Shephard of Hampi

I woke up late and to make my day worse the breakfast offered at KSTDC Mayura Bhuveneshwai also didn’t go well with my mind. I hate late mornings when I am on a trip!

With a bit of anger, I ditched my friends and went out solo with my backpack & water bottle on a very sunny day at around 11 am.

After a km walk, I reached abandoned Gangatti Jain temple, neither there was a deity not the people… I took a walk around… sat… took a round in my online world- gmail. FB, insta, twitter & whatsapp- world had not changed!

I had started to sweat out because of the scorching sun. I gathered my energy and started walking to Bhima’s gate, 500 m to another no man’s land. I loved the silence & my own company.

Here I saw beautiful carving of Bhima with Sowgandhika flower and the fort. Visual stories of 13th century was running on my mind as I walked around a bit till I bumped onto a dark man wearing pure white shirt with his red earphones on & sitting on a ruin mantap. I said hi & initiated a conversation… you know stories are something which I am always curious to listen.

He started sharing his journey with story of his grandpa who come to build Tungabadra dam from Tamil Nadu. And moved on to his adventures of dismantling and mantling old structures for archeological department… which he said is never ending work!

He was not that curious about me and he only checked where I came from, what did I do in Hampi & where I am headed to- most asked existential question indeed…

I said I wanted to go to Pattabirama temple where Rama crowned Sugriva or that sort and on road it showed 3 km on the google maps. I asked him if there is a shortcut to reach avoiding high fare seeking auto rickshaw cynosures and he said there is…

the one which the shepherds use…

Throughout this trip I was fascinated by management techniques shepherds deploy to take care of their herd in a 1:100- on keeping their flock together and keeping all of them happy- for entire full day- quite a feat!

And now I am hoping a shepherd comes to Bhima’s gate & takes me to Pattabirama temple through a short cut- dedicated for shepherds and his sheeps!

Clock ticked 12:!5… close to 20 min of staring at the pathway… then came the brown dog first… followed a faded blue lungi clad shepherd carrying a small faded yellow bag on his faded grey shirt. My constructor friend made a request to shepherd to help me cover 90% of the path. he obliged…

Next 45 min was divine…

Shepherd always walked 10 steps ahead of me… always… maybe this is what he does to his seeps as well, maybe… he also walked at a constant acceleration leaving me no option to catch up with his pace… he never wanted to converse- maybe. We only exchanged welcome hello and final good-bye when we finished- only verbal conversation that we had… And in between it was just silence!

We walked through big big stones to heavy bushes to thorns to ups and downs to some ruins of 15th century history till we reached Tungabadra river reservoir. My shirt was dripping sweat… Dog guide went straight to river to take a dip…

So did the shepherd… he washed himself clean & filled up his bootle. Like his constant smile, his pace probably had built lot of endurance for these trails to him… this entire journey we never spoke… but I guess I had received a lot learning & invitation to self reflect…. my reflection in crystal clear water was inviting…

Shepherd wasted no time as he had to get back to herd which was may be 100m far. He made few sounds, just to intimate the group that he’s gonna be back soon, maybe… He tied his lungi to thigh length & smiled at me… that’s all… he probably said goodbye & wished me luck to where I am headed to, maybe… that’s all… and went off.. & the brown dog followed…

I dropped my bag, took off my hat & bowed at him with gratitude. I stood for a while, looked at the blue clear horizon and went to kiss the river. Quite a few things were running in my mind & I was experiencing certain shepherd wisdom in silence- he had taught me about trails, about ups and downs, about pace, about people, about management, about Hampi and about myself- all in silence. I took a dip too… trying to catch my breath in the river flow and also to tune to the flow itself!

I sat down riverside, took my book & while I heard river flow, I tried letting my words flow like the river…

All stories need not be told…
Some stories could be told…
In silence…
Some stories could be shown…
In presence…
Life is all about these stories…
some told, some shown, some lived…
some unknown…
While walking with constant pace and smile,
All stories need not be told…

This is what I could reflect on Shepherd wisdom… We just walk… we are neither anyone to get curious about other stories, nor we are judges to make our decisions of who’s right or wrong. we just walk… sometimes alone… sometimes with the brown dog… sometimes with the flowing river… just like shepherd of Hampi!

Jaipur: Exploring Royal Marvels of the Pink City

As part of my study tour to Digantar, I happened to be in Jaipur, the famous pink city, and also it happened to be my first time in Rajasthan. I wasted no chance to explore as much I could! Even though I was there in the month of March, early summers, heat was still bearable and I loved being there. I could not see all of it and I have promised myself to comeback to see Rajasthan soon! You know- Jai Jai connection also works!

Welcome to Jaipur

The evening I reached Jaipur, I took an uber to Amer fort! It was such a delight to see the whole stretch of fort wall beautifully decorate the Aravali hills. A small climb up in the fort leads to spacious palace waranda. We bought tickets there and went further up to explore the Diwan-i-Aam, or "Hall of Public Audience", the Diwan-i-Khas, or "Hall of Private Audience” and the Sheesh Mahal or the mirror palace. The view from any window of these palaces are just breathtaking- where you can sight most part of the city, lakes, roads and more importantly, the breeze that is hitting you soothes you immensely! Hammams or Turkish bathing tub definitely remains in your memory and so does the the maggi & chai you had while sitting in the park below!

Hawa Mahal

From Amer fort, I went to Chokhi Dhani for dinner. Village set up inside is quite fascinating and before we explored it, we treated ourselves with authentic Rajasthani thali- which consisted of signature dal bati churma to amazing kadi! It’s amazing to enjoy these folk arts and dance- once your tummy is full and there is rope beds to rest and there is open sky with twinkling stars to gaze… life is good!

