My new year journey. (मेरी यात्रा)

कभी देखा है एक गरीब को रिक्शा चलाते हुए,

खैर देखा होगा, उस रिक्शा पे बैठे हो? खैर बैठे होगे

कुछ ख्याल आता है मन में? मेरे आया, आज जब बैठा उस बूढ़े के रिकशे पर तो एक आह सी, एक टीस सी उठी, उसके चेहरे पर वो सदा के लिए पड़ चुकी झुर्रियां, चेहरे पर झूलती खाल, अपनी लाचारी छुपाने के लिए क्या मस्ती में बातें किए जा रहा था। मुँह से निकलती आह को धुंए में उडाता चला जा रहा था। जी तो किया अभी उठ कर उसका रिकशा ले लू और खुद खींच डालू रेलवे स्टेशन तक। रिकशे की रफ़्तार धीमी थी पर मेरे ह्रदय की धड़कन नहीं।

पल पल खुद पर घृणा आती जा रही थी। खुद को कोस रहा था कि क्यों फ़िज़ूल ही रिकशे पर चढ़ गया मैं, पैदल ही चला जाता फिर सोचा इसकी रोज़ी का क्या होता? एक पल को सुकून मिला। ठण्ड से मेरा शरीर जितना स्थिर था मन उतना  ही विचलित। ये सोचते सोचते न जाने कब सफर खत्म होगया। रिकशे से उतरा तो जी किया। अपना सारा बटुआ उसे दे दूँ। पर न जाने क्यों हिम्मत न पड़ी।

मेरा मन द्रवित हो उठा, मैंने बैठने से पहले किराया 40 रूपए तय किया था पर न जाने क्यों मैंने उससे पूछा "दादा कितने पैसे लोगे?", शायद मैं सोच रहा था क्या पता खुद ही ज्यादा पैसे मांग ले, पर उसने मुस्कुरा कर कहा  "बाबू चालीस रूपए", एक बार फिर मेरे मन ने कहा इसका रिक्शा उठा कर दौड़ा दूँ सारे शहर में, फिर सहसा मेरे मन ने मुझे याद दिलाया तू मजबूर है तुझे चलना है सफर तय करना है। इतना सोच ही रहा था कि उस बूढ़े ने मुझसे कहा "बाबु जी पैसे?" मेरा ध्यान अचानक टूटा मैंने उसे न चाहते हुए भी 40 रूपए दिए और अपना झोला उठाया और बढ़ गया अपने स्टेशन की तरफ। पर उसकी वो झुर्रियों वाली मुस्कान भूली नहीं जाती उसके मुंह से निकलती वो मजबूरी की हवा जो आज हमारे चारो तरफ है देख कर मन में ऐसी वेदना उठती है कि बस कराहने के अलावा और कुछ सूझता ही नहीं।

खैर हो सका तो कुछ समय से सब भूल जाऊंगा। आखिर मुसाफिर हूँ।

खैर साल के आखिर दिन ही सही मैंने ये सीखा सफर है, चलता रहेगा राहगीर है मिलते रहेंगे।

बस तू रुक मत चलता जा दौड़ता जा।

चलता जा दौड़ता जा।

Fake News: No more a challange

Have you heard
Shocked? Let see what happened before that let's read a quote by Ann curry- 'Journalism is an act of faith in the future'.  It's true. Can you imagine a day without newspaper, a day without being updated to your surrounding and worldwide? NO.  But what if all you read as news is fake. With the growing technology we have number of weapons to fight for our rights and share our views to the whole world. Socia media is one of them, with the growing social media uses and citizen journalism Fake news has become very common. Now the question arises what is fake news?
Fake news is a big thing in the field of social media journalism. It can be as simple as spreading misinformation or as dangerous as smearing hateful agenda. Fake news is something which is being spread over social media network without any authenticity and credibility, they are spread for the sake of spreading and also to spread hatred and mislead people.

the digital chip story in rupee 2000's currency after demonetization or your whatsapp inbox is filled with news like snowfall in Mumbai or have you have that rare picture of Mahatma Gandhi with Dalai Lama or you've heard of a 65 year old woman who was accused of child trafficking and later was killed by a mob or have you heard about the news of two young men in Guwahati who were killed by mob as they were accused of kidnapping, and in guilt of not being responsible citizen of India you forwarded it on your whatsapp facebook and twitter and several other social media platforms, so dear you're still a irresponsible citizen of India and even a criminal now.

