Celebrate India – Bhai Dooj with Yatra.com

Being a travel aficionado, chasing adventures comes as naturally as breathing to me. However I

do work too. How else do you think I am able to travel so frequently? A few years back I was in

Agra for strictly business, but this time the adventure decided to chase me instead of me

seeking it. The adventure came in the form of my little sister making a surprise visit on the

morning of Bhai Dooj. The legend says that it is the sister who should visit her brother and not

the other way around because it is considered inauspicious. Honestly, it was totally unexpected

but I was glad that she was with me on Bhai Dooj like always.

Amongst the thousands of festivals that we celebrate, out of which several hundred are

attributed to Lord Krishna alone, Bhai Dooj is a significant one. After slaying the

Demon Narkasura, when Lord Krishna visited his sister Subhadra, she gave him a warm

welcome with flowers and sweets. She also did an Aarti and applied a Tikka on his forehead to

pray for his protection and well-being. Since then, Bhai Dooj has been celebrated by Indians to

acknowledge the affectionate bond that joins a brother and a sister. In return for the sister’s

prayers and affection, the brother promises to keep her safe from any harm and also presents

her a gift. And oh, by the way it is celebrated two days after Diwali every year.

I had not

expected it but

my little sister

had come fully

prepared. She

had aThali and all

the ingredients

that are required

for the Aarti. She

has always been

such a tom boy

that seeing her

all girly for a

change was

hilarious, but I

really appreciated the effort. She completed the Aarti, did the Tikka, tied the red Roli (thread)

around my wrist, fed me with sweets and since she could not prepare a feast (which is the part

of the usual celebrations); she took me out for a delicious lunch at the 5 star ITC Mughal. Now it

was my turn to gift her something. I did not feel like giving her money because she had put in a

lot of effort to make it special for me, so I decided to do something special in return.

You see I usually like to travel alone and I seldom get a chance to travel with my family. So I

decided to take her on a trip, as a return gift, in my own fashion that she would remember for

her entire life. I finished my official work that evening and the next morning we began our own

little adventure.

October end is just the beginning of winters in India and the air is pleasantly chilled. It is the

perfect time to travel anywhere in India, especially north India. We started our trip with a visit

to the Taj Mahal, which set up the rest of our day perfectly. The glow of the warm golden sun,

reflecting upon its white marble, renders it a pristine quality unlike any other monument.

Everything, right to the last tiny detail about The Taj is magical. It is one of the current Seven

Wonders of the World and one of the greatest architectural marvels ever built. The views from

the Taj are spectacular and you should easily be able to fix your eyes on our next destination

from there i.e. The Agra fort.

Agra fort is very similar to the Delhi Red fort, only it is better preserved. It too is made up of red

sandstone. This fort was the symbol of Akbar’s absolute domination and was built at the time

when he was only 14. There are plenty of local guides available but having been to all these

places before, I made for a sufficiently good guide for my sister.

Next on our list was Akbar’s tomb, Sikandra. It is on the outskirts of the city, approximately

10kms from the main city. The construction of the tomb was started by Akbar himself, but it

was finished by his son Jahangir. The tomb is placed in the center of beautifully manicured

gardens. Although there are other beautiful gardens in the city like Ram Bagh & Swami Bagh,

this one has a two-in-one offer; therefore it’s a better deal.

After this we went back to our hotel. She was absolutely thrilled with what all we had done that

day and more so with the manner in which we had done it (on a bike). However, I had one

more surprise for her -a reservation atKayakalp Spa, ITC Maurya. It’s one of the biggest and the

finest city spas in Asia and has been awarded the best city spa. So you can only imagine her

delight.

The next day, we visited our last destination Fathepur Sikri. This city was built by Akbar in

honour of the great Sufi saint Saikh Salim Chisti, after whomAkbar named his

son Salim (Jahangir). It was also the first planned city of the Mughal Empire and thus shares the

status of being a UNESCO World Heritage site along with the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort. It is an

amalgamation of Indian, Persian and Islamic architecture. The site itself is a ghost town and can

give you the creeps sometimes.

This is where our short adventure came to an end. We went back to the city and returned the

bike before returning to the hotel, where we had a lovely dinner. Till date it is the most

memorable Bhai Dooj ever and all thanks to my sister. I learnt an important lesson that day,

that it is not only the one who is being cared for who enjoys it, but also the one who cares. So

go ahead and shower your sister with all the gifts, all the pampering and most of all, with all the

love in the world and you will find joy like no other.

This is how I added yet another member to the family of Happy Travellers. Travelling, which

was earlier considered tedious by my little sis was successfully converted into an adventurous

undertaking during this trip. It’s not how frequently but in what manner one chooses to travel

that essentially differentiates a traveller from a Happy Traveller.

From one Happy traveller to all others out there,

May you have many more joyous trips in the future,

This is Joy signing off,

Take Care,

Travel Safe,

Ciao.

Connect with Yatra.com on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as well.