Dynamic Dust: Travel

Right time + Right Place = Amazing Day at Sundernagar

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Intimate bond of music and travelling!

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When I plan for travelling to some place, one custom that remains constant is listening to songs. These two things are inseparable to me!

India is a very diverse country and from one of those diversities, I belong. There are a lot of mountains all around my place which makes the road curvier and sometimes can create headache or can make you sick.

My mantra to enjoy travelling is being devoted to music. It’s a thing which maintains equilibrium in my state of mind so that I can enjoy the journey fully. Actually, it makes me to adore every moment happily. Cool breeze, mesmerizing sceneries and music with decibel, these three things makes my journey perfect!

Every time when I travel, music remains constant. Other two things are variable and could change accordingly as world is a bigger entity but if I talk about music, it’s now accessible everywhere.

I remember last time when I traveled to Nalagarh, that time music has saved my life! I am heartedly thankful to the one who has invented music. We had gone Nalagarh via Swarghat and I recommend everyone not to go by that route until it’s urgent. Dust came inside the bus even when all the windows were closed and road was in very poor condition.

When all people in bus were fighting with the dust and bumpy road, I was sleeping carelessly with earphones. Reason for my sleep was the medicines which I had taken before the journey when my father insisted me strongly, I couldn’t deny and the reason for my carelessness was music which allowed me to enter in another world by just shutting my eyes.

It had literally saved my life from that disastrous bus journey. It’s a best companion for a journey I believe. In every situation, either good or bad, music is always there for you. It’s the best part I guess!

I remember when I was travelling to Shimla for an exam; I had to go to New Shimla. That day, I have felt the presence of music at its best. I was alone at that time and when I walked unaccompanied on the streets of Shimla with my earphones on, I wanted to walk and walk. It was immense pleasure to feel fresh breeze, a very quiet and mesmerizing environment all around you with melodies twirling in your head. At first, I was feeling bad of being alone and there was some hesitation in me as I was travelling alone for the very first time, but that moments made me to want myself more. I didn’t need anyone; my music library and I were enough to keep me going.

Either it was best or worst moments of my travelogue, music has ever and will always remain its intimate part!

Discovery of a hidden town!

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Koldam,Himachal Pradesh (Image: TribuneIndia)

A fantastic day I must say. Its picture is still clear in my mind. That day had added one more beautiful memory to my life!

I was in second year when I’ve got scooty. Being a loving daughter to my lovely parents, I was never allowed to drive to far places. Moreover, I was not that champion in driving it, I had just learnt to drive on highway. As the roads are much curvy, so I was restricted to drive to any place other than my college.

But as usually when I’ve got the keys, I wanted to visit at least not that far stunning places closer to my hometown where I’ve never visited unluckily but have heard a lot of times. Ankita and I, crazy cool friends (always excited and ready to do anything which is restricted) decided to visit Koldam to add more fun to our lives.

I was not that rider still she was never anxious of going with me, opposite to this fact she was much more excited than me. We bunked college and headed towards our way. The road was in poor condition until reach Jarol. In between, I had to drive with utmost focus. At some places I asked her to walk some steps and at some places when I got struck, she motivated and showed confidence on me. When the cruel bumpy road ended and a clean road came, adrenalin’s secretion increased and it made me to accelerate scooty more with Ankita telling me to drive faster. When I remember the day, I laugh. Seriously, we could’ve died that day but as usually lady luck worked for us again!

We were feeling the air so hard on our faces that at last I had to slow down my vehicle. As usual chatter boxes, we had enough to talk about. We were unacquainted to the way. I drove it until I saw bridge from where I had idea to proceed further but for cross checking, we stopped and asked the way from the shopkeeper and took some snacks from him.

When we reached on the road which was a separate way towards Koldam, we were mesmerized by the enchanting view and cool breeze touching our skin in hot summer days. When we reached at main Koldam gate, we were prohibited to go further but they insisted us to go to V-point from where the whole view of the reservoir could be seen.

After taking the instructions, we started to move on the road. The place was very much peaceful but there were some houses ahead. There was a school which was giving an impression as if it’s a movie set. As we saw things there, we were feeling as if we’ve discovered a town which was hidden. A far but a very beautiful place away from the city where you feel as if it’s a kingdom of any king, it excited us to discover it more. We named it ‘Hidden town’.

As we proceeded further, I got the glimpse of sun’s shadow in water and then an enchanting view of water everywhere. I at once shouted to tell this to Ankita and I know her face had been lit up with smile at that precise moment.

I parked the vehicle and we stood there and took many pictures. We enjoyed each and every moment that day and then headed back to home as I had to reach home in time.

All it takes to make your day bizarre is being with peppy and crazy friends!

A Fantastic Kingdom: Rock Garden

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Rock Garden (Image: MouthShut)

“One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of an extraordinary man” – Elbert Hubbard

Everyone desire a kingdom of their own at some point of life! When I was a child, I used to imagine having a tree house same as the intelligent owl owned in ‘Simba: The King Lion’. It seemed so excited to have something very different and unique. It was a passion to own a peaceful house full of magical books and medicines that can cure almost anything and having so many friends. Many children like me dreamt of getting something which is not possible practically. But Nek Chand turned out different from others!

