Down South
2 nd August 2014 , dawned a bit early it seemed , as had to get up around 3 am , to catch the 6 a m flight to Bangalore .
The flight was uneventful, though crowded . Landed at the Airport right on time at 7.40 a m .
The hired car was ready to whisk us away to Mysore , through the early morning traffic jam of Bangalore city .
For film aficionados , a surprise awaits on the way- in the form of a town called Ramnagaram , which did not even exist in 1975 . As you enter the town, while going to Mysore and look to your right- you see Gabbar Singh's den and imagine Samba sitting atop the hill . This setting remains unchanged even after almost 40 years . Yes this is where an entire non-existing village materialized to make the film realistic.
Mysore is a laid-back city , reminding one of Pune of the sixties- roads resembling Ferguson Road , Junglee Maharaj Road ,Deccan Gymkhana type bungalows , etc. The hospitality of Karnataka State Tourism Hotel, was truly admirable.
The evening was devoted to visit the famous Vrindawan Gardens , near the Krishnasagar dam , on the river Cauvery and a bone of contention between the 2 states of Karnataka and Tamilnadu . Oh how I wished had skipped this outing. Vrindawan Gardens was a total disappointment. Neither was there a Garden , nor were the Musical fountains functioning. The gardens are encroached upon by eateries selling everything . A quagmire of filth and dirt . Imagine on the day I visited , there were ,more than 5000 cars and 100 buses bringing visitors to witness the marvel of Vrindawan Gardens as depicted in - Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje- 1955=
https://www.youtube.com/
Totally disappointed with the apathy of the Karnataka government and the lack of security there.
Next morning- The Mysore Palace- Gigantic- huge beyond imagination- clinging to the glory of the past .
Off to Medikeri [ Coorg as it is known to us ]- the land of our first Army Chief- Gen. Carriappa, who stands tall in the form of a statue at the main square .
The welcome at the Karnataka Tourism hotel here was unimaginably friendly. We got our booking dates mixed up and landed in Coorg, when we were supposed to be in Ooty. A dicey situation. However the manager Mr. R T Ramesh- not only accommodated us, but even managed to convince the Ooty hotel to adjust our dates accordingly . Truly admirable hospitality . Coorg was very cold- rainy and cloudy.
On the way to Coorg visited a Tibetan Buddhist monastery near Kushalnagar. Impressed with the Temple of peace and the monks conducting prayer. Imagine about 2500 miles away, the Lamas have come to spread peace in their own way
Highway on my Plate [ H O M P ]- is a program I avidly watch on N D T V -Good Times- not for the outlandish shenanigans of the hosts -Rocky and Mayur- but for the places they visit and the food . Being a foodie- I like to visit and taste foods at different places. Went to Coorg Cuisine- a restaurant they visited- Well not much to write about - the food was o k.
Could not visit any Coffee plantations due to the incessant rain and the heavy slush in them.
Off to Ooty the next day- And what a revealing journey it was- through Bandipur /Madumalai forest, encountering a near fatal encounter with a baby elephant, who suddenly had issues with our car and started nudging it, while the mother watched from a distance- ready to intervene if needed to protect the child. The driver panicked and started honking, which agitated the baby more. Other cars which had stopped and were merrily clicking pictures, asked us to take our car back. The short episode ended after we reversed our car and the baby elephant lost interest and left the road to join the mother . Scary for sure.
The drive to Ooty was simply beautiful- dense forests ,Bandipur in Karnataka and across the human made boundary- Madumalai belonging to Tamilnadu .The sandalwood smuggler Veerrappan had surely made this part notorious for some time . The boundary was surely for humans as animals wandered from one state to another merrily, unmindful of the barriers the humans had erected for themselves .What an equalizer these animals are. Will we humans every learn from them.
The winding roads and sharp hair-bend turns ushered in cold piercing weather, cloudy rain-filled sky erupting in torrents- making the journey more memorable but surely making us wonder about our fate in reaching safely.
