An accidental Journey Part 2 - Day 1 Ride to Kasauli

Cycling Starting Point - Command Hospital, Chandimandir

Destination - Kasauli

Route - Panchkula - Pinjore - Kalka - Parwanoo - Mashobra - Kasauli

Cycling Distance - 53Kms

Car Driving - 70 Kms

Elevation Gained - 2550 mtrs.

Preeti waited for us at the Kalka Devi temple where she was surprised by the priest who suddenly called her out and blessed her by putting a tilak on her forehead (even though it wasn’t allowed under covid guidelines for the temple). Preeti’s happiness knew no bounds as she considered this as a sign of a safe and successful trip. And thus began our adventure on an auspicious note.

Abhishek is a really strong rider. It was evident on the climb from Parwanoo to Kasauli on which he effortlessly pedaled through. Kanav, as usual was in his full form, chattering all the way.

 

Being my first day, I was in a rush to reach the Breakfast point which was a small restaurant around 11 Kms from Parwanoo.

The ride steadily went into the clouds and we were all just ecstatic because the weather was just outstanding. Riding through the clouds was a first time experience for Abhishek and he was simply enjoying it.

But the ride was suddenly halted when Abhishek’s cycle got punctured. We quickly changed the tube and rode up to the restaurant where I prepared and attended my meetings. The first day of office on the road made me realize that I had been attending some meetings where my requirement was minimal and could be avoided till the point I had something to contribute. So, I and Preeti decided on a plan. Instead of not attending such meetings, I decided to be a mute spectator while I kept riding the bike. Only where I thought my contribution was necessary, I intervened otherwise we just kept riding.

Preeti told me to ride quickly because the weather was getting bad and it was raining. I pointed out that weather was not bad, we were just riding through the clouds. This is where she said that - For people like us, it is raining. Whether you call it the melting of the clouds or riding through the clouds, it's simply raining.

This is how she brings us down from the clouds to reality. A trait which kept us sane throughout the trip.

Simultaneously, her outgoing nature also meant that we did not miss out most of the fun during the trip. On the ride to Kasauli, she suddenly came across a Fig Tree dangling over a ditch with fresh fruits hanging from it. Neither she nor, I had the courage to pluck the fruit. But she asked out help from a stranger from the nearby shop helped us gather at least 3 Kgs of Fresh Fig which we savoured over the trip. For the stranger, it was a simple task but for us it was a gesture to remember and repay to others throughout life.

By evening, I had attended most of my meetings and we had also reached Kasauli. Abhishek and Preeti had already reached there before us and we waited at the intersection of the Dharampur and the Parwanoo road. Around 2 kms downhill from there, they found a comfortable hotel (Hotel Kasauli Woods) in the village called Garkhal.

While I quickly dove into the meetings after a quick bite in the nearby dhaba, Abhishek, Preeti and Kids went to Kasauli. Preeti on her Window Shopping spree while Abhishek trekked into the nearby mountains.

The most difficult part here was taking care of Sultan, as while we were eating at the Dhaba, the street dogs from the villages gathered making it tough to control Sultan. He is a quick learner and has steadily become aggressive. Even in the evening when I and Abhishek took him to the nearby mountain, he met an aggressive Alsatian pet Dog whom he simply overpowered (by barking and eye contact) and made way to the mountain.

With a really good day, I and Abhishek decided to avoid the crowded Shimla and go to Chail, We created a new route from Jibhi to Manali in the evening before going to sleep.

An accidental Journey Part 1 - At the Beginning

 The Genesis

RAAM Qualifier - Romantika Uz Beas was scheduled for 13th June 2021. This grueling Cycling race was 615 Kms from Hoshiarpur to Manali and Back. But Covid’s second wave ruined the event and was now delayed by a year.

But the hard work I had put in the preparation of the event could not go waste so I decided to do the Chandigarh to Shimla ride with Kanav during the same time. Abhishek Yadav, a colleague at Grofers when heard about the plan, decided to ride down from Gurgaon to join us.

