part 8

Part 8. Pangong Tso generally called as pangong lake is situated at a height of 4350 mts in the Himalayas,Ladakh This azure structure of water lies to an extent of 134 km between China and India.the striking colors of the water is a constant tourist attraction here.The breadth is about 5 km and is a favourite location too for many Bollywood movies.One of the largest brackish water lake, its vistas are breath-takingly beautiful. The temperature varies from minus 10 to 10 degrees. Roughly 150 km from leh, this is a must-see for all ladakh visitors.

Though our driver was constantly reminding us about the cold that is yet to experience at pangong we did nt pay much attention since we were busy absorbing the first sights of this beautiful water body. We reached near the lake and when we got out of the car we were just shocked to see the beauty of the lake. Then it struck that we were feeling very very cold. Putting on all the exxtra layering of clothes we were welcomed by a local girl padma for hot cups of coffee and snacks. Into our rooms. There were good wash rooms and beds with many blankets but the power supply was very low. They did not have much electricity and was running on a small generator. We, urbanites could not really digest that. No phones, no wifi and finally no electricity?/ Where on earth we have landed? Unpacking and taking out more woolen stuff we got ready to brave the cold and walk outside to view the lake. It was a wrong decision. We were shivering in those sub zero temperature after a time spa of 10 minutes. We had o us layers of warm clothing but it didnt help. By sunset we were iside our rooms playing cards and other games. We had to chaarge our phones and cameras in 2 hours since electricity would be cut off soon. The whole ight was so cold and we could hear the sounds of some wild animls howling in the night. The next day we came to know that the temperature was minus 7degrees!! We survived without a room heater or an electric light ..for tht matter…

part 7 ladakh

Part 7. The entire building of eco lodge was solar powered. No wifi. No phone signals. The girls went crazy in the beginning but when the dusk brought in all colours in the horizon like a painted canvas which bordered all the towering ranges, everyone forgot about the wifi signals. It was such a splendid sight. The next morning we found ourselves wandering in the front garden happily clicking pictures. Two local ladies were busy doing something at the nearby storage building. We went to meet them d ask around. They were Dolma and Diskit ( which is also a place there) and they were roasting wheat. They spoke Ladakhi language and some Hindi. They said they were getting ready for the severe winter that is about to settle in for another 6 months. By october 20th, all tourist activities will be suspended only to re start in the end of March because the entire place would be under snow. They informed us that they would cut up all remaining vegetables and fruits and sun-dry then to store in big hessian sacks. They would not dream of stepping out in the winter months and would use all these stored veggies and powdered whet etc for food. Also dried meat which will keep them warm in those months. I wondered at the variety of climate in different parts of India. Being from the southern side we had never come across such weather and I thought what would it be like to live in a snow-covered home for months. !! (Photos attached, of the two ladies)

After an elaborate breakfast we were to start for our last destination which was Pangong lake.

There were a few other families too in this place. A Very loud lady who was constantly screaming at her driver and her companions irritated us because of her behavior. She was just not bothered about her surroundings and other people. Continuously shouting at her poor ocal driver she thought she grabbed some attention. We were about to stop her reminding of other peoples’ presence but somehow stopped ourselves a confrontation.!!

Off to pangong lake with bags packed and it was a long drive but the sights and scenes were great. Tea breaks and maggie breaks in between and by afternoon..lo..we could see the blue color of the lake from a distance.

part 6

ere the locals stayed to help in cooking and caring for the tourists. It was a beautiful place surrounded by mountains ans with a huge vegetable garden in front. They grew all things for themselves. A perfect place for the wandering nomads like us. There were zuchini, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots,onions, turnips nd what not. The slightly bigger trees were full of green and red applePart 6. From the top of Khardung la pass to the drive to Nubra valley...We climbed down to our next stop which was the Eco lodge t Nubra valley. The roads were winding, rough and not very wide. We saw many military convoys carrying supplies to their different bases. When such a motorcade approaches the drivers on the opposite side had to wait in certain res where the road was more wider.Through out we could see groups of men at work on the roads clearing anything that was on the road. Many areas has snow fall, some areas were prone to stone shooting and sometimes huge boulders. !! Stone shooting can be caused by just one single boulder falling and carrying along many rocks along with it in its downward course. Or even mountain goats who rush and run sometimes on such altitude. Many places long the rod had soft and powdery snow on one side and the other side….deep valleys.

