Jaipur.....The Pink City

Jaipur – The Pink City

“Jaipur, the pink city was founded in 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, a Kachwaha Rajput, who ruled from 1699-1744. Initially his capital was Amber (city), which lies at a distance of 11 km from Jaipur. He felt the need of shifting his capital city with the increase in population and growing scarcity of water. Jaipur is the first planned city of India”. Source: Wikipedia

Another short and sweet trip to a beautiful city close to Delhi helped us polish our bargaining skills after long time (since there are hardly any markets left in Delhi where shokeepers indugle in it!)!! Jaipur is alovely and colorful city- but extremely chaotic in terms of the traffic and parking space. The City palace was nice – organised in different sections – on textile, armory, art gallery etc.

Jantar Mantar was a place we were hoping not to spend too much time – but we ended up enjoying it quite lot! We actually could tell the time in jaipur using the sun clock. It was great to see how advance was astronomy at that time.

Being in Jaipur on a weekend- that too on a valentine Day weekend…ooof……we went for dinner to Chokhi Dhani (http://www.chokhidhani.com) – an ethnic village resort near Jaipur. It was full of people - there was actually queue to enter!!! But a very place and great experience!!

Shopping was a wonderful experience – wat was interetsing that if you are lookingf or something specifc(which we were!!), every shopkeeper will say he has it and would want you to come in and settle and then show you something else…..and then in the end tell you that he does not really have the exact thing – but there is lot more that he can show!

The most exciting part (apart from shopping of course!) was the elephant ride to the Amer Fort - while it was not avery long ride- our elephant (Bobby) took his own sweet time and almost 15 other elephants crossed us by the time we reached the top. Midway, he startedmaking all kinds of noises and we were told that this is bacause he saw his "special friend" coming down and he could recognise her anywhere!

What was disturbing was how our heritage is being misued by govt for making money - most of you woudl have read about the wall collapse at the Amer Fort recently- duirng the shooting of a movie – “Veer”. Well, we saw the abondoned set made in the fort and remains of the wall that fell - its really sad to see how these people get permissions to tamper with historical sites. On top of it, once the wall collapsed, the High Court issues suo moto notice and the shootingw as stopped immediately – but the makers shifted the shooting to the City Palace – in the private portion of the palace.

All and all a wonderful trip!!!

A memorable trip to Amritsar!!!

Amritsar: The Lake of the Holy Nectar

Amritsar is home to the Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, the spiritual and cultural center of the Sikh religion. Amritsar is considered important and holy by hindus as well, as according to the greatest epic of Hinduism, this was a place where Sita, the wife of Lord Rama, gave birth to twins Lava and Kusha. The birth took place in the ashram of Valmiki rishi. Beside this Durgaina temple is also a very famous hindu temple. Amritsar is also known for the incidents of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre in 1919 under British Rule.

A short stint in UK with base in London has made me an expert on how to plan weekend trips and try and make maximum of the time one gets to see, absorb, shop and……(let others) EAT!!! I have been to Amritsar twice before the most recent visit – and on both these occasions I could only see the Golden temple, Jallianwala Bagh and Wagah Border – but only two of these in one trip,….….However, this time in the same time – we managed to cover all these three these places and one temple and SHOPPING and EATING at the most known restaurants of Amritsar!!! So all those who want to pack a lot in a weekend trip – now you know who to take travel advice from!!!:-)

The experience of watching the sunrise at the Golden Temple is not be missed – it’s so serene and beautiful that it makes you forget everything else. Though, the “weekend traffic” is something that can be avoided if you can take a mid-week break. The Jallianwala Bagh makes me wonder why we are not interested in taking care of our history and heritage – on one hand we boast of having a rich culture and history…...and on the other hand we let places like this be just another “park” – it’s very disappointing. Our politicians and administrative officers are perpetually on “foreign trips” to see and understand how things happen and work there- but somehow nothing gets implemented in our country.

The evening programme at Wagah Border looks like a Bollywood movie being shot – you have to see it to believe it! People on both sides of the border take their places much before the flag ceremony starts – there is loud patriotic music being played at both sides and slogans being shouted…the soldiers exuberating ‘josh’ on both sides – its fun and a must watch one time.

Shopping is great in Amritsar: amazing papads and lovely phulkari work on cloth!! Not be missed is the lovely amritsari food that we savored at all the recommended places – breakfast of poori cholle with lassi at Kanha Seets (Lawrence Road); lunch at Bharavan Da Dhaba – awesome vegetarian food at both places!

All in all – it was a great trip – 2 days spent in the company of a lovely people (including my dear husband :-)), great food, lovely places to see and shopppppiiiiinggggg!!!

Chasing daylight......The book that changed the way I look at life

This is not a review of the book as you can easily find hundreds of those on the internet - this is brief description of what I think about the book and the changes it brought in me.

I picked the book - "Chasing daylight- How my forthcoming death changed my life" from the book store I visit regularly without having read any reviews about it - and am I not glad that I got it. It is a wonderful book that has had a lasting impact on me, the way I look at life and my relationships. This book has been my favourite gift to people I love for the last two years :-). I read the book when I was realising the various sensitivies of different relationships and how relationships change with passage of time and changes in circumstances - which is probably why it made such a strong impressionon me. The most beautiful part of the book is towards the end - the way Kelly goes about unwinding each of his relationships.

There are several take aways of the book - but my take away was one - life is uncertain - you may not get another chance to tell your loved ones that they are special- so do it now :-)

‘It is our moral duty not to live upon our fellow animals’ - Mahatma Gandhi.

Visit the website of The International Vegetarian Union to know you want to know about vegetarianism - http://www.ivu.org/

Christmas time in London!!!

London

London is the capital and largest urban area of both England and the United Kingdom. Most websites and guide books give similar listing of things to do and see in London city - art galleries, museums, change of guards, traflgar square and royal parks. Yes, these are all lovely places and one must see these. However, London has a lot more in store for tourist - especially those who have a little on their hands after visitng the places listed above. One of the best ways to explore London city is to walk. The city is so beautiful and simple to navigate, that one would never got lost.

A walk in Camden is a must - for those who love to shop, the Camden market is a treat. A leisurely walk alongwith the Camden canal is so beautiful, that one does not wish to ever leave the place. Another amazing place is Primrose Hill - the hill has a clear view of Central London and once on top of the hill- it doesnt seem that city that you see if full of activity and buzz all around (The novies "Run fat boy run" was shot in this area extensively!).

If you happen to visit London close to Diwali time, you can experience how the entire community comes together to celebrate this festival. Diwali meals are organised thoughout London. The Neasden temple also organises a get together duirng this time. BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (Neasden temple) is the first traditional Hindu Mandir in Europe and their snack shop has all the Indian goodies including papri chaat!!!

If you happen to be in London during Christmas, a must not miss is the walk on Oxford street- on a particular day the street does not allow any vehicle- and everyone is on foot. Whole of London is beautifully decorated and if you are lucky, you can see the several Santas on bikes!!

So much for now..More on London will come - break ke baad!!!

Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.
~ Greg Anderson