Kanyakumari-Southern tip of India

Kanyakumari a small coastal town on the southern most tip of mainland India, in the state of TamilNadu. Town derives it name from ancient legend which say Goddess Kumari  Amman (Kumari meaning Virgin) , incarnation of Goddess Parvati who prayed here to Lord Shiva to accept her as his wife.

How to reach:

By Air:- Thiruvananthpuram or Trivandrum International Airport is the nearest airport located in neighbouring state of Kerala. From Thiruvananthpuram it takes about 3 hours to reach here by bus, train or taxi.

By Rail:- Very well connected and serviced by rail to all major cities in India like Chennai, Trivandrum , Kochi, Bangalore, Bombay, New Delhi, Kolkata, Coimbatore etc.

What to see:

Most of the attractions are in close proximity of each other and can be traversed on foot or by Auto Rickhaws

1. Kanyakumari Temple–Kanyakumari Temple is also referred to as Bhagvaty Amman Temple and is one of the 108 Shakti Peetha in Hindu mythology.The Devi stands as a charming young girl in her penance with a rosary in her right hand, and a sparkling nose jewel that sheds lustrous radiance.
2. TriSamudra Milan (Triveni Sangam)- Confluence of Arabian sea, Bay of bengal and Indian Ocean.
3. Vivekanand Memorial– Vivekananda Rock Memorial is located 100 meters from the shore and is one of the major tourist attractions in Kanyakumari, was built in 1970 in honour of Swami Vivekanand who is said to have attended enlightenment on the rock. The small rock island can be reached by a ferry and consists of two main structures. Ticket for the ferry is Rs 34 and it operated from 8 AM to 4 PM. The Vivekananda Mandapam (host a bronze statue of Swami Vivekanand) and the Shripada Mandapam (A small projection in shape of human foot is seen here and as per the legend this is the feet of goddess KanyaKumari who performed penance here to marry Lord Shiva) are the two main complexes of the memorial and is frequented by thousands of tourists.
4. Thiruvalluvar Statue-The massive 133 feet tall statue is of the Saint Poet Thiruvalluvar, who was considered to be one of the greatest Tamil poets in India. This can be reached by the ferry from Vivekanand Memorial.The pedestal of the statue is artistically designed and is decorated with 10 elephants that signify the various directions.
5. Sunset & Sunrise view Points– Not to be missed are the mesmerizing views of Sunrise over Bay of Bengal from Sunrise view point located near to Kanyakumari Temple. Sunrise can be seen throughout the year.
   Sunset point is little far away from the rest of the places can be easily reached by AutoRickshaws. Sunset is usually not visible in monsoon months from June to September due to cloudy sky.

100th Day of Year 2018

Today 10th April is the 100th day of year 2018, it seems as if just few days back we welcomed the year 2018 and now even before we realised 100 days have passed…. ever thought what did we do in these 100 days ? what did we gain ? what did we lose? How many of our new year resolutions are still active?I decided  to look back on my 100 days with above questions in my mind…

“Sound Mind in Sound Body“

As the old saying goes “Sound Mind in Sound Body” I had made a resolution this year to walk atleast 2.5km (1.55 miles) daily and also purchased a fitness band to keep a track of same. Today I am happy to announce that when I checked the data I found that on an average I have walked 3KM (1.86 miles) per day.

“Once a year go some place you’ve never been before”- Dalai Lama

Being Travel lover and blogger, I had made a resolution that every year I will go on atleast one vacation to a place I have never been before, can be domestic or International. This year I went to Kerala (State in South India) popularly known as God’s own country, land of coconut trees and beautiful beaches,soothing backwaters. To have glimpse of this popular tourist destination in India check the youtube video below

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success. – Swami Vivekananda

For years I was looking for some work which will make me happy not something which you do for a paycheck but finding your true joy, your true passion in life. And just few days back I found that work I started writing a technical blog to share the knowledge I gained over years working as ERP  consultant. As of now this blog is completely free and available to anyone who wants gain more knowledge. I am happy to share that in just 5 days of publishing this blog has got more than 1.1K views.

