The Year that was - 2011

Dear All,

As the year 2011 comes to end , i am writing the last post of the year. It's being a long time since i put a post on my blog. the system shows it as July 19th, long time indeed. too lazy to do work on my blog to sum it up. As Eminem sings "Space Bound" on NRJ hits station, hereby i start the post.

Year was not so good for me except a few good moments that dictated the terms. let me put up in points so that its easy for you to read :)

Let me start with some good stuffs:

1.Changed my job and moved to Infosys, Again on 21st this time on February.

2. Lone trip to Srilanka was amazing, looking forward to some more trips. It was a self sponsored trip after a long long time. Caught some amazing photos on the way.

3. Made good friends at office, we get on the lunch table, parties and get to gether. We laugh, fight and we share our happiness , joy and sorrow. 

4. Back to quizzing with achar and jayram. hattrick of quiz wins at mysore open.

5. Never imagined that i will be rewarded for my extra curricular activities. First award at organisation level after a long time.

6. Back to athletics track after 6 long years. Still found that there's no one to beat me in 800mts.

7. Ran road race for the first time and it was the first time i ran 10K without stopping at any place. was willing to take part in TCS 10K, unfortunately missed it . 2012 is the year for that.

8. Finally now i own my laptop. Thanks to vamshi for supplying the same.

Downs of the year:

1. Left L&T Infotech on 14th February. it was a hard feeling to leave the organisation that gave me so much in terms of learning and earning. All efforts were made to keep me there, but it was too late. i do look forward to go back if all is well :).

2. Lost my grandmother who brought me up. Saw all the greediness of humans at funeral which made me to think why on the earth are humans present with such greediness.

3. Stock market losses intensified, but were in control. I am slowly making sure that i am not investing wildly in the markets.

4.Lost most of my friends.
5. Couldn't spend much time with my family because of obvious reasons.
6. Played my so called last match at L&T grounds and of course we lost in the finals.

What i miss/ Missed:
Of-course over this year things and priorities have changed. But there were memories and things which sometimes i feel that i have missed. But leave it aside here in ths post only.



1. Salman's 3 hour drive to mysore from bangalore and vice versa.
2. Trip with Deepak, pasi , remil, rahul  and vasiq.
3. Weekend's Private rides ;).
4. Saturday night's late sleeps.
5. L&T greens where i had my cricket matches.
6. Mobiles which i used to play with.
7. Boxing day test match @ melbourne.




What i am looking forward to:

1. Spending more time with my friends and family without disturbances.
2. Much awaited Euro trip ( Official of course :))
3. Contribute more to society so that i have good satisfaction that i have helped some needy people.
4. Run TCS 10K and finish in top 10 @ coroporate category. Hope infy sponsors the team ;)
5. Good Hike and promotion to fulfill my daily needs as indya is hyper expensive.
6. Put on some  mass on my body , much awaited dream of my family.
7. Watching tour de france this year.
8. Get to gether of all my classmates as we have completed 10 years of IT/BT - work after engineering.




What i discovered in the life,web,movies and music:

1. Life magazine's picture of the year. See here.
2. How life is hard in places and how we are carelessly enjoying it.
3. How corrupt india is and how people hate each other.
4. Running is not so easy after long long time.
5. May it be Android, BB or an iphone still J2ME phone rocks. As people who have lost phones :).
6. Pt.Ravishankar and Beatles combination is amazing.
7. I love sports this is why it inspires me. BBC sports link
8. Prefontaine movie has inspired me take up middle distance running.
9. Some amazing music by David guetta, Coldplay, Moby, Adele listened through tunein.com
10. Documentaries like Waste land, Inside Job, fire in babylon were the ones which made to watch them again and again. Learnt a lot from them.
11. Shake hands with devil, hurt locker, traitor, The Damn united and many more movies which i watched were etched in my mind.
12. Simpsons at its best :))
13. Last but not the least. The Boston globes Bigpicture.






Of course i had some bitter and some happy moments which were shared with only few people. I have mentioned all of them somewhere here, if missed it is due to my Short term memory loss :).



Since i am not a party animal nor i would like to venture into places where there is sufficient amount of crowd. I am planning to have my new year at home. This year for the memory of people who are homeless.Enjoin a lot, but make sure that you give something for people in need. this is what i have learnt from my current job and from the movie "Waste Land".




Wishing you and your family a very happy new year 2012. May this year bring happiness and let your dreams be fulfilled.

Let's Meet with a new post in 2012.


Bye

One sad and very disturbing day.....:(

Back to blogging after quite a while. It was one of the days where i was woken up early by the sweet tune of " Louis Armstrong's - What a wonderful world". first i thought why the heck i had kept the alarm on such a time. then i realised i had not kept the alarm. I was watching 2 different movies last night Kannada's Mata, where 7 people try to become Matadipathi" it was 3 time i was watching it as i love the story theme rather than dialogues.

