Prashanti Nilayam-The abode of peace.

We have spent our most amazing winter break in the ashram ,as we are devotees of Swami.We used to look forward to the winters as this would be the time when schools were off for three months .And this would be our opportunity to travel down south with family and most of the devotees of Darjeeling. It was fun as well as a learning experience. Life at the ashram will always be disciplined so this is how our day started. We would get up early morning around 4am have bath get ready run to the ganesh temple offer prayers and flowers at the lotus feet as around 5 am the suprabhatam(wake up call to the Lord) starts at the mandir and as soon as that is over first the Vedic chanters circle the mandir and go around the ashram. By the time the Veda chanters start their chantings,the ladies will assemble at the Ganesh temple for the nagarsanskritan(singing bhajans or chanting Vedas to purify the surroundings) .The ladies group will follow the Vedic chanters through the ashram, there is a particular path they follow. Starting from the Ganesh temple via the back of the mandir towards Poornachandra hall, from there turn towards the ladies canteen to the front of the mandir crossing the Brindavan boys hostel back to Ganesh temple .This will be followed by the gents group while this will be going on most of the devotees will be lining up for the darshan token lines. The first person sitting will be asked to pick up a token which will decide which line gets to go first in the mandir.The whole hall will be filled in this manner and the devotees will wait for Swami to come out at 7 am. A tune will be played informing us that Swami is coming for darshan and all of us wait in anticipation to get the darshan of Bhagawan.The first glance of Swami will make you forget everything. He need not talk to you just a mere glance will make you forget the world outside .He does the rounds picking up letters from devotees a word here and there enquiring about their welfare .For those not well He materializes Vibhuti”the holy ash”, to cure their illness .The significance of Vibhuti is from ash you come to ash you go so in the meanwhile you are in this earth serve your fellow brothers and sisters in need .That’s why the devotees put it on the forehead as a constant reminder of our purpose in this earth .He also calls devotees for interview ,talks to them about personal life as well as spiritual .After darshan is over people flock to the canteen for breakfast, the coupons are available at the counters and the rates are very subcidised.After that bhajans start at 9 am after arati Swami returns to his residence. We return to our gust houses or sheds(these are open rooms which devotees share, from all background and places).Lunch will be served in canteens ,there are three choices south Indian is the oldest one ,with the foreigners canteen catering to less spicy food for them and the latest addition the north Indian canteen.

We get to rest for two-three hours and after that again we get ready for evening darshan and bhajans. People start lining around 1pm similarly tokens will be distributed, darshan will be at 3 pm and bhajans at 5 pm. Dinner will start from 7 pm to 8.30 pm and lights will be switched off at 10 pm this ends our day.
In those days I never realized I would be one day His student and get the opportunity to study in the college established by Him. It was a wonderful opportunity given to me to understand the nature of human beings and to contemplate on the self as you too are Brahman (god).His teachings has always helped me to be calm and a satisfied person .His teachings of unity of faith, service to mankind, human values and protection of our culture and heritage will always remain a priority over everything in my life.

