Visiting R.S.Pura, the beauty paddy king and its queen Madhu

 I am with Madhu and Dr. Arti

 Raghunath temple being constructed at R.S.Pura, the borer of India

The beautiful paddy field

 Dr Bhakshi and Dr. Arti with Madhu and her husband

enjoying the exquisite smell of the very special Basmati paddy field!

Rice has a history of more than 5000 years, satisfying hunger of millions of people.
India is the land of Paddy, Wheat and Maze. In the Indian subcontinent, rice is a staple food for all countries. This grain is available across the world. Every state in India has some version of rice. In Kerala, we primarily depend on brown rice, believing that it is more nutrititious with vitamin B than that of other brands of rice. Parboiled rice, which goes through a stem pressure process is extra fluffy in its texture. I was interested to visit R.S. pura on three reaons: I wanted to visit the international border point that connects India with Pakistan. I also wanted to experience the paddy fields that would resemble my childhood environment in Kerala, whci I loved very much. I realised that Ram  temple was being constructed at the end of R.S.Pura. I witnessed people lleading normal life despite their so close proximity to Pakistan- India border.
The world famous Basmati rice, grown once a year, was cultivated in R.S. Pura.
Basmati rice is popularly known as the king of rice. I was happy to visit the paddy fields opposite to Madhu's house. I took photographs of the paddy fields. Once again thanks to Dr. Aarti and  Dr. Bakhshi who gave me the splendid experience.

       

World Mental Health Day- October 10

A learning Institution in Psychology, the P.G.Department of Psychology of Jammu University decided to celebrate the World Mental Health day in a unique way. First and third semester students of the department did an exemplary work on the day. They made a big mental health tree, the branches of which were filled with different kinds of messages on mental health. They placed it in front of the department not to avoid the eye catchers. It stood in a much visible place so that the passebys read the messages. Students were fabulous at their work. 6 girl students and one boy student wore the T shirts with very good messages on mental health. They decided to grow up in their programs every year.  I was the chief guest to deliver the extension lecture on mental health in the morning session. The Dean of Social Sciences passionately introduced the concept of depression highlighting his personal experiences. I talked about the  growing challenges in counselling to ensure mental health. After the talk, all of us participated in the mental health march in the university. I initiated the slogans and students and teachers loudly repeated them. We finally marched to the VC's office. He came out of his office and  congratulated the HOD and the rest for making the event a fruitful one. The Jammu TV covered the event in a big way. The news papers also gave good coverage for the event.  Students were thrilled to work together to make the day a worthwhile day. In the afternoon, the Psychiatrist delivered a lecture on Depression. We departed with the decision to make the world mental health day more meaningful in the next year. The students blended innovation, novelty and meaningfulness in organising the event. Congratulations for the HOD, faculty members, students, non teachihng staff and particularly the Dean, who was all along with the Departmental activities. He acted more than the role of a figure head. I appreciate his dedication to the mental health day.

We made a distinct and alternative style in our debut group march in popularising awareness for action to integrate mental and physical health for psychological well being, jamming live with meaningful slogans on mental health in the jammu university campus, and creating comfort to overcome the much prevalent social taboo on mental diseases . It was a humble attempt. The march turned to be a successful event from the side of theP.G. department of Psychology. I loved the day. The make over mode became very popular. Let next year bring more ideas, courage and enthusiasm to create more meaningfulness in the events on the World Mental Health Day! October 10 was one of my memorable days  in the Jammu trip.

         

KASHMIR- The wonderland

Way to Kashmir from Jammu 

National Highway connects Jammu with Srinagar.  Travelling 298 kiometres by car from Jammu Tawi  to Sree Nagar by road was an exquisite experience. Jamu Tawi is a major train station connected  to all major towns in India. 5 years ago, I travelled from Delhi to Sree Nagar by air with my husband Rajeevan. It took only 75 minutes to reach Sree Nagar.  

Traveling goats  

 With  the head of the department of Psychology and other teachers in Kashmir University

I visited the Kashmir university and delivered extension lecture  in the department of psychology on psychological empowerment of students.

I visited Sreenagar, the city of sights, smells, and sounds.

