Selfless Service @ Laxmi Ashram

Hi,

The day we reached Kausani we went for a short trek to a place called Laxmi Ashram...it's a trek of about 2 Km's from the pint sized market at Kausani. It is not a place that is popular with the tourists visiting Kausani, unfortunately so.

Laxmi Ashram is the place where Sarla Ben,a desciple of Mahatma Gandhi lived and did her bit for the betterment of the society and the enviorment.

Sarla Ben met Gandhi Ji when he visited Kausani during 1929...for just two days but was so enamoroed by the enviorns of Kausani that she decided to stay back.....all her life!! Sarla Ben (ben means sister in Gujarati).

Sarla ben worked for not just women empowerment but was also an ardent supporter of enviornment protection....she has authored several books on these topics....Sarla Ben died on the 8th of July 1982. But her legacu continues....there are more than 75 girls still call the ashram home sweet home.

The ashram provides them with food shelter and an excellent study enviornment.....infact the girls have the option of compeleting the masters degree.....and I must add that I personally found it very comendable....

The girls at he ashram are also given vocational training...and we also met the vocational training incharge...a pleasent lady by the name of Kalawati.

Ms.Kalawati who studied at the ashram herself and has been working here since 1984. Kalawati showed us the joss sticks, aweaters, caps etc...that the girls made. I ended up buying certain herbs and a packet of joss sticks from the ashram....while going back we also met another worker called Basanti.

(Kalawati and Me )

Ms. Basanti was involved with several projects meant for improving the ecological balance at places like Kausani, Bageshwar, Pinath etc....

Ms. Basanti was so happy to see us at the ashram that she gave us several basil (tulsi) saplings to plant....unfotunately by the time I reached Delhi...alll of them died.

(Ms. Basanti tending her garden)

Something which was quite evident when I visited Laxmi Ashram was that this place is definately not on Kausani tourist radar....it's both sad and dissapointing as it is places like these that need a lot of support both moral, emotional and economical from people like you and me....I have noticed this in India a lot we Indians don't mind travelling 30 K.m.'s to go to a bar...but to travel 3 k.m. to go to such a place does not cross our minds.....

Anyways as far as I am concerned I was deeply influenced by Sarla Ben's Work...a legacy that is now being propelled by the likes of Kalawati and Basanti...

As a bonus we were treated to an excellent panoramic view from Laxmi Ashram...it would be an underststement if I said that I was smitten by the natural bueaty that shines in all it's glory at Laxmi Ashram....

If you happen to visit Kausani ever please do visit the Ashram....i'm sure you would love it.

TC always,

Siddharth Tewari

Travel Tales....The German Yogi

Hi,

During our way to Kausani....we had to share our taxi with a German lady named Tareenee Prem....surprised don't be...because Tareenee was a disciple of Swami Rajneesh, popularly known as Osho.

Well Tareenee and we were on the same train from Delhi...but we didn't interact much till Almora....but after that all of us in the car had a freewheeling chat about India, Life and of course meditation....I was surprised enough to note that Fraulein Prem had relinquished her job as a sales manager to take up meditation as a full time career...it is something that we don't hear much about.

Well it is not just the sales job that she had relinquished....she was also at different points in time...at least a teacher & an administrator. Well Tareenee probably now has found what she wants to be and do....and that's run a meditation centre in Cologne....I understood one thing very clearly while talking to Tareenee...that no matter where you are and what you are doing we should not be satisfied till we achieve what we want to be or do with our life....

I wish all the best for the future to Tareenee and may her meditation centre be a roaring success.

Till the next time
take care,
Siddharth Tewari

Travel Tales 3: The legend of neem karauli baba....

Hi,

Time for some travel tales.....while going to Almora, we crossed a place called Kainchi Dham...(Kainchi as in a scissors)....now this kainchi dham (KD) was a very big complex...our driver then told us a story.....

