Up In The Air .... Part 22

These Up In The Air pics are from the recent trip to Varanasi.

Inbound into Varanasi's Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport at Babatpur, we flew on Air India's Airbus A319 VT-SCU. VT-SCU made her maiden flight on October 2, 2009 at Toulouse, France and was delivered to Air India on October 28, 2009.

The flight was pretty smooth with flawless takeoff and landing, I must admit Air India pilots are certainly a lot more skilled.

When we boarded at Mumbai, a group of Japanese pilgrims boarded with us. There must be about 30 of them, all very elderly but extremely dignified.

Since there were scattered all over the aircraft, a lady from the group requested a politician, presumably a UPite for exchanging seats. The paan-chewing politician much to my surprise smiled and said in English "Madam, you are our guests in India, anything for you!"

I was impressed...

Certainly IndiGo has a lot to learn.... learn especially about attithi devo bhava - अतिथि देवो भवः. 

The shortfinals into Babtpur was a disappointment...

I had hoped to catch a glimpse of the mighty Ganga, but there was so much haze that hardly anything was visible....

The red cowlings - casings for the engine look nice... especially with the sun-rays painted on them...

Much to my surprise, I discovered that Babatpur Airport is an international aiport with flights coming in from Thailand, Sri Lanka and Nepal...

On the return leg, after a disappointing experience with IndiGo's staff at Varanasi airport, a flight a 1000 feet above us flying eastwards caught my attention... Unfortunately, I could only capture the contrails on the zoom... the pic was far too grainy...

The mighty Himalayas of Uttarakhand on the horizon...

At this altitude - 33000 feet, a quick calculation suggested that the mountain ranges were a good 360 kilometers away!

A few more mighty peaks emerge...

A zoom-in on the range...

A clearer view...

The Varanasi - Mumbai flight stopped at Delhi for an hour, and we took off from Delhi, we got an awesome view of the Arravali Hills.... 

Homeward bound, now over Vadodara....

Amazing Indian Landscapes Part 8

This was my first time in Madhya Pradesh and as we travelled across in and around Singrauli, which is India's energy heartland.... 

As you travel through the region, you see power plants, dams and coal mines all around....

But I was pleasantly surprised as we entered Mohan Ban Reserve Forest. It was pristine.....

The rolling hills of the Vindhyas, densely forested in patches, were a treat to be in after the dusty drive through the roads of Singrauli!

These forests are indeed Amazing Indian Landscapes....

There is a rustic charm in driving along these dusty rural roads.... the crisp winter air, the blue sky and lots of greenery, what more could I ask for?

The slanting rays of the winter Sun!!!!! The warmth was comfortable....

Wonder whose journey lies on this rutted path?

I could spend the whole day relaxing here, but I had to head back 250 kilometres to Varanasi, the world's oldest living city....

There is so much to explore in lovely country, myriad landscapes, places that are off the beaten track, yet absolutely untouched and pristine.... Indeed, there is so much to see and do, in India..... So hope I head to the next Amazing Indian Landscape soon! 

Goodies From The Heartland...

One of the most exciting aspects of travelling is getting to discover gourmet surprises in unlikeliest of places.

This whirlwind trip to the Hindi heartland - to the oldest living city in the world, Varanasi and the drive beyond Varanasi to Madhya Pradesh, to an area which is the confluence of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh proved to be the exact opposite of boring and unexciting, notwithstanding the gruelling 9-hour drive over 250 kilometres.

We stopped by for an unexciting lunch at a dhaba in a village called Ahraura, near Sukirt that's where I discovered Uncle Chipps on sale....

Those of us who grew up in the late 1980s and early 1990s would recall their catchy jingle "Bole mere lips, I love Uncle Chipps"

Today, this brand is practically dead in the metros, but it continues to live on in the hinterland....

A monkey stands guard at the Airtel signage....

Proliferation of telecom companies and new-age banks in the hinterland proves that the savvy and demanding consumer not only exists but thrives much beyond urban India

Kesri Sweets at Ahraura was a true revelation....

Recommended by a colleague who grew up in these parts and our driver, Shukla, Kesri Sweets has the best gulab jamun I have ever had....

Soft and juicy, these gulab jamuns oozed out an untold goodness, obviously, we had to ignore the flies around....

Waking up in Varanasi to a brilliant sun rise in my hotel room's window, I couldn't help but wonder how much history this ancient city, this oldest living city in the world has seen....

Sunrises like this one here, over the last few millenia have kept the spirit of city alive despite numerous murderous attacks on the faith and devotion of the people....

Till today, the ghats and temples of Varanasi survive, as testimony to the indomitable spirit of our people....

Sadly, I wasn't in a position to visit Assi Ghat and Dashashwamedh Ghat this time. Maybe the next time....

On the way to the airport, we stopped by for a Banarsi breakfast at an unnamed and unmarked shop selling local goodies....

A steady stream of hungry people kept the staff busy....

Dal kachori which looked more like a poori with a channa-potato gravy - this was an absolute treat.....

We followed the kachori with piping hot jalebis.... Crispy and juicy, these jalebis weren't a wee-bit oily, much to my delight....

With the sweetness of the jalebis in particular and Varanasi in general, we are now heading to Babatpur to catch a flight back home... 

My Way, On The Highway... Part 2

After spending a few hours in Yamuna Nagar and a overpowering rush of nostalgia of life in the sleepy mill-town, we left for Delhi.

A few kilometers out of Karnal, we got our first glimpse of the kos minars, medieval milestones that were first made by the 16th-century Afghan Emperor of India, Sher Shah Suri, and later on by Mughal emperors. 

The towers are solid round pillars, around 30 feet in height. They stand on a masonry platform built with bricks and plastered over with lime. Though not very impressive aesthetically, being milestones, they were an important part of communication and travel in the Afghan and Mughal empires. Alongside these towers, serais (roadside inns) were also built for tired and weary travellers.

Kos minars came up extensively in the north - they were extended as far as Peshawar and in the east to Bengal via Kannauj, along the Grand Trunk Road, which is today's National Highway 1. The geographic span makes for nearly three thousand kilometers of Mughal highways, accounting for nearly 1000 kos minars, i.e., 1 every kos or 3 kilometers. Today there are 49 towers in Haryana and 5 around Ludhiana in Punjab, protected by law, as heritage structures.

As dusk was setting in, we reached Murthal. We stopped by at the Haveli, a roadside resort for a bite and cup of tea....

Clean and slick, the Haveli is a great example of India's bustling highway economy....

A relic of the past welcomed us in to the Haveli....

A quick loo break and it was evident how times had changed - swank and spotlessly clean loos...

These were unthinkable of in the past....

Seriously, when you are on the highway, a clean loo is something that is really comforting....

A strapping durbaan, obviously a Punjabi, ushered us in with a well meaning Sat Sri Akal!

How I miss all of this in Mumbai!

The Haveli restaurant was plush and inviting....

But my favourite highway meal of parathas, chhole and maa ki daal wasn't on offer at that hour...

So we had to move outdoors to the food court....

These guys make cardiologists' businesses boom - look at how these big fat aloo tikkis are getting fried....

But this is the real thing, not the anaemic ragda pattice of Mumbai.... urghhh

Ahhh.... pav bhaji....

But this is not match for the yummy ones you get in Mumbai.... I swear I had pav bhaji for dinner every night, for nearly 40 days when I moved into Mumbai 10 years back.... I love them so much!

And after plates of hot aloo tikki and spring rolls, and obviously, a few cups of tea, we were back on road, headed to Delhi....