The Canadian Dream. Series 1

It is always a dream for someone normal to visit a foreign land. 

It was mine too!

2 Years back, I was denied permission to visit my brother in Canada. This time in 2019,  destiny smiled on me and in return, I smiled broadly. I finally got my visitor visa to Canada. 

I was apprehensive about getting a month leave from my employer. However, they and he were kind enough to grant me the same. Smile widened!

Why was I excited?  No 1 - I was really looking forward to see my niece, my brother and sister in law after 6 years. They are settled in Canada. The little one is growing up and I wanted to meet her before she becomes a half adult - A teenager.

Okay, so all set for me and I finally started on my journey to Canada, that too at a time of a family event. But I  guess the family was too happy to see me go out of India for once!

After a long 19 hour flight, I finally landed in Canada only to find that I couldn't find my 1 bag. After more than an hour, I finally found it lying around in a corner. 

And I was on my way with my brother to his home with my niece in the back seat. 

Beautiful roads, disciplined traffic (rare in India, but now becoming common) and a great weather welcomed me. 

And then finally, a great welcome from the little one and a cup of cold coffee and food!

Kuldip

My Bhuj Diaries 2018. The Train Questionnaire

Sometimes parents want to take a day trip some 500 km away for a particular reason or so. They don’t even prefer to visit the nearby famed locations even if there are 4 days of holidays ahead.

My Mum wanted to visit Bhuj-Kutchch and a famous goddess temple-Mata no Madh from quite a year now. I had some holidays lined up ahead and I was excited to again visit Kutchch. But as usual, my excitement was punctured by her.

” I only want to visit there for a day. Take me if you want to, otherwise I can go by myself”.

As all of my attempts to pacify her failed, I booked railway tickets at the last hour for just the two of us. The journey was fruitful.

We all know there are some ‘Characters’ that we find in the train in India. This story is about one of them.

As we boarded the train, there was an uncle in his early 60’s sleeping on the upper birth opposite us. One assumed that he was there from earlier station. He preferred to maintain his position till Ahmedabad came, sleeping merrily.

A lady came into the scene next and awakened the gentleman after prodding him at least 5 times. He awoke from his beauty sleep only to question the lady with:

She: Uncle, ye meri seat hain ( Uncle, this is my seat)

He: Oh, Ahmedabad Aa gaya? ( Oh, has Ahmedabad come?)

She: yes, Uncle.

He: Kab Aaya Ahmedabad? ( When did Ahemdabad come?)

She: 5 Min Pehle aaya. ( 5 Mins before)

He: Yeh aapki Seat Hain ( Is this your seat?)

She: Yes

He: When will the train leave the station?

She: (Getting Irritated) In 5-10 minutes uncle. Can I now please get the seat.

He: Yes.

That was the end of the episode. But the nature of questions he put before the lady looked stupid and irritating.

Some more anecdotes coming up in few days.

Kulls.

Some Social Service, Some Photography-Shivrajpur

It's been almost a year that I have blogged about my travels. 

Not much traveled this year, except for a place or two which I was just procrastinating to put it down here. Thanks to my senior who reminded me about the long gap in the date.

Sometimes, a friend meets after several decades and it leads to more friends who are now retired from their professions and have made way for their sons and grandsons. They actively start some social service for the benefit of those who the society has labelled 'Backward Class'. I am not talking about me. I am still 33. I am talking about my mother and her school group.

My mother's school group reunited after some 3 decades, each successful in their own business or profession such as a lawyer, a judge, a businessman, a school teacher, etc. One of them, Mr. Samrat Parihar, a kind and industrious gentleman has took it upon himself to provide support to the locals in the Shivrajpur Village near Pavagadh-Vadodara. He funds education for the kids living there and provides books for the same. 

This year, he invited us all to visit his adopted village and distribute notebooks for the kids. I was asked to join the group and it proved  to be a great day well spent. 

The kids waiting to receive the notebooks.

Kids Enjoying

Kids Impatient to go and Play 

Shivrajpur is situated at the foothills of the famous Pavagadh Hill in Vadodara District and town. When I reached the village, it dawned on me how people live a simple worry-free life without any tension of 'Money Greed'. They are thankful and grateful for what they have received in life. Even we who live in cities and are supposed to be happy because of 'money' in our lives, are not as contended as they are. Why?

