Relax, read and rejuvenate in the company of trees!

 

It took another travel for me to get back to blogging again! It was a quick getaway for us this summer………a short and sweet retreat amidst a coffee plantation at Rossetta Sakleshpur wherein we let time stand still for a couple of days. Nestled in middle of a 100 acres coffee plantation, this resort offers its guests urban luxury in a green lush  vegetation of  coffee, pepper and cardamom plantation with silver oaks eucalyptus, teak, palm, coconut and many such trees standing tall all around the beautifully landscaped property. We immersed ourselves in every element of what Rossetta had to offer, strolling around its aesthetically planned landscape, hitting the pristine pool overlooking the expansive greenery, spending lazy afternoons reading at the “out of in the woods” balcony of its quaint tucked away cottages, relishing the elaborate all-you-can-eat buffets with numerous live counters at mealtime,  availing the relaxing therapies at the spa, and trying our hand at the well equipped sports centre, and going on the guided nature walks amidst the Rossetta “treeverse” and  reliving our older one’s childhood memories of Robert McCloskey’s "Make way for the ducklings" …. All thanks to the diverse experiences at Rossetta!

 

We could not ask for a better environment than this to read Roopa Pai’s “Lets talk about trees”, which felt like a live demonstration of what we were reading!

“Let’s Talk about trees” is a wonderful ‘tree’tise on trees of the India. Narrated in characteristic Roopa Pai narrative style – full of questions for the reader to ponder over, fun facts about treeverse that we never knew to be true, interactive “fill in the blanks” style exercises, recipes and activities that is sure to turn any reader into a tree explorer!  Starting with the most basic and yet profound question, “Have you ever looked at a tree?” Roopa Pai delves deep into the “lovely poem of a tree”, goads the reader to “look listen and love” the various facets of a tree, be a discerning observer of various kinds of trees in one’s surroundings, be aware of the well-known trees of India, and be mindful of how integral trees have been and will be to a rich and healthy environment.  Enhanced by the striking illustrations by Barkha Lohia,  that beautifully capture the sentiment of the book, and not only enlighten the reader about the specific trees, leaves and the flowers featured, but literally transport the reader into being under the banyan tree, or swinging from the branches of a neem tree, or imagine being on a holiday in the hills amidst the deodars! Do enjoy this magnificent tree-at this summer!

Julley...A Ladakhi adventure!

 

 “Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations” read one of the road signs as we got out of Leh’s Kushok Bakula Rimpochee airport  and the saying probably best represented Ladakh’s landscape and told us what we could to expect from our eight-day long trip to the land of high mountain passes. Ladakh is truly a visual wonder – with its landscapes alternating from rocky to sandy, from gravelled to snow-covered, with deep valleys and gorges, allowing us to experience bright sunshine at sub-zero temperatures!

 

We best remember the land of Siachen warriors for the surround view of the imposing and colossal Karakorum mountainous range emitting myriad shades of purple, green, brown, red and russet,  Buddhist monasteries and Stupas perched atop the most picturesque locales,  snow covered high altitude passes that makes one breathless both literally and figuratively and its pristine lakes that have much more to offer than “All is well” selfies, vegetarian friendly one pot (read bowl) meals of Skyu, Chhutagi, Thukpa and Thenthuk and enriching and awe-inspiring experience at the Hall of Fame museum of the Indian armed forces, and of course a fantastic opportunity to capture the milky way in its night skies, provided one is ready brave the biting cold in the dead of the night!  

 

Ladakh offers a little bit of everything for everyone - a “push your limits” adventure  for the brave-hearts, a meditatively calming experience at the monasteries for the spiritually inclined, scenic drives with breath taking views of the valleys and elevated ranges for the mountain bound, feeling the rush of ice cold waters from Pangong lake to Shey river, from Zanskar to Indus rivers for the water body,  hopping from one Tibetian market to another on Leh’s market  for the shopaholic, tasting the wide ranging array of local cuisine to feast on for the foodie, and not to forget the quiet starry nights for the astro-photography aficionado - the roof of the world truly has lots to offer apart from a much needed break from the sweaty summer of the South (so much so we forgot what it was like to perspire until we landed in Delhi on our way back to Bangalore!).

