Shephard of Hampi

I woke up late and to make my day worse the breakfast offered at KSTDC Mayura Bhuveneshwai also didn’t go well with my mind. I hate late mornings when I am on a trip!

With a bit of anger, I ditched my friends and went out solo with my backpack & water bottle on a very sunny day at around 11 am.

After a km walk, I reached abandoned Gangatti Jain temple, neither there was a deity not the people… I took a walk around… sat… took a round in my online world- gmail. FB, insta, twitter & whatsapp- world had not changed!

I had started to sweat out because of the scorching sun. I gathered my energy and started walking to Bhima’s gate, 500 m to another no man’s land. I loved the silence & my own company.

Here I saw beautiful carving of Bhima with Sowgandhika flower and the fort. Visual stories of 13th century was running on my mind as I walked around a bit till I bumped onto a dark man wearing pure white shirt with his red earphones on & sitting on a ruin mantap. I said hi & initiated a conversation… you know stories are something which I am always curious to listen.

He started sharing his journey with story of his grandpa who come to build Tungabadra dam from Tamil Nadu. And moved on to his adventures of dismantling and mantling old structures for archeological department… which he said is never ending work!

He was not that curious about me and he only checked where I came from, what did I do in Hampi & where I am headed to- most asked existential question indeed…

I said I wanted to go to Pattabirama temple where Rama crowned Sugriva or that sort and on road it showed 3 km on the google maps. I asked him if there is a shortcut to reach avoiding high fare seeking auto rickshaw cynosures and he said there is…

the one which the shepherds use…

Throughout this trip I was fascinated by management techniques shepherds deploy to take care of their herd in a 1:100- on keeping their flock together and keeping all of them happy- for entire full day- quite a feat!

And now I am hoping a shepherd comes to Bhima’s gate & takes me to Pattabirama temple through a short cut- dedicated for shepherds and his sheeps!

Clock ticked 12:!5… close to 20 min of staring at the pathway… then came the brown dog first… followed a faded blue lungi clad shepherd carrying a small faded yellow bag on his faded grey shirt. My constructor friend made a request to shepherd to help me cover 90% of the path. he obliged…

Next 45 min was divine…

Shepherd always walked 10 steps ahead of me… always… maybe this is what he does to his seeps as well, maybe… he also walked at a constant acceleration leaving me no option to catch up with his pace… he never wanted to converse- maybe. We only exchanged welcome hello and final good-bye when we finished- only verbal conversation that we had… And in between it was just silence!

We walked through big big stones to heavy bushes to thorns to ups and downs to some ruins of 15th century history till we reached Tungabadra river reservoir. My shirt was dripping sweat… Dog guide went straight to river to take a dip…

So did the shepherd… he washed himself clean & filled up his bootle. Like his constant smile, his pace probably had built lot of endurance for these trails to him… this entire journey we never spoke… but I guess I had received a lot learning & invitation to self reflect…. my reflection in crystal clear water was inviting…

Shepherd wasted no time as he had to get back to herd which was may be 100m far. He made few sounds, just to intimate the group that he’s gonna be back soon, maybe… He tied his lungi to thigh length & smiled at me… that’s all… he probably said goodbye & wished me luck to where I am headed to, maybe… that’s all… and went off.. & the brown dog followed…

I dropped my bag, took off my hat & bowed at him with gratitude. I stood for a while, looked at the blue clear horizon and went to kiss the river. Quite a few things were running in my mind & I was experiencing certain shepherd wisdom in silence- he had taught me about trails, about ups and downs, about pace, about people, about management, about Hampi and about myself- all in silence. I took a dip too… trying to catch my breath in the river flow and also to tune to the flow itself!

I sat down riverside, took my book & while I heard river flow, I tried letting my words flow like the river…

All stories need not be told…
Some stories could be told…
In silence…
Some stories could be shown…
In presence…
Life is all about these stories…
some told, some shown, some lived…
some unknown…
While walking with constant pace and smile,
All stories need not be told…

This is what I could reflect on Shepherd wisdom… We just walk… we are neither anyone to get curious about other stories, nor we are judges to make our decisions of who’s right or wrong. we just walk… sometimes alone… sometimes with the brown dog… sometimes with the flowing river… just like shepherd of Hampi!

Jaipur: Exploring Royal Marvels of the Pink City

As part of my study tour to Digantar, I happened to be in Jaipur, the famous pink city, and also it happened to be my first time in Rajasthan. I wasted no chance to explore as much I could! Even though I was there in the month of March, early summers, heat was still bearable and I loved being there. I could not see all of it and I have promised myself to comeback to see Rajasthan soon! You know- Jai Jai connection also works!

Welcome to Jaipur

The evening I reached Jaipur, I took an uber to Amer fort! It was such a delight to see the whole stretch of fort wall beautifully decorate the Aravali hills. A small climb up in the fort leads to spacious palace waranda. We bought tickets there and went further up to explore the Diwan-i-Aam, or "Hall of Public Audience", the Diwan-i-Khas, or "Hall of Private Audience” and the Sheesh Mahal or the mirror palace. The view from any window of these palaces are just breathtaking- where you can sight most part of the city, lakes, roads and more importantly, the breeze that is hitting you soothes you immensely! Hammams or Turkish bathing tub definitely remains in your memory and so does the the maggi & chai you had while sitting in the park below!

