Its been 3 full days and a night since I arrived in Geneva, Switzerland. My first ever trip outside India, and to the envy of everyone to the most beautiful place on earth! With this trip I also began one of the things I wanted to do before 30.

I had always imagined that my first trip outside India would be filled with excitement right before I’d leave, however, it hasn’t really been the experience. The travel plans and stay were sketchy till the moment we reached Geneva, and of course the purpose of the visit is business. I have been loaded with so much work that they have even estimated my weekends in the work plan, which means I am locked up at office and am getting to see nothing at all…atleast for the next 14 days.  I’d try to sneak out a bit sometime.

Anyhow, having seen only bits an pieces of the place between my hotel to the office…I observed and laughed at the fact that the cute hotel receptionist’s name is Elodie…which remarkably sounds similar to a hindi gaali!

People love to wish you Bon Jour everyday while meeting you at the office lift, even if they may not know you. Somehow my perverted mind feels like replying to them in another hindi gaali…just for the fact that I can get away with it

But the truth is that people are nice, yesterday we were getting soaked while waiting for our bus in the drizzle and this lady passed us by, she came back and made us move to the bus stop’s shelter nearby so that we do not get wet. The fact being we didn’t share a common language as I know nothing of French.

Geneva has a very good rule of giving free bus/train passes to people if they stay in any of the city hotel for all their stay, this saves you a lot of money and of course easies your life.

Public displays of affection is quite common here, people would be walking around and suddenly start hugging and kissing at any junction or public place, like as if they had this sudden urge and couldn’t hold themselves back. Strangely it seems okay and not awkward!

Geneva enjoys a fair mix of people from around the world, the ongoing world cup is a witness to  the same…today saw Algerians creating a ruckus before their match with UK, two days ago people were running around Brazlian colors too…its a truly cosmopolitan place. Yesterday the Swiss win over Spain resulted in a 10% discount of all products at a local supermarket chain!

It is okay to show bare chested women in TV ads here, saw this eye popping Denim after shave’s ad which would have made RSS, VHP and the likes back home gone crazy! If only HUL could show those ads in India, I bet they’d treble the sales of the products!

It rains each evening, it doesn’t get dark until 9-9.30 PM which I think is awesome! French has made my life difficult as a vegetarian, can’t read the food menu properly, I think I may have nibbled half a chicken sandwich yesterday thinking it to be eggs than chicken

Hope to take pictures soon and know the place more than just street side observations….for now the desi bhaiyya would sign off!

]]> http://www.ankurwrites.info/2010/06/19/swiss-travels-i/feed/ 2 http://www.ankurwrites.info/2010/02/11/kala-ghoda-arts-festival-2010/ http://www.ankurwrites.info/2010/02/11/kala-ghoda-arts-festival-2010/#comments Thu, 11 Feb 2010 06:12:44 +0000 Ankur http://myjourneys.wordpress.com/?p=311

3D Artwork at the Kala Ghoda arts Festival

A few months ago, a friend of mine, a Xaverian (hope thats how they are known as) told me not to miss the Kala Ghoda Arts festival. I was less than enthusiastic about it, afterall Mumbai has its fair share of concerts, theatre and art events. What I didn’t realize was that no other event could blend all of this together and cook it into a delicious offering served to you within a few square miles in South Mumbai!

This is the 10th year of Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (or KGAF), it is a week long street festival where visitors can be a part everything for free! I visited the festival area on the first two days, and cannot wait to go back this weekend for more. There is so much happening there that you cannot be bored…concerts, workshops, film festival, plays, photography, street plays, heritage walks…okay thats all I remember.

Handmade accessories at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2010

There there, enough of advertising, I’d just summarize what all I did and missed too! I missed being a part of a literature workshop on getting one’s work published…well, was waitlisted for the workshop, I couldn’t go for the heritage walk, missed the plays as well!

I did go for the Heritage bus ride across South Bombay(Mumbai!) which had a dash of history, architecture, British India and of course heritage. Never knew that Nariman Point and the likes is on reclaimed land, or that VT Terminus was built over 10 years at 16 lakh bucks!

