mandvi – Page 3 – TRAVELTRUNK.NET

January 14, 2022January 14, 2022

Sojourns to Shekhawati

What will we do with a door? The man asked for the nth time. Hang it above our bed like a canopy! I replied somewhat irately. On a flying visit to Jodhpur many moons back I had only one agenda. On the hunt I fell for these doorframes refurbished as bookracks. Stunnnning! (Someday…) This tall Gujarati door with its edges finely carved caught my eye. (Yeah, free guide to the doorways of India thrown in!). In the last warehouse, tiny doors connected these gargantuan halls, much like Aladdin’s cave interconnected in parallel portals. Stepping through to enter the last one something leaning on the wall behind stacked up furniture caught my eye. I made my way to stand in front of my door. A Shekhawati I was told. Since the territory had been the bulwark of the Rajput kingdoms to its south against marauding forces, diminutive doors made entry difficult and the metal embellishments reinforced their strength. A bit of a tall story about the small size…The tall gates of the havelis of Shekhawati, never mind the forts, would tell the small door to get back inside where it belonged and let them do the job of defending.

Year of the Backyard

Living in Shekhawati’s neighbourhood, through the Year of the Backyard as I call 2021, we had decided to stick to exploring places in our vicinity. One day sifting through some Facebook (it does have some redeeming features) pics I chanced upon stunning visuals of the havelis of Shekhawati. Wow! Art, architecture, history! Throw proximity in the pot and the recipe for an outing was complete. But let’s delve into the story of the region before we embark on a walk though the dusty hamlets and quaint towns that are a living art gallery.

Backyard also includes- Bikaner’s Merchants and Their Mansions

The Territory, Thikanedars and Traders

Shekhawati, the land of Rao Shekha and his descendants, was established as a separate principality when Rao Shekha declared independence from his Kacchawa clansmen at Amber in 1471. Over centuries it expanded to cover much of present Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Churu. His descendants and brethren constructed around 50 forts and palaces in this region and established their own fiefdoms or Thikanas like Nawalgarh, Mandawa, Dundlod. Shekhawati I am told means ‘Garden of Shekha’. I don’t buy that story. Garden is definitely not what this arid, sandy and drab territory can remotely be described as, where the only colour that blooms adorns either the attire of the people or the buildings made by them. It is also the land where the trading routes criss-crossed from Delhi and Kannauj to Sindh and Multan and towards Gujarat. The rulers depended on the merchants traversing through to pay jagat or transit dues to fill their coffers while the latter would get protection to carry on their trade safely. In time many moved and settled in these thikanas. Well known business families- Poddars, Goenkas, Birlas, Piramals to name some, trace their roots to this region.

Discover-The Gardens of Delhi – A Walk Not Only on the Green Side but Through History Itself

Being House Proud

What a fort or garh is to a king or ruler in Rajasthan, a mansion or haveli is to a merchant. In a land where iconic forts like at Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer draw the tourists, in Shekhawati its the havelis which hold their own. Here the merchants upstaged the rulers and their forts. In a ‘have it flaunt it’ attitude the merchants, as they prospered trading in cotton, opium, spices and silks, became patrons of art making their mansions not just more ornate but more opulent inside out. Once they were done with their own dwellings they moved on to making chattris, wells and ponds. But money is a Pied Piper. They followed it here and eventually in time trailed behind it to Calcutta and Bombay where new rulers set up bigger trading posts. Now most of the havelis lie forlornly neglected.

Camels walk- At the Darwaza of a Road Less Travelled

Artful Architecture

The havelis have a set template when it comes to architectural style with generally two courtyards and two storey’s. Massive arched doors make impressive entrances. The intricate woodwork of the doors and windows makes them a collector’s item. But it’s the frescoes adorning every inch of the building at times which are the piece de résistance. These encapsulate mythological and historical figures and tales, folk tales, flora and fauna, decorative designs, erotica and not the least the Britishers and their devices. Some depict faraway lands, few fanciful scenes, and occasionally plain hilarious ones. Gold leaf and Belgian glass is often a glittering embellishment. The richness of material and descriptive details were meant to shock and awe and they do, still!

Read about nature’s shockers in- Barot And the Serendipitous Catch in the Uhl River

Once on a visit to the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi we were told it is nigh possible to see everything in it in a day. Shekhawati’s treasures too are scattered over numerous little towns and hamlets all vying for unhurried and close attention from discerning travelers to truly reveal their hidden facets. So what not to miss on a visit to a region which is a living art gallery where exceptional architecture provides a canvas for many a masterpiece?

We’ll begin with Mandawa…coming up next.

December 17, 2021December 17, 2021

Bikaner’s Chattris: Royals in Repose

If one wants to meet our dearly departed where do we go? In our culture, no particular place it would seem, but there have never been any absolutes. So we find cenotaphs or chattris in many parts of the country, especially of the royal families, built to honour the memory of the nobles. The first cenotaphs I explored were at Orchha. Like breathing gargoyles endangered vultures sat on the eaves of the humongous monuments made in the typically Bundelkandi architecture, rose bushes faintly scenting the air. There also a few generations give each other company in their walled enclosure.

Read about the Chattris of Orchha in- Part One- On the Wild Side of Outstanding Orchha

At Bikaner the cenotaphs of the royal family are located at Devi Kund Sagar. Here too on the outskirts of Bikaner the chattris are clustered around in a walled space. But unlike the handful at Orchha, here generations of men, women and children are neatly placed, precisely dated and relations clearly catalogued like a family tree spread in a garden. A requiem in stone. We head there one evening with the sun descending, ready to call it a day. The place is clean and paved thankfully since we have to take off our footwear at the entrance.

Discover – The Gardens of Delhi – A walk not only on the green side but through history itself

There is some open space as we enter and to a side a small one is being constructed. I wonder how it works …are they made in anticipation according to the wishes of the alive for their ever after resting place or is it left to the whims of the descendants how best to honour the memories? The first one on the right, also the last to be made in 2003 of Maharaja Narendra Singh, is a small chattri in red sandstone, a throwback to the oldest ones at the far end. Two across it are incongruously ‘modern’ and look out of place. They invoke a socialism influenced spartan look somehow in my mind.

There is nothing spartan about- Bikaner’s Merchants and Their Mansions

Majority of the big ones in between are of creamy marble with beautifully carved pillars and arches. Some of the domed roofs have stunning artwork on the inside. One follows a limited but eclectic black and blue colour scheme to depict gods and goddess. Another has Radha Krishna in a circular sequence. At the far end they are mostly made of red and pink sandstone with high and beautifully carved floral plinths. The oldest belongs to Rao Kalyanmal, the 5^th ruler of Bikaner who died in 1571.

