Dimdim was the first time when I encountered OSX. The first time I saw this machine.
Everything there was new including using it, the file system layout, conventions, file extensions etc etc. Then I came to know that it is actually a Unix based system. I actually had a terminal at my disposal where I could do all my stuff starting from cp/mv to ps/top. That was an awesome news for me. I was really spellbound the styling and effects and the systematic organization of files/apps etc on mac. I liked it.
But then the keyboard, the shortcuts everything was new to me.
Then there was XCode, the dev environment on OSX. It took some time to familiarize XCode but then I soon found that this piece of software was really good and usable.
The more I saw MAC the more I was impressed by it.
Enter Objective-C. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! I couldn't help but shout. Coming from a background of C/C++ starting my IIIT days, this was one language which was hell different. The most significant difference to me was the function declaration and invocation.
Declaration
C/C++ style:
char * func(int i, char * c);
Objective-C style:
-(char *) func : (int) i charlabel (char *) c;
In C, we have a type and name for each argument, but in obj-c we have a label, type and name for each argument, except for first which has no label.
function name above is "func:charlabel" :D
Invocation:
C/C++ style:
char * r = func(i,c);
Objective-C style:
char * r = [func : i charlabel : c];
It actually took me a while to digest the fact that I was reading functions in the code and I was actually invoking a funtion when I wrote the above lines :D
But then I realize that this was one language which had been developed well before C++ had evolved and it had the object-orientedness embedded in it.
You feel like OSX development is a world in itself, totally untouched and uneffected by external world!
Then started the actual coding. I realized after some time that you can invoke methods on "nil" (equivalent of our NULL) objects and not crash ur code. It just doesn't get executed! functions calls are also like messages which are delivered on a best effort basis!
below is an example:
static MyClass * c = nil;
void doOpOnMyClassVar()
{
//some code
int i = [c getVar1Val];
//some more code
}
This code was failing functionally because the "i" was not getting assigned correctly! It took me a while to trace that I forgot allocation of "c". Once I allocated, things were working awesome! But note, no crash! just ignored function call!
I had to refer to apple documentation for class references and etc. I find that though the documentation is extensive, it is not really so appealing as one finds...say java documentation or MSDN for that matter. To find the help for a funtion you may have to refer multiple places and you find many links which refer each other (page 1 says refer page 2 and page 2 says refer page 1).
After all the struggle and fight, I could finally complete the task in hand and was instantly named as the future expert of OSX code and the guy responsible for the OSX codebase :)
After this first stint, I have worked a lot on OSX and at one stage I found it strange to come back to the all familiar visual studio. I would actually instinctively use the shortcuts of OSX on windows!
I cannot help but smile when I come across these situations.
Before joining Dimdim, karthik was known as the Linux guy everywhere. But after coming here, I have worked only on Windows and OSX. Windows is OK, I worked a bit there too...but never did I dream even in my wildest dreams that I shall actually work on Objective-C and actually even respect it and get mildly addicted to it ;)
Saturday, September 19, 2009
NPAPI
I always start blogging but then stop it after a while!
This time I plan to continue blogging by including a genre which I never included before, Tech.
I had to develop an NPRuntime based plugin for windows to work across all non-IE browsers. This is my first stint at such tasks and needless to say I faced a real tough time.
But then, there are always life lines lying on the internet to help the dummies like me and one such lifeline I found was The Mozilla site . Without this, I could may be never have completed this task.
NPRuntime library is provided by Gecko. Based on my requirements I had to use Gecko 1.8 version only and nothing higher than that.
The incompatibility between the samples provided at Mozilla site and the Gecko version also proved to be smaller nightmare.
But finally I overcome all that and the plugin loads. But when I invoke a string returning function, browser hangs! Works fine for int returning functions, but hangs for string returning functions! Irony, this is the plugin sample code provided by Mozilla :(
I fought for 2 days on this single issue and finally I found the reason.
You should not allocate the "string to return" using our normal strdup() or malloc(). The correct way is here:
std::stringstream sm;
sm << "foo return val";
std::string wstr = sm.str();
char * val = (char*)NPN_MemAlloc(1 + wstr.length());
strcpy(val, sm.str().c_str());
STRINGZ_TO_NPVARIANT(val, *result);
Man! I dunno the difference between our malloc() and NPN_MemAlloc() but this being the reason for failure was something I did not expect.
So, I say, my happiest techie times are when I am submerged in a pure c/c++ code.
This time I plan to continue blogging by including a genre which I never included before, Tech.
I had to develop an NPRuntime based plugin for windows to work across all non-IE browsers. This is my first stint at such tasks and needless to say I faced a real tough time.
But then, there are always life lines lying on the internet to help the dummies like me and one such lifeline I found was The Mozilla site . Without this, I could may be never have completed this task.
NPRuntime library is provided by Gecko. Based on my requirements I had to use Gecko 1.8 version only and nothing higher than that.
The incompatibility between the samples provided at Mozilla site and the Gecko version also proved to be smaller nightmare.
But finally I overcome all that and the plugin loads. But when I invoke a string returning function, browser hangs! Works fine for int returning functions, but hangs for string returning functions! Irony, this is the plugin sample code provided by Mozilla :(
I fought for 2 days on this single issue and finally I found the reason.
You should not allocate the "string to return" using our normal strdup() or malloc(). The correct way is here:
std::stringstream sm;
sm << "foo return val";
std::string wstr = sm.str();
char * val = (char*)NPN_MemAlloc(1 + wstr.length());
strcpy(val, sm.str().c_str());
STRINGZ_TO_NPVARIANT(val, *result);
Man! I dunno the difference between our malloc() and NPN_MemAlloc() but this being the reason for failure was something I did not expect.
So, I say, my happiest techie times are when I am submerged in a pure c/c++ code.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
A Trip to St.Petersburg
Trip of a lifetime. Never in my wildest dreams ever did I imagine that I would visit Russia, even when I took up a job in Finland. So when Rakesh proposed, I immediately agreed.
The pics:
For ppl who wanna see the pics first, please find them
here
The group:
Rakesh, me and Carlo (we know him from JD)
The visa:
We had to apply for a separate visa to get to Russia. We just sent over our passports with application filled to our travel agency and then collected our passports directly from our tour guide on the bus.
The preparation:
I knew st.petersburg would be damn cold and so I made sure I had a nice pair of gloves and a dow-feather jacket in place. Apart from that not much preparations. We exchanged some roubles initially to keep us going and also carried euros (which was a very wise decision!)
The start:
It began on 24-12-2008. I had a sleepless night before from excitement. Got up, got ready and reached the place. Rakesh and I met up and we were waiting at the place where the bus was supposed to come. Lots of ppl were standing there and we realized all of them were old ppl!!! One guy came up and asked in perfect english "Do you speak finnish?". We said no and he just turned back and went away. We said "excuse me" but he did not turn back! What a group! and then there was another bus which was standing there. We called up carlo who informed that he was inside the bus! It bore a name different than the one we were informed in the mail and so we did not realize! The bus was waiting just for us and started immediately! Our guide, Vladimir, announced to the "new comers" that our driver was strict and would not wait the next time :D nice start!
It was the first time I saw with my own eyes landscapes fully covered in snow, like they show in the movies and it was totally fun! We stopped enroute in a couple of places to pick up more people. Then we reached the border.
The border:
Crossing the finnish border was an easy job. After that we proceeded to the Russian border. We were in the queue and I went up to the immigration counter. Then i recollected a scene from the movies where the lady would see the passport of a smuggler and immediately call up the police :D she was speaking russian into the phone getting frantic, shouting India into the phone and then asked me to wait by the side. Vladimir told her there are two indians! She was even more startled and asked Rakesh also to wait! Another guy of our group, a spanish, was also asked to wait. After all were cleared there were people moving all over that counter and then one some big authorotative guy came down and asked us a few questions and then we were stamped successfully! Initially it was surprising, but then may be they are not used to seeing Indian passports in that border and may be we were among the first in several years to actually come there :D We just smiled at that idea of it and proceeded to Russia.
The day:
We reached st.petersburg around 6 in the evening and checked in into the Hotel Moscow. It is a good hotel and I would recommend it to future travellers. It is also in the central location of all the tourist places and with just a hop into the subway (metro system) for a couple of stations and you can reach all the places!
So after checking in, we did not waste any time by 7 we were on the road. Carlo was really energetic and so we were walking a long way and managed to get a glimpse of the Hermitage, admiralty building, the beacons, the art museum, the neva river, used their subway all on the day of landing. After a looong walk and ended up in this nice cozy place called wunder bar where we had a nice drink to warm ourselves and then had dinner in another restaurant for authentic russian cuisine. Then we were back in the hotel. It was a nice start.
Every building in the old area of st.petersburg is special, nice architecture and we were awed by it. I instantly liked the city very much. Big imposing buildings with great elevations really excited me! With the new year approaching, there were lights, chirstmas trees all over the place and it was really wonderful!
Day 2:
I should say this is the day of maximum throughput. We covered today a few places within the itinerary and mainly a lots of them which were not.
We had a nice breakfast at the hotel and started on our guided tour of the city. Our guide here was a nice lady who could only speak russian and finnish :( we could not follow what she was saying and so we were just sailing past the city and gazing at the nice buildings. Then after some time we were told we would be accompanied by an english guide for three of us! We were happy about it and then Kate arrived.
We were surprised when she announced that she was our new guide! I really believe one has to be really lucky to have a young and really beautiful guide! Bcoz we were only three, our conversations did not go like the routine guided tours like "Please see to your left to find a ....." but were more informal and friendly. We had a chance to also talk a lot about their culture and history and ask a lot of questions. It was really nice.
We first went up to the Peter and Paul fortress. This was the first building constructed when st.petersburg was founded in 1703. The cathedral inside was nice and then we were in time to see that blank cannon shot which is fired every day at noon. I caught it in a perfect video too! The cannon I knew would make a big sound but I was surprised by the volume when it came!
So, after that we ended up in St.Isaacs cathedral. It is really beautiful. Nice. Kate had to leave us here bcoz she had an exam to attend and our guided tour would also end there. So we just jumped in by ourselves and marveled its beauty. It was big. It could hold about 14000 people at once. The architecture was really nice.
After that we had a nice quick lunch in a fast food center. We proceeded on foot for our next location, Kazan cathedral. We looked up the map, figured out the route and started walking but after sometime it was evident that we were on the wrong road. We had the map but did not know where we were on the map. It had all the street names in english and the signboards all had the Russian names in Russian script :(
So finally, we started using sign language and asking people on the road about the route. They were helpful and soon we found our way to it. Once when we asked a lady in sign language, she replied in english :D
Now this cathedral too was big like others, imposing pillars dominating the view. But it was in a kind of bad shape and lot of restoration work was on. The interiors were really beautiful and we took a lot of pics inside.
