Of Road Trips and Togetherness

New city, new house, new office, and new friends - all this novelty means new memories! After my extended period of stay in Chennai for eight years, I was eagerly looking forward to my move to Bangalore. I was told that one of the many perks of being a resident of Bangalore is the proximity to many travel destinations. And in the like-minded company of my spouse, my travelbug self has never been this happy before.

In the past three months, we have planned and gone on four road trips to Chennai, Pondicherry, Mahabalipuram, and Madikeri. When the road beckons, there is no looking back. 

One of the points I learnt on these trips, is that teamwork is vital. We need to work #Together, use our existing skills to reach the destination. I am limited by my lack of driving knowledge, but I am good with directions and routes. So while my partner is behind the wheel, I am the designated navigator who is logged into Google Maps in my smartphone, checking and verifying the route and traffic details. 

Some of the best memories from these trips are on the road. I fondly recall the time when slowed down to admire the many plantations adorning both sides of the road. The sight of tall eucalyptus trees, short green shrubs of coffee, and a small house in the middle of all this greenery - it was like a picture from a book. 

Another time when passing through an old town, we were greeted with the many memorable sights - a bullock cart driven by an old man with a white flowing beard, children dressed in their school uniform walking with satchels on their back, walls plastered with the poster of the latest movie running in the nearest movie theatre - it looked like a scene out of its timeline. Somehow the life in a city had robbed us of the simple colors of life. All that looked familiar was the jazz, bright, neon hues of the electric billboards. We missed the presence of the uncomplicated life and appreciated them the few times whenever we got a chance. 

 And when It is late in the night, we are inching our way into the city leaving behind the traffic and darkness of the highway, the sight of the road bathed in yellow light is a relief -  a sign of coming back home! 

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Trip to the Land of One Hundred Thousand Islands

Lakshadweep - in Sanskrit it means the land of one hundred thousand islands. Located in the Laccadive sea, this archipelago is the smallest of all the union territories of India. Only ten of the islands are inhabited, for which Kavaratti serves as the administrative capital. To get to Lakshadweep, we boarded an Air India flight from Kochi which flew us to the island of Agatti. Agatti not only houses the airport for Lakshadweep, but also connects to Kochi by sea.

The water is so blue. That was my first thought when I looked down to the sea. It was azure blue, turquoise green, aquamarine blue - the sight of this beautiful, rich color just fills your mind and prepares you for an memorable experience of a lifetime.  

Our stay was confirmed at the government resort at Kavaratti. From Agatti, the island was a high speed boat ride away. Imagine my glee when I saw this beauty waiting to zoom us away to our holiday destination. 

But the happy moments didn't last long. They definitely didn't survive the two hour long ride. I could feel my stomach doing somersaults as the boat bounced up and down and cut through the waters. Finally my prayers were answered, and we reached Kavaratti. It houses a cooperative hospital, and a couple of secondary schools. They also have a desalination plant to cater to the needs of island's inhabitants. Since most of the inhabitants trace their roots back to Kerala, Malyalam is the most commonly spoken language in the island. Having said that, we never had any trouble communicating with the locals. We could converse in English, Hindi, and my limited knowledge of Tamil.

The port had a desolate look; our van driver informed us that most people had gone to the mosque to offer prayers. By the time we reached our resort, it was almost four o' clock. 

Our next couple of days were spent exploring the sea.  On our glass-boat ride we saw quite a few corals, both dead and live ones. The white corals are the dead corals and they are found in plenty around the shoreline of the island. Even the fish here were so colorful! The fishermen who had accompanied us, had brought along bread to feed the fish. I also got a chance to feed them a few crumbs. It was a thrilling moment to feel their tiny mouths as they fed on the bread crumbs. That was definitely one of the most memorable moments of the trip.

Here are a few photos taken over at our stay in Kavaratti, Lakshadweep.  

When the sea and land meet...

So blue!!

Our ride to Kavaratti

A calm sea greets us the next morning

Feeding the fish

Agatti Airport

Playing Columbus the Explorer

Childhood is the best period of a man’s life. Carefree and innocent, the child is still adventurous, exhibiting a quality of curiosity. He is oblivious to the fear of the unknown. In fact the mystery is even more beckoning.

When one grows up on a heavy diet of books, especially the likes of Famous Five and The Secret Seven, this idea takes a stronger form. It is easy to imagine oneself as a young sleuth trying to figure out the thief stealing Das Aunty’s prized dahlias, or as a hero rescuing the baby bulbuli bird abandoned by its mother, and at times the explorer whose curiosity gets better of him and gets him to explore the compound of the abandoned Dutta bari.

Such was my childhood. Growing up in the steel city of Jamshedpur, we were a gang of eight. Though studying in different schools, we had formed a strong friendship which is often brought by the fact of living in the same para. Our games were quite simple, hide and seek, chain-chain, lock and key, and an occasional game of cricket or football. But the real fun lay when we went exploring. Riding our cycle, we felt so free and liberated, we went round the old and familiar roads, the new and not so familiar streets, ringing the cycle bell with excitement, calling each other names, shouting out cautions, and laughing our hearts out.

