Diary of a Traveller: My Experiences : Himachal Pradesh: Day 3: On the way to Manali!!

We got up early this morning and got ready also in no time. We knew it takes long time to travel in the hills and distance between Shimla and Manali is 270 odd kms. But that didn’t deter us from ordering tea at our suite. We got our luggage packed and asked the room service to do a favour to transfer it to our vehicle. Anita had just moved ahead and came across Shib Kumar who told her that there has been a problem on the way to Manali ahead of Kullu. She was panic stricken as I saw her while descending from the staircases. She came running to me and gave me this update. Bravo! What a start for the day! I tried to confirm that with few locals who had told this to Shib Kumar. I suspected some confusion with the Ladakh cloudburst.

Anita suggested if we could extend our stay in Shimla and I told her we are not entitled to do that. I decided to continue with the earlier plan with no changes to it. For the sake of confirmation, I dialed Shammi’s cell in Delhi (I don’t know if he may be cursing me like anything as it was a Sunday morning). Shammi told me that he is not aware about such development and we can proceed to Manali.

I heaved a sigh of relief and marched towards Palace Wing to have breakfast. We again had a sumptuous breakfast as we were unaware about the food we may came across on the way. In the restaurant, I spotted a lady who had a stark resemblance with Manish Gupta who was CNBC TV 18’s commodity expert. I told this to Anita but she disagreed. However, I was confident that she was the same person and I decided to ask her as soon as we finished our breakfast.

After we were done, I approached the family who were having their breakfast and asked the lady, “Hi. Sorry to disturb you. But are you Manisha Gupta from CNBC TV18?” By the time I had asked this question, I had realized that she was not Manish Gupta. She looked startled but politely said no. I apologized for barging into and made a beeline to the receptionist. Anita was giggling and saying that she was right. I cleared my bills and was surprised to find that the tea was not included. I was told that it was complimentary. Got another reason to come back to Shimla! J

Finally, we boarded our car and descended towards city. There was no drizzling but the fog was still suspended on the roads and the trees. We made a quick exit fro Shimla. I could recall few of the places shown in the movie ‘Jab We Met’ when Shahid Kapoor comes to find Kareena in Shimla. Being nestled in hills, this city disappears in a flash and our veteran driver suggested us to have a final look at Shimla before it disappears.

We moved out of Shimla. Our first destination of this dream journey was behind us. We were on our way to explore another beautiful destination known as Manali.

Shib Kumar told us that Manali is the most beautiful destination of our itinerary. Welll…I was also told before I started journey that Dharamsala should never be missed. Shimla was written off by many people as I mentioned in my earlier writing. And nobody seemed to know about Dalhousie. Mystery is beautiful always, isn’t it? But I was also least interested in comparing all the places with the same benchmark.

I am a person who enjoy every centimeter of my journey as everything is new for me. The flowers, the trees, the bushes, the animals, the people…everything is new as you keep on moving. Everything keeps on changing and you can’t take you eyes off. Beauty of the Himalayas is such that it takes you in to the world of trance. I really have no issues with people who prefer reading (when they are actually exploring new places…do they??) or the people who love take nap..! But I am not comfortable with both. Some people may argue that I was in Himalayas and that’s why I could see beautiful places throughout the journey. Well, deserts are also amazing with their changing patterns. Everything new is very exciting.

I recall a chapter from Alvin Toffler’s amazing study about the future called ‘Future Shock’. It says that human body is meant to live life monotonously without facing much changes. It doesn’t differentiate changes between good and bad. So changes make human body vulnerable and shrinks expectancy of life. I don’t know how it coincides with logic of taking a break from a monotonous life and make it happy. Another fine contrast with this argument is that the mankind in the last 60 years has experienced changes which are in multiples of the changes since Homo Sapien evolved and experienced till 1950 and the life expectancy in last 2000 years has increased from 21 years to 68 years. Wow!

  We knew where are we headed as soon as we came out of Shimla’s boundaries and we knew how beautiful the journey was! Anita was constantly enquiring about the height of the roads which we were supposed to cross on our way to Manali. Shib Kumar was helpless as he could say, “Mam, we will see the plains only when we will be ending our journey.” How promising! In contrast ways, for me and Anita! I suggested that I should sit next to Shib Kumar in front while Anita could occupy the back sit just for the sake of sleeping! I was fully geared to enjoy the breathtaking beauty of Himachal on bright shiny day.

Barely an hour had passed since we had been at the outskirts of Shimla and we took our first pit stop. Actually we had our breakfast at Woodville and were not eager to put some more fuel but the sight of pakoras (fritters in english) being fried in Mustard Oil made an extra place in my belly. I and Shib Kumar binged on those pakoras and Anita did a good work of a photographer clicking interesting photographs of the sheer representation of hunger. J Shib Kumar knew every nuke and corner of the route. We were enjoying our journey.

Our Cox and Kings report told us that we should be enjoying our journey along the banks of the Beas River. I was also eagerly looking for it. The traffic was a bit dampner on our way to Bilaspur. Shib Kumar enhanced my general knowledge by telling me about cement factories in Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh and many trucks carrying the freight to Chandigarh. I could see Beas by our side. The water was murky as it was monsoon time and the flow of the water was pretty daunting. We reached a point from where a left turn would lead us to Dhramsala, our next destination after Manali in our trip and straight road would take us to Manali. We headed straight but we knew that we had to come back to the same point to make it to Dharamsala as there was no alternative. Tricky is the road planning in the hills!

The clock was showing 1.45 pm and we were hungry! (What? Even after having those pakoras some couple of hours back? That’s the answer…Couple of Hours Back!) We decided to stop at a small restaurant exactly situated on the banks of Beas called ‘Dawat’. This place provided a breathtaking view of Beas river flowing through the hills and mind you, Bilaspur is not a Hill Station!

I recalled an episode of Highway on My Plate where Rocky and Mayur were enjoying a hot breakfast in a small hut somewhere in Arunachal Pradesh. Though the food was not so great, the ambience got 10/10. I was also facing a similar situation. The food was pathetic but the ambience…wow!

Anita was rather very disappointed with food hence we enjoyed our time clicking photograph from the balcony of the restaurant.

After paying the bills (for the ill food), we drove towards Manali. But Bilaspur still had some places which made us stop and have a look at them. One of them was the Bilaspur Dam on Beas River. Only one gate was open at that time and water was gushing out with enormous strength from there. It somehow didn’t make any sense to click the photographs and I decided to do a video shooting of that sight. Interested people may contact me if you want to see that. For security reason, vehicles were not allowed to stop on the dam and mind you, no video shooting was allowed there.

We steered clear of the dam and lo behold…Shib Kumar unveiled another beautiful sight.

I still don’t know what was so magical that every scene in Himachal was taking our breath away and we were feeling like every ounce of life is being rejuvenated here. My jealousy for Himachali people was increasing with every meter of my journey. This was not the case with Anita though appreciated the beauty in honest manner. I am not as lucky as Anita. She has spent her childhood in Kashmir, while during her teenage, she had stayed in Kumaon, Uttarakhand

As we were being carried away appreciating the natural beauty over there, Shib kumar reminded us about the distance we had to cover before we reach Manali. Shib Kumar seems to be a big fan of Manali. He told us that Manali is the best place to visit in the whole itinerary of Himachal and that’s why 3 days have been dedicated for stay in Manali, the maximum.

After an hour of journey, we crossed another famous place called Mandi. Mandi is famous for its mines of rock salt. We didn’t enter the city hence I have nothing much to write about it. The rock salt part was just to flaunt my general knowledge. J This was the route which kept my mobile phone busy with video recording. There were so many landscapes that I just didn’t want to miss and it was getting difficult everytime with my Sony Cybershot T-90 to capture it. Soon after we crossed Mandi, we reached a toll plaza beaconing our entry in the Kullu District. We had to pay green tax here as we are suspected to litter ‘possibly’ during our stay in Kullu district. No my dear friends, I hate to litter but I am still happy paying the green tax. Use of polythene bag is strictly prohibited here and is a grave offense to break this code.

