Trip to Kanha - 20th and 21st March 2012

‘I am coming the following week’, came a phone call from my aunt. She was about to come fort the “Shrardham” of my pati, scheduled on 09^th and 10^th March 2012. She arrived on 4^th March 2012 in India and to Nagpur by Jet lite airlines. All of us, i.e,I,my mother, baby aunty and my sister had been to the airport for picking her up. Appa was in Pune, so he could not make it up to the airport. She was very excited to see all of us in the airport and this plan was made by mother. She had come during this time, i.e. the‘HOLI’ festive season nearly after 37 years. After getting married on 12th June  1975, this is the first time she was coming in the month of March. Appa also came from Pune on 8^th March 2012 morning and the “Shrardham” went off really well. All our near and dear relatives had come. My cousin,Shrikant, from Mumbai also came on 8^th March 2012 which was a ‘HOLI’ day. His arrival was a surprise for all of us as none of us knew that he was coming. When I was exercising, suddenly a call came from behind, ‘Hi Rohit’. When I turned around, I was astonished to see a person standing at the door of the room where I was working out. He was none other than Shrikant. It was very nice to see him after a long time. The same day after some time, I went to pick up appa from the station.

Fearing the ‘HOLI’ day, I and Shrikant went by car to pick up appa. The streets wore a deserted look as compared to the other days. As the Fuel Gauge was pointing to empty, we were concerned to fill in the gas for the car. After dropping appa home, I and Shrikant had come till Hingna Naka, HP petrol pump to fill in the gas. But because of ‘HOLI’ HP was closed and the fuel gauge went below ‘E’. More worry ;). Next day on the way to my institution, where I was working, I succeeded to fill the gas to the brim till the indicator flashed the “F” mark.an Shrikant. It was very nice to see him after a long time. The same day after some time, I went to pick up appa from the station.

Technically, I could not attend the first day of “Shrardham” scheduled on the 09^th March 2012, as I had to work. But the next day, being a leave (second Saturday), I could attend the “Shrardham” fully. Since the time my cousin came and even with my aunt the discussion cropped up about visiting a wildlife sanctuary. But as my cousin intimated me in the last moment, there was no booking available. My aunty was armed well in advance as she was keen to visit the jungle with Ashwin, my

cousin who was on a 5 day trip to India. Initially only two of them were planning to go, but later on, all of us were invited and gradually our group formed. Me, both my sisters, three aunts, all my paternal cousins decided to join the trip. We had our lodging booked at Maple Bundela Safari Resort by Venkat Uncle. I had to take two days off from my institute. I along with my sis, were about to go to Kanha after 22 long years. I had been there along with appa and amma during the nintees. (We had started on the morning of 1st Nov 1990 and were back on the evening of 03rd Nov 1990. The dates are remembered so exactly because, the day before 01st Nov 1990, pati, had slipped off the lid of the carom coins, in which me and akka were playing in the evening. She was even admitted to the hospital, but fortunately, nothing serious happened). Appa had to join his college and amma had paper correction from the boards. Shrikant left for Mumbai immediately during the next day of “Shrardham” on 11^th March 2012 in the evening by Jet Lite Airways.

All of us ,pepped up for the road journey, had bag-packed the previous day,19^th March 2012, excepting me, as I was burnt out after working throughout the day . On 20^th March 2012 I woke up early and completed my packing for the trip. Though I woke up early, I was the last one to pack ;). All of us were brief- cased in two vehicles. One INNOVA – MH-12 FF 5769 whose driver was Mr. Mukesh and the other INDIGO - MH- 40 KR 2271 driven by Mr. Ram. Our drivers were waiting since 04:30 AM in one of the wrong places near Dr. Daraskar’s place. We had to call the drivers again -

and make sure; they came in front of our house. In this process, much of our valuable time got wasted. Once the drivers had arrived, me, my sis, sat in Innova car and Baby Aunty, Uma Aunty sat in the Indigo. After we had started, we stopped near an ATM to withdraw some cash. After withdrawal, we went to Nalini Aunty’s place. From there, we collected Nalini Aunty, Parth, Karishma and Ashwin. Ashwin had gone to Nalini aunty’s for a night out.So, all of us got accommodated in two vehicles, the bigger vehicle for the big kids and we pushed all the grown ups into the other car.

