Shimoga - Jog falls

Bangalore - Shimoga
Since, by some quirkiness, the southern railway forgot to have any train passing through Shimoga directly from Chennai, we were left with making a connection in Bangalore. Mercifully, the evening Shatabdi connected with the Shimoga express well and so tickets were booked accordingly a couple of days before the travel. We packed up and started the journey in Shatabdi. Reached Bangalore by 10.30PM for the Shimoga express to start at 11.15PM. The train was waiting in the same platform but as we found out, the AC coaches were missing. Sibi flew into panic and started pestering on how to go to Shimoga. Of course, the coaches were connected separately along with the engine and our journey to Shimoga began.

Back in December, when I was planning to go, I was thinking of going to Hassan and onwards to Shimoga after visiting the Hoysala temples. The new 2 day short trip during Pongal was finalized only 2 days before we were to start and luckily we could find accommodation and train tickets within the short time.

I was sleeping deeply when I realized that the train has stopped. I looked outside and it looked like an one platform small town. So I just stepped out and was face-to-face with the board 'Shimoga Town'. Hurried inside and woke up the kids and wife and came out and checked into 'Hotel JewelRock'. The rooms were good but I have to book the return tickets for the Sunday to Chennai first and so I quickly managed to get to the reservation counter only to find that there are about 35 persons in front of me. So called up my brother and through Ananth, he managed to book the tickets online by the time I reached the counter myself.

Back at the hotel, everyone was ready to go and the cab guy was waiting. So we started our journey to Jog. The cabbie was a very informative guy and was chatting non-stop about the roads, rains and pretty much everything along the way. The kids went to sleep faster and I was struggling to keep myself awake as we drove through small villages and fields which have completed harvest and little temples along the way.

The first stop was in the ghat section of the highway where we stopped to have a look at the Linganamakki dam across the river Shravati which eventually falls into the Shravati valley as Jog. After the mandatory photo session, the next stop was a small hanging bridge and then onto the MG power station. Here we get to see the Shravati valley and saw a couple of guys watching the Solar eclipse that started a couple of hours back. On talking to them, I found that one was a school teacher in the nearby village and the other is a BMTC driver from Bengaluru. All of us had a glimpse of the eclipse through the 'welding glass + x-ray' contraption they had.

Then onto Jog itself. Being the day of solar eclipse, there was no crowd, no traffic in the highways, and almost every shop was closed. The cab driver attributed this to the high number of brahmins and lingayats in the area. I am not sure how much of it is true, but it was good to be in Jog without the crowd. Jog itself was falling with less water and more awesomeness. The beauty of water falling over a gorge is beautiful, it becomes more when the entire river is full of black rocks and projections and the valley beyond is still lush with vegetation. It was magnificent. Kids had fun running around and we also drove to the other side of Jog to have a look from the PWD guest house built very near to the falls.

After a short and good lunch in the KSTDC Mayura restaurant in Jog itself, we started for our next destination.

Chennai Sangamam

Chennai sangamam got inaugurated 3 days back. After some deliberations on the best day to visit, we decided to go to Venkat Narayana road for the 'White' night celebrations today. So went to Natesan park around 6.45PM and Vanathy wanted to have the Mehandi done and Sibi wanted a tatoo. There was crowd everywhere and the programs were running in parallel.


After getting that done, we decided to have the dinner in the park and chose the Burmabai Stall for parathas. The parathas with chicken were fantastic and with Mrs. Gayathri Venkatraghavan singing some good Bharathy songs in the background, there was a show by the the Mallar school from Villupuram. 'Pulendran koothu' started right after that on the stage.


After dinner, we noticed that the road was now closed for traffic and all the action was happening in the road. So walked down the road watching the koothu, thappattam, paraiattam, oyilattam, poikal kuthirai, karagam and so many other activities were going on and after walking around having fun, we also saw Kanimozhi MP coming for a visit. It was a night well spent.

More than the koothu and aatams, what I think the annual 'Chennai Sangamam' has helped is to show that our folk culture is worth looking after and for me it is a way to connect with my childhood when I used to watch all these in our thiruvizhas in Sivakasi and Madurai. For my kids, its a learning experience to know the different facets of our folk culture.

Chennai book fair and a few random thoughts..

When my mom was in school, she used to come to Chennai for visits. We did not have any relatives at that time (1960s) and I should think of these visits as purely for seeing the sights as my grandfather had the travel bug all the time. They used to stay in the Nadar Mansion in the Poonamalle High road (even today, this is our family's choice of stay) and go around. One of the things she used to tell us is the grand dinners they used to have in the Hotel Dasaprakash in PH road.

