Temple of Gold shines bright in the Festival of Lights

The year is fast coming to an end and let me wind up my 2011 travels so that on 1st Jan 2012, I am left with no backlog.

On the day of Diwali 2011, I visited the Golden Temple at Amristsar with my parents. The gurudwara was all lit up and looked really like a temple of gold shining bright during the festival of lights.
It was an awesome experience.
Before that we also had been to Wagah broder and saw the border closing ceremony. Our soldiers were shouting "Jai Hind" which sounded so smart compared to Pakistan's "Jhule Jhule!"

Photos- Pramatha Nath Saha

Gulbarga- A gul blooms in the Deccan

When we had to break our journey at this not-so-famous place because of the Telangana rail roko, in the beginning we were not happy. But I liked the place right from the railway station itself when instead of cars and auto rickshaws, we came to our hotel in a Tonga, which is a cart drawn by a horse.

After resting for a while, we went to see the ruined fort. There is a big canon on top of the fort wall. In the background is the Jamia Mosque, a very big mosque where 5000 people can pray together.


The place has also many beautiful tombs and here are two of them.

Photos- Pramatha Nath Saha

The call of the mountains

I had been to the Himalayas in just January and they are calling me again.So off we go again, Ma , Biga and me on 19 March after winding up class 1. We reach Delhi on 20 March, on the day of the Holi and put up at the Ginger hotel. In the evening we take the metro to meet Bipasa auntie and her parents.

The next day we board the overnight train which takes us to Kathgodam at the foothills of the Himalayas. Kathgodam is a very sweet little station surrounded by mountains and is very clean and green. The total number of trains which arrive/leave from here can be counted on fingers. The trains normally arrive early in the morning ( like our train Ranikhet Exp) and again depart in the evening. The whole day the station sleeps in the sun along with the trains in the yard.

From Kathgodam we go to Ramkrishna Ashram Almora. It is situated on the slope of a very green hill, amidst armies of pine trees. The head Swamiji is an old man, who calls me Chaandgopal with a lot of love and affection. He asks me what I like to eat and when I mention burgers and pizzas, he tells me that in the ashram they too make rice burgers for lunch. I am very excited and happy on hearing that. But when I realize what he means by rice burger ( hard boiled unbroken mounds of rice) , I am quite disappointed.

From Almora, we go to Chaukori where I see the Himalayan snow peaks in their full glory. It is a tiny place, but very sweet and full of rhododendron trees. The KMVN tourist lodge, where we stay, seems to be at a shouting distance from the snow peaks. Just see below! What a view! The peak in the centre with a rounded top is Nanda Devi,

Munsiyari, the next place we go takes us to a different world altogether. The journey from Chaukori is through some very steep winding mountain roads with forests of rhododendrons on either side.
Munsiyari's guardian seems to be the Panchachuli snow peak, always towering over the town day and night with a watchful eye. Just look!!!!!!

These five peaks ( count them) together are named Panchachuli. My mummy captured this view just before sunrise.

At Munsiyari, we stayed at Rekha auntie's house in Sarmoli village, where I had great fun playing with the children and the dog and the cat.

We also trekked 4 kms to Mehsar Kund on the hill top. It was a hot day and we often splashed water from the stream which accompanied us all the way to Mehsar Kund.

Mehsar Kund is like a place you read only in fairy tales- a deep little wishing pool in the middle of a dense forest full of rhododendron trees. As this was the time for flowers, all of them were bursting in red and pink blooms. What a sight! It was so cool and quiet and we felt as if we could almost see fairies, gnomes and pixies running around and rolling on the velvety green grass near the pool.

Our stay in Munsiyari got extended as the day after trekking to Mehsar Kund, I caught a cold and developed fever. One full day I was confined to the hotel room with Biga who was only too delighted at the God-sent chance to watch the India-Pakistan cricket match of the World Cup. Ma was out with Pushpa Auntie all day for her own work. I too had a nice time, sleeping a lot, and painting this view from the hotel room.

When Ma returned in the evening, she was simply delighted at the drawing. The fever too had subsided and it was decided that the next day, we would begin our return journey to the plains. You too see for yourself both God's handiwork and mine and judge for yourself which is better!!!!!!!!
Do let me know!

