Love Affair With The Northern Winter Chill

It's always fun to be part of a pal's wedding and if it requires more than 2000km of drift, its truly a unique experience! It took me less than a week to confirm my presence at Deepak's marriage, after he confirmed his wedding dates. It took about one sleepless night to decide the trip itinerary and later the train tickets were booked with ease; thanks to IRCTC. Ramakanth and Jyothi were my travel mates this time; unfortunately Rajeesh had to back out at the end, for his US of A travel. He did shell out a good bag of money on all the bookings. It was then the start of my love affair with the northern winter chill!

Jyothi had taken an earlier AirDeccan flight to reach Delhi before us. Ramakanth and I had a very bad experience, with the SpiceJet flight getting delayed by more than 3 hours; only to land at Delhi airport at 22.40hrs. It was then a total rush to catch the train scheduled to depart at 22.50hrs. We reached the Delhi railway station by around 23.20hrs. After a couple of platform juggles, we were finally at the correct platform only to realize that the train had not yet arrived. The departure finally happened at 01.50hrs. The train journey was memorable with the UP-style Hindi classes delivered by an elderly Lucknow resident. It was then sweetdreams for Ramakanth and me; but not Jyothi as she wasn't comfortable sleeping in trains.

Train arrived at Moradabad at 08:00hrs next morning and we were received by Deepak's cousin. After freshening up and breakfast, we hit the streets of Moradabad, shooting pictures of shops and people (http://www.flickr.com/photos/thyagaraj/). The actual marriage masti started with the evening Baraat, where we started dancing to glory, all along till the end of the wedding reception. The couple looked gorgeous and they spent time smiling to other's happiness and to the pain of their cheeks. Marriage was sure beautiful and eventful. It was around 03.00hrs the next day, when the couple finally tied the knot and we had to depart for our next train. Not to our surprise, the train was delayed again; but this time just by an hour.

The best planned city of India, Chandigarh welcomed us in the morning. We only spent about an hour in Chandigarh, only to deliver a package to Jyothi’s Infy colleague which was sent by his client, and to get the taxi for Shimla (costing us Rs.2500/- for an Indica). The journey to Shimla was about 121km pleasant drive, with us sleeping on and off; not to forget a good desi meal on the way in a daaba. Our immediate attention as we reached Shimla was the lovely sunset; best viewed from the Mall Road. The vehicle access to Mall Road is completely restricted and it is only open for pedestrians. The uphill is made ease with an elevator plying for Rs.7/- per head. We then went in search of the Academy of Audits and Accounts, where my friend, Deepna had booked the guest house. Thanks to her invitation, the stay turned out to be an excellent experience at the Yarrows. The dinner at the Yarrows was yummy and the night was really cold; thanks to the Shimla winter.

We were up and about by 09:00hrs for the breakfast. The next stop was Shimla railway station. We took a small wonderful trip downhill for about 40 minutes in the Himalayan Queen train. The taxi picked us up from that station and we drove to Sankat Mochan, a peaceful temple of Lord Shiva. Kufri was our next uphill drive, which was beyond Shimla. Kufri offers hourse rides for site seeing and costs about Rs.250/-. We decided against it as we were short of time and directly headed to the Zoo which housed a Snow Leopard. It was a great experience to watch the elegant beast walk around. After the brief visit of Kufri we got back to Shimla’s Mall Road. The Mall Road has structures that typically resemble European structures and it looks gorgeous. I spent most of the time of Mall Road shooting pictures and enjoying each moment in the cold. Back at the Yarrows; we tucked our bags on our way back to Chandigarh by evening. On the way back, we stopped over at the Mc Donald’s for quick bites to save time. It was then a train from Chandigarh to Ambala Cant and then another to Amritsar. Surprisingly all these trains were on time!

Amritsar too welcomed us with chilling weather. Couple of cycle-rickshaws assisted us in finding a decent economical guest house. We then took a walking tour along Amritsar streets to reach Jallianwallah Bagh. This place reminds of the terrible deaths caused at the hands of a British commander, which was otherwise a peaceful freedom protest. As we walked out of Jallianwallah Bagh, our stomachs reminded us of lunch and we had to cater to its need. The Golden Temple was the next visit and I was awestruck by its beauty. People’s wonderful faith, their belief, their holy dip in the lake, long wait in the queues and the copper carvings all along the main temple, were remarkable and unforgettable. Our last plan was to visit Wagah Border which is about 27km from Amritsar. Taxis to Wagah Border can be booked from outside the temple, but be cautious and do not pay any cash in advance before you actually board the taxi. We decided to take an auto-rickshaw as we could not find a taxi and we were getting delayed. A historical ceremony starts at 17.15hrs everyday at the Wagah Border; it’s a delight to be part of the wonderful ceremony. The rigorous marching of the soldiers look elegant; the patriotic slogans shouted, add to the excitement. It was packed with loads of people on both sides of the border and its truly an experience to be cherished forever.

The train from Amritsar to Delhi was again on time and I was the first one to depart from Delhi to Bangalore early morning. Jyothi had an evening flight and Ramakanth had another wedding to catch up at Meerut.

This 4 day Moradabad-Shimla-Amritsar trip was a great hit. I thoroughly enjoyed shooting with my new Nikon D80 all along and the experiments with it were great. With every place providing a unique experience, I definitely fell in love with this winter.