Just a few hundred meters across the road was the Cathedral on the Spilled Blood (Alexander 2nd, a great tzar, was assassinated there and this was constructed as a tribute to him. From outside, it looked more like a harry potter castle or what ever, with bright colorful domes and spikes. So we jumped in and again the interiors were really beautiful. All the cathedrals had this big paintings depicting the life of christ. This one had real huge pictures of that but soon we realized the they were not actual pictures but tiny pieces of colorful mosaics which were glued to create image. each mosaic was the size of a rice grain and to make a picture of 20X20 feet or bigger with a lot of such ones is a tough job! All the mosaics were natural in color so the artist would really try and finally manage to find the right color which would also give the shading affect and right color transition. It was really good.
After that Carlo pushed off to a ballet and Rakesh and I went back to the hotel. We were tired and wanted to relax for a while. Then Rakesh told that his TechLead back in helsinki, Vythali, hails from St.Petersburg and he was in the hotel lobby. So we started down to meet him. I thought it was just dinner and so kinda cool. We chatted for a while and he asked if we had visited the monastry right across our hotel. It was the 2nd most importhat for Russians and a lot of priests and bishops were trained there. Ok, it is just across the street and also we crossed the road and went in to see it. It was also a big cathedral and I again got to enjoy the nice ambience and imposing structures. Rakesh was very happy to have made it to 5 cathedrals that day bcoz it was 25th december, the christmas. But russians celebrate christmas according to the old calendar on Jan 7th. So 25th dec was a working day for them. So after that Vythali wanted to show us some places which the guides would not cover and so we started walking. We were walking and walking and walking and we saw so many places I almost lost track of them. We walked around the Nevksy Prospeck, the main downtown area for tourists which also houses many a tourists spots. We saw their school of ballet where young children practice after their school hours and if they are really good, join in for a full time program after schooling. We saw their theatres, monuments of greats emperors (and empresses), bridges of historical importance, the moscow railway station and a part of an industrial area. We were walking nonstop for 3.5 hrs and then we came to know that temparature was -7C. :D I suddenly felt very proud that I could actually survive in that cold for so long (I did not even have my thermal shirt on! just a shirt and jacket). Finally we hunted the roads for a restaurant which would sell Blini, a traditional russian item which was now also being promoted as a fast food. We have a limosine ride at 11.30 and so finally at 11 we gave up and went to a russian cuisine restaurant nearby our hotel. They close at 11 but then they had some food remaining and so negotiated with them keep the doors open for a bit longer :D food was real good and I finally got the taste of traditional russian vodka. It was strong but nice. I promptly fell in love with it :D So we managed to reach the limo just 2 minutes before it started. We really thanked Vythali for the time he spent with us and without whom, we wouldnt have seen so much of the city.
Now this limosine ride was also another thing which I never comtemplated, again even in my wildest dreams. The loooong car (it was a modified version of the Ford Excursion) and luxurious interiors. Wow! Kate was back with us now and our journey started. This was not kind of a guided tour but just fun. St.Petersburg by night in a limo with lots of champagne. Yes, there was lots of it. I did take care not to have too much. Just sipped it and left it there. This lasted for 2 hours and we saw some more cathedrals from outside and lots of other places. We stopped by at some places for a few minutes to take interesting snaps. But then we were walking along atleast half the route on the day before so it was a revisit for us but look at the contrast. That day it was people freezing in the cold and walking around on the roads. This day, it was in a limo with champagne with the chaffeur opening the door!
So after the limo ride we were back in hotel at around 1.30 and so dead tired that we immediately fell asleep. We knew that the next day was a big day and needed to have lots of energy for it.
Day 3:
The Hermitage museum. With about 2.7 million pieces in collection, it is one of the biggest art museums in the world. I was excited to see it. I am not an artist myself and know NOTHING about the art but then I do appreciate it :D
So for this Hermitage only we three were the subscribed tourists and so we took the metro along with kate and went in. Hermitage opens at 11 and we had an hour approximately to kill. So we decided to visit the Strogonavsky palace.
This is a kind of small place on the Nevsky Prospekt, but then it was really beautiful. We stepped in and two floors about we saw the ceiling very beautifully carved with designs. Later on we realized it was not carving but painting which is so real like! I was realy amazed. It was real beautiful piece. There were 11 rooms for display and though not very big, each room was unique and beautiful in its own way. It was a well spent 45 minutes.
Now we reached the palace square with its iconic tower in the middle. We took some good pictures of it and then moved into Hermitage situated right across it.
Now this hermitage is a real imposing building on its own. It has several sections which have been built over years by the yester year kings. Initially designed to be the winter palace its a real place of grandieur. Any golden color you see on the walls or ceiling is a gold leaf. I dunno how many kgs of gold really went into it! So its divided into 5 inter-connected sections, the winter palace, the small hermitage, the old hermitage, the new hermitage and the theatre. We did not step into the theatre but roamed around all the other buildings. We were provided a guide here who is a real historian and so the tour was amazing. The sheer grandieur of Hermitage is enough to take away the breadth of anybody. The art also was really good and I really saw the paintings of people whose names I have only read in books like Da Vinci, Piccasso and Goya among others. The guided tour was really good and after that we had some time to check out some more on our own. By 3 we were so overwhelmed and tired for walking that we decided to call it quits. Our legs were really paining since we were walking since morning and so we had a small lunch and lots of rest for about an hour. After that we went back to the Strognovsky palace for a museum there which we had skipped due to paucity of time in the morning. We were already introduced to the people there by Kate so we did not need a 2nd ticket :D This museum is about the organization which prepared like about 20K types of postcards of the history and copies running into millions. So it was again a flash back into the history of russia, only this time through old postcards :)
After that Carlo wanted to shop for some postcards which he could send back home and Rakesh and I decided to push off to see the Bronze horseman. Now this Bronze horseman is the statue of Peter The Great, who founded the city, mounted on a horse. It was there on every souvenir, drawn on every booklet but then not marked on the tourist map. We had twice before tried to reach is based on our approximate knowledge and failed. So finally we had Kate mark it for us on the map and then based on that we reached it. So after a brief photoshoot and a look at the it we went ahead to look at the other such artifact alluring us, the Sphinx. This is acutally 2 Sphinx carvings (small ones though) imported from Egypt set facing each other along the neva river. So we reached it and had a photo shoot there also and spent some time gazing at them.
Then we headed back to the hotel, rested for an hour and went ahead to a japanese restaurant nearby we discovered. Rakesh ordered an Octopus but I was not into it. We had a nice drink and really good food. We spent a long night chatting away and finally fell alseep at around 2.
Day 4:
This day we started off for the Catherine' palace at Pushkin, a suburb of st.petersburg. Pushkin was one of the greatest poets of Russia. He was raised in that place and so it was named after him posthumously. It was a long ride during which we saw the new part of st.petersburg which resembles any other modern city with big glass front buildings. We also passed through a set of hills over which the germans, during the WW2, had camped on and held watch over the city when it was under seige. Finally after an hour we reached the palace. I saw the big really good building and started taking pictures of it when Kate told that its not the palace but only servant quarters :D ok so we reached the palace and it too was built with all the pomp and grandieur. We went around the palace knowing more about its history and awing at the architecture. Here too anything golden on the walls is gold leaf! So much wealth and style. The amber from trees is also considered to be semi-precious stone and there is a room full of amber walls called the amber room in which photography is not allowed. The germans had actually sliced the walls and took away the entire amber layers and hid it for a long time before it was again brought back and the room restored. There was also a 10 minute singing by a group of russian musicians which was like the typical european singing in Operas I have seen on movies. This palace was also unique in that almost all the rooms here have a dutch style marble made big chimney which in itself was pretty artistic. I dont know how you differentiate between styles of various countries though :D I could just see that the chimneys were looking nice :D
After a tour of the palace, we just walked out through the back entrance and found a big empty space full of snow. Then we realized that its actually a frozen lake. Rakesh and I were immediately all out to walk over it while Carlo said hes not crazy enough :D So Rakesh, Kate and I went down to the lake and found that it was a bit thin along the border. So we walked further away and found a place where it was thick enough and started walking through it. Again, this was one thing which I never thought I would do. When my friend Ragz told about seeing a half water half frozen lake in Himalayas, I could only look at its photograph and say Wow! But now I was actually walking over one :) I was all smiles and happy and then after half way down the lake I just push off the snow to see the actual frozen ice of the lake :D We took some pictures of it and then started to walk back.
All this while I was looking for a real good souvenir which would represent Russia. I had decided that I would take the russian emblem of the two headed eagle. May it be engraved or as a parchment or painted or whatever it was going to be that. We toured around the souvenir shops there but could not find one and I could not settle for something less! So we then moved on from there and reached our hotel by around 3.
We just grabbed a sandwich and proceeded by subway to the Nevsky Prospekt. And then it happened. When we got into the train, suddenly there was a huge rush and pushing around. I then realized that someone was trying to take my purse out. I just slapped hard on the hand and covered my pockets. Rakesh went through a similar thing and he just warned me of pick-pocketing. As soon as he uttered the word, one guy behind us coughed and all became normal again. No more pushing. Meanwhile Carlo pushed his way through the crowd of thieves and standing a bit away and when he checked his wallet was gone. Meanwhile we reached a station where all people got off and went on their way. So we too got down and went to lodge a complaint with the police. We had to use sign language and after a bit of explaining things to them and finally calling up kate to do the translation over phone we were out of the police station.
Then we pushed off to the Russian Museum. Now, this also happens to be one of the world' finest museums showcasing the Russian art and artifacts since 10th century. We had a really nice time walking through all the rooms and again admiring the art. We were in the museum till the closing time when we were guided back to the entrance.
After this we wanted to get a taste of the traditional russian dish of Blini. We came to know of a restaurant where it would be sold and went there. This Blini happens to be like a version of sweet dosa we have in india with a curry being put in the middle like our masala dosa. In all it was a nice dish but then I did not expect it to taste like something which I already knew!
Now Carlo went back to hotel and we decided that we would do some shopping and find my souvenir. While walking to a mall we realized that we were out of money. So I went back to the hotel to exchange some euros while Rakesh went around the mall with Kate, who had joined us. I was back to the mall and behold! They had meanwhile found out the exact souvenir I was looking for! It was really beautiful and I really thank them for this. So now we just walked along some roads and meanwhile Carlo joined us and we headed to another authentic russian cuisine for dinner.
