Alwar and the Tiger Trail at Sariska

“The tigers are back in Sariska” was how Hotel Aravali in Alwar greeted us even before the beautiful receptionist could utter the good afternoon address.

Surrounded on all sides by Aravali hills, Alwar has a rich Rajputana culture to offer tourists from Delhi and Jaipur, starving for a peek into the royal lifestyle of the erstwhile Maharajahs. Sariska, which is an hours ride from here, is house to rare tigers, of which only a couple is alive because of rampant killing by smugglers until as late as 2004. Also many wild animals like antelopes, nilgai, wild boar, etc. can be found here.

Thanks to 26th January which fell on a Monday, the weekend was a day longer. A friend suggested Alwar and after a bit of googling on the net, we set off for Alwar. The Rajasthan State Bus, which we boarded from Sarai Kale Khan, dropped us at 2 o’clock (had the bus taken the Dharuhera-Bhiwadi road instead of the Sohna road, we would have reached an hour earlier).

“Sorry Sir but we don’t have any rooms vacant now”, the receptionist said, adding further, “except for an economy class room”, which she said with a pause.

“Looks like she thinks us an unfit for economy class room”, the thought was pleasing. “No probs” we said instead.

And so we were escorted to our room by the boy who didn’t let us carry our light baggage even though we insisted on carrying them ourselves. With a TV, double bed, warm blankets, geyser and cooler, this certainly wasn’t an economy room – all for Rs 500 that included breakfast as well.

Without wasting more time, we decided to head off for Alwar’s other places of interest.

Our first step was City Palace, which has turned into a Kachehri and also houses a museum, really rich in its offering. The museum has three sections – statues, paintings, and armoury. Statues dating back to 11th century and built in South-Indian style are found here in aplenty. They were surprisingly found in different parts of Rajasthan. There is a 9 ft long stuffed tiger, killed by one of the maharajahs of Alwar. The painting section also housed Vakyat-e-Babari, a handwritten biography of Babur. Also there were a metre long Mahabharat and Shiv Kavach. Radha Krishna pictures drawn in Rajasthani style and dating back to 11th century looked so fresh and vibrant. The armoury section is the richest – the entire wall has weapons on display – swords, bows and arrows, clubs, guns, rifles (two of them were more than 8 ft long), rocket launcher sized rifles, sheilds, the rajahs throne, his war gear and many more things.Photography isn’t allowed here or would have surely brought you some of the pictures.

I would like to draw attention to the state of the palace and museum. Now that it holds the commissioner’s office, walls all around are coloured with graffiti. There aren’t any directions to lead you to the museum until the third floor. A couple of boys guided us to the museum. The staff was basking in the sun – but they were good and told us not to take any photographs.

It was already evening by the time we came out of the museum. Also we were hungry and so we decided to head for the market. Though we would have loved to trek to the Bala Quila that is perched on top of a hill.

Finding a decent food joint turned out to be a major expedition. Although there were many a sweet shops around, we wanted to have something hot and spicy. We came across the only South Indian cafe by Gopal talkies after a half an hour search on Alwar roads.

Next I wanted to purchase some souvenirs, which I found in aplenty at shops in the market. There are many a jewellery shops found outside the city palace (looks like Rajasthanis have a huge demand for gold all the year round). I bought Jamnagar Bandhej style suits and hand woven sarees for my mother and bhabhis. I also purchased a bani-thani, which is a set of puppets, like the one shown in Paheli movie. It is said to bring good luck to the house. The local market offers a good bargain – not unlike some of the tourist destinations that fleece off tourists – by the way there were not many tourists around.

As night drew and our legs were aching with the hours of walking, we started off for our hotel room. A menu card by our bedside listed the dishes served in the restaurant. Too much to resist and we proceeded towards the restaurant.

Tables were nicely placed but not much people were around. Are we too early or too late, we thought.

