2012 New Year bash: Coorg January 11, 2012

Coorg : New year bash 2012

Place: Coorg or kodagu (Karnataka, India)

Speciality: Hill station (1500-2000 mtrs) above mean sea level. Coffee, spices plantation

Main town: Medikeri

Facilties: Almost all minimum facilities like ATM, filling stations, restaurants, hotels etc are there

Main Attractions: For detail please follow this link:

http://omus.wordpress.com/2010/03/06/coorg-trip-27th-28th-feb2010/

How to go? Madikeri is well connected from Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, Hassan with regular buses running. Nearest airport is Mangalore (140Kms). Ours was by a rented Innova.

Our road map: Bangalore-Mysore- Hunsoor- Kushalnagar- Madikeri. Roads are very good as on 1^st Jan 2012.

Enroute options : SH 17 (Bangalore-Mysore ) are dotted with restaurants n dhabas, cafes, bar & so finding one should not be a problem.

Follow link:  http://omus.wordpress.com/2010/09/04/sh17-bangalore-mysore-highway/ for more on SH17.

Hunsoor (Hunsoor Bypass) got few options like Café coorg. Kushalnagar is also infested with restaurants. We had our breakfast in Hotel Kings way, which was good in taste n budget (Rs. 400 for 6 people).

In nutshell, from Bangalore to Madikeri route has all basic facilities, a tourist route should have.

The plan to do something different for new year had weeks ago & it was decided to head off to some near-by hill station near Bangalore. Considering the crowd levels & cost factors, Coorg won over Ooty & Wayanad. But even after planning weeks ahead, it was difficult to get a cottage or homestay under reasonable price.What was shocking during our search that couples do pay up-to Rs. 50000 just for a weekend. Really it will be a fool to say India is a poor country. Anyways, coming back after making some 20 odd calls, we couldn’t find a deal for us. Frustrated (& was about to give up plan), I clicked 10^th page in google n found Vanvihar Link. Luckily we got a good deal for us, which actually turned out to be golden deal. 

Two lessons from this exercise, infact three:

1) Plan your outing weeks ahead if you are in Bangalore. Because Bangalore will flood all the tourist places in 500 Kms radius.

2) India is not a poor country, it is unequaled distribution of wealth that is there.

3) Random/un-thought of things often turn out to be best things.

Anyways back to our New year bash, 6 of us: Avijit, Smruti, Baba Nihar, Srikant & HareKrishna started off in comfy 7+1 Innova on cool n cyclonic Saturday morning 4 AM . On way we had breakfast in Kushalnagar at Hotel Kings way (7/10). We reached our Homestay (Van Vihar), some 5 Kms from Madikeri, by 10 AM. After check-in & getting fresh, we were all set to explore few places in n around. We saw Raja’s seat , coffee plantation near our home stay & it was time for lunch. After lunch, we retired in our rooms, because of rain. Luckily, rain was gone by 9PM & we all partied into new year 2012 around camp fire.

Next day, we woke to stunning sun rise. This time I was actually getting a feeling why Coorg is called Scotland of Karnataka (if not of India). We started our return journey at 10 AM, visited Golden Temple in Bylakuppe, had lunch in Amarish Jungle Dhaba, on Mysore ring road near Infosys campus, & finally reached Bangalore by 8PM.

Ratings:

1)      Van Vihar Homestay : Cost ( Rs. 4000 per night). Easy can accommodate 5-8 people. It has got two houses with Ground floor, first floor & terrace. All the houses have its own kitchen & 24 hrs hot water facility. It had basic & neat & clean bedding (Pillows, bed, extra beds, blankets are provided) & toilet facilties. The caretaker, Pramod speaks good English & is very good guy. Terrace has some superb view of surrounding green hills. Although 6 kms from Madikeri, one feel like being inside a jungle with occasional traffic noise coming from nearby State highway.

Be wary , there are no near-by shops or any other facility. So prepare to bring your necessities beforehand. Also lunch & Dinner have tobe ordered beforehand, as they outsourced from outside.

Overall rating of the place (mine rating): 8/10

How to reach the place: Take a right turn just before Arch welcoming to Medikeri town (while coming from Kushalnagar or Bangalore or Mysore). From here there are Van Vihar board to guide. It is some 4-5 Kms from this turn.

For more details, click on Vanvihar website: http://www.vanaviharhomestay.com/

2)      King’s way restaurant: Kushalnagar. While coming from Bangalore, it is near the starting of town, on left side of road. Although small, it gave decent south Indian meals. It also Chole Batore, which surprisingly was also good. Cost wise it is medium with Dosa costing 35 to 45 rupees. Chole batore costs 60 bucks. Overall rating : 7.5/10

3)      Amarish Jungle Dhaba: On Mysore ring road, near to Infosys Campus. Generally flooded with Infoscians, it is a decent dhaba amid  densely packed coconut plantation. Be wary of coconuts falling. I had a close miss, with a coconut falling just 10 ft away from me. Overall rating : 7/10

4)      Rajvarshi Bar n restaurant: Near Raja’s seat, Madikeri. We had lunch there. Although ambience was bit old n dampy, but had plenty of food options. Taste was good. Our bill for 6 people lunching: Rs 1000. A Kingfisher premium costs Rs 100. Overall rating: 7/10

2011 in review January 2, 2012

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 42,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 16 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Corruption December 29, 2011

I am writing on the hottest topic of the season in India, so that I can more hits in my blog. Its just “Behti Ganga main Haath Gila karna”, which is one of the form of corruption. So I am doing corruption.

Anyways. coming back to topic, the topic has made me to think why we are corrupt. What exactly is corruption & what kind of acts are defined as corruption.

Corruption by dictionary is dishonesty. It is carrying out an act, for benefit of self at cost of others.

Taking bribe, giving bribe (not sure), evading taxes, accumulation of money by robbing others are some of the general forms of corruption. I am not looking here into corruption of mind which leads to more henious form like murder etc.

Now why such corruption happens. And I feel in this there are four reasons:

- Corruption due to basic human/life nature

- Corruption due to basic law of anture: “power corrupts”. I gave it separate point, because of most of wars are due to this. So it deserve a distinct bullet.

- Corruption due to system

- Corruption due to extreme display of selfiness

The first one, corruption due to basic human nature is something unavoidable & will always be there, no matter what. Having zero corruption is against law of nature. In struggle of survival, creatures (read: all flora & fauna) cheat it fellow creature for food, space & energy. This form of corruption is important for survival. It is mantra behind survival of fittest. Similarly human being cheat fellow human being by stealing food or money for survival. Jealousy, again a human nature drives corruption. Thoughts like “Why should I pay him back, when he is rich or draw more salary than me?” results in non-payments of dues. But, although being mandatory or unavoidable form of corruption, this is cause of very small % of total corruption.

The second form: “power corrupts”, is one of the braches of first bullet, but it deserves a special mention because of its applicability in today’s world. The hunger to remain & retain in power, can drive even a saint to corrupt acts. Great examples are Raavan, Hirankashyap. Others examples from today’s world are Hitler, North Korean president,  Pakistan army, all anarchists & the list runs long. Even the religion dominion or struggle to become one, has made its followers corrupt. Even democracy has it, since elected representative dearly wants to retain power & so resort to all sorts of way. This form of corruption has only resulted in response like “Arab spring”,  “Red revolution”.

Third form of corruption, corruption due to system, in my opinion is reason behind majority of the corruption in today’s society. Again this can be classified into many types:

a) Due to hierarchy system: where the boss forces subordinates to carry out corrupt practices. Very common in all organization, public or private & also in all parts of world. End of the day, everyone fears about his/her bread.

b) Due to Contagious system: Yes corruption is contagious. “He is doing, why shouldn’t I”. Simple examples: faulty house rents to evade taxes. I am sure 99% of people in IAC would be doing this. Just ask yourself, Do you do it or not?  ”I had to give bribe, so in order to compensate, I take bribe “, initiating bribe chain reaction. Again this reason of corruption is very common in India & can also be found in other countries.

c) Due to administrative system: Huge taxes, no accountability of paid taxes are also cited reason for corruption.

d) Due to status system of society, where a person or family in order to maintain their status, which is a function of lifestyle, resorts in unethical means to accumulate money. Again status symbol driven corruption is common in all societies across the world.

e) Due to societal obligations. This I think is the reason for majority of corruption in India. Societal obligation like raising children, getting children married, dowry aspect of obligations, performing all religious acts in lifetime, taking care of family (immediate & extended) etc. drive lot of corruption. Add to this status symbol driven corruption & scale of population (i.e number of dependents) & what one see is huge scale of corruption. In my opinion this is the biggest reason of corruption in Middle class.