• They live amongst nature.
• They are happy and contended (Yea, as noted above) 
• They are hardworking and do labor- sweat through the day.Hence, no modern diseases
• They live in the moment

It was raining as the monsoon had set in. So, you can imagine the greenery in and nearby the hills. Birds and peacocks were happily calling out to the nature.

The locals welcomed us all-smiling and were perfect hosts for the day. Great welcome dances by the kids coupled with some of us joining in and followed by games and then delicious but healthy food served out in the open. 

Kids Dancing

Tribal Girls Dance

Forming a Pyramid 

First, we took the advantage of distributing books to the kids followed by serving food to the kids and adults. It was a lesson of being humble. Of course, they did not lag behind. We than took turns to plan a sapling each in the school and pledged to plant one on our birthday.

                                       

I love photography, so It was a ball of a time for me as peacocks were dancing and calling out to the rain, with one taking all the labor to impress his female peahen.

 The female is looking the other way. Hmm...

At the end of the day, it seems that it is not the way how you earn money and spend it, but how you live, earn money and sleep peacefully.

An Impulsive Trip to the Goddess's Home

Sometimes life is all about making sudden decisions and traveling at the gust of the moment.

This morning, as I woke up in the early morning to have my glass of water, I suddenly had this inner urge to go traveling. As the water reached my belly, options started running in my mind... This place-no, have been there before...and likewise. Suddenly, a thought stuck firmly. Why not visit Pavagadh? Its been years and years, I set my foot there.

So there I got ready, packed my camera and a book and off I went to the bus stand. I could have taken a bike, but it is now in its final stages of life and I didn't want to make it's transition too fast until I have a baby bike again.

I am glad that sometimes, I make right decisions like this one. I reached on time as the sun was making its way to the routine business. I decided to climb my way up and take the ropeway on my way down. What did I do on my way up?

I observed various people... from all walks of life from children to old, from newborns to their big siblings, and felt the cool breeze blowing fast. I saw donkeys multiple times on their way up and down. I wonder how many times they take the burden and climb their way to and fro in a day. I encountered the friendly monkeys trying trying to appease the tourists. I think I also saw far away in the horizon, the starting point of River Vishwamitri. 

It is really a wonder to view the horizon and the view from the top. You start thinking how small you are and the amazement of how mother earth holds us all. The mingling of the history with modern times, the deep horizon in front of us and much more.

And yet, we have the audacity to pollute the lake near the temple that we call holy. On one side, you see women washing their clothes and on other side, you see people bathing in the 'holy lake' with construction going on around. However you are also happy that there are some who take it upon them to provide free drinking water to the passer's by. You see old women taking the pain to climb the gruesome and hard stairs to the temple up there instead of taking the ropeway. Maybe it is their belief. 

All in one, it is India.

A Calm Trip to Stambheshwar Mahadev Temple-Kamboi

Ever visited a Shiv temple that disappears under the water once a day? You can do so near the city of Vadodara. The famous Shiv temple is known as the Stambheshwar Mahadev Mandir. It is located at Kamboi near the Kavi village near to Jambusar district and also to Vadodara.

History of the Temple
The Stambheshwar Mahadev Temple is situated in Kavi Kamboi as mentioned above in Gujarat. The temple was founded 150 years back on the banks of the Arabian Sea on one side and the Bay of Cambay on the other. There is a legend associated with this temple that links the God Shiva and his son Lord Kartikeya. Its other name is Kumareshwar Shivlinga. In local terms it is the union place of the Mahisagar and the Sabarmati River.

The shivlinga of the Mahadev was established by Lord Kartikeya after he killed the demon Tarkasur. The demon was a devotee of Lord Shiva and Lord Kartikeya wanted to wash away the sin of killing a Shiv devotee. It has been mentioned in the Skanda Purana

Sea Performs the Puja
What is so unique about this temple? Well, the sea herself performs worship of the shivlinga! During high tide, the sea water submerges the Shiv temple totally. This phenomenon happens once a day. Visitors can see the temple only during the low tide hours. The dates and timings of darshan can be seen along with the website below.

