Changing face of India -Entrepreneurs at grass root level

Have you ever seen an ignited mind... Ignited with innovations, bursting with ideas. The spark in the eyes and the joy on the face is something beyond explanation. I witnessed it when my sis came in running full of energy to announce that they have a project to do. Their ideas, their effort. Funded by Deshpande Foundation these kids could give wings to their dreams and prove their credibility with results in 2 months. An organization dedicated to creating entrepreneurs at college levels.

I wouldn't have thought much of it had it not been for the fact that my sis hails from a small town in Karnataka. The foundations reach and wish to touch the rural and semi- urban students amazed me. We see a lot of organizations interested in cultivating new ideas with the help of younger generation but their reach almost always is limited to cities or big towns.

India has a young workforce and they are brimming with ideas. All they need is conviction and a conducive environment that can bring out the best in them.

The whole idea of forming groups and asking them to come up with various ideas is wonderful. They didn't expect the idea to generate revenue. They wanted it to bring about a change, however minimal it might be. The pilot project would get 2 months and if the idea was really good and the foundation believed in it then it would be promoted to a full scale partnership or organization.

This not only helped these kids to think out of the box, but it also made them aware of the surrounding infrastructure. It made them bold and mentored them to present their case with conviction. The salient points to be highlighted came around by way of intense discussion thus developing their inter-personnel skills.

The project gave them a lot more than what it expected. And most importantly it opened new avenues for a young enterprising India. Thumbs- up to Deshpande Foundation and their effort in bringing about a change in the country's youth and on a macro level creating self sustainable entrepreneurs with original ideas. You can reach them on http://www.deshpandefoundation.org/

Something that I learnt today..

While waiting in a hospital today for a general checkup, a small girl of 7-8 years entered the corridor. She had a sweet smile and giggled at anything, just like a normal 7-8 year old girl would. On her way in, she acknowledged a nurse and had some small talk with the receptionist.

Her father, trying to catch up with her as she glided across the foyer, looked so happy playing her simple game. Everything was so normal and usual about her… except for the mask on her face.

She had a pale green mask on her face; as she entered the waiting room, she transformed into a mature girl who sat quietly in one of the empty chairs while her father fussed about her food. As a doctor passed, she jovially wished the doctor ‘Good morning madam… How have u been’. The doctor smiled back and they exchanged pleasantries. She looked so calm and serene, as the doctor said ‘Come let’s have your check-up done’ and took her to the Oncology department.

My heart ached to see her go in. Many thought crossed my mind. She is barely 8… she hardly even understands the gravity of the situation… It must have been so painful for her & her family. I do not know her, but unknowingly I said a silent prayer for her. The next minute I found cajoling myself to believe that she had been treated and is perfectly alright now.. she must be safe now… She must have just come for a post treatment checkup and everything must have returned to normalcy in her life… It must have been something really small…

I know she will be fine. Nowadays, cancer is not perceived as critically dangerous. Most of the patients can be and are treated everyday all over the world. If detected at an early stage, patients are cured fully and never have to bother about it ever again…

Yet, I don’t know why I felt like writing about her… A simple girl in a green uniform, who I will never know… yet who left a lasting impression on me. She taught me today, ‘everything can be overcome… its just the way you approach it that matters’!

Straight out of a realty show- in the middle of a mundane office week!

Nowadays I take a bus home. As I ran and hopped into a bus yesterday, still congratulating myself to have managed to get it just in time, I realized, for some reason heavens were smiling down at me – a nearly vacant bus that too during peak office hours, is nothing short of a blessing!

I made myself comfortable in one of the seats and by the next two stops, the bus was full to its capacity. While I was staring out of the window listlessly, I suddenly hear a voice- a booming voice from one of the front seats. I thought to myself – must be one of those mobile quarrels and continued to amuse myself with the varied shaped that passed by my window.

Sadly, the voice was too loud for anybody to concentrate on anything other than the conversation. He was speaking in Kannada, with a voice modulation that imitated Rajkumar (the famous Karnataka actor) and the style of his talk and hand movements resembled that of Rajnikant! Now when such eminent actors are entertaining you, what else can be intriguing enough than eves dropping on that conversation – correction listening to the rendition. The voice was loud enough to be heard in the next bus on a busy Tuesday evening, so technically it cannot be eves dropping!

