Exploring Indian Unionसत्यमेव जयते

THAT was not expected

2011-11-12T07:26:00.001-08:00

It's been a while since I blogged. This time I am not gonna talk about my feelings or travels. Neither I am going to preach any of my ideologies. I personally believe that if I make some feelings public, it would help me to grow and to avoid the same again. This could be surprising for few readers as I rarely share critical things to the outside world. For the past few months, I have exhibited some behaviour that wasn't typically expected from me.

1. I am an quite-active member of major public forums in Facebook and also in several community forums. Though I am young, I am respected very much as a senior person. I have earned this respect by my behaviour and code of conduct. Uncharacteristic of mine, I exhibited my anger on a junior because what he spoke was bullshit, blasphemic and total crap. I could have avoided this, but this happenned.

2. Work has taken considerable toll on me. As a result, I became a bit mechanical and my brain refuses to think about anything else in other aspects of life. Just like how Germans fought Russians on a front and Americans on the other during World War-2, I have been trying to outdo myself in career and all efforts were directed there. This resulted in a bit of loss of health. This frustrated me a bit. There wasn't any recognition, but I knew I was growing. But all frustrations tolled up and took the best of me one day when I yelled at my parents who were staying with me during a visit. This wasn't expected.

3. After handling situations well, still I couldn't achieve much because I wasn't aggressive when I was expected to be so and patient when I needed to be patient.

These mistakes need to be corrected by me.

Next time when I worry about something, I should think, "Is it really gonna impact me after 5 years?" ... If YES, then worth worrying..

Most of the times NOT reacting to a circumstances is always better.

-Krishna Kumar.S

Trip to Madhya Pradesh & Gujarat-Part 3 [Final part]

2011-08-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

Kal Bhairav Temple, Ujjain.

Date: April 23^rd, 2011.

On my 2^nd day in Ahmedabad, I travelled to Sabarmati ashram. I avoided cabs/autos as much as possible as I felt that it is always better to mingle with common people whenever there is a chance. I managed to find a bus which would take me to Sabarmati ashram. I even realized that I could read a bit of Gujarati, if not much. Letters which were like Hindi were easy to recognize and I was able to read, however I should honestly accept the fact that for majority of the words I was clueless.

WDM-x at Ujjain Railway station.

I spent a good 4 hours at the ashram taking photos and reading about ancient literature. Reminded me of old history lessons which I had forgotten.

BRC WAP-4 at Ujjain Railway station.

Date: April 24^th, 2011.

At 7:30PM, I boarded Yestwantpur-Ahmedabad Special and departed Ahmedabad. I opened my GPS software in my mobile to track my travel movements as usual. Crazy hobby isn’t it? It was interesting to watch as the software loaded. It first showed up the India map, then zoomed to the western part and then a small dot appeared indicating my position. I was travelling at a speed of 100kph as per the display! I was awake till Surat and I was surprised to see a special train going at such high speeds.

WAP-5 at Ujjain Railway station.

Ujjain had its own charm.

Ujjain Railway station

Early Morning hours in Ujjain.

After my train crossed Surat, I went to sleep. I got up at around 6-6:30AM. My train was crossing Monkey Hill cabin station at that time and it was a refreshing sight. There were few tunnels in this route as well which added THAT extra touch. As the train negotiated the curve, I noticed that I was behind a VALSAD WCAM-1. It was my first travel through Maharashtra since my 1994 trip to Pune. It was also the first time I was behind a AC/DC dual locomotive WCAM-1.

On my way to Omkareshwar spotted this Meter Gauge line.

Something interesting happened at Tilathi , a small wayside station. After crossing Tilathi, my train stopped and suddenly started running backwards at 15kph! Passengers in the train were confused as 15kph was a bit too high to go back in reverse all of a sudden. Within 2 minutes, a sharp typical WDG-4 type honk was heard and a long freight train crossed on the next track. People in my train believed that they have escaped from a head-on collision accident. Even I was having same thoughts and utterly confused.

On my way to Omkareshwar from Ujjain via Indore.

So I posted the same as a post in Face book through my profile to get answers from fellow rail fans in the Internet. I got an instant reply from Akshay Marathe of Mumbai (reply within 2 mins) stating that it was a typical scissor crossing where a train has to travel in reverse to take a loop line to allow the other train to pass. I haven’t heard of this concept earlier in my life and it was totally new to me. Later, after returning from the trip, I called up Sridhar Joshi to learn more about this. Sridhar said that such scissor crossing tracks are found on terrains where it’s difficult to construct a normal loop line.

Omkareshwar, Madhya Pradesh.

Omkareshwar, Madhya Pradesh, India.

A Shiva temple, near Omkareshwar.

I sat for the entire journey at the window listening to songs and also drooled at trains simulataneously. It was a long trip and I enjoyed it in whatever way it was possible. Next day morning at 03:45hrs, my train reached Yeswantpur. At 5AM I reached my house at Bommanahalli. After taking a morning nap, I refreshed myself and started to work. I reported on time to work and started coding.

To realize my Ujjain dream it took me 15 years. If I need to see rest of this country (another 17 states), I need to be patient and concentrate on my career.

Ancient Shiva Temple near Omkareshwar.

I was certainly a changed man after each of my travels. But there was an important learning in life. It doesn’t matter the number of places, or trips done in life. But now what seriously mattered was maturity. It’s all about how much I learnt from interacting with people and observing people during my travels. It’s all about how much I would apply to my life from my travels and make it look good.

It’s not about amassing wealth. It’s all about the ability to show patience, dedication in career to grow up in the righteous manner. As I expected, I did grew up in my career and learn things. When things didn’t work out, I said to myself that I should ignore such things. Most of all, when I look back at my life now, it looks meaningful. Would it look good that if I was stupid and senseless after roaming around half of this country?

Path taken by Gandhi during Dandi March.

India at time of partition-Photo 1.

India at time of partition-Photo 2.

India at time of partition-Photo 3.

India at time of partition-Photo 4.

Signing off,

Junior KK

Trip to Madhya Pradesh & Gujarat-Part 2

2011-08-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

Sandeepani Ashram, Ujjain.

Date: 19^th April, 2011, Monday.

Location: Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Alarm woke me up at 4:30AM and by 5:30AM I checked out of the hotel. I walked for half kilometre to reach the railway station. Bhopal was still asleep even at 5:45hrs and it surprised me a bit. The sun wasn’t out and the weather was cool. I stood in the queue and purchased a passenger ticket to Ujjain. The passenger train was empty but as the departure time neared the train got filled with passengers. There was good amount of crowd in the coaches when it was 5 minutes to go for departure. I was comfortably seated in the last coach as I always like to travel in a coach far from the engine. BRC WAM-4#20561 was the power for my train and it was a good performer. The train had a bang on-time departure, but there were 3 incidents of chain pulling even before the train moved out of Bhopal station. So the train stopped three times and a minimum of 5 minutes was wasted in each instance.

At last by 06:45hrs, we pulled out of Bhopal. Erode WAP-4 was spotted hauling Jaipur-Chennai Superfast Express and it was a treat to watch. The weather was good and it surprised me. I expected weather in Madhya Pradesh to be hot and it wasn’t at least as of now. The ride in passenger train was memorable. It maintained good speed too hitting even 100kph (I followed through GPS for few minutes). At around 0745hrs, my train reached a station called Sehore. It was a typical Indian rural scene, with a couple of dogs sleeping in platform, women carrying pots on their heads, few men in typical North Indian dress(kurta ? pyjama?) sitting on a bullock and chatting about politics(maybe). The station master came out of his cabin only to bang the metal bar and my train started after getting the signal to go ahead. There was a station named ‘Shujalpur’ along the route and for some unknown reasons I liked the name very much.

In my opinion, the name 'Shujalpur' look a bit stylish in its own way.

TKD WAG-9#31211 was spotted at Maksi Junction, 16833 at Kalisindh and 13530 at Tajpur. This route was double lined with electrification and had decent amount of traffic. There was a huge contrast of differences in lifestyle observed between the cities of Bangalore, Chennai and small towns like these.

Mangalnath Temple, Ujjain.

I was enjoying some good music in my Nokia Xpressmusic 5800 as usual like any of my travels. Sound effects were good and the lyrics matched well with the scenery of the route. ‘Ke Tu Ji Rahi Hai Meri Zindagi, Sochi Kya Baat Hai , Yeh Ankhon Se Tu Dhere Se Sunega, Kyun Na Rok Loon Mein Yeh Din Yahin, Kissi Se Bhi Na Kahenge Hum, Na Yahin Pe Kho Jayenge’. I was having a good time. I wasn’t travelling to US or UK for a project or assignment to earn more money, nor to Swiss for a honeymoon or to Australia to watching Boxing Day Test match. I was about to fulfil my childhood dream of travelling to the ancient city. I had this wish when I was in 4^th grade. It was a special moment in my life for me.

The passenger rolled into Ujjain Junction at 11:30hrs. It took less than 5 minutes for me to find a good hotel and it was near to the railway station itself. In 1 hour I refreshed myself and had my lunch. It was roti and dal again for lunch as well. After finishing my lunch, I came out and booked a tempo for Rs.200/-. It may sound costly, but I couldn’t bargain much. The initial rate was Rs.300/-. Tempos were previously used in Bhopal as well, but I believe they aren’t used now. The tempo ride was interesting. I haven’t travelled in a tempo earlier in my life and it was a great experience.

The following are the places which I visited in Ujjain:

Sandeepani Ashhram:

Lord Krishna and Sudama received regular instruction in this ashram of Guru Sandeepani during Maharabharata period. Beautiful photos and paintings of Lord Krishna were kept in display at the ashram resembling the glorious past of the country. The ashram was nice, clean and well maintained. The ashram still retained the same charm of Mahabharata era. The ashram was located on the outskirts of the city.

