In September, I gave a 30-minute presentation on Photographing mountainscapes at Club Mahindra Whispering Pines Resort at Mashobra near Shimla. The audience included the winners and jury of Club Mahindra My Trip of a Lifetime travelogue contest.

In this presentation, I took some images from my archives and spoke about a single feature in the image that made me take the picture, or a feature that stood out in the image. Below are the slides of the presentation.

Photographing Mountains

“Idhar se aap dekhenge to aapko puri Mewar dikayidegi..aur udhar se Marwar” . My guide Firoze smiles as our translator takes over. “He is saying that you can see all of Mewar from here and from there, Marwar, “ translates Rashmi Dhanwani , a human rights activist from Mumbai .

I am at the Kumbalgarh fort in Rajasthan with a group of achievers who have been part of the “Cerebrate team.”Rashmi from our group takes over the role of the translator .

Standing almost at the roof of the fort , I see a 360* landscape of modern day Rajasthan spanning out in front of me.Kumbalgarh fort built in the 15th century by Rana Kumbha in the Aravalli Range had forked Mewar and Marwar and was a political asylum for many princes ,including Rana Udai Singh who later on founded Udaipur, about 90 kms away from here .Feroze continues as Rashmi translates, “Udaipur, Chittorgarh and Kumbalgarh form Mewar , while Jodhpur,Jaisalmer , Barmer is Marwar.”

Pic : Lakshmi Sharath

My eyes trace the 36 kms length of the wall of the fort, said to be the second longest in the world after trhe Great Wall of China. The soft hues of the setting sun caress the walls. My reverie is interuppted by Rashmi who narrates the story of Kumbalgarh. Rana Kumbha ‘s attempted to build the fory, but failed until he met a saint who offered himself as a human sacrifice. The martyr apparently advised the king to construct the fort after his death. “ He said to build a temple where the head fell and the main fort where the body lay and a wall was built along the entire stretch.” We pause by as Firoze shows us the two spots which are now worshipped.

Pic : Lakshmi Sharath

There are nine gates to the fort, the most massive being the Ram Pol or the Ram Gate. We walk past the various gates and gather around Rashmi as she explains.“This is where the lamp was lit,”. According to a legend, Rana Kumbha used to light a massive lamp which used to shine brightly across all of Mewar. “ It is like a symbol of power,” translates Rashmi “and attracted even the queen of Jodhpur to abandon her husband and come here.” The story however did not end up like that of Helen of Troy, as the Rana apparently made the queen his sister and a war was averted.

Pic : Lakshmi Sharath

There are more than 300 temples within in the fort, a mix of both Jain and Hindu temples. “This is where the legendary Rana Pratap was born as well ,” They patiently wait for us to take pictures, before resuming the narration,” Here you can see the royal queen’s rooms including her toilets !” The guide continues,as we walked down the fort and sit on the steps of a temple overlooking the fort. And then the fort relives its glory, but for a few minutes as the lights come on . We take in the scene as silence reigns .

Pic : Lakshmi Sharath

I remember the famous lines from Paulo Coelho’s Alchemist –“If you really want something, the whole universe conspires to help you to get it…” Last December as I sat in my office in Chennai wondering how it would feel to get a taste of winters up north, I had no idea the opportunity would come to me in the guise of work. A week- long trip for work to a Club Mahindra resort in Kumbhalgarh was more than I could have asked for.

Reaching Kumbhalgarh is fairly hassle-free. If you are one of those people who like to save time on travel, the quickest way would be to take a flight to Udaipur and then take a taxi to Kumbhalgarh. Since I was on an official trip and had little time to waste, I did just that.

The drive is just over 2 hours.  The road is good in parts and under construction at rest of the places. It cuts through hills and passes through several small villages; a treat for all who love the countryside. Once I reached Kumbhalgarh I immediately felt the impact of fresh air and the new surge of energy flowing in through the clean, pollution free environment.

Club Mahindra Fort is set right in the lap of nature. It was late in the evening by the time I reached and I could feel the mercury falling. After a warm welcome from the staff, I was ushered to my accommodation – A luxurious tent; set up picturesquely by the hill behind the resort. It was quite a surprise to see how the tent was loaded with all the elements of luxury– exquisite furniture, beautiful lighting, a heating system to keep you warm and an attached bath. These tents offered an alternative accommodation option to guests who want to garnish their stay at the resort with a hint of adventure. Having slept very little, I was too tired to explore the resort so after an early dinner, I dozed off.

My Tent at the Resort: Loaded with luxury!

The next morning, I woke up at 7. I put on my track suit and headed straight for the gymnasium. I have recently got into a fitness regime and it felt great to find a well equipped gymnasium ready for the onslaught. After a light workout I returned to my tent and took a hot shower before heading for breakfast.

With full justice done to a lavish spread, I got involved with the real purpose of my visit – work. I must confess though that I was enjoying it like never before and could feel my efficiency go up substantially.

I spent the afternoon exploring the resort. All in red brick, the resort stands true to its name – “Fort”. Spread over a wide area with a variety of apartment options customized for an individual’s accommodation needs, the resort is quite a treat to the eye. I strolled past a bunch of kids enjoying themselves as they splashed the cold water of the outdoor swimming pool which allows you to enjoy a swim with a beautiful view of the mountains. A flight of stairs descended to ‘Svaastha’, Club Mahindra’s chain of spas. I made a mental note of coming back later for a rejuvenation session if time permitted me. To the right of the spa was the holiday activity centre; a place with is abuzz with kids and families having fun in the evenings. One can enjoy a variety of board games, indoor games, pool etc. There are also facilities to rent movies and books for those who like to spend some time by themselves in their rooms.

