Travel travails

After a tiring journey, I din't have enough energy to even pick up my bag from the floor. Looking at it lying there, I felt it kind of reflected my state of mind (& body) too. Well, we where just waiting for the doors to open. the swipe cards given by the reception were not quite working. So I had all the time in the world to click this picture. (Well, the ulterior motive was that I wanted to show off my bag desperately).

My bag crumpled up, jus like me....

Blues and reds

 I have been kind of obsessed with this blue bottle since I saw people drinking from it. It gives off a 'I'm cool' vibe.So I've been trying to photograph it from all angles and all situations possible, yeah , even if it is uncalled for. so this is a pic of it sitting side-by-side with two red apples. I wanted too put a green Granny Smith apple in the pic, but it happened to be resting cozily in my stomach at that moment, so that plan didn't quite take off.

Then I again clicked it sitting quietly by the hotel window. Well , you might have to look that extra bit hard to spot it. But it's there, right in the middle...

Spot the bottle?

Yeah, the answer to the pic above!

The transition from winter to spring is not really a pretty sight for me, who come from places with evergreen forests. The sight of bare trees with not a single leaf on them is depressing at times.

Looks like they are sending up prayers to the sky

The Different colours of Spring

Spring has announced its arrival in Bangalore by breaking out into a melange of colours. The few trees that have managed to survive the onslaught of man;s greed as well as that of the metro rail construction have trumpeted the turn of time by bringing forth the colours they were harbouring in their bosoms around the year.

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The yellows and pinks of Spring

This is just outside my office. The trees are almost bare , no leaves, only flowers adorning their squiggly branches.

The entire ground has become carpeted with flowers...

Floral carpet

A Coorg Get away - Stewart Valley homestay

It was on a whim that I decided to stay in Stewart Valley home stay in Madikeri. The inner critic gnawed my thoughts day in and day out questioning whether it was right to risk taking my parents to a place which has not been listed in trip advisor or reviewed anywhere. “What the heck? Let’s go and see” I thought. All I knew when we drove into Madikeri was that it is a red painted house in which Mr.Ganapathy and his wife lived. The house is an old but tastefully re-furbished and well maintained ancestral house. He gave us directions to reach the house (past the TV tower) and was waiting outside the house to make sure we dint get lost (which of-course, we did). But even if he wasn’t waiting, I think we would have identified the house, after all who would miss a huge red-painted house bang on the road? 

The courtyard and garden

Gerberas in the garden

The moment we drove past the gate and stepped out of the car, somehow I felt very relieved. May be it was the sight of the smiling Mr. Ganapathy and his wife Veena, or maybe it was the sight of a beautiful portico and a beautiful garden with flowers, or it was the cool breeze brushing our  sweaty, grimy faces. Whatever the reason was, it was a really cozy, homely feeling that swept over me and I felt relieved that I had chosen rightly. The house is sort of in the middle of the town, just a 5-10 min walk downhill (yes, it’s kind of the highest point in Madikeri town) and you will be walking past Raja’s seat, Gen. Thimmiah circle, the markets, the bus stand, good hotels and everything else. Despite being so close to the town, you are never perturbed by the hustle and bustle, being far removed from the noise and dust of the city. You can simply laze around in the veranda surrounded by the garden and enjoying the view of the hillside, or you can sit in their back yard and do nothing and snooze. We stayed in 2 rooms on either side of the house. This was kind of good; being in a house and at the same, not unncessarily bumping into other people. The bathrooms were extremely neat and clean and modern (yes, we are fussy bathroom people), they had also provided soap etc.etc. The rooms aren’t that big as you would expect in a hotel, but then who would want to remain cooped up indoors in Coorg, when there is so much to see outside?

A what's- its-name climber in the garden with beautiful pink flowers

They give complimentary breakfast and we had kadubu, sambar and a delicious coconut chutney to go with it. R also had some bread and honey. It was a welcome break after all the hotel food we were eating from outside. Veena aunty was always ready with coffee or tea whenever we requested.

Kadubu with sambar

My father had interesting long chats with Mr.Ganapathy. My mother was happily doing rounds of their beautiful garden with vibrant flowers. R even managed to try his hand at Mr.Ganapathy's airgun. He gladly regaled us with vignettes of Kodava culture. He was more than ready to tell us how to drive to Abbi falls, Talacauvery and other places, where to buy wines from and so on. We also had a tryst with Blacky, the family dog who was in a playful mood and had to be dragged back into his cage. We had to leave at 5.30 in the morning and Aunty graciously offered to make breakfast that early also but we declined. I can confidently say that one of the highlights of our trip was our stay in Stewart Valley.

