EnjoyMeant

Atop what you see is Jaipur for sure, the beauty around was all to endure!

How things unfolded I'll tell in a while, just read on and keep up that smile!



Here we are, finally going to the most sought after tourist destinations in the world, Jaipur. Not with family, not college friends. A new experience out, with office. The preparations were big, the excitement was high, the bags was ready, the wallets were open, chips, biscuits, water, cold and drinks!

Rendezvous: office, where else!
Total strength: 20, may be 18
Transport: ----

No, it was available but in the month of February, an office trip, spirits so high. And the bus that came to ferry resembled an old school chartered bus, no AC but yes there was 'AWC = adjustable window cooling'.

This photograph was taken at a petrol pump on our way back.

It should give you a feel as to how disassociated we felt to this bus that we didn't click it!

We almost decided to hire another bus, even to cancel the trip. But we put it all behind and with a जयकारा शेरावाली माता का, started our (seemingly) never ending trip.
 
We were loaded with cameras, so not much was missed. The trip began well, we did things to enjoy and keep ourselves occupied. We had moments, off rage and off road. The bus its pilot and co-pilot and we, the passengers had settled down just a bit when we first ex-halted at the Delhi-Gurgaon toll plaza. We had some time and we took some shots below shown below:

Left to right: Haider, Pushpahas, Vijay, Nirankar and Prashant at the Toll Plaza, Gurgaon

Cards were laid out where the Prince took charge, and others followed and they played and they gambled and they laughed and they conspired but the journey went on..

Vandana, Shailja, Archana, Nimisha, Garima, Haider, Nirankar, Puneet C, Nitin, Smarika, Meethi, Parul, Archit, Rajesh, Kriti, Puneet S enjoying with whatever they could manage best

Some fell asleep, some got bored, some exulted, some were uncontrollable, some laughed, a few giggled, someone cried too, but the journey went on..

A few hundred kilometers later, we realized that the driver was going in the wrong direction.

A trip so long, some music some song!
Going someplace to belong, and en-route it went all wrong!

Whew!! Is that true asked few! अरे नहीं, ऐसा नहीं हो सकता है, said two! He's treading on the right path, soon we will be there, have sun, maybe moon and bath. Questions were many, answers but few, the desperation just grew, but the journey went on..

4 kids on bored, who somehow braced themselves for the tiring long day, we were hungry and upset, much unlike at the onset. We saw a place that was bit clean and there was a touch of green, so we halted there much away from the public glare. We ordered and waited the food was served and we went on feast, but the journey went on..

Camera courtesy: Nidhi

Now, as we know that these road side eateries and dhabas charge a lot more than the actual price. Ranjit picked up a Limca 1 litre bottle and asked its price. She gave a mouthful back to the cashier, left the bottle and walked back angrily. She reached the bus and I handed over the bottle to her and she exclaimed: ओए तूने इतनी मेहेंगी क्यों खरीदी? I had just casually walked up and picked the bottle when she was giving them a mouthful. Now, did I do anything wrong?

After a sumptuous meal, we embarked again, to stop nowhere but reach the destination. We took the right turns, cruising at 60 kmph (perhaps it was monitored virtually) that stalled our movement. We fought with the pilot, we yearned for music and all that he could manage was 'पर देसी पर देसी जाना नहीं, मुझे . .' that we somehow braved, but the journey went on..

Just a few miles away from the resort, the think tank came together and thought of the best possible way of how and where will who accommodate. The In Charge was decided, who took names and choices..who will stay where. And then confusion pre-wailed. Now how can you expect someone to handle such a big event all alone! We somehow cut short the confusion and came to a consensus.

I was carrying my Canon SX100 IS camera that created a few wonders in the trip. It turned me into a photographer of sorts. This is one of what I shot from the moving bus:

There was this joke that went on asking how far is it now? The standard reply came: 10 kilometers. I myself heard this answer 5 times, each at a gap of 7 kilometers. We called up the resort and they guided us, but it was not before two techno logical people stepped in and guided us right into the resort that we reached. Thanks to Kriti Ajmani and Rajesh Verma..we had arrived!

We were welcomed the traditional Rajasthani way (पधारो  म्हारे देस) with the ढोल being played:

It was a refreshing start to a tiring end.

This resort is called Kanchan Kesari, about 10 kilometers from Jaipur city and addressed:

10th Mile, Jaipur-Ajmer Highway

Entering into the resort and took away half the tiredness. It was a big one and beautifully laid out. Of whatever I remember, it was pitch dark and we had just mobile torches to help us in. There were helpful hands that picked few bags, not knowing whose they were. But we managed to carry all our stuff in.

Now came room allocation. Couple of us had collected the keys and almost battled to get the best room in the vicinity. I remember being with my best buddy, George and trying to savor the best possible location..right in front of the pool, how cool!

But I and others soon became fools, since all the rooms were located across the pool:

We settled in our rooms, clicked a bit and although we had targeted Lunch/Evening Snacks but were happy to have reached by dinner. Our attention was taken over by a loud crash, as if someone had fallen. But where and from where? There's a pool, it is pitch dark, there are 4 kids..and we all ran outside, almost to all directions. Not knowing where..only to realize that our बहादुर पंजाब दी कुड़ी 'Ranjit' had missed a chair trap that was laid out for some unwelcoming guest, it seems. How I regret not having my camera, and what a sight it would have been to have captured the fallen ones! But all was okay, we complained and the chair was mended. It could have been dangerous but she took it in her stride.

