Kanyakumari & Thiruvananthapuram

Time: Dec 25th-30th, 2023

Place: Kanyakumari & Thiruvananthapuram

Company: Wife & daughter

Highlights: 

Prologue: To go or to not go, was the question that my wife & I kept pondering since Oct, during Christmas holidays. Reason being, I would be just back from the Samyama Program in IYC and wife would be leaving soon to Samyama Repeater program in IYC in Jan soon after the Christmas Hols. Indecision resulted in inaction and we did not book any tickets to anywhere. However, during first week of Dec, we decided that we should make use of the week-long office & school hols since it is rare and decided to risk it, especially since our Dasara (Oct) vacation plans got cancelled due to untimely customer visit at office. So, for Dec, we thought why not use the same itinerary but there was no availability of trains and food was a problem, especially for wife since she had to be very conscious due to her program participation in IYC. 

So, searched for train tickets especially return to BLR during last few days of hols because  pretty much all trains had got booked already. Finally found one train from Kochuveli to BLR on 29th which had availability. With that one train in mind, booked rest of the itinerary wherever we had train availability. Finally decided on BLR - Kancheepuram (for temples) - Chennai (for Madras Music Festival) - Kanyakumari - Thiruvananthapuram - BLR as the main places of visit, although did not get trains all the way. For instance, got a train from Chennai to Tirunelveli (instead of Kanyakumari). Anyways, itinerary was finalized although I was not too happy since I thought this did not seem like worthy of a week-long vacation. 

However, after I got back home from IYC Samyama program, I got sick and had severe bouts of cough & a running temperature coupled with running nose and sore throat. Thought it will dissipate after a day or so but it did not and I was not well enough to undertake the journey. So, first cancelled the BLR-KAN leg thinking if I get better, we can directly go to Chennai skipping Kancheepuram as we could do it some other day as it is just 4 hours from BLR. On 24th morning at 10 am, started searching for Tatkal train tickets and was surprised to easily get a train ticket directly from BLR to Nagercoil for 25th. So, booked it and then cancelled Chennai-Tirunelveli leg. So, our itinerary became very simple now: BLR-Nagercoil (Kanyakumari) - Thiruvananthapuram (Kochuveli) - BLR. Again, not really suiting a week-long vacation itinerary but then considering I was not feeling well, this was the best we could do.

Day 0 - Dec 25th: Train was at 5:15 pm from Sir M Visweswaraiah Terminal (SMVT). Our first time from this station, which was touted as the first AC railway station in India. It does indeed have the looks of an airport terminal, at least the lobby portion. We boarded the train and it was a smooth journey overnight.

Day 1 - Dec 26th: Was welcomed with amazing sights of Agastya forest reserve near Nagercoil just as the sun rose. It was like we were in Hawaii - sights of clouds hovering over towering majestic cliffs. We reached Nagercoil on time at about 8 am, and then took a bus to Kanyakumari. Some auto drivers tried to fool us by wanting to take us to bus stand but one honest guy told bus would come right to the station. Indeed, the bus waiting right then was leaving to Kanyakumari, so we boarded that and it was a 30 min ride. 

We had booked our room in Phalimaru Matha which was outside city limits. Had done this to facilitate our no-restaurant-food resolution for this entire trip. This was a hard decision but had to be done for wife's Jan Samyama program which involved strict do's and dont's 2 months before the program. Anyways, we reached last bus stop but realized we could have got done about 4 kms back! So had to take an auto back. Got into the lodge, freshened up, had our 'consecrated' (naivedya) lunch, took some rest since it was too hot, and finally left at 2:30 pm to the cape. Took the bus this time instead of auto. We thought we can do the Vivekananda Rock Memorial before it closes at 4 pm but we were stunned looking at the queue. It was extremely lengthy and hardly moving. Later found out that there were 2 lines - one for Rs 75 and one for Rs 300. We thought we will take a chance with Rs 75 for some time but it hardly moved, so we shifted to Rs 300. But we were just 3-4 folks away when the entrance door closed since it was 4 pm! 

Quickly we went to Bhagavathy Amman (Shakti Peeta - right shoulder and spine of Sati) temple which had just opened. Had good darshan. After that, we just spent time looking at the ocean from different parts of the peninsula, the last land of continental India. Some places, we could play with waves splashing on the rocks but most places were inaccessible and looked dangerous. Just lazed around for about an hour and we were greeted with a wonderful sunset - hardly any cloud came in the way. 

After sunset, there was pooja going on on the banks, maybe because it was full moon. The moon rays was reflecting on the ocean and it was a wonderful sight to watch. The pooja and arati went on for a long time - almost an hour and since we did not have anything else to do, we witnessed the whole process. Then got back to our Matha, had dinner, and retired for the night. Since we were away from the city bustle, it was like being in a rural area and very peaceful and we could see the starry night sky. 

Day 2 - Dec 27th: Got up at 4:30 am, left by 5:30 am, took an auto (arranged previous night) to the sunrise point by 6. But place was overcrowded plus sun was rising right behind the Vivekananda Rock memorial. So decided it was not a good place, and hence we walked towards the pier which was about 10 mins away. The pier is indeed sunrise point but it is slightly risky as it is just rocks after some time and one has to navigate the heavy cross winds. It is like being in the middle of the ocean since it is water on both sides, uneven ground and wind that keeps pushing you towards the water! That was one nice adventure indeed! And the pier is long, so one has to walk about 10 mins in that ambience just to get to the end of it. Coming to the sunrise, it was anit-climax. The clouds covered it all up until 30 degrees by which time one cannot even see the orange ball. So this pier walking thing was a good replacement!

We then ran to the Jetty queue and again there was already a huge queue. It was 6:45 when we entered the queue but it would open only at 7:45 am. But by the time we got into the ferry, it was almost 10:30 am! I suppose they give preference to the Rs 300 queue more than Rs 75 which seemed unfair. Almost like for every 300 people on the Rs 300 queue, only 75 people from Rs 75 queue got entry. So our line was hardly moving. We didn't go to the Rs 300 queue since we thought we had enough time and were not in a rush but at one point, it became too annoying. Seriously felt authorities can make situation better.

The boat ride itself is 5-10 mins and very choppy. At the rock memorial, it is very well maintained, clear indications where to go, what to see, etc. (place where Goddess Kanyakumari (Parvathi) did Tapas to attain Lord Shiva, Vivekananda's statue, meditation hall). It was around same dates (Dec 27-29) in the year 1892 that Vivekananda got enlightened, so it was like we were here for the anniversary!! Entire island is too windy, and I think 24/7/365. There is also a nice sundial which clearly marks where sun rises on which day of the year. Spent about an hour meditating, taking pics, etc. The line to get back was thankfully not too long and we got jetty soon enough.

