My Life Jaunts

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Freak out in the adventure town…

2014-10-25T05:28:00.000-07:00

So here’s my prescription for adding thrill to the mundane lives…head to Queenstown, Newzealand .

Thrill for two reasons …..

1 . Any and every kind of adventure activity you’ve imagined or dreamt of is available for you to experience. You can bungy jump, ski /snowboard, para glide,white water raft,jet boat, skydive, jet ski, hang glide or drive quad bikes etc etc. Name it and you have it.

2 . After you’re done with the trip, which leaves a big hole in your pocket, life automatically becomes a thrilling adventure for the months to follow especially if you’re an Indian and the value of rupee embarrasses you every other day in currency market J

However, my thrilling experience didn’t start in Queenstown, it started as soon as I reached Singapore airport to board my connecting flight to Christchurch. Taxi left and before we could enter the airport, I realized that my bag was missing. The bag had everything important from my medicine to passport to money. All this because it was the first time we had left our son in Singapore with my sister. We were too senti & busy rewinding the goodbye moments in our minds to be careful about things like bag. The fate of our trip depended on the taxi driver now. 15-20 minutes of tension, a little blame game …. and finally we traced him. The driver dutifully came back to the airport and handed over my bag.Smile came back to our faces and we looked forward to spending next few days as just the two of us .

The next morning reminded me of Switzerland, I could see snow mountains in the midst of clouds from my window seat as the plane was about to land in Queenstown. Then the white background changed colors into blue , into green ….there was a huge lake below. Lake Wakatipu. I was smitten just by the first glimse of it.

Lake Wakatipu @ Queenstown

Snuggled in beside the lake Wakatipu, Queenstown seemed like a paradise with snow clad mountains on top, shades of blue reflected by both the sky & the lake and awe inspiring alpine scenery. I thought , adventure in such a heavenly background is sure going to be a pure bliss.

We did try our hands at many activities including dart river safari, luge rides, segway, jetboat, horizontal bungee etc. For me there was an added adventure. It was extremely cold and I had forgotten to check the weather report before packing as I hardly had a day in between my Bhutan and New Zealand trip . Newzealand, ofcourse wasn’t planned . It came as a surprise from my husband’s company for the strategy he had made for the company. Surprisingly , a good surprise from them J

Newzealand is strange…strange in a way that the country doesn’t have any snakes or dangerous wild animals. Infact when humans inhabited the island around 1300 years ago, there were no mammals .The reason behind this is the origin and evolution of the two island the northern island and the southern island.

Infact when we went for a tour in beech wood forests, I was disappointed since national parks meant wild animals in my mind.

But ya, while on the country roads , you would find sea of domestic animals like sheeps,cows on either sides grazing on the never ending green grasslands. Animal farming !! For the sheer fun of driving on such roads, my husband kept wishing to settle in Newzealand along with cows and sheeps J

The highlight of our holiday has been the visit to Milford sound (On the west coast of the south island) where ‘Lord of the rings’ movie besides many others was shot . Eighth wonder of the world as described by Rudyard Kipling ….Milford sound was carved by glaciers during ice ages.

We were awestruck by the journey itself .Te anue,

the mirror lake (I've not tried to add any reflection to the image,this is how it is ),

soaring mountain peaks and glaciers, water falls and the sky in southern sphere ! ....

...absolutely God painted natural backdrop.You can't help but get bewitched by the way nature unfolds itself in these corners of the world to create such a magic that leaves one dumbfounded.

Icing on the cake was the two hour cruise at Milford. It takes you through the cliffs and peaks including the mitre peak that rises more than a kilometer straight out of the sea.
Cascading waterfalls (some as high as 1000 meters) and lush green rain forests clinging on to the rock faces create amazing visual cues around every corner.

Waterfalls at Milford sound

Besides,we did have dinner at skyline restaurant (a romantic experience) , at Spice room (to satisfy our Indian taste buds )and at an Italian restaurant (food wasn’t great !wine, sure was)

Got gifts every night, another surprise J that too good one.

Four days and my husband had to return to India for work and I had to stay back at Singapore to show the city to my son to compensate before his holidays would end.

There is still lots to see in Newzealand. Ye dil maange more J but may be , some other time and hopefully as a good surprise gift from God. For now, this trip has been long enough to come back lingering the memories of Newzealand and short enough to not leave the company bankrupt ;-)

GRACIAS !!

To the kingdom of happiness...

2014-06-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

At Punakaha Dzong

Its been a month since we returned from Bhutan and till date we keep singing Tandin...Tandin. The name of our driver there J . Interestingly his father's name is Phunshuk Wangdu. Difficult to forget the country (so unique) and its simple & loving people.

Me,my son in orange and Tandin

It would be unfair on my part if I don’t write about and recommend Bhutan after having experienced the raw Himalayan beauty , the architectural eloquence and the hospitality by Bhutanese.So here I'm with whatever beauty I could capture through my camera lens .....even though a camera can't really justify what eyes see.

Paro Dzong

Bhutan, deeply rooted in its culture and traditions completely distinguishes itself from other countries. In fact one may feel like being transported into another era as soon as one enters the thunder dragon Buddhist land of north eastern Himalayas..

Taken inside Trashichhoedzong

At Thimpu

I've been asked,' Why Bhutan'?? Someone from Durgapur even said,’ Gangtok is the capital of Bhutan, right ,’?

Is it because of its(high value low volume) sustainable approach to tourism ? I wonder ! A few Indian tourists staying with us had expected Bhutan to be like Switzerland !

Wooden bridge at Punakha

We chose to visit Bhutan in May 14 because, before Mr. Modi ,we wanted to know the secret
behind a happy nation ;-)

And ….Gangtok is not the capital of Bhutan ,my dear Durgapurwasi J… Also people ...its definitely not like Switzerland . You can’t compare Madhubala to Marilyn Monroe. Both have their own charm.

At Dochulaa Pass

Anyway…., this time we flew till Kolkata and instead of taking Druk air till Paro to save on cost and life due to many thin air pockets ,we decided to go by road via NJP (New Jalpaiguri ) and Phuntsholing

We could do three places in our 10 days trip. Thimpu,Punakha and Paro though I would recommend the snowmen’s trek to be definitely pursued given enough time and less baggage. Bhutan is trekker’s paradise and it makes perfect sense to leave kids behind if interested in mountaineering.

View from Gangtey Palace at Paro

Huge snow capped mountains , streams ,water falls , deep Himalayan forests ,distinct jungle fragrance, pure oxygen ,pine cones, white yellow red and violet flowers ,Yaks & Takins to name a few during our travels…. Isn't it a heavenly experience?

One of the few shots tried in the forest

Shot in valley of flowers

Tandin knew his country well and he made sure that besides India’s national animal, bird, flower etc we do remember their Takin, Raven,Blue Poppy and Rhododendrons forever.

Of course, Himalayan nation has very rich fauna and flora besides the number of dzongs and monasteries. That reminds me of the mesmerizing beauty of 'Punakha Dzong' which has become a part of our permanent memory.

Punakha Dzong ,second oldest and second largest of the Bhutan Dzongs

The Royal wedding of the present king and queen also happened here.
Other than this my son remembers the maggi & chocolates bought for him , the pine cones collected and the Bhutan flag as parting gift….all done by his Tandin uncle. My husband who considers Reinhold Messner, one of his Gods , loved the mountains.
and I …. I remember the peaceful moment that we have had at Gangtey palace looking up at the sky & the snow and down at the Paro town from the hilltop.

View from Gangtey Palace (there were clouds however during sun one could see snow capped mountains

The only regret I have is that I couldn’t climb up the tiger’s nest (Paro Taktsang, approx 3000ft above Paro valley). My nuts and bolts need updation :-( and am proud of my husband that he could do the task in less than 4 hrs.

