The year 2012 is fading out while 2013 is just across the horizon. It is a season of holidays and celebration. Aren’t you ready with your vacation plan yet?

November witnessed a good influx in the number of posts published. We appreciate the interest and praise the enthusiasm you have for writing at Ghumakkar.

For the sake of such a spirited community of authors and readers, in this edition of the Newsletter, we wish to iterate about the publishing slots which are made available to you. We have reserved 3 time slots for post publishing – 0400 hrs, 1200 hrs and 1800 hrs respectively. While the first and last slots are strictly for the authors, we, the Editors, have taken the 1200 hr slot. These slots not only avoid conflicting schedules but also help the readers to look for a post at a particular time. We encourage you to follow this whenever you wish to publish your post on our website. If you feel we need to throw more light on this, please feel free to write to us.

In this issue

Welcome New Authors
Ghumakkar Insights
Editorial
First on Ghumakkar (FoG)
Author Bootcamp
What’s Up?
Inside News
November’12 Featured Author Interview
November’12 Featured Story

Welcome New Authors

Amitava Dutta – “I am a Banker working in a multinational bank in Delhi NCR. I have passion for Travelling, Photography, Reading History & Contemporary Literature and Writing. I am a hardcore foodie as well and explore different cuisines. After all these if I get some spare time, I spend them with my Play Station…”

Ghumakkar Insights

‘Walking’ Guide for your next journey by Praveen Wadhwa

To walk is to explore and to explore is to cherish! 

A walk tour in any city is the best way to explore its intricate specialties. While walk tours are very popular across rest of the globe, it is not yet popular in India. However, we are seeing a roaring trend for walk tours among the youth off late!

Praveen shares his views and perspectives about a walk tour with us in his write up. Here is an extract from his story:
“….Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like falling leaves.” – John Muir

Of-course walking requires a little courage and a whole lot a change of attitude. How many times you had observed people in the train or bus saying: Wow! This is so beautiful place and I wish I was there instead of just passing by in the vehicle. When we walk at a strange place we synchronize our heart beat with the beat of that place. We feel and touch that place. Whereas visiting a places and seeing only all famous points in the shortest span of time is indeed an achievement but it is not a vacation that offers any retreat to the mind but it only brings further stress. I have many friends and I love to walk and all my friends love to walk….” Click here to read more

Editorial

The Perfect Accommodation
Though I know Ghumakkars would never admit to this, star rating could be one of the criteria. The higher the stars, the more certain you can be of the facilities you will find in the property. And to keep the star ratings, most establishments do maintain their facilities really well and are likely to have smooth, hassle-free processes. But this comes at the cost of flexibility.

Also can facilities alone decide the quality of your experience? Imagine staying in a 5-star hotel but the person who is bringing you the room service has had a fight with his wife and is still angry at her? Rest assured that alone can ruin your stay. Hotel facilities won’t charm you anymore.

About a decade back, a friend of mine happened to visit Kerala for his honeymoon and had booked his stay at a 3-star hotel at the lighthouse beach in Kovalam. They were promised a beach-facing room. Imagine two newly-weds with stars in their eyes, dreaming of their awesome stay at this place. Needless to say, they were super-excited….”
Click here to read the complete story

First on Ghumakkar (FoG)

FoG posts talk about unseen places and memorable experiences which we have not discussed on Ghumakkar before! This month witnessed a few such posts, which surely are worth enlisting here.Please click the links below to read through the entire articles:

A day trip of Philly

ANJANERI MOUNTAIN (PARVAT) : Birth Place of Lord Hanuman

Makkah – Performing the Hajj pilgrimage

Chasing the Heavenly Lights !!

Oasis of peace and joy in the centre of Pushkar – Hotel Navratan Palace

Author Bootcamp

The purpose of this exercise is to equip the authors with the necessary skills and information to publish their own stories at Ghumakkar. Authors who have been through the bootcamp can schedule their stories without requiring a review from the Editorial team at Ghumakkar. Also, their role is changed from a ‘contributor’ to an ‘author’.

RRG has completed the bootcamp this month. He will be able to independently schedule his posts from now on.

