Kashmir Part-III : Gulmarg

Have you seen the 'Kashmir in Winter' ad of JK Tourism? It shows Gulmarg at its best. A la European landscape completely covered in snow with people skiing around is very enticing. Gulmarg is the center of winter sport activities and is specially famous as India's premier ski resort. Set up by British in 1927 as a ski resort, Gulmarg has hosted two National Winter Games. Those were scenes of winter and we were going there in spring. We thought that we would get an altogether different view of Gulmarg. But we were proved wrong. The weather took a turn and proved to be lucky for us. We were welcomed by a white Gulmarg covered in several feet of snow. Then it had snowed for full two days. What more you could have ask for.

We left a bright and sunny Srinagar post lunch after a half day sightseeing. It was a struggle to get out of the city. We went past the famous (and dreaded) Lal Chowk and other sensitive areas of the city. Once we got out of the narrow roads of Srinagar cramped with haphazard traffic, the snow clad hills of Gulmarg appeared in the horizon. It was about 50 km / 2 hrs journey to Gulmarg. Soon after we left Tangmarg, which is at the foothill of Gulmarg, a light drizzle had started. Halfway through our ascend, patches of snows started appearing by the road to our delight. This encouraging signs meant more snows up the hill. We were not disappointed when we had reached Gulmarg. The entire landscape was like a white sheet from which houses were poking their heads here and there. The snow along the road was indicator of thickness of the sheet which was several feet. All activities of Gulmarg are centered around the parking lot. All hotels, except the JKTDC huts, and eateriers are located on this stretch of about half a kilometer.

We had two nights bookings at the JKTDC hut. After reaching the central parking lot, we were kind of lost there for direction. By the time we had reached there it was late afternoon and the place was wearing a deserted look. Most tourists visit Gulmarg as day excursion from Srinagar. Day Tourist had left by then. Though there was a tourist office, even that office was closed, may be because it was a Sunday. After enquiring at the shops, finally someone was able to tell us that we need to go to the JKTDC Club house located at the golf club. The huts were some 1 km off this hustle bustle and are located near the gondola point. The club house was on the opposite side of this area. One has to pay an extra Rs.50/- for taking vehicles into that area. Only vehicles of tourist with confirmed night halt are allowed. Finding the club house was not that difficult. Though it was located somewhere in the white sheet of snow in front of us, it was located along the only motorable road passing through it. The road is a circular road running around the field where winter sports activities takes place. On arriving at the club, we understood that the white sheet in front of us is actually a golf course. This gets converted into a winter sport ground in winter.

Anyway, the guys at the club house were aware of our booking which was good. I was worried that if our booking had not reached this remote corner of India, we may have to face a situation of frantic calling of xyz in search for accommodation. The club provided the services of an attendant to accompany us to the hut which supposed to be another two kilometer further along the radial road. The weather had cleared by this time and a bright sunshine was shooting through cloud. Locals uses a cliché ‘Mumbai ka fashion aur Gulmarg ka mausam, kabhi bhi badal sakta’, i.e, Fashion in Mumbai and weather in Gulmarg can change any time. This labile psyche of weather was clearly visible. It was drizzling when we had reached Gulmarg, but now the sun was shining.

We were thrilled when we had reached the foothill of our hut. The hut was some way up on the mountain face and the entire area was covered in snow. There was no road, only footsteps on the snow to be followed. Fortunately we did not have to carry our stuff up as another attendant from the hut helped the one accompanied us from the club to take our luggage up the hill. The hut was almost covered in snow with only few feet of roof visible. This is what we had dreamt of. When you are in a beach, the ideal place for stay is a beach cottage located right on the beach (which I experienced at Lakshadweep). Then I had spent a night in the Jaisalmer desert resort where wind kept lashing our faces all the night. Now we were getting a chance to spend a night on a secluded cottage on a snowy hill among pine trees, half submerged in snow. I would have definitely not liked to spend the night here on upper floors of a multistory hotel.

Let me tell you few more details about the JKTDC cottages. There are about 9 cottages, each located separately on the face of the hill looking down at the golf course. We had booked a double room cottage. This wooden hut had two bedrooms with attached bath, a kitchen and one hall with sofas, a dining table and a shingri (fire place) at the center of the house to keep you warm. Though devoid of luxury, this probably is the best place to stay in Gulmarg. The double bedroom hut is normally priced @ Rs.2500/- per night which can be shared by two families like we did. Being a shoulder season we got the hut @1800/- per night. The attendant, Bashirbhai, lived in a separate cottage nearby. He would arrange everything for you – of course at a price higher than normal. You would happily pay that premium rather than venturing out in the snow and shivering cold. Else you can walk down about a kilometer to the parking place where there are several eateries. The rooms were well insulated. Electricity was there almost round the clock. But voltage was low and so we had to keep the room heater and geyser on all the time. If you switch off the geyser, the watch gets chilled in no time. Everything outside was under snow and the water flowing to the hut had come travelling through the snow.

On the first night we had our dinner outside at the Bakshi restaurant which was decent enough. The weather was clear enough with moonlight lighting up the snow covered landscape beautifully. We had most meals outside except one when weather was too bad too venture out.

The roar of thunder woke us up next morning. When we looked out through the window, it was snowing outside. We all jumped out of the bed to enjoy the snowfall thinking it may stop anytime. We had seen a brief snowfall once at Shela Pass on the way to Tawang. But nothing likes this. It was as if someone was showering cotton likes flakes on the landscape. Holding those snowflakes coming down the sky was an experience cannot be explained in words. It can only be felt. When we had understood that the snowfall is going to continue for sometime, we got ready for day’s activity. Bashirbhai had arranged for our snow dresses and boots. If you get out without those water proof snow dresses, you would end up getting wet.

