Where in Delhi?

This morning I trekked my way to Bhardwaj Lake, hidden deep within the premises of Asola Wildlife Sanctuary. Exploring this Sanctuary was on my wish list for a while now and finally I accumulated guts to drive 40 kms to this spot and then trek 5 kms on foot to reach this Lake. My efforts were worthy indeed as the site of this lake and the peace of its surroundings were overwhelmingly soothing.

I attach the google route below for people interested. 

Preferred sesson - winters. 

preferred time - morning :-)

 

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Lansdowne: 5 frames of tranquility

One of the best sunrises that I have ever witnessed was at Lansdowne.

Credited to be the nearest hill station from Delhi, the town wont have the typical touristy attractions. However it has peace in abundance. A cantonment town, Lamsdowne offers a welcome weekend break from Delhi. Much of the towns attractions (St. Mary's Church, few temples) can be wrapped up on a uphill walk to one of the viewing points called 'Tip n Top' view. This view point offers a spectacular view of the valleys beneath.

However the real fun is when you get up 5 in the morning amidst chilling winds and start your trek to this view point to see the sunrise. I did the same. The trek straight from the bed seemed two fold difficult. Slowly, i had to shed extra layers of cloths I had on me. I remember I was almost breathless when I reached on top, but it was the view that took my breath away. 

This experience made me realize how beautiful and special each new day is...

Good eye for the sky....

Monsoons are round the corner. Once more sky will host an exhibition of numerous abstract art and paintings. I am ready to play the reporter :-)

Miksang @Workplace

Even my workplace is on move!

Sounds exciting, isn't it? But its just the campus move really. However it gave me a good reason to look at the place with a good contemplative eye for a while in order to come up with a photoblog dedicated to it. here is the link to the flickr slideshow...

http://www.flickr.com//photos/83547016@N06/sets/72157630759226664/show/

A Search in Secret India – Book Review

At last his lips open and he says gently:

“You say I. ‘I want to know.’ Tell me, who is that I?”

Puzzled, I point a finger towards myself and mention my name.

“And do you know him?”

“All my life!” I smile back to him.

“But that is only your body! Again I ask, ‘Who are you?’”

- Excerpt from Paul Bruntun’s conversation with Maharishi

For westerners, India has always been the most sought after destination for seeking the spiritual. The mystical essence of India and far advanced exploration of consciousness has attracted many well known philosophers and high thinkers from all parts of west. When Paul Bruntun landed at Alexandra dock, Bombay, in early 1930s, he had a similar quest. But his intent differed in the sense that he not only wanted to seek the spiritual, but probe it as well.

This book is a search in secret India, secret in the sense that it examines India that had been hidden from the outer world for thousand of years. What resulted was a tale of remarkable spiritual adventure which Paul so elegantly chronicled in this book. The content of the book details his journeys to various corners of India in search of individuals with genuine spiritual insight. Amongst many people he came across, Paul describes some of the outstanding meetings in details. The book includes his interactions with yogis from north and south India, proclaimed sages and spiritual heads of various religions.

The remarkable thing about this book is the way these interactions have been presented to the reader. Being a thoroughbred journalist, Paul effectively uses his skills to probe the self proclamation of these sages and events with critical impartiality. However, he so efficiently succeeds in never judging an event and leaves it to the readers to take the final call.

Best travel stories are the ones which completes a circle and ends at home. Paul ultimately manages to get an end to his quest and find peace at Arunachala, with Sri Ramana Maharishi. The chapters which document his interactions with Maharishi are cult classics and cannot be justly praised in any reviews. This book holds the credit of enlightening the west about the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharishi. And its been widely known that the ideology highlighted in this book not only transformed Paul’s life forever, but have had similar influence on many others. Nearing the end of the book, Paul summarizes his experience from his journey, giving the book a superb metaphysical climax.

This book is a true travel classic and one of the greatest in the genre of spiritual travel.

Bye it, read it, absorb it and live it. This masterpiece by Paul explores infinite expenses of transcendental India that readers of any generation would find exciting to read.

In the midst of chaos

I was at Delhi Haat today. Perfect flavour of traditional and contemporary Indian culture permeated the market as usual. But I was not here to shop, I was looking for some offbeat clicks for my camera and off the several I clicked, this one seems to stand out. 

I never saw this statue alone. Even the first time I noticed it, it was in conjunction with the chaos around it. It immediately came to my mind that if I pick this statue of Buddha from the place where its sitting right now, its immediately going to loose its magnificence. I would not want to take the Buddha home and keep it on some quite corner of my house. The chaos at the backdrop actually accentuate the meditative pose of Buddha. As if he is reiterating one of his famous sayings..... CHAOS IS INHERENT IN ALL COMPOUNDED THINGS. STRIVE ON WITH DILIGENCE.

Now Delhi has a local friend.. :-)

I came across guys at www.rentalocalfriend.com trough one of the magazines articles about them. I was immediately fascinated by the idea that they have so successfully managed to spread across. The site provides a resource through which we can interact with appropriate local references while we are traveling and thereby explore the cities much in our own ways. To quote the website - "a different travel philosophy for everyone who wants to be a traveler, not a tourist".

It took me microseconds to decide that I want to be part of the RentALocalFriend's culture. Interestingly when I contacted Nathalia she told me that one of the prerequisites to be a local friend is to have a short welcome video of yours shot in your city. So here it goes....