The moment we saw the fine snow we told our driver to stop for clicks again. He turned out to be more interested than us to roll down in the snow. The girls sreedevi, sunena and chinnus took pictures in all possible angles in that gleaming white background

Further down...and here were some sights which I forgot to mention. The wild life of ladakh mountains. We came across many species of birds, mules, mustangs yaks, donkeys and marmuts. This was my first encounter with this animal called marmut. They were five or six in numbers and we took out our cameras in haste. Group of other tourists too joined us on the roadside to see these beautiful animals. (Pictures attached) surprisingly they were ot at all shy of people and were actually posing for photos. Tea break stop and this time Sonaldi had herbal tea bags for us from her black bag. Mountain terrains continued. Roads were beautiful and we saw a camp for buggy riding at hunder valley which were ATV. All terrain vehicles. The girls had fun riding them and we moved on to reach the Eco lodge by in the evening.

The Eco lodge was nestled in the middle of three huge ranges, the karakoram, the ladakh and the Seltro range. It was a two storied building with an outhouse whs hanging down. Settled in for the day in such a picturesque surrounding and went to bed dreaming about the next day.

part 4 ladakh

re the river indus and The Zanskar river met. It was already evening and the sun was on the process of setting down. It was a great view to see the two separately colored rivers meeting to form one new and natural glow. The evening light set the perfect background in that valley and we will never forget that wonderful scene in our life time.(I will add the picture here) Angchuk stopped the car in such an elevated place so that we were able to take a lot of photos.The Zaskar is a north eastern river with tributaries like Doda and eventually joins Indus in Leh. Sangam valley was an unflappable and ostentatious sight in its own way.

Next stop...to our favourite area.. The leh. Ttibetan market..we looked for small give away things and local products happily wandering and of course clicking pics. There were many Tibetans and kashmiris with so many locally made products to sell. Everyone were busy getting things of interest for their dear ones back home. Back to the hotel for a hot bath and dinner. Tomorrow we will be going to the highest point in India. The anticipation was high and went to bed thinking about it.

Part 3 Ladakh

Part 3 Before talking about the black bag, a few words about our team. Sreedevika, the beautiful and young actress and director of random wekaram the popular malayalam web series is a very loving and lively girl. She has a special camera and lens which makes her images(of people) very thin and beautiful. The two young girls sunena and the youngest, chinnuz are very much in love with that lens and made full use of that aspect by clicking countless pictures of those beautiful scenes Both were beautiful models and looked even more beautiful in those picturesque atmosphere. .Me and su (suvarna nandakumar, the actress in the seriesRandom wekaram) were the curious ones bothering our driver with all kinds of questions on previous history of Ladakh and other interesting things. Any bit of information was properly assimilated.As we passed a river that was flowing silently we just casually asked the name. Angchuk said. ‘ That is Indus river”. !! Really? The Indus? From where it all began?. The Indus valley? Sidhu ? The Indus valley civilisation is known world wide! “ Oh..then I must touch those waters!! Insisted Su. to reaffirm our doubting minds, the board appeared on the way called ’Sindhu Ghat”. That is it.. We are stopping here to get down to the river..Su is high on history. The driver plus guide somehow pacified her informing that she will have her’ share of Indus exploration’ before leaving Ladakh. All of us pulled her leg through out and said we will dip her in some other river.just to annoy her..

Sonal di on the first day, we noticed that , was carrying a black shoulder bag other than her usual handbag. We thought that it must be some accessories to the biting cold temperature.. It was about two to three degrees in Leh. We never knew that her black bag (bb) would turn into a life saver for us in the following days.

So after the Thiksay monastery tour we were all hungry. When it is very cold, you naturally feel more hungry because the body needs more energy and burns the food faster. We walked into a near by restaurant called Chumba restaurant. Since it was the end of tourist season there were no much people except a few like us. We placed our orders for some familiar and some local dish called Thupka which was a combination of soup and noodles. The waiter said it would take some time to prepare and we had no choice but to wait. All the selfies and clicks stopped because of hunger pangs. Out comes the stuff from sonal di’s bag. We were astonished to see the big packets of Thepla( a spicy gujrati bread seasoned with herbs) and the accompanying garlic chutney which was spicy. She had taken the trouble of preparing so much of these things from Dubai, her home. Not only that..she had packed it in 5 different packets for each day separately. How thoughtful is that! We devoured the first batch before our orders came and everyone was back in action so to speak. From then on we would always remind her not to forget her bb whenever we went out.!!

