Superstar Vs Superman

24-03-2010

It was a humdinger of a contest yesterday and ultimately the man of steel prevailed over the Baba from Himalayas. Ultimately the only thing that our superstar won yesterday was the toss. I am sure our young Dalapathi would have done a Sivaji feat and kept the coin used for the toss. Let us hope that it is only the intermission for the team from down south and they can now catch up and finish off the baddies before the end of the movie.

P.S: For all the confused readers; I request you to read my previous post first

Different Flavors of IPL III

IPL Season III has begun and already I have become a couch potato. Every evening, I return from office anticipating a game of epic proportions. Every game in this cricket extravaganza is interesting as each team brings a different flavor. No, I did not mean the suaveness of Bangalore, the killer instinct of Mumbai or the sheer talent of Delhi. What I meant was that each IPL team is reminiscent of a popular Hollywood/Bollywood/Kollywood movie (read as super hero) to me and it makes me feel like Superman taking on Rajinikanth in one match and Jason Bourne taking on James Bond in another. OK, I think I confused you a lot… Let me put more insight to my thought process. Let us take Mumbai Indians first: We have two renowned assassins (read as cricketers) at the top of the order. Two people who have more than twenty years of experience in the trade they specialize in. They have completed with aplomb many an assassination (cricket matches) and any fool would know that their trophy cabinet is full (pun intended). However, when it comes to IPL; both of them have forgotten that they need to kill ruthlessly (hit the ball out of the park). Now, we have two Jason Bourne in MI ranks who need to be told what they are primed for. While the little master is showing encouraging signs of remembering Medusa and Blackbriar; the Matara mauler is still all at sea like the Jason Bourne in Marseilles. Now, let us shift our focus to Kings XI Punjab which has an uncanny resemblance to the Oceans XI outfit (Including the name). We have eleven hunks wearing designer suits (jerseys) and glares plotting the perfect robbery (IPL trophy). Their planning leaves much to be desired but you just know in your instinct that these eleven hunks are going to get the goods. However, they falter just before the final coup (semi finals of IPL I). In the sequel (IPL 2); you do see a subtle shift of focus from Danny Ocean (Yuvraj) to Rusty Ryan (Sangakkara). There is even a woman involved in the scheme of things. It can’t get much worse for the twelve and it sinks to the bottom at the box office (IPL 2 points table). The third edition of this franchise has now begun with a distinct change at the top. We now know for sure that Rusty (Sangakkara) has taken the baton from Danny Ocean (Yuvaraj). The initial reports are not encouraging for the XI. However, we need to wait and watch to see how far these suave XI goes. Let us now profile the usual suspects from the Far East. It is not difficult to guess that this team has all the usual suspects (including the owner) when it comes to controversy. Their captain, the prince of Kolkata has all the Keatonsque powers. So, in the second season; when the stripping of his captaincy coincided with the emergence of FIP; we thought he was Keyser Soze. Later, we realized that there was many a Verbal Flint in this team. The usual suspects have started well in the third edition and they have kept a low profile as well. We just need to see if this is a deliberate ploy to come up with the mother of all controversies. Heading south, we have the super stars (read as super kings) of IPL. Like Rajinikanth; they don’t believe in strategy, planning etc. Just like Rajinikanth can bash any baddies in multiples of ten; our super stars can chase any target in multiples of hundred. In fact, our team of super stars doesn’t even need a bowling unit. We have at the top of the order a Maaveeran who just needs a tooth pick (read as Mongoose bat) to launch any balls in orbit. At one down is the left handed Dhalapathi (who has taken charge after an injury to the captain) who can take up any challenge. The middle order is bolstered by the calming influence of Siva and Mannan. (Guess for yourself). The Maapilai of entire India; the captain comes next in the batting order followed by the firepower of Bassha and Padayappa. This is the team to beat this season. In the wild west of India; we have the royals (Antonym: criminals) fighting for the “The longest yard”. Just like Crewe the ex-quarterback; we have Warne from Down Under putting up a team of mis-fits (India rejects) and criminals (Unheard names even in domestic cricket). The team had a fairy tale longest yard run in the first edition. However, the second edition brought them right down and they finished in the bottom half of the points table. We just need to see if the new criminals can gel with the old mis-fits and criminals to regain the longest yard. Up north; we have the Double-O-Sevens from Delhi constantly decimating the opposition. The top four all have Double O badges; i.e. license to kill (thrill). Somehow the kingpin; the man with the white cat; Ernst Stavro Bloomfield (IPL Trophy) always managed to escape literally through their hands in the first two seasons. Hopefully; the Double-O-Sevens will come up with a better strategy and back up plans to capture the kingpin this time around. One word of caution is that just like the James Bond franchise; the daredevils also need to get their support act together in order to achieve the final summit. People said that Dr. Mallya’s Royal Challengers were the grand dad’s test team impersonating as a 20-20 outfit. Dr Mallya the man with the bling; would have definitely seen several diamonds (supermen) in the charcoal (Clark Kents). However, in the first season; the Clark Kents did not even know about the power they possessed and were beaten to submission. The staging of the second battle (IPL II) in far away Planet Krypton (South Africa) meant that the Royal Challengers always had home advantage as there were lots of Kryptonians (South Africans) in the team. However, the evil conspirator Lex Luthor had tied a kryptonite on their bodies and Royal Challengers were beaten royally in the first four games. Enter the support cast of Jimmy Olsen (Ray Jennings) who removes the kryptonite and instills enough confidence in superman to reach the final battle which they eventually lose. We need to wait and see which Avatar they will take in Season III. If the first week results are anything to go by; it is superman all the way. DC; the reigning champion of IPL is all set to defend their title at home turf this year. We do remember the titans (chargers) very well from Season I. Just like “Remember the Titans”; the chargers also had a racial overtone in their game. Andrew Symonds, whose racial shenanigans are well documented, forms one of the pillars of the Chargers team. In the first season; the team was lead by a home grown white (telugu) player in VVS. After a lackluster performance; the management decided to hand over the reins of the team to a black (Australian) Captain Coone (Gilchrist). He asks the former white (telugu) skipper to join him in the DC think tank which our VVS obliges. Captain Coone (Gilchrist) takes his wards to the civil war battle ground of Gettysburg (Table Mountain in Cape Town) and renders a stirring speech. The chargers become super charged and they go on to win the safari edition of IPL.