 

As always, none of our trips is complete without visiting a local book store, and we did manage to find one such place at Leh’s market called “Ladakh Book shop” However, I was a tad disappointed when we couldn’t lay our hands on any children’s books on Ladakh or any book on local children’s stories, and instead found many books on Tibetan tales for children.  

But considering that Ladakh is known for its monasteries spreading the message of world peace, we picked up “Jataka Tales – birth stories of Buddha” selected and retold by Ethel Beswisk, – a nice little compilation of Buddha’s stories originally narrated in Pali, during the course of his forty years after his enlightenment. Brought out in the form of delightful stories revolving around mostly animal stories, with values and life lessons to imbibe from, for children and adults alike. “Jataka Tales” will also serve as a bibliographic souvenir reminding us our Ladakhi adventure! 

 However, for a children’s book on Ladakh, I didn’t have to travel too far and was pleasantly surprised to have found this book tucked away in the corner of one of our book shelves,  bought a few years ago in the hope of travelling to Ladakh someday! “Sonam’s Ladakh”, a Katha publication by Manish Lakhani is a wonderful book that vividly captures the essence of the Ladakhi landscape, Ladakhi culture and its people. Narrated by the five year old Sonam,  who belongs to the indigenous semi nomadic Changpa tribe, the book takes one through a visual tour of Ladakh during the peak of its winter and its myriad summer colours, of its flora and fauna, pristine lakes and its beautiful monasteries and best of all through Ladakh’s “quiet nights full of stars”!  Sonam’s Ladakh is surely a must-visit and a must-read for those getting Leh’d this travel season!   Our Ladakh trip was like a breath of fresh air, and we came back refreshed, rejuvenated and carrying a little bit of Ladakh with us!

Travelling to the Land of the Lepchas!

 

Over the last few days, we have been at Sikkim, the Northern eastern Himalayan state nestled in between Nepal and Bhutan. Known for its pristine beauty of glacial lakes, breathtaking valleys, gushing waterfalls at every corner of the mountain drive, panoramic view of the snow-capped Himalayas, and the precarious mountain passes. Mind you… exploring Sikkim is not for the faint hearted or one with a sensitive stomach - it involves fortifying yourself for  freezing temperatures, being prepared for anytime down pour, and enduring through winding and meandering drives through changing landscapes, bracing yourself  for breathlessness at high altitude points and of course grappling with motion sickness even when you  have never ever got sick during travel!  

But all such discomfort dissolves into delight with one look at the mist covered calm waters of Tsomgo lake, or the chance to snowball each other even in summertime at the “Zero point”, or the awe-inspiring views of the majestic Himalayas on the way to Yumthang valley, or experiencing the roar of the “Amitabh Bacchan” waterfalls on the way to Lachung, or taking in some cool refreshing  mountain air while on the pine forest trail to Rabtanse ruins at Pelling, or waking up after quick shut-eye during a long drive  to a spectacular sunset coloured sky over the silhouetted valleys… truly …travelling around Sikkim is all about enjoying the journey as much as the destination … more like life itself…isn’t it!! 

 

It’s after almost two and half years that we’ve donned on our travelling pants (even literally!) and our trip was wedged in between Abhay finishing his class 10 board exams and the reopening of courts in Bangalore after summer vacation and amidst incessant rains, and peak-season rush through out Sikkim and Darjeeling, Aadya’s terrible motion sickness (we had polythene bags tucked in at every compartment of the vehicle only to find them missing when we most needed them!) and Abhay’s annoying obsession with uploading stories on his instagram handle (now that his exams are over we had to keep our promise of letting him resume his social media activity!) …. we did manage to make it one of the most memorable trips ever! 

 

Our last stop was the West Bengal’s queen of hill stations - misty Darjeeling which was more of a reality check and reminder of the traffic jams back home in Bangalore!  Since we were nursing a minor stomach upset and were also exhausted from our Sikkim adventures, we avoided the usual touristy spots and chose to take it slow and indulged in some retail therapy on the Mall road, while enjoying some live jazz at one of its famous eateries - Glenary’s and stopping by Oxford Bookstore. 

