Review of weeklong trip to Delhi, Mathura, Agra, Haridwar

A must read for someone who is a first timer to Delhi. If this is your first visit and you are apprehensive of what you will have to face in that city, read ahead. Please note the tips in this review and you will be better off.

A trip to Delhi was something we had not thought of this year. But then, it happened.

My daughter and another student took part in a dance competition, a 4 day event from 26th Oct 2015 to 30th October 2015, called Indradhanush organized by SUNAINA, in R K Puram, New Delhi.

So, we took an early morning Spicejet flight and landed in Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport by 8:15am. A pickup had already been organized, so no issues with that. We took the cab and went straight to Karol Bagh where we checked into a hotel Sunshine, which was a decent accommodation (not classy I would say). It's a budget hotel, suitable for families looking for basic necessities, decently clean rooms and bathrooms, enough space for 2-3 people. It's in the heart of delhi, close to shopping markets and well connected to the rest of the city.

Our stay was a mixed bag of good and bad experiences. I would rather just say an experience coz it's a learning about a culture and people we never experienced before.

Here's my review on the entire trip. I believe it would help people who are visiting Delhi for the first time on their own.

Day 1: Delhi local sight seeing
Our day started with 6 of us (3 adults 3 kids) squeezing into a Maruti Suzuki Eeco. Originally we planned to cover Birla Mandir, Lotus Mahal, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament south block, Qutub Minar, India Gate and back to hotel. We started with Birla Mandir, spent about an hour there and headed towards Rashtrapati Bhavan. Here's what happened. We finally covered Birla Mandir, on the move view of Rashtrapati Bhavan, Qutub Minar, India gate. In all we would have actually spent about 3 hours including all these places. Rest of the time was wasted in traffic, waiting at a hotel that the driver took us, we waited too long and took a decision not to eat there as nobody was attending. Went to another restaurant, again the driver took us there. This was slightly away from Lotus Mahal and quite an expensive one for middle class family travelers.

Tips: Do not depend on the driver's advice. Plan your travel in advance before you start. Tell him specifically that he should stop where you tell him to stop for food. If possible, search and fix a restaurant near to the place you would be at lunch time and tell him to go there. If you let him take decisions, he will delay your travel and also take you to hotels where he can draw commissions.

Day 2: Agra, Mathura, Gokul, Brindavan
Day 3: Delhi local sight seeing and shopping
Day 4: Attended dance competition
Day 5: Haridwar
Day 6: Return to Delhi and back to Bangalore

Pros:
Cycle rickshaws, shared autos, auto rickshaws


Cons:
Expensive food, Private taxi

Trip to Vakkarakali Amman Devi temple - Thiruvakkarai, Tamil Nadu

It was sheer coincidence that I remembered one of my friend mention about the Vakkarakali Amman temple a couple of weeks back. My friend had talked about this over 2 years back.

I won't go into the details / highlights about this temple. You will find enough info here which was very useful for me.

It's so true, when you feel let down in life, you look up to that supreme spirit for solace and surrender, and you do get back the motivation and energy needed to move on with your life.

It was one of those days when I was emotionally down and suddenly remembered this temple. Called up my friend and figured out this was near Pondicherry (Puducherry as it''s aka). He also mentioned that Full moon day is very auspicious and visiting the temple on this day is a great experience and fulfilling.

I'm currently working in Chennai and hence travelling to Thiruvakkarai was not a long distance (approx 160 kms). I don't drive here in Chennai, so decided to take the train+bus.

On the evening of 18th October (evening of the full moon day), I took the Chennai Rameshwaram express train. Got down at Tindivanam railway station (a journey of 2 hours from Chennai). I checked with a local on how to proceed to Thiruvakkarai. On his suggestion, I walked down through the Tindivanam local market to reach the old bus stand from where buses were plying to Thiruvakkarai.

On full moon days I learnt that the bus frequency is increased.. I could get one as soon as I reached the bus stand. Couldn't get a seat and traveled standing rest of the journey.

Just when we were getting off the bus, it started drizzling and by the time we walked to the temple gate (about 100 metres from the bus stop. You can see the gopuram from where you get off), it started pouring down heavily. Eventhough I carried an umbrella in anticipation of the rain god, I did get wet to some extent. At the gates, there were 3 queues. One, free entrance which was crowded. 2nd entrance fee was Rs. 20 which was also relatively crowded. 3rd entrance fee was Rs. 50. I took the 3rd and entered. Not many people in queue. I had darshan of the devi in 1/2 hour, visited other temples in the same compound - Chandramouleshwara, Subramanya, Parvati and came out.

I did want to see the jyothi which was going to be lit on top of the temple at 12am. I checked with the Vakkarakali Amman temple office if there was any accommodation available. But there was none. So, since the darshan was complete by 9.30pm, I thought I'll have dinner and leave for Tindivanam to catch an early morning train back to Chennai.

