Lekar Hum Deewana Dil

What does a delhiite pareshaan with dilli-ki-garmi do in the month of June? No prizes for guessing he'll run to the hills. So did me, on my umpteenth annual vacation. It was an elaborate plan with 20 of my favorite people! I still remember driving from office to home like a madman with all that rain! The almost fatal skid, the tyre burst and changing the spare tyre for the first time ever! I was overtaken by a merry madness in my heart in anticipation of what lay ahead. After a quick meal and a change of clothes and super-fast packing, I reached my cousins place. Though we had plans to start at 2 AM that very night, we did not begin until 6 AM! One who said Man proposes, God disposes must not have been Indian. We make lofty plans for everything and break them conveniently our own selves!

We had 3 giants a Tavera, a Scorpio and a Bolero to carry us for the next few days. We started after much ado and were soon driving through the roundabouts of picturesque Chandigarh. We were treated with a lot of kada-prasaad of halwaa, chanaa and sweet water in Anantpur for the day was Martyrs day. Anantpur is a beautiful city with highest number of Gurudwaras I have ever seen! I still cherish the hospitality and respect that we were treated with; at every place we halted, by the large hearted inhabitants of the Sikh-land. We anchored at Bhakda Sadan in Nangal-township for the day. If the name rings any bells this township has the famous Bhakda-Nangal dams. YES!!!! Bhakda and Nagal are two separate dams! Well, it was almost a EUREKA discovery for my ignorant self. Good if you knew already. Derek-O-Brian, here you come! In case you go over to this place, do try out the chaats and ice-creams at the Nangal dam in the evening, sold on the mobile tapirs. Not for their taste, but for the sheer experience of standing there in the evening - watching natures wondrous creation in its most intimate embrace with mans engineering marvel - the 2 working together in harmony, merged as one. And before I am accused as guilty of almost sounding poetic, let me put an end to this thought that this was a dam(n) good iDEA that really changed our lives.

None of the elders had the strength or the intent to eat anymore after all that prasaad and a heavy lunch, but us kids (not to be taken literally) had guts of steel. We ventured out together and gorged on some amazing egg fried rice and chilly chicken at the local market. I was so enthusiastic that I even drove the Tavera, the speed though was 30 Km/hr, but thats really beside the point, right? Once we were back, we sat together under the moonlit sky and sung our favorite songs, sharpening our vocal chords. This wasnt without any purpose, you see! We had every intention of defeating the ladies of the house in a dual of antaakshari, that we had challenged them for. Actually, we had been trying hard at this for many-many years without any luck. We chatted the night away talking about a lot of things - college, career, girls, girls and girls (you expect bhajans in an all MALE gathering, dont you?).

We were mercilessly dragged out of our beds the next day, for we had to start early. Had a lot to cover that day. So, we drove and drove and then we drove some more. Mighty Punjab seamlessly dissolved into picturesque Himachal. The vegetation changed hues, the scenery changed for the better and the mercury dropped. We first went to the temple of Ma Chinntpurni in Una district, Himachal Pradesh. The temple is one of the 51 shakti-sthal of Goddess Sati. According to legend, Devi Sati (wife of Lord Shiva) was born as daughter of Daksh Prajapati. Her father organized a yagna, in which he did not invite Lord Shiva. Sati could not bear the disrespect shown by her own father to her husband. She decided to give her pranas by entering the yagna fire. Lord Shiva carried Satis dead body in all the ethereal worlds; Lord Vishnu used his Sudarshan-chakra to dismember Satis body. Her body parts fell at 51 different places which became the shakti-sthal of our modern times.

The Chinntpurni temple has parts of Satis lotus feet. There are many stories associated with the temple. I was fortunate to have attended the aarti at the temple with my family members. After spending adequate time at the temple, we furthered to Shri Jwaala Jee temple located at a place called Jwalamukhi, again in Himachal Pradesh. This is one of the most revered temples of the Aadi-Shakti, the provider of all the supreme Goddess. The existence of Shakti is in the form of continuously burning flames at this temple, coming out of solid rocks! The religious fervor of the bhaktas standing in serpentine queues was a sight to behold. There is an interesting incident related to this temple which has been duly recorded in our history books. The greatest ruler of the Mughal empire Akbar went to this temple with a solid disc made of rare metals including gold. He did not believe in the divinity of the flame that has been burning perpetually since time immemorial.

The disc was placed on the flame to put it out.

The jwaala leapt out, making a hole into the solid disc.

Making a believer out of Akbar.

The disc with the hole is still preserved at the temple, for the visitors to see.

We had tired ourselves with the entire journey, so we proceeded to Nagrota, our destination NEXT and called it a day. We stayed at the DoD guest house with very lavish rooms, kitchen and a beautiful, green garden. I fell asleep as soon as I hit the bed and was treated to a much needed dreamless sleep.

