BHARAT DARSHAN

Mussoorie was gloomy. Both because of the December  weather  and because of the fact that our IPS and IFS friends had left us. Half the gang was gone – so was half the fun. We, the IAS probationers of the 2011 batch needed a high, infact badly needed one. The notice boards of the academy showed that there was this WINTER STUDY TOUR  scheduled in the next few days. Before we could realise, those few days were over as well and here i was sitting in the bus to Saharanpur on December 17,2011. Putting the things in common room, packing my stuff for the next 2 months made me all the more tired and dull.

                                                               Somehow managed to keep the smiles on the face thanks to  a few chats with my friends on the way, and when the Shalimar express bound for jammu started from sahranpur , my BHARAT DARSHAN well and truly began. I was put up in Group 9, which contained a few friends, few known people, few people whom i’ve seen but didn’t know names and a horrendous last categories of my batchmates whom i haven’t even seen ! (they didn’t attend FC). What s the use of this bharat darshan ?  will this group be good ? couldn’t i have just gone with my friends ? more questions struck me as i went into deep sleep in the train.

JAMMU

A whiff of fresh air hit me right on the face, as i got down in Jammu railway station the next morning. Heard  and Seen a lot about Jammu in papers, television and youtube but this was the first time i was setting foot on it. The journey across the massive, massive mountains with snow clad peaks ,infused the sense of “high” i was short of, for the last few days. As it was the army attachment-  we saw, breathed  and lived the “military” life , which gave me the much needed adrenaline i was looking for.  Seeing the jawans in close quarters,looking at the conditions in which they live, routine that they go through gave me mixed feelings – i saw many of them suffer a lot. But they were doing it for the country after all. So, as many of my friends were pitying the jawans, i was envying them – they were closer in protecting my country than i was.. iam possessive about my country as much as I’m  very possessive about my parents and my girl friend and it was quite evident from what i felt that day.

                                                              Staying in bunkers that were so close to LOC with Pakistan  , firing weapons, the iron man competition ,ambush patrol were all really mentally , physically and emotionally tough but thoroughly enjoyable  experiences. And i needn’t have to describe the weather in jammu in December – my fingers were so numb that everyday when i opened the tap, i couldn’t guess if it was hot or cold water that was coming from it !!!  And of course playing in snow was a really unique experience for someone who was born and brought up in a place like Madurai.  Our group in the meantime was beginning to gel well as a unit. Soon our time at jammu was up and we proceeded to punjab

PUNJAB

Landed in jalandhar at midnight and shifted gears from “attention” in the army to “stand at ease” of the civil administration. But the armed forces effect was still on as we had our airforce attachment scheduled at adampur near jalandhar. The tom cruises of “top gun” movie and shahid kapoors of “mausam” came to my mind as i entered the air force premises. The attachment per se was good , except the fact that they only let us watch the Mig 29 s land , take off ( a big favour indeed) and after  considerable persuasion from our group leader the “kind” hearted people there allowed us to sit in the cockpits of Mig29 s and take snaps.But nonetheless watching Mig29 s from such close proximity was an amazing sight indeed.

                                                       Tandoori chicken and lassi were on the top of my “to do “ list in punjab. Had them heartily enough and apart from it, I  also managed to visit the golden temple , jallianwallabagh  and finally the famous  flag ceremony at the wagah border with the Indian crowd shouting “bharat mata ki jai “ on one side, and Pakistani crowd shouting “Pakistan zindabad on the otherside. It was a really really emotional experience and i felt proud to be born in this great country. My pride was justified in the welcome boards both the countries placed. Our board read “WELCOME TO THE LARGEST DEMOCRACY AND THE LAND OF FRIENDSHIP” where as the Pakistani board read “WELCOME TO THE MUSLIM LAND” !!! how funny ? i chuckled as i boarded the train to lucknow

LUCKNOW

Amritsar – howrah mail was our location for the new year’s eve- fortunately or unfortunately. Phones rang all over the train at the stroke of midnight – upper berths, middle berths, lower berths, the loos. Cheers going all around me. Of course i missed being at home, but wasn’t this the true bharat darshan ? being with an army of my  fellow countrymen in a train in north india for the newyear.

