By Raja Murthy, Asia Times
June 23, 2009
RANIKHET – From this Himalayan town about 380 kilometers from Delhi, my first view of mystical Nandi Devi was one of those velvet-cloaked, sledge-hammer moments in life that softly stuns the senses and leaves one wordless.
Golden early morning sunlight lit the snow-capped 7,800-meter peak, India’s highest, as Nanda Devi glowed with strength, stillness, purity, silence – an awe-inspiring sight in the crisp mountain air. Tourist guides in Seventh Heaven and other next-life holiday paradises may not have many prettier sights to sell. [more]
