We were in Chennai over the weekend, and yesterday, reached the Chennai Central station to take a train back to Bangalore.

The Delhi blasts had occurred a day before, on Saturday evening to be precise. The Hindu had dedicated one half of the front page for this news, and they were quite sober in their reporting, as though there were more important things to be spoken about and this had unnecessarily come up. Times of India’s headline alone occupied as much space as the entire Hindu article. Neither of the newspapers had spoken about what should be done going forward. It was all about showcasing horror or displaying indifference. ToI Chennai, for instance, screamed “Helpless?” (in a font-size 80+ I would say). Is this what we want to portray to the perpetrators of the crime? Helpless? Perhaps we are, but still would you want to give that moment of satisfaction to the criminals?

So anyway, we walk towards the entrance of Chennai Central (the main railway station). There are numerous entry points, and one of them has a metal detector installed. No one really forcing people to walk through the metal detectors. We see the metal detector and decide to walk through that one rather than the other open entries. We walk, no one notices, go ahead and then turn back to observe that there is a baggage screening machine as well. I was happy to see this level of security, but was immediately dismayed to note that no one bothered to ask us or the passengers alongside us to actually go and get our baggages screened.

We decide to do what seemed right and go back near the entrance and haul up our bag on to the rollers of the x-ray machine. The bag goes in, comes out with the others and there is a constable pasting stickers on some of the bags. He forgets ours, I pick up my bag, go a little ahead and then come back to get the “baggage screened” sticker. The constable, without raising an eye, puts the sticker on my bag too, not concerning to know whether the bag was actually screened or not.

We walk away into the sea of crowd which, in a railway station, always seems to be in some hurry. And that was the security system installed in one of India’s biggest metros, as a reaction to the Delhi blasts. You no longer want to ask this question – How safe are we?

This is a continuation of the previous post on our short trip to Ladakh.

After seeing the Indus river on that evening, we left to see another Buddhist monument – The Shanti Stupa. The Shanti Stupa stands majestically amidst a backdrop of high peaks and the sun shone down on the monastery, giving it all a divine feel.

The Stupa has beautiful drawings and paintings of the Buddha and other deities.

Treks are usually not my cup of tea (or kahwa, for that matter), but this place is too appealing to be missing out on long walks. We set out to go to the Gyamska valley (at least that’s how our driver pronounced the name) and were greeted by this structure at the entrance:

After what seemed like thousands of kilometers of walking along the foot of a mountain, we finally reached the much promised valley!

To make it even better, there was a glacial stream flowing right through this valley. The water was ice cold and crystal clear. And, of course, it was wonderful to drink it right off the stream as it gurgled downhill.

While I was busy during the days attending a meeting, the Mrs. got a chance to visit some Ladakhi homes. Here are some great looking pictures she took:

Our next stop was the famous Khardung La pass, the world’s highest motorable road, located at a height of 18380 feet above sea level. The road to get there was very scenic and I got to see some of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen in my life:

After almost an hour of driving up into the mountains, we finally reached Khardung La.

What greeted us was expanses of white snow on the sides of the mountains and a sudden chill in the air. The snow was not as clean as I had anticipated, but I managed to dig some out from below the top layers:

Here at Khardung La there is a small restaurant that serves tea and the best Maggi I have ever eaten. Seriously, there was something different about the Maggi cooked here. Or probably it was just that the cold was too much and the hot Maggi in simmering water made it feel heavenly.

Another place we visited on our way was the Magnetic Hill. Local knowledge states that when a car is placed on a particular location on the road, in neutral, it moves uphill towards a mountain which is nicknamed the Magnetic Hill. We did see the thing in front of our eyes, but one of our guides spoiled it for us by saying that some sceptics consider this to be an optical illusion. It was too cold for me to argue my thoughts on the concept of optical illusions, so I let it be.

