the weekend that was....

In 48 hours the total distance traveled was of 1700 kms plus and was covered by all the possible means of transport, including a flight worth more than my one month's house rent & sharing a berth, that too in the sleeper coach. Both the experiences, irrespective of the price paid or saved, stirred the adrenalin levels conspicuously.

All these efforts were made to reach Bandhavgarh National Park in the Umaria district of Madhya Pradesh. The density of the tiger population at Bandhavgarh is one of the highest known in India and you really have to be blind to miss tiger spotting (not quite true)

Wiki trivia – core forest area of 105 square kilometer and buffer area spread over the forest divisions of Umaria and Katni totals 437 square kilometer.
Legend has it that this park got its name from the most prominent hillock of the area, which is said to be given by Lord Rama to Lakshmana to keep a watch on Lanka, hence the name Bandhavgarh (Sanskrit: Brother's Fort)

Our weekend escape had all the elements of adventure, action, comedy, romance, fun, relaxation and luxury. Wherein the Jungle offered adventure, the resort was pure luxury bliss, and the company made sure that there were no dull moments.

It took us two safaris to spot “Mahammen” like the early bird catches the worm and the second mice gets the cheese, getting up late finally paid off.

P.S. if you are looking for an awesome weekend, closer to nature, under the open sky with fireflies & tree houses do visit Bandhavgarh & stay at Syna resort.

P.P.S – it’s got a swimming pool & Jacuzzi as well

P.P.P.S – Go for more than 2 days.

Pics - http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150343024049008.418540.795269007&l=546ce4801d

think big and even bigger ;)

Choti cheez toh humne sochi hi nahi ;) 

Checked out the latest from the luxury car maker Audi A7 Sportback and yeah that Deepika aunty :P 

The Audi A7 Sportback is a moving sculpture which breaks free from the shackles of conventional design and expresses a distinct lightness thereby setting a new definition of contemporary luxury.

A perfect synthesis of prestige, sportiness and modern technology, the Audi A7 combines the strengths of a coupe, a sedan and an avant in a highly attractive concept which truly symbolizes progressiveness.Click here for more information

Chalti ka naam Gaadi

www.gaadi.com

Travel & photography is the new singing & dancing. Every second person I know, owns a DSLR these days & loves to travel, nah nothing wrong about it, in fact its inspiring, places people visit, pictures they click, it’s quite inspiring & thanks to facebook  we get almost real time updates.

And I am no different, I too love to pack and move and when I have my camera in my hand, the world around me appears diverse, colorful, and full of fascinating life.

I am a curious person, and my camera is my probe to satisfy that curiosity – to understand a moment, what led to it, and accept it as it is. When I capture a moment through my lens, you get to see not just what my eyes saw, but perhaps, also what my mind processed.

The bouquet of subjects I capture is diverse, and it expands as I continue to explore.

Often I find myself so charmed by colors that I could gaze at them oblivious to everything else.

Landscapes soothe my mind, while the water and sand invite stillness in me. Animals – alive and guiltless – make me wait till they smile with their brilliant eyes. But the most expressive are People – the wrench of sadness, the jolt of rage, kids and their innocence, men at work, a mothers’ charm, a priests’ aura, the gardeners skin, and more – and that is what I endeavor to capture.

Through my pictures, I hope, you will be able to read into the un-uttered words of creation.

Thanks for stopping by. I am learning as I go, and hope you like it :)

 

Mp3

Life is fun when you don’t have to go to office and you don’t particularly die for a long weekend. So while the entire corporate janta was going mad about planning for the long weekend thanking good Friday, I was home with no plans in particular (fine ! that’s not new)

I did what I am good at – delegation, and within few moments I had a plan ready and all I had to do was to act, which I very well did.

So the journey began, which ended in 3 nights with 3 different experiences.

Day 1 – Bhopal >> Hoshangabad >> Suhagpur >> Unknown territory (it was all kept hush hush) Any trip needs a camera else how would our friends on fb know ;) so we bought a camera (yeah we are rich people) *all the pics in this album is courtesy Saurabh & his super cool camera. Next we reached the national park called Paraspani where we were accompanied by our dear collector sahib who made no mistakes in his hospitality. The night was spent in a” van gram” which had no lights or network but had the best starlit sky possible. We were looking up the entire night spotting shooting stars and we did =)

Day 2 – Paraspani >> Pachmarhi Clean roads with less traffic made the short distance even shorter. Pachmarhi is a quite laidback town which made us go some 5 or 10 years back in time. Beautiful, green and lazy are the words I would want to use for it, though it offers some touristy things like sunset point, waterfall etc.

