Congrats Top 100!!!

We made it to the Top 100.

Thanks a bunch for your help!

Freedom Trail - route map

Sowmya & Guru's Cedia Freedom Trail Larger map

Enjoy some of our photos!

TGDC

What does travel mean to me?

By Guru

What does travel mean to me? As a child, I remember vividly that travel entailed visiting my grandparents in Bangalore during the summer and Dasara holidays. These trips were something we looked forward to eagerly – an opportunity to meet with our cousins and extended family, attend weddings and generally run riot. It also meant a lot of packing and being repeatedly told, what to do and more importantly what not to. When we eventually moved to Bangalore in 1985, travel was limited to an occasional day trip to a nearby place. Having lived in five places across three states, from small town Hiriyur to our present home Hyderabad, one gathers fond memories and varied experiences.

When I entered high school and joined the National Cadet Corps (NCC), I got an opportunity to go on my my first ‘big’ travel - a 10 day National Integration Camp in Himachal Pradesh. Over the next 5 years, More camps were to follow - Bangalore, Tumkur, Mysore, Delhi, Tirunelveli. By the time I was 18, I had calculated that I actually had spent 5% of my life in NCC camps! My first trip abroad too was a NCC Camp, if I could call it that. I was part of the Indo Canada Youth Exchange Programme – a 6 month programme where one was paired with a buddy, had to stay with a local family and also undertaken voluntary work. We spent 3 months each in British Columbia, Canada and Haryana, India. I can today claim to have homes of my own in Haryana and Canada. NCC has given me several opportunities to a RJ at the Canadian First Nations Radio to build additional rooms for the government school in Haryana. I have made friends for life, with whom you can pick up a conversation after several years as though it were yesterday you met them last. Ability to appreciate alien culture and alternate thinking and adapt oneself to local conditions and practices is one of my biggest takeaways from the programme, something that helps me in my ravels even today.

RJing at CFNR radio station in Terrace, British Colombia

With Gill, Daniel and Taylor of host family in Canada and Canadian parter Steve

My work with the Jain Group of Institutions in Bangalore has taken me across the country and abroad - either to conduct road shows, setting up new projects or taking students educational trips. From Vapi in Gujarat to Silchar in Assam; from Kanpur in UP to Port Blair in Andaman these trips were enjoyable since it gave me an opportunity to interact with a wide cross section of society and also savour the local delicacies. When you travel with a group of 70 teenagers on international tours, you have to be on your toes, always! I have had my share of thrills – a student detained in Singapore on suspicion of carrying a banned weapon, spending four nights in a hospital in Pukhet with two students with broken leg and an arm each, making sure that our guide wasn’t kidding when he broke the news of the 9/11 attacks while we were blissfully posing with panthers in South Africa. More enjoyable and fulfilling were the numerous day trips to the villages in Kanakapura Taluk as we went about in a missionary zeal implementing the Kanakapura Cataract Free Project.

My stay in Jamshedpur as a student at XLRI gave me a rare opportunity to experience firsthand the vision of Jamshedji and the concept of labour welfare, Tata style. Probably the only town in India with tap water being potable and practically 24 hours power supply, Jamshedpur is truly a model industrial town.

TATA Steel plant view from XLRI hostel roof top

My present home, Hyderabad is a city that offers a very endearing mix of the laidback and progressive. My current job at the Indian School of Business offers me diversity and challenges that are hard to come by and an opportunity to associated with the biggest educational brand in this part of the world. I travel a fair bit and these are invariably short business trips. Business travel is very different, yet can seem to be just the same, no matter where you are going. Airport lounges, cabs, hotels, meetings, dinners, travel lite – the same routine typically. The experience can sometimes isolate you from the reality outside. I consciously try not to colour my opinion about the city I am visiting, based on the hotel I stay in. Believe me, it is very easy to let that happen. Especially, when you have run out of dinner time talking points!

Staying away from Bangalore also means that Sowmya and I make frequent weekend trips back home to meet with our families. Train nos 2785 and 2786 have become an integral part of our lives.

