Ib,Orissa.The shortest Railway Station name in India.

Ib is a tiny village near Jharsuguda in the state of Orissa. Its claim to fame is its railway station.It has the shortest railway station name in India along with Od in Gujarat.

Last Sunday I went to Ib to have a look at the station.Yes you read that right,I went to a remote railway station just because it had the shortest name in India.

I took the Bilaspur-Jharsuguda Passenger from raigarh at 10:30 am.The weather was overcast and cloudy.Perfect for a train journey.As the compartment was full I stood near the door.The cool air with the fragrance of the forest trees was flowing over my face numbing my cheeks.After sometime a slight stinging feeling developed on my face and I withdrew inside a little.  
Remote Indian railway stations are very beautiful and are the perfect getaways for people who love nature.Simply sitting on the benches of the deserted platforms offers so much peace.I passed through the several small stations before I reached Ib.

I got down at the lonely platform. Barring me I saw only a couple get down here.
This moment reminded me of Sherlock Holmes who,in many a case, goes to the charming English countryside in trains.This felt similar.
I looked around and just right ahead several metres away was the foot over bridge.I clambered up the stairs and took in the sight.To the left of where I was standing there was a row of British like brick cottages with comfortable space between them on uneven terrain.There was a small gentle hill on which ran a small footpath.It looked quaint in the cloudy atmosphere.
To the right of me was a small river flowing nearby the station.There was a shabby pump house on the banks.I waited here taking in the sight and planning my next move.
The train which was still on the platform gave a shrill horn waking me from my reverie.It slowly lumbered away disappearing over the horizon leaving me alone on the bridge.The silence was wonderful.I stood there in the silence enjoying it.

I then went towards those little cottages which I mentioned earlier and looked around.I saw a man in a railways uniform.I approached him and asked him,just to make sure,about the next train to raigarh. After that I asked him if there was any place to eat or buy snack around there.He pointed to a small shack clustered in a row of houses nearby.It didn't look promising but having no other choice I made my way over there.There was a middle aged woman making tea there.I inquired if she had any 'nashta' (snacks) while simultaneously scanning the place.I knew the answer before she replied with a no.But She had some biscuits and Haldiram packets which I bought.Now armed with some food I thought of going to the rail bridge over the river just at the beginning of the station.I went there,found a spot for myself and sat down.The view was wonderful.In front me were two bridges over the river Ib. I sat at one end of one of the bridges.down below a few people were bathing.At some distance away a couple of youngsters dressed only in their undergarments were practicing dance moves.One of them was hyper excited and kept jumping around.There voices fell and dropped in the all pervading silence.The weather was just perfect with gentle breeze blowing and the sun hiding under a cover of clouds.I have this habit of calling up friends whenever i am in these kind of peaceful settings.Most of them were sleeping as it was a Sunday afternoon.A few connected and I had lengthy talks.I also took may pics here of the bridge and the few trains that came and went.

Soon the time for my return train was approaching and I strolled back to the station.The station buidling itself was vey small with a even smaller ticketing and waiting area section.I went inside and saw a couple of people sitting there.I asked one of them if the issuance of tickets has started, he replied with a no and told me the process.First the bell would be rung and then issuance of the tickets would start.This was rural india with its still old procedures.I waited patiently and half an hour before the scheduled arrival of the train the bell was rung and ticket counter was open.I took my ticket,thanked the guy who helped me and waited for the train on one of the benches.Soon the train arrived,I boarded  and again stood near the door enjoying the wind blowing over my face.Back in raigarh people complain about not having enough options for picnics or sight seeing nearby.My advise to them-Just pack your stuff and maybe a book or two and go to a nearby rural railway station.And Ib is the best of the lot on the raigarh Jharsuguda line.

Hemgir Palace,Hemgir,Orissa

In a remote village of Hemgir lies the Palace of the Zamindars who once ruled the Hemgir Estate.Covering over 900 sq km including large areas of forests,Hemgir Estate was part of the Gangpur State.

While returning from koiligughar falls we stumbled upon this palace while passing through the Hemgir village.I was the first one to spot it,surprised by the distinct looks of the front façade and the small cuboids at the corners.A house featuring an arch made of lions on the front roof in a village was quite unexpected.I urged the others in the group to stop.We got down and after asking the neighbours about the entrance which was,we found out,at the back,we made our way there.