Long ago there was an ascetic who made KD his home......no one knew his name but he was popularly called as neem karouli (NK) baba....on a particular day each year there is a big feast organized at KD.....it so happened that one year large number of pilgrims turned up for the feast..the KD administration was unprepared to meet such a rush....hence the ghee (clarified butter) finished. The junior ascetics started fretting about how the feast could go on....they checked every place but there was no ghee..... they ultimately went to NK baba to ask him for a possible explanation that they could furnish before the pilgrims...

Instead, NK baba smiled and asked them to check the containers once again....they did....only to find the containers overflowing with ghee....

It is because of this incident that NK baba/ KD is a popular figure/name in the Kumaon hills.....
Till the next post
TC
Siddharth Tewari

Travel Tales 2....the doc

Hi,


Let's continue with the travel tales folks.....


Just before we left for our trip my younger brother Ishan fell ill....he was running high fever and felt nauseated all the time....when we took him to our family physician Dr. Khanna, our worst fears came true...Ishan was diagnosed with Jaundice!!


This sad piece of information threw our plans to visit Kausani in a jeopardy....we were seriously contemplating cancelling the trip.......


It was Dr. Khanna who proved to be our saviour....or at least for the trip. Doctor uncle said that Sanju (as we fondly call Ishan) could travel but he had to be given loads of Glucon C, Fruits, Boiled Vegetables, radish etc......basically all the stuff any normal human being would like to avoid.....Sanju was very sad, but what to do after all tabiyat ka sawal tha na...


you think that was it...post's over ....no, not yet.....kyunki picture abhi baaki hai dost....and so is the twist.


At the platform while waiting for the Ranikhet Exp...we met an elderly gentleman...with whom I and Sanju got talking...initially about general stuff like damning the unprofessional attitude of the people in the railways, weather in Delhi, Places to see in Kausani etc... Later we got to know that he was retired doctor who used to practice in England. I explained Sanju's problem to him...and Voila!...the doctor saab said that he could eat anything that he wants to...in fact he should eat everything...because it Sanju had crossed the initial stage when Jaundice can be dangerous. Secondly the wide variety of nutrients would help Sanju recover faster.


As expected the happiest person on the train was Sanju.....I forgot to ask the Doctor his name...otherwise would have mentioned it....all that I remember was that he was visiting his nephew in Almora....I remember him telling me that his nephew had a shop in Lala Bazar....well Doctor saab if you happen to read this post and remember the incident...I & Sanju would like to thank you .

Take care till the next post
Siddharth Tewari

Travel Tales - the begining.....

Hi,

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ~St. Augustine



It had been some time since I last travelled so recently I along with my family travelled to Kausani (कौसानी), please note that it is pronounced as kaU-sani and not ksauni (कसौनी). I say this because most of the people including me tend to use the two terms interchangeably. Kausani is a quiet little hill station in the kumaun hills in the state of Uttrakhand, formerly known as Uttranchal. Situated at an altitude of 1890 mts or 6075 feet ...the pleasant environs at Kausani offer a welcome break from the usual hustle bustle of Delhi coupled with pristine views of the Himalaya's.



Well my week long sojourn started on the 13th of July 2008 on a disastrous note...we had booked our tickets on the Ranikhat Express...a daily train that connects Delhi to Kathgodam (काठगोदाम). The train leaves Old Delhi Station at 22.30 hrs....I thought, though incorrectly, that if we leave for the station at say somewhere around 21.30 hrs...the Delhi metro should take us to the Delhi station comfortably within time...what I did not imagine was the technical problems at the station ...the token kiosk had conked off...leading to major snarls at the Chandini Chowk station ( you are supposed to get down here for the old Delhi station)....the long corridor that connects the metro station to the railway station is pretty long.......end result...we ended up at the station at 22.30 hrs!!....the stares from my parents and brother were taking a rather ominous look....fortunately enough for me...the train was late....by a hour or so....and thus we embarked on the journey to Kausani.... The journey nevertheless was quite comfortable...infact out of the two trains that run between Delhi and Kathgodam (KGM)...Ranikhet Exp..is the best option available. The train leaves Delhi at night and reaches KGM at 6.00 in the morning. Kausani is about 140 Km's from KGM. In fact KGM is where the landscape starts changing- the dusty North Indian plains give way to hillocks.