Unusual Sea-Shivlinga Bond
The shivlinga is close to 4 feet. It is a sight for everyone to see the seawater gradually making its way towards the shivlinga and the temple during the high tide and submerging them. It can be said the same when the water starts receding that the shivlinga slowly comes back into view. Anyone who wants to visit this fabulous place should plan the visit that they can worship the lord before or after the tide. During the high tide, the sea water rises by close 12 feet.

Transport to the Stambheshwar Temple

I had suddenly decided to visit this place during the Diwali times. I went towards the Padra Village near Vadodara and again took a bus from there to Jambusar. However the transport from Jambusar to Kavi Kamboi is not too frequent. Bus can take you there every 2 hours. I had to wait for atleast 1 hour before I could get a bus. 

For those who are traveling alone and in a public transport, they have to be sure of the bus timings, specifically in the evening time. The last bus departs from the Kavi village around 6:00 pm for Bharuch or Jambusar. From Jambusar, one can take another bus to Padra or Vadodara. Rickshaws are available from the Kavi Village that takes passengers to the temple at a nominal price. The temple is about 60 km from Vadodara.

Devotee's Favorite Place

Nearby the temple there is ample parking space for the vehicles and a good place for the families to sit and have their breakfast all the while viewing the sea do its work. The breakfast vendors park themselves around the temple so that anyone who wants to have some lime water and other primary breakfast can relish themselves easily. There is an ashram nearby the temple. It is said that free lunch is always provided in the ashram. People often make it a point to visit the temple during the sunrise and sunset times and photograph the surroundings. Seagulls can be seen flocking around.

Kutchch- 1. On my way to Bhuj

Ok, so here I am after almost a year, trying to recollect that trip to Kutchch undertaken by me courtesy the Gujarat Tourism.

Regardless of what any tourism department tells you about the time of leaving for any journey, we all know what the 'Indian Time' is. I had set out from Gandhinagar towards the Tourism department hotel-the starting source of my journey as I did not want to be late. 

However, I was the first to arrive, no wait, 2nd to arrive at 5:45 am in the morning at the gates of the hotel. The 1st one was already a gentleman who had come down all the way from Calcutta to experience Gujarat the night before. 

As a young guy, you expect and pray hopefully that there are atleast 2 people like you, but God has a wicked sense of humor. I was the youngest in the 11 odd people in the group with rest being elders.

So there were the lawyer couples from Pune, a couple from Mumbai, the Bengali, a geologist cum traveler, a retired bank manager from Lucknow and 3 other people from M.P. The department had given us a tourist guide from god knows where, as he seemed completely lost himself. In the whole trip, it was difficult to ascertain as who was the guide, the official one or the driver of the minibus. 

So, we started our journey at 8:00 am on our way to Bhuj via Bhachau. The trip was insignificant except for some jokes being told and occasional stops and talks. We thought that the guide would educate us about Kutchch, but after the general introduction, he went to the back-seat of the bus and started snoring. The driver was the 1st one to initiate conversation and started giving primary information about travel to his nearest passenger. One Uncle decided to part company with his wife and sat alone behind me snoring or sight-seeing outside the window. So much for 40 years of marriage! 

We stopped at Morbi, now a city, once a royal state and the place where my Dad decided to enter this world. 

Stay on for my next post on Morbi and its interesting information. 

Kuldip

In Need of Classy Language or Simple Tone?

First, I didn't knew where to put these thoughts. In my other general blog or here, in my travel blog? But then common sense prevailed and I put it here since it has something about travel. 

No, I am not going to describe you another of my travel experience or some travel pictures. Pictures are for near future... Today, I am going to just put forward what I have been seeing..oops reading online about travel blogs these days.. 

Don't know, whether you people have noticed it or  not.. but I have been noticing that nowadays, some of the travel blogs or websites have been using highly classic language in their writings. A kind of Shakespearean tone as if they have just graduated from the Oxford or Cambridge Literature class.

Agreed that everybody wants to be ahead in the SEO race of search engines.. but at the same time, they should also bear in mind that the readers are going to be general public and not necessarily every elite club person or someone who has done a course in journalism. 

What's with such Hi-Fi words/nouns/adverbs/adjectives/.... use? If you can't keep the general reader engaged or make the blog easy for him to read... then its a waste of time for sure. 

