My Brother's Visit

                                                                                   In CP near Park Hotel

                                                                    Ready for Rafting at Manali

                                                                               To and fro by Kingfisher

                                                       Travelling to Agra from NewDelhi by Bus

                                                         In the Toy train from Shimla to Kalka

KATU'S VISIT :
          Katu, (KIRTI RANJAN PRADHAN)   my youngest brother visited Delhi and its adjoining areas on a Raja Festival break from 12th to 18th of June 2011. He,alongwth six of his friends arrived  by Kingfisher Flight from Bhubaneswar on Sunday, the 12th June at 11 am. As expected, I was waiting to receive my youngest brother to make their journey comfortable and easy.
Although he visited Delhi before quite many times for business purposes, this was his pleasure trip. He alongwith his friends wanted to see places, where they could find ice to chill around ! The one thing that always struck me was to send them to Manali, from where they could go to Rohtang Pass where there is ice / snow the whole year around ! I had booked 7 seats in advance with a tourist bus for their travel to Manali from a travel agent in Scindia House at Connaught Place. 
      As the bus for Manali was supposed to leave from Majnu Ka Tila, near the petrol pump opposite the Gurudwara there, we had plenty of time. All the boys were very hungry as there was no free food in the Kingfisher  flight supplied during their travel from Bhubaneswar to Delhi! Kingfisher normally provides free foood during the flight.
However , we all had some light snaks from the IAAI canteen and started our journey by the AC buses of DTC that starts from IGIA. We headed straight to Odisha Bhavan for lunch. Had a hearty non-vegetarian lunch of meat and Odia dishes ! Everyone was happy with the meal's quality and quantity. It was nice !
After resting for a while in the Odisha Nivas Lobby , we all moved to Janpath Market, to do any light shopping for the travel.  After a while , we proceeded to Majnu Ka Tila for the tourist bus to reserve our seats for the travel to Manali .
The place around Majnu Ka Tila was very unclean and filthy. Never saw that before, even in my 26 years of stay in Delhi. Heard of it ,but never ventured to the place  before ! The local contact person seemed to be a broker, who arranged unreserved seats in buses travelling to Manali! I was bit disturbed as the people travelling were very new to the psyche of these people and persons travelling with them, in the bus ! However since all of them were well built and all male , I was assured of their safe travel. I asked them to be extra cautious especially  with their money, wallets and mobile phones. Each of them, carried around 3 mobiles (the latest gadgets) ! The bus started at around 6:15  pm for the travel to Manali. The 2/2
bus was full to its capacity. I bid them good bye for their happy journey to Manali. After seeing them off to Manali, I  moved to my office, for my night shift duty. As expected I was very worried about their travel in the NON-AC bus as the AC buses were not available at that point of time, and the journey was of almost of 14 hours !
I tried to call my brother Katu , many times in between 8am -10 am ,the next day, but did not get thru because of poor signals in the mobile network ! At around 11 am Katu called me up . He was very upset with the travel in the bus that was very uncomfortable as they were seated in the back row with very less of space in between the seats. I could empathize with his experience as it was more than a 13 hours of journey! However  as he said  they got into a hotel to stay for the day at Rs. 1600 per day that they paid for  4 beds, I was relieved as I felt,  it would give them some proper rest to relax. However at 4:30 pm he again phoned to say if there was anything else, to see except for Rohtang Pass as it was blocked, due to heavy traffic and road repair-works . He preferred to go to Dharamshala instead of visiting places in Manali. I suggested him to visit Shimla instead  as its a better city as the capital of Himachal Pradesh with Toy train to Kalka for his return journey to New Delhi thru Chandigarh ! Asked  him to see places around Kullu like Manikaran temple or some historical places along with the Hots pring there! They were so tired, that they slept the whole day. In the evening they went around the town to visit some nearby temples and market. I asked him to hire a Tourist car to visit Manikaran and some other place alongwith his friends and book a luxury bus to Shimla from Manali that would be comfortable. They hired a tourist cab for the next day and went to Manikaran in Kullu alongwith their belongings . They visited some temples on the way to Manikaran and took bathe in the hot spring at Manikaran. Then, they took  a deluxe bus from Kullu for Shimla . As the bus was supposed to reach Shimla early in the morning, it was a very comfortable idea for them to see Shimla, during the day and return to Delhi by toy -train from Shimla to Kalka and then to Delhi by train from Kalka. However in the middle of the night it rained very heavily on their way to Shimla.The temperature fell to a very low level and it became very chilly outside. With the mountains and forests drenched heavily due to rain, it became a pathetic sight for visitors to venture out for tour.They planned against going anywhere and preferred to rest and freshen- up. It is very unfortunate, that the local businessmen and people around the market exploit the tourists very often,  for money. I had told my brother before to be cautious about handling these people on money matters. A small asbestos house charged 700 Rupees for six hours (From 6am to 12pm) for them to wash and freshen  themselves. Anyway, they lost all interest to travel around Shimla and planned to start their journey to Delhi as I had asked them to reach as early as possible to go for Agra, Mathura and Vrindavan on the next morning that is Thursday by 6 am. As one can not visit Taj Mahal on Friday on which it is closed , they headed for Delhi as soon as they could! They took the toy train at around 9:15 am from Shimla to Kalka. Its a very beautiful journey in the toy train as one travels through tunnels, jungles, mountains and  streams. The train moves very slowly and the scenery is very majestic and serene ! I was in constant touch with my brother Katu through mobile phone. They were at least happy to travel by the toy train that had a grand view of Shimla and Solan on its way to Kalka.  They reached Kalka by 4:30 pm and took another train "Himalayan Queen" as soon as possible for Delhi Sarai Rohilla , as it was to start its journey by 4:50 pm. The train reaches Delhi by 10:40 pm.                  
