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The Physics of the Quest - Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love)

A force in nature governed by laws as real as the laws of gravity. The rule of Quest Physics goes something like this: If you're brave enough to leave behind everything familiar and comforting... ...which can be anything from your house to bitter, old resentments... ...and set out on a truth-seeking journey... ...either externally or internally... ...and if you are truly willing to regard everything... ...that happens to you on that journey as a clue... ...and if you accept everyone you meet along the way as a teacher... ...and if you are prepared, most of all... ...to face and forgive some very difficult realities about yourself... ...then the truth will not be withheld from you.

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Then I looked at around to this place, at the chaos it has endured - the way it has been adapted, burned, pillaged and found a way to build itself back up again. And I was reassured, maybe my life hasn't been so chaotic, it's just the world that is, and the real trap is getting attached to any of it. Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation.

Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love)

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“I ‘m NOT AFRAID”

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Amazing essay! :D

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Captured on March 27, 2017 (Amavasya / New Moon Phase) at Parashar Lake, India. Yup, it's real and we managed to finally pull it off! (much more interesting shots coming from Mukul Chandel and Prem Singh Gambhir soon enough ;) ). This image could not have been possible without Chandan Bhatia, who was the first one to plant this idea in my head when I first met him in a photowalk during Mandi's Shivratri Fair 2017 organised by Arnav Tandon. From then on, "Amavasya"/ New Moon was the target and I had to accomplish it! I tried to organise and gather people to do this crazy thing in such freezing temperatures, and failed, until the last day when Shubham Thakur got the room booked (Thank you so much man!, hoping you would join us next time too!) at a Guest House and Prem Singh agreed to join me and Mukul.

After that the journey began. It takes three people to be crazy enough to be in a location like this the whole night and, without guaranteed results. Till 2 AM we were not even able to spot the milky way! Only we know how it felt, in that specific moment, to have done so much for nothing. It was hell scary, nobody knew we were up there and the whole thing could go down at any moment (like wild animals attack / one of us getting injured maybe). We could have chosen to return to the guest house and sleep; but we chose to stay instead. And I guess, that made all the difference!

Cheers to both of you crazy people to join me on this adventure! Happy shooting!

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The best view comes after the hardest climb! :) (Picture taken at Beas Kund Trek, Summer 2014)

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Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.

- Vivian Greene

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Iron rusts from disuse; stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind. So we must stretch ourselves to the very limits of human possibility. Anything less is a sin against both God and man.

Leonardo Da Vinci

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Interesting read.

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When in doubt, go to the ocean. There you will find whatever you have lost in yourself. (Source: projecthappiness.com)

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Storks! Some birds are not meant to be caged, that's all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild. So you let them go, or when you open the cage to feed them they somehow fly out past you. And the part of you that knows it was wrong to imprison them in the first place rejoices, but still, the place where you live is that much more drab and empty for their departure. - Shawshank Redemption (1994) These birds are known as Storks. I shot this picture enroute to Porbandar from Dwarka.

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The story of Watermelons (By Manohar Parrikar)

"I am from the village of Parra in Goa, hence we are called Parrikars. My village is famous for its watermelons. When I was a child, the farmers would organise a watermelon-eating contest at the end of the harvest season in May. All the kids would be invited to eat as many watermelons as they wanted. Years later, I went to IIT Mumbai to study engineering. I went back to my village after 6.5 years. I went to the market looking for watermelons. They were all gone. The ones that were there were so small. I went to see the farmer who hosted the watermelon-eating contest. His son had taken over. He would host the contest but there was a difference. When the older farmer gave us watermelons to eat he would ask us to spit out the seeds into a bowl. We were told not to bite into the seeds. He was collecting the seeds for his next crop. We were unpaid child labourers, actually. He kept his best watermelons for the contest and he got the best seeds which would yield even bigger watermelons the next year. His son, when he took over, realised that the larger watermelons would fetch more money in the market so he sold the larger ones and kept the smaller ones for the contest. The next year, the watermelons were smaller, the year later even small. In watermelons the generation is one year. In seven years, Parra's best watermelons were finished. In humans, generations change after 25 years. It will take us 200 years to figure what we were doing wrong while educating our children." Unless we employ our best to train the next generation, this is what can happen to us. We must attract the best into teaching profession". Great story indeed! Each one of us are responsible to offer our best culture to next generation! The whole world is looking to India as a Spiritual Leader. Unfortunately, hardly few are aware of the great heritage we have carried! If we don't pass on right things to next generation, they will be misguided.

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Joy and Sorrow

Then a woman said, "Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow." And he answered:

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that hold your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven? And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives? When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. Some of you say, "Joy is greater than sorrow," and others say, "Nay, sorrow is the greater." But I say unto you, they are inseparable. Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed. Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy. Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced. When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

-  Khalil Gibran (Via Debarati Banerjee)

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Said I can't go on, not in this way I'm a dream, I die by the light of day Gonna hold up half the sky and say Only I own me

Coldplay (Adventure of a Lifetime)