"All that 's bright must fade,— The brightest still the fleetest; All that 's sweet was made but to be lost when sweetest."

time 'nd again.....

Sometimes..... you feel you're at the right place at the wrong time.....and somehow, someway, you stick around long enough to make it the right time at the right place......it looks perfect, but then out of the corner of your eye.......something hits you.....and then....you fall..... nev'r to rise again.

The beginning.....

06 August 2006

09:40 am
Sarovar Tourist Rest House,
Tallital, Nainital



After almost 12 hours of stationary motion in a bus travelling at about 120km/hrs for almost 6-8 hrs, I'm dizzy and totally fed up with the disgusting bus journey. But one look, just one look outside, and everything ..... from the nauseous journey to the annoying lady in the bus who had nothing to do but connect everything with her worthless son whom she was going to visit........everything was worth it.

The journey was more or less uneventful to say the least, but something struck me sometime during the sun rise... we were crossing an area that was all fields and small huts in between. But then, i saw this huge boarding.....some barely clad girl sitting on a marble floor doing yoga.....all i could do at that time was smile at the irony......... but then the ridicule of the situation became more prominent as we transgressed towards Rudrakot.....huge factories staring at your face with the stench of smoke and disgust of human apetitite for ruining what not long ago must'v been a beautiful plateau to watch the sunrise from. I guess, the fact that I was appalled by the site must'v been quite visible on my face as the lady next to me told me that the Govt has allowed them tax-free existence for five years in order to promote industrialization of that area. People were dying of hunger as a result of unemployment. The corruption of the womb of nature seemed a small price to pay when it came to self existence.

As I continued to think about what I'd seen, the bus started its climb to the himalayas......and as always, I was dumbstruck by the beauty of it all......... An incredible blend of Kurseong, Katra, and Kullu.......this was an ultimate sight to hold in your eyes, capture in your memory, and let it sink in to the deepest part of your soul. The road through which I was so effortlessly climbing up was made through cutting parts of these hills......another exploitation perhaps? But, now, I have a biased opinion. 'cuz I am in love. Yet again.

* While I was jotting all this down in my journal......the lake was engulfed in clouds as they dived down into the valley and then wind blew them away as swiftly as it'd let 'em drop.....'nd it became etched in my memory.....the surprises, the carelessness of wind....the humble nd sometimes fierce nature of the clouds.......its all so beautiful.....that it brought tears into my eyes.......

P.S. It's "Friendship Day" ....... 'nd I patched up with myself ;)

My Arch. Thesis on SOS Children's Village

May be, just may be, for a li'l while i was distracted to do something for spastic kids rather than for orphans. In the first submission where two options were to be discussed, I almost fought for Spastic school.(not 'cuz I was biased or anything....but it was more 'cuz i had done my background work on that) But, I guess, my faculty was more far sighted than I was at that point of time, and here I am, thinking about these children I met at my site visit to Bhimtal. And, now, if I think, I'm going to design their home, I know for sure who's going to fight for which room, who's going to play with their toys in the balcony, and who's more prone to crying late at night because the nearby tree would make shadows in the dark......when I know whom I am designing for, it makes my task a lot easier, or may be a bit tougher, 'cuz I might get partial for a few of them with whom i really really connected over there....

My association with hills is old. I connect with them. May be because of the contrasts they have to offer. And every trip to the hills changes me in someway. For instance, this one, my site visit to Bhimtal, and my stay in Nainital.....it taught me things I wouldn't have learnt sitting here in the plains with a sure shelter over my head. It was more of an experience rather than a site visit. The journey was nothing but soul stirring. And being me, I know one thing for sure, no matter how touching it is, no matter how badly stirred i get , with time, i am prone to forget the entire experience and only the feeling that i got back then would remain somewhere......so, this time, it'd not be so. And I plan to freeze some part of it. Right here.

.....

After an year of compelled solitude, I'm in what I believe to be as close as I can get to falling in love........ :)