Explore the hues of Rajasthan in- Harlequin Holi at Todaraisingh

A small one between the big marble and sandstone chattris stands out not only because it belongs to a woman (the board along the wall says Madan Kunwar, 1826) as denoted by the small feet engraved on the marble piece but also because of its distinctive architecture. The eaves curve and sweep down like boughs of a weeping willow.

A man rides into his afterlife with his women.

Someone explains the exact iconography in the chattris. The ones belonging to the menfolk have vertical slabs whose edges are beautifully scalloped and carved, engraved with either a man seated with a woman on a throne or alone on a horse, attendants around. Below within a wreath of carved and twisted leaves things are inscribed. . The ones on horseback we are told denote whose wives committed sati on their death. From the first ruler, Rao Bikaji to the thirteenth king, Maharaja Zorawar not only wives but concubines and at times attendants and slave girls too were expected to commit sati. No wonder women pray for their husband’s long life! There is a temple near the end dedicated to Satimata. It is has a lot of visitors. The barbaric practice might have ended but the idea still is romanticized and worshipped.

Where a woman is literally worshipped – Mystic Maheshwar : At the Center of the Universe

On one end are the chattris of the women in red sandstone. They are smaller and many are devoid of the ornamentation visible in the men’s. Most have a single pair of tiny feet made on a marble piece, boards alongside clearly mentioning their names and that of their husbands. One near the end has four pairs of feet. The board gives three names of women and one of a man. There are 4 different dates mentioned so I don’t think they are satis or a sato, a rare but recorded occurrence where men commit the act too. The family has had a few instances of them. There are memorials of children too called nada. It’s a simple plinth with no canopy.

Reviving past glories and – Satiating Nostalgia Under the Winter Rain at Junia

The sun is a ball of blazing orange visible below the arches as curiosity gets the better of me and I unlatch one of the many small wooden doors lined up on the wall, one before each cenotaph. They all open to a sloping ground with broken tombstones, littered with a bit of rubbish ending with an embankment holding back a big pond lined with lotuses. A glossy black cobra slithers amongst the tombstones. As it disappears behind one nearby I hurriedly step back through the door. Latching the door I turn to see the moon has risen and its almost a full moon bathing the monuments in its luminescent light. It is going to be a beautiful night for a family get together.

October 22, 2021October 22, 2021

Tarsar Marsar : Memoirs of an Escapade

The night prior to my early morning departure for Srinagar Syed Shah Geelani passed away, thankfully in his bed. In Delhi that evening scrolling through Inshorts it registered vaguely, my mind more on organizing my gear and the 6 am drive to the airport. I was praying it wouldn’t rain (it did!) like it did in the day, when Delhi took a dunking in record rainfall. To top it I was going alone, trekking with a company found on the internet, with companions I had no idea about. And yeah, 2 phone numbers to tie it all together. How desperate could I be to do this trek?

Roller-coaster Ride

So we cross the Pir Panjals and cruise low enough to make out houses, fields and streams in a wide valley cupped by snow capped mountains. We land and as we are heading out I hear snatches of conversations – No network, Covid retest. An earbud-like treatment is the least of my issues. The Valley’s communication lines have been shut down. No phones, except for BSNL postpaid (which I do not have) and no internet! A long dawdling wait at the airport ensues where strangers generously lend me their phones to make frantic calls, offer to drop me to Pahalgam… the Dal Lake! One driver asks me who I am trekking with and when I say Fayaz bhai he tells me with absolute conviction to wait. Someone will come he says. And so I do, till I find my trekking companions and the missing driver. Relief! Then it’s a drive through shuttered towns with lots of detours and at Anantnag, an unyielding cop makes us think this is the end of the road. I am with a group of Bengalis and if anyone can take on authority resolutely yet sweetly, it is a Bengali woman. He finally relents and we are soon crossing the flowering gardens of Pahalgam by the blue Lidder and galloping towards Aru like horses nearing their stable.

A river runs through- Batalik – A Tribute to the Human Spirit

Meet the People at Aru

Fayaz bhai is our trek leader and cook. A typical tall Kashmiri with a hooked nose, he is reticent with a watchful smile. We stay at his house the local way- in one big carpeted room, bedding in a line on the floor. Not what I am expecting but then that seems to be the theme of this trip. Dinner is in a similar room downstairs and the Haaq is fresh and delicious. His mother lets me warm my hands on her kangri, although the conversation is limited with lots of smiles to fill the gaps. His young niece, Shagufta is like a curious pretty butterfly, and takes a shine on some of us and an instant dislike to one. The entire household sees us off the next morning.

Discover deserted mansions in – Bikaner’s Merchants and Their Mansions

Sound of Music

Shahnawaz, our guide, is a young lad studying in grade 12^th with dreams to be a doctor. He is like a herder with infinite patience and a gentle mien. On the intermittent open slopes enroute to Lidderwat we come across kothas, the flat roofed mud and wood dwellings of the Gujjars. As we take a breather near one the kids come scrambling, then bashfully ask for chocolates. We cross families of Bakarwals striding down, their colourful horses at times carrying sacks of wool.

The last meadow before the wooden bridge to Lidderwat is like a movie, Sound of Music perhaps. Little white flowers dot the greenscape. A horse munches on the grass sprouting on the roof of a kotha made next to a massive boulder. The silence is broken by the baaing of a herd of sheep that sweep across the meadow.

I found wishes were not horses but camels – At the Darwaza of a Road Less Travelled

Lidderwat lies at the confluence of the Lidder River which originates from the Kolahoi glacier and a stream fed by the runoffs of Tarsar and Sundarsar. The place is overrun with sheep, ponies and kids looking for a sugar rush and at night, a bear or so I am told. Alone in my tent at night I wake up startled when something large bumps into my tent but the ferocious barking that ensues is like lullaby to my ears.

Shekhwas‘s Stellar Surprise

We are taught traffic rules of narrow mountain paths on the move early enough the next morning. ‘Side, side,’ shouts Shahnawaz from the back as the horses carrying the camping gear catch up with us. We move hither- thither. He says, ‘mountainside!’ The ponies always walk on the edge we learn.

