A Chaos Joint!

In a Universe not so far away
Lies a never ending alleyway
Full of thoughts with no point on the thoughtful quay
So works the mind, a chaos joint

With twists and turns that become a part of our life
You never know whats a jolly ride and what may become a strife
Studying each move with a rationale knife
So works the mind, a chaos joint

One may see his distant dreams become a reality
Only to realize, he has a somewhat different propensity
Flooding you with the unquenchable thirst of a little more time
So works the mind, a chaos joint

A stride into the future, leaving the soul into the past
Seeing those fleeting thoughts abnormally blown apart
Making a beeline, diverge like a casanova's heart
So works the mind, a chaos joint

Overwhelmed with a problem you dont want to miss
Comes a moment of joy when you pull a solution out of abyss
Patting itself, while riding this caravan of bliss
So works the mind, a chaos joint

Feeling annoyed at the noise around you

Sit a while alone and see the uneasiness brew

Reflecting in silence as this loneliness grew
So works the mind, a chaos joint

Having fun like a teenager in a party

And going all wise in an official repartee

Changing persona in this acclimatizing marquee
So works the mind, a chaos joint

Writing this doggerel from every thought that crosses
Trying to figure out who is the winner and who bears the losses
Detaching itself from the body it houses
So works the mind, a self-proclaimed chaos joint

It's the weight of Good byes!

It's a promise in disguise
Feeling sorrow nonetheless wise
Trickling tears of mixed feelings from your eyes
It's the weight of those good-byes

There is never a last good-bye
We are always a phone call shy
Still dawns a heaviness in your sigh
Its the weight of those good-byes

Here is the future, calling you up a level

With the wonderful memories clenching like a devil
An undue pressure on making this moment special, with those everlasting eyes

Its the weight of those good-byes

No apologies and no regrets, they are our very own with whom we fight and befriend
All paths shall cross again in this life's complicated blend
Today through this poem all my emotions have been penned, this time just flies
Its just the weight of those good-byes

No one remembers the beginning none shall remember the end

As the world is full of surprises planning another serendipity around the bend

Wishing you all the luck filling the vacuum with hope my dear friend

Never shall we feel the weight of good-bye ever again

The Peaks of the Valley: Kashmir Great Lakes Trek

There are certain events in one’s life which get imprinted so deep that they redefine our perspective on life. My trip to the great lakes of Kashmir was one of such experiences. With large green meadows, an unusual proximity to nature, treacherous weather conditions, thrilling climbs, rambling walks and picturesque landscapes, I can say it was an all-encompassing trip. My friend and me had quit our jobs recently and before starting our next venture we decided on a little adventure. We came across an organized trek by ‘Trek The Himalayas’ to the Great Lakes of Kashmir. On no second thoughts, we booked, we packed, we traveled and we reached the base camp at Sonamarg. It had been a long day with a tiring journey and sleep easily embraced us with dreams of tomorrow.

Base Camp-Site at Sonamarg

As we had reached the campsite late at night, we did not really realize where our tents were actually placed and neither did we meet our fellow trekkers. The following morning, I opened our tent to, I won’t say an amazing scene but rather an amazing experience, the rustling flow of the water body along which our tents stood erect, the whisper of fresh breeze, the cadence of sounds that echoed in the mountains that surrounded us and the early morning murmurs of my fellow trekkers. After realizing that we have come far from civilization we improvised for our daily chores and immediately realized that these fresh water sources are going to be the gem of our survival kit. After, an initial briefing from our trek lead, introductions and a quick dismantling of tents, we set off on what was going to be a charismatic display of the daunting Himalayas. Our tents, bags of some people who did not want to carry their bags while climbing and cooking essentials were being carried on mules. I and my friend were carrying our own bags and its weight kind of helped in maintaining my balance on the slopes. Our trekking party was full of energetic legs as we started ascending quickly and soon the base camp was out of sight. The introductory chit-chat and initially exuberance to take pictures settled into a periodic thumping of footsteps as everyone’s breathing started getting heavy and all focus shifted to the climb. Our first checkpoint at Shekdur came somewhere around noon where we had the famous Kahwa tea of Kashmir. An interesting blend of spices energized our bodies while we clicked some pictures of the wide plains that surrounded that tea-stall. The climb continued as we came across first patches of ice and the tree line started thinning. We reached our first camp-site while the day was still alive. We were supposed to maximize our ascent on the first day and acclimatize to the reduced atmosphere. Rather than enjoying the scenery that surrounded us I lay down in my tent feeling nauseous and with a strong headache. The trek lead asked me to eat and stay out to acclimatize but the discomfort was unbearable so I ended up sleeping early after popping down a couple of pills.

