Trip to Delhi: Representing Team India Inclusion Summit

This was my first non-tourist Delhi visit, means, for the first time, I left out places to visit/things to do from my itinerary and filled it up with meetings/visits. I must admit that it couldn’t have got better. 3 days, completely packed schedule and lovely weather- I had ball of time representing Team India Inclusion Summit at various {a}venues.

To start with, it was at Vigyan Bhavan where I went through mix of emotions sitting in a hall which I always saw on TV. This was the Launch of "Accessible India Campaign" and National Awards for employment of persons with disabilities 2015, by Govt. of India. It was thrilling to watch and listen to Doordarshan anchor, the master of ceremony, and ofcourse, listening to Hon. Minister for Finance, Arun Jaitley, Hon. Minister for Social Justice, Thawaar Chand Gehlot who was accompanied by other ministers and beurocrats. I was amazed by the execution of event agenda and the way govt. event runs- with elegance and protocols! Not to forget, at this award ceremony I am undoubtedly introduced to few incredible IIS 2016 speakers who are the living epitome of humility, humbleness and motivation! This made up for my heartbreak of not seeing PM Modi live, who gave this event a miss as he had flown to Chennai which had drowned due to heavy showers and poor urban planning. I’ll wait for my next date with you, Mr. PM!

People rose up with smiles and tears in their eyes for this “special” national anthem {performed by troupe of people with hearing and speech impairment} at Nipman Foundation award, in India Habitat Center {oh man, I loved the campus- artistic and classy}. I was at this event to meet and greet 2 people- our rockstar IIS 2015 speaker and CEO of Nipman Foundation, Mr. Nipun Malhotra and charismatic politician who presided Nipman Foundation Awards, Mr. Shashi Tharoor. I had the privilege of spending some time with Mr. Shashi Tharoor- briefing him on IIS and getting some of his books signed. I met some interesting people here and I have this task of reconnecting with them looming over me for a long time now! Also, here is where I took a “Zen smile” picture with one of the awardee, host of IIS 2015, Deepa Narasimhan!

I went for a half hour appointment and spent close to 2 hours with an iconic journalist of India, Sandipan Deb, who interestingly happens to be an engineer and management graduate. Prior to Swarajya Magazine {of which I am a subscriber}, Sandipan, IIT and IIM alumnus, was with Open{which I used to read when Sandipan was the editor} and other media houses for close to 25 years. I loved every moment of this meeting, his Calcutta humor, his views on socio-political scenario and his oneliners from his wisdom of vast experience. I’ll look forward for more such opportunities to meet him in person and upskill myself.

I was at 1st International film festival on disabilities, hosted by Govt. of India and at 2nd National Wheelchair Basketball Tournament. I spent some time and clicked pictures with Karnataka Wheelchair Basketball team- most of them were daily wage workers from Yadgir, Davangere and other tier 2/3 cities of Karnataka. Today, Irony is neither govt. nor any firm supports them and they have self-sponsored to come all the way to Delhi ! But that doesn't stop them... They had managed to finish runner's up last year and were super-motivated this year too!

Vigyan Bhavan event and other things which made my Delhi trip memorable was only possible through most respected Mrs. Uma Tuli. I visited Amar Jyoti again and was lucky to spend a day with her. I wrote to her the following once I was back in Bangalore-

Thank you so much for allowing me to shadow you. I am indebted with the learning and I am going to cherish the day for long. I had life time opportunity in piggybacking you to basketball game, film festival and meeting everyone at the lunch in your home. Special thank you for anaar kheer! I felt I am part of your family and I would look forward to host you & your family in Bangalore/Udupi. I am also extremely grateful for arranging me an entry pass for PMO event,. It was as well my first time at a govt. ceremony and dream come true when I entered Vigyan Bhavan.

Last day of my trip I woke up and followed these instructions for an soulful experience-

1. Reach Saket metro and take shared auto to Tigri stand from gate 3 (Saidullajab exit) 
2. Come to tigri stand and cross the road (the auto vala can guide u here
3. Take an auto from there to J block school. Make sure to tell the auto vala that u need to got to J block SCHOOL NEEM CHOWK SE AAGE VALA. Once you have the deal, he'll drop you off at my school.

