Leh 2012

So I went to Leh. Last minute plans work out so much better than actual, planned ones, don't you think?

I could use a dozen words to describe it but I'm sure someone else somewhere else has used those already. Yes, it was magical. Yes, it was picturesque. All in all, an awesome trip. But one of the reasons I love travel is because of the people one gets to meet. So today I'm going to write about one of the people I met in Leh.

Mr. P would be about 50 or 60 and has a shock of black-white hair. He's short and thin and rather benevolent looking. He has the kindest eyes I have ever seen (obscured by glasses) which crinkle up in the most endearing way when he smiles. He is a sort of resort owner cum travel agent in Leh. He's quite the self-made man. His resort was built on his ancestral land, in the traditional Ladakhi architectural style. After dinner he was nice enough to shows us around a bit and the place had lots of open room to sit in and open corridors to walk around in, leading via stairs to the rooms, and the whole resort was set in front of a village. He had accomplished all this only in the past 6 years, before which he was in Delhi working for a pharmaceutical company. His wife still stays in Delhi with his young daughter and his son studies in Singapore.

But the most interesting thing about Mr. P was what he had to say because I had never really considered that kind of viewpoint before. He said that if things continue the way they are, Ladakh will disappear in 50-60 years. This surprised me initially but it was obviously a well thought out assertion. He said that there are barely 30-40,000 people who live here all year round, the rest are migratory who go back during the harsh, cold winters when the region remains secluded by snow for a good 6 months. These are mainly Bihari laborers, shopkeepers who are Nepalese or Kashmiri etc. He says the Kashmiri will take over this region in the next 50 years, migrating here incessantly as Kashmir itself becomes more and more fraught with danger and hence uninhabitable for the common man. This will mean trouble. It'll bring insurgents and terrorists and so forth and the whole valley will essentially just go to shit taking its beauty and tranquility with it. The world can forget about holidaying in Ladakh then. And a day will come when the valley would no longer be able to sustain that kind of thing within it and will collapse completely. 

Unfortunately,  our choot of a government (and not just the current one, he meant this in more of a generic sense) is overtly concentrated on Kashmir, which can sustain itself anyway, because deliberating on it gives them an opportunity for politicking (wrt Pakistan and so forth, a country that is a ‘gone case’ anyway), something which Ladakh does not because it does not involve any dire elements. It is a serene, tranquil place completely overlooked by the government. Politicians only see their short term gain and are blind to the fact that the valley needs to be protected. By the time enough people realize this, it will be too late. This is why tourism needs to grow in Ladakh, so more and more people can understand this reality and discuss it and bring it out in the open and make something happen. For instance, once he had had a wealthy and influential Gujarati family staying at his resort. They had asked him what they could do for him in return for his gracious hospitality and he had said he would be grateful if they could tell someone in power to make Ladakh a UT or a separate State.

He doesn't understand why Ladakh is a part of JnK in the first place. He says the language, the people, the culture, the customs and everything, it's all totally different. He thinks making it a UT is the best and possibly the only way to protect it so that it's own issues are not overshadowed by Kashmir’s.

To me, Ladakh had always been just a pretty place with nice mountains and good weather. But to think of it this way blew my mind. I have immense respect for this man, not least because he lives separately from his wife and kids and still loves them immensely. 

P.S. Crazy dream #57: Fucking in the mountains.

Change

About a couple of months back, a close friend told me I had changed a lot. He told me I used to be very different when I had just entered law school, which was a little over 2 years ago. It got me thinking.
Basically, I think the gist of what he was trying to get at was that I used to be much more uninhibited, more unstructured, more fearless. Care less. Do whatever the fuck I wanted. And now it's all about memo submissions, good grades and good placements. Law school's most vulnerable victims, unfortunately, turn out to be those who develop an inherent fear of project deadlines (and the like, you know what I mean) and are constantly looking for things to do, to put it in a very simplistic manner, to increase their value in terms of potential recruitment. Sad, but true. Life becomes a dreary path towards one sole aim, the attainment of what our (let's face it) still-regressive Indian society calls a 'stable job and a settled life'.
Yes, maybe I'm exaggerating. But I have a feeling he's right about me. I was watching a typical teenage music video the other day and it struck me that I think I've forgotten how to have fun entirely.
On the other hand, there's always the nagging fear that if I let myself loose too much I'll never get a decent lifestyle after college. I suppose this kind of mentality is exactly what he was hinting at. And the worst part is, I don't think most law school kids would have the balls to admit it, but this is exactly what law school makes of you. Balancing a life and good academics isn't easy.
I must add having fun to my to-do list.

