Yummy!

Melt-in-the-mouth, creamy Belgian chocolates. Absolutely Yummmmmm....
Nice way to kick-start Monday :-)


Thanks Sandhya! Thanks Bhuvana! (for the chocs, for the camera) :-)

Chhod Aaye Hum Woh Galiyaan

Aaj Purani Rahon Se
Koi Mujhe Aawaz Na De..

Moved to a new Raah. Literally! and into a new home. Home? Well, not exactly. At least not yet. It sure feels great to stay in the new place. The pros: Being much much closer to my sister (and my nephew, of course!!), my new room's orange. It's convenient for my sis/parents.

The cons: the cat chose to stay back. :-( The bougainvillea and hibiscus shrubs that had to be left behind. So many memories....sigh! It’s difficult to put it into words.

At the new house, I can't make out if it drizzles or rains moderately. :-( [Sheetz, counting on you to notify me] Also, it’s too cold in there!!! Aachoo!! [God bless me]

But changes are necessary and they make you look at things in a whole new perspective. Am sure this place also will feel like home. And am waiting for it.

p.s: akka, all the best!! Don't worry. You will definitely make things work smoothly - at work, at home.

Kinara

         naam gum jaayega.... chehara yeh badal jaayegaa

          meri aawaz hee pehchan hain.... gar yaad rahein

Sambrama

This was the name of the event celebrated in our office on November 10th on the occasion of Suvarna Karnataka - Karnataka’s 50^th year Rajyotsava. Must say it was a tremendous success.

To be frank, I was a little apprehensive about it at the beginning and steered away from it. Thought it would be like a pro-kannaDa and anti-non-local languages kind of an event. But then was forced to "volunteer" for the group song as they needed more head-count!!!!!

The practice sessions were good and I came to realize that it indeed was “Sambrama” :-) -celebrating our rich culture. There was no ill-will for other languages. In fact, non-KannaDigas were encouraged to participate and they did participate with equal enthusiasm.

I had also "volunteered" for entrance/stage flower decoration and flower decoration with two of my team-mates. :-) Thinking of what flowers to use and what patterns to make was indeed fun! We settled on a list of colorful flowers - Shaavantighe, Mallige, Marigold, Sugandharaaja, Kanakambara, Gulabi. Add to that BaaLe Kandhu and Maavina yele. (For the thorana and entrance). :-)

The D-Day started with the preparation, decorating the entrance, setting up the stage, last minute practice sessions. The posters prepared by colleagues were put on display. It had information on Karnataka’s places, diversities, poets et al.

By the time the event started at around 4.00, the decoration was done. It could have been better if there was a little more time. I personally felt the color combination came out well. The WPR (Work Place Resources) guys helped us a lot in making the arrangements.

The event started off with a very good rendition of a Ganapathy shloka and then came a few more songs and dance (all kannada folk/movie songs) and then we sang the NaaDageethe - "Jai Bhaaratha jananiya thanujaathe". It was a very happy and proud feeling to sing it with the entire audience giving due respect to it by standing (This song is our state anthem).

The chief guest was T.N Seetharam and he gave a very good speech on Kannada and what it takes to save our heritage, culture and about youngsters getting carried away by foreign-influences. He told a very good sentence, which when roughly translated to English is "Open doors for knowledge and windows for business". His speech was very well received by the audience.

There was a small session of "Samvaada" with him, with a few people asking him about his opinions on current affairs. He reciprocated very nicely. To sum it up, it was a very thought-provoking speech
The rest of the dances, dramas and a round of RasaPraSHne, followed. Hacchevu KannaDadha deepa, KolaaTa, Ghallu-ghallenutha..... beautifully choreographed and danced.

Our office band performed few folk songs. Some of them were Shravana Banthu NaaDige, KoDagana Koli Nungitha, Naanu KooLikeranga, Nityotsava, Yello Jogappa Ninna Aramane and the super-hit film song - HuTTidhare KannaDA naaDali huTTabeku :-) The show was an instant hit.

There was Karnataka delicacies served for dinner - Joladha Rotti, Husli, KoDbaLe, BisiBeLebaath, AmboDe, Mosaranna, HoLige, Dharwad PeDa. It was very very delicious. A deserving end to a lovely show!

Hats off to the organizers for providing us with such a lovely, gala event and making it a big success!!