Sheesh Mahal in Amer Fort

Next day, after work, we had a chance to visit Nahargarh fort, which is located next to Amer and also in good altitude. By chance, we visited beautiful amphitheater first, which happens to be the masti ki paathshala of Rang De Basanti (RDB) movie. As we walked ahead ignoring the wax museum, the royal Madhvendra palace standing tall with few tries with no leaves- made us skip some beats! Once you enter the palace, the sight is mesmerising. Of all the palaces I have seen, I would rate this one in top of my list. We spent next hour exploring the palace and climbing up the terrace for more breathtaking views of Jaipur! We spotted Jal Mahal or “Palace in the middle of a lake” from there and we did take a stroll at Jal Mahal in the evening. There are good number of autowallahs to take you down to city from Nahargarh fort and we hired one. He was courteous enough to show us the spot where Aamir Khan was film-shot drinking and falling to lake in RDB and also to stop at a chai point in middle of nowhere where you can sip the chai with hill breeze and galaxy view of Jaipur with Aravali!

Madhvendra Palace

Hawa Mahal, situated in the centre of pink city is the iconic place and most of us would have seen it’s structure looking like a crown in many advertisements. I used cloak room here to park my luggage before I took the stroll inside. It’s beautiful to catch glimpse of the busy streets, Jantar Mantar and rest of city palace complex from the Hawa Mahal, which is in the terrace of the whole structure. 

I missed being at Jaigarh fort and checking out Jantar Mantar in detail. Ofcourse, I missed a lot on catching up with light and sound shows at all the above locations I explored. And there were so many buildings with historical importance in every nook and corner- it caught my attention but could not get time. So there is always a next time!

Masti Ki Paathshala

While in Jaipur- I indeed had a good feast of food. It started with Chokhi Dhani to Rawat Mistan Bhandar to Khandwa Haveli to Falahaar in Bapu bazaar which offered sabudana specials to roadside poha to sugarcane juice to lot of nimbu paani- you know avoiding innumerable Cafe Coffee Days was a challenge and supporting local entrepreneurs to beat the heat was delightful!

This blog would be incomplete if you don't speak about the awesome internet wi-fi supported by Google at the Jaipur railway station! What speed! Experienced Digital India for sure here :)

Coimbatore trip: IoT, Conversations, Dosas and Infusing Goodness to Business

I had heard so much about Coimbatore & had also passed couple of times, but never got a chance to stay. I knew it’s famous for education, manufacturing industries & known as “Manchester of South India" due to its cotton production and textile industries. I was not surprised when PM included Coimbatore in 100 smart cities. I spent good 4 days teaching and exploring Coimbatore. When I asked Professor Soundarrajan (thank you sir for all the assistance!) what is that famous thing which I can take home, he told “Cotton Saree and Krishna sweets Mysore Pak” in a single breath! And I managed to take second thing home!

Chiranjeev Brahma (CJ), Country manager for University Alliance, SAP & more interestingly, a wonderful creative friend was primarily reason behind this trip. Thank you so much for making this happen! We drove together from Bangalore to Coimbatore enjoying nonstop conversation on education, society, marketing & any/every topic under sun! We didn’t realize we had spoken for 7 hours straight! I was put up at PSG college guest house- which for first 2 days offered me cold water bath & on third day- fuming hot water from all water outlets, including flush in toilet! Otherwise, I enjoyed my stay in the guest house munching on dosa overdose.

Aravind Eye care visit

I was there to conduct Internet of Things Workshop with 42 Professors from 18 engineering colleges along with Vinay C. Workshop also included hands on exercises using Arduino boards and SAP HANA Cloud Platform. This was as part of the faculty development program that PSG College of Technology organized. Next 2 days we were with 60 students from PSG Institute of Technology and Applied Research repeating the show! Thank you Kavitha ma’am for all the support. I also clubbed this opportunity to meet Aru & new startup friends in TiE summit for Education Entrepreneurs at Forge accelerator located in KCT College.

8am Ooty Botanical Garden

I had my best time in Coimbatore when I visited Aravind Eye Hospital. I had studied the model as part of laddership circle & I was just excited to be there. Thanks to Uma ma’am, Ranjith & Sangeetha for showing & explaining the fascinating model in 3 hours. I had lot to take away from experience- making healthcare affordable at 50 INR & looking at volume of 6 lakh operations with twin bed innovations+workforce empowerment+free treatment+same quality! Infusing goodness to business- salute to you Dr. V!

Coimbatore trip comes when I am looking forward for a serviceful goodness roadtrip :)

Next exciting moment came when CJ, Vinay & I decided to go to Ooty which is 3 hours drive via Coonor for only 5 hours. Crazy! Decision came while eating dinner at Tangerine sizzlers. We were just unwinding and the idea stuck us- thanks to which, I had amazing time visiting botanical garden for early morning walk and pedal boat ride in the lake. Waking up at 3.30am on a Sunday was truly worthwhile…

We did some incredible fun things together- go karting to bowling to checking Avinashi road mall to exploring Marutamalai temple to having dinner at Taj to eating ghee rava masala dosa at Sree Annapoorna to long deep meaningful conversations! So much learning- Coimbatore trip is going to remain very close to my heart and all those who made this happen- deepest gratitude and smiles :)

Kolkata: With Joy to Adobe of Peace

Taking leave from my routine job and Mentor India work, I was in West Bengal for close to 9 days and got a chance to experience bong life a bit. It took no time for me to take note of ambassador times here. Hindustan Motors may have shut down, but the legacy of their yellow taxis don’t seem to die. I guess, it’s the same with colonial British establishments. Where in earth can you take a tram to handpulled auto to shared auto to ferry to yellow ambassador taxi to 1980’s Tata bus to anywhere you want to reach! Here goes my travelogue:

Kolkata or Calcutta is surely city of joy. I had boarded flight to Kolkata from Bangalore with a disappointment that I missed being at India Pakistan world T20 match happening at Eden Gardens & my hotel, Eagle Palace, being in Esplanade {took some time to digest that central Kolkata had a unique name christened by British}, was at walkable distance from the stadium! But a friend can turn disappointment into excitement. That is what exactly happened after I made friends with my co-passenger Nabarun! He was shifting his base back to his hometown and we had long conversation on socio-political-historical-cultural aspects of Calcutta. Such a delight! And the best part came when he dropped me off to my hotel in his ambassador. Thank you Nabarun!

