Sanchi – Madhya Pradesh

We take an overnight train from Jabalpur to Bhopal where S has managed to get us a great deal at the Noor us Sabah palace, now a WelcomHeritage Hotel. "Noor Us Sabah" meaning "The Light of Dawn" was built in the 1920s' by H.H. Hamid Ullah Khan for his eldest daughter Abida Sultan and through a variety of events has now got the Nawab of Pataudi’s name associated with it.

The hotel is located on the top of a small hillock and from our balcony on the 1st floor the view is amazing!!! The Vindhya ranges, the Upper Lake of Bhopal, the city of Bhopal and of course the peacocks in the gardens! The hotel itself is very grand with its high dome like ceilings and arches, historic photographs all over the place, a library with really old books, a palanquin and a horse carriage strategically placed.

Breakfast, freshen up and we leave for our tryst with history @Sanchi.

Sanchi for me was...well a bitter sweet experience. So serene, calm and clean...maybe because there were hardly any people there. At a world renowned heritage sight I would have expected more interest! The funny thing is - in all my travels to heritage sites in India, I have found myself thinking –  what the hell, the whole of India wants to visit xxx when I am here and the pushing and jostling would irritate the hell out of me...and now when we had a site to our self and I mean that literally, I found it odd!!!

When I see a picture/statue of Buddha or think of Buddhism the first word that comes to my mind is CALM and that is what one felt that day in Sanchi...a gentle breeze on a hot, hot afternoon, lush green landscape and silence all around. Automatically I remember something from my school days -"Buddham Sharnam Gachhami."

Sanchi, the oldest Buddhist sanctuary in existence and a major Buddhist center in India is on a hill overlooking the plains. Stupas are always built on a hill - so that their beneficial influence can radiate in all the four directions. The dome represents the universe. Sanchi is not directly connected with events in the life of Buddha but is more of a reliquary mound built by Emperor Asoka for putting the divided ashes of Buddha in an order to spread Buddhism in India.

The dome is covered by a masonry exterior and has a squareish platform (harmika) on top that in turn encloses a royal parasol (chattra) atop a mast (yasti). The dome is on an elevated platform with stairs leading clockwise from the ground level up to a circular walkway, where the worshipper circumambulates the dome. The whole stupa is enclosed by a railing (vedika) and elaborate gates (torana) are built in front of each of the four cardinal points. There are exquisite carvings on the doorways and railings with sculpted scenes from the life of Buddha and Jataka stories of his previous incarnations. Another oxymoron - austere grandeur is what describes the Stupa best!

We walk around looking at the other smaller Stupas, a monolithic Ashokan pillar, the water system, the temples and what they call a small zoo – really??? A few rabbits, a few birds make a zoo!

Lunch at a restaurant at the base of the hillock and we head back to the hotel for some respite from the scorching sun. Some plan for a swim in the inviting pool and some just head to the spa. I was pretty excited – a college hostel mate is planning to visit me with her daughters later that evening. We met after 20years – friendships from school and college are so amazing. No matter how many decades one is meeting after, it’s so easy to just pick up the threads and continue from there as if all those years had never happened. How time flew I don’t know. And we both felt, it was not enuff and that there was a need for us to meet again the next day.

I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let's face it; friends make life a lot more fun.

Dhuandhar falls, Bhedaghat - Jabalpur, MP

Still on a high from the Tiger Ramp Walk at Panna, we start for Jabalpur, stopping en route to have lunch at a roadside joint. The waiter goes through a pile of 50-60 white plastic plates to find few without stains for us. A waiter, who made me feel like a valued guest in his house rather than just a customer. I asked him if the curd would be sour, given the heat and he was like “Ji, pehle aapko taste karayenge” (will make you taste first). And the sample was a full bowl of curd :-)

A relaxed evening with dinner in the room over loads of gupshup.

Next morning we leave early for the Dhuandhar falls and Bhedaghat. It is at Bhedaghat that the River Narmada is known to be the most spectacular and it is here that it displays such magnificence through the beautiful Dhuandhar falls.

