My Lone Trip - Exploring Rajasthan

      I finally checked the IRCTC website to book my travel tickets three days before my actual trip. O Boy, the waiting was 172 and with Diwali round the corner I was sure my trip was on the verge of cancellation. With skeleton in a closet, I informed Dad that my trip might get cancelled as I was too laid back to book tickets on time. Here is me; a typical “youth” procrastinating work with a “valid” reason which only I understood. My explanation for an excuse changed from person to person.Days passed and this was the first Diwali I had planned for Rajasthan tour instead of spending time at home. After spending 29 years back home this was my chance to spend it with unknown people in an unknown territory.

 As luck favored me I got through the TATKAL tickets and booked tickets for my journey from Mumbai to Ahmadabad and Ahmadabad to Abu Road. It was just a day before the trip and my anxiety level had already shot up. It was my first lone journey and I had decided to explore places like a traveler. This trip was really special as I did not have baggage in my mind and with festive season work too was less worrisome. With minimal luggage I left my place. I reassured myself to travel across through the cheapest means of transport, interact with locals and eat local food.  All the time that I reached to start my travel time was I thinking if I’d get friendly people or not, will I get good food or not, will I really have a good experience or not, did I do right by not visiting home or not etc etc.  With a feeling of uncertainty in mind, I left for the journey.

My first night in the train was a transition from hot humid weather of Mumbai to a chilling early morning of Ahmadabad. The train was running on time and I had already made all plans to get a good night’s sleep so that I could make most of the following day. However, having under prepared for a chilling night I slept on the uppermost birth with my fists clinched between my legs. The train reached Ahmadabad at 7 in the morning and like a typical outstation passenger the touts were all around me to get me to my destination. Hah! I did not have a destination today! I was neither to care to cal anyone/make wait anyone nor co-ordinate with anyone to reach anywhere. I was a free bird all by myself. Trust me that feeling was awesome!! I walked down the main road and was very hungry. Exploring food joints at unknown places was another important aspect of my journey. With a bit of interactions here and there I reached a local Sindhi place for a mouthwatering Dal Pakwan. After satisfying my tummy I left in a rick to worship the IIM A campus. Whomsoever has had ever appeared for CAT dreamt of getting admitted to Ahmadabad campus and trust me the aura outside the campus too reflected the same. Just a pradakshina to the IIM-A campus made me feel satisfied. My interaction all this time with the auto driver who made a very obvious face during that round trip as he mentioned that I was not the first passenger to ask him do so! A couple of days ago a student too asked him the same and like the other time he happily obliged this time too. Later, I asked him to drop me to a bus stop near the campus. With no further idea as to go to where I asked the locals for a nice nearby location where I could hang around. Mind you, I hadn’t finished my daily chores as had not checked into any hotel and thus my next destination had to be the one facilitating my ‘needs’.  In the meantime my eyes caught sight with a board which read “Science Centre”. I inquired for a public transport to reach there. In about an hour I reached the place just to find out that it opened at 10.30 am. There I was waiting for my moment of ‘relief’ and been informed to wait for another hour. I saw a Swami Narayan temple nearby and grabbed another plate of Khandvi  before reaching there. I freshened up near the temple guesthouse and later visited the temple. It was calm and beautiful. I rested there for about 40 min soaking in the early morning sun. I overheard a group of students planning to visit the Science Centre. I interacted with them and requested for a permission to join them. They happily let me in. With a modest entry fee of Rs.30 I entered the place. There were some amazing apparatus kept inside and even simpler principles like Doppler effect, Magnetic effect, travel path of planets etc were explained in a most explicit manner. I was delighted to hover over the basic concepts that I mugged so badly during my childhood. The kids who were aged 14-17 explained me some of the concepts and trust me it was such a learning experience. A couple of hours simply passed by! I got a call from a friend and to my surprise the place we were to catch up wasn’t far from the Science Centre. The friends’ I was meeting were the ones whom I had only interacted over the phone in my previous organization. I dropped by the nearest MacD(with no intention to have lunch there) and my friends’ came there to meet me. Within no time we identified each other and met as if we were old time friends meeting after long. One of them gave good news of being a father again and as friends would have it we immediately left for his treat. We had food at “Gujrat Thaal” . Gujrathi Thali was indeed a perfect lunch. We laughed bitching about our bosses and left in some time as I had to travel further for my next destination. As Amitabh Bachchan rightly said,‘ Yaha khusbu hai Utsah ki, Utsav ki, Khushbu hai Gujarat ki’ ; time just flew by making me crave for more. I left for Abu Road to reach my next destination and my so called last confirmed train reservation.

