Independence Day! Why So Serious?

As the country prepares to celebrate its 72nd Independence Day, I thought of taking a break from the regular. Of course you love to be filled with all the patriotic fervour on this day, the songs, the speeches, the paaramparik veshbhoosha et all but I decided to do it a little differently. 

Once we were through with the traditional celebrations, I decided to walk into the class and ask my students, what independence means to them. Senior kids as they are, they came up with the serious topics and changes they would like to see but suddenly, the child in me surfaced and I asked them to forget being politically correct for once and just be really honest. One simple cue, and the floodgates opened! 

They came up with such cute responses.....

One said, "Ma'am, I would like to have the independence to sleep and wake up at any time I want."

The other said, "Ma'am I'd like to have the independence to eat anything anytime."

Another said, "Ma'am, I want independence from my mom's incessant nagging. She keeps telling me to do this and that. It just drives me crazy."

One more said, "Wish we didn't have to study at all. Independence from books would be the best."

At this there was cheering in the entire class. Kids will be kids. They are sweet, innocent, honest, uninhibited and always up for a conversation so that they can miss studies :-D 

Even we were like that once, weren't we? I clearly remember, Ms. Kumari, our Geography teacher. She was a wonderful teacher, who had a wide knowledge on a lot many subjects. We just loved her classes as the books would definitely take a backseat once you hinted at a question and she would rally into a long descriptive answer sharing her life experiences and contributing so much to our learning when we actually thought that we had successfully managed to deviate her attention. 

Such are our teachers, they teach us so much even when we don't realise that we are being taught. 

So dear students, in case you think you had your share of independence by distracting the teacher, beware! She's still managing to teach you some serious life lesson which you will realise once you grow up :-D

Happy Independence Day kids! 

The Horror Of The 'C' Word!

Being born as a woman, is a blessing. We are the privileged ones who have the exceptional capability of producing and nurturing a life but this enhanced feature comes with its own set of complications. Periods, ovarian cysts, fibroids, cervix disorders, endometriosis and then the most dreaded CANCER!

On a regular visit to the gynaecologist for a seemingly minor problem, the doctor did an internal checkup for me. She saw some anomaly described as erosions on the cervix, prescribed some antibiotics and asked me to revisit her after five days. I did so and again on checking, she seemed uncomfortable. There was no improvement in the cervix so apart from taking a pap-smear sample, she suggested that I go for colposcopy. 

Colposcopy is a procedure to find cell changes that might be cancerous. Even though my pap smear results were normal, the colposcopy test showed the presence of a considerable amount of abnormal cells. I was suggested to undergo two sessions of cryocautery. This is a therapy in which liquid nitrous oxide is used to freeze the abnormal cells. It is done once a month and then repeated after a month. 

After two sessions, I drove down to the gynaecologist. It was a beautiful rainy evening and my favourite tracks played in the car. I chirped and sang along, happy, that finally my two month ordeal was to come to an end. When the doctor examined me, she shook her head. The look on her face was enough to send me into a tizzy....she said, "Ideally these two sessions of cryocautery should have healed your cervix, but this is not so in your case. I'll have to go for biopsy as I suspect cancer." 

My perfectly happy life came to a sudden standstill. I somehow collected myself and rushed out of the clinic. Once I sat inside my car, floodgates opened and tears came rolling down my cheeks. I couldn't take in the word, Cancer!

One has to be strong at such times, so I pulled out of the parking lot and started driving home. 

I laughed at the irony. Just about an hour ago, I was dancing and singing, happy tunes playing in my head and in just one hour, all sad melodies were clouding my mind. 

Got home, spoke with my husband who was at sea (he's the captain of a ship). He too was extremely shaken but comforted me so beautifully that after his call, I knew I had to face whatever lay ahead. 

The silver lining in this dark cloud was that I had been vaccinated against cervical cancer long ago. We both hoped for the vaccine to work its wonder. 