Soon after we crossed a big tunnel, we were greeted by a temple of Goddess Amba. Shib Kumar religiously stopped the vehicle to seek her blessings to make our journey safe. We also did the same.

After some time, we were in Kullu, barely 40 km away from Manali. We made a pit stop at the shop of Mr. Chandraprakash Thakur. Chandu Thakur is a good friend of Shib Kumar. He has also rented a place next to him for a shop called SINGH SHAWLS. Kullu’s shawls are famous everywhere. We had our tea and also had look at the shawls and other garments in the shawl shop. We actually had been speaking about buying shawl, jackets, sweaters etc etc throughout the journey. We decided to move ahead though we confirmed with Mr. Thakur that he will take us to the apple orchard he owns, situated right on the hill top and also enquired about traditional Himachali dishes like Babru and Shidu. Damn! I should have seen Rocky and Mayur visiting Manali in one of the HOMP episodes.

We moved ahead after we finished our tea and I started sensing Kullu. The traditional Himachali houses built with wood, the feisty Beas in her teens, the greenery, the lovely air, finally people dressed in traditional Himachali attire and not for the sake of getting clicked. J. Kullu is also famous for its white water rafting though monsoon is the season when it is actually avoided. But still some people were inviting to try it out but I was eager to check in our hotel. We made another stop at Trishla Shawls, probably the biggest in Kullu and very famous since almost every vehicle in the radius of 200 km flaunted sticker of Trishla shawls. Our vehicle was not an exception.

I was tired. But Anita’s enthusiasm at such places is commendable. Though I am blessed that my better half is not a shopaholic, she is finally a girl. We entered Trishla’s premises and Anita was bowled over by the patterns of the shawls and other woolen garments. We did a breezy shopping but it lasted for more than an hour. And yes Anita really got some good sweaters, number of shawls for everybody back at home and yes, I got a very smart sweater. Another big bag was added to our array o luggage. This was complimentary from Trishla for doing such a good shopping.

It was getting darker and I was getting tired. Anita sensed that and we hurried towards Manali. I didn’t have a slightest idea that all my tiredness was going to evaporate in matter of minutes.

Shib Kumar was praising Manali like anything since we started our journey. He also told us that because of this, the stay is maximum at Manali compared to other places. The stretch from Kullu to Manali is tiny 42 km. You get the hint of Manali from the apple trees which are on either side of the road. And lo & behold….that was the season for apples getting ready on trees. Never in my life I have seen such a beautiful (and juicy??..yes yes) sight. There were more apples than leaves on all apple trees. The color showing they were perfectly ready. Actually many tourists coming to Himachal and especially Manali are longing to see apples on trees. But the tourists season is such that it never happens. We were very lucky….to see apples on trees and not to see tourist crowds on the street. J

I could see Anits’s joy multiplied compared to the earlier incident where we saw apple trees at Kufri near Shimla. This was just out of the world. Anita in that swing of happiness was asking Shib Kumar to stop and let her pluck some apples. I know her childishness but Shib Kumar was terrified and he said that that would have some serious consequence. But he promised that he will take us to an apple orchard another day.

Again, the simplicity and beauty was very apparent here. Flawless smiles stretching to their eyes, simple clothes, beautiful wooden houses. No wonder every average Indian mind thinks that his best holiday is going to be in Kullu and Manali. J

Darkness was apparent now and we had entered the city. Our hotel, Quality Inn River Country Resort was located in a place called Rangri and it was on the banks of Beas River. I was pleased with the location. We took our baggage out and checked in. Relatively, the resort was empty apart from few tourists probably from Japan were there.

Although the journey was very beautiful, I must say that it had been 10 hours since we had left Shimla in the morning. Obviously, we were tired. We made a beeline towards our room. Hmm..this time we were not that lucky to get a suit like Shimla but this one was also a nice accommodation. A coffee maker was there on the table. Anita was quick to make coffee and I was quick to open the window. And wow…the gushing sound of Beas’ bubbly water was quite a music to our ears. It was flowing right in front of our window.

Switched on the TV. There was a local channel playing the Himachali songs. Overall, I was pitying at the picturisation, the lead actors, the choreography and the music. Music in the mountains is so wonderful and what that video was showing was absolute c**p. Switched to HBO..watching Kevin Spacey’s K PAX.

After having a hot water shower, it was apparent that we were hungry. River Country was the only place on our itinerary where our tour manager a.k.a. Cox & Kings had promised us to feed with the dinner during the stay. That’s promising! So River Country has got a restaurant with a funky name called ‘Curry By The River’! Actually, for this resort, everything was by the river…parking by the river, guests by the river, stay by the river etc. As I mentioned that it was not the peak tourists season and we were lucky to chose the table of our own choice. The items of the menu card were fixed for us as part of our package. We ate it, enjoyed it and went to sleep!

A few inches away from heaven..... (My review of The Binsar Retreat on tripadvisor.com)

Life is defined not by the number of breaths you have inhaled but by the number of moments which have taken your breath away

The Binsar Retreat nestled in the midst of The Binsar Sanctuary gives you an ample opportunity to measure your life in a true manner. Binsar had always been on my mind and one must appreciate Club Mahindra’s efforts to increase the awareness of Binsar as a preferred hill station in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand. So having zeroed down on Binsar for our longest stay at any place as tourists, it was important for me to select the place which will make the most of it. Few wonderful minds would already have started pondering and should have come to conclusions for MAKING MOST OF IT like 7 course meals, a small theatre with ‘n’ number of Hollywood and Bollywood flicks, clean swimming pools, Jacuzzi, gymnasium, discotheque and the list goes on. For these minds, we actually have all these things available in our cities (if you happen to be from big city) and what’s the point in living the same life if you want to run away. Ahh, did I forget to mention about carrying the laptops and blackberries and cringing about not able to finish the office work on vacation! GET LOST!
Well, that’s how The Binsar Retreat defines your experience in its resort! COME AND GET LOST! The GET LOST here is a milder version and talks about the experience while the conclusion of earlier paragraph by me was instructive and rude  ! So for a person like me who is madly in love of nature and its beauty, it was not a difficult choice to make. Reviews by the fellow tourists on tripadvisor.com, The November 2011 issue of The Lonely Planet magazine, a failed attempt to sneak into insipid Club Mahindra Resort prompted me to finalize The Binsar Retreat as my preferred stay in Binsar and booked four nights. I was lucky to get the most in-demand Tent No.1 (check the November 2011 issue of the Lonely Planet) from where you can get the awesome view of the jungle and the snow peaks of Himalayas. Heartfelt thanks to Mr. Mahendra Singh Rana, the manager of The Binsar Retreat for allotting me this tent.
After we had left from the beautiful Kausani with slightly sunken hearts due to no-show by the Himalayan snow peaks, we had kept our fingers crossed for Binsar. The snow peaks are normally not visible in the summer due to clouds as well as smoke on account of forest fires (both manmade and natural…..what’s that?.....I guess it’s mostly man-made!) So it is unfair to blame it on snow peaks for their no-show as they are always visible but you need the vision to see them. This can be applied to life also. There snow peaks, there are clouds and there is vision. Wise minds must have understood and the not-so-wise minds must be grinning over the fact that they have not understood.

