Road To Paradise

Journey Begins Now


My journey to north India got finalized in March. Little did I know then that this journey would change so much in me. So much so that, it would be a pilgrimage to the world’s most secluded place and also a place where one would be true to self.

Life has its own share of up’s and down and before my journey got fixed life was pretty gay and satisfied…and the events which followed was in my destiny which made me take refuge in the arms of my lord. That’s the first place why lord fixed my prior appointment with her coz she knew what’s goanna happen next would make him undertake this pilgrimage of his life.

I got more determined to see my lord and was eagerly waiting for my trip to begin. Let me now share with you my experiences from the right from Deccan part of India to high snow covered mountains.

Day 1, I was on Nampally Railway station setting up my luggage in my compartment…Buz...Buz...Goes my mobile and I get a call from a good friend of mine, Rohit. He calls me once in a blue moon and I was wondering what made him give me a call. Over the phone he declares proudly that he is inviting me for his engagement which was scheduled 2 days later…I was always waiting for this news to come but it came at the time when I couldn’t even be in his vicinity…You decide now is it fate or its just bad timing…. With my best wishes and apologies I hung up the call…

The next day when I reached Solapur I was getting ready to leave for Aurangabad that night for we have to board the train till Amritsar, My first stop in my long trip ahead. A day later we reached Aurangabad and since we had time till noon we have whole morning to be killed…we all decide to head towards ‘Bibi Ka Makbara’, which is an ancient monument built by Aurangzeb for is beloved mother…Man these Moguls were so spendthrift…This man out of jealousy tried to replicate what his father did in Agra which is now among the Seven Wonders of the World…Taj Mahal…This mausoleum is popularly known as “Taj Mahal Of South India”.

I’ve visited this monument more than a decade ago but then I wasn’t interested in its significance it was just a boring place where my family has come for killing the summer vacation....This time I was geared up with my Sony Ericsson Mobile and Sony Handy Cam to Shoot the stuff and click some very nice pics..I was never a photogenic guy, never did I smiled in front of cam when snaps were taken. There was a new found self confidence in me this time around which made me take my own wonderful snaps. I owe this to my friend Vinay for infusing this confidence in me...Muuhhhaaahh ;-)

Later that noon, when we have entered the railway station, I never felt so happy about being on that platform…Though it was just a platform but it’s very rare that you see whole of Punjab waiting eagerly to go to their homeland…The whether was irritatingly very hot and humid.. And it was driving me nuts there…the delayed train added to my woes…Finally when the train arrived I was relaxed…I cursed my younger brother then for not allowing us to book AC tickets in this blistering hot summer…but now I cannot thank him enough for doing so...Coz what followed was a mesmerizing 32 hours journey to Amritsar.