Travel Tales from India

Tentative Travel plans for this Summer

2008-05-16T20:23:00.004+05:30

The first stop this summer seems to be Oxford in June for about a week, and no the visa god's judgment is yet to be pronounced. Visa gods willing, this time I will try punting, take a walking tour and go on top of the church in Radcliffe Square at Oxford. I will eat at the Noodle Bar again. Before going I will also revisit the Lonely Planet guide and look at Oxford again, it should make some sense this time.

Oxford City

There could be a one day trip to Leeds too. I know it would be damn hectic but this is for work and has to be done. I am not at all sure if I can try and look at anything new in Leeds.

Leeds City Center

But the best part is what I am planning in June. I thought hard where to go after all the suggestions I got on the previous post. But the problem is time. Then I hit upon this idea. I want to take the Shatabdi Express train to the most picturesque spot I can find and it would take just half a day to reach somewhere. Then venture a little further and stay there for a day or two, then take the Shatabdi back. I can think of Kalka Shatabdi and Dehradun Shatabdi but if I am missing on some toher better spot do let me know. What are good spots around Kalka and Dehradun?

Bomings in Jaipur

2008-05-13T22:43:00.002+05:30

7 bombs are said to have gone off in Jaipur. So many dead, the Indian news channels going their usual way, all cacophony, here is the discussion on Indiamike.

I have spent quite some time near Jaipur and Jauhari Bazar (Jeweler's Market) is quite a familiar place for me where I used to shop. Certain things make no sense.

Near Abby Falls Coorg

2008-05-13T17:18:00.003+05:30

Spotted this 'Danger Spot' board near Abby Falls in Coorg. I wonder what was the danger that this board was warning us about.

One completely unrelated danger that I can see is that if I am not careful, my travel plans for 2008 are in real danger. I mean it is May and I have gone out only once, to Lansdowne.

Oh My God!

2008-05-08T12:59:00.003+05:30

I was browsing through my sitemeter and followed a link that led to a Hindi translation of my blog.
I mean the stuff is hilarious but only if you can read Hindi. Every other line is without context. Sample this-

In an ideal world this summer I would like to visit Ladakh again.
इस दुनिया में एक आदर्श मैं गर्मियों में लद्दाख फिर से यात्रा करना चाहते हैं .

Look at the picture at the left, can you blame me if I yearn to be there again?
चित्र में देख पर छोड़ दिया है , आप कर सकते हैं यदि मैं मेरे दोष इच्छा को वहाँ फिर से ?

Poor person, whoever s/he was and wanted to read the stuff in Hindi. I hardly ever try translating stuff on the web so this came as a surprise for me.

PS. Will follow up on the previous post soon. This post was done on the spur of the moment.

Make a Suggestion

2008-05-06T20:48:00.005+05:30

(Picture Taken at Spitok, Ladakh)

In an ideal world this summer I would like to visit Ladakh again.

Look at the picture at the left, can you blame me if I yearn to be there again?

But when all I can manage is two to three days of leave, tell me where should I go?

I do not wish to take a flight, ideal journey would be by bus (but willing to take a train too) and I know I can't reach much further than Rishikesh or something like that, give my time frame.

So if you know of any places around that (I have already been to Rajaji National Park) region or anything else, do let me know.

I definitely need to travel and soon.

Or else my head will burst.

And 'death by grading' is over, finally.

A Picture Every Other Day- Spiti Again

2008-04-30T17:22:00.001+05:30

Magnificent Spiti- Demul to Lahlung

I need some inspiration as it is death by grading till this weekend. Will catch up with the blog world as soon I am through.

Lazy Sunday Photo- Being Silly!

2008-04-27T15:49:00.005+05:30

Being Silly- Jumping Down a Pile of Bricks

I really like the picture above, my nephew and his friend jumping from a pile of bricks (when they are a little too old for this!) and my elder nephew clicked this picture. I mean when do we grow up so much that there is no time left for silly things?

Trafalgar Square, London

You know why I say this? I remember walking past this stone lion in Trafalgar Square and I actually wanted to go and sit there but then didn't risk it for the fear of being too silly. Next time, I am going to act silly at least 3 out of 10 times when I feel like doing so.

Monet Talk or Not!

