7 Men 2 Velankanni - June 26 - 29, 2009

Seven of us (Ben, Mackey,Deepsy,Marky,Nagu, Ashwith and I) decided to go to Velankanni for a weekend trip, the destination was selected because it was a religious place and it will be easier to convince our families for another trip (men only), after the one to avalanche a couple of months back, and also because few of the gang were any way planning to go there to offer their prayers.

Six of us, excluding Ashwith, started our trip from Bangalore, we all met up near Sangam Complex in Bangalore by around 5 PM as decided, to have a couple of ‘energizing spirits’ in one of the Bar & Reastaurants (B&Rs) in Majestic. It was admirable to see the sheer number of B&Rs in these few roads, arguably even humbling the famous Ejipura main road. I must say the places there surprised even us; some of whom have been staying in Bangalore for the last 30 odd years, the B&Rs (like the one named Balaji) were really huge, having multiple rooms and multiple floors, some of the floors had nearly 25+ tables. It was hard to imagine that there would so much of place concealed behind the humble and ordinary looking entrances in relatively crowded area like majestic. It looks likes the main activity of the Bangaloreans from this region is only drinking, or else there is no way, these places could have survived the test of time.

We managed to reach the railway station a few minutes before the departure of our train, Myladudurai Exp, at 7:00 PM. In the train my dear friends were complaining about the shortage of drinks and cursing the fact that we did not take ‘liquid parcels’, we also called Ashwith who was boarding the same train from Erode, to get the much needed liquid if he could. We all slept by around 10:00 and Ashwith got into to the train at around 1:15 AM, carrying the priceless ‘liquid’, by then no one wanted to have the same, it was left for another favorable moment.

We reached Thanjavur by 5:25 and were planning to take a taxi when someone informed us about local train to Nagapattinam which leaves at 6AM, we took the tickets and got in to the train expecting it take about 2 hours to reach the destination. The train was slow and actually stopped in one particular station for more then 30 minutes. We reached nagapattinam after nearly three hours of train journey and more interestingly after a good chit chat. We took a tempo traveler from there to Velankanni and to the place where we were staying called Bethesda Inn more popularly known as MGM, the costliest hotel in Velankanni, and probably the latest too as some portions of it was still under construction, at a distance of 2 kilometers from the Shrine.

The MGM hotel looks pretty ordinary from the outside but has beautiful rooms much like the 3 star hotels with amazing interiors and fittings. The initial thrill of seeing the beautiful rooms did not last till the next day though, thanks to some of the experiences when we had there, like having to force our way to swimming pool which they initially declined stating that there was some unseen maintenance activity happening, and for the fact that there was no electricity or water in the early hours of dawn, making some of the guests literally shout at the hotel staff. This was never expected of a 3 star hotel (atleast in terms of the cost of the room, we paid around 7000 rupees for the 2 rooms for a day), even at the excuse of the ongoing construction work.

After a quick round of freshening up, we went to the Church in two Autos and after the much needed breakfast went to the Church to pray and do the planned offerings of candles and money. Bennish and Mark had decided to shave their heads, and I joined them, my fate decided by the toss of a coin back in the room and according to our friends we all actually looked good (much to our pleasant but definite surprise) with bright and hairless head. By now the heat was getting on to us and we decided to cool ourselves with a few bottles of beer in the almost open restaurant on the beach front, renowned for the fresh fish which can be picked from the lot to be fried and served on our table. Unfortunately this was one of their off days, and fish did not taste anything like the ones we tasted in our earlier visits. The beer though was enjoyed, and we also shared a small round of brandy in the local wine shop, which had surprisingly delicious dishes of egg apart from superb garlic pickle, before going to the Seagate Hotel to have a very scrumptious lunch.


Well I am not sure if it was effect of the ‘liquid’ or pure reactive instinct we all got into a tractor, to make the 2 kms journey to our hotel very memorable. We were really surprised when the driver of the tractor declined to take any money from us, a small testimony to the fact that money can be very insignificant at times, we though were thrilled by the experience and could not help but forcibly put some money to the driver’s pocket.