We went via Chindwada Rd/NH69 as the NH 7 Express Highway and SH 11B via Seoni road was not OK for reaching there on time. We started at around 7:00 AM for the excursion via the Chindwada Rd. As we had taken some fluids in the morning, pressure had started mounting up in everybody’s bladder. So, we took a stop from around three hours from Nagpur at Chindwada, estimated at a distance of 128 km from Nagpur. Our drivers stopped near Hotel Dev International to relieve everybody off their pressures. It was located opposite Amma Hospital, Khajri Road,Chhindwara -480 001 (M.P.). We stretched ourselves out after a drive of around three hours, got ready for the next set of three to four hours of drive. We had some meetha masala pan in between, when we were at a distance of two hours from the destination. It

was fabulous @ Rs. 5/-.Whereas in Nagpur, the same thing is offered for Rs. 10/- to Rs. 15/- (ஸ்வச்ஹ ருவ்வாய்). Around the same time, one of the students from my college named Amarjyoti, rang me at 11:53 am. I got a bit piqued with this call, but answered the call anyway. Later on, we reached the spot around one hour before the safari time. We rushed to have breakfast as all of us were very hungry. My sis, also relaxed herself for a while by having a nap and got charged up for the safari.

There are four gates/ zones for the purposes of stinting in the forest. The Kisli/ Khatia Zone, Kanha Zone, Sarhi Zone and Mukki Zone. For travellers from Bilaspur (182 km), Raipur (213 km) and Balaghat (83 km), Mukki on State Highway No. 26 is more convenient. From Nagpur, Kisli is 259 km via Nainpur and Chiraidongri, and Mukki is 289 km via Balaghat. We went in via the Kisli Zone and also took the tickets for the Kanha zone.

We proceeded to safari at 03:00 PM. As it was the first evening of Safari, we arranged ourselves in two groups, me, my sis, Karishma, Parth and Ashwin hopped on to one gypsy and Baby Aunty, Uma Aunty and Nalini Aunty on the other Gypsy. The gypsy driver and the guide were decent to talk to. The first animal which we had a glimpse of was wild boar (Sus Scrofa). It was so well immersed in water that it required trained eyes for that animal to be seen. Later on the animal seeing ritual continued and we came across, Chital (Cervus Axis), Sambar (Cervus Unicolor), Barasingha (Cervus Duvauceli Branderi), Barking Deer (Muntiacus Muntjak). We also got a chance to see lot of monkeys on the way to the forest and in the forest. For the people who may not be aware, the antlers change every year. Antlers are the usually large, branching bony appendages on the heads of most deer species. Each antler grows from an attachment point on the skull called a pedicle. While an antler is growing, it is covered with highly vascular skin called velvet, which supplies oxygen and nutrients to the g-

-rowing bone. Antlers are considered one of the most exaggerated cases of male secondary sexual traits in the animal kingdom, and grow faster than any other mammal bones. Growth occurs at the tip, and is initially cartilage, which is mineralized to become bone. Once the antler has achieved its full size, the velvet is lost and the antler's bone dies. This dead bone structure is the mature antler. In most cases, the bone at the base is destroyed by osteoclasts and the antlers fall off at some point. As a result of their fast growth rate, antlers are considered a handicap since there is an incredible nutritional demand on deer to re-grow antlers annually and thus can be honest signals of metabolic efficiency and food gathering capability.

Next we came across “Shravantal”. In the hot and dry summers all water sources dry up except for a few perennial streams or ponds. One such is a lake near the main meadow called “Shravantal”. Legend has it that Raja Dasrath of Ayodhya shot an arrow while hunting deer and accidentally killed a young man called Shravan, who was out collecting water for his aged, blind parents. The good king had mistaken him for a deer drinking at the lake. When the king sorrowfully carried Shravan's body to his parents they both died instantly of shock and grief. According to the Hindu epic, the Ramayana, much of what followed in the Kings' life was governed by the death of Shravan, for which he and his family paid a heavy personal price. After that, some of the birds that I remember seeing are - Greater Coucal or Crow Pheasant , Egrets, Peacock, Pea fowl, Jungle fowl, Partridges, Spotted parakeets, Bee-eater, Kingfishers and Owls. We were back in the resort by 06:30 pm. All the faces more prominently mine was concealed in mud. Our gypsy driver and guide jokingly said, “Take it as a natural talcum powder”. Though all of us were very much tired, we had to clean our talcum powder by taking bath.

After taking bath in our respective rooms, all of us, including my sis J, proceeded to have for the dinner. I specifically mentioned her name because; she skipped meals during the entire day because of her motion sickness. But before going there, I just wanted to enjoy the darkness that the forest could offer me with. Just immediately outside our room, when we stepped out, it was pitching dark. Only the dim lights from our resort barely illumined the path outside.

