Snapshots from Chhattisgarh

Last year both P and I went to Chhattisgarh, a state we had never been to and came back with some wonderful memories. I have written about it here. After 6 months we were going through the photographs and I came across few which are indeed more special. Not because they are some spectacular clicks; but because each of these photographs carry a story in it.

Chhattisgarh has so much to offer

That mesmerizing Chitrakote fall. We witnessed this majestic fall in it's full glory as we had gone there while it was still raining. Yeah, the water was muddy; not clean and sparkling like the brochures. But this roaring water had it's own charm. We did not get to see Sunrise and Sunset because of the clouds. Instead we saw the water fall when a storm was approaching. It was dark, grey and that fading light cast a magical spell to the whole evening. We stayed back till it started to pour and it was an absolutely out of the world experience.

Chitrakote as a storm approached


Actually we were in Chitrakote to celebrate my birthday. On the day we woke up at 5am hoping to catch up the sunrise. But the clouds played spoilt sport. Sitting near the water fall just 2 of us were enjoying the solitude thoroughly. Suddenly a boy comes and picks up a conversation with P. He had come as band member who was supposed to perform in some rally at the Government guest house near the resort we were staying. His name was Lakhiram and he played Banjo. We kept meeting him till on and off till the day we left Chitrakote. He just seem to come from nowhere whenever we were there. Untouched by the complexities of life, his simple dreams may come true soon.

Lakhiram

The priest at the temple near Teerathgarh fall. Our experience at such places have not been really good. Usually at such touristy places, there is always someone trying to fleece you and when  you tell them you were there because that happen to be a special day; you can be sure he will find a way to rip you off. When P told the priest that that day was my birthday and asked him to offer a puja on our behalf; I was almost sure now the priest would come up with an elaborate puja ceremony. But to my utter surprise the priest just looked at us and chanted some mantra as we both folded our hands and gave us coconut pieces as Prasad. He did not say a word about offering this puja that puja and ask for any "chadawa" or cash offering or "fee".

The Priest

The artist whose shop we happen to visit by sheer chance. As we were leaving Chitrakote to go to Gangrel, P said let's stop near the fall for one last time. We did and there we noticed those lines of small shops selling little artefacts. We stopped at this particular shop where the guy was working on something so intently. As far as I remember, his name was Raju.Very soft spoken he showed us the pieces he has made. They were all so beautiful. We bought 2 pieces from him. Everything in the shop were made by him and the prices were so reasonable that P paid him what he asked for. The previous day we had gone to different shops in the Jagdalpur town and we knew the prices these shops charged for similar artefacts. This man made everything himself and he never asked for an exorbitant price from 2 "tourists". Do visit his shop near the Shiva temple next to Chitrakote fall. Trust me you will not regret stopping there.

Chhattisgarh remains in the news for more wrong reasons than right. This is a beautiful state and has so much to offer from the tourism point of view. It's a state marred by disturbance and conflict. I am not capable of commenting on this. But I also come from a region which was once considered to be very disturbed and a conflict area. But life has become "normal" now in Assam. While growing up and even now a common sight in towns and villages of Assam is the sight of girls and boys going to school riding a bicycle. More so in villages and smaller towns. This very sight in Chhattisgarh made me the happiest. It was a sign, the new generation growing up values education; they want to spread their wings and may be one day bring the much needed change to their state. I hope they do and soon.

I loved this sight the most



Turkish Delights

Yeah I know, such a much used and over used title for an account of a trip to Turkey. I also know what I am going to share, many across the Globe have "Been there done that". After much planning, changing, again planning we (I & P) finally landed in Turkey this year. I will share a detailed post about what how and where all in Turkey we had been to some other day. It was my first trip to Turkey and here I am going to share those moments that made us smile & made this whole trip so much more.


1. The very first one was at the Immigration counter itself in Istanbul. The officer took my passport and read my name in an "almost perfect Axomiya / Assamese pronunciation".Yes, not "Maayoori", "Myuri" "Meyuree" but "M-O-Y-U-R-E-E". (I spell my name as Mayuri). I could not stop grinning and responded with a "slightly over enthusiastic for the place" Yes. I don't know what he made out of my happiness at that moment as he stamped "Giris" meaning To enter in Turkish. And I am sure I didn't imagine the faint hint of smile in his face too. Such a welcome change from the otherwise expressionless wooden faces at such places.