Reasons behind Fake news:

• -Lack of facts and transparency in media channels
• -Growing industry
• -Lack of faith in journalism and media organisation
• -Internet being the fast medium
• -Cheap data plans

and so on.
Now if there's a problem what can be the anti-tode to it, because it is difficult to analyze the authenticity of news due to heavy internet traffic. Government of India under Ministry or Science and technology in collaboration with Google has started a plan to spread and stop fake news. One person posts a picture of a woman and the picture says that the woman is being molested with a caption describing about the incident in recent say 2018 in XYZ tragedy. To check the credibility of the news open  google in your phones/tablet/laptops > go for "GOOGLE REVERSE IMAGE RESEARCH" >UPLOAD THAT PARTICULAR PICTURE ON THE GOOGLE, the related content will be displayed. To check the exact news, time of the news and it's credibility, opt for Time customize option in Google say for year 2014. The related content will be displayed on screen, for this you might have to search 3-4 pages on Google.
To be on a safer side Government of India has shortlisted few news websites to with zero fake news:

• ‌Internews
• ‌FirstDraft
• ‌Storyful
• ‌Boom
• ‌Altnews
• ‌Dataleads

Similar is with the video, take a snapshot of a particular scene upload it on 'YOUTUBE DATA VIEWER or In Vid(you can directly search it on Google) and get the real news with the same process. To know more about that video you can search about that particular image on 'METAPICZ' or on 'JEFFREY'S IMAGE METDATA VIEWER' to get the detail of camera from which the video was shot.

Fake news can also be judged by carefully analyzing the logo, advertisement, byline, reading 'ABOUT PAGE', date and disclaimer of the particular website.

With the help of these few simple steps the authenticity of the news can be checked and we can prevent alot of mishaps. Fake news is a big challenge for common people and even for journalist these are the tools which can help to fight against it.

हाँ मैं भारत बोल रहा हूँ। (Happy Independence day)

मैं टूटा हु, बिखरा हु, संप्रदायों में बंटा हु, दुखी हूं उखड़ा हु, जात पात में जकड़ा हूँ।

