When you are at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on
--- Theodore Roosevelt
--- Theodore Roosevelt
Friday, March 13, 2015
Ellora Bakery, Dehradun
A toffee is a toffee is a toffee - I thought with a smirk when I read rave reviews about the famous Dehradun Stick Jaw toffee. The moment I tasted the first Stick Jaw, I realized that I couldn't have been more wrong.
We were on our way back from Robber's Cave and took a short stopover at our hotel for a quick bathroom break. Next on agenda were Palatan Bazar and Tibetan Bazar. The driver knew in advance that we wanted to check out the famous Ellora Bakery and so informed us that it is on the way to the Bazars.
There are two shops named Ellora side by side and that stumped me for a moment. The first one was heavily packed with ladies hell bent on buying everything in sight. I couldn't find even an inch of a space to move. Frustrated, I retreated and went into the next Ellora shop. Rows and rows of biscuits, rusks and assorted bakery products greeted me. I knew I couldn't buy any rusks - however good they may be - they were very likely to get reduced to a fine powder during the plane journey back home. So I asked for Stick Jaw. The smiling shop attendant handed over a pack. We bought it along with a pack of assorted cookies.
Over the years I have realized one thing - if you buy sweets or any ready-to-consumed food item during your travel, you should make it a point to taste it immediately. if you like it, you can then go back and pick some more of it. That is impossible to do if you wait till you reach home to taste it. So as soon as we were back in the car, I opened the pack and popped a toffee in my mouth. I think the article that mentioned that 'this magical toffee is addictive' was right on the spot. There simply is no other way to describe it.
By this time we were on our way to the bazaars but I told the driver to return to the bakery at the end of the day to buy more toffees. We sure did and the shop attendant beamed as he handed us two more packets. It's going to be a hard task keeping myself away from them. :-)
We were on our way back from Robber's Cave and took a short stopover at our hotel for a quick bathroom break. Next on agenda were Palatan Bazar and Tibetan Bazar. The driver knew in advance that we wanted to check out the famous Ellora Bakery and so informed us that it is on the way to the Bazars.
There are two shops named Ellora side by side and that stumped me for a moment. The first one was heavily packed with ladies hell bent on buying everything in sight. I couldn't find even an inch of a space to move. Frustrated, I retreated and went into the next Ellora shop. Rows and rows of biscuits, rusks and assorted bakery products greeted me. I knew I couldn't buy any rusks - however good they may be - they were very likely to get reduced to a fine powder during the plane journey back home. So I asked for Stick Jaw. The smiling shop attendant handed over a pack. We bought it along with a pack of assorted cookies.
Over the years I have realized one thing - if you buy sweets or any ready-to-consumed food item during your travel, you should make it a point to taste it immediately. if you like it, you can then go back and pick some more of it. That is impossible to do if you wait till you reach home to taste it. So as soon as we were back in the car, I opened the pack and popped a toffee in my mouth. I think the article that mentioned that 'this magical toffee is addictive' was right on the spot. There simply is no other way to describe it.
By this time we were on our way to the bazaars but I told the driver to return to the bakery at the end of the day to buy more toffees. We sure did and the shop attendant beamed as he handed us two more packets. It's going to be a hard task keeping myself away from them. :-)
Palatan Bazaar, Dehradun
I must confess that I had already lost considerable part of my shopping enthusiasm by the time we pulled into this market. But the hustle and bustle of the place lifted my spirits. A person selling wind chimes and a stall selling chunky necklaces and ear-rings looked like a promising start to a great shopping experience. but sadly up ahead the market looked like any other market for locals in a city. I wanted to check out the famous Dehradun Basmati rice but could find only one shop that had stacked it along with other grocery items like juices and biscuits. The rice looked (and smelled!) no different than the one found in Mumbai kirana stores. The jewellery that was displayed by the few street vendors also looked remarkably similar to the one that can be found on Mumbai's Linking Road. There were a lot of stalls for T-shirts, socks and other types of clothes. The market stretched up ahead but I saw no point in going further.
