08.Nov.2010: தீபாவளி(லி??)!!!

தீபாவளி அன்று யார் வீட்டின் முன்
நிறைய பட்டாசு காகிதங்கள்
என்று தெருவில் வேடிக்கை பார்த்தபடி
சென்றனர் இரு சிறுவர்கள்...

தான் வெடித்தது தான் அதிகம்
என்ற சந்தோஷத்தோடு ஒருவன்
அவன் வீட்டினுள் ஓடுகையில்...

இன்னொருவன் முன்னவனை விட சந்தோஷத்தோடு
தனது சாக்குமூட்டையை திறந்தான் -
அந்தக் காகிதங்களை அள்ளுவதற்கு!

Tirunelveli - Kerala Trip: 06th to 10 Oct 2010

Most of you know that we had been to a 5 days of religious cum vacation trip in the October, 2010 from 06th to 10th. Just wanted to tell you a little about the trip.

Origin of the trip: I would like to tell how this trip originated. The actual plan, was that we were planning to visit Anu's native temple, Lord Laskhminarayana, in Paapakudi near Tirunelveli in Tamilnadu. It was a long pending trip as we should have visited immediately after our marriage. Anu used to tell me often to visit the temple. So after 5.5 years at last we planned to visit or rather the Lord allowed us to visit Him. No train tickets available even before 1.5 months as its the only train running in that route. So we just checked if we could go in flight and found 2 airports nearer to Tiruvnelveli - Madurai and Trivandrum. Once Trivandrum came into picture, we thought of Guruvayur as Anu had the Thulabaram in the Guruvayur Krishna temple pending since she was 3 years old. Thus, what ought to have been a weekend trip turned out to be a 5 day vacation for us :) And I need not tell that we had a great time all thru the trip except that Anu was not in good ' health.

A little detail on the places we covered.

Day 1 - 6th Oct: We started around 3.15am and reached Bangalore airport around 4.15am. Took few snaps and climbed the Kingfisher flight by 6.30 after completing all the formalities. This is the first time Anu's parents are travelling in a flight while my mom had been in flight earlier but its her first fligh with me. Sure they would have had great feelings. They provided breakfast - sambar idly and vadai..mmm it was yummy that time though a bit sweet. The view was secenic just before we landed at at Trivandrum airport but was a little disappointed to see the airport. Cab driver Arun was waiting outside for us.


Welcome to Trivandrum and it was raining and we were a little worried to see the rain. We then started to Tirunelveli and reached there in the afternoon and had lunch. The route was pathetic really that we could not commute faster. There was no rain fortunately. Then went to Paapakudi Lakshminarayana Temple and waited for the priest for sometime. Once he came and pooja was over we had the prasadam and started back to Trivandrum and stayed in Nadan Hotel that night.

Day 2 - 7th Oct: Nadan Hotel was good except that we dint have hot water in the morning for bathing but we managed with the cold water, otherwise it was pretty decent. Had breakfast and went to Sri Padmanabasami Temple. The moment we went, a person came with a basket and literally banged into Anu's hands telling that its for consecration(archanai). Likewise, another person came up with the ghee pots. After a few yards, one person was there asking for money for all those we have been forced to buy. Since it was the first time, we thought its their practice and got it. If we need to perform consecration we will get it and they should not be forcing people to buy those things. This was the first shock. Then came the next part for waiting in the queue to view The Lord. We waited in the queue for consecration for quite sometime before we discovered its not going to happen as we expected. Then we moved to the general queue except Anu as she had the archanai basket. Both the queues are separted by a rod and thats it. The moolavar is same as that of Sri Rangam temple near Trichy, Tamilnadu. This one had 3 doors where each part of The Lord could be seen - Head, Body and Leg. We could sneak a glimpse of it, note a glimpse only and not a good / full view of The Lord. We came out and waited for Anu. Looked at other areas of the temple and came out. Then we visited Aatukal Bhagavathy AmmanTemple. It seems this temple is called "Ladies' Sabarimalai". Spent sometime in the temple.

