This is a new craze of my life. This started from November, when Ranga Shankara was started. I had never seen a drama in my life and I was under this misconception that dramas are very boring and are seen only by old people. The first drama I saw was a Kannada one called “Kaanuura Heggadatthi”…It is a classic and I decided that let me start with one. I entered the auditorium and was amazed by the way it was constructed. It was free seating and the acoustics are so good that the actors don’t use a mic at all…It was truly an enthralling experience…It was so different from watching a movie…I decided to come back and watch more dramas…
In the last four months I have watched around 6 dramas, all varying in their content and the way they are. Some were social dramas; one was drama only using props and very little dialogues. Some were classics. But the one I saw yesterday was a totally different one…I feel one should try not to miss this drama…
This one is called “A heap of broken images”. A drama written by Girish Karnad and it is his directorial debut of directing his own play. It was a one hour play. I thought may be it will different. The story line went like this. Manjula Nayak is small time Kannada short story writer who is working as a lecturer. And all of sudden she writes a novel in English which becomes the best seller not only in India but also in UK and USA. She wins accolades for it. It’s about how she reacts to the world about her accusations. She talks to her conscience. The use of technology is really amazing. The actor, Arundathi Raja should get a standing ovation, as she is only actor in the play and she stands on the stage for one full hour. She is simply mind blowing was so pepped up after watching this movie. I am really waiting for Saturday to watch the Kannada version of it in which Arundathi Nag is acting. I think everyone who is Bangalore should catch with this play. The English one is on today and tomorrow and the Kannada one from Friday till Sunday. Check out http://www.rangashankara.org/ for details. Hope people enjoy this!!!
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Monday, April 11, 2005
Vishu dina aashamsagal
This is one of the very few Monday I do not seem to have blues, as I have to work only for three days this week. We have off for Vishu.
One of the very interesting thing and the most awaited thing about Vishu is that, the konnai poo(cassia fistula), that’s a flower which is very beautiful and is yellow in color, blooms only at this part of the year. Through out the year the tree is just green. But only during Vishu it blooms for around 20 days. It’s so beautiful to see that pleasing yellow.
There is a tree of this flower near my house, when I had gone for a walk, saw it all bloomed and fresh and ready for Vishu. It looked even amazing after the bouts of rain we had. That is when it dawned to me that Vishu was fast approaching. It is one of the most awaited festivals, as there is a lot of money that we get from elders. The enjoyment and enthusiasm of getting money is simply a nice feeling.
And of course not to forget the sadya we get to eat. This year there is a huge demand for chakka elai adai in my house. It’s a sweet that is made of jackfruit, jaggery which is stuffed to a rice flour batter and steamed. So eagerly waiting for it.
Will write more about Vishu after the festival is over. Vishu dina aashamsagal(Happy Vishu in Malayalam)
One of the very interesting thing and the most awaited thing about Vishu is that, the konnai poo(cassia fistula), that’s a flower which is very beautiful and is yellow in color, blooms only at this part of the year. Through out the year the tree is just green. But only during Vishu it blooms for around 20 days. It’s so beautiful to see that pleasing yellow.
There is a tree of this flower near my house, when I had gone for a walk, saw it all bloomed and fresh and ready for Vishu. It looked even amazing after the bouts of rain we had. That is when it dawned to me that Vishu was fast approaching. It is one of the most awaited festivals, as there is a lot of money that we get from elders. The enjoyment and enthusiasm of getting money is simply a nice feeling.
And of course not to forget the sadya we get to eat. This year there is a huge demand for chakka elai adai in my house. It’s a sweet that is made of jackfruit, jaggery which is stuffed to a rice flour batter and steamed. So eagerly waiting for it.
Will write more about Vishu after the festival is over. Vishu dina aashamsagal(Happy Vishu in Malayalam)
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Surprising Story!!!
I will marry mama!!! When these words were uttered everyone was shocked, because this was uttered by a 14 year old girl.
The mama in picture was a happily married man with two daughters. He would often come to this girl’s house. Let’s name this girl X. X was the only daughter and was properly pampered. The daughters of mama also were very friendly with X and would play together and have fun.
Mama stayed in Madras. When the second daughter was four, mami passed away. It was really difficult for mama to look after the daughters. So he called his mother in law to Madras to look after the kids. She looked after the house for almost two years. But unlike other mothers-in-law, she was constantly pestering her son in law to have a second marriage, which he always postponed saying something or the other like any other man.
When he had come to X’s house after a long gap of 2 years, he started talking to X’s father about this issue. He was like “who will marry me? Even if someone marries will she be a good mother to my children?”… So X’s father was like if u are really interested don’t worry we will try and find a good girl from our family. For which X said the above words.
Everyone was surprised that she is hardly 14 and how will she look after the kids who are just 4 years younger to her. But she was like I like the kids and I can manage. The kids also were very excited that she would be coming with them to Madras and they could have fun. The marriage was performed. And the kids teased her through out the journey. She was damn excited as this was her first train journey of her life.
This is a true story which was told to us by my eldest athai (father’s sister), when she came over this time. And X is none other than my paati. We never knew this version of the story, and were quite shocked yet thrilled to hear something like this. We fought with our athai for not telling us about this when paati was there as it would have been really fun to tease paati And in fact this athai is the eldest of the two daughters whom I talked about. Though late, it was really enchanting to such a nice story of my ever great and selfless paati.
The mama in picture was a happily married man with two daughters. He would often come to this girl’s house. Let’s name this girl X. X was the only daughter and was properly pampered. The daughters of mama also were very friendly with X and would play together and have fun.
Mama stayed in Madras. When the second daughter was four, mami passed away. It was really difficult for mama to look after the daughters. So he called his mother in law to Madras to look after the kids. She looked after the house for almost two years. But unlike other mothers-in-law, she was constantly pestering her son in law to have a second marriage, which he always postponed saying something or the other like any other man.
When he had come to X’s house after a long gap of 2 years, he started talking to X’s father about this issue. He was like “who will marry me? Even if someone marries will she be a good mother to my children?”… So X’s father was like if u are really interested don’t worry we will try and find a good girl from our family. For which X said the above words.
