Farm Laws and the Farmers

I am not a blind follower of any political ideology. I have vocally supported Narendra Modi as Prime Minister in 2014 as his agenda was development. And on exactly those lines, I had supported implementation of GST and digitalisation of money. But I have also criticised Modi and his government for his silence on Hindu hard-line statements and their stand on CAA.

Image source: Firstpost

When the farmers started protesting, I started reading the new farm laws to understand what was wrong with them… Three new laws, passed hastily and in open defiance of parliamentary norms, were bound to spark off agitation. I realized that there were many aspects of the bills which would increase difficulty of the farmers. I believed that land lease provisions might result in loss of autonomy for farmers and their right to grow different crops (which might be corporate controlled); Minimum Support Price (MSP) should be expressly mentioned as it is a very important aspect in getting farmer’s their rightful price; putting the onus of grain storage solely on the farmer or the corporate (private hands) might lead to excess hoarding and malpractices; and corporate and MNCs being purely business models, with no care for ecological balance, soil fertility concerns, water paucity and fauna in agricultural ecosystems, might encourage agricultural malpractices such as monoculture agriculture resulting in poor gene pool and loss of vigorous, loss of pest resistance which lead us to famine like conditions. These were my concerns with the new bill and therefore I stood by the farmers.

I truly admired the peaceful and calm protests by the farmers and their grit and resilience as they stood out there in the biting cold and chill in the midst of rains, hailstorms et al; and I would every morning say a little prayer for them as the agitating farmers showed no signs of fading away. Angry cultivators have been camped on the doorstep of Delhi for weeks now through north India's bitingly cold winter, in tents and camps far away from their homes in a battle for their rights. 

Having said that, I have to admit that the government was more forthcoming than I expected them to be (especially considering the recent examples of CAA and student protests). They were open to negotiations - which I initially thought was just a perfunctory gesture of trying to resolve a situation out of their hands and a movement gaining widespread support. The government looked rattled and did concede to some of the concerns of the farmers. That was something I had not expected, not from Modi government with their image of no-nonsense dictatorship style of implementation of laws. And yet the farmers unrelentingly continued to protest, now stuck on the demand of repealing the entire laws. 

Personally, I do believe that the old laws are archaic and farm reforms are required. They may not entirely be the same as the new farm laws but barring few provisions, some progressive outlook on this highly ignored aspect of the economy is required. The farmers, however, want a total and immediate repeal of the laws passed last year. The farmers camped out near Delhi, however, are campaigning against a whole slew of reform measures, both real and imagined. For example, they want the government to guarantee that the current system of state-run procurement of rice and wheat will continue indefinitely - even though it hasn't even been threatened yet. The farmers recognize they have got the government playing defence. There are cracks even within the ruling establishment. After all, the ruling party's parent organization, the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has never been sold on the whole "market economy" idea. The farmers are now using the voice of dissent both inside and outside the government to further their agenda. 

Still, it's remarkably disappointing that the government seems willing to roll back some of its most substantial reforms to date because of the vocal opposition of the country's most heavily subsidized and richest agricultural producers. I do feel they should have held a firm ground on a few things they capitulated on. I am starting to feel that the government has gone a bit overboard to bring the farmers to their side. It has, for example, agreed to protect farmers' access to free electricity. This is not just unaffordable; it also holds back the modernization of India's power sector and thus the growth of renewable energy. The government has also promised to not go after the farmers who burn agricultural waste - a major contributor to air pollution across India's northern plains, home to almost all of the world's most unhealthy cities. 

Coming now to what happened yesterday, the Modi detractors might say that media is selectively showing footage but the truth is that whatever has been shown on the TV is shameful and scary and even if it is merely 10% of what happened, then too it is condemnable. A religious flag was hoisted yesterday at the Red Fort and even if the mast was empty at that time, it goes against the principles of Secularism. It is ironically disheartening that this was done on the Republic Day, a day that celebrates the sacred Constitution of India which promotes Secularity. A Heritage Property was ravaged; public property was damaged; service and armed forces were attacked; and moreover, the children and civilians who participated in the Republic Day celebrations were stranded in the cold without food and amenities for 7 long hours - all of this in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. The 'foodgods' of India had put their country to shame on a day when the entire world was watching us.

