The first view of white Marvel

When I first got the glimpse , I thought I would loose the moment of spectacle in the process of believing of what I was seeing until my co-passenger on bus , stirred by heavy honking of a passing truck , woke up to the very sight of it and  instantly yelled a cry of euphoria shaking the fellow passengers off their slumber."There it is ... the peak of a snow-capped mountain" , she cried. I was finally assured. It was rather anticlimactic for me - might be a climactic culmination for the reader-  who had been weaving strings of hopes to his debut tour in the mountains to witness the bewitching snow-capped Himalayan peaks but had to eventually stop his delusional deluge owing to the weather serving as a perfect antagonist.
     
"The Hindu Kingdom" in the lap of Himalayas , Nepal , was the chosen spot three months prior to journey. Excitement sprang to its zenith when I found a ton of adventure activities from trekking to para-gliding could be availed. But I knew in the back of my mind that those fantasies had to be buried due to budget issues. Nevertheless , a view of the rugged white intimidating  beauty ranging in its wishful path creating valleys, gorges, springs and meandering roads cutting through the hills , would  more than make up for it. Those picturesque images from geography books and captivating videos from television would be confronting reality soon. The tour plan looked satisfying - kick-starting with jungle safari then  slowly progressing towards hills and culminating with the much-awaited view of Mt. Everest - cherry on the top.
     
The first night of our trip was a an exotic one , inside a serene resort at the edge of forest . Literally our first night in a foreign land! But little we knew then that misfortune had already announced its ringing endorsement from the next break of light in the east. Apparently , we were unable to witness the breaking of dawn as the cursed veil of nimbus-clouds denied to cast away. On some other time I might have been kept busy flaunting with my camera at those rain-impregnated-elements but that day I could not but curse them. Though the safari was thrilling , I carried a gloomy mind all throughout - the met-forecast showed no signs of hope for the weak ahead.
    
As destined , Pokhara was a complete washout. The place that promised the breathtaking view of the Annapurna mountain range over the horizon along with its lovely reflection on the crystal-clear waters of beautiful Fewa Lake surrounded by green hills on three sides , turned out to be major disappointment. The heavens chose that day to weep over the earth in abundance. While the farmers welcomed it whole-heartedly , the tourists put the day in the list of forgettable ones.
     
The first day at Kathmandu rekindled my hopes. The grey clouds seemed to make way for their immature whiter counterparts. The sun was out , yet not blazing , after a couple of off days to its Himalayan worshippers. The whole day had been dedicated to temple-viewing , the famous Pashupati Temple being first on the list followed by other significant ones. The sky remained blue till the end of day and the stars kept twinkling till I went to bed. Finally a smile on my face before sleeping.
    
The following morning brought even broader smile when I woke up to the glaring rays refracted through the window-glass. I quickly got ready and was up for the day before everybody. The Everest-view from the sunset point at Nagarkot was scheduled at afternoon. Our first sight-seeing spot was the historical Durbar Square. The temples and mansions mesmerised us with their unique architecture and art. It was one of the best views of the tour so far. But , naturally , I was more excited for the upcoming uphill drive to Nagarkot. As we were ascending the hill , my wall of excitement met its tragic end. From no where a large mass of ominous black cloud accumulated within minutes and shoved away the sun to take the limelight."Did any black cat crossed our path today?" - such superstitious thoughts occurred in my mind that moment. It seemed the gods would conjure up any elements at his disposal to thwart us from getting a sight of the real Himalayas. Though the interruption was in the form of drizzle that cleared itself soon, the view had been dwindled. The puffs of grey and white clouds blocked the supposedly distant view of the Everest.It was not the day to see the mightiest!
    
My hyped tour had already turned to a saddening outing. It was like a something-is-missing-type dinner party. The starters were promising but the main course fell short in the major areas. Hence , the expectation of dessert , if any , was fading away fast. Resting my head against the window of our returning bus, I was gingerly gazing over the backward-trailing hills and clouds. And then the unbelievable moment happened. The peeping peak across the farthest horizon did not escape my lazy eyes. Everybody got down and did not waste moment to capture the moment lest some unwelcomed clouds should hinder the "marvel".So, eventually a unexpectedly satisfying dessert was offered. All's well that ends well.
   

   

   

    

Travel at your own cost but don't cost Nature!

