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Adding colors and freshness to my space but WIP…

March 31, 2014
Hola people, what’s up? I’m back from what you can call some real crazy travel schedule, festival fun with in-laws side of family, new experiences, new memories & new insights on food, travel and relationships! More on those later (note to self: I must take out time to jot down my experiences, as this trip was different in more ways than one) but this post is just to say a big hello to all of you. It’s 31st March today and those of you working in financial sector or business development roles must be having a crazy time today. Good luck, may this year end on a big note for all of you.
And I had a day off yesterday after what seemed like at least a decade! Yes, it was just another Sunday but few things were different – I was sick, down with very high fever, have fallen this sick after long and hence was on bed for most part of the day. Household chores were ignored, child was being taken care only partly by me but primarily by husband and the maid. Even Mr. husband was at home for a change this weekend and for a CHANGE even maid was around at least for few hours this Sunday! Maids in Bangalore, ufff….but more on this again later! 
So, after long I got to be on bed at least for few hours and I got the time to play around with my blog that I have been wanting to do for long. The last theme that I updated on this blog was almost 7 years back. In fact a quick look on my “About text” told me that it was last touched 8 years back. It read, “blogging for 4+ years now” whereas in reality, I have been blogging for almost 12 years now! Well, have not changed much on “About” yet but definitely have been trying to work around with a different theme. Have added bit of color, changed the layout and updated it with some new design trends and widgets. During the process, also realized that both wordpress and blogger have changed quite a lot now. Blogger’s own themes are not as per current design trends and customizing it with any other theme has become very time consuming and not that user friendly. This blog change is still only partly completed but I’m actually quite liking it. Don’t know when will I get the time to work on it again but trying to at least finish the basics today. Just a bit of color addition and a different layout itself have motivated me to do this post. Hope I will get the time and energy to be here more regularly now. After all, who doesn’t like freshness to his/her space and as I always say, this is one space of mine that I cherish truly and miss it whenever I am away from it for long!
So, do you like this new layout of my blog? Any suggestions for improvement? Lemme know your views please. Bbye until we meet again and hopefully very soon 🙂

If it has to be a morning in B’lore, it has to be @ Nandi Hills!

June 22, 2009
Yup, I strongly feel so esp. after my recent visit to Nandi Hills. This was not my first visit to this absolutely serene place which is just 60 kms from Bangalore but the difference this time was that I had an overnight stay at the hills there. Thanks to our friends who insisted to stay there at night & then enjoy the quietude of that place. I must say that the difference in experience was startling.

My in-laws side of family is here right now & we wanted to take them to some silent & calm place. Now what better place than Nandi Hills which is so close to Bangalore & yet seems to be so far from the regular hustle-bustle of the city. I’m sure anybody who has lived in Bangalore for even few months would have definitely gone to this place at least once. But I’m not sure how many of them would have done the mistake of doing a day trip like us? Trust me, if you really want to enjoy this place you need to experience the morning of Nandi Hills. I don’t remember when was the last time when I had breathed such fresh air, felt such lovely breeze, seen such picturesque sunrise & played amongst such vivid clouds. The descent of cloud outside our rooms or on the plateau was such that the literal phrase “playing with clouds” seemed to be absolutely real at that moment. Have a look on the following pictures, & you’ll know why I say now – “If it has to be a morning in Bangalore, it has to be @ Nandi Hills”:



To add to this quaint experience, the weather that day was simply awesome. Heavy rains with that typical smell of wet soil all around! Ahhhh :-). If you wanna go for a short & economical break from Bangalore, then in this weather, Nandi Hills is surely one of the perfect options for you.

Other Details of the place:

  • About Nandi Hills: The Nandi Hills or the hills of the Nandi have been named after the bull of Lord Shiva. Also known as Nandidurga, it was the summer retreat of Tipu Sultan in old days.
  • Distance from Bangalore: 60 kms
  • Best mode to travel: By road, route is very simple & driving experience is great.
  • Route: Now with international airport at Devanhalli, one hardly needs to write directions for this place. It’s on the same route, after Devanhalli, you need to take a left (there is a sign board having a left arrow for Nandi Hills at that turn) and keep going straight.
  • Places to Stay: One of our friends had arranged our stay in “Nehru Nilaya”, a govt. guest of indian Horticulture Dept. and it was really-really good considering its price. Room ranges from Rs. 260 – Rs. 1000/- plus taxes, only catch is you can’t book these rooms on phone or online. You’ve to physically go to Lalbaug in Bangalore to get the rooms booked. Apart from these, there were lots of other good accommodation options too on Nandi Hills, both at the foot as well as on top of the hills.
  • Best time to visit: All year, though if you’re one of those who enjoy rain then May-July is the perfect time to go. It’s really scenic at this time.
  • Places to see there: The best thing which you can do at this place is relax in the mid of nature, it really refreshes you after a hectic week of work. But if you want to explore this place further, you can check out Yogi Nandishvara Temple, Suicide Point, remains of Tipu fort, Amrit Sarovar & Brahmashram. This ashram is a small cave with very cool temperature inside and is a good place to sit silently & have a tryst with your own self.

