♫ How songs touch our lives ♫

"Songs"..how much important part they play for a movie and for how long they effect our lives, or ask how often..? My father has always been a big fan of cinema, and I have grown up hearing his collection of songs..Lata Mangeshkar, Mohd Rafi, Kishore Kumar hits, ghazals of Pankaj Udhas, Jagjit Singh and many more..!! The songs were different then from now.The simplicity and the purity have somehow lost and forgotten. Of course not in all songs for sure, but in most of the songs today it is all about drums and beats than the basic idea of sharing the feelings and thoughts wrapped in the music. I am not here to criticize today's music but this write-up is just about the variety of songs and the various impacts they have in our daily lives! And yea, I too like drums and beats...it all depends upon the time and the surroundings :)

So do you feel the need of hearing a particular song at times? I do, and as of now I can think of these many reasons  :

1. When you are very happy?
2. When you are in a party and you want to dance on the beats of some crazy item number?
3. When you are travelling and you have none other thing to do better than listening to songs?
4. When you are working? Either in office or let say simply cooking at home?
5. When you are feeling severely hurt and want to cry? Oh there you go...songs do help you cry!
6. When you underestimate yourself and want to boost your self-esteem?
7. When you don't want to sleep and have to study/work, so to stay awake?
8. When you are sleepless?
& last but not the least...
9. When you are in love? :)

And so on...There may be ample number of other reasons apart from these that you might want to hear a particular song/songs.

There are songs, which might work as a medicine for you when you are upset about something. How about those overtly romantic numbers, with repeated similar lyrics ongoing from the decades? You might not play them very often, but you do like them if hit at the right time. :)

Has it ever happened, while listening to a song, you think of the person with whom you might have any sort of feelings/memories attached, and which are somehow being mentioned in the song? It might be someone you love, or it might be your best friend, it might be your mother or it might be someone you have a crush on or YOU yourself..! There is one all time favourite song of mine Aahatein. I first time heard this song as background score of a farewell presentation of one my friend, and now every time I listen to this, I tend to think of that friend without any effort. And honestly, this song is the reason I accidently populated so many thoughts in my mind about songs and how they touch our day to day lives :) Beware! there are some mysterious songs, which might make you fall in love with someone, when you are trying a lot not to fall ;)  Hahaha,,!!Too much about slow emotional songs? Yeah, the list is endless..But there are definitely songs which bring energy and excitement in our lives and help us change our moods.

Overall, in our day to day life, definitely for music lovers, songs do play some role. For a while, I wasn't in touch with the music and I knew that I was missing so much good around it. Songs do make you sad, happy, cry, passionate, love, sick ;) , nostalgic and help to make the enjoyment bigger! Oh how could there be weddings so fun-filled without songs..!

Imagine life without music and songs..How many things are said via songs, which could not have been better understood and conveyed if music did not exist. Thanks to the music composers and singers, who delve into the real life feelings and put them beautifully in words..Some of the feelings, even we did not know until we heard those songs..:)

 ♫  ♫  ♫  

-Dishi

Mumbai Local - The lifeline of the City

So after Dungarpur, Kota, Ahmedabad & Hyderabad cities, my life landed me to 'Mumbai'..and certainly I am going to stay here for longer than any other places I have stayed at. Often, when talked about Mumbai, trains are one of those obvious topics which come in conversations and people always say that not every outsider can get accustomed to the local trains in the city.

So, just out of interest, rather than the usual buses, I decided to take train on my way from home to office...ie Bhandup to Andheri. I was bored of sleeping in buses and I wanted to give myself an assurance that even this is something which I can do – what if I save some minutes or let's say just to counter argue my hubbie when he says that “you may not be able to do it”!

So an overview of my journey is like this - I have to first reach the Bhandup station from my apartment, take a train and reach Dadar station..change my train and take Andheri local…reach the station and take a bus from the station to my Office!! Ufffff…so that’s the shortest description I could jot down..here comes the longer one which took place yesterday –