I have two complaints though –
a) My work in Hyderabad has never taken me to Bangalore. Darn!
b) We somehow have never gotten to travel in Andhra Pradesh – my recent acquisition of the Outlook Traveller’s 45 Weekend Getaways should change that soon.

In between, we have had our share of leisure travel. Our pursuit for a good holiday has taken us to Sikkim, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Konark, Puri, Ahmedabad, Kumbalgarh, Kumarakom, Goa, Shantiniketan, Kolkata and we have only returned home happier.

Sunset at Kumarakom
So, what does travel really mean to me? I am no thinker. However, I think the great poet T S Eliott sums it up best – “The journey not the arrival matters”.

The Great Wall of India!

March and April of 2009 had been two very busy and stressful months for both of us at office. At the end of it, the urge to put on our wander hat and take a break was at its peak. And, we were yet to use our 3 year old Club Mahindra membership and some holi‘days’ were about to lapse.

It was a deathly combination to not take off on a trip. We picked up the phone and called Club M to make a reservation either in Madikeri or Thekkady or any resort in the cooler climes to beat the Hyderabad heat. “Madam, the resorts are all booked up to mid July. Do you want to make a reservation in July?” Of course not…. We wanted to go NOW! NOW NOW NOW!!!

We make a last attempt and say “Is there an opening in any of your resorts in May?” After putting us on hold for what seemed a lo(oo)ng time, the customer service executive replies “We have 5 days available in Kumbalgarh”.

The ignorant me “Where is this?”
Reply “Rajasthan Madam”

Rajasthan? In peak summer. You must be crazy…….
Hmm....what the heck… Let’s take a shot. (As Guru reasoned out, 42 degrees cannot be worse than 40 degree!). We sought our friends opinion on Facebook for our plan and got a thumping ‘Thumbs up’.

Fort Kumbalgarh
Location: 85 km from Udaipur, Rajasthan
Built in: 15th Century AD
Popular as: The second most important fort after Chittorgarh Fort in Rajasthan
When to visit: October to March

‘Impregnable’ that’s the description that crossed our minds when we first caught the glimpse of Fort Kumbalgarh. It had to be. Built on a hilltop at 1900 m altitude, the fort has a protective perimeter wall of 36 km. In fact it is the second largest after the Great Wall of China.

The fort was built by Maharan Kumbha in the 15th Century AD and houses 365 Jain and Hindu temples within its area. The design of the entire fort is very strategic with the intent of confusing and foxing the enemy. The person standing on the fort can easily see the approaches made by any individual from Ajmer and Marwar making it practically impossible to approach the fort in stealth. Its strategic location and structure helped the fort to withstand the offensive of invading armies for several decades except once, when it fell to the combined forces of Akbar, Malwa and the Sultan of Gujarat!

Atop is the Badal Mahal built by Rana Fathe Singh in the 19th century and is believed to be the birth place of Maharana Pratap the Great King and warrior of Mewar.

A visit to the fort is incomplete without catching the sight of this magnificent fort at night – all lit up – in its resplendent glory! A sight, I promise, you will remember for years to come.

What else?
If you are the type to get up early in the morning, you could also visit the Kumbalgarh wildlife sanctuary which covers an area of about 57,778 Sq Km and is an abode to a huge variety of wildlife as well as several exotic birds. Also, you could visit the Haldighati, the place where the heroic Maharana Pratap lost his fabled loyal horse Chetak, while fighting the forces of Akbar.

How we got there?
We took a flight from Hyderabad to Ahmedabad and after spending two nights, we traveled by a half AC / half non AC / half sleeper / half seater bus (no kidding!!) to Udaipur. We had asked the resort car to pick us up from Udaipur for the onward journey of 85 km. One also has the option of flying in directly into Udaipur. If you are travelling on a shoe string budget, you can take the road transport corporation buses from Udaipur to Kumbalgarh which plies quite frequently.

Stay options
Club Mahindra has a new resort which is built to depict the space, luxury and art of the Rajput era. Club M takes bookings from non member also. For bookings call their central reservation number 3988 0000 or log on to http://www.clubmahindra.com/

The Aodhi, Kumbhalgarh is a sanctuary-resort which is run by HRH Group of Hotels belonging to the Royal family of Rajasthan. If you are looking for an authentic heritage property, this is the one for you. For bookings call +91 294 2528008 or log on to http://www.eternalmewar.in/

There are many budget stay options that can be explore.

