Pathika

Namma Metro

2011-12-12T13:58:00.005+05:30

On a chilly sunday evening our entire family decided to check out Namma Metro. Well, it wasnt as easy as it sounds because initially the plan was to go to MG road by metro and then all of us so used to the comfort of a car decided that we'll come back by it instead. We were going to KSCA at the Chinnaswamy stadium for dinner so no better oppurtunity than to try the metro out.

We almost missed out on the experience since dinner got really late but managed to run and catch the very last train from MG Road to Bayappanahalli. Sai and I had initially decided to skip the ride and join Samarth in the car to pick everyone up at Bayappanahalli. But we got to the station and all of us ran out the car!! We managed to get tickets superfast and literally flew up the stairs (they had switched off the lifts by then!!) to get to the train on time. My mother in law suffers from arthiritis but in all the excitement, she also ran up the stairs!! I have never seen her walk or climb that fast ever!!

The ride was good....the train was pretty crowded for past 10pm on a Sunday evening. To get a view of the city you have to travel during the day. All we could see was flickering lights of a lazy evening. The ride was comfortable though. Stations peppered the short ride but that'll be good once the whole of Bangalore is connected and more people start using the metro.

Right now i think most of the traffic on Namma Metro is people like us trying the metro out. Once all the wings get operational is probably when it will be most useful in a city which has waaaay too many cars!!

A very very short journey....

2011-12-02T09:59:00.011+05:30

We always forget to value whats closest to us. I realised how true this was yesterday when Sai and I decided to take photos of the plants and flowers in our garden. Why were we so busy planning trips to gardens and parks when there was a paradise of colours right outside the main door?!!

Our garden comes to life in spurts....with 3 boisterous doggies about all day long its a lost cause trying to have a lawn! And with them running amok all over the place and using the garden as a mini boxing ring, its really tough for most of the delicate plants. But looks like almost all the ones that have survived have gotten used to Max, Cocoa and Tiny and are here to stay!

Yesterday I got the time to walk all around the house and marvel at the tenacious plants which have bloomed and flowered and grown so marvellously! There are a lot of Geraniums - one of Sais favourites. We have them in most colours and the front porch is a tribute to creeper geraniums in all colours!

Another favourite is the bougainvillea and we have always had those in the planters....even before we became gardeners for a brief period. We have them in a lot of shades and everytime we see anything unique, we pick it up.

Then theres this fascination we've always had for the Temple Tree - the Frangipani. Its architecturally beautiful and a lot of gardens and homes we design have one as a central feature. Ever since we learned that all this hardly plant needs is a place to prosper, we've been collecting cuttings from every roadside plant we see and prefer!

There are soo many pretty plants and flowers....never realised how beautiful they all are till i saw them through my camera lens. My roses havnt bloomed yet....waiting for them now.

2011-11-25T11:53:00.008+05:30

Almost everyone identifies Kumarakom with an image of a houseboat. For me this image with the 'vallams' all anchored to a pier is what Kumarakom is. The place is beautiful....so peaceful and fills you with serenity and one of the only places that all the resorts on the banks of the lake do full justice to.

When in Kumarakom, a boat ride on the Vembanad lake is a must if you are not already on a houseboat. The lake is so serene and the boat goes through the little villages all along the backwaters lending a amazing insight into the lives of the local people. The waters are their lifeline and it shows....

A little secret about Kumarakom is that the Vembanad lake is also a bird sanctuary where migratory birds keep coming and going.....its a tough task to catch sight of them but the usual like the kingfisher are a common sight...

The best part about the trip for me was that Max(our boxer) was with us... we had driven down from Bangalore with him. We spent a lot of time finding a resort which allowed dogs. I will forever regret not remembering the name of the place but the staff there were so sweet to him....got him milk and bowls of food and were absolutely friendly with him!! He had the best time....fabulous food, lots and lots of attention, boat rides, AC rooms and high adventure!! He came on the boat ride with us and the people in Kumarakom got their cameras out to take pictures of him!!

A beautiful place...a beautiful trip. We will go another time....the peace and serenity of Kumarakom always beckons.....

2011-11-17T20:29:00.005+05:30

I'm beginning to really enjoy all my Sundays this month....its not just about being in front of the TV and comp whole day long anymore. We've been going out and having a great time with some fabulous people and at some really good places. What more can one ask for huh?

The last Sunday was Saishta's birthday celebrations at the Parkfield Resotel near Hoskote in Bangalore. First time we're going there and it was a great idea for a party!! All the kids enjoyed playing in the pool and garden and us adults lazed about watching them and playing a few games and relishing the food.

It was really entertaining to watch all the little ones have fun in their own ways...the birthday girl and my daughter were busy eating grass off the lawn, their cousins were busy running about, the elder boys and men were playing cricket and football and Ananya was taking care of all the younger little girls....a really heart warming sight to witness :-)

Kudos to Padmini and Vikram for organising such a fabulous outing for all of us....we needed it :-)

Road journeys....