Bhartrihari Caves:

These caves are situated just above the bank of River Shipra near the temple of Gadkalika. According to popular tradition, this is the spot where Bhartrihari, the step brother of Vikramaditya, lived and meditated after renouncing worldly life.

Gad Kalika Temple:

This is an ancient Kali Temple. It is believed that poet Kalidasa was unintelligent without mental maturity. But after worshipping the Kali at this temple, he was blessed with knowledge and intelligence. He wrote many of his poems sitting on the banks of river shipra.

Kal Bhairav Temple:

This temple is dedicated to Lord Bhairav, a form of Shiva. Liquor is offered to God in this temple. I felt this practice to be strange. After having a quick darshan I came out of the temple. I didn’t really want to loiter around in a place where liquor is prominent. It’s always better to be safe than experiment when you are travelling alone.

Harsiddhi Temple Temple:

An important shrine with the image of Goddess Annapurna.

Mangalnath Temple:

This is considered the birth place of planet Mars. People having manglik dosha also visit this place if they are facing problems like marriage-delays.

Bade Ganeshji ka Mandir:

There is a sculptured image of Lord Ganesh in this temple, close to the tank near Mahakaleshwar.

Chintamani Ganesh:

An idol of Ganesh is worshipped here. It is believed to be self-formed.

Ram Temple:

Near the banks of river shipra, a beautiful Ram Temple is present.

Lord Venkateshwara Temple:

This is a private owned temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located at the center of the city. The shikar or (gopuram as known in Tamil) is in South Indian style.

Mahakal Jyorthirlingam temple:

I kept this temple as last in my list as I believed that it would take time for darshan. I expected that it would take a couple of hours for darshan, but darshan was over in 30 mins! I really couldn’t believe that I was in front of jyorthilingam which I wanted to see 15 years back when I studied about Ujjain in my history books. I saw this city just 4 months before I completed 25 years on earth. There wasn’t much crowd too so I seized the opportunity to stay for more time near the lingam. I couldn’t believe that I have just fulfilled my childhood ambition. Thanks to God for giving this opportunity.

I sat on one of the elevated steps opposite to the lingam and enjoyed every moment. There was no hurry. Since there wasn't much crowd, the volunteers weren't pushing anyone out of the place and people took their own time. There were numerous televisions installed which showed live pictures of the jyothirlinga in different angles.

Kal Bhairav, Ujjain.

After spending a good time at the temple, I decided to return back to the lodge. The tempo driver was waiting for me patiently outside. It was already dark. I settled him and I made a choice to return back to lodge by foot. I wanted to see this ancient city in action during evening hours. Purchasing a bottle of Sprite, I started to walk through the bazaar filled with shops. Reminded me of Acharapakkam (Tamilnadu), Chakradharpur (Jharkhand) and Kalahasti (Andhra Pradesh). I liked the simplicity in the minds of the people. It gave me sense of satisfaction and happiness. By evening 7PM, I was back at lodge.

In the night at around 9AM, I took a walk for 20 minutes to watch night life in Ujjain and it was plain/simple. Shops were closed by 9:30PM. Then I went on lift to the terrace in my lodge and had a glance of the entire city. It looked beautiful just like any other Indian city, but this one had less light. The railway station looked beautiful. As I stood gazing at the trains, I wondered whether good moments in life would come often? I had to make the best of it now itself.

Date: 20^th April, Tuesday.

Location: Ujjain

The entire day I spent exploring the city. As I have said earlier, the city resembled its glorious past. I observed a strong sense of work culture and activeness. I suddenly had an idea of catching a bus to Ratlam. Ratlam was a good 3-hr run away and I managed to get a direct private bus. The bus went through small towns and villages of which I had no idea. The vehicle was less crowded.

I could observe that these areas lacked some development and I personally wished that it should be little more developed with more schools, hospitals and other facilities. It is easy to say that a state is undeveloped. But what I believe is that a developed state should help an undeveloped state rather than leaving the undeveloped to suffer. The real smartness is to help others and to progress oneself on top of it and help other’s progress too rather than creating ‘politics’.

In a human body, a brain, heart, kidney, lungs function by co-ordinating with each other. If each organ were to compete in an unethical manner, I wouldn’t be alive to write this travelogue. It is to be noted that these organs were created by God, so maybe they know how to work and behave. After all, states and linguistic barriers were created by humans and humans are no good managers or administrators. The sad fact is that states would like to secede away to form a separate country. Imagine pair of kidneys trying to move away from a human body? What will the human body do after that? Or even the kidneys can survive alone? It could be a bit stupid to quote such examples to promote National unity, but sadly this is what is happening.

Kal Bhairav Temple, Ujjain.

I stayed less than 20 minutes at Ratlam and I immediately caught another bus back to Ujjain. Before boarding the bus, I had some genuine Ratlam Sev with pickles. Before evening I was back at Ujjain.

I just had one more plan remaining. That was to visit Omkareshwar for Jyothirlingam darshan which was 132km away from Ujjain. The hotel owner was a kind man and suggested that I can travel in a small lorry belonging to hotel up to Indore which was on its way to Indore for some business purpose. From Indore, I can take a share taxi or a bus to Omkareshwar

Date: 21^st April, 2011.

Location: Ujjain

I started in a lorry towards Omkareshwar at around 6AM. The journey was smooth. The roads were huge, wide and clean. The lorry ride was exciting and adventurous too. After reaching Indore, I travelled in a city bus to a place where I could get a direct bus to Omkareshwar. I managed to get one easily and I reached Omkareshwar by 10AM. The darshan was excellent and I spent a good 10 minutes near the lingam. I felt that I was passing throuh a good stage in life as I had the luck to have jyothirlinga darshan at ease without having problems like dealing with heavy crowds.

I spent around one hour at the temple premises taking photos. Kids were playing around, running here and there. Few people were enjoying the boat ride in the river below. The bridge was the one that fascinated me a lot. It reminded me of Howrah, but it wasn’t so massive and wide, but still it had some charm of Howrah. I liked this place more than Mahakal. But I don’t know why. Maybe because this temple was situated in outskirts unlike Mahakal which was situated inside the city. This place seemed to be more close to nature with mountain-like rocks around.

After spending some time at the temple, I took a walk around the town. It was calm, silent and peaceful. I haven’t felt peace like that in cities. City life is also peaceful, but still there is always a bit of “hurry” in a city. My idea of a good time is to work smart in city and then take a break and live rural for a week.

I managed to get a bus till Indore for my return journey. On my way back, I took some snaps using camera mobile as the bus went through rural areas of Madhya Pradesh. The driver halted the bus at a small tea shop on the high way which was near a Navagraha temple. Few passengers got down to refresh themselves. A small boy carried tea cups and went around the bus trying to sell tea to passengers sitting inside the bus. I know I was luckier in life than him. But when it comes to patience I must learn from him. It was evident by the way he picked the cups and filled with tea from the can. Not even a single drop was spilled. Living economically is not a shame, but it’s a talent. I seized this opportunity to visit the Navagraha temple. To my surprise, the bus started only after 30 minutes. Why the need for such a long break ? No one in the bus bothered to ask as well.


Gadkalika Temple, Ujjain. It is believed that Kalidas was blessed by this Kali

After arriving at Indore, I waited close to 30 minutes for a bus to Ujjain. Had a couple of samosas as well to pass time. There wasn’t bus available, but there was a taxi returning empty to Ujjain. He charged me Rs.100/-only as he was returning empty handed. I thought it was a good deal. By this time, the climate was damn hot and I could observe “water vapour like” things on the road ahead as my car flew at 100kph+ on the high way. There weren’t many cars in the high way. Not even lorries! I was surprised!

After returning back to the lodge, I informed to the hotel owner that I would be checking out the same day night. I took a 3-hr nap and when I woke up it was around 6PM. I watched one of the IPL matches for some time and killed the remaining hours as well by browsing through various TV channels. At around 9PM, I checked out. This was probably my last day in Ujjain. Not sure whether I would travel again to the same place, but I would like to extend my thanks to the people of Madhya Pradesh for their hospitality and care they showed on me on those three days.

As I entered Ujjain railway station, I heard a typical diesel honk. Some goods train was passing through Ujjain junction without stopping. The night wasn’t cold and overall it was a good weather to do some night rail fanning. Lot of Ratlam diesel locomotives like WDM-2, WDM-3A were seen busy hauling their respective goods/freights/expresses. WAP-5’s were also spotted. I also remember spotting a Royapuram (Tamilnadu) locomotive in Ujjain when I did an afternoon rail fanning on the first day I arrived.

Lakshmi Venkateshwara Temple, Ujjain. (South Indian style)

Shanti Express was expected to arrive at 00:10hrs. To my surprise the train arrived 5 mins in advance. A Ratlam WDM-x rolled in with my train in a grand manner. Trains are amazing things to watch. I got into my 3AC coach and went to sleep immediately. When I got up again the train was at Ratlam, patiently waiting for signal. I was interested in taking rest, so I went back to sleep again. When I got up next, the train has entered Gujarat and was nearing Anand. It was a good run till Nadiad. From Nadiad onwards till Ahmedabad, the train wasn’t so fast. At 08:55hrs, my train rolled into Ahmedabad.

I rented this tempo for Rs.200/- for 6 hours.

Date: April 22^nd, 2011.

Location: Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India.

At 08:55hrs, I kept my foot at Ahmedabad railway station marking my first visit to Gujarat. After drooling at trains for some time, I searched for a good accommodation near the railway station itself and got one too. I didn’t do much on that day, except for rail fanning. For my entire duration of stay at Ahmedabad, I had rice with various different type of parathas like Gajjar Paratha, Sugar paratha, Aloo paratha, Methi Paratha, Mix-Veg Paratha with curd and North Indian side dishes like Panneer Butter Masala, Palak Panneer, Kaju Masala. These were my breakfast, lunch and dinner. I prayed to God that I shouldn't fall sick. Thank God, I didn't....