With this phantasmagorical ambience, I went alfresco and looked up. I was dumbfounded to see the constellation of stars peeping at me. They being not clearly visible in the city by naked eyes due to interference of light and may be many other factors, were clearly visible here. I could also two planets with my naked eyes without being sure of its name. Later on, I showed the same to everybody and it was clarified by Ashwin that one of the planets was mercury because it was slight reddish in color. The other planet’s name – even he wasn’t sure of. I would also narrate one more chronicle that happened meanwhile. Before going outdoors, I tried calling my mom who happened to stay back at home. As she was along with, “tara bai”, we were concerned about her know-how. So, I called her a couple of times in the cell phone and a couple of times in the landline, both of which were refused by her to be picked up. So, I gave up the idea of calling her during that time and thought that I could catch up with her later on, may be after the meals. Dad also called me up, as he too happened to call mom during the same time and did not get any response. So, instead of having food in fidgety, I chose to sort the matter out. We came up with the idea of calling our neighbors, Mrs. Nisha/ Mrs. Seema, whosoever was available. Fortunately, I had stored the numbers of both of them and gave it to appa. He called up Mrs. Nisha and gratefully, she acceded to his request. When Mrs. Nisha went to our house, she found that mom was doing some work of hers comfortably leaving the cell phone at a place where it can’t be even heard. What the hell????? Then she caught hold of the phone and all of us had a chance to exchange some sweet-bitter words. After talking to her, appa assigned me one more job of sending an email to Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), but gave me the flexibility of sending it after the dinner. I was in a delirium, as how will it possible for me to send an email from a jungle, devoid of all basic necessities even? Thankfully, the resort had a private cell phone modem, through which I could send the email, though the speed was terribly slow. The dinner was also fantabulous. One important point of distinction between the lunch and the dinner was that, the lunch was a buffet system, and the dinner was being served.

After having the dinner, we went off for sleep as we had to wake up early and release our (respective) pressures in the morning. I woke up at around 03:30 am, and everybody else woke up at an average time of 04:15 am. We were to leave the safari by 05:15 am by due to some reasons or the other, we could leave by only 05:45 am. We thought that we were one of the early birds, to reach the Kisli/ Khatia gates. No, we were wrong. There was a humongous crowd, flocked near the Kisli Gate Entrance and they were already queued up. May be we were the 25^th or 26^th in the line along with the Maruti Gypsy. The Gypsy drivers had quickly paid the fare given to them by us. For a trip/ safari, it was Rs. 1750/- (Rs. Seventeen Hundred and Fifty Only) as on 21^st March 2012. By the time we went into the forest it was 06:15 am. The thoughts that befell everybody’s mind were, “Why did we not make up at 05:00 AM, to this place? We would have been one of the luckiest to go inside and spot tiger quickly”. As the saying goes - “Destiny itself is like a wonderful wide tapestry in which every thread is guided by an unspeakably tender hand, placed beside another thread and held and carried by a hundred others. -Rainer Maria Rilke”. Similarly, the day’s safari destiny was also chiseled out well in terms of the animals which we could have a glimpse of at. It should be anyways remembered that spotting any animal for that instance is just a matter of chance, wherein we can increase the probability of spotting by undertaking more safaris. Probability is the ratio of number of favorable outcomes to the total number of outcomes. If we increase the number of favorable outcomes, the total number of outcomes will be more. This should be remembered as a formula for life in crucial situations. The other thing I forgot to mention is, we were distributed in two Maruti Gypsies. The first in which were seated Ashwin, Uma Aunty, Karishma and Parth, the next in which the other four of us were seated including me, my sis, Taj and Nalini Aunty. As opposed to the previous evening safari, Uma Aunty chose to be seated near Ashwin to help him overcome the difficulties in Hindi encountered with the guide. Initially Nalini Aunty was also there in the same gypsy but due to the shortage of space she shifted onto ours.

The next day also continued more or less like the first day but we had more experiences. The next day we were taken more into the core jungle. By the way, for those who are not aware of the core jungle; let me tell you that the core zone is that part which comprises of the innermost or interiors of the jungle. No human activity is allowed in this zone. It comprises of legally protected ecosystem. We are only allowed for less than 25% of the core jungle in the Kanha National Park jungle. I guess it may be common for all the jungles. The next terminology is buffer zone. It is that part in which limited human activity is permitted. The last one is the Manipulation zone or Transition zone. Several human activities can occur in the manipulation zone. Example: Settlements, cropping, forestry, recreation etc. One more thing which I would like to make familiarize you with is fire – line. It is also known as fireguard / firebreak. It is a strip of open land in forest or prairie, to arrest the advance of a fire.