We were the first tourists to be out on the winter sports ground for that day. The snowfall had stopped by now and the weather cleared. Sledge pullers were after us like leeches right from the moment we got out of our rooms. You feel pity for those poor fellows, but we wanted to do skiing only. They would tell you to go for 8 point or so sightseeing on the field and start with a price of about 500 bucks. We did not understood what would be that so called sightseeing as everything was under snow. We had taken a detour of the circular road around the field and saw nothing worth visiting other than indulging yourself in some winter sports. When we saw people who were being pulled around in sledges, it looked so cruel and inhuman, something like Kolkata hand rickshaw pullers. You sit on a wooden sledge which is pulled around by some skinny poor fellow. Everyone from sledge puller to the ski operators would quote astronomical prices citing govt. approved rate. We had a hard bargain for skiing. We managed to get it for Rs.250/- per head as against the original quote of Rs.750/-. That probably because we were the only tourist at that time. Tourists from Srinagar normally arrives by 11 am or so. You should book your activity on the spot. If you book at the hotel or you accompany some agent from the hotel, then the final price agreed will also include his commission. Though united to keep prices stable, the Ski operators are actually individuals with their own ski kits. It was our first experience of ski. Most of us picked up the tricks fast. In about half an hours of skiing I had only one fall and was able to do it alone. I was also worried about my fluid back and slip disc. But it was fun. It was tiring and had drained us out. So do not expect to ski for hours when you pay 700 bucks or so. The weather also had taken an ugly turn by then. The entire Gulmarg got covered in a blanket of cloud. Soon it started to rain with small hail. The weather had cleared after some time. Some more tourists had arrived by then. We were shocked to find the prices some of them had paid for sledges to reach there and it was their turn of shock when we had revealed our prices. The ski point was at a walkable distance and we had comfortably walked down.

On our return, we hired a sledge for our daughter, more out of sympathy than need. These guys were following, literally pleading to have a sledge ride. We paid him 50 bucks for a ride back to the cottage. We paid another puller 10 rupees for a photograph. By the time we were back in the hut, the drizzle had stopped and it had started to snow again. The snowfall continued all through the day. As we had hired the dresses for the day, we had several foray outside to enjoy the snowfall. When we were in Dehradun, we saw people flocking to Mussorie to see the often brief spell of snowfalls. But here we had a full day of snowfall. The scenes of flakes coming down as if someone showering cottons from the sky will always remain in our memory. The evening that day was too cold for us to get out and so we had decided to use the services of Bashirbhai. Taking advantage of the situation he also served us roti @15 rupees. He also charged 150 per day to keep the fire on in the hall.

The snowfall continued through the night and also next morning. We had planned to leave by 9 am and proceed for Sonamarg. But our vehicle which was parked outside and was withstanding the bitter cold and snowfall for almost 40 hours had refused to start. The driver used all his experiences, but finally he had to go down to Tangmarg and get a mechanic. We lost a couple of hour in the process. When we finally left Gulmarg at round noon, it was still snowing. Seeing the humps of snow and weather, the driver suspected that Sonamarg may be closed. In his opinion, the landscape there would not be different from Gulmarg. So we had decided to call up the JKTDC Office at Srinagar. We were informed that the route to Sonamarg had been closed due to excessive rainfall over last two days and hence we will not be able to make it to the JKTDC hut. As we had confirmed fully paid booking they offered us alternative accommodation at Srinagar.

The snowfall got converted into rain as we lost height. When we had reached Srinagar, the official at JKTDC was quite helpful in getting our booking converted to Srinagar. But the incessant rain became a nightmare. It was an alternate drizzle and downpour. We had waited for rain to stop and when it finally stopped around 3 pm, we headed for some local sightseeing. The driver had also informed us in the evening that the route to Gulmarg had also been closed that day as the snowfall had not stopped.

The weather had played a spoilsport for the next one and half day. The rain had rarely stopped and with great difficulty we could complete the remaining sightseeing of Srinagar. The temperature had also plummeted prompting most shops to shut down and locals preferred to stay indoors. But we took solace in the fact that had it not rained; it would not have snowed at Gulmarg. The thrill we felt at Gulmarg was much higher than those customary visits to the dull Mughal gardens.

(Events described were for 5th, 6th and 7th April 2009)

Kashmir Part-II : Srinagar

Srinagar : Day 1
We had covered Srinagar in two parts. Our initial planning for Srinagar was for two ½ days. But eventually it turned out to be of 1 and ½ day. On Day-2 morning, we had covered few locations and then proceeded to Gulmarg in the afternoon. On return from Gulmarg we had covered the remaining locations on Day-4. However day-4 turned out to be an entire day instead of the planned ½ day because our trip to Sonamarg got canceled as a result of road closure due to excessive snowfall.

We started the day with a visit to the Sankaracharya Temple located atop a hill overlooking the city. The hill presents a magnificent panoramic view of the Dal Lake as well as the city. The entry to the hill as well as the temple complex is heavily fortified with heavy presence of paramilitary forces. One has to get down from the vehicle and walk past the check post at the entry point while the vehicle gets a security check. Vehicles are allowed almost to the foot of the temple where one had to undergo actual physical frisking. Once frisking is over, a climb of 242 stairs will take you to the temple. But it is worth the effort.

Our next stop was the Chesmasahi Bagh, which is one of the 3 famous Mughal gardens of Srinagar. As the Raj Bhavan comes on the road to the garden, video cameras are not allowed in the area. One has to deposit it at a security check point and collect it back on return. It is said that Jawaharlal Nehru used to drink water from the natural spring flowing through this garden. He is said to have a system in place to ensure regular availability of water from this spring in Delhi! Whether you believe it or not is upto you.

It is a small garden. My opinion on this is ‘Nothing spectacular’. May be because there were not many varieties of flowers blooming in it. But it was spring time when I went there. As was being done by all tourists, we also had collected water from the natural spring. Anyway, the experience made us to skip the Botanical Garden located next to it. All these places have a parking fee and entry fee in place. Have a look at the parking ticket and note the line ‘No responsibility for blast’! Scarry! Isn't it?

We then headed for the Dal lake for one of the must do activities while in Kashmir – a Shikara ride in the Dal lake. The entire Shikara things runs on commission system. There are numerous boarding point with hundreds of Shikaras, but only a few tourists around. Everyone there rues the golden day’s tourism. Militancy had kicked the people making a livelihood of tourism the hardest. The cab driver will drop you at a point from where he gets some commission. Anyway, we bargained for a trip for 300 bucks. Shikaras are large enough to accommodate two families.

