Where am I??

I wake up to the comfort of a familiar surroundings, Lofty wind pushes it way inside the room and fills me with a sense of calmness and comfort!! I am wide awake ....and happy for being that way!!

Earth is rotating slowly to complete one full rotation around the sun, and I am completely unaware about the rotation because I don't feel it anyway, I am too busy marveling at the beauty all around me, too happy to a part of it even though I know that it's not my reality anymore, that as the earth will keep rotating around the sun making days and nights and before I know , My day will be looking at me directly into the eye and mumbling, "it's time to go".

and even though i will pack my stuff with heavy heart,  get my luggage x-rayed for any potential threat to the airport authorities, take a boarding pass for the flight to Mumbai, a "PREEMINENT" part of my heart will always be in Kashmir, wandering in the wilderness, getting awaken by the crisp morning breeze every day...

I will always love you with the deepest core of my heart!!

94/365 / Our trip to the Botanical Garden

94/365 / Our trip to Botanical Garden

ohh yess!! we go out almost everyday for our evening tea, we have that luxury and I want to enjoy that , click as much as I Can....while it lasts :) though there were many many more visual treats that i wish i was professional enough to capture, still i know that I have captured them all perfectly in  my memories forever!!

and about Vihaan, well he is getting to see new things everyday, he gets to touch and feel so many textures so many things, bright vibrant colors, soft tingling grass blades under tiny feet, I let him run bare feet on the green grass!! 

and watching him  all happy, so expressive, is a true soul treat for me !!

92/365 and Evening Tea

92/365 and Evening tea

It was the time of early vespers and the plan of going out and for our evening tea was made in a jiffy, mom made tea and i made some cauliflower and onion pakoras, packed everything in our picnic bag and set out for Mughal gardens!! that's what I will always love about Kashmir, life is so simple and beautiful, you plan things and you get out , that's it, you don't have to worry about traffic, congestion and above all you have plenty of places where you can sit with family without unnecessary distractions, you can spend some quality time while having tea and watching the sun go down the horizon, it's breathtaking and simply beautiful, but in a metro all you have is shopping malls to go to, there is cacophony, dazzling with artificial lights to make you even more dull :(  !!

Coming back to our tea time, so on the way we have a lengthy discussion where to go because the choices are so many, I wanted to go to Botanical Garden, its vast, as far as eye can see...it has a beautiful pond... but mom wanted to go to Chamashahi, it's on the height, in the Zabarwan mountain and you get to see the view of entire Dal lake!! Dad was neutral ;) and Vihaan was least concerned about our discussions, he was busy watching the tree tunnels on the way....so finally we headed for Mom's choice...by the we had our refreshing tea , the weather had changed, it was sunny when we arrived and soon there was a cloudy overcast...with mild puffs enveloping everything around!! 

Vihaan had fun running around, giggling and playing with water... and when  the sun went down we headed back to our Home sweet home!!

88/365-Family outing

88/365-Family outing

On the foothills of mountain Harmukh is a beautiful Village "Naranag", it has scienic meadows, lakes, Tall Pine tree canopies, and unruly Sind river...apart from that it has a set of many small cluster temples of Shiva that date back to 8th century built by Lalitadhitya Muktadiya!!  The area is inhabited by local Gujjars now!!

It took us about 2 hours by car to reach the place, quiet untouched and relatively calm, we had our share of some quality family time and yes Vihaan had his share of fun as well....green meadows to run around under the clear blue skies, ice cold water to dip his tiny feet in and lots of fun in water fight , comfortable lap of grandpa, and lots of hugs and kisses from people nearby that were complete strangers yet seemed so loving, warm and welcoming   !!

here are few captures :)

Rain and the unrest

We reached here on 24th June and while onboard,the flight captain announced that the temperature in kashmir is 15 degrees and its also  raining....we landed and were welcomed by heavy down pour...and it has been raining since then day and night...people here have witnessed  recent floods and everybody is tense since the water level in Sangam river has crossed the danger mark and the river Jehlum is rising too....my niece and nephew had been to school yesterday....it was a usual morning when we received a call from the school stating that the nearby Jehlum river is rising and school day has been called off....we rushed off to the schools to get the kids....there was an unrest all around...people were really scared....no body wants to undergo the same ordeal again....on our way back I got a glimpse of the Jehlum...it seemed to be just touching the danger mark!! I also happened to pass through the streets of once happening Rajbagh and Jawahar Nagar areas....that used to be buzzing with life and full of hustle and bustle but now all i could see was ruble and heaps of concrete! ! It was really heart breaking to see such a sight!! Floods here have left a disastrous impact and it will take a while for people to recover from it!!

