We the People

When you travel, you are exposed to the outside world, you gather some valuable experiences, you like something, you hate something. You travel by so many means, bus, train, hand pulled rickshaws, autos, trams, metros, cruise, flights, everything adds up to the pages of your life. In one of our train journey, there were five fellows with us in the same compartment. Four adults and one kid, one of the guys told that he is hungry and then his wife opened a box, having many boiled eggs. One by one she was peeling them off and passing it to them, there were two guys and each of them had 6 boiled eggs. Yes, I counted and was equally shocked, how can anyone have something so much? Another time we saw a newly married couple, who were ill-mannered, they did not know difference between bedroom and railway coach. Some people boast of their knowledge, money and power and some are so quiet that you doubt them to be terrorist. You will see people fighting with each other, you will see them reading books, you will see them taking contacts, you might see relationships getting build, you will see guys trying to impress girls, and so on, journeys are a whole new world.

That time there were no ATMs, so for the total number of days of the trip dad and mom used to take cash with them. For a 30 day trip, they used to take approximately 50 thousand cash. The first day when we left from home, whole cash was with us, once we reach the first destination, and we go to the inspection quarter and keep the money there securely they were a bit worried. If cash gets stolen then there is no option than to come back. Before the trip mom used to tell us to be quiet and not talk in the train about the trip. While going for the north east trip, we were in train for siliguri, the plane area before darjeeling, and one chaayewala came, and mom asked me whether I wanted to take tea, I told, “not here, I will have tea in its original place (meaning Darjeeling tea)”, mom gave me an angry look. If people come to know they could make out that we are having lot of cash with us.

One more incident happened with mom in train. I and di went with my dad’s sister to Calcutta to attend some marriage of relative of her side. And meanwhile my parents went to Mayihar and khajuraho. One couple with two kids were sharing the same compartment. That lady asked my mom where they were going, mom told Mayihar, mayihar is a religious place of Goddess durga, many people go to that temple and ask for wishes. Since only my mom and dad were travelling, that lady thought that my mom does not have kids and they are going to mayihar to ask God for a child. That lady had two kids and both were very naughty and were jumping throughout the boggie. She started telling, “bachhe to bhagwaan ki den hai, acha hai darshan kar ke aayiye, apki goad bhi bhar jayegi”, my mom stared her and then told her she is simply going to visit the temple and not for asking kid, she already has two daughters and both are quiet grown ups. Then that lady scolded her kids for shouting so much and she also became quiet.

Wait and Taste

Travelling across so many places meant exposure to different cultures, languages, costumes, people and last but not the least food and delicacies. Forget about east, west, north, south or central India, each township or district within state has its own unique flavor. There is so much of difference in the urban and rural part of any place, everywhere everything is distinct.

Kolkata’s rosogolla and maacher jhol is no doubt world famous, apart from that there are so many other varieties available which you will not found anywhere else. Not only Kolkata, any state in India has so much of its own flavour and taste which will be absolutely unique in that specific area unavailable anywhere.

Panipuri or golgappa or phuchka are all names of the same snack but when it comes to taste it varies from UP to Maharashtra to West Bengal to south. Kheer can be of rice or sewaiya or paneer or carrot or sabudana, somewhere it is called payesh, somewhere payasam, somewhere phirni.

Whenever we used to go out of station, it also meant having all meals of the day outside in some restaurants or hotels or in prebooked inspection quarters. Whichever place it may be, their local food was 99 percent liked by each of us, definitely we used to miss mom’s cooked home food, but for few days for some change and for some rest to mom, that was good.

Many delicacies of various places I still remember and which I will never forget in my life. On our trip to Gujarat, we had dhoklas, khandvi, handwa, thepla, sweet kadhi, bhakris, those were quiet simple foods but definitely very different and of course healthy and tasty. From Junagarh we had boarded a bus, it was a night journey, around 2 AM the bus stopped and we were very hungry, there was a small hotel from where dad took pao bhaji, it was awesome, bhaji had a lot of oil and butter in it, but in those hunger pangs, having such a tasty food was worth the pain of getting up at 2 AM. While going to Mandu and Dhaar in MP, we went to a highway dhaba and had sev tamatar ki sabji and rotis, it was mindblowing.