 




　

Visit to Govt. Dist hospital, Udhampur, Jammu

Visit to Govt. Dist hospital, Udhampur, Jammu

Thanks to Dr. sarita Sood. It was a pleasure for me to travel long distance with her. This daughter is very special to me. And she is a very good driver. Intrust her judgment on road safety for comfortable ride. She was counseling supervisor of the GFATM program who had to assess the counsellor at this hospital. I was interested to visit some of the District hospitals in Jammu & Kashmir to understand the state of affairs of the nursing personnel in the extreme north. When I got the chance, I opted to visit the Udhampur hospital, postponing certain other programs in Jammu. I visited four hospitals in Jammu and the conditions were more or less the same. Nurses were very much dedicated to the well being of the patients. Medical superintendent Dr. Chander Prakash and Deputy Superintendent Dr. Deepak greeted us in the hospital. Dr. Chander called the two nursing supervisors- Sr. Santhosh Sharma and Sr. Uma Pradhan who took me to a round trip to the whole hospital. There were only 25 nurses in the hospital. Under the Nursing supervisors, worked 7 senior nursing staff. There were five junior nursing staff and 2 were from National Rural Health mission. In addition to these 14 nurses, there were 9 multi purpose ANM staff in the hospital. The hospital had 146 in patients in different wards. I could not believe that nearly 200 patients visit the Gynaec OPD. On the average , 10-12 deliveries were taking place in the hospital out of which 3or 4 were Caesarian cases. Gynaec ward had 28 beds, Paediatric ward had 24 beds, Mdical ward had 40 beds for both Female and Male sub wards, Surgical ward had 20 beds, Ortho had 18, ENT 8 and Ophthal 8 beds. The superintendent told me that it was 200 bed hospital even though it is running short of capacity as the in patients were only 146 due to shortage of nurses. The in- patient to nurses ratio was 1:6. I could see many nursing students in the wards and in OPD.

I thought: These nurses were working very hard and they said they were happy to do the work. They learned to experience happiness under extreme stress situations.

Again it is proved that happiness is a state of mind. It is prersent where ever we are and what ever we do. Happiness improves our mental health, and contributes to our psychological well being.

Dr. Chander invited me to address the medical students. The activity was postponed to next year due to lack of time and packed schedule of my programs in Jammu.

YAGNEOPAVIT CEREMONY AMONG THE PANDITS

This ceremony is also known as sacred thread ceremony done for the male child of a Pandit family at the age of 13. Pandits are brahmins. In Kerala, similar ceremony is done among hte brahmin community. The function will be for one or two days depending on "mahurat"which means good day for the ceremony. The  hair from head of the male child was shaved off. He wore saffron colour capand held a long stick on the right hand. He, with a large plate went for Bhiksha. At 4 pm on the evening of the first day, maternal relatives visited his house. The day is meant to offer a graceful welcome to all of his relatives. At night, the dinner will be served with the special item"damaloo'. It is made of mashed, spicy,round rapped fried potato. Damaloo was very tasty. For me, it was a little too much  spicy. But it was very tasty. Another tasty item was "Nadru" prepared from lotus stem.Paneerin yellow colour was also very tasty. There was red chilly paneer, which all of the guests loved to eat. All these are support dish for beautifully prepared Pulav, A dish from rice.Pulav were of 2 kinds: salty and sweety.One dish was mixed vegetable curry made out of mush room, green peas, and potatoes. Radish chutney was good. RAjma was a very popular dish served for dinner. Deserts like ice cream, cakes,rasgula, gulab jam attracted both children and elders alike. After dinner, Celebrations of "Mehndi raat" started. Maasi- mother's sister arrived with a decorated vesselwith water and soap to cleanly wash the hands & feetwhen all others loudly sang many songs.An unmarried girl came with another vessel containing rice and salt and with odd number of money and touched his shoulders three times. this is known as 'Shagun' or in Kashmiri community it is called 'Zaang'. Shagun was done on maasi by touching  Isband ( seeds) on her shoulders. Then isband is put  in a decorated vessel called" 'Kangri'. Bbuva (dad's sister) came with mehndi tilak on the forehead of the boy and his feet and hands got decorated.After this important ceremony, singing and dancing event started.Simultaneously, mehndi was distributed to all those women who were there for the ceremony. Gifts were given by women at this time. Singing and dancing continued until morning.

