Goa in Rains

It took me four years and many canceled plans to get to my ‘laqshaya’ named Goa. I had been planning to tour Goa for quite long, but every time something came up and the plan was kept in abeyance. Finally two more friends, a last minute bookings, indirect route travel and determination to go, made this possible. Amol, Ram and me had an eventful and memorable  three days tour of Goa.

As we decided to go one day in advance, we could not get the direct train or bus ticket. So an alternate route was suggested by amol through Kolhapur, Maharashtra. We had a comfortable overnight journey to Kolhapur and next morning boarded a bus from there to Goa which was supposed to take 6 hours thus making it a 18+ hours bus journey. We traveled across Phonda Ghat on the way to Goa and we could see the greenery all around with the clouds kissing the mountains. Everything was going well till it started raining heavily halfway. I and Ram were starting to feel disappointed as it would have ruined the tour if it continued to rain in Goa.

We reached Goa in afternoon and headed towards hotel near Calangute Beach in North Goa. An advanced booking made sure that no time was wasted in searching hotels. It was still raining outside but had been abated. We decided to go to beach in the rain as it would have been stupid to sit in hotel near a beach. I was not expecting much crowd on beach but when we reached there surprising there were hundreds of people enjoying on beach, overlooking the rains. This brought back the enthusiasm and we ran towards sea to meet the waves. This was a different experience all together on a sea beach in rain and now water was coming from both directions named sea and sky.

As it was getting dark we left the beach and headed towards the market. It was happening place too and everyone was moving in the rain like it’s not raining at all. We bought a few tshirts and that brought out the hidden shopping freakness out. We went to every shop in the market irrespective of what were they selling. Having bought few gifts for the family, we decided to take dinner in a nearby restaurent. We were lucky to get a pure vegeterian restaurent, as Goa is definitely a paradise for non vegeterians and those who enjoy alcohal . After dinner we returned to hotel and slept praying rain should stop tomorrow. Yes, I was selfish this time ( Refer previous post ).

Next day when we woke up it was raining very lightly. We were hoping to have some luck on our side and started for South Goa tour in a cab. We earlier decided to rent bikes but considering the weather, cab appeared to be a better option. After taking breakfast when we came out, the rain had stopped. It was a cheerful moment and we rushed as we wanted to cover as much as possible when rain had halted.

After crossing bridge on River Mandovi, we reached our first spot Bom Jejus Church. It’s an old church depicting Portugese architecture. After having a small tour of church and the museum we headed towards our next spot Shantadurga Temple. It was a nice temple with very nice facilities.

We were outside next spot named Mangesh Temple and it started raining heavily. We immediately decided to skip it and take lunch in the hope it will stop raining in that interval. God was with us that for sure and rain had again subdued when we reached our next destination Dona Paula. This was the place we were looking for in Goa. Beach, water sports and beautiful sights at the same place. Goa is full of feminine beauty and natural beauty n it becomes difficult to tell which one is better . I know guys, this confusion lasts for moment only

Driving a water scooter was one of the most exciting experience I ever had. You are in between sea with water all around you, the scooter moving a very fast speed and swaying due to the waves, all this was life time experience. The light rain at that moment made it more enjoyable with the rain drops falling on u from above while u r on ride of ur life. After this ride we went to Dona Paula point where the movie ‘ek duje ke liye’ was shot, stayed there for some time and moved towards next beach called Miramar beach.

Miramar beach was not suitable for swimming, a kind of risky one as the water drags u inside, so we didn’t spend much time there and proceeded towards Panjim Market. After having our lunch we proceeded towards the cruise. Cruise was of one hour duration and ship traveled in river Mandori. It had a Dj, some cultural performances and a great sight seeing. Also there were casinos moving along with us in other ships. The ships were looking beautiful in the dark. We returned to hotel after that thanking god for being kind as it did not rain heavily excpet 15-20 min. and we could enjoy the day.

