Categories
More

You are a true back bencher if you have bunked at these places in Udaipur

The first thing that comes up in our minds whenever we think about the time back when we were in our school and college is the time when we bunked our classes. Just a mere thought about it takes us to those times with our now long lost friends. The fun we had, the places we visited, the friends we had, everything. And sometimes when we were not lucky enough, we even got caught. At the time being it was a horrible thing but now that we think about it again it just brings a smile to our face.

While all of us always say that Udaipur is very small, the city has never stopped amazing us with the number of places that it has. Most of us were smart enough to invent new places for bunking every time, but there were some places which were more of a ‘bunking adda’ to us. Let us go to those good times and read about all these bunking addas of ours.

 

Rani Road

You are a true back bencher if you have bunked at these places in Udaipur
Source: venuezz

This is the one place that is the first option that always used to pop up in our heads whenever we thought about any bunks. Rani road is such a place that has kept so many secrets in itself and one of the secrets are our bunks. The long pal of Rani Road, the never-ending gossips and the unconditional love that we had for the lake, these three things were the main reason why we are always up for the place. Now that it has developed a lot, you could see a lot of people at any point of time in the day.

 

Badi Lake

You are a true back bencher if you have bunked at these places in Udaipur
Source: let the words flow out of you

Our city is blessed with Lakes and hence we have a lot of places that roam around Lakes itself. Here, I am not discriminating but I think a lot of boys could connect to this one. Badi Lake has been the most famous place for boys bunking their classes here. Even now you can see a lot of young kids having a leisurely time of their life. Be it after school or when they are on bunks. There is one more point of attraction at Badi Lake that has become very famous with people lately. It is the Badi Hill. I don’t know about bunking but people definitely enjoy the trek to reach the hill. It’s not that the hill has got anything special but the view that it has is breathtaking.

 

Gulab Bagh

You are a true back bencher if you have bunked at these places in Udaipur
Source: Shoes on loose

The place literally takes me to my school days. Just standing at the huge gate used to excite me. Gulab Bagh is a huge garden where you can just get lost in nature and when we are on a bunk, that’s exactly what we need, isn’t it? The place consists of a lot of activities that you do here. It has a zoo, a toy train that makes you explore the entire place (the garden is that large), a library, a bunch of temples and a shrine, badminton court, swings and slides and vast gardens where you can chat endlessly with your friends.

 

Fatehsagar

You are a true back bencher if you have bunked at these places in Udaipur
Source: Udaipur insights

The best of bests right? Fatehsagar has a beautiful Lake but that’s not just it. Apart from that, there are quite more places which were the favorite spots of the bunkers. The main pal and the one in front of the Bombay market are the main attraction and apart from that, there is a Swami Vivekananda park, temples, Guru Gobind Park which has become the secret spots for all the youngsters.

 

Ubeshwar Ji

You are a true back bencher if you have bunked at these places in Udaipur
Source: Venuezz

This is the one place that takes a long ride to go there. A lot of children can be seen on the way of Ubeshwar Ji on their bikes and scooters with a group of their friends. If you see Ubeshwar Ji there is nothing much as a place there. There is just a temple and a short waterfall. But the mere way of the place is adventurous enough. Beautiful landscapes, bright colors and fresh air adds up a light mood in every one of us.

 

Peepliya Ji

You are a true back bencher if you have bunked at these places in Udaipur
Peepliya Ji

While we are talking about Ubeshwar Ji, there is another place, Peepliya Ji which is just some 8 Km ahead of it. Being a bit uncommon there are not many people there at any time of the day. So it is considered as an ideal place to enjoy some quality time with friends. Apart from that, it has a majestic view of the village near it and in whatever season it will give you one amazing sight to appreciate.

 

Sajjangarh

You are a true back bencher if you have bunked at these places in Udaipur
Source: Twitter

No matter how many times we go to this place, we cannot ever get bored of going here. This one place has been the weekend plan for the bunkers. Sajjangarh is a complete package of adventure, to sum up your perfect day. It will take a good ride for you to reach the fort meanwhile which you can enjoy the fresh air and increasingly beautiful sight of the city. Once you reach the top of the fort, I bet you feel like there’s no better place than this.

Did everything just flashed in front of your eyes while reading the article? Well, it’s good to be a little nostalgic, no? It is possible that the friends that we made in our school and college will not be in our touch right now but the memories that we made with them, the enormous amount of fun that we had and the promises to stay together until our last breath is unforgettable. If it is possible, contact all those long lost friends of yours and live the best time of your lives once again for you cannot live those moments again but you can always go back to that time right? And well Bunking is not always bad because after all the most important lessons of your lives are the one that you take outside of your class.

Categories
More

Things only an Udaipurite can relate to

Even after exploring all the places in the world, at the end of the day, every Udaipurite will only say ‘There’s no better place than Udaipur’. No matter how much fun we have otherwise but the feeling of home can only be felt in this city. So, there are few feelings that only an Udaipurite can connect to-

Evenings at Fatehsagar

Back in my school days, I remember, I and my friends used to bunk our coaching and used to go to Fatehsagar. There is something in this place that doesn’t tire your eyes even if you are visiting here for the millionth time. The serene feeling you get while sitting on the pal, looking at the sunset and cool breeze taking all your worries away, for a moment it feels like it’s the only thing you’re living for.

