Durga Puja @2013- The Homecoming

Time and tide waits for none- a renowned phrase that my parents used to tell me when I was younger, which I now understand too well. The whole point of starting the post with this idiom is to emphasize upon the fact that its been months (5 months and 5 days to be exact!) since my last post and that in these few months, too many things have happened. To me, it seemed as if time passed like a lightning bolt!! Well, if I go on to update about what all things happened, it'll be way too long a post which is sort of unwanted over here considering I have too little time in hand. So, to tell in brief, I am living in Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Orissa, for the last two and a half months, after spending about 5 months in Mysore, the second largest city in Karnataka. Well, presently, I'm at home (Kolkata) for Durga Puja celebrations.

I noticed something different about the Pujas this time.To me, Durga Puja was THE most awaited event in the year (apart from my birthday of course!). But this year, something changed. Earlier, Durga Puja meant meeting up with friends, 5 days of  ultimate masti, khana-peena, pandal-hopping and a lot more. But now, it meant coming home, spending time with my family. This maybe because I have been living away from home for almost 8 months now. Every year, I used to make pandal-hopping plans way before with my friends, but this time I wanted to stay in home, eat home-made food(though that happened less!), chat with my parents and grandparents, catch up with my bro etc. Well, that doesn't mean I didn't go out. I did catch up with my old friends from school and college, friends who've shifted out of the city, and chatted for hours. This was a significant change from previous years. The whole essence and spirit of Durga Puja has changed in my viewpoint.

They say, change is a nature of life, but I don't know if this change is good or bad. All I know is, I dont regret this change. Today at night, I'm leaving the City of Joy, but I'll be back soon. So guys, enjoy the festive season and take care. Suvo Bijoya and Happy Dussehra to all...  :-)

A Month in Mysore...

I know its been a long time since my last post but to speak the truth, my life has been a whole lot busier for the past month. Yes, its been a month I'm staying at Mysore for work- my first job. Exactly a month ago I joined the company. Since that day, my life has been totally different in every respect. I'd say staying away from home and family and loved ones has its pros and cons though I'm still deciding which is more! For me the whole thing has been a learning process. I learnt taking responsibility of myself, time management and many other things that I never imagined I'd do. Most of all, I realized the importance of family and the love they have for me and I really miss them here,specially "ma ke hath ka khana"! I've learnt the importance of all those persons whom I've taken for granted all these years. I want to let all of them know that they all hold a special place in my heart and I miss them all. Ok, enough with the emotional part, let me come to the interesting part- the city Mysore.

Mysore is the second largest city of Karnataka after Bangalore. As far as the parts of the city I've seen I found it very planned and well-maintained.The main attraction here to visit is the Mysore Palace. Its situated at the heart of the city. It has been converted to a museum and its a place worth visiting. Though I've not been around Mysore much,I'd like to mention about the market here. It is spread over a big area and its very lively. Another thing I must mention is the sweet the city lends its name to -Mysore Pak. It tastes awesome,infact I'd recommend each and every person coming to Mysore to have a bite of this delicious sweet. Its worth a bite!! Well, there are also other  places to visit here like Chamundeshwari Temple, Vrindaban Gardens etc. and I hope to provide the details in my blog soon. So till then, take care all... :-)

Reminiscing 2012 -- A Trip to the Holy City

Another year passed by, what remain are memories- both good and not-so-good ones. For me, it was a year of some dreams coming true while some others shattered, a year of welcoming new relations while letting go of some, a year of watching an awesome Life of Pi while being a witness to incidents of monstrosity against women- in a nutshell, 2012 was a mixed bag. But one thing I must admit that I've traveled a lot last year-visited many places, watched new things, tasted different food items and enjoyed the utmost. Traveling is something I just love doing but then, who doesn't?? I've visited some of this places earlier but this time I was thinking that I may not have the time and opportunity to visit these places again once I start working, that maybe this is for the last time I'm going there. Silly thoughts I know, but who knows what the future has in store for us? For instance, this was my fourth time in Varanasi. I've been there one winter as a 8 year old kid, two times in spring and this time it was monsoon. This time the ghats are half submerged under the river Ganga. But I really want to visit Varanasi during Diwali one time. Its the Festival of Light and its during this time the entire stretch of the ghats along river Ganga are decorated with diyas. I've heard its a treat to watch but I don't know if I can really make it.

The Ganga itself is mesmerizing to watch during sunrise. You can see all sorts of activities people do on the ghats- people selling flowers, offering tarpan and taking a bath, people eager to take you on a boat ride, sadhus and sanyasis all over the place, there is even a ghat where dead bodies are cremeted, Manikarnika Ghat. There's an age-old saying that people who die on the banks of river Ganga here are washed of all sins they've committed over their lifetime and they find a place in heaven. So, many people, in their deathbed, were brought here as it was their last wish to die here. In the evening you can see the Ganga arati, where priests offer prayers to Mata Ganga after sunset.

  

And the most famous gullies of Varanasi- narrow alleyways between tall stone buildings in the old part of the city, most of them leading to ghats. Let's say you are walking through a gully, and suddenly you see an ox standing in the middle of it, blocking the whole alleyway and you don't know what to do- that's precisely what happened with me. There are heaps of trash, cows and dogs eating the leftovers from them, cow dung on road here and there, people on cycles coming from the opposite direction with speed- I'm standing in the middle of the gully trying to figure out how to go past the ox dodging the cycles!! But despite all of these, they've got this old charm, an ancient feel that gets me hooked to the city.


 Varanasi is also known as the City of Temples or the Holy City. It has got temples literally at every nook and corner. Well, till date, I've been to the Vishwanath Temple, Sankat Mochan and the Kalbhairav Temple. City- dwellers have got a strange connection to their deities. Every Gods and Goddesses have got a specific day of the week on which there's a surge of number of worshipers at the temples. For instance, Monday is for Baba VishwanathJi, Tuesday for HanumanJi and so on. The crowd is immense on those days.

There are a lot of  places to visit in and around Varanasi apart from the temples. Some of them are the Sanchi Stupas where you can see the ancient ruins of the Buddhist monastery and an adjacent museum where you can see the relics excavated from the site, the Ramnagar fort on the opposite bank of the river which is the palace of the erstwhile Maharaja of Kashi and a museum showcasing the paintings of the Maharajas in addition to the guns,swords and cars of that era, The Benaras Hindu University campus etc.

I admit that I'm a self-confessed food lover. So this post is not complete if I don't mention about the specialty of Varanasi in that field. The city is famous for its two delicacies- raabri and malai. These are the two things I just love about Varanasi. There's this small shop near Kedar Ghat that makes the best raabri and malai I've tasted so far. Another item is besaan ke ladoo, the best found at a shop  inside the Sankat Mochan Temple. They are made of ghee and tastes heavenly. Next comes the chaat, dai vada and laung lata. Till now, I've only tasted the tomato chaat from a junk food joint and dahi vadas made of rasgullas. Really tasty!! That shop inside Sankat Mochan Temple also sells the best laung lata. Your trip to Varanasi is not complete if you've not tasted these.

This is just my experience during my four visits to Varanasi. And I'm always looking for an opportunity to visit the city again specially during Diwali. I hope that I'll make it someday... :-)