Our next destination was Alleppey boat house. Before that we went to a Kerala Saree shop Karalkada and got sarees for the ladies. Could not get dress for Aditi there. The shop was really good and took some snaps there.
After shopping, went to Veli Lake and spent sometime there taking few snaps.
Then had lunch on the way and reached Alleppey boat house in the evening. It was drizzling. All of us boarded the boat house and sat in the drawing room for sometime. The boat house contained a drawing/dinner room, 2 bed rooms with attached bath and a kitchen and a roof top space. The boat started moving. We were given tea for refreshing.
Then it started raining and so they had to park the boat over the nearby shore. We were enjoying the new experience of traveling and staying in a boat house in the backwaters. They were preparing dinner for us and we were watching a movie in DVD when suddenly there was few surprise guests flying inside the boat. Came to know it was bats and they came for the fruit which they kept inside. Immediately I locked the fruits inside one of the rooms and sat there. Once the dinner was ready, we asked them to serve inside the rooms as we don't want our guests to visit again. But believe me, the bats did not come when we were having our dinner as the boat guys had told. We felt strange really. And, come on, its time for us to have a good night's sleep in the boat house.
Day 3 - 8th Oct: In the morning woke up early and enjoyed the nature and the vast area covered with water. We had coffee and slowly we got ready while our breakfast was also getting ready. In the meanwhile, the boat house started its journey to show us the near by villages. We were enjoying the travel having our breakfast and watched other boat houses passing by. It was a 2 hours journey and we thoroughly enjoyed it. They dropped us in the boat house station and we started our journey to Guruvayur.

On the way, we went to Ambalapuzha Krishna Temple. There was a statue for an Elephant but you will mistake it for a real one. It was the one which served the temple and they raised a statue after it was dead. Took few snaps and moved on with our plan to visit Athirapalli falls. Though it took sometime to reach there, we went and had a view of the falls and returned. Reached Guruvayur and stayed in Bhasuri Inn. Had dinner in their restaurant and rested for the day.
Day 4 - 9th Oct: Woke up after we felt its fine to get out of bed and we did not rush up to Guruvayur Krisha Temple. Got ready, had coffee and went to temple. We had to wait in the queue for a little over 2 hours. One good thing here is that it was very well organized and we dint face what we experienced in Padmanabasami temple in Trivandrum. Had a good dharshan of The Lord. We then waited in the queue for thulabaram - where we can donate any item for the wieght of us. We did thulabaram for Anu (rice) and Aditi (banana). They dont allow you to take your camera inside and they have a good business in taking snaps of thulabaram and such things. We also took few snaps and gave our address and money. They were so prompt that we received it in a week's time along with the digital copy in a CD. We were impressed really.
Then we visited the nearby Mammiyoor Sri Mahadeva Temple.

We thought of visiting few places in Thrissur which in on the way to Kochi. We heard that the Marine Drive in Kochi will be too good and skipped Thrissur plan so that we can go there before evening. This stretch was the horrible one. For a mere 100 odd KM, we travelled for close to 5 hours. Thats it, Marine drive plans too collapsed. By the time we readched, it was closed. Fortunately the government boats are closed and we went for a 1 hour drive in a private boat. It was a wonderful trip. Wondered how it would have been if we had gone before dark. In the travel, they showed us: Bolgatti Palace/island, new port under construction, Chinese fishing net, place where the backwaters enters into the Arabian sea, rainbow bridge.
After a good ride, we visited Anu's chithappa place, spent sometime talking to them, had dinner and stayed in a hotel near Kochi Airport.
Day 5 - 10th Oct: The final day of our trip. We got ready and visited Kaaladi, brith place of Sri Adi Sankara. Then we came to Kochi airport. Settled the cab and started our journey back to Bangalore in GoAir flight. Reached Bangalore around 3.30 and had something to eat and reached home.