The purpose of my visit to Ooty was to ride the World Heritage Toy train and to meet Mansoor Khan [ son of the illustrious Producer Director Nasir Hussain of the fifties-sixties and seventies] Producer Director- of successful hits like- Qayamat se Qayamat tak [aamir Khan-Juhi chawla] and Jo jeeta wohi Sikandar [ aamir Khan / Ayesha Jhulka] . Had heard a lot about his 'Acres Wild " farm- where he has devoted his energy .Was glad I could do both
Meeting Mansoor Khan was a revelation , his concern for environment and the destruction humans have caused has come out pretty strongly in his book - "The Third Curve " is contagious. He shuttles between cities giving lectures at I I M 's and other institutions making people aware of what needs to be done to postpone the inevitable destruction of Earth.Charity begins at home they say and he practices - what he preaches at his farm. [ by the way his wife Tina, makes international standard Cheese too] .
A day's halt in Mysore- again a visit to a memorable down to earth eatery - Gayatri Tiffin Rooms [G T R as it is popularly known ] which came to my attention by way of H O M P. Marvelous cuisine- a must visit ,when in Mysore
Back to Bangalore- an hour with Anmol- Sanjivani's apple of the eye and rightly so. The trip to Bangalore cannot be said to be successful and complete without meeting Lax KV and Lalita Laxminarayan 's grandson .Oh how fast the boy is growing- simply amazing to connect with him
Dinner at Visalakshy & Sreenivasan's place. The gracious hosts trying to make us comfortable and welcome to their abode . A few hours among friends to rejuvenate . Her son Varun teaching me some unknown things about my phone [ which I have already forgotten again Visalakshy ].
Lunch date next day with the most gracious host Rohan Joshi, who found time to regale with anecdotes and host us at one of the old and prestigious clubs in Bangalore- The Bangalore Club- which ostensibly was started by the British in the nineteenth century . The list of past Presidents was impressive, with a citation from Winston Churchill himself . Am sure Rohan will not stop here and continue to initiate us with Bangalore of yore
Meeting my friend Surya Prasad , the next day ,after visiting my absent friend Lax KV's house and having a cuppa kappi.
!2 th August dawned and back to Mumbai ,after 10 days of tiring bliss.
Need an encore
2 nd August 2014 , dawned a bit early it seemed , as had to get up around 3 am , to catch the 6 a m flight to Bangalore .
The flight was uneventful, though crowded . Landed at the Airport right on time at 7.40 a m .
The hired car was ready to whisk us away to Mysore , through the early morning traffic jam of Bangalore city .
For film aficionados , a surprise awaits on the way- in the form of a town called Ramnagaram , which did not even exist in 1975 . As you enter the town, while going to Mysore and look to your right- you see Gabbar Singh's den and imagine Samba sitting atop the hill . This setting remains unchanged even after almost 40 years . Yes this is where an entire non-existing village materialized to make the film realistic.
Mysore is a laid-back city , reminding one of Pune of the sixties- roads resembling Ferguson Road , Junglee Maharaj Road ,Deccan Gymkhana type bungalows , etc. The hospitality of Karnataka State Tourism Hotel, was truly admirable.
The evening was devoted to visit the famous Vrindawan Gardens , near the Krishnasagar dam , on the river Cauvery and a bone of contention between the 2 states of Karnataka and Tamilnadu . Oh how I wished had skipped this outing. Vrindawan Gardens was a total disappointment. Neither was there a Garden , nor were the Musical fountains functioning. The gardens are encroached upon by eateries selling everything . A quagmire of filth and dirt . Imagine on the day I visited , there were ,more than 5000 cars and 100 buses bringing visitors to witness the marvel of Vrindawan Gardens as depicted in - Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje- 1955=
https://www.youtube.com/
Totally disappointed with the apathy of the Karnataka government and the lack of security there.
Next morning- The Mysore Palace- Gigantic- huge beyond imagination- clinging to the glory of the past .
Off to Medikeri [ Coorg as it is known to us ]- the land of our first Army Chief- Gen. Carriappa, who stands tall in the form of a statue at the main square .
The welcome at the Karnataka Tourism hotel here was unimaginably friendly. We got our booking dates mixed up and landed in Coorg, when we were supposed to be in Ooty. A dicey situation. However the manager Mr. R T Ramesh- not only accommodated us, but even managed to convince the Ooty hotel to adjust our dates accordingly . Truly admirable hospitality . Coorg was very cold- rainy and cloudy.
