Kamal Kapur PHD

To date all my degrees,certificates, have been awarded by an institute, university,a body.
They have been someone else's assesment of me.
I am now working towards a PHD...the award criteria  I have created..and rest assured  I have not made it easy.I have always been a tough task master..more so with myself.   
My topic is TRAVEL ....it is something I really enjoy and have always loved..

Even before I start on the criteria ,credits are due . 
First to my father who was an officer in the Indian Army.
Almost every third year the household was packed,crated and took off for his new posting. 
We did Kanpur,Shahjanpur, Barielly and Nainital in UP;the capitals of West Bengal,Tamil Nadu;Jalandhar,Pune, Hyderabad , Pathankot and then finally Delhi where he retired. 

With him I learnt that there was a merit in every new place . It was challenging to meet new people and make new friends all over again.

Credit is also due to a blog I read written by a school girl who lists 50 places that must be  visited before you die.

My list has 20....ten of which  must be visited before I can award myself a PHD.

My second criteria for the award is that I must document with photographs the places visited..and this must not be done immediately on return..when it is all fresh,but several weeks afterwards which would testify to" Impressions Retained."

Here below is my  warm up ..and it will not count towards the thesis.

Sikkim -  The drive from Baghdogra to Gangtok was mostly along a still angry Teesta River...
 muddy in color from the various landslides that had made many homeless 

Peace and Tranquility

The road had lost most of its metal and repair work was underway resulting in huge traffic hold ups.

None the less there was no queue jumping ,no honking..everyone waited for their turn.
The calm of the monasteries  was reflected in the people.



Color
Almost all homes were painted in shades of either turquoise, or pink  or green. The door and window frames were white  It was unusual but not  bizarre..just cheerful and happy.

It was spring and I was struck with the many shades of green; the moss the  innumerable varieties of bamboo trees ,interspersed with floral brights.

Could I live in Sikkim ? No I do not think so..I am used to my mess and muddle. Could I visit again? Absolutely...The beauty and the peace is very therapeutic.

Siem Reap: It was rushed and I need to go back . 

I am still not over the feeling of amazement..the experience of seeing what I grew up with The Ramayana, The Mahabharata..all of which I considered mine in another country..and existing in the most beautiful  environment....

My guide was well informed .Knowledge wise I could have matched him...having had both the epics read to me several times by my mother.. As a human being I think he had some great qualities starting with simplicity ,sincerity and no short cuts to the task assigned.


Ho Chi Minh,  Hoi An,   Hanoi.

War is ugly...such cruelty..and what extraordinary methods to survive. 
The Cu Chi Tunnels and their stories , are hard to forget,even though HCM as Saigon is now known is a pleasant enough city advertising their coffee but with  all hotel rooms still offering  nescafe  sachets

 An anthill camouflaging a complex labyrinth of tunnels

I love the legends of Vietnam.
Halong Bay  has  more than a thousand islands..which really were pearls that the dragons spat out in fighting a war with attacking  enemies .

My name will live for a thousand years. 

I touched  the crane.
My cult will live for 10,000 years.
That is what the tortoise will ensure.

The Game Parks of Kenya

The Game Parks of Kenya

An Excerpt from Kamal’s Travelogue

If there is an experience that is unforgettable it is the Game Parks of Kenya.

Lake Nakuru – Pelicans in the forefront with Flamingos in the background

They are a visual treat, awesome and breath catching.

I could see many chapters from my geography book had been written sitting there.

Impalas in Savannah Land co-existing with Zebras (in the background)

Last but not the least there was a message of co existence from the animal world that roams freely uncaptivated in its own environment.

Rhino and Buffalo – Two of the Big Five grazing companiably

Giraffe

There are 19 Parks, and I visited 5 of them, including the Kenya Safari Club, which had William Holden as one of its founders and continues to be the Mecca of the jet setters.

Amboselli was my first stop. A four and half hour drive from Nairobi..392 sq.  mtrs. Dry, scrub  sprawling in front of Mount  Kilamanjaro.

Amboselli Mount  Kilamanjaro

The park is strewn with black rocks, solidified lava, bearing testimony to the once active volcanoes that was Kilamanjaro.

In the distance you can spot mini twisters which  are dust, volcanic  ash ,and salt crystals.

There are patches of green that are nourished from a natural underground water supply funneling into clear water springs.

Amboselli is elephants; herds of them; families.. with the young nestling upto their mothers; long curved ivory tusks, the fathers at a distance, all constantly grazing…moving from one patch of green to another.

You can spot them at a distance, you can see them at an arm’s length…and then the entire herd crosses the track right in front of your vehicle with no fear or curiosity..taking you into their world of co-existence.

Amboselli is home to the entire deer family, zebras ..both varieties with their little tails swishing like a metronome…and the magnificent Ostrich.

Zebras and Impalas (in the background)

The ostrich is a bird that is an amalgamation of beauty and power. The male is black in colour and the female tan. The big body rests on spindly legs and a fragile neck. The power is in the big clubbed feet and their long stride.

A first for me was the wildebeest ..best described as a cross between a horse…they have manes…and a buffalo…they are a kind of steel colour, with horns and their stance is aggressive.

Buffalo

Once again hordes of them…many arrived from Tanzania looking for greener pastures in Kenya.

Another first was being taken for a nature walk by a Masai Warrior dressed traditionally with a spear in his hand but with impeccable English..both accent and grammar..

There was also the charm of the Serena Lodge..where you are met at the gate with cool wet towels after every safari sojourn ; the clean, comfortable cottage style rooms, lots of baboons..who do not bother you..if you do not bother them.

A great start for the next stop…Sweet Waters.

Here is where I met the entire Big Five- the lion, the rhino, the elephant, the buffalo and the leopard.

Lion

Rhino

Sweet Waters stands on the equator. You could be having dinner in the Northern Hemisphere and sleeping at night in the Southern Hemisphere.

At the Equator

By –

Kamal Kapur

Beverley Park – 2,

Gurgaon

E-mail – achieversconsulting@yahoo.com