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.