ON The Road Again - Cultural Back-pack trip

Day 1- Ticket to ride- Sunday- 18 Feb 07

I am still recovering from my road trip to Rajasthan, Gujarat and the day trip to Agra at my halt in Delhi, i finally wake up do some research and figure out a basic plan for my cultural extravaganza back-pack trip. Lucknow- Varanasi- Ayodhya- Allahabad-. I figured out that this was a circle so i could begin my trip from any location. My best bet was the Shatabdi to Lucknow but that was full too. I checked more than 30 trains on the internet going to Varansi, Ayodhya and Lucknow that night and can u belive it all were wait listed so i couldnt make a reservation online.

After a quick lunch at mall, and rushing the maid to iron my wet clothes i pack my stuff in a back-pack and leave in the radio taxi to New Delhi station. Radio Taxis are newly introduced in Delhi, they come within half hour of calling and charge 15rs per km its a electronic meter.

As i drive through Delhi, i admire the wide roads and the monuments, i pass by, i also love the feeling of not knowing which destination i am headed to as its completely dependant on the ticket i get. When i got of at New Delhi station at Ajmeri Gate- Ticket booking counter its about 4:30p.m and i am just amazed to see the huge lines in every window. No one knows anything, there is total chaos, i stand in a ladies line just to find out i cant get tickets in sleeper class or AC from this line. I move to another window, shatabi and rajdhani counter, the guy tells me all sold out, he advices me to just get into Rajdhani train standing on platrom 12 going to Mughal Serai and then ask the tC to make me a ticket. I think its a crazy idea coz it would reach Mughal Serai at 2 in the night and i would have to wait at the station and then take a bus or smthg to Varanasi. Anyways for the heck of it i enquire with the TC standing next to the train, he tells me its possible for 2500rs.

I go to Paharaganj ticket counter , which is again very crowded,i move from one line to other with no sucess, i also speak to a tout who is ready to give me a ticket in Shivganga Express for 1500rs, thats again a risky propostion both costwise and realiability wise. I finally get to something which seems like a right counter, i request the guy to give me a ticket to any destination varanasi, Allahabad or Lucknow, he laughs at me and tells me Magadh is full and for lucknow Mail i can try at 8pm,its full right now, i ask him to check for other trains, he asks me for train names, i dont remember them now, i remember my navigator friend at this time

In the middle of all these chaos i end up meeting two students from Banaras university, they are going back to banaras, they have one extra female ticket to magadh in sleeper class, i offer to buy it from them. They explain to me that the ticket is complicated, it belongs to a friend of theirs and has diffrent names and it cannot be canceled due to tatkal and if the TC is not ready to change names, so they advise me to buy a local ticket to Mughal Serai and then later adjust in the train. Later the two boys keep arguing about something in Bengali, i think its a better idea to part ways with them and figure out my own thing.

I enquire with a couple of TCs and they tell me that i can easily get in to the General compartment of Ladies in Magadh express. I didnt know wearing toe rings easily qualified one to be called as married women. As i chatted with the TC, he obivously was curious to know who i am and immediately told me that i was married and he guessed that by looking at my toe rings as in UP its a custom that only married women wear toe rings. Well i didnt say anything and will use this to my advantage as far as possible.

I wait at the platform, the train is late by two hours and all the platforms are crowded with humanbeings, there are numerous announcments of trains going to allabahad. Lucknow, Varanasi. I just wonder where do so many people go and come in UP. Inspite of having over 30 trains across 3 destinations you cant get a reservation in any class.

Finally the train arrives at 9:50 p.m and honestly looking at the crowd on that platform, i just thought i would have to go back home that night, but somehow i managed to get in and that two a window seat.In no time i had children and mothers sitting and then later sleeping in every inch of place around. Some Men managed to climb in to this compartment. For some reason the ride didnt seem to long and at about 8oclock i was at Alahabad station


Day 2 - Alhabad & Varanasi
One very good rickshaw guy leaves me to Sangam. The area from where i need to take the boat ride to watch the Triveni Sangam. The chacha warns me not to pay too much to the boat guy and comes all the way with me, inspite me asking him not to come. i like the way he calls me betiya,its sounds very sweet

I negotiate the price and for 300 bucks i take a boat ride from Jamuna river upto the Triveni Sangam. Its beautiful in the morning, so calm and peaceful, the river seems to be still wrapped in the winter fog. The triveni sangam is a mixture of three dharas(rivers) Jamuna which is green in colour,Saraswati which is yellow in colour and Ganga which is white in colour.

The boat rider is informative and he shows me the places around. The ride from Sangam Ghat to Triveni Sangam is beautiful, with ducks and flamingos for company. First he tells me about why the place is called Prayag, apparantely the fort which Akbar had built on the banks of the jamuna always kept falling down, he had a dream that if he sacrificed the Prayag Maharaj a wellknown priest and two elephants, it would stop from falling. RIght here on the banks of this river he was sacrificed and the fort stoppped from following. There is also an outlet from the fort where Akbar wife Jodhabhai would come for a dip in the river.

As we go further,my boat rider insists i do the three cocunut sacrifice in the water, i tell him, i am not too keen on doing it as it pollutes the water, but before i could say anything a pujari with a boats come closer and he gives me the coconut,he makes me say a couple of prayers and i give him some 20 -30 ruppes. I am very angry with him and boat rider when they try to force me to do a 10 kg bhog to ganga which would cost somthing 600 rs. I guess i have just got alert with the touts around.
I walk through the city of Allahabad, its much more alive now. The architechture of some of the temples here have a lot of Islamic influence, the domes are very similar to mosques. I notice a lot of gun shops on the way,but first i decide to freshen up by going to the best hotel in town. The Grand- Intercontinental is the only luxury hotel in Allahabad, its located in civil lines. I use the bathroom and have some breakfast and then decide to go and see the famous Allahabad university.