Our shikara set off cutting though the greenish water of the Dal. Barely a few minutes into the ride we were accosted by floating salesman. We successfully fended many of them off. But one got stuck to our boat like a leech sticking to its prey, courtesy the interest shown by our ladies team in their jewelry. You would like to be lost in the serene surroundings and the life on the Dal. But half of your trip will be spoiled by these constant hackling of salesman.

There is a sprawling market on the backsides of the houseboats. It is a big floating market. You will feel like being in a different world. But the prices are exorbitant. The shops are grouped together in such a way that if you land somewhere you can cover only a few shops. You can not hop from boat to boat and see the entire market. The shikara will take only to a group of shops from which he gets commission. These floating markets are totally dependent on shikars to bring customers. On being cajoled by us, the boatman confessed that he gets 20 rupees for every stops he makes irrespective of the fact that customers buy or not. Prices are so high that you will be made to think twice before buying. The same thing is available for much cheaper at Pahalgam or shops en-route.

The shikara ride lasted for about 2 hours. They will tell you that ride is of 3 hours. But of these about an hour will be spent on those shops. We cut it short by deciding not visit any shop after two such stops. We also had to check out and proceed for Gulmarg.

Houseboats : Yes or No ?

Quite a large chunk of the Dal is occupied by Houseboats. There are hundreds of them, but only a few occupied. Houseboats were introduced by the British who were not given rights by the then king to live on the land. Would I like to spend a night a houseboat ? The answer is NO. The reasons are:
1) They are stationary and standing on a stationary pool of water.
2) The water being made available in toilets is being pumped from the water below. Just think that all your excretions have also been disposed off in the same pool of water.
3) You will require the services of a boat for getting ferried to the mainland and back. You are cut-off from the land.

I had experienced a night in houseboat at Allepey, Kerala. The difference there was that the boat halted only for the night. Yet we could not take bath in the greenish water of backwater canals.

What not to do as tourist while in Srinagar?
You will not find many tourists around. May be 100-150 persons could be seen on any day, most of which are Bengalis. As a tourist you should visit only the designated tourist points and not venture out to trouble hotspots like the Lal Chowk. The entire local market is around the Lal Chowk. But your shopping should be limited to the shops located along the Dal. There are many shops and shopping complexes to cater to your need in that area. The security around Dal is also quite good with considerable presence of security personnel. Venturing out to Lal Chowk can put you into trouble. You are easily identified as a tourist there and it certainly is different from other places in India. There are many barricades put up on the roads within the city. In each of them you will find a bunker built in the middle of the road which is manned by policeman with sophisticated weapons. Quite unlike in other places in India where you will often find lathi holding policeman lazing around often unnecessary barricades put on the roads just to convey the message the police exists. But in Kashmir, the message being conveyed was quite different.

Srinagar : Day 2
On arriving at Srinagar from Gulmarg, we were told that road to Sonamarg is closed. As we had prior booking for JKTDC Hut at Sonamarg, the official at JKTDC was good enough to offer alternate accommodation at Srinagar TRC. We had another unseen delay in the morning at Gulmarg as the vehicle which withstood two days snowfall, refused to start. The driver had to go down to Tangmarg and get a mechanic. But that put our plans back by 3 hours.

Anyway, while it was snowing at Gulamarg, areas down below including Srinagar was getting wet in heavy rains. Thus weather played the spoilsport. It was unseasonal rain resulting from depression in the Bay of Bengal. Because of the rain temperature nosedived. When we left Srinagar a couple of days back, the temperature was pleasant. But on return to the city, it was very cold, much colder than Gulmarg. In fact the cold was so biting that most people were off the roads and majority of the shops were closed. The driver also warned us that if rain continues there may be landslides and hence we should change plan for the last night and make Patnitop our night halt. We just prayed to god and kept our fingers crossed. We consoled ourselves with the reason that had it not rained we would not have get two days of snowfall at Gulmarg.

Anyway, braving the rain and biting cold, we had visited the Hazratbal Mosque. This was the first time ever I had visited the Sanctum Santorum of a mosque. Ladies are allowed inside the building but not inside the Sanctum Santorum. It is located on the other side of the Dal. The road leading to it is narrow and the city buses were a menace. The buses are too big for the narrow roads and are undisciplined. The complex is heavily protected. If you recall there was an incident few years back when militants took control of it.

Next was a visit to the Tulip garden. Located on the foothills of the Zabarwan, it is suppose to be the biggest Tulip garden in Asia. Covering the foothills like a colourfull blanket, the tulips were in full bloom and the JKTDC organized weeklong Tulip festival was on. This garden remains open only for 3 months in a year. There is a hefty entry fee of Rs.50/- for adults and Rs.20/- for kids. We rued the opportunity to visit the park when it was shining on day-1. Rain was following the tourist and played havoc to everyone’s plans. It was difficult to take out the camera. When it was not raining heavily, it was drizzling.

We completed the customary Srinagar sightseeing by visiting the Nishat Bagh and the Shalimar Garden. The Shalimar was better than the Nishat. My opinion is that none of these Mughal Gardens were spectacular. The Millenium Park near Nizamuddin Station is Delhi is much better. If someone feels that these gardens are magnificent, I will like to know the criteria, other than the historical value, that made them think so.

For shopping, we had tried out the Govt emporium. But the best place to shop was the National Cottage Emporium. They had fantastic collection of shawls. Their lists of sowrooms in Delhi have addresses at the Hyatt Regency, Le-Meridien and Maurya Sheraton. This tells high quality of products they stocks. Prices are bargainable.

Almost all our food was taken at the JKTDC restaurant at the TRC except for once. We tried out the Mutton Roghan Josh, a Kashmiri specialty, at a local restaurant on the Dal road.

That completed the Srinagar sightseeing.

Relocation : one stop solution

End of another busy week. Most of the time was devoted to sorting problems of personnel getting transferred during this season. It may sound strange to many, but my company has an Annual Transfer season in which about 2500 personnel gets transferred across 24 locations in India. This comes every year in May – June. It is a Govt. of India organization where everyone is expected to serve in at least three regions in their career. The wisdom of moving 2500 personnel has been questioned many times as it involves substantial cost to the company as well, but is unavoidable. I look after the system related issues during this annual exercise.