2011-11-09T17:24:00.007+05:30

I've never been much of a fan of driving holidays though i love driving... Max of 5 hours and i am fine but anything more and i start getting cranky!! And driving anywhere in India means at least 3-4 hours because of the roads and all the crazy suicidal people on them!!

Driving through a highway in India is like a video game...there are lots of obstacles and things jumping out at you from all sides and you have to avoid hitting all that and try and maintain a decent average speed!! In fact, someone should make a video game out of it...it'll definitely be one of the most difficult road games!

That said, the most amazing things and sights I've seen are during our drives. And if you are driving in the monsoons, the whole roadsides are beautiful and green and clean...and the skies you see are some of the best ever!!

We have not been taking too many driving holidays since Ally was born but the few we went on have been beautiful...its all the rains...makes everything so fresh and beautiful....

We drove through a forest reserve to get to the Annapoorneshwari Temple in Horanadu and the drive was beautiful....saw a peacock, elephants and wild deer....its amazing how they have all adapted so well to the traffic. The ECR is an amazing drive....peeks of the beautiful Bay of Bengal and fabulous antique shops all the way to Pondicherry. But my all time favourite drive will always be the Bangalore-Mysore highway en route to all other destinations....have seen the most beautiful skies and scenery on this road and the drive itself is so smooth....

Till my next drive through the truly incredible Indian roads i'll sign off with one of my favourite shots from our recent drive....a beautiful laser show in the sky...

Lazy lazy Sundays.....

2011-10-25T11:07:00.004+05:30

Sipping a nice cold mojito, munching on yummy snacks, making new friends and having great conversations.....had not realised what a great idea Sunday brunches were till the last weekend!

Its a perfect idea! Party on Saturday night, sleep in late on Sunday, go for a fabulous brunch, have a lazy evening and then get to bed to start the perfect week. No wonder so many hotels and restaurants in Bangalore now have amazing brunches on Sunday! Casa Del Sol was good also because they had a lot of things for kids to keep busy.

The weather in Bangalore is always perfect for outdoor dining and Sunday was no exception...it did get a little hot and sultry at first but the rains came in for a rescue and created a perfect ambience.

Should do this more often....looks like Sunday brunches are going to be fixtures for us from now on.....:-)

Restarting the journey....

2011-10-08T10:17:00.002+05:30

Its been a long time and lots have happened.....but its never too late and we're back to penning down our experiences in this journey.

Our family has grown since the last posts....we now have 4 children. Max, Cocoa, Alia and Tiny. All of them are unique and make life so so much more interesting. Alia is mighty excited having 4 legged siblings and they in turn are very curious and caring about her. For us, the foursome make for some amazingly endearing moments, from a barking baby to protective brothers :-)

We're slowly getting back to travelling also...the baby is thankfully a willing traveller. And this time round we're doing things differently. We've slowed down and hence able to understand a lot more about the places and experiences. We're more understanding to a baby and so more patient and willing to learn and try a different approach. To Alia everything is a wonder, everything is new and we are discovering with her....from the little crevices in our home to the different colours and wonders anywhere and everywhere.

The journey is always a fulfilling one and filled with twists and turns and we're ready to take it all in.....and we start again......

In The City of Ruins

2009-09-10T07:25:00.032+05:30

The ancient capital city of the Hoysala empire was once called 'Dwarasamudra' meaning entrance from the ocean, as its located on the banks of a large lake. Now its name fits it perfectly, Halebeedu - the ruined city. It was attacked by the plundering armies of Malik Kafur in the 14th century and later vandalised and defaced by many. The Archeological Survey of India is now taken over and is trying to put together the lost glory..........and what glory it is!!The main temple complex in Halebeedu is the Hoysaleeshwara Temple. Nearly every inch of this star shaped temple is covered in intricate carvings. All the carvings are done on soap stone - soap stone is soft and can be easily carved on and on exposure to air, it hardens over time. There are 2 shrines in the temple, one for King Vishuvardhan and the other for his beautiful queen Shantala Devi.

Though the construction work on the temple went on for 86 years, it was never completed. The unique feature of the Hoysala temples is that they are all built on raised platforms. And in the case of the Hoysaleeshwara Temple, there are 2 sanctum sanctoriums and 2 Nandi mantapas on the same platform.

The 2 Nandis here are the 6th and 7th biggest in India and possibly the best carved. They are polished to such a perfection that one can easily see their reflections on them.

The Halebid complex has miniature mantaps and gopurams in front of the main temple mantapas. These were supposed to hold smaller idols of gods but now stand empty. All the carvings in the front of the temple depict dancers, musicians and scenes from the Kamasutra and all the ones at the back are of Gods. The carvings all have stories to tell....from Ramayana and Mahabarata to daily rituals and events.

The frieze of the temple has eleven panels of cravings each depicting different things. The bottommost has eleplants, the next lions, the one after is a set of patterns followed by horsemen. After another panel of patterns is the story of Mahabarata carved. Then is the mythical creature Makara, the peacock and after that dancers and musicians. The 10th panel has gods carved on and the final one has scenes from the Kamasutra.

