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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.

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Even though I visited Mahabalipuram last year, an impromptu visit there yesterday with Vaidhees had some surprises in store for me. May be because I travelled with a person of strong literary / history intrest & keen observation, there was a remarked difference in this trip. We all tend to believe that whatever works available in Mahabalipuram are of the Pallava sculpturers' best capabilities, but I realised yesterday that they are actually the thwarted attempts and incomplete works. There are many strong indications that the sculptural works have been abruptly stopped, may be because of the war by Pulikesi & Chalukkiyas. The speciality of these Mahabalipuram temples is that they are made out of single rock, in other words "single piece". In lot of places the material removal had just started (they had a standard pattern of removing the excess material in blocks and using the same for pavements and other foundation works) and the work stopped abruptly. Why I feel that the works are incomplete one can be seen in pictures. Take a peek!!!

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Yesterday I, Madhu (my niece) and Manikandan (nephew) went to Kiliyur falls in Yercaud to make the dull and otherwise boring weekend to make it interesting. We started early around 7.00 am by Kinetic scooter. Since I and Madhu are loners & we knew that Kiliyur falls will be bombarded with Salem guys along with beer bottles, we decided to make Kiliyur falls as our first destination. Reached there by 8.00 a.m, there was a considerable amount of scantily cladded male tourists, so to make Madhu feel comfortable, I took her and Manikandan to a remote corner where it was a nice waterfall and also deserted. Also Madhu is coming there for the first time, so she had a couple of slips on the steep path. Since we didn't plan to take a bath, we just came with camera alone. We kept chatting and teasing Manikandan. All went well till I started taking photographs.

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Again it started in an impulse.... While I was going through an old album when I went to Madurai once in 2003, there was the photo of paintings being renovated. Then I thought why shouldn't I visit Madurai again so that there must have been more finished paintings. I booked the ticket via www.irctc.com, along with my friend Ram Prasad. This happened about 3 months before the actual travel date. Even though I had been to Madurai when I was in 4th standard and once when I was in ABT, I had no "feel" of that city. So I decided that I must stay for a couple of days to get a feel of it. On Thursday Hindu paper I read that the temples in Madurai are being renovated in a full swing. I knew I am going to miss many things, but postponing / cancelling the trip... Nah!The journey started on a fun note with Ram and me from Chennai Egmore on 19th Sep '08.. Needless to say, I enjoyed the warmth of the city, thanks to Ramprasad and his friends... Also I got to see enough of the sculpture marvels of Pandiyas and also the nature at its best in the Pazhamudhircholai.

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I have told many times that Coimbatore is my most favourite place in my life, then What comes the next?... Nagercoil. Even though I have been to Nagercoil many times earlier, the geography is still an amazon jungle to me even today. But it is so close to my heart because I have two little darlings there - Viggi and Vini. I am going there since year 2000, but all the time I just end up staying ONLY in their house at Parambai. All these years the kids were too young that I couldn't loiter outside with them, but last time I really wanted to take them out to Thirparappu falls, but couldn't. When I decided to spend the long weekend of Independence Day, I chose Nagercoil over Coimbatore with one condition - I will take the kids to Thirparappu falls. As proposed I enjoyed four full days with those kids visiting some interesting places like Thottippalayam, Thirparappu falls, Padmanabhapuram palace and Kanyakumari. So this trip is overwhelming, memorable and above all blissful. I am just sharing few photos of this happy journey. The photos are seggregated under the tabs on the name of the places visited.