Bhedaghat is known for the Marble Rocks where the river flows gracefully for nearly 3 kms through towering layers of marble nearly 30mts high. These are the only of its kind in India. White, green, yellow and black – the marble has many hues and the sun plays along making the rocks glint and shine. We take the recommended boat ride to get a closer look at the ethereal Marble Rocks.  The guide starts his commentary in poetic style - he points out the various types of marble in a dramatic rhyming fashion making the usual jokes about Bollywood, women, wives and marriage. His favorite seemed to be Kareena Kapoor and her boots! He points out specific rock formations like Kareena’s boots , Hanthi ka Paon among others.

 

At one point there are a lot of undercurrents and the boatmen work hard and row in a way so that we cross the river where the undercurrents are the least. At that point, suddenly it seemed as the mountains on the two sides were closing in on each other and we would get engulfed in between – an optical illusion which was so surreal yet breathtaking!!!

So serene at Bhedaghat and then just around the corner we see the Narmada in an altogether other form –full throttle with the water gushing down with full force creating the smoky cascade – breathtaking nature's power. We hang around for some time, dipping our feet in the chilled water. It was a bit sad to see people offering to jump into the waterfall for Rs 10/ :-(

On the way back we pass by the Chausat Yogini Temple standing on a hillock. Even though we were quite tired and the150 odd steps leading to the shrine look quite steep the girls decide to climb up while the guys decide to hang around in the car and wait.

 

It’s a long way up but worth the climb. A 10th century ancient temple that is the abode of Goddess Durga along with 64 yoginis or shaktis considered to be the different forms of the Goddess. The 64 exquisitely carved shrines, each one depicting a unique posture are placed in a circular fashion around the main shrine where Shiva and Parvati are seen riding on Nandi. 

The place was very calm with lush greenery around and we stood in the open courtyard just gazing at the panoramic view of the River Narmada and the surrounding landscape.

Lunch at a friend’s restaurant where we are overfed and a visit to his office. Jabalpuri Special Paan, for which we created such a fuss were not so special after all. The Chocolate Paan was supposed to be good but sold out and so we missed it.

Evening some of our group want to go watch a movie to kill time. They zero in on Queen which 2 of us had seen quite recently so even though it was a good movie, we decide to watch something else. Not a good decision, considering I don’t even remember the name of the movie I ended up watching, forget the story!

Tiger! Tiger! Burning Bright at Panna, Madhya Pradesh

Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright
In the forest of the night
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And What shoulder, and what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? and what dread feet?
What the hammer? What the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

William Blake

Surprise, surprise, surprise - the 1^st draft of the itinerary has no mention of ANY of the wildlife reserves in MP. Logic is simple – according to S, he is jinxed and because in all his wildlife travels, he has NEVER seen an animal, if we go to a wildlife reserve with him, forget a tiger, we won’t see any wildlife at all. My take was – we’ll leave him behind in the hotel. Bandhavgarh was our first choice and we tried to rework the iti around that. However, we were told that tiger sighting is probable only at one gate and there is a limit to the no of safaris from that gate and unfortunately at the time of our visit it was fully booked out…destiny or what, the iti when we set out from Bangalore had NO mention of any wildlife reserves.

But then in Khajuraho, our hotel person recommended a visit to Panna national park early next morning, just about an hours drive from Khajuraho and on our way to Jabalpur. And so we are up really early next morning for our safari. Would we see a tiger or would S’s jinx prove true?

As we start for the safari, our guide keeps giving us info on the no of tigers and how many sightings in the last 2 weeks, the chance, the luck etc. I gauged he was under pressure to show us a tiger…so much so that he missed showing us so many beautiful birds that were flitting about. Finally, I told him…tiger is fine, it is a chance we may see but we are also interested in Birds and those are a sure shot. Why don’t you show us the birds and other wildlife…the smile on his face said it all! And so while the other entire safari jeeps went to the tiger viewpoint (as I called it), we were busy going to another part of the national park – more grassy, with more birds where we managed to see so many birds and two crocodiles . I have seen crocodiles many times but never, never a moving one. In Bannerghata national park, when we went for the nature walk, we saw a crocodile in the morning and on our return nearly 2.5 hrs later, he was still there – not having moved an inch!!! We saw one just lying around as usual at the edge of the water body and then …a movement in the water - finally saw a croc that was swimming and what a huge one…according to the guide he was 10ft…my friends thought he was exaggerating. I don’t care – it was swimming and was HUGE!

