Trek- Kalavanthin

I spent my last Sunday climbing the Kalavanthin pinnacle with my friend Alima and a gang from Trekophy, a small hiking club. Considering my inexperience in rock-climbing and vertigo, I did not really succeed in keeping pace with the rest of the gang.

I had only lush green nature and solitude open to me, and so that time was the most spiritually elevating experience of my life. I also recall it as the most luminous, as if a lightning flash of extraordinary brightness had stopped at my window to throw light on my destiny inside and out.

I made acquaintances with other trekkers, trudged over the hills all day, stopping only to click photographs. The climb was steep, rough and slippery. The leader did not let us rest till we got to the peak.

The hilly terrain was a sparsely populated area, with one village at the base and the other at a height which served as our second base camp.

The intense exhaustion caused by the humid weather and sun was almost killing. There was a slow draining of strength, a blacking out. What perhaps kept me going was the enthusiasm and the desire to get to the top. So, I passed the endurance test and became happy. We all felt happier with the occasional drizzle.

After reaching a certain point, the way up required climbing huge, vertical rocks through really narrow, slippery path. With horror I watched the others moving up and prayed to the almighty. I clearly felt the attack of vertigo and I could only climb to the top with the help of others. Everyone who helped was like a messiah to me.

I learnt what mental strength was, how one should follow her own instincts without getting influenced by others. I learnt how one should have faith in one's ability and not crumble under pressure. I was nevertheless happy with the fact that I challenged my limits and kind of succeeded in the attempt.

I finally reached Kalavanthin pinnacle. The place was enveloped with cloud. It had hills on all the sides. I was totally enthralled by the view of clouds playing hide and seek with the hills. I completely drowned myself in the hills and pontificated on some of the romantic aspects of life and nature. I felt closer to god.

My calm state was disrupted by a bunch of loud boys, smoking. I was disgusted with the sight of people trying to pollute a place as beautiful as that. As my other gang-members explored further, I chose to stay there and feasted on boiled eggs and sandwiches with nutrella filling.

Descent was way riskier and scary. I would've had stayed there waiting for a rescue team to save me if it had not been for some helpful souls.

After the risky terrain, I walked down slowly, cheerfully with a stick. I completely soaked in the essence of twilight in the hills, gurgling waterfalls, greenery and chirping of birds. Slowly a belief reinforced in me the truth that an eternal power controls our life and make things happen for people only if they pursue it with strength and utmost honesty. I felt some hidden force whispering into my ears- "Spread love and peace."

Direction: Kalavanthin is a hilly region located in the area around Panvel in Mumbai. To get there you would have to go to a village called Thakurwadi by an auto-rickshaw called Tum-tum from Panvel station. It takes around 45 minutes to reach Thakurwadi, base camp of Kalavanthin.

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Here’s the Archer

I am a centaur (half man, half horse) flinging the arrows. I am an archer who gets its life force from fire and has an eternal quest for knowledge. I can move like a fire quickly and uncontrollably from one thing to the other and never look back. I am an archer who is spiritual, true-believer and seeker of truth. Some of my friends back in school, college have called me a true Sagittarian- quirky, funny and philosophical. And yes, I love to socialize with an ever-changing crew. I like to hop from one goal to the other. I also tend to procrastinate and become quite inconsistent at times. I like to overstep boundaries, become irrational and not become a conformist.

Caramel

The sticky, chewy melted caramel is a bittersweet treat for the viewers, as much as it is for the four Lebanese women in Beirut’s salon called Si Belle. Nadine Labaki’s tale revolving around the intersecting lives of four women working in a salon explores the issues and struggles of women in a conflicted society. One hour into the movie, I could completely bond and empathise with the women. As the story unfolded, a feeling of inexplicable sadness enveloped me.

Labaki, the writer of the plot with Jihad Hojeily and Rodney Al Haddad, owner of the shop is in love with a married man and spends anxious hours waiting for him. While Layale fights against her inner demons making her intensely jealous of her lover’s wife, recently divorced actress Jamale is trying to compete with a younger woman for work in television commercials. Muslim bride-to-be Nisrine fears that her husband will find out that she has lost her virginity and tomboyish Rima wages a futile war against her lesbian instincts. The beauty salon symbolizes a modern world where women from varying age, background come to fulfill their eternal quest for westernization and beauty.

While I could easily bond with the liberated women in the movie, I felt helpless for the lack of clarity and hypocrisy within most of us for the limitations put by the society. Each of us have this constant need to be well-accepted in the society we live in, institutionalized and have a stable job, nice house and a rich husband.

The film also shows Aunty Rose, as she struggles to earn a living by her tailoring job and supports her mentally challenged sister, Lily. The sudden appearance of an old handsome man brings some colour to her otherwise mundane life. Ladaki has shown the romance between the aged couple subtly when Aunty Rose tries to take measurements of his suit or joins him for a quiet dinner at his apartment on her way to deliver the suits. Rose sacrifices her own happiness for her ailing sister.

Women all over the world face similar emotions. Life is not always fair and each of us face moments of loneliness, disappointment and heartbreak. Our toughness, resilience and strength help us overcome these negative feelings.

However, I’m impressed with the kind of camaraderie and support we see among Layale’s co-workers. She can probably find her journey a little easier with the compassion given by her friends.

My own inner struggles, confusions about love, life perhaps lessened a bit. Or should I say, the movie helped my perceptions change for the better.