I am still with the farmers as long as they listen to the sound of reason. Modi government had in 2015 too attempted to strengthen the government's powers to acquire farmland but eventually had to roll back the same, following noisy objections led by the political opposition. Objectively, those land-acquisition laws were as regressive as the new agricultural reforms are progressive. Hence, in my opinion, these farm laws should not be dismissed without giving them a due consideration. Just like the farmers weed out the weeds and invasive species from their land and retain what is productive, the same needs to be done with these laws. 

Disclaimer: These are my personal views which I was compelled to write down after the condemnable Red Fort episode and the ensuing violence yesterday. I am aware that the popular view might differ. I choose not to debate and will not respond to any comments. Anyone who tends to have a problem with my views may please feel free to unfollow me.

Earth Day 2020 - Let the Earth heal!

Image source: Google Image Search

One thing is certain... The nature heals itself. A few weeks of lockdown and the earth is returning back to its old glory light-speed. People have seen and they are posting pics of clear blue skies during the day and sparkling stars during the night. A few nights ago, I and my teenage daughters stood outside watching constellations in the sky. She confessed that she was seeing the Orion, the most easily spotted constellation for the first time in her life... FOR THE FIRST TIME... It struck me because it was a very common passtime for us as kids to stand on the terrace and watch constellations and joke how an Orion could even be imagined as a hunter. But a teenager today was able to spot it for the first time. She had never seen the pole star so bright, something we couldn't even dismiss as a kid.

And why just the sky? We are receiving beautiful pics of clean rivers like Ganga and Yamuna; of clean Venice Canals; of Dolphins visible near Italian beeches; of beautiful clean waters near Goan beeches. We see all kinds of birds chirping in our gardens now, thriving among empty parks and open spaces. And today it has been just one month of closure of factories. The air quality had jumped 4 levels on the index within the first week itself, from "Very Unhealthy" (scale 5 out of 6 levels) to "Moderate" (scale 2 out of 6 levels). One can feel the difference when they breathe out in the open already.

The truth is that no matter how many environment friendly policies we make; how many vehicle emission standards we draft; we will never be able to fully heal the environment unless we give up our selfish economic motifs. The governments of the nations are drafting "Sustainable Development Goals" - which includes goals around climate and environment among others - with a deadline of year 2030 which, going by the current progress, most countries are likely to miss or achieve only on papers; led by some of the most developed nations. And yet we now know that we may not even need the governments to draft special policies to save the environment, to clean the rivers or reduce pollution. We just need to leave the environment alone for a few weeks at a stretch and halt our economic activities during this time to help it revive.

But then I am reminded of the movement carried out by Greta Thunberg who rightly claims that the selfish economic gains of humans are killing the environment. And the leaders are only supporting them with their policies. Today, on "Earth Day", I wonder whether the world leaders will ever have the guts to decide that every year for few weeks, we will chuck all economic and financial motifs and move into complete lockdown, not to counter some virus, but rather to let earth rest, heal and revive. Maybe not, but if only!

Choked!

The Supreme Court had recently banned the sale of fire crackers this Diwali and many people had hailed it as an attack on the Hindu religion. Now that we have actually landed where we did not want to land, I would like to ask these learned friends of mine whether Hindus are able to breathe better than Muslims today or vice versa?

Delhi and Gurgaon are choked right now. Pollution is killing us, our family and our children. We are literally breathing in smoke but all our government can do is close school or change the school timings. For how long? And is the air in our homes any better? My heart especially goes out to people whose jobs keep them out of doors like policemen, security guards, gardeners, field executives, etc.

Again, burning paddy chaff is banned by the Supreme Court and again no one is following the order, much like Diwali crackers. Moreover, when it comes to farmers, the government turns a blind eye not willing to irk their vote bank. Someone told me that there are limited alternatives for the farmers and those that are, are really costly and beyond their purchasing power. Maybe he is right, but they are costly and unaffordable for the farmers but not for the country and the government; especially when millions of people are choking to a slow death. 

Let's face it, we are in a state of emergency. We really need extreme measures, both to tackle the problem right now facing us as well as a sustainable solution. My daughter and her class mates are doing a project around how to make Gurgaon a sustainable city. They have listed down some solutions and they will be handing it over to the concerned authorities. But is there even a willingness to implement these? What about us civilians? Do we understand our responsibilities? I see people cribbing about the air quality but I don't see people opting for car pools, shutting down air conditioners, planting trees, etc. To add on to it, everyone is now buying air purifiers which again run on electricity and essentially mean more carbon imprint. 

