NagarHole

Just thought i'd write a travelogue about our NagarHole trip. Lot of people write perfect travelogues in their blogs. Not sure how mine would turn up. Anyways.

This is an ideal place for a long weekend. Nagarhole is actually a national wild life park and the King Sanctuary resort where we stayed is located right at the entrance of the park. It's a pretty small resort. So, you better make a reservation in advance.

It is exactly 220 Km from my house in Outer Ring Road, Bangalore.Like any long drive, better start in the early hours, latest by 7 AM. Otherwise, you'd be spending 30% of drive time in reaching the Mysore road itself, which i did :(. We started off at 9 and being a long weekend, every one was hitting the highway. My sincere advice to people who want to travel to Mysore is, Please DO NOT take the Mysore Road passing through JP Nagar. You will be attacked with traffic lights every 100 meters and the road is pretty narrow. There are NICE roads opened up from various junctions like Electronics city road, Bannerghatta Road and near KanakPura Road as well. Take them and i assure you, you will not repent it. You may have to shell out some 30 bucks or so, but believe me, the 20 odd KM stretch is absolute pleasure to drive through and you'd save at least 30 minutes.

For Bharath, every place we visit has to be in a stone throw distance from our apartment. By the time we crossed Marathalli bridge, he started asking "Are we there yet?", just like the Donkey in the Shrek part-2. :p

Breakfast/Lunch:
Usually the Kadamba restaurant will be the first one you will come across. Though the food is good, this lacks variety. All you get is some variety rice like Pongal , Puliyogere and curd rice.
You can also try Kamat Lokha Ruchi, which will be some 20 KM further from Kadambam. But, My Strong recommendation is Vasudev Adiga's in Maddur. You will get a good variety and great taste. It must be around 90 km from Bangalore, if you have set ur trip meter to 0 when you started. My favourite is Shavige bathDo a google if you do not know what that is.

By-pass at SrirangaPatna:
Outer ring road work is happening in full swing around Mysore and due to which you will end up spending 30-45 minutes in that stretch alone. My guess is , it will take at least one more year to complete it fully.
So, to avoid it, take a right at the Ranganathittu Junction itself which is few KM before Mysore. This junction looks like a roundtana and quite obvious. Keep driving for 30-45 minutes in that stretch. In the first 2-3 km itself, you will find the entrance for Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary on the right. It's your choice to stop or continue driving. This road will take you totally out of Mysore city and connects you directly at Yelawal, which is at the outskirts of Mysore and at least 10-15 Km from the city. This road may not be of the same quality as the Mysore expressway, with few bumps on the way. But considering the time you save, it is worth a try. I saved about an hour taking this route. If you are really sure of it, go upto Mysore and take the outer ring road/Hunsur road to reach Yelawal.

From Yelawal, Nagar hole is around 60 Km. The state high way is pretty neat and you can hit 90-100 easily without worrying. When you reach the famous Hunsur Coffee day junction, you will start seeing the sign boards of King Sanctuary. Be watchful because you need to take a left within 15-20 minutes of crossing coffee day. One good thing is, there are enough sign boards set up by the King Sanctuary.

May be due to the tiredness, the last 20 km stretch felt really long and appeared to be taking eternity's time. But only when returning that i realized that it is actually 20 Km only.

The location of the resort is nice. Quiet and laid back. Perfect for a quiet weekend. We took a cottage and it was pretty spacious and opened out to plush green outside the french window. They have a local folk lore program in the evening. That night, there was some folk dance program where guys were dressed as Lion, Monkey etc. When the 'Lion' came roaring near Bharath, he was so terrified and screaming :D. He didn't want me to dance with the 'lion' as well and kept calling me "Appa, don't go":)

One catch is on the tariff. I feel that the resorts in that belt,including Coorg, Kabini, are overpriced and do not give 100% value for the money we spend. Though the place is all nice and all the 3 meals are covered for that INR 10K that you pay for a night, i still feel it is worth INR 7-8K . You can also go for a Safari that these guys arrange. It will cost you INR 15oo/adult. My advice will be, take your own car and get into the national park. Better to start before 7 AM so that you get to spot the herd of elephants and other animals. Spotting a tiger is a rarity, but one may come across the trails.

We were lazing around and started only at 10 AM for the safari. We were lucky to spot some deers and sloth bear etc.

The customer service is good and the buffet spread all the 3 meals a day is decent. Make sure you have some physical activities to get that heavy meal digested. :p

Madarasapattinam

Wow! completed 50 posts and this is 51st..Not bad..huh?Someday i will start writing sense. Till then hang in there, all of you. >:D<

Pretty late to write about a movie which more than a year old. But got a chance to watch it only last night.

If a critic writes about it, he can write this off with many points like
1. It is too long.
2. Slow screenplay.
3. Rip off of some English movies
4. Cliched Climax et al.

But the things that make this movie sweet and beautiful is its simplicity in the screenplay and the charecters. I loved this movie for its sweet romance. For me, it has been a quite sometime since i watched a Period love story in Tamil. I am no Pro to comment on this, but the trend for the last 2,3 years in tamil films is that, the plot would be moving really slow in a remote village showing puppy love between two kids. They grow up and till the last 10 minutes of the movie, nothing much happens. All of a sudden, the climax turns into a blood bath and every organism, from micro to macro, dies in the movie-or the protagonist turns mad, making us one too. It will be touted as daring, bold, path-breaking, and "world-class" one.

