Sunday, January 31, 2010

Junior Woodchucks Guidebook: Delhi :)

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There are five exits from Delhi for a traveler as numbered from 1 to 5 in the map below. The number in bracket in the writeup indicates minimum time for which one should plan for these places.


Route 1. There are two hot spots on this route - Chandigarh and Pathankot. Chandigarh is base to Shimla (2), Chhail (2), Kullu Manali (3) and Lahaul Spiti (5). Pathankot is base to Kangra (2), Dalhousie (2) and McLeodganj-Dharamshala (2). One can also go to Jammu (2) and through there to Srinagar (4) from Pathankot. Amritsar (2) is also within a 100 miles of this spot.

Route 2. This one goes to Haridwar. From here it basically splits into two - one goes to Mussoorie (2) and the other goes to Rishikesh (2). Rishikesh is another hot spot. It is a base to a plethora of religious places like - Badrinath (4), Hemkund (4), Kedarnath (3), Yamunotri (3), Gangotri (3). The ones that attract tourists the most are Valley of Flower (5), Auli (4) and Chopta (3).

Route 3. This one is another treasure path and opens up at Nainital (2) which is a hot spot. Most of the natural beauties of Uttarakhand are accessible through this place including - Mukteshwar (3), Bageshwar (3), Pithoragarh (4), Binsar (3) and Ranikhet (3). There is one diversion on route 3 that takes us to Ramnagar which is the halting station for the giant Corbett Wildlife Reserve (2).

Route 4. This one goes directly to Mathura (1), Agra (1) and Fatehpur Sikri (1). Undisputedly, this route accounts for more foreigners than rest four added.

Route 5. This one goes to Jaipur (2) which is another hot spot. From here one can go for Chittorgarh (3), Ajmer (2), Jodhpur (3), Bikaner (3) and Jaisalmer (4).

Thursday, January 28, 2010

वाह वाह...

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वक़्त-ए-रुखसत-ए-अलविदा
का लफ्ज़ कहने के लिए
वो तेरे सूखे लबों का
थरथराना याद है ...
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Saturday, January 23, 2010

ग़ालिब कहते हैं...

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सब कुछ हो रहा है इस तरक्की के ज़माने में
मगर ये क्या गज़ब है के आदमी इन्सां नहीं होता

या तो दीवाना हँसे या तू जिसे तौफीक दे
वरना इस ज़माने में रह कर मुस्करा सकता है कौन?

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

a case of compulsion

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Rambo (our behated conb prof) was just warming up for his breathless act (one and a half hour of non-stop blabbering) when a student asked him what exactly is the difference between compulsive and impulsive buying. He promptly replied that both are the same. Now these are one of those few moments when I allowed my mind to do that extra bit of exercise to find out if what he was saying was correct (or an impulsive reply :)

So I impulsively drew out my mobile and compulsively searched for the definitions on internet. Compulsion is urge or addiction to behave in a particular way. Impulsion is reacting to a situation without considering the consequences. What is the difference?

Lets say I am a compulsive traveler. But am I impulsive about it? No. I plan ... which means that compulsion takes time to build up while an impulse is rather for an instant after which it may die out. Looks like Rambo was finally wrong about something!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

let the next page be fun

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The world is a book and there is no point staying on one page for a long time. So the next page is Hampi ! What should I expect from Hampi ? On second thought maybe I should not expect anything . Expectations are the worse kind of spoilers. Well actually thats when we expect a lot and don't end up with that much. But why do we expect a lot? Is it a basic human tendency? Or does it vary with people? If it does vary with people I am very much sure those who expect less are a much happier lot. So is expecting such a bad thing?

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Hebbe Falls

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5.30 AM. Room 312 @ Hotel Soundarya. Chikmagalur. Ashutosh is up and ready. Sumeet is making a 'hangover face'. I am also trying to get some sense out of the morning rush. We get down from the hotel and sit on a jeep. Its cold. Our immediate destination is Kemmengundi. Somebody told us yesterday that Hebbe Falls is one thing we should not miss and so we, who don't get up on time for a 10 AM class, are moving briskly through a treacherous forest at 6 AM to check out this place. The sun is visible now.

9 AM. Kemmengundi. We should have been at the fall by now. The roads are tricky and our stomach is empty. We halt at a roadside dhaba. Vivek pounds on the lemon rice served. I am drinking my third cup of tea. The sun is warm. The wind is chilling. The tea is hot. Some moments are priceless.

10 AM. Hebbe Falls. Almost. Last few minutes were 'nail-biting' to say the least. The jeep took us through a hill road which was more of a thin trail. No doubt the view on both sides was panoramic. Still someone should have advised us to check all our insurance papers before we started. Now we are standing at a barrier. Thick tropical kind of forest confront us. We are supposed to trek half a mile through this forest and walk through few streams. Big deal.

11 AM. Hebbe Falls. Finally. Am I dreaming? It is huge. The sun is shedding light at an angle which is making it difficult to estimate the height of this fall. It is more than 100 meters definitely (169 meters actually). We are ready to take the plunge. The sprinkles of waters are giving me goosebumps. Its lush green around. Cold wind is gushing in with the water. A permanent rainbow is visible.