Yercaud: A Passage To Tranquility

October 5, 2008
After some 40 days of planning and some 80 mail exchanges, finally the trip to Yercaud happened 🙂 … Considering it was a group of six professionals with varied work life, planning definitely took some time as arranging day offs on the same weekend was sort of a Herculean task, but at last we did it! And what a trip it was… absolutely enchanting, delightful and a complete break from the regular hustle-bustle of the city life. If I have to describe the trip in just one phrase, I would say it was simply a passage to tranquility.

Just came back from a three day trip to Yercaud yesterday. As decided we left for Yercaud on 2nd Oct’08 morning, though we had all the intentions to start early morning by 5:30 am but call it our laziness or the last night get-together aftereffects which went on till 2 am, we managed to leave Bangalore only by 7:30 am :). We took the Hosur Krishnagiri road and stopped for a quick breakfast at a small road side dhaba after Krishnagiri. Though the distance is hardly 230 Kms from Bangalore but since we drove leisurely and took lots of breaks in between, we managed to reach there in approx 7 hours, however normally I guess one can easily manage to reach there in 5.5 hours.

The drive was awesome esp. the ghat route after Salem which was full of greenery and natural beauty and to add to that the vehicle used was an SUV one which made the driving experience all the more wonderful (thanks to this couple friend of ours for using their own Dicor :-)). Uphill driving was relatively easier as compared to places like Ooty and there are 20 hairpins to be crossed to reach Yercaud. It was quite easy to locate our hotel “Star Holidays” (that’s the only place wherein we could manage to book our rooms because of long weekend rush) which was on the main M.G. Road itself (oh yes, there was a M.G. Road there as well which was hardly like a small lane :-)). First impression of the hotel looked impressive, small cottages with cute li’ll balconies. We decided to check-in, get freshened and then leave for lunch as well as some sightseeing. Hmmm, now came the most difficult part i.e., finding a god hotel to eat. Almost every place was damn crowded with little food options left as lunch time was almost over. After some deliberations, we decided to settle for Shevroys. Food was ok but better than what was on offer at Star Holidays. Once our pet-pooja was done, we decided to roam around in the town and the first thing which one could notice was the Emerald Lake which was just in the center of Yercaud. We went for self-pedaling boats and it was quite a pleasant experience to just boat around on your own in the placid water. Rest of the evening we decided to spend in our hotel balconies itself, well overall it was a great evening except for the dinner served by Star Holidays Restaurant which was really bad.

Warned by last night’s food and service experience, next day we decided to venture out for breakfast to nearby areas and oh we landed up in Club Mahindra’s property which was hardly a kilometer away from our hotel. What a lovely place it was! Adorned with French architecture, the property boasts of amazing landscapes and décor. Breakfast was awesome and service guys were really hospitable. After a good cup of tea and sandwiches we left with an intention to come back again for buffet dinner. Next targets were Pagoda Point, Lady’s Seat, Gent’s Seat and Children’s Seat. These places were good but not well maintained, lots of dirt and litter here and there 🙁 and because of hot climate, we decided to quickly move to our next destination – The Servarayan Temple which is situated on top of Servarayan hill. Temple is inside a small cave and the surrounding areas were fabulous with a very pleasant climate – Don’t miss this place at all and try to go there in the evening to enjoy the sunset and lovely weather. The day ended with a scenic drive back to hotel and some fun n frolic in our same old cottage balconies. Next day, it was time to return back to Bangalore – but no our holiday was not over yet as we had decided for a stop over at Hogenakkal Falls which was enroute to Bangalore.

The drive downhill was lovelier as the ghats were full of fog – wow, it was truly beautiful. After almost 3 hours of easy driving we reached Hogenakkal, now Hogenakkal experience definitely deserves a separate post as it was really a marvelous experience. So, I will post the details of Hogenakkal later on. And with loads of enjoyment, full jollity, hila ke rakh dene wale PJs (trust me, some of our group members can win world level prizes if there was ever any PJ competition) and lovely songs by some of the good singers in groups, the trip ended on a beautiful note. We all reached back safely to Bangalore last night with lovely memories, exquisite reminiscences and only one sad thought – Why do Holidays end so soon 🙁?