After giving the team profiles in detail; I guess you all know why I am excited to watch each and every match. If you ask me where I have put my chips; it is surely in the desi army. No firang super hero can match the power of Sultan the warrior.

Conquering Deccan (Hyderabad)

I think I need to put a disclaimer first before going into the details of this post because of the controversial nature of the title. No, I didn’t mean that my favorite team; Chennai Super Kings is going to win a match against IPL champions Deccan chargers.

They say that you need to dream to achieve something you cherish. In my case, I could achieve it sooner rather than later. I am talking about my dream to visit all the jyothir lingams in India. Next in line was Srisailam temple nestled in the midst of Nallamalai forest range (In the media coverage recently after Andhra CM Rajshekar Reddy’s chopper crash). I had promised my wife that I will join her in Hyderabad for a couple of days and make the return journey to Bangalore together. It goes without saying that the whole trip would be made in our Tata Safari. So, I decided to include Srisailam also in this trip. So, the plan was to drive from Bangalore to Hyderabad (580 km); then Hyderabad to Srisailam (220 km) and finally Srisailam to Bangalore (540 km). The whole trip was planned for four days.

My father joined me for the trip and we started from Bengaluru at 5:00 A.M on 19-02-2010. There was lot of early morning traffic in outer ring road and in NH7 till the Bengaluru International Airport at Devanahalli. However, after that the road was completely deserted and was like a tarmac. I did not want to go above 100 kph as the visibility was poor and the sun had not risen yet. We had to pay toll of Rs. 50 near the Karnataka Andhra border after ChickBallapur. Once, we crossed in to AP; the entire stretch had a dry and dusty look straight out of a spaghetti western movie. There was also 4 laning work going on. This did not deter me to take my foot off the gas pedal as the roads were completely empty and devoid of any pot holes and speed breakers. We reached Ananthpur around 8:00 A.M but could not find any good hotels to have breakfast. One curious thing about the Bangalore to Hyderabad stretch was that there were literally no good restaurants at all throughout the 580 km stretch. This was a far cry from the Southern section of NH 7 where there are so many restaurants in the Hosur to Krishnagiri stretch. We only saw dilapidated dhabas mainly catering to Truck drivers. To give credit, we saw two Ghar Dhabas attached to Bharat Petrol bunk outlets. However, we were not really hungry when we crossed those BP petrol bunks. Anyway, we reached Gooty around 9:00 A.M and had breakfast at a place (I think the name was Hotel Ravi Theja) where the food was very bad. Later, I found that it is better to order Puri Masala than Dosa or idli in AP. After the brief sojourn; I was behind the wheel by 9:30 A.M. We reached Kurnool by 11:00 A.M. After Kurnool, the NH7 is completely four laned. However, you need to pay toll three times in the 210 km stretch. I surprised myself by going at maximum speeds of 140 km/hr in some stretches. We reached Hyderabad by 2:00 P.M (That is 580 km covered in 9 hours) and reached Begumpet by 2:45 P.M. I wish the PV Narasimha Rao express way was open from our side (From Shamshabad).

We decided to cover few places in Hyderabad that day itself. So, the first destination was Birla Mandir. The drive through the picturesque necklace road around the Hussain Sagar Lake was enchanting. The traffic is un-comparable to Bangalore traffic and even at 5:30 P.M, we could travel through all the main roads at acceptable speeds of 30-40 km/hr. Another observation was that the two wheelers in the road out number the four wheelers by a fair margin and people are very helpful in giving directions. Birla Mandir will give all Bengaluru residents a nostalgic feeling of namma ISKCON temple. We headed to the busy MG road after that to get a taste of the famous Paradise Hyderabadi Biriyani.