About me

 

This was my review of past 100 days do look back on yours and also do let me know your thought on above post in comments below……..

Reading the book of life

“Life is a book and those who do not travel, read only one page”

I came across this quote somewhere while browsing on the internet and felt like very true. Each place you visit, leaves an impression on your mind, each experience you have changes you into a new person, each journey you undertake teaches you something different and gives you uncountable memories.

I have traveled a lot, and had a glimpse of many wonders of nature like vast oceans, cool and windy beaches, deep canyons, desert sands, green mountains to snow clad peaks of Himalayas, mesmerizing views of sunset and sunrise……But travel is not just viewing the attractions,attractions are just a part of it. Along with this you also get to learn about people, local cultures, traditions, taste of local cuisines, adjusting to new weather, chilling cold or scorching heat or heavy rains.

In my travel I have meet a lot of people and saw both good and bad faces of human nature, I have seen cab drivers charging exorbitant amounts from tourist by pretending destination is far, hotels trying to extract more money from tourist if you arrive without advance booking and try to book on the spot,people pretending to help you with loading  your luggage in bus or train without asking and then demand some unreasonable amount of money for the same, waiters who stand on your head to see if you keep any tip or not, people selling items at double price in tourist spot etc.

Along with this bad face, I have also seen the other side of the coin, I have seen some people who go out of their way to help other travelers, like in one of my journey in a hill station in Himachal Pradesh (State in North India) , I had to board a early morning bus to my next destination and bus stop was very near to my Hotel, early in the morning I just went to the bus stop to enquire about the bus, the conductor said the bus leaves in 10 mins, I told him I have to get my luggage from hotel, after knowing this he came with me to hotel and helped me to quickly carry my luggage to the bus so that I don’t miss it.  On another such journey after long bus ride when we finally reached near our destination, the conductor told us to get down little before the bus stand as we can get taxis to hotel easily from there, not only this he himself went and negotiated with taxi driver and aske d him to shows us few good hotels so that we can select any one from them.

In this life when even close friends cheat each other for few bucks and we have to be on constant guard to save ourselves from people around us, such strangers show us a different face of world and make us believe humanity still exists.

This is what travelling is, it is not just sightseeing, but collection of all such experiences which  shows us both the ugly and beautiful face of human nature.Some things can only be learnt by experiencing it yourselves and not by reading or listening to others and for that you have to travel. As someone rightly said

“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.”

Travel Diaries USA

I am a travel lover and till now I have travelled to 14 out of 29 states in India, Nepal,Dubai (UAE), Singapore and 5 states in USA. I always plan tours on my own instead of buying any packages from any tour operators.

Planning of a tour is tedious process and requires a lot of reasearch, right from getting necessary visa if applicable,booking flight or train tickets,going through hotel reviews to identify the best hotel, finding discounts or promotions applicable,best season to visit a place, no of days required attractions to be seen,forex for foreign trip etc.But based on my experience I can say that doing it on your own not only saves money but also gives you the opportunity to see and experience more attractions, taste local cuisines and interact with different people.

Arranging tour on your own is like childbirth painful in the beginning but gives immense joy later.About year and half back I had arranged a vacation to United States of America for my family.

Over next couple of days I will be sharing a detail account of this three week long trip in a series of posts on this blog.My aim behind this is to provide necessary information to make it easier for anyone especially Indians visiting USA for first time.Do keep watching for more……..

Life is beautiful

When I was in school in one of my summer vacations I had traveled to North eastern states of India. Those were the days of no digital camera so no unlimited photos or videos, only camera we had then was with a roll of 36 photos and so photos had to be clicked carefully as each photo counted and finally after returning back from vacation when we developed the film some of the photos were still lost.and Memories had to be captured in mind than in camera back then.