Geographies changed- from luxury of South Delhi to slumber of underprivileged. I was here to meet my inspirational dear friend, Sanymi, who as part of Teach For India makes us envy of her life as Didi, everyday! These kids taught me knitting in exchange of a 30 min story telling by me. My respects towards TFI and their teachers grew two-folds and I certainly wish that their network expands to keep igniting young minds with best teachers. This experience was indeed fitting end to my incredible 3 day trip to Delhi!

[Thanks to Core IIS team for giving me the honor of representing you! Special thanks to IIS volunteers for building World's biggest community led event- IIS! ]

Trip to Delhi, Kanpur & Lucknow: First Glimpses of Hindi Heartland

Having already been twice at Delhi, I had thought I had nothing much to explore or do. But, it indeed had few best things in store to throw at me.

Crisis- when written in Chinese is a two letter word, where first letter denotes ‘Danger’ and the second, an ‘opportunity’

I concluded my talk and walked away leaving audience ponder over deeper philosophical meanings! This was at a recent IEEE conference held at Amity University, Noida where I presented a research paper that I had co-authored. Conference was titled as “INBUSH ERA- 2015: International Conference on Futuristic Trends in Computational Analysis and Knowledge Management”- basic reason for my trip- thanks to SAP for encouraging research work. Presenting in front of Professors, Academicians and PhD students is indeed a challenge, since you need to convince them and any attempt to confuse will cost dearly. This being my third research work, good amount of mistakes already done in past, I worked really hard on my 15min presentation, thanks to my fellowship days, I have learnt a trick or two to get audience engaged! And thankfully, it worked!!

Mughal Garden at President House

Tasting Kulle Chaat or Fruit chaat: I got out of Chawri Bazaar metro station of Delhi, entered a road that had more cycle rickshaws & row-shops leaving hardly any space to walk! It wasn't tough to identify tiny Heera Lal chaat shop famous for it’s Kulle Chaat- innovatively sliced fruits like banana, papaya, watermelon, orange and others, with Indian spices added to it! Hats would go off for the Creativity and no ambience- the real street food!

Jama Masjid is built around 1650 by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, it is the best-known mosque in India. I ended up here at around 6pm and what a time to be there! We bought tickets to climb up the narrow pillar and bumped into a Bangladeshi bureaucrat who taught me a lesson or two on our own culture! It did inspire me to learn Bhagavata! Coming back, views of Red Fort & Delhi were just marvelous and every penny worth. Do visit this Masjid for it’s serenity, birds and sacred feelings it invokes!

Jama Masjid

Hauz Khas Village and Deer Park looked like lover’s paradise. Basking on it’s 13th century history, you'll encounter quite a few structures which will tell the tales of past. Walk is quite healthy with best of air and best of cool breeze from lake. Apart from some lake birds, ducks keep sailing in the waters which looked polluted. Park is pretty big and I managed to get out at a random gate, one of many! Hauz Khas village houses many eateries, I had initially planned to try one of them, but getting out at a random gate ended me up at a restaurant in Green Park market area! No complaints!

Mughal Garden at President House or Rashtrapati Bhavan was serene! It is open for public just after Republic Day (Jan 26) for a month. I was thankful for the privilege I got. Taking a walk in this beautiful garden was a dream come true! President's house was FEW yards away. Majestic tri-color kept flaunting! What a feeling! Apart from patriotic feeling that you get, nearly 10,000 Tulips in vivid colors was be the main attraction spread across Spiritual Garden, Herbal Garden, Bonsai Garden and Bio-diversity Park. Names of flowers are as well very amusing- few like- Black Lady, Double Delight, Eiffel Tower, Granada, Mr. Lincoln, Sadabahar and Taj Mahal!

Kulle Chaat at Heera Lal chaat 

Jhumroo at Kingdom Of Dreams was my second show at the venue. Now I undoubtedly say that KOD is the bestest of best! Jhumroo was a tribute to Kishore Kumar and seeing him live on stage gave Goosebumps. This show was technically very rich and I have no words for the stage settings & music!