Everyone was surprised that she is hardly 14 and how will she look after the kids who are just 4 years younger to her. But she was like I like the kids and I can manage. The kids also were very excited that she would be coming with them to Madras and they could have fun. The marriage was performed. And the kids teased her through out the journey. She was damn excited as this was her first train journey of her life.
This is a true story which was told to us by my eldest athai (father’s sister), when she came over this time. And X is none other than my paati. We never knew this version of the story, and were quite shocked yet thrilled to hear something like this. We fought with our athai for not telling us about this when paati was there as it would have been really fun to tease paati And in fact this athai is the eldest of the two daughters whom I talked about. Though late, it was really enchanting to such a nice story of my ever great and selfless paati.
A Cherished Trip(Last Part-Three)
It was actually decided by us, on the fly that we extend our trip by a day, halt at Coorg on 29th December and come back by 30th. But as luck goes, Amma strictly said no, and told that we shud return by 29th as we had told her before we left. Very disappointed, we decided that we will take a very long route. We decided to drive all along the coast.
We checked out at 10a.m., after having dosas. One must agree that dosas that you get in Kerala are so crispy and just don’t have any oil in them. From Kozhikode we started our drive towards Kannoor…We drove along the Chaliyar river for a long time… Then we came to the main road where we saw this amazing beach called Beypore beach…I got permission from my bro to get down and stand near the beach…I enjoyed that for some time and drove along the beach. There was a bridge and when we were on the bridge Lo behold we saw backwaters on side and the river and sea meeting on the other…Wow man that was surely a sight to see…How I cursed my bro for not bringing the charger of the digicam :(
Then we found a deviation to Kappad beach. Though we didn’t venture into the beach, we drove to Kappad beach…It was an awesome beach with white sand…It was so picturesque…So beautiful…I felt so bad that I could not venture into the water…After we came back, when I was browsing the net I came to know this was the beach where Vasco Da Gama first put his step.
Then we drove occasionally seeing the sea, then we reached Mahe, and I was bent upon to see the beach. Even this beach had white sand and was very beautiful. But Mahe on the whole is a small and dirty place. The beach resort was so deserted. After we crossed, Mahe there was this excellent stretch to Kannoor, where we zoomed. The highway was just done and was really nice. We had our lunch at the, so called, three star restaurant at Kannoor, which was worse than a Darshini at Blore. We thought probably a dosa would have been nice.
We started off from Kannoor to Mangalore. Anna had played a pleasant music, and I don’t know when I had dozed off. I usually don’t doze off, if the person is driving and there is no one else in the car. But I seriously don’t know, I had such a nice nap for about less than an hour. When I get up, I saw that he had switched of the music, lest it would wake me up, and also he had slowed down, as the roads very a little bumpy and I would wake up. After I got up I badly wanted tea/coffee, but we still had not reached Kasargod. When we were nearing Kasargod, we saw a deviation to Bekal fort and Bekal beach. It didn’t strike us, as to where we had heard about it. But we decided to go, though it was 16 kms deviation. When we reached there, we realized that this is where “Bombay” movie was shot…The beach was simply beautiful with a flock of cranes or swans, I don’t know some white birds. We decided to walk in the beach; I kept jumping, as there were crabs running here and there. The fort simply looked awesome and beautiful, but due to lack of time we decided against going to the fort.
We reached Mangalore at around 6.We went to coffee day picked up coffee. We called mom with the anticipation that she would say stay and come tomorrow. But she simply did not budge, and didn’t mention anything about it. Then we decided that we will not ask her and we will go to Bangalore by 12 or 1. SO we started off from Mangalore after sunset.
As we went past various villages, and we came to Uppinangadi, where we asked to take a deviation via Subramanya and go to Gundiya, due to some accident. This cost us almost and hour and half. The road was bad and it was a little of ghat section. All we had to eat was packet of lays and some kurkure. And we were feeling so hungry as it was 8.30. After we reached Gundiya, there was a small jam due to the lorry traffic. Then we got on to the Ghat section to Sakleshpur, reached Sakleshpur by 10.30. By the time we reached Hassan it was 11. We called home, and mom told halt in Hassan and come the next day. It was like, why could she not have made this decision earlier. Then we checked into a hotel in Hassan, and didn’t have dinner, as all the hotels were closed. We had some Marie biscuits and went to sleep. Next day we left Hassan at 10, and reached home by 1 for lunch.
The drive from Hassan to Bangalore was very thrilling and nice. We had a kind of race with a lancer, whose ego was constantly hurt that an Indica was overtaking him. He started driving really rash, and then we decided that let him have his way. We were almost couple of kms behind him. When we entered Blore limits, we again met him. At a signal, my bro being a very intelligent driver overtook a lorry and that guy in Lancer followed in the same way. During the second overtake, that guy didn’t notice or didn’t analyze the situation well and was stuck behind a bus. My oh my! look on his face was really a sight to see. When we overtook and he would overtake us again, he would give a kind of grin as if he was Schumi. But this time, it was the looks, which simply can’t be described. My bro ands I thrilled as if we had won a Grand Prix. We simply were grinning for almost 15 min. and were just hoping that he could catch up with us. But we had left him behind at quite a distance.
Well there ended the memorable trip!!! But hoping we get time to go for more like one.
We checked out at 10a.m., after having dosas. One must agree that dosas that you get in Kerala are so crispy and just don’t have any oil in them. From Kozhikode we started our drive towards Kannoor…We drove along the Chaliyar river for a long time… Then we came to the main road where we saw this amazing beach called Beypore beach…I got permission from my bro to get down and stand near the beach…I enjoyed that for some time and drove along the beach. There was a bridge and when we were on the bridge Lo behold we saw backwaters on side and the river and sea meeting on the other…Wow man that was surely a sight to see…How I cursed my bro for not bringing the charger of the digicam :(
Then we found a deviation to Kappad beach. Though we didn’t venture into the beach, we drove to Kappad beach…It was an awesome beach with white sand…It was so picturesque…So beautiful…I felt so bad that I could not venture into the water…After we came back, when I was browsing the net I came to know this was the beach where Vasco Da Gama first put his step.
