As I may have chronicled in this blog, I have the option of working out of any one of the two locations where my office has opened shop. The option is not really official, but more of an agreement with my bosses, who have been kind enough to permit this luxury.
But of late, I have been using the slightest of opportunities to work out of the office closer home. With every passing day, it is becoming increasingly difficult for me to commute to the office farthest from home. The commute is taking up 3-4 hours daily and I am simply not able to take it mentally and physically.
However, I am also feeling guilty that I am abusing an option that has been given to me. My bosses can simply tell me to limit the number of times I visit the office closer home or worse, simply revoke the privilege. Would I end up killing the goose that has been laying the golden egg?
What scares me more is the fact that at a sub-conscious level, I seem to be tuning myself away from the main location of work. Just look at this: Last Friday, my alarm woke me up at 5:30 as usual. But in what is a first for me, I simply reset the alarm to an hour later, with the plan to go to the office closer home and resumed my sleep. And yesterday (Monday), I again got up at 5:30 and even made it to the bus stop. But, I was 5 minutes late and had missed the bus. On previous occasions that I've missed the bus, I usually take my car and go to office. But this time, I took the car and simply went to the office closer home. And to top all of this, this morning (Tuesday), I again got up at 5:30. I've been feeling a little queasy due to a slight bout of acidity and I actually used that as an excuse and didn't even go to office today.
So basically, the very fact that I need to travel that far has made me tune myself out. But is it just the commute that is causing me to behave like this or is there something else deeper to look into? I need counseling.
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
The mini pilgrimage in March 2010 – Summary
I have obviously not kept up my word of trying to blog more frequently. So, before time runs out, let me chronicle the remaining facets of the trip and move on to other topics soon.
From the previous post on this trip, you would have come to know that my mother just found out that her purse along with cash was missing.
After frantic searches of the various bags and even the car, we finally concluded that it was indeed lost. And the venue was most likely the temple in Tirumanacheri.
We reached the hotel and then called up the bank to get her ATM card blocked, since that was also there in the purse. We got the confirmation after multiple calls to them, that the card had indeed been blocked and also that no transactions had been done using that card. The monetary loss though was around 6K INR.
The rest of the evening was spent in taking rest, meeting up with a cousin and aunt who dropped by to the hotel. We then visited one of the local temples and called it a night.
The next day, we went to Kumbakonam. The main purpose was to visit Swami Malai where we hadnt been to in a long long time. And since we were going that far, we also had quick halts at Tirunageshwaram and Uppili Appan Kovil. These two temples are basically 2 gears on a car apart.
Swami Malai temple is quite different. It is on a small hillock kind of area, though it could very well be that the King who built it, basically just built it at an elevated level. After we climbed the two steeps sets of stairs, we bought special darshan tickets and waited in line. It was a perfect time to be there since the abhishekam was in progress. Afterwards, they did a complete alangaaram to Lord Subramanyam and believe you me, it was awesome. The one really different piece of decoration that I noticed was the headgear. It was not a crown nor was it the usual Indian style turban or mundaasu. The headgear looked exactly like what we have seen in pictures of George Washington or Robert Clive!
Anyways, we left the temple and had a 10 second drive-thru around the MahaMaham lake and then returned to the hotel. In the evening, we dropped in to my "mother's house" though due its very dilapitated state, we couldnt enter inside.
We left for Chennai that very night - the night of March 5th by Rathi Meena again. The guys once again, drove down to Chennai in a matter of 4.5 hours and I was able to continue my sleep on Saturday morning for some more time. I had to then go to Mylapore and pick up my car from Raghu before heading out to my project party, which incidentally also gave my first experience with paint ball. Paint ball is a game that looks quite easy to play, but like all games, is very difficult when you actually play it!
Anyways, it was a quite a hectic weekend for me and also for my parents. But one that we hope would yield the desired result soon.
From the previous post on this trip, you would have come to know that my mother just found out that her purse along with cash was missing.
After frantic searches of the various bags and even the car, we finally concluded that it was indeed lost. And the venue was most likely the temple in Tirumanacheri.
We reached the hotel and then called up the bank to get her ATM card blocked, since that was also there in the purse. We got the confirmation after multiple calls to them, that the card had indeed been blocked and also that no transactions had been done using that card. The monetary loss though was around 6K INR.
The rest of the evening was spent in taking rest, meeting up with a cousin and aunt who dropped by to the hotel. We then visited one of the local temples and called it a night.
The next day, we went to Kumbakonam. The main purpose was to visit Swami Malai where we hadnt been to in a long long time. And since we were going that far, we also had quick halts at Tirunageshwaram and Uppili Appan Kovil. These two temples are basically 2 gears on a car apart.
Swami Malai temple is quite different. It is on a small hillock kind of area, though it could very well be that the King who built it, basically just built it at an elevated level. After we climbed the two steeps sets of stairs, we bought special darshan tickets and waited in line. It was a perfect time to be there since the abhishekam was in progress. Afterwards, they did a complete alangaaram to Lord Subramanyam and believe you me, it was awesome. The one really different piece of decoration that I noticed was the headgear. It was not a crown nor was it the usual Indian style turban or mundaasu. The headgear looked exactly like what we have seen in pictures of George Washington or Robert Clive!
Anyways, we left the temple and had a 10 second drive-thru around the MahaMaham lake and then returned to the hotel. In the evening, we dropped in to my "mother's house" though due its very dilapitated state, we couldnt enter inside.
We left for Chennai that very night - the night of March 5th by Rathi Meena again. The guys once again, drove down to Chennai in a matter of 4.5 hours and I was able to continue my sleep on Saturday morning for some more time. I had to then go to Mylapore and pick up my car from Raghu before heading out to my project party, which incidentally also gave my first experience with paint ball. Paint ball is a game that looks quite easy to play, but like all games, is very difficult when you actually play it!
Anyways, it was a quite a hectic weekend for me and also for my parents. But one that we hope would yield the desired result soon.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
The mini pilgrimage in March 2010 – Day 1 Part 1
contd. from previous post
We reached our Hotel - Hotel Dayalan - by 5:10 AM by walking from the bus stop. After we checked in, all 3 of us caught up with some pending sleep till about 6 AM. Afterwards, we started getting ready to visit the main temple on the agenda - Thirumananchery.
With the help of the Hotel guys, we hired a taxi and set out by 9ish AM. The main thing to note is that, for the first time in my life, on a day other than Aavani Avittam, I ventured out in public in a vaeshti. I had planned this even while packing my stuff for the trip.
We reached the temple by 9:40 or so. I may have mentioned this earlier, but doesnt hurt to repeat it. The temple at Tirumananchery is reknowned for having special powers that cater to the needs of the people who are having trouble getting married. Like me! And the popularity of this temple has apparently increased manifold in the last 50-60 years only.
The rituals to be followed in the temple are quite simple actually. You just need to buy a flower garland and get an archanai performed to the uthsava moorthies of the deities Sundareshwarar and Kokilambaall. During the course of this archanai, the priests first place the aforementioend garland near the deity and then they give it to you for wearing for a short while before the ritual comes to an end.
Once the prayers are all done, the head priest gave directions on what needed to be done with the prasadams. The prasadams are essentially a garland (referenced recently), viboothi, kungumam, manjal and a lemon. The viboothi and kungumam have to applied daily. The lemon is supposed to be extracted into a concentrate and that has to be consumed first thing in the morning of the day we return home. The manjal is to be used by women. And the garland has to be kept at home and the belief is that by the time it decomposes, a wedding would be fixed. And after the wedding is done, the couple is expected to visit the temple and then throw off the garland (or whatever is left of it) into a pond adjoining the temple.
Anyways, after completing the prayers, lighting of lamps at a couple of places and taking few mandatory pictures, we were out of the temple. Our next stop was Vaitheeshwaran Kovil. There was no big agenda at the temple and so it was a very business-like visit there. Once we were done with the prayers at the sannidhis of Vaitheeshwaran and Thaiyalnaayagi, we headed out for a much needed lunch.
Lunch was at a place called Hotel Sadabhishekam and we had a pretty good meal. We resumed our trip back to the Hotel and just as we left the Hotel, the driver said he was going to fill up fuel at the station next door. He asked us for 50% of the agreed amount and during the process of handing over the cash to him, my mother found out that she was missing a "loaded" purse that she had brought along from Chennai.
To be continued....
We reached our Hotel - Hotel Dayalan - by 5:10 AM by walking from the bus stop. After we checked in, all 3 of us caught up with some pending sleep till about 6 AM. Afterwards, we started getting ready to visit the main temple on the agenda - Thirumananchery.
With the help of the Hotel guys, we hired a taxi and set out by 9ish AM. The main thing to note is that, for the first time in my life, on a day other than Aavani Avittam, I ventured out in public in a vaeshti. I had planned this even while packing my stuff for the trip.
We reached the temple by 9:40 or so. I may have mentioned this earlier, but doesnt hurt to repeat it. The temple at Tirumananchery is reknowned for having special powers that cater to the needs of the people who are having trouble getting married. Like me! And the popularity of this temple has apparently increased manifold in the last 50-60 years only.
The rituals to be followed in the temple are quite simple actually. You just need to buy a flower garland and get an archanai performed to the uthsava moorthies of the deities Sundareshwarar and Kokilambaall. During the course of this archanai, the priests first place the aforementioend garland near the deity and then they give it to you for wearing for a short while before the ritual comes to an end.
Once the prayers are all done, the head priest gave directions on what needed to be done with the prasadams. The prasadams are essentially a garland (referenced recently), viboothi, kungumam, manjal and a lemon. The viboothi and kungumam have to applied daily. The lemon is supposed to be extracted into a concentrate and that has to be consumed first thing in the morning of the day we return home. The manjal is to be used by women. And the garland has to be kept at home and the belief is that by the time it decomposes, a wedding would be fixed. And after the wedding is done, the couple is expected to visit the temple and then throw off the garland (or whatever is left of it) into a pond adjoining the temple.
Anyways, after completing the prayers, lighting of lamps at a couple of places and taking few mandatory pictures, we were out of the temple. Our next stop was Vaitheeshwaran Kovil. There was no big agenda at the temple and so it was a very business-like visit there. Once we were done with the prayers at the sannidhis of Vaitheeshwaran and Thaiyalnaayagi, we headed out for a much needed lunch.
