Things to do in a City !

Its been a log time since I wrote an article. Have been traveling a lot from past 4 months ( Dehradun, Haridwar, Saharanpur, Mussoorie, Delhi, Varanasi, Kolkata, Siliguri, Darjeeling, Kurseong, Kalimpong ). In these hectic trips, there are certain things which can't be missed. For me, those are the various activities to do in a city, the small but wonderful things.

I am trying to list some of the things which one should try in a city ( at least I try to do these things in each city ):-

1. Chaai ( who doesn't need that ! )
   
   
   
2. Talk to the Locals ( its the best thing to do ! )
   
   
   
   
   
3. Have rides on the Public Transport ( aah.. you can't miss it ! )
   
   
   
4. Visit the Ramakrishna Mission Center ( if any )
   
   
   
   
   
5. Visit a Bakery Shop ( if you Love them ! )
   
   
   
   
   
6. Chaat-Golgappe ( its a must for a Banarasi like me ! )
   
   
   
   
   
7. Taste the Local food ( the one for which City is famous ! )
   
   
   
8. Visit the Railway Station ( each of them says a story ! )
   

There are many other things which one can do in a City, but the above ones should definitely be tried. :)

Image Sources : Internet ( Google ;) )

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From ANNA Movement to the Rising AAP !! From चलता है attitude to अब नहीं चलता है kind of change !!

From the ANNA Movement to the Rising AAP  !!
From चलता है attitude to अब नहीं चलता है kind of change !! 

With the recent political happenings in Delhi and a strong debut by AAP, I cannot resist myself from writing this post. People can have their own opinions & views about this. Mine is based on the experiences & observations which I had ever since we ( me & Rahul Kumar Pandey ) participated in the Anna Movement in Aug'2011. Its more about the events, the changes it has brought in us and the way things are shaping up. The recent performance of AAP instills that confidence & a strong belief in us which seemed very difficult at a time. :)

1. Anna Movement - Aug 2011
   It was a usual morning and we were preparing ourselves for the office. We were more involved in the TV News Channel watching the updates on The Movement. Being in NCR at that time, like many other people, we also decided to go for it & made it there for 4 days ( out of the total 11 days ). The entire experience is very aptly described by these 2 posts written by Rahul :
   
   • https://www.facebook.com/notes/rahul-pandey/anna-and-protest-16th-august-day-1/219826171398393
   • https://www.facebook.com/notes/rahul-pandey/anna-conda-news-channel-the-protest/221955071185503
   The kind of experience & feeling of this movement is unmatched. It had a lot in store for us.
2. Impact of Anna Movement on us
   There are lot many incidents in the past 2 years to be mentioned. I am writing few of them.
   • Train Travels : Recently I was traveling from Allahabad to Varanasi, a 3 hour journey. I took a general class ticket and & sat in the Sleeper Class coach as the general coach was packed. The T.T.E. came, I showed him the ticket & he asked for money. I said, take the difference amount & give me the receipt as well. His voice got louder & he said it will amount to 'Difference + Penalty' ( Rs. 250). Since I knew the rules, I told him that it will amount only to 'Difference' only as there are seats available in the coach & I have seen them in the chart. He was dumbstruck for few seconds and finally agreed to give the proper receipt by charging Rs. 100. Later, he politely asked me 'क्या करते  हो बेटा ?'. I told him that I run a company. :)
     
     
     
   • Complaints : I usually prefer to travel by trains. So I keep on encountering many things which are very much required to be brought into the consideration of the higher Railway Authorities. On one such occasion, standing on a platform, I saw 3-4 young boys filling empty bottles with the tap-water & taping it with sellotapes. I went and talked to them. Then I thought of bringing to this to the notice of the authority & registering a complaint in the Complaint Book. The authorities came after 2 hours, we had a good discussion & they somehow did not write my complaint. I eventually had to leave but later I registered the complaint online at http://indianrailways.gov.in/ . To my utter surprise, it went like a Fire in their Ass and the Sub-Inspector made around 8-10 phone calls to me regarding it. So next time, if you come across any such situation, do log your complaints online. They have to take it seriously.
3. Social Media & the role it is playing
   Obviously, the ground work done by Team Anna & Team AAP was pretty extensive but the role played by Social Media is also instrumental. At least for us, who are not in NCR, we always remain connected & informed about the activities.With the penetration of Social Media (facebook/twitter ) & its usage in an appropriate way shows how useful & impacting it is. Some of them in this case :
   
