Intimation of Shifting

Hi Friends,

We have shifted our address, I can be reached at...

http://www.vagabondonmove.com

See you there...

Many Thanks!!

Living My Dream @ Mughal Route – From Rajauri to Srinagar…

This is the Ancient route to Srinagar the Mughals took to reach from Rajauri and Jammu, This is not a very common route among travelers to reach Srinagar. The National Highway is the one which takes most of the traffic.

Despite that we were cautioned not to take this route, as this route is not well made and also it is a very secluded route for travelers like us, we still thought and decided to take the route and took chance – honestly we thought we will drive to the place we can and in case we are not able to take the drive further we will return back and take the common route Jammu to Srinagar, which has lost its beauty and the commercial establishments have taken over.

But trust me friends although it was a difficult part, with ditches and pot holes, and road in totally bad bad condition but it was worth it. The nature and surroundings are still very raw and for person who likes nature and is not scared of the potholes, this is a must do!

This is the same route which many nomads who survive on the breeding of sheeps, goats, mules take to reach the high areas in Kashmir, where their live stocks can get some feed. The Bakarwals travel all along with the live stocks, stuff for their day to day needs and their families at times to reach the high altitude where the grass is still green for their stock. When we spoke to some of them on our way, we were surprised to know that some of them take a journey of several hundreds of kilometers for the task and they travel not for days but for months to reach their destination.

This is the route which is still untouched and you will not get many dhabas, hotels, and clutters, the nature is still at its best and you get to see snow peaks, but now they have started working on the road and the government plans to re route some of the traffic from the Jammu Srinagar highway to this route in the next year or so...

If you ever plan to go to Srinagar by your own car, try this route, despite that your car will suffer a lot with you but still you will not regret. Make sure that you carry enough of spares and the knowledge to use them on your own if something goes wrong, as you will not find any help there.

For more Pictures...


http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcws/

Living My Dream @ Chingus Fort, Rajauri…

Chingus in Persian language means intestines, it is said that the emperor Jahangir, died enroute to Delhi from Kashmir in October 1627 AD.

At that time the empress Noor Jahan who was accompanying Jahangir, buried the intestine and other abdominal parts of Jahangir at this fort which at that time was used as transit camp by the emperor, this helped them protect his body from decay and the dead body of Jahangir was put on the elephant in seated position and this was done in order to avoid the war of succession.

This fort is made in two parts, the residential complex and the open courtyard, this place was declared State Protected Monument in 1984 by the Jammu & Kashmir Government, currently the Archeological department of J & K is looking after the complex and it is said for some time this place was also used by army as temporary station. The restoration work done is pathetic and they have ruined the architecture of Mughals, all you get to see is the structure, except for one corner of it which still retains its originality.

Here is the picture of the part which still retains its originality, take a look…

Just below and adjacent to the fort is the river and a new shelter has been built at the bank and that is used by many to spend some time and enjoy the river and the blue skies.


More Pictures...


http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcws/

Living My Dream @ Daral Fort, Lam Village…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcws/

Next morning we decided to explore the last village between India and Pakistan we were told about at Pir Bhadreshwar…

Next day we thought of exploring some more areas, which took us to the last village of India - LAM, at the border of Pakistan. We met some really big hearts, the people are very courteous and they insisted that we stay back for night and enjoy the night as well, but as we had other commitments so we could not stay back, but they made tea for us, and also offered a bangle as memento of love, affection to Ayesha.

They are real people of mettle, they not only survive the harsh conditions and very low income source, and their children do not have the adequate sources for studies, only schools up to primary or Secondary level, the nearest school for higher secondary available is twenty kilometers away, and most of the kids don’t even get to reach there, specially the females.

The information of any vacancies of government recruiting the less educated or from backward classes doesn’t even reach them, even if the information is available they have to get all kinds of certificates from the Sarpanch of village which again is a big problem for them, as they have to either serve the high class or grease the palms of the middlemen to get there, which again is no guarantee will work.

Electricity is so scarce there that they get it only for couple of hours in a day. Some kids even have to walk couple of miles up and down hill every day to reach their schools, we got to know of a child who walked some two miles a day to board the bus to reach a higher secondary school which is located at Nawshera, approximately twenty kilometers, and still managed to score in seventies.

The politicians visit this place only once in every five years only to get the votes from these people and once elected, they never show up, was the statement of one of the villager there.

Another villager gave a recorded statement that they desperately need a higher secondary school for their kids. He also said only medical help available is from the Army, and they do not have any hospital in vicinity, so that is another thing they need, they have to call for an ambulance from as far as Nawshera, if someone falls sick and is to be hospitalized. They even have to carry the person downhill if the sick is not in condition to walk on own.

