Trip to Gurudongmar

Gurudongmar Lake situated at an altitude of 17100 ft is one of the holiest lake in Sikkim,  having already been there once during the month of May , I was ready to explore it during the winter. We left Gangtok at around 10 am  which was pretty late, by the time we reached Chungthang  it was already 2:00 pm, we had to reach Thangu, the last village that provides accommodation. We reached Lachen at 4:00 pm, the rest of the gang  were having a great time, but I was worried,because I was the only one who knew how treacherous the road ahead was. We reached Thangu at around 6:00 pm , it was pitch-dark and snowing, I was worried sick about our accommodation, but the rest of the gang was busy discussing how they would not mind staying in the car for the whole night, I mean imagine sitting in a car at sub zero temperature I was getting irritated,  thankfully one of the lodge was open and they let us two room for the night which meant some of us had to share beds. Once the accommodation was confirmed even I could enjoy the snowfall and the cold cold weather. So cold that the water pipes and the drain pipes all had frozen. This should have warned me of what was to follow. After dinner there was nothing to do except go to bed as there is no electricity at Thangu. I can rightfully claim that it was the longest and most uncomfortable night of my life till date, cramped in a small bed with my sister unable to move , moving an inch meant letting in the cold air. We were left counting the minutes till dawn.

the surrounding hills

The morning was glorious, the surrounding hills were covered with snow, it was a sight to behold. We wanted to make an early start, that is when disaster struck , the fuel in our car had completely frozen and the battery was down. So much for making an early start, we were left trying almost everything to get the vehicle started, we even lit a fire below the fuel tank to melt the diesel. I was left feeling very guilty, because it was my brilliant idea to stay at Thangu, but then I had no idea that the temperature would go below -10 degree or that our driver was an amateur. Thankfully, one of the drivers  arriving with tourist from Lachen knew what to do, and so he helped us get the vehicle started. If not for him and the lady running the lodge, we would have had to return from Thangu itself. They did help us a lot.

Finally, we made our way to Gurudongmar, situated just 5 km away from the international border, it is a barren land, a cold desert inhabited by the army and the sheepherders, looking after their sheep and yaks.Though this was my second visit it still left me spellbound, the place is beautiful, its hard to imagine that a lake nestles  in such barren splendour.

The lake itself was frozen baring a part, it is said that a portion of the lake has been blessed by  Guru Padmasambhava , it never freezes even at the height of winter. The altitude and wind condition is such that its impossible for any one to stay there for a long time. After all the hardship we faced we were there just  for 20 mins , but it was worth all the trouble we faced.

Gurudongmar Lake

Every season has its own charm, but having visited Gurudongmar during winter as well as spring-summer, personally I prefer the summer months. The lake is absolutely blue and the route from Lachen to Thangu is covered with multitude of  flowers.

Lake during the summer months

I got a new phone

To get out of the monotony, that my life has become I decided to treat myself with something nice and exciting, so I went ahead and bought a new phone . I was contemplating buying an iPod  but my new Nokia 5800 works very well as a phone as well as a music player, and the free Sennheiser headphones is amazing, a  3.2 megapixel  camera and a nice look with touch screen makes it a great buy and also pocket friendly

 

“Bye bye, bye bye, and bye : Safin

“Bye bye, bye bye, and bye bye again”.  Thats Marat Safin saying bye to tennis and breaking thousands of hearts , including mine. No more staying up just to catch a glimpse of Marat, no more looking forward to a Safin tantrum, no more praying for his win,  tennis is not going to be the same again

Fisichella on Pole !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had never thought I’d get  to see this day ever, at least not in the near future. We have a Force India car on pole, how amazing. I always felt they were just there to make up the numbers. Though I doubt they will actually win the race, but what the heck, first pole must be enough reason for Mr. Mallya and co. to celebrate. Good luck to the team. Though as always I would want Ferrari to win it.

This post needed to be edited : Looks like there was someone listening , its Ferrari one and Force India two, first ever point for Force India, wow just amazing

Random Thoughts…………….unanswered questions……..

Why is life so complicated, do we go out of our way to make it so? Why do we fail to appreciate things we have and realise its worth only when we no longer have it ?Why does it require a catastrophe to show we care? Why do we fail to realise that it is the small gestures that make a difference?

