Rural india - plugged in !

Instead of our usual strategy of celebrating birthdays by hunting down well rated restaurants for dinner, we decided to go out for a day trip close to Bangalore. An added motivation was that it would also serve as an opportunity to load the 'beast' and test its roar. After some rounds of voting, we zoomed in an initiative called RuralZing which is an effort to increase and encourage rural tourism. They have day long trips on Saturdays and Sundays starting from Bangalore, and our destination was Hale Nijgal, a small village off NH4, 50 odd kms from Bangalore. The 'experience' started right from the time we reached the outskirts of the village as we were ferried on a tractor to the host's house ( Vishwa ). We were suddenly amidst ragi and corn fields, away from humdrum, into chirping of birds, and committed silence.

The day started off with a sumptuous breakfast at Vishwa's house and we began our eco-walk through the village. The highlight of the walk was our interactions with the villagers, the enthusiastic school children in the village school, and looking at their way of life at close quarters.

While Vishwa explained us the various crops and harvesting seasons, we helped ourselves to tender coconuts, and other village produces. Next was a walk to the village temple, incidentally a 600 year old one, followed by a trek to the village lake. The lake was the only source of water for the crops for the village and also was being used to wash clothes, etc. Soon, it was time for lunch, and we went back to our host's house with eager anticipation after the excellent breakfast that we had.

It was time now for us to indulge in some rest and relaxation, followed by some - lost in childhood - games, like spinning the top and marbles. Though most of our attempts at spinning the top ended up flat on their faces, nevertheless it was fun trying our hand at these. Special mention must be made for some folks ( Arav, Su , DJ ) who had this 'never-say-die' spirit of trying to spin the top for at least 2 rotations !!!!

The last part of the trip was a climb on Nijagallu betta to the Narasimha temple. Quite a arduous climb takes you to the top of the hill from where you get a spectacular view of the entire village, the shivaganga hill and other surrounding areas. Its also a rock climber's delight, given some of the very interesting structures there. The fun part for me was the way the beast handled the terrain halfway through the hill. Let me just say- Seeing, or rather experiencing is believing. An interesting day came to an end and we drove back to Bangalore.

This post is incomplete without thanking all the folks from RuralZing , Vishwa, his family and all the unnamed folks, the children at the school, which made this trip a memorable one. We wish the best to RuralZing in their quest for "an initiative to connect urban and rural economy".

Reclaiming our lives...

"No other man-made device since the shields and lances of the ancient knights fulfills a man's ego like an automobile." - Sir William (LATER LORD) ROOTES (1894-1964), British automobile manufacturer

The bigger the beast ( read - the number of horses it can pull ), the bigger the EGO I guess. We ( me and my better half ) would only stare in wonder after we brought home the 'beast'. Stately and regal in its looks, it appears lethargic when its standing. It can be very deceptive - as once you roar it into life, you can well just go ahead and reclaim your life !!

Well, I am talking about the new Safari VTT 2.2 that was launched few weeks back. We were almost ready to buy a Scorpio, when TATA decided to add the twist in the tale. One look and a test drive later we were hooked. After reading convincing road tests on the new beast, there was no looking back. Soon we were proud owners of a Cycus grey, Safari VTT 2.2 LX.

We did some serious off-roading this week ( details in the next post ) and we were more than convinced of the fact that we had taken the right decision. We have added some small knick-knacks to the LX - a reverse camera and sensors, keyless entry, etc. Up on the cards is a good music system to match the prowess of the beast !

I would like to end with some acknowledgements - team-bhp folks, bm-log - all the reviews and the queries were very helpful pre and post buy.

Lamp of Love...

Light, oh where is the light!

Kindle it with the burning fire of desire!

It thunders and the wind rushes screaming through the void.

The night is black as a black stone.

Let not the hours pass by in the dark.

Kindle the lamp of love with thy life.

- Rabindranath Tagore ( Gitanjali )

Wishing all a very happy deepawali ! Some flickers of light -

Prawn Vindaloo with Logic Verification !

Indeed ! A visit to Goa came as a by product of an offsite that we had from Sep 18th to Sep 21st. 18th and 19th were too mundane to write home about - so let me jump to 20th, when we decided to skip some of the offsite sessions, rent scooters and explore goa the right way! We were stationed in South Goa - specifically Mobor beach, Holiday Inn. It made logical sense then to traverse the entire coastline from South Goa to North Goa ( Arambull ) and then back. Presenting a smatter of pictures to uphold the spirit of bunking company sponsored offsites!

Fishermen at Mobor Beach

Mandovi River

Taking the boat to the sea - Arambull

Back to Mobor

Reflection of the day...

Stumbled on this nugget while surfing -

"The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes sight-seeing" - Daniel J. Boorstin

The million dollar question is - are you a traveller or a tourist ?

Arabian Nights ( and days ) !!

Lush green foliage, white beaches, rough sea and quietness of the soul, thats Kovalam for you. This August, we decided to head out to the serene environs of Kerala and spend a day in Kovalam followed by a couple in Poovar. Poovar is a small coastal village in Trivandrum district of Kerala. This village is almost at the southern tip of Trivandrum and has an estuary which connects with the Arabian Sea during high tides. It's natural beauty enables it to be a quiet tourist spot. It is believed that the trading ships of King Solomon landed in a port called 'Ophir', which is figured out as Poovar.

Kovalam was hospitality personified. Indeed Leela was a royal affair, intermixed with graciousness and sophistication. After settling down, we headed straight for the beach to experience the high winds and the heady air, the kind which would make you feel drowsy and lazy ! After the customary ritual of wetting our feet in the sea, we headed out to the beach restaurant to sample some of their special seafood fare.

