Saturday, October 31, 2009

Electrical Resistance

Night dawning, irratic shifts in rationale. The car drives at a constant pace. The hum of wind everywhere. Listening to maddening talent of live israeli dj's pulsing rapid incoherent visions on the radio. The night is glistening to your tune.
Take a left, the road curves on edges of fortune. Edges spiked all high. Your head has started twisting its juices apart. You are looking for the light on the periphery of it all. The light has been looking long for you as well.
A headlight of nighmarish proportions focuses on your car. You are blinded by sheer white light. The next instant lasts eternities at once. A shooting meteor, a sheer hallucination passes in your front of your perception disappears, hitting without a sound the ground, you feel the tremors rise.
The music is crazy, the dj's so far away in tel aviv are playing the scene created in front of your mental eye and your physical body. You park. Walk and fall out of your car at the same time, fuck the time is twilight. The time of the night. You are mesmerized with the subliminal electrical resistance in the air. All your hairs at their end..
The "UFo" believes it to be alive. The inhabitants slip outside the craft with ease. The flux created in the mind even to look at them, let alone to be in their company is crazy. The internal spirit matrix of man not strong enough to withstand the energies these "beings" possess.
They have not crashed, they have made a smooth airline landing. The night has an aura, a whitish aura to the place they stand on. No communication, nothing in the audio range that you can hear, the direct gaze towards them blurs your mind, causes an instant amnesia of their characteristics in the memory. Deeper energies; electrical resitance par.
You venture through the undergrowth, to see what this scene has to offer to your already surreal mental imagery. The craft is alive, possesses future sight. And guess what, it is one big speaker. Just that till now it was mute, not anymore.
The party is set in the middle of this desolate strip of land, devoid of human contact. The gods have come back to this earth, as they had seen it when they first created it. Perhaps they have come back to show a private dance. Exclusive only to those who can withstand the power they generate. In these moments of sheer divine celebration.
The "beings" have a smell, or maybe the nasal cavity renders different to different sorts of power. Astral causal powers at display here. The party is telecasting from tel aviv! You are baffled beyond belief. The gods have come here to dance to human musica crazy crazy it all is..
The mountains in the edges of yoru gaze have started shaking (in your view!) with the craft pumping music and atleast 20 odd special spectral spanda~nada beings shaking, grooving at different vibration rates.. atleast thats what it looks to you.
There is one in the center, the being disappears with the power of vibration and re appears, your sight way to slow to sense the grace in motions to the crazy dark musik played all around these hills, your mind trembles with this awesome awesome power at hand.
The blue one, the blur being, shakes. His forehead shines like the star of never ending light. You cannot do anything but be mute. All your shackles are broken, what have you been fearing? what have you been waiting for? Come in, dance free.
As the night progresses, everything becomes so clear, the beings come close to you (in a sense, not just the bodily senses). Everything becomes calm as your body literally trips and twists with the insane dance music. Tandav is at hand in front of your eyes, and in you at the same instant.
What a rush. Electrical resistance resisted redirected.
Sunrises flow through tears in your eyes. They are complete lifetimes of ecstasy echoed ripped apart and made one. You have been reborn, You have been made complete.

Peace upon all

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Sunset Point of Hampi.


I am peculiar in the respect that I am awed by the monumental treasures of this country. I appreciate them beyond even my imagination. Artistic creativity spiced with divine inspiration. So many examples of out of the world carvings, sculptures, monuments, temples etc in this subcontinent. its astonishing to say the least.
Hampi is a surreal and ah so peaceful place. The river tunga bhadra flows through the city, the ancient capital of vijayanagara, I visited this place in the cooling winter months some time back. The trip lasted a week or more and every day I was able to get away to remote natural places with such loving and restful aura, that even a speed freak like myself was able to unwind utmost.
My friend and I took a bus from bangalore and reached this little hippie town in the morning. The volvo leaves you in an intermediate (bigger) town some 20 odd km from hampi from where we hitched a local karnataka transport bus. The town is centered around the main kings temple dedicated to lord shiva (virupaksha i believe). The town has many small shacks/hotels with lot of the same ol hippie paraphernalia, but as soon as i set foot to the place... i could feel a change in my mental processes. I could slow myself down to rest my weary mind.
We got a decent room from the hotel called "half moon shack" if i remember correctly. Half moon always follows me to a new destination~
The town is split between the old orthodox part housing the temple etc (the mainland) and on the other side of the tungabhadra (accessible through boat only) is what is loosely called "the island" we reached the island by afternoon after freshening up. This is a hardcore hippie layer. People here staying for months on end for sure, in shacks after shacks.. reminded me of anjuna or chipola or arambor of goa. We walked through many kilometers. we were just chilling and checking out the scenery. We heard of a place called hanuman hill or sunset point famous with the goras. So we thought the view would be worth it, it was some 4 odd km inside from the river. We walked slow and paced. We walked close to streams and rivulets on the way... many rivers here joining to tungabhadra. Chilling out next to the fast moving streams... we were right on time to the hill... we climbed fast while the sun was full blown out.. it was hot yet due to the winter time it was pleasant enough.. We reached the summit, a hanuman temple of significance here.. where hanuman was born actually by anjani it seemed. I meditated within the temple and on the excellent view around the hill... the highest and the only real summit for a long distance around.
We meet up with many sadhus and chill out with them in their cave (close by) where they all are bunking while in hampi.. some from tamilnadu, some from andhra some from UP, and so on.. nice people. and they just entertained us with stories of that place. we take leave of them soon, and head out to explore the hill, its pretty big at top and we find a place at the other extreme end to look out into nothingness, the view from up here is awesome, you can see the river dividing the island and the mainland, the green green lands everywhere (fields et all).. very beautiful indeed, the temple attendant is good to us, and keeps us happy with some complementary tea and what not. Pretty cool day so far in hampi i think to myself. Awesome~
We sun bathe, my friend just chills resting on top of his backpack, i too am tired with the bus journey, but get up once in a while to take some photos and explore the huge boulders residing in the periphery of the hill.. many places away from direct sun on this hill under boulders.. a must in the summer months (when this whole place gets scorching hot, touching close to 45 degrees celsius). Fortunately even with the sun out, the weather was just right.
we wait for the evening, the place is called sunset point so we guess it has a meaning deeper to it, we start seeing white people come to where we are sitting to also get a view of the setting sun, all the hippies congregating this side of the river. Very surreal and beautiful sunset, the sky lights up.. everyone eventually leaves, but we are just too mesmerized to even move. the night has started setting in, and we find that its our time to depart as well... we get back down creeping for a view in the darkness and watching our steps very carefully lest we fall and crack our heads (too soon).
There is just one problem, the boats to the other side stop very soon, we dont have transport nor the time to walk back all the way to the riverside. We start asking around for any sort of ride we can hitch, no use for a long time, no ride available at all. there is a small town near the hill; yet no luck for any wheels still.
God takes pity on us i guess,
we find a car driver on his way to meet his friends near the river, and he helps us by giving us a ride till there, we give him some money and jump on the last boat to the other side, cause of my appearance i can be mistaken for a freakin hippie at these times of the night, the boatman asks me for some 20 times the amount for the ride, i give him curt responses in hindusthani to explain to him that he is an asshole... he gets it.
Some time later I am fresh again after the days trip, and i get to my rooms rooftop (we got ourselves a decent room with a roof).. which is so so very close to the sanctum sanctorum of the virupaksha shiva temple, i hadnt still entered the temple but with the moon rising next to the beautiful monument, it just made me very content... when the place gives such abundant peaceful restful loving vibes, so soon and without expectations of effort in return.
I get an amazing first nights rest looking forward for another journey deeper within vijayanagara for the next day..