Inspirations!

Some motivational quotes I have come across....

• At the core of all anger is a need that is not being fulfilled.

• "We are challenged daily, within each challenge is a growth gateway!" -Anon

• Never ever stop due to the hurdles that comes in your way,

As because if they have not stopped why should we stop for them.

• "Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently" - Henry Ford

• "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar"-Helen Keller

• "Where all people think alike, no one thinks much" - Walter Lippman

• "We must accept finite disappointment,but we must never lose infinite hope"-Martin Luther King,Jr
  

• "Mighty things from small beginnings grow"-John Dryden

• "The delight we inspire in others has this enchanting peculiarity.That, unlike any other reflection, returns to us more radiant than ever." - Victor Hugo (from Les Miserables)

• If good things lasted forever, would we appreciate how precious they are?

• It's the small things in life that fill us with joy.

DeepawaLi

Diye jalte hain

Colorful Lights

Rise and Shine

Jaanapadha Jaatre BhaavaChitragaLu

The stage is all set!!

Dusk falls

One...Two..Three...Action!

Stalls at the jaatre Maradha BombegaLu



Bhaagyadha BaLegaara...

Over the weekend

I went out with my college gang (sans 2) on Saturday. We had already booked tickets for a Kannada movie - Aishwarya. Few of my friends wanted to watch it, so I tagged along even though I had watched it once before :-(( The ending of the movie is simply unbelievable!! We watched the movie amidst a continuous narration and fussing of Sheetz. The others liked it.

The plan after the movie was to go to the “Jaanapadha Jaatre” happening as part of the Suvarnotsava (50th Karnataka Rajyotsava) in front of Vidhana Soudha. The program was scheduled to start at 5.30, so we hung around Garuda Mall until then. Nars joined us there and after a rather sad lunch (veg sandwich - not grilled!) went to Scary House in the mall. I was all excited to go see it. Sheetz dropped out as she had had enough the first time :-)

Well, the Scary House is a passage you need to traverse with big Arrow marks showing the path. It is very dark inside with faint lights here and there. What makes it scary? The sudden noises and appearances of "ghosts" and floating skeletons with rolling eyes. At first I thought the effects were cool. There was even one Veerana (A Ramsey movie, I think) style Purana Haveli ka Darwaaza which was banging. The noise effects were very good. Towards the end a weird masked-waala bhoot suddenly got up from a khabr or something and advanced towards me. Thomp! Thomp! Thomp! Eiiikssssssssssssssss...I screamed :-) Then at the door a zombie like kid came in front of me (reminded me of the doll in Child's play) wielding a club or something. Phew! Thankfully I didn't have nightmares that night.

After having some chocolate-dipped wafers and cakes, we proceeded towards Vidhana Soudha picking up Sush on the way.

I really looked forward to watching the display of Karnataka's various dance forms and songs. The stage was attractive, but we couldn’t get a better close view. Had to settle for watching the show at quite a distance. There were food and handicraft stalls lined up and these were showcasing Karnataka's various districts. Hmm..let me re-collect what the food stalls had to offer. There was kajjaya, husli(very theeka and good), joLadha roTTi, masala dosa, chitranna, chaats too!! Tasted most of them. Oh! There was Kodagina kajjaaya :-), some Raagi HuriHittu and other stuff too.

Food aside, there were handicrafts stalls – wooden crafted god figurines and I guess one stall was displaying dolls and wooden artifacts of ChannapaTna. The wooden bangles were very pretty and I bought one.

The program started a bit late around 6.45 or so. There was Dollu KuNita, then some other dances including a very nice rendition of Challidharu Malligeya. Since we weren't getting a good view and it was getting late, we decided to leave after few more songs and dances. After another round of eating, we left.

The crowd-turnout was really huge despite the almost non-existent publicity the event had. It should have been showcased a little better. But it is a very good step taken to promote the culture and talent of people of various places in Karnataka other than Bangalore!! I personally feel it should be organized in all the districts and also outside Karnataka to promote tourism and also in spreading Karnataka's rich heritage.

Inside the Golden Temple

   
The different forms of Buddha                      Inside the temple

      
Pillar to Post                                Colorful Painting

Amidst Nature

Differnet Shades

View from near the Peak                      Jalala Jalala Jala Dhaare

Tala Cauvery                                               Misty

Hoove Hoove..