The next day I felt marginally better but there was no leeway to think as we had to get up and start our climb to Nichnai Pass. This day was intense for me as I struggled with the increasing height and

Trek Trail from Nichnai Pass

growing uneasiness. Some moments did make me forget all about it such as the one where I reached the highest point of that day and looked back to see the trail that we had covered. It felt unreal that just a couple of days back I was sleeping in the comforts of my home and now I am treading on the Himalayas. We have not yet got used to the amazing grandeur of the mountains and how small they made us look. While we kept on walking and my pain eased a bit when we hit large plains, we came across large herds of sheep that the locals brought up during this season to graze the fresh grass. We saw sheep climbing the most impossible sloped of the mountains just to get that perfect grass growing at a place. We smiled our way through to the second camp-site where we banked on the streams of Vishansar Lake. A small hill divided this lake with its sibling Kishansar Lake.

Vishansar Lake Fishing

While I was still coping with my acclimatization, a few of us met a native’s family who served us Kahwa tea and some delicious biscuits. We enjoyed the conversation and then he helped our guide catch some fish in the freezing cold fresh waters for dinner. The ease with which his family lived in the area simply made me wonder the power of human body to get used to its surroundings.

I camped in early in the night again as my mountain sickness worsened and with the most difficult climb as per the trek guide next day I decided to save up my energy. Two days in the mountains worked like a charm as I woke up invigorated and ready for the path that lay ahead oblivious to the plans nature had for us. Here, I would like to mention that there was another large group that was going along us on the same trek and we were climbing along with them as well. This day we were supposed to cross Gadsar Pass. It is said that if you cross Gadsar Pass, your trek is in all practical sense complete. Our climb was greeted with a slight drizzle which made all of us bring our monsoon wear out. Within a mile of climb it started raining heavily.

The weathered soldier after Gadsar Pass

The route to the pass was extremely narrow, on one side of which were steep slopes and on the other side a dooming valley. The muddy path quickly sludged into a no friction impractical climb zone. In the panic of heavy rains and strong winds all groups had separated and the trek leads were nowhere to be found. After my first slip, I realized the gravity of situation and why so many people have started screaming in fear.  Me and a few trekkers from the other group detoured from the path and tried to scale the slope directly. We made some progress but it was futile as our visibility was completely compromised due to the clouds and fog. As I was in front of the pack I had no idea where we were going and we waited for a couple of minutes to let the cloud clear off for a second so we can get an idea of where lies the pass. We found one of the trek leads and somehow crawled through the muddy terrain on top of the pass. If my description did not convey the threat we faced, this pic might. That pink thing is supposed to be my raincoat which tore up with the first gust of wind. On reaching the top I realized that our plight was not over as the freezing winds intensified. As the campsite was still a long way ahead I kept going, this time downhill on the other side of Gadsar Pass. Everything seemed so easy now after our death defying experience on the climb yet we were immensely tired to walk another step.

The camp was still far out and I finally met my friend whom I had lost during the climb as he was ahead of me. Somehow we managed to reach the campsite while following distant figures and following the footmarks in ice. On reaching there we were supposed to go through an army security check post but thankfully they allowed us to settle down first as almost half of our party was still missing. After evening had dawned, the last of our crew came trudging down to campsite thanking god that they finally reached. We made merry around a bonfire after this extraordinary experience that we could never have had sitting idle at home or at work. We talked to the army men after security check and heard about the hardships they have to face on several occasions. This adventure we had was a stroll in the park for those individuals and the pride I felt in Indian Army at that time was overwhelming.

We kept on discussing the events of yesterday as we started our ascent the next day. We were supposed to cross Satsar Pass that day and the weather had not improved yet. It was still raining and the ascent was fairly difficult but not as challenging as Gadsar Pass. Our feet were wary of wet patches this time and we climbed with more confidence than the other day. I had to improvise my raincoat out of a large plastic bag for this day and it worked pretty well even protecting my bag. The dark clouds gave way to few rays of sunshine and its warmth brought a new spring to our step.

Satsar Lake Camp-Site

We hit another army check point and I saw one of the most amazing things there. As it was a shelter nestled among the mountains with no fancy facilities, they created a sacred place out of a mound of earth and placed symbols of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism on that together to represent the various beliefs. Emotions welled up in me as that moment truly defined to me what secularity in India meant and how some people make evil out of it. That image still stays in my heart as we crossed an enormous boulder patch jumping over the rocks. Soon we reached a bend beyond which lay an amazing camp site. The campsite looked like HD Desktop wallpaper and I stood there for a while to let the simplicity of the place sink in. Due to the dangerous experience the other day everyone had failed to enjoy Gadsar Lake, so this time no one wasted a moment and went straight to capture Satsar Lake in their cameras.

