The journey to the centre of my belly - Day 5

I wanted to visit Amritsar for quite some time to see the Golden Temple or " Durbar Sahib". The discipline among people is most striking. People here are both polite and friendly. The politeness is evident in the signboard outside the Durbar Sahib. It read 'जुता यहाँ निकालिये जी'। (would you be so kind to remove your shoes here).

I went around the temple complex and observed a large number of people involved in 'seva' or service of different kind. Some were cleaning the ground on which people walked, some serving water and some cleaning the bowl in which drinking water is served to people. I had to wait in queue for about 20 minutes for a darshan. No one person, pushed, shoved, grunted, sighed whilst waiting. It was a completely different experience as compared to temples where people only push and shove each other to get a better 'darshan' and forgetting where they are and why they came to a temple. The discipline of the people of Amritsar once again stuck a cord in my heart.I proceeded to visit Jallianwala Bagh(picture of monument above) which is about a couple of minutes away from the Golden Temple Complex. The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre, alternatively known as the Amritsar Massacre, was named after the Jallianwala Bagh, where, on 13 April 1919, British Indian Army soldiers under the command of General Dyer opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children, The firing lasted about 10 minutes and 1650 rounds were fired, or 33 rounds per soldier. The walls which contain bullet marks are preserved(see pics below).










I then visited the Durgiana Temple and Vaishnav Devi Temple and returned to the hotel for lunch and post lunch siesta.
I left the hotel in the evening to visit the Wagah Border.Wagah is the only road border crossing between India and Pakistan, and lies on the Grand Trunk Road between the cities of Amritsar, India and Lahore, Pakistan. Wagah itself is a village where the controversial Radcliffe Line was drawn. The village was unified before partition in 1947. Today, the eastern half of the village remains in India whilst the other half is in Pakistan.The Wagah border is a ceremonial border where each evening, there is a ceremony called 'lowering of the flags'. At that time there is very energetic and thrilling parade done by Border Security Force (B.S.F), India and Pakistan Rangers soldiers.These guards throw forward one leg, as high as their own heads, and stomp it down to the ground. This is done while glowering fiercely at the opposite side. They than announce their contempt for each other with strong, emphatic displays of thumbs-down.Upon the lowering of the flags, the guards must give a few final stomps. Representatives of both countries then complete the ceremony with a quick, cursory handshake. The gates are then closed, sealing the border for the evening.I always knew that I was an Indian but the fact that here was an alien nation no more 100 meters away gave me a feeling about 'being an Indian' that I cannot describe in words. The air was filled with slogans and cries like "Vande Maataram", "Hindustan Zindabad" & "Bharat Mata Ki Jai". The Pakistanis were driven with "Jiye Jiye..Pakistan". The ceremony began at about 6:30 PM and ended in less than 20 minutes. After the ceremony...I looked back at the Pakistani Gate to see a flock of birds fly from Pakistani into India. I'll leave it to the reader to decide what you want to make of that!!