Our organizers had arranged for a camp outing along with lunch on the banks of the Indus. This was a beautiful moment and we got to spend hours sitting alongside the river, with our legs dangling into the cold water while the mountains watched patiently.
This, the photo on the right, was the loo of our camp. It was a hole in the ground, covered with a colourful looking tent, zip et al.

We then left to visit the point where the Indus meets the Zanskar river. The two join here and the resulting river continues to be called Indus.

After visiting the various market places, and checking out a cool restaurant called the Wonderland (cheesy name yeah, but a great roof-top seating makes up for the name), we finally had to bid farewell to this paradise of this part of the world.

Previous post on Ladakh: Ladakh Photo Diary – 1

This is a first in a series of posts depicting our Ladakh trip in pictures.

First some background. Ladakh is a province in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in India. It has two main towns – Leh, considered the capital of Ladakh and Kargil. Situated at a height of over 11,000 feet above sea level, the oxygen levels here are lower compared to the cities we live in. It is close to the China and PoK borders and the famous Siachen Glacier.

In case you are planning a trip to Leh, be advised that your first day in Leh should comprise of, and only of, complete rest in your hotel room. Doctors suggest a resting period of at least 36 hours. Otherwise, you tend to suffer from altitude sickness. During summers, Leh is considerably warm and dry. There is not much of humidity so the sun can be harsh. Now, sit back and enjoy the view.

The Himalayas from the plane’s window as we flew through the mountain range on our way to Leh. Majestic and awe inspiring:

An aerial snapshot of the airport of Leh:

As we got off the plane on to the rudimentary looking tarmac, there was a slight chill in the air. Looking around, we were surrounded by mountains and the presence of the Indian armed forces was easily felt. There are various mountains which have some inspiring texts written by the various regiments. One of the mountains had the following written in white and visible from air:

Touch the sky with glory

Once at the hotel, we were asked to take complete rest to acclimatize ourselves with the low levels of oxygen. In the evening, we visited a Buddhist monastery nearby.

The person who used to run this monastery, Mr. Kushak Bakula, had initiated a lot of social and development work for the town of Leh. Owing to his great work, he had been awarded India’s Padma Bhushan title. For the first time ever, I got to see how the certificate of a Padma Bhushan award looks like:

After having spent time at the monastery, we went to a river nearby. And well, this wasn’t just a river nearby. It was the Indus river. The Indus river – the mother of civilizations in this part of the world!

It was a strange feeling to be able to dip your fingers into a river of such historical significance.

More on this trip shall continue later. Watch this space, ladies and gentlemen.

Update: Read part 2 of this trip here.

During this particular trip of ours, we had stopped at Halebid to check out the majestic architecture of the temples there. A little ahead of the more famous temple, is a smaller and lesser frequented one. We visit this temple too, and not surprisingly the architecture is very similar to the main temple.

On our way out, near the gate, we see a small but keen crowd gathered. Everyone was looking at a slight opening between the temple’s outer wall and the sparsely grassed ground below. A lot of noise and a lot of chatter all around. I enquire and am informed by one of the kids, with a broad grin, “Haavu! Haavu!”.

Which meant that there was a snake over there. I peer over the crowd and see six (yes six!) baby snakes. I have always found snakes to be beautiful creatures and was thrilled at this sight. Six small creatures of life looking around and confused with all the people around. The crowd is getting a little restless and one of the stronger looking men suddenly makes his presence known.

Wearing a red shirt (I couldn’t help observe this symbolic color), the man picks up a long and thick wooden stick and brings it down with all his force on the congregated small babies. The snakes, instinctively, make a dash into all directions, not quite knowing what would help them. The man in red, the lower part of his shirt fluttering with the breeze, took aim and brought down the stick with continuous brutal blows on each one of those six siblings. Chasing every escaping snake, he ensured that he killed all within just a couple of minutes. It was a sense of achievement for the man and the crowd cheered him on. The little kid who had informed me earlier about all the commotion was jubilated. My friend and I tried shouting at the man in red, asking him to stop the mayhem, but our voices were drowned in all the hustle. Six lives vanished into thin air, wiped out.