Whether it is free or at our own cost we seldom fail to disprove any opportunity or invitation to travel. To explore new places and conquer unknown destinations is coded in our very own DNA. Some travel to photograph memories , some set out to adventure ; some head out to relive history whereas some just go out with their families and friends to spend some quality time. In the era of commercialization , tourism has seen itself evolve and shape into an prosperous industry. An industry whose positive contribution to the economy is augmenting annually. Tourist spots are spawning like mushrooms in every corner of the country. Be it historical places or hill stations or any other natural hotspot , Nature has been exploited as a booming market. Obviously it is benefiting our economical growth , but it is the duty of both government and individuals to ensure that that growth does not come at cost of environmental pollution. But do we regard this duty as "duty"?
      
Area of concern : Rahul is a cute little boy who has come with his parents at a beach to enjoy the evening. Rahul finds an ice-creamwala (a person who sells ice-cream) and instantly demands for one. His loving parents buys him one dutifully. When Rahul is done with it , he asks his parent where to keep the empty container. "Just throw it anywhere, darling". Rahul drops it over the sand and runs towards his parents. Hundreds of other Rahul watches this Rahul and does the same. May be one Sita recalls her school teacher's gospel of use of dustbin and she takes the little pain of scouting a nearby dustbin with her big inquisitive eyes amongst the carnival and thus avoids littering.
    
A group of college buddies plan or rather decide impromptu to feast in some exotic location. A remote waterfall trickling down to a hilly river is the destination. They are bewitched by the ambience , and so much so drunk in the exuberance of things that their ethical and aesthetics-thought-process has been clogged completely. They dump their non-biodegradable leftovers from their sumptuous luncheon in the natural water. No patrolling police , no overseeing security ; hence no one to bother about. Who would take the pain of disposing off the whole waste in any garbage bin or proper disposal site? Or rather are there proper disposal sites at exotic tourist spots?
       
Solution : The solution is simple and straightforward. Moreover any good books on civics and environment will enlighten that. But the most difficult part being implementation requires acute analysis with systematic implementation of policies and compulsory regular monitoring , of course keeping the cancer of corruption and prevalent laziness in attitude behind.
   
The foremost prerequisite is the change in mindset which can only be attained by responsible self-education. We all know that environmental education has been a mandatory inclusion in our school academics but it is highly doubtful the level of infiltration of the "value" into the general mind-system of public is substantially below recognition. So people need to educate themselves. We need to understand that environment is our parent home. Just as we maintain our own houses and mansions, we need to take care of our environment. The recent policies like "Swach Bharat" are praiseworthy initiatives but the seed of its fruitful-ness lies in our own hands. But sadly some of us , or rather most of us, are yet to plant them. If every house starts cleaning their surrounding or prevent littering in a single day , wonders will happen in no time. The policies are like the base , the soil. It is our duty to plant these lectures into action and water them with regular maintenance.
     
The next perspective , perhaps the most complex, that demands higher degree of introspection is the mechanism of education. Advertisement in all possible sectors do sound handy. But is the penetration happening till the grassroots?The government must ensure that they conduct some mobile educational tours with live demonstrations across rural areas , "Swach Bharat" captions and slogans must be highlighted in tourist spots, penalty systems should be strictly implemented in case of violations.
     
Another sustainable solution that has shown light is eco-tourism. This brings a great concept that takes care of contamination of environment and also caters to employment opportunities to locals. Government should promote and implement this on a large scale.
     
Environment is our own and only place of shelter in this beautiful earth. But we fail to realize this bigger picture or rather ignore this so blatantly. Yes if you read in school that "do not litter in public places" , do not. Also encourage your elders not to. If u see anybody in trains throwing plastics and stuff through the window , stop them. If u see anybody spitting in public or streets , kindly tell them not to or better showcase them to nearby police. Take the little pain of finding the "use me" bins. These little efforts in unison has the power of revolution, a silent democratic change. You may think What hellos crime will I be committing if I threw the tiny plastic  covering of a toffee just anywhere. Yes you may not realize the impact. Actually this degradation of environment is like slow poison. But a time will certainly come when the adverse damage will be beyond recovery. Its better now than never!

     

     

My first late-night travel by car

The visit to a place becomes completely fulfilling when the journey attains its comforting dose to the brim at the first place. But when the journey involves adventure , excitement and a first-time experience of a kind - surpassing the comfort quotient to reach the zenith of fearlessness - the
thirst of recharging our souls , being almost quenched , revamps its limit for more. Such was the case in our journey to Daringbari , the remote hilly village at the heart of Odhisa. 
      
All my adventure-laden worms had quickly grown wings and had transformed themselves into tickling butterflies transmitting spasms of excitement and spikes of welcomed fear all throughout my veins when we , myself along with few like minded companions, learnt that our journey by car from Bhubaneshwar to Daringbari was abound with unpredictability. Our driver was unaware of the best route. We would travel through forests or ghat areas ,as they call it , all along night. We did not know exactly when we would finally reach .Cell network would probably remain unavailable for most parts of the journey.So google maps - better not put faith in it!
      