The Tigress Emerging from the forest	and walking towards River Ken

We then moved to the tiger observation point – a small raised hillock with a building where the tracking jeep and devices are kept. The Ken River flowing below and the forest across the river…some 10 safari jeeps had been waiting there for a tiger sighting for nearly an hour since 7:30 AM. As we wait, we see them leave one by one, bored and tired of waiting. Finally only 2 jeeps left, one in which a foreigner took a nap and ours. In 10 mins that also left and then as if she was waiting for everyone to leave, the tigress came out of the forest, walked slowly to the river edge, very gracefully looked left, looked right and then settled down in the water.

Several minutes later, she walked out of the water and literally did a RAMP WALK for us along the river edge. Now I know why they are called ROYAL. What a majestic animal. A great 12-15 min sighting, leaving us all totally wowed and me on a high for the rest of the trip.

S’s arguments that if we go with him, we won’t see thing were negated. The way he would go – where, where every time we saw something makes me wonder – jinx or a case of just looking in the wrong direction :-)

Dilli and Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh)

Casual conversation over drinks and dinner…loads of destinations discussed which I thought would be forgotten by morning...I didn’t really expect these travels to materialize so was surprised to see an email the next morn – “Getting the the hell out”. Some emails exchanged, some recce done, some silence...but then the poke from S. We finally did get out…to a destination that was never really considered initially. No regrets there though…it was a wonderful choice.

Madhya Pradesh, the heart of Incredible India. Really??? If I look at the map, it seems more like the stomach :-). Return tickets booked before the itinerary is finalized…awesome way to get us all committed to the trip.

Considerable reworking of the itinerary …nowhere close to what was suggested at the first instance and Day 1 we are on Delhi Metro for a gastronomic adventure in the Parantha wali gali of Chandni Chowk. Delhi sure welcomed us…what beautiful weather so, so unlike Delhi. Shop after shop selling the famous deep fried paranthas…we finally select one with some empty tables and am amazed at the variety – from the usual gobhi, dal, mooli, matar, paneer, pudina parantha to the very unusual papad, banana, cashew nut, rabdi , Kurchan and nimbu paranthas. My favorite – the Khurchan /karela parantha.

Unfortunately, the famous Ghantewala Jalebi Shop was closed and we had to make do with chat and jalebi from haldirams. After the experience of changing lines at the Central Secretariat station on the Metro, where there was no need to walk…one was just swept away by the crowd, we decided to just take autos to a nice hotel and chill there till our night train to Khajuraho.

Whattaay train it was…at night I kept wondering, so many stations…morning I realized it was one of those polite trains…giving way to all the other trains.

The one thing that started in Khajuraho and stayed with us all along was the hospitality of the people of MP. Always ready to help.

After a quick freshen up, we are ready to explore Khajuraho on that hot, hot day. A UNESCO world heritage site Khajuraho is believed to have had over 75 temples of which about 22 remain today. The sculptured temples are dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Jain deities but are more famous or rather world renowned for the sexually explicit carvings both inside and outside the temples because of which they are sometime also called as the Kamasutra temples.

According to their location, the temples are divided into three sections or zones - western, eastern and southern. We decide to start with the Eastern and Southern Group of Temples first and then post lunch move to the Western group. After a bit of a joy ride we reached the 1st of the temples, the Chaturbhuj temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Standing lonely on a high platform, this is the only temple that faces west. We are also told that this is the ONLY temple in Khajuraho devoid of any erotic carvings or sculptures and gets its name from the exquisite nine feet long statue of a four-handed Vishnu (Chatur – four and bhuja or bhujay – arms).