Back in the room most of where not in mood to sleep and kept conversing and watching TV, and decided to have a few more drinks before going to play in the swimming pool. It would be an understatement if I said we utilized the pool well, we did possibly everything we could do in a pool, playing like kids, splashing water each other and jumping over the shoulders of one another, trying to exhaust the extra energy injected by having the right ‘spirits’. We willingly finished the remaining quota of spirits in the room before going for dinner to Hotel Seagate, only after giving the finishing touching for an eventful day of spirits in the same local wine shop which had ignited our taste buds in the afternoon. We also managed to spend time walking along the beach, and enjoying the warmth of the moonlight and the sweet sound of the waves before coming back to the room in a bus.

Sunday morning 4 of us (Ashwith, Ben, Nagu and I) got up early and went to the church by 7:30 AM. One of the specialties of the place is the way of the cross, with 14 stations depicting the different events from the Passion of Christ, leading to our lady’s tank. This stretch of 700+ meters has a middle path of sand, which is for the faithful devotees who walk ‘the way of cross’ on their knees. Ben and I, who have tried this few times, and completed successfully with bruised knees, decided to skip it this time. Ashwith who was new to this place tried irrespective of me discouraging him several times, he was able to complete 2 stations successfully and having managed to bruise his knees joined us to complete the rest of the stations on foot. We went and prayed in all the 3 different shrines, offered masses and attended the English mass at 10:00AM.
It was pleasing to spend almost the entire morning in prayers, and surprisingly I was reminded of many of my friends and relatives during the prayers and had the satisfaction of praying for their well being.
For details about travelling and staying in Velankanni and information about the Shrine please refer the link below, one of the best I came across
http://www.jayson.in/travel-reviews/velankanni-shrine-basilica-travel-report-trivandrum-to-velankanni-via-trichy.html

We returned to the room and had the left over ‘liquid’, Mackey being the exception as he refused to drink as we had plans to visit the Thanjavur temple. We hired a Tavera from Velankanni to take us to Thanjavur, we had a excellent lunch from Nagappatinam, from a hotel highly recommended by Marky, again cementing the fact that when it comes to food Marks choice is one of the best.
Ben and Nagu managed to sneak out and quench their undying thirst for the ‘liquid’ and also managed to get some for Marky and me.

We reached Thanjavur temple by 3:00 and spent the next couple of hours enjoying the marvelous sculptures, paintings, the stone Bull and the innumerable surrounding Lingas among others. We also became historians/guides telling each other of their own version of the stories about the numerous Lingas, Monolithic Statue of the Bull and also some other construction details.

We reached the Thanjavur station by 5:15 and decided that the best way to kill the next 2 hours before the scheduled departure of train was to give another attempt to fulfill the our undying thirst for the ‘liquid’ in one of local joints near the station. We had a few glasses of beer listening to the unmatched and vibrant narration/interpretation by Marky, of one of the famous books about the most important Sutra you, or atleast us, can think about. Deepsy took the opportunity to record the complete narration using his mobile camera, and is thinking of making Marky really famous by posting it in Youtube. It was hilarious to note some us asking questions, as though to a Guru, and Marky with all his composure and theoretical knowledge trying to clarify their doubts. The train departed from Thanjavur at 7:15 PM and reached Bangalore by 5:15 AM.

The common thing we noticed (probably you would too) is that we were all smiling and laughing in almost each and every photo, an indication of the true fun we had on this trip, to be cherished memories and topics of chat in our special ‘high level discussions’ in the future.

Sanchi

Day 5: 29th January 2005 - Bhopal and Sanchi
The marriage we had come to attend was happening in a beautiful and spacious hotel, and luckily for us, our host had booked our rooms in the same attractive place. We reached there in the morning after a small rest, went to the house of our host, the bride who was looking pretty with extensive mehandi decoration on her hands. We also went to another of our collegue’s house, who had a very very cute niece who made us forget the whole world with her sweet little smile and glowing eyes, it was no surprise that she was called chiya, a very worthy cute name much like her looks.


We took the bus to Sanchi, a place renowned for the extraordinary stupas. The buses in Bhopal were old, most of them had started rusting, it is a great achievement if you are travel in the bus here without hurting yourself or tearing your clothes. My friend actually had the seeves of his shirt torn when he was negotiating between the tightly packed rows of the battered buses.
Sanchi was like traveling a few decades back to the past, with very old houses and structures, reminiscent of some imaginary village from a very old novel. We had pani puri from one of the many road side vendors, lining the street leading to the Stupas, we had our stomachs full and were surprised at the comparatively negligible price of 25 paisas for a Pani Puri. This place contains stupas of different sizes, built from 3rd BC to 12th Century AD. A Stupa is a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, once thought to be places of Buddhist worship, typically the remains of a Buddha or saint.