A buffet had been organised. Unfortunately, I was too full or would have showed them the disadvantages of having a buffet. But I am not one to waste money though- served myself some butter chicken, a roti, some salad, and rasogulla. The food was really yummy and I cursed the South Indian cafe for that tasty sambar which I ordered thrice. The restaurant staff and other staffs at Holtel Aravali were quite decent and helpful.

After a heavy dinner, we returned to our room. The next day was destined to be more adventurous. We had booked the entire monday to Sariska and the Tiger Trail.

However, it was more than 8 after we reached Alwar bus stand. The hotel wallahs were suggesting a taxi (costing Rs 900) to the place. Later I discovered that the taxi would ferry us only until the gates of Sariska from where we would be required to take a Safari jeep. Instead, we took a bus going to Jaipur via Sariska and all we spent was Rs. 36 (wow so much of savings).

Passing through the Aravali hills, we reached Sariska at 9.30 in the morning. Like everyone, we crowded at the ticket window, only to know that all safaris are already booked. The first safari had already left at 7 o’clock and the next one was due at 10 o’clock. The rates for safari jeeps were Rs.900, Rs.1400 and Rs 2700, and one for the entire day.

We opted for the lowest one but there still was a major hiccup. All safaris were already booked and the latest we could get another was at 1 o’clock.

As the safari jeeps started returning and groups began moving for the jungle trip, I felt very disappointed. I started cursing the friend for taking too much time at breakfast (it was complementary and none of us had plans of foregoing it). Just then we spotted a group of young boys, who fortunately were just four in number. It turned out that they had booked their safari early in the morning and we hooked up with them for the two of us.

For all those who are travelling by their private cars and wouldn’t like to wait for the safari jeeps, here is a caution – don’t go by your personal cars; you won’t be allowed deep inside the jungle; besides you spend Rs. 125 for taking your car inside the car and also the guide fees that comes upto Rs. 150. Safari is all time better option (Rs 900 for 6 persons).

The boys turned out to be quite a fun. Being college boys, they referred to us as bhaiya. And together we headed for the jungle. The jeeps are petrol driven for lesser noise. The driver took us deep into the jungle tellling us that they are instantly informed if a tiger is spotted at a particular place.

Everyone was in search of the tiger. But the tiger was nowhere. With just two tigers in the forest, the probability of ever seeing a tiger was very less. There used to be around 26 tigers here until 2004. Sansarchand, a Delhi based smuggler, was behind rampant killing of tigers here. The government had promised to send 5 tigers but only two have been delivered until now.

But we did see a variety of wildlife. In the pictures that I will upload someday soon, you will see a large number of animals who posed for a photograph – alligators, deer, spotted deer, sambhar, nilgai, barasinga, peacock, and many others. The maharajah had a especially constructed tree house by a water tank. A bait used to be tied at the base of the tree house and when the tiger came to drink water, it fell for the trap. The forest officers lived inside the forest. I would have loved to spend a night here, although it would have been very scary. The driver showed us from far the Kankwadi Fort where Aurangzeb had his brother Dara Shikoh imprisoned. Just as we were wondering at the beauty of the wildnerness, we heard some rustling sound near the bushes. Before we could delight ourselves by the thought of spotting tiger, it turned out to be a cow. Night vision cameras were placed at several locations to monitor the movement of tigers.

As we were close to ending our 3 hour trip, we were nearly exhausted. The thought of not spotting a single carnivorous animal was further disappointing. The driver said that since it is daytime, the tigers would be resting. What makes it more difficult to spot them is that they have not yet defined their areas – the entire jungle of Sariska is their area – food would be available for them in plenty.

We decided to tell everyone that we spotted a tiger. The driver started pleading not to exceed expectations of people. Okay as you wish driver ji. We shaked hands with the other guys and headed for Alwar. The bumpy ride of the Sariska forest was enough to exhaust us. I was too sleepy to remember the return journey to Delhi.

