Dream Vacation Valley of Flowers Part-1

This is the view with which part-1 (Day-3 beginning) of my trip ends.

It all started sometime in April when we decided we wanted to plan a vacation for the 6 day long weekend in August. Of all choices (of Rajasthan, Bandipore, Bhadra, Leh) we finally chose Valley of Flowers and Hemkund, a place I always wanted to visit since I was 15. We went to GMVN and got all our accommodation and later our flight tickets booked.

Day 1 : 

Traveled to Delhi on 14th August and by 15 morning 4 AM we were in Haridwar. Our driver, Madan Singh Negi, was not yet at the station and some frantic phone calls later, he was there. The journey began.

By 7 AM, we had crossed Rishikesh with no traffic along with us and the clouded-out Ganges river following us. By 8 AM, we were at Kaudiyala for our breakfast and the Ganges as beautiful and active as ever.

Following the river through some deep gorges and beautiful valleys (there is a spot where the river actually takes a U-turn, it is a spectacular spot), we were at Devprayag where the Baghirathi (from Gangotri glacier - the river on the near side) and Alaknanda (from Badrinath - the river on the far side of the photo) meet to form the Ganges river.

We followed the Alaknanda. From Rishikesh to Badrinath, there are 5 such major confluences for Ganges. Devprayag and Rudraprayag (where Mandakini from Kedarnath and Alaknanda meet) are the major ones. Each confluence or sangam has its historical signifance. For example, at Karnaprayag (Alaknanda and Pindar rivers), it is believed Karna was doing penance when Indra asked his ear-rings and body armour which protected his body. Personally, I prefer Rudraprayag for the sheer force of water (pic shown below) -

The target was to reach Joshimath by end of the day and hence we were in a tearing hurry to reach there by nightfall. But as luck would have it, we heard of a landslide near Patalganga (Ganges in the bottom of earth, loosely translated) and hence we were stuck in Pipalkoti. While we had reconciled ourselves to staying in Pipalkoti the whole night, the road cleared and we proceeded.

And lo behold, the entire landscape changed. The wide valley gave way to sheer vertical mountains, the valley closed down upon us, you can feel the chill in the air, we could not see the river and yet we could hear its awesome power. The tension in the air was palpable. We saw a village which was washed away in a landslide (entire village with all its buildings and a few people as well) and then we came to the mother of all landslides where the entire mountain face had given way and blocked the road. The pictures below should give you a perspective -

We reached Joshimath by 6 PM when there was some light around. Hence, we made a quick dash to Narasimha Badri in Joshimath. The significance of the place is that every year when Badri temple is closed during the winter, the idols of Badrinath are brought to this temple in Joshimath and worshipped until the main temple re-opens. Joshimath is a winter destination due to its proximity to Auli, which is a popular ski destination (not as popular as Gulmarg in Kashmir, though).

Day-1 ended with the blessings of Lord Narasimha and then a sound sleep in GMVN GH in Joshimath.

Day - 2:
Early morning in Joshimath presented a lovely view of the surrounding hills. In the midst of this natural beauty,   it is believed Sankaracharya did penance. This region was heavily explored by Shankaracharya who is responsible for founding the Badrinath and Kedarnath temples. The entire mutt is surrounded by garden of beautiful flowers (some of the largest roses I have ever seen).

 There was an old mata temple as well where we had a quick darshan before we headed out to Badrinath and a darshan of Badri Vishal.

In the earlier days, the road to Badri was a narrow road capable of taking vehicles in one direction only. Hence there was a gate system which operated from Badri to Joshimath (with vehicles traveling in one direction only at a time). Now the gate system has been done away with but the road continues to be the beautiful road it always was. Just below Joshimath (beyond Jaypee's power house), there is a spot where 2 boulders blocked the river hence the flow is the most aggressive there. Beyond which you find Vishnuprayag where the Alaknanda crosses the gorge between Joshimath and Badrinath (absolutely deep gorge, I may add).

The next stop after Joshimath is Hanuman Chatti, a small hamlet with a temple of Hanuman who is shown as if he is doing penance. Legend has it that at this place, Bhima encounters Hanuman in Mahabharata and after his pride is pricked by Hanuman's test, Bhima pays his respects and requests him to participate in the war. Hanuman rejects the offer but agrees to be on the chariot with Arjuna as that is the place where he will be closest to his lord, Krishna. In this place, the river is probably most silent probably allowing Hanuman to meditate in peace.

 View of the valley/gorge as you travel from Joshimath to Badrinath. Sunlight struggles to find its way here.

