It has begun.

I'm at the onset of a new journey. I'm scared but excited. I'm looking forward to what will happen in the next few months. But I get jitters when i think of what else it could have in store for me. Positive thinking is what i need. And Sac. 

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Travel underrated!

I remember the times when I've eagerly waited for the travel plans, conceived at least a month in advance and carefully checked and rechecked for possible flaws, gingerly move into reality. The exotic locales, shopping surprises, must see points, must eat –at joints.....everything so glorified. So much of time invested in keeping everything safe and perfect.  Not that I've not been on those "carefree-careless" trips. Have done few of those. But there has always been an element of preplanned comfort.

That afternoon when we set of one of our longest day journeys by train, I was apprehensive. One, cos the trip was short and decided on at the spurt of the moment. Two, we were to travel by a chair car on a 11 hour journey. Three, it is to a city I'm in awe of and am  terrified of at the same time. Mumbai.

As soon as we entered the compartment, a face hounded us "what are your seat numbers?". I wanted to tell him, “You are loud AND ur face is too big. And why the hell should I tell you our seat numbers”. I guess the unplanned trip is going to be difficult. But, the kind of person I am,I flashed him a half sweet smile and gave him our seat numbers. We were requested to sit on another pair of seats cos our seats were bang in middle of their 'family of 30 nos'. Okay! Moved. We happy. They happy.

 We eat the lunch on Shatabdi. They eat the lunch on  Shatabdi. We are done. So is the rest of the train I guess. They continue to eat. I see a man from that family make some Chaat.  And then the noise begins. All the mummies in the noisy gujju family of 30 ,get to fatten up their babies and hubbies. And then the well fed mummies, babies and hubbies decide to give it all and start the all time fav torture antakshari.

I was glad I had come armed with a book. A fat one. And earphones. While I secretly devised/plotted schemes involving waking up the sleeping gujjus with buckets of cold water if I ever got a chance, Shantaram-the book I'd wisely brought along, slowly took me in. And then the Konkan region we were travelling thru had me wishing I was driving thru it. I'd never known that this belt was this lovely. Perfectly green, dotted with lovely water- falls (that might even give a mighty complex to our local beauty dudhsagar falls) and the kind of riverside you only conjure up in your head if you've heard a story of it.

I wish i had taken more pictures along the way. But my creative part of the brain had gone to sleep with all the extra loud antakshari session.

The Indian railway on-rail catering team kept sweeping in with samosas, cutlets and soups even. I've eaten to keep busy/ sane/both, I know. :)

I knew that I cud do without the 30 odd voices digging my brains out my ears with all that singing. But, I also knew that it all added the character to this trip.

To top it all, the train was late by 2 hours over the scheduled arrival. I wonder if it was the revenge of all the Gujjus I’ve ever made fun of.

Cheers to shantaram, konkan coast, indian railways, gujjus who can't sing and Mumbai.

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Balanced meal.

This cow was caught on candid cam , eating it's version of balanced diet. :) . Cows from south are pretty brave that way i guess. They casually wander over to the highways. Today i found a calf blocking my way mid-traffic for a good 150 seconds. Some seem pretty content chewing their cud (whatever that is) while 20 trucks behind them will honk till doomsday. and the others will scamper in your direction the minute you decide to ignore them and take a different lane. What holy cow, we know we need them.

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Life across Dauladhars

I once came across a wallpaper that looked exactly like this. Mcleodganj or for that matter, the entire stretch around Himalayan valley are home to lovely Wild flowers. I caught a few on cam

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Top on my things to do before i die

This picture was clicked by Sachin in 2007 when he made a trip to Ladakh. And now i want to go. When i see the pictures that he's clicked of this heaven on earth, my heart begs me to pack my bags right away and land up there. Sachin are you listening?

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Eat,Pray,...and then some.

An unexpected trip to udupi( a town down in South Canara Dist, Karnataka), was a glimpse at how fast things are changing. Roads getting broadened, town becoming city(ish), big buildings/malls ruling the otherwise conservative cocoon....
Udupi is a hub of great cooks. Confirming that is the countless 'UDUPI HOTELS' all over India serving amazing dosas and idlis forever now. It also happens to be the home of the famous Udupi (Lord) krishna. With my Camera left behind, my mobile camera came into action. Shot a few pictures on the way to and the short rendezvous with the lil 'temple town of Udupi'.





The truck loaded train on the way.





Not there yet.

After feasting on some amazing lady fish and prawn ghee roast (my mouth still waters at the mere thought of it), we walked some distance to catch THE famous icecream parlor of Udupi, 'Diana'. We reached bang on the closing time. 5 mins to go. I wouldn't give up.




Called Gadbad which loosely translated means 'mix', accounts for a lot of slurps for most of my friends, local or otherwise. A meal in itself sometimes, i can manage this as a dessert.


After all the eating, it was time to see the beautiful little Krishna. Unexpectedly, the temple was the least crowded of all the times i've been there. No photographs inside. The peace and energy inside made me wish for a longer time to sit there. :( .







The wooden room divider caught my eye and i was already planning ways of getting it done. Great piece for sure.

I need to go armed with a better camera to do justice to the beautiful little (big) town

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Happy Place

When you're lost in sorrow,
when you're just content with life,
when you need to thank someone,
when you want to argue with yourself,
when you need to cry aloud,
when you need to wipe someone's tears,
when you're in need of a hug,
when you have to celebrate,

You look for that special place for yourself.

I wish mine would look like this.

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Pathway to god knows where.

Half a mile into the forest, i chickened out. I din want the leopard prediction to come true.

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Interesting looking Mushrooms.

PS: We found out later that they were poisonous.

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The dawn of the cobweb. (Fancy title) :)

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A trip worth it.

We left Shirdi and started towards Mahabaleshwar. The plan was to reach before dark. The fogs of Mahabaleshwar are notorious. And the rains wouldn’t help we knew. Apart from a small round apricot shopping on the way and a tiny confusion in Pune, we were on schedule. I was going to this beautiful town for the first time. So was eager to get there sooner. The fogs beat us to it. The drive up was nice. Everybody somehow seemed quieter. Intermittent rains accompanied us all the way up. The highway was buzzing. Not uncommon. Mahabaleshwar is the favorite of all the IT clan from Pune and Mumbai. No worries about accommodation though. Our cottages were already booked. Only one thing was eating us –how to get there? The place we’d booked our cottages was nearly 2kms away from the main town. The roads were super foggy and few people in sight. We finally got there, thanks to GPS and a kind soul who put us on track. We were told we were reserved 2 beautiful cottages. But the only problem is they were at the far end (That’s cos we got there last). We din mind initially. But once Parag and Anup (my husband’s 2 good friends) got the feel of how deserted the cottages looked and the forest looming behind it, did not waste a minute to start about leopards being a menace in this part of the country. And obviously the Ghost stories weren’t too far behind. After a quick dinner, we settled down for some high scale chatting. Believe me I laughed like there was no tomorrow. My belly hurt for almost an hour into sleep. Those are the times you treasure. I can’t remember when we fell asleep. We set out for a walk when we woke up. And there in front of me was the name of the Cottage. (I missed it in the dark the previous night). “Krishna Cottage” the stone outside said. My heart skipped a beat literally. If it doesn’t strike a bell, let me tell you more. Krishna Cottage is the name of a Indian movie. A horror movie to be precise. I knew the night that followed would be difficult now that I carried this knowledge. I’m not particularly afraid of ghosts. It was the two pranksters I was worried about.

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