When to visit?

The climate of Kumbhalgarh is tropical. Summers are warm with the maximum temperature climbing up to around 42° C. Kumbhalgarh weather experiences delightful and pleasant winters. The average temperature in the winter season falls in the range of 25° C (max) to sometimes 2° C (min). The climatic conditions of Kumbhalgarh, Rajasthan during monsoons are quite humid. The annual total rainfall averages around 88 cm. The best time to visit the city of Kumbhalgarh is during the months of October to March.

Reference: kumbalgarh.in, wiki page on Kumbalgarh

Campaign Trail

Elections: Mitsubishi Cedia - The Great Driving Challenge
Party Name: Freedom Trail
Candidates: Sowmya & Guru
Party Sign: Cedia Sports
Constituency: India and beyond

It has been a journey of 1344 votes and hopefully many more as you read!
Well our “Good Morning, how are you?” at office over the past few days has changed to “Hey! Did you get my email about the Driving Challenge? Have you voted?”

As we race towards the finish line and hope to clear Phase 1, let us introduce you to our committed party workers, who are toiling day and night.

Door to Door campaigning by our party workers….

Party workers cheering after achieving the 1000 vote land mark. Thanks to real time counting the party knows the exact position of the candidates. Lessons for Election Commission!
As a pan India party, our workers are spread across the country. Seen here are party workers mustering at the regional campaign head quarters in Bangalore for another day of hard work.

Thank you all and keep voting!!

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Two for the road

Ergo has featured The Great Driving Challenge which finds a mention of our profile. We are excited that the 'Freedom Trail' is catching on....
Ergo is a Chennai based tabloid from the publishers of The Hindu.
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By Liffy Thomas
Posted on July 8, 2009
www.goergo.in

The road not taken… Sounds clichéd? Well, the much-loved poem of Robert Frost sums up our life story in more ways that one. Our work, passion and interest have taken us to places far and wide. Be it rugged NCC camps or a sophisticated business trip, our travels have given us rare and interesting insights into myriad forms of culture.

Our travel plan: We are working on a concept of a ‘Freedom Trail’ covering five states and one UT, starting from Mumbai. The last leg of the trip will follow the famous Dandi March route from Sabarmati in Gujarat to Dandi in Maharashtra. During the course of the trip, we aim to celebrate our freedom movement and pay tributes to the scores of inspirational individuals who led from the front.
– Sowmya and Guru

A passion for the roads, curiosity to explore inaccessible places and an undying spirit to travel, to name a few, have brought thousands of couples like Sowmya and Guru to the Mitsubishi Cedia Sports Great Driving Challenge, organised by Hindustan Motors Limited.
If we believe what the organisers have to say, the challenge has so far attracted around 10,000 registrations from across India, with Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi topping the participants’ list.
Vroom…

The Great Driving Challenge (TGDC) is a Web-centric campaign for couples. The challenge is to drive 3,000 km in 10 days and tell the world about your travel in the most interesting way by tweeting and blogging about it. But, for that challenge you need to cross various hurdles (read stages).

Starting from completing the registration form answering questions in the most creative fashion to gathering the maximum votes and writing the best profile of the couple, it’s a long process before three winners are short-listed to vroom on the sports car. So, essentially your passion for driving comes later, before which you need to impress the jury with the best credentials and testimonials.

“You need to be a travel and automobile enthusiast, plus harness the power of technology to win the challenge,” says Rajesh Chokhani of Experience Commerce, the campaign designer. “This is more a Web-based reality show conducted for the first time.”

Write your way
You have to read to believe some of the applications. Like, a 65-year-old Captain describes his 30 years of experience driving in 42 countries treading thousand of kilometres. Another talks about going on a ‘Biriyani Trail’ and yet another couple plan to capture the interiors of Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Mudumalai National Park and Periyar National Park and show to the world how small steps by mankind can save the flora and fauna.

