Diary Entry: August 19, 2012

As Richard Bach says: “Your friends will know you better in the first minute you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years.”

When you know you have found your flock, you are ready to fly with them anytime. The simplest thing you can do for someone is just be their friend.

The birds with lenses wanted to do a photography tour of Induri Fort; Chakan Fort... another bird wanted to surrender at Bhamchandra Dongar And I was just enthusiastic about wandering. So there was a perfect exploring plan which was ready to be executed.

On a Saturday morning, we left the city and rode on old NH4 towards Talegaon.

After a long time, I managed to catch a breakfast at McDonalds, Chinchwad. A Veg Muffin started one of the best days of my life.

After one more snacks break, we reached Talegaon.

On Talegaon - Chakan road, at Village Induri, there is a small fortification built on Left hand side. This fortification was built by Khanderao Dabhade during 1720s. The river Indrayani flows by western side of the fortification. There is a temple of Kadjai Devi inside this fort. The Entrance marks a grandiose Royal History. There is a NagarKhana atop the entrance. Although it is all ruins, we had a good time there.

Our next destination was Bhamchandra Dongar... Very less people know this place and so it is still much serene. The rout to the cave is very simple. There are a some carvings. ( I do not know the historical information). On Talegaon - Chakan Road, there is a village Sadumbre on left hand side. Ahead of this village, there is another village - Shinde Vaasuli. This hillock is on the outskirts of this village.

After some memorable moments captured in photos, we left towards Chakan, Via Ambethan. After having lunch at Ambethan chowk, Chakan. We visited the ruins of Chakan fort.

Just to make it a complete circle, we rode to Alandi. There is only one word for Alandi... AWESOME!!!

For me, Alandi was a cosmic experience, just sitting at the steps of ghat was so fulfilling, peaceful. I could feel completely in sync with the entire universe. I attained my long lost inner peace.

Riki - The dog and Me -the Human

A promise that will last forever... It was third week of November 2003. I was recovering from relapsed Malaria and pneumonia and had returned to my parent’s place from Navi Mumbai. My then husband turned up one early evening and surprised me with a gift. The gift was a cute little black Labrador retriever puppy of less than 3 months of age. (November 20, 2003) I always wanted a dog but my parent’s understanding of responsibility had always denied acceptance of a dog. We had fish and birds but a dog was too much. I had dreamt that when I will grow up I will get myself a German shepherd and my ex-husband always had dreamt of having a black lab. So obviously he picked up a black lab. When the puppy came home, my first reaction was, "ohh my baby is here!" Day one On day one, this pup sat near the chair which was like ten times his size, six months later he found that the space beneath this chair can be his hideout when a bath is called upon, and a year lat...

How got Leh'd Part Three (10 August - 12 August 2014)

10th August: It was a good morning as it I could get up leisurely and get ready. We packed all luggages and kept in the guest house’s cloak room. (There were barely two big backpacks technically.) Today, I was well prepared with motion sickness tablet. We set ourselves in the SUV and picked up 2 Austrian girls Viktoria and Christa. They were on long vacation to India. We withdrew some money as we did not have any bookings made at the Nubra Valley. Our driver Dorje was a middle aged man, who claimed to be an ex-army. Jolly good fellow. He was fun to chat and seemed to be experienced as he knew how to handle 4 girls. Khardung La is barely 40 km from Leh. And most of the road to Khardung La overlooks Leh city. Shanti Stupa looked glorious in soft sunlight. Now, we were gaining altitude rapidly and I was haunted by the memories of Kargil war and Formula One car at Khardung La. Every time, we drove past the Army Officers, a feeling of regret, shame and pride kept revolving in my...

How I got Leh'd Part Two (7 August to 9 August 2014)

7th August: The day broke a bit late for us. The view from the room was astonishing. The far away snow clad mountains were inviting me for a trek... but... My health was much better than yesterday so we freshened fast and left for site seeing. We hired moped from another guy who had a shop right opposite our guest house. Stanzin Tolden is a friendly young lad from a small village 80 km from Leh. We also asked Stanzin to arrange for a shared taxi to Pangong Tso next day. He let us the moped which already had a bit of fuel in it. Yet, we filled additional fuel worth Rs. 300. And sped fast to Spituk. On the way, we checked Hall of Fame, which is open till 7 PM every day. Spituk Gompa is said to be the traditional seat of HH Dalai Lama(s). So, I actually wanted to walk from Leh. We had to be careful with utilization of time hence chose to ride the moped. On our way, we saw a group of cyclists pedalling all the way to Spituk. (I was so jealous.) Aft...

Me and this world - a tête-à-tête

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