 

One of the sure ways of avoiding  the crowds is to either travel during off-season or visit off-beat places within popular destinations. While it’s nearly impossible  to travel  during off season with school going-exam-writing kids, and  it’s not always possible to have the entire trip comprise of off-beat places, but it’s always possible to be a discerning traveller and look out for not-so-oft visited places like museums, quaint cafeterias and bookstores that are storehouses of local history and culture. For instance, while there were serpentine queues at the ropeway ride,  there was not a single soul at Gangtok’s Black cat museum - which we pleasantly discovered to be a wonderful state-of the art museum showcasing Sikkim’s history and the trajectory of the Army's Black Cat Regiment stationed in Gangtok. While none of the localities were even aware of this museum, the administrator of the museum himself appeared to be  curious about how we discovered this place. So much so, that even the taxi driver whom we hailed to go to our next destination was even more inquisitive about our visit and wondered  what interesting things possibly lay therein! 

 

 

 ….which leads me to our next destination….bookstores. As always in all our travels, one of the mini highlights of our trip is to visit a local bookstore and by now our entire family looks forward to it and given a chance Aadya would have spent an entire day at two of Gangtok’s famous bookstores - Good Books centrally located at Gangtok’s MG Marg and Cafe Fiction or Rachna Books (as it’s listed on Google) located opposite Gangtok’s Secretariat Office. 

 

Just off one of the busiest parts of MG market and near Baker’s cafe (a famous cafeteria with charming and eclectic decor, offering delectable variety of baked goodies and eateries ), Good books houses a wonderful collection of mainstream books and many works by local authors  where we ended up buying a few regular Usborn Early Readers for Aadya and an interesting compilation of tales of the land of Lepchas (Sikkim’s aboriginals), aided by amiable and helpful  bookstore owner. Good Books is indeed a lovely place for book lovers to make a pit stop amidst their MG market shopping! 

 

We also dropped into Cafe Fiction, an award winning bookstore cum cafeteria that has a beautiful display of a wide variety of mainstream and independent publications that one can pull out from the aesthetically placed bookshelves and curl into their super-comfy chairs reading them…while sipping a hot cuppa coffee, by the giant windows offering beautiful views of the street below. I wish “Namma Bengaluru” too had our very own Cafe Fiction! 

 

Anyways.. thanks to Make-my-trip, we now return to Bangalore glad that our Sikkim trip was by and large uneventful (though there were scares of landslides at certain places owing to heavy rains) refreshed and rejuvenated for our routine grind back home, our social media accounts full of stories and posts to put up and our minds full of happy memories and  four bags full of laundry! :-) 

 

Well… as my colleague was intrigued to notice books even in my travel DPs .. I must say that a travel without books is no travel at all! Despite long road trips during the day.. reading to Aadya was never given a miss (not that she would herself or let us go to bed without a book) and thanks to “Good Books” and “Cafe Fiction”, we were never short of interesting reads.  But to commemorate our Sikkim trip, we read from “The Legends of the Land of Lepchas Folk Tales from Sikkim” by Yishey Doma and Pankaj Thapa. 

A beautiful collection of folklores on various aspects Sikkim’s environment, history and culture. We were delighted to make some connections of what we saw, felt and experienced from some of the stories. From story of “ The Race between Teesta and Rangeet” that gives a mythical side to the confluence of the rivers of Rangeet and Teesta river that we came across on our way from Bagdogra to Gangtok to “A tale of two trees” being the story of Lali Guras, Sikkim’s Rhododendron that we saw aplenty at the Yumthang valley, or the “The Cave of Occult Fairies”, the story of Guru Padmasambhava or Guru Rimpoche who subjugated the demons and saved his devotees from evil, that reminded us of giant statues of Guru Padmasambhava  at Sandrupse hill and at Pelling skywalk, and the fact that Mount Khangchendzonga is a constant presence in all the stories just as the view of the mountain  Khangchendzonga  was our constant quest throughout our trip! While we are set to get back to pavilion from now on, this book serves as a wonderful parting shot for our minds and hearts still hung over the land of Lepchas! 

Hyderabad blues!

