Canada part 2

So we got bored with the street-car loaded Toronto city life and decided to get back on the road and head for Niagara. The falls looks majestic from the top of the Horse-shoe falls. But I cant watch water falling down for a long time. So we decided to head back to the states and get back home a day earlier than planned. The drive back home was spent sleeping in the back seat. I had not slept for the past three nights.. so. But heard the drive was troubled with hailstorms and heavy rain all over Newyork state (spoiling our impromptu plan to stop over at Ithaca) and Mass. Back home in the wee hours and back to one week of routine life at work.

My excitement was growing out of control ad the week progressed as we were getting ready for F1 and Montreal. The day arrived and this time were tripping in the beamer. I had promised to get to Montreal in 4 hours max as we had to start late. So it was a blinding drive all thro Vermont. The state of Vermont has unmarked patrol vehicles but I knew the game now well enough to not get caught. So I was constantly clocking 120mph(194kmph) and reached the Derby line in just under 2 hours. From then on it was real berserk thro the Canadian Highways.And we were in Montreal much ahead of schedule. J. So after checking in at the Youth Hostel (Hell yeah!!! The place was awesome. Thanks to some comedy by Manu and his girlfriend was super nice to Me) we headed straight for Rue St Catherine. After a half cooked – supposed to be Indian food – at the so called Indian Palace, we headed into the place for some action. Not knowing French was a big mistake in Montreal.

Being single and eager get into a party scene, we cornered a French woman – who knew very little english. She was kind enough to give us a custom map to some clubs in the place. But little did we know wat was running in her mind when she drew the map. So we trailed the map and finally reached the club. Whilst crossing the door, I saw 2 guys kissing each other and since it was normal here, I dint think of anything. But as soon as we landed up inside, the club was almost devoid of girls. There was a dirty Ba$%^%^ who gave a filthy look at me. Then something fired up inside my brain and connected the dots. The stupid brain was working overtime to digest the half cooked meal I had sometime earlier and wasn’t firing on all cylinders. But when it fired up, I was already a good 200 meters from that place. Yes I had made an official visit to a Gay Pub in Montreal.

After effects of the previous night made me cautious of the crowd around me inside the Circuit. I am not gonna say about the race or F1 part of the trip. As most of you know, I have been ranting about it for a long time. So I will stop my blabber right here right now.

The Cityscapes are the next series of blogs – a brief description of the cities I have set foot on. Until then… Au revoir. A la Fontaine(or something like that... dont know wat that means... but the French caretaker at the hostel told us before we left)!!!

Canada Part 1

Living so close the border and F1 happening some 4 hours from my house was not the only motivation for making a trip to Canada. There were some GUY-FACTORS involved too. (I meant the driving u #$^%$^ minds!!!). The drive was simply amazing. We made 2 trips. Once to Toronto – Ottawa – Niagara and then again to Montreal.

The Toronto-Ottawa trip was the longest road trip I ever did in my life. And wisely I decided to rest my babe for that one and we took the spanking new Accord. Though it lacked the power and punch of my beamer, it was fun driving the big car. Especially cos it was new. The owner sat next to me and kept his eyes fixed on the Tacho (I clocked 115mph – 185kmph) all thro the trip!!! But after some time I had to give up the speed and stick to the 100kmph speed limits cos of the stupid traffic near Montreal and on the worlds busiest highway that has like a zillion lanes on either side (actually 14 lanes on each side) Also the insects martyring themselves on the windshield was really pissing me off cos u cant really use the wiper to clean em. That will only make things worse. It was nice that Canada gas pumps had full service just like India. We cud get it cleaned every now and then!!!

First stop was Ottawa. Its really sleepy city but very clean and orderly. York St night life just rocks!!! Too many Indians were around too. The Lebanese food places were mind blowing!!! But we spent only the night and the early morning to visit the Flight Museum there. Museum was the main agenda and I was more than eager to be there for a long time. The collection is too gud and you have to be there to believe it. Awesome place.

Next stop Toronto. Again a sprawling metropolis with too many Indians. There is nothing really to luk for in Toronto except the CN tower. The glass floor was gud fun in the CN tower. The only place worthwhile talking a walk and enjoying the evening is Kings street with the long line of Restaurants and Clubs. But the place we stayed was a new experience. We planned to ditch the boring and over formal NA hotels and holed up in youth hostels. I wud say U can never see people from all over the world in one place. And its all co-ed. (With drinking allowed.. need I ask for more???)

To be continued in the next post....

Its a small world!!!

My Travel Destinations covered this year...

Hyderabad,IND
Chennai,IND
Coimbatore,IND
Mumbai,IND
London,UK
Ashford,UK
Birmingham,UK
Silverstone,UK
Newyork City,NY,USA
Atlanta,GA,USA
Pheonix,AZ,USA
Los Angeles,CA,USA
Chicago,IL,USA
Cincinatti,OH,USA
Lexington,KY,USA
Charlotte,NC,USA
Newark,NJ,USA
Boston,MA,USA
Hartford,CT,USA
Edison,NJ,USA
Concord,NH,USA[Thats all over NH state]
Newport,VT,USA - Canada.

Phew!!! I've come a long way now. Still got a long way to cover. Hope I stamp my foot on those soils soon.

Places in 2007 [Planned but not yet finalised]

Amsterdam,Netherlands
London,UK
Glasgow,Scotland
Edinburgh,Scotland
Reykjavik,Iceland
Manaus,Brazil
Macchu Picchu,Peru
Anchorage,Alaska,USA
SanFrancisco,CA,USA
Montreal,Canada
Dayton,OH,USA
Indianapolis,IN,USA

London Tubes Ashford n Eurostar Day - 1

After last minute BYE BYE’s n tears I entered the international airport to board my flight. My next destination was London with a stop over in Mumbai for 4 hours. Was surprised to meet a long lost friend in Mumbai Airport n was traveling in the same flight to London. But that did not matter to me… in like 8 hours I am going to be out of my country and not gonna come back in for the next 4 years. It was tough to leave everything behind but it was suppressed by the thrill n adventure ahead of me in LONDON.