It was more of a thrill in the core. We came across through an altogether different kind of a route. By the way there are more than 144 routes in the huge jungle, all of them thoroughly memorized by the drivers and their guides. As we had started very early from the resort, having cookies, milk and some water, everybody’s bladders were pressurized because of the gypsy movement. (By the way, the cookies and the milk were delicious). And one more word of caution, do carry sweat shirts/ jackets, irrespective of wherever you are located in India or elsewhere and during whatever season you arrive. This is because, morning weather is freezing cold. The blankets which may be offered by the hotel/ resort people may be used ‘n’ number of times by various people. So, there is a resting place somewhere inside, wherein everybody can empty and refill their stomach. But this time even after emptying, I decided not to have anything and I stuck to that. This is the only place, where everybody is allowed to get down. There is also a museum in the same premises known as Kanha museum. After emptying our stomachs, we boarded the respective gypsies. However, the other gypsy was much ahead of us most of the times and we could meet only during the second time when the gypsies stop near the rest place. They stop twice to give chance to the needy passengers to download/ upload. After this, unless emergency they wouldn’t normally stop. So, during the second time our gypsies met and as described some of us in the group had something to eat. The breakfast was duly packed by resort people themselves and they gave it us in the gypsy container specially meant for carrying food. At one point of time during excursion it was about to fall off the gypsy, as it was tied by rope and kept at a suitable position above the rear wheel. Anyways, coming back, after having something, we had a glance at the museum, which was not at all interesting and the drivers of the gypsies were waiting for something else. Guess what? The tiger show. The tiger show is something for which the coupon needs to be collected from the museum. And the charge is Rs. 200/- per head. And moreover, if a tiger is trapped (by elephants from three – four directions), the report comes in the museum. If for some reasons, the tiger flees away, the amount taken is refunded back. So, we were waiting for the tiger news till 09:10 am, but unfortunately no news and we continued the safari again. We were back from the safari, by 12:00 pm as the allowed timings were 06:00 am to 12:00 pm. Similarly, evening safari was allowed from 03:00 pm to 06:00 pm.

All of us dead tired, came back to the resort, took rest for a while and got ready for the voyage back to Nagpur. In spite of telling Mr. Mukesh to take Chindwada Rd/NH69 route, he showed his obstinacy by taking us via SH 11B and NH 7 Express Highway via Seoni. He was an adamant brat and a hardcore liar. SH 11B and NH 7 Express Highway was full of ups and downs and the route was despondent, whereas the Indigo driver, Mr. Ram was full of courteousness. Moreover, Mukesh sometimes drove at high speeds, which were unacceptable by any law standards. Even a police man had asked him to stop. He paid no heed to the policeman and ran away. He was stopped near the Mansar highway and lambasted. That liar was taking my name again and again and saying that I was the person to bring him via that route. I had told him only once to go via that route not knowing that the route had some shortcomings. I wanted to have a look at the research centre of Deolapar. Once I came to know, I may have told him more than twenty times to go via Jam Sawali, so that, we could also visit the Hanuman temple. That rascal, even after taking my name, didn’t even stop at Deolapar and went straight away and at Mansar he told me, that we have crossed the destination. Finally we reached Nagpur, at around 07:00 pm when we dropped Nalini Aunty at her place and proceeded to our residence. At our residence, Viji Mami had bought some “Bhakshanams” for Uma Aunty. She handed over them to her. This concluded our day.

Next morning appa arrived to bid, bye to Uma Aunty and Ashwin. This was 22^nd March 2012. They were about to leave the next day i.e. 23^rd March 2012 on the eve of “Gudhi Padwa”. Their flight which was supposed to be scheduled at 08:00 pm on 23^rd March 2012 got preponed by three hours. We started from our house to airport at 03:30 pm to leave her. Nalini Aunty, Parth and Karishma also had come to drop her off by their Versa. So, all of us went to airport in two cars. Guess!!! Who was included in our car? It was Tara Bai. She also had come along with everybody and it was appa- amma s idea only to take two cars and give them a grand send off. We took some photographs at the airport and the next day i.e. Saturday i.e. 24^th March 2012 I made a plan to take everybody including Tara Bai to “Telangkhedi” Mandir. She had never been there and this visit made her extremely happy.