I turned back without buying a single thing :-(
Tibetan Bazaar, Dehradun
When the driver told us that we were at Tibetan Bazaar, I first wondered if there were two places with the same name in the city. The bazaar looked nothing like what had been described on the internet. Various travel sites had me believe that one can buy semi-precious stones, Tibetan jewellery and artifacts here. Yet, no matter where I looked, all I could see were hawkers sitting amid heaps of clothes.
I walked on till the very end in the hopes that the shops or at least vendors selling these items would be some distance ahead but no such luck. There was only one guy sitting with bangles that didn't look any different than what are sold outside Mumbai suburban train stations.
Totally disappointed, I got in the car and we left for Palatan Bazaar.
I walked on till the very end in the hopes that the shops or at least vendors selling these items would be some distance ahead but no such luck. There was only one guy sitting with bangles that didn't look any different than what are sold outside Mumbai suburban train stations.
Totally disappointed, I got in the car and we left for Palatan Bazaar.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Maldevata, Dehradun
Google had informed me that there are 2 picnic spots in Dehradun - Maldevata and Lachhiwala. When I inquired at the hotel Front Desk I was told that Lachhiwala is usually crowded so we decided to go to Maldevata instead. Of course, I had ascertained that the place was safe.
After we left Sahastradhara, the driver retraces his steps a couple of times. How typical of Indian men – they won’t ask for directions even if they know that they are wrong. I called the hotel and had them guide the driver. Finally we were on the right track, sorry road! And it was a pleasant one – we passed tiny squares of green fields (wheat, if the driver was to be believed!), small neat bungalows, locals going about their business. All around us bare hills stood guard in the distance - the driver even pointed out hilltop houses in Mussoorie.
Finally he stopped the car in front of an ancient temple. Instead of going there first, we walked for some distance up ahead and then sat along the roadside looking at the vast empty expanse, the blue sky, the clouds gathering along the horizon and listening to the sweet sound of silence (a luxury no longer affordable in Mumbai!) occasionally punctuated by the muted thunder somewhere miles away. A plump little bird with hues of red kept us company but flew away when I tried to capture it in my digicam. Perhaps it wanted us to remember it only in our collective memories. :)
It was hard to tear myself away from there. I could have happily sat there till the sun went down but we were tourists with a limited time on our hands. So we walked back to the temple only to find that the sanctum sanctorium was locked! I don’t know if it was because we were too early (it was definitely past 11am!) or because it was a Sunday. Whatever the case, it was a huge disappointment. We paid our respects through the barred door, clicked a few pictures and turned back.
After we left Sahastradhara, the driver retraces his steps a couple of times. How typical of Indian men – they won’t ask for directions even if they know that they are wrong. I called the hotel and had them guide the driver. Finally we were on the right track, sorry road! And it was a pleasant one – we passed tiny squares of green fields (wheat, if the driver was to be believed!), small neat bungalows, locals going about their business. All around us bare hills stood guard in the distance - the driver even pointed out hilltop houses in Mussoorie.
Finally he stopped the car in front of an ancient temple. Instead of going there first, we walked for some distance up ahead and then sat along the roadside looking at the vast empty expanse, the blue sky, the clouds gathering along the horizon and listening to the sweet sound of silence (a luxury no longer affordable in Mumbai!) occasionally punctuated by the muted thunder somewhere miles away. A plump little bird with hues of red kept us company but flew away when I tried to capture it in my digicam. Perhaps it wanted us to remember it only in our collective memories. :)
It was hard to tear myself away from there. I could have happily sat there till the sun went down but we were tourists with a limited time on our hands. So we walked back to the temple only to find that the sanctum sanctorium was locked! I don’t know if it was because we were too early (it was definitely past 11am!) or because it was a Sunday. Whatever the case, it was a huge disappointment. We paid our respects through the barred door, clicked a few pictures and turned back.