My husband always says that it's just a 10 minutes walk up to the station from our home, so I thought let me save a few bucks, take a morning walk and at the same time verify if his watch is right ;) So as I started, it was all very okay in the beginning...but suddenly I hear a bus driver honking at me...I was on the left side of the road, totally left..then what was it that I was doing wrong?? Any guesses??? Ahhh...you can't!! Actually I was walking "slowly" Oh yes...you read it correct! I noticed people around me, they were all seeming to be in hurry..walking as if trying to catch up on something..none of these people made me feel that it was early in the morning - it was for me at least :P ! So I started to walk briskly, unable to though catch up with a few around me - be it ladies or gents or even elders..!! I reached the station somehow and punched my tickets - luckily no queue there!! There was a fast train supposed to arrive in a few minutes and as instructed to me I stood where all the ladies were standing, to be able to get into the ladies special compartment. Oh wait, btw how did I know that there was a train - so all Mumbaikars who have a smartphone and travel via trains/buses will definitely have an app installed in there mobiles - "m-indicator". Thanks to the developers, otherwise it would have taken me another 10 months to remember the timings or to be able to read those almost-never-working notice boards, indicating train schedules and timings..understanding the expected platform pattern itself is gonna take a while..A few days back, I kept on looking for platform number 12, while it was the count of DABBAs attached in a train "FACEPALM" moment!

Anyways so the train is approaching and slowly I am being flanked by women around me..Everybody is looking at the train - that's it! So not Womania type..perhaps Mumbai Womania type ;)! As soon as the train stopped, as instructed again I had kept my bag in the front and started to try to get in...I can never get the perfect words to describe it but I was laughing...yea again right...I was laughing... All literate, beautiful and elegant women out there turned into bullies and all they wanted to do was to grab a place to keep their pretty-feet, on the rim of that train compartment, so in the next step they can pull their bodies with all the power they have, leaving everyone behind and get in! Ohhh...myyyy...Goooodddddd!!!! For all the "Friends" sitcom fans, thus "Jenus" familiars out there, believe me it was exactly like so - the reaction...followed by HA HA HA!! :D And yeah, I was one of them, I made my way in but this wasn't it! I made a huge mistake, I was still standing close to the door. My falling breathing capacity was the proof that there was no room inside to even attempt to move inside but I was against the local train lawww...The woman close to me, asked "Where do you want to get down?" I said - "Dadar" and here she was, red faced, with a rejection in her eyes, pushing her eyebrows closer she shouted - "Get out of my way, I have to get down next..blahh..blahh...pata nahi kaha se aa jate hai..blahh..blahh ctnd." She was really cursing me :(  I moved in, somehow putting my steps on someone's leg or bag or duppatta...grabbing my bag tightly and checking for my wallet every now and then..Wait, there is more..On the next stop a lady sitting right next to me stood up to get down and I dared to take that seat..How could I make another mistake in this much short span of time and break the LAW again!! Suddenly a woman nearby shouted at me and said "This is my place..I had told her already, get up from there!!" I was baffled, I chose to not argue on this and stood up. Although this was enough of an experience already in this somewhat 20 minutes' journey...a similar incident took place. This time, I preemptively stood up saying "Please, don't shout..I am getting up!!" Finally the destination came, I was thinking about what actually happened - actually smirking! But but wait, so did I get down on my own?? Oh come on, nooo ways! I was pushed down and up at the same time from different directions and different set of womanias...This time even I was part of the downward side of the group and with all the calories I had saved from last night's meal (this inspires me to take breakfast everyday..:P ) I successfully jumped out and was moving..moving with the crowd..I wasn't aware of the platform from where I was supposed to take another train so I checked with a couple of people and followed the crowd..The stair climbing part was again challenging and thankfully I managed to do it! The latter part of the journey was smoother and I reached my office all sweating and feeling heroic at the same time..Yay! B-)

I narrated this incident to a few of my colleagues at office and I felt that I should blog about it..So I am doing it now! :)

The return journey was eventful too but this time I was rather prepared..One thing which strangely I'd never noticed earlier and the Mumbai Local experience made me notice is that even "Women feel hungry - for food of course :P" Ya, I had never seen women eating like the women in the train were eating, before, so man-ly it was!! Surely they were all very tired but aren't most of the women are seen as representing the opinion that one should eat only home food and for that matter not even eating in places like train..?? My Mom does..given it is not FREE ka Food ;) and it was a cultural shock for me..But it made me happy somehow..So why should I not have it..I ate too...Mausi ki Bhel Puri!!

That was all about the day, and perhaps I will always laugh, thinking about it..and probably no more local trains for me..My bus takes the same amount of time and I can even doze off there..;) You win Darling :D

Hail Mumbaikars! _/\_

Dishi

That's Only 'Mine'!

"Hey don't use that Mug.."

"Why do you mind?"

"It's a personal gift."

"Oh, okay!"  (with a weird tone)

So what is this possessiveness about few things like clothes/utensils? And this is no Exception if I add CODE too in the list..the typical competitive engineer side of me!

