Insights

Ghumakkar Insights – Traveling in Indian Railways

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With the advent of Duronto non-stop trains there is a possibility to avail these trains if your destination is on the route close to eventual destination of the train and it is a technical halt of the train. Every long distance train has some technical halts where crew changes. If your destination is one such then it could be a boon. For example, Mumbai – Howrah Duronto has technical halts at Bhusaval, Nagpur, Bilaspur, TataNagar. So, people who are destined to let’s say Bilaspur or Tata Nagar can book the entire journey from Mumbai to Howrah but get down at these stations when trains stop there. In my recent journey from Mumbai to Howrah, there were several such passengers who got down at Tata Nagar and Kharagpur. You may just have to pay extra upto Howrah for this convenience. Railways does not publish a list of technical halts for a train but you can easily figure them out by experience, talking to train crew, passengers or characteristics that it is a major station, change of railway division and around 5-7 hours from previous technical halt.

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Ghumakkar Insights – Biking Guide from a Biker

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I have always considered biking to be a natural instinct for me. It is like my reflex action to any elongated duration of professional boredom. Until now, when I was asked to provide my insights on biking, I could never realize that there are a lot many things that I do to ensure that I, and sometimes my group, have a safe and exciting riding experience during our rides. So here my chance to earn some good karma.

We have covered quite a few places in the hilly parts of Uttaranchal & Himachal and have had the privilege of riding to Ladakh twice. We have also covered the entire Spiti Valley circuit along with other long distant places like Harsil, Chopta, Chittorgarh etc.

Having established my reputation as a biker, I am confident that the rest of the prose will get your undivided attention.

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Ghumakkar Insights – Let’s Go Birding!

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As you will make your inventory of these 20-30 birds you will learn a lot about birding. Then wherever you travel- from Himalayas to the Sea, from desert to the forests, cities or villages, just get out of your hotel in early morning and take a small walk to look for local birds. There is always some nature walk-easy to moderate to difficult- near most of the places. Many places keep a check list/photo list of birds found in and around. For example, Anil Farm House in Gujarat had a Board pinned up at the reception showing the birds which prompted us to take morning and evening walks along the river to look out for birds, although it was not a birding trip. Similarly we spotted Eurasian jay while trekking at Chaukori, while Asian paradise Flycatcher was spotted while boating in Saattal. As you start birding your eyes and ears become adept at observing birds wherever you are. Then of course there are specific birding sites and sanctuaries where an organized birding trip can be very rewarding.

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Ghumakkar Insights – Maya, Chitrachor, and Plagiarism

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Permit me to narrate an anecdote about a fictitious schoolgirl called Maya. Her class is given an assignment to write an essay titled “My most memorable trip”. She had just returned from a visit to the famous Vaishno Devi shrine and decided to write about it. However, when she started writing, she did not know what to write about other than it was an enjoyable visit and the atmosphere in the temple was very spiritual. Maya decided to use the internet to get more facts about the place. She used bits and pieces from everywhere, stitches together an essay and proudly submits her essay to her teacher.

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सुहाना सफ़र और आप

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मैंने घुमक्कड़ पर रूचि लेना अभी कुछ समय पहले ही शुरू किया है अतः आप लोग मुझे घुमक्कड़ परिवार की नयी सदस्य कह सकते हैं. मेरे हसबेंड श्री मुकेश भालसे इस अंतरजाल (वेबसाइट ) से पहले से ही यात्रा वृत्तान्त लेखक के रूप में जुड़े हैं एवं उनकी घुमक्कड़ डोट कॉम के प्रति प्रेम तथा निष्ठा देखकर मैं भी धीरे धीरे इस सम्मानजनक मंच से जुड़ गई तथा अब तो यह स्थिति है की पूजा पाठ के बाद दैनिक कार्यों की शुरुआत घुमक्कड़ के साथ ही होती है. अगर मैं यह कहूँ की घुमक्कड़ हमारे परिवार का एक चहेता सदस्य है तो कोई अतिश्योक्ति नहीं होगी.

मैं अपने परिवार के साथ वर्ष में एक या एक से अधिक बार (मुख्यतः धार्मिक स्थान पर) घुमक्कड़ी कर ही लेती हूँ, इन यात्राओं में हमें बहुत से खट्टे मीठे अनुभव होते हैं तथा हर यात्रा हमें कुछ नया सिखा जाती है, अपनी यात्राओं के इन्ही खट्टे मीठे अनुभवों से प्राप्त कुछ महत्वपूर्ण बिन्दुओं को कलमबद्ध करके आज में आपलोगों को प्रस्तुत कर रही हूँ, आशा है की यह जानकारी साथी घुमक्कड़ों के लिए लाभदायक सिद्ध होगी, अगर ऐसा होता है तो मैं समझूंगी की मेरा प्रयास अर्थपूर्ण रहा.
यात्रा शुरू करने से पहले यात्रा सम्बंधित निम्नलिखित सभी महत्वपूर्ण पहलुओं पर गौर कर लें ताकि आपका सफ़र उर्दू वाला सफ़र ही रहे, अंग्रेजी वाला सफ़र (suffer) न बन जाए.

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Ghumakkar Insights – Camera-derie

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Browsing through old albums is one of those things that bring unalloyed joy. Be it the wedding pictures of my parents, the pictures from my birthdays and rice ceremony, the pictures of us as we grew up, or the pictures from that first trip to Puri and Vizag, I could spend hours browsing through memories left decades back in some forgotten alleys of time.

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Ghumakkar Insights – What is on your mind and what goes into your bag?

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But surely, there is one thing in common in all our expeditions. It is the seed of thought on our mind which grows and matures into a fully well planned and executed trip. A thought about where to go next is the seed I am talking about. While some of us get inspired by learning about places from friends, the new trend I see is the trend to explore the unexplored virgin places. Not bad at all, isnt it?

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