Places

I was just thinking how many places I have visited in each State. My god! Quite an interesting list I should say! These places I have stayed more than 15 hours and explored the places.

Let me take my dear own Karnataka State to begin with. Bangalore (J), Mysore, Mandya, Madikeri, Chamarajanagara, Srirangapatna, Channapatna, Ramanagara, Maddur. I have visited Belgaum, Khanapura, Bagalkot, Bijapura, Davanagere, Shimoga, Alnavar, Dharwad-Hubli, Jog, Mangalore, Kundapura, Sirsi, Udupi, Kumata. Chikmagalore, Balehonnur, Basarikatte, Handi, Kushalnagar.I can reel off what I did in each of the places.

Tamil Nadu : Trichy, Tanjore, Madurai, Srivilliputtur, Chennai, Tenkasi, Kanyakumari, Cheyyar, Coimbatore, Valparai ( a lovely hill station where I was stationed for months together during 1995-99), Neyveli.  Kodaicanal, Ooty, Coonoor

Kerala : Cochin, Trivandrum ( I had been to Thumba Rocket Launching Station), Trichur, Guruvayoor.

Andhra Pradesh : Tirupati, Chittoor, Kadapa, Guntur, Warangal (Kakatiya Temple), Karimnagar, Adilabad, oh yes Mantralaya, Vijayawada ( I must have spent more than 2 months here!), Khammam, Vizag, Vijayanagaram, Srikakulam, Samalkota and Kakinada. Ananthapur also I have visited. Of course, Hyderabad!

West Bengal : ooh, only Calcutta

Uttar Pradesh : Lucknow, Varanasi, Saranath

Chandigarh : Chandigarh, Ambala

HP : Simla and Shimla L

MP : Singrouli coal mines, Satna, Bhopal

Maharashtra : Mumbai, Pune

Pondicherry

J&K : Jammu Tawi and Srinagar

Gujarat, the seven sisters, Goa not at all visited.

Germany : only Frankfurt AirportJ

USA : Atlantic City, Washington DC, New York, Virginia

Middle East : Muscat, Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Looks like I have covered many places in the world. Well ,there are many more to visit.

I am eager to visit Venice. I don’t know how is today. But I want to visit before I dieL

I have seen Indians in all places. Yes, even in Frankfurt!

Today’s subject is places. So be it!

Saga of my travels

I have visited many places in India. Some by design. Some others by chance. My jobs took me to various places. Today, if I just think of the places I have visited, I am really surprised!

I was a wanderer. My father had taken me to Trichy, Tanjore, Madurai, Rameshwaram, Tenkasi, Srivilliputtur one time.

Another time to Nagpur. We went to Delhi another time. Saw Qutub Minar. I went up the first floor too.

But the first big real travel happened when I was in the fifth and final year of Engineering.

During the fourth year I visited Jog falls. Not just the falls, but the two hydroelectric power stations. The MGHE which had horizontal turbines built somewhere in the valley and the AB Site which has 10 vertical generators.

We planned to go round India during our final year engineering. We started in February 1979 which makes me 22 year old then.

The route was Madras (Chennai is today’s name), Calcutta (Kolkata), Varanasi, Chandigarh, Simla, Dehradun, Hardwar, Rishikesh, Delhi, Jaipur, Agra, Bhopal, Bombay, Hyderabad and back.

Very interesting tour. We had all types of weathers and variety of places.

In Madras we saw a factory in Manali and visited the ship Nankowri which was going to Andamans. We visited Doordarshan studios. Here I picked up the habit of drinking sweet lassi.

Next day morning we left in Coromandel Express for Calcutta. We saw Bhubhaneshwar station, Vizag station on the way. We saw the longest railway platform in Kharagpur.

Calcutta was most confusing. To come out of the Howrah station was tough. We saw the road opening in the harbor (for a ship), we slept through the narration about universe in the Birla Planetarium, searched for South Indian food, visited Esplanade, saw Howrah bridge, Victoria Memorial (from a distance)

We left for Varanasi from there. Varanasi was full of crowd. We went to the banks of River Ganga and hired a boat and went some distance on the river and then took a dip in the river. Here the water was somewhat cleaner than at the banks. We could see a dead body floating next to us, well, a common scene in Varanasi I believe.

We reached Lucknow. For the first time at the thickest curd I had ever even seen! We visited Bhool Bhulaiyya- an architectural wonder. So many doors, walls, underground cellars... unbelievable! I remembered the song of Bobby.. tere nainonki bhool bhulaiyya mein bobby kho jaaye... we really get lost in the maze of wonderful building!