Its a long walk, but nice walk through old colonial houses. Allahabad has some very nice British houses and lot of modern bunglows in Civil lines area. After a lot of walking i finally reach the university. Its huge and its architecture again has a lot of islamic influence. A lot of domes around most of the building. But the best part are the lovely classrooms with carvings inside and the huge lawns where a lot of young boys and girl spend there so called studytime together:). The campus is spread across diffrent diffrents and simply magnificent with its beautiful buildings.

I am tired of the walking and ask a rickshaw guy to take me to Harivanchrai Bachchan`s house, we go through various small lanes only to find out it doesnt exist anymore, i sort of dont believe that ,but anyways i have to get to Varanasi before night so i forget about it. A stop to gun shop is a must

I visit ths gun shop called Shastralaya. The old men sitting at the shop are more then happy to show me around. They tell me that they sell guns only to those who have a license. A license can be availed from a DM and its takes about a month to get it. He showed me guns ranging from 25,000 rs to 2lakh rupees. He told me they are supposed to sell it to criminals but usually its ends up going to them

I reach the bus stand at about 3:00pm and i get on to the bus to varanasi. Its a 3 hour ride from Allahabad fopr Rs 75.I reach Varanasi and as i have read in the book am tired of getting rid of the touts and guides then come behind me. I want to stay at the ghat so i rickshaw, and this is where i see a sea of just people and rickshaws. its chaotic. I run pillar to post to find a hotel, but cant, its getting dark and almost every individual on the street is interested in knowing where am going, its difficult to keep them away. Finally i manage to find a room in a guest house run by family for 150 rs. I atleast have a roof now. I look forward to morning on the banks of ganges tommorrow

ON THE ROAD!

photo courtesy- Sarfaraz Merchent(Pro-photographer in the making)

Over 35 hours behind the wheel ( with more than 2 flat tyers and one tyer burst)... 3000km of India`s scenic canvas ranging from the fields, to the desert and the forests.. 4 notorious characters. Adventure, Discovery & more

The route
(Mumbai- Surat- Ahmedabad- Himant Nagar- Palanpur- Sanchor- Barmer- Jaisalmer


Day 1- The beginning ( Friday- 9 Feb 07)

In the fading winter darkness of the morning I set out on this journey with 3 of my travelmates in quest of exploring the unknown. Although this is not really the beginning as our first stop is a wedding in Surat. Hardly had we reached the toll naka near Dahisar, that one of our travel mates opened one packet of Lays chips. He had got about 20 packets of Lays as he had a distributor for the product next door to his office. I immediately commented on How gujaratis love to eat all the time, and how their journey ends and begins with food. On the way to Surat, we halted at a Reliance petrol pump, and I was very impressed to find out that they provided facilities for shower for 20 bucks, I hoped to find such petrol-pumps on our long journey to Jaisalmer, as we might end up using one.

The highway from Bombay to Surat is well made and scenic, and with the good driving and speed of our travelmate we managed to reach Surat by about 10:30 in the morning. After gulping down some scrumptious breakfast of Ghee- Khakra, Ameri Khaman, Ghatiya and Jalebi we chatted with the bride, as the other two travel mates who weren’t supposed to attend the wedding set out in the heat to find something to do in Surat.

Surat
Surat has nothing to do, It’s a very crowded city and the only thing you could probably do is go to the Kapda Bazzar. In the afternoon we go to the Bombay Market which is a huge market selling saris and dress material. Its fascinating to see the colours and the chaos. Although we are quite unsuccessful in finding a simple kurta in this market which our friend wants to wear for the wedding as he ended up coming with the wrong clothes. If you are looking for something classy and simple then Bombay Market is not the place to shop for you.

Boredom and the need to rest compels our other two travelmates to find themselves a place to rest in a dingy little guest house. One of them has to drive in the night so the sleep is definitely needed

At about 10:30p.m in the evening we are done with the wedding and after many goodbyes we are finally ready to hit the road to Jaisalmer. The four of us have never seen a desert and we are quite excited to visit one.



Day 2 – On the road to Jaisalmer – ( Sat- 10 Feb 07)

Its about 12am now and we are on our way to Ahmedabad. One of the travel mates the morning driver is already zonked for the day. One of them our navigator who has religiously studied the road route sits in the front directing our third travelmate who is driving. My head is spinning and I have this desire to drink tea. Since the journey had just began, my travel mates are still very civil to me and are adhering to all my demands and requests.

The dhaba where we stop for chai is buzzing with truck drivers and their are some of them even with their families. We all wonder how difficult life would be for them traveling all the time.

The Ahmedabad express highway is mind-blowing, after crossing ahmedabad and various queries we end up taking a shorter route through a short cut near Himmat nagar. As we drive through this small road we can see nothing but trees, we do hope to find a ghost somewhere on the way, but there is nothing accept the silence of the night.

In the morning when we reach Palanpur, we halt at a petrolpump and I am just delighted to know that we have toilet paper with us, thanks to one of our travelmates who is in the tissue paper business. Our navigator friend opens the map on the bonnet of the car again trying to read the route map. Jaisalmer is still about 400-450km away.