Barack Obama in his new job

Barack Hussein Obama took the office of the World’s most powerful person yesterday. On 20th of January, Obama was sworn to the post of President of the United States of America. And although he did stumble while taking the oath, he did it (even a Golma Devi did it in India despite her lack of education).

It was quite amusing to see George Bush as one of the many in the crowd. The Spotlight was on Barack Obama. Even Bill Clinton, who was the ex to ex President, could manage to attract some camera lenses (thanks to Hillary Clinton who might become the Secretary of State), but not Bush. It would have been so difficult for him to step down from so powerful a post. But that is what is democracy.

Now that there is Obama in office, what will be the strategy of Osama camp? Although not exactly a Moslem, he does sport the Hussein in his name (that’s because of his parents practised the religion). Will Osama be able to convince his men to wage the same kind of jihad as he did against Bush? What’s more, will they forget Bush, by far the most hated of the lot.

Also Obama’s steps on India will have to be seen. He has already expressed his disapproval on outsourcing. Will India continue to be the number-1 outsourcing destination. Mexico and US Tier II cities are already set to give tough competition. On stake are the careers of lakhs of young people who joined BPOs as a long term career.

Moreover, would India get some hearing in the durbar of Obama, vis-a-vis Pakistan and its jihadi brigade. Bush was particularly close to Pakistan and no amount of bombings was enough to prove US about Pakistan’s allegiance with terrorists.

So Obama has a lot at hand. He has joined at a time when the World’s economy is tumbling down. His first priority will of course be to bring the economy back to track.

I wish him luck in all his ventures and want him to have some barkat-e-inayat on India as well.

Kufri – Details of the trip follows finally

My last post in December was Pictures from my Kufri and Shimla trip. That time I had promised to come up with a detailed account of the trip. Then it was long back and I really had no plans to write about the trip now. But a promise is a promise – and here is the account of the trip; but it will not be as detailed as my last posts.

Kufri was suggested by Cuckoo. She did an off-topic post just to inform me about Kufri, an hour ahead of Shimla. I had never seen snow fall in my life (that wish of mine is still unfulfilled) and Kufri suited my bill – I would be able to visit within two days.

And the two days was the weekend that fell after Christmas. My brother and I left for Shimla on the night of 26th. The HRTC bus that we boarded from Kashmere Gate ISBT entered Shimla at around 7 o’ clock in the morning – could have reached a little earlier had the driver not stopped for tea breaks after every half an hour.

Nothing much about the bus journey other than the freezing cold and the fighting that ensued between me and brother for the blanket.

As soon as we deboarded at Lakkad Bazar, Shimla, touts gheraoed us with hotel offers. As I have learnt from my last trips, I didn’t give in to their offers. Instead I went on to find hotels on my own. But having checked a few hotels with “no rooms sign” and my body needing rest badly, I finally called upon a tout who was still following us.

He took us to Hotel Prince, just above Rivoli theatre (a fraction of Delhi’s PVR Rivoli). The thing I most disliked here were the slopes. Anywhere you want to go, you have to walk up and up and up. The hotel too was located some 20 steps above ground.

But once we finalised a room, I ran up the stairs to occupy the bed. Before sleeping, I had put an alarm for 9 o’clock. We were so tired that none of us heard the alarm until it went off for the fourth time.

I didn’t want to get off the cozy bed. But then we had to go to Kufri and time was less.

We had already decided against bathing. So we got ready in no time. Outside the hotel there was biting cold. But we were well equipped with sweaters, jackets, caps, gloves, shoes – so much that it was difficult to walk with the weight.

The hotel manager insisted on a cab service they provided up to Kufri. But I decided to do a cross check with the local market- made a saving of Rs. 250.

The Maruti Alto that was to take us to Kufri would come in an hour or so; Why don’t we go sightseeing at Shimla? In fact, until we saw Shimla, we were of the view that the prime attraction here is Kufri.