Finally the final reason, Selfness. Although it is a human nature, but very small minority take to extremes. This is most dangerous form, as selfness fuels hungriness for money, comfort all the time. As hungriness no bounds, so would the resulting corrupt act. Corruption becomes a hobby for such people. Telgi, Harshad Mehta, Ramalingam Raju etc. are golden examples. And what’s worse, if unchecked, a single person can siphon off whole economy. This form of corruption is highly undetectable & even if detected not curable.

So having known the reason, what are the way corruption can be stemmed.

Definitely formula will differ from society to society, since the cause of corruption will be very different. In India where majority of corruption is due to either “hierarchical” nature or “societal obligations”. The former one is what the proposed Lokpal Bill tries to stem. It tries to avoid bribe giving at each step of procedure. It tries to bring into account the unaccounted wealth.

The later one, corruption due to societal reasons are hard to stem, unless we change our so called traditions n customs. Any attempt to curb this will result in cultural clash, which is more of an emotional subject. Let’s just take example of marriages, supposedly biggest dreams of all parents n couples. They want to be as glamorous as it could be and for that money is the need. Right from day-1 of birth, planning of this grand occassion starts. Any deviation from this, will be seen in bad taste & will bring insult to family. One deviating would be seen as a villain to customs, traditions n culture. So, I have hardly any idea how this form of corruption can be stemmed in India. And with no solution in sight, I would be surprised to see corruption coming down despite effective execution of a strong Lokpal bill.

Another example, just go n ask your parents to account income for taxes (which you know they had not done). See their response. I bet majority of the response would be “Son/daughter, because of this only you are standing here n talking. Because of this money only you got best education & now you are teaching me”. End. Such an emotional torture it would be that you are bound to choose stay with corruption. 

So, I am of opinion that corruption in societies like India where all forms of corruption takes place & majority related to emotions, it will be very hard to curb the menace. Yes, with Lokpal, some big ticket corruption cases like 2G, Telgi, Fodder etc. will be avoided, but corruption of medium n small level, mainly done by middle class cannot be avoided. It will be done, for middle class survival. So, with effective Lokpal, what we also need are laws to bring some change in our culture.

Change – The medium by which “LoC” happens December 26, 2011

Simple example of Law of Conservation

LoC stands for Law of conservation. The most fundamental law governing Universe, as explained in one of my previous blogs.

http://omus.wordpress.com/2011/01/29/law-of-conservation/

This thought of mine is continuity of that blog. Having established the governing law, I wonder how is it implemented. And the answer is “CHANGE”. Change, the only constant in Universe. They draw back the sine curve as shown is figure above. If you are at peak of curve, so as per law conservation, you have to go its Nadir point at some point. And the way you go is by Change. Change happen, change in your position. 

So change is the medium by which the governing law gets implemented. So change is inevitable, it is must & so it is the only constant.

- Stars are born and then there are changes in star that happen over billions of years, resulting in its death.  

- We are born, we change to become young, then change to become adult & finally old followed by death.

And then similarly there are trillions of examples, infact everything in n around undergo change, because it has to follow the fundamental law: Law of conservation. Now in life, change is often seen as “something disturbing”, something often not welcomed and this result in “resistance of change” which in turn result in lot of conflicts. Few examples:

- Change brought by globalization is now feared. Countries which are bearing its fruit (of course that will be for just sometime) welcome this, while countries at its receiving end have started resisting it (Greece, Spain etc.). But whatever the policy government bring upon as a resistance to this change, they will end up in losing side, because they will be fighting against that is inevitable.

- Many countries/societies fear & resist over the change brought by introduction of new culture. Examples like banning of Burqa in France n few other European countries, violence over western education in Islam dominated societies, immigration issue in Germany, USA etc. and the daily Newspaper are full of these examples. But again resisting these change is fighting impossible. Change has to happen.

- Grey generation fear the change coming up in younger generation. They worry about so called “cultural deterrence” & terms like “Generation Gap” has surfaced as a result of resistance to this change. But then again it is inevitable. So called Cultural values, ethics, practices, customs etc. has always been fluid & taken their own course against time. Path ofcourse decided as per the supreme law: Law of Conservation.

- In work, senior engineer’s probability of rejection of a new idea proposed by a Junior (younger) Engineer is always high. Reason resistance to change. But then have you ever seen a design static over years. No, because however big is the resistance, change is in-evitable.

- All paths are being explored to avoid man made global warming/climate change. I myself still think of ways to do it. But then when I think of the supreme law (law of conservation) & change as its medium of implementation, I feel defeated. Because as per Law of conservation, Earth has to go through cycle of evolution & destruction. Previously destruction happened via medium of Earthquake, Volcanoes, Ice ages etc. and so may be this time destruction will be through man made pollution, resulting global warming & climate change.

So, Change is the Medium via which the eternal truth: Law of Conservation is implemented. And since Law of Conservation is inevitable, therefore change in evitable. It has to happen. There is no way out of it. One may temporarily avoid change or adopt a change that is not as per greatest law, but in long term, change has to take a path decided by law conservation. It’s just we donot see change in our lifetime, we shift this change to future generation. In religious terms, Law of Conservation is god & change is the way to pray that god.

“Knowing path of success is not the only way to be successful” September 19, 2011

To be success in a field, one should know paths of success in that field.

But equally important is to know paths of failure as well. So equally important would be to talking to failed people in that field.

 

So who will be those in various field:

 

In Gandhigiri: Osama Bin Laden 

 

About honesty: Mayawati or lalu or Raja.(500/543 MPs will qualify)

 

About Prime Ministership: Manmohan Singh

 

About fitness: Indian Cricke players

 

About cricket: Mohinder Amarnath

 

Last but not least : About writing blogs & Life: Me, Omprakash

 

“Knowing path of success is not the only way to be successful, equally important is to know paths of failure”

Sivanasamudra- 1st September,2011 September 10, 2011

Troop at GaganChukki Falls

Place: Sivanasamudra, Mandya district, Karnataka.

Speciality: Gaganchukki Waterfall, Bharachukki waterfall (15 Kms upstream of GaganChukki), Cauvery River bank (4Kms upstream of Gaganchukki waterfall).

Other attractions: Coracal boating, Dargah (near Bharachukki waterfall). Dam downstream (On way from Gaganchukki to Bharachukki waterfall)

Other fact: This is Asia’s first hydro-electric power plant, built in 1903. Interestingly, the plant runs on GE turbine.

When to go? Highly recommended during monsoon. but taking bath in moonsoon can be dangerous

How to reach: 1) Regular bus ply from Bangalore, Mysore. 140 Kms from Bangalore, 85 Kms from Mysore. Nearest rail station is Maddur. Best way is to go in your own vehicle.

Route: a) Bangalore- (NH-209) Kanakpura – Malavali- Sivanasamudram [130 Kms]..recommended. When we went road was very good.

Bangalore to sivasamudra

b) Bangalore- Kengeri-Ramnagara- Maddur-(left turn to get off Mysore road)- Malavali- Sivasamudram. For un-known reason people go via this route mainly. But road ranges from bad to worse.

Facility: Few petrol pump on NH-209, so better fill up your tanks. No ATM. Limited fooding facility (mostly snacks). There is one KSTDC hotel in Gaganchukki falls. No “enclosed” toilet facility.

From my last visit, I observed good infrastructure improvement of the place (good to c govt doing something) and improvement is still going on. Cemented staircase with railing support goes to bottom of Bharrachukki waterfall. Cooking facility, cloth changing facility etc. have been provided. Lot of dust-bins are also provided, please use those.

Recommendation: Eat at Sanjay Dhaba (only eating place we found on NH-209: Bangalore-Malvalli route). The place is 60Kms from Bangalore. We had very late lunch there. Food + Drinks + Service were all up-to mark, at reasonable price. My rating: 8/10

Other near by areas: Cauvery fishing camp, Talakad, Sangam, Ramnagara.

I recommend to club Ramnagara & Sivasamudram, to make it a 1 day memorable get away from Bangalore or Mysore.

Request: Please use dust-bins or carry away your own trash. Although govt. is providing some basic infrastructure, but it is upto us tourists to maintain sanctity of the place.

Gaganchukki Waterfalls

Bharachukki Falls

sivasamudra postcard

Coastal Karnataka tour: 13-14-15th August,2011 August 21, 2011

One of the highly rated trip of mine, where we discovered more places (i.e explored places which do not feature in tourist map). There are many places and exploration of each can fill up 10 days itenary easily.

Places we visited: Murudeshwar, Jog Falls, Marwante beach, Udupi, Manipal, Malpe beach, Suratkal beach.