I will not dare or attempt to name any one of these blogs.. as they may have their own reasons and their own wish. It is a choice to do so. But I can definitely give some words below.  They are:

conical roof, cenotaphs, avant-Garde, Puritans.. etc.. 

The best ones if you see connect to the readers and also use simple language. They are also SEO friendly blogs on top ranks as well. 

What do you think?

An Intuitive Decision on Kutchch Travel

Ok, so you have just put down your papers in the job all of a sudden and have come back home, thinking what to do now. Your family suddenly gets supportive of your decision suspiciously and gives you some space for rest and thinking of future plan of action.  Now what?

That's what happened to me this month in December 2014. I left my job on an impulse and came back home. For months and years, I have always wanted to travel to the Himalayas, but could not get lucky. This time also I could not get lucky because of:

1. Severe winter
2. NRI Season
3. Expensive packages.

I was mulling over the fact when Amitabh Bachchan saved me. He came over the TV advertisement and asked me to go to Kutchch. It is also the right season to visit the region due to the Kutchch Rannutsav and other places worth going to, specifically in the winter.

I trusted the Gujarat Tourism department for the program. They also give option to go to Saurashtra but I chose Kutchch as I wanted to see a desert after a long time and visit some palaces such as Aina Mahal and Vijay Vilas Palace, where the famous Bollywood movies 'Lagaan and Hum Dil Chuke Sanam' were shot.

My booking turned out to be quite well for the package as I got enough photography opportunities to shoot different historic palaces, beach, desert, etc, of course much to the irritation of my fellow elder retired co-passengers who had to wait for me in the bus for more than 10 mins every time.

In my subsequent 4 blogs, I will describe each destination of Kutchch in detail and what you need to take care of and take with you. If you have crossed the age of 45 and do not have interest of photography then develop one or learn to wait patiently for people who have this passion. Else it is just like going to a place, seeing it, coming back and visiting another place. Let the image of the scene or sculpture or landscape settle in your eyes before you visit another place.


If you are going to visit Kutchch in Winter, then you should:

1. Take some woolen clothes
2. Plan your accommodation and book it at least 1 month in advance
3. Hire a well-informed local guide in advance
4. Adapt to the easy going attitude of the locals and the time lenient mentality 

The other fact is that you will find the water of Kutchch much sweet to drink.

In my next blog, you will get information on Morbi district. Of course, the photos will always be there to guide you.

Kuldip

Why I have Started Loving Mumbai’s Local Trains-Part 2

Prelude…

My anticipated and ideal ‘less crowded train’ never arrived during the peak hours, so I pushed myself into the first class of next local which arrived on the platform. It was no less than other compartments in terms of crowd ....just like school children going on a picnic.

Luckily I got inside or rather got pushed myself inside. The scene inside was typical of what you expect from a Mumbai local train. It looked like people of all religions were standing on a piece of land. Not a space to move, yet people were enjoying their daily activities.

People in the Local Train

The people at the doors were enjoying the ‘scenic’ view clinging to the pole or somebody’s shirt. Some lucky people who were sitting by the window had dozed off while their co-seat passengers were fooling around or peeping inside a newspaper of their neighbors. Young students were planning out their day at the college while a birthday was being celebrated in a corner. A cake was distributed among the co-passengers and the strangers.

Wrong Local Train

I asked a person beside me about the time, the train will reach Lower Parel. I was in for a shock as he told me that since it was a fast train, it would not stop at the station and I would have to get down at Dadar. I got talking with him about other things. He told me that he had been travelling in the local train for 5 years now and has rarely been lucky to get a seat.

Songs and fun

I started glancing around. Some guys were sleeping while standing, some people were discussing office politics and the politics of the nation. A group in the corner was singing old songs which made me feel nostalgic, while other people were listening to songs with their earphones, unmindful of their surroundings. I arrived at the Dadar station and I prepared myself to be thrown out of the train.

Dadar Station

Dadar is one of the busiest station of Mumbai. It is a heroic act to catch a train successfully from Dadar station. But I did it anyway and caught another slow local train. Again, I was greeted with a same view, but with more intensity. People inside were fixing share market  orders loudly while others were proudly discussing how they had managed to see Amitabh Bacchan on Sunday at his residence as he came out to wave at his fans.