All we can do for now is to pray for rain to stop and for little sunshine to instill some energy , some warmth in our damp spirits !!

Yoga & My thoughts around it!!

We all have heard a lot about it, apparently everyone is talking about it, every other article is regarding its benefits...well this is "YOGA"  Yes it has become the  latest fad with its name in the days marked internationally.

undoubtedly yoga is good for us, it is not just for body but for mind as well, its the holistic science that was put together many many years ago by a wise sage named Patanjali, he at that time recognized its true potential and took the task of arranging it, assimilating it at one place so that mankind will benefit out of it, and if you think you can't do it, think twice because you have already done it and you are not aware, you have practiced yoga in he womb, when you were in the fetal position...in deep meditation , the only difference is that at that time your lungs were not pumping oxygen and removing carbon dioxide, it was done by placenta :), so you have to learn that Pranayama (breathing exercises), how to breathe deeply, and exhale deeply as well, we all are accustomed to this involuntary shallow breathing, whereas to attain that stage of relaxation one needs to breathe deeply, and exhale deeply as well, expelling out all the negativity, frustration that grips our soul...then only can we be at peace.

There are few Asanas (body postures) that if you practice in your stressful times, they tend to ease that tension a bit, besides relieving those tension knots in your spine and neck, like the Balasana (child pose), i tried it recently , and it works great for me...there are many more that help with body flexibility and mental peace...i am thinking about starting a series about yoga poses in my blog, lets see how it goes and how i start...as i have said earlier, I start many things but hardly complete them , or stick to them...i have serious commitment issues, that i need to work on...so not bragging about anything right now..lets see..fingers crossed!!

Photography credits go to my Niece , Divya Kaur Mehta, she is a 9th grader, an artist, a phenomenal painter, and budding photographer!!

In the pictures above, my darling Nephew and my elder sis, apparently my family in Kashmir celebrated their yoga day in Narang Nag in south Kashmir amidst all the beauty, greenery and fresh air!!

Earth is my home

often late at night when I sit alone, in deep thoughts, I  ask myself...What is luxury?? 

And everytime I close my eyes...I see my hometown Kashmir...and this is what my heart tells me:

Luxury is living in a home not an apartment, home where you have open view, a vast garden in front...where you breathe free, where you grow flowers in the heart of earth not merely in the pots decked in the balcony, not on the terrace but with your own hands in the soil.

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Luxury is your own fav spot at your home... maybe your attic where you lay down on a full moon night and marvel at the beauty of the stars, the purity of the sky…where you get to see nothing but  a vast blanket of twinkling stars at night not adjacent buildings… Luxury is not just Italian sofa, a posh recliner in your living room...   


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Luxury is sleeping without the thought of limitless possibilities, thought of love and a new beginning every morning.

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Luxury is being free from closures…from being indoors…being able to go out in the sun whenever you feel like, letting the door open for those unexpected guests…

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Luxury is throwing a party in the backyard under the clear blue sky and inviting your friends and family and sharing giggles and smiles…

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I am glad that I have seen and been and brought up in such a place where I have grown plants with my own hands…where I have seen and played with frogs in my garden, …where I have plucked the bunch of grapes from the grapevine and gifted some to the neighbours as well… I am glad that I have seen abundant in my life.

 I want that life for Vihaan as well, I want him to see abundant too, to run after butterflies in his own garden, to plant with his own hands in the soil… to nurture nature… to believe that:

“Earth is my home” 

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All the pictures above are captured by me in my home town Kashmir...for more pictures of kashmir, click here and here

Kashmir

I know a place where soft breeze blows, where walnut,chinar, and tulip grows, white heavy clouds sweep the sky, toad gazes and utters a cry, no distraction, nothing to fear, calm cool melody is always near.

Thought to be in "Kashmir" is fixed in my head, whether i am awake or in my bed, be it sunrise or when night falls, inside it cries, lulls and every time it calls, it kills me inside and i long for its touch, heart feels heavy, pain is such.

Uploading some of the pictures of my birth place "Kashmir"