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After waiting for a long time , finally I got chance to visit the first lake city of India in the month of April , last year .
It was a cool evening . Maintained greenery around . Rich ambience . Picturesque beauty , always seen only on the soft & glossy paper of lifestyle magazines .
I was just storing the moments .
Hats off to the person who just could imagine and bring this lake city to reality .
Various paths of life , let entire humanity bring all the best to this planet .
Local people and google helped me to choose the destination for the evening .
Few kilometres away from farmhouse , this is the place , called Raamdaraa . I took a turn at Loni on Solapur Rd. & drove as per google maps .
Omnia is always a great help .
The not so good road , took various shapes and sizes . It was a rural India , purely agro based . Various grains and grown up vegetables along both the sides of road . Driving was fun .
Finally admist hills , along side of a small pond , surrounded by lush green tall trees , here comes the famous Raamdaraa Temple .
Extremely NO crowd . Full of silence . Stunning location . A place for perfect meditation . It was almost 1745hrs . I started exploring temple . Neat & clean place , certainly a surprising thing .
No tea stalls , no parking charges , much away from commercialisation and yes all this abundant nature , absolutely free of cost too.
About to drive out , away from town , finally . Still destination is not getting final . Many locations under consideration .
Just took out PDA . Visiting www.aroundpune.com . Nothing feels better . Standing invitation at friend's farmhouse . Seem to be a better idea .
Leaving gas station . Vehicle fuelled fully now . Traffic on the road . Red signal . Stopped . Updating blog .
These days suffering from SAD and winter blues . Bright sunlight , feeling better . Good mood . FM 101 on . ' Sajanaa hai muze , Sajanaa ke liye ' on air , oh RD you are just fabulous composer . GPS guiding . Thanks dear Omnia .
Almost 45 minutes , I am driving . Excitement , happy mood , better feel , tension free , relaxed , enjoying , getting away from the world , over all it is adrenaline rush .
Last turn & just entered in the premises . Parked the vehicle . Oh my my my , Trees , trees & only trees around . Chirping of birds is the only sound . Chilled at almost 1230hrs . Dark greenery around . Face flushed by exhilaration .
What an amenity .
Some new sensational feeling , beyond thoughts , beyond till the date experiences . Vocabulary and word power failing . Brand new experience .
Small house to stay in . Tall , old and handsome . Built almost a century ago . Well maintained .
Unpacking luggage . Taking out magazines . Setting up WorldSpace Radio Farishta .
Next almost 3 days to explore the area around .
Staying in town has its own pay out . But some of pay out must be invested in little escapes .
I finally decided to pick the bunch of magazines , radio farishta and quit city in search of hidden amenity of nature , may be surrounded by trees , admist lake , in between fully grown crops or high on top of hill .
Away , far away from crowd , CO , CO2 , sound pollution , sky scrappers , thought polluting news paper & TV channels , disturbing cell phones and addicted gadgets .
Only I accompanying me , I along with myself , thinking about myself , talking to myself , understanding myself , finding myself , analyzing myself , giving boost to myself . Last several months , I never gave sufficient time to myself .
Friday 1015hrs . Almost 3 days in hand . Mind has started travelling , body shall follow .
FridayAfternoon : Weekend Mood
Planning is up . This is going to be a long weekend . Standing invitation from friend , to spend weekend at his farmhouse .
Wish to spend this weekend reading magazines in a library or reading room like environment .
Reading surely puts more paradigms to thought process & enriches the life .
Little bit shopping , a movie , calling friends , tub bath , cleaning home , cooking ' Pudina Rice ' , drinking lots of Anti-Oxidents , gym . All on agenda this weekend along with reading .
Wish you all a happy long weekend ahead .
Around 45 KMs from Pune , on Solapur highway , search for Bhuleshwar on right side after hotel Kanchan .
Read the board , turn right , travel almost 9KMs on bad road , climb a small ghat almost 200 mtrs in height . Take a final right turn on top . Yes right , what you are seeing is a Bhuleshwar temple .
Park your vehicle and start climbing steps , you have reached to 13th century constructed temple .
It shall take around two hours to explore the temple carefully .
Photograph is just to give you an idea , rest is left for you to explore , trust me it's worth .
Local people will tell you a story of " Goddess Parvati danced for Lord Shiva here , thereafter they went to Kailash Parvat and got married "
Very few Tawny Eagles , found migrated from Pakistan and Himalayas during my visit last week .
Carry water bottle , food , binocular , sun glasses , cap , sun screen lotion . Oh and remember , you will not get any eatables or hot / cold beverages here .
This place is far away from commercialization .
Chilled morning : Hotel Kanchan , Solapur Road .
Almost dawn , shivering temperature , no sweater , teeth generating rhythm , Toyota Innova running with 100KMs/hr towards Solapur , yesterday morning , again a memorable time .
I badly needed Tea then . Innova crossed exit toll booth and after passing some distance , came across a three sides open boutique restaurant , surrounded by crops .
A uniquely decorated place welcomed us with a hen made up of vegetables . There was hardly any one in restaurant at such early hours of the day .
The whole show was stunning . I ordered tea . It was good masala chai served in glasses .
Cold wind forced me to doubt , whether really planet has started travelling southwards .
I decided to revisit this restaurant while returning .
Life is a good time , mind agrees .
This is one of the sleepless nights . Mind running through variety of thoughts .
