I had been toying around with the idea of creating a mailing list for a few months now. It did not happen quickly because it took time to find software that is suitable to my requirements. I thought of writing a utility myself, but was too lazy to get going on it. Finally I have found software that exactly suited my needs, and I have the list up and running now. Do subscribe to it by keying in your email address in the textbox on the left hand side. Emails to the list will be sporadic though I hope to send an email once in a month.
So China is having things its way in Tibet as the train from China to Tibet starts chugging on the tracks from July. No surprises that the tickets for the inaugural journey are already sold out.
Tibet, like it is for many people, has always been a fascination to me. Its people, Buddhism, landscape, the magical and mysterious aura that surrounds the name ‘Tibet’ has always drawn me into it. Desire remains in me to wander around this mystical land. I have been reading about all that China is doing to Tibet – like exploiting its people, modernizing Tibet, driving native Chinese into the highlands and attempting to exterminate Buddhism.
Tibet may or may not need trains, I don’t know. To be fair, we can’t expect Tibet to remain without the benefits and comforts of modern technology. But I sincerely hope that the unique Tibetan culture remains and survives the repressing Chinese. I hope that many pristine regions of Tibet that have so far remained excluded from the perils of modernization remain pristine, even when Tibet wakes up to the comforts of modern living. I hope that sacred and mystical regions of Tibet like the Mansarovar and Mt Kailash remain sacred and mystical. And I wish Tibet finds its freedom and once again be a land governed by its own people, catering the world with its timeless spiritual and traditional knowledge.
I am back in town after three weeks in the North East. It has been a good journey. And finally, I am putting a semicolon for my long journeys and get back to working by next month. May be a year down the line, if all goes as I plan it, I should be able to travel most of the time, without bothering about a 9 to 5 job. And of course, in the coming days, I shall fill this travel blog with write-ups and photographs of all the backlogs of my journeys – which includes Auli, Corbett, Varanasi, Agra and the North East trip. And I shall now wait for the summer to get over so that I can do some weekend monsoon trips. Its the rainy season that I love the most!