Here again we had a round of Blini and so real good food with a nice russian beer. We had a nice long chat about various cultures and stuff and finally after saying bye byes to Kate reached hotel sweet hotel.
Day 5:
Breakfast. Pack and leave. We were dead tired from all the touring during the past days and promptly fell asleep soon after leaving the city limits. We stopped around 1 at a place called Wyborg (or may be something else) and here lo! Blini again!!! I was sitting by the driver' side sometime and watching the nice scenaries and taking pictures and we reached the border. As I thought, they again made us wait till all were over, people moved around all over, a big officer came but this time there were no questions. After a round of discussion they finally decided to let us go over! So we were in Finland again and I took a small nap which ended when we reached Helsinki :D More bye byes to every one on trip and an hour later I was Home sweet Home!!!
A few points:
Well, st.petersburg has a population of 7.4 million, about 40% more than the population of Finland. So it is a mega city. Several times the size of Helsinki, the first time we had an insight into it was when we boarded the subway. Here each station was may be a minute or two away but in st.petersburg, we could be travelling upto 10 mins in some cases to reach a station. They have a very efficient and extensive subway without which the city may be considered dead. Wiki says that this subway serves about 30 lakh people every day. The Mumbai local serves 66 lakhs a day. Kudos to them.
I also noticed that some of the subway stations within the city were constructed at around twice the depth of their helsinki counter parts. Wiki says that they have the deepest subway in the world. Initially we thought its bcoz they have to crisscross the river. Well, we were partially true. But then Vythali explained that these stations were also meant to be a war shelter to the citizens and were designed to withstand a nuclear attack! It occured to me that we never thought in that perspective and may be even the Finns while designing their metro.
The traditional russian doll and the traditional russian dish, both were something we are familiar with in India, though with a different name. It does make me curious enough to ask if there is a reason behind it.
Can I write more? I dunno. At this point I have to conclude this document but then if something else comes up....
The pics:
For ppl who wanna see the pics first, please find them
here
The group:
Rakesh, me and Carlo (we know him from JD)
The visa:
We had to apply for a separate visa to get to Russia. We just sent over our passports with application filled to our travel agency and then collected our passports directly from our tour guide on the bus.
The preparation:
I knew st.petersburg would be damn cold and so I made sure I had a nice pair of gloves and a dow-feather jacket in place. Apart from that not much preparations. We exchanged some roubles initially to keep us going and also carried euros (which was a very wise decision!)
The start:
It began on 24-12-2008. I had a sleepless night before from excitement. Got up, got ready and reached the place. Rakesh and I met up and we were waiting at the place where the bus was supposed to come. Lots of ppl were standing there and we realized all of them were old ppl!!! One guy came up and asked in perfect english "Do you speak finnish?". We said no and he just turned back and went away. We said "excuse me" but he did not turn back! What a group! and then there was another bus which was standing there. We called up carlo who informed that he was inside the bus! It bore a name different than the one we were informed in the mail and so we did not realize! The bus was waiting just for us and started immediately! Our guide, Vladimir, announced to the "new comers" that our driver was strict and would not wait the next time :D nice start!
It was the first time I saw with my own eyes landscapes fully covered in snow, like they show in the movies and it was totally fun! We stopped enroute in a couple of places to pick up more people. Then we reached the border.
The border:
Crossing the finnish border was an easy job. After that we proceeded to the Russian border. We were in the queue and I went up to the immigration counter. Then i recollected a scene from the movies where the lady would see the passport of a smuggler and immediately call up the police :D she was speaking russian into the phone getting frantic, shouting India into the phone and then asked me to wait by the side. Vladimir told her there are two indians! She was even more startled and asked Rakesh also to wait! Another guy of our group, a spanish, was also asked to wait. After all were cleared there were people moving all over that counter and then one some big authorotative guy came down and asked us a few questions and then we were stamped successfully! Initially it was surprising, but then may be they are not used to seeing Indian passports in that border and may be we were among the first in several years to actually come there :D We just smiled at that idea of it and proceeded to Russia.
The day:
We reached st.petersburg around 6 in the evening and checked in into the Hotel Moscow. It is a good hotel and I would recommend it to future travellers. It is also in the central location of all the tourist places and with just a hop into the subway (metro system) for a couple of stations and you can reach all the places!
So after checking in, we did not waste any time by 7 we were on the road. Carlo was really energetic and so we were walking a long way and managed to get a glimpse of the Hermitage, admiralty building, the beacons, the art museum, the neva river, used their subway all on the day of landing. After a looong walk and ended up in this nice cozy place called wunder bar where we had a nice drink to warm ourselves and then had dinner in another restaurant for authentic russian cuisine. Then we were back in the hotel. It was a nice start.
Every building in the old area of st.petersburg is special, nice architecture and we were awed by it. I instantly liked the city very much. Big imposing buildings with great elevations really excited me! With the new year approaching, there were lights, chirstmas trees all over the place and it was really wonderful!
Day 2:
I should say this is the day of maximum throughput. We covered today a few places within the itinerary and mainly a lots of them which were not.
We had a nice breakfast at the hotel and started on our guided tour of the city. Our guide here was a nice lady who could only speak russian and finnish :( we could not follow what she was saying and so we were just sailing past the city and gazing at the nice buildings. Then after some time we were told we would be accompanied by an english guide for three of us! We were happy about it and then Kate arrived.
We were surprised when she announced that she was our new guide! I really believe one has to be really lucky to have a young and really beautiful guide! Bcoz we were only three, our conversations did not go like the routine guided tours like "Please see to your left to find a ....." but were more informal and friendly. We had a chance to also talk a lot about their culture and history and ask a lot of questions. It was really nice.
We first went up to the Peter and Paul fortress. This was the first building constructed when st.petersburg was founded in 1703. The cathedral inside was nice and then we were in time to see that blank cannon shot which is fired every day at noon. I caught it in a perfect video too! The cannon I knew would make a big sound but I was surprised by the volume when it came!
So, after that we ended up in St.Isaacs cathedral. It is really beautiful. Nice. Kate had to leave us here bcoz she had an exam to attend and our guided tour would also end there. So we just jumped in by ourselves and marveled its beauty. It was big. It could hold about 14000 people at once. The architecture was really nice.
After that we had a nice quick lunch in a fast food center. We proceeded on foot for our next location, Kazan cathedral. We looked up the map, figured out the route and started walking but after sometime it was evident that we were on the wrong road. We had the map but did not know where we were on the map. It had all the street names in english and the signboards all had the Russian names in Russian script :(
So finally, we started using sign language and asking people on the road about the route. They were helpful and soon we found our way to it. Once when we asked a lady in sign language, she replied in english :D
Now this cathedral too was big like others, imposing pillars dominating the view. But it was in a kind of bad shape and lot of restoration work was on. The interiors were really beautiful and we took a lot of pics inside.
Just a few hundred meters across the road was the Cathedral on the Spilled Blood (Alexander 2nd, a great tzar, was assassinated there and this was constructed as a tribute to him. From outside, it looked more like a harry potter castle or what ever, with bright colorful domes and spikes. So we jumped in and again the interiors were really beautiful. All the cathedrals had this big paintings depicting the life of christ. This one had real huge pictures of that but soon we realized the they were not actual pictures but tiny pieces of colorful mosaics which were glued to create image. each mosaic was the size of a rice grain and to make a picture of 20X20 feet or bigger with a lot of such ones is a tough job! All the mosaics were natural in color so the artist would really try and finally manage to find the right color which would also give the shading affect and right color transition. It was really good.
After that Carlo pushed off to a ballet and Rakesh and I went back to the hotel. We were tired and wanted to relax for a while. Then Rakesh told that his TechLead back in helsinki, Vythali, hails from St.Petersburg and he was in the hotel lobby. So we started down to meet him. I thought it was just dinner and so kinda cool. We chatted for a while and he asked if we had visited the monastry right across our hotel. It was the 2nd most importhat for Russians and a lot of priests and bishops were trained there. Ok, it is just across the street and also we crossed the road and went in to see it. It was also a big cathedral and I again got to enjoy the nice ambience and imposing structures. Rakesh was very happy to have made it to 5 cathedrals that day bcoz it was 25th december, the christmas. But russians celebrate christmas according to the old calendar on Jan 7th. So 25th dec was a working day for them. So after that Vythali wanted to show us some places which the guides would not cover and so we started walking. We were walking and walking and walking and we saw so many places I almost lost track of them. We walked around the Nevksy Prospeck, the main downtown area for tourists which also houses many a tourists spots. We saw their school of ballet where young children practice after their school hours and if they are really good, join in for a full time program after schooling. We saw their theatres, monuments of greats emperors (and empresses), bridges of historical importance, the moscow railway station and a part of an industrial area. We were walking nonstop for 3.5 hrs and then we came to know that temparature was -7C. :D I suddenly felt very proud that I could actually survive in that cold for so long (I did not even have my thermal shirt on! just a shirt and jacket). Finally we hunted the roads for a restaurant which would sell Blini, a traditional russian item which was now also being promoted as a fast food. We have a limosine ride at 11.30 and so finally at 11 we gave up and went to a russian cuisine restaurant nearby our hotel. They close at 11 but then they had some food remaining and so negotiated with them keep the doors open for a bit longer :D food was real good and I finally got the taste of traditional russian vodka. It was strong but nice. I promptly fell in love with it :D So we managed to reach the limo just 2 minutes before it started. We really thanked Vythali for the time he spent with us and without whom, we wouldnt have seen so much of the city.
Now this limosine ride was also another thing which I never comtemplated, again even in my wildest dreams. The loooong car (it was a modified version of the Ford Excursion) and luxurious interiors. Wow! Kate was back with us now and our journey started. This was not kind of a guided tour but just fun. St.Petersburg by night in a limo with lots of champagne. Yes, there was lots of it. I did take care not to have too much. Just sipped it and left it there. This lasted for 2 hours and we saw some more cathedrals from outside and lots of other places. We stopped by at some places for a few minutes to take interesting snaps. But then we were walking along atleast half the route on the day before so it was a revisit for us but look at the contrast. That day it was people freezing in the cold and walking around on the roads. This day, it was in a limo with champagne with the chaffeur opening the door!
So after the limo ride we were back in hotel at around 1.30 and so dead tired that we immediately fell asleep. We knew that the next day was a big day and needed to have lots of energy for it.