Few examples are like :

1. You have been gifted a utility by someone really special. So what's the next thing you do with it? Do you keep it in your mirror case for decoration or in your kitchen (let's say it's a mug) ? In most of the cases after saving it for few months ;-) it goes into your regular kitchen stuff! 

Next hurdle is, are you okay sharing it, or you wanna make sure no one else uses it? Now in most of the cases, not just girls even boys do not wish to share their special gifts. Is it wrong? Totally not! That's been gifted to just YOU after all. 

So what do you say when you see someone else using it?

Ya, that's our next hurdle now!

You just go ahead and say it upfront. "Can you please not use it next time? It's a gift."

Now, what if that person gives you a weird toned assertion. 

It could be "So what..I do share my gifts." "Hmm...okay.." "Ohh..okay" or the ones wanting you to tell you your story further.."Oh, sorry I dint know it was personal to you."

Now based on my observation, rarely people would give the last response. Mostly they would be thinking lame about you. Now well if you are one of these you must know that,

"Possessive thinking frequently accompanies “heartless thinking” in which no empathy is felt for the need or concerns of others."

So you have started it, be ready to accept!

And personally, there is nothing wrong in being possessive about few things. If at all it is not some living being! I usually don't discriminate my love for them too :P

2. It could be a childhood memory you have been carrying with you since you have left home for the first time. It might sound kiddish to say I don't want to share my so and so thing, I have been using/having it since I was a kid, a very rare case, and the other person might find you nuts! But he/she might seem to forget in fury that you have emotions attached to it..for a long long time. It's been yours since when you din't know you were going to stay away from home among some new people, who would be daring to use it. :rude:

So again be it. And those on the other side, let them be it.

Ya this is it...this is what all I wanted to say on this..

And BTW, about the code...(that's just for fun)
I have spent my days and nights behind this one piece of code and you want to be the sole person knowing the in and out of it until you show it to your boss first. 

Now here I would say, you better not be strictly-possessive. 

Show it to your peers, get their inputs and let them know in advanced that you would want to demonstrate it directly. Straight and Simple!

Note ** This post is based on just a few random thoughts I get from here and there..Seeing people and their reactions to their beloved things..!! Btw I somehow like them..
Because - "If they can hold feelings for some non-living thing, imagine how much they feel for the person/reason who/which is behind it"  :)

Dishi
Born to dream :)

The Green Light

I know we don't talk to each other, I understand we don't have to.
I escaped out of  US, and now it's just ME & YOU.
It's a small story, I want to share,
If we are connected, you would care.
You know that's so silly and stupid,
But I see my account, to learn your bit.
The grey light tells, you have moved on.
The red one tells, you are there but not for me.
The orange one tells, you wanna be there but can't.
And the green one tells, you are around waiting for me...

My Neighbor, My Childhood Ideal..

Sini P. George. Yeah, that was her complete name back then.

My malayali neighbor, 4-5 years elder to me.She was a beauty, a black beauty.I used to try to dress up like her, to comb like her, to even carry a pen/pencil of the brand she used to use.Be it waiting for our school bus early morning or running behind it at times; a patty fight with my classmate or finding it difficult to perform in any event...She used to be there, always. I was more connected to her than my mother at one point in my childhood.With her two elder sisters,Uncle & Aunt, they were 5 of them in the family. I used to join them for their evening prayers. Monu Di (Sini Di's nick) used to make me read those passages from Bible and Uncle used to explain them to me.I have spent almost fifty percent of my free time post school hours at their home for years. I always felt invited and secure there..I can't deny that she was way to protective of me and I was fond of that :-)

Most of us have an ideal,from childhood days, we take inspiration from. Be it a school senior or someone staying in the neighborhood; whom you observe and try to imitate. Monu Di was that childhood ideal for me.

When I was in class 4th, we left that neighbourhood and shifted to another locality. I cried and cried for days because I was lonely there. For me it was sort of an end, which I couldn't figure out at that small age and I remember that it was during our summer breaks which made it even worse. Our meetings were limited to school premises now and that too very rare. Exactly around 3 years later, we moved back. Although I had grown up a bit, I was excited to be around her. But now she had grown up too much for me, she had other friends of her own age she would spend most of her time with. Alothough I was jealous but she never ignored me. I was always given preference somehow :)

Alas! things dint remain like this for long. 2 years passed and she moved out of the city to pursue higher education. We too shifted to our new home permanently, farther than this society, leading to no medium of being in touch with her or her family.