Chennai-based couple Harsha Koda and Prabha are busy mobilising votes by emailing and SMSing friends and relatives. Though the two have taken part in many drives, including The Raid-de-Himalaya and Airtel One India Challenge, they probably for the first time are participating along with other couples.

Their journey: “Prabha and I have driven so many times as driver (me) and navigator (Prabha) that we almost know what the other one is going to say or do. I’m a bad navigator. I can’t read maps.

Most of the time I just follow Prabha’s directions blindly. If we ever reversed the roles, we might get lost! And for someone who travels so much by car, let me tell you a secret. If I’m not driving I get car sick. It’s almost like… I was born to drive.”

The big draw
Another attraction of this challenge is that unlike other rallies, where the route is fixed by the organisers, here the participants get to choose the route he and she would like to trail through. Get-set-go!

Source: http://www.goergo.in/?p=4517

Youth Hostels

By Sowmya

As Aditi mentioned, treks organized by Youth Hostels are affordable and safe. In fact they are an easy way of beginning trekking…

Youth Hostelling
The Youth Hostel movement was begun in 1909 by Richard Schirrmann, a German schoolteacher, and Wilhelm Münker, a conservationist, who saw the need for overnight accommodation for school groups so that they could experience the countryside. This started with schools being used during the holidays. Therefore, Youth Hostelling provides overnight stay facility in hostels to youth all over the world to promote travel, tourism and sense of adventure.
Youth Hostel Associate of India (YHAI) is an associate member of Hostelling International and is a Non Government, Not for Profit organization. Apart from adventure sports YHAI also organises national level Seminars and Integration Camps, Cycle Rallies and Camp Leaders Training Courses, Tribal Youth Folk Festivals and Republic Day Camps for the border area youth, Yuva Milap Camps and Workshops for Wardens and Assistant Wardens of Youth Hostels.

Trekking
The YHAI treks are organized throughout the year. They typically last for 10 days excluding the reporting and debriefing days. Trekkers have to report at the base camp and undergo acclimatization. Trekkers are given then given back packs to pack for the trek (please cross check this).

The trekkers are not required to carry tenting and cooking items on the trek. YHAI sets up camps along the trek path for the night halts and the trekkers are given packed lunch. However you will be required to carry water and fill them along the trek path.
The trekkers will have to follow marked path. Typically you will be required to trek anywhere from 10 to 20 km a day.

What to pack?
On the trek please remember to wear comfortable fitting cotton pants and shirt (tees are fine). In case you are trekking in cold weather wear inners and pack monkey cap, woolen gloves. Light raincoats - compulsory. You don’t want to get drenched….

Remember to pack minimal clothes. Every ounce will weigh you down. Remember you want to enjoy the trek. Enough socks in case your feet get wet, a first aid kit and medicine which you normally use at home. Other things you will have to pack include Sleeping Bag, Inner Garments, Trekking shoe and chappal, Sun cap, Towel, Sun Glass, Torch, Water Bottle and water purifier, Plate, Mug and Spoon, Packed Lunch Box, Needle and thread with spare Buttons, Toilet papers, Vaseline (especially for cold weather), Soap, Pen and Note Book to make notes for your travelogue JDo take a camera to capture the scenery and musical instruments for the camp fire. This is optional, though.

How to book?
To go on a YHAI treak you have to be a member. In case you are not, don’t worry you can take a membership when you sign up for a trek. Please look out and book your trek on their website http://www.yhaindia.org/

So, if you have always wanted to trek and have never had an opportunity, YHAI is definitely a good option. Believe me, I am a convert!

Sources: Wikipedia, yhaindia.org

Natya Rekha - a trail of dance

By Sowmya

Initiated into Bharatanatyam at the age of 7, dance became an integral part of my formative years. Training under the watchful eye of a Guru who was a purist, I acquired a solid foundation in the intricacies of the Adavus and the nuances of the Abhinaya in the traditional Tanjavur style.

As my Abhinaya training progressed from simple emotions of devotion and happiness, to the complexities of sringara (love) and viraha (pangs of seperation) as experienced by the nayikas (heroins) of the innumerable padams andvarnams, it helped me explore myself - bringing self awareness. This has helped me in emerging as a confident and self assured woman that I am today.

