Ghats around Pushkar Lake, Rajasthan.

A child waiting for a customer at his shoe shop in Pushkar.

I had a different image of Pushkar and had high hopes from this place when we reached Ajmer. I’ve heard a lot about this townfrom a number of friends. Some of them compared it to Kasol, in the himalayas and some compared it to Old Manali and some to Rishikesh, but when we reached the town I could sense the feeling of disappointment while searching for a place to stay.

A local from Pushkar, Rajasthan waiting in the market.

Market of the holy town of Pushkar.

The only thing I noticed when I entered the market to avoid any accident were the fanatic local bikers who dodged through people in the busy market at amazing speed. After every few seconds you would hear a sharp irritating horn coming from behind the crowd of people and you would have to make way for a motorbike that emerged and vanished though the crowd and into the crowd in a matter of seconds. Magical town indeed.

We had planned to halt here for a night and then continue our road trip to other parts of Rajasthan but the hotel search and the noise of horns only multiplied by irritation. I don’t like crowded places and noise. After searching for about an hour, we eventually found a Guest House. The ones in the ‘Lonely Planet’, bible of travelers were already booked, but with the help of google we found a place to stay for the night. Krishna Haveli, an old house now converted into a guest house. We parked our car and went out to find something for our hungry stomach.

A Rabari waits for someone on his bike as the market crowd passes by at Pushkar Market.

My senses were  all charged up to find the place where I could eat some delicious food that I deserved after a long journey of many hours. It was not difficult to find one. We now had to decide which one to choose. There were so many of them. I had many options, but now I had two tempting places right in front of me, Rainbow cafe on the left and Out of the Blue cafe on the right. Without thinking much we climbed our way through the narrow stairway of the rainbow cafe. First Floor. Second Floor, Third Floor. We finally reached the Rainbow cafe. With a warm welcome by the owner and a nice view of the lake with well lit ghats, though the huge open glassless window on the green wall of the cafe with many lizards crawling on them. I could easily count 7 on one side of the wall. Lizards are common in the summer months and the open windows of these restaurants give them easy access inside the cafe.  Lizards don’t bother me much, unless they are right on top my my table, and they were.

Colorful Cafes in Pushkar.

Mint Lemonada, mint mixed with lemon and crushed ice in a cafe in Pushkar.

So I chose to leave the place as soon as I could. We were really hungry so without cribbing about the lizards we I ordered our light dinner of some lemon drink and sandwiches. I had to try more stuff, so a light dinner was the best option, that too in a place full of lizards. Our orders were prepared and on our table were two glasses with a glass sized mint plant popping out at the top, it seemed like it was planted in the crushed green ice. They had used it for decoration. Innovative. It was delicious as I had expected and so were the potato cheese onion sandwichs.

We also had a big green grasshopper dancing on the next table, with its legs moving with the beats of the music. Were could you find such a place ? Certainly, a ‘Magical Town’.

A street food vendor preparing Israeli Wraps in the market of Pushkar.

Indian Breakfast at a roof top restaurant at Pushkar.

We left the cafe to try out Burgers, Israeli Wraps with tea, Fruit Cream Salad etc on various small street shops. We had to leave early next morning so there was no time to try out more stuff.

I would call Pushkar another ‘Foodie’s Paradise’ and would add it to my list of great places to eat, other names include, Mcleodganj, Kasol, Old Manali, Rishikesh and Leh.  I would certainly  return in winters were there will be no lizards and I would eat while looking into the beautiful lake and taste the variety of food Pushkar has to offer.

An old temple at Pushkar.

More Photos
• Find all pictures from this trip at Holy Town of Pushkar, Rajasthan
• All Pictures of Pushkar – Tagged Photos of Pushkar

Agar firdaus bar rue zamin ast hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin ast! (“If there be paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here!”) – Emperor Jahangir

I remember quoting Emperor Jahangir in my tweet last month when I was in Srinagar. The quote, I first came across in an advertisement of Jammu and Kashmir Tourism. I still remember it. It had a shot of Shikaras flowing in slow motion at the famous Dal Lake and a heavy voice saying these lines as the cameras panned across, Gulmarg and some beautiful Kashmiri gardens.  I had always seen the darker side of Srinagar, in photographs or in movies, with all the crying, killing and bloodshed, but all the darkness was erased and this echoed in my mind as I admired the beautiful green chinar tree with the exquisite Dal lake in the backdrop from the window of my room at The Lalit Grand Palace, Srinagar.

The Lalit Grand Palace, Srinagar ( Picture by Himanshu Khagta)

I hardly had the time to explore the city. We had to leave early next morning for a four hour long road journey to Dras (Kargil) , but I somehow managed to squeeze the very little time we had to visit the famous Shrine of Hazratbal.

While on our way to the Shrine, our driver, Imran Khan, briefed us about the festival, followed by the excerpts from his experience at Kargil, when he was there for a month with the famous Indian Journalist, Barkha Dutt, who gained prominence for her reportage of the Kargil War. “Haven’t you heard of the famous driver Imran Khan on NDTV ?”, he asked proudly, when he saw the astonished look on our faces.

“Aaj Bhi Mere Kaanon Mein Bombardment ki awaaz gunjti hai” ( the sound of bombardment still echoes in my ear )  sighed Imran Khan, as he parked the car near the Shrine.