Surprinsingly, on one of my birthdays, I received a letter with her card. I wasn't in the same city anymore, neither was she; but I read it almost 10 times immediately and was very happy with the thought of Monu Di writing to me, after so long..I decided to reply back. I was staying in Kota, Rajasthan and she was in Bangalore, Karnataka then ; pursuing her Nursing. It felt so far away then. Sometime later I came to know that her family moved back to Kerela, selling their house in my hometown and other properties..so their was now no chance of them returning back ever.

Few years passed, and we were still connected via phones. Thanks to developing mobile technology at that time. As time passed further, I got busy in my higher studies and I believe same would have been the case with her as well. We were talking only on Birthdays, Diwali and Christmas by now.I hadn't realized, how fast time flew; when one fine evening she called me suddenly and informed that she is married now. She was sorry that she couldn't invite me. But I wasn't waiting for just the invitation, we were supposed to plan it all together. I was upset. I couldn't be angry with her but somehow urged to be have had been there on her big day!!

Then when one last time we talked was 4 years back, she called me to inform that she is moving to Kuwait and gave her contact number and email id to remain in touch. Sadly, none of that worked after a few months later. I din't hear from her on emails and then even I stopped writing to her.

Since then, it's been so many years, but whenever I get to reminiscence my childhood, she is a part of it. At times,I miss her so much that I will search the web for her, in all the possible ways but after some failures, I will end up hoping that she is doing fine at some corner of this world, and may be does think of me too at times. She could be a mother now. How her husband would be like? Would she be remembering me ever? "How few people, who have been the most important to you at one point in your life....disappear, forever!"

Now a days, although we have got facebook, gmail, twitter and so many other mediums to be in touch with each others or finding out about someone, sometimes even they don't help; and you feel the need to find that one missing link!

She was more than just a neighbor to me. Yes, she was like my elder sister. I was the only child in my family then, the eldest one and I needed someone elder to me around. Everyone in my family felt the same. My mother used to leave me at her place when she had to go out without me. When my father fell ill, uncle used to pray for him. I was so young but I still can remember him taking my father's name, my mother's name..my name in his prayers.

Haahh..it still feels heavier after having written all this down. Usually this works the other way round for me. Well, I will still be hunting for her in all sorts of ways I can. I don't have her address, her phone number, in fact i don't even know her last name after her wedding, but I know that I want to talk to her..somehow...anyhow; something...anything!!

I wish I see that day soon :-)

And yes, if you feel the same for someone, don't let them disappear because you are too busy!

-Fingers Crossed!!

UPDATE**

Date : 06/12/2015 and Yes..I finally could find her!!! Thanks to Facebook's Friends-Suggest feature, who suggested me her elder sister's name. Till this date, this feature irritated me, but you find the real worth of some things, when you find your real worthy person out of them..It felt so amazing talking to you Monu Di and knowing that all this while , you were finding that missing link back to me , from your corner of this world! Love You too :D

Strange but True!

A series of different incidents within half an hour, can make you feel happy about yourself!

My cook is not at her best..She is a single mother, taking care of her sick mother and a physically handicapped son. She would be in her forties. She doesn't keep well most of the times herself..After all, she is trying her best to come to work, her only source of income and support, though not regularly but I won't blame her entirely.Rather I pity on her circumstances.

It's mid of the month, and she asked for some money. She was looking pale and tired. I immediately gave her some cash without questioning. I guess, she thought I am trying to show disinterest towards her so she waited for me to speak something, standing at the door, with fear in her eyes to loose her only job someday soon. She often does ask for money, sometimes at 7 AM in the morning..But that wasn't what I was thinking then.It was an article, I read the other day, which crossed my mind as soon as I saw her. It said "I spend more money on Dominos than I spend on  my maid.". I realized the silence and did ask her.She explained how her mother needs to see doctor and she doesn't have any cash. Like all other things, she does it often. I let her, because may be she wants somebody to talk to and that lessens her pain. But one unexpected thing she did today was she bent down towards me, joining her hands. To show respect and gratitude in her words. But I was hurt. It doesn't feel right when someone so elder to you does that. Believe me it doesn't . I told "It's your hard earned money, don't thank me for that. " Yes, yes like our Hindi films. Smile caught her face  and she said while leaving, "Pehle ek bitiya thi, jo mera bhut khayaal rakhti thi..ab woh Hyderabad mein nahi hai...Bhagwaan ne unki jagaha tumhe bheja hai beta. Bhut khush raho!" [English - There was a girl, who used to take care of me very well. She is not in Hyderabad anymore, hence God has sent you. Stay Very Happy!]  I was touched and obliged. :-)

