Wikipedia: Mahabalipuram
Mahabalipuram is also known as Mamallapuram is about 45 KM from Chennai. Famous for temples going back to 7th century (I am still confused if we are in 20th century or the 21st).
Sunday evening, Chumma (Tamil for "Just like that") I decided that I would bike to Mahabalipuram and come back. Picked up my bike, got the fuel and off I was.
Just before I left Chennai, I lost my cellphone. A friend called up and I saw his name and put the phone back into the pocket and when I stopped to call him back, the phone wasnt there anymore. I went back to the spot where I had put it in the pocket and I couldn't find it. Its now about 24 hours without the phone and life hasn't stopped.
And I was away biking on the ECR, lost in the scenic beauty of the roads (I was driving parallel to the sea shore all the time). For the first 20 odd minutes I was worried about my phone and what all to be done but after that .. I got lost. Lost in thoughts, arbit things, sights, analysis of other drivers, competitions with another highway raider.
I reached Mahabalipuram in about an hour. It had loads of tourists milling around. I dint see a lot of it but yes I saw the Krishna Butter ball (a huge rock boulder sitting on the hill) and alight house. I have always fancies about lighthouses but have never been in one. I so wanted to go in but they dont allow you inside. May be next time.
Apart from all the temples and sculptures and beaches, walks etc., Mahabalipuram is a good place to shop around for miniature replicas of gods, goddesses, demons etc. The best part about the shopping is the shopkeepers. They can speak English, Hindi, French, German, Telugu, Gujrati and of course Tamil. And if you ask prices of any object, they would reply "The price is XYZ and you can bargain!".
Monday, February 26, 2007
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Caught !
Today I was driving on the road leading to Spencer's plaza and the cops caught me. Since my bike is registered in Delhi, I thought I would have to shell out some 1500 bucks and get my bike impounded. But surprise ... the cop caught me for driving in the bus lane and I paid just 100. For the first time in my life I have heard that you could be fined for driving in the bus lane.
I tried using my power of influence to somehow get him on my side and not pay the fine but I failed miserably. I told him that I am a mere sales trainee with limited resources and am new to Chennai. I also asked if this is how they treated their guests. I gave him all the gyaan about not knowing the rules and being careful in the future but he was not ready to listen to anything. Then I used the last trick in my bag and said actually I was searching for an address and that's why I was driving in the slow lane and this time he stared at me. I thought I better get myself fined before he impounds my bike and I am left stranded in heat without a bike.
And no he didn't check any other necessary documents that I should have had on the bike. In all thumbs up to Chennai traffic police. They are so much better than cops on Delhi roads.
I tried using my power of influence to somehow get him on my side and not pay the fine but I failed miserably. I told him that I am a mere sales trainee with limited resources and am new to Chennai. I also asked if this is how they treated their guests. I gave him all the gyaan about not knowing the rules and being careful in the future but he was not ready to listen to anything. Then I used the last trick in my bag and said actually I was searching for an address and that's why I was driving in the slow lane and this time he stared at me. I thought I better get myself fined before he impounds my bike and I am left stranded in heat without a bike.
And no he didn't check any other necessary documents that I should have had on the bike. In all thumbs up to Chennai traffic police. They are so much better than cops on Delhi roads.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Life and Death - The show must go on !!!!
People are happy when someone new comes to a family. A birth, a wedding, the new house etc., all are welcomed and celebrated in grand fashion. Parties are thrown out, friends are invited, everyone has a grand celebration.
If someone leaves, all the celebration is replaced by sorrow and pain. You leave for a different city; your entire family (cousins, friends, friend’s friends, neighbors and everyone you ever knew) would send you with sadness and tears in their eyes. Worst is when someone dies. We mourn like there is no tomorrow. If it’s a celebrity, we mourn the demise for seven days and entire nation comes to a stand still.
Here in Chennai I saw something very different from what I have seen in North India.
When people die in Chennai, they celebrate. There are no tears, no sorrow but it’s a huge ball. I am not implying that kin are happy about someone dying but the way they look at it is entirely different.
A typical funeral procession is lead by group of people throwing flowers on the road. They make something like a flowerbed that the procession walks on. Just behind is an army of drums, percussion instruments and a group of people dancing fanatically. Next is the body of deceased. Following this are the next of kin and everyone who has gathered to pay the last homage to the deceased.