Its time to swap drivers, and our day driver travel mate begins his journey. From Palanpur we need to get to to Barmer via Sanchor. We take a short-cut road which turns out to be a bad idea coz the road is dug up and bad. Rajasthan raods are not as good as the Gujarat roads, that’s a striking difference between both the states

The drive is scenic with just fields on both sides, the chakdo( a special type of rickshaw, which front is made up of a bullet bike and a square block behind for people to sit inside). At about 1:00p.m we halt for some food at a Dhaba. The Dhaba is well equipped with khatiyas and small separate dinning areas under huts. The food consisting of the dal, mixed veg is extremely oily, but the parathas are nice. I am a little sad seeing the young boy who is serving us food. He must be hardly 10-15 years old and here he is earning a living for himself

On the road further we see a little bit of the desert, but it not barren, its green. All our hopes of seeing a actual desert are getting shattered, maybe the desert we imagined was just in the movies and not in real. At about 3pm we reach Jaisalmer, after a series of debate we decide to stay in the fort.

The Fort offers a variety of accommodation for the budget traveler. Our first stop is a nice hotel call Surya, but since it has squat toilets I request the other three to look for other options. We finally reach a place called Maharajas Haven or Surya Palace, and find ourselves a good room after a little bargaining for 600 bucks. The room called the dream room with a outside balcony provides a spectacular view of the golden city from the fort. This is no palace hotel, but just a small house with couple of bedrooms and baths and a restaurant at the terrace The clouds are already out and in no time it begins to pour and our dream room turns into a rainy room.

The manager- Manubhai tells us that rains are very uncommon in Rajasthan that the room is not equipped to handle the rains, he shows us another room below which is saved from the rain. Once the rain stops in the evening we set out to find a mosque for one of our mates who needs to offer his evening prayers. I am fascinated walking through the tiny lanes of the main bazzar. We stop at a saree shop to buy some sarees which one of them needs to take back home. The saree shopkeeper is friendly and tells us about the Desert Safari, advises us to go only after the rain stops, while our navigator friend ends up chatting to some one else at the Phone booth to get some information on the Safari. He also finds out that Tanot( I kept calling it Taukhat for some reason) about 200 kms away which is on the Pakistan border is also interesting place to visit. They don’t allow you to go upto the border but just near the village where there is a temple.

We all wanted to stay in a village or a desert for atleast a day, so this seemed like a interesting proposition, if we could get to stay in the village near the border

We wait for our travel mate to come back from his prayers as we sip some coffee and savour some cake at the German bakery round the corner. Our pasta fanatic friend has seen the Italian restaurant- Little Italy at the fort and we all go there for dinner. I look at a Hajam shop and enquire if I can get a oil hair massage, the guy agrees for 45 bucks but my friends think it’s a bad idea for me to get one and convince me to forget about it


The restaurant- Little Italy has a nice ambience, with table and chair seating and Indian style seating. We choose the Indian style seating and place our orders. The pasta is slightly uncooked and when we argue with the manager, he tells me this is authentic pasta, and everyone here( mainly the firangs) like it that way.

Day 3 – Jaisalmer & Desert Safari (Sunday- 11 Feb 07)

We all have a good sleep, and wake up quite late. At about 11:30 we proceed for breakfast at our hotel. It’s a nice sunny day and Savan a young boy comes to take our order. We eat as if we haven’t eaten for ages, Plates full of burjis, porridges, cereals, pakodas and toast gets wiped up in a matter of time.

Savan- The little rockstar

Savan is about 15 years old, he has been working in this hotel for about a month or so now. He is in charge of cooking as well as serving the food. He has a distinct, innocent smile on face. He is from a village close by and his father was not to keen that he studied so he dropped out of school and came here to take this job. The boy is very sweet and is more to happy to sit and chat with us every day when we go for breakfast. We ask him if there is any small village which is in a desert, where we could go and stay. He tells us about Tanot and the surrounding villages but advises us to take the Desert Safari


After a series of discussions with Manu Bhai the manager of the hotel, we finally take the safari for 550 rupees a person which would include to transport to a village near Khuri, a camel ride in the desert, accommodation under the sky with gaddis and rajai along with food. We walk around the bazzar and in to the lanes of the city to locate our other two namazi friends who have gone to the mosque to offer their prayers. I am amazed to see the small houses, all like little havelis with some carving, all of golden stones. An interesting feature to be noted is, that whenever there is a wedding in any of the house, the wedding invitation is painted on a white patch on the wall of the house. So we pass through various such invitations of weddings which have already happened from 97- 2007.
On one tiny crossroad, I come across a group of women are chatting which each other, they smile at me and the chatterbox that I am we start chatting. They tell me that its Sunday, so they are relaxed as their husbands are sleeping and they are finished their morning chores of cooking etc. My other friend is troubled by the running children around who want to look at the pictures in the camera

We do locate a mosque, but just to find out that are friends are not in that mosque so we walk further to find a mosque called Jama Masjid. At first some people think we are crazy trying to locate Jama Masjid in Jaisalmer. Anyways we finally find our friends and rush to the hotel, as we have to leave for the desert safari at 3pm.