Who all: Me, Surya, Dinesh, Srikant, Nihar, Smruti

Our plan: Bangalore to Murudeshwar by bus. Sight seeing for 3 days in car. Mangalore to Bangalore by bus/train.

Some more places:Gokarna beach, Honavar beach, St. Mary’s island, Karwar, Mangalore beach. Yana (bit inside).

Coastal karnataka..places we visited in 3 days

Murudeshwar:

The temple town is built by RNS group. Home to one of the largest Gopuram & Lord Shiva statue, the place has got some significance in Hindu mythology. The Village, just 2KMs off NH-17, is well connected with Udupi, Mangalore, Goa with night buses also going to Bangalore & Mysore. Nearest big railway stop is Bhatkal (20 Kms) & airpot is Mangalore (170KMs).

RNS residency & Navneet beach resort are best available option to stay. Other one is Kamath, where we stayed, but that should be tried as last option.

Food wise, Naveen beach restaurant is most popular option. Food is good, but the place in understaffed & is a confused place during crowded times. Other available options are Navneet beach resort restaurant, Kamath restaurant. Getting late dinner can be a problem.

The biggest attraction of the place of-course is well maintained temple & long n wide beach. Donot forget to go to top of Gopuram (18 floors, Rs 10 per person) by lift, to get some awesome view of temple, beach n town. On clear sky day, donot miss sun set.

Around Murudeshwar:

In NH-17, you never more than 5KMs away from beach. So you can explore beach anytime, by crossing mangroove forest dividing NH-17 & sea. We explored one, & I bet you will enjoy. But most important thing, please please donot litter. Even spitting also seems to be crime, seeing the beauty of forests.

Jog Falls

Jog falls:

Jog falls on river Shravati is the highest water fall in India, falling by around 230 mtrs . It has many number of falls namely called Raja, Rani etc. In heavy rains, all of these merge to form a really gigantic fall. But that happens rarely (it happened in 2009), as flow is restricted by an upstream dam. Govt. has improved infrastructure facility, by provising railed & marbled 1600 steps leading to bottom of falls. The place is well connected by Shimoga, Mangalore, Udupi, Bangalore, Goa. Monsoon is the best season to see the falls, when it is at its best possible glory. Food wise, options are basic & restricted. There is few hotel to stay overnight. Do visit the top of fall as well, which is accessible from a point, 2 KMs before the main entrance.

Honavar:

Just 20 KMs north of Murudeshwar, has got beach & backwaters. The river bridge over river Sharavathi is picturesque.

Bhatkal, 20KMs south of Murudeshwar, has also got its own beach, although we didn’t go.

Marwante Beach:Another awesome beach bordering NH-17.Here the highway is sandwiched between sea & river. Govt has developed some decent  infrastructure in terms of Toilet facility & food. Boat ride in river & sun set view are other attraction of the place. Many highway trucks stop here, as they cook n eat their food, while soaking in the beauty of the place. Catch any Murudeshwar-Udupi busto reach here.

Marwante beach

Udupi: Sri Krishna temple: 60KMs north of Mangalore, temple town of Udupi is famous for Lord Krishna temple & of-course its cuisine. Udupi vegetarian food are world famous. The restaurant inside the temple is most famous among all & is highly recommended. As such in temple, male are required to remove there shirt. Early morning is best time to visit, to avoid some crowd. As usual, main sanctum was dark & gods were hardly visible. Few seconds is all you get to get a glance of almighty.

Malpe beach: 5 KMs from Udupi, is one of the best maintained n beautiful beach I have seen. There are just 2 resorts on beach & so tickets needs to be booked beforehand. This is the getway for St. Mary’s Island, which remain closed in rainy days. BTW, Malpe has got a big fish catching port & so will be one of the best place to have sea food.

Manipal: 5KMs from Udupi & 10 KMs from Malpe, is a top small hill. It’s a university town & predominantly got student population. Because of youth, the town is a very happening place with late night life boasting of number of pubs, disco, multi cusine restaurants, fast food, cafes, ice-cream parlour n so on. But the high point for me about this place has been “End point”, a view point inside college campus, famous for sunset & stunning view of surrounding. Malpe beach is visible from here. The town has direct connectivity with Bangalore, Goa, Mysore & round the clock connectivity with Mangalore & Udupi. It has got some “ok” budget hotels, for obvious reasons.

Suratkal Beach

Suratkal Beach: This was my 3rd visit to this beach & it still attracts me. Although not really a beach, but the Light house in the beach provide some photogenic views of sea & surrounding, especially famous engineering college: NIT Suratkal. It’s ultimate location to unleash one’s mind & innovate & create. Recently a new resort, Red rock residency has opened, providing excellent food & sleeping option. Otherwise, there are not much eating & sleeping options here, unless you get some contact in NIT Suratkal, to stay in their one of the hostels

NH-17: In general this route is very very picturesque. Arabian sea overlooking suddenly rising Western Ghats & NH-17 getting sandwiched between these two giants, make it a perfect route to travel & ride on. If your taste is sea beach or sun set or sea food, then this is the place to be. Frequent bridges over backwaters, surrounded by either rice fields or coconut forests, is truely blessing to eyes & green carpet formed during monsoon all around, is like icing on the cake.

This was all about our trip. There are still many places, which I didnot mention, as it was not covered in this trip.

But after this trip, I realise NH-17, spanning from Mumbai to Cochin n extending to Kanyakumari (as NH-47) is one of the best route to ride & monsoon(or winter) is the best season to cover it.

My other blog on trip around this part of world:

http://omus.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/dakshin-kannada-trip/

Light house at Suratkal

Lord Shiva- Murudeshwar

Sun set view point

Wayanad trip-30th & 31st July,2011 August 20, 2011

Place: Wayanad, Kerela

Speciality: Hill station, Coffee estates

Distance: ~250 Kms from Bangalore

Connectivity : Wayanad is well connected by bus from Mysore, Bangalore, Kozikode, Kannur.

Best time to visit: Summer is most busy season. But I prefer monsoon. So if rain is a spoilsport for you, Summer or Winter is the time to be there.

Places of Interest: Bandipur National Park (70Kms from Wayanad), Ram Temple at Sultan Bathery, Banasura Dam, Manmooty falls, Suchipara falls, Pookote lake, Chembra peak, Edakkal caves, Kuruva Island & few other temples & wild life sanctuaries.

wayanad tourist map

Place of stay: We stayed at “Wayanad Blooms”, around 30-35 Kms from Sultan bathery. One of the best places I have stayed, although after paying some cost. Since we were Six, we took a Cottage costing Rs 5000 per day (off-season). It is highly recommended for honeymooners & family. It is not recommeded for bachelor’s group like us, since the place is too good for us .

Wayanad Blooms cottage

Rating of Wayanad Bloom: 10/10. Excellent food, service just awesome. The caretakers n all staff are highly motivated, a lesson for me from this trip.

For more detials : http://www.wayanadblooms.com/

Our Trip (30-31st July,2011): Bangalore-Mysore- Bandipur- Sultan Bathery – Wayanad- Mysore- Bangalore. Trip meter: ~750 KMs

6 people: Me, Avijit, Nihar, Smruti, Surya, Srikant in (7+1) Innova.

1) Safari in Bandipur N.P.: Timing: 6:30AM-9:00AM. Rs 300 per person for 45 minutes safari in forest department bus. Personal vehicles are not allowed for safari. Sighting of animal is matter of luck & better to go with least expectation to enjoy. We were able to spot wild elephants, wild boars, herds of dears, peacock, Bison. Besides that, Bandipur Forest reception has excellent garden to relax & chill out. Parking facility & jungle lodges for overnight stay are also available. Few rules: Donot make noise, respect other creatures, donot litter, any form of fire even matches can prove fatal to jungle. It’s up-to us to save one of the last remaining jungles of India. (must for first timers)

Breakfast in Gundulpet. This is the only budget restaurant near Bandipur (10KMs). Rating: 6/10. The place got some awesome view of surrounding hills & jungle. The place got rooms for staying as well.

2) Eddakal Caves (must visit): More than 2000 years old caves were once inhabited by early man. Way to cave is steep 500 steps through jungle & monsoon fed waterfall. Although Kerela tourism department has provided good infrastructure of support railings, but still can be tough for amateur climber (n Bangalore techies). But place is worth the steep climb. Guides at top, describe about place for a small tip of Rs 10-20.