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Invest in Hate

Keep your hate going strong. Hating every single situation and cheap fried face that pops in front of your eyes. break every mirror which you see. crush every lie at your feet.
Think that you are gonna change anything; think again. what are you fighting for every single day in these times of international peace eh? War against yourself. To resolve every fuck up you see. Why Why Why?
Instead just hate. Hate to change. Hate as a way of life. Hate is my only constant. The soothing cutting knife.
I wish that it takes you over, you don't show compassion next time the situation doesn't require it. Give it back to those who think that they can take you and others for granted. That they are better than you? Kill them all. Burn them down.

Anarchy be reborn. Death be my savior. Invest in that pretty young tha'ng called Hate. it pays immensely huge dividends. Kill all those who oppose life. Those who want and want and want without reprieve.
Those who are not worth the air they breathe. How can you decide?? Come now, tell me born from the womb all the way to the grave you have not seen what is worth it, what is sheer fucking hypocrisy.
Dreams of mass graves, somewhere silent. everywhere blood shed ridden. Oh, the rains spew venom. Distant death now real and here. light matches to burn and convert everything to ashes.

Oh Hate, you are the source of mankind. You have given more than anything else ever could have to this species. the feeling of shame and disdain at us being anything ever better than this present form. Lets self destruct. Lets immolate to be free.

Fucking Dying Dogs

I am sick of people posing as something other than garbage. Even myself.
Very tired of people going around looking for what is "good" in the world, and feeling good enough to leave everything other than that very same "good" from themselves conveniently.
Torn by people who are asking around "what is good in you", what right do they have? what right to judge anything.
Same old rhythm to the same old rhyme. Same old clock; fucking same old time.

There cannot be any worsening of this already fucked up situation, all what is left is for the earth to freeze over. I cant wait for that to commence. For people to try to look around for the "good" in hell freezing over, what a joke.

People think they know why they are living, you know... people telling you about what life is and what they want from life... even you must be spewing such inanities.
Maybe, just maybe the Iq of people has rapidly deteriorated through ages when it comes to critically evaluating what is the cause/reason why they run behind some things and not others.

Fame to be acknowledged of your petty (remorseful) existence. Cause you got none of yours.
Success to be content. Without the least knowledge of what real success and what your concept of it is. What will you do/be when you are all that "successful" ? never understood that being content is not in relation with doing anything. So petty.
Power to mesmerize. To hold all those people under your feet. Never understanding what gets consumed when power gets its hold onto you. People with no capacity to handle power, are the ones who are supposedly holding it in this day and age. to be able to decide sustainance and death for another. That is power. without any of you knowing what it is, without caring why you have wanted it/craved like puppies for it.

Sickening to see people having complicated thought processes about things which are by chance. of their colleges and studies, about their jobs and their bosses. about how far they will get in life and how much they will own. Without seeing any and all of these things have no correlation to the time when they were born, just a function to help you be confused.

I will die. that is the truth. I will suffer like a fucking dog. without anyone to care for me, anyone by my side. I dont care about how the fuck you all will spend your precious time dealing with this awful truth. but i think i know that it will be by complicating your lives more by notions which you have least clue of. running through it day night and days on end. Without ever appreciating a single moment. Wasting it all away. puking it/judging it/wishing it all to end.
I atleast will enjoy my death. In pain evermore.

Wildflower


Deep within these thick growth, where sunlight does not penetrate for millenia together,
lies the wildflower i have been searching for my entire life. Nothing even comes close.

Some say your life unfolds around one central theme; mine is this wild passion flower. This indigo orchid which has planted itself within my brain. It refuses to die. It has led me to its source.

Some people run around for all that money, they think that it will get them high and happy. But the source is here and now, in the middle of nowhere. In the center of a violent storm, a quake of immense proportions hits me. I refuse to bow down, some shrieks of doom, some where far away... looks like shes coming for me, and there is just no escape.
What I was hunting, is hunting me now. She is quick as my eyes, more potent than my tongue. She silences with one whiff. She hooks me on with one gaze.
Like honey she flows all around me, there is no more disruptions. Holding her hands, i find that i am taken to somewhere even more exclusive. Where day and night will not disturb, where I will be consumed whole.
The cave smells of the transition which every man has to make one time in his life. Will it be my tomb as well? Oh passion flower, untamed and free. Let me become thy servant. Serve you to the best of my resources. Giving up the world at your roots, I have come for more than just your transitory beauty.
Source of wisdom, reeking of that sense of divine, poured down like melody poured in me like the winter wine. wrecking havoc within my veins. Slow redemption at thy presence.
You who are called soma, ayehuasca, tara and even shiva by those who you have captured in your etheric web of life. You without name or form, existence or breath . how apt that I pass on in your sight.
The dream unfolds slowly, yet fades not. Rapid is the transition towards normalcy. But what that is I couldn't define. Born/spewed like something of distaste from the womb, no one to take care of this..... person... not even me.
Take pity tara my wildflower, for you are the seed of this universe. You are the drug which keeps us high in this life time or any other. You are the source of forgetfullness, which consumes us when we are old.
And you are verily the root which breaks our dead down beneath the ground, six feet down down down.
Neither the sun nor the moon could meet you alone, nor the wise and the foolish.
Satisfaction took her seat in your heart; Hate for the mundane took up your third eye.
Oh secret wildflower, do not be distant from myself. I am a part and parcel of what you intended me to be, I am not the working man, nor the diseased rat, not the irresponsible jester and definitely the dead walking here alone amongst the dead.
Many years pass by(time has no meaning within this abyss of death stench), i wake up and lie. I puke my insides out, my bowels and my brains. Everything human is no more a part of me.
The wildflower is still working from within. writhing in pain from this pathetic demeaning creation, i look to vomit even more. Nothing is a part of me now. Nothing is a part of nothing eh ?
Colors and those noises come out. Devoid of the void. Void awaits no more.
I walked into this trap without my knowledge, I felt i was saving myself but now i realize.. that there was nothing to save. There was only this sweet nothing in the first place.... takes the intoxication of the wildflower to see. to realize. to be. to never be. never ever be.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Winter preview...