It had started raining almost as soon as we entered our rooms. The rooms were well planned, though not very well lit but it did not matter much:

Thanks George, for posing against the double bed.

We then headed straight to the dining hall, few hundred meters away. It was very welcoming and swarming with men, big moustaches and पगड़ियाँ। The hall was divided in two parts. On the left (from entrance) was the देसी राजस्थानी भोजन and on the right (from entrance) was the North Indian cuisine section. We split up to be able to enjoy both. This was actually delicious (I tried North Indian food) and ate as if I'm not going to eat ever again.

Shailja and Upasana posing. Photo courtesy: Vandana

Rain had stopped and it was party time folks. We went to the recreational arena where there was a camel, a magic show, a merry-go-round, puppet show and a few more. But the best was ढोल that captured us all and we jumped in. It clearly showed that दिल्ली वाले had come to rejuvenate.

Nirankar, George, Rahul enjoying my shoot and Shailja, Arjun enjoying the show

Prince is either too afraid or doesn't like the company!

Prince, Nitin, Pushpahas, Ranjit, Parul, Upasana dancing

Kriti, Nimisha, Garima, Pushpahas posing

It was retiring time. Or was it? We came back and went to each other's rooms, talked and laughed and shared experiences. Some time passed by. It was getting late into the night and there were obviously tired faces. So we broke into groups, ours being the घातक  group. Led by Nirankar and followed by Pushpahas, Nitin, me, Prince, Puneet Chaudhary, Puneet Srivastava, even Archit made a guest dis-appearance. Now, the seating was I and Puneet Srivastava were on a smaller bed, placed right opposite the double one (we saw George posing by). We were expected to make them laugh. I had a print out of jokes and sayings, ummm, I think we should just leave it here.



This trip was all about discovering new talent. We found amongst us, an orator, who narrated an incident so very well that we went berserk, laughing. It took him 7 to 8 minutes to explain but took us 20 to 25 minutes to stop laughing.

Some excerpts from one of the best times we had, during the trip:

'अभी नहीं, पहले' 'कील', 'झील', 'चील', 'कई मील', 'वकील', 'सील' This is more than enough to relate to what we went through that night! "जो रात हमने गुज़ारी हँस हँस के, वो रात तुमने गुज़ारी होती"

I called it a day and hoping to start afresh, decided to sleep. And a sincere person that I am, went out searching for Prashant just to warn him that I snore. And he said he will be fine.

Thanks to the good night sleep, we woke up and decided to have a holy dip in the pools outside. So we jumped in and thanks to the rains, it added all the more fun.

I think this sums it up. Remaining is all classified.

Soon after this, there was a little commotion  on whether we will or not go out, sightseeing! There was some voting, some confusion but we had decided to go. So the infantry set out looking for options to reach the most sought after of palaces..Amer, wonder why is it written as 'Amber'. We were stranded outside the resort for almost 30 minutes, wondering how are we going to reach there.

A Magic auto came into picture just then. We were about 15 people and decided we will squeeze in. And we did somehow but there was almost no space left for the driver. काफ़ी धक्का मुक्की के बाद we opted out. And the reason is clear, its because..

Magic या Tragic

Arti, our leader, decided and lead us to the bus stop, about 100 meters away. I as always, was running and was late. But managed, with all my body parts aching and breath almost lost! We had struck a good deal on a City Ride bus. Hey I am still panting, why do you expect me to even click it!

We reached Amer, with the clouds bursting. Then hired two M&M jeeps to reach the fort, from where the bus left us. You can see our hunk looking out of one.

Prashant, like the police inspector clan of the 80s doing धिश्क्याऊँ धिश्क्याऊँ

It was majestic, I mean the Amer fort! We had a good time there, sweated for sometime then went shooting one another, devised all methods to click the best. And that we did, presenting to you is a pictorial remembrance below:

Majestic, your majesty!

किसका रास्ता देखे

अल्ले..सामने से click कलो ना

She's struck gold, I think!

ये ढाई सौ ग्राम का हाथ..

While we were enjoying at work, there was another ग़दर party going on at home. Here are some glimpses from there over:



Heavy Beauty

 

 

 

Out and inside the premise, there was an absolute treat and wonderful time. And the best part was that we had forgotten office completely. And were dreaded completely by the mere thought of it. We reached back and both the parties shared their experiences and again mingled and went out to have fun.

Kanchan Kesari is a good place to be, with friends, family, anyone you want to be with. Its lush green lawns, a small section dedicated to rabbits and ducks, boating arena, pool table with its ups and downs, swings, recreation area, dining hall, pool and the not so great service. Remember, when I shared that this trip made me a photographer of sorts, I was serious. Look at some of these clicks and shots:

Thatched dining hall

The cool pool

पानी तेरे कितने रूप

The road to heaven

A bridge, not too far

Poetry to pottery

Now comes our journey way back. We woke up, got ready for the long and tiring and boring drive home. We were tired, we were sad that the weekend was over, we were missing our wonderful trip, but knew that

Closeness was more than ever, we had done well together

That even if this time returns never, we succeeded in our endeavor!

There are more than a thousand photographs and lot many incidents that I have not mentioned here, not due to space crunch but to protect a particular bunch. So enjoy this trip as many times you may, and do write your comments if anything you want to say!