Light and Shadow

Since my childhood, I have been fascinated by Buddhism, mostly by its outer charm than its spiritual significance as I amn’t totally a religious kind of person. The Buddha Vihar located near our neighboring village attracts my mind and when my mind questioned for it, no one could give me a satisfied answer. I had a friend who is a monk and sometimes I did visit the Vihar with him. But what is surprising to my mind, I was frustrated after visiting the Vihar as I have expected more extraordinary things here. I didn’t feel what I had dreamt earlier. Even I feel a little bit scared when I visit and pray at our local Namghar. But now after reading and writing a lot on Buddhism travel tour, my old fascination rose up and I am dreaming to visit this monastery located in Paro Valley of Bhutan. As Bhutan is near my state Assam.

I have to feel the pulse of the place by mentally visiting it as my job is a travel writer. I felt mesmerized when I wrote about Everest Base Camp, from where the mountaineers start their trekking to the highest peak of the world, Mount Everest. The Mt Everest is a fascination for me since my childhood when I read about it in my primary books. Even the story of Edmund Hillary made me a more freak of MT Everest. Though I couldn’t climb the MT Everest yet I have a dream to trek to the Everest Base Camp to have a crystal clear view of it.

Only after coming to Delhi I think for the first time in my life that that I live behind the mighty river Brahmaputra. The tributary of Brahmaputra, Disang flows near our house creating a spectacular idyllic setting. Just from the bank fo the river, you see the horizon, the hilly mountains of the Himalayas, the paddy field, etc. Assam tourism is still lagging behind the proper exposure. River cruising in Assam can be a great oppurtunity as we have all the places of imporatnce near the riverside such as Dibrugarh, Sivagasagar, Majuli River Island, Tejpur, Guwahati, etc. Working as a travel writer for a New Delhi based travel compnay I am mesmerized to enjoy my passion-travel writing. Writings of Kerala and its backwater cruise, culture and heriatge travel of this God’s Own Country always thrill me. Assam has also a heterogenous culture due to it presence of various linguistic tribes. Even there is always a sizzling mood of art and theatre in Assam. Even the celebration of the festivals...