He created kingdom of his dreams. He gave shape to his ideas and made something which was almost hard for others to even think about. The roots of this kingdom lie in his childhood. It was when he was in Pakistan before partition took place. He liked to build forts with stones along the bank of the stream that flowed through his village and once when he got broken bangles, he made figures with clay and decorated it with those broken bangles.

It was after Partition that they moved to Delhi and when his parents did, they moved to Chandigarh in 1951. He was an inspector of roads for PWD when Chandigarh was becoming the first planned city of India. When he saw land which was controversial and had no way to come and go, he got an idea to construct the kingdom of his dreams there.

He was the only king known who built his kingdom himself and made it in such a way that people will get inspiration through it whenever they’ll see it. He used to work daily after 5:00pm there. In spite of going his home back, he turned his way and used to go towards Shivalik hills. He constructed his mud cabin there where he used to sit. Day after day, he was finding treasure in his work.

It took him 17 years to cover 13 acres area of his kingdom. He tried to recreate his life in his village with some animations of his dreams. His kingdom had common people, dancer, musicians, rivers, waterfalls, temples, alleys and everything which he dreamt of!

Rock garden is having its own open air theater along the sides of ground where you can see people observing and sitting. It appears very attractive and colorful. It was not just about the Kingdom that he had made but he made it all with waste!

Knowingly or unknowingly, he was contributing in waste management. As Chandigarh was becoming a planned city, he easily got discarded things at nearby place. This created more treasure to him and he used to collect waste plastic bottles, bangles, shards of crockery, sanitary ware, old tires, glass beads, electrical fittings and other waste things which he liked.

He used to carry these things to his secret site. Although his work was illegal, so when authorities came to clear the forest in 1975, they discovered this hidden kingdom there. He was expected to be fired but when officials saw it, they encouraged him more.

He was appointed as sub-divisional engineer to Rock Garden with a salary and 50 laborers to help him. Collection points were set up around the city to bring ragged material to him that he needed.

It was officially opened by him on January 24, 1976. More than 2.5 lakh people visit here annually and the garden is maintained by Nek Chand Foundation, formed in 1996.

It is really an inspiration to the world. He had always considered himself insignificant but the work he had done is significant to the whole mankind!

Nalagarh Days

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Nalagarh Fort (Image Source: WelcomeNRI)

I went for an industrial training at Nalagarh last month. We were five friends and went Nalagarh via Swarghat route. After Swarghat, the road was not good and bus was behaving as if it was floating on the stones. Up and down, that’s what the path was being followed by the bus. Moreover, the whole bus filled with dust. Garima, Akhil, Tanay and Anil might have suffered very much. On the other hand, I had taken medicine and so I was in very deep sleep. I didn’t get to know much of the journey. Nearly at 4:00 pm, we reached Nalagarh and called the person who had to bring us PG there. Garima and I got PG easily but boys had to work hard a little.

We were happy to get a good place to live there as we hadn’t heard much good about the place. We were only two girls living there apart from the landlord, landlady and their daughter. Moreover, the house was safe and clean. Later at night, we were chatting with the landlady and her daughter. Garima got a message from Tanay. She showed it to me. He was saying something wrong about the place and we felt some creepiness about the place first. When the landlady went to her room, Garima and I discussed the whole matter and started collecting facts. My mind was rewinding the series of Sherlock Holmes. We were very much tired that day. Still, it took efforts to sleep there and after ending our investigations, we slept at 2:00 am nearly.

Next thing was food problem. The food which they were offering was very spicy as if it was entirely made of red Chilly. I felt my stomach burning from that.

Next day, we went to visit “SARA Textiles” for the first time. We were asked to submit affidavit first. After preparing our affidavits first, we again went to the company. We were then headed by Ashok sir, who made our way through different departments. Then, we had conversation with top management.

They issued us departments in which we had to work. We were thrilled to see the machinery and the processes very first day. A peppy smile was glowing on everyone’s face. We were watching machines now working live on a large scale.

We stayed there for 21 days and everyday was worth remembering.

I remember, one night when I was awake at nearly 1am, I heard some creepy voices. The voice was not identical. Sometimes it becomes louder and sometimes lighter. For nearly half hour, I struggled to remain strong until the voices went away. I jumped out of the bed and switched on the light. Then, I slept till next morning.

Then daily, our detective mind used to poop questions when we hear rubbish talks and awkward behavior and approach of people. May be, we took that serious. Some nights were made haunted by our thoughts. Mine more I think. But at day time, we used to mock and make fun of everything. There are a number of incidents that Garima and i will always remember. The creepy talks with landlady and our food will be remembered always!