KGM is the last rail head on this route...and a major stop for tourists visiting Nainital, Almora, Ranikhet, Jageswar and Kausani.
Once you reach KGM/ Haldwani the touts for taxis start appearing from everywhere.....they can be qiute nagging and are more than happy to fleece unsuspecting tourists....the best policy is to befriend some local's..and let them do the bargaining.

The onward journey to Kausani has to be done in two trips , both tiring physically but a pure treat for the eyes in the form of lush green forests, bubbling mountain streams and deep gorges.

Will share more in later posts,

till then,
Cheers

Siddharth Tewari

The Magnificent Mughals....

Hi all...
India was till recently considered to be a land of princes....in fact when we gained independence nearly six decades ago...there were more than 540 princely states that had to be amalgamated in the union....however no other imperial house ever reached the ascedency or wielded power over India as did the house of taimur (तैमुर) or the mughals...but it is not just the power and imperial splendor that invokes awe for the mughals...I can't pin down a specific reason for it but mughals have acquired a special place in the hearts of the Indians...it is a name that invokes nostalgic romanticism still..The house of taimur was founded in 1526 by Babur after the second war of panipat (पानीपत) .....the mughal kings held sway over large swathes of India...in fact they were nothing less than supreme masters of India...atleast till the later half of the 17th century when the maratha power under the dynamic Shivaji (शिवाजी) asserted itself in the deccan....the rise of the maratha power aggravated the downfall of the mughal empire....matters were further worsened after the death of Aurangzeb in 1707. The later mughals neither had the expertise nor the resources to hold together the collosal empire which began crumbling soon after...the mughal princes managed to to be in power....though only as titular heads...and as mere pawns first in the hands of unscruplous nobels and then the british...the last mughal emperor Bhadur Shah Zafar II (please refer to the post titled...Zafar's Last Poem) was exiled from India in 1858 to Rangoon where he died in 1862.... However the history of mughals is so expansive and vast that it can't be covered in a single post...will talk about it in future posts...but as of now I will just list down the names of the mughal emperors.....

1. Zahiruddin Mohammed Babur (ज़हिरुद्दीन मोहम्मद बाबर) (1526-1530)
2. Nasiruddin Mohammed Humayun (नसीरुद्दीन मोहम्मद हुमायूँ) (Ist reign 1530-1540, IInd reign 1555-1556 ): also refer to the post King for a day.
3. Jalaluddin Mohammed Akbar (जलालुद्दीन मोहम्मद अकबर) ( 1556-1605)
4. Nuruddin Mohammed Jahangir (नुरुद्दीन मोहम्मद जहाँगीर) ( 1605-1627)
5. Shahabuddin Mohammed Shah Jahan (शहाबुद्दीन मोहम्मद शाहजहाँ) (1627-1658)
6. Moinuddin Mohammed Aurangazeb Alamgir (मोईनुद्दीन मोहम्मद औरंगजेब अलामगीर) ( 1658-1707)
7. Bahadur Shah I ( बहादुर शाह प्रथम) (1707-1712)
8. Jahandar Shah (जहानदार शाह) (1712-1713)
9. Farukkhsiyar (फर्रुखसियार) (1713-1719)
10. Rafi-Ud-Darjat (रफी-उड़-दर्जत) (1719)
11. Rafi-Ud-Daulat (रफी-उड़-दौलत) (1719)
12. Nikusiyar (निकुसयार) (1719)
13. Mohammed Ibrahim (मोहम्मद इब्राहीम) (1720)
14. Mohammed Shah (मोहम्मद शाह) (1720-1748)
15. Ahmad Shah Bhadur (अहमद शाह बहादुर) ( 1748-1754)
16. Alamgir II (आलमगीर द्वितीय) (1754-1759)
17. Shah Jahan III (शाह जहाँ III) (1759)
18. Shah Alam II (शाह आलम II) (1759-1806)
19. Akbar Shah II ( अकबर शाह II) (1806-1837)
20.Bahadur Shah II (बहादुर शाह II) (1837-1857)

So these 20 names constituted the entire mughal empire....and covered 331 years.

