TheRovingIndian

"चलो आखिर पहुंच ही गए नई दिल्ली स्टेशन। बाप रे, क्या ट्राफिक था आज। हम तो उम्मीद छोड़ चुके थे।"  "अच्छा सुनो किसी ने ठीक से चेक किया कि लखनऊ मेल नई-दिल्ली से ही  जाती है कि नहीं? याद है एक बार  आपने ......" "अरे, अब चुप भी हो जाओ। क्या बीस साल पुरानी कहानी ले कर बैठ गयीं। हां,  यहीं से चलती है लखनऊ मेल।" "कुली,कुली होगा साहेब? लखनऊ मेल पकड़ना है क्या? सौ रपये लगेंगे!" "क्या? सौ रुपये? सौ रुपए किस बात के भाई? क्या हम पहली बार लखनऊ जा रहै हैं? हर साल जाते हैं, कभी कभी दो तीन बार, एक बार तो...." "अरे चाचाजी, जल्दी कीजिए, कुली तय कीजिए वर्ना ट्रेन छूट जाएगी। याद है दो साल पहले क्या हुआ था हरदोई वाली बुआ के साथ? इटावा स्टेशन मे ही छूट गयीं थीं। " "साहब, सामान ज्यादा है और आपका सेकंड क्लास डिब्बा एकदम पीछे लगता है।" "तुम्हें कैसे पता हम सेकंड क्लास पैसेंजर हैं? ज्यादा चालाक बनते हो?" "चाचा जल्दी कीजिए, जल्दी। टाइम नहीं है अब। हमारा कोच सच मुच एकदम पीछे की तरफ है। हम gents लोग तो किसी तरह तेज़ तेज़ चल कर पहुं...

  The name Shantiniketan conjures up an image of music, art, dance, folklore,  handicraft ...just about everything nice.  It is 4 hours by road and 3 hours by train from Kolkata ( fittingly named Shantiniketan Express,  Bolpur Express,  Kaviguru Express).  The recent addition of Vande Bharat train has further reduced commute time.  How did Shantiniketan emerge as an university town? ( say like Manipal or Pilani) Ah, therein lies a tale!  The ( Singha) Sinha family,  moved from Ayodhya,  were the zamindars of the area namely Bolpur region ( in Birbhum district) Birbhum is a semi-arid tribal district,  approximately 160 km North West of Kolkata.  Bolpur sub-region is largely a rural area with marginal cultivation ( Nearby river Ajay is largely seasonal and the soil was reddish and loamy , not of the fertile alluvial variety. Devendranath Tagore once visited,  saw a large tree and surrounding greenery and fell in love with th...

From my bedside, through a large French window, I'm treated to a captivating view. The older row houses in the UK, with their slightly sloping walls, grant me a generous slice of the sky. On clear days, London's sky is a delightful expanse of bright blue. Even on cloudy days, when low cumulus clouds drift past, the scene remains no less enchanting. These low clouds, originating from the nearby seas, zip by swiftly. Britain's unique geography—surrounded on all sides by the sea—keeps these clouds close to the ground, preventing them from soaring too high. As they glide past, they invite my imagination to conjure various shapes and figures. During Puja days, I fancied glimpses of her majestic form. Later, Diwali decorations adorned the sky, and eventually, Santa Claus himself made an appearance. But, it's not just the sky that captivates me. My gaze is drawn to the well-defined air corridor, bustling with aircraft. In a mere three minutes, I often count up to ten flights—a...

We stayed for the past few months at an apartment very close to the over 250 years old steel cantilever Hammersmith bridge on river Thames.   For several centuries , and not so long ago, England was the greatest seafaring country on earth. One can easily imagine how crowded the river must have been then with naval and merchant navy ships going up and down all the time. No wonder, on both sides of the river were innumerable docking stations, wharves and warehouses, shipping men and merchandise from all parts of the globe.Goods shipped included textiles, spices, tea, sugar, tobacco, minerals and gold. Human traffic included pioneering settlers and slaves. In fact, there used to be a rich slave trader staying very close to the Hammersmith bridge. The riverside then must have been functional , busy but rather unattractive then. With changing times and heavier seafaring dreadnoughts, shipping traffic vanished from the Thames. Major layout changes were initiated. Walkways and joggin...

Varanasi is an ancient and preeminent Hindu religious city on the banks of river Ganges. On the western river bank, there are many ghats ( flight of steps) which give the place its distinctive uniqueness. From thousands of years, these ghats have attracted tourists and pilgrims. There are also many famous temples including the venerable Kashi-Vishwanath temple. This temple complex has got a major makeover recently and the cluttered shopping area nearby has been relocated. The morning and evening arti at the Ganges ghats are mesmerizing...especially the evening arti. Since the ghats get very crowded that time, a good alternative is to see the arti from a boat. Apart from the numerous temples and ghats, Varanasi has always been known as an educational and cultural hub. BHU ( Benares Hindu University) is the flag bearer in Varanasi's education world. BHU houses a highly ranked IIT, the only Indian religious town to have an IIT. There is a long list of renowned musicians who chose ...

  The Western Ghats run largely parallel and straight to the Arabian Sea, leaving a narrow shoreline that is known as the Konkan coast. This Konkan coast goes down vertically from Maharashtra, then Goa, crosses Karnataka and finally peters out in Kerala.  When monsoons set in, usually in the month of June, this long belt becomes all wet, green and spectacularly beautiful.  One way to enjoy this is to travel on the Konkan railway line, a spectacular contribution by E. Sreedharan (who then went on to head the Delhi Metro Project). There are many trains in this section including a Jan Shatabdi and   Vande Bharat. You get to see plenty of ponds, lakes, water bodies and rivulets. The hills have many seasonal waterfalls and the low hanging nimbus rain clouds on the Ghat hills look enchanting. Cutting across the Ghats i.e. from the plateau to the plains is also a very nice experience during monsoons.   Apart from the Mumbai Pune expressway Ghat section, and the ...