The Preparation

Kanav was really excited to do the trip to Shimla and had pushed himself hard by exercising most of the days in the month of May. I was quite sure that he would make a good headway to Shimla if not able to complete it.

But as the plan’s were undergoing a change, Kanav and Jay were even more excited to do camping during the trip and so Preeti contacted Shankar who helped her prepare a list of important things needed for the camping trip. He even gave his some favourite possessions like a Korean Stove, an Emergency light for the trip. Tried to go as light as possible but still had a car trunk full of bags, tent and cycling gear.

Luckily, I got my car insurance renewed in time and preeti got a quick service of the car done along with the change of windshield from the Motor Market.

The trip was going to be long and Sultan, our pet dog couldn’t be left anywhere so he was definitely going along. 

Just a day before, we realized that we had missed a very important component of our ride - the entry pass into Himachal. I immediately applied on the Himachal website for the pass and voila, in 30 minutes, I had the pass to enter Kasauli. This is when I first realized that the Luck was on our side as Himachal had opened its borders just 3 days before we had planned the ride. (This was our Lucky Break 1 during the ride)

But any preparation is not enough and one only comes to know about it on the road. For I had already left my cycle’s front lights back at home.

The Start

Abhishek had reached Chandigarh by 11th June and wanted to start early. I was a bit hesitant because I had not taken leave and wanted to do it on the weekend so that I don’t have to take more than a day’s leave.

But Abhishek’s persistence made me think out of the box and I decided to work while we rode the cycle. So we agreed to leave on 16th June, Wednesday morning for Kasauli. With this out of the box plan, I decided to elongate the journey and we jointly decided to see if we can push ourselves to go to Manali from Shimla and back to Hoshiarpur. 

With almost no plan in mind but with just an idea, we left our home at 4:30am in the car to reach the Rendezvous point, Command Hospital, Chandimandir and we finally started at 5:30am.

Longing for an Irony of Time.......Hampi

(The visual pleasure of the Journey can be enjoyed over here.)

"There is a third dimension to traveling, the longing for what is beyond. "
– Jan Myrdal

Riding is about more than freedom and adventure. It’s about a heightening of the senses. And no season has more to offer than this time of the year. The vibrant greenery of the fields that greet you around each curve, to that sweet smell of the soil after the rain; the riding season has arrived.

A week end followed by 2 breaks had already set a stage for my Bull’s first excursion since its purchase 2 months back. (Hey………this 2 seems so omnipresent).
New to the place, I had no preferences of any sort as for a destination coz as Robert Louis Stevenson quotes –

"I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move."

And with the Wanderers around, I was sure to get some experienced company to explore this country side.

The wait wasn’t very long when SreeKumar proposed a destination which I had promised myself to visit the day I read about it (in class 8th) – Hampi; Now reduced to The Ruins of Vijaynagar (We will come to it later). With the venue decided, the final arrangements were made at a quick meeting (my first with the Wanderers) on the Friday evening.

Fact – Bloddy Hell!!! I am completely clueless about the spares that I need to carry and Machismo is no game for an ordinary mechanic.

And the Journey Begins………..

Wanderers –

"The great difference between voyages rests not with the ships, but with the people you meet on them.” - Amelia E. Barr.

The Wanderer Enfield 1979 for the rider Sreekumar

The Wanderer Machismo 2006 for the rider Manish Saini

Fact - The difference in the age of the 2 Bullets is my age.

The ride there……

415 kms is quiet the sort of distance in the Indian context which can make ones drive as eventful as one can dream of. And ours was no different. Even before we could start we were lost J. Guided in the wrong direction we had to traverse around 60 kms extra before being put back on NH7 (Thanks to the AP road map I had bought the previous evening). But I guess we were better off by missing the rash and irresponsible traffic on NH7.