First time I saw it, I thought someone was getting married. And no, this is not meant to be funny.
For a change I like this deviation from North India. The world moves on, the clock ticks away, nothing changes when people die. Mourning is not the way to send someone to his heavenly abode. (And yes I am an atheist). Lesson to be learnt.
Someone once said ... The Show Must Go On.
If someone leaves, all the celebration is replaced by sorrow and pain. You leave for a different city; your entire family (cousins, friends, friend’s friends, neighbors and everyone you ever knew) would send you with sadness and tears in their eyes. Worst is when someone dies. We mourn like there is no tomorrow. If it’s a celebrity, we mourn the demise for seven days and entire nation comes to a stand still.
Here in Chennai I saw something very different from what I have seen in North India.
When people die in Chennai, they celebrate. There are no tears, no sorrow but it’s a huge ball. I am not implying that kin are happy about someone dying but the way they look at it is entirely different.
A typical funeral procession is lead by group of people throwing flowers on the road. They make something like a flowerbed that the procession walks on. Just behind is an army of drums, percussion instruments and a group of people dancing fanatically. Next is the body of deceased. Following this are the next of kin and everyone who has gathered to pay the last homage to the deceased.
First time I saw it, I thought someone was getting married. And no, this is not meant to be funny.
For a change I like this deviation from North India. The world moves on, the clock ticks away, nothing changes when people die. Mourning is not the way to send someone to his heavenly abode. (And yes I am an atheist). Lesson to be learnt.
Someone once said ... The Show Must Go On.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Chennai to Bangalore
My boss sent me from Chennai to Bangalore for a week. It was sort of a dream come true as I had zillions of friends in Bangalore and I thought I would have a rocking time in this technology capital of India.
And if you dint know this already ... Bangalored is now officially a word !
And if you dint know this already ... Bangalored is now officially a word !
Chennai to Kodaikanal
Kodaikanal is about 550 KMs from Chennai and is one of the relatively famous hill stations in South India. I had a Monday off for Pongal, took the Saturday off and went to Kodai with friends.
We decided to go there by a taxi. The moment I sat in the taxi, I realized that we had made a mistake. Images of me trapped in a black box came alive. We should have taken the train and saved me from lot of agony and pain and suffering. Officially I am claustrophobic.
Our driver was an interesting guy. To start with he wasn’t wearing any footwear. I wasn’t surprised as I am used to seeing people bare feet now. He knew only two numbers. 15 and 105. He would either drive at 15 kmph or 105 kmph depending upon the traffic on road. Obviously he was trying to move at 105 if there were traffic on road and if the road was empty, he would take a stroll as if he was the BHAI out on streets of Mumbai.
We drove down the National Highway 47 towards Kodai. I need to find out where NH 47 leads. As always Wikipedia came to rescue. We stayed at Kodai International and I think we spent half our time there playing Table Tennis and sleeping.
Kodai is like any other hill station with one suicide point, one mall road and assorted collection of woodwork passed on as local specialty. However there were a few originals also. There is a huge lake right in the middle of the valley. For some strange reason every tourist in Kodai has to go around the lake on a bicycle. Just because everyone does it, we also did it. You can also take home homemade chocolates. I would love to see the "factory" where they make these homemade chocolates. These weren't any different from regular chocolates and in my humble opinion they tasted bad.
The best part about Kodai was Coaker's Walk. Some engineer called Coaker discovered this in 1872 and trust me this is one of the best places to get a view of the valley. This is very different from Himalayan Range. If you look down from a cliff in Himalayas, you can only see other mountains and view is limited by other heights. Here you can see the entire valley and beyond. It’s like one big wall at the end of a city.
We also went in for a jungle trek and yes it was scary with wild monkeys chasing us.
Kodai also has a solar observatory and I missed it too. I wanted to see the stars with my friends were not that keen on it. May be next time?
When coming back, our driver suddenly had a change on heart and he stopped at a shoe shop. Did I mention that he was barefoot till this time and decided he wants to buy a pair of shoes? He got down, haggled with the shopkeeper and bought a pair eventually. All this happened at 2 in night. For the first time in my life I had seen a shoe-shop open at 2 in the morning. And there were at least 10 such shops right there. I knew all the food joints and tea stalls are open 24 X 7 but round the clock service on footwear is something I hadn't even dreamt of.
