Nature

Khecheopalri – The Holy Lake of West Sikkim

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Siliguri to Pelling in West Sikkim is 131 kms and takes approximately 3 hours for straight drive. Needless to mention that the drive is subjected to imponderables like traffic snarl, road repairs and broadening work, tea and meal breaks. As such it is safe to plan approx 4 hours for the drive. Pelling to Khecheopalri is 32 kms and takes about an hour‘s drive along a graveled road. As usual the condition of road from Siliguri to the lake can best be described as “the good, the bad and the ugly”. Last year at a chance meeting a MLA from Jorthang told me that this West Sikkim road is being turned into a four lane highway, insallah.

Road from Siliguri to Sevoke is a smooth broad 2 lane highway (NH 31) that knifes through the neat sevoke Military Cantonment and Sevoke Forest. From Sevoke Bazaar to Coronation Bridge (3 kms) is another smooth, well carpeted road snaking along he mountain curves runing almost parallel to Teesta River. This road is adorned with good highway signs; however, unfortunately this stretch is marred by delays due to railway gate blockage and heavy traffic from/to North East, Dooars, Sikkim and Kalimpong. From Coronation Bridge to Teesta Bridge near Teesta bazar (37km) NH 31is forever in the making and subject to traffic jams & delays caused by repairs and expansion; as such, it can be dusty and slushy depending on the season.

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Exploring AP – Nagarjun – Suryalanka – Vijaywada

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My favorite, never take the route back which you take to reach a destination, thus maximizing the opportunity to explore and know more. There are so many places in AP to Visit, so it was a week long plan to make a trip. I had 3 days in spare and almost 700-800km or budget based on my car’s milage. We were longing for Suryalanka beach from long, its the nearest beach from Hyderabad, not much advised in summer but still a beach is my attraction. We listed down, bora caves, bellum caves, warrangal, vijaywada, srisailam, nagarjun sagar, suryalanka, vishakhapatnam and many more. Finally, friday afternoon I decided for Srisailam, a piligrimage with just 200 odd km away from my home in Hyderabad. So, I texted my wife and my brother in law (he was on a short visit to our place) that pack your bags we are going to “Suryalanka”… that was an inadvertent mistake. Which I did not realize until I reached home from office. I was surprised to know that my family was apparently happy to know that we are going ot Suryalanka. I spoiled their excitement admitting the mistake.

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केदारनाथ यात्रा 2014 – नॉएडा से गुप्तकाशी – भाग 1

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श्रीनगर कुछ देर मे आने ही वाला था अब जाकर कुछ ट्रैफिक नज़र आने लगा था। महिंद्रा बोलेरो, टाटा सूमो, लोगों की पर्सनल गाड़ियाँ सटासट दौड़ रही थी। किसी पर बीजेपी तो किसी गाडी पर आप(आम आदमी पार्टी) के। तभी एक पुलिस वाले ने हाथ दिया, मैंने सोचा हो सकता है दिल्ली कि गाडी और अकेला सवार है कहीं ये सोचकर रोक रहा हो। मैंने गाड़ी रोकी, एक पुलिस कर्मी मेरी तरफ़ आया और दूसरा गाड़ी के आगे खड़ा हो गया। मुझे डरने की कोई लोड नहीं थी गाड़ी के कागज़ पूरे थे।

पुलिस वाला – कहाँ जा रहे हो ?
मैं – केदारनाथ।

पुलिस वाला – अकेले ?
मैं – हाँ।

पुलिस वाला – बड़ी हिम्मत है।
मैं – बस जि मूड़ कर गया।

दूसरा पुलिस वाला – क्या आप मुझे श्रीनगर तक छोड़ दोगे ?
मैं – मोस्ट वेलकम। आजाओ।

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Days Out in Brahmaputra Valley-Nameri & Tezpur

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I have seen elephants so many times, fed them bananas, saw Mahout riding them and heard their trumpeting, but that sound was not like trumpeting. It was more like roaring of tigers or lions that I heard in zoo. So I was not at all convinced with the judgement of Jainul Abedin. I thought it’s better to keep my eyes open and brain in action for own safety, especially because we were accompanying by a forest guard with a very little on field experience. But he was at the helm and we needed to follow him. A single man with a 3not3 rifle, GOD knows, if loaded or not, the ratio was 5 of us to him. He suggested Kamal and Prakash to move ahead of him and me, Chandra & KKD to follow. We were moving cautiously and quietly. It was a serious situation, no animal was visible yet, only the heart shaking rumbling sounds. We all were trying to escape somehow and were following each other’s steps. Jainul was looking confident to handle the situation, he pointed towards the bush to spot some wild elephants hiding there. I immediately made up my mind of running zig zag in case of an attack. They were growling loudly and we all were maintaining absolute silence yet moving forward. . How could I not click a snap of them? I looked through the lens, not sure of how much could I zoom in. But before I could click Jainul pulled me and virtually taken away from there. He cautioned, “Are you carzy? Elephants will not spare, if caught.” He forced me to go fast to catch my friends who were far ahead by now. I did in the end catch up with them and we did escape safely. It was perhaps Jainul’s quality training that enabled him to be alert on time, identify the noise correctly and handle the situation brilliantly.