Heathrow wasn’t that impressive. It just makes everyone walk n walk n walk. Had no problems at the Immigration. But he was surprised to know that I was in London only for 5 days!!! Anyways he let me thro and after a long wait to collect the luggage, I was finally out of Heathrow n straight into the visitors area. I was really skeptical about Boobesh coming to the airport n was mentally getting ready to go directly to Ashford from there with the luggage no matter what!!! But to my surprise the first face I saw in the crowd was Booby n I relaxed a bit. After a 15 min drive we reached the most shabbiest room I have ever seen in my life to drop my bags.

Then it was Arjun vs London Underground. I struggled my way thro the Tube Maze and somehow got thro to Drayton - Paddington - Waterloo from where I had to catch the train to Ashford. Finally after a sleepy 1.5 hrs ride(I missed the lovely English Country Side in this journey)… I reached my bro’s place n finally fell in bed.

After about 2 hours of rest Me n my Bro went for shopping. I was looking to buy a jacket. But I was not set into the Pounds mood completely. Being told that London was world’s costliest city, I was extra cautious about spending for the first time in my life. We reached a place called McArthur Glen - which is the city center for Ashford. The place has got nothing but Designer n Retail Outlets of almost all brands in the world. The shops were lined in a circle with the parking space at the centre. The whole place was so big that u need almost 30 mins to complete one complete round!!! If u think Spencers is big start thinking again!!!

After looking into couple of shops, I found my jacket – in GAP!!! It was bloody 48 pounds!!! I decided against it n went out… checked again in TH, Fred Perry, Benetton, MnS, Petroleum, Polo, Ted Baker, CK, Mountain Warehouse and so many others. But the GAP had my mind fixed on it. So I went back in to buy it after being calmed down by my bro. But to my surprise I got a 50% discount n got the jacket for 24 Pounds finally. My first stroke of luck in England!!!

The next stop was The Blacksmith’s. The place n ambience was cool and the best thing was the location. Right behind the hospital in which my Bro works!!! Less than a min to my room!! We ordered a guiness bitter – along with Fish n Chips for dinner. And that was the strike of my painful bad luck in England. Grrrr!!! I regret for not listening to my bro about the GB. I shud have bought Carlsberg. But I went for the ultimate one. The GB tastes awesome n it chills u down to the spine!!! With the sun slowly setting around 9pm.. it was getting a bit breezy n chilly. And that marked my doomsday!!! After fighting with the dead fish n chips, gave up the idea of completing the dish n had couple of Carlsberg’s n left back for the room to retire.

Then the Goodluck striked again in the form of Manju. Already being let down on the F1 dream, I had already forgot about the whole thing even before I landed in Heathrow. But before getting into my room, I was jus talking to Manju about the F1 n found out that He had couple of extra tickets for Fri n Sat. And I could leave the next day for Silverstone along with him n come back from Birmingham to London n then to Ashford.

I was all excited n I dint have to say YES to the offer. The answer to Manju’s question was already etched hard in my face!!! So I went to bed with dreams of meeting the GOD himself tomo at Silverstone!!!! – That’s the end of my first day in London. More to come…

North of a Southern City called Chennai...

I am not a fan of this part of chennai – until yesterday. We were in Central and we had to kill time after Satz had left for BLR. With our Band Of Brothers broken all of a sudden, a quite walk along the beach was more than welcome to Me n Bala. With Govi leading the way, we headed into the north Chennai – where I had gone only once in my entire life – a year back – when Me Tyaga and Satz decided to drive down till Pulicat Lake on a boring Saturday afternoon. And we hated the place even when we crossed the dirty uneven rally type roads into the Highway for Andhra. With the harbor around the smell was so irritating!!!

And I was back again in the same road after a year this time with Bala n Govi. After losing the right way and a bit of asking around we finally parked our bikes behind the ship building yards in the Fishing Harbor, Ennore. The walk along the embankment was nothing more than ordinary. It was still bright, windy and I was looking for something different in the place. When we reached the end of the road into the sea… we stood there facing the opposite end of the embankment making an artificial harbor.

Apparently that was the spot where the famous PROPOSAL – DISCUSSION scene of the movie Khaaka Khaaka happened. But we 3 were alone – no Maya n No Anbuselvan either. When I was beginning to wonder what is this place is famous about… the mood began to set in…


The sun was going down leaving out golden streaks spreading everywhere. The Shipyard looked smashing!!! The ship – marked – OCEAN RESEARCH VEHICLE (Never knew such things existed in India!!!) slowly crossed us from the harbor and disappeared into the Bay of Bengal. An evening spent admiring the nature in this part of Chennai!!! I had never seen such a beautiful evening sky anywhere else. The trip was worth it!!!

The Ocean research vehicle

Hyderabad Part 2

Day-3 :

Again half the day wasted in getting up and getting ready!!! After about 3 hours we were all in front of the hotel. But still some of them were missing. Finally we all settled down at PARADISE again for another one of those heavenly meals. No I did not count the chickens this time. After the meal, Pats n Scienty bid farewell as they had to be in Mumbai the next day.

Off we went to Golconda Fort. The travel was again so erratic and crazy, I felt like turning back to the hotel. A guy coming in the wrong side of the road hit the car with his bike and started arguing that we should’ve come slowly!!! Bloody Hell!!! And after some 10 minutes… another Skoda was trying to pass us at high speed… and a guy turned sloooooooowly… slowwwwwwwwwly……. Into the main road right in front of the 2 cars!!! He was taking forever to turn and go into the side. The Skoda almost hit us whilst trying to avoid that guy… pushing us into the platform. But lucky we… the car did not get any scratch or damage on it. We reached the Fort finally only to roam around it for almost half hour to park the car. Then another half hour was spent in Me,Nambi and Bala getting crushed in the crowd to get a 5 rupee entry ticket. I have never seen such crowd anywhere else in India to visit a historical place. This fact gave us some satisfaction that there will be something worth of all this suffering. Half the Gang was doped by the awesome Chicken Biryani and Meeta Paan!!!!

So with all expectations we started walking inside the fort to find this.