So what this trip had for us. Due to the bad roads, we could not make it to the destinations as we had expected and ended up visiting lesser places. This is just the only bad, I dont know if I should really call it bad as we dint feel that way all through the trip, part of the trip.

The driver Arun was very helpful all through the trip right from handling the luggages when we have to almost daily take it outside the cab and keep it again the next morning; taking us to places where we wanted; communicating us about the places we come across in a way we can understand in Malayalam and things like that. Though we could not cover the list of places we had on paper, whatever places we went to, we had a great time and loved it. So I would say, it was a great trip for us and this time with our family :)

One Good Thing is...

All of us know that a coin has two sides. At one point in time, you can see one side of a coin only. If you had to look at the other side of the coin, unless you flip the coin, you will not be able to see it. Likewise, in life, you have most of the ingredients in pairs like happy-sad, tall-short and such pairs.

Why I am telling this is, most of the times, many of us, including me, will look at things happened to us - looking at one side of a coin. And we forget one important thing - not flipping the coin to see the other side. In not flipping we are unaware of what is there on the other side. And there is
always "One Good Thing" in what ever has happened which you might discover when you find time to flip. I am sure this does really excite you, but I am sure that when you flip, you will appreciate and accept that it is a fact that One Good Thing exists in anything, more importantly anytime!!!

Let us have a look at a few of the happenings that occur either once in a while or in our daily walks of the life, which had atleast One Good Thing in it.

One Good Thing

* when any of your closest person, be it a friend or relative or your love, ditches you under some circumstances, is that it is really good that you learnt that you cannot count on them anymore.

* when you have failed in any of your attempts towards a particular goal, see that it in turn makes you think much better to achieve what you wanted thus honing your ability.

* when you miss the train / bus to your work place from your family / friends on a weekend night, is that, you can spend with your closed ones some more time.

* when you feel sorry / bad on seeing few folks who slog a lot to earn very little, is that, you can relax as they have got something to take care of them

* when you cross a Volvo bus, is that, you can rest assure that you will not be the chosen one for those idiots who spit out on the street from a bus.

* about this post is that you have been reminded that always there is atleast one good thing in everything and has brought a smiling curve, rather than a frowning curve, on your lips for a moment atleast.

Though at moments, you will not be in a position to look for the good things in whatever has happened, it would be good to flip the coin to discover and recover from that soon to see for the good thing in that. Now that you know that there is a good thing in everything, appreciate life for letting you know through an incident or happening.
This content is published here: http://authspot.com/thoughts/one-good-thing-is

20.June.2009: Closer look at the Sun.

Took this one from our balcony in Belathur, Bangalore. Zoomed the maximum possible in my handycam and caught the sun before it was off to rest. Loved the way it was and one of my friend told that the glare around the sun looked like Shirdi Saibaba, does it for you too? :)

23.May.2009: Shell in sand with sea behind.

Immersed the shell in the beach sand, took the snap by keeping the camera close to the sand. The result is the snap by your right hand side. Clicked in Elliots Beach, Chennai on a beautiful morning.

23.May.2009: Shell in my hand.

When I went to Elliots Beach (Besant Nagar), Chennai, with my friends on a beautiful morning, I kept the shell on my fingers and shot it by myself very close that the beach was cloudy in the background.

A Typical Day!!

Just thought of sharing how a day typically happens for us now after moving to the new place. So here it goes and most of them take place almost everyday excepting a few days.

Our typical day starts with music. Yes... listen to it now. Beep beep beep... thus goes the alarm somewhere around 4 to 4.30 in the early morning (should I say mid-night?). It is one moment when we hate ourselves like anything on why in the first place we set the alarm. Most of the times I do not get disturbed by such intrusions hihihiihiiii... Cursing with a "pch..." or "hmmm..." we (mostly Anu) hit the snooze button only to get irritated by the beep in a few minutes.

