Velavadar National Park

I just went to Palitana for the weekend which is a place of worship for Jain people but on our way back, we decided to stop over at Velavadar National Park.

A 35square kilometre land is super small for a sanctuary, but for the black bucks? It's big enough.

The savanna makes you feel like you've been teleported to Africa. Due to less rainfall this year, the grasses weren't as tall but they still glistened golden. Parts of them had mood swings and were red, yellow and brown.

Before you go into the heart of the savanna, there's a 10km drive which eases you into the surrounding. Black drongos are seen in plenty. We got really excited when we saw a herd of black bucks grazing but little did we know there was much more to come.

Black bucks have this really cute way of jumping on all four legs. The only way you can see it is if they cross the road to go on the other side. We were lucky enough. Imagine forty of them, skipping away right in front of you. What's really crazy is that even though you keep moving the car ahead, they manage to keep the same distance from you. If you come into their zone of safety, they run even farther till that zone is maintained.

We also saw two white-black bucks. I think that's the coolest.

Apart from BBs, we saw a neel gai (which isn't actually blue), a crane all the way from Siberia, a black and white striped bird that had migrated from Israel (its national bird) and the Indian crane . The Indian crane is always in sync with its other half. Standing at about 5ft tall with a red crown on its silver body, it's a sight to see.

The common crestal kept coming into view and there was a Harriet as well. This sanctuary is the biggest resting ground for them. They come at night and move around together in circles. I wish we were allowed to see that.

Now incase you're reading this because you're planning to go there, here are a few tips.
1. Go there early in the morning around 7. That's the only time you'll get a chance to see a wolf or hyaena since they're night predators.
2. Black bucks cross roads in the morning and at around 4:30. Make sure you're present around that time since that's the closest you'll get to see them, and that too in action.
3. There are lodges to stay inside. Although we didn't stay there, the guide told us you need to send a demand draft atleast a month before and it isn't really easy to book.
4. It isn't allowed to get out and take pictures in between but *cough* request *cough*
5. The best time to come here for bird watching would be in December or January as many immigrants can be spotted.
6. Food available inside is only vegetarian.
7. Timings are 7-1 and 3-6. You could cover one side in half the day, and the second wetland part of it in the second half.

That's all, guys. It's definitely a place you should visit. Not many people know about it and the solidarity just adds to its charm.

Will write some more out here soon.
Thanks for keeping up with me <3
Kanksha

I want peace and I'll tell you how

My T-shirt got ruined because someone holding coffee bumped into me. It was my favourite!

I’m so worried about my childs’ grades. How do I help her? What will happen next?

Cancer shouldn’t have taken him away. Why do bad things always happen to good people?

How many times in a day do you feel worried, sad or angry at someone or something? Reflect a bit. Has it always been because of something you love or vehemently dislike? If it’s not either of those, you don’t care, and it doesn’t affect you. Attachment in all forms, I believe, is the main reason behind lack of peace in our hearts and mind. It could be attachment towards materialistic things, towards living beings, greed or power. Your attachment to your T-shirt that got ruined will affect you and not anyone else. But when the attachment levels multiply exponentially towards anything, like power for instance, peace gets disturbed at a larger level and many people get affected.

What we need for world peace is a world without war, hate, racism and religious discrimination. And to achieve that, we need peace in our hearts and minds first.

What do you want? What is that one dream you’d work relentlessly for and wish it came true?  And till which extent will you be ready to go? An important cause of peace is satisfaction. When you don’t achieve what you ultimately want, you feel restless. Hitler wanted to create in Eastern Europe what he thought of as the equivalent of the American West – a kind of bread basket for Germany. He didn’t mind going through a world war to achieve that. In fact Hitler always intended war. You have to make sure that your dreams and means of achieving them don’t disturb peace.

Lord Mahavira says,

“If you kill someone, it is yourself you kill. If you overpower someone, it is yourself you overpower. If you torment someone, it is yourself you torment. If you harm someone, it is yourself you harm.”

Similarly, every good deed done for someone is something you do for yourself. Random acts of kindness are for you. Appreciating others is something you should do for yourself. Because when you do that, all envy and negative emotions you feel for that person go away. You make them happy and yourself happy as well in the process.

 You must cultivate the attitude of forgiving people because it gives you closure. Fire can’t be put off by adding more fire. It’s our duty to stop adding fuel to it. If Nelson Mandela could forgive someone responsible for 27 years of his imprisonment and torture, can’t we find some compassion in ourselves as well?  I feel that neither ISIS nor Paris will stop bombing each other till one perishes. The revenge cycle will never end.

You need to have gratitude for what you can give as opposed to what you receive, because at the end of the day, giving is receiving. You have to create the attitude that whatever happens is for the best. That way, even if you feel wronged by someone, you’ll be able to let it go and move on.

The world is an ever changing reality with infinite viewpoints that depend on time, place, nature, the viewer and the viewed. We need to realise that the truth is relative to different viewpoints and learn to respect every person’s beliefs.  We must believe in universal love for every living thing on Earth.

Universal love reminds me of this Sanskrit shlok.

“Shivamastu sarva jagataha,

Parahita nirta bhavantu bhootaganaha,

Doshaha prayaantu nasham,

Sarvatra sukhibhavantu lokaha.”

The writer extends his well wishes to the entire universe. He hopes that everyone is happy and their sorrow is taken away.

And that’s what we all need to hope for. We need to hope for peace, we need to hope for love, we need to hope for hope.

Thanks for reading!

Kanksha :)

PS maybe the sanskrit shlok got too much but meh.