US YouTuber Stunned By Gurugram's Cyber Hub: "Hey, This Looks Like America"
"India is not all slums, overpopulation, full of trash. There is some air pollution, but at least it looks like this! They got Chilli's, they got everything you could ask for," he said in the video. "Y'all are sleeping on India, bro. You only see the bullshit, which, there is a lot of, but there are also cool places like these," he added.
He also praised the local women, describing them as "beautiful", and compared Cyber Hub's modern look to Miami, remarking that it was even better than what he's used to in America.
"Dirty, Polluted India has a CLEAN Shopping Outlet that looks better than Miami. Did you know India had this?" he captioned the video on Instagram.
Watch the video here:
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A post shared by Free Spirit Traveler⭐️ (@vanboys222)
Many Indians appreciated his comments, proudly pointing out that India has plenty to offer beyond crowded cities. One user wrote, "Definitely the more developed side of Gurgoan. Been there too!"
Another said, "When I see Indian places like this, I feel proud, I want to see this in many more places."
A third commented, "India is way beautiful than you think, except for a few overcrowded places in cities due to the large population."
A fourth added, "Finally an foreigner with good budget."
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India Today
12 minutes ago
- India Today
Used cooking oil to power jet engines, so fry hard
After jatropha and ethanol, your kitchen's used cooking oil is the new India's blender's pride. After ethanol-blended petrol for your car, India is on a quest to alchemise your kitchen kadhai's greasy gunk into jet fuel. Because nothing says "sustainable" like your pakoda oil getting a second life as rocket juice for a 747. Fly high, samosa style!Indian Oil's Panipat refinery has been crowned the country's first to pump out sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from used cooking oil, The Times of India reported. The word "sustainable" makes eco-warriors faint with joy, and SAF is just one "E" shy of SAFE. Maybe we should toss in Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's beloved ethanol and call it SAFE: Sustainable, Awesome, Fry-powered from Swiss certification firm Cotecna's Indian arm have certified the Panipat refinery, declaring it fit to turn your post-pakoda sludge into jet fuel. They have also saddled us with CORSIA (Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation), a UN dream to make planes fly without guilt. By 2027, India has been roped into blending 1% SAF for international flights, inching to 2% by 2028. Domestic flights will follow. Late arrivals are not NO STRANGER TO SUSTAINABLE AVIATION FUELSAF is no stranger to our headlines, even if it makes little headway. Back in August 2018, SpiceJet flew a Bombardier from Dehradun to Delhi on a 75:25 mix of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and jatropha-based biofuel, cooked by the Indian Institute of 2022, IndiGo flew with a 10% SAF blend on a ferry flight from Toulouse to Delhi. These trips are made to make headlines, followed by the kind of silence you hear after a flop Bollywood that weed we have idolised since childhood for its firepower, was once India's biofuel heartthrob. In the 2000s, we planted it like crazy, believing it would free us from oil imports. It did not. Yields on marginal lands were as pathetic as Raid 2, and it gobbled farmland, jacking up food prices. Now, it's a sidekick, not Shah Rukh Khan of has had it better because it found a guardian in Nitin Gadkari. India hit 20% ethanol blending in petrol by 2025, five years early, saving Rs 1.36 lakh crore in foreign exchange and pumping production from 38 crore litres in 2014 to 661.1 crore your scooter is whining about mileage, and your car's fuel injectors are throwing tantrums, you clearly are from the petrol lobby. Tough luck, aam aadmi, tweet your tears, but ethanol is here to stay. Buy an E-20-compliant car and see the blending go up to E-27 as government is now eyeing ethanol for SAF via the alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) pathway, aiming for 30 billion litres annually from crop waste and municipal trash. It is pricier than ATF, like Chayos chai versus roadside cutting, but who, if not you, will sustain the sugar industry by buying its byproduct?REAL PAKODA OF COOKING OIL PUZZLEadvertisementNow, the real pakoda of a puzzle: collecting used cooking oil. Where will the Panipat refinery source the crude oil to refine, in this case, used mustard oil. By door-to-door collection, like trash collected every morning? Will we have 3 coloured bins now: green, blue and yellow for the oil? Or grovelling to pakoda-walas to donate their black, tar-like treasure, reused till it's basically liquid regret? The answer, my friend, is frying in the kadhai!India could churn out 19-24 million tonnes of SAF yearly, but a 5% blending target needs 140 million litres of oil. That's a Himalayan pile of pakodas to fry. Supply chains are shakier than a cycle rickshaw on a Gurugram flyover. Villagers in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka scrounge jungles for jatropha seeds, which then hitch-hike hundreds of miles to where you, proud Bharatiya naagrik, become the hero India didn't ask for. Set up a pakoda stall, and you are not just self-employed, you are a cog in the crude oil supply chain to Panipat. Fry hard, dream big! India's gunning for 8-10 million tonnes of SAF by 2040, needing Rs 6-7 lakh crore in investments to cut oil imports by $5-7 billion annually. Over 1.2 million jobs could sprout, if we ever sort out this logistical fuel your imagination, not disappointments. Turning your kitchen oil into jet fuel is like betting on a bullock cart to win Formula 1. If we can somehow wrangle the oily drippings from a billion samosa-holding hands, maybe, just maybe, that cart will zoom past the chequered flag. Until then, keep frying pakodas and save the planet.(Kamlesh Singh, a columnist and satirist, is Tau of the popular Teen Taal podcast)- Ends(Views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author)