Tiger's nest

This is where Guru Padmasambhav also known as Rinpoche who brought Buddhism to Bhutan from Tibet, meditated.

Question still remains ...The secret of happiness in Bhutan . In my opinion it is simplicity ….being raw (in one’s true form …nothing made up) which comes by being close to nature, respecting the co existence & not just being proud of the Buddhist culture and tradition but enjoying the same.

I loved the fact that in the game of archery which we witnessed , all the participants danced together once any one of them hit the target.

Archery in Thimpu

Most marriages are love marriages and gender discrimination is not there .The culture is not conservative in that sense however Bhutan wants to be careful in adopting globalization, hence shopping for clothes even at Thimpu (the capital) may not be a good idea. Handicrafts ? of course !

To my astonishment ,part of their culture is also to paint penises on walls, wooden models of those are worshiped for fertility.

Now you see…how unique Bhutan is J

Tandin asked some questions time and again during our stay. Would you come back again? Would you like to stay here forever?

Tandin belonged to this beautiful small town of Paro

Of course I would go to Bhutan again to see the middle eastern side and do the snowmen’s trek as well someday but ….staying forever??

Unfortunately the Indian part of me loves crowd and can’t imagine staying in the only house on top of the mountain as lot of Bhutanese do though I wish I could be as bold as Mr. Rinpoche to settle in one of the most unthinkable & God forsaken places to invoke God .

So am back in my very own city Bangalore to wait at the traffic signal and spend min half an hour on road even to buy milk & Veges from the mall very near to my apartment building, for no immediate U turn planned.The cost we pay for our respective comfort zones :-(

2013-12-10T23:45:00.001-08:00

There are times when God laughs & says, ‘Oh ! you have a plan for tomorrow’? Yr 2013 has been like that for us, a year of settling down for God's plans. And I feel bad and sad that I have been so involved in managing contingencies that I didn't even spend time to post here.

Everything we expected or planned since 2013 beginning, went haywire including simple things like travel We were supposed to visit Kashmir this march but just a day before that too got cancelled. Series of events post Afsal Guru’s hanging led to blasts, firings, killing of an innocent civilian and finally the curfew .

Nonetheless we had to take a break in May before my son would get into the school grind so irrespective of the quality of life episodes we decided to GO (the time to rack brains over destinations and itinerary)

Egypt was an attractive option but didn’t want another cancellation due to the political upheaval . And given the only requirement my son and hubby had was water play,we froze on Mauritius & Dubai travel deal at the end.

We were not a very cheery party at the thought of traveling to Dubai .We always assumed Dubai could be done anytime during the transit ,given that it is so near & is like a second home to Indian workers.And definitely it wasn't a travel destination in our minds. William Dalryple’s 'In Xanadu' ,the book in my hand during the same time, also gave a strangely hilarious description of Arabs, a lot of it coinciding with the image I always had in my mind.

But of course, now that I’ve seen Arab ke tel aur Dubai ke malls ka kamaal,I know why Dubai is one of the most traveled destinations in the world.

God always gives something to everyone …… we Indians got water & greenery on land and they got Oil in sand. We got population,they believe in cooperation. The result…. Emirati cooperation has made Dubai a fine symbol of luxurious living amidst the desert and a dream for many, especially ‘Pakistanis’. Our guide was so fascinated by Emirati people and their lifestyle that his every sentence started with them and ended with them in a very weird ‘trying to be an English’ accent, ‘amirati people’.

He kept showing us what Oil can do and kept praising the rulers. The most wonderful statement of his was , 'look out side ,every country has crime but Dubai has zero crime rate.’ I thought, ‘of course ’ ;-) !!

First half of the day, we wandered around Dubai museum, markets & skyscrapers exposing ourselves to the full glare of desert sun for the first time .My son moaning about the heat every now and then amidst of ‘wows’ and ‘one snap please’ by the other tourists. My son slept before he could see the Jumeriah mosque, the houses there, palaces of the 1^st wife, 2^nd wife and the 3^rd wife of the ruler or have a look at Al burj where the most expensive cocktail of the world is served. Emirati people !! he missed all ...

Evening was our turn to experience Dhow cruise.The intent and the experience were total opposites. The choice of typical Hindi movie loud songs played on the cruise boat led us to sink into a state of exhausted helpless gloom .At the end of it we only wanted to go back and sleep peacefully,so we did.

Next day,we decided to get to dubai mall on our own and shop. It was big for the time we had plus my little one running marathons across the human caravan trotting around the mall ,made it almost impossible to even have a look at the things we wanted . So we came out buying unnecessary things ....:-(

What I distinctly remember about Dubai is the desert safari and the dance shows including belly dancing. That was unique & I truly appreciate the dancers there even the Arab men who go round n round n round.

Safari on land cruiser was a combination of pleasant and unpleasant. Twice our Vehicle almost was on the verge of toppling over the dunes. In fact half an hr hard labor was spent shoveling away at the sand, trying to help another vehicle which had got stuck , along with other Arab drivers .

More comforting was to ride on our own in bikes and jeeps.

Anyway,after the oil and sand experience it was time for nature and water.

Mauritius was as beautiful as unexpected. Too much of clear blue water & god painted skies ,too much lying in beach, too many baths ,too much wine and too much pasta, almost everyday because the hotel didn't have Indian veg options .And when requested for gulab jamun and gajar halwa, the chef said,’ ya ya Indian food so you want ‘leddoos’’.

Other than the food and Indian honeymooners who made us feel old and out of place, everything was nice.

That reminds me , ‘Is there any rule for Indian women to wear all kinds of ‘never ever tired before’ clothes and look uncomfortable on their honeymoon in Mauritius?

However , blood red off shoulder mini frock with a flowery bow during winters and rains in Mauritius can make some honeymooners too ideal for sightseeing and we really didn't mind that .

Besides, under water sea walk was an unusual experience for us. Couldn't do lot other activities for the rough sea at Sands resort where we stayed. But we did north island and south island tour .Visit to Isle Aux cerfs reminded me of island hopping tour at Langkawi though.

By the end of four days well spent in Mauritius , a whole new series of responsibilities loomed….getting home, getting up early ,kid’s school ,job search, office, shifting to our new place in 3 months etc etc .4^th June we had got back and am posting this now.... just before my next break around Christmas :-)
Ciao!

East Calling....!!

2013-02-17T10:13:00.004-08:00

Ya… I am bong too!! …though it doesn’t mean ‘ machhi khabo ‘ and ‘from Kolkata ‘.

Have always found it difficult to explain my bong blood to people, given that am not that fluent in Bengali also. Neverthelesss last December we decided to go homewards exploring our eastern connections starting with Kolkata.

One place where the local ads caught my attention …on radio, in cinema hall, the hoardings, the small posters around. Unbelievably most ads are about diseases and hospitals unlike in namma Bengaluru where every time you hear a jingle or see an ad …in 80% cases they are about the so called dream homes. Is there any connection between the energy of the city and the ads…I wonder !!

The divide is so obvious in Kolkata. The new town on one hand and the houses with pukhurs (ponds-bud for bacteria and viruses to flourish), on the other. I don’t intend to be cynical but Kolkata needs thorough cleaning from roads to systems. How can they still make people wait for 45 min- 1 hrs to get a pre paid taxi. Get a computer for God’s sake instead of using old receipt book with carbon.

I know I know, Kolkata should instead be used as a synonym for art and culture but treasure should be treasured, really.The fact also remains that I still do like Kolkata, blame it on my blood.This was my only third visit. Food has always been great here especially the street food.

Hmmm besides eateries, we did go to Victoria memorial, Dakkhineshwar temple, Alipore Zoo etc etc

Victoria Memorial- Kolkata

Next on the list was Darjeeling, the hill station with lot of associations from British to ‘Barfi'.