No sooner had we finished off our breakfast at Mehboobnagar and moved further that the beauty of nature started unfolding its wings. I can’t suppress my admiration for the omnipresent designer seeing the incredible unstable equilibrium of the huge rocks, all round our way.


Almost half way into the journey, we crossed the Krishna before entering Raichur and came across a riveting site.

The ingenuity of the architecture of this Thermal Power plant project on the border of the city is really worth an applaud.

A journey on a bullet without a problemo is an oxymoron (he he he….). The older bull had its odometer wire off the tire’s axle which we got repaired from what seemed to be the only Bullet mechanic at Raichur. (I guess this is the state of affairs in most of the cities across India)
Leaving the Thermal Plant city, I could see a huge black cloud rushing towards us from the West as we rushed towards Gangawati. However hard we tried to cross the patch which seemed to lie under the cloud’s impact area, we were unable to beat it. And this sudden burst of torrential shower which threw me from the centre of the road to the side walk separated the two riders which were to regroup again at Gangawati.

On rides like these, when for a long stretch you are all alone with yourself, you can’t resist being philosophical. Thoughts like life, death, purpose, dreams, achievements, losses, human nature, religion, God………all cross your head at one time or the other. It’s not the ride which wears you off; its ones own mind which continuously plays a tug of war of logic with itself which ultimately pushes you to take a break on the next crossing under the huge Banyan tree.

Fact - Refueled my Bull which by now has run 2500 kms and is running at an average of 43 kms per litre. Hard to believe but Sree’s 1979 Bull is still giving an average of 37 kms per litre.

By now we had already lost more than 2 hours of our journey and were now very eager to reach the destination. But the worst part of the trip was still to start from here on. The road from Gangawati to Hampi which is merely 70kms, is a riders nightmare with 53 speedbrakers (What the……..Is this road made for cycles or what?).

Fact – The complete journey of 415Kms has around 161 speed breakers.

The positive side was experiencing the real flavour of the beauty of the Tungabhadra valley. I simply could not resist capturing the coinciding of the human made beauty with the natural one - The Tungabhadra Dam

Hampi

Someone very rightly said “Your feet will bring you to where your heart is.”

Around 6:15pm, as we thumped passed the ruins of the Vijaynagar Empire, the moon light dancing over the remains gave us a peek into its glory. Man…….how eager was I for the sun to rise that evening. It’s been the place I had dreamt of visiting so many times and VOILA…..I was there now.

The weariness of the 10 hour drive seemed to drop off as we entered the ‘Hampi Dwaar’. Unlucky to be a bit late to go across the Tungabhadra into the Hippie Island, we checked out into the cozy Ranjna Guest house and soon checked out the small Hampi Bazaar.
Interestingly, no ‘Proper’ restaurant, hotel or eating joint can be found in this tourist’s heaven. The Bazaar is with dotted with a few Dhabas, the cook of which is the lady in the family of the owner. But take my word these dhabas offer cuisines would make one leap off the floor for such cusines one would get only in specialized restaurants in big cities (and ohh my my……few of the dishes were simply amazing……check out the clips).

Fact - A decent accommodation in Hampi can be easily availed for 250 to 350 Bucks depending upon the tourist traffic. Best time to visit would be between October to March.

The Exploration -

Virupaksha Temple, the Centre of the city, around which the Bazaar has come up has an awe-inspiring Gopuram, the trademark of the south Indian temples. The architecture inside is quiet ordinary as compared to other monuments. I believe that the possible reason might be that this temple was for the public of Hampi because the King’s palace was at some distance from the place. And there were other more beautiful temples around his living place.

Fact - Sree very rightly pointed out that in any place of historical importance, its only the temples which have survived till date while everything has been razed to the ground either by the invaders or time. And Hampi is no different.