Next day was the last day in Goa and we went to Baga beach in the morning. We wanted to cover as much as possible so we went early in the morning and saw sun rays for the first time in Goa. The last destination was Fort Aguada and became famous after movie Dil Chahta hai. After doing some photo session we were on our return journey to hyderabad. The fun, the joy, the memories we had in Goa were unforgettable and difficult to put into words ( though i came up with these many words ).Moral of the tour : If you are willing to take a bit of risk, you can enjoy Goa in rains equally, ofcourse with a little luck on your side.

Visit to Ajmer

Visit to Ajmer has always been exicting and why not, I have my maternal uncle staying there. My recent visit was 2 months back and I missed out writing about it at that time. But as they “It’s never too late”, so today I picked up the pen (it’s a metaphor now ), and started recalling the memories.

That was the time of Urs festival and so it was very crowded in certain areas of city. Hence I limited my visit to only certain areas of city and still it was wonderful. Ajmer has 5-6 famous spots which include Pushkar, Bajrangadh, Sai Mandir, Dargah and a Jain mandir. Though all of the above places are religious places, still they are equally a tourist spot for variuos reasons.

But before that let me introduce u to my lovely cousins. My brother Chinmay  who like every other kid is fond of cricket, movies, computer games but very affectionate. My sister Amruta who is very sweet, affectionate like her brother and a great dancer. I learnt a few dance steps from her and couldn’t reach anywhere near her perfection.

Ajmer is surrounded by Aravali hill and u will get a nice view  in the morning and evening in any direction u look .  The first place to visit was Saibaba temple which was very nearby my uncle’s home. The temple is very big and built entirely out of marble. When we entered the temple, aarti was going on and it was a wonderful experience there.

Next day we visited Bajrangadh which is a famous temple of Hanumanji. The temple is at some height and u need to climb around 200 steps to reach there. You can see majority of Ajmer from the top. There is a lake near by called Anna Sagar and a garden to take rest. This makes the place a nice picnic spot.

The third evening we went to a newly built Jain temple. It had a very big statue of Mahaveer and the temple was very well maintained. It had a huge garden nearby and architecture of the temple was very unique. The place again was like a picnic spot too with greenry all around

Visit to Ajmer was enjoyable for the fun with my maternal uncle’s family, the great food I had for 3 days, the company of the kids that made me a kid and for the memories that always stays with me.

Visit to Nagarjuna Sagar Dam

I was back in town and this was time for one more outing. The best place we could think of was Nagarjuna Sagar Dam as there would be some water in rainy season though it had rained less as compared to previous year. The number of people for this trip were less as many of them not available/ interested for various reasons. But we still had a group of 8 members sufficient for a trip full of fun. A last minute booking of Qualis was made at 10 P.M. in the night for next day morning. But after all the little problems we were ready to start on saturday morning.

We started around 8:45 in the morning and the journey after that was very entertaining. The driver started playing songs we never heard before and after 1-2 songs we had to request him to change the CD. Luckily he had a collection of latest songs as well and we could enjoy the well known beats.

We had our breakfast in a restaurant on the way. After fueling our individual tanks we moved ahead. We were singing songs in our own ‘special’ voices. We had our shuffled play list of songs and then came a song ‘Chalo ek bar fir se ajnabee ban jaye hum dono”. The lyrics of the songs made everyone’s old memories flash again . Then Divyendu gave his first solo performance of trip with this song.

We had reached very near to dam and could see it from a distance. As it had rained less as compared to last year, gates of dam were not opened but still there was enough water in lake. River Krishna was full of water and was looking great. We reached the place from where we were to go on boat journey. This was a great sight to watch as lake and small hills were making it a beautiful place.

The boating was to begin from 1:30 in afternoon so we had our lunch before that in a near by restaurant. There was museum in between the lake and I misplaced the tickets for it. It created trouble for some time but finally I found them. Due to my mistake we could not get the front seats in boat but still  my friends were nice to me .

The entire boat journey was really superb. With water around us, hills at some distance, sun at some more distance ; everything was looking beautiful. It took around 45 minutes to reach the place in between the lake.The view from the place was treat to eyes.