Last saturday, I went to the Chennai book fair. Since I was going alone, wife and kids were in in-laws, I preferred to take my favorite means of transport, the suburban train and bus. So got down at Egmore and had a look at the spire of the St. Andrews church and started walking. I was not really in a mood to wait for a bus and so thought, if I start walking, I might reach the fair quickly and also can walk along the quiet railways quarters area in the PH road. Thats when I saw the Dasaprakash. I've seen it before but this time, it looked derelict and kind of a sad reminder of the days it had seen. There was a old watchman at the post and a few old cars and carriages in the front yard. I couldn't figure whether it is still functioning and was busy contrasting with the newest 'Influence' in the next block which has a fashion store, spa and a stylish restaurant. Somehow, I felt like taking a picture and took one of Dasaprakash. Got a bus near the Dr. Nair road and reached the book fair.
It is kind of irrational for me to see so much crowd in the book fair and there was no parking inside and so it spilled into the road with cars and bikes parking all along with impatient MTC drivers honking their way through. The stalls were as usual too many and the crowd was heavy at the entrance and gets thin as you walk through the stalls. The books that seem to sell are the 'தன்னம்பிக்கை' books and children books. In fact, when I was standing in the Kizhakku stall, there was guy who wanted from me a quick review on the five parts of the 'அள்ள அள்ள பணம்' and I have to tell him I didn't even know such a book exists. Not sure whether he thought I was working in the stall or just looked like a book who needed to read that book.

Doordarshan has reduced the price of the 'Bharat - Ek Khoj' series from an idiotic initial price of 18000Rs (for 18 DVDs) to a nominally irrational 5000Rs. I am still wondering who sets these prices here and whether the aim is to make sure only a few people see such series.

For once, I was able to find what I was searching for in Sahitya Akademi(thats how they spell it) and was happy find the new edition of 'Parva'. CBT and NBT had some good children books and the rest of the stalls were busily selling Dora, dictionaries at a faster rate than any time.

Outside, everything from a blood donation camp to a 'புதுமை கவியரங்கம்' with Mehta as lead was going on and I made it out before it started.

Overall, when I came back and checked the books I've bought, three books on Mahabharata (Parva, உப பாண்டவம், கிருஷ்ணா கிருஷ்ணா). But what I am looking forward to is the writings of E.V. Periyar.

ஒரு கனவு

சற்று முன் ஒரு கனவு.

10 நாட்கள் விடுமுறை வருகிறது, எங்கு செல்ல என்று யோசித்து கொண்டிருக்கிறேன்.
நீண்ட கடற்கரை. ஓரமாக நடந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறேன்.
கரை முழுவதும் மக்கள் கூட்டம். சற்று உயரமான மேட்டில் நின்று பார்க்கிறேன்.
"யாழ்ப்பாணம்" என்று ஒரு குறி. "எப்படி இங்கே?" என்று யோசித்து கொண்டிருக்கிறேன்.
அப்போது ஒரு பெண். அந்த கூடத்தில் கையில் ஒரு கூடை நிறைய புறாக்கள் வைத்துக்கொண்டு வருகிறாள்.அவை விற்பதற்கு இல்லை. புறாக்கள் ஒன்றின் மீது ஒன்று மிதித்து கொண்டு இருக்கின்றன. கையில் இருக்கும் காமெராவில் பதிகிறேன். என்னை பார்த்தவுடன் கூட்டத்தில் மறைந்து விடுகிறாள்.
மெதுவாக நடக்கிறேன். ஓர் நகரம். பழைய கட்டிடங்கள். அடித்த வர்ணங்கள் மறைந்து போய், சுவரொட்டிகள் ஒட்டி, குண்டு துளைத்த செங்கல்களுடன் நிற்கும் கட்டிடங்கள்.
ஒரு பழைய வீடு. வாசலில் 'புராதன சின்னம்' என்று ஒரு குறி. உள்ளே நுழைகிறேன். மங்கிய ஓவியங்கள். ஒற்றை காலுடன் ஒருவர் 'இவை சோழ காலத்தவை' என்கிறார். நான் அவர் (இல்லாத) கால்களை பார்க்கிறேன். அவசர அவசரமாய் வெளியே வருகிறேன்.
நிறைய விளக்குகளுடன் பிரகாசமாய் ஒரு கட்டிடம். சற்று தயக்கத்துடன் வாசலில் நுழைகிறேன். ஓட்டல். வாசல் அருகே 'Weter' என்று ஒரு board. சலூன் கடைகளில் இருக்கும் பெரிய நாற்காலியில் ஆஜானுபாகுவான ஒருவர். தமிழனுக்கே உரிய உயரம். பெரிய மீசை. ஒரு லுங்கியில் மேலாடை இன்றி. சற்று தயக்கத்துடன், 'ஓர் போட்டோ எடுக்கலாமா? என்கிறேன்.
"சரி சார்"
"weter என்றால் என்ன" - நான்
"வரும் பயணிகளுக்கு அதோ அந்த ஈர துணியால் முகம் துடைப்பேன்."
"பயணிகள் வருகிறார்களா?"
"தெற்கில் இருந்து சொந்தம் தேடுபவர்கள், அரசியல்வாதிகள், இதோ நீங்கள்"
அவலத்தின் நடுவே பயணியாய் நிற்க வெட்கமாக இருக்க, அடுத்த கேள்வி.
புலிகள் பற்றி கேக்கலாமா என்று யோசிக்கிறேன். எங்கே ராணுவம்? என்று ஒரு கேள்வி வருகிறது. சுற்றி பார்க்கிறேன். கூட்டம் கூட்டமாக மக்கள்.

