Where are the tourists ?

Probably its the recession or maybe the season is getting over..but we hardly found any tourist in Kumbalgarh, but for a few Indian families on a summer vacation..the fort was not their destination as they preferred to swim in the pool and beat the heat..I didnt speak to the couple in the picture, but the guide told me that foreigners have not been coming of late..Sad, for tourism !

In Kumbalgarh still

Meet Dimple..

She's from Udaipur and has come to Kumbalgarh for a dance performance with her friends .


Dimple has just appeared for her Class X exams and says she has learnt the dances from her mother


She says she has been dancing she was eight years old.

And she is very clear when she says -" yeh math samjho ki mein eh paise ke liye kar rahi hoon . Mein heroine banna chahathi hoon. Mera favourite hero hai John Abraham."
("Dont think Im doing this all for money..I am doing all this because I want to become a heroine. My favourite hero is John Abraham."

I couldnt take a video of her solo performance, but here is a short clip .I love the haunting music.Thanks for watching.I think its people like Dimple who make your travels worthwhile..At 15 she is so sure about what she wants and where she wants to go..With stars in her eyes and great talent, hopefully she will go places.

Kumbalgarh Fort-Voices from the past

Travelling to me is all about the sights and sounds of a place. The Cerebrate team visited the Kumbalgarh Fort after a brainstorming session and here I am celebrating the heroics of Rana Kumbha who built the fort in the 15th century.The wall of the fort at 36 kms is supposed to be the second longest continuous wall after the Great Wall of China.

Im leaving you with some videos, pics and audio clips of the place..The clips were recorded on my mobile as the guide narrated the stories..Im just posting a couple of them here with our own English translation as well, courtesy Rashmi who was one of the participants at Cerebrate .


One talks about how the fort was built -the legend talking about the sacrifice of a priest who asked Rana to build the fort . The second talks about the war between Rana Pratap and Akbar and then the many gates of the fort..


I do not have a high end gadget..so I do hope the quality of video and audio is fine..Im also a bit lazy now and I do not want to write too much..but will soon do another post on the fort soon.

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Cerebrating at Kumbalgarh - a celebration of passions

When you are in a room with ten achievers speaking about their lives and ideas that build their lives, you are stuck with one thought - that they think with their hearts and not their brains. I have just come back from a wonderful brainstorming session from Kumbalgarh where Cerebrate 2009 was held.Organised by Club Mahindra, the event is an unconference . The achievers included Cmdr. Satyabrate Dam who has scaled the two poles besides being an acclaimed mountaineer, best selling author Tim Murari, IIT-ian turned agriculturist Madhavan who is a pioneer in creating entrepreneurship among farmers, wildlife photographer, filmmaker and naturalist Kalyan Varma, singer and actor Andreah Jeremia, social activist , Rashmi Dhanvani , designer Abhijit Bansod, RJ Anjaan and entrepreneurs Sriram Bharatam and Suresh Sambandam .


It was a celebration of passions - thats what I call it .Inspired, overwhelmed and humbled after meeting so many interesting people, Im now charged to do something on my own as well.And one of my best moments - spotting a falling star at 4 am in the morning under a jewelled sky..

More pictures of Cerebrate here

Chittorgarh

Chittorgarh - the fort that symbolises Rajput spirit of pride , valour and sacrifice ; where history,mythology and spirituality merge . A tale of kings and queens , heroes and villains.The ruins resonate with the legend of Rani Padmini who immolated herself to avoid being coveted by Allidin Khilji in 14th century. If you are like me , who can romance ruins and relive the lives of royalty , for whom history is beyond a text book , then Chittorgarh is a place you must visit

We took a day off from our Udaipur trip to Chittor and as you can see we had some intersting company on the way. History has always been a fascination for me and I believe in the stories behind all the stones and bricks that lay strewn around . Maybe I like dwelling for a moment in the past .

We soaked in the sights and sounds a bit ...A couple of palaces - Rani padmini and Rana Kumbha palace , several temples including the ones dedicated to the Goddesses Kali and Durga Mata temples dot the landscape. But the landmark(S) of Chittorgarh is the Vijay Stamb or the Victory Tower and the Kirti Stanb or the Tower of fame . The former built by Maharana Kumbha to celebrate his victory over Khilji in the 14th century .9 storeys and 157 steps with sculptures around,you can give yourself a thumbs up if you can climb up and see the beautiful place



I am really not in a mood to write and the danger is that if I go on...I will sound like an 8th standard Indian history text book . I leave you with some pictures of the historic past as I am travelling to another continent which has enough history , art and romance to rival India ..But I still think that India stands tall when it comes to beauty , romance , culture , exotica,history ,spirituality ...and one life is just enough to see all of it !

Udaipur - a city of palaces

Old photographs always have a tale to tell. They come with memories ,usually laden with mixed emotions. While cleaning my cupboard,I came across several albums which were filled with pictures taken during various trips. Life was basic and analog then , but the special moments were all Kodak moments . A frame could go wrong,a bit of over exposure or the light could be dim, but the trip is still special.

Of the several albums, I chose my trip to Udaipur. We were tourists then , not travellers and went where the crowds beckoned us . I still remember the day we boarded the mid night Air India flight to Bombay from Madras. We stayed in the airport to pick up the connecting flight to Udaipur. History has always fascinated me as a kid and growing up on Amar Chitra katha stories,one had heard several legends of kings and queens . I had imagined Udaipur as filled with beautiful palaces, where time stood still with dashing Rajout princes brandishing their swords and brave princesses sweeping the men off their feet . But I was wrong




The first thing that struck me was the obscure airport . Next were the loud brash men staring at women like they have never seen them before . And people were cold,unfriendly. Like any naive tourist , we had a chauffer driven car which took us places ..but it was much later that we realized that everything was fixed here . Maybe it was after that we became travellers and not tourists

And yet I wasn’t entirely wrong. Three places that made Udaipur memorable for me are the City Palace , the Jag Mandir and the Lake palace in Lake Pichola .There is also the Fateh Prakash palace , but I think the Lake Palace is surreal, almost a dream . .Floating on the sheer blue waters , its so beautiful that you wish you could live there for just a night . Carved out of marble, it is an island of love, built in 18th century by Maharana Jagat Singh 11 . To me , it’s the ultimate romantic destination surrounded by the pristine lake Pichola and the Aravalli Mountains . The lake itself is enchanting as it changes myriad hues as you ferry down towards Jag Mandir


It was quite breathtaking when we first saw this . Delicately carved out of marble and mosaic and blended with blue stones, this was supposedly a hideout for Prince Khurram , known to us as Shah Jahan by the Rajput king ,Maharana Karan Singh .There was no time to think history then as we allowed the beauty of the place to sink in . The craftsmanship is amazing as you gaze at the elephants who seem to be watching over the palace


And finally the city palace which towers over the Pichola lake . It seemed never ending as we moved from one gate to another , from one hall to another . Endless array of pillars, majestic courtyards, several balconies overlooking the lake, towers , coulourful mirrors and glass , elegant carvings, beautiful doors and windows …it’s a palace where you could lose yourself and go back in time …