What Was So Special About Nashik?

In September 2018 we had the lovely opportunity to visit Deolali in Nashik.

After getting off at Mumbai Airport we took a cab to Nashik via Igatpuri.

I would like to mention here for first time visitors that we were not aware - there are quite a few good Vineyards in Igatpuri itself. If we were, we would have made a stop there. Igatpuri is famous for the largest Vipassana centre in the world. We mentally reserved the plan for visiting sometime in the near future.

It was a bit later in the evening, from Deolali, that we started off to experience the vineyards. Our First stop was not the oft referred and well known Sula, but SOMA Vineyards , just a few kms ahead of Sula.

Soma Vineyards

The property has beautiful well-appointed rooms for the ones who want to spend a leisurely vacation here and Wine tastings for travelers who do not have that much of time in hand.

Soma Vineyards is a relatively new Vineyard with its first vintage starting in 2014 - the place offers India’s first boutique winery’s guided tour in which a Sommelier educates you regarding wine making and takes you through the processes of making White, Red, Rose as well as sparkling wines.

This guided tour is followed by wine tasting session in which they provide you an expert training on techniques of tasting a wine and offer you some finest boutique wines to taste.

The tours and tastings are held throughout the week.

The operating hours are 11:30 am to 6:30 pm and reasonably priced at INR 350 for 5 wines (Cheese platter is at an extra cost).

There are discounts for Students, Corporates and groups.

York

As we finished our wine tour at Soma, we drove to the next very exquisite Vineyard – the York Tasting Room.

Being a full moon night the view was breathtaking. Sitting next to the Gangapur Dam backwaters at the Cellar Door Restaurant serving amazing Indian food with the select wine and the full moon for company was a memory created for a life time. It was an ethereal experience and these pleasant memories will be cherished for long times to come.

York tasting room also offers wine tasting tours, however we did not do the wine tasting here. Again a relatively new Vineyard, but a must watch out for in the future for wine lovers.

It is important to note that there is no way to order online (Soma and York) and they do not retail in all states (Due to government regulations). So advice is to stock up as much as possible when you are visiting there in person!!

Here are my must try recommendations:

At Soma:  Chardonnay, Dessert Rose

At York: Shiraz, Cabernet Merlot

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Farms and Fairs Bring Back A Familiar Feeling

Farm Tours and visiting fairs are the two activities I am never bored of and always excited to attend them year after year. If I get a chance to attend even a local fair, I am the last one to miss it.

I am not just interested in large furniture fair, book fair, leather products fair or the art and handicrafts fair which are common occurrences every year in our state but also the local fairs.

I went to Kerala for a few days and had time before boarding the return train - What did I do in the last hour or so? I visited a local fair.

I went to Jairambaati/ Kamarpukur and due to Ramakrishna's Birthday, what was going on - A fair of course.

On the first Sunday every year, in Siddeshwari Temple near Barasat, there is fair that also hosts celebrity singers.

I attended fairs held in many parts of Kolkata - Shyamnagar, Bidhannagar, Madhyamgram, Parkstreet and the Saturday Haat (Fair) in Bolpur etc.

I mark dates on my calendar to ensure I do not miss any Fair in Kolkata, even the local ones

On the last Sunday of March, I visited one in North Kolkata. I understand even my mother used to attend when she was a little girl. Previously this fair used to go on for a full month, however now it lasts just for seven days.

Holy Mother Kali is usually worshipped during Amavasya (No Moon nights). It is an exception for the Goddess here. It is popularly known as “Choddo Haath Kali Mandir” which is basically the measure of the height of the idol here (the length of 14 arms)

I purposely clicked Goddess's Idol With The Man In Front

As the idol is so huge, there is no option that it can be created anywhere else and brought here every year. So the idol gets built and remains here for the whole year, as part of all seasons. This fair is around that idol in a small area every March.

The Growing Crowd

I cannot quiet explain why I like attending these fairs and never really grow tired of it. It is not for the merry go rides – I hardly get into those. Initially I thought it is because I was away from Kolkata for fifteen long years, I missed these simple nothings much more than I could possibly imagine.

I was also encouraged to visit because of the range of products that you find in fairs, the variety of food – I buy many items from these fairs – Stoles to kitchen items, bags to wall hangings, key holders to glass ware – not because they are definitely cheaper from the super markets but simply because these fairs are their livelihood.

Just For A Few Cents Only..

If I have the capacity to spend a rupee I see no reason why that should go to the already wealthy, if I have the option to spend it here - in these fairs.

For a long time, I believed I love the atmosphere and sound of these fairs, the high energy that people have here, the light and spirit, the life style, the products and the food.

My Favorite Corner 

Only recently it was a simple realization for me that I am mostly caught up with - just the simplicity, the routine, the ordinary approach for an event like this – It is usual work for the shop keepers there like what corporate job is for most of us – routine.