This is a glorious time, after so many sought after years, delhi-ites are actually witnessing a miracle.. the presence of Autumn and the steady onset of a preferably cold freezing winter.

For some weather might not be in the important schemes that they want from life, but I cannot disagree more. I sweat like crazy in these hot burning summers in the plains and frankly i dont think i was meant to be born in above zero temperatures. I love everything about the cold. It just sets me free with its presence :)

The first signs are the change in the smell around. Long time back delhi used to be actually quite green, and as autumn approached, the aroma in the air of dry leaves and them burning (set on fire by people) was intoxicating to say the least. I havent seen the leaves become old for almost a decade now in delhi. That is so sad. that in reality humans actually have changed the entire seasonal process not only for the climate but also for each and every other living organizm on the planet. Yesterday was world climate day (day of climate action), 181 countries including jammu kashmir in india/hyderabad/thanjavur made the number : 350 to show to the world (broadcasted) that this is the final straw, that if we dont heed what we are doing to this planet, then we are the last generation alive. 350 parts per million of co2 being the safety limit for humans, and we have already exceeded this number for many years.. the change is to be now and through change in consumption in energy consumption levels and sources.

Well to get back to the topic at hand, along with the smell in the air, the cool winds.. the occasional winter rains (north westerly disturbances- which are almost extinct for the past 5 odd years). The woolens and the body freezing dilemmas day and night.. hands nose ass... the whole deal.. its a sweet package not to be missed.

winters are a time of utter delight, its amazing to get 12 or more hours of sleep in razai,go for a jog early morning amidst thick dense fog, smoke that special cigarette with your nose turning all red, be cozy with someone special to share the heat ;). Drink wine/rum to soothe your insides. Exercise hardcore to generate body heat. drink liters of chai down every single day~! awesome..

When everything hibernates, dies or slows down or stands still. My heart paces quickest, the fact that i can go through a day without sweating is liberating enough, but that i can do what i wish, when i wish and however i wish it to be without any mental/physical agony attached is nothing less than a boon.
My mercurial/geminian nature demands that i respect the weather.. it most often decides the mood i am in, if the weather beckons i can lose myself in a moment in romanticism unparalleled. and if it be intolerable, then so would i.
I am optimistic that october itself is freezing bit by bit over, so i wish that the same continues and north india just freezes over. Actually to tell you the truth, i would be utmost content if it never thawed back at all. One desolate frozen playground for all.
When the winters set in properly this time, i have vowed to myself to see some huge layers of snow.. too long i have not seen massive snowfall.. this year that is my one pledge to myself. to see never ending amounts of snow. To drift of in pure white.
Hope that the weather brings about good fortune, that we are able to respect and understand the predicament our generation has created for the entire planet. That we sleep through the good weather, and do not sleep through what we need to do to save the earth.

Do go to the site www.350.org and register. Every vote counts.

Peace

Madness of siliserh


So this is day two in alwar with dhruv and alap in alwar (read: spirit~catcher before).We just return from a night trip on karni hill, during the ninth night of navratris.. Dhruv is partially mad,his behavior from the first night has made me rethink my sanity in his presence.. his existence; i dunno collapses on him by this time or something, both of these are from my school, alap being in the same college too. I know dhruv from before, he is one of the nicest genuine people i have ever met. But hes been suffering from some kind of mental block for a while, and its clearly visible, the last night on the karni hill with the full moon made him a lot more unstable, he showed some weird behaviour to alap and me. But all was good on a trip until its no good anymore. We crashed in the hotel till afternoon, I had walked a lot the previous night. and some good rest and instant death was needed.
We get up after some 4 hours of rest and decide to go to another place. That was one of the reasons i decided to trip with these two people, both were strong, for doin absolutely vela panti, to use all resources in the body for a quick powerful journey.
We head to the taxi stand after finding out another site to see. There is a huge lake some distance from alwar-silserh, some 20 odd km away from alwar. The buses are there, but we want to spend some chilling time travelling, so we take a taxi one way to the place.. on the way i get to see all the ourskirts of this small town. its a typical rajasthan village... low levels of litracy, hygine and immense poverty. But the weather and the sights were pleasant enough. We reach silserh in a while.. we drop ourselves and see a huge hotel where all the other tourists were also present, this was the only human inhabitation near this lake, the hotel (a costly one).. had taken over exclusively, so people visiting this place, sit in its outside restaurant and eat their food, we did the same. some energy food while we looked over the lake. it was huge, considerably full and completely empty.. some boats at the periphery but no one had been making business recently.
Perhaps it was off season. The hotel is perfect and cosy for couples, a perfect getaway... rooms looking over the lake. and nothing else to bother, no human interruptions :)
So we decide to descend from the hotel to get to the lake, after all we didnt come all the way to eat up some asshole hotels food, we need to be right next to the water... many langurs with cruel grimacing looks on the way, i am never happy with langurs, but i try to be brave.. we reach close to the lake, its too placid and beautiful, and no single person anywhere for miles.. its a huge lake, there is a highway road at the extreme end at one part of the lake... and the entire scenery is surrounded by hills.. an amazing sight. We go forward to look for a place to sit and chill out, takes us time but we finally find a place close enough to the lake which is clean too. Twilight is upon us, its getting darker by the minute. We sit and make ourselves at ease, dhruv borrows alaps pod and starts listenin to his collection, in no time hes become very emotional. Sudden outpouring emotions for him, its probably in a long time hes gotten out, and sat at ease with people at ease.
I enjoy myself thoroughly, the lake doesnt stir, so we get up and slide rocks on it. There is ease, and freedom within each of us.
It gets darker so we start moving back, we find a little village road at one end of the lake and start following it, we find some village folk who tell us that the road will lead to the main road. Thats all we needed to hear, we see the moon come up (tonight is full moon- an amazing shine already in the sky~) and start seeing every part of the jungle road in a different light. Dhruv is very concerned (a city reaction for city folk) that we will get lost and die or something, alap and i dont pay him any attention, he starts to irk me now, with his random psychotic behavior, so i move slow while alap moves faster than his pace :) , and dhruv is left to alternate between fast and slow to be with both of us .. hahaha... there are some houses away from this road and the road keeps going on and on, i guess walking it... it would have been some 7-8 kms in length... we stop over at one place where we head off to the middle of a field and relax... the entire field is white in moon light... amazing. Fields always house lots of snakes, so I remain a bit cautious. Then we start back on the road, alap takes some route and gets lost, none of us even have a torch, so all three of us become separate during the walk, I start shouting their names and finally i get to hear alap shouting back too, so we meet up and similarly we find dhruv... the locals would have thought us to be mad or drunk i guess.
So we reach the main road and then finding no bus there, just head back in the road we came from, the night was young and we were still in a mood to trip though we had already walked quite a bit.
So here is where the fun bit starts, we head back in for quite a distance on the lonely moonlit covered road, and find a patched area to sit by, a smaller road goes inwards where couple of thatched houses are. The lights arent there, and we sit there for a long while. we have no hope of catching a bus this late (around 12) and we didnt know what was coming next, perhaps that was the error.
Dhruv is listening to the pod and weeping and going crazy again, alap paces up and down on the road, half mad. and i am too tired to even stretch.
Suddenly some people arrive on bycycles- the inhabitants of the houses near by; they ask alap who we are or something but alap doesnt understand them, and perhaps replies to them very incoherently, they look at me and dhruv sitting like drunkards on the ground in the dirt. They dont tell us anything. i dont even bother to look at them closely. i ought to have had.