2008-04-25T11:42:00.005+05:30

Monet Picture at Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

I am very poor at appreciating art. I know of only a few big names like Monet, Van Gogh and umm, OK, Michaelangelo.

So why am I talking (or not) about Monet now? Well, it all started with this post that I linked at Blogbharti-

Kusum visits the Poppy fields in Antelope Vally in the US and her pictures are a feast for the eyes.

No no, wait, I am coming to Monet. Then came Sunil who left this comment.

Thanks, great snaps.

I suppose the only excuse for not associating with Monet would have to be death.

Now I am curious and ask him (at Blogbharti), "So is Monet associated with death?" I am curious because his comment jogs my memory that I actually have seen a Monet painting at Oxford (the one posted above) and I thought maybe that at home turf (i.e. Blogbharti) I can take the risk of asking dumb questions. Hmm the answer I got convinced me that I should leave art well alone.

Er no. My fault, the way in which i said it. I just wanted to say it reminds me of Monet’s well known poppies. And almost instantaneously one would associate the snaps with the paintings. The only reason not to is if you have died. especially for me coz one monet hangs in my bed room. ;)
Cheers

OK, now that I read it again it makes some sense because Kusum uploaded pictures of poppies and Monet painted poppies ... But then I will not go anywhere near art for quite sometime now. Scares me stiff.

A Picture Every other Day- Sitting Duck

2008-04-23T17:09:00.004+05:30

Sitting Duck- Picture Clicked at Best Western Resort, Manesar

After looking at this picture I can understand why a sitting duck is considered an easy target! The bird looks so peaceful, unconcerned with the world and without a care in this world. Or is it hiding behind the rocks from everything that is to be avoided, hence this peaceful look? Depending on the mood, both the interpretations would feel correct! Either way, it does seem like an easy target.

Food Sense- I Have None!

2008-04-22T21:49:00.003+05:30

Ice Cream

This post revolves around ice creams and tea. Long time back when I was a Ph.D student at Kanpur, I went out for dinner with a visiting faculty from Sweden, one of the few people whom I consider a thorough gentleman. He, I think, was fond of food. One has to marvel how he survived on the mess food for a year on campus. And he is one person who beat me at every single TT game I played with him. On top of that my feeling is, it is because of his generosity I could make 14-15 points with him, if he wished he could thrash me under 10 always. But then I am digressing.

So, that night at dinner, the food was over and we were ordering desserts. We decided to order ice creams, he was very sure he wanted to eat Kesar Pista (an Indian flavor) and I vaguely ordered vanilla. Some discussion about our choices occurred and I remarked, "I am really quite indifferent to food." A little later we were eating our ice creams and I told him, "Mine tastes good." And the gentleman that he was, he said "Because you are eating mine." I must have gobbled at least a quarter if it by then (the waiter served it wrong!) but we exchanged the ice creams and I had to finish the bland vanilla one. I told him, "See, I am that indifferent to food." This incident is almost a decade old, the time when I didn't need to watch the number of ice creams I ate in a week or even in a day.

I was reminded of this incident because last week I was drinking 'black coffee' and I was telling someone that it is not good, there is too much coffee in it. And I was told, "Well, it is not coffee, it is tea."

Hmm, a decade later I am as bad, still not able to differentiate between tea and coffee (but only black) but I am sure I would know a vanilla ice cream now, or better still I will not order a vanilla ice cream anymore!

A Picture a Day- Butterflies

2008-04-21T19:59:00.001+05:30

Butterflies

You can see the effect of not having to taking classes! My SLR has not been used as much as I like. So I thought I could make an effort to work more with it and post the images as 'A Picture a Day'. Let us see if I make any progress this way. The most irritating aspect of taking pictures as of now is to do the closeups with a wide angle lens (the only one I have till now). Let me straight away head to Ebay.in and see what can I afford. Turned out to be nothing much, have to head to Chandni Chowk one of these days.

PS. This is also my post no. 501.

Lazy Sunday Photo- The Millennium Bridge (Nicknamed Wibbly Wobbly), London

2008-04-20T15:04:00.005+05:30

The Millennium Bridge, London (Also Nicknamed Wibbly Wobbly Bridge)

I crossed the Millennium Bridge (though I didn't know its name while crossing) after roaming around the St. Paul's Cathedral area. In the background one can see the Tate Modern (at that time I didn't know that the entry is free). And as I was reading these lines again, I can see what a well researched traveler I am!

