I visited Jammu and Kashmir recently, I thought I should share my observations:Visited Kashmir, the beauty is beyond words. There are delicate flowers in every hue, the mountains are overflowing with beauty and melody. The breeze is always fragrant with the sap of deep green devdars trees. Wild birds twitter in the forests and near rivers and lakes. In the nights Sonmarg valley was like a bowl surrounded on all sides by mountains, a bright moon bathed the night in blue light, the snow clad peaks shined bright in the night just as the stars shimmered in this inky blue bowl. The night was embraced by the serene melody of flowing Lidder river. An ancient Shiva temple is situated near Mansabal lake. It is partially submerged but the caretaker said that water was drained a bit and it was cleaned, there is a shivling inside the temple and many fish swim in the clear water of this spring, which is the source of this water. Observed that a mountain faces this temple, looks more like a swayambhu, the temple faces West and has immense vibrations-cool breeze that emanates from palms and fontanel bone area in head when visiting the 'jagrut' temples or sites. When we visit such places the water element present there has special propertes and can cleanes our subtle system of chakras and nadis( 7 chakras, three nadis of Ida, Pingla and Sushumna) if we pray to the creator to cleanse the system and dip our hands/feet in water. My Guru Shri Nirmala Ma taught us Sahaj Yogis to revere all such sites. There is abundance of water in Kashmir as many rivers flow through the region, the soil is fertile. Mother Earth blossoms here. There are Chinar trees in Srinagar and Devdars and pines in higher regions of Sonmarg, Gulmarg and Pehalgaon. Jhelum flows through Srinagar, Lidder flows through Pahelgaon and Indus through Sonmarg. Truly Himalayas are the living mountains. Just as the beauty leaves on breathless as one tries to imbibe the sweetness of nature, it makes the heart swell with pride to see our army protecting the Mother Land keeping the vigil in harsh terrains. While returning read many sour views that left a little bitter taste, these things were about separatist sentiment even while dynamics of the region are a bit complex, the special priviledges extended to the state should have encouraged unwavering loyalty. The Indian citizens here do not have to pay taxes like the citizens in the rest of the country. The laws of the land are different here- no one apart from the Kashmiri people is permitted to buy land in Kashmir while the Kashmiri people can buy land any where in India. While it requires a Kashmiri partner to do business in Kashmir, I came across hundreds of small entrepreneurs running shops of woolens, hotels, handicrafts who regularly travel to Northern plains like Delhi, UP etc in the months of Winter. There is a lot of debate going on Article 370, it seems logical to carry out an audit of the benefits/drawbacks of the special privileges extended to the state under this Article. Further, massive Development grants are released annually to the state, these should have resulted in unwavering loyalty towards the Mother Land. If there is still a separatist sentiment( by pure accident I picked up two news papers - 'Kashmir Observer and Precious Kashmir 'and came across some content that is objectionable in every sense, was surprised to see such things published openly) than for sure the extra effort on the part of the Government is being taken for granted. As we moved into the Sonmarg area there were massive clouds of dust swirling about against the silent beauty of devdars, on both banks of Indus/Sindhu river massive construction was taking place. It seems new hotels are being built in this ecologically fragile area, will not be surprising if the Uttarakhand tragedy is repeated here. I also observed that at the very source of rivers, where these originate from melting glaciers, open defecation is common practice. In Sonmarg on the banks of Indus river, came across people openly defecating on the banks and down the river small children were drinking the river water. All along the banks against the breath taking beauty, the stench of human excreta was a violent assault on the senses.There were biologically non degradable waste scattered every where-lays chips wrappers, polythenes and cold drink and packed water plastic bottles. I have some pictures of tourist spots surrounded by tons of these non degradable waste, it was painful to see the contrast. The problems are simple and so are the solutions, placement of non removable metal dustbins(as lighter ones get stolen), construction of toilets at a safe distance from source of water and implementing logical and just laws applicable to the rest of the nation. What the nature has so lovingly created, we humans have damaged and polluted. So, it was a bitter sweet vacation. I have seen now how important toilet construction is and why we need to create awareness at a large scale. सोनमर्ग रात बिखरी थी धवल शिखर पर सोती पंखुरियों पर, नदी की धार पर चांदनी को अंजुली में थामा था पर्वतो ने देवदारु धुले से शांत नीली रौशनी में गहराती शांत रात, दूर किसी मंदिर की कांसे की घंटियों की आवाज़http://www.searchkashmir.org/.../submerged-ancient-temple...

