Patiala Peg: How a Maharaja’s Bet Created a Legend

Punjab has always fascinated me - its history, its food, and the sheer amount of love its people pour into everything (including the size of their meal portions). Recently, I found myself in Punjab wandering through Chandigarh, Jalandhar, and eventually to the shimmering Golden Temple in Amritsar. Along the way, I collected stories from locals - some unforgettable, some… well, let’s just say the lassi was stronger than my memory. But one story stuck with me forever—the legend of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala.

White Horse, Westbury, England

Sometimes, you come across some marvelous places even when you are not looking for them and sometimes you don't even understand their significance any time soon until you look at your old pictures and then search for that place on internet. 

This is exactly what happened with me when we crossed Westbury, England famous for its White Horse hill figure on the escarpment of Salisbury Plain. We were on our way to Stonehenge and while driving witnessed several white horses in farms and then we witnessed this White Horse hill figure while we drove across the road. Though I did not know the significance of it, still there was something amusing about it which caught my attention and I tried to take a click of it while we continued the drive without stopping.

The Cholmondeley Ladies - c.1600 - 10

The Cholmondeley Ladies

Few stories get stuck in your head... like forever. I am not a fan of paintings to be honest but some paintings do tell a story, a history which you can't forget. This painting by an anonymous artist which is placed in Tate Britain, London is one painting I can't forget. The Cholmondeley Ladies, painted oil on wood tells a story of these ladies who were born on the same day, married the same day, and gave birth the same day, according to an inscription. Just a mere coincidence or something far beyond our understanding eh?

The Last Supper

How often does it happen that you are just walking by some place and then you discover something really amazing? Rarely, right? I was just going through my photo library on my laptop and saw "The Picture" I clicked of "The Last Supper" by Franz De Cleyn, an artist who was the court painter to King James I. 

While, my friends and I were waiting in the long long queue to enter Windsor Palace, Windsor, Berkshire, UK, I thought to step out of the queue to explore the surroundings of this small beautiful vibrant town. As I crossed the Windsor Parish Church of St John The Baptist, I read the board it had outside which mentioned "Do not miss the following items in the Church" and at number 1 it said "The painting of The Last Supper by Franz De Cleyn, court painter to King James I. I remember reading about it in the history books, how can I miss the opportunity to see it in real?

My Journey to Mata Vaishno Devi, Katra: A Blend of Travel and Faith

As we continued our journey after paying our visit to The Golden Temple in Amritsar, it started to rain. Though, we knew already that it is going to rain a lot, so it wasn't a surprise. In March, it rains a lot so we were well prepared. Rain did slow us down but it was a relief and made our journey even more beautiful. Around 12 in the noon, we crossed Pathankot and entered Jammu. It started raining heavily and we decided to take a stop for lunch at road side Dhaba. After satisfying our stomachs, we had a cup of tea while we gazed outside at the beautiful views of hills while it rained. It was time to hit the road again and now we committed ourselves to not to stop at all on the way. By the time it stopped raining and we caught the speed. We took the new highway which is recently built in 2014 to reach Katra and drastically cut down our travel time. Road was smooth and wide and by evening around 7, we finally reached Katra.

The Golden Temple, Amritsar (Punjab), India

The Golden Temple

It was time for me to wash off some of my sins and hence I planned a trip to The Golden Temple in Amritsar, Punjab, also known as Harmandir Sahib/Darbar Sahib. I further planned to visit The Holy Shrine of Vaishno Devi in Jammu. It was a family trip and we left in the night to reach Amritsar early in the morning. Except for some tea and snacks, we didn't take much stoppages to keep up with the schedule and by morning 8am, we reached The Golden Temple in Amritsar. We parked our vehicle and the temple was still few kilometers away from the parking zone so we hired a Tonga to reach the temple premises. We could have chosen auto rickshaw as well, but why not travel in an old fashion way?

The West Pier, Brighton

The West Pier

Does this happen to you when you see something historic which was grand at one time and now fading away with time? History can be fascinating and can haunt you as well the more you dig. On my visit to Brighton, I certainly enjoyed the beach, The Brighton Pier and the rides it offered, but there was another side of Brighton as well, The West Pier which gave me goose bumps once I got to know the history of it. 

 

The West Pier in Brighton was opened in 1866 with a length of 1115 feet, built with cast iron threaded columns screwed into the seabed. It included a concert hall which was added later.

 

The London Bridge

Image Source

It came to me as a surprise that the original London Bridge isn't in London anymore. The original London bridge was sold to Robert McCulloch of McCulloch Oil and he rebuilt it in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. There is a rumor that Robert McCulloch thought he was getting Tower Bridge instead. Not surprisingly there have been several bridges on the London Bridge site and the present one is just under 40 years old.
 

The London Eye

                                

I stepped out of my apartment on my first weekend in the city to explore my surroundings where I will be spending next couple of months. As I walked along the South Bank of the river Thames enjoying the most cherished, British Summers, I reached the most famous landmark of London, The London Eye. This giant Ferris wheel is the center of attraction and there was a huge queue to get on to that. As a matter of fact, it is the most popular paid tourist attraction with 3.5 million tourists annually.

St Paul's Cathedral, London

St Paul Cathedral

On my first day out while exploring London, I came across St Paul's Cathedral, one of the most famous and most recognizable sights of London. St Paul's Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London and mother church of the Diocese of London.

The present church dating from the late 17th century, was designed in the English Baroque style was part of a major rebuilding programme which took place in the city after the Great Fire of London.