Anyway, it was later on Sunday when I took the cruise on Thames (I like to think of it as a boat ride rather than a cruise) that I came to know that this is the Millennium Bridge. The excellent commentary we had on the boat, we were told "this is the Wibbly Wobbly Bridge, also known as the Millennium Bridge. As soon as it opened it vibrated so bad that it had to be closed down, so we like to call it the Wibbly Wobbly Bridge."

Save the Weaver- Creating Awareness Around Kullu Shawls

2008-04-19T17:20:00.002+05:30

Image courtesy myHimachal

Anoop at myHimachal has done series of posts to create awareness around the handicrafts of Kullu, particularly around the Kullu Shawls-

The internet has also recently been one of the popular media through which tourist information is disseminated. Indian tourists on the other hand, normally come via package tours and are spoon fed by their travel guides. Most tourists are directed by the travel agent. They seem to be least aware of the fact that the hub of the shawl weaving industry is Kullu and not the more popular tourist destinations of Shimla and Manali. The general perception is that one would get better variety of woollens and knitwear in these locations than a small town like Kullu. While this may be true with respect to sweaters and other knitwear, they are un-informed about the cultural linkages and the magnitude of weaving that happens in the valley, the reason being - ineffective marketing initiatives.

He adds-

A litmus test for such tourists is to see the reverse side of the woven garment. If the design appears the same either ways, that’s an indication that the shawl is handcrafted.

Another Dance from Coorg

2008-04-18T21:55:00.005+05:30

This was another dance performance that we saw at the Club Mahindra Coorgtrip. Folks back then described this performance to be inspired by Bollywood rather than having a local flavor. Shrinidhi actually had posted a translation of the song (if you are reading this post Srinidhi, could you please give me a link to that post? I tried searching for it on your blog but without success). Also this video was captured at night hence the extra bad quality.

PS. Took the last class today for this semester. Who says teachers don't look forward to summer vacations?

Rappling- A Few of the 'Adventure' Stuff I Have Done

2008-04-17T00:59:00.001+05:30

Rappling Down a Rock, Sankari, Har-Ki-Doon Base Camp 2004

I had clicked this picture for our camp leader (and who turned out to be a good friend too, he visited us more than once when he has been in Delhi) on the Har-Ki-Doon trip. I too tried this activity and came down the rock without too much of a sweat. Then my younger nephew tried it and he slipped, got up and then came down. Unfortunately there are no pictures of ours.

That reminds me, during this trek, I had a very nasty Yashika film camera that used to jam the film at will. And you guessed it right, when we started walking from Seema to Har-Ki-Doon, the most most beautiful day of the walk, that damn camera jammed. That is when our camp leader handed us his digital camera for the rest of the trek. I mean that was really large hearted of him and whenever I remember this trek, I do think of his gesture with a lot of fondness.

Lazy Sunday Photo- Aloo Pakoda (Potato Snack)

2008-04-13T16:36:00.005+05:30

Aloo Pakoda (Potato Based Indian Snack)

I am not at all fond of fried stuff and Aloo Pakoda is one fried stuff, but on certain days they do look tempting. And today somehow happens to be one of those days. But then I am to going to make it. Feeling just too lazy to take the trouble.

Off Topic- Specimen of Brilliance

2008-04-13T13:40:00.006+05:30

I thought I have come a long way in ignoring a typical IIT UG rant (let me state at the outset that at IIT I belonged really to the scum of the earth category 'HSS Ph.D.' That is doing a Ph.D. in Humanities and Social Sciences). Most of the times I don't even bat an eyelid when some of them come and leave comments on posts written long back and tell me-

"Btw its a classic case of UG's not giving two hoots about the PG's whom they consider inferior. I guess some of the blame lies with PGs too. They dont participate in anyway in the institue activities and are generally aloof and tend to keep to themselves thereby promoting stereotypification.

In case you are curious, I am a second year UG." (Emphasis mine)

I mean I have grown such a thick skin that I don't even reply to such comments anymore.