Still much more to write... about the next 5 days.. Watch out

Mumbai Marathon – Toast to the spirit of Mumbai - 21 Jan 07

Having snoozed the alarm a couple of times I woke up with a start at 6am with the fear that I ,might just miss the marathon. Although with the little sleep and the tiring schedules that I had been having over the past couple of days, I wouldn’t mind missing it. As I boarded the train to Churchgate the atmosphere around seemed charged. It didn’t really seem like a sleepy cozy winter Sunday morning as I saw a few people dressed in tracks and running shoes waiting for the train

The train ride was so peaceful and beautiful as it passed through the little green patches in Goregaon, Parle, Khar Bandra and all through ,I could seen the orange twilight of the dawn and orange sun shinning brightly.

The journey When I got off the train at Marine lines station, I noticed a lot of more people walking in different colored t-shirts were walking along with me to the Corporate challenge area from where we would all began our run. As I walked through the lanes to Metro from Marine Lines, I couldn’t help but notice some of the most oldest and beautiful buildings across the road. They all seemed nice and bright this morning. I loved the smell of the fresh bread which was being baked at Kayani Bakery.

I spotted my gang all dressed in the orange T- shirt which I ignored to wear completely , I was running as part of my company contingent and running for Women`s cancer initiative After a wait of over a hour and half and a passing through various lines we finally began running

The Run—6 km (VT- Nariman Point- Mafatlal club- Flyover- Metro)
The atmosphere was charged, and wherever I looked I could just see people. At various spots we had the traditional dhool wala, people dressed in different outfits. Although the most annoying part was the hundreds of people who were walking not running, one had to find their way through this walking people. Maybe next year they should have a separate line for people who want to walk and not disrupt people who want to run.

The run from VT to Church gate was nothing phenomenal, except the running fountain at Flora fountain, but when I reached the bay area near Jazz By the Bay I was so taken aback by the beautiful view of Mumbai`s skyline. The sea seemed to wrapped in a thin fog and looked so peaceful and calm. I just couldn’t take my eyes off it all the way till I reached the Mafatlal baug near the flyover which we were supposed to take to get down to Metro. The only dangerous part of it was ensuring I don’t fall down as I was looking on the side instead of looking in the front. When I got on the flyover the view was ecstatic. On one side I could see a sea of people, the enthusiasm, the energy, and the other was the calm sea which seemed to be smiling just as the helicopters passed by.

When I got of the flyover and moved towards the Metro Cinema, I noticed the beautiful Fire temple. The old buildings, Braboun Irani café, the now not operational Parsi Dairy Farm. On one such neatly carved old building which was probably 5 storey tall, I noticed two old Parsi women chatting. I wondered how Bombay would have been for them 30-40 years ago. It was just about a 45 min run and I had seen another brighter side of Bombay
I saw the Bombay spirit in action as I walked back in to the holding area ground I saw a group of rag pickers standing with huge plastic bags urging me to put my plastic bottle in their bags

All in all, it was wonderful running for a marathon which gave me an opportunity to explore my city in a new light.

Shashikala- An inspiring life

In the month of July, somewhere in 1920`s in the tiny bylanes of Agra, behind the Taj Mahal in an area called Namak Mandi a girl was born to Brijbhushan Das & Revaben. It was an old house owned by the Ghanshyam Das, a well known judge during the British times. It was a huge house with a small backyard, considering the numerous births in the household, there was a separate room built for delivery of children, and a dedicated mid-wife to the family.Hospital delivery were unheard of in that era

The parents were probably delighted to see the birth of beautiful daughter, after all till now they had just had sons, and having a daughter was a welcome delight. She was white as snow white, and nothing less than a princess from a fairy tale. She was named as Shashikala, but her naughty brothers named her Chhocho, pronounced as Chho chho as they couldn’t pronounce the word Shashikala too well. In the intial years of her childhood, mother took special care of the daughters, feeding them, ignoring the brothers.

In the early years, as she along with her sisters laughed and fought with the brothers after being the victim of the numerous pranks like tying their braids together, silently putting a handful of leftover seeds in their mouth, Somewhere in the native place of her Mother, Reva ben`s, native town, Kapadwanj in Gujarat her marriage was fixed by a aunt in a house to a man, whom, not only she but even her parents had never meet. They were just a known family to her parents who had a son aged 20 years, so they decided to fix the wedding with this girl then probably aged 10.

It was probably just another holiday to Kapadwanj, when Shashikala got married in the ancestral home in Kapadwanj., She was 15 years old and she had no idea what marriage was, she was just too happy to wear the new clothes and have a feast.

When she saw her husband and his family for the first time, she wondered what was wrong, what was she doing with a family who was completely dark skinned. She was white as a snow- white and her husband black as coal and ugly looking. She felt like a celebrity for the first couple of years. She looked like a white doll and people from neighboring households came to watch her beauty. They all joked in Gujarati “ Kagro, Daithro layegayo” which basically means the crow took the diamond.

Settling in Kapadwanj, was not to easy for Shashikla, having brought up in Agra and Haldwani, they had always spoken in Hindi, she didn’t know to read or write Gujrati, the common language in the town. The only comforting factor was a good mother in law. Just as we learn to live with our circumstances, Shashikala accepted her new life and moved on. She had two sons and just when life seemed to be going smooth her husband died.

She was 25 years old when her husband died. She was determined that she was not going to live a life of pitiful widow who is rushed from one house to other to do errands. She wanted to take care of her children and give them a good future. With a supportive mother in law, Shashikala enrolled herself to read and write Gujarati. She took help from Prof, who taught her. As usual people did make stories about her and Prof, but she never let any such rumors come her way to become a teacher. She appeared for the exam and after passing that exam, she went to Teachers college almost 4 hours away from Kapadwanj. For 2 years she selflessly lived at the hostel and studied to become a teacher.