The inside of the temple had 2 halls connected by a well lit corridor. In front of both the idols were mantapas for dance and music performances. Queen Shantala Devi is supposed to have been one of the best dancers of that time.

All the pillars in the hall were once adorned by sculptures of dancers and muscicians....one only few remain. According to our guide, Nagaraj, most of them were broken by invaders and the rest are all in British museums.

The external sculptures at Halebid are some of the finest in India. The detailing and beauty of each of them is amazing!! One of my favorites is one of Lord Shiva inside an elephants body, teraing it apart.....it is so detailed that even the finger nails of Lord Shiva are shown piercing through the hide of the elephant. The same sculpture is also there in Belur but i liked this one better.

Another favorite is of Makara.....the mythical being with a crocodile head, body of an elephant, paws of a bear and plumes of a peacock. This shot is taken in close up, the actual craving is very small.....you can just judge the amount of detail from this!!

The next one is very interesting....its one of Lord Shiva and Parvathi. The carving of course is superb...what i found most fascinating was the way the stone was tilting under Lord Shivas weight.....according to our guide, it was supposed to signify the power of Shiva over Parvathi.

This depicts the trinity in Indian Mythology....the Creator - Brahma, the Preserver - Vishnu and the Destroyer - Shiva.

This carving is of Ravana carrying the Mount Kailasa....it is so detailed that scupture had depected different animals on the mountain, there are hunters, mountain climbers, snakes, bears and monkeys and on top of the mount Kailasa is Shiva and Parvathi.

These carvings depict the story of Lord Vishnu as Vamana.

All the different scupltures and carvings in Halebid tell amazing stories of its own. It took our guide more than 2 hours to explain all of it to us!

I've never been to Khajuraho....only have heard about the amazing carvings and sculptures there. But after seeing the temple complex of Halebid, i can only say that if there if anything better than this, it must be truly stunning!!

The Hoysala dynasty were big patrons of art and Queen Shantala Devi herself was a renowned dancer of the time. Both the sanctum sanctoriums have circular platforms in front for dance and musical performances.

On the road to Kabini

2009-08-06T19:37:00.020+05:30

We go on a lot of road journeys. And a lot of times, i come back saying that i am never sitting in the car for that long ever again......but when i look back and think about all the trips we've taken, some of the road journeys have been the best and most memorable.

The key is not drive for too long at any go and to stop and have a closer look at all things interesting you find on the way. But a lot of times, we are so much in a hurry and so excited about our destinations that we forget to enjoy the journey itself.

We recently drove from Bangalore to Kabini and that was one of the best journeys ever!! The scenery was beautiful and we kept stopping to admire everything we saw - from trucks and tractors to the hills and fields.
there were swings outside most of the temples.....a young boy told us that they were for the gods.

after crossing mysore, the villages started and we wanted to stop every 5 mins to take the stunning scenery in!!

With us on the journey was our friend who had come from the US for a vacation and she wanted to take snaps of everything on the way!! Initially we kept pulling her leg everytime she made a request and by the end of it, we realised that everything is amazing if you want to see it that way!!

We took photos of everything from roadsigns to all the cattle and dogs and cats on the road and throughly enjoyed it!! This is what we had stopped doing somewhere along the way.......

Thanks a lot Vandy for giving it back to us :)

the roads were wonderful to drive on and the scenery kept us engaged throughout

the rains had made the whole countryside clean and everything was so green!!

The best part was meeting all the most interesting people. There were ladies working on the fields, carrying water and firewood, kids playing, men making new machans and farming.....so many different things that so many different people were doing......

little boy with the most amazing smile :). we met him near kabini dam.

we were driving by and saw her on the road....i stopped to take a snap and she ran to us asking for money......felt so bad!! gave her a 20rs note and she was most grateful.

The journey to Kabini has totally revived me!! I think we're going to be doing a lot of road journeys for a while now!!

A beautiful large frangipani tree near a temple....
wonder how it looks when it flowers....

milestones on the way.......

The ugly, the bad and the good :)

2009-08-01T16:10:00.004+05:30

Been a while since i blogged.....for 2 weeks, all i thought about was what to put up in my next blog!! But i'm back!! I actually missed blogging!! This is about what happened in between which made me stop for a while.

The Ugly.

We're not in the Great Driving challenge anymore. And trust me it took me a while to say that so unemotionally. The first few hours after our names were not in the minesweep, it didnt register well enough. And i was fine for a while.....changed my facebook status, told friends and family that we didnt make it and that it was ok, thanked everyone and sat in front of the comp again like nothing had happened.

And then it dawned!! WE WERE NOT IN THE TOP 12!!

All i wanted to do was sleep then!! it was 4 or so in the afternoon and i slept. Slept for over 4 hours and then got back to the comp to check if something was wrong and we had missed our names......we hadnt.

The Bad.

The next day was fine. I accepted that we had not made in and that everyone who had were pretty good. There was no bitterness.....nothing. The bad part was telling everyone!! All our friends had been as excited about this as we were and they were all dissappointed. My mom had totally expected us to make it and she felt really bad.