It was already 12 noon by the time we got back to the main land. We took an auto back to our lodge and had our lunch at 12:30 pm. An hour's nap and we checked out by about 4 pm. Thanked the local administrator for the home-made food and stay.

Took a bus to Nagercoil and got down at Suchindram temple which wifey had found out was very famous. It is a massive typical Tamil Nadu temple but later found out that it is famous because of the Hindu Trinity Gods Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva being at the same place in the same idol. We went in, had darshan, spent time meditating and then there was a huge grand procession going on, with loud trumpets and drums, so we followed it. Circumambulation was first inside the temple premises and then it was outside the temple premises. At different parts, the procession used to stop for arati and people used to give rose water to pour on the utsava murthy (idol). At about 6:30 pm, we were contented and departed temple. 

We had a train booked at 10:30 pm to Thiruvananthapuram which would reach past midnight but we thought if we could get a bus sooner, we might as well reach earlier and get a good night's sleep. So we got suggestion that we should go to Vadachery for bus, so we took the bus to Vadacheri. It was a really long journey, and we reached only at 7:30 pm. And then we found the bus to Thiruvananthapuram was too full, lot of people standing. We decided this was not worth it, and we might as well go in train peacefully. So we were about to go when another bus to Thiruvananthapuram came and wifey somehow got in and secured seats for all three of us. We would now reach Thiruvananthapuram at 10 pm, so that saved us 2 hours of wait time and more importantly overnight restful sleep. I could not cancel the train since it was booked in Tatkal, so more freebies to Indian Railways from me! 

Most of the bus journey to Thiruvananthapuram, I slept and was uneventful until we were just a few mins away from the bus stand when someone in car came and hit the bus from back. So we were all forced to get out of the bus. Thankfully we were right opposite Thiruvananthapuram Railway station, so an auto guy took notice of us. He seemed genuine and asked us for the hotel. Since we had not planned to be at Thiruvananthapuram until next day, we had not booked any hotel. So the auto guy offered to find some hotels for us. He took us to 3-4 hotels but either rooms were not available or was too expensive. Thankfully, we got one which was reasonable and neat. We arranged the plan for next day with the auto guy himself and retired for the night.

Day 3 - Dec 28th: Up by 7 am, did kriyas till 10 am and headed to temple. Huge queue. Even to deposit the mobile. Both free and VIP darshan of Rs 500 was long. We stood in one of the lines which was moving quite fast but then after some time, it stopped completely. Apparently temple keeps closing every other hour or so. It was hot, too much crowd, and we had not yet had our breakfast. It was tiring. Realized that temple visit should occur early in the morning and not at 11 am during holiday season. Lesson learnt. Anyways, line started moving again and it was almost 1 pm when we finally had our darshan. At the sanctum sanctorum, the Kerala police were positioned and managing the crowd. Hardly any time to see the Lord. In fact, it is very difficult to see at all because it is a large sleeping idol with three doors, and hence two big pillars right in front. I wondered sarcastically whoever thought of creating such a view. I mean, it could have easily been made with full visibility instead of such complication. Add to this, no lights and hardly any deepas. Plus idol is full black. So, we were like, ok, where is the idol - and BOOM, security is tugging you away saying your turn is over!! It was very dissatisfying experience indeed - especially with emotions flaring up, not the ideal way to have a darshan. Only Vishnu's hand was visible because it was steel-plated. Plus his dhoti because it was not black! At that moment, when we got ushered out by security staff, we decided that we will come back next day morning at 3 am when temple opens. 

The Kanyakumari Matha admin had called up his contact here in Trivandrum to arrange food for us. We were not very keen but because he had called up, we felt obligated. And anyways, why say no to 'consecrated' home-made food. But had a hard time finding this contact's address. Especially because directions given was not very clear. Also this contact person was always edgy, terse and mostly disrespectful in every aspect of the conversation. We hardly felt invited or any service was being done to us. It was more of 'Why are you even coming to me' attitude. We hurriedly finished eating and bid adieu to him, we did not want to have anything more to do with him any more. One of the most difficult persons I have ever dealt with in my life indeed.

Got back to our room, changed to comfy clothing (from temple attire), checked out of the room and went to Poovar backwaters. Now, this was really soothing. It took about an hour to reach but it was well worth it. Very relaxing - the estuary, mangroves, sanctuary of birds, the island, the beach, the floating restaurant, etc.. For the first time, felt like we were finally in a vacation! The boat ride took a little more than 1.5 hours. 

Our next stop was Kovalam beach. This reminded me of Garrapatta beach. Big slope towards the ocean which made the waves big and crashed to the land. Ocean looked very active and violent every other minute. View was mesmerizing. Although we could not see the sun setting, the hues were very colorful indeed. Played with the waves for some time and left. Reach our originally booked hotel this time, and retired for the night.

Day 4 - Dec 29th: Got up at 2:30 am. Temple entry at 3:30 am. By 5 am, we had finished three rounds of darshan! We finished first time by 4 am, this time hardly any queue. And were just sitting on the sands when we realized that we can actually go again and again. So we went twice more. Each time focusing on aspect of the idol that we wanted to see - like Brahma on Lotus, which you can see on the middle door only if you squat, face of Vishnu which is on left most door above his right hand, Shiva linga below Vishnu's right hand, etc.. Also abhisheka was going on, so we got to drink some of the milk. 

We then exited through East entrance, since we were so far only entering/exiting through the West entrance. East side is where there is a huge gopuram. Then, we took auto to Attakal temple. Had nice darshan of Goddess, especially due to arati. That done, we returned back to the hotel. We were all done by about 7:30 am. We contemplate sight-seeing more places like Shiva idol near Kovalam beach, the Jatayu Museum, etc. but decided against and thought we might as well take it easy. So took rest, napped, chatted, watched TV, videos, etc. until 11:45 am and then took an auto to Kochuveli station. Boarded our train and it left right on time at 12:50 pm. It was nice to spend half a day watching Kerala go by. So lush and beautiful. Tried to glimpse the sun setting but did not get a good view of the Orange ball. Once in a while, we got to see the ocean and the vast channels of backwaters. We were lucky for none to occupy our part of the coach until almost 6 pm, so we had a nice family quality time. Had light snacks for dinner and slept between 8 and 9.

Day 5 - Dec 30th: Reached BLR next day at 5 am, an hour late. I had booked a cab prior day and we reached home at 6ish. And that is how the final tour of 2023 came to an end...

