When one ends, Another begins

Just after my convocation, I thought what am I going to do next two and a half months? I made a “to-do list”. It involved visiting new places, re-visiting few places, and doing things I never had time for. I thought this is a great opportunity to explore many things. I mean, when am I going to get 2.5 months break next? Maybe, at least, after 30 years when I’ll retire.

So my trips included Vaishno Devi, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Amritsar, Bhilai, Pune and Mumbai. And the best adventure that I had was 16Km rafting in the waters of Ganges in Rishikesh and the Wagah border in Amritsar can really make you feel the pain of partition! More on this some other time but in no language can one describe what you feel inside Jalianwala Bagh.

I really was successful in getting reconnected to my roots. There’s a wonderful ad, sponsored by MP tourism, which has a punch line “Hindustan ka dil dekho”. I have seen that ad sitting in every corner of the country. So I thought I should visit (and re-visit) all those wonderful places. But plans are seldom put properly into action. How shameful it is for people like me who proudly claim to have explored so many parts of India and look forward to make the same claim for the world but have seen little of their own state! I was thinking from a long time to write (or boast) about my hometown. So I’ll do this now.

This time, I surely explored many aspects of my City: Hoshangabad. A small town on the southern bank of river Narmada, 70 Km away from Bhopal. A typical small Indian town where you know most of the people living in your colony. There are many things my city can boast of. Some I knew: it has the only hill station (Pachmarhi) of MP, rock paintings (at Bhim Batheka) dating 9000 years back are here (if you open Wiki and search for India, “Bhim-Batheka” is used to show the life of Indian civilization) and river Narmada is in its widest (650-700 meters!), deepest (300-400 feet) and cleanest form here.

And there are some really astonishing facts that I didn’t know: farmland here is at least 3 times costlier than the rates else where in the whole state! I can guess the reason for that. No shortage of water (Thanks to Narmada) and for underground water, you need to bore only 30 feet. Power cut also is just 2-3 hours as compared to 9-10 hours in many parts of the state during summer. This has actually put my plan of buying farmland and growing mangoes on hold for some more timeL The land here is so fertile that I have heard that farmers from other states have bought land. As a matter of fact, the district stood first in per hectare wheat production in the whole country this year (it produced 45 Quintal per hectare and the distant second was one Punjab district with 38 Quintal per hectare). Though these figures are just numbers for me as I don’t know what this whole thing means other than that this is a good news for farmers here and truly a unique feat.

Enough now. To know more, visit Hoshangabad which is well connected to every part of the country.

Come June 14 and I’ll again become part of the corporate world. And now there’s no escape for me. Earlier, during all those working years, every task I used to take half-heartedly as I always had one thought in the back of mind: “Abhi kar lo ye kaam, maine toh jaldi hi MBA karne nikal jaana hai”. But now, no space for such thoughts. Now I’ve to work but with how much percentage of heart, I’ll know in few days. So embarking upon a new journey very soon. Away from the comforts of home. The breakfasts, lunches and dinners will again be felt like a task. No more sleeps without alarm.

One journey ends and another begins…..

PS 1: The coincidence is that it was FIFA world cup when I joined a company last time and this time too its FIFA world cup!

PS 2: The opening scene of recent release “Raajniti” is Hoshangabad’s Narmada Ghat.

Few snaps of Narmada are attached.