Eventhough it has been almost 20 years since this vacation I can still close my eyes and see the breathtaking beautiful view from my hotel room of valley getting covered in fog, in few seconds the nearby houses suddenly disappeared from the site and it appeared as if we are in the clouds. Chilling cold at “Changu lake” (Glacial lake at 3,753 m or 12,313 ft) in summer month of May and June which made even getting down from the jeep difficult is something which cannot be forgotten. But how much ever try to recollect other events like exam scores of that same year, I don’t remember anything about that.

When I turn  back the pages of this book of life, Breathtaking view of “Niagara falls”, “Maid of the mist ride”,”Niagara fireworks at night”, “Harry Potter ride” at Universal studio, “Desert dune safari” in Dubai, first experience of walking in desert with feet sinking deep in sand,man made snow world in desert city, shimmering beauty of “Burj Khalifa” in Night, first toy train ride to Shimla, experience of chilling winter in Dalhousie wanting to  always stay in bed wrapped in blankets, “Wings of time” & “Gardens by bay ” night shows in Singapore, beauty of the “flower dome” and artificial waterfall and mist at “cloud forest dome”, first ropeway cable car ride at Darjeeling,walking in the forest at motor vehicle banned hill station of Matheran,  laser show at Hyderabad, view of Golden temple in the night  are all unforgettable with or without pictures to remember them.

Adventures like Horse riding at “Kufri” (highest point in Shimla), jet ski in “Diveagar” (small coastal town in Konkan region of India)  beach, Zip line at “Sentosa Island” (Singapore) which seemed very scary in the beginning and but later gave  immense happiness are some of memorable pages of life.

Taste of local delicacies like “Pandan Jelly” in Singapore, “Strawberry with cream” at Strawberry farms of Mahabaleshwar (Hill station in Maharashtra state of India), “Parathas” , “Makki roti” & “sarson ka saag” in Punjab, “Spicy french fries” in Miami were a treat to the taste buds.

Life is made of uncountable such memories, of the books we like to read, movies we watched, experience of cooking (or in my case making tea) for the first time, first time withdrawing cash from the bank, first time shopping using debit or credit card, travelling alone for the first time and many more such experiences which will never be forgotten.

Finally I would like to conclude with below quote

Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.
~Robert Breault

 

 

Wanderlust Quotes

1. “Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.” – Anthony Bourdain

2.“Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” – Jack Kerouac

3.“The most beautiful in the world is, of course, the world itself.” – Wallace Stevens

4. “And then there is the most dangerous risk of all — the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.” – Randy Komisar

5.“A ship in a harbor is safe, but it not what ships are built for.” -John A. Shedd

6. “There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign” – Robert Louis Stevenson

7.“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher

8.“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

Adios 2017

As we are approaching the new year Eve most of us have started with our resolutions for new year. Just as I was preparing my own bucket list for the new year I looked back on my previous year and thought what did I do different this year and memories started flocking down

1.

Darr Ke Aage Jeet hain (Meaning: Victory lies ahead of fear)

I am not an adventure loving person, in fact I am scared of heights but this year I thought I am going to change this and so I tried jet ski, luge and skyline ride, segway and the most scariest and exciting of all zipline. Eventhough for initial few seconds these rides appear scary, latter once you get comfortable it becomes super exciting, fun filled and you end up experiencing some different kind of joy.
Next year I am planning to go for scuba diving.

2.

Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.” – Dalai Lama

Added one more stamp on to my passport, my third international trip to SouthEast Asia’s beautiful and expensive country Singapore.

3.

 Reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.

I always loved reading and used to finish reading any book or novel which I could lay my hands on in a day, however in past few years I had become workaholic and lost in running behind illusions of career success. Finally I realised that I lost real happiness in pursuit of happiness, last year I returned back to my old hobby and read few of the classics like “Diary of young girl-Anne Frank”,”The fault in our Stars -John Green”, “A Christmas Carol- Charles Dickens”, “The boy in striped pyjamas-John Boyne” etc.