We reached Badrinath around 10 AM and then headed directly to Mana, which is the last Indian village before the Chinese border. Mana is about 3 Km from Badri and start of the 5 Km trek to Vasudhara falls, the path offering some stunning views of Swargarohini peak. The entire region is full of stories from Mahabharata some of which I will capture in this blog.

First stop in Mana was the Bhim pul, a natural rock formation across the Saraswati river. Legend says that as the Pandavas were making their way to heaven, they came across Saraswati river. Unable to cross the river, Bhima threw a rock across the river which helped them cross the river (and hence the name Bhim pul). The photo below shows the Saraswati river.

And the natural rock formation known as the Bhim pul. Mana also has a small cave known as Vyas gufa where it is believed Veda Vyasa composed the Mahabharata.

Some of the sights around of Mana are beautiful especially as you leave the touristy Bhim pul behind and start walking towards the Vasudhara falls. The pictures shown below are evidence of the same -

 Exotic flowers cover the landscape.

 In the below peak, the cloud peak is called Swargarohini peak, through which it is believed Yudhishtra climbed into heaven.

 After completing Mana, we visited Badrinath temple. Badri is considered to be one of the most sacred spots for Hindus. It is one of the rare temples where Vishnu is worshipped as Vishnu and not through one of this avatars. The small town is a valley between 2 mountains namely Nar (Arjuna) and Narayana (Krishna). This being a lean season, we were able to get a good darshan. It is considered auspicious to take a bath in the hot water springs called Tapt Kund before taking darshan. Another must-do in Badri is to see the Neelkanth peak early morning when it captures the first rays of the sun. In rainy season, it may disappoint but on clear days (especially full moon nights), the mountain glows silver in the night and then turns golden during the day. It is truely a sight to behold. Some photos of Badri are below -

 View of the Badri town as seen from across Alaknanda river

 Hot water springs of Badri

Close-up of the temple with Nar mountain in the background.

Day-2 ended with darshan in the temple and then a sound rest for the long trek ahead. The main part of my journey beckons.

Valley of flowers beckons.

And as you guessed, we were lucky. The clouds opened up and we got the glimpse of the 'World's 2nd most beautiful mountain', Neelkanth. That is the picture which is shown right in the beginning of the blog.

Random ramblings

Too long since I posted so I thought a few lines are due from me. The post has to stay alive you see.

Lot has changed since the last time. I am married now, work in a 100 year company, have a house for which I pay rent, have a car again, eat a lot more than before, sleep a lot less than before.....

Some things remain the same though such as monotony of work, lousy hindi movies, anger at having done MBA, desire for a long break in himalayas, want to play badminton and win a few games.....

As you grow up in life, I think the things which remain the same have a lot of qualifiers such as 'Want', Wish, 'Desire','Love' added to it.

Best of US

This is a quick blog on some of the experiences I had in US this time -

Best experiences

a) Chicago : The city is wonderful - small, lively but never ending. Put some sun in there and it will give NY a run for its money.

b) Amtrak: American trains are not as good as Indian trains for experiencing the scenery but they are not bad at all. Amtrak runs a fairly service (wherever it runs), the crew are friendly, the food isn't that expensive and overall you will have fun.

c) Erie PA: This small town on lake Erie was one of the best experiences. Landing here on a sunny Sunday morning for a 2 hour break on my greyhound, the walk in the town amidst the old buildings, the beautiful lakes with the piers & the harbor with the boats, the small Irish tavern with the lingering smell of coffee. Just amazing.

d) Sears tower: The view not as good as Empire state - the glass balcony gives you the kick which makes you enjoy the place. Stand on the balcony and leave - nothing else here.

e) Chicago museums: Awesome simply awesome. The science museums, the shedd aquarium and the museum of natural history make you long for more - a day & 100 USD are not enough for them. Skip the field museum & Adler planetarium : you can't relate to it.

f) Cubs: Chicago's only lovable losers - the baseball team of the city which apparently has never won MLB.

g) Maid of the mist: This is the only-do at Niagara. The best experience ever. Standing there in the middle of the thundering water gives you goosebumps. You forget everything else standing in that inferno of water. The nature park around Niagara is worth visiting too.

h) Thunderstorms: The thunderstorms in US are the best. In 2 hours, the weather on a sunny day changes to pitch black scaring the wits out of you. Watch the movie Tornado alley in IMAX format and you will realize the power of these thunderstorms.

i) Spring: The change of colors, the variety of flowers, the green lush forests (especially as on the road from Buffalo to Cleveland) leaves you mesmerized.

