by Aman Sharma

Balcony- Peace belongs here.

With millions and millions of houses built every year, the average open space in a normal house has shrinked to its minimum in the past years. Few years back, the concept of building a home was to provide more rooms and use every inch of space to accommodate it for living, as there were more joint families than the single family. But overtime this thing has changed, mostly in the urban areas. Now with limited members in a family and changing concept of design, everyone wants a small lawn/garden in their homes. But with an average budget and a decent location, it become nearly impossible to buy a big piece of land in India where you can have a separate garden or a relaxing zone in your home. Apartments and flats also have a very minimum space to get your type of relaxing zone. As an Interior designer I would personally recommend to convert your balcony into your relaxation and comfort zone. Balcony is a space where you come for a sip of tea or coffee after a hectic working day, so why don’t we give it a makeover so it becomes the best part of your home. You even don’t require large balcony for this, even a small one will work. So below down are some of the ideas which you can use to convert your ordinary balcony into the most peaceful and relaxing zone of the house.

1- Vertical garden- One of the most adapted design today. The use of vertical garden has increased overtime, not only they look but also are good for environment. Buy a few pots and choose the planters of your choice. If possible try to use plants like ferns, succulents, Crotons etc. Build a wooden frame for it as it enhances the beauty of the vertical garden. This also looks good and even don’t cover much of the space.

2-Portable table- Most people like drinking tea or coffee in their balconies. But due to lack of space either they drink it while standing or don’t do it at all. So to overcome this hurdle, you can go for the portable balcony table. You only need to hang this on the railing of the balcony and that’s it. You can easily have your drink and also work or read here. It can be hanged or removed very easily and thus it becomes the best choice for a table in the balcony.

3- A table for two with a view- We call it by this name because this concept is originally designed for the flats balcony. These days the balcony of flats are only for name, literally so little space. So for this the best thing is a folding table and chairs. You can easily fit them there and fold them when not required, in this way they will also not cover much space inside. Also you can make a wooden frame and hang on the ceiling of balcony and hang planters or dream catchers there. Wrap a strip of light on the frame. If you live at a higher floor in the building this can be your perfect spot for a romantic dinner too.

4- Cozy sitting- If you have a big balcony than you can definitely do a lot with it, but my favorite thing is to convert it into a cozy or relaxed sitting area. For this you can opt various designs as per your suitability. To give it a look of private sitting area increase the height by using wooden fencing over railings. Don’t cover too much space just for sitting, put just 2 or 3 small couches according to the space. Put 7-8 cushions and cover the area using different planters and lights. Try to use the old couches if you have at your home.

5- Use Art piece- If you have a blank wall in your balcony you can show your creativity on it or if not, than you can decor it with various paintings or art piece. You can use vertical painting if wall is too long. You can also use various lamps or create a pattern with mosaic tiles and lot of other things. The only thing to care about this, you really need to look after these things once you put them on the wall. Remove the paintings in too much direct contact of sunlight or in case of rain.

These were some of my ideas for your balcony makeover. I hope this might help if you are thinking of giving your balcony a new look. You can write down below if you have any ideas regarding the same, I know you have tons of stuff apart from this. Thank you people- keep reading,  keep sharing.

by Aman Sharma

Tasty recipes to make on Diwali

India is a land of festivals, absolutely no doubt in that. We celebrate different festivals throughout the year with great pomp and show. But one festival that I personally love is Diwali, this festival is above all on the list. And not just me everyone is so excited about it. The streets, homes, offices and every other place is so decorated with lights and all. The level of joy is on another level during the Diwali week. Everyone dresses up for this occasion and try to enjoy every moment of it. In India we love to eat food, we treat it like a religion. So, how can we celebrate Diwali without talking about food on this very special occasion. We wait so eagerly to get our hands on sweets and namkeens, but what if you can enjoy all this without being much curious about your fitness. Sounds good? So, here I will write about a few recipes that also the diet conscious can eat without a second thought. This recipes taste well and also don’t affect your fitness much.

1- Indo-Italian Chiwda

For Chiwda- 2 cups of flattened rice(Poha) little fried, Fox nuts(Makhana) ½ cup roasted, peanuts ¼ roasted, Potato chips spicy ½ cup, Bikaneri bhujiya 1 cup, Sweet neem(Azadirachta indica) leaves-15 , Italian Spice mixture- 4 small tbsp. Black salt and Pudina Powder- 1 small tbsp. each.

For Italian Spice mixture- Coriander leaves- ½ cup, Black pepper-12, Red Bell pepper, jeera(Cumin), Mix herbs- 2 small tbsp. each,  Chaat masala- 1 small tbsp. Black salt and Ajwain- 1 small tbsp. each.

Recipe- To make Italian spice mixture, heat up a pan and add Coriander leaves, jeera, ajwain and Black pepper in it. Cook it on a low flame and wait for it to cool down. Add bell pepper, chaat masala, mix herbs, heeng and lemon juice, grind it properly. Add the chiwda and spice mixture to a bowl and mix it well. This is ready to serve.

2- Gulkand Petha Laddoo-

Ingredients- Petha ½ kg, mava(whole dry milk) 250gm, Coconut filings(nariyal ka buraa) 250gm,   Gulkand- 2 or 3 big tbsp, Saunf(fennel seeds)- 2 large tbsp. Cashews- 10-12 finally     chopped, Pistachios (Pista)- 10-12 finally chopped, Grinded sugar- according to taste.