Ram Temple, Ujjain. Near the banks of river shipra.

I was certainly enjoying this trip, but still it lacked a family touch. Everything is fine, but it doesn’t look nice to leave parents and taste various food items. Not really enjoyable to roam around the country side leaving parents at home. But my parents were not willing to travel much due to extreme weather, so it was a solo journey all the way. In the evening, I attended the wedding reception of a friend’s marriage.


Mahakal Temple(Jyothirlingam sthalam), Ujjain.

Trip to Madhya Pradesh & Gujarat-Part 1

2011-08-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

In my erstwhile hometown, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.

Year: 1996.

Location: Chennai, Tamilnadu.

One rainy October evening, a 10 year old kid (or a boy) walks to a shop near to his house to buy an outline map of India. The reason was due to the fact that there was a history examination at school the next day. The child practiced marking various historical places and cities of India. Trivandrum, Bangalore, Chennai, Mysore, Bhubaneswar, Kolkata, Jamshedpur, Mumbai, Vishakhapatnam, Mumbai, Indore, Ujjain, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Jaipur and various other places were marked in the map by the boy. Next day, after completing the History exam including the questions related to the map, the kid opened the map and had a glance at the places marked. The eyes of the child rolled from east (Kolkata) to west (Ahmedabad). The small gentle hands moved over the map with a hope that it would physically travel to see these places in reality one day by its own efforts. The bell rang at 11:00hrs signalling the close of exam hours. The kid handed over the paper to the invigilator and exited the room. After buying a slice of mango for Re.1 the child walked on its way back to his house.

The path was not easy. It needed God’s blessings and even money, most of all patience. It was a patient 15 year wait. As years went by, the kid completed schooling and bachelor’s degree. Suffered during recession in 2008-2009 and then got a proper job. Saved some amount of money every month for future and saved some money for trips as well. Right now in the year 2011, the kid is now 25 years old and ready to board 12610 Bangalore-Chennai Express to start the journey to Ujjain.

Trip Plan:
Bangalore to Chennai by 12610 Chennai Express.

2. Chennai to Bhopal by 12615 Grand Trunk Express(GT)

3. Bhopal to Ujjain by passenger.

4. Ujjain to Ahmedabad by Shanti Express.

Ahmedabad to Yeshwantpur by YPR special.

Date: 16^th April, 2011

Location: Bangalore Railway Station, Karnataka state, India.

I arrived at Bangalore Railway station at 6AM, almost 2 hours before the scheduled departure of my train. As usual, I roamed around the station drooling at electric locomotives and even spotted two WAP-7 series locomotive. I have the habit of noting down train engine numbers, but as I grew up I lost interest in noting numbers. My train 12610 Bangalore-Chennai Express had a delayed departure by 3 minutes, but it didn’t matter much to me. The train was hauled by a WAP-7 locomotive and I was travelling in AC Chair car located in the middle of the train. Without wasting time, I switched ON my GPS in my mobile and monitored the speed. GPS consumed lots of power in my battery, so I had my mobile charger plugged on all the way up to Chennai. It was a pleasure to watch the train blasting at 110kph. The route was scenic and this was the first time I was travelling in Bangalore-Chennai route in daylight after nearly 16 years. I had travelled only thrice in Chennai-Bangalore route in my life so far, once in 1994 by Brindavan Express, in September-2010 by Kaveri Express and now I am travelling to Chennai again by Chennai Express.

It has always been a passion for me to observe travel movements in GPS maps and I eagerly waited to watch the border crossing LIVE in my navigator.

As my train simply blasted at high speed, the red dot in my navigator moved slowly towards Tamilnadu border. I watched it live in my navigator as the red dot indicating my position crossed the border lines and it was a heavenly feeling to be in your home state. Sometimes, travellers experience ‘feels-like home’ experience when their train enter home state/territory. I use to feel the same when my train enters Karnataka, Tamilnadu and West Bengal.

Posing with WDM-x at Chennai Central.

I had breakfast comprising of two cutlets and chutney. The train reached Jolarpettai (JTJ) at 10:42AM. WAG-7#28028, WAG-7#27776, WAG-7#27904 were seen just before entering JTJ from Bangalore side. Spotted WAP-4#22661 with a passenger and WAG-5HB#23402 with a goods train at Jolarpettai (JTJ) outer. The run was very good and I really enjoyed the speed. As my train neared Vaniyambadi, WAG-9#31107 crossed my train with a BCNA rake. At Vinnamangalam, WAG-5#23588 was spotted hauling a parcel rake. As my train neared Tiruvallur, I had a mini-lunch comprising of Veg-Biriyani and it was a forgettable experience. It wasn’t so great but I couldn’t get any better item so I settled with Biriyani for the time-being.

A middle aged lady was sitting next to me and she spoke first to me stating that I looked like her son very much. I just smiled at her as I didn’t know how to respond to a stranger as I always prefer to be 'reserved' when it comes to strangers that too especially when I travel alone. She was interactive and she told that she was travelling back to Chennai after seeing her son who works at Bangalore. On further conversation, I learnt that she was a widow and currently lives with her brother in Chennai while her son works at Bangalore. She was an orthodox woman I believe as she had vermillion powder on her face and dressed up neatly in typical South Indian Brahmin style. Her son loved a girl from Gwalior of Rajasthani origin but still she had approved it and now her son is happily settled in his life at Bangalore. I believe the lady didn’t have much company in her life as she was sharing her personal life with some unknown person who looks like her son. Though there are many castes, reservations and religious sentiments in India, there is no such barrier when you are travelling in Indian Railways. You are welcome to show signs at a nearby small child or a baby, lift it, play, shout and sing cinema songs. I believe such things aren’t possible even in the western world.

My train reached Chennai Central (MAS) bang on time at 14:40hrs. The lady requested me to carry her luggage till the station entrance as she couldn’t lift. But her younger brother was already there waiting at the coach entrance so I handed over to him. The person looked at me in a surprised manner. Maybe he thought that I looked like his ‘nephew’. My friend Vimalakar (IRFCA-MAS) was waiting right in front of the coach and gave a warm welcome. We wasted no time and immediately rushed to Ratna Cafe to find if Chilli Parotta is available. Sadly, it wasn’t available and I need to settle for some ordinary Parotta at Saravana Bhavan. We waited for few minutes and Aswin Kumar (IRFCA-MAS) joined us. We spent some time chatting and Vimalakar left around 4PM as he had personal work. The lunch was sponsored by Vimalakar.

Grand Trunk Express negotiating Sewagram curve

Aswin and I spent some time roaming around Chennai Central station taking some photos, cracking jokes, gossiping etc. The rake of 12615 Chennai Central-New Delhi Grand Trunk Express was shunted at 17:45hrs itself. After spending some time inside the coach, Aswin wished me good luck and left. From here on, I was all alone for the rest of the trip.

Grand Trunk Express had an on dot departure. The train was hauled by ET WAP-4#22755. I ordered dinner and it never came even after crossing Gudur. This agitated me a bit and I purchased curd rice packet from a vendor at Gudur platform. As the train departed from Gudur, the vendor came with dinner. I wasn’t in a mood to argue with him for the delay and purchased that as well and had one heavy dinner! The dinner served had two roties, curd, dal, some sabji and rice. Rice was pathetic and the rest were good. A Muslim family was accompanying me- a gentleman named Taufiq, a boy named Aslam and his two younger sisters.

I was awake till Nellore and I went to bed only to wake up at Tenali. I was awake for a few minutes and wasn’t really interested in rail fanning so I hit the sack again around midnight hours. GT was nearing Manchiryal in Andhra Pradesh, when I got up and the early morning climate was good.

Throughout the day, the weather was good and pleasant.WAG-7# 27038 was hauling military rake which was spotted before Balharshah. As the train neared Sewagram, I got ready to take a snap of the curve and went to the door. Sewagram is well known and famous for a 90 degree curve the train negotiates on its way to Delhi. Comfortably seated at the door, I took a few snaps of the Sewagram curve using my camera mobile. It is always a treat to see a train negotiating a curve.

GT reached Nagpur bang on time! The run was good. It had a lot of stops, but still the train had a lot of quality with it. WDM-x#17338 locomotive was spotted with a caboose, a narrow gauge loco ZDM-3B#180 was spotted alone in a narrow gauge line and the platform was flooded with Sev Puri/Panipur vendors. My mouth did water, but I was a bit concerned about the hygiene, so I didn't eat anything. WAG-7#27409 and 31153 were other locomotive spottings at Nagpur station.

After deparing from Nagpur, GT had a halt of nearly 20 mins at a station named Teegaon at 1430hrs. This was a rare opportunity as I got a chance to observe a machine laying railway track and photographed the same as well. There were a college group from Tamilnadu travelling along with us in the compartment and every time the train went inside a tunnel they were yelling at top of their voices. Even the girls whistled and that surprised me as I always had the opinion that the girls of Tamilnadu were shy and conservative.

My train reached Bhopal at 19:20hrs. I kept my foot on Bhopal and Madhya Pradesh became the 10^th Indian state in my travels. I found an accommodation near the railway over bridge close to railway track. It cost me Rs.800 for non-AC (24 hrs). But I would be staying there only for 9 hours. But I had no choice. My plan was to leave for Ujjain the next day morning passenger. Since this was a new place, I was also a bit concerned about safety. So I settled for this expensive lodge.

After taking a good bath, I went to the restaurant below and had Roti/dal with onion salad for dinner. I love rotis since my childhood and I really enjoyed it. After dinner, I tuned into Kolkata Knight Riders versus Rajasthan Royals IPL match on Sony Max. KKR bundled up Rajasthan for less than 100 and won the match comfortably. Considering the fact, that I love Kolkata very much and being the most favourite city of mine in all of my travels it was a treat to watch.


