The Masinagudi Trails

It’s good to experience good and it’s even better to experience which is better. My Masinagudi travel experience was awesome to say the least. Last weekend I set to visit Masinagudi with my in laws and J.As Budhha once said ‘It is better to travel than to arrive’ .

The voyage from Bangalore to Mysore and then crossing Bandipur and eventually reaching Masinagudi was a spellbound feeling for me. Most of the times I have seen the hills from top, this time it was a novel experience to have the view from foot. Its get accentuated when the mysterious jungle looms over you


Masinagudi is nestled in The Madhumali Tiger reserve and surrounded by the lush green forests. I found the whole tiger reserve and the forests to be very well maintained .The serene and scenic beauty of these forests can catch anyone on his toes. We took our shelter in the resort of Nawab Shafath Ali Khan who is a well know man-animal conflict expert and was recently in news for hunting down a Man eater in Faizabad. We were completely impressed by the facilities of the resort and more importantly the wonderful behavior of the owners there.

The most superlative part came when Nawab sahab’s son extended us an offer to join them in a jeep ride in the forest. It was already dusk and it was supposed to be the time when the animals would start leering and loitering around. The thrill of the jeep ride still excites me, it was just an open jeep with around 10 people in it and a sense of safari scattering around. We were fortunate enough to sight Bears and and a Panther along with the other usual suspects like Deer and wild buffaloes.

Hustling the jeep into the forest and chasing the animals like hunters to fetch a glimpse of these exquisite animals was an enchanting and unforgettable experience for us. Less to say that it was unreal and an illusory occurrence of events for me.

If It was not enough, me and J were offered a night stay in the exotic Tree house in the resort by the Jo (Daughter-in-law of Nawab sahib).Special thanks to her who was generous and kind to us during the whole visit. And well the night stay at the tree house again was one of the most resplendent experiences I have seen.

The next day started with again a safari rides amongst the dense and impenetrable forests of Madhumalai.This time we were gifted by the glimpse of the famous Tuskers of Madhumalai.When the ride ended it was like waves of satisfaction sailing over the shores like faces of everyone. After breakfast we headed back to the high risings of cities leaving behind the mystery and aura of Madhumalai.Still when I recall the experiences which I had back there I want to scuttle back and immersed myself again in the puddle of that majestic flora and fauna.

When red and blue started bleeding together

I thought I should capture these emotions as soon as possible after the Tango and Rumba of 2^nd april ended. My prolonged wait and agony has now ended, the always elusive trophy have been retained by us. Nation’s hope and trust was restored by this team following a dismal performance in the Caribbean four years ago. Dhoni has always been different; I had always felt that his serenity actually brings the pacifying tint to this pressurized and hyped game.

The Indian operation in this world cup has been nearly smooth and silky. This world cup truly marks the example of stars living up to their expectations and the other players filling the gap wherever needed. Tournament kicked off with Sehwag’s swashbuckling century against Bangladesh. India stumbled little in the middle of the tournament by conceding the tied match to England and losing the already captured match to SA. Then how they came back strongly by beating WIndies in group stages and defeating Aussies,Pakistan and SLankans in the knockouts for the WC glory. I would take this as peaking at the right time and hitting the iron when it was hottest.

Batting had clicked in the first two games, then I from the WIndies match bowling and fielding also rose and joined the Jamboree. Raina’s inclusion from the QFs brought sharpness to the field. Sachin scored most of the runs along with Mercurial Yuvraj with both bat and bowl leading the batting attack. I felt seam bowling has been of supreme quality as spin department was always expected to fare better on the Indian pitches. Zak ‘Scotch ‘Khan, as they say Zaheer is like a wine or scotch whisky.He is getting finer as he ages on. He has mastered the art of bowling with potent reverse swings, well directed bouncers and those compelling in swingers. With Munaf his close companion bowling well, even Nehra they ensured that Seam bowling pulls the right chords.