 

Next was the Vamana temple – with a really chubby statue of the Vamana/dwarf incarnation of Vishnu followed by the Javari temple, named so after the millet crop growing in the surrounding fields. While the main statue in the Javeri temple was headless, the entrance had a beautiful arch with Makaras. At the entrance gate were sculptures depicting Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and the nava-grahas. Finally we visited the Jain temples outside which local vendors tried to sell interesting key chains to our group. It was Khajuraho so I guess I don’t need to spell out what the key chains must have been like…but the killer was –yeh lock bhi ho jate hain ;-)

Lunch and some rest and we move to the Western group of temples. Here we got a good guide- quite knowledgeable and quite an entertainer –the way he would relate some of the stuff to the current lifestyle was quite humorous. And of course all those sexist jokes which one could expect as we looked around at the sculptures around each temple depicting couples in courtship, marriage, meditation, sex etc.

The Western group was more organized with a boundary wall surrounding the temples within a large rectangular complex - starting with the Varaha Mandap we move on to the Lakshmana Temple - unique for its four subsidiary shrines at the four corners of a rectangular platform. Each of these shrines is like a mini temple. And finally the Kandariya Mahadev Temple – the largest and most magnificent temple in Khajuraho

 

As we finish the tour of the temples, we see parakeets coming from all corners - we hang around and watch as there are these 2 particular trees where all converge for the night…in an hours’ time the trees are full and one cannot see even a bit of empty space …

A light and sound show in the temple complex which left much to be desired – the highlight of the show was the drizzle and the lovely weather :-) . At the end of it we are ready for dinner and to call it a day as we have an early morning start to Panna Wildlife Sanctuary the next day.

A day very well spent and its really impossible not to be amazed at the craftsmanship and intricate architecture of these temples built as early as 950 A.D.

Why do I travel?

I was asked to write for the Logica’s Women Network blog on Travel. They couldn’t  have chosen a better topic for me to write on. Below is what I posted on the Garam Chai blog.

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page! -  St. Augustine

I love to travel, explore new places and re-explore already explored places!
People who know me say, my eyes twinkle and I become a different person when I talk of old travels and plan for new travels.
Why do I travel? To learn and grow – when I visit better countries, I wish to improve my own. I have now realized it is possible to drive without honking and I do try to do so. And if I travel to a country worse than mine, I learn to appreciate my own country.

The perspective of the word Still changed after my visit to the Amazon Forest.
Visiting Hampi, Ajanta & Ellora, Golden temple, I learnt that as we build the so called ‘state of art’ sky scrapers, we forget Beauty.
Fear was redefined after being chased by an elephant in Kabini.
Skydiving in New Zealand instilled in me a new found Respect for myself.
Scandinavians give a new character to the word Honesty.
As we travelled in the Norwegian Fjords, I discovered Majestic.
For the first time we Listened to our guide to stick together, after my friends were mugged on Copacabana beach in Rio.

I could go on and on but for now I want to leave you all with a beautiful quote from Mark Twain - “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Heritage India Visits

2010 was year of Indian heritage site visits.

It started with Hampi, Pattadakal, Aihole, Badami and Bijapur  in January. Wonderful company, great guide and a change in my mindset. I always thought that we Indians didn’t know how to maintain and preserve our heritage. But the visit to Hampi and Pattadakal changed that. These sites were impeccably clean and well maintained. No loitering in the parks around the temples and most surprisingly, no Lays packets flying all around! There is a scope for improvement in Hampi as the way to the sites were quiet dirty. But still, kudos!!!

There was one thing that bothered me a lot though. Isn't it a shame that the sites have to be UNESCO protected and only then will we maintain them!

Loads of temples and ruins of palaces amidst vast stretches of boulder-strewn hills makes Hampi quite interesting. Matunga hill is a must climb for its beautiful view from the top …we went for the sunrise. People say sunset is even more beautiful that the sunrise. It wasn’t intentional, but I remembered one of our group commenting much before this trip…she was fed up of sunsets…sunset in the desert in Rajasthan, sunset over the ocean in Oia and what not! So I guess, for her sake, sunrise was a change!

2 days in Hampi were not enough….I know I could have spent some more time. But we had to move on to Pattadakal. Incredible India adverts and tickets have a picture of a temple, which I often thought was one of the Hampi temples. But it is actually the Pattadakal one. From there to the Aihole and Badami caves. Guess after Hampi and Pattadakal, these were a bit of a let down. Not that well maintained.