Lunch was at a place called Hotel Sadabhishekam and we had a pretty good meal. We resumed our trip back to the Hotel and just as we left the Hotel, the driver said he was going to fill up fuel at the station next door. He asked us for 50% of the agreed amount and during the process of handing over the cash to him, my mother found out that she was missing a "loaded" purse that she had brought along from Chennai.
To be continued....
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The mini pilgrimage in March 2010 – Day 0
After a lot of pleading, hinting, cajoling, guiding, recommending, suggesting, nudging etc., I finally relented and agreed to make the long pending visit to Thirumanachery. To those of you who are not aware about the significance of this town, please be advised that a visit to the Shivan kovil in this town and doing the special poojai there, will help in ending the “single” marital status of an indvidual.
I had been asked to go to this place by countless people and now that I think about it, I don't think any of them actually got married after going through the routine that they advise me. But, I finally decided to take their suggestion in good faith and a trip was finally planned. We were to visit that temple of the 4th of March and return by the morning of March 6th, since I had a project party to partake in.
The tour almost didnt happen, because of the health of my parents. My father was having another bout of amoebiasis and my mother had a small kitchen accident which caused a 3" diameter burn mark near her right elbow. But both of them were quite particular that this trip not be delayed, because they didn't want to bow down to any obstacle to a trip being planned with the main purpose of removing obstacles!
So there we were opposite the Thiruvanmiyur bus stand at 10:40 PM on the 3rd of March, waiting for the Rathimeena bus scheduled to arrive at 11:05 PM. My dear friend Raghu had dropped us at the bus stand. Thankfully, we didnt make him wait, because the bus finally showed up a few minutes before midnight.
This was the first time I was travelling on this bus and I must admit that it was good. I had opted for a semi-sleeper AC bus for this trip, though my lack of knowledge in this area meant that I didnt book their full-sleeper bus. The seats were quite comfortable, the AC was in full swing, we were given fresh blankets and there was also a supply of packaged water.
The bus left the Thiruvanmiyur area a few minutes after midnight. Despite the relatively comfortable environment, I did have trouble falling asleep. It was primarily because I am not that used to sleeping in a bus unless I am really really tired. I was having a broken sleep and when the bus started slowing down at a place which I found out to be a petrol bunk in Pondichery, we took the usual toilet break. The time by then was 2 AM.
The journey resumed in around 15 minutes and after more rounds of broken sleep, I finally heard some announce that the bus was in Mayavaram. When I checked the clock it was 5:00 AM. So the entire elapsed time was around 5 hours, with an actual travel time of just 4 hours 45 minutes. That, by Indian standards was quite fast!
Day 1 updates in the next post.
Saturday, January 02, 2010
No air travel in 2009
Just realized that I haven't set foot inside an airplane in 2009.
This is the first calendar year where this has happened (or not happened), ever since I started flying in 2000.
This is the first calendar year where this has happened (or not happened), ever since I started flying in 2000.
Monday, November 03, 2008
Client and Hyderabad Visit - Day 1 - 20/Oct/08
Continuing my trend of waking up early on Monday mornings, I got up by 6.45 AM that day. Since I was going to get me regular filter coffee, I had to make do with the instant coffee that was available in the room. I then logged on to the Internet to check the morning newspaper of The Hindu. I took my time to get ready, but by 7.40, I was out of the room. We all then headed out to the office building where the meetings were arranged. After leaving our bags in the room, we then stepped out to receive the customers. By then, I was sporting my blazer and thankfully it still fit me (it was short even when it was first stitched 4 years ago). And I must admit this - the only thing that makes me look good is the blazer, but I think the blazer/coat-suit has the capacity to make anyone look good.
Anyways, the customers then came along in their car to the front of the building. We were introduced and I got a really knuckle breaking hand shake from the man. I don’t give a dead-fish hand-shake but this one was almost crunching the bones and I had to strain that extra bit to return the favor. The lady, however, gave a normal hand-shake. We then took them to the conference room and then we kinda started getting into the official portion of the visit. And a quick racial profiling - the guy is a Maratha who's settled in the US for almost 20 years and the lady is a red-headed Caucasian.
One of my senior managers gave a presentation about the organization and left the presentation about my unit to me! It was my first time presenting those slides to any customer. The only other time I'd even seen these slides was during a client visit in Jan '08, but my job then was to only click the buttons to move the slides while some other senior managers were doing the talking. So, when I had to start presenting these slides, I got a bit nervous and for the first couple of slides I couldn’t really do anything more than just read what was there. Luckily the senior manager was still around, so I deftly (or so I think) pointed to him and asked "Would you like to add some more?” I am sure he thought "Add? What did this guy say in the first place for me to add? I actually have to create not add." But he did bail me out for the first couple of slides and by the 4th-5th slide I regained my composure and was able to present a decent picture.
The rest of the day went quite peacefully with a good time spent on going around the campus. The campus at Hyderabad is quite a big one and needless to say, the two of them were really impressed. We ended the day around 4.15 PM and started the quasi-official part of the day. The plan was to take our clients to Charminar, but by the time we got there, the gates were closed. So we saw the monument from outside and spent the rest of the evening walking around the Chudi Bazaar (Bangle Market). There were quite a lot of small shops peddling bangles of various shapes, sizes, color, stones, artwork etc. All these were of course made of either glass or lacquer or glass or some metal and none were made of costly metals like Gold or Silver and none of the stones were actual precious or even semi-precious stones. And one had to bargain real hard otherwise we were bound to pay up some 4 times the actual cost.
We tried our hand at bargaining but failed miserably. While the language was not an issue - most of the shop-keepers spoke in Hindi and Urdu and my program manager's mother tongue was Hindi. So also the client. And I too could manage some amount of spoken Hindi though it may have sounded like Mehmood in Padosan! The real issue with bargaining was the very skill. And call me anything, but I think women are winners when it comes to bargaining. We were all given instructions to start at 25% of what the shopkeeper asks. But I found out that none of us could really ask that value. We men invariably started at 50%. And even on the odd occasion that we started at 25%, the shopkeeper simply refused to talk further and we too just walked away. I am sure women would have managed to keep the shopkeeper interested in the sale, but the only woman in our group at that time was a "Gori" - white lady - who didn’t speak Hindi. So that settled the matter and after an hour of walking around the bazaar we simply returned to the car.
We went out to some restaurant for dinner. Having stayed in AC the whole day, then being exposed to lot of dust at the bazaar and all this on a stomach that was rumbling with the food in the office, it was slowly getting into my head and I was not feeling too well. Even at the dinner table, I didn’t eat anything properly. We finally dropped off the clients at their hotel and when I returned to my room, it was after 11 PM. I still had some office work to do and I wound up the day after another 45 minutes or so.
Anyways, the customers then came along in their car to the front of the building. We were introduced and I got a really knuckle breaking hand shake from the man. I don’t give a dead-fish hand-shake but this one was almost crunching the bones and I had to strain that extra bit to return the favor. The lady, however, gave a normal hand-shake. We then took them to the conference room and then we kinda started getting into the official portion of the visit. And a quick racial profiling - the guy is a Maratha who's settled in the US for almost 20 years and the lady is a red-headed Caucasian.
One of my senior managers gave a presentation about the organization and left the presentation about my unit to me! It was my first time presenting those slides to any customer. The only other time I'd even seen these slides was during a client visit in Jan '08, but my job then was to only click the buttons to move the slides while some other senior managers were doing the talking. So, when I had to start presenting these slides, I got a bit nervous and for the first couple of slides I couldn’t really do anything more than just read what was there. Luckily the senior manager was still around, so I deftly (or so I think) pointed to him and asked "Would you like to add some more?” I am sure he thought "Add? What did this guy say in the first place for me to add? I actually have to create not add." But he did bail me out for the first couple of slides and by the 4th-5th slide I regained my composure and was able to present a decent picture.
The rest of the day went quite peacefully with a good time spent on going around the campus. The campus at Hyderabad is quite a big one and needless to say, the two of them were really impressed. We ended the day around 4.15 PM and started the quasi-official part of the day. The plan was to take our clients to Charminar, but by the time we got there, the gates were closed. So we saw the monument from outside and spent the rest of the evening walking around the Chudi Bazaar (Bangle Market). There were quite a lot of small shops peddling bangles of various shapes, sizes, color, stones, artwork etc. All these were of course made of either glass or lacquer or glass or some metal and none were made of costly metals like Gold or Silver and none of the stones were actual precious or even semi-precious stones. And one had to bargain real hard otherwise we were bound to pay up some 4 times the actual cost.
We tried our hand at bargaining but failed miserably. While the language was not an issue - most of the shop-keepers spoke in Hindi and Urdu and my program manager's mother tongue was Hindi. So also the client. And I too could manage some amount of spoken Hindi though it may have sounded like Mehmood in Padosan! The real issue with bargaining was the very skill. And call me anything, but I think women are winners when it comes to bargaining. We were all given instructions to start at 25% of what the shopkeeper asks. But I found out that none of us could really ask that value. We men invariably started at 50%. And even on the odd occasion that we started at 25%, the shopkeeper simply refused to talk further and we too just walked away. I am sure women would have managed to keep the shopkeeper interested in the sale, but the only woman in our group at that time was a "Gori" - white lady - who didn’t speak Hindi. So that settled the matter and after an hour of walking around the bazaar we simply returned to the car.
We went out to some restaurant for dinner. Having stayed in AC the whole day, then being exposed to lot of dust at the bazaar and all this on a stomach that was rumbling with the food in the office, it was slowly getting into my head and I was not feeling too well. Even at the dinner table, I didn’t eat anything properly. We finally dropped off the clients at their hotel and when I returned to my room, it was after 11 PM. I still had some office work to do and I wound up the day after another 45 minutes or so.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Client and Hyderabad Visit - Day 0 - 19/Oct/08
19th October was the date identified by the Tamil Nadu state government to inaugurate the fly-over (bridge in local parlance) in front of the airport at Chennai. The time was set as 5:30 PM. I had decided to fly out to Hyderabad that same Sunday evening. My boss also got her ticket in the same plane.
