ALLEGORY: A Tapestry of Guru Nanak’s Travels

In the borderless world of the 15th century people travelled distances to trade, rulers invaded to expand territories, and Nanak glided across the geographies to spread the message of Humanity. During his travels, Guru Nanak covered a large geographical tapestry which in the 21st century comprised of 9 nations: Pakistan,...

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Mirroring

  Two men, sleeping in front of the sleeping Buddha. Two merchants, sitting in front of the sitting Buddha. Two monks, praying in front of the praying Buddha.   Unknowingly, in thought and action, we end up emulating our role models. At the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon (Myanmar), I turned...

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Multitude of forms, yet no form

Multitude of forms, yet no form.   This simple philosophy holds the key to all inclusiveness. It has the power to make one focus on living a value based lifestyle, moving away from the un-thoughtful practice of anchoring on physical phenomena as the gateway to self-realization.   It was in...

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Siachen – “Land of Wild Roses”

  Descending from 19,000 feet to 12,000 feet, over a length of 70 km, Siachen glacier (“land of wild roses”) is the worlds highest battleground since the year 1984. India controls its entire glacial length, adjoining peaks and the three passes, which are the gateway between Karakoram and  Ladakh. On...

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Absurdity fuels creativity

In this world that is boxed in the path of replicating the actions of the masses, to look elsewhere is generally perceived as being ‘absurd’. However, it is in this absurdity of approaching a situation from an alternate angle where lies the essence of creativity!   In the caldera of...

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Mirror Mind

“Capture these moments”, exclaimed my wife, as we moved through Suru Valley in our journey towards Padum. I could sense the moment of disappointment when I chose not to pick the camera. I had a vision to showcase the beauty of Suru, not directly but through reflections in the still...

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Thirty years in search of General Zorawar Singh

Not all who wander are lost! Hundreds of human skeletons, some with frozen flesh attached to them, can still be found around Roopkund (16,500 feet), a remote glacial lake in the lap of Trishul massif in Himalayas. The presence of these skeletons was first discovered in 1942 by the Himalayan...

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Never without other

Bromo is a perpetual reminder that the beauty is transient and never without its other. Like any volcanic heap of earth, it is a story of fertility and death, tranquility and disaster.   A misty morning spent in tracing the tragic in the serenity of the Indonesian highlands reminded me...

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Humps of Nubra

The journey from Singapore to Leh (Ladakh, India) meant going from sea level to 3,505 metres in less than 24 hours. I had not had time to acclimatize and my heart was pumping hard to maximize the intake of every molecule of oxygen in the rarefied air.     Early...

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