I left for the office in another 10 minutes, on my BICYCLE! Yeah, that's my new passion. Though it was turning to be little sunnier, I rode it with my playlist on. I reached office. The gate keeper smiled. Since when I have got bicycle, I am a little familiar to them. When I am not with my cycle, sometimes they do ask me, "Ma'm aaj cycle pe nahi aaye aap?" Haha..You don't have to do something huge to be noticed, just a little,out of the flow does sometimes. So that's not it. I was in the basement parking my cycle, one unknown colleague asked me smiling "Hey how much did this small thing cost you?" I told the price. He immediately said "Oh nice..I have been telling my friend(the one standing next to him) since long that I want to buy one..From today on wards you are my role model. Let's see if I buy soon. :-) " Haha..how often do you see that coming..:D

I had a big smile on my face. I took stairs to reach my floor. That's one of the nice things, I have taken from one of my old friend. As soon as I opened the floor (4th floor) entrance, I see my friend cum colleague standing there. In awe at this sight he says, "Stairs Dishi?? Why do YOU need them?..I need them and I always think of that, but never able to..Keep it up.. Have a great day!!"

What can I say now..The smile grew bigger..!! :D

So, yes I am just having a great day, by doing nothing for others but myself. Strange but True! :-)

Trip to Coorg - The Scotland of India (17th - 20th August 2012)

The long weekend in the month of August grabbed every one's attention. All the travel-lovers were busy exploring places to be covered. My office team, which I consider the best to have work with, started planning out too. In a 12 member team, 9 of us completely agreed to roam any place and spend some quality time!! Before I start off, I would go with a little introduction of each of my team members to make it easier to imagine when I address each of them. Thanks to Maithily for being the source of this idea in my mind..:)

So, here is my,  the coolest team :

Sowmya, Aatish, Maithily, Suresh (my manager), Archi (the Bhai), Shiva, Me :P, Surojit and Prakash...(order : left to right)

Among all of us, initially the most enthusiastic person about planning the trip was Aatish, so right from deciding the destination, to hotels, places to visit and budget everything was left on him. He probably dint work for the entire last week while he was planning for the trip :P. Everyone was comfortable with the idea for covering Coorg and Mysore. A land of chivalry and pride, a life of solitary splendour, rich food and spices, previously known as Kodava, Madekiri town, one of the favorite destinations in Karnataka, is in short termed Coorg. Smell the coffee, taste the oranges, flavour with cardamom and savor the honey. Popularly termed as the Scotland of India. While Mysore city is known as the cultural capital of the state of Karnataka.

In one of the weekly meetings we discussed the itinerary of the trip :P. Aatish played major role in putting final list of places to visit based on reviews, shortlisting the home-stay/resort to stay, booking tickets etc keeping all the details such as covering maximum places and proximity in mind. Well done to you :-)  We also got one day off from our product manager, which encouraged us to cover as much as we could and added an official team-trip flavor.

Right when the plan was full and final, tickets were booked, we got to know that some of the places were flooded because of rain and tourists were not able to cover the local city. We still kept our hopes alive and decided to not cancel the tickets until something unavoidable happens. To our good luck, weather at Coorg totally was with us for those 3 days and we dint happen to encounter any difficulties except few small ones without which the trip would not have been full-fledged.

Day 0 : 16th August..the beginning of the journey..

Not to our surprises, everyone was there at the planned stop except Shiva. Shiva reached right at the moment the bus had arrived and we all dint miss any chance of scolding him :-) Everyone was excited and full of enthusiasm. We took our seats, me sitting next to Archi..the 2 smallest packages of our group :P and Aatish roaming around to get one aisle seat, but he dint..no body stood up for him, and it was just a beginning :P

Driver played one telugu movie named, Oy!..And we all somehow found it interesting.We discussed it with those of few who knew telugu and tried to understand as much as we could. By the time movie was about to end, I had slept off..But I finished the story the next morning with Sowmya's help and might be, had I known telugu, I had not slept. After all a cute romantic movie it was.. :-)