A photo posted by Jaideep Rao (@jaideeprao) on Mar 28, 2016 at 12:09am PDT

Post checking in, I took a walk to Eden Gardens to meet my friends, Supraj & Aditi, who were there in attendance. I could spot numerous hawkers, roadside eateries, those selling milk & dhoiyi (curd or dahi), and ofcouse sweets- rosgullas to sondesh! It was evident that city had many in below poverty line. But I could find the old charm and happiness here.

Next morning, we took a 2.5 hrs train to Bolpur from Sealdah. We took an auto to place which I always wanted to be- Shantineketan, the university town established by Gurudev, 1st Indian to win Nobel, Rabindranath Tagore. Shantineketan is as beautiful as Tagore’s speeches or poems or thoughts. First we had breakfast in a hut where they served luchi, gugni, bread, butter and chai- amazing! Before taking a walk in spacious plush green beautiful Viswa-Bharathi University campus (that is post 12.30 pm, entrance only in afternoon for public), we explored very knowledgeable museum and Uttarayan complex-which had combined entry fees. Tagore’s letters, his awards, his article snippets and his poems played in background- make the museum special. Uttarayan complex has a garage and residence of Tagore- Udayan, Konark, Punascha and Udichi. These houses are marvelous with big windows, spacious rooms, ventilation, red oxide floors and beautiful gardens- a poet’s retreat!

Post lunch, we explored Bhubandanga bazaar which sold handicrafts to artworks and post that boarded train back to Kolkata. Same night, I had an overnight train to NJP, aka, New Jalpaiguri station, which is 3 hour away from Darjeeling. Road to Darjeeling and things I did in Darjeeling is in a separate blog post here.

Primary reason for this trip was Sandakhpu trek, which is oldest trek in India and highest peak in West Bengal. Trek is a journey in itself and surely deserves an exclusive blog post!

After I returned from NJP to Kolkata, I had 3 hours before I caught my flight to Bangalore. Making most of it, we took a bus to Dalhousie from Sealdah railway station. Dalhousie is close to Esplanade and it has trams running on the road which is quite a sight. We enjoyed walking from Dalhousie to Fairy jetty across colonial Writer’s block. We took a 5 INR ticket “Launch” or boat to Howrah railway station overseeing marvelous century old Howrah Bridge built across Hooghly river, distributary of River Ganga! It was lovely to see so many passengers use the waterway to reach their destination. From Howrah railway station, I headed towards airport dropping in Haldirams on the way. Despite hot & humid weather of Kolkata, I enjoyed being and travelling here & will look forward to come back to explore more!

{Thanks to Team KnowYourStar.com for allowing to go on a vacation. Special Thanks to Supraj for making this happen. Thanks to Akash Chopra, Saikat Pal, Manthan Shah, Rakesh & Sujay da, Pranjal Parashar, Shishir Sachdev, Vamsi Krishna Manchi and  Malav Shah for making Sandakphu special. Thanks to Sabry Ali for that lovely evening conversation}

Darjeeling: Colorful Calmness for Chai with Queen

Darjeeling is famously known as “Queen of Hills” and I could easily feel the way air changed as we crossed Sukhna military base & climbed up to Kurseong from NJP railway station in our private vehicle. On road it is 3 hour distance, but if you do have sufficient time- close to 7 hours, do take toy train from NJP to Darjeeling, aka, Darjeeling Himalayan Railways (DHR), which is indeed breath taking. Remarkably, DHR is world heritage site and established in 1881 by British. The toy train track runs along the road and I was delighted to spot the smoke omitting locomotive pass by twice! Names of station are quite interesting- Tung, Sonada, Ghum and tells you that you are entering Gorkhaland, on which culture stands out with Tibetan colors, Nepali language, monasteries, generosity, happiness and amazing food!

A photo posted by Jaideep Rao (@jaideeprao) on Mar 21, 2016 at 8:20am PDT

We stopped at Batasia loop, which is just after Ghum station. Ghum station is in the highest altitude & on a clear day you should be able to spot Sleeping Buddha or Kanchanjunga from there. When I crossed Ghum, clouds had started forming and has less than 10m visibility. Temperature had dropped from 30 c to 6/8 c. Oh, coming back, Batasia loop is a 5km long spiral engineering marvel made to help the train climb up from low altitude to height of Ghum railway station. Batasia loop also has a memorial garden to the Gorkha soldiers of the Indian Army who sacrificed their lives after the Indian Independence in 1947. Batasia loop is surely a must visit!

I stayed in couple of hotels in Darjeeling- Hotel Seven Seventeen and Sonar Bangla- both had courteous staff and very well maintained space. I recommend both of them. Seven Seventeen have their own restaurant which served amazing Tibetan food and Sonar Bangla is right behind Glenary’s, which is must visit place for bakery junk food & Darjeeling tea. Next to it is Emami Frank Ross café that interestingly serves some amazing south Indian food! Both Glenary’s & Frank Ross have amazing ambience and are in Mall road that ends in Chowrastha, which reminded me of Shimla! I did some accessory shopping for the Sandakphu trek from Mall market and when I returned, did some for my home!