Does The Wall Hint At Something? Livelihood Is So Important, Space Does Not Matter

With that realization, comes huge responsibility – to be mindful where I show my buying capacity!! What I spend is impacting lives.

I will continue to enjoy attending fairs because it is a great feeling to be able to bring that small difference and make this a life style concept.

The Village Women Must Be Doing These In Their Homes -  Buying These Is A Statement

That is the quotient with me and fairs as it brings back a familiar feeling - of warmth, of responsibility and of simplicity.

I Bought This Salt Container

I attended one more fair in February on my way to buy shoes for myself.  We were supposed to go to my sister's house. I pleaded my mother that I will just spend a few minutes and be back. She reluctantly agreed because she knows me.

Artificial Jewelry - A Woman's Favorite Spot  (This One Was In February)

Due to paucity of time, I could not spend much time but I managed to click some shots.

Kid's Delight

The shop keepers come from different parts of West Bengal for these Fairs. This range of pickles here come from Midnapore.

So for me fairs are important - not just for fun component but to make it worthwhile for the participants who place their stalls there. 

I do not know about others but I will wait for Holy Mother to return to this fair next year same time and I will be right here waiting for her return and for the fair that comes with her arrival.

There She Stands Tall - As We Explored The Fair

A Farm Tour - In Search Of Hermit Lifestyle

I am not new to farm tours. Looking for farms to build a hermit of my own is something that I have been doing for more than a decade.

I have been visiting a farm since 2006. I bought a small piece of farmland near Anekal in Tamil Nadu, in the southern part of India - with the hope of building a cottage or an old age home there someday.

I moved to Kolkata in January 2017 and that plot is still lying vacant there with some teak plantation. Did the cottage dream fade? No, it just got magnified and became more real as time passed.

Now this is a different story and this began in July 2016.

I was in Bangalore then - when I first saw the advertisement. I called the developer to understand the nine yards of this project as I could not believe the prices and immediately my logical brain forewarned me something was probably wrong.

The person who interacted with me admitted at the very outset – nothing was available at the moment and they were working on a ten year vision.

I whispered to myself “No problem. I am perfectly alright with that” I did not have the required money then. So I am in no hurry. For that matter, I do not have the money even now.

I was dying to see the place and in November 2016, four months later, I finally saw the land.

The Story of Life 

I fell in love with the place the minute I saw it and let me tell you exactly why I liked it so much at the very first sight of it.

It was the horizon – the solitude and the quietness of the place that immediately caught on me. I was literally caught between what I saw and what was the potential of that place.

It is far shot of the exact same spot - Without the Story and Without Life

He was right. It really had nothing. The seller had a plan and the buyer possibly has a dream.

I realized that I have a huge task at hand now – to convince my family, particularly my mother why I wanted to invest in it.

Living Large In Tiny Houses.

I got the documents checked by a lawyer and also online, went ahead and booked the plot. For the time being I told my mother that I was just booking, not really buying because I did not have the money to close the deal

Guess what.

The developer had EMI option with zero interest and he was able to offer this only because this layout was being sold in phases.

Green Everywhere

I have always felt extremely guilty of my moving to Bangalore for better prospects and returning home after 15 years. I have lot of respect for people who stayed back, wanting to do something out of this city, in their own way by making their livelihood, right here, right now unlike us who chose the easy option.

I respect that lady, who is selling cotton Sarees in train, or the house wife who makes dozens of rotis every evening or the young man who is trying to sell properties or that recent graduate who coaches other students while developing his YouTube channel for income.

On a sunny Sunday, last month, I went to see the same place again and this time with a self-drawn pencil sketch of my cottage plan, my laptop and few images.

Hibuscus -  Full many a flower is born to blush unseen
And waste its sweetness on the desert air - Thomas Gray

The security person of the layout was a local resident and spoke high and great of the place as he showed us around. He assured us a dozen times that this place is safe.

My mother went there for the first time. She was just not interested in this investment and I could not persuade to take her earlier to see the place. However on our way back, she was kind of okay, though she thought the place was too far – which means she slowly began to share my vision.

There were onions, lady’s finger, brinjal planted in the layout and drumsticks, bananas hung low in the trees on both sides of the road that we walked.

Can You Spot The Brinjal?

The new status symbol is definitely not money – It is time and it is legacy

The simplicity in routine, a lifestyle that has negligible carbon foot print and an example for others to follow for their own well-being are triggers for me to proceed with this project – A farm tour turned to farm house plan

The Onions - All Scattered.

The costing that the developer chalked out for me after roughly three hours discussion - blew me again. Where the hell will I get that kind of money to build the cottage?

Building Technology can shorten construction time but I need to study its impact on cost. I have been watching YouTubes and reading Quora to understand the difference between RCC and AAC. I understand GFRP reduces cost by 40%.

Farm tours humbles me – literally helps me soul search.

Follow my next blog to check if the cottage dream materializes.

Noticed this as we walked on the road - Pumpkin Plant