In the rain

Close-up

Bright

More on flickr: vinz

 

KoDagina Cauvery (Cont’d)

Day2: (KHNH Style)

It was raining all the while, so we took our own sweet time to decide on what to do.
We even bought honey, coffee powder, pepper and cardamom from the owner. The place is famous for that right!?!

There was a waterfall nearby where we planned to go in the morning. The place being restricted (was on a private property I guess) it was really superb. The water was very cool and pure. We hanged around there for a few hours, taking snaps and collecting stones too!! ;-) Hmm...Coming to think of it, it was supposed to be displayed in B's cube. Let me check!!

Then we set off to Tala Cauvery. We played Antakshari in the Qualis on the way and it was real good fun. The plan was to cover BhagamanDala and Tala Cauvery. But by the time we reached there, it was covered in mist and we just visited the temple and came back. The trees there looked awesome in the mist-covered backdrop.

We then proceeded towards Kushalnagar and took a quick stop at Raja Seat. By that time, my travel sickness took a toll. It was re-assuring to know I was not alone. Kar also suffered from it. I quickly shopped for a lemon in the churmuri shop near the entrance of Raja Seat. One thing for sure, he will never listen to my advice again. :-) Missed eating more churmuri though.

Armed with lemon juice, in the rain, I started clicking away the flowers in the garden at Raja Seat. They were very pretty and colorful.

We had a pit stop for food and by the time we reached the Golden Temple, it was dusk :-(. Everyone had to bear my fussing about it. So couldn't take proper pics of the colorful temples and their interiors. But the place is just too good. It is very serene inside and you feel at peace with the world. The colors used inside for the wall paintings, the pillars, the carvings are very bright ones and amazingly the color combinations were totally in sync. I also bought a "Round" Chakra ;-) kind of a small wall-hanging.

We loitered around there till closing time and then went shopping in the nearby shopping complex. No prizes for guessing. It was raining again! :-) Bought a few petty things.

Then we continued on our journey back home. Started watching Sholay, commenting on the evergreen dialogues (With Kar and Ravi, no one else were interested as usual) and history of the movie and its comparison with the soon-to-be-out remake. I didn't even realize when I dozed off and when Mysore came. It was around 12.30. So we stayed back at Sandy's :-) place and slept till 5.30. Left Mysore then and reached home at around 8.30.

Am Glad to have got away from the mundane routine for a weekend and "kick off my shoes and relax". Well, it wasn't relaxing but refreshing nevertheless!!

KoDagina Cauvery

Way back in 10th standard, we had gone to Coorg/Kodagu on a class trip. The lush greenery, serene atmosphere was so enthralling; I promised myself I would go there at least one more time. I could keep up that promise this weekend. :-)

Few of our colleagues planned the trip and I readily joined. My sole aim, which I made more than clear, was to visit the Buddhist Monastery. The colors used there are simply outstanding.

We left on Friday (6th) night and as usual I slept comfortably for most part of the journey. Watched the start of the movie Aptamitra in the Qualis (It had a VCD-DVD racked up).

We reached Madikeri very early and there was a Code M situation. :-) Mist! Surrounding the place where we were to stay. It was a farmhouse with the owner conducting adventure camps. The place was named "Jungle Mounts". So we were advised to stay in the city for an hour and so and we finally reached the place at around 8.00. Breakfast was a Malnad specialty (came to know of this later at home :-)) A kind of Idli made of Rice and Coconut. Twas ok-ok. But the homemade jam was yum!

Clicked pics of nearby flowers for a while and then we started off for the half-day trek. The trek to the peak was a rough 8 kms and it was traversable for half the distance through vehicles. So we were dropped off half-way by a jeep and off we started to trek the remaining. The walk was very nice with small waterfalls in our path. We, the gals, could accomplish conquering 3/4th of the peak and so opted out of the remaining and enjoyed the chocolates and snacks. :-) We did save the apples for someone though ;-)

The trek back was really fabulous. First I, Kar and Ravi started discussing/gossiping about Hindi movies/music. :-) Second, there was a slight drizzle and by the time we realized, it was raining full-swing. It was just too lovely. But with the rain, came the leeches. Need I say more? :-(

The jeep ride back to the farmhouse was too cold!!! :-) We rode standing in the jeep facing the wind and rain. Just too good!

