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.

 

Seeing Bangladesh- so near yet so far

bangladesh- no near yet so far

Non Stop Adda

15 of us ( mother not there as she is taking the pix)

Titi at Taki eating taratari

August turned out to be a very action packed month. We had gone to Kolkata to celebrate Titi turning one year. After birthday celebrations were over,  15 of us ( inlcluding TiTi) set out for Taki in a Tata Winger.

Taki is on the banks of the river Ichamati. On the other side is Bangladesh with the river acting as a border. All boats which ply on the river MUST display flag of the country they belong to.

Taki was a great trip. Everyone had lots of fun as you can make out from the pictures.

A Very Special Summer Sojourn

First we went to Kolkata from Hyderabad. There one day we visited a litchi orchard. It was fun to see the raw fruit green in colour hanging in flocks from the trees. During my next visit to Kolkata a fortnight later, I learnt they would be ripe and red and fit to eat.

From Kolkata we travelled  by a summer special train which was supposed to reach Delhi next day at 2 pm but all the staff in the train were vouching it would be at least 4 hours late. Such is this train's reputation! An uncle came and took our order for dinner. He told us that dinner would be served between 5 to 6 pm. He also told us an interesting fact about this train-most trains stop less and move more, but this train is just the opposite.

Just as the train entered Durgapur, there was a hailstorm. I saw white ice on the station. It was a new experience for me and I just loved it.

This is really a very special train which finally reached Delhi Anand Vihar station after an almost 7 hour delay. We hurriedly took the metro and reached old Delhi station and boarded the Mussorie Express after a well-deserved dinner at Mcdonalds. If the special train had been a little more late, we might have missed this train.

The next day after alighting from the Mussorie Express at Haridwar, we went to Elephant Brook Resort near Rishikesh. It is a beautiful campsite on the banks of river Hyule, a tributary of river Ganga .There I had a lovely time wetting my feet in the brook, watching the trout under the water and eating breakfast in the middle of nature. In the afternoon we went to Dehradun and the rest of the day was spent in the hotel resting and readying for the trip to Auli.

Tuesday May 6^th we started for Auli from Dehradun at 8 am. One hour later just as we crossed Rishikesh, I felt like vomiting.  Then my mother told me a secret by which I could stop the vomiting. I followed it and for the next ten hours journey to Auli, I was just fine. We finally reached Auli at 8 in the night. The last part  was through thick jungles where Sunil uncle had spotted a leopard just ten days ago crossing the road. After reaching we had to walk in the darkness for about fifteen minutes to reach Devi Darshan Lodge. When Sunil uncle asked if I still wished to see a leopard, I quickly said “ NO!”

Wednesday we went to Gorson meadows, first by chair lift and then on horses. At Gorson top, there were still snow on the mountain and it was fun to play with the snow. With us was a family from Pune. There were two girls, Kanchi and Saheli and we became friends. We had a lovely time playing on the snow and sliding down the green slopes. After a picnic lunch we returned to our lodge and played carom and ludo.

The next day I went with my mother and Sunil uncle to the site. It had a lovely view of the snow peaks. We then visited a lovely old house in which lived a lonely old man. We spent quite some time there and I got a little bored with the non- stop talk.

Finally the time came to goodbye to Auli. We got back to Haridwar and boarded the train to Jodhpur. The next morning there was only sand and sand outside the window. We were crossing the Thar desert.

What a grand holiday! I want more such holidays. Yeh dil mange more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!