May be this was some kind of religious ceremony where people abstain from wearing shoes and they can only buy shoes at 2 in night. People do funny things for religion in India.
There is more on Kodai but I am kinda low on time. Keep Reading/Watching !
We decided to go there by a taxi. The moment I sat in the taxi, I realized that we had made a mistake. Images of me trapped in a black box came alive. We should have taken the train and saved me from lot of agony and pain and suffering. Officially I am claustrophobic.
Our driver was an interesting guy. To start with he wasn’t wearing any footwear. I wasn’t surprised as I am used to seeing people bare feet now. He knew only two numbers. 15 and 105. He would either drive at 15 kmph or 105 kmph depending upon the traffic on road. Obviously he was trying to move at 105 if there were traffic on road and if the road was empty, he would take a stroll as if he was the BHAI out on streets of Mumbai.
We drove down the National Highway 47 towards Kodai. I need to find out where NH 47 leads. As always Wikipedia came to rescue. We stayed at Kodai International and I think we spent half our time there playing Table Tennis and sleeping.
Kodai is like any other hill station with one suicide point, one mall road and assorted collection of woodwork passed on as local specialty. However there were a few originals also. There is a huge lake right in the middle of the valley. For some strange reason every tourist in Kodai has to go around the lake on a bicycle. Just because everyone does it, we also did it. You can also take home homemade chocolates. I would love to see the "factory" where they make these homemade chocolates. These weren't any different from regular chocolates and in my humble opinion they tasted bad.
The best part about Kodai was Coaker's Walk. Some engineer called Coaker discovered this in 1872 and trust me this is one of the best places to get a view of the valley. This is very different from Himalayan Range. If you look down from a cliff in Himalayas, you can only see other mountains and view is limited by other heights. Here you can see the entire valley and beyond. It’s like one big wall at the end of a city.
We also went in for a jungle trek and yes it was scary with wild monkeys chasing us.
Kodai also has a solar observatory and I missed it too. I wanted to see the stars with my friends were not that keen on it. May be next time?
When coming back, our driver suddenly had a change on heart and he stopped at a shoe shop. Did I mention that he was barefoot till this time and decided he wants to buy a pair of shoes? He got down, haggled with the shopkeeper and bought a pair eventually. All this happened at 2 in night. For the first time in my life I had seen a shoe-shop open at 2 in the morning. And there were at least 10 such shops right there. I knew all the food joints and tea stalls are open 24 X 7 but round the clock service on footwear is something I hadn't even dreamt of.
May be this was some kind of religious ceremony where people abstain from wearing shoes and they can only buy shoes at 2 in night. People do funny things for religion in India.
There is more on Kodai but I am kinda low on time. Keep Reading/Watching !
Friday, January 12, 2007
Old money - The sign of good
Old money - the sign of goodI got a few replies from people about the length of text I post here and I have decided that this length would be shortened drastically. Right now, I will only talk about one thing - Old Money.
I once bought something from the office canteen and I was given the change in coins. One 1-rupee coin, 2 50-paisa coins and 4 25-paisa coins. Yes you read it right, a 25-paisa coin. I could not remember where I had seen it last. In Delhi, the rupee has lost its value. There aren't many things that you can buy with a rupee there. Even beggars ask for 5 bucks now-a-days. I am sure Chennai is the only place in India where they still use a 25-paisa coin. I seriously want to know what happened to all those 10-paisa and 5-paisa coins that were minted in large numbers and is there a place where they still use them.
Since this is something that my grandchildren would never see (I am sure they won't study), I think I ought stock a few to show it to them. I can understand that even a lot of us (people in my generation) wouldn't have seen a 25-paisa coin. Actually it's history repeating itself. Most of us would not have seen an anna and I am talking about the next generation missing the 25-paisa coin.
For the benefit of my generation, I shall try to describe it. The coin is ... as expected ... round in shape with exactly two faces. It has a silvery, steely finish and I bet is could stick to a magnet. One of the faces has got a Rhino on it and the other face has 25 written over most of it. It also has the Indian National Emblem on it. A pic of 25-paisa coin is here. It is smaller in size than a 5-rupee coin and is good to hold. It is slightly bigger than an average shirt button.
And while writing this, I was googling for things and I found the following links ...