About Swami and his teachings. This is what he has to say about himself “I am God. And you too are God. The only difference between you and Me is that while I am aware of it, you are completely unaware.” This fundamental truth of man’s divine nature is at the heart of His message and mission. Indeed, in His discourses to devotees, He addresses them as “Embodiments of the Divine Atma”. All who experience His pure and selfless love, and benefit from His illuminating counsel, and witness His miraculous nature get a glimpse of the glory and majesty of God. Sri Sathya Sai Baba was born as Sathyanarayana Raju on November 23, 1926 in the village of Puttaparthi, in the state of Andhra Pradesh in South India. Even as a child, His spiritual inclination and contemplative nature set Him apart from other children of His age. However, it was not until October 20, 1940, the day He made the historic declaration of His Avatarhood, (Avatar - Divinity Incarnate) that the world at large learnt of this divine phenomenon. Today, millions of devotees from all over the world, professing various faiths, and hailing from various walks of life worship Him as an ‘Avatar’, and an incarnation of the Sai Baba of Shirdi. Secondly, He is an inexhaustible reservoir of pure love. His numerous service projects, be it free hospitals, free schools and colleges, free drinking water supply or free housing projects, all stand testimony to His selfless love and compassion for the needy and less privileged. True to His declaration - “My Life is My Message”, He has inspired and continues to inspire millions of His devotees worldwide by His personal example to live the ideal that service to man is service to God. The Sri Sathya Sai Organization today has a presence in over 167 countries in the world and members undertake group service activities that benefit their immediate community. Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba is thus a beacon of hope in a world that is desperately seeking an end to the unrest and sorrow prevalent today. His message of “Brotherhood of Man and the Fatherhood of God” is a spiritual salve that will lead mankind from the darkness of ignorance to the light of immortality. Indeed, very rarely does such a divine power walk the earth. As one devotee said, “Bhagawan Baba is nothing but Love walking on two feet”. Mankind must use this golden opportunity to follow in His footsteps. That is the way to its redemption and its salvation.

Jai Sai Ram.

The Taste Of kerala

Local transportation

We arrived at Cochin around 7 am 21 st March ,by flight from Bangalore..a friend of ours had sent his car and a driver to pick us up ..we had planned to spend a day in Cochin however we were not sure how we would go about the place.As we got to know about the car and a driver at our service we were quite pleased as well as relieved as we would not have to spend time finding the places.We checked in at a hotel and got refreshed then went for breakfast to a nearby joint...dosa's were awsome,we stuffed ourselves with dosa,iddli,pongal and a good cup of coffee.Our day started with a visit to the Church where Vasco da gama was buried, on the way we stopped to check out the chinese fishing nets,and checked how they use those huge nets to catch fishes,after the sight seeing and visit to the palaces we reached the Mattancherry Jetty from where we took a very cheap ferry ride(7 rs 1 hour) against a very expensive boat ride (200 rs 2 hrs)ha ha that was so cheap and we had fun we did manage to see few dolphins as well in the sea. We visited the mattencherry palace,photography was prohibited so we could not take snaps inside we just had a few takenoutside the palace.However the jewellery on show were beautiful reminding us of the majesty of the byegone era.We did a little bit of sight seeing and shopping ,this concluded our day in Cochin Next day the driver was asked to drop us to the next pit stop(this word i got from the amazing race) that was Alleppy where we were to start our boat ride.We started towards Alleppy with so much high spirits,however everything did not go as we had planned as our travel agents through whom we booked cheated us and extorted extra from us