Exploring Hampi on foot would have been fun given the beautiful weather. But due to lack of time we were devoid this luxury.
The picturesque location of Vitthala temple just takes your breath away. And the beauty of the temple is an icing on the cake. No wonder, the sculptors chose to suffuse music in every stone of this place (the temple has its uniqueness in the musical pillars).

Fact - We were ENJOYING the RUINS. An Irony which only time can create.

One finds himself at loss of words in front of these beautiful temples, palaces, Baths or the huge sculptures; but the most magnificent thing of the place lies within the ASI museum in Kamlapur – The Plan of the Vijaynagar Kingdom

Almost 2kms the kings complex, the Tungabhadra (Lifeline of Hampi), act as a natural guard while on the two sides the huge rocky mountains eliminate any sort of surprise from the enemy. The only attacking zone lay right infront of the complex which was guarded by 7 walls. And to capture a glorious and well guarded kingdom like this…..boy………..what an army would it had been? Sitting over the side benches and discussing the layout with Sree…….i just wondered what a devastating battle it would have been man!!!

Fact - In Hindu Mythology, Hampi was Known as Kishkinda, the kindom of the monkey kings Bali and Sugriv.

The Journey Back -

Tired of the day’s escapade, back in the room ..And……Voila…..we made another discovery of the day.

Fact - On Reliance phones you cannot set alarms if there is no signal and both of us had a reliance connection only.

But luckily both of us woke in time to reach Gangawati by 8:30 am.
The drive further towards Raichur became a beauty with light showers now and then and the sky completely covered with clouds in the middle of the afternoon.

An exchange of the Bulls on the way gave me a peek into the power of the 79’ model over which I had laid my hands for the first time. On the other hand, Sree had only one word for mine – ‘Remarkable’. A Bullet enthusiasts since late 70s, he was almost overawed by the improvements that Enfield has come up with in the new generation Bulls.

Fact - Bullet Machismo (my Bull) won the TNS automotive award for the best cruiser bike in 2004.

If you have driven a Bullet, you would realize that Bullet does a make a difference to your personality. The Bulls Personality is like someone who has the real ‘Power’ (metal as well as Physical). With Power, responsibility increases and unarguably majority of the Bull riders have lived upto it. Undoubtedly, one can see his confidence levels go up with the Power, and synonymously with Bullet.

After handing up my Bull to the Afzal in Raichur again, we went down to grab a bite around two squares away. On the way back to the workshop, a traffic police cop stops us and seeing recognizing us as tourists (seeing the Andhra number) tries to pull us into a trap to pay him a bribe. I am sure it wasn’t Sree, it was the Bull that stood there and took his stand against the cop. Soon, as people gathered, he took to his heals.

Fact - With a Corruption Perception Index of 2.9, in 2005 India is ranked 88 among 158 countries surveyed by Transparency International.

Full credit to the Rain Gods for making it a day worth registering in our diaries for us. And 3:30pm, back on my bed I was having my lunch exploring sites to fix a date with the next destination. But for now, my Bull needs a small service visit to get it back in shape for the upcoming exploit.

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page."
- Saint Augustine

Cheers
Manish Saini

Hyderabad to Hampi

The Route
There are three different routes which a rider can pick up depending on his convenience.

Route 1
Hyderabad – (20Km) - Shamshabad –(30km)- Shadnagar –(33km) Jadcherla –(16km) Mahboobnagar –(104km)- Raichur –(135km)- Gangavati –(25km)- Hampi (Hippie Island)
Distance - Total (363Km)

Positive –
Shortest route

Negative –
Gangavati to Hampi is real Bad route which might take an hour or so to cover.

Route 2
Hyderabad – (20Km) - Shamshabad –(30km)- Shadnagar –(33km) Jadcherla –(16km) Mahboobnagar –(104km)- Raichur –(135km)- Gangavati –(53km)- Hospet –(17km) Hampi
Distance - Total (408km)

Positive -
Route is perfectly smooth with a beautiful Landscape from Gangavati onwards.