Then we drove occasionally seeing the sea, then we reached Mahe, and I was bent upon to see the beach. Even this beach had white sand and was very beautiful. But Mahe on the whole is a small and dirty place. The beach resort was so deserted. After we crossed, Mahe there was this excellent stretch to Kannoor, where we zoomed. The highway was just done and was really nice. We had our lunch at the, so called, three star restaurant at Kannoor, which was worse than a Darshini at Blore. We thought probably a dosa would have been nice.
We started off from Kannoor to Mangalore. Anna had played a pleasant music, and I don’t know when I had dozed off. I usually don’t doze off, if the person is driving and there is no one else in the car. But I seriously don’t know, I had such a nice nap for about less than an hour. When I get up, I saw that he had switched of the music, lest it would wake me up, and also he had slowed down, as the roads very a little bumpy and I would wake up. After I got up I badly wanted tea/coffee, but we still had not reached Kasargod. When we were nearing Kasargod, we saw a deviation to Bekal fort and Bekal beach. It didn’t strike us, as to where we had heard about it. But we decided to go, though it was 16 kms deviation. When we reached there, we realized that this is where “Bombay” movie was shot…The beach was simply beautiful with a flock of cranes or swans, I don’t know some white birds. We decided to walk in the beach; I kept jumping, as there were crabs running here and there. The fort simply looked awesome and beautiful, but due to lack of time we decided against going to the fort.
We reached Mangalore at around 6.We went to coffee day picked up coffee. We called mom with the anticipation that she would say stay and come tomorrow. But she simply did not budge, and didn’t mention anything about it. Then we decided that we will not ask her and we will go to Bangalore by 12 or 1. SO we started off from Mangalore after sunset.
As we went past various villages, and we came to Uppinangadi, where we asked to take a deviation via Subramanya and go to Gundiya, due to some accident. This cost us almost and hour and half. The road was bad and it was a little of ghat section. All we had to eat was packet of lays and some kurkure. And we were feeling so hungry as it was 8.30. After we reached Gundiya, there was a small jam due to the lorry traffic. Then we got on to the Ghat section to Sakleshpur, reached Sakleshpur by 10.30. By the time we reached Hassan it was 11. We called home, and mom told halt in Hassan and come the next day. It was like, why could she not have made this decision earlier. Then we checked into a hotel in Hassan, and didn’t have dinner, as all the hotels were closed. We had some Marie biscuits and went to sleep. Next day we left Hassan at 10, and reached home by 1 for lunch.
The drive from Hassan to Bangalore was very thrilling and nice. We had a kind of race with a lancer, whose ego was constantly hurt that an Indica was overtaking him. He started driving really rash, and then we decided that let him have his way. We were almost couple of kms behind him. When we entered Blore limits, we again met him. At a signal, my bro being a very intelligent driver overtook a lorry and that guy in Lancer followed in the same way. During the second overtake, that guy didn’t notice or didn’t analyze the situation well and was stuck behind a bus. My oh my! look on his face was really a sight to see. When we overtook and he would overtake us again, he would give a kind of grin as if he was Schumi. But this time, it was the looks, which simply can’t be described. My bro ands I thrilled as if we had won a Grand Prix. We simply were grinning for almost 15 min. and were just hoping that he could catch up with us. But we had left him behind at quite a distance.
Well there ended the memorable trip!!! But hoping we get time to go for more like one.
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Why does this happen???
I have been wanting to blog about this right from Sunday but didn’t do it… Today on the way to office I was reading this month’s issues of reader’s digest. There was an article about child sex workers. This is seriously something which disturbs me a lot.
On Sunday I watched this movie called “Kutti” on one of the channels. One of the amazing movies I have seen in recent times. It’s a movie which was released I think a year or two back. And the girl who acted in the movie won the National award for it. The story goes like this.
Kannamma, which is her name, is working in a house in Chennai. The aunt and uncle of the house simply adore her and feel bad that they have employed such a young girl who is just 10 for work. They really care for her and look after her very well and affectionately. Bu there enters the villain the rakshasi of the drama, the mother of the uncle. She tortures the poor girl and treat her very badly as she is just a servant. As the grandma treats her like that, even the son of the uncle treats her so.
The actual story of why she came here is shown as flash back as bits and pieces. She is the daughter of a potter, who earns a living which can barely meet the needs of his family of four. But he treats his daughter like a princess, does not allow her to do any work and has a dream of educating her and making her a collector. Her mother is not spared from the words of people around her, who taunt her saying this is not the way to bring up a girl child. So takes the wrath on her husband, for which he simply cuddles his daughter and says that she is a Raj Kumari and she will no be like other kids. But as the fate had decided, the father is killed in a accident, and Kannamma is thrown to the reality of the real world. She fights with her mom, for food and new clothes. And complain that without appa nobody loves her. At this point, someone in the village seeing the plight Kannamma’s mother, says that she will take Kannamma to the Chennai where she can work in a house and that she will treated very well there. Both of them are happy and Kannamma comes to Chennai.
Not able to withstand the torture by the granny and her grandson, kutti decides to elope in the night. When she comes, she sees a man from the same locality and tells him that she wants to go to her village. Then they show that she is getting down from the bus and runs to her mom and she is very happy. But actually she was thinking that this is how her mom will receive her, lest she knows that, that man has actually sold her to some men in Mumbai and she is in a train to Mumbai. There goes her life????
What do people get by making kids a plaything…Well this is not just with girls, even young boys are not spared…And if they resist to this, they are tortured physically…when I read the article, it said how these children had such a bad impact that they hardly could face their family or the society. With no fault of theirs they are branded as “Dirty”…There is no point in blaming the government for not being able to control this…I think its the duty of every individual as a human being to realize that this causes so much destruction to every single child and the society on the whole…This is seriously something who upsets me a lot…Well all we can do is to pray or help any such kid if we come across one…
On Sunday I watched this movie called “Kutti” on one of the channels. One of the amazing movies I have seen in recent times. It’s a movie which was released I think a year or two back. And the girl who acted in the movie won the National award for it. The story goes like this.
