You Never Get Bored If You Know To Enjoy Your Surroundings!

It was 2 AM.  Jhansi railway station.  We were changing trains on our way to Khajuraho.  Came here straight from Chennai.  Had to wait at the station to catch the train to Khajuraho.  It was drizzling quite heavily.  Cold.  We didn't get  any place to even sit down.  All the seats around columns were full:) At 2 in the morning, tea biscuit shop was making brisk business.  And this small restaurant was open.  Customers were trickling....But we were interested in watching the dogs at its doorsteps.  Very understanding dogs.  They never disturbed anyone.  They just slept on a doormat peacefully.  As soon as a customer went inside the hotel, they got alerted.  Immediately they will get up and wait near the entrance! Once the customer filled his stomach and left, the waiter cleaned the plate of crumbs near the doorstep! These two dogs rushed to eat them.  Again, waiting.  Sometimes they were getting a bit more food.  They never allowed any 'beggars' near the door of the hotel! Otherwise harmless!

Some more pictures from the station!

This one was roaming here and there all the time.  I saw one man catching its urine too! Holy water!

Gau moothra (cow's urine) was holier in the olden days because they grazed on grass and herbs.  Nowadays, they have to live on plastic and fast foods.  Hmmm...

The chaaiwaala was doing good business...coffee, gharam gharam chaai, biscuits, samosa, kachoris! Interesting!

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Wordless Wednesday!

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Fotos(s) Friday!

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Nandi Statue at Pattadha Kallu, Karnataka (8th century.)!

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Overwhelming Taj, Beautiful Baby Taj And The Majestic Bibi Ka Maqbara...Tombs Of The Mughal Era - I

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The Taj Mahal! Overwhelmingly beautiful! Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built this as a memorial for his wife, Mumtaz in 1653.

At last it happened on 18th March, '17! I had been dreaming of visiting the Taj Mahal for so many years now and it was like a dream come true! I was just standing on the platform and gaping, really gaping at it for many minutes! I was expecting it to be an old/ancient monument now, hearing so many stories about it becoming dull because of pollution etc.  Though the monument is given mud pack etc. for cleaning it, part by part, it looked good for me even now.  Work is still going on, you can notice from the minaret being covered with scaffolding.  Detailed story with more photographs will come later, in another post!

A close up shot of the Taj! People look so tiny beside the structure!

We visited this place twice that day, once in the morning and again in the evening. Visited the Baby Taj in the afternoon. The entrance to the Baby Taj was beautiful and seeing the main building,  I was stunned by its beauty.  I felt it was the most beautiful building I have ever seen! Lot of intricate art work could be seen on the walls ...Hmmm...I had taken many many pictures of the  beautiful designs in my Mi5 mobile, but it was stolen that evening at the Taj Mahotsav festival there near the Taj:( The camera was very good in that mobile...

 'Mausoleum of Itmad-ud-Daulah' Agra....the most beautiful building! Every inch is with beautiful designs carved and studded with coloured gemstones. This was built by another Mughal Emperor Jahangir's wife, Nur Jahan for her father around 1628.

A close-up shot of the tomb! This is called the 'Jewel Box', 'Baby Taj' and also as the 'Taj of Deccan'!

This is also described as a draft of the Taj Mahal.  The walls are made up from white marble brought from Rajasthan encrusted with semi-precious stone decorations like cornelian, jasper, lapis lazuli, onyx and topaz formed into images of cypress trees and wine bottles or more elaborate decorations like cut fruit or vases containing bouquets. Light penetrates to the interior through delicate jaali  screens of intricately carved white marble. The interior decoration is considered by many to have inspired that of the Taj Mahal, which was built by her stepson, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. More details are available here!

Every inch is colourfully decorated!

Bibi ka Maqbara (Tomb of the Lady), Aurangabad, built for Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb's wife by her son Azam Shah around 1661. The majestic building was built without much stone/gem work but looks simple and elegant.  Our guide said that this was built by Aurangzeb who was against spending his subjects' money unnecessarily!

The above structure resembles the Taj but in a simple way.  The architect of the tomb, Atah Ullah was the son of Ustad Ahmad Lahauri, the principal designer of the Taj Mahal. More interesting details can be read here!

