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Tuesday, August 4, 2015

The Sound of Heart beat - chapter 3

Meghna woke up to the aroma smell of a freshly-brewed coffee and the scorching sun rays that fall on her face peeing through her bed room window. She realized that her laptop was still on with Facebook opened in the browser. She had slept off in the study table itself. 

Friend’s sometimes (or most of the times?) offers the worst idea in the world. Shiva suggested her to search Karthik in Facebook adding a bullshit point that even a newborn baby whose name has not decided yet has a Facebook page and twitter account. Though we scream that technology has dumped face-to-face interactions, it’s also true that with these technologies one can find and get information about any person under the sun. This idea cost her entire night. Karthik is not a rare name to be found easily on the Facebook. The moment she typed Karthik in Facebook search and hit enter, it listed 10 karthik profiles that was associated with her friends list itself. Out of 2 Tamil movies, one movie will definitely have the hero name as Karthik.
“Is Karthik such a common name?” She bit her nail and continued browsing the profiles.
“Karthik or Karthick? How does he write his name?” She has to browse thousands of profiles only to realize that few people even spell it as Kartik.
Karthik, Karthick, Kartik..
Is she going to find him in Facebook without knowing the proper spelling of his name or the Surname and not even one common friend.? We all know, it’s highly impossible, but people in love are driven in those fantasy worlds which according to them are "If you really love a person, universe will help in conquering.” Their mind just revolves around with such high positivity. Even if someone says, Karthik must have called off the marriage as he would be in some relationship, her mind would say, a big NO!!!. When they are in love, they believe that their body survives due to loveabolism and not because of metabolism.
     To some extent, it’s true as well. Since after the call-off incident, Meghna was unable to concentrate on anything. She had a long hot soak. The prospect of finding Karthik in a social setting filled her with a sense of tremor of excitement and kicked off her metabolism. But the entire night search did not help her in finding him out. She felt void and null. Meanwhile, Meghna's mom entered her room with coffee and Meghna closed the laptop with a slight disappointed.
"What a surprise!? Did you take any oath that you will follow good habits or was it my dream?" Her mother got excited as soon as she observed the bed sheets neatly folded in her room.
"Ma, I just slept off in the table itself" Meghna replied and want to brush her teeth.
"Hmm..I know, how I could expect good habits from you... Anyway don’t forget to return early from office today. We have to attend Narmadha aunt daughter marriage." Her mom reminded her again.
"Okay Mom. You told me enough times" she brushed her teeth with dismay. All of a sudden her face lighted up with a bright idea.
She rushed towards her laptop with white foam bubbles around in her mouth and opened the Facebook to search "Divya Bharathi"  
It’s in the wedding of Divya Bharathi, Karthik's mother saw Meghna. She gave her a friend request and started scrutinizing Divya Bharathi’s friends list.

"Found my man. :) " she messaged Shiva in What’s app.
Karthik?
It’s not Karthik. It’s Karthick. That’s how he writes his name :)
uff...okay Karthick...so did you message him?
No..I did even send him friend request
Y?
He may think, I purposefully searched for his profile 
So, What’s ur plan then?
Planning to Join Stepz dance institute.
gonna impress him with a dance?
Ufff. Bad joke. .From one of his photos I observed that he is going to that Stepz dance institute. Actually, he works at Amazon. definitely, I can’t clear Amazon recruitment process :P and get into Amazon. But dance class, I think I can. 
Oh..I c...so, u are gonna make a scene that, you are naturally meeting him at the dance class.
of course yes!
Handle it carefully. One wrong move and it can slip, slicing the relationship. 
Shiva gave another warning before they end up the chat.

The rules of a relationship are simple.
If you like them…let them know...
If they say no… let them go...
People think the former is easy and the later is tough. But the truth is later might be easy but the most difficult part is letting the person you love them. Will Meghan succeed?


Monday, July 13, 2015

North India Trip Plan Itinerary.

Here is the perfect plan for North India Trip. 


Starting the Trip
  • Book a Flight that will reach Delhi around 16:00 to 20:00, depending upon your convenient time
  •  Reach Delhi Airport.
  •  Come outside the Airport and hire a taxi to the Hotel. 
  • Option 2 come out of Airport, Take the Airport shuttle to Delhi Aerocity Station. (Rs. 30 per person). Catch the metro (New Delhi Airport Express) (Duration - 16 min ; Fare 60Rs per person) Get down at New Delhi Railway station. This is the last stop of the aero express metro]]]. If you are more than 3 people, booking cab is the cheap and best)
  • Check in at Hotel. Book a hotel in Paharganj or close to railway station. So that it will be easily accessible.
  • Have dinner in Hotel and take rest.

