kashmir

You Don’t Have to Be Special to Be Free

How letting go of my craving for uniqueness gave me back my life It’s easy to confuse visibility with value. I didn’t realize I’d done that until the applause I thought I needed started sounding like static. I had built a life on making an impression. I don’t mean fame or followers or any of the easy metrics. I mean that internal scoreboard—silent, persistent, constantly measuring whether I was significant enough. Whether I was doing something interesting enough. Whether I was someone people remembered after they left the room. At …

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A day in the life of a newbie solo traveller

On my first solo trip to Kashmir, I wanted to go for a day or two hikes in Gulmarg/Pahalgam. But the weather had suddenly become quite cold (~Zero degree Celsius at night) and I didn’t have appropriate winter clothing. Contemplating between whether or not to buy all the winter gear and then a hard look at my overpacked suitcase took a while and by the time I stepped out, it was already 12 pm. And as luck would have it, the sun was blazing hot after 4 days of gloomy, cold, and rainy weather. I had seen a hot air balloon while crossing …

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Yahan Sukoon he..

Early morning conversations during dal lake shikara ride. Chacha, is poore pahad me light kyun lagi hui he? Yahan koi famous night trek hota he kya?Nahi, ye Military Cantonment area he.Oh, yahan pe ja sakte he?Nahi, civillians allowed nahi he. Aur, vo doosra pahad? Ukse upar kya he? Mandir?Haan, vo Shanakracharaya ka mandir he. Bohot famous he.Acha, vahan se dal lake dikta he?Shayad. Me kabhi gaya nahi.Kyon? Aap to yahin rehte ho. “Sundar to sab hi he. Jahan he vahin ka luft lete he.” He replied looking at the mesmerizing sunrise from dal …

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Why Kashmir is my happy place?

Kashmir became my home in just one visit. And almost the whole of it is because of these people. I went on a solo trip to Srinagar and stayed with Insha and her beautiful family for 6 nights. I've never stayed/seen such a huge property and also lived with a joint family. The place is stunning with big rooms, wi-fi, power backup, a fully equipped kitchen, open grasslands of the size of the mansion, an orchard, a cave, and even a water stream opening to dal lake. I was greeted very warmly by everyone. Aunty (Insha’s …

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Happy Birthday Sara 😍

Dear Sara, My cute little princess, Happy Happy Birthday. Just the thought of you makes my heart explodes with so many emotions. I really wish I could freeze moments with you forever. Precisely why I keep annoying your mom for more pics and videos to the point that she has to share a screenshot of her camera reel. It is impossible to explain the joy you have brought to so many lives - it is too big, bright and burly for words. What is it that I love about you? I could go on forever, and the list would be much too long. …

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My Solo Trip To Kashmir (Part 2) – The Mughal Gardens

The sightseeing tour took me to the iconic and gorgeous Mughal gardens - the famous Shalimar Bagh and Nishat Bagh. Situated on the banks of the Dal Lake, these gardens look absolutely enthralling with a vast variety of the most vibrant coloured flowers, sky-high chinar trees, amazing fragrances and the mesmerizing Zabarwan hills forming the backdrop. It’s just surreal. I really had to cross-check multiple times, if I had my camera filters turned on. Nopes. Maybe the concept of filters originated from Kashmir. During my last visit to Delhi, …

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My Solo Trip To Kashmir And A Brush With Kashmiriyat (Part 1)

Terrorism and Jannat are the two words that come to your mind when you think about Kashmir. The magical valleys as I had only seen in photographs and movies were calling me for a while now. It has always been on top of my bucket list. But the constant horror stories of curfews, crackdowns, terrorist attacks, blasts at Lal Chowk, locals undertaking yet another war with the armed forces and my motion sickness with mountains always made it really daunting to travel solo. Kashmir, hands down is one of the most beautiful places in this world, but I …

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