बटोही

India's civilization dates way back to thousands of years, way before the modern date system was invented. India is a country, which was flourishing in terms of economy, culture, literature, arts and prosperity, when entire Europe was in dark age, when USA was yet to be found and Australia was yet to be colonized. India, was then a leader in education system, economics and trade. India, the land of rich literature, scientists and philosophers, India, the land of seekers, religions and devotees. There are many Indias within India. One such India, is the land of architects and architecture. This story is about the journey to the glorious pages of Indian history, to the prosperous era and rich past, a story of man made structures of a nearly impossible architecture, even modern day architects, with all their extremely advanced equipment, cannot make. It is a journey to the place of importance in history of India, an important city of Mughal and pre Mughal era, the journey to

Some of my excellent plans have been the plans made in a jiffy. This story is about a trip, which just happened, was planned over a cup of tea, within an hour. And it happened, because of the people, who were part of this trip. July 2014, 4th July was a Friday, which means, we had a long weekend. Long weekends in that part of world are not meant to stay at home, especially if they are during summers. We just discussed it over a cup of tea, it was agreed upon, that we will go somewhere. But where? It was yet to be decided. Vibhu bhai suggested Lake Placid, we all agreed. Since everyone in our group had some plan or other, so it was only four of us. jasu ben was included at last. Final group consist of five people, Jasu Ben, Vibhu bhai, Dhara, Sumu and I.  When Vibhu bhai is there, you need not to worry about anything, hotels, deals, food, plan, fun, Vibhu has the answer for everything. Vibhu bhai is resourceful.  The only input I had in this plan was, lets start on Thursday

Stamford Stamford, a place, where I lived for the longest in a stretch. My rented apartment in Stamford, CT, till date, is the place, where I lived most of my post college life, almost 3 Years.  18th July 2013 to 27th May 2016. The next best is another rented apartment in Noida, Sector 62. Thou we are modern day nomads, still we get attached with the places. So leaving Stamford, that apartment, that place, was tough. It would have been easier, if Stamford does not have the flavors of small towns and facilities of the big cities. It would have been easier, if my wife and I, have not liked the nearby chirpy downtown and the tranquil neighborhood. It would have been much easier, if we would not have made some great friends. And of course, the stability for 3 years. Stamford was unlike boring Norwalk, a place separated from Stamford by 10-12 miles, and our abode for around an year earlier. Leaving Norwalk never made us emotional. May be we were shifting back to India then. Special

This story is about a journey, which I took 4 years back. It was a first long drive, around 1100 kilometers. Part of that decision was taken out of adventure and part of it was out of no other available options. Now a days, I have been driving a lot, drove distances, thousands of miles in one stretch, but till then, in India, always refrained to do so. The reason was mainly the unknown status of the roads, the unavailability of GPS and safety. The story is about a trip, I took during Feb 2015,  I was in USA those days, and came to India for a family function.  Inception: While we were planning to come back, as usual, the VISA stamping came up, and luckily, we were eligible for the drop box facility. Thanks to the US embassy's new rules and India-US ties. Whenever we visit our country, we plan to stay maximum with our parents, family. Our family function was in Mumbai, stamping was planned to be done in New Delhi, and my home is in Northern part of Bihar. We have secured t