The museum was located at some height and we could hear questions like, “why every time we have to walk to see something ? “.  The place was full of trees and lots of gardens. The greenery all around was making it better. The weather had improved too as the sun had gone behind clouds. The kid inside us came out and we were climbing on trees, going to heights, jumping here and there.

The museum looked nice from outside. I had no interest in seeing the museum and came out after 5 minutes .

The place was surrounded by water and I was looking at water at some distance. After some time my friends also came out and once again we were roaming at the place. The boat was scheduled to go back after some time and amit, amitabh, umesh, ram and me decided to explore the place further while others were having rest.

We reached the best site of the place. We had our photo session there and returned back towards boat.The return journey was equally pleasant with sun going down. We started towards city in the evening. We had our dinner at a restaurant in city. The entire day was wonderful. We were now heading towards home. To give the ending of day a final touch, Divyendu was asked to sing the ajnabee song again. The driver started the radio at the same time, tune it to Vividh Bharti channel and to our surprise the song played was “Chalo ek bar fir se ajnabee ban jaye hum dono” . This was the moment of day and perfect ending of day.

Life is Beautiful

It was one more journey from Indore to Ujjain and this time with my mother. We got the two seats in front row and there was still one more seat vacant. My mother took the window seat and I sat adjacent to her. The bus was almost full and was about to leave.

A pretty girl boarded the bus along with her father. I was talking with my mother and saw her, when her father asked her to take the front seat and took a seat near bus conductor for himself.

In my all journeys whether it was by bus or train, I didn’t have a beautiful girl sitting next to me in fact not even in nearby seats. I had already written in my previous post about a train journey that a pretty girl sitting near me only happens in my stories . But on this special day when I am traveling with my mom, a pretty girl herself gets a seat next to me. Life is Beautiful , isn’t it ?

So now I was sitting in the bus on the front row seat with my mother on my right side and that girl on the left side. She was wearing a green dress and was holding a bag in her hand. It was a tough task to talk to mom continuously and at the same time notice her without turning my head in her direction. She seemed like almost of my age. Then I heard a song played by the guy on his cellphone who was sitting just behind me. Thy lyrics of the song,”ek ladka meri umar ka hye meri umar ka “, were perfectly made for the moment. Life is Beautiful, isn’t it?

The bus was moving fast and normally the bus would stop at several places to take more passengers but today it was different. The bus did not stop at a single place and driver was driving fast even when 2-3 seats were still empty in the bus. Life is Beautiful , isn’t it ?

If it would have been some other day, my mom would have slept in the journey. She would take a small nap in long journeys for sure. But as it was a special day, she was surprisingly awake and talking to me. I was praying that please at least sleep for few minutes so that I can think about how to have the conversation with the girl or at least turn my neck by few degrees to see her, but prayers are not listened on such days.

The driver was in full mood to help me as he was driving the bus at full speed and thus reducing the amount of time left. I knew the opportunity is slipping away from me. Then finally after long conversation about all the things in world, my mom decided to take a short nap. I was feeling happy, relieved, thoughtful, alert and tons of other adjectives. Now the chance had come to think about starting conversation. I was thinking about it and turned my face towards her. She had slept too.  Life is Beautiful, isn’t it ?

15 Minutes Wait

Today I had to travel from Indore to Ujjain and I boarded a bus. The scheduled departure time was 11:45 and current time was 11:30. Let’s see what happened in those 15 minutes waiting time.

The distance between two seats was not enough to keep ur legs in a relaxed mode and I somehow managed to sit with my legs a bit folded. Then a man as fat as his width was trying to compete with his hight entered bus and sat adjacent to me. This added more to my comfort as now I have to fold my hands too.

The driver entered his cabin and started the bus to indicate the bus is about to leave though still there were 10 minutes remaining. Along with that he started blowing horn of bus which sounded like chaw chaw chaw ( Replace last three words with the most cacophonous sound u have ever heard )

Next a guy wearing black sun glasses entered and started looking for his seat. Seat numbers were written on the walls of bus above windows and he was looking for numbers behind the seats. This continued for two minutes and then my neighbor became impatient and shouted from that distance, “Remove your sunglasses and then search”. This was great as he could show the numbers as he had already shouted that much loud. The icing on the cake was, that guy removed his sunglasses, started at my neighbor for 2 sec, put back his sunglasses and again started searching.