Prime attraction of Darjeeling is undoubtedly Padmaja Naidu Zoological Park and Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (HMI). Don’t miss out on animals which are only found in Himalayan ranges at the zoo. Red pandas, Himalayan black bear and snow leopards are the show stoppers. I was really impressed with the zoo & would rate up above any zoo which I have visited.

I can vouch on HMI museum that it won’t let you exit without the wow feeling. HMI was established in 1954 by PM Nehru and had Tenzing Norgay, first person to ascent Mt. Everest with Edmund Hillary, as it’s first director. HMI museum has very inspiring collection of accessories used by summiteer’s, their lives, what it means to scale peak on peak, Himalayan culture and has put in place the perspective of joy of mountaineering. HMI also has Samadhi & giant statue of Tenzing Norgay. We spent close to 2 hours to cover both in detail- this pace is truly astonishing!

Last place I visited in Darjeeling was Japanese Temple and Peace Pagoda, which is 4kms away from Chowrastha. Peace Pagoda is very beautiful with Buddha’s life depicted in the parikrama (means when you take a round). Four statues of Buddha emit peace radiance here. Japanese temple, established by Fujii Guruji, is a lovely place and for me it was lot of learning going through life & thoughts of Fujii Guruji, a Buddhist monk who lived 100 years!

Darjeeling is indeed a lovely place with friendly people. I would cherish taking shared taxi to eating momo & thukpa to walking & climbing up/down to navigate between places. Queen, always be the best!

Sandakhpu trek: Sleeping Buddha with Silver Blanket Ramro Che

It had rained in Darjeeling the day before we started Sandakhpu trek. We didn’t know whether it was a good omen or the indication of disastrous trek ahead. Luckily, it turned out to be good for us as it didn’t rain for next 5 days when we were on road and skies only got clearer each passing day! This is my travelogue of climbing highest peak in West Bengal at 12000 feet and walking through India Nepal border on the oldest trek trail of India which is in Singalila National Park, part of the Eastern Himalayas.

Day 1: Manebhanjan to Tumling via Meghma

We left Darjeeling around 6.30am to reach Manebhanjan by 8.30am, place where we met our guides- Rakesh and Sujay. I could spot Indo-Nepal border with Indian SSB camp and 1950's made Land Rovers which climbs up to Sandakphu and Phalut on rent! We started off by scaling 3km steep hill to reach Chittrey – which had a beautiful monastery with stupa’s. This was our first foot in Nepal, my international debut! There were some small Tibetan villages along the trail throughout and on the entire trek, India was on our right and Nepal on our left. And we ended up sleeping in Nepal on Day 1, 2 and 3! {International Trekker swag!}

Later in the day, we passed Lamayadhura to reach Meghma, 7km easy trek. From Meghma we set foot towards Tumling and reached Siddharth lodge {which had amazing valley view} around 4pm, but it felt like it was already 7pm and visibility of 10m. Temperature had dropped close to 5c and we got our hands on delicious dal roti chaawal dinner at 7.30pm to end our day! Meanwhile, I put down some lines my mind had accumulated when I walked overhearing classic Tibetan instruments and here it goes:

The last mile is when clouds
Came together to bling my eyes
The warm clothes and gloves could not stop me shiver
My sweat merges with the cloud
When white and red rhodendrons smile
Along a way that is barely visible
Though it feels like a drea,
And you try to enjoy and catch breath
Last mile haunts me and reminds me
That loneliness is a famous myth
As clouds with my thoughts are on a fly
With Buddha, Nepal and Sleeping Shiva- Peace!

Day 2: Tumling to Kala Pokhri via Gairibans

It was a heartbreak to wake up at 5am in the morning for sunrise and not seeing Kanchanjunga due to heavy fog. Putting disappointment behind, we started trek at 8am which had in store a 7km stroll through dense jungle and steep ascents with descents, we reached Garibans to find Jawans of Indian Army celebrating holi with colors, pakoras and sweets! This is the best holi I have celebrated and made it more special when a Jawan quipped- “Neither I nor you are at our homes, we are family now and let’s celebrate”. I guess, life is all about friendships!

After sharing momo’s and cup of chai with all, we started again and took a soupy noodles break at Kaiyakatta, at around 1pm. These houses use firewood for cooking and run on solar lights. Different life indeed. Gariribans to Kala Pokhri is around 5 kms and we reached the black lake (Kala Pokhri) where super chill winds were blowing & ensuring that the beautiful Tibetan flags all over the lake kept fluttering. Quite a sight! It was easily around 3c here! With pasta for evening snack & dal chaawal for dinner, we retired for the day at Pandim lodge.

Day 3: Kala Pokhri to Sandakhpu

Surprisingly, sky looked clear and we could also spot Sherpa Chalet lodge, our house in Sandakhpu from Pandim lodge. With renewed hope of catching a glimpse of Kanchanjunga, we started 1 hour before schedule after lovely Choley roti breakfast. After a quick 1 hour ascent we heard the voices of joy and knew magic had happened-

Then I finally see you
As expected you were magnificent
Breathtaking, heap of happiness, picture perfect
And of course, you were elusive!
I had woken up before sun rose yesterday
Just to catch first glimpse of you
But then, you were cozying with clouds…
I sighed and went back to my daily chores
But today, you made up for everything
You glowed and shined under the morning sun
Majestically sleeping with cakmess and peace
Which I pray that never eludes me from now!
You, sleeping Buddha, with silver blanket!

Sleeping Buddha, with Mt. Kumbakarna as face, Mt. Kanchanjunga as tummy and Mt. Pandim as toes- is treat to watch and we spent quite enough time just watching it! After good amount of pics, we walked to stop at Bhaneybunjan from where Sandakphu looked the closest. We knew this was the last ascent and very challenging. With close to 70 degree steep ascents and constant climbing we could do this stretch in 3 hours and finally we had reached our summit! Time for celebration with kichdi and awesome sunset where you are standing on a hill to see red sun romance clouds which are below you!