On the way to Coorg visited a Tibetan Buddhist monastery near Kushalnagar. Impressed with the Temple of peace and the monks conducting prayer. Imagine about 2500 miles away, the Lamas have come to spread peace in their own way
Highway on my Plate [ H O M P ]- is a program I avidly watch on N D T V -Good Times- not for the outlandish shenanigans of the hosts -Rocky and Mayur- but for the places they visit and the food . Being a foodie- I like to visit and taste foods at different places. Went to Coorg Cuisine- a restaurant they visited- Well not much to write about - the food was o k.
Could not visit any Coffee plantations due to the incessant rain and the heavy slush in them.
Off to Ooty the next day- And what a revealing journey it was- through Bandipur /Madumalai forest, encountering a near fatal encounter with a baby elephant, who suddenly had issues with our car and started nudging it, while the mother watched from a distance- ready to intervene if needed to protect the child. The driver panicked and started honking, which agitated the baby more. Other cars which had stopped and were merrily clicking pictures, asked us to take our car back. The short episode ended after we reversed our car and the baby elephant lost interest and left the road to join the mother . Scary for sure.
The drive to Ooty was simply beautiful- dense forests ,Bandipur in Karnataka and across the human made boundary- Madumalai belonging to Tamilnadu .The sandalwood smuggler Veerrappan had surely made this part notorious for some time . The boundary was surely for humans as animals wandered from one state to another merrily, unmindful of the barriers the humans had erected for themselves .What an equalizer these animals are. Will we humans every learn from them.
The winding roads and sharp hair-bend turns ushered in cold piercing weather, cloudy rain-filled sky erupting in torrents- making the journey more memorable but surely making us wonder about our fate in reaching safely.
The purpose of my visit to Ooty was to ride the World Heritage Toy train and to meet Mansoor Khan [ son of the illustrious Producer Director Nasir Hussain of the fifties-sixties and seventies] Producer Director- of successful hits like- Qayamat se Qayamat tak [aamir Khan-Juhi chawla] and Jo jeeta wohi Sikandar [ aamir Khan / Ayesha Jhulka] . Had heard a lot about his 'Acres Wild " farm- where he has devoted his energy .Was glad I could do both
Meeting Mansoor Khan was a revelation , his concern for environment and the destruction humans have caused has come out pretty strongly in his book - "The Third Curve " is contagious. He shuttles between cities giving lectures at I I M 's and other institutions making people aware of what needs to be done to postpone the inevitable destruction of Earth.Charity begins at home they say and he practices - what he preaches at his farm. [ by the way his wife Tina, makes international standard Cheese too] .
A day's halt in Mysore- again a visit to a memorable down to earth eatery - Gayatri Tiffin Rooms [G T R as it is popularly known ] which came to my attention by way of H O M P. Marvelous cuisine- a must visit ,when in Mysore
Back to Bangalore- an hour with Anmol- Sanjivani's apple of the eye and rightly so. The trip to Bangalore cannot be said to be successful and complete without meeting Lax KV and Lalita Laxminarayan 's grandson .Oh how fast the boy is growing- simply amazing to connect with him
Dinner at Visalakshy & Sreenivasan's place. The gracious hosts trying to make us comfortable and welcome to their abode . A few hours among friends to rejuvenate . Her son Varun teaching me some unknown things about my phone [ which I have already forgotten again Visalakshy ].
Lunch date next day with the most gracious host Rohan Joshi, who found time to regale with anecdotes and host us at one of the old and prestigious clubs in Bangalore- The Bangalore Club- which ostensibly was started by the British in the nineteenth century . The list of past Presidents was impressive, with a citation from Winston Churchill himself . Am sure Rohan will not stop here and continue to initiate us with Bangalore of yore
Meeting my friend Surya Prasad , the next day ,after visiting my absent friend Lax KV's house and having a cuppa kappi.
!2 th August dawned and back to Mumbai ,after 10 days of tiring bliss.
Need an encore
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