Our next stop was the kargil museum in leh. Most of the parts of this place photography is not allowed because of its sensitive nature. It was a reminder of how brave our soldiers are and how they worked in those icy cold temperature to the extent of minus 50 degrees. Pictures of those who served the nation and died for us were elegantly displayed with all necessary informations. The machinery and ammo used by the defense were on display too.

Driving along the rugged mountains we continued our journey absorbing all the sights to a more deeper valley.

Day 2 Ladakh...

Day 2.

Rinchen Angchuk, our young and enthusiastic driver reached the hotel at sharp 9 AM . We were informed earlier and hence we were very much ready and excited to see the place. We had a full breakfast at the hotel before leaving. That day we would see the local tourists’ spots in Leh and around. Angchuk was our tour guide too. We saw him offering a small prayer looking towards the photograph of Lord Budha in his car. Off we started towards our first stop which was the Stok Palace. Ladakh, which is at the northern part of India has two districts. Leh and Kargil. These two are the two major cities as well.the population is roughly about 2.75 lakhs and is a very mountainous terrain. Wheat barley and vegetables are grown here.The crops vary according to the altitude and weather conditions. As we drove through the streets of ladakh towards the Stok place we saw many budhist prayer bells, schools, hospitals, shops and other structures and most of them backdropped by the mighty mountains.

This was built in the 14th century by Lama Lhawang Lotus and it was the home of the royals earlier. Photography was not allowed inside the building. It was kept like a museum displaying all the artifacts and items used by the then royal people of ladakh. The traditional dresses,jewellery and other articles were all laden and studded with coral and turquoise and pearls. Very beautiful they were. There were some very old paintings on display which were 1500 years old. They were still intact and when asked the person in charge told us that those colors survived because they were prepared by crushing those semi precious stones like corals, jade, turquoise and pearls and using some organic mixture to hold them together.!! We were amazed at their ancient techniques of art.! We were allowed to take pictures only from the out side of the Stok palace.

Our next stop was the Thiksay Monastery. It was a Gompa or a Tibetan styled monastery. A very huge , white and ancient building. It was situated on a hill and our car was parked at the gates. We had to walk for some time to reach the 100 steps that we were to climb to reach the main area of the monastery. The walking itself was task since we were on high altitude and then climbing those steps were hard and strenuous for us. Even if you are physically very fit, in these mountainous terrains and super high altitude you need to have your breath under control and take it slowly. Most of the people get very excited and run up to reach the top only to get very tired and out of breath. The tip is to do it slow and steady. We saw a very huge prayer wheel at the very beginning of the premises. And as we climbed up towards the long winding steps we reached into a beautifully decorated prayer hall. It was very silent and perfect for meditation. Flash lights were not allowed. There was an enormous statue of Lord Budha. It was huge and multi coloured with gleaming finish entirely. The colors enhanced his meditational posture with folded hands. You will be so humbled by the energy and vibrations prevailed over there that you will find yourself simply sitting there and closing your eye to absorb all that divine energy. All of us sat there silently for sometime only to get super energized to see the rest of the monastery. There were more stairways to climb to enter the worshiping place of other Gods like Tara. the entire monastery had wooden floors. Other major monasteries were hemis, Shey. lamayuru etc.In each such places the statues of Gods and Goddesses were exquisitely made with rich colours and other decorations. Looking at them one will definitely wonder about the craftsmanship of those ancient artisans and artists and will surely bow in their memory.!

Tea break...and here I must write about the black bag before continuing.

Ladakh Diaried....Part 1

Part 1. So here it is...our story of a great trip.. To the remotest part of india. We had this belief that Ladakh was a place for bikers and hence for youngsters or the adventurous people oly.. Well..most of us. But then again we had an advantage. We had Sonal didi who was an exceptionally well informed fellow traveler since she was a seasoned mountaineer and had conquered many big ones like mount Kilimanjaro etc. Our group consisted of six ladies( of ages from 23 to 60) We were very doubtful that the youngest one probably will feel left out because of the fact that she was too young. .. Some members flew down to Delhi from Dubai and two of us from india. All of us met at Delhi airport and our flight was on 28th early morning to Leh.