Recipe- Heat up oil in a pan and add Mava to it, Fry it until light pink. Take it out and let it cool. Grate(kadukas) the petha in another bowl. Add fried mava, chopped pista, chopped cashew and coconut filings to this mixture. Add Gulkand and saunf in other bowl and mix it. Now you will have the dough ready, make a small ball of it and fill it with material that we have made. Close it properly after filling the material. You can also keep it in fridge for 6-7 days.

3-Beetroot chakri-

Ingredients- Wheat flour(Maida)- 1 ½ cup, Salt ½ small tbsp. Grinded black pepper ¼ small tbsp. ajwain ½ small tbsp. Boiled beetroot paste ¼ cup, Grinded sugar ¼ small tbsp. Jeera(cumin seeds) ¼ small tbsp. White sesame seeds(Til)- 1 small tbsp. Salt- According to taste. Ghee.

Recipe- Make a dough of wheat flour and divide it into two equal parts. Add ajwain, grinded black pepper, salt and one big tbsp. of ghee to one part. Add beetroot paste, salt , grinded sugar, white sesame seeds, jeera and one big tbsp. of ghee to other part. Now make long and thick strips of it of both parts. Now roll the strips on one another collectively. After this, cut this into slices. Now, heat up the oil in a pan and add these into that and fry until little crispy. Ready to serve.

4- Namkeen Nipattoo-

Ingredients- Rice flour- 1 cup, Peanuts-3 large tbsp.  Roasted Chickpeas- 3 large tbsp. Coconut- 1 large tbsp. grate(kadukas), sesame seeds(Til), Red chili powder- ½ small tbsp. Salt- according to taste, Curry leaves( kadi patta)- 2, Oil- 1 large tbsp. Water-according to use, wheat flour- 1 large tbsp. Rava-1 large tbsp.

Recipe- Heat a pan and roast peanuts in it. If required, removed its outer skin. Once peanuts cool down mix it with Coconut and chickpeas and blend it thick in a mixer. Add Rice flour, sesame seeds, curry leaves, Red chili powder, salt in a bowl and mix it well. You can also add Rava and White flour to it. Heat up a pan and add 1 large tbsp. to it, now add the mixture to it and give it a stir. Now add ¼ water to it and convert it into a dough. Make it round circles of it, use fork to make some holes in it so it don’t effloresce(foolna). Heat the oil in a pan and fry it on a medium flame. Your Namkeen Nipattoo is ready to eat.

by Aman Sharma

10 Things to do when 21.

Travel more– When in 20s the major thing to do is travel as much as you can. This is the time when you need to explore and discover more what’s around you. When in20s you don’t need to travel in lavish style. You can always adjust in cheap hotel rooms, travel through public transport if you don’t own a car and try to eat in less fancy restaurants. If you will just wait to save a good amount of money to travel fancy than you can never understand the true meaning of travel. You can never do this type of things in your 40s. The freedom you have in your 20s is a bonus over any other thing, go make most of it.

Worry less– The biggest and probably the main hindrance in the development of a person is worrying more, rather than figuring out its solution. Although we worry about very little things through our whole lifetime period, but in the 20s it is at its peak. Worrying about the college debts, finding and landing into a secure job, watching out for family, trying to figure out everything  and much more. But trust me, the more you worry, the less the things are going to work out your way. When we overthink about something we put so much of our energy in developing its negative context than to simply find a solution. The best way to get out of this window is keep working towards your goal at your pace, you don’t need to race anyone. Don’t get in the rat race and things will eventually turn to your benefits.

Maintain your body– This is one of the important factors to look on. We need to take care of our body above everything. A healthy mind lives in a healthy body. Especially in your 20s when we all have a habit of eating the fast food every day, drinking alcohol etc. This things taste great at first but eventually will hurt in the golden and coming years of your life. Do some daily workouts or go for a jog for 20-30 minutes or so, but find some time for yourself on daily basis. Adopt to a healthy lifestyle at an early stage and it will pay its results throughout your life. But at the same time, it doesn’t mean to totally avoid the snacks or going out for food, but what I am trying to say is don’t do it on regular basis and maintain the balance between fast food and a healthy diet.

Chase dreams– In your 20s it is very difficult to stable your brain in one direction. One day you might want to give everything you have- for the job you always wanted, on other day you might just want to sit back on couch and watch Netflix all day long. So these things happen in a normal routine. Don’t be bothered if you haven’t work hard one day or you went off track for the day. Try to focus your mind on one thing you always wanted and chase it without listening to other people’s comments. Don’t you get fooled by the small brains telling you that your dreams are too big. It is all my personal experience and these things happen with me often, but most important is how you bounce back. If you really have a desire to achieve something, you will always find a way to get it. But if somehow things are not working out, ask yourself- Do I really wanted this?

Find sometime for family– As you grow old, your family is getting older too. When in 20s your most time is devoted to the studies, finding a job and sometimes you are healing from emotional breakdowns. With all this going through we can rarely devote anytime to our family. By the time you realize it how less time you gave to your family, it’s already too late. So just try to spend some time off from your work or social media with them. Not only this will make them happy, but you will also feel good. If you can’t find enough time everyday try to go out with them on the weekends. Spending time doesn’t mean to watch movies, instead talk to them. You will learn so much from them that you will feel why you didn’t talk to them earlier.