Bijapur…not sure why we had that one in this itinerary. It was far and tiring. And all we got time to see was the Gol Gumbaaz. Though no doubts it was awesome, specially the guide there, who thought he was next best to Jagjit Singh. To demonstrate the famous whispering gallery, he sang some nice ghazals for us. It did sound nice, I must say!

In September, it was Ajanta & Ellora Caves and Hazoor Sahib near Aurangabad. I was asked by my friend if I was interested and I said yeahhhh, still in 2 minds. There was an exchange of emails, which went to an email id I was hardly checking and before I knew it, bookings were done and I was part of that trip. No regrets though. Again, wonderful company, new friends and some adventures.

Recommendation for all….no need to climb the  Daulatabad Fort and drain your energy if you don’t have sufficient time. We were so tired after the climb in the hot sun, that we didn’t have enough time and energy left for the Ellora caves.

It was disappointing to see people loitering around eating food and making a mess in the caves. But they didn’t know what was in store for them when Meera went and complained to the officials there and made them clean up after them. And the mouthful that they got from the rest of us!

In Ajanta though I was in for a pleasant surprise. A man seemed to have some paan in his mouth and so the guard wouldn’t let him into the cave. When the man denied having something in his mouth, he made him open his mouth and checked it. I couldn’t resist appreciating this and giving him a ‘shaabash’

Ellora sculptuues and Ajanta paintings are mind-blowing. The 3D pictures, where as you turn around , the face of the child / bull seems to move with you were specially very impressive.

In November it was Amritsar. I have often been there on religious visits with my family. But we always just went to Harmandir Sahib and the surrounding Gurudwaras. Since this time I went with friends, I got a chance to visit the JallianWala Bagh. As if the site itself didn't make you shudder, the light and sound show in the evening in Amitabh Bachchan’s voice sure gives you the Goosebumps.

And finally, last but definitely the icing on the cake was Belur and Halebeedu near Chickmangalur.  Having a guide makes all the difference. As they explain the detailed ornate carvings, which otherwise would make no sense you are left in awe…what details, a small sculpture can explain an entire mythological story.

All these visits filled me with pride…

PROUD TO BE AN INDIAN!

O-India, Cycling, Indian Cultural Evening in Oulu!

I heard of an Oulu India group when I first came to Oulu. I tried to get in touch with one email id given on that site, but didn’t get any response and then just let go (I was told later that they don't entertain emails from official IDs. They want our personal IDs.). I nearly jumped out of my skin when about 3 months later, as Harsha and myself were window shopping at Rotuaari, we heard a loud, jolly voice asking us – are you Indians? It was Jacob Uncle and then he went on to explain to us about Indian community …the surprise being that there are nearly 200+ Indians in Oulu!!! and he was their patriarch! We were introduced to the term Findian – Indians staying in Finland. He gave us a quick rundown on how he had landed there etc. Told us to visit his blog and add ourselves to the Google group.

2 days later, I bumped into Renuka in the market square, a girl we had met at Nallikari when we first came to Oulu. She told us about some Cricket match that was happening and we decided to go with her…and who do we see there? Our very own Jacob Uncle!!!

What a day!!! Met several Indians and came to know what an active social life they keep…what with cricket matches, cultural programs and just general get togethers.

But the best part of the day was the Cycling! Wow…after nearly 20+ years I tried cycling again and in 2 mins I had overcome all apprehensions and doubts…it is true…YOU NEVER FORGET CYCLING!

Rubini had got her cycle along to practice, but between me and Harsha we didn’t want to return it to her. In fact we didn’t want to give anyone else a chance. Once she had it she didn’t want to give it to me and when I had it I didn’t want to give it to her! Rubini could have earned a few quick bucks if she decided to loan out her cycle for 30 mins!!!

After the match got over, we went to Jacob Uncle’s office just to hang around. There are 4 flats there that he rents out and loads of cycles. So while some played Badminton, some Carom, I got him to unlock a cycle for me and went off again!

It was awesome! I was so excited that I wanted to get myself a good second hand cycle and started asking all the people around if it is possible. Arun, from the university promised to help me and even tried. But unfortunately, the last week of May when many students return and decide to sell of their stuff, I had to go to India for urgent work and couldn’t get hold of a cycle. :-(. But the search continues!