Shekwas has no trees, no lake, just endless slopes of green converging into a stream in the middle. The evening is spent in solitude on the slope above the camp watching the horses and sheep without any minders. But the night! Oh my god the night! I could have slept, I should have..(Would have been a frozen ball in the morning though.)… under the Milky way! We step out from the dinner tent and I gasp and stop dead. The galaxy is a creamy luminescent cloud in a sky already crowded with stars, shooting stars, satellites. An astronomy enthusiast points out Saturn and Jupiter. The sky seems to say this stellar show is only for those who tread this path, when I fail abysmally to photograph even a twinkle…. I reluctantly agree.

Read about another out of this world experience in- Mystic Maheshwar : At the Center of the Universe

The Garden Path to Tarsar

In the morning a sharp whistle has me rushing out of the tent thinking its an exotic bird only to see a sweeping mass of white dots moving near the kothas across a stream from us. The herder and his flock have set out for the day. The walk up to Tarsar is a ramble on a mountainside park strewn with boulders, Pipits and Accentors hopping on them and flowers growing in between.

Explore – The Gardens of Delhi – A walk not only on the green side but through history itself

Tarsar in a kidney bowl is a mere reflection of the game of chase being played out above, faithfully changing colour. Sunlight like dappled diamonds plays on its surface. The wind makes it move restlessly against the rocks in the afternoon. A peachy grey dusk brings the curtains down on an evening of songs with warming cuppas as Mercury shines brightly above silhouetted craggy peaks.

A Study

The next morning as all the trekking groups crest the pass together, the heights are a study in human behavior. The adrenaline junkies are on a high(t) and on all the edges, the selfie fiends hog the best spot, the solitude seekers tune out of the circus. All paying homage to the placid lake below. The trail spreads out again as we head down towards the meandering stream in the distance. Its boggy surroundings houses marmots we discover.

We camp next to Sundarsar and after lunch follow the goats across a pass for a bird’s eye view of the twin Marsar. Across the pass 2 dogs charge at us but are firmly brought to heel. The older one is unfriendly but the younger one hasn’t lost his innate friendliness. Still, with a sheepish wag of his tail he maintains his distance now. His owner then disappears behind his flock into the rocky face of the mountain lining Marsar, a dour looking massive lake so far below. The mountain range on the other side seems to be the end of the world.

Portrait of a Shepherd and an Obedient Dog

Find a lake like no other at- Pangong Tso – The Gems in the Crown

At Sundarsar the pack horses are being lured back to the camp with treats. Mushtaq is the pony guy and his intense eyes are a little disconcerting but his devotion to the animals is absolute. The helper at large, Shabir dresses one’s wound and then their forelegs are bound for the night. Waking up at dawn next morning I am duly rewarded with the stunning sight of Mt Kolahoi’s outline towering in the horizon. The clouds quickly drape themselves around it.

The Women at the Meadows

The long march back to Lidderwat is along the stream coming out of Sundarsar and we cross kothas with Choughs pecking in the empty corrals and women inviting us in for tea. Most of us move on regretfully. At Homwas near a Kotha barely discernible from above, the Bakarwals are sitting, literally on the sheep. Years of practice shows in the methodical evenness of the shearing being done with ancient scissors. Bags of wool sit waiting to be loaded onto the horses. A young girl wants to see what I have shot. As I sit to show her, a little scruffy girl, barely 2 feet off the ground, who has been watching me with big round eyes comes and tucks herself into me to watch too. I can do nothing but hug her back and beat back a crazy desire to carry her home.

The trek, a journey and some companions.

Back at Fayaz bhai’s house his solemn boys find us and some treats. Shagufta finds new people in her house. I had gone for a trek, thinking only of the mountains I wanted to be in. Kashmir is truly a generous gift from nature. But I learnt how much a place is about its people. That a trek is a journey and companions matter.(Totally lucked out on that!) At some level it felt we were all just walking each other home.

Take a rambling walk with me in- Tarsar Marsar : A Trekker’s Take

September 23, 2021September 27, 2021

Tarsar Marsar : A Trekker’s Take

Like I overheard at the tail end of the trek- “There is so much on the internet about Tarsar Marsar.’ True, since it is easy on the eyes, to say the least, it is an ‘A’ Lister of treks, but most of what is written is from a trek company’s perspective. Natural beauty apart, it is peddled to be an easy-moderate trek. Assuming you are moderately fit like me, how would it pan out for you? ..Easy or moderate? Take a rambling walk with me through each day and find out. The walk starts from Aru.

Day 1- Warming up from Aru to Lidderwat

So we start from the home stay, at around 8:30, bidding goodbye to our hosts like we are going to summit Mount Kolahoi itself. In full disclosure of ignorance I had not heard of it before. And it takes couple of days for the name to start rolling of my tongue. But I’m smitten! Such sharp features, what a towering personality! Oh better get moving with the trek… So we are huffing and puffing in the strong sun in 10 minutes, walking up a gentle slope with swaying grass growing behind the fence of the agriculture dept. on both sides. We summit the slope and flop down on a rolling meadow sandwiched between massive conifers groves. Rousing ourselves from our picture perfect setting we dive into the thick conifers ahead. And so it continues over a gentle up-slope walk through sloping meadows and thick trees for 10 odd kms. At one place it narrows out in the woods and the Lidder river can be heard roaring far below and in another we walk down almost to river level with a tea point where we have our packed lunch and say tentative hellos to the other group of fellow trekkers sprawled around.

Read about an emerald river in – Part One- On the Wild Side of Outstanding Orchha

At the last meadow before our camping ground, the path leading down to the river is like someone got into a snit and said just get down will you! Follow this stream of water down….Walk across the wooden bridge and voila!… Lidderwat!

Day 2: On the rocks from Lidderwat to Shekhwas

Its supposed to be 5.5 kms that day but it feels more like 7 and the early trekkers on the starting slope in the distance make it look easy. One can’t see the slatey path or the narrowness from the camp. But the minute we turn into the narrow valley with a stream far down, it eases off. After a short undulating walk we cross a trickle coming down and fill our bottles. We round another bend where a hawk hovers to reach the meadows of Homwas.

The sides of the valley are steep but the walk is gentle and we cross the stream and head towards the end of the tree line. It all narrows and we are walking on swirling root steps of a tree leaning into the stream below. Then we are between a rock or rather boulders ending in a hard place- the gushing stream. The alternate route will add another hour. I give baleful looks to Shahnawaz, our young guide. We dive onto the boulders and I hate it! I have no sense of balance and thank my stars I make it without twisting my ankle or wrecking my knee caps. All with help of the gallant young guide.

Bliss is what is to be found on the slopes of Shekhwas

Our camp is a short walk up and ahead on a slope of the expansive bowl. Oh! no! As we start the climb up some madness takes over and a fellow trekker and I decide enough of trudging and race up the slope like the locals. No paths! It’s an exhilarating end!