With twilight casting over western corner of heaven , we commenced our journey moving southwards of Bhubaneswar through NH 5 with loads of zeal. The speedometer was ticking almost a ton. Every burst of the centrifugal wind  seemingly sneaking through minute pores of skin was like a antidote to the unexpected cacophony of the malfunctioning music system. It was certainly a disappointment. We took a right turn from Khurda towards Baghamari where we stopped for evening snacks. The occasional glimpses of sophistication and urbanization across highway had given away to acres of barren lands diminishing to indistinguishable purple horizon. Some distant zigzag outlines , like that drawn by a child's free flowing pencil , of unknown hill range was holding on to sight against the fading hues.
     
Travel times often turn treasure memories as normal gossips turn into unheard stories and incoherent music turns out to be the funniest ones. Such a gala atmosphere continued inside our car as we were rollicking towards Nayagarh. We stopped for a loo break in the middle of nowhere only to find the pseudo luminescent silver moon shinning with all its might and the distant hill ranges on either side seeming ominous like that in fairy tales. The driver added more creepy elements to the plate by narrating terrifying stories of certain village nearby that used to stalk strangers at night on road and seize them for a bait - to serve as offering for some undignified worships!
     
There were two roads leading to Daringbari from Nayagarh. As we were already absorbed in the enchantment of the night , it was unanimous decision to explore the longer , definitely more adventurous route. Our car raced towards Phulbani. It was already past 9 pm and the number of visible creatures on the road was slacking every minute. I focused my vision on the moon resting my head against the window. The forest ranges of Daspalla reserve on the left seemed to reel back like a quick flashback sequence of unknown animated film as perceived through the corner of my eyes. Suddenly turning right my eyesight caught hold of a poster of tiger! Ah! We were passing through the Satkosia tiger reserve on a lone road at night. Though I knew capturing a view of the king of jungle is the wildest thought ever but my subconscious mind took the front seat and began to articulate images of tiger and flash them in my brain. I could only hope one of those apparitions transpired into reality.
         
Phulbani was in deep slumber when we reached there. Luckily we managed to get a nocturnal mascot to direct us to the road to Daringbari. All the excitement , uncanny bliss travelling at night might replenish your mental appetite but its physical counterpart craves only for food - something that was awaiting us in Daringbari as we had done away with our snacks long before. Our car was plying smoothly , breaking the peaceful silence around  perhaps only by a whisker , through the road. Distant hill ranges and occasional hillock were still accompanying us. Perhaps I was the only  one awake as my companions had surrendered to the inevitable tiredness. "Fire!" I cried. Everybody sprang up. It was not a prank , as everyone else might think I believe ; and to convince them I pointed to the glowing couple of lines across the hill range - the golden spark against the dark veil is certain not to be missed. It was hard to tell whether it was forest fire or a deliberate inflammation by the wood cutters , but nevertheless it bewitched and  looked majestic.
     
Farther we went , greater the quietness of the ambience was engulfing us. My scaring intrusion into the snoring slumber of my companions did make an unintended endeavor in restoring their clumsy senses but it was short-lived. They had all reclined back. And the most perilous part of this speechless drama culminated with the driver yielding to the sleepy doze of the surroundings. For a moment our car lost balance and aimlessly glided off the road ; but had it been not for the culprit driver's still-awake reflexes - acting promptly to regain control - we might have not reached anywhere in whole. That was indeed scary. On a lighter note , this incident provided us with the leisure of forming a round table conference - an unplanned committee of one-time-nightcrawlers only to exchange laughter and soak in the unadulterated refreshment of nocturnal nature - seated on the middle of the road on a moonlit night!
    
The rest of the journey saw most of us yearning to reach sooner rather than later. Eventually we did after requiring guidance from a couple of local nightcrawlers. No sooner did we step onto the main village road of Daringbari than we were taken aback to find men and women in groups trotting along like zombies at midnight. It was definitely the least expected thing to witness in a remote , rustic village. But later we learnt those were the retreating audience from the night-theatre show. We now live in the age of malls and multiplexes but this little information brought a big smile to my face.
     
However we were finally at our pre-booked eco-resort and it was time, infact  well past the usual schedule , to dine and get the much-needed rest. But did we sleep? It had already been a successful night to topsy turvy the.routine and then why not further it? We went on gossiping and exchanging stories only to lay our backs at first stroke of Orange in the east.