Negative –
A bit lengthy; marred by 53 speed breakers from Gangavati to Hampi and another 71 from Raichur to Gangavati.

Route 3
Hyderabad – (20Km) - Shamshabad –(30km)- Shadnagar –(33km) Jadcherla –(13km)-Buthpur –(43Km)- Kottakota –(25km)- Pebberu –(49km)- Kurnool –(33km)-Veldurti – (18km)- Dhone –(43km)- Gooty –(28km)- Guntakal –(98km) Hospet –(17km)- Hampi
Distance - Total (450km)

Positive –
You don’t have to leave the National Highway till Hospet which make the route quite safer.

Negative –
Lengthiest of all and NH63 which starts from Gooty, though has beautiful Landscapes, is an awful road to drive upon with huge potholes at regular intervals.

Petrol Pumps -
HPCL,BPCL and Indian Oil petrol pumps have a constant frequency across the whole strech. The Reliance Petrol pump, can be found at approximately every 50 to 80kms, One or two pumps from Essar have also come up on the route.

Caution For the Ride -

1. The road though smooth can be dangerous because of the villagers drying their grains on the road side. (see picture below)
2. Wear a Fully covered helmet to protect your face and eyes from insects which are in abundance due to a heavily cultivated area on the sides.
3. Do take a raincoat for sure.

The Hampi Valley - (in the words of ASI)

Places to Stay -
Hampi is a very basic township. There are just two small populated areas in this township separated by a river where one can look for stay-

1. Hampi Baazar
2. Hippie Island

In the former, People have made guest houses within their houses. Though a whole range of guest houses are available, decent rooms would range from 250 to 350 bucks. We personally found ‘Ranjana Guest house’ as quiet a comfortable place.

The latter is on the other side of Tungabhadra River and the transportation to the island stops after 6 in the evening. For a comfortable stay I would recommend this part of the town where people have made comfortable cottages available at the same cost as a room.
Places to Eat -
I warn you not to get carried away by the looks of the place. Thanks to a heavy traffic of foreign tourists that the cuisines at this place can even make a city like Hyderabad shy. Though you would find mere Dhabas marking the geography of the place, the food overall is well hygienic and consumable for the mere fact that even these Dhabas operate within a house. And yeah, they also match the prices of Hyderabad. Places to Visit -
The photograph below gives you a list of all the 81 places of Tourists interest. Most of them are just next to one another and hence try visiting only the following place in the given order (if you have a vehicle, else take a two-wheeler on rent (150-200bucks)) to make most out of the trip

1. Virupaksha Temple in Hamp Baazar
2. Archeological Mueseum in Kamplapur. The model of the city in the veranda of the Mueseum gives you a top view of Hampi. It implicitly explains the strategic location of the city which was guarded on the back by the Tungabhadra and on two sides by the Rocky Mountains, eliminating the element of surprise from the enemy.
3. Vithalla Temple which is 2km east of Hampi Bazaar on foot and 5 km by road. It is one of those Archeological Geniuses of the medieval India, the ruins of which narrate the
   Queen’s Bath, which is on the way back to the Hampi Baazar
4. Hazaara-Rama temple
5. Lotus Palace and Elephant Stable
6. The Narsimhan Statue

All this can be covered in a day after which you can spend a quiet and peaceful evening on the banks of Tungabhadra and a rave night on the Hippie Island.

But as a warning, let me remind you what a famous author once said -

“A traveler will see what he sees, a tourist will see what he has come to see.”