So, in order to avoid the traffic jam expected in front of the airport (after all it was the Chief Minister who was inaugurating it!), we decided to leave quite early from home. We reached well ahead of time and got our boarding pass issued by 4:45 PM.
That’s when my boss said “Why are they boarding us in at 6 PM?”. I too was equally bewildered. Domestic flights usually board some 15-20 minutes before the departure time and this looked like a lead time of almost 90 minutes. After flipping over the boarding pass a couple of more times, we then looked up our e-Ticket. And it was printed in a very clear font that the flight was scheduled to leave at 18:20 hours and reach Hyderabad at 19:20 hours.
You see, I’d originally been booked on another flight at 19:30 hours. But since it was an ATR flight, I asked my agent to book me on another flight leaving at around the same time. He got me this new one, but I happily assumed that the flight was only at 19:30.
If there was no inauguration function that day, I’d have started at least an hour later that day. And I’d have reached the airport just around the boarding time. I’d have had the ground staff of Air India (nearing their retirement date) come look for me!
Anyways, I called up my parents after the Security clearance was done and told them that I was all set to fly out and would call them after reaching Hyderabad. I then made a resolution not to tell my parents about this near goof-up and decided to call them around 20:30 hours when the flight (per my schedule) was presumed to land there.
But the minute we left the Hyderabad airport by cab, by force of my good nature and habit, I called up home and informed them that I’d reached Hyderabad and was in the cab headed towards my office. It was around 20:00 hours and so my mother was shocked. She wondered out loud as to how come I’d reached there so soon. At that point, the cat was clearly letting itself out of the bag and since I don’t lie (about such trivial things) I told her about my mistake.
I got my second reminder dose of the Hari incident in 2 months. I could only sheepish grins and rest the issue.
On a side note, the flight to Hyderabad was really empty. I would put the occupancy at only around 70%. Agreed this was Air India and was a bigger Airbus plane, but still it was quite surprising to see so many empty seats on this sector. Perhaps the business travelers mostly prefer flying out really early on Monday mornings and with the evident increase in prices of air tickets, those travelling on personal reasons had perhaps stayed away from the flight.
After dinner, I went back to our Guest House complex and before I hit the bed, I met the Program Manager for my project. I didn’t want to have any surprises and guesses to be done in front of the client as to who was who. After a quick chat, I returned to my room. The TV was not working in my room at that time and I didn’t want to connect my laptop to the internet anyway. Also factoring the long day ahead, I decided to sleep early and so I hit the sack by 11 PM.
So, in order to avoid the traffic jam expected in front of the airport (after all it was the Chief Minister who was inaugurating it!), we decided to leave quite early from home. We reached well ahead of time and got our boarding pass issued by 4:45 PM.
That’s when my boss said “Why are they boarding us in at 6 PM?”. I too was equally bewildered. Domestic flights usually board some 15-20 minutes before the departure time and this looked like a lead time of almost 90 minutes. After flipping over the boarding pass a couple of more times, we then looked up our e-Ticket. And it was printed in a very clear font that the flight was scheduled to leave at 18:20 hours and reach Hyderabad at 19:20 hours.
You see, I’d originally been booked on another flight at 19:30 hours. But since it was an ATR flight, I asked my agent to book me on another flight leaving at around the same time. He got me this new one, but I happily assumed that the flight was only at 19:30.
If there was no inauguration function that day, I’d have started at least an hour later that day. And I’d have reached the airport just around the boarding time. I’d have had the ground staff of Air India (nearing their retirement date) come look for me!
Anyways, I called up my parents after the Security clearance was done and told them that I was all set to fly out and would call them after reaching Hyderabad. I then made a resolution not to tell my parents about this near goof-up and decided to call them around 20:30 hours when the flight (per my schedule) was presumed to land there.
But the minute we left the Hyderabad airport by cab, by force of my good nature and habit, I called up home and informed them that I’d reached Hyderabad and was in the cab headed towards my office. It was around 20:00 hours and so my mother was shocked. She wondered out loud as to how come I’d reached there so soon. At that point, the cat was clearly letting itself out of the bag and since I don’t lie (about such trivial things) I told her about my mistake.
I got my second reminder dose of the Hari incident in 2 months. I could only sheepish grins and rest the issue.
On a side note, the flight to Hyderabad was really empty. I would put the occupancy at only around 70%. Agreed this was Air India and was a bigger Airbus plane, but still it was quite surprising to see so many empty seats on this sector. Perhaps the business travelers mostly prefer flying out really early on Monday mornings and with the evident increase in prices of air tickets, those travelling on personal reasons had perhaps stayed away from the flight.
After dinner, I went back to our Guest House complex and before I hit the bed, I met the Program Manager for my project. I didn’t want to have any surprises and guesses to be done in front of the client as to who was who. After a quick chat, I returned to my room. The TV was not working in my room at that time and I didn’t want to connect my laptop to the internet anyway. Also factoring the long day ahead, I decided to sleep early and so I hit the sack by 11 PM.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Hyderabad again
I will be travelling to Hyderabad this Sunday evening and will be spending the next 3 days in my office there. The clients of the project that I run out of that office is visiting us next week. Due to some issues with their flight schedules, they're arriving a day early and spending additional time with us.
We are of course, making use of this additional day to take them out to see Hyderabad and get them to do some shopping. :)
I will be returning to Chennai on Wednesday evening.
We are of course, making use of this additional day to take them out to see Hyderabad and get them to do some shopping. :)
I will be returning to Chennai on Wednesday evening.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Mysore-Madikeri Vacation May 2008: Part 3
I had booked a family room asking for an extra bed. The room that we entered into was a normal sized one with just about free space to put in the extra mattress. The pillows on the bed were slightly larger than a folder hand towel. The room was very poorly lit and had only 2 wall lamps which were powered by 15W bulbs I think. There was a dressing table with mirror hidden in one corner of the room where there was no light. There was an AC which seemed to respond to the various buttons pressed on the remote with a nice click sound, but always responded with its standard setting that had it pumping mildly cool air into the room!
Anyways, it was time for us to freshen up and my dad decided to use the bathroom first. He came out after 15 minutes or so and informed us that we don’t get cold water in the taps! I mean, usually the hot water availability in a hotel is subject to timing, so I was surprised to hear him say something like this. I checked whether he was referring to the normal water pipe giving out warm water (like it does at Chennai due to the heat) and he clarified that all the taps in the bathroom were giving out scalding hot water direct from the geyser/water-heater. I went ahead and checked the taps and found his claims to be true. We rang up the housekeeping staff who then came up to inspect the situation. He then said that he’d switch off something somewhere and that would ensure that we get the correct type of water from the taps. Thankfully he did what he promised and so things were normal.
While my mother was using the bathroom, I decided to step out of the hotel and buy the toothbrush that I so badly needed. On the way back, I checked with a tourist car operator next to my hotel about the costs involved in hiring a car up for my Madikeri trip. He gave me a quote with various options like – just a drop and then a pickup at the day I wanted to return and retaining the car throughout the 3 days. I simply noted down the numbers and returned to my room.
My friends then called me to inform that they were all on the way and would be in the hotel in another 20 minutes or so. It was then my turn to use the bathroom and after getting ready, I went down to the lobby to meet my friends. Mahendran and Raji were there in the restaurant to have their breakfast and Uthra decided to use this interval to do some sari shopping for her landlord!
Finally all of us took off around 10.45 AM I think (not sure about the exact hour since it is now 2 weeks since I went there). The driver of the Sumo that was hired by us, suggested us to first go to Chamundi Hills. Since there were mutual introductions required between Uthra’s family and mine, the journey towards Chamundi Hills started off on that note itself. Surprisingly there wasn’t much of the “oho, neenga avaalloda ivaalla” or “neenga ingayaa vaelai paaninaell? Ungallukku innaara theriyumo?” etc.
Uthra’s daughter Shruthi was one non-stop giggling machine. Ask her what her name was and the first response would be a 10 second giggle and then if you were lucky, you would get to hear her say her name. Ask her a question immediately after she answers one and you are likely to be confronted with a giggle that would be louder and last some 5 seconds longer. By the end of the trip I was really amazed about her capacity to giggle so much.
We reached Chamundi Hills around noon and were immediately confronted with a large crowd. We got into a deliberation over whether we should actually proceed with the darshan or simply move to our next stop – the Mysore Palace.
Anyways, it was time for us to freshen up and my dad decided to use the bathroom first. He came out after 15 minutes or so and informed us that we don’t get cold water in the taps! I mean, usually the hot water availability in a hotel is subject to timing, so I was surprised to hear him say something like this. I checked whether he was referring to the normal water pipe giving out warm water (like it does at Chennai due to the heat) and he clarified that all the taps in the bathroom were giving out scalding hot water direct from the geyser/water-heater. I went ahead and checked the taps and found his claims to be true. We rang up the housekeeping staff who then came up to inspect the situation. He then said that he’d switch off something somewhere and that would ensure that we get the correct type of water from the taps. Thankfully he did what he promised and so things were normal.
While my mother was using the bathroom, I decided to step out of the hotel and buy the toothbrush that I so badly needed. On the way back, I checked with a tourist car operator next to my hotel about the costs involved in hiring a car up for my Madikeri trip. He gave me a quote with various options like – just a drop and then a pickup at the day I wanted to return and retaining the car throughout the 3 days. I simply noted down the numbers and returned to my room.
My friends then called me to inform that they were all on the way and would be in the hotel in another 20 minutes or so. It was then my turn to use the bathroom and after getting ready, I went down to the lobby to meet my friends. Mahendran and Raji were there in the restaurant to have their breakfast and Uthra decided to use this interval to do some sari shopping for her landlord!
Finally all of us took off around 10.45 AM I think (not sure about the exact hour since it is now 2 weeks since I went there). The driver of the Sumo that was hired by us, suggested us to first go to Chamundi Hills. Since there were mutual introductions required between Uthra’s family and mine, the journey towards Chamundi Hills started off on that note itself. Surprisingly there wasn’t much of the “oho, neenga avaalloda ivaalla” or “neenga ingayaa vaelai paaninaell? Ungallukku innaara theriyumo?” etc.
