The Top Pilgrimage Places... & Their Memories.

Recently a travel website stated the top 9 pilgrimage destinations of India. The list compiled of:

1. Haridwar.
2. Varanasi
3. Bodh Gaya
4. Rishikesh
5. Amritsar
6. Vaishno Devi
7. Tirupati
8. Mathura
9. Shirdi.

 I was pleasantly surprised to know that I have been to all but one places mentioned. Memories of the different places came buzzing alive in my head & I thought why not blog them.

Bodh Gaya is the place I have not been to. I will visit this place for sure. For reasons more personal than just sight seeing…….

I’ll jot a note across each place, so that I too may have some memories to look back on after a few years..; on the said places.

1. Haridwar: All that comes to mind for Haridwar is the Ganga Ghat, Ganga mata Aarti [Beautiful!] & it was my b’day then..so it was more memorable.
2. Varanasi: All I remember is the old Kashi Vishwanath temple & the Huge Ghats.
3. Bodh Gaya: It'll be happening next year or the following...
4. Rishikesh: Laxman Jhula! The walk on it & watching the awesome wide flow of Gangaji…pristine white; its just marvelous.  Had I known about the rafting at the time I had visited [more than 10 years back..] I would have done it then!
5. Amritsar: Lots of memories!! Golden temple, shopping at the small bangle shop outside it, the girl in the tourist help booth, the verve at Wagah Border, the pain at JallianWala Bagh..  From a pilgrimage point of view, the temple was SO neat! & the best part - The view of the golden tops of the temple I woke up to, from my hotel room... it was Memorable.
6. Vaishno Devi: The walk...when you are alone, any climb looks double the distance. I remember the lonnggg walk, till I got a very fine company & the darshan in front of the deities for almost a good whole minute. That are the most impressionable memories of Vaishno devi.
7. Tirupati: Quite a few memories of different times, as I've been here 3-4 times. The most memorable was when I walked the climb up. One of my earliest treks if one can call it that,  Gosh I remember, that one was tiring!
8. Mathura: I remember Brindavan more precisely & the birth place of Lord Krisha more better than any other memory of the Mathura particularly...[The whole place was covered. Brindavan-Mathura & the nearby places]
9. Shirdi: I remember on the last visit, I'd noticed the temple had become really huge than what it was since my first visit. The sanctum of the main shrine is Big.. & so it makes it easier for everyone to have a good darshan of the revered Saint.

That completes the list. The thing with religious places is, even if one are a non-believer; one cannot miss the peaceful feel, a calm vibe the place offers. All of these places give ample proof of that.

And I'm very grateful to God & my parents to have made it happen for me.

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Thought of the Month

There's a huge difference between being Helpful & being Forceful.

Cabeeto Soup

New years was brought in with high fever & a couple of other vexatious ailments. Guess all the pent-ups were burning out towards the end of the year. By the Doctor's presumption,  thankfully I hadn't embarrassed myself by passing out somewhere......

Unfortunately that got Mumma super alarmed & it became her mission to get me restored by the end of the new year weekend.
The four days I was on a diet of a soup & another healthy liquid, the recipe of that I'll share later.
I'm sharing the recipe of the soup that I took daily twice a day, which I believe was very effective.
It can be called the Cabeeto soup. [Carrot-Beetroot-Tomato]
Ingredients:

3 big red tomatoes
3/4 of a big beetroot
1 red carrot
2 pinches salt
1/4 tsp sugar.
Put the tomatoes, carrots & beetroot to pressure cook.
[Shred the beetroot in a slicer or cut them into small pieces. Bigger pieces do not get cooked well. ]

After the three are cooked, use a strainer &; strain the juice out. Put the juice on boil. Add 1/4- 1/2 tsp of sugar depending on preferences &  1/4 tsp salt to taste. [For regular consumption, 1/4 tsp of red chilli powder should be added for better taste.]

The healthy Cabeeto soup is ready. Easy to prepare & can be had as a tasty filler. Not restricted to fever times only. :)

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Resolutions 2012

For this year I have no resolution list.
I just resolve for three things.

1. Learn to let go of pain .. 
2. Live. Live each day. You never know when it's your last.
and
3. Keep my loved ones near. In this too self absorbing - hectic - too busy life; its important to express.. to let your loved ones know how important they are to you.

There's never a tomorrow for that..
Its only today. Its only now.