Nov 1, 2011
Trouser hunt
Few months ago, I had to attend a conference in a different city. The day before the travel, I had given my suite to our friendly neighborhood 'istry' (ironing) shop. Though the urgency was explained, the ironing folks somehow delivered the jacket but forgot to return the trouser. I returned from work around 8:15 PM and we began enquiring the whereabouts of the ironing folks. None of the shops around had his address nor his contact number. We almost gave up, but a chance meeting with my dentist's assistant gave some hopes. The dentist operates out of the same building and some how his assistant knew where the istry person's house. She sent her son with us and we landed up in the narrow bylanes of the near by locality. We knocked on the door and found a different person living there, the istry person had moved to a new place near by!. The neighbors gave us the directions and the landmark where to look. We again began searching in the near by community. Soon, we 'discovered' at least 5-6 people who lived/operated in that area and none of them had any clue about our guy. Finally after asking some people around, we finally found our guy, who was kind enough to travel 2 kms and hand over my trouser. Though it was an annoying experience in the beginning, it turned out to be an interesting hunt. Not to mention we caught the attention of numerous onlookers in the local community, some of them came up to ask if we are from Police or some investigating agency :)
Oct 31, 2011
Bangalore - Pondicherry Trip
Pondicherry's new name is Puducherry..
We recently visited Puducherry and the kids liked every moment of the trip. For me, it was a slight disappointment, as I had great expectations in looking forward for more attractions. Having visited Goa a number of times, I expected to see a similar "colonial" touch at Pondi. Except for a few streets where one gets the buildings built in the french style, the majority of the city looks like any other Indian city. I liked the walk along the tiled pathway along the Pondi beach. The absence of the vehicles during the evening is a welcome break and one can enjoy the peaceful walk. The Aurobindo ashram is a must see attraction, so is the auroville city. The kids had great time at the auro beach. Strangely, there is hardly any night life at Pondi. Restaurants shut down their shutters around 930 or 10pm. The pubs and the other watering holes close by 1030pm, again a disappointing aspect!.
The drive from Bangalore to Pondi took about 7-8 hours with some breaks in between. We took the most traveled route, ie via Hosur, Krishnagiri, Tiruvanamallai, Gingee and so forth. The stretch from Krishnagiri to Tiruvanamallai was worst, riddled with so many potholes, some competing with the craters on the moon. The return route was quite comfortable, we traveled from Pondi via Kanchipuram and then on the tolled national highway. Enroute we had a brief stop over at Kanchi for lunch. The meals at the famous Saravana Bhavan (hq at Chennai) was quite good. We had a quick darshan of goddess Kamakshi devi and left for Bangalore.
My suggestions to anyone traveling to Pondi;
1. Travel in a SUV or a Mini Van (especially if traveling thru Tiruvanamallai). I am glad we made that decision.
2. Leave Bangalore early morning and try the Kamat Upachar ( between hosur-krishnagiri) for breakfast. Adyar Anand Bhavan is too crowded on a week end/holiday.
3. Accomodation is available in plenty ( if booked in advance). Call the hotel before booking online, sometimes you are better off with the offline booking.
We recently visited Puducherry and the kids liked every moment of the trip. For me, it was a slight disappointment, as I had great expectations in looking forward for more attractions. Having visited Goa a number of times, I expected to see a similar "colonial" touch at Pondi. Except for a few streets where one gets the buildings built in the french style, the majority of the city looks like any other Indian city. I liked the walk along the tiled pathway along the Pondi beach. The absence of the vehicles during the evening is a welcome break and one can enjoy the peaceful walk. The Aurobindo ashram is a must see attraction, so is the auroville city. The kids had great time at the auro beach. Strangely, there is hardly any night life at Pondi. Restaurants shut down their shutters around 930 or 10pm. The pubs and the other watering holes close by 1030pm, again a disappointing aspect!.
The drive from Bangalore to Pondi took about 7-8 hours with some breaks in between. We took the most traveled route, ie via Hosur, Krishnagiri, Tiruvanamallai, Gingee and so forth. The stretch from Krishnagiri to Tiruvanamallai was worst, riddled with so many potholes, some competing with the craters on the moon. The return route was quite comfortable, we traveled from Pondi via Kanchipuram and then on the tolled national highway. Enroute we had a brief stop over at Kanchi for lunch. The meals at the famous Saravana Bhavan (hq at Chennai) was quite good. We had a quick darshan of goddess Kamakshi devi and left for Bangalore.
My suggestions to anyone traveling to Pondi;
1. Travel in a SUV or a Mini Van (especially if traveling thru Tiruvanamallai). I am glad we made that decision.
2. Leave Bangalore early morning and try the Kamat Upachar ( between hosur-krishnagiri) for breakfast. Adyar Anand Bhavan is too crowded on a week end/holiday.