Discover a place marooned in the mountains in – Disconnecting with the World on a Mountain Isle at Shaama

Day 3: Rolling uphill from Shekhwas to Tarsar

By now I have tapped into my inner pahadi. It also helps that’s it’s the easiest 5 km walk so far… A boulder strewn wide gentle slope is what we traverse most of the way. I am able to walk ahead, take pics, fall behind and catch up without losing my breath after a while. There is just one big stream to cross.

Of boulders, birds and beautiful flowers

The flowering mountainside is ours to walk on and we crest and spy our tents beyond a dip. We have made it in time for lunch in about 4 hours and our tents are pegged on a slope before the lake. Super excited about making it to the first lake we take a short walk to see it. A jagged mountain hides Tarsar in its folds… Finally, the almond shaped lake with its water gently being pushed into a stream by the wind. The sun and wind battle it out in this high altitude. The colours of the lake shift playfully along.

Read about a lake like no other in – Pangong Tso : The Gems in the Crown

Day 4- Brace up for Tarsar to Sundarsar

Valleys at our feet, vistas in our sight.

The Tarsar pass looks deceptive. Sure the climb doesn’t look gentle but it seems short. It is but it is also two feet wide in most places. A tumble won’t kill but it’ll take you down more than a few feet and leave you in a heap of bruises.

The summit seems rocky and constrained. That it is but it expands to take in everyone posing with Tarsar and it’s surrounding craggy peaks providing a stunning backdrop before descending on a path way longer than the ascent. The path to Sundarsar is laid out in its entirety. It’s through a U-shaped valley with a loopy stream sandwiched between boulder crossings. Those feet killers! The one at the far end is big and ends at the mouth of Sundarsar.

A small placid lake, it is set in a niche off the wide valley at a height of about approx 12900 , mirroring its rocky cradle. After lunch we follow the goats across the lake as they disappear across the rubble strewn steep path over the pass (The highest point of the trek at about 13200 feet). It’s a bit of a scramble but its short and the other side is an undulating ramble for a bird’s eye view of the Marsar lake way, way down below. A more forbidding, darker mirror image of Tarsar. This is as close as we’ll get to it. I feel a bit like a Lammergeier sitting 800 feet above the lake on a craggy outcrop. Not ready to fly.

Explore the colours of another far off lake in – Harlequin Holi at Todaraisingh

Day 5: Long walk back to Lidderwat

The night isn’t as cold as I expected camped next to Sundarsar but thats maybe because I am kind of surreptitiously given a fancy extra liner. A good sleep is needed because we are breaking camp at 7 for a long walk straight to Lidderwat instead of spending the night at Homwas, making it a 17 km march that day. I think the weather has a hand in it.

A meandering stream yet to find direction.

Much of it is retracing steps except initially we walk along the base of a valley being drained by the stream coming out from Sundarsar till Shekhwas. Midway the choice is to cross a big boulder fall or cross the stream. Rock and a hard place again. This time the hard place is a springy, narrow bridge across the stream, 9 feet high. Just can’t do it! Finally holding a human mountain goat’s finger I fairly skip across (if I may say so) the boulders through the stream.

We found a deceptive stream in – Chushul – Chumathang : Hello Indus & Iridescent Colours!

That bridge and the human mountain goat.

The weather report is spot on. Within half an hour of reaching Lidderwat the heavens open up gently. Its been a long but fun 10 hours.

Day 6: Rambling back to Aru

Picture postcard from paradise might look like……

I do the 10 kms back to the hamlet almost without a break. There have been arduous moments and moments of ruminating rambling. In the last forest patch with the steep slopes I’m virtually alone for a few minutes and it’s a bit unnerving but then isn’t this the ultimate ending?

Calling it just a trek would be selling it short. Coming up next- the adventure it was and the people I met along the way….we were all walking each other home.

Fact File–

1.Kashmir is an adventure. Period.

2. The hamlet of Aru which about 3 hours from Srinagar is the jumping off point for the trek. Everyone reaches the night before commencing the trek.

3.There are a few trekking groups which do Tarsar Marsar and they do organize pick up and drops from Srinagar. But do check where you are being put up at Aru. There are limited options.

4.Give cushion time for the return flight.

5.I went in first week of September and the sun was strong and the nights cold but not bitterly. Temperature range was 5-15 degree Celsius.

6.Its all about the shoes, shoes, shoes! I saw someone trying to break in a pair. What a bad idea!

May 31, 2021June 4, 2021

Bikaner’s Merchants and Their Mansions

There are mansions and there are havelis and then there are the havelis of the merchants of Bikaner who traversed the fabled Silk Route. Merchants, traders….travellers of yore. Peddling their wares in far off lands and returning with exotic treasures. What stories they would tell… of fabulous cities visited, small yet intriguing places crossed, strange people encountered, the adventures they had…all in the pursuit of the scent of fortunes to be made. To come back home to their families, to befittingly beautiful havelis made with the riches of trade.

Discover the story of original nomads at- At the Darwaza of a Road Less Travelled

The Rampuria havelis of Bikaner named after the owners, the richest merchant family of Bikaner in the 15^th century or so, line a winding maze. There are no fancy grounds, no gate or garden, not even a shred of a shrub! Perhaps they don’t need the superfluous adornment of gardens or land to add to their grandeur. So nothing prepares you for the facades…. There is no build up. Along with the sensory overload there is a physical reaction to them–the jaw slackens, eyes don’t know where and what to take in- the structures, the chiselled Dulmera stone relief, the carved and shuttered wooden windows painted eclectic green and blue, the jharokas or the panels? There is no let up and yet each element comes together perfectly.

Magnificent workmanship is like..- An Ode to Ancient Life in Stone- The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ajanta & Ellora

A slightly haphazard lane lined with new banal construction brings us to a little town square of sorts. The main haveli presents its closed haughty profile much like the famed ‘Bani-Thani’ of Rajasthan. But a bass relief closer still, on a wall in the most amazing shades of peeling pink distracts us first. King George with his handlebar mustache and two horses at his ears looks down at us a tad comically. Next is a Queen Mary, his wife, with a pair of horses again. The third is intriguing- there are lions at the ears this time and the queen with a double chin wears a big nose ring and looks Indian and self-conscious. Semi-circular balconies with a distinctive European feel crown the bass relief. It was probably the last one to be made in the 19^th century.