In other news, it is Benedict Cumberbatch's birthday today. He is so lovely he makes me weak in the knees.

I also went to Nainital on holiday for about 3-4 days. Really nice place. We went to the nearby lakes and stuff too. There was this one particular one which I liked way more than the others. It was huge and nice and clean, mostly because barely any people lived nearby. I think if I could have just one perfect day in my life, it would be to go and find a place to sit on the banks of something like that and spend the whole day there with a good book and some music, all alone. That, for me, would be the definition of absolute contentment. If I could have that, it doesn't matter whether I'm in Nainital or Switzerland.
I also developed the habit of sitting on a little rocky ledge right outside my hotel (which was at a height from the main city) for a short while with my iPod every night after dinner. The weather was absolutely brilliant and the ledge offered a nice view of the Nainital lake. I love the way water turns black in the night. I remember walking along Havelock beach at night when I had gone to Goa. It was pitch dark. You could see the black water only for a short distance in front of you, and then, nothingness.
I have also realized that the perfect music for places like these is the In Bruges soundtrack.
All in all, a brilliant trip.

I haven't done any other traveling this summer so I badly needed this. Travel is something I don't think I could live without. I think I will always love it more than I could possibly ever love any human being, with the exception of my parents.
I am currently reading The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams. People like him give me an immense inferiority complex. I always feel so small and unaccomplished-in-life in front of his comic genius. A long time ago, I had read someone's interview where they were asked that if they could choose one era or time other than the present to be reborn in, which would they choose. I remember thinking then that if I ever grow up to be rich and famous (*snort*...fat chance), and someone interviewing me asked me the same question, I would have answered the time of P.G. Wodehouse without even thinking about it. For one thing, he existed. For the other, it really seems like a brilliant time period to be living in. And people like Adams and Wodehouse, well, reading them is simply...orgasmic.

I'm also almost done with Season 2 of Game of Thrones. It is an E-P-I-C series. And I have officially fallen in love with Tyrion Lannister.

2 of my friends are mucking about in Europe and I'm INSANELY jealous. I know I've seen most of the continent before and it's only their first time, but it almost physically hurts, the thought of them being there and me being stuck here. I would give an arm and a leg to travel to Europe with friends. Hopefully someday I won't have to.
I'm going to stop ranting now. I haven't written so much without editing since...ever, possibly. Now I will dive back into the world of Douglas Adams to assuage my pain. And it will be awesome.

Italy 2011 - Part 5

Update: Bleh.
Update2: I swear it stops here.

Gondola Ride! Venezia

Duomo, Milano (Milan)

Teatro alla Scala (The Scala Opera House), Milano

Castello Sforzesco (yes! Finally got the name right), Milano

Santa Maria delle Grazie, Piazza Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milano. This is the rather small and unassuming church which houses the original da Vinci fresco, The Last Supper (Cenacolo Vinciano). Tickets to see it are booked MONTHS in advance though, so we lost our chance. Nevertheless, it was thrilling knowing we're standing so close to history. Next time round.

Italy 2011 - Part 4

Update: You know what to do.

Ponte Vechhio, the only bridge in Florence with shops, imitating a typical Venetian bridge. Located over Florence's solitary river, Arno.

Sculpture of Niccolo Machiavelli, Uffizi Gallery, a public open air gallery with sculptures of some of history's most illustrious people, including Galileo Galilei, Donatello, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti (of course), Dante Alighieri and Giotti. Firenze (Florence)

Palazzo Vechhio, Firenze

Duomo, Firenze

Bell Tower, Duomo, Firenze

View of the cathedral and the rest of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo

Basilica San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica), Venezia (Venice)

Basilica San Marco as viewed from its water bus stop, Venezia

Piazza San Marco, Venezia

Bell Tower, Basilica San Marco, Venezia

Piazza San Marco, Venezia

Basilica San Marco, Venezia

Italy 2011 - Part 3

Update: You know the drill.

