Heaven on the Earth, Kashmir? There is one more...

Hello everyone, today's leaf of my diary is dedicated to a place on a tiddly hillock overlooking a small and dreamy village, backdropped by endless Himalayan ranges and boundless skies. The place that gave me a time to spend hours in nature's lap, quietly observing the symphony of nature.

As the sun sauntered towards the west, it illuminated the hills and the mountains, and refashioned the clouds and the skies. It kept bedazzling me now and again, by divulging the gorgeous self-absorbed snow peaks. The peaks that would look like small sparks of light at first, would slowly transform into handsome and formidable snow-clad mountains, just like the adorable tiger cubs evolving into the royal white tigers. 

The placid skies that looked somnolent at dawn appeared vibrant during the day. Warm-hearted orange skies in the evening turned eerie gray at night. Himalayan ranges modeled themselves accordingly, like their perfect foils. 

What else should I say? I'm short of words to describe the loveliness of this place. I've made a photo video that tries to capture the essence of this mind-boggling spectacle. The place reminded me of a famous Marathi song, sung by none other than the Melody Queen, Padma Vibhushan Asha Bhosale, composed by Bhaav Gandharva Pandit Hridayanath Mangeshkar and written by Kaviyitri Shantabai Shelke. It goes like: 

ही वाट दूर जाते स्वप्नामधील गावा, माझ्या मनातला का तेथे असेल रावा ||

The lines mean 'Will I find my true love in the dreamland that this path leads to?' Not just the first line, but the heavenly place brings the complete song to life. (Please watch the video in full screen mode)

Meanwhile, what do you think would be the name of this beautiful place? It is Kanatal (कानाताल). काना means one eyed or faulty and ताल means lake. Isn't that quite contrasting? Looks like, there was a lake at this place hundreds of years ago which eventually dried up due to the extreme heat of the sun. So, this place was named as Kanatal. Opal Tometi, a globally recognized human rights advocate, strategist, and writer, says:

"Constrast is what makes the photography interesting!"

Strange coincidence huh?

I recommend everyone to visit this place at least once. It will leave you with a great sense of tranquility. Let me conclude the commentary on this thought by Gautam Buddha:

"If you wish to know the divine, feel the wind on your face and the warm sun on your hand."