Epilogue: Well, this trip will be remembered for a lot of wrong reasons! Firstly, this trip got created out of thin air, when none was planned to be safe. And then, at the last minute, we sketched out an itinerary based on the availability of a return train to BLR. Then, thanks to the viral flu that I caught, we had to cancel one part of the trip. Then, because we got a tatkal ticket, one more part of the trip had to be cancelled. All this was still ok. But then, my cough never subsided. In fact, the first couple of nights, I remember coughing continuously until almost 3 am. On day 3, I started getting pain near my left rib cage due to the persistent cough and my vocal chords almost stopped working. I started off with antibiotics midway through the trip. In fact, I restarted drinking masala tea to ease the mucus. I guess the tablets slowly started working because my night coughs slowly started reducing. But then my daughter started getting throat pain, and she could not talk for an entire evening and night. Thankfully she got better soon. But on the way back to BLR, wifey got sick with fever and cough. And just after she reached, her vocal chords stopped working! Health-wise this was a big risk we had undertaken starting the journey when I was not well enough. In addition to the health, the experience with some of the folks in Thiruvananthapuram was memorable: the verbal scoldings I got by the 'contact' who gave us food, the physical push/pull my wife got inside sanctum sanctorum, and then there was one more visual scoldings I got at the temple on last day when they found me walking on a path meant only for priests. It was full of eye expressions, with eyes wide open, blasphemous no-sound mouthing, etc.. Was not sure to laugh or not, since it seemed so funny that people close to the Divine seemed to act like devils! 

Anyways, I wanted to show these two places to wife and daughter since I had already visited when I was 8 years old. I still remembered the Vivekananda jetty ride 3 decades ago and nothing much has changed. That trip was my first time I had flown on an airlines (from Trivandrum to BLR). And Dec is the best month to visit due to the weather and possibility of sunset/sunrise views. We were lucky to have got the best sunset view indeed. Cannot ask for everything, can we?! Now, time to see what places we will cover in 2024...!

4 x Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore (4 Times in 2023!!)

Time: May 24th-28th, 2023

Company: Alone

Program: Bhava Spandana

Summary: Mind-blowing and Body-breaking program, one-of-a-kind, not to be missed. Will change the way we perceive the world, and truly make us resonate to Mother Nature. Program conducted in Spanda Hall (my first time). I was not very keen on taking this program mainly because one has to write pages and pages of autobiography, but then this is a pre-req for Samyama....so went for it. Intially felt I missed the essence of the program (since it is very subtle) but last day realized that I had not - at least not completely. 

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Time: Sep 22nd-25th, 2023

Company: Wife and me

Program: Lap of the Master

Highlights: First time wife and me went on an outstation trip leaving daughter behind (because she was ineligible). Program conducted in Adiyogi Alayam (my first time). About 10,000 people in attendance. All meals served in the open air. Also had Gramotsavam finals, so got to see the game albeit on screen beside the place where event was being held. Had 2-3 Sadhguru darshan sessions. Wife was put up in Spanda Hall and me at Velliangiri Prashala (my first time). Had cultural programs beyond midnight of 23rd-24th, so slept only for 4-5 hours at night. 

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Time: Nov 22nd-27th, 2023

Company: Alone

Program: Shoonya Intensive

Highlights: Learnt Surya Shakti, Shakti Chalana Kriya and Shoonya Intensive. Packed program schedule. Conducted at Chamundi Prashala (my first time). With this, I finally completed all the pre-reqs needed for the Silence program (Samyama). A major achievement!

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Time: Dec 12th-21st, 2023

Company: Alone

Program: Silence Program (Samyama)

Highlights: Program conducted in Adiyogi Alayam. No talking, no eye-contacting, no gestures, no notes taking, no mirror, no cooked food, and so many other 'Yama & Niyama's (dos and donts)! This is all eight limbs of Patanjali Yoga Sutra (Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi) all packaged into one program with more focus on the last four. Very, very akin to what sages used to previously perform Tapas - and this was something I felt I should always do, thanks to all the mythological episodes that I had watched as a small boy! 

One should start preparing 2 months before program starts. As they forewarn, not for the curious ones or the faint-hearted. This one takes lot of courage and single-pointedness else it will become torturous. I was concerned I might have not prepared myself adequately for the program but I was able to withstand thankfully. I had decided steadfastly in late 2022 that 2023 was the year for Samyama and with Sadhguru's grace, I was able to make it. 🙏

Pandharpur & Kolhapur

Time: 24th Aug - 27th Aug, 2023

Place: Kolhapur & Pandharpur

Company: Wife & Daughter

Highlights: Pretty much the same itinerary I had done when I was a teenager with my parents. Wifey hadn't see P'pur and daughter hadn't seen both, so decided we could cover these two religious places during the Varamahalakshmi long weekend holiday.

Day 1: Left YPR at 9 pm previous night and reached Solapur on time at 8 am. We had booked the next train to Pandharpur at about 9ish and it reached P'pur at about 11 am. Took an auto to our booked resting area which was Shri Vitthal Rukmini Bhakta Nivas . Pretty vast, clean and nice Nivas. Relaxed for some time, took bath and then headed to darshan. Another auto to temple entrance. We had booked online for darshan, so had to take token at a nearby counter (where food is offered). Then got some suggestions how to enter, followed the crowd. It was a huge queue but moving. Within about an hour, we were done with the Darshan. I guess this is the only Lord Krishna temple where they allow to touch the idol. Visited all other important idols in the temple like Rukmini, etc.. Sat for some time and enjoyed the ambience - some local folks were dancing, it seemed like a ritual because whosoever passed that courtyard, they were locking hands and rotating with great speed in joy!

Darshan done, we went out and thankfully there was one restaurant who was still open for meals. It was almost 4 pm. We finished meals, it was so spicy! And then we walked towards the Chandrabhaga (Bhima) river. Hardly any water and whatever was present was too black and looked dirty. Many were taking bath even in that. Visited couple of temples on the river bank and then we took an auto to the Kaikadi Maharaj Mandir which houses a great many idols/statues of important events. I had written an article when I visited last in the early 1990s, and it still remained fascinating. The line was labyrinth-like and serpent-ed left, right, up, down, north, south, etc.. Quite a laborious task indeed! Finally we were done, and then we walked back towards our Nivas. Came home, had light snacks and retired for the night.

Day 2: Got up early like 5ish, refreshed and checked out by 6 am. Took an auto to the bus stand where we immediately got a bus to Kolhapur. Reached K'pur by 10 am where we thought we will have light breakfast first (but we should have ideally visited the temple, since the queue was not much). B'fast done, took an auto to the temple. The darshan of the Goddess was quick, maybe took just about 30-45 mins. So, we had lot of time. Hence just relaxed in the temple premises itself. Sat at various locations, had prasadam, visited many idols, did circumambulation, saw Goddess from different locations, etc.. Finally we were done with the temple, and we headed out to have lunch nearby since b'fast was not all that great. We went hither and thither but suddenly came across Anna prasadam (food hall) by temple authorities themselves where food was offered free for all devotees. What better place than this, so had good lunch here. It was delicious.

