10 Oct

Summer Road Trip – Devariyatal (Deoriatal), Uttarakhand

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Dusk is a beautiful time… especially in the mountains. The mandatory snaps are taken and Oooh and Ahhh over! We wonder what to do with ourselves without any light since candles are out of the question in tents when our guide comes with an LED lamp. It is really bright and good enough to play cards by. An engrossing evening indeed! In a while he gets dinner for us near the tent. We are very touched by this gesture. We see everyone else has had to go to the shop nearby for food but the ambience just outside our tents, near the water with an almost full moon shining is magical. He has even got the prickly nettle vegetable made which I had asked him about. This unpretentious yet delicious dinner and the exquisite atmosphere of this place will rank right up there as one of the most cherished moments of my life.

We are up before dawn in the hope that some of the misty shrouds have lifted enough to allow us at least a faint glimpse of the famed Chaukhamba. No such luck. To make up for it though, we hear numerous bird calls. Following them we head off towards the forest rest house. An enormous tree on the eastern bank of the lake with some of its branches hanging low over the water seems to be attracting a variety of birds. Many of them are taking turns in splashing around and having a quick bath right at the edge of the lake under the tree. We stand there mesmerised at the sight!

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Gateway of South East Asia – IMPHAL

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The old Fort is damaged but a lot of new construction has come up in the Fort. ‘Kangla’ was the ancient capital of Manipur from the ancient times down to the year 1891 AD.

Inside the fort there is an old Govindji temple, temple was closed & it seems that now no body offers prayer there.

After that we went to visit new Govindji temple which is not very far from the fort.The famous temple of Shree Govindaji is one of the prime attractions of Imphal. This Hindu temple has the deities of Hindu gods, Radha and Krishna Govinda.

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Summer in Kashmir

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Doodhpathri is a beautiful place with carpet like meadows. You will find cattle grazing and shepherd boys. It is called the valley of milk because it produces rich milk in large quantity. I truly loved this place and also managed to click some pictures with the shepherd boy and his sheep. Check out the mud huts where the Gujjar live. Lazing around the meadows is a must.

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श्रीनाथ जी की हवेली ………….नाथद्वारा.

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दोस्तों, एक लम्बे अंतराल के बाद आज फिर उपस्थित हुं आप लोगों के सामने। आप सभी जानते ही हैं की मेरी घुमक्कड़ी का केन्द्र…

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लैंसडाउन : मिट्टी की सौंधी खुशबू समेटे गाँव का तीर्थाटन

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मेरे पिताजी ने अपनी CPWD की नौकरी के दौरान कुछ समय जोशीमठ से आगे ओली में गुजारा था और वो वहाँ ITBP के कैम्प में रुकते थे, दरअसल उन्हें वहाँ कुछ सरकारी भवनों के निर्माण से सम्बन्धित कार्य करवाने होते थे और उनकी मदद के लिये स्थानीय मजदूर, खलासी और बेलदार का काम करते थे जो उनका सामान इत्यादि लेकर चलते थे तथा अन्य कार्यों में भी मदद करते थे, उनसे अपनी बातचीत को वो अक्सर हमसे साझा करते थे, कुछेक जुमले जो स्थानीय लोग सुनाते थे, और आज भी मुझे याद हैं, वो कुछ इस प्रकार से थे कि “पहाड़ का वासा, कुल का नासा”, और, “जो नदी के किनारे बसते हैं, नदी उन्हें बसने नही देती” और यदि उन बातों को फिलहाल में केदारनाथ में हुई भयंकर आपदा के परिपेक्ष्य में देखें तो ये मानना ही पड़ेगा कि अपने क्षेत्रों की जटिल परिस्थतियों को वो ही बेहतर ढंग से जानते-समझते है |

मैं अपने इस आलेख में ऐसा कोई दावा नही करने जा रहा कि मुझे इन गाँवों के बारे में कोई जानकारी है या मै उनकी रोजमर्रा की दुश्वारियों को दूसरों की अपेक्षा अच्छी तरह समझता हूँ | अपितु मेरा तो ये आलेख ही स्वयम अपने आप पर ही तंज़ (व्यंग्य,कटाक्ष) है कि एक बार की चढ़ाई-उतराई ने ही हमारी ये हालत कर दी कि उसके बाद काफ़ी समय तक रुक कर आराम करना पड़ा | वस्तुतः मै इस आलेख के माध्यम से उन क्षेत्रों के वासियों और खास तौर पर महिलायों के जज्बे और उनकी हिम्मत को अपना नमन करता हूँ जो कि अपनी घर-ग्रहस्थी के अलावा बाज़ार के कामों और अपने जानवरों को भी सम्भालती हैं, जिन रास्तों पर चलते ही हमारी सांस फूल जाती है, वहाँ वो अपने सर पर घास के गटठर या जलावन के लिए लकड़ियाँ उठाये, बिना किसी शिकायत के चलती रहती हैं, वो बच्चे भी दाद के हकदार हैं जो अपने स्कूल तक पहुंचने के लिए कई-कई किलोमीटर इन कच्चे-पक्के रास्तों से गुजरते है, जिनमे कई पहाड़ी नदियाँ भी आती है और जंगली जानवरों का खतरा भी हरदम बना रहता है, पर वो अपने अदम्य साहस और मजबूत जिजीविषा के बलबूते सारी विपरीत परिस्थतियों के बावजूद अपने हौसले को बनाये रखते हैं |