On the street, you'll find lots of road side eateries who make hot idlis and dosas and chapatis. It's a different experience to eat there. I ate 2 thick chapatis with vegetable kurma for Rs.20 and started walking towards the bus station. 

On reaching there, I was told that on full moon day, after 8pm, all buses were only incoming and they would return only after the Jyoti darshan. That is when most people would come back. Hence the buses wait there till 12am.

I had no option but to return to the temple. I was pretty tired that day as my day had started early and was literally dragging my feet and looking for some place to sit. Anyway, I made it to the temple, used the same ticket to enter again and had another darshan of Vakkarakali Amman devi, came out and waited for Jyoti darshan.

All around me, I could see lots of ladies burning small lamps using mud lamps, lemon lamps and lamps made from shells of pumpkins (after taking out the ingredients).

It was around 11.45pm, that the atmosphere started getting charged with a priest of the temple initiating chanting with the crowd - "Om Kali", "Om Vakkarakali". I could also see around 5-6 ladies getting possessed and getting wild alongwith chanting. One of the ladies started hitting her husband. It sounds comical, but it seemed that she was unaware of what she was doing. It is something to be experienced being there. At at 12am, the Jyoti was lit and the crowd started dispersing. That's when I realised that my tiredness was gone and was feeling fresh. There was something in the air that had given me energy. I started back to the bus stand walking like a kid full of energy. As soon as I got into the bus, bought ticket and put my head onto the seat in front of me, I fell asleep. I woke up after 45 minutes when the bus reached Tindivanam.

I walked back to the railway station, found an empty stone bench, and slept for 3 hours. I was to catch a train at 5.10am back to Chennai. My alarm goes like this "Wake up wake up wake up, it's a brand new day.... Hey wake up wake up wake up, everything, begins today...."

Thus started my day again with memories from last night from the trip to Vakkarakali Amman temple in Thiruvakkarai still fresh on my mind, body and spirit.

Gabbar Singh, telugu version of Dabbang

Though I'm not a telugu guy, more due to pressure from my younger colleagues, I happened to watch 'Gabbar Singh' in Casino cinema in Chennai. This was my third telugu movie of my life (watching in the cinema hall, I mean), the first one being Mutta Mestri, where Chiranjeevi was the star of those days.

As soon as the movie started, the hall was filled with loud whistles. Every cheeky dialogue from the hero triggered more. I must admit, the gravity defying, logic defying action sequences are worth watching. You would forget Newton's law and basic principles of Physics.

There are some really hilarious stunts like the hero removing his goggles and throwing at a policeman face, phut, it goes and fits in the right place :). There was another sequence where he rounds up all the villain's supporters and gets them to play Antyaakshri. That's a very hilarious sequence and you ROFL.

Sad part was that the charming, beautiful Shruti Hasan has no strong role to play (I have become a recent fan of her). It was Pawan Kalyan throughout.

This was the first time I heard about Pawan Kalyan - Power Star, maybe due to my ignorance of the telugu film industry. I was a fan of Chiranjeevi, his elder brother, for his hit film Mutta Mestri in my younger days. It's amazing to know that this man delivered a hit with Gabbar Singh after 10 years!! That too after a string of flops to his credit. I must admire him for the perseverance. It also drives home the truth that bad times don't last forever. When the sun sets, it's only to rise again the next day. That was the takeaway for me.

Overall, it was entertainment to the core. So, if you want to enjoy this movie, leave your thinking caps behind, there's no point trying to analyze why some things are happening. Just relax, sit back and have a good laugh!!

First trip via Goa from Bangalore

I set my foot in Goa for the first time at the Vasco-da-gama international airport on 12th May 2012. I say 'via Goa' because I had nothing to do in Goa but had to proceed to Sawantwadi in Maharashtra (close to 100 kms) and then return to Bangalore the next day. The only way this was achievable was to take a flight.

As soon as we landed, we the passengers of JetConnect airlines were ushered into a Jet transit bus. The bus took a turn and hardly drove for 10 seconds, stopped. The welcome entrance was  right there. That was the funniest moment. People could have just walked 20 steps and gone inside. These guys are pampering too much adding to ill health.

Anyway, since I was carrying no check-in baggage, I just walked straight out. I was mobbed by 10s of taxi drivers with "cheap fares". I had to go to Vasco main bus stand and had no idea how far it was. I asked one of the taxi booking counters if there is a local bus available to go there. "No, only taxis" came the reply. I almost bought into it, if not for 6-7 other taxi drivers mobbing around me for a ride. "Only Rs.120 sir, sasta hai" (This is the cheapest fare he said).

However, my sixth sense refused and I made my way outside the airport to see if I could talk to a local. There I saw couple of mini private "Birla" buses waiting on the road in front of the newly under construction terminal. I checked with the first bus. He said hop on, we are going to Vasco. Fare: Rs.5, journey time, hold your breath: 15 minutes, distance: 4 kms!!!!!!!!

The taxis were demanding Rs.120 for a 4km ride. Ridiculous. I decided then and there, I would rely only on the public transport.