Things only an Udaipurite can relate to
Picture by: walking_captures

Streets of Old city

Old city doesn’t look old any day. It is one part of the city which always looks decorated with different colors in the shops and all the traditional clothes and jewelry on the display of the shops. While walking in the streets of Old City with all the foreign travelers accompanying you it seems like you are walking in a different part of the city.

Things only an Udaipurite can relate to
Picture by: meamtarn

Monsoon and Peepliya

Whenever sky pours Udaipur with drops of heaven the first place that comes to mind is Peepliya. While I am writing about it I can literally visualize the entire road and place surrounded by fog. One cannot see more than a meter on the road, the fog is that thick. Tiny droplets of water will neither completely wet you nor will keep you dry. It feels like you are entering a place in the sky via road.

Things only an Udaipurite can relate to
Picture by: micro.1993

School picnics at Haldighati

When I was 11, the school announced a picnic to Haldighati. The first thought that came to my mind was that does this place has Haldi (turmeric) instead of sand? Well, to my disappointment it wasn’t. But I’m sure every other child would’ve thought the same. I was in awe of Maharana Pratap when I learned the history of him back then. The name of the place still takes me to one of my favorite memories of childhood.

Things only an Udaipurite can relate to
Source: Dreamstime.com

Family outings at Ubeshwarji and Chandni Village

In the season of outings, these are the places that come to the mind of everyone’s family members. I’m sure all of you have visited this place with your entire family at least once. Sometimes we even take all the eatables there and make it a day. Jumping into the water with your siblings and coming back with empty stomachs to hot pakoras is not a distant memory, is it?

Things only an Udaipurite can relate to
Source: bcm touring

 

Things only an Udaipurite can relate to
Source: Tripoto

Weekends at Sukhadiya Circle

Boating in the pond of Sukhadiya Circle, having ‘chana jor garam’ in the garden and eating at one of the stalls outside was the plan on almost all weekends back then. Every Udaipurite has one favorite stall at Sukhadiya Circle. Although the craze for boating has reduced in Udaipur a bit, the kid in us still enjoys this place.

Things only an Udaipurite can relate to
Picture by: ravijune

While every city is beautiful, there’s no place like Udaipur. What connects you to Udaipur? Tell me in the comment section below, I’ll be glad to hear.

Categories
Places to Visit Travel

[FT-RJ27] Parallel-O-Green {Towards Peepliya Ji}

The Fueled Tales of RJ27

PARALLEL-O-GREEN

 

We head on to compare a man-made alteration of a green destination, Saheliyon ki Baari, with a God’s raw creation of the same theme, Pipliyaji Valley:-

 

In my heydays of childhood, apart from making me digest the yucky bitter-gourd and the glasses of bournvita-bathed milk, my mother used to make me absorb some sensible quotes and recitations in the corners of my brain too. One such thought was – “The earth does not belong to us, we belong to earth.” We are guests here, it welcomes us, departs us and then welcomes our successors. It goes on like that. But the rolling cycles of ages made me realize that only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species – human – acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world. Yes, it is we, the mankind, which has been given the paramount duty to preserve the God’s most comprehensive creation – the planet Earth. And we do it in two ways – either to preserve the nature in its purest, indigenous form without any single alteration, or to modify it by fostering our talent to create our own synonym of the same nature. Which then made me think that which version of the nature is more alluring – the Man-made or the God-made? Is the color green influential and parallel when we take in account both the places? A pretty puzzling quest I must say. I tried to find an answer to this confusion in my own way – zipping up my riding gear, picking up the keys of a motorcycle and kick it off to play with it. And to add up the zest of companionship at pillion, I had my friend Aman with me as well.
saheliyon ki bari

 

They say – Charity begins at home. So, for this particular task, I was, err, humble enough to lend myself my own ride, a 2008 Yamaha Gladiator, wrapped in ‘Fiat Yamaha’ livery of MotoGP Racing series. The bike is fully customized by myself, thanks to my devotion for the God of MotoGP, Valentino Rossi. And that’s the reason why I fondly call it ‘The Doctor’. (For who are still unaware about what the stuffs are these MotoGP, Valentino Rossi and ‘The Doctor’, I strongly recommend you to watch a MotoGP bike championship race on the ‘idiot box’ or internet, at least for 10 minutes!)
saheliyon ki bari

 

We started our run for the oblivion first with the man-made adaptation of the psyche of nature in Udaipur, Sahelion ki Baadi. Legacy says that this beautiful park flooded in color green and decorated by the sprinkles of water was made by Maharana Sangram Singh in 18th century for his queen and her 48 woman acquaintances (sevikayein) which accompanied her as her dowry. ‘His highness’ created this window to the world of natural beauty to make them feel relaxing out of the rather complex windows of the gargantuan court rooms, hence the name this place got which means ‘Garden of maids’. And oh boy, what a gem of window is this! The park is beautifully adorned with the green grass and colorful flowerbeds and you will enjoy getting indulged in counting the innumerable sprinklers or mini-fountains. The exquisite water pools, tastefully created marble elephants and kiosks and the subtle marble flooring and pavilions, all amplify out the architectural bells and whistles. This made me adore the zenith – To what extent can the imaginations of a human mind and soul combine up to produce such a sublime stature of nature!
saheliyon ki bari