Day 1: (Delhi)   
  • Get ready by 8:00 AM. Have breakfast at Hotel. 
  • Walk to New Delhi Metro stn from the hotel and pick up the daily metro pass (Rs.150 per person). Metro routes can be found here - http://www.delhimetrorail.com/
  • Take New Delhi Metro Station to Qutab Minar Station (38 min). 14 stops. Last stop is Qutab Minar
  •  Walk 1.5 Km or hire Auto (Rupees 10 per Person) and view Qutab Minar and Iron Pillar. Time Needed to Explore – 1.30 hour. 
  • Come back to Qutab Minar Station Take the metro from Qutab Minar Station to Central Secretariat Station (29 min). 11 stops.
  •  Interchange and take the purple line and catch Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (06 min). 3 stops (Central Secretariat, Khan Market and Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium)    
  •  Allow 2 kms walk from Station to Humayun tomb (or book cab Time Needed to Explore – 1 Hour
  •  Take the metro from JLN stadium Station to Akshardham (20 min). 10 Stops
  •  Allow 350 mts walk from metro Station to Akshardham Swaminarayan temple (Entry to the temple will close sharp at 6:30 PM. If you are inside temple before 6:00 PM, you can view the temple till 10PM). Time Needed to Explore – 5 hours Minimum. Water show at Akshardham premises is not to be missed. Water show timings keep changing, so check with the timings with volunteers. Akshardham entry is fee. Buy the Water show and Exhibition ticket combo ticket (Rs.250 per person)
  • Have Dinner at Akshardham temple.
  • Take the metro from Akshardham station to RK Ashram station (7 stops)
  • Reach hotel and sleep. 
Personally, You need one entire day for Akshardham temple. You have to go through a long queues for a security check and mobile deposit. Don’t miss light and sound show.

Day 2 (Delhi)

  •  Have Break Fast at hotel and Proceed at New Delhi Metro or RK Ashram Metro station at 8:30 AM
  •  Take Metro train from New Delhi to Central Secretariat (yellow line).(08 min). 4 stops
  •  Visit India Gate which is 1.5 kms from Central Sectratariate Metro Station. Time Needed to Explore  – 15 Minutes.
  • Visit Parliament House, (only outside View)
  • Visit  Rashtrapathi Bhavan. You can get permission in advance to visit inside the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.  Booking must be made online - https://presidentofindia.gov.in/rbvisit/rbvisit.aspx
  • Visit Gandhi Memorial at Raj Ghat. Lot of other associated Memorials like Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi..etc are at the same place. Time Needed to Explore – 20 Minutes.
  • Visit Gandhi Smriti. (Gandhi House). Not to be missed Time Needed to Explore – 1 Hour (If you want to explore about Gandhi in detail 2 hours)
  •   Take the metro from Central Secretariate Station to JLN stadium Station – (purple line). (06 min). 3 stops. 
  • Allow 1.5 kms walk from metro Station to Lodhi Gardens
  • Come back to Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and Continue on (purple line) to station Kalkaji Mandir Station. 
  • Allow 900 mts walk from metro Station to Lotus temple Time Needed to explore – 30 minutes. (To get inside the temple, it depends on crowd)
  • Reach metro Kalkaji Mandir to Central Secretariat (24 min) 9 stops (Interchange at Central Secretariat to Chandni Chowk 14 min. 6 stops.)
  •  Proceed to Red Fort and Lahori Gate (1 KMS walk).
  • Take metro back to New Delhi Metro Station (yellow line).
  • Check out from hotel and catch the GOLDEN TEMPLE Mail(19:15)
Day 3 Amritsar (Punjab):
·        
  • Reach Amritsar at 05:45 AM.
  • Book a hotel near to Amritsar Railway station. Hire an auto or taxi and proceed to the Hotel.
  • Proceed to Golden Temple (also called Harmandir Sahib.) (Amritsar Junction to Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib) 8 min (1.8 km). Lot of mini bus every 30 minutes.). The bus to temple is free. Time Needed to Explore – Depends on Crowd.
  • Breakfast at Golden Temple langar hall (community kitchen).
  •  Visit Akal Takht . It’s very close to Golden Temple.
  • Visit Jalianwala Bagh which is right next to Golden temple.(100 meters walk) Time Needed to Explore – 15 minutes.
  • Option: Lunch at Brothers Dhaba near Golden temple. 
  • Take the bus to Wagah Border (2:00 PM to 7:00 PM). Note: Bag of any kind is not allowed inside Wagah. This includes Camera bags as well. But cameras are allowed. No cloak room facilities in Wagah. Advised to keep all bags in Golden Temple Cloak room (People outside Golden temple will be selling tickets to Wagahborder. You can get the tickets from them and they will guide you.)
  • Make sure, you reach Wagahborder before 4:00 PM.
  • Watch the parade and Flag down ceremony at Wagah Border. Depending upon the time of sunset, the flag down ceremony will starts. Usually around 4:30 pm in winters and 5:30 pm in summers.
  • Catch the bus back to Golden temple.
  • Visit Golden Temple; view the Night view of Golden temple. The Night View of Golden temple is not to be missed. Have dinner at Golden Temple langar hall (community kitchen). The temple will be open till 10 PM. Hence, you can relax in the temple as much as you can by viewing the specular view of Golden temple.
  • Reach hotel and Sleep.