Find the story of another queen in- Mystic Maheshwar : At the Center of the Universe

The most photographed face of the entire lot of the havelis presents itself at an angle. In the narrow spaces between the building thanks to its location, it’s the only one which allows a complete picture. It again shows an European influence with brick finish, shuttered turmeric yellow-brown wooden arched doorways, windows and coloured glass windows on the top floor. The narrow alley is empty even though its way past the morning golden hour. An odd nearby resident walks past with a milk pail and massive cows/bulls saunter around. Waiting to be fed not milked!

Step through these doors to another time.

Standing in front of the yellow doorway one gets the best view of one of the most elaborate facades. The workmanship is stunning in its detail I don’t know where to begin. The green wooden windows vie for attention from the protruding jharokas, the panels with simpler carving provides some relief and the only stone parapet painstakingly carved through stands out, as does the tall, narrow entrance. The slight angle and blue doors replacing the green and just a shift in the carving makes me realise there are two havelis adjoining each other.

Read about the stunning stories of Orchha in- Part Two – The Old Gold in Outstanding Orchha

The green Jonga parked nearby, a relic of the past, looks like its been on long journeys over dunes and if I let my imagination run wild, over wind-swept passes all the way to the Steppes of central Asia….the long Silk Route and it survived to tell the tale…. I know its old but not that old! If only it could talk…. It might cough and splutter a lot to begin with…

Travel on another road in- Chushul &Chumathang – Hello Indus & Iridescent Colours!

As we walk a few steps a small wooden board next to a padlocked door announces an address in Calcutta. The trade trail crisscrossed the country with the power-centre and trade shifting.

We have to crane our necks to look at the stunning workmanship of the havelis here on either side of the constricted lane. They are all made from the unique pinkish-red Dulmera sandstone found nearby. I find myself looking at rounded, bulbous overhangs, supporting jharokas whose unique shapes with narrow windows at angles make me gape! And I realise that the best haveli(don’t know their individual names) is the least visible and so what if its façade is just that, as a side view lets out the secret. Beauty can be skin deep and when its so beautiful…who cares.

Neighbourhood Gossip Corner & Safety Perch

As I am taking in the side profile with a pretty lamp to light it all up at night the cows have finished their promenade and are congregating nearby. I had noticed the massive wooden takht or platform where the street widened out and marveled at this local hanging out contraption. As one of the bulls gets too close for comfort looking for a treat I scramble onto it. Sitting in safety and admiring the haveli like a roadside Romeo I fancy its pink- red colouring is rather like a permanent blush thanks to centuries of awe-stuck admirers.

Discover the other attractions of Bikaner in- The Bird-book of Bikaner

April 30, 2021May 2, 2021

Picture Postcards from Bikaner’s Bylanes

The pandemic has put paid to my travelling plans and right now travellers are not in my good books. I will not confess at having even an iota of envy as I incessantly scroll through their Insta stories showing skiing trips to virgin glaciers only accessible by puny gliders or Facebook updates of morning walks under scarlet rhododendrons lining bridle paths snaking up a mountain side. Its not been a year to perform or perish, rather one of transform or perish, sometimes quite literally, unfortunately. So this year, the year of the backyard as I call it, has seen me transform from a traveller to an explorer. Health is where the hearth is, to give a new spin to an old saying.

Read more about the transformation in – Same Place, New Attitude

Hearth now is at a place which is not up there on the tourist circuit despite being home to some well preserved treasures and no, I’m not talking about the bhujia! I mean as snacks go the crispy, mildly spiced bhujia is firmly in the category of safe savior/emergency tray filler. Nobody is going to salivate at the sight of it. One wickedly wonders how exciting can a place, word associated with the bhujia, be? Bikaner has always been seen as the poor country cousin to the more flamboyant Jodhpur with the jet-set crowd well jet-setting in and out of it, a romantic Udaipur- a honeymooner’s magnet, Jaisalmer with its commanding fort and pristine but fast disappearing sand dunes or even Jaipur offering most accessible sampling of all things Rajasthani. But as is the wont of country cousins, what they might lack in chicness they make up in oodles of charm.

Savour tales of Rajasthan’s food in- Nasirabad’s Kachora: More than a Savoury Story

Bikaner’s founding ruler Rao Bika set off from Jodhpur around 1472 AD to a vast land which, despite being on the trade route from Central Asia to Gujarat, was so desolate and uninhabitable it was called Jangladesh. Ironically, there wasn’t any love lost between the two erstwhile states, the maximum battles over the centuries being fought to fend off the probing Jodhpur forces while Rao Bika’s pragmatic descendants managed to keep the peace with the Mughals and the British. Bikaner was way more progressive than any of her neighbouring princely states at the time of Independence and was the first to sign the Instrument of Accession to the Indian Union.

Scroll though another series of postcards starting with – Picture Postcards from Bundelkhand

At the center of of it all- Junagarh Fort

So what does Bikaner serve up apart from the Junagarh fort which showcases some of the finest examples of the rare and opulent Usta artwork and houses palaces with names like Badal Mahal, Phool Mahal which faithfully reflect successive architectural influences? To be found here also are-Jain temples in all their carved glory, cenotaphs of nearly sixteen generations of royals clustered serenely near Devi Kund Sagar, havelis of uber rich merchants putting up an intricate and haughty facade to hide their inner desolation, a successful conservation story at Jorbeer’s vulture sanctuary and Karni Mata, the only temple in the world where rats are worshipped, to name a few. So much to tell over some drinks and Bikaneri Bhujia!

Explore the natural side of Bikaner in- The Bird-book of Bikaner

Coming soon….

Bikaner’s Merchants and their Mansions

Putting up a haughty facade to hide the lonely stories.

April 11, 2021

Harlequin Holi at Todaraisingh

Holi was a day of colours alright, as natural and organic as the landscape could provide. Morning dawned a blemish free blue as we headed out. The fields of wheat between Junia and Todaraisingh were a blinding gold, ripe to be shorn. We crossed giant quarries showing seams in more than 50 shades of grey granite but nature isn’t about to write paeans about her bondage scenes anytime soon.

Read about memorable holi scenes in – Disconnecting with the World on a Mountain Isle at Shaama

Sitting pretty in a sloping manicured garden with lush trees for company, the 12th century Hadi Rani ki Baori at Todaraisingh was an oasis of green, inside out. The water within emerald, and she playfully threw back dappled sunlight at the arches on a side. A lesser cormorant dried its shiny black wings as a wagtail warmed its belly on the stone steps. Much like we would have, if we had been dousing each other with water. We admired the precise geometry of the steps that make up three sides of the stepwell and explored the cool arched recesses, which make up the fourth of this rectangular structure. The baori was made in memory of a newlywed princess who chopped off her own head, to ensure her hesitating husband had nothing to hold him back from a battle, which he went on to survive only to follow his dearly departed wife in a similar fashion. A story as macabre as it was heroic but then we are in a land where such tales echo off the walls of scattered memorials. There are other smaller stepwells around Todaraisingh, an overgrown village with a catchy name.