The journey to the centre of my belly - Day 4

The entire day involved traveling from Agra to Amritsar with a halt at New Delhi. I had to board my train from Raja Ki Mandi railway station and to my horror found that there was only one bridge connecting the two platforms and was placed quite stupidly at the end of the platform. Having got to the platform, I had to locate the position of the bogie from the engine. None of the indicators on the platform displayed any information other than the train number. I asked people around me and got three answers a) A very clear 'I don't know'. b) The train stops here so you'll able to tell when it stops...WOW!! c) A look that said 'Where are you from...don't you even know this?'. So I thought it would be best to stick to rear end of the platform to help me catch my train better. I was armed with a backpack and a small shoulder bag.
When the train arrived, people started stared pushing each other in order to get to their respective bogies which kinda proved my point that the indicators need to 'indicate' more than just the train number. Anyway...seeing people run helter skeltor and blocking my way, left me with no choice but to charge full speed towards my bogie and also shouting my way so that anyone who heard or saw me could move. A few unfortunate souls neither heard or nor saw me in time to move and as a result one fell to the ground with a thud, one lost his spectacles and the third had to look for his family jewels(the poor fellow got his kicked in the nuts). I settled down, finished breakfast and fell into a deep sleep and awoke when the train was chugging into New Delhi railway station. I went over to my sister's place for lunch and returned to the station to take my train to Amritsar.
I reached the station at 13:30 for the 14:05 Garib Rath Express. The departures board displayed the time 18:05 against the Garib Rath Express. I thought that it might have been a mistake and needed to confirm the exact time of departure. I approached the station superintendent office and they directed me to the enquiry counter. The counter was outside the station and could easily be located for two distinct reasons. One, a serpentine queue and a loud speaker which was handled by a lady whom I thought was named 'Remington Squeal'. The lady kept squealing pieces of information and kept squealing instructions to those present in the queue to maintain order. I found out that the train was indeed 4 hours late. This was due to the unrest in Rajasthan by the Gujjars. All trains through Rajasthan headed for Delhi and beyond were being diverted though Jhansi and Bhopal.
I made my way to the waiting room to join scores of other passengers waiting for their respective trains. I plonked my bags in the space available and converted them into a pillow. I fished out my book and kept reading. I particularly liked this experience as it was something I had never done before. Meanwhile, the departure board in the waiting room kept updating passengers with information and I saw the arrival and departure time of my train change from 18:05 to 18:30 to 19:00 to 19:30.The train finally arrived at 19:30 and departed at 20:05. A full six hours late. I felt quite stupid as I saw the New Delhi-Amritsar Shatabdi leave the station. I did not book my ticket by this train as I thought I would reach Amritsar earlier by the Garib Rath Express.
I thought that my misery would end with the arrival of the train but found some amazing companions in the train. They were cockroaches, dirt, grime, soiled toilets and a distinct odour of fart.
The train finally chugged into Amritsar at about 4:30 AM. I was tired, sleepy(remember the cockroaches) & bugged. At the end of it, what brought a smile to my face was a lovely sign greeting all passengers, "Welcome to Amritsar - The City of Values"

The journey to the centre of my belly - Day 3

This being my second day at Agra, I'd arranged for a taxi to take me to Mathura, Vrindavan and Sikandara. I first went to Vrindavan then to Mathura and then to Sikandara. On my way to Vrindavan, I witnessed a new form of travel where people travel atop autos, don't believe me..have a look at the photograph here.

Vrindavan is noted for its numerous temples - both old and modern. There exist over five and a half thousand big and small temples in Vrindavan. My first visit was to the GovindDeo Temple. The GovindDeo Temple was once a magnificent seven storied structure built in the form of a Greek cross. It is said that the Emperor Akbar donated some of the red sandstone that had been brought for the Red Fort at Agra, for the construction of this temple. Built at the astronomical cost of one crore rupees in 1590 by his general Raja Man Singh, the temple combines Western, Hindu and Muslim architectural elements in its structure. It was destroyed by Mughal ruler Aurangzeb. I then made my way to the Vrindavan Bihari temple which is the most popular shrine at Vrindavan. 2000 women chant for 8 hours a day, 4 hours in the morning and 4 in the evening. I then left Vrindavan for Mathura, the birth place of Lord Krishna. At Mathura, a mosque & a temple share a wall and security is extremely tight. There is a constant vigil of armed guards and army personnel within the temple complex. No electronic items are allowed inside the temple complex. Having finished darshan at the temple, I then visited Sikandara, Emperor Akbar's Tomb. The tomb stands in the center of a vast garden, which is enclosed by high walls on all sides. In the center of each enclosing wall is a monumental gateway. The whole garden is divided into four equal quarters on the conventional Char-bhag(''Four-part") plan. Each quarter is separated by a high terrace or raised path with a narrow shallow water channel running at the center. Each terrace has in the center, a tank with fountains. The garden was home to deer, which were more than happy to have their photographs taken. Although there is only one entrance in use today there exist four red sandstone gates which lead to the mausoleum complex. The decoration on the gateways is strikingly bold, with large mosaic patterns set into it. Having almost covered all places of interest as per the tour quite early, we stopped for a late lunch of horrible chicken biryani...Why was it horrible?...it was full of..eggs..and not chicken..guessed you can afford to be chicken in this town! Post lunch, I had the cab take me to the last site, Itmad-Ud-Daula. Itmad-Ud-Daula is the tomb of Mirza Ghiyas Beg, a Persian who had obtained service in Akbar's court. The tomb set a startling precedent as the first Mughal building to be face with white inlaid marble and contrasting stones. Unlike the Taj it is small, intimate and, since it is less frequented, has a gentle serenity. This structure is also referred to as the Mini Taj. Once again, the symmetry in the architecture was striking. I left Itmad-Ud-Daula and returned to my hotel only to be absorbed in a book I carried. I retired early that night as what lay ahead was an entire day of travel starting with an early morning train to Delhi.