I absolutely loved the photo exhibits right next to Jehangir art gallery and Museum Gallery.  The pictures of Project Dharavi, Blind Photographers, Diti Kotecha and Shekhar Sidaye were absolutely amazing. I wish I could take pictures like that.

The festival has plenty of visual art as you move around in the Kala Ghoda area, the themes are focused on nature, water conversation and education for children. Unfortunately, I did witness extremes right there in the vicinity which took away the true essence of the messages.

I’ll just add up the pictures below, for words cannot describe the atmosphere…the colors and the creativity which flow freely during Kala Ghoda Arts Festival.

Used a bit of my camera's defect for this image

Odd one Out!

Its on till 14th Feb 2010, do visit.

There are travelers who prefer history, then there are others who like nature and then there are some who like adventure. What if you could roll up all this into a single bundle and dash it with a shoe string budget? Well, you probably would do what we just did last week!

The Plan: Travel Uttarakhand (or Uttaranchal) in its tourist peak season for 6 days and 5 nights by spending no more than US$ 150

The Travelers: Me and a buddy of mine

How did we do it? Read on this 2 part post on how we did it and what all did we see.

It all began when my buddy told me of his visit to India after a long gap of over 2 years. My mind was racing for a small trip in early June where the two of us…me freshly out of Grad school and he a PhD scholar could manage it all within a small tight budget without neglecting basic comforts.

The plan was to visit places like Nainital (yeah you have to because its so popular!), Kausani (because its secluded and enthralling), Ranikhet (I still wonder why!), Almora (deserves more respect than it gets) and Binsar (could we?).  Now with the objective places decided we had two options..either to visit Nainital first and book those quick and fast tours to visit all these or do things at our own pace. We chose the latter.

We started from Lucknow to Lal Kuan in Nainital Express, from Lal Kuan we decided to goto Almora because that was a much more central location to other places like Ranikhet and Kausani. From Lal Kuan we went to the Haldwani bus station, which allowed us to board a KMOU (Kumaon Motor Owners Union) bus to Almora at INR 78.

At Almora we were greeted we stayed at Hotel Shikhar which provided us with a room at INR 500 a night. The first evening at Almora greeted us with rains which restricted our movement to only Naina Devi temple there. However, we did walk around the Mall road and also discovered an excellent cafe in the streets of Lal Bazaar.

Next morning the rains were back after a few hours of Sun, but this time we decided not to stay within the confines of our room. So we ventured out and decided to visit Jageshwar Temples. Now the first problem propped up, there was only one KMOU bus to Jageshwar at 12 noon and the other option was to pay upto INR 800 bucks at book a taxi to this place around 35 kilometers from Almora. We instead opted for a bus to Pitohragarh and get down at Atula which is around 3 kilometers from Jageshwar. What happened next was a true local bus trip with little place to stand or even breathe. 

At Atula the rain Gods decided to greet us with lighter drizzle and plenty of icy breeze…we trekked to Jageshwar temples on foot and enjoyed the mystic beauty of the Pine forest around us. The Jageshwar temples are of both historical and religious significance, a trip to Almora is deemed incomplete if you don’t visit them.

We returned to Almora through a regular Jeep, the last of one the day at around 3.15 pm. One key learning in Kumaon was that most of the public transport between points across towns would stop by the time it shall be 5 pm.

Next morning we visited Ranikhet, that was pretty easy to do by passenger Jeeps from Almora which drop you at Ranikhet within 2 hours at around INR 50 per person.

Ranikhet was much of a disappointment though. However, we did enjoy a trek of almost 12 kilometers to Jhula Devi temple and Chaubattia. On our return to Almora, the clear weather helped us to see the snow capped mountain himalayan mountain range including Nanda Devi peak from the naked eye.

Must visit places around Almora and Ranikhet: Chaubattia, Jageshwar, Naina Devi Temple, Kalika Temple

Check out for the second part of the series…

The traditional Malai Makkhan in Lucknow

Malai Makkhan or cream butter is one of the most amazing sweet snacks sold during the winters in Lucknow and Kanpur (and also some other parts of UP). While the name may scare the diet conscious, the true product is much much lighter and devoid of any noticeable fat content.