Blue Mosque

2. After that another Turkish Delight was waiting for us near the airport Metro gate. I and P reached the metro gate and was trying to understand how to use to Vending machine to buy an Istanbulkart. An Istanbulkart is a must for those who are planning to stay in Istanbul for 3-4 days atleast and plan to use public transport. It is an Electronic wallet which can be used in Metro, Ferries, city buses and even in the old tram in Taksim. One card can be used for more than 1 people. However it is advisable to use 1 card for 2 people only as the charge increase in the immediate second swipe or third swipes. As we were standing there with money in our hands looking for instructions in English, a gentleman offered us to help. He entered all the details and advised us not to charge it with a high amount right away. Few seconds later the Istanbulkart was in our hands. In a place where very few locals speak or understand English, and most were tourists like us, he sure came as an angel!


3. We reached our first hotel of the trip. It was cute little hotel amidst many hotels right behind the Blue Mosque. It's actually an old house which is now converted to a hotel like many old Turkish houses in that area. Ilhan at the reception welcomed us warmly and he very kindly upgraded our room without any charges. That was totally unexpected. Boy weren't we delighted. At first we thought there may be not too many people during that time and hence we got the upgrade. But next day in breakfast, we realized the place was almost full. Still he did that even though we never asked for it.

Tashkonak

4. We reached Cappadocia and P randomly decided to try our hands at ATV Quad biking. So Ahmet from our cave hotel called the guys at ATV Quad biking and arranged for that. They assigned us a young 20 year old "Navigator and Guide" Timrai. That young boy very patiently put up with 2 "Big" Hindistani tourists who would stop and start clicking random photographs. With his limited English , he told us that he was studying and part time he worked to earn as well. In his bike, he took both of us one by one for Cappadocia's version of dune bashing. Hats off to that kid and we wish him all the luck.

Timrai

5. While walking around the Cappadocia town, we saw a café called Café Safak. The signboard read different prices for the way you ask for coffee. We stepped in and who we meet!! An old couple and a young and chirpy waiter cum cook from Afghanistan who was a fan of Sanjay Dutt! His name was Nehmatulla and when he heard we were from Mumbai, he started speaking in his language. Urduish hindi or hindiish Urdu. The son of the old couple was in Australia and Nehmatulla was the one who was running the show in Café Safak. He told us that since they couldnot pronounce his name, they named him Farhat! Even though he loved Munna bhai, he was mighty impressed with Big B because he had played an Afghan in Khuda Gawah. He dreamt of coming to Mumbai and we sincerely hope he does someday.

Cafe Safak

Uncle & Nehmatullah

6. Our first hot air balloon ride ever and it could not have been better. All thanks to the team at Butterfly Balloons and especially our pilot Kaan Demircan. In our balloon that was the first balloon ride for each one of us and Kaan kept saying that was his first flight too! Very jovial and lively, he was the show stopper of this spectacular Balloon ride. A very senior pilot he had been doing this for 8

years now. I was cribbing to P about the charge that we paid compared to what few other Balloon companies were offering; but trust me every penny was so worth the experience. If we go back to Cappadocia and plan for a Balloon ride again, we would surely opt for a flight by Kaan and Butterfly Balloons any day.

Kaan and the team of Butterfly Balloons

7. In Pammukkale we had opted for a day tour by Tours4Turkey. We were a part of a small group of about 12 people. From different countries, this motely group had 3 solo travelers and 2 of them were women. I loved meeting each one of them. There were 4 ladies from Malaysia who were on the last leg of their yearly "girly trip". Leaving children and husbands behind, these ladies every year make plan and travel to different countries for 15-20 days. They all were working and decided to do this since last 4 years. I was surely impressed. I wish them all the luck and may they continue this every year.

travertines at Pamukkale

Museum of Innocence

8. In Istanbul we had planned to visit The Museum of Innocence. We heard that if you carry a copy of the book, the entry is complimentary for one person. In a book shop near the underground metro at Taksim square, we asked the guy at the counter if he was aware about this. His English was limited, but he called his "director" of the shop and told him. He was not aware about that. But he asked us to wait as he checked on the website of Museum of Innocence , took out their phone number and made a call reconfirming this. Both I and P were looking at each other. That was sure unexpected. After speaking with them, he showed us the page which would be stamped at the Museum. We thanked them profusely as we left happily.