[ PS: the credit for the pic below goes to R, he hinted he would kick my a*# if I dint mention him in the credits ;-) ]

A night view of Madikeri from Stewart valley

A Coorg Getaway- the Tibetan settlement in Bylakuppe, Kushalnagar

We decided to put the series of holidays in this week to maximum use and head to Coorg or Kodagu. The taxi driver pulled out at the last moment and we gingerly took up the gauntlet to drive the odd 270 kilometres all the way to Coorg. It was a decision which sparked much concern and confusion from R and me; ours is a 10+ year old car, nowhere near top condition, never taken for such long rides, lots of dents, bumps and scratches, and to top it all, no A/C!.  On the pros side, we both could drive in turns and the car was our trusted foot soldier since our courtship days and it would be our first road trip. Thus at night 10'o clock, we finally decided to take the plunge and place our trust in our rickety car to take us all the way to Coorg. At night 10.30, we were frantically looking at Google Maps, Google Earth and all other possible resources to identify the route; yes, we dint know the 'how to' part of the getaway. I searched and searched for a good free GPS app and finally gave up.

We set out before the crack of dawn at 5.00. The road was smooth and devoid of any traffic. Till Srirangapatna we had absolutely no confusion, it was a straight road. After that at major junctions, we asked the locals for help whenever in doubt. I learnt that the best GPS is to ask around! Never once did we lose our way till we reached Madikeri. We reached the Tibetan settlement  in Bylakuppe at around 10.30. Bylakuppe comes 4 kms before Kushalnagar. It is home to the second largest Tibetan settlement in India.

Bylakuppe, of the Tibetan settlement

 We headed straightaway to the Golden temple and the Namdroling monastery. It is a 4 Km drive  from the main road.The place was swarming with visitors. The Golden temple is an imposing structure, visible from a long way off. The monastery has monks of all ages staying and studying there. Inside the temple, there are 60 feet tall idols of 3 Buddhist gurus. The walls are decorated with murals depicting the life of various gurus. The paintings are intricately done beautifully in vibrant colours.

The first look

The 60 feet tall idols of 3 Buddhist gurus

Young monks in prayer

The intricate doors with murals of guardians on either side

The interplay of light and colours

A female deity

There were two things about the paintings which struck me. One was the depiction of female deities in the paintings. The second thing was depictions of evil spirits/ deities in some of the murals. Both these are owing to my ignorance of Buddhism, but from a layman's point of view, I was quite struck by it as I was unaware of  any female Buddhist goddesses. Also I also associated Buddhism with peacefulness
and hence was surprised to find depictions of menacing figures on the walls.

A mural of one with a fierce countenance

Purple through and through

We did see this interesting plant on the monastery grounds. It had purple leaves in addition to purple flowers.












Within the monastery compound there is a shop selling curios, Tibetan fans, trinkets, hangings etc. It is managed by 2 monks.

Trinkets, I wanted to buy every one of them!

Good luck charms

The Tibetan houses within the settlement prominently display multicoloured Buddhist prayer flags. I thought they were simply plain flags but a closer look showed they had prayers written on them.

Prayer flags fluttering in the breeze

Prayer flags in close-up

 The Tibetan cause invariably finds resonance in the minds of the settled people, as is evident from this girl sporting a t-shirt with 'Save Tibet' logo.

Championing their cause

You can spend hours together inside the various temples which are less crowded by tourists. The grounds of the monastery are vast and fit for a peaceful stroll.

Another look at the temple

The Final word: It is a must see for any tourist to Coorg.

The Onam of 2012

So happy was I to be home for Onam this year. People in my office were asking all about it and I told them its a 'harvest festival'. Actually I just think its a harvest festival, not quite sure of it. Anyway, them Kannadigas don't know any better than me , so I managed to get away with it :)

And they are surprised that Onam is a state festival celebrated irrespective of religious affiliations. Again they stumped me by asking which god is worshipped for Onam. I explained the story of King Mahabali and Vamanan, they were familiar with some parts of it. Then they wanted to know what we did on Onam. The answer that came to my mind was that we watch movies on Surya TV, Asianet, Kairali TV etc. I din't tell them that ... Instead I that told we make Pookkalams and we have a grand feast on Thiruvonam day :)

Some images from Onam this year...

The Vazhakkula without which no Onam is complete, proudly photographed from my home garden....

The quintessential Pookkalam, the hallmark of Onam...

A closeup view of the smae,

The Thrikkarappan, made of mud, decorated with flowers

Up close,

Some flowers without which Onam cannot be...

Thumba poo, sadly so out of focus  :(

Mukkootti....the yellow bells,

Kakkappoo, it is actually violet or blue; the colour dint come out in my pic...

A Happy and prosperous Onam to one and all!

Hotels

Simply I thought I will make a list of hotels we have stayed in, not much anyways, but hope to keep updating.

Thrissur, Kerala - Joys Palace

Bangalore, Karnataka - Pai Viceroy, Anand Vihar, Prakash Cafe, The Libra, Golden Bell

Delhi  - oh I Forgot,

Jaipur - Arya Vilas (simply the best budget hotel)

Ooty - Sullivan Court() heavenly chicken cutlets)

Mysore - Hotel Sandesh

Goa - Hotel Nizmar, Calangute (ughh....)