Quick Facts:
My Recommendations:

  • In case you are looking for a vacation spot with lots of tourist attraction and places to see, then Yercaud is not the right place for you. But if you want to have a serene and peaceful trip and if you love the silent retreat with nature then definitely visit Yercaud.
  • In case you are willing to shell out 3k-5k and if you can manage to get the booking, try out Sky Roca or Club Mahindra for stay, otherwise the place is full of economic options like Star Holiday or Shevroys. Though Star Holidays was having a beautiful property but the service was hopeless and food quality pathetic. Try to have food at other places, we tried out Hotel Silver breakfast (a small dhaba just near to Star Holidays on M.G. Road) and tea as well as Dosas were amazing. Other places like Indieco hotel (Club Mahindra property) also serve you good lunch and dinner buffet at Rs. 175/- person and breakfast buffet at Rs. 120/- per person.
  • Incase you are not an expert driver for hairpins and uphill route, drive bit carefully. Though its not as difficult as Ooty but its not as cakewalk as Yelagiri too.

About Yercaud: Yercaud is a small hill station situated amidst the Shervaoyan Hills in the Eastern Ghats, close to the town of Salem in Tamil Nadu. It is at an altitude of 1,500 metres from mean sea level. Yercaud has been named so because of the lake located at its center – in Tamil “Yeri” means “lake” and “Kaadu” means “forest”.
Distance from Bangalore: Approx 230 Kms (we started from HSR Layout)
Driving Route: Bangalore – Electronic City – Hosur – Krishnagiri – Dharmagiri – Salem – Yercaud
Road Condition: Very good as on Oct’08
Climate: Pleasant with bit cold esp. in the morning
Ideal duration of trip: Not more than 2 days

That Special Weekend…

July 30, 2008

Have been planning to post this for quite sometime now but last few weeks have been hectic enough to do anything else. Well professionally and personally things are moving quite optimistically and work wise my new promoted role with larger responsibilities since last one and half month has been quite interesting and stimulating for me (TOUCHWOOD!). Got to do lots of interesting stuffs and I am enjoying every bit of it till today (hee hee hee, knowing me one may never know when I can get bored of anything including my job) except that this is really-really hectic and frenzied with quite some traveling too. But guess one has to pay this price in terms of schedule and time. But amidst all this, I had managed to sneak a very special weekend this month, thanks to planning and preparation of hubby dear 🙂 for my b’day which was luckily on a weekend this year.

We were getting that long drive itch since long esp. because our last drive to Pondicherry was in Feb’08. Hmmm considering our love for wheels, 5 months without any long drive is a long hiatus for us. Just one day prior to that weekend, hubby dear announced the plans for bday weekend and asked me to take Monday off so that we can have a 3 days weekend trip to Wayanad… Wayanad!!! My first reaction was full of exclamation marks and frowns, Wayanad in rains, now come on we all are aware of rains in Kerala esp. Wayanad where Lakkidi gets world’s second largest rainfall and wherever we have read its always mentioned not to go to Wayanad during monsoons…But well he was insistent on the fact that kerala is very beautiful and lets go to Kerala again (we have already been to some other locations of Kerala like Munnar, Allepy etc immediately after our wedding and it was an awesome trip). And so finally out of the strong urge to visit Kerala again, I also agreed and I must say it was a wonderful decision that we made.

Saturday 12th July’08 we (me, hubby and one of our close friends alongwith his family) set on our jaunt to Wayanad…we started morning 6 am by fully loading our car with fuel, snacks, music and enthusiasm. The drive was wonderful and en-route we stopped at standard Kamat Loka Ruchi for a scrumptious breakfast, oh the idlis there are just so yummy…After clicking some pics here and there, we started again and the route was simply awesome, a driver’s delight so to say. And one can’t miss hubby’s and his friend’s fault finding in each others driving so that they get to drive through the maximum route possible… Hubby saying to his friend, “tujhe sharp turn theek se nahi lene aata, let me drive” and his friend replying “tera break pe control nahi rehta hai, let me drive” LOL! Here is one pic of the route to explain it further 🙂…

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Finally we reached Wayanad in about five and hours drive and oh wow what a place it was! Truly mesmerizing…greenery all along, thick dense coffee plantations…fresh air and absolute serenity! After settling down in our resort we set to move around in Wayanad and the best part was that there was absolutely no rains except for some drizzle which made the weather all the more lovelier. In two and half days, we visited places like Phokoot Lake, Lakkidi Point, Soochipoora Falls, and Edekkal caves etc. Out of all these, most fascinating ones were Edekkal Caves simply because of its mysterious ancient culture and Lakkidi because of its breathtaking view. Here is a pic of Lakkidi point, I must have seen many rainbows earlier in my life but something as vibrant as this…never!!!

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This pic immediately reminded me of a very old quote – “Life is like a rainbow. You need both the sun and the rain to make its colors appear”, this rainbow at Lakkidi was so bright and vivid esp. because it was appearing on a varied background, half of the mountains were having rains and half were having sun. I just loved it! That whole two and half days kaise beet gaye pata hi nahi chala and Monday noon it was time for us to hit back to the road to Bangalore. The details of my overall trip from travel perspective is available on my travelogue and the same can be read there.

