A lost Wednesday

Thought to jot it down before it disappears from my mind or I lose interest in that. 

One fine day of this week I was starting my day like any other day. The first thing I do in the morning is to manage my calendar and decline or propose a new time for all those meetings which I can not make. These are mostly meetings which are overlapping with other meetings. During this exercise, an important weekly meeting pops up. I wondered why this meeting appears today when it has to be on Thursday while today is Wednesday. Due to the importance of that meeting I prepare well at least a day in advance, it seems the creator of that meeting has preponed the meeting to Wednesday, “how I am going to prepare that?” The first thought came to mind. I have started thinking about my options to avoid that meeting or to remain silent and not interact much. 

While thinking about what to do I noticed that the calendar was showing that today is Thursday, not Wednesday. “How come?”, “how come it’s Thursday today when it should be a Wednesday”. Took a look on another computer and mobile too, all devices were showing Thursday. If it’s Thursday, what I was doing on Wednesday, I tried going back to Wednesday’s calendar and recalling what I was doing, but whatever was there was mostly identical to today’s or any other day’s calendar. I have started thinking about what I have done yesterday which can confirm that I have lived Wednesday but nothing came out.

Living in the same room for the past one and a half years and hardly going out, doing the same activity every day, had no vacation hardly any off-day, and was working on the same thing even on my off days was probably the reason why I have missed that Wednesday.

I have noticed that Facebook and google photos have shown a lot of my travel photos lately, and most were in the month of August. August is about to end and I hardly stepped out of my home, even room, I only go out of room for nature’s calls. My desk and my bed are the 2 places in my room where I work, eat, sleep, rest, talk to family, make phone calls to my father or brothers. I watch movies, videos, learn new things, process my photos, and whatnot in the same room. I am living the life of a voluntary prisoner happily, this is not who I am or ever was. After selling my car I have added one more reason to not go out.

I am a bit lucky that I have a job else I would have gone mad living these identical days of my life, but I should plan a trip or something very soon and break this monotonous life routine. Started thinking now…

2016 Memories

While surfing through old photos of 2016 I found a few photos worth posting. Being not able to go on excursions due to lockdown, exploring old memories is the best resort.

Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand

Sonipat

Prayag

Future of my Travel

As the car is gone now, I was thinking and exploring options to continue my travel. Family trips are definitely going to be difficult but solo will still be possible. 

Family trips will be limited and I may need to rent a car for a few days for that. 

For solo, buses and local transport will be the best option. I was unable to get a clearity if buses from Delhi to Spiti or Leh are still in operation. They were stopped due to the surge in Covid cases, not sure if they have started again, will explore again post monsoon as it’s not recommended to travel to these locations in rains. Regulations due to Covid are changing very frequently and each state has its own regulations, this is causing a lot of confusion. Tried calling bus stations a few times but the calls were unsuccessful. 

I prefer state government operated buses over private operators. Privately operated buses are congested, while state government buses are spacious, though they are not well maintained sometimes, but I can live with that. 

Traveling in buses will add additional experience to my travel. One thing which I need to plan is what exactly I want to carry. Travel light will be a good idea but those camera lenses, camera body and laptop are something which can not be ignored. Travelling to cold places will need extra clothing as well, while travelling in a car since the last few years made me forget what are the essentials I need to carry. It was just stuffing everything in the car and starting driving. 

Travelling in public transport will require a lot of background work and study, timing of buses, local transport or rented vehicle availability on destination should also be considered. Seems i need to think though and visualize everything end to end before i start anything, will do so. Will keep posting the progress as well. 

Posting few pics which I have captured back in 2015.

Jaisalmer, February 2015

Kufri, HP, January 2015

Kanatal, Uttarakhand July 2015

Adios to the car

After 8 years of service, finally said good bye to the car a couple to weeks back, drove that more than 170000 KMs mostly across north, west and central India and it has served me well. So many beautiful memories associated with it.

Covid Experience

It was the day of Holi when we have got the news that my elder brother-in-law passed away due to cardiac arrest, we have rushed to my hometown, Prayagraj. He was sick for some time but we were not expecting that it will turn so bad. The train was not an option I have decided to drive. This was about the time when the covid second wave started picking up. After reaching Allahabad came to know that 3 of my relatives from my parent’s side have already passed away in the gap of few days.

