By the Lakeside in Udaipur

Long time!

I just returned from a trip to Udaipur and it was absolutely gorgeous.

I have been to Udaipur before, but somehow those trips were not as magical as this one.

The rain gods had touched each corner of the landscape and made it greener, prettier and perkier too.

As for the To-Do's list while in Udaipur, I guess the pictures will speak for themselves -

Pic 1: Endless rows of such displays dotted the tiny streets that surround Lake Pichola

                                    Pic2 : The Bandhejs, Lahariyas and the mirror work

Pic 3: Puppets, stories, crafts - all things that make me gooey

                                     Pic 4: The way to Jagdish Mandir

                                 
                                      Pic 5: A store selling items from sculptures to tie and dye bedsheets

                                     Pic 6: The bright hued turbans being tried on by my baby

                                     
                                    Pic 7: The Lehenga skirts

                                 Pic 8: Udaipur's skyline

                                 

                       Pic 9: Lake Palace - you have to stay there once, to experience  luxury and  nature in perfect harmony

                                 
                                   Pic 10: Lake Palace during day  time

Panchgani- The Strawberry town

It's late or rather very early, depending upon whether I choose to see it as the closure of a day or the beginning of another.

Have had a busy day and have just finished watching 'Gangs of Wasseypur II'. The song/poem 'Ik Bagal mein chand hoga, ik bagal mein rotiyan' is still playing out, in the recesses of my mind.

The bed is calling me and yet I am writing. Why? Seduction of the words..

It is monsoon time and Mumbai is heavenly during monsoons. The world might disagree, but I have the heart of a poet.

Anyways this is not a post about Mumbai, but rather about the tiny little 'strawberry town' in the neighbourhood- Panchgani.

And now the photologue. Quick and simple.

Btw, it is a trip that happened 2 years back.The photo quality might hence not be the greatest..

                                                                   Plateaus

                                          It was raining on and off and it was pretty
                                             

                                                            The Drive

At Mapro

                                                                 The tiny one

 The court

Ladakh - Body, Mind and soul connection..

So what new does one write about a place, whose each and every corner, has been canvassed by travellers like me, before?

But then the beauty of this place is that it becomes, what you wish to see in it. And so Ladakh for me was sometimes awe inspiring, at others a vast barren land, at yet others - a place where one could sit back and wonder about all the existential coincidences and dramas, in complete and total seclusion from the rest of the world. Mostly it was magical...

Before we begin with any of this, let me share one thing - It's impossible to not photograph this place well. It's so astoundingly expansive, clean, and beautiful that you need to be an exceptionally bad photographer, to not get it right here.

So I will tell you the sequence of events of my first two days at Ladakh to give you an idea of the note the trip began on- 

1) Day 1(Part 1) : Land in Leh.

2) Day 1 (Part 2): A really good looking, flawless english speaking driver (a former investment banker, who's quit it all, and settled in ladakh and handles travellers like us to earn his living) drops us at the ''Grand Dragon' hotel

3) Day 1 (Part 3): Madamoiselle me was jumping around the hotel and exclaiming 'how pretty, how pretty', while looking at the Himalayas, when suddenly just 5 minutes later, I discover that for some weird reason I have collapsed and landed straight on the ground with a huge thud. 

Discovery of the day: less oxygen does not agree with mel...

4) Rest of Day 1 and day 2: Sleep, get up, drink water, pee. Repeat ... 

So let's back to the usuals. As to what to do when in Ladakh :

a) Eat: So apart from the Momos on the streets and the maggi noodles that we had so often while in Ladakh, as far the eat outs go, two places absolutely stand out:

   - La Pizzeria- Such a nice garden restaurant ambience. Totally loved it

   - Elements- Well! they had me at the menu. It is one of the most interesting menu cards, I have held in my hand. The menu started with a story of how the restaurant came into being and well written things often do it for me. To add to that, the food, ah! the food was so amazing. Really simple and really well done..

b) Pray: 

So there's Shanti Stupa, and Shanti is one thing you would feel, when there..

Then there are so many tiny little monastries that dot the place and they are all really really nice

c) Love: 

- For one, you could love your partner more, given that pretty, picture postcard places, often have that effect:)

                                               Facts and hard facts!

                                                              Sangam

                                                     
                                                    The Monastery's gatekeeper

                                                       
                                                             Zanskar River

                                                     
                                                    A lake enway to Tsomiriri

Of Mountains and more

The Flag and the flutter

                                                             @Shanti Stupa

                                                     
                                                        The 'Changspa' People

                                                                 
                                                                Tsomoriri

                                                           
                                                         More of Tsomoriri

                                                       Can you the see the play of the shades?