Sahastradhara, Dehradun
The moment I opened my eyes in the morning I ran towards the French windows of the hotel suite – half in anticipation, half in trepidation. The sight that greeted my eyes justified both feelings. There were houses in the immediate vicinity of the hotel but I could make out mountains in the distance – not a sweeping view of the hills but enough to make me believe that I really was at a hill station! :)
After a hearty breakfast at the hotel (and a curious sight of 2 burly foreigners filling their Tupperware containers with bacon, boiled eggs, ham and assorted bakery products!)I was ready to face the day. I marched to the reception armed with a list of tourist attractions culled from the internet.
Sahastradhara – check!
Maldevata – check!
Robber’s Cave (they call it Guchhupani locally) - – check!
Palatan Bazar – check!
Tibetan Bazaar – check!
Tapkeshwar – check!
Mindrolling Monastery – check!
Khalanga War Memorial – what’s that?
“Hmmm....it is a memorial built by the British for the Gorkha regiment after the 1814-1816 war” – I read from the printout.
I met with blank faces.
“It is supposed to be in the vicinity of Sahastradhara” I said helpfully. ‘Never heard of it” pat came the reply.
‘Maybe you call it by some other name like Guchhupani” I persisted.
The front desk people made a few calls but drew blank everywhere.
“We will inquire when we reach Sahastradhara” I said with confidence that I wasn’t actually feeling.
“Oh and BTW, will there be water at Sahastradhara this time of the year?” they all said ‘Yes’ in unison.
And yet when we reached the place, there wasn’t much of it and that too was occupied with a group of college kids who were under the impression that the whole place belongs to them. This definitely wasn’t any auspicious beginning to our sightseeing.
There is a ropeway here which promises a sweeping view of the hillside from the top. We briefly toyed with the idea but I had read about the Parvanoo cable car accident in 1992 and so dropped the idea. The place had some boards pointing to sulphur springs in the vicinity but the sight of a group of men (topless and not physically fit!) waddling about in the water nipped the whole idea in the bud. We walked back through the market – past stalls advertizing Chow mein (spelled in a zillion different ways and all wrong!), Maggie (for some reason this turns out to be a favorite item at roadside eateries across Dehradun), soup and other eatables. I stopped short at a shop selling glass bangles and bought 3 pairs for a measly price of Rs. 20 each. This turned out to be the only jewellery (!) that I ended up buying in the whole trip! Maybe I should have spent some more time looking through the pieces – could have snagged an unusual pendant or two :(
Next stop – Maldevata.
After a hearty breakfast at the hotel (and a curious sight of 2 burly foreigners filling their Tupperware containers with bacon, boiled eggs, ham and assorted bakery products!)I was ready to face the day. I marched to the reception armed with a list of tourist attractions culled from the internet.
Sahastradhara – check!
Maldevata – check!
Robber’s Cave (they call it Guchhupani locally) - – check!
Palatan Bazar – check!
Tibetan Bazaar – check!
Tapkeshwar – check!
Mindrolling Monastery – check!
Khalanga War Memorial – what’s that?
“Hmmm....it is a memorial built by the British for the Gorkha regiment after the 1814-1816 war” – I read from the printout.
I met with blank faces.
“It is supposed to be in the vicinity of Sahastradhara” I said helpfully. ‘Never heard of it” pat came the reply.
‘Maybe you call it by some other name like Guchhupani” I persisted.
The front desk people made a few calls but drew blank everywhere.
“We will inquire when we reach Sahastradhara” I said with confidence that I wasn’t actually feeling.
“Oh and BTW, will there be water at Sahastradhara this time of the year?” they all said ‘Yes’ in unison.
And yet when we reached the place, there wasn’t much of it and that too was occupied with a group of college kids who were under the impression that the whole place belongs to them. This definitely wasn’t any auspicious beginning to our sightseeing.