Darjeeling- view from our hotel

Early morning, come to the window of your room and see the magnificence of the Himalayan range, kanchenjonga, Wow!! One advantage that Sinclairs has eventhough the uphill walk to reach Sinclairs does kill everytime one wants to reach the hotel after a long tiring day.

Sudeep with Darjeeling tea in his hands near the tea gardens

Darjeeling tea, fresh vegetables & fruits by the roadside, kids in all kinds of colorful school uniforms and the mall road which is where the spirit of the hillstation resides. Walk anytime to the mall is fun .Cafes, book shops& artifacts !! In fact, the strongest recall I’m having right now is of Nathmull’s tea boutique.The tea sets on sale are gorgeous,wish had bought one of those .

A Monastery in Darjeeling

Shanti stupa in Darjeeling

Incidentally, unique to Darjeeling is its Himalayan mountaineering institute museum & Zoo which has the himalayan variety. I really did spend a lot of time trying to perfect my photography skills in front of the red panda there, it was just not ready to poseL However this little fellow was curious enough to see a creature like me.

At Darjeeling zoo

After 2 days at Darjeeling we left for our expedition to Sikkim with a stop over at Teesta for a thrilling river water rafting experience.

Teesta and Rangeet

And ya, best part is you do can take your children along.

River water rafting at Teesta

Baiguney, Pelling, Gangtok & Nathula pass. Lots to see in Sikkim . Houses with flowers, trucks with eyes, traffic jams and hardworking people with simple hearts .

The stuck truck with eyes in Gangtok

Travel is ofcourse not that easy here & it is comparatively expensive too. Winters, the sun sets by 4- 4.30 when even a 20 km travel takes more than an hour due to the difficult terrains.

When we reached Baiguney, it was late afternoon and we hardly had time left for sightseeing. No one wanted to go out but I still decided to visit Chardham of Sikkim and that too alone with the driver. As soon as I sat in car our driver, Moses said, ‘madam you seem very scared ’.

Ofcourse, I was .I had just landed in a new place and had met him hardly 30 min back. I could only smile for my determination and the risk taking appetite. The journey was 2 hrs upwards and as soon as I reached chardham, it became almost dark.

Chardham- Sikkim

I returned back at 7pm .My husband was right, Sikkim is very safe eventhough we had continued to call each other every 15 min during my entire trip. Accidently I also discovered that the driver had fanatic love for music more than anything but least interest in geography as Bangalore was part of Kanyakumari for him, until I explained . Not his problem, it is the disconnect.

Pelling is near Baiguney, so Mr. Moses also drove us to the oldest monastery in Sikkim, Pemayangtse & Kechuberi lake, the so called wishing lake in Pelling. 'Pemayangtse monastry' was built by monks of pure Tibetan origin.

From outside- A wall ,Pemayangtse Monastry

Prayer flags, the bells…and weird structures made of stones, different ways to accessing God.

Prayer bells

Prayer flags

2 days of tasty food and complete relaxation by the rangeet riverside at Club Mahindra, Baiguney observing lights here and there on huge mountains that surrounded us, was truly majestic.

Thereafter we headed for Gangtok following Teesta river. Only thing possible on the first day was Rumtek monastery in ‘ traffic jam’ prone Gangtok. Evening we spent at Gangtok’s MG Road ,best place to buy all feng shui stuff.

Gangtok- MG Road

Next day it was turn to visit Nathula pass.

On the way to Nathula

I can proudly say now that I feel completely fine even at 14000 ft above sea level.

Nathula Pass

Every travel has to bring some unique story no… infact no one makes them, they just choose you to be part of them .And this time it is about 6 hrs traffic jam on the way back to NJP station from Gangtok, which we faced on our last day. Now that we are over that experience, am just thinking… what all things we pray for no… ‘to be able to catch train, to be able to find some roadside loo, some water to drink’, I mean God has so many important things to attend to.

Anyways we finally did learn to pee safely on mountain road where every inch of it was covered with vehicle, take water from a small waterfall nearby, use loo at a petrol bunk just before NJP and finally pay Rs 5000 extra to get tickets in another train the next morning when hundreds of passengers stood there stranded who also had missed their trains. Many thanks to Mr and Mrs Gosh, parents of our neighbor Mr Joydeep who entertained us even at 12am midnight at there house at NJP.

Indian culture jindabad and bong culture double jindabad… we got all kinds of 'rosogollas' and 'bhajas' even at our midnight dinner :-)

Finally Momota didi’s 'Duronto' brought us back to Bangalore after a fortnight long trip... ...SAFELY!!

Jai Momota didi & Jai Bangla. !!

Kodai Platter !!

2012-10-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

As per our home rule book,we necessarily should bunk work and go out of Bangalore on special days like birthdays :-) And this time, Sudeep insisted on exploring kodai wilderness . Kodaikanal is the place ,we had been to together ,way back in 2004 and the memories of our time there seemed some of the most indelible of our lives especially at the eighth year of our marriageJ,guess that was the reason for the second trip.

After all, have heard many times, ‘ life is nothing but a collection of memories and moments’ . And some moments you want to relive as and when. Interestingly, Kodaikanal is also the only Indian hill station to be discovered by the Americans and not British.

First thing I asked when I reached Hill country Kodai this time was, ‘tell me the most beautiful place to visit in Kodai ’. 'Berijam lake' , out came the answer. Three days we waited for permission from forest officials but in vain. Wild elephants had decided to barge in there and stay put just to make sure that we make at least one more visit to Kodaikanal in future. We don’t mind that though.

Anyways…despite missing on Berijam lake visit, we still were on the upside and the ROI(return on investment) wasn’t bad. We did witness the misty woods engulfed in the eerie silence,

On the way to Dolphin's nose at Kodaikanal

the tranquil lake around which cycling is fun, (You can also peak into the roadside shops typical of tourist places while riding on the cycle & escape the sale at the same time)

Upper lake View in Kodaikanal

pristine Kodai beauty on Coaker’s walk,

At Coaker's Walk

vibrant skies contrasting with the wild greenery making for some beautiful scenes,

the falls,

the pine forests where our Indian heroes and heroins typically run around the trees and sing songs,

Pine forests - Kodaikanal

Looking above @ Pine forests ,Kodaikanal

the same blue church,

La sallete church in Kodaikanal

and the same bench where we have had our tea/coffee eight years back too.

All worth it. Best part is that your legs & feet get to work after a long city slumber when you visit any hill station like Kodai. The uphill downhill roads, the lakeside, the mall road window shopping ,love it all. And thankfully life doesn’t remind you of time running by, every now and then.

After all, traveling does mean long walks, nature’s splendid beauty which works as an excellent eye tonic and food musings all along the tiring day J leaving everything else behind.

That reminds me of Tava restaurant there. Suggestions on trip advisor are not bad, hmmn. Had read about Tava there. Very small place but tasty north Indian food. Plus, Kodai has its name for fresh fruits and vegetables too. So no worry eat to your heart's delight there.I did ,ofcourse !

Today (23rd Aug 2012) my holidays end and as I conclude my trip feeling rewarded for my time spent in kodaikanal, I'm already wishing... wishing to come here again to celebrate many more special days and years of togetherness :-)

Cake cutting at Kodai lake.

Stay tuned till the next serving from my end !! ciao ...

2012-08-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

The biggest blessing…….

Even though, this blog is all about my travel experiences, this time I want to write about a completely different subject - subject which is closest to my heart. Recently finished working on an awareness campaign too in the same field. Below are a few ads.( Pls note- All children here have acted for the campaign,they are deeply loved by their parents)

Truly speaking, any number of words would fall short to express what I feel and mean by all this.

Agree, if there is one bad parent or a teacher, there are ten good parents and teachers in the world but that one child I see as my own child and that doesn’t let me take news as news. My child is 3.5 yrs and I really know what a 2 yr or a 3 yr child means. Am not obsessed with my child but am obsessed with every child’s safety and protection. If there is just one wish that I can be granted in this lifetime by God, I would ask that all the children in this world be safe & happy at all times and have a positive childhood.

