Heavenly Kashmir...

This is something that I have been wanting to pen down since a year ago. But somewhere deep down I was scared to do so, given to the really "nice" stories about that place. Believe me or not, after hearing all of them, you would rather stay at home than risk your life to visit "heaven." Yes my friends, this place is none other than the aptly called, "Heaven on Earth", Kashmir. I had the privilege of visiting Kashmir last year around May, and though I consider myself lucky to have come back alive, I consider myself luckier for having visited the place. I will not only focus on the scenic beauty of Kashmir in this article. but also on a certain something that to me was utter doleful and shameful.

The first thing that comes to the mind of any geography-educated student of our country about Kashmir is the Dal Lake. For the sake of trivia, Dal Lake has a catchment area of 316 kilometers and a shoreline spanning up to 15.5 kilometers. It is lined by the Mughal Gardens, two of the famous ones being the Shalimar and the Nishad Bagh(garden). A shikara ride is the thing of maximum interest for the visitors. Taking shelter in a House-boat, is another experience never to forget. But the thing which perhaps attracted me the most was the sunrise and sunset. I just have no words to describe how beautiful it was. The water changes it colors with time. At night, its pitch dark, during sunrise and sunset, a bright crimson with an yellowish tinge, running down to infinity. Two more things of interest about the lake is the char chinar(four chinar trees) island and the floating gardens. A variety of flora is evident, but if lucky, a wide range of fauna too.

The next place I would love to focus on is Gulmarg. Embracing the clouds, it was once upon a time, a place on demand for the Bollywood directors. How romantic is the place! There are three points at this place, each some kilometers above the other. From point 1, it is a 30 minutes long ride in a cable car to point to. As you ascend, the fog becomes denser and denser, but still the flushing meadows beneath and the teak and sal trees covering most of the left-hand side and the right-hand side view. Upon arriving at point 2, you'll be able to see that a little above, its all snow. A 30 minutes walk battling the slippery rocks in the way, you reach this spot. Here you can try your hands on skiing and sledging. I personally tried my hands on skiing. It is real tough to put your weight on your knees, but ignoring the pain, the trip downhill was another unforgettable experience, not to mention the big fall I had to the end of the run that left me almost numb in the snow. It did hurt, but I was smiling. Going to point 3 is more than just taking a risk. The famous LOC(Line of control- a military control line between Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Kashmir in India) is less than a kilometer from there. Due to its high altitude, breathing becomes extremely difficult. The snow there is knee deep and the fog, denser, almost blinding you after a few meters. I was lucky enough to visit the Indian Military camps and come back alive. No bullets, and I could still beat, though to be very honest, I was very nervous. It was a very nice experience to meet the soldiers though. Not everyday they have a visitor, and not everybody dares up to their place. My mom was in tears and my dad angry. But I was arrogant, for I would not miss such an opportunity. I was the only visitor from our group of 30. Living far away from family, sacrificing all the comforts of home, putting their lives at stake to protect our country, they deserve every bit of sympathy, honor and respect.

Kashmir has a lot more of such places like Sonmarg, Pehelgaon and the Mughal Gardens. I don't think that I'll ever finish this article if I go on with these places. A special mention to the weather of Kashmir, which is very cool and pleasant. If it gets hot(comparatively), rain showers to restore it back to its cool and original self. In a nut's shell, Kashmir is indeed heavenly. I don't know if I'll ever make it to Kashmir again, but if given a choice, I'll definitely want to have more of Kashmir.

Now focusing on the sad bit of the story that I have learned. Kashmir has been a very controversial place in India, and probably one of the reason of conflicts between India and Pakistan. I believe every state in India has conflicts and the media is not so severe in projecting them to the people. I living in West Bengal can say that there are political conflicts, people here are murdered too, there are a lot of underhand business going on. But thanks to the "image" of the state, it is often pardoned. But life is a lot different than we know in the papers. And to be honest, Kashmir is no different than West Bengal, or any state as such. But after the Kargil War in 1999, any petty issue is portrayed as a large something. True, that the place is under constant disturbance, but the only thing the media has done is bring in fear and hatred in the people of our country for Kashmir. People are afraid to visit Kashmir. People look down upon the Kashmiris. People don't interact with Kashmiris. In the long run, Kashmir has somehow been neglected and socially boycotted by us people.

I can still recall one of their people hugging me at the airport and tell with tears in his eyes-"babua, hum bhi hindustani hai, tum bhi hindustani ho. Hum bhi insaan hai, tum bhi insaan ho. Par kaun samjhaye pure desh ko yeh, wo to hume pechante hi nahi(You and I, both are Indians. You and I both are Human Beings. But who will tell this to the rest of the Indians, they don't even recognise us as their own)."