There is a ropeway here which promises a sweeping view of the hillside from the top. We briefly toyed with the idea but I had read about the Parvanoo cable car accident in 1992 and so dropped the idea. The place had some boards pointing to sulphur springs in the vicinity but the sight of a group of men (topless and not physically fit!) waddling about in the water nipped the whole idea in the bud. We walked back through the market – past stalls advertizing Chow mein (spelled in a zillion different ways and all wrong!), Maggie (for some reason this turns out to be a favorite item at roadside eateries across Dehradun), soup and other eatables. I stopped short at a shop selling glass bangles and bought 3 pairs for a measly price of Rs. 20 each. This turned out to be the only jewellery (!) that I ended up buying in the whole trip! Maybe I should have spent some more time looking through the pieces – could have snagged an unusual pendant or two :(
Next stop – Maldevata.
पर्बत के पीछे चंबेदा गांव??
After we left Hariyali Dhaba it got dark pretty soon so we couldn’t get much idea about the terrain that we were passing through except for the hamlets that kept on appearing at regular intervals. There was also a light rain. It looked like it was a surprise even for the locals as we could see them huddled inside shops or other structures till it subsided.
If the rain followed us to Dehradun we didn’t stand much chance of covering the tourist spots that we had hoped to the next day. Alarmed at the prospect, I asked the driver if the rain would last over the weekend. ‘Who knows? The weather in the mountains is pretty unpredictable. But it probably won’t rain continuously’ was the best that he could come up with. Thank God for small mercies!
But I observed a curious thing as we neared the hill station. It looked very crowded – lots of big shops with big brands, restaurants, a KFC here, a McDonald’s there. I felt as if we had taken a wrong turn somewhere and landed in a metro. My brain knew that it would be stupid to expect what my heart wanted - a hill station where heroes like Shammi Kapoor frolicked among tall Deodar trees against a backdrop of snow-capped mountains in the 60s movies - and that I should thank my lucky stars even if I found something akin to what Ooty had been when we went there in the late 00s. Clearly much had changed. I got the feeling that globalization had swept in and in the process the local feel of the place had been irrevocably wiped out. I was perhaps late by more than four decades. The lines from a Hindi movie song came to mind – हुजूर आते आते बहोत देर कर दी.....
Well, I would know when I woke up tomorrow morning. At least I had tonight to dream about mountains with a hint of snow on top, a sleepy little village nestling at the bottom, a crisp cool air and a softly gurgling stream winding its way through lush green meadows fringed with Deonar trees. The village of my dreams – Chambeda perhaps?? :)
Shopping, Chandigarh
I had carefully jotted down the details that Google had churned out – Sector 17, 22, and 9 for clothes, Palika Bazaar in Sector 19 for cosmetic jewellery, the jams and juices from Himachal Pradesh and so on and so forth. But the visits to these sectors was pretty disappointing – maybe because we landed there at around 10:30 in the morning when the business is supposed to just start.
There weren’t any street stalls selling cosmetic jewellery, the cloth stacked in the shops had so much of embroidery that it would be simply impractical to use the dresses made out of it on a daily basis. The colors were too garish for my taste. And I wasn’t sure if the cloth would be suitable for the hot and humid weather of Mumbai. So I gave them a clear miss.
The only purchases we made were a pair of beautiful pillow covers for Rs. 100 (Shastri Market, sector 22), a bottle of tea tree oil & lemon based anti-dandruff shampoo (Rs. 200), a Jasmine soap (Rs. 110) and a honey-sandalwood soap (Rs. 110) - all purchased at Honey Hut, sector 22. I haven’t yet used the soaps or shampoo but hope that they are worth the price paid.
There weren’t any street stalls selling cosmetic jewellery, the cloth stacked in the shops had so much of embroidery that it would be simply impractical to use the dresses made out of it on a daily basis. The colors were too garish for my taste. And I wasn’t sure if the cloth would be suitable for the hot and humid weather of Mumbai. So I gave them a clear miss.
The only purchases we made were a pair of beautiful pillow covers for Rs. 100 (Shastri Market, sector 22), a bottle of tea tree oil & lemon based anti-dandruff shampoo (Rs. 200), a Jasmine soap (Rs. 110) and a honey-sandalwood soap (Rs. 110) - all purchased at Honey Hut, sector 22. I haven’t yet used the soaps or shampoo but hope that they are worth the price paid.