விழிக்கிறேன். மணி 6.05. பக்கத்தில் தூங்கும் மனைவி, பிள்ளைகளை பார்த்து சற்று தெளிவு.

தமிழகம் 'வேட்டைக்காரன்'ஐ பார்க்க தயாராகி கொண்டிருக்கிறது.

A marriage and a bottle fight

It was my sis-in-law's marriage in Madurai (Nov 19). J went early with the kids for the pre-marriage activities and I followed her on the next day. Reached Madurai on the 19th and started for the marriage hall.

Marriages in general are pretty bores, if they don't have you either as a bride or groom. So I was given the job of baby sitting my kids who were thoroughly enjoying the day. I remembered a diary entry I made about 20 years back about the amount of money we spend of marriages but then my marriage itself was no modest affair and the hypocrisy of the thought was staring in front of me before I could even pretend righteous anger. I was generally looking forward to the lunch and the rest afterwards before J told me that we are leaving for Dindigul the same afternoon. All I can say was a weak 'yes'.
One thing about the marriages I like is that J likes to deck up with her jewels and Vanathy likes to do her make-up (is it even right for a 3 year old to do make-ups?). Sibi, like me, is mostly uninterested in the proceedings and in general, hates crowds.

So we left for Dindigul the same day. The climate was fantastic with light drizzles and it was a very cloudy day. One thing I like visiting my in-laws is that no one asks you to do anything. You can watch TV all the time (of course if it is free from the PS playing cousins or the cartoon watching Vanathy) and just order what food you want. The downside was that since J was all busy, I ended up with the kids all the time. While it is fun, it is also exhausting. And there are the cousins who took care of playing together relieving me from duty at times.

On 20th, after getting up late and very full lunch, we decided to visit the rock fort in Dindigul. This is a well maintained fort on top of a modest hill in the middle of the town. This is where Rani Mangammal used to reign and there is a legend that Tipu hid here for sometime from the British. It is an impressive fort with arsenals and stables
and a temple on top of the hill. Sibi raced with his cousins to the top while we were moving towards the top slowly. The air was breezy and the walk up the hill was pleasant. And there are some breathtaking views from the top as well. After getting down, went to the Mariamman temple and came back home for the parathas.