I normally had trouble describing how it looks like, and thus the picture above. Incidently, I have been buying this amazing sweet from the same seller (who comes on a bicycle singing along makkhan malai on the streets) for over a decade! 

The best description of the recipe of this treat is  - saffron flavoured frothed cream, made by hanging unsalted butter overnight in dew and then aerating it by beating it.

Dew being an important factor to manufacture this delicacy, its only during the winters and early spring that we Lucknow-ites are blessed with this. I has a slightly sweet flavor of  frothy cream which just vanishes in your mouth tickling your taste buds wanting for more.

Well, difficult to believe! Am currently online from a moving train; the Rajdhani express from Bangalore to Delhi! This is a first for me, and the fun part is that I don’t really know my real location!

Its been a nice stay at Bangalore for the last two months, they just went a breeze. I throughly enjoyed myself, and its time to go back home for a few days before rejoining college.

Updated: I can find my location too! Using http://www.indiarailinfo.com

My current location is shown below on the google map:

My Wayanad blog post has been featured on Rediff.com

I am thrilled!

Here’s the  link: http://specials.rediff.com/getahead/2008/apr/28sld1.htm

I finally visited my last remaining southern Indian state “God’s own country” Kerala. A group of us six dudes went for a road trip to Wayanad. This was to be my first tryst with the Kerala, and boy it wasn’t at all disappointing.

We booked a Tata Sumo, and started around 6.15 AM on Saturday, 19 April. By the time we were done with the pickups of everyone it was already 7.30 AM. We then took the route of Bangalore-Mysore-Gudalur-Wayanad. We literally zipped all through Karnataka, and took the NH 212 to Wayanad from Gudalur(or Gundlupet).

En route to Wayanad, we had to pass through the Bandipur national park and the Mathunga national park. It was lush green and dense, however, we could only witness Elephants during our journey.

We reached Sulthan Bathery around 1.30, and were throughly surprised that it was pretty humid and wasn’t at all what we pictured it to be. So we moved ahead to Kalpetta, which is further 25 kilometers from Sulthan Bathery.

At Kalpetta we checked in to Arun Lodge. We got decent double bed rooms with a clean toilet and a TV (the bare minimum for stay) for just 440 INR.

Later in the evening we went to the Pookot lake, the images speak the rest of the story. After Pookot we went to the Banasura Dam. I guess this place is a must watch for visitors; it is the biggest earthen dam in Asia. The reservoir and the partially submerged hills tell a story.

On our return we were greeted by a sudden downpour, something which we hadn’t expected after the warm day that had been. There were moments when the visibility of low and I was perturbed by the rain. However, it all calmed down and we were back in our cosy rooms in a while.

Food in Wayanad is way cheaper than Bangalore; a typical South Indian breakfast for the 6 of us with a cup of coffee each could cost us less than a 100 bucks! I also discovered a top-notch bakery known as ‘The Walnut Cake‘. You could treat yourself at the pasteries, Jew Chips, Plum Cake, Cookies, Fresh chocolate and tarts. It was mouth watering and yum!

The next morning we checked out and visited the Soochipara Waterfalls which are around 17 kilometers from Kalpetta. The journey to this place was filled with tea gardens; shining golden under the sun light. This waterfall varies from 100 ft to 300 ft in hieght, its a great place to take a shower the way liril models do, and even try rappling. Do remember the  journey to reach the bottom of the falls itself is quite tiring because of the sun and the stairs.

On our way back up to the hill; we treated ourselves to Pineapple slices. My friends ended up buying almost the whole stock on the urchin selling them!

We now moved to the last destination of our trip to Edakkal Caves. This place is around 25 kilometers from Kalpetta. The name Edakkal means ‘Stone in between’, the main cave has a huge rock stuck between the walls forming the cieling. The cave is said to have engravings dating back to around 4000 B.C. It was discovered back in 1890 by the SP of Malabar. For more information visit: www.edakkal.com

My friends decided to venture further up from the cave to the hill top, while I decided to wait for them. Sensing the change in air, I felt it was going to rain so I came down to the base, however they were stuck there. What happened next was a huge downpour which resulted in addtional slipperiness to the pathway. They had a tough time coming down, however, they did enjoy the thrill and the risk in that!