Hope you liked the trivia...till the next post....
take care
Siddharth-The King of Me!!!

I am in love...

hi all....

It has been some time since I last blogged....but I must let you know that someone very special kept me occupied.....In fact I have decided to proclaim my latest crush in front of all of you...but before I tell you who is the lucky one....ummm...infact I am the lucky one to have her company... :-] ......I know... for people who know me...this might come as a shock...but some things are tied to the inescapable call of destiny and this is one of them...I am sure you would want to know how did we meet ...the very first time...

It was a sunday evening and I was at the pacific mall......it was then when we both saw each other for the very first time....I would be lying if I say that I wasn't attracted towards her..I was!!......she had a bright colourful face....a sparkle in the eye....slim body...and curves to die for....I was simply mesmerized by her very presence....did not know what to say or do....but I was sure about one thing...I wanted her in my life....and I wanted her desperately....I am thankful to god that she is with me now...and I dont let her away from me for an instant....

Let me share her picture with all of you...



Suprised....are you...but why???....I was talking about my latest love....my nokia 2630 handset....check her out ...you will fall in love as well!!!
Take care....
Lovestruck Siddharth...

Stratagem of Life....

Hi,

( Sun Tzu)

hmm...lets start with the quotes from art of war....if u are new to the blog please visit the last post....The quote for today is....Sun Tzu .....pronounced as Sun Za said ......



" All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him."

and....Tzu couldn't have been more correct...I know several people friends, classmates, people from office...who practice this art of deception...with such finesse...that nobody comes to know of their plans till the very end...however I must confess...that I am not good at this art....fortunately or unfortunately....but that mind you, depends entirely on how you choose to look at it you might choose to support or differ....however you would agree that nothing is completely right or wrong in this world. If I was choose between these two I would want to be an ideal mix between these two extremes...I mean you cant be bragging about what you plan to do... to every tom dick and harry also if you end up not realizing what you bragged about people...you would end up being the butt of all jokes.....on the other hand you need to ...like I do... share your plans and with your good friends and parents because two brains are better than one......

obviously when this quote would have been written...which was like 2000 years ago....you had your army and that of your enemy's......so you had two choices either be the hunter or be hunted....now days ...THANKFULLY!!....the situation is not that desperate...but I think the crux of this quote remains....you need to be careful and be on the watch out.....and keep your secrets to yourself because people might use it against you... ..plus also choose your friends with considerable discretion....I think that's all that I could gather...if you choose to differ or have another perspective on the quote...do let me know...would absolutely love it...

till the next post....

TC

Siddharth Tewari

The Art of War....

Hi,
Life is nothing but a war...a war to survive, a war to succeed, a war to be noticed....every aspect of our life is nothing but day in the battle ground....of course there are days of intense fighting...interspersed with days that witness a lull....or even sporadic ceasefires....but that's
all part of the war nevertheless....I thought sharing the famous book the art of war written atleast 2000 years before by a chinese general Sun Tzu....would be nice....

I hope you have heard about the book it is so popular...and so very nice....I thought I will go quote by quote...and small paragraphs on each ...that is as much as I can understand and make sense of them....In fact the relevance of these quotes can be gauged by the fact that army's of several countries....still refer to this book...in fact I would also recommend this book to those unfortunate souls who are doing their MBA....b'coz it might be very helpful in making strategies to tackle the problems that we as future managers....might face at our workplace....talk about responsibility!!!

if you want to read the whole book ...i am sure it would be easily available at a book store near you...and it is not so expensive either...but I would personally recommend the net if you want to just go through them....you could also refer to a blog called http://www.siddharthtewari.blogspot.com/ for expert opinion...hehe....so lets start.....I meant from te next post onwards...

so till then
take care and be safe....

Siddharth Tewari

Unadulterated Valour....

hi all,


Indian air force is one of the biggest in the world. I stay in Vaishali a satellite town near Delhi....not far from Vaishali is the Hindon Air Force Base....so we often see the monsterous machines flying over our head.
It gives me great pleasure to see these jets sailing in the sky....espcially after the republic day parade held every year on the 26th of January.