9. The Incharge at Museum of Innocence who allowed a girl even beyond the museum timings. Both I and P spent quite sometime at the Museum of Innocence and finally when we were done, it was almost the closing time. I came down and waited till P joined me. One girl was pleading the incharge to let her see it even for 15 minutes as she was leaving the next day. She admitted she was late but she pleaded to allow atleast for sometime. She was on the verge of tears as she turned to leave visibly heartbroken and disappointed. The incharge who looked quite strict relented and asked the guard to allow her in. I witnessed that moment when the girl really cried out of happiness as she thanked the incharge and paid the charges. She looked at me with teary eyes and a smiling face. I was smiling in her happiness and thanked the museum incharge too. Just like that.

Museum of Innocence

10. The Cobbler at Kabatash who was so grateful to P for showing him his shoe brush which he had accidentally dropped that he offered him to clean P's shoes right then and there. We protested but he did not listen and P allowed him to just brush lightly his both shoes. That moment of instant gratitude by him sure made us smile widely.

The Man on right!

11. The driver of the old tram in Taksim, Istiklal street who allowed P to ride for free. It so happened that we got into the tram at Taksim Square and swiped the Istanbulkart. One amount was charged and for the second swipe there were not enough amount left. We offered him cash. The driver said that he was not authorized to take cash and pointed to the vending machine to recharge the card. I was fumbling in my bag looking for paper currency of 10 or 5 TL. The vending machines accepted paper currencies only. The driver had stopped that tram for us and it was getting full. So P told me to go and get down at our stop and wait for him as he would take the next tram. As P started to get down, the driver stopped him and asked him to go in. We were looking at each other as we could not believe what he just did.

I would term these moments as Turkish Delights as in an alien country such moments added so much to our whole experience. Of course there were tourist traps in Istanbul, specially at Grand Bazaar and Spice Market. But when we talk about our first trip to Turkey, we want everyone to know this too.
Now let me quickly add one more : A random lady complemented me about my "small but bright eyes" and that made me smile the widest.

Grand Bazar

A tragi comic memory of Goa

Goa in monsoon - that's what both P and I wanted to do for a long time. So finally in 2013, we planned ahead and booked a train to Goa during July sometime. As luck would have it, that year monsoon decided to play hide and seek in Mumbai. It was hardly raining and when we got into the train, we were literally chasing the rain. We boarded the train from Dadar station early in the morning at around 7/7.30am. Even as the train moved out of the city limits we could make out the signs of a sparse monsoon. So much for our much awaited train to Goa during monsoons! We were already disappointed. The train moved through the green paddies and villages with drops of rain here and there. But too few and far between.  Adding to our disappointment was the fact that the train was running late by hour or so.  The only saving grace was the food on the train. We decided to at least to enjoy the hot and fresh medu vadas, bread pakodas, and vada pavs on the train. Finally after 12 hours of a long and tiring train journey we reached Goa in the evening. By that time the romantic idea of being in Goa during the rains had died a sad death!




Now to the hotel that P had pre booked. Since it was only for 2 nights, we thought of staying near the most happening part of Goa, near Baga beach. In all our previous and even later trips to Goa, we always stay somewhere else deliberately avoiding the over crowded Baga and Calangute beaches. We reached the hotel, checked in and after a shower headed out for dinner. As we stepped out of the hotel, we found a place to rent a bike and promptly rented a scooter. Had dinner in a quiet place and came to hotel and went to sleep.




This is not Baga..But Ashwem beach in Goa.