The grazing area of barking deers

So, the Binsar Retreat is situated atop a hill and is probably the nearest to be at the epicentre of the wildlife sanctuary. You would wonder at the use of the word ‘epicentre’ which is generally used for describing seismic actions but when I couldn’t resist if your civil life is about to be turned upside down. It is no less than a ‘good’ earthquake!  From the entry gates of the Binsar Sanctuary, it took us good 20-25 minutes to reach the ‘parking zone’ of The Binsar Retreat. The road is tricky inside the sanctuary and two big SUVs coming opposite may lead to a massive traffic jam (another civil phenomenon) inside the sanctuary  The parking zone is the convergence point of The Binsar Retreat and another resort, Grand Oak Manor! The beautiful Binsareshwar Mahadev temple is visible and is at a walking distance from this point! Make it a point to visit this temple if you love clean temples. Also check the well in the nearby area with eternal source of mountain water.
So at the parking zone, we parked our car. It was only our car in the parking zone technically indicating that we were the only guests at the Binsar Retreat. A Mahindra 4X4 pick-up truck was waiting for us to shuttle us to the resort. The road to the resort is not for the faint-hearted and kudos to Mohan, the Kumaoni version of Michael Schumacher (or Jenson Button or Lewis Hamilton etc etc) who aptly drove the truck and made it a success story to reach the entrance of The Binsar Retreat. We walked on the dusty path shadowed by the dense forestation to reach the reception area of the resort. Refreshing glasses of the sparkling ruby red drink, Buransh (Rhododendron Juice) were waiting for us. Unfortunately, it was not the season of Rhododendron bloom otherwise we would have been astonished by the sheer site of red rhododendrons surrounding the resort.

Reception Area, The Binsar Retreat

The reception area is simple but classy. Cane furniture inside the room with enough amount of books in the shelf makes it an ideal place after the lunch if you are not in the mood of siesta. We headed towards our tent and I actually felt like marking the places to come back to reception. The resort sprawls in the huge area (which I couldn’t measure) and it is actually a hearty walk if you are strolling around within the resort itself.
When we reached our tent (the famous Tent No.1), the first thing which came from my heart (and not actually from my mouth) is “Oh My God” – Remember Farhan Akhtar exclaiming after seeing the red car in the parking lot in ZNMD?

Our Tent, Tent No.1, The Binsar Retreat

Our tent was situated at one end of the resort giving an unrestricted view of the green jungle and the hills. It was just quiet. What I could hear was some bird chirping in the forest beneath or my own breath when me and my wife were silent. I actually took some time get in sync with that amazing peacefulness which is absolutely extinct in our civil lives. We turned lucky the next morning itself with the Himalayan snow peaks like Trishul and Nandadevi becoming clearly visible in the morning. It was just the matter of opening the tent and they are visible. They are so grand and beautiful that you can actually watch them for hours. We keep on worrying about so many trivial things in life and somehow miss the grandness of the world. The Himalaya reminds you this fact. Enchantingly Beautiful! This is called as luxury and it doesn’t come from 7 course meals or discotheques or movie theatres!

The ‘View Point’ which is the highest point in the resort (Mind you, the resort itself is situated at 7500 feet above sea level!) gives a fantastic 360 degree view of the sanctuary and further stretches to the horizon. It is the best place to have your evening tea especially if you are accompanied by Mr. Mahendra Singh Rana, the manager of the resort or Mr. Prashant Singh Bisht, the owner of the resort! We were privileged to have the company of both of them while watching the brilliant sunset over a refreshing glass on lemon tea. The view point is also the best place to explore some wild life of Binsar sanctuary which normally leads a covert life. Everyday we spotted the barking deers which come to graze in the greenery after the sunset. They actually gave us goose bumps on the first night  as they kept on making the typical sound in the night and was actually breaking the calmness.

Low visibility of Himalayan Peaks

The wildlife sanctuary is known for the variety of birds residing and could be regarded as an ornithologist’s haven. The main animals are the barking deers, the mountain goats (Ghural as they are known locally) and the most evasive and most sought after animal, the leopard. The resort also arranges a jungle trek with a local guide. Our guide was Hemu Upadhyaya whose village was situated in the sanctuary and was aware about every nuke and corner of the sanctuary. We managed to have hearty jungle walk as well as trek and saw the Himalayan peaks like Trishul, Nandadevi, Nandaghunti, Dangthal and Panchachuli from the ‘Zero Point’. Since we started our walk slightly late (by 9 AM), we couldn’t spot too many birds and the condition was further exacerbated by the forest fire which has eaten up their habitats. So it is recommended to set off early in the morning for curious bird watching. You are guaranteed to spot barking deers and mountain goats on any day. I can’t guarantee that for leopards. We spotted its pugmarks as well as errr.. droppings but not the leopard itself. Generally, it is said that the big cats see you more than 20 times before they are visible to you. I suspect we were not visible to the cat for more than 20 times during our stay and hence, couldn’t spot the beautiful animal

And I forgot to mention the most important part of the Binsar Retreat (or in general for all the resorts situated inside the sanctuary). The Binsar retreat is an eco lodge which means it respects nature. There is no electricity available inside the sanctuary and hence no TV, fridge, AC, bulbs, tubes, playstation etc etc. So the day may look good but the evening turns out to be more thrilling. We were accompanied by 2 kerosene lanterns kept in the porch of our tent and had a solar rechargeable light inside the tent and a solar lantern. The sight of fire (though in the flame format) and the smell kerosene is enough to fend off the wild animals. But this reason was not convincing for us and I actually was awake for a long time on the first night of our stay trying to capture every sound around my tent  But the other days were fine and I had a very sound sleep for all the nights. After sunset, the footpaths are illuminated by solar lights to make the environment less challenging.

As I mentioned that there is no electricity means there is no fridge means there is no storage means what you eat is freshly cooked! Rameshji, the head chef with apt instructions from Mr. Rana keeps on dishing out wonderful stuff all the time in your platter. The food is never heavy on spices and hence, very friendly with your guts. But still the traditional cooking makes it a delicious affair. The morning starts with hot cups of tea at your place or at the view point. It is followed my sumptuous spread for breakfast like paranthas, toasts, Kumaoni jams (plum, apricot etc etc), macroni, baked beans. What a beginning! Rameshji’s culinary skills are impressive and he’s ably helped by all the staff of the resort. We were so impressed by his cooking style that my wife has taken his phone number and wishes to call him whenever we are cooking food in Kumaoni style.

It is not only the place but the people who make your stay most memorable. I can vouch for the staff of The Binsar Retreat. This is the best staff I have even come across during my stay anywhere till date. Led by the very friendly and approachable, Mr. Mahendra Singh Rana, the staff is a big asset of this resort. We spent a lot of time having conversation with Mr. Rana over sunset. He takes utmost care of all his guests. I really appreciate his skills. I believe he should be called as a CEO of Resort than manager. It is certainly difficult to manage a resort in the midst of jungle and yet provide all the comfort. Salute to the vision of Mr. Prashant Singh, the garrulous (this is an apt word used by one of the fellow tourists and I couldn’t find a replacement to it!) owner of this wonderful resort. We also spent a good time talking to him about his adventures about going solo on bike in Ladakh, going to Man Sarovar and many of his adventurous trips across India. My aspiration to make such adventurous trips is being fuelled by such kind of individuals and their stories! The description is not complete without mentioning Mr. Rana’s man Friday, Ravi. Probably the youngest amongst staff, he’s always on his toes so that you have the best experience at Binsar Retreat. He’ll be the first person to say Good Morning to you with the kettle of hot beverage, he’ll serve you the food when you are in the dinig room, he’ll welcome you in the resort with the refreshing glasses of Buransh, he’ll bring you maggi and veg pakoras when you feel tha pang in your stomach and he’ll accompany you in the night to you tent if you are scared of the dark!

We had an experience of life time at The Binsar Retreat. Plucking the plums and apricots from trees, appreciating the beauty of the wonderful flowers, staring directly at the barking deers, appreciating the Himalaya for hours, sweating our way through the jungles! Life couldn’t get better than this. We were probably few inches away from heaven itself

Diary of a Traveller: My Experiences : Himachal Pradesh: Day 2 Excursion to Kufri

Giving all respect to Shib Kumar’s request, we got up early in the morning. In chronological definition, it may be called as 7 am ….still its early. It was cold. I was jumping in the bathroom due to cold flooring while brushing my teeth. Anita was dead tired but I managed to wake her up and I knew what would be the immediate demand…a hot cup of tea!

