My friends visit to Mumbai and the instant refreshing outings!

My friends visit to Mumbai and the instant refreshing outings

(Diwali Special- Memorable Break)

This Diwali, I had got visitors to my work city, Mumbai. All my roommates had gone back to their homes, but I couldn't afford going home as I had exhausted almost all my leaves, and the 4 days continuous holidays wouldn't have sufficed for going home for me. But never mind, I had a fantastic Diwali. An environment of home away from home was created by my lovely friends, Nini and Monty, who came all the way from Delhi to my city just at one call. That’s what friends are for, right? Absolutely! So, I tried to make their visit as fruitful as it could be, and planned itinerary for visiting places, acting as their guide for the tour. Monty had been in Mumbai long back, so she was familiar with the city, but as it’s her first visit for Nini, we tried to cover as much places as possible. In a way, it was Mumbai-darshan dobara for me. To see places in Mumbai at first visit had been full of excitement and wonder; to see so much of crowd and unique places around, but to visit all the places from a perspective of a Mumbaikar, which now I have become, is entirely a different story. Lol

So, here we go by day wise outings, though I would keep it short. Don’t worry. :-P

Day-1; Kanheri Caves, Hanging Garden, Marine drive and gateway of India

(22^nd October)

It was the day, when in the morning at around 8 o’clock they arrived, and I took one day leave from office. I was so happy to see them after more than a year, and they were equally happy and excited. I don’t forget to thank God every now and then to bless me with the best people as my friends. So, after getting all fresh and ready, we set out for nearest destination, Kanheri caves. It was my fourth visit to the caves. As there are group of 108 caves, it’s quite difficult to cover all in one visit, so we have to skip so many caves. But for me, it’s like exploring a new cave every time with a new route. This time I could go into the hall, inside which there were so many little and dark chambers, which would have been used by monks for meditation purposes. As my friends are full of life and excitement, we could take the most challenging routes, like climbing on straight walls to make the shortest route to the top, and climbing on trees and posing like monkeys. And to add more fun to the trip, we met few guys from North-east, who also joined us in exploring the remotest corners of the park with more fun and laughter.

"The Kanheri caves @ Lungs of Mumbai"

After some adventure in and around the caves, we left for other places and covered Hanging garden, Marine drive, Gateway of India, along with our North-eastern friends. The day one ended with a dinner at Café Mondegar. I am not describing any details, as I had already noted down my experiences in earlier notes, when everything was new to me. ;-)

"Mumbai Darshan Dobara"

Day-2 ; Elephanta caves and Diwali at Kharghar

(23^rd October)

Our day was fully planned; visit Elephanta first, and then in the evening to visit our friend Tanzin and his wife Dimpi at Khargar with the intension of surprising them. Tanzin is Nini’s first cousin and mine and Monty’s friend. It’s with them that I went to Elephanta in 2012, when I was new to the city. We boarded ferry from Gateway of India and had a fun-filled ride.  As it was Nini’s first journey by a ferry, so I could feel the excitement she had been experiencing. The weather on both days, were quite hot, as October heat denied to spare us, thus piercing through our skin. But we didn’t mind the heat, as the feelings of togetherness and bonding were stronger than the heat itself. Hmm

"Elephanta fun; beating the October heat"

In the evening, when we reached Tanzin’s house, I went first while two of them kept going up-down in the lift. I entered as pre-informed and after a little while, Nini and Monty rang the doorbell. But strange, they were not surprised at all! The reason was that a moment before our arrival, Tanzin’s sister had called him and told him that he could expect some surprise guests along with me. Our entire surprise plan went into dust. Then again, never mind! We all were so happy to see each other, that too on an auspicious occasion like Diwali, when nobody would prefer to be alone, but with family and friends. So there we were, as a family, all ready to celebrate the Diwali.

After Dimpi, Tanzin’s wife, lighted the lamps and did some puja, we all went out and burst some fuljhadis as Shgun, though we all were against crackers; the bigger ones and the noisy ones. Then we put on some songs on tv; old and new, and danced crazily; laughing, shouting, running, rolling on floor etc. We had full fledged fun till we were tired and it was too late. So, this Diwali had been quite memorable and rocking one.

"A home away from home; Diwali fun"

Day 3-4; Lonavala & Khandala)

(24-25^th October)

We got back to Malad from Kharghar in the morning, and got our stuffs packed including the instant cooked pulao for lunch. We left by 12 o,clock and waited for Bus at Pushpa park bus stop at Malad (E). But at that point of the time, private buses were not available, and also state transport buses were less frequent, and whichever bus came, it came fully occupied as well. After waiting for almost an hour, we decided to go to the origin point of Bus, i.e. Borivali Bus station, where we got one bus after 20 minutes. We made the right decision, and were glad of our decision, for when we reached Malad, the bus got full again. We would not have got seats again, if we hadn’t gone there. Lol

Thus our journey started. It’s my first ever visit to Lonavala, though I had passed through it on many occasions. The drive through Pune-Mumbai expressway has always kept me captivated. The broad roads and the surrounding beauty of Western Ghats combine to give the best of the best to the travelers.

We reached Lonavala at around 4 o’clock, and went searching for the best located hotel, away from the commotion of the city centre, and successful we were in the quest, though the rates were quite high given to the weekend holidays.  We got fresh, ate the pulao we carried along and by 5:00 pm we left to explore the Lonavala city. Roaming through the streets, crossing the market centre, we finally stopped at Kumar resort, which is quite famous in Lonavala for water sports. It has one famous restaurant, the Kebab restaurant, which has live ghazal performances in it. We roamed around the park, did some fun stuffs and when it started getting dark, we started walking towards our hotel. One thing which I found everywhere i.e. on every shop is ‘Chikki’ shop; yeah Lonavala is famous for chikkis! ;p

"Let's explore a bit of the new city" ;)

The next morning, which was the main day of the tour, we booked a cab for the day @ Rs. 1500/-, which promised to cover almost all the important points of Lonavala and Khandala.

Our tour started with Narayani dham, a temple dedicated to Goddess Naryani, which is quite big and beautiful, and it has the facility of rooms as well. We paid a quick visit to the main shrine and paid our obeisance, and as her blessings Goddess Narayani sent drizzles from the sky; yeah it kept drizzling throughout our tour, thus adding to the beauty of already beautiful Lonavla hills.

