DehraDun

Dehradun
By Shreyashi Kukreti, CJM, DehraDun for hillsguide.com

“After you have exhausted what there is business, politics, conviviality and so on, have found that none of these finally satisfy or permanently wears- what remains? Nature remains”
-Walt Whiteman
It is very correct what has been said by Mr. Whiteman. When a man is completely dog-tired from his work, the best solution to his problem is NATURE. The beauty of nature not only makes a person feel fresh but also takes away all the worries from his mind and brings peace to him.
Dehradun is one such place whose awe-inspiring beauty can drive a person mad. “Doon” dun or dhoon in Sanskrit language means a valley formed by tectonic activity within the earth. It is enclosed by Himalayan Mountains in the north, the shiwalik hills in the south , river Ganga in the east and Yamuna in the west. The oxford dictionary therefore describes it “valley in shiwalik hills” Dehradun is an enthralling destination for tourists. The queen of hills, mussoorie, located here can just make a person go breathless. Places like Sahatradhara, robbers cave, dak pathar et cetera are some of the other wonderful places of Doon. The Indian military academy, the forest research institute which is the biggest institute in India where all forest officers are trained is located in dehradun. Institutions like the Doon school, welhams etc are well known schools of India.

Dehradun, which is considered to be a small town as compared to Mumbai or Delhi, is now developing into a big city. Today from mac’d to pizza hut, from Addidas to Levi’s showrooms, its all here. Coming up next is PVRs and malls. Every doonite must be proud to watch Dehradun develop but do they even realize that due to these developments taking place in dun, it’s losing the most precious gift given by god? Nature. It’s losing nature. Hardly anywhere in the town do I see that greenery that was found here ages ago as told to me by my grandparents. Today what all I see is tall multistory buildings and construction sites. We are lucky as compared to other cities since we still have a lot of greenery left. But till when is this beauty going to last?

The government is reprehensible for the present state of dehradun to some extent. It says that Dehradun is on headway and within 10 to 20 years it will become what a metropolitan city is like. Govt. says that it’s trying its level best to make Dehradun a hi-tech city. The govt. is planning of the next 20 years but has it even premeditated for the next 50 years? Do they have any plans for the future? Dehradun will lose all its beauty within the coming years just because they want to make Dehradun a hi-tech city. I have heard many people say that how lovely it would have been if there was a mall in Dehradun. What is the need of malls when you have big shops and big showrooms available here? The stuff that will be in the malls will be no different from that in showrooms or shops. Why cut a hundred trees and construct malls? Dolefully, each day many trees are cut down to construct the so called buildings.
In Rajpur road there was once a large property with trees and a very big open place. I use to enjoy going there in my leisure time and feel the lovely gentle breeze blowing but lately I have realized that a big mall is being constructed there.

Today Rajpur is no where like it was e few years ago. I remember reading somewhere that when a queen {the name of the queen is a thingummy} visited Dehradun she was suppose to stay in Rajpur. “Switzerland!” she ejaculated on seeing the first site of the Rajpur road. Don’t think I am talking anything through my hat!! I know its quite unbelievable but just imagine what Rajpur road would have been ages ago that it was called Switzerland and that too by a queen who had traveled to a hundred places of the world.. Never a remark had she made for any other city or a country no matter how big it was or how developed it was. She must have traveled to England, China, and U.S. A. and where not but still she chose a small place in a small town to be compared to Switzerland. What beautiful dehradun would have been at that time being compared to Switzerland. But today being like Switzerland it is nowhere even near to it.

I am sure everybody must have heard of the famous writer Mr. Ruskin Bond who presently lives in Mussoorie. Mr. Ruskin Bond, being a great writer, has written many books on dehradun as he has grown up here. One of which is ‘once upon a monsoon time’ It is a lovely book which states the condition of dehradun 70 years back. Mr. Bond has described the beauty of dehradun brilliantly connecting it with story of his childhood in this book. But will Mr. Bond ever be able to write a book on the present beauty of dehradun? The answer is a flat ‘no’ since there is hardly any beauty left here to write about.

There was a time in dehradun when the water that used to come in people’ s house was as clear as crystal and no R.O. or aqua guard systems were required to purify it. But today due to the pollution, every house has one such system to purify water. Today bottles of bislery and mineral water are sold, and I am very sure that 50 years ahead oxygen cylinders will be sold as the air here will become so much polluted.

