'Life is beautiful when in Kolkata' : A Photo Essay!

The Grand Howrah Bridge

I don't know where to start this post from because I wanted to write about Kolkata a long ago but somehow never managed to do it.

I had certain doubts in my mind that whether I'd be able to write about my experiences of Kolkata or not. There is a song that I really like from the movie "Kahaani", it's the title song of the movie which was sung by Shreya Ghoshal. I love the song because somewhere it connects me to Kolkata, the city of joy.

I was placed with an IT company in Bangalore and for my first assignment, I was relocated to Kolkata. I never wanted to move to Kolkata because I had my own concerns about the place; food, distance(from my hometown) and friends. It was completely a new place for me and I had no friends/relatives there. During the initial days in Kolkata, I went thru tough times because I didn't know anyone and being a vegetarian, I had some serious problems like finding good vegetarian food and a nice place to stay. No, I'm not saying that Kolkata doesn't have good food joints but the situation made me think in that way.


Also, social media wasn't that useful for bachelors as it is these days. Finding a decent place to live was a big challenge. Somehow, I couldn't find a rented flat accommodation, hence shifted to a PG near to my office. It was a triple sharing room and my roommates were living there for 3-4 months. Since the PG wasn't that good, we stayed there for a month and then planned to leave the PG and moved to a flat. Though we all three were roommates there was hardly any connection among us. We spent around 3-4 months together in the flat before I moved with some of my colleagues at the workplace in a different society. 

As soon as I shifted to a new place with new people, things actually started falling in place and Kolkata wasn't all that bad a place anymore. Well, it was never a bad place. I just made it so in my head. I had some bad experiences in the early stint and that's what made me dislike Kolkata in the first place. To be honest, I never enjoyed exploring any place more than Kolkata. I made some life long friends and enjoyed the life thoroughly. Now, If I say that I miss Kolkata then trust me, am not lying. I do miss, Kolkata! I will also admit that I spent some of the best days of my life there. I cherish those days for all the beautiful experiences that I lived to the fullest.

Here are some of the pictures that I took during my stint in Kolkata. Some long lasting memories and a tale thru pictures-

The Grandeur of Victoria Memorial and Janta-Janardan.

A day at Science City, Kolkata

When monsoon arrived...

My first Diwali away from home...

And when the Eden Gardens happened... :D

When the evening view from the balcony is so serene then just sit back and enjoy.

My first tram ride from Gariahat....

And my love for flowers is like a never ending affair...

And the dark night rises..

When Alipore Zoo welcomed us with colors of nature

And a bit of wildlife to add to the mix....

Dakshineshwar temple - a must visit place when in Kolkata

Concrete Jungle...

Time to board the Kolkata local...

Into the dusk! @ Princep Ghat

Vidyasagar Setu

When the pados waali building ka pigeon gave me an angry look :P

Those memories of pandal hopping during Durga Puja

And then there were lights, ethnicity, and celebration everywhere..

One of the best places in Kolkata- Eco Park, New Town.

It was time to say good bye to Kolkata and 2013. Christmas and New Year Celebrations at Park street, Kolkata.

                              Yes, I was there when IPL happened. Korbo Lorbo Jeetbo Re..

Kaas Plateau - The Valley of Flowers...

About Kaas Plateau: The Valley of Flowers...

Last Saturday, I visited "Kaas Plateau" with my friends. It was in my "must visit" list from the past 3 years and finally we planned this trip to "The Valley of Flowers". Kaas Plateau, also known as "Kaas Pathar" (in Maharashtra), is located around 145 kms from Pune city of Maharashtra, India. This place is rich in flora and is significantly known for its biodiversity. During the months of August and September, the valley provides habitat to more than 800 different species of flowers and plants. After monsoon, for a stretch of 2-3 weeks; from end of August till mid-September, the plateau blossoms with different varieties of flowers and attracts many tourists and nature lovers from across the country. In 2012, UNESCO approved it as the "World Natural Heritage Site" and since then this plateau grabbed more attention of the local tourists.

Our Journey...

In our trip to Kaas, we left Pune at 8 am in the morning and reached Kaas at around 12:30 pm (took 2-3 breaks in between). Since it's a UNESCO approved site, to manage the crowd and to avoid damages, the officials have restricted the number of visitors to 3000 per day. Along with that, there are four time slots of 3 hours each for visiting the place. Since it was not a pre-planned trip and that we planned it in just 2 days and also we were 14 people in total, so to manage everything we kept some travel time in buffer and booked our tickets for the 1-4 pm slot. We reached Kaas at 12:30 pm and parked our vehicle 1 km ahead of the main entrance gate. After that, we started walking and reached the main gate at 1 pm. Since the plateau was located at high altitude and unfortunately we had overcast conditions, which ruined some of my plans to capture good pictures of the place. But still the beauty of the valley was of a different kind and we took a stroll across the path created for walking and enjoyed our time
 
After covering most of the area, we left for Pune at 4pm and reached there by 9 pm in the night (took dinner break in between).