But yesterday was different. I read an article by one of the specimens of brilliance, a Mr. Aditya Jha in Indian Express. For most of the time I was reading what has been said before, if you open too many IITs (as the HRD minister is said to be planning) brand IIT gets diluted. Then Mr. Jha really demonstrates his brilliance when he says-

"Brand IIT is not about IITs; it’s about IIT-ians. And, mostly, it is about undergraduate IIT-ians at that. People who have done M-Tech from IITs always feel discriminated against. Since they never cracked the JEE, there’s no way they will be accepted into the tribe."

Will someone go and remind Mr. Jha that the company he works for (Infosys) was co-founded by an IIT Kanpur PG. Yes, Mr. Narayan Murthi undoubtedly did a PG course from IITK and still founded a company like Infosys that employs the likes of Mr. Jha. But this could be a little too much for the brilliance of Mr. Jha to comprehend.

Mr. Murthi has said in his speeches (I have attended one such speech at IITK myself long back) that he got through JEE but could not study at IIT because of the high costs. Now one also wonders if Mr. Jha thinks just clearing the JEE is the sign of brilliance or actually doing an UG course would also do something to a person? Whatever the likes of Mr Jha think, I think Mr. Murthi did fine for himself even if he just did a PG course from IITK.

Update- After reading Sidhu's comment on this post, I went back to the article and checked the comment section of the article on IITs. Left a comment of my own too. The comments are much more balanced, I have to say.

Bhulla Tal, Lansdowne Uttrakhand

2008-04-12T16:11:00.003+05:30

Bhulla Tal, Lansdowne, Uttrakhand

This summer is the most unpromising in terms of travel (though it looks quite promising work wise, I am really trying hard not to complain, no really I am trying). So, on many days, I end up looking at the old pictures and drool.

When we actually visited the Bhulla Tal in Lansdowne we were not really impressed. The lake is small, and all those toy boats looked, umm, not my kind of a place (though let me add that this lake has actually been dug by army personnel and has not formed due to nature). My kind of a place is Prashar Lake or Pangong Lake.

But ask me now, any kind of lake will do as long as it has hills in the backdrop. And if it is at the high altitude all the more better! I know I have been cribbing a lot these days about the lack of travel but then in the last five years it has never happened. So, just one or two posts more and I will settle down but the question is to writing down what?

A Really Strange Festival- Bhunda Narmedh Mahayajna

2008-04-10T20:28:00.003+05:30

I came across this video via Indiamike. I was looking at some information about festivals in India and that is where this thread cropped up. If you follow the video links from Indiamike, there is a part 1 of this video too. It has so much (for me) animal slaughter on camera! Ihave to admit, I closed my eyes and peered between the fingers to see if we are on to something else. And I am not embedding it too.

Here is a description of the festival taken from the Tribune newspaper.

In the freezing heights of Bachoonch village in the prosperous apple belt of the Spail valley, Bhunda mahayajna stole the thunder on Christmas. More than 70,000 people thronged the village, 9 km from Rohru town, to watch this death-defying rope trick held there to please the local deities after a gap of 70 years. For locals, the Bhunda practice is nothing unusual in fact, for them it is as old as the hills. But for strangers, the rope trick was a crazy ritual that could have plunged Kunwar Singh, a traditional ‘Beda’ man, into the jaws of death had he fallen from the rope into the deep nullah.

But he did not. Kunwar performed the rope trick for the eighth time. Interestingly, if Kunwar, who belongs to Lohar caste (family of silversmiths) performs the rope trick 19 times, his family will become twice born — Dvij, the Brahmins. Bhunda narmedh (human sacrifice) mahayajna went almost unnoticed all these years.

eNidhi: A professional amateur: Club Mahindra Holidays IPO Questionnaire

2008-04-07T10:20:00.001+05:30

eNidhi: A professional amateur: Club Mahindra Holidays IPO Questionnaire
The link above will take you to eNidhi's post.

I met Srinidhi (who blogs as eNidhi) on the Club Mahindra sponsored trip to Coorg. He was the quitest of the lot but he picks up the pen, errr pecks at the keyboard, the result is impressive.