Uthra’s daughter Shruthi was one non-stop giggling machine. Ask her what her name was and the first response would be a 10 second giggle and then if you were lucky, you would get to hear her say her name. Ask her a question immediately after she answers one and you are likely to be confronted with a giggle that would be louder and last some 5 seconds longer. By the end of the trip I was really amazed about her capacity to giggle so much.
We reached Chamundi Hills around noon and were immediately confronted with a large crowd. We got into a deliberation over whether we should actually proceed with the darshan or simply move to our next stop – the Mysore Palace.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
A quick visit to Bangalore
I went to Bangalore on a one-day official visit, yesterday. Actually, it was for a lunch meeting with our unit head as part of the package for "winning" the MVP award in Q3 for the Recruitment initiative.
Even though it was only a lunch meeting, we (3 of us from Chennai) still had to report there in the BLR office on time. We took a Jet Airways flight at 6 AM and returned by a Jet Lite flight that reached Chennai at 10 PM. A quick note on Jet Lite - I have experienced quite a few bad landings, but this one beats the shit out of everything else.
As I anticipated, the lunch meeting turned out to be quite pointless - an exercise in futility. If there were junior folks, they would have probably enjoyed being in the presence of Unit heads et al. As someone who has had direct interactions with him on a couple of occasions, I lost that attraction. I am also not impressed by one of the persons in the next rung, so my expectations out of the meeting was quite low already.
And what transpired during the meeting was a classic case of people talking in the air, with the sole purpose of exhibiting their talking skills. Unfortunately, the food that was served was quite bad and all in all, I would rate this luncheon meeting as one of my low points for the year.
The only good thing was that while in Bangalore, I got to meet a couple of people with whom I've been speaking over the phone for a year-year-and-a-half. Otherwise, I would have been happier if I had been given gift vouchers for even half the amount it cost them to fly us to Bangalore for that lunch!
Even though it was only a lunch meeting, we (3 of us from Chennai) still had to report there in the BLR office on time. We took a Jet Airways flight at 6 AM and returned by a Jet Lite flight that reached Chennai at 10 PM. A quick note on Jet Lite - I have experienced quite a few bad landings, but this one beats the shit out of everything else.
As I anticipated, the lunch meeting turned out to be quite pointless - an exercise in futility. If there were junior folks, they would have probably enjoyed being in the presence of Unit heads et al. As someone who has had direct interactions with him on a couple of occasions, I lost that attraction. I am also not impressed by one of the persons in the next rung, so my expectations out of the meeting was quite low already.
And what transpired during the meeting was a classic case of people talking in the air, with the sole purpose of exhibiting their talking skills. Unfortunately, the food that was served was quite bad and all in all, I would rate this luncheon meeting as one of my low points for the year.
The only good thing was that while in Bangalore, I got to meet a couple of people with whom I've been speaking over the phone for a year-year-and-a-half. Otherwise, I would have been happier if I had been given gift vouchers for even half the amount it cost them to fly us to Bangalore for that lunch!
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
MTC bus travel - A/C Bus
I travelled by one of MTC's A/C buses yesterday evening. This was a first time for me, though the buses have been in operation for quite some time now.
Raghu and I have been talking about making a trip on this bus from the minute the announcement about the introduction of these buses were made. But since he has not really "found time" to make the trip, we couldn't make that trip.
Last evening, I came out of the Guindy subway and those of you familiar with the terrain there would realise that the subway opens into the bus stop. And when I stepped on to the stop, there was a 21G A/C bus waiting there. For a brief moment, I thought of boarding the bus. Then I thought of the "pact" with Raghu but then also remembered that he would not be making the trip, in spite of his tall claims, especially after his cousin narrated a harrowing experience involving someone vomiting in the bus.
So, I decided to board the bus. But the problem with that route - 21G - from my perspective is that, it takes a left turn near IIT and goes towards Kotturpuram. In effect this means that I would have to get down at Anna University stop itself. But I decided that the main aim was to travel by that bus and so decided in favor of boarding the bus.
Meanwhile the bus driver, who was not privy to all this mental processing (it actually took a much shorter time compared to the time it takes you to read it), started the bus from the stop. As I went towards the bus, I realised that he hadn't closed the door and also that he was actually doing a speed of 1 KmPH. So I was able to easily ask him if the bus stopped at Anna University and he nodded in the affirmative and even asked me to board the bus. His exact words were "umm.. vaanga sir", which was a rarity considering that if you somehow manage to speak to a driver by virtue of your good karma, the response would typically be along the lines "yaeru paa yaeru yaeru".
I boarded the bus and instantly felt the effect of the A/C which was in full blast. The temperature was definitely set at around 18 degrees. Even as I started moving towards the back of the bus, the conductor walked towards me and actually gave me a smile - the second shock in the space of one minute for me since no one has ever really given me a welcome smile inside a bus.
I bought my ticket and sat in the back half of the bus, which by the way is at an elevated level compared to the front portion, which is barely a foot above the road.
When the bus went up the Guindy flyover, I simply didn't feel that the bus was going up a slope. There was an internal speaker system through which some Tamil film music was being played. It didn't sound like radio, but am not sure about it.
Since my stop was actually the next one, I got to travel only around 1.5 Kms. Some 100 metres before the stop, there was an announcement over the speakers about what the next stop was. I got up from my seat with a really heavy heart that the good time was getting over so quickly and got out of the bus.
And to make things worse, in the next couple of minutes a bus headed to Besant Nagar came along and it was a rick-rack; probably one that was procured by the MTC during my school days!
Raghu and I have been talking about making a trip on this bus from the minute the announcement about the introduction of these buses were made. But since he has not really "found time" to make the trip, we couldn't make that trip.
Last evening, I came out of the Guindy subway and those of you familiar with the terrain there would realise that the subway opens into the bus stop. And when I stepped on to the stop, there was a 21G A/C bus waiting there. For a brief moment, I thought of boarding the bus. Then I thought of the "pact" with Raghu but then also remembered that he would not be making the trip, in spite of his tall claims, especially after his cousin narrated a harrowing experience involving someone vomiting in the bus.
So, I decided to board the bus. But the problem with that route - 21G - from my perspective is that, it takes a left turn near IIT and goes towards Kotturpuram. In effect this means that I would have to get down at Anna University stop itself. But I decided that the main aim was to travel by that bus and so decided in favor of boarding the bus.
Meanwhile the bus driver, who was not privy to all this mental processing (it actually took a much shorter time compared to the time it takes you to read it), started the bus from the stop. As I went towards the bus, I realised that he hadn't closed the door and also that he was actually doing a speed of 1 KmPH. So I was able to easily ask him if the bus stopped at Anna University and he nodded in the affirmative and even asked me to board the bus. His exact words were "umm.. vaanga sir", which was a rarity considering that if you somehow manage to speak to a driver by virtue of your good karma, the response would typically be along the lines "yaeru paa yaeru yaeru".
I boarded the bus and instantly felt the effect of the A/C which was in full blast. The temperature was definitely set at around 18 degrees. Even as I started moving towards the back of the bus, the conductor walked towards me and actually gave me a smile - the second shock in the space of one minute for me since no one has ever really given me a welcome smile inside a bus.
I bought my ticket and sat in the back half of the bus, which by the way is at an elevated level compared to the front portion, which is barely a foot above the road.
When the bus went up the Guindy flyover, I simply didn't feel that the bus was going up a slope. There was an internal speaker system through which some Tamil film music was being played. It didn't sound like radio, but am not sure about it.
Since my stop was actually the next one, I got to travel only around 1.5 Kms. Some 100 metres before the stop, there was an announcement over the speakers about what the next stop was. I got up from my seat with a really heavy heart that the good time was getting over so quickly and got out of the bus.
And to make things worse, in the next couple of minutes a bus headed to Besant Nagar came along and it was a rick-rack; probably one that was procured by the MTC during my school days!
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Tirupati travelogue 9-Feb-08 to 10-Feb-08: Part 6 (Final)
Anyways, there was quite some time left to kill and a couple of used this to investigate the availability of some other better bus service. But there was no change in luck on that count.
I then went about in search of water and some mint to give me solace during the trip. After I returned to my seat, there was a request from one of the parties to get Filmfare or Stardust or something of that ilk. Coming as it did from one of the most knowledgeable people in the touring party, I was actually surprised.
After I got the magazines demanded by others as well, all of us finally settled down for the journey to start. The bus did start at the indicated time of 5 PM. By then, all the seats were occupied and a handful of people were already standing. I guess that is a price one has to pay if you can go to Chennai from Tirupati for Rs.62!
Anyways…our seat was right behind the conductor’s seat and while people were getting tickets, I thought I heard a couple of “Kalahasthi”s being mentioned. The bus halted at a Railway crossing and at that point I asked the conductor which route the bus was taking. His reply was “Kalahasthi Tada Padi” and on being further questioned about the travel time, he said it would be around 4 hours.
Great! I avoided the trip to Kalahasthi and this bus was anyway going by that town. Was I to feel bad about it or should I feel happy that even when I didn’t want to go by that route, I was still being made to at least pass by and have a darshan of the Gopuram?
By the 20th minute of the journey, I started getting all sorts of body pain due to the ergonomically challenged seats. My friend sharing the seat was in no better state and both of us decided to take turns in leaning forward, just to let the other person gain a 4% increase in comfort levels. We are both of average height and not that wide (perhaps deep, but not wide, if you know what I mean), yet sitting in those seats was getting to be painful.
The bus was ambling at a steady pace and with the fading light, the driver couldn’t really go at good speed due to the poorly lit highway, that seemed to under construction for a good portion. We finally reached Tada at 7.15 PM and were informed that there was going to be a quick break.
My friends and I literally ran out of the bus to stretch ourselves. I just couldn’t stand for even a minute. I kept walking around, started bending my back in all directions, lifted my legs, stretched them towards to the back etc etc. If I hadn’t done any of those, I am sure I would have died of cramps.
As a blessing in disguise, the supposedly short break went on for almost half an hour. We had actually stopped at a wayside stall selling “purotta” and the likes. So, we had to make do with our biscuit packets and water and stick on to the “dinner at home plan”.