Kannamma, which is her name, is working in a house in Chennai. The aunt and uncle of the house simply adore her and feel bad that they have employed such a young girl who is just 10 for work. They really care for her and look after her very well and affectionately. Bu there enters the villain the rakshasi of the drama, the mother of the uncle. She tortures the poor girl and treat her very badly as she is just a servant. As the grandma treats her like that, even the son of the uncle treats her so.
The actual story of why she came here is shown as flash back as bits and pieces. She is the daughter of a potter, who earns a living which can barely meet the needs of his family of four. But he treats his daughter like a princess, does not allow her to do any work and has a dream of educating her and making her a collector. Her mother is not spared from the words of people around her, who taunt her saying this is not the way to bring up a girl child. So takes the wrath on her husband, for which he simply cuddles his daughter and says that she is a Raj Kumari and she will no be like other kids. But as the fate had decided, the father is killed in a accident, and Kannamma is thrown to the reality of the real world. She fights with her mom, for food and new clothes. And complain that without appa nobody loves her. At this point, someone in the village seeing the plight Kannamma’s mother, says that she will take Kannamma to the Chennai where she can work in a house and that she will treated very well there. Both of them are happy and Kannamma comes to Chennai.
Not able to withstand the torture by the granny and her grandson, kutti decides to elope in the night. When she comes, she sees a man from the same locality and tells him that she wants to go to her village. Then they show that she is getting down from the bus and runs to her mom and she is very happy. But actually she was thinking that this is how her mom will receive her, lest she knows that, that man has actually sold her to some men in Mumbai and she is in a train to Mumbai. There goes her life????
What do people get by making kids a plaything…Well this is not just with girls, even young boys are not spared…And if they resist to this, they are tortured physically…when I read the article, it said how these children had such a bad impact that they hardly could face their family or the society. With no fault of theirs they are branded as “Dirty”…There is no point in blaming the government for not being able to control this…I think its the duty of every individual as a human being to realize that this causes so much destruction to every single child and the society on the whole…This is seriously something who upsets me a lot…Well all we can do is to pray or help any such kid if we come across one…
Monday, March 07, 2005
A weekend without Amma
This weekend was a really relaxing one. After almost 2 months I spent the whole of weekend at home. But the best or should I call it the worst part was that amma was not in town right from Wednesday. So weekend was kind of not very relaxing.
We don’t realis how much mom’s work in the house when they are there. It is so nice to get back home at 7.30 in the evening shouting from the door “Amma wats for dinner”. And then shout at her if she has made something we don’t like. These 4 days was truly difficult. Get up in the morning, make the bed. When amma is around, we are so lazy that we just get up and dash into the kitchen for T which ready and is piping hot. Now I had to make the bed, clean the room and then make T for Nandu and myself. Then I had to make breakfast. That’s easy when compared to cleaning the vessels. I don’t know from where sink gets filled with vessels. The sink is like “Akshaya Patram”, it just does not become empty at all. And the evenings, get back and cook, wash vessels, do a little bit of cleaning. My god mom’s truly have a long day at home.
So I thought this weekend, I should relax and have a good time. I was not keeping well the whole week. If amma was around, I would have got up not a minute less than 9:30 or 10. But this Saturday I was up by 6:15, making breakfast and T and packing dabbas for appa n Nandu. Then there were instructions for washing a whole load of clothes, had to dry them, give them for ironing. The servant maid turned up after 3 days, so had to be behind her back and make her do all the bit of cleaning. By the time AI finished all this it was 11. So then I decided to have my weekly luxurious oil bath. I missed amma the most at this time. It was so difficult to take clothes out of almirah with oily hands. If amma was around, all I would do is go to the bathroom, and then shout from there for things like towel, podi, and what not and what not. After the bath, I had to have lunch all alone, which I am just not used to. After which had a nice long nap for around 4 hours. Then my sis and appa came back, we watched kannathil mutham ittal on sun TV got dinner from outside and slept late. Sunday also was uneventful with the same old chores. But it was more relaxing as I had finished all the cleaning, and Nandu was there at home to help me out in washing vessels. Appa was a great sport and adjusted by eating all that we cooked. He also helped us in the doing the vessels one night. Then we just lazed around the whole day doing nothing but watching TV and waiting for amma to come.
I hope to have a seriously relaxing weekend this week with amma around and me bossing her around like always. Love u amma!!!
We don’t realis how much mom’s work in the house when they are there. It is so nice to get back home at 7.30 in the evening shouting from the door “Amma wats for dinner”. And then shout at her if she has made something we don’t like. These 4 days was truly difficult. Get up in the morning, make the bed. When amma is around, we are so lazy that we just get up and dash into the kitchen for T which ready and is piping hot. Now I had to make the bed, clean the room and then make T for Nandu and myself. Then I had to make breakfast. That’s easy when compared to cleaning the vessels. I don’t know from where sink gets filled with vessels. The sink is like “Akshaya Patram”, it just does not become empty at all. And the evenings, get back and cook, wash vessels, do a little bit of cleaning. My god mom’s truly have a long day at home.
So I thought this weekend, I should relax and have a good time. I was not keeping well the whole week. If amma was around, I would have got up not a minute less than 9:30 or 10. But this Saturday I was up by 6:15, making breakfast and T and packing dabbas for appa n Nandu. Then there were instructions for washing a whole load of clothes, had to dry them, give them for ironing. The servant maid turned up after 3 days, so had to be behind her back and make her do all the bit of cleaning. By the time AI finished all this it was 11. So then I decided to have my weekly luxurious oil bath. I missed amma the most at this time. It was so difficult to take clothes out of almirah with oily hands. If amma was around, all I would do is go to the bathroom, and then shout from there for things like towel, podi, and what not and what not. After the bath, I had to have lunch all alone, which I am just not used to. After which had a nice long nap for around 4 hours. Then my sis and appa came back, we watched kannathil mutham ittal on sun TV got dinner from outside and slept late. Sunday also was uneventful with the same old chores. But it was more relaxing as I had finished all the cleaning, and Nandu was there at home to help me out in washing vessels. Appa was a great sport and adjusted by eating all that we cooked. He also helped us in the doing the vessels one night. Then we just lazed around the whole day doing nothing but watching TV and waiting for amma to come.