"Let's take the blessings first; @ The Narayani Dham"

Then we moved on, driving through the winding roads, to our second destination for the day; the Karla caves, another Buddhist caves dating back to 2^nd century. Have you realized that I am visiting more of caves this year than anything else? Hell, there should be something in it, isn’t it? Hmm … These caves are also associated with Buddhism, and to some extent I found it similar to Kanheri caves, especially the main shrine hall.

"Why the heck, the caves keep inviting me?" :P

Our third destination was ‘Lion’s point/Shooting point’ which became the highlight of the trip. Even the drive towards it, was one of the best; hills, greenery, rain-drizzle and we on the road, just loved it. The zigzag roads seemed like dancing with smooth moves, while on one side the Monsoon green waved and on other side autumn yellow danced. The wind produced the best loud music for all. And three of us with perfect moods, were all into that perfect trip. We passed through many dried waterfalls, aftermath of monsoon, Bhushi dam and Lonavla lake on the way, which all added to the surrounding beauty. After reaching at Lions point, the moment we got out of the car, the sudden gush of the wind welcomed us, making us all go wild. We ran, jumped, sang, and danced out of pure joy at the accompaniment of chilly wind music. We felt that at any moment we will be swept away by the forceful wind, but still we loved it, and went towards there, where the fastest gush blew. Nini and Monty later danced while I became the cameraman. Lol it was really something different and exciting. We felt alive. ;)

"The wind therapy, just loved it!"

Then we drove towards city and stopped at Wax Museum, where wax statues of many famous people were kept. Some of the statues really looked like real, while some were otherwise. Why do we need to go to Madam Taussads, when we have our own museum here in India? Lol

"O yeah, they are just wax statues!" 

At khandala, which was our last destination, first we went to Rajamachi, where the wind speed was even greater and faster. We tried to stand near the railings and pose, but we were not able to. All our clothes felt like tearing apart and we felt as if our hair would soon be blown away from our heads, thus leaving us bald for life. Such was the speed of wind that Nini’s scarf blew away of her head and got stuck at the branches of a nearby tree. But she didn’t want to part with it, so after shouting for a while, when she insisted on climbing up the tree which itself was moving harshly, someone came to help. The gentleman, who helped in getting Nini’s scarf down, later requested to have a photo with us; given to our Mangolian features, they thought us to be unique creatures to be clicked along. Lol

"Dear windy wind, plzzz spare our hair atleast!" Lol

"Nini's scarf being saved; by some superman!" Lol

We went to a nearby temple, and then went walking towards sun-set point, from where is visible the famous dukes nose. There also the wind blew like anything. The roadside vendors, who were selling corns and pani puri etc complained of their money being blown away with the wind. They had to be so careful with their holds on things, lest soon shall they be left with nothing. This was our last point of sightseeing. We relished some hot bhuttas and bhel puri, protecting them hard from the forceful wind, and with stomachs full of excitement, we started for Bus stand, from where we boarded a bus to Mumbai for our return journey.

"The sun-set point; see dukes nose!"

Catching a bus was also a big thing, due to huge crowds of Mumbaikar assembled there, who came for the weekend refreshment and now heading their journey home. It was almost like Mumbai local; pushing and pulling going on with continuous shouting. Lol

We reached Navi Mumbai in one and half hours, and got down at Kharghar, as per promise to stay at Tanzin’s place.

Day-5; Kharghar hills/ Pandav Kada

(26^th October)

Day fifth, we left everything on Tanzin, asking him to take us wherever he wanted. And guess where he took us? Panadav kada, in kharghar hills, where I visited this monsoon with Deepali and had a blast amidst enchanting waterfalls and sexy green surroundings. Now, the scenario was completely different; the waterfall being dried, greenery giving way to autumn yellow fading grasses and trees, and there were lesser people as compared to Monsoon rush, so lesser noise. That’s the best thing when you visit a place off-season, when very few people go, for then you feel the peace prevailing there, and your soul connects to that particular place, and you have an inner conversation with nature’s every aspect that leaves a mark in your soul.  That’s what I believe and I felt there too, like many other places I’ve visited. So I recommend you to visit a place on-season, when you want to have fun with your friends and loved ones, and visit it off-season to find your own self.

"Quite an adventurous day, indeed!" ;-)

Here also we, five of us got ample time to be in our own respective thoughts, along with the fun part we had. We walked through the boulders of the dried stream, for quite a long stretch. There was a water pool, in which we, the girls got in and had loads of fun. When we finally reached the top, we all were quite tired and thirsty, so after staying there for 15-20 minutes, we turned to return. On our way back also, Nini, Monty and Dimpi insisted on going into the water, where they had extra fun, whereas Tanzin and I walked ahead and sat on a clean surface, eating almonds and listening to kinnauri songs on phone, while waiting for them.

In the evening we got back to Malad, as it was Monday the next day, and my holidays were over. It was so painful and heavy to go back to office, especially after five full days’ fun and masti with friends. The next two days, Nini and Monty roamed around on their own; shopping in Bandra, visiting the places like, Haji ali and Juhu. I hope they had fun!

"Two beautiful souls"

And on 29^th evening, they left for Delhi, carrying hoards of memories from here and leaving beautiful memories behind, for me to cherish. I thank God once again for the wonderful friends I have. Amen! J

This Diwali had really been “A-Awesome”

Autumn Fourteen; I had good things in store for me!

Autumn Fourteen; I had good things in store for me! 

