Destinations with obscurity ,where roads ultimately wind up at corners where no one has ever revered always ignites a sense of being the “man on the moon“. Well i will not be amused to land up on moon but would always love to be on an excursion unraveling the hidden treasures of the natural habitat.

So far i had traversed to places having familiarity with the social mass but this time i thought of cherishing and exploring the obscurity of the Chambal Gorge, created by the mighty and the pristine Chambal River ,who oblivious of my encroachment is busy streaming and gushing.

December was the month back then two years ago ,when i thought of going down to the South Eastern frontier of Rajasthan surrounding Kota and Jhalawar, from Delhi. The region is situated on a tableland being a part of the Malwa Plateau which encapsulates the whole Northern Madhya Pradesh along with the Vindhyan Ranges and enscrapments.

The plateau is formed by erosion of sediments and by the deposition of magma(lava) which happened because of volcanic eruptions some hundred million years ago according to some geological timelines ….. Perhaps it would not be inappropriate to say that the rivers flowing may have cut these gorges and dissected the plateau in such a manner.Because of this reason the soil in this region is categorically black and brown in color with highest moisture retention capacity thus giving enough scope for irrigation and cultivation.
I gave a phone call to Sandeep, my friend who is living in Kota saying i will be coming the next day. Kota is located on the south east border of Rajasthan on the banks of river Chambal. This region of Rajasthan is known as the “Hadoti” belt mainly because the Hada Rajputs inhabitated and ruled this region.The Hada’s are a sub clan of the Chaouhan Rajput dynasty.

Kotal Thermal Power Plant while returning to Kota

Hello Ghumakkars

I’m back with yet another post on Kashmir.If you still haven’t read the previous posts then click here. It was our second day in Srinagar and it was the festival of Eid. According to the itinerary, we had to leave for Gulmarg. We had a light breakfast and set out for the journey. When we were leaving from the hotel, I saw sheep’s being cut down by a butcher; simultaneously people were chanting some mantras. Trust me people, that moment was one of the most dreadful ones in my entire life. Moving on, Mr.Ghulam had arranged a taxi driver who was waiting on the other side of the lake. We were then provided a Shikara to cross the Lake. As, it was early morning, and the view of sunrise was breath taking. I captured at least twenty pics of the same.

Sunrise,Dal Lake

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Hello Folks,

It’s the second last month of the year & the peak season is about to begin. To avoid the rush & hustle bustle, my family decided to visit Kashmir. We planned a 9 day trip and the ghumakkar in me was just waiting for the journey to start off! ;)
Days flew by and now the trip’s over.We had loads of  fun & here in this post I’ll be sharing the best pics of the journey! They are none other than of flowers (tulips, roses etc.) of the very famous gardens of Srinagar i.e. Mughal Gardens, Shalimar Gardens & Chashmashahi etc.

So, without any further delay, let me take you all to a world of the very beautiful flowers.

Extraordinary Rose

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लाचुंग से यूमथांग घाटी मात्र पच्चीस किमी दूर है। लाचुंग की उस अनोखी सुबह का रसास्वादन कर जब हम यूमथांग की ओर निकले,सुनहरी धूप हमारे रास्ते में अपनी चमक बिखेर रही थी। जैसा कि इस श्रृंखला की पिछली पोस्ट में आपको बताया था यूमथांग घाटी को भी ‘फूलों की घाटी’ के नाम से पुकारा जाता है। दरअसल ये घाटी रोडोडेन्ड्रोन्स की 24 अलग अलग प्रजातियों के लिये मशहूर है। यूमथांग के पास पहुँचते पहुँचते हमें रोडोडेन्ड्रोन्स के जंगल दिखने शुरू हो गये थे । मार्च अप्रैल से इनके पौधों में कलियाँ लगने लगती हैं। पर पूरी तरह से ये खिलते हैं मई महिने में, जब पूरी घाटी इनके लाल और गुलाबी रंगों से रंग जाती है। खैर हमें ये दृश्य नसीब नहीं हुआ क्योंकि हम वहाँ अप्रैल के दूसरे सप्ताह में ही टपक गए थे।

पर रोडोडेन्ड्रोन्स भले अभी पूरे नहीं खिले थे पर इन बैंगनी रंग के फूलों से तो यूमथांग जाती सड़क के दोनों किनारे अटे पड़े थे।

In the Valley of Flowers