Go get a part time job– This option might or might not be liked by some people. I have heard many people say that don’t get to a job straight after college but instead travel more, do more fun things and so on. But what I have experienced is that you should try to get a part time job to just to cover your expenses. Sooner or later you have to do something that makes your end meet. You parents aren’t going to feed you throughout your life unless you belongs to a super wealthy family. Part time jobs not only provide the paychecks but will also provide you the experience if you are going to work in the same field later. And if we talk about travel, yes you should travel more but you are not going to travel 24/7 x365 days unless you become a vlogger or so. So get a part time job so your travel expenses will cover up from that without depending on your parents or anyone else.

Do more what makes you happy– Yes, Don’t be overburdened by the work sessions and burry down your hobbies somewhere. If you were doing something that made you happy either convert that into your income or if not find a time to do it as much as you can. With this developing world our most of the time is spend sticking to the computer and mobile screens. If you have habit of cooking, painting, exploring use your weekend windows as a time to do the things you love. Prepare yourself a fancy meal, Carve out your imagination on the canvas or go out to explore the joy, but don’t stop. Keep doing the things that make you happy because in the end we only regret the things we don’t do.

Develop a hobby– If you have one it’s good but if don’t, seek inside yourself and you will find an artist hidden beside the duties that you have been appointed with. Let the inner kid inside you come out and do the things that you have been avoiding with a fear, what people will say? May it be going for dance classes, knitting, playing your favorite musical instrument or whatever you like.

Read more books – ‘Books are your best friends’ completely agree with this. Always keep a small pocket of time from the day to read at least 3 pages of a book per day. This might be difficult if you haven’t read a book previously bit once you start reading, you will fell in love with the books. Books really help in unfolding the greatest secrets to live a happy life. You can start off with any novel, than read onto some of the greatest people’s biographies. I didn’t use to read the books but I just started this year, and I have already read around 9 books so far and I can assure you this will continue forever. Reading changes your vision and upgrades your knowledge.

Help the needy– I have always seen a lot of people who want to help the people out there, but somehow they don’t because they think they don’t have enough money to help them. They always says to their inner self’s that the day they will be earning enough will help these people, but with increasing income only our expenditure increase. Helping others never go for waste and there are a lot other ways to help than just going for materialistic things. If you have some extra time you can always teach these kids around the corners, probably the best way to help them and at the same time building their future, or you can’t do this than just simply when you leave for your class or work, cook some extra food and give it to the needy on the way. These small little gestures contribute to a lot. The main motive behind putting this point here is we all wanted to help somebody and as you are your in 20s, understand this and contribute in the betterment of the society.

by Aman Sharma

Healthy dressings for Salad

Salad plays an important role in increasing the taste of the Indian food. Tangy and delicious food is accompanied by salad including tomatoes, cucumber, onions, Carrot, Reddish, vegetables and much more. Let it be the lemon juice or the sweet or tangy curd poured on it, doubles the flavor of the food. So, this we talked about the Normal or the Indian dressing, but to give it a twist I am going to mix the Desi Salad with Videsi (Foreign) dressing to give it a fusion. I assure you it will be much tastier and healthier than you have ever eaten before.

1- Italian dressing

Ingredients required- Olive oil (1/3 cup)

                                      Lemon juice (1/3 cup)

                                     Garlic powder (1 small tbsp.)

                                     Thyme (1/2 small tbsp.)

                                    Oregano (1/2 small tbsp.)

                                 Basil (Tulsi) leaves (1 small tbsp.)

                                 Honey (1 small tbsp.)

                                    Salt (a small pinch)

Recipe- Put all the ingredients in a bowl and blend it with a blender. If thyme not available you can also use coriander leaves. If you are using dry oregano, dry thyme and dry basil leaves, than you can also mix it in a bowl manually. Once it is ready, you can use it on any salad. You can keep it in refrigerator for 1-2 weeks. The oil present in it may freeze when placed in refrigerator for longer periods of time. So before consuming, take it out of the fridge for a couple of minutes and then give it a mix before intake.

2- Lemon vinaigrette dressing

Ingredients required- Lemon juice (1/3 cup)

                                       Mustard (1 big tbsp.)

                                       Sugar (1 small tbsp.)

                                       Garlic (thin chopped)

                                        Olive oil (1/3 cup)

                                        Mint leaves (1/3 cup, finally chopped)

                                        Salt (1/8 small tbsp.)

                                         Black pepper (according to taste)

Recipe- Put lemon juice, Mustard, sugar and garlic in a jar and blend it perfectly. Blend it while adding olive oil at short intervals. After it add mint leaves, salt and black pepper and your dressing is ready to be served on the salad.

3- Spicy dressing

 Ingredients required- Lemon juice (1/3 cup)

                                         Mustard powder (1/2 cup)

                                        Fresh tomato puree (1/4 cup)

                                       Red chili powder (1/4 small tbsp.)

                                       Tabasco sauce (1/2 small tbsp.)

                                      Salt (1/4 small tbsp.)

                                        Jaggery (Gud) a small piece wet in hot water

Recipe- Put all the ingredients in a jar together and stir it perfectly. If Tabasco sauce is not available you can use any red, green or any other spicy sauce. Your dressing is ready and it can put in the fridge for 2-3 days.

4- Hot and Sour dressing-

Ingredients- Garlic (1 finally chopped)

                      Sugar (2 small tbsp.)

                      Red chili powder (1 small tbsp.)

                      Soya sauce (2 tbsp.)

                      Lemon juice (1 big tbsp.)

                      Oil- (2 small tbsp.)

Recipe- Heat up the oil in a pan on medium flame. Put garlic in it and Stir it gently until golden brown. Put all the ingredients and garlic in a bowl and mix it well. It is ready to be served on the salad.