Presently I don’t know what I’m going to do and how … to completely stop the abuse against children from our world but I intend so and I pray every day for the same. This blog post comes from my heart dedicated to all the children in this world. I send my deepest love and best wishes through this to all little ones.

I also want to plead to all parents, teachers and guardians to love children and be more patient. Please do not hurt them in anyway even if the same happened with you. Abusing a helpless innocent is the most heinous crime. Fill your hearts with love even when you look at your worst enemy’s child, even when a child is a brat of first order, even if a child hits you and doesn’t listen to you, even if he/she is the biggest disturbance in your life, even if you made the biggest loss or any other reason.

A child is still vulnerable and innocent and deserves love and care. No child ever deserves to suffer the results of your revenge, hatred, anger, personal frustrations, or any need or perfection expectations program. Just treat kids as kids not step kids or others’ kids.

In my life journey so far, I see children as the best gifts of God. They come to teach us patience, tolerance and love. Unfortunately in most countries and cultures it is believed to be the other way round. Parents, elders and guardians are supposedly correct most of the times and by their position they become perfect enough to teach children about perfection J

I seriously feel there is a need for a two way education system. On one hand to educate elders on how to treat a child from the beginning even before a child is born.(I see the awareness program to be part of pregnancy consultations, teacher’s training program, police training program and even military training program) And on the other hand, a child to be taught specifically about his rights and duties as a compulsory subject in schools from the very early age as soon as the child learns to communicate. (Have worked on a 4-5 page booklet for the same)

All this may sound funny to some, but imagine a 3-yrs old who is beaten unreasonably on any & every small issue; the poor child may not even understand that there could be something abnormal about his parents / teacher / guardian to even tell others. He may take that as part of parenting / teaching.

This is a country where children are even brought up with the belief that just because his father hit him, he passed the exam, he learnt the lesson or else he wouldn’t have become anything in life. People ask to the extent ‘who is the child scared of at home, child needs to have some fear? Maths teachers make the subject scary.

I don’t understand, why the hell does the child need to be scared of anyone on earth? Are we perfect enough?? Don’t we make mistakes, don’t our parents make mistakes. If we don’t hit ourselves, our parents, our teachers, our bosses, the politicians, the corrupt then why children…. Just because they are small & physically delicate and it’s easy to hit them. From where does this idea of treating children as metals (beat and mould) come from?

Mahatma Gandhi’s father used silence and tears to teach his son that stealing is bad, he never hit him. Probably that’s why we got the lessons of truth, love and non violence from the same child.

You’re not strong if your child is scared of you and obeys you out of fear. You’re not strong if you lose temper easily and abuse any weak and vulnerable. You’re not strong if children suffer the consequences of your personal frustrations. You’re the weakest in the name of father, mother, teacher or guardian.

You’re a father:-

When a child can sleep peacefully in your arms believing that you can save him from all evils and dangers.

When a child knows that he can share anything with you and you’re there to understand.

When a child is not scared to fail because he knows that your love and encouragement will make him stand again to fight.

When a child waits for you to come back home knowing that he can play and laugh with you despite your hard day at work.

When your child doesn’t necessarily have to make you proud by coming first in the class or in sports or become what you wanted to be in order to get your approval and love.

And when you don’t tell your child to be but show your child how to be& the child obeys you out of respect and honor not fear.

You’re a Mother:-

When a child believes that whatever happens that one kiss or loving touch from mom can heal any injury or wound. And you don’t necessarily have to give birth for the same.

When a child feels that the most protected and secured place on earth is his mother’s lap & his mother would protect him/her at every cost even if that means going against the world & every relationship including husband.

When you mean love, sacrifice and care for the child.

When a child learns the lesson of faith, goodness and strength from you.

A teacher means ….

Someone who loves children more than English, Maths, Science, rules or his own reputation.

In every case love is the biggest teaching, the biggest lesson and the biggest learning. Then why do we stop believing in its power when handling small children... Every religion, every God believes in love and it can’t fail. I don’t mean pampering but loving and being an example of what we want our children to learn. .

If you want to teach patience…. be patient.

If you want to teach tolerance…. be tolerant.

If you want to teach love… be loving.

You can’t shout at child and say stop shouting. You can’t hit the child and tell him not to hit. Till the age of 8 everything that a child sees or hears becomes a part of his memory or belief system hence it’s important that it’s all positive.

Ya… That makes the life of the elder challenging, because we need to overcome our weaknesses first which may not be that easy. The experience of parenting or school teaching is not so much about teaching but learning. I do fail at many things lot of times and so I ask for forgiveness from my child and tell him that I am also learning along with him. I’ve not perfected the art of parenting, I can’t really teach anything to anyone but all am requesting is, please figure out your own ways to deal with children but make sure that you choose a loving & patient way. We’re trying…. You too can.

Some things that we can all look at:-

1. Number of children to be proportional to the time and amount of attention one can give. Population is already the cause behind most issuesJ the lesser the better.

2. Children are the biggest responsibility and priority so the relationship & mental stability to be considered before we decide to bring a child into this world just like that.

3. Children learn from us, from surroundings, from TV. We must understand the reason before reacting in any harsh way.

4. Never to hesitate to say sorry to the kid. By giving children respect, one earns respect .

5. Sometimes it’s ok not to listen, sometimes it’s ok to be a rebel for a child because then only, one day he/she would rebel against the existing social & political evils.

6. If one doesn’t have a child but wish for one and can give a good life filled with love to a child, one must not hesitate to adopt.

7. Lets love and protect every child we can, whichever way we can.

8. Not to ever accept any form of abuse by anyone on any child.

9. Children are more precious than our house, our expensive car or any silly materialistic thing we may be attached to, even our egos, reputation and image. Lets bless children every day & pray for all.
10. To learn to love a child unconditionally. No one can predict future, no one can guarantee what a child will be but let us just make sure that we do our part right.

Most importantly, all of us have the power to be the biggest blessing or the worst nightmare in any child’s life….lets be the biggest blessing only. Positive Ideas, people and prayers are welcome to join this fight against abuse.

Bangalore through my eyes !!

2012-06-08T11:19:00.007-07:00

29th June 2001, my first step in Bangalore and first ever in south India. My uncle’s friend dropped me to Basavangudi , ING staff training hostel ,a day before the training to commence. Still remember , it was raining that evening ,found Bangalore quite romantic .Its been 11 years since then…neither I left the city nor did the city allow me to leave.
Bangalore to me has been evening rains,

Evening rains at Hebbal flyover through my car windscreen

Roads with huge trees on both sides with dash of orange bloom ,

One of my fav roads near IISC

12 noon shade at road near Sankey tank

Morning walk in Parks,

Cubbon park

Evening stroll by the Lakeside ,

Evening sunset view at Sankey tank

Sankey tank

Beautiful churches ,

St. Mary's Basilica: The oldest church in Bangalore

Hudson church

St Andrew's church

St Marks Cathedral

Nariyal pani ,

Green coconuts(Daab in bengali)

and Shanti sagars and Shiv sagars even though the so called developmental works in last 10 yrs have changed the face of B’lore beyond recognition.

Last weekend , my husband was out on an official trip and the only relative in Bangalore, my sister , on her way to a month long trip in Europe . I was alone in Bangalore with my all time company mum and kid. So I decided to get out of home and become a tourist in my own city for the weekend. Unfortunately I hadn’t even seen the bull temple in Basavangudi , a popular tourist spot , until last Sunday.

Bull temple at Basavangudi

Also, I was a little guilty , “ Whats the point in traveling all the way to Paris to see Louvre or to Amsterdam to see Van gogh museum if one hasn’t even explored the art gallaries within the city." My agenda , this weekend was to visit Modern art gallery and Venkatappa art gallery. I realized these are great places to take kids too for their early exposure to artworks.