Further down on our way back from LAM, we visited the Shahidon Ka Gurudwara, this Gurudwara was established in memory of the martyr who laid their lives for the country. Every year on 28^th October, they organize a fest to remember the braves. Even the Army personnel posted around in the area come to attend the day.

Just next to the Gurudwara after taking a walk of fifteen minutes you reach Hill Top and encounter the picturesque view of the Daral Fort - the fort which played an important part in the history of Indian independence and the war against Pakistan, but is in ruins today.

There are no takers for this Fort, the local administration is not taking care of the Fort because it is a piece of History and the Archeological department is sleeping over it, despite the efforts of the local sarpanch to get it declared as the ancient monuments are not getting any results.

We were told that they have got the surveys done but no concrete plan has emerged out of those surveys, people visited and did costing to set the road to the Fort and to bring the fort back to its glory but to no use, all are sleeping.

I seriously wonder why we as humans sleep over an issue till it is the question of life and death, now will we have to get some top notch politician or will the Honorable Supreme Court have to intervene to retrieve the cleanliness, the lost Glory and the due share of honor to the braves.

We also had the opportunity and honor to meet one of the living legends of the wars of 1947-48, the war against Pakistan. This soldier is a lady and her name is Sardarni Pritam Kaur, they were in that Fort to save guard themselves and they dressed themselves in the uniform of men to deceive the Pakistani intruders and saving their respect and dignity. They fought with anything they could lay their hands on, they pelted stones on those who tried to invade the Daral Fort where these ladies were taking refuge.

She was just married for a year when her husband the brave Sardar Pritam Singh passed away, and she could only stay with her husband for couple of days when he was called back to resume duties as a soldier.

She in a very proud manner showed all the honors and letters of her husband to us, along with her children & grand children, she stays in the village of Lam and lives her life with her family on a little pension she receives from government as dependent of Sardar Pritam Singh.

Living My Dream @ Pir Bhadreshwar…

On our way to Jammu from Amritsar when we just entered Lakhimpur, I made a call to a friend of mine who is serving in Indian Army and is posted at Rajauri, and we were invited to his place as guest and got the chance to be a part of the Pride of India for a short spell, as in return we shot some photographs for them and we felt so good serving the Indian Army and giving something to the Nation in return.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcws/

After we were done shooting for the Army, we took our day off and went to explore the nearby areas, we went to the Peer Bhadreshwar, it’s a beautiful temple of shiva located at the top of the mountain where we have an army establishment also.

Here is the brief of the temple…

Vir Bhadreshwar or Pir Bhadreshwar – PB as commonly referred in the area, was built by King Kanishka in Samvat 141 (Year 1955) to commemorate the victory of Vir Bhadreshwar, son of Shiva over king Daksha.

During 1947-48 the temple was completely desecrated by the invaders from Pakistan, who captured the temple and surrounding area in 1948, after signing of the instrument of Accession of Jammu &Kashmir Indian Army launched an operation to regain areas captured by Pakistan w.e.f. 27^th October, 1947 and Vir Bhadreshwar was recaptured on 20^th October, 1948. It was rebuilt in the year 1948-49 by the Gallant Soldiers of Indian Army.

It is a tradition to offer a bell at the temple on your visit and all the bells offered are used to decorate the premises of temple, further the mesmerizing view of the snow peaks of Himalayas from this place is a real treat for eyes to see.

Living My Dream

When we decided to go on our First Long Trip, all we knew was two of us, limited budget on a daily basis, one vehicle, different & difficult environment and miles to go… and Our Dream becomes Reality!!

At last before my last breath I am able to live my childhood dream of seeing the unseen India and shooting, and it started with support from my life partner, Ayesha.

It took us some time planning and preparing for the trip, which also includes preparing our car - Tough as christened by Ayesha , and the most important part earning some finances to support our journey.

We had to complete all our pending tasks and wind up certain things which were to be taken care of by us only and then to push off at the
To start the trip we had many destinations in mind and finally we zeroed on to the head of India i.e. Jammu & Kashmir.

First thing we did was to get the vehicle ready - serviced along with spares, followed by completing our photographic equipment to carry, some basic food stuff for our trip, and sleeping arrangements within the car, to save on our boarding and lodging expenses :P.

Our Caravan, is relatively a new concept in India, or I should say people have Caravans in those big vehicles which are like Vans, but a caravan in a mini truck or SUV is a new concept, to the best of my information, with the start of our trip, we are also facing some problems, first is to carry stuff on the top of the car and show casing ourselves as travelers with lots of luggage and being centre of attraction, second is us sleeping in the car, where ever we park people try to sneak a view.

