Wanderlust Sajid

Just a sheer thought of Kolkata brings about a lullaby steams of nostalgia in my mind. And I become an epicure who meanders through the Kolkata roads, lanes, by-lanes, buildings, parks, and even filth and stenches. Is it just because that I am born and brought up at Kolkata, evokes this kind of stoic emotions in me? Or am I true to the judgement of its charm as compared to other cosmopolitan Indian cities? There is no denying that Kolkata is the first and earliest cities in India which can rightly be termed as a cosmopolitan in true sense. History says that before Mumbai became Bombay, Chennai became Madras, or Bengaluru became Bangalore, Kolkata was already in its adolescence as Calcutta. Brush aside Delhi, as it was at its neo-natal stage then. The Britishers then were far-sighted and pragmatic in seeing Kolkata as its most viable center of administrative and trade headquarter. Favourable climate, topography, inland water system, proximity to sea, human-index, all favoured their...

We woke up at the tea-call of Anand Singh around 6 in the morning and a look outside dampened our spirits. It was raining profusely and the dark black clouds with its roar were looking ominous. Our guide however was consoling us that the rain will stop within 2-3 hours. We did paid heed to him, being a person of the hills and we kept ourselves ready to start. The pouring did lighten by 8 and completely stopped by 9 with a nice sunny sky smiling at us. We started at 10.30. Our destination today is Jatoli, being a trek of 10 km. We bypassed Khati village to lessen our distance. Entering Khati is mandatory for only Pindari & Kufni Glacier route. This trek was very eye pleasing. We met Pindari river shortly and then the confluence point of Pindari & Sunderdunga rivers. Thereafter, the trail was all along the Sunderdunga river. We traversed through lush green jungles, wooden dilapidated bridges across river and steep cliffs. Snow capped mountains all along played hide and seek with ...

We started from Lower Loharkhet at 6 in the morning with a cup of tea and biscuits. We had to obtain an entry permit from Kumaon Mandla Vikas Nigam (KMVN) Forest Office at Upper Loharkhet, which also has a newly built swank Rest House. A small chit-chat with the forest officer made us realise that he is anything but a forest officer, since he was completely casual and indifferent on any discussion of forest conservation. Forest, however is very thin in this locality, maybe for the obvious reason of this indifferent attitude of both locals as well as government officials. Its seems for afforestation the matter is same, be in metro cities or up there in hills. An uphill trek mostly along stone peeved path of 11 kms took us to Mata Chilta Temple and a further 1 km downhill trek, to Dhakuri which we reached by 1 in the afternoon. At 2700 mts., Dhakuri is somewhat a plateau-like hill top and very picturesque. The mountain ranges of Kumaon are clearly visible from here. Dhakuri has all ameni...

My long desire to resume trekking happened all that thanks to my dear friend Sanjay, who himself is an avid trekker. He made all the arrangements starting from choosing the spot, planning the route, itinerary, travel plans, foods and all. He even carried along my rucksack, mattress and sleeping bag all the way from Kolkata to New Delhi for me. Our other companion was Debashis'da, colleague of Sanjay, whom I met for the first time. Debashis'da is a sweet, gentle and very contended kind of character. Aged 45 years, as yet he could not stuck eyes to any girl for marriage and instead opted to wed a Nikon Analog SLR Camera. He fondly calls the camera, his wife. People like him are truly rare to come across. I joined them at New Delhi and together boarded Ranikhet Express on May 16, reaching Kathgodam, the next dawn. From Kathgodam, we hired an Alto car for Rs.2200 for Saung, via Bhimtal, Almora, Bageshwar, Bindsar. That distance of 235 km took us 8 hours. For some unknown reason I s...

As I sit to write on this World Environment Day, I am elated at the front page headline of Hindustan Times, the newspaper I subscribe to. It says that "Indian consumers are the greenest in the world", according to a global survey of 17 countries conducted by the National Geographic Society and Globescan, an international opinion research consultancy. The survey uses an index of consumption habits and their environmental impact in five categories: Goods, food, housing, transport and attitudes. Brazil is ranked No.2, while US consumers are ranked the last. The survey also covers countries like Russia, China, South Korea, Mexico, Argentina and Hungary. There's another article which says that there is a remote village in Bihar, called Dharhara, 230 km east of Patna, in Bhagalpur district, which follows an age-old ritual of planting 20 fruit-bearing trees at the birth of every girl child. The above two news might insanely make us think that we don't need people like Nobel ...

I am really surprised at the announcement of Barrack Obama being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this year. Its not that I don't admire him or that I consider him not a person of noble means. But being just noble enough is not a prejudice for a Nobel Peace Award. No doubt Obama seems an apostle of harmony, at least by the virtue of the innumerable speeches he has given on this subject. At least he has initiated a correction process of the misdeeds done by George W. Bush in the 8 years that he has tormented the world. Obama definitely has shown intent to cool-off the global political heat. However, his intent has not been translated into action as yet, anywhere; Iraq, Afghanistan or besides. Apart from Cuba somewhat, and that famous "Beer Summit" offcourse, which had made so much journalistic headlines, rather over-hyped I believe. If intent of peace by now becomes so strong manifestation for bestowing an award of such high global reverence like Nobel Peace Prize, I am deepl...

The weather when we reached Khajuraho temple was enviously beautiful, with cool breeze and mild sunlight stroking us. We earlier made a phone call to Rajesh Tiwari, the guide whom we promised to hire and he was waiting for us at the entrance gate. We were put together as a group of six by Rajesh himself with our consent, for the sake of his guide fee sharing arrangement making it economical for us. The group was of me and my wife, discounting my son, offcourse ; Bhaiya and Didi and a seemingly newly married couple who looked a little disproportionate in terms of body size. The man was a hulk and his wife a petite in true sense. Bhaiya named them Amitabh Bachchan & Jaya Bhaduri. We were lucky to hire Rajesh. He was a real pro. His descriptions really put life into the stone murals. They are not merely figurines in front of us now. They are as if lively figures awaken by the transcriptions of Rajesh. We started the tour with a structure which I think is aptly Indian. There lies a sin...