Rahagiri Day, is a unique celebration that is catching up. I got a chance to experience it first hand at Connaught Place in Delhi. Rahagiri Day mostly happens on Sunday mornings where citizens get together to celebrate the fun and freedom to walk, sing, dance, exercise and play on the street! Though the rain screwed up with set up there, enthusiasm of participants & over lookers was infectious! Big salute to people who organize this and who participate on Sunday mornings!

I stayed at Kanpur for 2 days since was there to attend a wedding {held at Hotel Landmark with amazing ambience} of my friend’s{Arpit} brother. It was great to get royally treated and enjoyed super-duper hospitality! Had great time exploring Kanpur and experiencing British leftover culture like Indianised version of British names! Meanwhile, Arpit made sure that I had tea in an earthen pot cup at famous Banarasi Tea Stall and ate some street food like Matka Bread Maakan {a glass of butter milk tasted best with wooden pan fired bread-butter- I was bowled over!} and Chole Bhature.

Hazratganj at Lucknow

My trip to Lucknow was limited to 18th century creation, Hazratganj. I took a quick stroll and grabbed my hands on unique Basket Chaat, Aloo Tikki Chaat at Royal Cafe. Though I caught glimpses of the Legislative assembly and Ambedkar Park, wasn't lucky enough to explore more, thanks to canceled train and quick trip back to Delhi on Uttar Pradesh state govt. run bus that played Bollywood music throughout the night. Lucknow, will come back soon to see you with more luck!

I sincerely thank Arpit, his family, Pranshu, GS team at SAP Labs and Archi for making this trip happen and memorable!

Delhi Trip: Capital of Dreams

I have been to Delhi couple of times now & every time I visit, it just amazes me and always has something special in store. This time it was no less, thanks to amazing weather, meeting Delhi’s Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung with my author boss Ferose, GIFTED sessions with Kiran Bedi ma’m,

Kingdom of Dreams

Sundeep Rao & happy hours that followed, and of course, ticking off some places that I had missed visiting last time- Here is my travelogue on extended Delhi for you-

#Kingdom of Dreams (KoD) and Cultural Gully is the place I love the most and I have promised myself to get back here for another show. Since it was close to my office’s guest house and was a Saturday when I had pretty much nothing to do, I visited KoD with no idea or expectations at around 12pm. Luckily there was a show called- Zangoora at 2.30pm & was filling fast. I bought the tickets,hoping for some entertainment. I explored the Cultural Gully to kill time & it turned out to be marvelous- artificial sky, buildings representing cultures of Indian states- to put it in a phrase- it was “the melting pot” of incredible India we love. Zangoora started right on time. Performance was mind blowing- all thanks to amazing production, music, artists, acting, lights & all the breath-taking acrobatics. It’s an experience; do visit when you are in Delhi next time!

Lodhi Gardens

#Lotus Temple & Chhatarpur Temple, covered them in half a day, while Lotus temple symbolizes harmony among Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Islam, Chhatarpur temple is built by a sant from Karnataka! Best part in both of them- notable architecture & beautiful walkway from metro station where you can enjoy good street food. Sometimes, journey is more beautiful from destination, right?!

#Amar Jyoti School was covered in Satyameva Jayate by Aamir Khan recently and I personally wanted to visit this 1981 estb. inclusive school to understand their style of imparting education. When I stepped in, I saw kids on wheelchair playing

Amar Jyoti School

basketball & what a game it was! This set the tone for my tour of an amazing school where children with disabilities sit alongside any normal kid and attend classes. School premises are completely accessible with ramps & mobility for visually impaired. Kids are trained with life skills & they can opt for vocational trainings those are available. I met the principal of school, Seema ma’m & was taken aback by her vision & strength to lead by example. The high moment of this tour came when I met Uma Tuliji, Padmashree awardee, founder of the school, young at her 70s. Positivity oozes out from her, and as my eye-opener educative tour came to an end, I sought her blessings!