Things missed

a) Rock & roll museum : To visit Cleveland and miss this place is considered sacrilege for every R&R fan. If you are a Floyd fan, you miss more.

b) Niagara: The more time spent away from the water, you miss more. The visit behind the falls etc on Canadian side makes you want to get a CAD visa for sure.

c) Isle Royale : An Island in the middle of lake Superior far away from any major urban settlement - it was my adventure waiting. Lack of transportation options took this adventure away from me.

d) US military: Had an option to visit a submarine in Cleveland, a WWII ship in Philly and another US submarine in SFO. None of them happened.

e) San Francisco: Dreams of visiting the downtown again and visit Pier-39 and Muir woods. Didn't happen. But yes family is more important.

Things left alone

a) Buffalo: Not a place to visit -Period. Nothing to see, spooky city, nothing to eat except for steak - give it a miss totally.

b) Field museum: If you are not an American, better stay away.

c) Philadelphia: BORING ! Again, if you are not American, you will see nothing of worth in downtown.

d) Malls: Every mall is like another. Big, same stores, all expensive - go, ogle and walk out.

e) Indian restaurants: Worthless. Enough said.

f) Cable TV: Nothing you will relate to except for the movies on HBO once in a while.

Life is getting older

I know life isn't going to be the same anymore.

You know it when even Shankar Mahadevan says that IIM-B students are some of the sharpest(implying we are born to make a difference to this world and we better get cracking).

You know it when your college friend's mother offers to speak to my mother about the 'Right Girl' for me because it is 'time' for me to leave being single.

But, on a more serious note, I feel life has changed. All this while, life was programmed, everything happened as expected - you either had a good day or a bad day, they never came together. Everything was going as per a plan and probably life like joker[Hail Heath Ledger and Christopher Nolan], decided to introduce a little anarchy.

Some of the last few months have been tough and happy. Parents down with a viral fever, a new member added to the family in US, my grandfather not being with me anymore[the man who made a 'Brahman'], better grades in college, failure in competition, tremendous mental agony followed by moments of joy.

Probably, this is what life getting old is all about - Testing you differently. Teaches you what it is good and bad first, learn to distinguish between them. Then, takes the test to the next level by throwing them alternately seeing if you can still separate them. I expect it to finally cloud one in another and see if I can remove the peel or mask and find the good/bad.

My Aim in this exercise - while life is getting older, my objective is how young can I remain.

Another lesson - There is no good or bad. Bad is Good because Bad is needed for you to become good.

Standard P.S - I am sure you have noted the change in formatting. If you like it, let me know.

Manager in Me

I sat in a paint store in Vashi in Mumbai on the 3rd and 4th day of my 2 month long internship. Forget learning or unlearning my management concepts, it taught me such wonderful lessons which I feel B-Schools either don't teach or which are lost in the overdose of theories, theorems and concepts of the academic world. The first thing it bought down in me were the thick walls of ego I had built in me; prior to walking into the shop, I felt I could never sit in that shop which was next to a pavement overlooking a busy road with a madman walking once in a while throwing stones at passerbys. How could I, a student, one of the 300 selected from 200000 to study in the country's premier management school work behind a counter and ask people how they liked this Paint and why they were not considering high end textures? Somehow sitting in the shop, I realized that building this exclusivity defeats the very purpose for which we become managers.
There was a controversy across the country when Medical college graduates were asked to do compulsory rural service. I think this is something which should be introduced across B-Schools, to-be-MBA graduates should be asked to work in remote/rural parts of the country including North-East, J&K, Vidharba, Telangana, Interior Orissa for atleast 6 months before joining any firm of their choice. Why? Because as we race to complete our graduation, we become disconnected from people, we lose sight of the very people for whom we are supposed to work and for whom we are to make a difference. I think politicians and businessmen/managers should have the same vision - Work for the Common Man. As managers we are lucky, we are not constrained by geographical boundaries, not constrained by elections & fears of getting kicked out for non-performance. Not sure if any school lets student do this to drill down our head - instead we are told that profit is the motive, shareholder gain is the motive. Is it possible that the "toxic wastes" floating in the financial markets could have been curtailed, if the people who designed the exotics thought for a moment about the people whose monies they were playing with for their personal gains? McKinsey has been admitted as a defendant in a case filed by victims of Katrina which ravaged New Orleans. McK's crime apparently was it consulted top insurance firms to change the clause in the insurance policy which ensured that the people did not reap the benefits of their "investment". Wonder how much of that investment went into making of the assets so easily lost by Lehman and Merril? Maybe if we cant improve lives, we should atleast stop doing things which will make things worse.
On an unrelated note, something is bothering me. I travel everyday from my home to Office in Mumbai through slums adjoining the airport; these slum-dwellers being encroachers and having no other place to stay in this metro. A single room hosts close to 10 people, no approach road to the home, all houses in the locality packed like matches in a matchbox(couldnt think of a better comparison), rag-pickers sharing a dustbin with street dogs infested with sores. Somehow, as a manager, I dont seem to think how my work is going to help them come up in life? Wonder how much MBA's and Managers have passed by that road? If they have, maybe this education is a waste of money for me.