Modern Art Gallery on Palace Road

Visited Bangalore Palace too for the first time on Saturday.

Bangalore Palace

Sunday, I started early morning to see the roads without vehicles & Bangaloreans and have breakfast at Koshys only to experience the flash back city moments. I was able to see the spring on trees , attend the Sunday mass at churches and wonder at one of the paintings by Mr Venkatappa. It really looked like a photograph. The sculptors at venkatappa art gallery have made me plan my next trip to Belur & Halebid to see the hoysala style of art.

The same evening I went to Iskon temple and Orion mall ,the new mall in Bangalore with a Lake.If there were two people in the whole art gallery,there were four per square inch of the mall inside :-) Anyway...here is a panoramic view.

From extreme left Orion Mall , Hotel Sheraton ,World trade centre , Brigade gateway and the man made lake at the centre

Not bad no? Get up early in the morning on a weekend, take your camera and start exploring your own city before it gets a little more unfamiliar. You never know you might just fall in love with your city all over again. I have, because this time my eyes were not just set on roads while driving but also on the road side places which made me stop by and see the real Bangalore hidden behind vehicles ,roads and skyscrapers . So, guys get set go……………..

Just in time dimsums !!

2012-06-01T01:24:00.000-07:00

Have you ever felt like getting down from an auto and start running or even telling the local train driver to be fast enough so that you could catch your connecting train or flight.

I have…not just once or twice but quite a number of times. And each time,I’ve had to go through a series of chemical changes in my mental composition.

The first of such instances was while I was doing my MBA and my family used to stay in Bhopal. I was to catch a train from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Kurla at 10.45 pm for Bhopal. My luck, that very day and time someone decided to commit suicide under my local train which was to take me to Tilak Nagar, only 5 min away from the terminus. I was with my friends Prashant, Venu &Preetam who had come to drop me. Even though we had started pretty well in advance, my weak actuarial capabilities didn’t account for such delays. I wish I could just fly, 10.30 pm and I was still stuck. I probably reached local station Tilak nagar only at 10.45pm and from there we could see my train on the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, just about to leave. Heard the siren and we started to run… run to the best of our management abilities. My bag being passed on from one superman to another, while we ran holding hands and breaths across the length and breadth of the crowd at the station.

Yep, I finally did board the train… .. what do you think, why do movies like DDLJ work even after decades, they are all inspired by realism. Thankfully as soon as I stepped on to the last compartment, then only the train picked up the speed.

Another time, also in Mumbai and the destination - Bangalore. It was 2002 and I had been for a two months OJT(on the job training) at Andheri branch for ING Bank. Was staying in Bank flats at Bhandup along with my friend Deaa. My chit chat quota never ends with Deaa so even the night before my travel, I slept late. The alarm didn’t work and I woke up only an hour before the train time. The train was to start from CST(Chatrapati shivaji terminal) at 8.05 am. In utter confusion and madness I chose to take a taxi from Bhandup to CST. I was the back seat driver, driving faster than the driver all the way and repeating every sec ‘Bhaiya aur fast please’. Would have been impossible but that morning of 2002 was not that crowded and I did reach the CST station on time. As soon as my anxiety settled down, I realized that the same train also stopped at Kalyan. First CST, then Dadar and then Kalyan at 9am. Kalyan, just 30 minutes from Bhandup. And I had come all the way riding in the opposite direction upto CST taking a few breaths and skipping a few. Anyways.….guess all is fair in the humdrum of life.

My Marriage too was no short of adventure. The day I was supposed to reach Udaipur for the function to commence, I was in tears calling Sudeep and telling him that I was still at B’lore airport and it was impossible for me to make it to my own wedding. Due to air-conditioning problem my flight was cancelled, and I had already missed my connecting flight for Udaipur. And in addition, due to some seminar in Bangalore, the airport was flooded with humanity, all flights were full and people were buzzing around the ticket counters for Mumbai ticket. I don’t remember what did Sudeep say or who had more faith but I decided to run from pillar to post. Finally an Indian Airlines senior officer screamed at others who were showing their ID cards to prove their urgency,’ Please understand, this girl has to attend her own wedding, I’ve to give a seat to her.’

Grrrrrrr … am married courtesy Indian Airlines' policies J

The travel adventure anxiety not just doubled but multiplied by leaps and bounds post marriage.

Last Dec during my trip to Gujrat, the day I was to return back home in Bangalore along with my kid, Mum and friend, I chose to shop in Ahmedabad before my flight. We kept our bags in the cloak room of train station and ventured into the shopping bylanes of Ahmedabad. Plan was to shop, then eat at Bikanerwalla, come to the station, collect luggage and then go to the airport which was 30 min from the station. Had 4 hrs in hand, flight was at 5 pm. Till 2.45 we kept shopping, finished lunch at 3.30 and then started back. Unlike the onward journey on Ahmedabad roads, the return reminded me of Bangalore office hours on roads. Tension started building up, all of us looking at the traffic and praying desperately. Had already spent so much unnecessarily that I couldn’t afford to miss my flight. Reached train station somehow, collected the luggage and since time was so little at hand, instead of praying that I should be on time at the airport, I thought God may find it easier to delay the Ahmedabad - Bangalore flight. 2 Autos, lots of luggage and my son who has to sleep in every moving vehicle irrespective of the situation. Wanted to get out of the auto and start running, the auto driver just wasn’t able to drive at the speed of my ‘if and then‘ thoughts. Reached airport… ran with my son, mum and luggage for the check in. Wow!! To my surprise, check in was still on. The flight too got delayed.

Hmmm, I love my country, my travel prayers do work here. Only thing is the nervous tension of missing the train or a flight just kills.

Recently, this Jan in Hyderabad also I had another time of my life. Courtsey my husband who has best learnt ‘don’t stop till you get the work done’ of all the management lessons, I felt like jumping out of the train rather than answering his calls every minute to know how far I was from Kacheguda where he was waiting. Had been to Hyderabad for a wedding, my return was by train from Kacheguda for Bangalore at 9.30 pm. I had the whole day at hand so I made an additional plan to meet a Clairvoyant lady in Malkhaid road (4hrs by train from Hyderabad) along with my Mum and comeback by evening & meet my husband & kid directly at the station to catch our train for Bangalore. Was running a tight schedule already and the train which hardly gets delayed had to get delayed by 2 hours that same day. My phone started ringing from 6pm itself. In the train a gentleman informed me that there was no way I could reach Kacheguda on time by the ‘Malkahid Road’ passenger I was in and taking local train from Lingampally would be wiser to reach Kacheguda on time. I did the same but after counting 4 stations in 2 minutes in the local, my confidence began to shake, and like crazy I started asking everyone, ’tell me exactly how much time this local train takes to reach Kacheguda’? On top of that ringing phone with every passing second to ask all sorts of questions about the station the train had crossed and time remaining made my human properties change into glass. Finally, I switched off the mobile. The local train reached by 9.15 and thankfully at the same platform on opposite side from where I had my B’lore train. I could see my husband, kid and sister at the platform, sigh of relief!

The joy of being able to catch a train or flight on time when it is just not possible, is beyond words. For that moment you’re the winner in your own world, its like not losing the very opportunity in your life to reach the final destination.

Except for once in London when I missed my bus for Birmingham, I’ve not missed any train or flight till date and I hope not to. Happy traveling!!

Time-out

2012-05-09T05:05:00.000-07:00

Born in Pachmarhi, my love for jungles still runs through my bloodstream. One of the reasons I get sweepingly sentimental over weekends if I don’t get to go out of the concrete walls of my home. I need to breathe directly beneath the sky and refresh my olefactory system in the vicinity of huge trees as often as possible,seriously.