Navjyoti Foundation Nayagaon

#Navjyoti foundation, run by Kiran Bedi ma’m, operates in multiple places. To get the first-hand experience, I visited their Nayagaon campus, set up in small village which was nightmare to find & I was already convinced that they are doing marvelous job by setting up in the real India, a far-away village! As I reached there at 4pm, kids were coming in after their regular school & settling in classes, where teachers were waiting. This was like a mini school that operates from 4pm-6pm for village children. In addition, it had vocational training classes, self-help groups of villagers, computer lab, leadership classes to youth of village{I was blown away with this idea} and Vivaan Music School {set-up by Ferose to mark his son’s birthday!}, that taught kids-instrumentals & vocals. 3 ladies whom I met here- Chandini, Ujala & Fatima- are inspiration in themselves. No doubt, Navjyoti is definitely on a mission to transform villages, like Nayagaon… the real India…

#Lodhi gardens is amazing place to be in the evenings with beautiful well maintained gardens &

With GIFTED Sundeep & Ferose

couple of tombs with breath-taking architecture built in 1500s. Do visit Lodhi restaurant which is adjacent to garden for a quick byte & chai. Five stars for the marvelous ambience!

#Sarvana bhavan, located in Connaught place is an old south-Indian eatery famous for masala dosa, filter coffee & ice creams. I was amazed by the huge demand they have!

#Pure Punjab in Khan market, is a restaurant where we had food in between "missing lunch" & later "missing dinner"! You’ll require three stomachs to finish a thali here, thumbs up for the taste!

[Special Thanks to Ferose for giving me an opportunity to accompany him. Thanks Sundeep for that hilarious & insightful day. Thanks to Archi Garg for showing me right directions]

Pilgrimage to Vaishno Devi: Jai Mata Di

Thanks to online flight offers and Ugadi long weekend, I along with my parents planned to do much awaited, always postponed- holy pilgrimage to Vaishno devi at Katra. We started off from Bangalore early on a Friday morning in flight and almost missed the train to Jammu from Delhi in the evening since I had misread the starting station as New Delhi instead of Old Delhi. Those tensed moments in auto to catch the train was a gripping start for a journey to remember!

View of Trikuta Mountains From Katra

Saturday morning, 18 degree Celsius, I had got down from Jammu Tawi station and boarded mini bus to Katra (they ply as soon as they get full).Ours was the first train on time and no train had arrived to Jammu in past 12 hours owing to terrorists firing near Pathankot (major station before Jammu)!

I was mesmerized by the Jammu- Srinagar highway. We arrived in Katra, freshened up, after a 46 kms ride through beautiful landscapes, some tunnels, engineering marvels, army personnel in every 2 kms guarding- I promised myself to visit J & K again and now I am convinced that J & K is the real Heaven on the Earth!

Vaishno devi pilgrimage is very well controlled by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board. The Holy

The Path to Bhavan

Cave of the Mother is situated at an altitude of 5200 ft. The Yatris (pilgrims) have to undertake a trek of nearly 12 km from the base camp at Katra. At the culmination of their pilgrimage, the yatries are blessed with the Darshan of the Mother Goddess inside the Sanctum Sanctorum- the Holy Cave. These Darshan are in the shape of three natural rock formations called the Pindies. There are no statues or idols inside the Cave.

One needs to buy ticket at the base camp and would go through at least 7-8 security checks. I suddenly made up my mind to go barefoot to the top. The first part of the trek (6kms), i.e, from Katra to Adi Kuwari Devi Temple, is believed to be very strenuous. Take my word, it’s an easy climb with inclination hardly reaching 30 degrees, lot of eateries, colorful shops, ponies and

Heading to Bhairon Nath Temple

other thousand people walking along side you chanting “Jai Mata Di”- you won’t realize the difficulty.

Adi Kuwari Devi Temple to Bhawan(the shrine) is again 6 kms and we chose to go via Himakot, comparatively easier stretch. Route is almost parallel, no major climb during the trek, but it is prone to frequent landslides and stone shootings from the hill. Breath-taking views, frequent helicopters that fly over your head, cool breeze, no sweating- journey is really enjoyable. We took 5 hrs from Katra to reach Bhawan. We deposited mobiles, cameras and baggage in a clock room and headed for Darshan of deity in the cave, which hardly took us 45 min.