Wednesday, March 11, 2015
Hariyali Dhaba, en route Dehradun
Almost an hour and a half had passed since we had left Nada Sahib to go to Dehradun. It was good to sit back, relax and enjoy the landscape passing by but we were hungry. We didn’t want to mess up our dinner but needed a hot cuppa tea and some munchies. As if right on cue, the boards announcing the presence of Hariyali Dhaba started appearing on the side of the road – 5km, 4km, 3km, 2km, 1 km and we were there. The place looked decent enough so we decided to take a halt.
When we stepped in a huge family was already settling itself down for either an early dinner or a late lunch. The windows had been tightly shut – to keep the increasing cold out. We scanned the menu which looked interesting but we didn’t want to eat anything heavy – given that we had another 4 hours at least to reach our destination. So we decided to order tea and plate of pakoras. I,however, didn’t want to sit indoors. The dhaba had a good sitting arrangement outside. We debated, albeit only for a moment, the pros and cons of sitting indoors vs. going Al Fresco and promptly headed out.
It was pretty windy outside but we grabbed coats and jackets and sweaters from the car. The evening sky looked lovely and the trees swinging in the breeze added a perfect backdrop to it. A plump little bird dropped in to check out what we were eating.
They took their sweet time to serve us. The tea was piping hot but for reasons best known to them the pakoras were lukewarm. Alongside the usual suspects – onions and potatoes, they also had used cauliflower, chillies and paneer for making pakoras. We polished them off in no time and then sat back enjoying the view.
It was however getting dark and so we reluctantly got up to leave.
P.S. I have absolutely no idea why each of the tables had a hole in the center.
When we stepped in a huge family was already settling itself down for either an early dinner or a late lunch. The windows had been tightly shut – to keep the increasing cold out. We scanned the menu which looked interesting but we didn’t want to eat anything heavy – given that we had another 4 hours at least to reach our destination. So we decided to order tea and plate of pakoras. I,however, didn’t want to sit indoors. The dhaba had a good sitting arrangement outside. We debated, albeit only for a moment, the pros and cons of sitting indoors vs. going Al Fresco and promptly headed out.
It was pretty windy outside but we grabbed coats and jackets and sweaters from the car. The evening sky looked lovely and the trees swinging in the breeze added a perfect backdrop to it. A plump little bird dropped in to check out what we were eating.
They took their sweet time to serve us. The tea was piping hot but for reasons best known to them the pakoras were lukewarm. Alongside the usual suspects – onions and potatoes, they also had used cauliflower, chillies and paneer for making pakoras. We polished them off in no time and then sat back enjoying the view.
It was however getting dark and so we reluctantly got up to leave.
P.S. I have absolutely no idea why each of the tables had a hole in the center.
Nada Sahib Gurudwara, Panchkula
I had never been to a Gurudwara before. So I had inquired if there are any protocols to follow except to cover your head before entering. There are none, I was assured.
At the entrance steps, people were wading through a shallow trough that was filled with water. I guess the concept is that no one should be able to enter without washing his or her feet clean. But the water appeared muddy and I wasn’t sure about stepping into it. Yet, it would have appeared rude to circumvent it. We stood there looking uncertain until a few people who went ahead of us deftly stepped around the trough to go in. Needless to say, we followed suit.
There wasn’t much crowd inside so we could do the Darshan in peace. A man was standing near the exit door and I saw him handing over what looked like a packed Prasad to a devotee. But we weren’t sure whether we were supposed to pay for it so we just exited. Outside we saw a couple of people paying at a small window but there was no board indicating the amount to be paid. Finally I asked a gentleman who was reading some notices tacked on a notice board as to how much needs to be paid for the Prasad. ‘Whatever you feel like paying. There is no fixed amount’ he told me. This stumped me. How are you supposed to figure out what’s to be paid? 10? 50? 100? We walked away confused.