(A refreshing trip to home with instant tours to few beautiful places)

Travel, travel and travel! My autumn has always been sweet to me, by giving me chances to do the things I love. For I love traveling the most, it made me travel and travel, while taking its own chance to unravel its own beauty very smartly. Hmm

I will try to keep this note as short as possible, for time now is becoming a concern. (Sigh)

Well, I took leave of complete 2 weeks from work on the eve of Dusshehra, and flew to Chandigarh (my base camp- lol) on 27^th September.  Two of my elder sisters, Sonam and Zangmo were already there. Aji Sonam works as a lecturer in Kasauli, a small hill town in Himachal, and she came to Chandigarh so that we could travel back home to Kinnaur together. And Aji Zangmo was there for some routine check up as she hadn’t been keeping well for quite a long time.  As per plan, Aji Sonam and I were to travel to Kinnaur by Bus at night on 28^th of October. And we both were ready by 4:00 pm on 28^th, when suddenly I thought of calling Dad. And good that I called, as he was on his way to Chandigarh from Kinnaur, for some work which would take him a good 3 days. What then? My mind started cooking its own thing, which later on came as a sudden change of plan i.e. wait for Dad to finish his work and we shall travel together to home by his car. Well, it was agreed and I offered both my sisters a tempting quick little trip to Kullu Valley. And soon all three of us were ready. We caught 8:30 pm Bus to Kullu and reached Kullu at 7:00 am in the morning. One thing which we all would never forget in our lifetimes,  was the way Aji Zangmo stopped the bus at 4:00 am, making every single person on the bus wake up and look around in wonder, which she repeated on our return journey too, with the same reaction from the other passengers. LOL! We kept teasing her throughout, even after the trip ended. LOL

Part-1: Brief Kullu Diary:

After getting fresh and having our breakfast at Aji Sonam’s friend’s place at Bhuntar, we left for Bijli Mahadev, our long aspired destination. You can take shared taxis as well as buses to Bijli Mahadev, quite frequent from Kullu Bus stand. We boarded a bus, which took around 2 hours to reach Chansari, from where we have to trek upto 3 kms to reach the main shrine, located at the hilltop at an altitude of 2460 m.

"That Memorable Trek"

The trek was quite moderate, as well defined tracks had been laid. Moreover as Sister Zangmo is quite slow in walking, we would rest at every short interval, finally reaching the top at around 1 o’clock. But once we reached the top, she was the one to walk faster as she was thrilled by the beauty of the lush green forest surrounding the meadows, which obviously attracted her pace. We sighed in joy, all at once! J

"We came face to face with the beauty" 

The story behind this beautiful shrine which intrigued us is the belief that the priest of the temple, has to restore the Shiva linga placed inside the temple using butter and sattoo after every lightning as it shatters to pieces with flash of lightning. And true it seemed when we had a closer look on the linga after paying our obeisance. There was something divine in the surrounding of the small temple, which felt quite peaceful and magical, irrespective of the noises of children playing around, along which the loud taps of footsteps on the wooden floor. The cold wind blew from the other side of the temple, carrying cold breezes of the river valley below to the top of the mountain. Forcefully magical!

"Divinity leaves its proof too"

We took full round of the temple and then found a cozy surface, facing Kullu valley, to sit and rest. We stayed there for a good 2 hours; eating, playing with the dogs around and relishing the beautiful view of Kullu and Parvati Valley.

"From Parvati Valley blew the magical wind"

"In the lap of nature, you feel the peace and the joy"

We started descending at 3:00 pm and reached down at 4:00. As the trek was satisfactorily tiring to sister Zangmo, we went back to Aji Sonam’s friend’s place and stayed there for the night.

The next morning (30^th Oct), we first went to Dechen Chhokey Monastery at Sharabai at just few minutes’ walk from the place we were staying in. well, let me tell you, I had no clue of this monastery till Shantanoo, one of my friends, texted while we were traveling to kullu, saying, “If you are going to Kullu, go to this Monastery at Bhuntar.” His aunt lives near the monastery itself. So on his recommendation; we went walking towards the monastery, which was quite big and beautiful. As we tried to ascend through a short cut, through some bushes, we lost our way and reached someone’s house instead, who later guided us the way for the Monastery. Lol. But that’s alright, for we reached the Monastery finally. One of Shantanoo’s cousins, Lucky showed us around, and later, he took us to Aunty’s house, who gave us a warm welcome.

"The DC Monastary; Peacefully located and beautifully made"

"Lucky showing us around" :-)

We sat there for quite long sipping tea and chatting, and then left for destination next. The next destination we set for the day was Naggar. It’s here that the famous art gallery of Sir Nicholas Roerich is situated. Nicholas Roerich was the great artist, who travelled all the way from Russia to India, later settling down at Naggar and creating magic through his paintings, which mostly had been inspired from the Himalayas. We took a shared taxi from Patlikuhl to Naggar which was around 12 kms drive. The taxi stopped at the centre of the town, from where the gallery was another 2 kms. There were taxis available for that stretch also, but we preferred to walk. As I am addictive to walking, my sisters had to give in too. So in less than an hour, walking through the Naggar town, taking every possible short cut by asking to the locals, we reached the gallery.

"Naggar ki galion me, chalo chalein"

It was Sir Roerich’s big white wooden house which had been turned to a museum now. No photography was allowed inside the room where original paintings of the great artist were displayed. Every piece of his work; from the mountain tops, from snowy tops to bare tops, sun-reflected tops, sun shadowed tops to the valleys to gaddi girl, all had something deep within them. Every piece seemed to be coming out of the paint, just alive and fresh in front of our very eyes. My great admiration goes to this man for feeling deeply the love of nature and expressing them through his paintings. We visited his son Svetsolav Roerich’s memorial, who equally was a great artist. His deep piercing eyes seemed quite intriguing and he seemed to have required no words to utter, for his eyes themselves were story teller.

"The great house/gallery of the great Sir Roerich" 

Then we took a round of Roerich house, which was kept intact and clean, located at the best location, surrounded by lush green trees and from the terrace of which we could have a good view of Naggar town.

And then we went to Urusvati Himalayan Folk & Art Museum, which was a 100 m trek up from the art gallery. 'Uruswati' is a Sanskrit word, which means 'Light of the Morning Star'. It houses some of the interesting paintings of Sir Roerich and his Russian followers, as well as the traditional costumes of Himalayan belt. Though I have very less understanding of art, but they all were worth admiration.  It took us around 2 hours to explore the galleries.

"Himalayan art Museum"

As both my sisters insisted on taking bath in hot sulpher water, we decided to stay for the night at Kalath, where is located one of the natural hot water spring, where people in large numbers come to take bath with the hope of getting rid of their bodily diseases. We booked a room in a hotel, which has its own private connection of hot spring water. My sisters went twice for the dip, but I preferred to take bath in normal bathroom water. My laziness! Lol

"The enchanting river Beas"

With hoards of memories we left for our return journey to Chandigarh on 1^st October.