Next morning we went to restaurant for breakfast. The room rate was inclusive of breakfast it was mentioned when we sent the booking request. There was no buffet. Accepted, since it was officially off season no buffet. The server gave us 2 slices each and a cup of tea. We asked him "What about breakfast?" He nonchalantly replied "This is breakfast." WHAT? Now that's it. 2 slices and a cup of tea cannot be passed off as breakfast in a hotel. That too in the most touristy area of one of the most touristy states of India. Unacceptable. P went to the manager and told him that. Manager refused to understand or acknowledge what we were trying to say. He kept saying the same thing - this is what we offer as breakfast. Then he called someone and handed over the phone to P saying please speak to our ma'm. P tried his best to make the lady at the other end understand. But the lady refused again and again and asked us to leave the hotel if we didn't like what they were offering. We both were dumbfounded. We were being thrown out of a hotel and we were not even shouting or creating a ruckus. Since we were asked to pay at the hotel, we offered the room rent for one night. The manager refused that again. We insisted but he was adamant that his "ma'm" asked us to leave and instructed him not to accept any money from us. Finally we came to our room, packed our bags and left on the rented scooter parked outside the hotel. Both P and I were quiet and shocked at what had just happened. He just rode the scooter and I sat on the pillion quietly. He kept driving and I didnot ask where were we going. We reached Anjuna and he stopped. Both got down from the scooter, looked at each other and burst out laughing - we were just thrown out of a hotel for asking for breakfast. Both of us have been to so many places across the country, stayed in so many hotels, from homestays to 5 stars; but this had never happened. We felt like college kids who were thrown out from a hotel for not having money to pay. At last P said " They have thrown us out for asking for breakfast. Now let's go and atleast have a hearty brunch somewhere."




Rest is short. We came back to Baga, returned the scooter and ate out hearts out at Britto's. We booked flight tickets for the same day and flew back by 3pm. And guess what, while on our way to the Dabolim airport, it started pouring and it poured and poured till we reached airport. It was as if the sky also cracked up with laughter with us.

P & I in Goa!








Life sometimes throws lemons at you and both I and P firmly believe that it's up to us - whether to make lemonade or use it for tequila shots. But we both agree that the lemons must not get wasted. Thus we go on collecting lemons and making lemonades at times and at times tequila shots.

A Slice of the Orient in Mumbai

Second day of 2016 and a Saturday, ideally I would have preferred to be home and sleep to my hearts content.  But P had other plans and thus we were up at 6.00 am and headed to Mazgaon to explore an area of Mumbai which we were yet to explore. In P's filmy words " Let's check out the godi of Tiger and Bakhtawar!" ( For those uninitiated, he was talking about HUM, the 1991 Amitabh Bachchan, Danny Denzongpa film by Mukul Anand)




 P said that he had heard about a Chinese temple somewhere there near Dockyard Road station and wanted to go check that out. Honestly I had never heard about anything Chinese in Mumbai except for eating places and "Made in China" goods widely available everywhere. Thus we walked from the Our Lady of Rosary Church and towards the Mazgoan Dock. There in one of the quaint lanes lies a Chinese temple. To be specific, it is inside the Nawab Tank Road. It was still quite early and very few people were around. One morning walker asked us "2 curious looking tourists" what were we looking for. When we said the Chinese Temple, he pointed to a house right next to where we were standing. It's a Three storied house and on the second floor is the temple. You can't miss that bright red half door at the entrance of the house.



The Entrance

We pushed the door and entered. We faced a big door which was locked. Another door opened and a man came out with a toothbrush in his mouth! When we asked about the temple, he asked us to go to second floor. We climbed the wooden staircase to the second floor and yeah, there was the temple but the door was closed. We waited for sometime confused in the company of Confucius and Fuk, Luk and Sau. Fuk, Luk and Sau are the three deities who represent Prosperity, Authority and Longevity. 

Fuk,Luk and Sau

We thought of coming back a while later hoping by then the door will be opened. While coming down we met a lady on the first floor. We asked about the temple and she gave us the keys to open and said " Sit and pray for as long as you want. But when you leave, please close the windows and lock the door again and give me the key."  Now that was a first. Opening the lock of a temple and entering with no one around! We opened the door and stepped inside. Both of us were awestruck for few seconds. Everything was bright red and there was something so pure so calm about it, that we could actually feel a sense of divinity. The fragrance of incense sticks hung in the air and that added to the whole atmosphere of the temple.

Opening the lock!

The Altar

General Kwan Tai Kwon

There is a hand written history of the temple. This temple is dedicated to General Kwan Tai Kwon a very just and fair Chinese warrior. This temple was set up by a group of Cantonese Hong Kong soldiers who worked for East India Company. Once upon a time there use to be a flourishing China town around that area. During the 19th Century, many Chinese came to work with the East India company and stayed in the Mazgaon Dock area. Most of them worked as Carpenters and many were engineers. Those people were mostly Cantonese migrants and they were called "See Yup". The building that houses the temple was named "See Yup Koon" after their native village. The 1962 Indo - China war saw many leaving the area and eventually the country and now there are very few families around. We chatted a little with the lady in the first floor, who said she was originally from Tengra , the famous China Town in Kolkata. It's been 40 years that she has been living in Mumbai.