I am crestfallen to see the condition of dehradun today. The air is completely polluted, the trees look so lifeless & there are hardly any rivulets left. The lure of the city is completely finished. Let’s not remain unfazed and do something about it. I understand that we are not vagrants and we all have lots of work to do but at least we can make some effort to improve the present state of dehradun. Let’s stop slumbering and wake up and do something of it before it’s too late. Whenever you sit reclined under a sweet bower think of the lovely city and of what should be done to make it a better place to live in. Rope in some people who share the same passion like you, to bring back dehradun her beauty. I am sure that our efforts to make Dehradun a better place to live in will culminate with flying colors. And when our long trick’s over, our coming generations have no problem to live in a beautiful city, namely dehradun.

SHREYASHI KUKRETI
C.J.M. [D.DUN]

A Trip To Ladakh, Kargil& Kashmir

A Trip To Ladakh, Kargil& Kashmir by Shreyashi Kukreti - Class 8th, CJM (Convent of Jesus and Mary), Dehra Dun for http://www.hillsguide.com “Ladakh is a country with peculiar charms, utterly destitute of the verdant beauty of Kashmir, yet its lofty sandy plains and rugged granite ridges have beauties which all who have once been there can appreciate” -Dr. Neve There are some places which once visited by any person always remains in his or her memory. One of which visited by me is Leh. Leh is the capital of Ladakh. Ladakh has always been a place of attraction for tourists. Red bear, snow leopard, marmot etc. are found here. Ladakh is also a place for scientific and political vacationers. I very clearly remember, me and my family and some of my close relatives planned to visit Leh, Ladakh. It was for the first time that I had heard of such a place in India. According to the name Leh, I had expected the place to be green with trees, tall buildings etc. But to my great surprise, the place was neither filled with greenery nor did it have tall buildings. It has always been a great fun to visit a place with your cousins as they add to the thrill. While I was in my flight to Leh, I just overlooked the view from the window. It was then that I realized that why I was told that this place would be completely different from the other places. At one moment, I could see a valley of mountains, completely covered with snow and the other moment I could see a barren land. I just couldn’t visualize the place after seeing different locations from the window of my seat. It was quite exciting to see such a look, so I was compelled by my father to capture the view even though it wasn’t allowed in the flight. Then came the much awaited moment, the flight landed, and we reached Leh. We were told that temperature outside was 9degree c. It was damn cold outside and what a bad luck of mine it was that I was only wearing a half sleeve top and that too with shorts!! But after witnessing the first site of the place all my shivering had gone away. If I had to describe the place in one word I would simply say it was ‘Fantastic’. We got the opportunity to witness Leh because of my ‘Phuphaji’, Colonel Pasbola as he had been posted there. When we reached the army camp, we were made to eat medicines and we had to eat them daily, God alone knows why we were made to eat those medicines. We also had a medical checkup to test our oxygen level and thank God everyone tested fine. So, it meant we could start our journey of visiting the places in leh from the next day. The first place that we visited in leh was Hemis Gompa. It was a kind of monastery. From the experience of visiting a few of these kind of Gompas or rather monasteries, I noticed that the main religion of the people of leh is Buddhism. They worship their ‘guru’ Dalai Lama. Next we went to the main market of leh. There was hardly anything to buy but there were many jewellery shops and the jewellery was quite expensive. The main jewellery sold there was pearls. The market place was quite crowded with tourists from all over the world. We returned quite early as the next day we had to visit another place in leh. The next place visited by us was the leh and the sheh palace. I genuinely loved the leh palace. It was quite cool in there and we saw many scriptures of the past kept there. Visiting sheh palace was a very exciting experience though it was again that there was simply a statue of Lord Buddha kept there. That day we were told that the kids would get a chance to go for firing. Thus, we were taken to a place where three targets were set up for us to shoot. There we met an officer who introduced us to the other kids who were there for the same thing. I was a bit nervous, as I had never done such a thing before, but my cousins supported me well but I knew they were themselves very scared. It was a great experience to shoot for the first time. Everything went off very well and we then started off back for our place. But the best was yet to come!! We went to Khardung la, the highest motor able road in the world. We were at a height of about 18000 ft. no vehicle in the world could be driven beyond that point. It was freezing out there, as the temperature was below minus. My lips soon turned into blue due to the cold and insufficiency of the oxygen. It was all covered with snow there and it was very thrilling for me as it was for the first time I had seen snow in my life. Next we went to the Pangon lake. It was a very nice experience to visit this lake as 70% of it was with India and 30% with China. And that’s to disputed. The next