We just returned from our tour of the Pearl City of Hyderabad and during the last week ... we've been soaking up some Hyderabadi sunshine as well as getting soaked in the off and on rain that has been lashing the capital city of Telangana. However that did not deter us from discovering the city in our own unhurried way.... savouring each and every moment ... amidst the numerous tantrums, tussles, tardiness and toilet breaks of our kids.. ..:-) 

Starting from the best known icon of Hyderabad, the "Charminar" and the bustling old city to experiencing the grandeur of Nizam at the Chowmahal palace and it's various mahals housing some exquisite remnants of British India's most important princely State, from exploring the world famous Salar Jung museum through a guided audio tour to climbing atop the colossal Golkonda fort during the day and witnessing it's illuminated ramparts take us through a thousand years of history vide the spectacular light and sound show in the evening...we were on a roll! While squeezing in a few usual touristy hot spots like Birla mandir in pristine white or the Hussain Sagar lake with the Buddha statue in various evening hues, NTR gardens with it's noisy children's adventure rides, we also managed to stop at the lesser known Qutub Shahi tombs heritage park, browze through one it's quaint little independent bookstores, go bangle shopping at the Laad Bazaar,  sip the Hyderbadi chai and chomp on the mouth watering baked delicacies of its Karachi bakery and shop at the jaw dropping market place of Hyderabad's most recent MNC retail acquisition - IKEA... which was a throwback to our days in the US. Just as we thought we would end our trip with a big bang visit to the Ramoji Film city with it's sprawling gardens, gigantic film sets, including it's latest attraction, the Bahubali film set and it's evening carnival extravaganza, it was however destined that we stay in the city of Nawabs a little longer owing to a last minute cancellation of our flight which in fact proved to be a blessing in disguise allowing us (read me) to go on a shopping spree at Hyderabad's vibrant crafts Bazaar..... Shilparamam! In all, we came back refreshed....carrying a bagful of shopping, a potpourri of experiences and a cartload of memories!! 

No trip of ours is complete without a visit to a local independent bookstore and thanks to the recommendation of an erstwhile-Bangalorean-now-turned-Hyderabadi friend of mine, we stopped by Akshara Books while on our sight seeing tour. Nestled in a quiet part of the Jubilee hills area, Akshara books is how a bookstore should be...a charming little sanctuary of books, its set-up offering a sense of tranquility goading you to immediately curl  up with one of the books from its impressive collection. "Akshara Books" also houses a sizeable collection of children's books ranging from the board books and picture books from foreign publications to many home-grown publications like Tulika, Pratham, Katha and Karadi tales, etc. 

As I was looking out for a children's book on Hyderabad, the friendly co-owner, Ms. Kavitha guided us through the bookshelves and helped us find "Off to Telangana", a part of 'Discover India' State by State series by Sonia Mehta, brought out by Penguin Publications. Narrated from the perspective of the brother sister duo, Mishki and Pushka who set off on an adventure with Daadu Dolma discovering Telangana, with Hyderabad being its Kohinoor in the crown! A comprehensive travelogue for kids aged eight and above,  the 'Discover India' throws light on the history, geography, language and culture of the State in focus accompanied with fun facts, puzzle and games. "Off to Telanagana" turned into our ideal tour guide at Hyderabad, acquainting us with Hyderabad's magnificent mosques and tombs, palace perfections, its Telugu and Hyderabadi cuisine, Telengana's famous festivals, and many of Telangana's accomplished personalities, all presented in an engaging format replete with catchy phrases, fun and interesting games and activities for the young readers to go on their own little expedition....just like we did and thoroughly enjoyed the land of the Sunrisers!!!  

The Taj Mahal experience!

If Delhi symbolises a fast paced metropolis, Agra is a city/town that is not in any hurry! Mainly centered around the Taj Mahal, Agra being a mandatory stop for most International tourists touring India, chances are that every second person you bump into is masquerading as a tourist guide. While tourist guides help, I feel it is best to take an audio tour as and when provided by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as most tourist guides, especially the ones catering to Indian tourists lack necessary knowledge and only seek to rush through the visit in order to take you shopping at a place that offers them commission! 

Taj Mahal is best seen at sun rise, when it is relatively less crowded and the crimson hues are faintly reflected in the white. Luckily we were put up close to the Taj Mahal so as to enable multiple visits to the monument and thus enjoyed a wholesome experience of the splendour and beauty of the Taj Mahal. As you walk past the security check, through the red sandstone gateway, and catch the first glimpse of the white marbled edifice... for a brief moment you stand mesmerised and transported into another world... until you are shaken out of your reverie... by the thronging crowds, the tour guide with his broken English and questionable knowledge and the haggling photographers all trying to get their day’s worth from what you had hoped to be one of life’s memorable experiences......and not to mention.. screaming and squabbling kids!