                       As they were supposed to leave for Agra, early the next morning, I had arranged a hotel for their stay near New Delhi railway station at Paharganj. The Hotel was a familiar one and provided friendly comfort. As the train was nearing to reach Delhi, I went to the railway station to receive them and get them to the hotel I had booked for them. I got in touch with my brother and came to know that it was right on time that is it was expected to reach by 10: 40 pm. A few minutes later, I received a call from Tubula , a friend and relative of Katu who happens to stay in Mancheswar , asking if everything was ready for their comfortable stay in Paharganj Hotel ! I informed him about the arrangement and asked him if they needed anything more to which he replied " If a bottle of Old Monk , Gold Reserve can be arranged, it will be great" ! I said yes and went to fetch one, in the near by area as I had around 15 minutes before the wine shops closed at 10pm. There I could not get the brand he asked and asked him again if any other brand can be OK. He asked for "Royal Stag"  which was available and so, I bought one ! The train reached in time and so we left for the hotel after buying some food for dinner from a nearby Dhaba
I left for my home after leaving them at the hotel and having a patiala peg of "Royal Stag" with soda.I asked the Hotel Manager to wake them all, by 5 am as they were supposed to leave for Agra on the next morning. I reached my home at 1 am by metro . At around 5 am I called the Hotel Manager to wake the group up to get them ready for their going to Agra. The manager said he had already sent the hotel boy to wake the group up. I got in touch with my brother at 8am , the time at which they were on the way to Agra. I was happy that they were happy with the arrangement for the Agra travel. I kept in touch with the group and their movements through the mobile phone. As they were expected to reach the Hotel by around 3:30 am, I kept some bottles of Chilled Beer (Hawards 5000) in the Fridge for their refreshment and ordered dinner to be served at 3 am.(Rice and Dalma alongwith Salads). At around 3 :15am  while a bit awake after coming from the loo, I was a bit thoughtful about their trip . At 3:45 am, I got a call from Tubula who was worried and a bit disturbed as one of thir group members had left his purse in the tourist bus which contained his ATM card , DL and 150 rupees in cash.They were very worried about the ATM card as it had a good amount of money in the account. As I was about to sleep again after coming from the loo, I got up to check the travel agent head's name and mobile number. He got in touch with the Travel agent who asked him to visit the bus shed where the bus was kept and contact the conductor and the cleaner of the bus. Fortunately, he got back the purse in the mornining from the bus. As a token of gratitude, he paid 100 rupees to the conductor.
As they were totally exhausted after their visit to Agra, I asked them all to rest enough till 12 :15 pm. I met them at 12:30 pm in their hotel to take them for some shopping around SN Market, Janpath  and Karol Bagh. They shopped till 8pm after which we planned to visit Andhra Bhavan for Dinner and then to India Gate to stroll around. We came back to Hotel by 12 am . Then I left for my home, promising to return by next morning around 9am for the last day of shopping and Delhi sight seeing as they were supposed to leave for Bhubaneswar in Kingfisher flight at 7 PM.
The next morning when I reached their hotel, they were ready. We had  South Indian  breakfast of Upma, Idli, Vada and South Indian meal for Tubula  in Paharganj. We carried the luggage in the two tourist AC cars that we hired for tourism and shopping purpose alongwith dropping them at the IGI Airport. We first visited Akshardham temple and then headed for Jagannath temple for Lunch as my brother does not take garlic or onion made foods on Saturday. All others were also interested in visiting the Jagannath temple at HauzKhas. We reached the temple at 1:15 pm , had lunch and moved to Lajpat Nagar Market for shopping. They all shopped till it was 3:30 pm!  I was very worried as I felt we might miss, some of the places planned for their visit. We headed towards the Lotus temple in Kalkaji  then.  After spending 10 minutes there , we moved to Qutub Minar. As there was not much time left, we saw it from outside and left for the IGI Airport .By the time, we reached the airport it was already 6 PM.  I asked them to enter and collect boarding passes as soon as possible, to avoid missing the flight . I felt relieved after seeing them off at the airport , while getting back an unused "Royal Stag"  bottle, that was almost full which we bought the night before.  I went straight to Ramanath Nayak's  house in Malviya Nagar to celebrate for my brother's  pleasant visit.  We had our drinks and dinner there , when  I received a phone call from my brother saying he reached Bhubaneswar at 9pm safely and in time.  It was raining very  heavily then  in Bhubanswar . However from there , they headed for a marriage party at Adaspur in Cuttack  before reaching home at 1:30 am.
A pleasant  and a memorable trip , for me too.  Hope all of them, enjoyed their trip.