We hired a bogie and locked the doors. People were bombarding on the door. We never opened even the windows. We just let the window open to a small crack and bought puris and aloo sabji. I started having hiccups. No water was available. I finally boldly drank from the tap in the toilet. All my classmates observed me for 10 minutes, found that I did not ‘die’ and then rushed to drink the same water!

The saga of tour could continue tomorrow. So watch out!

Kashmir yatra!

When I was uploading a photograph of our Kashmir tour I remembered our Kashmir tour. It seems long ago, way back in the month of September, 1987. But some of the memories are still fresh.

I was married to Usha on 2^nd February 1987. We had no time for a long trip. We went to Chikmagalur for a short trip. My close friends Shankaraiah (now Shankar Sharma) and T R V Prasanna were married respectively during October 1985 and August 1984. They had not gone out to any specific tour except where their jobs took them.

We decided to go to J&K. At that time, Prasanna, Rathna and the kid Prarthana were in Nasik. So myself, Usha, Shankar and his wife Sandhya left from Bangalore and reached Nasik. We spent a day visiting the city. We visited the TryambakeshwarTemple on the banks of river Godavari. The next day we left for Ellora caves. Visited Ghrishneswar in Ellora. There is a monolithic temple of Kailashnath. From there we went to Aurangabad, where we visited the tombstone of Auragzeb’s wife. Then to the Ajanta Caves. The Waghure river flowing in the middle of the caves looks amazing. The whole set of caves were the hideout of Buddhists once upon a time. There was this University as well.

The next day all the three pairs along with the kid Prarthana left for Delhi. From Delhi we were supposed to take a night train which reached Jammu Tawi next day morning. The train came very late – 9 hours late. So, our program got topsy turvy. We had to travel sitting and reach Jammu Tawi in the night. Brrr .. it was very cold. We finally could get a dormitory which housed all of us during the night.

The next day morning we went in search of a friend of my sister’s sister-in-law. Just to book our return tickets for us. There was no internet booking those days. Hence we had to resort to such methods!

We took a bus at 9 am to Srinagar. The bus went on and on along a gorge on one side, hill on the other side. Really horrifyingly beautiful! There was this 2 ½ km tunnel to pass through. Finally at 8 pm we reached Srinagar.

We went on the Dal lake in darkness. We could hear the squeals of our respective wives. We settled in a wooden hotel on the other side. (Elegant, I think is the name of the hotel)

It was fruits and flowers season in Srinagar. We could see the UN police taking care of any likely unrest. In fact, Srinagar was very peaceful. The route to Jammu from Delhi wasn’t. it was the time when Punjab was burning and lot of deaths were taking place for some reason or the other.

We went to Gulmarg on the first day. Our food was biscuits and fruits. We travelled in the ropeway (with benches!) in such a height that it was very scary. The route where Joy Mukherjee sang for Asha Parekh (Pukar ta chala hoon main) and Dr. Raj singing ‘naa benkiyanthe’ in double role were on the same road!

The next day was Sona Marg. The route was tedious and tiring. Only Shankar could go up the hill to see the glacier. I went to the foothill and Prasanna was the bodyguard for the ladies and the kid.

Third day was Pahalgaon. Very picturesque village. If you have seen the Rajesh Khanna Mumtaz movie Roti, you would have seen it.

Fourth day the local garden visit. Chashmeshahi had the mineral water spring (first time ever I had seen a mineral water spring). Then Nishat Bagh where we dressed up as Kashmiris to take photos. Shalimar Garden must have been shot in many many Hindi movies. I remember only Saathi Vyjantimala and Rajendrakumar... mera pyar bhi tu hai.. ye bahar bhi tu hai.. We saw the light and sound show.

The next day was to Jammu Tawi. That narration later!

Will this ever improve?

I feel like reacting violently to some of the unfair situations which occur around me. But is it something rare? Am I the only one or are there some more people like me who can’t stand the injustice and can’t do anything due to the fact that the system is like that?

I am a writer in Kannada. I have tried to put some sentences, situations which call for someone to take up at least some amount of scavenging.

In fact, I have thought of writing a full time Utopian novel on these situations. Why I call it Utopian? It is because the solution what I propose will never happen with the present setup.

Take for example what happened the other day in one of the Nationalised Banks. On a Saturday, My son was trying to get a PIN number for bank transaction through internet. I was watching him moving from pillar to post. I asked my son what was the problem. There was this man sitting in front of the Manager. He came to the door and told my son come on Monday.