Day 3 –Pachmarhi >> Madai – By far the prettiest backdrops I have seen in MP, so much to say that I will visit again during or post monsoon. We encountered some animals but again, the highlight was the landscape .


In transit we came across suicidal birds, crossed rivers – once in a car & once by a boat, clicked pics, cracked some really random jokes & yeah importantly we figured that Honshangabad does offer FM radio stations ;) 

Pics - http://goo.gl/pZqIJ

a tear & a smile

Was caught once again in thoughts that were darker then the kajal in my eyes yet brighter than my spirit. I didn’t know if I was happy or sad, if I should laugh or cry? 

This state of mind was not a result of specific something or someone. It just happened.

When my eyelids were heavy with sleep, mind was yearning to wander off somewhere, making it hell of a task for the brain to accomplish doing both. 

So I stared blankly at the empty ceiling, and noticed a quiet line dividing through it, but it wasn’t much after that humming mosquito began to fight for attention by its amusing rhythmic noise. So the train of thought was lost never to be caught again. And the melodious mosquito got what it wanted - an applause =)

So the focus shifted to books lying on the bed, and I wondered if I should pick them up or if I could get away with the being-too-busy-doing-nothing justification. I settled down for the reason that light was not enough to read, and the fact that I don’t want to squander away my newly bought glasses.

When the room is sparsely decorated, there aren’t a lot of objects that can arrest your thoughts, and so letting the mind stroll and oscillating between past, present & future.

It was fascinating how I kept thinking of all the mistakes made in the past and how am I going to revise them in the future, completely glossing over all the new ones I am making in the present. 

Going back as far as I could, and thinking about each and every mistake I made, rivers began to damn up in my eyes and when the doors could hold no more, well, lets just say the water supply restored in my area for a week at least. Once that dried up, the ever-hopeful brain quickly decided that no matter how thick I was in the past, the future will be error free – and with that came a lasting smile and some rosy thoughts had begun to get together in my mind.. 

In this struggle of the tears and smiles we fall short to assess the incident that comes along each of these mistakes, the experience which is much more precious than those pearls lost of those pearls yet to be gained.

MP again...

So weekend tripping continues and as I mentioned March is dedicated to Madhya Pradesh, and I have some destinations chalked out.

They say sometimes it’s not the destination but the journey that matters; I say it’s not just the journey but also the company, and what could be better with someone who can be quiet with you and can see the world as you see it.

Without digressing further, this week’s destination was decided by keeping Bhopal as the base and highlights with quick trivia

1. Kerwa Riverside - Well there is nothing fancy about Kerwa River but you have to be there to experience the serene & composed skyline and stillness of the water in sun was dissolving it heat & colors.

2. Bhimbetka rock shelters - Bhimbetka rock shelters reveal the most primitive signs of human life in India and are approximately 9,000 years old literally stood the test of time :)
Legend has it - Bhimbetka is derived from Bhimbaithka - sitting place of Bheem

3. Bhojpur - Bhojpur a small town with a blend of history & religion has an incomplete Bhojeshwar temple of Shiva with the largest Shiva lingam in India crafted out a single rock.

And it’s not just the temple which is intriguing; the place will offer you a near perfect romantic evening, sitting on the cliff with feet hanging in the air, being caressed by the calm breeze which brushes your hair across your face. If you are lucky enough, the soothing rhythm of a flute playing in the village nearby will enliven your soul.

Pics - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=371576&id=795269007&l=73dc1149f0

in 48 hours..

It really is not difficult to turn an intention into action - and booking tickets for Madhya Pradesh after months of planning is the one of finest instance I can cite.

The date was finalized, bags were packed, and off we went to, what was once the largest state of India, and is also known as “Hindustan ka Dil”, Madhya Pradesh.

This 48 hours trip had it all – the joy of travel by all means of transport, the bliss of relaxation, and lessons from history.

Train journey is in itself an experience which starts right from the station, including food, people, the rush of things, and the best of all - the co passengers.

The journey was not long in terms of distance but somehow it felt like eternity. As the train got slower and was about to halt at the station, somehow my heart beat was racing inversely proportional to the speed of the train.

A day or two away from the swarm, where you can hear Silence can do wonders to an otherwise normal life. We spent an evening in the forest amongst the trees, along with the flowing river, where the chuckles of water were not letting us ignore their presence and were constantly reminding us of how incredible nature is.

