November 2014: Ranthambore
In November 2014, my then-colleagues and I committed to attending our colleague’s wedding near Dausa. So, we took the opportunity to see Ranthambore, and had our tickets booked for Sawai Madhopur in the 7 PM Mewar Express. I took the day off from work and decided to go watch the movie Interstellar in the afternoon – I reckoned I could just go pick my stuff from Safdarjung Enclave, where I lived, after the movie and be able to make it in time to reach the Nizamuddin railway station to catch the train.
But by the time the movie finished, it was already 5 PM, and I figured halfway to my place, going back to pick my baggage was out of the question – so, I made an instant decision to simply head straight to the railway station, in the only clothes I was wearing and without my eye-glasses, although I had my contacts on. Anyway, as soon as I boarded the train – I became the butt of my colleagues’ jokes… but I wasn’t going to miss a good opportunity to travel with my colleagues-cum-friends for the world. Getting down at Sawai Madhopur at midnight, we checked-in at a resort.
The next morning, after we had fun in the pool, we took off to the local market, where I bought myself a change of house-wear, and a bottle of liquid for my contacts, with which also came a free lens case. With that and lunch done, we headed to the Ranthambore Tiger Sanctuary for an afternoon safari. Making our way through the grasslands, and later, the dense jungle, in pursuit of the tiger, we passed by dried streams with pebbled beds and watering holes, and saw nilgai, sambhar and numerous birds, but no tiger.
At noon the next day, we set off for the trip to the Ranthambore fort deep in the Ranthambore forest. The ride uphill on the winding road through dense forest, with a stream running alongside, supplemented by sighting of deer and birds, made the ride memorable. By 2.30 pm, we were inside the fort, and one of first things we did was taking in views of the hillside and the valley from the many rooms on the fort wall. Then we trekked our way to see the numerous palaces, a 32-pillared cenotaph, a pond called Rani Kund and the adjunct Dargah, The Lakshmi Narayan temple, the Kali temple, and then passing by the big bathing tank, we reached the Annapurna temple and ended the tour with a visit to the Trinetra Ganesh temple that lies at the end of the fort.
By now, we had spent close to 3 hours, without realizing how quickly time had passed. When we rushed back to the entrance of the fort, we realized there was no public transport left to take us back to town! However, courtesy of an offer from a good Samaritan truck driver, we hopped inside the canopy-covered semi-trailer of his truck. As the truck rolled down the potholed uneven road in the darkness, with us getting thrown around like drums, we laughed and at the same time, prayed that we reach the foothill safely, which we did by 6.30 PM.
Next morning, we left at 6 AM for another safari, this time it was the morning version, at the Ranthambore Tiger Sanctuary. With the early winter morning chill still hanging in the air, we saw deer, nilgais, sambhar, peacocks, and a host of jungle birds, but still no tiger. At 2 PM, we proceeded to Batodi, the groom’s native place, and accompanied the groom to Kothin, near Dausa, where he was getting married, reaching there by 7 PM. After the wedding, we caught a 3 AM train from Bandikui back to Delhi.
July 2014: Chittorgarh
The precursor to the aforementioned Ranthambore trip was actually another wedding-centred trip, that I had been on with the same group of colleagues, to Chittorgarh in July, that too on my birthday!
Taking the 7 PM Mewar Express from Nizamuddin, we had reached Chittorgarh early next morning. Freshening up, we had set off at 9 AM, squeezed inside an autorickshaw, to see Chittorgarh fort. So, somehow on my 28th birthday, I had wound up in my most favorite place, the second time in two years!
Attending our colleague’s wedding that night, we had proceeded to Udaipur the next day, where we saw the City Palace and the Maharana Pratap Memorial overlooking the Fateh Sagar Lake. Later in the evening, we caught the Mewar Express again and reached Delhi the next morning.
While I had primarily been a solo traveller up to that point, I realized I could enjoy myself in a group trip too, with the right set of people – the people in these journeys might be ex-colleagues now, but ones I truly cherish as friends, and would give anything to be able to re-live those times.
The Timber Trawler 