The whole temple is in bright red because Chinese considers red as the colour which brings fortune and joy.

Candles and Incense sticks



Joss Money

There were bunches of candles and incense sticks which one can light there. The Chinese has a tradition of burning "paper money or Joss paper" which they believe that the departed souls in the other world can use the money. The prices are mentioned against each item. The lady on the first floor had asked us to put the price ( if we bought any candle or incense sticks) in the donation box. We lit up candles and few incense sticks. P said "Let's burn some paper money too." We did that as gifts to our ancestors on the new year.

The wall next to the shrine is adorned with Bamboo sheets. You can know your fortune through these. Since we could not read Chinese and there was no one to read us our fortune, we had to be content with a photograph only.

Chinese Fortune Telling sheets

After about an hour we came to downstairs. The lady had showed us the keys for the temple at downstairs too. Again we opened the closed door on the ground floor. This was a temple dedicated to a princess who is considered a Bodhisattva. Here in the wall we could read the familiar Buddhist prayer " Om Mani Padme Hum". On the side of the wall, there is the hand written story of the Princess.



The temple downstairs



The Princess

Finally we came out of the house. Both I and P were silent for sometime as we both had been touched by something so surreal. Then P said that he would love to come back again and sit in the temple for sometime. It was so quiet;so serene ; as if we had found an oasis for our wearied souls.

Note: Since we did not carry camera, all photographs were clicked on mobile.

12th Jan 2016

Being Responsible Travelers

We love to travel – claim many including yours truly. No no I am not doubting their love for travel. We all seriously love to travel. But how many of us “love to travel” and “love to travel responsibly?” We the blogger or the photographers or thinkers like to say or see things a bit differently – hat ke types. Rather than going there and striking off that place from the “to visit” list; we like to really be there, feel it, be one with it ( however clichéd may that sound to my own ears) Am I sounding too cynical? Because I have seen people do things they donot do at home, when they travel. Admit it, we all have seen that, many of us must have reacted too and what followed might be a story many would not like to remember. I am strictly referring to my fellow countrymen and women travelers here.

So what is Responsible Travel. To sum up what the Capetown Conference on Responsible Tourism in 2002 describes – Responsible Tourism is that tourism which aims at “creating better places to live in and better places to visit”. It must encompass all kinds of tourism related activities to be successful for a particular destination or state that aim at Responsible Tourism.

How do we make sure that we all the indeed responsible people and we are serious about what we do and what we donot do when we travel. Pages after pages can be written on this. I admit I am no authority on Responsible Tourism. However I as a traveler would really like to contribute in my little way to “create better places to live in and better places to visit”. (I know I have repeated, but that’s what it is) 

Here’s what I feel can be considered.



Tourists / Travelers must be more careful and really sensitive towards the local eco system. That habit of dropping everything on the road as you travel needs to be done away with, and done away with forever. You throw plastic packets, tetra packs, water bottles, spit on roads and walls – please for cleanliness’ sake, what sort of a habit is that ! This country is not a dustbin as we would like to treat her. Why while travelling; many have this habit of just rolling down the car window and throw out everything on to the road even in their own cities and towns. All are ok with that as long as their own house remains clean. Please learn to respect this planet, our own country and get rid of this habit. Patriotism cannot be only during cricket matches! Bikers and backpackers on tents and camps must make sure not to leave anything behind except for some wonderful memories.

Can it be more aptly named!

Locals must be aware and strict about their place their surroundings. When tourists go to a place, the whole place changes eventually.  It has lot of positive impact. A whole industry comes up. But the local people must be aware that this industry will remain as long as they respect their own place and be responsible towards it. When one sees someone doing something which may be as small as throwing a candy wrap on road, say it. Make that a habit. I have seen in some places in Leh, there were signs offering to refill water bottles at a nominal cost. That’s such a wonderful initiative. No one has to keep buying those bottles of mineral water all the time. We may not realise, but those bottles are also hazardous.

The Travel companies must draw a line. Certain places are very very sensitive and cannot handle too many tourists. After some Bollywood movies Leh has become a favourite destination for people. That has indeed generated many livelihoods for the locals there. But at what cost? Whole of Ladakh region is ecologically highly sensitive and fragile. The way the tour companies are operating “Mesmering Leh, Rooftop of the world” packages, the day is not far when this will collapse. My heart broke when I saw heaps of beer bottles and empty packets of chips lying in Ranbirpura near Leh town which is now a very popular place for film and ad shoots. I pray and hope the Indus does not go the Ganges way and we need to formulate committees to clean that.

