India - My take...



My Bro has a record of doing his schooling in 11 different schools and me in 8… Back in school, friends used to call me a nomad given my constant travel across d country… My dad's bank job ensured that we get transferred once in every 2 years and his interest in travelling cross checked that I visit most obscure spots of India… Just tot will do a quick update on the itinerary of my life…

India is a federal republic of twenty-eight states and seven Union Territories (Wikipedia)… Highlighted are the states I have visited so far…

States:
1. Andhra Pradesh
2. Arunachal Pradesh
3. Assam
4. Bihar
5. Chhattisgarh
6. Goa
7. Gujarat
8. Haryana
9. Himachal Pradesh
10. Jammu and Kashmir
11. Jharkhand
12. Karnataka
13. Kerala
14. Madhya Pradesh
15. Maharashtra
16. Manipur
17. Meghalaya
18. Mizoram
19. Nagaland
20. Orissa
21. Punjab
22. Rajasthan
23. Sikkim
24. Tamil Nadu
25. Tripura
26. Uttaranchal
27. Uttar Pradesh
28. West Bengal



Union Territories:
1. Andaman and Nicobar Islands
2. Chandigarh
3. Dadra and Nagar Haveli
4. Daman and Diu
5. Lakshadweep
6. Pondicherry
7. Delhi


My Take on some of the visits:
Delhi: My early memory is one associated with Bahá'í Lotus Temple in South Delhi.. I was left sleeping in our vehicle by my parents, thinking I won't wake up…. Not only I woke in 5 mins, I visited the temple all by myself and returned holding a cotton candy (I don't remember how this ended up in my hand) much to the chagrin of my parents, who were happy till then that I vanished in thin air… Smirks…

Pondicherry: I ended up here during the Sabarimala season… according to culture, the pilgrims did fasting and other folks avoided salt, spice and other condiments…. But what I didn't know was every hotel will avoid using salt and spices during this time… Man had a protesting stomach by the end of the visit…
West Bengal: Mughalai Paratha, RajBhog, Rasagulla, Egg Roll, taking every mode of transport (underground train, tram, bus, ferry) just for the sake of it… man I cud go there again…
Uttar Pradesh: Did my KG and class First here… Sikdha, the only name I remember from there, my classmate and best buddy… holi, janmastami, playing in the garden, kiddy parties (not kitty for heaven sake) and lots more… nostalgic…
Tamil Nadu: 1992-2007… 15 complete years here… this surely demands a separate post…
Maharashtra: charred tots… a visit to Mumbai (Bombay then)… staying with Dad's brother… didn't make an etch in me… travel in the hyped metro train is just another memory…
Madhya Pradesh: am here for the past one year… Loving it more every day... Teaching me independence, Teaching me life…
Kerala: Lush green… Saying the same line to everyone "ennikku Malayalam arithilla" (I don't know Malayalam)… Walking up to a cup of hot chocolate… Fire flies… Walking thru Tea bushes… sucking on fresh ripe coffee beans… crisp Banana chips… sweet Jack fruits… ok ok ok I am stopping…
Karnataka: This place made me live on bread & biscuit, which I hated till then… still my mom is reminiscent about the events that changed my view on these two… she will just too happy to bundle me back to this place…
Goa: Long stretches of Beach… one old church… Sun… and nothing else…
Bihar: Had a spiritual weekend at Bodh gaya... still treasure the Marble necklace (similar to a rosary) that one of the monks gave me…
Assam: Ouch… just when sleep beckoned I had to wake up, coz of the sun streaming into the room… just when I tot of going out to trek, I had to think again coz practically d day ended even before I realized… but had fun there… without knowing even a bit of the local language, I managed even to bargain with roadside vendors... Hilarious!
Andhra Pradesh: Ouch don't remember much..

A Collage of random hits goggled as India….

2 comments:

Akilan said...

lucky girl...
I never ventured out of TN... :(
I'll ve to get placed in some northern states.. or may be overseas... :)

PS: Me back from exams... :)

Ratzzz said...

@ aki welcome back... missed u a lot..

@netfandu :)