Bon Voyage!

We returned home from vacation on Saturday and Chinni's tickets for her three month US trip were booked for Tuesday night. So she had precisely three days to unpack all the stuff and pack up once again. So the three days were all about shopping sprees, check lists and deadlines. So Tuesday did come and after a hurried packing and last minute shopping in the rain... we did make it to the airport just in time. We spent some time in the airport after checking in the baggage and shared some last minute talk. The scheduled departure of the flight was actually about 4.40am, early morning on Wednesday. So by about 3am I bid goodbye and drove back home. After a short nap, I woke up and went to the office as usual. 24 hrs later Chinni called up from Atlanta Airport that she'd reached safely.

Its been 10 days now and she's had some good time with a few parties. She seems to be enjoying her stay there. And on my side, I have been trying to catch up with friends and waiting for my relieving orders to the CBI deputation. In fact on Thursday evening it was on some news channels and also in the papers the next morning that I have been relieved. But it was only today that I was formally communicated the orders to relieve me. May be, Monday will be the day I actually get myself relieved now. That could well be my last day into active field policing for a long long time to come. Don't know whats in store... looks promising though.

Touch Down on China

We left Rangpo by about 4pm on Wednesday and started driving towards Gangtok. We were to check in to the Club Mahindra Resort in Gangtok. Now, while at Kalimpong, I had forgotten to check up on the web, as to the exact location of the resort... as there was no power and no charge in the laptop... and now here we were, almost reaching Gangtok without knowing where to go. We tried asking a few passersby in the city but to no avail. We then decided to first go to the Police Guest House, get the location, and then proceed. It was here that we learnt, the resort is popularly known by the name Royal Demazong and not Club Mahindra. So finally after getting the location we reached the resort by about 7.30pm when it was already dark... and even this was not without a few hiccups on the route. We even managed to loose our way in the dark, at one point, and find ourselves at the Central Jail asking if that was the Royal Demazong... only to startle the jail guard ; ))

After checking into the room, we decided to stay put there for the evening after dinner. The next morning was our trip to Nathula. So we decided to retire early and leave early in the morning. But come morning, both of us started to feel so unwell that there was no way we could have made, that demanding a journey. So after waiting for a few hours, we decided we'd drop the plan for the day and have a nice relaxing day in the room. The room also was so nicely located with a splendid view of the Himalayas from the bed.. that we decided to do some justice to it by hanging around in the room for one whole day. We got our meals served to the room and did nothing but relax and watch the hills continuously... get covered and cleared by the misty clouds. We took a short walk around the resort in the evening and got ready for the next days Nathula trip.

It was Friday and our last day of stay in Gangtok. We had to make to Nathula, else we'll be returning back on Saturday. It was a nice clear morning and we packed early and jumped on to the vehicle by 9, to make it to the border before noon. To make it to Nathula one has to have a pass. One of my batch mates is an SP in Gangtok, so she'd arranged for the passes in advance.

As we started our journey and ascent, we had some splendid views of the imposing Himalayas and the Teesta river running down the valleys. But, like nothing can be perfect...the absolutely pathetic roads, kept us from fully savoring the scenic beauty. It was a jerky ride for most of the time.

We halted at the 15th mile check post for a while and just drove past the famous Tsongmo lake as it was totally covered in fog. We decided to halt there during our return. The roads started to get a little better as we got closer to Nathula, but there were some land slides too. There seems to be some serious road widening works in progress and think a journey on this road a year later would be a real dream. So there we were... at about 12.30pm, at the last motorable point at Nathula pass. The altitude here is about 14200 ft above msl and the actual border is a short climb from there for about a few hundred yards.

As I got out of the vehicle I just recalled the last time I was here during my Training in the Academy way back in 2003. In all my enthusiasm back then, I started to run up this short climb to the border and half way through I collapsed falling short of oxygen. When all my friends actually made it to the border with a steady climb, I was the one, who fell short by about a few yards and was rushed to the Military Hospital down below for oxygen. So this time I decided to do it a little easy. As Deepu was enjoying the scenic beauty around, I just sat down on the culvert and took some deep breaths to get acclimatized to the altitude. After a few minutes I started to feel better and me and Deepu took those last few steps towards the border. I started to take those last steps very cautiously, and there we were face to face with the Chinese soldiers. They clicked a few pictures of ours (as a matter of security policy perhaps) and we did the same to them. It was chill, windy and slightly drizzling... but the experience of seeing China from across our borders, had taken over us completely. Though the policy is strictly not to cross the borders, we decided we wouldn't come back from that far, without making it to China. So me and Deepu found the easy way out. We put our hands across the fence and made a quick touch down on Chinese soil. Yesss ! and Mission was accomplished. Off course our Indian Soldier guarding the post there didn't seem too impressed with our (mis)adventure.