A transfer, specially the ones where one has to relocate, is indeed a painful exercise. It not only changes your address, it changes your world upside down at least for three months. I had undergone three such relocations in 10 years – two of which had been long ones across different states. Your headache starts right from the day you are handed over your transfer order. Run around to find a reliable moving company which does at least packing and moving. Then find insurance, getting your car shipped, necessary clearance from local transport authority for shipping your car, search for accommodation and school for your kids at new place, , transfer certificate, surrender phone and gas connection, etc., etc. The list is endless. I remember someone putting a list of at least 70 things to do on transfer on company’s intranet.

It would have been really wonderful had there been an agency offering single source services for all relocation related problems. I had come across a site moveme.com which apparently offers one stop solution to many, if not all, of problems on relocation. The services offered are the absolutely essential ones like packing and moving, insurance, etc. One of the features I liked was the Move Planner and Movement Checklist. Unfortunately, in India we do not have any such moving company offering single source solution to your relocation related issues. You have few which at best offers online removal quotes. Here you have to run around yourself and get the things done yourself. But the headache is tremendous. It takes another few months for you to settle down at the new address. Someone should start a service like moveme.com in India which will reduce some of the pain of relocation.

Anyway, I also have compiled the second part of the Kashmir trip as Kashmir-2 and will be putting it up in next 24 hours.

Kashmir Part-I : Jammu to Srinagar

Lot of aplogoies to those who had wrote to me to update the blog. Finally I have taken time off to write the first part of the Kashmir trip.

With lot of excitement and some apprehensions, we boarded the Rajdhani Express to Jammu. Though a Rajdhani, the premium train service in India, condition of the coaches of this train were not very pleasing. In fact, all these short distance and overnight Rajdhanis are constructed out of re-cycled coaches of Rajdhanis on popular long distance routes. Anyway, the train had reached Jammu Tawi station before dawn broke. Someone had to wake us up telling that the train is standing on platform.

We had arranged for a vehicle for the entire trip before leaving Delhi. The cab is from Katra and hence the driver could not pick us from station. The taxi union at station will not allow picking passenger for outside cab. So we had to go to a landmark, in this case a particular hotel for the waiting cab. The hotel was less than half kilometer from the station, but autos charged 50 bucks. We had no other options. Cheating of tourists is a big business at popular tourist places. Jammu receives a fair amount of tourist everyday. At least 95% people arriving Jammu daily leaves for Katra en route to the Hindu holy place of Vaishno Devi Temple. Less than 1% probably proceeds for Srinagar.

We got freshen up in a hotel at Jammu by paying Rs.250/- for 2 hours. We set off for the 298 km daylong journey to Srinagar around 8 am. En route we had stopped for breakfast, Lunch at Bannihal and afternoon tea at Gazigund. Do not expect any posh eatery on the road. From Jammu, it was a constant upward journey till the famous Jawahar Tunnel. It is the longest road tunnel in India. The road condition is good. But traffic was heavy and long defence convoys prolonged the journey with unavoidable holdups. The descend to the valley starts from the Jawahar Tunnel onwards. One could feel the heightened security on the highway from few kilometers ahead of the Jawahar Tunnel. Every few hundred meters you could see paramilitary personnel standing on guard along the road. Standing on the road braving the weather without anyone to talk is a real tough job for these defence personnel. But securing the highway that links the region to mainland is of vital importance to the valley. Militants have targeted it several times in the past.

Here I would like to narrate an incident. There is a small police check post barely a km before the Jawahar Tunnel. They stop tourist vehicles selectively. One of us was asked to come and sign the register kept in a room. I went and made the entries. If they are doing this to keep a track of tourist entering the valley, then it is OK. But then the policeman brazenly asked me for money. ‘Pehli bar Kashmir aaye ho, khusi khusi kuch deke jao chai paani ke liye’. I made light of his request by saying let us come back safely and then we will talk. I have travelled to almost every state in India. But this is the first instance where I have found police trying to extort money from tourist. How many people go to Kashmir these days? And then the local police instead of welcoming tourist are indulging in such deplorable act. Anyone from Kashmir is listening?

The journey had been un-eventful and safe, but tiring. We reached Srinagar by around 5 pm. We had booked accommodation for JKTDC facility at the Tourist Reception Center (TRC). Finding the TRC was not difficult as there road signs for TRC were in right places. The rooms we got for 700 were well above our expectations for a Govt run facility. We were told that these are discounted rates for shoulder season. Further, the entire TRC gets converted into temporary offices of J&K Govt during summer. These plush rooms are then given to high ranking Govt. officers. During winter these officers operate from Jammu and during summer from Srinagar. The TRC had been targeted by militants once. Because of that there is good arrangement of security there. In fact a group of CRPF personnel is stationed in the complex and they guards the entry to the center. The complex also houses the Office of JKTDC (J&K Tourism Development Corporation). You can book JKTDC accommodation at this center.

Jammu to Srinagar Travel

I found that following are the ways one can travel from Jammu to Srinagar :

1) Hire a car from Jammu for the entire trip
2) Travel by JKSRTC (Govt) bus which leaves from a designated bus stand and probably leaves very early in the morning. The best bus is what they call as Hi-tech buses. Super Deluxe buses are the most common ones. But these small size buses that run on the hills are slightly above ordinary ones.
3) Travel by a share Taxi / Sumo. These also starts early in the morning from a designated spot. But there is no taxi stand for them; they just wait by the roadside. Though I did not ask, our driver told that they charge about 600 per seat. That may be exaggerated. But the real risk is that these drivers are very rash. They drive fast and often take blind overtake. We saw 2 such vehicle meeting with accident during our trip.