After lunch (paapad and pickles were the best), the instructor there had kayaking lined up for us. You can take a wild guess as to who the official photographer of the sport was!! :-) Your's truly. The first-time kayak-ers (Is there a word like that??) had fun too.

We rounded up the day with a very good game of Uno (Courtesy:Sudks) and the highlights of the game was the no. of cards Shesh had to draw (Courtesy:Sudks, Me, Bhuv, Manj), the utter confusion we faced with so many special and wild cards and their usage. If we had continued, it would surely have turned into Calvin-ball :-)

A bundle of joy

It's amazing how the arrival of someone in your life can change your world totally!

Priorities change; schedules are altered keeping him in mind, the focus of the entire family shifts. But it is truly worth it. His one smile makes my day. I come home and see everyone pampering him to the core. Needless to say, I join the bandwagon too :-)

Everything is all still and hush-hush when he is sleeping. We wouldn’t want to earn his wrath if he wakes up. Do we?

I call him grumpy (With a Capital G) He sulks like there is no tomorrow. But yet, when he makes a sad face and starts crying, your heart goes out for him. The best part, he tolerates all my gibberish and even thinks it’s a lullaby. It puts him to sleep, you see. :-)

Super aunt to the rescue!! :-))) Yeah. He is my nephew. Hardly 2 months old and 2 feet tall and its quite astonishing how he makes us all dance to his tunes already!!!!

One of my friends wished him to be prosperous and successful. Amen!

I also wish him to be happy and spread joy all around like the Christmas season (I always wanted to use that phrase!! :-D )

Meri ghar aayi ek nanhi pari.
Chandni ke haseen rath pe sawaar.

I wish there was a song as cute as this for a baby boy!

Kuch Tasveerein

A different Pottery barn :-)

mehndi rang layegi

Hariharan in concert

Sama hain Suhana Suhana

Our company had a family day last Saturday (23rd Sep). It was scheduled at KPTO, Whitefield, so was apprehensive about going so far and coming back in the night. It was an evening/night event you see. So didn't register even for Antakshari!!! But the lack of participation from our team forced us to enroll into Antakshari and DC. This resulted in spending most of the afternoons last week in preparing for the prelims and participating. Nice way to spend one week in office this way, I must say! :-D (Hey, it rhymed!!)

We lost out in DC prelims (the phrase and words to enact were tough!!), but the qualification for Antakshari pre-finals made my day. :-D [The organizers couldn't decide on the teams for the finals since there was a tie]. Guess what, we cruised into the finals. Won’t get into the details of the how-we-got-selected part right now. Let's just say one team's loss is another's gain!! ;-)

The D-Day arrived. We had to reach office by 2.00 to board the first bus to the venue. But due to unavoidable reasons, we were late!! The bus was stil there, but S and her husband offered to drop us in their car, and on the way, we even tried identifying the songs from the starting dhun, since that was our weak-point. The drive was indeed fun. :-)

We were one of the first families (Ahem!!) to arrive and so S got a gift too.[Sodexho Passes anyone??] The stage looked very attractive; after all it was of my fav color. :-) Yeah. Orange.

There were many stalls lined up - a Photo studio (Where we eventually went and took team pics. They even framed it and gave it in some very rustic-looking bags for free!! :-D), mehndi and face-painting stalls , games which reminded me of the ones that used to be a fixture in college fests, do-it-yourself-pottery-stall , and some more games to attract kids (who had actually turned up in huge numbers). Oh! How could I forget. Pani-puri and Chaats stalls. Smack!!

Soon, it was time to participate in Antakshari finals. The last time I did something like this was for our college fresher's day and it was Antakshari then too. Guess it shows that I take my Hindi movie and music knowledge too seriously!! :-)

All was well and we were leading by a comfortable margin at the end of the last but one round. But then the dreaded dhun round was the last round :-( And as expected we couldn't figure out a few and we didn't hit the buzzer (or rather raise our hands) fast enough for the rest. We came a close second (diff of 5 points!!) in the end. But the competition was indeed damn good fun. I didn't know that I could unearth long-forgotten songs too :-)

Then there was a series of dance, skits and award-giving ceremony for best engineers and team. Our Unit gave one spectacular dance and a fun-filled skit. My team-mate was one of the people to get the best Engineer award. He truly deserved it!! So a treat's on the way for us.