Suddenly the entire house is awake, and everyone is shouting.. we start heading out of the place.. they come behind us, all males. telling us to stop; at this type of a situation there are but two options, stand and defend yourself-cause u were not doing anything wrong, or avoid the trouble and make a run for it, i should have gone with the latter~~

Some 4 young arses like ourselves surround us, and start questioning us, alap isnt too bright with hindi and dhruv is an arse, so i tell them that we just chilling there, they tell us to come back to near the house, in the plain light we can all see each others faces clearly, the entire household is there, and now i see that all the males are carrying sticks.
There are women, children (many of them) and the elders (two of them), all congregated - so they start grilling us slowly, asking and asking and asking our intention and our nationality. They can see that we are not from there and they confirm it when they get to know we are from delhi,
there isnt proper coordination between us three, and this gets them more suspicious, they cant fathom that we just chilling in their backyard cause we were goddam tired. that we were tourists.
The young ones are out of their head drunk. they were the ones who caught us and listening to alap in the first go must have triggered that we are some asshole tourists with a lot of money for them, so they suddenly start accusing us of stealing their buffalo and how that costs some 20,000 rupees and how they want it NOW, or they will take care of us.
this is when i get psyched, they are all smaller than me, and i could have fought to survive, but they have laths, and one on the head and i would be deep in concussion in the middle of no where. i did not like myself entertaining the eventual consequence of this horrid moment
The young ones start playing with out bags and our hair and what not, i get couple of slaps to my head, to show that they are the men, and dhruv gets his specs broken (without which he is absolutely blind) cause he gets so frantic at the situation, that he is not able to control his smiles and his tears ~ (for true!)
alap is rational but after some time he as I, realize what is going on, this family has seen an oppertunity to steal. They want to rationalize it and take it, mostly the younger guys. Alap takes out all his money and offers them, but there is one elder (the guy who becomes our saviour, who doesnt want anyone to touch the money till its all resolved)- he wants to know what we are actually doing there in the middle of the night, and i (cause i am most fucking rational and sober in this mad group) explain over and over and over again-pleading, silently, defiantly, angered yet in control- that we are just chilling and that this is wrong- what they plan to do.
he understands that, yet the elder also keeps looking at the money kept, he doesnt want anyone to be near it, yet he is also mesmerized by it. i could see that; these folks hadnt seen some 8-9 500 rupee notes together for perhaps a very long time.
This ordeal easily lasted more than an hour, in which we all got assaulted and basically humiliated in the middle of nowhere, i was now too tired to argue anymore.. so at the last go i tell him that if he wants to steal from a shiva bhakt he is free to do so.
The elder of the family suddenly gets up from where he was seated (next to me listening to me, while all the hooligans had us surrounded and were standing)- he tells me to get up and looks at the others as well, he tells us to get our stuff, and take our money and get out then.
The young fuckers arent happy, they are drunk and ofcourse in front of money have no conscience- they would have been happy to have taken the money and then perhaps offered us some water while telling us not to steal any more buffaloes it seems.
These fuckers lunge for us, the elder actually comes in between us and them to tell us to leave then. We walk like we have never walked before, dhruv is still in a daze, while alap and i are very very very relieved to have survived from a lathi charge.
The night is still young, and without a single transport on the road, we walk all the way back to alwar city (some total distance of 30 odd km walked in 4 hours), which we reach again by early morning, we arent able to find our way back to the hotel and some local politician in his car picks us up to actually drop us to our hotel (pretty courteous of anyone in this day and age i say especially after what we experienced in the night)
The bed hits us before we know what hit us.
Peace


Ravenous Mountain Hunger-Part II


Mountains and valleys- a simple life. some one once whispered this into my ears. I have never forgotton it since.
But why the mountain, why such centralized importance to my attention?
Indians have forever spoken esoteric, never in plain simple words, and i am no exception.
there is immense fascination with mountains in this land, the ultimate aim of every person of this land is to renounce and find a mountain, to sit with and contemplate his/her life.
The mountain like the tree symbolizes the internal landscape. We do not have to travel to hills to be united with our maker, just like one does not have to travel to the ganges during kumbh to be absolved of all sins. All these are esoteric creations, with symbologies drawn deep from the psyche. from alternate states of consciousness.
The mountain symbolizes the base and the summit both, the abstract and un real sense of low and high, It symbolizes the spinal system which is erect in humans (vertical) and not horizontal - how it is for every other living organism on the planet.
The base of the spine is where the kundalini (serpent power) resides - the mula/base location. She is not active or even conscious, for when she is , she shall escape the muladhara and move upward the mountain (called meru-danda in sanskrit by many). As she reaches the summit, which is called sahasahra (thousand petalled- lotus) she reunites with consciousness- shiva. to become one. In true sense mountain climbing, externally... with ones body also entails the same process. One becomes flaccid, after losing ones present state- to regain something else as one climbs huge mountains. The mountain itself provides one with energy, something like if you (the climber) is the kundalini shakti, and you are moved up with momentum- naturally till the summit.
The tree (especially in christian symbology-and jewish) represents the meru danda, with the snake in the apple which adam eats from the tree of knowledge representing the kundalini shakti.
The twisted myth has come to spew distaste on what was actually the way to redemption. There is hatred for the apple with the snake. Though in reality the snake represents the natural progression through curiousity towards power and knowledge.