As we strolled back to return our driver asked us if we had received the Prasad. Sheepishly, we said we didn’t. He marched us to yet another window where we each received a dollop of sweet rava halwa – it tasted truly divine. He also asked us if we wanted to go into the Langar. I would have had liked to say Yes but the truth was that we were getting late for Dehradun. Sadly, we had to leave. Eating at a Langar remains on my list of ‘100 things to do before I die’. :-(
As we left, I turned back to look at the shrine. It exuded an aura that filled one with hope, peace and an inner sense of balance that is becoming rare in this day and age. God willing, I will come again for a Darshan and to eat the Prasad at the Langar. Amen to that!
At the entrance steps, people were wading through a shallow trough that was filled with water. I guess the concept is that no one should be able to enter without washing his or her feet clean. But the water appeared muddy and I wasn’t sure about stepping into it. Yet, it would have appeared rude to circumvent it. We stood there looking uncertain until a few people who went ahead of us deftly stepped around the trough to go in. Needless to say, we followed suit.
There wasn’t much crowd inside so we could do the Darshan in peace. A man was standing near the exit door and I saw him handing over what looked like a packed Prasad to a devotee. But we weren’t sure whether we were supposed to pay for it so we just exited. Outside we saw a couple of people paying at a small window but there was no board indicating the amount to be paid. Finally I asked a gentleman who was reading some notices tacked on a notice board as to how much needs to be paid for the Prasad. ‘Whatever you feel like paying. There is no fixed amount’ he told me. This stumped me. How are you supposed to figure out what’s to be paid? 10? 50? 100? We walked away confused.
As we strolled back to return our driver asked us if we had received the Prasad. Sheepishly, we said we didn’t. He marched us to yet another window where we each received a dollop of sweet rava halwa – it tasted truly divine. He also asked us if we wanted to go into the Langar. I would have had liked to say Yes but the truth was that we were getting late for Dehradun. Sadly, we had to leave. Eating at a Langar remains on my list of ‘100 things to do before I die’. :-(
As we left, I turned back to look at the shrine. It exuded an aura that filled one with hope, peace and an inner sense of balance that is becoming rare in this day and age. God willing, I will come again for a Darshan and to eat the Prasad at the Langar. Amen to that!
Mansa Devi Temple, Panchkula
This temple was one of the two places that we were going to visit before heading out of Chandigarh to Dehradun. As our car entered the premises a guy suddenly jumped in front of it, startling everyone including the driver. He then started directing that the car be turned to the left, probably near where his shop was located. Our driver tried to dodge him but he kept appearing in front of the car and for more theatrical effect folded his hands in a Namaste. It was totally surreal – this guy, whose entire body language was very threatening, was folding his hands in a gesture that’s meant to greet or plead. There was another tourist vehicle next to us and the people inside were appeared equally baffled.
I didn’t want to take any chances and asked the driver to turn around. My motto – safety first. But the driver clearly was in no mood to put up with such tomfoolery. He got out of the car with a feisty ‘Tenu problem ki hai?’ (What’s your problem?). A rapid exchange in local dialect followed in which I suspect some expletives might also have been used. The driver got back in the car, the other guy moved out and we were on our way to the temple. Here I must confess that for a moment I did entertain the thought that the driver was in cahoots with the local chap and it was all a ploy to fleece the tourists making it look as if the local goon was paid off to avoid any trouble. Thankfully, I was wrong. The driver dropped us near the entrance and said he would be back after refueling the vehicle and getting some part fixed.
A serpentine queue in a zigzag pattern greeted us at the temple. From past experiences of joining such crowd told me that we would be here for hours – a luxury we simply could not afford that day as we had to leave for Dehradun after going to Nada Sahib Gurudwara. And the thing about such queues is you cannot get out once you get in. I am not sure if they had the facility to let you in first if you pay and even if they had I would not have used it because I don’t believe in paying your way in a temple. So we folded our hands in the direction of the temple and started tracing our way back to the entrance.
