IT'S JAIPUR AGAIN- FIRST TRIP OF 2015 (XXIV)

My first trip of 2014 was Jaipur and now it's a deja vu- it's again Jaipur in 2015. So what was new this time. I feel that every journey brings with it new experiences, new challenges and new memories. This time the experience was of meeting new people, the journey with my 12 peers, friends, companions, confidante- I can call them anything. On 23.1.2015, 11 of us started our journey from Delhi to Jaipur in our mini cute bus. For me the idea of this journey was to attend Jaipur literature festival, to see the city, to talk to like-minded people and spend quality time together. I don't consider this post as a travel blog, rather it's my diary entry. I can write endlessly on this and describe everyone whom I had encountered during this trip. 

One person whom I really want to mention here is Shraddha- I met her on 31^st December in New Years’ Party when I just had little conversation with her. I found her geek and serious at that time (later on she told that she was conscious as she was new to the group). For whole 3 days we stayed at her house in Jaipur . A girl whom we all met just 15 days back made all arrangements for us (approx 20 people) to stay in that city, suggesting places to eat, handling all accounts, making arrangements for our breakfast and our bedding, even taking care of our belongings (she found my charger and my shoes and later on I got to know that she had the responsibility of everyone’s house and car keys also), deciding which places (forts) to visit and how to reach there, managing time, handling our tantrums also and the list is unending.  She was full of energy and her presence used to make the environment lively.

Nahargarh Fort

Sanchit’s art of cracking witty jokes with all of us laughing for hours, his love for music, his care and his empathy for others.

Virasat

Sriram’s snoring and every time asking us whether he snored or not, his funny hindi but love for Honey Singh songs,  his freestyle dance and his awesome relaxing foot massage.

Amer Fort

Aditya, my dearest friend from Law college, his carefree but mature nature (he was the only person to support Shraddha during crisis) and his crazy laugh which goes on and on.

Nahargarh Fort

Gabe, his intelligent debates were the signal that it was time for us to sleep, a well organized person, with whom one can have endless talks and a very good listener. 

Violetta’s quietness but still making her presence felt in the group.

Smriti, with whom I can talk about anything- whether it’s a girls’ talk or a boys’ talk

Jaipur Literature Festival

Beranger aka Bebe, we used to call him baaaeebeee- his art of video-graphing (it was fun to watch them on our return journey), his beautiful smile, and the similarities between us- left handed, Virgo & broad forehead! 

Great Mind at Work :) Our return journey!

Anant’s responsible nature- his one look is enough to guess what he wants to say.

Amer Fort

Jayshree’s clarity of thoughts and her laugh which can make other people laugh.

Nahargarh Fort

And last but not the least Lucia-The person with whom I share my hairstyle, only person whose impression on me is same since the starting- mature, responsible, decision maker, prudent, an awesome cook and at the same time caring.

Nahargarh Fort

With presence of Anant, Jayshree and Lucia I was sure that if any problem comes we will surely come out of it, people on whom we can rely upon at the time of major crisis.

I also got a chance to meet my old friend Sandeep after a long time.

Literature Festival

The trip was full of fun, talks- talks on NGOS, law, politics, music, movies, philosophy, random jokes, sun-signs, tapris, culture, singing songs, dancing and games ('I have never done this' game, dumb-charades, 'Celebrity' game).

And on the return journey the plans for the next trip to Banaras/Africa/ Afghanistan/Beaches (Kolkata, Kerala, Goa) were already drafted.     

 Here sharing some more pictures:

Literature Festival

Jal Mahal

Colourful

View from Nahargarh Fort

Even the setting sun brings something with it,

The orange beauty in the sky

And the brightness of the moon!

Delicious Rajasthani Thali

Amer Fort- Glass Work

View from Amer Fort

Nahargarh Fort

Finding Myself- Trip to Jim Corbett (Vanghat- Riverine Woods) (XXIII)

On 13 December 2014, we, four friends, started our journey from Delhi to Jim  Corbett, rather till Riverine Woods- Van Ghat, which was 20 kms ahead of Jim Corbett. More than the forest reserve it was the place where we stayed which was mesmerizing. For the first time I took my own car for a trip and that too without driver. For the first time I drove on highways. 

Rather than talking about the forest, greenery, the birds, the river, the star studded sky and the marvellous beauty of that place I want to talk about myself. It was the place where I could find myself, the insight into my thought process, into my needs and desires, into my happiness and sorrows, the insight into my life.  

Off late I have been getting disturbed and irritated and easily hurt by the people around me, by their thinking and mentality. But then I realized that nobody is right or wrong. I just have to find people who are right for me. I understood that howsoever a person is behaving it's because of his environment and company and he is not to be blamed for anything. It is his ideology to behave in a particular manner which for me might not be right. This helped me in forgiving everyone. This helped me to gain my mental peace back.

Gazing at  the star studded sky, a dark sky full of glittering lights and sometimes thunder in between, I cried my heart out. This is how life is, I suppose. Dark but shining and sometimes thunders in between. It was a great catharsis for me.

 I realized the things which give me happiness and the things which make me depressed.  I realized my mistakes and found out my strengths. I realised that the another chance which God has given me to live, I should make maximum out of it. 

That one day was not enough to be at that place. Here sharing some of the beautiful pics of the place:

Anil- a guide, a care taker, a rafter, a bird watcher, pursuing MA in History!! hats off!

