Kashmir-A paradise on earth

A poet once described Kashmir as "Paradise on earth".I never really could figure out how he could point out that only Kashmir could be a paradise and no other place.Two years back,after the semester IV exams I had gone to Kashmir along with some of my school friends for 14 days.After seeing Kashmir with my own eyes,I understood what the poet meant when he said "Paradise on earth".I consider myself to be lucky to have toured a large part of India in my short life(I must thank my stars and parents for that).However, I would say that of all the beautiful places in India,Kashmir is something really special.There are the Himalayas in Himachal pradesh,Uttaranchal,the backwaters in Kerala,the temple towns of South India,the desert of Rajashtan,the Himalays of North-East and then there is Kashmir.All these places have their own characteristic beauty.But,by no means am I trying to downplay their beauty when I say that Kashmir is a place which God has made with special attention.

What can I say about the house boats on the Dal lake which are as big as a normal 3BHK flat in hip suburban Mumbai.I would anyday trade a ride in a luxury car for a long ride on the lovely shikara .The daily rides that I had in the shikara's when I had been there made me feel like a prince.The beautiful lake city on the dal lake with house boats surrounded by the great Himalayas on all sides was truly a sight that I'll never forget. The view that we get of Srinagar atop the Shankaracharya temple is simply breathtaking.I had heard stories about the dal lake being polluted over the years,the market place being destroyed during the period of insurgency,places like Gulmarg (which is not far away from PoK) being soft targets for the extremists.Inspite of all these drawbacks,I found Kashmir to be a cery beautiful place.In fact it would be an understatement to say that Kashmir is a beautiful place. There are just no words to describe the beauty of the dal lake,the picturesque highway between Jammu and Kashmir valley,the roadway that passes through the sanctuary in Gulmarg,the snow capped peaks of Sonmarg,Gulmarg and Srinagar.The mughal gardens are an added attraction.I must admit that I've never been a plants and flower enthusiast,but there is no doubt about the fact that the Mughal gardens are one of the best gardens in India.
I have just been to some of the places in Kashmir valley.The locals over there told me that the Kashmir we see today is not even 10-20% of what it was before the separatist movement started.My dad also vouched for it.No wonder he has been to Kashmir umpteen number of times.I must admit one thing though.Inspite of living in the terrorised valley for the last 16 years the people of Kashmir still haven't lost the warmth they are so well known for.I could see them smiling at all tourists.The children over there have experienced and seen violence that we have seen only in the movies.Yet,they still are as innocent as any other child from any other place in India.The people of Kashmir have really played an important part in makin Kashmir a "Paradise on earth".Locals of famous tourist spots are always known for their honesty.The same goes for Kashmir.But,what is truly great is that they are still honest inspite of having not earned much in the last 16 years of insurgency.There was a period between 1989-1998 when almost no tourists went to Kashmir.Kashmir is a state where the locals have always survived on the tourism and handicrafts industry.I shudder when I even think about the sleepless nights these innocent people must have spent inside their houses with children crying for food and a curfew imposed outside(which was a daily routine).Hats off to the people of Kashmir for having a smiling and cheerful face inspite of losing their sons,daughters,mothers,fathers,brothers and other relatives.

What is Love?

Love- That's one word which has always made me search for answers.I'm yet to find an appropriate answer for it.Love can manifest in various forms.Friendship,respect for parents,idolizing someone,being inspired from someone.These are all different forms of love.But,one form of love which I still haven't been able to understand clearly is the one between opposite sexes.What is it that makes us realize that a person X is made for us, or a person Y is the one who can really make us smile when we are in a poignant mood,make us ecstatic when we are down.What is it that makes our hearts go thud thud when we see that special someone.I am safely assuming that this happens to everyone purely on my personal experience.Why do we always have that glow,that happiness,that sheepish smile when we see the perfect someone who we always feel is made for us? I'm still trying to find out answers to all these questions.

I guess one of the reasons for it is God's very beautiful and enigmatic creation-woman.Its not that we always get attracted to every other woman who crosses our path(thank god for that) otherwise the world would have been full of dreamers(or shall I say men of vision).Whenever a cute,sweet face somes in front of me I always go into a trance.It makes me wonder how god must have taken time out from his busy schedule to create someone with so much attention.But,the very next moment a close friend of mine on seeing my object of attraction,will on most occasions advise me to go in for an eye check up.Am I sounding too confused?Well love itself is so complicated.Isn't it?

India's vote against Iran-a right step

Before the US's push could turn into a shove the UPA government took a stand on the Iran issue at the UN meet.Without bowing to pressure from its main allies like the left parties the UPA government finally took a correct decision which was in the interests of the people of the subcontinent.It is an open secret that Iran has covertly been trying to build a N-bomb of its own for the past few years.We already have two "friendly" nuclear neighbours on either sides of the border.A third nation-that too a rogue state like Iran would have been a nightmare.Obviously we have never been a threat for Iran and vice versa.That still doesn't qualify any support for Iran from the Indian establishment.The knowledge of making the bomb has been exported from China to Pakistan which in turn has been really generous in helping out N.Korea and Iran with their weapons programme.A N-Bomb in the hands of irrersponsible states like Pakistan,N.Korea and Iran is a threat to world peace.We could leave out Pakistan as of now since big daddy is in control of its nuclear war heads(We can surmise that since US forces are in control of a sizeable part of the N-W frontier province which is the main hideout of the Jihadi elements) and the whole world knows that the sole superpower of the world never brings in ground forces unless it is sure about their safety.However, if countries like Iran and N.Korea have their own N-bomb it could trigger a third world war.Iran has always spoken against the Zeonist state of Israel.The same can be said vis-s-vis N.Korea and S.Korea.Israel already is surrounded by hostile neighbours on all sides.One can't really expect them to restrain military activities against their neighbours.Israel and Iran have already engaged each other in a war of words since the conservatives led by Ahmednijad seized power in the elections held last year.
Now that the Iran issue has been referred to the UNSC,we can avoid having an irresponsible country like Iran counted amongst the (in)famous group of Nuclear states.