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Single Day Trip Near Bangalore: Jayamangali Blackbuck Reserve and Madhugiri Fort

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Well, hope is a wonderful thing and is a must grab tool too, be it come from any source, come on any moment, come from anywhere. There He walked down where we sat down with a fickle mind whether to proceed or not. He looked like an ordinary man, carrying a backpack with a 1 litre bottle, head shining like a aura in sun, spects crowning like a jewel on Him, and a determination to climb any fort in vision. And as expected He rides on a THUNDERBIRD. We asked Him how far is it going up from here, and He replied in simple words, “2 hours of continuous walk up and 1 hour of a smiling walk down”. We just kept listening to His stories, He kept on sharing his experiences, and within few minutes of interaction He was a hero. Trekking alone just to make sure He climbs every fort He knows exist. He motivated us to the brim of our taking and we were all set to see what’s there on the top. We were short on water and with every level up we tasted water pretty slowly. There we saw the mighty walls of the fort, standing tall through times and weather, without APEX ULTIMA :p.

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Lansdowne : Way to Achieve Salvation (Nothing Religious About it!)

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After breakfast, now it is the time for some real fun as now this resort is equipped with some really adventurous sports, as promised by Mr. Dinesh of the resort on our last visit. Thrilling and adventures Zip line was amazing, so were the Brahma Bridge, Monkey Crawl, Spider Web, Walk balance and many other activities. The most commendable fact attracts your attention that the management put all the activities keeping the important aspect of harmony with nature. Not a single activity looks an encroachment on the environment or damaging it. For the not so physically fit people like me there are soft sports materials like badminton, chess, playing cards or ludo etc. are available. It looks good when the management of a resort taking care of people for different tastes and providing them enough choices. Nevertheless my wife and son take full enjoy of all such wonderful activities, you can see the joy on their faces while trying various activities. Rain stops their expedition after some time and they are forced to halt these activities but instead of entering the comfort of four walls we prefer to sit and enjoy in a tent, meant for the staff and keeping resort’s additional goods.

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Some Days in Gujarat – Sabarmati Ashram (The modern pilgrimage)

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Gujarat prem of Gandhi Ji is in full flow and is displayed through various facets clearly. We might have heard about the love and attachment of Gandhi ji to Gujarati language but the real extent of it one understands when one sees almost all the documents pertaining to Ashram and his personal correspondence to the men of Gujarat written in Gujarati.

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Kutchh – of Great Rann White Desert, Kalo Dungar Black Hills and Pingleshwar White Surf Beach

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The first thing that comes to mind when you think of Kutch is the Rann. In visuals you have seen it as white, featureless and stark landscape where not a blade of grass grows. Quick research of net has shown that you can enjoy two views of the Rann. First the aerial view from top of Kalo Dungar and the second is to actually walk on the white terrain at the same site where the annual Rann Mahotsav is held during full moon nights in winters.

It is May and hot. You have few hours only and have started early and are now racing north. The driver wants to take the car aerial but you have to keep reminding him that you want to see Rann only from a few hundred metres up and not all the way from the top!

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Tour of Uttarakhand – Chopta Tunganath

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A little ahead we see the first shop on the track which is basically a place to have some tea, Buran juice (rhododendron juice) which is said to be good for the heart and some bottled water, biscuits and the like. Serves as a little place to catch your breath and soak up the picture perfect surroundings. Henceforth, these small shops pop up at regular intervals. We maintain a steady though slow pace and take very short breathers as we climb so as not to break the rhythm of the climb. Roughly half-way up, we take a longish break of 10 mins where we are treated to another lifer! We see a pair of Collared Grosbeak.

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Shillong, Meghalaya – the abode in the clouds

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We were told by the locals that surprisingly in Cherrapunji it rains mostly at night. Thus, the day-to-day activity is not really disrupted by the rain. 
However, the irony is that despite perennial rainfall, Cherrapunji faces an acute shortage of drinking water, and the inhabitants often have to trek for miles to obtain potable water.

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