A simple leisure visit to an out of bound retreat

The arterial main road near our home witnesses high security restrictions  in the last 10 days of December.  This year too was no exception.  The  gun toting security police on either side were very vigilant and active in enforcing rules.

 We as usual tried to park in front of the now shutdown odyssey building where there was ample car parking space.  Adjacent to that was the vegetable shop where I wanted to buy vegetables.  But the gunmen politely told us to remove the car. No parking  allowed anywhere on the road not even in the parking space.  Nobody is allowed to even shop in the busiest shopping area for long.” Keep moving” was their mantra.  The restrictions, the vigil all thanks to the President’s convoy which would be taking that route to  reach a heritage palace tucked away in the high security cantonment area of Bolarum in Secunderabad.

Yes, this is where the First Citizen of India has his traditional southern sojourn in the last 10 days of Decemberr.

The  palatial  retreat called ‘Rashtrapati Nilayam’ is the only Presidential retreat in the South of India. Situated in 90 acres of plush greenery, the 2500 sqm centrally located magnificient retreat is single storeyed and has three wings – the president’s wing, family wing and ADC wing.

The most interesting feature of the Rashtrapati Nilayam is the 50 metre long ventilated tunnel that links the kitchen to the dining hall.  This tunnel was built for the safety of the Nizam who was worried that his food could be poisoned by  his enemies.

The building has a little history behind it. This was initially the residence of Chief military officer during the Nizam’s period when Sir Salar jung was the Prime minister and Bolarum was one of the military cantonments of the Nizam government. It later served as the residence of British viceroys . After independence, it again came under the control of Hyderabadi Nizams and later after the merger of the state with Indian union, the government converted it into a resort for the stay of the president.

Since 2011,  the out of bounds retreat and the beautiful garden surrounding the building is thrown open to public but only for the first 10 days of January.

It has  20 rooms in all, a cinema hall, a huge dining hall with regal chandeliers.

Rain water is harvested here resulting in substantial rise in ground water level. Efficient water irrigation and drip irrigation and other eco-friendly practices are observed here.

                                               

So, if you are here  on  a leisure visit to  Hyderabad during this period  and  if you  love to luxuriate in the lap of nature, take a trip here. The huge well maintained estate is a nice place to take a stroll and reflect with an aural treat from the sweet calls of the birds and the rustling leaves for company.

The crisp herbal air from the 116 species of medicinal and aromatic plants  called "Nakshatra vatika" will tingle you and make you feel good.  There is no sign of consumerism or commercialisation here. No entry fee. No branded chip packet sellers or no cola gola outside the gate. You will find only the hyderabadi selling kulfi , roasted peanuts or  channa batana in paper cones.

Also, don’t expect grand architecture or grand entertainment, it will just be a simple leisure visit to a lung space in a city, but a worth remembering one.

All photos taken by my children during our 2011 visit.

When dreams take flight........:)

There are times, when I simply sit in front of the system and incoherent ramblings of my mind  flow through key board and there have been times when thoughts have simply simmered in my mind for years  and have never been translated into blogposts.

Sometimes, it requires a prompt from Indiblogger or product promoters  to make posts like Ancient knowledge to raise healthy generations, the peerless green couple, aromatic memories of the past, or the gourmet party to bring out those thoughts.

These posts were written, re-written and edited before it reached the final stage. Although they were rewritten many times, I never used any reference books as they were a part of my life. The praise or prize alone is not the bait for such contest entry( although I wish I win, I know there are many creative and talented bloggers out there ), the other reason is the massive reach these posts get because of the contest.  

For instance, the  online shopping contest entry talking about indian  return gifts(tamboolam)  had 4000+ views  and i am glad my idea of projecting thanjavur cuisine   had more  than 2000+ views and it reached the premier kitchen brand of India - ITC.  Not many know about Thanjavur cuisine or culture, When you say tamil food most would relate to idli, vada, sambar or may be chettinad cuisine.

 All that apart,for my own personal and soulful development, as well as to enrich and enhance my  thinking/knowledge, there are times when I write a topical post. These passionate posts on culture, traditions etc., sometimes i wish,  had massive reach, hence my contest entries.

How I wish my posts like The power of chanting mantras (240), on a stone bench under a shady tree(266), heritage homes(486) ,bidriware(482) which showcase our culture had more reach.( they were not contest entries)

Not just culture, even posts on travel like tranquebar, Shimsha, Somnathpur, the temples like that of thiruvalanchuzhi (ganeshji made during sagar manthan) did not have massive reach because my posts are not promoted on  my social sites or networked blogs. The link on the network will be a hindrance to my privacy since my neighborhood is on my social network. AlThough, I  try to promote my culture and travel post on a international site so that the glory of india is known.Some of us rely for inspiration on quotes, photos, meme, real life, news, while some like me use prompts like these.

Sometimes, I virtually live my dream through blogging.  "Exploring Europe by Eurail" was one such. To make this post, I had narrowed down on the theme as slow travel but had to do research on the eurail connecting countries. I then again narrowed the cities, read about them and spoke to people who had traveled down there. I just not enjoyed writing that post but simply grew richer in knowledge. While making the post, I almost felt I had been to Europe, such was the feeling. Blogging that way is truly enriching. 

Praise, Prize or no Prize, i consider myself a winner whenever i make such soul satisfying posts.

Well….. what am I justifying by writing all these now? …. Ok…Ok…. Without further ado… Let me justify my  post title........ here’s announcing the “Happy news”:)   

I have been declared the winner of the “ Creating Happy Travelers” contest for the above  dream post" Exploring europe by eurail". Here is the link. The results were declared on Dec 21st. I was awaiting an official confirmation from indiblogger, but I understand from indivine it takes two months to get the prize. I could’nt wait that longer to disclose to you, my well-wishers. A special thank you to all of you who leave such beautiful , insightful and encouraging comments on my contest posts. It does push me to do well. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.

Apart from the regulars, Those bloggers whom I have never even known before had such beautiful messages saying that the win was well deserved.

 Thank you people for the goodwill and warmth shows what goodhearts you all are.

So, that was the "happy news" :)  that i mentioned couple of post back.