The bus finally started around 7:45 PM and we reached the Koyambedu bus stand at around 10 PM. A total travel time of 5 hours! Once we crossed the Padi area, my friend made bookings with a Call Taxi and the four of us headed towards Besant Nagar/Indra Nagar were feeling relaxed.
But unfortunately, it took that confirmation some 20 minutes to materialize. We were waiting at the bus stand eagerly looking at every yellow colored Omni van with the desperate hope that it was our taxi. Finally we got a call from the taxi driver and an Indica showed up.
After dropping off everyone, mine became the last stop and when I stepped in to my home, the clock had moved beyond 11 PM. I had a quick change and a quicker dinner, giving a quick download of the trip to my parents. I was in no mood to go to work the next day, but then, there was Ramadurai’s Griha Pravesham to attend to in the early morning. And this house was at Perungalathur and those familiar with the topography know that its practically at the half-way mark on my way to office. So, it would require a Santa Singh to actually go that far and then come back home and since I am not one, I went to the office, a tad later than usual.
All in all, the trip was definitely an enlightening one for me. One that made me wonder if I was leading a very extravagant life!
[Concluded]
I then went about in search of water and some mint to give me solace during the trip. After I returned to my seat, there was a request from one of the parties to get Filmfare or Stardust or something of that ilk. Coming as it did from one of the most knowledgeable people in the touring party, I was actually surprised.
After I got the magazines demanded by others as well, all of us finally settled down for the journey to start. The bus did start at the indicated time of 5 PM. By then, all the seats were occupied and a handful of people were already standing. I guess that is a price one has to pay if you can go to Chennai from Tirupati for Rs.62!
Anyways…our seat was right behind the conductor’s seat and while people were getting tickets, I thought I heard a couple of “Kalahasthi”s being mentioned. The bus halted at a Railway crossing and at that point I asked the conductor which route the bus was taking. His reply was “Kalahasthi Tada Padi” and on being further questioned about the travel time, he said it would be around 4 hours.
Great! I avoided the trip to Kalahasthi and this bus was anyway going by that town. Was I to feel bad about it or should I feel happy that even when I didn’t want to go by that route, I was still being made to at least pass by and have a darshan of the Gopuram?
By the 20th minute of the journey, I started getting all sorts of body pain due to the ergonomically challenged seats. My friend sharing the seat was in no better state and both of us decided to take turns in leaning forward, just to let the other person gain a 4% increase in comfort levels. We are both of average height and not that wide (perhaps deep, but not wide, if you know what I mean), yet sitting in those seats was getting to be painful.
The bus was ambling at a steady pace and with the fading light, the driver couldn’t really go at good speed due to the poorly lit highway, that seemed to under construction for a good portion. We finally reached Tada at 7.15 PM and were informed that there was going to be a quick break.
My friends and I literally ran out of the bus to stretch ourselves. I just couldn’t stand for even a minute. I kept walking around, started bending my back in all directions, lifted my legs, stretched them towards to the back etc etc. If I hadn’t done any of those, I am sure I would have died of cramps.
As a blessing in disguise, the supposedly short break went on for almost half an hour. We had actually stopped at a wayside stall selling “purotta” and the likes. So, we had to make do with our biscuit packets and water and stick on to the “dinner at home plan”.
The bus finally started around 7:45 PM and we reached the Koyambedu bus stand at around 10 PM. A total travel time of 5 hours! Once we crossed the Padi area, my friend made bookings with a Call Taxi and the four of us headed towards Besant Nagar/Indra Nagar were feeling relaxed.
But unfortunately, it took that confirmation some 20 minutes to materialize. We were waiting at the bus stand eagerly looking at every yellow colored Omni van with the desperate hope that it was our taxi. Finally we got a call from the taxi driver and an Indica showed up.
After dropping off everyone, mine became the last stop and when I stepped in to my home, the clock had moved beyond 11 PM. I had a quick change and a quicker dinner, giving a quick download of the trip to my parents. I was in no mood to go to work the next day, but then, there was Ramadurai’s Griha Pravesham to attend to in the early morning. And this house was at Perungalathur and those familiar with the topography know that its practically at the half-way mark on my way to office. So, it would require a Santa Singh to actually go that far and then come back home and since I am not one, I went to the office, a tad later than usual.
All in all, the trip was definitely an enlightening one for me. One that made me wonder if I was leading a very extravagant life!
[Concluded]
Tirupati travelogue 9-Feb-08 to 10-Feb-08: Part 5
I woke up early on Sunday to give me enough time to get ready and also to pack up my stuff to check out of my room. We had decided that since all of us were going to be away for the day in the college, we wouldn’t need to retain so many rooms. We left only 2 rooms so that we could at least keep our baggage and also allow the elders to rest during the day.
We were joined by another colleague of ours, who had come late on Saturday evening. After completing our check out formalities and finishing our breakfast, we boarded the Qualis to go to the College. We reached there in around 30-40 minutes. The campus was quite big and looked very green with lots of big trees around and beautiful landscaping done in front of each building.
We were informed that only 99 people had been identified for the interview. Since the panel was now 8 members strong (we got 2 more from other places), our calculations showed that we would wrap up the session by noon.
However, we could complete only around 1 PM and then we rushed back to the Hotel. En route, we made plans to go to Kalahasthi since we had some time on our hand. We reached the hotel, regrouped everyone and for lunch, we decided to go to another Bhimas hotel near the railway station. The restaurant in that hotel was apparently more famous.
We had a good lunch there and by the time we completed the lunch, it was 3.30 PM. Now, things were getting a bit close for the return home. My supporter and I preferred making the trip to Kalahasthi by cab, but no one would have it that way. But the main thing was that neither of us broached the topic since we knew for sure that it would be shot down like the Scud missile in the ’91 Gulf War. Since it was going to be only a bus journey, I opted out of the Kalahasthi visit and decided to join the parties returning home directly.
We went to the bus stand and were informed by the transport corporations that no tickets were available for any of their services till 8.30 PM. In effect, it meant that we had to just board any of the local services to Chennai. There were even suggestions that we just get on to any bus that is headed towards any of the places on any of the routes to Chennai and then hop on to any other bus from that place towards Chennai!
We all came back to the hotel and checked out of all the rooms. The party headed to Kalahasthi went their way and the rest of us went back to the bus stand. We were able to get a “route bus” that was directly headed to Chennai. Since it had just come in to the bus stand, we were able to get better seats. By better seats, I only mean seats that were not at the back of the bus.
But by no other yardstick, could the seats be described as being comfortable. They were cramped for 2 normal sized adults to sit. The unfortunate design aspect was that, even for the seats away from the door, there was a handle at the edge of the seat. This in effect meant that the person in the aisle seat, wouldn’t have been able to swing himself and make use of the aisle. Hats off to the APSRTC bird heads for coming up with this design!
[To b concluded in Part 6]
We were joined by another colleague of ours, who had come late on Saturday evening. After completing our check out formalities and finishing our breakfast, we boarded the Qualis to go to the College. We reached there in around 30-40 minutes. The campus was quite big and looked very green with lots of big trees around and beautiful landscaping done in front of each building.
We were informed that only 99 people had been identified for the interview. Since the panel was now 8 members strong (we got 2 more from other places), our calculations showed that we would wrap up the session by noon.
However, we could complete only around 1 PM and then we rushed back to the Hotel. En route, we made plans to go to Kalahasthi since we had some time on our hand. We reached the hotel, regrouped everyone and for lunch, we decided to go to another Bhimas hotel near the railway station. The restaurant in that hotel was apparently more famous.
We had a good lunch there and by the time we completed the lunch, it was 3.30 PM. Now, things were getting a bit close for the return home. My supporter and I preferred making the trip to Kalahasthi by cab, but no one would have it that way. But the main thing was that neither of us broached the topic since we knew for sure that it would be shot down like the Scud missile in the ’91 Gulf War. Since it was going to be only a bus journey, I opted out of the Kalahasthi visit and decided to join the parties returning home directly.
We went to the bus stand and were informed by the transport corporations that no tickets were available for any of their services till 8.30 PM. In effect, it meant that we had to just board any of the local services to Chennai. There were even suggestions that we just get on to any bus that is headed towards any of the places on any of the routes to Chennai and then hop on to any other bus from that place towards Chennai!
We all came back to the hotel and checked out of all the rooms. The party headed to Kalahasthi went their way and the rest of us went back to the bus stand. We were able to get a “route bus” that was directly headed to Chennai. Since it had just come in to the bus stand, we were able to get better seats. By better seats, I only mean seats that were not at the back of the bus.
But by no other yardstick, could the seats be described as being comfortable. They were cramped for 2 normal sized adults to sit. The unfortunate design aspect was that, even for the seats away from the door, there was a handle at the edge of the seat. This in effect meant that the person in the aisle seat, wouldn’t have been able to swing himself and make use of the aisle. Hats off to the APSRTC bird heads for coming up with this design!
[To b concluded in Part 6]
Tirupati travelogue 9-Feb-08 to 10-Feb-08: Part 4
After the darshan, we completed the rest of the formalities including visits to other sannidhis and also the hundial contribution. We regrouped at the main entrance and were waiting for our guide to get us our laddoos. By then, it was already well past 8 PM and finally, the lack of intake of food was beginning to show into my psyche. The fact that I’d been standing for quite a long time didn’t help things.
We finally got our pack of laddoos and started moving out of the temple premises by 8.45 or so. I had to make a quick halt at one of the road side shops to procure ‘rakshai’ threads, since some of my team members had specifically asked me to get that. Since it was getting late, I thought that we could perhaps go down to Tirupati by one of the ubiquitous jeeps available there. It would have cost us like 300-400 bucks and would have saved us quite some time.
This suggestion too was shot down with the same vigor exhibited on other occasions earlier in the day. I thought we could at least finish off the dinner at one of the restaurants near the temple itself. We saw a very decent looking one near the Vaikuntam complex. I reasoned that the presence of elderly people who were getting exhausted, accompanied by the fact that none of us had eaten anything after the lunch at noon and topped up by the fact that we had spent some 3 hours waiting inside and outside the temple, would make people complete the dinner there itself.