Took an auto back to the bus stand. An incident happened here - wifey got robbed of her purse. Did not lose much cash but still it was the first time we faced it in our lives. So it kind of pulled us all down in emotion. Anyways, got a bus to Miraj - it was just an hour away. From Miraj bus stand to Miraj railway station was another auto and we were ready to board the train as soon as it arrived. It was just 20-30 mins late, so waited for it. Had ample time - so read novel, ate some snacks, drank tea, had conversation, etc. to kill the time. Finally the train came at about 4:30 pm and rest of the journey back home was uneventful. More conversations, more quality time spent with family. Reached BLR and home on time Sunday morning. Our initial plan was to stay in K'pur for a night and see nearby places, and take train on Sunday to come back on Monday morning, but this was better since we had one day rest before Monday morning.

All in all, a short trip yet something that we wanted to do since a long time. Many times this year, we had heard about Pandharpur and its wonder (including in one of the Carnatic concerts in Rama Navami festival in April), so the timing was right. Seemed good to have had the blessings of Vittal, Rukmini and Mahalakshmi.

15th Wedding Anniversary @ Maldives

Time: July 8th-12th, 2023

Company: Wife and Daughter

Place: Maldives

Highlights: Well, always wanted to visit this place but never had the opportunity. So, the 15th wedding anniversary seemed to be the appropriate moment. However, we spent a lot of time mulling should we or should we not. Since it was a weekday, we almost dropped the idea but just a few weeks before decided that it was a special milestone that justified weekday break! However, this delay impacted us badly because what could have been a non-stop both legs became a one-stop with long layover both legs. Once we booked the flights, we researched on where to stay. It was a relatively easy trip to plan since not much to do, except to be on an island and laze away looking at the ocean all around. Or that's what I thought, until I started the research on finding the right resort to stay...

Maldives is a phenomenon by itself. I came to know a lot about it as part of this research. My initial perception was that it is a group of islands where each island has few resorts and local shops, local cuisines, restaurants, small hotels, etc. and we had to just choose which island to stay. But I was wrong. While it is true that Maldives is a collection of islands, (or atolls, actually) what I did not know was that each island/atoll is privately owned by an individual resort-owner. So, the entire island is a resort by itself! Which means, nothing to buy outside of the resort, like a Subway or a Pizza or even staying in a budget hotel! If we go to an island, then we have to be in their resort, eat in the resort, shop in their resort, etc.! This was a mind-boggler!

Second issue was in finalizing a resort. Unlike choosing hotels in other vacation places, where we can simply go to booking.com or something similar, here we need to individually go to the resort website to research the room type and figure out their costing. Reason being, each island is located at varying distances from main airport island of Male. So, transportation from Male to island resort also varies by type (whether speed boat or seaplane or seaplane plus speed boat) and hence the costing for each. All of this information is unavailable in Booking.com kind of websites.

Hence, what I assumed was a near-zero research-time turned out to be absolutely wrong, and I started making notes on all the island-resorts of our interest, details of which included the room type (on the ocean, ocean-facing, garden, etc.), food-type (breakfast/lunch/dinner or bf/lunch or bf alone, etc.), transportation and even viewed their gallery to see how it looked. Plus since we were three of us, some of the resorts which only cater to couples got excluded. Some of them were beyond our budget. The seaplane is expensive too, and is charged per person basis and not per family.

Thankfully my wife had a condition on how the resort should look like - with a thatched hut. So a bulk of resorts got excluded with this condition. Mind you, there is no filter of any kind to get to this! One has to look into the gallery of each and every resort to figure it out! So, it was a laborious work indeed. We shortlisted 10 resorts and then got it down to 3 and the winner finally was Adaaran Club Rannalhi. We chose only two nights in Maldives - one on the ocean and one in Male itself. So, tickets booked, we were ready to depart!

Day 0: Sri Lankan airlines to Male via Colombo. Our first in this airlines and our first to Sri Lanka as well, even as a transit. Not a great airport to have a long layover, we reached at about midnight and had to sleep on the chair till 6 am. Took the next leg flight at 7ish to Male.

Day 1: Reached Male, munched on bread given on airlines at the airport as breakfast, took the 45-min ferry ride to the resort. Even during the ride, the color of the ocean changed from green to blue, which was fascinating. We reached at noon, and had to finish the check-in formalities. The host made us aware of all the rules of the resort, where was what and what services were available. And then they gave us the keys to our water-villa. Luckily, ours was the last, so had the whole corner to ourselves. Views all around were splendind!

Walking on the bridge (with no rails), and the tide licking up the gangways, was indeed an experience. It was like walking over an ocean. But if we thought that was an experience, the whole room itself being in the middle of an ocean, was another fantastic experience as we could hear the tide in the room, even while sleeping, right underneath us! The bathroom had clear views of the entire ocean, miles ahead of us. So one could gaze as far as possible while taking a shower. There was a water-front patio where we could relax and just look at the ocean - which seemed like we were sitting on the ocean itself. In addition to all of this, there was a short series of steps directly to the ocean bed from the patio, so we could enter the ocean right from our room! No wonder, these water-villas cost so much - but it is totally worth it and definitely once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was just fabulous.

After exploring our room, we headed to lunch. It was multi-cuisine buffet, so we could take whatever we wanted. Food was good. Post lunch, we roamed around the island and went back to the room since it was getting too hot. We were lucky there was no rains, apparently the previous week it was raining all day, that'd just spoil the fun. At about early evening, we took snorkelling equipment and with great difficulty tried to catch the glimpse of the corals. However, it was hard, how much ever we tried. We got back to the room, and decided to see corals by walking down the stairs from our room patio. Boy oh boy, were we shocked looking at the corals! 

It was another mind-boggling experience. One can never imagine how it is until one sees it for real. It is right there and yet unless you have the right equipment to see it in water, you cannot figure it out. This is what I have heard about enlightenment - that it is so obvious that people just miss it! Thankfully, all three of us could enjoy the OMG moment although we were scared water could enter from the air-pipe! Anyways, we had our share of coral-viewing and we refreshed ourselves and headed for sunset cruise which we had signed up for. 

This was a small cruise that took us slowly around the island and stopped at various points for us to get a good view of the sunset. It took about an hour, and was very pleasant indeed. We took various pics. Once back, we went to the bar where there wa live music and the songs were sung well. A very soothing time overall, and then we went to have dinner. After that lazed around the beach, the waterfront, the gangways that took us to the watervilla, etc. When night had fallen, we could see millions of stars on the dark sky. Stars on sky, water below us - it was like a fairytale! We just soaked it all in, and finally retired for the night. 