The next day started same as the day before with no sun and drizzles. Late morning, it was decided to go to the Kutladampatti falls near Madurai. It was supposed to be a quick ride and back before lunch. It started raining when we started and so there was hope that there will be water in the falls. The roads were fantastic (now that the four laning is complete) and we quickly took the turn towards the falls just before Vadipatti. The roads from here are narrow, passing through villages and fields. There are well placed markers and it reminded me of our drive to Amrithi last year (of course, all we could find in Amrithi was just rock and no water!). The road ends near the falls and we need to go up a couple of kilo meters to reach the falls.
It was not difficult but the path was narrow and through the forests. Once near, the path becomes slippery but the view of the falls with water flowing makes everything just worth it. The kids loved it and we all went into the falls. The crowd was less, although it was a Saturday. So we had fun for some time and decided to return back.
So it was a slow trek back to the road where the vehicle is. I was telling the kids about the thorny bushes along the path, when I was pushed from behind by a guy running towards the road. I didn't fall but thought nothing of it. At the same time, we saw another guy running down and this time we moved to give way and wondering what is going on. J was walking behind me along with her sister and suddenly started saying 'ரத்தம்! ' (blood). I was turning to see where the blood is. She came towards me fast and said its on my tees. After the bath, I didn't bother to wear my tee but just put it on the shoulder. J checked my back side and decided that the blood is only on the tees and must've come from the first guy who pushed me aside. We quickly called the kids together and saw another couple of guys rushing down. One of them had a towel wrapped in his torso and you can see that there is blood everywhere on the towel and though he was speaking, he was losing strength. They passed us quickly. We just waited for everyone to arrive and then started together down. There were more people coming down now and what we heard is that there was an altercation between some of the guys in the falls and one of them just broke a bottle and thrust it into the other and fled. By the time we reached the road, the first two has fled in a bike and the injured guy was taken in a car. We quickly assembled in the van and started back (of course, we were hungry!). Just before the highway, the locals set up a road block to check the vehicles for the fled guy. They checked our vans and we were on our way back to Dindigul. J after discussing with her sister, has thrown the soiled tee into the forest.
Nothing as exciting happened the next day and since, we booked the tickets from Madurai, I left in pouring rain to Madurai with Sibi and J boarded the train at Dindigul and we came back home exhausted from the 4 days of excitement.

Bedtime Stories

Every day during bedtime, I have to come up with some story for the kids. But there are days when Vanathy gets into the story telling mode (and you know that, its gonna be a long night) and comes up with a gem. There is a previous post where she tells me a story of Dora, a big fish and how the fish ended up eating Dora. That was one of her stories.
Vanathy's stories usually revolve around one of her fav cartoon characters, Dora and Mickey then followed sometimes by Tom, Jerry and sometimes Timmy the sheep joins the melee. What she really likes, of course, is stories of little Krishna.
I have told her multiple stories of Krishna stealing butter from house and getting punished by his mom for that. So last week, when she offered to tell me a story of Little Krishna, I wasn't expecting a lot. But here is the story she came up with:
Little Krishna gets into the house and sees that the Butter is stored up there in the pots. So he calls out to his friends and with their help is able to bring it down and starts eating the stuff. Krishna's mother enters the house at that time.
Seeing Krishna has stolen the butter, his mother gets angry. (this where the story deviates from what I use to tell her). She comes near and advises him on why he cannot eat butter like everyone. That is, on top of a nice toasted bread(!). She goes ahead and makes one for him. Krishna puts the butter on the toast and eats it. End of story.
I let her repeat the story and sound recorded it in my mobile. Unfortunately, the memory card went crazy and I had to format the entire contents of the same.

Two actresses

Just finished watching 'How to steal a million'. Interesting movie with a simple premise and a cast of about 4 actors but still with a good screenplay to make you sit right through. Of course, the reason I watched is for Audrey Hepburn.
I became a fan of Audrey Hepburn when I watched 'Breakfast at Tiffanys' about 10-11 years back. I have not seen an actress with such screen presence and of course, the fantastic grace she brings to acting itself.
I still remember the nights in Kansas City when myself and Hari used to fight it out about the movie to watch. He is a geeky fellow and had nothing but contempt for the 'doe-eyed' acts of Audrey. Being a romantic sucker, I used to make him watch the movies (although he did grumble till the end).
What makes Audrey unique is not just the facial beauty with her large eyes and the hair-dos but the poise with which she walks, talks with that slight French accent, the sadness she brings when strumming the guitar with Mancini's 'Moon River' and all that and more. Be it the 'Roman Holiday' or 'My fair lady' or 'Charade' or with that rugged Bogart in 'Sabrina', I cannot imagine another actress who could've done justice to the roles.
The only other actress I do like, but on the other end of the spectrum, is the other Hepburn of the time, Katherine Hepburn. If Audrey is all poise and grace, Katherine is full of blast and energy. "Bringing up Baby!' is a favorite and ofcourse, the list is not complete without 'The Philadelphia story' or 'Adam's Rib' or again with Bogart in 'The African queen'. It is very difficult to watch the movie without appreciating the effort Cary Grant or Spencer Tracy is putting on to appear in some ways equal to the spirit of K.Hepburn.
Julia Roberts has some of the qualities of these two great actresses but she is nowhere near. It is difficult to compare but then my humble opinion is that Audrey is incomparable.