Kashmir is something that India can be proud of. My request to you all is please, don't sideline or look down upon people just by believing the media. All is not true. As for the Kashmiris, they are our brothers. They are our fellow Indians. Please give them the love and respect they deserve.

To whom it may concern...

I was not willing to post this one, but something convinces me that here I speak my mind out. Nobody stops me. I write the beginnings and the endings. Anyways, this is about a person who used to be a nice person until a year ago. Since then, I'm someone whom she needs occasionally, and just needs...

Our 1st meeting dates back to early April, 2008. We had just graduated to the 11th grade. Back then, life really used to be different. I personally being educated in a boys' school, was not at ease in interacting with girls. So my introduction to her was kind of lame. But strangely, she was the only girl I really was at ease talking to. She would purposely talk to me the most to help me out of this problem. Slowly, we became good friends, maybe the best of friends.

It was time for all the engineering entrance examinations. I wasn't much serious about my studies, quite unlike her. As a result, she scored much better than me and got into a comparatively better college, the best in our state. And there it all began. Yes, there were promises made to be friends forever no matter what happens in future, but little did we know what time had in store for us. Slowly ego crept into her. Though we still did meet after that, something felt so not right...

Months later, meeting was out of question. Why? Because she was busy with her studies. But so was I. I mean she's not the only one on earth who had to appear for exams! Speaking of exams, she had exams everyday. Everyday? No-one can have exams from the second week in a semester, everyday after that. She didn't have time for a simple "Hello!" Gradually, the "Hello!" from the other end of the phone faded to a not.

No, we do speak over phone now. But its only when I'm on the receiving end of the call. And why suddenly? "Kuldip can you do this for me?"; "Kuldip I need your help!" And it goes on. Its the only time she feels that she should speak to me. I'm a somebody when she needs me, but a nobody in reality. It saddened me a lot, so I stopped speaking to her.

We met today online(a rarity). She drops in a "Hi!" I wasn't surprised. I was just waiting for another thing she needed my help for. In the end, the conversation wasn't nice at all. She insisted that I should believe a person just because he is a good student! I was shocked and really lost my temper at that moment. But I was feeling guilty at the same time. All the "If only"-s came into my mind back then.

I do not regret such an ending to story. I mean, from being the best of pals, to a nobody of each other was quite a journey of over three years. If there is one way I want to live my life, I would not, in the future, look back and say something beginning with "If only..." I was sad. But now I console myself thinking that this has been just another learning experience. People remember you when they need you, but do not even recognize you, when all is well for him.

In the end, I would love to conclude by leaving a message to her. "I always acknowledged you for being better than me. Live well my friend. I love you."

Imperfection, Yet Perfection...

No man in this world is born perfect. Perfection equals being God. Imperfections are bound to be present in everyone no matter how "perfect" they claim they are or people claim they are. The close that a person come to perfection is being the best version of himself/herself. We respect a person for his/her goods and expertise, very often termed as his/her "perfections." But I think, we actually remember the imperfections more. True, it is the general tendency of human beings to focus on the darker aspects. But it is the imperfections that we remember, and when we look back, its the imperfections that bring about a smile or a tear.

My school days are long gone by. Long as in just a little over a year. People get busy with career and new things come in their life, so its very rarely that we get to meet with each other. And how many would spare a good siesta on a rainy day than a football match in the mud? I mean those days of wilderness are gone, never to back again. I'm still quite attached to my school, so I visit it every time I'm at home for some holidays. When I sit quietly and think about my school days, its the pranks that we played on each other, the weakness of a few teachers(whose life would be made a living hell by us for those 40 minutes), the break of school rules, all the wrong things supposedly that come into my mind. Strangely, that makes me smile and say-"I wish I had one more day left at school!"

My best friend in school had a very bad habit of pulling his own hairs from his head! So much so it made him almost bald! I still remember the day our physics teacher sent him out of the class, because he was pulling his hairs. He also had a bad habit of joking a lot, sometimes beyond the limit. Curled up in his muffler on a winter morning, he actually kissed a boy during the physics practicals! We have had a lot of fun together. But when I think about him, these are the only few things that come to my mind, and I shed a tear...

It is the imperfections that make us remember the person. Accolades and achievements are too many to remember. In the end, I would like to conclude by saying, "Imperfections make the most perfect memories."

Life has no victories...