Now that I was totally acclimatized to the altitude, we hanged around there for about an hour. Deepu even made calls back home from the phone booth there.

We left the place by about 1.30pm, on the return halted for a few moments at the Tsongmo lake. We again halted at the 15th mile check post, for some steaming Maggi noodles and then proceeded towards Gangtok. We reached Gangtok by almost 5pm.

We went straight to M.G. Marg as suggested by our driver and what a pleasant surprise it was. This is one unique road in the entire country I would say which is more like a European Mall. It is completely vehicle free, tiled end to end, dividers with nicely trimmed flowering plants and benches all along for people to sit. How I wish every city had atleast one street like this.

We quickly went to the souvenir shops and picked up a few gifts. Deepu even picked up some tea cups for all... now that she is going to have only Darjeeling tea. We grabbed some quick snacks at a bakery and made a call to my batch mate if she was available to join us for Dinner. She reached the place by about 7 and we went to a restaurant for dinner. It was some gossip, catching up with academy days. Deepu also had things to share as they were acquainted earlier during our Phase-3 training in Hyderabad and Australia in May 2010. After dinner we bid goodbye to her and then left to the resort for our last night in Gangtok.

Our return flight from Bagdogra (Siliguri) was at 4.20pm on Saturday and the drive from Gangtok to Bagdogra was about 4 hours. So even if we left Gangtok by 9am we would still have about 2 1/2 hrs extra to ourselves. So me and Deepu, after a quick breakfast at the resort and the check-out formalities, decided to make it to the famous Rumtek monastery on the way.

The driver suggested we make a short visit to the Banjakhri falls on the way to the monastery. So we did and our driver surprised us for the second time (after his suggestion to go to Glenary's in Darjeeling). The Banjakhri falls is not just a water fall but a complete theme park with beautiful gardens, bridges and well laid out walking trails and gazebos dotting the green landscape. A must see place, but for us... we were just racing against time. So after a few good pics, we left towards the monastery. We made it to the Monastery by 11.30 and again it was touch and go. The place deserves at least half a day to be spent there but we wound up in about half an hour.

We left the place by 12 and we still had about 3 1/2 hours drive left, and God forbid there was a blockade en route then we were in a soup. With all that, we did halt mid way for a short snack, and our good old friend DP, the SP of Darjeeling was waiting for us along with family, at a Restaurant near the Bagdogra airport to give us a quick lunch and put us on the plane on time. We made it to the restaurant by 3.40 and it started to rain so heavily... I think me and Deepu would remember this lunch for a long time to come. DP had reserved an outdoor gazebo for all of us for the nice picturesque setting, not expecting the rain. But it came so fast and so heavy, and we were in such a hurry... that half of us were literally standing and having our lunch with rain splashing from all directions. The attendants at the restaurant, frantically trying to bring in some umbrellas to protect us. It was all over in 10 mins. We rushed to the airport from there, bid everyone goodbye and were on the plane to Kolkata half drenched in rain. At Kolkata we were on the connecting flight to Bangalore that would have a brief halt in Hyderabad too. Finally landed in Bangalore by about 10.30pm and made it home before midnight. That was one hell of a trip !

Uummhh ! Darjeeling Tea

As we started to drive up the hills from Bagdogra (Siliguri). It was a quick change in the terrain within minutes from the start. After passing through a few Army establishments, we entered the slopes draped with tea and tea all around. We pulled down the windows and enjoyed the cool wind blowing from these slopes.

As we started ascending, the temperature began to drop rapidly. A two hour drive along the winding slopes and we caught sight of a well populated town on one of the peaks. The driver told us, that was Kurseong and that we would be halting at Ambootia tea estate a little below this town for the night.