 हाँ मैं भारत बोल रहा हूँ।

अपनी कहानी के पन्ने खोल रहा हूँ।

 हर घड़ी आशा की किरणें खोज रहा हूँ। वार सैड़कों झेल रहा हूँ।

हाँ मैं भारत बोल रहा हूँ।

कसमें खाया करते थे जिसकी,

आज रस्मे तोड़ रहा हूँ।

हुआ लहूलुहान सैकड़ों बार,

फिर भी मौका दिया हर बार, चाहे हो अंग्रेज, पुर्तगाली, डच हो चाहे मुगलों का हमला।

अडिग खड़ा हूँ, अखंड खड़ा हूँ, भले ही थोड़ा झुका खड़ा हूँ।

दुःख होता है, जब अपने बच्चे मेरे टुकड़े करते हैं,

रोज़ सड़क पर, गली मोहल्ले उखड़े  उखड़े मिलते हैं।

 देखा मैंने शांतनु को,

और देखा राम को भी।

आज उन्ही के आदर्शों के चीथड़े उड़ते देख रहा हूँ।

हाँ मैं भारत बोल रहा हु अपने पन्ने खोल रहा हूँ।

 जिस भूमि पर उपजे थे लव कुश, उसपर करखने बनते देख रहा हूँ।

  जिसपर गांधी ने टेकि थी लाठी,

एटम बम बनते  उसपर देख रहा हूँ। जिसपर जन्मे थे भगत, सुखदेव,

 उस माटी पर लालों को चिल्लम फूंकते देख रहा हूँ।

 जहाँ गूंजा था ओम कभी वहां गालियों का रेला झेल रहा हूँ।

 विक्रमादित्य की गद्दी पर, नोटों की गद्दी देख रहा हूँ ।

हाँ मैं भारत बोल रहा हूँ।

पर फक्र मुझे है तुम सब पर,

क्योंकि तुमको बढ़ते मैं देख रहा हूँ।

प्रगति तुम्हारी है मुझसे बढ़कर,

 पर संयम मेरा टूट रहा है।

कब आओगे पुत्र बनकर,

पिता तुम्हारा टूट रहा है।

असमंजस के आंसू बहा रहा है।

 हाँ मैं भारत बोल रहा हूँ।

प्रगति तुहांरी अछि है, पर देखो क्या वो सच्ची है?

हाँ मैं भारत बोल रहा हूँ।

*स्वतंत्रा दिवस की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं।*

Kargil Vijay Diwas (कारगिल विजय दिवस)

जाग जाओ मेरे नौजवानों, कब तक वैलेंटाइन्स डे ही याद रखोगे। कभी अपने देश की खाकी वर्दी पहने -47° में खड़े उस नवजवान को याद किया करो तो शायद तुम्हारे याद करने से ही उसे सर्द हवाओं से राहत मिले।

आज कारगिल विजय दिवस है। यों गुजरते हुए मैंने किसी से पूछ लिया आज क्या है? ब्रहस्पतिवार बोलकर लोग आगे बढ़ गये। मैं स्तब्ध था और दुखी भी। हैरान भी और परेशां भी। याद है आपको आज के दिन हमारे देश के नवजवानों ने पाकिस्तान की सेना को वापिस उनके बंकरों में खाड़ेदा था। तकरीबन 60 दिन तक चले इस महायुद्ध में न जाने कितने ही माँ के लालों ने अपनी जाने गँवाई थी। कोई लाल माँ से मिलते मिलते बिछड़ गया, कोई कल ही आया था फिर भी उसका साथ छूट गया। किसी का सुहाग चार दिन में उजड़ गया। कारगिल में लड़ने वाले शहीदों को हमारी सरकार ने कहा था कि आपको गोली भी लगे तो उफ्फ न करना। हमारे जवानों ने यह जिम्मेदारी बख़ूबी निभाई। पर हमें क्या हमारे घर का थोड़ी था कोई। अजी वो सेना में हैं काम यही है तनख्वा भी तो इसी की पातें हैं।

ठीक है मान लिया, पर क्या हम इतने संवेदनहीन हैं कि हमारे पास 2 मिनट का समय नहीं है कि हम उन शहीदों को याद कर सके। गर्लफ्रेंड का बर्थडे, कुत्ते का बर्थडे, सालगिरह ये सब याद रहता है हमें। पर अक्सर हम 26/11, 26 जुलाई, 15 अगस्त, 26 जनवरी जैसी तारीख भूल जाते हैं। तारिख तो ठीक आधे युवाओं को यह तक नहीं पता की इन दिवसों की विशेषता क्या है। खैर यह तो बस कहने सुनने की बातें हैं, आम बातें है। कौन फ़िक्र करता है इन सब चीजों की। होता रहता है। और तो और दुःख तब और होता जब हमारे देश के जानेमाने समाचार पत्र, हमारे जवानों की याद में एक पन्ना मात्र लिखना भूल जाते हैं। न जाने कब तक चलेगी यह वीडम्बना देश की।

अब क्या ही कहानी सुनाऊ आपको कारगिल की। कुछ पंक्तियों में समेटता हूँ-

गर्व है ऐसी माटी पर

जिसने वीरों को जन्म दिया

जो खेल गये खून की होली

जान हथेली पर रख कर

सलाम है

अभिमान है

गुमान है

मुझे मेरे हिंदुस्तानी

और

मेरे हिंदुस्तान पर।

Not COOL.

