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).

Trip to God's Own Country - 1

This weekend, I traveled out of Bangalore, after an unbelievably long time. Had been to Waynad (in Kerala, approximately 280 Kms from Bangalore) with a few colleagues. Must say, the Mysore-Bangalore highway has really shaped up well. We had hired a Tata Sumo Victa and the drive to Waynad was very smooth. Being a friday night, I slept most of the way. Got up for a moment when we passed through the Bandipur Sanctuary in the middle of the night. It was pitch dark and the vehicle's headlights gave an eerie effect. It was spooky. There was some contemplation about giving it an RDB effect. But don’t think they really switched off the headlights. Must ask the rest about it. :-)

When I woke up early next morn, we were already in Waynad in front of Woodlands Hotel. The problem was we didn’t have any reservations and since it was a long weekend, all the hotels were booked. But the people at the hotel were very helpful and after 1 hr of frantic calls all over the place, we got a reservation at an Ayurvedic Hospital!! Expecting the worst, we drove towards it, but were taken by surprise. It was a very neat and clean place and we readily agreed to stay there(like we had a choice!!). Learnt not to venture out without first booking a place to stay.

After refreshment, we landed in Woodlands again, this time for breakfast and info about the places to visit. It was Election day there and most of the places were closed. So we settled on Soochipura Waterfalls. The road to the place was lined with beautiful Tea plantations. The descent to the waterfall was peaceful. Spent some time there and then came the task of climbing uphill. The mercury was rising like there was no tomorrow and for someone like me who doesn’t fancy such strenuous(to me it was!!) activity, it indeed was tiring. Took all my efforts to reach the top. Phew!!

We then decided to go to the Waynad Wildlife Sanctuary situated in Talpetty. By the time we reached, it was late afternoon and we were just in time for the last safari ride of the day. The entrance to the place had a pic of an Elephant herds crossing the street. This looked inviting. We even got to know that someone had spotted a tiger the day before. With full spirit, we ventured into the forest. The heat had caught up with the animals too i guess. All we could spot was a bunch of langurs way up in the trees!!! The safari was nearing its end when we could finally spot a herd of deers. Thankfully!

The day ended on a cheerful mood with due credit to the waiter at the restaurant where we had dinner. He politely answered all my colleague's queries with just a smile. :-) Even the complaints were received with the same. A wide smile.

Few of the photos of the first day in Waynad.


Lush Tea Plantations


Soochipura Falls


Deers in Waynad Wildlife Sanctuary


Standing Tall


Golden Lining