After another half an hour of this soothing drive we reached an even more beautiful place... the Ambootia Estate Guest house. Without wasting a moment, we dumped our stuff in the rooms and spent the rest of the evening sitting in the lawns enjoying the beautiful evening setting over the slopes, the clouds flowing down the hills and engulfing the entire valley as it got dark.

As we moved into the lounge later in the evening, we were offered some steaming Darjeeling tea in transparent glass cups. We were told this tea was Darjeeling's special and it was to be had with no milk and no sugar. To me it was looking more like champagne in a cup and I wondered how one could have it without milk or even sugar. So I made a reluctant attempt at sipping it. The experience that followed was something that I did not expect. The sweet honey kind of flavor that hits you, as you take the cup closer is just so magical that we begin to wonder that, all that we had so far was not tea at all. Deepu is even more a connoisseur of tea. She was so impressed, she kept asking for more.

Having just a day to halt at this place, the next morning we woke up early, grabbed a quick breakfast and set out for a walk in the estate. The estate manager took us around various places where work was in progres and Deepu even got a hands-on experience in tea plucking.

We spent some time at the tea factory watching the process of manufacture and then tea tasting. After visiting a few scenic spots in the estate we returned to the guest house for lunch.

We were packed by 2pm and left for Darjeeling on a cool and cloudy afternoon. It was a scenic drive up and we reached Darjeeling by about 4.30. The SP here is a batch mate of mine whom we fondly call DP. He had invited us home for dinner that night. So having hardly anytime left to ourselves we dropped our bags at the Police Guest house, Kennilworth and rushed to the Mall road. Some how compared to the Mall roads in Mussoorie and Simla we found this one quite disappointing. But then Deepu decided to explore it on Horse back and so even I had to find one for myself.

After a nice ride on horseback around the town we then explored a little bit of the shopping area on foot. We returned to the room by about 7 and left to the SP's residence by 8.30. It was cold windy and entire Darjeeling was engulfed in a cloud. It started to rain heavily soon after and having nothing much to do outside, we stayed in and had a good meal, catching up, on the good old Academy days and some grape wine on other batch mates. The SP's residence otherwise is located at such a wonderful location that you get a great view of the Golden peaks of Kanchenjunga, during sunrise. So as we left the place after dinner, we decided to come back for breakfast expecting to be just lucky to get a glimpse that magical view.

The next morning we woke up early and we were back at the SP's residence for breakfast and for a view of the Snow capped mountains. But as it was to be in this month of the year, the whole valley was covered in cloud and we could hardly see anything beyond a few hundred yards. The SP's residence also called the Campbell House has another specialty. It was the residence of one Dr Campbell, who in 1839 planted the first tea plant here at the residence and it still survives to this day for visitors to see. Amazing fact ! a tea plant actually survives that long. We enjoyed our breakfast, bid goodbye to the hosts and set out on exploring Darjeeling.

We visted places like the famour St Paul's School (of 'Main Hoon Naa' fame), the the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, the Zoological Park, the Japanese Buddhist Monastery and the Mahakal Mandir. While we were going round the town we came across the Darjeeling toy train chug into the station... and without wasting time we rushed to it and took some good pictures. We even managed to get on to the one hundred year old engine to get a feel of what it is to drive a steam engine... my childhood ambition finally came true, momentarily though.

We returned back to Kennilworth by 4pm, packed up and left for our next halt at Kalimpong. But before we actually left the town, we decided to grab some lunch and our driver suggested we go to this place called Glenary's. Wow! thanks to the driver... this place was amazing. A true relic of the British era and maintained so well that you feel you're in Europe. We loaded lots of stuff at the bakery on the ground floor and had a nice meal on the next, with a beautiful view of Darjeeling covered in cloud. We finally left Darjeeling by about six and started driving towards Kalimpong in heavy rain. By the time we reached Kalimpong, there was a breakdown of one of the power transformers, cutting off power supply to the entire town. So we entered the police guest house in candle light. We were tired and still full with the late lunch. So we decided to retire early with some daal and chawal.