Teegaon, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Raju's Temple Visit Website link

2011-07-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

Hi friends,

Please check this link:

http://shanthiraju.wordpress.com/

Lots of information is given about temples. It's an exhaustive database. All directions, informations, specialities about temples are given in this link. Please find time to go through the website line-by-line and character-by-character, otherwise we all would be missing something.

We must appreciate the time and effort taken.

Regards,
Krishna Kumar.S

My Thoughts-Random updates from my end

2011-07-23T00:54:00.000-07:00

Got nearly 17 travelogues pending. It's been a month and I haven't moved out anywhere. There wasn't time even to update/modify grammatical errors in my travelogue. Planned to read about temples in a weekend and even that was not possible. Hopefully, when I get time next I must finish the long pending tasks of writing travelogues. Working as a developer in Indian service industry could be challenging and not many know about it. But I love my job.

* My ambition now is to work hard and save money for a DSLR camera. I don't want to use the money in my savings or ask my father. I must work with dedication in the righteous manner and save for the camera. Hopefully, during a lean period I could travel to Kumbakonam, Sirkazhi, Tirunangur, Thanjavur and Tiruchi again with my camera.

* The cost is my 26th birthday this time due to sudden work. I would be completing 25 years and I did celebrate the silver jubilee year in style traveling, working, interacting with various communities. I would be very busy this time for my birthday and it is likely to be a silent affair. It's disappointing that I can't sign off in a grand manner. But never know about the last minute surprises! I am no shy person, when it comes to birthday celebrations. I had been to my favourite temple at Madurantakam every time since 2009 on my birthday. This time it would be Bangalore and I would be celebrating it with my colleagues. It is disappointing that I can't be at Madurantakam for my birthday.

* I think considering the difficulties, occupational hazards, ill-luck I have faced in life, I think I have extracted the most from life to reach a stable situation all alone by myself. I know I could do better than this.

* I take immense pride of being a citizen of Tamilnadu. Am happy that I got a chance to visit few temples of Madurai, Tiruchi, Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Kanchipuram and Mayavaram. I have seen only a few and the list is endless.The architecture of temples are fantastic, amazing, speachless and awesome. The sculptors who lived many thousand years ago had the vision to depict the Gods in idols. They are true architects. I was living life in a simple way, but I grew ambitious in my career to become an architect in software industry after visiting these temples. There is not much of difference between architects of temples and software. Both needs following qualities:

1. Complete ownership of the task and responsibility to deliver.

2. Aesthetic sense to imagine and create value-add's. Let it be a simple 'Kamadhenu' statue or a J2EE application.

3. Purity in oneself. This reflects dedication. No one can create a Shiva idol, unless they enjoy visualizing the God. Most of all, one needs to be pure at heart to imagine God in mind and sense before taking his tools to shape the stone. Likewise, a software engineer needs to be pure in his thoughts too. Knowledge should be his priority. Onsite chances, money, H1B filling nor perks shouldn't be his priority.

This is what it takes to be an architect or a technical leader in any field. One should cultivate the habit of creating solutions. I know I lack this a bit. I am currently working on it.

When anyone visits any temple in any India, one should appreciate the architects first. They are the ones who were able to visualize God. Even God believed that they deserve a lot in life and hence appeared in their vision to allow them to create an image. What the architects saw in their divine vision is what appears as image and we see them today. We should be thankful to them. I take immense pride and motivation from the temples. Whatever I have done in software industry so far, is a tribute to the sculptors of temples of Madurai, Tiruchi, Kanchipuram, Kumbakonam and Mayavaram. I want to dedicate my achievements to them. I am motivated to create solutions from them by seeing their images and drawings on the walls of temples.

These temples have given me mental peace, happiness and satisifaction since childhood. I think now it is time to return the debt. I wanted to create a blog and share information with general public. This was done. But a website sounds more good ? I always dreamnt that I could create a website exclusively for temples sharing information about legends, its significance, sthala puranams, story of existence, good photos, its specialities and praise the presiding deity. I hope one day I would be a good software engineer who could design and architect the temple website building it from the scratch by deploying my own frameworks and database technologies. It involves a lot of complications, requires patience and most of all time. But it would be unfair on my part to betray the sculptors this honor.

At least to achieve this, I must succeed in my career. For my God at least.

It's been 25 years and I have traveled to quite a few places. It is time to show maturity. Considering the fact that I have lived with various linguistic groups, I have learnt a lot from them. Going forward, I must display character and honor all those who have created me. People should proudly say,''This man lived with me and he is my friend". I must develop patience and be kind to everyone even at times of high pressure. What is the use of seeing places when I can't develop the art of keeping myself in control ? I should prioritize values over monetary benefits. Whatever knowledge I have, I must share.

Hoping one day I would make my home state Tamilnadu proud...

Signing off,

Birthday boy.....

a.k.a Junior KK

Enchanting Tamilnadu-Kumbakonam & Mayavaram

2011-07-16T21:27:00.000-07:00

Someswar Temple premises, Kumbakonam.

17th June, 2011.
Bangalore, Karnataka.

I had limited time to make a decision. My work got over as per my expectations and I had free time. I was wondering what to do in the weekend and I decided that I should travel to Kumbakonam to see few temples in neighbouring state of Tamilnadu. Travelling by trains in Indian Railways is advisable and it is more safe. It is also cheap. Bus fares are pretty much expensive and to reduce cost I generally travel by ordinary buses even though long journeys are full of discomfort as seats don't have push-back facilities. Since I work in Bangalore now (Karnataka) and considering the fact that there is only one train that connects me to Tiruchi, Kumbakonam, Mayavaram and Thanjavur, most of my journeys to these places are by buses as I rarely get tickets by train. Most of my journeys are unplanned and cancelling tatkal tickets could be costly just incase if I had work.

Someswarer Temple, Kumbakonam.

Few points which I would like to express:
1. Biggest constraint is time. I feel that 24 hours is not enough for me. My hobbies of playing computer games, reading in wikipedia/googling about temples, googling about various cultures, sleeping, blogging, progamming at workplace keeps me busy always. During the times of work pressure, I keep myself self motivated and cheerful by having a look at photos taken during my past travels. I thoroughly enjoy all of my travels to villages, temple towns and cities of India. It has been a great source of learning by interacting with various people belonging to different ethnicity and cultural groups. It has helped me shaping my career as well. Whenever I approach a problem or a task, I approach it with certain interest, dedication, responsibility and most of all consider it as a learning experience. The case was different when I was at school where I studied and believed that marks mean a lot. In those days recognition was important to me. But as days went by, when I started travelling and came across various people, I learnt that life was a journey and not a destination. There are few tasks which would still be incomplete always and it is not possible to achieve everything. I accepted/learnt the fact that the journey called life was a learning experience and it would be so till the soul departs the world. My ambition is to see the entire country 'India' and visit atleast one important place in every state. Even this seems to be tough now, especially when I become a family man in the next couple of years. It's not easy to take my wife wherever I go,few places aren't safe, dangerous, undeveloped and climatically not suitable for women. It would be unfair to leave her at home and see places on my own. So whatever I see during my bachelor days is a benefit. After that things would be selective. Slogging for 12 hours in workplace, studying for competency improvement, family would definitely take priority over my hobbies. I don't regret nor feel for it as this is the law of nature. That's my strong belief. Everything needs to be experienced, maybe not all can be enjoyed in a complete manner. Seriously, 24 hrs is not enough for me practice my hobbies!!

Someswarer Temple, Kumbakonam.

2. The second constraint I face is finance. I strongly believe in savings and a good amount of money should be saved for future. Due to tight work schedule, most of the time I book tickets for my travels only two days in advance. Even if I book in advance, I am canceling at the last moment(cancellation charges apply) as sometimes I work in weekends. If I am booking only two days in advance, there is no availability in trains and I travel by buses whose fare are generally twice that of train fare. Ordinary buses are economical, but are of less comfort. Night journeys could be a nightmare! A travel to Kumbakonam from Bangalore in Karnataka state owned KSRTC bus costs Rs.500/- plus (one way) and accomodation/food expenses ranging from Rs.200/- to 500/- per day(food expense and lodge charges varies depending on choice). If you are rich enough to rent a car, the charges are Rs.800 for half day and Rs.1500/- for the entire day. However, if I was lucky enough to plan in advance and take a train, I would be saving close to Rs.600/-in travels !! There is also one more disadvantage that the train that connects Bangalore with Kumbakonam/Tiruchi is 6231/6232 Mysore-Mayiladuthurai Express departs Bangalore at 19:05hrs whereas my work officially ends at 20:00 or at 20:30hrs.

3. Another disadvantage is Indian mentality and corporate culture. If you leave office at 6PM, it is considered early. Taking leave is considered a sin! As per company policy, I am entitled for 21 planned leaves and 5 sick leaves. That makes a total of 26. Last year, I had used only 7 or 8 and rest lapsed (as per policy). I can't even take a couple of days off and enjoy visiting these places peacefully. I still remember once I got a call from one dumb guy when I was having darshan of Tayumanavar swami on top of Tiruchi rockfort. Without any sense of regret, not realizing the fact that I was OFFICIALLY off business, the guy was blaming me for no fault of mine. For rest of my vacation, I was wondering what was happening in my absence and even worried as most guys generally adopt to unfair means of getting a 'good name' at workplace when an employee is not around. Sometimes when I visit temples, I do pray to God to save me from all these inconsequential maniacs, creatures who really don't have enough of maturity and broad outlook in life. I don't mind getting a call asking for solution, or for help or even for assistance, but talking without sense is not acceptable.

