5 Reasons why CHENNAI is way better than any other place on the planet.

I am a very proud INDIAN. Yes, even though I am currently living in the US, I am still Indian and more often than not I calculate weights in kilograms and not in pounds, I calculate speed in kmph and not mph, distances in km and not miles. I am miles away from home and yet, I still do that.

I am also a very proud Chennaite. Yes, that city on the east coast of India, which is home to over 6 Million people. I have seen things happen in Chennai, I have heard of a lot of things as well, but for me to convince anyone about why Chennai is way better than any other place on the planet - I only need 5 reasons.

1. You will always be welcome in Chennai. Whoever you may be - Chennai welcomes everyone with open arms. People from the North east fear Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore for some of the hostile reactions that they get there. Look around you in Ranganathan Street and you will find at least 60% of India's languages spoken.

2. Conservative, yet modern. Chennai is a more tradition oriented city, where people exist across various spectrums. Chennai is home to a lot of madisar mamis and also to a lot of mini-skirt girls. Well, I guess that sums it all up in a nutshell.

3. Marina Beach. The world's second longest beach. Nope, you cannot wear those skimpy bikinis on this beach either, but I can assure you, Marina and Elliots beaches are a lot more cleaner and safer than the beaches in Mumbai and Goa. And yes, you cannot drink on the beach - horseback cops will arrest you - That's why you find the beaches safer.

4. Safety for Women. Well, what can we say - Chennai is one of the safer cities for women in India. There are crimes against women, yes, but you will never come across ineptitude when it comes to preventing crimes against women. People are friendly and will help almost anyone in distress. That does not mean Chennaites are naiive, it means Chennaites care about those around us.

Read this, if you don't believe me: http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2015/03/16/what-delhi-can-learn-from-chennai-on-womens-safety/

5.Intelligent people. Helping nature is one thing, intelligence is another. Chennaites are very knowledgeable about a wide variety of things. Thanks to some amount of street smartness that our ancestors gave us. Every international cricketer who visits Chennai says that Chennai's cricket loving public are extremely knowledgeable and highly sportsmanly about the game. Apart from that, we are also the kind of people who wouldn't encourage cheating in sports or in exams (Hint: BIHAR).

Oh well, I guess, if those reasons don't convince you, I'm not sure anything else will.

- A proud Chennaiite. :D

A tour to the heartland of terror - FINALLY...

I was really excited only on this day. Finally, we were to return to some sort of proper civilization. The train at Jammu was scheduled only for 7 45pm. We had some repacking to do, considering all the stuff that the ladies bought. Poof.

We were taken out for a local sightseeing- which of course, means some more temples. It was peak heat, when we moved out for it. There was this temple, which was about a half hour's drive from the hotel and we landed up there in all that heat.

Just after we finished with that temple and got back to the car, the normally extremely temple fanatic uncles of mine, declared that they couldn't manage any more roaming in this heat. Believe me- Katra was nearly 40+ degrees hot. So we returned to our hotel, had lunch and got a bit of a nap, till about 3 pm. Then the repacking and all continued till about 4 pm, when we finally loaded the luggages in the 2 qualises that had come.

It wasn't long before we reached Jammu and had some tea there. By around 6 pm, we finished shopping and started to the railway station. The train was at 7 45pm. We reached the station by around 6 30 pm.

It was a tough time managing and carrying all those bags and heavy suitcases, which had only increased in number since we landed in Kashmir. We came to Kashmir with 10 pieces of baggage with us, now we were leaving with 19 pieces, which included 3 cricket bats and a baseball bat.
No ramps at the entrance to the railway station. Tough work, but we managed it. Then, our baggages went thru a scanner at the entrance and collecting them and consolidating those baggages took a good part of over 20 minutes.

At last, at around 7 15pm we reached the platform and found out where our compartment would be. A few minutes later, we loaded the stuff in and settled in our seats. I breathed a huge sigh of relief, when the train moved. Atlast- We were going to Delhi.

A tour to the heartland of terror - Day 7 &8- The journey to Katra and Vaishno Devi.

One thing that I was happy about is that, it won't be long before we would reach Delhi. It was just a couple more days away. A couple more days, until I can use my phone again. :(

So. We started at around 8 30 am from the hotel in Srinagar. There weren't many stops in between. Just one stop at around 2 pm for lunch. Mum and my eldest aunt fell sick. Mum due to lack of sleep and my aunt due to some nausea. And that lunch stop was heavily debated by my uncles, as to when we should stop. I was very thankful for that lunch stop, as I was hungry myself.