It is believed that your Yatra to Mata Vaishno Devi is not complete unless you also visit the Temple of Bhairon Baba that requires a further trek of 2 kms on steep hills. We took pony to climb this stretch and headed down in the same- we took around 4 hours in total. While climbing back, the

Bahu Fort

Sun had turned red and was almost ready to set. Mercury had started falling and views were just awesome. I also spotted helicopter operations at the Sanjichhat Helipad.

After the trek, the feeling was just incredible. Heart was smiling with immense satisfaction. I didn’t have mobile connectivity since J & K has banned prepaid sim connection. It didn’t really bother me since this spiritual connection was with God and fellow trekkers who had come to discover themselves!

After a good night sleep, we headed towards Jammu to catch train back to Delhi. We had 8 hours to kill and we explored Jammu. Jammu resides on bank of Tawi River in the lap of nature. Jammu is also known as “The City of Temples”. I visited the following places-

#Raghu Nath Temple is the oldest/ most famous temple and boosts of incredible spiritual

Aquarium Entrance

ambience. Many chambers for different Gods, Goddess and Sants are the specialty here. Also, you’ll spot 11 lakh Lord Shiva Saligramas(similar to small stones).

#Bahu Fort is believed to be made by King Bahu Lochan, 3000 years ago. Much later, its extensive reconstruction was done by Dogra rulers of Jammu and they also built a mughal-styled garden. Majestic!

#Bawe Wali Mata Temple is an ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Kali located within the Bahu fort. Goddess Kali is considered to be the presiding deity of Jammu and with whose blessings the town was established and prospered. This temple was constructed in 1822 during the reign of Maharaja Gulab Singh. The temple has few other shrines and idols also such as Ganesh, Narasimha, Radha Krishna, Ram-Lakshman-Sita-Hanuman, Panchmukh Hanuman, Shiv Linga and Vaishno Devi.

#Bagh-e-Bahu is the beautiful garden on the banks of Tawi River and just below the Bahu fort. You’ll spot series of beautiful flowers and small fountains on the other side of the walking path, once you have entered in the garden. Also, a small lake is like an icing on the cake!

Bagh-e-Bahu

#Aquarium museum sandwiched between Bahu Fort and Bagh-e-Bahu is the largest underground aquarium of India. The entrance is designed in the shape of the mouth of a fish and the exit in the shape of a fish tail. The aquarium houses a museum where 400 varieties of freshwater and marine fish are on display.

#Har ki Pauri mini Haridwar is fairly new temple built on the banks of river Tawi. Tall idols of Lord Ganesh and Lord Hanuman are the main attraction. Also, from here, we could get a sight of Bahu fort above our head and burnt palace of Raja Hari Singh across the river.

I continued my trip from here to Delhi and Agra. I have blogged it separately for better clarity. Do visit Agra with me by clicking here!

[Thanks to Supraj for booking tickets and to Sambit for helping with right information]

Trip to Taj Mahal: To Display Thereby The Creator's Glory

After successful pilgrimage to Vaishno devi and Jammu visit, I got 2 days in Delhi, which was surprisingly pleasant with mercury reading around 20-25 degree Celsius. Day one was spent in local site seeing and the day two was spent visiting Brindavan, Mathura and Agra. Note, places below are in the order I visited.

#Birla Mandir aka Laxminarayan Temple indeed boosts of incredible calmness. We visited this place in the morning and atmosphere was truly blissful. This year, i.e, 2014, this place is celebrating platinum jubilee. It was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi, was made built by B. R. Birla and Jugal Kishore Birla. Surrounded by beautiful garden, paintings, sculptors, Geetha mandir, tight security

Qutub Minar

and Metro (to travel conveniently) - definitely a must-visit place!

I revisited some of the places which I blogged last time, this time around with my parents- we visited Qutub Minar, Red Fort, Chandini Chowk, India Gate, Parliament House and travelled mostly in autos or metro trains.