Day 2: Got up early for the sunrise. Although we could not see the sun rising, we could see the golden hue of the risen sun. It was awesome. Spent more time taking pics. Freshened up, and had our breakfast. Then went one more round the island exploring all aspects like the hammock, different views of the water villas, etc. There was even a swing on the ocean but the tide was high, so we skipped it. Overall, we were pretty satisfied with the time spent on Adaaran. Usually, folks opt to stay on beach-front for 2 or 3 more days after 1 night on the water villa but we did not deem it necessary.

Our ferry was at noon to drop us back at Male airport. We reached by 1 pm and we had pizza for lunch there until our driver from the next hotel-stay came and picked us up. This hotel was also beach-front on Hulhumale beach. It was a small hotel but very cute. Ambience was sea-faring, so it was good, we could see the beach from the balcony. We went walking a long way on the beach to what we thought was a pure veg restaurant but it did not look good. So we went to an Indian diner, which was not pure veg but veg food was good. Then did some shopping for the kiddo and finally retired for the night. There was hopes of seeing Bioluminescence in Maldives but we were unlucky both nights. 

Day 3: Got up late, checked out of the hotel and the driver dropped us off at the airport. We checked-in to Sri Lankan airlines and flight to Colombo was uneventful. On the way, we could see the many atolls which Maldives is famous for. In fact, this is one reason why people opt to go on Sea-planes so that they could see the atolls. Luckily for us, we got a good view from the commercial plane itself!

Once again, a long wait at the Male airport. This was our 15th anniversary day, and one learning was that we should not travel or spend time at layovers on the anniversary day! We lazed on the chair, munched on items we had, had pizza at a local diner, did window shopping, etc.. Our original flight actually had just an hour of layover but unfortunately they cancelled that flight and hence this long layover. Finally, it was time to board and rest of the journey to BLR airport from airport to home was uneventful.

Epilogue: Maldives was always in the list since a very long time. Had heard a lot about it, and was thinking it is just another island with beautiful views. But after having been there now, I feel this is a country that needs to be experienced for sure. It is not like just any other island country. In addition to the country, one has to definitely experience a water-villa stay. That is top of the charts. 

After 5th in Mexico, 10th in Europe, felt good that we could celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary at Maldives. It was indeed very special and memorable! 

Informatica World 2023 @ Las Vegas

Time: May 7-13, 2023

Place: Las Vegas, Detroit

Company: Alone

Highlights: Well, Informatica World is a conference that happens at Las Vegas annually. Back in late 2022, we had given few topics for presentation, and one of the topic got selected. Also, my name cropped up for presenter. I was a bit apprehensive at first but then warmed up to the idea. We had sufficient amount of rehearsals, and that kind of gave me the confidence. 

Since I was going to LV, I thought I might as well visit my brother at his new house in Detroit since there was no other agenda of meeting other colleagues in other parts of US. So, worked with the travel agent for BLR-LV and DET-BLR itinerary. Unfortunately, the agent being amateur gave confirmed tickets via London Heathrow which would necessitate me to get a transit visa. So, had to have number of late-night back and forth discussions with different agents to set it right. This was an additional headache to an already tense presentation that I was practising. Anyways, all's well that ends well, and I was all set with my new itinerary of BLR-LON-LV and DET-Frankfurt-BLR, and LV-DET was my personal ticket.

All three of us (wife, daughter and myself) left house and I dropped them off at the Railway station as they headed out to Hubli while I proceeded to Airport. It was a weird feeling, one that of being alone, since I had always traveled in flight with wife and daughter since last 12+ years and the tradition of holding hands during take-off/landing has become embedded in the bloodstream now!

Reached airport, and it was my first time at the Lounge. Had my fill, got on the British Airways flight at 6:30 am. Incidentally, this was the same flight that I had boarded on my first trip to USA too, back in 2005! Smooth flight to London, easy immigration and had good lunch at the Terminal, and proceeded to LV. One more smooth flight to LV. Watched movies on both legs.

After 6.5 years, I was back on US soil! Felt like home-coming. Never imagined I would be back though, and that too in Las Vegas, of all the places!! Taxi took me to my hotel - The Venetian. Although I had walked through this resort as a tourist multiple times, I had never stayed here. It seemed so luxurious and grand. The staff was not so homely though. The room was very spacious and had a separate place for work (with table) and sleep, which is not something I had experienced before. It was late, and I was tired, so headed to sleep after a brief call to folks back home.

The next three days pretty much had a similar routine. Wake up early by about 6, refresh, dress up and head to conference for breakfast and attend multitude of sessions. When I got tired, came back to the room, relaxed, prepped for my own session, and head back again, checkout the room where I was supposed to give the speech, do a dry rehearsal, etc.. Some of the sessions were very fruitful. There were enough things to do in the conference, attend partner booths, participate in quizzes, talk to customers, answer their questions, speak to my own colleagues to give product feedback, get a headshot, grab some freebies (!), attend my team's scheduled talk shows, etc.. In addition to all of this, we had kick-off calls by the CEO, a Women-in-Tech talk show, an inspiring motivational speech by Amy Purdy (her tale was mind-blowing), an interactive conman show of pickpockets, etc..

While most of the first day (8th) went in prepping myself, my own talk show was on 9th. On 10th evening we had an evening party by the pool. The evenings of 8th was just spent by myself, just had light dinner with whatever snacks I had. The evening of 9th was spent with my colleagues - had an Indian dinner within the resort itself, and then went out of the casino into the Strip with the thought of going to watch the Bellagio fountain show but got sick of the drug/cigar stench on the pavement, so headed back to the room. By the way, I could hear the rumble of the volcano show in front of Mirage from my room every hour from 7 pm onwards. I finally ended up seeing on the evening of 10th.

I checked out on 10th by noon and kept the luggage with the concierge, and in the evening we had a nice evening happy hour with our department head which was later followed up with the aforementioned party by the pool. I left early to catch the flight to Detroit, which was late by more than an hour.

On 11th, reached Detroit early morning where brother picked me up from airport, dropped me at his home and went to work. I freshened up, took some rest after breakfast and caught up with my mails. Evening, went out for some shopping and chat at a local Indian eatery. Chit-chatted at night for some time and headed to sleep early, although I could not get sleep till midnight.