Our destination for the next day (20-02-10) was Ramoji Fim City. We woke up on that day to find a simmering atmosphere in Hyderabad. All the newspapers had reported a possible altercation between Osmania University (OU) students and the Police because of a planned march to the Secretariat. CRPF was already deployed at OU and speculation was rife that something was going to give away. I never believed in soothsayers and promptly started our journey at 8:30 A.M. We went to Tarnaka – Uppal (Little did I know that OU was situated somewhere here) LB Nagar Ring Road and finally the Hyderabad Vijayawada highway (NH 9). We reached Ramoji Film City at 10:00 A.M and took tickets (Rs. 400 tickets). This place is very well organized. They will take you in bus from the entrance to the starting point in the Film City (called Eureka). Then, you will be taken on an open bus for guided tour of the film city. This will be followed by visits to the picturesque places (read as replicas) like Hawa Mahal, Japanese Garden, Kripalu caves etc. Then, you will be ushered to the main entertainment areas and one can roam around or catch with some of the shows.

Inside Ramoji Film City

I would recommend anyone going to visit this place to reach very early (preferably by 9:30 A.M) and leave around the time when the place closes as there are lots and lots of things to see. For 400 bucks, the entire package is a steal of a deal. The place is also very well organized with someone available to guide you wherever you go. Even food and beverages are sold at MRP (This was a pleasant surprise for some one like me coming from Bengaluru).

We were not able to complete everything as my father and my wife’s grand mother were visibly tired by evening. Our daughter Malu was also grumpy (We forgot to bring her pram and had to carry her most of the time). We left Ramoji Film City by 4:00 P.M. When, we reached Uppal, we found out that the road to Tarnaka was closed. (The reason being a student in OU attempting suicide by igniting himself). We took some alternate roads and all the roads were completely jammed which reminded me of Bangalore. We finally reached Secunderabad around 6:40 P.M and reached Begumpet around 7:00 P.M.

The next day was a Sunday and was much better than the previous days. There were no prophets of doom predicting any violence. We started our journey to Srisailam at around 8:30 A.M. We stopped briefly at Charminar to take some pictures and then continued on Hyderabad Srisailam road.

Charminar

The small state highway was devoid of any major craters. I was able to enhance my GK on sunflower cultivation in AP. By, 11:30 A.M, we were into the Nallamalai forest range. We were asked to give our name, phone number, origin and destination at Mannanur and Domalapenta check posts. At the latter check post, the guard asked me for 10 bucks for which no receipt was issued. We saw that sign boards leading to MallelaThirtam water falls.

Way to MallelaThirtam water falls

However, we continued towards Srisailam. There were couple of hair pin bends in the ghat section roads and we finally reached the Srisailam dam and reservoir. One can take a boat ride to Akka Mahadevi caves from this point. We had booked accommodation at the Devasthanam cottage using the online services. The temple was closed when we reached Srisailam at 2:00 P.M. We got the keys to our cottage and took rest. The temple was scheduled to open at 6:00 P.M. We went to the temple around that time. We took the Rs. 100 darshan tickets. We were able to get a very good darshan of Mallikarjuna Swamy (Mallanna) and Bhramarambal Devi. As usual, food was a problem. We decided to take the safe route and had rotis for dinner.

It was decided to start around 7:00 A.M on 22-02-10 from Srisailam. The distance between Srisailam and Bangalore is around 540 km. The first 200 odd kilometers is through ghat section roads. Even at 7:00 A.M, visibility was not great and there was lot of fog. We traversed through the hair pin bends and reached Dornala (47 km from Srisailam) at around 8:15 A.M. There is a very good APTDC hotel at Dornala. The food is relatively good and there are good cottages also. They charge around Rs. 1000 for a night’s stay. We resumed our journey by 9:30 A.M and passed through Nandyal and finally reached Kurnool around 12:00 P.M. From Kurnool, you will rejoin the NH7 highway. We throught of having lunch at Anantpur; however, there were no good hotels and hence we abated our hunger by having excellent AP bananas. We reached Chickballapur at around 5:00 P.M. My intuition told me that it was going to be a long and tiresome last 30 km if I take the outer ring road. I had heard of a road which connects Hosakote with Devenahalli. So, at Devanahalli, we went off the highway and found the Hosakote road. The distance to KR Puram was around 30 km and the road was nearly deserted. Once, we reached the Old Madras Road (OMR); we took the left towards K.R Puram and then another left towards Battarahalli and Lo we were back at our home by 6:00 P.M

The Vital Stats

Total Distance covered: 1477 km
10 Five Star Chocolates
134 litres of Diesel and 2 litres of Pepsi.

The Grand Winter Trip Part III

I will post the last part of my grand winter trip over here. As, I am closing this post; I am also preparing for my next two trips. I will divulge the details of these trips later. Here, we go with the last installment.