Day 4 Amritsar(Punjab):

  •         This day you have lot of time to relax. Have Breakfast at hotel. Go to Durgiana Temple (Distance 10 min (2.2 km))
  • Visit Maharaja Ranjit Singh Museum (Maharaja Ranjit Singh Museum to Shree Durgiana Tirath 10 mins - 2 kms). 
  • Reach Railway station at 14:30 and Catch ASR AJMER EXP and proceed to Jaipur. 
Day 5 Jaipur (Rajasthan)

  • Reach Jaipur Junction at 07:30 AM
  • Check in Hotel for a day fresh up
  • Visit Amer Fort and Amber palace (37 min ie 12.9 km from Jaipur railway station). Time Needed to Explore – 2 hours.
  • Visit Jal Mahal (Amber Palace, To Jal Mahal 17 min (7.7 km)) Time Needed to Explore – Depends on CROWD
  • Proceed to HAWA Mahal (Jal Mahal to Hawa Mahal 19 min (7.7 km)). Explore Hawal mahal Time Needed to Explore – 45 minutes. Go to the top of the building and enjoy the wind blow and Entire City. 
  • Visit City Palace (Hawa Mahal to City Palace (3 Min - 700m)) Time Needed to Explore – 2 hours
  • Shopping at pink city
  • Visit Jantar Mantar (City palace to Jantar MAntar (30 min) Time Needed to Explore – 45 MINUTES.  Never miss the video, showing the explanation of each instrument.
  • Visit Birla temple Jaipur (14 Min 4.3 KMS) (All days of the week 6:00 AM - 12:00 PM || 3:00 PM - 9:00 PM) Time Needed to Explore – 30 minutes.
  • Arrive Jaipur junction around 11:30 AM.
  • Reach hotel and sleep well.
Day 6 – Wednesday AGRA (Uttar Pradesh)
  •  The day starts very early.
  • Get ready by 3:30 AM.
  • Check out from the Hotel and walk to the Railway station which is 1 km from the hotel. Alternatively, you can catch an Auto.
  • Catch AGRA SUPER FAST at 04:15 AM
  • Reach Agra Fort at 08:20 AM
  • Have Breakfast and take cab to reach Hotel. Book a hotel near to (Dharmapuri, Forest Colony, Nagla Devjit.) So that, it will be easy for viewing the sun rise.
  • Fresh up, Take cab and Visit Agra Fort Time Needed to explore – 45 minutes. (Visiting Hours - 6.00 AM - 6.00 PM) 
  • Visit Taj Mahal .  Time Needed to Explore – 1.30 HOURS.
  • Visit  Itmad-ud-Daula (Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah) (visiting Hours 8AM–12AM)
  • Have lunch near or On the way to Fatehpur Sikhri (40 KMS)
  • Reach Fatehpur Sikhri. Time Needed to Explore – 2.30 HOURS. 
  • Visit MEHTAB BAGH PARK and view Sunset from MEHTAB BAGH PARK (Sun set in Taj Mahal 7:16 PM). You get the Aerial view of TajMahal from here 
  • Finish Dinner go to room and sleep well. If you have another one day, you can explore Mathura. Else you can book a flight this day from Agra to your destination. 
Day 7 – Mathura and Vrindavan
  • Check out from hotel. Book a Cab in advance to pick up from your hotel. Approximate cab Charge for the below plan is Rs. 2200 including Parking and Toll charges.
  • Proceed to MEHTAB BAGH PARK to view sun rise at Taj Mahal. Opening time of MEHTAB BAGH 5:30 A.M.  Approximate Sunrise at Taj Mahal 5:29 AM. The cloudy view of Taj Mahal, calm view of Yamuna River, Flowers, plants around MEHTAB BAGH are to be seen here. 
  • Proceed to Mathura. Have the traditional food and sweets at Mathura. 
  • Visit Govinda Dev ji 
  • Visit Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi
  • Visit  Prem Mandir(shri krishna janmabhoomi to Prem Mandir to 8.8 km)
  •  ISKCON Vrindavan (prem mandir vrindavan to ISKCON Vrindavan  (550.0 m)
  • Note – All the temples in Mathura close at 12 A.M and open at Evening - 4:30–6:30 P.M. So plan accordingly.
  • Have Lunch.
  • Visit The Sacred Lake Kusum Sarovar (25 kms) (ISKCON Vrindavan to Kusum Sarovar  23KMS) (if time permits)
  • Drop back at Mathura junction at and catch a Train to Delhi. Or book Flight to your hometown directly from Agra/Delhi.