Direct Dil Se

Finally we got a chance to visit Statue of Unity just before it's first anniversary during Oct 2019. The statue is an architectural marvel built to honor the one of the greatest Indian, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. I have done reasonable amount of travel within India, from north to south and from east to west. One complain that I always have is that our governments have almost stopped building new tourism attractions for quite some time. In most cities and states, the places of tourism belong to British or pre-British era, or places of worships by independent organisations (like Akshardham). I have also seen during my foreign stay how Indian Freedom struggle has been reduced to couple of people in International media. For these reasons, I am quite happy to have a modern monument that not only establishes the legacy of national leaders but also becomes a major tourism destination. It also showcases the skills of Indian companies and engineers to the whole world. Trivia - The h

Arrival of monsoon in the month of June inaugurates Punekar's (and Mumbaikar's) one of the favorite activity - scenic drives and trekking. With number of forts and hills in close vicinity, this is one of the most satisfying experience one can have in this season. Lohagad  means 'the iron fort'. Historically Lohagad was one of the many forts of Maratha empire. It is located in close to a larger Visapur fort. Lohagad Fort Reaching Lohagad: It is an 90 minute road drive from Pune to Malvali town on the foothills of Lohagad (and Visapur) along the Old Mumbai-Pune Highway. There is another road that comes via Pavana Dam. Bhaja Caves Bhaja Caves Before we reach Lohagad from Malvali, there are Buddhist caves on the way that one must explore. A small trek up the hill steps, Bhaja caves were one of the oldest Buddhist religious centers in the Deccan. There are scenic waterfalls on the either sides of Bhaja caves. Bhaja Caves Ste

India is a country full of surprises with so much diversity in its geography, culture and heritage. There are places with which you will instantly fall in love with. North-east is one such region. Each state is unique, with its own cultural identity, liberally blessed by nature. We started planning for our trip in January 2019 along with our friends our friends Srihari and Anu. We explored different options, finalised plans, and did all the booking. Finally, we visited Assam and Meghalaya in March 2018. We pre-booked our transport, Innova crysta, for the entire journey. Nripen was our driver and companion who took us to the wonderlands of Assam and Meghalaya. His expertise about the region helped us cover everything that we planned for. While across India there is common timezone (IST), do keep in mind the changed (early) routine of sunrise and sunsets if traveling here from western part of India. Reaching Assam and Meghalaya Guwahati has a military airport where dome