Morni hills

Well this weekend we had a great time. This weekend we (Chandigarh Fotography Club members) decided to visit Morni Hills & Tikker Taal. Morni Hills are an outgrowth of Shivalik range of the Himalayas. It is situated in Panchkula district of Haryana & around 45 Kms away from Chandigarh. According to the traditions, the name ‘Morni’ was given to a queen who ruled the area. It is a bird watcher’s paradise and home to different species of wild animals. It is a getaway for those looking for some peace because mobile networks don’t work here.

We decided to meet on Sunday morning at Sector 10, Panchkula, opp. HDFC bank. Since it was a good outing, I planned to take my wife & my son for this photowalk. We got up early in the morning. If  I had to go alone I would hardly take 10 minutes to get ready (I am superfast), but now the scenario is changed. I should keep 1 hour in my hand to get my son ready. hmmm “Becoming father is easy than playing role of father”. anyways…so we got ready somehow on time. Safdar (my colleague of DB), Anurag Bhateja (a close friend of mine) & Rashim (recently joined CFC) joined us for this trip. We started from home around 6.30 am.

As decided we met on a common place. We waited for few members to join us for this trip. In the mean while we had a cutting wala chay (tea).Finally everyone arrived n we started our trip to Morni hills with 15 people.

We entered in Panchkula. There is a narrow, curved roads from Panchkula which will take you to Morni hills. With a curiosity of a new place we moved further. There was a beautiful view of hills which caught our attention and we got down from our car. We started capturing the beauty of nature in our camera .A huge forest was visible from that point half of the trees were facing the direct light and remaining half was captured with the shadows of other trees. ”Kahin Dhup Kahin chanw” Wanted to capture that in my camera but somehow the photos didn’t turn up well. While coming down, I found some beer bottles lying on the ground. I clicked few photos and thought “party manane ke liye isase achhi jagah nai mil sakti”

 I enjoyed driving on that narrow hilly road with a beautiful view around. It might be dangerous to go there in rainy seasons as the roads are surrounded with fragile soil, but at the same time greenery makes the area beautiful. Just make sure about the status of the roads before moving to Morni hills.

On the way we saw a stylish shepherd wearing hat grazing few animals. We again got down from the car and clicked his photos. After clicking photos we realized that we came too fast and other two cars were still lagging behind. We decided to move ahead. We saw some peahen on the roads. No peacocks, after all its Morni Hills. I was wondering this place is called morni because of queen or because of peahens.

 

After reaching Morni Hills, we saw a way which was leading to Tikkar Taal situated at 10.5 Kms from Morni Hills. We decided to visit that place. It has two small man-made lakes called Tikkar Taal, bada tikkar and chota tikkar.  We started moving down. We could see the chota tikkar from top of the hill. We stopped there and again started clicking few snaps.

 The place where we stopped our car, we found 4 Oxes with colourful threads in their neck. Two shepherds (father & son) came to take those oxes for grazing. I started clicking their photos. Old man took too interest & gave us too many poses. One of his snap really turned up well, I believe. Blue Pagadi, wrinkled face with a long beard and a yellow towel on his shoulder …gave me a perfect portrait.

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The two lakes or tals seems to be mysteriously interconnected, even though they are separated by a hillock. The water level in both the tals always remains the same, as there is a hidden channel under the hill connecting them. The larger is about 550 meters long and 460 meters broad and the other about 365 meters either way.

Finally we reached down the lane to tikkar taal. Wow what a view it was…. The road that descends from the zenith of the hillstation brings you to a seasonal waterfall that drops into a muddy lake but is aloof from crowds, so gives relaxation space and time.

 

I started capturing all the scenes in my camera. The beautiful sky, clouds getting reflected in water, the hills ranging up from lake, the reflection of those hills in the water, few stones in the mid of water n there was lot to capture. My son was enjoying the moments in his mothers lap. I clicked even his photos…even my wife clicked few photos to experiment. Boating was available at a cheaper rate. But we were too tired n even the sunny weather didn’t allow us to go for boating.

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All of us were too hungry. There is a restaurant and guest house inside the lake area made by Haryana tourism. We planned to have breakfast…not enough of options were available so I ordered for omelet and others ordered grilled sandwich. When we got our orders, we found the sandwich were not grilled, it was a plain sandwich. Waiter told us this is the grilled. Anyhow, we were hungry so had that sandwich & omlete. In the mean while we tried to contact other members of our groups…but there was no network. This guest house and restaurant is not having any landline phones. If these guys have to call they go up and then call. Only network sometime you will get there is BSNL. I remembered BSNL’s recent TVC where Birbal is suggesting Akbar to have bsnl connection. “Network problem ka koi ilaaz nai hai Zahanpanah”

After having breakfast we started back.We came up to Morni hills and planned to visit Morni Fort, which is situated at Morni Hills. It was in the process of rejuvenation. It was completely demolished earlier. We saw the snaps of morni fort before rejuvenation. It was good but not great as I have seen in my city jaipur.

 After coming there came to know other members were back from hills area. Due to network we lost touch. Anyway but we 4 and half people enjoyed a lot at the visit and clicks. If you wish to visit, then go there between September – March. I forgot to tell you that you can have your own food prepared there with some charges to be paid to the resort. Enjoy traveling.