Khajuraho - An Incredible Experience

The train U P Sampark Kranti from Delhi pulled into the Khajuraho railway station by 7.30am, about  an hour late from it's  scheduled time. P and I got down and as expected someone already asked " Auto Chahiye? 100 Rs. lagenge dropping ki liye" ( do you need an auto? Rs. 100 to drop at the market." We stepped out of the station only to be hounded by more men asking the same thing. We chose a random auto and sat.
Once out of the small station, it is a long straight road till the main area where the Western Group of temples are located. About 7 kms.  We crossed the Airport and our hotel Ramada on the way. P and I had already decided that we would do a recce sort of a walk around these temples on the day we arrive. Then we would decide what to do and how.

Khajuraho Railway Station

August is still " not the season". There were sporadic rains too. But that had made the whole temple premise lush green. As we crossed the security gates and entered the garden area, it was love at first sight for us. We were impressed with the way the whole premise was maintained; even during this " off period".

We started with the Chitragupta temple and then walked around the Kandariya Mahadev and Devi Jagdamba Temples. There were very hardly about  5 - 6 tourists inside and we were the only Indians. P and I already knew that we would need a guided tour for sure to learn more about these exquisite structures. Sometimes rather than reading or googling, the magic that a local guide can weave with his words makes the place more fascinating. We spent about an hour and came out to have breakfast right in front of these monuments; at Raja Cafe. This one features in almost all the travel guides and you cannot miss this. Sitting in their rooftop area under a huge neem tree overlooking the temples, we enjoyed a sumptuous English breakfast.

Kandariya Mahadev Temple

As we came out to get an auto to our hotel finally by 11.00am ; we found the same Auto driver, Dipak, who took us from station. This time we asked him about his charges to show us around. Dipak brought out a whole rate chart. Whenever I and P travel somewhere like this on weekend breaks, we completely take things slow. We do everything in our own pace the way we like and that not necessarily mean going everywhere "recommended". Both P and I could not sleep well in the train. So we  planned to take some rest before heading out. We asked him to come pick us from the hotel by 4 pm and show us the Eastern group and Southern group of temples.

Dipak came exactly at 4pm. The weather was gloomy with an  overcast sky. He took us to Chaturbhuj Temple first.There were the guard, 2 women cutting the grass around the temple and 2 tourists besides us. This temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and this is the only temple, among all Khajuraho group of temples, that do not have a single erotic sculpture. From there we went to the Duladeo temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Again here except for the security guard, we were the only visitors. This temple is located just next to Khodar river. But we were told that this year it still had not rained properly. Hence there was less water in the river. The overcast was growing stronger by then and we knew it would rain any moment. P and I were really keen on the Sound and Light show at the Western group. But weather was sure to play a spoilsport.

Jain Temples

The Jain temples are in the Eastern part of Khajuraho. By the time we reached the Jain temples, the sky opened up. It was pouring heavily. We sat inside the temple premises till the time the rain stopped. After about 20 minutes the rain got lighter and we continued our "sight seeing"to the Vamana temple. This temple dedicated to the Vaman incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Again we were the only ones along with the security guard. Seeing our interest, he started describing the sculptures on the walls. There is a sculpture of Varaha another of Lord Vishnu's incarnation. It was already getting dark and was the time to officially close the gates. So we left hoping against hope the Sound and Light show will be on for the evening. But alas! It was just not our evening. We sat at Raja Cafe and munched something before heading back to our hotel.

Varaha Statue

Next day our train was only at 6.20pm and we were hoping for a late check out. But the hotel was completely full on Saturday because of some conference and we had to change our plan a bit. We had a leisurely breakfast and packed all our stuff and left for the Western group of temples by 11am. This time we wanted a detailed tour with a guide. We met Mr. Narendra Jain near the gates and fixed on a charge of Rs. 800 for a detailed tour of the Western group of temples. Mr. Jain kept his word and showed us around thoroughly. He said that the erotic sculptures make for only 3% in the whole lot of sculptures. That's strange considering how Khajuraho is known for the erotica mainly. The walls of the main temples Kandariya Mahadev, Lakshmana temple , Devi Jagadamba temple etc are adorned with exquisite sculptures depicting regular life during those days and of course the very famous erotic sculptures. There is a huge Varaha statue in a small temple in front of the main and most intricate temple of them all - Lakshmana temple. The statue is made of stone and there are some intricate sculptures cut in the whole body. That was surely one impressive sculpture.