Hyderabad Quest - 14th April 2011 to 17th April 2011

NB - The time mentioned here is in 24 hours format

Day 1 - 14 - 04 - 2011 - Well, it started on the 1st Day of சித்திரை (CHITHRAI), i.e. 14th April 2011, Thursday or popularly known as புத்தாண்டு (Puthandu) i.e. the Tamil New Year. This is the day, when we (Me, my sister and my aunty) had decided to start the commencement of our excursion from Nagpur to Hyderabad. Train number 12724, Andhra Pradesh Express - departure 09:50 from Nagpur and arriving Hyderabad(Nampally) at 19:50, but we were asked to get down at Secunderabad Junction at 19:15 on the same day, 14th April 2011. We left home around 09:00 am at reached the Nagpur Railway Station at around 09:15 am. We were escorted by our dad who readily volunteered to embark us to the train. We had our nanny (Rajam Pati) and mom say bye bye to us from the home. Rajam Pati had come to see us briefly in the month of April approximately from 03rd April 2011 to 22nd April 2011. We were crossing the overhead bridge as the schedule for the train was at platform 2. But as we were crossing the bridge, we saw a train entering platform number 2. As we started descending down the stairs of the over bridge to enter platform number 2, voilà!!!!, we were a bit amused as well as bemused to see train number 12724 arriving there, half an hour before the schedule. But, we were pacified by our father, that the train will not start before the specified time. Contented with his saying, we conciliated ourselves and started loading our luggages' and sat inside the train. Our coach number was S5 and the berth number of me, my sister and my aunty was 25 (LB), 26 (MB) and 28 (LB) respectively. We made ourselves comfortable and father left us after the train started moving. Meanwhile, we had some snacks and lot of chit chats.

Some of the stations which I remember are - Chandrapur, Balharshah Junction, Sirpur Kagaznagar, Belampalli, Mancherial, Ramagundam and Kazipet Junction. We had a lot of fun travelling, though the weather was very severe. It was scorching hot. In this kind of weather we had the fortune to enjoy the hot air in the sleeper class. To add it up, I don't remember it exactly but somewhere near Sirpur Kagaznagar we had the divine Providence of getting accompanied by a glabrous person. He had a negligible amount of hair over his head, and still he was combing it quite often. Me my sister and my aunty laughed so much holding our stomach, that, there came a time when I was afraid that the person would stand up and hit me. But the person was a thorough gentleman and he didn't even react to our laughter and I guess, he was presumably knowing, what we were laughing for. I got down once in the Kazipet Junction to get some doodh pedha and buttermilk as the dairy which was selling it appeared to be awesome "Vijaya Dairy". We all had some portion of it and had reserved some for the future and to distribute it in the house where we were about to reside. It was Shiva Uncle's place in Secunderabad. He had also asked us to give a call approximately at a distance of one hour before we reached Secunderabad. I gave him a call, and finally the train reached the Secunderabad station on time. He had come to receive us along with his son (our paternal cousin) - Venkatesh who was very innocent 7 - 8 year old kid. So, uncle had come in his scooter and while going back Venkatesh had accompanied us in the auto to their place near "Skandagiri Temple", Padmarao Nagar. We paid the auto driver around 60 to 70 ` approximately. We had spoken for around 60 ` but he charged us more for bringing the child with us and not negotiated about him before. We didn't want to have an argument there and we paid him 70 `. The home was very near to "Skandagiri Temple". So, me and my sister decided to go there. I had been there around 18 years back in 1993. I was just curious to know, the changes that have taken place in that temple subsequently. There was no empirical change I could spot, leaving apart the fact that "Skandagiri" at that point of time was sparsely populated and now people had gone leaps and bounds to get their house constructed. Located at Padma Rao Nagar, also called "Skanda Giri Temple", about 2 km from Secuderabad Railway Station. The word "Skanda+Giri" means The Hill of Lord Skanda, another name of Lord Subramanya. Lord Subramanya is primary deity is accompanied by Sri Valli and Sri Devasena. The other important sannadhis are Lord Sundara Ganapathi, Ekambareshwarar (Lord Shiva) accompanied by Goddess Kamakshi, Sri Varadharaja Perumal with Goddess Sridevi and Sri Bhudevi and Goddess Jaya Durga. While returning from the temple, to our amusement we were charged ` 5/- per pair of chappals. In south India, I learnt later on that, it is a common tradition to charge for safeguarding chappals whereas in Maharashtra, in most of the parts, it is free. We went home, had our food, chit chatted for a while and slept off as we were very tired because of the whole day exertion and we had to go to a number of places the subsequent day.