I obliged it instantaneously as I was also getting the KICK for tea. The word kick has been strictly restricted for the harmless beverages.

We headed toward the Palace wing after getting ready to have our breakfast. There was a multi course breakfast but nothing specific and again generic. Curd and Paranthas, Freshly Cut Fruits, Corn Flakes and Milk, Bread, Jam and Butter. Let me again confirm this thing for you. When you are in hills and if you are normally having a good appetite, make the most of it. Your guts behave as black hole for most of the offering on the platter. No wonder I got everything on my plate (TWICE!!) and gulped down a large mug of tea to announce I am happy!

I came out and was cherishing the beauty of the landscape of Woodsville Palace and thought I should click one pic without wasting a moment. Here it is…

We drove off Raj Bhavan Road to enter in the main city. As I described earlier, Shimla looked beautiful at night and really doesn’t make you unhappy in the morning (unless you are from other cleaner hill station!). I stay in Mumbai and I actually feel like admiring every other city looking at the current plight of Mumbai. True, it earns me the bread and butter; but that doesn’t mean that it has stopped stinking. Before I invite wrath of my fellow Mumbaikars, it’s pretty cool and hap city, HAPPY??

My watch as well as Anita’s and Shib Kumar’s and the car’s electronic watch showed that it was half past ten, it felt like it was 8 in the morning. The air was cool and fog was still suspending on the huge deodar trees and sometimes on the road also. I just wanted to fill my lungs with the air so that I can take the reserve back in Mumbai and survive for some another 8-10 months.

It seems that mornings in monsoon are bit lazy in hills. It had drizzled lightly in the early morning. People were just opening their shops. Most of the dhabas had opened the shutters and were serving hot paranthas with curd. People were out for shopping buying fresh vegetables (to be used for that day only J) from vegetable markets. The roads were bustling. Since it was a Saturday, there were many co-travellers who were heading towards Kufri/ Mashobra (must be the lucky Club Mahindra members J)/ Chail or if somebody knows this then Theog! There are many places but one road. Our package was programmed to lead us to Kufri which is actually a skiing haven for winters when it snows heavily (I am just dieing to be here in winters but this year seems unlikely!).

As we moved out of Dhalli, on the outskirts of Shimla, we were greeted by thick greenery covering the hills and valleys by Deodars and Pines. We were just admiring this beautiful nature while we were speeding towards our destination when we heard somebody calling “Sirji! Photo!!”

We anyways had thought of doing a pit stop to savour the nature by our eyes and picked the right spot. No wonder that spot was already picked by a local photographer who would click the photographs of the tourists in traditional himachali attire. Actually, Shimla is one of the favourite honeymoon destinations amongst newly married couples. So he seamlessly got all the customers at the right place. We agreed to get ourselves clicked in Himachali Attire. Anita though wearing himachali attire looked like a postcard Kashmiri girl with the bouquet of flowers in her hand. I don’t want to talk about mine. Unfortunately, those pics are not in digital form!

After the brief session of photography, we proceeded towards Kufri. One important thing to note while traveling in the hills is the unexpected delay due to weather. The roads are narrow and landslides are very common especially in monsoon. So always keep a cushion of time by your side and set out early in the hills. I am telling all these things because we hit a traffic jam just before reaching Kufri. But the jam was not so unpleasant as we were in the lap of nature. August – September is the time when the famous Himachal apples are ready to be transported across the globe and heavy traffic of trucks carrying apples had resulted in traffic jam. Be happy, let the world eat the apple and be healthy!

After the traffic snarl got over, we proceeded swiftly and on our way we saw one hotel management and catering institute and Central Potato Research Institute. Two questions came to my mind…

1.      Why in the past I didn’t generate sufficient interest to study hotel management and catering, by hook or crook, I would have got myself in this institute….

2.      Why did I never consider making my career in analyzing tubers instead of stock markets?

Many questions kept on coming in my mind as I explored Himachal in the coming days. I would talk about them as and when the situation will be described in writing. J

And finally, we reached Kufri. There was a good amount of crowd at Kufri Hill Base. Thanks to the Saturday and Shimla’s proximity to Chandigarh. One has to hire a horse to go on the top of the hills in Kufri that of course comes with a guide. I would say that road towards hill in winter could have been something like a dreamwalk…but ahem….during monsoons, the road is absolutely marshy. If you decide to take a walk in the knee deep mud, you are in a big trouble (or rubble??). So pay the people who will take you safely on the top of hill safe and sound!

The road is very tricky and sometimes you just pray to god when your horse takes you on the edge of the rough road and a deep valley gapes at you. You have to rely on your guide’s instruction. Just one tip from my side…Always lean forward on the back of the horse if you are climbing towards the top and always lean backward when you are coming down.

Finally, we managed to reach the top of hill and was surprised to see the plains at such a height! It was just like a fair though I heard that there is actually no place to stand if you happen to come by summer vacation. Good..we didn’t! There were many people who were getting themselves clicked sitting on Yak. And déjà vu! People were getting themselves clicked in the traditional himachali attire.

We decided to take a stroll as the landscape was very colourful with the vivid flora. One very interesting  thing I have noticed in Himachal Pradesh is the consumption and brand equity of Maggi Instant Noodles. Though I may say that this brand equity is dwarfed by Lipton Tea’s brand equity among Kashmiri Pandits. If you happen to add sugar and milk in the concoction you have prepared, it is bound to labeled as LIPTON CHAI (you better pronounce this way as I have written) by a red blooded Kashmiri. It doesn’t matter which brand (or absolutely unbranded) of tea has been used while preparing the tea…the end product is always ….LIPTON CHAI! Just a small tip….if you happen to be a tea lover and really crave for good taste then I will suggest you to try the Lipton Yellow Label tea. This happens to be the tastiest tea I have ever tasted. And now I don’t wonder about the reason KPs call it Lipton Chai!

We decided to make way for Kufri Fun World, an entertainment complex situated atop the hill. En route, I came across a creature who has terrorized the mankind with sheer presence…Python! But it was tamed and I dared to get some pics clicked with that python. Python is heavy, the skin is not smooth and we can feel its strong muscles when we grip it with our hands. Always get yourself clicked with a tamed python, don’t try this in the wilds otherwise python will be writing a story about you telling how weak the muscles of that human being! J    

Kufri Fun World is a nice place to spend time. There are apple orchards, fun rides, nicely maintained rose garden, a beautiful temple and a breathtaking view available at all angles.We were actually blessed to be in Himachal when the apple orchards had the lovely scent of ripe apples. Me and Anita were ecstatic. I was dumbstruck at the ‘first in the lifetime’ site of apples on apple tree and Anita was nostalgic. I couldn’t take my eyes off this view. Such a beautiful site!

 A new question – Why am I supposed to own a home where I work? I never thought it was necessary and now, after I have been to Himachal, I am 200% sure.I MUST NOT! J

The roses in the garden were so impeccably maintained so that you get an answer to the FAQ…Why roses are red??  And then you have bewildering array of colors in roses along with red. I should not post every pic in the travelogue …you better go visit Himachal Pradesh! J

We were enjoying our time in Kufri Fun World though I couldn’t get the site of the beautiful hills as it was very misty. And then one moment came, before we could realize we were engulfed by clouds. Fortunately, I was not clicking the pics but was shooting the whole process of being in clouds. I really know what it means to be in clouds. We thought it was an appropriate time to have some coffee. It was 2 o’clock and we were still not feeling hungry.