When she came back she, got herself a job at a local school and taught upto 4th grade for over 30 years, got her two sons educated and today at the age of almost 78 , she still fends for herself getting a pension every month

Shasikala is someone who has inspired me so much. A women who never had a choice to paint her future, But when did get the brush in her hand, she was determined to turn her life brighter. She took her plight as a challenge and beautifully wiped away her worries. There must have been a million aspirations and dreams of her own which she must have cremated in her heart, all for her children`s future.

Today, Shasikala is almost 79 years old, She shuttles between her grandchildren houses and hers from Kapadwanj and Bharuch, playing with her great- grand children. Her health is not in the best of conditions, but she is happy and she has no desire. She is proud of being financially independent. She gets a pension of over 4,000 rupees a month which is even more than the salary she ever earned, and is more than sufficient to take care of her expenses. She thinks that god actually gave her a new life, when her husband died. The path was challenging but the end was very rewarding.

Most importantly Shashikala is my grand aunt, my grandfather’s sister. I, now, know where I and many of my cousins and aunts get our nature and abilities, it runs in the family.

Life

29 DEC 2001

Just when his face shined the most
And we thought it could be a beginning to a new life

Just when his melodious voice echoed with a folk song
And when we thought it was just his way to express his happiness

Just when he smiled the most inspite of all the pricking and poking of the pins
And thinking it was a fairy tale of Dracula’s sucking blood

Just when he knew that he has seen his new abode above
And we prayed for a miracle to happen

Just when he lay in transit awaiting the time for his new abode
And we stood there seeing the heart beats on that machine blink

Just when life & death played hide & seek
And left it to us to decide what the end could be

Time stood by and bid goodbye to the brightest star that shined that morning
With the most valuable lesson that life could ever leave behind

A lesson to spread the happiness & goodness around

Southern Escapade- Pondicherry

Day 1 – Friday December 15, 2006

Well the day began at an early hour as i needed to be on time for the wedding ceremony of my best friend in Chennai. The thumping music of karnatic Shenani along with the fascinating rituals and the scrumptious breakfast( called Tiffin) served on a banana leaf along with the typical south Indian coffee managed to keep my spirits lighted.

Breakfast or Snack is called Tiffin in South India.The breakfast consisted of pongal, dosa, mendu vada and idli with onion chutney, sambhar and mulga poodi.
Once i finished with the wedding moved to the hotel and did some enquiry about the bus stand and places to stay. I spoke to someone in Pondicherry who sort of confirmed a reservation for me for 500 bucks but on this trip i have just been having a bad luck with hotel reservations as later on when I reach Pondicherry I find out there is no reservation.

Anyways i get to the Chennai Mylamore( am not sure of spelling) Bus station. The Bus station looks like an airport. It is the largest bus station in Asia. They accept credit cards for booking tickets. Anyways i get into my local ST bus at about 5pm, and buy my ticket for 105 rupees to Pondicherry.

For first hour or so we are still getting out of the city, i am not too impressed by the way the city is placed, small roads, traffic and overcrowded. As we come to Beach way, the view is outstanding, however not for too long as it gets dark soon, it would be fun to ride through this road in daylight. On the seat next to me is seated a sleepy mother with a sleepy kid.

At about 830pm I reach Pondicherry and haggle with the rick guy for a price to go to Beach area where my hotel is. The Hotel Park Guest house which i am told a reservation is made for me says there isn’t any. Anyways am glad i didn’t stay there as they have deadline of 10:30p.m.

So I walk around through 3-4 hotels but all of them are too expensive. Finally i see this place Duma guest house which is sweet little house owned by some French family. Bala the owner & manager comes and shows me the room, i negotiate the price and finally settle in. He recommends me to check out Le Club a fancy French restaurant across the street although a little expensive. Its a nice place with good ambience, serving authentic French food and Vietnamese. I liked the salad. After dinner, I go looking for a cybercafe

Walking through the streets around 10 is not very exciting. As the place is dead. But people are helpful, one guy directs me to coffe.com which is supposedly a coffee and net browsing place and open 24 hours. The way to this place is through a n array of narrow streets I pass through a really nice Masjid and some lovely houses. I am looking forward to exploring the places around tommorrow
Bon Jor

Day 1 update- Just when i thought this was the end of an un eventful day for me, i didnt know i had something more in store for me. After posting my post on the blog, i chatted with the family who runs the place and casually mentioned about a friend an elderly lady who i had meet in Chennai that morning. It so happened that the family also knew my elderly friend and by chance her best friends son was also sitting there. As soon as my excitement settled down i decided to walk to my hotel. A new place, no idea of roads, no people to give directions i definately lost my way after walking a couple of kms and approached the traffic police station to ask for directions.
When one of the helpful personnel’s there told me that I had walked in opposite direction and my hotel is 2 kms away, i gave the look of a helpless girl who didn’t know how to go and would not even find a cycle or auto to get home. So the kind police inspector dropped me to my destination. When i got to my hotel, Dumas guest house, i realized i was the only guest living in that big Mansion. Chances of meeting a ghost were plenty but i guess I was too tired and fell asleep


Day 2 Saturday, December 16,2006

I woke up at about 7am and realized that the place am staying was not a real hotel but a guest house, so no drinking water and no chai. So i walked around the streets looking for coffee and chai. The tea stall was buzzing with activity, idlis being made, vadas being fried but there was time for tea or coffee as he was waiting for milk. After my previous night experience first thing i wanted was a cycle. I asked the tea stall vendor for a cycle hire shop. He directed me to one. I hired my cycle for 30rs a day. I told him i wanted it for 2 days. For 50 bucks i had the Lady bird ms india cycle with a nice basket in the front to keep my bags. As I pedaled through the streets i felt like i had wings with my cycle. I cycled through the bazaar looking for a nice cafe. I passed through the busy street but could hardly find anything.