Then from my movie collection i took out " One day in September", story of how the 14 Israeli sportsmen were killed by black September gang. It was a very emotional movie as there were many young sports persons who lost their lives for some "Revolution".

After hearing the ring tone for a long time , then i realised my mother had called cause she will never hang up the phone till the "No reply" message is heard. Took up the call and in a low voice said my grandmother had expired in early hours of the morning. I told her why could not she call up in the Early morning. she said , she did not wanted to disturb me. i felt sad. any ways first i thought i will visit the home where her remains was kept before it would be cremated. The house was at " K.T Street" the E-hub of Mysore, this is the place where i spent my childhood days in the house which was 150 years old . only to be later demolished in 2004 to construct the new house as the things had changed. the old house was a "Henchina mane" what we call in the local language. she had spent her last 65 years as she was married to my grandfather at the age of 15 were she came to Mysore. She had gone through all cycles of life. 4 Kids of which 3 are Boys who are not be be called as sons. she had seen all the tragedy sorrow and happiness. But today was her last day here :(.

It was a chance for me to visit the house ever six months at least for the functions where i could see her, but today would be the last time . i felt nothing for some time after i saw some disturbing scenes which made me to realise what would have gone when she wa alive. it was indeed very inhumanly thing. when my dad's mother died i had seen the scene, since i was not bothered much i didn't care. when my mom's father died in 2009 it was one more but it was not in great scale as my grand mother was alive.

It was live today which made me very sad.. indeed very sad. No words could describe the hasty behaviour. i had heard these things from my mother and some of my relatives earlier , today i got the chance to see it live.

Poor lady, now she is nomore to see this. at least give respect to people during their last journey. i have heard money is the oot cause for all evil. when people leave no money when they die, their children curse, when they leave something. evil war starts. family starts to fight, siblings turn to enemies. i have seen this live at my father's side. where two people are fighting for the plot where his mother stayed. one has a so called will which is written to Daughter in law and other is having her own khata in her name which says plot is her's . to be frank their family's net asset today is more than 1 crore as both hold 2 30*40 plots and earning income is 40K permonth and Indian govt is deprived of their taxes. But their greed is never ending. let it aside, i never interfere in any one of my parent's families as i see that i am not the concerned person for that .

But i have seen that my relatives thirst for gold , cash and land is so much that they are afraid to do anything to others. when you have a rightful way of getting things why do you go a wrong way to get things. seeing all these since a long time i never be close to my relatives. their only question when they meet me is whats your bloody salary? man i earn what is sufficient for me to survive and have saved enough to survive without job for next 3 years even if i am layed off today. when i say i earn 30K which is not true , they blink their eyes and say good amount na? but when we question to them y are u fighting for these small stuffs, they have no answers. ok i am going bit off track.

Coming to say what made me feel so sad today was the fight for my grandmother's jewellery what she had with her when she was alive. when it was supposed to be put on her body, the way her DIL's behaved was pathetic. they knew that it will be taken by any one of the three befre the body could be burnt and will be with them forever. my mother was asking for a hankie as my grandmom's hand were so thin and ornament's would fall if it's not tied. she could not get the 2 hankie's which she asked. finally she said i will tie my hankie for her hand. i was about to say take mine and tie it , but she had already 2 . shame on the people , they couldnt give one piece of cloth. then the Saree which was supposed to be put on her, they put two sarees and when she was layed on the pyre the movements of the three DIL's i saw was shocking.

Man i thought how cruel can be these humans. they were worried about the bangles and a chain which was on her bod, they were rushing to take that in a flash. they were in a race to grab that. i know it's gold , but why rushing in to take those. Your Father in law have given you so much that you still live on his earnings . you have the luxury of getting a fixed income every month, you still live in his pension earnings and the house which he has built in his savings and for the other he helped him to get a job by running around people which he was unable to get , he had discarded him and during his last breath he didnt come to see him, only time he came was to light his pyre which was a true insult. My grand father used to care for all and till date he has kept FD in all his son's name . that is with his hard earnings. these guys dont care for that. They were pushing each other to grab those till my mother stepped in and she with her aunt told not to touch the gold and the gold was handed over to my Grandfather's sister which she can hold till the next trouble starts. Many might feel my mother wanted to take this, no way .... when i asked her about this while returning she said i wanted to keep those during the ceremonies which we do for the departed people an said that she would have handed over to them if they were not behaving like that.

Then came the Saree which was laid on the body. one DIL wanted it to be removed as she had given it. it made me so furious that i wanted to slap her. Man, nothing is permanent on life. why are you wanting to remove the saree from the departed body??? let it go with her, she might feel happy at least in her death. she was arguing with the people there when one of them said, leave it we are gonna close the body with the wood and dont remove it .fearing more shouting she kept quiet.

In my childhood day's i had seen my grandfather keeping his valuables in a big wooden trunk. i meant valuables where he treasured the must. knowing his son's disability to earn, he had parcelled of the cash in such a way it would be used only when needed.

