Where the waves never stop...

From Gokarna V2

Gokarna -- it is one of those places I've been to and would love to go again.

The waves, the relatively clean and quiet beaches, the sunset over the water, the beach, the sea life - it is quite the opposite of a typical Chennai beach! I've seen fishes of kinds (and jelly fishes too). I've seen beautiful stones and rocks - eroded by the sea and wind - leaving beautiful sculptures. I've had yummy food in those shacks where they let you hang around forever - yummy food facing the sea!

What more can I ask for? You could spend days walking around those beaches and find something new each day!

How to reach: Karwar is the nearest town. Any bus to Goa (from Hyderabad or Bangalore) should get you to Karwar. You could also get to Hubli and find your way to Karwar from there.

Red and Green

From Koraput Passenger

One of the best trips I ever did was the train ride to Koraput, Orissa. The land was greener than I expected it to be and the landscape was stunningly beautiful. This picture was taken from the train - somewhere between Koraput and Vishakapatnam.

The land was being prepared for the next crop - resulting in vastness of red. The lone tree stands in the the middle of the vastness that would soon turn green. The tiny dots of people at work early in the morning, the red and green, and the vastness - they all leave a memory not easily forgotten.

It was an amazing experience to see breath-taking beauty each time I looked out of that window.

The Epic birthday wish

From Randomness

Here's the story:
My friend calls at 12:08 am -- I was sleeping, of course!

I wake up at 8am - and call him. No luck! He doesn't take the call.

Two hours later,  I come back to our room to find a missed call - I call back again... and no luck again.

Post lunch, once more, I find a missed call and... you guessed it! I called again! And, no luck again!

This went on and on... all day long!

At 10:30 pm I was in bed, checking the messages - and, I got a call; he said "Don't say another word! Let me tell you what I've been trying to say for the past 22 hours....Happy Birthday loos!!"

Qualifies for the epic-est b'day wish ever! :D

2009 - The year that was

Coorg. Hampi. Koraput. Wayanad. Tests. OT. exams. Study leave. medicines. new place. rock. metal. e71. assignments. hyderabad-chennai-hyderabad. love. hospital. loss. shopping. gifts. family. friends. gained. lost.

void.

Courtesan's Street, Hampi

From Hampi V2

Said to have been the liveliest of all streets in Hampi, the Courtesans' Street lies in front of the Achyuta Raya's Temple - barely seen at the far end of the picture.

We, quite literally, stumbled upon this place after a day of touristy sight-seeing. We had seen the places every tourist saw - the temples, the ruins, etc., and we decided to walk around Hampi. We walked along the river, saw another set of ruins and climbed the hill. On the other side, lay the vast expanse seen here.

Of all the ruins, this was the most natural - devoid of renovations and modern props. The only place in Hampi where I felt the age of the place.

The Trip to the Fall

It's been a year since my trip to Dudhsagar, Goa last year and here's a story often told but not written so far; a story I wished to forget but one that remains etched in memory. I made a passing mention of this in the previous post - here's the full story.

We had decided to go to Dudhsagar the next morning - but, when I got up the following day, I didn't feel like getting out at 5am - so, we decided to postpone the trip. But then, when I got up at 7am, I wanted to give it a try. And so, thanks to me, we left 2 hours late and reached Colem. It was going very well - we'd been helped by one of the passers by - he'd given us very specific directions on how to reach the waterfalls.

Initially, it was quite scary to ride along the railway track - we've never done this before and Amir was hoping the bike doesn't give us any trouble till we get out. We were quite cautious along the railway track. But, once we reached the mud track, I relaxed. I took my D80 out of my bag and wanted to take pictures as we rode along the way. I have to mention, this was against my friend's word of caution to leave the camera inside and hold on to the bike. Being the smart kid I am, I refused. We'd have gone a bit further, when he was trying to negotiate an upward slope, my feet touched the ground, and before I knew it, I was trying to get on my feet - I was on the ground, holding my camera high up in the air. And, the first thing I said was "I think I am bleeding."

I had banged my head on the ground. When my friend, Amir, had a look - he freaked.

To say 'he freaked' is an understatement - and quite understandably so. Here we were, in the middle of the jungle - we'd seen no one else on our way - and he had someone with blood flowing from her head. At that time, I didn't know how bad I'd hurt myself. I thought he was getting worried for no good reason. Of course, until much later, I won't know. When he suggested we head back, I insisted on going ahead. After all, we were far into the jungle - why return without reaching the waterfall! And, that's what we did.
We reached the end of the road - and there's no way you can see the waterfall. I didn't even know in which direction it was. You walk down a couple of steps (depending on the water level) and cross the stream to reach a small patch of land in the middle. You cross again and again - before you reach the rocks right in front of the waterfall.

After resting there for a while, we decided to head back - thankfully, we made our way out without another adventure.Only when we were on the main road did I realise how bad I was hurt. We walked into the first hospital we found - ESI refused to treat without the card. Onto the next hospital and I got stitched up - my first stitches as far as I can remember!

What we call

Here's another hilarious story from my kadubari friend.

Dude goes to Abu Dhabi for an on-site assignment - he was planning to stay for a month and was stuck for 6 months. Now, that's a different story. While in Abu Dhabi, one fine day, he goes to give a demo to their clients - job's done, feedback taken, AIs noted, etc., and it is time to return. With a 1.5 hour ride ahead, he wanted to find a washroom.