To me the best option is the first one. You can hire a car from Jammu with a good bargain price. We did it for Rs.1800/- per day. Hiring a car at Srinagar is costlier as the operators are highly unionized. You will find the stands full of taxis but they will sit idle, rather than offering you bargains. For going to Gulmarg or Sonamarg, you will have to hire a car. Even for local travelling, you would like to avoid few autos seen on the road. Thus hiring a car for the entire trip will make it available at your disposal all the time. The 3rd option is use by most localites for faster travelling to Srinagar. But you may not want to travel among people who may not be that friendly and comments being passed in an alien language. This is OK for young people in groups, but not advisable for family.

Back from Kashmir

Glad to be back safely from Kashmir. I can now proudly say that I have seen Kashmir as well.

My first impression on Kashmir : It is beautiful and unique destination in India. But ceratinly not the so called 'Heaven on Earth'. In the seven days of travel we had faced all kind of weather there -- bright sunshine to snowfall to rain. In fact rain had played spoilsport for a day and we had to stay an extra night at Srinagar. It continued to snow incessently for the two days we spent at Gulmarg. Yes it snowed for 2 full days -- that too in April! We went there expecting to see snow, but not snowfall. We had to cancel the trip to Sonamarg because of road blockage from excessive snowfall. The last day was spent at Pahalgam.

Back in Delhi, we got a thermal shock. Temp. had gone up by several degrees since we had left. For the entire week in Kashmir, we had struggled to keep us warm in biting cold. Now back in the power center of India which is feeling the heat of the forthcoming general elections, we are trying to adjust to the rising mercury.

Lots of work pending due to my 10 days break. It will be some time before I pen my trip in details.

Kashmir : Countdown begins

Just 3 more days to go for my Kashmir trip.

Excited? Yes. But, there also is a sense of fear and apprehension somewhere lurking inside.

Two years back on our trip to the beautiful Lakshadweep, when we were being ferried from our mother ship by a small boat to the turquoise lagoon of our resort, we were all unanimous in exclaiming WOW! This is a heaven on earth. Not many had exclaimed Lakshadweep as heaven, but then not many have been to that place either. But Kashmir is a place exclaimed by many as a heaven on earth. I will be able to see this so called heaven in next one week, and if come back safely, will be able to share my experiences and photos.

The estimated cost of the trip is about 16000 per family. One of my colleagues will be accompanying. Both families are of 3 pax including a kid each. Leaving out the child, the cost will be about 8000 per head ex-Delhi. Now compare this with what is on offer with any travel agent. The cost will be 75-100% more per head, and that too ex-Srinagar. We will be travelling to Jammu by Rajdhani 3AC. Then hire a Sumo / Qualis type vehicle from Jammu and keep it for the entire 7 days of trip till return to Jammu. 4 days of confirmed accommodation booking with JKTDC resorts / hotels. No accommodation booking made for last 2 days to ensure little flexibility so that we can stay the last day either at Srinagar or Pahalgam.

Economic slowdown hits Indian tourism industry

Temperature in Delhi has been slowly rising in last few days and is currently slightly above comfortable range. February normally sees maximum number of tourist because of the pleasant temperature. But this year number of foreign tourist arrival has seen a negative growth. The global economic slowdown, coupled with the Mumbai terror attack had dealt a back breaking blow to the tourism industry.

Ministry of Tourism compiles monthly estimates of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) and Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) on the basis of data received from major airports. Following are the important highlights as regards these two important indicators of tourism sector.

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs):
· FTAs during the year 2008 were 5.37 million as compared to FTAs of 5.08 million during the year 2007. Therefore, in spite of global financial meltdown and terrorist activities, number of FTAs has increased in 2008 as compared to 2007. UNWTO has predicted a growth rate of 2-3% for international tourist arrivals in the world during 2008. Therefore, Indian Scenario (growth rate of 5.6%) is much better than world scenario.
· The number of FTAs in December 2008 has risen to 5.22 lakhs as compared to 5.21 lakhs in November 2008.

Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) from Tourism in Indian rupee terms and US $ terms :
· FEE during the year 2008 were Rs. 50730 crore as compared to Rs. 44360 crore in 2007.
· FEE in US $ terms during for the year 2008 were US $ 11747 million as compared to FEE of US $ 10729 during 2007. The lower growth rate in 2008 as compared to 2007 may be mainly due to lower growth rate of FTAs in 2008 as compared to 2007 and exchange rate variation.
· FEE from tourism in December 2008 were Rs. 5083 crore as compared to Rs. 4935 crore in November 2008 and Rs. 5079 crore in December 2007.
· FEE in US $ terms during the year 2008 were US $ 1046 million as compared to US $ 1005 million in November 2008 and US $ 1287 million in December 2007. The decline in the FEE in US $ term during December 2008 vis-à-vis December 2007 is mainly due to the foreign exchange variations in these months.

[Source: Ministry of Tourism & TOI]

Kashmir : I am going there

I am yet to digest the fact that I am actually going to Kashmir! That is happening in next 30 days.

Till last year, I was of the opinion that one has many other choices of places to visit rather than risking going to Kashmir. But somehow my opinion changed after one of my colleague had a trip to Kashmir couple of months back.

Tickets have been booked. The trip will cover Srinagar, Gulmarg, Sonmarg and may be Pahalgam over 7 days. Planning to stay at JKTDC accommodation at all these places. According to my colleague JKTDC facilities provide comfortable stay at very reasonable price. Looking to hire a cab from Jammu for the entire trip.

My last long trip was to the VOF almost 1 ½ year ago. But at times it seems like ages. I had been to Goa, Corbett, Bangaluru and Hampi in 2008. But all these trips had been brief trip of 2-3 days. The exception was Bangaluru where I spent about a month for training. Thus I am looking forward to this trip which I expect to be one more trip of lifetime. We have less than a month to do some serious planning and homework.

Suggestions from experienced fellow travelers to Kashmir are welcome.

NCR Colour code for autos and taxis

One more news on free movement of autos and taxis between Delhi and NCR areas have come. All commercial vehicle with NCR permit will have a blue, green and white stripes in this order. Sizes of bands will vary depending on type of vehicle.