What made Kovalam special at that time was the monsoon. It was raining in bits and pieces, and the lushness of the place and the intensity of the sea was highlighted by that. Before this, I had an opinion that roaring seas and howling winds were parts of speech in English literature, but here we were witnessing the high and mighty nature !!

After spending the night in Kovalam, we headed out to Poovar in the morning. Poovar was about 20 odd km away from Kovalam and the last part of the journey is undertaken in a ferry which takes you to the island resort through the backwaters. We were booked in Poovar island resort thanks to our Club Mahindra subscription. The amalgamation of the sea and backwaters, made this island resort on an estuary quite an unique experience. The contrast was almost unbelievable, the rough roaring Arabian sea on one side and the calm, chirping of birds - backwaters !!

We spent the rest of the day making ourselves at home at the resort ! The next morning, our anniversary day, we got up very early to take a backwater cruise to do some serious birdwatching. The setting was almost Venetian sans the bridges. Our boatman was our local Salim Ali, who was rowing the boat was telling us about the rich fauna in the backwaters. Avidly, we spotted Brahmani kites, kingfishers, egrets, cormorants and woodpeckers.

We finished our bird watching to be just in time to catch the fishermen on the sea in action. The entire exercise was being conducted by at least 30 to 40 fishermen who had thrown a huge net over the sea and were divided into two groups trying to take the net out of the sea. Some teamwork it was !! I almost wished they had a grill-by-the-sea to serve some of the fresh catch !

The rest of the day was spent savoring the wonderful buffets that the resort had put up, some reading and listening, quite walks by the island and HBO. Good things come to a fast end, and before we knew, it was time to checkout, take the ferry back and catch the flight back to Bangalore. Well, there is a lot of wisdom in the two words - Wait and Hope. Need I say more !!

IIsc@MCBL

Underexposed + 2/3f


Correct Exposure


Over Exposed -2/3v

I feel the underexposed picture offers more drama and texture to the photograph. However, I wish I got the trailing lights of the cars that flew past me in that one. Well, maybe another day !!

Jewel of Shevaroy

To get over a potential feeling of ennui and to recharge our batteries, Shataparna and I decided burn some fuel over the weekend. We quickly zeroed in on Yercaud, which was like 260Kms from Bangalore. Foremost was that, we could complete this in 2 days, and still feel satisfied and also the fact that Club Mahindra had a resort which we could use off the shelf, helped. Armed with a small suitcase, a camera and a tripod we set off at 6:30 AM on Saturday. I will spare the gory details of irrational driving on NH7, and jump straight to the fact that we reached our destination, Yercaud at around 12:30 PM. Well, I take back some of that, I think its worth mentioning the number of hair-pin bends we took driving up-hill Yercaud.

All said and done, we checked into Lake Forest Resort in Yercaud, which is build upon a plantation and a colonial bunglow build in the late nineteenth century. The interesting point is that, its an eco-friendly resort which prides itself in maintaining the fragile balance with the ecology in the precincts of the plantation.

Our room was styled in vintage with antiques from the raj-era. Even the menu card ( above ) was vintage! Surrounded by oakwood, pine, orange and lime trees, it was quite an appeal on the senses. After a quick lunch followed by a siesta, we attempted to explore the sleepy hill station. The Yercaud lake, which was barely 200m away is a man-made lake, much smaller compared to its cousins in Ooty or Kodai. Nevertheless, given the number of visitors are much lesser, and the lake was clean, its quite quaint in its own way. One could rent out row or paddle boats to criss-cross the lake while getting some serious exercise ( for folks like us !! ) in the bargain.




We decided to check out some of the more happening places around the lake ( read - the vendors and the hawkers ! ) and defer the boating to the next day. Rest of the evening was spent in exploring 'downtown' Yercaud and planning for next day's travel. After a quite dinner at the resort, we hit the sack, with expectations for the next day !


The next day started lazy with an authentic dose of english breakfast. After shaking off some initial complacency we started off to visit few key points in the must-see circuit for Yercaud. Shevaroy temple, located at 5200 ft above sea level and pagoda point were what we could muster up to. Sevaroy temple, named after the sevaroy peaks surrounding Yercaud, with its residing deity of Shiva and Kauveri is the preferred worship for the villages and hamlets around Yercaud. Incidentally, the drive to the temple reminded us of Frost, more so for the woods and less for the sleep !!! At the top most point in Yercaud, amongst broken beer and crushed aquifina bottles, we swallowed dollops of fresh O2, laced with hilly spices and were amply blessed by Lord Sevaroy !



The other significant place of interest was pagoda point about 4Km from the Yercaud lake. Just another of the vantage points which housed a temple, with 3 pagodas around it. After conducting extensive photo sessions we decided to head back to the resort for lunch. True to its nature, the clouds exploded to shower rains on us as we reached the resort, transforming Yercaud from a sleepy hill station to misty romantic overtones. It was indeed a sight to behold and experience with the smell of rain soaked earth with a dash of coffee and vanilla.





True to our bengali spirit of upholding the sacred tradition of taking a sunday siesta, we decided to have a quick nap after lunch before we headed out to paddle around lake yercaud. While we took turns at paddling and steering the rudder, the sky was darkening with threatening dark clouds looming above the lake. How we wished it would rain again !! Before our wishes came true, the allotted 30 minutes of the rental time elapsed and we were back on the docks, drinking some more coffee and waiting for the rains to come down.


With that, our short but extremely memorable trip laced with leisure and sinful indulgence came to an end, and we decided to check out and drive back to Bangalore. In passing reference we must mention that, the folks at the Lake Forest resort were extremely helpful and accommodating to make our stay at Yercaud very memorable.