Regular ‘Officers’

Some regular co passengers always make it a point to book a seat for their colleagues. The compartment inside is either a very silent place except for the timely announcement of the next station and the usual sound of the train, or noisy enough that you cannot hear even your mobile ring. Regular office goers always act as if it is their right to stand at a particular place. I guess, it’s the regular attachment to the local train.

A guy told me that if he would miss this local, he was sure of having a very bad day, even if the next local is always due in 4 or 5 minutes. There were people like me who were just interested to hear others or observe their surroundings.

I had learnt a few things during my last visit to Mumbai, so before my destination, I managed reach the door 2 stations earlier and safely put my foot down at the station. I had ample amount of time to meet my friend, but why take a chance? I again managed a bite of  'Vada Pav’ before I caught a taxi.

I then caught an empty train to Andheri from Lower Parel in the early evening, just before end of the office hours. I stretched my legs on the other seat and took a short nap.

I have observed one thing about Mumbai. Though people tend to be irritating or short-tempered, they always seem to help if assistance is sought. I have been lucky enough not to fall prey to a pick-pocketer or having a bad experience. 

Meeting a Fortunate Man

Some days back, I was late to catch my bus back to home from the office. I was cursing the autowallah and waiting for my next possible ride in a bus or a private car.. all the while angry and sulking. Then I noticed my infrequent fellow traveller who had lost 2 of his legs waiting for a ride without clutches. He was as smiling as ever, talking on his cellphone. A private car came and I sat back inside.

The driver asked me to call the main hero of the story inside. As I called him I noticed that he came inside the car in a matter of only 5 seconds by using his hands as his feet. I was shocked to see this.He not only sat beside me like a normal guy, he even started talking with me...

I learned that he was earning about 14k p.m and was quite happy with his life and did not indulge in any self pity.As is my nature, I did not ask any personal questions to him nor asked him how did he lose his legs, but just kept on listening to him. He got off at the same place with me and gave the fare to the driver despite being not to.

I got to learn one lesson.. never curse yourself and your circumstances.. if you have your full limbs you can do wonders... if not.... you can do more wonders.

Kuldip

Why I have Started Loving Mumbai’s Local Trains-1

It is not often that I go to Mumbai, but it so happens that destiny sends me to Mumbai every 3 years. This February 2014, out of the blue, I had to take a one day leave from my office and catch a train to Mumbai. And how could I not go, for my best friend was leaving for Australia.

Mumbai Calling

The moment I put my foot down on Andheri Station, I could feel that familiar welcome call from the ‘city that never sleeps’. One could also feel the call to step in again to the lifeline of lakhs of citizens of the city-The local train.
I reached Andheri at 5:30 am in early morning, though not so early as per the local life of Mumbai. My brother was there to receive me and take me to his home. But, when anyone enters the city, there is a feeling of urgency in everyone’s feet.

BRTS: Gujarat’s Answer to Mumbai’s Local Trains

So, after I got ready to meet my friend at his home at Lower Parel, I again went to catch the Western lines local train. Suggestion was given to purchase a 1st class ticket as I was not accustomed to crowds in the locals, but little did my kid brother know that I was habituated to travelling in Gujarat’s answer to the local trains-The BRTS of Ahmedabad. The 1st class ticket cost me 65 bucks. As I went to the platform at 8 am, the ‘normal’ routine scene greeted me.

A Normal Day at a Mumbai Railway Platform

I have always enjoyed in local trains irrespective of the stories that are doing the rounds about pick pockets, rude fellow travellers, accidents etc. I have never experienced anyone of them. As, I went to the platform to catch the local to Lower Parel, a familiar sight came into view-People running here and there, office people grabbing a bite of the staple (fast) food of Mumbai-Vada Pav while on the go, Newspapers being read, people desperately getting in and out of the local trains and much more.
And why not, with each train having a waiting time of only 20 to 30 seconds, no one wants to be left behind and be late for office. I was surprised when people actually were hanging in the overly crowded local trains by holding other passenger’s collar near the entrance ( Or closing. It is all the same).

My Experience of People and Local Train

Since I had enough time, I waited for the ‘right local’ to come. I found all types of people at the platform: Marathis, Gujju’s, Marwadis, Sindhi’s and of course the ever intelligent South Indians. People were talking of a recent cricket match, a nearby share market deal was going on, some college boys were discussing projects and new girls in their college and locality, while women were discussing their daily struggles at the office.