Day 1 : 17th August

We reached Mysore. Found our tempo traveler, 12 seater van, spacious enough to dance as well :P , waiting for us. The driver uncle seemed gentleman and he continued his impression throughout the trip. We reached hotel, got ready for the day. It might be rare to hear anything like this, but all the 4 girls got ready way too before the 5 guys. :P And as per the guys' group, Shiva was responsible again :P Meanwhile we girls dint waste a single minute and had a small photo-shoot and a round of routine gossips ;-) . Everyone was so hungry by the time we got out. We quickly had our breakfast, where Sowmya+Aatish+Shiva continued to fight with each other, providing us with live comedy-circus..:P and then we started off for our first destination known as "Golden Temple" or "Buddhist Monastery". Everyone seemed so pleased having reached there. Since the driver was known to the place, he asked us to keep our shoes in the van itself. Looking at the Gate only, it appeared to me something really ancient and unique in it's own way. There were monks in their yellow+brown attire, busy watering plants, taking residues of Pooja from one place to another,cleaning the surroundings and talking to people. This place had foreigners as well. We walked with the mass and reached one very big hall, from outside of which we could hear these set of monks offering prayers. From outside apart from a big bell in the beginning it looked one of it's many kinds out there, but the moment we entered the hall our eyes were wide-opened  analyzing the pattern and way with which the hall was decorated. In the front-center a very huge statue of Buddha was kept, besides 2 more huge statues.The graffiti and the architecture kept us amazed.

We were lucky enough to hear them offering prayers.They were sitting in long queues, facing the center of the hall and having some books opened in front of them, which was written in either Tibetan or Japanese script.

Though you cannot make out the lyrics they were chanting, it had a healing touch in it. Never heard something of that sort and rhythm before. My friend Shiva and Surojit took this music from here and throughout the journey they made us laugh uncontrollably with them mimicking it with obviously their own manipulations in it ;-). We sat there for a while, letting the prayers occupy our minds and heal them.

Next destination was "Nisargadhama Island" formed by river Kaveri. We could see rabbits and deer only. Our willingness to see some elephants was let down by off seasonal issues. Though we had a better plan for that one.."coming soon :)" !  We walked on a bridge, attractively built to cross the Kaveri river.

 

      
         
            Saw some artistically painted broken

         tree trunks, huts and the bank of river
Kaveri. Only Shiva, Surojit, Prakash and our Archi Bhai dared to jump over the gates and walk around the bank. We spent around 2 hours here and then comes shopping part...Hahaha..!! :P

Yes, we will never get bored with shopping or let say just window shopping wherever we go..We, the Girls!! :P After spending sometime there we started for Coorg. It was around 4pm and we were really hungry by then. We dint have our lunch but still we were never tired to sing and dance in the van. Reached on dhaba-cum-restaurants , had decent lunch and again on our way to Coorg.

Reached Coorg and then our home-stay location.Entire city was covered with fog...Not only the city, the journey to Coorg too was foggy and a new experience in it's own way.Based on reviews we had decided to take home-stay for 2 days and spend last day in a far away village resort! The name of our home-stay was Alpen-Glow, whose tagline says, "A home away from home in Coorg"! It was a nice and a decent place. The husband-wife (Ananth - Jayashree) were very welcoming and soft spoken. The owner was chief editor of Shakti New Agency, one of the best in Coorg and that's how Jayashree  impressed us showing their home decorated with achievements and awards and paintings made by Ananth. The house was compact, each and every corner had some decorative piece kept and all the walls were painted with different colors. We freshened up, and went to Coorg's famous market known as chauk for shopping again :P This time it was more of buying gifts for your closed ones and definitely you mother :P.Lets see how..Each of us ended up buying Coorg's famous spices..!! :D Had dinner, though it was difficult to find any restaurants open after 9pm, we managed to get one. It was raining all the time and now we were tired after having traveled so far..Back to home-stay..dying to hit the sack..!! Btw we dint do that too immediately, we were laughing recollecting the whole day loudly, but as per the home-stay rules, we were not supposed to make any kind of noise after 10:30pm because Coorg city's people sleep so early..we were made to obey the rules and then we fell asleep..How boring..they should visit Hyderabad once ;-)

Day 2 : 18th August

We started early morning after the complimentary breakfast of set dosas and some rice noodles..(I am not sure what it was..:P) the authentic south food cooked by Jayashree! There was a slight change in our plan and we went for "Bhagamandala" first. It is a pilgrimage place situated near the Triveni Sangam of river Kaveri which is joined by two tributaries , river Kannike and river Sujyoti. We were not allowed to take photographs there but if I can just try to describe, it was also some what like the Monastry we had visited. We could find monks around forwarding Pooja ki thali so that we can take blessings from the God. There were idols of Ganapati and different incarnations of Lord Vishnu in very small sized temples. You have to bend to see them. Bhagamandala too has a history associated from the times of Tipu Sultan and is a famous tourist place. The triveni sangam adds to it's significance. Next to it, we headed towards "Talacauvery". Talacauvery is about eight kilometres from Bhagamandala.The name Talakaveri implies the source of the river Cauvery.It is about 4187 feet situated on the Brahmagiri hill slopes. This place too had a religious significance and apart from it the whole panoramic view from the top is mesmerizing.

