Refreshing breaks and...

It was destined to be two tuff months brushing with corporate offices and doing something for which all of us toiled hard for the past one and a half years. Instead it turned out to be two beautiful months of hard work and wonderful breaks.The first one came during the Dussherra and the next one during grand Diwali. Both these breaks were refreshing to the core and I was thrilled to be wavering in the lap of mother nature.

The climax of the first tour had to be the rafting from shivpuri to ramjhula through Ganges. It is unexplainable to say the least and the only way to explain it should be to ask to take that trip. Never knew that ganges is so beautiful (people like me, who are used to see ganges at Kolkata can only dream about such clean water) and could be so exciting. Each and every rapids, the slogans, the unique way of sitting and the fun of jumping in the river were just icing on the cake.
The second break was during diwali and a sudden plan to visit dharamsala somehow materialized at the last moment. We had a deadly combo of an Indica crusing at 90-100 kmph with a sleepy man behind the wheel while cruising through national highway. Never in my life have I thanked Indian government so much. Just because of the dividers we managed to be back safely to delhi. So many times our car had kissed the back of a 32 feet huge truck with whispering wind between death and us. The best thing we did in this trip was not to take a camera. Fortunately we had enough memory space to fill our soul and eyes.
On both this fun and thrill filled trip I had come across incidents which I am afraid, should not have happened. The first one was when we were coming back from our first trip and the second one during our visit to Amritsar.How could one explain a national highway being blocked and the entire traffic being diverted just because some wealthy person is getting married? Such people who are insensitive to the core and put humanity to utter shame should be banned.
If this was not enough then the scene in amritsar had given a rude shock. Thanks to our wonderful public and tourists, the famous (or infamous?) Jalianwalabug place has been turned into a virtual picnic spot. People are enjoying their evening at a place which was bathed with bloods of their innocent countrymen few years ago. An incident which compelled Tagore to give up his knighthood, an incident which shook the entire India, now only gives way to evening walk and entertainment. Never before I have hated commercialization so much as I have during my visit to Amritsar. If we cannot respect our hsitory the least we could do is not to defame it.

My wonderful country !!! How on earth could we be so insensitive to its needs and glorious past. I fear to dream of an India where probably battlefields could be made a tourist spot and roads could be put on rent for social functions. And my biggest fear is that I am not too far fetched from truth.
May thy god save all of us...