Photos- Pramatha Nath Saha

A sudden trip to the snowy heights of Uttarkashi

January is almost over and I told my mother that I HAVE to put the January Uttarkashi trip (14-18 Jan) on the blog before it becomes February. So here it goes.........read on.

My mother had some urgent work at Uttaranchal which automatically translated into a  holiday for me as leaving me behind in Hyderabad with (my father) and Blackie was just not an option.
So both of us land in Delhi, stay for the night at Ginger hotel near the railway station and board the Shatabdi next day early morning to reach Haridwar where Sunil uncle and his team are waiting for us. At Delhi, Mummy takes me for a ride in the Delhi Metro to visit Gurgaon, my birthplace. Both the Metro and the Shatabdi just mind-blowing! When Mummy asks me which one I liked more, I am unable to decide.

Gurgaon my birthplace as seen from the Metro.

Aboard the Shatabdi- On the way to Haridwar.

From Haridwar , we drive for 7 hours on snaking roads that go up and down the mountains to reach Uttarkashi just after sundown. Sunil uncle is building a eco-resort and adventure institute on the lap of a hill of which my mummy is the architect. The next day, we along with Sunil uncle drive to the site, an open field in the lap of mountains with snow peaks as the backdrop and the murmur of Assi Ganga river providing the background music.

Here I am at Kuflon with snow peaks in the background. Sunil uncle ( extreme left) told me that next time when we come here, there will be cosy cottages here and we don't need to stay amidst the crowds and cacophony of Uttarkashi.
And all through the day, while my mummy and Sunil uncle walk and talk , I also get busy with Nandu dada and others.
The very next day, it is time to return. Again drive through the mountains, by the side of the Tehri Dam to build which my mother told many villages met a watery grave ( can you spot the roof of the house in the picture below?). I was to hear that. Was it so necessary for so many things to go down(into the water) so that the dam could come up? What do you think? Suppose the submerged house in the picture was your house, how would you have felt?


Let me know your answer. I am waiting.

Warangal- A nice mix of history and mystery

The first day of 2011 and once again we are toto-ing! What a great way to begin the new year!

When you enter a city through a gate as imposing the above, you know that the stay is surely going to be interesting. The Kakatiya gate is to Warangal what Taj Mahal is to Agra or Charminar is to Hyderabad. There are replicas of the gate all over the city. Our first stop was at NIT Warangal where we went around the campus, the hostels, the canteen with Ma at the wheel. "Is this the college where Rancho and Raju Rastogi ( You surely must have seen 3 Idiots!) ?" I asked Biga and he told me "No, but their college is also something like this. Both are engineering colleges. "


So what all is there in Warangal from people like us who come down to see the city? Well the fort was once nice (had to be for Warangal was the capital of the kakatiya dynasty) , but now all is broken and in ruins, except for the ramparts and the kakatiya Gates. The Bhadrakali temple sits on the top of a rock and looks down over a huge lake . The view is nice only if you look across and above and not down ( ground strewn with garbage and broken bottles). Another beauty spot spoiled!

Inside Warangal at the BhadraKali temple

But around Warangal there are two lakes which are worth a drive. The Ramappa lake ( see below) has badly-maintained lake front cottages inhabited more by mosquitoes and monkeys than man.

However, the charm of the Ramappa lake, which seems quite nice if you go there first, pales in comparison to the Laknavaram Lake which is bigger n much more scenic. Just see the pic below! A hanging bridge connects an island on the lake to the mainland. Treading on it was fun, trying to hold on to the ground beneath my feet and the ice cream in my mouth! Wonder why no one has built any hotel on such a scenic spot! But the saying goes that the place has a spell and human being who stays after sunset will be doomed and be dead. Maybe that explains the presence of building material strewn on the island! The local people say that a contractor secured a contract to build a resort on the island. But just as the construction commenced, he mysteriously died in an accident.
Go there but be sure to be back before nightfall!

Laknavaram Lake

Ice-cream at the island

Photos- Pramatha Nath Saha