Indian Express
12 minutes ago
- Indian Express
India vs England Tour diary: From Rishabh Pant's ‘rolly-polly sweep' and Shubman Gill's silky hundreds to memorable cafes and bus rides – much to bring joy during an enthralling series
June 18: Chaotic first few hours in England. Land at London Heathrow, the ticket shows a connection from Terminal TN for the trip to Leeds, the venue for the first Test. The travel person back home insists it's a flight. No one at Heathrow agrees. 'There's no Terminal TN here, unless Hogwarts School has started air services for overseas wizards,' jokes a witty Black Customs lady. 'Maybe, it's a bus'. A 20-something Indian at the bus reception solves the case. It's a train from King's Cross. By the way, King's Cross has a platform 9 ¾ – fictional point from where Harry and wizards go to school. The Customs lady wasn't totally wrong. June 19: Leeds has the Yorkshire Cricket Club – an institution of great legacy and stickler of tradition. As luck would have it, I get a chance to speak to two cricketing giants – Sachin Tendulkar and Cheteshwar Pujara. They both played for the north England club and share memories. 'One needed to wear formals and leather shoes when you landed up at the ground before the match. At the ground you change to whites and store the formals in the locker,' informs Pujara. Tendulkar chuckles when reminded of the summer of 1992 when he became the first cricketer not born in Yorkshire to play for the county. You tell the master the Pujara formal wear story and he laughs more. 'When Pujara played for Yorkshire, he was in his late 20s, I was just 19 years old … and putting on the Yorkshire blazer each morning was new to me. There was also a tie to be put. So what I did was I tied the knot and kept it like that for my entire stint … I ensured that whenever I put it on the knot would not break.' June 22: Rishabh Pant hits his tumbling shot, also does a handspring, a basic floor routine gymnastics to celebrate his hundred. England is head-over-heels in love with his behind the stump falling shot – they call it roly-poly sweep. It proved to be a roller coaster series for him. June 23: There is a church, not far from the local Jama Masjid, that has a neatly carpentered wooden box. The front is a wooden frame with glass with lovely leaves painted on it. This is the Little Free Library with two shelves of about a foot long. There is a dictionary and few pulp-fiction paperbacks. June 24: Ben Duckett reverse sweeps England to victory. The England opener has strong wrists, he played hockey as a child. There is an endearing story about Duckett's mom and her risk-taking, reverse sweeping son. She once went for a Duckett game and was seated in the stands. A guy behind her would say, 'He isn't going to last long .. he will get out to one of his reverse sweeps'. At Leed's he didn't, he completed his 100 with three reverse sweeps. England win because of Duckett's knock. It is unlikely, Duckett's mom would be hearing reverse-sweep taunts from fans any more. England 1, India 0. June 25: Bradford is also called Bradfordistan. It mostly has those with Pakistan roots. It's a short drive from the Leeds stadium. Meet Nasa Hussain, he is a curator, narrator of cricket stories and scholar on social issues. He is 55, has faced racism and is now checking discrimination and derogatory remarks entering cricket fields in the local leagues. Nasa is in-charge of the Park Avenue ground, he has been manning these grounds for years. The other day he got a call from his daughter, who told him that he's got an official letter from the King. Why would the King write to me? – Nasa wondered. He was getting a BME – British Empire Medal for keeping the grass green for all these years. It's like a Padma for the Kotla curator. June 26: Barely 10 paces from the Airbnb I stay at, a room in the attic co-hosted by two men, is a local café. A tall hard-working Polish lady runs it. She cooks, cleans and also does small talk. It's a place for the working class men to move. Not the one in suits and tie, but men in stained dungarees and dirty cargos walk in with a loud 'Hi Angela' to leave with a warm 'Bye Angela'. She offers simple breakfast but the basic 'bacon sandwich' is to die for. The local postman is fiddling his change as Angela waits. 