Part-2: Road Trip to Home (Kinnaur)

As dad had one more days work at Chandigarh, we took rest on 2^nd, while in the evening went for Bang Bang, the Hrithik Roshan Movie. And next day i.e. 3^rd Oct early morning, we left for Kinnaur. The drive with Dad is always fun, and though I hardly get the chance to travel with him for our schedules clashing every time, I enjoy to the fullest whenever I get the chance.

Driving leisurely through Himalayan expressway and National Highway-05, we reached Rampur at 2:00 pm. But as Dad had some work at Rampur, we stayed there for the night, and travelled next day to home, which was still about 200 kms away. As the roads there are not smooth, being a hilly mountainous road, bumps, curves, turns, upward, downward, the drive gets quite slow and adventurous. People travel from home to other places, but I travel from other places to home. Earlier studies and now job, have kept me far from home. And I hardly get to travel frequently, but once a year, that too for a short duration of one or two days. So every time I travel, it’s like traveling to a new place, as mountain roads keep changing, affecting the landscapes around. Every time I travel home, there would be some different road diverting here and there as the old roads would have been damaged beyond repair. The work on the Kinnaur roads is a forever thing. People’s construction v/s nature’s deconstruction game go side by side, making the travelers wonder and sigh during long intervals of wait over some blocked road and traffic jam. But the people living there had formed a habit of such troublesome journey keeping their faith and hope in midst of despair. Hmm

"The Road leading to my home; A memorable drive with Pa and Di"

"Intrigued me; Its like a devil at the verge of gulping some helpless creature, when suddenly a light shone on the other side of the mountain, making the devil go awestruck, who then forgot to close his mouth." :P

Thus travelling through those majestic roads, we reached home at around 7:00 pm.  And guess what! Everyone was happy to see me healthy this time. Yes I have put on 5 kgs of good and healthy weight. (Wink) Mom was happiest to see me this way, as she had always been complaining of my lean body with protruding bones over my shoulder. Lol

My life is never planned. Surprises knock at my heart’s door every now and then with tempting and irresistible offers. Something like this happened the next morning. I went to the Altar of the house to pay my obeisance, when suddenly one of my brother, Tsewang, who’s settled in Tabo, at Lahaul Spiti and who came to attend a marriage ceremony at Chango the previous night, came, and directly said,”Get ready, I am taking you to Tabo!”  What else would I want; I, who always look for excuses to go and travel, got ready quickly with my sister. And then, traveling through the barren mountainous roads with blue sky with tinges of white cumulus above and serpent like Spiti River flowing beautifully along, we headed for Tabo.

"Journey amidst the Autumn Magic!"

I am not going to stretch it long, but the trip has been amazing, as this time I covered some caves on the mountains along with the famous and magnificent Tabo Monastry, which is well known to every traveler, Indian or foreigner.

"Perfect_Caves_Natural"

"Tabo Monastery"

"No caption required, when the picture speaks for itself"

We returned to Chango the same evening and had momo party at sister Tsering’s house, refreshing thousands of old memories and reached home quite late when everybody was asleep. So late for a village night, huh. J

Next two-three days I stayed at home, did a lot of peeling of fresh almonds, the season being on full swing and during free time played with my nephew, who considers me a friend, given to my short height and childlike nature. He was damn shocked when his mother (my sis-in-law) said, “You know, bua (aunt) is an officer!” He was like,”Hain, sachi me, you are lying!” Lol I treasured each little thing and moment till I was there and had a memorable stay at home, though shorter. J

 

"My best friends at home; Maa and Anam (nephew)"

Part-3 : Return journey to Chandigarh via Shimla

I spent a good autumn break of 3-4 days with my family at my village, and then started the return journey to Chandigarh on 8^th October. Kesang, my brother came to drive me and Aji Sonam to Chandigarh as a good brother. As we were stuck in traffic at one of the diversion at cholling for more than 4 hours, we halted at Rampur, and traveled next morning. I had made prior appointments with my friend Annie and friend cum brother Ishan at Shimla, so I got down at Shimla. We all were so happy to see each other after such a long time. We talked, shared, walked, teased each other and relived the good olden days at Mall road.

"Re-lived the Fursat ke din for one day"

On 10^th Oct. I reached back to Chandigarh, and spent 2 days with my sisters, brother, nephews and friends. The time felt like slipping away and I tried to make most of it, and yes I did. I squeezed those few days on my own way and lived each and every moment with my loved ones.

"The last day and night of the freedom" :-)

And soon, it was 12^th, the day my return flight to my work place, Mumbai had been booked. But no worries, as I was more than satisfied with my autumn break. Now back to Mumbai, the autumn heat over here which is full of sweaty moments, is incomparable to the autumn I had at Himachal and Chandigarh, which was heavenly. But I have no complaints, for I have lived my part of good life in a good way. Thank you Autumn_14 for being so good to me. J

Kerala;God's own country & Kanyakumari; the sangam of three oceans!

Kerala;God's own country & Kanyakumari; the sangam of three oceans.

(28^th Aug to 30^th Aug.)

“My marriage date has been fixed for 28^th August,” Lovely, one of our roommates said excitedly one fine day. Our eyes, especially mine flashed, even before she invited any of us; not because she is getting married, but because we found an excuse in her marriage to visit Kerala, God's own country. And the additional goody was that she hails from one of the southern districts i.e Kollam of Kerala, from where Kanyakumari is just 200 kms drive. So, all these made dozens of butterflies run into my belly; the prospect of seeing parts of both Kerala and Tamil Nadu at one go. I along with Deepali and Rishika got ready for the exciting itinerary, and pre-booked flight tickets without bothering how costly it was (for govt. Servants like us flying is not our first option with our not so handsome salary) Lol But never mind!

Soon the day came, but things were not going quite all right. The day before our scheduled departure, I had an argument with Deepali for some trivial matter, and for that we were not talking to each other. But still, hoping for the best, we all kept our bags packed and ready on the night of 27^th August 14.