Well....26th January is also the occasion when gallantry awards are awarded to the various defense personnel. The highest award in India for gallantry is the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), (परम वीर चक्र). So after this year's flypast I got thinking about the PVC winner's from the air force. I searched the net and will like to share what I found with you......

THE STORY OF FLYING OFFICER N.S.SEKHON

well we all know about the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971....the main thrust of the war was in present day Bangladesh then called East Pakistan. However Pakistani forces carried out several failed attempts to attack our northen frontiers also....It was one such day on 14th December in 1971...in fact Pakistan surrendered on the 16th Dec. Anyways....that day Sekhon and his fellow air warriors were surrounded by Pakistni Sabre's (it is said that these planes were much superior to the Indian Folland Gnat). Despite the odds against the Indians....the brave young Sikh destroyed two enemy crafts before he attained martydom. It is said that if the enemy aircraft were not offered any resistance they could have bombarded the city of Srinagar at will and could have caused heavy loss to life and property. It is for this gallant act that was nothing but pure courage and valour....backed by the call of duty that Flying Officer N.S. Sekhon was awarded the PVC....the fact that only 21 people have been awarded this medal only underlines his heroism....and incidentally he is the only one from the airforce to have achieved this honour.

It might have been close to 27 years that this incident took place but reading it made my eyes moist and my heart full of pride.....

I would like to take this oppertunity to salute all the ranks of the Indian Defense Forces....we all must remember that it is because of these men and women...that we can live our lives in peace.

(The Folland Gnat)
I have found the photo of flying officer N.S. Sekhon on the web....Let me tell you that the photo belonged to some other website and I am just pasting it here....so that people can get to see a brave hero..... also take a look at the Folland Gnat and the Sabre's. Sabre is towards your right.



till the next post
Jai Hind!!!
Siddharth Tewari

Jalebi...oh so yum!!

An Ode to the Jalebi!

Her thoughts bring water to my mouth,
her smell reminds me of good days I spent down south.

the roundabout golden alleys,
dripping with nectar..melting in mouth..oh so divine!!

It's not a snack....not a sweet....it is nothing less than a masterpiece!!
the good ol' jalebi!!!
(by Siddharth Tewari)
Jalebi....written as जलेबी in hindi is a popular sweetmeat in the Indian subcontinent.It is basically a pretzel shaped prepration that is soaked in a sugary syrup called chashni (चाशनी).
Jalebi is considered to have somewhat humbler origins than most of the sweets made in India like barfi (बर्फी) ,gulabjamun (गुलाबजामुन) , rabri (रबरी ), balushahi (बालुशाही) sohan papri (सोहन पप्री ) etc...because jalebi can be made easily and with much less expensive ingredients.

Well one can have jalebi's anytime you want but mostly they are prepared in the evening. You can be sure to find jalebi...at any halwai shop in India.

Most north Indians like to have jalebi in the evening along with another popular snack called the samosa.....will talk about the smashing samosa in another post!!
A lot of people also cherish eating jalebi with yogurt in the morning...I have tried it but didn't like the taste much....eating day old jalebi's dipped in milk is also a popular way to cherish this sweet.
Jalebi's are usually bright orange or yellow in colour. In South India jalebi is called jangiri, but in middle east jalebi is known as zangoola.....

A similar sweet to jalebi is emarti (इमारती). In fact I call one of my closest friend as jalebi....anyways let me share with you how can you make jalebi at your home....

All that you need is

1. 2 cups maida or all purpose flour
2. 1/4 tablespoon(tsp) baking powder
3. 2 tsp yogurt
4. 2 1/2 of warm water
5. 3 cups of sugar
6. 1/2 tsp of cardamom powder
7. 5 large tsp ghee or clarified butter

Method:

mix the flour, baking powder, yogurt and cardamom powder in water and then let it ferment. In the mean time make the syrup by dissolving sugar in water and heating it.