'Devgone' was conducted the next day in the morning. All of the family members of the boy, wearing new dresses, sat behind the 'Agnikund'.All ladies wore 'Athoor'- a  colourful dangle from ear chains and Sreechakra known as 'Takya- Taal' was attached to their clothes. The boy's dress was blessed by the poojari. The blessed dress was worn after the maternal uncle and aunt  bathed the boy.This event was known as Snan ceremony. Now the boy's face was veiled, maternal uncle lifted the boy and made him sit on his lap beside the haven Kund. The boy's veil was removed for darsan of Agni Devta. His hair was totally  shaved off. ladies danced with singing. At midnight, Dressed again on new clothes, aunts and uncles arrived at the Haven Kunt.Another ceremomy began which was known as 'Narivan Kharan.' narivan was the thread tied on the wrist of the boy.Tharpan was an interesting ceremony. All of those present there had to see their faces in the water kept in a vessel. The boy was given a mixture of honey and urine of the cow( gomoothru) for sudhikaran. The boy along with his parents sat beside the Haven Kunt all night while poojari chanted manthras for 'Yagneopavit'. In the next morning, after pooja, the sacred threads- three in number are twisted to make it one by poojari and his father. The thread was worne from the right side. Chanting continued. yagno Pavithram, paramam Pavitram was chanted continuously. Now the boy sought a beed as bhiksha. the first beed was given by maasi,which was the highest amount. Others also gave money. Till evening, he sougght Bhiksha from others. In the evening, samoothik( group) aartis were done. Finally the boy changed his  safron coloured clothes and wore new clothes. he was then decorated like a bride groom.He stepped on Rankoli. Others gave him sweets. the the boy was directly taken to the temple to seek blessings from god. The whole ceremony concluded after the boy and others returned to his house. All were given a huge feast  and after dinner, every body left the place.

This ceremony was an eventful one in the life of a pandit boy.                 

Visiting GFATM office of Dr. Chand In the Jammu university

I went to see Dr. Chand at her office. Shwe was busy with the forthcoming refresher course for master trainers. She wished to accommodate me too in the faculy panel, but I had to return to Kerala on 12th of October. I went to her house, spent 4 hours with her, and dr. chand and her husbandColonalji drove me back to my home stay place. I like the couple a lot.

      

Thanks to Prana Rena of Jagti Township

Rena is an energetic lady with adequate level of hope in everything she does. Her bhajans are very attractive to listen and enjoy. I wanted to study a bhajan about Vaishnov Devi.  She taught me very quickly a bhajan wich I enjoyed singing. The language was Hindi.

Jai, jai, Vaishnov mata ki jai, Jai jai Vaishnov mata ki jai(2)
Meri pyari pyari mayya, Meri shero vali mayya
Meri choodi vali mayya, lal chunari vali mayya
Mera kehna sunulomeri, meri pyari meri mayya
Meri gufa vali mayya, meri shero vali mayya
Meri sher savari mayya, Meri pyari, pyari mayya
Meri dukh ko door karona
Meri vinthi sunulo meri, meri shero vali mayya
Meri pyari pyari mayaya,meri sheo vali mayya
Bahuth dino se mene kiya, inth sar thera meri
Meri pyari pyari mayaya, lal chunari vali mayaya.
Bhaktho ko  ma darsan de do, meri pyari pyari mayaya
Ad kuvari vali meri, jai jai meri meri mayya
Meri Vaishnaov devi mayya, jai jai mehro vali mayya
Jai jai Vaishnov matha ki jai, Jai jai Vaishnov mata ki jai
Bolo samchai darbar ki ------------jai,
Jotha vali matha ki ---------------   jai.

Thank you Rena.

I am with Prerna's mom and Rena

Visiting Amit Singh

At 11 am on Tuesday, Amit entered the room of the HOD of P.G.D. Psy. of Jammu University, where I was discussing some important matters with the team of office bearers of the Women Studies. I, after finishing my work, walked to the coffee shop with Amit. We takled for sometime. He fixed a date for visiting his house, but he was very particular to drive me to his house in their new Volks Wagen car. I agreed to his request.
I am with Amit, Jassy, her brother and step mom

I had a lot of opportunity to talk to Amit. I did not so far stayed in a Sikh family, but when I did, I enjoyed it very much. September 29 was, therefore, a good day for me. he finished undergraduate program in Physiotherapy from Jammu Medical college. Amit is a very good person with lot of affection to his family members and friends. He described his pain while his mom was bedridden due to severe stroke. He was a beautiful son, looking after his mom. His mom entrusted Jassy, the little daughter of his brother, who lost her mom with him to take care, which he does with happiness. She is a very smart girl and a fortunate one since she got the love and care of Amit. I wish he gets a good job and settle in his life. I met his dad, 2 brothers and sisters in law. I prepared Masala Dosha, coconut chatney and sambar which all of them liked very much. He told me he will join the certificate course in French at the Jammu university. I Hope he will
do the course. I have great regards for this young son. 