Well coming back to the conversation- I must say it was quite amusing, especially when the speaker is not sitting next to you. He started with claims of being as pure as a dove and was visibly hurt with someone calling him a thief! He also said when he could handle thousands with ease why would he bother with a few hundreds… and on and on.

First, I thought this whole rendition was directed to the passenger next to him, and hence I assumed that they must have been traveling together. After some more talk circling around this so-called ‘great Indian robbery’ he suddenly offered the passenger sitting next to him, coffee at ‘Café Coffee day’ that was located somewhere completely off the bus route! Do you realize the predicament of the guy, who as I realize now, was equally baffled as I was about the whole scenario.

His distant dream of having a short nap on the journey back home been cruelly crushed by some unknown passenger, who wanted him to listen to his sob story. By the time, his destination had come and he had prepped up to the idea of having some piping hot food and watch TV, the poor guy was being stopped and asked to alight the bus with some unknown person (obviously a drunkard) way off his house route.

The person finally lost his patience, got agitated and a little scared. He started shouting at the drunkard while calling the conductor. I expected this to be straight out of MTV bakra and inc. I expected a hidden camera to come out, the drunkard smiling and explaining the plot while removing his wig and everybody clapping and smiling…. Sadly none of this happened. The poor person, got down the bus shouting at the drunkard and ran for his life the moment he got hold of his belongings. The drunkard also being asked to alight, our bus moved on…

No lights, no camera and no Bakra – this was life, weirder than illusions!

The day India stood as ONE!

Yesterday was Bakri Id, but the local mosque near my place was sans the usual festivities that I would have witnessed otherwise. The reason - people were expressing solidarity with the victims, their families who were affected by the recent terrorist attacks. Today’s, newspaper too carried similar images where people stood with placards denouncing terrorism and sported black bands.

Even the places that I toured last week when in Maharashtra, had hoardings and banners, otherwise flanked by political leaders or parties being replaced by tributes to the policemen, army men and NSG commandoes.

It was heartening to see that the common man has risen above the fear, hate and doubt that would usually have featured after this gory event and had decided to stand up for something and voice his opinion. These acts proved that people in India can’t be divided in the name of religion or caste. We might have our differences or grievances, but when it is time to ACT we are Indian’s first; something that our political parties are yet to figure out.

With the immediate political drama that unfolded after the attacks, I dreaded if we were heading for another 1992. But it was the sensibility and sober attitude across the country that preferred to mourn the loss than avenge and increase the damage. When the perpetrators sprayed bullets or heralded grenades they weren’t against a particular religion or caste but against human life.

Many from different sections of the society lost their loved ones and felt a pain – a pain that’s universal; irrespective of your religion. Lets not allow somebody’s vested interest be fuelled by our fellow Indians distress. Let progress, literacy, brotherhood and peace usher the New Year in India.

You can’t be fine till you spend a bomb!

I had the misfortune of visiting a BIG hospital for a trivial thing. The fact is that as we don’t know many small clinics around my place we resort to the one that’s closest.
Well when we went there we just needed an appointment to come in later and meet the doc, however these multistory, multi-specialty hospitals don’t seem to work that way.

The moment we asked if there was an appointment available for today the lady at the enquiry desk promptly asked us to fill in a form! I thought she didn’t hear me and I said I would do all that however I am in a rush right now and it would be great if she could tell me if I could have an appointment. She said “ The doctor's in from 9 to 7.30pm”

Oh what the heck, a form might not take a long time, so I filled it and gave it to her. Cling goes the printer and I am asked to shell out Rs 400! I always thought I pay the doc after he’s checked me! Apparently this is another of those things that these BIG hospitals don’t seem to follow!

She said I could see the doc on the second floor. Well now that I had paid, I thought it wouldn’t do much harm if I visited him immediately. Check-up’s don’t take more than 10-15 min isn’t it! However the moment we reached the said place I realized this was A BIG mistake and before I could overcome the claustrophobic feeling and take to my heels I had been sucked into the whirlpool!