Wish I were paid to travel as much as I want to. I’ve yet to cover many jungles within India itself. Kabini river lodge (the hunting lodge of the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore) which is hardly 220kms from Bangalore was also on my wish list for long till recently when I made a 2-day trip.

River Kabini in the morning!

A wildlife enthusiast appraised me of the allures of wildlife in Kabini and since summers are best known for sightings, I made my plan to visit in March and stay at Jungle Lodges Resorts.

Kabini River Lodge in March

Either tigers have some problem with me or I’m more scary, as other than the tiger we saw most animals. This is despite the company of very optimistic people on our safari jeep who kept reiterating ‘today we shall definitely see a tiger’. Until 2 days before, the tiger was seen on the tiger tank there every evening. Now I know the 'japa' was because of the doubt,we were all believers of probability more than anything.And as they say,

The good things that you expect …it is on your way

The things you fear about or doubt….. that is also on your way.

In the wilds of Nagarhole

Anyways, jungle beauty sans the tiger is equally mesmerizing and we really missed having tele- photo lens this time to be able to capture the same .

Kabini- Savior to so many species

Bangalore to Kabini is a nice road except that the last 12km stretch feels more like a ride on the moon - huge craters really!
But all that is worth in order to experience staying in tents, going on jungle safaris, listening to the wild melody and no TV, no cricket!! I loved it.

Jungle Lodges tent

From Kabini, I paid my customary visit to Club Mahindra Madikeri(Coorg). There is something about the energy of this place, which is just so refreshing. Have been to Coorg quite a number of times before, hence Abbey falls, Raja seat, Talcauvery etc. were nothing new ; this time we explored the Golden temple (Namdroling Monastry).

Golden temple

Beautiful temple and surprisingly huge Tibetan establishment at Bylakuppe , on the way back to Bangalore.Reached home by evening and then back to the grind.

Do want to go back to Kabini again and meet Mr Tiger……this trip was just an appetizer. Anyone interested in coming along??

united colors of bhujrat !

2012-02-09T08:51:00.000-08:00

One day before my anointed travel date and I was still struggling for tickets calling up Indian railways & Gujarat tourism, using every related and unrelated trump card and contemplating on my last minute air travel. All this, for my maiden entry to Thepla-Fafda land.

At Mandvi beach in Bhuj

I had only heard about the Rann Utsav from a few Gujarati friends before embarking on my journey with a friend,my mother and my kid during Christmas. Adhoc plan and delicate star cast. I did have to pay the exorbitant price for my last minute flight bookings courtesy a few Gujju business extremists from travel industry in Ahmedabad who lied through the skin that Rann Utsav bookings couldn’t be postponed or cancelled even though I desperately needed to change my travel dates for the lack of confirmed train tickets.

Thought of Gandhi and Modi at the same time but my travel itch was difficult to resist given that I love colors and Gujarati thali. Also, how could I ignore Mr. Bachchan who kept saying 'Kutch nahi dekha, to kya dekha?'

Colors of Dhordo

25th Dec 2011, first day of my three day package trip ,I reached Bhuj, somehow and anyhow. We were the only Bangaloreans in a sea of humanity that spoke ‘aau chu or basi jaao’. After 1.5 hrs of dug-dug bus travel from Bhuj, we found ourselves in the tented city of Dhordo. Ethnically Grandiose! Besides, Gujarati food was a double bonanza for me. The glutton in me would keep all senses wide awake for every meal to hog on there.

Tent City where I stayed

Rann Utsav is an annually organized festival by Gujarat tourism every December and runs for a month. Best time to attend the carnival is around the full moon night of December.The tent city is hardly 5 kms from white Rann -the salt desert, which is splendid on full moon night. My lucky stars I was there on 25th December - a new moon day.

Houses in Dhordo Village

As per schedule, we headed to Dhordo village and Hodko village on the first day of our camp. Colorfully flamboyant houses,creative handicrafts and the fine art of patience -‘the intricate embroidery work’.

Unfortunately, evening was spent waiting in December cold for some transport to take us back to our tent city from the white Rann post sunset as our bus tyres sank into the salt desert. I am told salt absorbs negativity and I instantly recollected the altercation that a few Gujaratis on our bus had with the driver immediately upon our arrival at white Rann for parking reasons. So much so for Mr. Bachchan’s exhortations about Gujarat.

Next day on our list was Mandavi beach and a visit to Vijay Vilas Palace,made popular by Bollywood as the haveli for “hum dil de chuke sanam”. Its just 160 kms,said the guide. Reached Vijay Vilas in the afternoon, stomach already demanding another round of Gujju delicacies. Nonetheless I did realize that Vijay Vilas palace is an eclectic blend of architectural styles. Amazing !

At Vijay Vilas Palace

There on to make peace with our hungry bellies,we drove to a restaurant nearby before setting our foot on the highly acclaimed beach of Gujarat. Camel safari at 2.30pm on mandvi beach with sun shining on my head was bad .

Mandvi Beach

Had wished to take the shortest tour of the three options to be able to spend more time at the tent city but courtsey my ringing ears I chose Mandvi beach tour .The whole day was dedicated to giving up one’s life control and limbs to the driver as we could reach only by 9pm.

A lady from Kutch at Dhordo into handicrafts

Kutch is mostly appreciated for its ecological and ethnic rich heritage, but more than anything a place is known by its inhabitants. Even though I hadn’t started on a very good note in this trip, my opinion was reversed by a few people I came across in Kutch. On the third and the last day, while I was struggling to find some place to keep my luggage in tourism office at Bhuj and complaining for non cooperation from tourism department, Mr. Good from Information Broadcasting department in Bhuj overheard me and extended help beyond my expectation."Caught in the wrong job", the monster india ad flashed in my mind. A strong believer in Bhagavad Geeta he said,' you came to see Kutch but you’ve not really seen'.And he went out of all his ways to make me understand the true Kutch people, irrespective of the fact that I was a complete stranger.

Parag Mahal

Same day in Bhuj, we visited“Aaina Mahal” , “Parag Mahal” and also the ruins of earthquake which had hit Kutch in 2001.

Ruins of Bhuj

The fear of earthquake seems so evident that even the tourism department doesn’t do anything to rebuild or improve the toilets anywhere. Why would such things matter in the big scheme of things…Thankfully I met one more helpful family in the shopping district of Bhuj near Parag Mahal who not only let us their restroom but also their neighbors’.

I even saw the oldest Bhuj temple just next to their house which had survived the earthquake. Lord Krishna seemed strong enough so I took refuge in the same temple along with my son and a 50kg suitcase while my friend and mom shopped during the three hours before our bus to Veraval, nearest railhead for Gir.Gir and Somnath are mandatory being in Gujarat and yes, I did spot a lion within the first 5 minutes of our safari.

Gir lion

A week of hullabaloo and I was back in Bangalore on 31st Dec.

By the end of the tapestry of contradictions that is Gujjuland, I realized that other than the lions of Gir,there are people atleast in Bhuj who have definitely learnt that the value of another human being is more than money or time and it does inspire me to irrevocably begin my life on a different note and in a different light.

Spirituality

2011-11-20T04:04:00.000-08:00

Thought...to catch hold of God,

I should travel from the topmost part of India to the bottommost, but my endeavors have stretched only till Vaishnodevi & McLeodganj in North and Pondicherry in down south.

My knowledge is far from spiritual experiences so I am in a similar state as Sarah MacDonald in ' Holy Cow'.

In Haridwar, I observe the Ganges getting dirtier due to community bathing by men who flaunt their obscene, old, torn H shaped attires (if you know what I mean). In Pondicherry where people find peace, I get upset for not being allowed to appreciate a tree in Auroville for the lack of time at hand. In Rishikesh, I remember the tasty food by Chotiwalas more than anything. In Kukke Subramanya, I pay more attention to celebrity pictures of those who visited for Kaal Sarpa Dosha including Sachin. And in McLeodganj, I meditate at the roadside market which sells accessories and antiques. Sadly that’s me.

