Peaks

From San Francisco, 2010

They forget they see only the peaks

Dublin

Here's a long due post on my short visit to Dublin. Most of the time was spent at work (and I'll not talk about that here). Instead, here's the world outside work!

To say, "Dublin is a beautiful city" is an understatement - Dublin is colorful, green, beautiful and amazing and much, much more :) One the first day, I went for a walk around the city - from Grand Canal to Grafton and Stephen's Green.

From Dublin, Ireland

The beautiful buildings and the colorful doors

From Dublin, Ireland

And, of course, the spire

From Dublin, Ireland

So, I walked miles and miles along the Grand canal and the Liffey river in beautiful Dublin - Too bad I had just 2 weeks to spend there. I hope I'll see you again, Dublin :)

The other side of Dasara

Dasara - also written as Dussehra - is celebrated with much fanfare in a lot of places. One of them is Mysore - and, for the first time, I decided to travel to a really crowded place.

From Mysore

And, was it crowded?! Good heavens - it was probably one of the most crowded events I've ever been to - people going in every direction all the time and climbing on anything that would give them a good view of the procession!

More than the procession, I found the festive atmosphere, the people and all that was going on around pretty interesting. Needless to say, it was a typical crazily festive day! :)

Even as we walked towards the Mysore Palace, the roads were closed for traffic and there were people everywhere. After getting jostled mightily :( by the crowds, we found our spot by a tonga (horse-drawn cart).

From Mysore

Just looking around, you can see the amazing interest in the procession - much more than I'd anticipated. Much wilder than just passing interest :) People were everywhere - on trees, on pillars and posts, on ornamental entrances and barricades. There wasn't a single structure standing without a man standing on it!

From Mysore

There was a thief who got thrashed, people falling off from the barricades (and getting on them again) all the time, moving here and there, kids on shoulders, cameras held above... all in all, it was great fun.

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.