My place back home is a sleepy little town.Theres nothing metro or fab about it.Everything and by everything I mean the restaurants, temples, all gov offices, skools , railway/bus stations,movie theaters even the beach is a max 20 min walk from my home.No malls or shopping complexes mushrooming in the city , no trace of international brands or foodchains, where the local community know eachother by name, and when u make a visit home they sure know how to make you feel special.The people also adds that extra personal touch by unwinding their knowledge base filling you up with stories about u and ur family.It ofcourse is a welcome change from where you come from ..where you are just a face in the crowd.
At home when on a vacation , you are taken seriously too. My timetable is quite royal also. I wake up with coffee served at bed , a stroll in the backyard amongst tall mango trees with my doggie, come back n then breakfast like a king.Watch some TV, lunch , a nap after that or make movie or outing plans with cousins . A perfect example of how simple the life here occurred to me when our doggie ran away with his lease yesterday evening. After an anxious one and half hour later and a two people search party, we found him half a kilometer away .The person who tied him to a tree in his garden expected sum one will turn up for the dog.I even jumped the wall to my neighbors house as part of the dog search :D and today I answered more than a dozen enquiries about my dog while on my evening walk..
You may travel to the end of the world, but theres not many places where you feel at home...and right now i am home :)
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
I m loving it!
king size dark black coffees with an extra spoon of sugar ,a gud buk, late nite movies , a soft mattress , beautiful weather n ofcourse fone switched off..wut a way to spend a lazy weekend!!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Humpi
Looks like I have been bitten by the travel bug. Always have I planned trips but now I am making all those plans to effect too. On the wake of the new year me with my two friends vacationed in Humpi.
Humpi was the capital of Vijayanagara empire and later was destroyed by the Muslim sultans.Now Humpi houses the ruins of the empire . Humpi is now a world heritage site thereby drawing aplenty local and foreign crowd.For us it was like a walk through history textbooks, like stepping out of a time machine . Humpi is kilometers and kilometers of realization of India's glorious past, a proof of the golden era.Its monument after monuments of historic importance , a structural showcase of the once great economic and cultural richness of our country. Precisely I would say u have to see it to believe it.
Our trip was for two days and enough to cover all the major tourist spots. We stayed at a guest house , which was at the center of Humpi bazaar, the main street of Humpi.. all other places are easily accessible from here.On our first day in the morning we visited the Virupaksha temple . This is still an active temple and not ruined in any major way. We got a glimpse of the deity and
also got a personal blessing by the temple elephant. Later we visited the monolithic bull temple, and then took a coracle ( after much bargaining we settled for 220 rs for 4 people ) to Vittala Temple. In and around Vittala temple you can find many ruins ,various monuments and sculptures including the famous monolithic stone chariot and Kings balance.By early evening , we returned to Humpi bazaar with a grumbling stomach. We were guided to MangoTree , a restaurant in the middle of vast expanse of greenery, under huge mango trees as the name implies and some mouth watering food were served to us while we sat on a mat on the cemented floor facing the Tungabadra river. The place was abrisk with foreign and western tourist even at that time of the day.After devouring the loverly food , we enjoyed a heavenly sunset sitting on the banks of the Tungabadra ..watching people crossing the river and flocks of birds flying one after the other returning to their nest.In the night under a crescent moon we climbed a mountain which houses more than a dozen mandapas and structures.Standing there we got a top view of Humpi in the night. Later after dinner at a restaurant where a petite waiter (who spoke impeccable French) treated us to King size black coffee ,ginger tea and fired momos, We retreated to our guest house.
On second day , we rented a bike from the bazaar ,as this is the best way to see Humpi .We can also hire bicycles for hourly rates . We visited the underground Siva temple , Saraswati temple , Sasivaleku Ganesha , queens bath , the royal enclosure , Ugra Narasimha and also the Krisha temple, the spectacular pushkarni and also the Kadalekalu Ganesha . By evening we crossed the Tungabadra to the other side of Humpi , loitering around for some time, we ended up in Goan corner, a resturant reached by walking through paddy fields .On one side are huge rocks standing tall and hiding a million tales. This place is a must visit for all Humpi travelers for the hospitality of both the host and their adorable dogs and also for the food. The taste of steak with mushroom sauce from here will linger in my mouth for a long time.
Returning back to the bazaar, we did some lazy shopping and there were quite a lot of interesting things to choose from. The locals of Humpi , be it the shopkeepers or the auto drivers ,are just like their counterparts from any other tourist place of the world, working their charm for some easy extra money. But as my friend commented they have not lost their sense of humor yet and one such auto driver we befriended on our stay there dropped us to the Humpi railway station for our travel back .
They say Humpi is poetry on stone and I refuse to disagree..its a sad but a spectacular one. and a must visit. some pixs from humpi below ..
Humpi was the capital of Vijayanagara empire and later was destroyed by the Muslim sultans.Now Humpi houses the ruins of the empire . Humpi is now a world heritage site thereby drawing aplenty local and foreign crowd.For us it was like a walk through history textbooks, like stepping out of a time machine . Humpi is kilometers and kilometers of realization of India's glorious past, a proof of the golden era.Its monument after monuments of historic importance , a structural showcase of the once great economic and cultural richness of our country. Precisely I would say u have to see it to believe it.