DAY 6

After the high-octane trip to Rameshwaram and Danushkodi the previous day; everyone needed more time to rejuvenate themselves. For the first time in the last few days; we all got the privilege to wake up at our usual time of 7:00 A.M. We went to a nearby hotel and had breakfast at 9:30 A.M and started on our return journey to Palakkad around 10:00 A.M. The journey was uneventful compared to our trips over the past few days. Again, we avoided the Sempatti route and went to Dindigul and from there to Pazhani. We had missed the Thiruvavirumkudi Kulanthai Velayuthar swami temple during our previous trip to Pazahani. We decided to make amends and visit the temple this time. This temple is actually the third Arupadai veedu of Lord Muruga. We parked our car near the temple and got a very good darshan of the deity. We decided to skip visiting the hill temple as we had gone there only a month back. Secondly, there was lot of rush as the Sabarimala season had started. We started our journey from Pazhani around 1:00 P.M and reached Pollachi by 2:00 P.M. We had lunch at hotel Ramanujam near the Pollachi bus stand and decided to go to my wife’s ancestral home at Somantharai, Chithur. We also went to the coconut grove and had the customary tender coconuts. We had a competition on how many tender coconuts (water) we can drink and the maximum count was four which was shared by me and my wife’s cousin Prashant. Both Prashant and Vignesth wanted to go to Coimbatore for a New Year party; so, we dropped them at the Pollachi bus stand and continued our journey to Palakkad. We reached Palakkad around 6:30 P.M. The total distance covered in these six days was 2248 k.m

DAY 7

Welcomed the New Year by being at my home doing nothing. This was deliberate as we had to embark on our last leg of the GWT the next day. So, basically used up the day to recharge our drained batteries.

DAY 8

We started our return journey to Bangalore. However, we did not taking our usual route. We took the Ooty-Mysore-Bangalore route with a stop over at Ooty. We started from Palakkad at 7:00 A.M. We reached Coimbatore and took the Metupalayam road. Traffic was very heavy and we were only able to at speeds of 30-40 km/h till Karamadai. From, there the situation improved. After Metupalayam; you need to take a right turn towards Ooty (NH 67). The straight road goes to Kothagiri (SH 15). We noticed a barricade at the right turn with space left for only a LMV to get through. In Bangalore, this means that heavy vehicles are not allowed and only LMV is allowed. This is the fool proofing done by Karnataka police. So, I took the same meaning and squeezed the Tata safai through the barricade by the folding the mirrors. The roads were very good and the ghat sections start in a few kilometers after crossing a metallic covered bridge. After traveling, more than 10 kilometers in the ghat section road; we were told by a vehicle coming in the opposite direction that the road is closed because of the landslides near Coonoor couple of months ago and the police will ask you to turn back. Maybe, this was the real reason for putting the half open barricades after Metupalayam. For prospective travelers in this route; I would recommend you to make some enquiries near the NH 67 junction before taking that route. Later, I got information from a cab driver in Ooty that if you pay 50 bucks; then the police will let you use the road till Coonoor. I cannot vouch for the authenticity of this information; but risk takers can take it was the Coonoor route is very short when compared to the alternate route via Kothagiri. Coming back to our journey: I decided to take a U turn in the narrow ghat section road (My bad) without thinking that mine was a diesel car. As usual, I had put the car in reverse, to complete the turn. However, as the road was narrow; I had to go to the left side of the road where there was an open fall to some 1000 ft below to the ravines. After that, when I put in the first gear; it was not responding and in one second; the car went back and was closer by 1 metre to the ravines. In panic, I did not think of putting the car in hand brake and revving it above 2000 rpm and then releasing the hand brake. Still, sanity prevailed as I stopped and put the brakes; then put two stones behind the back wheels and then took the car. I was to know the disadvantage of diesel cars in hill stations later. I really learnt the perils of driving a diesel vehicle in ghat section roads. Now, I can really empathize with the bus and lorry drivers who drive on the opposite lanes at hair pin bends in ghat section roads. We had to go all the way down to outskirts of Metupalayam and take the SH 15 road towards Kothagiri. This detour increased the distance by another 60 km which translates into 2 hours in the ghat section roads. Going to Kothagiri is a never ending climb which will become steeper and steeper as you cover more distance. We witnessed an accident on the way. I vouched that I would never drive on the opposite side of the road and overtake in those turns. Finally, we reached Kothagiri and took the right turn towards Ooty which was still around 30 km from Kothagiri. Finally, we reached a five way junction with roads to Ooty, Dodabeta peak, Coonoor and Kalhatty (and obviously the one coming from Kothagiri). From there we took the Ooty road and decided to go to the Tea Factory and Museum. Once you, pay and enter; a person will explain the tea manufacturing process (In English or Tamil) and then take you around the factory. You will be able to see the individual manufacturing processes. Finally, on your way out; you will be given a complimentary cup of tea. You can also buy different types/grades of tea from there.

Near the Tea Factory and Tea Museum: 8600 ft above MSL

We had lunch after that and proceeded to the hotel where we had booked for accommodation. The Lake View hotel is very much near the lake and the cottages were excellent. We thought it was a steal of a deal to get a cottage for Rs. 1500. I was not in a mood to drive the big car around the narrow alleys in Ooty and find parking spaces. So, we took a taxi for Rs. 650 for four hours. I was surprised to see that all the taxis in Ooty were Hyundai Santros. I got to know from our taxi driver that diesel cars like Indica et all will be very expensive to maintain in hill stations as there will be more starts and stops and mostly the driving will be in the higher gears. Our first destination was the Botanical gardens. It is a very beautiful place. However, me, my wife, her cousin and her uncle all had similar interests when it came to Botany and we finished the seeing the gardens in 30 minutes. Our next destination was the Dodabeta peak. This place is open only from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. However, we reached there on the nick of time just before 5:00 PM and somehow were able to squeeze through. Dodabeta peak is the highest peak in South India with an elevation of 8640 ft. We went to the Wax Museum which was good but cannot give any competition to Madame Tussad’s. We went to the shopping center near Charring Cross and had dinner after the shopping spree. We reached our hotel by 8:30 P.M. All of us were bushed after a long day and we all retired to bed around 9:30 P.M.

