Muharram Mount Abu

Being a government holiday I had to make my way to an ATM to withdraw some dinero. While at the ATM I was fortunate to witness the colourful Muharram procession led by our esteemed police personnel. They have to preside at all processions taken out by various religious groups throughout the year to see that no wanton  activities take place that could disturb the peace and tranquility of this place. To know more on Muharram I’m directing you to this link ---Muharram

 Muharram

 Cake made in the shape of a Tajia

 Tajias and the beaters

Tjias

Will be posting a short video on the same later today

“Warning” Hoax call Vodafone Mt.Abu

Today a guy called from +919549253989 claiming he was a Vodafone Executive and that since my papers were not updated I was to follow a procedure of inputting a command into my phone so as to verify its authenticity. The command went something like this *131*30*96. I asked this chap to dictate the whole number so I could feed it in at one go, but he insisted that I follow his instructions and to continue feeding the number in. My antenna suddenly went ping and I then asked this dude to verify who he was, to which he replied that his name was Yashwant Kumar and that he was calling from Jaipur.
I then asked him to supply his personal no so that I could confirm his genuineness. He immediately cut off the number this really got my goat, I immediately phoned the Vodafone company, now getting to talk to any of their executives is a real pain in the …well ok the first operator I spoke to was Mehendra who said he would put me through to someone higher to take my complaint, he kept me hanging on for some time AND THEN THE LINE WENT DEAD. Man I could have shot this shit with his own crap I was fuming I retried and after many attempts managed to get another operator this one said his name was Hukum, now hukum   in its literal meaning is I’m at your service. His response was like that of Mehandra, I could have given up but the bloody bulldog within me now made me get mad and I wanted to go for the gullet.
I once again went through all the computer prompts on the Vodafone computer till I was finally able to reach an operator this time it was Abbasali Ansari. Abbas asked me to check the phone No from which I had received the call. I told him the no to which he replied it was not a number from their company and that since it was not one of theirs it was not their problem. SO mates if you have a Vodafone card make sure you check the number calling you is that of the phone company or else you may have to go through a lot of distress and who knows what else. I asked the operator to look into the matter, but anyone living here lives in hopes and dies in despair as probably no one is going to do anything about it. I’m sure my conservation has been taped as I was asked for feedback.
Have any of you reading my blog gone through this experience do send me your feedback.

An early morning walk down Pilgrim Road Mt. Abu

Last night the temperature must have fallen a great extent, the field around my house were covered with thick frost. The frost on the scooter seats were a sight to witness. I picked up my camera and headed for a walk down the old Pilgrim road, this was the road used by the Jain and other pilgrims. It is the road that leads to the world famous Delaware Temples and then on to Achalgarh and Gurushikar where there are temples that are also regularly visited by the devotees. I remember walking as a kid all the way to Gurushikar when the road leading to this place was only a pathway or rightly called a Pilgrims Road.

Today all roads that lead to Abu are tarred ones, the present Pilgrim road is also now known as the Neel Kant Road (literal translation would be Blue Pussy Road). This road today especially during the season period is far for from representing a Pilgrim Road it’s more of a Highway where vehicles ply bumper to bumper.

Have A LOOK AT SOME OF THE SNAPS I TOOK OF OUR FIRST FROST OF THE SEASON.

 Frost even after 8 am

 Frosted dew

Frozen grass

Hey Who says its cold?

Looking for that frozen worm  

Yummy marrow

An encounter with a crazy horse Mt. Abu

It was the summer months and I was going through the relatively empty vegetable market when suddenly I was yanked off my feet. I had just passed a huge horse and it was this animal that had suddenly gone crazy and grabbed me by the flesh on my left shoulder plate. While dangling in the air I managed to let of a wild swing which landed on his snout, this reflex action of mine broke the horses hold.

To say I was shocked would have been an understatement; I was terrified and beat a hasty retreat to get far away as possible from this animal that had gone berserk. Everything happened so fast that only a few people moving around this area had observed what I had gone through. The horse was still pretty mad   and before I could shout a warning he began chasing a young terrified youth. Just then a second horse appeared and this was like providence had intervened, this horse now turned its full attention on this horse, snorting and biting the arrival on its neck. 

Both the animals behaved very strange they seemed to be going at each other , we who were watching all this heaved a sigh of relief when one of them made a beeline out of the market followed by the other . I went to my doctor who made a thorough  examination, the horses teeth marks were embedded in my flesh but thankfully the flesh had not raptured, after giving me a tetanus shot I was discharged. I asked Dr. If I needed any anti-rabies shots to which he replied nay no need,  probably a frustrated horse and not a mad one.

Later I learnt that it was the horses mating season and 99% of the animals were studs, a solitary mare and been recently purchased by one of the horse men operating in Abu. Apparently this female was on heat and hence the strange behavior of the studs in this one horse town of ours. 

Seasonal and Adverse weather condition Abu

Seasonal and adverse weather 

Is Man, in his quest to advance in all disciplines and walks of life and control every element of his surroundings, consciously or unwittingly creating a Frankenstein? Frankenstein is so terrible that he is now being retaliated against internationally for severe and unpredictable weather. Everywhere one looks, one can see a marked change in the climatic conditions around the globe.

Mount Abu this year experienced its hottest and longest summer, the late monsoons and then the November Rain. The long spell of rain in November sure has thrown this Eco-sensitive Abode into a semi-state of confusion. Can you imagine mango trees flowering during the year, even the wild date palm trees have flowered? I’m on the lookout to see what else nature has in store for me.

I only hope we have a short winter and a normal one at that. Abuites are already dreading the coming winter months, especially after seeing the adverse weather in Europe this past week.

 Following the November rain, the mango tree was in bloom.

Date palm in bloom after Nov Rain

 It's Blooming in December

 Shrike

 Tailor Bird

 White-throated Kingfisher