                                   We were put up in the VIP guesthouse in lucknow, the state of which was “pathetic” to say the least. Right from the time we entered the room there was a strange stink in the room.We tried calling the reception for an hour without realising the fact that the phone was dead.Then we decided to spray our perfumes to mask the stink. If tandoori chicken was on top of my agenda in Punjab, The famous lucknowi  kebabs were at the top in UP. And trust me, they were heavenly.  Among the monuments in lucknow, “bhoolbulaaya” or the maze was really interesting. Getting into the maze was easy but getting out of the maze was not possible without the guide. I like riddles and puzzles a lot, and this maze kept me occupied for quite some time.

                                                    As we returned to the guesthouse, my roommate who had gone in and opened the door ahead of me , came running . He looked aghast when he told that “there was a dead dog in our room’s balcony “ and hence the stink ! After clearing the mess we proceeded to our actual attachment in lucknow – Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. What happened there for 2 days was Chinese torture with a typical engineering “industrial visit “ like machine side lectures !!! i’v seen people sleep in class but this was the first time i saw people standing near the machines and sleeping while HAL guys were desperately trying to explain us about the aerodynamics of the accessories that they were manufacturing. After it was finally over, i had one last bite of the tunday kebabs as we boarded the train and bid farewell to Lucknow

MADHYA PRADESH

Khandwa was our next place of halt. It was the first week of jan, and we were out of the typical north Indian winter for the first time. Wearing just the shirt without thermals or pull overs, walking bare foot on the floor were all the luxuries that i enjoyed in Khandwa. Finally the hot sun was hitting my face hard !  The group was now “formed” and there were roughly two kind s of people in the group– the keen types on the attachment and the keen types on things other than attachments. I unfortunately  couldn’t fall strictly into either category. But despite two categories of people existing, there was this sense of togetherness that somehow developed within the group.

                                                                    The luxurious guest house that we stayed in, Omkareshwar temple, Indrasagar dam, The time stipulated certificate issual system in the collectorate were the highlights of our khandwa visit. Meanwhile the buzz about the release of our Cadres started in our group.

MAHARASHTRA

“Into the land of tendulkar” i tweeted,  as we arrived in Aurangabad from khandwa and were put up in the cozy  Ajanta house, next to the collector’s bungalow.  Generous helpings of vada pav and poha made me enter the Ajanta caves in an utterly sleepy state. The loud hawking made by our tourist guide shook me out of the sleep and got me back to the world. The greatness of Ajanta has already been described by great scholars and need not be certified me ! Our group got together big time and  started taking photos, photos and more photos by now, of everything – photos of Ajanta (understandable),  people around (understandable),entry tickets, transformers (???), bus tyres !!!  By the time its evening, most camera memories are full. “thank god” i’ll feel relieved, but what do they do next ?  delete photos that were taken in morning, and take more photos, much to my astonishment.

                                              It was 8^th of January and my birthday. Replying to wishes , roaming around the ellora caves, daulatabad fort, bibi ki maqbara made my birthday. The lunch and dinner though, were pathetic that day, much to the disappointment of the birthday boy and made him miss home much more that day. The group meanwhile kept clicking more pictures(  even had cameras snatched at a few places  were photography was prohibited).After Aurangabad, it was Mumbai, and if there was one word to describe Mumbai, it is AWESOME.  Everything was awesome about Mumbai – the city, the people, the food ( Bombay duck at Mahesh lunch home near colaba),the weather( considering the season),the malls (  gary Neville crossed by in one of them !) but more than all these, Mumbai will always be close to my heart because, our cadres came out when we were in Mumbai- upon just boarding a taxi from gateway of India to be precise. “tamilnadu” i jumped in joy to my father on phone. The talk of all india services, serving the country is all fine, heroic to talk but at the end of the day, when you realise that you are going to do your dream job at your own place, in front of all your kith and kin , its a really special feeling indeed. After a get a valid reason (home cadre), ate down more Bombay ducks that night, as we started preparing to leave for pune.

                                                Pune was short and sweet. Visit to Tata motors, venkys, NDA were our requisites there and all the places kept us interested enough. With that our tour to Maharashtra was over and at an unearthly hour of 1.50 am, we departed for dharwad

KARNATAKA

                         “one state many worlds” is the tagline of the Karnataka tourism , but unfortunately  we only got to see “one world” – the monuments. Aihole, badami,pattadkal, sravanabelagola, halebid, belur – All Architectural marvels. If someone asks me which monument was my favourite in the country, i can easily reply “Belur, halebid” . For someone like me who is interested more in multiplexes than monuments, belur  and  halebid were a real slap in the face, for i learnt to appreciate monuments better  after visiting them. Post cadre allocation, our group didn’t have much to gossip about, so we decided to deeply engage ourselves in what i would call THE BEST entertainment in the history of mankind – Cards !!!  Initially 3-4 people started , thanks to yours truly and soon everyone one pitched in and finally our group leader ( notorious enough to be called the biggest KTP in the whole batch) joined in and soon became the biggest addict ! Ha Ha.. Fun days, those were...