One day i jokingly asked, can i have the white silk dhothi which he used to wear for me, my mother said, no idea where its gone. i still have not seen the trunk where it's gone. the valuables ..... and many stuffs.... i know that he had an habit of writing all the details in the dairy which is now missing. this in fact had the financial dealings also.....i have no idea where his gold ornaments have gone. my mother tells jokingly , see the bracelet which was kept for your marriage is stolen by those 3 idiots... i say dont worry. i dont wear gold and am not obsessed about it...the only thing she feels more is her ring which he was wearing till his death has gone missing. this was given to him so that he can keep it with him till his death as my mother was not wearing the same.

i dont care a damn about what he was having in cash when he passed away as i am least bothered abut it. but i am so sad that the kids act so crazy when the parents die. the only thing on their mind is just what his parent has left for him to enjoy....

After i saw the disturbing events today i feel for sure that there will be a big fight fr the gold. The cahs which my grandfather has left and the site which my grandmother had in her name. In fact two years back i was joking to her, do give it to me i will pay you 8L and i will have a plot in my mane, which she declined. i said fine not an issue.

one thing folks,let the people die in peace, dont fight for the gold ,cash what they have left, give it from you pocket, they have earned it and why the heck you steal them. u be friends till they are alive and when they die u become enemies. you are educated and have gone to school , you teach stuffs to your kids not to steal and you bloody do the same. if ti's gone it will come to you one day. only thing is you need to wait. there are families who have donated their parents earnings to people in needy. some fearing clashes donate all the stuffs to charity so that they dont want to see the children fight. They expect their children to take care of them during their last day's. but in my grandmother's case she couldn't get a quality treatment and we were not allowed to interfere in her health matters. but i felt very sad that both my mom's parents were not having their last days as they had expected. all the tensions made them to lose their heat and finally both had not a so called good ending to their lives. we have restricted my mom to go into any financial matters as we are well off .

One final say, the person who cared me from a day old baby to the age i got to know what the heck this world was, the person who has taken care of me in my childhood till i was 14 years .. i say a great thanks to you. i couldn't speak to you last time as you were unable to speak as you were bedridden. May your soul rest in peace .........

Please dont fight for the gold, assets and cash your parents or your in laws have left. It will be for you only be patient or donate it to some charity. dont be a bad name for the society..........

The songs which i would like to listen when i am driving.

The songs which i would like to listen when i am driving. This is casue i drive alone :).. ppl are scared of coming with me as i drive too slowly in this Fast paced world.. just joking..  So wen's nobody to talk while driving, it's my player which does the singing.


List goes here..

Extreme Ways - Moby

Coldplay- Clocks

Undertow - Timbaland ft. The Fray & Esthero

Bryan Adams- When you're gone

Bee Gees- Stayin' Alive 

Eminem and Rihanna- Love The Way You Lie [Parental Advisory -EXPLICIT LYRICS]

Ronan Keating- Life is a Roller coaster

More , i will edit , i can't bear the internet's cry.

Some of the lively songs

 Taylor Swift performing Back To December

Half of my heart by John mayer

Ringo Starr- Photograph

More to come.... 

Celebrities ...........their tragic lives ended with strange reasons....

Celebrities, we feel they are on moon. they entertain us, they have their own lives ; good, bad and ugly. It's damaged by paparazzi. They get mad and start behaving badly. Some of them go to a stage whr they start hating their own lives..

They might be good on screen, behind the beautiful face they have a demon hiding in them. some might be drug addicts, some do it to show that they should not be followed, some of them act crazy as depression will be taking their lives. Here are some celebrities who had a great career and ended up tragically ...

hope you Will have a good reading... Don't try to become one....

1. MJ a.k.a Michael Jackson:  The King of pop who entertained us for almost 30 years, was hounded by press, they made him to hate himself. He was deprived of his privacy. He used to run around masking his face. His closeness to animals were taken in a confusing manner. he repeatedly requested by his songs, which fell to deaf ears and he was haunted even more. He was charged with child abuse. Jackson died on June 25, 2009, after suffering from cardiac arrest. Before his death, Jackson had mistakenly been administered drugs including propofol and lorazepam. But instead of all these we still remember him for the beautiful music. Long live MJ.

2. Marilyn Monroe : Who on the earth would not like to be beautiful as this amazing lady. By 1946 she was on 33 magazine covers and was posing for top photographers.By the end of 1951 Marilyn was receiving 2000 - 3000 fan mail letters per week and because of her popularity the studio gave her the starring role in Don't Bother To Knock and Monkey Business. Marilyn had more problems on the movie set and was taking

large doses of sleeping pills. On May 19th, 1961, she went to Madison Square Garden and sang Happy Birthday, Mr. President to President Kennedy, and then went back to L.A. and the movie set. She almost overdosed on drugs and Joe diMaggio came to her rescue again.They decided to remarry and set the date for August 8th, 1962 but on the evening of August 4th, Marilyn died.

Drug overdose , personal problems ,and too much controversies caused this lady to end her life at a young age...