Picture Credit: aliexpress.com

What picture comes to your mind when you hear the sentence 'that person is so cool man' ? Most probably a guy with funky glasses, wavy undercut hairstyle, ripped jeans, or a girl with some crazy make up, rainbow painted hair.

What do you think what these cool people do? I guess they post happy birthday Bitch/ asshole on friends timeline on birthdays, abuse for no reason, criticize elders for not knowing things, consuming alcohol, smoking cigarettes, drugs, not giving a damn what people are saying about you, believing that you don't believe in God, public display of affection, trying to insult your friend who isn't that smart as you are, making fun of your school/ college teachers, watching particular TV shows, games or listening songs etc etc I might be missing few more points. But trust me my friend if you are anyone of them, dude IT'S NOT COOL, trust me it isn't.

Why do you think it's cool? Just coz people will start listening to you, people will respect you? Value you more? I am not saying that it's not true, I might be true but not for the long run.

Some of you must be thinking this guy wants to take away all the fun we have in our life, we just joke around for fun, to have lighter moments but have you ever thought about the person whom you were bullying just for no reason.

 Being cool is very popular among kids these days, specially teenagers. The reason behind is everyone wants to establish themselves as the superior one, wants respect from the society, but the question is where will it come from. The answer is just by acting cool, simple. The condition is such worse.. that kids these days think that not studying for the tests and scoring zero next day is also cool. This is like another disease which is spreading on a very large scale. Slowly and gradually kids are so very much involved that they don't even realize about being so busy in acting cool, that it becomes their habit and part of daily routine. Gender inequality is also one of the biggest reason guys trying to do such activities, ti establish themselves as the coolest person in the group, so that thier female friends fall for them. Cinema these days play very important role in provoking people to do such activities.

When it comes to younger kids then the questions arises why they are involved in such activities, the answer is again the race of proving themselves better than the rest of crowd, and from where such feelings come.. EXPECTATIONS, we expect a lot from our kids, but every kid is not smart as Sharma Ji's kid, when the other kids are not able to cope up, they use such methods to prove themselves.

Not only the kids, teens and even the adults are doing such activities. Because now it has become their habits.

Have you ever thought after doing anything like this? Just give it a thought. Is this really fun? Is this really meant to be done?

Smoking cigarettes, consuming alcohol, funky hairstyle, writing shit on your facebook wall and insta stories, making fun of less privileged, insulting teachers, abusing is NOT COOL.

Watch it before it  becomes a disease to you.

Mother's Day (Poem) Hindi

कहूँ क्या शब्द नहीं
बात ही कुछ ऐसी है
माँ शख्शियत ही ऐसी है
'माँ' शब्द नहीं संसार है
प्रेम, करुणा, दया का भंडार है
त्याग की है देवी माँ
प्रेम का सागर है
विशाल जिसका हृदय समुद्र से
है ईश्वर के जैसी माँ।
       Happy mother's day.
                       

Rape - Time to Think. (Hindi)

बलात्कार - यह शब्द तो आज इतना आम हो चला है जैसे बाजार में तरकारी। हर सुबह अखबार खोलने से डर लगता है कि कहीं आज भी तो नहीं किसी की अस्मत लूटी गई, कहीं आज भी तो दरिंदगी नहीं हुई। हर सुबह इस आशा से अखबार खोलता हूँ की शायद आज ऐसी खबर नहीं होगी। लेकिन अखबार के उन मटमैले पन्नो पर बड़े, काले रंगों में लिखा होता है फलाने जगह पड़ोसी महिला से बलात्कार, 6 माह की बच्ची के साथ, 80 साल की वृद्ध औरत के से बलात्कार। पिता, भाई, चाचा, पड़ोसी, बेटा क्या अहमियत है इन रिश्तों की? ज़रा से मांस के टुकड़े के लिए सारी मर्यादाओं को तार-तार किया जा रहा है। मानवीय मूल्य किस हद तक समाप्त होते जा रहे है इसका अंदाज़ा लगाना मुश्किल है। कभी कभी तो डर लगता है समाज को बताने में भी की मेरे यहाँ भी घर मे कोई महिला है, न जाने कब किसका हैवान जग जाए। क्योंकि सबसे ज्यादा होने वाले बलात्कार तो जान- पहचान और रिश्तेदारों द्वारा ही किये जाते हैं।  आंकड़ों की माने तो 94.6 प्रतिशत बलात्कार करने वाले रिश्तेदार ही होते हैं, और उन होने वाले बलात्कार में से 10 में से 4 पीड़िता तो व्यस्क ही नहीं होती। एन. सी. आर. बी की माने तो एक दिन में 109 बलात्कार प्रतिदिन होते हैं, ये वो आंकड़े है जो पुलिस थाने में दर्ज होते और, और जो नहीं दर्ज होते वो कितने है किसी को नहीं पता, किसी पीड़िता को मार दिया जाता है, कभी पैसे देकर मुँह बंद कर देते हैं, कभी शादी करवा कर तो कभी रिश्तेदारी और बदनामी के डर से नहीं बताता कोई।

Picture Credit:
News18.com

हम तो उस देश मे रह रहे जहां पर मंदिर के पुजारी सुबह देवी माँ की आरती उतारते हैं और शाम को उसी मंदिर में जबरन बच्चियों की अस्मत। अब खैर उनको पुजारी  कहना व्यर्थ ही होगा, और हैवानों का तो कोई धर्म नहीं होता। वो हिन्दू भी हो सकता है मुसलमान भी सिख भी इसाई भी । पुजारी तो पुजारी अपने आपको संत, साधक और भगवान का अवतार कहने वाले न जाने कितने ही बाबाओं को कानून ने कटघरे में खड़ा किया है और उन पर बलात्कारियों का ठप्पा लगाया है।

दुःख तो तब होता है जब किसी की 6 साल की बच्ची के साथ ऐसी घटना घटित होती है और हमारी सरकार उसपर कड़े नियम बनाने औए सजा देने की बजाए उसपर राजनीति करती है और अपने वोट बैंक बचाने के लिए चुप्पी साधे रहती है। लेकिन हमारे देश में भी जिम्मेदार और संवेदनशील नेता भी है जो इन घटनाओं पर बयान देते है और कहते है कि लड़कों से गलतियाँ हो जाती है, दूसरी तरफ को चाऊमीन जैसे खाने को इसका जिम्मेवार ठहराता नज़र आता है तो कोई कहता है कि लड़की के कपड़े बेढंग के थे कोई कहता है जब हैवान ऐसी घटना को अंजाम दे रहे थे तब लड़की को उसे भाई बोल कर समझना चाहिए था। और मजे बात तो ये है कि जब ऐसी घटना होती है तो हमारे देेश का जिम्मेदार - जागरूक युवा निकल पड़ता है रात में मोमबत्तियां लेकर और अगले दिन क्या हुआ किसी को पता नहीं सारा जोश बुझ जाता है अगले दिन उस मोमबत्ती की तरह। चार दिन बातें होती है और निंदा होती है और फिर नमस्ते, जिसकी कहानी है अब वो जाने हमसे क्या मतलब। इसका कोई हल निकले या न निकले एक हाल जरूर निकलता माएं अपनी बेटियों को बाहर नहीं जाने देती और देती भी है तो हर घंटे की सुई के साथ उनकी धड़कने बढ़ती है।  खैर अब तो आदत पड़ गयी होगी सभी को यह सब सुनने की, क्योंकि जितनी बार आप एक माह में आपका फ़ोन रिचार्ज नहीं करवाते उतने तो एक दिन में बलात्कार हो जाते हैं, और  हम तो इतने आदर्शवादी समाज मे रहते ही कि अगर हमारे समाज की किसी बहन-बेटी के साथ घटना घटित होती है तो हम उसकी की आलोचना में लग जाते हैं और जो पहला ख्याल हमारे दिमाग में आता है वो यह, की अब इससे ब्याह कौन करेगा। छि: घिनौना लगता है कि मैं ऐसे समाज का हिस्सा हूं। क्या शादी के बस उतने ही मायने है? शरीर से बढ़ कर कुछ नहीं है जीवन में? क्या हमारे जीवन का मकसद मात्रा उतना ही है? या फिर शादी का मतलब यही है  ? या एक लड़की के जीवन की महत्ता बस इतनी ही है? 

जरूरत है हमें शिक्षा की नैतिक शिक्षा की, याद दिलाने की, कि इस जीवन का महत्व क्या है, हमारे मौलिक कर्तव्य क्या है, मर्यादाएं क्या है। ये तभी सम्भव है जब हम नैतिकता का पाठ पढ़े और पढ़ाए।

कष्ट होता है जब जम अपने देश को भारत माता कहते है और उसी भारत माता के आंचल के तले उसकी बेटियों से दरिंदगी होती है, और हम हाथ पर हाथ धरे बैठे रहते है क्योंकि ऐसा हमारे साथ नहीं हुआ।

जरूरत है अपने अंदर के बूढ़े आदर्शवादी को जागने की और दुबारा से नैतिकता और आदर्शों का पाठ पढ़ाने की, ताकि कहीं हमारे  बूढ़े आदर्शों की चक्की में कोई बेटी ने पिस जाए।

Dehradun, Uttrakhand - Shahasradhara, Dainik Jagran, FRI, Buddha temple.

Nature is beautiful, nature is fun. Recently I got a chance in month of April, to explore nature of Dehradun, Uttrakhand, it was my college trip of one day.

I, along with my teaching staff and my fellow mates left Dev Sanskriti vishwavidyalay around 8 in the morning by bus. Dehradun is 49 kilometers away from Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalay. Before reaching Dehradun we decided to pay visit to Shahasradhara, Sahasradhara, meaning thousand fold spring,

which was 63 kilometers away from our starting point. We reached there around 10:45 in the morning, just 10 kilometers before entering into Shahasradhara region the snake like road starts, which is full of adventures and these roads are really surprising you never know what is next, they have sharp curves mountain one side, trench on the other.

It took us 30 minutes to cover 10 kilometers. We parked our bus besides the mountain where there was plenty space. Next we headed towards Shahasradhara, this place has magnificent beauty of nature where water drips from the limestone stalactites, making the water abundant in sulpur and thus the place is known for it's sulphur springs. It is sulphur water spring of relatively lower temperature than its surroundings. It is a warehouse of excellent beauty of caves, waterfalls and terrace farming on stepped by the local people. After reaching this place we visited lord Shiva’s temple and took blessings this is very old Shiva temple known as Tapkeshwar Mahadev Temple along with Drona Guha (Guru Dronacharya's cave) is present in this location, providing a good mythological scenario and an essence of historical importance to the place. People visit and worship here , after that we enjoyed waterfall which was coming somewhere from the mountains in small droplets, water was really cold and pure, it is said it is the water of river Ganges, it seemed like it was raining, we clicked few pictures there and than we entered in a cave which was just near the waterfall. Inside the cave water was coming from the roof, inside the roof there were strange rock shapes, few looked like lord Shiva, sheshnaga- the aasana of lord Vishnu and few were like lotus flower and many other shapes. The beauty of the place was, even after being hindu religious place even muslims were also enjoying the beauty, which is a message to the society for unity. After enjoying in water we decided mountain climbing to have better look of the place and even dry ourselves, within 10 minutes we reached the top of the mountain, this place looked even more beautiful from the top, houses and shops were looking like small shirt buttons and roads were looking like threads, we had a photo shoot there and decided to rest there for a while. There was a water park nearby. After resting and photo shoot we went downhill in the local market which was same as the other except the prices, shopkeeper were selling goods on higher prices. While coming from Shahasradhara we enjoyed ice creams and lemonade, interacted with local people and came back to our bus. We had our lunch in bus itself as everyone had their own lunch packets with them.

After that around 11:45 am we left for Dainik Jagran, Media house,patel nagar. Patel nagar is 18 kilometers from Shahasradhara. At 12:45 we reached Dainik Jagran office we were welcomed there by chief editor Mr. kiran Kumar and deputy chief editor Mr. Satish. We had interactive session with the faculty and gained detailed knowledge about media house, duties and responsibilities of a journalist, we cleared out doubts and querries.

I loved the mustaches of the security guard there in the office.

After this session around 3 pm we left for Forest Research Institute popularly known as FRI. This place is photo shoot hub for youngsters, amusement place for kids and families and great place for those people who are history freak and want to learn something new every second. FRI is located between kaulagarh in the north and the Indian Military Academy to the south. The Forest Research Institute (FRI is an institute of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education and is a premier institution in the field of forestry research in India. It is located at Dehradun in Uttarakhand, and is one of the oldest institutions of its kind.

The Forest Research Institute campus hosts the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA), the staff college that trains officers selected for the Indian Forest Service (IFS). It was founded in 1878 by Britishers. FRI Dehradun is one of the oldest institutions of its kind and acclaimed the world over. The institute’s history is virtually synonymous with the evolution and development of scientific forestry, not only in India, but over the entire sub-continent. Built over a lush green estate spread over 450 hectares, with the outer Himalaya forming its back drop, the institute’s main building is an impressive edifice, marrying Greco-Roman and Colonial styles of architecture, with a plinth area of 2.5 hectares. The building was listed for a time, in the Guinness Book of Records, as the largest purely brick structure in the world. The institute has a developed infrastructure of all equipped laboratories, library, herbarium, arboreta, printing press and experimental field areas for conducting forestry research, quite in keeping with the best of its kind anywhere in the world. It is 7 km from Clock Tower, on the Dehradun-Chakrata motorable road and is of the biggest forest based training institute in India. Most of the forest officers are a part of this institute. The FRI's building also houses a Botanical Museum. FRI has around seven museums which are stuffed with forest products which were made during British period and there are also the samples of various insects, reptiles and remains of animals which were found in the jungles of Dehradun. FRI also contains a museum on forestry. It is open from 9:30am to 5:00pm daily, which an entry fee of Rs 40 per person and a nominal entry fee for vehicles. There are six sections in the museum:

1. Pathology Museum- various kinds of trees and their diseases and their cures
2. Social Forestry Museum- beneficial for common people
3. Silviculture Museum- various trees and their development
4. Timber Museum- various timbers and daily use materials which were used during British period
5. Non-Wood Forest Products Museum
6. Entomology Museum- insects and butterflies.

Main FRI Building

After exploring FRI and clicking a lot of pictures we set off for Buddha temple around 5:00 pm.

It is a Tibetan religious place located in Mohabewala, Clement Town, Dehradun just few kilometers away from ISBT Dehradun. Its also known as Buddha Monestry or Buddha Garden.

Directly from FRI we headed towards ISBT (Inter-State Bus Terminal) until we reached signs for Clement Town. There are a few signs within Clement Town directing one to the temple but as you approach the top of the spire can be seen from some distance as can the large Buddha statue.

Its one of the tourist place in dehradun with greenry everywhere.

