Showing posts with label Amravati. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amravati. Show all posts

Friday, 24 December 2021

Trek to a secret place in "The Magical Melghat"

Hey there!
Yes you..
Wake up, witness a magic here.
Naah, I'm not the magician. It's the Magic of Melghat. ✨

Melghat was truly magical this time.
You'll believe it to the end to this blog. 

Like all my trips earlier, even this was a sudden plan, which rerouted from Narnala Sanctuary to Melghat.
That was because Onkar's father (Hemant Thete Sir), who has a good experience trekking in Satpuda was planning one on that day. 
It's always fun to be with some experienced trekker, which indeed was.

They were having their couple of friends & their kids alongwith. 

With all other being in jeep, me and Onkar left Amravati on my bike at around 8 in the morning.
Ujjwal a.k.a Diablo joined us from Navsari, Amravati.

We surged through the wind with lots of chat and fear in mind of being washed out by rain.

Ohh ohh.. how can I forget to mention that my raincoat was of no use, as my dad lost its cap somewhere. 😅 And it being a sudden plan, I didn't even got time to purchase one.
So, I bought a set from a store at Paratwada.

Thereafter, while on the way, we crossed a river bridge. That river was rushing down the mountains & was all heated.
It was flowing like thunder.
Onkar was trekking in Satpura from many years, but even he says that he hasn't seen that river flowing so fiercely in last few years. 
The fact being, our area faced a heavy rainfall this year. Most in this demi-decade.

We discussed his trek at Vairat - the highest peak in the area (1178 m) & the habitat there, which has a lot wild Bears there.

Soooo, back to the trek part..

We landed at Ghatang (a village), had tea & breakfast..& moved to the main area.

But wait, it's sprinkling out there.
Shall we plan to sit in Jeep..!! No way, we gonna make it on bike (kyu na baarish ka maja liya jaye!). 😉

Way to the place

Once we reached there, we had a local with us & went on to our way to secret place.

We crossed a shallow river stream and then through the mud (chikhal 😛) of the local aadivasi's farms.

Red Mud  trails
through the farms

  Woohh! 
  What's that! 😍

  There's a big plateau over there with a    reverse waterfall 😃
  The water there was waving back to the top because of the howling gales.

  We waited for a while & dived in the valley to head towards the secret place.

Wallah!
You might be thinking why am I calling it a secret place & not revealing the name over here.


That's because, exposing the name of place or the route to the same would really be unfair with the untouched purity of the spot.

If virgin-land had a definition - it would be this place for sure.
I just can't deal rawness of the place for a few ton of new reads.

The place was so wild and untouched, that, finding a snake was easier than finding a plastic wrapper, there.

We followed the river flowing in valley to reach the secret place.
The view there held us spellbound. 😍
Bless your eyes with the view of it herewith.

The spot I referred to as A Hidden Place ❤️

Then we three hot blooded guys wanted to ascend a dead waterfall wall with lots of trees there.. literally felt like mangroves.
The trees' roots were loosely intact with the soil.
A rock fell by the mistake of the one above, would directly hit on the head of the one below him & then to the valley. (unfortunately the one later, was me 😅)


All headed to the plateau & we were making our way back through the rocks & trees, through the cracks which could hardly allow an ultra-thin guy to pass through. 
Luckily we 3 were all lean. 😛

We went up again on the plateau & wanted to see the other waterfall on the opposite side of the first one.

We were just exploring the place to the best.
The kids stayed on the plateau with the senior ones & me, onkar, diablo, jajoo sir & the local guide started descending the other side of plateau.
Which was pretty steep.

We went below & enjoyed the scene there & wondered, why Koi Mil Gaya or Krishh kinda movies were not shot here. (I know, we were pretty low on choice with the movies we named 🤭😅)

The then, rain started again..
We held all the scene in our eyes & took our steps back to the top.



Jajoo sir shared his trekking experience from his very first trek in 1986.
He told us about his software engineering journey & his software which was functional in Indian Railways untill late. How his short height help him climb easily, etc. 
Little Potter pitches was a must & we were back onto the plateau.