I strongly feel the Motels/ Hotels should start providing a place for parking the Caravans like ours at no cost or very nominal cost so that it is safe for travelers to park their vehicle and enjoy a good sleep without having to wake up at night, again and again.

At the same time the Insurance companies should provide insurance for life, medical and the equipment to travelers like us.

We are self content/ self sustaining traveler as of now and will keep you updating about the experiences & difficulties we face en-route.

All we have to do is to make our rooftop lockable somehow so that the belongings atop are more safe and that will allow us to leave our car on its own while we take a short trip nearby.

Although we have tried to carry bare minimum but still the stuff we are carrying is pretty much, we had to install a roof top carrier on our Tough to facilitate some space inside the car, our two 20 Liters Jerry cans are atop out of which one will be used for Fuel, when travelling in remote areas, and the other will be used to carry water with us.

A water proof plastic sheet to prevent our belongings from rain and dust when travelling, we used some of the discarded twin buckles from the waste at home to make a quick tie kind of rope system for the carrier, and they are proving to be a great help.

It took us almost three hours to keep all the stuff in and on the Tough, which was a rehearsal to check how long it will take to get our stuff out from a particular bag, also to mention here that we have list of all the individual bags to help us on this, and then this rehearsal also helped us see what is the practical space available for us to sleep inside the car.

We also installed some reflectors on all sides of Tough to make sure the visibility to other vehicles at night.

With all done we set our foot on our first long road trip to Leh via Amritsar, Srinagar.

Here we go. . .

Holi – The festival of colors…

Holi - The festival of colors, also referred to as Dhuli Vandana in Sanskrit, or Dhulheti, Dhulandi or Dhulendi. Holi, falls in the lunar month of Phalguna according to the Hindu calendar or in the months of February or March as per the Gregorian calendar & marks the beginning of the spring season and is celebrated with much fun and fervor by Hindus across India and the world. Holi is the celebration of unity and brotherhood wherein festivities are observed with high spirits irrespective of caste, creed, color, race, status or sex.

This bright and lively festival commemorates the triumph of good over evil that was brought by burning and destructing the demoness called Holika by the young Prahlad, a staunch devotee of Lord Vishnu. Considered to be the most colorful festival, Holi is commemorated by throwing colors and and smearing colored powder on family members, friends and loved ones. The day before Holi is known as Holika Dahan, or Chhoti Holi, which means ‘burning of Holika’. This takes places on the night before Holi. Bonfires are lit a day before Holi to mark the annihilation of Holika. Colors are played and squirted on the next day using pichkaris. The Holi festival is also a commemoration of the end of the winter season and the start of the harvest period. Nonetheless, Holi is celebrated on a different date every year depending upon the appearance of the moon.

Brief of Holi Celebration

Holi celebrations begin with 'Holika Dahan' which is burning Holika i.e. a heap of old things, sticks, leaves and branches. The bonfire symbolises victory of good over the evil.

Holi is a festival celebrating fun and freedom giving one the opportunity to enjoy life with colours revealing our crazy self, while not forgetting the festive spirit of love and respect.

Ammunition for Holi includes water pistols, gulaal - coloured powder, coloured water - and the rest is your imagination! Fortunately these days people use natural and eco friendly colours.

Children in particular enjoy by playing with gulaal, throwing water filled balloons and splash everybody with colourful water using their water gun 'Pichkari.'

The merriment continues with eating holi delicacies such as gujia, puran poli, malpuas and drinking bhang.

Details of Holika Dahan

Myth and religion mingle with the urge to have a great time; and Holi is a celebration as much of the 'triumph of good over evil' as of the coming of spring and the passing of winter.

There are myriad legends related to Holi and Hindus all around the world relive these stories every year and bring to life the incidents which they believe occurred thousands of years ago. This faith in God and ancient traditions is what still binds Indians in a spirit of love and harmony.

The very famous legend of Holi is of Holika and Prahlad. Its believed that there was a demon king named Hiranyakashyap who won over the kingdom of earth and commanded everybody in his kingdom to worship him. But his own son, Prahlad, who was a passionate devotee of Lord Naarayana refused to worship his father.

The significance of this colorful festival is that there lived a powerful king of demons called Hiranyakashyapu. Through his long penance, he won the heart of Lord Brahma and was blessed by him. He was granted with a blessing which made it almost impossible for anyone to kill him. He had been granted with a blessing that he cannot be killed during day or night, not by a man or by an animal, neither on earth nor on the sky. Hiranyakshyapu started to consider himself a God and demanded everybody to worship him. Hiranyakshyapu had a son named Prahlada.