Day 4: Sandakhpu to Sephi via Sirikhola and Gurdum

On a shivering 5am morning, we woke up to see the best part of the trek- Sunrise at Sandakphu. Full moon setting on my left and new sun rising on my right, sleeping Buddha was shining red and slowly turned white. This is just wow! Icing on the cake- Vaguely visible 3 sisters- Mt.Makalu, Mt.Lhotse & Mt.Everest. I knew my trip was complete and with satisfied heart, we started to descent! After a while, I took off 3 layer of clothes on me as temperatures started to soar to 10c as I reached Gurdum, 9km trek down. River on the sides, Sikkim villages in front and constant descents of another 5kms trek along Timburey & Sirikhola, we reached Sephi. I enjoyed Sujay’s heartful singing on the banks of Srikhola. River, music, happiness of successful trek- what more to ask! We were served typical Gorkhaland food with homegrown spinach and potatoes-I had best food and stay at Lippohochha.

Day 5: Sephi to Darjeeling via Rimbick and Manebhanjan

After a quick lemon tea, we started off from Sephi at 6.30am on a shared taxi to Darjeeling which costed me 220rs! Passing through scenic landscapes, we reached Darjeeling at around 12pm and we finally had access to hotwater to bath! I have separately blogged on what I did in Darjeeling here.

Ofcourse, there were great lessons for me in this trek. Noting down a few:

1. Smile like the people from hill. Ear to ear!
2. Inner peace- go completely offline, look at landscapes and monasteries, appreciate smaller aspects and things which we take for granted
3. Build friendships- from sushi cook of Munich to retail banker from Bombay to trekmates from IIT KGP to reigniting friendship with Bachhubhai (Rakesh Da, our guide, fondly called Supraj like this)!
4. Work- You know that you have to scale up and you are catching for the breath- put your head down and do one step at a time. Manthan, I am going to remember you for long!

Like everyone, while I write this I am experiencing Post trek symptoms, which were/are:

1. Must have thigh pains (due to descent) which makes climbing down stares a nightmare for couple of days!
2. When you see beautiful girl and you think- “KT Dami Ramro Che!” (Nepali style!)
3. Looking up at the sky and giving white clouds the shape of sleeping Buddha- Kanchanjunga!

Trip to Sondha and Malkhed: Glory of Shri Madhvacharya and His Highness Nrupatunga Amoghavarsha

Welcome to 2016! I transitioned from 2015 to 2016 with series of soul searching trips. I started with my 3rd pilgrimage to Sabarimala (I had blogged my 1st time experience here), one place that reinforces humanity and teaches basic human virtues. Sirsi visit was my last trip of 2015 followed by new year 2016 trip to Malkhed. In this travelogue, you would visit with me only to Sode a.k.a Sondha (since I have already written about Sirsi earlier here) and Gulbarga.

Sondha is a small village where Shri Vaadiraja Swamiji, a great 15th century Saint in Madhwa tradition, set up his tapovana and ended his incarnation by entering Brindavana while being alive. This is the moola (root) mutt of Sode mutt, one of the eight mutts that worship the Lord at Krishna mutt in Udupi. Once you enter, you are greeted with old Rama Thrivikrama temple, where the deity is sitting on the stone chariot carried all the way from Badri by Bhoota raja. Bhoota raja is friend and disciple of Shiri Vaadiraja, and is the protector and local deity at Sondha to whom everyone who visits Sondha has to roll coconuts at his temple. Ritual is to take 7 rounds around the premises consisting of various small temples set up by Shri Vadiraja (including the holy dip at “Dhavala Ganga” pushkarani or lake). Center of devotion is pancha vrindavans with the vrindavan of Sri Vadiraja Teertha situated in the centre surrounded by four more vrindavans forming a perfect square. In front of the vrindavans is the temple for Sri Vedavyasa. Lifestory of Shri Vadiraja is really fascinating. His compositions are recited by millions everyday and he enjoys huge following that also included great Vijayanagara Emperor from Hampi, Shri Krishnadevaraya.

A photo posted by Jaideep Rao (@jaideeprao) on Dec 19, 2015 at 9:15pm PST

Some coincidences are sweet. One of the places I missed while visiting Hampi was Navabrandavana where some historians claim has remains of Sri Jayatheertharu. There is even stronger voice that it is at Malkhed. Oh by the way, Sri Jayatheertharu is the sixth pontiff of Sri Madhvacharya Peetha who lived during 13th century. He is the one who elucidated Sri Madhvacharya’s philosophy clearly and simply so as to be understood by the common man which helped much to spread the Madhva philosophy. He is known for “Nyayasudha” which is the exhaustive and detailed commentary (Teeka is Sanskrit for commentary, hence he also known as Teekacharya) of Sri Madhvacharya’s Anuvyakhyana which in turn itself is a commentary on Brahma Sutras by Veda Vyasa. Clearly, one of the most revered gurus and me hailing from Udupi, land of Madhvacharya, was cursing my Hampi travel itinerary to have missed visiting Navabrandavana.

Fast forward three weeks, I am standing at Sri Jayatheertharu’s Brindavan at Uttaraadi Matha, Malkhed, after an early morning shivering bath at River Kagina! We had got down at Malkhed Road railway station in Bidar Express and took a shared auto rickshaw to reach the Uttaraadi Matha by 6am. A staff welcomed us and helped us basic amenities. We finished our morning chores in Matha’s very well maintained guest house and took the holy bath in the river. We got the darshan of Brindavana in the kindi (small window), explored the matha and were amazed with the divinity of the place.