Hawa Mahal

From Amer fort, I went to Chokhi Dhani for dinner. Village set up inside is quite fascinating and before we explored it, we treated ourselves with authentic Rajasthani thali- which consisted of signature dal bati churma to amazing kadi! It’s amazing to enjoy these folk arts and dance- once your tummy is full and there is rope beds to rest and there is open sky with twinkling stars to gaze… life is good!

Sheesh Mahal in Amer Fort

Next day, after work, we had a chance to visit Nahargarh fort, which is located next to Amer and also in good altitude. By chance, we visited beautiful amphitheater first, which happens to be the masti ki paathshala of Rang De Basanti (RDB) movie. As we walked ahead ignoring the wax museum, the royal Madhvendra palace standing tall with few tries with no leaves- made us skip some beats! Once you enter the palace, the sight is mesmerising. Of all the palaces I have seen, I would rate this one in top of my list. We spent next hour exploring the palace and climbing up the terrace for more breathtaking views of Jaipur! We spotted Jal Mahal or “Palace in the middle of a lake” from there and we did take a stroll at Jal Mahal in the evening. There are good number of autowallahs to take you down to city from Nahargarh fort and we hired one. He was courteous enough to show us the spot where Aamir Khan was film-shot drinking and falling to lake in RDB and also to stop at a chai point in middle of nowhere where you can sip the chai with hill breeze and galaxy view of Jaipur with Aravali!

Madhvendra Palace

Hawa Mahal, situated in the centre of pink city is the iconic place and most of us would have seen it’s structure looking like a crown in many advertisements. I used cloak room here to park my luggage before I took the stroll inside. It’s beautiful to catch glimpse of the busy streets, Jantar Mantar and rest of city palace complex from the Hawa Mahal, which is in the terrace of the whole structure. 

I missed being at Jaigarh fort and checking out Jantar Mantar in detail. Ofcourse, I missed a lot on catching up with light and sound shows at all the above locations I explored. And there were so many buildings with historical importance in every nook and corner- it caught my attention but could not get time. So there is always a next time!

Masti Ki Paathshala

While in Jaipur- I indeed had a good feast of food. It started with Chokhi Dhani to Rawat Mistan Bhandar to Khandwa Haveli to Falahaar in Bapu bazaar which offered sabudana specials to roadside poha to sugarcane juice to lot of nimbu paani- you know avoiding innumerable Cafe Coffee Days was a challenge and supporting local entrepreneurs to beat the heat was delightful!

This blog would be incomplete if you don't speak about the awesome internet wi-fi supported by Google at the Jaipur railway station! What speed! Experienced Digital India for sure here :)

Trip to Coorg: Shades of Green and Miles of Emptiness

Imagine that your birthday is on a Sunday and you have made no plans. All of the sudden, you make couple of calls on the Friday night and plan things out, and you start at 5am on Saturday morning and cover Abbey Falls, Mandalpatti and rest in a coffee estate homestay {Vinayaka homestay} at Madikeri, and on Sunday, i.e., on your birthday, visit holiest Bhagamandala, Talakaveri and Tibetan Monastery or The Namdroling Monastery or The Golden Temple, Kushalnagar, and return back to Bangalore by midnight- with your best buddies! Can’t get better right?!

It happened to me and I am left with that fulfilled heart which wrote these lines:

Throw your soul into a world,
Where there are endless roads…
Filled with clouds and shades of green…
Where in yourself- you explore,
A new life, a new friend, and a new love…
Unaware of those noise, you pray,
In silence, in solitude, in sync with your heart…
Spotting that raising sun with a cup of coffee,
Stopping to thank an unknown guide for those directions…
To knock the heavens, that exists here with us,
Midst miles and miles of perceived emptiness…
Throw your soul into a world,
Where there are endless roads…

To know how monsoons inspired me write this poem and get to know some places to visit in Coorg during a weekend getaway from Bangalore, watch my 4 min video {pardon my language and no-edits, intention was to keep it raw and capture first impressions!}

Bengaluru Diaries: Pyramid, Aeroplane and a Historic Palace...

This weekend, for a change, I didn’t step out of Bangalore and instead, went on to explore some offbeat places {I mean places other than malls, eateries, pubs, gardens, lakes, getting stuck in traffic!}. I must confess that I was quite taken aback by what Namma Bengaluru had in store for me. Here is the travelogue of my weekend exploits: 

Bangalore Palace

Pyramid Valley, situated in Kanankpura road, near Harohalli, is a quick soothing getaway, hardly 30 kms from Banshankari, Bangalore. Spread across beautiful 26 acres, houses the 102 feet tall Maitreya Pyramid which is inspired by Pyramid of Giza, Egypt. As you enter the pyramid, temperature rises a bit. Inside the pyramid, there is a staircase to reach a platform which is at much higher height and temperature. I learnt that cosmic energy passed on to body while meditating is thrice as much higher in that elevated platform. This place has free lunch & dinner. There is also a place where one can pay and eat. Other prominent things here are Statues of Buddha & Gandhiji in the lake- who transmit calmness through their face. There is shop where they sell some FMCG products, books, DVDs and sovereigns. One can also book rooms and stay overnight. This place is good place to sit and meditate, experience tranquility for couple of hours. While returning, we took a deviation from Harohalli that connected to Kengeri in the Mysore Road {you should explore Maddur Coffee Day, Rasta Café or Bidadi Tatte Idly!}

HAL Museum

HAL museum or HAL Heritage Centre and Aerospace Museum surely inspires with the evolution of aerospace industry post Indian independence. The MIG’s, LOH, Cheetah, training flights, Satellite launch vehicles, ATC radar are on display. The photographs showing those first flights and renowned dignitaries taking tour makes you feel very proud of the country. It also has a sustainable park and informative garden. Indeed, a very good place to visit for couple of hours.