day was a very special one as we had to start our journey for Kashmir. On our way to Kashmir we visited many historical landmarks such as Drass and Kargil which is famous for the Kargil war, which took place way back in 1999. I heard a lot about the Kargil war and seen movies based on it. We visited Vijay path Memorial which was a tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives in operation Vijay. It was very enthralling to see and hear about the operation. We were also shown tiger hill from the Drass sector. It is the hill situated at the top and is very special because India re-captured this hill during war. The Hrithik Roshan film Lakshya is based on this subject. We stayed that night in Kargil ,in a hotel. We were told that before the Kargil war, the terrorists started to reside in Kargil as its residents and no one came to know about it. It was approximately around the war that army discovered about it. But trust me it’s a place of one of its only kind. Very different, and hardly people living there. It was a nice experience to visit such a place. Next day, we started off for Kashmir. “Who has not heard of the Vale of Cashmere; With its roses the brightest that the earth ever gave, Its temples, and grottos, and mountains as clear, And the love lighted eyes that hang over their wave.” - Moore. Someone said very correct, that if there is anywhere heaven on earth, it is Kashmir, Kashmir & kashmir. Anyone will madly fall in love with the place, if visited once. However, now tourists hardly dare to visit the place as it is one of the most tension areas of India. You need to have both, luck and chance to visit this area. Kashmir is described as ‘an emerald set in pearls’ , ‘that opens sublime the Vale of Bliss to the world’’ and defined by eminent writers as ‘one of the finest places upon which the sun shines’, ‘a dream of loveliness’. Kashmir is also said to be Switzerland of India. We reached Kashmir by the evening and it wasn’t dark there, though the time was about 6pm. We first entered a place called Sonmarg which is a very prominent place in Kashmir. It’s a must for people who come to Kashmir to visit this place. This was the most beautiful sight I had ever witnessed in my life. The weather was very cool, gentle breeze was blowing, I could see mountain peaks covered with snow. It was all lush green. We stopped at a shop to have tea and snacks. That moment it began to rain heavily. When we were heading towards the army area what a sight I could see! The houses out there were so beautiful. No place in the world, be it London or America can be compared to the natural beauty of Kashmir. After some time when it became dark, the city shined with lights from all over. It was then I was shown the most famous place of Kashmir, the Dal Lake. What a beauty it was. I was very elated when we were told that next day we would visit the Dal Lake. The Dal Lake was a very electrifying experience. We sat in the Shikara houseboat; I was very impatient to sit on this boat as I had heard a lot about it. We witnessed the whole of the Dal Lake because of the shikara. There are many films shot in the Dal Lake. The most famous of which is Mission Kashmir, in recent times. We also did water skiing there. Our next destination was the Shankaracharya Temple. It is dedicated to lord Shiva. The famous song “Jai Jai Shiva Shankar ” was shot here. We had to climb too many stairs to reach the actual temple where the sculpture of lord shiva was kept. It was very crowded there. Next we started off for Gulmarg which is a very famous place in Kashmir. The actual beauty lied in this place. It was so cold there, and when we sat in the cable cars, I could see a lovely sight. It was very cloudy and it seemed to me as if the clouds were touching me and going. My father liked the place so much that he wanted to build a house there and live there. We were given boots, knee length coats, and gloves as we had to go to a very great height through cable car. I could see the peak where we had to go. It was fog all over and there was heavy snowfall up there. So we had to cancel our plans to go up there. It was a bit disappointing, but my heart rejoiced seeing that site, up there. I didn’t want to leave the place as it was so very beautiful. The snow covered mountains, the gentle breeze, the cool climate every thing was so beautiful out there. Someone very correctly said “In no country in the world are there such magnicent masses of snow covered mountains as represented here; the giants of Alps would look like dwarfs”. So the next day, after visiting so delightful places we had to start for Leh again. On our way to leh the most exciting site we saw was the Moonland. It was a group of mountains together and one couldn’t just make out whether they were mountains. They were made of mud. They were round shaped and they were just as the color of the moon. That is why it was called the moonland. It was the best location according to me that we had witnessed so far. The next day we had to leave for Delhi. I just didn’t want to come back. In the flight to Delhi, I was just wondering will I ever get a chance again in my lifetime to visit such a place. People want to visit foreign countries but ever have they thought that the beauty that lies within their country cannot be found anywhere the world. After visiting Leh Kargil and Kashmir I think the only country that has such a natural beauty and such a charm is India. Finally, one should visit this place atleast once in their life time, it is heaven. To view Pictures visit http://hillsguide.com/
Shreyashi Kukreti, CJM, DehraDun