DAY 9

We woke up around 7:00 A.M. Had breakfast at 8:00 AM and was on our way by 8:30 AM. There are two ways to go to Mysore from Ooty. Both the routes intersect at the Mudhumalai national park. The first route is through Masinagudi. This is the route with the very famous 36 hair pin bends. Commercial vehicles are not permitted through this route and the distance from Ooty to Mudhumalai is around 36 km. The latter route is through Gudalur and from there; you need to take the right turn towards Mudhumalai. I took the latter route as I wanted to cover the Shooting Medu, Pine forest and the Pykara dam which are on the way. We did quick stops at all these places. At shooting medu, I ran to the top and then felt that I was having a cardiac arrest as the oxygen craving body did not get sufficient oxygen.

Me and My Wife @ Shooting Medu near Pykara

When we reached Gudalur; we thought we were back in Kerala. Everything was written in Malayalam. I had to double check whether we passed any state border. We found the reason for that very soon. Gudalur is a very big junction town with separate roads to go to Sultan Bathery, Wayanad (42 km), Ooty (65 km), Calicut (109 km) and Mysore (121 km). We took the right turn towards Mysore and reached the Mudhumalai. Very soon, we crossed the Karnataka border and reached the Bandhipur national park. We were lucky enough to see a deer herd near a water hole. We stopped our car and took some pictures in Vignesh’s black berry (Unfortunately, the snaps were not very good).

Deer herd @ Bandhipur (I did warn you about the pictures)

We traversed through Gundulpet where the roads were very bad (The road work was going on and in a single lane, traffic from both sides need to go) and then Nanjangund and finally we reached the heritage city Mysore. We did not stop at any place in Mysore. We took the ring road which was really a bad idea as we had go around 22 km in the ring road. The alternative is to come through the city which is much better and faster than taking the ring road. I have done multiple trips to Mysore and will publish a consolidated post from all the trips. We reached the four laned SH 17 connecting Mysore to Bangalore and whizzed through Srirangapatna and Mandya (Sugar city). We had lunch in Maddur. This place is very famous for Maddur vadaa and we all had that along with our lunch. We bought some Chanapatna toys for our daughter from a nearby shop and was on our way again in an hour’s time. We passed through Chanapatna (Toy city) and Ramanagara (Silk city) to reach the suburbs of Bangalore. We decided to take the NICE road. The NICE road is 99% complete now. We had pay toll of Rs 29 till Bannarghetta road. After that, we had to take a small detour which will again connect to NICE road. The toll from there to Hosur road was Rs 15. We reached Hosur road and took the turn towards Kudulu village and from there to Sarjapur road. From there, Outer Ring Road-Marathahalli-Brookfields-Hoodi. We reached our house at around 3:30 P.M. Here ends the Grand Winter Trip chronicles and hopefully I will be able to pen some new travelogues very soon.

The Grand Winter Trip Part II

DAY 4

We started from Madurai around 6:30 AM with the destination being the famous hill station: Kodaikanal. The route selected for the journey was Kochadai-NH 7 (Towards Dindigul) – Kodai Road (SH 155) – Batlagundu – Kodaikanal. Once you reach NH 7, you have to take a right turn towards Dindigul and travel approximately 24 km. After that, you need to take a left turn to touch Kodai Road. There will be a railway crossing immediately and it is hard to miss this road. Anyway, the gates were closed and we had to wait another 15 min and two sets of trains to pass after which the gates were opened. We passed through Batlagundu and took the right turn towards Kodaikanal. The left turn takes you to Cumbum. I was little bit skeptical of tackling the Ghat section roads as it was my first major travel in such roads in the beast. I had heard many horror stories of how diesel engines are inadequate and you need an expert behind the wheel to tackle the vehicle in such situations. However, the ghat sections came and went in a jiffy. We had approximately 40-45 km to climb in the ghat sections and it was literally “a piece of cake”, completely devoid of any untoward incidents. The only thing that I remember of that drive was that my camera broke down and we were not able to take any breathtaking of pictures of the scenic locale.

