - Highest motorable road

One more absorbing experience was visiting the last village of India, eating at the last café of India, viewing the Pakistani villages from India. It also suddenly hit upon me that the two countries know that there’s a border here; yet the stones rolling from one place to another don’t, the air doesn’t care nor do the birds. It also hit me that few decades ago the entire terrain was one entity, one country.

Another gripping experience during long road drives, is seeing clouds of dust. Now this dust is actually dust storm from either the winds or the landslides. It’s both interesting and scary. Nature has the final say in this location. Humans seem so small and powerless in this terrain.

The most fascinating experiences of Ladhak is the Pangong lake. Approaching this lake seems like approaching some out of world experience. The first sight is so breathtaking, just like love at first sight. As one approaches the lake it changes colours as though blushing seeing its visitors. This lake seemed like a gigantic plane of aqua marine crystal!! This lake also changes colours through the day. It fluctuates between, various shades of blues and greens. So mesmerizing!! Interesting facts about this lake are that it is one of the highest altitude lakes in the world, has saline water, doesn’t support aquatic life, freezes in the winter and it retains its water and doesn’t allow its outflow to other river, oceans etc…

Last but not the least the people of Ladhak are so simple, cheerful and remain close to nature, they are very aware of the nature’s wrath and are accepting and respecting of the harsh conditions.

Like I said earlier in this blog….. mixed feelings towards this location and trip. Went back home with a lot of gratitude in my heart that - I got to witness this gorgeous beauty called ladakh, I survived the harsh weather and the difficult terrain.

My heart surely wants to revisit this beauty one more time; yet my head isn’t sure if my body will support this braveheart venture! I write about this visit with mixed feelings and yearning. Like I said seeing many worlds in one place. So tell me, have you been to this Union territory yet? Are you planning to?

  

x

Tuesday 30 January 2024

Is skilled archery the ONLY reason for Ramji's victory?

Ram was exiled, he walked miles and miles tirelessly, got into trouble, fought a war and lots more and his home-coming is celebrated by observing Diwali. Ram’s victory can be blamed on his Guru Rishi Vashistha. 

Other than the formal training of weapons and war, the disciples were also taught life lessons. Taught to be resilient, understand philosophy, understand dharma, take care of the ashram, understand ways of living and living successful. These gurus taught their disciples to be prepared for every life situation.

In the post-colonial era the education system of our country took a different turn. Students were taught to obey and obey well at work. The focus was on study to work and not necessarily study to handle the highs and lows that life throws at us.

The global pandemic really tested people’s ability to survive in the storm. And people succumbed to these situations, some are even now reeling under the pressure.

It’s time to teach ourselves ways of living and resilience. Some people are automatic self-learners; which is wonderful. Yet there are some who need hand holding. Also, we need to relearn to ‘ask’ for help. Either ways it’s important to be aware of these and figure out which ones we need to develop in order to lead a healthy stress-free life. In my 1:1 consulting sessions, the participants do tell me, they wish they knew about these life skills before, that would bring in a lot of ease in the way they dealt with people, jobs, life problems etc. in the past.

Some of the life skills worth considering are:

  • Empathy
  • Critical thinking
  • Time management
  • Money management
  • Cooking, kitchen management and house management
  • First-aid
  • Technology
  • Self-learning
  • Managing a healthy body
  • Adapting to the environment
  • Making friends
  • Clear communication
  • Stress-management
  • Coping with emotions
  • Interpersonal relationships
  • Socially skillful
  • Coping with success and failures in life
  • Effective communication skills
  • Developing a ‘solutions’ mindset
  • Etiquettes to survive in the society – Email, Corporate, Digital etc..
  • Tapping resources and being resourceful
  • Networking skills

Phew! Long list isn’t it? Now let’s not blame our education system and sit down being a blamer. We are in a better off era, where a lot of help is offered. There are YouTube videos, tons of content on improving these skills in ourselves. If you aren’t the types to self-study then you can connect with people who offer life skills lessons in form of 1:1 session or training sessions etc.

I’d love to hear from you…… would you reach out to professionals and upskill yourself in Life skills? Drop me a comment and let me know.

Thursday 31 December 2020

Good Bye 2020

 Just a couple more hours of 2020. Here's reflecting on the year gone by.....

By far an unpredictable and an unique year. Looking back, it helped me appreciate grace in various facets of life.



It pushed me, tested me yet blessed me in more than one way. We learnt to co-exist, to show our vulnerabilities, to persist, to survive, to love ourselves and truly count our blessings.

Amongst other things it gave me an opportunity to once more learn and experience Sanskrit language.

Under the partnership of ICEDC and Rotary India I trained over 500 school teachers in personal and professional development program.

I had friends who kept a check on me and help me keep my sanity. Khyati Thakkar, Hitu Khera, Rohini Venugopal, Aradhna and some others.


I now release this year with loads of gratitude and love.
Bring it on 2021.....what magic will we create together? RWGBPPA9SBAB 🌟🌟🌟✨✨✨✨
Wish each of you a happy, prosperous and a BLESSED New year!!

Thursday 2 April 2020

India is My country – Jaisalmer


So this story started when I was in the seventh standard! In Geography we had just about begun learning about the Indian terrains – different types of mountains, plains, oceans etc.. Yeah! India has it all. I was both, fascinated and afraid of the deserts. Yet, I did want to see the Thar Desert. My interest was fuelled by the stories of Alladin, Arabian nights etc. The desert, camel, oasis, no water, no vegetation etc… was very mysterious to me. Somewhere in the rut of life I forgot all of this.

Wednesday 25 March 2020

India is My country - Benaras

Benaras, Kashi OR Varanasi, a rose by any other name………..well you know the rest. But, this was a magical trip to say the least. So, something about this city was inviting. And an almost impromptu trip was planned to this magical city.

Nope, wasn’t meant to be a religious trip by any stretch of imagination. Most certainly a gastronomical one and perhaps indulgence in street shopping. With that aim in mind, three idiots set out on an excursion. We landed at the Lal Bahadur Shashtri airport. We had a rough outline of what we wanted to do, but by and large we were on a ‘what else is possible’ mode.

Benaras, is located in Uttar Pradesh. And it is not, your regular ‘Oh so beautiful’ kind of place. The terrain is rough, dry and rustic. It is easy to completely reject it in the first sight and wallow in – ‘Oh bad decision’ kind of thing. But give it a chance, and it slowly grows on you. YES, it does.