Discover stepwells and other stories in –Mandu and Maheshwar in the Monsoon Mist

Savour the best Kachoras in the world in – Nasirabad’s Kachora: More than a Savoury Story

After a picnic breakfast there, of packed crunchy kachoris and stuffed mirchi pakoras, we made our way towards a dam that seems quite vast on the map. The green scraggly shrubs with splotches of yellow flowers provided relief from the dullest indeterminate colour of the winding range of hills but it was the flame of the forest holding up their flowers like torchbearers in a hunt, in shades of watery to fiery orange, that dotted the forested hills with increasing regularity. The flowering tree reviving memories of childhood holis, where the flowers added to giant tubs tinted the water orange, for us to fill our pichkaris or simply dunk someone in! As we rounded a bend on the road snaking at the base of the hills, their line broken every now and then by gullies emptying nothing but broken boulders, we spied an ocean of azure blue. What a sight the people living in those huts along the pebbly shore must be waking up to! The sky and the Bisalpur reservoir gently filled their pichkaris with blue, feeding off each other, so entwined at the horizon, that you couldn’t make out where one ended and the other began.

Dive into the colours of another lake in –Pangong Tso – The Gems in the Crown

The 12^th century Bisal Deoji temple, worn with age and holding within it stunning carvings, sits proudly at the water’s edge and watches them play, not inclined to join in the revelry but left with no choice as the sky blue waters lap at it’s feet. It was on higher ground but the water has inundated it all, not even sparing the temple courtyard in the wet season. The interiors reveal the remains of stunning Maru- Gurjara or Solanki style of architecture with richly carved and in one instance, inscribed column. The higher figurines have been spared the disfigurement meted out to the lower ones. The cool shaded hall with its concentrically carved dome stands in stark relief to the bright openness of the lake with a golden sandy island nearby turning green.

Explore distinct architecture in – Part Two – The Old Gold in Outstanding Orchha

Sitting proudly and watching the play of colours.

Back home the tikkis of magenta put by the lady of the house at Junia Niwas rounded up the colour palette for the day. Nature’s harlequin canvas giving us a holi to remember in technicolour.

Fact File-

Tonk is 48 kms from Todaraisingh and is the nearest big town.

Todaraisingh is about 114 kms from Ajmer.

Bisalpur dam is about 126 kms from Ajmer.

February 26, 2021February 27, 2021

The Bird-book of Bikaner

Right now I am in that category, if there is one that is, before the amateur birdwatcher. The ones who get mighty excited but have little clue which bird is it that has got them excited. It does not help that a lot, and I mean a lot of birds are just brown or grey and these two colours look just that- brown and grey! The man is of a similar species and together we are a pair of excitable things flapping our arms whenever we see any remotely unrecognizable feathered friend.

So while Bikaner is not a place that pops up on the birding map rather it typically conjures up visions of camels, palaces and gastronomical offerings, Covid restrictions have ensured we are yet to sample any of these visual or palatable delights. The past year has been one of rediscovering the great outdoors and Bikaner has ample of that. What we are also discovering is that Bikaner is pretty much a pit-stop for anyone travelling through or over Rajasthan. Our landing coincided with the winter birding season. Two places we were told about and the others we discovered while hunting for picnic spots.

Read where all the camels get to in- At the Darwaza of a Road Less Travelled

Kolayat–

The town’s claim to fame is the ashram of the sage Kapil muni, a fair, ancient temples and now probably the mines around. The day we decide to go dawns a grim grey. The plan is a picnic at Gajner but we find no suitable place so Kolayat it is. Enroute we see giant mounds of the earth’s insides dredged and lying piled up. The temples and their ghats are lined up on one side of the lake which is overrun with dormant lotuses, ie, all twigs and no flowers or leaves in sight. They make for surreal pictures. A little egret muddies the water further with its toes near the banks trying to get its lunch to rise from the lake bed. The only birds clearly discernible are the Pochards and the Grey Francolins. They are literally at our feet, coming out of the bushes for an afternoon drink. It’s a day of the greys.

Lunkaransar-

The Demoiselles have been sighted I’m told and I’m itching to see these daintily named cranes. When we finally do make it, its a foggy morning again! The water is murky in the ‘lake’ hugging the road. The hazy morning ensures the light is not conducive to any great photography. As it is the subjects are grey, black and white mostly, with the teals breaking the monochrome setting with flashes of eclectic green and burnished gold. Most of the birds are snoozing, one leg tucked in, beaks buried in their back feathers. There must be a yoga pose named after this stance… the spinal twist perhaps?? The Demoiselles on an island, looking down gently at the ducks waddling between their legs, make a poetic grayscale Japanese painting but the man is not impressed. These grey bearded things? He prefers the Pied Avocet with its upturned curving beak. From the flat pans beyond some cranes take flight en masse, stretched silhouettes clouding the sky further.

Jaimalsar-

The massive water filtration reservoirs near Jaimalsar are newish but the distinctive Bar-headed geese seem at home and are a delightful surprise. I see Dalmatian pelicans for the first time and the solitary pair has impressive wingspans as they skim the water. The grey herons get the man excited. I suppose for herons they are big but obviously the cranes had come up short!

Read about the geese’s summer home in- Chushul & Chumathang – Hello Indus & Iridescent Colours!

Jorbeer-

Birds of different feathers….L-R: Egyptian vulture, Imperial and Steppe eagles

‘People go straight in and get a shock’, says Dr.Jitu Solanki as he gently eases us into the Jorbeer carcass dump turned vulture sanctuary. I had reservations with visions of gore and stench but thank god we asked him to show us around. The naturalist’s passion has made him come on a Sunday morning to show us this unusual place and his knowledge on all things natural and native to this region elevates the entire experience. By the time we enter after getting an eyeful of the Cinereous and Egyptian vultures from across the boundary wall, we’ve had a crash course into the pecking hierarchy of the raptors and other birding tidbits and are too hooked onto the birds to notice their meals. Coming away I hope I’ll be able to spot a Himalayan from a Griffon vulture, although the golden crown of the Imperial eagle may be too subtle for an amateur needing a blingier beacon. I would have gone cuckoo trying to identify the Variable (true to its meaning!) Wheatear and would never have spotted the teensy Desert Jird. One thing is definite, the mild revulsion has totally given way to dreaming of a juvenile looking right out of Jungle Book as he looked over his shoulders, his chocolaty round eyes saying don’t come closer or I’ll have to move and its too early and cold to leave my perch.

