22 things to do in Kashmir

1) Stay in a houseboat with Persian interiors for a day in Srinagar

2) Row yourself in a Shikara on the Dal Lake around sunset

Entry for Cleartip "Every trip has a Purpose" Contest

I had always been an average guy blessed with more than average things in life – a good education, a highly supportive family and good friends. But what I missed in my life was that it was too normal and hence probably getting too mundane. Now, was the time to do something different, to follow my passion, to try things out. Having no other source of information, I turned to the internet and blessed be me that I chanced upon this extraordinary trip:

1 Train | 13 Destinations | 15 Role Models | 18 Days | 400 Youths | 9000 kms

Of course, I was intrigued. This sounded just like the kind of thing I would want to do. An adventure with a purpose!

Tata Jagriti Yatra is an annual 18-day train journey across India aimed to awaken the spirit of entrepreneurship among the youth who could drive the wagon of change through enterprise led development. A journey to understand the problems of the middle India and to find solutions to those problems. A journey meant to re-discover India and the Indian within, to inspire the youth, through exposure to unsung heroes, and to motivate them to make an impact in their own domains.

It was not just about trying out different things for me anymore. My purpose for this fantastic trip became to re-evaluate myself, to discover my passion, to gain new perspectives on things in life. My purpose became to interact with this most diverse set of 399 youths who have the vision and the passion to be the stalwarts of change. It promised, and did turn out as well, to be an intellectually stimulating journey of learnings and un-learnings and of humble realizations - a journey through my inner self.

That was my purpose to be on this trip – the Tata Jagriti Yatra from 24^th December, 2010 to 11^th January, 2011. If you liked knowing about my purpose to be on this trip, do vote for me at http://mypurpose.cleartrip.com/trips/21419

Kyunki har trip kuch kehta hai...

An empty train compartment

An empty train compartment on a long train journey is probably the best thing that can happen to you. Especially if you don't have a book to keep you company and all you have to spend those 32 long hours is a laptop and a mobile which plays good music. Both of these, however, have limited power backup.

Barefoot on ceramic !

Nine of us walked into a restaurant today...all bare-footed! (Remember Barefoot on Metal;FPS, Ch3? Only, in our case it was on ceramic tiles and that didn't look hot!)

Anyways, it all happened on our wing picnic to Lonavala and Khandala with the new sophie junta. We started at 6 in the morning reaching Lonanvala by 8. It was really cold and foggy up there. And to top that, it was raining. More unpredictably than it does in Mumbai! Despite that, it was really amazing.

Tiger Cliff, Bhushi Dam, Carla caves, Bhaja caves in that order! And lots of trekking, waterfalls and bathing all along (not to forget some 400 plus pics!)

Followed by lunch at Neena's, where it happened. Having survived till 1 o'clock only on two vada pavs we were really hungry. And our shoes had all become wet. So we left them in the Tata Winger that we had hired and got in the restaurant barefoot! ordering amongst the 9 of us, 72 puris, 11 bowls of aloo bhaji, 3 bowls full of pickles and onion!!! And our plates were sparkling at the end. Not a morsel wasted!
It looked as if we were one of those improperly fed-n-dressed people (the bhooka-nangas as we sometimes not-so-politely address them)!!

Lunch was followed later in the day by the famous Maganlal's chikkis and corn (makai or bhutta) at Khandala! It was a great picnic and quite a welcome for the sophie junta into the wing!