Day-1 (28^th August 14)

(Meynad, Kollam, Munroe Island & Ashtmudi Lake)

Rishika acting as a mediator between me and Deepali, we all set out of home at 4:55 am, as we had our Air India flight to catch at 6:30. Speaking of Air India! As usual, some unwanted thing happened that day again. After flying in air for a good 20 minutes, they announced that there's some technical problem in the aircraft due to which one left door wasn't opening. So, it landed back to Mumbai. And after their attempt to fix it failed, they announced for a last minute change of aircraft, which all took more than 2 hours. Finally it took off at 9:15 am. We landed at Trivandrum airport at 11:15 am, where the Cab pre-booked by Lovely for us, picked us up.

 

"The spectacular view we got while landing."

We were supposed to go straight to the Church at Lovely's village Meynad in Kollam, which was another two hour’s drive from there. By the time we reached, the actual marriage ceremony that we wished to see was already over, and people were having lunch. What timing! We felt as if we came not for the marriage, but for the lunch. Such an embarrassing situation! Hmm.

"Our best wishes to the beautiful Bride."

We had a glimpse of Lovely in her angelic white color gown, posing for pictures with the man of her life, on the stage. She looked so happy and pretty. (Touchwood!) After having done with the lunch and wishing Lovely and her hubby a very happy life ahead, as they left the marriage venue to pay a quick visit to girl's house, before leaving for Trivandrum to her permanent home, we also followed in our cab. The best thing about a Christian marriage of Kerala, is its pure simplicity and lesser show-off, unlike the weddings in most of the Indian communities, including my own. We were in her house for a quick 15 minutes, and then left for Munroe Island and Ashtmudi Lake, which were 52 kms from there and took us an hour to reach. As Haseem, the driver, drove us to Munroe Island, the three of us started dozing off now and then, trying hard to keep our eyes open, but to no use as we didn't have a proper sleep and also because we were so tired by then.

After taking us for a round, Haseem, stopped near a boat, so that we could enjoy the scenic view of Munroe Island. The boat ride was quite relaxing. The peaceful environment of the Island, with the soulful music of splashing of water, fully surrounded by coconut trees and the simple, innocent gestures of the Island people, were all quite therapeutic. It looked quite hard for the people living in the Island, as they have to transport everything to the other side of the narrow lake. Our eyes broadened and heart thumped as canoeing through the narrow water body, the boat entered into a vast open lake. Oh yes! It was Ashtmudi lake; a very beautiful lake for the viewers, and very deep ocean for the thinkers. As we were short of time, we couldn't stay there for long. So with beautiful memories and refreshed souls, we started our return journey to Kollam.

 

"Refreshing boat ride at Munroe Island." 

"Ashtmudi; Beautifully deep." 

Lovely had already made our staying arrangement for the night at one of her friends, Ieena's house in Meynad. So after having our dinner, Haseem drove us to Ieena's house. One more tragi-comedy happened again after the Air India one. At noon while at Lovely's house, she very casually said that Ieena's house is just at 5 minutes walking distance from her house, pointing towards right. As the roads were very narrow, we told Haseem to stop at the outer road, from where we walked earlier to Lovely's house. It was dark and peaceful. Not even a single human species were seen outside. Rishika called Ieena to come near Lovely's house to pick us up. But, hell no! Her house was not at all at a walking distance. Ieena's father sent an auto, which took another 10 minutes to reach. As we were waiting for the auto, I gazed at the sky, which was dark blue and full of stars, and also the fire flies, so many of them kept our attention hooked. We were having fun in the middle of nowhere, whereas Ieena and her parents were quite worried about us, thinking we were new to the village and the dark, narrow roads were not that safe.  Finally the auto reached and we all jumped into it.

“Let's try to remember the way, so that we can direct our driver properly in the morning.” Both Rishika and Deepali echoed.

But, Oh fish! Then the winding path, from one turn to another to yet another at next gully, it was so confusing and never ending. Finally we all gave up the mind thing and just enjoyed the thrilling ride through dark and artery like narrow village road. When we reached the house, they all, including Ieena, her parents and Ramsheena, one of her friends were outside, waiting eagerly for us. We got warm welcome and very caring and concerned gestures. They were all so full of love, which we could make from their gestures; the way everybody went into kitchen to fetch us eating and drinking items & the way they enquired if we were all right. Every bit of experience I had there was so touching; the simplicity with which they lived and the warmth their love had, showed the richness of their hearts. I truly believe by this experience that Kerala is not only God's own country, but the people living in it are also God's own people. In such a Godly environment when we started talking to each other, neither I nor Deepali realised.

So, here I recommend to everyone, having some issues with family and friends,” Don't say a word, rather go and travel, for the magic weaver weaves the magic in such a way that you forget everything that is bitter, to give space to everything that's the best.” :)

"God's own people; Simply beautiful."

Day -2 (29^th August 14)

(Padmanabhapuram, Suchidanam & Kanyakumari)

After saying goodbye to the heart warming people, thanking and taking blessings of Uncle and Aunty, we left Meynad at 7:00 am for Kanyakumari, the southern tip of our country. We all were so excited to be on the roads leading to the southernmost part of our country, where we would witness the three seas i.e. the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. The drive was quite long, given to the traffic and cautious and careful driving of Haseem. But the panoramic view along the roads, were quite eye-catching and spectacular. The moment we crossed the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, we could notice the differences emerging between the two, as more of coconut trees were replaced by rubber and banana farms, the letters in Malyali on boards and hoards being replaced by the same written in Tamil, the plains leading to the hills on one side and large farms on the other, the soft Keralites being replaced by a little fast or clever Tamilians. Though there was just thin line of difference between the two states, but quite visible and interesting to us.

Our first destination after entering Tamil Nadu was the Padmanabhapuram palace, dating back to 16th century AD, constructed by the kings of Perumal dynasty. Located at the foothills of lush green and rain bathed Veli hills, it’s a huge palace that again made us salute to the kind of art we had in the past. The wooden carvings, the kings bed, which they say has been made up of woods which have medicinal properties, the flooring made up of broken eggshells and coconuts, still shining freshly even after ages, were honestly quite admirable. It took us more than an hour to explore every nook and corner of the palace. Coming out of the palace, Rishika and Deepali did some shopping from the nearby stalls, while I wandered around, wondering at the things and different kinds of bananas hanging at the fruit shops in different colours and sizes. One intriguing thing there, about the temples, was that they put garlands of bananas and different leaves on the entrance of the temple as a decoration I guess. Hmm

 

"Inside the Majestic Palace."

