Suhana Safar... Final part

Don't we always feel that the time should stop in its tracks when we are truly enjoying something, be it the company of a person or of nature, you just wish you could just freeze the moment and stay with it...yes I know there are photographs that you capture and keep it as a memoir for lifetime.. never let go, but then thats not the same as being in the moment for ever and ever more, thats the same feel I had when I was touring the cliffs and valleys at the Waimea canyon right upto the starting cliffs of Na'pali coast, the kalalau lookout. Honestly speaking, I felt for all my life's worth that this (the lookout) was truly the world's last piece of land, and I had actually reached the Horizon itself..the point where the sky meets the earth... don't take my words for it, look at the pics below.. you'll see for yourself that you can't distinguish the sky from the ocean.. they look like a continuum. Reminded me of the lyrics of an old hindi song.. "Yeh aasmaan jhuk raha hain zameen par, yeh milan humne dekha yahin par"





























Waimea was just like grand canyon of Arizona with lot more vegetation..and loads of pinapple stalls right at the parking area... and God the pineapples did taste divine! You never get such tasty ones ever in the Mainland.. makes a hell lot of difference how and where these fruits are grown I guess! It was slightly drizzling, which made the place misty and foggy like London weather.. rather Hampshire I'd say.. it was afterall more like country side than like a crowded city! but this really made the place look more romantic and just gave you that warm and mushy feeling!



There is a lot more adventure to this place than plain tours there's hiking, surfing, snorkeling, other rides but just not enough time .. there never is.. as I was saying right in the beginning, if there is something you really truly enjoy then there is never any time or space to get enough of it , but I have a theory that the universe conspires to bring what you want the most back to you when wish for it with utmost sincerity.. and thats the only thing that held me when I was returning home from Kaua'i, the hope that I would return to this place, sometime again, and prayed that the place remains as pristine and as pure as my memory holds it... the bluest of the blues, and the greenest of the greens with a tinge of Mai Tai and Tahitian fire torches and the famed Hanalei moon.....

Suhana Safar Part II

Interesting fact about Hawaii is that 2/3rds of Kauai used to be Sugarcane plantations and lots of coffee plantations, tea is not new to this place either. Alas, the old fashioned Kauaiians lost against the new hi-tech machinery and ample labor available in countries like China in producing sugar. So of all the plantations that had once flourished, whats left is just two plantations in the whole of Hawaii. The next day was fun.. Kauai is full of surprises especially in weather, the island has 10 degrees of variation from one part to another..the North shore is the prettiest, but most often the wettest, where as the south is as dry and sunny as it can get, the reason being the huge mountains that block out the clouds up in the north, the is the wettest spot on earth is situated right here, its called the Mt. Waialeale, the only other spot that manages to reach its average sometimes is Chirapunji in India.

Far beyond, the one mountain in the clouds is the wettest spot on earth.

So hoping that the weather stays clear, I set out to explore the island .. in ishtyle.. by air.. One of the most popular things to do in Kauai..and perhaps the one that is really worth all the money spent on it! The island is small, but has too many ridges and cliffs that commuting by road can show perhaps just half the island, for a grand view of things air is the best. And so I embarked upon the journey, least did I know that it would be such a breathtaking experience.

North East Shoreline.

Headed south to north through west and back to the east side where we had flown from. I was speechless, I thought the west side was amazing with a smaller version of the Grand Canyon called by Mark Twain as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" but the visuals that awaited me at the Na'pali Coastline were simply marvelous, at that time my mind was numb with excitement, but later I realized that these were places that were pristine because they were devoid of any human activity the pure air, the clear water, the clean beach, that's how I've always wanted beaches to be. Its not bad that the beaches have people, but its the fact that they eventually lose respect for nature that irks me, but well thats me, not many believe the same.

I was given a traditional kukui nut shell lei, these nuts take three years to grow and once they are harvested the shells are used for decoration and the nut is a delicacy. I was sad that the ride had come to an end but I was taking back not just the photographs but memoirs of perhaps the prettiest of the beaches and the pristine of the valleys.


Night life is not much in this island, but what I found interesting was there is a traditional ceremony of story telling by the natives, the whole thing started with them roasting their traditional dish (pork) in an Imu or their underground oven. They call upon the gods to bless the food and then after a scrumptious dinner put up a show, with their hula girls and surprisingly hula boys too, this is called the Luau. I went only for the show as I has dinner in another interesting place called "Blossoming Lotus" where they had dishes from all over the world, like Mahatma Moong dal, I thought that was hilarious than offending to the Gandhians, but I'm not really too fond of him so I cared lesser, went in for the Greek Aphrodite salad too, which was really good, but the best was the Mediterranean one and the bread made of lotus shoots. These dishes were a rarity and I thoroughly enjoyed them.