We had lunch at a dhaba, where we were served with rajma-chawal and rotis. After about 20 minutes, we were on our way again. I do remember trailing a lot of army vehicles, after which I guess I dozed off.

It was around 5 30 pm when I woke up to find our qualis crossing through a major army district, Chandanwadi. An hour later, we end up in front of a hotel in Katra. It was still bright even at that part of the day and was very warm, unlike what we had experienced till then in Kashmir.

Through some contacts, a darshan for Vaishno Devi had been arranged for the next morning and we had even obtained helicopter tickets.

Now- certain things about Vaishno Devi temple.

1. Popularised by the owner of the T-Series cassettes company, Late. Mr. Gulshan Kumar, this temple has grown to become a very popular Hindu pilgrimage destination.

2. This temple has access only by 3 means of transport-
(a) By helicopter, which takes you to a helipad located at about 4 km from the temple. After which you either have to walk or take a pony, which costs a reasonable amount.

(b) By pony

(c) By walk.

Taking either of b or c, you will have a pathway which is about 14km long and it is very steep. It takes about 8 hours for you to climb, provided you dont stop for too long. My cousins and their parents decided to walk and just only managed it.

3. And it is believed that when you pray at this temple, your prayers are always answered and no one returns disappointed.

Alright, we had dinner at a hotel near to where we stayed and went off to doze for the night. Nice room really and for the first time in all of the last 4 days, I got a mattress of my own. Nice sleep for the first time in the last 4 days too. And yes, I really did miss someone. The someone was always on my thoughts though.

Yawn. Wake up at around 8 am. We were supposed to start by 9, which later became 9 30 and then finally 10 30. I was pissed by that time. Finally, we proceeded to the heli-pad. One more hour's wait. It was 11 35 am when we got into the helicopter and 11 39 when we got off at the other end. Just 4 minutes.

It took us a good part of over 3 hours to have the darshan and return to the heli-pad again. We were at the helipad by around 2 30 and by 3, back at the hotel, while my cousins and uncle and aunt were climbing up, to stay for the night.

Then, shopping after 6 pm. As usual, the ladies... And I was so very tempted by the sight of a nice kashmir willow. That was for my cousin, not me. I had this nice opportunity to interact with a Katra based bat maker. My god. All those pieces of willow, come from Kashmir. They cost about 3k here in Chennai, while it's less than half of it there.

Hit the sack, a little while after 10 pm. The last few hours in Kashmir. :)

A tour to the heartland of terror- Day 6- Srinagar return

I wake up drenched in sweat. Not a nightmare- it's cos of the bed heater. It takes me about 15- 20 minutes to get ready and head for breakfast at around 8 am. The rest of the group's ready and munching away on aloo parathas and toast. As usual, I force the food down my throat and escape before the group finishes.

The bumpy ride to Srinagar begins in the next few minutes and doesn't end until about 3 hours later. We are then brought to a hotel, whose entrance gives the feeling of an Army base(of course, there was an army base next door) There were sandbags and guns arranged near the main gate of the hotel. ;) I certainly missed the boat house :( .

Lunch, then off we went sight seeing. First point was a Shankaracharya temple, which overlooked the Dal lake. Nice temple and very well maintained. Was I happy to spot a BSF (Border Security Force) personnel with a Tamil name. Had a little chat with him and moved on.

Then, we went on to visit 3 gardens. One of them being the cheshmashai, which is located right near the Governor's residence. Then, after about half an hour there, we went on to the shalimar gardens and another garden, whose name I don't remember.

At around 7 30 pm, we were dropped off at the main street to go shopping. As usual, you know the ladies... need I say more? Finally, we returned to the hotel at around 9 30. Way past my dinner time. I was extremely hungry, but my mood was just a shade better than what it was at Pahalgam. I managed to stuff a couple of naans and finally went off to doze a little after 10 pm.

PS: There was some problem in Jalandhar, through which the train from Jammu to Delhi had to pass. We were concerned about it as a train had already been burnt. We were hoping that the problem would be settled soon.

We start to Katra early tomorrow morning. Why Katra? That s where the Vaishno Devi temple is.