The Golconda Fort

There was nothing intact in the lower layer of the fort, except for the tall halls called as CLAPPING PORTICOS. I did not find anything strange about it other than that people were standing and clapping and yeah they were also trying to listen to some sort of echo!!! I heard none. So the guys already in a drunken stupor, decided against climbing to the top of the fort and rested on the lawn. And as the time passed with our target Saby in the centre, we decided to call it quits and head back to the Hotel.


Me inside Golconda Fort

That night everyone except Me, Bala and Satheesh everybody left back for Mumbai,Pune and Chennai. We had booked our flights on the next day – trusting some ingenious distance calculation and new year trip planning by the great SW Engineer in HYD.


Day – 4 :

The day started with a hot bath in the tub, which was refreshing and relaxing as we all had got tired of doing nothing but yapping and drinking!!! Then we paid the hotel and left for Charminar in the car. The USP of HYD is Charminar. At least that’s what I was told when I was about to leave my home on 30th. So with great expectations we set off to the Old City, where the actual HYD was located. The maddening crowd almost killed me again. I kept counting how many times the car is gonna hit something/someone this time on the 18 km trip to the Charminar. The count crossed 10 and I gave up!!!

Finally I was standing in front of the Charminar, but in total disappointment!!! Neither did it look like what it looked in the pictures nor was it impressive!!! The historical monument, built for thanking INSHA ALLAH for saving the city from some plague was in a very bad condition!!! The maintenance was too bad. There were people all around the place and electric wires running all around the beautiful building. Couldn’t get a clear shot.



The Charminar



Inside the Charminar



The Mecca Masjid


The Mecca Masjid, situated right next to the Charminar was impressive. Though it was not open for tourists during prayer time, people were allowed in on that particular day. But we decided to skip the Mecca Masjid (The stones used in the building were brought from Mecca, hence the name) and head for our last trial on the famous HYD Chicken Biryani. The hotel which we went was moderate and rated highly by our driver. But when we went inside, the place looked no different from the kayyendhi bahavans of Chennai. But the Biryani tasted damn good. Just as we were about to leave, the hotel was stormed by Americans… around 30 r 40 of them (All females ofcourse!!!) and so we had to spend some more time there. (No you filthy minds… not cos we wanted to sit there and admire those Gori ladies… we had to wait until they settled down for getting our bill.. only one waiter you see!!! )

So after 0.5 hours.. we set of on the final phase of our journey in HYD… to the Airport!!! After bidding farewell to Pistu.. we checked in and waited in Q for another loooooooooooong security check. I was thinking how to explain the officer if he gets suspicious of me again. But the never bothered… he just stamped and let me pass!!! And as we reached the Hold Area… we were informed that our flight was delayed by 0.5 hours. So after another 0.5 hours of grueling wait… (actually it was good… we saw Pavan Kalyan – Chiranjeevi’s bro, met our cabin crew, calculated how far will the Murphy’s Law work out and also fighting so hard to control smoking despite sitting directly in front of the smoking room and with Satheesh smoking along with out Captain)we finally boarded the plane for a real rough flight back to home!!!!


Hyderabad Airport

Trust Me… the return flight was so bad that I felt the Volvo Bus would’ve reached Chennai smoothly!!!! Anyways there were more things in this trip to be remembered of!!! Thanks again guys.. to all of those who could make it and also to all those who called!!! Esp to Mac… hope u got some place to see the fireworks in Sydney. Be back soon in my other blog. Au revoir!!!!

All Flights fly to HYD!!!!

The trip to HYD(Hyderabad) started on a lazy day in Chennai (30th). Already having applied for the leave and more over missing the Away Day party with the project people, I started along with Bala n Satheesh for HYD. The cab reached airport just in time. We were almost the last to check in for the HYD flight. Being the first flight for Satheesh n Bala, they were excited and Bala was expecting some fun in the flight!!!

After the routine security checks (I had an extra loooooooooong one, not coz I look like a terrorist, but coz of the metal rods inside my leg. It took some time for me to convince the Officer that I have a metal rod inside!!!) we rushed to Gate-4, which is in the first floor. Singara Chennai Airport escalators and elevators don’t work !! !!! So had to do a trek up the stairs and reached the Gate 4 just in time with Bala n Me sweating all over!!!

I expected the flight to be a smaller one.. but it was the normal Airbus A320. So finally we were all set for take off and ready to rock HYD with others who had already reached and who had not!!! After a rather dull one hour, we reached HYD and the pilot kept circling the city thrice before landing. Bala’s comment – I expected some fun during the flight!!! – meaning he wanted the jet to turn like the fighter planes!!! 180 degree Cobra maneuver is not possible with two mediocre turbo fans Bala!! You need a thrust vector controlled engine and nozzle to do that!!!

After a grueling 15 min drive reached at Baseraa!!! This hotel was awesome!!! The rooms were good, and the room service – even better!!! Except for the nagging Lady at the front desk who cheated us on discounts worth some 3 grand!!! Slowly the guys started arriving and finally at around 5.30 all gathered except Saby n Neo.



Day -1 :

The Hyderabad Central – not so good as the Bengaluru Central. No collections and not so good. I did not like it. I saw MnS there at Central and was surprised!!! I was thinking that MnS had opened shops only at Delhi n Chennai in India! I’ve never seen any records about HYD store.

CLUB 8 – Nice place. Though it was nowhere near to some of the premium bars(Westminister,BnB,StarRock,Zara’s) in Chennai, the gang of 15 meeting after 1.5 years set the place on fire(ofcourse with the help of spirits!!!) Even StarRock would win hands down when compared with CLUB-8. The service was bad. I simply hung on to scotch n beer.



PARADISE – The famous hotel in HYD for the famous HYD Biryani. If a chicken commits a crime, it would be sent to HYD.The paradise is CHICKEN's HELL.I guess no chicken would be alive in HYD. This place Paradise is of 4 floors – each floor is of about 2500 sq.ft. and can comfortably seat around 200 to 300 people one floor. All 4 floors serve Chicken Biryani!!!! They have only 3 variations in Biryani. SMALL,LARGE and PREMIUM.And the hotel is packed to the max. We waited 15 mins to get our table. Just imagine the amount of chickens used for that!!! Though the Biryani was real tasty, me and Bala were counting the possible no of chickens killed per day and we couldn’t come to a proper number at the end as the food we had ordered distracted us!!!