if we were to take boat ride from Alleppy to Kumarakum...at this point all our holiday moods were off !!!however we had a good bargainer with us my friends sister,who sorted out the mess by paying the boat owner instead of the agency little lower than they had asked for, so here we missed the first hour of the ride,as soon as our ride started our spirits soared as it was a wow experience(i come from a hilly area so i had no experience of beautiful coconut trees bordering the canal)mostly people travel by local ferry .We lazed around the decks had good refreshing black tea as we had requested it on the upper deck,rest of the day flew by admiring mother nature........ The day just slipped by and we had to moore our boat for the night.We got to check the local village and the sunset and sunrise view was breathtaking,the photographer was ofcourse my dear brother and he spent all the time trying to catah the essence of kerala,I think he did a good job,the house boat ride was over by 9 am.We proceeded to Kottayam to catch a bus to Kumli(Thekkaddy),we travelled by local bus the journey was long and tiring,but we enjoyed all the way.We could see the rubber plantation,i was quite surprised by the rubber trees as all my life I had seen only those big leafed ornamental rubber plant.As I am the nature lover and know little more about the plants,I kept my commentry on all the way showing the coffee,tea bushes ,cardomum plants etc I guess my friends were excited to see them as well,for the first time I saw the pepper climber.We did not get time to do the spice garden walk,but more interesting was the night walk at the Periyar sanctuary.It was fun as well as scary we were given a torch light each to carry with instructions from the forest guard not to focus light towards the jungle but the way we were walking, I was trying to be cautious and slowly followed his light path(i was just trying to save myself in case something jumped out from the forest floor ha ha)the next morning was the streamer ride.It was bit of a let down,and the most funny part was we got the ticket for the upper deck of the streamer and by the time we had breakfast we lost those tickets,sad had to get a new ticket for the lower deck coz we did not want to spend too much,guess what happened then.!!..no no we did not get the lost tickets back,we went ahead with the boat ride however when we were back in our hotel that is where we found the tickets tucked at my friends pocket.I just could manage" bless our stupidity"!!...From there we moved to Kottayam again as we had to catch the train the next day to Kovalam.............. We boarded the train at around 5 am,as still sleepy from getting up early,all of us went to sleep as soon as we located our seats.All I remember is one of us, dont know who saying guys varkala!! do u want to get off here,without any questions all of us got up carried the bedsheets we were using to cover ourself,as well as our luggage and like a reflex action ran towards the door.We just had time to jump off the train as it had already started to move from Varkala,lucky us at least we were able to jump off the train,and our decision to change plan was for the better,as Varkala was awsome.Lots of tourist around,we went to the cliff side beach we were given the name of this hotel by one of the foreigners who were staying there.The shops were on top of the cliff and below the beach,it was my second time on the beach but I consider this my first beach experiencs as the earlier one was Marina beach,Chennai,where we could just wet our feet ha ha.At varkala we had a great time ducking the waters so that we were not swept away by the huge waves As this was the first experience with wated I was a bit scared and apprehensive but later summoned up my courage and enjoyed myself..Ginger beer was great****recepie pinapple juice with a dash of honey and ginger***it tastes really good...... Finally our hell of a trip came to an end,.and all had to get back to the same daily routine,until we organise another trip.Which I know for certain will be after few months and we know where we are heading for...... the beautiful Leh**........so till then bye....Kerala 21st march-26 th March.