Day 2 - 15 - 04 - 2011 - The next day started, as we got up at 06:30 am, I went to the terrace of their house with uncle for having the glimpse of the city. From the terrace, I had a panoramic view of Gandhi Hospital, Osmania University and a few other places. I really felt nice after seeing all of them from the top of the house. Later on, even my sister and my aunty joined us to share a glimpse which was followed by a brief pranayama session in a mat which stopped in between as we had spotted "red faced monkeys" adjacently. Then we came down from the top of the house, and had some snacks and tea and had a bath with cold water. After having bath, we had chalked out the plan for the day. During that moment of time, I had an intention to also get myself prepared for the public examinations like Indian Engineering Services and Bank POs and Hyderabad was the hub for that. So, we had planned to visit ACE Academy and RACE Academy in Hyderabad. One was situated in 204, Rahman Plaza, Opp Methodist School, Fernendez Hospital Lane, Near Taj Mahal Hotel, ABIDS, HYDERABAD- 500001 and the other was situated in RACE - Rishi Academy of Competetive Exams, 2nd Floor, Rahamath Complex, Beside Russels Spoken English,

Ameerpet 'X' Roads, Hyderabad. Both were the extreme ends in Hyderabad and I personally didn't like them that much. In between uncle had offered me "Yalani" as it is called in tamil, for coconut water, near RACE academy. He had taken half day for the sake of taking me to two extreme ends of Hyderabad. Indeed, very generous of him. We went in a scooter to tour the city and every time we got down, the scooter's seat got heated up due to extreme heat. I thanked lord that I was here in Nagpur working in one of the premium colleges, Priyadarshini College of Engineering. While returning home, he showed me Begumpet Airport while driving over bridge. Begumpet Airport (International Civil Aviation Organization airport code: VOHY) at Hyderabad, also known as Hyderabad Airport, used to be the only international airport in Andhra Pradesh, but however, it is now defunct with the opening of the Hyderabad International Airport on the 23rd March 2008. It is a civil enclave located in Begumpet. The airport is host to the Andhra Pradesh Aviation Academy, Rajiv Gandhi Aviation Academy (RGAA) and the Begumpet Air Force Station of the Indian Air Force as well. We also booked our tickets to tour Secunderabad-Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation Ltd(APTDC). Amongst several of its offices, the office where we booked the ticket was the place close to our house which was - APTDC, Yatri nivas S.P Road, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. I paid ` 270*3 = ` 810 for the tickets of three of us. This fare was for adults and the childrens' fare was ` 220/- per head. Initially, the bus was not available for the next day, i.e. 16th April 2011, but seeing the increase in the number of passengers or for whatever reason it was, the APTDC acceded in providing us with the bus service. After purchasing the tickets, me and my uncle went home around 13:00 hours from where we chalked the program for rest of the day. Both of us had our lunch and he proceeded to his office whereas I joined the group of my sis, aunty waiting for me to go out somewhere else. So, the group with whom I was about to go out for the next round comprised of my sis, aunty, bubana aunty and nandini aunty. But before going out, we had been to nandini aunty's place nearby (around 3 - 3.5 km from shiva uncle's place). We went there had some snacks and enjoyed the natural ambiance near their place. I also met Giri Uncle after around 4 years. There were whole lot of good trees like coconut and many others (I don't remember them as of now). We also had some discussion with regards to good and bad shops in Delhi from where, the clothes, books can/ cannot be purchased etc... etc... As Nandini aunty had lived in New Delhi for quite sometime. During this time, it so happened that it started raining cats and dogs and we had to speculate our plans of going out. But rains seemed to slow down and we began to confirm our plans to go out. Giri uncle also had offered to give me the keys of his car for touring, but I rejected the same as I was not sure on driving it in the city I don't know and take the risk. But it was very nice of him, of offering his vehicle. So, finally we stepped out of their house and started descending down the stairs when my sis slipped off and fell very very badly. Fortunately, it went off with a scar and no other injuries were seen.

