Journey to Leh-Ladakh &
the journey within
Dear All
Sharing some insights on our Leh-Ladakh trip which we had been from the 3rd to 13th August,2014 with a total of 12 travelers – having an assorted mix of youth , middle-aged & elderly persons - by age - but all of them – young by heart !!
1. Travelers list
Myself-Ravindra
Shilpa
Milind dada
Nutan Vahini
Rajas
Sukhada
Anuja
Nitindada
Jyotivahini
Kedar
Vijumai
Vivekkaka
By the way the travelers list is randomly arranged and it will take some effort to judge the persons who are youngest by heart
Moreover as you go thru the article, you will see that the persons who were eldest by age were the ones who effortlessly demonstrated that they were the youngest by heart.
2. Visit to Hall of Fame (Kargill war-May to July 1999)
We visited the Hall of fame at Kargill where the Indian soldiers had fought & won key strategic India locations – that were captured by the Pakistan army.
We also watched the video film of the Kargill war where the battles fought at Tololing, Tiger hill, other locations were displayed – along with the modern weapons used e.g. Bofors guns, bombing of Pakistani bunkers by the Mirage 2000 aircrafts. The war showcased the co-ordination by the different units of the Indian army viz. the Navy, Airforce & Artillery units and is ranked as one of the benchmarks of all the wars, considering that this was done in the face of harsh climatic conditions & without having the full-fledged infrastructure for waging this kind of a war.
Our group distributed sweets at the Kargill venue to some soldiers- and the shine/gleam that I noticed in the soldiers eyes was priceless.
I also read some letters written by the soldiers to their children wherein they mentioned that the threat of death is a part of the professional hazard and their children should take care of the elderly persons in the family & the grandchildren. And impart good values to the grandchildren for succeeding in life. The clarity of thoughts, especially even while facing threats of death (in adversity) left me spellbound.
One thing that struck me immediately was that we appreciate, recognize the importance of the soldiers / army only when we visit such places or at best only on the 2 days of 15th August & 26th January.
To start with - Next time when we are making / buying sweets (ladoos, chivada) or at-least before eating them, let us resolve to think or pause for a moment about our soldiers and their war deeds. - this will be a good beginning.
3. Mother Nature is the King
We visited a lot of places – highest motorable road at Khardung pass @ 18380 ft., Pangong lake, Sonmarg, monasteries, anti-gravity point, took a lot of photos.
The topography in terms of rock & snow formations, the variety of rock, flora & fauna colors, birds, water, breeze was out of the world and dynamic (changing every 500 meters or so)
One important learning was that - No matter how much intelligent we human beings are – with a variety of skills & experiences at times you are helpless against Mother Nature.- this realization was reiterated when we were stuck for 4 hours on the way to Sonamarg due to a landslide and later due to traffic.
4. Funny & Thrilling Incidents
At one of the hotels we were served bread for breakfast. On enquiring with waiter about what to eat with the bread – we got Tea, coffee as the answer – can you beat that !
Drivers view of Leh-Ladakh : there’s nothing to see here except mountains, valleys, snow & monasteries.
One hotel at Kargill – had 1 common key for 2 rooms
Crossing stream enroute to Pangong lake – While travelling to Pangong we had a stream flowing on the road at high speed and carrying small rocks with it. So all vehicles were waiting – fearing that driving thru would mean taking risk of vehicle being washed away by forcing water. One of the car drivers crossed the stream by running from 1 side to the other and then drove his car cleanly over the stream. The other drivers then drove over the stream. In this situation the first driver demonstrated himself as a situational leader - by taking a calculated risk. (and thereby challenging the belief that leadership is demonstrated only by people at the top or those in white collar jobs). And set an example for others (drivers) to follow.
The extensive usage of solar energy at Pangong school, and the location of the students classrooms & lodging based on sunlight was impressive
Skills of drivers and their ability to drive & maneuver on the narrowest of roads was remarkable
5. Interactions
We played cards, cracked jokes, attempted some songs, had insights from all our traveler members
Nutanvahini wrote and narrated great article on our entire journey, our group – I suggest she should compile articles of each of our trips and compile a book on same.
Vivekkaka & Vijumai shared their experiences on Sanskrit literature and were always the most enterprising people in our group
Nitindada shared his radical viewpoint on having a zero-based budgeting for 2 to 3 years for the younger generation so that they understand the efforts involved in striving for even the basic necessities
Milinddada, Shilpa, Jyotivahini & to some extent me - we all contributed to the chaos
The importance of camphor and its recognition as a medicine was instrumental (so much that I became jealous of the importance it got !!)
Younger generation from our group (by age) was busy in taking selfies, photos etc. I think they can do lot of multi-tasking- by simultaneously eating with 1 hand, using camera/phone with other hand, listen to music and speak out on a separate topic - with equal ease & confidence in all areas. (unlike us - when we get a call while working on PC – we inform the caller that we will call back later). Wav!! – what a super potential for India’s future growth. – key is give to them enough space to draw their own canvas and balance this freedom with values.
6. Insights
Personally I have sensed an Increase in my energy & optimism levels (even though we travelled in areas with lower oxygen levels)
Increase in awareness and/or importance about our army, soldiers and the need to recognize this belief and pass it on to the next generation
Sharing some insights on our Leh-Ladakh trip which we had been from the 3rd to 13th August,2014 with a total of 12 travelers – having an assorted mix of youth , middle-aged & elderly persons - by age - but all of them – young by heart !!