Everyone else had their tiffin finished. It was we 4 who were left & had our lunch with the raindrops in our curry. 😅

Goshhh.. Done for the spot, I thought.
But NO.

The return journey was even more adventurous.
Heavy rain, dense fog and wild wind.

Rain wasn't allowing we people with spects to see in front. We surely need a viper on our spectacles.

Moreover the wind was pusing our bike to the side.
Tough it was, but loved it thorough.

We were waiting for a village to take a turn. The fog was so much that we barely could see something beyond 8-10 feet. 
We passed the village without even knowing that we did.  We missed it completely because of fog. 
Found our way later though.

Thus concluded the journey with a highly satisfying meal at a Dhaba & a Coffee later at Diablo's place.

A mandatory group picture at the end

Legs were all shrunk being in water most of the time, just like a raisin. Warm water did its job then.

This was just one of many gems hidden in Melghat. 
This place is truly magical. Give it a chance to surprise you with enthralling views and some lifetime experiences.

A tour like this, every now and then rejuvenates me from within.

Find Your Peace in Melghat.
Trust me, it won't disappoint you!

So, You have any plans recently?
If so, let me know, I might join! 😉
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Hey there, thanks for following my blog all up to here at the end.

I hope y'all like it.

Please hit the FOLLOW button on the upper left corner to motivate me a little and get in touch with the latest blogs and writings by following the page on Facebook - The DrunkKalam 😍


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Thursday, 8 April 2021

The Delhi Diary - Part III

Contents:

Part I -

1.  Dream to visit
2.  Let's give it a try
3.  Yes! I got a call letter
4.  Pre-departure Drama
      4.1. The domestic tussle
      4.2. The collegiate contention

Part II -

5.  The Travel Tale
6.  Hustle for address
7.  At the MP's residence house
8.  Search for shelter
9.  The Fighting Father
10. Inside NITI
     10.1. Work
     10.2. Life with colleagues

Part III-

11. Bruhan Maharashtra Bhawan
      11.1. Life at BMB
      11.2. New Friends
12. Exploring Delhi
      12.1. "New" Delhi
      12.2. The other side of Delhi
13. Time to Leave
14. Life after Internship



PART III

Hi folks,
I hope you're here after reading the first two blogs of the series.
If NO, please click on the below links to visit those blogs -

11. Bruhan Maharashtra Bhawan

      11.1. Life at BMB
    
      As I mentioned earlier that I was residing at Bruhan Maharashtra Bhawan (BMB) in Paharganj area, which was actually for someone who visits Delhi for short duration, but we need to stay for a whole one and a half months.
my bed @ BMB
It was not a big task for us to convince them, as there were already few people living at the same place for over 11 years.
Yes, even I was shocked!

We used to get morning breakfast with tea and dinner.
Breakfast has only two dishes included, which were given every alternate days. One day Poha & the other day Upma.

Let me be a cheap food blogger here by describing the poha & upma in detail😅
The upma was something which we prefer to drink, than to eat. It was thin textured and ofcourse tasteless.
And the Poha, well enriched with oil. 
I think the amount of oil they would've used in Poha was probably double the quantity with which they used to make curry.

I usually never woke up early when there was upma in breakfast. Also, I never had Chai, as I'm coffee person.

The meal was relatively good, as much as the people there.

some blurred views from terrace of BMB,
which I used to look for hours

I used to sit on terrace watching the traffic jam at Paharganj square, with a pen and paper in my hand or sometimes headphones on.

     11.2. New Friends

     I used to sleep on floor with 25-30 people in a big giant hall. My bed was beside Pathak Ji, the person who was there for 11 years, who was working in Press Trust of India (PTI). 
The other one was working as a Journalist from Bhopal. 
One more from Yavatmal, was there for studying Share Market, while the other was a Kendriya Vidyalaya teacher who was fighting his case in court.