3) Banasura Dam (must visit): The picturesque dam facing the largest peak of region, Chembra peak is must visit place. Again KTDC has done good job in terms of providing some infrastructure like parking, stairs to reach dam & sheds to save from Sun n rain. Boat ride (Rs 70 per person for half an hour, 5 max per boat) is must to soak in beauty of the place. A park beside the dam, is good place to relax n chill out. There are some resorts facing dam & are worth checking out. Entry ticket is Rs 15 per person & parking Rs 20.

Banasura Dam

4) Suchipara Waterfalls : 100 ft odd high waterfall is accessible by close to 500 steps. In dry season, bath is allowed. Again KTDC has done excellent job in providing infrastructure & security. May not excite people, who have seen too many waterfalls

5) Meenmooty waterfalls: The view point for water fall is 1 km steep trek from main road. We couldnot see the waterfall, as it was full mist with just 5 meter visitbility.

6) Pookote lake: As usual, a hill station is incomplete without a lake. Pookote lake fullfills the gap for Wayanad. Famous for boating & picnic.

7) Kuruva Island: River island in Kabini is accessible only in dry season. Although we didn’t visit the place, we had heard good about the place from locals.

Other things one can try: Hotel Dwarka in Sultan Bathery. Although the place smells a bit (but I guess that’s the best restaurant available in Sultan bathery), but provide some good food. Kadai Paneer was awesone full of paneer & herbals & serve very very hot. Although bar section of restaurant is bad in ambience, so avoid it.

Words of Praise n thanks:

Kerela tourism has definitely done good work in providing basic tourism infrastructure. This was my second visit (1st in 2007) to Wayanad & I can observe the positive change. Now it’s up-to all of us to co-operate by following rules & not litter.

External Links:

My old blog on Wayanad: http://omus.wordpress.com/2008/09/11/test/

http://www.wayanad.com/wayanad-articles.htm

http://www.upavanresort.com/kuruva-island.php

The troop

Rethink June 5, 2011

This is a real case study done on two guys in Bangalore over period of years.

There were two guys: Chintu & Mintu (name changed) , who joined on same day in a company working towards green solutions. Coincidentally both had same technical index, same social style index and as a result of this, were always par to par in performance for number of years. One day, both got eligible for interest free car loan from company. Chintu opted for Car loan & so bought a car & started travelling to office by car everyday. Where as Mintu continued to travel in bus facility provided by company. Over period of 3-4 years, it was observed that Chintu performance was declining & Mintu continued to perform as he was. It became a talking point, how two people identical in technical & social style differ so much. Research was done, both of them were interviewed & following plots were drawn, explaining how “Self driving hours” became critical:

Misconception May 29, 2011

It was Sunday & being un-employed after office hours, I went to most happening place in Bangalore: a MALL. After getting tired of window shopping, I just sat down on an empty chair. Suddenly in the crowd, my eye caught a couple (both in early 20′s) standing right opposite to me. The lady was pretty & I felt “Lust/Love at first sight“. I started imagining myself in the place of the actual guy. “My self in blue denim & white shirt and she in a saree, holding her hand…Holding her hand”. With this thought, I saw the couple actually holding each other palm. Temperature of my blood started increasing. I started seeing it more furiously, as if that’s the only left in this world to be seen. Suddenly, I saw girl trying to free her palm from his, but he is not letting it. She is trying, trying but all in vain. It happened for quite some time, 1 min, 2 mins….5 mins. The rising temperature of blood was close to boiling point. I moved my fierce eyes from their nuptial “like” knot to her eyes. I saw pain in her eyes, I saw desperation to free herself, I saw the dark spots below her eyes telling her painful stories. Her eyes suddenly looked me. She was crying for help, she was calling me….. I couldn’t bear this. Why is guy not letting her go, She is not loving him? Let her choose the one she likes. She likes ME ME ME….I stood up, jogged & reached down to them. My boiling blood just rushed out as words from mouth: “JUST LEAVE HERRR…..”. Both looked at me in awe & Guy returned to her saying: “I told you, your wound is getting people’s attention: Just show me your hand”. Quitely, I went out of the scene & dissolved myself in the crowd.

They say LOVE/LUST is Blind & I realised how true it is. You see what you want to see. You hear, what you want to hear. You believe, what you think is true.

Xtreme Zone-Bangalore May 11, 2011

 

Xtreme zone, Bangalore

 

Place: Xtreme Zone-Bangalore.

Category: Adventure Sports getaway

Where: 10Kms off Mysore road, after Raja Rajeswari college (right turn while coming from Bangalore)

Website: http://extremezoneindia.com/

Me along with my office team had gone on 5th May,2011, in a day package worth Rs 1400 per head (including tax), which included breakfast, lunch, paintall, swimming activities (with safety jacket), kayaking boat ride & couple of team activites. It excluded transportation cost.

Package: (10AM-5:30PM) : Rs 1400: Breakfast, lunch, paintall, swimming activities (with safety jacket), kayaking boat ride & couple of team activities. It excluded transportation cost.

Location: Set on catchment of Manchinebele dam, its a beautiful location surrounded by green hills & tiny villages.The place actually comes in Ramnagara district & is approximately 40KMs from Majestic. After Rajarajeswari College, one needs to take a right turn & go off ~10Kms to reach the place.

Hihglight: Of course was Painball, a gun battle game. What makes it more interesting is the playground which is natural hill site (unlike Paintball of Bannerghata Road, where things are artificial) & one has to use rocks, bushes as hide outs. Second of course was Kayak boat ride. Since, the place is new & least crowded, so I guess they gave us unlimited ride time, which of course turned out to be icing on the cake. The lake formed due to dam was neat & clean & fit for sleeping (of course on safety jacket) for hours. The lake was quite deep (goes to 100ft), even in peak summer.

Otherhighlight: a) The site has camping facility & other water sport activities. b) Good place to watch some rare species of bird. We ourselves , although not being ornithologist, sighted some really cool birds.

Verdict: I have been to Bheemeswari, Anandham, Pegasus, Savanadurga (which falls under same category). No doubt, this is the place to be & spend some money on for cool, relaxed weekend. Compared to others, this palce is certainly worth money. Since being a new site, it is less crowded, food was good & volunteers were very friendly & co-operative. But only time will tell, if it drown under “Bangalore effect”.

Anyways, till then enjoy this place for a perfect weekend getaway & it’s a Thumps UP from my side.

Me in Paint ball attire

Weekend Filmostav: Hrishikesh Mukherjee film festival April 10, 2011

 Weekend: 9th & 10th April,2011Biwi Aur Makan:

Source:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EC28e44z0A

IMBD Details : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244430/

My Rating: 8.5/10

Category: Comedy

My take: Very good direction, Original storyline. Well supported by good acting (except those of girls). The B&W Comedy is very mind refreshing & often poetic. Donot forward during songs.

Biwi aur makan

 BEMISAL:

Source: http://www.hindilinks4u.net/2008/12/bemisal-1982.html

IMBD:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083636/

My Rating: 6/10

Category: Drama with sacrifice, love & unwanted revenge.

Decent storyline, but bit stretched, especially the part involving character of Ruby Bhatia. I de-rated because of that reason only. Usual trade mark acting by Amitabh, Rakhee & Vinod Mehra. Got some really lovely songs like “yeh kashmir hai” etc.

Bemisal

 NAUKRI:

Source:

IMBD:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244674/ 

My Rating: 5/10

Category: Drama intended to spread a social message.

A hypothetical storyline intended to spread a message against suicides. Again a bit stretched with un-necessary involvement of Deven Verma etc. But a good story spreading social message. I felt title bit off, going by the storyline.

Naukari

 RANG BIRANGI

 Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsmHXhPK5EI

IMBD:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086170/ 

My Rating: 7/10

Category: Comedy.

A typical HR movie shot on middle class family of 1970′s Bombay. A good mind refreshing comedy, but bit stretched at end. It looked like HR wanted to emulate success of Golmaal & Chupke Chupke in this movie as well & so ended up stretching a bit more. Anyways a good movie to watch with family n kids, to have a laughter filled weekend.

Rang Birangi

HALF TICKET

 Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruOSrIO5F5I

IMBD:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056052/ 

My Rating: 5/10

Category: Comedy.

This is not a HR movie. Directed by Kalidas with Kishore Kumar, Madhubala & Pran in lead roles. I gave a rating high, for the reason it was still early years for Bollywood. I liked the idea of animation, typical acting of Kishore Kumar. The film certainly looked testing ground for Kishore Kumar’s acting & singing. Again at the end bit stretched & title off the storyline.