Pyramid Valley

Bangalore Palace, situated in Vasanth Nagar has an entry fee of 225 INR inclusive of audio tour that takes you to 21 spots in this architectural wonder with beautiful narration available in multiple languages. This palace belonged to Rev. J. Garrett, who was the first Principal of the Central High School in Bangalore and was bought out by Mysore Wadiyar’s in 18th century. They got it restructured and the palace plans provided by Calcutta firm is also on display. When you enter the palace, hunted down huge elephant head welcomes you and sets the context. You’ll see many elephant & tiger hunting photographs and various chairs/flower vases made out of them. If you appreciate paintings, this is the place to be! The Durbar hall is a showstopper and gives you a glimpse how administration used to work back then. Gothic and Victorian architecture styles are treat to watch. The maharajah’s courtyard has a colorful bench and a fountain which was a gift from the King of Spain Don Alphonso.

Palace, also has a big garden and a horse stable. It took me almost 2 hours to explore the palace completely and was enchanted by it’s history and beauty. It’s quite an irony that it only had around 1/10th of Garuda mall visitors {which I later visited for tasty dinner at Panchavati Gaurav} May be, palace is not so popular among masses and I am no exception, it took me more than 3 years to reach here. So do visit before it becomes crowded and loses it’s peace and charm! Till now, I didn’t have a must visit place in Bangalore to suggest. Now I have one!

{Thanks to Archi & Sharath for making this trip happen!}

Trip to Goa and Belgaum: Calmly Sailing Past Those Waters...

Late planning and late execution always lands you in a heap of surprises. If not you, the one who not even in his dreams thought that all of us would attend his sister’s grand wedding, would be left speechless and in tears! These are the moments we live for, right? One such opportunity came to us and we took no time in surprising our friend, Vijay, we took KSRTC Airavat Club Class overnight bus to Belagavi from Bengaluru and planned Goa {last time I had covered- Anjuna, Fort Aguada, Chapora Fort, Baga, Calangute, Dona Paula, Panjim, Churches - in my hired bike, during those days, when India won world cup 2011!} for later part of the week. Here is the travelogue of my trip-

Bogmalo Beach Resort

#Belgaum, with wide roads and decent traffic, looked clean. Thanks to pre-monsoon rains, weather was very enjoyable. Wedding was scheduled to be at Gandhi Bhavan, near Sanman Hotel. After managing quick shower at Keerthi Lodge, I attended the wedding wearing Modi jacket (no surprises!). Loved the typical North Karnataka food at the lunch. Soon after the wedding, we bought couple of Kunda boxes, the local delicacy; we caught Kadamba bus, run by Goa govt., to Margao. The single road, NH 4A,passed through many breath taking visuals {thanks to plush green Western Ghats} and a university that has constantly taken student’s breath, VTU- Visvesvaraya Technological University!

#Bogmalo Beach Resort, we sort of crashed here directly from Belagavi or Belgaum. We hired a cab to travel 28kms from Margao to reach Bogmalo. Cabbie, John, reminded us the Goan attitude and Goan unique lingual! His stories were around cab tourism mafia, places to see in Goa and anything related to tourism! The bubble lake, were bubbles appears on a lake when you clap, still resides in my memory and I will explore, sooner or later!

At Vijay's Sister, Shweta's Wedding

At the resort we had those rooms which directly opened to the beach view. I think mercury had soared up to around 35c and good amount of humidity added to the summer of Goa- leading us all the time in the water- either in the pool or beach! I recommend this resort- for its swimming pool, decent food, shacks in the beach, poor room service and proximity to Bogmalo beach! {Which was almost empty most of the times}

Basilica of Bom Jesus

#Baga Beach, spent a evening there, just to soak the hyped #Goa excitement! Tried jet skiing and spent some time at a shack- Britto’s, which needs to credited for it’s amazing ambience! Did some shopping and window shopping, and didn't get into pub hopping!

#Basilica of Bom Jesus, we hired a guide for 100 INR and it was totally worth it. He spoke how in 15th century it all started with Portuguese, how St. Francis Xavier spread Christianity with Society of Jesus and passed away on the way to China. Guide also tracked the life of relics of St. Xavier, after his death, which travelled to Malaysia, Rome and then finally, to Goa, at Basilica of Bom Jesus. This church is also called old church of Goa and UNESCO world heritage site, you'll spot IHS- first 3 letters from Jesus in Greek, inscribed on top of the church. IHS also means Jesus- Human Savior. Outside the gate, we had good dosas and ice creams to beat the heat!

Mangeshi Temple

#Sahakari Spice Farm, new trend in Goa these days is to show rich flora and fauna of Western Ghats. They include food prepared from veggies grown in this 132 acre farm! For those who are from western ghats, nothing much to look out for, for the rest, it may turn out to be eye-opening exciting 1 hour study tour in the farm- showing coconut, Arecanut, jackfruit, mango, cashew, feni preparation and display of spices.

#Mangeshi Temple houses Lord Mangeshi, form of Lord Shiva, the main deity of Gowda Saraswath Brahmins. This temple looks rich with unique Goan architecture comprising of a sanctum and a tower kind of structure that can lit 450 diyas (lamps) at a time. The road leading to temple houses many eateries (Don't forget to drink kokum juice here!)and small shops selling memorabilia.

