Wings of Desire!

Another year flows down the hoses of life. Another year begins and the clock starts ticking right away. So, trying to stay focused, happy and peaceful always seems to be a race against time!

I have no resolutions for the New Year. No ‘Ill be more active’ or ‘I’m gonna get hooked’ thingie for me. However there are few desires that I’d pursue as the year progresses. I enlist some of them to remind myself of them from time to time and to compare how many desires I’ve fulfilled.

1. Visit Bumthang valley and witness the Bumthang Tsechu. Bumtang Tsechu (festival) of course falls in November and there’s still a long time to go. Nor am I certain that I’d stay in Bhutan until then. But the desire’s very much there. I’d also love to watch the black-necked cranes that migrate from Siberia to avoid the harsh winters.
2. Trek to the base of Mt. Jhumolhari. Mt. Jhumolhari is the second highest mountain in Bhutan and the MOST sacred. I’ve viewed the mountain from a distance (and captured on camera). It’s time I get closer. The base camp (one isn’t allowed to trek to the summit) is located at an altitude of over 5500 mts. It’d surely be fun and adventurous.
3. Learn about the history and culture of Bhutan – not from books but from the people. Sounds romantic but quite a difficult thing to achieve!
4. Read 25 books. That’s really ambitious. It’d mean almost a book every fortnight. I am almost two weeks into 2007 and I’m yet to read even the title of any book! And, the rider to this desire is that at least 5 books must be non-fiction!
5. Apart from the trek to Mt. Jhumolhari, trek to at least 10 NEW destinations! I’m yet to recover from the fall in which I hurt my thigh and ribcage. I haven’t even started my regular evening walks. Sure my desires are mighty!
6. 50 posts on my blog. At the last count, I had 30 odd posts for over a year of blogging. Now, it sounds like I’m giving importance to quantity over quality. Well, what quality am I talking about! So be it. I want the figures.
7. Get both mom and dad to Bhutan. Mom of course’s already visited Bhutan. This time I want them both here. Preferably even K, my sis. A dream holiday for the entire family!
8. Travel through the North-East. I may never again visit the North-East after my tenure in Bhutan’s up. So I would like to visit as many states in the North-East as possible (if not all of course). Priorities of course are Tamang in Arunachal Pradesh and Cherrapunji in Meghalaya. I’ve enough information about the places to visit (in the form of brochures and accounts of people who’ve worked there). One place to stay away from – the vegetable and meat market of Kohima, Nagaland – I don’t want to throw up either because of the smells or the sights!
9. Pick up 20 new tunes on my mandolin. Now, that means I’ve to dust the covers, take the mandolin out, tie new strings, tune the damn thing and play regularly. Quite an effort and I’m already feeling tired!
10. The GRAND mother of all desires now! Travel to either Thailand or the UK in 2007! How’s that!

So each and every desire that I have is a positive wish. A desire to do something and not, not to do something. No, “No smoking”, “No drinking”, “No horsing around”. I’m not looking for a horse. I want Pegasus! Welcome to my flights of fancy.