 

Famous Quotes of World Cup 2011 April 3, 2011

While India won the world cup, it had it own share of humor & emotions. Here are few of them:

1) “Only Sreesanth can control Sreesanth” – Dhoni

2) “You embarrass opposition & not your own team”- Dhoni to Sreesanth

3) “Tendulkar has carried the burden of nation for 21 years; It was time we carried him. Chak de India!” – Virat Kohli after winning WC

4) “Honi to anhoni karde, anhoni ko honi. Ek saath jab jamah ho teeno: Rajni, Ghajini & Dhoni”- AB tweet after WC victory

5) “Can I drop you somewhere?” – Comment on Kamran Akmal for his poor keeping

6) “Sachin ki mata ki jai”- A crazy fan in Bangalore

7) “Paki players buying tons of cream to protect themselves from YUVI rays” – via SMS before Indo-pak semi finals.

8) “Afridi: We won’t allow Sachin to score 100th 100. We will get all out on a score less than 94″ – via SMS before Indo-Pak semis

9) Manmohas Singh to Gilani after Pakistan defeat in semis: “Dekh saale isliye bulaya tha. Yeh dikhane ki baap baap hota hai aur beta beta”

10) “They indeed have a large heart, otherwise how can they drop so many catches”- Yuvraj on Afridi’s comment calling India a country with small heart.

World Cup Win: We r d champions April 3, 2011

Champions of 2011 CWC

 

The photos above tells it all, what this is all about. Finally we got it. Finally thirst of 1.2 billion people is quenched. Finally god had its ultimate prasad.Finally a South African wins world cup. Finally home team wins world cup. Finally a century in final goes for a loosing cause. FINALLY INDIA WINS A WORLD CUP AFTER AGES. Finally I saw India winning world cup & so can now die peacefully.

 Congratulations to all Indian cricket fans (=All Indians + some foreigners). But first Congratulations to 1st citizen of this country: Sachin Tendulkar (not president). But won’t have been possible because of certain persons, so my all prayers to them (Courtesy: India TV channel)

BHARAT MATA KI JAI

SACHIN KI MATA KI JAI

DHONI KI MATA KI JAI

YUVRAJ KI MATA KI JAI

ZAHEER KI MATA KI JAI

SEHWAG KI MATA KI JAI

GAUTAM KI MATA KI JAI

VIRAT KI MATA KI JAI

HARBHAJAN KI MATA KI JAI

RAINA KI MATA KI JAI

MUNAF KI MATA KI JAI

SREESANTH KI MATA KI JAI

YUSUF KI MATA KI JAI

NEHRA KI MATA KI JAI

PIYUSH KI MATA KI JAI

ASHWIN KI MATA KI JAI

I learnt many things in these 12 hrs:

I guess there is god. The reason:God gives signs of result, it just we need to read it. Like when first innings got over, with SL scoring more than expected 275, many thought India had little chances & so did I. But there god gave me a signal that India will win. And the signal was football. Simultaneaously, MAN-U vs West Ham Utd match was going on. When Manu equlled 2-2 & trailing by 2-0 till 60th minute (& India innings was yet to start), I told my roomie, if MAN-U wins India wins. And see it happened. MAN-U & India both won, after being in back foot. It was rise of phoenix for both.

When it comes to cricket, I guess all Indians are superstitious. And with the win, I am pretty sure, he/she must be thinking, India won because of them. I was obviously one of them, when I didn’t get moved from my place for 3.5 hrs, nor did talk. So were my room-mates. Everybody had their own way of punishing themselves, just to ensure India wins. I am sure many would have stayed hungry all day, many would have remained thirsty all day, many would have drunk all day, many would have left their favorite food, many would have not seen match itself . I am sure there are many Indians, who must have prayed all the time or watched TV in their same dresses as semi final.

There were spectators in stadium who were meditating despite 30,000 shouting crowd. I guess even Gautam Buddha would have applauded this. There was Virat Kohli, who didn’t took out his pads & was standing till end of match. There was another person in dressing room, who had pillow all the time. There was Preity Zinta, who sported same bangles as previous matches.

Following is the proposed answer for question slated to come in 10th class board 2012: ” Bharat ki viswa cup 2011 ki jeet par prasang likhe” (write an essay on India’s win in 2011 CWC):

“2011 CWC final was played between 11 Indian men & 10 Srilankan men+ 1 Mahila, at God’s birth place Mumbai, on auspicious date of 2nd April. Srilanka after winning controversial toss, chose to bat first & thanks to gentlemanship of  Indians, the only Mahila of Sri Lanka was allowed to score a century. As per Indian culture, we are not allowed to attack Mahila. Riding on Mahila century Sri Lanka scored 275 in 50 overs. India were struggling at 31-2, but thanks to youngs guns Gauti & Virat, India bounced back. At end, with help of Captains innings of Dhoni, India won by 5 wickets.”

The WC also saw oppurtunistic people with Poonam Pandey leading the way. I am sure, we gonna see her in some movie very soon. And since it was for BLUE cause, it may even be a blue movie..;-). Next of course are all the news channel who wanted to have their share of TRPs. Next are the newspaper, who have up their prices of 3rd April edition, because many gonna save it, even if they donot read it. Next are the brands, whose brand ambassador are in the winning squad. Last, but not least myself, who posted this article.

Following are the flood of messages I received or created on my own & thought of sharing in this happy occasion:

1) Anhoni ko honi karde. Honi ko anhoni. Ek jagah jab jamaah ho teeno: Rajni, Ghajini aur Dhoni.

2) Breaking news: Diwali ab se har saal, november nahin, balki 2-April ko banayi jayegi. Ram sena demolishes Lanka sena.

3) Why India allowed Jayawadene to score 100. Kyunki Indians Mahila par attack nahin karte.

4) “He carried burden of country for 20 yrs, it was time for us to lend shoulder to him”- well said Virat.

Anyhow INDIA WON & it was happy ending.

Similarity between Ramayan, Harry Potter & LOR March 22, 2011

                                          Ramayan                        Harry Potter                           Lord of the rings
Hero                                   Ram                               Harry Potter                           Frodo
Place                               Ayodhya                     Hogwarts School                     Middle Earth
Villian                               Ravan                              Voldemort                            Sauron
                                              Sita                                  Hermione                               -“may be Smeagol”
                                           Laxman                                Ron                                        Sam
                                          Hanuman                      Dumbledore                              Gandalf

During past one month I saw Ramayan, Harry Potter & LOR. And I was stunned to see the similarities between all three of them. All three are legends in their respect. Ramayan is oldest of all three & is a religion for close to 1 billion people. Harry Potter & LOR are recent writings & have huge fan following.

All three have a similar story line: there is an evil that is feared by all & by his croakiness wants to rule whole world. So to destroy the evil, a hero is born & who after lot of struggle finally kills the evil. In all three, evil once was a good character, but eventually gets corrupt under influence of power.

More stunningly, Ramayan & Harry Potter looks to be Xerox copy of each other.
Just like in Ramayan, the hero has to go undergo lot of challenges & fights right from his childhood days & he wins all of them by his wisdom, patience & power.
Just like Ramayan, the hero is always accompanied by two other central characters: one male & other female. Moreover both the novels are named after its main central character.
I often feel, if given same environment & time as Ramayan, Harry Potter also has potential to become a religious text in itself, with its central characters as god.

Valentine Gifting Idea February 5, 2011

While going through today’s morning paper, saw lot of ads for forth coming mega festival: “Valentine day“. Ad were full of gifting ideas, but all were usual: rose, teddy bear, flower bouquet etc. with various price tags. But nothing suited my taste. I wanted something different, something “Dabang”  & of course something expensive. Then following struck my mind & so thought of sharing my gifting ideas with others as well. It make indeed a good business idea, thinking of presenting it to VC..any VCs?????

What could be better way of expression of love to your valentine (wife or girl friend) & also expressing your ire towards government. I can’t think of better dual edged sword. If you can, do let me know..

Onion Bouquet : Just Rs. 199 (contents: 10 onions)

 

vegetable Bouquet: Rs 150 (1 onion, 1 potato, 1 cauli flower, 3 carrots, drssed with cherry & lentil leaves)

Imported Red onion bouquet: Rs 500 (10 onions..from Apline..exotic red onions)

Fire & Freeze February 3, 2011

“Have you ever had an unforgettably magical moment when you felt two strongly opposite emotions? Tell us your story to win awesome cash prizes!”— Copied from IndiBlogger website, where they are running a contest “FIRE & FREEZE“. Following article is submitted for the mentioned contest. If you like, do vote, else do suggest for improvement.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Multi Split personality will have more “Fire n freeze” moments in their life. I think I am one example of that.

