Howdy folks!! I hope your new year is going as well as mine is. My wife has just completed another multidimensional quilt, my daughter, now almost four has been having dreams about riding white horses while eating ice cream(with chocolate sauce!), my son, now 18 months has been doing a great impersonation of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, I just got promoted at the nursery I work at and we're moving into a house next week. Things are lookin' good.
I've been busy as well with a bit of a face lift on my kashmir page. Stop by and let me know what you think. If you would like me to notify you when I update the Kashmir Front, email me. All adresses will be kept confidential.
OM!
Welcome to our first homepage!!
Take off your shoes
and
come on in... and here,
have a cup of chai...
...sweetened with some honey of course.
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A cloud of smoke rises to the ceiling of a guest house dorm room in Ladakh,India. Gathered there is a potluck of travellers from across the globe. In one corner of the room a juggling troupe from Europe dazzles the newly united freaks as a host of guitars, flutes, drums, didjiridoos and plastic water bottles provide the background music. A man from Australia, who has convinced his government that he is insane so he can collect benefits, entertains others with his one man multiple personality show. In the makeshift kitchen a cook from scotland and another from the states create a feast for the masses from the donated food. Stimulating conversation ranging from the problems with each persons country to the best way to enter Tibet pierce the fog accumulating overhead...
...One lone shikarra glides silently across a moonlit Dal Lake in Srinagar, Kashmir. Four dusty travellers near exhaustion sit in anticipation of being reunited with their global family on a plush houseboat fit for a maharaj. Memories of the past six days and the war zone they found themselves in swim through their heads. Did it really happen?...
...Shiva moon rises over the warm ocean waters of Goa. A bondfire has just been lit as drums summon the tribe. As darkness engulfs the sky, the orange glow of the pyre casts petroglyphic shadows of dreaded dancers. Phosphorescent waves of blue, purple and green offer up their assistance in the ceremony. Stories of paradise visited and purgatory endured are shared. Borders are lost and respect is found. All are equal. The seashells start singing...
It's a typical Goa afternoon. The sun caressing the waves as they gently massage the jungle lined beaches. In front of me a holy cow digests the local flora. To the right are pigs doing whatever it is that pigs do.With pen in hand and journal on my lap, I take a sip from another cup of chai as freinds from all over the world share experiences, ideas, good energy...and a bit of charas. The main topic of discussion today happens to be a subject that has been mentioned before on numerous occasions in numerous places over numerous cups of chai. Creating a network.
Our vision started out as a way for all of us to keep in contact. We would send letters to a central address and these letters would be compiled in a newsletter sent out to all the members. Then we realized that with this tool we could give updates on world events and environmental happenings from travellers in or recently in various regions. This would bypass the special interest media who never seem to give us the real story. What a great service to take on! Other travellers would want to get involved too. Why we could even send out info on volunteer projects just like the 'Travellers Earth Repair Network' does...
We all sat back at that moment and sipped some chai, smiling triumphantly as we saved the world from the downward spiral that was occuring all over. I don't think any of us that night realized that just around the corner was the birth of a powerful global connector...the internet.
