Wake up from the slumber >>

In an attempt to begin with the beginning I am rewinding the memory to mid 80s when I was a kid and had a neighborhood uncle who was a Major in the army. His two kids were my playmates. There was a swing installed in our front verandah where I spent most of my evenings (sometimes even scorching afternoons). Major uncle used to give me the biggest possible push at the swing making it span almost a curve of 180 degrees. That was his way to induce some bravery in me no matter how much it scared my mother. Other than this I can only remember his Royal Enfield bike. 

The next encounter also came on a bike. This time it was a Karizma that took me till the LOC in Chushul, while I sat on its backseat daydreaming and sipping the beauty of Ladakh. We were feeling quite elated and ignorantly safe as we posed for a group photograph at the Chushul war memorial and proceeded further towards Changthang plains through a route that is usually out of bounds for civilians. We were quite confident of the special permissions in our pockets as if they were bulletproof jackets impervious to the crosshairs at ether sides of the road. The daydreaming broke off abruptly due to a sudden commotion on the road. We were stopped at the Rohit post and almost interrogated. The battalion had no information of our arrival. They were pacified after we showed our papers and were almost happily surprised at the presence of four girls in the riding company. Quite understandable, they lead austere lives disconnected with the rest. While our group leader clarified matters with their seniors, the Jawans treated us to warm water and super delicious tea flavored with black pepper and ginger. I thanked them heartily.

Last month, I thanked them again while hosting the show “Forces Request”. 

All India Radio has been airing this show since more than fifty years through their medium wave channel that gets relayed to remote areas not yet penetrated by FM channels. This show is dedicated to the armed forces and the RJ is supposed to play the western songs requested by the forces crowd. I enjoyed interacting with them through the messages they would send me. Some interesting experiences are on order now. 

“You be the hero of the neighborhood
Nobody knows that you left for good
You’re in the army now
Oh, oh, you’re in the army now”

Heroes have fancies too. So it isn’t unnatural that this lot looks forward to hearing a delicious female voice singing their praises and playing the music of their choice…
“You’re wish is my command…as far as the playlist of this show is concerned” I would say often. 

No wonder that Flying Lt. Karan said in his message that he wishes that I were his instructor. I told him that we must be thankful that God doesn’t fulfill all our half-witted wishes!

Ajay and Amit, both Captains with Communication Control are regular listeners. They are both avid fans of Celine Dion and both have been unlucky with girls. They would often share their agony…
“All girls want money and corporate life, no one wants to go around with a soldier looking like a monkey in uniform and with such short hair!”
Well…I had to reassure them of the girly fantasies of brave rough-n-tough hunks, the typical Mills & Boons heroes. That assurance plus skies of LA by Celine Dion would always cheer them up. After all that’ is the vision for this show…to boost the morale of the Indian Armed Forces. And I believe in doing my job well. So I would happily play all the Bob Marleys, Scorpions, and Britney Spears that were requested. 

I would often receive a respite from playing the usual suspects with a request for a piece of music such as Christopher Cross that is not commonly played on radio. Despite being in remote inaccessible regions, they have still been reached by musicians like Will. I. Am. and his curiosity…
 ”Baby where did you get your body from?” … “Priyanka Ji please play - I got it from my maama!” …read another message. 

Some messages would make me say “ahem!” while a few would make me sit upright, especially when the sender would be a Lt. Col. asking for a song to be dedicated to his beloved daughter. 

Some listeners would be quite outspoken; one of them said…
“You are playing beautiful tracks…so why are you so late to say I love you!”
Well! what does the RJ say to that …
“Oh yes! But ofcourse I love you all! …muaah…muaah…muaah…!! Now let me cut this Miss Universe stint and tell u that most importantly… I respect u all!”

Some listeners would be shy and very sweet, especially the ones from Kargil area. They would send sweet messages for their sweethearts back home and also to their mates in the forward posts. Chowang, Dhargyal, and Tjompa would never miss the “Tashi-Delak”s and would make me crave to be in the hills ASAP.