Sahakari Spice Farm

#Margao Flea Market was up since to mark the feast of local church that was coming up. We entered and exited (in VRL sleeper bus which stopped at Ankola for dinner) Goa via Margao- and both the times were held up in middle for some time because of the crowd that was busy shopping and blocking the road!

{Thank you Manu for being amazing trip organiser, yet again! Thank you Vijay for inviting us and inspiring us to plan this trip. Thanks to Archi, Manu & Sushma for making this trip memorable}

Trip to Delhi, Kanpur & Lucknow: First Glimpses of Hindi Heartland

Having already been twice at Delhi, I had thought I had nothing much to explore or do. But, it indeed had few best things in store to throw at me.

Crisis- when written in Chinese is a two letter word, where first letter denotes ‘Danger’ and the second, an ‘opportunity’

I concluded my talk and walked away leaving audience ponder over deeper philosophical meanings! This was at a recent IEEE conference held at Amity University, Noida where I presented a research paper that I had co-authored. Conference was titled as “INBUSH ERA- 2015: International Conference on Futuristic Trends in Computational Analysis and Knowledge Management”- basic reason for my trip- thanks to SAP for encouraging research work. Presenting in front of Professors, Academicians and PhD students is indeed a challenge, since you need to convince them and any attempt to confuse will cost dearly. This being my third research work, good amount of mistakes already done in past, I worked really hard on my 15min presentation, thanks to my fellowship days, I have learnt a trick or two to get audience engaged! And thankfully, it worked!!

Mughal Garden at President House

Tasting Kulle Chaat or Fruit chaat: I got out of Chawri Bazaar metro station of Delhi, entered a road that had more cycle rickshaws & row-shops leaving hardly any space to walk! It wasn't tough to identify tiny Heera Lal chaat shop famous for it’s Kulle Chaat- innovatively sliced fruits like banana, papaya, watermelon, orange and others, with Indian spices added to it! Hats would go off for the Creativity and no ambience- the real street food!

Jama Masjid is built around 1650 by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, it is the best-known mosque in India. I ended up here at around 6pm and what a time to be there! We bought tickets to climb up the narrow pillar and bumped into a Bangladeshi bureaucrat who taught me a lesson or two on our own culture! It did inspire me to learn Bhagavata! Coming back, views of Red Fort & Delhi were just marvelous and every penny worth. Do visit this Masjid for it’s serenity, birds and sacred feelings it invokes!

Jama Masjid

Hauz Khas Village and Deer Park looked like lover’s paradise. Basking on it’s 13th century history, you'll encounter quite a few structures which will tell the tales of past. Walk is quite healthy with best of air and best of cool breeze from lake. Apart from some lake birds, ducks keep sailing in the waters which looked polluted. Park is pretty big and I managed to get out at a random gate, one of many! Hauz Khas village houses many eateries, I had initially planned to try one of them, but getting out at a random gate ended me up at a restaurant in Green Park market area! No complaints!

Mughal Garden at President House or Rashtrapati Bhavan was serene! It is open for public just after Republic Day (Jan 26) for a month. I was thankful for the privilege I got. Taking a walk in this beautiful garden was a dream come true! President's house was FEW yards away. Majestic tri-color kept flaunting! What a feeling! Apart from patriotic feeling that you get, nearly 10,000 Tulips in vivid colors was be the main attraction spread across Spiritual Garden, Herbal Garden, Bonsai Garden and Bio-diversity Park. Names of flowers are as well very amusing- few like- Black Lady, Double Delight, Eiffel Tower, Granada, Mr. Lincoln, Sadabahar and Taj Mahal!

Kulle Chaat at Heera Lal chaat 

Jhumroo at Kingdom Of Dreams was my second show at the venue. Now I undoubtedly say that KOD is the bestest of best! Jhumroo was a tribute to Kishore Kumar and seeing him live on stage gave Goosebumps. This show was technically very rich and I have no words for the stage settings & music!

Rahagiri Day, is a unique celebration that is catching up. I got a chance to experience it first hand at Connaught Place in Delhi. Rahagiri Day mostly happens on Sunday mornings where citizens get together to celebrate the fun and freedom to walk, sing, dance, exercise and play on the street! Though the rain screwed up with set up there, enthusiasm of participants & over lookers was infectious! Big salute to people who organize this and who participate on Sunday mornings!

I stayed at Kanpur for 2 days since was there to attend a wedding {held at Hotel Landmark with amazing ambience} of my friend’s{Arpit} brother. It was great to get royally treated and enjoyed super-duper hospitality! Had great time exploring Kanpur and experiencing British leftover culture like Indianised version of British names! Meanwhile, Arpit made sure that I had tea in an earthen pot cup at famous Banarasi Tea Stall and ate some street food like Matka Bread Maakan {a glass of butter milk tasted best with wooden pan fired bread-butter- I was bowled over!} and Chole Bhature.

Hazratganj at Lucknow

My trip to Lucknow was limited to 18th century creation, Hazratganj. I took a quick stroll and grabbed my hands on unique Basket Chaat, Aloo Tikki Chaat at Royal Cafe. Though I caught glimpses of the Legislative assembly and Ambedkar Park, wasn't lucky enough to explore more, thanks to canceled train and quick trip back to Delhi on Uttar Pradesh state govt. run bus that played Bollywood music throughout the night. Lucknow, will come back soon to see you with more luck!

I sincerely thank Arpit, his family, Pranshu, GS team at SAP Labs and Archi for making this trip happen and memorable!