There were swarms of people waiting for a check-up. The waiting people, the harried receptionist and the nurses running in and out gave me an impression of a wedding! The receptionists looked like the frenzied parents of the girl who were not sure if they should be welcoming the guests, taking care of them, looking after their daughter, listening to the pundit or shouting at the caterer!

The patients seemed as clueless as me. I knew I still had time to run away when the receptionist asked me to hand over my file. I hadn’t spent 10 minutes in that hospital and I already had a file! My doctor for many years who has a clinic just down the road in Pune doesn’t seem to have a shred of paper with my name on it and yet knows my complete history which he magically seems to recall whenever I visit him! Well I gave the file and she obediently handed it over to some other person. Then someone came and asked me to enter a room on the right.

Oh fine, lets just get done with this. This isn’t much of an ordeal… Tch Tch… too much too soon...I was about to realize. There was a junior doc there, who fired me with rapid fire questions, with no option to think or ask questions. Hmm...and I always thought docs were there to resolve our queries and calm our fears! Then she asked me to go to the room on the left ‘we need to check your weight’. Obediently I entered and found nobody there, but a sad looking weighing scale as if in its last few days pleading that it can’t handle anymore weight! I assumed we were to weigh ourselves and inform the doctor but the weighing scale didn’t seem to be working.

Just them a nurse rushed in and did something to get it working and fired the next round of instructions! Had I been really sick, by now I would have fainted! But as might hearted as I am, I continued to undergo the ordeal while telling myself and trying to tell the docs that there is nothing so serious to be worrying about!

While we were awaiting in the corridor for the next round of instructions the harried receptionist asked a nurse in the next room ‘Could you jab quicker?’ there are many more to go! Weren’t hospitals supposed to be different than assembly line, especially if the tagline read ‘Inspired by Life’!

Finally I was asked to enter the room in the center where the elusive doctor existed. She saw (not checkup) me, my FILE and gave some vitamin tablet and off I go out! After about 2 hours of running around the doctors were finally convinced that it was nothing but a trivial allergic symptom. Oh well, wasn’t it that what I had been trying to tell from the moment I entered the damn hospital! Apparently it is not acceptable till it comes from the horse’s mouth!

Ganapati Bappa Morya…

The resounding chants of Ganapati Bappa Morya, the taal, dhol, pataka and the miravnuk… None of this during the Ganapati…

Before anybody launches a huge protest, I am talking about Bangalore. Well needless to say I miss the fun and the exuberance attached to this festival. The joy and the anticipation with which people await Ganapati’s arrival. Its more like welcoming a dear guest home and ensuring his stay is extremely comfortable and happy. When I was a part of all this, sometimes I felt it was too noisy and unnecessary, now devoid of it I cant imagine the festival!

Me and nik decided to celebrate ganapati at home this time. We didn’t actually go to the extent of getting the idol home, but did an elaborate ‘pooja’ complete with aartis and ‘Ganapati Bappa Morya, Mangalmurti morya’ chants. We actually went shopping for the pooja items after office.

Early morning, I realized I had to make the ‘Panchamruth’ and I forgot the ingredients. Well this called for quick action and the obvious was an SOS call to my mom, but she wouldn’t answer! I mean in time of need… what worse can you expect? After some more quick calls, it was my aunt who saved the day! After the elaborate pooja, modaks and lunch…we still felt there was something missing.

And then I realized it was not just the ritual but the joy, the bonding with which people celebrate this festival that made the difference. The 10 days are filled with fun. Small things like singing aarti at the neighbours house, coz they have the ganesha idol at home is looked forward to. Apart from relatives visiting each other, and mouth watering modaks, the bigger attraction is the ‘dekhave’. The various decorations and acts that are set-up by the Ganapati mandals. I vividly remember the excitement with which we awaited going out to see the decorations. Roaming on the streets far into the night, trying to catch a glimpse of all the mandal ganapatis and their acts on the way, with just a quick halt for some mid-night snacks that’s dished out relentlessly at every corner.

And then finally the ‘Visarjan’, when people finally bid adieu to their beloved god, followed by the chants of ‘Pudhchya varshi laukar ya’ i.e come again early, next year. The procession is equally zestful, with varied decorations, rangolis, flowers and mirthful atmosphere everywhere. Oh well, now you know how much I missed all the excitement.