Well…such have been my sweet-n-spicy-n-short interactions with the armed people.

Shot down in a blaze of glory!

Yet another standout at the Digital Art forum (click here to view>>)

An outline here:

1 - Began with painting in grayscale, following the same process as descibed here.

2 - highlighted the scar a bit.

3 - clothing details…rugged jeans & crisp T-shirt

4 - the tattoo deserved special attention

5 - creating hair is a fun part

Check out the previous portrait too!

Another digital portrait I created in Adobe Photoshop. The details of the process are detailed in the previous post.

Digital Art forum rated this portrait as a standout (click here to view>>)

The inspiration is from one of my favourite movies The Last Samurai.

This was the first digital portrait I created in Adobe Photoshop with the help of a mouse (no tablets). I drew and painted it (from scratch) using Photoshop tools only, i.e. pencil, brush, smudge, and dodge/burn.

Digital Art forum rated this portrait as a standout (click here to view>>). 

Here is the brief process:

Step 1 - Used the pencil tool to draw an outline sketch for reference and then painted in grayscale using the brush tool and created the tones.

Step 2 - Used the smudge tool to create smooth tonal variations. Used the dodge & burn tools to improvise as I smudged. 

Step 3 - Used airbrush to paint in color mode over the finished gray tones. 

Step 4 - Created hair using brush and a bit of sharpen tool. 

Step 5 - Created clothes the same way and added a bit of filters to create texture. 

For a detailed tutorial visit Daniel “Wade” Hammonds site. I’ll share two more digital portraits that I created based on this technique. 

About the muse, well…whom else could I choose but my crush at that time!

This photograph taken by me on the way from Khoksar to Tandi has been printed as the cover of “Natural Instinct” - the coffee table book that is published annually by the BICE (Bikers for Integration and Conservation of Environment) group. Needless to say… I am extremely happy about it!

Previous year I joined BICE for their 20^th annual expedition to Leh. Keeping with the tradition, this book containing photographs and articles from the journey was released recently.

One of my articles, describing a first timer’s experience and a poem have also been published.

For more…

Read my ARTICLE here >>

One of my personal favorite POEM here >>

More TRAVELOGUES from the expedition here >>

And the PHOTOGRAPHS here >>

The first glimpse of Pangong Tso was as entrancing as a sudden realization of having fallen in love, deeply and blissfully.

“Oh my God! I am here!”

It felt like a precious dream that I wished would never end. However, this sweet dream was for real and what’s more it was just the beginning of a serene, intense and unbound romance.

It was dusk and we were headed to Spangmik to camp for the night. After maneuvering the bikes through the rocky trail for about an hour we reached a point where a stream blocked the path and we had to pause to figure out how we were to move forward, more importantly, in which direction to move. All that we could see till far was Pangong on one side and rocks everywhere else. While others in the team were busy discussing where and how, I was lost in my own world of daydreams. I was engulfed in a deep and peaceful silence when a splendid vista captured me unaware. The stunner was the moon emerging from behind the hill on the opposite bank of the lake. Zillions of diamonds were sprinkled on the water of Pangong Tso as moon rose into the sky. It was a full moon night and the orb of night shone in its full glory engulfing Ladakh-‘the moon land’ in its divine light.

“Too happy for words” was all that I could say.

Soon we managed to move forward, reached the campsite, had scrumptious food, pitched tents, talked, joked, and vanished into sleeping bags. All of it seemingly happened in a dreamy trance. I fell into deep sleep despite the chilly weather, the bed of rocks (even with the sleeping bag and foam sheet), incessant barking of a guard-dog from a nearby home, and the wind threatening to blow the tent away at any instant.

Around 3:00AM wind slowed and I woke up feeling choked due to lack of air. I wanted to open the tent but decided otherwise as I didn’t want the other two girls to catch cold. Shraddha also woke up feeling the same way. We chatted for a little while, drank some water and dozed off again. I had slept for barely half an hour when I woke up again. Being in a vast landscape and yet staying confined to an 8×8 feet tent was making me all the more claustrophobic. I gave up trying to sleep, wore another jacket and went out of the tent. I can never be too glad of having done that. The moony landscape outside was a sight that I am going to live with forever. The moon that had blessed my wanderlust soul earlier by its royal rise was now preparing to descend behind the hills on the opposite side with equal magnificence. I was awestruck…moonstruck!