Woke up early on 12th and got ready/packed to depart after breakfast. Bro got back from work and dropped me at the airport once again. This was probably the first time I entered an airport on an international trip with just an hour to go for boarding, thanks to my brother who was late. But I was calm somehow, whereas usually I am very finicky about being on time, and many times even before time to factor for exigencies! So, there was no queue at the check-in. I breezed through everything and even waited for the boarding to start. Rest of the journey on Delta back home was smooth. Transit at Frankfurt was long, so slept nicely. Also the gate change was too far away, had to take a bus. Flight was smooth, had chosen the penultimate row seat so that I could comfortably push-back my chair, since there was none behind! Reached BLR on time and home sweet home. Few hours later, the very next day morning, I went and picked up wifey and daughter from the bus stop as they too returned from Hubli!

A short one-week trip to US thus ended. It was an enriching experience all-in-all (both professionally to have attended the conference and given a tech talk and personally to have visited by brother's new house), and it felt good to visit US one more time, after such a long hiatus. I did wanted to go to SF to see HQ and also catch up with pals but it was not to be, at least this time. Fingers crossed for next time...

Vaishno Devi

Time: April 23-29, 2023

Places: Amritsar Golden Temple, Wagah Border, Vaishno Devi, Kurukshethra, Delhi

Company: Wife and Daughter

Highlights: Well, wanted to go somewhere for summer vacations and considering we had been on an international travel just 4 months back, did not want to go through another round of complicated visa processing, setting up itineraries, etc. which comes with any abroad travel especially if going by ourselves. Plus, there was some discussion about my upcoming travel to US and hence could not plan a big trip well in advance. Mother-in-law visited pretty much the same set of places as mentioned above in Feb and that set us thinking why now. Anyways, I always wanted to visit VD since a very long time after I heard about how one had to crawl and enter the cave to get the darshan. Little did I know how much it has changed now!

So we mulled over merging Jammu and Kashmir together but decided that Kashmir needed its own vacation since there were many places plus it may need altitude-related medication, and wife/kid had had enough of it in the last 8 months. So then we added south of Jammu which was Amritsar to the itinerary. Then we searched for Shakti Peeths, if any, in and around Jammu, and there appeared a lot! This complicated the itinerary planning since preferred mode of rail traveling got jeopardised. So mulled over renting a car but that involved many state border crossings. So dropped that idea as well. Then we thought since it will be summer, may we should visit some hill stations such as Dalhousie but looking at the pics, it did not seem very enticing, especially after having had visited Himalayas recently. Seemed just like any other hilly mountain with snow-capped peaks, perhaps. 

Then we reduced the complexity of the itinerary, and removed the Shakti Peeths from our list barring a few. Due to some erroneous searching, found out that Jalandhar had a SP and we thought we will stop-over there since it was not out of the way. With this in mind, places finalized were AMR (for GT), JAL (for SP), Katra (for VD), LUD (another SP), Kurukshethra & Delhi. Now, had to plan air & train tickets. Do we land at Jammu or Delhi or Amritsar. Which trains were better - DEL to KAT or AMR-DEL? After multiple permutations and combinations, booked flight ticket for BLR-AMR, bus for AMR-KAT and train for KAT-LUD, JAL-KUR, KUR-DEL & a long DEL-BLR via Shatabdi to enjoy 1.5 days in train. Then found out about JAL after few days when I was trying to get the address of SP @ JAL and realized there was no Shakti Peeth in Jalandhar! Imagine the shock! But glad we did not hear this after landing at JAL! So, had to rebook and cancel some of the trains. Then, due to my upcoming US trip, had to prep, so decided to cancel the DEL-BLR train as well, so booked flight instead. Along with these travel cancellations, also had to cancel many hotels since the itinerary involved those. All in all, this itinerary was no less complicated! Finalized on BLR-AMR-KAT-LUD-KUR-DEL-BLR. And during the trip, this changed too! 

Day 1 - Apr 23: Had a great opportunity to travel via BLR new terminal T2 and its fantastic. It seemed like a garden all through, and totally out of the world. The flight from BLR to AMR was via DEL, so had dinner at IGI airport at a South Indian cafe. Tried out a new one this time compared to the last few trips and it was good. In the last 8 months, we have been to this IGI terminal so many times, we felt! Landed at AMR, and had booked an Ola to our hotel. Took the cab driver's number for morrow's Wagah trip.

Day 2 - Apr 24: Early morning start. Took a cycle-wallah for the Golden Temple. Even at 7:30 am, the queue was long and thick! It felt nice to be in the nice holy atmosphere. We first took some snaps and walked around the pool of water. The shades of the Golden doom kept varying with rising Sun. There was holy chant and hymns going on. Did not take bath in the pond, since had not planned for it. Looking at the queue, we thought we should have breakfast first since we were hungry. So took the prasadam, it was delicious. It felt like we were in an ashram with so many volunteers. This place is magical with so much of harmony all around! Then we entered the queue. 

It took about 1.5 hours to enter the sanctum sanctorum. We did not know what we would see inside and was surprised there were no idols or saints inside. It was the Holy Book, and it was big & very wide. Everyone was paying obeisance and we did so too. Hair should not be shown inside the premises, so we three had a cloth tied to our heads. There are couple of flights and we climbed them up as well. More holy books and more saint-like creatures reading them. Finally we were done with Golden Temple, and we took one more cycle wallah to Jallian Wallah Bagh.

We did not have too much time, so hurriedly went from one spot to the other. From afar, it seems so less and so narrow but once inside, it opened up into a big empty place. No wonder there was no place to exit for the martrys when the shooting began. We saw the bullet holes into the wall, the well into which many had fallen, and the museum with all the gory history. Wonder how can Men be so cruel to fellow-men...

All done, we walked back to our hotel. It was about 10-15 minutes via narrow market streets, where we could see local life. We reached back the hotel and called the cab driver for the drive to Wagah Border. He took some time and we checked out meanwhile. It was about 11 am already and we just had couple of hours for our bus to Katra. 

The drive from Amritsar to Wagah Border took about an hour. It was on Grand Trunk road. As a child, I had heard a lot about how straight this road is, lined with trees. And it was a nice feeling to be on the road itself after three and half decades! We reached the end of India and parked the car in the parking lot which was now empty. Apparently the festivities starts in the evening from about 4 pm onwards and parking lot starts getting filled up from 2 pm. 

Since we were just visiting, and not participating in the festivities, we were not allowed inside the stadium-kinda thing which is built for the parade and other things that happen daily evening. There was an elevated platform where we could go and see Pakistan side of the border. It was my first sighting of Pakistan. Erstwhile India until a gentleman drew a line on the map and partitioned it off - how sad. Anyways, there didn't seem much to do without the pomp which was due to start in couple of hours, and for which we didn't have time. So we left the place, and got back to Amritsar. Driver dropped us off at the place where we could catch the bus to Katra. Had light snacks in the form of fruits and thankfully had booked an AC bus. It was needed in the heat now.