Roadside market in Mcloedganj

Parents and grandparents introduced me to the temples and pujas, but true credit goes to my 'nose' which threw so many tantrums post surgery that I got slipped into the world of spiritual solace. Coming across those doctors who make faces like you will die the next day and prescribe hundreds of tests for simple problems is the first step towards spirituality.

Spiritual introspection before surgery in Manipal

For most problems, complaining to God in Amitabh Bachchan style does provide some relief. But unlike Amitabh Bachchan who went to the temple towards the end in Deewar, I say temple temple here I come, with my own list every time.

Kangra Devi in Himachal

Of all, it is Lord Shiva who I have related to since childhood. Anytime I’ve been denied the due, instead of catching the collar of bosses, boyfriends and mom-in-laws, I’ve run to Lord Shiva. It’s only for my own health that I had to look beyond Shiva temples. I’m not the one who really believes that God is accessible in temples and can be moved by pujas only, but I like our culture which makes it easier for the girl to gain brownie points with in-laws and in turn please her home hero too . That’s a different spiritual level altogether.

In Bangalore, Kempfort gets the credit for my maximum ' first job, single status' visits (and school of ancient wisdom for my post surgery visits)

Kempfort temple

Kempfort Shiva never filled the blanks matching my wishes but I am thankful that the same Shiva in Ujjain and Srikalahasti granted my wishes immediately, VIP class .The Lord at Tirupati took time, by then it was like what the heck, justice delayed is justice denied. Not God's fault, amidst the South Indian screams of Govindaaaaa Govindaaaaaaa and the rush to reach Mt. Tirupati, God works in random order.

The two places where God did make me feel important are Siddhivinayaka and Vaishnodevi. Year 2002, it was early morning and my first visit to Siddhivinayaka in Mumbai. I entered the overcrowded temple and wished for a special puja for which pre booking was required, and was impossible at that time. It just so happened that a lady came up to me and said, 'take my ticket and do the puja, am getting late for work.'

I was happily surprised since I hadn't even uttered my wish.

Second time recently, in Vaishnodevi.....

Vaishnodevi temple

My first visit, delayed by about 7 years, became special when a policeman who controls the crowd told me, 'Phir se andar jaana hai doosri baar darshan ke liye, aarti hone wali hai, tujhe jaane doonga, jaldi teeka mitao, bachhe ka bhi aur husband ko bhi bula lo.' Initially the Karnataka citizen in me thought, ' sabka sapna money money' but then I soon realized, ‘wow am not that big a sinner. God does know me’.

My spiritual journey and relationship with God has been weird. Somedays I've kept the fast without even water throughout the day and someday I have puked throughout the night in the name of Shiva's Somras.

Somedays I've done all kinds of yoga, japas and tapas and somedays have slept in glory, postponing my sincerity for the next day. Am such an average human that becoming spiritually fashionable is quite challenging. The only permanent shift in my life has been 'Tulsi tea and veg food' despite being an ardent fan of Mutton Roganjosh.

Nevertheless, marriage and after-effects like children, at times act like sparks in lighting the spiritual growth lamp inside. Both me and my husband have visited more temples than any other types of places in seven years of our process of learning to tolerate each other and our kid :-)

Baijnath in Himachal

On a serious note, my quest for solutions to my insignificant health issues has introduced me to many a good things and great souls. Reiki, pyramid meditation, kriya yoga, numerology, Louise Hay's 'heal your life' (courtesy my friend Shalini), Yogananda's 'Autobiography of a yogi', writings by James Redfield and Brian Weiss.

I’ve learnt that forgiveness is liberating, thinking good doesn’t let you collapse when you lapse, and evening Aarti on the banks of Ganga in Haridwar is truly majestic.

My journey is still on though with really long big breaks in between.

Spirituality is an experience, a way of life…and I am trying hard to meditate to get that 'Ek idea jo badal de aapki duniya'. But a long way to travel I guess!

JACK AND JILL YET AGAIN TO THE HILLS .......

2011-07-07T05:16:00.000-07:00

Due to 'Monday Blues' on friday morning,Mr. Jack calls up as soon as he reaches office,' let's do Mysore over weekend.On sat,at Mysore... lets do the Bandipur safari.On sunday at Bandipur ...why not drive till Ooty.

Derby Green

At Derby Green Ooty,why one? lets stay for two nights :-)

Unknown to our adventure, people were amazed .............' Spaghetti top in ooty cold !!

For a day I was like the Indian heroine who never feels cold even in the snow.Unfortunately my hero didn't even have the coat to pass it on to me and so we had to rush to 'Mohans' ,the most advertised shop in Ooty, to buy some acceptable hill station clothing.Most advertised doesn't mean most admired but anyways...it served the purpose.

Right now am sitting on a bench ,sipping my coffee and thinking (my all time fav job)...... Mysore.,Ooty the nth time :-)

Mysore Palace

Thats one advantage of staying in Bangalore.Mysore is just 2.5 hrs away and one can reach hill stations like Ooty at whim.

My quiet evening at Lalitha Mahal Palace ;-)

Stopover at Metropole for lunch and Lalitha mahal palace-Mysore for a quite evening dinner to do the quarterly review and feedback session on married life can be surprisingly elevating.

And ofcourse icing on the cake is Mysore to Ooty drive because of bandipur & mudumalai forests on the way. It really arouses the junglee in me. Infact in my childhood list of ,' I WANT TO BE', forest officer would be on top despite my fear of jungle ghosts.

Till date i've been able to spot only deers,sambhars,peacocks,monkeys and my saathi 'the haathi' in the name of wild life in these forests, but i do hope to face tiger someday ......much more appealing than going on a date with Abhay Deol ,recent inclusion in the list of my likes on facebook

Haathi mere saathi in Bandipur

When it comes to hill stations , it is the OOTY where am well known from Charring cross to Pykara lake :-)Think,there is an advantage in repetition.When one leafs through the albums to compare notes, the increase in the waist diamater,the changes in the expressions and the additions to the party give an excellent review of life.Each trip brings a new set of memories

Infact my first trip to Ooty was around the time the horror movie 'Raaz' on marital discord had come out.Ironically in this trip I received the blessings for a happy married life by an old couple after conforming to their request for a lovey dovey picture.

Another memorable trip with friends was in Dec cold.10pm ,dark woods and Yummy chicken ,one of the tastiest dinner !! I was in the company of gourmets.But courtsey the focus of the team, my 31st night was spent driving through Ooty lanes in search of some chinese restaurant, when all I wanted to do was party at the hotel and dance all night.At the end, we all settled for dinner at Taj where we did some clicking and as they say ' the circle of life' !!.... I ended up having a similar pic with Mr. Jack, as the one I had taken for the old couple a few years back.

Hmmmm!! this monsoon trip is special too...

Mr. Jack had the first 36 hairpin bends of his life, this time.

Secondly, its my son's first time in Ooty who has cold and fever but not going to school and singing 'swity swity tera pyaar chahida' with the system has been the motivation enough to carry on.

Ooty like hill stations do inspire me to indulge into their flavour,though I'm a person with no tea-no coffee tagline .In south, most hill stations are either tea stations or coffee stations.

Besides, there are Ghost stories, scenic spots ,the toy trains made famous by our film industry and lots of woollens ,facepacks,oils etc which attract the shopaholic in women irrespective of the metro they come from.

Downsouth other than Ooty I have been to Munnar,Thekkady,Madikeri,Yercaud ,kemengundi & Kodaikanal .

Pristine Munnar

Munnar and kemengundi are still commercially virgin.To the extent that I almost had my nirvana experience in nature at kemengundi for the homestay we had chosen, in middle of deep forests called nature nirvana .