We both had been on our computers, campaining and chatting and blogging and checking the progress of everything from 7 in the morning to 12 at night for a whole 10 days and we suddenly felt lost!! didnt know what to do!! The withdrawal symptoms lasted a few more days before things got back to normal. Even now, i keep going to the Great Driving Challenege site and checking blogs and following the contestants but i miss it. I really do.

The Good.

The reason this blog is not called the good, the bad, the ugly but the other way round is because thats the way it is in this case. We were really dissappointed, then we accepted it and finally were so glad we took part as there are way more precious 'goods' than the bad or the ugly!! :)

We've got in touch with so many friends!! Sai talked to his school mates after 17 years!! I never realised that i had not talked to so many of my friends in ages. So many things had changed and now i'm proud to say that i am up to date on most of them!! :)

We made so many new friends. One of the most diffcult things to do after you're finished with school and college is to make lastings friendships. But this experience taught us that its not true. We can still make friends if we try, it only a question of time and patience. And i am so so glad because we met so many new like minded people, so many kindred souls!! Its been an amazing journey.

We got closer to so many friends. We got so much support and following from people we probably didnt expect it from and that was so so heart warming!! I only wish i could be half as nice as them and do this selflessly when someone needs me. After this, i know i will :)

And we've changed......all for the good!! We've started blogging, wanting more than ever to take better pictures, travelling with more passion now, looking at everything in a new light!!
Another positive is that we are not giving up despite not making it. We're definetly taking part in the next Driving Challenge!! The minute i knew they were thinking of having a season 2, i was elated!! And Sai was just as eager to take part again......and next time, we'll be better prepared!!

To sum it all up, its been one of the bestest things we've done as a couple and i've enjoyed it to the hilt.....every bit of it - the ugly, the bad and the good!!
Thanks TDGC :)

Leena

The Land of a Thousand Waterfalls -1

2009-07-22T18:42:00.008+05:30

'You guys have to experience the Pooja celebrations in Bengal!!’

Our friends Dipan and Piyu had been telling us this for sometime now and last October, we decided that we should.

We’d gone to Leh in September and had taken the less trodden route back to Delhi…..via Kargil – Srinagar. From Delhi, we flew into Siliguri the same day that our friends were to come from Bangalore. After all the high altitude and mountains and out of this world experiences we had had, Siliguri seemed like a whole new world!!

Since we all were going to be in Siliguri for almost 2 whole weeks, our friends had planned little trips for us. We went to Darjeeling and Jorpokhri and had amazing times!! But the trip that took our breath away again was the one to Sikkim.

Three of us Sai, Dipan and me started early in the morning (ok….not that early…at around 6) for our long trip to Lachen. The route was stunning in the morning mist!! All of us were wide awake with Dipan giving us a running commentary about the area, the localites and anecdotes of all the times he’s been here. He had been to Gangtok before but this was his first trip to Gurudongmar and Yumthang.

We followed the mighty Teesta all the way. And she is formidable!! You could see that even in October…..it was not even the proper monsoons!! We had breakfast at a little dhaba overlooking the Teesta and soon after, entered Sikkim. We were not taking the usual route into Sikkim which would take one via Rangpo but the one via Singtam which would take us to Mangan.

We were told that the government of Sikkim does now allow vehicles from other states to bring tourists into Sikkim and so we had to change vehicles in Mangan. We met our guide and driver for the next 3 days here – Karma and Jung Bahadur. I have to say, if it weren’t for them, our trip wouldn’t have been the same!! Dipan had been dying to stock up on beer and breezers and rum and whisky since we entered Sikkim and at Mangan, he let himself loose!! Fully equipped and well stocked, we made our way to Lachen where we would halt for the night.

We’d reached Mangan a little before noon…..not yet time for lunch so we decided to push on and stop later. The three of us enjoyed our beer and breezers and soon fell fast asleep. We were woken up for lunch is the tiniest little eatery in the middle of nowhere!! It was amazing to me that such a place could actually even exist!! There was nothing around the hut other than the Teesta on one side and a very green precipice on the other with the road in between. But we had the bestest dal and rice there!!

Onward to Lachen……and with altitude, the hillocks become hills, the hills gave way to mountains. And the greenery!! I have no words!! Quaint little villages on the way with most of the village folk either playing or watching football, the chickens and goats running along the road, little kids playing and the green, green fields!! You have to experience it at least once!!

We reached Lachen an hour or so before the sun went down and decided to go for a short walk around the little village to warm ourselves!! After warm, humid Siliguri, chill Lachen was a little shock!! One of the things I had grown to love about the villages in Leh and now in Sikkim was the colourful prayer flags fluttering in the wind……seeing them gives me an immense sense of calm. The colours make me feel free…..