Into the Thar Desert-Camel Safari at Jaisalmer

We planned for a 5 day trip to Jodhpur and Jaisalmer in December 07 and we had kept aside two day s for Camel safari however by the time we reached Liza convinced me it will be too tiring and we will be in pain due to sitting on the huge animal(and of course we are not used to riding).I called up Mr Bissa from Jodhpur as we had not decided on the hotel as well he asked me to reach Jaisalmer and he will give us information on few reasonable hotels,however at that point of time I forgot to inform him we'll be reaching Jaisalmer too early for our convenience (around 3.30 am )as we were traveling by bus from Jodhpur. I called him up again spoke to his cousin who checked with Mr Bissa and informed us we could go to his office and stay there till morning ,his servant will be there in the office and he had informed him of our arrival....The journey by bus was not comfortable apart from that there was a peeping Tom right front of my seat so as soon as I utter a word he would look back from his seat ahead of me(Oh my God!).Most of the time I avoided him but I was running out of my patience. I was scared too coz Rajasthan is a male dominated state and who knows what would happen to us (both girls)??I tried to sleep but could not manage to do so,Liza too was not able to sleep this time too Mr peeping Tom could not resist looking back at us,so I confronted him and asked him what was his problem?might be he got embarrassed after that he never came to his seat don't know where he went. So finally we reached Jaisalmer at 3.30 am as Mr bissa is quite famous in Jaisalmer,for he was crowned as MR Desert the autowala knew his office ,he left us outside the office. We knocked the door but nobody buzzed later a guy who was on the streets heard us and called the servant guy who was half asleep. He finally opened the door, and went to sleep as soon as we entered the office. We had to sit on the bench for quite sometime I must have dozed a dozen times sitting on the chair. This guy got up at 6 am and went out to open the tea stall next to Mr Bissa's shop as soon as the place was vacated Liza went off to sleep as we had not slept throughout the night. Mr Bissa came around 8.30 am and asked if we will be interested to go for a safari the same afternoon as there were few people more to join us ,it would be an overnight safari,we agreed to. We were allowed to leave the extra luggage at his office so this saved our one nights rent. He sent us to a nearby hotel to freshen up after doing so we had breakfast and went to visit the fort. We had a good time exploring the fort as well as the alleyways,however the fort was quite dirty due to people living there but it was a different experience as this might be the only fort where people still live,we were informed by Mr Bissa to reach the office by 2.30pm to start for our safari,..we reached on time but missed lunch...
When we reached the office there were three more guys waiting two from UK and one from Ireland our jeep was ready for the drive out of Jaisalmer as the sand dunes are 40 km away from the main town.On our way to the dunes we were taken to Kuldhara the abandoned villages ,legend has it that once upon a time people from 82 villages disappeared overnight due to atrocities on people by the then prime minister Salem Singh.All that remains now is the ruins of the villages.The drive was a short one from Jaisalmer the camels were waiting for us,I was excited as well scared as I had not tried camel rides not even a horse ha ha....As we reached we could see the camels sitting in a row and waiting for us. I was asked to climb the camel and as soon as I did my camel got up, I did let out a small scream as the other camel were still sitting and I was not even settled on my seat,my camel was too energetic or what ?? he started to walk leaving all other behind, initially I got scared as there was no one holding the reins,once the other started to get up I was relieved however my camel was far ahead of the group. The camelwala's did make the others run and they caught up on me,I inquired with the owner why my camel was too fast he said that the camel knew the way so I need not worry even if I am riding alone .I was a bit relieved.As soon as they caught up with me my camel started to walk fast again so I had to get used to his ways,I took few photographs of the group way behind,as my camel would often stop to graze and I had no other option but to wait till the group would catch up and the camelwala would shout at the camel,and make him walk.
A very funny incident happened in due course,my camel and I were far ahead of the group and I don't know what happened to the camel all of a sudden it sat down (might be it was not sure where to go at that point??)without any warning and I nearly fell off !! and again I had to wait till the group caught up with me and I don't know what was wrong with my camel as he would not allow anyone to walk first he had to be the first one....ha ha might be he had some kind of complex!!We reached the campsite before sunset,played with the sand and enjoyed the sunset,later four people (two Canadian and two French)joined us who had booked the safari with our agency they had started early morning. The camp fire was on and seating were made around it we had a good time sharing our experiences and getting to know each other

the French couple were the ones who hardly participated coz it was difficult for them to communicate in English but there were other people to help them out ,our dinner was served and i was quite amazed that my taste buds enjoyed the food cooked with so less amenities in the desert ...
Our beds (mattresses)were put on the open dunes three girls in one place and two couple in different places,Tanya from Ireland was with Liza and me the reason I am mentioning her name is coz a very funny incident happened before we bid goodnight to each other(I think I was grinning the most) .There was no light so we had to manage in the dark ,I made my bed spoke to both the girls and left them to attend to nature's call,as soon as I returned I saw a torch light blinking and someone coming from quite far towards us. I was curious at first and a little scared I informed Liza that someone was coming towards us,that person reached quite near and I guess the reflex action and my brain prompted me to be brave and save the girls with me .I asked “who are you and where do you think you are going ?” the person replied"OH have I reached someone else's camp,I thought we were the only ones here" then she says "oh that is my bed" ha ha we had a hearty laugh,it was Tanya we did not realise when she too slipped by, we did talk for sometime looking up at the stars as we slept in the open hoping to catch a shooting star......Next morning Liza woke me up early so that we would not miss the sunrise,we saw the sunrise and a moment later it was up kind of, miss if you blink.We had breakfast then started for our last morning ride for two hours in the desert.We bid goodbyes to the other group as they were to continue their second day's ride,we had fun as we did have short races lots of photo sessions and finally the jeep picking us up from a point,......this ended our camel safari trip and who knows there might be other trip to come......never give up hope dream on till it gets fulfilled.