The lake is also another important source of power. Many lakes, like hills house special natural entities, which derive their sense of purpose and power from the natural-landscape. Why these sights have power in them?, is a good observation, i personally feel that natural landscapes- being here on earth for so long have harvested and hoarded power (what power?)... well look up for once, during day and you will see what i am talking about, as i told you indians weren't simple in their speech, they realized something about the sun, and what it gives (nuclear-anu power)... the generations of pure sun worshippers in the olden times... harvesting and hoarding that nuclear power (well a thing of the past, and definetely very difficult for this day and age) - and surely like trees, the older non organic counterparts like rocks,gems, hills,lakes etc have harvested and kept them, the younger organic (faster changing lifeforms) like animals and humans cant harvest and hoard this themselves, hence our existence depends on these.
During kumbh people go and immerse themselves at the prayaag, where ganga yamuna and saraswati meet, the exact conjunction is supposed to aid a better sinless life, but this is all crock. when people realize the illusion of sin is just to keep people hooked onto stupid priests, then people might actually start questioning and understanding the true nature in which Indian saints devised many of the festivals- all through the year.
The internal prayaag, is the base of the spine again, there the three internal nerves (called by many etheric) the ida pingala and sushmna (which goes through the spine above- the nadi/nerve through which the energy rises) meet. These three nerves meet again at the top. The prayaag is to cleanse and open the energy for its upward natural movement towards a universal consciousness, it is also the moment of union where the three nerves meet at the top of the head.

When we start taking festivals and the things which are told to each and every one of us (irrespective from which religion/culture they come from) more than just granted- questioning something cause i always believe that people are inherently not stupid, but just lazy. People dont devise moments/times of celebration, elaborate weird ass stories and myths, until there is some base to it. Some of the teachings from every nook of this planet-passed from one generation to another... some of them... yet all of them from all regions/quarters of earth do share a certain common wisdom.
The way to acquire power, the way to stop the searching...to end the insanity of this existence.
To just be. Free.
Peace

Raging Hearts


Intense unbending and single minded,
my rage seems to burn up everything in sight.
You are the only one who can withstand it my dear,
to take it in, to show that this rage can make you smile.

I promise not to be gentle. I will share my energy within.
The arrogance to divide rage into lust and love. The sheer hypocrisy of it all.
Something so pure, only you can understand. That rage of the primeval, that pinnacle of orgasm.

Why must we look for something other than what is in front of our eyes, the joy of the body, which can sustain this rage of the maker. the fury of the lonely creator.
We tango all night long, fight and bury ourselves in each other further more. Gasping for air and looking for violent embraces. The rage is something I need you to have,to keep as a sign of a man. from within to without to within again. The circle of life embedded in these precious few moments.
Lying in each others arms, we are spent. Nothing to say, yet nothing left unsaid.
Our selves no more separate, no more these mundane barriers. One ness the only goal of this un ending; un relenting; rage with which our heart~beats.
When love is in your mind, you whistle your hearts hymn day and night.
Your beloved so far away, your rage can do nothing but multiply.
I lose my sanity in you,
the only time i do not feel disgust of this existence is when i have shared this rage primitive. Always to be, never to do.
( the rage which makes you do~act, is also the rage which makes you~be. the rage which makes us live~ separate is the rage which makes us~orgasm in such sublime states)

This divine rage, flows out of the body to make us dissolve into bliss.
Dont stop, Dont recoil. Let it be the one which makes us one.
Peace upon all

Sweet taste of Saltwater


Asia's largest salt water lake- chilka lies over a large space in orissa state. The waters stretch from kalijai to the south where the lake opens up to the bay of bengal in satpada.
Think satpada and i think abstract natural beauty, every single time. It takes some 4-5 hours (or perhaps even more) to go from bhubaneshwar to this tip. But the journey is worth it. While i was staying in orissa, i visited satpada some 4 times, with friends, office colleagues and my parents as well. Where the sea meets the lake, many indian irrawada dolphins come and chill out at this special place. it is an awesome sight to see them jump around once in a while out of water. To reach there, one must head till puri i believe and then move from there along the river (which you can see next to the road all the way till where it meets up with the sea)- you can see naxal/local influence in many places- where people block roads with makeshift road blocks to demand money to use these roads- ask why to pay and you might just head neck deep into a fight to cost your life.
The place is nothing special to look at (if you forget to look at the sea that is ), its a non descript place like many present in india, where the people of this country itself wouldn't imagine it to be a part of itself. There is a small port with old rusted ships (the best a poor place like orissa can afford, sorry to say). a small government office which arranges boat trips in the sea-lake, and some eateries. Nothing much else. I have taken the boats into the chillika lake, they take you to the places where dolphins are most easily seen. There is a narayana temple at one end of the lake, which also you can enjoy- the temple is left alone-with no one to guard or take care of it especially-because not many pilgrims can come till this remote corner using a boat, but looking at the temple one can notice that it has old roots, perhaps formed by some king who might have seen the importance of the lake ending here into the sea.
There are many different boating packagaes one can take when in satapada. One of them entails boat travel for around 3 hours to set of islands (thick secluded and peaceful indeed). With my friends from bhubaneshwar (mostly manipal people), we headed to these islands and chilled out the whole way on the boat. The ride is so surreal, the water splashing -sans pollution except for from the motor of the boat. The boat drivers are very sweet, generous. They are such simple people, willing to embrace others without suspician or greed, even in their dire poverty- the only way i justified this in my head was that these people (and many others in orissa) have never seen what money actually is, their life is very very simple, and very very basic. They have no other sense of requirements- till their quota of food is met for the day. they don't have the usual city/town sense of greed for more. For they have for too too long seen too less in their life. Somehow my heart always went for the fisher folk of satpada every time i visited them.
We head from the islands where we spent very less time exploring cause of the limited boat time left as well as left over sunlight. We move to the place where satapada meets the ocean, there is a tiny split of sand in between the water bodies, where one can stop over, get some sea food by the make shift (small) stalls, as well as booze and a chilled out time with no interruptions by anyone. this small sand surface heads long as a divide between the salt water lake and the salt water ocean. My friends and i head out over the divide, seeing the small hillocks near by, we see some firangs had come to this unknown unknowable place to chill out as we had, inside thick forest cover on the hillock on this divide in the middle of nowhere. Somehow i feel very happy that there are people who still dont give a fuck how they reach where they reach as long as they reach a place which has soul.
Spending all my four evenings of satapada looking at the beautiful sunset (though not into the ocean) was my high point of travelling there. Something so serene, when i visit such places- which has nothing in common of the world i have lived, or seen is such a reprieve. Here people arent working towards fatter pay packages or a bigger diamond or more property, no i dont mean people here dont have their set of problems in their defined world, but their problems are somehow more basic- hence more real. I have never in my life complained of hunger- or excess exhaustion which i cannot avoid or things like this. Exploitation and no power. No water and floods and droughts. These are something which i dont understand. it is very good to see things which i cannot understand, and to be able to empathize with them.
I spent a lot of time on the boat listening to the boatsmen, during all the occasions which i visited this sacred natural place. The fisher folk tell many finer details about satapada- the ecosystem and also their simple life with their set of problems.
Sun tanning myself on the divide between the lake and the sea, i try out some sea food (though i am a strict vegetarian with stronger dispassion for sea food cause of mouth irritations which i have had in my previous experimentations) but the spicy spicy prawns were almost shoved in my mouth by my friends. We (harsh, krishna etc) see many skeletons of the turtles- which are famous for heading to the east coast of orissa for laying eggs, we see one full skeleton of a turtle- completely intact- we feel like taking it back. not for some morbid sense, but to show to the world- atleast the left over of something so beautiful. But we dont.
On the occasion when i went with my folks (who are way more adventurous about life and places than me~) they were thrilled/overjoyed to sit and chill on the boat and see the dolphins jump in their daily joy.
I was the immediate "dude" when i headed to this place with my infosys collegues - most of them oriya - who had lived their life in orissa yet had never ventured to this place- they were very (i guess) proud and intrigued that a stupid city folk had actually seen more of their state than themselves :-)
Orissa and satapada are amazing places to see. many other places like bhitar kanika (for the crocs), tara-tarini, kalijai, gopalpur are hubs of nature still. With the increasing nexus of exploitation in the name of power and land in orissa by corporations- these places and their beauty will be a thing of the past by the next decade. I wish that many more go and meet the fisher folk. enjoy, exchange and learn new ideas and ways of life.
Peace upon all