Permits for these across NCR vehicles will be issued from 16th Feb onwards. Hopefully they become operational by next month. It is now more than two months since the first news of agreement details had been published. (Read the original details of this agreement here)

Hampi : Where time stands still

It was around noon on Saturday, the 13th Sept, 2008 when I had made the final decision to go to Hampi. We got two days off from the training that we were undergoing at Bangaluru. I had called up few colleagues in the morning to find if anyone is interested. But each of those lethargic fellows had some kind of excuses for not to travel. The very thought of travelling 400km one way, that too by bus was itself sleep inducing. May be I was asking a bit too much out of them. Therefore I decided to give it a try all alone. In fact all my trips till now had been either with a friend or my own family. So this was going to be a new experience – a trip in true back packer style.

The best way to travel to Hampi is to catch the 6592 Hampi Exp in the evening. It leaves Bangaluru at 2230 and will drop you at Hospet at 0745 next morning. Hampi is just 13 km from Hospet. As it was too late for me to get a ticket in the train to Hospet, I decided to try the KSRTC bus service. From their website, I found that KSRTC have a direct bus service between Bangaluru and Hampi. If one cannot find seat in that bus, then there are many buses to Hospet. Seats in KSRTC buses can be booked from agents they have appointed across Bangaluru. I booked ticket at the nearest KSRTC agent at Ballandur. I got a seat in the Bangaluru – Hampi bus for the night of Saturady itself, but could not a get a return ticket by the same bus for Sunday. I booked a return ticket from Hospet. The bus to Hampi is a Rajahamsa category bus. This service is 2x2 non-ac deluxe buses. KSRTC also runs an Airavat class bus service between Bangaluru and Hospet. Airavat is AC Volvo class service. If I recall correctly, the fare I paid was around Rs.350/-.

I just had a small backpack as luggage which had my camera kit, a towel and the toilet kit. By 10pm I was at the inter- state bus terminal at Majestic. Official name of this central bus stand is Kempe Gowda Bus Terminus. Even at that hour it was heavily crowded. I made my way to my designated platform no 2. Soon I encountered my first problem. I found that except for the Airavat class buses, all others had destinations written in Kannada. Stuck with this piquant situation, I started reading the boards around and made a mental map of what Ha and Pi looks like in Kannada. As the clock started approaching 11 pm, the scheduled departure time, and still there was no sign of my bus, I started getting a little worried. I kept asking people around but was of little help. Finally the bus for Hampi appeared in the scene and to my delight it also had destination written in English. Hampi being a tourist spot, someone was thoughtful enough to add destinations in English. The bus was of so-so quality --- not too good, but not that bad either. Most of the Rajahamsa class buses were new, but this was a bit older. As the bus made its way out of the city, I got sucked into slumber.

When I woke up in the morning, the bus was travelling through a real bad patch of road. At around 7:30 am the bus had made it to Hospet. After a reasonably long halt, it started off for Hampi. All I had as co-passenger was a couple. The boy was a foreigner and the girl accompanying him was Indian. I got into conversation with the girl. When I told about my plan to return by that evening she was bit surprised. They had plan to stay there for a night or two. Returning by night would have been hectic, but returning by 3pm of that day was not even I thought plausible. I had very little choice. I could not afford to miss the training on Monday and also I could not let this last opportunity (for some time to come) to see Hampi.

Anyway, the bus arrived at Hampi around 8 am. It was off season in Hampi. So a horde of agents and autowallahs descended on the 3 souls that had arrived by the bus that morning. As the couple was looking for accommodation, they went their way. I had bargained with an auto for half day sightseeing @Rs.450/-. There are 3 ways to sight see at Hampi – on foot, hire a two-wheeler / cycle or hire an auto.

The priority for me was to get freshen. The autowallah took me to the bathing ghat on the Tungabhadra river through narrow gallis. There were no big hotels at Hampi, yet there was no dearth of accommodation on these narrow lanes. These are probably so-so quality accommodation where you need to stay just thinking about one night. There is a public toilet by the ghat which was reasonably clean. But the water was muddy as it is pumped directly from the river below. Thus having a bath was out of question. I had brushed my teeth using the bottle of mineral water I was carrying. After getting fresh, I sat on one of the hotels on the main road to the temple for breakfast.

The sightseeing tour started around 9 am. The landscape of Hampi is unbelievingly beautiful. As if nature had created it specially. Lines and racks of boulders are lying one upon another, as if kept there by hand. In fact, God created Hampi which was discovered by man and settled down in these beautiful surroundings. As the trip progressed I got sucked into the beauty of Hampi. Most of the monuments are in good shape and are well maintained. As if time has come to a standstill. Built between the 13th and 16th century, these ruins remind you of a well planned town. The Krishna bazaar structure with its rows of pavilion on both sides and open ground in between resembles any modern day bazaar or haat. You will find enough literature on Hampi on the net. But just for record, it was the capital of the Vijayanagara empire. It was a wealthy and prosperous Hindu empire which was taken over and destroyed by Muslim rulers around it.

The autowallah took me to all important monuments. I started with the 12 feet high Sasivekalu Ganapati. Then to the Krishna temple, Ugra Narasimha and Badavi Linga, Pataleshwar temple, etc. etc. Many insignificant ruins are seen scattered everywhere. I spent ample time photographic each of them. Occasional drizzle was breaking the trip from time to time. I also visited the museum at Kamalpur which had a good collection of artifacts. In fact none of the temples had any statue. All the statues recovered from the ruins are kept in the museum. The temples like Krishna temple or the Hazaari Rama temple are objects of history rather than being place of worship. I do not know how they have managed to keep people away from reclaiming these places as place of worship. In India you will find people built temples and then put up sign as ‘ancient temple’. If you want to see this go the holy places like Haridwar, Rishikesh, Vrindavan, Mathura, etc.

After about 2 hours, I had reached the most famous monument of Hampi. It is the Vijaya Vittala Temple. The stone chariot of Hampi was waiting there. I could not wait to touch it. This was the biggest reason for me coming to Hampi. In my small old postal stamp collection, I had a 15 paise stamp depicting the stone chariot of Hampi. The chariot is also the structure that represents Hampi in history books. I clicked my picture standing by the chariot by putting the camera in self-timer mode. The Vittala temple complex is truly magnificent. It was built by Krishnadevaraya in 1513. I have seen beautiful shot of the temple with lights on. Therefore I asked the guard on duty about the timing of putting the lights on. He informed me that these are put on only during Hampi festival. That was a dampener.