5- Coconut dressing-

Ingredients- Mayonnaise (1/2 cup)

                       Full fat Coconut milk (1/2 cup)

                      Onion powder (1 small tbsp.)

                       Garlic powder (1 small tbsp.)

                       Fennel (Sauf) Powder (1 small tbsp.)

                   Coriander leaves (1 big tbsp.)

                  Green onion (1 big tbsp.  Finally chopped)

                  Salt (according to taste)

                    Black pepper (1/4 small tbsp.)

                  Apple vinegar (1 small tbsp.)

Recipe- Put all the ingredients together in a bowl and stir it until it becomes properly smooth. After this store it in a refrigerator for 30 minutes for cooling process. Serve this cool dressing on your salad.

6- Lime and Chilly dressing-

Ingredients- Lemon juice and yeast (1 cup)

                       Olive oil (3 big tbsp.)

                       Red chili without seeds (1 nos.)

Recipe- Put lemon juice, lemon yeast, olive oil and finally cut red chili in a bowl and mix it well. Ready to serve, that simple and easy. You can store this for up to a week in the refrigerator.

7- Low fat Ranch dressing-   

Ingredients- Buttermilk (1 cup)

                           Cheese (¼ cup)

                           Onion powder (2-3 big tbsp.)

                           Lemon juice (1 small tbsp.)

                           Black pepper (as per requirement)

                           Salt (according to taste)

Recipe- Put all the ingredients in bowl and mix it well. Buttermilk should be thick. You can also put onion slice on the top of it. Ready to serve.

by Aman Sharma

Phenomenal places to visit for your next vacation.

“IT IS BETTER TO SEE SOMETHING ONCE THAN TO HEAR ABOUT IT A THOUSAND TIMES.”

I absolutely love travelling, packing my stuff and breaking the chains of regular work and moving to newer and nicer places. I mean who doesn’t want to travel, literally not a single soul, I guess. But travelling requires much more instead of just packing your bags and moving out of your apartment. Choosing a perfect destination is one of the most important things before beginning your journey because if we are putting our time and money into it than it must be worth it. With the ever changing time, the meaning of travelling has also changed. Earlier Travel was all about moving one place to another and enjoying. Still, travel includes both these features but it has expanded in many ways. Now, People not only travel to relax on beach or breathe freshly in the hilly areas, but people now want to explore more new places. With resources becoming so easy to access, no one wants to be hold themselves in a limit. So here, I will get you to know with some of the phenomenal places that you can go for your next vacation. Here, this way-

Destinations in India-

1- ROAD TRIP FROM KAKKANAD TO CHINNAKANAL

Go for a road trip in camper van here in this beautiful destination. The concept of the camper van was introduced in the 1960s by the people who travelled on long routes. But this old concept still works best for offbeat travel. This classical concepts works best due to the lovely and harmonious atmosphere of Kakkanad.

A camper van passing through the green fields of kakkanad.

2- 100 years old house in Kedakal (Coorg, Karnataka)

Want to spend your vacation in the hands of nature and in a peaceful and relaxing environment, than Kedakal is just for you. Going through the coffee, black pepper, Cardamom farms you reach a classical mansion which is also know as Kedakal mansion. It don’t look anything less than the big forts in a fairytale. Staying here and exploring the area will provide you an extra ordinary experience.

Check out their other staying options as well- https://www.kedakal.com/?m4dc=1#page-top

100 years old house.

3- Butterfly tents (Jaisalmer, Rajasthan)

It has been a dream for many of us to spend a night camping in the dessert under the stars. Well, Jaisalmer provides you this experience at its best. You can stay in the butterfly tents. This is also a perfect place to go with family and friends. At night, bonfire is organized which can be enjoyed under the stars in an open dessert, a perfect combination. Along with it there are also several terraced houses made by the local women.

Butterfly tents in Jaisalmer

International-

Underwater museum, Cancun

This museum built under the water has more than 400 life size sculptures. The sculptures built here comes to life when one looks at it, fishes moving around makes it look more attractive. The underwater museum is to benefit the protection of the coral reefs. Artificial reefs are usually created by sunken ships and other objects that have fallen to the bottom of the ocean floor. The statues are a new technique and material for coral to grow on, a means for art to save the oceans. As the statues were made with pH-neutral cement, coral, seaweed, and algae are able to grow and develop better than on an old ship. Stable structures with a stable base are known to be ideal surfaces for artificial reefs. The statues also have holes in them, which allow marine wildlife to colonize and feed off the coral.

A human model wit wings attached to it. (Underwater museum, Cancun)

Pancake rocks, New Zealand-

Punakaiki is a small community on the West coast of the South Island of New Zealand, between Westport and Greymouth. The community lies on the edge of the Paparoa national park.

The Pancake Rocks are a very popular tourist destination at Dolomite Point south of the main village. The Pancake Rocks are a heavily eroded limestone area where the sea bursts through several vertical blowholes during high tides. ‘pancake’- these form the main attraction of the area.

This didn’t happen overnight, but the forming of pancake rocks took a time period of almost 30 million years. Worthy a one-time visit for sure.  

Pancake rocks (New Zealand)

Alberobello, Italy-

Alberobello is a town in Italy’s Apulia region. It’s known for its trulli, whitewashed stone huts with conical roofs. The hilltop Rione Monti district has hundreds of them. The 18th-century Trullo Sovrano is a 2-level trulli. Furniture and tools at the Museo del Territorio Casa Pezzolla re-create life in the trulli as it was centuries ago. Southwest of town is the Casa Rossa, a WWII internment camp. Tourist come in large numbers here.