Though Anu wakes up to snooze it she makes sure that I get up first and get refreshed and she succeeds almost every time. Think this victory should give her a great feeling and this means she can sleep for some more time. And when I come out and wake her up, she opens and closes her 5 fingers as though pumping the air horn and I hear her feeble voice begging "5 minutes pleaseee...". Without waiting for my response she covers her head with the bed-sheet and continues her sleep.

I go out to wash the clothes. I should thank the washing machine that helps in completing this task. I sometimes wonder if the dhobi in our area washes so many clothes in a week atleast which we wash in a single day. I set the timer and go to wake Anu in case she is still sleeping. I start peeling fruits which we have when we travel to office in the cab. In the meanwhile, she joins me in few minutes in the kitchen after getting refreshed. Then she prepares coffee for both of us. Then she starts working towards preparing breakfast and lunch. Sometimes I assist her in cutting vegetables and then dry up the clothes.

Actually we have 2 situations - when Aditi is asleep or awake. So, all the above are possible only if Aditi is sleeping. But somehow she gets to know that both of us are out of the room and will shout either Amma or Appa. So I would go to take care of her, since I dont know cooking, while Anu does most of them on her own. The remaining is taken care by Anu's mom after we leave.

Once Aditi is awake, I go to take care of her. We get into bathroom to brush. Most of the times she brushes herself and sometimes wants me to do it. Then she will have milk (horlicks or boost) by watching TV. Then I take her to give bath, dry her, dress her up and comb her and she is ready. And in the meantime Anu is complete with packing the tiffin boxes for us - both breakfast and lunch, pack Aditi's lunch box and pack her school bag. This happens only when either Aditi or I are in a good mood, else one other task in Anu's plate for that particular day :)

Once Aditi is out of bathroom, it's the turn of Anu and me to get ready. Once we are ready, we kiss a goodbye to Aditi and rush to the cab pick up point, fortunately just in front of our apartment. I usually go first so that I can ask the driver to stay for sometime just in case if Anu has not arrived. We get into the cab and finish off with the fruits first before crawling into the book which we have in the laptop bag. I have heard and read that reading in the traveling vehicle is a strain to the eyes, and you can enjoy the world outside while traveling too. All that sounds fine, but if you happen to travel in the cab we go, for that matter any cab, you might as well be happy to not see how rashly he drives the vehicle. So to avoid getting tensed that early in the morning, we prefer reading some book or the other till we reach office.

By the time we reach the office, Aditi would have started to her school in the school bus at 8 am. She will come back around 12.30pm, picked up by the lady from creche that is inside our apartment. She stays there till we pick her up in the evening.

Once we reach office we go straight to the gym and work out for around half an hour. Then we refresh and go to cafeteria to have the breakfast we had packed from home. Once we are through, we goto our workplace and continue with our office work. We start from office in the evening at 4.45 and reach the apartment around 6pm. We then pick up Aditi from creche and go home.

After getting refreshed, I take Aditi to the play area. She spends sometime there along with the other kids in swing, slide and playing with sand. Sometimes, Anu joins us. Then we go back home. Anu continues with her dinner chores and Aditi does some coloring or that amuses her - singing. She loves it as she seldom closes her mouth. She will sing rhymes or movie songs or prayers or at times, something on her own. Its time for dinner. Once Aditi and I are through with our dinner, Anu will have her dinner and sets the dining area/table right before sleeping.

In the meanwhile, I will take Aditi to make her sleep. I have to tell her a story or two else she will not allow me to sleep. Most of the times, I tell her the story with half asleep. Sometimes, I wake up when Aditi shouts "come on tell appa" and had to hardly remember what I was telling her before I fell asleep and continue it :) Most of the times, before Anu is off to bed, she takes care of setting the alarm so that our next day also starts with music - obviously which we won't like it the next morning :)