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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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Faces in the Crowd - Budding Cricketer

Cricket is probably the most-played game in India, and the game which brings out all the emotions in us! Even as I write this, there is a match in progress on the ground outside our house, and the screams and shouts gives me a running commentary even though the regular commentator doesn't seem to have arrived. The sounds tempt the hubby who hurries to the window to see who it is who has hit a six... in a short while, I know that he will give in  and go join the crowd, and if possible, a bunch of friends will get together and start a game of their own. Which is why, this is today's pic for Faces in the Crowd....





This was a small kid we saw somewhere in Kashmir, at one of the shops which lined the road, selling cricket bats. He was the son of the owner, and was learning how to hold the bat.... Need I mention how excited Samhith was? He wanted to buy a cricket bat too, never mind that we already had two at home! It was a pity that we had to pry him away from the shop, though the kid would surely have loved a companion to play cricket with! 

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