My anticipated ideal, less crowded train never arrived during the peak hours, so I pushed myself into the next local which came on the platform in the 1st class, which was no less than other compartments in terms of crowd. The only benefit of travelling in 1st class is you expect to see and actually find decent sophisticated crowd as fellow passengers, who suddenly become just like school children going on a picnic.

My next half hour was very eventful, but more in the second part of the story

A Sudden Journey by Train

Date-27/12/2013. 

Location-Valsad-Mumbai Train.

It is close to 4 months that I last noted down my travel diary here on my laptop. However, I have been regularly noting it down directly on my blog. My company has declared 4 days leave for the last 4 days of December 2013, after making us toil hard last month. I had taken very few leaves for the year and so took my chance in applying one personal leave which got approved by the HR Dept. God bless the H.R  and my team leader.

Ok, so anyhow, I started on my way back to Vadodara from Gandhinagar at 1 pm. The bus came half an hour later and I got ticket up to the railway station. I was eventually going to change the bus to go to the bus station, but destiny thought otherwise and so landed up buying a railway ticket.  I find myself writing on my laptop as I have just crossed the Anand Railway station after boarding the 2 30 train from the Ahmedabad railway station. The current time is 4 30.

It is very very rare that I board a train. as normally a bus is preferred by me, as it is fast in spite of the difference in the fare. I like a comfortable journey at the end of the day, rather than a journey where you are pressurised to do every form of yoga exercise unwillingly.

And I thought that since I have boarded the Mumbai bound train, It will speed up and make me reach Baroda until 4 at least !  Well, it stopped at every small and tiny station on the way for a good 2 mins and for a bad 20 minutes because of some ongoing work on the tracks. What did I do on the way? Well, I slept for a 1.5 hours on a fully empty seat until 2 good ladies came with a kid and demanded to sit on the same berth that your's truly  was sitting. And, the seat in front of me was open for them. Ladies cannot sit quiet for 10 minutes can they? So eventually, I changed not only my seat but also my compartment as well with an oldie for the company who was very quite till I reached my destination.

I would have slept again, but was driven by a desire to do some reading on a busy official day, opened up the book ‘Connect the Dot’s by Rashmi Bansal and started flipping pages. My hand got stuck on a story so have decided to read the story part of Kalyan Varma, a wildlife photographer , who quit a lucrative job at yahoo to follow his heart's passion into wildlife photography and stuff.  Sounds like the right thing for me, though I don’t have a lucrative job like him, I do have a passion or interest in nature photography. My boss would surely not mind if I take some days leave from the company for some days, as he has another excellent senior content writer in his team now.

OK, so back to the train. I start viewing the things going on the tracks and see a rag picker picking out thorns from her chappal-less feet, people sleeping between the pillar spaces near the tracks, where the dogs don’t even care to urinate. I see the usual small children bathing with the hosepipes on the railway tracks and yes, also see a giant mouse between the tracks. I wonder, how do they get so big and also thank Lord Ganesh for not sending this big his vehicle to our home. A deranged person is talking to himself near a platform and smiling at passers by. That is a good thing to do. Nobody expects you to be sane so you can smile back at anyone, even to unknown ladies!  People are talking about politics and the AAP party's future in Delhi. Politics is the favorite time pass of all the people I guess, except me.

I do not know what more to write. So, ending up now. I have just crossed Ranoli and will hopefully reach my home in the next half an hour drinking homemade coffee. Enough of all these 'I's.

The Late Evening Singing aloud on the Road

How often have you heard yourself singing on the road aloud? How often have you sung together with an unknown person? I guess never or too rarely right?

But that is what I did 2 days back when I was coming  back from my job and had shared a taxi going home back to Gandhinagar.

The car owner gave me a lift back home and started playing music CD in his vehicle. Pleasantly he started playing my favourite songs and started singing slowly.. The other passengers in the too joined in and after some time, all started singing in the car to the 'Kalyug' song of 'Aadat' and DDLJ. 

Our voice was so loud that all other vehicle owners would pass by looking at us bewildered. And guess what? At the end of the ride... he did not charge a penny for giving us a ride.. 