3. Accomodation is available in plenty ( if booked in advance). Call the hotel before booking online, sometimes you are better off with the offline booking.
Jul 25, 2011
Bangalore-M.G.Road
We were out on the Bangalore -MGRoad recently. While parking was a non-issue at the utility building, we had to go to a place down the MGRoad, near the big Kids kemp. We decided to walk this short distance, however did not realize the efforts & the risks involved. There is not even 50ft of good walking path in this stretch of MGRoad. You will invariably find the cobble stones lifted, cracked or there is a driveway in to a shopping complex or an office. While expecting a smooth ramp up/down is a distant thought, the height of the curb varies from few inches to about a feet!. In some spots, the curb width narrows down to 2-3 ft!. Worst stretch is the one around the Mayo Hall, which is packed with lots of court houses. We had to make way through the 2 plus feet curb and the parked police vehicles. With the undertrials and convicts staring at us from close distance, it was really uncomfortable and unavoidable. Also, for the first time I came across a 'one way' walking stretch, where there is a line of people on both sides and whoever comes first gets the right of way!
So the Metro is the cause for all this mess. but as you know Metro is the elevated rail, what about the pedestrians below? The motorists add their contribution to the chaos. They don't like the people walking on the streets and will do anything to push them off the roads either by honking or who knows even knocking them down!. One of the guys on the bike used the curb as a detour to get through a crowded stretch and before we realized what was happening, he was gone!
Very soon, pedestrians might require a head gear to walk on the MG Road... :)
So the Metro is the cause for all this mess. but as you know Metro is the elevated rail, what about the pedestrians below? The motorists add their contribution to the chaos. They don't like the people walking on the streets and will do anything to push them off the roads either by honking or who knows even knocking them down!. One of the guys on the bike used the curb as a detour to get through a crowded stretch and before we realized what was happening, he was gone!
Very soon, pedestrians might require a head gear to walk on the MG Road... :)
Jan 21, 2011
Karnataka Bandh
Bandh - Complete shut down!
The business, commerical establishments across the Karnataka state is being forcibly shut down by the ruling BJP government to protest against the governor's proposed disciplinary action!. Well, the complete shut down might sound absurd to the folks in the developed countries, it is a reality in India!. It is a mockery of the democratic setup we have!. The corrupt politicians don't realize the strain on the economy with a day's shut down. Millions of people depend on daily income, how do they survive? Also, what will happen to someone's planned birthday, wedding and other social events? Why should the normal citizen suffer for someone else's misdeeds?
It is time to enact a legislation (there might be one already!) to strictly ban any such 'bandh' across India.
The business, commerical establishments across the Karnataka state is being forcibly shut down by the ruling BJP government to protest against the governor's proposed disciplinary action!. Well, the complete shut down might sound absurd to the folks in the developed countries, it is a reality in India!. It is a mockery of the democratic setup we have!. The corrupt politicians don't realize the strain on the economy with a day's shut down. Millions of people depend on daily income, how do they survive? Also, what will happen to someone's planned birthday, wedding and other social events? Why should the normal citizen suffer for someone else's misdeeds?
It is time to enact a legislation (there might be one already!) to strictly ban any such 'bandh' across India.
Comedy festival: Kannada Nage Habba
A seven hour non stop kannada comedy show was organized recently in our neighbourhood. The event presented on stage, a number of popular kannada stand up comedians. While some of the artistes brought out new anectodes, most of them repeated their content. But the 3000-4000 strong crowd enjoyed every bit of the event. It was hilarious to watch Richard Louis pick out certain nuances of daily life for his story line. Most of the artistes performed along with their teams, music instruments included to add to the comedy delivery!
The event stood apart from the overall experience, everything from the seating, vehicle parking, policing and the eatery stalls were planned and setup very well. Kudos to the organizers for pulling in sponsors and doing a wonderful job.
The event reminded me of the 'HariKathe' events which we attended as kids. The narrator would tell mythological stories, in between injecting few songs and stirring the event with few funny anecdotes. The late Guru Rajulu Naidu was a famous Harikathe artiste and used to perform few times a year in the locality where we stayed, we never missed his show.
The event stood apart from the overall experience, everything from the seating, vehicle parking, policing and the eatery stalls were planned and setup very well. Kudos to the organizers for pulling in sponsors and doing a wonderful job.
The event reminded me of the 'HariKathe' events which we attended as kids. The narrator would tell mythological stories, in between injecting few songs and stirring the event with few funny anecdotes. The late Guru Rajulu Naidu was a famous Harikathe artiste and used to perform few times a year in the locality where we stayed, we never missed his show.
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