Covering temples of Madurai, Tiruchi, Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, Mayavaram, Sirkazhi and Kanchipuram is now my dream. There are lots of temples and these shouldn't be visited for the sake of numbers! Temples should be visited and enjoyed in an aesthetic sense, studying,/analyzing the story and legend behind it. It would take several weeks, months and many days to see the above mentioned places properly. It is also practically a bit impossible.

Someswarer Temple, Kumbakonam.

For those who are planning to see the above mentioned 6-7 places in Tamilnadu, my best advice is take a week off and book your tickets in train. Covering each place separately is considered the best option as it is humanly impossible to cover them all in a single visit. Collect information well in advance! If you are taking car, then it could be expensive but task becomes a bit easier. For those who are renting cars or travelling by bus please prioritize your temples. It may not be possible to visit all temples in one go or one trip, but still you can always come back multiple times and cover them all in steps just like what I intend to do in future.

For example: I have visited Kumbakonam twice now, but managed to cover 9 Navagraha temples and temples inside Kumbakonam. I plan to cover the remaining in subsequent trips! The same holds good for Madurai, Tiruchi, Kanchipuram and Mayavaram where I have seen a few and missed a lot. Hope to cover them in future.

Kumbakonam has always been a delightful experience. Sarangapani Temple, Kumbakonam.

I think I have given quite an elaborate introduction before I start my travelogue! The reason is travelling is not easy. I need to face all the above constraints(mentioned as 1,2 and 3). Amidst all such constraints I started my journey to Kumbakonam from Bangalore for a 2-day trip. The plan was to cover close to 15 temples, but ended covering only 10. I also preferred not to hurry up for the sake of numbers, but instead spent quality time at the temple and enjoying. My bus's departure was at 22:00hrs at Shantinagar Bus stand and I arrived nearly 1 hour in advance. One thing I need to appreciate about KSRTC is that ticket checking is promptly done. Photo ID proof is mandatory and even PNR numbers are checked/compared! Drivers are also proud and they bear "KSRTC" tag on their shirts. I even noticed one having the state name "Karnataka" inscribed beautifully on the shoulders. I got impressed with KSRTC by seeing the uniform.

Sarangapani Temple, Kumbakonam.

We had an on the dot departure at 22:00hrs. The journey was a bit slow as the bus negotiated through Wilson Garden, Madiwala and Hosur road. Bangalore had a lot of traffic in such places even at midnight! As my bus entered Hosur Main Road, the traffic jam eased a bit and my bus picked up speed. Since my childhood I always had a fascination to observe the border post between two states. Generally, I stay awake and watch the "Welcome to Tamilnadu" sign and then prefer to sleep! Roughly around 23:00hrs, my bus crossed Karnataka-Tamilnadu border and entered my beloved homestate Tamilnadu. I was awake till Hosur and then dozed off. When I woke up my bus was somewhere near Namakkal. I opened my GPS in mobile and found that I still had more than 200km to go to reach Kumbakonam.

The bus reached Tiruchi at 06:00hrs. The ride between Tiruchi and Tanjore was fantastic. Roads were wide, clean and my bus kept 60kph consistently. The journey between Tanjore and Kumbakonam wasn't so great as the roads were not so good, but considerably good. It was 0815hrs in the morning when my bus reached Kumbakonam. I managed to get an accomodation near the bus stand itself in a hotel called MIM Park for Rs.199/- per day. It was a single room and toilets were good. I couldn't afford to spend much on accomodation and also it wasn't a wise choice to go for deluxe/AC/luxury as most of the time I was expected to be out travelling.

Kumbakonam has always been a delightful experience for any traveller.

My first aim was to have coffee and some good food. Vada, Pongal, chutney and filter coffee made my day. Kumbakonam coffee is quite famous and I am happy that I got another chance to taste it. I had already visited Adhi Kumbeshwarer, Ramasamy, Oppiliappan, Nageswaram and Ayyawadi. So my wish was to see other temples. Hiring an auto could be expensive, so instead I preferred to walk on foot. I also got a chance to witness some town life. People looked amazingly simple, cheerful and energetic. That's one of the many things which I enjoy observing in towns of Tamilnadu.

I did have an knowledge about location of temples, but not a map. I consulted the general public for directions and found my way.

Animals inside Sarangapani temple.

Here is a brief description about the temples I visited:

* Someswarer Temple, Kumbakonam.
The first temple which I visited on that day was Someswarer Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. While I didn't make a note of 'Swami and Thayaar's name', I enjoyed the darshan and the environment. Someswar temple is located near Sri Sarangapani Temple. The architectural style and element of this temple resembles the Dravidian Architecture of 13th Century of the Chola period.

Kasi Viswanathar Temple, Kumbakonam.

* Sarangapani Temple, Kumbakonam.
Sarangapani Temple is located at Kumbakonam Bazaar Street, dedicated to God Vishnu. Perumal is in sleeping posture. It is one of the Pancha Ranga kshetrams.

* Nageswarer Temple, Kumbakonam.
Nageshwaran temple is dedicated to God Shiva in the guise of Nagaraja, the serpent King.

'Dwajasthambam' of one of the temples at Kumbakonam.

* Chakrapani Temple, Kumbakonam.
The main deity is Lord Vishnu with Sudharsana Chakra.

* Kasi Viswanathar Temple, Kumbakonam.
Kasi Viswanathar Temple is located very near to the Mahamaham Tank. The main Deity is one of the Shiva Avatar Kasi Viswanathar & Visalakshi.

Though I didn't visit Adi Kumbeshwar and Ramasamy Temple during this visit, I would like to mention a few words about them as well.

* Adi Kumbeshwarer Temple is related to 'Pralayam'. It is believed that all seeds of life forms were kept in a pot(kumbham) by God as a safety vault. When 'pralaya kaalam(destruction)' came the world got destroyed due to storms, floods and extreme natural calamities. All life forms were destroyed but to start the process of creation again, seeds were needed and these were present inside the pot. The pot floated on water towards Kumbakonam. Lord Shiva in the form of an hunter shot an arrow to break the pot and living beings were born from the seeds. Gradually, the world became inhabited again with life. Hence the place is known as Kumbakonam as 'Kumbham' refers to the pot in Tamil language. There are beautiful paintings inside the temples depicting this story.

* Ramasamy Temple is dedicated to Lord Ram and it is located near Adi Kumbeshwarer temple. The entire story of Ramayana is depicted on the walls of the temples. There is a good hotel named 'Archana' on the same street from the entrance. I enjoyed having Chilli Parotta here.

Timings of Nageswarer temple, Kumbakonam, Tamilnadu.

By 1PM, I returned back to my lodge near bus stand in a mini-bus. The ticket cost Rs.2/-. It was better compared to auto which would have cost Rs.40/-. Enjoyed Parottas for lunch and after taking rest for a couple of hours at around 15:40hrs, I started towards Mannargudi. This was a good journey amidst lush green fields, wells, goats, cattle and dogs. State highways and roads in rural Tamilnadu look beautiful. The trees on either side with a white band on its body(waist) adds more beauty. All these were small things which I enjoyed watching.

Kasi Viswanathar Temple, Kumbakonam.

Most of the bus conductors were kind and gentle unlike the one in cities who drive with a lot of frustration. Unless one is really unlucky, you will never find a bad guy. At around 5PM, I reached Mannargudi after travelling close to 35km from Kumbakonam. The temple was huge and beautiful. It was dedicated to Lord Vishnu and lot of paintings related to Krishna, Ram were found on the walls. The darshan was satisfying. The Lord was seen with His consorts. There was a painting which described the story of 4 different youth who prayed to Lord Rajagopalaswami and became Engineers, Doctor, Scientist and a professor respectively. There was another painting which described the story of a young women who prayed to God and got a good husband. It is also believed that childless couples would get a progeny by praying at the Lord's lotus feet!

By 8PM I was back at Kumbakonam and was lucky enough to taste Chilli Parotta at Hotel Archana. My day ended!

19th June, 2011 was a Sunday. I got up early at 4AM. At around 04:45hrs I managed to board a bus bound towards Chidambaram. The next temple in my list was Tirumancheri Kalyana Sundreshwarer near Kuttalam. The distance between Kuttalam and Kumbakonam was close to 20km. At Kuttalam Junction, I managed to board a share taxi for Rs.30/- and travelled to Tirumancheri which was 4km away from Kuttalam junction. Eventhough, I reached the temple at 6AM, it took 3.5 hours for me to complete my darshan.

I noticed one malpratice here! A garland, two coconuts, tamarind/vermillion power, banana cost Rs.120/- ! Government itself sells flowers, garlands, coconuts inside the temple, but that shop opens only after 8AM. The temple opens only at 7:30AM. Even though I reached early, lots of time was wasted and pooja became only at 8:30hrs. After having darshan at all sannidhi's, I immediately left the temple in a hurry to cover some temples in Mayavaram. On the way back, visited Uktha Veedishwarer temple near Kuttalam Jn. The temple looked a bit old. As I entered the temple, I saw abhishekham being performed on the lingam. I was able to feel the presence of God. After deepa aradhanai, I took a stroll around the temple and clicked some photos. I prayed to God that I should get a good increment so that I could buy a nice digital SLR camera or Point & shoot camera through which I could take good photos of temples.

There is no point in asking my father. He would definitely give me. But what is the fun in that? I must learn to priroritize my life. Save some for future, save some for my kids, put it in Fixed Deposit, work hard at work place, tackle occupational hazards in the righteous sense as far as possible, save the rest and then buy a camera. It would give a sense of satisfaction as well.

Kasi Viswanathar Temple, Kumbakonam.

Catching a bus I reached Mayavaram at 10:00PM. Had ghee roast and it was fantastic. By 12'o clock all temples would be closed and I had very limited time. I knew that I can't cover entire Mayavaram now, instead visited Mayooranathar and Parimala Ranganathar temple alone.

Ramasamy Koil, Kumbakonam.

It was really great to see Perumal in lying posture. It was so majestic. I was certainly a changed man when I walked out of the temple. Nowadays everyone believes Information Technology and Computer Science are the only course in colleges/universities which gives boon and money. Maybe yes, but such people can't really comment those in Mechanical or Civil Engineering branches as losers. Even God himself, took avtar and built a bridge between India and Rameswaram in Treta Yuga during Ramayana period. Even the country which outsources i.e US's premier Space agency NASA has accepted the legend of Ramayana. If He had felt that Java, .NET, javascript, Oracle to be the only means of future he would have certainly designed a computer virus to destroy Ravana's empire. Whenever he takes avtar, he comes in different roles, takes different designations to prove a point to mankind. It is not wise to comment anything negative about any Engineering or science/field that we aren't aware of. Everything is good, but it depends on how one takes it.

Now, if a 20 year old youngster reads this post, he would think I am crazy and nuts. I don't really bother about it. I am free to talk about my Creator. But the irony is a 40 year old person in United States or even non-Indians would agree to this, but sad part is the ex-Chief Minister of Tamilnadu would question,"In which Engineering college did Lord Ram graduate from ? " This incident really happenned some time back setting an abysmal example of culturally rich Tamilnadu.

Nowadays, in the Indian marriage market a boy having an H1-B visa is preferred. Nothing wrong in that opinion. But is it wise to comment about anyone earning less and working in Government sector ? Only great Lord Ram of Madurantakam must bless such people with wisdom. LOL !

Raja Gopalaswami Koil, Mannargudi, 33km from Kumbakonam.

A short note on Mayooranathar Temple, Mayavaram(Source: Google):
This is a vast and well maintained temple with a beautiful tank, several gopurams and mandapams in the town of Mayiladuturai (Mayuram). This is a temple of great religious significance and is a hub in the temple belt of Tamilnadu. Several Shivastalams are located in the vicinity of Mayiladuturai. Legend has it that Dakshayani (Parvati) took the form of a peacock after her father’s Daksha Yagnam and worshipped Shiva here; Shiva is said to have taken a peacock form, performed the Gowri Tandavam and united with her here. Mayuranathar is believed to have quelled the Kaveri floods to make way for Sambandar.

Gopuram of Mannargudi Raja Gopalaswami Temple.

A short note on Parimala Ranganathar Temple, Mayavaram(Source: Google):
This is considered to be one of the 5 Pancharangams, the other four being Srirangapatnam (Karnataka), Srirangam, a temple near Anbil and Kumbakonam(Sarangapani) (along the course of the river Kaveri).

Gopuram of Mannargudi Raja Gopalaswami Temple.

Legend has it that the demons Madhu and Kaitabha stole the Vedas, and disappeared into the sea; Vishnu came down in the form of Matsya avataram and restored the vedas, and restored their fragrance, hence the name Sugandharanyam and Parimala Ranganathar and Parimala Ranganayaki. Legend also has it that Chandra (the moon) was cured of an affliction after bathing in the Kaveri and offering worship here.

Gopuram of Mannargudi Raja Gopalaswami Temple.

There are many more information available about these temples in Google. Few information could be wrong, but we can always consult known people and learn about glorious tales of Kumbakonam and Mayavaram.

Elephant at Mannargudi Temple.

On my way back, I had a cool drink at Najim's store. Najim was a Muslim and was well versed in temples. He directed me for cost effective mean to reach Vallalar Temple, but it was already 12 so dropped the plan. Najim was certainly a great person. I would like to mention his words here,"Ayya, I am Muslim. But I still know some thing about other religions. There is nothing wrong in learning about any God. I know the names of my ancestor for past 5 generations. Someone 5 generation back would have converted to Islam". This was the first time, I came across a person who was frank when expressing his opinions about religion.

Kalyana Sundereshwarer, Tirumanancheri.

After visiting these two temples at Mayavaram, I went to a small hotel on the road side. It looked decent and hygienic. I ordered for one Ghee roast and 2 Parottas. Raita was tasty. Really enjoyed the food. In one-hour, I was back at Kumbakonam. I knew I can't cover Kumbakonam or Mayavaram in a single trip. Considering the number of temples, it may take several visits/lot of leaves from office work. But I want to enjoy and visit temples, not for sheer numbers or for count of Divya Desams/Thevara Padal Petra Sthalams.

Turkey !! Location: Tirumanancheri.

Uktha Veedishwarer Koil, Kuttalam Junction near Mayavaram.

Side-entrance to Mayooranathar Temple, Mayavaram.

Parimala Ranganathar Temple entrance, Mayavaram.

At around 8PM in the night, I had dinner of Masala dosas and 2 vadas and boarded a KSRTC bus back to Bangalore. At around 5:45AM, the bus crossed the Tamilnadu-Karnataka border. A sign board read,"Thanks for visiting Tamilnadu". A few drop of water rolled down from my eyes.

-Krishna Kumar.S
a.k.a Junior KK
IRFCA-SBC

Tamilnadu-Land of temples

2011-06-22T12:31:00.000-07:00

I recently returned from a trip to Kumbakonam and Mayavaram last weekend. The trip was successful as primary objective(Tirumanancheri) was achieved, however due to lack of time, most of the temples which were in the travel list were not covered. But I believe that temples should be explored in an aesthetic manner, without rushing for the sake of numbers and should be enjoyed in an aesthetic sense. While I don't approve Tamilnadu's anti-brahmin attitude(google for more information) and silly politics, I should honestly accept the fact that I respect TN primarily due to wonderful temples and some great people who live in regions of Mayavaram, Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, Trichy, Kanchipuram and Madurai. People are amazingly simple, kind and if you ask for directions for temple they answer with involvement rather than sake of it, or else consult with the person standing next to them and then reply. This is something amazing. While I agree with the fact that culprits, pick pockets, rogues could be found everywhere in the world and danger could come from anywhere, TN appears to be a relatively stable state.

The amount of satisfaction I get while visiting temples has no bounds. Amazing and sheer bliss. Lots and lots of temples with interesting sthala puranams, story behind and how it came to existence is available either as a book or in the Internet. After doing hard work at workplace in the corporate world, I get my batteries charged up only at places like Kumbakonam, Trichy and Madurai primarily.

Covering regions like Kumbakonam, Thanjavur and Mayavaram is humanly impossible in one go! Even if you target Kumbakonam for a trip, a week may not be enough. Maybe possible to cover all but only in numbers and not in spiritual sense. It would take a good 30mins to 2 hours for each temple depending on size, crowd and sculptures/things to see.

I am currently collecting information about temples in the following areas/regions and I hope to cover them in future trips. I may need to travel multiple times to the same place to cover temples as I can travel only during weekends and I need to return back to my city(for work) which is 350km far from these places. Weekends are just not enough! Considering the amount of money invested in buses, if properly planned in advance I can save some money by traveling in train as trains are cheap.

Regions to be covered:-

* Temples around Madurai.

* Most temples around Tiruchi have been covered. Planning to cover temples along Tiruchi-Kulithalai-Erode section.

* Thanjavur and temples between Thanjavur-Tiruchi and Thanjavur-Kumbakonam.

* Kumbakonam-This is massive and it requires a lot of days! A weekend is just not enough. There are many temples around Kumbakonam and it would be a wonderful experience to travel in and around Kumbakonam.

* Mayavaram/Sirkazhi-Thirunangur(11 Divya desams) and other nearby areas are in plan.

* Kanchipuram-Not to miss. Kanchipuram is also a must for any temple lover.

While I have visited all these places earlier, I still didn't have enough time in the past to cover all sites due to sheer number of temples present in these areas. So with the blessings of God, when I travel next again I hope to see the temples to which I haven't been even once. While I would love to do it again and see a few again, but still the unknown seems to be more exciting.

The real spice or taste lies in the fact that it is more enjoyable that if you read the history/wonders about a temple and then visit it. The joy is endless! Happy visiting temples folk.

God bless Tamilnadu!

Good luck.

Anything for Chicago, but nothing for Gobichettipalyam

2011-06-11T11:01:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Today is the day I decided that I should write an article with some humor, crime, dedication, professionalism and evil. There is no better example than Indian IT Service industry :-). This article hasn't got a specific subject nor a story nor any message intended, it is just a description of events about how life goes in Indian IT industry. It would be a good sort of entertainment and we should all laugh it out. Though few incidents mentioned here are a bit serious, please do read it as a comedy.

Before starting with this article, due to my strong personal convictions I would like to say the following:
1. I am from Chennai(Tamilnadu) and I love my home state Tamilnadu just like Jharkhand, Orissa, Kerala and other states of India.
2. I appreciate good code of conduct and value it more than money. One should carry themselves with dignity.
3. I understand that Software Engineering is a great field and it is privilege to be called a Developer as Developers are architects of Software and they create solutions. Creation is a tough task than destruction.
4. I personally don't approve forming affinity groups. (Tamil speaking with Tamil, Telugu sitting with Telugu only). Knowledge could be gained only if you interact with good Engineers.

For those who are not working in IT industry must go through the following points without missing any of them. Let me know how much you know about it. I bet that you won't know all.

1. Software Engineer is a general term. Within software industry there are many roles and designations depending on which career path and learning curve varies. They can be broadly classified into the following types: Developer, Tester, Support Member. A developer is the one who writes codes in a computer language like Java, C, C++ and creates a software. A tester is the person who tests the software created by Developer and approves whether it meets the requirements. A support staff are the one who are primarily involved in assisting the above mentioned Developer and Tester and apart from that they may or may not take care of infrastructure duties like maintaining systems, computers, performing disk cleanups and many activities even not related to project.