A structure some distance away caught my fancy. Lot of people were going in and out but I could not figure out what it was from the outside so I removed my footwear and went in. A room on the left had rows of people sitting and eating – so it was some kind of a Langar or community dining hall. A little distance up ahead people coming out of the exit of the Langar hall were returning washed thalis to a receptacle. Though I wanted to have the experience of eating at a Langar, very frankly, I could not make myself do it. Maybe it comes easy to those who have it as a part of their culture but though I kept telling myself that it is a means of partaking of Prasad I knew I would not be able to eat there. :(
I tried to call the driver but there was some congestion at the network and I couldn’t reach him. We decided to check the parking lot in the event he had come back after completing his work. But the moment we stepped into the lot, a man started harassing us for money. He just would not leave us in peace till we moved out of the parking lot. Frustrated, we camped on the benches outside the entrance. Mercifully, after a few minutes I could contact the driver and tell him that we decided not to go inside the temple and were waiting for him outside. To my disappointment and chagrin, he said that it would be another half hour before he could make it back.
It’s a sad fact that beggars are a common sight at the holy places in India. But each time it disturbs me, more so if there are kids or old people among them. And it kind of makes you wonder if there really is God – not a very healthy thought when you are at a holy site. Sometimes I wonder if that will make me reach a tipping point one of these days and keel over to the atheist side. :( I just sat there, feeling miserable, depressed and dejected till the car came and picked us up.
I didn’t want to take any chances and asked the driver to turn around. My motto – safety first. But the driver clearly was in no mood to put up with such tomfoolery. He got out of the car with a feisty ‘Tenu problem ki hai?’ (What’s your problem?). A rapid exchange in local dialect followed in which I suspect some expletives might also have been used. The driver got back in the car, the other guy moved out and we were on our way to the temple. Here I must confess that for a moment I did entertain the thought that the driver was in cahoots with the local chap and it was all a ploy to fleece the tourists making it look as if the local goon was paid off to avoid any trouble. Thankfully, I was wrong. The driver dropped us near the entrance and said he would be back after refueling the vehicle and getting some part fixed.
A serpentine queue in a zigzag pattern greeted us at the temple. From past experiences of joining such crowd told me that we would be here for hours – a luxury we simply could not afford that day as we had to leave for Dehradun after going to Nada Sahib Gurudwara. And the thing about such queues is you cannot get out once you get in. I am not sure if they had the facility to let you in first if you pay and even if they had I would not have used it because I don’t believe in paying your way in a temple. So we folded our hands in the direction of the temple and started tracing our way back to the entrance.
A structure some distance away caught my fancy. Lot of people were going in and out but I could not figure out what it was from the outside so I removed my footwear and went in. A room on the left had rows of people sitting and eating – so it was some kind of a Langar or community dining hall. A little distance up ahead people coming out of the exit of the Langar hall were returning washed thalis to a receptacle. Though I wanted to have the experience of eating at a Langar, very frankly, I could not make myself do it. Maybe it comes easy to those who have it as a part of their culture but though I kept telling myself that it is a means of partaking of Prasad I knew I would not be able to eat there. :(
I tried to call the driver but there was some congestion at the network and I couldn’t reach him. We decided to check the parking lot in the event he had come back after completing his work. But the moment we stepped into the lot, a man started harassing us for money. He just would not leave us in peace till we moved out of the parking lot. Frustrated, we camped on the benches outside the entrance. Mercifully, after a few minutes I could contact the driver and tell him that we decided not to go inside the temple and were waiting for him outside. To my disappointment and chagrin, he said that it would be another half hour before he could make it back.
It’s a sad fact that beggars are a common sight at the holy places in India. But each time it disturbs me, more so if there are kids or old people among them. And it kind of makes you wonder if there really is God – not a very healthy thought when you are at a holy site. Sometimes I wonder if that will make me reach a tipping point one of these days and keel over to the atheist side. :( I just sat there, feeling miserable, depressed and dejected till the car came and picked us up.
