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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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:

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.