The Government must come up with strict rules for tourism. Boosting tourism in a place, must never lead to destruction of that place altogether.  There must be guidelines keeping in mind the ecology and environment of the place for tourists, hoteliers, homestay owners, cabbies and even tour operators. Since travelling consist of a major part of tourism, use of transport means cannot be done away with. Those may not always be very friendly towards the environment. These complexities exist in tourism. However the right persons at the right places must ensure a middle path with minimum damage to the surroundings.

Whole of Tourism Industry must join hands together for Responsible Tourism. I am using the term “Tourism Industry” a very broad sense encompassing every element associated with it.

Travelers, Tour companies, Locals, Government all becoming one and working towards achieving the aim of creating Responsible Tourism - have I imagined too much!!

But then as John Lenon said “ You may say I'm a dreamer
                                       But I'm not the only one
                                      I hope someday you'll join us
                                     And the world will live as one” 

--- 

A responsible one!

I am blogging for #ResponsibleTourism activity by Outlook Traveller in association with BlogAdda

A memory I am not too fond of

What is the worse travel memory that I have? Honestly I have not thought much about it. But the other day I was reading about The Worst Trip Ever on Natgeo Travel, and it made me think about that too. There have been instances which were not so pleasant. But I don't know why I have never written about them in my blog. Yeah just once I had this really awful experience in Goa ( one of my fav. place) and I wrote about that on Tripadvisor . Here I am today looking back at the one trip which till date my Mom considers as a "very bad trip" and guess what she was not even a part of that trip.


Here is what happened.


It was a school trip. I was in 6th or 7th standard may be. A group of students and 3 teachers were to go to Nagpur from Dibrugarh to take part in some conference / activities by United Schools Organization of India (USO of India). We had practiced really hard for group dance and I was also to take part in Hindi Speech. If I remember correctly the topic was "United we Stand". For us coming from a vernacular medium school (Assamese medium) and from that part of the country where Hindi was not widely spoken; to take part in a speech competition in Hindi was a BIG thing. I practiced and practiced. That was my first trip without parents and family to somewhere so far. We were to reach Kolkata by some train and then from Kolkata get into another train to Nagpur. I do not remember either of the trains names now. My mother was really worried. She met the teachers and told them two hundred times to "take care" of me. In fact one of my batch mate's mother was our teacher and both my friend and her mother were part of the group.
Thus we reached Nagpur without much drama. I took part in group dance and also in that Hindi Speech. I got a consolation prize too :) I came fourth among all those students from "mainland" India where people spoke Hindi more than us. ( That's some consolation for me) So far so good. Now was the time to return. One day all of us went to Nagpur city for sight seeing and shopping. One of the teachers had really gone overboard with her shopping and had 2 bags full of goodies. So when we reached the station to catch Gitanjali Express from Nagpur to Kolkata, we were heavier with more luggage. I am sure if we were to fly, we would have to pay excess baggage. Everyone got into the train. It was a chaos at the station and inside the coach and one bag of that teacher was left behind on platform. She told me that the bag was still outside. I came out quickly to get the bag and the train started moving. My heart skipped a beat and did not know what to do. I just spread my left hand with the heavy bag on my right hand and pleaded to no one in particular "Mujhe chadha do pls" ( Please make me board the train) Someone held my hand pulled me into the train. After few seconds of stunned silence I burst into tears. I did not know where I was, what to do and what will happen now.  I was inside a general compartment which was full with all sorts of things along with people.The people around me made me sit and gave me some water to drink. Then asked me which coach I was booked. I told them my father my brothers all are in this coach. I was scared and wanted to tell those strangers that I was not alone. My family was with me somewhere in this train. I am referring to nineties here. No pager no cell phones. Those strangers were constantly reassuring that since my family is in the same train, in the next station I could go to that coach. I stopped crying and started to pray for the next station to come. When the next station came 2 persons from the general coach took me out and we ran towards the sleeper coaches. From a distance I could see one of my school senior and her father (who was with another school group where he teaches) running obviously looking for me somewhere. I just ran towards them. A quick bye to the strangers and my senior and her father took me back to the correct coach. My teachers and other students could breathe normal only after our reunion which was no less than Bharat - Milap. Later I realized I did not even thank those strangers. My friend's mother's blood pressure had shot up but luckily nothing major happened and I was back. All this while I had the big bag with me. But the teacher whose bag lead to all these drama did not utter a word. Everyone was upset with her. Later things slowly went normal and all of us reached home in one piece.