Visit to Kashmir University

September 30. Amit and his cousin helped me to reach the Jammu railway station on time to receive Brni. Meera, who was attending and presenting a paper on Amma in the All India Oriental Conference at the Sanskrit department from October 1 to 3 at the Kashmir University in Hazratbal. 6 others were with her to go to Sree Nagar university. I was also visiting the Department of Psychology at the Nazeembagh campus of the Sree Nagar university for delivering the extension lecture on Empowering Students through Mental health.  Dr. Shoukath Ahmad Shah, the HOD was very helpful. The faculty members and students appreciated my presentation. We had a good interactive session on the topic. The campus was extremely beautiful with different kinds of plants and flowers. Age old Chinab trees decorated the campus. The accommodation in the guest house was also very good. I was happy because on previous occassion, I could not do the extension lecture in the department due to sudden Hartal which is a routine matter in Kashmir.
While passing throuh the paddy field,  I felt, Kashmir resembled Kerala. The paddy fields looked exacly that of in Kerala. I could see women and men working in the fields. October first week is the harvesting week for the agriculturists. Harvesting season for apple attracted thousands of trucks to Jammu from other parts of India.
I was astonished to see long queues of military and other trucks on the Jammu Kashmir road.
The shift of govt. officials and their offices to the winter capital of J & K which is Jammu for the next 6 months, also contributed to the long hours of traffic block in the Jammu- Kashmir road transportation. I thouroughly enjoyed the road trip to Kashmir. It was 10 hours ride from Jammu to reach Sreen Nagar. It was an adventurous trip. The zig zag curves were manipulated very differently by the driver of our innova car. The ride in elevation did not make any discomfort in me. KASHMIR IS NO DOUBT A WONDER LAND due to its scenic beauty. After finishing my work, I returned to Channi Himmat in Jammu.

Kashi- the celestial abode of Lord Shiva I

Kashi is the celestial abode of Lord Shiva. The state of Utter Pradesh is specially blessed with the presence of Lord Siva and Devi adored by billions of devotees in the world.  They include Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Budhists and others. Kashi Viswanath temple is in the city of Banaras.  Varanasi is a pilgrim place to Hindus and people of other communities. Anyone can offer wo Banaras is the spiritual kingdom of India. Thousands of people visit river Ganges to do the last rituals for their departed ones. Banaras is famous because it depicts the thrership to Lord Shiva and Devi.e dimensions of spirituality depicted in the universe- creation, preservation and destruction.

 Mughal emperor Aurangazeeb destroyed the old temple of Kashi Viswanath in 1669 which was later rebuilt by Maharani Ahalya  Bai Holkar . Later, the great Sikh king Ranjit Singh donated the gold canopy weighing 831 kilograms.

The western banks of river ganges are predominated with prominent ghats. There are many temples in these ghats  like temples for Brahma, Vishnu, Maheswar, Narasimha,  and Vinayak.  Daswamedha ghat is the most prominent one.This ghat was constructed in 1748 AD by the famous Maratha  Peswa Baji Rao. Darbhanga ghat, Scindhya ghat,Ganga Mahal ghat, and  Manikarnika Ghat are the other important ghats. 

I still remember the stories that I heard from elders when I was a 5 year child. When one decided to visit Kashi, relatives and friends make it a big affair; pooja would be conducted, special food would be prepared and the farewell would be a very emotional event, as if the person would get eternal blessings from God without returning to one’s house.  The journey was perceived as the toughest one in one’s life.  I visited Kashi many times for different purposes.  I came on two occasions to  Mmahatma Gandhi Kashi  Vidya Peeth university and Banaras Hindu university  for official duties.  I did the ritual known as Shraat or Pind Dan- after death ritual- to our mom and those deceased in the Sunami disaster in 2003. When our dad died in March 25, 2010, I wished to do the same karma in Kashi. I was extremely happy to accept the offer of visiting Kashi Vidya Peeth in this travel as I could do the karma without delay.  The best treat from Bhakshis was the Varanasi trip. The distance of Varanasi from Kochi by train is 2309 kilometers. From Jammu the distance is nearly 1351kms.  We boarded the train from Jammu Tawi at 12 nights and arrived at Varanasi at 10 pm. Varanasi train station also known as Varnasi Contonment is the main junction. The other three stations are Kashi, Varanasi city, and Manduadee. I was in a very calm internal environment, feeling very happy to reach the university guest house.  