Dipan had just gone to Goa and there he had gone to a new casino where he has apparently mastered blackjack!! And according to him, the dealor never lost. We’d picked up our deck of cards before leaving Siliguri itself and after a nice walk around Lachen, we got back to our hotel for a filling dinner and then a game of cards with Dipan, of course, as the dealor. He would have regretted that decision for the rest of his life cause as we discovered, the dealor doesn’t always win…..in fact, he almost never wins!! Sai and me had he ball of our lives!! We kept winning and winning and winning till we all finally decided to head to bed!!

We got ready early in the morning (this time actually early…..at 5!!) in near freezing temperatures to go for our day trip to Gurudongmar Lake. After a hot cup of tea, we were all awake enough to travel!! The drive to Gurudongmar was well worth waking up at that insane hour (esp cause it was so cold!!). We kept asking Jung Bahadur to stop so that we could take pictures all along the way!!

Sai and me were amazed at how different Sikkim was from Leh!! We had managed to do 2 totally different sides of the mighty Himalayas in the same trip and the contrast to us was outstanding!! Breathtakingly beautiful and barren Leh and awesome, green and stunning Sikkim!! That’s all we could talk about for months later!! J

We stopped for breakfast at Thanggu. The last village on our way to the lake. That trip, all the places that we had food were wonderful and different!! This time, we were in a nice little kitchen huddled around a warm chimney while food was being prepared right next to us!! The little kids of the house were playing with the onion and potato peels while we coaxed them to pose for us while our yummy maggi soup was beginning to make our mouths water!!

From there on, till we reached the army check post, it was a feast for the eyes!! A stream which would eventually become the Teesta was flowing on one side of the road and there were beautiful green mountains with their tips covered in snow!! We passed dozens and dozens of army trucks and herds of sheep and yak. Never realized how nimble footed these animals were till I saw them making their way foraging for food, up and down the mountains!!

Our first real drama began soon after we reached the army check post before Gurudongmar. All visitors require to have permits and ours were supposed to have been taken care of by our tour operators. We assumed it was and went about taking photos left right and center, reading all about the Gurudongmar Lake twice (one part of the lake never freezes…even in the coldest of winters. That is where Guru Nanak had once touched the lake.), having snacks at the little tea stall, buying souvenirs from the army run center but refusing to get our photos clicked by an annoying officer who was officially giving everyone their poloroids whilst standing next to a picture of the lake!! Everyone who had come after us had already moved on…..and the 3 of us had clicked all the photos we could and done everything we could. Karma and Jung Bahadur were by now running to and from the car and looking pale!! We decided to find out what the problem was and when we did, we wanted to throw Karma into the icy waters of the stream running alongside!! He had forgotten to get our permits along and worse, was using an old permit with different names to try and get us through!! The army guys were furious, we were furious, Jung Bahadur was furious and Karma was on the verge of tears!! Worse, apparently some Chinese spies had crossed the border just a few days before and the army was on the lookout for them…..Karmas antics didn’t please them in the least…..neither did his very Chinese looks!! Thankfully, he had only misplaced the documents and found them after turning the car upside down at least 10 times!! He had the most satisfied smile ever when we were finally allowed to go and in the car boasted about how brave he was in the front of the officers!! That was it!! All of us, including the till then quiet Jungie (Dipan had christened him that by then!!), started off on him and for the next 3 days, that’s all he heard from us!!

One good thing out of that incident was that it got us close to both Karma and Jungie. We learned that this was poor Karmas first ever job as a guide and that we knew more about all the places we were going to than him!! Poor fellow was the butt of all our jokes!!

By the time we got to Gurudongmar, Sai (who had gone through quite a few beers by then), was happily high!! He wanted to swim across the lake, wanted to balance on all the stones on the bank and was rolling on the grass along the banks when he was not trying to impersonate Sanjay Dutt for us!! But we should so have listened to him!! We, in our eagerness to show off our soberness, decided to go for a walk all round the lake…..from where we were standing, it didn’t look really long and Karma told us that it was a perfectly good idea. Little did we realize what we were getting into and we dragged Sai along too even though all he wanted to do was sleep there on the grass!!

We walked and walked and walked and finally when we were somewhere halfway did we realize that we couldn’t see the entire circumference of the Lake from where we had started!! And at an altitude of 17100ft with very thin air, our half drunk (and Sais fully drunk) bodies just couldn’t take it!! But having no options, we trudged along……and along for the next one hour till we finally got to the other side. While we were excited about going round the lake, we ran into a herd of deer on our paths (we should have realized something was amiss when we saw then looking at us they way they did!!). One of them was so brave as to come close and investigate as to what we were before expertly running off after the rest of the herd. And at one point, we passed a lot of rocks…..we could very clearly hear the sound of running water but could not see it……finally realized (our brains were extremely slow due to alcohol and the thin air!!) that there was water running under the rocks!! Sai cribbed all the way, Dipan and I made sure that Karma didn’t faint and fall and by the time we got to the end, we found the Indian Army waiting for us!! It seems they make sure that all visitors are away from the lake premises by noon and us going on the long walk didn’t please them at all!! Thankfully, we were in such bad states with humongous headaches that they didn’t dwell on us much…..told us to get into the car and leave as soon as we could and we did!!
We took off for our next stop. Lachung would be where we would stay to go to Yumthang Valley the next day…..after downing Saridons and Dipans hostel snack of crushed 2 min noodles mixed with masala, we tried our best to sleep…..Thank God Jungie had not come for the walk with us!!