There are countless such moments like getting up early on Monday morning and sitting before the laptop at 7:30 AM just to watch the “Game of thrones” season seven episodes as soon as they are aired in India. Watching some of best movies like “Shawshank Redemption”, “Last Vegas”, “The Bucket-list”, “The book thief”, “Forrest Gump”,”127 hours” “Finding Nemo” and TV serials like “Sillicon Valley”, “This is US”, “Modern Family” etc

Finally I would like to conclude this article with a thought

It is not the years in your life but the life in your years that counts

Wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New year!!!!!!

Looking back on Life

Two years ago on this day I went on my first solo trip to USA, not for a vacation of few days but to settle for a few months and create my own world in this other side of the world…….

This was the longest and the most tiring travel of my life, total 30 hours of journey with two layovers of five hours each and three flights one of which was 14.5 hours long, this was my first experience of jet lag also which made first week worse…

In past I had rejected few good job offers because I could not muster the courage to relocate to another city which was 3-4 hours drive from my home and now I had come to a place from where going back was not an option.

Spent all my life in crowded city of Mumbai, seeing deserted roads with nobody walking around, from overflowing public transport to being only passenger getting into the bus at 7 am in the morning, finding my own way to reach a place using Google maps because there was no one to ask for directions on the road slowly got used to new way of life.

My long cherished dream of living in a Duplex house which would have always remained a dream in Mumbai was fulfilled in this city. Living with strangers in a shared two bedroom apartment , not used to much of household work had to spend my Sundays in cleaning, laundry, ironing of clothes, grocery shopping etc. Learnt to cook a few dishes like Rice paratha from my roommate and also made a few experimental dishes on my own.

Being junk and oily food lover ate a ton of spicy french fries from the FIU campus, also tasted different cuisines like Taco and Nachos from Taco Bell and Chipotle, Veg Burger and Onion Rings from Burger king, Yuca fries from Pollo Tropical, Falafel and many other vegetarian options available. Also had a taste of Margarita after which for about half an hour even walking few steps was difficult for me.

Initially even a small thing worth $2 seemed expensive to me as I used to multiply each amount by 65 to calculate the approx price in Indian rupees, slowly this calculation stopped and I started shopping on almost every weekend created my own collection of brands like Calvin Klein, Steve Madden, Kenneth Cole, Forever 21 etc.

Being a travel lover brought last minute flight tickets on weekends to see some of the major attractions like Niagara falls, New York city, Washington DC monuments, Las Vegas strip, Grand Canyon and Hollywood.

I also had some low points in this short stay of six months experienced dirty politics, humiliation, betrayal, shocking moment of seeing a bill for credit card which I never had, knowing that a big fraud had been done against me by someone I trusted considered a friend, twice about to become homeless and had to stay in hotel. Inspite of all these negative experiences this trip has given me some beautiful memories and most importantly courage and confidence to live alone.

I would like to conclude this with below quote I had read somewhere…….

“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.“

Konkan Tourism-Harihareshwar

Harihareshwar is small town in Raigad district on West coast of Maharashtra (India) also known as Kashi of the south. This town is not only known for its beach but also as a place of pilgrimage.

Temple

Temple is situated at the mouth of river Savitri where it meets the Arabian sea and is surrounded by four hills Harihareshwar, Harshinachal, Bramhadri, and Pushpadri.Lord Shiva is the main deity of the village. The temple has the deities of Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh along with Devi Parvati in the form of three lingas. Lord Vishnu has blessed the temple, and, it’s believed that his footprints are visible on the shore. Beside the main temple is the temple of Kalbhairav and Devi Yogeshwari. The Harihareshwar Temple grounds have Gayatri Tirth, Sita Sansar, Vishnu pad, Pandav Tirth, and 101 Kaurav Astitv. When entering through the wooden door of Harihareshwar Temple, devotees are greeted by murtis of Lord Ganesh and Garuda, who stand to the left and right, respectively, of the sanctum entrance.