This is the image of NH8 (Delhi - Jaipur Expressway) on Wednesday at about 7 pm. You are supposed to be able to see a bright moon there, just slowly receding into a crescent shape; only if we would be able to see. The visibility is at a minimum, only a few meters. There is supposed to be a sign board here right in front of me. I can barely see the street lights. Thankfully, the marking on the sides signifying the corner of the road are visible although nothing beyond that is. This actually looks like a road to hell. Are we heading into our doom?

© Photo Nishtha Khurana, 2017. All Rights Reserved.

Odd-even Formula is good for Delhi: 'For the motion' and 'Against the motion'

Just as Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s ambitious "odd-even" formula, aimed at reducing pollution and traffic congestion in Delhi, began its second run on the 15th of April, a friend reached out to me to help her daughter write a 3-minute long debate piece on "Odd-even Formula is good for Delhi". Interestingly, she first prepared her speech for the motion. Later, when she made it to the next round, she was asked to prepare her speech against the motion.

Since I helped her with both and since odd-even formula is up and running again, I thought why not share both the debate pieces here. So here we go:

*****

Debate piece 'for the motion':

The heart of India, Delhi, is reaching new heights - this time, however, it is breaking all records in increasing pollution levels and decreasing air quality. According to a WHO survey of 1600 cities, Delhi has the worst air quality of all major cities of the world. Actually, you don't even need to look at surveys to gauge the deteriorating condition. Just step out on the busy roads of Delhi and you can easily feel first-hand what that means. There are no two views about the fact that we need really urgent and drastic steps to control the situation.

The Delhi government introduced one such measure to immediately counter the Delhi Pollution - the now famous odd-even formula. What this means is that one is only allowed to drive cars with odd registration numbers on odd dates of the month and even registration numbers on even dates of the month.The whole idea was to cut down the number of cars on Delhi Roads by almost half at any given point of time. The intention was two folds:

     (1) Cut down on fuel emissions of cars; and

     (2) De-congest Delhi roads.

The odd-even formula that was implemented in January achieved stupendous success on both counts. Of course, there were reservations. You are already hearing the words of my dear friend who is putting his/her  heart and soul in trying to convince you that the formula is useless. But even they would have to admit that they saw near empty roads in Delhi probably first time in their life. Can you even imagine reaching our school all the way from Gurgaon in 25 minutes flat? Yes, my friends, my mom actually achieved that feat during the odd-even formula. As to air quality during the formula days, all surveys proved that ambient air pollution came down. You will at least believe the numbers?

Also, you will definitely agree with me that there were scores of other benefits achieved during the formula days. People went all out to use public transports, car pools, share cabs. They made friends, interacted more with others and in general fostered friendships and happiness. Moreover, people showed amazing discipline and patience. Now aren't these qualities we would like to encourage more and more? They also learnt the importance of environment friendly travelling like using the metro, opting for CNG cars instead of Petrol and Diesel, etc.

As for arguments of inconvenience and security of women, I think that the government itself had included all necessary provisions of exemptions to need any further discussion on the same.

Honestly friends, I am now looking forward to the next round of odd-even formula in April so as to again be able to breathe freely and relax. I am sure you all must be just as eager as me.

*****

Debate piece 'against the motion':

The heart of India, Delhi, is reaching new heights - this time, however, it is breaking all records in increasing pollution levels and decreasing air quality. It is true that pollution is at its peak in Delhi. According to a WHO survey of 1600 cities, Delhi has the worst air quality of all major cities of the world. It's high time we all did something about it before the situation gets out of control.

The Delhi government introduced an extreme measure to tackle the pollution, namely, the odd-even formula, where one is only allowed to drive cars with odd registration numbers on odd dates of the month and even registration numbers on even dates of the month. No matter how noble the intentions of the Delhi government and no matter how much my dear friend tries to convince you, the fact is that the plan was an absolute failure. All the analysis show that the air pollution levels, instead of improving, worsened during the 15 days. The web-portal 'IndiaSpend' shows that the air pollution levels had reached "severe" on 11 out of 15 days and were on the level "very poor" on remaining 4 days.