Our company band Omnifuse performed. Mostly hindi foot-tapping numbers and the overall performance was very nice.

The night came to a wonderful end with a concert by Hariharan. He sang many good songs - Yaadein title track, Roja Jaaneman, Chanda re, Savi savi nenapu (My Autograph) and a few Tamil songs. He also sang Telephone dhun mein and Chai chuppa chai (Hu Tu Tu) (which I dont fancy), but it’s a different feeling listening to a live show. You will end up liking it at least till the end of the show. He went away a lil early and then his troupe performed till around 10.30 and most of them were Tamil songs.

Dinner was being served in 2-3 stalls and the queue was just too long. So, we directly skipped to dessert :-D. Cake and Ice-cream!! Yum!

All in all a very fun-filled event and its good to do something totally different from work at the workplace!!

The return of the killer headaches!

Just after a few weeks!!! :-((((((((
My(yeah..its very much a part of me in recent times) migraine headache has re-surfaced. In the middle of the week!!!!! And I am still recovering from it. I HATE it.
I also hate:
*the fact that I ought to refrain from eating chocolates when I have a Migraine
*not being able to watch TV, look at the comp monitor (in that order!!)
*not being able to think straight
*the swelling in the eyes
*the feeling of nausea that is Migraine's steadfast accomplice
*not being able to sleep soundly
*being so cranky, which I am sure has irritated people around me to the core!
*not able to go out of Bangalore, which I should have been doing right now!!!

Trying out the homeopathic approach this time, which will hopefully yield a better result. At least in decreasing the frequency of its occurrence.

Warm Wishes

HAPPY BIRTHDAY dear friend. We miss you.

"I don't remember how we happened to meet each other.
I don't remember who got along with whom first.
All I can remember is all of us together...always."
- Unknown

[Thanks sush, for the lovely quote and picture]

Of Melodies, Blooms and Trivia

Land Ahoy!! (Common Myna)

Hibiscus drenched

Unknown Beauty

I am not sure which flower this is. Does anyone know?

Go Orange

The lovely Gerbera. My fav! esp. the yellow-orange one.

Himalayan glory - Bramha Kamala

Bramha Kamala bloom

My sister got this flower home the other day. I had never set eyes on it before. So unearthed a few facts about it. The interested can venture further!

The botanical name of this flower is 'Saussurea obvallata' and is usually found in the western Himalayas from Kashmir to Sikkim. It has very good medicinal value and is used by the herbal doctors there. This is the State Flower of Uttaranchal!! :-)

By the way, does any one know what the state flower of Karnataka is??!?!?

Musings

Nagme hain shikwe hain kisse hain baatein hain

Baatein bhool jaati hain...yaadein yaad aati hain..

This is exactly how I felt when I conversed with my colleague and ex-classmate yesterday while going back home.

Well, I had safely locked away the memories of those 2 years in a dark closet somewhere deep in the abyss of my mind. I also made sure I tossed away the key into oblivion.But the talk rekindled all those memories. The lost key re-surfaced and lo-and-behold, the door was wide-open!

Sigh!! Locking away memories don’t help. Do they???

Back then, I was sincere (wasn't even bunking my language classes!!- I liked reading the so called “lessons”- but that’s a different story), studious, loyal, fidgety, clumsy, easily influenceable..and oh..silly too!! :-) A few of these aspects have stubbornly persisted. Sent the rest into hibernation.

Those years taught me a lot. Won’t get into the details of it. After all, it was supposed to have been forgotten. Remember?!?!? :-D Most importantly, I learned to survive, against all odds (well, I might be exaggerating a wee bit here, but it was what I felt then!)

And off I go to recover the lost treasures of time. Adios!

Mausam Mastaana

Weather(or should I say climate??!?!?) in Bangalore is just AWESOME from the past 1 week.

Cloudy, breezy and to top it all, a slight drizzle now and then. Barsaat mein bheegne ka kuch aur hi maza hain!! :-)
I am just chanting the "awesome weather ppl" mantra and text messaging/mailing the same to my friends and colleagues. Must be driving them nuts.
Strange as it might sound, this weather reminds me of the portrayal of the Christmas season. Joyous, spirited and sometimes forgiving too!!