All set for the food in Paradise


Day -2 :

Half Day wasted in the hotel trying to wake people up and also waiting for Saby n Neo. Finally, they showed up around noon after a real long n tiring bus journey. Kudos to you two... if you two hadnt come... there would've been something missing.And you guys know what it was!!!

PRASAD’s – This place was awesome. The mall has an IMAX screen (in which we watched HP-4 without understanding what was going on. I hate HP!!!) With some li’l help from Bala (crazy fan of HP) I could understand and patch it up.


The Prasadz...


Yours Truly... trying in vain to join The Hogwarts

The IMAX is nothing but a forward inclined screen of gigantic size. Almost twice or thrice the size of a normal movie screen. It does cause dizziness for weak hearted people!!! It was fun time after the movie. Saby and Neo tried their hand at rock-climbing. To our astonishment, Saby was much more efficient and faster than Neo at climbing (guess this is a common trait with people from Dadhagapatti!!!) He almost touched the top before his weight let him down. It was fun for all of us to see our dear Saby (Hero – Zero- Hero) back in action, along with his all time contender Neo!!

The EAT STREET – This is the place I loved the most in my trip to HYD. This place roxx!!! Its got all – Idli,Chutney to Pizza to frankies to everything… I know this sounds similar to TRANSIT at Forum but trust me u get much more options than you get in Transit. So bad that Chennai does not have such a place to eat out!!!



Me n Bala at the EAT STREET - happy after two pizzas..

Then back to the HOTEL… for the Bash… to welcome 2006. Since we were a big group and all Stags (Royal Stags are not allowed into most of the clubs in India!!) we decided to keep the party personally in the room and it would give us some time to sit and talk too. Since Saby (Our Main Target) had come late in the afternoon, the focus was on him and his Malaysian Sweetheart!! It was fun… I can remember only till 1130 on the 365th day of 2005. After that I was on a total high… don’t remember cutting the cake… talking to Miths n Vinu over the phone… and lots of other stuff… even now… (I was shell shocked when I heard that I did all this from Vinu!!!)


The final cheers of 2005

Me feeling real sleepy.More on Day 3 n 4 later...HAPPY NEW YEAR...

Awesome!!!!

It was 1215pm. I was getting restless after sitting in the Bengaluru airport for more than 45 mins. Finally the boarding calls came. I was so eager to get into the plane and doze off. Then the slow and long airport shuttle ride to the plane passed.
I was standing in the line to board inside. That was when i noticed it!!!

It was standing there,like a beast!!! a huge metal beast waiting to pounce anytime. I was rendered speechless. I quickly moved out of the line and admired the looks. I dont know when i would get to see it the next time. It was awesome. But sadly I was not allowed to take a photograph.

I know... to break the suspense.. I saw one of the worlds most advanced tactical fighter planes. The Sukhoi 30 MKI. Complete with the canard foreplanes and the thrust vector controlled nozzles. I ran inside to get a good view before my flight took off. I saw it an almost all possible angles. Left Right Centre and Top.

It was standing right in front of the DRDO Test Facility Hangar.For those who are crazy about planes.. this is a boon!!! Not many people get to see the Su30MKI right in front. The stooping cockpit.. the huge forward tilted engine intakes.. the HUGE swept wings... it looked awesome!!!

I am still inside that stupor of seeing one of my fav planes on earth. The last time I saw a fighter was in Sulur Airforce base very long time ago. It was the F-14 Tomcat which had landed there for some repair work or something from the USS Carrier off the Indian Coast and the Mig 21 inside the enormous hangar there.

Anyways me caught up with too much work. I have to post about my BLR trip. The long awaited meet with my school guys after 8 long years!!! It rocked!!!

hope to post it soon. Adios!!!!

Coast To Coast!!!

hello people.. WISH U ALL A HAPPY N EVENTFUL 2005!!! The dullest and boring new year eve i've ever had...Spent the whole night in the train... was talkng on the phone until i could.Man .. it was really hard to kill time... then finally slept off...

The morning was beautiful ushering in the first day of the year.We were on the West Coast Express going to cannanore for a marriage.Pretty bad trip as only 3 people could turn up and the rest had given so many good reasons.Guess this condition will never improve with our class.Okidoci... getting back... the God's Own Country was super cool and the view from the compartment's footstep's were absolutely smashing.

Bala and satheesh were getting some heat thro the coffee drinks n also thro the tobacco cylinders.I was jus admiring the nature and it was disheartening to see the new concrete half-built bridges all around the place.These kerala people have a kinship towards these railroad junctions i suppose... every ten min's there would be a junction.But considering the amount of traffic on the road it was ok... Man ... if it had been chennai... u'll never reach from adyar to spencer's in 2 hours.The train then stopped at Calicut and i was dying out of HUNGER!!But all v could was some PALAMPORI and Chaaya!!!... I would never take the dosa's from a train that too from kerala.Have a nice experience with that.They make these dosas with COCONUT OIL!!! man all i could think of when i smell that is HAIR!!!

We finally arrived in KANNUR RS.It was a great disappointment for us.The climate was no better than
Chennai.Infact it was hot n humid than chennai.I was expecting a cold winter at this time of the
year.Anyways... we went out of the station and found out that the prodigal ENGINEER of Kannur has not
arrived to take us home.I was informed that we would be staying in a beach resort... and i knew where that place was ... but we were not sure whether to check in there or not.The mobiles work a bit well in Kannur.. and finally got jazz on line... and his next q was ... WHAT?? U HAVE COME TO KANNUR ??? Then we left satheesh to guard the precious gift n bags and went in search of an ATM.. we had to walk a KM to find an ATM.. damn... the SBI ATM shelled out two 500 notes for 1000... GOD's Own Country doesnt have anything in HUNDREDS i suppose...