Pind Dan is done only in the morning after having darsan from lord Shiva.  This karma is done for moksha or mukth  prapthi for those who died. We reached the Siva temple and offered our prayers, walked to the ghat, met the Pandit and got ready for the ritual. I dipped in the river, got blessings from Ganga devi and sat for the Pind Dan ritual. It took nearly 40 minutes to finish the ritual. I did the same ritual for kili accan, who was my mom’s favorite cousin sister who died very recently at Kollam. I also did the ritual for my deceased brothers. After finishing the ritual, once again I took bath in the holy river.

In the evening, we attended the Aarti conducted by Ganga Seva Samiti. It was absolutely a happy moment in my life. Ganga Seva Nidhi had dedicated its service for more than two decades. Dev Dipavali Mahotsav orgnised by GSN is an amzing event. It strives to address environmental pollution and degradation of river Ganges. 

 I felt a wonderful blend of spiritualism and nationalism while atending the aarti..    

   

  

 

I 

Visit to Jagti Township- Meeting Prerna

I wanted to visit Prerna & her family, which I did with the help of mam. The most enjoyable event was to drink the Kashmiri tea in the traditional way. Her mom & Prerna took me to Kondoli mata temple. It is believed that visiting Vaishnov devi temple is only after getting blessings from Kondoli mata. It was a very good treat from Prerna.        

Visiting Vriti & her family

I can never forget this beautiful daughter of Jammu,whose laughter spreads her beauty to others. I was so glad to see her dad, mom, brother and grand mother. Vriti has joined the pre- PH D program in the Jammu university. I enjoyed her mom's cooking. I wish she could visit Kerala. The grand mother looked good. Even though I was unable to communicate in Hindi, we were able to express our regards for each other. She talked in Hindi and I responded in English. Occasionally, Vriti, the translator helped us to feel better. I prayed for this family during my trip to Kashi. 

Trip to Kistwar

It was a very unexpected trip. When Atul, the Tehsil of Marwah in Kistwar, the district close to Anant Nag, which is in the extreme south of Jammu, described the scenic beauty of Mini Kashmir, I started to imagine  about the place. He spoke of very poor quality of primary education, lesser educational opportunities, difficulty in accessing help, and about other administrative difficulties, I thought of visiting the place.I was with Dr. Arti and Dr. Bhakshi who had to visit the govt. hospitals of  Doda and Kistwar. We started our journey at 7 pm from Channi Himmat. Bhakshiji was a very good driver who safely manipulated the uphill travel. I enjoyed the car ride very much. We travelled close to 50% of the distance to Kashmir. We visited the two hospitals.  Sher-E- Kashmir- Dist. govt. hospital  appeared to be a hospital serving mostly Muslim population as majority of the inhabitants  were Muslims. I could see most o the female patients and by standers wearing purdah. Hygiene seemed to be a concerning problem. While traveling to Kistwar, I saw long lines of Goats and sheep on the road. Dr. Bakhshi explained to me that basically sheep rearing is done by 'Gadees', who are Hindus and goats were reared by 'Gujers', who were Muslims. They were labelled in the communities as nomads as they move with their sheep and goats anywhere in Jammu and Kashmir, depending on the seasonal requirements. He said in summer they even move to Amarnath.  He was a veterinary doctor who enjoyed offering his expertise to the goats in danger due to sickness in high ranges. He also told me that sheep are led by goats and the whole battalion by dogs like German Shepperd for guidance to safely walk on the road. I  interestingly saw the moves of this battalion on the roads.
we visited the Bhaderwa campus of the Jammu University, which was exquisitely beautiful. It is 200 kilometers away from the main campus.This campus runs the M.B.A. program. we met the Director and spent time with him and other faculty members. While walking to the guest house for the night stay, I could pluck apples from the trees, which was another exciting event for me. I was surprised to see huge apples, of course, the product of artificial integration, with less sweetness with nearly .600 gms weight.
Kedi Singh, a former PhD student and his wife took us to Mini Kashmir and to the temple near Gupth Ganga, which is a tributary of river Ganges and which is situated 3 kilometers from the campus. From the top, looking down, I could see a big colony with innumerable houses. I wished to live in one of those houses for at least for a day. In my conversation with one of my friends in the Women's studies center at Jammu university- Priya, I realized that it would be a possible event in my next trip to J & K.
We passed through the Dulhast hydroelectric project which uses water of river Chinab. In the next morning we visited Vasuki Nag temple.               