The Temple Garden

The walls of the temples and with the description by Mr. Jain, it dawned upon us that those days women had such a strong role in the society. They were educated, strong,into sports, not afraid of their carnal desires. There were many sculptures of women with a scorpion over their thighs and in Mr. Jain's words " Scorpion or bichchu is the symbol of sexual desire. Remember the song "Daiya re Daiya re Chadh gaya paapi bichchua"." Suddenly the song from "Madhumati" had a whole new meaning for us. P and I were most amused. After a complete tour, we came out thoroughly content.

The Bichchu / Scorpion

Apart from the temples, one can go to nearby water falls too like Raneh and Pandav. We thought of going to Raneh; but then we were so overwhelmed by what we just learnt that we wanted to sit and enjoy lunch rather than again going somewhere. This time we went to Indiana for lunch. Since Khajuraho is frequented by foreigners, most of the cafes offer international cuisine and really good dishes. We had pasta for lunch. Even after lunch we still had time; we had to decide between 2 museums ; Archaeological museum or the Tribal art museum. We zeroed upon the Tribal art museum. There was no one in the Tribal Art Museum. The lone person / security guard / care taker opened the doors and switched on the lights and fans when he saw us coming. It was free entry and we wanted to click some photos. But the care taker said there was a fine since the entry fee was removed. There were some interesting tribal arts were on display. we covered the exhibits in about half an hour. I strongly recommend one should visit this small museum to get a glimpse of the different tribes of Madhya Pradesh.

As the train pulled out of the Khajuraho station exactly at 6.20pm that evening; it carried in it 2 very impressed travelers. We enjoyed this short trip to Khajuraho, a UNESCO World heritage site. Both of us would love to be back for the famous Khajuraho Dance Festival.

The Royal Emblem of the Chandelas

The Quote I live by

WOW Post May 7 2017

I have never really given a thought on what is the “One Quote that I live by”. But thanks to the WOW (Write Over The Weekend) prompt I am here sitting down and trying to figure out that one special quote that I live my life by and the realization is quite an eye opener for me too.

At different stage of my life I have been inspired by different ideologies and thus must have tried to live my life that way. Why “must have”? Because I am also not quite sure. While trying to be the good daughter, good student, good sister my life revolved around just being that – “Good”. Yes in my teens I rebelled too. Wrong move. But that’s one learning phase of life.

Now finally I can say I have found the “One quote” for me and this is it.

I have come to believe in that. While I cannot claim to be extremely non materialistic; however I am trying to be a reasonable one. In life it’s all about finding the balance, isn’t it?

I have to admit my other half has a very important role in it. Being an extremely non materialistic person, some of his traits have also rubbed off to me. There was a time when the word “Sale” would excite me. Now I shrug it off. Not every sale I have to land in the nearest super store or mall. I don’t mind people seeing me over and over again in same clothes. I don’t care if I do not have the latest phone or any gizmo for that matter. I now look forward to spending time with the people I love in the cozy warmth of someone’s or my home rather than partying in some loud over crowded place. I love it when people share their stories ; talk and laugh. I cherish the moments I spend with my other half.

I now know where to draw the line in my professional front too. Once upon a time I was too engrossed in my work and did not realize that I was giving it more attention than needed. Now I am out of that zone. After all you only need “this much” to be happy and I am glad I have realized that at the right time. “This much” may vary from person to person and I have found my “this much”.

We have started to print photographs rather than posting on Instagram or Facebook. Sometimes we sit and look at those albums. Unknowingly I find myself smiling as I flip through the pages of our photo albums. This is one thing we have stopped doing completely till few years ago. Digital cameras smart phones social media – who prints photographs anymore! We do; now.