Those chocolate brown eyes and that steel beak of a Cinereous.

The other great adventure in Rajasthan was at- Ranthambore Alert -Ticketing Trials and Tiger Trails

Gajner-

Overlooking a small lake the ornate shikarbari of old is now a hotel. It isn’t a birding place as such but it makes a pretty sight with the black bucks chasing each other and the wild boars foraging with their piglets in the background, and closer a few Grebes, a lonesome Bar-headed geese and a solitary Eurasian spoonbill with its thick chopstick like beak sweeping and shifting the shallows complete the picture. Across the lake a massive Bluebull emerges from the thicket sending the coots scurrying. A few Demoiselles keep to themselves far away. There is a wide canopied boulevard of banyans lining the embankment and probably houses owls but right now it’s alive with the cacophony of a bazillion parrots all wanting to have their say, two of whom so entangled in their fight don’t realize they have now fallen literally at my feet in a mass of screeching green, feathers flying. I don’t know who is more taken aback!

Discover monuments and endangered birds cohabiting in- Part One- On the Wild Side of Outstanding Orchha

If this season’s sampling of the avian smorgasbord is anything to go by Junagarh fort might soon be replaced by Jorbeer at the top of the local attraction pecking order. Thanks to Dr. Solanki, an avid birder, biologist and herpetologist we know there is a packed natural calendar year to look forward to in this underrated town.

Fact File-

Distances from Bikaner-

Lunkaransar – 72 kms.

Jaimalsar – 51 kms. Entry into the Water Treatment plant is restricted.

Kolayat – 51 kms.

Jorbeer -12 kms. The Jorbeer Conservation Reserve is supposed to be open from 7AM to 6PM. But we went at 8AM and it opened half an hour or so later.

Gajner- 29 kms. The entry to the sanctuary is through the hotel gates only and there is a charge of Rupees 250/- per person.

January 15, 2021January 15, 2021

Mystic Maheshwar : At the Center of the Universe

Oh East is east and west is west and never the twain….could be the title of the man and my travel proposals. Substitute the directions but the template remains steadfastly firm. (I know I have taken the lines totally out of context but you get the idea.) I proposed tigers and the jungle at Pench. The man, a boat ride to the center of the universe with floating candles on the Narmada. The tiger would have to wait! A morning after our sun chasing drive to Jam Darwaza we found ourselves on the same road again, this time down the forested ghats, over murmuring streams, meeting our Gadaria friends camped in a cotton field on our way to Maheshwar via Mandaleshwar.

Another highway not to miss goes through –Dras – Highway through Heaven

Ahilya Fort

We treated ourselves to some understated luxury this time, as we checked into Ahilya Fort (More on it another time) the palace quarters of the Holkars now converted into a heritage boutique hotel where, apart from the royal family, you can nod to the memories of past guests like Mick Jagger, Demi Moore…. Maheshwar has only two thermostat settings – hot and hotter, and since I have only made day trips, no prizes for guessing the readings at all the visits. So after checking in and lunching on a superb four course meal accompanied by chilled champagne, we crash out in the ‘Nagada room’ done in the cooling shades of white and ice blue, which offers not just privacy but the most surreal sunrise view..

A great place to stay In the Pink City is – Dera Jaipur: A Homestay for Stellar Style and Exceptional Experiences

Narmada and Maheshwar

Maheshwar maybe synonymous with the gossamer fabric but its history and story are totally entwined with the river it embraces. Maheshwar means abode of Mahesh an epithet for Shiva and Narmada, according to some tales, is his daughter. Shivlings are not only to be found in the numerous temples dotting the fabled ghats here but they seem to randomly and organically sprout. The river produces the banalingas, cylindrical stones revered as a manifestation of Shiva. The ancient Narmada is considered so sacred that even Ganga purifies herself by taking a dip in her.

Discover another river and hair-raising adventures in – Barot -And the Serendipitous Catch in the Uhl River

Baneshwar

On a boat rowing to the center of the earth

Early evening sees us heading past the Ahilyeshwar and Vithoji temples, which are looking like they are getting gargantuan acupuncture treatments covered as they are in scaffolding, down the ghats onto a red hand-painted boat for a ride with a tea hamper, being rowed to the center of the universe. The silence of the river broken only by the rhythmic sound of the oars. As we approach the 9^th century black stoned Baneshwar temple in the middle of the river, we see a Nandi sitting in veneration at the entrance in stark colour contrast to the rest of the temple. The white lilies adorning the vermilion smeared lingam grow on an outcrop behind the temple itself, barely skimming the surface of the river. The temple is considered the center of the universe and is in line from the North Star to the center of the earth. The diminutive temple may not hold a torch in terms of architectural beauty to the massive Ahilyeshwar temple on the shore but it has survived many a dip in the raging river during countless monsoons. As the sun calls it a day the bells clang in the temples at the twenty eight ghats on the river front full of devotees and locals now, praying, bathing, congregating, feeding the fish, contemplating the world. We row back after an altogether brief halt and from our boat put down tea-lights in leaf bowls in the river, the current making us part ways and we see them going where the river deigns to take them, into the sunset, while we sip our tea and lounge on the big boat. Mysticism meets romance, not for the first time.

Tiny tealight travellers on a mighty river (Picture credit ASR)

Where piety meets pomp is – An Ode to Ancient Life in Stone- The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ajanta & Ellora

Sunrise

In the night we ask what can we do early in the morning? Watch the sunrise, we are told. From where? From your bed! Okay then… I’m all for such doable suggestions! We rise before the sun and from our balcony see youngsters already trying to find the perfect spot to have a photo shoot near the temples below! Insta is not just a carrot. It’s a whole carrot cake! But we have a vantage point and witness the sun unfurl a molten gold bridge across the river to reach the temple on the ghat. It starts as a watery orange path and soon firms into a fiery golden one before breaking into melted pools at the end of this spectacular show.

Explore the colours of a great river in – Chushul -Chumathang – Hello Indus & Iridescent Colours!