The excitement of meeting friends at the airport was too noisy that people started glaring at us..looking daggers..hmm..a task well begun i guess. A short flight from Delhi to Leh by Vistara airlines. It was a lovely flight, new aircraft, leather seats etc and very friendly crew. The flight was full of tourists like us.We were told by our agent in Ladakh that the tourist season was nearly ending and we were just on time before the frozen scenes set in.

Lo...we are already in Kushok bakula Rimpoche airport terminal. Our agent was waiting with a smile. The first impression which is normally the best, was one of a very endearing one. People seemed friendly and very polite. They had all our luggage safely mounted on the carrier of the car and off we went to our hotel which was about 2 km from the airport.

The Sangto Villa was a very beautiful place with all the necessary comforts including wifi.!! We were told earlier not to expect much network connection in leh. But the wifi surprised us and our wifi-craving team mates had a lot of action as soon as we checked in. posing and clicking and sending to dear ones back home ofcourse!!! Especailly when the place is so laden with multi colored flowers and gardens. There were apple trees fully laden with green and red apples which were a sight to us. Soon those apples were inside our alimentary canal and we devoured them happily. Then we saw the apricot tree showering us with their ripe fruits which were another thing to pursue further. We wanted to behave like a proper tourist paying a casual glance to everything but those fruit trees wont allow us to be so..So off we went running around plucking those ripe ones and finishing them in a span of seconds.!! Such super abundance we had never seen earlier..!!

Our agent Siddarth took us to the dining area for a very sumptous breakfast of Poha, Aloo paratha, Omlette coffee tea and fresh fruits. He gave us a small briefing about ladakh Leh, cargil, Drass etc and also about the tourist season and what kind of things and climate to expect in each region. That day there was no sight seeing and we had to get acclimatised for the entire day. So we spent the day clicking photos and enjoying the various dishes that were provided. The rest of the day we spent merrily walking around the resort and enjoying the sights of ostentatious folds of mountains that bordered the villa and the poplar trees that stood over the villa as if protecting them. We went to bed after a great dinner that was served in the hotel and also in anticipation of the next day. We were already in awe of the silently eloquent ladakh mountain ranges…..(To be continued)

Classic Hamsakka....veendum..

ഹംസാക്കയുടെ ടാക്സിയില്‍ എയര്‍പോര്‍ട്ടില്‍ നിന്ന് വീട്ടിലേക്കു പോകുമ്പോള്‍ ആണ് എല്ലാ നാട്ടു വര്‍ത്തമാനങ്ങളും വിശദമായി അറിയുന്നത്..

അര മണിക്കൂറില്‍ പുള്ളി പല ലോക കാര്യങ്ങളും ചര്‍ച്ച ചെയ്യും...ഒരു കൈക്കൂലി വാങ്ങിയ സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ ജീവനക്കാരനെ പറ്റി പറഞ്ഞപ്പോള്‍ ചോദിച്ചു..ഈ ഗവണ്മെന്റ് ജീവനക്കാര്‍ ഇങ്ങനെയായാല്‍ എന്ത് ചെയ്യും നമ്മള്‍?? (പ്രവാസിയുടെ രോഷം)!!

ഹംസാക്കയുടെ ഉത്തരം ഉടനെ വന്നു..ആ അല്ലാ കുട്ട്യേ..അതറിയില്ലേ.??ഗവണ്മെന്റ് പണി കിട്ടാന്‍ ബല്യ പണിയാ..പഷേണ്ടല്ലോ...കിട്ടിയാ പിന്നെ പണിയില്ല്യ 

Hamsakka...veendum...

ഹംസാക്ക കഥകള്‍.. തുടരുന്നു..