We reached the entrance to Kodaikanal around 9:15 AM. We paid the toll of Rs 30 and was immediately welcomed on the other side by the breath taking Silver Cascade water fall. We decided to stop there on our return journey as all of us were ravenous after an early dinner the day before. We stopped at Meenakshi Bhavan for breakfast and it took us around 20 min to get a table another 20 min to complete our breakfast. Rejuvenated after the scrumptious breakfast; we were on our way to the kodai lake. Parking near the lake cost us another 30 bucks. We decided to take the horse riding around the lake and the cost was around Rs 80 for a 1 km stretch. I took my daughter Malu with me and she thoroughly enjoyed the ride and even now reminds us of her ride by saying Thik-Thik-Thik by holding imaginary reins. We went for a pedal boat ride after that. We took a four seater pedal boat and me, my wife and her two cousins took the positions. After the Thekady mishap, it is now mandatory to wear life jackets. They give you the life jackets before entering the boat. Our two cousins fooled around with the life jacket and were given a dressing down by the authorities when they gave the jackets back. It was a very hot day at Kodaikanal and the mercury was literally soaring. We had some ice creams which alleviated the effect of the sun for a little while. We decided to take the route towards Coaker’s walk. However, we did not stop there as nobody was interested in taking a walk. Our next destination was Guna caves. We were all very hungry and the only source of refreshment was bread-omelet or omelet-bread. Let me explain: They put the egg on the frying pan and make omelet and then put toasted bread on top of that. It was really good and was ambrosia for all of us. I took that opportunity to take a second helping. Another interesting thing that we noted was that the road and entrance to Guna caves was festooned with over zealous and over-ambitious monkeys which will not get scared even if you throw a stone. So, bottom line is that you need to be really careful with your food and other items if you don’t want it nicked by our ancestors. Guna caves is really a place where you should spend a lot of time. Adventurous guys can indulge in some illegal activities like climbing down inside the caves. My wife’s cousin Prashant was our guide for these activities and he took me, my wife and Vignesh to the “Beginer’s Slope” and took Vignesh for a second time to the “Intermediate Slope”. Fortunately, we did not have time to venture in to the “Expert’s Slope”. After that, we drove to the Pillar Rocks. These are three boulders standing shoulder - to - shoulder vertically measuring to a height of about 122 metres. Fortunately (because of the hot day), there was no mist and we could get a very good view from our car. We stopped at Silver Casacde on our way back and took some pictures.

Silver Cascade Waterfall

There are other places to see in Kodaikanal like Shenbaganur Museum, Bryant Park, Berijam Lake, Kurinji andavar Temple and Bear Shola falls. However, you need to stay at least for two day and take local help to cover all these places. For, some places like Bear Shola falls; prior permission from the Forest Department is necessary.

DAY 5

One of my wish list in life is to drive up to visit all twelve jyothir lingas in India. I was about to embark on a journey to visit the first one as I prepared for the journey to visit Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi on Dec 30th. Rameshwaram is approximately 189 km from Madurai. We started at 6:00 A.M from Madurai. You need to take the NH 49 from Madurai and from there it is one single road which literally ends at Rameshwaram. The roads are not in great condition and it would benefit your car if you exercise caution while driving on this road.

We reached Ramanathapuram and the Gulf of Mannar biosphere around 8:30 A.M. We could see back waters on both sides of the road from there on. We reached the sleepy coastal town of Mandapam around 9:00 A.M. This place is just 19 km before Rameshwaram and it is more famous for the Indira Gandhi Bridge or the Pamban Bridge. Prior to 1914, boats were the only mode of transport to ship the pilgrims on their journey to Rameswaram. It is possible to take a boat for a cruise through the mangrove marshes to Kurusadai Island. The 2.2 km. length bridge connecting the Rameswaram Island and the mainland is the longest bridge in India constructed over a bay. The toll to enter the bridge was Rs 20. You can see the now deserted metre gauge railway bridge on one side and the new state of the art railway bridge next to it. The uniqueness of this new railway bridge is that it can be opened to pass the ships through the sea. We had breakfast after that. Then, we went to our retreat at Sringeri Matt and changed clothes to start our visit to the temple. There are 22 theerthams (to be read as wells) within the temple and the Agni Theertham (the Sea) next to the temple. Legend has it that if you have take bath in all these theerthams; all your sins will be washed away. We went and took a dip in the sea. Then, we started our journey to the temple. You will find many people with a bucket and if you pay Rs. 60; they will take water from each of twenty one theerthams in the temple and pour it on you. If you think that I made a typo by putting twenty one instead of twenty two; then think again. The last theertham (Kodi Theertham) is not really a well and water comes only in a trickle. They say it is equivalent to the Ganga Jal from Kasi. Once we had completed showering in sea and all the 22 theerthams, we went back to our retreat at Sringeri Matt to change our dress. It is not allowed to go into the temple in wet clothes. The main deity here in Rameshwaram is is Lord Shiva in the name Ramanathaswamy. The legend of the temple is that Sri Rama returned victorious after vanquishing Raavana to Rameswaram. However, Sri Rama wanted to do penance to Lord Shiva as he had committed Brahma-Hatya by killing Ravana. So, he asked Lord Hanuman to bring a shiva linga. When Lord Hanuman did not come back after a long time; Sita Devi made a Shiva Linga from sand and Sri Rama prayed Lord Shiva. So, this the placed where Rama prayed Eshwara (Lord Shiva); hence the name as Rameshwaram. Lord Hanuman came with two Shiva Lingas and one of them is called Vishwanathar and you need to worship that first before worshipping the main Shiva Linga. The main linga is a jyothir linga and represents the southernmost of the 12 Jyotirlingams of India and has been a time honored pilgrimage center held on par with Banaras. There are other temples to worship in Madurai like the Ramapatham, Satchi Anjaneya temple, Navagraha temple and Panchamuga Anjaneya temple. However, our plan was to visit the ghost town of Dhanushkodi.

