Chadar Trek

What if your toes are dripping wet? Always?
And all your five layers of clothing are cold and moist
If your backpack is full of bricks
And the zips on your bag are sharp thorns waiting to sting you at their touch
If it takes 3 attempts to tuck in and close your sleeping bag
And after you are all settled to rest, you realize you need to pee and have to go through all the above all over again!

That's what no one tells you about trekking in peak winter in Ladakh.
But that is the only thing you need to prepare for. The cold. Accept that it will beat you, leave you irritated, famished and hopeless. Accept and pray for it to get colder even, for that is the only thing that ensures that there is a proper sheet of ice for you to walk on. That is all you need to complete the Chadar trek.The will to accept and yet push yourself further. No one dies of moistness. No one dies of tiredness. Unless you let it diminish your will.

What came in handy:
Down jacket - pick one with a hood and as many pockets as possible
Fleece pant
Good woolen socks
Gum boots
Rain pants
Thermals
Gloves - inner and outer layers. Buy waterproof one with loops in it so it can stay on your hand even when u dont want to use it.
Balaclava
Woolen cap - choose one with ear flaps
Thermos flask to keep your water warm
Vaseline and sunscreen

What was not needed:
Sun hat - you can manage with wollen cap/bandana
Spare inners - you'll never want to change unless you fall into the water and are wet.
Liners - you won't have time or patience to slip into that
Trekking pole - a nuisance when walking on solid ice. doesn't help much on rocky paths either.
Trekking shoes - you won't have patience to tie lace. pick something that is easy to slip into and has a decent grip.

Just have a spare for all the clothing needed. 
Cut all your nails before you leave for the trek
Do enough squats to be able to sit on two rocks long enough to shit.
Carry enough bandages, tissues and sanitizers
Carry an antiseptic cream/anti bacterial powder
Carry some turmeric, pepper powder and drink with hot water/black tea to avoid catching cold.
And walk. Listen to the crumbling ice under your feet, feel the rhythm of your stride, feel the snow fall on your face, smile some and walk.

The Aryavarta Chronicles

Aryavarta Chronicles. Just finished reading this trilogy. What do you expect when you know much of most of the story? Well, the first 2 books held nothing remarkable,but this last one just left me unsettled. Like I wished there were more pages, like this story should not have ended, at least not with me feeling like this, bereft.

I had started reading this in the hopes of getting a different perspective on Draupadi, one of the few intriguing female characters you could ever find in an Indian context. But in the end I seemed to have sympathized with characters I never gave a second thought about before. Like Abhimanyu, Uttara, Balabhadra. I think I am mourning more than any for the death of Krishna. For he had come to represent hope and smiles, someone who could turn the tide in my favorite character's favor, I think I feel most for the fact that Draupadi will no longer get to see him and is doomed to her life here on earth.

The Epilogue though was most fitting.

I think I enjoyed the journey this series provided. More towards the end even with, or perhaps just for, the lingering wishful feeling it left me with.

Now, I can.

Another Saturday afternoon, she shut her laptop nonchalantly. Her dad flung the newspaper aside.

 

She was tired of the newsfeed on her Facebook wall. Everyone seemed to be going places-the single guys on their backpacking ventures, the happy couples on their never ending honeymoon, the single girls hanging-out with their buddy groups. She wanted some part of each of these. For long now, she had imagined her life to be tagged #Backpacking #Happy #Single. If only....

 

Her Dad was frustrated to read about yet another rape case. He looked at his daughter. Their recent conversation still nagging him. He knew how much she loved being outdoors and how good she was with her camera. But his concern had weighed more than that when he had refused her taking up a challenging assignment as a travel photographer.

 

The next day she found, gift wrapped by her bedside, an ASUS Zenfone with a note:

"Go for it, but know that I'll be waiting to hear from you"

 

He was genuinely happy seeing her excitedly checking all the features the phone provided. And suddenly.. like magic...she was no longer there. Panic struck him as he was desperately clawing at where she had stood a second before. She could not understand why he was calling her so alarmingly. She locked her phone and tried to calm her Dad. But he seemed all the more shocked at her touch.

 

"Where the hell did you vanish!" he stammered still half-believing his own eyes.

She had no reply as she had stood exactly where she was. Her mind wandered to the feature she was checking: The Cloak. Grabbing her phone and reading about it, she realized she now had the power she longed for. Unlike Mr. India, She  knew the technology behind this. She would appear to vanish while her mobile took care to re-construct her background visual; masking her presence, fooling everybody around. Her own technology assisted Invisibility cloak.

 

This was her superpower. A safe escape during any life threatening situation.[except the bears and the rest of animal world]. Working at odd hours, walking on empty streets, star gazing, catching that breath-taking sunrise, she could go any place anytime without a fear of harm. Without having to find a safe hang-out group. Without her Dad having to worry.

 

Her poster perfect pictures now say #Backpacking #Happy #Single

 

Check out this link http://www.asus.com/campaign/zenfone/IN/ to find out more about this incredible mobile. Who knows what super power you might unravel.

 

 

I, me, myself

If similes are excused, I'd be the Supernova.

Collapsing in the gravity of my own thoughts

(con)Fusing every matter to a momentous implosion 

Beyond which, I'd remain just a whiff of air.

My paradigm

Only they can pen jolly
Who can submit to his heart.
I can afford no such folly,
For many a secret might be persuaded by words
A few past memories, the incessasant fall,
The occasional Spring and Summer warmth or may be all


If I had to let it be known,
My existence questioned, truth be shown?
Let the flower bloom sheltered away from the world brutal
They are mine alone. Pain or joy, simply beautiful!

Net-self not self?

This post has been written for http://blogjunta.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=143:2011-04-22-06-08-01&catid=34:tgd&Itemid=139


Do people reveal their true self Anywhere at all?
The apt answer would be - Not willingly!!

We as humans would always want to put our best foot forward, flash our pearlies, bat our eyelids and hide our dirty feet in Nike. But mind you, the smelly socks are up for everyone's attention. Lets face it most of the people are looking for acknowledgement from people across the globe. And its often too hard to be true in front of the mirror. We definitely want to project our best, want to sound correct, look great and wear the right attitude. Of course it’s all about how one "appears", honey!



But then, personality is something that seeps through even the most powerful barricade. It’s the subtle things that can tell a lot about a person. A little attention and you can find out a lot about them. An offhand remark about women or even racist overtones can be caught by following a person on the net for some time. One can be guarded or superfluous but one can sure whiff the scent of their true selves.



So I would say, yes people do reveal their true self but involuntarily.

To have loved and lost

                                       (Coutesy: www.pond5.com )

Love is a season.
Spring for some,
Winter for many...


For me though,
It is perpetual
Unceasing Autumn


Every vibrant moment
Deciduous and crumbling
And crushed within two winks

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