Chennai - The Orchid (forgettable)
                The Crystal Palace (good food and room service)

Boston - Hampton Inn (cheese omelettes, pork patties :) )

Pittsburg - Quality Inn, The Hilton

Newyork - Holiday Inn, Apple hostel

Chicago - Holiday Inn

Abu Dhabi - The Sands hotel

A stopover at Tumkur

Last 3 days, I have been doing up and down to Tumkur on some work. One of the days, I went to a place called Bellavi. As we were driving in and around Bellavi suddenly it reminded me of home. There were hibiscus flowers in the hedges and in the front courtyard gardens of houses. I saw  a large pink-purple hibiscus which I had not seen in a long time and suddenly nostalgia came rushing back like waves crashing in on the sea shore.

While I was there in Ramanagara, I took a snap of a small plant in the garden. It resembled one of the plastic christmas trees we have at home. This one looked so cute though...

Chitradurga fort

As part of our evaluation programme, our team was in Chitradurga. I was truly amazed at the roads which took us to Durga; such smooth wide corridors free of vehicles that vehicles can practically fly on the roads. The toll charges too are as impressive as the roads! Close to the city, we saw giant wind mills in all the surrounding hill tops and they seemed to form a ring around the city, like huge watch towers.The barren plains suddenly burst into greenery and people once we entered the town. The avenues were lined by trees like back in Bangalore. The urban dweller that I am, I felt re-assured once I saw a couple of shops of Lee, Wrangler etc.

On a free day, we visited the Chitradurga Fort. I thanked all the stars the moment my taxi stopped in front of the fort gates. A moment more and I would have thrown up from motion sickness. I couldn't enjoy it as much as I would have wanted because of the stupid Chemoreceptor trigger zone in my medulla doing things to my GI tract. Once that cleared up, the rain started and I was watching my feet so as not to slip up on the smooth slate stones lining the walkway.

 Now coming back to the Fort, the name of the fort was actually Chitra-kal-durga which roughly translates as "Picture-Stone-Fort". This came about because some of the boulders around the fort apparently resemble a rabbit or a human face or a prostrate elephant if you look at them. What most impressed me about the fort is its architecture. It has seven turns and seven gates and so it is also known as  ' Yelu suttina kote' or seven-circles-fort. The winding nature of the fort walls and its 7 curves makes it an impregnable fort, impossible to capture. There are many temples and water tanks inside it.The living quarters where made in mud and has disappeared in the monsoon rains over the centuries. Another interesting thing was the way cuts where made into huge boulders in the fort by masons. Apparently they would create small wedges with chisels. The rain water would seep in and the hard granite rock would easily be chiselled away in sheets along the cuts made previously. Truly 'Cutting edge technology'.




That's one of the turns of the fort.





A step well inside the fort

Monsoons in Kerala

Looking out at the rain from the balcony, I was wondering how people carry on with their lives in the rain season over her... Here I am, sitting cooped up in the cozy confines of my apartment on a lazy sunday morning. I  tell myself I am not going anywhere till the sun comes out. I again remind myself that it might take another 2 months for that to happen.... I cannot remain cooped up all that while. So life must go on despite the downpour, the drizzle, the thunder and lightning. And it does go on as usual. Its life as usual for the people with a minor difference; you just have to keep an umbrella ready with you  at all times. When in Bangalore, sometimes it used to rain all of a sudden and I would be the only person in the whole town with an umbrella ready. The Kerala climate had taught me to keep an umbrella ready, come rain or shine. I would always have it in my bag. Bangaloreans consider it a kind of blasphemy to carry an umbrella with you. If it rains, they just walk off the rain or take shelter under the next shop till the rain peters out. But in Kerala, rains are of a different kind.... It can go on pouring for the whole day with waxing and waning in between but never stopping, you must be a fool to go out without an umbrella!

Rain is such an integral part of Kerala life that we have poetry, films, songs, dramas, stories and what not based on the rain. In my small memory itself, I can recollect 2 recent movies with the mallu name for rain "mazha" in it. There are numerous film songs based on the varied moods of the rain. Our movies are replete with rain set pieces. Romances bud out in the rain (remember the 'rain dances'), tragedies meet with a grizzly end (bleeding to death in the rain at the hands of the villain), new life begins (impoverished other giving birth on the road in the pouring rain on a pitch dark night). Even a male and female sharing an umbrella is of much consequence!! Now I even remember one old TV serial called "Oru kudayum, kunju pengalum " (One umbrella and my little sister!!)

Now I remember  walking to the school wading through knee deep water in torrential rain one day. What happened was that the temple pond which is midway on the way to school overflowed due to incessant rains in the previous night. The water from the pond had no where to go and it simply overflowed on to the road. All the people had to wade though it with their saris and pants pulled up to their knees that day....