Being the last place, we then had lunch on our way back at Sulthan Bathery, finally we reached Namma Bengaluru at around 10 PM ready for another week at our offices!

Something really special about the whole trip was the presence of a guiding angel to tell us which direction to take whenever we were confused with the route. In the middle of nowhere there would be someone present to tell us which way to take! Maybe thats why it is called God’s own country

[1] Carry extra change of clothes, and good canvas shoes for trekking.
[2] Arun Tourist Home, Kalpetta. Phone: 04936 – 202039
[3] Distance from Bangalore is around 280 kilometers. It takes around 6 hours on road to Wayanad.

Was missing due to exams, just got a breather for two days so am writing something which I discovered tonight. Maybe a lot of people don’t know that Lucknow is not only a city in UP, India. There are three more Lucknow towns/estate in Canada and Australia!

I hail from Lucknow, the constantinople of India. A city of 3 million people; with its historical beginning said to be by Lord Laxman, and the original name being Lakshman tila(stone). Over the ages the name changed to Lakhnau, and later to Lucknow by the British.

The other Lucknow found on Google was the Lucknow estate in Moultonborough, New Hampshire, Canada. This estate was started in 1914, with its beautiful surroundings over 4200 acres of forest.

Another Lucknow is a town in New South Wales, Australia. It is a historic gold mining village, the second place in Australia where gold was first discovered. The village was established in 1838, the naming does have an interesting connection. The settlement was named ‘Lucknow’ in 1863. Some say this was a reference to the good fortune the town proffered (i.e., luck now) while others claim it was named by the mine bookkeeper after the siege at Lucknow in India in which he may have been wounded.

The last Lucknow in my search is in Lee County, South Carolina. Lucknow is a small settlement in Lee County which was the terminal of a logging railroad that began at Atkins. A large saw mill was once located near Lucknow to cut the virgin long-leaf timber in that area. The railroad was partially completed by Captain Atkins but was later sold to Bridges and
McKeithern of Darlington. The name Lucknow is reportedly attributed to one of the firm’s members who exclaimed, “We are in luck now,” when he looked at the stand of virgin timber.

Cool, ain’t it. It shall be fun to visit these places!

Another busy day, most of it went in shopping and bank related jobs. I still managed to take a few snaps of the festivities en mi casa.

It was really fun to be back in the diwali market rush and haggle for clay diyas, electric lamps, or kitchen utensils. Trust me, this is the real festival, the rush and the pavement shopping has no match in the malls of today. I did manage to get a good deal on electric lights and shall have my setup ready tomorrow morning.

I also spent a bit of time on clicking pictures of the drawing room with its dim lights, and one of them is a pretty decent snap…

I also hope to make my first rangoli tomorrow morning, hope that mom helps me with that…

Happy Diwali

Hasta la vista

Its great to be home, after 5 months. Much has changed in the city, particularly the traffic has increased substantially. Another surprise is the infamous Ambedkar Park, that project of the current chief minister of UP seems to be re-constructed all again. This comes as a surprise because the Park had been completed more than 5 years ago and was open to public. I cannot understand the logic of almost reconstructing all of it! Illogical to me at the least, specially when there is a 14 kilometer long fly over awaiting completion in its last phase, stalled ever since the Government changed hands.

Anyways, its Dhanteras today, and I had a trip to the local Diwali market to buy the clay idols of Goddess Laxmi and God Ganesha. It was fun to be a part of the hustle and bustle of the market, I always enjoyed this bit of shopping in the Diwali market, it gives me the feel that the festive season has arrived. I happily clicked snaps and even recorded a small video of the paraphernalia on display. Boy, if you aren’t here then you miss all the fun!

Later, went with my grandpa to the nearby multiplex and bought advanced tickets for Om Shanti Om. Hope that it would be a good one, and then I splurged almost a thousand bucks on four books thanks to my grandpa…

I am back, but the festival has just begun, it is going to be quite at home but I know I would be enjoying every bit of it.