My son took this panoramic shot....the place looks so beautiful!

I tried to club all the three mausoleums in this post! More pictures and details of the Taj will be written in the next post!

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P.S.: Part II is here!

A First & Hopefully, A Last Experience!

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Hot ice cream

My mobile was stolen when I was watching this person making 'Hot ice cream' and eating hot jalebi!

Even now, I am not able to believe how I was careless to lose my 2 month old Mi 5 mobile!

We were in Agra a few weeks back.  After visiting Agra twice in daytime, we were eager to attend the 'Taj Mahotsav', a 10 day festival of Arts & Crafts organised by the U.P. Govt.

It was nearly a very well organised festival.  Many police personnel and volunteers were seen arranging traffic and monitoring the crowd.  Many stalls were inside, from furniture to clothes to food court.  Announcements were going on to be careful about our belongings again and again. Still, my mobile which was in my hand, was stolen and I came to know about it while eating the hot icecream:) I always keep it in my handbag and hold it tight, fearing someone might steal it:) I had got a call from my son earlier and after speaking to him, was still holding it in my hand without keeping it inside, which was a big mistake.  Well...I lost it!

I searched in the shops I had gone earlier, though, I knew I won't find it there...then went and complained at the police chowki which was inside the festival area.  The inspector asked many questions and then asked us to go to the Agra police station and place an FIR.  Since it was late night, we decided to go in the morning.  Anyway, we knew and the inspector also hinted that once we lose our mobile, it is very difficult to get it back.

The police station was situated at just one Km. away from our hotel, which was on the same road of the festival area.  We, I and my son, reached the station by about 9 am.  I could not believe that a police station of the prominent Taj Mahal area looked so bad.  Have a look:

It looked decent from the opposite side!

One sentry was standing behind me, which was the door, with a rifle and spitting paan all the time.

The green grill door is the entrance to a dargah  (Dargah sharif...the name is there if you zoom it!). This dargah is inside the station!  The blue door seen on the right side, is the entrance to the Inspector's room. I felt very sad looking at it.  It was like an old store room with so many stacks of papers.  I think the floor was a mud floor.  It was full of dust and the Inspector was sitting there with a walkie-talkie on which he was getting messages continuously.  He had an assistant with him.

He asked us to give in writing about what happened the previous day.  The writer or someone, had not yet come.  He asked us to note down the mobile no. and then the mobile tracker IMEI number too.  (I had it in my husband's email, so, we noted them down.  Emailed airtel and the mobile company too).  I wrote down my husband's number for contacting me later.  He told us that the thieves just dismantle and sell them off or start using them after a couple of months! Since we had to leave Agra on that day itself, we needed some reference number.  He stamped our FIR paper and wrote down his mobile number, asking us to take down the reference number later.  I called him after a few days and took it.

Well....no sign yet, of the mobile (no, I am not a dreamer to dream of getting it back as it was!) but still, called him a couple of times.  This is the story of my lost mobile.  Now, to the situation at the dilapidated station:

I was sitting on the chair to write my FIR and then had to wait for sometime to meet the inspector.  Son had gone inside.  I was uncomfortable sitting and watching the thieves or somebody inside the grilled room on the right side which was the 'lock-up'. What we had seen in the movies were quite different!

I noticed many condemned motorbikes inside the compound.  Some young policemen were going here and there.  They looked neat though.  But the police station is not liveable.  This is such a prominent area...'The Taj' is in this area.  Many tourists visit this place.  What kind of protection can these people give? Even now I feel sorry for the people in the station.

I had blocked my number and got it back and it is in my old phone now! A new experience for me!

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Dharamshala...Temples, Dalai Lama & More!