Now heat oil in a kadai or a deep fry pan....and put the batter in in circles. Deep fry the batter till it is golden. Then dip the fried piece in the syrup....let it soak.....just a little bit more.....close your eyes now and take a deep breath... if you are lucky enough you can smell it if you cant it's ok....you just need to master the art....dont worry it will come with time....but anyways.....open your eyes to see the bueaty in all its glory...and enjoy!!

till the next time take care....

Siddharth Tewari

Want to know your Chinese name??

I was surfing the net today when I came across this site where you could find out what would be your name in chinese....I found it to be pretty cool....all that you need to do is enter your first and last name along with your desired essence of the name ( I entered mind and intelligence), gender and your date of birth...click enter and Voila!! you have your brand new chinese name!!

According to this site my name in chinese would be: TAI SHU TOU!

The URL to site is : http://www.mandarintools.com/chinesename.html

So go on and get a name!!!
Till the next post take care...
Tai Shu Tou!!

What's in a name??

What's in a name wrote Shakespear but I would like to disagree.

A name to me represents an identity, a personality. It brings to us an image of the person, whenever we comes across a particular name....and that is why we love some names, are indifferent towards others or simply abhor some of them ...As far as I'm concerned I simply love my name no matter in what language -then be it SIDDHARTH (english) or सिद्धार्थ (hindi) or ಸಿದ್ಧಾರ್ಥ್ (kannada) or സിദ്ധാര്ത് (malayam) or சித்தர்த் (tamil) or సిద్ధార్థ్ (telgu) ....well Siddharth is sanskrit word that is made up of two words सिद्ध (having found out) and अर्थ (the definition) thus Siddharth means somebody who has discovered all the meanings of this world.

Some people also spell Siddharth as Siddhartha...

Well interestingly Siddharth was also the name of Lord Buddha.....the founder of Buddhism.

I must add that until a few years ago Siddharth used to be a rare name i.e. one did not come across a lot of people named Siddharth but now I regularly meet people who are my namesakes....probably it is because people named Siddharth are uber cool.....hehe.. sorry for the bad joke!!

Anyways....A Name is a Name is a Name..... with due apologies to Mr. Shakespear and all of those to support him on this!!!

anyways take care and god bless!!
Siddharth

Zafar's last poem

Most of us would have heard about the first war of india's independence....at the very forefront of this momentous war was the last mugahl emperor- Bhadur Shah Zafar (बहादुर शाह ' ज़फर') । In fact zafar was the king's sobriquet, for he was an accomplished poet. I have also uploaded Zafar's photo ( towards your right).

The indians lost the war and most of the rebels ( that's exactly what the britons called them!!!) were executed and the old and weak Bhadur Shah was deported to Rangoon (now called Yangon)।It is said that the king very dissapointed and his spirit- crushed when he was told that he would never be able to return to his beloved city of Delhi (दिल्ली) । It was then that he penned down a poem or a ghazal (ग़ज़ल).
The poem goes:

लगता नही जी मेरा उजड़े दयार में ,
किस की बनी है आलम -ऐ - पाएदार में।
कह दो इन हसरतों से कहीं जा बसें,
इतनी जगह कहाँ है दिल-ऐ-दागदार में।
उम्र-ऐ- दराज़ मांग के लिए थे चार दिन,
दो आरजू में कट गए , दो इंतज़ार में।
है कितना बदनसीब ज़फर दफ़न के लिए,
दो गज़ ज़मीं भी न मिली कु-ऐ-यार में।

I am also giving the english translation for those who do not understand hindustani.

The poem says:
My heart is not happy, In this barren land
Who has has ever fulfilled his desires in this temporary world.
Please tell my emotions to go somewhere else,
for there is not enough space in my sad heart.
I had requested a long life- a life of four days,
two were spent in praying and two in waiting.
How unlucky Zafar is,
because he can't even get two yards of earth for his burial in his beloved nation.

Friends please note that Zafar is buried in Yangon. However I am not very sure if this tomb has withstood cyclone nargis that has claimed several lives and killed thousands in Burma.

Anyways...till the next time take good care of yourself and may god bless you all!!!!