Leena

Maximillian in Kumarakom!!

2009-07-19T14:40:00.002+05:30

The only thing we regret about when travelling is leaving our Max for the duration......Max, of course, is our 1 year 1 month old boxer. Its a little worse now with the new addition to our family, Cocoa (our 1.5 year old lab whom we adopted from CUPA 2 months back). So when the opportunity came to take Max along, we pounced on it!!

My parents stay in Saudi Arabia where my father works and they come down for vacations every year. Last December when they were down and we were going to Trivandrum from Bangalore to meet them, we decided to make a small holiday out of it for Max and thinking back, i am really really glad we did cause Max had a wonderful time!! New people (he loves meeting people!), new places (he'll jump into the car for a drive any day!) , new smells ( hes a major sniffer my little boxer!), new doggy buddies (he loves meeting other doggies also!), a stay in a nice resort, a boat ride.....which doggy wouldn't want all of this!!

When we told friends and family that we were driving with Max all the way to Trivandrum ( a 15 hour journey from Bangalore), everyone felt that Max would get cranky and we would really regret it. Max truly turned out to be our son!! He was the best behaved pup ever during the whole long journey.....switch the AC on for him and he sleeps like a baby!! We couldn't keep the windows rolled down cause he was so excited with the new smells and sights that he wanted to jump right out! Of course, towards the end of our journey, he didn't want to sit alone at the back and sat on our laps in front (which is quite difficult considering his size!) but we were ok with that and the 3 of us reached Trivandrum happily for dinner.

At home, my folks have a 4 year old lab, sherry and my brother has a 1 old German Shepard, Tiny (she definitely is not!!). Max, who adores all other dogs was in doggy heaven!! 2 new playmates!! You just had to take a look at the excitement on his face to know that it was definitely the best decision ever to take him along!!

Sherry totally intimidated little (in my eyes!!) Max but Tiny and he got along like a forest on fire!!

They ran and ran and ran and then ran some more all around the house for 2 whole days!! I never knew Max had so much energy!! Even when Tiny was tired, he would keep jumping all around and over her till she decided to play again. It was wonderful watching the 2 of them!!

On the 3rd day, we all decided to go to Kumarakom. Our big problem was locating a resort which wouldn't mind having Max staying over too. Most hotels and even resorts dont still allow pets which is one of the biggest hurdles we have when travelling with Max. The resort we found was wonderful since they were totally enthusiastic about having Max over!! I so wish more and more of them are so open hearted!!

When all reached the resort with 6 month old Max in tow, the staff there almost had a small stroke! I keep referring to both Max as my little puppy without a thought about his size when in reality, Max is now over 2' tall now!! When I'd told them about puppy, they thought he was a small little stuffed toy sized pup!! But thankfully there as no problem at all.

That evening was spent lounging about watching the sun set over the Vembanad Lake......Max of course was with us......playing about in the lawn. He was the center of attraction for all the other guests there and he totally enjoyed that.

At home, the only furniture hes not allowed on is the master bed, but i guess even he knew that this was a special holiday and he made full use of that!! In the middle of the night, both of us woke up complaining about the other hogging the blanket when we realised that it was not us, but Max!! He was sleeping in between us with his head nicely on the pillow like a baby would!! The only difference was that Max snores and wanted the blanket all for himself!!
I don't know how many dogs would've done this or would ever get to do this, but Max went on a boat ride the next morning. He was as comfortable on a boat as he was on land, jumped in nicely without any assistance. He sat on our laps and watched all the birds and people and boats. What was interesting is that whenever we travel, we love watching and photographing the locals and in this case, it was just the opposite!! Everyone, tourists, locals, boat operators, guests in all the resorts, were grabbing their cameras to take pictures of Max on top of the boat!! And for his part, Max posed for everyone of them!! That's when we realised what a vain little puppy we have!! :)

That was his experience in Kumarakom.....The journey back is another story in itself, which will be part of another blog......till then......

Leena

Humsafar

2009-07-16T19:48:00.000+05:30

We never expected that our travels would not just take us to some of the most amazing places in the world but get us acquainted with some of the most amazing people. Last year, almost everywhere we went, we met someone who inspired us to be come better people.
I'll mention a few here who blew us away with their hospitality and warmth.

First was Ayesha and Arshad in Delhi and of course their whole family. Sai has known Arshad for eons but they hardly kept in touch, but when we were going to Delhi and Sai called him, he wouldn't hear of us staying anywhere other than with him!! The wonderful time we had in Delhi would definitely have not been possible without them. We had their car and driver at our disposal, them to pore over books and the net telling is where all to go, mouth watering food at his house and both Ayesha and Arshad taking time off from their busy schedules to take us to all the wonderful restaurants!! We can never thank them enough!!

In Thekkady, we had sweet, tireless Narayan as our guide during our trek through the forest. Though he initially scared us about elephants and bears and even tigers, all we got to see was elephant dung, bear poop and no sign of any tiger but he kept us so enthralled with his stories that we didn't mind one bit!! All the leeches that were there ( and they seemed esp attracted to me!!) were also not dampening his enthusiasm in any way!! Cheers to Narayan!!

Leh has way too many instances of people being unbelievably sweet!! First were all the army officers and soldiers at the mess we stayed in!! We didn't get to see the night life in Leh but the officers made sure that we had the best of time!! I never knew that the army was one with such jovial individuals working in the middle of snow and ice to keep all of us safe!! I salute you all!!

We also got acquainted with the charming owner of a wonderful restaurant in Leh - La Pizzaria. He went out of his way to drop us back to the army mess in his car when we couldn't get taxis or any other form of transport to get back. This after having met us all of twice!! We of course went back there again and again!! :)

In Srinagar, we were taken around by the owners of Gulfam - a quaint little houseboat in Dal Lake. Forgetting their names but not just did their dad make the most amazing amazing food ever (my mouth water just thinking about it!!) but they were our guides in Srinagar. Will always go back there and will recommend anyone going to Srinagar to stay with them!!

We went to Siliguri for the Pooja holidays....to our friends parents house and I've not known such hospitality anywhere else!! Datta uncle and auntie were so so nice to us!!

We went to Calcutta from Siliguri by train and since it was the last day or pooja, we had to get to the station really early.....waiting in the crowded station for more than 5 hours, a long train journey and 25 days of continuous travel had totally tired us out.......till we met Dan Inamoto. He was travelling to Calcutta too and in the morning, we got talking!! Dan is of Japanese descent but living and working in New York. He is a total travel person and comes to India at least once a year. We realised that hes been to way more places in India than we have!! The only thing we had which made him envious was our trip to Jammy and Kashmir ( oh and how we told him what he'd missed!!). Both of were fully recharged after meeting him and ready to journey on and on!!

Sai is a member of the jeep thrills community ( he loves his jeep and the group is for enthusiasts to go on off roaders and trips together and to talk endlessly about their beloveds!! ) and he has been talking about Mr Uday Bhan Singh this and Mr Singh that for some time now. When he suggested that we visit him, i was uncomfortable at first. We had had a loong train journey and had gotten out at Calcutta only to have spent half the morning 'sight - seeing' and to go to anyones home in that state was unthinkable for me......but after pestering me about it for sometime and seeing that we'd already gone through most of Calcutta in our last visit, i complied. I am really really glad i did because i met some of the warmest, sweetest people ever that day!! Uday sir, showed us all his jeeps (he has 43 of them) and told us so much about them that i was totally hooked by the end of it!! We had our lunch with him and his wonderful family and i will forever not forget how welcome they made us feel!! (that could not have been easy since we most definitely must have looked like hell!! ).

There were many many more people who I've not talked about but all of them gave us such rich lessons in life.....made us such better people!! I cant thank them all enough!!

Hmmmm......

2009-07-16T15:57:00.000+05:30

I'd been on a altogether different high the last week....campaining for votes, talking to and chatting with friends after ages, reading, writing....didnt know that a almost a week had passed till i saw the date today!!
Last thursday evening is when we registered.......by evening it'll be exactly a week. Time has absolutely flown!! We log onto our computers as soon as we're up at 7 and keep going till 11 at night......and we never know when the day started and ended!!
In those 16 odd hours everyday, we've gotten more close to a lot of our friends, made loads of new friends, have had the unlikeliest of well wishers and been touched by some of the sweetest testimonials and efforts :-).
Those are what is keeping me afloat today......the slowest day of our campaign so far. The day started all wrong actually......decided to try changing our profile pictures in the morning not knowing that the application would then go into moderation and that would take time.........precious time which would have cost us a lot of votes. That put us both in a really bad mood and to top that off, the votes are not at all coming in today and we've been slipping and slipping in position!!
Guess it'll pick up in a while......waiting for that.......

Nostalgia... travel and jaisalmer....

2009-07-16T13:51:00.000+05:30

waking up in the pleasant chill of the early desert morning, seeing the sun rise over the yellow sandstone fort, we had slept on the terrace in the night because it was too hot inside.. time to take the mattresses down get ready for school , have a hurried breafast and wait outside for the schoolbus to pick us up l ... the bus is actually an army shaktimaan truck with bench seats and a ladder welded at the back...scramble for the best seats .. and then the long drive to school crossing the camel carts and the bajaj scooters....

seems like it was just yesterday but that was 2 decades back, how time seems to have flown...

want to go back and see if the school with its sand filled playground and long corriders has changed or if any of the teachers who helped a shy introverted 13 yr old break out of his cocoon are still there...

the journey we want to undertake for the great driving challenge is going to be as much in time as in distance for me, I so hope we manage to qualify for it..