The Mall Road was great. It was quite sunny here (as can be seen in the pictures). For the first time I felt some warmth and decided to part with the gloves. We roamed around the Mall Road and appreciated the crowd and went half way to Jakhu Mandir (since the cab-wallah had promised to arrange the cab in an hour, we decided to leave Jakhu temple half way up the ascent). Then had a sumptous lunch at one of the restaurants there.

But the cab didn’t come until 2 o’clock in the afternoon. When we complained about the delay, the driver smiled sheepishly.

On the way we saw green valley which was view of a valley with greenery all around.

We reached Kufri in some half an hour. The cab dropped us at a place from where horses were the only motorable transport service available.

Horses! We didn’t opt for them (ponies are distant cousins of horses) on the long trek to Vaishno Devi. Will we opt for them now? Depends on how far is our destination from this place. No one was ready to part with that information. Also none of the tourists were seen walking on his own. Finally convinced that Kufri is a far off place and horses are the only mode of transport, we arranged for two – Bunty, the bigger one for brother; and Bubbly, the smaller one for me.

But that burnt a hole in our pockets by Rs. 500. In fact the entire Kufri trip was a loss.

Kufri had no snow. Bu hu hu hu.

And once that was known, none of us had the inclination to enjoy. Sitting there for around an hour, we finally decided to roam around, until our horses are back. Our horses were drawn by a small pahadi boy called Ramcharan (He earned a meagre Rs. 50 per day). He assured us that he would be back by 4 o’clock in the evening.

But we weren’t enjoying a bit. Snow was nowhere to be seen except for the Kinnaur range, some hundreds kilometres away. And that added to our woes.

Finally, I began searching for our horses. I called up the thekedar, only to get the assurance that the boy will reach by half an hour (each and every thekedar had a mobile phone to track the horses).

Half an hour passed and the boy was still not back. Several calls to the thekedar and the same assurance. Each horse boy looked like our  Ramcharan but no one was ready to ferry us back. It was 5 o’clock when we decided to walk back.

At times when there is no snow, you can walk over the place. But beware the horses who are walking the same road. The road has not been cut well. At some places, it gets too narrow and if you are walking through the middle of the road, you may get sandwiched between two horses and you can get badly hurt if you get caught between their hoofs. You can also trek.

Before coming back to where our cab was parked, we gave the driver a call, only to know that he has gone down for some repair work. He assured us that he will be back within ten minutes.

We also spotted the thekedar arranging horses for other tourists. When we complained about the absent horses, he gave a sheepish smile. This had me. I gave him a big lecture about customer service, which impressed him little since he was off to arrange horses.

It was more than ten minutes but the cab driver wasn’t still back. When we called him again, he said that he is caught in a traffic jam and would take ten minutes more.

It was getting dark and the people were going back. Even horses had called the day off. The thekedars were discussing the days revenue while sipping tea.

And here were the two of us, with very little warm clothes. As it had become hot outside, we left our jackets in the car. Now I was ruing over my folly. The cold was biting my body. When tea wasn’t able to warm me, I sat along with some horse-men to warm myself besides the bonfire.

The cab came at 6.30 in the evening. Frustrated I scolded the driver badly. But as my body was getting warm, my eyes closed and I slept for a while.

We were dropped near to Mall Road. We had decided to eat something before going back to the hotel. Had a sumptous non-veg dinner again at Alfa Restaurant on the Mall Road. The food is good and also the ambience.

You can buy some very good wood work  at Shimla. I purchased few jewllery boxes, a pen stand, a statue of Lord Buddha, and several other items, all made of wood. For my mother, I also purchased a Book Stand to read Ramayan (Now that she is a grandmother, she has taken to the ways of elderly people).

Mall Road is more beautiful at night. Couples roamed around chatting and giggling. A women was selling hand woven shoes for kids. I bought one for my niece.

We too roamed there for some more time. Then we went down to our hotel room. The manager greeted us with a smile. I didn’t reply when he asked about our Kufri trip. “Couldn’t he have said that Kufri has no snow today” was my grouse.