Source: http://nikadon.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/aamir-khan5.jpg

The moment I read about the “Fire & Freeze” contest in IndiBlogger, there was flood of thoughts in my mind. All my life history, flew by my closed eyes. And so also the lead character of Ghajini, who suffers from Split personality disorder. I think, unknowingly (medically yet to be proved), I am also suffering from same & so has more instances in life, that could comfortable qualify for  ”Fire n freeze” moments.

All the following feelings fits to the context of the contest:

- Moment, when I was Happy & sad. [August 7th 2002: My first day in College, rather Hostel]

- Moment, when I was contend yet thirsty. [3rd June,2000: When my 10th results were out]

- Moment, when I was satisfied, yet unsatisfied. [When I was recognised for a job, which I personally thought I didn't do well]

- Moment, when I smiled & cried at the same time. [May 2006: Last day in College/Hostel: When there was sadness to leave friends, but happiness to venture in another life to meet more new friends]

- Moment, when I had feeling of fear & courage at the same time. [Dec 2006: My first long trip (in car), Jan 2007: My first long bike trip]

- There are many instances when calmness & restlessness ruled my mind at the same time.

- Instances when I thought by my mind, but listened to my heart.

- Instances when I told some lies, to prove my truthfulness. There was instances of reverse as well.

So in short, there are many instances of so called “Fire n freeze” moments in my life & all share equal importance & significance. Moreover, suffering from “Split personality disorder“, I think I react in many ways to same incident & so all incidents are kind of “fire n freeze” for me.

Also as per my self professed theory of “Law of conservation“, of which I had written in one of previous blog post, incidents in life are bound to be kind of “fire n freeze”. In case you want to know about this axiom: http://omus.wordpress.com/2011/01/29/law-of-conservation/

Nandi Hills….Sunrise of 30th Jan,2011 January 30, 2011

Prized view

 

When: Early hours of 30th Jan,2011

Who: Me, Smruti, Ashok n Chikun on 2 bikes.

Trip meter: 142 kms.

Route: Silk Board- Audugudi- Richmond Road- Majestic- BEL circle- Hebbal-Airport-Nandi Hills- Hebbal- Mekhri circle-MG Road- Audugudi-Silk Board.

1) Left turn after 10kms from ”Airport” flyover. There’s a board to guide.

2) Keep going straight till dead end (10kms). Left turn here.

3) Right turn at a T-junction, after 3-4 kms. The ghat road starts from here. There’s a Nandi Multi cuisine restaurant, immediately after a right turn.

4) Ghat road is  ~6 kms, with 10-12 hair pin turns.

In general, road has improved over years, and one can easily cruise in 50-60 speed. But be careful of un-invited speed breakers. Also watch out for monkeys on ghat road. Also there are couple of 24 X 7 petrol pump on airport road, few chai shops which are also open as early as 5AM (after Airport flyover, near Devanhalli village diversion).

Nandi Hills, no doubt is one of the favorite get away for Bangloreans. And its famous for sunrise & sunset. Being the highest hill in the region, its cold n windy for most part of the year. Early morning is one of the most crowded time, with college students, bachelors, couples n love birds thronging the Hill, by bike, car n many in bi-cycle, all to get some adrenaline rush.

Also this being my 5th visit over 4 yrs, I have seen changes in the place. Karnataka Tourism is doing a good job, with improvement in overall infrastructure of the place. Now it has well maintained gardens, toilet facility, tiled footpath etc. It’s now upto us, to help authorities to maintian it.

Best time to visit:

There are 3 avatars of Nandi Hill & each beautiful in its unique way:

1) Bright sunny view. Season: December, Jan, Feb.

2) Slight cloudy view. When Bangalore is bit cloudy.

3) Cloudy. When Nandi hill is completely engulfed in clouds. Monsoon is the season to visit.

What to see:

1) There’s a temple atop. So something for religious people.

2) Atop is a fort (where Tipu Sultan used to spend summer). Circumference of the fort has some stunning views & so walk is worth.

3) There’s a children park.

4) Gardens to take rest.

5) A pond, which regularly features in Kollywood movies.

All of these make it a perfect place for short trip of hrs or even for a family outing for a day. A lodge (Mayura lodge)  has couple of rooms & so one can stay overnight. There’s another lodge near parking, but booking needs to be done in Chikballapur.

Facilities available:

1) A lodge atop.

2) Restaurants (many open at 6AM). My recommendation: Maggi in Nandi restaurant.

3) Toilet facilities

4) Parking facility

5) Dust bins (so please donot trash) 

Entrance fees:

Rs 5 per person, Rs 15 for 2 wheeler, Rs 25 for 4 wheeler.

Getting here:

Personal vehicle if interested in seeing Sunrise. Otherwise KSRTC bus starts from Majestic (around 6AM) & reaches Nandi Hill by 8-8:30AM. Otherway is to goto Chikballapur (~10kms) & hiring an auto from there.

Be careful of:

1) Drunken driving. Place is unfortunately popular for that.

2) Un-invited speed breakers.

3) Monkeys, if you disturb them first.

Verdict:

Finally on 5th visit, I got to see stunning views from Nandi Hills (a perfect sunny, cold & windy sunrise). It’s definitely a good place to visit and is at its best during sunrise (so natural recommendation). KSTDC has done commendable job over past few years & now its upto tourist like us to follow basic rules like trashing etc., to maintain the place in its glory. Anyways, safe n happy journey.

Camera couldn't capture ..it was much better

 

It was cold n windy...but sunlight was strong enough to cause sun burn

 

Shadow Photography

3 bandars..;-)

Law of Conservation January 29, 2011

 

Simple example of Law of Conservation

As I see things, explore more, I am coming to one single conclusion: Everything, everything in this universe is governed by one law: “LAW OF CONSERVATION“. Let’s take examples:

1) Take proverb: “Two sides of a coin”…nothing but another way of expressing “Law of conservation”.

2) There’s birth n so there’s death & vice versa….”law of conservation of life“.

3) Human population increasing….trees & other species population decreasing…..”law of conservation of souls/life“.

4) CO2 increasing in atmosphere…decreasing other gases….”Law of conservation of gases“.

5) in 1800s, booming economy in US, Europe resulted in collapse of Indian & Chinese economy….”Law of conservation of so called Economic growth“.

6) Now, booming job markets in India, China coinciding Unemployment in US, Europe….”Law of conservation of jobs“.

7) We have rich people & poor people…”Law of conservation of wealth“. Centuries ago Europe grew on Asian economies, nor vice versa is happening. It is an example of Law of conservation of wealth at a given moment & also law of conservation of wealth over centuries. So again down the line (after many many centuries) again Europe may feed on Asian economy.

8) Increasing consumerism resulting in depletion of resources of Earth …”Law of conservation of resources“

9) We have happy n sad moments….similarly there’s smile n tears….”Law of conservation of emotions“

10) If we are happy all the life, some one is sad all the life…..again “Law of conservation of emotions“

11) There are monks & criminals …. “law of conservation of personalities“

12) Somebody is powerful & some powerless…”Law of conservation of power“.

13) Stars are created ..stars are destroyed…”law of conservation of stars“.

14) There’s summer n there’s winter…..”law of conservation of heat“

15) There’s rain …n there’s drought….”law of conservation of precipitation“.

16) There’s day n there’s night …..”law of conservation of light“.

17) I know about today’s science, but do not know the ancient science (which my father knows)….”Law of conservation of knowledge“. This is often given name of “Generation Gap“. Another extension to same, I know something about engineering, but not subjects like home science, arts, finance etc. Further extension, I know more on chemical engineering, compared to others branches. So it’s all about “Law of conservation of knowledge“. When we take a deep dive on one subject, we got to miss knowledge about others.

18) We now earn money, lot of money, but have to stay away from family. It’s about “Law of conservation of mode of happiness“. Some are happy with lot of money & some with sufficient money & time with family.

19) Our mirror images are opposite. Again “Law of conservation”. Our body has two eyes, two hands, two legs so on…but all on either side of a symmetric live. Single mouth-but right in middle. Nothing but “Law of conservation of body mass“.

So, when one gains, someone else has to loose. With victory of one is associated defeat of someone. Law of conservation is the soul reason why each & every system tends to come to its equilibrium. We  all know of law of conservation of mass & energy. Someone may argue that at speed of sound law of mass doesn’t hold good, but then the phenomenon that take place is law of conservation of Mass + Energy.

So, “Law of conservation” governs everything. Everything means everything. I can keep giving examples, infact everything happening in n around in an example. It’s just; many things happen over big period of time (exceeding our life span) that we are not able to realize it. It many, miles-miles away, that we fail to see it. Often because of our Short sightedness, we fail to realize it. I feel it’s the one & only fundamental law governing Universe, including our lives.

