A Night at Gurudwara Paonta Sahib

A Night at Gurudwara Paonta Sahib

I heard about Paonta Sahib when I was travelling to Hemkund Sahib. I read about history of Gurudwara on internet, checked location map and routes to reach there. The desire to visit the shrine had grown up and the day came after two and half years later.

Paonta Sahib is in Himachal Pradesh on bank of river Yamuna. Other Side of river is another North Indian State of Uttrakhand.  Bus plying on Chandigarh-Dehradun route passes by Paonta Sahib. It took three hours for State Roadways bus from Sector 43, Chandigarh to reach to Paonta Sahib.  The bus crawled from crowded lanes of Tri-Cities, flew on planes of Haryana,  and lastly; moved quietly on foothills of Himalaya. I was travelling first time on this route. Green forests of Himalaya on both sides of road created mesmerizing feelings. Winter has started, temperature were reducing but day was still pleasant. Heat of sunlight produced warmth in human body.

Magnificent Gurudwara situated on bank of River Yamuna. Building was large enough to accommodate hundreds of pilgrims. I cleaned my hands, face and went for pray in Darbar. Picturesque view of flowing river was beautiful. Food at Langar hall was delicious. Prasada ( Wheat flour Chapatti) served with daal (lentils) , pickle, chai and dessert halwa was yummy and nutritious. I registered for night stay in Gurudwara. Sleeping hall had 12 beds with neat and clean blankets. Six were occupied for that night. My companions came from different parts of India. We talked for some time, shared our experience of journey to other famous Gurudwaras. I slept while listening to other guys. Journey was not so long but it was tiring and I felt low on energy.

I woke up early in Morning. Completed Nitya Karmas, took bath in cold waters, got ready and went for morning prayer in Darbar. Sun was arising and I wanted to welcome the day.  I clicked photos of River, Sun and Gurudwara. Sun arising from Himalayas, Steady flowing water of Yamuna and White carpet like fog; it was charming, beautiful and pleasant view.

Rising Sun. View from Gurudwara Paonta Sahib

River Yamuna, Himalaya Foothills and floating fog in a Morning of December at Gurudwara Paonta Sahib

Gurudwara has historical and spiritual significance of linkage with tenth Guru. Guru Gobind Ji had lived there and compiled verses of Granth Sahib. History written on stone, a museum describing the history of Sikh religion and weapons of Guruji described the importance of place. Kavi Darbar a venue to hold poetry competitions was in backyard of Gurudwara. A temple dedicated to Yamuna Devi showed devotion to river, which brings life to place. 

Stairs in backyard lead to Yamuna Ghat but gate was closed. Entry from inside was not allowed. I used outer path to reach the Yamuna Ghat. A board displayed there mentioned, how unsafe was to take a dip in river. Number of people drowned in that particular place were written yearly. I paid my devotion to temple there. I had my Brunch in langar hall, bought few books and departed for Chandigarh.

Travel Guide: Bus from ISBT, Kashmere Gate depart for Paonta Sahib. Bus from Chandigarh to Dehradun pass from City. Buses from Ambala or Yamunanagr also departs for Paonta Sahib.

Nearest Places: Gurudwara Bhangnani Sahib

Karbonn Titanium S2 and Flipkart

A Timeline of my Karbonn Titanium S2. "Bought and Returned to Flipkart"

I wanted to buy a Smartphone. Smart, cheap, and a good phone. After spending a lot of time on reading about smart phone, I decided to try Karbonn Titanium S2.

October 22, 2013: I was happy. My order for Karbonn Titanium S2 was delivered. Phone was little heavy but it looked nice. Initially it looked a good deal in Rs 7500.

December 7, 2013: I was sad. My phone was not working. Display went off and it did not blinked. I returned phone to service center and they send it to New Delhi for repair.

Service Center was not so friendly. I had to visit them a no. of times to get a positive response. At last, after 77 days, I received something from them.

February 22, 2014: Service Center packed my phone back in the case, sealed it and returned to me. They told me to give it back to the seller. They also issued a confirmation sheet named DOA, mentioning all details of fault.

Next 15 days proved to be tougher than expected. I sent an email to Flipkart with all details. They called me after two days. Customer Care officer told me that as initial "30 Days" has passed so Flipkart can not replace handset. They advised me to contact a Karbonn Store. I did home work on internet to find official store of Karbonn but there was none. Local store in my city refused to replace the phone as it was not sold by them. I felt cheated and harassed. Flipkart must have known all these things. Anyways, I sent another email to Flipkart explaining the situation.

March 7, 2014: Flipkart called me and agreed to return of device. They arranged the pickup of box and returned my money in Flipkart wallet. I was happy again.

I received another email from Flipkart about the review, I wrote about product. I had mentioned about the ordeal that happened with me on Product Review Page. They asked me to remove content about service of Karbonn and Flipkart. I changed the review otherwise they would have removed it.

I was in dilemma again. Which handset to buy? I have to buy it from Flipkart as money was not returned in cash.

First Experience of Document Attestation in India. Touts, Frauds and Fake Stamps.

Touts, Frauds and Fake Stamps

Moving abroad is always charming but documentation is extremely boring. Let us start the timeline when I was moving to Middle East for my first foreign assignment.