The show itself was great, but my only complaint was the native dancers were a bit on the fatter side.. (well that's really an understatement but I am trying to be nice for a change) well the stories were interesting though.. about the Goddess of Volcano who cursed and killed he God of Love 'coz he liked a mortal girl than her and how the other Gods felt pity on the li'l girl and got the God of Love back, but for the sake of her tears, and to make the memory of her love permanent a flowering plant grew in the valley where she'd sit and mourn, and its believed even till today that whenever someone plucks the flower off that plant, rain comes pouring down like crazy, and since it is after all the wettest spot on earth, one can't really disprove that theory! We had some exotic Tahitian dances too and thankfully these girls were thin and good looking! :) The show ended with some fire eating and dancing with firesticks kinda stuff which really looked amazing on that moonless dark night!


Well Good food and good endings always fill my heart. I retired to bed, the next day was my last day there, and I was gonna go on a long winding trip to the famed canyon and kayak and hike up the sacred Wailua river to the waterfalls where Jurassic Park was shot... Long day ahead and my eyes were drooping with sleep, wanting to preserve all they saw through the day....

Suhaana Safar...Part I

We all deserve a break, we probably don't realize, but most of us slog days together without realizing that we are stressed, reduced by 10 pounds and are on the verge of a nervous or stressed breakdown every other month! But the human mind is immune, it knows when not to give up.. try testing it sometime, if there is an important exam or event, no matter how tired you may be you'll still be able to run around and do work... and the minute the gates are closed..the body wants to just slump down and have a good night's sleep. Its nice to give the mind and body some rest ... I decided to do the same... in exotic style that too.. So I set out to the nearest exotica...and I dont mean the nearest bar to booze on some caribbean blue margaritas... no.. I set out to Kaua'i.. the the most pristine of the Hawaiian Islands..

Known popularly as the Garden Island, it lives up to its name, lush green on all sides with the bluest of waters.. a treat to the eyes.. I had an ocean view room booked for myself.. One must indulge in luxuries sometimes..and it was worth it... there is something ethereal about having the vastness of the ocean in your backyard that makes you feel on the top of the world.




Now I am a backpack kinda person.. so I hadn't really rented a car.. besides its a small island , 25 miles in diameter and 90 miles in perimeter.. who needs a car.. lets walk.. I told myself when I got into the hotel room. I was more than happy to see that there was a shopping center right behind the hotel, bracing the beach and the coconut palms.. No bliss exceedth the shopping spree for thee O woman I told myself and set out to explore... my happiness lasted exactly for 10 minutes... it does not take long for one to realize that everything is over rated and expensive in there.. I wondered why... I could get the same stuff for dirt cheap in China Town of San Francisco... why would I wanna come so far to buy things made in China/Korea/Fiji? Hmm.. I frowned and carried on.. it was still too sunny on the beach, I needed to spend a few hours before nestling between the rocks on the beach..Shop after shop had few things that were interesting, and none that were inexpensive.. all that roaming around made me quite hungry.. and I was almost sure I would never find anything veggie in the island.. its afterall covered on all sides by fish and wild boar in the forests! Who'd want veggies? I had given up on meat long back, as a kid, much to the shock of my parents...




But what shocked me (pleasantly though) was that the all the eat outs had a category called "vegetarian" not vegan as I am mostly confused for in this land of blondes waitresses, and I have to painfully explain each time the difference, but this was really a surprise that there were veggie pizzas, sandwiches, lasagnas .. all you can eat.. and these as I sighed in relief were not expensive!

The Chef at the Aloha Pizza Place (its honestly as small as the chat bandaar's in India are!) was a Philippine Native and told me that Kauai's main profession used to be farming, they have more varieties of hybrid plants than any other place and their traditional dessert is a sweet potato or taro root mashed and spiced with cinnamon! I could not believe it.. I was intrigued.. and so I made myself comfortable on the nearest table to the kitchen and listened to the old man's tales of the Old Hawaiian Island......

Jo Dargaya... Samjho woh margaya....

I was watching this serious detective movie the other day.. and when I say serious, I really mean it, the one in which there is the security of the nation involved and the good people are trying their best to avoid a major disaster from happening.. hmm if you are thinking on the lines of Dr. Dang and the Karma movie sequences.. naa its not that glamorous... this movie was showing the ugly part of investigative techniques... and I was reminded of the time when I wanted to be a secret agent :) we all want to be at some point ... its the glitter that attracts us... but as far as I can recall when I was younger... much younger I really thought I had it in me to face the odds too... especially the torture techniques... the gritty nail pulling or the Chinese water drop where they let cold water fall on your head, drop by drop and u are tied up and helpless.... can get really annoying and frustrating...trust me... or for that matter any of those cheap dirty tricks.. (Lets just skip the details) ...

Things have changed and how! I can't bear to even see them on screen these days.. I have become quite a stickler to cleanliness and I have become more sensitive .. rather oversensitive to the things that happen to me and around me.. it scares me to think that I could at one point in my life think that people could twist the tissue out of my nose, and I'd still keep a secret! I think I'd be singing the moment they pull my nose .. (not really), but my hypothesis.. is that with age people become weaker at heart.. lose immunity to torture.. there really were times when I used to have a big gash on my knee when I'm back home after playing with the "gang" .. and not a drop in my eye... now it hurts like hell when I cut my hand .. I still don't cry... but I feel the pain... I used to be insolent and proud of my wound... like all those Army Jawans, showing off their scars..I got this in the 1951 war!! my threshold for pain has for certain deteriorated... but is it just that? I questioned myself.. no I am now a days anxious about everything.. exams, driving, future...!