The City With The Lost Charm

The City With The Lost Charm

Naman Khanduri , student of Class IX, St. Joseph’s Academy,DehraDun

Recently, we the residents of the Doon Valley have begun to observe sudden changes in the climatic conditions of “our once a small, peaceful town” , which has now grown into a major city. This according to me is the direct consequence of the global climatic change showing its impact worldwide. It is a pain to know that this deadly phenomenon has finally gripped our beloved town.

We have noticed that this year Dehradun faced abnormally hot and dry summers. There was a time in Doon when even fans were not used by the residents of our town , but the situation today is pathetic. Life, today, is impossible without the use of air conditioners and coolers. Till the previous year, i.e. 2008, we experienced a few light showers even in May and June, but this year the summer was totally dry. Further, the monsoons always used to be in Doon by the end of June, however this year they were not here even by the middle of July. And now when the monsoons are finally here, there has been abnormally high rain, severely affecting the city’s drainage system.

The once “A clean and green town” of Dehradun has gradually transformed into a concrete jungle, with the growth of sky rising buildings and rampant deforestation for construction. The town has lost all its charm with the disappearance of all our mango and litchi orchards and the green cover that once surrounded our town. When you get out on the streets, it feels as if you are in a mini metropolis. Development has taken place, but at the cost of the environment.

Ruskin Bond has written a lot about Dehra, however it is difficult to find any similarity between “his Doon” and today’s Doon. It is now the time to react to the situation and understand our responsibility as residents of the Doon Valley. The biggest driving force, in this regard is we students. If we get together and make people around us aware about environmental changes, then surely we can expect a change in the society. Let’s now stop talking and get to work. The simplest thing to do is to plant as many trees as possible. The only thing that is needed is effort from our side and positive response from our fellow people. Let’s entrust ourselves with “eco-friendly duties” and act together to restore the old, beautiful charm of our city, the one Ruskin Bond has all talked about.

(Naman Khanduri is a student of Class IX, St. Joseph’s Academy,DehraDun. He is a great nature lover)

e-mail: namankhanduri@gmail.com.

A Day in Dehradun

A Day in Dehradun
By Naman Khanduri, Class IX-A , St. Joseph’s Academy, DehraDun

The day begins with the ringing of my alarm clock at six in the morning. I wake up, not to the lovely and blissful chirping of birds, but to the honking of cars in my street. Taking it as my regular wake up call, I take a stroll through my garden, hoping to enjoy the fresh morning air. As I step outside my house, a somewhat warm breeze, bringing along with it the stink of the rotting garbage from the nearby dump, greets me. What a fine way to begin the day with!

On my way to school, I notice youngsters taking a roller coaster ride, throwing caution to the winds as the lone policeman tries, in vain, to stop them. I feel pity for the poor fellow, after all who cares to take notice of him. Leaving all this behind, I manage to reach my class avoiding the rush at the school gate. Frequent power cuts take away, with them the studying atmosphere of the classroom leaving me with no choice but to get distracted. This combined with boring lectures in some subjects (I won’t name them), makes the fun-filled hours at school seem to be more like a punishment. Anyways, withstanding these difficulties I still manage to achieve a reasonable percentage. The last bell brings with it some relief as well as pleasure to me, but all this subsides as soon as I reach the School gate, and the same old story repeats itself again. A long queue of cars emitting poisonous smoke, which seems to look like a serpent gobbles up the fresh air and it becomes difficult to breathe.