On the way to the restaurant which is situated in KFW, we spotted a Kashmir Emporium and the shopkeeper spotted us. I should not dwell in to what we purchased and what was shown to us. I and Anita just hate anything which has got to do with hunting of animals. Such a rage going on in HP about selling Chingu, a blanket made of silk. The guy tried to convince us a lot but we didn’t. It took us almost an hour there.

We came out of KFW and thought of having some food..we had choice of maggi (instant noodles) and aloo tikkis. Maggi is an all time favourite of us and we normally stack up good inventory of maggi at home but aloo tikki was very tantalizing. Was an easy choice. Served with shredded cabbage and sweet and sour chutney, it is a must have on foggy day on a hill top!

Finally, we bid adieu to this lovely landscape with a promise that we should be visiting this place in winters when it will be snow clad and turns out to be a skiing destination. The descent was not as strenuous as the ascent but was little scary. Finally, we reached the bottom and got settled in our car. Shib Kumar promptly drove to next destination which was again a tourist spot. We had enough of tourists and spots so we asked Shib Kumar to take a U turn and drive towards Shimla. Meanwhile, we felt a ‘pang’ in our bellies..correct! Aloo tikkis were not sufficient. Shib Kumar took us to a restaurant in the nearby area. The restaurant’s name was Sher-E-Punjab. This name always gives you a comfort and invariably, good food! How could we miss Shimla Mirch (Green Bell Peppers) while being in Shimla. Ordered for a stuffed Shimla Mirch with another dish of paneer (cottage cheese) accompanied with pyaaj parantha. I am a fan of this bread now subject to the chef knowing how to prepare it! J

We had our bellies full and it was quarter past five in the evening. The air was getting cooler. How many times have you thought about having a cup of hot coffee after you have had a sumptuous meal? Anita felt we should have it and we thoroughly enjoyed the small cup of Nescafe.

I was actually wondering with every sip that why a Nescafe is not a rage as its sister brand Maggi. Well..doesn’t matter…you must not think about this. Your life keeps on throwing thousands of little moments of joy to you. Just enjoy them. Why dream of being a millionaire? How many people in the world had the privilege of enjoying Nescafe at Sher-E-Punjab in Kufri? That puts me on the top of the world. (Some Hrishikesh Mukherjee fans may say that I have violated copyright dialogues of Rajesh Khanna from one of his best performances in BAWARCHI. But little joys truth was very much known to mankind, isn’t it?)

We started our journey back to Shimla. The landscapes in Himachal are so beautiful that you normally prefer to keep your mouth shut consciously or unconsciously. The fog had started suspending from the deodar trees. It was getting cooler. Shib Kumar was telling us about his experiences in Himachal. He is a preferred chauffer for Cox and King’s Himachal trips. He knows how to drive in these hilly areas in all seasons.

Just when we reached Dhalli, on the outskirts of Shimla, we saw crowd gathering at the edge of road. A car had slipped in the valley breaking the barricades with four passangers. Monsoon makes the road very tricky. We had a very sensational experience on our way to Dalhousie from Dharamsala about the roads. I shall explain that later. You need to be very careful while driving in hills and preferably have an ABS equipped vehicle which ensures higher safety.

On our itinerary of Day 2, we were supposed to stroll on the famed

Mall Road

of Shimla. You would find a road named as

Mall Road

in almost every hill station of North India. I was actually least interested in this part and so was Anita. We were here to enjoy the freedom from the maddening crowd then why to join back the crowd? So after taking the lift which lands you on the way to Mall Road (this is an interesting experience. People of Shimla use to commute to different levels of city by using this lift) and on a Saturday evening, that was bound to be buzzing.

As soon as we reached the exit of the lift, we had two choices, either we cold have lead to

Mall Road

or the opposite direction was directed towards our abode for 2 days, Woodville Palace. We decided to move towards Woodville and must say it was a lovely walk. It was 6.30 in the evening and was getting darker and foggier. We were very tired but still we insisted on walking (and we had no choice) At one point, I think that only me and Anita were there on the road and a very thick blanket of fog was suspended on the road and around the trees. What a beautiful scene it was! I tried hard to capture every possible scene with the help of my camera. The fog was somehow making the task difficult. But managed to capture few good pics. Living in Mumbai, I have been actually longing for such moments. Never in the last 5 years at Mumbai, I have ever felt the need to wear a sweater. Forget the jackets.

As I mentioned, we were damn tired and was relieved to be at the entrance of Woodville Palace. We decided to rest at one of the benches in the garden there. A cup of hot tea is always welcome in such moments. Anita was actually craving for it. Hence, she took the initiative to go to the reception and order for tea.

Woodville’s garden has appeared in few bollywood flicks like BLACK (Fountain with a white statue of a lady) and 3 IDIOTS (Kareena’s marriage scene).

By the time our tea arrived, it had started drizzling. So we preferred to go inside the Palace Wing and sip the tea in a relaxing mood at the ‘Tiger Lounge’.

This area sports three Tiger Trophies which were hunted in the states of Jhalawar, Kota and Bundi (presently all in Rajasthan). I am not comfortable with that. Hence, I’ll skip the discussion. There is also an interesting collection of photographs autographed by the Hollywood celebrities who had stayed at  Woodville Palace at some point. These include Clark Gable, Michael Caine, Tom Cruise, Sean Connery, Brook Schields and Anna Nicole Smith.

We had a small chat with the receptionist who was present there. We spoke about the royal clan to whom the Palace belongs. The guy was very down to earth (which is very typical for the people who live in hills) and spoke to us at length about the royal family and Shimla in general. We were aware that the family stays in the same premises in the restricted area and looks into day to day operations of the palace. While having the chat, phone at the desk rang and receptionist answered, “Yes, Maharaaj!” and we knew who was on line. According to the guy, Shimla may be a wonderful place to stay but may not be a great place to make lives. So they have to move towards cities…I mean big cities! Sometimes I wonder over a fictitious (or may be a real) situation where an unlucky has left everything in the beautiful town to make it big in big city and returns as a TOURIST to his hometown. Our teas were finished by this time and the drizzle had subsided. We decided to move back to our suite.

In the meanwhile, we were summoned by the program director, Mr. Shib Kumar for being ready by 9 AM as we were heading to Manali. We had our bellies full with the late lunch (or early dinner??) at 5 pm helped with generous amount of tea and coffee. We decided to skip our dinner and go to sleep. The calm in the night is so relaxing that you are just out of the world.

People have many views about Shimla. Most people I heard were very critical about the buzz, the infrastructure etc etc. I am in total disagreement with these people. Its not Shimla’s fault to be in proximity of big cities like Chandigarh and Delhi and to be in the purview of the roving eyes of land sharks. This lovely city still maintains its innocence which is apparent on the faces of the people who stay here. These people are happy with what they are doing and what they are up to. They are fine with a basic breakfast of Dahi and Parantha and need nor cringe about a seven course breakfast. They don’t belong to the community of people who dare to call food “F**k All” if they don’t like it. These people need not crave to be staying in the high-rises. They are naturally placed on the top of the world. There is no high-headedness, there is no pomp, nothing grotesque. Just simple, humble and lovely people as the weather is. J I don’t think I have got the intellect to see flaws in these people, this weather and this city. Himachal always had a special place in my heart and this position was strengthened by my first visit to Shimla. I knew that I had started heavenly journey on the earth itself. The night was getting cooler and calmer and I surrendered myself to Nidra Devi.

Diary of a Traveller: My Experiences : Himachal Pradesh: Day 1 On the way to Shimla!

Back from The Heaven…and I was not DEAD!

Prelude

Since childhood, I have always been feeling an amazing attraction for Northern India, especially the Himalayas. I don’t know what was the reason to feel this bond for a terrain which I had just read about or had seen some pictures or dear doordarshan transmitting the picturesque videos. Ironically, I could never cross the northern limit beyond Pune or Nashik. Ahem, it means I was in Maharashtra state only.