It’s only after we went again the next morning at sunrise without any attachments of tour guide, photographers and kids,  did we get to soak in the sublime beauty of the Taj Mahal! 😊

Anyway, though our Taj Mahal experience with the kids would rank lower than that of our experience sans the kids in terms of our best travel memories,  the overall tour around Mughal era architecture like Taj Mahal, or the light and sound at Agra fort, or the Panch Mahal of Fatehpur Sikri did impress upon Abhay the majesty  and scale of the Mughal era. He did enjoy the Taj Mahal visit and though his memory of this visit may get hazier as the years go by, nevertheless the glorious sight of the most famous monument of India will always be etched in his mind like it was for me, ever since I had first seen Taj Mahal with my parents during less crowded and much simpler times! 

Who knows... decades later as Abhay travels to Agra to show his kids the Taj Mahal...he may laugh over how irritated his mother was or how cranky his little sister was during his previous visit as a twelve year old! 

Now,  Abhay may be able to remember his visit to the Taj Mahal, but what about his three old sister who will in most probabilities have no recollection of the same? Simple... you read a book about it! What are the chances that you plan a visit to a historic monument with your three year old and there’s a wonderful children’s book revolving around the very same place and that too for very young children! Tulika’s “Pooni at the Taj Mahal” by Manjula Padmanabhan is just what I wanted and a book that we carried along during our trip. More like a sequel to “Where’s that Cat?” by the same author where a little girl, Minnie can’t let go of her pet cat, Pooni who seems to have wandered away. Similarly, during Minnie’s trip to the Taj Mahal with her parents, she carries her pet hidden in her back pack. But just they enter the Taj Mahal, Minnie finds her bag empty and the reader is given a peek into where Pooni runs off. Minnie is inconsolable and despite assurances by her parents to find Pooni as soon as they finish the tour, she remains desolate and disinterested with the exquisite marble carvings! Just like all kids... she couldn’t be least bothered about what engages the adults!! So what happens to Pooni..? Does Minnie finally reunite with Poonie? Read on to find a charming little story to enthrall your little one on a tour like this! Beautiful illustrations that present an authentic setting of the Taj Mahal area, realistic portrayal of flustered parents, annoyed tour guide and the tantrums that kids love to throw in crowded public places just when you wish them to leave you to enjoy the surroundings!! Since we had read this book as a prelude to our Taj Mahal visit, our little Minnie was also on the look out for Pooni at the Taj Mahal!! 😊

When in Delhi....

We are in the capital city of Delhi as a part of the almost-golden-triangle tour of Delhi and Agra minus Jaipur. Our travel is however slightly marred by a family bereavement that didn’t allow for a last minute cancellation owing to which we had to go ahead with the trip anyways. Despite such downers, including the reported high pollution levels this season, the massive metropolis of Delhi being the seat of Government of India, with its majestic Mughal-era monuments, vibrant cultural mix, it’s bustling shopping centres,  chockablock traffic ridden roads and the loud and couldn’t care less attitude of Delhi-ites didn’t cease to fascinate us, particularly Abhay who was in awe with the historical monuments such as the Qutub Minar and the imposing Red Fort.  Our mornings began with a walk in Delhi’s “Jantar Mantar “ which to our great fortune was located just opposite our hotel and followed by touring around the usual must-see-spots of the capital, like the  India Gate, Lotus temple, Qutub Minar, Red fort, Jumma Masjid, which also felt like a trip down memory lane for me as I distinctly remembered tagging along with my parents as a nine year old visiting these very places! Of course, if Appu ghar was the highlight of my Delhi trip back in the eighties... “Madame Tussaud’s Wax museum” seems to be the current favourite, especially Abhay’s favourite where he got to pose next to his favourite football stars! 

Of course, balancing the diverse inter-generational interests is always a challenge in any travel. While you may be interested in catching the light and sound show at a historic monument, your twelve year old may want to hit the pool in the hotel, or you wish you could listen intently to the tourist guide’s take on a particular historical aspect of Red fort interiors, but it’s a hard ask when you have to watch over your little one following the squirrels in the lawn 😊

Anyway, since the raison detre of the Delhi-Agra trip was Abhay’s history syllabus this year that dealt with Delhi Sultanate and Mughal history, we picked up “When in Delhi” a Katha publication by Mamta Nainy and art by Jayanto. A one of a kind travel book for the young, and narrated through the perspective of Ruchi or Fifee, short for Fidgety Feet, as she likes to call herself and her pet friend Lattoo, this book seeks to introduce what Delhi is, was and best represents while giving the reader a brief introduction to some of Delhi’s well known tourist sites, with a dash of history and fun facts and essential information as to timings, how to get there and the nearest metro station. Accompanied by comic style illustrations of what really goes on amidst many of the attractions, this book beautifully captures the diversity of Delhi and can certainly serve as a children’s home grown lonely planet guide to Delhi. Don’t forget to pick up your copy... when in Delhi!!! 