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

A happy independence day to my fellow countrymen and women (atleast the ones who happen to read my blog). I have received many SMS’s this day from friends, every SMS has the same tone, unity, friendship, brotherhood, honesty, pride etc etc.. its so easy to just forward a message ,but how many of us will actually remember what we forwarded and what we pledged today. Instead of forwarding messages which we will forget about ,I think we all should contemplate and decide on the small changes we can make. For many years I have been promising myself , that I will not pay any bribe and never judge a person by his/her religion, and I can honestly claim that I have stuck to my pledge. I hope Ican do it in the future too.

I also look forward  to the Prime Ministers speech, its a day when many new schemes are  announced. With the congress in power one thing I can blindly bet on  is   a  new scheme with a Nehru-Gandhi  name , and I was not disappointed, now we have a Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.  I have a great admiration and respect for the Nehru-Gandhi clan, after  all they are the first family of Indian Politics, and they have done a lot for the country, but do we need to have every scheme named after them.If  the idea is to show respect then there must be many other ways of doing it, not just by using their name.  You can board from a Rajiv Gandhi airport and land  on Indira Gandhi  terminus. You are ill go to the Sanjay Gandhi hospital.  Outstanding  in sports you get the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. You have hospitals, universities, schools, research centres, schemes etc etc all named after five  individuals. Ofcourse you do need names for all the facilities mentioned, but can’t the congress come up with any other name. After sometime it starts getting confusing.  I think we have enough historical figures to name every facility in the country.  I really liked the fact that Mr. Vajpayee named the rural road schemes as simple” Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojhna”.  Hope next year the congress comes up with a different name, but I also realise that I am hoping for the impossible.

10 minutes 2 greenery program – sikkim’s gift to the world

doing my bit

The 10 minutes to greenery program, a unique greenery drive, where 6 lakhs saplings were planted within 10 mins  i.e 10:30 am to 10:40 am IST  was a massive success.  Various organisations and individuals participated in the event to make it a resounding success.   A record of sorts, but I don’t know who was doing the counting .

This sends out a positive  message to the world,  a message that says  ” We Care” . This is a gift not only to the people of  India , but to the entire human kind, with love from the people of Sikkim.

Open letter to Mr. John Terry

Dear Mr. John Terry,

I am tired of seeing you in the news for all the wrong reason ,  I thought you were Mr. Chelsea , totally dedicated to the cause of the club, but now it looks like  you are just another bloke, trying to hold the club at ransom.  I have no problem with players looking for greener pastures, that is what life is all about, changes,  but they need to be honest about it. You want to go , say it. There is nothing wrong with it, what is wrong is, you trying to play with the emotions of the fans.  Frank Lampard did it last year, now its your turn. Did he give you some pointers on how to go about it?

I think the manager paid you the biggest compliment by comparing you with Paolo Maldini,  the legend. Was he wrong in doing it? I don’t believe half the crap that is written in the newspapers, I still believe you are totally dedicated to Chelsea, and u’ll be leading us this coming season, but can you please come out and make it clear to the fans. I hope this drama gets over as soon as possible, and we can focus on reading about a successful pre season tour.

Indian Politics, a funny game

Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh, the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra gets a cabinet berth.  The same Mr. Deshmukh who was forced to resign after the Mumbai attacks. Widespread protest by the people as well as the media resulted in him leaving the post of the CM. Now  six  months later he becomes a cabinet minister,  isn’t this a mockery of  the Indian public?  Someone who had failed to perform get a bumper  bonus.

I was excited about the young brigade as they are called, young faces old surname, its so difficult for normal middle class girl/boy to break into two most public professions, films and politics. You need to have a famous surname to get a foothold, which is so sad, so much for Rahul Gandhi saying that he wants youth power,  there is no representation in the cabinet. The tussel between various allies will continue. DMK supremo openly saying he wants cabinet berth for his family members.  Mamta didi in spite of publicly claiming ,she does not want any cabinet berth gets Railways, well  Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav is a tough act to follow, so look out Mamta di. And so the Great Indian Political Tamasha continues.

What an Idea !!!!!!!!!

Idea have scored a sixer with their new advertisement featuring the three superstars of Mumbai Indians. Gullible people , totally addicted to cricket will surely give it a try, who wouldn’t want to talk to Sachin Tendulkar or Zaheer Khan.

My cousin could not stop laughing , when I confessed I did try to call up Sachin Tendulkar. Ok, so i’m not a great fan of cricket, but its SACHIN TENDULKAR yaar, what I got was a stupid voice message.

There must be hundreds  like me; not so gullible but curious people and thousands die hard cricket fan, calling the numbers. How many  of them actually got to talk to Sachin, I would like to know. But Idea sure did rake in a lot of money.

Truly “what an Idea, Sirji”