I quite like WordPress’s daily writing prompt that came up on my home page. I’ll get straight to the prompt topic before I get distracted (as I usually do and start writing about something entirely off-topic) and so here’s a list of five things that I do for fun.
More often than not, we plan a perfect itinerary for our travels, spending enough time to detail out the routes, places to visit, accommodation, ticket bookings, etc. All this is to ensure a hassle free travel, surely. But sometimes fate is up to a mischief; we overlook a trivial detail and are up for something we didn’t plan.
It has been raining since past few days. Everyday the sky is gloomy and full of thick, angry-looking, stormy clouds. With no sunshine, the grey clouds break open in the evening, sometimes in the afternoon or morning even and then through the whole day, turning everything grey and cold.
This is how mornings in the Himalayan mountains look like. This is how the views outside your tent look like when you step out of it, after spending a night of nonstop snowfall, in the middle of nowhere (quite literally) oblivious to the gorgeous peaks and glaciers all around you.
I was very young when my parents along with some family friends had planned a visit to South India. Until then I had only seen that part of the country on maps. And of course, I had no idea then that I would eventually move for studies & work (& live – it’s been a decade now) in one of the cities down south.
Have you ever felt weak in the knees? Or had butterflies flutter in your tummy? I have! Yes, I’m talking about falling in love, even before you realize it. And no, I’m not talking about your regular love story, this one is a little different than most. It’s an affair of the heart that began unbeknownst to me and consumed me forever – a story of a deeper, emotional connection with the Himalayan mountains that changed something in me forever.
She looks at her reflection in the large wooden-framed mirror. Behind her the rain falls on the window, making a soft sound. It’s a grey, grey day – the girl in the mirror says. She sees a girl. A girl who loves words. A girl who loves to write. A girl who often gets lost in the world of beautiful words. A girl who stays up to write… yet, who finds it very difficult to express herself. And at times when she can’t, she so hates it and wants to run and hide.
“गहरी नीली शाम, सर्द बर्फीली हवा, बारिश की कुछ हलकी बूँदें कांगडी़ की ज़रा-सी आंच दूर बादलों से झांकते ऊँचे-ऊँचे पहाड़ कच्चे-पक्के ख्वाब-सा, ज्यादा-ज्यादा सच-सा, एक जहाँ हसीं-सा …”