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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.

Flamingo Poetry

Nothing brightens up my day more than appreciation for my blog! However, today, I was in for a wonderful surprise - a poem written on a photograph I had posted on Facebook!! I can't really call myself a photographer.. I am simply playing with my camera the way Samhith would play with a new toy! Yet, to see the poem, that too written by a blogger I have admired for long, was a pleasure that can not be described in words..... Ugich Konitari, aka Suranga Date, is a blogger I have never met. She is many years my senior, yet her innate sense of humor, her unique perception of issues, and the way she writes about even the most common situations we come across everyday, are what make her blogs a wonderful read! I have been following her blogs, Strewn Ashes and Gappa, for quite a while now, and to be featured there feels like a great honour! Here is the photograph,





and here is what Suranga Date writes about it:

Shooting on location
for 
"The Disappearing Mangroves"
Katrina Kaif, 
Kareena Kapoor, 
and Priyanka Chopra,
who have just flown in
from the west
only for this schedule,
practicing
their item number steps.....

And that is Kareena
doing
her stubborn
stick in the mud act,
because
her costume
has lesser streaks of pink.....

What you don't see
is a cast of
a thousand extras,
fluttering around ,
pecking their way amidst
the dirt,
studded with
plastics,
metal,
and industrial sludge.

The producers provide
a watery landscape for the stars,
not because
that's how
the land should be,
but this way,
the three can check their make-up
every now and then....


Thanks so much, Suranga!!!!!

You can also go straight to her blog to read her post!

Comments

  1. Anuradha ! Whoa ! (catches her breath). That was some introduction to me and my blogs :-)). Thank you for the very kind words.

    (Actually I almost met you at the Kala Ghoda Arts Fest. i ran into Sudhagee and she told me you were around. I guess we went around in circles. :-)). But great to meet you on FB and here ! )

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am the one who should be thanking you! I have been reading your poems for so long now, and always wonder how you come up with such ideas from the photos!! and to have one written on mine is such a pleasure!!! and yes, Sudha mentioned that you were around, but guess, as you say,we went around in circles!! really hope I get to meet you in person soon!

      Delete
  2. Replies
    1. you should go on and read her blogs, Krishna! she writes so beautifully!!

      Delete
  3. What a community!! Thoroughly enjoyed this sharing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sowmya, you were the one i thought of, while posting this... visit her blog strewn ashes.. you will love the way she writes!

      Delete
  4. Lovely photograph and amazing set of verses.... Surange is amazing, i would love to meet her someday!! the way she weaves and plays with words, undying energy, awesome indeed :)))

    Anu- been hearing from Sewri, shd make a trip.. infact one to Bombay is long due

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Absolutely, Aarti!! I havent met her yet either.. but would love to!! What say u come to bbay and then we both go and meet her?

      Delete
  5. Amazing capture! Lovely verses!

    ReplyDelete

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