Pondicherry Trip & Auroville Marathon: For the Joy of Running

After day long work, I caught Friday evening train to Puducherry {a.k.a Pondicherry} from Bangalore at 9.30pm from Banaswadi, remote railway station that looked more like a small 2 bhk home! Hotel Corbelli in Pondicherry was my home for next couple of days, a decent budget hotel in Mission Street. This street houses many eateries and is very accessible to everything in Pondy. Town was so intuitive in itself that just after spending couple of hours there, I was aware of most of map, thanks to localities as well for being very accommodative and helpful {they even spoke French here!}. Right opposite to hotel was Hotel Bombay Anand Bhavan where I had my first of many tasty meals at Pondi and that set the tone for the tour!

Matrimandir of Auroville

#Auroville Marathon was in it’s 8th edition on 8th of February, amazingly beautiful trail midst the greenery and at the "universal township" of Auroville, known as “City of Dawn”, 8 km from Pondicherry, run by Sri Aurobindo Society to realize human unity and where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony, above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The place stands for every word mentioned above! Auroville marathon, one of biggest run, runs through their textile, handloom, handicraft, food industries and Matrimandir {amazing architecture and breeze of calmness hits you here}, and ofcourse constant encouragement from the residents & volunteers, was very satisfying.

Paradise Beach Island Clicked from the Boat

I ran 10k that started at 7am in the morning and with constant drum pepping & energizers, clocked 59min, which anyway doesn't matter since every runner is a winner here. Kudos to organizers and fellow runners who ran for “Joy of Running”. I look forward to run half marathon next year! If you love running, then do run in Auroville Marathon, it is indeed a must thing to do in life!

French Colony

#Aurobindo Ashram was very peaceful and was amazed with the natural flora. We parked our Activa’s, which we had hired for 225 INR per day to roam around Pondi, and took the famous stroll in the famous French colony, which was just-incredible & felt out of place! Don’t forget to visit Museum, Bharati Park that has Monument called Aayi Mandapam {interesting story behind it, to know- you have to visit museum!} and Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar Temple- all in walking vicinity.

#Beach Road visit in evening hours is pure bliss. Take a walk and explore French Consulate, French War Memorial, Seaside Promenade, Statue of Dupleix, Secretariat offices and Gandhi Statue. It reminded me of Marina Drive of Mumbai for sure! 

Gandhi Statue in Beach Road

#Churches are quite old here are surely one time visit. Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus near railway station, Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Mission Street and Eglise de Notre Dame des Anges near Beach Road- I visited all of them, surprisingly, when the mass was going-on!

#Arikamendu took me by surprise. There was no one when I went there and finding way was nightmare/super fun. Romans had come here in 2BC to trade and now houses ruins of a house like structure. I was fascinated with whatever was remaining and could feel the energy that could have been possibly existed here, previously/historically!

#Paradise Beach is 20min boat ride away from Chunnambar Boat House. This had flavor of Goa. Only a part of Beach was open to public, rest looked like encroached by resorts there. Nevertheless, thumbs-up for it’s ambience and boat ride!

Arikamedu Ruins

#Serenity Beach and #Auro Beach are surely one time visit with lovely crystal clear blue waters and long sand shore with beautiful sea shells.

#Botanical Gardens was a dudd and I didn’t enjoy much, thanks to it’s poor maintenance and “Under Construction” banner everywhere!

#Food was just brilliant! Must haves from whatever I had: Chocolate Pakora at Zuka, Wooden pan fired Pizza at Cafe Xtasi, Ferrero Roche shake at The Indian Kaffe Express, Special Thali at Surguru. Masala milk at KBS Kofi bar and Ghee Dosa at Bombay Anand Bhavan

{Thanks to Rashmika for being co-planner and co-executer. Thanks to TripAdvisor for suggestions. Special thanks to auto-drivers of Pondy for their generosity}

Incredible India

Best part of writing travelogues- when you look back at it, you relieve those moments and cherish them! I am very fortunate to have got some chances to travel, explore and live the cultures- may be for a day or two. Though I have missed blogging on my trips to Mysore, Dandeli & Goa, here is the best of incredible India for you-

A

Agra

Agumbe
Alleppey
Amritsar
Anandpur Sahib

B

Banavasi
Belur
Bengaluru- Part 01, Part 02
Bidar
Brindavan

C

Chitradurga
Coimbatore
Coorg

D

Darjeeling
Delhi- Part 01, Part 02, Part 03

Dudhsagar Falls

G

Goa

H

Halebeedu
Hampi
Hampta Pass 
Hyderabad

J

Jaipur
Jammu

K

Kanpur
Kingdom of Dreams -01, 02
Kochi
Kodaikanal
Kolkata
Kullu
Kumara Parvata 
Kuppalli

L

Lepakshi
Lucknow

M 

Manali

Mangalore
Mantralayam
Manyakheta or Malkhed

Mathura
Mumbai
Munnar
Mysore

N

Naggar 
Namakkal

0

Ooty

P

Pondicherry

S

Sabarimala

Sakaleshpur- Agani, Hulli Makki
Sandakphu Trek
Shantineketan
Shimla
Sirsi
Sondha
Sringeri

T

Thanjavur
Tirupati

Trichy
Trivandrum

U

Udupi - Part 01, Part 02

V

Vaishno devi

Y

Yana

Delhi Trip: Capital of Dreams

I have been to Delhi couple of times now & every time I visit, it just amazes me and always has something special in store. This time it was no less, thanks to amazing weather, meeting Delhi’s Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung with my author boss Ferose, GIFTED sessions with Kiran Bedi ma’m,