1. Travelers list
Myself-Ravindra
Shilpa
Milind dada
Nutan Vahini
Rajas
Sukhada
Anuja
Nitindada
Jyotivahini
Kedar
Vijumai
Vivekkaka
By the way the travelers list is randomly arranged and it will take some effort to judge the persons who are youngest by heart
Moreover as you go thru the article, you will see that the persons who were eldest by age were the ones who effortlessly demonstrated that they were the youngest by heart.
2. Visit to Hall of Fame (Kargill war-May to July 1999)
We visited the Hall of fame at Kargill where the Indian soldiers had fought & won key strategic India locations – that were captured by the Pakistan army.
We also watched the video film of the Kargill war where the battles fought at Tololing, Tiger hill, other locations were displayed – along with the modern weapons used e.g. Bofors guns, bombing of Pakistani bunkers by the Mirage 2000 aircrafts. The war showcased the co-ordination by the different units of the Indian army viz. the Navy, Airforce & Artillery units and is ranked as one of the benchmarks of all the wars, considering that this was done in the face of harsh climatic conditions & without having the full-fledged infrastructure for waging this kind of a war.
Our group distributed sweets at the Kargill venue to some soldiers- and the shine/gleam that I noticed in the soldiers eyes was priceless.
I also read some letters written by the soldiers to their children wherein they mentioned that the threat of death is a part of the professional hazard and their children should take care of the elderly persons in the family & the grandchildren. And impart good values to the grandchildren for succeeding in life. The clarity of thoughts, especially even while facing threats of death (in adversity) left me spellbound.
One thing that struck me immediately was that we appreciate, recognize the importance of the soldiers / army only when we visit such places or at best only on the 2 days of 15th August & 26th January.
To start with - Next time when we are making / buying sweets (ladoos, chivada) or at-least before eating them, let us resolve to think or pause for a moment about our soldiers and their war deeds. - this will be a good beginning.
3. Mother Nature is the King
We visited a lot of places – highest motorable road at Khardung pass @ 18380 ft., Pangong lake, Sonmarg, monasteries, anti-gravity point, took a lot of photos.
The topography in terms of rock & snow formations, the variety of rock, flora & fauna colors, birds, water, breeze was out of the world and dynamic (changing every 500 meters or so)
One important learning was that - No matter how much intelligent we human beings are – with a variety of skills & experiences at times you are helpless against Mother Nature.- this realization was reiterated when we were stuck for 4 hours on the way to Sonamarg due to a landslide and later due to traffic.
4. Funny & Thrilling Incidents
At one of the hotels we were served bread for breakfast. On enquiring with waiter about what to eat with the bread – we got Tea, coffee as the answer – can you beat that !
Drivers view of Leh-Ladakh : there’s nothing to see here except mountains, valleys, snow & monasteries.
One hotel at Kargill – had 1 common key for 2 rooms
Crossing stream enroute to Pangong lake – While travelling to Pangong we had a stream flowing on the road at high speed and carrying small rocks with it. So all vehicles were waiting – fearing that driving thru would mean taking risk of vehicle being washed away by forcing water. One of the car drivers crossed the stream by running from 1 side to the other and then drove his car cleanly over the stream. The other drivers then drove over the stream. In this situation the first driver demonstrated himself as a situational leader - by taking a calculated risk. (and thereby challenging the belief that leadership is demonstrated only by people at the top or those in white collar jobs). And set an example for others (drivers) to follow.
The extensive usage of solar energy at Pangong school, and the location of the students classrooms & lodging based on sunlight was impressive
Skills of drivers and their ability to drive & maneuver on the narrowest of roads was remarkable
5. Interactions
We played cards, cracked jokes, attempted some songs, had insights from all our traveler members
Nutanvahini wrote and narrated great article on our entire journey, our group – I suggest she should compile articles of each of our trips and compile a book on same.
Vivekkaka & Vijumai shared their experiences on Sanskrit literature and were always the most enterprising people in our group
Nitindada shared his radical viewpoint on having a zero-based budgeting for 2 to 3 years for the younger generation so that they understand the efforts involved in striving for even the basic necessities
Milinddada, Shilpa, Jyotivahini & to some extent me - we all contributed to the chaos
The importance of camphor and its recognition as a medicine was instrumental (so much that I became jealous of the importance it got !!)
Younger generation from our group (by age) was busy in taking selfies, photos etc. I think they can do lot of multi-tasking- by simultaneously eating with 1 hand, using camera/phone with other hand, listen to music and speak out on a separate topic - with equal ease & confidence in all areas. (unlike us - when we get a call while working on PC – we inform the caller that we will call back later). Wav!! – what a super potential for India’s future growth. – key is give to them enough space to draw their own canvas and balance this freedom with values.
6. Insights
Personally I have sensed an Increase in my energy & optimism levels (even though we travelled in areas with lower oxygen levels)
Increase in awareness and/or importance about our army, soldiers and the need to recognize this belief and pass it on to the next generation
I am sure my other fellow travelers would also have felt a surge in their
energy levels and got struck with inspiring thoughts.
I think trips like these also give us an
opportunity to re-discover our own-self and understand ourselves better.
In that sense though the Leh-Ladakh journey is over, I believe the journey within (our minds and possibly our hearts) has just begun.
Here’s wishing that let this Journey prosper, bloom, bear fruits and continue………..
In that sense though the Leh-Ladakh journey is over, I believe the journey within (our minds and possibly our hearts) has just begun.
Here’s wishing that let this Journey prosper, bloom, bear fruits and continue………..
Enjoy
Ravindra
Ravindra
__._,_.___
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