There was a person from Sangli, named Mohd. Riyaj who was there to present his research paper in IIT Delhi.

I also met a person from Nashik, who was an entrepreneur. His company was creating different types of sensors, and was ofcourse the most sensible person I met there.

We used to roam around BMB after dinner. Somedays we used to sit on chairs talking about life & each other's experiences. I was not qualified for such talks but I did so.

12. Exploring Delhi

      12.1. "New" Delhi

      New Delhi was actually something to feel awe about. The administrative buildings and most of the major organization's headquarters were there in New Delhi. 
It was clean, planned and sophisticated. The people there were all professionals.

Jama Masjid, Delhi


Red fort, New Delhi

More than half of my day was spent in New Delhi, where I explored the Lotus Temple, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Vigyaan Bhawan, Red fort, Akshardhaam Temple. I also observed Namaz at one of the biggest Mosque of India, the Jama Masjid, that too on Eid (Eid-ul-fitr). 

Illusion at Vigyaan Bhawan, New Delhi

Each of these places can have a seperate blog of my experience during the visit. Let's keep it all for some other day. 😉

     12.2. The other side of Delhi

      The other side of Delhi is not only the old Delhi (Puraani Dilli) but the other side of the same city which I experienced.

I used to commute from Paharganj to Sansad Marg in bus. You just have to assume that in the bus full of passengers, there are definitely 5-6 pocket pickers in the same bus.

I have seen incidents happening in front of me, but no one gives a damn, coz they need to travel everyday, the same route.

One day while roaming around BMB, a person was all surrounded by 3 thieves and the one who was with me said that, keep an eye on him, something is going to happen, and he was right. That person was robbed.

The other day a lady lost her handbag to thief & no one was there to be the hero or to help her. They were all used to such happenings and they didn't even bothered to give it a look. 

One day on Saturday, me and Gaurav bhaiya went on a walk and had ice-cream. Two boys came and snatched the icecream and insisted us to come and take it back. Then Gaurav bhaiya left it and we went back to BMB & he said, या लोकांशी वाद नाही घालायचा, हा त्यांचा इलाका आहे (never mess with these people, it's their territory)

I again explored Cannaught Place and almost all the chor bazars including Sadar Bazar, Chandani Chauk, Palika Bazaar, Sarojini Market and Karol Bagh.
Again the experience there is a different one, altogether. (Puri kaahani hai boss)

Oh, this was everything outside BMB, but I lost my Comb, Mobile charger and even my Baniyaan in BMB. 😅

13. Time to Leave

I was sad when my dad left Delhi just after 3-4 days of stay, but this time I was even more sad, coz it was my time to say goodbye to this city.

We interns offered a small gift to our domain head & he said, "Hamare 4 saal bache hai retirement ke liye, tb tak Delhi me kbhi bhi kuch bhi kaam ho toh yaad krna" (I have 4 years before retirement, till then whenever you've any work in Delhi, feel free to reach out to me).
We felt good with those words, I collected my Internship certificate & left the office.

On the other side, I had friends at BMB of varying age. They were used to such scenarios of saying goodbyes. I feel happy to share that I'm still in touch with few of them.

The last night at BMB was the toughest for me, I haven't slept for more than an hour that night. 
I was just staring at the street light outside the window, which was hitting straight in my eyes, and I was awake till the sunlight hit me from the same window.

FROM night  ------ TILL morning


With double the weight of shopping for my family members & me being alone, I dragged it all to New Delhi railways station.

The bags were heavy, but my heart was even heavier.
It was all mixed feelings, which can't be expressed in words.

14. Life after Internship


After Internship, my parents were proud & they used to tell every relatives about my internship & I was like, no papa, please!

My teachers were happy & proud. They flagged my name on Notice board with a Congratulations message.
I saw a change in me & a change in others around me as well.
This internship helped me crack many interviews thereafter.

I wish, everyone should get a chance to explore something beyond their comfort zone, an unknown city, numerous challenges & tons of experiences with millions of memories.