In our north east trip, in gangtok we went to see sunrise to the famous mountain peak, while coming, on the way we went to a monastery, we were hungry and eagerly wanted breakfast. We saw a small shop, not even a shop actually, it was a thela and a lady was selling momos. We did not have any idea about momos, but since that was specifically a momos shop and everyone was having momos there so we also ordered for it. Lady gave 6 chicken momos with some chutney. We were wondering how it would be? But when we tasted it, it was divine, plain steamed chicken momos with hot and spicy coconut and chili chutney. That was the first time I had momos and last time that I had such tasty momos.

Parathas, name only is so much mouth watering. We had been to brindavan, travel by road means exploring dhabas. For our dinner we stopped near a posh dhaba and all sat in dining table and ordered for Butter naan and dal makhni and aloo parathas. That was a complete waoooo.

Dadar railway station in Mumbai, the city of dreams, has a famous shop, “Jumbo vada pao”, each vada pao costed 5 rupees, that was perfect Mumbai taste, mirch, mast and masaledar. Goa, a place famous for beaches and of course sea food, I had my life’s best prawn biryani there. In a beach side restaurant, we went and checked the menu. We saw prawn biryani and asked for it and we did not regret our choice. In goa only, I had pomfret fry and it again was a spectacular dish, pomfret fish slit in between and coated with poppy seeds, it was amazing.

After finishing my training in Mysore, we went for city tour. One of my friend knew a pani puri wala, we went to his shop, and customized his pani puris to that of Kolkata and it satisfied our taste buds. Bhubaneswar and Kolkata are two places which have plenty of fish and sweets. In a costly restaurant of Bhubaneswar, Swosti Plaza, after finishing our meals we wanted to have some unique dessert, and I saw fried ice cream in the menu so asked for one. When they served it, it was some sizzling hot brownish red sphere of coconut and dry fruits and when you cut it, it has chilled vanilla ice cream and as you take this hot and chilled combination in spoon and put it in your mouth, it melts, you just close your eyes and enjoy the taste and feel the taste. So many times, we had prawns there. Chilli prawns, Bali prawns, everything was yummy. Chicken chowmein outside metro station in Esplanade station (Kolkata) was superb.

There might be infinite recipes which I liked, I am a foodie, I love to eat, in my dreams also, I sometimes think of food only, my husband laughs at this. Be it some plain and simple thing or some heavy and oily stuff, be it litti and sattu of patna or be it rasam and rice of kerala or be it radha pallabi of nabadip (west Bengal) or be it tikki chole chaat of UP or be it faluda and kulfi of delhi or be it daal baati churma of Rajasthan, everything tasted excellent.

Howmuchever you try preparing these recipes at home, they don’t come out that well. That taste or I should say that authentic taste of the traditional food which you taste in hotels of that particular location is far and much better there, than at home, while eating outside who thinks about oil and ghee, purities and impurities, at home we may be very much concerned about health but outside it’s a strict no no. It may be that when you go somewhere outside and taste their food for the first time you will like it to the fullest and that of course marks an impression in your tongue, heart and mind and it becomes incomparable to that same food prepared anywhere else. So when you try and prepare the same food at home it is straightway compared to the first impression of that food and the food which we had the first time, it’s taste becomes unbeatable.

Favourite Travel Destinations

It was part of our routine to travel to different places during vacations. Sometimes it was a week long trip and sometimes it was even a month long. Month long tour was tiresome because staying out and having outside food four times a day is difficult, for few days it is fine but when it is a long trip we used to get fed up. Now when I am unable to go anywhere because of dependencies and busy schedule I remember those days and cherish those memories. Some of the places were the most memorable and even now when I think about those I get goose bumps.

I remember our trip to Dwarika, lord Krishna’s place. It is one of the four dhaams of hindu religion. We reached Dwarika on a weekday evening. We went to guest house, changed and got freshen up and started planning for next day darshan. Suddenly everyone decided why not visit the temple that evening itself. We all got ready and left for the temple. It was not that much crowded. Evening aarti was over and people were leaving. People say for darshan, you should go only in morning, but I feel that there is no proper or improper time, every moment is auspicious for anything good. We went inside and the sight was unbelievable. Very few people were there in the garbhagriha, so without any trouble we could go and sit just in front of the place where Krishna’s idol was there, there was hardly a distance of may be 3-4 feet. We could see the idol clearly, no crowd, no pundits, no one. It was like I am meeting Krishna without any disturbance. I was mesmerized by the shine of the idol. I was completely lost, I was saying some mantras and I don’t know what happened to me, I did not want anything, I did not know anything, I was only chanting the mantras and looking at the idol. It was a different feeling. I was in a state of complete peace yet completely lost. Heart and brain both were completely calm. I did not know anything except Krishna and the mantras. No wishes, no problems, no desires, no dreams. I did not experience that feeling again, till date. That was something I can never forget.

