Travel
Varanasi Cyclog
The train journey to reach Varanasi in UP has been a long one – taking me to Andhra Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Punjab. The Railways still run the old First Class compartments on Vizag LTT Express Circular Hostel building at Andhra University Engg College, Vizag Along the way, this time two interactions were quite interesting. I … Read more
Vaishno Devi Trek
The last time I made up my mind to do the Vaishno Devi trek, it rained. We had motorcycled down from Jammu and just after entering the first station, it started raining. Taking it to be a message from the gods that they did not want to see us, we reversed direction, wet like dogs. … Read more
The Tiger Tour
The original plan for the cycle rally was to go from Nagpur to Jabalpur via Chhindwara and Pachmarhi, but it was later on shifted to Pench and Kanha – rebaptising the Satpura Tour into the Tiger Tour. Spotted at Wardha Railway Station: Gandhi’s Cycle ! The group for the first time had a strong female … Read more
Stories from the Jhelum
The longest train journey that I have done is Guwahati to Nasik. That’s only once. But the Jammu Pune journey and the return has been a regular for me, thanks to my partner in Jammu, Aakash, and also the school that we jointly run there for the last 10 years. My preferred mode of travel … Read more
Sinhgad Trek
There are no eternal gurus. There are gurus of the past and there are gurus of the present. I have outgrown many gurus as I grew up, but there is one who I find difficult to match up to: Jugal Rathi. He is the one who got me away from soap a couple of decades … Read more
Rann Cyclog
The biggest districts in India are the ones with the lowest populations. In J & K, an example is Ladakh and in Gujarat, it is Kutch. Both are white deserts, one a frozen one, the other a salted one. Having cycled across the frozen one in 2007, 8 years later we were on the salted … Read more
Rajpura Travelogue
Getting into the city where you have work on the previous evening is always an advantage. You are up fresh and are not strained by travel when you reach work. But what if the distance between where you are and where you want to be is such that it will make you arrive very late … Read more
Rajasthan Roadies
Day 1 / 2 The Pune Hyderabad express was delayed by one hour. A new arrival platform was announced 5 minutes before the arrival. This resulted in a traffic jam at the overbridge as the Bhusawal EMU had just come in then. Managed to reach VT, ahem CST, ahem ahem CSMT, only 40 minutes late. … Read more
Prayagraj Pigrimage
This was my first visit to Prayagraj, though I have crossed Allahabad by train on a few occasions. Was here primarily to spend time with my sensei, Prof Ashok Pratap Arora. Prof Arora has been one of the best teachers I ever had. No matter how much I try, I just cannot get his Socrates … Read more