Desi Girl Wanders

As a kid, I used to dream that one day my prince charming would come and take me away to live in the woods. Just the two of us. I would cook for him and he would spend all day in the forest, cutting trees, selling the wood off and bringing back food and firewood. The concept was so romantic that I almost always swooned over the mention of the idea. Thats going to be my hero, I thought. However, time flies and our ideas of perfection change and so do our heroes. And today, I met two of them.. In the picture you see two sisters who are carrying firewood on their backs and are going to travel for miles just to light up the stove for their mother to cook. How great it is to be able to serve the hands that raised you? You would only know if you know.

Did you know that the messages on trucks have hidden meanings? When the truck is new - it says, "jalnay walay ka mu kala" or "dekh magar pyaar se". When the truck is redone/repaired - it says, "zindgi ne phir aik baar dulhan bna dia.." When the truck is pretty old, it says, "kaanch ki gurya".

As I travelled up the North, I decided that I wanted to break the shackles of technology and spend some quality time with nature.. However, as soon as the signals started to drop, cleithrophobia (the fear of being trapped) started to kick in.. I wanted to feel free and wander around without any restrictions or barriers and do whate ever I feel like doing and go where my heart takes me but what happened was, I was drawned in fears.. the fear of missing out and the fear of the unknown..and I felt as trapped as a caged bird. Within the cage, I had a conversation with myself.. - Did I come here to worry about things which are not at all under my control? The answer was obviously a big NO! But, mind being an intelligent organ came up with another doubt. - Things might not be in my control but I could have been there to correct the things when they go wrong. The above question had the answer within itself. Who am I to correct the things which are not under my control? There are...

Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast, Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast. (If there is a paradise on earth, It is this, it is this, it is this) The above verses were written for Kashmir. The word Kashmir used to bring the picture of a heavenly place, guarded by grand and majestic mountains and jeweled with breathtakingly beautiful lakes. However, the insurgency that broke out in 1990s has turned Kashmir into a hell in heaven. All that comes to mind when Kashmir is mentioned, is sheer mayhem. Kashmir today is covered in clouds of thick smoke of tear gas and is full of people with bodies strewn with pellets. It is surrounded by women crying and thumping their breasts and children chanting, “Naare Takbeer, Allahu Akbar” (Allah is the greatest). The peaceful protests of the Kashmiris are shushed by the use of brute force due to which 100,000 people have lost their lives to date. What did the Kashmiris do to beget this hell? What did they ever do to be born in a place where the...

When I laid down on the grass, all the stress seeped down into the soil.. The chirping of crickets, the whistling of nightingales and the cawing of crows turned into a melody which soothed my mind and heart and I started to let go. I let go of the fears.. I let go of the anger.. I let go of the anxiety.. I stared at the sun cracking its way through the clouds.. struggling to show off its light.. trying to get past the deep and dark clouds.. Then I thought to myself, "Aren't we all like the sun?" Struggling to get past the difficulties and barriers and trying to become the the best version of ourselves.. While I was lost in my thoughts.. I suddenly felt a tingling sensation on my feet. And yes, it was a creepy crawly - a grasshopper resting on my feet in all his calm and might. When I set my eyes on it, I was shaken to the core and felt an extreme adrenaline rush! But I dealt with the situation with all my poise. I brushed it away and picked up a few wild flower...