Tuesday, November 21, 2017

tipu's summer palace and lal bagh

Tipu's summer palace looked small for a palace and also it was too open with no covered bedroom or any rooms.. had it been destroyed?? or was it meant to be like this.

On second thoughts it made sense... it is summer palace after all.. And we have seen in Bollywood movies how the palaces are always adorned with lots and lots of curtains of all the various royal colors and then like a dream sequence when the wind blows and the chandeliers dance from between the curtains the king and queens romance!!


Lal bagh.. well it has lot and lots of trees spread across 240 acres right in the heart of namma Bangaluru.. And a huge huge lake. The black bamboo, the silk bark tree, the elephant apple, ganesha tree well must say - I didn't know it had so much to offer. The glass palace and fountains are a beauty too. Instead of trying to describe it to you here is a short video.. Enjoy.



The girl child

She is the apple of my eye the love of my life

chattering away like a parrot, the gleam of every eye..

The house feels all empty and barren like a desert

when she is not around to squeal in pure jeer..

She has all the freedom to pull even grandpas hair

The granny promises that the golden rose she will get to wear..

She is like a little princess till the time has flown

Once she finishes school she knows the terrible adult pain

when everyone around her just wants her married and off

she starts doubting that was this true love at all?

She feels like a guinea pig who was adorned for the D day

When she has to be showcased in front of anyone they say

After the bitterness settles she  knows this is the true world

with tears and dreams crushed inside she agrees to tie the knot

Ambition, dreams and wings all come perishing down..

why do u love the girl child if you dont make her ur own?? 


Thursday, November 9, 2017

From Ooty to Masinagudi

Ten years back on a cold December night I cuddled with V at Holiday Inn Ooty. That was our honeymoon trip.  After a decade, ooty is not as welcoming as it was. Blame it on the travel boom  in India - every long weekend the highways are over crowded and everybody is celebrating the social media limelight of going on vacations  :)

But thank fully our primary abode - or today's home as my little one called it was not in Ooty but a resort in Masinagudi - a small hill side foggy town  with breathtaking view.


The hot spicy indian buffet dinnet in the cold misty night was really sumptous.. The chicken was tender and juicy and really well cooked and tasty. I savored it in leisure brushing aside my guilt of eating it when trying to be almost vegetarian.. ;)

The road to the resort though is very rickety and can make sure you have a huge appetite for their yummy food when you reach. The morning view is breathtaking too..

Walking across the green mountains with the birds chirping and the chilly winds kissing your face .. it surely is a well deserved break for all city dwellers. There were many large groups dancing to the tunes of "Jimki kammal " and playing musical chair around the camp fire or in front of their pretty cottages.

I remembered the last time we had gone in a large group.Our whole extended family was in Bangalore for my sisters engagement and  we all had gone to the bennarghatta zoo. I'll leave the details for some other time.

Coming back to our Masinagudi trip, it did include a wild life safari in Bandipur forest. Kids enjoyed seeing lots and lots of deer and monkeys. My younger one loves elephants a lot and was too excited to see a baby elephant roaming around with her mom. And of course she had to be named Bandila after the forest she was born in. We also saw many of the kapish monkeys eating peanuts, fruits and what not. CutieA also loved seeing a peacock perched on top of a gate while master V was more interested in the big black bear couple and kept peeking to spot a tiger or leopard.

And finally as is the case with all good things, the vacation ends and we come back to our usual routine back home. I miss the school times when we used to go on summer vacation for 3 months and by the end of it would yearn to come back home. But sigh. guess those are the real luxuries of our times now. You can afford vacations on jet planes or a yacht but lazing around in the mangroves and aiming for guavas for 3 whole months.. I wonder if anybody does that now.. Do drop a comment if you think it is still happening somewhere and i would love to take my kids there.

Monday, November 6, 2017

The phoenix rising..

Its the year 2017..

Things have changed so much.. Who knew Facebook would be the best business marketing platform when i started this blog?

There is watsapp instagram, snapchat, twitter, quora and such a hula boo of apps and software. All my blogger friends from 2006-2007 are going places. I feel like deep shit.. remorse of having fled away to gaga land, living in a cocoon, i felt so alive when i connect , with others fellow bloggers, anyone who has a wavelength to match ..siggh.. well better late than never.  So i hope my blog will stay alive this time around.. wish me luck people!!

yours truely --D

The 'Crush'er..

At age 13 I was a lanky boy with slight traces of a moustach below my nose.I was shy and except during classes, I always wore my sports ca...