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Spirit~ Catcher~Karni

Alwar is a little town not far of from Delhi (some three hours ride). I visited this quaint little village town when i was young with my parents, i had some time back gone with two of my friends for a supernatural weekend, and we surely had a lottt of fun ;)
Rajasthan is best experienced with the tinge of winter in the air, we visited alwar (myself, alap and dhruv) in the months of september way back in 2007. We felt good, and we had good strength in our legs to explore the place. we reach by evening and head out to check out the town, i forgot to tell you that we visited during the special nights of navratri (navami to be precise- which also was an almost full moon night). The town glowed with devotional/lite up/moon light flavours, and many people were out. After checking into a hotel, we headed out to eat and ask around for any sites, our hotel owner told us about karni mata's hill, which was further confirmed by the restaurant owners- there was a temple for the goddess, on top of a hill- which would be open all night long cause of navratras- there was a decent way up and it was safe- all we needed to hear, we checked out all our gear for the night and headed towards the way to the hill.
The hill starts at the periphery of the local fort of the town, the fort is something which i remember from my childhood, my cousins and i had taken lots of rounds of photos sitting on the marble enclosures at the bank of a bathing ghat/fountain of sorts within the compound of the fort. It looked beautiful. the lights were everywhere- and people all bustled here and there - something unusual for 10 odd at night in a local indian town. Families out with kids and balloons and the whole jazz, we found some time to rest from the bus ride in the periphery of the ghat, and then we headed to the entrance towards karni ma.
I felt good cause it was navratris- i always am full power during those times, both my companions weren't going up with some sort of spiritual power drama in their minds like me :) but ofcourse to see a nice place.
The moon had risen and the entire path was lit up, it was surreal- nothing else to describe it. There is a huge fort gate after climbing some distance on a pretty big path (which was decently big the whole distance i guess). We find some hid away small temples dedicated to bhairon- shiva and kali, away from the main path, its a very eery hill, with signs of many ancient power places.
We relax and walk easy, talking and keeping silence and appreciating the cool weather, view and the moonlit scenery. We stop once in a while, when we see some sites of broken/withered down fort pieces, and some temples (small) on the way. the view is breathtaking, though we were assured there would be a constant rush tonight, we dont find too many people on the way. Pretty much all clear for us. .
There are some stretches on the climb where landslides had taken place and that was the only bothor on the way, we reach a temple at the top of the hill paths end. These two dont come inside, alap goes on his way while dhruv keeps cribbing to himself, i head inside and pray to the main deity hanuman, for some power at this time.
I find that this is only the beginning, there is an elaborate way which leads higher up one level through a proper road. I tell dhruv, that i am exploring and i head in, he waits on for alap to get unlost. I walk for a long time, as there is a proper road going all the way in, I reach a cross road- one way which leads to the fort on the hill, and the other is a long stretch (around 10 km) to karni mata's temple, which leads further to alwar itself.
I wanted to go to the temple, but 10 km was too long, I see some pilgrim dudes coming from a side part next to the cross road, and inquire to find that this is a short cut to the temple, through a climb down jungle path. The temple is in a valley of sorts- so you climb the hill first and then climb down the other side to the temple, there is a lake there as well. I dont hesitate and start climbing down, the people i chatted with told me to be careful in a cheerful/surprised tone- as if that it was foolish to be headed down alone. Most people are afraid of the dark. it suits me all good..
the path is thin and with thick over growth of trees, moonlit couldn't penetrate all the space. My eyes have to peer more, walking down some half hour odd, i find that the path lands bang in front of the temple entrance, its open, though there is no one outside, all food article related stuff strewn about, a single pepsi stall-i head inside and pay obesience. Its a small temple and the deity looks very pretty. I go around and explore the entire area, there was no connectivity on the hill and soon i was getting apprehensions whether i would meet my friend on this hillock anytime this night. I take the exit through the road (the 10 km up hill stretch)- leading back to the intial crossroad- the path was long but i felt that i could walk it fast on plain surface than to climb through the thick jungle path.
I start back, on a sombre and sober note. Its a long desolate stretch which goes on top of this huge set of hills, As i walk - perhaps the night and the weariness had taken over- but i get more and more attuned and freaked out. There is no light at many many places on the road- because the jungle is way to thick on the edges- weird jungle noises dont make the best companion on a lonely walk. Though i never find jungles/nature dangerous- only the desolate brings about fear from other humans. Humans are baseless animals.
I focus my mind on things divine, and walk with a constant stride. At one place- i get mesmerized, nearly one fourth way down, at a curve-loads of noise, rustling and the tree shaking completely- my mind understands that it might be an elephant- but the time when i catch the tusk and mind you only the tusk glistening in the moonlight- i get very very freaked- a rogue elephant and i wont have to be crushed- can very well die with a heartattack before the onslaught. The tree which was being shook so violently was some 4-5 metres away from the road, i run and how!
Later on the path- i got an amazing view of a picture postcard stag with awesome antlers- he came on to the road with i guess some 2-3 females. I just moved from the side, they were used to humans i guess, and they didnt get bothered. The stag represented true royal jungle charm. Animals in their element are out of the world. The forest which i had walked through might be looking some thing quite different in the day time, but by night it was its element-very eery and very peaceful at the same conflicting time. The hills were alive with power, believe you me. They radiated so much more this special night. The lake near the temple glistened with magic, the path radiated moon light. The sounds were the rhythm of my own heart. The walk and its solitude, the creepy vibes with the power that goddess gives, it is its own reward.
My spirit was captured in that walk, it became a part of the beauty, the subtle love of that hill. Something so beautiful, out of the world. only the goddess can show. I felt good to have given my trust to goddess, and chandi never ever fails. True love for the child.
When I head back and finally tire to reach the cross road - an awesome site to behold- both my friends united come together from the other side of the road and we meet up. Very beautiful coincidence.. I find out that my friends were just chilling and had just reached this cross road- by the time i had gone and prayed and had come back some 10 km. how time is changed when goddess takes over!
The time is some 4 in the morning, we are the only ones on that hill- ones who are awake atleast. the moon sets in behind the hills, i remember the blood red moon and it drowning just awakened something awesome in me. We go to the other side of the hill where the fort is, and it being closed- we just take a round in its periphery. We head back down in a while, and by the time the sun had risen, we had reached back to the bathing ghats- a subtle experience in alwar the day i arrived. Day 2 was even better :)