It was during one such evening, that we found ourselves near Domani. This area was a 15 min ride away from our homes, and marked the meeting point of two rivers, Kharkhai and Subarnarekha. It had been our long unfulfilled dream to cycle to this spot ever since we came here for the Chhat puja celebrations. The river bank ran along for five kilometres and we had to climb down the cemented steps to reach the river. It was a forbidden spot, more so if you were a child and unaccompanied by an elder. But today, there we stood, defying the rule, infused with the spirit of an explorer, breathing in the fresh, musky smell of the river, savouring the sight of a new land! The Dalma hills with its lush green forests lay on the other side, the electric lights of the small hamlets flickered in the evening twilight; we saw people being ferried across the river to their homes; they will be back again on this side in the morning with fresh supply of vegetables and fish. It was a moment, a calm, breath taking moment in life that stayed with all of us forever.

Our moment was interrupted by the screeching sound of a powerful vehicle. A cloud of dust hindered our vision, and once it settled down we were presented with the sight of the new Tata Safari STORME Explorer edition. Our eyes admired the curves of this bevy black beauty, which in every way looked the perfect SUV. We never saw Mohit’s uncle stepping out of the car and the angry look on his face. We were let off by after a tough scolding, but Mohit had it tougher getting his ears boxed in public! Anyways we decided, it was a day well spent, with the river bank finally conquered, we felt victorious. Thank goodness for childhood and the madness it brought with it.:)

This post is an entry for the #I am Explorer contest for Indiblogger.

The 5 best things in my childhood

Vacations

Best perk of being in school. Oh the word brings back such fond memories! J. Summer and winter, the highlights of both this season was vacation time. Time off from school, meant that I could spent more time reading storybooks, cycling and exploring new areas, playing cricket or dip-dip. And of course, watch Chutti- Chutti on Doordarshan after completing my holiday homework.

Books

Remember Nancy drew, Hardy boys, Secret Seven, Famous Five, Phantom, Mandrake, ChachaChaudhary, Tinkle, Chandamama, and my favorites Tintin and The Three Investigators. I have always had a very healthy reader’s appetite, and enjoyed reading and collecting books. Saving my fee from the small errands that I ran for Ma, I used to buy Chandamama. But as years went by it was not enough, what cost only Rs. 2, has raised to Rs. 15 by time I finished schoolL.

Doordarshan

As a school student I had about 1.5 half hours set aside as viewing television programmes. With no cable connection, Doordarshan was only savior, but I am not complaining! My favorites shall always remain ByomkeshBakshi, Potli Baba Ki, Duck Tales, Tales Spin, Chekhov Ki Duniya, and EkTha Rusty. As I write this down, I begin to understand that my love for stories goes a long way back, and I need to thank Doordarshan for introducing me to Ruskin Bond, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Mark Twain and the Bong sleuths.

Evening adda

At 5.15 my house bell used to go off, our eight member strong gang rushed out for our daily playtime. All time favorite game was Dip-Dip, Chain-Chain, Lock-and-Key. Then there were the girls-only games like nine box. At times, when the boys insisted we played football and cricket in a small stretch of land at the end of K Road in Sonari. Winter season always meant endless games of badminton. When in mood for adventure, we used cycle around exploring new areas, away from our parents prying and concerned eyes. And this went on until 6.30; the street lights would come on, our mothers would repeatedly shout out for us to get back home.

Radio

In sans cable connection era, BBC, Voice of America, Akashvani, and Vividh Bharati were my source of information. Apart from the regular news and music, plays, interviews with famous personalities, science info were some very interesting segments in the programme format. While Ma cooked, and I studied, the radio played in the background. Back in my home, the radio was an integral part of our daily routine; it spelled the hour of the day for us. :)

Revisiting your childhood is always very nostalgic; it brings back a lot of memories, goood and bad. I look around and can see how much has changed since then. I guess just as I am growing old, the world is ageing as well. But there remain certain things which I cherished as a 14 year old child, hold the same charm for me as a 24 year old.

Photographic Memories

Since childhood, I have always been drawn towards the glossy sheets of National Geographic magazine. Reading the articles, the child in me could make an instant connection with a culture or a place which was foreign. It was magical! All through the reading, it felt like a journey made from one continent to the other. What made the articles even more interesting were the pictures.

Now that I have grown up, I am still taken by the scenes of daily life. It can be as trivial as a busy traffic signal, a man selling ice lollies or even the empty Chennai roads on a sunny afternoon. These moments remain with me, in my memory forever.

Earlier this year, I was lucky to be part of this trip to Haridwar made with my family and paternal relatives. I have very fond memories of  this place in Uttarakhand, along with Rishikesh. You wake up to quiet, calm, chilly morning feeling fresh, rejuvenated. Watching the river Ganga flowing by, is another beautiful sight. I was fortunate enough to capture some of these memorable moments.

The avian visitor

Temples, Lamp Posts and Houses

Local Colors

Chai garam

The Chaiwala

The Milkman's bike

People and Police

People, Temple and Beliefs

Zindagi ek safar hai suhana!

Holy Cow

The Ganga beckons..