3. Kurt Cobain: Front man of Nirvana who gave the world some gruelling music , died in tragic circumstances. One more tragedy.. he was so popular when he was just 27 years. imagine what would he have done if he would have lived longer.. wish we could have had more songs... of his band.

Kurt Cobain was a hugely influential rock star who changed the face of music forever. So when he died suddenly at the age of 27, it wasn't surprising that his untimely death would raise some questions. The majority view is that it was suicide.His body was actually found on April 8, but autopsy reports showed that he likely passed on the fifth.He managed to cram an awful lot of life and career into those days.

Though Cobain kicked heroin (which had become a full-fledged addiction) in 1992 when he discovered that wife Courtney Love was pregnant, the rigors of the road proved to be too much for him, and he ended up back on the drug. His behavior became more and more erratic (he famously fell asleep several times while on heroin during a photo shoot surrounding the band's appearance on "Saturday Night Live" in the fall of 1992). He was finally found dead on April 8 by an electrician who had come to his home to install a security system. Cobain left behind a suicide note, the shotgun he used to kill himself and a bevy of questions about his drug issues and mental health.

4. James Dean: James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied by the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he starred as a troubled Los Angeles teenager, Jim Stark. The other two roles that defined his stardom were as loner Cal Trask in East of Eden (1955), and as the surly farmer, Jett Rink, in Giant (1956). Dean's enduring fame and popularity rests on performances in only these three films, all leading roles. His premature death in a car crash cemented his legendary status.Dean died at an young age of just 24.

5. Heath ledger: Who doesn't know the Joker. he has the famous celebrity following. The man behind the joker is "heath". He created a name for himself in Darkknight , the batman movie. Ledger's relationship with the press in Australia was sometimes turbulent, and it led to his relocating to New York City.[66][67] In 2004 he strongly denied press reports alleging that "he spat at journalists on the Sydney set of the film Candy," or that one of his relatives had done so later, outside Ledger's Sydney home.[66][67] On 13 January 2006, "Several members of the paparazzi retaliated ... squirting Ledger and Williams with water pistols on the red carpet at the Sydney premiere of Brokeback Mountain.

Roles in I'm Not There (2007) and The Dark Knight (2008) had taken a toll on his ability to sleep. He eneteratained us but, he was continuing to have difficulty sleeping and taking pills to help with that problem. Finally he had given up and at about 2:45 p.m. (EST), on 22 January 2008, Ledger was found unconscious in his bed by his housekeeper, Teresa Solomon, and his masseuse, Diana Wolozin, in his fourth-floor loft apartment at 421 Broome Street in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. He made us to enjoy his film but died of sleplessness. May the joker rest in peace.

6. Princess Diana: She once said "I am finding it very difficult to cope with the pressures of being Princess of Wales, but I am learning to cope,". The most loved lady in Britain, she won many hearts by the virtue of her beauty and noble causes. She was hounded by press till her last breath.

From her engagement to the Prince of Wales in 1981 until her death in 1997, Diana was an iconic presence on the world stage, often described as the world's most photographed woman. She was noted for her compassion,style, charisma, and high-profile charity work, as well as her difficult marriage to Prince Charles. Diana herself admitted to struggling with depression, self injury, and bulimia, which recurred throughout her adult life

On 31 August 1997, Diana was fatally injured in a car crash in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris, which also caused the deaths of her then boyfriend, Dodi Al-Fayed and the acting security manager of the Hôtel Ritz Paris, Henri Paul, who was their chauffeur. Millions of people watched the princess's funeral. During her memorial world got abeautiful song by Sir Elton john " Candle in the wind".

7. Kevin Carter: An award-winning South African photojournalist and member of the Bang-Bang Club. He was born in South Africa and grew up in a middle-class.

In 1980, he witnessed a black mess-hall waiter being insulted. Carter defended the man, resulting in his being badly beaten by the other soldiers. He then went AWOL, attempted to start a new life as a radio disk-jockey named "David". This, however, proved more difficult than he had anticipated. Suffering from extreme depression, he attempted suicide. Soon after, he found himself back in the military, and following an ANC attack on the base he was stationed at in Pretoria, he decided he wanted to become a news photographer.

In March 1993 Carter made a trip to Sudan. The sound of soft, high-pitched whimpering near the village of Ayod attracted Carter to an emaciated Sudanese toddler. The girl had stopped to rest while struggling to a feeding center, whereupon a vulture had landed nearby. He said that he waited about 20 minutes, hoping that the vulture would spread its wings. It didn't. Carter snapped the haunting photograph and chased the vulture away. However, he came under criticism for just photographing — and not helping — the little girl.

On 27 July 1994 Carter drove to the Braamfontein Spruit river, near the Field and Study Centre, an area where he used to play as a child, and took his own life by taping one end of a hose to his pickup truck’s exhaust pipe and running the other end to the passenger-side window. He died of carbon monoxide poisoning at the age of 33. Portions of Carter's suicide note read: "I am depressed ... without phone ... money for rent ... money for child support ... money for debts ... money!!! ... I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain ... of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners...I have gone to join Ken  if I am that lucky." His photograph became an Icon, but his life was a tragedy.