With the magical start for the day, I felt there was more to come. And no surprises. I was standing at the Manyakheta fort and remains of palace, where the Great Nrupatunga Amoghavarsha wrote Kavirajamarga, the first classical Kannada work! This place is incredibly photogenic and for me, it overcame poor maintenance by today’s govt. with it’s sheer elegance. Manyakheta was the capital of Rashtrakutas in 8th century and subsequently ruled by Kalyani Chalukyas to Nizam of Hyderabad till 19th century. You will be amazed to know that Nrupatunga Amoghavarsha offered patronage to numerous well-known scholars and intellectuals, of which, mathematician Mahaveeracharya was the one who asserted that the square root of a negative number did not exist! Do read more on him in the wiki!

A photo posted by Jaideep Rao (@jaideeprao) on Jan 12, 2016 at 9:25am PST

I also visited the 9th century temple of Neminath, a Jain Bhattaraka Math inside the fortified area, but it was unfortunately closed. We were the only visitors in the fort and there were carefree kids playing cricket. My thoughts were lost in the history being at Manyakheta or modern Malkhed on the banks of Kagina River in Sedam Taluk of Gulbarga district, Karnataka state and was wondering how the time flies to force us to forget such historically and culturally important place. 

From there, we took bus to Mudhol via Sedam crossing some biggest cement factories of India owned by the Aditya Birla Group. Mudhol is the last town in Karnataka that lies in Sedam-Hyderabad highway. I was here to attend my dear friend, Ambarish’s wedding to Nikita, at their residence(it would take another blog to describe how beautiful it is)! Wishing them happy married life and God bless!

[I visited Sode with my Parents, thank you Appa and Amma for everything! Thanks to my Sabrimala group for yet another joyful pilgrimage. Special thanks to Vinod, Kiran E, Ikku, Ashwin for the Gulbarga trip]

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 Hampi: Magically sail to those Times of Glory

I am sure that many have written their travelogues on Hampi from time immemorial, err, I mean from times of Lord Ram and Hanuman till today, from times of Kishkinda of Dandakaranya with most sacred Pampa sarovara to Vijayanagara to modern day Hampi. I see this as never ending fable in praise of limitless and His love for this place. They say, you would return dejected as you would seep in the sorrow of seeing Hampi ruins, but I, have made up my mind to revisit since I am caught speechless by the imagination and infinite stories, by that of irrigation systems and structural engineering, by that of the glory and intelligence of our forefathers. Hampi- for sure is a place for those who love history, architecture and stories. It is limitless and of limitless!

I spent first 3 hours at Virupaksha temple. It is believed that this temple has been functioning uninterruptedly ever since its inception in the 7th century AD. Most of the temples here in Hampi have been damaged some way or other and not fit for Puja. If I am not wrong, there are only two functional temples in Hampi- Virupaksha and Malyavanta Raghunatha Temple, only place where Lord Ram is in sitting posture. Post Virupaksha temple, we walked the bazaar lane to reach monolithic Nandi. Another 15 min walk we were at Cave temples of Ram {kondandarama temple} and Yantroddaraka Anjaneya temple, Chakratheertha, established by Vysasatheerta in 15th century. Vyasatheerta used to often sight Anjaneya and wanted to capture him in “yantra” so that he could worship him. This is a very holy and sacred place of worship for saints {Udupi Pejavara Swamiji was initiated to Sanyasa here}. We took a coracle boat ride to Purandara Dasa mantapa, where renowned saint and poet, who gave up his wealth worth 9 crores and turned philosopher, Purandara Dasa meditated. This place is really magical. From there we walked to what is popular known as Hampi group of monuments, which consists of the Vitthala Temple with the Stone Chariot, and the musical Mandapas, and the King’s balance.

That evening I got lucky- it was last day of auspicious Karthika month of Hindu calendar and at Virupaksha temple, villagers had come over to spend their night. They lit up entire premises beautifully with diyas and there was a pallakki utsava of Shiv and Parvathi, led by elephant, Lakshmi. I was transported back in time! A Russian lady walked up to me, understood more on what was happening and left me with a sentence- “I have never experienced anything beautiful before!”

Next day, we started series of temple visits with Mustard & Groundnut Ganesha, followed by Sri Krishna Temple, Ugra Narasimha Vigraha and the Badavalinga, Veerabadra temple, Lotus Mahal, Elephant’ stable, underground Shiva temple, Queen’s bath, Hazara Rama Temple, Fort area, remains of official chambers, Mahanavami Dibba {modern day parliament}, Kamalapura museum, Pattabirama temple and Malyavanta Ragunatha temple, where Ram spent 4 months, chaturmasya. I would probably end up writing books if I start writing on each one of them. Every place is for sure treat to be and I suggest you don’t pack this in a day like I did!

Last day at Hampi, we crossed over Tungabhadra River on a 10rs ticket boat to reach the other side, Virupapur Gadde. Here we started off with visiting Pampa Sarovara {purana’s say this is one among 4 sacred sarovara’s of India- includes Manasa Sarovara as well} and Sabari Caves, where Sabari waited for Lord Ram. From there, we visited some cave sites to check out 14th century unexplored paintings. Next stop was at Anegundhi Gagan Mahal palace and Ranganthaswamy temple, on the way to Vaali Parvata which has Durga temple. Post this we visited Chintamani, from where Ram shot his arrow towards Vaali who was fighting Sugreeva in neighboring hill. You’ll be reassured of Ram’s archery skills here! We climbed up Anjanadri hill, the birthplace of the Monkey god, Hanuman and ended the day with visiting mesmerizing Sanapur lake reservoir. Magical end to my journey in the Times backtracked, unexpected and unexplored!