The journey to the centre of my belly - Day 2

With a plan to visit the Taj and other sites, I made my way to Agra Cantonment Railway Station to take a tour bus. I found the UP tourism office with little difficulty and entered the cabin to find all of four people inside, two of whom were foreign tourists. I thought I had missed the bus and was therefore supposed to find my own way around the city. I was then told by the blokes behind the counter that the bus had not left or rather could not leave until there were a minimum of 6 people. I made him aware that there were 3 tourists, the bus driver, the bus cleaner which made 5 and all we had to do was find another person to join us(I also made him an offer to join us). Despite giving me a broad grin on this new found knowledge, he chose to disagree. I turned to find a boy and a girl chatting with each other. Having exchanged pleasantries with Jimmy and Sahra (pic.), we decided that the only way to visit the different sites would be by hiring a taxi. As we made our way to the stand we were greeted (read hustled) by a hoard to taxi drivers, guides and middlemen(guess we were the only tourists in town!) - and they shouted at us in broken English with offers of hotel rooms and bargains to be had. At the counter of the taxi stand was a bloke who shouted for silence from his companions and turned to us with one of the widest and most radiant smiles you could ever see. We then bargained with the guy at the counter and a few taxi men and settled on the rate of Rs 1100/- for a tour in an A/c cab to Fatehpur Sikri, Agra Fort, Taj Mahal and back. We got into the taxi and left a couple of chappies at the stand at each others' throats(so much for 'atithi devo bhava') which translates to 'Guest is God'. We began our trip with a visit to Fatehpur Sikri, a UNESCO world heritage site. Built during the second half of the 16th century by the Emperor Akbar, Fatehpur Sikri (the City of Victory) was the capital of the Mughal Empire for only some 10 years. Constructed from red sandstone, the complex of monuments and temples, all in a uniform architectural style, includes one of the largest mosques in India, the Jama Masjid. Fatehpur Sikri is divided into two areas, Sikri - the residential complex, housing the palaces of the 3 wives of Emperor Akbar (Jodhabai, Maryam and Turkey Sultana). Fatehpur - housing the tomb "Salim Chisti Ka Mazar" of the famous Sufi Saint 'Salim Chisti'. Fatehpur is also home to the famous 'Buland Darwaza',(see pic.) meaning 'High Gate' which is the highest gateway in the world and an astounding example of the Mughal architecture. From Fatehpur Sikri, we had lunch and made our way to the Agra Fort. The Agra Fort too is a UNESCO world heritage site. The fort, built from red sandstone was originally held by the Chauhan Rajputs. Many a battle ensured many a ruler. The most famous battle was the first battle of Panipat between Babur and Ibrahim Lodi. Lodi was defeated and killed at Panipat in 1526. The Mughals captured the fort and a vast treasure - which included a diamond that was later named as the "Koh-i-Noor" diamond. The rest as they say is history!

A very striking feature about Mughal architecture is its symmetry. This is evident at the Agra Fort and the Taj Mahal. The attention to detail is clearly exhibited in the photograph. What you think to be paint, is actually stone, carved and placed in a cavity of the same shape in white marble. The view of the Taj from the Agra Fort was breathtakingly beautiful. Emperor Shahjahan was held under house arrest by his son, Aurangzeb at the Agra Fort. We then proceeded to visit the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Turkish, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. The base structure is a large, multi-chambered structure. The base is essentially a cube with chamfered edges and is roughly 55 meters on each side. The marble dome that surmounts the tomb is its most spectacular feature. Its height is about the same size as the base of the building, about 35 metres, and is accentuated as it sits on a cylindrical "drum" of about 7 metres high. Because of its shape, the dome is often called an onion dome. It took us about a couple of hours to go around the entire complex and return to the parking lot. We returned to the station from where I proceeded to my hotel and Jimmy and Sahra took the train back to Delhi.

The journey to the centre of my belly - Day 1

Armed with train and flight tickets for all sectors before departing, I hopped into a three wheeled bumble-bee to get me to the airport for a flight to Delhi. On route I was greeted by the regular feature on the WE highway…bumper to bumper traffic. As the chappie behind the wheel...err handle bar negotiated his way through all available space, a vehicle behind us decided to break the “bumper-to-bumper” rule and kissed our behind. The driver peered into his rearview mirror trying to figure out who the numbskull was. I proceeded to ask him “Auto tha kya?” (“Was it an Auto that bumped into us?”). To which he nonchalantly replied “Aur kaun ho sakta hai?” (Who else could it possibly be?). I couldn’t control myself and burst out laughing with the chappie joining in as well.

