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Incredible India

I found this interesting list cum tag at Uniquely Priya’s space and immediately thought of taking it up!

We all know, how vast, rich and incredible our country is! There is a lot to explore, discover and experience from our heritage, culture, food, history, wildlife, pilgrimage, crafts, adventure… I have travelled a bit and this tag is perfect to list what I have experienced and what’s still pending to explore in India.

The rules are:
1. The list contains all the states of India and their capitals are in brackets.
2. Make bold the states you have visited, and mention your favourite memories of that state.
3. Include only states that you have really experienced, and have felt the culture of the place. The touch-and-go while travelling in a train does not count, because that way I believe I’d have seen a little more, but it does not give me a feel of the place and so they need to be actually visited.


Note: The format is State (Capital). The ones I have visited are in bold.


1. Jammu & Kashmir (Srinagar): Jammu, our home for the last 2 years… came with a lot of sceptism but it’s been a wonderful experience staying here. A lot of myths got dispelled about J&K. Have been to Srinagar, Pahalgam, Ladakh…. BEAUTIFUL is the word for Jammu & Kashmir


2. Punjab (Chandigarh): My birth place. Rupar, Chandigarh, Ambala, Ludhiana have been our summer vacation destinations as majority of the clan stays here. A trip to the amazing Amritsar was made last month. The rich food, lively people and trendy Punjabi suits, phulkari work… sure, I’d like to go to Punjab again and again!


3. Haryana (Chandigarh): Since Chandigarh is the common capital, so I have been to Haryana too! Chandigarh is my favourite city. Love the cleanliness, orderliness of the whole place and the shopping at 17 sector. And not to forget Gurgaon!! Was there last week and simply freaked out on shopping at the huge malls!!


4. Rajasthan (Jaipur):  Jaipur is our hometown! Studied in Kota and Bikaner. Jodhpur was our home too for 3 years. Udaipur, Mount Abu has been holiday destinations!! Rajasthan is truly amazing and vibrant in each and every aspect! Padharo Mhare Desh!

5. Himachal Pradesh (Shimla)


6. Uttaranchal (Dehradun):  A wedding of a friend took us to Dehradun and vacations to Nanital and Mussoriee. The Forest Research Institute at Dehradun was very impressive and loved the shopping and bargaining in the Tibetan Market at Nanital and Mussoriee!


7. Uttar Pradesh (Lucknow): The bestest city that we have stayed in is Lucknow! Loved the ‘metro but not a metro’  feel of the place… the kebabs and biryani, the lakhnavi embroidered kurtas and sarees, the multiplexes and huge malls, the culture and tradition, all gave some wonderful fond memories!

8. Bihar (Patna)

9. Jharkhand (Ranchi)


10. West Bengal (Kolkata): Quarterly Official Meetings at Kolkata and a field visit to Malda is West Bengal for me, up till now! Exploring on foot around our hotel, The Park and  rides in a Metro and a Tram (my first ever) showed parts of Kolkata to me. The vastness and a totally crowded Howrah Station at 5 am amazed me! The devotion and faith at Kali Ghaat was mesmerizing!

11. Orissa  (Bhubaneswar)

12. Sikkim (Gangtok)
13. Arunachal Pradesh (Itanagar)
14. Assam (Dispur)
15. Tripura (Agartala)
16. Nagaland (Kohima)
17. Mizoram (Aizawl)
18. Manipur (Imphal)
19. Meghalaya (Shillong)

20. Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal): A two day official meet at Bhopal showed a bit of the city to me.

21. Chattisgarh (Raipur)


22. Gujarat (Gandhinagar) : Ahmedabad was another place, which I visited frequently for work. Never ever missed going for the Gujarati Thali at Vishala and Pakwan and shopping for handicrafts and traditional stuff at Law Garden and Gurjari!


23. Maharashtra (Mumbai): Mumbai, where life runs faster than the clock was our home for 8 years! The dhakka-mukki in the Local Trains and focus on catching the Bo 8:03 F , vada-pav and bhel at Juhu beach, mystical evenings on the Marine Drive, the hot coffee on the road by the coffee-wala on the cycle, the incessant rains, the traffic jams, the roads with potholes, some wonderful friends… created loads of magical memories in Mumbai.


24. Goa (Panjim): The beaches and churches, fun and food, sun and sand, cashews and coconuts, Goa is pure pleasure and fun place! Need a leisure trip to Goa sometime soon, again!


25. Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad ): Frequent work trips to Hyderabad and got to enjoy the ethnic and traditional culture of Rajasthan in AP at Dhola ri Dhani and Ramoji Film City. Bought some pearls and enjoyed the Biryani near Char Minar!


26. Tamil Nadu (Chennai) : Chennai for me is synonymous with Sarvana Bhawan. I was never tired of having breakfast and dinner on all the days of the stay here, much to the chagrin of my colleagues! Buying sarees at Nalli’s for friends and colleagues was fun too.


