Punishment

This is the way the petty thieves and 'defiants' are punished in the England villages. The 'defiants' are thrashed with rotten eggs and tomatoes. Sometimes they'll punish this way even for a week.

TussadsMadam Tussads wax museum is getting famous for its replica of world famous personalities from various fields. However it got the attention here in India with the inclusion of Bollywood personalities. The Madam Tussads has a huge collection of personalities starting with the Movie zone of the floor 1 and then goes to the sports, music, politicians and premiere events. Because of the huge flow of Indian tourists, the sign boards are also seen in Hindi. To be frank I didn't enjoy the trip to Tussads because of very huge crowd. After a while I lost intrest and just rushed out. Besides the wax statues there is a 4D (IMAX) show that can be watched wearing a pair special glasses. The cartoon characters just pop out of the screen, punch our backs, even rains on us. Quite an amazing experience. This show is available for an upgrade of GBP 2.50. Buying tickets to Tussad is economical in combination with other attractions like London Eye and Cruise Travel. Click the thumbnail to see some of the photos taken in the Tussads.

London TubeIt was a nice travel from Bangalore to London. I was able to catch up with my favourite Radhakrishnan, darling Jishore and other team members of Jaleel in Dubai through phone from Dubai Airport. Dubai was still haunting me to come back. Even the travel was with all Vidya Balan movies back to back :-). Chat with friends, Vidya Balan movies, some sleep and sweet memories of Buttu... what else I can need for a good travel? It was around 7:20 PM local time I landed in London's Gatwick Terminal. Atlast I touched the UK soil. For a long time I didn't feel that excitement of visiting a new place. Why? It is in the later part of this post. Also the roads resembled a lot like Dubai and it reminded me why Emaritis were obsessed with European style of living.

 

Click the image to read furtherவிதி வலியது என்பதை ஒத்துக்கொண்டே ஆகவேண்டும். சேலம் பெண்ணை கல்யாணம் செய்துகொள்வதற்கு பதிலாக காலத்துக்கும் “கன்னி”யாகவே இருப்பேன் என்று வீரவசனம் பேசிய நான் கடந்த இரு மாதங்களாக வார இறுதிகளில் தவறாமல் சேலத்துக்கு போய்வந்துக் கொண்டிருக்கிறேன். எல்லாம் புட்டுவின் கைங்கரியம் தான். எனினும் இந்த பதிவு அவற்றை குறித்து அல்ல. பொதுவான வார இறுதி பயணத்தை குறித்து தான். சனிக்கிழமை காலையில் பெல்லந்தூர் - சேலம் ஃபாஸ்ட் பேசஞ்சரில் தான் எங்கள் வார இறுதி பயணம் தொடங்கும். சில நாட்களுக்கு பிறகு பஸ்ஸில் போகலாமா என்று அகிலா கேட்டாலும் நான் மறுத்துவிடுவதற்கு காரணம் - தொப்பூர்.

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கழுதை கெட்டா குட்டிச்சுவர் கிட்டே நிக்கும்.... நான் சேலத்துல கெட்டா??? அதுவும் ரொம்ப பிடிச்சவங்க கூட இருந்தா???? வேறெங்கே? கிளியூர் அருவி தான். Last weekend I was in Kiliyur falls with my friend Vijay. I just whisked him off from Chennai to Yercaud for having some private moments with him. Kiliyur falls is getting so close for me that I am visiting there for the third time within a span of six months. May be because of that I didn't get much exhausted while getting there and climbing back. For those who have been following my blogs earlier, Kiliyur is not a new place but for those who had come late Kiliyur falls is near the Yercaud lake now gaining popularity . Normally whenever I used to go there, my nieces will be accompanying me. So to avoid the embarassment for them by the scantily cladded bathing boys & boozing guys, we used to retire quitely to some corner and have our snacks, chit chats etc. This time it is an all boys gang - myself, Vijay and Manikandan, so we tried to get adventurous by climbing against the waterfall. That's the reason for this trip to be exciting. Even though Yercaud holds no novelty for me now, I was happy to take up the role of a guide. Some photos shot in the Kiliyur falls are here for you guys.

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மயில் ராவணனுக்கு உயிர் ஒரு குகைக்குள்ளே இருந்த தாமரை பூவுக்குள்ளே இருந்த வண்டுக்குள் இருந்ததாம். ஒவ்வொருவருக்கும் அவர்களுடைய சந்தோஷம் சில பொருட்களிடமும், சிலரிடமும் இருக்குமாம்.. என்னுடைய சந்தோஷம் எங்கே இருக்கிறது என்று கேட்டால் அது என்னோடு மட்டும் தான் இருக்கிறது என்பேன்.. இருப்பினும் என்னுடைய கொஞ்சூண்டு சந்தோஷம் இந்த கோவை நகரத்தில் காற்றில் கலந்து இருக்கிறது. அதனால் தானோ என்னவோ ஒவ்வொரு முறையும் கோவைக்கு வரும்போது வேறு மனிதனாக வருகிறேன். என் மனதுக்கு சந்தோஷத்தை unconditional-ஆக தரும் கோவை நகரம். அதனால் தானோ என்னவோ இங்கு வரும்போது என்னுடைய மற்ற உலகம் எல்லாம் மறந்து போய்விடும். கோவை வந்தால் எத்தனை நாட்கள் ஆனாலும் பரவாயில்ல - என்னுடைய மின்னஞ்சல்களை பார்ப்பதில்லை, சக ஊழியர்களுக்கோ அல்லது மற்ற நண்பர்களுக்கோ ஃபோன் செய்வதில்லை. இது வெறுமனே எனக்கான நேரம்... எனக்கு பிடித்த (அண்ணனுடைய) மகள் மீராவுடனும், பொள்ளாச்சி தெய்வகுள காளியம்மனுடனும் மட்டுமே செலவு செய்யும் நேரம். ஒவ்வொரு முறையும் மனதில் முறுக்கிவிட்ட ஸ்ப்ரிங்க் போல அலுவலக / மற்ற அழுத்தங்களை ஏற்றிக்கொண்டு துவள ஆரம்பிக்கும்போது கோவை வந்துவிட்டு போனால் மனது திரும்பவும் எத்தனை அழுத்தங்களையும் ஏற்றுக்கொள்ளும் அளவுக்கு இலகுவாகவும், காலியாகவும் ஆகிவிடும். கடந்த ஆறு மாதங்களாக இந்தியாவில் இல்லாத காரணத்தால் கோவையை மிகவும் miss செய்தேன்... இந்த சிறு பயணத்தில் மீண்டும் அந்த சிலிர்ப்பு.