We got back into our car, shocked at what we had just witnessed. The kids waved us goodbye with their wide smiles and we were off on our way.

On Saturday, Mrs. DhiOnlyOne and I set out to a place called Kadavanthi which is located within the Chikmaglur district. The place is around 300 kms from Bangalore, going via Hassan, Belur and Chikmaglur.

The road is surprisingly very good for long stretches and the weather played the perfect host all the way long. Stopping for some excellent idlis midway, we reached Kadavanthi at around 2:00 pm.

The place where we stayed is located atop a hill and set amidst a huge coffee plantation. Needless to say, coffee bean smells abound here. The cottages were located on a slightly flattened out land which overlooks the expanse of mountains, valleys and low-drifting clouds.
This is a picture of our cottages which have benches on the opposite side, facing the valley.

One of the apprehensions I always have about such forest-y areas is the kind of creepy crawlers that I might have to encounter. Of course, Mrs. DhiOnlyOne too has such apprehensions but at least she has a daring and strong husband to rely on. Me? What can I rely on? Except try and pray fervently for nothing to crawl on my bed in the night or to fall on my back while I am not noticing. That fear of course does not deter me from photographing some never-before-seen bugs and insects.

The evening brought with it a bonfire, barbecue and some beer on the hills. (That last phrase does not refer to the quantity of beer, but more on the location of its consumption). After some decent homely food (which was so homely that it also had brinjal on the menu – and I dislike brinjal, if you didn’t get it), it was time to allow the crickets outside to take over your peace of mind.

Thankfully, we didn’t encounter any insects until the morning dawned which made us realize that we are amidst nature, and goddammit, we should have a stronger sense of acceptance – insects, spiders and what not. So, early morning armed with my camera I managed to ignore some of the butterflies twittering around and took in this view of the mountains. After this, it was a short trek to the top of a mountain (through some really dense forest area) and clicking of some more photographs to make the huffing and puffing seem worthwhile. We also had a dog following us and we were told her name was Ruby. I managed to crack a joke that if this dog fell on the railing, it would be “Ruby on Rails“. No one quite got it and that is one of the dangers of being geeky to the point of being funny. Mrs. DhiOnlyOne was still recovering from the shock that the husband she relied on was himself running away from all the scary sketches made by the forest trees. Probably humour wasn’t on her mind, not quite yet. Anyway, I managed to get back from the trek in one piece and was the first to the breakfast table.

Post breakfast, we had to bid adieu to this lovely place (yep, I slowly started falling in love with the concept called nature and forests) and we set off to see the historical temples of Belur and Halebid. Civilization is always nice. This is the entry to the temple at Belur, along with the majestic flag set up by the people who built this place (who else eh?).

The Halebid temple, located just 15 Kms from Belur, has a lot of carvings eroded or destroyed.

The huge statue of Nandi has been spoilt by many visitors who have scratched and left marks on this work of art. In fact, take a look at this picture where some one appears to have practiced his/her geometry on the nearest canvas available.

Most of the sculptures on the walls of these temples are, simply put, beautiful.

Nature showed us her best while we stayed at the coffee estate. Belur and Halebid’s temples seemed like our entry to the superior creative judge, if present, and showed that creation is not just Nature’s forte. We are now back in good old Bangalore, a lot more refreshed than what we had hoped for! Enjoy, ladies and gentlemen.

The weekend gone by saw us on another trip, albeit a shorter one. This time we headed towards the coffee plantations of Coorg. The place is beautiful, as we had anticipated of course. But what struck me is the amount of greenery that this area showcases. I have been to trips and forest treks earlier (no, I am not the trekking kinds, but have landed up in such places by chance) and nothing has come close to the amount of dense vegetation that Coorg has.

Upon reaching our accommodation, we took a walk around the place. There are numerous flowers around which I had never seen before.

The large number of green plants and trees come with their own share of insects, bugs and other small crawlers.