Kingdom of Dreams

Sundeep Rao & happy hours that followed, and of course, ticking off some places that I had missed visiting last time- Here is my travelogue on extended Delhi for you-

#Kingdom of Dreams (KoD) and Cultural Gully is the place I love the most and I have promised myself to get back here for another show. Since it was close to my office’s guest house and was a Saturday when I had pretty much nothing to do, I visited KoD with no idea or expectations at around 12pm. Luckily there was a show called- Zangoora at 2.30pm & was filling fast. I bought the tickets,hoping for some entertainment. I explored the Cultural Gully to kill time & it turned out to be marvelous- artificial sky, buildings representing cultures of Indian states- to put it in a phrase- it was “the melting pot” of incredible India we love. Zangoora started right on time. Performance was mind blowing- all thanks to amazing production, music, artists, acting, lights & all the breath-taking acrobatics. It’s an experience; do visit when you are in Delhi next time!

Lodhi Gardens

#Lotus Temple & Chhatarpur Temple, covered them in half a day, while Lotus temple symbolizes harmony among Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Islam, Chhatarpur temple is built by a sant from Karnataka! Best part in both of them- notable architecture & beautiful walkway from metro station where you can enjoy good street food. Sometimes, journey is more beautiful from destination, right?!

#Amar Jyoti School was covered in Satyameva Jayate by Aamir Khan recently and I personally wanted to visit this 1981 estb. inclusive school to understand their style of imparting education. When I stepped in, I saw kids on wheelchair playing

Amar Jyoti School

basketball & what a game it was! This set the tone for my tour of an amazing school where children with disabilities sit alongside any normal kid and attend classes. School premises are completely accessible with ramps & mobility for visually impaired. Kids are trained with life skills & they can opt for vocational trainings those are available. I met the principal of school, Seema ma’m & was taken aback by her vision & strength to lead by example. The high moment of this tour came when I met Uma Tuliji, Padmashree awardee, founder of the school, young at her 70s. Positivity oozes out from her, and as my eye-opener educative tour came to an end, I sought her blessings!

Navjyoti Foundation Nayagaon

#Navjyoti foundation, run by Kiran Bedi ma’m, operates in multiple places. To get the first-hand experience, I visited their Nayagaon campus, set up in small village which was nightmare to find & I was already convinced that they are doing marvelous job by setting up in the real India, a far-away village! As I reached there at 4pm, kids were coming in after their regular school & settling in classes, where teachers were waiting. This was like a mini school that operates from 4pm-6pm for village children. In addition, it had vocational training classes, self-help groups of villagers, computer lab, leadership classes to youth of village{I was blown away with this idea} and Vivaan Music School {set-up by Ferose to mark his son’s birthday!}, that taught kids-instrumentals & vocals. 3 ladies whom I met here- Chandini, Ujala & Fatima- are inspiration in themselves. No doubt, Navjyoti is definitely on a mission to transform villages, like Nayagaon… the real India…

#Lodhi gardens is amazing place to be in the evenings with beautiful well maintained gardens &

With GIFTED Sundeep & Ferose

couple of tombs with breath-taking architecture built in 1500s. Do visit Lodhi restaurant which is adjacent to garden for a quick byte & chai. Five stars for the marvelous ambience!

#Sarvana bhavan, located in Connaught place is an old south-Indian eatery famous for masala dosa, filter coffee & ice creams. I was amazed by the huge demand they have!

#Pure Punjab in Khan market, is a restaurant where we had food in between "missing lunch" & later "missing dinner"! You’ll require three stomachs to finish a thali here, thumbs up for the taste!

[Special Thanks to Ferose for giving me an opportunity to accompany him. Thanks Sundeep for that hilarious & insightful day. Thanks to Archi Garg for showing me right directions]

Trip to Kerala & Tamil Nadu: Discovering Mystery of the Time-Traveller...

Ganesh Chaturthi long weekend had an incredible tour in store for me where I got a chance to visit some temples, ethnic places and ethnic wedding! This journey took me from Bangalore to Trichy (350kms) to Trivandrum (6 hours from Trichy) to Kochi (3 hours from Trivandrum) and chance to travel in

Brihadeeswarar Temple

auto-rickshaw, local TN bus (8 km=4 INR), inter-state bus, car, train and finally, airplane! Listing down the places I visited, mostly in the order of visit-

#Namakkal Anjaneyar Temple had no roof! Tall Hanuman is the highlight here. Missed visiting ancient site, two cave temples, Adiyendra Visnugrha (Ranganatha swamy Temple) and Adiyanavaya Visnugrha (Narasimha swamy Temple) of 7th century. Falls in between Salem and Trichy.

#Brihadeeswarar Temple Thanjavur is the place that I visited twice in this trip and everytime I did, fell deeper in love. Built in 10th century by Cholas who ruled south-east Asia, the campus is covered by a canal of Kaveri river where crocodiles

Wedding Glitters

were bred to protect. Once you enter, you’ll see marvelous 2 gopuram’s marking victories of Rajaraja chola. Beautiful sculpture of Dwara palak(door keeper) curbing python that is eating elephant with one of his foot will remain in memory forever. First ever Capillary Barrier System and mysterious European man (time traveler?) with a hat in 10th century is the highlight of this temple. I strongly doubt that if 21st human beings can ever produce this kind of engineering and cultural marvel!