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It is bit late to write about it, but better late than never. There was a Doll Art Exhibition in the Link Bridge, Dubai Festival Center between July 8th - 23rd. For arts enthusiasts like me, it was an affair to remember because we were able to watch the artists bringing life to their creations made from the plaster of paris and clay. The artistes were predominantly from Japan, so the themes were revolved around the Japanese Culture and typically from comic strips. However many dolls had those western influence and were demanding our attention. Especially of those "new born infant" ones, which were so life like with the wrinkles being so authentic. Even though I liked & enjoyed those dolls a lot, I could secure one for me because of its steep cost, that didn't fit into my wallet. So I all I did was just had a look at them, capturing in the camera and should make similiar ones taking them as inspiration. I am uploading all the photos I took that day oin the Picasa web album, meanwhile take a look at few of the dolls in this article.

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Ever since I saw the Heritage village, Bur Dubai on the sodium lamps, I fell in love with that place. Surprisingly I haven't visited that place during my last stay in UAE for 2 1/2 years, but this time I accidentally dropped in there along with Radhakrishnan sometimes back. So some words about that place for you all. This place is significant by the fact that it housed the royal dynasty of Dubai rulers few decades back, when Dubai was just a pearl harvester's hamlet. Now with Dubai prominently placed on the world map, this place is gracefully converted into a museum with nostalgias of the period then. Here you can get the glimpses of Dubai's amazing transformation into a Global Trade Center from a modest seam hamlet. In that aspect I just laud the Tourism department of Dubai for beautifully maintaining this heritage site.

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I have been visiting the temple complex in Meena Bazaar, Dubai for a long time, but I never had written about it till date. It is the only Hindu temple available for the whole of UAE and houses two temples - Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva. UAE is quite tolerant to other religions provided they doen't involve in conversion and propagating their religion into UAE. This temple complex was approved by the late Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Shamefully I didn't collect the details about the history of it, but somewhere I was made to understand that it was started around the year 2000 -2001. Will collect more details about it when I go there next weekend. This place is located in Bur Dubai, near to the creek. In this place you never feel that you aer away from India and heartening to see that people haven't forgot their roots and customs even after coming here.

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The next day we wanted to spend sometime with lesser crowd. So we decided to go to Doddabetta on the morning as a early bird. Doddabetta lies at 8 kms from the Ooty town and on the way to Kothagiri. Immediately after our lunch we started to Doddabetta by the bike we retained for the second day. The upward journey was quite fine, calm and thrilling to travel amidst the dense jungles on one side and the cliff on the another side. The roads were the same as we saw few years ago and quite bumpy. By the time we reached Doddabetta, we were in for a major disappointment. May be the whole tourist crowd thought the same like us and there was a huge crowd in the peak of Doddabetta. Also the streetside vendors have shrunk the magnitude of the top and the roads.

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Call it co-incidence or destiny, it took exactly 5 years to revisit Ooty since my last visit on 26 & 27th Dec 2003, when I was working in ABT Industries Coimbatore. But this time the visit was quite romantic - my honeymoon trip. No matter how much Ooty is exposed or commercialised, there lies an iner romantic beauty which attracts people towards it in hoardes. Why Ooty in December, especially this was the coldest winter in past 50 years? Once can enjoy Ooty's natural beauty with lesser crowd during the second season till mid January. Once I decided that Ooty is the place for my honey moon trip, I booked the tickets online via IRCTC and hotel bookings via Make My Trip. These plans made this trip quite breezier and relaxed to enjoy. But more than being a honeymoon trip, I enjoyed Ooty at its sizzling best. Welcome to my travelogue on Ooty this December.

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The reasons that made me love Kerala are as follows - 1. Backwaters & Kayals, 2. Lush Greenery, 3. Beautiful girls, 4. Malayalee's sense of pride about their state, community and assertiveness. I have experienced the last three aspects of Kerala but kept missing the foremost reason for a while. Atlast with the long weekend (Oct 2nd) around the corner, I decided to take a plunge to Alappuzha / Kuttanad - the rice bowl of Kerala. Fortunately for me I had my Alappuzha native friend Girish to help me in exploring their town. So I got my tickets booked long back in June courtesy IRCTC (http://www.irctc.co.in). The D Day arrived, boarded the Chennai-Alleppey Express on Oct 1st... I was clearly excited that I was going to interiors of Kerala. The trip didn't turn out much I expected but it was a welcome change. Against my plan of staying at hotel, I had a nice stay at Girish's house for 3 days. Had a nice / long boat travel in the 'Kaayal' of Kuttanad to Kottayam. Some of the photos are here.