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.
Summer is when I travel . This year, our #Summertrip was shorter than usual, and now, back in sweltering Mumbai, my thoughts are still in the gorgeous wilderness of Kanha National Park, where the sun’s heat didn’t bother us. Indeed, on our early morning jaunts into the forest, we found ourselves shivering. While Samhith huddled into the sole jacket he carried, I wrapped myself tighter into my dupatta which doubled up as a shawl… till the sun came up, of course. And then we basked in its welcome warmth, till it grew too hot, and it was time to leave. A few hours break, and then we were back in the jungle, enjoying the play of sunlight and shadows among the trees and the tall grasses, till it grew too dark to see anything more. Wandering almost all day amidst the towering Sal trees, spotting the elusive tiger hidden in the grass, barely a few feet away; as peacocks danced, enticing their mates, and jackals roamed, searching for prey; as vultures perched on trees, within sight of decay