Facts about Buddha Temple: The history of Buddha temple in Dehradun started in late 1965 when it was built up as a replica of the original temple monastery in Tibet. It was built as one of the four Tibetan religion schools and was named “Nyingma”. The other three schools are called Sakya, Kagyu and Geluk and also have great importance in the Tibetan religion. It is believed that the temple had been designed and painted by around 50 artists who took three years to create such estonishing structure of golden paint.

There are also shops, restaurants and a book shop. Most of the books are in Tibetan language and are most likely meant for purchase by the large Tibetan community that surrounds the temple.

The interior of the temple is only open to the public on Sundays and one can climb the stairs though the many levels with their ornate decorations to reach the viewing platform. After reaching at the top of the building one can a panaromic view of city dehradun.

Note : Shoes must be removed before entering the temple and there is a shoe check just outside available for a nominal fee. But other days the garden and shops are open.

We clicked photos and interacted with the monks in their disabled hindi, we got to know that all the monks in the temple campus live inside the campus itself and pray. One thing which I found very amusing here was everything was written in Tibetan language but on the donation box it was written ‘daan patra’ in hindi. I have no intention to hurt anyone, its just my observation.

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There were two temples, canteen, shops etc in the premise. The architecture of this place is master piece everything is arranged and maintained beautifully, the architecture is the beautiful example of symmetric architecture, there was a solenoid shaped structure which was believed if you revolve it all your sins will be gone. It is a place of compunction or repentance. 

There was a huge statue of some warrior on the top of one of the temple and the statue of buddha on the other. When we entered the temple we a wave of positivity was observed with immense silence and peace, this place is perfect for meditation. After visiting temple and exploring the places around and enjoying, we felt hungry and decided to have snacks in the canteen. I and three of my friends had chowmein and momos. They charged us Rs. 250 for the whole meal, here what I want to tell you is hit for street food instead of canteen. Number one they serve costly and tasteless food and second thing they have very high attitude level, they won’t talk to you properly, will treat you as they are serving you food for free and you are living on their money. I have found this characteristics in almost all north eastern people and Nepalese, they treat Indians with inferiority at times even while my trip to Nepal I found the same thing. Anyway this matters from place to place, need not worry. After relaxing there we set off for our university, Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalay around 7:00 pm, playing antakchari, & truth and dare.

It was our educational trip to Dehradun but we transformed it into a fun tour. In one single day we explored four places completely without any hustle-bustle.
 It was fun.

This is ME.

Katarpur- Village in a town.

It was my five day trip to village Katarpur, Haridwar Uttrakhand through NSS camp. Katarpur is a small village between Laksar and Haridwar. I reached there by my university bus via Kankhal on 25^th March. I and my fellow mates stayed there in a local school which was arranged for us, we settled ourselves that night, but mosquitoes were angry as we intruded in their territory so they didn’t let us sleep at all. The next morning I woke up around 6 in the morning. Everyone in the camp was served ‘Poha and tea’ in breakfast around 9 am which was difficult to swallow. That breakfast was very delicious that I would never love to eat it ever again. The very next day we went for a survey in a village. Main occupation of people in a village is either farming or mining. The interesting thing is there are more than five schools so if you are on a trip to Katarpur you can take admission in anyone of them for your studies in very less fee.

In the evening village looks like a beautiful scenery painted which used to be in our art books in playgroups, specially near river Ganga. The interesting thing Ganga flowing through this village is very clean. If you are visiting this place you will find full support of people living here as they are very friendly , the only problem in the village is intoxication and health facilities, rest the village is no less than a town. Five kilometers from Katarpur village there is a beautiful temple of Lord Shiva from where you can see river Ganga which looks even more beautiful and peaceful. If one loves nature and wants to go to village this place is perfect because along with flora and fauna one might also get a chance to see wild animals like elephants, deer, fox etc.

All in all this place is more like a town with town like facilities and beauty like village.