I stagger home, exhausted. Though I have hardly used any energy, yet the polluted atmosphere seems to drain my energy away. To refresh myself, I decide to take a bath only to find that there is not even a single drop of water in the shower. What’s new in that, after all how often is the water supply regular? Grumbling, I step out of the bathroom, disappointed, wondering when the situation will improve. Evening is the time for me to go to Gandhi Park for a brief walk. Once again I notice traffic chaos on the road. Policemen are absent from their duty. Even their presence makes no difference to the rude and unruly drivers. Cyclists are constantly pushed off the road and drivers don’t seem to be aware of their presence. Reaching Gandhi Park I wonder if it is really the same place which I have known since childhood. Unfortunately, the place which was once a place for people to rejuvenate themselves, has now transformed entirely. It has turned into a lovers’ paradise and a place where rag pickers run about the pavements and drug addicts loll around. What a fall of dignity! Taking two rounds of the park, I get back home, complete my homework and go off to sleep.

In one day I get to experience all phases of city life- irregularity of the Municipal Board, traffic disorders, overcrowded public transport, lack of basic conditions of life like electricity and water and many others (it is not possible to mention all). This is my daily life in the mini metropolis of Dehradun. I curse the inefficient political leaders and their false promises that are responsible for the present condition of my town. It pains me to see how the condition of Dehradun has worsened in recent years. I face all the hardships of life every single day, and yet I say that I am proud to be a citizen of Doon. I truly remember my old Doon.

By Naman Khanduri, Class IX-A , St. Joseph’s Academy, DehraDun.

e-mail: namankhanduri@gmail.com.

Powerful Bureaucracy once gain sabotage Rafting Business in Uttarakhand

Since the inception of Uttarakhand, the bureaucracy which is virtually running government, once again creating problems for locals businessman of Rishikesh by not allowing running fair ,white water rafting business to take off. Locals are demanding to continue with five years old existing policy. Mr. Yograj Khanduri, a local from Dehradun, who is running tour and travel business from Dehra Dun, meet this morning some senior IFS including Tourism Minister, Mr Madan kaushik, But minister is well under influence of Bureaucrats, he told.
By : http://allindiarafting.com/

Rafting in Rishikesh

Inauguration of Tourism Session Festival by Hon Minister for Tourism, Government of Uttarakhand, Sri Madan Kaushik, at the banks of river Ganga, RISHIKESH, Uttarakhand

White Water Rafting Session started at RISHIKESH

Rafting Session at Rishikesh, Uttarakhand started
September 1, 2009, at rishikesh,dehra dun Uttarakhand
All rafting companies at rishikesh, under the banner of Shashik Pratayan sangarsh samiti, Uttarakhand started their white rafting business. It was inaugurated by Uttarakhand state government, Minister of Tourisim, Shri Madan Kaushik. He was chief guest at function organized by the samiti. The function was attended by All Uttaranchal Information Technology Association , President, Shri Sharad Kukreti, Secretary Tourism Mr. S K Singh, Mr. Jitender Agarwal, Mr. Vinay Uniyal, Ms. Parwati Kanthura, Ms. Basanti Uniyal.The chief guest told the gathering that state government are coming up with new attractive schemes. After the function many people along with Chief guest Mr. Madan Kaushik enjoyed the rafting at river Ganges. To Know more about white water rafting in Rishikesh, Uttarakahnd, India, visit www.indiarafting.com and to know more about RISHIKESH visit www.hillsguide.com
- Pooja

Congratulations to Dr. Suresh Rathore

Congratulations to Dr. Suresh Rathore
Congratulations to Dr. Suresh Ratore MPT (Sports) from SIPAS, Dehradun for being selected as the Sports Physiotherapist for Kings XI Punjab team in the Indian Premier League! Suresh Ratore is also the head physio for the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) and the only physiotherapist from North India in Level I with BCCI.

Congratulation to Ms. Neha Kukreti by SIPAS

Neha Kukreti, student of M.A. Mass Communication batch 2007-09 has bought laurels to the Institute and Uttarakhand by carving her niche in Indian T.V. Industry. Neha stood first runners up in Amol Palekr’s Reality show “Kalakar”. Neha will now be seen in lead role of Hindi T.V. Serial of Star Plus, titled “Idhar Udhar”. Shri Shivram has directed the Serial.