Nevertheless, I am always at peace when this festival arrives. It could be blind-faith, it could be just the exuberance attached to the festival. Whatever it is, it truly heals me, helps me overcome my fears, my sorrows and almost always leaves me with a positive effect…all I can say is ‘Ganapati Bappa Morya, Mangal murti moray!’

Our adventure hiking

Our latest trip was a hike, close to Bangalore. The area was close to Muthadi village and we were supposed to hike along the Cauvery river bank to Doddamakali fishing camp. This was going to be exciting as we were 11 people and all of us had come to know each other just recently.

After a discussion of 4-5 days all the details were fixed, a special mention to the efforts put in by some of the enthusiast who had chalked out every single detail that might be needed and done the necessary arrangements. Finally the D-day arrived and we were ready by 6 to leave. The vehicle after picking up all the members headed for Mutadi by 7. The journey was enjoyable as we started playing the usual antakshari and stuff. It vaporized the journey fatigue.

As we neared the forest base, a deer suddenly appeared and it crossed the road in just one swift leap as we were coming close by! The agileness with which the deer leaped, its beautiful skin, the long antelope, the slender legs… this is one incident I would never forget. Nature’s beauty in action

Once we reached the starting point our real adventure started. To start with, the forest official there said the area had been cordoned off and we could not go till the Doddamakali fishing camp. To top it, he dampened our spirits by saying there was a rough elephant on loose! Hearing this we were petrified- imagine encountering a wild elephant with just a stick to defend yourself!

However looking at the kind of discussions these officials were having between them, some of the people in the group decided to go ahead as it was evident they were expecting some bribe or trying to extort money under the name of guide charges!

All of us decided to go ahead with our plan, however stay parallel to the road as much as possible - so no venturing into the deep! The moment we made a dash into the forest, the first things that greeted us were huge thorny creepers. All of us were tangled in some branch or the other and by the time we freed ourselves all of us were left with small bruises or scratches! We did have a tangled entry into the forest!

Next task was identifying the river flow, this was not too difficult. We could actually hear the river from far off. As we reached close to the bank, we found the river bank dotted with ‘Jamun trees’ and being true to the Panchatantra story of ‘Jamun tree monkey and the crocodile’ the monkeys and the crocs were not too far off. Two crocs were sun bathing on a small island in the middle of the river. Our first experience with wild life while in the forest- unaided! The waters were shallow and after an encounter with crocs at such a close distance nobody dared to step in the water- well atleast for the next 1hr....... continued*

* Click on the title for the remaining post

Our adventure hiking... continued

As we continued along the bank we were moving upstream and hence the water was gushing at an increased pace. Using the scientific knowledge that crocs don’t dwell in running water, many of the members in the group decided to take a dip. However they kept a watchful eye and ensured to remain close to the bank.

We on the other hand had a hearty snack while others had a splash. I was not too keen to jump in the water and then complete the trek in those drenched clothes! As it is walking after getting wet is too tough – walking while donning the wet clothes was out of question for me! :D

After this short break we continued on our path for the next 1 hr. Again we encountered some men- two or three of them forest officials, having a hearty meal close to the river. Some of them had come in a coracle. Seeing us one of them came and said, the area beyond this point is cordoned off. There have been some poacher sightings and there could be blasts in some time.

We were quite puzzled by these statements. Blasts to catch a poacher? Didn’t make sense! What was even more suspicious was that when we went to the place where they had been having food we found some carcass of a wild animal. Wonder who the poachers were? However seeing the officials and this being the second warning we decided not to test our luck beyond this and decided to have a quick bite before planning the next course of action. Some enthusiast in the group decided to take a detour and trek the hillock close by while we had the ‘Bhel’!

Now we had the ingredients and it was just a matter of mixing the stuff. As we laid out our unusual meal we had some uninvited guests too- the monkeys! Lots of them. Left with just 6 people we had to fend for ourselves. Basically, eat and keep the monkeys at bay at the same time!