We had lunch at the Gujarathi Sangam and then strated our journey towards Dhanushkodi. The southernmost tip of this island is called Dhanushkodi. It was completely washed away by a cyclone in 1964. It is 18 KMs way from Rameswaram can be reached by road. A popular belief is that, it is where Vibishana a brother of Ravana surrendered before Rama. At this point the Bay of Bengal meets the Indian Ocean. Hanuman took his famous leap from here to Lanka. And it is the point from which the monkey army built the bridge to Lanka. It is called Dhanushkodi because at the request of Ravana's brother Vibheeshana, Ram broke off the bridge with his bow. The most intriguing element here is the ancient underwater sandbank known as Adam's Bridge, which connects India to Sri Lanka. Geological evidence shows that an isthmus, which, according to temple records was breached by a violent storm in 1480, once bridged the gap. Some new pictures taken by a NASA satellite show this "bridge" in all its glory. The 30-km-long connection, which stretches across the Palk Strait, is actually a narrow and shallow ridge of sand and rocks connecting Mannar Island in Sri Lanka to Pamban Island in India. The Sri Lankan archaeology department has said the connection could be two million years old. You cannot go straight to Danushkodi in your vehicle. We reached the point in the beach where our vehicles could go. We parked the beast on the sand (the effect of which we were to know later) near the Naval camp. You can take the last 3-4 km in old Tata mini Lorries. These people don’t have four wheel drives and traction control vehicles; but are expert drivers who can drive through the sand and sea. They also have crude methods to overcome difficulties of losing traction. They charge around Rs 100 per person for the 4 km journey and back and will only take the vehicle if they get around 10 people. We went in one of these Lorries where the wheels lost traction at least couple of times and they put wooden planks under the wheels to regain traction. We finally reached the ghost town which was completely wrecked by a cyclone in 1964. However, to our surprise; we learnt that around 2000 people live there. A school, a temple and some shops cater to the needs of the residents. There is no electricity here and they have some small scale solar panels for lights and a diesel generator cater to the electrical needs of the temple. Dhanushkodi was in the news recently for the solar eclipse on Jan15th. This was the only place from where the “Ring of Fire” was visible. We saw some peacocks very close to us. Locals informed us that this place is not polluted at all and is completely devoid of mosquitoes and ants. They even told us that the life span of an individual increases by staying at this place. Some information; you do need to take with a pinch of salt. The lights from Talai Mannar island in Srilanka would be visible from Dhanushkodi. We even met a very old man who claimed that he had swum across from Srilanka.

@Danushkodi: Drinking water from the person who had claimed to have swum from Sri Lanka

The Tata mini Lorry took us back to our starting point. We got an unexpected delay as my Tata Safari lost traction in the sand and half of the rear wheels were buried in the sand. With the help of local drivers and the Naval force; we were somehow able to take the 2 tonner from the pit. The only plus point from that mis adventure was that we were able to view the sun set. We started back at 6:30 P.M and reached Madurai around 9:30 P.M

The plan for the next day was to return back to Palakkad with a stop at Thirivavinan kudi at Pazhani. I will update about that trip and the Ooty-Mysore-Bangalore trip in my next post.

To be continued.

The Grand Winter Trip Part I

We knew that the forthcoming year was going to be very busy for both of us. My wife is on the verge of switching jobs and I have to shoulder additional responsibilities in my current position. Our daughter Malu in all probability will go to play school in 2010. So, I guess we both knew that we had to make good use of the shut down days at the end of the year. These days coincided with the arrival of Mahalakshmy’s uncle from USA. So, the blue print of the trip was prepared days before the shutdown and the arrangements confirmed. We celebrated Christmas in Bangalore and started our journey to Palakkad on December the 26th.

DAY 1

December 26th is the Boxing Day and the traditional Boxing Day tests (cricket) start on that day in Australia and South Africa. Pakistan was battling against Australia at the G on that day and later South Africa was supposed to lock horns against England. However, it was a different kind of a test for me as I was about to embark on the longest road trip I have ever made in my life. We started quite early at 6:00 A.M from Bangalore. The route was the usual Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Dharmapuri-Thoppur-Mettur-Bhavani-Perundurai-Avinashi-Coimbatore-Palakkad. The A2B at Chinar was always crowded and you have to wait in a queue to get breakfast. Hence, we decided to have breakfast at Sri Krishna Inn attached to a HPCL outlet. This is just before the A2B with signage provided 5 km before the outlet. The food was really good and the rest rooms were maintained exceptionally well. As, this was my 10th trip through this route; I knew (thought I knew) the roads like the back of my hand. However, to my surprise; the road from Mettur to Bhavani was in a real deplorable state. I would recommend anyone traveling through these roads to go straight from Thoppur (instead of taking the right turn towards Mettur) to Salem (NH 7) and then take NH 47 to Erode. This will increase the total distance by 30-35 km. However, the road is very good and you can easily go at speeds of 100 km/hr. One caveat on taking this route is that you need to pay an additional toll (Approx Rs. 30) just before entering Salem town. We had lunch around 1:00 p.m at Vazhiyoram Oottupuraa near Walayar. Vazhiyoram restaurants are sustainable wayside tourism amenities along major roads across Kerala State. We reached my home around 2:00 P.M

