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Sonprayag
A day’s travel from Rishikesh brought us to Sonprayag;a quaint little hamlet at the base of kedarnath. Since almost everyone who wants to trek up to Kedarnath stays at Gaurikund and not Sonprayag, Sonprayag’s natural beauty is still untarnished to a great extent.
We stayed at a villa belonging to one of the most reputed business Houses of the country. Perched almost on top of the mountain, the villa was in the midst of a lush green forest and had a beautiful garden filled with exotic flowers. A steep climb down the slope led you to the river Mandakini; roaring and tumbling down from the locks of Lord Shiva. The water was so sparkling clean that we could clearly see the stones in the river bed.
It was a magical time for all of us. Away from the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, we spent all our time either taking long walks through the hushed forest or sitting at the river bank taking in the natural splendor around us. It was a god given opportunity to rewind, reconnect with ourselves and get rejuvenated in that peaceful and serene environment.
We spent a few blissful days at Sonprayag and then decided to go on to Kedarnath.

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Sunrise at Rishikesh
Next morning I was up and out at the river bank before sunup. The Ganges at that time was not turbulent or fast flowing but rather calm; flowing slowly and steadily like an old woman on a sedate afternoon drive. The reason I was standing there groggy and bleary eyed at that ungodly hour was that I wanted to capture the sunrise on my camera.
The first hint of the sunrise came when the dark blue sky slowly started turning a pale pink, the stars getting extinguished one by one as if someone was blowing out candles.
Then the sun peaked out from behind the mountains, as shiny as a newly minted coin, a hue of yellow with just a hint of red at the rim. Slowly it rose higher and higher, painting the sky first a rosy pink and then a bright orange. Rays of sunlight burst forth from behind the mountains as if someone had let go a quiver full of brilliant yellow arrows. Far away I could hear the priests blowing their conches and starting the morning Pooja in the many temples that dot Rishikesh. I sat their mesmerized;the sound of the conches as gentle and soothing as the breeze in my face,and watched the sun turn the sky and the river into a glorious molten gold.

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Rishikesh – Of Spirituality and Rain Storms!
Last month I escaped the burning blistering cauldron that is Delhi and went for a very well deserving holiday to Kedarnath and Sonprayag. So here's a glimpse into the adventure !
We started early enough from Delhi, and managed to cross the Meerut Muzzaffarnagar chaos without any major mishap and reach Rishikesh at lunchtime. The first thing we all did after dumping our luggage was make a beeline for the River bank. The place we stayed in was actually on the outskirts of Rishikesh and had its own personal ghat. Unlike the usual ghats in the city, which are frequented by all and sundry this was really clean since it’s privately owned. Across the bank was the Rajaji National Park and we could see herds of deer and a few elephants drinking water. After a dip in the refreshingly cool waters, we sat on the grass and desultorily argued about what to do in the afternoon- River Rafting or a visit to The Divine Life Society Bookshop. But a very sumptuous Rajasthani lunch left us totally sated and lulled by the afternoon heat we fell into a stupor all plans of River Rafting forgotten. In the evening we did go to the Divine Life Society to buy books. The bookshop was closed but we decided to stick around and attend their Aarti and Satsang.
The Divine Life Society was started by Swami Sivananda, a great saint and visionary. The last time I visited the ashram, I was just a child of 10.My most haunting memory of that time is the evening Satsang. The Satsang began with a particular hymn that had a very lilting tune and the person who sang it had a voice as sweet and pure as nectar. I remember sitting there fidgeting with all the restlessness of a 10 year old till he began to sing and mom told me to close my eyes and just listen. Although I couldn’t really understand all the words, something in his melodious voice slowly started to calm my soul and still my mind.Even this time the Satsang was really peaceful. Another thing I noticed was that majority of the people attending the Satsang were rather young (age group 25-45) and there were many foreigners – mainly Japanese.After the Satsang we went to visit a Swami ji living in the Divine Life society. He invited us to his rooms and the first thing I noticed was a book on his desk titled the” Beginners Guide to Japanese”. When I asked him why he was learning Japanese he said that there were many Japanese devotees visiting the Ashram but their English was not always very good and so he had decided to learn Japanese to make communication easier!
Later we decided to cross the river and go to the other side of Rishikesh. Now there are two ways to cross Gangaji at Rishikesh, you can either go by boat or use the Ram jhoola (a long suspension bridge across the river). We decided to go by boat. It was almost twilight when we started and we could see the lights from the temples twinkling in the distance and the reflection of the deeyas turning the water into gold as hundreds of devotes gathered together on the banks for the evening aarti.
We roamed around for a while; ate dinner at Chotiwala restaurant and then decided to head back using the Ram Jhoola.Now Ram Jhoola is the slightly less famous version of the very famous Lakhman Jhoola. This suspension bridge is rather narrow and sways precariously even with the slightest wind. I personally don’t think it’s safe for anything other than human traffic; but all sort of vehicles pass through it, be it scooters, bicycles, pushcarts and even cows. As a result you are left cursing and swearing as you try to maintain your balance on this swaying creaking piece of ancient architecture, while being jostled by assorted traffic from all sides.Since it was rather late by the time we got to it, the Ram Jhoola was mercifully empty with just a few people going across. It was drizzling and a bit windy when we left Chotiwala but just as we started to cross the bridge, the rain came sweeping down bringing with it almost gale force winds. The jhoola swung side to side and the River was suddenly dark and turbulent beneath us, its foamy waters crashing at the rocks. Laughing and clutching at our flying hair and clothes, with the rain stinging our faces; we ran across the bridge enjoying every minute of this adventure.