North Sikkim-visit to gurudongmar lake

The most widely accepted origin of the name Sikkim is that it is a combination of two words in the Limbu Su, which means "new", and Khyim, which means "palace" or house, in reference to the palace built by the state's first ruler, Phuntsok Namgyal. The Tibetan name for Sikkim is Denjong, which means the "valley of rice".Travellers mostly frequent North,West and East sikkim.For the first time I visited the scenic state of Sikkim in October 2005 where we visited the Rumthek Monastry,did some sight seeing around Gangtok and the next day visited Chhangu lake.The breathtaking flora and fauna took my heart away and I could hardly get my eyes off the beautiful valley.That is when I promised to be back again,living just 5 hours across border in Darjeeling I had never imagined the beauty of Sikkim to be such.The cold chilly ,freezing air which runs past thru to your lungs to make you live and active,can be experienced here.I returned to Sikkim again in October 2007 to visit the North.The best lake i have visited till date was Gurudongmar.It has somethingdramatic which cannot be explained but felt.Yungtham valley was awesome however i would like to return one day when the rhododendrons are on full bloom.West Sikkim I am coming.........now my trip account.
We tried to get information on Sikkim however there was very little information on the net.Tourist were allowed to North Sikkim in most recent time ,however trip to Gurudongmar lake is still restricted for foreigners.For indians we need to get inner line permit which the travel agency will acquire along with the package. A three days and two night package is avaliable with most of the travel agency to visit Gurudongmar lake and Yungtham valley also call the valley of flowers due to the different variety of rhododandrons that flower during the spring season.We were four people so we booked a shared trip.
We started our journey from Gangtok on 17 October ,the start was quite unpleasant,our tour operator did not inform us about the placement in the jeep we were the first ones to book so we thought we would get the choice of seats .We were informed we can take two seats in the front or middle and two has to be the back seats.We had to argue for some time and finally settled for two in front and two at the back front facing seats.We had to share this jeep with the Bengali group of six people.Our driver went to collect the remaining lot and as soon as they saw two of us sitting in the front they were not ready to board the jeep.They too had discussion with their travel company as they wanted to sit in the front two rows.We did not know what to do.Finally the owner of the jeep came to us to adjust and sit on the back row and he would refund some amount for the inconvenience as we were the only people who had to adjust they did not compromise at all,,further more these discussions were delaying our trip,so we agreed.As soon as we occupied the last row they happily sat in the front two rows .I could see them smile happily as they took their seats.Our departure time was 10.30 am we finally managed to start at 12.00 noon.We had not even crossed gangtok our driver started saying he needs to get the jeep repaired as this would be a long journey and there are no service station up north.