The greatest of them was originally commissioned by the emperor Ashoka the Great in the third century BC. Its nucleus was a simple hemispherical brick structure built over the relics of the Buddha. The northern entrance gate to his Stupa has extensively carved decorations. One will also be able to see the remains of a Buddhist monastery, which looks like a large central hall surrounded by smaller rooms.

One thing which is still very vivid in my memory is the passion with which my friend was explaining the different aspects of beauty and one particular Sutra, which I will not mention by name, like a veteran with years of practical experience and more realistically artful imagination, from the knowledge of a few famous books he had read. If I could compare one person to the dialogue delivery of Amitabh bacchan, among our friends, he would be the ‘Neo’. It took all of the majestic looks and history of the Stupas, to arrest our attention from his fascinating and unique narration. The train back to Bhopal provided us the much needed relaxation after physical exhaustion of walking around the Stupas and mental exhilaration of our friends stories.

Day 1: 25th January 2005 - Introduction
Day 2: 26th January 2005 - Hyderabad (Charminar, Golconda fort, Birla mandir)
Day 3: 27th January 2005 - Aurangabad (Ellora, Daulatabad Fort, Biwi ka Maqbara)
Day 4: 28th January 2005 - Ajanta Caves
Day 6: 30th January 2005 - Bhopal, Bhimbetka and Bhojpur

Ajanta Caves

Day 4: 28th January 2005 - Ajanta Caves
We took the morning local bus to Ajanta, which is about 100 odd kilometers away from Aurangabad. There is no permission for local buses to go to Ajanta Caves, they all have to stop a few kilometers away at a place called T-Point, from where we need to take a special government bus. Special because it is pollution free, quite luxurious, and provides you with first indication that you are visiting something extraordinary. The whole region is plastic free zone, thank God for a change, emphasizing the importance given to preserving this place.


Ajanta is a collection of rock cut cave monuments, some of which dates back to the second century BC, containing painting and sculptures which quite rightly considered as masterpieces.
The series of caves are actually residences and prayer halls for monks called Vihara’s and Chaitya grihas. The caves had beautiful sculptures of Buddha in various pose, divided in to two phases called Hinayana and Mahayana.




Some of them have paintings on the walls and the ceiling, which are worn out by time and use, but have enough left for us imagine and admire the beauty and grandeur in its prime.



After seeing the monuments, it would not be difficult for anyone to comprehend why this place was not discovered for ages. The caves/Viharas are built on the insides of a steep ravine, almost in the shape of a horseshoe, more then 30 feet down from top of the mountain, and about 35 to 100 feet above the stream, making it literally impossible for any one to see the caves, unless they climb the surrounding mountain in the midst of wilderness and see from the top. If ever there could be a place completely at peace, lost in the silence of the woods, safe from the interventions of other human beings, this was it.


The three of us stood stunned when we saw the beautiful arrangement of the caves, and tried to think how difficult it was probably to construct these, people had to dangle down perhaps tied to ropes and then carve, foot holes and the little paths where they could stand and continue shaping the marvel, in the middle of vertical gorge. We so badly wanted to capture the series of the caves that my friend Deepsy tried climbing few meters on a slippery slope to record the video of the full caves, only to receive a stern warning from the alert security men.


A small hill right in the centre of the caves and a stream (I guess you will find only if there is enough rainfall) completes the elements for a perfect picture. There is small bridge connecting the caves and the hill in the centre, and if you climb to the top of the hill you will probably get the best view of the caves, and what a sight it was to be surrounded by vertical slopes of the bigger mountain, with the beautiful caves and decorated entrances to many a masterpieces.



The most notable difference between the caves in Ellora and Ajanta are that the Ajanta caves have spectacular paintings mostly depicting the life and teachings of Buddha. Apart from the facts that these caves are primarily Viharas, and are older than the Ellora caves and understandingly the finish of the carvings are coarser then the Ellora caves, which also has caves of Hinduism and Jainism.