2007 had been a tragic performance, losing to Bangladesh in the opening match and they crashed out of the world cup. Even before we could settle in our seats to watch the world cup, we were out from this prestigious moment. Those were the times we felt very low and the most sorrowful moments. Bouncing back from that is an exemplary redemption.

A special mention must go to coach Gary Kirsten. He helped the team to phase out of the shoddy Greg Chappell era to the fresh air of this new breed of free flowing cricket. Now we have got good, confident young players backed up by ever supporting senior players. Job has not finished yet, the team needs to be invincible and champions in all terms and all sense. They must show the same domination in the upcoming tours of England and Australia.

Celebrations began on every nook and corner of India right after the match ended, with people coming out of their homes, bursting crackers, waving flags and dancing throughout the night.I imagine this cricket is not a game, its a religion, its a force that unites the nation.Well done India, I am going to cherish this moment for long and hope I get this feeling very soon again.

Honey and Hills

Life takes it own turn and mine took a big turn. It turned me into the voyage of married life and eventually we celebrated it by sailing out for the Honeymoon.

Hills had always enticed me, the vastness of hills for eternity have pulled the strings of my guitar. So I decided to spent one of my memorable days of life being cuddled and hugged in the valleys of Uttarkhand.Though I have spent my early days in Delhi, apart from a short visit to Nainital I never could feel the hills of Uttarkhand.

We took the flight from Netaji Subash international airport to Delhi.The flight arrived late and then punctuated with rains pouring heavily on the way, we reached the charming Nainital at 11 o clock night. We missed most of the picturesque ride from Haldwani to Nainital as rains and night blocked the view.We travelled from Delhi-Moradabad-Rampur-Pantnagar-Haldwani-Nainital .Our stay was arranged at Dynasty resorts in Khuraptal.Other than being pretty far from main Nainital, the resort was magnificent. Nestled in the valleys of Khuraptal the view from the loggia of the hotel room was celestial.

Next day morning after having breakfast we started our journey towards the petite Himalayan town of Kausauni.Its a 5 hrs drive from Nainital to Kausauni.Enroute we passed over the picturesque Ranikhet.Then the time for lunch arrived and we had one of the best experiences of our voyage. We stopped by a very small and cute Homestay and café for lunch. Reaching there we learnt that, the café was closed for some time for some renovation work. But then the café owner was kind enough to fix some sandwiches and coffee for us. Interior of the café was mesmerizing and well decorated that my camera rolled itself on to capture the scenics.A must recommendation for the travelers who like something new.

Then as it happened we had a tyre puncture and after that we reached Kausuani at around 5-30 p.m.It was freezing cold .My wife started feeling little nauseatic after experiencing whirl winding rides in the hills and hence we decided to call the day off.

Next day we woke up leisurely and headed for some local sightseeing in Kausauni.Kausauni is situated in the Kumaon region of the Uttarkhand and native people speak Kumaoni here. Gandhiji once came to Kausauni and hence it has a Gandhi anasakhti ashram here .It boasts magnificent views of Himalaya which is sure to enthrall many hearts.We did a small trek here and roamed around the Ashram.

Then we headed towards the Tea gardens of Kumaon.There was also a shawl factory nearby.We went into the factory and the local boy explained us how wool is being made and processed.The factory was churning out shawls,stowls,tweeds,mufflers and yes we chose some of them from there.

I have always felt food and wine is one of the important and defining parts of any travel.As being once explained ‘A romantic traveller is not one who walks is one who dawdles and imbibes the local culture ’.

If you havent experienced the local cuisine you haven t felt  and smelt that place actually .This was part was certainly missing till now.Then I stumbled over a small local joint near the tea garden and the owner mentioned he is one of the few people here who serves local food here.My gourmet self woke up and I ordered few local specialities.