Trulli homes.

Ithaa- Under sea restaurant, Maldives

Ithaa, which means mother of pearl in Dhivehi, is an undersea restaurant located 5 metres (16 ft) below sea level at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island in Aliff Dhali Atol in the Republic of Maldives. If you wish to eat along the fishes than it’s the perfect place for you. The walls and the roof of this restaurant is made of glass, so along with feeding your body you can also feed your soul. The view beneath the ocean is unbelievable and a must see at least once in a lifetime. The only cons about this restaurant is that it has only 12 seats, so you have to make your reservations as earlier as possible, if you want to enjoy some good time here.

View from inside the underwater restaurant, Maldives.
by Aman Sharma

On Footsteps…Designer Doors

Be it a Residence, an office, café or any other building, Main Door is always a Center point. Main door is observed prior to anything when a person enters a Building or a House. In this everyday changing world of Design, most people put their Focus on doors first, so you must give them a good reason to look at yours. These doors not only work as a medium to enter or exit a place, but sometimes your building is recognized by them, you might have seen someone finding a house with a red door. So here in this article I’ll introduce you with some trendy doors these days. Here we go-

  1. Warm Wood Panel

These type of doors provide you modern look and at the same time look elegant. It works best when the exterior of your Building is neutral. Panels can be placed on it to make it look more attractive.

2-Natural Wood Door

To give a bold look at your main doorsteps, natural wood doors can be used. The texture visible on it provides a rich look. A long iron handle along is often used with these type of doors.

3- Shevron Wood Door

Bored of Horizontal or vertical patterns on the door, than this one is for you. Shevron pattern is also different and trendy in doors. It is a Zig-zag pattern that comes to a sharp point, just like the letter ‘V’. Due to its natural fairy orange color, this best fits with white color. But can also work with most of the tones.

4- Smart Door

Tough, smart and bold.  Due to such qualities smart doors use has been increased in recent times. For extra safety, they now also comes with key less entry. These doors are a bit expensive as compared to normal doors, but that cost is nothing in front of your personal safety. So, if your budget allows you go for the smart doors.

5- Laser Carved Doors

It provides the one to express their emotions on the door. The prints or details on the door presents you with the nature of one. If you have to much texture applied in the interiors, you can give a glimpse of it on the main door.

6- Glossy Doors

These are also one type of doors but are not seen commonly on the main doors. This is because the worn and torn of its material is high. These types of doors can be used in interior or back entrance of the lawn.

7- Pivoting Door

It creates a kind of fun activity when your guest enter your space and moreover even a simple door put up in this mechanism works great for your style statement.

by Aman Sharma

Chapter-5

“Nirvana”

Date-24/06/19

I woke up even before the alarm went off today, which was set for 7:00 am. This all happened because I am so excited about our last day of this trip. Since the day 1 of the trip it has been an amazing journey till now, with so much of new places discovered, trying out different foods, knowing the local culture and getting a step closer to the Mother Nature. This has been nothing short of a blessing. With so much things done already, this trip can’t come to an end without visiting- Chail. This place is absolutely a bliss, especially during the monsoons which arrive in the months from June to September. We are at the right time and moving to the right place. So here it is the final chapter of our journey to Solan.

~8:30 am~

We all are ready on time today, without any delays. This might be because of 2 Reasons particularly because, one that is it’s last day here and everyone wants to enjoy every moment of it and secondly, today we are going in a bus, no cab. So we need to be on time at least today. The bust stop is few kilometers from our hotel, so we pulled into an auto rickshaw till there. It took us around 20 minutes to reach the bust stop and another 10 minutes to wait for the arrival of the bus. The weather is pleasant today, one thing that has been on our side constantly is weather. It’s the monsoon month here but still the weather hasn’t disturbed any of our journeys till date. Fingers cross for today’s weather also.  It’s exactly 9:05 by the time our bus arrives, the passengers are only in few numbers so don’t have to worry much about our seats. The bus starts moving and still some people trying to catch the bus, passengers settling down. Chail is around 39 kilometers from Solan which will take us around 1hour 30 minutes to reach there.  We are on our way, seeing the breathtaking views outside while the passengers keep on loading and unloading from the bus. The way to the Chail is so beautiful, the road curves in and out of the forest, moving through some small villages and crossing over a river bridge. The little rainfall along it works as a glitter for the beautiful scene outside. After completing the journey of one and half hours, we are here in Chail. It has a small market, and if you look closely you can even count the number of shops which were I guess around 15 and about 3 or 4 Hotels. It is only a small town but it has a sublime atmosphere around it.

Chail bazaar

Clouds almost touching the ground and the fluency of the cool breeze making you believe that you are in the right place. The top three spots to visit in Chail are Kali ka Tibba, Chail palace and its local area. We haven’t done our breakfast in the morning, so now are moving to a food shop in front of us to full our stomachs before we begin our journey to fill our souls. We entered the shop and ordered pakoras, maggi along with the tea. The food was very delicious, we have been eating a lot from different places but I haven’t had this much good food in days. Ate the food, payed the bill and now are heading to our first destination of the day and that is Chail palace. Chail palace is around 4 kilometers from the main market and you can go there in a taxi if you haven’t come on any private vehicle. Taxi will charge around Rs100 per person, back and forth both ways. We booked a cab and reached the palace within 15 minutes.