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प्रताप गढ़ फार्म , झज्झर

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आप का तो निश्चित है कि सुबह वाली गलती नही दोहराएंगे, मगर बच्चे तो अपने मन की मर्जी के मालिक ठहरे, अत: उन्होंने उस मेन्यु को चुना जो उत्तर भारतीय शादियो में बहु-प्रचलित भी है और हिट भी | चाऊमिन के भारतीय संस्करण से लेकर दाल मक्खनी और शाही पनीर तक, मगर अपने राम ने तो निश्चित किया है, हम तो आज जीमेंगे उस खाने पर, जिसका स्वाद हम शहरी जिन्दगी की इस अंधी भागदौड़ में कहीं पीछे छोड़ चुके हैं, और यदि चाहें भी तो हमारी आज की डिज़ाइनर रसोइयाँ में न तो देसी चूल्हे के लिये कहीं कोई प्रावधान हो
सकता है और न ही हमारी आज की शरीके-हयात उन्हें बना सकती हैं| सो, चूल्हे की हल्की आँच पर सिकी मकई और बाजरे की देसी घी में तरबतर रोटी, साथ में लहसुन की चटनी और बनाने वाली हमारे गाँव देहात की ही कोई ग्रहणी, न कि कोई व्यवसायिक कारीगर, जैसा कि आप आजकल की शादियों में या फ़ूड फेस्टिवल में पाते हैं | वहाँ आप ऐसा खाना पा तो सकते हैं पर वो होता रस विहीन ही है, ये हमारा व्यक्तिगत अनुभव है कि जब तक खाने में अन्नपूर्णा के हाथ न लगें हों आपको तृप्ति नही हो सकती | जी भर इसके रसावादन के बाद मीठे के शौकीनों के लिये बाजरे की खिचड़ी बूरा उकेर कर और साथ में गर्म गर्म ढूध जलेबी | ऐसा खाना वास्तव में आपके केवल पेट को नही वरन आत्मा तक को भी तृप्त कर देता है | भले ही इस जगह के आस-पास की महिलायें चार पैसे कमाने और अपने परिवार को कुछ आर्थिक सहयोग प्रदान करने के लिये इस फार्म में रोज़गार पा लेती हैं मगर इसका सबसे बड़ा सकारात्मक पक्ष ये है कि यूँ लगता है कोई आपकी परिचित ही आपको प्रेम से बैठा कर खिला रही है, आपके किसी भी गुण का उपयोग कहीं भी हो आखिर काम तो काम है और हमारे जैसे और भी जो इस देशी खाने के शौक़ीन हैं, पूरी मोहब्बत और खलूस के साथ खा रहे हैं | आप को सबसे अच्छा यह देख कर लगता है कि नौजवान पीढ़ी के जो लडके-लडकियाँ भी यहाँ आये वो इन महिलायों को पूरे सम्मान के साथ आँटी-आँटी कह कर बुलाते रहे और थैन्कू थैन्कू कर जाने से पहले फोटो खिंचवाना न भूलते…. आखिरकार परम्पराएँ भी कोई चीज़ हैं…. That is why I love my India!!!

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A day in Ranthambore

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There is also a small pound near Ganesh temple. After visiting Ganesh temple, we visited Jain Temple. Since we all were hungry, we had “कचौड़ी with कढ़ी” from a street shop.

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Days Out in Brahmaputra Valley – Nameri National Park

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“Moromi”, in Assamese means “a loved one”. She was looking at me with her pretty eyes. I could not move further. I felt like I was caught by her looks. First time ever, I felt for a deer like that. It was a love at first sight, if that exist at all. I came close to her, spread my hands for a hug and it was gracefully accepted by her.

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Life in the backwaters of Kerala

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Indeed a lot of people like to call Alleppey (official name Alappuzha) as the Venice of India. I was in Alleppey last month and was fortunate enough to experience the unique life that people in the area lead.  As there is water ways everywhere of all sizes, people have adapted to the same just like fish to water. We took a few houseboats as well as small boat rides in the backwater and the experience was an eye-opener. Nowhere in India are people so much adapted to a life of using canals and boats in their day to day life as in backwaters of Kerala, which is also the home of famous snake boat race.

Just like you and I will have a bike or a car, almost every house hold in the area will have a small canoe or boat that is used for all day to day activities. Our day started on a small boat and we went to some villages situated on both side of the internal canals. It was a very interesting experience to watch the day to day life in the backwaters of Kerala. Most of the internal canals are not very wide and only small boats can go into them, leaving the bigger houseboats only on the main water ways. As it is difficult to reach these small villages quickly by road transport, people use boats to carry their produce to the main canals, from where trucks come and carry the rice to the wholesaler. This is not only cost effective but also quicker.

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Days Out in Brahmaputra Valley- Learning Bihu

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People gathered here in huge number and many had already occupied the chairs kept under sheds circling the field. Others, like us, who reached here late, were trying hard to get a convenient place to watch the jubilant youthful passionate Bihu dance. I found my place in the middle of crowds. But some tall youths, who were blessed by the GOD with such a sterling heights, suddenly came and stood in front of me. They were standing like a monument and my visibility to the field came to an end.

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