The driver blew the horn again and this time with increased time duration.

Next a salesman entered the bus with some golden colored chains in his hands, and he was selling them 5 Rs. each. The claim was chain will not loose their shine in a long run even when they get rubbed by objects like walls. To demonstrate this he started rubbing the chains with the roof of bus. The conductor of the bus immediately stopped him saying, ” I don’t know about your chains, but the paint of roof of bus will faint for sure”.

The driver played the music with his horn again. The bus was about to leave when a private bus blocked the way by coming in front of bus exactly perpendicular way. This gave the driver of the bus, one more chance to play his music. Finally the way was cleared and we headed towards Ujjain.

Delhi 6 : Part 3

Next morning I was still in dilemma whether to go back home or stay there. I thought for some time and at 10 A.M. I decided that I was leaving for home. I informed apoorva about my decision and he was very much surprised. He asked what happened to u suddenly.  He was not able understand the eccentric behavior of mine.

Now he had realized that what a mad person I was. I had assumed that direct bus services must be available from Delhi to Ujjain but this wasn’t the case. He asked me to stay for one more day but I being had decided. I packed my bag so that I would directly go to station after ‘Delhi Darshan’.

We saw the reservation status that said Waiting 20. He again asked me whether I was sure and I said Yes. We booked the ticket online and then I realized that I don’t have any ID with me . What a journey I was going to have that evening. I imagined myself sitting near the coach gate on floor with no ID with me.  As usual the attitude was, ” lets see what happens “.

After this drama we started for Sarojani Nagar (S.N.) market for some shopping. Ambuj n Vikas were coming along with us.  S.N.  is a very big market of Delhi with wide range of products available for shopping. We roamed in market for some, did some shopping and had our lunch there.

Our next destination was Lotus Temple and we reached there by 2 p.m. The sign board on the front gate indicated visiting hours from 4 in the evening. A few years back if I would have been in such condition I would have got disappointed, but now have learnt that such things will keep on happening with me .

We waited there for 2 hours and finally got inside. The temple was beautifully built and was a great sight to watch. This was not a religious temple and was for every one. You were supposed to go inside, remain silent, concentrate and pray in ur heart.

After seeing the temple ; Ambuj, Vikas and apoorva headed for their college and I towards station. After reaching station I realized that I can’t board the train in reservation coach if my status is waiting as I had booked ticket online. It was like one more pin in already punctured tyre by 2 pins earlier.

I checked my reservation status and it said RAC-80. This gave me some relief and relaxed for some time on a bench. My train was scheduled to depart at 10 p.m. and i had around 5 hours free. I had my temporary college ID with me and was hoping that should work if checked.

After some hours I again checked the status and lucky me, I got my seat confirmed. Moral of the day was luck follows u if u r determined to do something even because u don’t have any option . I boarded the train, TT checked my ticket without asking for ID and I slept peacefully (how could it be possible with me, I got a side middle berth ). The Delhi tour was indeed a memorable one.

Delhi 6 : Part 2

We were walking on Rajpath, the same path on which Republic Day Parade is carried out. There are gardens on both sides of road and whole walk seemed delightful, in spite of excessive hot weather. We went inside one garden on the other end of Rajpath. We could see Rashtrapati bhavan and Parliament from that garden.

We could see security guards and police distributed in entire area. The presence of black commandos there gives u a feel of high security in area. There were lot of media vens in that area and many live telecasts were going on. We could see a lot of TV reporters from many channels doing their job.

After some photo sessions we decided to head towards Canaught Place. We decided to go by Metro and  went to nearest Metro station. After reaching Metro station I realized why it is called Pride of Delhi. It appeared as if we are in a different country. The stations are world class in all aspects.

The ticket rates are not much higher. As we moved one floor below we could see Metro in front of us. It was an international quality train, shining in light and very clean. We stepped inside and took our seats. The automatic doors closed in few seconds and train started moving. All the coaches are interconnected and you can see train taking turns by watching coaches at some distances. It was a great feeling to travel in Delhi Metro.