I couldn’t wait to attack the bed after this hectic a day. With our heads inside our rajais, we talked about the day and its attractions and disappointments. I don’t remember who stopped responding first.

My eyes opened at 9 o’clock. I had never slept this long. I woke up brother and we started jotting our plan for the day.

We will hit the Mall road first and then we will decide.

We did the same. Jakhu Mandir was visited. But before that was breakfast. We were not to go inside the temple anyways (two days without bath). Finally at 4.30 in the evening we caught the bus back to Delhi.

Later that week, we were discussing the trip. “No snow biggest disappointment”, both of us agreed. “Not that bad”, we both agreed. “In fact a refreshing trip”, we agreed on this readily.

Hey 15oo words and I promised that it will not be a very long post. Sach me kitna vella hun main.

Bahubali by Prakash Jha on Mahua

For all of you who understand Bhojpuri, there’s a tele-serial I would like to recommend (I know my past recommendations have not fared as well; “kahani hamaray mahabharat ki” was one of them. But take my word this last time).

Bahubali, directed by Prakash Jha, renowned director of movies like Apahran and Gangajal, is aired at 9.30 P.M week nights on Mahua channel (it is the first Bhojpuri channel).

And true to his claims, the story is really different. Complement this with excellent acting skills displayed by characters (very rarely seen in Bhojpuri movies and soaps which are loud and rustic). The best thing about this serial is that it makes use of both Bhojpuri and Hindi, emphasising on the fact that local people of this region speak both languages. The characters speak the common man’s language, thus giving it a humble and back-there feeling.

Here is the story so far.

The serial is about two warring families of Maharajganj, some place in Uttar Pradesh.

The heads of both families have already given their lives in gang fights, and the successors of both families are sworn to avenge their deaths.

Baba, who is the head of one warring family has Vijaykanth as the bahubali or don of the area in his camp. This makes the camp more powerful.

But the other camp is not a weakling too. Under the chairmanship of Dulari Devi, the wife of Late Babban lal (killed in gang fights), and with the help of her two brothers, Puttan and Binda, is waging a tough fight against Baba.

Both camps have political ambitions too. They know that they can only further their power if they have political control over their area.

Baba and company announce Nisha Sharma as their candidate. She is the daughter-in-law of the family and aims to bring development and peace to Maharajganj, thanks to her upbringing in the open society of Mumbai.

Her opponent is K.D. Yadav, who is the son in law of Dulari Devi. However, he seldom gets the respect due to a son in law, maybe because he is making a living in his wife’s home (Ghar jamais have little respect in the indian society). However, one thing where he differs from the pack is that he is against any violence (at least he doesn’t professes violence of any sort).

So when he hears about the kidnap of Jaishwal’s son, he is furious at his mother in law.

But Dulari Devi has no hand in the kidnap of Jaishwal’s son. It is the handiwork of Baba and Vijaykanth.

Before I get on with Jaishwal’s story, let me first introduce you with Megha and Uday. Megha is the daghter of Baba and camp. Uday is the son of Dulari Devi. Now what ties them together is the love that germinated during their studies in Australia. Coming back to Maharajganj, they have found what big a blunder they have done of loving each other. with their families fighting with each other, would they ever allow their marriage. They want to run off this place, but are tied with familial duties and responsibilities. Until now they have succeeded in hiding their love from the glare of their families.

Coming back to Jaishwal now. Jaishwal is the head of businessmen in the Maharajganj market. He also has a sizable vote bank of banias and marwaris. When he declines support for Nisha Sharma (Baba’s candidate to the election) since he has already promised support to KD, Vijaykanth kidnaps his son to pressurise him.

Nisha Sharma wins the election with a landslide victory. On introspection is found that the businessmen of Maharajganj had betrayed KD and Dulari Devi. She immediately orders her brothers to launch a search for the kidnapped boy and gets him killed to turn popular feeling against Baba and camp.