He talks about the upcoming IPO of Club Mahindra Holidays and the company responds to his questions. He read the Red herring prospects that contained 342 pages. The interview goes like this-

LEGEND:
Red: Question
Blue: Club Mahindra’s answer
Brown: Shrinidhi’s Interpretation/Response (Shrinidhi is not a CM member and is an independent blogger giving third party perspective)
Green: Bhupesh’s Interpretation/Response (Bhupesh is a Club Mahindra member and has offered an inside perspective)

Now when did I last put so much effort in a blog post?

Lazy Sunday Photo- Oxford City Again

2008-04-06T18:35:00.003+05:30

Oxford City, UK

There is a high chance that I will visit the city of Oxford for a week again in June. If it happens, it would be the first time I manage to visit a foreign place twice. Of course the trip would be related to work. But I hope the summer would be a better time to take pictures!

Suhana Safar Aur Ye Mausam Haseen!

2008-04-05T17:19:00.001+05:30

View While Walking from Komik to Demul

I don't know how this Spiti picture escaped my notice for such a long time. Komik to Langza was the longest walk on this trek but the day was so beautiful, there were clouds and I think the song 'suhana safar aur ye mausam haseen' (it is a pleasent journey and the weather too is pleasent is the poor translation of the song in English) fits the mood perfectly.

I found the video of the song on Youtube.

Like a Picture? Steal it!

2008-04-04T14:25:00.000+05:30

Just Jo: Pranatha Books Kochi - Open Copyright Infringement
The link above will take you to Jo's post.

Jo takes a beautiful picture and finds it on the cover of a book. Only the credit is given to someone else … Of course he is livid. And plans to take action.

I don’t know why Prantha Books is not responding but I want them to know that I am not going easy on this and the matter does not end with this blog post. A legal notice will be issued in their name and I am all prepared to take it to the court unless they opt for a proper settlement.

I too have been down that road.

Cross posted at Blogbharti.

Why Do We Run to the Mountains?

2008-03-31T23:05:00.006+05:30

Mountains on the Kuari Pass Trek, Uttrakhand

At the first opportunity, Sesha and I head to the mountains. And winters are no exception. Recently it was my husband's birthday and hesulks and cribs if taken through the restaurant and movie routine. However, as his birthday came squarely in the middle of the week there was no way we could travel. So, this time around it had to be the restaurant and movie routine or nothing. As soon as we entered one of numerous malls that have mushroomed in Gurgaon, he told me, "You know what? I never feel relaxed at this place." And by this place he meant malls in general. I had to agree with him. I think that is why we run to the hills, it is very different there, quiet, peaceful and relaxing.

One of these days, a colleague of mine was also joking, "Why do you have to walk all day to feel relaxed, I mean I need all the creature comforts to have a good vacation." I agree, on a trek creature comforts are actually missing but then that is the only time I when I try to think about things that are of earth shattering importance to me :) With a big flat rock and miles of serenity I manage to think better, in fact that is the only time I manage to think and gain some perspective :) That is another reason why I long for treks and mountains.

And this is part nostalgia and part crib too, as I said after five long years it has happened that I am not sure if I am trekking this summer or not. I better manage it somehow or I will die with envy when others come back from some trek and show me the pictures.

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

2008-03-29T01:14:00.004+05:30

I started reading Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer late tonight (or should I say early morning, it is around 1.30 in the night). I am just through the back page, the snippets from the various reviews and the first chapter. I read a lot, or at least I try to. And never before I started blogging so early about any book. The first chapter starts backwards, Jon is hading back after standing on the top of Mount Everest and later discovers (while he is waiting for 'a traffic jam of climbers coming up to clear at Hillary Step') that he is left without oxygen. He also mentions at the very beginning what a disaster this 1996 expedition was going to be.

He wrote in the introduction that there are variations in his account that he did for the Outside Magazine and the book. Looks like that entire article is online at the Outside Magazine site.

Also, I have borrowed this book from my colleague (the same who took these pictures of Prashar Lake). Remember what I said there-

This is what Prashar Lake can look like in December! No, I didn't go there but Anil did ... Anil is my colleague from work, not at all active in the blog world and I guess least inclined too!

Well, he proved me wrong, he went ahead and acquired a travel blog! I hope he will update it too.