Days passed, I visited several gynaecologists who saw my reports and confirmed that biopsy was definitely recommended. Few suggested that I should go for a hysterectomy as even if the cancer is not confirmed this time, the abnormal cells might become cancerous at any stage and I shouldn't risk my life. However, my trusted gynaecologist who knows me for a long time now, advised me against it, owing to my young age. (not young literally but still a minimum ten years to go for menopause) She warned me that even if the ovaries are left intact and only the uterus and cervix taken out, still the effects of menopause will start setting it and ruin my body. 

Anyways, the biopsy was conducted and ten days passed before the result could come. These days seemed to be the longest in life. I started having sleepless nights and during whatever little sleep I managed, I had recurrent nightmares that the result was positive for cancer. When I woke up all sweaty with tension, I would assure myself that vaccines are after all not useless. I will definitely not have cancer. 

The tenth day finally arrived. I made a call to the hospital and they sent me my report. With shivering hands, I opened the link and even though there was some indication of infection yet the line 'no evidence of any malignant lesion' gave me a big relief! YAY!!!! The cervical cancer vaccine had done its wonders! I was relieved beyond words. 

The purpose of documenting this incident is to spread the message that CERVICAL CANCER can affect anyone. Those of you who are not yet 25 yrs old and those of you who have girls above age 9, should definitely go for this vaccine. It worked its magic for me and so would work for you. Alo please maintain menstrual hygiene. After all who wants their life to be invaded by the horrific C word?

Shraadh 'And' Navraatri - Tough Time For The Non-Vegetarians

Ever since we were kids, we would dread the months of Sept-Oct. The reason was that in the month of Ashwin, 15 days of Shraadh were observed followed by nine days of Navratri. 

The intention wasn't to offend our ancestors but we simply couldn't digest the fact that we were not allowed to have onion and garlic during those days. Of course the delicious poori kachauri and kheer would be there but that was limited to just a couple of days in the entire dry spell of 22 days! Imagine us poor little kids, who had absolutely no clue as to why we had to suffer to please the ancestors? We tried to reason it out with our parents that our beloved ancestors would have no issues if we ate onions and garlic during those day. After all how could an insignificant thing as this, possibly offend the ancestors.....but then being born in a Brahmin family, most of the times, beliefs prevail above all sort of reasoning. Since we could do nothing, we would then wait for the time when the dry spell would end so that we could savour food with the distinct flavour of onion and garlic.

Now I see a bigger problem. I see people cribbing about not being able to have non vegetarian food. In case they are at their homes, it is quite understandable but what happens when they are living far away from their native place. There isn't anyone to judge them and they can freely indulge but then something stops them....na...na....its not the pricking conscience. On the contrary, it is fear.....fear of what you may ask? Well.....the fear of not being able to get fresh stock of food. Since there is an extreme shortage of demand during this period, most of the restaurants serving non-veg have stale stuff to offer. 

So what comes to the rescue of the die-hard non-vegetarian fans at such a time? The Bengali pandals during Durga Pujo are a no-veg lover's paradise! I've seen so many friends go pandal hopping during these days and making the most out of this splendid time. 

India is simply an amazing country...it's like multiple countries within one country. After every few kilometers, languages change, attires change, customs change...its all so diverse and the beauty of it is that we all try to embrace these differences in full spirit. So in one place, where eating non-veg is considered a sin during these days, in the other place it is an integral part of the festivities. 

So cheers to the constant ray of hope that this diversity offers to the people around!

Pitru Paksha ko pranaam......Happy Navratri and Shubho Durga Pujo! May our ancestors and the Gods continue to bless us. 

Dharm Ki Aardh.....100 Years On, Nothing Seems To Have Changed!

Today, while teaching Hindi to my son, I happened to read a write up by the famous Hindi author, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, ‘Dharm ki aardh.’ The writeup belongs to the pre-independence era and is over a hundred years old. The clarity of thought with which he has written it and the content of the article, shook my heart and instantly, I placed this man on a very high pedestal.In the article, he talks about how people have no idea about what religion is but they are ready to kill and die in the name of religion. These people are being manipulated by the strong and powerful so that they can maintain their influence over the weak and economically backward. Sadly, these foolish people do not realise that those who are using them know nothing but POWER and that they are not any religion crusaders but mere pawns in the ugly game of power.

He points out that even Gandhi ji was a staunch believer but his form of religion was very different from the one that people follow. His religion meant that one must be of a sound character and treat everyone respectfully, only then can we call ourselves true followers of God.