#Rock Fort is the highlight point of Trichy. Must must visit. 400 steps to climb inside the big rock and once you step out, you reach the top! Bird view of Trichy, beautiful Kaveri River, gopuram of Srirangam and mesmerizing winds that hit your

face are the best of part of this experience. Also, you’ll see tiny Ganesha temple at the top!

#Jumbukeshwara Temple, Trichy, is not so popular, not so crowded temple. It is one of Pancha Bhoota Stalam, meaning a Shiva place dedicated to one of 5 basic elements of nature, i.e., is water. You’ll see water oozing out continuously near the lord Shiva lingam that is inside a cave. Temple has a beautiful corridors and majestic rock pillars. Do visit!

#Srirangam temple, was over-crowded and 250 INR for fastest Darshan of 2 hours. Didn't work out. So was content looking around amazing build of this ancient temple. Avoiding weekends is the

Rock Fort Temple View

best thing to do here!

#Typical Tamil Wedding on a Sunday morning at 6am! Glitters and religious aspects marked the event of Vinci’s marriage to Ranjani! Happy married life guys!

#TNFood- Jigarthanda(amazing juice with some ice-cream like thing!), Veg Flow (Veg Pulav!), Spide Rice(Fired rice!), Gopi Manjurian (no price for guessing!), Cilli Barota (Chilli parota!), Bombal special Badam milk(Kebab main haddi!), Payasam with vada and pepper rasam! Full-filling!!

#Kanthari, Trivandrum, story will be up in KnowYourStar.com soon!

#NISH, Trivandrum, National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH) run by govt. of Kerala, set up

Kanthari

in 1997, amazes you with its environment that is set up. Now I believe that govt.’s can also do wonders!

#Shri Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Trivandrum, was almost closed when I reached. But took a walk in the corridors and got a sight of spell-bounding Kerala architecture.

#Pazhavangadi Ganapathy Temple, Trivandrum, got a chance to watch the maha mangalaarathi(final puja to mark end of day) and definitely is a blissful place with calm Ganesha as the main deity.

#Computer training centre, Kochi, run in collaboration with Rotary Club Cochin Global & SRVC (Society for Rehabilitation of the Visually Challenged), got a chance to interact with brain behind, Sunil Mathews, and meet his blind trainees, and listen to their ambitions. Sunil’s experience with

Onam Sadhya

blind soccer is worth notable, wishing them luck for upcoming Asiad games. Surely, Blindness is just another Imagination!

#Marine Drive, Kochi, strolled around since I landed up at Kochi on a Kerala Bandh day. Temples to churches to mosques to synagogues to jetty to port- Kochi has it all and no doubt, Dutch to Portuguese to French to English were here! Understood how the Kerala state transport operates inter-island boat service!

#KeralaFood- Pazhampuri, Onam Sadhya, Sharjah juice, Kerala porota in Arya Nivas and late night show of movie Raja Natwarlal at SL cinemas!

[Thanks to Sridhar Sundaram, Sharath, Chikkappa, Chikkamma, Vinci, Ranjani, Ashwin, Ambi, Ikku, Basya, Ragi, Kachappa,Akshay, Suhas and Cheeni for making this trip memorable!]

Agumbe Malnad Trip: Be Unhoused O my Soul, only the Infinite is your Goal...

Although monsoons started off late, it didn't fail to make up for the lost time this season. To get the essence and to get drenched, I visited the famous Malnad(literal meaning “Rain Country”) in

Sunset Point Agumbe

Karnataka when it rained the most, July. Recounting the places I visited during one day trip.

#Kundadri Hills, is located 15kms from Agumbe (witnesses 2nd highest rainfall in India and only abode of king cobra), is a monolithic rock formation with a Jain Temple at the top. Rising 3,200 feet above sea level, on full moon day, one can experience sun rise and the moon set simultaneously. The hill is named after a Jain monk Kundakundacharya who is said to have performed severe penance here somewhere around 400 BC. This hill is motorable and gated. Since the gates were shut when we went up, we had to find the priest, Shantinath Pandith, who stays at the bottom of this hill. Visibility was less than 10m and I was literally midst the clouds. Astonishingly, you’ll sight 2 ponds at the top of hill in which, one is 200 feet deep! No wonder, Kuvempu (First Jnanpith

Kundadri Hilltop

awardee for Kannada and Padma Bhushan) penned his beautiful poems here.

At #Kigga Rishyashringeshwara Temple, deer-horned form of Shiva is worshipped and believed to be of Treta yuga( Lord Ram’s times). The Legend of Rishyashringa is very interesting and it would rain if one prays here (we saw Karnataka govt. doing that recently). Beautiful small temple. Serene must visit.

#Sirimane Waterfalls, is hardly 6 kms from the Kigga temple, one among the many waterfalls of the Western Ghats of Karnataka. It’s a very well maintained by govt. and views are simply soothing. Falls is in midst of jungle and your camera will have a busy schedule! Worth

200 feet Pond at Kundadri Hilltop

visiting and do not forget to carry extra pair of clothes (changing rooms are also available).

#Sringeri is a place blessed by Shri Adi Shankaracharya of Advaitha fame. Legend says that the Acharya, during his travels, saw a cobra sheltering a pregnant frog from the heat of the Sun, on the banks of the Tunga river and established Sri Sharadamba temple and Sri Vidyashankara temple, an architectural marvel consisting of 12 pillars known as Rashistambhas (zodiacal pillars). Interestingly, the design of the pillars involve certain astronomical concepts. For example, the first rays of the rising sun fall on specific pillars with the zodiacal symbol on the pillar corresponding to the position of the sun.