Peace

Confessional confrontations


I presents an illusion so gripping, that few find it hard to let go of it. This is a cryptic way of saying that I has been way too arrogant towards life; at least I have seen that. I am trying to mend my ways, but far few often I have done very little good for others, and caused way too much remorse.
I have been brash, perhaps careless with my thoughts and actions, and paid too little heed to what others think or feel or how they choose their life.
I apologize for pain caused to others with or without intention. Though I feel that most of the times in my life I have realized when i cause others deep pain, but i am sure there are many times/situations/people who I cannot recollect. This is my sincere apologies to those as well.
I do this as a part of my cleansing, for I come with nothing and I shall leave with nothing, if I cannot do any good for others, atleast let me of least suffering. I truly believe that. I easily rationalize and feel free of taking responsibilities for my irresponsible actions and states of being. I can drift of conscience if i choose and think that i am justified. I have done this so many numerous times, but I feel that (without morbid seriousness about my life) I must mend these ways.
There are very few close people in my life, ( as is the case with most people ) but I find that these are the ones i most hurt, and i may actually be more pleasing to strangers than to people who i consider one. Something which has nagged my self for a long time.
I sincerely believe in self purification- not in the archaic sense- but in the ways that we can improve who we define or choose to define as I. We were born without identity, yet as we get older we find set ways and habits and thoughts way easier. Way easier than to change. I dont want that to happen. I wish as i get older that i get younger in the way i look at life, redefining it, and sincerely without hurting anyone ever in the process.

I remember many faces if i choose to look back and see who all's soul i might have broken at various times. I don't have malice in my heart any more i think, i cannot stoop low enough to keep a grudge at anyone, i have no one so important that i can detest or spend my attention on hating. There might have been a time when i could have been like that, but i think its the lack of responsibility in executing something which destroys a part of a person is what has led me to hurt people at times. Through time and getting the same end of the stick from people has made me realize that its no use to hurt another to be better off. It only ends up hurting us in return. I want to reduce my share of the burden, I want to reduce the burden i am others, I choose to en-lighten, enliven. Nothing more- Nothing ever any less.
I wish and choose to change these ways. I also believe that truth should be proclaimed, the more we incorporate the way to be in our life, and proclaim it, the easier it becomes. This is my way to mend my ways :)

Peace upon star light

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Mountain Hunger


To people who enjoy a little bit of vertical pleasures, then the concept of the top of the hill is the perfect remedy for this condition. Mountains stand firm, nothing shakes them, nothing ever to bother them. They are sources of water and they block clouds for rain to come.
Many humans, find it a special pleasure- to indulge in- to climb on these gigantic ecosystems.
I too at various intervals in my life, try to travel to different hills to climb and be one with them,
Its not a coincidence that the mountain and the tree and strong symbologies in any and all ancient cultures. These are places where natural energies, potent from the earth are present. Many people see such energies very regularly while climbing on various mountains in various parts of the world.

When i climb, the energy for each step comes from the mountain itself, I give my will to it, and it somehow magnetically had a tendency to pull me to its summit. Many people I am sure would have felt like I do at times on treks, as your internal energy keeps depleting, there is some sort of momentum created, to try to reach to the peak/summit of a mountain. I always try to visualize it from a particular perspective- that all the pain that one undertakes in walking slowly on a jagged path vertical is only replaced by the great awesome magnificent out of the world view one will get at the top. The higer and harder the task, surely better more subtle breath  taking view to be gazed at the top.
One of the most beautiful view/moments I have seen at the top is in spiti, perhaps it was a dream, and perhaps it was a real dream.

As you climb higer upon the ancient land,
be sure to look up and down and all around, this is the story of the mountain which you are traversing, its written in sweat and air and the void.
Leave all things of low and plain aside, come up above. higher and higher.
Change and death decide? you better decide, whether you be jumpin off, or sliding off this feeling so so so alive.

Monday, October 12, 2009

No Brakes

Got no breaks in my life. and people closest to me can vouch for that.
Some time back i was in gokarna, with my beloved, to enjoy the full moon night which presented itself. We took a broke down (we didn't know that was gonna be like that) indica from bangalore all the way to the west coast, the driver was called munnabhai- but he didnt look anything like the movie character- and his mental aptitude was somewhat low. quite quite low, and that nearly cost our lives.
So we take almost an entire day to reach gokarna by road- and that really pisses jyoti off :)
I am in my serene mood, it had been quite sometime since i was re-visiting gokarna and the excitement beat all the exhaustion easily. We reach in time for the evening sunset in om beach- put up our bag at ganesh cafe (which is the first shack after the mid of om), and sit down with a smoke to remove all mental laxness.
The night dawns and its oh so perfect, the full moon shining upon the waves, we have dinner at a nearby shack and just relax- take up a bottle of wine for the night and stroll among the shore (its a feeling just impossible to describe!)
The next day we head out to the main tourist beach there- the gokarna city with its pretty little small temples- where my lover finds loads and loads of time to do hippie shopping (haha as i stand idly by!)
Evening once more, and i suggest to jyoti that we head to kudle beach (which is the second beach) for another romantic dinner. The driver hadn't informed us about the car, but it had already split a tyre on the coming journey and i wasn't hoping for much, the roads were dark- small and curved and we couldn't find the slope heading down to kudle.
I take my best guess and direct munnabhai to a steep edge going down- i believed that this was the road, how i was wrong. the road was just rock pieces together and steeping down at some 45 degree slope downward, the driver goes cautiously for some 10 metres before he lets out a small cry of sorts " No Brake" and we head down for a beautiful free fall ride for some 20 metres, the road is completely curved with the side I was sitting on-leaning onto a giant valley at the back of kudle beach, I instinctively cover my darling, she is in deep shock- she has suffered some instances like this in the past too i am reminded, and munnabhai comes through for the day and for all of our lives, there is a small patch of level land where he applies the hand brake and the car comes to a slow halt. Jyoti just springs out of the car and hits the floor, she is in deep shock, and i was bamboozled because of that. I couldn't see her like that and it takes me a long time to solace her completely. I personally was overjoyed kind of with the thrill ride.
We somehow reach om beach, where due to the full moon on that night, the tides had completely submerged the beach. We walk back in silence with knee deep warmish water covering us, and the moon bathing us in sheer white light.
My lover sleeps early, she is exhausted, so am I. but i sit for some time outside my shack, in silent contemplation. The Spaniard couple from the next door shack comes over and i remember we have a chit chat about this and that, i dont mention to them about my near life experience. I feel content to have come back with my darling in one piece.
Gokarna never fails to surprise the soul out of me!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Ex Nihilio

