06 February, 2011

Kutch Kutch Hota Hai.




Looked forward to this trip for months. Talked about shopping for it. Finally bought nothing. Packed warm clothes, woolen socks and Hide & Seek.

Boarded Bhuj Express at Bandra Terminus. Created chaos by yelling a lot. Fought for the window seat. Made new friends. Screamed at the top of our voice. Sang cheesy songs. Stayed up late at nights as the temperature dropped down to 2 degree Celsius. Shared ghost stories. And got scared when another train went hurtling by. Realised that two jackets, one monkey cap and gloves wasn’t enough.

Visited Swami Narayan temple on the way to our resort. Admired beautiful marble sculptures. Clicked a million pictures. Scared away pigeons.

Jumped on the beds in our room. Almost got injured while jumping. Played in the swimming pool. Had cold ice water baths. Got badly tanned. Snuggled inside warm blankets. Listened to awesome music on headphones.

Screamed some more. Got a sore throat. Clicked a zillion pictures. Posed for another zillion. Reminisced our childhood by playing some old games: kho kho, lagori, red letter, langdi, sakhli. Fell flat on my face. Gazed at stars. Tried to identify constellations.

Visited the fossil park. Searched for cool fossils. Marvelled at the process of sedimentation. Realised how cool evolution is. Pocketed some fossils to take home.

Woke up early. Had a scrumptious breakfast. Visited the Tropic of Cancer. Stood on the Tropic of Cancer. Took a two-hour bus ride to view jackal-feeding. Got disappointed when the jackals didn’t turn up. Were told that we scared them away by making lots of noise.

Visited the India-Pakistan border. Stood on the India Bridge and saw a glimpse of Pakistan. Got mesmerized by the White Rann of Kutch. Simply stood and stared for five whole minutes. Realised five minutes wasn’t long enough. Realised that photos can not capture even one-tenth of the beauty.

Went shopping. Hogged on some Gujurati pani puri. Ate some Gurati sweets. Roamed on the streets of Gujurat at night. Got lost. Finally rescued by our group in-charge. Sat at the window in the bus. Stared out as cars zoomed. Almost froze to death but still didn’t shut the window. Hogged on dinner at the resort. Had rasagulla. Had another rasgulla. Then one more.

Sat by the campfire. Laughed till our stomachs hurt. Laughed some more. Played dumb charades. Laughed. Laughed. And laughed.

Visited a village. Discovered Rogan art. Played with kids. Tried to handle the charkha. Clicked pictures with kids, who offered us berries. Laughed with them. Ate Banarasi paan chocolate for Rupaye ka do and drank cold drink from a Pepsi bottle priced Rs 4.

Went to Mandvi beach. Saw tons of dead jellyfish. Poked many. Saw camels. Rode one. Got super excited. Ate bhutta by the sea. Ran on the beach. Bought channa bhel from a vendor. Got blessings from him for free. Saw giant windmills.
Stuffed our bags. Asked our professor to extend the trip. He laughed. We didn’t.

Finally returned to Mumbai.
And realised it isn’t so bad either.

Our room.

Swami Narayan Temple.





Grazing camels.





On our way to Tropic of Cancer.

White Rann of Kutch.

Mandhvi Beach.

Gujurati women.


Village kids.



A house in the village.

Camel rides.

Bhuttawala.

Sunset at Mandhvi beach.

57 comments:

  1. LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS POST! Sounds like a wonderful trip how, what when? :)
    It all seems so crazy no, whatever you did, when you put it all on paper.

    And beautiful pictures, absolutely!

    =)

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  2. Rann of Kutch, Gujurat.
    Went there in december last year.

    Oh yes, it was toh-tal-leeeeeeeeeeeeeee crazy! On paper however, it sounds less crazy! The actual craziness, I cannot pen it down. :P

    Thankyou!
    :)

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  3. Never read a better, vivid, crisp, exciting travelogue as yours! Guess I will have to wait out this summer to go to the Rann.

    Excellent pics too.

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  4. I'm marveling at the details. What a spectacular trip.
    More pictures would be welcome! :)

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  5. Oh my!
    What a coincidence!
    I went to Gujarat after my exams!
    Like from Jan 16th to Jan 23rd!
    =D

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  6. Brilliant pictures. On a mobile camera? Wow!