Deep orange sun peeps through the corner of the window, breeze warms up quickly and another scorching day begins. Yesterday, while discussing the political scenario with a very respected senior official, it was a pleasant surprise that he had wept while hearing our Prime Minister speak. He added that in Shri Narendra Modi India has landed with a 'heera' and now the law and order shall improve along with the quality of life. The discussion would have gone on but he had to prepare for a meeting. The election of General V.K. Singh from Ghaziabad is like meeting of absolute opposites, at one point in time Ghaziabad was identified on the world map as the crime hub. It was a surprise that the place was known internationally for the crime rate. Then, I experienced it personally and it is true the pinch of being on receiving end makes one realize the gravity of the situation. During broad day time when my father left home for bank to get crisp currency notes as wedding present for a relative, three thieves entered the house. My mother is a teacher so she was not at home. When my father returned he thought that perhaps mummy was already home so he began to unlatch the gate. At this the three young thieves who were well dressed rushed to the gate and threatened my father with a long knife, then pushing open the gate they ran away as my old father tried to follow them. These thieves had parked their car in a nearby lane and ran away. Then started the trauma of the FIR not being registered, futile rounds to the authorities for request to look into the security aspect. We were happy that parents were safe, money and possessions can be earned but the incident would have threatened their lives had they been inside the house as murders of senior citizens are common. The very thought brought fear into our hearts, we were happy that they were safe, but thinking deeply I question the very idea of governance. Is this what you get after working hard for Government all though your life? Teaching thousands of children, giving your sweat and blood to work and then be denied of even the basic essential things like law and order and right to complain against such brazen crimes? The place is bizarre to say the least, there is electricity for just few hours even when you are paying the bills. The sewage flows in open and once to my horror during rainy season some children were swimming in the big nalla that is adjacent to patparganj. It is farfetched in this vast state that is bigger than some of the Europe countries to even get the basic amenities. Then what chance do the poor citizens who are looted of their life savings have? Will things change? Will people come out of the slavery imposed where they meekly suffer power cuts, lack of water supply/ contaminated water supply? With a person from disciplined organization, will the law and order improve? I agree it is my concern for parents that makes me ask these questions but it is high time we ask for what is rightfully ours after paying the taxes and serving the country honestly.

It was an amazing experience to read Ambedkar and edit these books. How he struggled against discrimination and rose up against all odds to lead the downtrodden towards light. He has authority over varied subjects like religion, law, women's rights and all the subjects that can be imagined. Babasaheb Ambedkar has already given us the solutions to all the prevailing ills. I was amazed to discover while reading his speeches that he had already written a lot on how India should be divided into smaller states for good governance and sadly the process is still continuing with so many illogical war of words. I shall write more on what I learned, for now I just can say this that instead of reinventing the wheel our politicians and masses should read Ambedkar for clarity on all issues.

I would like to share the event that triggered my interest in the Environmental studies. We were visiting Kedarnath in the year 2004 in the Uttarakhand Himalayas and as we traveled up the narrow passage crowded with humans, mules and horses, the immense beauty of the sacred shrine gradually blossomed. A stark contrast was the scattered waste, all the way though, like an eyesore. I tried to pick up as many plastic wrappers as I could. To this, my husband said that I could better help the cause by writing about the environment as this would create awareness, lack of which is the root cause of such environmental degradation. The ideas stuck with me and as we reached the shrine the stark contrast of the snow-white peaks against the reeking pool of human excreta and Caracas that lay floating in that contaminated sludge made me weep in utter helplessness. The irony is that this constant abuse of the track can be easily contained as there is just a single track and vast manpower available due to presence of Indian Army but still the problem is allowed to fester. I observed that a huge glacier had rammed into a guesthouse near the shrine, people native to the place told that this was unusual melting and path for the glacier. What else can we expect, especially when such a massive assault on the environment is taking place? I was deeply disturbed and met the advisor to Government of India at CGO complex explaining what could be done regarding the Kedarnath trek. He laughed at my idea about creating a soak pit and using the gradient of the hill to direct the waste into the soak pit. Next, when I visited G.B Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development, I reluctantly broached the subject with Dr Upendra Dhar, who surprised me with a project report, which was regarding the creation of such a soak pit and was in cold storage as the government had changed on the wrong time!. Somehow this gave me a conviction that I was not too wrong about the solution for the great damage that was brought to the pristine environment of Kedarnath. Last year when the Kedarnath tragedy happened, I dug out this old mail of mine and was thinking that this should be brought to notice of people who care. Yesterday as I watched you Mr Modi, it was wonderful to hear of a Prime Minister speaking about cleanliness as Gandhi Ji first taught about hygiene wherever he went, best practices were taught in villages, that is a true teacher and a true leader who encourages change through practice, long time ago I had read that even a toilet seat used to travel with Gandhi Ji for demostrations in villages. While visiting Kedarnath and Badri Nath, there is a simple thing one can observe and that is- initially when Bhagirathi and Mandakini merge, Ganga Ji is pure and as she descends slowly it gets contaminated. There can be two approached to clean this beautiful river- one is to start where there is maximum contamination being dumped into the river and second is to start the awareness drive right from the point of descend of the river. There are products like degradable bags with urea that turn human excreta into fertilizer, which can be distributed on the shores as constructing toilets nearby will contaminate the ground water, which is a serious problem in Uttarakhand. With mobalisation of volunteers, the drainage of ‘200,000 crores would not be necessary. A lot can be learned through how Europe cleaned their polluted rivers. Thanks for taking up this issue on the first day of your public appearance after elections. गंगा गंगा, क्यों हो इतनी उत्कल छोड़ पवित्र प्रांगण इतनी विकल पोछने को दग्ध तन मन तभी कहते तुम्हे माँ देती हमें मन, प्राण, तन छोड़ सघन प्रिय वन तीव्र लांघती गिरी कानन अति विकल गंगा का मन मनुष्य दूषित करते तन फिर भी बहती सरस सरल भरती घर आँगन