27. Karnataka (Bengaluru): Bangalore reminds me of sudden rainfall in the evenings and lovely weather. Once I needed to photocopy some papers urgently and while hunting for a shop at 9.30 pm went very far off from the hotel and got lost in the process!!


28. Kerala (Thiruvananthapuram) :I was in Kochi (for an official meet) on my second Karvachauth. It was pouring outside, and inside I could have drowned in my own tears! Finally at 11 pm, after numerous rebuking phone calls from hubby, offered my prayers to the moon God who still chose to hide behind the clouds and had food!


29. Delhi – A frequent destination, the capital city is always fascinating. And last week, a flying visit to the city left me very very impressed. The infrastructure development due to CWG has done wonders! And the bestest I liked is the International T3 terminal (our flight to Jaipur was a connecting International flight!). The international airport is truly world class!

That’s 16 on 29. Wow, not bad!!

There’s still a lot to explore in our Incredible India!

For those who feel we often write about what our country is NOT, would you like this tag to write about how incredible India IS? If yes, go ahead and leave me a link in the comments.

29 Responses

  1. That’s an envious number Shilpa!! Am serious…mine is just half of yours! Yes…there are still a lot of places waiting to be explored 🙂 Enjoyed reading them dear!!

  2. Loved reading this one .. and i will definitely pick it up for sure .. Dont know what i will write but i will definitely maybe tomorrow itslef 🙂

    India is a great country pity we the people have made it bad .. otherwise its beautiful and fun place to be in 🙂

    thanks for sharing

    Bikram’s Blog

  3. WOW !!! 16 on 29 – Fantastic !!! Just loved ur tag and the way you’ve explored so many places in India. 🙂 Such sweet memories which hold u to some places….loved the Karva Chaudh one at T’drum…. 🙂 🙂

    Of course I can try, but my score will be so low…. :blush: If I can do the districts of Tamil Nadu, I might score better…. 😉 😉

    Surely Incredible India !!! 🙂

  4. India is incredible, isn’t it? So many wonderful places! I feel like doing this tag. There are so many places in my wish list, once we come back to India for good. Right now, we hardly get to go sight seeing when we are on holiday 🙁

  5. Though, I claim to have travelled quite a bit, but, your list is much longer and interesting.
    Incidentally,Wish you had contacted us on your visit to Delhi, we would have been happy to meet you.May be next visit now.

  6. Nice tag.. But your list was amazing.. you have been to lot of places and you have actually stayed in so many states throughout your life.. your life must have been so interesting because of that.. I have stayed in various states and have visited other states but not many.. I think I will take it up sometime..

  7. @ Vaish : Thanks 😛 Oh yes, we have so much to explore in India!

    @ Bikramjit : Looking forward to your take on this, Bikram!

    @ Rajlakshmi : Yeah, have travelled a bit, but most of the places were visited before I knew about the WWs!

    @ Anil Kurup : LOL 😀

    @ Kavita : It is on the cards… let’s see, when we are able to make it to the 7 sisters!! 🙂

    @ Priya Iyer : Thanks Priya for the inspiration! 🙂

    @ Swaram : Cool, Swaram , looking forward to your version of Incredible India! 🙂

    @ UmaS : My earlier job took me to places, so grabbed the opportunity to explore a bit some places! You must try this…waiting! 🙂

    @ The Holy Lama : Thanks 🙂

    @ Alan : Thks 🙂

    @ Harini : With time, you’ll get to explore more!! Remember your Travel lists?? 🙂

  8. @ Neha : 😛
    Ah Mumbai… beautiful time!

    @ Smitha : Oh yes, make this as a wish list and then plan for some wonderful time in our Incredible India! 🙂

    @ Insignia : Thanks 🙂 And your Costa Rica and so many adventure trips are impressive too! 🙂

    @ BK Chowla : I would have loved to meet you Mr. Chowla, but this was a flying visit to Delhi… we landed in the eve and took the early morning flight the next day! So just had the time to spend the evening with our friends cum hosts! Yes, next time definitely! Thanks 🙂

    @ Nethra : Oh… so are sufficiently motivated to explore Bangalore!?? Do that!

    Thanks 🙂

    @ Dhiman : Thks. You will in some time! 🙂

    @ Rohit : Incredible India indeed! 🙂

    @ Avada : Thanks 🙂
    Looking forward to your experiences and memories of various states of India. 🙂

    Cheers 🙂

  9. India is great place to visit. Having different culture and tradition in different state. Gujarati garba : Clothing style and and music beat is awesome. Jammu kashmir also have god gifted natural places. And rajasthan is king of fort and desert. Mumbai great experience of travelling trough train lots of crowd and shouting streets amazing. Never forget to mention Uttar Pradesh, It’s spiritual state, Specially mention spiritual morning with prays in varanasi and haridwar it gives releaf to our shoul. Thanks a lot for sharing your experience.

  10. India is a land of untouched natural beauty that very much makes it one of the most beautiful and serene places on earth. From the mighty mountains of Kashmir to the breathtaking vista of three oceans combining at Kanyakumari, India is much more than curries and Bollywood.

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