Eco-friendly pots in Uttarkashi

One thing that attracted me the most in Uttarkashi was that almost every home had eco-friendly pots in which they have planted tulsi, aloe vera, mint or seasonal flowers.

Some had painted them and some haven't. Clay pots were very rarely seen there.

Mostly people grow plants in empty tins and canes of ghee, mustard oil or other food stuffs.

Restaurants with the same name

My friends and I were travelling together to a hill station. I mailed the programme details like starting time; pick up locations, lunch on the midway in a small town and taxi charges of shared taxi to my friends who were accompanying me in this trip. I chose to have lunch at ‘Lucky Restaurant’. By the time we reached the decided town, we were extremely hungry. The lanes of the town were narrow so we asked the driver to park the taxi in parking area. We got down from the taxi and started walking on the lane in search of the decided restaurant. Hardly 15 meters we had walked then I saw the signboard showing ‘Lucky Restaurant’. We all went in and ordered the food. We chatted until the meal came, had good feast, gave a decent tip and came out of the restaurant.

After a heavy and nice meal, we all decided to walk for some time before starting again for the destination. We moved near about fifty meters then the road took a curved turn. Now I saw another restaurant on which ‘Lucky Restaurant’ was written. According to Google maps, we have to walk for about 60 – 65 meters to reach that restaurant from the parking area. On seeing the earlier board of ‘Lucky Restaurant’ in which we dine, I thought might be Google maps did not show the right distance. Moreover, the strong hunger forbidden me to search further. I thought it might got unnoticed by the group as we were walking with a fast pace. However, I was wrong. One of the person who has strong observation power noticed it and said, “Oh, one more Lucky Restaurant!”

I admitted, “Actually we entered a wrong restaurant!"

He chuckled. He burst into a laugh. While laughing, he gently touched his left hand on my right shoulder then suddenly withdrew his hand, thinking, "She is ‘Touch-Me-Not’ type person!"

Waterfalls in Uttarkashi

"How beautiful waterfall looks!" When I noticed the first waterfall while travelling in car from Rishikesh to Uttarkashi. I have never seen a waterfall before as I was from a semi-arid zone and hadn't travel much. In Uttarakhand during the end of July, it was rainy season. It was raining heavily and rivers were flowing with their full flow. There were waterfalls of all sizes, small n big, fast n slow and twisted in the hills n falling straight from the hills on the ground. Every waterfall was a unique of its own. Sometimes even while travelling waterfall water suddenly splattered on the roof of the car making a thud sound.


Among so many natural waterfalls these man-made waterfalls along the road side attracted me the most! They were not beautiful but hilarious.

A walk with a friend!

During my stay in Netala, I didn't talk much with my batchmates. I tried my best to follow the rules of ashram like speak less and read more, chat less and practice more. I wasn't much curious to know about others and wasn't there to make contacts. I wished to devote my time to my prayers, meditation, spiritual reading and introspection. I wanted to devote each and every second of my time for progress on the spiritual path.

There, I hardly talk with others and preferred to maintain silence. Mostly out of formality, I opened my mouth to utter monosyllables or sometimes sentences. Contrary to that back at home, I was talkative; generally enjoyed talking with persons of all age groups, all genres, all cultures and all socio-economic status. I loved to talk about various topics but I hesitated to talk about my emotions with others. A walk with that friend in the hills around ashram made me so comfortable with her that I shared my inner most emotions with her, may be because we are of same age or shared the same interest or in childhood days lived in a small city and then moved to a metropolitan for professional growth.

We went to a nearby village situated on a hill and from there on the narrow lane into the forest to Bharoon ka mandir (Temple of Lord Bharoon) which was though closed at that time.

We watched the villagers working, cows wandering in hills with bells in their necks, small houses here and there with their tempting kitchen gardens full of organic vegetables like pumpkin, bottle gourd, ridge gourd, beans, brinjal, lady finger, tomato.

The most interesting thing I liked was these toothbrush holders. :) During the walk, my mobile battery said 'Goodbye' so I asked her to click these photos for me. A short but memorable trip! :)

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A bowl of kadhi of a differrence!

"It tastes delicious!" As I sipped the steaming hot kadhi of Ankoot prasadam, I thought.
It did not contain any pakoodis as usual even than it was the tastiest kadhi I have ever eaten. Mango pickle masala was added to it to give it a sour taste as the buttermilk was not that sour. It also contained dried gaur ki phalli. Musturd seeds and cumin seeds tadka made it yummy. Like usual Ankoot kadhi it was not too hot. But the chillies were balancing the taste of pickle very well.

Seeing the bowl of kadhi today in my plate reminded me of that mango pickle taste of kadhi that I ate about a month ago.

Being vegetarian - A fashion statement

"I am vegetarian." A European guy told the group which were dinning together in a restaurant.
"You are vegetarian." I said with a surprise.
"I am also vegetarian." A European woman said.
"But.......how do you manage it?" I asked. "These days it is even difficult in India to be vegetarian."
"These days people are opting to even vegan diet in Europe." The woman explained.
"There are lots of vegan and vegetarian restaurants in Europe." The guy explained.
She told the group, "Its a fashion statement in Europe to be vegetarian."
I said, "Its a fashion statement in India to be non-vegetarian."
She said, "More and more people are opting for vegetarian diet in Europe so more number of eat-out options. I love cooking and mostly cook food at home."
The guy said, "I love to eat-out in resturants, sometimes I cook at home and near my work place there is Hare Krishna Temple, quite often I go there and have prasadam - totally satvik food."