Himalayan Wonders

A Sikkimese village..with Manoj and Rafiq. Sikkimese, like all mountain people, try to protect their environment.  So, the minimal cultivation. Just for survival and a little bit more. The roofs are slanted for the winter season's snow..helps the ice glide down.

With Surinderji..he's the best in the business. Best I've ever seen.  Learnt from Father Fellini (Italian-Irish, I believe).   In the background is the trail leading to Devi Surkhanda ka Temple. Trail is covered with oaks.  But all the oaks are of same age, quite young ! "Aisa kyu ji"..Reason is the whole hillside slided down during a landslide..and then it became populated with the oaks. Garhwal Himalayas..

With Shankar and Indro..nearing the HatKali Temple of Gangolihat. Which is famed for the vision a Captain had one night in the 1962 War..and the next morning a valiant effort drove out the "dushman". These Ranges devoid of even the smallest shrubs fascinated us. We asked whether it was due to deforestation. No.  It's the geology of some places that makes it so. Kumaon Himalayas.

Advaita Vedantic philosophy......

I can write Nothing about it because..........IMHO

THIS is the only thing in the Universe that CANNOT BE WRITTEN.

It can

ONLY BE REALIZED.

Dalai Lama ....living Wonder of India

A follower of Dalai Lama, amongst other spiritual leaders, also ....I'll be writing on him from time to time....

He is the true living Wonder of India.

Image source is from wikimedia commons :


The very first thing you notice about Dalai Lama is his INFECTIOUS SMILE......

It is truely infectious....stare for a few seconds at the picture and chances are you will feel like doing a heh, heh, heh yourself.

But, REMEMBER : A smile can hide a thousand tears.

Yes.....and the WISDOM OF DALAI LAMA has come from the sufferings...personal and collective of the people of Tibet.

A global citizen.....He has put in practicality into Buddhism ....

Urged Buddhists to BAN snow leopard and tiger skins, urged them time & time again to be non-violent......but has given them insight into other ways that is different from the way of Mahatma Gandhi.

I guess you can listen to mp3's of the Great Dalai Lama .... his speeches, etcetera. This 1 person has totally OUT-FOXED (add this to the new lexicon, folks) the world's most populous nation.

UFO Sightings over India.....what's the real story ?

An UFO (Unidentified Flying Object) or, rather, more than one UFOs have been sighted over India, especially Calcutta in Eastern India for the past few weeks. It's like a multi-colored fireball, changing its shape and moving very rapidly here and there. Sighting time was between 3 a.m. to 5 a.m.

It was even photographed & videographed by 2 observers.

Scientists are baffled, as its to and from motion is not like a meteor.

Also, how come its changing its shape and color ? No aircraft can do that, at least it CAN'T CHANGE ITS SHAPE ! So what is it?

Calcutta is well known for its share of intellectuals....so is this UFO, loaded with much higher I.Q. extra-terrestrials, trying to get in touch with them ;-)

Encounters with UFO's are classified into 3 kinds or according to UFO experts Ted Bloecher , into 7 kinds: starting from a visual to the extreme kind.

We have had a number of visual sightings all over India....going on for quite a number of time.

As far as my knowledge goes, in India there has not been up to date any encounters of the most extreme kind....that of humans being abducted ;-)

However, these UFO sightings are still a mystery.

Spiritual Gurus of India

If you're looking for the deepest spiritualistic interpretations, look no further :

India's the place where one can find all the answers.

The highest forms of Hindu Vedantic spiritualistic interpretations have been made, since time immemorial, in India.

Let me just give you a few examples within the past 100 years.

Ramakrishna ......rediscovered the essence of Hindu religion.

Vivekananda....Disciple of Ramakrishna. Probably the best known guru in the Western World. Introduced the basics of Vedantic philosophy to US and Europe. Numerous Westerners became his disciple and contributed largely to building spiritual retreats in the high mountains of the Himalayas.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi......some skeptics smeared his name. But his attempt to understand the laws of science through Vedantic philosophy and transcendental meditation confound scientists.

SriSri Ravishankar......truly has mastered the art of living.

