Trip to Bikaner and Deserts of Rajasthan

It was one of those chilling winter nights in February when some of our friends got together to decide where we should be spending our weekend!  We took the plunge and said we'll join and there we were, with a bunch of youngsters on an adventure trip across the desert of Rajasthan!  more...

A walk down memory lane – Trips to Kerala, God’s own Country

Visiting the beautiful countryside of Kerala with its lush green cover was always a source of immense happiness and joy for us as children.    We would start planning for the annual trip much in advance. 

 

Kerala is a completely different visual experience from any other part of India.  We should prepare ourselves to behold the beauty of the green paddy fields lined with coconut trees, sloping and curving up, waving at them with its huge long leaves.   The rivers and ponds scattered with water lilies and lotus.  Little white egrets, herons and storks can all be seen standing in the fields to pick up their treats from the water below.  There would be all kinds of birds perched up on trees and the electric lines.  Some of the ponds would have a swarm of ducks wading and quacking around.  We  were quite lucky to spot some kingfishers near the ponds perched up on a tree once. 

When we used to go to Kerala during our summer vacations as children, we would get busy with our cousins.   It was a getting together of friends who meet once every year for a few days.   Our days would start off with making excursions to the paddy fields lined with streams of water.  It used to be difficult walking through the siders and our legs would keep going into the mud and slush.  As children who are not accustomed to these areas, we would have to catch hold of our cousins and walk after them slowly.  They were more comfortable as they were used to walking on these slushy areas.  The more slowly we would walk, the deeper our legs would go into the wet soil.   There used to be a lot of fishes, tiny ones and small ones wading in those streams.  We would carry bottles and plastic covers to catch these little tiny creatures.  By the time we all came back from our escapades, we would all be wet from head to toe.  Everyone of us would be scolded and shooed off to clean up and take a bath by our parents.  It was fun watching those little fishes wade in our bottles with clear water for days after that.

As children, we used to take our bath out in the open.    There would be a platform created near the well and it was a community bathing experience!   We would have a bucket and a pulley tied at the top of the well.   It was fun when we had to gather water from the well using these.  We would throw down the bucket tied with a rope and looped through the pulley.  When the bucket hit the water deep down, it used to make a loud noise and then we used to peek down to see the bucket slowly vanishing into the water and then getting submerged.   This was our indication that we had to pull the bucket right up with filled up water.  Pulling on the rope used to be an effort, but each of us wanted to show our might and therefore, we used to take turns to do it and would want to do it the maximum no. of times. We would lift out the bucket with the water and pour it into bigger buckets or else splash it on the others standing around.  And there would be so much squeals of laughter and mirth.  And then our parents would come and scold us for pulling out more water than was needed.  It was another task for the parents to get us all out of our bathing trips.

Once clean and in a little presentable state, we would head towards the kitchen from where lovely aroma would be wafting out. For us who were coming from Delhi, Kerala delicacies prepared in abundance of coconut was a treat!   We would all sit down in a row on the floor and have our meal, sometimes in the traditional way of eating in Kerala, on banana leaf. These days, though the experience has become rare.   Though the elders used a plate, we would insist on having food in banana leaves.  The lunch would be served by the ladies of the house with lots of koottaans (vegetable accompaniments), curries and papadams with rice.  Rice in Kerala is usually the thick red rice.  We would make a little hole in the middle of the rice for the curries and then top it with ghee.  It would be like a little pond and children loved to play even while they were eating. 

   

Every day there were different things to do and experiment.  Our cousins used to take pride in showing off and we were quite eager to just learn from them with all the excitement and wonder.   Our grandmother used to have cows and calves bound in a shed called Eruthil.  Early morning someone from the house would be busy milking the cow and the children all sitting around watching the process.   Then they would play with the little calf that was deprived of his meal for the sake of these children.  There would be hens and lot of chicks.  They would have to be released early morning from their little house called the "kozhikoodu". The chicks were fed with broken rice.  For city dwellers like us, these little chores were all new experiences and we would want to do all these things with the elders.

Some days we would go on an excursion to the open fields where lots of tapioca plants were planted.   There used to be lots of small dragonflies which they would call ‘Thumbi’.   Our cousins would catch them and tie their tail to a long thread and then they would make it fly and we would all follow the Thumbi’s.

The Tapioca Plant

Tree with Jackfruit

 

The pepper plant

  

The Royal Jama Masjid of Delhi

Jama Masjid is the biggest mosque in Delhi.  It is important as a heritage property as it was built by Shah Jahan and the coronation ceremony of later Mughal emperors were performed by the imams of this mosque.  It is walking distance from Red Fort and consequently catered to the needs of the royalty of those times.

The mosque is situated in the middle of the most crowded and congested streets of old Delhi and therefore, getting to the place itself is a bit of adventure.

We took the Delhi metro and got down at the Chawri Bazaar Metro Station and walked the entire length of Chawri Bazaar to reach the West side of Jama Masjid. Crossing Gate No. 5 from where we could see the three domes from behind the structure. we walked around the border to reach Gate No. 3.   The entrance gate to the mosque was on top of a flight of stairs.  The wide structure looked majestic on top from where we were standing.

