I am on my way from my temporary shelter in Delhi to the nearby park to find 'peace' in the smog covered environment. It is a fresh afternoon of cold December. The 'cold' is nowhere compared to what we witnessed 5-6 years ago, thanks to the climate change and rise in temperature. This is the same me who shouted 'looser-looser' for Sri-lankan cricket team in Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium when SriLankan players showed up on ground after wearing pollution masks.To be honest, I never wanted to project myself as 'anti-national' in the heated environment of the iconic stadium which witnessed nationalist activities like Anil Kumble taking 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan. People even went to the extent of calling spectators wearing pollution masks as 'anti-national' while they were just trying to save themselves from reduction in their lung capacity.
Anyways, on my route to the park what I am testimony to is, me leaving behind caravan of cars, buses and bikes creeping behind each other. Their pace is even slower than my walking pace. I almost survived the accident from a bike coming from behind on a footpath. Footpaths in Delhi have become 'bike-path' lately. I thanked God for saving me, also for the fact that I was not a part of caravan. But my mind rebelled to provide an account of a journey in which I was part of the caravan itself to find 'peace' of mind from such noisy and polluted environment. And we all know that no other place can provide us more peace and serenity than the mountains, at least for me.
Mountains are like fathers, we fear when we go close to them, to the top but despite of cold environment, we actually feel the warmth that they provide.As Ruskin Bond puts it in his book 'All Roads leads to Ganga' - "Mountains are stubborn, they refuse to move. You can blast holes out of them for their mineral wealth; or strip them for their trees and foilage; or dam their streams and divert their torrents; or make tunnels and roads and bridges; but no matter how hard they try, humans actually cannot get rid of these mountains."
Remembering this, I along with some of my friends decided to visit Dehradun and Dhanaulti. What I have heard of Dhanaulti is that it is the place where you can 'actually' find the peace.
We decided to opt for a bus to Dehradun and then a cab to Dhanaulti. Unknowingly, I became the part of one of the caravan which is running towards the mountains for peace. The expectations were huge as the objective was to find 'peace'. Even after a horrible bus journey which took 12 hour to reach Dehradun instead of 7-8 hours, we decided to let slip from memory all the issues as ultimately we will be getting peace out there. But, to our dismay, Dehradun was no less than Delhi. The beautiful town built bigger by Britishers is now filled with the same caravan. Without realising that I was among the one responsible for adding an atom in the already packed state of affairs, I felt bamboozled by the mother nature.
After visiting some places in Dehradun like Robber's cave, Sahastradhara, Y cafe(Its really good as people can play board games while having food), we decided to book Ola outstation cab for the next day to reach Dhalnaulti. We were finally enthusiastic that we will definitely find some peace in Dhanaulti. I woke up in the morning to find something which again destabilised whatever truce I have gained till now.
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Anyways, on my route to the park what I am testimony to is, me leaving behind caravan of cars, buses and bikes creeping behind each other. Their pace is even slower than my walking pace. I almost survived the accident from a bike coming from behind on a footpath. Footpaths in Delhi have become 'bike-path' lately. I thanked God for saving me, also for the fact that I was not a part of caravan. But my mind rebelled to provide an account of a journey in which I was part of the caravan itself to find 'peace' of mind from such noisy and polluted environment. And we all know that no other place can provide us more peace and serenity than the mountains, at least for me.
Mountains are like fathers, we fear when we go close to them, to the top but despite of cold environment, we actually feel the warmth that they provide.As Ruskin Bond puts it in his book 'All Roads leads to Ganga' - "Mountains are stubborn, they refuse to move. You can blast holes out of them for their mineral wealth; or strip them for their trees and foilage; or dam their streams and divert their torrents; or make tunnels and roads and bridges; but no matter how hard they try, humans actually cannot get rid of these mountains."
Remembering this, I along with some of my friends decided to visit Dehradun and Dhanaulti. What I have heard of Dhanaulti is that it is the place where you can 'actually' find the peace.
We decided to opt for a bus to Dehradun and then a cab to Dhanaulti. Unknowingly, I became the part of one of the caravan which is running towards the mountains for peace. The expectations were huge as the objective was to find 'peace'. Even after a horrible bus journey which took 12 hour to reach Dehradun instead of 7-8 hours, we decided to let slip from memory all the issues as ultimately we will be getting peace out there. But, to our dismay, Dehradun was no less than Delhi. The beautiful town built bigger by Britishers is now filled with the same caravan. Without realising that I was among the one responsible for adding an atom in the already packed state of affairs, I felt bamboozled by the mother nature.
After visiting some places in Dehradun like Robber's cave, Sahastradhara, Y cafe(Its really good as people can play board games while having food), we decided to book Ola outstation cab for the next day to reach Dhalnaulti. We were finally enthusiastic that we will definitely find some peace in Dhanaulti. I woke up in the morning to find something which again destabilised whatever truce I have gained till now.
Continue Reading >>
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