I took a stroll around the campsite for a while. The swooshing winds had got tired by then and had sobered down to a sleepy murmur. Someone was snoring in one of the tents. The guard-dog wasn’t barking anymore. The dog’s object of attention, his owner’s herd of sheep was also sleeping nestled into an inseparable mass of wool.

I sat there for quite some time. That was the pinnacle of my being me and just me.
Peace!

Imagine waking up some morning after a sweet dream and spending the rest of the day under its feel-good spell. That’s exactly how I feel when I think of the blissful travel to Ladakh as I spend the days under its afterglow.

When I was asked if I wanted to join the biking expedition to Leh my response was an instantaneous and instinctive “Yes!” Questions like “Is it feasible for me?” or “Will parents allow?” dawned on me much later after the euphoria of a longtime dream coming true had subsided. But frankly, in all my longings for going to Ladakh I had never imagined traveling by a bike. At the face of it the idea was a bit unusual yet thrilling, perhaps a tad more adventurous for me. It indeed proved to be adventurous and I had my first taste of it on the way to Rohtang Pass. Weather was at its worst and roads had been damaged by nonstop rains. That is when I realized how a simple brew of effort and determination can take one through all obstacles. With the bikers’ careful maneuvers and occasional pushes by the pillion riders our team kept moving on through the tough terrain.

Thoughts of such hardships had made my folks hesitant about allowing me to go. For them such an expedition was way too risky for their youngest darling daughter. They were almost shocked when I first mentioned the plan. I still remember the expression my sister had as if she was thinking that “How am I going to talk her out of this.” To that effort my folks did try their best and put forth their apprehensions ranging from health & safety to how it would be to be out on such a long and taxing expedition with a group of people I barely knew. I didn’t have too many arguments to fight my case other than a remark that “This is an opportunity of a life time and no matter how risky it seems I can’t risk not taking this risk.”

I had apprehensions too. Initially I wasn’t sure how the overall experience would be and there were several questions brimming in my mind. Will I be able to endure the stress of biking for hours at a stretch that too on one of the most challenging terrains in the world? How will I cope with high altitude sickness? How hard the weather conditions would be? Once we would be traversing through remote inaccessible places, how would I deal with matters of personal hygiene? And, above all will I get along with other people in the group?

My first meeting with the team put all concerns at rest. Everything had been planned and thought-through right from a checklist of items to carry and to-dos before leaving to walkie-talkies and a code of conduct! Above all everything was being carried out with a modest and cheerful approach. I think that besides scaling Ladakh’s heights another high point of our expedition was the focus on striking a right balance between discipline and fun. Our caravan of bikes moving along in harmony with all bikers dressed in blue and yellow was a sight I took pride in; be it on the roads of Delhi, the highway, or Ladakh’s terrains…especially the Gaata Loops!

The first two days of the ride weren’t very comfortable. Most of us had breaking backs, strained knees and aching bums. Yet our spirits were intact. By the third day my body had become accustomed and stamina seemed to foster with the increasing beauty and asperity of the lands we were traversing. Also growing was the bonding amongst our team. The other two female debutants Shraddha Goyal and Sukeerti Sharma have also had their share of anxieties and trouble while convincing their families. Shraddha’s parents weren’t approving. Infact they hadn’t allowed her the previous year and had almost stopped her from going this year as well. Sukeerti’s parents were very encouraging but still she had to deal with opposition from her grandparents. Despite the resistance and challenges all of us had set out for the adventure. We had a calling to answer.