Few days after reaching to hometown, my father, elder brother, and I all fell sick, it was Typhoid as per pathology lab, but it had all the symptoms of Covid, we called a lab to send someone for sample collection but no one turned up, my entire neighborhood stared coughing in few days, luckily all recovered except 3 unlucky ones. All 3 people who died were living not more than 10 feet away from my house.

I was constantly in touch with my friends in Ghaziabad, the situation here was even worst. My building alone had at least 15 deaths in April and May. We were only getting news of the deaths of many close and far relatives, friends, and known people in these 2 months. At one point I have lost hope for my life.

With the grace of God, the covid is slowing down and life is again coming back to normal, but fear of Covid returning is there.

As we have rushed to my hometown unplanned, so could not carry much, just a few sets of clothing, a work laptop, and a mobile, and spend more than 2 months there, the longest since I have left my hometown back in 2002. All these photos were taken from my below-average phone Redmi 6 Pro.

A sadhu is seen at the bank of river Yamuna. Prayagraj

New branches and leaves growing from the cut trunk

An old mansion sighted in Civil Lines, Prayagraj

Brother Balkrishan and Dr. Sharad chilling between berry bushes in the alluvium of Prayagraj

My car condition after returning from alluvium

An air-cooler shop and owner in Katra, Prayagraj

Company (East India) Garden, later renamed as Chandra Shekhar Azad park

Ram-Janki Temple

A couple of temples at the edge of Prayagraj alluvium, approximately 1 KM from my home. It was visible from my home rooftop in my childhood. The entire stretch is now packed with houses.

Flowers on Cactus

An old building in new Katra, Prayagraj

Sangam, Prayagraj

Dr. Sharad on his morning walk

All Saints Cathedral, Allahabad (Prayagraj). A gothic style beautiful building in the Civil Lines area

Keoti Fort, Sirmaur MP

Monsoon and roasted corn, one of the fond memories of childhood

Tea after our morning walks

Ancient water purification

Relying mainly on rainwater for drinking, the people of Mandu have developed a very advanced water cleaning mechanism in the 15th century.

Water collected in Baolies was flown first in a small tank filled with limestone, then it passes through various small tanks filled with different materials like coal, fine sand, coarse sand, gravel, herbs, etc and then finally gets collected in a small solid tank, from where it then gets distributed to royalties for drinking.

Mandu, MP,

January 2021

Baoli in the backdrop and limestone tank in front, the first step of water purification

The second step of water purification with other materials

People at work

Earning honest money is important than not doing anything for living, all these people in the photos below have my utmost respect –

If you are Indore, visit Sarafa Market at night and try various street food over there and must try Flying Dahi-Vada of Joshi Ji,
Indore, MP,
January 2021

Samosas are mostly sold in the evening but preparation starts early morning.
Prayag, UP
January 2021

A footpath barbershop at Prayag, UP
January 2021

A shoemaker shop at Prayag, UP
January 2021

A cotton candy vendor at Sangam, Prayag
January 2021

A local musician sighted at Sangam, Prayag,
January 2021

A snacks seller at Sangam, Prayag,
January 2021

A tea seller filtering tea surrounded by customers.
Prayag,
January 2021

For me, it’s important to live a happy life with happy people rather than acquiring all the wealth in this world, I must not regret at the end that I did not live the life.

Religion

While driving an uninhibited stretch of MP we found a tea seller to our surprise. The place was so uninhibited that even a single mobile network was not there in that area. The milk used in the tea was so pure that we were able to get a flavor of herbs grazed by cattle.

The tea stall in uninhibited stretchbelief

While enjoying our tea, met a group of 4 men, coming all the way from Sagar, and were going to Allahabad (now Prayagraj) on foot for a holy dip in Ganga. They were using a bicycle to carry their belongings. A 400+ KM distance which they were planning to cover in 20 days by foot.

4 Men going to Prayag from Sagar by foot

Despite so much advancement in technology, religious belief in humans is still strong. Many religious philosophies are not relevant in today’s world or there is a great disconnect between how those were created and what they have become over time, but people are still so attached to them. After observing human life for so many years, I think we all are living identical life. A farmer is a farmer whether he is in an Indian village or Cambodia or England, and the same applies to the middle class doing 9 to 6 jobs. Though we say that we follow a particular religion but most of the time we don’t follow what is written in our religious books. This may be because those teachings do not fit in today’s world or too difficult to follow, but we still claim to belongs to a certain religion.

