A is for Adalaj step-well #AtoZChallenge

"All, everything that I understand,

I understand only because I love."

Leo Tolstoy

Welcome to my blog. This is my second A to Z challenge and like last year, I am theme-less. Words are my wine; I love them. So I hope I can share 'words' that talk to me. They may come strung in sentences or held in quotation marks to give them the importance they deserve. At times they'll flow freely in poetry or ramble down memory lanes and at times they may refuse to step out at all! We'll deal with their blockades when we come to them.

All's well for 'A' though, who I found impressed upon a well-thumbed menu at the Library Bar (in Split, Croatia) last night. The lighting was dim but the words by Tolstoy shone like diamonds. I start my challenge with them. 

I do hope you'll enjoy your time here. 

*****

An entire month of challenge lies ahead.
Pause for a bit in the shade.
Rest your feet.
The road ahead is unknown.
Walk in
to draw from the well.

Wells, we all have,
wait inside us:
to find our silence.

Stirred up
Churned up
It takes time to become still.

Come,
sit and sip from your well of tranquility.

*****

I saw my first step-well in February this year at Adalaj in Gujarat, India. Wells are called 'vav' in Gujarati.

"Set in the quiet village of Adalaj, this vav has served as a resting place for hundreds of years for many pilgrims and caravans along their trade routes. Built in 1499 by Queen Rudabai, wife of the Vaghela chief, Veersinh, this five-storey stepwell was not just a cultural and utilitarian space, but also a spiritual refuge. It is believed that villagers would come everyday in the morning to fill water, offer prayers to the deities carved into the walls and interact with each other in the cool shade of the vav." 

The information is from Gujarat Tourism website. 

For more details, check out: 

Adalaj Step-well 

Enjoy the weekend.
Flutter your wings and be free:)
See you with 'B'.