Beauty of Vivekanand Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari was another out of the world view. There were few steps and you get down and what you see is simply marvelous. Water, which has no end. Till whatever distance you can see, you can see water. Indian Ocean, tides, rocks, cold, pure white water.  On my left side it was Bay of Bengal and on my right it was Arabian Sea. And it was sunset time, slowly and slowly sun was setting in the Arabian Sea, the orange colour of the setting sun and the colour of water changing from its natural colour to orange, waoooo.., nothing else I could say. Fire getting into water. Huge tides of Indian Ocean perfectly complimenting calmness of Arabian Sea. And Bay of Bengal had crabs which were coming towards the bank. That was perfect evening spend in nature. Depth of Ocean and view of Sunset and chilled breeze was a heavenly experience that made my day.

Jagannath Puri is a prominent place and being one of four dhaams it stands to be very significant one also. It was middle of May and we went for puri darshan. We reached the temple campus and were walking towards the main block. Huge rush was there, prasad was being prepared; big handis had mahaprasad in them and were carried by people. Just outside the temple they have a small channel which has water in it so that before stepping inside, your feet gets washed and then you enter the temple area where the three gods are there, Balbhadra, Subhadra and Jagannath. We entered and were moving towards the garbhagriha and I don’t know what happened, tears started coming out of my eyes. I was not crying intentionally but my eyes were full of tears and I was walking, before I had planned to ask so many things from god but when I caught a glimpse of the god’s idols I was staring them. Eyes full of tears were staring the idols and I did not ask anything. Heartbeat increased and I was sweating and crying, and came out. As soon as I came out I was thinking what happened, why was I crying? But I did not have any answer. Whatever it was, it was a very holy and divine experience. I was not regretting for not asking anything, in fact I was amazed for what had happened.

It is said that temples have cosmic energy because of their structure and god’s presence; they have something unique in them which pulls you towards them, that you are blindly attracted. Morning and evening aartis, dresses and shringaar of the idols is all very sacred. Evening aarti of Somnath, huge shivalinga, and all devotees standing in front and watching the aarti, morning aarti of Mahakaaleshwar, Ujjain the shringaar of shivalinga with ashes, those big eyes, the moustache, travelling at 3:00 AM in jeep through seven hills and going to Tirumala for Tirupati Balaji darshan, all bhajans were being played, people were chanting “Govinda, Govinda”, were all very saintly experiences.

Trip to gangtok and from there to Nathula pass, “India Tibet border” was another blissful journey. Going by jeep, we were around 10 people and we being kids were sitting backside, travelled to a height of 14,430 feet. It was fully covered of snow, everything was white there, we were many tourists standing there near the border fence, and in other side there were tibetian tourists, we shaked hands. But police was very strict there, we were not allowed to take pictures, another point was there which was at a little lower level, there we were allowed to play and take snaps, everyone came there, and we all started playing with snow and took lot many pictures. It was -3 degree centigrade at 12 in the afternoon in the month of may, chilling cold, but we took out our sweaters and jackets and took pictures and enjoyed weather and nature’s scenic beauty.

Nature’s splendor is absolutely stunning and whimsical, continuous rains of Cherrapunji, view of waterfalls, sound of flowing water, boating through deep water in Bhedaghat in between the innumerable different coloured marble and granite rocks, waterfalls of Panchmarhi, the huge rock stuck between two mountains of Jatashankar, sunrise view in Darjeeling, the peace of Vishwashanti Stupa in Rajgirh, the remains in Nalanda university, water of Prayaag (Allahabad) where three rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Sarawati merge into each other, the ghats of banaras, the aarti of haridwar, the valleys of Ranikhet and Gangtok, the forts, the palaces, the temples, the Gods, the rituals, the festivals, the beaches, the mountains, the rivers, each and every view was mesmerizing. 

I wish I could visit all these places again in my life. 

A Week of Vacation

Logged to facebook, twitter and netlog after a long gap of 7 days. For many, this much gap is not long but for me who is sort of addicted to social networking, a break of 7 days is quiet a long one. Its nice to login and find something new and fresh.

Travelled by road, having awesome food prepared by mom and meeting all my relatives after years was a memorable experience. Looking forward to be in touch with them all throughout my life.

We feel tired and lazy to give a call and talk but when you take the step forward and do something to share moments of your life with them, you feel good and great.