The monkeys on their part acted as if this was ‘WAR’. They actually had their group divided into two parts and tried to attack the food from both ends! We wielded our sticks at them, but it didn’t make a difference to them. The smallest of monkeys shrieked at us – as if to say, ‘You guys come on our turf and assume you could have all the food while we stared!’ But we were not to be bogged down by this. The war for food began and we were actually protecting our food like we were a bunch of tribals! :P

Finally, we were victorious and hence we decided to leave some food for the monkeys to feast on! As it is, it was unlikely that they had ‘Bhel’ before! Also while we were lunching we did hear two blasts. Poachers or no poachers the blasts were enough to rattle us up and we decided to take the safe trip back! Fighting with monkeys is one thing, but imagine having to thread some dynamite field- no way, this was not even some reality show that expects participants to do such dumb things!

As we walked back the cherry on the icing happened. It rained cats and dogs while we huddled three in an umbrella! The weather was beautiful and the forest was suddenly in its full bloom. It was a treat to watch… just being there at that moment!

IPL - a glittery fanfare in Bangalore

A little late but nevertheless....

The IPL twenty20 series had a grand opening in Bangalore and the atmosphere in Bangalore was certainly electrifying. With the home team playing, people were busy laying their hands on last minute tickets that were available.

The event started at around six, and looking at the kind of celebrities who adorned the event, the Airport must have been chocked for most of the time in the past 2 days. The glittery event also saw the captains of all the teams being formally introduced and they signed a memorandum promising to keep the spirit of the game alive.

There was no dearth of music, excitement, fun, food, glitter and in front of a packed stadium the opening match of the grand IPL series kick-started. I am not much of a cricket fan so; spare me from naming any of the players or grading their performance!

The energy was superb and the show that Sharukh Khan and his band, Oh! Yes there was a huge parade from the Bollywood industry that had come to witness this event was enthusiastic. It must have reminded them of college sports events!

The result as everybody knows - Kolkatta washed out Bangalore and there was nothing called as face saving grace in this game. The highlight for the Bangalore newspaper hence was the party before/after the game than the actual game! I wouldn’t blame them much for this; they hardly had anything to write about.

All in all the kick start to the game was fabulous, what needs to be seen is if the energy levels remain the same till the end of the series or the bubble bursts after the initial hoopla!

My visit to the dentist….

Well this isn’t anything new as in my life I have visited a dentist more than I ever visited my grandparents! (A little exaggerated… but now you get what I mean!) Well we can safely say that I am an uncertified dentist owing to my vast experience.

The purpose of visit this time was surgical extraction of my third molar (in simple terms extracting my wisdom tooth). As I have been through this before I knew what to expect, yet was a little scared considering the prolonged time it takes for recovery.

After leaving early from my office I headed first for Subway (I wouldn’t be able to eat anything great for a week, so this is acceptable). After a hearty meal I headed for the dentist and reached on time. As I entered I heard some other guy undergoing the same treatment. How many people end up with crooked wisdom tooth, I wondered – probably a depiction of our crooked lives (philosophical me!)

The moment I sat in the dentist chair, he asked me to open my mouth wide and injected one of those local anesthesia. Once it was numb enough the doctor and his assistant shoved some hundreds of instruments in my mouth as if it was a gold mine!! Then using his sophisticated instruments he started meddling with my teeth as if they were a marble and he, a great sculptor! not to mention in the process I suffered some small bruises and scratches.

The worst was he was giving a running commentary about the whole extraction process (I really wonder how this can be a common habit across dentist fraternity?) “Good that we created an incision in the gum beforehand, otherwise while extracting this deep rooted tooth, there would have been a danger of jaw dislocation….” He went on and on with passion, forgetting that I could here everything and understand it too! I said to myself “Why is that the dentist never wants to remove the tooth that is decayed and the one that he extracts is one of the most healthiest tooth?” another question I continue to wonder…

After some half an hour more I left the clinic minus one wisdom tooth, a swollen cheek, a giddy myself and loads of medicines to pop! The only good thing of this trip was I ate lots of ice-crème.

For the next two days I did nothing but pop those numerous pills, put an ice-pack on my cheek and sleep like dead – I slept for nearly 15 hrs :). Now on the road to recovery I hope the dentist is kind enough to say, ‘everything is well’ and hopefully this is one of my last visits to a dentist – atleast for a long time!

Transfer?... Why dont you shift to North Pole!!