VIJAYPUR VIA RANIKHET-THE SECOND DAY (XXII)

Day-2

Ranikhet-Vinta-Someshwar-Kausani-Baijnath-Bageshwar-Kanda-Vijaypur 

We started at around 10.00 am from Ranikhet and reached Vijaypur at 4.00 pm.

First Stop- In between we stopped to have tea and Maggie at Kausani- a hub of tea plantation. Their tea had a unique taste- it had a little tinch of coffee, it tasted little like coffee and had a little fragrance of coffee.It was amazing. 

Tea stall Uncle who prepared such delicious tea and Maggie

and his cute little pets

The clever one who took his biscuit which was offered by us and went behind the bushes

On the way I was clicking pictures of the tea plantation and nurseries from the moving car. At one sight I saw few people working at a nursery with flowers around them and when I raised my camera to click the snap one guy amongst them started setting his hair as if getting ready for a pose. It was hilarious. I laughed and he smiled at me. 

Second Stop

We stopped at beautiful Baijnath temple, situated at the banks of Gomti river, some 8-9 kms before our final destination. The only temple where I could see the sculpture of standing Pavati.

temple situated at the bank of Gomti river

The Chestnut Grove

We finally reached our destination - the beautiful Chestnut Grove at 4.00 pm. We received the warm welcome from Vivek and Sameer and Vivek's father. We entered our room and I was surprised to see the room made up of cane, cane being my favourite. I always wish to have cane furniture in my home. It has that artistic and rustic look. The cottage was surrounded by forest.

"Here luxury is our time"- said Vivek to which Sameer nodded. Indeed, they gave their full attention and time to us and their travel stories mesmerized me. Hearing them I felt that this life is not enough to travel and see everything and there is still so much left.

Vivek's dad, about 70 years old, retired Army Officer, was so active that a young person could get complex seeing him. He was taking care of all our meals and he used to run on mountains as if walking on plains. He was one inspiring personality.   

Bonfire and antakshari at night was additional fun.

In front of our room

Chestnut Grove

VIJAYPUR VIA RANIKHET- THE FIRST DAY (XXI)

2nd October, 2014- 5th October, 2014

Day-1

Delhi-Nizamuddin Bridge– UP Border-Hapur-Garh Ganga-Gajraula-Joya-Moradabad By pass-Rampur-Bilaspur - Rudrapur - Haldwani-Bhimtal - Ranikhet

The reason why I am starting this post with directions is because this was my first road trip to Himalayas without any professional driver, where my friend was driving his car and me acting as the navigator. The first trip, where I didn't sleep (I could not sleep) in the car during the whole journey of 1000 kms and was constantly looking at map,directions, the local boards and relying on the helpful people around us. 

So, it all started with looking for a peaceful getaway from Delhi for the long October weekend. A struggle between 100 destinations starting from 200 kms around Delhi finally lead to one- Vijaypur, Uttrakhand, some 500 kms from Delhi. As it was the long weekend for everybody we decided to book our cottage in advance. There were hardly any resorts or cottages in Vijaypur, luckily we could get one - the Chestnut Grove. The owner of the resort, Mr. Vivek, however, suggested us to take a halt at Ranikhet in between as it was the long journey. He was kind enough to find a place for us to stay at Ranikhet- the Chevron Rosemount.

Incident 1 - while going to Ranikhet- We were about to cross Haldwani and a huge long iron bar fell on our car from one bus. The person sitting at the top of the bus became scared and a group of people catch hold of the bar. Luckily only a little dent came on our car and the headlight and the wind-shield were untouched. With traffic jam behind our car and our hearts pacing, we continued our journey. 

Incident 2- My friend and I had to take certain luggage from the car. Our car was parked in the Rosemount's parking. It was all dark and my friend was whistling. I asked him the reason for his whistle and he told me that wild animals get a signal and they go away. We took our stuff from the car and I started clicking some pictures of the resort. Suddenly my friend told me to quickly head towards the resort. I concentrated a little and realised that I could hear groaning of some wild animal. We quickly headed towards our room.    

Rosemount Resort

Rosemount Resort

Rosemount Resort

Rosemount Resort

We stayed at Rosemount for one night, took small walks in the morning with some fun on swings and started for our final destination towards Vijaypur. 

    

MUMBAI- IT'S ADDICTIVE! (XX)

23rd July, 2014 - 26th July, 2014

It was not the first time that I visited Mumbai. Rather it must be my sixth or seventh trip to this place. But this time I felt like writing about it. This time it was different- I went there almost after 5 years and it was all leisure trip (no work). Visiting Mumbai was like revisiting my life, like reliving the old memories, the old moments. When I was about to land in this place I just thought about what Pune and Mumbai (Maharashtra) gave me and it was countless- my college degree, my job, my first love, my best friend, my thinking, my identity and ME. 

I went to same places again to cherish my memories- Versova and Juhu beach, Prithvi theatre, exploring restaurants and cafes at Yaari Road. So what has changed in these 5 years- well basically nothing, I suppose! (except the new cafes in place of the old ones). 

What I miss here is the Mumbai rains, the weather, the open cafes and pubs, the beaches, the overnight running dhabbas and the autos. There was no chik-chik of bargaining and fixing fares for autos. Just tell them the place and they will put their meter down. 

Here sharing some of the happy moments which I had there: