Exploring a place called Pilani

With T's Dad taking a position in BITS Pilani, we made a 1 day visit to Pilani in Nov 2010 while visiting our families in Delhi and Jaipur. His family (Dad and Mom) had yet to shift completey to Pilani, so we stayed at the guest house. 

This post will cover a few things in Pilani, its history, BITS campus, Birla family museum, their history and miscellaneous stuff. Some other stuff will be covered in a sequel post when our next visit happens.

Background

Pilani is part of the Shekhawati region in Rajasthan (the wiki page with more info and the Rajsthan Tourism page on Shekhawati region). It is located in the district of Jhunhunu.

Location of Pilani - Image courtesy http://www.bbvpilani.com

It's own claim to fame is that it's the ancestral home of the the famous business family of India, the Birlas, who also run the Birla Institute of Pilani, one of the top engineering colleges in the country which now has 4 campuses (Pilani, Hyderabad, Goa and Dubai). The name Pilani is derived from the name of the Jat fighter with Pilania gotra. He died while protecting the fort and the king honoured him for his courage and valor by giving his name to this town.

Location and Climate and other facts Wikipedia

In 2009, on the World Tourism Day, a special feature on Pilani was carried out. 

Places of interest are :

• Birla family haveli and museum- Built in 1862, the haveli is home to beautiful frescos in Shekhawati style of paintings.
  
• The BITS campus and Science Museum- Mif of old world and new architecture. The museum shows working models of science and technical processes.
• Shiva Ganga-
• Saraswati temple 
  
• Pachwati (Deer Park)- Zoo where you will find mostly deer, but other animals as well
• Hanuman Mandir

  
Pics from our trip to the Birla family museum

The entrance

Beautifully carved door

A window

Ceiling with Hindu deities

Photographs of the Birla family

One of the painted courtyards

200+ year old Tusli (Of Basil family) tree in the center of inner courtyard (women's area of the house)

View of the another courtyard

Women's section of the haveli

Orante and elaborate doorway

The intricate artwork on the walls

No wonder, the Shekhawati region is called the open air art gallery of Rajasthan and even India. 


Some other glimpses of Pilani can be found here, A beautiful set of BITS Pilani pics on flickr

Connectivity: Pilani is connected by road from Delhi (210 Km) and Jaipur (220 Km). Its nearest railhead is Chirawa and L Directions to Pilani can be found here or "to Pilani from Delhi"

Blast from the past- "In Bits and Flashes"

The post below is being reproduced from another blog. It is about a 1 week trip I undertook to Kerala. 3-4 days with a friend (female) and the rest with my Uncle-Aunt and cousin in 2007. My cousin was graduating from the Aleppy medical college and his parents were going to be there as well as my mum and other relatives. So I planned my trip to coincide with theirs, but ultimately, I was the only one from the extended family who attended his convocation ceremony!! It was interesting to see how colleges affiliated to one of the top medical exams in the country, still looked like a picture from the 60s. Or 50s. Time seems to stand still in some places.  Anyway, I digress!

So, the 7 day trip was so much chaotically embossed in my mind but I wanted to capture it all without falling in the trap of procrastination. And that should explain the post below!

When: Dec 2007 (13th to 21st)

Where: Kerala (Cochin, Munnar, Thekaddy, Aleppy, Trivandrum/Kovalam (just a short stopover), Kanyakumari

With: Samiksha, Neeta Mausi, Mausaji and Neetu

13th Dec,Thursday
Left for Cochin in afti..Mumbai airport, new terminal, crossword, forgot to ask for a window seat. excited chattering during the flight, good looking airhostesses, bored old man on the left side (window seat facing the east), cochin arrival, ride back from airport, reminded of the recent trip to Calcutta.
Babycorn sabji and some kadhi like thing (forgot the name) and other stuff for dinner. Chatted a bit and slept later. Also took Ghati food stuff (chakils and chikkis) for aunty.

14th Dec, Friday
Kochi sightseeing, synagogue (closed on friday), Basilica Church (closed for lunch), st francis church, shops and perfumes, snake boat and spices, pepper exchange, lovely weather, dutch palace (closed) and parapet at kochi fort, ships, gobhi and squids, chinese fishing nets and the woman driving an auto uttering "bye sweetie" on the mobile, ferry ride, being called kids by the mallu natives (according to the local friend), speed boat ride, cochin shipyard, mint flavoured lemon drink and frothless coffee and cold tea on the floating restaurant. Fabindia, internet cafe, leaving the mobile in a shop, etc. Just Coffee, Dinner, Packing, Sleep.