Chail palace

The palace looks so beautiful and the palace has been well maintained. The surroundings has also been well maintained and kept clean despite of so much crowd that comes on regular basis. We entered through the check point of the palace, the entry fare is Rs100 for the public. From the very first impression the palace looks really impressive, it is the fusion of modern and classical architecture.  Built back in 1891 to till date, the monument looks absolutely astonishing. The palace is surrounded by lush green fields that have been kept well maintained, every inch of grass trimmed exactly to one level. Inside the palace has now been transformed into a Hotel, but you can still see the things used by the king. A specific area has been kept for tourists only. We explored different floors of the palace, viewed some exclusive stuff of the king. After spending around 30 minutes inside we came out clicked some pictures and walked around the palace to get the view from all four corners around. There is an open café in the palace, we ordered coffee there before we move on to our next spot. 20 minutes pass by and we head out of the palace. The rain in the morning still has its droplets covering the grass. So, the next stop for us today is Kali ka Tibba or Maa kali Temple. It is situated at the highest point of the mountain and it is the best place to visit in Chail. It is around 7 kilometers from Chail local market and will take around 25 minutes to get there in a car. No buses go there so either you have to book a cab or go in your private vehicle. We settled down in our cab and head towards to kali ka tibba. Some people also trek from Chail market to the kali ka tibba. We couldn’t do that because of two reasons- Firstly the weather is cloudy today, so you never know when the rain starts pouring and secondly the last bus from Chail to Solan departures at 5:00 in the evening so we need to come back by 4:40 positively. After that there are no buses until tomorrow. While in our journey we saw beautiful birds chirping around the road sides which you don’t see in cities. The road is covered from trees of various species, just a like a jungle. But the scenarios are absolutely breathtaking.

on the way to Kali ka Tibba

 I have never seen such a clear sky in my whole life.

From the journey.

After a 25 minute of drive we have entered the temple, it is so beautiful that words can’t express the real emotions. The whole temple boundary wall is made up of the white Marble that shines so bright when the sun rays fall onto it. The entrance truly makes you believe that you are entering into the heaven now. The driver pulled the car in the parking lot, we removed our shoes inside the car only.

Entering the Temple

We climbed the stairs and entered the temple and prayed the lord. As soon as we get to side and back of the temple, I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. I have never seen such a beautiful place in my life till now.

Kali Ka Tibba

 The surroundings were absolutely beautiful but at the same time unreal too. Clouds touched the ground and the mountains rising high from the clouds. We can literally see everything around us, we stood at such a high altitude that even the bigger buildings downwards looks just the size of a fingernail. We saw a small village up from there built up at a mountain, only a few homes there and by the looks farming looked their only occupation. So little yet so bigger.

View from the Temple.

I took a round of the whole place and tried to cover every scenario in my camera lens. We spent around 2 hours here. The temple is built beautifully and the surroundings adjoining the temple adorn it. My body has never felt this relax in ages. So purified- A bliss. I am so happy that I am taking so much of positive vibes along with me back home.

A small village located on a top of mountain.

We decided to get moving now because it was 4:00 at my clock and it will take around 25 minutes to get back to the bus stop. We loaded in our cab and went back to the market where will get our bus to go back. We arrived at the bus stop and got in our bus, At 5:15 the bus started moving and for one last time I looked back through the glass of the bus. I am taking a lot of memories back with me from the trip. On our way back, the rain started heavily with thunderstorms. It took us around 2 hours and 15 minutes to get back to Solan. By 7:30 we checked in at our hotel for the final night of trip. We rested for around 30 minutes and freshen up. We went out for the dinner, as it was our last night here so we went to a fancy restaurant today. Ate the best food. After that we walked in the market which was now closing down and stood beside a grill to catch a last glimpse of this beautiful town. Every day, every moment of this trip has been special to me in many ways. Tomorrow we will head back to our homes in Ludhiana.

This was much of my trip and I Tried to share most of its memories with you. I hope you all liked it and would definitely love to visit here again.

Thank you.     

by Aman Sharma

Chapter-4

The amazing rush

Date-23/06/19

Slightest of sunlight coming through my hotel room window wakes me up to this cheerful morning here in Solan. I get off my bed quickly and have a look outside of the window. Last night we talked to the receptionist about our today’s plan. He told us about the fair that is going to happen today. I glanced out from the window. Today there was more hustle and bustle in the city than the normal day but it was still not much to worry out. We planned our trip according to our schedule and decide to get ready on time. By the time we all ate our breakfast and got ready it was 11:00 am on the clock. The voice of the crowd outside suddenly started to increase and we just couldn’t believe our eyes, what we saw through our hotel’s main access. People covered almost every inch of space for this religious ceremony. It was simply beyond belief. I have been to Solan so many times but haven’t seen this much mass together.

People gathered on the road for the fest.

The people gathered around with a great enthusiasm. We came back to our rooms knowing that it wouldn’t be possible to get out at least for the next 2 hours. Our schedule for today was to go to the waterfall called the ‘Tiger waterfall’ or ‘Ashwani khad’. These two names were told us by the locals. It is situated at a distance of 7 kilometers from Solan. It will take us 20 min to reach to Salogra, and next 10 min to reach to the waterfall. The waterfall is situated below somewhere. But I can’t see us going out for the next couple of hours. My friends went back to the rooms to rest for some time. I and one of my friend has been seeing all the people enjoying out, through our Hotel lobby window. So, we decided to go out and join them. But it was only a matter of putting the foot outside, and then we didn’t know where the mass of people took us. A large wave of people came and took us along with them.