That's the joy of travelling alone. You never know who you meet up or expect the unexpected. 

Kulls

A trip to Mahudi.

Have you ever heard of a temple, where the 'prasad' is not allowed to be taken outside the premises but consumed right there? Have you ever heard of a temple,which attracts lakhs of people everyday?

I am talking of Mahudi Temple. This is a famous Jain temple near Gandhinagar on the way to Himmatnagar. My company-LetsNurture had declared leave on Saturday of last month, due to some reason. Being a holiday, I took this wonderful opportunity to visit this wonderful temple.

I started the journey with my parents and uncle. We reached the destination in just about 45 minutes. Being early morning, we did not face heavy traffic.

The temple is known as Mahudi temple. It was built many years ago by acharya Shri Shri Budhhisagarji Maharaj, a Jain saint. To my surprise, I found my boss of my company, Mr Ketan Raval, also there with his family. He was having the famous Sweet of the temple known as 'Sukhdi' made of pure Ghee..

As per the famous legend, devotees are not allowed to take the sweets to their home or outside the premises. After paying respects to the Tirthankars, I started enjoying the Prasad with my family. Gradually, lots of people started coming in and the place became crowded.

We had to leave early, so we went back home. I would surely like to say thanks to my boss, who not only gave us a holiday from our office, but also offered his help to give me a lift in his car.

Kulls

Have we really forgotten to look at nature?

Date 02.08.2013.

I sometimes think if people have forgot their basic nature of living in the real 'Nature' or at least looking at the nature around them. People of course resort to their inner natural tendency, when they resort to violence in the name of protests or when they demand a separate state like Telangana and other states of India.

Speaking of different states, now people are demanding their own state like Gorkhaland, Saurasthra, Kutchch, and what not. They are simply undoing, what Sardar Patel did 60 years ago, by uniting different kingdoms and Raj's.

Sorry, I went off the wrong lane in this blog of my travel diaries. I wanted to write about the nature. Anyways, how many of us people really think to look at nature, in our daily lives? We may think of planting trees once a year, or going to a forest once a year in our busy lives, but have we forgot to really look and appreciate the nature around us and in turn, appreciate that 'inner being' in us, who is looking to jump forward always.

Have we looked at the stars at a clear sky carefully, like we used to? Do we now look at the wonderful animals around us and appreciate them for their usefulness in our daily lives? Not anymore I guess, after the corporate culture set in and sends us home, tired hungry and sleepy.

There are only few people remaining, I guess, who wake up in the middle of the night specially to see meteors falling in the sky or look at the stars and wonder how tiny humanity is, and marvel at nature.

I have an interest in photography and always carry my camera with me when I travel. Yesterday, on my way back from my office, I happened to pass through a wonderful scene on a road. It caught my attention. A calf was drinking milk of its mother cow and the cow was taking utmost care of not disturbing it. It would get angry if any human being stopped nearby fearing for its calf.

How wonderful the scene was! When I started my camera, the cow became cautious and looked at me like I was going to hurt its calf. Motherly love. I quickly captured the scene and left the place.

It would be a better nation to be in or a better world to be in, if all people appreciate nature in their daily lives and contribute in some way

Adeiu,
Kulls

Ahmedabad airport drama

An interesting experience
This is how auto people try to rope in unsuspecting travellers

. Last week, I had gone to Ahmedabad airport to drop off Jiggi Patel my friend, going to Australia. As I came out of the airport, I wanted to take an auto to the bus stand nearby.

2 Autowallah  people approached me, thinking I was a traveler and had just landed down at the airport. The conversation between us....

Kaha jaana hai sahab.
Me: Gandhinagar jaana hai. Drop me to the nearby bus stand
250 Rs Lagenge. beth jao.. 1/2 ghante me pocha denge.
Me: Are you mad? Sorry, I dont want to come
Are sir, give 200 Bucks.. 50 Rs discount
Me: Man, My budget is only 50 Rs... uptil Gandhinagar. Take me or drop it.

What sir, you are at the airport, coming down from a plane and now haggling for a small amount. This is the standard rate of auto wallah people. You wont get less than this anywhere. Ok , lets make it to 150 Bucks and I will drop you off to nearest bus stand.

Me: Who said , I just landed down? I cam here to drop off my friend. I dont even work here. I can at the most give 30 bucks.
And then I started walking out of the airport.