While driving down south, on midway we stopped at Suchidanam temple, another architectutural marvel of Deccan Architecture. But as we reached at an odd hour of the day, we couldn't have a darshan as the temple was closed at that time. So, sitting at the nearby lake for a while and admiring the beauty of the temple, we left to continue our journey.

"Suchidanam Temple"

We reached Kanyakumari at around 3:15 pm, and went straight to a restaurant to have our lunch. After relishing the delicious lunch, we went to the ferry counter to get tickets for ferry ride to Vivekanand memorial, which is the main attraction of Kanyakumari. But, the counter was closed as it was already 4:00 pm. So, we went around to other direction and took a long walk of the coastal surrounding. It was obviously such a nice feeling to be at the tip of our country where three sea meet. The huge waves of the see looked quite mischievous; layers afters layers of waves chasing each other, not ready to get caught by another layer as they just disappear at the shore, spreading frothing milk like texture while giving an instant kiss to the bare sea coast.

Not only the sea, but the weather's playfulness also left us wondering, wandering and laughing. It would be sunny one moment, cloudy next moment and splashes of rainfall the very next moment, making people run wildly targeting the nearest shade. And co-operating and co-ordinating with the rain, the high tides of the sea also showed its seductive moves by rising higher and higher, jumping & splashing forcefully, wooing every heart present there. And then suddenly an awe-inspiring view of Rainbow at the left side of the sea, made everyone crane their heads through the large gathered crowd, mumbling, “Wow, wow, wow, & trying to click the best possible shots through their camera's lens. We intended to have another awe-inspiring view of sun-set, but the huge bunch of Nimbus blocked our vision for the day. So, we went searching for a good hotel and checked in at one of the best located Hotel Sea view, from where the sea looked even prettier. The bonus point for us that we came to know was that we can have a good view of sunrise from the Hotel Terrace only. Everything was going good, and we all were so happy and chirpy. (Thank you God :-) 

 

"O yeah! We are at the southern tip of Mother India!" :-)

  Day-3 (30^th August 14)

(Kanyakumari, Thiruprappu, Kavalam & Trivandrum)

Deepali and I got up early in the morning. We tried to wake up Rishika, but she seemed to be in a sound sleep. So, without disturbing her further, we went to the terrace to view sunrise. There were other people already on the terrace, who had fixed their gaze towards the east, determined not to miss even a single streak of sun. The sun rose at 6:12 am, majestically coming out of the sea. Though there were tinges of clouds, due to which we couldn't have a proper view, but whatever we could see with our mortal eyes was all amazing. The orange hue of the sky, spread by the sun rays, piercing through the tinges of clouds in different shapes, set a view, which kept us just sighing; our eyes fixed at the beautifully glowing sun, not blinking even once lest we shall miss the magic. And I must admit that the beginning of the day was so heavenly indeed. Hmm. J

 

"The Heavenly Rays."

We checked out of the hotel at 8:00 am and went straight to the Vivekanand Memorial ferry ride. As the queue for normal ticket worth Rs. 34/- was quite long, we got special tickets for Rs. 169/-each. The ferry ride was for 5 minutes, but that 5 minutes were quite rip-roaring as under the pressure of the forceful waves, the ferry wobbled here and there, and we felt that at any point we may fall out of the ferry. It was so exciting and thrilling amidst of rainfall in between. And reaching at the Memorial, we all went speechless! It's from here that you can have the real Kanyakumari feeling; a feeling which you cannot express, a special feeling to be at the southernmost tip, and a different feeling to be at the triveni sangam, the meeting point of three oceans. And the best part is that you can differentiate between the grey, light green, blue and dark blue of the different layers of the sea water. There are people in your life, whom when you meet after a long time, tears of joy flow from your eyes, because you aren't able to control your emotions and feelings for that particular person. Then there are places, which drive from you the same emotion, and you feel like crying out of joy, and that particular point was such a place for me. As I looked deeply into the sea, different kinds of mixed emotions started arising in me; I just wondered, if the water from the glaciers, on which during my mountaineering days, I hit hard with ice axe, would have reached the sea; or the snow on which we walked had melted and reached the sea too; the rivers from where we quenched our thirsts and washed our hands and posed for photos, would all have reached somewhere in the sea, singing songs of togetherness. It's in the sea that we cannot differentiate as which river's water we are looking at, at that particular point of time. Waters, waters! They know no boundaries. No matter how hard we, the humans try to control them, they find a passage to flow and go into the sea to mingle with and be one with the waters from other rivers. Then why we humans have all the boundaries and limits, surrounding us? Why our life is restricted to a piece of paper only? Why can't we also flow at our own pace and be equal with each other? What I thought and felt at that particular point of time, I don't know, but I wanted to cry and shed tears of joy. (Sigh) Oh sorry! That's going too long, for feelings are more and words less. So, let's go outa here. ;-)

"Three joyful souls at the confluence of three free oceans." :-) 

We had a heavy breakfast cum brunch, and left Kanyakumari at 11:00 am, with loads and loads of memories in our memory buckets, and Deepali and Rishika carrying huge kanyakumari special gift items along. Our destination now was 'Thiruprappu waterfalls, a huge horizontal and voluminous waterfall on river Kothai in Tamil Nadu itself. As it was quite long and flowed forcefully through a

Sparse rocky bed, the view was quite thrilling, when the water splashed quite far and we had to struggle a lot to keep our camera and handbags safe. Along with the falls, the rain also made our trip quite memorable as it would stop the moment we get into our car, and start pouring, when we reach our destination and step out of it. Lol. The rain God welcomed us everywhere. Obviously, we felt so special. :D Not bothering about the rain, we walked along the river and sat at a shade just at the bank of the river. The river which was hugely spread with full water in it looked beautiful and enchanting irrespective of the dusty water it had.