My cousin is getting married in a week and I am extremely happy for her. She seemed in a foul mood yesterday and on enquiring it was understood that her company - TCS, has refused to give her transfer to the place she wants!

She is an IT professional and all these major companies boast about their flexibility in allowing a person to shift to any of their regional offices. Some of the companies even have onsite flexibility i.e if the spouse is also working on the same platform or (whatever that is), then they are sent together for an onsite project if anyone has to leave. Many of the companies are even accommodating in terms of employing the spouse after they relocate; hence her reply was quite shocking and unbelievable.

What was even more irrational was their attitude. She had been following up for the past 2 months, asking them for a transfer and explaining her circumstances. What’s more, as per their (HR and project leader etc) instructions she even refused the onsite offer and now they tell her they cant accommodate her in Pune, but she will have to report to Mumbai!?!?! How weird can one get!

Did they not hear her when she was asking for a transfer to Pune, or they just assumed (looking at the map) that Pune- Mumbai distance isn’t too far!

I was surprised by the apathetic attitude shown by the officials, while all the other companies are interested in showing their employee friendly nature and curbing the attrition rate. When they boast about flexibility in location and loads of other benefits while an employee is joining the company, why can’t they stick to it?

I would have understood if they had said, we cant accommodate you right now as there is no opening, we can try in a month-4-6 months etc. It atleast shows that you are concerned about that employee and are trying their level best! This attitude where you don’t even revert to mails/calls hardly makes any employee propagate the company!

Belur- Halebid

Well, in continuance with our chikmagalur trip, as we couldn’t see much there, we decided to see Belur and Halebid. Our driver… the Formula 1 guy was all the more happy to take us there and in pouring rain we reached Belur in record 1 hr flat.

The Belur temple is huge. The moment I entered the main gate I felt transported into a different world. The temples old world charm is enticing enough for even a non- religious person to take a peek. The spread, architecture and panoramic views of the temple were enough to make me spend nearly an hour in the temple.

As I roamed about spell bound taking in the beautiful stone carvings that were crafted with such precision and beauty that I was scared they might come alive any moment, my husband had a field day clicking pictures.

The beauty about these temples is that the carvings are so intricate and beautiful that you really wonder if it is stone. The necklaces worn by the women in the sculptures are so delicately and skillfully done that one could pass his fingers between them.

Both the sites are equally beautiful in terms of the sculptures however it is sad to see the state of affairs at Halebid. The place has been rampaged with cement and concrete blocks to support the now crumbling stone structure. It not only robs the place of its beauty but I really wonder how much good would any of these measures do to the structure. The stone structure is clearly caving in.

It was also sad to see that people were foolish enough to write or rather carve their names and endless crap on the stone structures, be it the pillars or the huge stone Nandi’s next to the temple. Though now the place is circled with ropes and is off-limits for public to touch the structures, the damage is already done. I felt terrible when I saw those grotesque marks and worst of all they were in English! That means the well-educated or literate segment of Indian society is doing/done this crap!!

I remembered the ad issued by Government of India, tourism that is aimed at increasing awareness among public and warns them against defacing our heritage monuments. It is a shame that our government has to release such kinds of ads. We harp about how proud we are of Indian culture and heritage and yet when it comes to preserving them we are the worst at it. And this coming from the educated class is worse, I guess such people are better illiterate, atleast they cant write anything, if they don’t know to read and write.

Travelogue – Chimagalur a beautiful sojourn

After days of hectic work schedule it was time to take a break! And a long weekend was just the cherry on the icing. We went on a destination search spree to ensure we land up in a great place… and Chikmagalur it was to be!! Though as many of the things happen at the last moment with me… this trip was supposed to be no different.

After finalizing the destination we started calling the hotels for accommodation and to our despair, the week we decided to go to Chimagalur, half the world seemed to be headed that way. There were no rooms available. After some nth calls we finally managed to get bookings at a lodge. Next was the traveling issue and as luck could have it all the local buses heading that way were full… so we were literally in a soup! However another common friend was traveling to Chikmagalur for a relaxed weekend in his car and he was gracious enough to take us along.

On the D-day, early morning weather in Bangalore is amazing and I am already in a holiday mood, however my dreamy escapade is cut short by the heavy downpour that lashes the city. I console myself that Chikmagalur would be better. We hop into the car at 8… after some calling around as the decided time was 7 and as these guys didn’t turn up I thought they changed their decision of taking us and gave us a slip [:O] By then the Bangalore traffic was at its worst and we were stuck in slow moving traffic…. Though we were stuck only for half and hour but because my mind was racing way ahead I felt it took ages and by the time we got out our stomachs started to growl…sadly there was no hotel where we could stop and nurture our famished beings. So off we went on our journey….

The roads after we left Bangalore were just beautiful. The ride was so amazing that we literally fought to be front seat riders. As we reached closer to Chikmagalur the beautiful landscapes and serene surroundings just left us spell - bound. I again went on my day dreaming trip… dreaming the beautiful locations/points that lay ahead once we reached Chikmagalur…

Chikmagalur literally means ‘younger daughters village’ It is said that the Chieftain of a close by place called ‘Sakarepetha’ had given this place in dowry to his younger daughter. Just before you reach Chikmagalur there is a perpendicular road taking you to ‘Hiremagalur’ i.e elder daughters village.

We reached Chikmagalur by evening and after settling in our lodge decided to roam about the town or any close by place, but there was some religious procession in full swing and by the time that cleared we were informed by locals that there was no local transport in the evening to Mulyangiri and back- the place we wanted to visit.

As we had hired a cab for the whole next day and we decided to squeeze Mulyangiri in on the same day. After some more walks through the small roads of Chikmagalur we went for dinner at a place called Planters Court. The other thing I realized about Chikmagalur was that these guys like things quite hot! The food at the hotel literally brought tears in my eyes and smoke through my ears! After some dinner and lots of water we came out of the hotel and realized another thing, people in Chikmagalur sleep very early and hence we could not manage to get a single ‘rick’ back and that meant walking all the way… but it was fun roaming on the streets on an unknown town…. and after that we decided to call it a day.

One more thing beautiful about this place is its people. They are utmost hospitable and extremely friendly. For the very short time that we were there, they helped us in so many things- from getting directions to hiring a cab.

Well the next day, the much-hyped (by me of course!) day of trip was a complete washout… it was pouring on that day. We still dared to go and try our luck and went in the cab to Mulyangiri. By the time we reached, clouds and heavy downpour covered it! After trying our luck at ID peetha we decided to call it quits and returned to our hotel… too dejected! The picture here is the one shot by a friend of mine*

On the way, however we decided to try Belur- Halebid and that was the place we headed next. As we headed for the Heritage site our driver started showing us his driving skills! The way he was driving I wondered if we were part of a Formula1 race :D We roamed about these heritage monuments and clicking photos holding umbrellas was quite a task that we managed!

After returning we went to ‘Taj Retreat’ a Taj resort in Chikmagalur. If you are looking for a relaxed weekend, you can certainly think about going to Taj. So to sum it all, visiting Chikmagalur was basically a wonderful drive, lots of relaxed time and some fun getting wet and roaming around! However from the glimpses of Chikmagalur that I got to see, I am certainly about to make some more trips there in the near future.

*Photo by- Divya Ostwal, amateur photographer

Life in a Metro!

Whew…the many facets of life in a Metro… The best is traffic. While driving to office, if I am stuck in a jam or a long signal (which is usually the case) I get some time to look around and amuse myself with the funny/weird reactions people have while riding! Traveling in these cities is a pain and especially during office hours. The roads are choked and everybody wants to get out of the traffic congestion at the same time and then the weird incidents start :)


People feel speaking on the mobile phone is more important than looking left-right before crossing the road! Can somebody please take them to kindergarden again; where you are taught “Look to your right- Look to your left and if the signal is red wait!”

People are so busy gossiping/bitching about their collegues/friends or etc etc that they jump in the middle of the road- right in front of a speeding cab. Once the car driver has blabbered his share of ‘gaalis’ they take off after mumbling a simple “SORRY”

Women, especially on a two-wheeler with their flowing sarees and dupattas merrily ride in the middle of the road! Where the hell are others supposed to be driving?

A single lane road suddenly is converted into a four-lane road with office hours coming to a closure.