Hundred years on, nothing seems to have changed. One feels that education would have revolutionised the way people think but the irony is, that even the so called educated are still being used in the name of religion. It is disheartening to see posts by ‘educated’ people, justifying some gory crime in the name of religion.

Mindless mob lynching, the competition of Azaan and Aarti during the morning hours, the construction of religious structures and not to forget the frequent riots. The propaganda of religion seems to be never ending and what bothers me more, is that it isn’t even about religion. It is still a matter of the power game. The powerful are still using people as a bait. Dive deep and you will see innocent human faces desirous of living in peace.

How can we forget that humanity is above every religion? How can we kill others in the name of being protectors of God?

It seems quite paradoxical to me that on one hand, we believe that God is the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer of the Earth, and on the other, we believe that the same God needs our help in saving HIS existence!!!

How naive can one be!

Wake up people! Wake up and realise that God doesn’t need us to take care of him. He is all powerful. He created us, so that we can co-exist peacefully. We are not doing any service to God by tearing each other apart.

My point is that humanity should always be the first religion. If we cannot respect the existence of another human being then we have no right to call ourselves religious.

Emerald Green Thailand

Thailand, for the past few years has become the favourite holiday destination for Indians. It has so much to offer to people and since it isn’t very far from India, we Indians want to go there at any given opportunity.Having holidayed in Bangkok and Pattaya many years ago, Phuket, Phi Phi and Krabi, had been on our bucket list for long. Finally the day came, when our plan finally materialised.

Sharing snippets of our holiday. Hope it helps you all plan yours.

Day 1 - Friday, 2 November 2018 we left for Phuket via Bangkok. We had booked our flights with Bangkok Airways and reached Bangkok early in the morning.

Day 2-

On arriving at Bangkok we filled the Visa on arrival application form and stood in the queue for the Visa. It took about an hour to get the entire paperwork sorted. Armed with the visas we headed for the Bangkok Airways lounge. Astonishingly the lounge gives access to everyone who is booked with Bangkok Airways. They had a lovely breakfast buffet spread. The almond honey cake was pure delight. Our next flight for Phuket was after a gap of three hours. So we rested and ate well and then boarded the flight to Phuket.We arrived at Phuket International airport in about an hour‘s time and then headed outside the airport to book a taxi for our destination Ao Nang beach at Krabi.

We reached the hotel at about 1430 and then went out to grab some lunch. After relaxing in the hotel for a while we headed out for an evening walk along the Ao Nang Beach Road.

It is an interesting road with shops lined on either side, selling local as well as the touristy stuff. There are loads of 7-Eleven shops, Family Mart and so on for fulfilling basic needs. Our last trip to Thailand was 11 years ago in the year 2007, so we knew that we would be able to spot a few Indian food restaurants but were taken by a huge surprise when we spotted loads of Indian food restaurants all along the road. What’s the point of having Indian cuisine when you’re on a holiday outside your country but then some people, just cannot do without Indian food and for them it’s a big relief.

We dined at the local night market which was bustling with various stalls serving local Thai food & amazing cocktails. The tourists were simply loving the place and savouring each bite of the food. The men ordered shrimp rice and fried shrimps while I went ahead with the vegetable Pad Thai noodles. The sights and smells of the place were enough to get you into the mood. It was an evening well spent and we retired to bed early as we were all completely exhausted.

Quick tip- It is advisable to book taxi in advance over the Internet as it falls cheaper than booking a taxi at the airport. Taxi for Krabi, at the airport charges 3500 baht, whereas if you book in advance it’ll cost you 2500 baht.

Day 3 - D3 started in a relaxed manner we had been tired the previous day. We decided to have a laid-back day and spend it relaxing at the beach. We walked along the Ao Nang beach, sipped coconut water, beer & fresh fruits while spending the day basking in the sun. The entire stretch of road is flanked with massage parlours and believe me, there is nothing shady about them. When in Thailand, massage is a must do activity. The Thai people are famous worldwide as being the best masseuse and definitely, there’s no bragging about it.