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I am writing about Dharamshala again here! But about other things, not cricket!  As I told you in my previous post, we had stayed in a hotel in the market place and visited other sights.  2 mts. walk and taxi stand was there.  They take us to the destination for a fixed price.  All drivers, whoever took us, were good, soft spoken and friendly.  Walk the other side and the Buddhist temple/monastery  is there where Dalai Lama stays and he was there when we went there! Though he doesn't give 'darshan' everyday (our friend at the hotel told us so!), I think I was lucky to see him interacting with press persons and others inside the temple/monastery.  The temple looks very simple.  We were not allowed to take cameras/even mobile phones inside the temple.  I have seen Buddhist temples in Singapore, Malaysia also and they were beautiful, colourful.  This was very simple.  But the Buddha statue which was inside was huge in gold colour with lots of intricate designs. 

Got this image from here, thank you!

I have heard that the Dalai Lama is a practical person, very well educated too.  I was not able to hear his speech properly.  The crowd was laughing and he too was in a happy mood.  Know more about him here! 
 

The temple/monastery

This place looks simple from the outside and it is simple inside also, except for the Buddha statue.  Dalai Lama also was speaking like an ordinary person.  No air at all.  Nice.

A colourful Buddhist temple near our hotel at McLeod Ganj! It was on the busy market road.

The lower part of the temple.  The street was too narrow to take a full picture! You can see many drums with designs and people walk around the temple, just touching and rolling/turning them.  Whatever we want we can ask for while rolling them, it seems.  People keep on rolling while going across to the parallel road through this temple!

This was the bus we went to the cricket stadium.  Medium sized only for them to drive through the narrow curves/bends. It is always crowded, esp. more during matches, it seems! Share jeeps are also available. 

This was our favourite hotel.  We had our breakfast and sometimes dinner too, here.  Vegetarian restaurant. The owner is a Tibetan lady. Good food. Had momos too! You can see a Tibetan lady with her display.  These are Tibetan refugees and we can see them in all the narrow market roads, selling clothes, trinkets, brass sculptures of gods, Tibetan things etc.

We kept on coming across many Buddhist monks and some were having breakfast when we were having it in this restaurant.  Noticed an American Monk too! The roads were full of monks...saw many child monks inside the monastery.  All of them looked happy.  Giggling among themselves!

A restaurant named 'Bodhi Tree' also was good.  And another, Nick's Italian restaurant was good.  Had ravioli there! All these restaurants were in walking distances from our hotel. 

A view of Dharamshala among the trees!

You can go on a trek too, here!

Looks so beautiful!

My son went on a 22 Km. trek, one early morning.  He enjoyed.  The above 3 pictures were taken by him during the trek. The next one too!

A road at Dharamshala!

Well, we enjoyed our visit to this place.  We will remember the scenery while watching cricket match always.  Visited Kangra Fort,
which was just OK.  Sunset was beautiful.  I have posted it here!
Nothing else is there for us to stay for more than 3-4 days.  Cricket match is the catchy event here, I think.  The market area is stinking with dirty water on both sides of the road.  Still we see many foreigners on the road.  They can be seen even during 'no cricket match' days too, it seems.  Noticed many furry dogs and lots of sparrows and small birds which was good.  A taxi driver was saying that Modi's Swachh Bharath mission is quite active there.  So the place will improve and attract more visitors, in the future, he said. They speak Hindi with some accent! Slight Punjabi?!

Farming is done in the surrounding villages.  Otherwise only tourists' income is the main income for the place, it seems.  Well, still, this trip is a memorable trip.  One more beautiful picture of the place taken while watching the cricket match, for concluding this post!

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Dharamshala...Snow Clad Mountains, Clouds AND Cricket!

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This is the right picture for the caption!

We had been on a three week trip to Northern India.  The main purpose was to watch the March 25th Test match between Australia and India.  Though I have noticed the beautiful Dharamshala stadium in the TV before, I never expected it to be so overwhelmingly beautiful.  And it was a test match, not a one day or T20 match! And some of my readers might remember about my earlier post about our visit to a cricket match here and one more post about cricket here. 
Well...my husband and son are cricket crazy people.  So, whether I liked it or not, I am familiar with the matches.  Sometimes I too sit with them and watch when it is too interesting to resist, esp. when India is poised to win!