We took the overnight Hampi Express from Bangalore and reached Hospet. Hampi is 14kms aways from Hospet- accessible by bus and auto{don’t forget to bargain!}. I came back to catch overnight bus to Bangalore at the same place. Eating at Hampi is a delight. Every restaurant has similar menu. Must tries- oats, pastas, pizza, all sort of lassies, parota’s, paddu at Brahmin’s vatara and sunset at Hemakoota hills! I spent 3 days there. Got out from the shack by 8.30am and returned at sunset. Enjoyed every meal with those trance music and drank gallons of water. Hired guides {very senior Mallikarjuna and very junior Maruthi} and did innumerous attempts to capture the mesmerizing sights in my camera. I would revisit. This is my Hampi. You, discover your Hampi- your own ruined sandalwood castle, inverted gopura on your palms and meditating Hanuman in your hearts!

A photo posted by Jaideep Rao (@jaideeprao) on Dec 12, 2015 at 7:17am PST

A photo posted by Jaideep Rao (@jaideeprao) on Dec 13, 2015 at 5:50am PST 

[Special thanks to Vikas, Archi and Adyasha for making this trip memorable]

Trip to Coorg: Shades of Green and Miles of Emptiness

Imagine that your birthday is on a Sunday and you have made no plans. All of the sudden, you make couple of calls on the Friday night and plan things out, and you start at 5am on Saturday morning and cover Abbey Falls, Mandalpatti and rest in a coffee estate homestay {Vinayaka homestay} at Madikeri, and on Sunday, i.e., on your birthday, visit holiest Bhagamandala, Talakaveri and Tibetan Monastery or The Namdroling Monastery or The Golden Temple, Kushalnagar, and return back to Bangalore by midnight- with your best buddies! Can’t get better right?!

It happened to me and I am left with that fulfilled heart which wrote these lines:

Throw your soul into a world,
Where there are endless roads…
Filled with clouds and shades of green…
Where in yourself- you explore,
A new life, a new friend, and a new love…
Unaware of those noise, you pray,
In silence, in solitude, in sync with your heart…
Spotting that raising sun with a cup of coffee,
Stopping to thank an unknown guide for those directions…
To knock the heavens, that exists here with us,
Midst miles and miles of perceived emptiness…
Throw your soul into a world,
Where there are endless roads…

To know how monsoons inspired me write this poem and get to know some places to visit in Coorg during a weekend getaway from Bangalore, watch my 4 min video {pardon my language and no-edits, intention was to keep it raw and capture first impressions!}

Trip to Malenadu in Monsoons: Nature at it's Best

This trip marked the new beginning. Things I wanted to write, we video recorded them. Things I struggled capturing in words, camera has captured for eternity. This trip was to Belur, Halebeedu, Mullayanagiri, Chikmagalur, Kundadri Hills, Kuppalli House, Sringeri, Ambutheertha, Jog falls and Harihara Temple- all in 3 days driving past lush green and gorgeous Malenadu, where farmers were busy with agricultural activities ignoring the pouring rains of monsoon.

We stayed a day each at Taj Gateway Chikmagalur and KSTDC Mayura Gerusoppa, later was many miles ahead compared to Taj in terms of experience. This trip, I got a chance to visit Town Canteen at Chikmagalur for Benne Dosa, Coffee and Jaamoon, some good street food at Hosanagara, sunrise at Jog Falls, roadside ananas, jackfruits, lessons from travel guides at Belur, Halebeedu, walking in coffee estate and opportunity to wake my recruiter up for his DSLR camera at 4am in the morning, thanks Dinu!

Sometimes you have to be your own hero! Here in this video we track journey of Jog Falls!


The real purpose of searching after facts is not so that we can manipulate the world to our advantage, but so that our own awareness can be transformed. Here is majestic Belur and Halebeedu-



I revisited Kundadri Hills, Sringeri and Kuppalli House- and it doesn’t size to amaze me-


Those moments experiencing 16c temperature and non-stop rains at the top most of Karnataka was worth living for-

Hope you liked the new experiment, all thanks to my limited experience travelling. I would like to sign off with the saying- “Don’t tell me how educated you are, tell me how much you have traveled”

{Thanks to Manu for all camera work. Thanks Dinu, Manu, Archi, Sushma, monsoons and Malenaadu for making this trip memorable}

Bengaluru Diaries: Pyramid, Aeroplane and a Historic Palace...

This weekend, for a change, I didn’t step out of Bangalore and instead, went on to explore some offbeat places {I mean places other than malls, eateries, pubs, gardens, lakes, getting stuck in traffic!}. I must confess that I was quite taken aback by what Namma Bengaluru had in store for me. Here is the travelogue of my weekend exploits: 

Bangalore Palace

Pyramid Valley, situated in Kanankpura road, near Harohalli, is a quick soothing getaway, hardly 30 kms from Banshankari, Bangalore. Spread across beautiful 26 acres, houses the 102 feet tall Maitreya Pyramid which is inspired by Pyramid of Giza, Egypt. As you enter the pyramid, temperature rises a bit. Inside the pyramid, there is a staircase to reach a platform which is at much higher height and temperature. I learnt that cosmic energy passed on to body while meditating is thrice as much higher in that elevated platform. This place has free lunch & dinner. There is also a place where one can pay and eat. Other prominent things here are Statues of Buddha & Gandhiji in the lake- who transmit calmness through their face. There is shop where they sell some FMCG products, books, DVDs and sovereigns. One can also book rooms and stay overnight. This place is good place to sit and meditate, experience tranquility for couple of hours. While returning, we took a deviation from Harohalli that connected to Kengeri in the Mysore Road {you should explore Maddur Coffee Day, Rasta Café or Bidadi Tatte Idly!}

HAL Museum

HAL museum or HAL Heritage Centre and Aerospace Museum surely inspires with the evolution of aerospace industry post Indian independence. The MIG’s, LOH, Cheetah, training flights, Satellite launch vehicles, ATC radar are on display. The photographs showing those first flights and renowned dignitaries taking tour makes you feel very proud of the country. It also has a sustainable park and informative garden. Indeed, a very good place to visit for couple of hours.

