Offbeat Spirituality

The favorite comedian of masses died yesterday. Like many others , I also thought it was just an act of fun and I'd soon find myself laughing at his newest gag. But it wasn't.  Can’t believe he’s not coming back.  I grew up watching Flop Show on DD and its subsequent reruns on all the major channels, and still loved it so much that I  downloaded  all its episodes. The enormous data meant I had to buy an additional hard disk, but Flop Show deserved it. I have quoted  dialogues from the show on  countless occasions, and still can't stop  breaking into laughter at the simplicity (but intelligence) of this brilliant human being who had the God-gifted talent to make everyone breezy. Jaspal Bhatti gave the gift of clever comedy to the Indian cinema. No person has ever inspired such creativity or set such high standards for this beautiful art. Our laughter originated from Jaspal Bhatti and hi...

Indian Army Kargil-Drass War Memorial Secluded terrain, long (unbroken) roads and clear blue sky – this is Laddakh – the lost paradise, no doubt. Here, on one side the wind makes you shiver as you regret not packing an extra jacket and on the other it leaves you breathless because of the altitude – a whooping 11570 feet above sea level.  On the outskirts, Leh is just like any other village but when you enter its boundaries, the modern town melts into a crumbling old city of timber and mud bricks. Indian Army Kargil-Drass War Memorial Indian Flag Reaching Leh by road for a first time traveler like me wasn’t easy. We took the Manali route because many said it’s more picturesque than the Srinagar-Leh road. And they were correct. The beauty of the mountains paired with endless waterfalls made the route amazing. We crossed Kullu , Manali , Solang Valley  and Rohtang  peacefully. The trouble started after we crossed Keylong  which is at the height of 10,000 f...

Barcha La Pass (Manali-Leh Highway) Like the days before, we began our journey early to make sure nothing misses our eyes due to sunset. The Manali-Leh highway is as amazing as you can possibly imagine. Here's an image of a small pond just below BarchaLa pass. Barcha La Pass  Sarchu Camps On the way to Leh When you come from Manali, the green mountains with green pastures of Rothang slowly pass you by and you find yourself in the company of the beautiful Chandra river. The drive is pleasant with scenic tiny villages. After you cross Jispa, get ready to meet the mighty Barcha La pass which remains in snow almost whole through the year, which makes it absolutely white with no distinction between the sky and the earth other than a tiny stretch of bump-less road. From here, we drove down from snowy mountain peaks to plain lands and reached Sarchu. Here, you can camp for a night and wake up to majestic mountains and scenic river running in a...