We had stayed in a decent hotel in the market area ('M' Hotel, Temple road, McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala). So, we had a choice of restaurants to visit and it was the main shopping area.  Though a bit crowded, we enjoyed the place.  First, we thought of hiring a taxi to reach the stadium, it was tooo expensive (10 Km. Rs.400).  So, like many other visitors, we too went by share jeep and then local bus! It was a good experience since it is a long time since we went by share jeep and crowded buses in our place:) The roads were very narrow, with ups and downs, as is common in hilly areas.  Hairpin bends were many.  This is a typical tourist place.  The buses were not long like our city buses.  They were quite small ones.  One more thing we noticed is, the people are unbelievably too friendly.  With all the traffic chaos, nobody got angry, the driver or the passengers.  Oh, let me write about these things in another post! Now, to cricket!

We reached the stadium at about 9.15 am, I think.  The match was to start at 9.30 am.  We were checked thoroughly as usual nowadays...we got delayed because my son had taken a binocular with him! Their net link didn't mention about it but we are not supposed to take it, it seems.  He had to meet some 4 top officials to get clearance! Some small changes and an eye drop bottle was confiscated from me! They were put in a small pouch and thrown in a basket with others' things! We were asked to pick them up when we returned! We did!

Then we entered the venue!!! What a scenery! I just stood in the first step and gasped! Then pulled myself down the steps and sat just below the pavilion, which was the best place to view the match and the hot midday sun didn't roast us here much! Yes, it was cold in the morning and evening but hot in day time! The match had already started.  In the beginning, I was not watching the match but just enjoying the snow clad mountains, clouds all around! We were not allowed to take even water bottle...everything should be bought there! One plastic cup of water priced Rs.10! Pop corn Rs.50, Ice cream Rs.50.  But while going up to get water, I saw Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Ravi Shastri...so, forget about the cost of water!

As soon as the first wicket fell down, the crowd started involving...chanting 'India, India'...'Bharath Maatha ki Jai' etc.  Smith scored 111 and that was the highlight of the Australian team.  The afternoon session was the best...Umesh Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav (test debut!) started stealing the show.  Wickets started falling one by one...the crowd chanted 'Kul deep, Kul deep' continuously.  Kohli had some injury and Rahane was the captain.  Whenever Kohli came out during drinks, the whole crowd chanted his name.  Some friends of mine said that since Kohli won't be playing, the match won't be interesting.  But, NO, it was very very interesting...it was like a one day match.  The Australians were all out for 300 runs, thanks to our bowlers. We played an over also at the end of the day.

We didn't see much crowd on that day, i.e. the first day.  On the left side, the area was full of school children in uniform...free entry for them it seems.  

School children in uniform on the left side!

We went back to the room by a through bus to McLeod ganj! The bus was full but stopped midway because of some repair.  The driver put on some gloves, opened the gear compartment, did some repair work! The passengers were just watching.  No one grumbled! It must have taken around 15-20 mts. He was chatting with people all along asking them to 'havaa leejiye baahar' (to get some fresh air outside)!  Hmmm...our Chennai means, a big hungama would have been there!

The next day, we took a taxi...the adventure mood was not there on the second day! Son had left the binocular in the room itself and I left the change also in the room.  So, we sat in our seats before the match started.  The match was a bit slow.  We started enjoying other things than the match! Many Australian fans had come.  A huge kangaroo doll also was there, sitting among us.  They were very friendly people.  All were chatting, in a friendly way.  One old man was selling ice cream, some 'lotus' brand... he was cutting jokes about the old players and humouring people.  More crowd was there on the second day.  Not very eventful, though.  Jadeja played well on that day.

Unfortunately, we had to leave for Chennai on 27th.  My husband and son enjoyed the match and I, the scenery, esp.cloud movements on the snow clad mountain peaks and people.  My picasa album is full of snow peaks and cloud pictures which can be watched always.

Now, to some pictures, for you to enjoy!

2nd day afternoon.  You can see the spider cam with the cloud background!

Australian fans with a Kangaroo doll...notice the Indian flag on its cheek. Very friendly people!

The Australian fan with the green cap was standing up and dancing for 4's, 6's or when any player scored 50 or 100 or got out! Australia or India didn't matter for him! True fan! The whole crowd around him were HIS fans! Us, included!