As soon as the maimed boy is found lying near the Gandhi Chowk, the public is outraged against Baba and Vijaykanth. Jaishwal and his wife lay seige before the doors of Baba’s residence and the SP has to arrest Vijaykanth.

In the meantime, Dulari Devi and a few politicians, who fear Vijaykanth and his growing clout, plan with the SP to get him killed in the jail. It is the responsibility of Jaishwal to arrange the Rs 1 crores to be paid as prize money for the SP.

Jaishwal, like every common man, is sandwiched in the fights between the two families. First, he has lost his only son. Now he also has to arrange the sum of Rs 1 crore. Instead he decides to be part with Baba and coins a plan to nail the Dulari Devi camp, convinced that it was she who got her son killed.

He informs Dulari that Baba would be coming out of his fort like home and if she wants, can get him killed at this opportune time.

Unfortunately, Dulari Devi sends the black sheep of the family to kill Baba.

Rajjan Lal is the brother in law of Dulari Devi, and much hated for his bad ways. He has fallen in love with Seema Kumari, the daughter of the local pimp, who won’t part with her prize for less than Rs.50,000. So where does he arrange the Rs. 50,000. Of course from the safe of his sister-in law. And when the theft comes into the open, he easily saves himself in the lack of substantial proof. Anyway Dulari Devi would have wanted escape from this man. If he is able to kill Baba, very good. If not, at least he will be killed in the process.

Does Rajjan Lal fall in the trap of Baba? No! This time around Dulari and camp are destined to lose. But they lose KD instead.

When Rajjan Lal sees that he has been trapped, he instantly crosses over to Baba and camp and tells that he would do anything for them. Baba demands of him to kill KD, the political heir.

But KD is not dead. He has fallen in coma; much to the despair of Rajjan Lal who fears that his truth will come out if KD survives: He made up a story that Baba killed KD and was about to beat him to death.

Will KD wake up to tell the real story? Will Vijaykanth die in police lock-up? What will be the fate of Megha and Uday, the love birds? Will Nisha Sharma win the next round of elections? And what will be the fate of Jaishwal who has fled the city because his betrayal has once again come in the open?

I would be hooked on to the television for all these answers. If you people have liked the story until now, I would recommend you people too to switch on Mahua channel at 9.30 P.M weeknights.

Difference between Indian Railways and Delhi Metro

A cleaner and better managed railway station for New Delhi will have to wait for a little long.

A Live Mint report says:

“…plans for the first station to be handed over to private developers (22 more stations will be privatised) remain mired in procedural delays. (The postponement of the project) stems from concern that commercial development work would impede traffic management in the heart of the city”

Don’t know if the reason is actually traffic concerns or just because government doesn’t want to relax control over public property.

In a similar context, I would like to point out the difference one can see between the New Delhi Railway Station (Government managed) and the New Delhi Metro Station (Privately managed).

Both stations are just metres apart. But the ambience of each is wide apart.

While the New Delhi Rail Station presents you with unclean platforms, stinking toilets with yellow floors, unmanageable crowds, people sleeping over the platform, plastic packets thrown all over, faeces on  railway track, walls coloured red with gutkha spitting men and of course noise of people fighting with each other, hawkers selling cheap articles, babies crying and more.

Come to the New Delhi Metro Station now. You can spot a few beggars and some people waiting on the marbled stairs. But not further than this.

Spotless floors, well defined directions, ever smiling attendants, security check (although I will not warrant this as fool proof), a somewhat disciplined crowd, everything properly managed as soon as you enter the Metro Station. No one dares to spit here or ease at the call of nature. In fact no one wants to soil the beautiful Metro. Besides there are also big message-boards shouting punishment for those who litter here.

The difference between the two stations always forces me to think why is not the government not giving private firms a chance to manage these properties. Private organisations can do a much better job. Of course, the government will have certain controls on the way the private firms are servicing the public. I hope you will all agree with me.