Cholaland Tour: 14-16th Jan,2011 January 23, 2011

Purpose:

There were two, infact three purpose & all “selfish“, kind of philanthropic to myself. First, I didn’t want to bore myself in Bangalore by wasting rare 3 day holiday. Secondly, I wanted to live up to my long planned dream & I found the time to be perfect to execute it (but late than never). Thirdly, trip would be milestone for me, as I would complete 1 round trip to all big cities n tourists places of Tamil Nadu.

So, the trip had purpose, but all selfish.

When: 14th, 15th & 16th Jan,2011. Me n my Avenger.

Trip meter: 977 Kms

Route: Bangalore- Hosur-Krishnagiri-Thoppur-Salem-Attur-Chidambaram-Kumbakonam-Tanjore-Trichy- Namakkal-Salem-Krishnagiri- Hosur-Bangalore.

Route map I traced

Places of Interest: Its all about temples, temples & temples, with some great views of Rice bowl of India. Nataraj temple of Chidabaram, World heritage temple: Brihadeswar of Tanjore, Dharasuvaram & Swami Malai near Kumbakonam, Rock fort of Trichy, Huge Ranganatha Swami temple of Srirangam & Rice fields of Cauvery delta are major attractions.

Another great aspect of whole trip has been excellent infrastructure TN has put & is still putting in. 70 % has been on 4 lane highway, another 10% on 4 lane highway under construction, another 15% through excellent 2 lane highway. What is more encouraging is fact, that there are flyover or bypass for almost all villages & towns. Next best thing is public transport. it’s “Anywhere, Anytime“.

Note: Almost in all temples, Non-hindus are not allowed inside main sanctum, but certainly allowed inside boundaries of temple. So no stopping in seeing n appreciating architecture of 1000 yrs old skyscrapers.

Best time to visit these places: No doubt, Winter. I guess I went in  best time. It was Pongal, main festival of Tamil Nadu. But also mind, this is the peak season for these places.

Day1: 440Kms: Bangalore- Hosur- Thoppur – Salem- Attur-Veppur- Vridhachallam- Bhuvanagiri- Chidabaram- Sirkazi-Mayuram- Kumbakonam

Started 3:45 AM from my home, had excellent tea in Hosur bus stop (discovered on new year day, this tea stall is permanent on my list). After filling up my tank in Hosur, did a personal record breaking non-stop drive of 124 kms till Thoppur, that too only on one occasion I changed my gear from 5th to 4th at Krishnagiri toll gate. Roads of NH-7 till Salem was great & there after NH-68 are on its ways to be great. Was surprise to see 4 lane highway under construction. With music playing in my ears, sun not being so harsh, I reached Chidabaram by 2PM. After struggling to get a hotel, just to take bath, got a stinky lodge worth Rs 230. Took bath, some rest, as temple would open only at 4PM. I reached temple before time, expecting a big pongal crowd. To my surprise, there was hardly any crowd & I was in front line of devotees, witnessing Nataraja: Dancing Shiva. This world famous temple, is huge with usual South Indian pattern consisting of tall Gopurams, with riots of colored characters on it, a sacred tank, wall demarking boundaries of temple, long & dark alleys lined with “Ganas” & “Shiva linga” inside temple. I explored the temple as per my standards by 5:30PM & was all set to start my drive towards Kumbakonam, ~70 Kms from Chidambaram. The road were ok, but certainly crowded for many reasons. One it being Pongal, two it is one of the densely populated part of TN (because it is one of the most fertile land in India). The roads were infested with village markets, which seemed to be selling brown Sugarcane, all 2-3 mts long. Anyways, the night drive was bit dis-comforting on these crowded & occasional patchy road & reached Kumbakonam by 8PM. And surprise was waiting, its a town, but was in its full glory. The main roads around clusters of temples, are all lined with neon-lit, yes neon-lit shops, either selling gold or silk sarees. The festive season coupled with tourist season made my room search hard, but was finally able to a get double bed room in Hotel Chela (rating:6/10)  for 660 bucks a night.

Paddy fields enroute to Chidambaram

Chidambaram:

		Hotel	Food	Parking Facility	Places of interest	Timing	Town facilities	To get here	Season
		Low to medium available in n around temple.	Mostly South Indian	Yes, in n around temple	Nataraja Temple-Lord Shiva	6:00-1:00 PM	ATM	Train-good	December to mid feb
				Shoes stand-Local shops		4:00-9:00 PM	Petrol	Bus-Excellent
							Net-café	Trichy-Nearest airport
							Vehicle servicing	Personal vehicle
							Small market

 

	LONELY PLANET RECOMMENDATIONS
	Economy	Mid-end	High end
Hotel to stay	Star lodging; Mansoor lodge;Vandayar Gateway in	Hotel Akshaya; Hotel Saradharam
Restaurants	Udupi Sri Vishna vilas; Annupallavi

 

Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram

 

Colorful characters of Gopuram

 KUMBAKONAM:

It reminded me of Kanchipuram. It is infested with huge temples, all of Chola architecture, all with history of at least 1000 yrs old. Gopuram with colorful characters often telling stories of Ram or Krishna or Shiva, water tank, long & dark alleys  within 4 walls of temple. 5 main temples of Kumbakonam are within 1 sq km area & best time to visit all these are to be an early bird. Sarangapani temple & Ramaswami temple are worth mentioning with more denser architecture.

DHARASUVARAM:

This is different, unique & worth spending more time. Its smaller version of “Brihadeswar Temple” of Tanjore, but definitely more rich in terms of architecture. Also it boasts of a small museum with lots of history documented. Its just outside Kumbakonam (immediate left after big bus shelter) on Kumbakonam-Tanjore highway. Also it has huge well maintained garden to boast off & most pleasurely less vistors. People generally skip this because of impression that its similar in taste to Big temple of Tanjore. Even I was about to do same, but changed decision at last moment & frankly speaking I really took a very good decision. I ended up spending good 1.5 hr there. If one want to understand architecture of Tanjore & Gangakondacholapuram temples, then this is a must place to visit.

Dharasuvaram, Tanjore & Gangakondacholapuram are one set of temples & are different from usual South Indian temples of Trichy, Kumbakonam & Chidambaram. They are all completely brown, i.e no color riots on gopurams. Gopurams of bit different style & all these are actually forts given some religious angle to it.

Parking facility available, 6AM-1PM & 4PM-9PM: timing of tmeple & for anything else one need to go Kumbakonam just few kms away.

Dharasuvaram

 

Dharasuvaram

Dharasuvaram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SWAMI MALAI:

Again a huge temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, is just 8 KMs outside Kumbakonam on Kumbakonam-Tanjore highway. Again many visitor skip this & I say that’s mistake. Yes, it is definitely of same taste as other Kumbakonam temple, but its worth spending time, because its huge, it has good garden & is less crowded. The long allay,leading to main sanctum is very photogenic.

Swami MalaiSwami Malai

TANJORE/TANJUVUR:

Nested in Cauvery delta, it is supposedly 2nd home to Tamil culture, after Madurai. The fertile land enables 3-4 harvests a year & the region is no doubt “rice bowl”. The drive from Kumbakonam to Tanjore is awesome, as one cruise through lush green paddy fields on both sides of road. Tanjore is home to Brihadeswar Temple, also known as “Big temple” & one of the few temples of India, with a tag of World Heritage Site. The history of temple dates back BCs & is a fusion of a fort & temple. It has 3 mts tall Shiva lingam, which is supposedly tallest lingam in world & is very sacred to Hindus.

The site has all facilities: History of place, Parking facility, Bathing facility for day out-station visitors, toilet facility, drinking water facility, wheel chair facility, seating facility etc. There is no entry fee & being an early bird certainly helps in enjoying the site more. The whole place would at least take 2-3 hrs to just see. The well maintained garden are certainly place to take rest, appreciate beauty of huge temple n enjoy with fellow tourists.

History of Brihadeswar temple

Big temple-World heritage site

Brihadeswar Temple-Tanjore

Besides “Big temple”, Tanjore boasts of a palace which houses couple of museums, Bell tower which provides decent view of Tanjore skyline (consisting of Gopurams) & also a good place to view world famous Tanjore painting. The colored Saraswati library, can make eyes allergic to colors. Its just riot of colors over there. The place is worth visiting (in total of Rs 15), especially to learn about Tanjore paintings & appreciate the art on ceilings of & walls of palace. I wonder how those guys had painted on ceilings with such accuracy & precision. Hats off. The place is just 1 km away from Big temple.

