The Geysers in Yellowstone

My recent trip to the Yellowstone National Park left me in awe of nature. It has been a while since I had that feeling. Being a student at Utah State, and being able to see the insurmountable mountains every time I look out of my lab window, I had forgotten the feeling of being able to admire the different facets of nature. It had become an everyday occurrence to me, to see the mountains: green in spring, all shades of brown, red and yellow in fall and white in the winter; covered in a sheet of snow.

Only when I looked at the geysers in Yellowstone National Park,did I realize what I had missed all these years, living in Logan, and never visiting it. Being an outdoor person, I love to go on hikes, walks, bikerides, and runs in the canyon. The best part of this outing was Old Faithful, which is located in Wyoming in Yellowstone National Park. The beauty of this geyser can only be described in words. Camera could not capture it well enough. There was a huge crowd of people sitting around the geyser, watching it as it erupted. I was watching it too, and trying to understand why in the world would a hole in the land shoot out boiling water. I mean, the science is a different thing, but why would the Earth shoot out water? Was it trying to cry out loud? and tell the people in this world to stop exploiting the nature? It has been reported that the eruptions in geysers have been getting longer over time. What are we exactly doing to the nature when we use the natural resources ruthlessly? How are the coming generations going to react to the effects of what we have done to them by being selfish and only using mother nature for our greed?

Will humans ever become less greedy and follow the teachings of Gandhi and Buddha?

आधा है चन्द्रमा रात आधी...

बचपन की कितनी ही यादें ताज़ा हो जाती हैं जब आप वोह कुछ पुराने नगमे सुनते है। ऐसा लगता है जैसे पता नहीं कौनसी बचपन की भूली भिसरी यादों मैं खो जाते हैं हम। एक ऐसा ही नगमा अचानक मुझे अपने बचपन के दिनों मैं ले गया और फिर जाने कितने ही समय के लिए मनन उन गलियारों मैं भटकता रहा और लौटकर आने का नाम ही नहीं ले रहा था। मेरी पैदाइश सन १९८२ की है। जिन दिनों मैं अपने किशोरवय से गुजर रही थी, उन दिनों हिंदी सिनेमा में जूही चावला, पूजा भट्ट, आमिर खान, रवीना टंडन, करिश्मा कपूर, शाहरुख़ खान आदि नामी गिरामी हस्तियों का बोलबाला था। बचपन में कभी भी सिनेमा देखने में मेरी रूचि नहीं थी, बल्कि उन दिनों मैं विविध भारती ही बड़े आनंद से सुना करती थी। मुझे बचपन से ही संगीत से लगाव रहा है। सिनेमा के बजाय संगीत सुनाने में अधिक आनंद आता था। गद्य और पद्य में हमेशा हइ मैंने कवितओं और गजलों को चुना है। ऐसा नहीं है की उपन्यास में रूचि नहीं थी, किन्तु पद्य की कुछ ही पंक्तियों में वोह जादू था कि कुछ ही पंक्तियों में मन का कोई कोना भीग जाता था। वैसे इतनी भूमिका बाँधने कि जरूरत नहीं थी। बस यह कहेने के लिए कि मेरा एक बहुत ही पसंदीदा गीत था "नवरंग " का "आधा है चन्द्रमा रात आधी "। काई वर्षों तक तो बस यह गाना विविध भारती पर सुनती थी और कभी देखने कि हिमाकत ही ना हुई, कि कहीं बेहूदा चित्रीकरण देखकर मन उदास हो गया तब? एक दिन रंगोली में यह गाना देखा और आश्चर्य की सीमा ना रही। जब श्री व्ही शांताराम का अनोखा गाना देखा तब मन मोहित हो गया।
 जब आज के दौर में अनेक द्विअर्थी संवादों और गानों का बोलबाला सिनेमा में भरपूर है, तो ऐसे साफ़ प्रेमगीतों  की कमी खलती है। http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ni0ryO4V_E

Shades of gray:part of growing up

All your life you want so many things. There have been times when we have wanted crazy things like may be the moon... I remember as a kid, I wanted to go out and help the construction workers build the house.... crazy idea even to think about it now. Then there have been times when in the middle of the night I have wanted to go out and eat a bucketful of chocolate strawberry ice cream all by myself until I hit my teens.... and then suddenly, ice-cream and chocolates were poison. Suddenly, I found, I was trying hard to be part of this group of girls in my high school, who claimed hey were the coolest. When I was not a part of that group or the geeks, I became withdrawn. Until I got into my twenties.
When we grow older, something in us grows cold. There is a warmth that dies away. You try to look back at and hear a cold sigh... ahh, the crazy things that you did and thought as a child, and it is hard to get a glimpse of it not to say the vision becomes hazy. As kids, simple things like watching a Tom and Jerry cartoon used to bring smiles to our faces. As we grow older, vicious gossip makes us happy. Seeing someone fall down on the ice makes u suddenly snicker. In other words, instead of enjoying simple pleasures of life and little things in the world making us happy, we become more vicious. What creates this bitterness in man ?
As little children we are made to believe there are certain things that are good and certain things that are bad. As we grow older, we realize there is no black and white. There lie shades of gray everywhere. If only the shades of gray could vanish, and I could see the world in black and white, I think the world will be such a better place to live in. If only I could find that missing child in me.......