Why I Love Ruskin Bond

Imagine yourself in a beautiful mountain valley, where everything is so quiet that all you can hear is the sound of a mountain stream and of the wind rustling through the deodars. As you gaze at the snow peaked mountains, can you slowly feel peace and calmness descend on you? - this is what Ruskin bond’s writings do to me. His writings have the power to lift me out of any gloom and transport me to a world filled with happiness and serenity.
He is the epitome of austerity and simplicity and this is reflected both in his writings and in his life. The power of his words lie in their simple wisdom and gentle humor which I feel is much more difficult to accomplish than any complicated piece of writing. He does not write romantic ballads or suspense thrillers, his stories are about the Himalayas and the simple hill people who dwell there.
I guess I am a bit of a dreamer like him, wanting and believing in the simple pleasures of life. The kind of life I would love to lead is the kind of life he is leading right now; tucked away among the mountains, doing what he loves to do best– Writing.
In his book’ The India I love’ he talks about his love for writing and living in the mountains - [Life isn’t a bed of roses .. and I have never had the comfort or luxuries that wealth can provide. But here I am doing my own thing, in my own time and in my own way. What more can I ask of Life?’]

Indeed .. what more can one ask of life !

When Londoners come calling

We have visitors from London. The hugs and kisses have been exchanged, gifts have been given, opened and fawned over. The visitors consist of my aunt, uncle and their two daughters. Daughter 1 – a shopoholic in her very well preserved 40s is a fanatic for perfumes and make up and is rather self possessed. Also she is totally into “spirituality” and does not as much as breathe before consulting her psychic and Tarot readers. Daughter no 2 and Husband are seasoned travelers who live out of well worn jeans and t shirts. They live in their own world, at their own terms, taking out time to travel to a new country every year. The elder sister carries Gucci travel bags; the younger one rucksacks.
The shopaholic comes to India often – obstentially to visit us but actually to Shop. She is very popular among her younger cousins because if you ask her to get you one estee lauder perfume she will get you three more plus hoards of body shop and Chanel products. The staunch devotee that I am of estee lauder and a sucker for perfumes; she ranks pretty high on my list of favorite cousins.
This time she told us how far she had progressed on her spiritual path and was in the process of letting go of her attachments and desires. This was rather surprising coming from someone who had just bought two diamonds earrings and half a dozen designer bags and shoes! Daughter no 2 on the other hand is less hung up on shopping and more on sightseeing. While the elder one is diligently combing through each and every mall in Delhi, gurgaon and Noida, the younger one spent days poking around ancient havelis in Chandani Chawk and sampling the gourmet delights of old Delhi and is now planning to go trekking in remote Himalayas.
The only thing in common between the two sisters is the long sharp nose that each one of us cousins has inherited from our Grandfather. That’s another thing actually – All of us cousins on my mothers side – have a long, sharp pointed noses that stick out of even the broadest brim hats. Noses that are the first to catch and quiver at even the faintest olfactory sensation, the kind of noses that would put even Pinocchio to shame.
So coming back to the two sisters; as I said they are totally different from each other. One a certified shopaholic and worshipper of everything branded; the other a staunch socialist who fights the shut down of small stores and businesses tooth and nail and only uses organic products. The elder one an active participant in family gossip sessions, the younger one not too attached to or even bothered about familial ties.So we are torn between taking one to malls, tailors, jewelers and cooking health food and digging out maps of Delhi and pouring over Himalayan trek routes with the other.
Given their diverse personalities and interests, this is turning out to be a very interesting two weeks I feel!