Our resolve was rewarded by such spectacular sights that were far greater than our imagination and expectation. Several times I thought of the famous quote “Life is not the amount of breaths you take, it’s the moments that take your breath away.” The kaleidoscopic Ladakh landscape presented several such breathtaking moments with each pattern equally breathtaking as other. For me the most mesmerizing moment was when I saw the moonrise behind the hills that outline the shores of Pangong Tso. It was a full moon night and soon the whole place was engulfed in moonlight. No wonder Ladakh is called ‘the moon land’. It was in such a beautiful landscape that we camped for the night. It was a lifetime experience despite the discomfort of sleeping on rocky earth with the harsh winds threatening to blow the tent away at any instant. The challenges had been worth it.

In addition to the challenges posed by Mother Nature there were other ‘natural’ problems that we had to deal with, such as Nature’s calls. We had to keep drinking water regularly to cope with the reduced oxygen levels. Needless to say, the rapidly filling bowels had to be relieved but the question was…where? Asking for toilets in a land where the basic amenities are hard to manage is asking for too much. The only alternative left was to seek refuge behind a shrub or a rock. What had to be done, had to be done. Initially it felt a bit awkward but necessity humbles you and also teaches you a lot. Another lesson that I learnt was to be satiated with the luxuries back home that we usually take for granted. I was inspired by the happy demeanor of the natives who lead a tough life yet stay contented. I felt that the least I could do was to stop fretting over trivial deprivations. The rarefied mountain air was rich in compassion and tranquility. Perhaps it was because of the Buddhist prayers that the air is believed to carry from the prayer flags to the Almighty.

This expedition has been much more than an adventure ride full of spectacular sights. It has given me several rich experiences and many of those had been due to my companions. Our team is what made the expedition a wonderful experience. Away from our kith and kin we were the family. The senior team members took particular care of us novices, sharing their experiences and guiding us throughout. Perhaps the expedition wouldn’t have been such a special experience if it wasn’t for the camaraderie we shared.

It is said that you got to push the limits to test your true potential. I am only too glad that I did just that. I’ve returned a much more confident person and my family is proud of me. So are Sharaddha’s and Sukeerti’s parents. We are looking forward to the next expedition already and enthused enough to learn how to ride a bike and be a rider instead of pillion the next time. Once the limits have been pushed, there can be no further limits. Like Pat Conroy said, “Once you’ve traveled, the voyage never ends.” I do believe that this travel to Leh is going prove as the mother of all subsequent travels which I am now itching to do. As a reverence to this belief I wrote this piece on the day I returned to Delhi, while I was still exhausted and spellbound by the outstanding journey.

Bikes, mountains, and a drifter like me
Streams, clouds, and a molten soul
The chill of Leh was cozy and homey
Now I’ve fallen out of the dream,
Yet I managed to smuggle visions into the rocky reality

Challenge, speed, beauty and the precious silence
How I crave for yesterday’s gifts in this disjointed abstraction, a self centered expression
Do I make sense?
I don’t care to know…
Rhyme and reasoning are nothing to me.

I seemed to have broken free
Yet a fresh lure had taken over me
Flight and strings
Clouds and sweetened smoke
Intoxicating wine dampened the arid breeze and I let myself believe what seems like a beautiful lie, a stray dream.
…I allowed myself to be led into the no-man’s land

Choking for breath and brimming with bliss
Was that me sitting outside the camp watching the moony landscape?
I felt myself when the waves in the lake touched my feet
I couldn’t speak
I couldn’t even think
Never knew happiness could be so numbing

Sitting on the shores of freedom
I didn’t quit gazing at temptation
Glances tied by a core of wanderlust spirits
Scared and shy, but couldn’t evade the moonrise despite the high passes and screaming wind

Swinging and swaying with the ambient music
Soaking in chilling, freeing showers
Jumping in and out of puddles
Falling on rocks was never so easy
Climbing high barriers in a pilgrimage to ecstasy

I’ve flown out of the monastery yet swimming in a sea of memories
Every time I dive in I come up with several new sea shells
I am overwhelmed by the fertility of the high altitude cold desert
Memories will keep flowing
Several times I’ll narrate the incidents
But it has been such an experience that
I would never be able to express enough

Suggestions for a suitable title are welcome…