After reaching the airport I checked in my luggage and proceeded to security check. Having completed all formalities, I waited for the departure announcement and ambled across to the bus taking me from the departure lounge to the aircraft. The ride on the bus from the lounge to the aircraft was a long one as a few of us on board began to wonder whether the bus or the flight was going to New Delhi. No sooner did the aircraft take than it suddenly dipped. A girl shrieked when this happened, causing all passengers to turn and look at her and a gentleman seated beside her. The girl had covered her mouth and took it off to display a sheepish grin. The gentleman on the other hand I guessed, shat his pants as he had a “I-didn’t do no nothing” look on his face. The Go-Air crew was polite and helpful. They moved me to a seat ahead to help me deplane faster so that I could catch my connecting train from New Delhi to Agra. On landing in New Delhi, I got chatting with a few people to gather some info about the city and the way to get to the railway station. I found that I had about an hour to spare and was advised to wander about Connaught Place or Rajiv Chowk as it’s now known as. Not being the type who likes to wander about with “wandering” as an objective, I decided to get myself something to eat.

I discovered…or rather my nose and belly made its way to ‘Kake Da Dhaba” (Kake’s Hotel). I managed to get a place to sit after waiting for about 10 minutes. I ordered myself a plate of Chicken Curry and Rotis to go along. The service was good with a Nepali guy serving me with a smile on his face. I devoured the food with great delight. Rotis kept appearing and the curry plate was refilled constantly...without me asking for a refill or the usual "Ek roti lana"("One roti please"). The bill was all of Rs. 87/- …yeah eighty seven rupees (also includes a bottle of water).

I picked up my bags and walked from CP to New Delhi Railway Station and boarded the train to Agra. The train departed a few minutes late as I eased into my seat and looked out of the window. I began to second thoughts as to where I was when I saw the names of the two stations after New Delhi, “Shivaji Bridge” & ”Tilak Bridge”. I chugged out of the capital city towards Agra looking forward to the journey that lay ahead...

The journey to the centre of my belly! - Prologue

Having spent a whole year in securing an admission into a B-school, it had been a while since I’d left the city. So I decided to travel to Agra, Amritsar & Delhi for about a week and take a long and much deserved break. I spent 2 days in Agra & Delhi and a day in Amritsar and about 2 days traveling between the cities.
During my journey I met people from various walks to life and from different countries. My nose guided me to places where one can undertake gastronomic adventures. I feel that this is just the beginning of some amazing times to come. I do plan to undertake a trip each year to various places in the country. I urge each of you reading this piece to undertake a trip to various corners of this amazing country at least once a year. I proceed to describe each day of this wonderful bittersweet journey across Incredible India!

The Bucket List

We all think about the decisions we made that brought us to where we stand today. Some of us look at them with pride, some with shame. We also wish at times we could go back in time and at least change one decision taken...but if we all had this power over time/space...then life wouldn't be life...it certainly wouldn't be the "female dog" as we sometimes refer to it.


Saw the movie “The Bucket List” today and it made me think about a few things.

What would I do if I were told ...” You have a year to live”….” There’s nothing we can do about it”

What would I do? .... What would I do? Have you ever asked yourself this question?… What would you do if faced with a scenario like this? Would I choose to spend the rest of my life with my loved ones? Would I pray for some miracle or rather hope that some scientific research somewhere in the world would cure me? Or would I….. Show everyone the middle finger and say “I’m gonna live” knowing deep down that I’m trying to play hero when all I want to do is cry!

Or.....Would I just go out and do all that I’d ever wanted to but never had the balls to do it all my life.

Guess I’d choose the last one...maybe I’d write down what I want to do before I “Kick the bucket”... Guess it's be a good idea to make a “Bucket list”

Travel around the world and visit the Seven Wonders of the World.

Take part in an Orgy!!!....female readers who are interested may please mail me!!!

Go skydiving and bungee jumping.

Drive a Formula1 car.

Own a Ferrari.

Have my own place in Monte Carlo looking over the harbour.

Open a kennel and play with all the dogs at the kennel.

Act in a Movie and in a Play.

Die while having….you know what!

ADD MORE TO THIS LIST!!!