The Resort Swimming Pool: Beautifully set up with a view of the mountains

By the time I was through with my stroll around the resort, it was time for lunch. After a sumptuous breakfast I was really looking forward to a second meal and I wasn’t disappointed.

I moved out of the resort at around 5 in the evening to visit the famous Kumbhalgarh fort. The fort is famous for its 36 Kms long wall; believed to be the second longest wall after the Great Wall of China. It is also the birthplace of the famous Rajput warrior and king Maharana Pratap. A resort staff suggested that I should go in the evening before sun set and stay back till it was dark to see the beautiful lighting of the fort which is quite an attraction for the tourists.

The Kumbhalgarh fort is a testimony of the grandeur of the Rajput kings. A steep climb leads all the way to the top of the fort from where one can see the valley below and the clusters of temples built by several kings centuries ago. One of these clusters has as many as 52 temples, a delight for heritage lovers.

Fort Kumbalgarh

 As the sun set, I climbed down to position myself at a high point outside the fort to see the famous lighting. The lights turned on almost one at a time and I realized that the sight truly worth the wait and the effort. I missed not having a good camera with me, my mobile phone’s camera definitely couldn’t to justice, but atleast it helped me capture a memory.

The roads around the resort offer quite a ride to the adventurous traveler. If you are one of those who like to drive then going around the precipitous turns should definitely send the adrenalin rushing for you. But the real sense of adventure comes to you when you go for the Jungle Safari on a 4 wheel drive open jeep. I woke up at 5 the next morning and geared up for the trip. As advised by the friendly resort staff, I left back my wallet in my tent. This was to prevent it from getting lost in the tall grass of jungle in case it fell out of my pocket while the jeep moved over the rough terrain.

A local guide who accompanied us told us that the chances of spotting a wild animal are greater during the night or the early hours of the morning. As we moved across the dense forest, I kept a vigil for the slightest movement in the bushes lest I missed the chance to spot an animal. We saw several langoors, deer, and peacocks on the way but the famed leopards of the area did not come in sight. I had nearly lost all hope when almost out of nowhere I saw them– 4 cubs playing just by the side of the jeep’s track! We stopped a few meters away and observed quietly as the clubs playfully pounced on each other and then almost as if to reprimand them for their behaviour, a beautiful leopard popped out from underneath a huge rock and pulled the cubs – one by one – back inside the rock opening.

During the evenings, you have several options – you could decide to sit in the warmth of your rooms and watch a good movie, enjoy a chit chat with family and friends or you could join the rest of the holidaying families for special programs staged at the resort. Since I was travelling alone, I chose the latter. The program in the evening was a folk dance presentation. The 2 hour long performance by a group of talented Rajasthani folk singers and dancers left the audience spell bound; in fact I can still hear the songs ringing at the back of my head.

Being a travel freak, I ventured on to visit a few other places around Kumbhalgarh as well, one of them being the famous Parshuram Mahadeo temple at around half an hour’s drive from the resort. Reaching the temple is quite an arduous task as one has to climb a flight of stairs and move across the rough terrain to reach the temple premises which are inside a cave. If you have the stamina to pull through a 2 hour long walk -both ways put together-  the journey would be worth it.

There are several other tourist spots around the area, mostly temples, if you have time in your hands. By the end of 5 days, I had managed to complete my work and do a bit of sight seeing around Kumbhalgarh. On the day I was to fly back, I decided to leave early to explore Udaipur.

Udaipur, rightly known as the city of lakes, is a haven for tourists. The city has a very quaint feel about it and one can spend an entire day just moving around the narrow lanes exploring shops selling trinkets and sundry exquisite items. I did some shopping for hand made notebooks with beautiful leather covers. A word of caution: Make sure you bargain hard on the prices or be ready to pay thrice the price for what you buy!

As the flight took off from the airport, I looked down fondly at the slowly disappearing buildings, lakes and trees. If my work continues to bring me such memorable opportunities to travel, I doubt if I am ever going to retire.

It was thought that an organization has to gradually graduate from the bottom line concept to triple bottom line concept.
Triple bottom line implies that an organization besides generating profits should also contribute to society and environment.

CHEERS  stand for Contributing to Health Environment and Education to Re-vitalize the Society. Under this program Mahindra Holidays undertakes activities involving member to that contribute to betterment of society and environment. These activities are aimed at giving an enhanced and meaningful experience to the members.

CHEERS is a concept where Club Mahindra members are involved in activities directly or indirectly contributing to society. One of the CHEERS activities was to support an orphanage near our resort. A trip to an orphanage along with members invoked unprecedented response. Another initiative under CHEERS is to support local artisans and craftsmen. Mahindra Holidays resorts has a souvenir shop, under CHEERS initiative, and a dedicated space has been allocated for selling locally made goods.

CHEERS, as was aimed has brought cheers to the smile of the lesser privileged and an unique emotive experience to members.

Just love the ambience at the Club Mahindra Binsar and Manali resorts. Here is a photo collage, with a soothing music in the background. Enjoy the clip!