Finally an auto wallah realised that I was only a local guy and offered me my choice of fare. He dropped me off to the nearest bus stand to Gandhinagar.

But this left me thinking, this is how all transport people operate at the airport. You need to be firm with them and be ready to walk off from the deal to get the best deal.

Closing this, I must thank my boss at my office-LetsNurture to allow me to go to airport to see off my friend at such a short notice.

Is there any reason to be wary of drenching in Rain

Date: 27th July

All the year round, people wait anxiously and tirelessly for the rains to come. When the rains do come actually, they get part in getting drenched in rain. But for how long? Hardly twice or thrice. 

I have seen while coming from my office in Ahmadabad, that when it rains, people actually curse the rain after a time. What an irony! First they wait and pray for the rain, then they get drenched in the rain for a day or two and then  the same people curse the rain. 

Due to pressures from my uncle's home in gandhinagar, I take my raincoat with me to office every time, but I remember that in these 2 months of rain, I may have rarely used my raincoat. It is indeed a good thing to get drenched in rain, unless you are going for a job interview, to someone's place or have a delicate tendency to catch cold. 

How wonderful it is to get wet in the rain. You feel your stress, worry and all the troubles in the world get washed away. You don't need to go and freshen up at your home. And the best of all things is that you get to experience the wonders of nature flowing by with green trees and the wonderful scenery passing by.  

I would request everyone to enjoy the rain when they get caught up with it and spend the best days of their life enjoying. After all, they are not going to enjoy the rain once they get old, are they?

Kulls

Travel Diary No 3

Date: 12-07-2013

It is not every time, that you get unknown people in a bus singing together

But that is what happened on Saturday. I was coming to Baroda from Ahmadabad on a state transport GSRTC bus at 10 pm. There were about 30 passengers in the bus including me. As is the new facility, the bus had a TV installed where old filmi songs were playing..

It was also raining heavily outside. Suddenly, an old Dev Anand song came " Yeh dil naa hota aavaraa...'
such good was the tune of that song, that people from backside started to sing slowly first.. then the tone started to increase as others joined in, and people-total strangers to each other, started singing the song, as if they were going in a picnic. The conductor also joined in.

The atmosphere became so pleasurable, that the passing by bus passengers wondered, on what was happening in the bus, before they realized what was happening.
As soon as the song stopped, everybody went back to sleeping

It is not everytime that you see unknown people singing in the bus.. but India is a land of uncertainties and unpredictability.

Kulls 

My travel Diary No 2

There have been enough articles, education and reminders about mobile etiquette.  Still some people feel that it is okay, to shout or speak at the top of their voice on mobile, while travelling. This can be said especially in case of villagers who have acquired mobile phones but not any mobile education. Why only villagers, but there are also educated people in cities, who do not know the manner to talk. Recently, I was travelling to Ahmadabad in a bus and there was a woman sitting on my opposite seat, who was giving cooking lessons on her phone to her daughter at home.  So loud was she, that all of the bus passengers came to know what was cooking at her home , what ingredients were going to be added to the dish, and how many street dogs they had near their home.

Add to that, if the voice of the woman would have been sweet, it would have been nice to hear, but her voice was like a frog croaking at the top of his voice.

I have also came across a well dressed man  talking on phone on a heated discussion with his son, on how his daughter in law behaved with him, and what he should do to teach a lesson to his wife.  

Thankfully I have also came across people who talk so softly, that one can’t even hear their whispering while sitting next to them. 

See ya

Kulls

My Travel diary No 1

Date:   08.03.2013

While returning to from Baroda to Ahmadabad on an intercity bus at 8 30 pm, a cute girl child seated beside me, asked her mother as soon as the bus reached express highway, “ Mummy, kya bus me sab sone ke liye hee aate hain?”. ("Mom, do people come to just sleep on the bus?”)  The child was just about 8 years or 7 years old, but she had  good sense of curiosity and concentration, and seemed to enjoy studying people. And how true she was!  People mostly pass time in bus or train by sleeping. There are less people who look outside to see the passing cities or nature or study other people. 

Most of the people are engrossed in their own troubles and world. This little girl was oblivious of tensions of adults. God keep her that way always. 

Kuldip