   • India Against Corruption had a strong presence on facebook. (https://www.facebook.com/Indiacor?ref=ts&fref=ts)
   • AAP, Arvind Kejariwal & other Leaders having a strong presence on facebook & twitter ensures that we are aware of all the activities.
   • Platforms performing Social Media campaigns  do have a good impact. ( https://www.thunderclap.it/, https://www.voterite.com/ are the ones which were used )
   • A strong facebook group of AAP with more than 40k people. ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/AamAadmiParty/ )
   • In the past 2 days, approximately 4 out of every 5 posts on my facebook wall were related to AAP in someway or the other.
4. Increased awareness towards Politics
   The way in which we have started participating, discussing & involving ourselves in such activities is a clear indication that awareness and concern has increased amongst us, related to Politics. A healthy sign for a Democracy. :)
   
   • A lot many of us glued to the TV Channels and Internet from the morning till evening, on 8th Dec, speaks a lot. It also shows that when required, we can equally be concerned about politics as much as we do about Cricket. 
   • A friend of mine( Arpan ) called from Chennai and told that he was pretty happy & excited about the AAP's performance. He further told that people sitting in Chennai were also eagerly watching the Election results.
   •  A college senior ( Deepak Singh ), who is doing is Ph.D. from UK, is an active volunteer in AAP and has been giving his best for the Delhi Elections. On the day of Election results, they were awake from 2:00 AM to watch the live broadcasting. Here is the pic. :)

Similarly, there are lot many points, experiences & observations which could be mentioned here. These were just few of them. :) But the recent results ( AAP getting 28 out of 70 seats ) is a clear indication that boss  "अब "चलता है"  has been replaced by  "जो सही है सो सही, और जो गलत है सो गलत "  !!

From the ANNA Movement to the Rising AAP  !!
From चलता है attitude to अब नहीं चलता है kind of change !!

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School Books !

Today, I went to a Kirana Store in my locality to buy some grocery items. The shop-owner had kept some papers & pads for his calculations. Along with them, I could see a School Book. Yes ! a School Book. Another customer came at the shop, asked for some items & I could see the shop-owner picking up that School Book. He used it for his calculations & also for some packaging. The moment I could say something, he had already completed his task. The sight of the pages of School Book being torn seemed like someone hitting hard at our Educational System. ! 

The book seemed to be in pretty good condition and definitely could have helped someone. !

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Incredible India !

Sunset at Jaisalmer !

Himalayas :  Done !
Sea           :  Done !
Desert       :  Done !

Cannot exactly remember which was my first trip [ with parents or with grand-father ] but certainly it has been the 'Traveling' which has brought me more closer to the Life, Nature, People, Culture, Food, India &.... & the list goes on.... The learning/experience in the journeys add a lot to one's persona, I believe !

The list of the places traveled till now goes as :-

1. Varanasi 
2. Mirzapur
3. Allahabad
4. Lucknow
5. Kanpur
6. Etawah
7. Agra
8. Fatehpur Sikri
9. Ghaziabad
10. Noida
11. Dehradun
12. Mussoorie
13. Haridwar
14. Rishikesh
15. Saharanpur
16. Tehri
17. Kullu
18. Manali
19. Rohtang
20. Chandigarh
21. Gurgaon
22. Delhi
23. Ahmedabad
24. Jaipur
25. Jodhpur
26. Jaisalmer
27. Chittorgarh
28. Udaipur
29. Bhagalpur
30. Patna
31. Bokaro
32. Jamshedpur
33. New Jalpaiguri
34. Darjeeling
35. Kalimpong
36. Miric
37. Nepal Border 
38. Kolkata
39. Bhopal
40. Nagpur
41. Mumbai
42. Pune
43. Hyderabad
44. Chennai
45. Bangalore
46. Mysore
47. Ooty
48. Goa
49. Alappuzha
50. Cochin

After traveling to so many places, I can very confidently say that India is beautiful, vibrant & lively, with lots & lots of potential in us. !

Still a lot to cover. Hope I cover all the 29 states before the age of 29 !   :) 

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Weekend At Jodhpur

Jodhpur : [ The Blue City ]

Well in the past two years, it has been like an “All India Tour” sort of thing for me. Sitting in a hostel of a Management college in Jaipur, and listening to the songs in the BackGround of a B’Day party celebration, I find it best to write down about my two days experience in Rajasthan.[ espacially Jodhpur]
I may say it started with Siliguri in 2006 summers and it has been through Jamshedpur,Mumbai, ,Delhi,Bangalore-Mysore-Ooty-Goa,Kolkata,Kullu-Manali-Rohtang,Dehradun-Mussorrie-Tehri-Rishikesh,Allahabad,Darjeeling and now I am in Rajasthan.