15th Dec, Saturday
Left for Munnar at 6:30. Trees with bags, Horror movie poster, Breakfast on the way, Radio, Old hindi, CD, Himesh, Skip, Estin, Photo at the waterfall, mischievous laughter during the photos, counting the HCs, cake and nariyal pani, cane baskets, cake houses, misha holiday home, chocs, lunch, dams and lakes, top point, fog, tea gardens, polieceman who knew hindi, 2 cups of tea and his stories, back to hotel, sleep, phone to anu, spilling of the heartfelt views on munnar, matchmaking, church, carols, shopping, suryasoma-egg curry and chappathi, more matchmaking, thekkady plan, "forgot the key inside story, smiling ushers/receptionist with his "heh heh", walk through the small hill, and ever the courteous Estin.

16th Dec, Sunday
Breakfast, left for thekkady at about 8. Tree houses, Dam, Beautiful vistas, smoking mountains, vast forest expanses, tea gardens, spice farms, beauty all around, sighhs and ooohs and aahs, wild buffalo and elephant statues, periyar lake in thekkady, nests on the trees in the middle, spotting of deer and sambars (??), kingfisher (???) on the wire- both while going and coming back. Lunch, monkeys, Samiksha, Pineapple, return to cochin, scenary, sunset (not viisble though), rubber plantations, Frooti at a hotel, Dinner, Peeping at others' plates, dosa-nayi roast/nay sada/whatever. Arrival in Cochin: 9:30 PM. Exhausted.

17th Dec, Monday
Hot day. Left for alleppy about 7:30 AM. NH 47. Uneventful ride. Hotel Raiben. Daku Mangal Singh received us. No breakfast, Backwaters in the boat, hot day though. Coconut water, Eagle, paddy fields, Women rowing a boat with the man standing, ducks, houseboats, sandwiches at the resort, returned back, lunch, to alleppy Med college, The temple (idols' small temple closed..again..), the small girl, photograph, to medical college, parting of ways. Convocation, Mallu speeches, sweaty hall, sweet lemon drink, weird hair cut of a girl, no spoons at the dinner, came back, slept.

18th Dec, Tuesday
Woke up early, Went to the beach, man with the dragon tee at the railway phatak, beach, crabs, camera went out. Left for kanyakumari, sumo, NH 47, Kollam and many other places on the way, a temple, woman playing a shehnai like instrument, beautiful weather, gold shops, backwaters in other towns etc, roundish snack of kerala, trivandrum, beautiful government buildings, reminding of Fort area in Bby, sharma bhojnalyaya, sunset missing in kanyakumari-late+cloudy, view tower, walking around the market. Dinner, shopping, sleep.

19th Dec, Wednesday
Rains at night. No sunrise. Breakfast of alloo parathas, visit to Vivekanand smarak, Thiruvallur statue, ferry, shaded water expanse, meditation hall, wind mills in the distance, lighthouse tower, shell divers, shopping, baskets, shells, knick knacks, etc. Left for kovalam, beautiful beach, but commercialised, crowded, foreigners, bluish water, sunset through clouds, return back, dinner, back to alleppy, late night talks with mausi.

20th Dec, Thursday
Speeches, sounds from masjid, tv, beach, bike, to cochin, ! sharjah, merry christmas, uncle, talks, phone call, sleep..

21st Dec, Friday
Got ready, packed, breakfast, to airport, shopping at airport, family from uganda, good lookin stewards, coastline, backwaters, rivers, greenery, water gradient, shadows of clouds on water, landforms, mountains, lakes, plateaus, mumbai airport, noise, crowds, long line in the restroom, auto, back....powai lake, coconut trees, back home.

22nd Dec, Saturday
Petrol ran out. Refuelling in progress...

Hello World!

Some travel quotes, that capture our philosophy of travelling!

• “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine
• “A wise traveler never despises his own country.” – Carlo Goldoni
•  “To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries.” – Aldous Huxley
• “What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do – especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” – William Least Heat Moon
• “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.” – Lao Tzu
• “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” – Miriam Beard
• ″A traveler without observation is a bird without wings.” – Moslih Eddin Saadi
• “A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” – John Steinbeck
• “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain 
• "The more I travel, the more I realize how little I've traveled"-Tushit