Akhil, Tanay, Anil, Garima and I used to chit chat everyday about these incidences. Tanay and Anil had enough work to do as they were mentored by their favorite Patel sir. They used to bless him every day with their kind words. Garima and Akhil used to observe looms and tried to find reasons of breakages. I used to be a freelancer and used to visit every department whenever I wanted and talked to whoever I wished to and asked queries to the respected heads. Apart from engineering, we learnt many other things about the firm, workers, management and most importantly to survive in difficult circumstances. We also learnt to wait for buses for hours as long route buses didn’t stop at nearby stops.

We daily used to visit La Vagia, a cafe or a bakery generally. After returning from industry, these destinations provided us food and coffee so that our hungry stomachs can feel good. We enjoyed our stay there. On one Sunday, we trekked to Tara Devi temple and enjoyed the whole scenery of Nalagarh from there. That temple was on hill top and beautiful one. We didn’t have much time as sun was dawning. We came back soon.

On another Sunday, we visited Baddi and had lunch there with Garima’s elder brother Chirag. Then, we went to big Bazaar and did our favorite job of shopping!

On next Sunday, boys did a search and luckily found a restaurant nearby. Near as one kilometer! That day, one more place was discovered and that was a park. We went there too and took many selfies and pictures. Sharing food to irritating and making fun of each other, we enjoyed everything. We enjoyed learning there and discussing it at tea break. SARA Textiles produces towels and we bought towels in kgs from there. If i collectively say then we had bought towels 35-40 kg.

This trip of 21 day will remain peppy and bring smile to our faces whenever we’ll recall it!

Shimla-“Queen of Himalayas”

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Either the old gnarled trees,

Or aplomb breeze

Enthrall me every time, o thy!

Whenever I see #madeofgreat

Shimla is a beautiful place in the lap of Himalayas enclosed by mighty mountains which protects it by standing straight with their broader chest. Its natural beauty is carved by the God himself. I think a beautiful combination of flora and fauna is made in designing the queen of hills with such a care that no mark should remain to spoil its beauty and that’s why it has natural beauty in abundance. You can’t deny the cool breathtaking breeze of fresh air here.

Christ Chruch at Ridge,Shimla

It used to be the Summer Capital of India during British era in India. When it was built, seven hills were chosen to establish the town. Those hills were Bantony hill, Observatory hill, Prospect hill, Elysium hill, Inverarm hill, Summer hill, and Jakhoo hill. Jakhoo being highest among the seven possess a heritage of Jakhoo temple which has the largest statue of Hanuman ji, a Hindu deity which is of 108 feet. It offers the breathtaking view of Shivalik ranges.

Its construction reflects the great architecture of Britain. I recommend you to take a walk of entire stretch of 3 km from ridge up to Vice Regal Lodge (IIAS). On one side, there must be hustle and bustle in ridge and on the other when you start moving you will be mesmerized by the beautiful woods having deodar trees. You can easily see Tyndall effect of sunlight as it passes through the Shimla woods. You could either choose to stay at church which is at ridge or could enjoy stage shows or movies in gaiety theater. Vice Regal Lodge, also known as Rashtrapati Bhavan is a majestic palace which reminds the palaces which you have seen in movies and is situated on the observatory hill. It was formerly the residence of British Viceroy Lord Dufferin and was a venue for many important decisions. The decision of partition of India was also taken here.

It shares its boundary with Kinnaur, Kullu, Mandi, Solan, Sirmour and Uttrakhand. You can easily connect yourself with other districts and can have a view of wonderful places around. Shimla is connected to Kufri with a stretch of 14 km. Manali is also connected to Shimla by road with the distance of 370 km. Kinnaur, however is not a much developed place but possess natural beauty in abundance. You can connect to Kinnaur via Shimla. Railway was also introduced in 1891 connecting Kalka and Shimla and this trip adds more charm to your travelling. The mesmerizing view of mountains will make your soul to dive in blissful sea of your inside heaven which will make you to forget all your worries as if nature is taking you in her lap and consoling you with her gift of natural beauty. Shimla is connected with Delhi by airways also as airport is located in Jabarhatti. It’s not a grand airport but yes if you don’t like the road rides and curves of hilly terrain, you could choose this way either.

It’s best for you to drive yourself to explore enchanting view of each and every place. You can start you drive from Delhi, the capital of India to Chandigarh first and then you could drive yourself and reach Shimla headquarters in 2 hours which is main area visited by tourists. Listen, but drive to Shimla doesn’t end here. Actually it’s the starting of your journey. You can take a drive to Chail, Naal Dehra, Mashobra or Chadwick fall if you don’t want to explore more adventures but yes these places will surely add charm to your journey. Its mesmerizing view undoubtedly takes away hearts of many people.

Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Observatory Hill

If you want to explore more of Shimla, you could choose to explore more mountain ranges or go to Rohru, surely a breathtaking place it is! If you love adventures, you can try activities like bungee jumping, snow-skewing, sky-diving and para gliding if you drive 14 km from Shimla to Kufri.

Surely, here’s no end of list. There are a lot more places to be explored which truly cast their shadows in hearts!