On this busy street the i meet this french guy, Francis on his cycle. Francis was from France and he had a high-tech cycle with gears. He had cycled from Bombay to Pondicherry clicking ver 5,000 pictures. It took him 2 months to get here. He directed me to a place called Daily bread .

Daily Bread is a nice air conditioned bakery restaurant serves excellent coffee and croissants and is very reasonable Rs10(coffe) and Rs 8 (crosissant). I read some local news and then ride to Aurobindo Asharam to check out what its all about. On my way I pass through my company`s office although its closed at its just 9am
When i reach my guest house, i meet Bala the guy who owns the guest house. He tells me that his family has been living here for 100 years now. The house he lives is over 200years old. I invite myself to see his house when he is free. The guest house has some company as some tourists rent the rooms upstairs.

After a bath, i get on my Dhanno the cycle and go to the Pondicherry museum in quest of finding the history of this place. Unfortunately the Musuem has not much history as such except some interesting vehicles that were used by the French and Governor Dupliex house stuff. I visit the library next door, after searching for over an hour in the history section i don’t even find one book, but i find this old man who pretends to be helping me and gives me a book in Malayalam or Tamil. Finally some one directs me to the other side of the library. After searching again i can hardly find anything. I am so upset, how can they have a library without a single book on the French rule or history of Pondicherry, i decide i need to go to goggle immediately. Luckily i find a reference- fact book on Pondicherry.

Pondicherry or Pudichary means the new settlement. Originally discovered by French, was captured by British for a short time but was given back to them by some treaty. Remained a independent French colony till 1954 or 58 post which the colony handed over the powers to India.

Back on my cycle, something seems to be wrong with the handle and the brakes,so i go back to the cycle shop, and this time i am given sturdy cyle (Bhaiya cycle as a friend of mine would call it) with heavy stand. I am enjoying cycling thorough the streets, the Rui Rollaind and Rui Suffrus etc passing through the lovely colonial homes and it so peaceful. I feel like am in some different era

All the cycling has got me tired its about 2pm i go to Kerala Ayurveda and get myself a foot massage. After this at about 3pm i begin my journey to Auroville which is about 14 km away. The ride initially is nice when i am crossing through sea area. The Sea is beautiful nice and blue. But driving through the market and ECR is tough. I have to be so careful. People driving on the wrong side, cycles or bikes not honking when they are behind or honking when they are not even close by. I wish my cycle has a mirror. Finally i reach Auroville where i see another Daily bread cafe. i walk in and enquire about the ashram. The guy advises me not to take my cyle there as it is a very long drive through hills and would be dangerous while coming back. I haggle with a rick guy and for 160 bucks take a round trip.

Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity.

Auroville is a very nice and green, it would be a nice place to stay and do some volunatary work. Unfortunately I am a little late so I cant get to see the Matra Mandir the huge gold globe from inside as the tickets for that are sold only till 4pm. The visitor center is nice having a lot of interesting things to shop. I walk from the visitor center to the Matru Mandir in hope of getting a opportunity to get inside. When I reach Matru Mandir which about a 15 min walk from the visitor center the guard tells me I cant go in. Its already getting dark and I also want to see the auroville beach, so I do not wish to waste any more time walking.

I try to get a lift for this 15 min ride. A wave out to a girl riding a kinetic and take a lift from her. She tells me that she lives in Pondicherry but works as an Engineeer in Auroville. She thinks am a little a crazy to cycle upto Pondicherry from Auroville. The Rickshaw guy is informative on our way back he shows me the guest houses where people stay and the Solar Kitchen where food is cooked for all the guests. I request him to take me to the beach as it is highly recommended by one of my friends.

Auroville beach is one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. In the twilight of the evening it looked so beautiful with the coconut trees, blue water, the breeze, I just didn’t want to leave but the thought of riding the cycle back in dark coaxed me to leave soon.

Cycling back to Pondicherry was tough. Firstly the roads are not well lit, Cyclists and motorists would come from any direction, riding through narrow roads and busy streets was tough. Also when motorists flashed their car lights from opposite direction it was difficult to see ahead. I wish my cycle had gears, rare view mirror and headlights.

Finally when I reach Pondicherry I decide that its time to treat my self to a good meal at a nice restaurant. So I head to the Le- Orient which is a very classy French colonical hotel with a courtyard restaurant. It is a heritage property owned by the Nimrana group of hotels. The courtyard restaurant looked so beautiful , lit with candels and a band playing some good music. Unfortunately they had a set menu consisting of all the four courses for 350 bucks but all the items were non vegetarian and they couldn’t replace it with veg dishes.

So I go to another restaurant across the street on the rooftop called Rendevous . I am quite tired getting off and on the bike and parking it. Parking the cycle is a little bit of a problem as it has heavy stand. This is where I get a valet to park my cyle. I am so thrilled by this, actually the watchman there saw me struggling with the parking so he offered to park it and even the lock the cycle for me.
Rendevous restaurant is typical rooftop restaurant with cane furniture . The food options are plenty from sandwiches, Italian, Indian. I just settle for a veg sizzler. After my valet gets my cycle for me I decide to go to coffe.com to write about today and have some good coffee, although I am very tired.