#Ranganath Temple Brindavan was a disaster. Numerous “so-called” panditji’s in round-neck collarless tshirt with Krishna print and dhoti- try to pursued you to spend cash on them/on their temples! This place has no doubt lost its religious shine and has turned out to be a place where business is run on the name of Lord Krishna. Panditji also turns to guide here- vomiting out some random spiritual lines from no-where and explaining how much other people have spent in terms of cash/gold/diamonds (Paresh Rawal’s “Oh My God!” was running in mind)! Roads are poor, infrastructure sucks! You’ll see 500 odd temples on the way just like this. Taxi guys get commission paid if he gets a visitor to any of these temples. Panditiji’s loot- creating fear and proclaiming aloud what-happens-if-I-don’t-give ideologies. Krishna if at all descends down to earth, not shockingly will run back after seeing the hell His people have created using His name. My advice- forget visiting this place, let Krishna’s

Birla Mandir

original Brindavan(which we saw on televisions) hold it’s place in your imaginary, don’t kill it!

#Krishna Janma Bhoomi Mathura luckily under archeological dept. was really well kept. It didn’t look like a disputed land to me (you’ll see idgah- Muslim prayer hall structure- built by Aurangajeb next to Krishna Temple), since the white birds and kindergarten kids wearing white uniforms making their way inside temple premises. They really know no differences, no boundaries, no religions, no hatred! The beautiful charm of Radha Krishna idols in the temple on top of prison where Krishna is believed to be have born was clearly reflected on these young innocent faces. Elders were right; we can see God in children!

#Akbar Tomb, Sikandara is really beautiful with masterpiece Mughal architecture which was

India Gate

planned by Akbar himself and was finished by his son, Jahangir. Mughal Greatest emperor Akbar was laid to rest here. I spotted fearless squirrels, free-grazing flock of deer, broad-and-tall wall doors, marvelous windows, lavish gardens, wide spread area, good infrastructure by archeological dept. and last but not the least, at least 25 unmarried couples!

#Taj Mahal turned out to be the gem of this trip, 5 degree inclined symmetric pillars, gardens and fountains, incredible white marble paintings and architecture, river Yamuna romancing this serene heart-warming sensation, I am in loss of words to put the beauty and ended-up saying- WOW! Must must visit once in lifetime. I really wish that the planned black Taj Mahal on the other side of river would have also been completed by the Emperor. Hat’s off to Shah Jahan for constructing this for his wife Mumtaz and as I am still in awe; I am not going to write any lines of my own, instead will repaste Shah Jahan’s words through which he described

Sikandara

the Taj-

Should guilty seek asylum here,
Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.
Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,
All his past sins are to be washed away.
The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;
And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.
In this world this edifice has been made;
To display thereby the creator's glory.

#Red Fort & Agra Fort, I caught the glance of it from outside. Red fort of Agra is supposed to be replica of Delhi’s historic Red fort. Since the day was hot and Sun seeping out our energy, we gave these two places a skip and were contented with it’s marvellous built from the

Taj Mahal

outside.

#Yamuna Expressway, I need to mention this. Had never ever seen such straight and planned roads. Glimpses of fertile land both the sides, extremely huge road, intelligent execution of planning, sight of farmers toiling, quick glance on Budd International Racing Circuit, restrooms and eateries- it was a delight to be on this highway! Who says India is not developed!

[Thanks to Archi for helping in planning and execution]

Himalayan Trek in My First Trip to North India...

I think it had rained an hour ago. Chill in the air and stagnant water at the roadside were clearly indicating this fact. After acclimatizing to temperatures ranging from 2 to 40 centigrades for over 2 weeks, I was back to the city that boasts a constant weather of around 20 centigrade, Bengaluru. I was walking towards home with a bagful of stories to tell- some adventurous, some philosophical, some controversial. Here it is- the travelogue of my first trip to North India!

This entire trip was very very well planned in paper with all hotel and travel bookings already done.Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani”. A week after watching the movie, with official nod from parents we had booked the complete itinerary while having an icecream, sitting in the Corner House of Kasturi Nagar, Bengaluru. Our trip had a disastrous start as the main trip planner, Manu met with an accident a day before our departure. We were given a royal send off by Vijay and Yashu, after a tasty dinner (Thank you, Aunty!) at Yashu’s place. Did I feel that I won’t return forever? Nah!