The rates for various massages are fixed but they are open to bargaining. You can get a good price if you’re a good bargainer.

We zeroed in a lovely place called - Love The Sea Massage no.1. We had been waiting to experience the heavenly feeling of Thai massage and finally had reached the right place. A full body aromatic oil massage can do magic to your body. You can experience 60 minutes of complete bliss. With the sound of the waves lashing on to the beach and every muscle of our body slowly easing out with the massage, we got transported into a different world altogether.

Hunger pangs strike you hard once the massage gets over, so to satiate the hunger, the boys checked into a delectable Barbeque restaurant. The wide variety of fresh seafood including prawns, crabs, fish, mussels, oysters etc was a delight for the seafood lovers my boys are!

The barbecue grill was placed onto our table with broth in the centre cavity, to boil your crabs and veggies while the periphery was for grilling. With smoke emanating from the pan and the aroma of the food feeding the senses, the boys enjoyed every morsel till their tummies burst!

Once dinner was over, we did a booking for visiting the four islands for the next day and then went back to the hotel.

Quick tip – Ensure you take only as much as you can finish eating. Do not waste even a single bit.

You will be charged hundred Baht as fine for every 10 g of food you waste.

Day 4- This was the day planned for visit to the four islands. Right after breakfast, our pickup van, picked us up from the hotel and took us to Nooparathara beach. We had booked our tour with Sun and Sand company and had to assemble at the beach to board the speedboat for the islands’ visit. Our tour guide, Amy was an extremely cheerful girl who tried to give us an idea of the place we were visiting. We walked a distance of about 500 m before we reached the boat, took off our slippers and boarded it. The boat had stocked water and orange juice for us.

The first Island on the itinerary was Railey beach Phranang Cave. This cave has the statue of the princess who is worshipped and the Thai people believe that she has the power to bless childless couples with children. Once the couple delivers the baby, they are expected to come back and offer ‘shivlings’ of various sizes to the Princess Goddess. Those who do not wish to walk up to the cave can just enjoy a swim in the designated swimming area.

Amy gave us 40 minutes to spend on the island after which we headed for the next island, which was Chicken Island. This island has beautiful corals and so the boat just drifts a little away from the beach, so that people can snorkel without damaging the reefs. Beautiful species of fish can be spotted without even having to dive deep into the crystal-clear waters! Colourful fish swim right next to you in perfect communion. It’s an extremely soothing experience!

After snorkelling in the waters for about 45 minutes, Amy called us back as it was time to move on to the ‘highlight of the day island’ - Tub island. This island is connected with two other islands- Mor Island and Chicken island. During low tide, you can walk up to all the three islands together. We however could just walk to two, Tub and Mor. Tub and Mor islands have a stunning backdrop of black and red rocks which provide a picturesque location for photographers!

After clicking some pictures and resting against the rocks it was finally time to move on to the last destination on the itinerary for the day, that is, Poda Island. It was just a short 10 minute boat ride to Poda Island. This was the place where Amy had promised us lunch. The moment we got off the boat, Amy took us to a secluded part of the island, quickly spread a table and laid it with breakneck speed. It was amazing to see the speed with which Amy took out the crockery and the packed food and single-handedly laid everything on the table. By then, everyone was starving. We all ate as if we had been starved for days!!! 😁

After lunch, we walked around, basked in the sun, spread out under the shade of the coconut tree and literally became crocodiles. Poda island has crowd on one side and total isolation on the other. You can choose where you’d like to spend the one hour you’ve been given to spend on the island. As soon as that one hour ended, we headed back to the boat where we were served fresh fruits. Amy did a quick recapitulation of the events of the day and in 10 minutes we were back at Nooparathara beach.

Unwilling to go back, we went straight to the massage parlour at the Ao Nang beach, pampered ourselves with the divine aromatic oil massage, watched the setting sun, sipping our drinks silently and then retired for the day after relishing some local Thai food.

Day 5 -This day we were to take a ferry to Phi Phi islands. We had booked our tickets with Royal cruise and were picked up by the agency absolutely on time. The van driver dropped us at Krabi town pier from where we were supposed to start our journey.

The ferry started off its 1.5 hours journey in an amazingly calm sea. The ferry has three classes and you can upgrade your class by paying a little extra, if you wish to.