A band giving it’s performance on the street(s).

 Despite of this much crowd, there was no lack of enthusiasm in the people. The joy on the faces of the people was clearly showing for how long people wait for this festival. We are in the crowd, not knowing where we were going. The flock of the crowd was enough powerful to push the 10 trucks coming in row. If the crowded streets weren’t enough, you can simply look onto the windows or balconies of the roadside houses. Every one seeing this scene from their places and enjoying every single moment of it. It has been an hour in this crowd and it has started to move to its next stop, so it seems like we will be good to go in the next 30 minutes. We move back to our Hotel and start packing for the waterfall. After 45 minutes, our driver called us to tell that the road has now opened up and we can move to the place. We are in the cab moving towards our destination, in between we can still see the people on the road enjoying themselves. Eating the road side food and dancing on the regional music beats.

Inconsistent weather- on to the way of waterfalls

After a 15 minute short ride we have come halfway to the Water fall. Now from here we need to take the road that is going down.  We change our lane and are heading towards our destination. The view alongside the ride demands to stop by it, appreciate it in the most foremost way you can. The nature has shown its true colors here, greens and blues combining together to give your eyes a soothing. This is a perfect route for a short ride, a bliss.

View from Down the Lane.

Due to the heavy rain yesterday the gravel layer of the road has come out from some places, but that don’t seem to be bothering us. What I am actually concerned about is the walkway to the waterfall. The walkway to the waterfall is a little tricky one; we have reached the waterfall. On from here we have to go on our foot to reach the final point.

On the foot for rest of the Trek. The tricky part of the lane starts going down further.

As I was saying earlier, due to the rain there is just a little water deposit on the walkway. The walkway here is a tough one, so we need to watch our steps or else we fall. By falling it doesn’t mean threatening your life, you might scratch your arm or so. But anyways we all are going through the way slowly and steadily, it might be a tough trek but the surroundings around it are way bigger than the one’s own fear and not come here.

Way to Waterfall, You have go through this. But the end result is absolutely pleasing.

After a 7 min way down we have reached the waterfall, and words might fall short for what we saw there. The waterfall looks so alluring. Despite of heavy rain yesterday, the water level is normal. Birds chirping on the branches of tree, Sunlight cutting through the trees and laying it’s light on the rocks. The wind blowing and water falling from the fall and hitting the base, creating a harmonious atmosphere. I and my friends went into the water and enjoyed swimming for an hour or so. After that we just sat on the rocks, posing like doing some kind of meditation. Coming to places like these rejuvenates your soul and purifies your thoughts.  It helps in clarify your thoughts and one can focus onto the bigger things in life.

Two Visitors enjoying under the waterfall.

So now, we are done here and packing our bag packs to move back to our place.  We’ll be going back to Solan today as it’s the nearest place to stay and moreover our bodies has become Tired to carry out any journey.

~20 minutes pass by~

We are here in Solan again. Unloading our little bit of luggage from the cab, moving towards our Hotel room. One thing that absolutely loved about Solan is its – Weather. It might be a small town but everything has been planned accordingly. From the Historical temples to the modern civilization, from parks to the open recreational spaces, you will love everything about it. But now we just had finished our dinner, it’s 9:40 at night and we are heading back to our rooms. The streets still have the signs of today’s morning fest, most places still decorated with the fancy lighting and other materials. It was one the best day of the trip till now, but there is something special about tomorrow. You will get to know about that in the next chapter.

Thank you & Good Bye.

by Aman Sharma

Chapter-3

A Trek down the road

Date-22/06/2019

It’s another beautiful morning in Solan. It’s our Second day here and its 10:00 in the morning and we are ready to get out of our Hotel. We booked a hotel onto the main road of the city. It’s a perfect place to stay as it’s near the main hub of the city, just a 5 min walk down the hill and you are into the main Hustle and bustle of the city. By 10:15 am we are out of the hotel and marching on the Mall road of Solan. It is the main hub of the Solan.

A view of mall road of Solan.

The road is crowded and one can see the locals marching towards their work and tourists seeking the views. The weather is pleasant today, although it’s sunny today but it didn’t bother us much.  As discussed earlier we are in Solan only for the day and will be going to explore some local places. But most importantly a good day can’t start without good food. So we are here at a local restaurant to feed us before we start our today’s journey. The smooth flowing of the cool breeze stirring onto the body demands for a chai (Tea) along with a parantha (parantha is a type of bread or roti stuffed with potatoes, onions, cheese etc.), that was our breakfast and it’s time to start moving. Try not to eat too much when you have to cover more distance on foot. We are out of the restaurant and now heading towards the main market, exploring local area is always a good idea. If you ever go somewhere don’t be reserved to see only the historic or famous places, try to go through the local area. It’s been 20 minutes or so since I am exploring the market and I have already come through so many different things such as spices, handicrafts and also the natives performing different dances, these things might look small but these are things that take you close to their culture and how they earn their livelihood. After spending a couple of hours of going through the local area it’s time to move on the next thing. The next place I am going is a mountain or shall I say a small hill where we can find different species of flowers. The hill is downwards to the area named Sunny side and from main road it will take around 25 minutes to reach there. You can reach there only by foot. Its 2:30 in the noon and my friends are calling for  food, but I have been drinking water constantly today so my stomach is not craving for the food at the moment. But just for their sake, we stop at a bakery to grab some snacks. Being a Punjabi guy, it is very disrespectful to sit on a table with a company of foodies and not to eat anything. It literally becomes a crime, so just not to do so I ordered a coffee. After 45 minutes of fueling up ourselves, we Marche down to our next stop. The way to the hill is quite good, despite you have to climb around 30-40 stairs and going through the tiny streets, but the view you get along is simply pleasing.