After few days I heard that Oulu Indians are planning a Cultural evening on 12^th June, what with a full toosh singing and dancing program. Went for one of their planning meetings and was amazed to see the enthu that these people had. They had booked a nice YMCA hall and had nice professional posters printed and put up everywhere…including my office.

It was an excellent program around the Seasons in India, with all of them doing nice Bollywood numbers that went well with each season. I guess for me the surprise package was Bala, which I did tell him. Rubini, his wife, I kinda expected would dance well as I had seen in her one of the initial meetings show everyone a sample. But Bala had this ‘kuch toh kar layngay’ approach – we’ll do something…like this..like that.  But he did dance very well!!!

I had invited my friend Sirpa for the evening and she looked beautiful in the Indian outfit I got for from India. Infact she was quite happy as someone mistook her for an Indian and she took this as a compliment!!!

Kudos to all who the O-Indians who organized the event so well and to all the participants who put up such a great show!

We are like that only!

Every morning at least 8 to 10 people get off the bus at Nokia...Koreans, Chinese, Finns and some Indians...

Everyone walks on the pedestrian pathway…Oulu is known as one of the most friendly cities for cyclists and pedestrians.

Today, Suddenly I see this Indian, running across the road and the grass, cutting across from all corners to reach the office. The difference that this zig zagging made to the total distance is less than 10 steps!!!!

Pedestrian crossings exist at regular intervals on the street with several office buildings...Our man crosses the road bang in the middle of 2 pedestrian crossings!!!

Why are we like that only?

Fakir Manpreet!

 

The fakir on a bed of nails!

This snap was taken at a recent visit to the science centre Tieto Maa in Oulu. How easily I lay on the bed of nails and equally easily some people in India make a fool of the vulnerable villagers by saying they are performing feats of magic!!!

Anyways, to tell more about the science centre…it was really very nice. Science museums and centres can sometimes be very very boring as they have too much technical stuff. Even adults have difficulty comprehending all the details, forget the poor kids. Its quite a feat if you are able to spend a couple of hours there. But at Tieto Maa, it was an altogether different experience. Everything was explained by the way of a small game or task. e.g the Fakir bed – instead of just talking about mass, pressure etc, they had a bed of nails on which you could lie and test it for yourself.

Similarly for other laws that we have learnt in physics.

The one explaining centre of gravity was quite interesting. Several squares appear on a screen projected on a wall. A ball starts falling from the top and you have to move your body i.e change your centre of gravity to hit the boxes with the ball. As per the game I am not stable, with which I and some of my close friends would agree. I actually keep stumbling and falling!!!

There were several quizzes for different areas …again organized as a proper buzzer round for a quiz wherein upto 4 people can sit around and each one is given the same question to answer. I was looking at one of these and immediately 2 small boys came and sat on the other seats! And we had a quiz.

So many simulators…each one more fun than the other.  There was a 3D ski jump simulator, flight simulators, a time machine simulator. Another exhibit, not really a simulator, but still quite interesting. You stand on a high platform and jump onto a mattress. They then simulate and show you your jump in slow motion.

There was one whole floor called Sporttimus where you could try various sports. There was even a pit stop for car racing where you can actually try and change 2 tyres for a car. The turning wall was also quite popular.

Couple of things that I noticed -

• Everywhere there were small kids accompanied by parents – both categories having a blast.  One mom was busy playing a game herself, while her kids were playing some other game! 
  
• Teenagers (early as well as late teens!)…unaccompanied by adults.  It was like a group of friends who have come for an outing. This is very unlike western culture where teenagers just hang out! 
  
• I had gone alone and wanted to try the Dance Machine. It should be 2 people competing but I went on it alone. A girl in her late teens came up and asked me if she could join me. I thought that it was very considerate of her. She could have done it with her friends but realised that I was alone and just came up to me!
  
• And finally is possible to spend several hours in a science museum and not get bored. I spent close to 5 hrs and could have spent more time but it was closing time!