#Kavimane & Kavishaila, Kuppalli is the highlight of this trip. It is the home of Rastrakavi

Sirimane Waterfalls

Kuvempu, most celebrated author of Kannada. It was heartening to see his house, place where he spent his childhood and later part of life penning his marvels, household items his family used and his books. The reconstructed house turned museum’s architecture- Thottimane (meaning “Tank house”) - complements the weather (characterized by heavy rain during the monsoons) very well and gives a glimpse into the life of people a hundred years ago in the Malnad. If the kavimane experience is akin to time travel, the Kavishaila experience is akin to walking in heaven. Kavishaila houses samadi of Kuvempu. You can also see another samadi and rarest of rare photo-gallery of Poornachandra Tejaswi, another famous kannada author, thinker, photo enthusiast and son of Kuvempu. I bought Kuvempu's

Sri Vidyashankar Temple, Sringeri

autobiography "Nenapina Dhoniyali" for the memory.

#Agumbe Sunset point requires no introduction. Scenic beauty captured in the serial, Malgudi days is the perfect testimony to this place. Roadside pond near to this point where peddle boats function, was made completely invisible by the fog this time around!

#Eateries near Seethanadi & Agumbe will serve typical malnad food and most of them are cooked in the home kitchen attached to eatery. Pathrode, goli baje, neer dose, halasu gidde, upkari and many others. Rains, food and coffee = Bliss!

Kavishaila

Kavimane- Kuvempu's house

Kodaikanal Summer Tour: The Cool Gift of the Forest

Recently, due to excessive urbanization, Bangalore also has started facing summers in March-April. Garden city where there was no need of fan, today, has become the house of air conditioners. To beat this heat, we set out to the "Princess of Hill stations"- Kodaikanal!

Established in 1845 by British as their summer homes, Kodaikanal is decorated with Meadows and grasslands that cover the hillsides. Gigantic Eucalyptus trees and shola forests flourish in the valleys. English countryside bungalows are very common. Honestly, this land of Kurunji flowers those which blossom once in 12 years, I never expected it to be this beautiful and cold(15-20 degree Celsius)!

From Bangalore it is overnight journey to the nearest railway station- Kodai Road. From there to Kodaikanal is 80kms. Dindigul junction is the previous station to Kodai Road(you can wake up at Dindigul station!). Since we were six of us- we travelled to and fro in a travera and an innova respectively. You’ll easily realize the difference in weather, flora & fauna when you travel to hill station from railway station! To put it in taxi drivers one word difference- “Chillness”.

#Kodaikanal Lake is what defines Kodaikanal. Interestingly this is an artificial, roughly star-shaped 60 acres lake built in 1863. We could sight couples spending their honeymoon in rowboats and pedalos at the Kodaikanal Boat Club located in this lake. Even we did boating in pedalos!

There are numerous shops and roadside eateries surrounding this lake. Early morning, we hired bicycles and rode in the 5 kilometres path that skirts the periphery of this lovely lake. The reflection of pines, clouds, drizzling rain, sun and moon in this spacious beautiful lake, can make anyone a poet!

#Coaker's Walk, 500 metres from the bus-stand, was constructed by Lt. Coaker in 1872, is a 1-kilometre paved pedestrian path running along the edge of steep slopes. We saw couple of telescope observatories and honestly, were a letdown. Apparently, you can see rainbow in the cloud if the

Sun is behind telescope. Anyways we were not that lucky enough. It was a very scenic walk. We did some shopping here since there were lot vendors selling earrings, eucalyptus oil, homemade chocolates and spices.

#Dolphin's Nose, 8 kilometres from the bus stand, is flat rock projecting over a breathtaking chasm 6,600 feet deep. To reach there, it takes a small trek of 2kms in a trail that steeply descends and might slip as well. You can spot ladies selling short snacks from their individual homes in this trail. Couple of viewpoints makes this small walk interesting- mid way to Dolphin’s nose, there is Mountain valley view and further down Dolphin’s nose, there is echo point. It rained a bit when we were there. Looking down at the symmetric Palani hills is in fact, pure bliss!

#Kodai- By The Lake by Sterling Holidays resort is situated on the banks of the picturesque Kodai Lake and styled on the lines of English countryside to compliment the English styled villages that dot Kodaikanal. In this beautiful resort, we had rented a duplex 2-bhk for a day which came with excellent service, excellent living room and breathtaking views. Nalla irukku!

#Food might be a topic of concern if you crave for spicy dishes. If you love having idly, dosa, rice, rasam and sambar- it won’t be much of problem! We had 2 meals, i.e., breakfast and dinner at the Hotel Eden Park, approximately 20kms from Kodai Road railway station. I can easily recommend this place. At Kodaikanal, previous day lunch at Woodlands hilltop restaurant made us turn to Dominos for the next day. The best part- having Moroccan mint tea while the sun starts to fade behind clouds and mercury touching around

15 degrees Celsius in April. Also, we didn’t miss to grab a bite of roadside bread toast, cuppa noodles, and sandwiches, masala teas with biscuits, vadai, sweet corn, peaches, tree tomatoes, passion fruits and baby carrots!

#Missed places- Pine forest where movie are shot, Pillar rocks, waterfalls due to lack of water and eating at Astoria hotel, highly rated local eatery!

[Thanks Pranita, Aditi, Rashmika, Supraj and Anudeep for making this trip memorable.]