I was then taken to the point from which you can see the ruins of the ancient bridge. I was a certain prospective customer to the lone boatman who operates couple of Coracle boats there. The boatman offered me to take to the other side of the river for 200 bucks so that I can go to the Hanuman temple perched atop a hill. Going to the other side of the river was OK, but climbing up a hill was not OK for me. So he offered me another proposal for a brief ride for 50 bucks. Despite being not sure about the safety, I also wanted to try it out. But I could not prevent my pants from getting soaked in water. The Coracle ride was really memorable. After that the autowallah took me to the Sugreev’s den. Even though he was a muslim, he showed me places like the Sugreev’s den and Kiskindhya parvat. Locals believe that Kiskindhya of Ramayan was here and the den was used by Sugreev when he was chased away by Bali.

He then urged me to take the pedal road winding up by the side of Tungabhadra from this side and reach the market area. Few monuments on this stretch can only be covered on foot. I agreed to his advice and paid him good bye. It was only around 12:30 pm when I had passed the Kodanda Rama Temple. It was barely noon and I am almost done with the sightseeing of Hampi. Then I met the couple who had started on foot from the opposite direction with map in their hand. They probably had covered 2 or 3 monuments by then. They were surprised to find me coming from opposite direction. They were more surprised when I told them that I had finished sightseeing and was contemplating going back.

Thus Hampi can be covered in 4 hours by riding an auto. In that I also had a Coracle ride and the museum visit. This time frame for someone who loves photography and spend lot of time at each monument. So one can actually cover it in 3 hours. My trip ended at 1 pm. But my return ticket was for a bus at 11pm. I rang up my brother to tell that I am planning to come back. None of us were sure whether I will get some refund for the reservation ticket. In any case I have nothing to do till 11pm, i.e., nearly ten hours to kill. I may probably make it back to Bangaluru by these ten hours.

I had lunch in one of the roadside hotel doting the main street of Hampi bazaar. Being an off-season, not all of them were serving. I found one that was serving lunch. Then I rode a Vikram with locals to Hospet. On enquiring with the KSRTC counter, I found that they would refund me some amount after deducting cancellation charges. I lost about 100 rupees, but was happy to get major part of it back. There is no deluxe bus service during day hours. So I rode a semi deluxe bus which started off at 3 pm. The fare was probably Rs.230/-. The bus stopped at all towns on the route. This bus trip before sunset gave me an opportunity to see what I would have missed by an overnight trip. On seeing the reservoir of Tungabhadra dam (which I found out later), I asked a fellow traveler as to what it is. He replied – samunder (sea). It indeed appeared like a sea. Riding through the rural Karnataka was another unforgettable experience.

Anyway, I reached Bangaluru by 12 midnight. This means I had travelled nearly 800 km in 24 hours, that too by bus. Fortunately I would get 6/7 hours to sleep comfortably and get refreshed for classes next day. I hired an auto at Majestic and the buggers literally looted me. There were two of driving. I handed them a note of 500 rupee. Both of them denied receiving the 500 note and told me that I had given them a 100 rupee note. I got into a brief argument but then wisdom returned. My brother had warned me against quarreling with autowallah in Bangalore . It was dead of night with nobody around. Autowalah in Bangaluru are notorious, worse than in Delhi. I did everything right in the trip except for the auto ride back home. When I look back at the trip, I feel that I should not have taken that risk of riding an auto at such hours. They could have snatched my camera kit! I was thankful to God that I made the trip from Majestic to home safely.

The truth behind Oil PSU salary hike

I hope this to be the last of my article on Oil PSU Officer's strike. The truth has been out and has been given reasonable publicity on the net. Even some media houses has now come to understand how govt propaganda misled them. Star news has issued an apology and TOI had ran articles giving actual facts of the strike. Here is a fig which tell the actual story of pay hike :



After seeing the chart, you need to ask yourself as to how an entry level executive earn 1 lakh per month salary as was said by those half page ad ran by govt during the strike. You also can see from the above chart that the bureaucrats have willfully scaled down the recommendation of the Justice Rao committee. However in their own case, they got it raised handsomely over and above pay commission recommendation. This is called babudom. Why a second committe consisting of only babus were formed to reconsider Justice Rao Committe's recommendation ? Oil PSUs are not like govt department. They do not eat into tax payers money. Rather they generate enormous revenue for the nation by competing with foreign multi nationals. ONGC is now operating in several countries. These Oil PSUs are not run by babus, but by professionals. The babus could not digest the fact that professionals should get suitably rewarded for their efforts.

Just think : If these oil PSUs become sick or sold out to private parties tomorrow, you will be buying Gas Cylinder @400+, Kerosene @50+, Diesel @40+ or more. These so called private players will not bear subsidy. Reliance closed down its petrol even before crude price peaked at $145+. If the oil PSUs are not there, Reliance will be the happiest and will sell at whatever price they want. Prices will be raise fast, but will come down, if any, very slow. Their policy is not different from Private Banks who raised interest rates at every opportune moment, but has not reduced vene after many rate cuts by RBI. They goes up faster than you blink and comes down at snails fast.

I will be posting here few links to give more insight into the struggle of the Oil PSU workers.
http://wakeupoilsector.blogspot.com

Are we living in a democracy

55000 plus oil sector officers, an equal no. workers / staffs and their families are wondering this for last few days. If you think you live in democracy and you have many rights then just read on.

In my earlier post I had mentioned about the lose-lose situation out of the conflict between oil PSU officers and the Govt. The impasse had ended in a lose-lose situation for both. The oil PSU officers strike was literally crushed the most undemocratic way using brute force and false propaganda. The govt which could not even get a single terrorist leader sitting in Pakistan arrested till now had different ideas this time. What if they cannot stop Pakistan, they can certainly crush the voices raised from within the country. What govt did to crush the voices of these officers is unprecedented in our history and has made our head hang is shame.