Sukhana Lake, Chandigarh
As it is in the vicinity of the Rock Garden our next stop was the Sukhana lake. The moment we entered we overheard someone say that currently boating is not allowed. Sure, that was disappointing but I was looking forward to walking along the shore of the lake and thankfully that was still allowed.
Note to future visitors – you can walk right by the shore but I suggest you take the road that runs at the back of the grass. It is narrow but there is ample shade and you get to walk with trees on both sides. Even a walk till the public restroom (you will smell it before you see it!) will take upto half an hour, depending on your speed. But believe me, it will be worth every minute of it.
Another tip - don’t get lured by the shop that sells chaat items there. We ordered BhelPuri and asked if they have sevpuri on menu. A guy near the counter said they didn’t but the lady sitting there promptly said that they do. I realized that we were going to be served a hodgepodge of chaat items thrown together as sevpuri just so that they can make money. We should have cancelled the order but we were hungry. And I really didn’t believe that one can mess up making simple chaat.
As it turned out, I was wrong. The bhel was served first. The guy who made it had either forgotten to add the tamarind chutney or was clueless that it is part of the recipe. The sevpuri, as suspected, was a mix of chaat items hastily thrown together and smothered in dollops of curd. Totally tasteless and waste of money! You are better off starving. :-(
Note to future visitors – you can walk right by the shore but I suggest you take the road that runs at the back of the grass. It is narrow but there is ample shade and you get to walk with trees on both sides. Even a walk till the public restroom (you will smell it before you see it!) will take upto half an hour, depending on your speed. But believe me, it will be worth every minute of it.
Another tip - don’t get lured by the shop that sells chaat items there. We ordered BhelPuri and asked if they have sevpuri on menu. A guy near the counter said they didn’t but the lady sitting there promptly said that they do. I realized that we were going to be served a hodgepodge of chaat items thrown together as sevpuri just so that they can make money. We should have cancelled the order but we were hungry. And I really didn’t believe that one can mess up making simple chaat.
As it turned out, I was wrong. The bhel was served first. The guy who made it had either forgotten to add the tamarind chutney or was clueless that it is part of the recipe. The sevpuri, as suspected, was a mix of chaat items hastily thrown together and smothered in dollops of curd. Totally tasteless and waste of money! You are better off starving. :-(
The Rock Garden, Chandigarh
When our driver said that we will need more than an hour at the Rock Garden I thought he was exaggerating. How much can be constructed out of waste? Plenty, as I found to my surprise and delight.
There are very few places that make you feel that we should have had more than just a single pair of eyes. This rock garden easily makes it to that list. At every twist and turn and bend of the carefully laid-out narrow path that the visitors are supposed to follow, there are better and better sights to be seen. I cannot describe it in words so trusting the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words, I will leave it to the photos to do the honors.
Hats off to Nek Chand, the government official who built this out of waste like bottles, bangles, glasses, ceramic tiles and more!
Note to future visitors – please be courteous to your fellow visitors and make sure you step aside as soon as your photo session is done. Also please make sure that you leave plenty of room for others to pass as you try to cover as wide an area as possible in your photos. If you don’t, sooner or later people are going to lose patience and end up being forever a part of your family album.
There are very few places that make you feel that we should have had more than just a single pair of eyes. This rock garden easily makes it to that list. At every twist and turn and bend of the carefully laid-out narrow path that the visitors are supposed to follow, there are better and better sights to be seen. I cannot describe it in words so trusting the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words, I will leave it to the photos to do the honors.
Hats off to Nek Chand, the government official who built this out of waste like bottles, bangles, glasses, ceramic tiles and more!
Note to future visitors – please be courteous to your fellow visitors and make sure you step aside as soon as your photo session is done. Also please make sure that you leave plenty of room for others to pass as you try to cover as wide an area as possible in your photos. If you don’t, sooner or later people are going to lose patience and end up being forever a part of your family album.
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