Dharamsala is around 100 KMs from Nagrota and that is exactly where we moved next morning. The scenic beauty and the weather of the hilly terrain was worth every moment we spent driving. Dharamsala is divided into 2 parts: Lower and Upper Dharamsala. Upper Dharamsala is also called Mc Leodganj the home of His Holiness The Dalai Lama, head of Tibetan government, living in exile. It is a good idea to actually leave your vehicle at Lower Dharamsala and take public transportation to Mc Leodganj and explore the place on foot. I have been to this place a few times in the past, but had never seen traffic jams on the roads like the ones we had to face. There are many places in Mc Leodganj that are worth a visit. That includes:

• Bhagsunag temple
• Waterfall near the Bhagsunag temple
• Dal Lake
• Main bazaar
• Tibetan monastery
• St John Church of the wilderness with a cemetery to add to the wilderness effect.

One gets many options of shopping for woolen clothes and Tibetan silver ornaments. Do not miss the mouth watering pastas and chicken momos at the German Bakery, near Bhagsunag temple. The spaghetti Bolognese, chicken sizzlers and momos still bring mouth watering memories.

After spending considerable time in Dharamsala, we proceeded back to our guest house in Nagrota. The fresh and crisp hilly air and the surroundings brought out the child in each one of us. We spent great time playing vish-amrit and chain-chain. Our movements probably attracted a group of wild monkeys, who took over from us and showed their antics for a good amount of time. I have a very interesting video capturing all their frolics

National Geographic, Discovery anyone listening???

The day ended with ghar-ka-khana cooked by the ladies of the house and a looooong round of antaakshari, where we used every crooked means to crush our opponents.

Next day, we visited the famous Chamunda temple located in Nagrota after which we bid farewell to the hills and proceeded to Chandigarh. Though I was supposed to reach Delhi the very same night, I was persuaded by everyone to bunk office for another day. I insisted that I had to report back for work, but had to give up in front of such emotional assertion by elder and younger family members alike. And I get senti at the drop of a hat. We Pisceans, I tell you! Now, I had a task at hand to inform my superior of my cruel intentions. Suggested alibis varied from food poisoning to minor accident. But, being an honest person that I am, I chose to tell the truth. And yes, now you can laugh out loud.

During our stay in Chandigarh, we had meals at the famous Piccadilly and The Aroma restaurants in Sector 22, but the taste did not live up to their names! Before checking-in into a hotel, we visited the famous Pinjore Garden. Its a beautiful garden built on lines of royal gardens of Kashmir. Plush green trees and fountains are complimented with adequate lighting. Its a very romantic place to go to. Worth every moment you spend there with your beloved. Jiya absolutely dhadak-dhadak jaye.

On the last day of our elaborate trip, we started by visiting the famous Rock Garden. Believe me; I was amazed to see that such a place actually existed! It seemed like a hidden world, a kingdom, a lost world at its intriguing best! Its a combination of alleys, chambers, waterfalls, dwarf gates, open air theatres and expanse of huge compounds each of them getting more interesting than the other, the views getting better and better. The most striking thing about the Rock Garden is that it is made up all rejected items - broken bangles, switches, metal frames, rubber, plastics and buckets - to name a few! All of these items put together to create one visual delight after another. This world has its own inhabitants numerous soldiers, men, women and children, animals and birds too. Maybe, they come to life the moment the last visitor steps out! Hats off to Nek Chand, the founder of this remarkable and delightful place. Our trip was concluded by visit to Lake Sukhna. We had no intentions of pedal-boating in the middle of the day, so we ate to our tummies delight at the food court located there and finally bid a farewell to Chandigarh. I must admit that I find myself thoroughly confused looking at all the roundabouts in Chandigarh because they all look the same. Thanks to the sign-boards or Id still be driving around in circles! Well, I drove the Bolero for the rest of the journey. It was a major achievement for me. Why? Because, our vehicle reached home first, when the Scorpio and Tavera were being driven at much higher speed than our relatively new Bolero. Well, I had foreign help in achieving this feat. And literally so, because I managed to keep the Lahore-Delhi bus (running on the same route) right behind our vehicle. The bus was accompanied by two police jeeps howling sirens and light-beams ON, in the middle of the day! I felt a sense of false nationalism in ensuring that I kept the bus behind our vehicle. The best part was that I got to break all the traffic signals and drive through Delhi roads at almost 120 KMPH! The Tavera was challaned for driving at 70 KMPH! Hah, poetic justice

I never came to know how the time flew during all those wonderful days. I was consoled only by fact that someone very special was waiting for us at home.

I guess all good things must come to an end, or else theyll not be special anymore. Howzzat for a closing line?

So long

Till I am on the move again