What’s Up? – News from the Travel World

India looks to China to put high-speed trains on track
As an attempt to correct the trade imbalances with China, India is considering Railways as a solution. By tying up with the world’s second largest economy, India wishes to focus on 3 major areas – high-speed trains, station development and heavy haulage.
India is still yet to see Metro rails in most cities. Is India ready for bullet trains yet? We have to wait and watch!  Read the entire article…

Jet Airways, SpiceJet in stake sale talks
Talks between Jet and Etihad have been the subject of media reports citing unnamed sources. The talks are on they say, and is more or less final. It is expected to take around a month and half, the government source told reporters, referring to the Jet-Etihad negotiations. This deal is believed to be not just about investment but also technology and partnership in many other ways.

We hope to see a fruitful collaboration taking off soon to save the local carriers. Read the entire article…

Jaipur to host 2013 Global Spa & Wellness Summit

Global Spa & Wellness Summit (GSWS), an international organisation that brings together leaders and visionaries to shape the future of the global spa and wellness industries, will travel to India next year to hold their seventh edition in Jaipur from October 4-7. It is for the first time that India will be the host country for GSWS.

The summit and the following events are sure to place India strategically in the world of tourism as well. Great going India! Read the entire article…

Inside News

Change is born when there is a need or demand for it. Ghumakkar monthly newsletter too is changing – to a more convenient and accessible format. It will now be published directly on our website in the name which we have christined as “Monthly Digest”.

The decision to shift from Newsletter format to Monthly digest happened based on the feedback we have received and from what we have learnt over last many months. And hence this change. We believe at the end of every month, the Monthly Digest will be a collation and celebration of the FoG, Insight, Author Interview, new Authors’ introduction, Featured Story etc. We value your feedback on this and other points which you feel should be brought to our notice.

Interview with the featured author for November 2012

A walk with Praveen Wadhwa 

Praveen Wadhwa is followed by a long queue of followers, mostly because he has taught us the way to walk a destination. With his Himalayan trails to Nilgiri sojourns, Praveen has been a revelation. Presenting the lively interview we had with Praveen early this month…

“Ghumakkar – You are a story teller Praveen, a very natural and prolific story teller. Ghumakkar is very lucky to have you and I am hoping that a lot of us would read this long interview and get more inspirations. Who seeded the travel bug in you?
PW – I think, I was born with it. I used to have long walk. My father was in railways and we were getting free railway passes but in that day we rarely went to anywhere. Money was also a biggest problem. But as I gained freedom then I traveled.

When I was in 10th class; I lied to my parents that I am going with a school tour but went to Shimla on cycle with my friend. It was the month of June; extreme hot. It took us 4 days to get to Shimla via Chail. Then we went to Tatta Pani on the Satluj and then returned. It took us 10 days. Then once with the same friend of mine I went to Ooty from Bangalore on cycles.”

Featured Story for November’12

The land of the prestigious Roman Empire and a dream destination for many culture enthusiasts, Italy is a place we ought to visit! While in Italy, we will hallucinate the lifestyle of the ancient civilization. The well preserved and restored monuments speak volumes themselves, they welcome us, treat us with a delicacy we can never forget and take an oath from us to return.

Our author Sanghamitra writes about her experience, a snippet of which is here for you:

“….There are arts galore and it will take months probably to stop and appreciate even the simplest forms of frescos at every corner and ceiling of the museum. Amazingly beautiful art pieces at every nook and corner can left us dumbfound.

That Sistine Chapel is a must watch and no way we should miss “The Last Judgment” and “The creation of Adam” was a well-known fact. But it gave me goose bumps. Not because it was legendary and magnificent but because at some point in Rome, the history coincides with Myth and Legend. We have been reading and hearing about Renaissance art since ages and here I was standing where once Michaelangelo stood and reviewed his own work.

Time to move. We came out, had lunch and walked to St. Peter’s square. One point of caution, try to avoid the eateries just outside the Vatican. One of them charged us 20 euro for a coke.

It was late afternoon. Rain had stopped and people already started gathering for the midnight mass. Christmas tree was lit, stage was set and cops were everywhere. It was festive time and it was visible. However to attend the mass one has to make a written request at least one week in advance. The elliptical piazza, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, can be seen being embraced by equal number of columns at both sides…..”. Read more…

Hope you enjoy this newsletter, much as we enjoy curating this for you. Happy winters!