Then after a long wait for almost an hour ... again a call from Jazz.. Then finally we had to catch an auto and goto his place.We could 've done that earlier so that i could have done somethnig about my rumble in the STOMACH...When we reached his place... i was astonished to c him... i mean i saw hiim only last week... but 4 days... n he had lost some 4 r 5 kilos...We were praising him for the amount of work he would've done for the wedding...The auto ride was too smooth and reached soon..It took only 20 rs for a distance similar from Satyam till Mylapore... CAN U BELIEVE???It would 've cost some 50 r 60 in Chennai...

We finally got settled after the formalities in jazz's room.After a small freshen-up session we were
ready to hit the table.. My stomach was already growling... Man... food... kerala cuisine... my
favorite... We had Rice Pudding's and Fish Curry... i gobbled up some 10 r 12 puddings with some 7 r 8 fishes...Then slept till 330... By the time other two guests had come from INFOSYS... and we were jus sitting and talking...

The marriage function had started by then.. They have a strange marriage formalities... First the formal talks happen between both the families and a date is finalised.Then the wedding takes place for 3 days.On the first day the girl is asked for her acceptance from the Mosque and also to the boy... Then the next day,the registrar from the mosque comes for the formal sign up and formalities at the girls place and then completes the routine at the boy's house also.... Then that night two seperate receptions are held... one at the boy's house and one at the girls house... We were at the reception in the girls house.We went in wished Jazz's sister and presented the gift,took some snaps and left...

Then on the third day, the ladies from the boy's house visit the girl's house and viceversa... and so
many other rituals.. man... i'm getting tired... One of the main events in this marriage is that everyone should go and c the girl's room in the house.The best thing is the girl stays at her mom's
place itself and the boy leaves his home and comes and stays with the girl's family..forever. Completely opposite to the way we do.. strange but nice.So the girl's family decorates the girl's room with all kinda goodies.. before the groom comes home... On the third day,finally the groom comes over to the house.That's when they both meet up.Till then bride n the groom never meet each her.Thats the best part of this marriage!!!man ... i'm tired of typing this whole thing... actually i left out quite a few details from this.... PLEASE SPARE ME!!!

By the time these functions were going on, we slipped away to go for some snapshots of kannur.. first we went to the baby beach... and then the light house... then came back just in time to hav the dinner... Man...all that u can find under the category VEG in the area was Raitha and pickles!!!I was just wondering wat'll happen if some vegetarian had come here!!!Food was super good... i filled up myself till throat level all the time i was there in kannur...That night was wild... We went to our rooms.. in Golden Regency.Then all of Jazz's friends had come and then we had a wild time.Four BACARDI's and Tender coconut water n sprite... man i was getting sick of it... but wanted to taste more ... then i was tempted to take in too much ... and did more than what i expected... finally went to sleep around 2.The next day... the hotel room was looking like a TSUNAMI hit coastal town!!!no place keep the foot down... all filled with u know what!! then we moved to another room.being the only Engineer there and the only software professional, Jazz has some high level ... man i mean it... really high level contacts and influence.We then took bath and waited till one of his friends came and picked us up... just in time for lunch.again the same story... then a nice sleep after getting back to the hotel...

Then came the interesting part.Already Kannur was hot n sultry.To make matters worst ... the power went off... So after ten mins of sweating like a pig in the room... i decided to get out... I dressed up and came n got the auto to the St.Angelo's Fort. This fort is supposed to be built by Tipu Sultan n stands intact till date.It also has a long underground tunnel running about 80kms to another fort on the coast.I've been here a lot of times but this was my trip alone here.I decided not to go inside the fort and finally went to the harbour where a stretch of Artificial road goes into the sea for half a kilometer jus to offer a view of the Violent Arabian Sea.

That night after 'Au Revoir'ing to all out there in that rustic n sweet coastal town in God's Own
Country...we boarded the bus to Coimbatore.Man i was there at my home jus a week back and i hated going back so soon.But had no choice.So started out... but this time Hutch Roaming had found a decent partner network Escotel... which kept me busy for a while n then i went to sleep.The bus was cruising at top speed and we had reached Cbe an hour earlier than the scheduled time.We finally reached home n crashed in the bed.

The following afternoon we were in PSGTECH ... our alma mater... and bala did the most astonishing thin when we passed it in the bus to get down in the next bus stop.He prayed looknig at it .. and man.. he was serious about that!!! what a grateful look dudes.. u people shud 've seen that!!!He was ruling the place n heart a year ago!!! I mean the hearts of a lot of girls... and i was jus thinking... what if they see him now.. with that gripping muscles and the Anniyan Haircut!!!And the whole day i was patrolling all the roads in the college.Met some of the juniors and then a couple of my friends... My sis... and she was pestering me about anu and then finally she was successful in taking anu's no from my mobile... man... good thing i told anu abt this.. cos i know my sis better...We were getting ready when the mobile blarred around 8.For a moment i thought it was Anu.. and my sis had done something...But it was Ranjith from RMG .. and i
had been alloted into a project.. so soon... damn... I was happy that my boredom wil come to an end and also woprried that i have to travel to Cathedral Road office this time... SOMEBODY SAVE ME!!!

Nothing much went on till that night... finally packed up everything and left CBE... 3rd time in a
row... that weekend... swearing i wont caome again for 2 more months... i boarded the train and reached office, anxious to meet my new team.

ECR ADVENTURE!!!

The mood was dropping down to a new low cos noone was interested in the first place.Only me n rahul were jumping up and down about this trip.The prodigal Roommate MR.RAJU was not in a mood to get up from his bed.He was in two minds all the time about it i suppose.Then came the model rahul... exactly asi had suspected after the fixed time.After deciding up,v both started alone for the ride.The Santro zoomed off ... leaving the Chennai city to trail behind far... on the ECR...Jus then i got the Message from Anu about my cd's n she had called me GOOD at the camera...that was some motivation for the day... right when i wanted.Don know how it happens all the time...but it happens with her.But ....