Private Organisation started migrating to websites/portal based on CMS (Content Management System) in Uttarakhand

Private Organisation started migrating to websites/portal based on CMS (Content Management System) in Uttarakhand

After launching of http://www.ignfa.gov.in/ (First ever CMS based website of Uttarakhand) , several private organizations/institute have started migration from static website/portal into CMS based website /portals in Uttarakhand.
These are, Institute of Hotel Management Catering & Nutrition, Dehradun (http://www.ihmddn.com/) , Imagine Films , DehraDun (http://www.imaginefilms.in/), SAI INSTITUTE OF PARAMEDICAL & ALLIED SCIENCES, DehraDun (http://www.sipasddn.com/), IIAE, Indian Institute of Aeronautical Engineering, Jolly Grant, Dehra Dun (http://www.iiaeuttaranchal.org/)
Where, SAI INSTITUTE OF PARAMEDICAL & ALLIED SCIENCES, a well known and leading professional educational college in Uttarakhand, has become the first Institute in Uttarakhand to implement CMS based web portal. According to its chairman Mr. Harish Arora, their students will take full advantage of Web 2.0 applications, which are already bundled with their website. They want to provide all technical benefits and knowledge to their students which is not available in most of the colleges/institutes/university of Uttaranchal. You can contact him at info@sipasddn.com or visit www.sipasddn.com
It is interesting to note that all these CMS based websites are designed and implemented by Dehra Dun based IT company , m/s falcon solution and services. One can contact them at http://www.folcon.org.in/ or by sending mail at falcon@falcon.org.in
According to Secretary, Mr. Yograj Khanduri, AUITA (All Uttaranchal Information Technology), there are 2 or 3 sites, all of government , are claimed to be CMS based website. But truly speaking it is all wrong and non-sense. They are not near to Content Management System. This may be due to corruption or lack of knowledge. Mr. Khanduri, further added that AUITA will raise these issues in coming November – 2009 AUITA meet, to be held in MUSSORRIE.
By pooja

Webadplus India

CMS (Content Management System) based website in Uttarakhand.

Congratulations IGNFA, DehraDun, India

http://www.ignfa.gov.in/ has become the first ever CMS (Content Management System) based website in Uttarakhand. Before this , there was only one website namely http://www.himselp.net.in/ which claimed to be a partially CMS -based website .Both these websites have been launched by central government organizations. It is coincidence that both websites are implemented by m/s Falcon Solution & Services, Dehra Dun (http://www.falcon.org.in/) on different two platforms, windows and Linux.
Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), DehraDun, India, was constituted in the year 1987 by renaming the erstwhile Indian Forest College, which was originally established in 1938 for training senior forest officers. IGNFA is currently functioning as a Staff College for the officers of the Indian Forest Service (IFS).
The primary mandate of the Academy is to impart knowledge and skills to the professional foresters and help them to develop competence for managing the country forest and wildlife resources on a sustainable basis. In the Academy training is provided at different levels of seniority in the Indian Forest Service besides training the new entrants to the service.

It has become a necessity for government departments these days to convert their static websites/portals into CMS -based website/portals ..The principle of 'What You See Is What You Get' applies here. The main benefits of CMS based website/portals are :-
• No prior knowledge of the internet or web site development is required. • Content can be created easily using generic office software and easily published using the CMS. • Content can be managed by the non-technical employees who are experts in that field, no technical jargon is involved. • Website/portal are always edited/updated from remote system.• Drag/Drop environment makes it easy to add new pages or edit existing content. • A workflow procedure can be developed ensuring that submitted pages are approved by executives. • Third party skin/template/application modules can be added to CMS package.• CMS site/parts are always scalable. • A Content Management System is economical as compare to static websites. • Increase shelf life
To eliminate inaccurate or contradictory content being published to your live website, a workflow procedure can be put in place. This will require approval by moderators before content is sent to your live site.
The benefits of workflow automation include cost reduction, improved operational efficiencies, error reduction, better communication and collaboration and real time audit of processes.
Another benefit of a database-driven Content Management System is that content can be archived and still be publically available (even though a new site has been developed and launched). This will contribute to Search Engine Optimization and can act as a resource incase old content is ever needed at later dates.

