Of Temple Towns and unspoken prayers

I am not really a temple person. I believe in God and pray everyday. But I don't really think that going to a temple is necessary in order to pray. However,on a recent visit to Tamil Nadu, I tagged along with the elders on temple visits.
I was surprised to see how they knew names of all the temples, the God that each temple was dedicated to, the location of the temple and most importantly, what famous prasadam was available in each of the temples.
It was perhaps the best time to visit Tamil Nadu. Pleasant breeze during the day, temperate afternoons, the lush green Cauvery basin were all a part of a Tamil Nadu unknown to me. I tried imagining the sticky and humid Chennai but in vain - it was that cold in Kumabakonam early in the morning!
This post has been a long time coming. I did not really know how to go about writing it. Story about one temple would be a post in itself. Hence an easy way out and a glimpse of the temples that i visited during my trip last month. Warning- a really long post below.
The first morning at the Thyagaraja Temple in Tiruvarur was an eye opener about how big the temples in Tamil Nadu can be - so much so that the two entrances of the temple are a good ten minute walk from each other!

Like most other temples i would subsequently see, this temple had a HUGE koLam (theppa koLam/temple tank) adjoining it.

And not to forget, a really hi-fi vadhiyar!

The paintings inside the temple walls, the heavy woodwork, the musty smell of the oil from the lamps were a fixture in all the temples.
The elephant at the entrance of the Uppliappan kovil in Kumbakonam blessed me soon as i gave it a coin. And once i turned, the koLam there made me stop and stare.

There was such a symmetry in the multiple dwarams, that i forgot for a moment that we were queuing up to the see the God.

Next stop was the Rahu-Ketu temple next door. Again, brilliant colors on the walls and roof. A hall way that seemed to never end. Lots of open space, sand and a lovely koLam that i could not photograph due to want of light.

Day two saw us visiting the Vaidheeshwaran Temple that is thousands of years old and is known to hold a cure for all kinds of ailments. Lovely light streams into the temple near the entrance, but it is spread over such a vast area that by the time you reach the garbhagriham, it is really dark.

Once again, a huge tank in the enclosure whose holy waters are said to be therapeutic.

And well, in keeping with the theory that it is faith and not really the idol that is important, we did drop in into the dargah at Nagur, where the person with the peacock feather jhadoo asked me if i was there in order to pray for a wedding asap. I retorted saying its not an asap wedding i need, thanks much. He seemed baffled and wanted to know what is it otherwise that i was wishing for. I said my prayers in my mind and got the jhaDoo beaten on my head.

Next in line was the Velankanni Church. A pristine white washed building by the blue sea, people of all faiths culminating to pray, a Tirupathi-like tonsure center out of which came people by the hoards with chandan paste on their newly shaved heads were all sights to behold.

One thing i was convinced of. People have tremendous amount of faith that God holds all the answers. And  people throng the religious places to re install that faith. And irrespective of which religion you belong to, the faith you see in the pilgrims can move you. You also start believing that *This* particular God is waiting above to say tathasthu to you. So you pray- be it at the temple, or the church or the mosque, and hope you are the lucky one!

The wrap to the visit was at a place that i have forever wanted to see - The Brihadeeshwaran Temple at Tanjavur, my native place. The temple is an architectural marvel. It is surprising, that in times as old, people built such a wonder without any machinery. Period. I have nothing more to say.

The sheer size of the temple is something i perhaps can't put into words.

It was a fitting end to the journey.

Oh, and yes, where ever i went, along with God, there was another omnipresent element. There was certainly no escaping her!

On that note, it is a wrap on the piligrimage diary. I came back after visiting many shrines, a lot of prayers said in the heart and maybe with a blessing or two that God bestowed upon me. 

My year end lists

I love lists. Like Alan Harper of two and half men, i make lists for almost everything. Shopping, packing for travel, movies to watch, restaurants to try out and so on. With the year drawing to an end, we've got every Tom, Dick and Harry with an audience or readership coming out with lists- best movies, best songs, best moments of 2009 and so on. So i was like, what about my best and worst lists?; they should go up in the blog. Hence this post. Only that, i don't exactly have a big list for everything. Maybe i'll just list out the best and the worst of a few things that really stayed on in my mind. :) I don't expect anybody to agree with them coz i have this eccentric taste sometimes:)
So here goes a few of my personal year's bests-worsts and expectations from the next year.