               The train was jam packed and as it was Diwali time(2nd Day) and I wasn’t surprised. Even after booking my seat I barely got a place to sit. The TC came and asked for all the passengers who didn’t carry a proper ticket to stand up so as to penalize. However, to his surprise finding almost 60% defaulters he had no chance but to leave. My journey wasn’t for long and during the travel I had delicious delicacies shared by Tarika's(one of the friend I met in Ahmadabad) mother. You purely feel blessed when someone whom you’ve never met in person is actually so affectionate. I define it as a ‘touch wood’ moment.  I was very grateful for her gesture and thanked a ton before taking it from her. Within 4 hours I alighted and literally had to crawl through the aisle to do so. The best part was even when the compartment was filled 150% of its capacity, people were wishing each other Happy Diwali and in turn peacefully accommodating one another instead of cribbing. The brotherhood was one to watch out for.

            I got down at Abu Road and felt the freshness in the air as I walked by. The station was very small and on reaching the exit had made up my mind of not falling prey to the touts. I walked pass the station area to munch before I catch sleep. I saw a number of counters for 'Rabdi' and dropped at one of the places. While I was enjoying it, I  saw another person next to me having it. Just to get some local help I asked him the route to Ambaji & Mount Abu as I had planned to visit them the next day. He seemed a local and immediately asked me my 'Native Place'. I didn’t want to sound as an outsider and thus tried to speak 'Marwadi' with him in the most fluent manner. He immediately caught my dialect and gauged that I was coming from some other place. With being caught in the first attempt I succumbed and told him all. He then offered help and suggested me a plan for the next day. He said his name was 'Subhash Bhai' and in case if I were to visit the site of rope-way at Gabbar the next day he asked me to give his reference. Frankly, I never trusted him on that but just acknowledged. I thanked him for helping me plan my following day and finished my second bowl of 'Rabdi' in no time. It was indeed filling. My next plan was to find a place for a night stay. There was one of the tout following me from the station and caught my eye since then. I asked for Dharamshala as it was the cheapest and the best place to get me a local feel. He was a tout for one of the hotels but with a friendly talk I hinted him to get a feel of a Dharamshala instead. Abu Road is a small town and walking past a lane is almost like covering 10% of the area. I reached the place and it was a decent one. The caretaker was busy watching TV as I completed my basic formalities. The room rent for a day was Rs.200. I was delighted as being from Mumbai one never comes across such sweet surprises. I slept care free that night and the pleasant weather was indeed an icing on the cake.

          The next morning I woke up and with no facility for a hot water bath I checked out of that room. I walked past the lane I had walked the night before and checked in at another hotel (confirming the condition of hot water availability). The rent was Rs. 400 for a day which again was very much within my budget. Within no time did I get ready and left for my journey to seek Ambamata's blessings. After another round of rabdi (since it seemed a staple dish in this part of the country) I inquired for a local commute to reach Ambaji. It was a sharing jeep and sitting next to the driver in a 10 seater Mahindra Jeep was another funny experience. With every change in the gear the driver reached very close to my ‘shaft’. The roads were bumpy but I reached my destination safely. The feel of the place was very spiritual with chanting of ‘Amba Mata ki Jai’ been heard even from a distance. Post the blessings I asked for a place Gabbar and left for it in another Jeep. As I was reaching Gabbar, I heard people murmuring about the rope-way experience. Immediately it reminded me my encounter with Subhash Bhai and the talk about rope-way. The Jeep dropped me near the entrance and I walked up to the ticket counter. As I reached the ticket window I gave a reference of Subhash Bhai. He immediately waived off my expense and directed me to go ahead. That indeed was surprising. With such a small interaction I was waived off my charges made me feel amused! There was a separate queue for people to aboard the rope way. I waited for my turn. There was a father-son duo standing just ahead of me.