സ്ഥലം .കോഴിക്കോടെ എയര്‍പോര്‍ട്ട്.തലേ ദിവസം വിളിച്ചു പറഞ്ഞു എയര്‍പോര്‍ട്ടില്‍ വരാനുള്ള സമയവും ഫ്ലൈറ്റ് നമ്പരും ഒക്കെ.ആകെ രണ്ടു കന്വേയര്‍ ബെല്ട്ടുകള്‍ ആണ് കോഴിക്കോടെ എയര്‍പോര്‍ട്ടില്‍ ഉള്ളത്.കസ്ടോംസ് പരിപാടികള്‍ കഴിഞ്ഞു താഴേക്കു ഇറങ്ങിയപ്പോള്‍ ഹംസക്ക കൈ വീശുന്നു പുറത്തു നിന്ന്..ഞാന്‍ ബടെ ഇണ്ട്‌ ട്ടോ...എന്ന്..സമാധാനം ആയി..ഇനി പെട്ടി കൂടി വന്നാല്‍ പുറത്തു പോകാം..നോക്കിയപ്പോള്‍ ഒന്നാം നമ്പര്‍ ബെല്‍റ്റില്‍ ഫ്ലൈറ്റ് നമ്പര്‍ വന്നു..എല്ലാ യാത്രക്കാരും തിങ്ങി കൂടി..എങ്ങനെയെങ്ങിലും ഇടിച്ചു കയറാന്‍ ഞാന്‍.......,,...അപ്പൊ അതാ ഫോണ്‍......,... ഇത്?? അയ്യോ ഹംസാക്കയാണല്ലോ..എന്ത് പറ്റി?

കുട്ട്യേ..ആ രണ്ടാം നമ്പര്‍ ബെല്ടിലേക്ക് പൊക്കോ ട്ടോ..ഒന്നാം നമ്പര്‍ സാധനം കേടാ..(.... ചിരി അടക്കി ഓടുന്നതിന്നിടയില്‍ നോക്കിയപ്പോള്‍.. അതാ പെട്ടികള്‍ നിരയായി രണ്ടാം ബെല്‍റ്റില്‍.. !!!!!!! ,!!!!)

അതാണ്‌ ഹംസാക്ക...

Our very own Hamsakka 1

ഞങ്ങളുടെ ഹംസാക്ക ഒരു സൂപ്പർ മാൻ ആണ് എന്നു വീണ്ടും ബോധ്യമായി ..കുറേ വർഷങ്ങളായി ഏതു അർദ്ധ രാത്രിക്കും എയർപോർട്ടിൽ നിന്നു കൂട്ടുകയും എയർ പോർട്ടിലേക്കു തിരിച്ചു വിടുകയും ചെയ്യുന്നത് ഹംസാക്കയാണ് .ഹംസാക്കയെക്കാളും പ്രായമുള്ള ഒരു അംബാസഡർ കാർ ആണ് പുള്ളിയുടെ സുഹൃത്ത് ..ഇതില് ഒരു ഏസി വച്ചൂടേ ഹംസാക്കാ ..ഞങ്ങൾ കുറെ കാലമായി ചോദിക്കുന്നു ..ങ്ഹാ ..ന്നട്ട് വേണം വാതം പിടിച്ചു കൈയ്യും കാലും ഒക്കെ കോൺഗ്രസ് ആവാൻ ..ൻറെ കുട്ടിയേ ..ഇങ്ങനെ ഒക്കെ അങ്ങട്ട് പോട്ടെ .ങ്ങളെ ദുബായീല് കിട്ടാത്ത നല്ല കാറ്റു ബിടെ കിട്ടും .മ്മക്ക് അതൊക്കെ മതി ..

വീട്ടിൽ എത്താനുള്ള നാൽപ്പതു മിനുട്ടിൽ ഒരു വക എല്ലാ രാഷ്ട്രീയ സാംസ്കാരിക വിശേഷങ്ങളും ഹംസാക്കാ പറഞ്ഞു തരും .''.ങ്ങളെ ദുബൈയ്ക്കാരെ പോലെ അല്ല ട്ടൊ .ഞങ്ങള് ഇപ്പം ..കൊറേ അഡ്വാൻസാ ...' ഏ ..അഡ്വാൻസോ ..എങ്ങനെ ..ഹാ ങ്ങള് വിജാരിക്കും ങ്ങള് മാത്രേ ഹൈ ടെക് ള്ളൂ ന്ന് ..വെറും ഒരു മിസ് അടിച്ചാല് എല്ലാം റെഡിയാ ..കള്ളു വിൽപന കേന്ദ്രത്തിന്റെ മുൻപിലുള്ള നീണ്ട ക്യു ..നോക്കിയിട്ടു ഹംസാക്ക ..ഇബര് ബെറുതെ നേരം പോക്കാൻ നിക്കാ ഇവിടെ .."ഇപ്പൊ ങ്ങളെ വീട്ടില് കൊണ്ടത്തരും ..പോരാത്തേന് കൂട്ടത്തില് തിന്നുന്ന സാധനങ്ങള് ഫ്രീ ആയി തരും ..ഒരുത്തൻ കായ വറ ത്തത് ആണെങ്കി അടുത്ത ആള് അണ്ടി പരിപ്പ് തരും .നല്ല ബുദ്ധി ള്ള കുട്ട്യോളാ .."

