Two of a kind (Part 1/3)

Chapter 1

It was early evening by the time Sara reached Pelling, a small hill town in west Sikkim, India. She had planned to stay here for a day before travelling further west. “To travel is to live” she would say when people asked her motivation behind packing a backpack every second month and leaving on a mission to see the world one place at a time.

Pelling, situated on the foothills of Kanchenjunga mountain range is a relatively unknown suburb with the local Buddhist monastery being the only major tourist attraction but for Sara it was the perfect stopover. Unable to wait for the next morning, she decided to visit the monastery right away.

The Pelling monastery was a crumbling structure precariously placed on a small mountain.  There were places where not more than 3 people could go together as a safety precaution. At one such partially forbidden place in the monastery at the edge of a cliff, she lied down under the orange blue sky looking at the view of the mountains and the greenery while the sun started to set in the background - one of the many exquisite paintings’ nature had been kind to paint in and around the town. Monastery bells ringing in the background added to the soothing vibe and Sara almost didn't realize when sleep got the better of her. 

Next thing she remembered was waking up to a freak yet calm voice. There stood Raghav with 2 cups of piping hot black tea in his hand. Raghav, on a month-long excavation to conquer the Kanchenjunga mountains, was staying in the monastery for a week to get accustomed to the climate before starting on his trek. “Chai?” he asked her in an innocent tone half-knowing the answer as he handed her a cup and sat next to her overlooking the valley. How could she say no!

They sipped their chai in peace for the next few minutes. “So, what made you get me this cup of tea? I was dying for one.” Sara asked.

“Everything always works out because everything is a part of the one and only unity. The unity told me you needed chai. So, I got you one” He answered seriously but soon broke into a faint smile. “Sorry, too much of being around monks does that to you.” He said and they both shared a hearty chuckle. 

Chapter 2 & 3 to follow soon (hopefully!).

Photo clicked at Langza, Spiti. June-19.

P.S. - Merry Christmas everyone. 🤗 Almost can't wait for this year and covid to get over. Had so many travel plans in 2020 but someone thought it was a good idea to eat a bat :/ and damn, here we are!

Been in Bhopal for the better part of last 9 months now. It's a bitter sweet feeling. While I miss all the random gatherings & chill sessions with friends, been around parents for so long after a decade :) 

Can't wait for the day when I get vaccinated and stop using these dumb masks. Hopefully, sooner than later. Hopefully, we leave behind these covid woes in 2020 and have a fantastic 2021!

Song of the day - Floated by: Peter cat recording company. 

watch here

Thanks VK for introducing me to this gem. The whole Frank Sinatra, Bill Withers vibe in this song is so amazing. Do keep a watch on the video as well. The wedding footage is from lead singer Surya's own wedding and is so well done. 

Humor of the day -  

So so relatable. Follow poorlydrawnlines here.

Signing off. 

Cheers, 

Me.

An antithesis idea of this world

I have an antithesis idea of this world. I would like to live in it for a year. A day might sound very good rhetorically, but that isn't enough.

Where black would be the superior race and whites slaved in the past centuries. Africa would be what the USA is today. Japan would have dropped atom bombs over it. Russians would be what Greeks and Romans were. Where India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka would be one country. Pacific ocean would be a land locked mass.Middle East would be water majority and Chinese would be tall and handsome. Where Europe would be driven mad with civil wars. Russia would be the smallest country and New Zealand the largest. Capital of India would be Chennai.

The earth would spin clockwise. Sunny and warm weather at the poles and ice caps at the equator. We would have October, November and December as the 8th, 9th and 10th months of the year.  It would rain in April and winters in June. There would be two moons. One small and large. Where we would be aliens for some other planet. Where birds would be called fishes, fishes cats , cats dogs and dogs birds. Stars would look square rather than dots. Rainbows would be black and red.

It would be a matriarchal society and women would be driven by sex and men by materialistic ambitions. Golf would be the most exciting sport. Argentina would produce great cricketers.

But one thing I wouldn't change. You and me. :) 

Messy shoes and a cluttered mind

Messy shoes, untucked shirt,unattended stubble on his cheeks and a cluttered mind full of thoughts about back home. Somehow Amir made it to his flight. He was at the boarding gate all along but never realized when the boarding had started. Thoughts about home had kept him occupied all along.

He wasn't usually the clumsy one. If anything he loved Airports and always reached well before stipulated time. He was always excited by the idea of an airport. That feeling of witnessing first hand the hundreads of happy-sad stories around him.  Couples meeting each other after long, Parents bidding goodbye to their kids working in other cities, college friends going for a vacation. There is so much to look and feel at an airport, he would say. Airport's don't judge. Aren't prejudice. Airports represent all the good we are as a humanity. It doesn't matter your religion, how much money you have,  the color of your skin, if you're man, woman or a child. It's an accepting global village. Doesn't matter who you are, you are welcome to be there.

But, today was different. There was an eerie silence in his flight to Srinagar. This was the first flight being operated after Narendra Modi led Indian government had announced the revocation of Jammu & Kashmir's autonomy on 5th August 2019 and an information blackout had ensued ever since.  It had been 96 long hours since he had a word with his Abbu who had went to spend his one month in his ancestral village like every year.

Almost all other passengers had identical stories, carrying emergency food, clothing, money in cash and hope in eyes to reunite with their loved ones unharmed. Whatever came out of this journey was a thing of discussion for some other day but one thing was for certain, Amir, his co-passengers in the flight and millions of other kashmiri's could never forgive the current government for the way they bought about this change.


P.S. - Sitting here in our comfortable AC homes, we can never imagine the plight of people in valley. Just read today that it has been 75 long days since schools functioned.  Let's be a bit more aware about the situations before we casually put our opinions in a discussion - H" toh Modi ne accha hi kiya. State govt se support khatam ho jayega toh terrorism toh khatam ho hi jayega..." Unfortunately, things aren't that simple. Burned fingers once in Demonetization. burned fingers twice in revocation of J&K's autonomy. How are we so okay with such badly planned, half cooked plans of this government?

Once bitten, twice shy, thrice just a moron!

#75daysofblackout

peace out!

cheers,
Me