I hope to have a seriously relaxing weekend this week with amma around and me bossing her around like always. Love u amma!!!
Friday, February 25, 2005
A Cherished trip(Part Two)
As we left Mudhumumalai, it was starting to get dark. We knew that our next destination was Gundlupet, and from there we had to go to Sultan Bathery. It was around half an hour’s drive to Gundlupet. From there started our questioning spree. We started asking people how to go to Sultan Bathery. They would reply “Bathery yo…Neera po”.The route was really awesome and would have been a great drive if we had gone during the day time. We had to cross tea estates and the roads were nice and winding. And all along the moon was following. It was the next of day of a full moon and was really awesome. We reached, Bathery after an hour and a half drive. Till then we were thinking that Wayanad was place. Once we reached Bathery we asked, how to go to Wayanad and they say u r in Wayanad. Then we realized that Wayanad is a district which has a lot of small town. We had read about Vythri resorts. So we enquired about how to go there. We realized that we had to pass thru a place called Kalpetta, then came Vythri and then a town called Lakkidi, which all were within a 20 to 30 kms stretch. And the time was ticking away. It was around 8 in the night and we had no room booking, in fact we had to search for a place for the night.
We thought we will check one of the resorts. So on the way to Vythri we saw a nice decent hotel in Kalpetta, but we thought we go to resorts. We drove up to Vythri only to find that it was booked and that it was too expensive. Then people told us that there were two resorts in Lakkidi, drove up to Lakkidi to find that one was horrible. The other one was really good, but was around 3 kms inside the forest. My brother was really against taking me there alone during the night. So we decided to drive back to Kalpetta, and check into that Hotel we had checked. At last we checked in at around 10 30 and had dinner and crashed.
We got up and check out of the hotel at around 10 next morning. We found that there was some sanctuary on the other side of Kalpetta, near Manathavady and a couple of falls. So we decided to drive to Manathavady 50 kms from Kalpetta. It was such a disappointing drive. We passed the sanctuary and other tourist spots on the way, thinking that we will come back to those after seeing the Meenmutty falls, which is supposed to be very beautiful, only to realize that we were on the wrong route to the falls. Following the directions given, we reached back to Kalpetta, without seeing anything in Manathavady. But the drive was nice and scenic. We had to cross Kalpetta and take a deviation before reaching Vythri, and go around35 kms. We had to pass a town called Meppadi. On the way we saw deviations to Chembra peak, Soochipara Waterfalls, Soochipara Waterfalls, Kanthanpara Waterfalls. We thought we will come back to them after seeing Meenmutty as we had to come back in that way.
The way Meenmutty falls is simply awesome. We had to drive some 35 kms, through Tea estates. Winging roads along the tea estates, with green all around and absolute silence was really awesome. When we thought we have reached the falls, we were that we had to drive inside a coffee estate; we drove inside the estate and then came to know that we had to stop the car and walk down the forest for some 1km or so. Then we decided not to do that as my brother was apprehensive to take me alone, as there were hardly any people around. So we returned disappointed, but the only consolation was it was a beautiful drive though. We drove back the same drove back to Kalpetta, without stopping at any other falls. We came to Vythri and decided to go to Pookot Lake which was so much talked about. When we went there we found that it is indeed very beautiful with forest and trees around but it was a small lake which was not even of the size of our Ulsoor lake. From there we decided to drive to Kozhikode and planned to halt for the night. After the previous night circus of hunting for a place to stay, we decided we will check into a place early and crash early.
We started from Lakkidi at around 12.30. This stretch driving was simply awesome, as we had to drive down the Western Ghats to the sea level. We just entered the ghat section and we see that the whole the ghats are covered with mist, but the irony was that it was quite warm. It was truly a heavenly feeling to drive down the mountains with mist. We came down the ghats, and reached Kozhikode at around 4. Had some snacks. And I bugged my Bro that I go to some of the famous jewellery shops like Alukkas, Bheema’s. So we went to Bheema’s, and there we found that the owner of that place could speak Kannada. So my bro was busy asking him about places we could stay, while I was looking at jewellery. We came to know that round 25 kms from Kozhikode on the airport road, there was a beautiful resort called Kadavu. Before going there, we decided to drive along beach, as it were prohibited to venture into the beach, as it was just 2 days after Tsunami. We found that the beach was simple very dirty and it was stinking. Then we went to Kadavu resorts. It was truly a very beautiful place. It was on the bank of Chaliyar River. It was truly beautiful, but was again expensive due to Christmas season. So they suggested that we drive to Kannoor. That was another 2 hours drive. We were really tired and drained out. But we had no other option but to drive. So we started off from Kozhikode. We had just come out of Kozhikode and we saw a huge hoarding of a nice looking hotel. We passed it, and reversed back to hoarding. We kept staring at it for a few minutes, and we were wondering why they have not given where it is located. And to our surprise, it was just across the road. We laughed at our atupidity and checked into that hotel and had a relaxed evening, just lazing around watching TV and getting updated on the Tsunami issue.
We thought we will check one of the resorts. So on the way to Vythri we saw a nice decent hotel in Kalpetta, but we thought we go to resorts. We drove up to Vythri only to find that it was booked and that it was too expensive. Then people told us that there were two resorts in Lakkidi, drove up to Lakkidi to find that one was horrible. The other one was really good, but was around 3 kms inside the forest. My brother was really against taking me there alone during the night. So we decided to drive back to Kalpetta, and check into that Hotel we had checked. At last we checked in at around 10 30 and had dinner and crashed.
We got up and check out of the hotel at around 10 next morning. We found that there was some sanctuary on the other side of Kalpetta, near Manathavady and a couple of falls. So we decided to drive to Manathavady 50 kms from Kalpetta. It was such a disappointing drive. We passed the sanctuary and other tourist spots on the way, thinking that we will come back to those after seeing the Meenmutty falls, which is supposed to be very beautiful, only to realize that we were on the wrong route to the falls. Following the directions given, we reached back to Kalpetta, without seeing anything in Manathavady. But the drive was nice and scenic. We had to cross Kalpetta and take a deviation before reaching Vythri, and go around35 kms. We had to pass a town called Meppadi. On the way we saw deviations to Chembra peak, Soochipara Waterfalls, Soochipara Waterfalls, Kanthanpara Waterfalls. We thought we will come back to them after seeing Meenmutty as we had to come back in that way.
The way Meenmutty falls is simply awesome. We had to drive some 35 kms, through Tea estates. Winging roads along the tea estates, with green all around and absolute silence was really awesome. When we thought we have reached the falls, we were that we had to drive inside a coffee estate; we drove inside the estate and then came to know that we had to stop the car and walk down the forest for some 1km or so. Then we decided not to do that as my brother was apprehensive to take me alone, as there were hardly any people around. So we returned disappointed, but the only consolation was it was a beautiful drive though. We drove back the same drove back to Kalpetta, without stopping at any other falls. We came to Vythri and decided to go to Pookot Lake which was so much talked about. When we went there we found that it is indeed very beautiful with forest and trees around but it was a small lake which was not even of the size of our Ulsoor lake. From there we decided to drive to Kozhikode and planned to halt for the night. After the previous night circus of hunting for a place to stay, we decided we will check into a place early and crash early.
We started from Lakkidi at around 12.30. This stretch driving was simply awesome, as we had to drive down the Western Ghats to the sea level. We just entered the ghat section and we see that the whole the ghats are covered with mist, but the irony was that it was quite warm. It was truly a heavenly feeling to drive down the mountains with mist. We came down the ghats, and reached Kozhikode at around 4. Had some snacks. And I bugged my Bro that I go to some of the famous jewellery shops like Alukkas, Bheema’s. So we went to Bheema’s, and there we found that the owner of that place could speak Kannada. So my bro was busy asking him about places we could stay, while I was looking at jewellery. We came to know that round 25 kms from Kozhikode on the airport road, there was a beautiful resort called Kadavu. Before going there, we decided to drive along beach, as it were prohibited to venture into the beach, as it was just 2 days after Tsunami. We found that the beach was simple very dirty and it was stinking. Then we went to Kadavu resorts. It was truly a very beautiful place. It was on the bank of Chaliyar River. It was truly beautiful, but was again expensive due to Christmas season. So they suggested that we drive to Kannoor. That was another 2 hours drive. We were really tired and drained out. But we had no other option but to drive. So we started off from Kozhikode. We had just come out of Kozhikode and we saw a huge hoarding of a nice looking hotel. We passed it, and reversed back to hoarding. We kept staring at it for a few minutes, and we were wondering why they have not given where it is located. And to our surprise, it was just across the road. We laughed at our atupidity and checked into that hotel and had a relaxed evening, just lazing around watching TV and getting updated on the Tsunami issue.
Monday, January 31, 2005
A Cherished trip(Part One)
This was a gift for my birthday a little in advance for my birthday this year by my brother. He took me on a great 3 day trip. It was really awesome. So thought will make a travelogue out of it, so that it will great to read on later.
We planned to start off at 6.30 on 27th December. It was really tough to convince our parents, to let us go after the 26th Tsunami. They let us go after getting reassured that we will not go anywhere near the beaches. We promised them and then started off a little behind schedule at 7.00 in the morning. Our plan was to go to Wayanad via, Kabini and Coorg and stay at Wayanad. We started off, and drove on Mysore road. We stopped for breakfast at Kamat Lokaruchi. We had great ragi dosas, idli and vada. And started off. After sometime, I, very meekly asked him, whether we could change the plan and go to Ooty and then go to Wayanad. After some speculation he agreed and we saw the map, and decided that we go via Bandipur and Nagarhole to Ooty. We were approaching Mysore, where we saw a deviation via a newly constructed ring road. The road was really nice, so hit on it. It was a small road but really beautiful. We reached Mysore at around 9, and then we left there after seeing Lalith Mahal Palace from outside. It’s truly a magnificent palace.
Then went via Nanjagud, to Bandipur. We stopped at Jungle lodges for a small break. That was truly a nice place to spend a weekend. Then we started off into the forest. When we reached the Bandipur office; we found out that the safari timings were over so we decided to go to Mudhumalai. As we were getting out of the gate, we saw a mother monkey with her kids. My lord, they were truly very cute and adorable. We headed to Mudhumalai which is just 15 kms from Bandipur. The forest silence and the sounds of nature were truly deafening. We reached Mudhumalai to hear the same thing. So we decided to go to Ooty, via the steep road which is just 35 kms when compared to the long route via Gudalur. This road was really steep with 36 hairpin bends. We started off, only to get stuck behind a truck and a car. So we got disgusted and decided to take a road off the main road, which lead us to the foot of the mountain here Ooty lies.
It was truly a magnificent sight to see the sturdy mountain stand so high. There were a lot of resorts on that road. We came back and started our journey to Ooty, along the 36 hairpin bends. It was awesome to see that we were above the clouds. There were cabbage farms all along the way. We entered Ooty, the first thought was, why did we ever come here??? It is full of filth and it is so dirty. Then we didn’t feel like here, so we drove to Coonoor. It was so warm during December. My Bangalore was colder than Ooty. Then we had lunch in Coonoor, and drove down to Ooty. I wanted to buy some home made chocolates, so we bought them, and we started driving down the hill as we didn’t want to miss the safari again in Mudhumalai.
But to our luck, the safari was closed by the time we came down. But that was the time when, Jayalalitha had got the around 35 elephants, from temples all around TamilNadu. So we walked to the camp. On the way, some monkeys came running at my brother, seeing camera in his hand. His frightened face was really a sight to see. He spotted a peacock flying and perching on a branch, which I could not spot at all. There were 35 elephants all waiting to be fed. There were 4 or 5 cubs, which were so playful and cute. One particular cub was playing and irritating his mahout just like how baby will irritate his mother by not eating. Then we came out of the camp after half an hour. The sun was setting and our destination was Wayanand. The journey will continue later.
We planned to start off at 6.30 on 27th December. It was really tough to convince our parents, to let us go after the 26th Tsunami. They let us go after getting reassured that we will not go anywhere near the beaches. We promised them and then started off a little behind schedule at 7.00 in the morning. Our plan was to go to Wayanad via, Kabini and Coorg and stay at Wayanad. We started off, and drove on Mysore road. We stopped for breakfast at Kamat Lokaruchi. We had great ragi dosas, idli and vada. And started off. After sometime, I, very meekly asked him, whether we could change the plan and go to Ooty and then go to Wayanad. After some speculation he agreed and we saw the map, and decided that we go via Bandipur and Nagarhole to Ooty. We were approaching Mysore, where we saw a deviation via a newly constructed ring road. The road was really nice, so hit on it. It was a small road but really beautiful. We reached Mysore at around 9, and then we left there after seeing Lalith Mahal Palace from outside. It’s truly a magnificent palace.
Then went via Nanjagud, to Bandipur. We stopped at Jungle lodges for a small break. That was truly a nice place to spend a weekend. Then we started off into the forest. When we reached the Bandipur office; we found out that the safari timings were over so we decided to go to Mudhumalai. As we were getting out of the gate, we saw a mother monkey with her kids. My lord, they were truly very cute and adorable. We headed to Mudhumalai which is just 15 kms from Bandipur. The forest silence and the sounds of nature were truly deafening. We reached Mudhumalai to hear the same thing. So we decided to go to Ooty, via the steep road which is just 35 kms when compared to the long route via Gudalur. This road was really steep with 36 hairpin bends. We started off, only to get stuck behind a truck and a car. So we got disgusted and decided to take a road off the main road, which lead us to the foot of the mountain here Ooty lies.
It was truly a magnificent sight to see the sturdy mountain stand so high. There were a lot of resorts on that road. We came back and started our journey to Ooty, along the 36 hairpin bends. It was awesome to see that we were above the clouds. There were cabbage farms all along the way. We entered Ooty, the first thought was, why did we ever come here??? It is full of filth and it is so dirty. Then we didn’t feel like here, so we drove to Coonoor. It was so warm during December. My Bangalore was colder than Ooty. Then we had lunch in Coonoor, and drove down to Ooty. I wanted to buy some home made chocolates, so we bought them, and we started driving down the hill as we didn’t want to miss the safari again in Mudhumalai.
But to our luck, the safari was closed by the time we came down. But that was the time when, Jayalalitha had got the around 35 elephants, from temples all around TamilNadu. So we walked to the camp. On the way, some monkeys came running at my brother, seeing camera in his hand. His frightened face was really a sight to see. He spotted a peacock flying and perching on a branch, which I could not spot at all. There were 35 elephants all waiting to be fed. There were 4 or 5 cubs, which were so playful and cute. One particular cub was playing and irritating his mahout just like how baby will irritate his mother by not eating. Then we came out of the camp after half an hour. The sun was setting and our destination was Wayanand. The journey will continue later.
Friday, January 21, 2005
Great experience
Coming back to India is always a joyous thing for everyone…Its very exciting and usually all of us are anxious to get back as early as possible……
First let me tell you my itenary…I was supposed to take a flight from Philadelphia to New York on a domestic flight at 3.40 pm.…The connecting flight to Frankfurt from New York was at 5:40…I will reach New York at 4.45 had just an hour for my immigration and other rituals and board the flight in peace…I was worried if I could be in time. Then I had a flight change in Frankfurt to Bombay and then to Bangalore. I was all thrilled and excited about coming back home… I started very early fearing traffic and reached airport 4 hours ahead of schedule, I finished checking in and was waiting in Philadelphia for my flight to leave to New York. Here starts the story of should I called it “Comedy of confusion”…The flight was delayed and it started from Philadelphia at 5:40, due to which it was obvious that he had missed his flight to Frankfurt. (I was sitting in the airport for 6 hours)
So I was informed that as I had missed the flight to Frankfurt, I would be traveling in a flight to Paris which was scheduled to leave New York at 7. But my flight landed in New York only at 6:55. So I was really skeptical whether I would again miss this flight to Paris also as its humanely impossible for me to finish all the immigration and checking in formalities. As we landed me along with four more people who had missed that Frankfurt flight, we were taken in bus to the Paris flight. As it was cold outside we were waiting in the bus. The gate was closed and we were supposed to get into flight climbing the ladder. There was a heated argument going on between officials. That was seriously a sight to see. There were some officials standing below the ladder and some on the top of it inside the flight. After some arguments they asked us to come out of the bus. We got our entire luggage and when we climbed the ladder halfway the people inside the flight said that we were not allowed…So we again got back into the flight and the arguments continued….After some time we were allowed to enter into the flight climbing the ladder. The other four people had got their tickets and boarding passes. When I enquired where mine was, the official answered that there was no time and it would fine and people in Paris would take care.
I thought when there is no problem why should I bothered and entered the flight. The air hostess saw the tickets of the other people and directed them to their seats. I asked her where my seat was. She asked for my tickets. Here started my story telling session…I explained the whole thing to her. Then she said “you can Sit in any free seat”. I have had this experience only in city buses and in restaurant. But this was a nice experience. I went asked people who had an empty seat next to them whether any person was expected to come. A couple of them yes I was very disappointed. Then at the corner I spotted a seat and I went and asked the man whether anyone was expected to come. When he said no my joy knew no bounds and I immediately sat down. The look on the man’s face was seriously a sight to see.