Day 3:
The Hermitage museum. With about 2.7 million pieces in collection, it is one of the biggest art museums in the world. I was excited to see it. I am not an artist myself and know NOTHING about the art but then I do appreciate it :D
So for this Hermitage only we three were the subscribed tourists and so we took the metro along with kate and went in. Hermitage opens at 11 and we had an hour approximately to kill. So we decided to visit the Strogonavsky palace.
This is a kind of small place on the Nevsky Prospekt, but then it was really beautiful. We stepped in and two floors about we saw the ceiling very beautifully carved with designs. Later on we realized it was not carving but painting which is so real like! I was realy amazed. It was real beautiful piece. There were 11 rooms for display and though not very big, each room was unique and beautiful in its own way. It was a well spent 45 minutes.
Now we reached the palace square with its iconic tower in the middle. We took some good pictures of it and then moved into Hermitage situated right across it.
Now this hermitage is a real imposing building on its own. It has several sections which have been built over years by the yester year kings. Initially designed to be the winter palace its a real place of grandieur. Any golden color you see on the walls or ceiling is a gold leaf. I dunno how many kgs of gold really went into it! So its divided into 5 inter-connected sections, the winter palace, the small hermitage, the old hermitage, the new hermitage and the theatre. We did not step into the theatre but roamed around all the other buildings. We were provided a guide here who is a real historian and so the tour was amazing. The sheer grandieur of Hermitage is enough to take away the breadth of anybody. The art also was really good and I really saw the paintings of people whose names I have only read in books like Da Vinci, Piccasso and Goya among others. The guided tour was really good and after that we had some time to check out some more on our own. By 3 we were so overwhelmed and tired for walking that we decided to call it quits. Our legs were really paining since we were walking since morning and so we had a small lunch and lots of rest for about an hour. After that we went back to the Strognovsky palace for a museum there which we had skipped due to paucity of time in the morning. We were already introduced to the people there by Kate so we did not need a 2nd ticket :D This museum is about the organization which prepared like about 20K types of postcards of the history and copies running into millions. So it was again a flash back into the history of russia, only this time through old postcards :)
After that Carlo wanted to shop for some postcards which he could send back home and Rakesh and I decided to push off to see the Bronze horseman. Now this Bronze horseman is the statue of Peter The Great, who founded the city, mounted on a horse. It was there on every souvenir, drawn on every booklet but then not marked on the tourist map. We had twice before tried to reach is based on our approximate knowledge and failed. So finally we had Kate mark it for us on the map and then based on that we reached it. So after a brief photoshoot and a look at the it we went ahead to look at the other such artifact alluring us, the Sphinx. This is acutally 2 Sphinx carvings (small ones though) imported from Egypt set facing each other along the neva river. So we reached it and had a photo shoot there also and spent some time gazing at them.
Then we headed back to the hotel, rested for an hour and went ahead to a japanese restaurant nearby we discovered. Rakesh ordered an Octopus but I was not into it. We had a nice drink and really good food. We spent a long night chatting away and finally fell alseep at around 2.
Day 4:
This day we started off for the Catherine' palace at Pushkin, a suburb of st.petersburg. Pushkin was one of the greatest poets of Russia. He was raised in that place and so it was named after him posthumously. It was a long ride during which we saw the new part of st.petersburg which resembles any other modern city with big glass front buildings. We also passed through a set of hills over which the germans, during the WW2, had camped on and held watch over the city when it was under seige. Finally after an hour we reached the palace. I saw the big really good building and started taking pictures of it when Kate told that its not the palace but only servant quarters :D ok so we reached the palace and it too was built with all the pomp and grandieur. We went around the palace knowing more about its history and awing at the architecture. Here too anything golden on the walls is gold leaf! So much wealth and style. The amber from trees is also considered to be semi-precious stone and there is a room full of amber walls called the amber room in which photography is not allowed. The germans had actually sliced the walls and took away the entire amber layers and hid it for a long time before it was again brought back and the room restored. There was also a 10 minute singing by a group of russian musicians which was like the typical european singing in Operas I have seen on movies. This palace was also unique in that almost all the rooms here have a dutch style marble made big chimney which in itself was pretty artistic. I dont know how you differentiate between styles of various countries though :D I could just see that the chimneys were looking nice :D
After a tour of the palace, we just walked out through the back entrance and found a big empty space full of snow. Then we realized that its actually a frozen lake. Rakesh and I were immediately all out to walk over it while Carlo said hes not crazy enough :D So Rakesh, Kate and I went down to the lake and found that it was a bit thin along the border. So we walked further away and found a place where it was thick enough and started walking through it. Again, this was one thing which I never thought I would do. When my friend Ragz told about seeing a half water half frozen lake in Himalayas, I could only look at its photograph and say Wow! But now I was actually walking over one :) I was all smiles and happy and then after half way down the lake I just push off the snow to see the actual frozen ice of the lake :D We took some pictures of it and then started to walk back.
All this while I was looking for a real good souvenir which would represent Russia. I had decided that I would take the russian emblem of the two headed eagle. May it be engraved or as a parchment or painted or whatever it was going to be that. We toured around the souvenir shops there but could not find one and I could not settle for something less! So we then moved on from there and reached our hotel by around 3.
We just grabbed a sandwich and proceeded by subway to the Nevsky Prospekt. And then it happened. When we got into the train, suddenly there was a huge rush and pushing around. I then realized that someone was trying to take my purse out. I just slapped hard on the hand and covered my pockets. Rakesh went through a similar thing and he just warned me of pick-pocketing. As soon as he uttered the word, one guy behind us coughed and all became normal again. No more pushing. Meanwhile Carlo pushed his way through the crowd of thieves and standing a bit away and when he checked his wallet was gone. Meanwhile we reached a station where all people got off and went on their way. So we too got down and went to lodge a complaint with the police. We had to use sign language and after a bit of explaining things to them and finally calling up kate to do the translation over phone we were out of the police station.
Then we pushed off to the Russian Museum. Now, this also happens to be one of the world' finest museums showcasing the Russian art and artifacts since 10th century. We had a really nice time walking through all the rooms and again admiring the art. We were in the museum till the closing time when we were guided back to the entrance.
After this we wanted to get a taste of the traditional russian dish of Blini. We came to know of a restaurant where it would be sold and went there. This Blini happens to be like a version of sweet dosa we have in india with a curry being put in the middle like our masala dosa. In all it was a nice dish but then I did not expect it to taste like something which I already knew!
Now Carlo went back to hotel and we decided that we would do some shopping and find my souvenir. While walking to a mall we realized that we were out of money. So I went back to the hotel to exchange some euros while Rakesh went around the mall with Kate, who had joined us. I was back to the mall and behold! They had meanwhile found out the exact souvenir I was looking for! It was really beautiful and I really thank them for this. So now we just walked along some roads and meanwhile Carlo joined us and we headed to another authentic russian cuisine for dinner.
Here again we had a round of Blini and so real good food with a nice russian beer. We had a nice long chat about various cultures and stuff and finally after saying bye byes to Kate reached hotel sweet hotel.
Day 5:
Breakfast. Pack and leave. We were dead tired from all the touring during the past days and promptly fell asleep soon after leaving the city limits. We stopped around 1 at a place called Wyborg (or may be something else) and here lo! Blini again!!! I was sitting by the driver' side sometime and watching the nice scenaries and taking pictures and we reached the border. As I thought, they again made us wait till all were over, people moved around all over, a big officer came but this time there were no questions. After a round of discussion they finally decided to let us go over! So we were in Finland again and I took a small nap which ended when we reached Helsinki :D More bye byes to every one on trip and an hour later I was Home sweet Home!!!
A few points:
Well, st.petersburg has a population of 7.4 million, about 40% more than the population of Finland. So it is a mega city. Several times the size of Helsinki, the first time we had an insight into it was when we boarded the subway. Here each station was may be a minute or two away but in st.petersburg, we could be travelling upto 10 mins in some cases to reach a station. They have a very efficient and extensive subway without which the city may be considered dead. Wiki says that this subway serves about 30 lakh people every day. The Mumbai local serves 66 lakhs a day. Kudos to them.
I also noticed that some of the subway stations within the city were constructed at around twice the depth of their helsinki counter parts. Wiki says that they have the deepest subway in the world. Initially we thought its bcoz they have to crisscross the river. Well, we were partially true. But then Vythali explained that these stations were also meant to be a war shelter to the citizens and were designed to withstand a nuclear attack! It occured to me that we never thought in that perspective and may be even the Finns while designing their metro.
The traditional russian doll and the traditional russian dish, both were something we are familiar with in India, though with a different name. It does make me curious enough to ask if there is a reason behind it.
Can I write more? I dunno. At this point I have to conclude this document but then if something else comes up....
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
A trip to Lepakshi and Nandi Hills
Well, it all started with Phani suggesting that we go to Lepakshi for the weekend. I, as usual, was ready and Nirmal too jumped in. It had to be the sunday for Nirmal to make it and so it was. We planned to do it on bikes, Phani' and mine, as I was eager to put my bike to work, but then my brother wasn't comfortable with the idea and I ended up with his Palio :) Well I can say it was really nice to have it.
Route to Lekapshi is Bangalore - Chikkabalapur - andhra border - a small village (Chilamattur, name courtesy Phani!) - diversion for 14 km - Lepakshi.
Where that village comes, what that diversion is, I would have surely been in soup if not for the all knowledgable Phani.
Well, sunday morning Nirmal and I started at 6.45, picked up Phani enroute and pushed off. Ride was smooth for most part, thanks to the new roads being laid for the BIAL! We finally reached "the small village" at around 10 after a slow pleasure drive. There is an AP Tourism punnami restaurant on the highway and we had some good breakfast and coffee. From there the diversion is 14 km long and going by the view I got at the entry, I thought we were done for. But soon the road smoothened up and even on that single road, one can coolly move at around 50 kmph. So, finally we reached Lepakshi and right at the start of the village you have the Lepakshi Nandi.
The Lepakshi Nandi is the biggest monolith (carved out of a single stone) nandi in India. It is really colossal and was carved in place. We started taking pics and giving out various poses. We came across a good guide who explained us all about the history of the location, the architectural values, the carvings on the Nandi and the logic/history behind them and so on. It was nice to pick up all the history in a very efficiently narrated summary. After that we just went to nearby rocks and took more photos and giving out more poses. Nobody could stop Nirmal!
Behold, outside there was lot of commotion, people getting down in buses and whole lot of activity. We came to know that this is the constituency where NTR stood while elections back then and now Balakrishna is gearing up to repeat the history. Tarakaratna was coming there during the later half of the day and so all this commotion! The Balayya fan in me was really excited to hear about it! I loved to see all those cutouts and posters put all around the place!