Well anxiety does come with age, I for one believe that kids are more courageous and more willing to experiment with life that the older lot, and should too as they are at the threshold of discovering their ideals, their principles and what they'd like to stick to for eternity...once the decision is made.. we should have the courage to stick to them...but coming back to pain..and fear, its just lack of training... had I trained my mind to face the pain.. I would and beautifully so, coz the mind does that... it does not let anything hurt it, there are so many people that have said so many things that could have broken and shaken my very foundations of thought, but its there and still thinks the same way it decided to think years back... but not the body.. it has become more susceptible to the attacks from around the world..unfair isn't it..? I used to stay up all day all night without food at one point to work and finish the task.. not that I was giving up food.. but the thought used to never occur to me... but after regularizing my eating habits, I become irritable if i don't eat on time... simple things... but they do culminate into a bigger intolerance of torture...

Training though can do wonders... its all up there in the brain... being immune to pain come only and to the strong willed and the people who practice it honestly! As for me, I dont think the FBI or someone more glamorous than that may be MI5 has any positions open for me :) so I'll leave the pain and torture techniques to my nightmares... but one thing I'd like to keep though is the thought that there is nothing to fear, but fear itself... conquer it and you'll face the world with a more confident and brighter attitude day after day...

Pyar ke liye.. char pal kam nahin hain!

Attachment! .. And I am not talking about the ones that you send in the email and are restricted to 10 MB size! ..its the emotion that knows no bounds.. Its evil.. people say.. I think its the most wonderful concoction of mind.. second only to the feeling of love.. and according to me... you can never get over the things u are attached to.. can't grow out of it unless you want to! Love is worse.. you can't grow out of it and if its missing you can't live with the fact either!

Attachment creates the want for life in you, there is a reason behind everything you do.. and that's attachment! Its preached that one should be detached.. and let go of this maya called world.. but then .. that should be done in totality.. only if you know its worth can u detach it.. If i say I quit eating.. I should know what satisfaction I get when I satiate my hunger... when I say I want to quit the act of sex then I should know what pleasure it gives.. it should be mine first to give it up.. and that's where attachment comes.. unless I have attached myself in this life to this materialistic world and be materialistic myself, I will not be able to give it up.. true detachment is completely different from what the people practice now... I don't like drinking.. so I am detached from it.. I think love is crap so.. I am great as I am detached from it.. That's cowardice! One should try to understand the fine line between detachment and "I don't care" attitude.. The true wise man is the one who has seen it all and can quit.. by quitting early in life you are only thinking that you are great.. but the truth is that you are cheating yourself!

Nirvana comes from conscious effort.. not by unconscious ignorance.. And so I deem attachment as the most important ingredient of ones lifetime.. all of us should have something we want passionately.. some thing we want to attach and associate ourselves with.. whether we want to detach ourselves from it is a question that will need to be eventually answered..whether we want to become like a sage ourselves.. how soon that question comes depends on what stage of the life - death circle you are in.. I was surprised to see someone who is younger than me .. taking pilgrimage out of choice... you are what you are as a virtue of your birth.. not where you are born into and how you are born into or whom...which is the reason why now in this generation caste creed and religious beliefs are based on individual rather than the society.. a plumber's son is no longer a plumber.. he can be a doctor.. similarly the maturity in thought and the consciousness of action comes through the life times.. but at this stage.. I am born with some purpose on earth.. and I am still not able to give up eating or drinking.. does this mean I should be partial and say I should give up pure and guiltless enjoyment too? Especially of loving someone and being able to say that I am attached to that person so much I can't let go?

Its plain faced fact that people are terribly confused when it comes to matters of heart.. especially crushes, infatuations, attachments and love.. they never question themselves.. never find reasons.. and hence the confusion.. Ask yourself once before you associate the emotion of attachment or love.. do I really want this person? If you feel the gap.. if you feel uncontrollable tears at the loss or if your mind goes blank when you think what u'd do without him/her/it.. then you will know that you really want.. and not "need" that person..

Attachment based on want is much more than attachment based on need.. relationships are longer (I've seen from experiences) .. Think about it, when I question myself.. do I really need that person.. your answer will be no! 'coz you don't need anyone to survive on this world.. every person is wrapped individually and is quite self contained and can survive all alone without difficulty.. but when I question myself, do I want this person, I am sure to get an affirmative answer.

All in all.. its great to want someone or something in life.. gives you a reason to be the way you are.. do the things you do..! like how Om puri says in Pyar to hona hi tha "Zindagi mein sabhi ko ek bar pyar karna chahiye.. It makes life beautiful" I say .. doesn't necessarily need be a guy..or gal.. just anything.. even your country.. or your little chihuahua...but love something.. and love it for a reason!