This is what I have come to live by and I hope to do so for the rest of my life. 

 ‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’ 

Not Love But Half Story

"I have a boy friend already you know."

"Yeah. I too have a girl friend."

"Yes you told me that. By the way what are we doing here?"

"I don't know. May be discussing on how to save the world!"

They laughed together and next moment they were kissing each other.

Both did not know how they got close to each other. They were not even in the same department in college. Few common friends introduced them and they got talking casually.

They became friends. They found out they could talk endlessly for hours. May be that's what drew them to each other. 

Do they have names? Of course they do.
Do I want to mention them? No I don't. 
So what should we call them? He and She. 
Cliched? I can live with it!

What He and She shared was something strange. Friends they were for sure. No they were not in any kind of "serious going steady" kind of relationship. Both had come to a third city for higher studies leaving their respective small towns and a girl/boy friend behind. 

Their common friends raised eyebrows. He and She was aware how odd they looked together. He with his six feet and lean frame. She with her hardly Five feet and broad frame. When they met they told each other what His/Her friends were telling about this strange relationship or "Time Pass" that they were doing. They would laugh it off. No silly; not every laughter followed by a kiss. It just happened once. Yeah once or may be twice. Who cares! No one remembers now.

There were endless hours of silence between them. They would sit together in some corner of the campus and just sit for hours. No one ever uttered the "L" word. There was no commitment; no promise. They just were! And now they no longer are. 

Their paths changed long back. He is a happily married man with two beautiful children. She doesn't have any child; but she is madly in love with her husband. They are complete now. Not in any kind of "half relationship" anymore. 

Years later when their paths crossed; did they look the other way? Again no silly; He and She weren't shy of their "Half relationship". They hugged and greeted each other like long lost buddies. They introduced each other to their "other halves". Both were genuinely happy for each other.

Those silences remained; between them ; like some kind of treasure. 

All stories of He and She are not "Love Stories". Some are " Half Stories" too. 


“I am sharing a Half relationship story at BlogAdda in association with #HalfGirlfriend”

Thank you Dear Zindagi!

Dear Zindagi,

Aye zindagi gale lagale

Hum ne bhi tere har ek gham ko

Gale se lagaya hain ; Hain na!

Yes. Zindagi, I am writing this to you. You are my yaar, dost, friend. We fight, we make up; we cry,we laugh. I know I have never expressed how I feel about you. But it's never too late to say what you want to say. So here I am, writing this to you, to let you know how I feel about you.

At times you drive me crazy and I hate you. But the very next moment you find a way to make me smile and be in love with you even more.

You have been that strict teacher to an unruly undisciplined student ; me. But you have been also been that caring friend who would be there whenever I needed someone. You taught me to cherish every moment. Like most teenager I was a rebel too. You taught me to be responsible even in being a rebel. I tend to go crazy with my “over thinking head”. And I cannot thank you enough for being so patient with me and my whimsical ways.

I owe you to my parents. They always did the best for us. Us are I and my siblings. But along with them, dear Zindagi, you too have contributed to make me the woman I am today. You gave me friends who stood by me in my toughest days. Whenever I thought that was it and I could not take anything anymore; the most important lesson you taught was that "Life finds a way". Yes, it does; you do and so do we.

P & I

You gave me P my soul mate. Before I met him I tend to be a little hard on you. I am sorry. I had built a wall around me and pretended to be cold and uncaring. Now as I look back to those days, I realise you tried to make me see how beautiful the world around me was. Like a stubborn child, I refused to bulge. But you being you; finally found a way to break the wall and to bring out the real me. Thank you for P. He made me let go off my “too much worrying” ways and smile more often. Now I don’t take you that seriously. You know what I mean, right? Now I have finally accepted you as you are. I am not scared of dreaming nor am I scared of letting go.

