5 years with the Xing…
Our Santro ‘Xing’ completed 5 years and 1,00,000 kms in 2010. . . 5 really pleasurable years! I don’t think a very detailed ownership report is required since there are 100s of reports out there for the Xing. So just a small note on the experience so far. During all our trips, not once did [...]
The Elephant & the Tiger – Hathi Bhata & Ranthambore trip.
It was the 19th of December 2011. We had just come back from the big trip around Rajasthan. Vani & Aish had taken the flight back to Bangalore the previous evening. Sangeetha & me still had a few more days of vacations left and we scanned through our list of ‘must see places in Rajasthan’. [...]
An incomplete guide to Hoysala temples ;-)
From the preface of the “Complete Guide to Hoysala temples” by Gerard Foekema: “For me, enjoying Later Calukya and Hoysala temples is one of the great pleasures of life. I love these temples because their plans are so logical and natural, because their architecture is so ingenious, and because their execution is so rich…" We [...]
IIMA Campus – Nature Walk.
On Sunday I went to the old campus for some bird watching… and saw quite a few of em.. Birds of the feathered kind I mean. Honest! It started with a mail… ” Prakriti – The Nature Club of IIMA is organising a nature walk to observe and appreciate the beauty of flora and fauna [...]
Adalaj, Modhera, Patan & Sidhpur – Vav, vav – Wow!
* Vav = ‘Step-well’ in Gujarati. Once upon a time, when Doordarshan was the only channel on TV, I had seen a Gujarati movie on a Sunday afternoon. It was Ketan Mehta’s "Bhavni Bhavai"- starring Naseeruddin Shah & Smita Patil. Based on a Gujarati folk tale, some significant scenes from the movie were shot in [...]
A DIY Story: Home Audio Speaker Boxes in a Car ??? Yes!!!
Before starting off with the DIY story, let me clarify a couple of things… [1] Every DIY has its own inherent risks. I considered the ‘worst-case-scenario’ and decided that if I ended up with damaged speakers / blown HU or Amp, I was ready for it. [Acceptable risk] [2] I have been using the setup [...]
Search for the perfect sand dune – Osiyan, Khimsar and Nagaur trip.
Till we actually moved to Jaipur and explored Rajasthan, any thoughts of Rajasthan would evoke visions of Camels, Sand dunes, Forts and Palaces. While finding Camels, Forts and Palaces is quite easy, finding a Sand dune is not so easy. Especially dunes that look like the ‘perfect’ ones shown in movies… While researching on [...]
London Dreams ! – London, Warwick, Windsor, Stratford, Hampton, Cotswold, Oxford – Jan 2012
My Trip to London in Jan was a memorable one. Though I missed Sanjay, I planned to not miss any places in London. Since it was a Business Trip, I had to make the most of the 2 weekends in hand and made full justice to the time I could spare for sightseeing. The serviced [...]
The legend of the Golden Garland – Gandi Kshetram
Route map: " Sri Anjaneya at Gandi Kshetra … On the right bank is the temple of Veera Anjaneya situated in serine atmosphere presenting a picturesque scene. The legend of how the temple of Lord Anjaneya had come to being here is very interesting. During the Ramayana period Sri Vayudeva was on mediation here. Sri [...]
Belum Caves, 1 day , 700kms.
This is a trip from 2007, dug up from the archives. I lost quite a few pics and videos from this trip when my laptop hard-disk crashed and only a few pics could be retrieved. Going on to the travelogue: Ever since I moved to Bangalore in 2001, I have been doing the Bangalore-Hyderabad route [...]
Melkote and Srirangapatna, a day trip.
We made a quick trip to Melkote and Srirangapatna on the 31st of Jan 2009. My inlaws wanted to visit a Narasimha temple (Their ‘family god’) on the eve of their wedding anniversary and the only Narasimha temples we knew of outside Bangalore are in Sholingur (TN) and Melkote (KA). Having been to both these [...]
Little Rann of Kutch Wild Ass Sanctuary & Rann Riders resort – Dasada.
IIMA had organized a Leadership Development workshop for the PGPX students over the weekend of 3rd and 4th October 2010. The venue was the Rann Riders resort in Dasada village, Gujarat. The village of Dasada is a few minutes drive from the entrance of the Little Rann of Kutch Wild Ass Sanctuary. The Rann Riders [...]
Trek from Mullayanagiri to Bababudangiri… after 13 years!
This was our last trip/trek in 2009, done over 26th & 27th of December. It was again with our regular TT & driver Kumar and a group of friends. The itinerary of the trip was to… – start from Bangalore on the evening of the 25th Dec, – drive to Kundadri peak early in the [...]
Abhaneri, Rajasthan – A Sunday Drive from Jaipur…
Step wells (Baoris) are fascinating. In the days past, not only were they sources of water; they were also used as rest houses by weary travelers, as temples and as community centers. Gujarat and Rajasthan have some of the best step wells in India. We had seen some amazing ones at Adalaj, Patan and Modhera [...]
A Tra’Village’ – Farmhouse visit.
This is not a full-fledged travelogue, but a small collection of photos from a weekend trip. Put up to capture some memories from a recent village visit. Last Sunday (24th Jan 2010) we visited a farm-house owned by a relative of one of Sangeetha’s colleagues. We were accompanied by another colleague of her’s from the [...]
Is this most haunted place in India ? – Bhangarh, Rajasthan.
Just Google for ‘the most haunted places in India’ and Bhangarh features on almost all the pages and lists that pop-up. There are all sorts of stories on the net about ghostly encounters, visitors who disappeared and other paranormal activity at Bhangarh. Bhangarh had been on our list of places to see from quite some [...]
My brush with the ‘Yamdoot’ :-)
There are bikes that I love, there are bikes that I hate… and then there is a bike that I respect – The Yamaha RD350 aka the Rajdoot RD350; or the ‘Yamdoot’ as it was nicknamed in India. The RD350 is not something that you can buy off the shelf, it is a part of [...]
The Bhoot bungalow trip – ACMCC Trip II
The last time around I had a Bhoot Bungalow experience was in June 2009 when Sangeetha and I went for a trek into the core area of the Parambikulam wildlife sanctuary in Tamilnadu. Since it was right in the middle of the monsoons, camping in the open was ruled out and we had to spend [...]
Gurramkonda, Vontimitta, Siddhavatam, Brahmamgari matam.
Another ‘Blast from the past’ from my archives. This trip is quite recent though, from November 08. The main purpose of the trip was to attend my relative’s wedding in AP. Since we were driving into the interiors, we thought of visiting some lesser known places which are somewhat off the beaten track. Route taken: [...]
HAL Aerospace Museum & Heritage Center. Bangalore.
Gave the Xing for service. After a ‘not so good’ experience with my regular service center last time, I decided to head over to the Advaith service center in Whitefield for this service. Left home post breakfast and reached Whitefield by around 10.00am. Gave the service rep a list of stuff that needed to be [...]