2. Projects are of many types: Development, Enhancement, Maintenance, Support, Testing. Development offers the maximum learning growth, while Enhancement and Maintenance gives a good exposure to technologies. Development is about creating software. Enhancement and Maintenance involves making changes to existing software. Support is the one which could hinder an employee's growth if the job is primarily about writing emails. Testing is also a good career option as it generally requires a mindset to find a bug or an error in the application. Generally, Developers switch companies often as they have enough knowledge and they can survive in any environment.

3. Let's describe the IT industry. Indian IT giants like Infosys, TCS, Cognizant and many others are service oriented companies. It means they work for "others" or in business terms they work for 'clients' or 'customers'. Many US/UK banks like Bank of America, Barclays, Capital one, State Street, Standard Bank, manufacturing companies like General motors, retail outlets like Tesco, telecom/networking companies like Cisco, Alcatel Lucent, Aricent, British Telecom outsource their software needs to Indian companies as they gain profit by outsourcing them to India which has a strong workforce.

Companies like Oracle, Google, Cisco, Cienna, Microsoft could be defined as product companies as they don't work in service line like Indian IT companies but instead work and create their own products. Product oriented companies have a good work culture compared to any Indian companies as 'American mindset' is different from 'Indian mindset'.

4. Everyone believes IT is a glamorous industry. There is other side of it. It requires a lot of hard work, talent, dedication to survive, but it depends on project and the type of role which I mentioned above. Indian companies are customer driven and the truth is they can't make their own decisions always but often brand themselves as No.1. Customer or the client has the last laugh always. If the customer says the entire application has to be rewritten(coded in Java/.NET or any language) within 5 months and deployed into production(daily use), most managers don't have the choice of saying 'No' as it will affect the brand name of the organization before prestigious clients. It may reflect as an act of cowardice or incompetency and in future more projects can't be billed if the client decides to move to another Indian service provider, for example from TCS to Cognizant. Developers are the ones who are primarily affected as they slog all night and even in weekends to meet the deadlines. While the software is in production and being used even if "One page cannot be displayed error" shows up, the matter is seriously escalated and the same needs to be resolved by the developer within few hours(most cases), else it is considered a breach of Service Level Agreement and it will impact business relations.

Those doing support, testing are primarily not affected much by such deadlines. In certain cases, Testers are also in trouble if they are not able to catch a defect during internal testing.

5. Switching companies/US Visa stamp/Onsite/Pays-Product oriented companies generally offer a good pay compared to Indian IT service companies. Indian IT companies do offer a good pay,but long term growth in an organization is impossible as 'Indian mindset' never allow mutual coexistence and it involves a lot of politics. Most employees leave an organization frustrated. Most companies start their package as 2.75 lacs(may sound glamorous) but after deductions the take home salary would be pathetic. Hikes are generally 10% hikes and they don't lead anyone anywhere. Most employees switch companies for more pay as while switching companies generally they get Rs.10K more per month(most of the cases). Indian IT companies do their business in dollars and pay employees in Indian salary. That's the way they make profit.

Working for a bigger organization you have mild job security and smaller companies offer more growth and only merit is the means of survival. Evening a bit of non-performance, an Engineer may lose the job in a smaller software company, though he may be aware of the technology. Mistakes are simply not accepted. In a smaller organization an employee will have lots of work and hence lot of growth and thereby lot of recognition. In smaller companies, an employee's salary will grow from 1.5 lacs to 3.5 lacs and even an onsite opportunity to work in US or Canada. Travelling onsite is often in service companies and not much in product companies as product companies themselves have their offices worldwide so it doesn't necessarily requires a person to travel from India to other place in most of the cases. Working with clients at onsite involves more pay as salary is in dollars and while they come back to India dollars are converted to Indian rupees. In a smaller organization, an employee works for hours and does the work of two indivduals. There is more growth and recognition as it's easy to get lost in a big organization but not in a smaller one.

Getting a US stamp visa in passport is considered a privilege. Most girls prefer only to marry such a 'man' and parents also have a mindset to give their daughters to such men as they believe that such men would give their daughters a happy and secured life. But it doesn't mean that other Software Engineers are bad or useless. Everyone are talented but the only fact is that they didn't get a chance or opportunities as such opportunities are limited and rarely without politics.

6. Test of competency- Most Indian IT companies conduct competency exams every year. So apart from working an employee should also study, gain knowledge and prove his competency. Such exams are directly linked to appraisal and hikes. The hike is generally 10%, so if an employee flunks in this exam, the company may use this as a weapon to fire the employee when it doesn't needs his contribution anymore.

Now let's explore my own life in Indian Software industry. It has seen up's and down's, successes and failures and ofcourse lot's of politics. Now it's all about how I dealt various scenarios in life.

I had lots of personal problems and responsibilities. My life was tough, but I did my best to add color to it. I haven't got siblings so I was definitely lacking experienced guidance and mentorship. So majority of my learnings in life were on my own and it involved a lot of experiments, failures before I set myself stable in life without assistance. God do exists because he did send some good professors, lecturers, some good people with interest in fine arts, some railnuts and some good Bengalis to make sure I always grew up in the right manner.I was stressed by them to focus on values more than wealth in life. This was the advice given by my mentors. Maybe that's why I think 'v' comes before 'w' even in the list of English alphabets.

I worked in a call center during recession before joining IT as a campus recruit. I put in a lot of work during my training but at the same time made some good friends as well. I was trained in Eastern India and it was an enjoyable experience. I also managed to find time seeing various places in India as it generally takes a few weeks before you start working on a project after training. My first project was the role of Analyst in a support role where I need to take care of a testing environment while testers do their job of testing. The job didn't involve much challenge, but a job is a job and job is God. That was my principle. I use to do the work allotted and then I would settle in the comfortness of my chair and starting learning Java on my own. Java is a ocean and mastering it is a tough task, but I dream of making it a reality one day. It's not for money, wealth or fame, but it's a passion to do things or rather wonders that would make things work for users across the globe. It's an art of doing things or rather to make things for someone who would be using the application in some other part of the globe. It is also a service to humanity.

For the first weeks, I was a bit free. Then I was allocated some small responsibilities. I gladly accepted, but I still continued to expand on my knowledge side by side. Even compromised on my habit of traveling and I devoted more time for expanding knowledge. Even some friends commented that I am not spending much time with them in weekends and some even told that "I have changed".. Funny. This is Chennai mindset or rather the entire South Indian. People aren't sure of what other person's journey is about but good at advising and commenting.

I was working with a couple of girls who were senior to me. Not many people in industry know that whenever something is told first, 100% of it couldn't be entirely understood. I missed a few points. While giving a playback session, I made a few mistakes. Now this was taken as a chance to lower my confidence. The two women gave me some good "firings". I was amused. I know that such things happen in industry to undermine a subordinate's confidence and take control. This is called as politics and generally done by seniors to prevent a junior's growth. By nature, I had a good command over my language, English was good and I knew how to carry myself with genuine professionals and not people who assume themselves to be professionals as they aren't true professionals. Maybe people were jealous of me because I was indeed better than most of the present day youngsters of my era. The primary reason being the fact I learnt to handle my life on my own while they were dependent on their parent's wealth.

As days progressed, I was brutally subjected to some harsh situations, but I kept my spirits up. This was the first time, I was exhibiting my own values and qualities in the corporate world. Then after a month, one senior person came and asked me," So Krishna when are you going to give your competency exam ?". My reply was "I would try to give it in May or June as the deadline is September". She replied,"You need to clear that otherwise you would be asked to leave the organization as per policy". My reply was short and sweet with a smile, "As per the policy you mentioned, the assessment needs to be given before ten months from the date of joining for an eligibility of career band progression. I would do that". The best way to handle a 'corporate guy' or an Indian IT professional is to be diplomatic, short and never let out your own opinions. Always use the word 'company policy', 'process', 'deliverable', 'industry standards' and try enjoying whatever job profile you are assigned to. While giving opinions prefer saying "company standards or industry standards". Maybe if you are talking to an American or even a UK guy you can convey your grievances, but regretfully Indians aren't so professionally understanding when it comes to talking to fellow Indians but they are more understanding while talking to the goras.

Coming back to my life....

I was working on a application and one morning it refused to respond. I was asked to investigate on it. The deadline was 30 mins. If I am not able to give a response by 30 mins, it is assumed that on-site employee in abroad should help me as sitting from Chennai I can't do much as an on-site employee can interact directly with the client and the development team. But my seniors simply denied that option. They asked me to work on it. But how much I can do as a support guy ? I am not a developer. I don't have an access to code. Without tools how will a mechanic repair a malfunctioning car ? Then another senior guy came and told me that I was entirely responsible for making it work. I had only one option. To face the battle myself. It requires a lot of courage to face defeat and the truth is victory is not possible without facing danger. I heard that employees in this project "should suggest possible reasons about why such a problem is occurring in an environment", so that the employee in on-site can followup with third party Development team and get it resolved.

To put it in lay man words it's like how suddenly Windows XP throws a blue screen error ?? Few users would comfortably restart the CPU and believe that they have solved the problem. They are good software users. The software engineers are those who prevent the blue screen error from ocurring again in this world. And non-IT Indians thought that Software Engineers get paid just like that ???? :-) .. Grow up guys!

Coming back to my story...

I was called for a meeting and before a team of 10 Engineers having more than 5 year of experience, I was insulted of being incompetent and useless. My question is what about those 10 guys with experience,they didn't have balls to volunteeer?

Why didn't they volunteeer ? Why me .. I was only a few weeks in the industry ?

The issue was resolved by itself, as it was not reproducible in the environment. And no one had an idea why it happened. But the industry expectation is that juniors must learn the art of solving things.