You know what, I always thought I have to run along with this fast paced world or else I would lag behind. You helped me find my pace and make peace with that. It’s ok to walk if I can’t run. Now I stop to admire that sky, that sight, that sunset, that tree. I am no longer in the race of making it to the top with flying colours. Strangely that does not affect me anymore. I don’t care. I just want to be happy and content. The 0 (Zero)s in the bank account do not matter that much that used to few years back.

But hey there is one complain to you I have; rather P has. Even after all these years I have always remained that clumsy girl I was. No one could change that thing about me. But then I guess somethings are meant to be forever and my clumsiness is one.

Thank you #dearzindagi .

Much Love

Moi

“I am writing a letter to life for the #DearZindagi activity at BlogAdda“.

Long Way from Chocolates,Mushy Cards and Teddy Bears - Vday my way

Who said on every Valentine day you have to do what the whole world ,( ok most of the world) does. Who decided that love can be expressed by chocolates, roses and a cosy candle light dinner at a fancy restaurant only. And more importantly who ever thought of the idea of burning a deep hole in to your pockets / purses every V day. Just forget about that person now and let's think about some other ways to show your love.


When this wonderful and unusual prompt was suggested by Blog Adda, I decided to don my thinking cap and came up with these :




PS: I am married and hence one might find my ideas are mostly for a married couple.




1. Get up early and go for a morning walk together. Yes even if you do that everyday, do that today too. If you spend 30 minutes walking at the garden, make that to 45 minutes. That extra 15 minutes, just sit together after the walk and hold hands. So what if today is Sunday and it's chutti day from morning walk. Make an exception.




2. Make breakfast together. My man cooks really well. So I can confidently say if I chose to make only tea and he takes it upon himself to "make breakfast" it will be awesome. The role can be reversed if that suits you. Come on, make green tea with a tea bag if you find that easier. Man! BTW I made breakfast and P made masala tea just the way he likes it.




3. Why not let the Bai also enjoy the day of love with her special someone. Go ahead, give her a chutti. Do the house hold chores together for today. See how it feels.




4. For today, whosoever usually dominates the TV on a Sunday, please make some adjustments. I guess with the cricket matches on air, the man will be pining for the remote anyway. Mine did; for the Under 20 finals and India lost!




5. How about a home beauty treatment session for a couple. Here's a quick home remedy to clean up your face and rejuvenate the tired eyes. Get few table spoons of besan and add 2 table spoon of curd. Make a smooth paste and apply that on face avoiding eyes and till your neck. Cut 2 slices of a cucumber and cover your eyes. Lie down for 15-20 minutes and wash with cold water. Voila. You just saved Rs.1500/-




6. Go out and do some grocery shopping together. When you are at this, you can always get a rose or a bunch of his/her favorite flower from the neighbourhood flower guy. Make his day too. Yeah, before you ask us, we did.

7. Now decide; if that's his favorite for lunch and her favorite for dinner or vice versa. What we did, we skipped a heavy lunch as we planned to have a special dinner of both our favoruite dish Pasta with mushroom.




8. That afternoon siesta which working people like us long for. After lunch weight gain if you sleep and blah blah. Forget for today please. If not siesta, just get together and plan for the next holiday. Almost all airlines in India, has special offers for V day. Browse through them and plan your next trip together.

9. Now this completely what happened at my home. Slowly as the V day heading towards end, P sat in front of the TV watching cricket match while I sat to finish my pending works. I had to write this too! But yeah, P is taking charge of the kitchen and making pasta. The wine is already in the freeze, I have done my bit of cleaning the mushrooms and peeling the garlic. Rest over to P.

One additional as a gift to everyone on the day of love




10. Head out to defend all the poor couples who get harassed by the moral police and self appointed conscience keepers of our nation.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.






14th Feb '16

I am me

I am me  ( Not a poem)

I was born a daughter

I became a sister

Then a girl friend and one day

I became a wife

I slipped into being a daughter in law

From sister to sister in law

But I was always a girl

As I grew to be a woman

A girl who sings, laughs,  runs, jumps and dreams.