Bhatt ki Chutkani (Local cereal), Aloo Mooli ka chetuah (Sabzi preparation made of Potato and raddish) and Kumaoni Rice were my lunch for that day .The food was scrumptious and we enjoyed eating every tiny bit of it. After finishing the day’s work we returned back to the hotel room and savored the evening tea under the drooping sun.The temperature reached below 4 in the evening, so vibes of chill was superflous.

(Dairy version starts here)Lying inside the woods of Kumaoun and snow peaks view with the flip of my eyes as I keep typing these lines. It’s definitely the best travelling experience I have for long time and romanticism of travelling reaches to the pinnacle here. The hotel room was comfortably made up of wood, fireplace keeping the room warm,water in copper glasses turned into nectar ,a cozy room  and sonata of chirping of birds, with all these I couldn’t have asked more than this. Coming to Binsar has made up my trip and a pat on my back as I decided to come to Binsar. It is one of the offbeat destinations of Uttarkhand and it boasts of a wildlife sanctuary which has a varied range of Flora and Fauna. Our resort ‘Binsar retreat’ was well juxtaposed inside the sanctuary and the Himalayan peaks.

Listening to the howling of animals outside, we both hugged each other and enjoyed the romantic serene settings. Plus I got those Kumaoun specialties on my plate. As I write this I have to leave this place and we will be starting heading towards Nainital.

(End of Dairy version)

Cold welcomed us into Nainital again. Nainital Lake was worth looking into as it was ornamented with lights and mist spraying over it. At last my wife got some opportunity here to delve into shopping. Nainital is famous for its Wax candles. From a beer mug shaped candle to lantern, the shop possessed it all.

Next day was our turn to descend from the hills to the plains of Delhi. Coming back it took mere 7 hrs. Then we took the flight back from Delhi to Kolkata. It seemed like a six days full of tranquility and harmony in the hills had finished and we transcended to day to day life of mortal plains. The enormity of Himalayas still alive is in my hearts and as start planning my next explore into the hills.

 

This year..What year ?

Well i dont want you to go without a blog post in a year.I dont care whether you have read Ray Bardbury or seen cheesy movies like Golmaal-3.From mid of this year, after Romit's departure defintely my life has become one dimensional. Movie watching has hit to all time low this year.Couple of good movies which were running in theatres i could catch like Bengali movie 'Autograph' and blockbluster Inception.

So has been the sad condition of my book reading frequency.I read defintely 'The Lost Symbol' followed it with Ray Bradbury's 'Farenheit 9/11' coupled with a couple of plays.Surely all time low in terms of feeding my hungry intellect. Well surely my technical blogging has been on a all time high. I will definitely try to get things right in these things also next year and also would try to blog more in coming days.

Thankless Well you are !

Well thankless job it is. I surely say so, you finish up the thing which is fit for human consumption and you don’t get that appreciation and much deserved adulation. I, myself belong to this smarter race of people. We want to scoff; we want to eat good food, authentic food. We are open, we are objective and we can eat anything under the only sun we have.

Bengalis are known for their eating habits and to top that elite list we have Bengali sweets. Not going far and keeping my self modesty at its own place let me explain, there is a round faced, cute looking; white colored sweet called Rasogulla which they say is the baap of all sweets. We have competitions which turn into ferocious battles of Rasogulla gulping. The person who eats the maximum is bestowed with all love and admiration and then my dear fellas he is a man to look upto.

Children or Older people without a single strong tooth take part in the widely regarded and prestigious ceremony of Rasagulla eating. Not dragging this Rasogulla eating thing further I will tell you a short account of eating

That one fine day, yes fine it was. My uncle was telling a heart absorbing and rib tickling tale of consumption. This is a story of those days when you would get a meal for Rs 6. He and few of his friends in their youth went to this place for lunch. They went to the eating place and ordered the meals. The owner of the shop came with a tinkling smile on his face and happily asked them.’ So fellas how is the food, eat eat this is unlimited meal’. Then it started and yes the metamorphosis started, the smile on his face was well substituted by a grin. He said ‘I did not say to eat this much’. It is being heard after that day the owner who was selling the meal for 18 long happy years had abolished the meal system.