The reasons were simple: There were exceptions granted to two-wheelers which are the biggest source of pollution in Delhi. Moreover, women drivers too were allowed to drive all vehicles on all days which diluted the purpose. And, to top it all, they supplemented the shoddy public transport system with old and school buses which anyway were affecting pollution levels negatively. And they cannot shut down schools every time naturally.

The only positive effect was de-congestion of roads, which albeit was a temporary phenomenon. In case, odd-even formula becomes permanent or even frequent, this effect will diminish as people will adjust their behaviours accordingly. For example, they will buy second-hand old cars instead of new cars because they will then get to choose the registration numbers - if you already have even, buy odd and vice-versa. Older cars tend to pollute more. Then again, who knows there comes a thriving black market of CNG stickers. Also, it is a drain on public money. The government spends crores on advertisements and arranges traffic personnel and 'volunteers'.

There are many examples of odd-even formula being implemented in countries like China, Cuba, Mexico, etc. But, it may have shown results temporarily but nowhere has it been successful in the long run.

What Delhi needs are concrete permanent measures like dedicated green areas, special encouragement to battery and electric modes of transport, better public transport, etc. and not some mathematical formula that adds and multiplies woes for its citizens rather than reducing pollution.

*****

Which view do you agree to? Would you like to add to the arguments?

Moulding our children right

A few days ago, I was travelling in the Delhi Metro. It’s not very often that I do so and this particular time the metro was jam packed and I almost felt crushed. And when you have a long route to cover you either read something, play with your phone or when there’s no seat and no space to move, you end up observing people around you. So, while I stood dwindling with the flow of the metro, two ladies and a small girl of 8-9 years sat in front of me. Almost instantly the girl asked one of the ladies for something to drink. The lady irked a bit at being disturbed between her gossip ritual, quickly opened her bag and gave her a glass with a lid. The kid opened the lid and drank some sips of buttermilk. She sat there with the glass in her hand until there was a jerk. Out splashed a few drops of buttermilk and they would have landed right over me had my reflexes not worked super-fast to move away my foot. She looked at me for a few minutes as did the two ladies. But none of them apologized. She then closed the lid and handed the glass back to the lady. The mother quickly kept it in her bag and continued talking about her mother-in-law to the other lady. After a few minutes the kid whispered something else in her mother’s ears, apparently for something to eat. Now, had I been in the same situation, I would have explained to my daughter, who incidentally is the same age, that eating and drinking is not allowed in the Delhi Metro. But not this lady. She was too keen on not being disturbed by her little girl’s banter. So, she candidly took out a whole packet of candies and handed it over to the girl. First candy went into her mouth and the wrapper landed right next to my feet. In a minute, the second candy and its wrapper followed the same route. Next moment when the third candy came out, I politely said to the girl, “Beta, this little bag that you are carrying… Why don’t you put the wrappers in that and throw them in the dustbin when you get off?” The child looked at me cluelessly while the mother glared at me as if marvelling at my audacity. “Metro aapke baap ki hai?” she asked me rudely. “Nahin sabki hai!” I answered coolly. “Vaise bhi metro mein khaana-peena mana hai. Fine bhi hai.” Luckily for me the three ladies next to me were by now staring at the lady. So, she chose not to inflate the issue, took the candies from her daughter and said audibly, “Rakh le beta, logon ko yahaan bekaar mein problem ho jaati hai.” A few steps from me a lady, must be my age, had been munching on a packet of Kurkure. She pretended not to hear the conversation but acted as if she was satiated and folded the half-eaten packet and kept it inside her bag. An elderly lady and I noticed and exchanged a smile. 

