I traveled extensively across India in the 80s and 90s with my parents to all kinds of destinations: beaches, hill stations, cities, religious places, forts, caves and palaces. But there still remains a lot of my own country that begs to be explored.
Having traveled alone a lot during my stay away from family in Singapore, I was now comfortable traveling alone when it wasn't feasible for my wife and infant son to join me. I wanted to make a weekend trip somewhere before the onset of summer, and decided upon Sanchi and Bhimbetka, two UNESCO World Heritage Sites within 50 km of Bhopal.
Having traveled alone a lot during my stay away from family in Singapore, I was now comfortable traveling alone when it wasn't feasible for my wife and infant son to join me. I wanted to make a weekend trip somewhere before the onset of summer, and decided upon Sanchi and Bhimbetka, two UNESCO World Heritage Sites within 50 km of Bhopal.
I headed to VT station straight from work on Friday evening to board the Punjab Mail around 8 PM. One can be rest assured while traveling alone on Indian Railways that an elderly passenger would request you to swap your lower berth seat with their upper berth one. I was only too happy to do so at the request of a middle aged lady, as I barely fit into the side lower berth and can stretch my legs on the inside upper berth. I was then approached by a young lady who asked me if I could change my seat to another coach as she and her cousin had seats in separate coaches. I wasn't too thrilled about switching to a lower inside berth right by the door as the constant opening and shutting of the door meant a few late night knocks on my feet: but the request included the context of a young woman having to travel alone otherwise, and I couldn't refuse.
I alighted at Vidisha, one hour further afield from Bhopal, the next morning. A quick auto ride to the bus station and a 15 minute ride on a public bus took me to Sanchi. The main Stupa in Sanchi was built by Ashoka in 3rd century BC, and the complex grew over the next 1000 years under Satvahanas, Kushans and Guptas. The main stupa, with it's four intricately carved gateways - one in each direction, a double staircase leading up to a circular walking platform around the inner structure, and a giant stone umbrella at the top, remains the main attraction. This is also the site of one of the famed Ashoka pillars. There was a smattering of locals and a school group, but the site was dominated by foreigners.
I left Sanchi a little past noon and took a public bus to Bhopal. All of the regular seats were taken and I found a spot on the bench behind the driver's seat, having to contort my legs to fit in and hunch forward so as not to hit my head into the storage unit above. Thankfully the journey was just a little over an hour, and only a couple of cigarettes were lit in the area during that time.
At Bhopal, I checked in at Ivy Suites, a private bungalow doubling up as a guesthouse. It was located in the upscale Shamla Hills neighborhood overlooking the huge Upper Lake, built by Raja Bhoj around the 11th century. The Indian Union Budget was announced earlier that day: ideally, given the nature of my work, I should have been glued to the television screen back home, but I wasn't going to scrap my travel plans for it. I switched on the wi-fi, gleaned through the major takeaways on the phone and then took off to explore the lake area.
My hotel was situated at a height, and reaching the lakefront, barely 50 meters below, involved a long walk along a circuitous route. A local hotel worker headed that way invited me to join him along a shorter route, essentially involving a careful, gingerly descent through the woods. Besides the usual row and paddle boats one finds at lakes across India, there were some kayaks and sailboats on the water as well. The lake was massive and the neighbourhoods circling it were presumably fun to live in: unfortunately people in India only think of the Union Carbide gas tragedy when they hear of Bhopal. I made a short visit to the Indira Gandhi Manav Sangrahalaya, which featured open air exhibits or different kinds of dwellings found in rural areas across the country. The museum was about to close when I reached there and I could only take a quick peek at the Kerala, Rajasthan and Kutch sections.
At dusk, I headed to Wind n Waves, a MP Tourism restaurant and had a nice cocktail watching the boats on the lake. The day had been an overcast one, making all the exploring more comfortable. An unseasonal drizzle broke while I was enjoying my drink and I had to move to the indoor section. Once the rain stopped, I had some pani puri and paneer momos at a lakeside cafe, took the circuitous long walk back to the hotel and called it a day.
I had hired a cab for next morning's trip to Bhimbetka. En route I stopped at a local roadside joint in a small town to have a breakfast of delicious sev poha followed by warm gulab jamuns that melted in the mouth: I could have had a dozen of those had I not been watching my weight ! Bhimbetka, named after Bheem who was supposed to have spend some time here, consists of the oldest man made things in India: cave paintings dating as far as 30,000 BC belonging to the Mesolithic Age, though a majority of them belong to the historical period. The Stone Age paintings consisted of representation of animals and birds, and hunters with spears, while more modern ones were more elaborate showing scenes of dancing, processions with riders on elephants and horses etc.
It took me about an hour and half to languidly explore the dozen or so caves along a mile long circular route. The experience was enhanced by the constant drizzle and the morning chill, as well as the fact that I was the only tourist present at that early hour in unpleasant weather. There were a couple of locals around, and one of them took pity on me and offered his umbrella which I gratefully accepted. When I tried to tip him before leaving the site, he refused to take any even though I insisted. I have often experienced this before, in far flung corners of the world: in small places where people have little, generous men and women offer you what they have and want nothing in return but a thank you.
I was back in Bhopal back around noon. I had lunch at a restaurant called "Bapu ki kutia" and the headed to the station to catch my return train home. I spent most of the afternoon and evening reading the "Barbarians at the Gate", but additional amusement was provided by passengers on board. One couple was playing "wheels on the bus" for their daughter: it's my son's favorite nursery rhyme and it made me miss him even more! Another couple was teaching their daughter a unique brand of ABC: A for Apple , B for Bada Apple, C for Chota Apple, D for Doosra Apple, E for Ek Aur Apple and so on. I wouldn't have come across this in my circle of friends. In the night, a Bhojpuri song went off on a phone and when I asked the guy to turn it off, he told me it's a new phone his daughter gifted him and he didn't know how to turn it off. The same guy woke up at 3 am, 3 hours before arrival and starting making phone calls to his friends in Bombay about his imminent arrival. If you want to understand India, hop on board it's great railways!
