Gulmarg – Divinity at its best

As I got down at one of the most beautiful places on earth, Gulmarg, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, I could not help but soak in the natural extravaganza of the place. This place stands out from the rest of the country in terms of its heavy snow fall and world-class skiing slopes. Gulmarg offered me sheer value for my money, as I got to experience some of the best moments of my life here. The pollution-free mountain fresh air that blew across my face as I set foot on the vast green meadows of Gulmarg excited me to a great extent. 

Gulmarg Gondola

This is one place where I felt pampered, irrespective of the season when I visited the place.I enjoyed the vast snow-covered skiing slopes during winters here as much I enjoyed trekking, paragliding and golfing here during summers. I got treated to the most adventurous moment of my life, when I travelled on the Gulmarg Gondola. This is the second tallest cable ride in the world and offered me such thrill and excitement, that I am sure, I would not get anywhere else in the world.

As I was carried up, close to 14000 feet above sea level, I was transported to a different world altogether. The timings of this cable ride vary as per the seasons. The Gulmarg Gondola is one experience that will remain etched evergreen in my memory, long after I am gone from Gulmarg. The pricing is indeed quite steep (around 600 INR for 9 minutes in the first stage and around 800 INR for 12 minutes in the second stage), but since it offered me a great experience, I was ready to pay this amount. I would strongly recommend all of you to go for this, you will not regret your decision for sure.

The Gulmarg hill station offers us a wide scope to indulge in a lot of fun-filled activities. Golfing here is sheer fun, as this place has one of the best golf courses in the world. Filled with lush and green alpine grasslands at the backdrop of the Himalayas, the golf courses here are filled with golf lovers almost always during the hours that it is open for the public. Mountain climbers feel Gulmarg is a haven for them as there are some awesome trekking trails. Located amidst the dense and exotic flora and fauna, these trails are a great combination of fun and thrill.

In short, Gulmarg, which means “Meadow of Flowers”, is an ideal vacation spot as there is something in it for us tourists during all seasons. That explained the large number of international tourists that I saw during my visits to this place during all seasons. Gulmarg is one of the key contributors for the state’s tourism department.

Culture of Delhi people – True sample of Unity in Diversity

Delhi, being the national capital, is one of the most advanced cities of the country. The technological, commercial, industrial and financial growth of the city has put some of the developed countries to shame. Understanding about the culture of Delhi people will give enough scope for culture enthusiasts to know about the culture of India as a whole. This is a place where we can find many different cultures intersecting with each other due to the diverse nature of people who have settled here.

We can get a feel of the various festivals and customs of India, while travelling around Delhi. The place is lively almost all through the year due to the number of festivals celebrated here like Diwali, Holi, Navratri, Eid, Christmas, New Year, Winter festival, Spring festival etc.  The living style of Delhi people has changed considerably in the past decade or so. Earlier, shopping always meant visiting the old markets and bazaars, indulging in some heavy bargaining and buying goods at cheap prices.  However today, we find many shopping malls that have sprung up like mushrooms in the city of Delhi. Our shopping experiences are now mostly limited to these air-conditioned malls today.

The culture of Delhi people is quite unique from the other cities of India, purely because of the diverse nature of people settled here. Hindu, Islam, Sikh and Christian festivals are celebrated with the same fervour, joy and festive spirit in the city of Delhi. As we take a stroll around the Delhi streets during the night hours, we get a firsthand experience of the night living style of Delhi people. Filled with discotheques, world class bars and restaurants serving international cuisine, Delhi is a city that is on par with some of the most developed cities like New York and London in terms of its infrastructure and development. However, what really touches our heart is that, in spite of the heavy western influence, Delhi has still managed to maintain its ancient charm in the form of its street side markets, monuments, forts and temples. 

The culture of Delhi people is also evident from the dresses that they wear. We get enough evidences to understand as to why Delhi is known as the fashion capital of India. Youngsters of Delhi follow the global fashion trends rigorously and upgrade their style quotient accordingly. Apart from these modern developments, Delhi’s culture is obvious from its ancient buildings that are constructed using the finest marble, sandstone, bricks etc. We cannot help but feel nostalgic about the rich bygone era of Delhi as we walk past these structures.

Costumes of Punjab – Epitome of culture and tradition

Punjab is one of the most colourful states of the country with its rich culture and tradition. One look at the traditional dresses of Punjab is enough to understand about the vibrant nature of the people of that state. Their folk music and dance have gained immense popularity and are a huge hit even in the foreign countries. Due to the huge number of natives from Punjab being settled abroad, Punjabi culture and tradition are greatly appreciated across the world.

As we walk around the streets of Punjab, the dazzling colours and attractive fabric of the costumes of Punjab do not fail to catch our eyes. These costumes are full of colour and represent the true flavour of the state. The Patiala salwar, which we all love to wear today, is one of the traditional dresses of Punjab. Women of the state wear this dress along with the Punjabi suit. Most of the Punjabi women also wear the Punjabi Ghagra. This Ghagra was mostly made from muslin and contained lots of embroidery work on them. We can find many elderly women in Punjab wearing the Ghagra every day. This is probably one of the oldest and richest costumes of Punjabi women. Women wore this dress over their salwar suits or Kurta during the olden days. The Ghagra has lost its flavour among the younger women today; however as per the Punjabi customs, it is mandatory to wear this dress during important festivals, marriages or funerals.