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  7. @ purple moonbeam - :)

    I will update more pics on flickr soon!
    :)


    Thanks for dropping by!

    ReplyDelete
  8. @ Radhika Saxena - It was awesome, wasnt it?

    :)

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  9. @ Sayan - Thank you!

    This ones are not from mobile phone.
    Canon Powershot.

    :)


    Thanks for visiting.
    Nice blog you have. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Almost felt like I was there!Lovely,crisp writing.

    You should travel more!:D And yeah super pics!


    P.S:Me really like your blog. Especially 'Age of Innocence'.lol.Was kick-ass!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. @ Akanksha Pandey - Hehe!

    I am glad you liked it!!


    :)

    Keep visiting!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you! If only more people thought so! Keep visiting!

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  13. The picture of the house in the village.
    It was really good.
    Made me wish I clicked it.

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  14. Never thought such beauty would be there in Gujurat.
    For less mindful reasons y'know.

    Makes me realise, never under estimate a place for all jokes you listen to.
    :)

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  15. Nice pics...
    Guess I too need to go to gurajat..
    Hope one day I pics in that way..By the way,I am one of the ever-existed wrst photographer:)

    ReplyDelete
  16. @ Neeha - O common, you cannot be that bad.
    Just go click-click-click, like I do.


    Nice blog you have.. :)

    Thanks for visiting.
    :)

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  17. Thats seems like an amazing trip. I hope you don't still have the sore throat. Just reading about all the screaming and the cold made my throat sore. :) Lovely pics. I am a fan now!

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  18. Thanks for visiting, Jyothi.
    My throat is fine now, hope yours is too?

    :P

    Keep visiting!
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. I really liked the Story title! And i'm really feeling nostalgic! this was one heck of a trip we had! And i really loved the blog! It brought tears to my eyes...srsly Kutch Kutch Hota hai! :) :D

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  20. i love the pictures.
    my favorite..the house in the village...blue door..it is a story in itself.

    keep clicking!

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  21. Awesome pics!!!! And great post too! :) Made me think of my final year trip with college friends :)

    Thanks for following my blog!

    Cheers,
    Annie.

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  22. Amazing pictures!
    Now I want a trip to somewhere too!
    =D

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  23. @ namrata - I am glad you liked it..
    :)

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  24. @ hopelessly flawed -
    :)
    Yeah, the blue door.

    Thanks for visiting.

    ReplyDelete
  25. @ IcE MaiDeN - :)
    Awesome blog you have.


    Thanks for visiting...

    ReplyDelete
  26. aw man!!
    that sounded fun..
    pictures are great!
    but your pictures always are
    :-)
    "Realised that photos can not capture even one-tenth of the beauty."
    i feel the same way :-)

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  27. Hi There, Thanks for visiting my blog... We have beautiful Periwinkle blooming with their little BLUE flowers in our yard RIGHT NOW.... SO--a piece of "YOU" is here in Tennessee.

    Love your pictures.. Sounds like you had a good trip.
    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  28. I would totally trot along for a trip like that...you seem to have had immense funnn :) Brought back memories of our school trips :)

    And the pictures are beautiful!

    Thanks for stopping by :)

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  29. My first visit here...lovely pics! Especially the one leading to the tropic of Cancer.

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  30. @ Nikita Banerjee - Hey! Welcome to my blog!! Thank you for the comments!

    :)

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  31. Great posts and lovely pictures

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  32. WHOA! Amazing clicks, periwinkle. :)

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  33. awesome post...wonderful pictures..you seem like a powerhouse of talent. very impressed. :))

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  34. @ the silent observer - :) Thank you.

    You are indeed an observer, eh?
    :P :D

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  35. lol..you make it difficult not to notice the obvious.. ;)

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  36. :) I like the flow in your narration.
    Wonder if the gujju in me likes the narration or the fact that i haven't come across people seeing Gujarat beyond theplas and dhoklas makes me smile reading your post.

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  37. :)
    Its wayyyy beyond all that!

    Thanks for visiting!

    ReplyDelete