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A visit to Datia was originally not in my original itinerary. While chit-chatting with a small group of travellers at Man Mandir, they described this beautiful palace in Datia that they had just returned from.

So on my way to Orchha, about 75 kms away from Gwalior on the border of UP (Jhansi being only 25 kms away), I had my taxi stop at Datia and was glad I did that.

The main attraction of Datia town is the captivating Datia Palace, locally called Govind Mahal (or Govind Mandir) and popularly called the Jehangir Mahal (Palace). It is overlooking the Karna Sagar Lake.

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Blue and red, is that the sun
Million magic in reflection
Billion colors, zillion hues
Here goes worries, there my rues.

No poet, that’s what I am. Yet these words came naturally, standing on the beach all by myself, an experience I had never had before. In a population of a billion people it is hard to imagine a sea beach just to yourself at six in the evening. And here I was facing the majesty of Arabian Sea in its full glory. The hushing sound of the waves echoed “welcome to Kashid”.

I know the name won’t ring a bell to most ears, and that is the best news. Located just 3 hrs away from Mumbai, this place only comes to life over the weekend, and then too you can find just a group or two on the kilometer long beach. The water is pristine, and the beach extremely clean.

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It was one of those hot and humid days in the state of West Bengal… in a town called Asansol, made famous by IISCO’s steel plant and various mining companies in the vicinity. Also made famous by a humorist poet called Hullar Muradabadi…

I was there on vacation, visiting in-laws and my cousins who are settled there. Having decided to take a breather from the hectic travel schedule of the past weeks, I was relaxing and decided to do the touristy bit towards the fag end of the trip. Only one outing in the entire 10-12 odd days I was there… that does not include the countless sessions in the Asansol Club’s Bar.

The decision to go to Maithon was made on a whim… we had nothing to do and it was a Sunday… usually a half day in most of the trading establishments… but due to the onslaught of the summer season, my elder brother was tied up at his showroom for longer than usual. Finally made it home by about 6 in the evening and decided to push for Maithon by about 6:30.

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Kerala backwater is a bewildering labyrinth of waterways, composed of lagoons, lakes, rivers, rivulets, canals, streams and salty seawater. This complex crisscrossing network of brackish lagoons and lakes lie parallel to the Arabian sea coast of the Kerala. It is made up of five large lakes interconnected by numerous canals both man made and natural, fed by 38 rivers. The backwaters are formed as a result of waves creating a short barrier across the mouths of many rivers flowing down from the Western Ghat range. Kerala has around 900 Km of interconnected waterways that make up the backwaters.

Backwaters – the lifeline of the people around are also paradise for the tourists. Traveling in backwaters give glimpses of rural Keralite life style that is completely hidden from the roads. Our plan was to move from Thekkady to Kottayam or Kumarakom and then to cruise from there to Alleppey. Most of the local people and cruise operators discouraged us from going to Kumarakom. Finally we settled for the cruise from Kottayam to Alleppey. Getting an opportunity to cruise through the shimmering backwaters was like a dream about to come true.

We wanted to hire the houseboats. Houseboats or the Kettuvallams (boat with knots) as they are called are the main attraction of these backwaters. Traditionally these boats were used as grain barges to transport the rice grown in the fertile land of backwaters to far-flung areas. Sometimes it took sailors/businessman around 4-5 days and sometimes even a week to move from one place to another. They seldom get time to stop in between and to have their meals. It was a matter of pride and required plenty of culinary skills to cook what was found fresh in the backwater. At some point of time these rice boats were even used by royalty as their living quarters.

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