Kid n me on the rope-way:)

        The rope-way had a minimum of 3 people in one plight and thus I requested to add me in. They agreed happily. The kid and I immediately connected and I was inquisitive to know the insights of the place from the younger chap. We took some snaps as the rope-way climbed to the hill top. I made sure to click the father-son duo so as to create memories for them to cherish. We reached the top in no time. As I saw hundreds of people worshiping the deity it felt very auspicious. There were some local kids who were singing aartis in the background. One kid was singing in a very melodious manner and a foreigner was happily dancing to his tunes. I requested the kid to sing as I took a quick video. He too felt special. Meantime, I just lost track of my co-passengers and began to look around to find the son (father-son duo) waiving at me from a distance. He asked me to join again for the return journey. During my return journey the father requested me to share the photographs and I happily obliged. I waived the child a good bye and moved ahead. 

                   It was just 12 and I had another half day to plan. I took another Jeep to return to Abu Road. Incidentally, I got the same driver and while dropping back I asked if I could see some more places since I had another half day to spend. He was more than happy to guide me as to how I could explore Mount Abu and also directed the commute to reach the same. As I was nearing Abu Road and was about to get down I saw a Gujarat local bus heading towards Mount Abu. I ran for life to catch the same as I wanted to spend maximum time visiting places vis a vis travel to reach them. The weather was pleasant and within an hour I reached Mount Abu. Alighting, I was once again surrounded by touts to help me a ride at a number of spots in a packaged deal. After checking the list handed over by one of them did I realize that there were more than half a dozen good spots to see out there. One of the touts seemed genuine and asked me to come along. He demanded Rs.600 and I bluntly declined his offer. There was only one couple tourist travelling in his Jeep and he wanted a minimum of 5 members to ride along so as to meet his expenses. He then gave me a cross offer. If I was able to get another couple to join us he'd reduce my fare to Rs. 200 which I happily agreed. Here I was with a task at hand of finding people to join us. Within minutes I saw an old couple with their grand daughter who seemed lost like me and with a bit of persuasion they agreed to join. They happily agreed and we 6 left to see all the spots one by one. 

Me and the kid! 1st selfie for her

I clicked a couple of selfie’s with the kid. She was very happy with such a small gesture. The driver was very well versed with the roads and drove crazy. We visited the Bhramakumari Ashram, Dilwada Temple, Nakki Lake, Achalgarh, Guru Shikhar etc. We also visited the sunset point and made maximum use of our available time. I made the most of my company and we went along well discussing our different lives. It was chilling in the evening and the driver just dropped us back to the pick up spot before it was too late. We all took another public transport and left. On our way back we were busy in sharing our experiences. Both the couples wished me for the rest of the journey and even shared their numbers in case of any help. It was indeed heartwarming. I walked back to my hotel feeling content. On my way back had Sev-bhaji at a nearby place. I asked the locals for a train to ‘Falna’ as it was my next destination. One of them suggested that a passenger train passes by early morning and I can board the same. Later, I just googled and found the exact timings to plan accordingly.

The next morning I woke up at 6 am and checked out from the Hotel. It was chilling again but I had to leave my cozy bed to reach the next destination on time. I got the train and took a second class ticket and sat in the General Class(its a typical thing we do). I easily got a seat and met a bunch of boys traveling back to their home town with a big 42 inch Sony LED TV. They happily let me be a part of their group and we shared food with each other. The TC came and asked all for their tickets. Ideally I would have been fined but thanks to my buddies I was introduced as one amongst them so slipped off the fine with no hesitation. They told all the stories of how hard they worked back in Ahmadabad to enjoy a good life in their home town. I could see their honest eyes and a sense of innocence in their talk. I reached my destination within 3 hours. I waved them a Good Bye and wished them all the luck.