As we dodged our way to the Shrine, I saw a whole new variety of street food. There were shops selling huge deep fried breads, locally known as Parantha. Not the regular north Indian Parantha, but a real big version of Punjabi Bhatura. These terms might sound alien to you if you have no connection with India, but you can always Google them and even find some recipes to make them in your own kitchen.

Kashmiri Parantha, being prepared on the streets of Kashmir

A vendor sells a local snack in the middle of the road to Hazratbal Shrine.

Apart from the variety of food, there were friendly faces asking me to click their pictures, cute little children shying away from my lenses when I picked up the camera and beautiful eyes of women wearing Bhurkha. There was all other common stuff that you find in every small town festival in India. Small shops selling bangles to cosmetics to some lotion to fix joint pains or private problems. Colorful scarfs for women and designer Taqiyahs ( Muslim Caps) for men.

Local vendors sell kashmiri Halwa and Parantha during the festival near Hazratbal, Kashmir

We reached the entry gate where we were asked to move to the backyard of the shrine where everyone were assembled.

The first thing that caught my eye was a person showing something in his hand to the group of assembled people. He was the Head Priest showing Moi-e-Muqaddas (Holy Relic of Prophet Mohammed).  It is displayed for public viewing on ten occasions in a year, which includes Meraj-ul Alam. After looking around I saw a sea of women standing with their hands joined in prayer, gazing in the direction of the old man with the relic, asking for blessings with tears falling from their moist eyes as they kept staring with devotion.

Devotees converged for peace prayers at the famous Muslim shrine of Hazratbal to mark Meraj-ul-Alam festival in Srinagar, Prophet Mohammed's Moi-e-Muqaddas (Holy Relic) is displayed for public viewing on ten occasions in a year, which includes Meraj-ul Alam. (Himanshu Khagta)

A girl wipes her tears at Hazratbal Shrine, Srinagar

They remained in the same position for quite a long. They were not even bothered with me trying to click their pictures from many different angles. After the priest went away the crowd settled down with their families to enjoy the food that they had bought with them on the soft grass and we moved back to the Hotel for a movie screening and dinner.

A cute Kashmiri Family sitting in the complex of Hazratbal.

A calf poses with the Van Gujjar Kids while they rest themself on a buffalo.

Van Gujjar, is a wandering tribe of the Himalayas. In the winter season, the Van Gujjars migrate with their herds to the Shiwalik foothills, and in summer, they migrate higher into the Himalayas and spend their summer months in the wilderness with their  cattle. They sell milk to the nearby Himalayan villages in exchange with money and other life sustaining goods.

I met one such tribe while on a three day trek to Churdhar peak (3650 m). It usually takes few hours to reach churdhar from Sarain village in Chopal, but we choose a different route where we found few of these tribes.

Not only do they live a very difficult life in the wilderness but are often harassed by the forest officials who demand free milk and other milk products. Their temporary shelters are burnt when the move down in the winters. Gujjars blame the forest officials while the forest officials blame the locals. “The aid is already passed by the center government but our tribes in Jubbal and Chopal district get nothing.”, said Yusuf, member of  a Van Gujjar tribe. “We were provided a teacher for our kids and a vet for the cattle. They came for a few weeks and then never showed up”, he continued.

Whatever the real situation may be, these hospitable tribes will always be there to help you in the dense Himalayan Forests.

Though it is celebrated all over the world but here in the small village in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, the story is a little different.

Local people perform a ritual of Braj Holi know as Samaaj where people of Nand Gaon ( Village of Lord Krishna ) and Barsaana ( Village of Lord Krishna’s beloved, Radha ) sit together and abuse each other by the way of singing songs. Others throw colored powder and water on each other while celebrating the festival of colors, Holi of Braj Region.

Villagers sitting for the event of Samaaj, while celebrating, Holi,

A local villager drenched in colors trying to save himself from the dust of colors while others are sitting and singing chants during a ritual of Braj Holi know as Samaaj where people of Nand Gaon ( Village of Lord Krishna ) and Barsaana ( village of Lord Krishna

People of Braj Region of Mathura, celebrating,Holi,

People of Braj Region of Mathura, celebrating,Holi,

See all photos

People covered with a layer of Purple colored powder gets sprayed with another layer of yellow while celebrating Braj Holi at Barsana village of Mathura.

See More Photos – Visit Gallery

Youngsters playing cricket in a playground in a dense pine forest near Narkanda, Shimla. The place gets covered with snow in winters and used for various skiing events.

It all started with a bus ride from Kumarsen, a small village in Shimla district near Narkanda. We had to come back to shimla. We boarded a bus till Narkanda. Then we had food and started walking towards the forest.

There were clouds on the clear blue sky and it was cold and pleasant.
After a short walk, we reached a playground surrounded with cedar trees.

We saw children playing cricket, so my friends decided to join in.

Cricket is the most popular sport of India and Gully cricket is played almost everywhere and by everyone. You just need a spherical object and something to hit it. The rules can be changed as per your convenience. In the Indian Himalayas for example, the ball is usually made with old cloth.

The last time I remember playing cricket was when i was in 3rd standard, so I decided to stay away from it.

I am not allowed to disclose the final result, but the kids went home happily.

Here are some photographs
Cheers!