Past life , Present situation , Future planning , Workload , Friends , Movies , Ice cream , Medication , Meditation , India , Kite festivals , Exhibition , Gym , Books , Plays , Songs , DVDs , jogging , new year resolutions , Norway , Mount Everest , Pav Bhaji , Radio Farishta , Old house maid , Bicycle , Collage , Bike , Farm House , Hospital , Hrishikesh Mukharjee, Terrorism , School , Ex-GFs , Goa , Bank Balance , Horoscope , Home , Mother .
Non stop . Mind travelling faster than light speed . It's almost 0200 hrs . I am writing a blog .
Oh god in photograph you look so happy . Can I have same pleasure please ?
It is Friday afternoon again . Mind rushed & started planning next two days .
Frantic idea appearing mind . Go back to one of the most beautiful locations 11°55'53"N 79°50'9"E .
There is flight at night Pune --> Chennai . Get down at Chennai approx 0030 hrs. Catch a bus to Pondicherry , at wee hours , be at this place 'Le Cafe' , 24 hrs coffee shop on the Pondy promenade to have some delightful coffee with relaxing time while watching dolphins disport .
I will get relaxed hearing the sea waves crashing against rocks .
Probability , that I will get grabbed by foreigner for discussion over tea or coffee .
A long tiring journey of the night , medication "Hibiscus Soda" will rejuvenate my body & soul .
As the dawn approaches the elegant sunrise and soothing sound of sea will surely make my time worth an experience .
With a cup full coffee again [ oh this is my third cup since I reached cafe in my mind , I must cut down some caffine , at least in thoughts :-) ] , I will grab one of the chair in photograph , and be there in heaven .
Cut , cut , cut , nice thoughts . Packup .
Difficult time of the week for an IT professional is Friday afternoon . Mind gets busy planning the next two days .
After changing lifestyle now days , plan gets cooked for weekend on such Friday afternoons .
Budgeting / planning , Shopping , Home Cleaning , Luxury holidays , Beach , Active or Outdoors Adventure , Romance , History/Culture , Food and wine , Concerts/Plays , Theme Parks , City Tours , Spa , Cruises or simply Staycation .
One starts believing " Life is precious " and planning always helps .
I took the snap of a couple on a weekend recently . They were in full swing , in weekend mood , roaming silently on beach in the evening . Smiling , involved in each other , experiencing the lingering taste of togetherness . Their faces were really happy , must be feeling lucky .
For me , this week , home cleaning is on agenda . Oh ! Where the vaccum cleaner was kept last time .......... ummmm...... Oops .
Almost 15-20 years back , in my kid days , my father once mentioned about this hotel , it is most beautiful palace hotel and very costly , he added . I read some advertisements of this hotel in Diwali Special Editions of magazines , then . It created a wish in my mind to visit and stay in this hotel , at least once
As a middle class child faith , then , some costlier things are to be done at only once in a lifetime and achieving such things used to became ambitions . Such likes were the small things built my faith , then . And I feel this is how middle class child grows even today .
I got chance to visit this Palace 4 years back . I was supposed to stay over night at Kolhapur , where to stay was a question . And remembered my old wish , I asked my friend Anil , whether he can make arrangements at Shalini Palace . Anil was not happy with idea , as he was local person , he knew the wisdom that hotel was not doing well and have service problems .
After insisting , he made the arrangements of booking and we checked in at just cost of Rs . 700/- , 24 hrs check out term .
Staying in a palace was a first time experience . I won't kill and I always avoid to kill the curiosity of my blog readers , so I won't describe the palace details , left to you all to discover on your own . Surrounding of lush green lawn , tall palm trees , Italian marble , Belgium glasses lot of to discover . I will say , IT IS A ROYAL FEEL , very rare experience otherwise .
I stayed many times thereafter . It has become my favorite destination . But , now this hotel is very much in demand , service has significantly improved , the restaurant hosts good food , bar is kept full with variety of brands . Hotel is now one of the attractions of Deccan Odyssey heritage tour .
Taj Palace Mumbai though carries word Palace in it , was never a palace of any king , queen or royal family , as per available information , so Shalini Palace built in 1931-1934 , with the backdrop of beautiful Rankala lake , converted to hotel in 1987 remains the first and only Palace Hotel Of Maharashtra .
Don't get surprised , if you see me over there , during next holiday season .
I was refueling my vehicle , watching the digits on the pump machine . And this man caught my attention .
His small 50 CC vehicle carrying a huge load was challenging the equation : E=mc²
Energy of 50 CC vehicle was never seen so efficiently efficient .
He started his vehicle , and just went off confidently with the wrrroooooom speed , leaving me astonished .
Hats off to the peoples of India . Anything and everything is possible here .
I was posted at Aurangabad in 1993-94 . After my office work I used to have a lot of time to spare .
After hunting for 2 to 3 weeks , I was able to find a place with a nice deal, Hotel Vedanta . Every weekend they used to offer day swimming pass plus unlimited brunch in Rs 25/- . No it was not cheap offer . Rs. 25/- , every weekend was a big sum for me then .
I used to wait for Sunday , reach there as early as 0730hrs , swim with the help of colorful tubes , after getting fully exhausted , I used to rush towards the buffet brunch section .
This was the simple idea of enjoying weekend , then .
Whenever I see swimming pool , I am taken back to those days .
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