We walked inside a small doorway and to our right there was a small hut which we assumed to be of a caretaker.Even after repeated knocks and shouts nobody came out so we proceed ahead.To the right there were ruins of a small house with very short pillars at the front.The whole house was characteristically short.

Next we went through another doorway to reach a thatched hut which showed signs of life.Satya being an Odiya himself called out in odiya.An old man came out inquiring.We said we were a group of travellers passing by and wished to see the palace.I was expecting a rejection but to my surprise and happiness he lead us to inside the main palace complex.We looked around.From an inscription I found out the palace was built in 1930.This section looked more modern when compared to the first structure which we had seen.The old man explained that that was the older palace which was built much before the 1930s.The best part was that we found an almirah full of documents.I casually looked at some and was excited to see that some of the documents dated to 1930s and 40s. Since these were private property we were a bit hesitant to look at them.

The old man enthusiastically told us about the palace and a few stories.We were grateful for him for his help and his stories.He informed us that the actual owners still come by sometimes to spend some time in the village.Indeed we saw AC in the windows while leaving.It would have been interesting to meet the owners.Later an on online search told me that the present owners were MLAs.Hemgir ascended to India in 1953.  

Koilighugar Waterfalls,Orissa

Koilighugar waterfalls is a small but lovely three tiered falls lies near the village of govindpur in the Jharsuguda dist.

           Myself along with my work colleagues made a day trip there a few weeks back.Anil sir,Amol sir,Vinay sir,Naveen sir,dhiren,satya and myself made up the group.We started at 8am and after going through many small villages along the way we reached the waterfalls at around 10am.The villages in these pars of India are very beautiful with small ponds everywhere.
           The kolilighugar falls,well, fall in steps.There is a pathway made along the small stream on which the falls are located on the upstream side.One can walk over it to cross over to the other side.There is an ashram just at the start of the walls and there is a small souvenir shop as well.This was unexpected.The stream upstream of the falls along with the forest surrounding it makes for some beautiful scenery.There were even some beautiful ducks peacefully swimming in it.

            We gingerly descended onto the second tier of the falls and slowly entered the gushing water.It was very chilly and fast.Slowly we got accustomed to the cool water.We spent an hour splashing around in the water and then emerged out only when we were content.The area where the water falls is deep and is excellent for people who know swimming and diving.

            It is a nice little place to chill out.Very good for a day trip.But in my opinion not suitable for families with small kids.

How to reach- My friend Satya saved the route we took from our place near tamnar by using the application 'My tracks'
here is the route map.

Hirakud Dam,Sambalpur,Orissa

Late one night as I was thinking about my impending joining in the company I got placed in,the advice I received from my seniors and cousins started flowing in my mind.They all told the same thing.Enjoy now itself, after starting on a job there won't be much time to enjoy.These words kept on swirling in my mind and at that instance I decided to go on a last trip somewhere nearby before joining.I suggested this to satya and ashwin who readily agreed but abhishek and dido had some work and they declined.
It was 2am in the night when we decided to go to Sambalpur to see the Hirakud Dam.We booked the morning 4 45am bus from Tamnar(our place) to Raigarh and checked out the trains to sambalpur.
I did not sleep the whole night and at 4 30am we started out.We took the bus to raigarh,had our breakfast there and took the Hirakud express,which to our convenience was running late.We reached sambalpur by 10am.Ouside the railway station,as we were discussing our next move,we met a affable auto driver who readily agreed to take us to the Hirakud dam for a reasonable price.We accepted his offer and engaged his auto.Sambalpur is a sleepy town with some big industries around the dam region.It also has british era buildings which I very badly wanted to see but couldn't.We reached the dam after a good 20 mins of ride.The place looked deserted.It had do with the blazing sun above. Obviously we had come at a wrong time.
          As we approach by road we reach one end of the dam.You can have a look towards the catchment area but this side doesn't afford many views.The road on top of the dam is out of limits for tourists.There is
a view point on the right side which has a small hill.Special four wheeled autos take people there.We chose not to go.We looked around for some time in the small building which has a plaque and some other bits of info and then our auto driver told us he would take us another area which was near
to the dam gates.We went there.Bribing the security guard there you can enter the small gate and have a look at the big gates from the side wall.After getting down to near the water and taking some pics we decided to go back.The place has nothing to offer to the casual visitor.Only if you are interested in dams is this place good to visit.We then went to the 'Hong Kong Restaurant' where we had some good sea food.Again in the afternoon the Hirakud Express was running late and this was again to our convenience and we boarded it to reach Raigarh by evening,We reached back to our rooms by night time.And I was now satisfied
that I could start my job without any regrets at least for the time being.