But somehow, the usual majority was hell bent on going back to the Hotel and eat only there. Thankfully, we at least took a jeep back to the petrol bunk where we had kept our footwear and other valuables like mobile phones. We bid farewell to our guide and walked down to the bus stand. There was no bus immediately available and we then took one bus that was headed to Chennai.
Most of us got seats right at the end and the bus started some 10 minutes later. The ride down was anything but comfortable and holding on to a bag of 10 laddoos, with an attempt not to let them get crushed, didn’t help me at all.
We finally reached the hotel at 9.45 PM and luckily, the restaurant was still open. We all had a very hearty dinner and I might have gone slightly overboard too. But that was the minimum I could do to keep myself from crying!
I also arranged for the cab to take us from the hotel to the College for our interview on Sunday. I am sure there would have been enough buses to go there as well, but since it was official, no one objected to booking a cab for 1600 bucks.
We decided to meet up in the restaurant for breakfast at 7.15 AM the next morning and then we all went back to our respective rooms.
[To be continued in Part 5]
We finally got our pack of laddoos and started moving out of the temple premises by 8.45 or so. I had to make a quick halt at one of the road side shops to procure ‘rakshai’ threads, since some of my team members had specifically asked me to get that. Since it was getting late, I thought that we could perhaps go down to Tirupati by one of the ubiquitous jeeps available there. It would have cost us like 300-400 bucks and would have saved us quite some time.
This suggestion too was shot down with the same vigor exhibited on other occasions earlier in the day. I thought we could at least finish off the dinner at one of the restaurants near the temple itself. We saw a very decent looking one near the Vaikuntam complex. I reasoned that the presence of elderly people who were getting exhausted, accompanied by the fact that none of us had eaten anything after the lunch at noon and topped up by the fact that we had spent some 3 hours waiting inside and outside the temple, would make people complete the dinner there itself.
But somehow, the usual majority was hell bent on going back to the Hotel and eat only there. Thankfully, we at least took a jeep back to the petrol bunk where we had kept our footwear and other valuables like mobile phones. We bid farewell to our guide and walked down to the bus stand. There was no bus immediately available and we then took one bus that was headed to Chennai.
Most of us got seats right at the end and the bus started some 10 minutes later. The ride down was anything but comfortable and holding on to a bag of 10 laddoos, with an attempt not to let them get crushed, didn’t help me at all.
We finally reached the hotel at 9.45 PM and luckily, the restaurant was still open. We all had a very hearty dinner and I might have gone slightly overboard too. But that was the minimum I could do to keep myself from crying!
I also arranged for the cab to take us from the hotel to the College for our interview on Sunday. I am sure there would have been enough buses to go there as well, but since it was official, no one objected to booking a cab for 1600 bucks.
We decided to meet up in the restaurant for breakfast at 7.15 AM the next morning and then we all went back to our respective rooms.
[To be continued in Part 5]
Friday, March 07, 2008
Tirupati-travelogue-9-feb-08-to-10-feb-08: Part 2
The special darshan at Tirumala was scheduled for 4 PM that day. Since it was nearly 11.15 AM when we reached the hotel, we agreed to regroup quickly and have our lunch in the same hotel. Again, there were comments that the food in a hotel’s restaurant would be costly, but things were settled quickly since everyone was famished and we had a deadline.
The lunch turned out to be a not so expensive affair after all, costing around 70 bucks for a Thali. Meanwhile, I had enquired about the cost of booking a cab for all of us to go to Tirumala and Tiruchaanoor. The cost came to around 1600 bucks. This whopping sum was shot down instantaneously by all but me and another person. The rationale was that there are a lot of buses plying frequently to these places. Also, since the distance involved was less, the quote given by the cab guy was deemed to be too expensive.
After we completed the lunch, we (some of us) had a quick change of clothes and headed out of the hotel. While I had come up to change, enquiries had been made about the access to Tiruchaanoor and the nearest bus stop was identified. People had decided that even taking an auto was not worth it.
So all 9 of us (breakup: me, another guy, one with his father, another with his elder sister and mother and the last one with her mother) went to the bus stop which was 5 minutes away. It was not the distance or time, just that we had to cross a road which had fast moving buses and other vehicles. Being a hilly region, the vehicles were clearly making good use of the gradient road.
Even as we were reaching the bus stop, we saw a bus. The suo moto leader of the trip started running after the bus goading all of us to run and catch the bus. It finally turned out that the bus we all ran after wasn’t really the one we had to catch!
After a 5-10 minute wait, we finally got a bus and reached Tiruchaanoor temple. Thankfully, there was no objection from anyone for taking the Rs.40 special darshan ticket. I am being very cynical, but perhaps the 2 free laddus included in the ticket, helped swing the votes towards this ticket!
Anyways, we had a good darshan of Padmavathy Ammavaaru (Thaayaar in Tamil) and headed back to the hotel. Here again, my only supporter and me suggested that we take an auto. But we were informed that the bus tickets for the return trip were already procured while coming to this temple. Since we dare not waste the 8 rupees ticket, we boarded a bus.
We reached the hotel and it was decided that we had to reconvene in 30 minutes max, so that we could reach Tirumala on time. We still nurtured hopes of visiting the Kalahasthi temple after the darshan at Tirumala, since we expected the special darshan to be completed in a jiffy. Little did we know what was in store for us.
[To be continued in Part 3]
The lunch turned out to be a not so expensive affair after all, costing around 70 bucks for a Thali. Meanwhile, I had enquired about the cost of booking a cab for all of us to go to Tirumala and Tiruchaanoor. The cost came to around 1600 bucks. This whopping sum was shot down instantaneously by all but me and another person. The rationale was that there are a lot of buses plying frequently to these places. Also, since the distance involved was less, the quote given by the cab guy was deemed to be too expensive.
After we completed the lunch, we (some of us) had a quick change of clothes and headed out of the hotel. While I had come up to change, enquiries had been made about the access to Tiruchaanoor and the nearest bus stop was identified. People had decided that even taking an auto was not worth it.
So all 9 of us (breakup: me, another guy, one with his father, another with his elder sister and mother and the last one with her mother) went to the bus stop which was 5 minutes away. It was not the distance or time, just that we had to cross a road which had fast moving buses and other vehicles. Being a hilly region, the vehicles were clearly making good use of the gradient road.
Even as we were reaching the bus stop, we saw a bus. The suo moto leader of the trip started running after the bus goading all of us to run and catch the bus. It finally turned out that the bus we all ran after wasn’t really the one we had to catch!
After a 5-10 minute wait, we finally got a bus and reached Tiruchaanoor temple. Thankfully, there was no objection from anyone for taking the Rs.40 special darshan ticket. I am being very cynical, but perhaps the 2 free laddus included in the ticket, helped swing the votes towards this ticket!
Anyways, we had a good darshan of Padmavathy Ammavaaru (Thaayaar in Tamil) and headed back to the hotel. Here again, my only supporter and me suggested that we take an auto. But we were informed that the bus tickets for the return trip were already procured while coming to this temple. Since we dare not waste the 8 rupees ticket, we boarded a bus.
We reached the hotel and it was decided that we had to reconvene in 30 minutes max, so that we could reach Tirumala on time. We still nurtured hopes of visiting the Kalahasthi temple after the darshan at Tirumala, since we expected the special darshan to be completed in a jiffy. Little did we know what was in store for us.
[To be continued in Part 3]
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Tirupati travelogue 9-Feb-08 to 10-Feb-08: Part 1
After much deliberation, I have finally decided to publish my Tirupati travelogue. And even though I have already drafted a few parts, I will be posting only one per day, in the hope that it will kindle your curiosity. So here goes....
Since it has become my habit to write about all the trips I make, I am left with no choice but to jot down last week's trip as well. As briefly mentioned earlier, it was an eye-opening trip, but this travelogue will not get into the specifics when it gets to individuals.
Our Travel Department in the office was giving us a lot of trouble with the ticket booking and so we just had them book the onward journey by bus. We managed to get tickets with the APSRTC and we booked their Luxury bus at the whopping cost of Rs.86 per ticket.
When all of us gathered by the appointed hour at the Koyambedu bus stand, we were informed that the bus had developed a technical snag and so we were directed to their regular bus - they called it a Deluxe - where we got the preferred seating based on the tickets issued.
While there was adequate leg room, the seats were not really that comfy. Once the bus started, we realized that this was one service which was designated to stop at many places. So much so, that when people walking on the road, stopped in the path to cross the road and looked at the road before crossing (some people still do it), the driver assumed that they wanted to board the bus and used to pull over near them. Only when they moved out of the way, did the driver get the message.
And the speed at which he was driving....My goodness. It was scary. Before you misinterpret it, the scare was because he was driving at such slow speeds, that I thought we would travel back in time! We had to go through a level crossing near Puttur and I was really afraid if this guy would be able to get me through to my immediate destination of Tirupati or would he take me to my final destination of heaven or hell as evaluated by Chitragupta.
Thankfully, the service was without a halt - only stopping for people to board or alight from the bus. We didn’t even stop for breakfast and we finally reached Tirupati by 11AM.
We noticed that the hotel we had booked was quite close to the bus stand (as mentioned in their website). However, it was not really a distance that can be legged with older people around and we decided to get autos. The folks wanted 20 bucks and while it was on the higher side, it was the standard rate asked by all guys in the stand.
With a lot of reluctance from some of my fellow passengers, we went ahead with the auto and reached the hotel in 5 minutes. The booking that I had done was thankfully acknowledged and we went ahead with the check-in.
[To be continued in Part 2]
Since it has become my habit to write about all the trips I make, I am left with no choice but to jot down last week's trip as well. As briefly mentioned earlier, it was an eye-opening trip, but this travelogue will not get into the specifics when it gets to individuals.
Our Travel Department in the office was giving us a lot of trouble with the ticket booking and so we just had them book the onward journey by bus. We managed to get tickets with the APSRTC and we booked their Luxury bus at the whopping cost of Rs.86 per ticket.