Best movie of 2009: Wake Up Sid. Loved Ranbir in the movie. ( I so wish Hritik was featured in a full fledged role in some movie. This would have totally gone to him! )

Best song: A tie between Chor Bazaari, Ikatara and Dhan te dan.

Best book: Or books. The Twilight series. Call me a hapless romantic, but i totally loved the series!

Best TV show: Highway On my plate on NDTV good times.

Most entertaining show: Rakhi ka swayamwar. People who watched it will agree with me. Maybe bigG boss was a serious competitor, but i was not blessed enough to follow the show and its kamaal ke characters.

Cutest tv actor: Josh Radnor of How i met your mother.

Most unwanted death on tv: Michael Scofield of Prison Break. Did the man have to be killed?

Worst movie of the year: From the ones that i watched, I must say What's your Rashee. Its one thing to overact. But in 12 roles?! No thank you.

Most adorable movie character: Russell from Up.

Most overrated restaurant: For me, it would be Rajdhani. I know that it has been around for a while, but i discovered it only this year. After reading rave reviews about their authentic vegetarian food and all, i probably had really high expectations. The food wasn't great. And blame it on my inability to gorge down food, I don't think i got value for even half of the 300 bucks that i spent on the thali.

Best ad: The docomo train advertisement.

Best moment: When i finished my last exam of the 8th semester.

Most exciting moment: It was the day my first salary was credited into my account. The cell phones of most of the people around me went off with salary update messages and i could see this smile wave spreading across.

Other random things:

1. Loved the Crest edition that Times of India came up with.
2. Booster Jus simply robs people of their money.
3. Malleshwaram and Jayanagar offer some of the best places to eat in Bangalore.
4. We should have more radio stations playing Hindi and English music. Whats the point in having so many stations when all of them are playing the same kannada songs over and over again!!
   
5. It is great to have friends from college in the same office and having one of your best friends for a room mate. Saves the trouble of getting used to and adjusted to the person.
   
6. Shopping is really fun when you go swiping your card. Its only when the bills are checked that the guilt really starts!
   
7. Almost all the nice guys are taken. Really!
   
8. Two States was probably one of the most widely read books of the year. I saw almost everyone around me reading the book.
9. It is great that there is a McD in almost all prominent shopping places. Don't really cre about the taste or calories as long as i get the energy to keep me going ;).
   
10. It is so funny that one can't remember much from the first half of the year when making lists such as this!

Anyway, here's my wishlist for 2010:

1. Slightly less clutter in the city. Wish something could be done about the traffic in Bangalore. I am sick and tired of travelling for almost 2 hours to reach Majestic from work every friday.
2. More restaurants serving a good vegetarian fare.
3. Autodrivers asking for not more than 20 bucks for minimum distance.
4. Stores giving a small cashback to people getting their own bag. It is high time something is done about the plastic bag menace.
   
5. Quality movies being released. Especially in the regional languages. I can't think of many good movies with big stars in Tamil and Telugu being released this year.

Well,perhaps there are more, but i can't remember any right now. Tonight will be spent ruminating over the year and going over its pluses and minuses. Then there is also a big list of resolutions to be made. Phew! Ushering in a new year does take some effort. Anyway, 2009 was great for me and am hoping the next year will be better still. Hope your new year brings you loads of smiles and success. Happy New year!

It's raining, hallelujah!

When the month began, I had like a hundred plans about doing this and that. Top on my agenda for the holidays was to watch movies. The first week or so was wasted because of half a day long power cuts due to scanty rainfall( That's what the KEB people told me when i called to complain about the power cut). I resorted to reading and slowly got back my age old average of one book a day when the rain gods started smiling and the power situation got back to normal. The books were dumped in favor of movies and i had a nice time.
By then, it was time to look for a place to stay in Bangalore. And let me tell you, it is one of the hardest things that i have ever done in recent times. There are a thousand things to keep in mind- a place close to the office, a decent locality, many outlets close-by that dole out good food, comfort level in the house, good security, proximity to the bus stand and railway station, the budget, no water shortage and the list goes on! At the end of the two-day long hunt that spanned three areas and included both our relatives coming out to help, G and i finally found a house that almost suited our needs after a few compromises. What a relief it was! The both of us, along with Jyo are going to turn this flat into a nice and comfy home :) To think that when i started out, i was under the impression that i'd find like three or four places that i would really like and will have a hard time choosing one of them!!!
Back in Mysore, i am now spending all the time indoors, thanks to the incessant rains. There is lots of shopping pending and loads of clothes on the line that need to dry! But i am not complaining much. What better time to savor a cup of ginger chai and grab loads of sleep!! I still got about a fortnight before work starts. The usual whining and blues will begin then. Till then, i had better put my feet up and ease those worry lines!