After chilling out (or should I say heating up, it was pretty hot!) at the Nandi, we moved on to the main temple. We intially had pooja done and then got ready to explore the temple' architecture. One poojari of the temple volunteered to give us a guided tour. We owe many thanks to him too. The temple has several small carvings which people like us can neither notice nor appreciate without they pointing things to us. Some of the carvings were really intelligent and one has to bow to the creativity of the sculptors! I had heard that Lepakshi has a hanging pillar and it was one of the main reasons I was willing to come down here.
Then I got to see it! It was really hanging. History says that it was totally hanging till 1902 when one british architect wanted to find out more about it and moved it a bit. This slight movement caused several cracks and twists in the nearby pillars and only then he could fully comprehend the architectural importance of it and left it alone. So, this pillar touches now the land slightly in one corner, so you cant actually pass a full cloth right through it, but still it is wonderful to see such marvels.
After a long guided tour and chilling out it was time to come back. We passed a scenic spot enroute and stopped to get some good youthful snaps. After that, a nice lunch at a dhaba and then to Nandi Hills.
We reached Nandi Hills at 5.30 around and it was really awesome. The hill was totally covered in clouds. We could see the ground underneath as a lush green patch and clouds floating away below us. View was breath taking and Nirmal coming there for the 1st time, was overjoyed. We also had a look at the birthplace of the Arkavathi river. We spent about an hour there, had a nice coffee and started back.
The return journey was peaceful. I dropped off Phani enroute, back home, a nice refreshing bath, ordered and ate an american chopsuey and a good night' sleep.
I hardly had any sleep the night before and did not really think that I would have enough ammo to make the trip so long and great! But I guess its really that enthu in the team which gives you all this energy!!! It was a really refreshing enjoyable great day and I have to wholeheartedly thank Nirmal and Phani for making it one!
Route to Lekapshi is Bangalore - Chikkabalapur - andhra border - a small village (Chilamattur, name courtesy Phani!) - diversion for 14 km - Lepakshi.
Where that village comes, what that diversion is, I would have surely been in soup if not for the all knowledgable Phani.
Well, sunday morning Nirmal and I started at 6.45, picked up Phani enroute and pushed off. Ride was smooth for most part, thanks to the new roads being laid for the BIAL! We finally reached "the small village" at around 10 after a slow pleasure drive. There is an AP Tourism punnami restaurant on the highway and we had some good breakfast and coffee. From there the diversion is 14 km long and going by the view I got at the entry, I thought we were done for. But soon the road smoothened up and even on that single road, one can coolly move at around 50 kmph. So, finally we reached Lepakshi and right at the start of the village you have the Lepakshi Nandi.
The Lepakshi Nandi is the biggest monolith (carved out of a single stone) nandi in India. It is really colossal and was carved in place. We started taking pics and giving out various poses. We came across a good guide who explained us all about the history of the location, the architectural values, the carvings on the Nandi and the logic/history behind them and so on. It was nice to pick up all the history in a very efficiently narrated summary. After that we just went to nearby rocks and took more photos and giving out more poses. Nobody could stop Nirmal!
Behold, outside there was lot of commotion, people getting down in buses and whole lot of activity. We came to know that this is the constituency where NTR stood while elections back then and now Balakrishna is gearing up to repeat the history. Tarakaratna was coming there during the later half of the day and so all this commotion! The Balayya fan in me was really excited to hear about it! I loved to see all those cutouts and posters put all around the place!
After chilling out (or should I say heating up, it was pretty hot!) at the Nandi, we moved on to the main temple. We intially had pooja done and then got ready to explore the temple' architecture. One poojari of the temple volunteered to give us a guided tour. We owe many thanks to him too. The temple has several small carvings which people like us can neither notice nor appreciate without they pointing things to us. Some of the carvings were really intelligent and one has to bow to the creativity of the sculptors! I had heard that Lepakshi has a hanging pillar and it was one of the main reasons I was willing to come down here.
Then I got to see it! It was really hanging. History says that it was totally hanging till 1902 when one british architect wanted to find out more about it and moved it a bit. This slight movement caused several cracks and twists in the nearby pillars and only then he could fully comprehend the architectural importance of it and left it alone. So, this pillar touches now the land slightly in one corner, so you cant actually pass a full cloth right through it, but still it is wonderful to see such marvels.
After a long guided tour and chilling out it was time to come back. We passed a scenic spot enroute and stopped to get some good youthful snaps. After that, a nice lunch at a dhaba and then to Nandi Hills.
We reached Nandi Hills at 5.30 around and it was really awesome. The hill was totally covered in clouds. We could see the ground underneath as a lush green patch and clouds floating away below us. View was breath taking and Nirmal coming there for the 1st time, was overjoyed. We also had a look at the birthplace of the Arkavathi river. We spent about an hour there, had a nice coffee and started back.
The return journey was peaceful. I dropped off Phani enroute, back home, a nice refreshing bath, ordered and ate an american chopsuey and a good night' sleep.
I hardly had any sleep the night before and did not really think that I would have enough ammo to make the trip so long and great! But I guess its really that enthu in the team which gives you all this energy!!! It was a really refreshing enjoyable great day and I have to wholeheartedly thank Nirmal and Phani for making it one!
Thursday, July 24, 2008
A Trip through the Western Ghats - Day 2
Well, a small break between the first and second posts!
We had a tight schedule the next day and so I was up by morning 4. Got ready by 4:30 and woke Phani up. Poor Phani cried and cried and woke up at around 5 and took another half hour to get ready. All this while, I was browsing various news sites on my mobile. I was taken aback. I did not know previously that almost all of the famous news sites have mobile versions! It was almost fun!
So, we were ready. Came down to the hotel entrance only to find it closed. There was nobody there. We had to open the door ourselves and started off towards the temple (plz note, we did not know where the temple was!). We were walking and walking and there was nobody around. Finally we came across one gentleman and he told us the approximate direction. We went on walking and the last mile was chalked out based on the typical temple sounds you hear early in the morning.
Anyways, Udipi peetham is a very famous temple down south and the deity is Lord Sri Krishna. Like most temples in Western Ghats, you are not allowed to wear a shirt within the temple premises. So, we headed inside and were roaming around. We tried to get near the holy pond and were suddenly stopped by a guard. Later, we came to know that the Peethaadipathi was performing daily rituals at the pond. Finally we headed for darshan. It was nice. The idol there is very small and it actually took me some time to realize that I was actually looking at it. After our prayers, we headed for the town of Udipi.
It was just around 6 AM and all was very calm and quite. Udipi is a decent town, pretty idyllic. We were just roaming around the town, walked up to the main road, our hotel, figured out an alternate route from hotel to temple, found the local ISKCON establishment and finally figured out the route from Udipi to Manipal (the famous University town). All that and finally back to our hotel and had a nice heavy breakfast at an opposite restaurant. One thing I must say, Udipi does live up to its name as far as South Indian Foods are concerned, but were not really impressed with the “Manjurian” kinda stuff we came across. And so after that we pushed decided to head toward Agumbe.
The bus to Agumbe started at 8. Got a chance to pass through Manipal, the university town. It too was pretty idyllic and very organized. But very small though. Before we realized, we again started climbing the Western Ghats.
Now, Agumbe is one of the highest peaks of the Western Ghats. On a clear day, during sunset, one can see the shores of Arabian Sea from its View Point (Is it the Malpe beach). Now, I guess, you understand my disappointment about missing Agumbe by sunset. Agumbe also records the 2nd highest rainfall in India and hence popularly known as Cherrapunji of South India. So, imagine a ride where you climb the Ghats from plain sea level to the highest peak! The sceneries were really breath taking and I must say I could already hear my Tiger revving up those ghats. Lush green forests, bird sounds to be heard even above our loud engine noise, steep roads, twists, turns, it was amazing. As the altitude increased every inch of the road was like a view point. The road started getting narrow and narrow. At places, I really thought the tyre was about to slip. You have to be a real expert to be driving a bus on that road. They are good drivers.
Up, up and away. We were going and going and suddenly there we arrived at a stretch which out did all others we had seen till then. The view was really amazing. You could see miles and miles of just pure lush green Western Ghats. We were awed. Our heads were going tizzy over the beauty. Three km after that we reached Agumbe.
At the bus stand, we got down and enquired our bus conductor about the route to The View Point of Agumbe. He gave a Big Smile and we realized we had passed it on our way. And then we met him. He also got down from our bus to catch a connection to another route. He spoke English and Hindi. He grew up in those areas and so all was common to him. He told there is nothing to see at the View Point. We just nodded our heads. An advice from a no-nonsense guy. And then he said it again. And again. And again…Lucky us! His bus came and he waved us a bye. Phew! We started our walk back the three km though the Village of Agumbe.
This was the same village where the famous serial Malgudi Days was shot. It was a clean, small village. One thing very conspicuous was the presence of several policemen. Anyways, we headed out of the village, passed though a BSNL broadcast tower (logical place right!), had a nice snack at a small shop there and headed for the View point.
About one and half KM from the village, there was a board saying “Way to Waterfalls” at a distance of 3.5 KM. Phani wanted to go there but we were running short of time so I managed to convince Phani that we shall think about it on our way back! So we walked and just before reaching the Actual view point, came across a looooong stairs which would take us a few feet about the View point from the same angle. Good! We took that stairs and reached the Top.
You recall I described the beautiful stretch of road I described above? Well, this was it. Really nice view. We enjoyed the light breeze and relaxed for a few minutes. Then I finally got the chance to open my Digicam. Yes, I had it with me all along but Phani, being the Phani he is, would not allow me to take it out and spend time in photography. I forcefully took my cam out and shot some nice pics of the view, but I should confess I felt really bad for not having a much powerful camera.
We gave a few poses and suddenly monkeys started arriving. One, two, three, dozen, more, more, more wow! We decided it the best to walk away from there and started our journey back.
So, we were walking back, Phani and me, thoroughly enjoying the nature, happy with the view point. Suddenly there was a noise. We turned around and saw it. Long, Black, about three inches thick at the center; it slid very fast into the bushes just beyond the road. It took us a second to realize! It was a cobra! The same snake I would watch in awe at the Bannerughatta zoo, across the glass. Hardly five feet away from us. We couldn’t tell the length, because we did not see it’s head, but it would surely be a minimum of Six feet. Shoot!!! Six foot, three inch thick cobra, with venom enough to kill a hundred people, passed just within five feet of us!!! It was excited but also afraid. I knew Agumbe is famous for cobras, but on the road! In the bright sun light! I had least expected it! It is one second I would remember for a long time to come.