Today also it was raining on and off and this place was really foggy and full of tourists. Even though it was an off season to visit Coorg, there were many tourists because of the long weekend. We had to climb 300 stairs to reach at the top. Downstairs there was the main origin point of Kaveri river, and there was a long queue of pilgrims praying for the well beings by throwing coins in the origin point. We all too did that. For a moment, I was disconnected from the outer word and connected to the purity of the ambiance. You feel a new power flowing through your blood and an encouragement to climb up the stairs.The rain was getting heavier and the wind was blowing fast. It was difficult for me control my umbrella as well and it was becoming colder. I was in my jacket, partly drenched and was feeling cold but not enough to stop me for climbing. How often you get to do something crazy like this? I did not miss it..None of us did :-) After reaching the top the weather was even worse, but we all enjoyed that too...Keeping your arms open in rain at the top of a mountain, opposite to the flow of the wind and closing your eyes..that was the experience usually we see only Shahrukh Khan posing with full emotions in movies, it was a real one this time :P Sorry Sowmya...I was just giving a reference.."#She is a big SRK fan" :D

When it is raining and you are done getting drenched, what is the first thing that comes to your mind??? Mere dimag mein to sirf aur sirf pakode aate hai :P :P  And I guess everyone's stomach felt the same. On our way down the hills, we had this desire come true :P there was a huge rush, we had to wait a lot but never mind, anything for garama-garam pakodas, and yes yes as Sowmya says - Mirchi-Bhajji :D But I guess  one person dint feel as hungry as we were then..Our tour guide, Aatish ji..uska to shayad F5 se hi man bhar gaya tha..what say?? ;)

Next destination was "Abbi Waterfalls". It took us a lot of time to reach there because of heavy traffic jam, but it was worth it. The first waterfall I have seen, and to have stood in front of it gives you the authority to claim that you have seen something heavenly beautiful. It was windy here too and the wind was mixed with water drops from the fall..

And then came the last place to be covered for the day known as "Raja's Seat"..This place is known as so because ruling kings used to come here all the way from Mysore to have views of sunset and sunrise from this garden. Isn't it amazing..that too if you think, back then?? Since it was drizzling all the time, we could not have the pleasure of capturing sunset but we did spend some good time over there. You can see the whole town covered with fog, wet roads and clouds differentiating in color from dark to light.

After a small round of photo-session we headed back to the town, all wet and shivering with cold..Still except a few, rest of us went for second round of shopping. Gifts were still left to be bought, and you are not allowed without gifts back at home, so what else will you do.. Doesn't matter if you are wet :P, you have to make it..Also, don't forget, shops close so early..:-(

Luckily this time, all of us were done with gifts..!!

After a bit of difficulty in finding any restaurant open during night time, we found a good place a little away from the market. As suggested by our driver, it was the best place we had dined at so far in Coorg, but we had to wait for sooooooo long..But jaisa ki intazaar ka fal meetha hota hai, we enjoyed our food and finally back to our home-stay, in our beds keeping our voice-level very low!

Day 3 : 19th August

Once again complimentary breakfast..and once again I am confused here with what was the name of the dish..:O who cares, as far as it was tasty :P.

While leaving Jayashree gifted girls with artificial roses and plates and guys with snacks. That was touching and made us forget that 'Dont make noise' instruction, which was really difficult for us to maintain. :P

Today we were on our way to one of the most exciting part of our trip. "River-Rafting"..After elephant rides , (covered seeing elephants here :)  we were all set to raft..Among all of us only Shiva and Maithily knew swimming. Initially I was a little skeptical about risking my life, when Aatish told me that they make you sign some paper before you do this, but after seeing people I wasn't thinking about yes/no, I just had to do it..Also later I came to know there was no such formality of signing papers as I was told x-(..may be not here :P After waiting for long, our raft was there..we dint even get helmets because of rafts and respective accessories being stuck in huge traffic jams, but we decided to not wait anymore and go ahead. We screamed that golden-temple's mantra to push rafts with full power and we jumped into the water (thanks to Aatish and Shiva for taking the initiative) completely relying our lives on life-jackets.Looking up in the sky without any support, all alone in the middle of the water, when you don't have any threads attached from the raft , was the one thing I would never forget. It took out the water phobia out of me completely. Obviously with life-jackets :P Later I even jumped into the water without any thread support.. \m/ As Aatish told, I dint come up for few seconds and he had started panicking..thank you or the concern..haha :P But I was enjoying it, inside water, the buoyancy force and then the sky......!! Our rafters were also very nice to us, and made us do all sorts of fun, jumping in and our of raft, water splashing, screaming mantras, defeating other rafts, rapids, rotating with rafts inside water and facing the water waves! Ahhhh...it was truly amazing..we couldn't have asked for more!!