Trip to Konark and Puri,Orissa. Day Two.

We got up early the next day and went to the beach which was close to where we were staying.It was 5am in the morning and even at that time there were many people on the beach.It was evident that the sunrise here was famous and worth your time.We spotted the light of a lighthouse in the distance and Ashwin suggested that we go there.We agreed and started walking towards it.On the way we came across anxiously waiting families not wanting to miss the event,sand artists starting there work and mounds of garbage thrown there right on the beach.

Carefully avoiding all these we soon reached nearby the lighthouse where we were disappointed to realize that it was not on the beach as we anticipated but across the road among some buildings.we decided to remain on the beach though Ashwin later went and saw that it was closed.We made a note to visit it in the evening when it would be open.By the time we reached here it was time for the sunrise.I could see streaks of light slowly illuminating the sky and we waited with our cameras ready but to our dismay there were clouds in the distance and the sun rise was covered by them.After sometime everyone left to visit the Lord Jagannath Temple and I remained back at the beach.I walked around clicking pics and observing the people.I spotted a tea shop  with some chairs around and went there and ordered a tea.The tea tasted bitter but the atmosphere was great.The wind caressing my hair and cheeks,the mild warmth of the sun,and bitter yet refreshing taste of the tea made the moment unforgettable.

                       It was 9am when i made my way back to the hotel and by that time abhishek,ravi,ashwin and satya also came back.We had breakfast at a nearby hotel.while we were eating we saw a procession of people holding a string of beads called a harimala in one hand and a small bag containing what I dont know in the other.Most of the people were foreigners.There were kids too in them.The procession was huge and all of them were chanting and this scene reminded me of the fact that Puri is one of India's biggest spiritual centers and is among the seven holiest places in India.After the breakfast we went back to the hotel to take a short nap.At around 11am we got up and changed into our beach wear.Wearing no footwear we walked around the streets.This was the best moment of this trip for me.Nobody gave us a second look as there were many people doing this.Many people were walking towards the beach and on the busy road i could see many cars arriving with more tourists.As it was sunday the crowd on the beach was huge.I spotted a foreign couple taking a surfboard with them.Soon we reached the beach and moved towards a place where there were relatively less people.We ran towards the water and started jumping and screaming as soon as we touched it.We moved in and the waves started beating down upon us and it was exhilarating. This was my third beach visit after Vishakapatnam and Machilipatnam.Even then the fun was no different.Ashwin didn't join us preferring to stay in the hotel than come and get wet in the water.He became the butt of our jokes for the rest of the trip for this decision.
                        After reluctantly getting out of the waters it was time for lunch.We went to a Bengali Restaurant (Looked as if more than half the population of puri is bengali) called 'Dadi Boudi'.We had some authentic bengali food consisting of different types of fish and prawns.After lunch ravi and abhishek went back to the hotel to get some more sleep while satya,ashwin and myself decided to go to the Lighthouse.We walked there and found that there was still an hour to go before it opens.We spotted a tent and three chairs below it on the beach nearby and made our way there to spend the waiting time.

We interrupted the discussion going on between the two guys who were sitting there and asked about the fare.One of them said its Rs30 per chair per hour.We bargained and in the end got Rs10 for each for the hour.We sat down under the shade.We talked among ourselves while looking over at the sea and it felt good.Soon the time was up and we went to the Lighthouse.It opened just as we went and apart from ourselves there was a middle aged man with his daughter with him.We took the tickets and ascended the spiral staircase and reached the top.We had a look at the modern light Emitting Bulb.We took pics at the top and took in the views it had to offer.After that others joined us and we went shopping in the colourful beach market.I bought a bag for my sister and a Konark wheel which i got for a very low price of Rs20.Others all bought somethings and soon we went back to the hotel as we had a 8pm train to catch.We took parcels of food from a nearby hotel and had our dinner on the train.Thus came to an end my first visit to Orissa.
Note- the Lighthouse is open only in the Evening from 4pm to 5pm.

Trip to Konark and Puri,Orissa. Day One

The lure of visiting a new state,the mystery surrounding the konark temple and the cool beaches of Puri,these were the reasons I decided to make a trip to Orissa with my friends.After much planning Abhishek,Raviteja,Satya,Ashwin and myself found ourselves on the railway station of Raigarh. We took the Raja Rani Express and reached Bhubaneshwar the next day at 7 in the morning.

