One Love at Kangra Fort

India's history is long and rich and absolutely fascinating. When we realized that what is believed to be the country's oldest dated fort was less than 30 miles from where we were staying in McCleodganj, there was no question…we were going to check it out posthaste!

Kangra Fort was built by the royal Rajput family and is known to have existed prior to 1009. We wandered its ancient walls, running our hands along the stone and marveling at the detail so carefully carved into surface after surface.

The fort rises up on steep rock overlooking the valleys below and stands at the confluence of the Banganga and Majhi rivers. Below the fort is the Maharaja Sansar Chandra Museum, all in the shadows of the Himalayan foothills.

As we reveled in the view from the highest point in the fort, we met a group of excited and enthusiastic men. Through much hand-gesturing and a smattering of english between them, we finally came to understand that they were in the area to take part in a film that their shared guru was creating, They were very eager to share their guru's message that all people of all races and nationalities and religions are a part of one shared humanity and one shared love. Amid laughter and cries of "One love! One love!" we clapped one another on the back, gripped hands tightly and smiled broadly. That sense of shared humanity reverberated among us and left Justin and I giddy with the warmth of the moment.

Still smiling, we made our way back to our waiting cab and wound back through the mountains to McCleodganj, passing lives and livelihoods along the roads, pushing our one love outward under bluebird skies.