वह ताज!

"The epic of love written in white marble"! This is how people describe The Taj Mahal-The Number One of the Seven Wonders of the world.The story of Shah Jahan and his immortal love for Mumtaz Mahal! When you hear it you think, how can anything be so beautiful!! How can a monument made of stones personify love in all its glory!! Believe me it does. I entered the town of Agra after travelling for some 16-17 hours in train from Pune.Tired by the journey, went straight to Hotel in Agra's colourful autorickshaws.Being a history freak, I always wanted to visit the capital of Mughal Empire . My date with the Mughal Empire started with the visit to Fatehpur Sikri. The huge buildings built in red stone tells their own story. The huge Buland Darwaza, the Birbal Bhavan, Diwan-e-Aam , beautiful Diwane-e-Khas and of course the 'Jodha Bai' Mahal sends you back to the Mughal Empire. It was quite a thrill to me to walk the walks where Akbar had walked, had held his meetings, listened to Tansen. All the stories, all the history came alive. I wonder how did they live in such granduer amongst such beautiful architecture.The next destination was to visit the tomb of Akbar the Great. As history goes, he started to build the tomb much before he died but couldnt live to see it complete.
The next destination was the Agra Fort. We were already tired by now walking around in the sweltering heat.This is the place where Shah Jahan spent his final days watching Taj Mahal in peace. This was my first glimpse of Taj Mahal. Standing at the edge of Yamuna, the white monument holding within itself thousands of years of history and the beauty of India.The whole world recognizes India by this beautiful monument. After having my first glimpse, I was eager to see how Shah Jahan looked at it. The fort is a beautiful mark of Mughal Architecture with the beautiful carvings, paintings and the story on stone. As I moved on into it, every object, building in the fort spoke about its master. The series of Mughal kings who ruled India for a long time. Finally I entered Shah Jahan's chamber and caught a view of Taj Mahal. Although today, its partially covered with concrete buildings, you can imagine how did Shah Jahan feel looking at his beautiful wife resting his peace and longing to be with her forever. He wanted to build another Taj for himself in black marble but rest is history. Moving on, we finally headed towards the grand finale. To see the Supreme Taj. It takes quite an effort to get inside but believe me its all worth it!! I caught the second glimpse of Taj through the huge red gate. The feeling is unbelievable. You really feel at that point of time, how can anything be so beautiful! You can stand there and look at Taj for hours together without feeling it. Its like a dream. I went up to pay solace to two remarkable people who were responsible. Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal lying next to each other in peace. I left Taj with a beautiful memory and with the hope to see it again dancing in the moonlight.

Hills are alive...

Have you heard the title? If you have, then you are a fanatic like me about 'Sound of Music'. The magical story of Maria and the children set against the backdrop of beautiful Salzburg. When I decided to go to Austria, my only purpose was to visit the city of Salzburg to relive the moments of Sound of Music. To see the beautiful Edelweiss spreading her fragrance all over. I fell in love with Salzburg the moment I set foot on it. The cold wind was blowing and the frozen ice beckoned me to see the glory in the wintery morning of December. The sun was smiling while I was shivering. The only sad part was I did not have much time to explore the beauty of Salzburg. I had to take in how much ever I could. Of course I started with the Sound of Music Tour. I wouldn't recommend it if you have some time as it's much nicer if you go to all the places on your own. I reached the bus point catching a view of River Salzach in all its might and the far far away Hohensalzburg Fortress.So finally the journey of Sound of Music started with Maria singing 'The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music'. The first destination point was of Course the house of the Captain Von Trapp. I do not know how many of you know that the back and the front portion of Captain's house are actually two different houses. We went to the back portion first. The lake was frozen and people were enjoying skating on the thin sheet of ice. We could see the gate and garden where Von Trapp proposed to Maria and the children fell into the lake. The building looked white covered under the shade of the big beautiful trees. We could also see the hills far away where Maria sang. Next it was time to see the front of the house and the path where Maria sang I have confidence. As we passed through the path, the big yellow house with a grand gate loomed into picture. After the house, we went to see the Gazebo where Liesl sang 'I am sixteen'. Its not at the original place but Salzburg people have preserved the Gazebo as the fond remembrance. From here, we carried on our journey to see the church where Maria and Captain Von Trapp got married. The church is situated in a small town called Mondsee which is an hours drive from Salzburg. The entire journey from Salzburg to Mondsee was filled with picturesque towns with beautiful Lakes. We could also see the Abbey from a distance. The lakes were frozen and everything looked white in snow. Mondsee is on the banks of Lake Mondsee. We saw the big church though it is not so very grand now. After the tiring journey, what better way to refresh ourselves than a steaming cup of coffee and cheese strudels. We left Mondsee at dusk seeing the last drops of sun hiding away. Our last stop was the unforgettable Mirabelle Gardens of Do-Re-Mi fame. However, it looked much less beautiful as it was shivering and everything was frozen. Nevertheless, our Sound of Music Journey ended here. It was truly memorable and I could hear Maria's voice as I walked on the Mozart's bridge in cold under the warmth of the moon light.