As of now... i can remeber only these people... there are several others, i will keep this post updated... happy reading....

Don't shed tears after reading this post... Some of them had a bad past which made thier life miserable..  feel that you are not in their situation...

Note: the collection is from posts collected from MTV, Wikipeida and other souces.. some of the content seems to be more depressing, I don't won the responsibilty of the same.

Life=Risk--Motivation

Good Short Ad..  Enjoy...

What I Learned........ Nice article.

Found an article at this link. Seemed to be interesting, thought of sharing. Enjoy reading :)

I've learned -
that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved.   The rest is up to them.

I've learned-
that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back.

I've learned-
that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.

I've learned-
that it's not what you have in your life but who you have in your life that counts.

I've learned-
that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better know something.

I've learned-
that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do.

I've learned-
that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I've learned-
that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I've learned-
that you can keep going long after you can't.

I've learned-
that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I've learned-
that either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I've learned-
that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I've learned-
that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I've learned-
that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I've learned-
that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I've learned-
that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I've learned-
that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I've learned-
that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I've learned-
that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.

I've learned-
that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I've learned-
that you should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it.

I've learned-
that your family won't always be there for you. It may seem funny, how people you aren't related to can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again. Families aren't always biological.

I've learned-
that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I've learned-
that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you are to learn to forgive yourself.

I've learned-
that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I've learned-
that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I've learned-
that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I've learned-
that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I've learned-
that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I've learned-
that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I've learned-
that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will hurt in the process.

I've learned-
that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I've learned-
that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

I've learned-
that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I've learned-
that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

I've learned-
that it's hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people's feelings and standing up for what you believe. 

Thanks for the Author , who wrote this article.... 

Day 3 ,4: back to Colombo to Chennai….. End of the trip....

Day 2 at kandy ended with all the spots to visit. The last day was rest time for me and some shopping to do and get back to Mysore from Chennai. The ticket reservation to Colombo was done in the intercity train and from Chennai to Mysore, there was no reservation done as I was unsure what time the flight might reach Chennai. I decided to travel in bus to Bangalore and catch 3PM train to Mysore from Bangalore.

Got up early morning at 9.30 AM and spent some time after breakfast. Then I went to nearby handicraft shop to purchase some items. Man the prices were too high. I bargained and got 30% discount on them. But still I felt they had quoted high price. Since my budget for shopping got exhausted, I couldn’t do more. So finished the shopping and came back to room. Paid the bills and then packed my stuffs. It w-as time for me to travel back to Mysore.

Left the room and came near kandy lake. There were couple of Indo-Lankan restaurant and I had a good meal there. Some SL people helped to describe the menu and I got what I wanted. For 70SLR I had full meals and headed to Kandy railway station after purchasing Ceylon Tea. Train was at 3PM and I reached there at 2PM.

Roamed around the station, got some snaps of the heritage railways station and took my seat in the train. I was happy to have the window seat, later I got to know that I had not been given window seat L. In SL trains, the window seat is not marked with letter W. so its bit confusing.

One SL lady came and told that she has the window seat and said that she will exchange the seat aftr some time. She was traveling to Colombo and spoke fluent English, was astonished to see that there are people who speak fluent English in SL also; by looks it was clear that she was brought up outside SL. I had to leave the seat and the train started at 3 PM as scheduled. On the way the, took some snaps of beautiful views of the nature. The shots which I missed when traveling to kandy. Aftr an hour, she offered the window seat so that I could continue my photo session.  Train reached Colombo at 5.45PM. I had plenty of time to spend. Was not having any idea what to do. Got out of the train station and started walking near the station towards the harbor. Met some SL executives and asked them are thre any nearby spots to see. They said WTC and seashore is nearby and I can spend some time there.

Started walking towards the SL WTC and took some snaps of the building. There was heavy security in that area as it is a military zone and then I walked around the seashore. Took some snaps there, spent some time there. Then I looked at my cell and time was still 6.45PM. I saw that the light house was nearby. Then I decided to walk towards the light house. I had to enquire the security forces and then enter into the area as it was clearly marked restricted zone. I went to the light house , by that time it was 7.30 and I came back to the SL telecom building. There I saw a good hotel, Harbour, asked for fried rice as it was only veg item available.  Food was good there. Enjoyed the meals there and it was worth 250SLR. I asked the hotel cashier for the directions to the Colombo bus stand and left from there. Reached the station and waited for the bus 187. one more person there who was there , an executive helped me to get the bus as there were some busses with 187/1. Said thanks to him and got into the bus.. The bus reached airport station at 9.45. From there I caught the airport shuttle. On the way, all people were made to get out of the bus, I was shocked, we have not even reached airport and thy were asking them to get out. 2 foreigners who were in front seats were not asked to get out. The security guy came to me and asked my passport and he looked at it and went away. Then the bus took all the passengers who had got out and it started. All SL citizen’s ID card and luggage is verified. They co-operate as its for their safety.