A Holiday Adventure..!

September has always been an eventful month for us........but this September has been so busy that we're still trying to catch our breaths from having survived one of the most hectic months of the year...so much so that its only in the third week of October that I have finally found time to put down a post on Onesatoraday!  

One big family wedding, one big birthday, two huge annual family religious events punctuated by my in-between-nannies phase (yet again!) along with our usual attendant responsibilities on the personal and professional front, proved to be a true test of my patience and I can't say that I came out with flying colours!

In fact, I even missed out posting on a must-post-day... my son's birthday that too I'm not sure if that's the way it will be, going forward, considering his transition into adolescence already turning tumultuous particularly with regard to our relationship, off late! If you thought early parenting was difficult, wait till your little one nears teen years....it's as they say full-blown "complicated"! Mind you....it's a confusing phase not only for your wannabe adolescent ..! While one moment you marvel at how grown up or mature he may seem in comprehending the ways of the world, the next moment he can rile you up with his lackadaisical attitude! Whether it's the increasing academic pressure requiring persistent 'follow up', or constant obsession with devices, or their jaded sense of entitlement towards everything in general, adolescent kids can literally drive you nuts..... and it always seems like you are the only one facing these challenges while your contemporaries have it a lot easier!

Anyway, I'm sure Abhay's and my love-hate relationship will continue through his teen years and if not anything else, it will probably yield many such posts on Onestoryaday!   While we marked the completion of his twelfth year, by acknowledging the fact that there are more than a dozen reasons to celebrate, it is also a matter of fact that there may be more than a dozen ways to handle this delicate phase of his life...........but patience is the key......and I'm hoping to work on my patience quotient ....with of course more than a dozen suggestions offered by my loving family! :-) Though it's a little too late to wish you happy birthday Abhay, here's wishing you a conflict-free, initiative-driven and  a contented thirteenth year ahead!  Let's hope your thirteen proves to be lucky for all of us!

Anyway, with Abhay's increasing irritation and my waning patience at home, it was a welcome break (for both of us!) that he chose to spend his Dassera vacations with his grandparents', resulting in the shifting of battleground from home to his grandparents' farm house "Shristi" at Dharmasthala :-) Hehe!....... Grandparents were also parents once....... (and still are!) .....right? :-)

So before he left for his grandparents', we managed to finally finish reading Shashi Deshpande's children's omnibus,  "Three Novels" a Penguin publication, which is a compilation of three of Shashi Deshpande's novels for children aged 8 and above. Incidentally, all three novels revolve around holiday adventures of kids, that too away from their parents. First published in the 1970s, from one of my all time favourite authors, each of these stories is a throwback to the times when life was simple and less equaled more. Reminiscent of   "The Famous Five" and "The Secret Seven" mystery series that we would devour voraciously back in our school days, Shashi Deshpande follows four cousins, viz. Dinu, Minu, Polly and  Ravi in their quest for something exciting during their school holidays leading to uncovering certain mysterious incidents in the big bad adult world. 

"A Summer Adventure", has the kids home alone with their maid in the seemingly quiet environs of their university quarters, recently turned unsafe owing to a string of robberies.  with a string of robberies which they try to solve. "The Hidden treasure" has the kids travel to their father's ancestral home in the village to experience the rustic rural set up, only to discover something valuable hidden from the past. "The Only Witness"  has the kids enamored with big city life in Mumbai as they  travel to their uncle's flat when they stumble upon an unusual connection to a spate of bank robberies. Having been a huge fan of the Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys series, The Famous Five, etc, I found the plots take a predictable turn, however the best part being the inter-play of various characters in the stories, encompassing  various elements like family ties, sibling rivalry, good humoured banter between the older and younger siblings, fostering leadership and responsibility, understanding consequences of one action and of course the thrilling experience of piecing together information to unearth the mystery ............in all  a wholesome read for everyone...... who wish time travel to the eighties/ nineties India.....when life seemed less complicated!! So Abhay....have your own little adventure ....away from your mad momma and come back home all refreshed! Enjoy! 

