Shivpuri-Heaven on Earth

Shivpuri is a paradise for people who love to party and enjoy taking risks and thrills in life. And those who love water , rather don’t fear it. Shivpuri is 7-8 hours drive from New Delhi. Situated about 20 km from Rishikesh it holds the Himalayas and the Ganges in its heart. With the Himalayas all over the place with the Ganges flowing right through the ranges of mountains, it’s a truly beautiful and serene place. There are tents on the banks of the Ganges. A lot of the camps have 15-25 tents with 2 beds and a table in each. They take care of the whole package which includes stay, food, a bonfire in the night and the rafting experience.
We were a group of 21 and we took off from New Delhi at around 11 at night. It was fun to meet Debraj after a bloody long time, almost 4 years since we’d met the other. He hasn’t changed a bit in these 4 yrs, the same physique, the same hairstyle and the same way of talking. I wonder how one could keep so much of the originality preserved in such a changing environment as that of Delhi. The journey through the night was a highly bumpy one, a back breaking journey in the true sense of the phrase. Singing and shouting we kept on having conversations and songs being sung on till around 4 in the morning, coz none in the crowd could take a min of sleep all thanks to the Indian roads and the buses too. We finally reached at 8 in the morning. The sights after crossing Hardwar were breathtaking. To see the Ganges meandering through the Himalayan range was an awesome sight. And the excitement of knowing the fact that we were going to take a dip and a complete 2 day thriller package in the area was just too much to express in words.
Our trip started with the guide Mr.Meherbaan giving us the basic safety tips to be followed in the area, like no venturing into the water without a life jacket come what may. No one goes in all alone without proper knowledge of swimming. No littering in the place and the instructions of where to go for a release from the nature’s call everything was given right at the time of our arrival to the place. We immediately went into the tents and dumped our luggage and off we were to play volleyball while some preferred to sit on the rocks by the riverside and sip on a cup of tea.
It was fun to be in a company where people were completely free of notions and inhibitions and were ready to enjoy and forget the rest of the world for the next few hours. After 4 years of college life in the pseudo conservative society of Chennai (those are strictly my views and needn’t be viewed as a generalised opinion), it was a complete fun to be back in the environment I wanted to be. People with open minds who don’t think too much before saying and at the same time don’t mind much about what the others say. And secondly a place and environment where I could talk freely to the opposite sex without having to think about the female standing next to me or for that matter to have first a formal introduction to the person before starting the conversation. And thirdly you can just talk any damn shit with anyone and no one is surprised or stunned at the very thought of it. The ice breaking session is never an ordeal here. You know any common language and you’re in the party.
The hour and a half long session of volleyball saw us mingling more with each other and having some good fun with comments and humour in the air. We were joined by the girls half way through the session, and it was good to see them come in voluntarily and be part of the group and having good fun. Rohit, one of the Googlers was a real freako with his commentary and description of the play going on throughout the session. Was some real good humour there .
We were finally tired of the play and gave up after 3 games. Everyone dispersed into the tent for a cup of tea and some real good breakfast waiting at the table for us to be consumed. Slowly everyone started going for a kayaking experience. Strapping up the life jackets and sitting into the kayaks. It was difficult to maintain the body balance and row so while some of them took of nicely , after some distance when they had to turn the kayak around and get back to the shore a couple or more of them went down straight into the cold water. And the first of them was Rahul (our trip POC) and then, followed by Kaushik and Debraj and the rest.
Meanwhile I rested on a rock to cool myself off and get ready for a chilly swim in the Ganges. I sat for around 20 min watching all the fun and strapped up a life jacket and walked into the water. CHILL!!!!!!!!! was the feeling. My feet hurt after a couple of seconds of standing in the water. The calf muscles hurt real hard. I was forced to walk out of the water and take a breather before I dared to enter the water again. And this time I did enter the water and took a dip only to come up right away gasping for air. The water temperature easily lurking around 15 degrees Celsius it was difficult to breathe in the beginning. I finally threw myself into the water flat and went on to take a swim. Trust me, the feeling of taking a swim after days of working and sitting around in office and home is a feeling of eternity, divinity and supreme relaxation. I soon realised what sort of fun and thrill was in store for us in the next 30 odd hours that we were to spend there. I kept swimming up and down the tide and then across a little bit. It was exhausting initially and so I decided to sit out for a few minutes. The moment I went and sat on a rock, I started feeling extremely cold and the shivering started real wild. Boy the water was extremely cold, but it was pure unadulterated fun. Something I was left wanting for a long time now. I again went into the water after the ten minute break and took another swim this time longer and better. I finally came out of the water after Rahul announced that we were to leave for the rafting trip in about half hour and that we dry ourselves up and finish with the breakfast in the same time. I dried myself out shivering, sitting on a rock. It was a very nice feeling, the sun shone hard and warm while the wet shirt and shorts were cool.