It takes 3 hours to see the caves for any casual visitor, and if you are slightly interested you could spend about 6 hours here. We left the caves by around 5:30, a little nervous about the transport system in these region and a bit unsure of the frequency of buses or any other modes of travel to reach Jalgoan, at distance of about 60 kilometers from Ajanta, though our train was to due to depart from Jalgoan only after 11 PM. No complaints though, as we reached Jalgoan after a relaxing journey and had sufficient time to enjoy a few mugs of beer, and relish the incomparable images of Ajanta etched in our memories, before boarding the train.

Day 1: 25th January 2005 - Introduction
Day 2: 26th January 2005 - Hyderabad (Charminar, Golconda fort, Birla mandir)
Day 3: 27th January 2005 - Aurangabad (Ellora, Daulatabad Fort, Biwi ka Maqbara)
Day 5: 29th January 2005 - Bhopal and Sanchi
Day 6: 30th January 2005 - Bhopal, Bhimbetka and Bhojpur

Kaka Vs Ronaldo

This post might be a week or two late, but the great joy at seeing Kaka move to Real Madrid and the fact that I am constantly thinking about the news, is making me write this now. Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, more commonly known to the world as Kaka, after nearly 6 years at AC Milan moved to Real Madrid recently, in what I believe would be the biggest transfer of the season, yes I feel it is even bigger then Christiano Ronaldo’s move, why? Let me try to explain my view.

I have seen them both play and it would be very difficult to say who is a better player as of today. Christiano Ronaldo played majority of his football for Manchester United, a club with an outstanding coach and cohesive blend of quality players. It would be very difficult to say he was the only contributor to their success; I would like to believe that he was only one of the key contributors. His performance for Portugal has certainly been good but nothing spectacular. He joined Manchester united after 2003 season, and has rocketed to fame mainly in the last two years only. Kaka joined AC Milan in 2003, and was almost an instant success. He was at his best by 2007. Most interesting aspect is his performance is that he was playing for a club, which got into match fixing controversy and were reduced points for their involvement, and still went on to win the champions league in 2007, probably the ageing squad and defensive style of Italian football may have hindered him and club from achieving greater success. One more aspect is his style of play, it is more artistic, graceful and free flowing compared to the ruthlessness one would arguably, associate with Ronaldo.

The personal lives of these players are also quite contradicting; Ron has a tendency to get into controversies, craves for attention and limelight, and also has a liking for late night partying. Kaka on the other hand is role model for younger generation, a devote and faithful man, known for his compassion to the society, his contributions on and off the field also made The Time magazine name him in “Time100” an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. This I agree does not provide the edge on a football field, but certainly does when you would want to admire a player.

Ron donning the ‘Real’ Colors

80 Million Pounds is a lot of money, and if Real Madrid is paying so much for Christiano Ronaldo, they mean serious business. It may not be coincidence that both football and business are more often linked together these days. Real Madrid’s pitiable showing last season and the outstanding game showcased by Barcelona may be some of the key reasons for the signing apart from the apparent compulsive nature of Perez.

The last season was major success for both Barcelona and United, and having players like Messi and Ronaldo have done wonders for the popularity of their clubs. In football sometimes the players are admired more then club, probably it is because people are able to relate more easily to individuals. It was quite obvious that there were not too many neutrals passionate to see Madrid play last season. This time around with Kaka and Ronaldo, that is definitely going to change, winning or losing comes next, real has won even before the ball can be kicked. It will certainly not be a surprise if I, a Chelsea fan, find time to see more Real Madrid matches the coming season. This in all probability is the most valuable reason for Madrid buying the two star players.

But, whether the next season will be success for real Madrid in terms of trophies will be anyone’s guess, because you need a team to succeed, and quite definitely the club has a big concern in the defense, with Cannavaro, moving on to home terrain, and also the lack of a quality holding midfielder may create enough vaccum for good teams to exploit.

Now for the million dollar question, “will he succeed in the Real Jersey?” I think he will, he needs a good team to come good, that will be assured now, thanks to his and Kaka’s acquisition, which will also be an incentive for other good players to join their team.