                                                           
                                                            The child and his home

                                     
                                                        Magnificience

                                                        The 'cycling' people

                                                                     
                                                       Flags and Flutter

                                                             Oneness with  Buddha

                                                              A Monastery

                         
                                                                Khardungla

           
                                                                @ Nubra Valley

                                                                 Nameless:)

                                                 And those are Apricot trees

The this and the that..

I exist in the between 
 I am both - the this and the that
   The nice and the brat
      The have and the had

      I am something and I am nothing
        The tigress on the prowl
         The tamed lioness that you see scowl
            For I exist in the between
              I am both - the this and the that

                 The loud think and the dullness of the thunk
                     The scavenger and the creator
                         The deity and the destroyer
                             Which to believe and which to discard
                               For I exist in the between
                                   I am both- the this and the that
   
(by the way I am also mad:). You do know that Miss Blog!Now don't ya!)

Old is Gold. Can you guess which place is this?

Just right now, I am upset, sullen, sulky, gloomy, morose, feeling specially stupid. And what's the best way to beat the blues? Write I must, and off course about something good.

I have written about my love for history and by extension for forts, palaces, havelis and all things ancient ( just things i.e. :)).

And by now, I have changed my mind. Why write, when pictures speak a thousand words?

Miss blog! can you guess which place this is?

The 'lush green' desert place 

 Small domes, some algae covered walls and the Ramparts

Ah! the blues against the olds. Such details often take my breath away

Do you even know that I am a blue fan?

Let's call this - The beauty and the Beast (when the husband gets to know of this, I am killed:)

The new in the land of the old

The aquamarine

 Reflect and Reflections

Soliloquy in the solitude

The 'View'

The 'if the Wishes were horses' door. Why? JLT

Since the View has been covered. Lets call this one 'Panoramic View'

Stairway to heaven - Led Zeppelin I miss you.

Sleeping Beauty (and where is the beast? Behind the camera)

Pretty. Postcard pretty!

Arts 

Alwar - an encounter with the Cat!

I had wanted to write about Madurai today, but when I checked my Hard disk, I realized the photos are missing and it’s no fun writing, unless I have pics to share. So instead, I will write part II of the Rajasthan Series.

So, Alwar it is today. I have spent 3 years of my life in Alwar. However, that was when I was 6 years of age and so I really don’t remember much from that era.

However, I revisited Alwar, around a year back, sometime in January.

A small town, situated amidst craggy, old rocks of Aravalis, in North-east Rajasthan, the place is in some sort of time-warp, as nothing really changes here and if not for the natural beauty of the place, one would have hardly heard about it.

What to do, if and when you are in Alwar:                                                                                                                           

•  Visit the beautiful Sariska Palace and the Sariska Reserve. The big cat is a resident of this place and if you are lucky you may get to meet them - up, close and personal. 

This reminds me of an incident that happened, when I was an engineering student. Myself and a friend were being driven from our college to Delhi via Alwar, in a Wagon-R. We had started out quite late and were passing through the Sariska reserve at around 9 PM, and like all girls, were talking nineteen to a dozen, when the driver suddenly put the brakes and then simply froze.

We did not know what had struck him, so simply looked in the direction he was staring into and then terror struck. It was a TIGER, in all it’s magnanimity, staring right into our eyes. The driver told us to simply do nothing and keep waiting and so after what seemed like a long long time, the tiger just as randomly walked off the road, as it had appeared. We told the driver to just dash off and he did. I still remember that cat. I really do! If it was to happen today, I would have thought of it as an adventure, but at that point of time, it was just a big scare.

• Visit Siliserh Lake, picturesquely set amidst the forested slopes of Aravalli hills. The open terraces of the Siliserh Palace provide a mesmerizing view of the water spread of the lake and its surroundings 

• Pandupol, which is said to have been a resting place for Pandavas, during their hide-out years, is a beauty in the monsoons, although at the time I went, it was only good not great

• If you have a sweet tooth, then do try the milk-cake - a local favourite

·          And now for the pictures:

The Siliserh Lake

The Siliserh Palace 

 A cow-shed on the banks of the lake

What to do?

Dear Blog,

I have work to finish off. Like seriously (why else would I be awake so late in the night) and I also wish to write to you. Infact, specifically speaking, I wish to tell you about Madurai. I went there some time back, but I don't think I have spoken to you about it.

So what do I do? Do I or don't I? Ok! so I'll leave you  with something to ruminate. Madurai has the most beautiful temples ever and Taj Madurai is an absolutely amazing property to stay in. That's all for the teasers. I shall write to you in detail, when I am done with the works.

This night is going be really long!.