                                                 At Jagannath Temple in  Hauz Khas , New Delhi

                                                                           Tanga ride around Taj Mahal, Agra

                                                                         At Jagannath Temple in  Hauz Khas,  New Delhi.

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friends meet

It was a pleasure to meet childhood classmates from Sainik School , Bhubaneswar who joined in 1976 for  admission to Class VI. As usual, the discussion over life and times spent so far, started with drinks and dinner and with some pleasant talks and promises to meet, as often as possible ! It was great and fun too !

Shiv Ratri.

                  
                                     

                          Swami Muktananda

Shiva Ratri is a festival, that I eagerly wait  to celebrate through fasts and Chanting " OM NAMAH  Shivaya " through the night-over.  It is on this day , that I try to find a place where I could meditate and chant the names of Mahadev "Lord Shiva." Sometimes I try to visit Rishikesh , one of the abodes of Lord Shiva. There are beautiful ashrams there, like Swami Rama's Ashram that is run by Swami Veda Bharati (www. bindu.org).  In Delhi , I love to meditate and chant at Sri Muktananda Ashrams where the chanting is one of the bests of Ashrams practices in India . This Ashram was  referred to me, by my friend Geetu who is very aware of its presence, in the world over. The Ashram at Ganeshpuri in Maharashtra is awesome ! I also read some books by American authors who praise the practices and miracles that are achieved by its practitioners. I have seen and experienced it,  myself ! The chanting is so unique and engaging , that one feels and goes into trance very easily ! The rhythm of the breathing and thoughts and chants get in  sync so fast ! Its very unique !
This time, it was celebrated in the Green Fields School at Safdarjung  Enclave in South Delhi. There was chanting and Puja throughout the night. The puja and chanting continued till 6 am , the next  morning.   Before the pujas and chanting were over , there was a little of showering of rain outside. A sign,  that the lord had arrived, pleased  and blessed his devotees ! Felt very refreshed and blessed after the night long chanting and Puja !
       Earlier in the day, visited some Shiva temples around Lodhi  Road and prayed. Also,  attended a Sufi Qawali at IHC with a Russian friend of mine Maria, whom I met after a gap of almost three years (She came to visit Pilot Baba in the Himalayas for a translation work on his life) . Quite interesting to attend the program that was very lively and rhythmic with the crowd's choice!.

Social Networking !

Social Networking !

         I watched the movie "Social Network " at the American Centre on Monday the 28th of Feb 2011 in the evening  along with my friend Rajesh . Quite a nice one.
      Its like part of my life in networking where one meets new people on the move. One shares his ideas and thoughts over drinks or discussions in the program. As usual, the program  started with soft drinks and popcorn that is provided to the guests who are invited to attend the screening.
         The movie is based on the book  " Accidental Billionaires " that has the story of the founder of "FACEBOOK" who is the youngest billionaire of the world now ! Quite well edited and presented !

 

Satsang and "Peepli Live"..