Hadimba Temple

I’ll traverse through the states of India that I visited in this trip. I have provided links for complete story. Enjoy, as much as I did!

#1. Himachal Pradesh, a romantic state that shares it’s borders with Tibet. I visited two districts- Kullu and Shimla. The charming skin tone and excellent physique of the citizens deserves special mention. I got down in Shimla with a 20kg luggage, looked around to find no auto rickshaws, instead plenty of man labor. I and my friend decided to walk to Hotel Chaman Palace. 5 min after we started, we realized that it was a mistake! 70 degree slopes and stairs took out all the energy as we reached the hotel located close to Mall road. Mall road is the busiest and the most happening with lot of eateries and shopping outlets. Veg momo’s and burgers of Krishna Traders are the best I have had till date. Street food- channa kulcha and chatpati chat- I recommend. This city was incredibly disciplined with no smoking and

Toy Train

no plastic policies followed till the last dot!

Kullu, on the other hand is more ethnic with localities wearing the vibrant “Himachal ki Shaan” topi and apple sellers everywhere. Base camp for our trek was in Manali. We visited a Tibetan architecture influenced Hadimba and Ghatodgakch temple, built atleast 500 years ago. Beas River flowing along the canopy of Pine trees gives this city an artistic look. We got to visit Nicholas Roerich’s museum in Naggar, 25kms away from Manali. His breathtaking paintings of Himalayan inexpressible beauty and the peace flag (harmony of religion, art and science) that he designed for “League of Nations” (current UN) is the highlight.

Remember Kareena in “Ye Ishq” song of “Jab We Met”, we were at this serene place- the Naggar Castle, built in 16th century. We had delicious snacks in the hillside view balcony of the hotel there, Cutlets, yummm!! We made sure to visit the famous Johnson’s café, and of course, had a great

With Bishi and Gursagar

evening with 11 buddies!

I have deliberately put the best part of Himachal in another blogpost. Trek Hampta pass (Click here) yourselves!

#2. We entered Punjab, land of 5 rivers, through the UNESCO heritage narrow gauge toy train from Shimla. Toy train to Kalka, running since 1902, brought us best of landscapes. We made our way to beautifully planned Chandigarh from Kalka via couple of auto rickshaws which run like public buses here. We visited my friend, Bishas and Gursagar (Thanks a ton guys, you rock!) for dinner and they redefined hospitality, we set off to explore Punjab the next day (Click here, yeah, story is long enough for another blogpost)!

Golden Temple

#3. The Delhi Honeymoon was a dream come true. As we keep hearing the daily happenings of Delhi, I was excited to see how it really lived, the capital of “The India”. My experience that changed “Delhi” to “Dilli” (city of heart) is indeed heartening, I suppose, why wait, read here The Delhi Honeymoon!

The trip plan was executed almost near to perfection, all thanks to the 3 hours delay in “Hirakund Express” from Amritsar to Agra, because of which we had to skip Agra since there would be little time left to explore Agra that Thursday evening and Taj Mahal shuts down every Friday. Dear Taj, will see you soon!

Whenever I achieved some small feats,

Hampta Pass

People blessed me that I’ll go places…
I sit and contemplate on what it meant,
Realizing answers are sole aim of our life… 

May be a different perspective of new place,
In the thick thread of cobbler’s spool…
Showing the life that I never lived,
In the kaleidoscope of a roadside kid… 

Today, I really want to achieve more feats…
Today, I really want to visit more places…
Today, I really want to find more answers…

[Heartfelt gratitude to Manu, Akhilesh, Bishas and Archi for planning this out. Cheers to Thomas, Tanja, Parijat, Naaga, Harsha, Sowmini, Spurthi, Chandrashekar V, Neerav, Niladri, Akshat, Bharath, Shushanth, Saranbir, Thakur Saheb and IndiaHikes for making the trek super awesome. Photo Credits: Akhilesh, Parijat, Chandru and Harsha.]

