A Heaven on Earth - The Story of a village.

Let me tell you the story of the most beautiful village that I chanced upon.

But I must admit I have not seen many a village. Though the place I grew up is described by the city dwellers as a village,but its actually an industrial town. Even after marriage I live in places many describe as village. But they are not the traditional villages. The picture that comes to our mind when we say village is quite different and I think I am fortunate enough to see one such among many.

It so happened while we were returning from The Limestone Cave in the Baratang Island of the Andaman Islands the young guide, the boatman realised its becoming a little tough for me to walk such a long stretch through the ups and downs of the forest. So he decided to take me through a short route, in silence, no one must know or else they might follow and break the silence and peace of the village. And I thought I was the lucky one,the chosen one .

That's our guide leading me through the village. The beautiful bamboo fences of the gardens and we making our way through them.

A closure look at the fence.

And now the house. We call them the hut. Beautiful with its thatched roof, mud walls or of bamboo strips. Perhaps not much space inside. Simple people living with minimum needs. Cloths drying in the courtyard. And betel nuts   drying in the sun. Two men were sitting outside ,doing some work,as I passed through.

A closure look into the hut and you will realise they are not even that strong. A strong wind and they can just be blown away.

Perhaps a small family stays here. A father ,mother,children,may be, and some old people. The population of this village is very less with only a few houses. Life is simple but not easy. Means of communication is only boat as it is surrounded on all sides by water and as the guide said,he had seen crocodiles basking in the sun in the paddy field. God bless me, did not meet one of them on my way, or else I would have made a great lunch for them.

This beautiful place will always remain in my heart for ever. A piece of heaven on earth. Perhaps the abode of God. Surrounded by Nature's gift. And when my body and soul is tired I would wish to rest here a bit.

Our Country Mourns.

Today is an extremely sad day in the history of our country. 42 CRPF personals were killed in the worst ever terrorist attack in the Pulwara district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Our country has passed through many sad phases and this is perhaps one in recent times. Few months back there was another attack on the military personals in the place named Uri of J&k, which our country retaliated with a surgical strike. We all thought this would be fruitful, there would be no more terrorist attacks, no people would die in the hands of terrorists.But we were so wrong.

What has become of our heaven, Jammu and Kashmir, J&K, the most beautiful place in our country! I visited with my father when I was so young. Had a wish to show this piece of heaven on Earth to my children. But it seems this will remain a dream.

And the thing which bothers me the most is the battle of words going on after this. Our country ,it seems, is divided between two groups of people. Some want immediate revenge, an attack on our neighboring country, once our part, and some want a diplomatic solution. I am among the second group of people.

 Does this make me less patriot?
 Does this make me a coward?

No, only that I care for the men of our armed forces. May be having  a son is the reason behind my softness. I don't want any one to die for us. They are our sons or husband or father of others. The don't deserve to be killed for the foolishness of our political leaders. Enough blood has already been spilt. Enough horror stories we have heard during our Kargil war. We can bear it no more. We can't afford to lose our sons anymore. Lecturing and declaring war with our mobile in hand is too easy a task. How can we even imagine what goes on in the mind of a soldier in the battle field?

I had my relatives in the air force, heard stories which no one would believe.
Once while travelling in a train with a soldier as a friendly passenger in my front seat, heard many a stories. No, it is not patriotism which drives these men to join army but its a job to maintain their families and they want to live, not die in the battlefield.

We call them Martyrs. We talk about their sacrifices. Are we hiding our incompetence behind the word Martyr? They are victims of a terror attack. And we must find out how and where we failed our soldiers. But logically. When our rages subsides.

Till then let us wait. Let us mourn our soldiers. Let us pay our tributes. Let us console the bereaved families.

And then let us strengthen ourselves.
Let us find our lapses.
Let us promise that we will not let any of our boys die this way.

" What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr' s cause has ever been stilled by an assassin's bullet. No wrongs ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not a hero,and an uncontrolled or uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness , not the voice of people."
Robert Kennedy.

Life, full of thorns.

Beautiful ,isn't it ! But full of thorns.
Just like life. Beautiful but full of hurdles.
We love to see the it, love to keep it in our home, love to touch it, feel it at times and it may leave you bleeding, painful can be  that experience of yours.

No ,this is not my home.
I found this in the verandah of a beautiful hotel, a hotel in the form of small cottages, had a lovely restaurant where we had a lovely lunch and a lovely garden and then in the middle of that long verandah this cactus.
Do you want to see the garden?

A big papaya plantation. How surprised we were! It looked so beautiful. And the trees were so short. Just stretch your hand and you can get a papaya. But you won't for sure. There was a board hanging. If you get caught for each papaya you will be fined ₹500. Funny, isn't it. Too much a risk for a papaya. And of course they were not personal consumption, must be for business.

And there were other flower plants too, but my eyes were stuck on first this papaya garden and then this cactus plant. Life , they represented. Vibrant, colourful, on one side, painful, full of sorrow and unending sufferings on the other. Happiness on one side, which can just vanish into the thin air.b

Twitter here ,you can say, represents life to certain extent. The joy it can give, meeting different people, experiences and the sorrow of being judged continuously. Backstabbing. Friendship with a purpose and so on and on.

 But actually you should not complain. In real life or here. It may be just your shortcoming , to identify the real person behind the mask.

So don't complain about life. In spite of its thorns , life is beautiful. It comes to us just once so let us enjoy the beauty of the flower saving ourselves from its thorns.