To crush the agitation, a vilification campaign against the officers association in the media was launched. None in media asked the question as to why the strike took place. We know that media is sellable in India. But we never thought that it will stoop down to such an extent. Zee news even ran a programme calling the officers Deshdrohi. Most of these officers are professionals and pass out from top institutes of India including the IITs and IIMs. They became 'deshdrohi' because they had decided to serve the nation by serving a PSU rather than an MNC. 22 of them lost their lives not so long ago serving the nation in Bombay High and many over the years. Even former President Dr Kalam inaugurated a monument in Dehradun in 2004 dedicated to those brave ONGCians who lost lives serving the nation. But now this congress govt got them branded them as deshdrohis through a sellable cheap TV channel like Zee.

The main reason for strike was to get a pay revision as per Justice Rao committee recommendation. It has been 12 years since last pay revision. How can an organisation retain talents without proper remuneration? Media should have understood that these PSUs are not like govt departments. They are public companies where govt is a major shareholder and they are competing with the best in the world. For example, ONGC is the only Indian company listed in Fortune-500. It has been giving the nation thousands of crores of profit every year. It is possible because it has been able to attract some of the best talent from the top institutes of India. If the govt starts treating them like another govt department then the days are not far when such companies will become sick. During these 12 years, other govt departments had got two pay revisions. But oil PSUs had none. When it ome to their own pay revision, the babus got their salaries revised with hikes more than recommendation of pay revision committee. But when it comes to the PSUs which earn money for the nation, it was scaled down from the pay revision committee recommendations. This is the root of the problem. The pay revision proposed is different from the Justice Rao Committee recommendation. It is prepared by some cunning babus in govt. If the babus were suppose to propose the revision, then why a committee was set up? If implemented the pay revision will actually result in recovery rather than arrear for these PSU employees.

The media showed what govt wanted without bothering to verify them. The govt got it published that the entry level salary for these officers is Rs.1 lakh per month. That is a white lie. Every one of these officers is wondering as to how the salaries are one lakh per month. In fact they will be more than happy if they are paid such a hefty salary. It is understood that a number of interviews were given by PSU leaders during the strike, but none of them were shown. Why it was not shown is easily understandable. And yet we tend to believe that the media is impartial. Leaders were booked under multiple false cases. Rather than attending discussions with govt, they were made to run for life. During this time govt kept getting published that the PSU leaders are adamant and do not want discussion. Then they sent police to find employees and took them at gunpoint and made to work. Unbelievable but real. What a common man like me or you can do when govt is out to get you like that. The shocker is that 64 officers in ONGC, 3 in IOC and 3 in GAIL were handed termination order.

The strike was literally crushed. But this set an alarming precedence. The strike suffered because it was apolitical and struggle of some common people. The leaders of OSOA may have their own political inclination, but the apex body OSOA had no political affiliation. So no political party came to support and govt did what it want. It just crushed the agitation. The message was clear : Common man should not dare to protest. Do you still think that you are living in a democracy?

The realisation of the govt action has started to dawn gradually. This has set dangerous precedence. Voices are rising in political circles over the way govt handled the strike. CPI(M) had passed a resolution condemning such undemocratic action of govt. Every one hope that these officers who were dismissed fighting for 55000 people get their jobs back. It is important that common people should raise their voice against such action of govt. Otherwise you will lose your right to raise concerns. It is heartening to see that voices had risen in the net over such action of govt. But such voices should turn into a movement so that we can live without any fear.

Can you trust the Indian Media?

Oil sector PSU officers are on strike from today demanding an honourable wage revision. Scanning through news channels for strike news, I came across some shocker. Most television news channels are found to be conveying whatever message the govt propoganda wanted to show after garnishing it with their own masala and a bit of crocodile tears for common public. Notable among these are the self proclaimed No.1 channels like Zee news and Aaj Tak. The worst part of it is that most of the channels were actually ignorant of the reasons of the strike.

A situation of conflict got created by the strike between the officers of these premier companies of Govt of India and their controlling ministry. What resulted is a lose-lose situation for both parties. The officers association could not be taken into confidence by the PM by forming a GoM on the eve of the sheduled strike as the petroleum ministry had been making only hollowed promises over last few months. To crush, the agitation the govt unleased a propoganda to villify the oil officers. But these only worsended the situation and this where the govt lost.

The sad part of this story is that for most of us newspaper and news channels are our primary source of information. The worst is that most of us accept or tend to belief as true whatever is written in newspapers. But when you know the facts, you understand the truth behind the news. This makes you think as to how much of all the news you are fed by media for the day are true. This is making many to look for news in the net and independent blogs provides probably one of the most authentic source of information.

The malaise of the Indian media are primarily 1) Unsubstantiated news without any research and 2) Hunger for breaking news for TRP.

Many news items are written according to the handouts handed out by babus and officials holding press conferences in plush hotels. The hospitality decides whether the handouts require editing or not. I had a brief stint at handling outside pressure groups and understood that it was not my cup of tea.

The Breaking News fever of Indian media is still worse. The week after the Mumbai terror attacks, a series on terror was run in national Geographic channel. In one of the shows, they highlighted the case of how terrorists exploiting this hunger for breaking news. Months after the Mumbai attack, it is quite clear now how those breaking news and live coverage of Indian media were actually helping the terrorists. The anchors which were literally shouting to make a point that these pictures are shown live exclusively on his channel, have now gone silent. Some of these news anchors are incompetent but tries to be jack of all trade and runs shows on subject without even having minimum knowledge on the subject. Fortunately we still have a few good news channels and good newspapers which gives relatively better news, if not 100% accurate. Though most of the media are sellable, not all of them are doing yellow journalism.

As I had started with the issue of indefinite strike by all oil sector PSU, I need to let you know a few facts. It is quite obvious that the hardship caused to common man by any strike creates bad feeling for the group indulged in it. But a strike is always a last resort in a democratic country. Gandhiji started this peaceful process of hartal. One should understand that the group had exhausted all its available peaceful means to go for a life crippling strike. By this direct confontation and conflict, some of the officers had put their job at risk. 55000 others had lent their support to it. For the Govt a lot is at stake with election looming just a couple of months away. But who will gain from a lose-lose situation?