ചിരിച്ചു വീഴുന്നതിനിടയിൽ ഹംസാക്കാ പെട്ടെന്ന് ബ്രേക്ക് ചവിട്ടി ..ഒരു മോട്ടോർ സൈക്കിൾ കാരൻ ഹംസാക്കയുടെ കാറിനു തൊട്ടു മുന്നിൽ ...ചില്ലു താഴ്ത്തി ഹംസാക്ക .:'ഡാ ..അനക്ക് കണ്ണ് കണ്ടൂടെ ..മറ്റുള്ളോരുടെ കാർ മിലാണോ അന്റെ റോഡ് ..? ചമ്മിയ ബൈക്കു കാരൻ .."സോറി "... പെട്ടെന്നു ഉത്തരം വന്നു "..ആ ..അതു ലേശം പൊതിഞ്ഞു കൊടുത്തെച്ചൊ വേഗം ..." എന്നിട്ടു മെല്ലെ ..."ഓരോരുത്തര് തലയിൽ ഉണ്ടയും വച്ച് ഇറങ്ങിക്കോളും .മനുഷനെ മെനക്കെടുത്താൻ ..ഇബനൊന്നും മിസ് കാൾ അടിക്കാൻ അറീല്ലേ ..."'.

വീട്ടിൽ എത്തുന്നത് വരെ ചിരിച്ചു ഞങ്ങളും .....

For Padmavani a private magazine, S Janaki...The melody queen

An article written for Global edge company, special edition

Sharjah Art museum...featured in Mathrubhumi Gulf

Anxiety..mothers..kids...mathrubhumi guld edition

Globalisation..

Daily Blues........published earlier

Published earlier in Mathrubhumi Gulf edition

Published in Mathrubhumi Gulf edition a few years ago.

HIMACHAL...The Celestial Land

It was like a deep plunge to the eternity. The calm  serene and  spiritual  bliss. this was my first feeling when i  visited  the place called the  Himachal pradesh.. A very refreshing  and much needed break from the chaotic and breathless everyday life.  Himachal  lies in  the north western corner of the beautiful Himalayan valley somewhere in the middle of the Eastern side of the great Himalayas. The place has tremendous magnetic attraction. because of its natural beauty climate and  serenity. the place is immensely watered and filled by great rivers like Yamuna, Ravi, Chenab, Sutlaj, and Bias with many fresh water lakes too.Many of the roads re lined along these rivers which will fill the heart of the travelers when you drive long these roads. The state has a variety of cultures and the people are very sweet and innocent with greater hospitality towards tourists.  Himachal shares its borders with  Jammu and Kashmir in the North,Uttar  pradesh on the south east side,Haryana on the south,Punjab on the west  and Tibet on the eastern side.This state is almost surrounded by five great Himalyan peaks.

History says that there were people living in different parts of this state before twenty lacks of years.Indus valley civilizations were dated as somewhere around  2250-1750 BC and that there were people living here much before hat. it is said the some of the indus valley people  moved towards Himachal and its hilly areas and started living there permanently. This was a kind of transitional period for the nomadic culture which gradually started settling down for farming and other occupations.The early tribes of himachal are called as  Koilis,, Halis, Dagis,, Dasa, khasas, etc In the mythological stories of Ramayana and Mahabhratha one will find many places  and people's  refereces directly related to the state of himachal pradesh. 

   Hydro electric projects, agriculture and tourism are the three main structures of its very stable economic status . many near by states are provided with electricity generted from here there by bringing  added revenue to the state. wheat, Rice, barley, maize,te, ginger, turmeric, onion etc are largely exported.from here The capital of apples in india is Himachal pradesh. Apples are largely cultivated almost everywhere in the state along with cherry, peach mango and badam. In  the spring season one can find himachal bathed in colours of fresh flowers growing abundantly here. The government's next project is to make himachal  the FLOWER BASKET OF THE WORLD." .