I was also reminded of a similar incident about an year and a half back. My mother and daughter were to arrive at Delhi from Mangalore and the train was late. So, I was waiting at the Nizammudin Railway Station platform for almost an hour. A group of people consisting of at least four couples and as many children somewhat in the age group of 5 – 15 years occupied a nearby bench. While the men stood at a distance, the ladies were seated on the bench with luggage lying next to them and children chatting, playing and circling around them. The entire one hour that I stood there, the ladies and the kids were munching on junk and throwing wrappers around them. Every now and then, one of the kids would go to the nearby kiosk and get a few packets of namkeen and they would open and pass them around. I noticed a huge dustbin attached to the bench where they were sitting and one next to the kiosk too. In fact there were many of them all around us, at every few steps. I also noticed huge signs all around requesting people to throw the waste in the dustbins. Yet these kids and mothers just threw all the wrappers on the floor right where they were sitting and eating. After noticing them for about 45 minutes, my patience gave up and I walked over to the two-three kids nearby and asked, “Beta, why don’t you throw the waste in the dustbin? There’s one right next to you. Is that not what you are taught in school?” They all suddenly fell silent and the ladies’ chatter halted for a minute. A little girl retreated to her mother and I continued to look at the face of a boy who must have been around 14-15 years old. He did not challenge me but looked affronted. He did not pick a wrapper and instead kicked the one next to his feet towards the dustbin. The kids who did not bat an eyelid while throwing that stuff on the floor, suddenly felt it beneath them to pick it up and throw it in the dustbin. My point was made and I stepped back as they murmured amongst themselves about me while jerking their heads. The girl who had retreated to her mother, now ran towards her father and recounted what happened, supposedly in a whisper but loud enough for phrases to travel all the way and reach my ears. As she pointed a finger towards me, her father looked at me even as I stood at a distance and looked at him and his daughter. “Theek toh keh rahi hain Aunty. School mein sikhaate hain naa?” he asked and he came forward and picked one single wrapper and threw it in the dustbin even as all others continued to lie around their feet. 

In both these incidents, I couldn't help thinking how I would have taught my daughter differently and acted out the situation in another way. But, surprisingly, not many parents realize how important it is to supplement the textbook information about good conduct in the live environment. The kids learn in school about keeping their environment clean, saving electricity and water, respecting elders, following rules, not hurting animals, etc. but how will they retain it when the daily conduct of people around them is absolute opposite? I have very consciously changed my conduct ever since my daughter was born. I make sure she puts waste aside and throws it in the dustbin; she stands at a distance when someone is using an ATM, talking on a counter like ordering food etc.; we never break traffic rules, pluck plants, throw stones at cows or dogs, etc.; and always observe Earth Hour. My daughter often questions me, “Nobody else is doing this. Why us?” and my reply is very simple, “Because we must ensure that we are at our best behaviours and we do the right thing even if others don’t.” But the fact remains that many parents don’t follow the same logic. 

I do believe that parents should mould their kids well right from the start, including 

1. Teaching good manners: ‘Please’, ‘Sorry’ and ‘Thank you’ are the very basics which parents should practice as well as preach. Giving your seat to a more needy person; offering what you are eating to others around you; being courteous to guests; and putting other family members before yourself. These are general virtues kids learn at home. 

2. Teaching empathy: Little gestures about talking politely to the cleaning lady and the restaurant waiter helps. Children are always observing. Keep a bowl of water for the birds. They would like that we are helping the birds in the summers. It’s a good idea to include your kids in a kind gesture like charity. They will learn well even with small steps. 

3. Teaching equality: In today’s world, we all love our sons and daughters well and it’s a common saying that “we are bringing up our daughter like our son.” We teach our young daughters about good touch, bad touch and elder ones about what all to do to keep oneself safe. How many parents talk to their sons about consent? Also, are all of us 100% sure that the environment in our home gives equal respect and place to the men and women in the house or are women, though not openly disrespected maybe, always take second priority after the husbands and fathers? If so, we are unconsciously making them believe that the males are more important than females and that the latter have to adjust to accommodate former. 

4. Teaching respect: Kids will not learn how to respect others until the parents do not respect their elders AND their kids. My parents always referred to us as “Aap” and never “Tu” or “Tum”. Me and my sisters are following the same with the next generation and I hope they learn about respect the same way we did. 

5. Teaching discipline: Like I said above, following traffic rules; following school rules; maintaining a decent distance in queues; not disturbing neighbours in cinema halls; following a routine like early to bed and early to rise; all these and more will help them grow up as more responsible children. 

I’m not saying that all parents nowadays are not aware of their responsibilities towards their children, but maybe a culture has been ingrained deeply in us where we do not follow what we preach. Like they say, “Everyone talks about leaving a better planet for our kids. How about leaving better kids for our planet?” 

Lost Generation!!

To heaven and back!