         I was impressed with the Bhubaneshwar railway station.It looked swanky and clean and add to that it was not crowded.We proceeded to the 11th century Lingaraja temple through an auto we hired.En route I had a look at the city.It looked quite spacious and open.I don't know if it was the route we took or its really the case but it did not look like other Indian cities,congested and crowded.Our stop at the state museum turned out to be a dissapointment as it was closed that day.Cursing my luck(as others were anyway not interested) we moved on to the temple.Here everyone left for the puja meanwhile I roamed the streets surrounding the temple.I found a very different atmosphere here.There was big pond nearby and I walked on the road sourrounding it.Pandas draped in saffron were walking around here and there.People were taking dips in the pond.All around me I could see everyone was related to the temple.It was getting very hot and sweat began to drip from my forehead and I made my way back and sat in a nearby juice stall and ordered a maosambi juice,my favorite.As I was sipping my juice my friends came back breathlessly praising the temple architecture inside.I saw the photos which they took secretly(yes,its not allowed).I nodded my head in agreement after seeing the pics.It was really good.Meanwhile everyone ordered some juices and after quenching our thirst,we decided on our next course of plan.

           We decided to go to Konark in the afternoon.After asking around we first decided to board a bus to Konark but having reached the place where we could get the bus we changed our mind when we were approached by a guy telling us that he can take us to Konark with Rs800.We bargained hard with him and finally settled on Rs500.We boarded the mini van at around 1pm and off we went.We didn't regret our decision as the sun overhead was beating down on us unbearably and even in that van we were mighty uncomfortable with the heat.Along the way we had a look at the Orissa countryside.Its just like other parts of India,nothing indistinguishable.I noticed that every village en route had a state bank branch and an

ATM.That was good.contrary to what I keep hearing from people in Orissa that there is no development in the state, I found this quite uplifting.There was some development in the touristy sides atleast,I don't know about other parts. We reached Konark at around 2pm.We had some stops in the middle.The van wala dropped us at some distance from the temple saying that automobiles were not allowed any further.We strolled through the road leading to the temple.There were a number of shops selling small souvenirs.We bought none thinking we would buy something while returning.Later I would regret this decision.

At first look the Konark doesn't impress you at least it didn't to me.As I moved slowly towards it and around it I could slowly comprehend the gigantic task the King Narsimhadeva 2 the one who built this, undertook.
The moment I saw the Konark wheel there was this rush of excitement just like that Gol Gumbaz moment i had in Bijapur.Karnataka.I have been reading and seeing pictures about this wheel from my childhood and to now stand in front of it in person was a good feeling.

We slowly walked around the whole structure and had a close look at the walls.Before coming here as part of the research I did on the temple I found a very good description mentioning some unique and unusual sculptures found here.There is a Chinese women,a Tibetian monk and a giraffe(which is an animal unique in Africa and not found in India).We couldn't find any of them.As the writer of that article correctly suggested taking a guide is a must if you want see the above mentioned sculptures and also for more anecdotes and information.We abandoned our search for these after sometime and took some pics.And then we did what I always insist on doing at these kind of monuments.Sit somewhere and watch the whole thing from a distance.Also Konark is a World Heritage Sight.It deserves your respect.Soon it was evening and we still had to go to Puri before night time  We asked around and an auto wala took us to the tiny and open bustand of Konark. From here we boarded a small bus to Puri. This was the worst part of the whole trip.The conductor shoved in so many people that I couldn't breathe properly.Thankfully we all got seats to sit.That was the only relief.It took the guy an hour and 15 minutes to cover a distance of 30km. I was angry and upset by all this but everything changed the moment I saw the Puri beach in front of us.The sound of the water was like music to my ears.There were so many people on the beach and on the roads.This was a welcome change.We soon checked in our hotel and went out on a walk.Everything looked so full of energy.People were buying stuff from the roadside shops,there were mouth watering food stalls,souvenir shops,little kids excitedly running towards the water,frantic parents running after them,couples lost in their own world and guy gangs like ourselves laughing.We strolled along the road along the beach until we found a nice open air restuarant. We went in and having made up my mind to eat only seafood on this trip I ordered chilli prawn curry and rice.The food was finger licking good and the great atmosphere with the sound of waves crashing and the people talking over it soothed my mind and any traces of anger resulting from that bus ride finally gave away and I was in a totally upbeat mood now.After the dinner we walked back to our hotel and tucked in for the night.

A video of our trip to Puri and Konark