At coffe.com the computer are occupied so I just sit down with my lonely planet on a table and chit chat with Daisy the girl who runs the place. Kevin and Silkh sitting on the next table borrow my Lonely Planet and then we start chatting with each other.

Kevin is from UK and he used to work for an NGO before he quit his job to come here 3 weeks ago. Silkh is a photographer and she is from Germany, she has come to Kolkata on a project and after the project was over she came to Auroville. Both of them tell me that they are very bored in Auroville as everything closes there by 830 and the other people living in their community don’t interact too much so they come here in the evenings. I recommend them Andaman & Nicobar Ilands and Mahabaliopuram to explore around.

We talk about everything from the culture differences, to the good food places in Pondicherry. Suddenly Kevin happens to tell me about a Organic restaurant he used to run in one of the suburbs of France in the countryside. We start talking and explore the idea of starting a restaurant in Pondicherry . We discuss everything from the profile of customers, cost of setting up a place etc

Its about 1130p.m and the three of us wonder if we could go to a bar which would open in Pondicherry. Daisy at coffe.com tells us chances were nil but we could still try. We walk through the narrow quiet streets to the waterfront, where the restaurants and bars are shut. In desperation we also visit a local bar which is also closed.Finally we settle down for italino icecream which is the only thing available at that hour. The two of them look for a rickshaw to get them to Auroville, the normal bargaining happens. Since its almost the rickshaw guy is asking for a bomb,i recommend them the idea of going to a police station and asking them to drop them since they have lost the way.
At the corner we meet another french gentelmen who is parking his car to enter his neat house. He tells us that he is from Paris and he is staying here with his family doing some research for the french institute. His research is on the water problems of south india. The three of us wonder why would a French company want to research on the water problems in India, till we conclude that it could be coz a French water pump company maybe funding the research. Finally we find a rick and the two of them head back to Auroville and i settle in to my little house

Day 3 Sunday,December 17,2006

After a peaceful sleep I wake up at about 9 am and set out to go to the Sacred Heart Church . Loads of people buzzing in and out of Sunday Mass. The church is beautiful. After that I cycle towards the French cemetery. I am told that the French cemetery is very interesting as all the grave yards have nice facades build over it. After asking a couple of people who cant understand what am looking for I reach the French cemetery.

At the French cemetery there are 3 women busy working. They say something to me in Tamil which I cannot understand. But I guess when I remove my camera she understands I am here to click pictures of the facades, thus she directs me from one interesting façade to the other. Some of them have writing in tamil, whereas some have it in English and French. Some of facades on the tombs are like little chapels.

Then I cycle to my favourite breakfast place Daily Bread and try out some Brio che although am not to impressed by it and settle in for some coffee and crossoint . Outside I end up chatting with a driver of one of the tourist vehicle an ambassador to ask him for directions to the beach. He thinks I have come from Kolkata from some strange reason .

Anyways its already 11:00, and I get the feeling that the beach is too far so I decide to just make a visit to the cybercafe, return my cycle to hire shop and check out the liquors shop. I do not find anything interesting to buy at the liquor shop so I walk back to my little house, clear my dues with Bala and get on a rick to go to Bus stand. I am going to a friends house to spend the night in Chennai. She stays at Kotivakam.

All the buses I enter in to the drivers are so rude, just as I utter the word Kotivakam they ask me to get down. Finally I get into one bus. The ride on the East Coast road is something I am really looking forward . Stangely the ticket is 55 rupees instead of the 105 rupees I paid on my way from Chennai to Pondicherry.

The ride on ECR road is out of the world, the fields the lovely blue beaches, sea. I would just love to live here by the ocean.

Finally I reach Kotivakam and locate my friends house. She has her nieces over two very cute little girls. Children are so much fun. With the girls we visit the Velankani Shrine at Bassinagar and move to the beach next to it which is so crowded. The girls enjoy themselves with a ride on the horse and the cartwheels

We go for dinner at nice Italian restaurant called Bala Chaio on Kotivakam beach. The restaurant is on a nice huge bunglow with a huge courtyard. The tables are laid out in the backyard. The place is run by an Italian lady and serves some good authentic Italian food although it’s a little expensive even compared to Bombay standards

A trip to tamil land can never end without a Tamil movie. So myself and my friend go to this sort of local theatre. The show is at 945p.m but we are almost there 45 mins prior to the show. We buy are tickets for 35 bucks and wait for the gates to open

In the theatre they have no national anthem practice, slowly slowly people start walking in. The theatre is full inspite of being a Sunday night and some people are actually standing and watching the movie in the balcony.