I then had breakfast with the rest and then we finally set off to go for the rafting. We were in for a surprise when we reached the place. There were about 20-30 rafts kept on the shore. All colourfully bright and looking beautiful. We were given the helmets, life jackets and the chappu(row) we all posed for photographs before teaming up in groups of 7. We had 3 teams, one in each raft. The guide Shankar gave us all a brief introduction of what we were going to do and what things were to be kept in mind.
We then hopped into the rafts and off we went… Initially we practised how to co-ordinate with each other and synchronise our rowing with each other. Our team had Tulika, Maryann, Titir, Nihal, Kaushik , one more guy(sorry I’m forgetting that guy’s name now, sorry mate if you’re reading this by any chance) and me.
The guide Shankar sat at the back of the raft and he held the radar for the raft. We guys split up in 2 groups of 3 and sat on either side of the raft to balance it while Maryann went right in the front to help keep the raft down in the rapids. The journey started and we kept moving slowly for sometime before we started hearing the sound of water gushing. The adrenaline rush had begun. We saw the rapid in a distance from us. We were leading the whole group of about 7 rafts.
When rafting begins in these regions they move in groups of 7-8 rafts together just to ensure enough manpower in case of any mishap. The guides are all extremely experienced people. They are certified guys as far as rafting, kayaking and water sport are concerned and that includes saving lives and managing accidents. So while we had all the thrill and a li’l fear of facing raw nature, we knew we were in safe hands.
The rapid came closer and closer; Shankar’s only advice to us was to listen to his instructions and calls properly and to the best in rowing and synchronised too at the same time. It was s plain rule, work as a team and you’ll have amazing fun. We were ready for it… and soon we were at the mouth of the rapid. “Forward!!!” shouted Shankar and off we went rowing hard as we could in the front direction. The raft went right down into a depression and zoom it rose up almost to 70 degrees. “Fast forward!!!” shouted Shankar. And we rowed faster and stronger. Our chappus hit and locked with each other and still we went on. And a few seconds later we were out of it successful. We’d conquered our first rapid. And boy was it fun!!! We all went “JAI GANGA MAIYYA KI!!!!!!!!”…….. “JAI!!!!!!!!!!”…. all of us had an expression of thrill and excitement unseen. We enjoying it like hell and it had all just begun. The celebration dint last long. We could hear the gushing water again and this time it sounded louder. We all looked at each other. Everyone knew what was in the other’s mind. “Man we’re having fun! This is damn exciting and the adrenaline is coming back again right up the spine”
The next rapid was now visible. And it was called “Double Trouble”. We went and Shankar put in a word of caution that this one was gonna be tougher and we’ll have to be more co-ordinated and stronger this time with our rowing. The raw thrill of playing with pure nature at its best was an experience I can’t put in words. The next rapid was up and we went on rowing forward as per Shankar’s instructions. The raft went straight up about 4-5 feet and then down it came with a bang. We were all disoriented for a fraction of a second. Shankar went “ Faster and harder guys!!!” I kept my head down and pushed the water with all the might and so were the others. And soon we realised we were heading for a rock on the shore. Shankar again went “ harder guys!! Harder!!”, and we were giving it all we could, the raft managed to avoid the rock and went back right at the in the middle of the rapid. And the turbulence was too much at the so was the speed. Boy the raft was being thrown around like a toy by the river. And we kept rowing and we finally came out of it jubilant as ever. Cheering with all the throat we had.
The time taken for all these things to happen was just round 5-10 seconds. But then the level of thrill is something that’s what makes the whole experience of 5 seconds last longer than that. The feeling stays with you for long. Even while I write the whole thing here I can feel the excitement coming over me.
The rapids came one after the other. There were more rapids which came our way, all of them were the same level or lower, but the scenery that opened after every curve in the meandering river’s course was an addition to the beauty of it all. Huge hills on either side of the river with patches of white sandy shores here looked gorgeous. Unfortunately the time gap between two rapids wasn’t enough for us to capture the beauty with the cameras which were packed in a water proof bag in the raft.
While the rapids were extreme fun, there was a place where we did what is called “Body Surfing”. We jump off the raft into the turbulent water and just lay flat on the water surface while letting the river waves juggle us and throw us around. It is just another kind or rapid where the depth of the water is around 20 feet, preventing any accidents. The first time this place came we dint feel much confident and we all jumped while holding onto the raft rope. Then we asked Shankar if we could let go off the raft and he gave a go ahead. And boy the fun started there. The water had a real good speed and the turbulence was also huge. I was taken up by a wave around 4-5 feet in height and brought down back. And the feeling to let yourself be thrown around by the water is just amazing I tell you. The water kept tossing us for sometime before it slowly went silent and we entered a wider stretch of river. The water was silent yet the current was good enough. A few seconds into it and we were asked to get back into the raft by Shankar and get ready for the approaching rapid. We got back in and faced the rapids again. After about a couple of more rapids we could see our camp approaching. We banked and the rafts were parked at the far end of the shore piled up on each other. We hit the lunch table hard, famished with all the rowing and swimming. Then some of us went for a nap while the rest played volleyball or chatted. (contd..)