Cheers....
Manish Saini

The harley Creed

We believe in going our own way no matter which way the rest of the world is going
We believe in balking the system which smashes individuals like bugs on a windshield
Some of us believe in the man upstairs….All of us believe in sticking it to the man down the earth
We believe in the Sky and we don’t believe in the sun-rough
We believe in Freedom

We believe in dust, tumbleweeds, buffaloes mountain ranges and riding out into the sunset
We believe in Saddle Bags, and we believe in that cowboys had it right
We believe in refusing to knuckle under to anyone
We believe in wearing black coz it doesn’t show any dirt or any weakness
We believe the world is going soft then we are not going along with it
We believe in motorcycle rallies that last a week
We believe in roadside attractions, gas stations, hot dogs and finding out what’s over the next hill
We believe in rumbling engines distance of the size of the garbage cans,
Fuel tanks designed in 1936, freak train size hand bikes, chrome and custom painted
We believe in flames and skulls
We believe that life is what you make it and we make it one hell of a ride
We believe that the machine you sit on can tell the world exactly where you stand
We don’t care what everyone else believes
.......Amen

And if the words don’t draw you close to the passion which millions of riders across the world share then watch this amazing video.

Bhaarat Ki Baat Sunata Hoon

“Itni Mamta Nadiyon Ko Bhi, Jahan Maata Kehke Bulate HainItna Aadar Insaan To Kya , Pathhar Bhi Pooje Jaate HainUs Dharti Pe Maine Janam Liya, Yeh Soch Ke Maein Itraata HoonBharat Ka Rehne Wala Hoon......”

Every city and every village in India is filled with these stones which have been worshiped for years. Reason??? Faith, devotion, Love!!!
141 Kms of trek to 3888mts, just to pay their obedience in front of a stone……Ask anyone and they will answer the reason for this pilgrimage to be their enormous Faith and Devotion.
But ironically, I can hardly recall a single pilgrimage or famous temple in North India where people don’t face harassment in the hands of people maintaining the place. They will allow you to take a shortcut to a ‘Special Darshan’ in case you can shell out a hefty amount as a ‘Seva’. Safety, hygiene and convenience are of least concern for the authorities as well as the pilgrims.
At times I do wonder whether people do have faith in what they believe or is it just that infamous herd mentality.

A firm believer, I went on to test the people of Hyderabad in the small but very famous ‘Chilkur Balaji Temple’, about 31.5 Kms from my house. And when you are riding a BULL, believe me even this small journey becomes eventful (
A small stone idol in the centre and hundreds of devotees literally running around it, scrambling on paper is what you see on this lake side temple.
But this temple in many respects stands as a guiding pillar for all the religious institutions operating in India. Maintained by a trust headed by 3 people, the temple has moved away from the philosophy of an inni minni human serving the God. Rather, it has maintained the sanctity of the temple by ensuring that the only thing in mind of anyone entering the premises of this holy place is worship. And yeah, God does go to rest over here after 8pm unlike any other place.
Be it hygiene or be it a simple management of the ever increasing crowd, this small temple and its management has infact set benchmarks insurmountable by any other such institution. You need to visit it to believe me.
But like any other typical Hindu worship place, the temple also has a nick name – “Visa Balaji” for the simple reason that visiting this place has resulted in processing of many visa applications.
Now…….is this the reason you really pray to God……..to leave this country???

…… Itna Aadar Insaan To Kya , Pathhar Bhi Pooje Jaate HainUs Dharti Pe Maine Janam Liya, Yeh Soch Ke Maein Itraata Hoon
May God Bless Everyone with a Good Head over their shoulders!!!

A week's Catalogue

Rangla Punjab (Haveli) - Jalandhar's own Punjabi version of Nakhraali Dhani













Wagha Border - Where the religion divides!
There is a piece of poetry I recall everytime I go to the border -
Hum hi hum hain to kya hum hain,
Tum hi tum ho to kya tum ho.













Darbar Saahib : Harmandir Sahib : Golden Temple














Jallian Waala Bagh - Memorial for the Martyrs of April 13, 1999















Where Punjab Lives! The Village Fields.