TAMILNADU

                        One doesn’t have to look into the milestones or signboards to find out tamilnadu. There were  Rajnikanth posters  all over ( 1 month post his birthday ! ) – Hurray we were in tamilnadu ! Yet another emotional high for me, as i officially entered my “cadre”. Luckily i first entered satyamangalam and had the opportunity to visit Bannari amman temple ( The goddess whom i seriously believe is responsible for what iam now ) which was really fulfilling. The special task force attachment was really Special as we did River crossing, rock climbing , trekking and had refreshing dip in the moyar river. I was also privileged to witness the republic day function in Coimbatore. Ooty was always going to be very special for me – at a place where i was a little school boy wearing a monkey cap and running around with a cricket bat , i was now standing as an IAS probationer – wow !  thats some journey that i’ve gone through !

                                                           Seeragasamba rice mutton biriyani, Idly, pongal sambhar, tamil movie posters , karakaattam , oyilaattam (at republic day function) , Chennai superkings hoardings, auto rickshawwalas thinking they are king ashoka in chariots, “parotta” stalls, temple car festivals, political gossips, the friendliest people on earth – enjoyed typical tamilnadu for  6 days !

ANDAMANS

The most desired destination among all probationers, the most expected place, the most hyped about place.  The verdict ? Paradise it was !  and very much worth the hype.  Havelock Islands will easily be remembered as the best place of the entire tour both for the exotic beauty it possessed, and for the wonderful times we had as a group. We were completely aquatic through out ! we were with the fish all the time – in the sea ,on our dining tables and even on our dreams ! my idea of a perfect holiday is always by a seaside and Government India  and my academy just gave me that. Even before our visit to andamans was over, i had thought about atleast 2 different tours to andamans in the future (with family and friends ). We also happened to meet and chat around  with a very nice person at andamans who also happens to be the chief secretary of andamans !

 KOLKATA

“The land of Didi and Dada” i updated in facebook as we entered the city of joy. The best thing i liked about it was that , fish was widely regarded as vegetarian in Kolkata and was served plenty of it during my stay – from the port trust guest house to the rajdhani which i travelled in.I was really thrilled to see Trams still in operation (was nearly run over by one) in Kolkata. The attachment in Kolkata was with the municipal corporation , they were so cool that when our KTP group leader asked if we could report at 10am, they replied “ come at 11.30 and leave by 2 , no problem “ The biggest disappointment was sunderbans, which along with andamans were my top priority places but unfortunately we ended up seeing only domesticated goats, pigs on our 8 hour long boat ride. I finally fulfilled my dream of seeing a tiger in sunderbans through Youtube !

                                                     Kolkata kali, the “happening” park street , Victoria memorial, murshidabad silk sarees ,the sweet curd and of course the fish dishes really impressed me.  After all the highs that we now experienced as a group, we suddenly felt that the tour was getting over – almost frown nokia phone smileys on all our faces as we boarded the rajdhani express to delhi

DELHI

Trains, buses, cars, flights, boats, ships, foot – travelled by all and finally we reached Delhi. We were put up at hotel samrat , a star hotel for our final part of the tour. All my other group friends also arrived at delhi and it was one big gang at hotel samrat. There were hugs, high fives, friendly banters that were going all over the hotel. Cadres, cricket, marriage, memos, our faculty  - buzzes and gossips galored big time. The attachment at NSG was also very enjoyable , scary at times though with LED explosion demos at unexpected moments.

                                                                      Finally it was time to go. All good things in life come to an end, so did our bharat darshan. Our group got together for one final huddle and i proudly started  a big round of applause to our group leader – he really deserves much more accolades for doing such a wonderful job ,leading our team for 2 months.  Bade farewell to all other friends and left for the airport. Closed my eyes as the flight took off.  Shivering Himalayan winds, the scuba diving in andamans,  bannari amman temple, the majestic mysore palace, the ever bustling Mumbai and Kolkata, cave paintings of Ajanta and all other scenes of bharat darshan kept running through my mind. Suddenly someone woke me up, saying  that we had arrived in Madurai. Got down from the flight with an “empty “ feeling , but soon saw two figures waving at me. I felt happier than ever as i ran towards them, and hugged them . After all they were my father and mother..