Here are some of the photos I clicked in foggy weather. Hope you like them! :)

 

Near by places to visit...

1. Mahabaleshwar Hill Station (35 kms)
2. Koyna Sanctuary (20 kms)
3. Tapola (50 kms)
4. Wai (30 kms)

How to reach Kaas Plateau from Pune...

1. Pune-Bangalore Highway -- Katraj --Shindewadi -- Khed Shivapur -- Nasarpur phata --  Kapurhole -- Shirwal -- Bhumj -- Satara -- Kaas (20 kms from Satara)
2. Pune-Solapur Highway -- Hadapsar -- Saswad road via Diveghat -- Saswad village --
   Narayanpur --  Kapurhole --Shirwal -- Bhumj -- Satara -- Kaas (20 kms from Satara) 

Best time to visit...

Best time to visit Kaas Plateau is after the rains from end of August till October. However, the rarest species of flowers normally blossoms during the months of August(late) and September(mid).

For Photography enthusiasts this is the perfect place to capture some ever-lasting memories. So pray to god for sunny day and click some extra ordinary pictures! :)

Timings...

There are four slots of 3 hours each for visiting the valley-

7am - 10am
10am-1pm
1pm-4pm
4pm-7pm

Maximum 3000 people can register to visit the place per day. 

Ticket Details...

Rs.50 per person for 3 hours on Weekdays
Rs.100 per person for 3 hours on Saturday,Sunday and Government Holidays.

Photography charges for DSLR camera : Rs.100
Vehicle parking charges extra.

My Take...

This is one such place which you wouldn't want to miss when in Pune. It's a UNESCO site and is the only one of its kind! A perfect place for nature lovers and photography enthusiasts!! :)

Note: Few details have been taken from Google for accuracy.

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मन का खेल..

किसी को शौहरत चाहिए,
तो किसी को मोहब्बत ....
किसी को सुकून चाहिए ,
तो किसी को बरकत ....

है ये मन का खेल एक बड़ा ,
न जाने कितने सदियों से चलता आ रहा है ये सिलसिला ....

पहर दर पहर ,
किस्से बनते जा रहे हैं ....
कभी हम उनको ,
तो कभी वो हमको ,
ये बातें सुना रहे हैं ....

दिल की चाहत को समझो ,
तो एहसास होता है ....
ये मन का वहम है यारों ,
कभी दिल अपने पास ,
तो कभी उनके पास होता है ....

डरता तो खुदा भी है ,
अपने बन्दों की जरूरतों से ....
सुनने से मुकरता है ,
तो कभी हक़ीक़त बयाँ करने से कतराता है ....

है ये मन का खेल एक बड़ा ,
न जाने कितने सदियों से चलता आ रहा है ये सिलसिला .....

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Madhya Pradesh Foundation Day (2014)...

After India’s independence, Madhya Pradesh state was first created with Nagpur as its capital and later in 1956, the state was reorganized and Bhopal was announced as its new capital. The reorganization of the state took place in November month. In 2010, the state government of Madhya Pradesh announced to celebrate the Foundation day of the state on 1st, November of every year. The state witnessed its first Foundation day i.e. 54th year celebrations in 2010. For better understanding of what Foundation day exactly means, we can define it as the designated date on which the state or a nation was founded and came into existence. 

In 2014, when I was visiting my hometown in November month. My father asked me if I wanted to attend this 59th Foundation day celebrations of Madhya Pradesh? Since I had heard a lot about the cultural events and fireworks in the newspapers, I said "Yes" right away without giving it any further thought. And then we bought the passes for the event and attended the wonderful and colorful program.

The program was held at the Lal parade ground, Bhopal and was attended by thousands. In the first half of program, Chief Minister, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan gave a 15 mins speech and then he presented the Madhya Pradesh Gaurav Samman (Lifetime achievement award) to Dr Anil Kakodkar for his outstanding services and achievements. Afterwards the main cultural program was started where hundreds of artists from various parts of country presented Mahakavi Kalidas’ Meghdootam. The show was choreographed by famous choreographer Maitreyee Pahari. In second half, music composers Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani performed their hit nos. and then the program ended with mesmerizing fireworks.

 

 

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