"The water played with us, and we played with the water.'" ;-)

Then, back to Kerala, first we went to Kovalam Beach, where the waves arising out of clean and blue sea water, along the coasts full of coconut trees, welcomed us with an amazing view. We sat there, watching peacefully to the sea waves and lost in our own respective thoughts for more than an hour. It was quite relaxing and of course we let our ears open to the soulful sea music, while our hearts danced at the lovely tune. :-)

 

"Contemplate near a sea; it works!"" :P

It was already 4:30 pm, so we headed towards Trivandrum to visit our last destination; the Padmanabhaswamy temple. I just heard once about the gold that had been discovered from the temple, but never paid that much attention to it. But being there at the doorstep of that very temple that looked majestic from outside also, I felt quite intrigued. The tight security arrangement it had, the cctv's all around, and the special Audit office at the backside of the temple, only for the audit purpose of this particular temple, all these indicated that this isn’t some common temple. Yes, it is one of the richest temples of India, dating back to 16^th century and made in Dravidian style. Those history books, which irritated us a lot during our academic days, the value of them we've started realising now as we see the wonders from the books coming alive from the pages, in front of our own very eyes. One more interesting thing about this temple I forgot to mention is that we have to wear lungi (dress code) compulsorily to go inside the temple. So, with wonders in our eyes, we bought lungis for each one of us from a nearby stall, tied it around and went in after the security check. No cameras allowed, for security purpose obviously!

And there we were, in the temple complex, which was rich and grand. The wide open and spacious corridors, along both sides of which were statues of Gods and Goddesses in different postures, and beautiful oil lamps on both sides at every few feet's interval, led us finally to the main sanctum, where God Vishnu, in his sleeping position, hugely decorated by gold ornamaments, gave us the darshan. Struggling through the large crowd, pulling ourselves up we tried to get a proper darshan, but that wasn't possible due to the crowd. But still it was mind-blowing, and to speak honestly, I was too much lost in the grandeur of the temple, with unbelievable eyes, wondering so much whether this really is a temple that I forgot to pray even.:P We came out of the temple in half an hour, all three of us looking at each other, raising our eye brows and broadening our eyes and mouth and echoing,”Kya temple hai yaar!”  Guys, I truly recommend you to visit this temple once in your lifetime. J

"Padmanabhaswamy; the magnificent temple.""

With this, our trip ended. We came back to Mumbai the next day, fully satisfied with this grand itinerary. In my own words, this trip was “AA-Awesome!” Keep smiling :-) Nawi

 

"So, here we leave. Tada and Thank you.""

Murudeshwar, Gokarna and the Magical Jogfalls"

Murudeshwar, Gokarna and the Magical Jogfalls

(15^th to 17^th Aug. 2014)

I had no clue of four days continuous holidays falling from 15^th to 18^th August, till 3 weeks before, when Chandni, one of our friends texted, saying,” Hey, if you are planning some outing during independence day weekend, let me know. I'll join you too.” Talking of holidays! And the adrenaline rush starts in me. I quickly checked the calendar, and there it was '15^th Independence day holiday, 18^th Parsi new year holiday, and sandwiched in between which were 16^th & 17^th, Saturday-Sunday, my favourite days'. Soon my mind started wandering and just a flip of my eyes, I visualised Jog falls, which I guess was due to the ongoing Monsoon magic. I asked Deepali, and she was more than delighted and said excitedly,” We will go to the temple also!” That meant her yes. ;-) We told Chandni too, but she seemed reluctant due to long distance travel to an unknown place blindly with no assured safety measures. Hmm. So, only two of us were there, just waiting for the holidays. We tried to book tatkal train tickets, which unfortunately we couldn't get. Even for the bus tickets we had to struggle for long, and finally got tickets for VRL travel to Bhatkal, a small taluka of Uttar Kannad district, which we used as our base.

We boarded the 2:30 pm Bus from Dadar, which took another 3 hours to pick up all its passengers from different locations, thus leaving the Navi Mumbai suburbs by 5 or 5:30 pm. The journey through NH-17, was quite struggle-some, as the bus wobbled like anything and also being on lower berth of sleeper, we couldn't have a good view of outside as the window panes were very narrowly placed upwards.

:-)

We reached Bhatkal at 7:45 am, and searched for an accommodation, which we found in a nearby lodge, which was centrally located. We booked a room, got fresh, had breakfast from a nearby restaurant which served only south Indian food and set out for the exploration.

"The reason I prefer the window seat and avoid talking while travelling; for then I get a view without, which instills a special & indescribable feeling within ."" Nawi

Day-1; Murudeshwar Temple and Bhatkal Lighthouse

(15^th August)

A very happy Independence Day guys! Independence day it was, and independent we were! :-)

We boarded a shared Tempo to Murudeshwar, which is 12 kms north of Bhatkal, and travelled amidst of local travellers, who knew no Hindi and English but only Kannad. So driving through lush green surroundings of coconut and other trees including the shrubs & bushes, along the wide expanse of wheat fields, we reached Murudeshwar after half an hour. And there it was; the magnificent temple, where the second tallest statue of Lord Shiva in the world stood, fully guarding the whole area and adding to the already beautiful coastal town. In front of the statue, the 120 ft tall, 20 storeys Gopuram is another wonder. The whole area is surrounded by beautiful and clean sea water of Arabian Sea. The Temple is an architectural Marvel with its own unique aura and attraction, which attracts tourists round the year. To have a full and better view of the statue and its surrounding beauty, there is a lift facility in the Gopuram to go up to 18^th storey, which charges Rs. 10/- per person. Though it has to be a quick view, as it’s not an open terrace view, but through the small window panes, and with the huge crowd struggling for their turn we get just an instant glimpse of the beauty and 2-3 clicks of the camera to wonder and cherish it fully later on. Hmm

"Tiny us in front of the magnificence;In center is the 120 ft tall Gopuram."

After that we took a walk through the outer part of Shiva statue. By then we were so tired, as the sun shone quite bright and hard above us. So we went to nearby Beach view restaurant and decided to have lunch and have a quiet and peaceful view of the sea. And thank God, there we got North Indian food also. Lol

"Lord Shiva, Marvelously blessing His devotees."