I work with the Red Cross and this was a felicitation ceremony for those who contributed towards disaster relief during the Uttarakhand flash floods tragedy. There are 4800 First Medical Responders in Uttarakhand as a result of a pilot project taken up with Government of Uttarakhand besides the Disaster Management program run by Indian Red Cross society there trains many more to respond during the disasters. This preparedness made huge impact, here is a glimpse of what all was achieved: The Uttarakhand flash floods that devastated the region following the heavy rains on 16/17 Jun 2013 in the state of Uttarakhand affected and displaced a large number of people. The unprecedented scale of disaster in the state of Uttarakhand saw the heaviest flooding and landslides in the state over the last 80 years. The Indian Government called the disaster ‘The Himalayan Tsunami’. It was the worst disaster since the Tsunami of 2004. The disaster was a result of a possible Glacier Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) and excessive rains that triggered flash floods and landslides. The total rainfall in Uttarakhand in the period from 01 to 18 June 2013 was 385.1 mm, which was the highest in the last 80 years. The normal rainfall during this period is 71.3 mm, indicating that rainfall was 440% above the normal. Continuous rains caused water levels to rise, and swollen rivers swept away entire temple towns of Kedarnath and Rambara, villages leaving travelers, pilgrims and local people stranded. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued an early warning about unseasonal rain and snow in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, the impending floods, and the recommendation to move people to safer places. However, the vulnerable regions around the rivers had no early warning about the possibility of flash floods and infrastructure worth crores was washed away. Even a week after the disaster there were people stuck in inaccessible areas in the mountains as many of the roads had been washed away or blocked by the numerous landslides. The tough terrain added to the difficulties of the search and rescue operations. Despite the challenging conditions, more than a lakh people were evacuated in one of the largest evacuation operation by the Government. Many of these people were wounded and hungry. They had walked miles trying to find a way to civilization. There was an urgent need of food, shelter and medication. Many had lost their loved ones and needed counseling in this time of trauma and pain. The IRCS State Branch reported to the NHQ the crisis situation which had emerged in the state due to the flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall affecting 12 out of the 13 districts in Uttarakhand. The 4 districts that were worst affected were Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh. Notwithstanding the difficulties in accessing locations, the relief operations of IRCS were significantly scaled up and relief was provided in the districts. Notwithstanding the difficulties in accessing locations, the relief operations of IRCS was significantly scaled up and relief was provided in the districts of Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Chamoli, Pithoragarh and Pauri. Four National Disaster Response Team (NDRT) / National Disaster Water Response Teams (NDWTs) members had been deployed to Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh districts to carry out need assessment. In Pithoragargh, Darchula and Munsiyari Tehsils had been worst affected by the flash floods. Balwakot, Nayabasthi, Ghoti were found to be the most inaccessible villages due to damaged roads and the assessment teams were required to cover distances of 5-8 kms on foot to reach these villages for undertaking needs assessment. Further, it emerged that the local population in these areas had been living in tents. Trained Red Cross First Medical Responders (FMRs) had been working closely and assisting the local people in temporary shelters. Since the onset of the disaster, more than 200 FMRs had been providing psychosocial support, Family News Service (FNS) and tracing services to people stranded in their respective regions. In Rishikesh, IRCS Tracing Office and DM Coordinator started “MAY I HELP YOU” Centre, whereby FMR volunteers were trained in FNS to register “I AM ALIVE” messages, and tracing requests. Tracing requests were collected from the family members about the missing people for Kedarnath, Rambara, and Gourigund camps. Additionally, the teams had been working closely with the local government hospitals and police stations for collecting information on missing persons. IRCS volunteers had been able to pitch tents near Vikas Bhawan in Joshiyara in Uttarkashi district. This area was being set up as a Red Cross camp. Construction of latrines in the camp site was carried out. Additionally, electricity lighting arrangements at this camp site was done. A health camp was organized by FMRs in Maneri village, Uttarkashi district. Of the three large Water Purification Machines (NORIT) dispatched by IRCS (each having a capacity to provide about 2000 ltrs of potable water per hour), one water purification unit had been installed in Uttarkashi by 15 FMRS. Water storage tanks T11 with a storage capacity of 11,000 litres had also been installed. This facilitated distribution of purified water to the affected local population. The second NORIT Water purification unit was installed in Guptkashi on 10 Jun 13 . An additional group of 04 NDWRT personnel were deployed on 09 and 10 Jul 13, to install and operationalise the 3rd NORIT unit. In addition, two of the three manpack units (units can be carried by volunteers and can provide 80 liters of portable water per hour) were made operational in Guptakashi and Pithoragarh. Considering the massive response that was undertaken by Indian Red Cross Society, the felicitation ceremony was a fitting tribute to all those who contributed towards this human tragedy.