After entering to airport, the luggage were scanned before the entry to airport and its mandatory, some Indians who were there were cribbing. They should understand that its for their safety. After getting the luggage’s scanned, I went into the departure lobby. Time was 10.30 and I called home and friends from there and then it was a long time wait for me as I had to get in only at 1.30AM for checkin counter. Roamed around the lobby and got some snacks to eat. At 11.30 PM had some snacks and refreshed myself. At 1.30 entered in to the check in counter and got the boarding pass and waited in the departure lounge, there was one more security check before u could enter into the boarding area. After roaming around duty free shops, i sat in the lobby after taking some photographs. The camera was now exhausted as it had to work around 450 snaps which I took in the entire journey, the most till date.

The plane started at 4AM and landed in Chennai at 5AM. The crowd was too much as there were some tourists from SL to India.

This was my trip to SL J, the first ever trip for me, where I traveled alone. It was bit hectic, adventurous and I had some lonely time back from home. Wish I had more time….  U know, time never waits…

Ok folks one more post where I will put some points of SL, and the moments ….

Happy reading…

Lanka trip Day 2: Beat in kandy

After witnessing a a mini war on first day and enjoying a good journey on the way to kandy, it was the next day where I had some plans to go out and explore the lankan land.

After discussing and chking out some info in the media, I decided to explore Dambulla and return back to kandy on second day. Dambulla is a must visit place as it has some beautiful Buddhist temples and nearby Dambulla is sigriya.

Major attractions of Dambulla include the largest and best preserved cave temple complex of Sri Lanka, and the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, famous for being built in just 167 days. The city also boasts to have the largest rose quartz mountain range in South Asia, and the Iron wood forest [Wiki].

Sigiriya is an ancient rock fortress and palace ruin situated in the central Matale District of Sri Lanka, surrounded by the remains of an extensive network of gardens, reservoirs, and other structures. A popular tourist destination, Its situated about 15 kms from Dambulla.

So plan was set and as usual I woke up at 9.30AM instead of 7.30 AM. Too lazy to get up as it was a leisure trip for me. After having some bakery stuffs which I had got last night, I got ready to start to dambulla. I had info that the busses to Dambulla leave from goods Shed near Kandy station. I met the guesthouse owner and had a chat with them. He suggested me to visit sigiriya and then he suggested me to start as early as possible and reach the destination. I left for goods shed near the ralway station at 10.30 . On the way I went to the View pint on the mountain and took some snaps and there also I saw heavily guarded military people, it was for our own safety. The guys were so young that they looked like in their early 20’s … young army, ready to combat at any emergency.

After I reached the gods shed station , I asked a police person where will the bus to dambulla be. My god, the problem started there. He understood it a gampola. He pointed to the bus which was standing next to him. Then I asked the bus conductor, he also misunderstood and said it will go to dambulla. Damn it . after the bus started and went near the  peridaniya university complex. Then I got to know my day went for a toss. I had got ticket to gampola instead of dambulla. I reached there and I went to the railway station opposite the bus stand. I met a gentleman who was about 60 yrs , I asked him the way to Dambulla. He told that I am in opposite direction and also he apologized for the mistake done by policeman. I was astonished that were people in SL who can help you in guiding you to proper place. So kind of them, it was great to meet them. Also he told me to go back to kandy and visit temple of tooth and return to guest house as time was less. I started back to kandy @ 1PM and reached there at 2PM.

Note: Older generation SL people help you a lot. They guide you to proper places in case if you are lost. Also they are good in understanding English and you will fell more comfortable talking to them. Thanks people for helping.

Reached kandy and roamed from market to clock tower. I went to ATM to withdraw money as I needed some to survive there. Stupid, corp bank card didn’t work. So I had to leave and walked around the main kandy road and ate some ice-cream and had some juice to refresh myself. Got some cash in the nearby ATM with ICICI bank card.

I thought of getting a SIM card for emergency communication. Etisalat were selling the SIMcards for 100SLR with 25 RS talktime. The guy who was a sales person spoke in half English and he asked my identity proof for the connection. After I got the card, he said that it will be activated in 5 minutes and I can recharge in any of the shops. Then I went to a nearby shop to get it recharged. The IDD call rates to India was 2RS per min ( it will be 4RS after tax). The additional rates are not told in advertisement. Still it was cheap . for 125RS you can call 28 minutes to Indian mobiles and u get a SIM also.  Mobile tariff in SL are dirt cheap. If any one needs them , they can get in airport itself by producing your ID proof. I suggest you to go for Mobitel or Dialog or ETISALAT. All offer 2Rs call to India. In future days it might get reduced to 1RS also. After recharging I started to walk towards the top of the kandy to go to Bahiravokanda Vihara Buddha statue. After a long walk of about 30 minutes from kandy city, I reached there. Here also I had torrid time asking direction with the police people. They need to be trained in English badly.. One more middle aged SL helped me to get to the location. They were so kind in giving directions. Also they said not to deviate.  After traveling through Kandy international  stadium , I reached the top.