Wimbledon

Wimbledon, a suburb of London comes alive in June-July with all the gala of the Tennis Championship. You have to be there to see it! Come June 2007, I realised the meaning of 'Queuing at Wimbledon'. I dont know if you have heard about it but I had no idea of the adventure I was going to embark upon in the chilly nights of June.
Our group in Office decided on Friday the 29th that we will go to Wimbledon. We were not satisfied with the Outside Court matches. It had to be Center Court or Court 1. No less than that! But the only problem was we had no tickets and we had to stand in the queue in Wimbledon to get tickets. Since next day was a Saturday, it was impossible to get tickets in the morning. We had to reach Wimbledon on Friday night and stay for the entire night to get the tickets. All of us were excited when we left office at 5:30. Went home, freshened up, had some food and we were all set to go. I was ready with a pair of jeans, a top and my summer jacket. How cold would it be in June!
We reached Wimbledon at around 8:30 pm and started on our journey to join the queue. Let me tell you the name of the daredevils before I move on: Namratha, Mahesh, Saritha, Prakash, Jason and Of course Me! Jason just accompanied us and but was not ready enjoy the moonlight at Wimbledon. He missed the adventures and went home at 12 AM. But where was I?? Oh ya on the streets those lead to Wimbledon Park. I was shocked to see so many people on the pavement all set to see the Wimbledon match. It was truly an outing for them! Tents, Barbeque, Fire, Beer Cans! They were all here to enjoy themselves. But we the daredevils had nothing but the courage and will in our heart to strive on. No tents and no fire! Just the warmth of the hope of seeing Nadal and Sharapova!
We reached the end of queue and we were given our queue cards and a place in the lawn to wait until morning. Unfortunately Prakash had to leave us with the promise of return later in the night (Yes he was off to work!). The ground was completely wet and the sky was did not look happy either. We laid out some newspapers on the ground to protect ourselves from the bite of cold. There were tents on either side of us but we chose to ignore them. We were too excited to notice such inconsequent details. As the night grew, the cold started the war against us. We tried to fight but we were too weak. It was time to call for help!! Who saved us? Yes the mighty Prakash and Akash. We told Prakash to get some blankets for us as we had started biting our teeth in cold. Prakash arrived accompanied by Akash with two big blankets and a rain coat to protect us from rain. The blankets provided some solace. We tried to sleep but our dear friend, the sky decided to play with us. It started drizzling at 3 in the night when we had managed to sleep for half an hour. There was no shelter to go to and we were already doused in the cold night. Things were not looking very bright but we decided to strive on. The sky took some pity and it thankfully stopped raining! I was sick with cold and could not sleep a wink. My summer jacket was only capable of protecting me from wrath of summer. I had to borrow another jacket from Akash. At 6 AM, the coffe van opened and believe it or not I had 3 cups of coffee one after another. At 6:30, the whole world was waking up and we were getting back in the line to go. Our neighbour even exclaimed that 'It’s a surprise you guys are still alive'! After the long night, we now started walking in the long queue to get our tickets.things again. Unfortunately we could not get Centre Court tickets but we were able to manage Court 1 tickets. Jason later joined us as well. But the skies were unhappy again and it started pouring. We were trying to console ourselves that rains will stop before the matches begin, but no the rain did not stop that day. Our wait was still not over. Finally the first match which was to start in the morning, started at 2 PM. But the match was all worth the efforts. We saw the tall Maria Sharapova walking up to the ground. It was Ladies Singles' third round with Sugiyama. I grabbed the chance of sitting in the first row and watching the match. But our match watching ended with this game as it rained in London like it had never rained before. I had to pack up and leave but not without tasting the Cream and Strawberries. It was truly a memorable experience and I would still do it if I ever to do I truly learned the meaning of 'I queued at Wimbledon' (I even have a sticker as souvenir).