  

There is a wide worship area inside – it is supposed to be able to accommodate 25000 people to worship at the same time.   There are 3 entrance gates to the inner porch and entire courtyard is lined with arched verandahs leading to the towers at the four corners.

 

 From the verandah on the opposite side of the mosque, one could see parts of Red Fort.   If you come out of the gate on the east side, you will step into the old and famous colourful Meena Bazaar of Delhi.

For other tourist attractions in Delhi, visit my blogs on  Humayun's Tomb, Safdarjung's Tomb, Lodhi Gardens,  Chandni Chowk, Lotus Temple,  Zafar Mahal,  Qutub Minar, Alai Minar, Sanderson's Sundial

Chandni Chowk of Delhi, India

Going through chandni chowk and it's various little gulley's is a favourite pastime for me and my husband.  We would hop on a Delhi metro and shoot off, the moment we find we have a day to ourselves  and are not needed to do some errand for the family or go the kids school or run to some other event.


We prefer taking the Delhi metro to this place because one we cannot dream of getting our car into the unmanageable little roads and get stuck in traffic for endless hours.  It also gives a breather to my husband who is the only one in our family who can drive right now.

So, on a nice  sunny winter day, we set off to be part of the busy streets, hawkers,  vendors, chai wallahs, the street food guys.   It is an interesting mix of people and buildings, old and new, all intermingled with each other that they still maintain an individuality yet look so distinct. 

A person probably visiting for the first time might not find this place interesting at all.  I used to be like that.  I hated going there amongst the dirt and the chaos, amidst people jostling with each other to get ahead, people screaming at the top of their voices, a mayhem of cycle rikshaws, auto-rickshaws, car, scooter and hoards of people all getting into each others way and nerves.


I only had to make 2 or 3 visits with my husband to really understand the depth of these places.  Once you get into a gulley or a lane, the varieties of a single aspect displayed was simply mind boggling.  Now, I sometimes simply go there to open up my horizon, of my understanding of what all things are available there. 

 

There is a lane dedicated to only gems and stones.  Another lane would be selling only buttons and embellishments.  On one lane, you will simply find laces, rows of shops selling different coloured, different styles of laces.  There is a lane for bicycle parts, one lane for clothes, one for sarees, one for dry fruits and nuts, spices.....  The list just goes on..  Everytime we go, we choose a different lane to explore.

 

This old Delhi used to be the only Delhi people knew some 30 to 40 years back.  By now though the boundaries of Delhi has expanded to beyond Gurgaon on the south and Noida on the west, Rohini on the north, etc.  But when you visit old Delhi, you would not imagine that Delhi has expanded so much.  Life goes on as it used to couple of decades before.  It is as if time stood still somewhere in those periods for Chandni Chowk while the others moved on!

For other tourist attractions in Delhi, visit my blogs on  Humayun's Tomb, Safdarjung's Tomb, Lodhi Gardens,  Jama Masjid,  Lotus Temple,  Zafar Mahal,  Qutub Minar, Alai Minar, Sanderson's Sundial

Bekal Fort in Kerala, India

Bekal Fort is one of the lesser known forts located in the northern part of Kerala.  It is one of the oldest and largest forts of Kerala.  It is part of the Kasargod district of Kerala.

We made a day trip to Bekal Fort from our home in Pathanamthitta District by taking an overnight train that left us at the Bekal Fort Station early morning.  The station was right beside the Beach.  It was very convenient for us to get to the beach and to the fort walking down from the station.  However, since we were on an overnight train, we did not have anything to eat in the morning and therefore went out in search of Breakfast.   This, being a very small town did not have too many options.   There were roadside restaurants that served all Kerala dishes but it was off season.  We went during the monsoon season and therefore the place was less crowded.  We were told that this place is usually flocked till May end when the school kids in Kerala are on vacation!

  

 

Bekal fort is a protected monument.   It is a key like structure.  The fort was the citadel of the Kolathiri Raja's of Kerala which finally fell into the hands of Vijayanagiri empire.  It was then taken over by Tipu Sultan and the security features around the fort gives us the impression that it was built to keep an eye on the enemies coming in from the sea side as well as land.  

After our Breakfast in the town, we took an auto to the main entrance of the fort.  Inside the fort, there was an observation tower in the center of the fort with a ramp going up and down.   The walls  that surround the fort went on and on across the length and breadth of the fort.  

  

The walls were approx 12 ft in height and were very strong built.  We could see the holes that would have been used to keep guns and ammunition by the fort guards.   There was a wider opening that was used to keep tanks.  As we peeked in through these holes and the gaps, we could see the entire stretch of the sea around.  

  

  

The fort is surrounded by sea on the west side.  There was a lane that would take you down to the sea and beaches.  The beach on the fort side was rocky. The waves lashed on them with so much fury that it was exhilaratig to look at the lather foaming up as they hit the big rocks. 

  

The beach near the fort was beautiful and crescent shaped.   It could be accessed by just walking down the fort.  The view of the beach from the fort was also very nice.  We had the whole beach to ourselves and we enjoyed the afternoon sun in the waters.  There were coconut trees lined and a garden adjacent to the beach which also had interesting things for kids.

Bekal Fort on Google Maps