We roamed in Canaught Place and Palika Bazar for some time and then we decide to go back to Apoorv’s college. On the way we saw a BMW Studio. Naveen told us this is the only BMW studio in India and he headed towards it. We were seeing him with surprise on his thought of going inside that. We were sure that manager will show us exit gate. What were we doing ? Going for window shopping in BMW showroom.

But as they say that whatever u study comes handy in life. Naveen had read about that studio in a magazine that it offers some t-shirts and other accessories. So he inquired about them and price ranges for t-shirts were 5k around . We stayed in that studio for some time, had a close look at BMW and came out. We were laughing loud once we came out.

We headed towards college and reached their by night. I had not decided yet for how many days I would be staying in Delhi. The heat in Delhi were changing my mind and I was thinking to leave Delhi next day but was not sure yet. As usual with the attitude ,” will see tomorrow”, I went to bed.

To be Contd.

Delhi 6 : Part 1

Post Type : Travel Experience

My friend apoorv had come to home in vacations and was leaving for Delhi. I hadn’t been to Delhi earlier and this was the perfect time to go as he didn’t have classes for initial 2 days. So I booked tickets in hurry a few days before his day of journey.  I got a ticket with RAC on it which got confirmed on day of journey.

We had seats in two coaches S-2 and s-12 at extreme ends. Luckily we met a person who was taking his family to some yatra and had berths scattered throughout the train in different coaches. He made a few exchange of seats and we got our berth next to each other. We chat for a few hours, had our dinner and slept.

Next day at  morning 5:45, we were at Nizamuddin station. After 5 minutes we were sweating. I need to remind again that it was only 5:45 in morning. I said to myself, “Yeh Dilli hai mere yaar”. We took an auto and headed towards his college located in Chatarpur area. I saw IIT-D, AIIMS and Qutub Minar from the auto.

After reaching college, we started getting ready, had our lunch  and decided to visit India Gate. Two more friends Naveen and Gaurav joined us. We reached India Gate somewhere around 3 in afternoon. It was very hot and humid that day. I realized now that why people warned me about weather in Delhi.

But all the fatigue was gone as soon as I saw India Gate and Rajpath. You get a very patriotic feeling when u stand on Rajpath in front of India Gate and can see a long road on the other end of which u can see Rashtrapati Bhavan.

We sat in the garden as we were tired and had a small chat. It is a great spot for chat session with trees around u, water pool in front of ur eyes n side view of India Gate. We sat there for 1 hour and then started moving on Rajpath towards Parliament.

To be Contd.

My Train Journey Part – 2

cont. from last post :

As I stepped out of train I asked what is the departure time of passenger train to Ujjain. I heard 10:30 in reply from a porter. I looked at my watch that was showing 10:19. I had 11 minutes in which I had to go from platform no.2 to 1, buy a ticket and then run to platform no. 5 to catch the train. I had a very heavy suitcase with me that I need to run with. I was in dilemma whether I should give it a try. I had another ticket with me that I had booked for my onward journey, but that train was scheduled at morning 5. That meant I would have to spend whole night in the waiting room with sleepy people and mosquitoes. It took me 5 seconds to decide that I have to catch the train in next 10 minutes. I ran with all my energy with a bag on my shoulder and sliding the suitcase on wheels.

I somehow managed to get a ticket and to reach the platform 5 in time. I was happy for my victory for 30 seconds before I came to know that departure time is 10:50 and there was no need for this much hurry. Anyways I started looking for a seat in every coach but the train was fully crowded. So I chose a coach randomly and put my luggage inside.After putting my suitcase under a seat I started looking for seat where I can adjust myself with people already sitting there. But people understood my intentions and stared shifting till the end of seat so that I can’t even think of asking them for some place. I gave up and was standing against a seat.

Then a person who had occupied one seat with his bag offered me the seat. I thanked him and sat with a sigh of relief. I was expecting to reach home by 3 O’ clock and was happy to save around 6 – 7 hours. Everyone was looking at their watches as it was 10:50. I was expecting train’s whistle at any moment.

