Diwali in the hills

Exactly on 18th night just when my school closed for  Diwali, I set out with my mother for spending a week in the hills. We would be going to 4 places , Mukteshwar ( near Nainital), Odakhan and Talla Ramgarh and Matt Village ( near Almora).

Mukteshwar is at quite at a height and you can see the snow peaks if the sky is clear. Honey Singh Bawa uncle is making wooden cottages beside a stream which is frequented by leopards. Bawa uncle ( everyone calls him Babaji) invited me to stay here for a week and gave me 100% guarantee that I would see a leopard. Next time, I told him.

Here is the famous Mukteshwar sunrise

Bawa uncle's pinewood cottages

Breakfast in the company of the mountains

Now to Odakhan and Talla Ramgarh. B2R is a rural BPO which operates from these two places. I learnt that many employees walk from neighboring villages, up the hill, down the valley and through jungles where they sometimes run into bears and leopards. Some day I also want to work here instead of staying in dusty polluted cities.
This the Talla Ramgarh centre. Can you spot me amongst the employees?

The Odakhan BPO office is located amidst dense jungles. At the guest house where we put up, we were forbidden to step out after dark and before dawn as a leopard had taken a dog from where my hand is pointing not very long ago. Look below.

We had to leave Odakhan without meeting or even hearing of the leopard. Now to Matt village ( near Almora) to the house of Asha Auntie and Louk Uncle ( red house at the back of the picture). You have to walk quite a bit from the road to reach the house, but it was fun
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There too I had a lovely time. See me combining Logo blocks and lunch.

Now it was time to catch the train back to Dehradun. But not before a short stopover at Nainital to do my favorite things- boating .

Durga Puja of 2014- A season of joy

This DurgaPuja I went to Kolkata. I was very excited because I would be meeting my grandparents after a long time, having missed my summer vacations with them as I had to catch up with studies in my new school.

This post is all about Durga Pujas- about the Durga Puja celebrated in the house of Saha Family at Kolkata. It is a lovely puja which is more than 100 years old. I have uploaded some photos so that you yourself can see how beautiful the house is and how the Durga Puja is celebrated there.

Fun time with cousins

One day, we also went to a village called Dhanyakuria. It is about 30 kms from Kolkata.There are many splendid palaces in the village and I was amazed to see so many big and beautiful mansions in a village. The drive was very nice through lush green countryside. I saw jute drying on the roadside.We also stopped to drink coconut water which is found here everywhere.

Rusty and Me

Rusty's house Ivy Cottage is part of the white building at the end of the road.


30th August 2014 will always be a very special day for me because that is when I not just met but also spend a good amount of time with Rusty- my favorite writer. The world knows him as Ruskin Bond but to me he is Rusty, Rusty who knows how to make magic with words.

The sunny afternoon of 30th August 2014 had suddenly turned cloudy. I anxiously looked up at the sky and prayed for the weather not to get worse. Already it was past 3 pm and I along with many others, was eagerly waiting outside Cambridge Book Shop in Mussorrie to meet Ruskin Bond who visits this bookshop every Saturday, if he is in town.

Suddenly the clouds drifted and the sun was out again. And almost simultaneously, a shining red car stopped right in front of the bookshop and out stepped Ruskin Bond- the favourite author of me and many children like me.

There are some writers whose writings we love to read, but we never think it is possible to meet them because they somehow seem to belong to a different world. Ruskin Bond is one such writer for me.

Ever since we shifted to Dehradun a few months ago, it has been my dream to meet Ruskin Bond. We have even driven all the way up to his house, Ivy Cottage in Landour near Mussorrie.  I was happily surprised to discover that almost everyone in town, knew him and provided us detailed directions. However on that day, we were unable to meet him as he was unwell and hence unable to meet anyone.

Ruskin Bond entered the Cambridge Book Shop and soon he was thronged by a crowd of autograph seekers- young boys and girls standing in a line with just-bought books of the writer. They were all eager to capture their moment of fame with a famous writer. 

A little later, after the crowd had thinned, I got a chance to talk to Ruskin Bond. When I asked him about the origin of my favourite character Rusty, an Anglo-Indian boy growing up in pre-independence era in Dehra Dun, the elderly writer smiled and softly said that he created the character of Rusty to spin stories about his own past. As I learnt that Rusty's adventures are actually Ruskin's own, I asked him if he would mind if I henceforth addressed him as “Rusty”.  He happily nodded.  

"Rusty’s life is all about making friends," he said. "Rusty is very sensitive and at times lonely. He puts all his faith in friendship and his friends never let him down". 

In one of stories, he has written about being a witness to his step father’s disappearance down a well when he was a small boy. I asked him about that Rusty gently smiled, saying that it was just a story and nothing more than that.

I also told him of having read his famous story ‘A Face in the dark’ and mentioned how I am quite fearful of walking alone in the dark, lest I bump into the faceless one, hearing which Rusty burst into a hearty laughter .