Walking by...

Streets are heavy with dust, passing traffic. A cluster of women walks past, the edge of saree covers three fourth of their faces. It is December and I am back in this small town-Ghaziabad. The streets are congested, people, traffic, animals all seek space. As a kid I would visit the vegetable market with parents, learning to choose fresh vegetables from the piles, pressing the turgid lemons, smelling fingers to take in the lemon's fragrance. There are so many fragments of memories, like scraps of worn cloth. Some times when I try to conjure them the images sulk and then I sense that maybe when I am dying all these images, moments will come flooding. They say it happens when a human is gasping for the last breath. Time that carries quiet, pale noons, time that cradles first rush of hormones. Sometimes the time leaps from such spaces, a smell, a touch, a wandering breeze, dragging the mind to a long forgotten space. Copper rays on the faded bedspread, as the blood pulsates to a primitive beat of life, I sit wondering how a human life is entwined with time...

This picture is of my Grand mother with my only maternal aunt (mausi) and uncle( mausaji). I don't know how to express but words are my saviour. Yesterday evening I came to know she is no more. Feel a stifling knot inside that I hope shall release after I am done with writing. My first memories are of her sitting in kitchen near the log fire and cooking the tastiest meals. The slow fire would permeate the kitchen with aroma of cooking bhat and daal, even the simplest of things became magical in her hands and I at five or six years of age would slowly try to get as close to her as possible. Now, in Kumaon there are these practices that while cooking no one is supposed to touch the cook. Perhaps this has to do with the fact that earlier days to maintain the hygiene of the cooking area the woman who cooked bathed in the wee hours and started the fire, concentrating the attention of preparing the meal without any disturbance and contaminations through oter people touching the food without the needed precautions. My nani ( gandmother) cooked like this, I would inch forward asking her " why?, why should I not touch you while you cook? If you don't give me an explaination, I shall touch you". She would laugh and scare me with a stick although never using it. After this she would patiently feed my Nana ji ( grandfather). And then there were days when she would clean the kitchen and the coackroaches would be removed from the wooden beams of the mountain house. I would piously threten her," see you are killing these creatuures, mind you, you may suffer the ' paap' ( sin) of killing these. She would laugh at this,yes so be it! She was a woman of rare strength and perhaps we get that in our genes from her. I saw her very courageously stand by the right thing and I pray that God give me the same strength in my life. I would often hang around her, she draped in simple cotton sari and me asking her a thousand questions as she took out the stones from the rice she was cleaning in a thali. For years that I was at her house I saw peace and patience. There was a fun episode when there was marriage of my Devendra Mama ( maternal uncle), she was a good manager and had kept things in orderly manner in the store, the keys would be with her. I got to know that there were sweets, really rich ones that had been brought by some guest. I asked her if some one had got sweets, she said no, and then I kept a tab on where she hid the key, when there was a chance I took kids to plunder the store and we ate the sweets and carried the rest in our pockets. Then I placed the key where she had hid it. Later when she visited the store she saw the sweets were gone and the other things were in a disarray, but true to her word she did not speak a word of it, she smiled and smiled! Such was my nani! I remember visiting a quaint temple with her, the fresh flowers in pots all around the temple and the tiny brass bell strung all around are still fresh in my memory and there too I would incessantly question her, many time asking her not to believe in the priests. She would never discourage my questioning. Earlier this year I had a chance to visit her but I did not gather enough courage to let go of responsibilities here and simply visit her, wish I had done so. May Shrimataji take you in her fold Nani, I know you are watching over as tears finally make way. Although I could not visit you often neither bring a gift to you I love you, you shall always stay in my heart.