The next day we were supposed to reach our last campsite at Gangabal Lake and scale the highest point of the trek. The initial climb of the day was slightly dangerous as we had to make our way over huge boulders resting on a steep slope of the mountain. The patch continued on for about a couple of hours after which we reached a small peak from where we could actually see the highest point of our trek covered all over by ice.

Peak before the Gangabal Camp-Site

In the mountains, visual reception can be deceptive as we imagined reaching the point fairly quickly but it ended up taking several hours. When we reached the highest point seen in the pic, the two lakes were visible. It looked as if the mountains had created a cradle for the resting place of these lakes. We had a steep descent from this point onwards and after resting on the top for a bit we starting pacing down. The sun was shining bright and the glistening water of the lakes called on to us. Finally, we reached our last campsite feeling accomplished. We were supposed to rest for a day on this camp-site. All of us felt rejuvenated instead of feeling tired and we enjoyed some tasty snacks and played cricket. I and my friend having not had a bath for about a week now felt like taking a dip in the lake and we ended up doing that. The freezing waters hit our brain like a shock as expected but we still ended up taking a fairly long dip. That night we had a bonfire and after dinner as it was pitch dark everyone just sat silently on the rocks. When the last lamps were blown off and I looked up at the sky tears rolled down my cheeks. I realized the limited nature of my city life as a myriad of stars twinkled all around me. It was an inexplicable moment and the beauty of which lies in the fact that we are always blanketed by those stars but the city pollution and low altitude just doesn’t let us observe that beauty.

Night Sky @ Gangabal

I can only put a picture here clicked by a fellow trekker Mr. Raj Padia who is a great photographer.

We started our final descent after the rest day ready to absorb every ounce of the purity we had experienced in the past week. The descent was unnaturally fast because of the steep slopes and the tree line we left behind on our first day was soon visible again. We let ourselves go slightly wild as me and my friend literally ran on the slopes trying to veer on the bends but letting the speed control loose. Soon we lost our pack and went way ahead in the woods trying to see the final exit point. Even after a few hours it was nowhere to be seen but we finally saw increasing number of locals and reached a tea stall where we waited for our fellow trekkers. That was the lost stop in our journey as we caught the slopes again and soon we could see civilized establishment which we reached well before dusk took over. Our cell phones needed charging as our family members back home waited for news on our well-being. I and my friend relaxed till the others came down. Soon everyone was bidding adieu as we loaded our luggage on our transport back to Kashmir.

The final descent

The whole week-long episode feels like an amazing dream where I fought physical discomfort against all odds, accepted the might of the daunting mountains, realized the potential of nature to bring havoc, took pride in the efforts put in by our soldiers for our safety and enjoyed the amazing landscapes. But most of all, I felt the satisfaction of living close to nature. Whether it was accepting the darkness without any artificial means to counter it or the multi-purpose utilization of freshwater natural sources or simply finding a private place to take a dump around the boulders. The entire experience was really infectious and I would suggest everyone who reads this to take such a trip into the mountains.

DETAILS OF TREK:

- Dates: July 13 – July 20, 2014

- Approximate Total Cost including travel, purchases etc.: Rs 15,000

- Organized by – Trek the Himalayas

- Number of group members – 12

- Distance Trekked – Approx. 70km

- Difficulty Level – Easy to Moderate

Remember the Lights - Adios Mumbai!

This post is a little different from my previous posts as this is a little more personal. This is a story about a boy who came to "Mumbai" about five years back. This was the first time when he was going to live away from home. Alongwith the concerns came the excitement. There were so many stories about this city that he had heard and so, he looked forward to actually see the city that never stopped, the city of dreams, the city of the riches and the rags. It was when I started working after college that I got to know the real city life and I fell in love with it.

There are so many incidents that come to my mind when I want to write about this city, the time when a taxi driver after understanding a conversation between me and my friend started talking in an American English accent advising us not to settle abroad, the journey when I struck a conversation with an auto-wallah who had worked with Sachin and was not happy that the Tendulkars shifted homes (apparently Sachin's form deteriorated after that), the euphoria when I drove at a cruising speed on Bandra-Worli Sea Link, the embarrassment when for the first time I tried to hit on a girl in a bar and failed miserably, the cringe in the heart when I saw a whole lot of beggars in front of a Lamborghini showroom, the desperation I felt when I was stuck helpless in the crowd at Dadar and the stories keep coming to me.