Swami Ramdev.....one of the most popular contemporary gurus. Disappeared mysteriously in the mountains of the Himalayas for a decade. Resurfaced with a rich knowledge of Ayurveda, Yoga and other practices. Tens of millions are practicing and benefiting from his profound knowledge.

But then there are countless other gurus one hasn't even heard of....I've met a few of them in the Himalayas. Found them in the most remotest of places. In caves, shelters, in the midst of dense , verdant forests....living meditating in places frequented by leopards, snakes, bears and what not.

Prashant Tamang .....the genius singer from the Eastern Himalayas

A phenomenon is sweeping the mountains of Eastern Himalayas........poor mountain folks are selling all their belongings to see to it that Prashant Tamang WINS. This overwhelming support for this genius singer is sweeping Sikkim, Darjeeling Himalayas, Nepal and Bhutan. The brave Gorkhas and other mountain folks, who have served India selflessly in so many conflicts, are overwhelmingly fighting for Prashant.




PRASHANT TAMANG DESERVES TO WIN. Because :

1. He's a genius with his voice. Having no formal training, his versatility with his voice is amazing. He has been called an "uncut diamond".
2. Most important, he is a NATURAL SINGER. He's never had a formal training in music....Singers like him are bound to go a long way.
3. Prashant Tamang's family, especially his father, has been the most patriotic of all Indians, laying down their lives for the country.
4. Some of the judges have been rude to him. Despite that, he keeps on singing his best. This means he can take the pressure of FUTURE BOLLYWOOD.
5. Judging by the votes, he is the MOST POPULAR SINGER. And that is what should count.
   

So, here's to the "Pahar ka Gaurav" Mr. Tamang........hope you win.



May Lord Kangchen Dzo-nga bless you with a win......

......SAVE THE FORESTS OF SIKKIM, DARJEELING & NEPAL......

Wonders of India...beyond the Taj

The true wonders of India lie in its amazing biodiversity.............it has one of the greatest range of flora and fauna.

Let me share with you a few of my own personal experiences:

1. LEOPARDS.........They have a saying..."You come face to face with a leopard when you least expect it"...Well, that's what happened with me in the Garhwal Himalayas, 5 miles from Mussoorie. We were a party of 3 trekkers coming back from a short walk to a nearby stream. It was a rare occasion since we had miscalculated our timings and IT WAS QUITE LATE IN THE EVENING, AROUND 8 P.M. It was past sunset, and we being without torchlights, we could barely see ahead. Being quite exhausted from a steep climb up, we were all silently walking, it was difficult breathing.

On our left was a "khud", steep downslope, on our right the mountain cliffs.....The left side was full of kalijhora and gooseberry bushes, and there were quite a few oak trees also. We could make out the silouhettes...there was just that little bit of light left.

THE LEOPARD CAME WITHOUT WARNING .....We suddenly saw, about 20 feet away, a SILOUHETTE.....It looked like a cat......but it WAS QUITE A BIG ONE.......It had, like poetry in motion, EFFORTLESSLY, WITH A FLUID LIKE MOTION, SILENTLY, jumped right in front of us.....

We were dumbstruck......It turned its head, looked at us....we could see its glowing eyes.....turned back.....AND EFFORTLESSLY JUMPED DOWN THE HILLSIDE.....a huge jump.

2. SNAKES......I have probably encountered 50 + snakes in my lifetime..........just lost count. They are so numerous in the Indian sub-continent. Believe me, not a single one threatened me, except one. The one that did raise its head and hissed, was one guarding its eggs. And probably it was a cobra.....WAS SO SCARED DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO CHECK OUT.....beat a hasty retreat.

Believe me, snakes are harmless.......BUT BE AWARE.... Most sea snakes of India are poisonous..... So, do be careful while bathing ....

3. MONKEYS.....Very funny. Mainly 2 types - one is the black faced LANGUR, other is the red-faced RHESUS... The langur is the noble monkey, it rarely attacks humans......It is much bigger than the red-faced though. Most interesting to watch is their HEAD or CHIEFTAIN......this guy sits on guard, quite visibly, even when you can't see others.

2 of my friends have gotten bitten by the red ones. One of them, a perpetually drunk guy, was dancing to some Hindi film songs in front of one. His dancing irritates most of us humans, no wonder the monkey didn't like it ......

4. SCORPIONS.........