I recently had the good fortune to visit Kashmir, in particular Srinagar with day trips to Pahalgam and Gulmarg infused in between. It was a short trip - mere 4 and half days - but I bring back with myself memories to last a lifetime.

Initially, we were scared to go to Kashmir. Well, my mother was worries because a lot has been heard about the political tensions in Kashmir and we were a bunch of female travellers only: just me, my mom and my 7 year old daughter, Kashvi. But, that was not my worry at all. I had heard a lot about tourists visiting Srinagar and coming back to tell awesome stories. My cause of worry was the weather. I had seen snowstorms earlier when I had lived in Europe and had absolutely no interest of seeing another. I hate the snow after it stops snowing and becomes all messy and sludgy. But, my mom and daughter had never experienced snow ever in their lives. So, I thought, as long as flights are operating, we would go. Besides Kashvi was just so excited about it and had informed all her teachers and friends, I didn't feel like breaking her heart .

So, we landed amidst snow and headed straight for our houseboat which we had pre-booked for our stay in Srinagar. Reaching the houseboat was an experience in itself because the one chosen by us was not on the bank but rather on the other side of the lake. So, we had to take a Shikara every time we had to reach or leave the houseboat. The houseboat was beautiful. It had intricate carvings on the wooden frames, doors, windows, etc. The interiors were done in traditional Kashmiri style with beautiful carved Walnut furniture, Kashmiri carpets, and Kashmiri chain stitch curtains. We received a very warm welcome from the owner, who welcomed us with the traditional Kashmiri Kehwah (a famous green tea with cardamom, cinnamon, honey / sugar and saffron) and explained to us that shoes are to be taken off outside as this maintains hygiene inside. We were then shown into our room, which had a double and a single bed, a dressing table, a couch and coffee table, all in the same style as the rest of the furniture on the boat. We were mesmerized.

After refreshing and a light breakfast, we left the houseboat for a Shikara ride. We chose to take the Shikara all the way from Nigeen Lake, where our houseboat was, to the Jetty at Nehru Park area in Dal lake instead of fixing hourly rates and touring at random. It took us close to 2 hours and it was by far the most picturesque experience of our trip. The lake was not only serene and calm; it gave us awesome sights of the interiors of Kashmir. The snow-capped mountains made breathtakingly beautiful mirror images in the lake. The Shikara owner explained that it was only in this season that it is possible to row on this route because as soon as the flower season starts, the lake would be covered by the water lilies and lotuses and it would not be possible to row in the interiors of the lake. The Shikara rides would then be restricted to the main Dal lake area known as Dal gate which is frequented by the tourists.

The next day, we decided to leave the houseboat and shift to a hotel. Despite its grandeur and beauty, houseboats are not very comfortable especially when you are travelling with kids. The interiors are extremely cold in the colder season as you are directly over water and the houseboat is made of only wood which does not have 100% insulation. Besides the electricity is deficient and even if it's there, the voltage is meagre and the appliances don't work (in our case, there was a heater in the room but it was not working despite a generator). After spending about half a day in searching a good hotel in the Dal gate area with the lake view plus centralized heating facility and decent comforts, we spent the other half in exploring the Mughal Gardens of Shalimar and the Nishat Gardens. Personally I feel that they, although beautiful were in need of severe maintenance. The plants were well tended to I assume considering that the flower beds were all toiled and the grass was cut. But the infrastructure like the fountains, pillars, etc. were close to shambles. It was not the flower season so we missed the beauty the valley is famous for, but there were areas of fresh untouched snow and my daughter loved playing in the same. We had come to know of a three day curfew in Srinagar owing to some unfortunate clash between locals and security forces resulting in the death of a local boy. But, we were surprised to see that the same was so efficiently managed by the security forces to result in the least discomfort possible to tourists. As a tourist, we did not once feel the impact of the curfew except the minor obstruction of not being able to undertake any shopping in the main city and instead being restricted to the markets around dal gate and other tourist areas in the outskirts.