Pyramid Valley

Bangalore Palace, situated in Vasanth Nagar has an entry fee of 225 INR inclusive of audio tour that takes you to 21 spots in this architectural wonder with beautiful narration available in multiple languages. This palace belonged to Rev. J. Garrett, who was the first Principal of the Central High School in Bangalore and was bought out by Mysore Wadiyar’s in 18th century. They got it restructured and the palace plans provided by Calcutta firm is also on display. When you enter the palace, hunted down huge elephant head welcomes you and sets the context. You’ll see many elephant & tiger hunting photographs and various chairs/flower vases made out of them. If you appreciate paintings, this is the place to be! The Durbar hall is a showstopper and gives you a glimpse how administration used to work back then. Gothic and Victorian architecture styles are treat to watch. The maharajah’s courtyard has a colorful bench and a fountain which was a gift from the King of Spain Don Alphonso.

Palace, also has a big garden and a horse stable. It took me almost 2 hours to explore the palace completely and was enchanted by it’s history and beauty. It’s quite an irony that it only had around 1/10th of Garuda mall visitors {which I later visited for tasty dinner at Panchavati Gaurav} May be, palace is not so popular among masses and I am no exception, it took me more than 3 years to reach here. So do visit before it becomes crowded and loses it’s peace and charm! Till now, I didn’t have a must visit place in Bangalore to suggest. Now I have one!

{Thanks to Archi & Sharath for making this trip happen!}

Trip to Goa and Belgaum: Calmly Sailing Past Those Waters...

Late planning and late execution always lands you in a heap of surprises. If not you, the one who not even in his dreams thought that all of us would attend his sister’s grand wedding, would be left speechless and in tears! These are the moments we live for, right? One such opportunity came to us and we took no time in surprising our friend, Vijay, we took KSRTC Airavat Club Class overnight bus to Belagavi from Bengaluru and planned Goa {last time I had covered- Anjuna, Fort Aguada, Chapora Fort, Baga, Calangute, Dona Paula, Panjim, Churches - in my hired bike, during those days, when India won world cup 2011!} for later part of the week. Here is the travelogue of my trip-

Bogmalo Beach Resort

#Belgaum, with wide roads and decent traffic, looked clean. Thanks to pre-monsoon rains, weather was very enjoyable. Wedding was scheduled to be at Gandhi Bhavan, near Sanman Hotel. After managing quick shower at Keerthi Lodge, I attended the wedding wearing Modi jacket (no surprises!). Loved the typical North Karnataka food at the lunch. Soon after the wedding, we bought couple of Kunda boxes, the local delicacy; we caught Kadamba bus, run by Goa govt., to Margao. The single road, NH 4A,passed through many breath taking visuals {thanks to plush green Western Ghats} and a university that has constantly taken student’s breath, VTU- Visvesvaraya Technological University!

#Bogmalo Beach Resort, we sort of crashed here directly from Belagavi or Belgaum. We hired a cab to travel 28kms from Margao to reach Bogmalo. Cabbie, John, reminded us the Goan attitude and Goan unique lingual! His stories were around cab tourism mafia, places to see in Goa and anything related to tourism! The bubble lake, were bubbles appears on a lake when you clap, still resides in my memory and I will explore, sooner or later!

At Vijay's Sister, Shweta's Wedding

At the resort we had those rooms which directly opened to the beach view. I think mercury had soared up to around 35c and good amount of humidity added to the summer of Goa- leading us all the time in the water- either in the pool or beach! I recommend this resort- for its swimming pool, decent food, shacks in the beach, poor room service and proximity to Bogmalo beach! {Which was almost empty most of the times}

Basilica of Bom Jesus

#Baga Beach, spent a evening there, just to soak the hyped #Goa excitement! Tried jet skiing and spent some time at a shack- Britto’s, which needs to credited for it’s amazing ambience! Did some shopping and window shopping, and didn't get into pub hopping!

#Basilica of Bom Jesus, we hired a guide for 100 INR and it was totally worth it. He spoke how in 15th century it all started with Portuguese, how St. Francis Xavier spread Christianity with Society of Jesus and passed away on the way to China. Guide also tracked the life of relics of St. Xavier, after his death, which travelled to Malaysia, Rome and then finally, to Goa, at Basilica of Bom Jesus. This church is also called old church of Goa and UNESCO world heritage site, you'll spot IHS- first 3 letters from Jesus in Greek, inscribed on top of the church. IHS also means Jesus- Human Savior. Outside the gate, we had good dosas and ice creams to beat the heat!

Mangeshi Temple

#Sahakari Spice Farm, new trend in Goa these days is to show rich flora and fauna of Western Ghats. They include food prepared from veggies grown in this 132 acre farm! For those who are from western ghats, nothing much to look out for, for the rest, it may turn out to be eye-opening exciting 1 hour study tour in the farm- showing coconut, Arecanut, jackfruit, mango, cashew, feni preparation and display of spices.

#Mangeshi Temple houses Lord Mangeshi, form of Lord Shiva, the main deity of Gowda Saraswath Brahmins. This temple looks rich with unique Goan architecture comprising of a sanctum and a tower kind of structure that can lit 450 diyas (lamps) at a time. The road leading to temple houses many eateries (Don't forget to drink kokum juice here!)and small shops selling memorabilia.

Sahakari Spice Farm

#Margao Flea Market was up since to mark the feast of local church that was coming up. We entered and exited (in VRL sleeper bus which stopped at Ankola for dinner) Goa via Margao- and both the times were held up in middle for some time because of the crowd that was busy shopping and blocking the road!

{Thank you Manu for being amazing trip organiser, yet again! Thank you Vijay for inviting us and inspiring us to plan this trip. Thanks to Archi, Manu & Sushma for making this trip memorable}

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!