I am special because

I remain me.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

My High Five in Malaysia

       For everyone who has been bitten by the travel bug, certain places on the planet find a place with BOLD letters in their wish list and I am so sure that Malaysia features in each one of them. If you ask me, Malaysia features not in just BOLD letters but in BOLD RED letters and yet I haven’t had the chance to visit this magnificent country! Such is life. But does that stop me from dreaming about the things that I wish to do once I land up there; of course not. So here goes my wish list of what I look forward to in Malaysia.

1                    Cameron Highlands, Pahang : I come from that part of India which is known to the world for tea. Yes, Assam it is. Tea in THE drink at my household. Naturally Cameron Highlands is one place I wish to experience in Malaysia. Located in the Titiwangsa Mountains, Cameron Highland is almost the size of Singapore. The beautiful cool climate allows lot of plantations around this area; mainly Tea, Strawberries, flowers and vegetables. Roam around enjoying the vegetable gardens or the strawberry fields; watching colourful butterflies. One can also just enjoy his/her cuppa and sit looking at the picturesque tea plantations blanketing the undulating hills. Imagine a sunset beyond the lush green acres of tea plantation on the slopes of the hills.

        Melaka City, Melaka : To know about the country well, look back to her past and where else in Malaysia than this UNESCO World Heritage City of Melaka or Malacca. The is the city which was once the capital of Malacca Sultanate and the centre of the Malay world in the 15th and the 16th century. Centuries of colonization by the Portuguese, Dutch and the British culture have influenced the architecture of the town which is visible in landmark building around the town like the Portuguese “A Famosa” and the Dutch “Stadthuys”.  

Source :

http://www.tourism.gov.my

       Batu Caves:  This famous limestone cave temple with the 140 feet high statue of Lord Muruga is one temple I want to visit in my lifetime.  Not that I am a very devout Hindu with regular visits to temples, but this one with 272 steps to the main temple cave is one Hindu temple outside India which I would love to go. This is the centre of Thaipusam Festival in Malaysia where thousands of devotees carry milk as offering to their Lord Muruga in colourful kavadis.

     Sarawak Cultural Village, Sarawak :  This village known as the “ Living Museum”, showcases the rich cultural heritage of Sarawak. Located in the foothills of the legendary Mount Santubong, this award winning living museum is wholly owned by the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) depicts the heritage of the major racial groups in Sarawak and conveniently portrays their respective lifestyle amidst 14 acres of tropical vegetation. Here, it is possible to see Sarawak's ethnic diversity at a glance. 
The village residents provide information on their various traditional cultures and lifestyles. One can see replicas of buildings that represent every major ethnic group in Sarawak; longhouses of the Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu, a Melanau tall-house and a Chinese farm house among others. 

Source :

http://www.tourism.gov.my/

       Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur : No visit to Malaysia can be complete without a visit to the most iconic monuments; the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. At 451.9m from street level these two are World’s tallest twin towers  and the sky bridge that links the two towers is also the world's highest two-storey bridge, doubling up as a superb viewing platform. The 88-storey building features glass and steel on the outside, and a traditionally-inspired interior, reflecting Malaysia's aspirations in moving forward while maintaining its national identity. The towers were designed by Argentine American architect César Pelli. They chose a distinctive post modern style to create a 21st-century icon for Kuala Lumpur. Today these two towers is most prolific symbol of modern Kuala Lumpur and thus of Malaysia.

Ok, those are the top five experiences that I look forward to in Malaysia. But the list doesn’t end here. I want to go a gastronomy tour in the famous Jalan Alor in Kuala Lumpur which transforms in the evenings into a foodies delight; wander through the streets of China Town and Little India enjoying vibrant colours of the Malay Chinese and Malay Indian communities; A walk through the pre historic rain forests of Taman Negara and I can go on and on.

Here’s to the hope that I can soon set my foot in this fascinating Malaysia, Truly Asia.

Amen.

I am participating in the MalaysiaJao Blogathon Contest in association with BlogAdda.com.