Journey in the bus was kind of slow. He stopped at 3-4 places and for long durations. Plus there was army checkpoints since we were now entering Jammu. Slept for some time, watched the scenery for some time, played with kiddo, etc. Once we entered Jammu, we could see Army at many places which was a sight for us South Indians! Finally reached at about 10 pm, after a long 8 hours. If in car, this could have been done in 5 hours perhaps.

Our hotel staff had arranged for pick up and a Maruti van came. It took us to our hotel which was quite close to the Railway station. The staff were polite and almost family-like. The room was neat and clean too. Only disadvantage being no eatery was nearby, and it seemed to be in a residential area. We managed with whatever we had and slept for the night. Morrow was the big day and highlight of the trip.

Day 3 - Apr 25: So we knew we had to register as a pilgrim beforehand and we had done that on the website. However, the hotel officials told that you still need to visit a counter either at railway station or bus stand or at base of mountain to get the tracker-badge (aka parchi pass) which all has to wear at all times. So we got up early and went to railway station since it was close to our hotel but there was an enormous queue. We enquired about the online thing that we had done and officials said online registered folks need to go to base-camp aka starting point. We could not rely on that information and hotel staff insisted that we get it done at the railway station itself. So, we endured the long queue to get our tracker-badges. This itself took a little over an hour, and considering we had a mountain to climb, this was an energy drain that we had not factored. It was close to 8:30 am when we finally got it and reached the base aka Banganga Gate. Security frisking happens here and we commenced the ascent. It was about 9 am by this time. Thankfully it was not too hot nor sunny.

The ascent zigzags across the mountain and is wide enough for climbers and pony and dolies which are carried by 4-6 people for elderly folks who cannot climb on pony. It is about 13 kms one-way journey. There are lots of shops for shopping, massage, food, etc. at the beginning but tapers away as you reach closer to Mandir. We thought we will have breakfast at one good-looking AC restaurant but they were taking too much time, so ditched them and continued on. Finally had some maggi at a smaller shop. Not that it was fast here either!

At one point we realized there were steps between the curves where it zigs and zags. The steps will bypass the slow ascent of the paved route, so we started climbing the stairs. But boy, on hindsight, not really sure if that was a good idea. For it caused severe pain later on, end of the day. But we sure felt we saved a lot of time by taking those stairs. At each stair-start, there is a board which depicts how many steps and that elders and pregnant ladies should avoid it. Some of the stairs were easily manageable and short but the longer ones could not be climbed in one shot.

We kept taking pics at different places and it was good to compare pics during day time and night time taken at the same location, one during ascent and one during descent. We reached Charan Paduka and Ardhakuwari but apart from a short break, did not rest for long. All along the route, there are enough spots for drinking water, loo, snacks, etc. and there is a background devotional music which will keep you egging on with 'Jai Mata Di'! At Sanjichhat, we got prasadam and it was delicious. From here on, the altitude drops so we were walking downwards and it was not so strenuous. We could do it fast and by 2:45 pm, almost after 6 hours of climb, we entered the Mandir premises. There was some confusion here, and we had to retrace our steps back to deposit certain items such as wallet, mobile phone, etc.. There was one more queue here but thankfully small. Then finally entered the queue for the darshan. It was a long one but not too crowded. The crowd started just at the actual cave entrance. 

As mentioned before, no more crawling needed. It is well paved and more of a tunnel than a cave now since we can walk inside with straight back! At the final spot where the queue culminated, I was searching hard where to look for the Mata idol and the priest took my head and turned it towards the three pindas (or small rockball-like structures) and that's when I realized that this is what Vaishnodevi is all about! It was like an anti-climax! We were done with darshan by 3:30 pm and we took our belongings and hurried to the ropeway to Bhairavnath which was about to close by 5 pm. There was one more huge queue for this and we were able to get the ropeway thankfully, else we had to climb one more steep ascent to reach this place. 

Mandir here was small and less crowded. Darshan got done within few minutes and we started descending at 5:30 pm. Descent was fast and at some places, we were almost running and sitting. Still, it took 3.5 to 4 hours! Wifey had an issue with her slippers, so she walked barefoot most of the trek. Even during descent, we preferred stairs to zigzag routes but it was really putting a lot of pressure on our knee joints. 

At Ardhkuwari, we read about the history of the place and realized there was one more cave temple nearby which really needed crawling and climbing which was somewhat difficult and made to seem like you are taking a rebirth with purity. Each of these places in Vaishnodevi has nice history and there are lot of websites which gives these details. But this cave entry is controlled and only batches of few people are allowed. There was huge queue here and people waiting their turn to enter the queue were lying all around. The temple gives blankets free of cost while they are waiting for their turn to beat the cold which was now enveloping all of us. We decided we were not up for more wait time and queue, so continue on downwards.

At the fag end of the journey, we were limping badly. Not sure if we would have been in the same state if we had walked down the paved route instead. At the final step, we turned back and did a big namaskar to the mountain and Mata Di for enabling us to successfully complete the yatra. Paavani was the most flexible of us three! It was now 9:30 pm. So, we had been walking/standing since 7 am!

Rest of the journey to our hotel (via the auto who thankfully knew the way since it was somewhere inside) was smooth and we ate whatever we had with us for dinner. As per original plan, we were supposed to go to Shiv Khori the next day which involved 4 kms of walking as per our research. But we were not in any position for any more treks for next couple of days! So, we changed our itinerary to just satisfy ourselves to a few notable places in and around Katra. Also we cancelled our KAT-LUD itinerary and instead changed it to Jammu-Kurukshetra directly. And then we slept. Btw, this website has a nice route map of the trek.

Day 4 - Apr 26: We got up quite comfortably late, had whatever we had for breakfast and checked out by 11 am. We had hired an auto to show us around Katra and our first stop was Nau Devi Cave temple. We had zero expectations but were mildly surprised by the cave temple. Here, one really had to crawl and go inside the sanctum sanctorum! So a nice experience. Out side, we were surprised to see natural water pools where lots of them were having fun, like swimming pool. We continued on.

Next stop was even better. This was Baba Dhansar temple. Again, one has to walk down about half a km of distance to enter into temple premises which is also a cave but one has to just stoop. Not crawl inside. But the best part of this place was the aquamarine water pool in front of the cave. There was continuous water flowing from up the mountain to this pool. Where does this water come from - no one knows, since it was peak summer and there was no rain since many days. Yet there is constant flow of water and the water fall was so refreshing! From this pool, it channeled towards the rive downwards and it was fun to keep our feet on the flowing water. Spent a lot of time playing with this flowing water.