It just opens up your mind. It widens your perspective towards the same life & it gives you a feeling that you're no less that others. It's just that you haven't tried yet.

Life is what you get from it, the learnings & the experiences, so enjoy every single challenge you get, coz you know, right? That's life.

Leave the rest, just give your best!
More power to you!
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Hey there, thanks for following my blog all up to here at the end.

I hope y'all like it.

Please hit the FOLLOW button on the upper left corner to get in touch with the latest blogs and writings OR follow the page on Facebook - The DrunkKalam 😍


Craving for your love...

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Happy Reading!


Thursday, 18 March 2021

The Delhi Diary - Part II

Contents:

Part I -
1. Dream to visit
2. Let's give it a try
3. Yes! I got a call letter
4. Pre-departure Drama
      4.1. The domestic tussle
      4.2. The collegiate contention

Part II -
5. The Travel Tale
6. Hustle for address
7. At the MP's residence house
8. Search for shelter
9. The Fighting Father
10. Inside NITI
     10.1. Work
     10.2. Life with colleagues

Part III-
11. Bruhan Maharashtra Bhawan
      11.1. Life at BMB
      11.2. New Friends
12. Exploring Delhi
      12.1. "New" Delhi
      12.2. The other side of Delhi
13. Time to Leave
14. Life after Internship

PART II


I hope you're here after reading the first blog of this series.
If not, CLICK HERE


5.  The Travel Tale

Now the tickets being in place & I being above the place, we planned to go Nagpur in afternoon with a general ticket & then will head towards Delhi in Kerala Express.

I was having my last practical exam that day & I got back home, quick and fast, had my lunch & bhurr.

My mother was there for a see-off with happy yet numb face & wetly eyes.
The journey from Amravati to Nagpur is of merely 3 hours & we were in Nagpur at around 5 in the evening. My dad wanted to meet one of his friend, who fortunately showed up at station. 
The layover time passed well and then we left for Delhi at around 8 pm.

The journey is actually long, but it was even longer for me, who was excited for the next day more than anything else.

I was enjoying every moment of the journey, as trips were not common for my family, then.
I bought a book written by APJ Abdul Kalam, named Wings of Fire, with a box of Petha on my way, at the Agra Cantonment Railway Station.

Then later the day, after a hectic Journey of 22 hours & an almost 9 major & 144 minor stations passed, we are finally at the "Dil walo ka sheher", the Capital City- Delhi. 


6. Hustle for address

As soon as we stepped out of the railway station, we felt like a celebrity. Jokes apart, we were mobbed by many taxi drivers, but as soon as we told them the address, they were like, "Arey ye toh bohot dur hai, yaha se nahi milegi taxi!" (This is too far, you won't find a taxi from here!)

One kind person suggested us to take metro till Khan Market & then a taxi thereafter.
We had the experience of metro for the first time.
Then we were searching for the exact address & found after a few hours of dig.

7.  At the MP's residence house

As we entered the grand house, our first meet was with the caretaker whose name was Somnath ji. He was from Bihar & we found his way of talking little hard to grasp.

Picking up keywords from the sentences he threw, we used to guess what he exactly said. Thus, we got to know that MP sir was out of city for couple of days. 
Somnath ji made us settle in the guest room, full fledged with carpet floor and AC.

When we were in search of food/shelter,
all over walking
8. Search for shelter

We then got freshen up & went out to look for residence nearby, as the stay at MP's place was just for a week.

Ghar toh nahi mila, par khana mil gaya (we didn't got the shelter, but found a cheap place to satisfy our hunger for the night)


Now this is a thing about Delhi, you will find small dhabas everywhere, more or less like the viral "Baba ka Dhaba", in recent times.
The place where we ate, barely had a proper light.

We got back home (MP's residence), as tomorrow was a big day.

9. The Fighting Father

The next day early morning, we hired a taxi to Sansad Marg, that's where Niti Aayog was.
A morning coffee made me ready for the day.
When I was IN, my dad was out finding a place for me to reside. 