Reunion with P.G.D of Psychology of the University of Jammu

Dr. Arti welcomed me to her department. I felt very happy to meet Sarita as Dr. Sarita Sood, Vritti, Dr. Chandrasekhar and others in the department. I promised to address the pre- PhD scholars and take few sessions on group dynamics as an effective learning technique for the students of psychology.

I needed rest from the intense journey I started on  first, September. I met Manisha  Kohli in the after noon. I promised her to offer my expertise to work with her thesis.

I comfortably ate and slept in mam's house, getting energy for the next lap of productive work.
I again met Prof. Vijayalakshmi from Rajasthan. I attended her session on research methodology. It was a very good session.

I took a book that interested me a lot. It wrote about certain famous women in Jammu & Kashmir. Two of them were Ms. Santha Bharti & Dr. Ved Kumari Ghai

Shanta Bharti:

River Ravi, slowly and lovingly soothed Jammu’s unforgettable veteran, humanist daughter, Shanta Bharti, born in December 1925 who is remembered vividly and proudly as the bright, bold, righteous, patriotic Mandhera village girl.  Later she became very familiar to Jammu and the rest of IndiatoHer fame flowed all over Jammu through river Tawi. She led a very simple and dignified life. She worked hard to impart changes in positive direction to eradicate evil practices of her society. Her messages to women made ripples of hope.

Shantaji’s call to women was to overcome difficulties in life to realize the full potential for personal growth.

She emphasized accomplishment of value of work. She reminded of the need for rebirth in optimism to attain social justice. I saluted her during my extension lecture at Gandhi Nagar Women’s college in Jammu organise by Manisha after 2 weeks of my arrival to Jammu.  

Dr. Ved  Kumari Ghai, the daughter of the land of Dogras, born in November 1932, had an illustrious career. She was the embodiment of Sanskrit Shakti. An illustrious scholar, women social activist, and holder of doctor of Philosophy, Professor in Sanskrit at the University of Jammu until retiring from service excelled in professional and literary career. She projected the need for education of the disadvantaged and economically backward communities.  She was groomed in Gandhian philosophy. Her contributions to art and literature were appreciated all over India. She worked as a teacher with great zeal, enthusiasm & dedication. She served as a teacher in the University for 29 years. I saluted her when I delivered the extension lecture in the psychology department of the University Of Jammu.

Uttrakhand- the thapobhumi- visit to Haridwar

Haridwar, the city of great religious significance is one of the holy places for hindus.  It is believed that Devas and yakshas had their darsan from lord Maha Vishnu at Haridwar. An amzing experience is in Haridwar at the time of Kumbha mela, which is a festival conducted every 12 years. Ardh kumbha mela is conducted every 6 years. For both these events,millions of  believers assemble for pooja held at the shores of river Gangesand they take dip in the river to clean oneself from all sins.Places to visit are Brahm Kund, subhash ghat, gaughat Kushavart ghat, sharavan nath ghat, Bhim Goda Tank, Sapta sarovar, Mansa devi & chand Devi temples, Kanhal , and Dasheswara Mahadeva temple. There are many more temples to visit.Aarti of each temple is different according to the practices of each Mandir.
Usually pilgrims are very paricular to start pilgrimage from Haridwar to seek blessings from Lord Shiva from Badrinath and Kedaranath. Haridwar is with so many ashram and Dharmasalas.

I wished to start  my religious tour to holy shrines of  Himalayas in this year, although I  had to postpone my visit to Badri Nath and Kedara Nath to next tear due to very bad weather. More over,  visit in next year will be with Dr. Gairola of Sreenagar, whose presence will be really worthy from the spiritual perspective.
I reached Haridwar on an intense rainy day. As directed by my beloved friend Dr. Latha Gairola, I reported to the office of Santhi Kunch ashram at 6 am. I left my suit case in the designated room and rushed to the temple on the banks of river ganges. I waited until the poojari could finish his morning rituals at the temple. He guided me to offer the farewell rituals of my dad. After finishing those rituals guided by poojari of  the temple on the banks of river Ganga, I took snan in ganga, offered pooja in the temple, gave bhiksha to all of those sitting on queues on both sides of the foot path, received prasad and returned to ashram.