Sai

Challenges and Changes

2009-07-15T10:17:00.000+05:30

The last few days have been some of the most interesting days of my life!! You know how when people taking part in all the contest and reality shows on TV go on about how the show has changed them and you think they are just being fake? I was so wrong!!

Sai and me are now trying our best to get chosen for The Great Driving Challenge and I am now feeling exactly like the very participants that I used to think were fake!! Since we registered 6 days back, I've been like a bull let loose in a china shop!! I've been on an absolute rampage.......my greeting is not 'Hi' or 'Hiyee' anymore, its 'Vote for us' with a ':-)' for effect!! And I'm not sparing anyone who dares to come on chat in Facebook or Orkut.....so much that I think all my friends must now be scared of seeing me online!!

Basically what I am trying to get at is that these contest do actually change people!! They start realizing things about themselves that they never knew. Evil things that lay dormant waiting to be awakened and nice things which were till then well hidden. And this I know from what I've been going through in the past few days!!

For one, I've become totally aggressive, pursuing all my friends relentlessly for votes ( so much that many of them are refusing to come online now and the ones who do,log off as soon as i start chatting with them!! ). To top that off, I'm absolutely shameless now!! I've started chatting with friends I haven't talked to or kept much in touch with for years now and I start all those chats also with 'Vote for us :-)'. I would never ever have believed I am capable of something like that if I didn't see me doing it myself!! Trust me its that bad!!

Its not all bad though.....I've discovered few useful things about me that I never knew was in me!! For one, boy am i persistent!! And so thoroughly single minded!! This so-far-well-hidden trait is something that Sai ( my boss at work ) sees a lot of potential in!! He's been thinking of ways to put this new me to use at work as soon as I'm done with this!! And I've discovered an alternate profession!! Planning trips!!! I sat a whole night ( me, who's really really fond of my sleep!! ) charting out routes and places and highways and reading up about everything I want to see and do. This is something that I've been doing for a year now but I never thought of actually doing this as a profession!! I mean why not....I've been planning trips for a lot of friends this year not to mention for ourselves so maybe I can try this as an addition to what I am already doing......hmmmm......

And its not just me, Sai has changed a lot too!! I'm the ever excitable one, the jumping jack of the family but has he overtaken me in this one!! I've never seen him so excited and so enthusiastic about anything before and I absolutely love it!! We seem to be feeding off each other now......anytime I am a little less on energy, he pulls me right back and vice versa!! We're a total power packed team!! Yipeeee!!

Starting out

2009-07-11T20:40:00.000+05:30

I've always wanted to blog....checked out many blogs and many sites a lot of times but never got around to starting one of my own.

Finally i have :)

And the reason for me starting is very interesting too....its because of a contest i so want to get chosen for!! Its the mitsubishi Great Driving Challenge and as part of the actual contest, we have to blog.....thought i would start early and check out how this will be....

One of the reasons i'd never started a blog was cuz i thought i would get too addicted to it and would not be able to stop.....cant imagine now why i thought that was a bad thing!! writing is excellent and it gives you such an amazing way to vent your feelings!!

Now that i've started writing, i'm pouring with ideas about what i should write!!

Sai and me travel a lot, and we should have started a blog long back to just to record all the fab experiences we've had and all the wonderful people we've met.

We're both architects and we meet really interesting people everyday of our lifes!! in fact, we've always had plans of writing a book when we retire (theres no way we are risking our practice by writing it now!!)

Theres our families (Sais a mangalorean bunt and i am a malayali) and its uncanny how similar and how different they are to each other!! both of us have the craziest families ever and some of our best times have been spent with them :)

Then theres of course out favorite topic....something both of us can go on and on and on about.....our 2 doggies...Maximillian (he doesnt know this....he responds to Max or Maxi) and Cocoa. there are the highlights of our lives and everything revolves around them.

I think i've decided, i'll write a little (i hope i can stop!) about them as my very first blog!!

I just looked to see where both of them are and my heart just melted (all over again....its making a habit out of melting these days!!). Both max and cocoa are sleeping together at my foot.....i love it when they do this!! they look absolutely adorable then......max using cocoa as a pillow (its usually this way cuz max is boney and cocoa is a total bolster!)....i have never seen any other pair of doggies who do this!! maybe its cuz they are mine and i think they are both brilliant and unique and the bestest ever that i feel that no other dogs do what they do but its true!! you shud meet them to believe it!!

i had always wanted to run sumplace far whenever people start talking about everything their kids do......the kid this - the kid that!! i'd promised myself that i wud never do something like that.....and now i tell myself that me talking away (i do only if someone asks me about them.....but once i start, i cant stop!) is totally fine cuz they are amazing little doggies!! the world has to know!!

just realised that i will have to cut this short now.....we've to go out today and its already quite late......thats us...latecomers to all parties.....and we're trying to improve that!! the last few times, we were one of the first few to all parties!!

ok, there i go off on a tangent again!!

i'll leave with a snap of my little ones sleeping.......

and ya, i can get addicted to this!! :)