The third day of our visit was devoted to Pahalgam. We saw the Saffron, Almonds and Walnut fields and the willow orchids en-route our way to Pahalgam. There were numerous shops selling saffron and dry fruits as well as cricket bats made of willow wood (considered to the best cricket bats in the world). There were also many units manufacturing these cricket bats. We stopped at one of the shops selling saffron and dry fruits and drank one of the best Kehwah (garnished with almonds) we had during the entire trip. We also purchased some to bring back home. We reached Pahalgam in about three-hours, an enjoyable journey to say the least. It was a bright sunny day and although we were told that Pahalgam at that hour was reeling under zero degrees, we didn't really feel the chill thanks to our warm coats and jackets. Besides we had been prudent enough to rent rubber boots so as to be able to walk on the cottony snow. From Pahalgam, one needs to hire a pony to go further in the interiors, more so because there was about four feet of unseasonal snow in Pahalgam that day. It was quite an experience. We saw the Lidder Valley, Kashmir Valley, Baisaran, and Kanimarg (also known as the Betaab Valley since the Sunny Deol - Amrita Singh starrer movie Betaab was shot there). We got off our ponies at Baisaran and Kashvi got a chance to play in real snow for the first time ever. She bombarded me with snowballs and we made a snowman together. Right from slipping down on the snow to narrowly avoid being hurt by a speeding sledge to helping her pony drink water from a small stream of melting snow, Kashvi had a whale of a time. On our journey back, me and my mom were audience to hours of imaginative stories by my darling daughter about herself and her white pony whom she had christened 'Snowy'. She had talked to 'Snowy' sweetly during the whole ride and had stroked her neck and was absolutely convinced that 'Snowy' loved her and would remember her forever.

Again, next day, we ventured outside Srinagar and visited Gulmarg. The weather was gloomy and raining but we thought we would go ahead with the hope that it would improve during the day. They say in Kashmir that "Kashmir's weather is like Mumbai's fashion... changing by the minute". In fact, we did ourselves saw the sudden changes when it was raining one minute and suddenly within seconds the rain had stopped and it was suddenly sunny but unfortunately it lasted only about five minutes after which it started to rain again. So, we again drove to picturesque farms for an hour to reach Tangmarg. Until Tangmarg, there was hardly any snow on our way. Instead we saw beautiful houses with tilted hut shaped roofs and green lawns. We passed villages inhabited by fair faced people with beautiful features and glowing pink cheeks. The terrain was flat and not hilly considering that Gulmarg houses the world's highest Cable Car, the Gondola. In Tangmarg, we were bombarded with people offering to take the services of a guide or helper, which we politely refused. Some of these people told us that owing to sudden snow, Gulmarg's Gondola, is open only till stage 1 and will not go further to stage 2 (from where you can actually look down at the LOC and the mountains falling in Pakistan occupied Kashmir). We were also told that there is approximately 6-8 feet snow and the temperature is sub-zero so much so that our snug coats and jackets will be of little help there. So, we again rented rubber boots and warm oversized jackets with extra fur coating inside to wear over our existing jackets and coats. We then hired another taxi to take us over to Gulmarg. The way further was steep and had to waded through snow-scraped narrow roads, so the taxis that could go up were the ones which had heavy iron chains tied over the tyres of their rear wheels. Once we reached Gulmarg, there was a further quarter to two kms stretch to be covered either on foot or on a snow sledge to reach the starting point of Gondola. We chose to take the sledge considering we were not adept at walking over deep snow. There was shining white snow all around us, almost all of it was untouched as rows and rows of tourists just waded through the snow in one line and actually looked like little coloured ants on the huge white glimmering background. We stopped on the way to give a little breather to the sledge pullers and Kashvi took an opportunity to try her hands at skiing. Later, we when we boarded the Gondola, it was absolutely mesmerizing. The 10 minutes ride gave us a view to last a lifetime. We could see fir trees, hundreds of meters tall; and small huts submerged in heavy snow so much so that we could only see just a few inches of the rim of their roofs. Occasionally, we could see a row of footprints or a row of ski-prints (is that actually a word?) and we would wonder who actually could manage to come up till this altitude. It was drizzling slightly when we boarded the Gondola but as we went higher and eventually got off the Gondola, the rain turned to snow. It was soft and pure and beautiful. Even the view around us was mesmerizing - pure, white and serene. The mount Apharbat could not be seen but we could see clouds floating around us. If there is a heaven, it was there and we witnessed it in person.