We continued our walk, animatedly talking about the cobra. We reached a small culvert kinda thing, which was made of two white painted stone slabs, one on top of the other. Walkers would be tempted to sit on it and we would have too, had we not seen a snake’s tail hanging out from within the stones! As we neared, the tail was pulled inside, but we knew there was a snake inside! We decided it the best to walk a bit in the middle of the road. Then we came across that “Way to Waterfall” board. It was just a trial kinda thing that can hold a car, may be. Full of forest on either side. So were we ready to take that path now? :) You should have realized the answer by now! We reached Agumbe, had a nice cool drink and took a bus to Sringeri.
Sringeri is the first and foremost of the Four Peethams established by Adi Sankara Charya the other three being Kanchi, Mathura and Vaishno Devi. I had been there before though I don’t recall much from my earlier trip. Anyways, we went in and first had a nice darshan. Then we proceeded to the banks of the Tunga river just beside. It is always a feast to be there, with the fish playing just at the banks and slipping just off ur fingers when you try to catch them. After that, we proceeded to lunch. Here too, we had the delicious free meal and somehow Phani felt I did not eat well! We wanted to darshan and take blessings of the Pontiff but were informed that darshan would be at 5 PM. It was only 1:30 then and so we proceed to take a bus back to Bangalore.
We were walking down the road and suddenly saw a poster of “Happy Days”, another hit Telugu movie. Here I was in the middle of Western Ghats in a temple town where there was not even a single alcohol shop (hey, this is just to emphasize the austerity being practiced) and there was a poster of a latest Telugu hit! Few steps ahead we saw the now playing movie – Seema Sastry! This was heights! We laughed about it for long while.
Finally we took the 2 PM bus to Bangalore. It was again a long journey back, mostly spent sleeping. Finally we reached Bangalore at around 10. Our Office where (we left our bikes there) at 11 and Home sweet Home at 12!
It was a nice trip all in all. We both enjoyed it thoroughly the highlights being the Agumbe View and the Cobra! Remember cost cutting? The entire trip, including Friday night dinner, cost us less than 900 INR per head. Isn’t that really cool?
One thing I would say worth mentioning in this trip was the bus service. From Sivamogga till Sringeri, our entire journey was by private buses. It was not just a random group of buses plying about, but a well organized co-operative society kinda thing. We were issued formal tickets, the conductors would maintain logs about collections, conductors would switch at regular intervals along a lengthy route, one would handover the entire collection and documentation to the other and it was impressive. Like a well oiled machine. I came across very few KSRTC buses across those roads. May be this is one reason for such an efficient system being in place or is it vice-versa? That is something I cannot comment on!
Amazing trip. Nice journey. Beautiful sceneries. Adventurous route. All at 900 bucks! What more can I ask? I know. More such trips!
We had a tight schedule the next day and so I was up by morning 4. Got ready by 4:30 and woke Phani up. Poor Phani cried and cried and woke up at around 5 and took another half hour to get ready. All this while, I was browsing various news sites on my mobile. I was taken aback. I did not know previously that almost all of the famous news sites have mobile versions! It was almost fun!
So, we were ready. Came down to the hotel entrance only to find it closed. There was nobody there. We had to open the door ourselves and started off towards the temple (plz note, we did not know where the temple was!). We were walking and walking and there was nobody around. Finally we came across one gentleman and he told us the approximate direction. We went on walking and the last mile was chalked out based on the typical temple sounds you hear early in the morning.
Anyways, Udipi peetham is a very famous temple down south and the deity is Lord Sri Krishna. Like most temples in Western Ghats, you are not allowed to wear a shirt within the temple premises. So, we headed inside and were roaming around. We tried to get near the holy pond and were suddenly stopped by a guard. Later, we came to know that the Peethaadipathi was performing daily rituals at the pond. Finally we headed for darshan. It was nice. The idol there is very small and it actually took me some time to realize that I was actually looking at it. After our prayers, we headed for the town of Udipi.
It was just around 6 AM and all was very calm and quite. Udipi is a decent town, pretty idyllic. We were just roaming around the town, walked up to the main road, our hotel, figured out an alternate route from hotel to temple, found the local ISKCON establishment and finally figured out the route from Udipi to Manipal (the famous University town). All that and finally back to our hotel and had a nice heavy breakfast at an opposite restaurant. One thing I must say, Udipi does live up to its name as far as South Indian Foods are concerned, but were not really impressed with the “Manjurian” kinda stuff we came across. And so after that we pushed decided to head toward Agumbe.
The bus to Agumbe started at 8. Got a chance to pass through Manipal, the university town. It too was pretty idyllic and very organized. But very small though. Before we realized, we again started climbing the Western Ghats.
Now, Agumbe is one of the highest peaks of the Western Ghats. On a clear day, during sunset, one can see the shores of Arabian Sea from its View Point (Is it the Malpe beach). Now, I guess, you understand my disappointment about missing Agumbe by sunset. Agumbe also records the 2nd highest rainfall in India and hence popularly known as Cherrapunji of South India. So, imagine a ride where you climb the Ghats from plain sea level to the highest peak! The sceneries were really breath taking and I must say I could already hear my Tiger revving up those ghats. Lush green forests, bird sounds to be heard even above our loud engine noise, steep roads, twists, turns, it was amazing. As the altitude increased every inch of the road was like a view point. The road started getting narrow and narrow. At places, I really thought the tyre was about to slip. You have to be a real expert to be driving a bus on that road. They are good drivers.
Up, up and away. We were going and going and suddenly there we arrived at a stretch which out did all others we had seen till then. The view was really amazing. You could see miles and miles of just pure lush green Western Ghats. We were awed. Our heads were going tizzy over the beauty. Three km after that we reached Agumbe.
At the bus stand, we got down and enquired our bus conductor about the route to The View Point of Agumbe. He gave a Big Smile and we realized we had passed it on our way. And then we met him. He also got down from our bus to catch a connection to another route. He spoke English and Hindi. He grew up in those areas and so all was common to him. He told there is nothing to see at the View Point. We just nodded our heads. An advice from a no-nonsense guy. And then he said it again. And again. And again…Lucky us! His bus came and he waved us a bye. Phew! We started our walk back the three km though the Village of Agumbe.
This was the same village where the famous serial Malgudi Days was shot. It was a clean, small village. One thing very conspicuous was the presence of several policemen. Anyways, we headed out of the village, passed though a BSNL broadcast tower (logical place right!), had a nice snack at a small shop there and headed for the View point.
About one and half KM from the village, there was a board saying “Way to Waterfalls” at a distance of 3.5 KM. Phani wanted to go there but we were running short of time so I managed to convince Phani that we shall think about it on our way back! So we walked and just before reaching the Actual view point, came across a looooong stairs which would take us a few feet about the View point from the same angle. Good! We took that stairs and reached the Top.
You recall I described the beautiful stretch of road I described above? Well, this was it. Really nice view. We enjoyed the light breeze and relaxed for a few minutes. Then I finally got the chance to open my Digicam. Yes, I had it with me all along but Phani, being the Phani he is, would not allow me to take it out and spend time in photography. I forcefully took my cam out and shot some nice pics of the view, but I should confess I felt really bad for not having a much powerful camera.
We gave a few poses and suddenly monkeys started arriving. One, two, three, dozen, more, more, more wow! We decided it the best to walk away from there and started our journey back.
So, we were walking back, Phani and me, thoroughly enjoying the nature, happy with the view point. Suddenly there was a noise. We turned around and saw it. Long, Black, about three inches thick at the center; it slid very fast into the bushes just beyond the road. It took us a second to realize! It was a cobra! The same snake I would watch in awe at the Bannerughatta zoo, across the glass. Hardly five feet away from us. We couldn’t tell the length, because we did not see it’s head, but it would surely be a minimum of Six feet. Shoot!!! Six foot, three inch thick cobra, with venom enough to kill a hundred people, passed just within five feet of us!!! It was excited but also afraid. I knew Agumbe is famous for cobras, but on the road! In the bright sun light! I had least expected it! It is one second I would remember for a long time to come.
We continued our walk, animatedly talking about the cobra. We reached a small culvert kinda thing, which was made of two white painted stone slabs, one on top of the other. Walkers would be tempted to sit on it and we would have too, had we not seen a snake’s tail hanging out from within the stones! As we neared, the tail was pulled inside, but we knew there was a snake inside! We decided it the best to walk a bit in the middle of the road. Then we came across that “Way to Waterfall” board. It was just a trial kinda thing that can hold a car, may be. Full of forest on either side. So were we ready to take that path now? :) You should have realized the answer by now! We reached Agumbe, had a nice cool drink and took a bus to Sringeri.
Sringeri is the first and foremost of the Four Peethams established by Adi Sankara Charya the other three being Kanchi, Mathura and Vaishno Devi. I had been there before though I don’t recall much from my earlier trip. Anyways, we went in and first had a nice darshan. Then we proceeded to the banks of the Tunga river just beside. It is always a feast to be there, with the fish playing just at the banks and slipping just off ur fingers when you try to catch them. After that, we proceeded to lunch. Here too, we had the delicious free meal and somehow Phani felt I did not eat well! We wanted to darshan and take blessings of the Pontiff but were informed that darshan would be at 5 PM. It was only 1:30 then and so we proceed to take a bus back to Bangalore.
We were walking down the road and suddenly saw a poster of “Happy Days”, another hit Telugu movie. Here I was in the middle of Western Ghats in a temple town where there was not even a single alcohol shop (hey, this is just to emphasize the austerity being practiced) and there was a poster of a latest Telugu hit! Few steps ahead we saw the now playing movie – Seema Sastry! This was heights! We laughed about it for long while.
Finally we took the 2 PM bus to Bangalore. It was again a long journey back, mostly spent sleeping. Finally we reached Bangalore at around 10. Our Office where (we left our bikes there) at 11 and Home sweet Home at 12!
It was a nice trip all in all. We both enjoyed it thoroughly the highlights being the Agumbe View and the Cobra! Remember cost cutting? The entire trip, including Friday night dinner, cost us less than 900 INR per head. Isn’t that really cool?
One thing I would say worth mentioning in this trip was the bus service. From Sivamogga till Sringeri, our entire journey was by private buses. It was not just a random group of buses plying about, but a well organized co-operative society kinda thing. We were issued formal tickets, the conductors would maintain logs about collections, conductors would switch at regular intervals along a lengthy route, one would handover the entire collection and documentation to the other and it was impressive. Like a well oiled machine. I came across very few KSRTC buses across those roads. May be this is one reason for such an efficient system being in place or is it vice-versa? That is something I cannot comment on!
