Visit to a North Eastern State of India

Traveling to different places gives me a kind of thrill and it peps me up. Traveling to new destinations and exploring the new vistas is my one of the favorite passions, therefore, whenever I get an opportunity to travel or visit a new destination, I do not prefer to forgo the opportunity.Recently, I got an opportunity to travel to North Eastern State of India. People normally do no go our to North Eastern states, because of intermittent insurgency over there.



We decided to visit Guwahati and Shillong, which are the capital cities of Assam and Meghalaya states in India. Guwahati is two hours flight from New Delhi. If one goes in train from New Delhi to Guwahati it takes 24 hours. We did not have many days at our disposal, therefore, we decided to fly by air. We got our tickets reserved in a National flight and reached at the airport. Air travel is still considered a costly affair, in comparison to rail travel, here in India, so one does not get many opportunities to travel by air. I was the only one, who had experienced air travel earlier, while family did not have the experience of air travel.



The flight was to take off at 1130 hrs from the domestic terminal of New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. Carrying our bag and baggage, we reached at the airport well in advance. We were informed that it takes considerable time for the various formalities to complete at the airport. We entered the airport at about 0930 hrs and had to undergo with all the security checks. When we proceeded for obtaining our boarding passes for the flight, I requested the manager at the counter to at least give us window seats. She obliged and allotted us two window seats. Then we approached the waiting lounge at the airport. There was considerable time left for the flight to actually take off. We were informed that the flight was on time. We kept chatting and just kept watching the various aircrafts moving across the tarmac through glass windows. Finally, our wait ended and the exit door of the waiting lounge was opened. We moved towards a waiting coach, which was to take us to the aircraft. We boarded the bus with much excitement. Seats were already full and we all had to stand holding the rod. The coach started soon after and it was just 5-10 minutes drive to the waiting aircraft. Kids got excited to see the aircraft, as they were witnessing the same for the first time from the close quarters. There were two entry points through stairs to get into the aircraft, one was from the front side and the other was from the rear end. Kids hurriedly clicked some photographs of the plane through their mobile phones, before entering into the plane. Crew staff greeted as we boarded the plane and we were guided to our respective seats.



Though the seats were comfortable yet there was not much leg space in between the seats. We came to know that the flight was full and it had total capacity of 210 seats. Ours were rear seats so we could see the entire seating plan and interior of the plan from the rear end. The air hostesses were moving back and forth to make the passengers comfortable. They were looking very young, may be in their twenties and wearing mini skirts. They were looking beautiful and nice; however, there were shades of heavy make up. It appeared to us that they have just come out of a beauty parlour. Air hostesses demonstrated their usual security and emergency drills for the benefit of all the passengers. After few minutes the announcement regarding taking off the plane was made and we were requested to fasten our seat belts. The Captain of the flight introduced and briefed us on the public address system about himself and the journey to Guwahati. The plane started to move slowly on the runway and gradually its speed got accelerated. For some moments we felt that we were traveling on a very fast moving bus on a very wide road. And as we were thinking, there was a sudden jerk and we realized that plane had actually taken off from the run way and was heading towards the sky.



It was an awesome feeling and we had butterflies in our stomach, when it took off. Soon we all transfixed our eyes to the windows and could see that building and roads were getting tinnier and tinnier. It was magical and mesmerizing moments for all of us. Great highways were looking like thin lines on a surface from the sky. The aircraft gained height gradually and we started flying above clouds. Mid way our flight the captain of the flight announced that we were flying over the great Himalayan ranges of mountains. It never felt that we were flying in the sky the aircraft appeared stationary to us. Before reaching our destination we were told in the mid sky to fasten our seat belts as the aircraft was getting turbulence. We were told that this kind of phenomenon happens when air packets come in between the aircraft, clouds and sky. In between we had some snacks and coffee on the flight. It was a unique experience seeping a cup of coffee in the sky. Finally, the announcement of landing was made. Soon thereafter, the aircraft landed with thud on the runway. Guwahati airport was not as huge as New Delhi's airport.



We alighted from the aircraft and proceeded to the arrival lounge to collect our luggage. The weather over there was warmer than New Delhi. As per the prior arrangements cars were waiting for us outside the airport to take us to our guest house.We headed for the famous temple in Guwahati i.e. Kamakhya Temple. As we started moving we found that the roads were deserted and shops on the road side were closed. Soon we found out the reasons, it was a holiday over there on account of colorful festival of Holi (I may add here that Holi is an Indian festivals which is celebrated with throwing colors and water on others with fervor and gaiety). We were informed by locals that the festival of Holi is celebrated for two days in that place. When we reached the holy temple, it was devoid of any pilgrims on account of holiday. It is a very old temple and many pilgrims and devotees visit this place on a given day. We were told that had it any other day, it would have taken 3-4 hours to reach sanctum Santorum.



However, we could see the sanctum Santorum. It was dark inside the main area and only few earthen lamps were illuminating. We bowed our heads to deities and took some 'Prasad' and came out. In the courtyard of the temple few of the devotees were playing 'Holi' and were throwing colors on each other. There faces were unrecognizable as it were covered with red, blue, green, black and silver colors. They were local people, who were enjoying themselves. Thereafter, we headed towards our guest house, which to our surprise was on the bank of the river Brahmputra. It is the main river of Assam state in India. The scenery around the guest house was really fantastic. There was a beautiful temple inside the river on an island. River was flowing at a slow pace. It was evening time when we reached there. We just unloaded our luggage had some light refreshment and just rushed to enjoy the river beach. The evening sun was about to set in the river, turning crimson red and looking like a ball. It slowly descended into the river on far end of the river. We just roamed around and tried to submerge ourselves in the serene and calm atmosphere of the river side.



We walked slowly on the river band and returned to our guest house. Our next destination was Shillong another North Eastern States of India, about which I'll write later.