The GREAT INDIAN TOUR contd

So here ends my GREAT INDIAN TOUR before I start my lease of new life from next week in IIM Indore. And what a tour it was!!

It was a result of a resolve at client site in US where I hated my beeper support of 24 hrs, that I will chill myself completely in Indian waters before I try a dip at IIMs. And boy oh boy! I lived it throughout. From the rigorous hiking at Vaishno devi to tortuous and torquous (I mean it) biking (Pulsar-ising) at Mussorie, I lived in every moment. From the dangerous rides at Wonder La, Park in Bangalore to amusing chilling waters of Robber’s Cave at Dehradun, from the ever-welcomed ‘Lassi’ of Vrindavan to ‘Bhuttas’ at a height of 2000m at Mussorrie, I simply ROCKED!

Let me start with my auto-travelogue (J), with special thanks to the main characters of the tour apart from yours truly –

Tom, Sam, Gupta and Sapre – Bangalore
My parents – Mathura-Vrindavan-Mehendipur-Balaji-Kaila devi
My bro (Girraj) & Nitin - Delhi-Vaishno devi–Dehradun-Mussorie

The places –

Dehradun/Mussorie-

I never really thought that Dehradun can be such a nice place, it gives you right mix of everything – cool weather, calm surroundings of mountaineering terrain, hustle bustle of McDonalds and lots of good bunch of good looking junta ;)

Sahastra-dhara is a traditional spot to chill in waters but what took my qualms away was ‘Robber’s Cave’. It is a must see for adventure enthusiasts. Basically it is a narrow passage between two mountains with fresh water gushing in between from a fall. As you might have guessed already, its name comes from its notorious use by robbers.

City is small but dotted with institutions like FRI(Forest Research Institute), IMA, etc. Plus is a 30 Km drive to Mussorie, which rocks if you pulsate the terrain of heights and tortuous track if biked with right bikes J. The top is always busy on weekends as lots of honeymooners and people from Delhi throng the place. There is a good rope-way but wait time is a price to be paid. A fall called Kemptee Fall is also there, but nothing in comparison with Niagara of US/Canada J.

Vaishno Devi/Jammu

With a resolve in mind to seek the blessings of the great goddess of Mountains – Vaishno Devi, we started our hiking in the evening at 7:30 and reached the Bhawan at 1:30 am. Though the journey up the mountain was okay but the gross mismanagement at the top, took my breath away (U see I am getting into management na J). The number of devotees was I guess in lakhs and the number of lockers that the trust there provides is in hundreds that too I guess not more than 400 – absolutely free!! What catastrophe might ensue out of this is no secret. People who are lucky to get the locker, take it, get the darshan and never come back until they get a sound sleep! And the line for putting in the luggage remains increasing in the wait of people coming to retrieve their belongings! I was amazed to see such a big fallacy in their model, why not keep an hourly fee, so that traffic keeps moving? Result – We waited in the line throughout the night…..I remembered the days when I did my night-outs at infosys…@##%!^&*

Well we had the darshan next day in the morning and then after coming down, slept for 12 hours straight. Well, all is well if it ends well and that’s what happened. We left happily for Jammu, where did some city-viewing…though there were lots of police check-posts which I guess were signatures of the relationship we have with our neighbour. We then headed straight to Dehradun.

I guess this post can go on and on…..with Bangalore trip still to be portrayed in the right manner it deserves..so I guess wait till the next post! Its now time for some serious packing and preparations at home as I leave for Indore next week! Bye for now.

~ Nits