We decided to go to Sultan Market for window shopping and purchased a couple of clutch purses worth ` 60/- each which was quite a good bargain. We generally had a look through many other shops including perls, which we didn't like. During the window shopping, we had corn chaat, corn bhel etc. just for ` 15/- and we had 4 cups of the same. In Nagpur, the same one cup costs ` 60/- each on an average everywhere. Also, we had Kulfi from one of the very famous outlets "Gokul" in Hyderabad. After having Kulfi, we started proceeding home. On our way home, we got down to buy some pickles near Nandini Aunty's place. Some of the pickles which were purchased by us include - dabakkai, ghonghura, avakai etc. After this, when we started walking home (Nandini Aunty's place), we came across Giri Uncle who had come walking from his place to get Hyderabadi Biryani for all of us. He said that the man selling that typically earned ` 20 - 30 lakhs each month. So, we went home and Giri Uncle had come with Hyderabadi Biryani for all of us along with some Pakoda. Meanwhile, we were joined by Shiva Uncle and Venkatesh who came from "Skandagiri".We all had delicious food after which I played chess with Hari and Venkatesh and had some good fun. Later on, we started proceeding towards our house (Shiva Uncle's Place), when Giri uncle offered us to drop by his car. I had remembered sitting on his car - DL 3C 2505, lastly on 10th January 2007 in New Delhi on my way to New Delhi International Airport, after which I was sitting today i.e. 15th April 2011 in Hyderabad. So, again sitting in the same car, but in a different place after a gap of 1557 days including the end date i.e 4 years, 3 months, 6 days including the end date. It can be further broken down into 134,524,800 seconds, 2242080 minutes, 37368 hours, 222 weeks (rounded down) :) . So, finally, we reached Shiva Uncle's place and there also we were chitchatting till approximately 00:00 hrs, were it reached a point, I was constantly dozing off. We concluded our day there when Giri Uncle and Nandini Aunty went back to their place and all of us went off to sleep.