Temple Parikrama

The parikrama goes round the temple and then climbs the hill directly behind it, proceeding down to the sea, along the shoreline, then back up to the temple. The pathway winds up and down some 200 feet. The waves have cut small caves and niches into the rocks here. At one such cove, sweet water flows back out of one of the crevices each night. Just above this spot, there is a natural ‘Aum’ formed in the rock. There are many beautifully carved sculptures carved into the rock along the route, and in one of the ancient caves resides a Shivaling. This route is quite challenging and dangerous during high tide as when the ocean surges up over parts of the parikrama route making it impassable.

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A post shared by Gautami Bhandare (@girl_bornto_travel)

Harihareshwar Beach

Black Sandy Beach surrounded by hills and  greenery lies right besides the temple. Watching the sunset on the beach can be mesmerising. However this beach is not safe for swimming.

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Best time to visit

The winter months between November and February are the best time to visit  Harihareshwar. Monsoon should be avoided as heavy rains may force you to be confined to your rooms in this season.

How to reach-Harihareshwar is located at distance of 200Km from Mumbai and 170Km from Pune. State transport buses are available till Shrivardhan from there you can take a Rick. Nearest airport is Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport- Mumbai (220km) and. Nearest railhead is Mangaon(65 km)

FLY=First Love Yourself

Few months ago I was laid off from my job, this was big blow to me, all through my career I had seen people getting laid off but never thought this would happen to me, I always had high performance rating but still I was laid off. ☹️☹️

It was emotional trauma to me for days I felt depressed and spent nights crying in my bed.I was very dedicated to my work, kind of workaholic person who did not like to spend time idle. I only took time off from work in case of personal emergency or when I am sick or if I have some travel plan. I never liked to take a day off just to sit idle at home to take rest or relax. No that was not me just not something acceptable to me. But now I was left with no option just to idle timeout till I find some other job.

Then while browsing on internet I came across a video with a title ” I quit my job after seeing this”. This video urged people to really live the life they want to, without regrets, it gave the message that life is not just work from Monday to Friday, putting up with jobs which they don’t like”,collect paychecks every month, pay the rent and wait for weekend, it is far more than that but fear of failure holds people back from their talents and their passion and leaves them with regrets that “if only I had……”. It gives an important message ” Everyone dies but not everybody lives”

This video left me thinking Did I really live my life? What did I do last 12 years? Just lived a routine of going to work everyday and coming home, eat dinner and sleep, occasionally a small vacation or movie on weekend Is this all? So I decided that now that I have got time I will spend it my way, I will do things which I could not do till now.

Initially I got very upset when people saw me somewhere maybe walking on road on weekday during my usual working hours and asked me questions like ” Ohh you did not go to office today?” I had to find some excuse to hide the fact that I was laid off but over the time I read a few articles on LinkedIn which said that there is no shame in being laid off, I slowly started to accept the fact and started to hide less.

Just to kill time I started to watch ” Game of Thrones” all the seasons from one to six. In one of the episodes I came across a quote

” Do not forget what you are and rest of the world will not, Wear it like an armour and it can never be used to hurt you”

I deeply thought about this and realised the fact, till I feel ashamed of the fact that I was laid off, any question from anyone will keep on hurting me. Finally after a lot of self debate I am able to accept it and write openly about it for world to know and henceforth I will not hide from anyone but will face the world with confidence.

During the idle time I had I tried lot many thing like tried to cook different dishes some of which turned out well and some failed completely….., saw some good movies and  plays…..,  read a few good books…,prepared my bucket-list of things I wish to do…..,arranged for a family trip to North Indian states of Punjab  & Himachal (referred to as Devbhoomi – Land of God), away from hot humid climate to freezing cold winter in the lap of Himalayas, gave more time to my hobby of writing and added new sections under my blog.

Other than this I also studied the different investment option which yield better returns, risk involved and tax implications of the same, being from complete non-financial background I had to search of lot of website to understand things. But the knowledge I gained in this will prove to be useful in managing my finance over period of time.

Over this period I experienced days of gloom, when I felt defeated but overall when I look back I learned an important lesson that a job is not everything there is more to life and now I want to truly live before I die.