Better late than never… Monsoons have arrived in the city of lakes, bare feet they arrived walking under harsh sun and keeping the drops intact not letting them to evaporate and beating the long awaited thirsts of the Udaipurites.

Every year they come and stay for a month or two and leave saying I will come again and they do. But the city remains the same, the lakes receive a wonderful rainy hello from the clouds and a falling showery good bye when it leaves, giving a falling water triumph at the Fateh Sagar Pal.

Blessed the citizens of Udaipur have been for enjoying the four flavours of nature at the same place. Say it the harsh summers followed by the soothing monsoons and slowly captivating winters, giving us a place to live that the world swears to visit once in their lifetime.

The outskirts of the city appear as the places calling us, say it the fierce river flow in town Jhadol and a long drive in the name of Lord Shiva towards Eklingji Temple and the wonderful wee hours in the never ending green lands of Gulabh Bagh and the evening walk at the most beloved lake of this city Fateh Sagar. The monsoon does not end here, it has much in store- say getting a drench at the Rani Road and following it a sneeze to recall the rainy season at its very best.

The evening in this city are extremely serene with a dark cloud cover tolling over the city and a pleasant cool feel in the natives here regarding the city bath every day. The surroundings here too dance with the arrival of monsoons, the nearby remote villages and the farmers vacation the monsoon is what means to Udaipur.

Take a walk in the Rajasthan Agriculture College, nearby paddy fields and smell the mud, giving experiences like never before. The calculated footsteps landing in the mud ponds and yet a smile never leaves the face. The newly found love of the Udaipur a drive uphill towards; Village Peepliya JI claimed as the highest point in the city circumference.

Say it the drive along the free driven highways and the cautious turns at risky turns and the coffee sipping in mud cups sitting at the ranch of Fateh Sagar Lake. The monsoon in this niche has a special affection that is equally embraced by its citizens.

A sure visit that is due and is awaited every monsoon is a visit at Monsoon Palace aka Sajjangarh Fort. It is something that well appears new and nascent every time oblivious to the same structure but the thing that makes difference is the air that winds around the cliff at the back of the fort.

The hills around the city too, get a wonderful companion in the form of rains and colour themselves every year in green with water supplied from the clouds.

Umbrellas and raincoat are the monsoon tenants but also a reason to step outside and still enjoying the rains. Not a big or a huge city marking a definite attendance in the map but surely a place that is just not overshadowed by its neighbours and peers.

Rains in Shimla (Simla)

The summer capital of the country in the British Raj; a small town situated in the hills where cloud actually make a fair concoction with land and make every visible glimpse in the surroundings a treat to the eyes and a forever place in the memory reel.

The monsoons in this niche of the country are fairly soothing (is what I have learnt about it during my reign of stay there) as rain comes falling down a chill in air naturally rotates around the city and thus inviting higher temperature refining in order to keep the ambience warm.

One more fascinating thing about this beautiful town was- the awareness of people towards city heritage and maintaining its cleanliness hence.  The city smells particularly good in the wee hours of the morning, add to it the dense coverage of the fog making vision a bit blur but safe to have a nice walk of some kilometres around.

The umbrella affair of this town was an eye catcher, say the young or the old; everybody prefers a walk with an umbrella that too appears like a stick helping the walk.

The hills have always been aspiring and something that have separated two human races rather. The one living on the ground tend to be competitive and more involving from the surface. While the one’s living uphill appear as the one’s helpful and simple believing this motto- happy to help.

Life is actually different at every turn in this nation, many languages, multiple cultures, vivid quota of happiness scale and yet sharing a near similar passion- the hunger for currency keeps growing. Bitter but a truth indeed. Perhaps what a truck driver told me, as we were on our way back to Shimla he asked for a lift; we are pahari people, innocent and honest, we are happy to be unknown to the world math of exchanging and purchasing happiness. We respect each and every tourist visiting Himachal and feel privileged in serving them.

The apple canopy at the hill slopes and the narrow road to uphill towns and the walk through mall road in Shimla at the late hours of an evening with the fog walking along and ever smiling shinning and glowing faces all along the way one walks.

The fore word- for the one who has discovered the travelling he/she for sure has given mankind a reason to live many times in one life. A different place, a different culture and same us but every time as we arrive back home, our memory reel gets something new and wonderful. For the essence of travelling resides in the fact that journey is the destination it keeps shifting ahead as we take strides in new cities new towns and new villages.

The waterfall from the skies will always be a trivial thing in our lives and as long as we are here on Mother Earth, these rains will always supply the water that will be needed to resolve the thirst that relieves the civilisations and hence our lives.

(The 2^nd part of this article has been written on basis of a trip to Himachal Pradesh by the author who natively resides in Udaipur.)