Bound with Love

IT'S uncanny, but whenever I decide to do something or go someplace, I end up facing some type of impediment.

- Rubi Chakravarti

My plans either don't materialize, or if they do, it happens with great difficulty! To counter that bad 'juju', I had decided to spend my year dotted with mini getaways, be it Nandi Hills or the mighty Himalayas. A couple of girl friends were thick in the midst of planning a sojourn to Kashmir. The valley was peaceful and the flowers were blooming as the 'shikaras' glided across the shimmering Dal Lake once again. Being an army brat, my parents and I went to Kashmir a couple of times, mostly on dad's official work. I remember the presence of a large contingent of army personnel even then. But, waking up to the shadows of those mighty fold-mountains, their snow-capped peaks catching the rays of the sun turning the ice-caps almost molten red, the serenity of the place and the kind and ever smiling Kashmiris offering you 'kava' in the morning made my soul ache with nostalgia. Even Switzerland disappointed me. Enough has been written and said