Thankfully the sea was calm and so we reached Phi Phi without any hiccups. We got down at Ton Sai Pier, where we were charged an entry fee for the island. Walking a little further, we noticed our hotel representative, holding a placard. We walked up to him and he directed us to a man with a push cart. Our luggage was loaded onto it and we walked behind him along the Ton Sai Bay on a thin walking trail until we finally reached our hotel.

We had some lunch at the Hippy club and then decided to take some rest.

Phi Phi is famous for its crazy, all night beach parties and we were here to experience just that. As the clock struck 8, we started for the party area in Phi Phi as the madness begins just then. The moment we reached that area, the music started reverberating in our ears. We quickly caught on the pulse of the evening and blended into the maddening crowd. The first place we hit was Slinky Beach Bar. A daredevil fire show was going on to the tunes of popular tracks which made it all so happening!

There were free shots for people who dared to play games like passing under the bar which kept getting lowered, jumping between swinging ropes, hangman and so on....The party mood was so infectious that practically everyone was caught by it. Not a single soul stood still. Everyone swayed to the foot tapping music. That was one of the best beach parties we’ve ever been to. It was truly an unforgettable experience!

Day 6 - The previous party night had ended in the wee hours of the morning, so we decided to just laze around that day. Breakfast was a lavish buffet spread by the beautiful green waters of the sea, which was like music to the soul. After filling our tummies, we again fell asleep, only to wake up an hour later to hit the beach. Our resort was located at almost what seemed like the end of the shoreline, but on discussion with the resort manager, we got to know of a beach, named Long Beach which was located further away on a desolate part of the island, and one could reach there after about 20 minutes of trekking. It seemed to be a fascinating place and so we picked up our gear and headed straight to Long beach. The trek was a little exhausting as sweat trickled down our bodies. For a moment we felt as if we had lost our way as the route seemed a little treacherous but then through the clearing we saw a sprawling beach with sparkling white sand and glistening waters, welcoming us. Wasting no time, we threw our bags on the sand and jumped into the soothing waters!

We lay in the water like crocodiles and then when hunger pangs struck, ordered some lip smacking food from the restaurant. Evening was slowly setting in and the tide was getting low, so we were able to trek and then walk easily through the area where the waters had receded due to low tide. At night we hit a local food joint where the amiable owners cooked cheerfully for us, thus adding more flavours to the existing tasty food. A quick trip to the party hub and then we retired for the night.

Day 7- Phi Phi was so captivating that we really didn’t want to leave the place but as planned, we were to board the ferry for Phuket that day. With heavy hearts we left for Phuket where we had booked our hotel at Patong Beach Area. The journey to Phuket’s Rassada pier took two hours. The sea was smooth and we had a hassle free journey. If you wish to feel the breeze on your face, feel free to walk up to the forecastle or to the aft of the ferry. Since most hotels are on the other side of the island, a taxi agent walks up to your seat to ask if you’d like to book a ride to your hotel. The prices are per person or you could take up an independent taxi as well. We booked with him and as soon as we got down the ferry, we were ushered to the waiting taxi which took about forty-five minutes to drive us to our hotel at Patong Beach.

It was afternoon by the time we reached and so we had some lunch and went off to sleep as we wanted to explore the nightlife of Patong Beach area. At night, we strolled on the streets of Patong and reached the most famous street called the Bangla Street or the Walking Street. The entire road has a festive vibe to it and one can’t escape the party mood. The street is lined with bars buzzing with people and music. There are scores of bars along the street, all teeming with crowds totally absorbed in the moment. In case you have the experimental streak in you, the place also offers some adult fun for those looking for some adventure. The street also has a local food market which provides delicious food at competitive prices and also some live entertainment. The street is alive till the wee hours of the morning. We did some bar hopping through the night and left the place around 2am. Surprisingly even then, there seemed to be no end to the party scene!

Day 8 –This day was meant for exploring Patong Beach. We hired scooties and had a pleasant ride to the beach. There’s a convenient parking lot right at the beach, so you don’t have to worry about where to park. We spread out our stuff at the beach and lounged on the beach beds. Since it’s a commercial-touristy beach, you will soon have people approaching you for Jet-ski ride, Banana Boat ride, Parasailing and such other adventure sports. They do try to pester you but you can still politely refuse them if you’re in no such mood.