After having a satisfactory meal and view, we took the return tempo to Bhatkal. We rested for a while, got fresh and then set out for Bhatkal Lighthouse, which was 3 kms from the circle. The lighthouse is on a hilltop, from where we can have a good view of the Bhatkal town, which is encircled beautifully by deep and clean Arabian Sea. The beaches looked marvellous from the top, which attracted and touched Deepali's heart's core, and she kept shouting,”Mujhe jana hai wahan, I want to go there.”  We enquired for the way to go, from some guys, but they said that it's not safe to go down there, as the sand is quite slimy and unstable and waves so forceful, which might drag one into the sea in just one gulp.

"Free spirits in a free world on a free day"

Then we went to the top of the lighthouse, for which they charge Rs. 10/- per person as entry fee. And Wow! From top the entire view looked even more beautiful and soul touching. Deepali got more senti and longed strongly to go to the beach. We asked the lighthouse guy if we could just go down from the slope, walking through the sideways and not going into the water, for which he grinned a 'Yes'.  And as per his instructions, we descended down the other side of the cliff and got down quite low, but then suddenly the way ended and there was no trace of looking for an alternative way.  So with half satisfactory hearts, we ascended back to the top of the hill and sat there for a while, sighing and enjoying the view, and then left. In front of the base of the hill at the coast was the fishing centre, where people in huge numbers were busy in their own fishing businesses; ferrying loads and loads of fishes in their boats and pouring them on large sheets spread on the ground. Oh Ghosh! I've never seen so many fishes altogether caught in the net in my life! Wonder! But as we couldn't witness the view for long, we got out quickly from there.

"Minding their own Fishing business."

Day- 2; The Magical Jog Falls.

(16^th August)

We answered the morning 5:45 am alarm clock like very good and sincere kids. ;-) We were ready to leave by 6:45, and waited for the 7:00 o'clock bus, which we boarded at 7:30 am. And then our journey started, leaving the coastal plains back, to enter the hills on NH-50. The hilly roads and curves at different points reminded me of my own Home State Himachal, making me go nostalgic for a while. As there was no direct bus from Bhatkal to Jog falls, we had to change the bus at Kargal, where the bus dropped us at 10:00 am. As we felt quite hungry by then, we went into a restaurant, which again served only south Indian food. I ordered Kerala parantha, while Deepali denied eating anything, though later on she reluctantly ordered some idli, I guess, for I am very poor in remembering the names of the dishes. :P

We got the bus to the falls at 11:00 am and reached in half an hour. I expected the falls to be in an open and free area, but no! It was properly enclosed with proper entry point and charging entry fee. And the moment the falls got our first attention, we went 'Wow! It was magically enchanting! We walked towards it, looking for a way to go near, but felt quite disappointed when we saw the huge iron barricades installed all over the area, thus prohibiting any human entrance towards the fall. I know all these are for safety purpose, as it’s the tallest plunge waterfall of India, which falls down straight from a height of 830 ft, thus making the fall quite forceful and endangering. We accepted the fact and the humane concern of the Karnataka Tourism and admired the falls from far away, walking the length and breadth along the barricades and viewing the falls from different angles and directions. Meanwhile it started raining, and so nice of the jog falls management to have made rain shelters facing the falls. And we sat for quite long there cherishing the enchanting and soul touching view. For me, by now nature has become my favourite and natural weaver, which weaves around things and places in different shapes and shades so magically that it makes the mortal world just wonder. <3

"Ain't it Magically Enchanting?" 

After a good and satisfying view, we left the falls, and though we had to wait for buses at Jogfall and Kargal for hours, but we didn't feel impatient and tired, as by then we felt so at peace and blessed.

"Nature drunk... ;) "

Day-3: Gokarna, the Beach fun.

(17^th August)

We decided to have a good sleep and rest the previous night, so we didn't put any alarm on. But out of habit or say out of excitement to see more of Karnataka villages, we were up by 6:30 am. We got ready, had our breakfast, and watched some morning music videos on the TV and by 8:30 am we checked out of the hotel. We went to the bus station, from where we boarded the bus to Kumta, which is 52 kms north of Bhatkal. From Kumta, we took another bus for Gokarna. The bus was huge, but only three passengers including me and Deepali were in it, and also I saw the woman conductor for the first time. And wonder what, except for the numbers, she speaks no Hindi or English, and we had to be satisfied with her gestures while she spoke in Kannad. Travelling 12 kms through the interior of the coastal town, leaving NH-17 we reached Gokarna by 11:30 am. Passing through the Temple and streets, we went straight to the beach. The beaches in Karnataka are cleaner than the Beaches of Mumbai, but lesser than Goan beaches. And likewise Goakrna beach is also one of the most popular there, which pulls huge crowd towards it. As we wanted to avoid the crowd, we went looking for an alternative location, which we saw on the other side of where we were then. Deepali got pull of that area to walk directly towards it, until the way broke off when we reached near the backwater which blocked the way towards other side, and to cross it directly would have been an invitation to some tragedy as the flow of the water was quite forceful and strong. Therefore, we had to walk back towards the entrance and take another big round of the area to enter that attractive coast. But it was worth, as the place was cleaner and very few people were there. So putting our bags in a safe place near the rocks, we walked towards the beach and played with the waves. We didn't care for the scorching sun shining brightly above us, and didn't mind the super-sun-tann we were getting and had loads of fun there; playing, jumping, shouting and clicking pictures. The previous two days no-play and fun with water had been compensated by Gokarna beach fun. J

"The Beach Fun!"

While walking towards the beach, a nearby temple on a cliff attracted my attention, where after getting free from the beach we both went. The ascending steps took us to the small temple, where a priest was busy decorating the linga with flowers. And he allowed us to take pictures of it. We paid our obeisance, took parikarma of the small shrine and then sat facing towards the sea, which looked marvellous from up there. We kept sitting for an hour, and then we realised we were hungry and also as we had to catch the bus back to Kumta, from where we had booked Bus tickets for our return journey to Mumbai, with loads of memories stored in our system, we left Gokarna, the last point of our 3 days tour.

"The blessed souls!"

Overall, the Independence Day break has been quite different and Super-duper, and in my own words 'A-Awesome!'

(Keep smiling :-) Nawi )