That was the moment I blew my top. My voice rose without my knowledge. Are you playing? My son goes to work between 8 am and 11 pm on weekdays. Except Saturday, he is not able to come on other days. And you expect him to come on Monday?

The madam, who was sending my son the manager (and the manager was sending him to the madam all this time), rose and came in a hurry to the manager’s cabin to pick some paper which was to be given to my son.

The manager also exclaimed, ‘Why don’t you keep this with you? Otherwise, people start coming to me’. This made me raise my voice again. ‘Why are you sitting there? If your staff does not give us what we want and on time, I will come to you’.

I could see a lot of heads nodding with approval. The best was my son’s reaction. He was very much against me talking loudly to the officials in many places. Well, it was not his job then. Now, when he was cornered, he welcomed my action. He said, ‘These government people deserve this type of treatment’.

No ... no, I hate this. Why can’t people do their jobs without someone poking at them? Especially, when they are sitting in a place where they are called public servants.

Sad state of affairs!

A few acci(inci)dents!!!!

I want to tell about a few interesting inci(acci)dents which happened during my stay in Muscat in the Sultanate of Oman.

I went during June 2002. It was the hottest time. Temperature was 45 Deg C at 8.30 pm!  I was about 74 kgs heavy when I went to Muscat. I had lost 4 kgs. Between receipt of my appointment letter and VISA  thinking and thinking that ‘Oh God! I won’t be able to see my family for one full year’. I had even ‘warned’ my mother ‘don’t you dare to fall sick in between. I can’t come’! She had just smiled.

I had no driving license, I mean the International one. So, I had to depend on the Taxi. That too the point to point Taxi. Mine being a private firm, was very strict about spend on the travel. I could take a taxi from one point to another in the main road. I was not supposed to hire a taxi for myself to get dropped in the doorstep. The heat, the loneliness and the excessive walking made me get melted like butter. It was almost like a frozen butter put in the hot sun!

Sometimes my colleagues who had the car used to pick me up, but that was rare.

I had a mental block to even learn car driving. Can you believe it? Someone told me ‘beware, while you drive a car!’ That’s it. I was not able to take up the driving classes. But it was inevitable to drive if I have to survive in Muscat, especially being a sales person.

So the torture commenced.  I went on failing and failing.

There was this drum test. I had to reverse the car inside a set of drums without touching the drums. Then the slope test. Balance between the clutch and the brakes and when the light turns green I was supposed to drive to the front without slipping back on the slope. The third toughest road test. There were about 5 or 6 test arenas. I was trained in all those places. Finally after 9 attempts, I could pass out the test! I got an international license.

I was not given a car for about three months. The reason is, if I meet up with an accident, my license would be confiscated. So, after 3 months, when m y colleague went out of station, I got a Mazda 323.

The very first day I was reversing the car and hit the next car, a Land Cruiser! The Royal Omani Police (ROP) came and took away my licence and asked me to go the police station to collect the same. It was the most boring morning. I decided not to commit any mistake on the road again.

Another time I was going very fast and I forgot the handbrakes while on the down gradient road. The car jumped up, crossed a few boulders and hit a compound. Some Indians came out of the villa and asked me to sit in the car, apply reverse gear. They literally lifted the car and put it back on the road.

Another time I was reversing and trying to adjust the seat. I was saved by the wooden plank which stopped me. Otherwise there was a 6 meter deep gorge dug for a new building!

Another time the right side mirror was damaged for being close to a gate of an office.

When I was turning to the right on to the main road, the Volvo bus driver switched on the lights. In that country if someone dips and dims the light, it means he is giving us permission to proceed (the same is reverse in India!)

It was getting dark and the bus guy had switched on the light and I misread him! He came so close to my car that the backside of the bus hit my left mirror on the same side where I was sitting to drive. (left hand drive cars and driving on the right side of the road)

The breaking of the mirror made a horrible noise and the driver stopped the bus and shouted at me. I looked at him. A Pakistani! Ah, another ex-pat! I had no fear now. I put my car’s hazard light and walked to him and told ‘I thought you gave me the way’. He was also trembling. He called me a mad man. I had no care for his words.

Well, I had (and got) hit in the front, back, sides of the car. Then I was very careful!!!!!

Promises and maintaining

It is so easy to start and it is so difficult to maintain. This is something which I learned today!

I met my friend Ramachandran who is called Bunty by his family. We were working together in a company way back in 1999. We were together for an year I think. We travelled together and spent time together in the office too.