We’ve already done such things multiple times earlier, so there wasn’t any motivation to do the same things again. So, we merely relaxed, took dips in the sea, watched people parasailing and jet-skiing, had fresh fruits and coconut water and just enjoyed those simple moments.

By early evening, we knew that if we had to party again that night, we would need a nap, so, after grabbing some lunch, we left for our hotel, only to return later that evening, to the beach area and Walking street. That night too, it was about soaking in the colours of the street and some lavish dinner while listening to some lovely live music.

Day 9- This was supposed to be our last day in Phuket and just like we always feel, the holidays seemed to be ending a tad too soon! Since we had the scooties at our disposal, our hotel owner recommended that we must visit the Big Buddha, which a famous-must-visit place for the tourists. The map showed a distance of about 25 kms one way. The adventurous streak in us took over, and we hooped on our scooties. It certainly wasn’t an easy ride, in fact, I’d advise the weak-hearted against it, as the roads were steep and sloping in turns, which certainly added to our excitement but also made us feel that it was a little dangerous, as the roads there did not have any divider in between. There was just a line to demarcate the road but the best part was that I never once saw anybody, coming over to the other side even if there was a long line build-up at the traffic signal. Everyone stuck sincerely to their lane. Perhaps, that’s the reason why we were able to make it to the Big Buddha absolutely intact!

Big Buddha is a holy place for the natives and so, right at the entrance, you will find women, armed with sarongs, tying them around waist if you’re wearing skin revealing clothes. Just comply with it and respect their sentiment. Walk around the statue and you will get a stunning view of Kata and Karon from the hill top of Buddha. After visiting Big Buddha, we decided to visit Kata and Karon Beach. Kata beach is a lovely stretch of beach with a tiny footpath selling beachwear, souvenirs, antiques etc. If you wish to relax and shop for knick-knacks while tanning yourself, then this is the place to be. It also has a artificial surf zone where you can ride the waves in a dedicated area, created for surfing, without having to go into the sea.

The next stop had to be Karon Beach. We rode along the beach and reached Karon in a couple of minutes. This stretch is little elite and is lined with upscale resorts on the other side of the road. Guards of those resorts would often flag you down in order to make their guests cross the road safely. We spent some time at this beach and decided that if we re-visit Phuket, we would probably plan our stay at one of the exotic resorts at Karon Beach. It isn’t a buzzing place like Patong Beach area but isn’t that far too. The transition from the peaceful to the crazy, does not take much time. You can switch between the two in just about 15-minute drive. By evening, we were back at the hotel to rest for a while before heading to the famous night market in Phuket Town – The Chillva Night Market.

Meanwhile, to give my MIL a flavour of the local shows, we booked her on a VIP ticket to the popular Simon Cabaret which she thoroughly enjoyed. She was bedazzled by the glitz and glamour of the show!

At night, we went another 24 kms to the Chillva Night Market. This place is a hideout for the shoppers looking for local stuff. Honestly, we didn’t find it any different from the other markets around Patong, and the ride that far, was just not worth it. So after a quick check at the market and of course grabbing some stuff in the blink of an eye, we went back to our favourite Patong looking forward to having a delightful seafood dinner. We walked through various food night markets, haggled with people for giving us a good deal, had some crabs and lobsters and then for me, the darling vegetarian, we went to Pizza Company where I hogged on some yummylicious pizza! This was our last night-out in Thailand and with sadness filled in our hearts, we bid adieu to the night market.

Day 10- This was out last day in Thailand and so we woke us leisurely and gingerly had our breakfast as we didn’t want any tummy troubles on our travel day. Then we went for some last-minute shopping and picked up loads of instant noodle packets from the Family Mart. The options were so many, that even after I had picked up about 20 packets (none repeated), there were still a few more varieties on the shelf!!!

We then returned to the hotel, did our final packing and booked a taxi for the airport. We thanked our hosts who had definitely been very hospitable and then left for the airport.