This movie was in total contrast to these 'world-class' movies. It is a soft romantic movie, though the plot(Romance between a washerman and a British Governor's daughter!!) is not really new for people who are familiar with some Hollywood period movies. It sways back n forth between 1945 and the present day, both set in Chennai.For Tamil, i guess it's a relatively new attempt and Director Vijay has done justice to it. If he had so much capability to make an original like this, i wonder why he resorted to a shameless rip-off of I am Sam for his next movie Deivathirumagal. He even claims that he worked for that script for 3 years. I have not watched this movie though.

The humor runs along with the main script itself and there was no seperate comedian thrust into the script, making it more enjoyable.

One stand-out moment for me is the song Pookal Pookum tharunam. It is sheer mesmerizing to listen to. I can listen to it all day long and it is a must one in my ipod in my car no matter how many times i shuffle the play list. And the song is shot aesthetically as well. There is one more song which is equally good. I remember Srinivasan from Airtel Super singer-3, which is currently running now, singing these 2 songs amazingly!.

And yeah, the Brit girl, Amy Jackson, Man! she is pretty :). I guess her Tamil fans,(if there is any) will have a hard time to believe/digest the fact that she is a lingerie model back in UK. /floor

I guess it's a perfect DVD watch at home on a Saturday night. :).

CURIOUS CAT

I wonder if any of you have felt the need of these stuffs anytime.

1. Ear plug sensing phones:
I think many of us would agree on this growing menace that our junta is causing these days. Especially in the railway stations and bus stands when people are waiting for the train/bus, they decide to entertain you whether you ask for it or not. They take out their mobiles proudly and start playing the songs/FM in the speaker so loud. ~X(

One such incident happened when i was waiting in the railway station. Some old bugger sat next to me and started playing FM in his mobile so loud. I was getting some calls and could not talk at all because of that. I told him to reduce the volume and after the call i waited for some time and told him that he should be using earplugs. That moron started arguing like an ***** and i had to flip my middle finger at him and walk away from there.

In a land where such people are in majority, we will be able to bring discipline only by technology. I wish the cellphones have some earplug/headset sensors in the mobile that allows the music to be played only it is plugged in. The users should be able to use speakers without the earplugs only for making/receiving calls.I am sure it should not be very difficult. But i know it will be a suicide for the makers. People will perceive it as a flaw or drawback in the features.Sigh... :-<

2. Signal Jammer/Ring tone Muter:
As such, our visits to the movie halls have come down a lot. Even for those few times we go, we invariably end up with bitter experiences. One such thing is the mobile menace when the movie is on. When the movie is at a really gripping scene, suddenly a phone rings in the hall, that too with a really weird ring tone. That son-of-a-gun doesn't even bother to rush outside to pick up the call. He takes the call :)] right in his seat and explains the fights he had with wife/girlfriend and about his dog pooping in the middle of the hall etc etc. I used to feel like snatching his phone and crushing it under my foot.

The movie halls should have a cellphone signal jammer inside the hall. I wonder if that signal jammer would enable only missed calls, that too it should only come in the vibrate mode. Is it possible?? Otherwise, the service providers themselves should set up a localized device in the halls that would enable only alerts / notifications about who was trying to reach us (Something like a pager, i think)to the phone in that vicinity. I guess this should be possible.

This is not only useful in the movie halls, it can be used mainly in the hospitals, till our people learn the ABCD of civic sense.
Annaji, could you include this also in the Lokpal bill ? 8->

EAVESDROPPING

Was in Chennai for my B1 visa interview couple of weeks back. When guys used to say interview, i was always thinking it would be an one-on-one kind of discussion with an officer. Naive,Huh? /blush. Only after reaching there i realized, it is more like asking the guy in the information booth on the other side of the glass, "Guru, Shatapdhi kaun sa platform mein aayega?" types. b-(.

Anyways, had a field day listening to others' interviews while waiting in the queue and listening to the rejections from the Lords and Ladies inside. :p.
As such the whole place was filled with dreamy eyes irrespective of the age groups and nervous old couples struggling to cope up with the grim atmosphere.
There was an elderly couple attending the interview in front of me. The officer at the other end was a white female. I couldn't help but to eavesdrop the conversation since the responses by the old man were so unique. >:) Here you go.

Officer: Why are you going to the US sir?
For this, he could have said that he was visiting his son in US. But his attention to the details was impressive. The devil laughing above is in the detail below.

Old man: I am visiting my son in US. He is living in LA. He has 'falled' in love with a mexican girl who 'ij' a green card holder. But we are from an orthodox and decent family. So, i do not approve of that 'Affair'. So, we are going to US to 'Brainwash' @-)( i swear to you, he used the same words i am typing here!!) him and get him married to an Indian girl of our choice. We have even selected a few prospective alliances and have an album of those girls. ( Takes out a photo album and slides it to the officer).
Officer: Oh, Wow!!!!!!!! It's alright sir. You don't have to show it to me.~X(
Man! don't you just love it when you have an unexpected entertainment happening at the least expected place?

Next one was this guy, a certain mallu.
Officer: What are you sir?
Mal: I am a father. =))
Perhaps he wanted to score emotionally ;-). I am glad the lady behind him didn't respond as "I am a mother" :)

Officer : huh? I am sorry?
Mal: I am a father in a church.
Officer: Why are you going to the US sir?
Mal: I am attending a convention.
Officer: Who has invited you for that?
Mal: My Friend who works in a church in NY.
Officer: How did you meet him?
Mal: We have never met!! ;;)
Officer:How are you friends then??
Mal: We chat in Indarnet. :)
Guess that 'Lord of the rejection' was not impressed with his indarnet connectivity. That 'father' was rejected outright.

No prizes for guessing that Elvis got his visa in a matter of 2 minutes interview. B-)