After my visit to Haridwar, I proceeded to Irishikesh. It was a trip in rain. Before I reached Irishikesh, the driver took me to several temples. I got paid service from a tourist guide who explained everything to me.

I reached the Haridwar railway station at 5 pm to board Hemkunt expres to Jammu Tawi. Early morning at 4 30 the train reache dJAmmu. I was given a ride to Dr. Aarti 's house.   

Jakhu temple at the mountain peak of Shimla

Neha and I travelled one and half hours from Solan to reach Shimla.We visited the famous scandal point.Hundreds of people were there enjoying the scenic beauty of Shimla.We took photographs wearing the traditional dress.As the climate wsa very beautiful, we decided to visit the Jakhu tepmle of Lord Hanuman. It is also known as Sankad moksha temple.Hanuman's idol was the biggest in India. It is believed that HAnuman took rest in this mountain peak while bringing Maha Meru, the mountain that contained mrithasanjeevani, the medicinal plant to save Lakshmana who fell unconscious during Ravana's arrow attack. It is also believed that by visiting this temple, one will leave all sorrows and once again become ready to lead a happy life. The driver who rode us to the peak asked me to remove my eye glass to protect it from the attack of monkeys. It was hard for me to climb steps due to the injury on my left leg. There were 108 steps to be climbed by a person to reach to the top most place. I slowly with the help of a stick climbed those steps and prayed to lord Hanuman. We were escorted by a battalion of monkeys. We walked back  to the base at 4 pm and  returned to Solan to take rest at her house. I liked alloo paratha, chapati, rajma and Kadi which Neha and Krithika had given me. I enjoyed Chanshil's companionship. The little girl was so smart and sweet. All of them boarded me to Dehdarun at 10 pm from Solan.  In the early hours of the next day I reached Dehradoon. I got out of the luxury bus to get totally soaked.The suit case was dipped in water in the dicky. A series of cloud bursts embraced me until Dehradoon.I thought the glass doors would at any time  be broken and we would be in natural calamity. Right from the very start of our trip, the rain threatened the driver and the passengers. My friend Dr. Latha Gairola cancelled her trip to Haridwar due to heavy rain which blocked the road to Haridwar for few days. A series of cloud bursts struck Uttarkhand so badly triggering land slides and flash floods that left 33 people dead, 35 missing,and several injured in parts of the hill state. Ukhimath area in RudraPrayag district was the worst hit place as rain and clod bursts in the wee hours flattened dozens of houses in eight villages killing 29people during their sleep.Villages like Chunni, Mangoli, Kimana, Sansasri, Giriya, Brahman, Kholi, Prem Nagar, And Juatok in Ukhimath area were severely affected. I realisesd that I traveled on a dangerous day. As the calamity struck the region, authorities launched rescue and relief operations with the help of the army. But rampant rainfall hampered relief work.I decided to stay in Santhi Kunch Ashram. I felt positive energy while entering to the Ashram.  Thanks to Dr. Latha.     

Solan and Shimla- 2012

 I set off my journey to Shimla from Banglore after seeing off Lakshmi and grand son Abhinav to Canada  on 3rd September 2012.   I went to the airport with my sisters Ambujam and Pankajam. We had a very nice day in Pankajam's house. Kannan, Pankajam's husband was also in Bangalore.  All of us enjoyed Abhi's presence. When they left to Canada, i felt very sad.
 I saw Manu and Coral on the next day.  Manu gave sumptuous lunch. It was a very good treat from both of them.  On 6th, I started my north Indian trip. I had an aching right hand and a lot of enthusiasm at heart as I love to see all of my young and aging friends spread across different states in north India.
I continued my journey to Kalka in Himachal Pradesh from New Delhi on the same day after reaching Delhi on 8th September. When I reached Kalka by Paschim express at 8 30 pm, Neha and her friend were there to receive me. The car ride to Solan was very beautiful. neha and Krithika and their dad were at their house where as their mom was in a hospital admitted for treatment after an unfortunate fall during her visit to her in law's house. I visited her the next day and spend good time with her. I & Neha  later visited Shimla. It was a wonderful experience. We visited Sankat Hanuman temple on the tope of the highest hill in Shimla. I walked slowly with the help of a stick. Lord Hanuman's structure was so huge. I offered my prayers.  After finishing my expected work, they boarded me to Dehradun.