Trek to Vaishno Devi...

Trek to Vaishno Devi...

Jai Mata Di

Against all odds, I managed to make a trip to Vaishno Devi - finally being able to complete the 'trek' about which I had heard lots - those stories about having to pass through the cracks in the rocks, going through tunnels, and all. It was nothing less than divine- an out of the earth experience.
I was fascinated with the sheer beauty of the place - lush green forests, and some of the most beautiful peaks, with natural colors of Jammu making the whole place just picture perfect.

The weather played its role in adding a certain surrealness to the whole place - when we started it was sunny and we had to stop to get caps - without realizing that

these caps would be very helpful in another couple of hours when rain would start poring in - Not withstanding the downpour and the fact that we were drenched completely, we carried on our ascent - braving the weather and egged on by echoes of 'Jai Mata Di' chants throughout the valley - thereby completing the sound and light show making it a memorable climb to the top. The icing on the cake was when we were able to attend the aarti in the evening and darshan once in the evening, and once again before departing.

Though we took the new route, which avoids the Ardhkuari, and Sanjhi Chat, the smell of horse dumplings was not missed much, and only came as a refresher on our way down, by when we were too tired to care too much...



A couple of interesting observations
- we met a few dhaki's playing the all famous bengal's dhak beat and charming everyone to get dancing and forget the tiredness of the climb

- noticed that pine trees display the effect of photo-kinethesis growing in only one direction

- you cant trek much on wet shoes, socks - there is the excuse of me backing out from the the climb to Bhairavs..

Jai Mata Di

For Snaps - Click Here


PS Jai Mata Di / Jai Mata ki is used in every way - to say hello, good-bye, "Thank You", and "No Thank You"

i need 48 hours in a day......

24 doesnt seem enough anymore..
if i take out an avg of 5 minutes, from blogging( avg overed 6 months, and this being the 7th blog post i am writing - with some in draft form)
i am left with only 23 hours 55 minutes for the rest of the work

of which office work can surprise all physicists with its elasticity coefficient.
if that was not all, assignments and projects at school defy gravity - they keep on increasing..
and if thats not all.. i love giving myself more challenges - taking up extra projects as if i was sitting idle -
well has any one cracked the problem of slowing down time - give me a call - i could use some practical applicaiton of Einstien's pricinciples, and hopefully get more regular in the work..

energy and efficiency

after a set of lectures on role efficacy, role based stress, and motivational theory, i am wondering if the frameworks are biased towards the task and challenge and are missing out on the human element on HR Management.

some people are inherently energetic- they radiate a spirit which influences everyone and starts working on them, and if my observations are anything to go by, these people do well in any given context.. they seem to be motivated throughout - and this makes me raise the question , what could be the reason behind such levels of energy ? i would like to believe its all got to do with positive attitude - but would that be just another outcome of the energy levels they have - does it all stem from some sort of self-confidence -- i wish there is an answer out there - which I could also adopt easily :-)

This blog-of-a-doubt stayed as a draft for over a long time, and I thought let me just pose the question to the experts out there and see if I can find some answers
--anyone?

"RARE Events"
This photo was taken on a recent trip to Nandi hills - one of my few out-bounds - where i went for the drive and not for the trek - a rare event, and I took this picture of pple in it!! definitely another rare event... what made it even more rare was that I went with my college

once upon a time...

i used to wait the whole day for going for aerobics, or go for yoga, and if possible go swimming in the pool, labor long hours at the TT table, and then go home tired, yet fresh - sweating, but feeling good - while now i just wonder how to finish work and get back to bed... if nothing else, i would spend all my time listening to the doors, and zepplins of the world, but now i glance at my music player gathering dust in one corner

sometimes i am lazy, and other times busy - but i hide from my workout and i wonder why. i hate the love handles becoming bigger, but all i do is write a blog about it..

i need a spirit check - and see if its still in me - or did it get bored and moved on ?

till i find it - or if i miss it too much
dazed and confused...

Patriotism... words with meanings

I am not sure how many of us have heard of Naveen Jindal - His claim to fame - bringing about an amendment to the Indian Flag Code in 2002 - He took on the government, and after a decade long struggle, won us Indians a right to hoist the Indian Flag on any given day. Prior to that day, only certain govt. officials had the right to hoist the flag, while the citizens had to wait for either Independence Day, or the Republic Day or Mahatama Gandhi's birthday for the same honor.
But my point here was not to share a trivia, but wonder how many of us share the same patriotism, and ecstasy for something so trivial as the right to hoist our own flag - or identify with it with pride -- .
Caught in the egg-chicken dilemna, I try to rationalise what came before - the restrictive flag code which lead us to not use the flag, and thereby fail to associate with it, or the fear that not everyone will associate it and hence we need the restrictions... and what should be the extent to which usage of the emblem be allowed - rejecting Narain Karthikeyan, and Tendulkar from sporting it, while folks not bound by Indian laws do as they please ??

random thoughts...

i am not sure is it the feeling of boredom, or an hyper brain with nothing constructive to do is making me write this blog. or is it the frustration of having to stay back and work on something when i really wanted to do was run away early for once -
which makes me wonder - how many of us are surviving without a hobby. how many of us consider it idle pursuits to indulge in walking, playing games, chatting, discussing, or even listen to the harmony of nature -if we can find it?
what drives us to do mundane jobs day in and day out ?
i dont know if i am going to find the answer or just be YACC ??

PS for the uninitiated, YACC - yet another C compiler - in other words - Just another brick in the wall