When all of us gathered by the appointed hour at the Koyambedu bus stand, we were informed that the bus had developed a technical snag and so we were directed to their regular bus - they called it a Deluxe - where we got the preferred seating based on the tickets issued.
While there was adequate leg room, the seats were not really that comfy. Once the bus started, we realized that this was one service which was designated to stop at many places. So much so, that when people walking on the road, stopped in the path to cross the road and looked at the road before crossing (some people still do it), the driver assumed that they wanted to board the bus and used to pull over near them. Only when they moved out of the way, did the driver get the message.
And the speed at which he was driving....My goodness. It was scary. Before you misinterpret it, the scare was because he was driving at such slow speeds, that I thought we would travel back in time! We had to go through a level crossing near Puttur and I was really afraid if this guy would be able to get me through to my immediate destination of Tirupati or would he take me to my final destination of heaven or hell as evaluated by Chitragupta.
Thankfully, the service was without a halt - only stopping for people to board or alight from the bus. We didn’t even stop for breakfast and we finally reached Tirupati by 11AM.
We noticed that the hotel we had booked was quite close to the bus stand (as mentioned in their website). However, it was not really a distance that can be legged with older people around and we decided to get autos. The folks wanted 20 bucks and while it was on the higher side, it was the standard rate asked by all guys in the stand.
With a lot of reluctance from some of my fellow passengers, we went ahead with the auto and reached the hotel in 5 minutes. The booking that I had done was thankfully acknowledged and we went ahead with the check-in.
[To be continued in Part 2]
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Trip to Madurai
As part of the campus recruitment initiative mentioned in my previous post, I visited Madurai on Saturday, the 22nd of December 2007.
Actually, a bunch of us from work went for that initiative, so we all had a pretty interesting time, especially sharing all the oddities observed during the interviews.
Originally, we all wanted to travel by Paramount Airways, but unfortunately, our Travel Department refused to procure tickets on that airline quoting a significant difference in cost. We couldn't refute it either and neither could we use the ploy of flight timings, since all morning flights out of Chennai to Madurai are barely 10 minutes apart. Same holds good for the last flights out.
So, we had to make do with the Jet Airways ATR flight. Man, that morning flight was one big torture. The pilot, a Caucasian btw, was navigating it like the ubiquitous share auto driver in Chennai. The way he landed in Madurai would have converted all atheists into die-hard religious fanatics! I must actually appreciate him for having the talent to remind all of us that there 3 wheels in the plane. He also showed us how long the runway at Madurai was, coz he practically went to the edge of the tarmac before turning back!
We hired a cab and reached the venue and got on with the proceedings. We broke for lunch and found that the food arranged by the College was almost unpalatable. It was toooo spicy for our comfort and didn't look hygienic at all. After making enquiries with the watchman, we headed out to a "hotel", where after much waiting, we managed to get a table. Unfortunately, my bad luck continued there as well, since the food served was not really tasty. In fact, the curd rice I ordered seemed to have been prepared using stale rice.
Anyways, after our interview sessions got over ahead of time, thankfully due to the no-show from almost 100 candidates, we proceeded to the Meenakshi Amman temple. Ramadurai had called up his contacts and the basic understanding was that we had to stand in front of the Co-optex shop opposite the South entrance. Apparently the coded message was if anyone approached us and asked us "vellai kaaka enna color muttai podum?", we were supposed to respond by saying "karuppu muttai" whereby we would have established our credentials.
We waited for a short while before Ramadurai's contact showed up. We obviously didn't have to use the coded greetings and were taken inside the temple. Once inside, the "guide" explained to us about some of the landmark spots and escorted us along the special path to the sanctum sanctorum in a matter of a minute or so. After some deliberation with the authorities there, our contact took us inside the special darshan area. There we had a really good darshan of the Amman. Even when we had our heart's fill and started moving out, the contact kept sending us back for some more additional darshan.
The same was repeated at all other important sannidhis and all in all we had a fantastic darshan. I was so ecstatic, that while returning to the airport, I told Ramadurai that he finally gave me something useful for being his friend!
We even had a great visit in the "1000 kaal mandapam" and I was really amazed with some of the statues. There is a statue of Rathi Devi, carved in stone. Our contact asked us to feel the hand and boy, it was so smooth that one can easily be fooled into thinking that it was wood. Then there were a couple of stone statues of Lord Shiva, where one could hit certain portions of the stone and hear a good metallic sound. Then there was this giant wooden door made of Burma Teak wood. It was like 9.38 metres long and some 2.2 metres wide. Really awesome stuff.
By the time we were out of the temple, we were quite famished. Thankfully our guide took us to a restaurant called Modern Cafe. It was a quaint little joint and as we found quite soon, it served great food. I had Adai Avial and Plain Dosa. All of them were excellent. Special mention must be made of their Coconut chutney. We topped it up with one of the best coffees I have had in recent times at any restaurant.
It was getting quite late, but thankfully, the airline had issued us the boarding pass for the return journey in the morning itself. So we had enough buffer time to reach the airport. And to make thing more comfortable, one of our friends who had reached there earlier, told us that the flight was delayed by 30 minutes.
The return flight was more peaceful and the pilot ensured a really smooth landing. However, he was allotted a parking bay right at the end of the runway and to reach the terminal, we actually had a 5 minute ride on the airport bus.
All of us went our separate ways after that and I reached home at 11 PM. Since my day started at 4.30 AM, I was quite exhausted and crashed on the bed quite soon. But for some of the annoying interviews, this trip was quite a good one. I had a really good darshan at all sannidhis in the Meenakshi Amman temple, unlike my trip in Feb this year, where it was a really abridged visit.
So much so that, I have prayed to the lady of the temple that I would visit her temple once I get married - the third wedding vaendudhal I have made, the first one being a hike up the seven hills to say hi to Venky and the second one to my kula dheiyvam temple.
Actually, a bunch of us from work went for that initiative, so we all had a pretty interesting time, especially sharing all the oddities observed during the interviews.
Originally, we all wanted to travel by Paramount Airways, but unfortunately, our Travel Department refused to procure tickets on that airline quoting a significant difference in cost. We couldn't refute it either and neither could we use the ploy of flight timings, since all morning flights out of Chennai to Madurai are barely 10 minutes apart. Same holds good for the last flights out.
So, we had to make do with the Jet Airways ATR flight. Man, that morning flight was one big torture. The pilot, a Caucasian btw, was navigating it like the ubiquitous share auto driver in Chennai. The way he landed in Madurai would have converted all atheists into die-hard religious fanatics! I must actually appreciate him for having the talent to remind all of us that there 3 wheels in the plane. He also showed us how long the runway at Madurai was, coz he practically went to the edge of the tarmac before turning back!
We hired a cab and reached the venue and got on with the proceedings. We broke for lunch and found that the food arranged by the College was almost unpalatable. It was toooo spicy for our comfort and didn't look hygienic at all. After making enquiries with the watchman, we headed out to a "hotel", where after much waiting, we managed to get a table. Unfortunately, my bad luck continued there as well, since the food served was not really tasty. In fact, the curd rice I ordered seemed to have been prepared using stale rice.
Anyways, after our interview sessions got over ahead of time, thankfully due to the no-show from almost 100 candidates, we proceeded to the Meenakshi Amman temple. Ramadurai had called up his contacts and the basic understanding was that we had to stand in front of the Co-optex shop opposite the South entrance. Apparently the coded message was if anyone approached us and asked us "vellai kaaka enna color muttai podum?", we were supposed to respond by saying "karuppu muttai" whereby we would have established our credentials.
We waited for a short while before Ramadurai's contact showed up. We obviously didn't have to use the coded greetings and were taken inside the temple. Once inside, the "guide" explained to us about some of the landmark spots and escorted us along the special path to the sanctum sanctorum in a matter of a minute or so. After some deliberation with the authorities there, our contact took us inside the special darshan area. There we had a really good darshan of the Amman. Even when we had our heart's fill and started moving out, the contact kept sending us back for some more additional darshan.
The same was repeated at all other important sannidhis and all in all we had a fantastic darshan. I was so ecstatic, that while returning to the airport, I told Ramadurai that he finally gave me something useful for being his friend!
We even had a great visit in the "1000 kaal mandapam" and I was really amazed with some of the statues. There is a statue of Rathi Devi, carved in stone. Our contact asked us to feel the hand and boy, it was so smooth that one can easily be fooled into thinking that it was wood. Then there were a couple of stone statues of Lord Shiva, where one could hit certain portions of the stone and hear a good metallic sound. Then there was this giant wooden door made of Burma Teak wood. It was like 9.38 metres long and some 2.2 metres wide. Really awesome stuff.
By the time we were out of the temple, we were quite famished. Thankfully our guide took us to a restaurant called Modern Cafe. It was a quaint little joint and as we found quite soon, it served great food. I had Adai Avial and Plain Dosa. All of them were excellent. Special mention must be made of their Coconut chutney. We topped it up with one of the best coffees I have had in recent times at any restaurant.
It was getting quite late, but thankfully, the airline had issued us the boarding pass for the return journey in the morning itself. So we had enough buffer time to reach the airport. And to make thing more comfortable, one of our friends who had reached there earlier, told us that the flight was delayed by 30 minutes.
The return flight was more peaceful and the pilot ensured a really smooth landing. However, he was allotted a parking bay right at the end of the runway and to reach the terminal, we actually had a 5 minute ride on the airport bus.
All of us went our separate ways after that and I reached home at 11 PM. Since my day started at 4.30 AM, I was quite exhausted and crashed on the bed quite soon. But for some of the annoying interviews, this trip was quite a good one. I had a really good darshan at all sannidhis in the Meenakshi Amman temple, unlike my trip in Feb this year, where it was a really abridged visit.
So much so that, I have prayed to the lady of the temple that I would visit her temple once I get married - the third wedding vaendudhal I have made, the first one being a hike up the seven hills to say hi to Venky and the second one to my kula dheiyvam temple.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Reaching office - alternate options
Since the only other driver in my car pool has gone to Canada and will not be back for a year or two, we are facing serious challenges in terms of continuing the same. I am finding it quite tiring to drive on all 5 days of the week, especially when I have to spend 3-4 days stuck in continuous traffic jams lasting for 30 odd minutes at multiple places.