Aurangabad

Day 3: 27th January 2005 - Aurangabad (Ellora, Daulatabad Fort, Biwi ka Maqbara)
Aurangabad, once the capital of the mighty Tughlaq Dynasty, gateway to some of the greatest historical monuments in the state, welcomed us in the early hours of the morning. The city is named after Mughal emperor Aurangazeb, and literally means ‘built by the throne’. We stayed in a moderate hotel which met our requirements, and the manager looked like fine gentleman on our arrival, but we saw his true colors the next day morning, when he charged half a days rent extra for being an hour late then our suggested checkout time, teaching us a primary lesson of sticking to your checkout time atleast in hotels at tourist locations. After our unavoidable daily chores we took an auto for a guided tour of the city, yes we booked the auto for the whole day with the driver also playing the role of a tourist guide.

Our first destination was to Daulatabad fort. Daulatabad means ‘city of prosperity’, the fort city built in the 14th century is a perfect testimony to the cruelty of the time, once the symbol of prosperity and splendor, it now stands in the middle isolated green fields, with the major source of income being tourism and practically nothing else.

It left us with the thoughts, if this was same capital city of the Tughlaq dynasty, which at its zenith, made the emperor Muhammad bin tughlaq, move the entire population of his subjects from Delhi to this very place. The fort is one of very best for intended purpose of defense against enemies, it has a huge walls almost 60 feet in height lined by a moat, effective watch towers and is strategically poised on top of a hill, with almost nothing but green fields surrounding, giving perfect view of the enemies approaching from a few kilometers away.

Some of the structures are so high and has narrow steps leading up to them which made my friend Marky, with little fear of heights, think twice or thrice before attempting to climb them.

To his credit though, he overcame his inhibitions with very little help from us and made it all the way to the top of the citadel, to see the Mughal pavilion, perched right on top of the hill.

The fort also has a four-storied tower called Chand Minar, built as tower of victory if I remember correctly, it looks so tall, because of the comparably small width and the barren back drop, that it made me joke that it would have got its name for probably looking like touching the moon (Chand), when you are looking up standing very close to it.

We moved on to Ellora, a set of 34 caves, testimony to the class of Indian rock cut architecture, is very uniquely constructed as temples and monasteries of 3 different faiths, Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism.

The kailash temple which is centre of attraction is by far the biggest and most artistically constructed cave. The first sight of this temple can be deceiving from far and you can be excused for thinking if this actually the much talked about monument, but you will change your opinion when you step closer, and may actually need help from somebody to remind you to close your mouth, open wide with amazement.

This place is a real wonder and would have my votes, even ahead of the splendid Taj Mahal, to be included as one of the wonders of the world. This cave (strange that I never felt it like one, apart from the enclosing hills) is exclusive in its style of construction as this was carved out of the hill from top to down, distinctly different from the more common approach of carving in from the side. It is unimaginable how a hill about 4 storey’s, 40 feet in height can be carved to such precision that the whole temple, pillars and an elephant statue included looked perfect. The construction of this cave was a feat of human genius, as it entailed removal of 200,000 tonnes of rock, and took 100 years to complete. It is beyond our imagination to even think how different artisans, understood the concept of a few extraordinary men, to carve down from different points on top of the hill to produce perfectly symmetrical and flawless structure.

The are quite few notable statues and caves with amazing carving on the roof, but my sheer admiration for the Kailash temple will not allow me to describe them in detail. This is a must see destination for anyone who would dare to say, “I love to see places’, even in the softest of their voices.

One really interesting experience was buying the guide book from the local vendors, the prices of the books comes down exponentially as the day progresses, Marky the first one to buy brought it for 40 rupees, Deepsy a little later for 20 and finally me just before departure for rupees 15. I would really not be surprised if they actually throw the odd one at you, free of cost, at the end of the day. (It is advisable to sharpen your bargaining skills before you go to this place).

Bibi Ka Maqbara, is supposed to be a copy of the Taj, I should admit after having seen the Taj, a really poor one at that. This is nowhere close to Taj, in its size, quality of the construction, material used and grandiose; the only exception being the close resemblance in shape, reminding you of a very poor attempt in vain. It has very fittingly earned the nickname ‘poor man’s Taj. The only reason to visit this place will be that you will be in better position to admire the beauty and grandiose of the Taj, and also for the fact that this dedicated to a mother unlike the usual structures dedicated to their partners.