Overall a mesmerizing trip and very sweet weekend amidst all the frantic work life and I would recommend Wayanad to all those who enjoy spending some time in tranquility away from city chaos. And yeah lastly whosoever said not to visit Wayanad in July is ##@@!!. Trust me roaming and driving around in that lush green carpet of nature was truly and amazing and rewarding experience.

Pondicherry : Give time a break

March 2, 2008

Yeah “Incredible India” campaign for Pondicherry says this & it’s a very right statement for Pondicherry aka Pudducherry “Give time a break”… Got this t-shirt in Pondicherry from one of the Incredible India stalls…

Well, we both were just dead-tired of our hectic work life for past so many days…n it was over four months that we were planning to go on a long drive. But of course work pressure and our series of official tours were not allowing us to do so. Finally last Friday we suddenly thought to go somewhere even if it meant no good hotel bookings anywhere (thanks to Bangalore and Bangaloreans’ weekend trips that getting good hotel rooms during unplanned weekend trips is a rarity). After debating on few places we finally zeroed on Pondicherry… but yeah pondicherry meant one more day apart from weekend… hmmm. Shall we try our luck with our bosses for one extra day off? Afterall we have been working on so many weekends since long. We tried & here we go, we managed to get that 1 extra day off on Monday and so we were all set for Pondicherry next morning.
Plan was to start at 6:30 am on Saturday morning, but hee hee hee me and my sleeping habit, we finally started at around 8:30 am in the morning, route was pretty simple and we had taken printout of route available on net, so it was quite easy to drive ahead. And I must say that drive was just awesome, it’s a delight to drive on Hosur-Krishnagiri road for all those who enjoy driving. It took us five and half hours to reach Pondicherry and we finally settled at a nice beach resort at ECR road. Oh whosoever said Pondicherry beaches are not good are just fools… well I agree it’s surely not like Goa but it definitely is a cool place for enjoying those peaceful mornings and silent evenings near the sea. Other attractions of Pondicherry are serene Aurobindo Ashram, astounding Auroville, beautiful French colony & yummmmy sea-food!!! Oh it’s a foodie’s delight to eat those amazing delicacies… me n hubby were just not getting tired of eating J… and yeah last but not the least shopping, hmmm now this was so much fun that this itself can be a topic of another full post from me. Finally after all that masti for next two days, we drove back to bangalore on Monday afternoon. For other travel related details, you can read my travelogue here.
 Overall, we had a great time far away from the city traffic and terribly hectic work life of ours, no laptop and no phones for three days :-). It was a perfect place for lazy weekend and relaxed time. We finally did manage to give time a break for three days!

Ah, one peaceful day in my life

August 10, 2007
Last weekend after a long long time, finally we managed to a take a weekend break & decided to drive down to any location where we can get a resort booking… & finally after lots of trials & effort we managed to get a booking for 1 night at Tusker Trails in Bandipur… hah Bangaloreans & their love for weekend trips… leaves hardly any scope for any last moment booking availability.

Well, finally we managed to reach Bandipur (read more about Bandipur in my travelogue here), the place was so beautiful & drive was great but what made me super-excited was the fact that there was no mobile network available over there… Oh man, what a joy; that meant I would not receive any calls that day… Such a big relief & I just felt that this holiday would be perfect simply because I would NOT get any calls for work as well as other stupid things like credit card, personal loans etc etc… J…. Wah what a joy & it indeed proved to be such a great day, such a peaceful day without my mobile phone continuously ringing (rather screeching) in my ears. On a normal day many a times I get so irritated by the calls at all possible odd hours & this funda of 24×7 availability on official mobile phones that I just exasperatedly wonder “who the hell on this earth invented the mobile phone?”

Mobile again is also a classy example of we becoming slaves to technology. Till I guess last 4-5 years mobile phones were just “nice to have” kinda stuff in India but now if you don’t have a mobile phone you will be seen as one of those primitive men or primordial human beings. Its being categorized as one of the basic necessities of life & it has got as much “must-have” status as much as clothing & shelter have got in our lives. Well, I understand it has made our lives lot easier but I think it has made lives equally miserable too. Anybody can contact you anytime & you are left with no time for yourself ( …If I start writing the miseries which mobiles have brought to our lives, I think my list will never end). Now people just don’t talk while they need to talk rather they talk while working, driving, cooking, walking, exercising, shitting & when not!!! I sometimes wonder can we now survive without our mobile phones at all & what will happen to the world when suppose there will be absolutely no mobile connectivity for a week…JJJ… well, I don’t know about others but I think I will surely enjoy that one peaceful week.