Note: If you don’t say anything many places u will avoid unnecessary shelling out of money. Cause foreign tourists are asked to pay money for certain places. Here also I had to shell out 200 SLR. There are numerous reload phone booths to charge your mobile currency. Since you are a visitor, it is advised to go to a nearby shop where reload is done and get it done. After reload, u will get a message from operator which confirms your money is safe.

After spending some time there, I started to descend down the mountain. I had a small stopover in the temple and took some snaps of Kandy city and spent some time sitting and watching people.

Since the 17^th was a full moon day, it was a holiday in SL. All kandy was empty. I planned to go to kandy temple of tooth as I had more time with me so that I could avoid the next day hassles.

I reached temple of tooth. This temple has many entrances; you can choose to go through any one of them. You will be frisked when you enter the complex, not once but twice. I entered the complex near to the International information centre. This entrance had some temples and there was a huge crowd of people who were listening to preaching as this day was auspicious to them. I entered into the temple after dropping my slippers in the counter. I walked through the crowd and getting frisked once again, I entered the temple complex. Note, foreign tourist needs to pay 1K SLR to enter into the complex by getting a ticket.  

One good thing is that you can take photographs inside the temple and no one will stop you to do so. But u cant take ur photo facing back of the statute as it is not ideal. There are signboards saying that.

The temple is so beautiful that the architecture is ultimate. Got some photographs , the idol was covered ,so couldn’t  get the glimpse of the statue. Went to the first floor where the tooth was kept, this is not displayed to public. After getting some snaps I reached to the temple complex, visited the kings palace. Then it was time to exit out of complex. I spent more than two hours in the complex and then clicked some snaps. Me decided to leave at 6.30PM. After reaching the main road, roamed around the streets. I had a vanilla milk shake in the shop. The owner recognized me and said I have seen you somewhere, I said no; he said that he had come to the guest house with his GF last night. Actually he introduced himself last night, I had forgotten. Then I remembered him. After having a wonderful milkshake for 40 SLR, I said bye to him and left to the guest house. En route to the guest house I searched for my dinner as I was hungry. En route I found that no hotels were open and all hotels were serving non veg. Since the SL ppl will not have rice in night, it is difficult to get the rice.  

Was walking near the main kandy road, there was a mobile shop selling dosas. I decided to get it . Got one masala dosa and 2 vadas for my dinner. I gave him 100SLR, he was saying something. At the same time one couple ( again mid aged) came , I asked them what was he telling. They toldme that I needed to give him 10SLR more and he said whatever price he is telling was correct. So kind of them, I paid him the cash. Thanked them and started to walk towards the guest house which was 20 minutes from there.

On the way I took some snaps of the kandy temple of tooth , it came too good with the night scenary settings. Wlaked back to guest house and found that the hotel whre the fight happened sterday was clsed. I thought that I got dosa and did a good thing. Else I shuld have been walking back to get it.  Reached the guest house, had a nice dosa. The stuffing was spicy and was in SL type. Anyway it wuld not have mattered me as I was too tired and then decided to go for sleep. The next day was my travel day to Colombo as the trip at kandy was complete. I had got the reservation done on the first day itself as I didn’t want to face the same situation as the travel to kandy.

That’s it for day 2 @ lanka.  The next post will have my trip data on the 3^rd day. Kandy is a city which is very old and they have preserved the tradition. You can find old buildings and architecture is superb. A must place to visit. Do give it a try. Lonely travelers u can do adventure. A person traveling with family, it is advised to plan the trip properly as it is difficult for you to do adventures. There are lot of travel agents who can get it done. Also look into the tripadvisor and lonelyplanet weblink for hotel details.

Lanka Trip - Colombo to Kandy ( day 1 @ kandy)

Helloooo alll

This post is about the time i spent traveling to kandy. Hope travelers might get some inputs and they enjoy the post.

After landing in Colombo at late night/ early morning i was very tired. Getting out of the flight to airport lobby, i wondered how this small country cares for the events they organize .Airport was decorated with the hoardings and welcoming visitors for the world cup. It was like a festival for them. Really appreciate them for the efforts. After clearing immigration, i came out. Went to the money changers, in airport, u have all SL major banks and u need not worry. But be careful that you are not carrying INR with you. Have TC or any standard currency ( $ or Pound, Euro).

There was a airport shuttle waiting and people note that this airport shuttle drops you to nearest bus stand and there will be 187 bus route waiting to take you to Colombo.

Some points here: No Visa required for Indians to travel to SL. In Colombo getting to bus stand needs to be reached via the airport shuttle and u need not to pay anything to travel in the airport shuttle.