Another kind of dress that attracts our eyes when we go to Punjab is the Phulkari. This is a cloth that is dominated by excellent flower work and is used to cover the heads. This is one of the most worn costumes of Punjab, especially in the rural areas. The contrasting and bright colours of the Kurta, salwar and the Phulkari are pleasant sights to watch and merge well with the loud folk music and culture of the state of Punjab.

Our Indian culture has attractive costumes for the menfolk as well. Punjab is no exception to this rule. Punjabi Kurta and Tehmat are the traditional dresses of Punjab for the men folk. The Kurta is a long dress that runs till the knees. This is followed by a matching pyjama that is either worn in matching or contrasting colours. Sikhism is the most-followed religion in Punjab and the Sikh men are recognised by their turbans. Most of the Punjabi men do not cut their hair and tie it around in colourful turbans. The men wear turbans that match the colour of their shirts, ties or Kurtas. It would not be wrong to say that the brilliant and lively costumes of Punjab add more colour to the state.

Geography of Delhi – The perfect mix of innovation and tradition

Delhi, the capital of India, is one of the most culturally rich cities in the country. It has a peculiar geography that is not evident in the other places of India. The food plains of Yamuna and the Delhi Ridge are the most dominating features of the geography of Delhi. The fertility of the soil in and around the areas of Delhi is mainly due to the food plains found along the River Yamuna. This river assumes a lot of significance, due to the fact that this is the lone river in this area. The Delhi Ridge that stands at a height of 318m is one of the landmark areas and Delhi’s introduction to the other parts of India.

The Delhi Ridge forming an integral part of the geography of Delhi covers almost all the areas of Delhi, particularly the western, north-eastern and north-western areas of the city. It was during 1991 that Delhi, which was a Union Territory until then, got converted into the NCR (National Capital Territory of Delhi) as per the rules and regulations of the Constitution Act. According to the geographical map of Delhi, the NCR region is made up of 9 districts and the area of New Delhi was deemed to be the financial and commercial hub of the country. Some of the most thriving industries of New Delhi are manufacturing, travel & tourism, information technology, financial services etc.

According to the classification type available in the geographical map of Delhi, it is recognised as an area that is susceptible to earthquakes, however as luck would have it, no major disaster has been recorded till date here. While Old Delhi is brimming with an old-world charm that never ceases to surprises the traveller, New Delhi, on the other hand, is highly-sophisticated and structured. Built by the famous British architect, Edward Lutyens during 1912, New Delhi buzzes with some of the best architectural structures that are standing tall even today to tell the tales of the place’s culture. 

The place gets a new colour and life during national holidays like Independence Day and Republic Day. Parades, speeches from political big-wigs, representation of culture of different states of India etc. mark these important days and gives a patriotic flavour that cannot be experienced in any other place in the country. On the whole, anybody who visits Delhi is sure to feel awestruck at the novel yet tradition geography of the place.

The Layman’s Guide to book Kerala bus tickets online

Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is the pioneer organisation in the state in the public transport industry. Launched during the 1938, KSRTC has been serving the citizens relentlessly with high quality service in terms of number of vehicles and comfort. With the internet wave sweeping across the transport sector, KSRTC too started its online ticketing service for the benefit of thousands of its registered users. It takes just minutes to book Kerala bus tickets online, which is why most of the passengers prefer this mode as compared to the earlier method of getting their tickets booked at the reservation counters of the KSRTC office.

KSRTC tickets online can be done on buses plying to and fro from important locations like Palakkad, Kannur, Kozhikode, Trissur, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram Central, Bangalore Majestic, Bangalore Satellite and Kottarakkara. While doing an online booking, passengers must be ready to shell out additional 20 INR per ticket towards transaction charges in addition to the reservation charges of 10 INR per ticket. In order to book Kerala bus tickets online, one needs to enter into the official portal, www.keralartc.com. From here, one must choose the ticket booking option, which will lead to the page, where users can enter their user id and password. New users can register themselves by providing basic information like name, contact address, mobile number, etc. 

The next page will then ask the user to choose from the source and destination stations. After entering the same, the user should click on the ‘find buses’ option to get a list of buses plying between the two stations and the seat availability for that particular day plus the following 21 days. KSRTC tickets online booking is indeed beneficial because the user is presented with a host of bus options to choose from depending on his comfortable timings. This screen shows other important details as well like the departure time, type of bus, via route, bus fare, etc.

Users can choose the particular bus that they want and click on the same, after which they will be directed to the page where they can book the number of seats they want. A picture showing the seat position in the bus is available to the user here. After selecting the seats, users should proceed to book ticket option, where he has to enter the passenger details and select the station where they would board from. The next is the payment screen where VISA or MasterCard Credit/Debit cards can be used for making payment. The confirmed ticket is then displayed in a PDF format on the screen, which the user can save on his system.