Hours turned into minutes, and minutes into seconds when you are having a remarkable conversation and before you know its dawn. I guess now I know what the Chinese meant when they said that a single conversation with a wise man is better than ten years of study.
While we were trying to run away from darkness, the night was getting closer to perfection. The perfect symmetry of trees by the road, the lights of a billion stars, the music which seemed to be coming straight from the heart - there was nothing else that could have been added to make it more perfect.

A lazy morning was spent on the swing taking me back & forth into childhood, while my feet were holding on to the present.

I can assertively say that our eyes may have gotten tired and legs may have hurt but our heart for sure was delighted!

Pics -http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=368633&id=795269007&l=f431d4b27d

let go..

As I m packing yet again, to move houses all I could think is how I could collect so many things in such a short span. There are boxes & boxes of things which seem to be never ending and if I back calculate I must have had spent a fortune collecting these things, which now seem to me a liability, holding me down.

This dreary exercise has taught me whether it’s your favorite jeans, relationship, people or even empty shoe boxes we need to learn to let things go.Everything has a life cycle and clinging on to things won’t breathe life into them, the more things we are attached to the more difficult it is to move on, relocate or simply be the one you wanted to be.

This does not mean that you should become like a vagabond, but keep things which are important close to your heart, things you will value forever & things without with life is meaningless, love the people you are with, I don’t say it often but I do and I hope they know it :)

Dilli Darshan

How often do we do the touristy thing in our own city? For us historical monuments are “ghar ki murgi” as we almost pay no regards to our heritage.

So it all started when a friend visiting from another state asked me to be a tour guide for a day and introduce him to Delhi’s rich culture to which I gladly said yes.

Our itinerary included Chandni Chowk, Gaki paranthe wali, Jama Masjid, Red Fort, India Gate (yes all in a day ;) And what better way to travel other than public transport, so we used them all (metro, cycle rickshaw, auto and we walked on foot as well our feet still are recovering)

Day started with the visit to old Delhi and trust me every step forward it seemed to me that I am going back into time in the great Mughal era, while the only disconnect was the dressing & camera ;)

Chawadi Bazaar & Chandani Chowk was a delight, what food, what people, what a place!

I can’t remember how many samosas I ate or the cups of tea I had, but what bliss. Next couple of hours and more was spent on foot across purani dilli soaking the history.

Then we were at the glorious India Gate which ironically is for soldiers of the British Indian Army who lost their lives while fighting for the British Empire, so much for commemoration. The sky was lovely & the people were friendly and the weather was just perfect, tried to capture some of the moments.

P.S. My photos have a story to tell I hope they will inspire others to pay a visit to our splendid history :)

Pics -http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=362309&id=795269007&l=f87ad06049

a fair with culture

One day weekend started with waking up at 11 AM and logging straight onto gtalk which in turn made a JIT plan in less than 60seconds.

By 12:30 we were on the road off the Surajkund Mela *yay achievement*

As we were progressing towards the venue, comes in a call, redirecting us to Tughlaqabad Fort (which we were convinced was right behind Surajkund)

Quick trivia – the fort was built by Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq, the founder of Tughlaq dynasty, of the Delhi Sultanate of India in 1321, which was later abandoned in 1327 *wiki*

After couple of hours of mindless jokes, innumerable portraits and cooked up stories we moved towards our initial planned destination.

In the backdrop of Surajkund Lake held a colorful festival showcasing the artists, painters, weavers and sculptors from Andra Pradesh for this year and its culture was shown in colors, materials, architecture, furniture and decorations along with mouth watering food and some amazing foot tapping rhythms .

By the end of the day our legs were aching with pain but on our faces we had a smile which needed no explanation.

what a way to spend an awesome Sunday!!

Pics -http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=360162&id=795269007&l=60e19bdcc6

ek dopahar dilli main

Talking to strangers does not come naturally to me but *ek dopahar in delhi* made me drop some of my inhibitions & I did let my hair down *literally* amongst random janta, from chai wala to kids on the street eventually making it much more than just another Lazy Sunday!

chidiyaghar

zoo was never so much fun

pics http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=206857&id=795269007&l=f0c0156e92

Sea. Sand. Sunshine

pics - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=353105&id=795269007&l=ff7cce8d29

in search of peace

Quiet small town nestled with fruit orchards & forest, Mukteshwar got its name from Lord Shiva. We went there in search of Moksha in a calm and secluded place away from the hustle bustle of the chaotic city to an enchanting city. This little beautiful town adorned with cute homes of reddish roofs, ancient style window frames made of wood and picket barriers brings the reminiscences of British Raj. It is affluent in scenic splendor and commands a breathtaking & magnificent view of the Himalayas. The eminent “Shiv Temple” offers tranquility & peace. It’s the perfect holiday destination to those looking for enthralling retreat.