He found a place named Bruhan Maharashtra Bhawan, which provides shelter to residents from Maharashtra, but just for few days.
There we had evening meal included in the charges.
This place was at Paharganj (पहाड़गंज)

Bruhan Maharashtra Bhawan, Paharganj

So, we need to figure out for lunch.
I had my dad, the superhero knows it all.
He also found a canteen near my office to have my lunch everyday, 30 rupees a meal. This is much better than the office's canteen, which charges 90 rupees for a one time meal.

As we were new to the office, my dad was not allowed inside the office & was stopped by the CRPF Commandos.

That first day, after searching a place to live and a place to eat, dad was sitting on the table outside my office, all day long, and this made me senti & I felt helpless.
I asked him to go home and rest, but baap baap hota hai.. (father is your father, afterall), he won't listen to you.

10. Inside NITI

     10.1. Work

    So, the first day, we had our Entry pass created and met the Advisor of Science and Technology Department. 
It was then that I got to know, we need to undergo one more interview round to be selected for internship.

ID Card
I was afraid for the fact that, if this goes wrong, my dad and me would've been back to Amravati.
The students there were all from big institutes, IITs, Delhi University, London School of Economics, etc. And then there was "ME" from Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University. 
Even while giving intro, I need to mention Amravati from Maharashtra, beside Nagpur.

Fortunately I cracked the interview & boom, we are allotted with our first project, which was a research project basically. We were working with DRDO officials & presented the final report to Dr V. K. Saraswat Sir, former DRDO Chief along with Forensic Expert & our S&T domain head.

As we met the officials of AIM (Atal Innovation Mission), we got to know the level of the officials there. One of them was MIT, Massachusetts passout, the other did her PG & Ph.D. from IIT-B.

After a fortnight, we were asked to work on technical project for AIM for accepting applications for Atal Tinkering Labs, an initiative by Indian Government.
We closely worked with National Informatics Center (NIC) who handles every official website of Indian Government. 
We got the website created and Done.


    10.2. Life with colleagues

    All of us were almost from different states, but it didn't took long for us to match the vibes. 
Interns from other verticals were also friendly enough to spend our coffee break with.

The internet speed there was just great, so one fine day we decided to make use of it in proper way. 
There was a big LED TV in our conference room, where we connected our laptop & enjoyed the IND vs SL cricket match. 

I rarely accompanied my fellow interns for lunch, as they used to have their lunch in NITI canteen. 
But one fine day, they stopped me and asked "Tum roj kaha jaate ho? Hamare saath khana khao na." (Where do you go everyday, why don't you join us for lunch?)

Then I told them about the canteen which dad suggested, and guess what, from next day, they all joined me for lunch. They all were like a temporary family for me, then. 

Left to Right - Mohit, Me, Vrishank, Shatakshi

We enjoyed there.
I remember the day when we spent most of our time in the big giant library of NITI Aayog, the other day we got to know that PM Modi & other officials visited there in the building & we make a hasty run towards Amitabh Kant's cabin to see them.

My days at Delhi were about to end, & one day, they decided to order Pizzas. 
Looking at my pocket & tight budget, I denied saying "Bhuk nahi hai" (I'm not hungry)
I think they understood and said, we will pay for you, don't you worry. Then I said, there's no issue of money & I called home and asked mom, if I could join them & she agreed owing to my last days there. We enjoyed that day.

The weather there was really humid.
When Delhi was heating me up, these were the guys who made me feel comfortable, no matter what.
We explored Delhi together (in budget 🤭), and the memories of the then 2017, is still fresh in my head & will always be.
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For further story, let me catch you in the 3rd and the final blog of this series.

Hey there, thanks for following my blog all up to here at the end.

I hope y'all like it.

Please hit the FOLLOW button on the upper left corner to get in touch with the latest blogs and writings OR follow the page on Facebook - The DrunkKalam 😍


Craving for your love...

ABOUT ME  |  CONTACT ME

Happy Reading!

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