People with their helmets on and a mobile phone tucked between are busy completing some deals or fighting with somebody. The result is violent hand gestures, which lead to automatic and unannounced lane changes!! If you are close enough and survived then you can also here some high-pitched discussions, which leave you puzzled – if this was for you or the other person on the phone!

In the process of overtaking others, people forget that a particular road is two- way and there are vehicles coming from the other end too!

While traveling to office today, I saw a man zipping on the roads at high speed, without bothering to follow the lane discipline of-course! In metros this has become a common scene, so you might say what’s new in it!

I agree…but it just made me think, do we take our lives so casually; that we are least bothered about it! If you lose a limb or end up being the cause of someone else’s death or lifelong disability, would these cheap thrills and fun matter then? Would reaching to your destination 2 min early matter then?

My royal encounter

As a part of my job, I have to visit clients and discuss their company sites with them and my latest encounter was that with a king! Oh, yes I went to meet the king.

We got an appointment for the evening with ‘His Highness’. As it was supposed to be an important meeting everybody was pretty tensed, while as I was new, I was relatively cool and this was to be my first meeting so it hardly mattered.

On the way I was told about the kind of etiquettes expected from us eg: We were to address him as ‘His highness’, we might have to sit on the floor as he enjoy’s sitting comfortably on his cushions etc

When we reached his palace, the first thing that struck me was the beautiful place; the façade was Victorian with lush green gardens spread around. After some wait we were asked to go in. However upon entering it was a complete let down. An office desk at this end and lots of people fretting around, it resembled a government office. Lots of pictures some small some huge… some new and some historic all displayed randomly. We were a small gang and were ushered in from a side door. As others had been to the palace before they immediately removed their shoes… one of the few etiquettes!!…As we entered there was a beautiful oriental wooden partition, with ceramic surface carrying beautiful paintings of Japanese women.

As we entered to my relief we were shown a table with heavy ornate chairs to sit on, the king entered almost simultaneously, in his most casual wears like a trackpant and a loose t shirt…. For some reason His Highness seemed in a foul mood and the way he started refuting anything and everything around, it suddenly felt like we were jolted in the past.

I felt like a peasant, begging he king to waive my loan and pardon me, while the king refusing every request as he had a foul day [:D] However things got better after some running around and several attempts to improve his mood… and the king seemed to smile atlast liking what we started showing…. Whew! What a relief… Well at the end of the day, I just wish my ancestors had a better time with an imperial and thankful to god that monarchy is over and done with… Otherwise we would have landed in prison :P

Azadi Express!

I went to see the Azadi Express, a mobile exhibition put together by the government of India and Indian Railways and what good time other than 26th January? So nik & me got ready and rushed to the Bangalore cantonment to catch a glimpse of the exhibition.

We reached there at around 10.30 and saying that there was a long queue is saying anything but the least! After finally tracing the end of the line we stood patiently for our turn, which by the way came after 1 ½ hr!! However during the wait it was heartening to see so many parents accompanying their children to see this ‘Azadi Express’. People had come from as far as South Bangalore to see this rare exhibition.

The exhibition was organized in a train that was painted in our tri-colour. The paintings on both sides of the coaches traced the Indian Freedom struggle from 1857. So on one coach was painted the Soldier Mutiny while the other coach adorned the Dandi March. It was fun just looking at those painting and hearing the young ones accompanying their parent’s squeal out the freedom fighters names with joy.

Our patient wait finally bore fruit and we entered the train, and I must say it was a real brush with the past. The exhibition was put together very well with a good blend of photos, murals, thermocol cut-outs etc. However, the ‘desh-bhakti’ songs being played along with the announcements made by the volunteers was a little turnoff, and out of place!

Be it the old newspapers and their headlines describing the major events that took place, The Queens declaration after 1857, illustrations depicting the 1857 war, murals showing the brutality in the aftermath of 1857, photos showing the non-co-operation movement, Dandimarch, India’s first Independence day celebration…. You name it and it was there, all being unfolded like an illustrated story! It ended with the achievements of India as a nation after 1947 till 2007. The progress depicted in photographs and models included from fields like agriculture, defense, research, medicine, education, industry etc.
All in all it was an enriching experience, and a wonderful start to the Republic Day!