Coorg,Mysore and Somnathpur

In September 2013, Tina from Norwich was here in Bangalore for 2 weeks time. On the first Thursday ,  she suggested to go on a weekend trip with the team. After brainstorming our options  with her, we finalised Coorg, Mysore and Somnathpur.

On Friday night, we started from our office around 8:30pm. First stop for dinner was at Rasta Cafe. This is one of those places that you would wanna visit again and again. After an awesome meal and few photos, we headed straight to Coorg.

Reached Coorg by 4:00am, finding the location and spending a night both were equally adventurous. Slept for a while and woke up by 8:00am. Post Breakfast, by 10:00am we started to TalaKaveri. Rain accompanied us all throughout the day.        

We were in Talakaveri by 1:00pm. Weather up there, was super awesome. . The entire place was covered with mist. Drizzle and mist didn’t give much scope for clicking pictures.Yet, Vishnu captured few moments.

From here, we had lunch on the way and headed towards Abbe Falls.we reached there by 5:00pm. 

From here, we went to Raja seat. Took a train ride and a stroll in the park. Finished Dinner and retired for the day.

On Sunday, we started by 8:00am to visit Nisargadhama. Had breakfast there. 

Spent nearly 2 hrs here and headed to Golden temple at Bylaguppe also referred to as Tibetian colony.

From here straight to Mysore, had lunch at "Kamat Lokaruchi" and then visited Palace.

Mysore Palace is spectacular. It took us nearly 2 hrs to completely view the inside of the palace. It was around 4:00pm, we we started to Somnathpur.

A lovely trip had come to an end and we headed back to busy Bangalore.

My Blog turns 1 today !

 Happyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy :) !

Do people need Agony Aunts/Uncles???

From past 1 week, have all the time in the world. Yup, you read it correctly. All thanks to my new company. We have a complete shutdown that started on 20th dec’14 until 5th of Jan ’15.

During this time, few people that I am either friends with or acquainted with reached out to me to share their woes. Were they expecting me to just listen to their problems and say “Oh Nooooo” or give them some advice (Trust me, I don’t do that) or what?????

Sometimes I wonder, what makes an individual share their stories that are so personal with another person, which in turn could lead to another individual being all judgmental about them. Forget about Chinese whispers and grapevines post sharing, it’s another ball game altogether.

          Do Sharing problems/issues with someone actually help?

          Why is it being heard so important?

          Do people feel light hearted, when they share their troubles?

No matter which one of the above, a person feels or does, the primary concern of going through the trouble still stays.

I am not against sharing the troubles or your feelings, but how is that going to help.  The one on the side of the conversation may share some tips or solutions, but do they know the complete story to offer one. There‘s always 3 views associated with a story “My view, His/Her’s and the main one the “Actual fact”.

So people who give advice just for the heck of it or the ones who have attained certain age to do that, Watch out of what you feeding another person’s brain.

Sharing, Ignoring and running away are just "WORKAROUNDS" and not solutions to the problem. Like the saying "Tackle the bull by horns”, attack the issue and implement a permanent solution. Nothing apart from this would help. Worrying only makes it worse.

This is what I have learnt through my own experiences in life.

Primary objective should always be in resolving the problem one is facing and not opting for temporary fixes.

Christmas 2014

Christmas Tree at Home

Christmas for me is more of a spirit and has nothing to do with a festival associated with a particular religion. As a kid growing up ,always fancied and loved the idea of setting up Christmas tree at home. I believe, they bring in positive vibes and one look at it, you are all happy.  

Christmas tree in the office campus

Christmas Tree at work

Goa

Me being a part of this trip was totally unexpected.Met Yashu and Deepika,made some good memories with them. Paddu was the official trip manager for this one and had everything planned very well.

We took train from Bangalore to reach Goa with a hope to catch the glimpse of Dudhsagar. Though train didn't stop there for a long time, but still could get a good view.

 Given that North Goa is termed as more safer, we had decided to stay closer to Calangute beach. We had not planned much on the day of our arrival in Goa. After freshening up, headed to beach in the evening and then to the nearby restaurant Maggie's for dinner.

There's something magical about walking on the beach with the waves touching the feet. A feeling beyond words could describe. No matter how much turmoil a person is going through, moment you feel the cool breeze and those cold waves,both mind and body feel so relaxed and at complete peace.

It started to rain ,to add to the beautiful evening weather of Goa. We finished dinner by 8:00pm and retired for the day. 

Next day, we had booked a cab for sight seeing. Had breakfast and started by 9:00am. 

First destination was "Sinquerim Dolphin Trip". 

We were told that, Dolphins are usually spotted during the early hours of the day or in the late evenings. So our chances to spotting them where low.

                         

While the boat ride is mainly for spotting Dolphins, you hardly get to see a pair or two. During this ride, you also get to spot the Old Jail and Diamond merchant;s palace.

After an amazing ride,next stop was the Fort Aguada. By now, it was too sunny.Bought hats to fight the scorching rays of sun, but no go. 

 

Fort is maintained well and is on Sinquerim Beach,overlooking the Arabian Sea.It takes nearly an hour to tour the fort.

Next to visit was a church in Old Goa, The Basilica of Bom Jesus. This Church holds the mortal remains of St.Francis Xavier. 

Post lunch, our next stop was Vagator Beach.

This beach was the best. Played in water for a long time and took a long walk.From here, we headed  back to our hotel.

Next day, we headed to Calangute beach for few water sports. By now, was completely tanned.Weather had turned unbearably hot.

We stayed there till 3 in the afternoon and headed back to hotel to pack our stuff and bid good bye to Goa.

Bhoganandishwara Temple near Nandi Hills

Paddu and me have been planning to do few one day trips around Bangalore in her Thar.First one we decided to visit was "Bhoganandishwara Temple", located near Nandi Hills.

On 14th of Dec, a beautiful Sunday morning we drove to this temple. Geetha joined us too in this trip. 

Paddu and Geetha

Temple History

A Bana queen, Ratnavali, constructed the shrine of Bhoganandisvara, with a sukhanasi and a navaranga around 800. Some eight decades later, parallel to this shrine and largely in imitation of it, was added the Arunachalesvara shrine with a sukhanasi and a navaranga. The Nolamba Pallavas might have been its makers. When the Cholas conquered this part of Karnataka in the eleventh century, they added Nandi Mandapas in front of both shrines. The next structure to come up was the beautiful Kalyanamandapa, lavishly ornamented. It has a Hoysala look. Then, in Vijayanagar days, was added the shrine of Umamahesvara between those of Bhoganandisvara and Arunachalesvara. Thus, there are three shrines in a row. In the same days two shrines of Apitakuchamba and Girijamba were built. The last additions, made probably by the local chiefs are the two courtyards.
(Courtesy - Google Baba)

This temple is beautiful inside.There was a wedding conducted when visited the temple.

Best part of this place is this Pushkarni. Its awesome. Sat there for a long time.

  

After spending nearly 2 to 2.5 hrs in this place, we headed back to Bangalore.