So, he asks the translator "Where can I find a washroom?" The bewildered translator asks "What's that?" And, the dude explains ... to which the translator says "Oh, that one!! we call it.... ummm..... latrine"

Lunch time rant

Lunch time.
Someone said "I don't know how you manage to stay this slim. I wish I could be like you"
I wanted to tell them it is not as good as it seems ... Folks wish they could be as slim and still eat the way I do... I wish the food I eat has some effect on my weight!

War

There is a war waging in my heart - and like my best friend said today "Sometimes, I don't understand God's purpose" But then, I remind myself

I do not always understand
Why things happen as they do
But I am very sure of one thing
My Lord will see me through

Life and Death

Life's given a number of experiences that do not have an obvious reason - I don't know why I had to go through them. And, for the past few days, my prayer has been about that - to be able to accept all experiences, to be able to learn from them.

The heart-rending last one has nothing to do with me. On Tuesday, after my exam, I had to cross the road. While I was crossing, I noticed a man crossing the road too - holding what appeared to be a baby wrapped in towels. Though I don't know why - something seemed rather odd. I crossed the road, walked a bit, and looked for a share auto. One came by immediately and I got in - only to find an old lady crying and singing some sad song and she was holding the baby. She went on crying and the man had tears in his eyes too. Suddenly, he too started crying and the auto driver asked "What happened". You know what, the baby had died.

It was so sad - they were crying all the way - taking the baby home for the last time. And, I didn't know what to do.

And, I still have a lot of unanswered questions. Ain't that a part of life?

I do not always understand
Why things happen as they do
But I am very sure of one thing
My Lord will see me through

Study Leave

Yup! This 10-day long break from work is my study leave. Instead of leaving all the books in my head...

I learnt to move my site to a new host - step by step
I learnt to set up a redirect
I went shopping - bought things I'd otherwise not even think of buying! Let's blame it all on my sweet sister :)
I went to the beach - a visit to Chennai without going to the beach is not complete - there's another hilarious post coming up!
I ate and ate and ate... and still remain the same 50kg!
And, for the last 2 days, I've been trying get some subject matter into my head. Which includes, statistics and probability into the questions that may be asked in the exam. Probability on statistics paper - not bad, huh?

Now, I hope... and hope... I pass those exams!

Picture This

Took the MMTS from Secunderabad to Hi-Tech amidst the downpour. For the first time ever, the train was really slow  and doubled the travel time - almost as if they were searching for something on the track! I was standing near the door for a while 'coz there was no place to sit and then found a place to sit. Among the usual crowd and baggages, there was this scene that caught my eye.

Three college kids (I presume) - two boys and one girl were seated at the end (the long seat that stretches along the entire width). One was wearing a bright yellow tshirt (with a Harry Potter-ish look), the other had a red bag - and I thought, that would be a lovely picture - the bright colors, etc. They were chatting among themselves and next to the girl sat this lady in a burkha - fully covered with only her eyes exposed.

I don't know what the three were talking about - but this lady was staring at the guy, wide-eyed!

PS: I had written this on June 9 - but wasn't sure if I should post and left it as a draft. But, even as I read it today, I can picture the scene :) Can you?

Treasures - Love, life, and memories

I am home for a week - a much needed break! And, I decided to clear up some old clothes. Now, am left feeling like a sentimental idiot. I found my school uniforms! Higher secondary (1998) and middle school (1994)! Gosh! And, then II thought, why not take some pictures. So, I spent this afternoon clicking away :) This is what you get when I am home for a week ... fun :)

found the tie-and-dye fancy things I'd made in college - looks ridiculously funny now. I found a good load of saree blouses - my inheritance from granny!! I don't think I'd ever wear them nor do I have the heart to throw them! In fact, I don't even remember why I took them.

I found a favorites dress of mine - a pretty orange one with beads and laces. I don't know about you - but I have some favorite dresses - the ones that have some special memory or just made you feel like a princess (or a prince). This one and a couple of other pretty dresses have a story behind them.
Years later, when I was no longer the kid, when I could appreciate the prettiness of a saree, I got to know that some of my prettiest dresses of younger days were made from mom's sarees. When they couldn't buy nice dresses and new material for festivals, mom would cut one of her pretty sarees and make dresses for me and my sister. This orange frock is from one of her sarees. I don't know if I'd have the heart to cut a saree as pretty as that! Mother's love!

And then, I found a bunch of letters from school pals. You know, the good old days of writing in one of those inland covers, dropping it in a postbox and hoping they haven't changed their address... and then you'd get the reply in a similar cover after a couple of weeks - or even months. No pings, no diggs, no tweets, no calls, no emails - just the good old snail mail.

And guess what - I found something that looked like a baptism dress and asked mom - it's my brother's. I can almost see a baby there :)

So, that's how I spent my day today! Remembering my childhood and thanking God for my wonderful family :)

Assumptions

Headset on?  Listening to music

Eyes closed? Sleeping

Meeting? Busy

Slim? Weak

G? Loadsa money

SLR? Great photos

Analytics? Complicated

Got any to add?

Moment - Train in Rain

I think the rains over the weekend brought this memory up again. It was one of those mid-summer trips I made this year. It was April - the time when temperature begins to get to the higher side, the sleeper coach begins to feel like a hot oven, and we hope for a surprise drizzle or shower.

The train was in the middle of nowhere - rocketing through the vast, parched land (i.e., as fast as it can go - 60kmph? :D All of a sudden, I could see dark clouds in the distance, soon it became a drizzle. Funnily, though, it was raining on one side of the train. Even as we watched either side - we could see the train get under the rain clouds and soon.... it was showers on both sides.