The weekend knocked and I was in Jodhpur the next morning i.e. SaTuRdAy..Thanks to Dage [ Manish Daga / Dagya / Dage .. the names by which we call him....hehe ] for the invitation..The Day started with "mithaais" at Dagaz home.. a tradition of Jodhpur.. [ :):) ] ..yummy-yummy .... Next we were guided by Puneet [ Daga's brother ] to Ummed Palace and the Heritage.. the very view of the Ummed Heritage made us feel like being in the best part of this world..it was simply awesome.. [ :):) ].. Next was the MeharanGarh Fort.. built about 55o years back,counted among one of the safest forts.. It now stands testimony to the test of time..Still we can view the shots of the Cannon Balls on the walls of the fort..but this even was unable to breach the walls of this Magnificient Fort.... Amazing..!!..The view of Jodhpur from this Fort resulted in a great " Wow "..!!!! ..Simply Jodhpur can be referred as "The Blue City"..Then came the turn of the delicious sweets/namkeens of Jodhpur.. The taste of "Samose" and 'Mirchi Bada" is something that will remain for lifelong with me.. :):) ... Thanku Dage and Puneet..And one more thing .... U must have tasted differnet kinds of Gulaab-Jaamun but the Chuturbhuj Gulaab-Jaamun at Jodhpur is the especial of Jodhpur.. U won't get anywhere else..a. That was the best I had till now .... Though it is developed city but still I saw a lot many people in the Traditional costumes of Rajasthan..the women were having heavy ornaments and bright sarees borderd with golden tags..men wearing the traditional turban ..The roads at certain places gave the feel of Old Rajasthan.... :):) ..

Overall it was a memorable two-day tour which painetd a beautiful picture in my memory and a place where I would love to go again..... [ :):) ] .....

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wow.... a wonderful beginning of the monsoons.... !!

wow..... its for the fourth consecutive year that I am having a wonderful beginning of the Monssons at BHU..... Love u BHU ..... :):) ..The first day it rained in Varanasi, I along with the gang [ rumit,rohit,cheekoo ] were at the grounds of BHU to witness the beginning of the monsoon in its totality.... :):) ..got the feeeeeeel of the monsoons .. this was followed by " chaay-kachaudi.... ice-creams..shakes and bread-makkhan"....hehe.... Simply to say that what a beginning of the monsoons has been this for me from the past 4 years.... BHU rocks..Will be missing this mast of BHU..... :):)....

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Loving the Untidiness Of My Room .... !!!!!

Trying to arrange my room in a hurry eventually draws my mind towards the Untidiness Of My Room.... 97,Visvesvarayya.....wow..!!!!!.....this is "Simply Awesome".....just look at the scattered clothes..papers..daily-use stuff..files..notes..xerox..bags..books......:P:P....haah..!!!!...."amazing"..and even after all these, we happily survive, fit in our rooms,find place to sleep, find the required things at the proper time......hehe.... :):)....

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One of the best Birthdays..... :):)....

Wow....!!!!!..... It was 12th Nov.... :):).....one more year passed and I landed into an another one.....:):).....But this was one of the most memorable ones.....really had full masti,fun and mauj....!!!!....got blessings/aashirwaad/duaaein/pyaar from many.....blessings from Maa-Papa....Sangeeta Mam....duaaein n pyaar from so many friends/brother/relatives....:)....

The clock struck 12:00 in the night inviting the junta for a grand GPL....haah..amazing..thanks to the 5 layer protection that I had..!!..to tell the truth, it was aching the next day even.. :(:( ...." kutton ki tarah maara....mujhe nahi Rahul ko".. :P .. bechara kismat ka maara....and saath mein mera TPR partner( Amit a.k.a. "Chhotu") bhi nahi bachaa.....bahut bach raha tha abhi tak....!!!!!....sahi kiya doston.... :)..

Received the calls from Maa-Papa..Sangeeta Mam..got their wishes n blessings..got the wishes from PKM Sir..Babu-Mamta-Bholu..Anupam Bhaiya..Somya Di..the lovely friends....seniors/juniors..realatives.. :):)....