P.S : This is an expression of my thoughts and feelings, let me know what you feel - ever open to criticisms and brickbats. Apologise for not having a structured flow, somehow it felt like a MBAish term so decided to give the flow a skip.

How did I miss the flowers?

Every day I walk past this hallowed portal of Concrete infamously called L^2 in the institute. Depending on the day of the week, the number of walk-pasts could be greater than 10 with a minimum of atleast 6 even on a dull boring day on campus. Apart from being surrounded by 3 blocks of concrete and granite, there is a big tree at one side of the "Pub Floor" of the institute(another name for L^2). No one pays any attention to the tree itself; it probabaly sits there smirking at all the busyboides running around it through the year carrying in them a plethora of emotions hidden to everyone including sometimes even themselves. A totally disjointed community member it is; apart from probably being the oldest.
Leaving the tree apart and coming to yours truly, I probably glanced at this tree 6 months back and never gave it another glance through this period - I am an ant scurrying upto collect my portion of "food" and hoard enough "food" without knowing the definition of enough. I am certainly not the busiest ant and despite my best attempts may be dont even have the largest hoard. I quite did not realise that this new found activity had taken over me; defining what I saw ; what I heard and maybe even what I felt.
On a lovely spring morning in Bangalore walking through L^2, my brain broke away from the shackles of anthood and dared to look up at the branches lying above my head. And Lo! what a sight to behold. In place of a green cover, there was a yellow covering of the tree resplendent; unadultered in its beauty. I didnt know how old the flowers were, the base of the tree was bathed in yellow indicating that the tree had already shed some of its own and given birth to new ones. I could not help sitting down and watching the tree but for a couple of minutes; it reproduced some old memories - my thirst to photograph every beautiful flower with my Nikon, now lost to my anthood; my drive down the Garden State of New Jersey and Scenic Virginia State duing American Fall, a visual treat I can never forget and may be unfortunate enough to never set my eyes on again; the flora in the heavenly Valley of flowers as seen in a Calendar hanging in my house.
Why did I feel all this watching a tree I dont know nor will I ever know. Maybe it was a spontaneous reaction of feeling the freedom I had taken for granted 6 months back and lost it somewhere along the path or was it a genuine reaction on seeing such a lovely thing that all equally lovely things in life came rushing back to me. How did I miss seeing the tree evolve? A mystery it will remain but it leaves me sad that in my quest for material glory, I am missing some of the finest displays put on by nature; priceless treasures they are to me. But, the tree is more forgiving than opportunity for I am sure it will come back knocking once again next year in all its royalty.
On an ending note, I was curious if I was the only one who had missed it. Today provided me the answer. Walking through L^2 on my usual sojourns, I caught atleast 4 people who were staring wide-eyed at the tree and clicking snaps.

My First Blog

I have begun this incredible journey of blogging. I think the first article I pen down should be a justification to this phenomenon itself as to why I got into this hobby or pursuit or interest, whatever you may call it. Ripping off something from my management education, I will try follow a 'logical structure' but apologies if it feels anything but logical.
Probably, my biggest expectation from blogging is I want it to be a forum where I can pen down my thoughts, my wildest dreams, my ideas, my viewpoints; my media for a one-many(and yes, a many-one) communication; I want it to be a reflection of my mind, a living proof of what I thought, an opportunity for me to sit back to let others and I review where,maybe, my thinking is wrong or how it can be improved. My Key success Factor definition for such a forum would purely be how much of a debate can I generate on this forum(which blogging site doesnt claim to do so) and my personal KRA from this forum is whether I can learn something from this interest.
The next question is a more managerial question. Can I justify this hobby with enough time? How many articles do I intend to post? How many people are expected to read this page? What is the return in it for me(stupid question but I will still answer it & 'me' means the blogger forum). Frankly, I do not know how often I will visit this site or how many articles I will post. How many people is certainly not an area of concern of me or nor is it under my control. But, I will make a commitment. Everytime my mind bursts with a thought, looks for a forum to burst out with its thoughts, I will be here on this site. Thankfully for the reader, I will skip the last question.
Finally, why the name of the blog, "BalloonSparrows?". No, it is not a rip-off from any English movie or novel nor associated with any famous institution nor is it a puzzle with a hidden crypt. But, yes, it is a secret which I will carry it on to eternity. Only one person knows this secret and it does not happen to a gentlemen called "GOD".
Hoping to do well. Thanks, Blogger.

Signing off, Teague...