And here I go..

Mausam mastaana rasta anjaana,
jaane kab kis moD pe ban jaaye koi afsana.......

[For the hindi film music novices, this is a song from the movie "Satte pe Satta"]

Phool Khile Hain Gulshan Gulshan

I have started to love taking snaps of flowers. Just can’t stop admiring the colors and beauty they possess.

Caution!! Work in progress

Jus completed 2 years at work today. Gives me a strange mixture of happiness and an eagerness about what the future has in store.

Looking back, I don't think I have been that disillusioned as people say engineers eventually become after some time at work. Maybe "some time" is relative. And the fact that I haven't let the meagre politics at workplace affect me. Happy for that.

Looking forward, I still don't know where I would stand a few years from now. Will or should I study further? Will I continue working? If yes, will I continue in this stream or explore unfamiliar terrain!! As of now, I have not thought much about all this. Eagerness,anticipation for this.

So far, so good. Blissful at the end of the day, and determined to give my best the next day.

Roller-coaster ride

This weekend, I went on a roller-coaster ride of varied moods and emotions. This is why and how it was.

One of our friends is leaving on a short-term on-site visit. So we thought of giving him a surprise party early Sunday morning and whisk him off on a one-day trip out of Bangalore. The place decided was Hogenekkal falls, located in TamilNadu, some 170 Kms from Bangalore.
Mood: Excited

Hmm..My mom freaked out. She has been hearing too many freak incidents of people being washed away in such waterfalls. So I promised her i would come back home if the plan changed (Mood: Determined), or better still, we could always change the location.
Mood: Confused

Anyways, was all ready and geared up early Sunday morning at 5.45, awaiting my friends. Well, they didn't turn up so early (they did arrive at 6.45), but the cat did :-). So took a few quick snaps.
Mood: Sleepy but Happy

We did make it to his house at around 8.00, and boy!! Was he surprised. :-) We made him cut a cake (called Mango Truffle or so..didn't taste all that well. Strictly for those who love lots of cream) and after a quick photo session, drove towards Hogenekkal falls.
Mood: Accomplished

Oh!Wait..Didn't I tell my mom that I would back off??? Oops..How could I be so stupid!!??!?!
My mom calls me up (turns out she was very worried, since I didn't give her any updates :-( ) and I am not even going into the details!!!! Just that i promosed her I wouldn't step into the water. :-(
Mood: Sad and Sulking

Well, the rest of the journey was kind of dull (for me), but my friends did their best to cheer me up. We played Antakshari for a while and that did indeed cheer me up!! Well, a lil bit.
Mood: Cheerful yet distant

We reached Hogenekkal Falls around 1.00 pm. God! Was it hot!!! Well, the falls are such that, to reach them, we should traverse a short distance in small row boats across a river. Now came the dilemma of "What to do with Vinutha!!??!!" After a lot of contemplations, and stern "NO, I wont come" and "I am not climbing into that boat!" cries, it was decided that they go and visit the falls in 2 trips. That way I wouldn't be left alone and everyone could catch the splendor of the falls.
Mood: Determined
Friends' mood: Irritated, Frustated and what not!!

Well, spent the remaining time loitering on the banks of the river. The place should strictly be avoided at weekends.
One scan around the place and you can see people bathing and washing clothes!! Looks like the surrounding locality people come here almost everyday for this. But it is even worse at weekends I surmised. It should be banned seriously. Speaking of ban, the place is supposed to be a no-plastic zone. Huge banners are placed everywhere, but one can see plastic covers and bottles strewn away carelessly. Pity no one takes it seriously! :-(
Mood: Disappointed

Ok. So after admiring the amazing falls through the pics in the camera (yes, my camera was more lucky, and had been on a ride to the falls!!), we set off towards Bangalore. The return journey was merrier with a stop at the ghats (the view was lovely) and a pit stop at a local Dhaba.
Mood: Plain Happy!!

Towards the end of the travel, I developed motion sickness. Cardamom and Lemon juice sans sugar at a friend's place did help me relax a bit. But went home feeling sick and ready to puke!!! This was a blessing in disguise. It did save me from a LOT of admonishing from my folks. :-)
Mood: Exhausted

Well, at the end of the day, my friend was happy and that was what mattered.