By- Pooja

pooja@webadplus.com

A Trip To Ladakh, Kargil and Kashmir

A Trip To Ladakh, Kargil& Kashmir
by Shreyashi Kukreti - Class 8th, CJM (Convent of Jesus and Mary), Dehra Dun for http://www.hillsguide.com

“Ladakh is a country with peculiar charms, utterly destitute of the verdant beauty of Kashmir, yet its lofty sandy plains and rugged granite ridges have beauties which all who have once been there can appreciate”
-Dr. Neve

There are some places which once visited by any person always remains in his or her memory. One of which visited by me is Leh.
Leh is the capital of Ladakh. Ladakh has always been a place of attraction for tourists. Red bear, snow leopard, marmot etc. are found here. Ladakh is also a place for scientific and political vacationers.
I very clearly remember, me and my family and some of my close relatives planned to visit Leh, Ladakh. It was for the first time that I had heard of such a place in India. According to the name Leh, I had expected the place to be green with trees, tall buildings etc. But to my great surprise, the place was neither filled with greenery nor did it have tall buildings. It has always been a great fun to visit a place with your cousins as they add to the thrill. While I was in my flight to Leh, I just overlooked the view from the window. It was then that I realized that why I was told that this place would be completely different from the other places.
At one moment, I could see a valley of mountains, completely covered with snow and the other moment I could see a barren land. I just couldn’t visualize the place after seeing different locations from the window of my seat. It was quite exciting to see such a look, so I was compelled by my father to capture the view even though it wasn’t allowed in the flight. Then came the much awaited moment, the flight landed, and we reached Leh. We were told that temperature outside was 9degree c. It was damn cold outside and what a bad luck of mine it was that I was only wearing a half sleeve top and that too with shorts!! But after witnessing the first site of the place all my shivering had gone away. If I had to describe the place in one word I would simply say it was ‘Fantastic’.
We got the opportunity to witness Leh because of my ‘Phuphaji’, Colonel Pasbola as he had been posted there. When we reached the army camp, we were made to eat medicines and we had to eat them daily, God alone knows why we were made to eat those medicines. We also had a medical checkup to test our oxygen level and thank God everyone tested fine. So, it meant we could start our journey of visiting the places in leh from the next day.
The first place that we visited in leh was Hemis Gompa. It was a kind of monastery. From the experience of visiting a few of these kind of Gompas or rather monasteries, I noticed that the main religion of the people of leh is Buddhism. They worship their ‘guru’ Dalai Lama. Next we went to the main market of leh. There was hardly anything to buy but there were many jewellery shops and the jewellery was quite expensive. The main jewellery sold there was pearls. The market place was quite crowded with tourists from all over the world. We returned quite early as the next day we had to visit another place in leh. The next place visited by us was the leh and the sheh palace. I genuinely loved the leh palace. It was quite cool in there and we saw many scriptures of the past kept there. Visiting sheh palace was a very exciting experience though it was again that there was simply a statue of Lord Buddha kept there. That day we were told that the kids would get a chance to go for firing. Thus, we were taken to a place where three targets were set up for us to shoot. There we met an officer who introduced us to the other kids who were there for the same thing. I was a bit nervous, as I had never done such a thing before, but my cousins supported me well but I knew they were themselves very scared. It was a great experience to shoot for the first time. Everything went off very well and we then started off back for our place. But the best was yet to come!! We went to Khardung la, the highest motor able road in the world. We were at a height of about 18000 ft. no vehicle in the world could be driven beyond that point. It was freezing out there, as the temperature was below minus. My lips soon turned into blue due to the cold and insufficiency of the oxygen. It was all covered with snow there and it was very thrilling for me as it was for the first time I had seen snow in my life. Next we went to the Pangon lake. It was a very nice experience to visit this lake as 70% of it was with India and 30% with China. And that’s to disputed. The next day was a very special one as we had to start our journey for Kashmir. On our way to Kashmir we visited many historical landmarks such as Drass and Kargil which is famous for the Kargil war, which took place way back in 1999. I heard a lot about the Kargil war and seen movies based on it. We visited Vijay path Memorial which was a tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives in operation Vijay. It was very enthralling to see and hear about the operation. We were also shown tiger hill from the Drass sector. It is the hill situated at the top and is very special because India re-captured this hill during war. The Hrithik Roshan film Lakshya is based on this subject. We stayed that night in Kargil ,in a hotel. We were told that before the Kargil war, the terrorists started to reside in Kargil as its residents and no one came to know about it. It was approximately around the war that army discovered about it. But trust me it’s a place of one of its only kind. Very different, and hardly people living there. It was a nice experience to visit such a place. Next day, we started off for Kashmir.