I had bought KISNA the day before.All the songs were not good.But some of them were in the ok range.Anyways i bought it...so it ought to be nice.But the title song.. kept reminding me of my personal life... the state it is in now... walking on a wall wihtout knowing which side is safe to jump.Listening to it... i tried to concentrate on the matter at hand.The mission had to go well.Never mind who were coming or not coming.So i tried to concentrate and bring in some ideas and tricks to work upon my Canon EOS.Sadly i had bought it very early and then Digital EOS was costing a fortune in the standards of a College Student.

Doing the thinking on one side and talking to my model of the day rahul,we were racing thro the road at blistering speed.the guy was in the shoes of Schumacher... watching the tachometer rather than the road... occasionally shouting 100...110...120...130... i was a bit terrified about it cos u never know when u would encounter a person crossing that road from the small lanes not visible from the speeding car to the sides.

Soon we stopped at MAyAJAAL,jus to have a sneek peak at the CCA Cup of my company..the finals were going on.It was the worst mistake i can do on a bright sunny day..that too with a mood set for working out on the coastal region as a shutterbug!!! they were playing something...called cricket.couldnot recognize it for a long time... The whole batting team except the 2 batsmen was standing right next to the pitch..CHEERIN UP THE batswomen!!!Girls are girls!!!i pulled rahul out of the place as soon as we got in and went back to the car to continue our trip back on the SCENIC ECR!!!

I was framing the shots in my overworked brain which could think nothing much other than COBOL n JCL's.It was too slow process by any standards.i jus could not get back from the hibernation.i had handled the EOS 300 before this in Goa...some 8 months back.By the time we had crossed Mahabalipuram and then got into much scenic ECR passing thro the paddy fields and small villages.The environment had suddenly gone rustic and this was doing some good for the thinking of the shots.

Soon we had crossed Kalpakkam with the Reactors passing out in the window.We had come more than what we wanted to so decided to turn back.I had figured it out that beyond that point the road is gonna be the same.There were no beaches for atleast some 20 - 30 kms and after that we would be in Pondicherry.That would be useless as almost all the beaches on this marina stretch looked alike.

So i decided to start of with a shot in front of the marker with the distance of various places on that road.I was positioning my camera to get an auto shot of both of us below the board when rahul suddenly jumped.He had locked the car with the keys inside.The worst thing was he was doind it for the second time.First was atleast in the civilised area nearby Hyundai showroom came to the rescue for 160 bucks.But now we were stranded in the middle of no where.we saw a couple of shops nearby.Rahul went to ask abt the mechanic and got the info that there was one some 4 kms back near the bridge... he started joggin back towards the bridge while i was standing there guarding the car...helplessly watching my mobile on the dash!!!!

Then i crossed the road took a shot of a serene pathway with coconut trees lining up on both sides.Then when i was crossing the road i noticed a small snake trying to cross the road.But before it crossed half of it,a speeding truck went over it.I dint c the remains of the snake after that.Probably the hot rubber tyres took it with them...When i was searching on the road for the caucus of the poor snake,a huge truck was coming towards me.i jumped to the side of the road to get nito safety.But the truck slowed down and stopped some 2 feet b4 me... Rahul had got the help from some truck driver..nice guy actually...he got into action trying to break the windows of the santro with a screwdriver.I dint like that idea of it.

i started walking towards that shop where rahul ahd got info about the mechanic shop.I suddenly saw a welding shop and the first thing that came into my mind was the metal ruler.I went in and asked the owner for a scale,borrowed it and went back to the car.The truck driver was still trying hard to pull down the glass.Then using his expertise in picking car's rahul made a clean hit on the first time and voila!!! opened the car...i was a bit relieved.Then we turned back after returning the ruler in the shop.

The first stop on the way back was in the paddy fields... it was huge... stretching on both the sides.took some shots but not that great.The sunlight was too bright and spoiled the coloring...i adjusted the aperture but i don think i wud 've got it right.Then had a miscalculated shot when we both tried an auto shot in front of the camera.Man that is what i hate the most.Wasting snaps.Ive always had this mantra going on b4 taking a shot...do it to the perfection or never do it..but lost it already....

The next stop was on road leading into kalpakkam.Nice field this one.Was lucky enough with the flourescent green caterpillar on the green leaves.The toad was in a very mischievious mood yesterday.It was jumping to my left and right all the time... but not standing at one place.Probably it was a PALAYA PANJAANGAM type of toad... shy of the camera,i suppose.Then some shots of lonely trees and rahul the model went into the camera...before leaving from kalpakkam.

The next stop was on a bridge near mahabalipuram.I had noticed some white webby salt deposits on the way.Thought of taking some close up shots of those.So the biggest task was to do some rock climbing under the bridge.It was some 20 feet high.But no holdings at all.I was finding it a tough time to climb down with the camera.Then rahul deivised a way out of it.He went down using the path of some barren rocks and the pillars os the bridge as support.Then i followed suit holging the camera,closing the eyes and following rahul's instructions to find the holds while climbing down.Finally i made it.

The white spooky salt deposits were too good.I jus cant wait to c it in print.Then we had a few friends visting that place.A indian some lizard .. i forgot the name.. appeared out of nowhere and was standing guard of what it is supposed to be its nest.That was too good for my camera.I could not resist bending down too much.I was afraid i wud scare the little thing away.But it was standing there without moving a cm...i got my shot and left it in peace and went back... then had some fun shots near the dried up waterbody.and one over the bridge near the car and started back.

The next stop was on the beach somewhere in between kovalam and mamallapuram.Took some shots that i could think of.I liked one shot there.Want to c the result of that too.Then started back... i was driving for quite some distance.Rahul was holdng the wheels teaching me how to do some better driving for i never tried and improved my driving from the basic levels.Should improve it to the next level soon.

Then we went to the cricket stadium again.Rahul has this never say die spirit.Always tries to the max.I completely lost hope after the early morning show.This time it was the guys.Match was not that good.But i saw the jutting jaw girl there.She had played in some team today morning.I was wishing that Anu was there to get me an intro.Then msged her abt it... never expecting a reply.. as that is always the good old golden rule.All this walking on the beach n rock climbing had made both of us very hungry.We gobbled down the burgers at the new Marrybrown joint on the ECR and then went home directly.