 

Sure I have been to this place for infinite times, but this time around, I found this place to be too refreshing and new, considering I was here after whole 7 years. So the faded memories obviously sparkled back to life. While my popped up eyeballs were busy capturing the panaromic view of this captivating place in the hard disk of my soft memory, they scrolled over my bike at the parking lot as well. It began to prompt up my curiosity – if humans can carve out such a charismatic framework out of their brains, then how powerful can be the Almighty God’s creation! The soul of petrol in fuel tank then began to ask mine – shall we kick in then? And what mine responded – Hell yeah, indeed! After clicking some nice shots, I and Aman decided to begin our ride towards possibly the best untouched creation of God in Udaipur, Peepliyaji Valley. According to the route proposed, the distance was 32 kms, which was long enough to make up our evening filled with scenic pitstops and plethora of fun.

 

Road Trip

So, quickly, we prodded the ‘self starter’. Luckily for us, the in-city traffic was not that weary as that of say, Bapu Bazar or Jagdish Chawk, while passing through Mallatalai and Radaji Chauraha. Then, came the small archaic colony of Rampura Chauraha, which acted as the gates to our ode to nirvana. And we consider ourselves blessed that at this place, we witnessed the exciting street drama by the local artists, which in local language, we call “Gawri”. The art portrayed by the villagers through the fascinating characters was cheerful enough to fuel up our zeal for the ride further. With the passing of digits on odometer of my bike, what we began to witness were the countryside narrow roads surrounded by prolific trees and grasslands. The roads are full of twisties, which ignited me to do some serious ‘knee downs’ on those corner sections, but since I had Aman on the pillion seat, those were a big no-no.
IMG_4161

IMG_4194

IMG_4182

IMG_4174

IMG_4173

 

After crossing those numerous twisties, came water canals flowing besides the road and some hilly sections. Needless to say, it made for some pleasing digital shots which Aman captured on his Canon EOS 600D. Then, we decided to head off to our next pitstop at Ubeshwar ji, which was roughly 6 kms before our final destination. But what came before Ubeshwarji were the interior village areas and some intimidating ghat sections, which presented us one of the most photogenic elevated views of Udaipur. The convoy of hills in a disciplined line were in a perfect symphony with the rich green meadows, which made me feel that how graciously God did his homework while creating Pipliyaji.
IMG_4202

IMG_4224

IMG_4216

IMG_4209

IMG_4203

 

After performing the rituals of photo-sessions, we pursued our ride back and reached the pitstop of Ubeshwarji, which is just 2-3 kms from the point where the aerial ghat sections end. Ubeshwar Ji, or Ubeshwar Mahadev Temple – a temple of Lord Shiva. After seeking the blessings of Mahadev, we savored what is said to be a biker’s favorite beverage – Tea time it was! The ‘chaiwala’ at his thadi outside the temple was kind enough to make us quench our thirst, which along with a packet of Parle-G was an absolute bliss to say the least. The cutting chai was energizing enough to brace ourselves for the final leg – Pipliyaji.
pipliya ji
pipliya ji

 

pipliya ji

 

This was the leg of our drive which I can easily call a ‘tranquil territory’. The aura and silence of the roads to Pipliyaji are mesmerizing enough to make you forget all the huffs-and-puffs of your hectic college assignments or business targets in your daily city life. The curvaceous roads and green roadsides with absolutely no traffic make you feel that wish you had the superpower of piling up the bank accounts, sign off the resignation letter, build a treehouse and farm there for the rest of your life. That’s the ambience of the route. The meandering roads towards our final destination gives a serene valley view, which is at its best during light drizzle of monsoons, as you will love the marvelous company of the clouds at such a height.

 

pipliya ji

 pipliya ji

 

And then came our final point, our destination. Though the hilly roads head straight to the remote village of Pipliyaji, but what was of our concern was the deep valley which is a view of the other side of the Udaipur less traversed. There is a small deviation in right while on the road to the village area, which leads you to a rocky plain. I parked up my bike there, switched off the ignition and was lost in the serenity of this place. Everything, from the setting sun and it’s light falling over the Aravallis, the bird’s eye view of the villages beneath the valley, the dense green forests and your screams echoing back to you by the hills, are purely mystical. The duration of 30 minutes I spent here just gazing the valley view and breathing in the pure oxygen of that place made me feel how eloquent God’s magic wand can be. But then it was the time of signing the cheque of decision, and I was still bewildered – which seems to be more adorable – the man-made brilliant art at Saheliyon ki Baari or the God-made nascent creation of Pipliyaji. But then something clicked my mind, that humans too are creation of God. And this fact, my friends, was influential enough to seal up the debate. Amen!

 

pipliya ji udaipur
Peepliya Ji