This was one experience I would always remember. I decided not tell that to my mother and requested my teachers and friends too. Though reluctantly, they agreed. It was much later one day I narrated this to my mother. I was no longer a school student then and had started travelling alone from Dibrugarh to Guwahati. Mother of course was appalled as how could I keep that a secret all these years and let her wildest imagination run wilder and imagined me in all sorts of places ( read red light areas). She was even ready to confront my school teachers after all these years! I calmed her down and made her think of those 2 strangers instead who helped me that day. She is ever grateful and wishes all the luck and happiness in the world for them.


After so many years, that post in NatGeo Traveller made me look back and recall this incident. All the fun and excitement of the trip was overshadowed by this freak incident. Even I could not imagine what could have gone wrong had it not been for those 2 strangers.


Can I confess that whenever someone mentions Gitanjali Express this one memory come rushing back to my mind and I send a silent prayer to those 2 strangers still. But there is always a "what if" that remains.

Gitanjali Express

Our India Travel Bucket List - States & UTs

It's November already and we are just 2 months away from 2016! Oh MG! 2015 went off in a jiffy. I know it's not "that time of the year to look back" yet and I am not exactly looking back. I am looking back and forward too. The other day while casually chatting P & I thought we would make a list of the places we have to go in India. Well that was sure going to be such a H-U-G-E list; so we thought of finding out the states we have not been yet.

The Road always beckons

I took out my "travel notebook" to jot down the names of states within India that we have not been and must make a plan to go soon. No sooner than we started, P declared he had been to ALL the states. Ok, here we don't mean the extensive travelling. For us it meant, atleast one place within that state we had been to. That's not entirely wrong actually. P's work takes him to different places and thus he had been to all the states. It's only few Union Territories that he is left with. So I decided I will note down the States I have not been yet, including UTs.


The List :


STATES ::
1. Arunachal Pradesh
2.Bihar

Walk Roam Explore

3.Jharkhand
4.Mizoram
5.Odisha
6.Punjab
7.Tripura


UNION TERRITORIES::
8.Andaman & Nicobar Islands
9. Dadra & Nagar Haveli
10.Lakshadweep


All the 3 UTs common between P and I.




It was shameful realization that I have not been to 3 sisters from the 8 sisters of the North East India. Arunachal Pradesh is actually just on the other side of the river Brahmaputra from Dibrugarh where I grew up. I guess never paid too much attention to Mizoram and Tripura . Same goes for Jharkhand. Guilty I plead.
I had the chance to be in Bihar about 6-7 years ago when one of our batch mate invited me to his wedding in Gaya. I could not go and thus I am yet to be in Bihar. After planning for 3-4 times to visit Jagannath Temple in Puri when I still couldn't reach Odisha , hence I concluded Lord Jagannath does not want me in his State. But, dear God, this will change and I am sure soon.

Golden temple
(Pic source : http://www.santabanta.com/photos/the-golden-temple/9106064.htm)

Punjab is one state I would love to go. Blame that on my fully filmy inclination that I have such colourful and vibrant image of this State. I had been to Anandpur Sahib and Virasat E Khalsa but let's not count that as being in Punjab. That was just a day trip from Chandigarh. I will strike off Punjab from the list the day I land in Amritsar and go visit Harmandir Sahib.

Going to Andaman and Lakshadweep is a cherished dream of both P and I. We do not want to rush there. We would want to spend some days in these two places. Managing leaves and planning a holiday will take time but we will be there too. Dadra and Nagar Haveli honestly never thought of, but now I feel why leave that place. Let's explore that too.


It is not that in all States we have travelled every nook and corner of the State. Like in UP I had only been to Agra and Lucknow whereas P had been to Agra, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi and Allahabad. We both have not been to Agra together for that quintessential photograph on the iconic bench with Taj Mahal at the back! I know cheesy; but we both love cheese.

Taj Mahal
(Pic source : http://www.santabanta.com/photos/tajmahal/9012002.htm )