'Whatever you have, just give,' shouts the hands-on owner who has just returned from cleaning the large glass shop window. Postman leaves with the loudest 'Bye Angela, thank you'. June 27: Serious problem, Augustine's cat is missing, she found this out after returning from school. She is ginger in colour, her eyes are either brown or green. She isn't sure. Please don't call on Tuesdays and Wednesday since Augustine doesn't carry a phone to the club she goes to. There are also chances that she might go dead. All this information is on a cute 'missing poster' – a page torn from a single-lined school book – on the electric pole in the lane next to the place I stay. Passed the place two days later, the posters were still there. Pray for the return of Augustine's cat. June 28: Take a bus to Birmingham for the next Test. Most seats are empty, settle for the one behind the driver. It has business class leg-room. After a couple of stops, a young boy, travelling alone, walks to the driver. He looks worried, he has got into the wrong bus. What follows is something unseen and unheard. The driver, while on wheel, makes at least 10 calls, probably to the control room of the bus network. In half an hour, the boy has a smile on his face. The bus takes a small detour, leaves the motorway for a bit, drives to a village bus stop where another bus is waiting. A pleasant matronly lady receives the boy and takes him to the bus he should have been on. June 29: Airbnb entries for self-check in homes are nothing short of a treasure hunt. The one at Birmingham would need Holmes and Dr Watson to both get in. The instructions are detailed but tediously intricate. This went as – Collect the building key from the box outside, use combination 1249. Enter the building, go to the first floor and return left. Pick another key from under the doormat and enter the flat. Place the key back under the mat as the cleaners need it. Go to the kitchen, under the sink is another key box. Use combination 3434 to collect the key for your room. Phew. The most difficult part – crawling under the sink, trying to get the sequence of code right in complete darkness using a phone torch. June 30: Birmingham is buzzing, certainly not for the Test but Black Sabbath's farewell gig. It's called Back to the Beginning. Check with the friendly corner shop lady at the till, if it's possible to get tickets. 'Yeah … sure' – she says sarcastically. Stick to cricket. Life's cruel in a few weeks time, see a ticker on a television in a shop that announces Ozzy Osbourne's death. Beginning and End weren't too far. We are excited to announce the theatrical release of Back To The Beginning: Ozzy's Final Bow – coming early 2026. The feature-length concert film will be a big-screen celebration of Ozzy Osbourne and the legacy of Black Sabbath, capturing the raw power and emotional weight of… — Ozzy Osbourne (@OzzyOsbourne) July 18, 2025 July 1: An English reporter reminds Shubman Gill that India has never won in Birmingham. The most amazing thing about most young Indian cricketers is their articulation and poise at press conferences. They pick the right words, have a sense of humour – all in a language that is not their mother tongue or the language of the dressing room. Gill snubs the man without being rude. First with his words and later with his bat. July 2: Live close to Birmingham Uni. Striking things about the area are the businesses catering to overseas students. Real estate sharks seem to be making a killing. Watch two worried Indian parents – father holding a folder with papers, mother keeping her hand on the daughter's shoulder – following an agent-type into a building. Overhear a line from the mother – 'Is it a safe area for girls at night?' July 3: Saw VVS Laxman hit 281 in 2001 and now Shubman Gill's 269 in 2025. VVS's silken drives still stay in the mind, even Shubman's strokes have no polyester in them. There are some players who are just born to play cover drives, their body aligned by the Maker for the purpose of spreading joy. The initial drive to cover this tour was to see the last of Rohit and Virat. As a witness to their sparkling storied career, there was desire for closure. They retired, and didn't turn up here. You wait for two buses and a Rolls Royce comes your way. They say something sounding similar about public transport in England. July 5: Walk to a café near the University – it turns out to be an unusual place. It's almost like a 2BHK, there are sofas, couches, dining tables, and a courtyard with chairs. It has a notice board with brochures about support groups that stand by those unable to deal with life away from home. It's a café that has a lot more than a coffee to deal with mental fatigue. July 6: India get a new hero in Akash Deep. India won the Test. In the streets outside the stadium, a busking guitarist has composed a song for him. The same can't be said about him in a month's time. This was that kind of series. There were ups, downs, ebbs, flows, spikes, dips. England 1, India 1. July 7: Have a serendipitous moment on the way to Lord's. The walk from the Airbnb takes one past the world's most famous zebra crossing. On Abbey Road, near the Abbey Studio, is the Abbey crossing. Four young men once got clicked while crossing the road and many decades later, the world wants to replace themselves on the same frame. Buses and cars stop patiently as tourists from around the world, almost 24×7, try the Beatles walk. July 8: Another day, another walk to Lord's, another brief stopover at Abbey Street to enjoy watching the tourists do the walk while apologetically keeping an eye on the traffic. Everyone is excited but there is a girl with many piercings who is delirious. She is on the footpath and busy