“Who has not heard of the Vale of Cashmere;
With its roses the brightest that the earth ever gave,
Its temples, and grottos, and mountains as clear,
And the love lighted eyes that hang over their wave.”
- Moore.
Someone said very correct, that if there is anywhere heaven on earth, it is Kashmir, Kashmir & kashmir.
Anyone will madly fall in love with the place, if visited once. However, now tourists hardly dare to visit the place as it is one of the most tension areas of India. You need to have both, luck and chance to visit this area. Kashmir is described as ‘an emerald set in pearls’ , ‘that opens sublime the Vale of Bliss to the world’’ and defined by eminent writers as ‘one of the finest places upon which the sun shines’, ‘a dream of loveliness’. Kashmir is also said to be Switzerland of India.
We reached Kashmir by the evening and it wasn’t dark there, though the time was about 6pm. We first entered a place called Sonmarg which is a very prominent place in Kashmir. It’s a must for people who come to Kashmir to visit this place. This was the most beautiful sight I had ever witnessed in my life. The weather was very cool, gentle breeze was blowing, I could see mountain peaks covered with snow. It was all lush green. We stopped at a shop to have tea and snacks. That moment it began to rain heavily. When we were heading towards the army area what a sight I could see! The houses out there were so beautiful. No place in the world, be it London or America can be compared to the natural beauty of Kashmir. After some time when it became dark, the city shined with lights from all over. It was then I was shown the most famous place of Kashmir, the Dal Lake. What a beauty it was. I was very elated when we were told that next day we would visit the Dal Lake.
The Dal Lake was a very electrifying experience. We sat in the Shikara houseboat; I was very impatient to sit on this boat as I had heard a lot about it. We witnessed the whole of the Dal Lake because of the shikara. There are many films shot in the Dal Lake. The most famous of which is Mission Kashmir, in recent times. We also did water skiing there. Our next destination was the Shankaracharya Temple. It is dedicated to lord Shiva. The famous song “Jai Jai Shiva Shankar ” was shot here. We had to climb too many stairs to reach the actual temple where the sculpture of lord shiva was kept. It was very crowded there. Next we started off for Gulmarg which is a very famous place in Kashmir. The actual beauty lied in this place. It was so cold there, and when we sat in the cable cars, I could see a lovely sight. It was very cloudy and it seemed to me as if the clouds were touching me and going. My father liked the place so much that he wanted to build a house there and live there. We were given boots, knee length coats, and gloves as we had to go to a very great height through cable car. I could see the peak where we had to go. It was fog all over and there was heavy snowfall up there. So we had to cancel our plans to go up there. It was a bit disappointing, but my heart rejoiced seeing that site, up there. I didn’t want to leave the place as it was so very beautiful. The snow covered mountains, the gentle breeze, the cool climate every thing was so beautiful out there. Someone very correctly said “In no country in the world are there such magnicent masses of snow covered mountains as represented here; the giants of Alps would look like dwarfs”. So the next day, after visiting so delightful places we had to start for Leh again. On our way to leh the most exciting site we saw was the Moonland. It was a group of mountains together and one couldn’t just make out whether they were mountains. They were made of mud. They were round shaped and they were just as the color of the moon. That is why it was called the moonland. It was the best location according to me that we had witnessed so far. The next day we had to leave for Delhi. I just didn’t want to come back.
In the flight to Delhi, I was just wondering will I ever get a chance again in my lifetime to visit such a place. People want to visit foreign countries but ever have they thought that the beauty that lies within their country cannot be found anywhere the world. After visiting Leh Kargil and Kashmir I think the only country that has such a natural beauty and such a charm is India. Finally, one should visit this place atleast once in their life time, it is heaven.
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Burring effigy of China by TIBETIANS in Haridwar,India

A pro-Tibet activist demonstrate to mark the 50th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against China. The demonstration held on 11.March.2009 at HARIDWARA, a holy town of India by burring effigy of China. Haridwar is an ancient city where Hindu pilgrims come to pray and conduct funeral rites near the banks of the Ganges River.

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