Way to the Hill.

We are now here at the hill, the first words spills out from the mouth is ‘YES, we are here’. It’s a tremendous place to be, surrounded by the flowers and trees and in front nature showing its magic and playing with clouds. It is such a beautiful place. Most of the city can be seen from here and it even becomes more beautiful when stars start to cover the sky, truly magic.

The way from where we came to the hill top.

We spent 1 hour in clicking the pictures and sitting there admiring the beauty. It’s around 5:30 in the evening, the clouds have started to become grey. The weather is always unpredictable in the mountains and we need to get back to the hotel before it starts raining. Coming down a slope is too easy but now when we are going back up the hill it suddenly becomes difficult for us to catch our breathe.

Unpredictable weather , Clouds turning grey.

The backpacks suddenly puts a terrible burden on us. These steep slopes check your real physicality. After 35 minutes of trekking up on the main road, it’s finally a plain straight road. Our bodies seems to be relaxed here. The weather is continually changing and it is showing the signs of thunderstorms with heavy rain. So without any further delay we head towards our hotel. Going through the market, we can see the shopkeepers preparing themselves for the coming storms. Say it our Luck or whatever, but as soon we step into our hotel there is a cracking sound, like a cloud burst and its starts heavily raining. We feel lucky enough to reach the hotel before the rain. We loosen up ourselves, freshen up and got ready for the dinner. We had dinner in our hotel room today. After the Dinner, we went to our hotel lobby. We sat there looking out of the window, it’s still raining but it has reduced what was before. We talked with our receptionist about our plans for tomorrow, we planned to visit Ashwani khad waterfalls near Chamba ghat, few kilometres from Solan. I have went there before and its situated in such a beautiful place that words can’t express. The receptionist told us there is a fair tomorrow that is held every year here. There will be a huge crowd in the city, so it will be difficult to leave in the morning. He told us it’s better to leave by 1:00 pm tomorrow.  Tomorrow is ‘Mata Shoolini Devi’ mela which is held in Solan every year. All other things will be decided tomorrow after seeing the situation. Today has been a good day and we all enjoyed every part of it, but our body demands rest now. We head back to our rooms to end this day with a peaceful sleep. To be continued…

Thank you

Next Chapter unfolds on next Saturday in which we went to the Waterfalls.

by Aman Sharma

Chapter-2

 En Commute

Date-21/06/2019

8:30am

The thing occurred as always of which I was afraid of….I am already running late and just to make it worse, I need to get a haircut. I know this is a dumb thing to do before the morning departures but I need to get it done before leaving. I have informed my fellow travelers about this; but anyways I am done with my haircut now and its 10:30 and I am in the cab to take me to the bus stop. It’s a 15 min drive from here. We couldn’t find a suitable train timings for the journey so we decided to travel by a bus. My fellows are already waiting there.

Me- Hey!

Them- Aghhh! Not again, we decided to leave on your suitable time and you still late.

Me- I am sorry, I’ll explain it later but let’s get on the bus first and arrange our luggage.

Its 11:10 am by the time bus leaves for Chandigarh, our first stop for today from where we will change our bus for Solan. Now its 30 minutes into journey and I have my earphones on and looking through the window. I consider this as the best part of the journey, listening to your favorite music and viewing changing scenarios outside. It’s a non-stop ride to the Chandigarh bus stand and it will take around 2 hours or so to reach us there. It’s 2:30 pm and we are here in Chandigarh. We checked on our next bus and it was here for a stop for next 30 minutes. So we board our bigger bags in the bus and went to a nearby cafe, freshen up and ate a few sandwiches and fries. The best thing about travelling is exploring new places and trying out the food of different places. Although I have been to Chandigarh for so many times but with friends there’s always something new.

ISBT Bus stand Sector-43, Chandigarh.

After 25 minutes we are back on bus and ready to move onto our next step of journey. Solan from here is 65 kilometers and will take around 3 hours. The bus journey starts to become hectic after sometime when you can’t move yourself much, I’ll suggest you to either go by a car or train when you have to cover long distances. After spending 3 hours on the curves, and going through some breathtaking views we are finally here- Solan!

En Route To Solan, H.P.

The weather here is calm, cool breeze blowing. Its 6:20 in the evening and Solan has welcomed us with open arms and a pleasant atmosphere.

An evening in Solan.

We booked a cab and went to our hotel. By 7:00 pm we have checked in our hotel room, got freshen up and laying down in our beds. The journey has started to show its effects on us, but our empty stomach won’t let us sleep. It’s 8 at night and instead of ordering the food from hotel, we managed to get out and try food at a local nearby place. Although, it’s hard to go out after such a hectic journey but I always try to see the night life of the cities.  We had some momos(Dumpling), spring rolls and buns, that was all for our dinner tonight.

Night view of the city side from the hotel room.

It’s 10:00 at night and we are back in our rooms, tomorrow we have planned to spent a day here in Solan only, I am familiar with a few local places here so we are going to explore it tomorrow. This was much of our day today.

Chapter-3 unfolds on next Saturday, It will be more fun as i explore local areas.

Good bye, Thank you.