Chandigarh - The City of Peace

I can't even recall when I went on a holiday with my family last time. Never too late, I thought to plan one and it was supposed to be my eight month's old son's first ever trip. Since, it was his first trip, selecting a destination was the most difficult part as my wife had doubt if he will let us enjoy, how will he react outside? Where as I was fine with any destination as I knew he is a son of a traveler so it must be in his genes, but as a good husband, I addressed the concerns of  my wife and we selected Chandigarh as our destination. Given, my aunt lives there, it would be easy for my son as well to get that homely feeling.  The only concern I had was mode of transport since he feels claustrophobic in car, we chose India's most preferred way of traveling, by train.

The British Museum

The British Museum

It was a dream come true when I finally got the chance to visit one of the most talked about museum in the world, The British Museum. Located in the heart of London, it was just few minutes walk away from my office. Not that I am a fan of museums, but I had heard a lot about it and the main attraction I wanted to see was The Mummy of Cleopatra, the last active pharaoh of Ancient Egypt who  represented herself as the reincarnation of an Egyptian goddess, Isis.

Tate Britain - London

Tate Britain

I have been planning to go to Tate Britain since I visited Tate Modern, but finally I got the chance to be there and witness some of the most talked about paintings and art work in the history of the world. I may not be the correct person to explain about these paintings, but I did try to capture the essence of them. Here I present Tate Britain in pictures through my lens.

Bath, England - The Roman Baths

Bath, England is situated approx 156 kms from London. The city was established as a Spa with a latin name Aquae Sulis ("the waters of Sulis") by the Romans in the 60s AD. Romans built baths and a temple on the surrounding hills of the city Bath in the valley of the River Avon around hot springs.

Windsor Castle, England

Windsor Castle

I have been craving to drive since I have been in London. Missing my car, the feeling of sitting on driver's seat and revving up the engine while holding the steering. This was the time to fulfill my desire and me along with my four friends decided to rent a car and go for a road trip to Windsor, Bath and Stonehenge.

Renting a car was a piece of cake and we booked our car a day in advance to be picked up from the car rental agency at 9am on the Saturday morning. I promised myself to be on time and pick the car at sharp 9am as committed, but I was late again as usual. I smartly blamed my other friends for this though deep down I knew it was my fault. After all the blaming game and paper formalities with the car rental company, we finally left for our road trip at 10:30am with sun shining.

Tower Bridge, London

Tower Bridge 

Sometimes, you want to capture a picture exactly as you imagined it. To capture that perfect picture, I was standing again near Tower Bridge, setting my camera, cleaning the lens, treating my digital camera as a costly DSLR.

While I waited for the perfect moment to click tower bridge, I was thinking how I mistook Tower bridge as London bridge for all these years. Well, I was not the only one who thought so. Here's an interesting fact, The City of London sold the original London Bridge to Robert McCulloch of McCulloch Oil and he rebuilt it in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. There is a rumor that Robert McCulloch thought he was getting Tower Bridge instead. Not surprisingly there have been several bridges on the London Bridge site and the present one is just under 40 years old, having been replaced because the previous one was subsiding sideways.

Battersea Power Station - Is this the End or the Beginning?

It can be difficult to let history go and even more challenging to preserve it. Battersea Power Station is one fine example for this statement.

The Battersea power station is the largest brick building in Europe and is notable for its original, lavish Art Deco interior fittings. The building was opened up to visitors for the last time look inside their favorite landmark as a part of the Open House project, London, before it undergoes a radical multi-billion pound redevelopment into offices and flats. Do you think I could afford to lose this chance? I used to see this marvelous building everyday on my way to work and back home without even knowing much about it. But today, I finally got the chance to be the part of it's history and experience it's past. No, my name is not going to be written in golden words or anything, but I did manage to mark my presence at the last visit to the premises ever before its redevelopment.

Science Museum, London - Step into the World of Inventions

Ever wondered what it would feel like to step into the lab of some great inventor? A place where once a great scientist worked, experimented, failed, succeeded and most important, invented the things which reshaped the world.

Wouldn't it be a breathtaking experience to see his very own table where he must have spent sleepless nights to benefit the world where we live in; his tools which contributed to bring the world's greatest Industrial revolution?

An inventor who developed the concept of horsepower and the SI unit of power, the watt, was named after him. An inventor whose improvements to the steam engine converted it from a prime mover of marginal efficiency into the mechanical workhorse of the Industrial Revolution. If you are still wondering who I am talking about, without much secret, I am talking about James Watt.

Tate Modern - London

I am not a big fan of art but I really appreciate the work done by various artists all over the world with their efforts to make the world little more beautiful with their thoughts and creativity.

The Tate Modern is a modern art gallery which is located in central London and it is the most visited modern art gallery in the world with around 4.7 million visitors per year. This was enough for me to visit the most talked about gallery in town.

Homes of Jaisalmer (Rajasthan)

Courtyard of a Jaisalmer House 

The Golden city of Rajasthan, Jaisalmer is named after its founder Maharawal Jaisal Singh. Jaisalmer means "the hill fort of Jaisal". It is known as the golden city because of yellow sand and yellow sandstone used in the architecture which gives golden-yellow look.

Most of the part of this golden city is part of Thar desert, also known as The Great Indian Desert. The temperature is usually high during the day time and nights are pretty cold. In summers the temperature can go as high as 50 degrees which becomes unbearable for human habitation, yet people continue to live and prosper. They have designed the houses in such a way that they provide cool and soothing effect in summers. Made out of woods and mud, they are the most successful way to beat the heat in summers.