AS has been detailed many times before, I am kinda fed up with the bus travel due to the cramped seats and a continuous feeling of violation of private space. So I thought I will try out the option of traveling by the EMU or electric train from Guindy to my office.
From an economic stand point, I actually end up paying more for the train travel. That's because, I have to spend some 150 bucks a day by auto (from and to home) and that alone comes to 3K per month. Whereas, the car pool expense for the whole of November cost me only 2K!
But in spite of these challenges, I still wanted to try out the train option. If I indeed start liking the train travel, I am likely to think seriously about the commute to Guindy. It might probably give me a good reason to get my Splendor back on track, yet again.
I have used the train to reach office once before (I had to attend a wedding en route) and a couple of times on the return leg. Today was going to be my first time travelling both ways by train.
Details about my experiences can be read in my subsequent posts.
AS has been detailed many times before, I am kinda fed up with the bus travel due to the cramped seats and a continuous feeling of violation of private space. So I thought I will try out the option of traveling by the EMU or electric train from Guindy to my office.
From an economic stand point, I actually end up paying more for the train travel. That's because, I have to spend some 150 bucks a day by auto (from and to home) and that alone comes to 3K per month. Whereas, the car pool expense for the whole of November cost me only 2K!
But in spite of these challenges, I still wanted to try out the train option. If I indeed start liking the train travel, I am likely to think seriously about the commute to Guindy. It might probably give me a good reason to get my Splendor back on track, yet again.
I have used the train to reach office once before (I had to attend a wedding en route) and a couple of times on the return leg. Today was going to be my first time travelling both ways by train.
Details about my experiences can be read in my subsequent posts.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Road Trip to Vaitheeswaran Kovil - Part 9 ::: Finally, Vaitheeswaran Kovil
On Sunday morning, we set out to V.Kovil. Unfortunately, due to the fantastic parking arrangements at Hotel Sampoorna, I had to wake up 3 other people, since their cars were blocking my path out of the Hotel. Of course, the ugly deed of actually waking them up was left to the Hotel authorities.
The kovil was barely 10 minutes from the Hotel and I reached there in that same amount of time! The main road first passes by the eastern entrance and once I reached there, I parked my car at the designated spot.
In fact, there was a guy who even guided as even as we were thinking of using the eastern entrance or go to the western entrance from where we usually go to the temple. But for reasons of implementing a change in custom, the eastern entrance got the votes.
The guy who "helped" me park the car, then started pitching in for archanai thattus and the likes. Our first (and probably the only one) mistake was informing him about the need for some 8-9 archanais or so, for my family and friends. Without entering into any monetary negotiations, we simply accepted to get his goods. The smart guy also didn't bring up the financial aspect.
He gave us the required materials - there is a package deal where you get the special set for each sannidhi laid out in a single tray. He also pointed us out to an iyer who was doing the rounds there, to help us with the archanai.
We went through the motions doing archanais at each sannidhi. Since we had run short of the specific combo at the sannidhi for Sevvaai, we managed to get the partner of the agent who first approached us to get the balance ones.
Anyways, the darshan went fine. Our prayers were said. Dakshinais were given. Hundial donations made. And my mother's favorite ritual of getting the elephant to bless you was also carried out!
We then said our goodbyes to the deities and left the temple. When we came out, the agents who got us the archanai thattu came out of their road-side shops. My parents were trying to give alms to some of the needy folk and I headed towards my car. One of the agents came near me and wanted to find out who would be doing the settling of the dues.
Since I was stripped of cash at the Pondy petrol bunk itself, I pointed him to my parents. He then asked if I was interested in seeing the olai chuvadi for naadi josiyam. I obviously replied in the negative.
By then, my parents also came near the car. The agents gave her the bill and the fun started!
The kovil was barely 10 minutes from the Hotel and I reached there in that same amount of time! The main road first passes by the eastern entrance and once I reached there, I parked my car at the designated spot.
In fact, there was a guy who even guided as even as we were thinking of using the eastern entrance or go to the western entrance from where we usually go to the temple. But for reasons of implementing a change in custom, the eastern entrance got the votes.
The guy who "helped" me park the car, then started pitching in for archanai thattus and the likes. Our first (and probably the only one) mistake was informing him about the need for some 8-9 archanais or so, for my family and friends. Without entering into any monetary negotiations, we simply accepted to get his goods. The smart guy also didn't bring up the financial aspect.
He gave us the required materials - there is a package deal where you get the special set for each sannidhi laid out in a single tray. He also pointed us out to an iyer who was doing the rounds there, to help us with the archanai.
We went through the motions doing archanais at each sannidhi. Since we had run short of the specific combo at the sannidhi for Sevvaai, we managed to get the partner of the agent who first approached us to get the balance ones.
Anyways, the darshan went fine. Our prayers were said. Dakshinais were given. Hundial donations made. And my mother's favorite ritual of getting the elephant to bless you was also carried out!
We then said our goodbyes to the deities and left the temple. When we came out, the agents who got us the archanai thattu came out of their road-side shops. My parents were trying to give alms to some of the needy folk and I headed towards my car. One of the agents came near me and wanted to find out who would be doing the settling of the dues.
Since I was stripped of cash at the Pondy petrol bunk itself, I pointed him to my parents. He then asked if I was interested in seeing the olai chuvadi for naadi josiyam. I obviously replied in the negative.
By then, my parents also came near the car. The agents gave her the bill and the fun started!
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Road Trip to Vaitheeswaran Kovil - Part 8 ::: Dinner at Mangala Vilas, Sirkazhi
On the way to Mangala Vilas, we ran into Mr.Shekar who is the cousin of Raghu. I had been given instructions to catch up with this dude and more importantly with his father. Me being me, I didn't do that.
So it was nice meeting the hommie and that too very near his home (Believe it or not, Sirkazhi is not that big a town). We asked him about Managala Vilas and he gave a positive response.
We entered the place, took up our seats. It was a typical "andha kaalathu hotel", what with separate wooden almirahs to stored sweets.
Anyways, the waiter told us clearly that the kitchen was pretty much closed and we could only have Plain Dosa or Rava Dosa and that too subject to the availability of the respective maavus, the stock of which was fast reducing.
We ordered one Dosa in each type. The waiter told us to go one by one just so that we can find out if we really need 2 Dosas. He served us the dosas and I must admit, it tasted good. Even though it was big in size, we went in for the second round. Obviously my mother couldn't handle and she passed on a good half from her rava to me.
While nearing the end of the eating process, my parents wanted some milk or curd. Looking up the menu wall (city dwellers need to know this - in places like this, they dont give u a menu card. they actually paint the items on their wall and scribble the rates with chalk piece or balbam), my father asked the waiter for Badam Paal.
He coolly replied that they didn't have any. And went on to add that even if we went in search of it around town at this time of the day, it would be impossible to get it. It sounded like the fancy gross pay that all of us see while joining a company - the number that you will never ever come across in real life!
So, my mother asked for coffee. The waiter responded that "aam. ingu kuzhambiyam kidaikkum". Which when roughly translated meant that he responded positively to my mother's question about the availability of coffee. And that coffee was known as kuzhambiyam in Tamil.
My mother was not one to let this go by. Her retort was "vadi kattiya kuzhambiyam kidaikkuma?". This again when roughly translated meant that my mother wanted to know if the coffee that was available was filter coffee.
The waiter took a step back at this stage and the conversation took a more saner tone to it. Anyways, they had their coffee and settled the bill with a good tip to the very enthu waiter.
We then returned to the lodge. Made enquiries about how to go to Vaitheeswaran Kovil etc. We decided to start by 7 in the morning, finish the temple rounds, have breakfast at Sathabishegam (a famous chain of hotel/motel in that stretch of Tamil Nadu), return to lodge by 1o. Check-out and start the trip by 11 and finish up lunch at Cuddalore.
Unfortunately, while we did stick to most of the timelines, we did have quite an adventure at Vaitheeswaran Kovil.
So it was nice meeting the hommie and that too very near his home (Believe it or not, Sirkazhi is not that big a town). We asked him about Managala Vilas and he gave a positive response.
We entered the place, took up our seats. It was a typical "andha kaalathu hotel", what with separate wooden almirahs to stored sweets.
Anyways, the waiter told us clearly that the kitchen was pretty much closed and we could only have Plain Dosa or Rava Dosa and that too subject to the availability of the respective maavus, the stock of which was fast reducing.
We ordered one Dosa in each type. The waiter told us to go one by one just so that we can find out if we really need 2 Dosas. He served us the dosas and I must admit, it tasted good. Even though it was big in size, we went in for the second round. Obviously my mother couldn't handle and she passed on a good half from her rava to me.
While nearing the end of the eating process, my parents wanted some milk or curd. Looking up the menu wall (city dwellers need to know this - in places like this, they dont give u a menu card. they actually paint the items on their wall and scribble the rates with chalk piece or balbam), my father asked the waiter for Badam Paal.
He coolly replied that they didn't have any. And went on to add that even if we went in search of it around town at this time of the day, it would be impossible to get it. It sounded like the fancy gross pay that all of us see while joining a company - the number that you will never ever come across in real life!
So, my mother asked for coffee. The waiter responded that "aam. ingu kuzhambiyam kidaikkum". Which when roughly translated meant that he responded positively to my mother's question about the availability of coffee. And that coffee was known as kuzhambiyam in Tamil.
My mother was not one to let this go by. Her retort was "vadi kattiya kuzhambiyam kidaikkuma?". This again when roughly translated meant that my mother wanted to know if the coffee that was available was filter coffee.
The waiter took a step back at this stage and the conversation took a more saner tone to it. Anyways, they had their coffee and settled the bill with a good tip to the very enthu waiter.
We then returned to the lodge. Made enquiries about how to go to Vaitheeswaran Kovil etc. We decided to start by 7 in the morning, finish the temple rounds, have breakfast at Sathabishegam (a famous chain of hotel/motel in that stretch of Tamil Nadu), return to lodge by 1o. Check-out and start the trip by 11 and finish up lunch at Cuddalore.
Unfortunately, while we did stick to most of the timelines, we did have quite an adventure at Vaitheeswaran Kovil.
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