I tried some shots from the terrace of my building.It has some beautiful arches and semi's that make a good subject for modern art kind of unclear photographs.Then roamed abt till evening there.Then tried some trick shots at 6... with the dusk on the background...then came down and msgd Anu by mistake.Then it started out as a conversation.Then i slept for quite sometime.Then got a message when i was about to crash into the dream world... feeling a bit happy icalled up Anu hoping tat she would be on her way back from TCo to Kilpauk.But no...that idiot had gone outsomewhere and came back...i was disappointed.But she was full of energy .. and something was strange about her yesterday.I like it a lot but.Deep probing questions of the things that i was not sure of in the first place.

Then went to sleep,had an impossible dream and got up.And after that never slept for the night.Doing the crazy stuff to put myself back into sleep,but ended up thinking about Anu and then after sometime about finishing off my roll soon.By the time i realised it was late to goto bed... time was 730... so had no choice other than getting ready for the office...the boring idiot box.. infront of which i am sitting till now for the past 8 hours!!!!ADIOS GUYS... see u soon with the snaps soon!!!

Glass Hills 2

hello guys...sorry about the break...
lets go on with my travelogue...
The guy Sahnkar took us in...the old house was old..very old...and v were given a huge cot...for all 4 of us...and it was heaven after the 6 hrs of driving...i crashed into it without a thought...and others followed suit soon after moving all the gears from the car to the old bungalow.
when we woke up, the rain was gone.it was sunny,a surpirse and welcome change for that area and weather.the river was my target for the day as i had never been inside water after i went to work in that concrete jungle.It made me ecstatic and brought out the packed energy within me.without a thought, i went and jumped inside the water with my shorts and for a minute my body was numb.only after a minute i realised that the water was freezing my blood.my jaws started tittering and it simply wud not stop.with a sheepish grin,basically trying to conceal my shivering and jittering jaws i turned to my buddies who were getting ready to jump into the water.i waved at them and said...hey its too good...jump in....Thomas jumped in without hesitating but dinesh was a bit cautious.The other guy who lives in pollachi knows these areas in and out...never came near the water...he sat on the edge taking a safe side...yeah...as you could imagine...thomas was cursing me all time.but after sometime the cold was gone as the body temperature got adjusted to the surroundings.
after some playing and swimming in the water for about an hour...we were lying on a rock..trying out a sun bath...but as we were watching the non polluted sky with the fast moving spongy white clouds..it became dark and the sun was out in some 20 mins...teh rain started pourind in from all quarters.We scooped off all the clothes and towels and started to run to the house.once inside the house we dried off changed and came and sat in the balcony in some old rocking chairs..the sight was too good and absolutely priceless...it'll take so much of energy to describe that as it was.i was sitting with the green element of nature.eyes were cooled off and i was in my own world again ... fighting with my mind to stop thinking... and leave me in absolute tranquility...
then the inevitable happened...i started hearing some growling sounds... i had no apprehension by that but was more interested in knowing what it was.Suddenly i realised that it was coming from me...i mean ... my stomach.It was raging with hunger.we had not had anything from the morning and it was already 2 in the afternoon.i had denied the idea of buying snacks as plastics are prohibited inside the forest by law and i know my buddies would be the least interested in maintaining the law.Even i was not keen on that,but i always made it a point to clear of the plastic wastes if i use them and deposit it in some dustbin after i get back home.And this time i was warned by my dude back in the concrete jungle and she calls herself an Environmentalist..so why disobey her orders...so followed whatever i was doing back there in chennai...veing obedient!!!.. leaving all that behind now... the guys were also hungry and we were about do the harsdest thing in our lives...cooking...
after struggling for some 45 mins we were finally done with it...the rice was cooked.but i think i poured in some extra water..so u know how it would be.then came the chicken curry...we were mixing something with something and finally made a curry..atleast it looked like one.when i tasted it...it was Yuck!! but i never said anything to the guys.And the temperature was around 6 or 7 out there and it was already freezing.So the guys had taken the hot curry from the boiling pan and ate it almost then and there and because it was too hot for taste,they never complained..and we were relieved.one meal was over.Saved from criticism.Then we went for the packs bought earlier in the day.The ITC products...and much needed for that weather.We all enjoyed it after quite sometime.The white and Brown Cylinders were quite useful...i would say.The day went off yapping about school days and fun we used to have and ofcourse girls.Thomas had made a great contribution in breaking a good relationship of mine with the only girl i liked so much in my life.Poor Me...she is married and setled now with a kid...so that was discussed with great enthu as i was the only one who stayed away from girls during school days.And these guys had had their experience from then on...infactuations,love and all other BS's. But it was nice to hear about those stuff from them.They used to remain surruptitious about these things during that time.But now they were all childhood fantasies and nothing was clandestine anymore.It was a nice evening and memorable one too.
Soon the evening passed into the night giving way to the moon and the stars.But they had no chance of being seen in that weather as the rain was adament on pouring down.As the time was nearing to 9,butterflies started to fly inside my stomach as i was wondering how to carry on with the next meal or rather cooking.Then came the great saviour...Shankar who had been out into the village all day for visiting his house was back. i glad enough to hand over the charge to him.This thing has been running along all my life.When things are supposed to happen they will happen.After eating the delicious dinner, and with the rain had decided to relax a bit,we decided to take a walk in the jungle.Armed with torches and our good ITC packs .. we started off in the pitch dark.We could see nothing after some 4 feet in front of us in the mist and darkness.
I had not seen a wild animal in years.I had last gone for a trek in my College days during the first yr sem hols.That was the last time i had seen a wild animal in front of me.We had been shown a place frm our house by shankar.The place he had shown us was a bit weird.The River after joining back,runs straight for some time and then takes a sharp 90 degrees.You cannot see anything of the river beyond that corner. At that sharp bend there lies a huge rock which blocks most of the view from the house beyond this corner.We were told that there will be a lot of activity around the river in the night time by the animals.So we went to the rock sat there making very less noise and started our chatterboxes again but in a very low tone. Thomas was very keen to look out for any animals and we were making fun of him for being so cautious.But he was looking into the other side of the river looking out for some life there.He had caught the eyes of most probably a bison or a wild cat on the other side.V cud make out nothing other than that due to the darkness.
It was around 1030 when we returned back to our rooms..and other two guys already went to bed,me and thomas were talking for quite a long time about my college,cts life and also about his college and law practices and weird cases his senior had got when he was an apprentice with him.Then after sometime he went off too.Then i was in alone,the loneliness i always liked and longed for.And for the first time after a week,i missed my terrace..the phone calls and the easy chairs...
Sorry dude's.... i've been given some urgent work...so the GLASS HILLS 3 will follow suit soon...adios!!!