Our trip was for two days and enough to cover all the major tourist spots. We stayed at a guest house , which was at the center of Humpi bazaar, the main street of Humpi.. all other places are easily accessible from here.On our first day in the morning we visited the Virupaksha temple . This is still an active temple and not ruined in any major way. We got a glimpse of the deity and
also got a personal blessing by the temple elephant. Later we visited the monolithic bull temple, and then took a coracle ( after much bargaining we settled for 220 rs for 4 people ) to Vittala Temple. In and around Vittala temple you can find many ruins ,various monuments and sculptures including the famous monolithic stone chariot and Kings balance.By early evening , we returned to Humpi bazaar with a grumbling stomach. We were guided to MangoTree , a restaurant in the middle of vast expanse of greenery, under huge mango trees as the name implies and some mouth watering food were served to us while we sat on a mat on the cemented floor facing the Tungabadra river. The place was abrisk with foreign and western tourist even at that time of the day.After devouring the loverly food , we enjoyed a heavenly sunset sitting on the banks of the Tungabadra ..watching people crossing the river and flocks of birds flying one after the other returning to their nest.In the night under a crescent moon we climbed a mountain which houses more than a dozen mandapas and structures.Standing there we got a top view of Humpi in the night. Later after dinner at a restaurant where a petite waiter (who spoke impeccable French) treated us to King size black coffee ,ginger tea and fired momos, We retreated to our guest house.
On second day , we rented a bike from the bazaar ,as this is the best way to see Humpi .We can also hire bicycles for hourly rates . We visited the underground Siva temple , Saraswati temple , Sasivaleku Ganesha , queens bath , the royal enclosure , Ugra Narasimha and also the Krisha temple, the spectacular pushkarni and also the Kadalekalu Ganesha . By evening we crossed the Tungabadra to the other side of Humpi , loitering around for some time, we ended up in Goan corner, a resturant reached by walking through paddy fields .On one side are huge rocks standing tall and hiding a million tales. This place is a must visit for all Humpi travelers for the hospitality of both the host and their adorable dogs and also for the food. The taste of steak with mushroom sauce from here will linger in my mouth for a long time.
Returning back to the bazaar, we did some lazy shopping and there were quite a lot of interesting things to choose from. The locals of Humpi , be it the shopkeepers or the auto drivers ,are just like their counterparts from any other tourist place of the world, working their charm for some easy extra money. But as my friend commented they have not lost their sense of humor yet and one such auto driver we befriended on our stay there dropped us to the Humpi railway station for our travel back .
They say Humpi is poetry on stone and I refuse to disagree..its a sad but a spectacular one. and a must visit. some pixs from humpi below ..
Friday, January 2, 2009
It ain't no funny business!
I really hope the new year is a gud year for people in love. Recently I have been seeing a lot of my romantically linked friends in despair. Most of the stories have uncanny resemblances to various bollywood melodramas although i am not sure about the climaxes. Some of the dialogs that flew in between the couples or their parents are potential movie liners while some reminds us of how movies influences common man's thought process ..like you have to cross my dead body to marry him/her..etc etc..Phew!!!.
The best of the lot is a laugh riot for the spectator . This is of a Christian couple , both belonging to even the same subcaste , everything was going uber cool and smooth with them. Their parents met , relatives exchanged pleasantries , smiled their biggest orbit smile , although you and I know what happened behind the scenes.Dates were fixed for Eng and marriage , halls for the wedding also booked , elaborate plans for shopping were laid out and everybody were in such high spirits. That is when the uncle of the girl a.k.a. the villain of the story made his majestic entrance. He and the girls dad made a visit to the guys house so that the uncle can meet the groom as he have to leave for abroad and cannot make it to the wedding.The uncle while reaching the grooms house , saw that the parents of the groom were fair skinned although the groom is slightly on the darker side and also the dad is fully blind .The smartypants he is the uncle figured out ( don't ask how he came to that conclusion) that if they let the couple marry , their future kids will be blind and ugly !! He also declared that he will end all relation with the girls family if they allow this marriage to happen. Fearing for his future grand kids health and goodluks, bride's dad decided to go the uncle way! The end result of all this hoopla is that the wedding is called off and also the two families have declared war with each other . Now the once-lucky-couple is waiting for both families to drop their weapons and come to senses as they are still dumbstruck with this incredible turn of events.
I for one hope that the couple shed their disciplined , god fearing ..blah blah daughter/son image and do something wild and funny... break out all traditions n end up having a revolutionary wedding. If they do, I sure will be there to witness their union , to raise a toast to the couple!
The best of the lot is a laugh riot for the spectator . This is of a Christian couple , both belonging to even the same subcaste , everything was going uber cool and smooth with them. Their parents met , relatives exchanged pleasantries , smiled their biggest orbit smile , although you and I know what happened behind the scenes.Dates were fixed for Eng and marriage , halls for the wedding also booked , elaborate plans for shopping were laid out and everybody were in such high spirits. That is when the uncle of the girl a.k.a. the villain of the story made his majestic entrance. He and the girls dad made a visit to the guys house so that the uncle can meet the groom as he have to leave for abroad and cannot make it to the wedding.The uncle while reaching the grooms house , saw that the parents of the groom were fair skinned although the groom is slightly on the darker side and also the dad is fully blind .The smartypants he is the uncle figured out ( don't ask how he came to that conclusion) that if they let the couple marry , their future kids will be blind and ugly !! He also declared that he will end all relation with the girls family if they allow this marriage to happen. Fearing for his future grand kids health and goodluks, bride's dad decided to go the uncle way! The end result of all this hoopla is that the wedding is called off and also the two families have declared war with each other . Now the once-lucky-couple is waiting for both families to drop their weapons and come to senses as they are still dumbstruck with this incredible turn of events.
I for one hope that the couple shed their disciplined , god fearing ..blah blah daughter/son image and do something wild and funny... break out all traditions n end up having a revolutionary wedding. If they do, I sure will be there to witness their union , to raise a toast to the couple!
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