Prahlada was a devotee of Lord Vishnu. His father, Hiranyakshyapu had warned him several times not to worship Lord Vishnu but he never obeyed him. So, Hiranyakshyapu finally decided to kill his son. Hiranyakshyapu’s attempt to kill Prahlada failed every time. To get rid of his son, Finally, Hiranyakshyapu asked his sister, Holika to enter a burning fire with Prahlad in her lap. Holika deceitfully persuaded young Prahlad to sit in her lap in the fire where she herself was burnt in the blistering heat as she was not aware that the boon worked only when she entered the fire alone. Legend has it that Holika had to pay the price of her evil desire with her life and Prahlad, who kept chanting the name of Lord Naarayana in the fire, came out unharmed. The burning of Holika is celebrated as Holi. Therefore Holi is celebrated as a festival of victory of good over evil and as the triumph of a devotee.

Different regions of India celebrate this festival in their own way. Be it Hola-Mohalla in Punjab or Phagwa in Bihar, the fun and enjoyment remains the same. One of the most popular and colorful among these various styles is the one played at Barsana, native village of Radha, beloved of Lord Krishna, near Mathura in the state of Uttar Pradesh, known as Lath mar Holi, which is played a few days in advance of the actual day of the festival. People gather to be a part of this traditional festival. Holi is played in the large compound of the Radha Rani temple. In Mathura, the birth place of Lord Krishna and in Vrindavan, Holi is celebrated with the traditional customs of worshipping Lord Krishna.

Even today in several north Indian states, effigies of Holika are burnt in huge bonfires. People take a little fire from the bonfire to their homes as they believe that the pure fire will help to free their bodies from disease. Likewise there are many other popular Holi legends like the love play of Radha Krishna, Invincible Dhundhi and Sacrifice of Kamadeva.

The festival is also believed to be a ritual of renewal; old relationships are pulled out of mothball preservation and aired in the sparkling sun.

Braj Holi

As we know by now that the festival of Holi is celebrated all over India with great fervour but the most popular Holi is celebrated in well-known Braj bhoomi that include Mathura, Vrindavan, Gokul, Nandgaon, Phalen and Barsana. All these places have played a very important role in Hindu mythology, where Lord Krishna spent his childhood.

Visit these places during Holi festival and enjoy the enormously colourful ambiance. Devotional religious songs and people dipped in stunning colours make for a delightful spectacle.

Want to witness some unique Holi celebrations? Visit Phalen, Nand Gaon and Barsana where you will find a slight difference in the ways people at these places celebrate Holi.

In Phalen, a huge bonfire is lit on the full moon night to commemorate Prahlad-Holika episode, which is re-enacted here. The nail-biting fact is that the local priests of Phalen walk through the lighted fire during this occasion and come out unharmed!

If you are strong enough to enjoy being beaten up then visit Barsana and try a unique way of celebrating Holi.




This Holi is popularly known as 'lath maar holi' during which the men of Nandgao raid Barsana and seek to smear their victory over the temple of Radhika by placing their flag over it. On the other hand the women of Barsana try to stop these men in achieving their goal by beating them up with long bamboo sticks.

These men are not allowed to hit back women but can only try to keep them off by sprinkling colours on them or hitting them.

The fun part begins when any man gets trapped by these women. The trapped man is dressed up like a lady in a saree with makeup and is made to dance like one. It is said that even Lord Krishna was made to dance like a lady by Barsana women.

The very next day, the same scene is repeated in Nandgao as men of Barsana raid the village to win over temple of Shri Ji and women of Nandgao beat them with sticks to keep them off.



Tips for Holi Festival

• If you want to enjoy Holi to its fullest make sure to play safe. The best option would be to play with natural organic colours.

• Use more of red or pink colours that can also be taken off easily. Gaudy colours like purple, green etc may have more harmful chemicals in them and should be avoided.

• Make sure you oil your hair well before playing Holi so that the colour doesn’t stick on your hair and will be washed off quickly. You may also cover your hair with a cap or scarf to avoid any damage to your hair.

• Also apply thick cream on your face and thick coating of nail paint on your nails to keep them protected.

• If you heading to visit Nandgao or Barsana for ‘lath maar’ Holi then make sure you are well padded.

• Holi is famous for its traditional rich food like gujiyaas and chole bhature and drinks like bhaang and thandaai. Avoid over indulgence in bhang or food to enjoy the festivities to its fullest.

In case the attempt to save your face from a colour attack fails, make sure to keep your eyes and lips tightly shut.