Local Friend:)

‘Falna’ was relatively a smaller town and as mentioned in Google I tried to find the Jain Dharamshala. Fortunately, it was at a walkable distance from the railway station. I could feel early morning sun and fresh air as I walked by. The entrance of the Dharamshala was a grand one and gave a very Royal feel. I stopped by to imagine that in the earlier times elephants might be welcoming through the same door. I walked down to the registration office. The first question I was asked was, “Jain Ho?”. I said yes. He asked for my native place, Gotra, Kuldevi etc. I was taken aback. For a stay do I need to appear for this test? However, I was well prepared and thus cleared it in no time. I asked for a Non AC single occupancy room. Unfortunately, it was unavailable. The receptionist checked his system and said that only one AC room with single occupancy was available. I had no choice but to agree. He told me it costed a meager Rs.350. I was thrilled as it was actually cheap and totally unexpected. Suddenly my monthly income was like a fortune I literally owned! All the while that I walked around I could see walls filled with information of donaters. The Jain temple inside the Dharamshala was beautiful and very well kept. I checked into my room. I must say it was no less than any Hotel room and a pure value for money experience. I freshened up and left for my next holy visit at Nadol. As soon as I left Dharamshala I witnessed a very deserted road. On asking people here and there I found that since it was ‘Laxmi Pujan’ a day before; people generally kept their shops open for the entire night and thus next day was supposedly a break. Nadol was a very remote village and I knew commuting there in such a situation would be a problem. I managed to walk a mile and on seeing a rickshaw convinced him for a to and fro ride. He was not willing to go initially but after some persuasion he agreed with the condition of taking passengers along. I happily agreed. In all 10 people were managed. The distance was about 25 km but it took us an hour.  While traveling I observed that most of the area was deserted as migration had happened a lot over time. Somewhere, at the back of my mind I was sad as people might have literally sold off their land parcels to live an urban life. 

Ashapura Mataji 

On reaching the entrance of ‘Ashapura Mata’ I felt a bit emotional as I was about seek her blessings for the first time in 29 years. It was indeed very peaceful. The temple was very simple but well kept. I donated a small sum for the renovation work. I returned in the same rickshaw and in between enjoyed some of the local food. As I reached back to my room, it was about 3pm and I still had ample time to explore at least one more place before I call it a day. 

1437 AD Engineering Marvel!! 1444 marble pillars - none identical!!Blessed to be there

I inquired with the security as to where I could travel further. He pointed a bus to Ranakpur and with no second thoughts I took the same. The weather was quite cooler causing less fatigue. I took help of the bus conductor to make sure of the possibility of getting a return commute from Ranakpur and the timings if he were aware of. I had to be very sure to get one since I knew I’d be returning late in the evening. While traveling to Ranakpur,I googled and read about a fascinating Jain Temple with some of its facts. I alighted near the Temple. It was 5.45pm and I knew I did not have more than an hour. There was a very significant difference in the type of tourists I saw here. They were polished and came in all possible fancy cars. The temple was classy and extremely well maintained. I saw a huddle at one corner and out of curiosity joined it. The priest was explaining the history of Temple to the audience. I could see some 'beautiful faces' and just to demonstrate my knowledge I answered a couple of his questions. I loved the feeling of seeking attention.With some smart answers I did turn heads. I quickly took a sight of all the architectural marvels and left as my bus timing for return was nearing and had no chance to wait at this place beyond 7 pm. On leaving the premises within 5 minutes I got the last bus and left. It gave a sense achievement of being at all places on time! The bus was full and I could see the travelers fighting with conductor over petty issues. They were very casual leg pulling fights and in ‘Marwadi’ which made them even more funny. As a spectator it was sheer fun. I was in love of being in my own company watching outside the window, feeling the breeze and living the moment. I reached safely. After a quick dinner, sat in front of the temple at Falna, felt calm and peaceful. All memories of the day just crossed my mind. It just got a smile on my face.