Glass Hills 1

the day was too good.nature gave people some tmie to enjoy their diwali in a clear and bright sky.and when peolpe started to pull out their hard earned money on crackers...polluting the air,sound and what not...nature closed the party down for these freak outs.i was thankful for it had proved to settle down the smoke and ash all over the roads.when it started pouring cats and dogs, probably i was the only one to be happy and sad for te rain.happy for the cracker thing and sad cos i had no clue how v cud go on with our plans of trekking.

Then the miracle came.with the face of my friend.this guy had come once with me to the silent valley and wanted to visit the Glass hills.but time was short.and this time he suggested that v will go there.i thought abt it for a second.it was definitely not better than the planned Avalanche trip.but a good and safe one considering the land slips and the torment rainfalls.

the ford endeavour was pretty tough inside the city with double roll bars and 4wd which would suit the potholes and the occasional road stretches here and there.it was 2 in the morning.and once we crossed the city and entered the suburb's the drive was quite peaceful.all except the driver were busy with their own work,including me.what do you think??? ofcourse we were sleeping.Thomas wanted to drive and we were happy to give him the chance.i would have preferred to drive but given that i was in cbe,and not in chennai where i wud be impervious to sleep.but here i cud not open my eyes once the cool country air started blowing in my face with the pleasant smell from the groundnut and paddy fields.i was going into my own dream world.

when i woke up we were still driving.but crossed pollachi and somewhere near the western ghats.i could feel the chilling mountain air, but cud not see anything in front other than the stretch of road for some 10 or 15 metres.it was pitch dark and misty.i felt so romantic and started thinknig about the girl rather started to day dream about the girl i like a lot in recent times.we were sitting in in my favourite place...not talking...jus watching each other's face.we both believed that we say it best when we say nothing all...and after sometime of staring into each other's eyes, she called me in her husky voice...Arjun....Arjun...but i felt like...she was screaming in my ears...i said why the hell was that...and suddenly she gave a good blow on my head...and i woke up from my day dream and found that it was thomas who was screamin at me...gave him a sheepish smile..and he stopped the car for the nature' call and asked me to drive.as other two were already in deep slumber,i had no other choice.i had to do it and it was thomas turn to dream..i envied him and continued to drive in the ghat roads..

given the experience with driving cars,i drove pretty fast and cool...and we reached vaalparai around 630.made a small stop for tea and to shop a few necessities.and then raced off again to our destination.Beautiful tea estates and small stream guttin out of the rocks and the early morning sun made the place a heaven.jus wat i wanted and anythnig that would be better than the polluted and concrete jungle called CHENNAI which rocks in its own style as proclaimed by the great Thayir Saadam's.leaving the civilisation behind we ventured more deeper into the woods.and the way after vaalparai was like smoother than the city roads,a bit slippery though with the dew and rain from the previous night.We soon crossed the infamous Sholayar dam, known well in my school days for the death of my juniors during a field trip,that too they jumped in water to save a stupid girl who cud do a simple thing called HOLDING THE RAILINGS..and the result was...she was saved and the 2 guys were drowned instead...man..2 priceless lives lost for 1.

leaving the toughts behind v exchanged seats on the driver side as i was getting tired and irritated as i cud not watch out the plaesant hills.it was almost 8 when we finally reached our destination.the place is called Manamballi.A century old Hydro power generator is the only reason people are living there , that deep in the forest.we stopped at the only hotel or mess or watever where u can get some food.already the stomachs were growling in hunger.so had a nice fill to our tanks.while my buddies were looking to fill their tanks more, i came out looking at the place.i had been there once before but never remembered anything other the two huge black pipelines running down the hill from the reservoir.i had no clue to what it was at that time.but now i after getting the bachelors in electrical i could recognise that was the method used a century ago.The village was totally out of place in TN state.The buildings were all colonial architecture with 3 r 4 bungalows which houses the higher officials of the power plant.and the labour's shed had been cleaned and made up into living quarters somewhere in the 60's and all of them stand strong till date. damn these guys...they r never patient.they wanted to get to the forest soon..considering this as the last civilisation we would c for the next 2 days.

The Ford 4wd was handling exceptionally well with its powerful 2.8 litre engine.and we disturbing the eco-system by passing thro in this huge diesel powered - british designed - indian made black metal beast.i cud see some black macau's and lion tailed macau's playing blissfully here and there before reaching the forest guest house.Our journey was over.

The village was far behind.some 5 kms from the place i was standing,but consider the dense canopied stretch of land and no civilisation around you, that's a bit far.The forest bungalow was its own class.The river which runs through the village from the mountains go towards kerala.i honestly don know the name of the river.And at this time of the year it was raging like a bull altough the water level was tolerable...around some 8 feet max.this river after running liek a snake for some 5 kms bifurcates into 2 and joins back into 1 after some 200 meters.This forms an island in the middle,big enough to house a big spooky forest bungalow and its servant's quarters.It was earlier used as the summer house of some stupid general of the british raj and now it was forest bungalow.Good thing Thomas had an uncle in the forest dept and the acces to this place was cleared soon enough for us.The river forms a deep ridge around the house and the only way in and out of this island is through a rope bridge...and man were we glad for that??

i was jus cursing me for forgetting my wifey...the Canon EOS 300 back at chennai lying in my suitcase...useless...anyways nothing could be done at that time.Cursing myself we crossed the rope bridge one by one as it was shaking a lot.then we were greeted by the surprisingly young house keeper of that bungalow named Shankar.

Sorry guys...sudden work has creeped up...The Glass Hills 2 will soon follow...take care till then...urs arjun.