Most of the districts have their own languages here. but the main ones remain as  Pahadi, punjabi and Hindi. There is no other state in India which brings in revenue from  tourism like himachal. So many people from all over the world visits this celestial land  to enjoy its natural beauty. the three kailasas among the five great peaks, are situated here making i a very sacred and holy place of visit in one's life time. They are Kinnar Kailas, Mani mahesh kailas and Shreekandh mahadev kailash peaks.

Great poets like kalidasa has described this area in almost all of his  works and was greatly inspired by this beautiful land describing it as the land of celestial beings.. for those tourists who are in search of spiritual betterment and peace Himachal pradesh stands out as number one in the list of beautiful places one must visit .it is officially recorded that this small state has about 2000 temples  for those who are interested in religious trips. Shimla, kullu, manali etc are very famous tourist destinations.  Himachal can be clled as a dream land which is enriched with everything one could  imagine in terms of beauty, geography, people, culture and agriculture. . Exploring such a rich land in ll aspects was really a wonderful experience of a life time indeed.

Laxmi nandakumar

 The best of humanity is our exercise of compassion…….

This is a true story. But the names have been changed to protect the identity of the people involved.

It was a very hot and humid day here in Kerala. We wanted to get some provisions for the daily digestive activities and me  who is ever ready to go out jumped at the opportunity to get out of the house along with Nandan. Then we remembered that we did not have our  car that day since it was given for its regular service.  The lady who cooks for us was very adamant  that she would make something  only after she gets her essential things. So there it was…no other short cuts.  Someone had to go and get the things. Then Nandan said he would take an auto to our regular supermarket and get the things.

He bought the stuff and eventually got into an auto rickshaw. The auto drivers  in our city are very special than anywhere in the whole of kerala. They are very polite and do not charge extra. They really go out of their ways to help anyone. Strangers and tourists love them because they will never be taken for a ride literally but they are well taken care of.! So he got into an auto and reached home in  a few minutes. The ride cost him about 30 rupees in the meter but the driver was very rude and he demanded 50. Nandan argued with him and gave a 50 since there was no change with him. The driver without giving back anything, furiously turned his auto. He was grumbling and uttering something which  Nandan could not pick up. The auto left in a rush. Nandan was still fuming after the incident but somehow calmed down and  got himself to read that day’s newspaper.

Then something happened. He heard the sound of an auto. The same driver was back again in out courtyard. Was he coming for more? He rang the bell and Nandan opened the main door and there he was clutching a 20 rupees note. Nandan  was very apprehensive and waited. The auto driver said “  Sir, I am so sorry for my rude behavior earlier” . Please take your money back’. Nandan was very much surprised and something in the driver’s eyes melted his heart. He said. “ That is alright. Now you may keep the money” . The man’s eyes brimmed with tears. Clutching the note he almost broke down and said. “ Sir please do not misunderstand me. My life is a mess I don’t know what to do”. Any spectator could understand that he was genuine and  had tear filled eyes.  Nandan wanted to know more. He asked him to sit down and told him to calm down. Tea was offered and after drinking that the conversation turned into something very strange.

This person had a son who was about 12 or thirteen years of age. He had been diagnosed with a disease that the parents did not know. All they knew was their son  was  going to die in a few years.  The father  burst out crying that he was at his wit’s end and was running around to provide his everyday  medication which cost him around 500 rupees daily!! Nandan was so moved by listening to this man that he asked for more details of the doctor and the treatment that he could get more. The driver said that the medications are available outside India but there is no way he could access those. He asked the driver to give him copy of his medical report and said he will check with the medical fraternity that he knew personally. The driver was beaming with hope and happiness and he left with a lighter heart.

That night Nandan studied the reports and came to know that it was a condition called Muscular dystrophy and more advanced researches are being done in this. He visited various websites and posted the boy’s condition asking for further guidance. Noone replied. Then on the 4^th day he got an email from a Doctor who was in Paris, France. He has posted his email id and telephone number too. This doctor wanted to know more about the boy’s condition and specific medications that he was taking.

The next day he called the auto driver and asked to bring all detailed reports which was promptly emailed to him and then Nandan spoke to the good doctor from Paris. He explained everything in detail and suggested some new medications which he promptly passed on to the auto driver. He also assured that with proper care and medicines the boy can be better too. This was a total relief to the parents and everyone who came to know about this.

 This happened a year ago and the treatment is going steady. All that people need is kindness and care……nothing else…

BE KIND, FOR EVERYONE YOU MEET IS FIGHTING A