Amazing trip. Nice journey. Beautiful sceneries. Adventurous route. All at 900 bucks! What more can I ask? I know. More such trips!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
A Trip through the western Ghats - Day 1
Time frame: April 4th 2008 night to 6th night
It all started one Tuesday night. Phani and I were walking our way back from office (that’s a 10 km walk dudes!!!). We suddenly decided that we had to go somewhere that weekend. No planning, no groups. Just we both. It sounded fun. We started thinking about the possible destinations. One thing stuck us, Agumbe. We had reached home by then and after looking through the Karnataka map, we finalized on a list of places.
Sivamogga (also called Shimoga), Kollur, Murudeswara, Agumbe, Udipi and Sringeri.
It was unanimously decided that the trip would be executed with severe cost cutting in mind :)
Thursday morning we booked our bus ticket to Sivamogga (2+3 seater) for Friday night. There was no chalked out route as such. The rest of the journey was not planned. We would enquire the routes, possibilities etc on the fly.
The Friday arrived. We pushed off the majestic, had dinner there itself and boarded our bus. It started at 10.30 sharp. We were chatting on several things and finally fell asleep.
Bangalore - Sivamogga is 350 km. All was smooth till 2 AM around and then suddenly everyone in the bus was jumping around their seats! The bus was still doing over 60 and the road was pretty much bad. People started complaining but the driver did not slow down. He had is own schedule to keep up I guess! Anyways, Phani and I enjoyed jumping around. By 4:30 AM we reached Sivamogga.
We got down and tried to figure out a bus to Udipi. There were none standing. We went to the enquiry counter. It was closed. Lookup with the charts painted on the wall told that there was no bus for us till around 8 AM. We enquired a few people out there and could not get much information. We waited for sometime and met a Telugu bus conductor. We started chatting with him and also helped push the bus. Not many were there to help, so it was a deemed a pretty tough job but then, it was Phani at the back so the bus moved easily.
We tried to take a room for an hour or so and freshen up but could not strike up a decent bargain. “An hour or day, price is 200” was the answer and the cost-cutting mode did not allow us to exhibit such extravaganza. We just walked out of the bus station to figure out some other hotel when we saw a bus stand right out there for private buses. There was one bus scheduled to leave to Kollur in the next few mins with the Udipi bus being much later. So we decided to move on to Kollur.
The bus started sharp at 6 AM. Then I had the first chance to have a glimpse at this town called Shimoga, though I prefer the traditional name of Sivamogga (and I do refer to it that way always). It was a small town, pretty much calm (or is it bcoz its 6 AM?) and looked well organized. After sometime we were out of town and instantly fell asleep. Somewhere, at around 8, we stopped for breakfast. We had a heavy dinner the previous night and I had not even used the rest room that morning, So, I decided to skip breakfast. Phani had a plate idly and I, a coffee. The bus started, moved a few inches and reported a flat tyre. Ok now. We had to switch to the spare wheel. So I decided to use the restaurant’s restroom for a loo. I went in, relieved myself and came back to see the bus just starting to move and Phani waving animatedly and getting ready to halt the bus. I could not comprehend it! I was away for may be like 3 mins max and a bus tyre had been changed! Shoot! I take 10 mins to change a car tyre! I believe flat tyres are a common scenario on those roads giving extensive experience to the drivers! Anyways, we proceeded towards Kollur. Guess buses are not really frequent in those routes. There was heavy rush through out the route from daily laborers to teachers moving from village to village. We were lucky to have boarded at the start and have a seat.
All this while, we were moving through the Western Ghats. I had done the madikeri-sakleshpura route previously but this was different. There was no too much coffee plantation anywhere. It was proper forest type thing. Road was decent too and I realized I was gonna do that route on my tiger (you ppl read Pulsar 180) soon. Anyways around 10 AM we reached a decently big village, something like a Taluk HQ and the bus almost emptied. Few were seated and we were enjoying the route and nice landscapes and valleys along the roadside.
Suddenly I noticed something else.
In the long seat besides the driver (its parallel to the bus wall, giving a sideways view of the person seated) there was a girl! There are some faces you can never forget! She was one of them. Fair, sharp features, beautiful smile, dressed in white chudidar and talking cheerfully to others seated across. It’s been really long that I have not been able to take eyes off a girl. And there was one, right in front of me. And suddenly I realized that she had noticed me staring shamelessly and was noticeably embarrassed. I recovered and turned my face away. But I admit that I was stealing a few glances at her once in a while!
In the midst of all this, it was 11 and we arrived at Kollur. I was hoping she would get down but alas! It’s not a movie and so she was gone! And I was back to my senses :)
Anyways, we took a small room there for 100 bucks, bought soap and had a nice bath and flush. The temple at Kollur was just a stone’s throw away.
The goddess at Kollur was Mookaambika. Its the typical temple you find across Western Ghats, with wooden ceiling, low roof and lit inside by only oil lights.
The temple would open at 12, we were informed and so had to stand in the queue. I noticed that there were many Malayalam people and that all the writings on the walls had three languages Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam written. Later, I came know that Kollur is a very important destination for Keralites. The temple opened at 12. We had a good darshan and then proceeded towards the meals section.
One thing about the temples in Dakshin Karnataka is that they all serve free meals. Free and really tasty too! Added to that, there was this cost cutting thingy! So, we went ahead and had a nice lunch there.
Out at 1:30 PM and pushed off to room. Packed what ever was outside including the wet soap (rmr cost cutting??) and started towards the bus stand. We starting enquiring the route to it and were told “it’s just around the corner” and yes it was! Half a km from our hotel, we found it.
Enquiries back at the hotel told us that Murudeswara was not enroute Udipi as we had initially thought, but it would be a triangle and considering the distances and time, we had to skip it :( further enquiries had also told us that there would not be any buses after sunset from Agumbe to either Udipi or Sringeri, so we had to drop the idea of Agumbe by sunset too! So our next destination was Udipi.
After a wait of about half an hour, we started off to Udipi. The road was as usual really awesome and we finally exited the Western Ghats and entered the coast. Soon after we reached the coast our bus had big time problems and we were switched to another bus passing by. We moved on and suddenly we started crossing a bridge. It looked like a big river initially but then it was the back waters of the Arabian Sea. The scene was awesome. It would be a real nice idea to pedal or row a boat leisurely in that. Then we came across one more bridge like that. Finally Kundapura. It was a nice town, with the typical hustle and bustle. As we neared the bus station, I was surprised to see a big poster of Jalsa, a Telugu movie! Man! Here I was at the other end of the state nowhere even remotely near Andhra and I was seeing a big poster of the lastest Telugu hit! Wow!
After a brief halt, we proceeded to Udipi and reached the main bus station at around 4:30 PM.
Udipi! Across south, where ever you go, you are sure to find an “Udipi restaurant”. They are known for their quality and taste of the South Indian style of food. And here we are at the town of Udipi itself! So does every restaurant one finds here ensure such reliability?? :)
We started looking for some hotel to stay for the night and initially cam across a big one, but then the cost cutting made us move on to the next hotel down the line. We got a deal of 150 bucks for a night and settled in.
Just as we were arriving to Udipi, we started chalking out our next part of schedule. I thought of covering the Udipi temple that evening so that we could push off to Agumbe early next morning. But there was something else. Phani was very excited. I instantly recalled a dialogue from the Rajni movie Chandramukhi: “She was in a psychic vibration” and here Phani was in a psychic vibration. Udipi had a beach! He was excited and wanted to spend the evening there. Being the guy who grew up along side the coast, the sea is not new to me. But then I realized sea is really amazing for someone who lives in the interior regions! So we agreed to spend time at the beach that evening.
And thus, we started at 5 PM from our room, had some snacks and headed for the local bus stand right besides our hotel. I opted to take an auto direct to the Malpe beach at Udipi, but Phani was particular about cost-cutting and hence we boarded a bus after some enquiries.
Now the Malpe beach, 6 KM from city center, is the Arabian Sea, calm and nice. There was a water scooter for ride but we not really dressed for getting wet and neither did we have some decent waterproof bag to shield our mobiles and purses. So, we skipped it and took a loooong walk at the edge of the water. All the while chatting away. We took a few photographs of each other on our mobiles, ate some junk food and relaxed at the beach. It was near 8 and the beach was almost empty. We decided to head back and suddenly my routine migrane started. Understanding that buses were rare to ply at this time, we had to ignore our cost cutting rules and take an auto back to hotel. Ofcourse, had that migrane not started, we could have had a leisurely walk back!
I skipped my dinner, bought a bottle of amrutanjan and anti-migrane tablets enroute, headed directly for the hotel and slept immediately. I told Phani to lock me in the room, have a leisurely dinner and come back. But Phani, being the nice guy he is, got some small time stuff packed right across the hotel and came back to stay by my side. Ofcourse, I was already half-asleep by the time he came in and so he too started his good night’s sleep after dinner.
And thus ended our Day 1.
It all started one Tuesday night. Phani and I were walking our way back from office (that’s a 10 km walk dudes!!!). We suddenly decided that we had to go somewhere that weekend. No planning, no groups. Just we both. It sounded fun. We started thinking about the possible destinations. One thing stuck us, Agumbe. We had reached home by then and after looking through the Karnataka map, we finalized on a list of places.
Sivamogga (also called Shimoga), Kollur, Murudeswara, Agumbe, Udipi and Sringeri.
It was unanimously decided that the trip would be executed with severe cost cutting in mind :)
Thursday morning we booked our bus ticket to Sivamogga (2+3 seater) for Friday night. There was no chalked out route as such. The rest of the journey was not planned. We would enquire the routes, possibilities etc on the fly.
The Friday arrived. We pushed off the majestic, had dinner there itself and boarded our bus. It started at 10.30 sharp. We were chatting on several things and finally fell asleep.
Bangalore - Sivamogga is 350 km. All was smooth till 2 AM around and then suddenly everyone in the bus was jumping around their seats! The bus was still doing over 60 and the road was pretty much bad. People started complaining but the driver did not slow down. He had is own schedule to keep up I guess! Anyways, Phani and I enjoyed jumping around. By 4:30 AM we reached Sivamogga.
We got down and tried to figure out a bus to Udipi. There were none standing. We went to the enquiry counter. It was closed. Lookup with the charts painted on the wall told that there was no bus for us till around 8 AM. We enquired a few people out there and could not get much information. We waited for sometime and met a Telugu bus conductor. We started chatting with him and also helped push the bus. Not many were there to help, so it was a deemed a pretty tough job but then, it was Phani at the back so the bus moved easily.