Headed back to the auto, had some snacks and ice cream and wherever we went, the Trikuta mountain stood tall and we were amazed by it. Our next stop was Baba Jitto Mandir. There was more history here and it was fascinating. Spent some time sitting at the temple, walked across the river to visit the place where holy water was coming from the mountain where some folks were taking bath. Also visited adjoining garden area and took some pics.

Next stop was a small Ganesha temple plus few more idols. Got that done quickly and finally auto driver dropped us off at Bus stand. It was about 4 pm by now. We had lunch at a nearby restaurant and took a bus to Jammu. The road from Katra to Jammu reminded us of many US mountain roads that we have been to, such as Smoky Mountain or Rocky Mountain. It was wide and winding and beautiful with amazing scenery. Took about an hour and half, and we were in Jammu.

We got down near Raghunath temple but still had to take an auto who could get us closer. It was about 6 pm when we entered the temple. The temple is vast and has many things to see. We spent about an hour roaming and was about to leave when suddenly a bunch of drummers came in and started drumming loudly for arathi. So we continued to stay on. It was a nice experience. They went drumming from one idol to the other and it went on until 9:30 pm. Finally it was temple closing time and we exited. Our train to Kurukshetra was at 11 pm and we took one more auto to the railway station, boarded our train and retired for the night.

Day 5 - Apr 27: We reached Kurukshetra at about 7:30 am, refreshed ourselves in the station waiting room. Just outside, we took an auto who promised us to show few important places in the city for about 4 hours. So, we started off. Our first stop was Sanehit Sarovar Surya Kund and nearby Surya Narayan Mandir and Laxmi Narayan Mandir. Those were quick stops. 

Our next destination was Sarveshwar Mahadev Temple and Brahma Sarovar. This was a big rectangular pond, very well maintained. We spent quite a lot of time here taking pics. There are nice statues here too about Krishna giving his sermon to Arjuna and its pretty famous in Kurukshethra. Also has vast views of the Sarovar (pond).

The next destination was Jyotisar. This is the place where Krishna & Arjuna conversation occurred which is crux of Bhagavadgeetha. And here is where Krishan revealed his Vishwaroopa Darshan. There is an iconic statue made out here where Krishna is oh-so-tall whereas Arjuna is barely visible, like a rat at the bottom right. Excerpts of Bhagavadgeetha are all epitaphed across the place. Some big trees give the place a soothing atmosphere. It is hard to imagine the great war between Kauravas and Pandavas happened at this exact spot.

The driver then took us to an under-construction Iskcon temple. It is coming up in a grand scale, looks like. Next stop was Bheeshma Kund. Here is where Bheeshma was lying on a bed of arrows until he chose the time of his death (he had that boon). There is also an indication of ground where the arrow was hit by Arjuna so that water could sprout up to Bheeshma when he was thirsty.

Bhadrakali Mandir was next. This is a Shakti Peet. Very nice and large temple, with artistic sculptures. We spent considerable amount of time here. And the last destination was Sthaneshwar Mahadev temple. Quick visit and we were back to the Railway station. Perhaps we skipped a place of visit or two since we spent more time at Jyotisar and Brahma Kund but we covered the important ones, anyways. We were done in 4 hours or even less. Our next train to New Delhi was on time and we bid adieu to this historic city of India.

Reached New Delhi at about dusk. Took an auto to a nearby hotel which we had booked. Unfortunately no great restaurants nearby, yet managed to find which was decent. It was our first good food for the day! Also, the hotel which we stayed was surprisingly very clean and neat. Didn't expect that so near to the railway station. It had been a tiring day, so we slept early after arranging for cab for the next day.

Day 6 - Apr 28: Our last day of the trip. We had a whole-day sightseeing cab arranged. Previous night we had chalked the route of the important places of visit so that our last stop was airport drop-off. Accordingly, our first stop was Red Fort. It was already 11 when we reached, I agree we should have left early! Lot of people! I don't remember the last time I was here, maybe early 1990s, and this place is huge! Lot of area to cover, and us with limping legs, it was hard to walk fast, climb up/down steps. We did cover pretty much all the salient points of the Red fort though. Spent over two hours, I guess.

Next stop was Birla Mandir. It was about to get closed, thankfully we just made it. Saw the idols and the doors were shut, although we could still see from the sides. Realized our driver was taking us for a ride with some unnecessary delays, longer routes, etc. so that we end up paying him more than what was already committed. He should have informed us about the timings of Birla Mandir too. Anyways, since there was no one here, it was calm and peaceful. 

Then we were passing through India gate when Paavani wanted us to go up close. So the driver dropped us off at a place nearby and we walked close to India Gate, posed for some pics and then headed back to the car. Parliament House and Rajya Sabha came on the way to Lotus Temple, so we just saw it from the car itself. He could not even park the car on the road. Also saw Indira Gandhi's house.

Lotus temple had huge queue but thankfully it was moving fast. First time I was here when I was a kid  was when I felt the beauty of silence but now I am used to it much, so it did not have the same impact. But the place is wonderful, just as beautiful as it was back then. Took some more clicks and then our last stop was Qutub Minar.

But the driver had his own plans. All through the way, he was suggesting it is going to be delayed, more kms, etc. So, suddenly asked him to drop us off at Qutub Minar and he can drive back without airport drop - so that we need not pay him more than what was agreed. It was like a battle of wits, and he seemed to be checkmated and lost his argument. Still he persuaded us to a Rajasthan emporium where will get some points just for taking us there.

Final stop was Qutub Minar. Seemed like ruins but still an archaeological marvel, I suppose. Took quite a lot of pics with varying backgrounds, sizes, etc. until we got tired of it! And then it was time to depart New Delhi. We were searching for a bus when an auto driver said he'd take us. Little did he know that autos are not allowed inside Terminals! Neither did we! So we ended up walking about half a km to the airport. 

We were right on time. Next set of formalities happened in a jiffy - check-in, security, walk to the gate. Had the same South Indian snacks at the same place we had had two times in the last 9 months, and then boarded our flight. It was a safe flight, and we reached BLR airport past midnight. Cab drive back home was not so smooth but safe! And that's how our summer vacation came to an end!

Epilogue: A suddenly inspired trip to Vaishno Devi, clubbed with New Delhi sightseeing and then places in between like Golden Temple and Kurukshetra - this is what this trip became after so many permutation and combinations! All that research on Shakti Peets, summer hill stations like Dalhousie, Mussourie, etc. could not make it to the itinerary. At one point, I lost count of all the train cancellations in this trip - maybe it was 6 or 8! So many dynamic changes to the itinerary. It was like being in a whirlwind! Also the climb up and down of VD was extremely tiring and legs were sore, and we were glad that we did it at an early age and not when we were old. Definitely memorable!