My journey as a dancer and performer put me in touch with many interesting people and took me to fascinating places over the years. From the magical Chidambaram in Tamil Nadu, to the enchanting Dasara celebrations at Mysore, to the awe-inspiring Brihadeshvara Temple in Tanjavuru, to the ruins of Hampi of the Vijayanagara Empire.
In this post, I try and retrace few of my travels to these exquisite places which have been the foundation of our rich culture.

An opportunity to dance at the Natyanjali Festival brought me and few of my fellow dancers to the abode of Lord Nataraja himself. My joy was unbounded at this honor. This festival opens on the auspicious occasion of the Maha Shivaratri and of course at the right kind of venue, which is the Prakara of the Chidambaram temple.

The morning of the performance, we dressed up in the simple knee length sarees which is popularly known as the ‘practice saree’ and made our way to the Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram. Dedicated to Lord Nataraja, this ancient temple of the Cholas is unique not only because it is devoted solely to the art of Bharatanatyam, but since it is one of the rare temples where Shiva is represented by an idol rather than the customary lingam.

As the priest opened the door of Garbhagudi - sanctum sanctorum after alankara, we had our first glimpse of the majestic Nataraja murti. Lit only by the light of the oil lamps the God of Dance stood there in perfection.

We recite the shloka taught by our Guru in union, "Aangikam bhuvanam yasya

I Vaachikam sarva vagmayam II Aaharyam chandra taaradi I Tam namaha saatvikam shivam II" (which means, Whose bodily movement is the (entire) universe, Whose speech is the language of (the universe), Whose ornaments are the moon and the stars, Him we worship, the serene Lord Shiva) and bow our head in reverance...

Just outside the sanctum sanctorum there is a beautiful aavarana where dancers offer Abhinaya and their dance to Lord Nataraja as Sadhana. As I switched on the tape recorder to dance to ‘Bho Shambho Shiva Shambho Swayambo’, I was transported to a different world..... there existed only Me and the Lord, the servant and the Master, the Aatma and the Paramaata. The serenity that engulfed me at this moment is inexplicable………

About Chidambaram

Chidambaram was traditionally known as Thillai, since the place was originally a forest of the thillai, botanically known as excecaria agallecha shrubs. In Hindu literature, Chidambaram is one of the five holiest Shiva temples, each representing one of the five natural elements; Chidambaram is space. The other four temples in this category are: Thiruvanaikaval Jambukeswara (water), Kanchi Ekambareswara (earth), Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleswara (fire) and Kalahasti Nathar (wind).

The temple complex also has a shrine of Govindaraja or Lord Vishnu which lies adjacent to the main shrine and has a beautiful idol of the lord reclining on Adisesha, the serpent. There are two other shrines, one dedicated to Subramanya and the other to Ganesha. In the courtyard, a large Nandi looks on devotedly at its Lord and master through an aperture on the wall.

What is Freedom?

As we sat discussing the ‘Freedom Trail’ over a late lunch at a new Chinese restaurant in Gachibowli we contemplated on what Freedom means to us and to various people around us?

Should the trail just follow the places and people who participated in the freedom movement which got us independence from the British? Or should we look for voices of 'free will'?

While both are valid, it still seemed like we were still looking at only one aspect of the concept of freedom.

Then, what is Freedom? How do we incorporate such a seemingly intangible but powerful concept into a road journey over 12 days in a Cedia Sports?

The concept of the trail

After we were done with the basics of the registration process, the next important task was to come up with a Travel Plan. We were bound within certain parameters that the organisers had stipulated -
a) The travel has to begin from Mumbai and end there
b) The travel requires us to complete a minimum of 3000 km by the end of the drive - minimum of 300 km per day and a maximum of 350 km per day.
c) The finalists will have 12 days to complete 3000 km.

We put on our thinking caps and had our fair bit of banter and arguments about where to go. What should be our theme? Should we have a theme at all? Like all good couples, we finally converged to a theme that we thought is evergreen and reverberates with all of us - FREEDOM! So, we decided to call our travel plan - The Freedom Trail.