Somehow we had reached that secluded world but on the way back, the budding adventurer & the romantic in me had almost died as our only jeep ran out of fuel and the driver left Jack and Jill in the middle of the ghostly jungle just around the sunset to go back and get some petrol.No other vehicle was to be seen even at miles distance till 2-3 hrs. Would always be indebted to that 5 pax capacity vehicle carrying more than 10 people to give us lift too. Luckily we reached the civilization that night.

Hmmmmm ...if I don't stop here my list of such events will go on as one may not remember what one ate last night but anything beyond routine and monotony is delicious enough for quick retrieval..

And honestly speaking,despite these lovely mishaps here and there, going back from these green jungles to our concrete jungle where undo & redo work is always on,seems very unspiritual.I can't help living in these times forever.

Planning for northern hills around october this year and I do hope to have a lovely uphill journey with the Papa Jack and the baby Jack .:-)...... Excited ..!!

From here to anywhere in my train......

2011-03-16T00:05:00.000-07:00

I envy my son for the exposure he gets .He wakes up to the background melodies of running trains!! Trains?? In Pachmarhi (Satpura ki rani hindustan ke dil mein), my birthplace.. a helicopter could come but no train :-(

Though,I shall always be indebted to Indian airlines for arranging my last minute travel to Udaipur so that I could attend my own wedding with a nut of 'Indiangoswami' species , my fascination for train travel dates back to my childhood in Pachmarhi.Two things would disturb me during my act of study there. 'Guddi Baby aam leke aaya hoon' and the cuckoo which would sing at my window to tell me .... holidays,mamaji ka ghar and train reservation . Did take my husband to Pachmarhi and we traveled by the same Amarkantak train from Durg to Pipariya. Pipariya ,the nearest railhead for Pachmarhi and my metro city of those times.... So many shops and a RAILWAY STATION !!! Had my first lesson of independence and the moment of pride at the age of 10 when i traveled alone to Pipariya railway station for reservations.

At 20,Bombay brought my love for trains and stations from heart to the skin.There were not just outgoing trains but local trains too... Wow!!
Also,my renedezvous with the first ever modern railway platforms of India . But despite my ocean deep respect for railways, due to my train crazy anxiety's application of projectile motion to my stupidy ,I had forgotten to purchase the nerul to vashi ticket only to get caught by a ticket checker. And all of this in front of the one,I had crush on !! uff...:-) Anyways....all said and done, it is the local train where lies the spirit of bombay,the story of the daily traveller,the marathi manus and the smell of seafish.

Then came the toy train of Ooty,the skytrain of Bangkok,hill train of penang and underground,upperground trains of Europe in my life. I just need to practice a bit more to continously look at the same scientist from sheffield throughout my underground travel from paris to london, otherwise the hygiene,the comfort levels,the sophistication and the surrounding beauty do make one become an ardent fan of train travel, in europe.

Indian railway story is amusing too .The people,the bookstalls,the emotions and the FOOD with the FLIES. Even with my parents' level of 'hygiene quotient' I never had any stomach infection then, the best immunization that the platform food provides.Ironically,it was the ' palak pakoda chat' of Taj Indore which had invaded my stomach first. For the best quality immunization ,I can think of Gurgaon platform during summers ,on my journey to Rajasthan. Unfortunately the encounter with my son's paediatric who finds trains extremely infectious ,has encouraged the hypochondriac in me now .

Railway Stations are where I have let my thought kytoons go beyond the sky, courtsey indian train timings .They are, where i have screamed to the best of my vocal chord's ability in the name of songs with schoolfriends .Trains are where I've met the helpers,the advisors, the cockroaches, also the ones who read murder mystery when am the only one sitting across in AC 2nd Class of 'Sampark Kranti'..
And then, there comes the railway track where I have fallen with a schoolmate who tried to pull me up to get on to the platform.....Detest boys who can't manage the girl's weight !! Platforms are also the places where i've been practising to beat Preeja Sreedharan since last 1 year.

Travel experience would be drab & crude if one hasn't felt the love behind the emotional drama at the platforms ,tasted the aroma of 'nibu da achhar' that comes from food when opened by the '10 children family' & seen the sunrise through the window of an indian train.

In love with my 'Trainy identity'..... Signing off
The Traveller

European delight in my desi way....

2011-03-10T01:34:00.000-08:00

Thanks to my illusion of being a smart travel planner I chose November to go to the Alps in Switzerland. Even the skiing season was to start 7 days after I would've left. Leukerbad...not one of those places popular in indian cinema.
It was already dark at 6pm in those snow scaped mountains with zero visibility due to fog,when I set my first foot. My imagination ran wild in negative direction & felt as if I was playing some role in a Sherlock Homes thriller.I was scared to death running here and there trying to find a single person or a well lit house for help with the directions as we were lost on the very road which led to our appartment 'les naturelles'. Could only hear the sounds of our suitcases being dragged on the snow. Wanted to curse my wild affair with Yash Raj movies which made the Swiss visit mandatory. Swiss people are really helpful if you get to find them in november nights of such places. 30 mins brain storming with my husband on the road and 3 min walk made us reach the place.
No one ...no one but an envelop at the reception with our room keys inside, was waiting for us.I wasn't excited,it was my third year of marriage and I just wanted to be alive the next day.Every door opened on its own as we entered .Hitech systems without a single soul seemed spooky to my desi heart. Anyways I had to give my adrenaline levels some rest so recited all the God mantras that i could remember and went off to sleep.Woke up in the middle of the night out of shock.... Gosh : ( Its the alarm (some german song ) .
6 am ,curtains set aside .....Eyes glowing!!

I knew I was in some part of heaven and very much alive. To my relief, I saw PEOPLE !!....& yes ,at the reception too.They said,'O its very safe here.,we leave everything open'. I did check, they have yet to visit India.
The next few days were wonderful with Pinot Noir,Coop and the Poshe Nage(some word that means the next destination)..in our minds.Traveled extensively to the best of our ability thanks to the wonderful Swiss transport system.Only issue is if you have a husband who is all the time thirsty,hungry,sleepy and forgets to carry his wollen cap the day he would need it due to the changed weather ,you do need to keep some extra time in hand when planning the places to visit.There are chances that you may promise to yourself that the next time you would find another one to visit Switzerland with ;-)
My next November was in UK & now I had to deal with my 10 month old as well who would cry at the top of his voice to wake even the earliest british visionaries up.My Optimism for english vision and traffic system that they boast of, made me plan the travel so aptly that we missed our bus from london to Birmingham . In london,processions can come up when you least expect them & traffic just wouldn't move when you're in a hurry ..Small country,narrow roads,cold weather but if you're in love with English ways and Shakespearian plays,the experience is worth.

The capital is one of the fashion cities and I love fashion. For me,its the coats and the boots...
My boot story goes far and wide,infact. For the first time in the history of 'palace of versailles' someone had fallen flat on its floors... and that was me.
I'm usually not that clumsy but had gone blind by the French beauty , I guess . Blame it on TLC which opened my eyes to the doors and windows of beauty & Fashion world .I didn't want to miss a thing... in Paris.
Ended up making two visits to the mandatory Louvre as our camera had to go haywire only when we reached 'Monalisa', on our first visit.This was the result of my husband's analytical bend to planning.

Museums,palaces and Seine river brings an artist out of a man,here.Haven't used the word romance ...we were with our 10 month old baby then:-) though paris beauty had improved my son's behavior considerably when compared to our Amsterdam visit . People would not spend as much time in the Zoo as we did , that too in Amsterdam. We were closest to the hot and happening street but as responsible parents,when crossing the street, we did close our son's eyes keeping ours wide open for the displays of all sizes,shapes and variety.

Amsterdam reminded me of my boss and ING,found everything open other than lions ,something wrong with the logo,I think. I do share my vision with ING guys hence I chose Amsterdam with the kid and Switzerland in November cold but in the process the old banker in me did make gains ........
in terms of loving and unforgetful happy moments!!