Mumbai has so many problems and still it goes on with an amazing pace. People have circumvented those issues and moved on. For example, A major issue is the tedious travel to work everyday in the local trains. Its worth watching how with a couple of rubber bands, a briefcase and four enthusiastic people you can make a good cards table in the rickety old train. That card game is not just a distraction for those four people but for several other bystanders whose travel became easy just by looking at that game. Also, you understand the real meaning of fast food in this city. The sandwiches, vada-pav, cut fruits with special masala, you get everything near the local stations and people rushing to work literally just have to wait for a second to get that fulfilling breakfast they need. At any hour of the day, the roads are flooded with those yellow-black autos & taxis and you are never short of public transport. And there are plenty of options for places to eat or for order-ins which is actually another problem as you always get confused.

Then there is night time, but wait, its never really dark in Mumbai. After being stuck in a traffic-jam at 2 a.m., I know this for a fact that it is never really dark for the people of Mumbai. Keeping a basic sense of security, I have never feared traveling late at night. There are so many people everywhere at any hour that you never feel alone and the darkness just fades into the light. Whether it be a night-out at marine drive or a late night drive back from work, or getting drenched in rain during Ganpati Visarjan at 3 a.m. with thousands of others this 'City of Lights' has never disappointed me.

There is just one condition here, that you need to listen to yourself to fully enjoy this place and so I came up with these lines for those who still don't fully appreciate the city-

इन ऊँची ईमारतों के बीच से कटती इस हवा का रोना सुन रहा हूँ  मैं 
सड़क के किनारे खेलते उन बच्चों की किलकारियां सुन रहा हूँ  मैं 
भीड़ में खोये हुए उस आदमी की पीर सुन रहा हूँ मैं 
समुंद्र की लहरों के बढ़ते इस आह्वाहन को सुन रहा हूँ मैं 
इतना कुछ सुन रहा हूँ  मैं, और कितना कुछ सुनना चाहता हूँ मैं 
कुछ कह रहा है ये दिल, कुछ सुनना चाहता है ये मन 
इस भीड़ में इतना खोया हूँ के खुद को ही नहीं सुन पा  रहा हूँ मैं || 

Just listen to your heart, strive hard, dream big and this city has more than enough space to make you feel at ease.

The Preachers

The title to this passage might seem a little abstract at first look. What can i possibly mean by Preachers? Well, it means exactly what you are thinking, the one who imparts religious instructions to the society. So, what do I want to write about them ? Well, for this I would have to develop a context for you to understand how I ended up writing this particular piece.

Lately, with this ongoing Narendra Modi hype in India, I have been quite interested in understanding the dynamics of Indian Politics which had never really caught my attention earlier. On reading about several of his achievements in Gujarat, about both sides of Na-Mo rule during Gujarat riots and a great muslim support he has in Gujarat, I felt pretty impressed by his personality. But what this Na-Mo wave made me think was whether it was possible for a single man or just a group of men to bring swift and fundamental changes in India. I realized that it is quite difficult to bring about radical changes in the system through a political setup. Politics comes along with a lot of addendum and that makes it difficult for one person to do some real good. To remain in power the person-in-charge has to keep in mind the benefits of all factions of his government. Given all the democratic rights, people will rebel against anything they feel might cause them harm in the short-term, sometimes failing to understand their long-term impacts. During this time while I was contemplating about these thoughts I got an opportunity to visit Jodhpur, the sun city in Rajasthan. Our 'Acharya' was residing there for a few days and my family decided to visit him to gain his blessings.

Frankly, I believe in God but I am really skeptical about the idea of some intermediaries, such as, Acharyas, Pandits, Maulvis, Padre, etc. Sometimes, I fail to understand how by touching the feet of these learned men can bless my life as though they possess some magical powers. I bring this specific point as there was a separate full-hour session that was just meant for people to touch his feet when I was in Jodhpur but this also made me realize the devout devotion of public towards these leaders.

Now, I have digressed enough to set the base for my pitch. I am in search of a force strong enough to bring radical changes without fomenting a rebellion in India and during this time I happen to visit the leader of our religious community. There, my mother told me that our new 'Acharya' has brought about some important alterations regarding the social functions held in our society. People follow his ideas without question and similar is the case with other saintly figures in India (there are quite a few of them). Our holy figures preach about several things related to our religion and people try to imbibe them in their lifestyle. But I have never heard anyone really stressing on some very vital points, on how to live in a community, on how NOT to judge people by their family name, on how NOT to belittle someone else based on his caste, on how to be more tolerant of the religious beliefs of others. I wondered, if our leaders emphasized on the importance of this behavior will it really affect our community?

Religious followers will be happy to listen to the instructions of their leaders and here was my answer to the force strong enough to bring change. What can happen, if our religious leaders came together to eradicate some very profound problems in Indian society. Whether rich or poor, most of the Indian population follows a particular guru and will tread the path along with him wherever it lead. Can we use this religious blindfold to show light to our Incredible India?