Dawn at Pathali (Uttarakhand)

Hi,
I managed to get some pictures to put up here of the priceless winter dawn in my village-place Pathali (Uttarakhand). The ambience can only be lived and felt. But these pictures, i find them so refreshing after not having paid a visit for the past three years (courtesy studies). Anyway, not speaking much, why don't you take a look around yourself. 

The 'Gadra'(Regional language term for a smaller river 
trickling down the mountains)

Tunganath Valley far ahead (View from our Pathali residence)

View of Kedarnath valley (Mandakini River valley) with 
 Nanda Devi snow-laden peak in the backdrop

Pathali Dhar getting the first ray of the morning.
The top of the mountain hosts a popular tourist spot, 
a beautiful lake- Devariyataal.

I used to call this glitter in white Ice-cream 
as per my uncles. Vanilla....seems so.

                     For  more: Visit the coordinates:- 30.496110, 79.092834 on Google Maps.

Peace

The ODI Student

Although, i believe that it is not normal to talk about exams once you are done with them but then there is one entirely different aspect of 'FUN' attached to it. The turmoil, both psychologically and physically one day before an exam can not be expressed here in words, but i would try and give it a shot.

Img By: jaefinite(flickr)

When you gape at the pile of books on your table, the first thing that pops in your head is 'Seriously ? One day ?'. The endless hours one's professors devote in the lecture hall appear quite legitimate going by the books-count at hand, or rather the page-count (after having cropped hundreds beforehand after being termed out of syllabus). One is able to recall the semester days, picturing himself saying it over and over, "यार ब्रेक हो गया है, और कितना पकाएगा ?", then, right in front, lies the answer smiling wide, as if mocking at his turn like a cat, a cat running with the ticks of the wall-clock.

The moment you wake up on the D-day, a series of pledges ring through your mind. I'd anyhow do half the syllabus by lunch and the remaining till dinner. Ultimately, these pledges fade just like your new year resolutions, or even earlier. The first sign in the same direction being the shift in your decided time thresholds. Wooooo.., they rattle manifolds, from lunch to maybe brunch or even dinner at times (e.g. Ind-Pak are locking horns after years in Cricket). 

With the sun setting in, it makes you wish, believe instead that the exam is most certainly going to be postponed, by a couple of days at least. 'Brain-buying-its-bread' in those busy hours of duel with time.

Dawn and dusk, for that exam-fortnight seem one to every ODI student. Dinner, you don't want to have it. Your favorite daily-soap, it starts appearing rubbish, your blanket is your mate, your book is your most cherished possession on the day. 
Your 'back' tries hard to stand by your side to ensure you cram enough matter so that you avoid a 'back' (supplementary in a subject as they call it) the next day. 

The only good thing about this head-numbing toil is that it makes one realize the true worth of time. "समय बहुत बलवान है !", goes a proverb in Hindi. I can't comment about the situation with the Test-match students, who devote time to cramming on a regular basis because i have never been one, honestly. 

This one day 'fun' is thrilling, although everyone would certainly want to avoid it (the likes of mine) but end up following a hectic page-shuffling morning and index-gaping night.

The one peculiar attachment i have failed to understand is ours with our cell-phones. I am dead sure that everybody's mom or dad would be pointing this addiction to you at one point or the other. But it's hard to let go, isn't it ? May be they introduce some rehabilitation program soon in the future. :p

Anyway, the thrill, the tension as some might find it (I too at rare times) is something one is bound to find in the present Indian education system. Stringent approach redefined goes the general picture across the country. The picture is all the same, major part being theoretical. But more on that later.


Peace
P.S.: I am at peace since the ODIs are over now. If you know what i mean ;)