Simply Bhutan!!!

“Smile ...Stay calm..you are in the kingdom of happiness” was a sign that welcomed us as we alighted from  Druk Air chartered by Makemytrip flying directly from Bengaluru to Paro, Bhutan. The land locked mountainous terrain of Bhutan, with its breathtakingly beautiful wide open valleys, fickle weather, pristinely perennial streams flowing down the Alpine slopes alongside the highways leading up to the myriad Buddhist monasteries at every round and bend, inhabited by the simple, spiritual and ever smiling Bhutanese people... is nothing short of a heavenly retreat for the leisurely, mountain loving, Ruskin Bond aficionados like my family!!! 

Bhutan with its picturesque Dzongs, vibrant arts and culture, and its unconventional approach towards sustainability and development presents a unique and interesting travel experience!! One can’t compare Bhutan to any other  commercially popular tourist destination, especially with its high value and low impact policy on tourism. Bhutan is only for the discerning tourist who loves to soak in the local culture, take in the Buddhist spirituality, enjoy the altitude changing landscape, and mingle with smiling and soft spoken, national dress attired local population, and take a cue from the small yet orderly no-traffic-signal establishment!

As we began the tour from Paro to Thimphu and then from Punakha back to Paro , what struck us is the unified effort of the Bhutanese in implementing and internalizing the national policy of Gross National Happiness (GNH) encapsulating good governance, sustainable socio-economic development, preservation and promotion of culture and environmental conservation as four pillars of GNH. Whether it is their Vajrayana school of Buddhist ideology symbolizing the union of wisdom and compassion, or their love and respect for their  king seen in the umpteen posters and slogans in praise of the People's king along with his family, or strictly adhering to their national dress of Kira for women  and Gho for men, or following the Bhutanese architectural style in each and every structure that comes up or the friendly tour guide and driver who was more than willing to open up on life and times in Bhutan.......... we came back thoroughly enchanted with the land of Druk!!

As we made several stop-overs for shopping at the Crafts Bazaar in Thimpu, local handicrafts vendors at the Tiger nest base, or the quaint souvenir shops at Paro, my best souvenir has always been local children's literature! 

Amongst many, we picked up a book that best represents Bhutanese culture and philosophy. "Heavenly Birds" is a book written by Pema Gyaltshen , a popular children's writer who has authored many children's books in Bhutan and the pictures by Chandra S Subba. 

This story revolves around one of the most awaited migratory birds of Bhutan, the black necked cranes that fly into Bhutan, particularly Phobjikha from Tibet during the winter months.  So fascinated are they with the birds, that the Black Cranes are much revered and their migration into Bhutan is  celebrated with the farmers waiting for the arrival of the black cranes to sow their winter wheat. So much so that people of Phobjikha have opted to create cable free skies for the black necked cranes!

In this story that doubles up as children's non fiction on some interesting facts about black neck cranes, it can be seen how the man-animal-aviary symbiosis is such an intricate part of the Bhutanese culture.. "Thrung Thrung Thrung......" as the pleasing sound signals the arrival of black neck cranes from Tibet into the Phobjika valley at the start of winter, it also means it is time for the locals to plant their winter wheat. As they spend their winter basking in the picturesque Phobjika valley boasting of two main rivers, the Bue chhu and Phag Chhu rivers, (representing the snake and the boar respectively) and the famous Buddhist shrine Gantay Lhakhang, the locals celebrate their migration into the valley until February when it's time for them to fly back to Tibet. The book also recounts a legend of an old crane named Samdhen that is unable to make the journey to Tibet and a few craned decided to  fly to Tibet to get some salt for Samdhen. As he lay motionless in the middle of the field, he was noticed by a group of people who poured some water on the crane and with the additional aid of salt from Tibet, Samdhen was saved. In appreciation for the help from humans, the cranes formed a circle to perform their last dance and while flying out of Phobjika, they circle three times above the holy Gantay Lhakhang.  Aided with suitable illustrations, this is a story that beautifully highlights humans living in harmony with nature, which is the very essence of Bhutanese culture.