VICKY ----- I HAVE TRAVELLED TO QUITE A FEW PLACES LIKE KASHMIR, GOA, PUNE, KARJAT, KULU MANALI, JAIPUR, RANTHAMBORE, AGRA, DELHI, NEPAL, DUBAI, LONDON, AND USA. THESE ARE SOME OF THE PLACES I HAVE TRAVELLED. THEY MAY NOT BE MANY IN NUMBER BUT EVERY PLACE HAS LENT VALUABLE EXPERIENCES TO ME - SOME BAD SOME GOOD. BELOW ARE BRIEF GLANCES OF FOUR OF MY MOST TREASURED EXPERIENCES - THOSE THAT MADE ME REALIZE THAT NO MATTER WHERE YOU GO, THE WAY YOU THINK ABOUT THAT PLACE AND THE SOUL YOU PUT INTO IT AND THINK OF PEOPLE AROUND YOU MAKES EVERY PLACE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ON EARTH IN THEIR OWN WAY. AND I WANT BRING THIS EXPERIENCE TO YOU'LL. ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE TRIPS THAT I HAD WAS THE ONE I TOOK TO KASHMIR AS A KID WITH MY FAMILY. THE COLD FREEZING MOUNTAINS, THE SNOW LIKE A WHITE BLANKET COVERING THE MOUNTAINS - I WAS 5 YEARS OLD THEN BUT EVEN TO THIS DAY WHEN I CLOSE MY EYES IT ALL COMES BACK TO ME. THE MOST STRIKING MEMORY IS THAT OF THE BEAUTIFUL SMILE ON MY MOMS FACE LOOKING AT ME. I COULD SEE ON MY DAS FACE HOW COLD IT REALLY WAS, BUT THE WARMTH AND COMFORT THAT I FOUND IN MOMS ARMS MADE IT THE MOST BEAUTIFUL DAY OF MY LIFE. I VISITED AGRA WHEN I WAS 8 AND I REMEMBER LOOKING AT THE TAJ AND SAYING TO MYSELF - I AM GOING TO BUILD SOMETHING LIKE THIS ONE DAY. BUT I DROPPED THE IDEA EVENTUALLY (NOT BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT MY HANDS CUT OFF) BUT BECAUSE I REALIZED THAT I HAD THIS NEED TO CREATE SOMETHING OF MY OWN - TO BE DIFFERENT! BUT I STILL LOVE OLD STRUCTURES AND EVEN DRAW THEM WHEN I HAVE NOTHING TO DO - ALL IT TAKES IS A PEN AND A PAPER AND THE MEMORY OF IT. MY TRIP TO GOA BRINGS BACK NOT SO PLEASANT MEMORIES. I WAS TRAVELLING WITH MY FAMILY. DAD HAD GOTTEN LOST AND WAS TRYING TO GET THE RIGHT DIRECTIONS. IN MY SLEEP I SUDDENLY FELT THE CAR HALT WITH A SUDDEN JERK. I WOKE UP TO TO FIND MYSELF SCREAMING AT THE BACK OF THE CAR AND MY MOM TRYING TO CALM ME DOWN AND COVER MY EYES ! THE REASON? WE WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF A GRAVEYARD. WELL PAST MIDNIGHT IN FRONT OF AN OLD CHURCH. I WONDER WHAT WAS MY DAD THINKING!!! MY LOVE FOR THE GIRL OF MY LIFE BROUGHT ME TO NEW YORK. THIS WAS THE FIRST TRIP I EVER TOOK ON MY OWN, FIGHTING ALL ODDS, SELLING MY BIKE FOR THE TICKETS. WHILE I WAS LANDING ON THE JFK AIRPORT, FROM HIGH ABOVE THE FIRST SIGHT OF THIS HUGE COUNTRY MADE ME FEEL STRONG AND SCARED AT THE SAME TIME AND IT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SIGHT EVER. I KNOCKED AT HER DOOR AND PROPOSED. HER ANSWER MADE EVERYTHING WORTH IT! NEW YORK IS A FAST CITY. EVERYONE IS SO INVOLVED IN WHAT THEY DO THAT THEY DON'T EVEN NOTICE YOUR THERE EXCEPT FOR THE COPS - THEIR ALWAYS LOOKING AND ON AN ALERT MODE. THE CITY IS A BLEND OF MODERN HIGHRISES AND AT THE SAME TIME BEAUTIFUL OLD STRUCTURES STANDING RIGHT BESIDES THEM - MAKES YOU FEEL SO TINY AND LOST IN THIS DIVERSE CLUSTER. I VISITED THE SIGHT OF THE TWIN TOWERS WHERE THEY ONCE STOOD, TRYING SO HARD TO IMAGINE HOW TALL THESE TOWERS HAD ACTUALLY BEEN. WHAT KEPT RUNNING THROUGH MY MIND WERE SIGHTS OF THE LARGE NUMBER OF PEOPLE AFRAID AND TRYING TO ESCAPE DEATH AND AT THE SAME TIME THE COURAGE OF THOSE MEN WHO STOOD THEIR GROUND PERISHING WHILE TRYING TO SAVE ALL WHO THEY COULD. OUT OF NOWHERE I FELT A GREAT WEIGHT ON MY SOUL AND AFTER SOME TIME I REALIZED I HAD TEARS IN MY EYES. AND THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING HAPPENED WHILE I WAS GAZING UP IN THE SKY WHERE THE TOWERS ONE STOOD - IT STARTED SNOWING. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- sonakshi -- i travelled to karjat, pune, lonavla, mahableshwar, shirota, rajmachi, khandala, lavasa, goa, manali, shimla, delhi, agra, chandigarh, ahemdabad, mandal, hyderabad, cochin, trivandrum, columbo, kathmandu, maldives, seychelles, london, manchester, new york, newark, new jersey, washington, milan, rome, florence, venice, pisa, vienna, frankfurt, berlin, munich, stockholm, geneva, villars, breinz, interlaken, zurich, paris, algeirs, tunis, doha, dubai, abu dhabi, dar-es-salaam, nairobi, johanessburg, manilla, cebu, beijing, guangzhou, bang kok, vietnam, osaka, kyoto, singapore, kuala lampur...hmmmm guess thats alll... !