Towards evening the clouds decided to get into a sombre mood and congregated over us. It rained heavily and there was little left for us to do than be cooped up in our rooms and watch the rain drops fall defiantly on the tree leaves and grass blades, bending them in the process before collapsing into puddles of water. The thunder roared in acknowledgment of this task well done.

The rain cleared just as quickly as it had begun, and the darkness was slowly swept away by the never-tiring and all pervasive rays of the sun.

We spent another day in this place before heading back to the highways infested by cars, trucks and other automobiles. However, in a strange way, I am always glad to be back in the city and its accompanying pollutions. Nature and all that is great yeah, but only for a few days for me. I need my daily dose of cacophony, chaos and life.
Have a great day, ladies and gentlemen. The week has begun.

Photo time for the nth time on this blog.

A close up of a white flower (in case you know its name, feel free to leave a comment):

This particular island was filled with Hornbills. Here is a picture of a Hornbill feeding off some tidbits on the beach:

The following is a hologram of a shark created in Singapore’s Underwater World. I was surprised to see that a camera could capture a hologram:

I will have to stop here owing to work constraints. More later. Have a great day, ladies and gentlemen

The weekend was at various places starting from Kundadri, Agumbe and Tirthahalli. We were there to attend the Tunga Mahotsava where Avi’s better half, Niv, performed.

Again, this is a photo post.
One of the roads on our way to the trekking places:

A spider in the forest (couldn’t be more descriptive):

The Tunga Mahotsav was on the banks of the river. The following is a shot of the decorations on the opposite bank:

A shot of the temple at the top of a hill close to Niv’s home:

Inside the temple:

An antique mirror in Niv’s home. The home is beautiful and filled with traditional objects and furniture:

Another shot of the home:

That’s about it for now, ladies and gentlemen.

Time for a photography update.

A few weekends back in time saw us on our way to Bheemeshwari, a place surrounded by nature and marked by the presence of the river Cauvery. Here is a photo blog on the trip.

The road we took was the NICE corridor, its an awesome highway and great to drive on. Speeds of 100kph can easily be achieved.

A village we passed en route:

A pond right alongside a low-lying area through which the road passes:

Couple of shots of the river:

Butterflies busy on the banks of the river:

Another shot of the river through some trees:

Some beautiful colours on the mountains that dot the landscape in this part of the world:

More of the beautiful landscape. These trees with white flowers adorn a 100m stretch on the route:

Bheemeshwari is a 2 hour drive away from Bangalore. If natural sights of flora and mountains interest you, I would highly recommend this drive.

Note: Some of these photos were shot by Veeral (who has some great photos on Flickr! – a must checkout)

Weekend was in Delhi and Agra, which was of course unfortunate because I was at the Taj Mahal without Mrs. Dhi Only One.

An office off-site: you know the works. Presentations, interactions, and HR exercises (not necessarily in order of priority). And thankfully, the HR exercises were not about playing Tambola or Housie or Bingo around the marble pillars of the Taj Mahal.
It was insightful (swear) and tiring at the same time.

However, the bits I enjoyed most were some observations during the trip. If you have driven on the expressways/freeways of the USA, you might have stopped for some rest at any of the McDonald’s outlets and had a burger. However, what do you do if you halt your drive for a while on Agra’s dusty lanes? You have the indigenous roadside cart, selling, as shown below, “burger hee burger” for a beat-the-hell-out-of-McD’s price of Rs. 5 only.

The other interesting observation was of small kids selling key chains outside the entrance of the Taj Mahal. Some of these kids were dressed up in their school uniforms and came up to me as I entered the park leading to the Taj’s entrance. A group of them asking me to buy a keychain for “just Rs. 5″. Then, from the opposite side came a couple of foreign origins and the entire bunch of kids ran up to them. I didn’t get a chance to buy, neither did I get a chance to decide whether to buy or not!

But all that was forgotten when this magnificent structure came up in front of my eyes.

After this, it was back to presentations, HR exercises (nope no Tambola again) and a tired flight back to good old Bangalore.