This weekend, I went for a trip near the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam. The place was great. Dam has lead to creation of an artificial lake. And in this artificial lake, there are some islands.
We spent an evening and a whole night on one of these islands.
On the island, we used the wood lying here and there to cook some food, and then hiked to the temple which was at the top of the hill where we slept for the night.
Sleeping on the top of a hill on an island, which is in the middle of a reservoir is somewhat scary at the visceral level. You can just look from the top and look at the rocks which have been eroded by the water. You can hear the sound of the water. The sound of water, which surrounds you on all sides. Even if there is enough space for you to sleep, you can be a bit scared that you might fall down from the top of this hill. An irrational fear!
To top all this, it was raining from time to time when we were on the island. It just felt like that I had surrendered to the forces of nature and anything is possible from here. It was both breathtaking and terrifying.
While it was a very photogenic place, the best moments or feel of the place could never be captured by a camera and shared as content. Because the best moments on the island were the rush of adrenaline, combined with few other hormones. They induce the feeling in you at the moment.
At some of these moments you enjoy the beauty of the nature, and at other moments, you are scared of the beast that the nature is. Another moment, you think about how inconsequential you are in the midst of the powerful nature. Sometimes you think of the others who might have witnessed the same beauty, but perished with time, while the nature still stands here, a bit eroded and changed, but nonetheless there.
All these thoughts come to your mind, when you visit such a place. Not the visuals, its what you feel at the moment is what your experience is, of that place. And that experience is much more than what can be captured and shared by a photo.
It is not just the cold winds that hits you when you go to such a place, its the procession of almost meditative thoughts. Thoughts which you otherwise may not have, for which you might need to sit in meditative state for years! But when you are at a natural place, these thoughts, these experiences, hit you in waves. You feel pretty amazing. No wonder so many yogis meditate in the midst of nature.
So when people are totally occupied by their cameras at places like these, I feel bad for them. Because they can only see with their eyes, but can not feel with their being.
At these places, you need to let the camera go for a second. And let the moment hit you with its full force. Its force of wind, force of beauty, of power and of thought inducing ability. Because then you will be enjoying the invisible moments. Maybe, you might become a yogi in a moment!
neeraj's 