The name of the movie is E means fly. The actor is Jeeva and actress is Sadaah. The movie has an interesting plot it is based on how these American companies are sending their medicines to be tested on Indian.
The hero jeeva lives in a chawl does a little bit of hera pheri and a doctor who is pioneering this scam calls him and gives him a job to rob a dead body from the morgue. In the middle of this the actress Sadaah a dancer in a restaurant shifts with her family next door to Jeeva. Jeeva helps her to set up the house stealing some stuff. After about half and hour we decide to leave as the whole episode of robbing the dead body from the morgue was getting a little creepy. The atmosphere smelled of country liquor and whistles on the action scenes of the actor. I had a early morning flight the next day so we decided to leave.
This was the end of my refreshing Southern escapade

Ride to Glory

6 bikes, a rollercoaster ride through the scenic waterfronts of Bombay, & 140 minutes of pedaling action, lead us to the Gateway of India

The idea
It all began on a Wednesday evening on my way back home from work when one of my friend called me asking me to make some interesting Sunday plan. After all the conventional options he himself, suggested the idea of cycling in the city. Cycle rides have always fascinated me, infact I was amazed by the special cycle paths in parks in US, and My friend, let me call him the Event manager and he actually is one by profession, although he organizes events which can change peoples life sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad(decoration business). So our organsier connects the other two friends on a conference call.
Where should we ride? Where will the bicycles come from? Who else will join us ? Should we start bicycling at night? What about 4am? Will any one wake up on a Sunday morning ?
After a lot of discussion we decided that we shall bicycle from Carter road, Bandra to Gateway of India exploring all the waterfronts on the way on Sunday morning. Our organizer ensured he would arrange for the bikes and we agreed that if no one else comes, the three of us will definitely go on this expedition. Honestly I did not expect any one to come as I know of very few people who would like to give up their Sunday sleep for a crazy thing like this. Nevertheless we flooded inboxes with email and sms, but got just best wishes as responses. Three of our organizer, the Event Managers friends agreed to join us

Getting the cycles
My friend, the Event manager had a big task ahead of arranging those cycle.17 pages of Google search, help line searches and cycle dealers contacts all proved futile in arranging the cycles on hire. Cycles on hire were available in Bandra but they were the Bhaiya cycles which would have been difficult to ride. Our Event manager finally got hold of someone in Dongri who took him to a hire shop located in a patli gali ( narrow lane ) of Bori Mohala. For 75 rupees each we had the cycles. This is where the resources of our event manager came as good help. He loaded those cycles in his tempo and transported them to his home in Bandra. I think our Event Manager friend definitely deserves a shabashi for his resourcefulness


Morning alarms
My biggest fear was that I would land up in Bandra at 5am just to find out that the other bikers are still sleeping. So from the previous night I kept reminding the computer geek friend who stays in the same building to wake up our Event Manager friend, and if he doesn’t wake up then to bang his door. In turn I kept reminding the Event Manager friend to remind the CA friend and his brothers to be on time

The journey
With the thought of mistakenly snoozing the alarm haunting me, I could hardly sleep so after completing my morning chores I left home at 4.30a.m I called the other people just to ensure they would be awake. It was dark but still seemed a little crowded, with people waiting at the ST bus stands, elder women rushing to the temple, people happily sleeping on the road, jain monks , newspaper suppliers unwrapping the papers, doodhwalas rushing to complete their deliveries.


Kickstart
At 5:15a.m when I reached our Event Managers building compound in Bandra. It was in action as the others were busy removing the bikes from the garage. We pedaled through the dark streets of Bandra to Mahim causeway where we halted to debate on the route we would take. It was too dark yet to have a look at the scenic sea. I demanded rather commanded we go through Shivaji and other six unfortunately had no choice but just agree.
As we cycled through Shivaji Park and moving to Worli Sea face I looked at the other cycle riders that we passed by and thought we were hardly any different from the doodhwalas and bhaiyas who use the cycle to go around. At Worli Sea face we were surprised to see so many people walking we also saw a few professional bikers. It was still a little dark for us to get a good view of the sea. Moving further near the race course we got to see the first ray of Sunlight a beautiful orange twilight on our left. Haji Ali at Mahalaxmi was still waking up to the morning. It was nice to ride through Tardeo, and Nana chowk and watch the old buildings of Wilson college.
The sun was almost out but hold on when we reached chowpatty I was just lost seeing the beauty of the sea which was still wrapped in its Sunday slumber with a thin line of fog. The ride from chowpatty to Nariman point was magical, although it could have proved dangerous as I was hardly looking in the front and looking at the sea, but thanks to the other bikers vision behind I managed.
In just a few minutes we were at our destination Gateway of India. The sun was waiting for us. After taking a short break and doing the touristy stuff of taking pictures we moved to our final destination in Dongri where we had to drop the cycles.

Riding through fort
I have always been very fond of walking through the bylanes in fort area and watching the buildings around. So we took the back road to go to Dongri passing through, Asiatic Libarary, RBI, Horniman circle and when I looked at the Marshal & sons building I couldn’t help but think of Dadaji and sofas. Then we passed through the Dockyard area which really saddened me. I looked at those Slums filled with people just surviving. I looked at those children for whom the busy street was playground and could also turn into death ground. But these children were happily playing their little games devoid of the dangers that may come their way. Finally we reach Dongri at our Event Managers office and wake ups his oversmart office peon.
The peon runs to get anda bhurji, inspite of me telling him not to go as I want to go to the restaurant and eat and not eat in the naphthalene smelling office of our Event Manager. By now I guess other six bikers have had enough of my bullying and they are not ready to take it any more and thus they also don’t join me to Café Naaz. At the counter I ask the elderly uncle to give me brun pav with double maska and one chai without sugar. He tells me Beti Betho. I look around to find some interesting characters around, At the adjoing table I see 3 men draped in a pathani and sporting the red ghamcha, to me they could be anyone from a normal trader to a terrorist, or maybe even a spy. I take my parcel and move to the office next door to join the others. Later we all walk to Sandhurst road station and take our train home
All in all it was nice adventure ride. I think maybe I should probably buy a bike and ride to places over a weekend. Next bike trip could be to Manori.
Any takers ?