Ooty Down South and the American Connection!!!

When I got home from college earlier this year I was home for a month before my legs got a bit itchy. I decided to make a move and travel some places around. I decided to make a trip to MP which was soon shunned by both my parents stating the dacoits in the area as the point of concern. I was all upset before I got a call from Akbar Hussein my classmate from college asking me if I was joining them for the get-together on the 15th of July for collecting the provisional certificates. I was even more upset knowing that I couldn't join them as it was already the 10th of July.
My mom then called up dad and asked him if I cud make it and he then arranged for the tickets and I took off from Bokaro for Chennai. Reached there just on time to meet all of them together and had a lovely time in the college visiting the department and meeting the staff who taught us. It wasn't long before we'd left college and we dint feel we'd actually passed out of college but somehow it a was a very nice feeling visiting the department and meeting the teachers all over again and getting their feedback about our batch as a whole. Since we were now out of college they were more open in expressing their views about us.
It was indeed a wonderful day, I also happened to meet Anuradha ma'am and Padma ma'am who made the whole day even better.
I then took a bus to Coimbatore that night with the help of my jiju who booked the ticket for me. I dint sleep that night at all because just when I caught some sleep the bus ran over a speed-breaker so fast that we all at the back seat were thrown up to the ceiling and back to the floor of the bus within a fraction of a second and that was indeed a bad experience, I hurt my feet badly in the mishap. On reaching Coimbatore the next morning, me and attain moved to the airport to receive Namita (my father's friend Mr.Sridhar's daughter coming from the US of A)
We received her and I had a few words with her half of which I couldn’t make out courtesy her HEAVY American accent. I slept off on the couch watching TV that afternoon while she was in the bedroom resting. At about 3 we decided to make a move to this place called Anaikatti where a hospital was built for the surrounding tribal villages and rural people. So basically Ms.Namita was doing a degree on rural and tribal hospital. She had come down for an internship in the hospital there, for a month.
Anaikatti is one of the most scenic and most beautiful places I’ve been to so far. The hospital is surrounded by hills called the Nilgiris (coz they look blue in color generally from a distance) and the other aspect is that the place is actually all dense forest and so about 10km ahead of the hospital the telephone network no more follows you except the BSNL network. And the forest is inhabited by elephants who cause a lot of havoc once it’s dark. I dropped her at the hospital and then went to an ashram there which was run by some famous swamiji the name of whom I forget at the moment.
I freshened up a bit and went for a stroll in the ashram complex. It was full of trees, I felt like I was living in a room in the middle of a forest. I met the watchman of the ashram and asked him a few questions about the surroundings and if the elephant menace I’d heard of was true. He then explained me that the elephants come down to the foothills to escape the mosquitoes in the forest which bite them. I’d never heard or even thought of a mosquito being able to bite an elephant, piercing through that skin. I kept talking to the watchman listening to all his experiences and confrontations with the largest mammal on land. And how they come into the ashram premises and cause a lot of havoc destroying the trees and eating away any and every plant they find in their way.
I heard the stray dogs in the ashram barking and the watchman said that a wild boar was in the campus. Just then I saw two dogs chasing a huge wild boar at a distance barking at it. It was a sight indeed. And I learnt how dangerous these wild boar were with their horns, and how they can rip apart an adult human in a fraction of a second.
I kept on chatting with the watchman till another man came to me and asked me to show my palm and he started reading my palm and talking all philosophy about life, love, knowledge etc. it went on till 12:30 in the night an I still hadn’t seen an elephant.
I woke up the next morning and took some photographs of the surroundings which were immensely beautiful and packed my bags to leave. I decided to see the hospital in the daylight before leaving for my aunt’s at Coimbatore. The location of the hospital was simply fantastic surrounded by blue hills all around. I met Namita and then left for aunt’s.
We planned for a trip to Ooty together on Sunday and did make it though at the end of the day we were extremely tired as the whole trip was on the bus, Coimbatore to Ooty being 3.5 hrs one-way and we roamed in Ooty also by bus. So it was quite tiring but it was definitely exhaustively exiting a trip and something I won’t forget for a long time to come. The tea plantations, the Ooty lake right in between three hills the valley, Dodabedda-the highest point on the Ooty hills, everything. The beauty of the place took me in completely… hills are simply the best structures on earth. They give you a feel of calmness, and fill you with a lot of peace, majesty and a sense of happiness unsurpassed. The serenity absorbs you completely and you kind of give yourself in completely and surrender to the beauty.
That’s how great the hills are.
I’m lucky in a way to’ve met Namita in that trip because I came to know a lot about the American culture and also was able to see my country through a foreigner’s point of view. Not exactly a foreigner but yes a person who’s not stayed in India other than in the vacations. And I also ended up picking quite a bit of the American accent by default, talking to her. All her experiences in Israel, Germany and from college in Canada.