The journey to Paris was really good. And I landed in Paris at 9 and my flight to Bombay was at 11. So I went to the collect my ticket and boarding pass to Bombay from the ticket counter. I went and told the lady in the counter the whole story and told that I need my ticket. She said there is absolutely no problem and asked my name. I told my name, she searched and could not find it the list. She tried 7 to8 combinations of my first and last names and she got irritated and asked for my passport….She tried the name in the passport and still she could not find my name. Then asked for my previous ticket and checked that too in vain, then asked for the flight number I came to Paris, she checked the passenger list and said you are not supposed to fly in this flight how did you fly. Then I again had to repeat the same story as there were some 3 more people there. Then said ok fine, go to the airport and tell them what happened and they will give you the ticket. When I told them that I didn’t have a French visa, there were perplexed and had some talks in French. One guy seemed to have come up with a brilliant idea, the others were excited and happy. Then they took a blank ticket and wrote my name on it. I went and boarded the flight, and the flight didn’t depart. I seriously thought that the flight was delayed due to some confusion caused because of me. Then the captain announced that some passenger had safely checked in his passport. So they had to get his passport from the cargo and then the flight departed one hour late.
I at last reached Bombay, and I was waiting for my luggage. And lo behold, I find that my luggage is lost. So I go to the Airways counter, tell them the whole story, and they also check and tell that I am not supposed to be in the flight. Then say the luggage could be anywhere in any of the airports we will try and find it. In due course of all this I missed by 3:00a.m. Flight to Bangalore. I was again sad, but the person said “Don’t worry Sir I will put you in the next flight” I was happy and asked him when is the next flight. I almost fainted when I heard that it was at 6.30 I had to wait in the airport again for 3 hours. This was like raising me and making me sit on the ninth cloud and giving me a push so that I fall down with a huge thud. Then I wait in the Bombay airport for 3 hours and at last I reach Bangalore.Proabbly I will be one of the very few
privileged people who have travelled even in flights "without" a ticket.
This is the experience of my friend, Hari. As requested by him, I have written this in first person. Hope no one has such a hilarious nightmare ever on his way back home!!!
First let me tell you my itenary…I was supposed to take a flight from Philadelphia to New York on a domestic flight at 3.40 pm.…The connecting flight to Frankfurt from New York was at 5:40…I will reach New York at 4.45 had just an hour for my immigration and other rituals and board the flight in peace…I was worried if I could be in time. Then I had a flight change in Frankfurt to Bombay and then to Bangalore. I was all thrilled and excited about coming back home… I started very early fearing traffic and reached airport 4 hours ahead of schedule, I finished checking in and was waiting in Philadelphia for my flight to leave to New York. Here starts the story of should I called it “Comedy of confusion”…The flight was delayed and it started from Philadelphia at 5:40, due to which it was obvious that he had missed his flight to Frankfurt. (I was sitting in the airport for 6 hours)
So I was informed that as I had missed the flight to Frankfurt, I would be traveling in a flight to Paris which was scheduled to leave New York at 7. But my flight landed in New York only at 6:55. So I was really skeptical whether I would again miss this flight to Paris also as its humanely impossible for me to finish all the immigration and checking in formalities. As we landed me along with four more people who had missed that Frankfurt flight, we were taken in bus to the Paris flight. As it was cold outside we were waiting in the bus. The gate was closed and we were supposed to get into flight climbing the ladder. There was a heated argument going on between officials. That was seriously a sight to see. There were some officials standing below the ladder and some on the top of it inside the flight. After some arguments they asked us to come out of the bus. We got our entire luggage and when we climbed the ladder halfway the people inside the flight said that we were not allowed…So we again got back into the flight and the arguments continued….After some time we were allowed to enter into the flight climbing the ladder. The other four people had got their tickets and boarding passes. When I enquired where mine was, the official answered that there was no time and it would fine and people in Paris would take care.
I thought when there is no problem why should I bothered and entered the flight. The air hostess saw the tickets of the other people and directed them to their seats. I asked her where my seat was. She asked for my tickets. Here started my story telling session…I explained the whole thing to her. Then she said “you can Sit in any free seat”. I have had this experience only in city buses and in restaurant. But this was a nice experience. I went asked people who had an empty seat next to them whether any person was expected to come. A couple of them yes I was very disappointed. Then at the corner I spotted a seat and I went and asked the man whether anyone was expected to come. When he said no my joy knew no bounds and I immediately sat down. The look on the man’s face was seriously a sight to see.
The journey to Paris was really good. And I landed in Paris at 9 and my flight to Bombay was at 11. So I went to the collect my ticket and boarding pass to Bombay from the ticket counter. I went and told the lady in the counter the whole story and told that I need my ticket. She said there is absolutely no problem and asked my name. I told my name, she searched and could not find it the list. She tried 7 to8 combinations of my first and last names and she got irritated and asked for my passport….She tried the name in the passport and still she could not find my name. Then asked for my previous ticket and checked that too in vain, then asked for the flight number I came to Paris, she checked the passenger list and said you are not supposed to fly in this flight how did you fly. Then I again had to repeat the same story as there were some 3 more people there. Then said ok fine, go to the airport and tell them what happened and they will give you the ticket. When I told them that I didn’t have a French visa, there were perplexed and had some talks in French. One guy seemed to have come up with a brilliant idea, the others were excited and happy. Then they took a blank ticket and wrote my name on it. I went and boarded the flight, and the flight didn’t depart. I seriously thought that the flight was delayed due to some confusion caused because of me. Then the captain announced that some passenger had safely checked in his passport. So they had to get his passport from the cargo and then the flight departed one hour late.
I at last reached Bombay, and I was waiting for my luggage. And lo behold, I find that my luggage is lost. So I go to the Airways counter, tell them the whole story, and they also check and tell that I am not supposed to be in the flight. Then say the luggage could be anywhere in any of the airports we will try and find it. In due course of all this I missed by 3:00a.m. Flight to Bangalore. I was again sad, but the person said “Don’t worry Sir I will put you in the next flight” I was happy and asked him when is the next flight. I almost fainted when I heard that it was at 6.30 I had to wait in the airport again for 3 hours. This was like raising me and making me sit on the ninth cloud and giving me a push so that I fall down with a huge thud. Then I wait in the Bombay airport for 3 hours and at last I reach Bangalore.Proabbly I will be one of the very few
privileged people who have travelled even in flights "without" a ticket.
This is the experience of my friend, Hari. As requested by him, I have written this in first person. Hope no one has such a hilarious nightmare ever on his way back home!!!
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