I actually put my efforts together during my MBA days and made all the way to Ahamedabad and was actually relishing the fact for many days that I finally broke the jinx and got out of my home state from northern boundary. But I was thousand kilometers away from Himalayas.

So the point is…My wait was over recently to get into the lap of the mighty Himalayas. Anita and me finally decided to visit Himachal Pradesh almost 1.5 years after our marriage. I studied some packages offered by many tour operators and finally chose the Scenic Himachal package by Cox and Kings. Following is the detailed account of our trip to Himachal Pradesh describing the places, the people, the incidences which have been permanently carved on our minds. I 110% back HP Government’s punch line for Himachal Pradesh – PADHARIYE HIMACHAL, MANNBHAAVAN HAIN HIMACHAL (Welcome to Himachal, she wins your hearts)  

Day 1 – 6^th August 2010

Enahancing my comfort, my flight schedule was changed and hence, the JetLite flight which was supposed to take off at 6.30 a.m. in the morning was combined with the 7.20 a.m. flight. Guess what?...This was the same flight we took to Jammu to attend Meenu’s (my sis-in-law) in last November.

So we got up at 4.30 a.m. in the morning. All pumped up! Actually we had finished our luggage packing at half past 12 last night but managed to get up early without any feeling of being dragged from the bed (Wonder what happens to me daily when I have to go to gym and if I skip that then the office…I guess the later is culprit..;))

We got ready. However, I was bit nervous about receiving Meru’s SMS giving me details about the chauffer and the car. This special feeling because twice in the past the cab didn’t come and I was in an absolute limbo. Finally the SMS beeped at 5 and I was deeply relieved. The cab arrived at 5.30 a.m. as per schedule. I actually take a lot of pleasure in getting into a cab in casuals and heading all the way to airport. Because many times I am strictly in formals on my management visits.

It doesn’t take much time for a cab from my place in Tilak Nagar, Chembur to domestic airport and we managed the distance in flat 20 minutes. I really like Meru’s Cab services and gave an EXCELLENT feedback this time. In the mean while, Anita got the trolleys and we entered inside the Mumbai Airport.

We didn’t waste much time and straightway headed for check-in. Few tech-savvy readers may raise their eyebrows wondering if I am aware about the process called web check-in. Well ofcourse I am; but since ours was a rescheduled flight, we didn’t have the luxury to do the web check-in. It was early in the morning and as usual was pretty buzzing. After collecting our boarding passes, we cleared the security check and walked towards the lounge. In the lounge, we bumped into Mr. Anantpadmanabhan Sarma, former EVP of IDBI Capital where me and Anita worked as research analysts. We greeted him and had an informal conversation (probably first time after I left IDBI Caps almost 3 years ago). Anita gave him an anxious moment by saying that the flight had been rescheduled without mentioning which flight! He was panic stricken for a moment as he had a business commitment in Delhi. I clarified that Anita was talking about the 6.30 flight while the current flight was very much on time. Probably to avoid more anxious moments like this he steered away wishing us a very happy journey. (So nice of him!)

A Tip – If you are flying by a no-frills airlines, please make it sure that you buy a multigrain vegetable sandwich from the CCD shop. It is very tasty, fills your stomach properly and is always cheaper than the white bread sandwich they sell on flight. J

So we bagged our couple of sandwiches to be eaten in the air …very much up in the air!

The announcement was made and we boarded on the bus which shuttled towards the airplane.

Anita is always nervous at the take-off time and she avoids sitting next to window. And I am an absolutely opposite animal. I love it when the plane takes off and love to see outside window as if I have my own wings and I’m flying in the air.

I can’t talk much about the journey in the air. Its always going to be monotonous but sometimes (or many times) the clouds are so beautiful that you just can’t take your eyes off them. Delhi’s arrival can be easily concluded as the plane descends JJJJ and we could see the geometric shapes of the fields underneath.

Our plane finally landed on the runway of IGI Airport and headed towards the newly inaugurated Terminal 3. We were very eager to get down and to enjoy some paranthas or chole bhature at any of the Delhi’s popular eateries. However, the pilot actually drove the plane for almost 20 minutes on the tracks to reach the Terminal 3 of IGI Airport. The plane was  Jammu (my in-law’s place) bound and for a moment, I thought that the plane is going to be driven all the way to Jammu. JJJ.

We finally entered the lounge of IGI Airport and were waiting at the conveyor belt to claim our baggage. I called Shammi, who received us at Delhi on behalf of C&K, about our arrival.

The conveyor belt took some time to start operation when the bad news was being flashed on the TV screens. Ladakh had witnessed unexpected flash floods due to cloud burst and many places were washed away. I couldn’t fathom the graveness of this news till I read the news paper next day. I really felt very very bad. Ladakh is one of the most beautiful places I have ever known and was actually contemplating between Himachal and Ladakh. I still don’t know if I can be labeled as lucky and I don’t care about that. What I care is if we are not the victims then certainly, we must be the helping hands. Do help these people. This tragedy has happened at a very wrong time as soon the ruthless winter will descend over this beautiful terrain.

In the meanwhile, Shammi Thakur approached us. We collected our luggage and headed outside the lounge. Shammi actually saved my effort of combing operation for searching the placard bearing my name. But a person was still religiously holding the placard with my name on it. He was Mr. Shib Kumar. Very interesting personality and happened to be my chauffer during the trip. His references will keep on coming frequently as I keep on elaborating about the trip.

Though it was the first week of August, it was very hot outside and I was wearing a jet black T-Shirt. I was very eager to get into the car and switch on the AC. Most of the India cab service providers prefer Tata Indigo as the sedan and we got the same.

I was thrilled to be on the roads of Delhi. I knew about the places…have read about them, have heard about them and well, this time I was there. I clearly don’t remember the places through which we drove but I can certainly say that Mumbai has got places to go.

We were on our way to

Connaught Place

where Shammi’s office is located. He told us a very interesting story in the meantime, may be if our politicians from both the countries are listening….

Shammi had gone to Russia on one assignment. To be specific, he was in Moscow and was flying back to India and he had to get down at Tashkent. He was in a fix as he was desperately seeking for a help but communication was a big problem since the people over there understood only Russian and no scope for English. And he got a helping hand from an unexpected person. The guy saw Shammi in trouble and told him where the consulate was located. And guess what…the stranger was a Pakistani. Shammi thanked him and headed towards consulate when the Pakistani fellow hesitantly approached him and said, “ Well, I have a request and I hope you will not mind. I have never embraced an Indian in my lifetime. Can I embrace you once?” Shammi was bowled. The reply was obvious, “ ARAY EK BAAR KYON? DO BAAR GALE LAG JAA YAAR!” This incidence really flashes like a ray of hope in the age of darkness as far as the relationship between India and Pakistan goes. I should not go ahead to discuss this issue. Because by the end of my analysis, I will be labeled as softest or extremist.

 

As I mentioned earlier, Shammi’s office is located at

Connaught Place

. Just two days back, I had seen my worshipped icons, Rocky and Mayur of Highway On My Plate on NDTV Good Times making their way to Wenger’s at

Connaught Place

. Both of them recommended this place very strongly. I will never take any other opinion if Rocky and Mayur are recommending the eatery. I asked Shammi about Wenger’s and his eyes lit up. I was not surprised. However, Shib Kumar, our driver and guide, ws nt in favour of going to

Connaught Place

. Thanks to the murkier work of CWG (Common Wealth Games) Committee, the whole place was dug up very badly resulting in unexpected traffic snarls. We respected Shib Kumar’s judgement and let Wenger’s go off our way. BOLD NOTE – I am again gonna make a trip to Delhi just to savour food at all the famous places, MIND IT! J. We dropped Shammi just outside the

Connaught Place

. He wished us a happy journey. Well, the gravy train had already chugged off!.