I later made a trip to Trichy to drop one of my cousin sisters, we drove it down, a 5 hr drive from Coimbatore. It was a nice trip. The best part about South India is they have real beautiful roads and so you can actually enjoy the country side while on a drive rather than trying to figure out which part of your body is the next in line to dislocate, like in the north.
I got back to Chennai in a weeks time and then home in another 3 days. On the whole I would term it as a very memorable trip and thank my stars for having cancelled the MP trip, for i leaned so much about South India and the Americans too. :)

How it all began. . .

I always wanted and loved to travel. I remember cycling about 15 miles almost out o the town once when I was in the 6/7th grade without informing my parents and when I returned back I found all of them back home praying hard and standing out of the house worried. And then I got one of the worst thrashings of my life.
I wanted to carry on the same to the college life, but unfortunately I wasted all of my 4 years of college searching for partners to roam with. I was in the third semester of college when I wanted to get out of the hostel badly having gotten bored to an unprecedented extent.
I chose to ask one of my friends who'd always talked of plans of going out and freaking out. And he refused stating a very lame excuse which I don’t quite remember at the moment. So I got bugged completely and ended up packing my bags and taking a bus to Mahabalipuram early in the morning from Tambaram (a major inter-city bus depot in Chennai)
I spent the whole day roaming around Mahabalipuram and enjoying my first trip al alone. I ate and drank all that I wanted without having to take the consent or permission of anyone. And roamed as much as I wanted. Saw the ‘Krishna’s rock’ the ‘lighthouse’ and all the temples and caves, then at the end went to the beach and sat for an hour in solitude, quietly enjoying the breeze and the sound of the waves hitting the shore. On my return I had a surprise waiting for me. I was at the Mahabalipuram bus stand when the bus for Chennai came and I found this guy who was also getting into the bus, saying to his friend "arey apna bus hai, sala majal hai koi roke humko", and I replied " achcha? Aisa kya?” he looks back with all readiness to take me on only to discover that I was his classmate from school. It was Ujjawal from DPS who was a good friend of mine back in the 11th and 12th grade. I remember most of his pranks and all the stories he used to proudly tell about beating up people and sometimes getting beaten up.
He was a character I will never ever forget all my life. he was all stories of what he was doing there and I discovered soon that he was running an admissions' business there earning a gross of 3.5 laces p/a (Something I don’t earn even now working for TCS, 3 yrs hence) and that he was on his way to settle some issues with some union head there. So that’s the kind of character I had as my bench mate in school.
Moving on, I realised after that trip that I dint need a company to make a trip to any destination I needed to visit. I only realised this fact a li'l bit, in the sense not fully till I finished college. Which means I dint make a trip at all for the next 2 yrs till I went again to Mahabalipuram in the last semester after my project review with Iyer. Of course the final year was all too busy for me with the department fest, tech-fest and the cultural fest al coming together.
So that’s how things actually started far as my traveling without my immediate family is concerned. I’ll be describing all those experiences here on this blog and also those where I roamed around with my family, coz they’ve a different touch to themselves.

Introduction

Its August of 2008 and I’m on a traveling spree at the moment... i finished my engineering by may end and then got back home and started preparing for my MBA entrances and went on for a month and a half aalong with sme real good relaxing time at home enjoying the at-your-service status of life.. But it was just too much to go on with the same monotonous life for more than a month... and it started to get on me by the day... I decided to go to Madhya Pradesh and visit some places of historical significance and places which are a tourist attraction in there major ones being Khajurao,Gwalior fort, Indore fort, Jhansi and Ujjain... but the security concers kinda crept into my mom's mind a li'l too much and i was advised (rather oredered) not to make the trip.. I then decided to go down south and see what I hadn't seen. So went down to Coimbatore and saw places near and around Coimbatore... moved further down to Palakkad and then got back to Chennai and the back home to more excitement and fun with Iyer coming home and we guys going to the steel plant and then the mines in Dhanbad with the man himself "Amit Bhai" (The Creator of Aaruush).. and then we went on to se Bodhgaya, Rajgir and the Nalanda University Ruins... I’m also going to add some of my experiences from the visits to different places in the past... I’ll also be posting some photos to aid my vivid explanations of the beautiful places I visited in India...