Thus ended our extremely beautiful trip to Thailand.

Points to remember–

· 1 THB (Thai Baht) = 2.1769

· Visa for Thailand can be taken in advance in India. Fee: INR 2500/-

· If you are pressed for time or are apprehensive about sending your passport to the embassy, then Thailand also gives you Visa on Arrival. Fee: INR 4353/- (2000 Baht)

· Keep a transit time of at least 4 hours if you intend to take Visa on Arrival, as you will have to take the visa at your first entry point. This means that if you have a connecting flight to Phuket or Krabi via Bangkok, then you will have to take visa on arrival the moment you arrive at Bangkok.

· You need to have evidence of booking your accommodation in Thailand, so keep your printouts handy.

· They might ask you to show evidence of funds too, so better you keep your Bank statement too.

· Do not at any cost miss the massage at Ao Nang Beach. The massage huts, lining the quieter end of the beach, offer you the bliss of getting a massage while listening to the sound of waves. The massage rates though fixed, are still negotiable.

· If you are a seafood lover, then the barbeque at Ao Nang Beach road is to die for.

· Phi Phi shouldn’t be treated as a day trip island. A minimum stay of one night is recommended if you want to let your hair down.

· Cross check and negotiate prices for island trips and shows with different agents, bargaining does take place.

· There are multiple stores of 7/11 and Family Mart which are open 24 hours, so you will never have any problem. Just note that 7/11 accepts only Visa card, while Family Mart accepts Visa and Mastercard both.

AJMER (Ajay Meru- The Invincible Hill!) A Perfect Place Demonstrating The True Ethos Of Indian Culture – Peaceful Coexistence…..

When you talk of Ajmer, the first thing that crosses your mind, is the famous shrine, Ajmer Sharif Dargah or the nearby town of Pushkar.

On a recent visit to the city, I got to know the city a little intimately and fell instantly in love with the slow and positive vibe of the place. Ajmer is located in the heart of Rajasthan and thanks to the wonderful road network, is easily accessible from Delhi/NCR.

On a cold winter morning, we decided to take off to this city and reached there after a smooth and comfortable drive of around 8 hours, stopping midway to have lunch at a rural setting roadside dhaba which stood majestically amidst golden yellow mustard fields.

Since we had got to know that Ajmer plays host to the huge migratory Pelicans during the winters, we directly hit the Ana Sagar lake to capture some close-up shots of our strikingly beautiful winged friends. With the sun setting fast, we were worried that we might not be able to spend some quality time with these exotic birds, but were pleasantly surprised to see flocks of birds, gliding on the glistening waters of the setting sun, with absolute ease. They seemed completely unperturbed by the presence of humans, so close to them! They posed and we clicked until our memory card was almost full 😊

After a long day’s drive, we were tired and so checked into our pre-booked hotel. The foodies that we are, as usual, the first question my husband asked was where could he get some lip smacking ‘laal maans’? We were directed to The Mango Curry. It is one of the most famous eating joints in Ajmer and also have an in-house bakery. Adjoining this non vegetarian outlet, is the Vegetarian branch of the restaurant under the name, Mango Masala. I tried their wood fired pizza which was delectable and then wound up dinner with a generous helping of the sinful hot chocolate fudge sundae! The Laal Maans didn’t match up to hype and was quite average in taste.

The next day, we decided to wake up early, as I wanted to walk around the narrow lanes which lead to the Dargah and get a feel of the place. It was interesting to use the GPS to navigate the snaking extra narrow lanes and then land into a bazaar, selling Soan Halwa in almost every shop. Some beautiful souvenirs were displayed, which caught my attention and I bought a small souvenir for a friend who has firm faith. On my part, crowded places in India, intimidate me and I’m always on tenterhooks when I’m at such a place, so I avoid them totally. Just took a quick picture at the entrance of the Dargah and walked away.

Since hunger had already struck by then, some famous kadhi-pakoda was to be enjoyed. The aroma of the piping hot kadhi, being poured over freshly fried palak-aloo pakodas was irresistible! We enquired whether the vendor had some pyaaz pakodis too, but he almost told us with great pride, that his dishes were absolutely – No onion, no garlic! Just a few meters away from the dargah, it was amusing to see a totally pure vegetarian thela.