Piazza Spagna (Spanish Steps), Roma (Rome)

Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain), Piazza Fontana di Trevi, Roma

Piazza Venezzia, Roma

Pantheon, Piazza della Rotonda, Roma

Piazza Navona, Roma

Basilica San Pietro (St. Peter's Basilica)

Piazza San Pietro (St. Peter's Square, as viewed from in front of the Basilica)

Piazza del Campidoglio (Capitoline Hill), Roma

Torre Pendente (Leaning Tower), Pisa

Italy 2011 - Part 2

Update: Same as last time.

Entrance to the Musei Vaticani (Vatican Museum)

Statue of God Anubis, Musei Gregorio Egizio (Egyptian Antiquities), Musei Vaticani

Sarcophagus. Greek hero Achilles stabbing a goddess (center). The legend goes that he fell in love with her at the exact moment he dealt the mortal blow. In both their eyes can be seen a surge of both love and death. Achilles’s front arm supports her as she falls, and the other arm behind is imagined to be operating the knife. Musei Vaticani

In the Galleria della Arrazzi, Musei Vaticani. On the right, a bronze life-sized sculpture of the god Hercules

Frescoed ceiling of the Galleria delles Cartes Geografiches, Musei Vaticani

Depiction of the disputation of truth and the subsequent realization of the actual truth in the form of religion, Stanze di Raffaello (Raphael Rooms), Musei Vaticani. Raphael was commissioned to paint these rooms for the Pope residing there at the time.

In the Apartement de Borgia, Musei Vaticani. Here resided a relatively recent Pope, Borgia.

Contemporary rendition of La Pieta on stained glass, Collection of Contemporary Art, Musei Vaticani

Our room. I realize this is not exactly a tourist spot, but I just had to put this up because it was so brilliant. So if you're ever in Rome, look up a small accommodation called Alma de Roma, near the Stazione Termini, especially if you're on a tight budget and looking for a modest but comfortable place and especially one where everyone is so helpful and the atmosphere is so congenial. I know I did. =D

Italy 2011 - Part 1

Update: I realized after posting this that the photos might be too small, and posting them again in large format is just too cumbersome for 2:30 am in the morning. However, just clicking on them will lead you to a rather enlarged and (usually) infinitely more beautiful format. So, you know, just in case...you want to...

Cheers.

Napoli (Naples)

Capri

Capri's small main square, also locally known as La Piazzetta

La Cassa di Rosa (The Red House), Anacapri

Faraglioni, Capri

Beach, Capri

Duomo di Napoli (The Cathedral of Naples)

Colosseo (I don't really think you need the translation for this one.)

Mom and me sharing a moment at the back of the Colosseum

View of the Colosseum, Roman Forum and Palatine Hill from Piazza del Campidoglio (Capitoline Hill)

Fora di Romano (Roman Forum)

Port Blair 2010

I like the way the sea glistens in the sunlight, each molecule so radiant that it may blind you.

I like how the sea stretches out to meet the sky, after traveling apart for so many miles, almost as if two rivals agree to let bygones be bygones and come together in a final embrace.

I like the way the leaves shine after the rain. They almost look happy.

I like to know that there is a civilization living amongst these trees, however primitive. That people still dwell in forests, forests so dense that the sunlight barely reaches the ground. That there are still humans who do not bother to cover themselves with cloth, and sustain themselves on the fruits of the trees around them.

I like how the receding wave lessens the impact of the oncoming one, how something so small can impede something so large, if not stop it altogether.

I like to stumble in the water when a large wave completely submerges me, and to lick my lips and taste the salt once it's gone, taste its only remnant and try to remember the sensation for as long as possible.

I like that moment of anticipation when you've seen the enormous wave of turquoise that inundates your eyes and you know it's going to hit you any second now, and all you can do is stand riveted on the spot, mesmerized by its beauty and its magnitude, completely at its mercy, how man ultimately is no match for nature.

I like the vividness of colors that exists in this place, how you can find a deep purple piece of shell on the beach that is excruciatingly beautiful, and yet realize that the color of the sea under full sunlight still tops its beauty.

I like how the rain and sun seem to coexist so harmoniously with each other, one making an appearance barely two seconds after the other has disappeared, how the Sun doesn't even deign to hide its face while the rain pours over the sunlit leaves.