Yay!

That is all i can say! Yay! Am done with exams! Once and for all!! The demo also went pretty smoothly. Am going to have a B.E. degree soon! It is an exhilarating feeling! (Ya,ya. Am certain about clearing all the subjects. CIPE too! Of course, the marks in that subject will be courtesy friends around me in the hall. Thanks a bunch, people, for helping me on a day when my memory failed me totally!)
Anyway, coming back to the point, like i said, i will have an engineer's degree in a few days. Got me thinking as to what prompted me to take up the course. From what i can remember, as soon as the tuitions for the 2nd year PU started, all that was drilled into my head was that my only goal that year would be to max my scores in the theory exams and the CET. All the people around me were working for it, and so was i! Engineering after CET was like a default option. It was just a matter of choosing a college depending on the rank.
Now when i look back, this degree has been at the cost of so many childhood dreams. Starting from getting into movies just so that i could get to meet Hrithik Roshan at close quarters, being a journalist, getting into advertising, being a part of a travel show, to opening a restaurant that serves the bestest food in miles! They somehow just got lost as i grew up and joined the herd in what they were doing. Just hoping that the B.E. against my name is worth all that i have inadvertently given up! And if at any point i feel it is not, i am going to go ahead and chase one of those dormant dreams! :) But for now, it is relaxation time. I am going to get enough sleep, catch up on my reading and watch loads of movies for a whole month! Happy vacation to all of you who have that luxury ;)!

My First Post

I have been planning to start blogging since a while but that much needed impetus was missing!To the rescue came the South Canara trip with college friends, just a day after the C# exam. Also exciting was the fact that there were friends from Bangalore joining me on the trip.

After a long wait,the train finally chugged into the Mysore station and all of us scrambled in,hoping to get comfy berths next to each other. But that was not to be! Almost an hour was spent on swapping berths with other people but we still did not have adjacent berths and we had so much to talk and catch up!! So what did we do?We huddled up near the door and spent the entire night chatting away, much to the disgust of the sleeping co-passengers, got off at stations and imbibed caffeine and went click-click with our cameras.

Once we reached Mangalore we freshened up at a friend’s place and headed to the Campco factory in Puttur.The heady smell of cocoa welcomed us at the entrance and we knew we were in for a treat!The friendly guide took us through the entire chocolate making process and gave us stuff to taste from each stage.We loved it and gorged greedily on chocolate. It was all wonderful initially, but as the quantity of chocolate consumed increased,it started looking more and more repulsive. So much that, at the end of the tour, most of us were swearing to go off chocolates for a few days.

Then came the Ananthapadmanabha Swamy Temple near Kasargod.Legend has it that getting to see the vegetarian crocodile residing in the pond there is a lucky omen, and were we not lucky or what!We caught sight of it, clicked pictures and then rested at the temple.All this took so long that we would miss the sunset at Someshwara beach but for our driver! I cannot forget how he raced against the sun and made sure we reached the beach on time to catch the breathtaking view and do some contemplation staring at the drowning sun. The exciting day was finished off with Ice cream at Ideals.Special mention to the Chikku ice cream which is really yum.Why don’t we get to eat it in Mysore?!

Day 2 began with swaying on the hanging bridge at Kote road.From there we went to the Kodi Bengre delta and it was time for more sand and more water.We ditched the plans of going to Pili KuLa in the last minute and voted for the Pharangi Kudru ,a private island maintained by our driver’s friend. A half an hour boat trip took us to the island where we were welcomed by the owner’s dogs. It is a place where you can spend your entire weekend and also learn fishing if you have the time. The driver then took us to Pajaka-Madhvacharya’s birth place-an ancient house whose cool interiors were a welcome break from the sweltering sun. An ideal pit stop to catch that much needed rest. Malpe beach was scratched off our list coz the crowd there was scary!Instead, we went to the Kedaki beach close to it. Being a private beach, there were hardly any people.We got into the water and had the time of our lives!

While the second day’s itinerary was chock-a- block with places, we had only two places to visit on the third day before taking the train back to Mysore-The St.Mary’s Island and the Udupi Temple.The former gave us ample opportunity to pose and take pictures while the temple finished off our trip on an auspicious note.All I could pray for was super duper marks in the 7th sem exams!!That reminds me, I still have another exam left on 19th jan Why don’t vacations just last forever??!!