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The Vaishnodevi Experience 2023

My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.
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Wishing for rain..... Skywatch Friday

Summer's here in no uncertain terms for its just too hot to manage, and the fan is just not enough! I went out to pick Samhith up from school, and the heat was too much to bear... Some people wore sunglasses and sleeveless kurtis, but perspired in the heat... some waited in the comfort of their AC cars,blocking the road and being a nuisance to others..... the kids came out from the cool comfort of the classroom to the glaring midday heat.... happy that the exams were over, but the heat getting to them, tiring them out within minutes......

Faced with such heat, we wished for rain.... hoping for an early and a good monsoon... we are already facing a water shortage this year... and if this heat continues, things can only get worse. In such a scenario, it is difficult to be cheerful and optimistic, so I tried to improve my mood by looking at some of my pics from the monsoon.... Here are a couple of photos taken at Sringeri in August 2009. 

The clouds make me wish they were right here, right now.... Wonder when I will see them again......

 





For more skies around the world, go to Skywatch Friday

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Comments

  1. chitraMarch 19, 2010 at 2:20 PM

    Here in Dindigul it is pretty hot but once inside the house , we feel better. Evening it gets slightly cooler as we have Sirumalai nearby. Here the climate ids dry and no sweat.

    Hope summer rains cools your place faster.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bhavesh ChhatbarMarch 19, 2010 at 3:57 PM

    I too wish for rain, but that will leave us with a lack of mangoes :(

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bhavesh ChhatbarMarch 19, 2010 at 3:57 PM

    And I love your new template!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. MridulaMarch 19, 2010 at 8:52 PM

    Beautiful skies.

    ReplyDelete
  5. sandeepMarch 19, 2010 at 10:25 PM

    thnx for reminding me abt this beautiful thing called monsoon. it somehow feels so far away :(

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anuradha ShankarMarch 20, 2010 at 9:59 AM

    @Chitra: sounds nice.... here its humid, so the nights are no better.. in spite of all the mountains nearby...... unfortunately, summer rains only worsen the problem... for one, it only gets even more humid, and as Bhavesh said in his comment, it spoils the mangoes :(.... so we have no choice but to wait for the monsoon.. till then its horrible

    @Bhavesh: absolutely!!! these summers are bearable only for the mangoes we get after.....
    and thanks.. glad u liked the template....

    @Mridula: it was beautiful there.. u should go sometime....

    @sandeep: very true... so far away... and that also if it comes on time.....

    ReplyDelete

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