This was the last event we were supposed to have today, and then head back to the village resort to spend some lite and quality time with the group. But the excitement of the day dint end here...On our way to the resort we faced many difficulties. The biggest of all was, we were disconnected from the outer world, there was no network and above it, the roads were very narrow. There were rocks on one side and steep valley on the other. It was one sided and our van could not even take a U-turn. We had to ask a lot of people to find out the location. But the whole journey was very scary for all of us. It had rained the last 2 days,luckily not today and it was about to become dark. Because of heavy rush in the city, all the resorts and the hotels were full, we dint have any other option but to search for it. The driver tried his best and we could finally reach the location.

 

There were 2 huts. One was for us and in the other one another group was already staying. There was a waterfall, tree-swing, bonfire setup, nets, ladders to climb onto them and a kitchen as well :P After getting relieved of a bit of tension which was there in every one's mind except Shiva :P, we decided to have bonfire and ask everyone to perform something. Me (Bollywood), Sowmya (Classical :O) and Maithily (English...ahhaa..!!) sang, Archi danced, Suresh and Prakash acted, followed by Me and Archi taking their roles (that was impromptu, but fun :P) , Surojit did mimicry of everyone in our team (khoob bhalo baabumushaii  :D) and Shiva too...We started playing cards, there was loud music being played by the other group..It was raining a little so we decided to sit inside and continue the games. New games were discovered, played and enjoyed thoroughly. Some became "JOKERS" :P and some became "DONKEYS/MONKEYS" pick any :P This continued for hours and then back to our cozy cozy beds, under blankets..!! Just so that we don't forget the incident followed, I am not yet done with writing, it is yet not "ENOUGH" (Hope you guys got it) ;-) [#internal joke..only for those who were in the trip :P]

Day 4 : 20th August

Next morning, all set again..we were a little lazier today to get ready but we had to start for Mysore so that we could cover most of it.  And once..once...once again, I don't know the name of the dish we had in the breakfast !! :P We figured out a different route with the help of the villagers to reach the town safely. After we had reached main road, we started to dance and sing again..my team never gets tired, either it is work or fun ;-)

Reached Mysore's famous Sandal wood factory, spend some time there among amazing wood-works and paintings..I was craving to paint then and there..those things were really wroth appreciation. Next was Mysore palace. Since many of us had already seen it, they decided to stay in the wood factory while Me, Archi, Surojit and Prakash visited the palace. As much as the palace looks beautiful from outside the interior of the palace is worth a visit for its spacious halls, paintings and architectural beauty.

After this we had a long way to cover till Bangalore. After the lunch we all were tired.We did not realize the tiredness until it was about to end. Almost everyone slept at different intervals on our way. We reached Bangalore by 8:30pm. Couldn't meet any of my friends because of the delay, originally we were supposed to reach there by 6pm. Anyway we roamed around the market, passed out time waiting for the bus meanwhile Aatish and Archi Beta ji left us for their respective friends :P..Never-mind ;) Had dinner and then off to the return journey. Everyone almost instantly slept, irrespective of some movie being played in the bus. I woke up the next morning, and we were in Hyderabad.

It has been almost a week, we people are again busy in our routines, but the hangover has not yet gone. All of us are flipping through the pics now and then, commenting, talking about and narrating the small and funny incidences which occurred during the trip. As one of us said, "Everything was there in this trip- Enjoyment, fighting (ruthna manana :P ), adventure (some wanted and some unwanted), bonfire and the most important one getting to know the other side of each and every person" and many other things. 

Though I have already said thanks, once again a huge thanks to all of you. This trip could not have been such a fun without you. And lastly I am sorry if I have hurt your feelings, the intention was definitely was not so... :-) Though there are many things yet unspoken, I guess it is finally "ENOUGH" now...

Few lines from  "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)"

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road

Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go

So make the best of this test, and don't ask why

It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.

I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind

Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time

Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial

For what it's worth it was worth all the while

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right. 

I hope you had the time of your life...

Courtesy : Maithily :)

We'll plan something real soon...till then keep enjoying!!

Cheers,

Dishi