As our conversation winded up, I reluctantly bid Rusty goodbye when he brightened up the moment by inviting me to his house in Landour. Now I am just waiting for my mother to take me there.

My Summer of 2014

This was my first summer in Dehradun. In the beginning it was planned that I would spend the summer with my grandparents in Kolkata. But then there was a change in plan and my parents (mainly mother) decided that as I had to improve up my Hindi and handwriting, I needed to stay in Dehradun and work on them.

I had assumed that it would one long boring holiday but it turned out to be quite fun. I joined a summer camp and mornings were spent in playing basketball, skating, badminton.Afternnon I went for my Hindi classes to Shalini maam's house where I made friends with Khushi and Kulbir.

In between I went for two short trips. One was to Karnal and Delhi to see the Audi showrooms over there. I was really vowed by the world of cars. Amazing , spellbound, whatever adjective you say, I can vouch for it.

The other trip to a small hilly village called Nagthat. Initially we had planned to go to Mussorie but on getting to know from Sanjeev bhai ( who stays there) that the place was overflowing with people from the plains, we changed our plans and went to this little known one-hotel village near Chakrata. The village was totally empty of tourists ( I don’t think anyone know of it other than my mother, who has is a genius in spotting empty scenic places even in peak season). The place had only 1 3-roomed quaint hotel and we got the room with best view.

 Afternoon I played cricket with village boys and then spent some time in the kitchen watching auntie making rotis in the clay oven. Dinner was a simple but delicious affair of country chicken and rotis.

In the morning we trekked among the cool green hills and as the sun began climbing in the sky, it was time to head back to Dehradun.

The drive back through desolate mountain roads was lovely. I just pray the crowds don’t “discover” the place and turn it into another mini-Mussorie.

A mini India road trip- From Hyderabad to Dehradun

This March we relocated from Hyderabad to Dehradun. It is a long drive of over 2800 kms and schedule is as follows

Day 1- 250  km. started from Hyderabad ( AP) and Night halt at Nanded ( Maharashtra) famous for its Gurudwara. A wayside picnic brunch on the way.



Day 2- 350 kms. Night halt at Chalisgaon ( border of Gujarat and Maharashtra). On the way stopped for a while at the Daulatabad fort and crossed quaint Gujrati villages at Rajpipla where every house has a swing in the verandah. Good Practice.

At Daulatabad fort.

 Gujrati houses at Rajpipla

 

It was a clean sweep into Gujarat. 

Day 3- 600 kms. Reached Ahmadabad. Driving along the Baroda Ahmedabad expressway was a fabulous  experience. Covered 120 km in 1 hour. Car attained maximum speed of 140 km/ hr. Wish all roads in India were like this.
A roti making session at Ahmedabad.

 Gujarat is a dry states, but still the roadsides are soooooooooooooo green. Modi effect, must I say?

 A dash of colour on the roadside as we approach Rajasthan.

Day 4-7. At home in Ahmedabad. Tried my hand at roti-making.
 Day 8- 250 kms. Night halt at Udaipur. At night, the city looks like a fairy tale town with lakes and lights reflected in it.

 In front of the City Palace, Udaipur

Day 9- 100 kms. Night halt at Kumbalgarh. The fort is really magnificent.The drive through the jungle too was great and at one turn the fort suddenly springs into view.

 Kumbalgarh at night. AWESOME.

Day 10- 60 km. Night halt at Nathdwara ( temple of Srinathji). On the way, saw Haldighati in lot of detail.

 A quick wayside headbath.

 Sugarcane Juice break on the way back from Kumbhalgarh.

 

Haldighati Pass. 

Day 11- 150 km. Night halt at Chittorgarh. Another fabulous fort. 

Driving into Chittorgarh fort. 

 Dal Baati ( traditional Rajasthani food) at the base of the fort

 Padmini Palace at Chittorgarh fort.

   Walking to the victory tower

 

At the top with Maa. 

Day 12- 300 km. Night halt at Pushkar Lake ( near Ajmer). We stayed at an old haveli converted into a hotel.

Day 13-  450 km. Night halt at Delhi. After Jaipur, roads were really BAD and LOTS of traffic.
Day 14- 300 km. Reached Dehradun. FINALLY. Welcome to my NEW HOME TOWN.

An autumnal visit to the Himalayas- 2nd time this year

After getting Thammi back home from hospital, it was once again time to head for the hills. This time we went to Ranikhet and trekked to a beautiful village called Kothiyan ( in Hindi Kothiya means houses) located in  a beautiful valley surrounded by high mountains.

The trek was tough testing but very nice. After that we went to Almora ( remember Ramkrishna ashram Maharaj and rice burger from my earlier post? ) and Dehradun where we saw Durga Puja.

Mother says we might be shifting to Dehradun next year and this city will be my new home.