Bus fare in aircon bus to colombo is Rs78. U have to have exact change to give to the collector. If you dont know llocal lanaguage ask fellow travelers, they will help you out if they know English.

After reaching Colombo bus stand in early morning 4, i had the next task in front of me. I had read in blogs and website that travel to Kandy in train would be beautiful. So After asking people for directions, I reached Colombo fort railway station. I asked railway personnel for the train, they said , the tickers to intercity train will be issued at 6AM. the train was supposed to leave at 7AM from fort to kandy.

Since i had 2 hours more, i thought of getting money in nearby ATM by trying to use my ICICI account. I went around and finally i found the ATM after asking some military people there. Near Colombo and around SL, the People are secured by the army people. They ask vehicles to stop and make sure that all is well.

I came back to the station and there was a guy who informed me that the tickets will be issued @ 6 and he himself initiated and formed a queue. Meanwhile army people came and asked for ID proofs for all the people in Q. Security is so strict here that all the SL people carry their ID cards when they move out.

So finally waited for more than an hour to get the tickets and got tickets in 3rd class as 2nd class seats were sold out.

Note: Tickets to any trains in SL is issued before 30mins to 45 mins b4 the train departure.

Ensure that you follow Q system.

There is no reservation in 3rd class bogies. So its better u get the seat or else u travel by standing.

I then went to platform to wait for the train. The fort railway station is old and still they have maintained it beautifully like a heritage structure. Nice to see that structure is maintained in a heritage style.

The train came and the people started rushing in to the bogies, the guy who helped me to get ticket directed me to get into the bogie and told me that catching seat can be easy if you are fast. I followed it and got a seat, window SeatJ. I had chance to take some beautiful shots during the journey.  Subsequently the train was crowded and train left Colombo fort at 7AM to kandy. On the way, it was time to take some beautiful country side shots. This route is so wonderful that it is one of the best. U will move through city side, country side and the Ghat sections where u travel to the top. More than 15 tunnels and beautiful mountains, the train traveled 2.5 hrs to reach Kandy at 9.30. I got some 50+ snaps during the travel. It was so scenic that I suggest people to just travel in the rainy season once, it will be damn good to watch. This route gives Indian western ghats travel , the run for its money.

After reaching kandy, it was the time to find my guest house so that I could have some rest and get ready for the rest of the day. I had Google map and the mail sent by the guest house confirming my accommodation. I started to travel using the map to reach the guest house. I lost the wasy and asked passerby people to get to know the way. Finally after traveling for 30-35 minutes, I found the guest house. Since I was alone and wanted to enjoy the walk, I went by walk not bothering to take the auto.

Note: If you can bargain with the auto guys you can take autos in SL.

I got into the guest house, care taker said that all rooms are booked; I was confused and said that I have the mail saying that my accommodation is confirmed. Then he called his boss and said that my stay is confirmed. I was relieved. Checked in to the room, had a good shower and I was ready to doze for a short while as my body was not allowing me to stay awake. I went to sleep for 2 hours and then got up by 2PM.

Now it was the time to find my food. Since the caretaker told that food needs to be ordered b4 2-3 hours b4 the actual time, I thought I would go to kandy city to have some food. Again started to walk down as there were no autos. Reached the kandy lake in 3 minutes as it was a downhill travel. Had some snacks as I didn’t find any veggie food.

Then got some energy to travel round the city. Did some rounds and got some idea where the roads were. Since 15^th was a holiday all shops were beginning to close by 3PM. Then after making some beats round the city centre, I decided to walk round the kandy lake and have the kandy temple glimpse. Then I reached the guest house by 6PM. Had a chat with the caretaker and got to know some info of kandy city and how to travel to some other nearby places. HE gave some good info and by 8 I decided to have dinner at the nearby restaurant located near kandy lake.

Went there by 8 and found that only veg fried rice and dosas were available for veggie food. So ordered veg fried rice and started to have it . 150 bucks was the cost and it was worth it . t was damn good. During the dinner, there was some altercations going on near the food counter and suddenly heard the glass broke. Families with ladies and kids started to move out. Then suddenly we see that the fight was starting. The guy who broke glass was fully charged and the hotel people came and started to fight.  That guy went out and he came with the gang and he started to fight. Then came the big drama, the hotel people came with all kitchen weapons to hit them, I thought something will go wrong and it did go wrong, the guy who started the fight was hit badly and suddenly the police came , still they were not able to control the guy. Some how it got cool when the big maama ( inspector) arrived. I asked some people there, they said, its was rare here. Strange to see the big fight in place where they preach peace. After dinner at the hotel, it was time to leave. The hotel floor was filled with blood droplets and glass pieces.

Fried rice was too good, but the fight made it sour…. Reached the guest house ,watched TV for sometime and it was time to sleep. The next day’s plan was to go to Dambulla, cover Sigriya and come back to kandy.

Note: SL people are friendly , esp people who are middle aged, they will help you out if you are in search of directions. It will be added advantage if you have a SL person with you.

The second day trip in the next post…