The return journey was eventful and consisting of heavy rains, flat tyres and scouting for replacement cabs. Eventually when we reached Tangmarg and later Srinagar, we were just too tired. The warmth of the hotel room was very much welcome and we busied ourselves by planning the next day. Early next day, we checked out of our hotel and went to Chashm-e-shahi. It is a beautiful garden housing a natural spring said to be having the ability to grant good health. But, honestly, by looking at the water, more so the way people were using it, we could not bring ourselves to disregard the dirty feet of the people inside the spring and the unhygienic plastic bottles and canisters immersed to collect and carry water; and drink it. So, we just explored the beauty around, got my daughter's picture clicked in the traditional Kashmiri outfit for a memoir, did a bit of shopping of jackets with traditional chain stitch embroidery and moved on. Then, we went on to see the Temple of Jayeshthadevi. We would have loved to go and pay respects at the Shankracharya Temple, but considering that one has to climb close to 300 stairs to reach there, we changed our mind (My mother is 58 years old; my daughter is 7 years old; and to be honest, I am not much of a climber / trekker myself). So, instead we went to the other not so popular temple. Now it turned out that this one too had about 100 stairs overall but then it was kind of a series of small temples with almost 25-30 stairs each. So, we got to rest while we paid our respects in each temple. And the surroundings were clean and beautiful and very well maintained. Also, since it's not a popular tourist spot, there were hardly any people around and we got the opportunity to explore it at leisure. It was almost appropriate that this had to be the last stop of our journey after which we headed straight to the airport for the evening flight.

Perseverance

Through the transformation of a tiny insect that once crawled to a brilliantly coloured creature that can fly, nature gently unfolds the message: 'Good things come to those who wait' and inspires us to persevere.

Follow the Light!!!

Today I came across a wonderful blog – Secret Pearls. This blog features beautiful articles / anecdotes of deriving inspiration or messages from Mother Nature to help solve some of everyday problems. Although I would be introducing the blog in my ‘list’, I would like to share one article from the same which I found exceptionally inspiring. Here it goes:

Summer has arrived in Australia but so have the flies! If you have ever been to Australia in the summer months, you would have noticed what a nuisance these flies can be. No matter how many times you shoo them away, they simply show no fear and lazily return to make themselves at home.

One such pesky fly made himself at home in a packet of almonds that lay open on my kitchen bench top. He had worked his way to the back of the packet and it was only after a few failed attempts to chase him out that I realised the fly was gravitating towards light. You see, the back of the packet was facing towards the bright, sunlit window in my kitchen. As soon as I realised this, I turned the packet around so that the opening faced the window and within seconds the fly was free.

This episode reminded me of a time when my family and I went to explore some caves which are situated about four hours drive away from where we live. Armed with only a torch and hard hat each, we were the only people in the cave at the time, except for a fly which had followed us in. Every time we turned our torches off to experience the thick, still darkness around us, we became aware of the fly’s frantic buzzing around our heads, searching for the light. We thought it rather amusing and told all our friends about the new friend we had made, who followed us all the way in and out of the cave.

Even in the darkest cave Mother Nature shares her wisdom with us. I became very aware of the importance of light in our lives; both light in the physical form and light in the spiritual form. I was pondering on some of the spiritual teachings I have heard relating to ‘following the light’ and was taken back to all my dark hours when I felt alone, sad or troubled. It was almost instinctual for me to follow the light.

I naturally gravitated towards ‘light’ sources such as a loving family member, a walk out in nature, lively music or enjoying a happy movie. I am very grateful that those two small pesky flies happened to come along to remind me to always gravitate towards love and happiness.

If you are experiencing the emptiness of darkness around you, remember life’s lesson about the fly and follow your instincts to a happier, loving life…

Follow the Light!

Go Green!!

My entry in the 'Go Green Competition': working time about 20 mins.

Do your tiny bit!!

Summer is here and its going to be equally harsh to the animals around us. Kindly do your tiny bit by keeping a bowl of fresh water out side your balcony or garden.

Roar India, Roar!!

This one is for the “Save our Tigers” campaign started by Aircel. I don’t think we would like to tell our kids about our national animal the way New Zealanders and Mauritians tell their kids about their national birds... High time we did something about it... They say that only 1411 tigers are left... I say: Nay, there are 1412… and would be 1413, if you ROAR!!!

Come! Join the roar for our national animal on the official ‘Save Our Tigers’ website!! http://www.saveourtigers.com/