DAY 2

Lazed and lolled at home. I expectantly switched on the idiot box to watch the last match between India and Srilanka. Even for an avid cricket fan like me; the match failed to ignite any interest. However, I still sat up to watch it just because there was nothing else to do. Anyway, it was a short lived pastime as the match was called off after 25.4 overs after the Kotla pitch fiasco. Honestly, I don’t remember what I did after that. So, let me put a stop here for the Day 2 chronicles.

DAY 3

We decided to start from Palakkad to Madurai at 7:00 A.M. The route chosen was Palakkad-Pollachi-Udumalai-Pazhani-Odanchathram-Dindigul-Madurai. From, Odanchathram; the signs given to Madurai are for taking a right towards Sempatti. However, I would recommend all prospective travelers to go straight towards Dindigul and take a right at the first under pass. This will lead you to the four laned NH 7. The last 60 odd km to Madurai was a breeze with speeds touching 120 km/hr. We had to pay toll of around Rs. 30 just before Madurai. The four laning work is still going on in NH 7 and you need to be careful of people and vehicles coming from the opposite direction. Avoid going to Madurai city through Samayanellur as the roads are very bad. Instead continue on NH 7 and take the next left turn. Signs are also provided. This will lead you to Melakkal Road and from there Kochadai and then to the city. Now for a little digression;

There are six murugan temples in Tamilnadu which are called Arupadai Veedu (Six Battle places). These are Tirupparankundram (1), Tiruchendur (2), Tiru Avinankudi: Pazhani (3), Swami Malai (4), Tiruttani (5), Pazhamuthircholai (6). Of these Tirupparankundram and Pazhamuthircholai are near Madurai and I had intended to visit both the temples during my stay in Madurai. I had also made plans to visit Tiru Avinankudi which is on the way to Palakkad. Now coming back to the chronicle; we reached Madurai by 11:00 A.M. Our intention was to visit the temples near Madurai on that day. Around 3:30 PM we started our journey and our first destination was Pazhamuthircholai. It is situated 19km from Madurai. Unlike the other five veedu; this temple has no grand edifice surrounding the central shrine of worship. This temple of Muruga is situated on the Vrishabhadri hill in a beautiful surrounding.

Pazhamuthircholai

The moorthy is Muruga with the Devis Valli and Devasena on either side. There is a perumal kovil at the foot hills called Alagar Malai. It was Vaikunta Ekadashi on Dec 28th and there was heavy rush at the temple. So, we went up to the Murugan temple first for darshan. On the way, we passed the famous “Naaval” tree where Murugan gave blessings to Avayyar.

“Naaval” tree where Lord Murugan gave blessings to Avayyar

After visiting the temple, we climbed the 130 odd steps to the Rakkayi Amman kovil. There is an unknown water source called Noopura Ganga at this place and if you open the trap door in front of the Sanctum Sanatorium; you will see the origin of the water source. After that we visited the Alagar Perumal kovil. The gopurams are very big and the architecture and characters will remind one of Khajuraho.

The Alagar Malai Perumal Kovil Entrance and Gopuram

There was heavy rush but still we had a good darshan and returned through the Swarga Vasal (Vaikunta Dwara).. Our next stop was the Madurai Meenakshi Amman temple. There is literally no parking available near the Meenakshi Amman temple and the allotted place is always full. We had a local driver driving for us at that point of time and he took care of the parking woes. It is customary to worship Devi Meenakshi and then Lord Sundareshwar. It is advisable to enter the temple through the Ashta Sakthi Mandapam on the eastern street (Chithrai Gopuram). We passed through the beautiful potramarai kulam (Golden Lotus Tank) and then crossed the Kilikoottu mandapam to the Meenakshi Amman shrine. We had taken the Rs. 100 darshan tickets and we could bypass all the huge snaking lines to get a very good darshan of Devi. From the shrine, we retraced our steps back to Kilikoottu mandapam. At the northern end, Mukkuruni Vinayagar facing south welcomed us.

Mukkuruni Vinayagar

We visited the Sundareshwar shrine after that and went out through the south entrance.

We had planned to visit Tirupparankundram also but it was not possible as the time was 8:00 P.M. We decided to head to our retreat as we had to get up early next morning for the Kodai Kanal Trip.

To be continued.

The Grand Winter Trip

I had intimated about my plans of a grand winter trip. Anyway, I was able to expedite most of my plans and complete the nine day trip. Brief details of what was achieved in nine days.

2659 km
3 States
2 Hill Stations
1 down in my wish list to visit all Jyothir Lingas in India.
and loads of unadulterated fun.

I can only do justice to the entire trip if I break it into 3 separate posts. I will start with 2 posts a week. Watch this space. More to follow.....

P.S: I am parking the BIB mini series for the time being and will reignite it later.