We vibe with some people very well. We have a sort of frequency match. There is one incident which I would like to mention here.

I was preparing a note on hospital management software to be made as a leaflet. I went on putting my ideas together and when I felt that my fingers can’t take any more of typing work (on a pc of course!) I wrote for fun… ah, so far so good! .. and saved the file and got up.

Bunty, who had gone out somewhere, just then entered. I was telling him that I finished writing the material for leaflet.

He asked me ‘so far so good…?’

I was stunned. I took him to the computer and showed him what I had written in the end of my article. He smiled. This is just one of the incidents.

He is fun, he is a pun-dit. Yes, he can make pun out of anything. When I mentioned about another friend’s father being admitted to Wockhardt hospital for heart surgery, he quipped “undedhe okka haartu, I hope the hospital knows it!”

It was in Telugu. The meaning runs like this… all we have is one heart. Wockhardt had been ‘punned’ as okka haartu. Wow, hats off to him!

He used to come to our home at least one Sunday in two months. He generally went to Vidyarthi Bhavan in Gandhi Bazaar and brought their specialty Masala dosa. Two for each of us. Those days even my mother was alive. So, the count of the dosas would be 12!

Usha, my wife, used to prepare Puliyogare. She was (still is) an expert in preparing the same.

We used to talk all shop because I had moved on to some other job. It would be the best 3 hours we spent.

Later I somehow did not make it. I came to know that he was not well. By the way, he is not married.

Whenever there was a call from him, I used to say, ‘you see, it is difficult to come. But I would love to come’ but never went.

Today, I made it a point to go. Same old Bunty. Same fun. It was as if there was no gap of time between two times we visited. But time has passed. I lost my mother about 1 ½ years ago and he about 6 months ago.

I should go again. Like I said, promising is easy and maintaining the promise is very difficult!

My Word! The Cat & Mouse Game - 1

His eyes narrowed suddenly as he was watching the moving pictures on the Television screen. Immediately he shouted at the top of his voice “Himalay!”

But like other days, Himalay did not come at the very moment. This made him more irritated. The silver capped lead pencil slipped from his hand. The newspaper of the day which was on his lap hit the ground.

“Drat!” he cursed with anger seething inside.

The eyes again got locked on the television screen.

The brown mouse had hoodwinked the grey tomcat. This is unbearable for him any day.

He had told his personal assistant Himalay that each video should stop at a specific point. But today, the mouse had overtaken the cat!

“Did you call me sir?” then said the 32 year old young man with a lot of obedience.

He opened his mouth to scold him, but somehow the heart did not comply. Hey, what’s happening? His mind is the one which rules his heart. What is happening today?

Why today? Every day when he sees Himalay, it is almost like watching himself in the mirror. Was I like this in that age?

“Himalay! How many times have I told you this? You know very well that in the Tom & Jerry videos which I watch should contain the victory of Tom? Have I not bought the required software to do the editing the way I want? Why did you play the video with Jerry winning?” He growled.

“Sorry Sir, I did not know. I will use the latest software and edit the same” said Himalay and turned to the other side. Now there was a sarcastic smile on his lips. But the boss did not see it.

The servant Ramdeen came silently and picked the silver capped pencil and the day’s newspaper from the ground and kept it on the 4 elephant faced, Belgium glass having rosewood teepoy.

Again the boss started filling the day’s crossword puzzles using the pencil.

Those two are his weaknesses! 

Tom & Jerry Cartoon and the crossword puzzle. He was an expert in filling up crossword puzzle.

“Sir!” he was greatly disturbed by Himalay’s voice. He was busy in trying to find the clue. Intolerance was dancing in his eyes.

“Balabhadra has come” Himalay said looking outside the window.

“Who..” he started and immediately realized “oh, the new Police commissioner! Let us meet him” he said emitting a smile by twisting his lips.

“Hello Mr. Agnimitra! I am Balabhadra” said the police commissioner coming forward and placing his right hand in the extended hand of Agnimitra (AM). AM pressed the commissioner’s hand which was in his grip. His crossword puzzle and the TV remote control were now kept on the teepoy.

The servant Ramdeen who was wiping the invisible dust from the huge sized Padmapani picture from Ajanta Caves, came stealthily near the teepoy, removed a white envelop from his clean white towel tied to his waist. He placed the envelope on the newspaper and removed himself like a cat and went back to the cleaning chore.

He felt no one has seen his deed. But a pair of eyes had seen this! The eyes had also seen that the envelop had one name on it - ‘Mr. Agnimitra’.