Day 3 - 16 - 04 - 2011 - On the third day, me, my sis and my aunty started at around 06:15 from Shiva Uncles place to Yatri Niwas, where we were asked to report at 07:00. The bus started around 07:30 from Yatri Niwas. The manager of the Yatri Niwas used to remember my name amongst all, god knows how. I wanted to grab a PAN near yatri niwas, where that man called me by my name and prohibited me to get down, as the bus was about to start. There was also a café, nearing the yatri niwas, which presented itself beautifully; but the food did not appear good at all. The bus started and our first stop was in a restaurant near Hussain Sagar Lake. Hussain Sagar is a lake in Hyderabad, India, built by Hazrat Hussain Shah Wali in 1562, during the rule of Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah. It was a lake of 24 square kilometres built on a tributary of the River Musi to meet the water and irrigation needs of the city. There is a large monolithic statue of the Gautam Buddha in the middle of the lake which was erected in 1992. At the end of the Hussain Sagar one can find the Masjid and Dargah of Sayedani Maa Tomb. We had a good amount of breakfast there, after which, we proceeded for the Birla Mandir. Birla Mandir on the Naubath Pahad is a Hindu temple of Lord Venkateshwara, built entirely of white marble located in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. What happened there was, there was a hell lot of line, to put chappals in the stand. So, we didn't go for the option of keeping our chappals there. What we did was, me and my sis went to the temple in the first batch while my aunty was looking after our slippers and it so happened that it was required to climb a lot of stairs. So, it took a considerable time for us to come back. It was very nice on my sister to have volunteered to cortege my aunty again till the top of the temple and come back, so that, it would be very easy for my aunty to come back again. She did a very wise thing by doing this, otherwise we would have really missed the bus. So, because of her efforts of bringing my aunty back in time, we hardly missed our bus. We also had discordance with the bus driver and he requested us to be on time. Next we went to Salarjung Museum. Here, we were not allowed to carry camera with us. So, we had to deposit the camera near the entrance itself. The Salar Jung Museum is an art museum located at Darushifa, on the southern bank of the Musi river in the city of Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is one of the three National Museums of India.It has a collection of sculptures, paintings, carvings, textiles, manuscripts, ceramics, metallic artefacts, carpets, clocks, and furniture from Japan, China, Burma, Nepal, India, Persia, Egypt, Europe, and North America. The museum's collection was sourced from the property of the Salar Jung family. A bewildering variety and array of clocks greets the visitor in the clock room. There are ancient Sandiaers in the form of obelisks to huge and modern clocks of the twentieth century. Others in the range vary from miniature clocks which need a magnifying glass to imbibe their beauty and complexity to stately grandfather clocks from as far away as France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Britain. A visual delight is the musical clock Salar Jung bought from Cook and Kelvy of England. Every hour, a timekeeper emerges from the upper deck of the clock to strike a gong as many times as it is the hours of the day. The Indian Parliament has declared the museum an Institution of National Importance. The museum is open from 10:00 to 17:00 (except on Fridays). Our next spot was Nizam's Jubilee Pavilion located near Purani Haveli in Oldcity. The pavilion is open from 10:00 to 17:00 (except on Fridays). One of the most important places of tourist delight in Hyderabad is Nizam's Jubilee Pavilion Museum. Here also camera was not allowed. It is situated near Purani Haveli, a place acquired by Nizam II around 1750. The museum has a vast collection of objects including gifts and mementos presented to the last Nizam on the occasion of the silver jubilee celebrations in 1936. A 1930 Rolls Royce, Packard and a Mark V Jaguar are among the vintage cars displayed. There are also models made in silver of all the prominent buildings of the city and citations in Urdu about H.E.H. Mir Osman Ali Khan, gold burnished wooden throne used for the silver jubilee celebrations, gold tiffin box inlaid with diamonds, gold model of Jubilee Pavilion, silver coffee cups studded with diamonds. Silver filigree elephant with mahout are some of the notable items on display. Then we preceded to Chowmahalla Palace. Chowmahalla Palace or Chowmahallat (4 Palaces), was a palace belonging to the Nizams of Hyderabad state. It was the seat of the Asaf Jahi dynasty and was the official residence of the Nizam. In Persian, Chahar means four and in Arabic Mahalat (plural of Mahal) means places, hence the name Chowmahallat/four places, or four palaces. All ceremonial functions including the accession of the Nizams and receptions for the Governor-General were held at this palace. The prestigious UNESCO Asia Pacific Merit award for cultural heritage conservation was presented to Chowmahalla Palace on March 15, 2010. UNESCO representative Takahiko Makino formally handed over the plaque and certificate to Princess Esra, former wife and GPA holder of Prince Mukarram Jah Bahadur. Next we had a drive around Charminar and Mecca Masjid after which our next spot was zoo. Nehru Zoological Park (also known as Hyderabad Zoo) is a 380 acres (150 ha) zoo located near Mir Alam Tank in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is one of the three most visited destinations in Hyderabad.Zoo hours vary by season, and the zoo is closed on Mondays. Nehru Zoological Park was a very worth visiting place, which had a miniature train, for touring around the zoo. By the time we reached the zoo, my sister was not well due to a very hectic schedule. So, we decided to rest there and we let the bus go off and we opted not to see - Golconda, Qutubshahi Tombs and the Lumbini park. There in the zoo we had lots of fun. We had a chance to see many of the animals which are rare to see elsewhere, like the white tiger. Moreover, it was an open zoo. We also had lots of Dairy products like - kulfi, milk and buttermilk in the "Vijaya Dairy", located in the zoo. So, after we freshened up we took an APSRTC towards station. We got down a little ahead of Pizza Hut and took an auto to reach the hub as we were unaware of its location. Myself and my sis were very desirous of having something in the Pizza Hut Hub as we don't find it over here. So, all of us including aunty, had pizza and garlic bread in the Pizza Hut. The taste was pretty good. After that, we had to again pay 60 to 70 ` approximately to the auto driver to reach home. While reaching home by auto, we were exasperated with the traffic jam. There is a lot of traffic jam in this city, seriously. After our reaching home, we had a good chit chat with everybody and even Giri Uncle and Nandini Aunty had come to Shiva Uncle's place and the chat session lasted for around 00:00 hrs and we concluded our day.

Day 4 - 17 - 04 - 2011 - This was the day of our departure from Secunderabad. We started from our house at 06:00 hrs approximately, again with Venkatesh and Shiva Uncle. But this time, we were at the entrance of the station near the house. Shiva Uncle got himself platform tickets along with Venkatesh. There were a couple of announcements going on in Telugu, when the name of our train was also announced. Our coach number was S8 and the berth number of me, my sister and my aunty was 51 (UB), 50 (MB) and 53 (MB) respectively. Train number 12723, Andhra Pradesh Express - departure 06:25 hrs from Hyderabad i.e. at around 07:00 hrs from Secunderabad and arrival at Nagpur at 15:45 hrs. It started on the right time and Shiva Uncle was there till the train departed. The weather was very severe on return as well and it was very hot. Again, I got down once in the Kazipet Junction to get some doodh pedha and buttermilk from "Vijaya Dairy". We also took some back home. We finally reached home at the right time, a very hectic trip tough (because of heat), but a very wonderful experience.