           
       
         It was an eventful week as always (from 14th to 21st Feb 2011) ... But the new thing about it was that , my eldest maternal uncle came from Bhubaneswar to attend a Satsang in Chhattarpur in New Delhi along with his 3 sons  (A son as a  deputy Collector in Bhubaneswar , another an Engineer at  Talcher in Orissa , the third an IT professional working for TCS in Bangalore) and two daughters alongwith their children on 16th Feb2011. It was nice to see my cousins after almost 25 years by now . It was normal for me to receive them from the Delhi airport . I visited them at the Satsang in Chhattarpur, where they came to attend the Discourses with their association members from  all over India (Swami Nigamananda Saraswati Saswat Sangha ). Almost 5,000 (Five thousand) people gathered at the meet at Markendaya Mandap in the Chhattarpur AdyaKatayayani temple Complex. It was nice to see so many people at one place chanting and praying for their Guru in harmony. They all looked at peace with themselves and the world around them.
My maternal uncle and his family  left for Bhubaneswar on 21st  Feb 2011 by the evening flight . They also toured  Delhi, Agra, Mathura and Brindaban after their Satsang Program that ended on 19th night . It was nice to be with them and seeing the changes in them.
                 

                        On Wednesday last, that is on 23rd Feb 2011, I attended a book launch program (India Calling )at the American Centre, New Delhi . The program was followed by wine and Cheese. I had three glasses of white wine. There, I met one of my friend , a Bio- tech Scientist by the name , Anand Verma , who did his Ph.D from JNU and later a post doc at USA for a good five years . I had good memories of him in Teflas at JNU. We both then headed for a buffet non-veg Dinner at IGNCA as Guests where Mahabharat festival of plays, was on (Feb 10- March 10, 2011)...

         I had also visited India International Centre on Tuesday ie on 22nd Feb 2011, for an art exhibition opening on Leh along with my two beautiful lady friends . The same evening I attended the movie " Peepli Live " at India Habitat Centre along with its Directors who were available for answering Questions from the audience...I liked the movie and its portrayal of Indian society at large.. It's a very good movie that exposes the media and the politicians that spoil India with their attitude and silly actions. Very real portrayal of Aam India and its people who are always taken for a ride by these cunning creatures in many forms and avatars!********

The Majestic Hills

Dharamshala:

I visited Dharamshala last week for a change from 29th November 2010 to 3rd December 2010.I wanted to visit this place last month in October as a leisure time activity but had to abandon it, due to the sad demise of my mother. However the feeling of the loss of my mother , restlessness and some sense of wandering without any aim or ambition for the moment, led me towards Dharamshala. I wanted some kind of divine intervention to convince or console me for the untimely loss. Dharamshala as I know, is a place for spiritual quest, solace ,supported by the nature with its majestic hills along with the beauty of nature through streams, orchards, scenery ......
The thought of pleasure along with my friends around Pathankot, Dharamshala, Shimla, Kullu and Manali as planned before for October's first week  had already vanished after the loss of my mother. Still, I wanted the abode of the lords to show some miracles that could guide me or convince me, of my way ahead. With less workload and the loss suffered , I wanted to get rid of my depressions by going out, to some far-off place where I could concentrate through meditation or prayers. As Dharamshala was in my mind and I had some western friends who were living there due to a similar reason or the other, whom I wanted visit sometime, I headed for Dharamshala...
As I had the details of my plan outlay before, it was easy to move ahead. I left for Pathankot on 29th by Dhauladhar Express from Delhi Station that leaves at 10:20PM and reaches Pathankot by 7:30 in the next morning. I reached Pathankot by 8 AM. I decided to move ahead alone, to Dharamshala, as against meeting my senior (A Brigadier in the Indian Army stationed in Pathankot) who invited me to meet him before I left for Dharamsala. As I wanted to keep the visit a low key affair due to the tragic incident of my mother's death, I proceeded alone..
The toy-train with 6 bogies with a capacity of around 250 seats left for Chamunda at 10 am which I wanted to visit first, to pray at the Chamunda Devi temple, during the trip from Pathankot's narrow gauge lane. The train goes till Joginder nagar which is only 55 Kilometers from Kullu but gives a beautiful scenic-view of the Snowcapped Mountains, valleys, Rivers and Fruit Orchards of Himachal Pradesh, as it moves along very slowly on the mountain tracks! The journey was very pleasant with local people, who shared the journey along the route as they moved from one place to another. The locals are very gentle and well mannered as compared to the most of typically rude, arrogant and unpleasant north Indians ! There were also students who moved from one place to another in groups to their colleges. The journey to Chamunda Station took 6 hours from Pathankot which is only a two and a half hours journey by bus but one can not enjoy the scenery as much by bus. I reached Chamunda at 4pm. As advised by a fellow passenger to spend the night in the temple, to have the blessings of Chamunda Devi , I decided against getting down near the Atithi Hotel as per my plans which I had booked. I took a bus from the main road that goes to Dharamshala from Chamunda station and got down in front of the temple of Chamunda Devi...
I took a room on the ground floor for free, that is run by the temple authorities who provided me with 4 blankets to beat the cold conditions there. I was surprised if I wanted those four blankets for the night, as I had carried one blanket along with a bed sheet with me ! The caretaker convinced me, that if I wanted to stay alive for the next day, I should carry and keep them with me to save me from the bitter cold at night.
I visited and prayed the Goddess Chamunda in the temple that was very divine and traditionally, ritualistic...
In the evening I moved around the place , a very small area with a very few hotels alongwith the one, where I wanted to stay. I decided to shift to the hotel on the next day. I had my dinner in a Langar Hall run by the temple for free, where one can donate, if one likes afterwards..
I got back to my room by 8:30 PM as I wanted to sleep early to leave for Dharamshala's Mc Leodganj early in the next-morning that is a one and half hour journey from Chamuda for a distance of only around 16 KMS..
I planned to sleep on the floor with two blankets doubly folded as mattress and three above the body as cover. I wore my woolen-track suit, two sweaters along with the monkey cap.
The next day I got up at around 4am to walk around the temple and have tea. The temple opens at four in the morning and so is the tea shop. But it was pitch dark with chilling and biting cold. After having tea I came back to the room, when I came to know that the sun rises there, at around 7am. So, there was no where I could go in the dark and cold surroundings. By 8am ,I was ready to leave for McLeodganj in Dharamshala along with my luggage. I reached Mc Leodganj by 10:30 am and headed for Dalai Lama's place where my western friends were attending a three days programme of Dalai Lama's talks, tailor-made for Russian and Indonesian delegates who came in hundreds. So, there were around a thousand people when I reached the hall . I could not trace my friends as I was late and mobiles were not allowed inside. I waited till the lunch time to check them during the break-time. It ( talk) was open to every body. In lunch I had Momos ( bonn sized) and chutney along with Rice and curry that were provided for free to everyone present. But I could not trace my friends there. So, I moved out and planned to come back by 5 pm as I could not understand the Tibetan  language in which the Dalai Lama was speaking which was simultaneously interpreted into Russian, English and Chinese to the participants who carried FM radios with ear-phones. I came out to see the places around . It was like any other Hill Station, except for the fact that, there were more foreigners around! There were plenty of Wine shops, Restaurants and hotels . At places, there were stalls on the roads who were conducting AIDS-test for free and distributing free condoms, to passers by, as it was the PREVENT-AIDS-day, the 1st of December.
Somehow, I wanted to leave the place and head for the Golden temple at Amritsar which was my next destination point. So, instead of checking into the hotel I headed for Amritsar from Pathankot thru Chamunda and Kangra Valley. I rested for a while in Amritsar Railway Station.
In Amritsar , I visited the famous Golden temple and had the Langar food for lunch after having the darshan and Kadah Prasad.The place was too crowded although very well managed. But I feel, the Gurdwara at Bangla Sahib in New Delhi is much better in cleanliness and management. Golden Temple is huge in size and richness as it receives huge donations but the place and the city is over crowded with too much of air pollution, due to dust and smoke and over-population...
I came back to Delhi through Ambala and reached home at around 6 pm on 3rd of December 2010, exhausted, physically. It was a good experience although ill-timed.



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BHUBANESWAR." My Hometown".

Bhubaneswar, the capital of Orissa is a beautiful temple-city now. I grew up in Bhubaneswar. I have fond memories of Bhubaneswar as I spent my School days and College days there. Childhood friends from my Sainik School Days are the most dear ones, so far. So, its not an accident if we meet. The meetings are followed by discussing childhood moments spent together in the boarding school which are very nostalgic and at times very funny. Social Drinking is normally followed by meetings which is then followed by food giving us enough time to discuss our life as it passes by us. There are a lot of changes, that we see in each other's life as life goes by. Its beautiful to be young and surrounded by childhood friends who share their emotions with you as age, catches up. We, the boys now men, who joined Sainik School in 1976 met in Bhubaneswar on 17th July 2010. In an hours notice, we planned to meet in Hotel Crown at Nayapalli for a cocktail and Dinner.
It was very memorable, seeing many friends after a long time.