Shib Kumar informed us that it will take another hour to exit from Delhi. I started conversation with him asking about his whereabouts etc etc. He became very comfortable. I asked him if we can have tea somewhere but he suggested that we should have it once we exit from Delhi. I agreed and said , “Sab appke bharose hain, Sirjee!” and no doubt he was 110% right.

Finally, we left Delhi and started our journey on the famous Grand Trunk Road. I have been reading about this road. But being on this road was another dream come true. Soon we crossed the Delhi and entered in Haryana. My colleague, Ashish had suggested a place called Haveli at Karnal to dine at. I asked Shib Kumar if that is feasible. Shib Kumar suggested that it would be too distant and we had a better at choice at Sonepat itself. I had to agree him and mind you, what a wonderful place it turned out to be!

Gulshan Vaishno Dhaba – This is the name of the food haven I was referring too. For beginners, if you are vegetarian and really wary about the non-veg food getting served on the next table or doubtful about the kitchen, do look for the suffix VAISHNO after the dhaba’s name. It suggests that it serves veggie food.

So coming back to Gulshan Vaishno Dhaba, we were very hungry. It has a very good AC arrangement so you need not sulk about the dust and the sound and the heat outside. Btw, it was very hot outside. We settled at our place and a simple menu card was handed over to me. I was spoilt in choice though before entering, I had made up my mind to try the Pyaaz Parantha and Anita preferred the generic Aloo Parantha. We ordered curd separately thinking by the Mumbai standards, ;). How could we miss Dal Makhni, amazing cooked lentils with spices and whipped with creamy white butter….! In the meanwhile freshly cut onions, green chillies and white butter in a big bowl! We were bound to get bowled! The serving of curd was 5-6 times the portion they serve in the restaurants of Mumbai and yeah, it was also 10-12 times delicious than what we get in Mumbai! J

First, my Pyaaz Parantha arrived. Crisp and Hot! I was salivating, I am salivating and I will keep on salivating whenever I remember that parantha. I took generous amount of butter and curd to savour the parantha. In the meanwhile, Anita also got her aloo parantha. Normally, Anita is not a voracious eater as me but I was surprised to see her finishing the aloo parantha quickly…taste creates magic, you know!

One recipe which I ordered just out of curiosity was Raj Kachori! I hadn’t tried it earlier but it was a love at first sight…or bite! ;) It’s stuffing is very rich and outer crust is pretty crunchy served with sweet curd and sprinkled with pomegranate kernels. It’s hard to keep on writing about it when it’s time for dinner.

Bowled by such a fantabulous start, we went on to order Rajma and Kaali Daal with steamed rice and no wonder…we went on for finishing. Shib Kumar got his first installment of blessings from us. I am normally a generous guy and offer a good tip especially when I like the food. I actually couldn’t resist myself and had ourselves clicked in front of the Gulshan Vaishno Dhaba.

Note – If the reader happens to be belonging to my fraternity i.e. financial services industry, then there is a possibility that you might have come across an extensive report published by CLSA India in March 2008 with the title CLSA On The Road – People, Politics….something like this. The report has a photograph of a bill at a dhaba in Haryana mentioning that the dhabas have started paying VAT now. The bill belongs to Gulshan Vaishno Dhaba. J

The sun was really blazing over our heads. So we quickly got into our car and started our journey towards Shimla. Mind you…it’s a flat 8 hours traveling time without including your lunch/dinner/tea/snack/garden/breakdown/traffic jam breaks. And we had just started. First day of your journey is always the most pleasure giving day. You always experience ecstasy every moment…..many examples….I am not at office, the road is so good, nobody is gonna grab my collar for pending assignment, the air is so fresh, I am not sweating, I am not waiting for some vehicle, the vehicle always waits for me…there are so many examples. I can actually go on with this. But I am not writing this travelogue to describe all these things.

As I had mentioned about Haveli at Karnaal, Shib Kumar probably thought that it should be his duty to make us visit Haveli. My idea was actually to have a lunch at Haveli. So we pulled in the parking zone of Haveli at Karnal.

Haveli is thematic premise depicting the culture of a typical Punjabi village. There would be some mannequins of a farmer with a bullock cart or a young woman fetching water from the well etc etc. You will have an option to sit on a ‘Charpai’ and sip your tea. We never had that option as it was intolerably hot outside and we had to take the shelter of the AC premises. While entering, the Sardar greeted us with ‘Sat Sri Akal’ with the thump of his laathi. I also greeted him with ‘Sat Sri Akal’ and sneaked in. It was quarter to 3 in the noon and we had a very little space in our guts. So me and Anita decided to got a cup of tea after studying the Menu Card.

The décor of Haveli again very much resembles the coutryside of Pujab.Even a truck is there inside the restaurant. The thaali and sarason ka saag with make di roti are the recommended dishes over here. We sipped the tea and made our way out of Haveli.

It was very hot out there. Shib Kumar had strategically parked our car in the shadow. He asked me to suggest him some good audio CD at the shop in Haveli. I asked him his preference and he told me that he would prefer the songs in early 90’s. I was certainly not surprised and fortunately we bumped into an album which was a collection of hit songs from early 90’s.

We started our journey onwards. Shib Kumar enthusiastically started playing the newly bought CD and his enthusiasm soon faded rapidly as he was disappointed with the choice of tracks the album had.

The road was pretty clear and we were cruising at a good speed. We saw huge amount of grains rotting by the side of the road just because of the stubbornness of few politicians. What an irony….in my country, few people can’t get proper food twice a day, children dyeing of malnourishment and here, tons of grain was allowed to rot.

After Ambala, we paid the road tax for making entry in the state of Punjab and bid adieu to the historic

Grand Trunk Road

for that moment as we again said HI to it in Amritsar while concluding our journey after 8 days. We celebrated our entry in Punjab by…well just having a cup of tea again…J. I was pretty excited to be in Punjab, the land of five rivers as it can be literally translated, land of supreme abundance, land of green fields. You may think that I might have recalled some of the cult tunes of Punjabi music and even I thought so …but what strummed in my mind were the songs of Dev D. Seems like Amit Trivedi is taking over all the other musicians.

After having tea, we moved towards Chandigarh, the first planned city of India. However, we couldn’t enter the city as our route diverted towards Kalka off the outskirts of Chandigarh…may be next time. Continuing of NH22, we zoomed past Panchkula. It was getting dusky but before it was dark we reached Pinjor. We decide to visit Pinjor Garden. The weather was still muggy and I was sweating.

The garden is beautiful, spread over a huge area. The garden must be belonging to some royal family in old days which was very evident from the structures inside. I didn’t show any patience to understand who the royal family was. We got few pics clicked over there and rushed back to our car.

By the time we crossed Parwanoo, it started getting dark. It had been a long time since we started our journey in the morning. We were slightly tired and were absolutely running behind schedule. Mind you first timers to Himachal, when your brochure says 8 hrs distance from Delhi to Shimla, it means the actual traveling time and not your breaks.

We crossed Solan after a while and it started drizzling. It cooled the air and Anita in few moments dozed off. But I am some different kind of animal. Even though it was dark, I was just cherishing my presence in Himachal. I couldn’t see anything but the vehicles which were either overtaking us or were appearing at scary speed from opposite side.

Shib Kumar says that the people who are accustomed to driving in the mountain territory find it hard to drive straight on the road like our favourite

Mumbai Pune Express Highway

. Very true!

We finally reached Shimla at 9.30 p.m. The shops were getting closed and few people were strolling on the streets. It appeared absolutely beautiful before entering the city (and actually it is!) But many people are skeptic about Shimla’s beuty. But I must agree with Mark Tully who says in its book India In Slow Motion (a must read book!) that except for Sri Nagar, every hill station in India is actually invaded by land sharks. Shimla is one of  the good examples. But I decided to think about it in the morning. Shib Kumar in the meanwhile got his dinner packed and we headed toward our destination – Woodville Palace (http://www.woodvillepalacehotel.com/ ) on Raj Bhavan Road.