Lingarchan

A thousand lingams come to life everyday

Later in the morning we join the priests keeping up a centuries old, unbroken ritual that in a way symbolizes the cycle of life here. The Lingarchan puja was started by Ahilya Bai on a much larger scale and although the number of people performing it has dwindled those who do it, do it with feel. Practiced hands move deftly to shape mud into tiny lingams which are put into notches on wooden boards worn at the edges by the water seeping in. The notches themselves are in a Shivling pattern. Sitting in a room next to Ahilya wada we work in companionable silence and once the boards are full, after a brief ceremony, they are taken to the river and the earth once again meets the water, one enriching the other.

Find Madhya Pradesh’s other cultural gem in- Part Two – The Old Gold in Outstanding Orchha

The timings of this ceremony change with the seasons so we’ve had to abandon our very English breakfast to attend it. As we come back to the table to finish it, Pugsy, one of the denizens, approves of the breakfast kept warm for us from below the table. Going by his size he has many breakfasts in a day. The fountain in the courtyard, fashioned from a massive old copper container, gurgles. It’s the only time we hear the river water in Maheshwar. A town and a river patiently, like they have all the time in the world, revealing their stories which run so deep, they can’t be told in one sitting.

Read about another place nearby seeped in history in – Mandu and Maheshwar in the Monsoon Mist

Fact File –

Maheshwar is about 2 hours from Indore.

Ahilya Fort at Maheshwar is an exclusive heritage property and slightly expensive.

The Lingarchan ceremony happens everyday in a room at the Ahilya Wada around 8:30AM but the time varies with the seasons.

November 19, 2020November 20, 2020

At the Darwaza of a Road Less Travelled

At the end of the Lockdown outings had meant going for drives. Like happy little puppies literally, with our nozzled noses at the window, hair (not ears) flying in the wind, it was sheer bliss being out of the house, seeing the world with new eyes! Slightly scarred by months of indoors, anywhere out was good with me! Having reached Mhow during the monsoon a visit to Jam Darwaza was a De rigueur and to be any more ‘out’ from there one would be off the Malwa plateau! We decided to catch the sun rise for a change at Jam Darwaza. It meant being up before five, which is not my favourite cup of tea, waking up a surprisingly agreeable teenager and getting the real tea organized. On the winding drive in the dark we overtook a large herd of sheep on the road with their herders. I had seen these Gadarias (as they are known in these parts) a few days back outside Indore on the highway. It had been a sight to see the traffic stop to let the women, setting out to follow the men, cross with their camels. I had wished I could meet these nomads.

No visit to Malwa is complete visit without seeing- Mandu and Maheshwar in the Monsoon Mist

Since it was built around 1790-91, during the reign of Ahilya Bai Holkar, the double storied arched Jam Darwaza straddling the road going down to the Nimar plains from the Malwa plateau has been a solitary sentinel and proverbial gateway. Named after a hamlet nearby with a blink and miss fortress at one end and a chhatri at the other end of a pond, the structure has been a favourite drive-to destination, to catch sunsets over a cuppa, watch the villages below light up mirroring the sky above, dark forests giving way to light fields, lakes dotting the countryside, to feel a bit at world’s end.

Nearing Jam Darwaza that morning, I noticed a herders’ camp right at the end of the plateau being wound up. What a dream campsite! The old gate and the craggy slopes at the bend were all but a silhouette in the faint light of dawn when our headlights fell on another lot of men and their sheep making their way through the arch. I was taken aback to see couple of cars already parked at the Darwaza at that ungodly hour. Billion plus population has to show, the sardonic teenager commented from the back seat. Youngsters wanting to set Insta on fire with visuals of a flaming sunrise at Jam! The excellent new road and a burgeoning population now ensures the Darwaza has a incessant stream of temporary visitors and hawkers, and permanent company of makeshift shops and half constructed loos blocking the best view. Who will sit on that throne and stare at a wall imagining the scenery beyond? Having contemplated such profound issues over tea and being ditched by a sun not allowed to keep his date by dour clouds we started back. We ran into the caravan of camels and women hitting the road.

Read what must be had with tea in- Nasirabad’s Kachora: More than a Savoury Story

Standing on the road I spied a girl cut across the dip of a dry stream, lanky mutt in tow from the camp site. By the time I asked the young boy leading the camels if I could take a photograph she was there, teasing him while he looked bashfully around. “Selfie loge?”,(Will you take a selfie?) she asked, throwing me off kilter. Et tu? I noticed lipstick and bindi on a scrubbed face. I would rather have taken her photograph alone. She turned self conscious as I obliged, my morning face ruining the frame. The other girl leading the second camel had been smiling indulgently. Totally self composed, beautiful with an open inquisitive look she didn’t look a day above 18. The caravan swayed forward as I stepped back on the side and took a video. Chatting with me without breaking their quickening stride the next question was if I was going to make a music video leaving me slightly nonplussed. I was quickly getting the impression that this encounter might be my first but definitely not theirs.

The young boy and the two girls set off at a quick pace after being photographed. The following women and girls passed by, chatting on the move, seemingly used to taking folks like me in their stride. The younger eyes dancing with amusement, the older ones more weary, smiling more guardedly. All dressed in traditional finery – upper arms covered with bangle sets, solid silver anklets, big nose pins on some, heads covered, hands firmly on their hips leading the camels lassoed around their shoulders. Whoever says ‘striding’ is masculine needs to see these women walk -fast yet graceful; dark, full skirts swishing with each step. Their camels swaying with their own rhythm, loaded with precious belongings- giant cots upside down holding bleating lambs, emaciated hounds, and sleepy kids. The stragglers, still at the now almost wound up camp, being loaded and coaxed to rise for another day, another long walk.

Discover easier yet engaging walking spots in – The Gardens of Delhi -A walk not only on the green side but through history itself

Driving home we encountered the other group of herders we’d crossed in the dark earlier. The white tunics and dhotis and cardinal red turbans of the mustachioed men adding a bright dash to the black fallow undulating fields amidst hillocks covered with flowering teak, flame of the forest and mahua trees, all washed and nourished to shades of green by last night’s shower. The shorn herd of sheep, in shades of black and white, moved en mass with the odd lamb frisking about. A sharp whistle was all the communication needed between the herdsman and his huddle.

While at Mhow explore- 3 Churches in Mhow: Discovering Obscure History and Outstanding Carols

While travelling to new destinations has been quarantined the last few months one discovered that just being on the road can be an experience into itself. And maybe we got it wrong! Wishes are not horses, they may be camels and I may not want to ride them but hopefully one day I’ll walk with them and these nomads, true blue, always on the move travellers, on that winding path through that Darwaza and it will be a whole new way to see the road less travelled.