Pour the wine; for tonight is a torrid affair. The path through the orchid garden; leading back to primeval.
Sing my dear friend, tonight is the only one we have; to make merry, to drown lies in this elixir.
Dear khayyam, think me not as a fool; when you sing about the ecstasies of this world. You and I both know what scent your mind has whiffed. You and I are both brothers and children of the one; allah.
Out of nothing comes nothing- ex nihilio nihil fit. Why does this keep haunting me at the end, can you tell me khayyam? Your silence speaks more. Your piercing gaze keeps me in a limbo.
Where is the god which needs? Where is the world which comes out of something. This dream; shatter. This illusion blown like gold dust.
Tavern lights up with the laughter of us old souls. Where we are headed to; oh no one knows. Where we come from. Out of nothing ofcourse!
Speak wise one; don't silence your tongue shy, shout it loud the truth. That no one is a sinner, no one is a saint. Why, both you and I have each trembled with such fates.
Drink, Drink and be merry, Drink and be drunk, Drink and speak, Drink and muse. The one stringed guitar urges, face down and I break down this one last time.
This last night in the tavern of nothing. un forgotten by time.
Think now, we are lost and we dont know why,
face down and I break down when I see you this one last time.



Roaring Silence of Nahan


Around four years ago, I took a special journey to a small place in the outskirts of HP state to a remote place called Nahan, I never knew that where I was about to land was somewhere back in time.
Nahan is the largest lake in himachal pradesh, It lies in the low lands (not on hills-hence it is the largest lake for the state). It has religious implications as well, for here the mother of parusharama, and the wife of jamadgini rishi- drowns herself to end her life. There is an interesting story related to this which is somewhat twisted- the mother renuka is killed once by her own son parusharama- because rishi jamadgini sees that she did not keep her mental chastity towards her husband. The son promptly does as the father tells, and happy the father asks parusharama for a boon- he asks for him to revive his mother back to life. Many such twisted tails in indian pantheon of gods.
Nahan is where devi renuka finally gives away mortal life by immersing herself inside the lake. The lake is pretty big; perhaps with a radius of 3-4 kilometers. There is only one state run hotel here- with the rooms from the victorian era- located on the periphery of the lake. With the incentive of a fireplace in the hotel room- and good local pahadi food, the place is an awesome getaway for city dwellers. I arrived in the evening after travelling all day from delhi. The road to nahan is on the chandigarh highway, where you take a cut before you hit punjab.
The lake is called renuka-ji, and boating is allowed in it, but no one wears footwear when entering the lake (holy water).
As soon as I reached, I remember a sense of quietude, of silence and respite- something pretty hard to describe until you see place for yourself. There are some small temples on one side of the lake, and some ashrams on another side as well. But for the most part, the entire place is very empty- picnickers, and people on pilgrimage come to this place in the day, but as there are no hotels etc here, most people make a move before dark. The time i reached, the place was desolate. I unpacked and headed out to sit next to the lake. Bodies of water are so peaceful, and this one stretches endlessly until its blocked by huge mountains on all sides. The lake has huge fishes- overfed by pilgrims waiting to do good to any and all life present in the lake. I stayed in this peaceful refuge for 3 days, where i just unwind-ed completely. There is no distraction here- not many people (cause its not a city), no hotels-restaurants and the city/town mixes. The place has a very holy/restful aura to it. There are some small lakes away from this main lake area, where I had the pleasure to feed some really old (perhaps more than 200 years old)- turtles, no i am not an expert on finding out their ages, but their immense size was proof enough. Turtles like the ones here- have such a strong huge mouth, one bite from them is enough to sever bone. One came out of the water to take a lunge at my shoe as well, but I was quicker than a turtle; atleast :)
3 days which i spent in nahan, i didn't use any electronic instruments, no ipod; tv; phone;camera etc. Just was a part of such a beautiful place was enough.
There is a huge zoo on one end of the lake, which boasts of having the largest amount of lions for a zoo in the country. You can easily take your car around the lake for a ride-as I did. The lions are healthy and its such a sight to see so many females/male lions together in one place - perhaps more than 15.
The asiatic lions are in pretty good health when I saw them, there were more females than the fluffy maned males. I spent a lot of time near the huge cages- where these animals are, looking at them, they didn't mind me too much, and that gave me a chance to perhaps look at this precious/gorgeous life form, perhaps before it is to go extinct; in my life time itself.
At nights, the lions become restless and so much more active, and its such a sight when they start roaring at nights. The entire place echoes with their roars, the hills and the silent lake roars with their power. Its such a different vibe to be in a silent deaf place and just hear huge roars from the other end of the lake all night long.
At nights, I would put some fire for the cold, have a nice drink (though its a religious place and hence some discretion towards liquor in the day time has to be observed ) and just look at the stars.
I also took time off to boat in this lake, pedal and row boats are present, and with not much customer activity- the boat owners gave me lots of extra time to pedal in this lake. The water is pristine clear, and cool. Such memories never fade in the minds of a city creature!
We city people forget what its like to be a part of nature, we have seen no connection-relation between our life and how/what nature is. Nahan is a place which can help us learn our place in the bigger scheme of life.
The walking routes next to this lake are many, and the time to go is when there is a nip in the air (around winters). This is a place to sit and curl up with a book. Meditate and feed fish. Breathe fresh air, and leave the city petrol/frightful horns environment.

The hotel is also empty most of the year, for the people who come here come generally on a day trip.
The nights are for you and your beloved ;)

Peace

Ode to Humanity

I am not a big fan of human kind, the version of life that in today’s day seems to be only focused upon itself. The day’s pass and humans ...