Falna Jain Temple - Calm and Beautifully kept

My next destination was Ajmer and while I was checking the schedule over my phone a person sitting next to me outside the Falna temple seating suggested to look for Dadar-Ajmer Superfast Express. It was Friday the next day and it struck me that it was an auspicious day to visit Dargah. The train I was planning to board was scheduled to start from Falna at 5.30 am in the morning. With all that in mind I slept early. The next morning ideally was my last day for the trip and I had decided like the other 2 days I had to make the most of it. I got ready and checked out of Dharamshala at 4.30 am in the chilly morning. It was pitch dark and mercury had dropped even more to make my walk to station even more pleasurable. The train came half an hour late and I boarded it like the same way as before(second class ticket and sleeper class entry). The journey was only for 3 hours and I reached Ajmer by 8.30am. As I reached I took a rickshaw and reached Dargah. Initially, I checked for a hotel to keep my luggage. However, to my horror they were asking for 4 grands a day which was no where in my mind. I decided to enter the Dargah with my luggage and was observing the pilgrims passing by to check if they were allowed to do so. 

Brotherhood - Helped a lot!

The Dargah was just next to the market place and was immensely crowded. I was in a fix. With luggage in my hand I had to find a safe haven. I had mentally prepared of losing it and thus made sure all the valuables were kept in my pocket before I entered the Dargah. My eyes met with a person standing on one side of the entrance. He seemed young and honest on the first look. I approached him and explained my intent to visit Dargah for blessings with my hand bag. He showed me his i-card and reciprocated saying he was a member of the Dargah committee and was standing to help people. He asked me to follow him. As I passed by, I could see a number of shops selling flowers and çhadar’. I bought one too as I wanted to get a genuine feeling of being there. As I walked pass the crowd carrying it with me, I could see young women asking their children to touch the çhadar’ I carried and pray for their wish. I happily obliged. On reaching the main entrance there was a lot of rush with people thronging in larger groups. I completed the rituals and in the end requested Írfan to take a selfie with me. He made sure that history associated with the place was explained to me at every step. I returned to the store collected my bag(thankfully was intact) and left the place. I was happy as to all happened as per plan.

Photography skills demonstrated by Wasim!

On my way towards the exit from the Dargah premises I heard a person shouting for ‘Pushkar’.He got my attention. I immediately started interacting with him. His name was Wasim. He pointed that he would take me through a longer route, show me maximum spots vis a vis competitors, ensure a camel ride and an unforgettable experience enroute to Pushkar. Being a sales guy, I was happy the way he pitched and thought of giving him a chance. He quoted Rs.750 and within no time I got the number to Rs.500 with a Rs.50 bonus if I had a great experience. He principally agreed. We walked for about 100 mtr to reach his car. His car was indeed the best of all. I was to go in an i20 for my next destination. He also introduced to another friend and said would accompany us. We left and he made sure I dropped by tea site, Karan-Arjun a famous Bollywood movie spot and clicked some nice photographs to add to my collection. I also had an adventurous camel ride for about an hour. The experience was indeed one of its kind. Riding a camel can give you ‘setbacks’ in a real sense. I could see the preparations in full swing for the Pushkar Mela - an annual festival. I also visited Pushkar temple which is the only ‘Bhramha Temple’ in the entire world. People come from all parts of the world to pay tribute to their respective family members. It had 27 ghats and the priest explained in a very detailed manner. On my return journey I had authentic cuisine at one of the famous places and it indeed was the best I ever had. Dal-bati, choorma, chaas, gatte ki sabzi were the highlights and was a fulfilling experience. Post heavy lunch I left for Ajmer bus depot. I took a bus to Jaipur and completed my enjoyable Rajasthan journey with tons of memories to take home. One thing was for sure, I was extremely fortunate during my entire journey in terms of the help I received, commutation from one place to another and tasting the best of food at all places.To summarize there were 3 things I witnessed during my entire journey:-

1) Lone trips are peaceful and give a lot of time to retrospect,unwind and get a                         feel of how beautiful the world is.

2) The priorities of people at different places are different and relations/word of                     mouth commitments mattered more than anything else.

3) Commercialization at religions places was at its peak. At some places it                                 was of deep concern and disturbing. 

Just a kind note that all the above experiences are purely based on my opinions and knowingly or unknowingly if I might have hurt you "toh man,vachan,kaya se micchami dukkadam".