We woke up to a pleasant morning with clear skies and a beautiful view of the hills. But yet, the Kanchenjunga was still evading us with some clouds still on the horizon. We relaxed till late and left after a brunch at 12pm. That was the end of our Darjeeling leg of the vacation. our next destination was Gangtok, Sikkim and we were to make it there by evening. So on our way we just made short visits to a few places around Kalimpong like the Buddhist Monastery, Deolo hill Guest house and an Army Golf course. The Deolo hill gives a magnificent view of Kalimpong but same problem... it is completely covered in cloud this time of the year. The highlight was the golf course. The location and maintenance makes it perhaps one of the most beautiful courses in the world. I don't think there's another one like this with such a majestic backdrop of the Himalayas.

We then started to drive towards Gangtok and at about 4pm we entered the state of Sikkim at Rangpo with the river Teesta separating the two states. We took a break at the tourism hotel on the banks of the river and let the driver and gunman have their lunch. That was the start of our next leg of the vacation.

Oh Kolkata !

It was Saturday the 6th of August. Our flight to Kolkata was booked for the evening. Deepu had a lot of shopping left both for Nathula as well as her forthcoming US trip. Being a working day I had to be at the office and that particular day I had so much work to wind up, I would have needed at least 48 hrs to do some justice. So Deepu decided to accompany me to the office. After dropping me there she would then go ahead with her shopping list. It was about 1 noon and i gave her a call, only find she hadn't still picked a single thing in her list and I still had a hell a lot of work left, especially a presentation to be prepared at the State Intelligence Office. So we decided we'll go out for lunch first and then Deepu can drop me off at the Intelligence office and continue with her shopping while I'm finishing my presentation work.

The plan was to some how get rid of the presentation job by the trip 'bahana' and then rush home to pack for the evening flight. So I did and left the Intel office by 4 pm. Deepu was there to pick me up again. It was raining so bad and Deepu still had to pick up a jacket for her trip. In drenching rain we checked a few places and she finally managed to pick one at the Westside. It was already 5.30 by then and we had to reach home, pack and make it to the airport that is 40kms away by 8.30 pm at the most. We rushed home by 6.30, packed by 7 and jumped into the vehicle asking the driver to take all the shortcuts he knew. After a hell of a ride in pouring rain and through routes that we'd never been, we made it to the airport by 8.20. Took the 9.20 flight and landed in Kolkata just before midnight.

My batchmate and SP of Murshidabad, had arranged for the vehicle and accommodation in Kolkata at the Port Trust guest house. We reached the guest house well past midnight. Apart from being a nice guest house, there's one thing that definitely needs mention here and those are the interiors of the guest house suite. We were at first shocked and later somehow got used to them for the night. I have never seen a more over done interior than that, in my whole life.. the walls filled with Nawabi paintings and every inch of the roof, walls and floor so gaudily done up with Mughal or Nawabi patterns. I am sure no one can spend more than a night in that suite. Luckily for us... that was all that we had too. Our next flight to Bagdogra (Siliguri) was scheduled for afternoon the next day.

It was raining all through the night and we didn't have any trouble catching sleep, especially with the kind of day we had in Bangalore... and despite all the colourful people staring at us from the walls.

The next morning we woke late, had a wonderful continental breakfast and left for the airport. It continued to rain throughout. Though we could have a glimpse of Kolkata only through the dripping glass of the car, it seemed such a dirty city with heaps and heaps of garbage littered all through the length of the route. We spent most of our journey to the airport discussing how this city could be cleaned. I guess we finally gave up.

We took the 2pm flight to Bagdogra and landed there by 4. it was cloudy but no rain and we were greeted by the Police vehicle that came from Darjeeling to pick us up. We got on to it and thus started our journey up towards Darjeeling.

Mission Accomplished

Seven years after a failed attempt to make it to the Indo-China Border at the Nathula Pass, Sikkim (I was still a Bachelor then), myself and Deepu made a touch down on the Chinese soil at Nathula last week.

