LIFE THROUGH ABY'S LENS

Day 3 (Shimla to Palampur) I took an HRTC bus from New Shimla ISBT for Palampur. The bus left the station at 9 PM. Make sure that you have booked your tickets in advance so as to get a seat as there is only one bus to Palampur in the night.  So, if by any chance you have not booked yourself a seat, you might end up traveling by standing. Believe me, it’s was very difficult to seat that long hours and how tough it would be to stand, you can imagine now. I booked my tickets early in the morning from the New ISBT Shimla to be on a safer side. The journey was a hectic one because of the overcrowded bus but it has its own experience. Even though having a window seat, I was squeezed between the people standing in front of me There are only 2 buses for Palampur. One in the morning and other in the night. It started at 9pm and reaches Palampur at 5.30 AM the other day. There are three major stops of the bus in this route. Our bus first reached So...

The Incredible "Rat Temple" in Rajasthan, India i.e Karni Mata Temple (करणी माता मंदिर) is a famous Hindu Temple which is one of the faces of Goddess Durga. It is located at Deshnoke which is 30 km from Bikaner, in Rajasthan, India. It is famously known as the Temple of Rats. The temple is famous for the approximately 25,000 Black Rats that live in the temple. These holy rats are respectively called “KAABA” by the local people, and many people from the country and around the world travel great distances to pay their respects to the Goddess. I myself belong to the same village Deshnoke, so I visit this Temple on a regular basis when I am there. The Goddess Karni Mata was a part of the “Charan” clan in her lifetime. She is believed to live 150 years. The followers of the Karni Mata believes that once they die, they will be reincarnated as a rat and subsequently when a rat dies, it will be reincarnated as a human again and so the cycle continues. ...

My trip began at 10:30pm from Delhi. I took a bus to Shimla from Vidhan Sabha near “Majnu Ka Tila”. I soon passed by “Sukhdev Dhaba” at Sonipat but the bus did not stopped there. The highway was in good shape; I passed by fields and towns quickly in the air- conditioned vehicle. I will cross the state border of Haryana first, then Punjab, then Himachal. My mobile operator didn’t missed any chance to notify me about the different borders I was crossing. This road was built to induce motion sickness. Tight, twisty turns all the way up the mountain. I kept my eyes firmly out the window and managed to avoid sleep as I wanted to witness every single thing. The bus stopped at a Dhaba in Haryana named “Mayur Vatika” for the dinner. I had a Punjabi plate for my dinner. Soon the bus started to move towards the much awaited Hills i.e Shimla. I didn’t realized as to when I ...