It was quite an experience, and we were lucky, to find a bar and restaurant in Aurangabad, where we could savor the memories of a beautiful day, fittingly in a celebration mood, over a bottle of beer. There seems to only couple of them in town, atleast in the proximity of 10 kilometers, and others if ever there are any, are well hidden, in the shadows of the old city.

Day 1: 25th January 2005 - Introduction
Day 2: 26th January 2005 - Hyderabad (Charminar, Golconda fort, Birla mandir)
Day 4: 28th January 2005 - Ajanta Caves
Day 5: 29th January 2005 - Bhopal and Sanchi
Day 6: 30th January 2005 - Bhopal, Bhimbetka and Bhojpur

Hyderabad

We reached Hyderabad, the city of pearls, at the dawn of the republic day and after quick round of freshening up, took an Auto to Charminar, simply because it was the only place accessible at such early hours of the day. Charminar and surrounding can surprise quite a few especially if you have not really seen the pictures or read about the place. It is right there in the middle of a busy street, the locals not even bothered to give it a customary glance.

We stood there looking at the monument wanting to admire it for its architectural brilliance, but confused at simplistic way it stood right in the middle of the street. It took a while for us to believe this was the much raved about monument. True to its name it has four (char) minars (minarats) with a central dome. The place is dominated by Muslims, and is famous for dish called paaya. We had the same and I should admit I did not find it very tasty; my friend Mark though relished its unique taste.

100 yards from the Charminar stands the very beautiful Mecca Masjid, the biggest mosque in Hyderabad which is more than 400 years old .The mosque is said to comprise of bricks brought from Mecca built into the central arch and hence the name. One really interesting fact is the place is filled with pigeons which are quite used to human intervention; hence you can stand right in middle of them to click a perfect shot. Personally I liked the Mecca Masjid more then the Charminar, probably I was expecting too much from the latter.

Our next destination was Golconda fort, a magnificent fortress complex comprising of four distinct forts, around 11km from Hyderabad. Originally a mud fort, it was later reconstructed in stone. The fortress is built on a 120 metres high granite hill surrounded by massive walls. The Golconda Fort is known as the Shepherd's Hill or Golla Konda in Telugu.





There is a 10 km long outer wall which encloses gateways, drawbridges and royal apartments, halls, temples (one rock temple, very interestingly was cut in to the shape of a “Thumbs Up” sign) mosques and stables.The fort has terrific acoustic effects, which characterizes the engineering skills of the architects of Golconda. The echo of theclap of hands at the center of the dome near the entrance can be heard clearly at Bala Hisar Pavilion, which is the highest point of the fort and is around 1 km away.

The acoustic feature was probably added deliberately to act as a warning note to the soldiers in case of an invasion.There is also a laser show in the evening explaining the history of the fort, which unfortunately we had to miss due to well planned and tight travel schedule.


I do have to agree that we all had different expectations from this trip; one of key interests of Mark was food. He had decided to have lunch in Bawaarchi, even if it means it is the only thing we do in the city. I certainly did not have any complaints though, especially after tasting the Biriyani. Bawaarchi, the renowned place for hyderabadi biriyaani, was simple and moderate, with visibly no importance given to the ambience. The biriyaani here is simply too good, and is must to have experience if you are traveling to Hyderabad, and not too bothered about the look and feel of the eatery. It is moderately priced and they do provide a lot in quantity, so much so that both Deepsie and I were not able to finish one biriyaani, Marky of course being the exception.

We took an auto to Birla Mandir, I must say this place is really clean in contrast to some of the places we had seen. The small uphill entrance road to the Mandir is crowded with shops selling pearls and ornaments. This place has varieties of pearl and is priced very modestly and hence will very good bargain for thosewho can identify quality pearls. We though did not push our luck and restricted ourselves to the bare minimum purchase.


We also had enough time to admire the beauty of the Hussian Sagar Lake and marvel the statue of Buddha in the centre of the lake.Evening 6 PM we boarded the train to our next destination, Aurangabad.

Day 1: 25th January 2005 - Introduction
Day 3: 27th January 2005 - Aurangabad (Ellora, Daulatabad Fort, Biwi ka Maqbara)
Day 4: 28th January 2005 - Ajanta Caves
Day 5: 29th January 2005 - Bhopal and Sanchi
Day 6: 30th January 2005 - Bhopal, Bhimbetka and Bhojpur