The Delhi Honeymoon: Capital of India

I always admired E. Sreedharan for connecting my hometown Udupi in the beautiful and equally astonishing Konkan railway, now I travelled in Delhi Metro, my respect to this man grew heaps and bounds! Nothing is impossible here and when we really understand SRK’s repetitive dialogue in recent movie- “Don’t underestimate the power of Common Man”- images of Team Anna’s recent march to statues of famous Dandi march which I saw here rings the bell! I spent fair number of days to visit most of the places here-

Humayun Tomb

#Humayun Tomb was the first place I visited in Delhi and what a way to start. Brilliant architecture and peaceful gardens. Looked like it was extremely well maintained. As the Sun rose it started getting really humid, but this extremely lavish monument kept me happy. Superlike!

#India Gate, Parliament House and Rastrapathi Bhavan are not at the walking distance! Amazing disillusion (not the Parliament, come on, we should respect them)! We misread the distance and my t-shirt drenched with sweat was the testimony! So near yet so far. Entry to Amar Jawan Jyoti in India Gate is unfortunately restricted and we had to pay our respect at a distance. I spotted couple of TV News channel crew in this popular Janpath road.

Parliament House and Rastrapathi Bhavan

#Connaught Place, Rajiv Chowk and Central Park were extremely crowded and as we had no intention to shop, we strolled around, had milkshakes and I was particularly surprised to see more people than the number of trees at Central Park (Lalbagh of Bengaluru, you rock!) Ahh, bit of time waste toh banta hai!

#Jantar Mantar, wow, what was this! I thought IIT JEE entrance exams were the last thing that went over top of my head and here was something new! I tried hard and understood one of the astronomical structures. I respect you for this brilliance created way back in 1700’s, Sawai Jai Singh!

Jantar Mantar

#Rajghat Gandhi Samadhi is where our father of Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, is laid to rest. With great interest we visited Bapu’s museum as well. One thing which I thought I won’t share, but here it is, Rajghat has a paid chappal stands and right opposite to it is the free one (less than 50mtrs distance between them). When some foreigners were about to use those free one’s, guy sitting in the paid shouted that there won’t be any security there! What an irony. Gandhiji, comeback, we need you more than ever!

#Akshardham Temple, oops, with due respect to the believers, I first declare that I am free to write what I feel! Can we take off the word “temple” and replace it with “mall”. Shrewd business place this was, where your camera, phone, baggage is not allowed and if you wish to take a snap,

Rajghat

you end up paying over hundred bucks- “service” provided by “temple”. Even airport officials didn’t frisk so much and to clarify, I asked an official there who was sporting a grand tika, he replied-“These are the rules and we don’t know the answers for your question”. God has answers for everything and truth is God- this was my understanding. I am sure God would seek devotion, humility, pure heart and service- not money, nor He would sit in these white marbles! Why am I still writing about this!

#Qutub Minar was very artistic, all thanks to the aero planes that flew frequently. I was amazed by it’s sheer beauty and magnificent structure built in 1100’s. Hat’s off!

In #Chandini Chowk I didn’t miss having Gol Gappa’s! Also visited Parathawala gali and got my

Qutub Minar

hands into unique lemon, khela, ghajar and normal parathas in ethinc, 1882 established, Babu Ramdevi Daya Parathewala where I spotted Lal Bahudhur Shashtri’s picture eating in this place hung in the wall!

#Dilli Haat was small and sober shopping area where most of the states of India have an outlet or eatery. I bought some souvenirs here.

#Red Fort, I always reserve the best for the last, yes, the Red Fort, you beauty! I entered when it was dark and directly headed towards the light and sound show which runs at 7.30pm in Hindi language. The story started and to be frank, sounds were not impressive. Lights were decent. But God had different plans, and in between the three monument-like structure where light was being projected for the show, there appeared a faded circular object in the sky. I was, for a change, witnessing a moon rise!

I wish you were here in my arms,
To watch this moon turn yellow…
We would had a silly fight, whether,
We see the rabbit couple or a smiley face… 

I wish your strand of hair had fallen,
In my face when those cold winds blew…
I would carefully put them aside,
And kiss those colorful hanging earrings… 

I wish I gazed at your eyes so closely,
That I could see the reflection of moonlight…
I would wait till it got red intense,
As I knew my fort had been conquered…

[This was part of the tour. Read the complete experience here]