clicking pictures of a group of men who themselves are having a fan moment with the iconic studio where Beatles recorded songs. She wants to share her joy with someone. The men she is excited about are the members of Molotov, Mexico's top band. The Molotov are here to pay homage to the Beatles. At the Abbey Hill crossroad she came to experience the presence of one set of heroes, she got two. July 10: Day 1 at Lord's is a ritual. Dressed in smart suits and the very ugly orange and yellow tie, MCC members stand in queues reading newspapers to get in. Next to them are Indian fans wearing not India's whites but the white-ball blue. It's a stunning contrast. It takes all types to fill a cricket stadium. July 11: Lord's stadium arena is a busy place with a lot happening. There is a museum to see, there are food courts that sell cheese toasties, coffees and even strawberries and cream. There's the WG Grace statue in a small garden-type area where fans sit on benches to discuss cricket. A new addition is the games section. There is one where about 10 tennis balls hang from the wooden circle. You need to stand below as balls drop suddenly and randomly. Grown up men take the challenge as a crowd watches them. They fail, they get embarrassed. July 12: It's the last over before lunch. KL is in his 90s, his partner Rishabh Pant wants that his mate has the medal as a centurion. Pant takes off for a run and is found out of his crease. At the samosa stall that's India's good old Bajaj three-wheeler, they can't stop talking about who was to blame. July 13: It is late at night, only a Persian eating place open. They have rice with a layer of saffron with baingan stuffed in. It's one of the meals of the series. England 2, India 1 July 15: Travel to Guildford to meet Shoaib Bashir's one-time captain Olly Birts. You ask him about him getting Siraj's wicket while bowling with a fractured finger, he tells you about him losing his teeth while taking a catch in a club game. July 16: Take a short trip to Bristol. It is the place where the mysterious painter Banksy lived and for cricket tourists it is where Ben Stokes punched the living daylights out of a few pesky men outside a bar. Visit the Stokes pilgrimage place but the staff there can get a whiff of inquisitive reporters from a mile. Beer is all that you end up with. July 18: Move to Kingsbury, the very Gujarati part of London. On the street, men are settled in a huddle, chewing paan and a family on the road searching for a post-dinner snack, a Gujarati tradition. There are shops selling peanuts with 10 flavours and a Gujarat Express restaurant shop that has undhiyu and sev tomato on the menu. But the flagship of this high street is GJ-07 pan shop – it gets its name from Nadiad's RTO registrations for vehicles. July 20: A train trip in England that reminded me of a Delhi-Kanpur ride in the general compartment of a rail journey from hell. It's a Bristol-Manchester trip on Sunday. First there is a platform change at the last minute. And after sprinting with luggage in tow, standing space outside the toilet is all you get. A lady with kids and heavy luggage is in tears. She is struggling to breathe, someone offers a seat. July 23: Here's an expert tip from a Airbnb regular. If words like 'quaint' and 'bohemian' are used in description of the home, see it as a red flag. What you get is an unequipped, wifi-less, shared toilet space. July 27: India snatch draw from the jaws of defeat. Jadeja and Washington are the miracle men. Jadeja does the sword swirl after completing his 50 and after 100 he rubs his bat against the forehead. He writes his fortune with his bat. England 2, India 1 July 28: Walk to accommodation after bus ride. There are lots of gardens in the area. See a small fox crossing road. Think eyes playing tricks, must be a dog. Find another little one is following. Was this London or Jungle Book? Next day take cab at night, spot another one. Cabbie says there are 10,000 of them in London. Is he serious? Yes, he was. July 29: Get off at Green Park, pass the periphery of Hyde Park. See a familiar face with family. It's Rohit Sharma. He has a kiddie scooter in one hand as his wife and kids follow him. No one really bothers him. He is enjoying family time – it's the picture perfect frame for what stars miss in India. No wonder, they love London and the space, read Hyde Park, which it gives them. July 30: Curator vs Gambhir – that's the fight of the day. Someone mixed the weight category. Curator is a giant, Gambhir isn't. There is an angry exchange of words. It is rumored that during the confrontations some from the ground staff said 'now you see the pitch you get'. It wasn't true, the Oval pitch was great. July 31: Late night adventure. Return to Airbnb after dinner, realise the key is inside. The host doesn't answer calls, the phone is dying. Call a reporter who isn't too far. Spend night on couch. Host wakes the next morning, says there is a spare key in the key box. What a night! Aug 1: What a day. 15 wickets fall. Siraj is winning hearts. He is playing the cheerleader to the Bharat Army. He is like a rock star playing to the crowd. Aug 4: To watch a match that would last barely an hour, a full house turns up. Siraj does it for India. Gets a hug from Shubman. They both are at the press conference. You wait for one and two turn up. Before the series, you would be fine with just 1 win but you get 2-2.
The Hindu
12 minutes ago
- The Hindu
What makes monsoon the best season for train journeys in India
Megha Desai, 36, a senior art director at a Mumbai-based branding studio, found her perfect monsoon escape not in a remote hill station, but in a glass-roofed coach on the Executive Vistadome AC (EV) compartment of the Dadar–Madgaon Janshatabdi Express, which runs daily. 'You don't need a five-star resort in the hills. Just book a Vistadome seat,' she says. In July 2024, during a break from back-to-back campaign shoots, Megha booked the Vistadome coach on a whim after seeing a friend's Instagram stories of misty Konkan views. Securing the ticket — which cost her around ₹4,160 for a round trip — meant checking the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) site daily, but the effort paid off. 'The train was packed and everyone wanted that glass box view.' As the train rolled out of Mumbai and into the lush Western Ghats (the journey from Dadar to Madgaon takes around 11 hours and 20 minutes), Megha was glued to the panoramic windows. 'It was just rivers overflowing, waterfalls crashing down rocks, and dense green cliffs draped in mist. I've flown to Goa plenty of times, but this was different.' The Vistadome coaches, which according to a video shared by the Ministry of Railways on X (formerly Twitter) in July 2024 number 111 in operation across India, available on select routes like Mumbai–Goa, Mumbai–Pune, and Bengaluru–Mangaluru, offer large windows, rear observation decks, and rotating seats — features that made it easy for Megha to soak in views from both sides. 'Near Ratnagiri, the train slowed and there were three waterfalls visible at once. I couldn't look away.' Would she recommend it? 'Absolutely. But book early,' she laughs. 'I got lucky with a cancellation.' She also advises checking the Konkan Railway's special monsoon timetable, as train speeds are often reduced. Chugging along There is something about monsoon train travel that feels really special. You are sitting by the window, chai in hand, as the world outside blurs into green hills, rushing waterfalls, and misty skies. Even the noisiest cities seem gentler behind rain-speckled glass. It was this season that nudged Anand Ramaswamy, a 42-year-old product manager from Hyderabad, to take a quiet break in June aboard the Vistadome coach from Visakhapatnam to Araku Valley — a route that threads through the monsoon-soaked Eastern Ghats. After taking the overnight Godavari Express from Secunderabad to Vizag, he boarded the morning Vistadome service, drawn in by its promise of glass ceilings, rotating seats, and uninterrupted views of tunnels, waterfalls and deep green valleys. 'You enter a tunnel, then burst out into fog or a cliff dripping with water, everyone just goes still,' he says. In Araku, he checked into a coffee estate homestay, explored the Tribal Museum and Padmapuram Gardens, and spent the evening listening to the rain on a tin roof. 'Coming from Hyderabad's dry heat, it felt like I'd travelled two seasons away in a day,' he says. He returned the next evening, rested, and insists he would do it again. 'It's one of those rare Indian train rides where the journey really is the whole point.' Anand points out that the Vistadome coach is generally attached only for the onward journey from Visakhapatnam to Araku Valley. For the return trip, passengers must book a seat in a regular coach on a different train. He took the Kirandul Express, which departs later in the day. Departure from Visakhapatnam is around 6.45am or 6.50am, with arrival at Araku Valley around 10.55 am. According to the latest ticket prices listed on the IRCTC website, a one-way ticket in the Vistadome coach (EV class) from Visakhapatnam to Araku Valley costs approximately ₹735 to ₹750. Travelling on India's boutique trains during the monsoon — or really, any time — is far more than just getting from one place to another. It is slow travel blended with five-star comfort and cultural depth. Delhi-based independent journalist Shibani Bawa still recalls the surreal glamour of her seven-night journey aboard the Deccan Odyssey's Maharashtra Splendour itinerary in 2016, which runs from October to April, beginning and ending in Mumbai, with stops at Nashik, Ellora Caves, Kolhapur, Goa, Sindhudurg, and Ratnagiri. 'It was extremely well-maintained and truly luxurious,' she says. 'The service was just fabulous — you could tell everything had been carefully thought through.' Ticket prices for the 2025–2026 season (as per reflect the all-inclusive nature of the experience, from gourmet meals to guided sightseeing. A Deluxe Cabin for single occupancy costs approximately US$9,330 (around ₹7.74 lakh), while double occupancy is priced at US$13,300 (₹11.03 lakh). The Presidential Suite is offered at US$20,000 (₹16.60 lakh), regardless of single or double occupancy. The Maharashtra Splendour tour date for this year is September 20. The train is all old-school elegance, with two dining cars serving plated meals on silverware. 'For every meal, you can pick between Indian and western set menus, and even the western dishes are excellent. I even asked for the soup recipes,' she adds. A few off-board meals were also arranged, including lunch with the royal family in Sawantwadi. 'It felt personal, not touristy.' Though the days were indulgent, the nights were sometimes bumpy. 'One night I genuinely thought I'd fall off the bed, it shook so much,' she laughs, noting that a later track upgrade likely fixed that. The Deccan Odyssey would arrive at quieter platforms, greeted with garlands and music. 'Each stop felt like an event,' she says. Sightseeing was thoughtfully managed, including rest stops with clean facilities. 'You could tell they were used to luxury tourists, the standard was high throughout.' Would she do it again? 'Absolutely,' Shibani says. 'The contrast, luxury on the train, culture off it, was the best part. I'd love to do one in the South next — maybe during the monsoon. Can you imagine that view from the dining car?' Slow and winding Under the Bharat Gaurav Scheme, launched by Indian Railways in November 2021, private operators lease full trains to run curated, theme-based circuits — while Indian Railways provides the coaches and tracks. The first private train under the scheme was flagged off on June 14, 2022 by South Star Rail, a Coimbatore-based company. The five-day pilgrimage from Coimbatore to Shirdi carried around 1,100 passengers, with halts at Tiruppur, Erode, Salem, Yelahanka, Dharmavaram, and Mantralayam before reaching Wadi and Shirdi. With AC and Sleeper classes, onboard crew, and fresh vegetarian meals, it set a new standard for private rail hospitality. 'It marked a real shift,' says Vignesh, director, Tour Times, Chennai, a private tourist train operator offering itineraries across India,which now runs several Bharat Gaurav tours. 'We focus on seamless, end-to-end travel. Passengers don't lift a finger — luggage stays onboard, we handle everything else.' Tour Times, recognised by the Ministry of Tourism, has launched heritage circuits across the South and East, including the upcoming 11-day Coromandel Coastal Bliss Tour, which costs ₹26,700 per head. It departs on August 28, covering Kolkata, the Sundarbans, Bhubaneswar, Borra Caves, Araku Valley, and Visakhapatnam. 'The rain transforms the landscape. From your train window, temple towns, flooded fields, and mountain valleys blur past — it's cinematic. That's the magic,' says Vignesh. Meanwhile, the North East Discovery itinerary, part of the Bharat Gaurav initiative, launched on April 22, becomes all the more compelling during the monsoon, when the lush landscapes of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya come alive in their full glory. The 15-day, 5,800 kilometre luxury journey is operated aboard the Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train, featuring air-conditioned coaches with showers, sensor-enabled washrooms, foot massagers, and two dining cars serving hot, freshly prepared meals. The per-person cost for this journey ranges from approximately ₹1.16 lakh for AC III class up to ₹1.67 lakh for AC I (Coupe) class. These prices cover train travel, hotel stays, meals, sightseeing, and other tour services. Part of the Government's Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat and Dekho Apna Desh initiatives, the itinerary is designed to offer regional sightseeing, making it an ideal way to experience the cloud-draped hills and vibrant cultural life of the North East in the rainy season. In a country where the monsoon is as much an emotion as it is a season, there is something grounding about slowing down to watch it unfurl from a train. The landscapes change, the light shifts, and so does something within you. And all it takes is a window seat.