Siddharth

Munching away in monastery.....

hi all,

The land of Tibet may be known around the world because of his holiness the Dalai Lama. the Potala Palace and the recent olympic torch controversy......all of these have been succesful in making waves and grabbing headlines around the world with varying degrees of success....but in a corner of Delhi lies a small colony of Tibetian refugees that has bowled me over.

The colony is poularly called monastery....the board outside the gate says it is a laddakh baudh vihar ( लद्दाख बौद्ध विहार) but it is tibetian refugees that make up the numbers here.

The place has a small but thriving market for t-shirts, shoes, jeans etc.....let me clarify that this is not original stuff but is usually dirt cheap and a shoppers paradise.... for- if you really know the art and science of bargaining you could get a discount of up to 40-50%

It is here that I have discovered a restraunt that has become my favorite joint for authentic tibetian food. The place is called Star Restraunt and is managed by an elderly gentleman....the ambience is...well....ironically chinese or maybe I am not able to distinguish tibetian culture from the chinese one.....nevertheless the focus is not on the ambience but the yum food that's served there.

It's not about chowmein (चाऊमीन- that's how several restraunts spell it!!) and momo's but several tibetian preprations like thupka, tingmo, shaplak.....etc .

The restraunt has both vegetarian and non vegetarian dishes on the menu. I can't comment on the non veg. one's (am a vegetarian), but the vegetarian one's often elicit the response - that's is so yum!!!

The fact that food is hygenic and economically priced adds to the brownie points.

After the meal you could also visit the nearby monastery, that houses a bueatiful buddha statue (I'm his namesake!!), or wander in the market.

So people if you have some time on your hand's and happen to be near Kashmere Gate bus terminus in Delhi do spend couple of hours and enjoy a meal at the monastery. Bon Appetit!!!!

King for a day....

Hmmm...it has been some time since I last blogged. But I think I will make it a regular habit now...At times one bumps into things that are so unexpected yet amazing.

Like the other day I was driving down NH(National Highway)-24. The road is fantastic and the drive smooth. The mild rays of the sun and the pleasent weather was a welcome break from the hot and humid Indian summers. It was then that I noticed a monument just off the road near Indirapuram. As I was in no hurry and am generally interested in history- I decided to check it out.

The monument turned out to a be a silent witness of one of the stories that most of us would have heard when young- The Story of the Bhisti (भिश्ती) King.
Story has it that when Mughal King Humayun was defeated by the Afghan king Sher Shah Suri and was running for his life, he fell in a river and was about to drown when a waterman saved his life. The desolate king asked him to choose a reward for himself. The waterman replied he would tak the reward when he felt the need. Days passed into months and months into years Sher Shah died at Sasaram in a gunpowder explosion and Humayun was able to recapture the throne at Delhi. It was then that the Bhisti came to the imperial cort and asked the mughal (mogul) for his reward. What he asked for left everybody stunned and shocked. The waterman wanted to be The King Of India!!- thankfully only for a day.

More shocking was Humayun's response- a nonchalant yes!!!

Hence, Humayun stepped down and the waterman formally ascended the throne and the writ of a waterman ran across the breadth and length of the country for 24 hours. It is rumored that the waterman also issued coins made from leather to signify his rather short lived reign!!

It is this waterman's grave that I saw on NH-24. The tomb has a canopy charetceristic of the mughal period and is made of redstone. It has not been preserved at all and the signs of decay are evident. The locals refer to the grave as the resting place of pir baba ( godman, colloquial hindi).

It is nice place to visit ...given the trivia....so go on if you happen to pass that way pull over to take a look at the tomb of the One day King!!

Sorry 4 not blogging....

It has been some time since I came on blog sphere...but trust me and anybody doing M.B.A. would agree that 24 hours are just not enough!!!!

With so much to do presentations,assignments,projects,blah,blah,blah,internal exams,external exams,blah,blah,lab tests,university tests...M.B.A. is like a battlefield......where most of the students end up being cannon fodder.

So I hope that you would excuse me for my prolonged absence.....I will try and be a regular blogger from now on..