The Simla Diary - A few things I foun out
1. Severe damage has been done to this summer capital through continuous deforestation and cement aforestation.
2. A few years back Simla Government drew a plan to perform vasectomy(nasbandi) on the monkeys of the region to contorl their growing menance. Now the thing to ponder is who has entered whose territory and who really requires vasectomy.
3. If its really pssible to travel back in time one thing I have really added in my priority list is to steal and burn the 'Partition table' from the Victorian House now Indian Institute of Advanced Study.
4. Punjab is not the only place where the hindi belt is migrating but exploitation in this area is far more. May be because it is not as resourceful as Punjab.

Indian railways: The Chaniging Face

Whether its lalu or Mamta Banerjee at the helm, Indian Railways has definitely geared itself up for this new millennium.

First the whole awful ordeal of ticket booking was turned into a pleasant 15 minute virtual experience called ‘i-tickets’. While I was still debating the implications of the success or failure of latest pilot project of the Indian railways – ‘e-tickets’, I find another surprise waiting in my mail box today.

“Dear and Valued Customer,

We are happy to inform you that we will shortly be launching a Loyalty Program - A Scheme for Frequent Travelers (SOFT), wherein members will earn loyalty points for buying AC Class (except 3AC) tickets & will be able to redeem these points for FREE railway tickets.”

All this along with some animations and a promise to reach back to me very soon. More on the above scheme can be read in detail over here.

Today, when the competitive environment in air travel is pushing the companies to offer out of the way discounts and schemes, Indian Railways an organization which is virtually enjoying monopoly, comes up with a loyalty scheme. Man!!! The way they are changing is just awesome.

To just know more about their activities I did a small research and here is what I found –

1. Railways is planning to use RFID to track is wagon fleet and parcels.

2. The Rail Tel Corporation, has started to build a nationwide broadband and multimedia network by playing optical fiber cable along 62,800 kilometers of railway track by utilizing railways' 'right of way.

3. Realizing their astounding aversion from the field of ergonomics, the Indian Railways have decided to redesign their bogies starting first at the high end customer level.

4. To improve security and enhance reliability in its railway network, the Indian Railways is deploying GSM-R network in place in two zones within this quarter of 2006.

5. Southern Railway has been operating its road vehicles using bio-diesel since 2004. Its general manager V Anand flagged off these vehicles from the Perambur Loco Shed in Chennai.

6. Flexible Ticketing: The Centre for Railway Information Systems has centralized the purchase and management of unreserved tickets with the use of simple and innovative technology.

Traveling through Indian railways is definitely undergoing an oceanic change. This small picture on the surface definitely gives a hint of lot more happening deep inside out there. And the good thing is its all happening for us to witness. We are definitely going to be a lot richer in bedtime stories for the coming generation J.

Manish Saini

Swades Remade

After a 14 hour of tiring journey three chaps from the Planet I drove into a land where they were going to have a brush with reality over the next two days.
This land of “Mogli” (the character from Rudyard Kyping’s Jungle Book) now popularly called Seoni, is situated on the Satpura Plateaus of Madhya Pradesh, India. The visit was a part of the project which IIMI had taken to provide professional assistance to the district government with the “100 day assured employment scheme (NREGP)” launched by the central government.
To have a better understanding of the topography and demography of the place, we happened to visit Block offices, Panchayat offices and attended Gram Panchayats in villages over the next few days. But this turned out to be a remaking of Swades for all three of us.
We always knew that India as shown in Swades does exist; but it is easy to brush past it in an AC theatre and digest it over a discussion on a dinner table. But when confronted with this India in reality, our purpose of existence was shaken to the roots. I remember my hands shaking in a gram panchayat when Mr. Tiwari (from Green Brigade, an NGO) tried to explain the villagers that this scheme has an assured employment of 100 days and at no point would they be cheated.
I thought that how can somebody cheat these people who are struggling to live from hand to mouth. And the answer I got was “In The same way as people like you and I turn a blind eye to what we have seen and realized”.
Even if I fail to deliver what we are expected to of this huge project, one thing which I am damn sure of now is that I am not turning a blind eye this time.