Kabini - June 2009

Had been wanting to go to Kabini Jungle Lodges for dogs years but it aint easy to get bookings there. Every time some friends and I managed to close down on a date we would find to our dismay that the place is fully booked out. Finally we decided to book nearly 2 months in advance and keep our fingers crossed that nothing would come up at the last minute.

So a nice Saturday morning in June four of us set off for Kabini. If some one had a look at the eatables that we were carrying they would think we are going for a week to a place where there would be no decent food! And the moment we got in we were discussing where we are gonna have breakfast!

We stopped for breakfast at Kamaths. Last 50 kms were too funny...every time we asked someone how far we were or tried to guess from the map that we had, where we were, we thought we were 25 kms away...and then we would reach another milestone and realize it was still 25 kms away! Anyways FINALLY reached Jungle Lodges in time for lunch...and immediately fell in love with the place.

The hunting lodge of the erstwhile Maharaja of Mysore it has the most amazing colonial style architecture. And lots and lots of tree sprawl the whole place. The cottages overlook the tranquil backwaters of the River Kabini and just outside the cottages are hammocks where you can just laze and relax! No wonder it is rated by the British Tatler’s Travel Guide as one of the top 5 wildlife resorts in the world. (and the reason why Suju insisted that we go to Kabini only and not anywhere else)

In all I managed to do some 4 safari – 3 jeep safaris in the jungle and one boat safari on the Kabini river, apart from the coracle joy ride. I never expected to see the amount of wildlife that I saw. Though the tiger was elusive as ever, we saw everything else in great abundance. We spotted so many elephants including tuskers that by the end of it there was very little excitement when we saw a elephant. One near the Kabini bank had tusks that were nearly as long as his trunk!

And of course I should mention the tusker charge. A smallish elephant was busy grazing on the side of the track –barely 4 feet away from us. As we slowed down to watch him don’t know what came over him that he started trumpeting and charging at us. While everyone was busy shrieking, I was busy trying to capture him on my camera. Below is the clip from which you can make out how close he was. In fact you can even see Suju’s cap in the clip!


Herds and herds of Spotted Deer - not small ones but hundreds of them and loads with antlers too. Now I can believe when they say that Kabini is one of the brightest beacons for wildlife preservation in India today. Apart from the many tuskers and deer with antlers that we saw, we also saw a pair of antlers that would have fallen off in the natural course but were still lying untouched in the forest. (It seems that the antlers serve as food for hedgehogs etc and so there is a new rule that these are not to be picked!)

Sambas, Indian Gaur and Langoors were other wildlife that we saw. On the last morning we were told by 2 jeeps that they saw Wild Dogs but they seemed to be evading us...but I guess not for long. As we reached the bank of Kabini we spotted 3 of them just lazing around quite close to the deer on the other bank. As we were watching one of them suddenly got up. We got quite excited thinking that we were going to see a kill but some how it seemed the Dogs were not in a mood for they made a very half hearted attempt at chasing deer.

The boat safari was very, very good. We were lucky to catch a Crocodile just lazing on one of the small islands. And to complete the show after few minutes he decided to slide into the water and we saw him swim away and for few secs with just his snout and eyes out. Awesome site...

Apart from that we saw what I would call an elephant baraat! Some 13 elephants in one herd followed by another herd with some 15 more elephants. While one herd was just crossing over to the Nagarhole side...one herd swam and came to an island in the middle...and this is when I realized that ‘ELEPHANTS CAN SWIM!’ As we watched them we also saw 2 elephants fighting in the water. It seemed as one was stopping the other from crossing over. We were told by the guide that this is the mating season!

This was not the season for bird watching. In Nov/Dec many migratory birds come here and the jungle comes alive with their tweeting and chattering...but STILL I managed to see soooo many birds...I nearly saw all the Welham birds – Kingfisher, Golden Back Woodpecker, Bulbul and Oriole. Unfortunately missed seeing my own house bird – Hoopoe!

At one point I heard some kind of honking and was wondering which idiot was honking in the forest when we saw the Black Drongo. This bird is known for its mimicry and the honking was his courtesy!