So tales like this prevail in the land of gourmets, epicures and obviously few gluttons. I often sometime think what is there without food; it brings a smile to the face of the poignant one. It is a platform for people to communicate; to converse. It is the opportunity for the introvert to shed his laconic tint and to intermingle with people. It is a topic to discuss, a subject to debate, an object to love. It is a joy, a cheer which enlivens the grief.
Foodie hain hum
Well now it is my time for lunch.

Plethora of Acts

Why not analyze the recent bioscopes I witnessed. For some time movie watching has become a
rare event for me. I could point out the three movies I watched during last four months so to say. These movies varied from Genre to Language. From execution to act.
I sometime wonder the thoughts and ideas which wander across the director’s mind. Let me start chronologically.Vittoria Di Sica was considered as the pioneer of Neo Realistic movies which originated from Italy. After seeing his movie ‘Bicycle Thief’ I was mesmerized by the simplicity of the movie. This time I got the chance to watch ‘The Shoeshine boys’ .Again this movie magnifies the power of simplicity which Di Sica demonstrated. It is a heart wrenching commentary of two impecunious boys' life about friendship, betrayal and moreover life. Oscar Winner Satyajit Ray was deeply inspired by Di Sica’s ways of making movies which later inspired him to make his path breaking movie Patter Panchali (The Story of road).

Then I chanced upon Buddhadev Dasgupta’s tour de force ‘Kalpurush’ (Bengali).It is a convoluted story illustrating the father-son relationship, very amicably played by National Award winner Mithun Chakraborty and Rahul Bose in lead roles.This movie typically harbors the stunning cinematography and direction.Dasgupta’s each frame has a sharp angle attached to it which sometimes reminds me of Stanley Kubrick, as how he took his shots in ‘Clockwork Orange’.

Last but categorically not the least I saw Michael Mann’s Public Enemies. Johnny Depp is one actor who in my view has never compromised on his roles and has always tried to do something very diverse. Christian Bale on the other hands is known for his enthusiasm and dedication to the roles he portrays (remember Machinist).These two combined in his brilliant controlled movie.This movie trails back to 1930’s when crime in America was rising with John Dillinger (aptly played by Depp) who was considered Public Enemy no.1.This movie also briefly shows the uprising and the formation of F.B.I.
This surmises my little roving into movie world for last four months.By the time I am finished writing this posts I saw movies like Amen and Kaminey also.So all and all it makes a quite decent package to my strong belief.

Ekdum ich Latest

Stretched to the limits after working madly, that too with a grin on my face.
I wondered why not test my typing skills for a change, hence these piece of words.
I wonder why Micro Fictions are great piece of art. Simply and fully because I know the outcome first then I start writing it.140 words in Twitter gives it an unassailable edge.
I started following Arjun Basu who tweets resplendent Micro Fictions and then it was well carried by my friends Romit and Rohit in the twitter arena. That pushed me to think within 140 words.

As I prepare and then again prepare for buying my bike, I swing from one model to another model. Some has good looks; some take pride in mileage where some are happy to bestow you with power. Good dilemma I would say I fell into.

Then when I saw one of my dreams getting fulfilled. I was happy and then I was happiest. You know being happier how it is. o.K. now deliberately coming back to the dream, yes Copenhagen. Definitely when I saw Copenhagen was about to be performed in Rangashankara I knew I had to experience that, feel that and get immersed into that also. Definitely Michael Frayn knew what sort of Hangover audience would get, as they would continue to linger and loiter in the uncertainty principle.

As I continue Subhash is dead, how much did he achieve and what were the consequent adulations he got, I am again made to wonder. This time I do wonder.CPI(M) after losing considerable seats in Loksabha elections to Mamta and Congress Junta would consider loss of Subhash as a significant one.

Now the abstract ending i.e. Latest Ich mein itna ich milega.