We had a visit to the temple.....[ just imagine.. Rahul went to a temple after 10-11 years..!!!!.. ]....the clicks in the V.T. gali were pure fun....accidently Lodhi discovered the "chhupa" hua Fotographer in him.. :P ..hehe....Fulwari wasn't that good an experience....!!..
Then the evening-night time was really pure fun..bole to bindaas entertainment....the gang gathered at L.C. ..wahan pe poori chhichhorgiri. [ "Pal-latt" !!...might be Rao gets this better.. :P:P ]...ek "wish" ki thi kuchh der pehle and wo poori ho gayi....hehe.... :):)..wow..!!...kaash dosri wish bhi kar li hoti yaar.... :D:D....then the Ice-Cream at Lanka..Gol-Gappe at Sankat-mochan chat shop....muuuaaaahhhh....gifts were also an important part of the day....the frame from "chhotu"..lovely yaar....then the gift from "Rohit-Rao-Avi"....simply awesome.... :):)....Thanks a lot .... :):)....haah....this wasn't all..!!..something more blasting was awaiting at the hostels....surprises tend to effect u and cast an impact than anything else..:):)....a small but cute celebration in the room ....a very sweet n tasty cake..the clicks..the songs and the different poses [Rumit also made his presence felt in the scene :P:P]..!!..the pure BC which we had in the room for that moment....fir se the "bakara" was Rahul..just ask the spectators..!!..Then comes the special kinda party that we had in the night at the Roof of Visvesvarayya.... :):)....Gupta/Raj ne to mauj de di....hehe....fultoo mastiiiiiiiiii.....it was fun....had some pure chhichhorgiri in the room at around 3:30 AM..... :):)....so came the end of the day....!!....all went to sleep and so the day paased....leaving so many b'ful memories....one of its special kinda.....One of the best B'Days.....

Thanks to Rahul....Lodhi....Raj....Gupta.....Amit.....
Heartiest thanks to Rohit..Avi..Rao..Rumit.... :):)..
and last but not the least to HIM .... THANKS .... :):)......

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Good Morning Ahmedabad.....

Good morning Ahmedabad....!!!!..got up..had b’fast..watched “ 10 Things I hate about you”....now what next..??......so up with my lappy to share something about Ahmadabad....hehe..:)..

From past 15 days it seems as if I am on an All India Tour....started from Varanasi(U.P.), then Chandigarh, Kullu-Manali-Rohtang( Himachal), now Ahmedabad (Gujarat).....wow..!!!!.....loads of new experiences and wonderful memories..... J....

Ahmedabad.....hmmmm....though I am not in main Ahmedabad rite now, but still got the “feel” of the city..the dishes..the people..the culture.....A place known for business and Entrepreneurship..

I missed the Garba of Navratra by one day..L..will certainly try it out some other time.. (rite now Deepawali is approaching and its the most awaited festival of Guajrat)....A beautiful city with wide & neat roads, people with Gujarati accent..got to hear “Ben and Bhai”..hehe...when people speak in Gujarati tab unko sune mein bademaze aate hain..hihi..interacted with locals of this place..it was a wonderful experience getting to know about Gujarat and Ahmadabad from them....saw the IIT,NIFT,NID,DBA-IICT..people certainly have a craze for getting into these....sitting in the CCD and Uncle Sam’s Pizza made me realize why people are crazy for NIFT..especially the boys..:P:P..check it out yourself guys....hehe...mast hai re..!!..went to some of the crowded places..somewhat got the feel of Benaras..hehe....

Heard a lot about Akshar-Dham but won’t be able to go this time..left it for next time....:)..

On overall, a nice place to visit....

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wait a minute....i'm dreaming.....!!!!!

haah...must be thinking ki what is this....!!!!...well-2 batane do itminaan se.....hehe..actually hua yun ki aaj subeh-2 main nashta karke aa raha tha when I entered Reddy's room....it was round about 8 am..i entered the room and when he was some sort of half-asleep....half awaken....hihi.....i had some chit-chats with him while he was still sleeping....he responded to it and i certainly thought ki now to he is awaken.....main kuchh pyaare-2 shabd bhi use kiye uske liye...:P:P..after 2 minutes he said...." wait a minute....i'm dreaming yaar"......hehe.....what an expression he had on his face....:):)....seemed as if really he was in his dream world with a wonderful picture of dream being pasted in dreamland.....:):).....wow.....!!!!!....just to say "life is b'ful and is worth living".....:):)....just we need to make the maximum of the moment....:):)..

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