'Note'bly Yours,

I like to think of myself as a bit of a gypsy and a bit of a traveling bard at heart. I find traveling and moving from one place to another most exciting. My ideal is a world without borders and boundaries.

My hometown is Bombay (I like to call it that!) and it gives me a nice warm feeling to think of myself as a Bombayite. Especially while walking around Shivaji Park or the Oval Maidan, eating bhel at chowpaty, gazing into the sea at the Gateway of India, driving down Marine Drive or Haaji Ali. The list is endless. And for its people - not into-your-face friendly but accommodating, helpful and cosmopolitan. The people maketh the city, any city. The common man, who is always in a rush, epitomizes the spirit of the city. At peace with his Mumbai, against all odds. Would appreciate his own city getting better - cleaner, safer - without confirming to the politician's dream of making it another Shanghai!

I don’t live by too many rules. But I'm very rigid about one thing i.e. NOT being rigid.

I love animals and I believe that the earth belongs to us all - not just to humans. To put it in one line - we humans are endowed with a superior brain it is our responsibility to protect them and reverse the existing damage done to the environment.

The Crystal Caves of Bermuda

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Over a hundred years ago one afternoon in Bermuda, a group of boys were playing cricket. One of them whacked the ball so hard that it went away flying and disappeared in a hollow in the ground. One of them tried to retrieve the ball but fell into the chasm. He didn’t find the ball but discovered a cavern with dripstone and flowstone instead. This was later named as the Crystal caves.

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Pictures capture its beauty... not completely

I had set off on an excursion to the Crystal caves with the basic information that it’s a cavern covered with stalactites and stalagmites – just a phenomenon that I had studied at school. No big deal! I came out of the cave marveling at Mother Nature’s creation.

It is a guided tour and one enters the narrow entrance in a group headed by a guide. We leave daylight behind as we climb down inside the dimly lit cavern. A large drop of water falls right on my face. I gasp, startled. “You’re gonna have a happy day!” says the guide. The number of drops falling on a person will be equal the number of happy days, he elaborates. Wow, I’m waiting for some more drops to fall.

An amazing sight awaits us as we climb down the steps - a tranquil pool of crystal clear water roofed by icicle-shaped stalactites. They are thin and long inverted cones, a few almost touching the surface of the water. A glow seems to emanate from them, almost making them look like they are made of like mother-of-pearl.

Stalagmites rise up from beneath the water. They are a stubbier version of the stalactites. Our guide points to a column – a structure formed when a stalactite meets a stalagmite. The process of formation is ongoing and we are cautioned against touching these structures. Human touch can hamper the growth which is very slow – just about an inch in a hundred years.

I walk down the wooden pathway in a bit of a daze. This is like nothing I’ve ever seen – every inch of it pristine and precious and has taken the earth millions of years to make. There is an intrinsic silence ingrained into this place. The kind that makes us keep our voices low.

We reach the end of the walkway and come to a sort of vantage point. The scene makes me feel like I am in some other ethereal world. “Hey, that looks like a dragon!” I exclaim. More play of light and shadows creates an illusion of a graveyard. That’s spooky! It would be really scary being alone in here! A little further stands the Manhattan skyline. Much better!

The underground tour has come to a close. I blink as I step into the real world. There is exhilaration in my heart. Is this how Alibaba felt when he came out of the cave of the forty thieves? That was fantasy. But I admit, after seeing what I just saw, the line dividing fact and fiction just got thinner.

http://www.bermuda4u.com/

http://www.bermudatourism.com/index.aspx