1. Track Gandhi – I have registered all my notes and wow is this fun and this is an awesome idea as well. I think I will talk to these guys and do something about it.
2. Indian Currency on Wikipedia - Details about Indian Currency.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Of Lunch in the Closet
Every day a colleague and me go to this restaurant for lunch. It's walking distance from office and serves reasonably good non-south-Indian food. It's a regular restaurant with regular tables and regular chairs with regular staff and regular menu and regular food. Everything is regular apart from three small rooms in one corner. These rooms were numbered 4, 5 and 6 and had a "vacant" tag on top. Sometimes this vacant thing would show "occcupied". Of course, I was curious to know what is inside that room and why is it marked vacant and why are they numbered. We never got an opportunity to go inside, but today, we got lucky.
Today when we went there, all the regular tables were taken and we were ushered into room number 6. The room aka closet was smaller than 4 feet by 4 feet. The closet was furnished quite tastefully. It had a table, two sofas, a washbasin (with soap), one switch (we found out later what that switch did), and one fan on top, one CFL and not to forget one exhaust fan.
After we sat in there, the waiter closed the door to the room. This was not a regular door. It is like one of those old Hindi movies police station type creaking door. The ones that Amitabh Bachchan would hold and do so many things with. We found the concept of eating in a closed closet funny and scary and decided that we shall keep it open. The moment we opened it, the waiter rushed to us and asked if we want any help. Apparently opening the door meant asking for help.
He was then curt enough to tell us that if we want his assistance, we might use the switch and buzz him. The switch was actually connected to one of the buzzers. The moment we pressed it, there was a loud buzz sound and the waiter came rushing in. I was expecting he would knock on the door but he did not. We were being subjected to a royal experience. Please note the use of word subjected in place of treated.
Everyone from the manger to the waiters made sure that the door is kept closed at all times. If they had their way, they would not allow us to open the door at all and keep us inside for eternity. I thought for a moment that they could have shot another Cast Away or Bigboss right there. And who knows, I could have been famous also!
When we came outside after lunch in the closet, we realized there were host of other services inside – apart from privacy. As I said you could use buzzers to call waiters, we thought we have seen it all with a push button for calling waiters but there is more to it. Every time a buzzer is pressed, a red light is flashed outside that closet. The waiter has to press the light to turn it off and then he enters the cabin. I know it’s the same in the aircrafts but in a restaurant and that too a quarter star? Awesome!
This place is must visit for these magnificent buzzers, closet closets and
For people who are interested in knowing more, the restaurant is called Safari and its on Peters Road in Royapettah.
Today when we went there, all the regular tables were taken and we were ushered into room number 6. The room aka closet was smaller than 4 feet by 4 feet. The closet was furnished quite tastefully. It had a table, two sofas, a washbasin (with soap), one switch (we found out later what that switch did), and one fan on top, one CFL and not to forget one exhaust fan.
After we sat in there, the waiter closed the door to the room. This was not a regular door. It is like one of those old Hindi movies police station type creaking door. The ones that Amitabh Bachchan would hold and do so many things with. We found the concept of eating in a closed closet funny and scary and decided that we shall keep it open. The moment we opened it, the waiter rushed to us and asked if we want any help. Apparently opening the door meant asking for help.
He was then curt enough to tell us that if we want his assistance, we might use the switch and buzz him. The switch was actually connected to one of the buzzers. The moment we pressed it, there was a loud buzz sound and the waiter came rushing in. I was expecting he would knock on the door but he did not. We were being subjected to a royal experience. Please note the use of word subjected in place of treated.
Everyone from the manger to the waiters made sure that the door is kept closed at all times. If they had their way, they would not allow us to open the door at all and keep us inside for eternity. I thought for a moment that they could have shot another Cast Away or Bigboss right there. And who knows, I could have been famous also!
When we came outside after lunch in the closet, we realized there were host of other services inside – apart from privacy. As I said you could use buzzers to call waiters, we thought we have seen it all with a push button for calling waiters but there is more to it. Every time a buzzer is pressed, a red light is flashed outside that closet. The waiter has to press the light to turn it off and then he enters the cabin. I know it’s the same in the aircrafts but in a restaurant and that too a quarter star? Awesome!
This place is must visit for these magnificent buzzers, closet closets and
For people who are interested in knowing more, the restaurant is called Safari and its on Peters Road in Royapettah.
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