Nestled in the upper side of Shimla amongst the dense deodar trees is the heritage property called Woodville Palace. The palace belongs to the royal family of Jubbal State. The family still stays in the palace while part of it has been converted into a heritage hotel.

I was just dieing to check in. The manager informed me that the diner will be served till 10.30 pm. We had a little margin of error. Out luggage was promptly shifted by the courteous service staff who wore the traditional Himachali attire. You can’t stop yourself from giving tips to them for their promptness and politeness. We were allotted a big suite in the Heritage Wing of Woodville Palace. It was pretty cool out there. We got ready and headed towards the Imperial Banquet Hall situated in the Palace Wing. Few weeks back, I had seen one program on NDTV Good Times where the chef of this very hotel was preparing a traditional Himachali bread called BABRU. I was fantasizing about that while I walked towards banquet hall. Disappointment! It was serving pretty generic stuff. Blame it to the low season…lower occupancy means basic choice! I inquired about Babru to the staff and they were heartened to see that a non-himachali is aware about the himachali speciality. I thought the overflowing love, awe and respect would lead to me getting a BABRU in my plate but that vicious cycle…low season and hence no choice. Still the preparation was very good and we liked the Amchuri Bhindi very well. Anita was prompt enough to collect the recipe.

After we had filled our stomach properly, we went back to our suite. It was pretty cold but we also had thick blankets. Shib Kumar had instructed us to be ready by 9 in the morning as we were scheduled to visit Kufri. We were anyways tired and went to sleep easily.   

A.R. Rahman : Phenomenon, Institution and The Legend!

So much has been read, written and most importantly, listened about this genius that I wonder what am I supposed to do different here?  But I always wanted to write about him (and I am not getting paid for it so it’s a genuine selfless act). It’s not the chronological account of how Rahman has evolved throughout these years and who am I to talk about his evolution? The autobiography of A.R. Rahman by Nasreen Munni Kabir is already available. So this is an account of Amit Hiremath who claims to be one of the biggest fan of A.R. Rahman since the age of 13 (interchange the digits to find my age as of today J)

So the things started with my uncle playing “Kadhal Rojave” (Roja Jaanemann in Tamil) on his assembled stereo one afternoon. I could easily pick the note and relate it with the jingle of Garden Vareli sarees being aired on Doordarshan in the late 80’s. I couldn’t resist but to stop playing and listened to the song till it finished, understanding not a single word. It ended and started another song “Pudhu Vellai” (Yeh Haseen Vaadiyaan in Hindi) and it captivated me. After that day, it became an ordeal for me to go to my uncle’s room (he was a struggling young man those days) and listen to all songs of Roja. How many times does it happen to you? You don’t understand a word but you just can’t resist listening to these songs.

There is an amazing similarity in music and love. Both know no language, no boundaries, no colour, no war, no hatred, no anger. And as with love, there is nothing like good or bad, so is with the music. Okay, music is always good. It’s an instant detox, revitazlizer etc etc and if it is coming from the God of Music then you get a direct entry to heaven in a moment. No need to wait for millions of births (with due respect to Hindu mythology!)  

I became an ardent follower of Rahman from that period. I can speak about each and every song of Rahman and write a blog about it. But that is not the objective of this blog. Normally, a spendthrift guy, I started  saving money so that I can buy an audio cassette of OMPSTs of Rahman’s movies. Thankfully, my parents also developed liking for Rahman’s music. I was surprised at my father’s inclination towards Rahman’s music since he prefers listening to old songs. He liked Roja but he was clean bowled by the music of ‘BOMBAY’! I thanked my stars because there onwards raising fund was never an issue for me to buy an audio cassette of Rahman’s movie.

Before I move on with the story, a special mention for two scores of Rahman’s earlier days – Thiruda Thiruda (second project with Mani Ratnam) and Gentleman (the first collaboration with Shankar). As a fan if you have not listened to the score of Thiruda Thiruda, I guess there is a big vacuum in your collection. This score was a clear evidence that Rahman was 15-20 years ahead of the fellow musicians. I doubt if any of the budding musician can produce such a powerful score (Rahman was just 27 at that time)  And in my view, if Prabhu Deva owes his success to anybody then it is none other than A.R. Rahman. The pulsating track of ‘Chiku Buku Raile’ in ‘Gentleman’ gave Prabhu Deva the much required platform and what ‘Kadhalan’ (Hum Se Hain Muqabala in Hindi) did is history!

I don’t know if it is such an irony, a co-incidence or just sheer luck that Panchamda gave his last score, 1942: A Love Story which was released in 1994 which was followed by Rahman’s Hindi debut, Rangeela in 1995. We music lovers were simply saved from the onslaught of the headache inducing music of some gifted musical duos of Bollywood. I won’t name them though. I heard that Asha Bhonsle liked ‘Tanha Tanha’ of Rangeela so much that she waived off her fees for that song. Haven’t heard that thing happening now-a-days! Salute to the genius of A.R. Rahman!

Every song of Rahman is music to my ears. Every award he had won..it feels like I have won the award. I still remember the day when Rahman had won the academy awards for his score of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and my colleagues congratulated me leaving my boss perplexed about the whole scenario! J  I never tolerated any criticism for Rahman. In the initial phase, he was being criticized for being repetitive. Well, the ears of a typical bollywood song listener were so acclimatized to listen to mediocre music that they found Rahman to be repetitive and surprisingly, not repetitively good (You may feel like catching my collar and asking, “Mate, you just wrote that there is nothing called good or bad music!”) Ahem! Then it was not music altogether (by the same boring duos). Some said that he was a rhythm king with lack of melody. A slap (this is my word) for those came with ‘Awaara Bhanware’of ‘Sapnay’ and a refreshingly new voice, Hema Sardesai. The list is long for the talents discovered by the man who is gifted with unlimited talent- Sukhvinder Singh, Mohit Chauhan, resurrection of Sonu Nigam and the list goes on

When it comes to singing a Sufi song, does any other name flash in your mind? And one doesn’t acquire the skill of singing Sufi songs. You just have to be gifted and thankful about the entity who has gifted you the voice. Rahman is a spiritual guy and this spirituality percolates in every aspect of his life. Be it singing, talking to people and just being with himself! And since we are talking about songs, I am sure you must have already recalled “Piya Haji Ali (Fiza), Khwaja Mere Khwaja (Jodha Akbar), Arziyaan (Delhi 6) and the latest charismatic Kun Fayaa Kun (Rockstar)” However, few would remember the intense ‘Zikr’ from ‘Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero’. I vividly recall the scene when Anuradha Sengupta of CNBC TV18 was interviewing our hero on the show ‘Beautiful People’ and Rahman was surprised and asked,”Oh, you remember that song?” with a smile on his face!  

In fact, I owe Rahman a friendship with another Rahmaniac called Paresh. We just became friends coz we both loved Rahman. And at one time, before MP3 and piracy was not exiting, he and me together boasted a collection of audio cassettes of all of Rahman’s movies  and we are still proud of it though it’s a child’s play today to owe Rahman’s whole MP3 collection.

It was A.R. Rahman who took the background score of his films seriously. Along with Roja’s songs, what impressed me was the background score of that movie. And he has never failed us once in any of his movies. It is a treat to hear the background score of the movie with your eyes closed. It many times portrays the scene without opening the eyes. Most notable amongst his BG scores are Roja, Bombay, Dil Se, Saathiya (Mani Ratnam effect! J), Lagaan, Swades, Rang De Basanti! The rendition of ‘Sitaron Se Aage Jahaan Aur Bhi Hain, Abhi Ishq Ke Imtihaan Aur Bhi Hain’ by Sukhvinder Singh in the film ‘Dil Se’ gives me goose bumps every time I listen to it!

I can write more and I will never stop! So this is just a comma in my account! I will be back with more stuff. Till the time, KEEP LISTENING!!!