Sorry guys, you had to put up with a lot of my in-famous fussing!! Also thanks a lot for understanding and being there with me. :-)
And sorry mom/dad/sis, I’ll try not to behave so irresponsibly again.
Mood: Grateful and Happy again!!

Points additionally noted:
1. The feeling of sickness increases exponentially with the amount of time one spends in a doctor's waiting room.
2. Pets are great stress relievers.
3. Oh yes, the Scorpio is also very smooth at higher speed limits! :-)

Here Kitty!

Could finally get a few snaps (Not that good either). The cat just did'nt let me take the snaps. As soon asI moved a few feet away, it would just get up, walk towards me and sit. Phew! Had a tough time. :-)


 

Cat Tales

A stray cat has made its way into our home. Also into our hearts.

It had come a few weeks back and I and my mom had given it some milk. Then the cat started visiting our home everyday 2-3 times, it used to fend for itself in the remaining time.

Comes and sits patiently outside the kitchen door and lets out mellow "Meows". It happily laps up the milk my mom puts and eats idlis and dosas too! Well, I have taken up this duty in the mornings and weekends. Then it lazes around the kitchen and goes off after some time. When the door is not opened and when there is no response from us, it searches for an open window and jumps right in. (It learned this trick a few days back).

Actually the sad,helpless look that the cat makes, reminded me of a scene in Shrek 2, where Puss-in-boots, uses his secret weapon, the same expression when attacked by the soldiers, during the later half of the movie. No one can resist being compassionate to them!!

Now-a-days, it visits regularly at a gap of every 2 hrs!! Well, we must have pampered it so much, that I think it is too lazy to even search for food outside.

It has become very friendly with me and my mom and I took this as a chance to get my hand at some animal portraits. But couldn't get a decent snap yet.
I can take a stab at it, as long as the cat doesn't find other better sources for food and strays away again, this time, away from us.

Trip to God's Own Country - 2

The next day we set off early in the morning to Pokkat lake. We reached there at around 8.00 and it turns out the lake opens for public after 9.00. So we loitered around the place admiring the freshness and greenery encompassing us.

Nothing special about the lake but makes you feel at peace with the world - very serene, pleasant and the garden (well-maintained, in spite of the number of people who visit it) around it had some very beautiful flowers. Shopped at the local Ayurveda shop too!! The boat ride was ok, but some of us got a chance to row the boat too. Not me though. The lake was 60 ft deep and when the boat gets rocking, I get screaming. :-)

Later we set out to Eddakal Caves. Located a good 5000 ft above sea level, this required some climb over a rocky hill too. This cave is a narrow stretch with Neolithic age carvings. The local guide there showed us the carvings of a king and a queen and an elephant sans the trunk. It looked like a tiger though. :-) There were some writings too. Looked like some ancient dialect. The caves were very cool and it was a relief being there after the climb. The plain next to the cave also had a view point. For 5 bucks we were allowed to peer into the telescope-like-equipment and look far far away.
What could be seen: The edge of a distant hillock had a stone cross on it. A Sphinx like stone formation nearby. A school with its vast playground and a Dam (Forgot the name of it).
The view was really good, with lush green fields and tall trees all around us.

We walked all the way down stopping only for fresh lime soda and lime/orange confectionaries and for photographs. Ya, had a chance to work on my photography skills. Tried using the sepia, b/w mode and tried blurring out the background focusing only the flowers, capturing the view of the horizon and sunset in the sanctuary. They came out pretty neat. Didn’t get decent snaps of the animals though. :-(

On the return journey, we saw a huge herd of Elephants in Bandipur. One of them had also strayed very close to the road along with its baby. But the forest officials came out of nowhere and started chasing everyone out. Hadn’t risked stepping out of the vehicle though, so no harm done. All in all a very enjoyable trip. Exhausting too. Guess I need one more holiday to get over this one. :-(

On btw, did you know that the ride in a Tata Sumo Victa is very smooth even at 130kmph? And that it can go from 60-0kmph in 3 seconds!!


AND if you are still awake, have a look at these photos. :-)

Pokkat Lake

Chemra peak

Pleasing isn't it?

Focussed

Standing out

Glorious

Walk 0f Life - My fav

Carved (Eddakal Caves)

Writings in Eddakal Caves

Update: Pics were taken from a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ1 (or LZ2).