On our way out of the stadium in the evening.  Felt a bit sad.  Cricket match is played everywhere, but Dharamshala match experience is unique.

You can see the score board here! We won the match by 8 wickets! Jadeja and KL Rahul were the top scorers! Jadeja was the 'Man of the match' and 'Player of the series'! This test match was a memorable match for us/for me! I never expected the first innings of the Australians to be over within a day! That was the highlight of the match.

Click on the pictures to view the scenery better!

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P.S.: Sunset shots at Dharamshala

Foto Friday!

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Foto Friday!

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A Small Replica Of The Grand Canyon Of The U.S. In India!

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The river Pennar has created this gorge in Kadappa, Andhra Pradesh through the years.

We had been to the U.S., a couple of years back and visited The Grand Canyon over there and I did a post on it too here! The place was amazing.  There, the Colorado river's flow/force, made the designs in the mountainous route it flowed.  Here, in Andhra Pradesh's Kadappa, Pennar river flows through the rocky/mountainous region and has created beautiful designs on the red granite rocks.  Until we visited here, I hadn't heard about it before.  To look at this gorge, we have to climb uneven rocks. I too climbed up to some level and took some pictures!

This picture was clicked by me from a bit lower level! The red granite rocks give more beauty to the area.

My son climbed up on the uneven rocks which looked as if they were piled up on each other and took beautiful photographs.

Son climbed up these rocks and clicked the first picture from the top most rock! It was like a rock climbing sport!

Now, let me tell you a little history of this gorge.  Gandikota (Gandi means Gorge and Kota means Fort in Telugu) is a small village on the right bank of the river Pennar, 15 km from Jammalamadugu in Kadappa district, Andhra Pradesh. The gorge, which is a natural one, forms as a protective barrier on one side of this fort. The mountains are around 300 ft.above sea level.  The fort was built by the Chalukya in 1123 A.D. by Kapa Raja of nearby Bommanapalle village and a subordinate of Ahavamalla Someswara I, the Western Chalukyan king of Kalyana. More details can be had from this video and wiki link.

To reach this place we have to go through the zig zag route inside the Fort (I saw this type of zig zag routes inside the fort in other forts we visited earlier too, to cut the speed of the enemy troupes).  Our car went up to a km. inside and then had to stop.  Then we climbed up the rocky area and visited the old Jamia Masjid. Walked further through the rubbles of the old remains of the ancient buildings.  The whole area was uneven with stones.  All were red granite rock bits.  It was noon and the sun was high.  But we walked.  Son had said earlier that he was going to surprise us (we never knew about this place before!) and yes, this was a beautiful surprise for us.

So many designs, the flow of the water has created through the years and more will be there after another 20-30 years.  I liked the colour of the rock...bright colour.  The rock/stones were seen all over the area. They look sort of beautiful.

In Arizona, U.S., the Grand Canyon hasn't got this colour but more unique, unbelievable designs were there.  You can see them in my post referred to above.  They have promoted the place very well there but here, no symptom of promotion is seen.  We can put a bridge across the gorge and make way to reach the place easily.  Now, the way is via the fort and through the remains of the old fort...stones are strewn all over and it is very difficult to walk.  I think this rock climbing expedition also must be interesting for youngsters but for others, some easy way should be created. So many natural treasures and man made treasures are here in our country but maintenance and promotion is nit.  People also abuse these places. Hmmm....

Now, to more pictures of the place:

  

These temple-like structures were seen in the Grand Canyon too! Water force has created this through the years.  But now, the river looks so calm! Monsoon was not good this year too!

Story material for a movie? Male & Female footwear:)

Nearby airport is Hyderabad and then we can take taxi.  We went by road from Chennai, stayed at Kadappa and visited this place.  You can stay at Haritha Resorts at Gandikota, run by Andhra Pradesh tourism. 

We visited Belum caves after this, another nature's wonder. 2 hours' drive from Gandikota! Our India has got many treasures!

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Foto(s) Friday!

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Great Egret

Cattle Egrets

Cattle Egrets

Click on the picture to view clearly pl.

This picture is not very clear, so skipped last night...but I love this picture, so it is here now, the next morning!

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