We tried to take a room for an hour or so and freshen up but could not strike up a decent bargain. “An hour or day, price is 200” was the answer and the cost-cutting mode did not allow us to exhibit such extravaganza. We just walked out of the bus station to figure out some other hotel when we saw a bus stand right out there for private buses. There was one bus scheduled to leave to Kollur in the next few mins with the Udipi bus being much later. So we decided to move on to Kollur.
The bus started sharp at 6 AM. Then I had the first chance to have a glimpse at this town called Shimoga, though I prefer the traditional name of Sivamogga (and I do refer to it that way always). It was a small town, pretty much calm (or is it bcoz its 6 AM?) and looked well organized. After sometime we were out of town and instantly fell asleep. Somewhere, at around 8, we stopped for breakfast. We had a heavy dinner the previous night and I had not even used the rest room that morning, So, I decided to skip breakfast. Phani had a plate idly and I, a coffee. The bus started, moved a few inches and reported a flat tyre. Ok now. We had to switch to the spare wheel. So I decided to use the restaurant’s restroom for a loo. I went in, relieved myself and came back to see the bus just starting to move and Phani waving animatedly and getting ready to halt the bus. I could not comprehend it! I was away for may be like 3 mins max and a bus tyre had been changed! Shoot! I take 10 mins to change a car tyre! I believe flat tyres are a common scenario on those roads giving extensive experience to the drivers! Anyways, we proceeded towards Kollur. Guess buses are not really frequent in those routes. There was heavy rush through out the route from daily laborers to teachers moving from village to village. We were lucky to have boarded at the start and have a seat.
All this while, we were moving through the Western Ghats. I had done the madikeri-sakleshpura route previously but this was different. There was no too much coffee plantation anywhere. It was proper forest type thing. Road was decent too and I realized I was gonna do that route on my tiger (you ppl read Pulsar 180) soon. Anyways around 10 AM we reached a decently big village, something like a Taluk HQ and the bus almost emptied. Few were seated and we were enjoying the route and nice landscapes and valleys along the roadside.
Suddenly I noticed something else.
In the long seat besides the driver (its parallel to the bus wall, giving a sideways view of the person seated) there was a girl! There are some faces you can never forget! She was one of them. Fair, sharp features, beautiful smile, dressed in white chudidar and talking cheerfully to others seated across. It’s been really long that I have not been able to take eyes off a girl. And there was one, right in front of me. And suddenly I realized that she had noticed me staring shamelessly and was noticeably embarrassed. I recovered and turned my face away. But I admit that I was stealing a few glances at her once in a while!
In the midst of all this, it was 11 and we arrived at Kollur. I was hoping she would get down but alas! It’s not a movie and so she was gone! And I was back to my senses :)
Anyways, we took a small room there for 100 bucks, bought soap and had a nice bath and flush. The temple at Kollur was just a stone’s throw away.
The goddess at Kollur was Mookaambika. Its the typical temple you find across Western Ghats, with wooden ceiling, low roof and lit inside by only oil lights.
The temple would open at 12, we were informed and so had to stand in the queue. I noticed that there were many Malayalam people and that all the writings on the walls had three languages Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam written. Later, I came know that Kollur is a very important destination for Keralites. The temple opened at 12. We had a good darshan and then proceeded towards the meals section.
One thing about the temples in Dakshin Karnataka is that they all serve free meals. Free and really tasty too! Added to that, there was this cost cutting thingy! So, we went ahead and had a nice lunch there.
Out at 1:30 PM and pushed off to room. Packed what ever was outside including the wet soap (rmr cost cutting??) and started towards the bus stand. We starting enquiring the route to it and were told “it’s just around the corner” and yes it was! Half a km from our hotel, we found it.
Enquiries back at the hotel told us that Murudeswara was not enroute Udipi as we had initially thought, but it would be a triangle and considering the distances and time, we had to skip it :( further enquiries had also told us that there would not be any buses after sunset from Agumbe to either Udipi or Sringeri, so we had to drop the idea of Agumbe by sunset too! So our next destination was Udipi.
After a wait of about half an hour, we started off to Udipi. The road was as usual really awesome and we finally exited the Western Ghats and entered the coast. Soon after we reached the coast our bus had big time problems and we were switched to another bus passing by. We moved on and suddenly we started crossing a bridge. It looked like a big river initially but then it was the back waters of the Arabian Sea. The scene was awesome. It would be a real nice idea to pedal or row a boat leisurely in that. Then we came across one more bridge like that. Finally Kundapura. It was a nice town, with the typical hustle and bustle. As we neared the bus station, I was surprised to see a big poster of Jalsa, a Telugu movie! Man! Here I was at the other end of the state nowhere even remotely near Andhra and I was seeing a big poster of the lastest Telugu hit! Wow!
After a brief halt, we proceeded to Udipi and reached the main bus station at around 4:30 PM.
Udipi! Across south, where ever you go, you are sure to find an “Udipi restaurant”. They are known for their quality and taste of the South Indian style of food. And here we are at the town of Udipi itself! So does every restaurant one finds here ensure such reliability?? :)
We started looking for some hotel to stay for the night and initially cam across a big one, but then the cost cutting made us move on to the next hotel down the line. We got a deal of 150 bucks for a night and settled in.
Just as we were arriving to Udipi, we started chalking out our next part of schedule. I thought of covering the Udipi temple that evening so that we could push off to Agumbe early next morning. But there was something else. Phani was very excited. I instantly recalled a dialogue from the Rajni movie Chandramukhi: “She was in a psychic vibration” and here Phani was in a psychic vibration. Udipi had a beach! He was excited and wanted to spend the evening there. Being the guy who grew up along side the coast, the sea is not new to me. But then I realized sea is really amazing for someone who lives in the interior regions! So we agreed to spend time at the beach that evening.
And thus, we started at 5 PM from our room, had some snacks and headed for the local bus stand right besides our hotel. I opted to take an auto direct to the Malpe beach at Udipi, but Phani was particular about cost-cutting and hence we boarded a bus after some enquiries.
Now the Malpe beach, 6 KM from city center, is the Arabian Sea, calm and nice. There was a water scooter for ride but we not really dressed for getting wet and neither did we have some decent waterproof bag to shield our mobiles and purses. So, we skipped it and took a loooong walk at the edge of the water. All the while chatting away. We took a few photographs of each other on our mobiles, ate some junk food and relaxed at the beach. It was near 8 and the beach was almost empty. We decided to head back and suddenly my routine migrane started. Understanding that buses were rare to ply at this time, we had to ignore our cost cutting rules and take an auto back to hotel. Ofcourse, had that migrane not started, we could have had a leisurely walk back!
I skipped my dinner, bought a bottle of amrutanjan and anti-migrane tablets enroute, headed directly for the hotel and slept immediately. I told Phani to lock me in the room, have a leisurely dinner and come back. But Phani, being the nice guy he is, got some small time stuff packed right across the hotel and came back to stay by my side. Ofcourse, I was already half-asleep by the time he came in and so he too started his good night’s sleep after dinner.
And thus ended our Day 1.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Muhurtham
Muhurtham: The word in Telugu for an auspicious moment, good time to start anything new.
From childhood, we are taught to always consult the muhurtham for anything non-routine. Start of a journey, beginning of a construction, joining of a new job, marriage, birth and even death (though not in our hands, it is in the wish list to die at an auspicious moment). There are of course some, who take it beyond and consult muhurtham for even day to day activities like stepping into the office daily at an auspicious, no meetings at inauspicious moments.
Why is a particular moment deemed good while others are considered bad?
Then, there is a difference of opinion among various communities. The new moon day (Amaavaasya in Telugu) is considered to be pretty inauspicious for Telugu people. We would never start anything good/new that day. Even a few days (last 4 or is it beyond?) before the new moon day are deemed to be “less auspicious” compared to other days. Why? I would have really tried to find out the answer but for another fact I have come across. The new moon day is a very auspicious day for Tamilians, people from my neighboring state. How can a day be one way for us and the other way for them? What kind of a difference could exist between two fellow human beings that would make a moment good for one and bad for the other? If something does exist, which makes things work the way they are, would that not differentiate between two Telugu people? If a child’ parents come for Telugu and Tamil backgrounds, which rules would apply to the child? Is the new moon good or bad for him? If someone can answer this question to me satisfactorily, may be then I would try to think about questions beyond this. Agreed I have not really tried much to find out an answer to this question, never really posed this question in front of scholars, but somehow cannot pull myself together to really raise a debate on this issue for try to find more information about this. When I have to voice out my opinion on this issue, I only have to say this:
Any moment is auspicious, if the deed it good
Any moment is bad, if the deed is evil
All we can do is to perform our duties with commitment
So, after saying all this, would I see the muhurtham for my marriage? Yes, I would! I am a part of this society and to remain one, I guess I would have to.
And thus the “Man of Logic and Science” is also the “Man with hypocrisy”!
From childhood, we are taught to always consult the muhurtham for anything non-routine. Start of a journey, beginning of a construction, joining of a new job, marriage, birth and even death (though not in our hands, it is in the wish list to die at an auspicious moment). There are of course some, who take it beyond and consult muhurtham for even day to day activities like stepping into the office daily at an auspicious, no meetings at inauspicious moments.
Why is a particular moment deemed good while others are considered bad?
Then, there is a difference of opinion among various communities. The new moon day (Amaavaasya in Telugu) is considered to be pretty inauspicious for Telugu people. We would never start anything good/new that day. Even a few days (last 4 or is it beyond?) before the new moon day are deemed to be “less auspicious” compared to other days. Why? I would have really tried to find out the answer but for another fact I have come across. The new moon day is a very auspicious day for Tamilians, people from my neighboring state. How can a day be one way for us and the other way for them? What kind of a difference could exist between two fellow human beings that would make a moment good for one and bad for the other? If something does exist, which makes things work the way they are, would that not differentiate between two Telugu people? If a child’ parents come for Telugu and Tamil backgrounds, which rules would apply to the child? Is the new moon good or bad for him? If someone can answer this question to me satisfactorily, may be then I would try to think about questions beyond this. Agreed I have not really tried much to find out an answer to this question, never really posed this question in front of scholars, but somehow cannot pull myself together to really raise a debate on this issue for try to find more information about this. When I have to voice out my opinion on this issue, I only have to say this:
Any moment is auspicious, if the deed it good
Any moment is bad, if the deed is evil
All we can do is to perform our duties with commitment
So, after saying all this, would I see the muhurtham for my marriage? Yes, I would! I am a part of this society and to remain one, I guess I would have to.
And thus the “Man of Logic and Science” is also the “Man with hypocrisy”!
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