Finally we started towards Lachen our first base before we travel to Gurudongmar,as we wasted almost two and a half hours we travelled directly to Thikchum guest house where lunch arrangement was made for us. We happily gobbled local nepali food ,it was simple and filling .Our driver started washing the jeep so after sometime we left this place for further north. The scenery was good we passed several small villages .As we left each bend we could see beautiful waterfalls and cross deadly bridges. The distance from the bridge to the river below at places were so far below that, you would not give a second glance. Our next stop was at Chungtham,we reached around 4.30 pm.This village lies in the confluence of two rivers Lachen and Lachung chu.We had some tea and proceeded towards Lachen. Finally after much travelling we reached Lachen at 7 pm.It was already dark so we settled into our rooms, dinner again was simple nepali food ,however it was tasty.At dinner we met some guides and conversation started about the lake and altitude sickness,we had a nice time as they shared their experiences. The Bengali group were also sitting with us so we translated what the guides were saying. They were concerned about altitude sickness as they had a 10 year old with them. I informed them it might happen it might not happen at all ,but they just need to be careful and as advised by the guides we can have lots of popcorn(i do not know how they are connected with altitude sickness). After dinner we had tea and retired for the night, as we had to start early around 5.30 to 6 am, the reason being the weather will be unpredictable at the lake during the later part of the day.
We got up at 5 am ,got ready had tea still no sign of the other group. Daylight was just breaking towards the east, so I decided to have a walk and enjoy the fresh air. I met fellow travellers who were trying to capture the first rays of the sun on the mountain peaks, however as I headed out without the camera I just devoured the scenery and stored in my memory never to be forgotton.The air was chilling and a shiver ran down my spine, so I decided to jog for sometime .I returned to the hotel by then the driver woke up the other group only two people decided to join us to Gurudongmar,the remaining we not sure so stayed behind.
The journey uphill was breathtaking the water splashing on the banks and on the rocks that stood on their way, on the autumn background of red and yellow trees. This scenery will always be cherished. The same scenery kept on repeating but I was not tired of looking out in anticipation of something beautiful that I may miss. We took a short break for photographs and proceeded towards Thangu where we would halt for breakfast. We reached at 8 am.
Thangu came out to be a very beautiful village, with the mountain and hills as a protective barrier ,the prayer flags singing along with the wind ,the sound of the river breaking the silence and few houses dotted around the road. We went into a shop where we were shown into the kitchen. Surprisingly the kitchen was quite a large one, with a fire burning in the middle seats were arranged around the fire. It was a relief from the ice cold breeze outside. We had breakfast, bread and egg were provided by the agency however I had the local “tsampa” (roasted barley flour) with tea which would be filling till we again return to Lachen for lunch. We bought prayer flags to offer at the lake and few packets of popcorns as we were advised this would help us against altitude sickness.
After breakfast we started off towards Gurudongmar.The scenery is very beautiful as soon as you leave Thangu,however as you travel further up the vegetations change trees giving way to bushes, further up the landscape was devoid of vegetation because of altitude .The roads were bumpy and you can make your own road on the vast expanse providing you do not loose track of the destination or you will land up in China ha hate roads are dirt tracks made by frequent visits by jeeps. We could see the mountains all around filled with fresh snow and we were excited. As we drove we did not realise the time pass by slowly we climbed uphill and all of a sudden almost dramatically the Gurudongmar lake was in front of us. All we could do was look at each other smile breaking from each ones face as we were not able to believe we had reached.We reached around 10.30 am
We were given some time to spend around the lake, the driver informed us we cannot stay for long as weather might change suddenly. We wanted to skirt around the lake but our driver told us that will take quite a long time, so we decided to do a half circle. The lake was beautiful with sky blue reflecting back at us, the prayer flags lining the lake and the stones piled around the shore. The snow laden mountains ,the silence around it was a heavenly feeling. We did not miss an opportunity to shoot the lake from all directions.
After spending an hour at this lake we boarded our jeep with a heave heart wishing that we were given a few more hours at this awesome lake.
Some facts about the lake Gurudongmar Lake is one of the highest lake in the world at an altitude of 17100 feet. The lake is named after Guru Padmasambhava, who is also known as Guru Dongmar. It is located close to the Indo-China Border in the province of North Sikkim, India. The lake remains completely frozen in the winter months from November to Mid-May except for one small part of the lake which is supposed to be touched and blessed by the Guru Padmasambhava.The lake is highly revered by the Sikkimese and Buddhists and the waters are supposed to have curative properties.According to a legend, since the lake used to remain frozen most of the year, it was not possible to use it's water for drinking purposes, When the Guru Padmasambhava passed by, while returning from Tibet, the local residents are reported to have reached him for providing source of water. The Guru obliged, a portion of the lake touched by him does not freeze in the extreme winter. Since water of the lake is considered sacred, visitors carry the "holy" water in the bottles.

Gurudongmar lake in winters