As we had a wedding coming up in the family and had fallen short of a kurta pyjama for my son, we decided to check out the local market to buy the same. Asking locals for directions, we ended up in Diggi Bazaar near Madar Gate. We asked for Kurta Pyjama shops and were immediately directed to a small shop where the owner welcomed us with a broad smile and showed us a wide variety of Ajmeri cotton fabric unstitched designs. We told him that we were looking for something readymade as we were short on time, but he insisted that we should just focus on selecting and he would do the needful. I ended up buying three unstitched kurta pyjama sets – One, because the shopkeeper seemed genuine and two, he treated me to the naturally sweetest Ganne ka Ras, I’d had in the recent past :-D Most importantly, I agreed to buy because we finished selecting at 1pm and he assured hotel delivery of the finished/stitched products by 8pm. I was skeptical but his confidence and the confidence of the tailor masterji restored my trust. Since our son had not accompanied us, I just told the tailor his measurements and seriously….what magic! By 8pm, they had managed to neatly stitch sets which when our son wore, fitted him so well, that we were exuberant!

Lunch was eaten at Rasoi-The train restaurant which offers some authentic Rajasthani meal. After some rest, we were again up to explore the city. When I say explore, I actually mean, we set out to eat some more! Quite close to our hotel was the Ajmer Fort which we didn’t visit as it was closed for the day, so we walked around Naya Bazaar, absorbing the sights and sounds of the place. It surely is a shopper’s delight coz it has the most exquisite lehengas, gota kinari shops, choori bazaar and what not!

Our focus however was to satiate our greed for food. Shankar Chaat at Gol Pyau in Naya Bazar was our stop to gorge on some chaat. They have a wide variety of pakoda-chaat, samosa chaat, aloo tikki and loads of sweets. Trying a little bit of everything, we moved onto a paani puri wala and then moved on to a small hub opposite Shankar chaat and helped ourselves to the best lassi we’ve ever had. Imagine some thick lassi in a kulhad, with a dollop of rabdi thrown over it, served at a modest price…..who can resist that! A rapturous feeling engulfed us and we wanted to try some more. So we hopped onto the next shop on Railway road near the upcoming Mittal Mall, to dig into some Pyaaz Kachori. Divinity it is, when I recall the taste of the food, we had that evening. Naturally stuffed beyond measure, we decided to skip dinner….or did we? 😉

Still not fully over the kadhi pakoda adventure, we headed for a small thela, opposite CBSE office on Todarmal Marg, and enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast of kachori kadhi and pakodi kadhi. The sight of the vendor, putting pakodis/ kachori in that patta dauna and then topping it up with some spicy kadhi is sure to make some saliva run down your throat. We ate some and then even got some packed as we were to leave for home and wanted the peeps back home to get a flavor of Ajmer.

What is the most appealing part is that, having stayed in NCR, I had started believing that India has also become quite expensive but it was heartening to see that everything in Ajmer was so well priced that even a daily wage labourer can have a full breakfast meal for Rs. 15/- only!

We had to start back for home but the foodie journey was still not over and we stopped for lunch at Rajshree Resort outside Jaipur and treated ourselves to a full Rajasthani thali with gattey ki subzi, dal-baati and choorma. The Chandrakala at the sweet shop inside, is definitely the most luscious one, I’ve ever had.

When one reads this account, it would seem, as if I wrote it just to talk about food, however the intent behind writing this article was the feel-good factor, I experienced during my visit to the city. Ajmer is a popular pilgrimage for both Hindus and Muslims as it is the gateway to Pushkar, which is the abode of Lord Brahma and it also is the final resting place of the great Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisti. The quaint little town also has some churches and it is remarkable to see that despite so much of tourism, the place is sparkingly clean!

One might assume that the place would be full of restaurants serving non-vegetarian food, but surprisingly, there are hardly any!

What struck me most about Ajmer is that, it is a perfect place that can be symbolized for demonstration of Indian culture, ethics and display of perfect blend of wide plethora of diverse religions, communities, cultures, linguistics etc. all coexisting and flourishing in peace and harmony.