Living alone, far away from your home isn't a comfortable experience at all. With the freedom comes in a lot of responsibilities. The lone fact being that you have no one there for you to aid all your needs. Lonely would be a wrong term to use. You do have friends, but a whole new bunch of people. You cannot be absolutely at ease with them right away, or even confide in them all of you. Living away from home was something that I was eager to when at home, but for every of those moments for the past one year, I wish I were at home. Life would have been so much easier!

August 8th , 2010, was my first night alone, in an all new place, with three complete strangers whom I had known just for 4 hours. As I closed my eyes, the first thing that I missed was my bed; it was much longer and broader and much more comfortable than this one. I can almost feel the wood below the cushion. To my right, there wasn't my computer. In my room, there wasn't my guitar, which apparently I still cannot live without. Nothing seemed familiar. No family, no friends. A whole bunch of living and dead strangers. And I shed a tear, a tear for graduating from a Disneyland to reality.

I didn't get along with the people initially, mainly because most of them were from villages and a few, from places even unheard by my parents! Luckily I had a somebody who was my school-mate too. But yes, to live well, I had to live with all. I couldn't come down to their level honestly. What's very normal to me, a resident of a metro, is a taboo for their society. Their language, their thought process, nothing matched mine. I would still join in their conversations, but they always made me feel out of the group. Gaining their trust would be difficult I knew, but that is something that I really had to do. It took me over six months to adjust. Now, at home, I feel bored, because there, I had somebody to talk to all the time. Here after my parent are gone for work, I'm left all alone. How quickly things changed in the past one year, I'm really surprised every time I turn back and look.

I have learned an important thing about life in the process. There are no victories... There are only battles, and the best that you can hope is that, at the end of it all, you have a place to stand, and there is someone willing to stand beside you. Well I'm still waiting for that someone. Till then, I'm ready for all the uphill battles I gotta fight. The whole experience matured me, my thoughts, my beliefs. It's really easy to give in to situations with happiness as the immediate outcome, but suffering in the long run. We generally do give in to all of these for want to happiness. But I guess to hold yourself back and go through the rough paths is a better pursuit of happiness. Believe me, there ain't any shortcut to happiness either...

MY PENPAL

Sorry for the lack of maintenance friends. I promise that I'll be regular in posting... I really not good at creative writing. So I won't venture into that either. What I'll do is tell you all about a certain somebody of substantial importance i my life, or I should say played a good part for making the one who I'm today...

People generally begin their conversations with an exchange of pleasantries. It not all, at least their 1st ever conversation with someone. Right? WRONG! I don't know how many of a kind as "her" exist, but knowing one is enough for me. One fine day, this "girl", drops in a "you sound so blatant" in my the then regularly updated and now most neglected(of all internet accounts), my Orkut Account. And there it all began.

Never used to being much on the receiving end of criticism, I was quite taken back and replied in a "mind your own business" sort of a tone. Generally, I'm very polite in replying to the most indecent of comments or statements made about me, but for this one, as to why I made it an exception, I can justify. The prime-most and the only reason-"SHE" WAS A COMPLETE STRANGER who even before introducing herself dropped in that thing. So logically, I had every right to have had that tone of replying.

But for some reason or the other, I felt that "she" was very right in pointing the thing out. After all I was 16, and yet how could the only thing that I could say "about me" be "shut up!" That sounded rather logical, and I gave it a thought day and night. So I dared and came up with "A lonely seagull flies it winds; Majestic, soaring, gliding wings....." It was my third and I was not at all confident if it was up to the mark. But somehow, the same "she" again dropped in a something in my Orkut account which is probably the only reason I write even now. To be absolutely honest, I never received encouragement better than that before.

She taught me a lot of things in life in the last three years unknowingly. I used to be a total male chauvinist. But thanks to her, my the then "she" has now become a she. About life, one could go into a lot of philosophies. Life is this, Life is that. But very rarely do we thank life for the every today we live. Yes, good ain't good till its huge in proportions, but it was something that I believe. Now I think I prefer a simple "thank you" over a Laptop. Yes, probably this is the most important message she has given me-"magnanimity in simplicity." She was the first of the feminine gender that I could be really fair and frank with.

Yes we have had it all in the past three years-fun, pranks, criticism, sharing, caring, bullying, teasing, arguing, not speaking to each other, etc. But I still don't know her in person. I'm looking forward to meeting her this summer and knowing her at a different level altogether. And yes, also to tell a polite "thank you" which I'll never drop by any Internet Accounts for sure!!!