Meanwhile as usual I started looking around in the coach, but this time with no expectations . It was heavily crowded. There was no place even for standing. It was completely occupied till entry gate. Everyone was sweating and cursing the railways for delay. I heard some people joking that now the train will start in the morning. And it took one complete hour for train to start.

It was 12 in night by that time. Those who were standing were still searching for some place to sit. Some were arguing loud with others. I saw a so called educated family occupying two seats where the man had occupied one complete seat. They were not ready to adjust even 1 person. After some time everyone started feeling sleepy. One man lied down on the floor and slept without caring for what others feel. Then I saw a guy trying to sleep in the place where the luggage is kept. He somehow managed to get in and looked at everyone with proud.

The train was moving slowly and at every station people were boarding and leaving the train. I was trying to keep my eyes open as it was not possible to sleep. An uncle started to lean against me in sleep and in frustration I asked him to take support from his wife.

After some time somewhere someone dropped water from his water bottle. The water was on the floor moving due to train’s movement. Everyone started shouting at the unknown person for making their bags wet. The person on the floor was still sleeping unaffected. By the time my sleep had gone away. Rest of the time I again spent looking out of window in dark.

Finally my destination, my home town had come. I got out of train and proceeded towards auto rikshwa stand.

My Train Journey Part – 1

It was time to go home finally. I had vacated my hostel and one night before my journey I was at Sudharma’s flat along with some friends. I had my train early in the morning at 6:25. The same A.P. Express that made me write my first blog . To avoid the repetition of history this time I wanted to make sure everything goes according to plan.

I again had a night out to avoid wake up early in morning. We played cards in night and then I started to get ready by 3:30. I was ready by 4:40 and Ram was to accompany me till station. This time I wanted to make sure I reach in time, so we decided to start so early. We got a cab after waiting for around 10 minutes and we reached Mehdipatnam around 5 A.M. This time I think the story was like “Miss me if u can”. We took an auto and by 5:15 at the station. We realized we have reached too early this time.

We met Umesh on station who returned from Bhopal by Dakshin Express. We went to the platform where A.P. was waiting for us to board. After I settled my luggage Umesh and Ram left to catch MMTS train. I was getting ready to sleep as per my plan. I expected there would be no problem in catching sleep as I hadn’t slept last night. As soon as I closed my eyes I heard two words -”Bread cuttlet”.

The best way to pass time is eating I suppose. And moreover its difficult to  ignore tasty stuff. So I bought 1 plate and realized my decision was not bad. It tasted very nice. Now I was to get a nice sleep for sure. I slept for around 4 hours till 12 noon. When I woke up my shirt was completely wet by sweat. It was extremely hot that day. The fan were giving out very hot air. I could feel the heat on my feet.

I could sense the 5 tough hours to come till evening. I looked around to see other passengers in my coach. And as good luck always is with me, no pretty girl in my coach. All such good things happen in my stories only. So cursing my bad luck I observed other people.

On the other upper berth there was a guy almost same as my age. Then  I could see three men sharing side lower berth. I looked at the people sitting on lower berth. A muslim guy in white dress reading a book. He looked like advertising for Surf Excel with his ultra white dress. Then there was Telgu speaking man speaking on his phone. A very fat man with his stomach protruding out thrice than his face if u have a top view. One more young teenager was sitting near window.

Nothing interesting so I decided to try to sleep again. But It was not easy. I had to wash my face 4-5 times till evening to get some relief. Frequent intake of cold water and cold drinks was also necessary. I was eagerly waiting for evening. I came down at 5 in the evening and stood at gate to enjoy scenery outside.

I had bought an issue of Outlook that I finished reading in 1 hour and still 4 hours were remaining in arrival of Bhopal. I spent rest of the time looking out of window. Finally Bhopal arrived and it was 10:20 P.M. Till this point It had been a very boaring journey. Let’s see what happened in journey from Bhopal to Ujjain, in my next post. Coming soon !!!