Very colored way of saying a storyriot of colors on ceiling: palace

 

Saraswati library

Tanjore painting..colors have faded over yrs obviously

		Hotel	Food	To get there	Season	Places of interest	Town
Tanjore		Low to high end available	Mostly South Indian food	Train-Excellent	Dec to mid feb	Big temple	ATM
				Bus-Excellent		Palace & museum	Petrol
				Trichy-Nearest airport			Net-café
							Vehicle servicing
							Big markets

Kumbakonam to Trichy, via Tanjore (~110Kms)

To avoid drive in bad roads in evening, I started early from Kumkonam (3:30PM). Kumbakonam to Tanjore, was scenic 2 lane highway & Tanjore to Trichy was all against my expectations. It was a 4 lane highway (NH-67). And so I reached Trichy by 5PM. Enroute were some important landmarks of Trichy: NIT Trichy, BHEL township & a duplicate Rock fort temple. It was a smooth ride in Trichy, with some really good infrastructure in place. NIT Trichy from outside looked a bit dis-appointing. The stadium was right on highway & a six will surely land on a travelling vehicle on highway.

NIT Trichy

NIT trichy stadium view from NH-67:Tanjore-Trichy highway

 

Rice Bowl-Tanjore

TIRUCHILAPPALLI or TRICHY or TIRUCHY:

Population: ~1 million. One of the largest city of Tamil Nadu. Its a major railway & road junction of South India. Rail connects whole of India, Air with India & South East Asia, Road connects with whole of South India. No doubt, it has got some best public transportation in country.

Places to stay: Most of the budget to high-end hotels are in n around Central Bus stand, near Tiruchilapalli junction. It’s also called Cantonment. After lot of struggle, I checked in Hotel Kanteera Plaza, where a double bed room costed me Rs. 770 per day. Other areas to find some hotels to stay are in n around Sri Rangam (mostly low end ones) & near City Bus stand.

About City: The metropolitan City all to make stay pleasant, except weather. So best time to visit : December - Jan. Best way to explore its city is to use its public transport. It’s dirt cheap & buses are comfortable compared to buses of other Indian cities.

Places of Interest:  Rock fort, temple of temples:SRIRANGAM, river Cauvery, Lourdes Church & Jambukeshwara temple. Except last one, I had visited all & in my opinion all are worth visiting.

Rock Fort: Right in heart of city, the temple atop a ~100 mts high rock, provide some stunning view of Trichy & river  Cauvery. Best time to visit is during sun-rise or sun-set. There was few cave kind of temples, all on ~300 steps journey. There’s entry fee of Rs. 2 & camera fee of Rs. 50, shoe stand costing Re 1 per pair.

View of Trichy from Rock FortRock Fort temple-Trichy

LOURDES CHURCH: Right opposite to Rock fort, the big red-white painted church is a good place to relax. Hearing musical prayers that were recited in Tamil, I had some peace of mind, after a day long drive.

Lourdes Church: Right opposite to Rock Fort

Markets around Rock fort: It’s sea of humanity here. Worth a place to spend time, if there’s money in your purse.

River Cauvery: Walk along roads running parallel to River Cauvery. Although not really developed for such an outing, but its still worth, if one has time & weather is perfect.

River Cauvery. Trichy

SRIRANGAM or RANGANATHASWAMY TEMPLE (5AM-1PM; 4-9PM):

It’s temple of temples. It’s a town within walls of a temple. This is a perfect place to know: How a city looked like 1000 years ago. The temple is sacred to Hindus & is crowded 365 days a year. Being an early bird certainly gives an edge. Even reaching there at 5AM, it took me good 3 hrs to have darshan of main deity, Sleeping Vishnu, also known by name Lord Ranganathaswamy. The main sanctum is out of bounds for Non-Hindus, but temple has lot more to offer. 21 Gopurams, 4 entry gates (North, South, East, West), one of the largest Gopuram on South Gate, close to ~50 odd temples, 1000 pillar mandapam & a view point inside temple, kept me holded up inside temple for 6 hrs in total, including darshan time. And this time just to seem things once. So, in short, SriRangam has enough tto keep one holed up inside for one complete day, without even realizing when time passed.

Must see inside temple is a viewpoint (near South Gate entry), costing Rs. 10 per person. But it is dirt-cheap, compare to what one sees from here. The viewpoint provides good views of all Gopurams, crowd below.

 Another must visit is 1000 pillars mandapam, near East gate, a part of which cannot be seen, as it is infested with bats.

Another must visit is Sri Ram temple, housing really beautiful well-decorated deities, a corridor with Tanjore style paintings telling story of Ramayana.

West gate, SriRangam1000 pillars Mandapam: Sri Rangam

Some quick tips: Be early bed, although South Gate is where most action is, its good to enter via East or North gate, which are relatively very calm & one can park vehicles easily out there. There are three types of darshan of Lord Ranganatha Swamy: Free, Rs 50 & Rs 250. And as money increases, darshan time decreases. Rs. 50 is a good option & if one has more money, then 250/- is way to go. Be as light as possible, as it involves lot of walk. Photography is allowed in most parts, except taking photos of deities. Better get your bellies filled, before entering, else Prasadam are the only way to go inside the temple.

Places to stay/travel: Bangur Dharmasal (South Gate) is a perfect n cheap, but obviously will always be over crowded. There are few more in & around the temple. Local buses are best way to visit temple.

View of South Gate Gopurams from Temple View point

TRICHY- VALADI-MUSIRI-NAMAKKAL-SALEM-KRISHNAGIRI-HOSUR-BANGALORE:

My final leg of journey started 12 PM & thanks to good roads, I was in Bangalore before dark. Trichy - Valadi-Musiri- Tottavam, runs parallel to River Cauvery. During this ~35kms odd journey, one is just few 100 mtrs away from River Cauvery. It is worth to stop & take rest in one of the banks. Trichy to Namakkal, as of now is 50% pathcy & 50% good. From Namakkal to Bangalore, its butter roads (NH-7) & boasts of couple of good Dhabas especially in n around Salem, Dharmagiri & on Krishnagiri-Bangalore route. My recommendations: a hotel right on Gandhi chowk in Salem, Anand Bhavan near Toll gate of Dharmavaram, Anand Bhavan near Krishnagiri, Jodhpur hotel near Hosur.

Namakkal fort off NH-7, Krishnagiri Fort off NH-7, lake near Krishnagiri off NH-7, Sun-set view on Krishnagiri-Hosur highway, are something, where extra time can be killed. Since I didn’t had much, I bypassed all of it.

Bridge on Cauvery connecting NH 67 & SH, near Musiri

My Verdict on Trip:

This trip was planned 2 years ago & finally I executed. With this trip, I have covered all major attractions of Tamil Nadu. Also I have done that, for which all Tamil Hindus will envy me, that is visiting 12 sacred Shiva temples of TN. As per Tamil beliefs, each Hindu should have darshans of all 12 Shiva lingams of TN (kind of Teerth yatra for them), at least once in a life time. Me n my bike foot steps are there in all big cities of Tamil Nadu.

The reason, I could achieve this, is continous call of TN & thats because of :

1) Excellent infrastructure. I think it’s way ahead of rest of India (except Gujarat, if reports are to be believed). Whether it’s roads, public transport, tourist infrastructure, food facility. You name it, TN govt. has done commendable job. It’s now upto us, tourists to maintain it, to respect it. We should take care, we justify its usage by paying required entry tickets, camera charges & most importantly not trashing.

2) Excellent people. I donot know Tamil & locals donot know Hindi or English, but still I have been able to communicate. Simple reason, people are lovely, co-operative, helping. Especially in this trip, I realised how helpful people are. Trichy has implanted great impression on me. I think other cities can emulate Trichy’s model of development.

All an alien (read tourists) need is proper & safe Infrastructure, helping people, proper sign boards, good food, some places to relax n rest, good n affordable hotels to stay, to make it a dream Holiday. And with ~10000 kms of travel in TN, I can safely bet: Tamil Nadu has all that. And to all readers, language is not a problem, its just you need to do some homework.

Again special request to all: PLEASE DONOT TRASH & RESPECT OTHER CULTURE,FOOD & LANGUAGE. If you follow all these, I bet, you gonna have memorable holidays.

But surely it’s not end for me, it’s just a beginning. I am looking forward for oppurtunities to visit all these places again.

TAMIL NADU ROCKS. 

Chola land infoSome more info-Chola land

 

My companion

chidabaram temple

Gopuram of ChidambaramCharacters on Gopuram-Chidambaram

Big Temple: TanjoreTanjore

Companion of day timeMain deity of Srirangam-potrait

Main deity of Srirangam-potrait

Tanjore main deity: ~3mts high lingam.