Thinking, do we need to update the religious texts as per today’s society or scientific advancements? if it is updated will it still be the same religion? Will we still follow the religion religiously after the update? Will the word religiously be still relevant?

Freedom Trip 2021

It’s like hormonal change starts to happen at the beginning of every winter, which triggers a natural urge to go on a road trip. This road trip is only limited to Madhya Pradesh so far. This year, due to the board exams of our kids, it was near impossible to maintain that tradition which we were following for the last 11 years. Thanks to the delays caused by lockdown exams were postponed and our trip plan switched on.

We have decided to touch an ancient but important city Mandu in MP and visit the nearby holy city of Ujjain. As it was a long trip from Allahabad, we took a halt at Vidisha while going and Sagar while returning back.

Our route was

Prayag (Allahabad) -> Vidisha -> Mandu -> Indore -> Ujjain -> Sagar -> Prayag  (Allahabad) (Dates 24-29 Jan 2021)

Due to fog on plains, we have decided to remain in Vindyachal while going and returning back, else we could have taken the national highway.

A couple sighted at Vidisha

Baoli: People of MP and many other parts of the country where groundwater is very low rely mainly on rainwater. Collecting and conserving is a practice being followed in these places for a long time.

A woman filling her bucket from water storage. Mandu

A tribal woman selling berries and carrying slingshot in Mandu, MP. She had tattoed face like many other tribes have a tradition of tattooing face.

The tree in this picture is known as the Baobab tree (Adansonia) also known as Khorasani Imli found only in Mandu within India. Other than India it can be only found in 3 other countries in the world including Madagascar where it is a national tree.

Baobab tree with ruins. Mandu

The state of MP is known for its low population density and this is what fascinates travelers. One can travel miles without seeing anyone or been seen, there is nothing other than nature around. Mostly based on the Vindhyachal plateau and have very rocky terrain. Not much suitable for growing crops, so mainly cattle farming being done here. If you are sick of chaos around you this is the place where you want to be. It has its own magic in every season.

Vindyachal range is a plateau, which predates the even Himalayas by a huge margin. Fossils of many prehistoric bacteria and even dinosaurs are found on this. Sunset Point, Mandu

Met a couple from Ujjain in Mandu, made friends :). Sunset Point, Mandu

My big bro BK, I like his royal look

Rani Roopmati Pavilion, Mandu

Baz Bahadur Palace, Mandu

Dr Sharad At Baz Bahadur Palace, Mandu

A soft drink stall near Rani Roopmati Pavilion, Mandu

A boy selling sugar-apple or sweetsop along with tamarind near Baz Bahadur Palace, Mandu

House of the head maid, Mandu MP (approx 1500 AD). They were so respected and got a high rank in society that kings use to provide them big houses and servent. Their main job was to groom kids of the royal family.

Mandu has a turbulent history, especially between 1300-1500. This is reflected in its architecture as well. Same buildings that were built with Hindu architecture been modified many times over the years. One needs to look closely to figure out layers of history in these buildings.

A Sadhu with a puppy sighted near Mahakaal temple at Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh.

A flower seller sighted at Sangam, Prayag

Rishikesh

This was the second trip of 2 consecutive trips, the earlier one was to Sariska.

The first was planned earlier and was planned with the family but at the last moment, the family pulls off, did a calculation, and found that a refund will be a great loss. So rather than canceling it decided to go with someone else, asked few friends and one of them agreed. Made few new friends there, they are of the same age group and same taste as me. It was a really amazing time staying within the jungle and spending time with like-minded people who love travel, food, and photography.

Few family friends had planned to go to Rishikesh, but the family was hesitant to ask as they have already canceled one trip. I took initiative and asked the kids if they want to go on this trip, they happily agreed. We did some quick checks and found the same hotel has few rooms, so we booked one for us. This is how our second trip happened. Posting a few photos of the trip.

Laxman Jhoola, Rishikesh

Rafting in Ganga

A young girl playing in the sand

Sunset over Ganga

Dusk at the bank of Ganga, Rishikesh

A bird found in Himalaya

A bird found in Himalaya

A bird found in Himalaya