The Eagles looked so magnificent. As we were watching a Crested Hawk Eagle atop a tree we were told that his span is really beautiful. I was like – fly, fly, please fly for us when we were told by the other occupants in the jeep that this bird is not at all shy and will not move. But I guess they spoke too soon because soon after that he flew off. Talk about telepathy! In fact that happened once again a little later with a Blue Jay too. I wanted it to fly so that we could see all his colors. The guide was too good – he was whistling like a bird but it still refused to move. Till I started begging...please move and it just flew off.

Painted Storks, Peacocks, Serpent Eagle, Purple Heron, Green Imperial Pigeon, Cormorants, Egrets were also very kind to us and blessed us with sightings!

I had the most wonderful time...more than my expectation as I never expected to see so much wildlife...and the resort was excellet too...well maintained and very friendly naturalists.

Recommend everyone to make a trip there!

Unusual fishing

Have you ever seen anyone catch or yourself caught fish with bare hands…no nets, no fancy rods….
In Kerala, that is how little boys make some quick money from tourists… We were in a house boat in the backwaters of Kerala and this little boy (not more than 12 years) is waving, screaming to get my attention…when I finally look at him he says…madam…for 5 Rs I will catch fish and show you…He does not even wait for me to agree and jumps into the water…and in a minute he is right next to our boat with a fish in his hand…and the cutest smile that I ever saw…

Just yesterday I was reminiscing about the Golden Temple… imagine my surprise when I opened the newspaper this morning to find that it made it to No 2 on the Seven Wonders of India :-))

(Seven wonders of India was an initiative by the Times of India to get its readers to vote for Seven Wonders from a showcase of 20. This was on the lines of the voting for the Seven Wonders of the World, albeit on a smaller scale. )

Harmandir Sahib– Amritsar

One of the places that I like to visit again and again…

No matter how much turmoil is going in one’s mind, no matter how troubled one is or stressed out, one forgets everything… there is such a feeling of peacefulness all around…

And when I go with my mom she’ll make sure we are up at 4:00 AM to be their for the 1st prayers of the day…its inspirational…Every time I have thought…why cant I be more calm and less hyper all the time…
(Unfortunately the feeling goes away once I return to the hustle bustle of everyday life :-()

It’s soooooooo beautiful…the golden temple in the centre of the Sarovar ... the holy tank. It is believed by us that taking a dip in the Sarovar cures one of all illnesses…

As small kids my mom would take us there often, but my first memories are of a summer when I was about 12…maybe 13 yrs old. For 21 days, we went to the temple every morning at 4:00 AM, took our dip in the Sarovar, followed by doing a Parikrama - walking around the circumambulatory path which runs round the main temple. This then leads via a bridge to the ‘Har ki Paure’ (steps of God).
Somewhere in between the Parikrama is a tree – the Dukh Bhanjani Beri – Healer of Sorrows. It is believed that doing a short prayer here is sure to get you out of all your problems. My mom swears by it!!!
And finally eating a full bowl of the Karah Prasad… the Sacred sweet.

For non Sikhs who feel like visiting Harmandir Sahib, no worries. It is open to all. The Golden temple, unlike most other temples having only one gate for the entrance and exit, has 4 gates. The significance of this is that it is accessible to every person without any distinction of Caste, creed, sex and religion.

Hmmm… feel like going there right away…Its going to be nearly been 2 years since my last visit :-(

Maravanthe

Close to Udupi in Karnataka is Maravanthe - on the tourist map for its beach.

I visited Maravanthe during 2 seasons and the difference is amazing. Once during the Monsoons and the 2nd time in winter - New Years Day to be precise.

For a short stretch we have the NH-17 running with the Arabian Sea on one side and the Sauparnika River on the other. It’s a unique site…a road running in between 2 water bodies.

Cruising along the highway during the Monsoons (August 2003) when we reached Maravanthe, there was no beach to be seen. The turbulent sea was in full fury, lashing against the barricades made of rocks, looking really dangerous. On the other side was the relatively calm river. We were just enjoying the contrast and it started drizzling … picture perfect

As if the above contrast was not enough, when I visited Maravanthe during the dry winter (Jan 2007) there was this endless unspoilt sandy beach on a clear day with the hot sun shining on our heads. The sea looked so gentle and very, very inviting.

Made me wonder, is this the same place that I visited some years back?