But before I begin describing the seven days of fun we had on this holiday to the North East last week, there's a lot to be told about the four months that I failed to put up a post here. Once I was out of the district grind, I thought, I'd have more time to myself to indulge in leisure's like blogging. Somehow it wasn't to be. While I did regain the peace-of-mind, that I was longing for... since the last six years...work in the Internal Security Division started to get so Interesting that I was carrying files home everyday and work on them. The division was not only young but also neglected for long, for various reasons. So here I found an opportunity to create systems from scratch, for a young and upcoming organisation. I had an equally energetic and encouraging boss that work became enjoyable after a long long time. So most of the last four months were spent in drafting proposals after proposals and pushing them for sanctions. It has been one of the most creative parts of my career. To my satisfaction, today I see this organisation totally re-organised and working in a very systematic way. There's still a lot to be done though.... I dont know for how long I would continue in this organisation.

Though I kept myself busy with the office and Deepu was with her studies, we did manage to salvage as much fun as possible with the weekends being totally free. Most sunday's we'd spend the mornings preparing breakfast and then cleaning up the house. We'd just drive out in the evenings meeting friends or watching a movie etc. In the first week of June, I was deputed for an Anti-Naxal operation in Chikmagalur. So me and Deepu decided to go there together. She would meet up with her friends there while I am busy with official work and once I am done with the work we decided to overstay and spend some time among the western ghats. We left Bangalore on Monday the 6th and the operation lasted for two days on the 7th and 8th... I left Deepu at Chikmagalur at the Kadur Club, and I had to stay put at Shringeri for those couple of days. Deepu spent the time meeting her friend, the lady wife of the SP Chikmagalur and made a few new friends too. They seemed to have had some fun visiting the peaks and the waterfalls.

That was around the time I was in Shringeri overseeing the Operation and along with a couple of other officers we went up the Manikya Parvatha on a trek. It was raining all along and what a memorable day it was. The western ghats are perhaps one of the worlds most beautiful spots one has to experience, especially during the monsoon.

Once I was done with my Shringeri job, i returned back to Chikmagalur to meet up with Deepu. We had dinner that night at the Sarai resort... perhaps one of the most expensive resorts I have been to so far, and offcourse we were hosted by the SP there. The next day he had arranged for an outing at the Eagle eye resort and also accompanied us with his family. We stayed at the pool villa on the top, overseeing the beautiful lush green valley. The SP from Shimoga also joined us with family for the evening and it was an unforgettable evening with a dinner around camp fire, endless gossip, followed by a game of cards in the room till 2 am. The next morning we left the resort by 12pm and reached Chikmagalur again. Deepu and her friends did some shopping and then left towards Bangalore. On the way we made a visit to an water sports place on the backwaters of a dam and then visited the Belur temple.

We were invited to dinner at the SP's residence in Hassan who are also good friends of ours. So we decided to halt in Hassan for the night after the dinner. Deepu actually suggested we make it to the Gomateshwara statue the next morning, but when morning came somehow none of us were in mood for it. So we decided to hit the road early and make it to Bangalore by lunch. We did reach Bangalore by about 2pm, had lunch at a Chinese restaurant on Cunningham Road and reached home by 4. That was one hell of a week !

These last four months have also been the period of waiting for my Deputation to the CBI. The deputation file that was kept pending for reasons of absence of the CVC, finally got cleared with the CVC getting appointed in the last week of June. Now with the Union Home Ministry also sending letters to the Government of Karnataka to relieve me, it just seems to be a matter of time before I have to leave the Internal Security Division and join the CBI. But I should still say that my stay in the ISD though short has been a very productive and memorable one. At some stage I did in fact, feel that even if the CBI deputation doesn't come through, I would prefer to continue in the ISD for some time, till I see it really function as a professional Anti-Terrorist Unit. After those recent bomb blasts in Mumbai on the 13th of July, all chiefs of the Anti-Terrorist cells in the country were called to the National Investigation Agency, New Delhi, for brain storming on the Investigation. I had this unique opportunity to represent Karnataka and got a taste of discussing issues of National Importance with the best brains in the field. I would forever miss this organisation.

The one more thing that we did during the last four months was to postpone our vacation to North East... on several occasions to ensure that other family members could join us... and on some occasions coz.. work at the ISD just got interesting. But with Deepu finally booking her tickets to the US for her three month long vacation from 17th Aug to Nov... it was like a now or never situation. So the first thing I did was to book the tickets to the North East immediately and then applied for my leave the next day. Accordingly our vacation to the North East was planned from Saturday the 6th of August to the 13th. Deepu would still have three days after return to unpack and pack for her overseas voyage.