Pics -http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=326387&id=795269007&l=22fa9cdaf5

Aise hi “Wah Taj” nahi kehte!

As I stood in front of the magnificent TAJ for the 4th time it struck me, over all these years, across all those visits, the monument is still standing like a timeless beauty with the same arrogance & exquisiteness.

The only thing that has changed is the quality of photographs taken i.e. from a normal camera to cell phones to digital camera to SLR ;)

Eat. Pray. Love

• Talk to someone you admire, nothing will give you more kick =)  
• Flirt, you will feel 16 again
• Sleep for long hours, after all who does not want to wake up all pretty  
• It’s ok to cry during a movie, let’s open those taps!
• Water plants, talk to them, with every drop of water sprinkled you will feel the joy
• Try cooking, its ok to burn some, but even the half cooked food will taste delicious
• Read books, trust me it will never be a waste of time
• Take up a hobby its better then stalking people on FB
• Sometimes it’s alright to remember God while not being in trouble; I’m sure he won’t mind

in the jungle the mighty jungle

Drove over 500 km. in over 36 hours/ had a flat tyre /enjoyed rain in Rajasthan & cool winds / saw weird animals :P clicked totally random & over 1500 pics/ stayed in a palace ;) / had 5 course dinner/ made up “bhoot” stories & got scared by prank-y ghost /got bit by insects/ had medusa like hair with the wind in the hair / took bath in yellow water & brushed in mineral water/ understood the perils of online booking & wide lens / cracked totally stupid jokes and laughed madly for hours / drove over 20kms just to find an ATM / yeah got to know two sides conductor & driver :P /thanks to Google maps made million spikes and tried to save dying economy by burning fuel :P

pics - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=236557&id=795269007&l=15e23c7566

pachees saal pehle aur aaj :)

Turning 25 was special and it was made a lot easier with friends, celebration was spread over 4 awesome days & i can say that southern part of India is special in its own way, loved the weather, people, food, heritage - simple yet special! and yeah *chill maadi* :)

pics -  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=276654&id=795269007&l=b9cd94a20f

just like that

when in doubt check :) http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=183371&id=795269007&l=2e1ea499ee

as naughty as naughty can be

an afternoon spent with tvishi was a joyride back on the memory lanes, watched Tom & Jerry, ate chocolates while we felt the fresh air on the swings.

P.S. - i am available for baby sitting ;)

Rest of the pics -  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=334807&id=795269007&l=64c6bd31ea

been there done that

It was not a "perfect vacation" just like that, in 4 days & 3 nights, went crazy after looking at some zillion flowers,aimlessly gazed at the beautiful night studded with stars, went up to 15000 + feet & went mad after seeing snow & snowfall :)

Rode a horse & can use chopsticks now ;)
 

Phew! i m a different person :P

 

P.S. line to the album http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=215774&id=795269007&l=d4d8f54585

 

P.P.S. too many flowers & mountains in the pics, do not complain that i did not warn :P 

In to the wild

As I landed in the land of the red river and blue hills I had to peel off all the extra layers as it was not as cold as one would have expected, and so the unexpected journey began...

While walking along the bank of river Brahmaputra I realized it is the only male river of India. Day 1 ended on a spiritual note by a visit to Balaji Temple & the same was followed on day 2 by visiting Kamakhya temple, where sacrificing a life (animals/birds) fulfills desires of others.

I filled my lungs with fresh air on the beautiful drive to Kaziranga which was well complemented with the awesome music #Beatles

Diversity in the landscaped became increasingly apparent as I moved across the state towards the forest reserve.

I was lucky enough to visit the traditional Karbi festival where I saw several folk dance performances which were followed by traditional dinner after which on couldn’t help but gaze aimlessly at the millions of star shining in the sky. Nature was at its best.

Day 3 started at 5 AM with an elephant safari which took me closer to nature & into the wild which was followed by a jeep safari, saw one horn rhinoceros, wild buffalo, deer & some really exotic birds. And then was on the road again, reached Tezpur in the evening where I enjoyed the stay in a beautiful guest house across the bank of the river

Day 4 was rather laid back & relaxed, but it got interesting as I reached the beautiful Nameri Jungle Resort where I went for a peaceful& hushed journey across the river with mountains & forests giving me company all along, in the evening had an exclusive one to one with the flora & fauna at the resort thus bringing a perfect day to end & to an amazing holiday :)

P.S. - link to pictures http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=334771&id=795269007&l=d5f3e7a3db