I got down at Vasco market and got into a Kadamba bus to go to Panaji. Fare: Rs.28. The route from Vasco to Panaji is fantastic with the backwaters giving you company for most of the route. You would also find some shipping companies on the sides with a few ships anchored there. Journey time: approx 45 minutes to1 hour.

Got down at Panaji. I was not only hungry but thirsty as well. Took a KOKAM sherbat soda which refreshed me. From here I took a private bus to Mhapsa / Mapusa as some people call. The bus was full of girls returning home to Mapusa from college.

After alighting at Mapusa, my relative came by on his Bajaj Discover. I requested him to allow me to drive. Totally enjoyed the awesome landscape littered with coconut / arecanut farm lands and passing by a few back water channels. It was breath taking.

On the way, added some punch to my hungry stomach with some road side onion bajji. This small shop is a couple of kms on the Mapusa->Sawantwadi road after you take a turn from Mapusa towards Sawantwadi. Amazing is one word I can use to describe the taste of the onion bajji.

Then at dusk, we reached our destination - Ajgaon, near Sawantwadi in Sindhudurg district. What a journey it was. A truly memorable one.

Walk away to great health and happiness

Walking is the simplest way to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I'm saying this not by looking at or hearing to other people or reading about it in the magazines. It's my personal experience. Financial difficulties during my childhood and teens acted as a boon in disguise. Most of the places I had to travel like school (5 kms away), shopping for 2nd hand books (avenue road, bangalore - 7kms) were all covered by walk and sometimes using a friend's bicycle.

Very recently I picked up a conversation with a middle aged person at a road side tea shop who had his views about software engineers being very weak and looking like 40 years at 25, etc, etc. And then he commented "you should be aged around 27 years if I'm right". That set of a proud smile on my face and replied to him. Thanks, but I'm 39.

That set me thinking about the lifestyle that I had led and the lifestyle led by this generation's youth. Ofcourse, the environment and absence of junk food also mattered then.

Even today, the day when I have my morning walk is the best feeling I keep throughout the day. I feel charged, feel hungry on time and very vibrant.

I'm all for walking as an all round exercise. Especially people who are working in the IT/BPO sectors, it's the easiest way to keep yourself fit. 20 minutes of a brisk walk and whiff of fresh air in the morning makes a hell a lot of difference. Trust me.

It keeps me stress free and lets me to squeeze in a plate of yummy paani puri on the road side without upsetting my health.

Happy walking.

Ubuntu 11.10 desktop issues

I have been a dedicated user of Ubuntu 10.10 for over a year and half. Since I got a new laptop, my system admin recommended to use the latest version Ubuntu 11.10 as it would be more secure.

Unfortunately, the desktop seems to have changed. They have replaced the GNOME interface with UNITY.

Believe me, it's such a pain to use this interface and they have ensured that you won't download and install the GNOME desktop so easily.

Then someone told me that I need to download and install the gnome desktop from the Ubuntu software center. When I tried that it complained saying that the dependency gnome-core needed to be installed. When I tried to do that, it threw up an error:

gnome: Depends: gnome-core (= 1:3.0+1ubuntu1) but 1:3.0+1ubuntu1 is to be installed

That's when I completely lost it. I could not afford to spend my time on doing something which was totally useless. I gave up after reading more reviews on the web about this problem.

And I have to thank my stars, I noticed KDE was available during my login. I switched to try it out. Wow. I have not looked back today. It's just got everything I need and extremely user friendly.

The only other problem I faced was to configure a printer. I could not find the printer configuration utility from the menus. Googled a bit and did:

sudo system-config-printer

to configure my office network printer and voila I was done.

Thanks to KDE. I stayed back with Ubuntu. I almost went back to Windows 7.

Sunrise, sunset at Kanyakumari

Kanyakumari, the southern most tip of India our beloved motherland. Had been there during December 2009 as part of our trip to Tamil Nadu with family. It had been a pretty good trip starting from Bangalore -> Trichy -> Tanjore -> Piliyarpatti -> Rameshwaram -> Tiruchendur -> Kanyakumari -> Madurai -> Bangalore.

We reached Kanyakumari just post lunch and spent time hanging around the rocks waiting for beautiful sunset it's famous for.

When the time came, we were pretty disappointed as there was a mist over the sea waters and the sun god disappeared in a cloud of mist way above the sea waters.

And then we spent the evening without much ado and went to bed in the hope that the morning would give us a delightful sight of a big red sun coming out of the sea like an orange. But, no, that was not to happen. Again the mist played a spoil sport and watching a good sunrise at Kanyakumari remained only a dream.

On the way back to Bangalore from Madurai, once we reached Hosur, after a little nap during the ride in the afternoon, I opened my eyes to look out of the window of the car to see a big red sun setting in the horizon. Wow, I said and showed it off to the rest of the folks. The sunset was beautiful, but still disappointed that it was not in Kanyakumari. Will try again another time hopefully.