January 2008: It was final. I was moving abroad. Interview had gone well and I was selected. Employer had sent a email with a long list of documents. They need my duly attested educational certificates to be submitted at earliest. I have no idea of attestation procedures but help poured in and one of my friend who had gone through all these procedures, made things simple. With contact details, I reached Patiala House court in Central Delhi. The moment, I stepped out of Auto; touts stormed in. It took me five minutes to find the guy and in those five minutes tens of touts had made their service proposals.

My Graduation Degree was from state of Haryana. New procedures mandated certificates be attested in State Capitals and then by Ministry of External Affairs. Tout; Mr. Bunty explained that it will cost INR 3500. His men will take documents to Chandigarh for State HRD attestation and then another attestation will be done from MEA, New Delhi. I accepted his proposals. It was not possible for me to take a leave from office and visit Chandigarh. I will regret this decision of mine after three years. He told me that if I want to do all procedures myself, official fees is INR 3000. I believed him, do not know why!! and agreed for the deal.

Five days after, I was there again for collection of documents. I checked the Stamps, the first one was fake. The Date of first attestation was before than I had submitted the documents to him. But damage had been done. Other stamp which was based on first, looked genuine. He guaranteed that there will not be any issue. And if something happens, he will take responsibility. Embassy authenticated the second stamp only which looked genuine and I moved abroad.

September 2011:  I was there again in same Patiala House Complex after three and half years. Clock has moved a lot but touts were still there. I was moving to North America and Embassy told me to get the different attestations because the old ones, did not applicable to Hague Convention countries. Bunty was not there. His phone was not answering. I inquired and people told me that he had changed his profession. Other touts offered help but I decided to do things myself. INR 55 was charge for attestation; It was surprising. Examiner told me that HRD, Haryana was fake. I insisted, it is real. He said that they will verify the stamps and if it was found to be fake they will keep the certificate with them. I stepped back, took the certificate, came out and asked to touts. They offered a deal in INR 2000. But this time, I decided to correct the mistakes.

Only option was to get a New Graduation Certificate. I went to university, put up the request. Got issued new certificate and  went to HRD, Panchkula. They issued a letter to university for verification. I carried letter myself, took their reply to Panchkula office and got my Certificate attested in INR 55 only. I had paid INR 3500 for same stamps before. Next day, I went to MEA, New Delhi and got my certificate stamped till evening. It was hectic, took ten days but everything was corrected and I sighed in relief.

Marriage Certificate Attestation in Haryana

Marriage Certificate Attestation Process from Home Dept and Apostille Attestation in India

Certificates are attested by Home department of each State before Apostille Attestation. I belongs to Haryana so Certificate was attested by Home Department in Chandigarh.

1) To Approach Home Department you should have Original Marriage Certificate and Forwarding letter by Local SDM office.

i) Arranging Forwarding letter is a project itself. First Step is to write a request letter to SDM office       requesting forwarding letter for Home Department.
ii) SDM office will issue a request letter to Marriage Certificate issuing authority (MC in my Case) for authenticate Marriage Certificate.
iii) Registrar will reply the letter guaranteeing the originality.
iv) SDM office after receipt of same will issue a Forwarding Letter.

2) Take Marriage Certificate and Forwarding letter to Home Department at Chandigarh which is at Civil Secretariat Sector-1, Near Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh. Contact No. was-0172-2740178

3) Reach Early to Secretariat. They will attest the Certificate on the same day.

Apostille Attestation

 The address is Ministry of External Affairs, CPV division. Tilak Marg, Near India Gate, Next to Patiala House Court. The Process of Attestations from MEA was changed from 1st March 2012. Documents are collected by Govt. prescribed agencies and retured after stamping. The details are given in below mentioned web address.

MEA website with details of attestation

http://passportindia.gov.in/AppOnlineProject/online/consularServices

Marriage Registration in Haryana

Marriage Certificate Registration Requirement in Haryana, India-Muncipal Committee Only

Here are the requirements of Marriage Certificate Registration in Haryana.

i)Two Photographs of Marriage showing Huasband & Wife -Postcard Size

ii) Eight Photos of Husband & Wife size 3"x2"

iii) Rashan Cards of Husband's and Wife's Family

iv) Birth Certificates of Huasband and Wife.

v) Certificate from Place of Marriage(Could be from Temple, Mosque, Gurudwara, Palace or Dharamshala).

vi) Marriage Cards from both familes.

vii) Registration Fees-100 Rs till 90 days of Marriage, 250 Rs from 90 days to one year and 300 after one year.

viii) Statement & Affidavits from Huasband & Wife.

ix) Affidavits from Husband & Wife with Computered Photo Attestation. Prepared on stamp paper in Local Court or in Secretariat Office.

x) Statements and Affidavits from parents of Husband & Wife.

xi) Statements and Affidavits from two witness of marriage.

xii) Statement of priest, Munipal Commissioner and their Affidavits.

All these documents are aligned with Application Form and sumit in Marriage Registrar office.

It is one of the lengthy process of Red Tape in India. The best option is to get marriage certificat in 90 days otherwise it takes years to get it. Good Luck friends.