I showed my character here and I am proud. I decided to face it all by myself than tamely submitting or shying away. This is a deliberate attempt by most Indian software companies when they hire freshers. They target to shatter their confidence first during initial stages, so that an employee may not be able to think by himself but rather be a robot to be controlled by someone else for some purpose to meet their needs. When an employee loses courage, he can be easily manipulated.

After few months, there was another big issue. As usual, I had no access to code. But I had balls !!

I didn't have enough knowledge. But not many knew that I was a good network engineer as well apart from being a software Engineer. The problem was due to a IP address mismatch. Recently, there was a change and that change wasn't reflected in all files. Once it was done, things were fine. Now that I was nurturing optimism, I knew people would do something to hinder my growth because I was thinking on my own. LOL !

My next task was to go and sit in conference room where there was a big Video screen. I would wait till all on site employees gather and take seat. Once they have gathered I would go down to first floor from 5th floor and inform my entire team. This was another deliberate act to give a job "below my competency" and to make myself feel small. The company would then give a normal appraisal rating and do cost cutting on my salary as a higher appraisal rating meant higher salary. This is one of the crucial stages of career where one shouldn't lose touch with his technical skills.

Most of the times the entry level employees were working hard while the 1-yr exp or 2-yr old would go to gym, coffee day, barista, cafeteria, DJ hall and try to enhance their flirting skills with all facilities provided by the organization itself. It depends on project. If you are in development, you won't get time, but if you are doing other type of duties, then there are lots of girls and recreation centers to do all these things!

I remember one scenario in which I was preparing a report while a bunch of girls were at the back gossiping about which movie actor looks good! And one of them replied,"Kamal Hasan is still good, in the movie Meendum Gokila he appears with a 'banian' with arms, while most men nowadays wear 'banian' without arms. It's sexy!". "I think he is working-out even at this age too."

I couldn't help myself but controlled my laugh. And after some time she would come and ask for status of incident. I can't do much against her as she was assigned by manager to mentor me and ofcourse all such politics are common in Chennai working environment as the city by itself lacks an outgoing mindset due to lack of exposure to realities in life.

Overall, it was some sort of pressure for me. But it was amusing. I had nothing to feel shame about, I was exhibiting character while other's weren't. Most of all I was true to my conciousness.

Days went by. In another incident, the issue was a bit critical, I was to support it and investigate it. She said that she was sick and leaving. She dropped an mail copying the manager(in CC) 'Asking me to resolve' but not a word was mentioned that she was sick and hence she was leaving early. This is a cunning tactic employed by most Indian software professionals to embarrass another colleague in a diplomatic manner and transfer the load. Now I had the task of finishing it ! Even if I go and inform this to senior management, the reply would be "it's a learning curve, you should take up more and more and more responsibilities". That's why I prefer to talk less. And of course, I did meet good people in my career and I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with them.

There was another amusing incident. There was an recurring issue and no one had any clue about it. In one of the team meetings, my senior was speaking as if he knew lots about it and suggested ideas. Then the task was allotted to me and some new joinees. The Manager told,"Please follow his ideas and get it resolved ASAP". After the meeting, when we went and asked,"He said that he wasn't aware and just suggesting". LOL !! It was now assumed that he knew how to solve but he was busy with his work. This is how people get good appraisals. This was later solved by a group of people including me. It was a team effort.

In another incident, one of my friends from North India was brutally ill-treated. He was a good programmer but unfortunately, he couldn't clear his competency exams. He was threatened that if the assessment is not completed, he would be sacked. His wife was pregnant at that time. He managed to clear the exam, but his wife suffered a miscarriage.

I may undergo through much tough situations in future but I won't bitch/lament about it. I know my character and what I need in life. Tomorrow, my wife would also like to have me with her during her delivery for my child. She would like to have my mental support. I should be in a position to give her a good life at all times. I remember how my friend and how my friend's wife felt at that time.

The mad race for onsite chance to fly abroad or get a US visa stamp in their passport is the reason behind all such politics. Most of the time that is the primary motivator. I would be narrating one final incident before closing this. I was sent to a new team to develop/enhance an application because of my performance and skills. IT is well known for smiling faces and they 'welcomed' me with a smile.

When market was good most of the existing members of the project left the company and switched to 'product' oriented companies as it offered a better pay. The one who stayed back were of limited experience and primarily hoping for on-site. There was an interesting person named Mr.X. He is the hero of this entire article going forward. Mr.X was a good developer/programmer but he had an inferiority complex. His English was not good, his communication skills were poor, but he had good knowledge. Compared to him, I was a bit behind in technical knowledge as I had limited experience, but I had good communication skills and my English was good. For some mysterious reasons, he felt me as a competitor for an on-site chance. Since he was already working in the project, I was to work along with him and learn the procedures/processes. But the guy showed a lot of attitude and behaved in a strange manner and purposefully hided many facts, so that I would have some dependency on him always. Since most experienced persons have left the organization, there was a natural dependency on him by the entire team. My manager asked me to work with him as I was also new. Not even a day was enjoyable working with him but I had a nice laugh at his immaturity and mental insecurity. The guy often come early and leave late(after Manager's leave), often would create trouble for other developers doing politics.

Once he wrote a review comment projecting himself as a bit superior in a hidden manner. He was pointing my small mistakes. I like to be corrected and I do welcome constructive criticism, but he kept the entire team's distribution list in CC. I instantly reported this to my supervisor in a friendly manner and asked 'why the team was to be notified?' when it was only between supervisor, X and myself. My contribution was also critical and most of all that guy's contribution was also critical. So my supervisor asked me to take it in the right jest and he gave me a reason.

I am not upset with anyone. It clearly indicated that Mr.X wanted me to be out of onsite competition. It wasn't a serious issue, but whatever option was available X took it to his advantage and pushed all developer's out of competition including those who were 5-6 yr experienced. In one of the team meetings when one of my colleagues was suggesting a solution this guy spoke indirectly as if it was 'Oh it's silly'. Soon after the meeting my colleague came and told me,"You come from the state of Tamilnadu and he is also from the same state. How come you are nice and this guy behaves in a trash manner ?". I have to accept this remark and this remark is quite often made in IT industry.

I continued to watch the game of politics being played at senior level with senior developer's continuing to fight against Mr.X's mind game. He was able to do politics primarily because he had already been in the project for some time and hence was aware of few extra things which even senior developer's may lack. Senior Developers may have technical knowledge, but how an application behaves is entirely dependent on the project and it comes only by experience.

Whenever I consulted Mr.X, Mr.X would say he is busy, but would always find time to speak to a girl next to him. It amused me even more. And also girls nowadays like getting attention from men. He was doing the right thing. If you go and speak to a girl working in Indian IT industry about professionalism and corporate policies, they may think that you are from a different universe and even 'mad'. The primary reason being the fact that present day youngsters like watching movies involving romance, love and not many are interested in learning the art of Engineering. It is always easy to grow up in Indian IT industry if you are girl. Most men actively show special interest when it comes to women and teach them a lot of things. If you happen to be a man, then you must undergo whatever I have faced. If you are lucky you may get into good people, else you may need to work along with people like Mr.X mentioned above.

Mr.X continued to cause headaches for other developers and many others started giving him the silent treatment. But the battle was already over. Mr.X won the battle and got US visa stamped on his passport. The entire group of developers were very happy. He might have won the battle, but others were happy that at last they can work in a good environment. People like Mr.X exist in India mainly because their parents haven't brought them up in a proper cultured manner. Once while chatting with my father over phone I made a comment,"These guys would do anything for Chicago, but nothing for Gobichattipalyam".

Somewhere or the other I need to mention the topic, right ?? ;-)

For those who aren't aware. Gobichettipalyam is a municipality/town in Erode district in Indian state of Tamilnadu. And of course I need not tell anyone where is Chicago ;-) ;-) ?

I have one humour to mention here, but this time from a non-IT circle. In the year 2002, after reading my article on 'Women Empowerment in Jharkhand', one of my school mates asked, "Where is Jharkhand ? Which city ?". That's the situation of youngsters in India. Working with white men is considered a privilege.

Indian IT industry is full of politics. But I proudly flatter myself that I have exhibited strong character even during very tough times. Integrity is more important and it requires a lot of character to do the right thing even when no one is watching. I proudly say that some of my friends and I have jointly displayed character in life by rising up to the situation even when people like Mr.X adopted a characterless behavior to achieve their goals.

One of my best friend's, a girl from Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) who knows me for 15 years was a well wisher of mine. She was a pretty girl with nice looks and she would have done well if she was in cinema. She was younger to me by only a few months and happened to be a part of same organization as well, but for a different project. She said her team mates were good to her and she suggested that I should join her project instead. Since I know her a lot, I commented a bit frankly.

"You know the reason?".
"What reason?"
"It's because you are a girl and you are amazingly beautiful. Don't be too innocent. Aren't you aware of men ? Even if I join your project, some unhealthy politics would still be there. It's because I am a man and you are a girl. Obviously I won't be favored. You would know the meaning of difficulty in life if you were dark skinned, a bit fat and not so good looking."

She had no answer.

Time did change. When I became senior, I had some responsibilities. I needed to perform but at the same time, I need to take care of my juniors as well and help them nurture in their career. This is the time I showed my character or rather the values taught by my parents. I didn't do what Mr.X did to me. Right from day one, I nurtured them with optimism. Made them understand the dignity of profession(not the salary digits!) and how it feels to create something for users across the globe. Software Engineering is a field where apart from making money, one can also do a service. Whoever reported to me, luckily escaped the tormentation done by other employees and they gained good knowledge as well and I did win this battle. I haven't compromised on my family values.

Some of my friends told me that I missed a good chance to travel abroad to South Africa and UK because of people like Mr.X. I honestly accept that I do feel a bit dejected, but I can't compromise on my values. I have earned people. Wherever I go, be it Kolkata or Bangalore. They like me for what I am and even God likes me because if He wasn't interested in me I wouldn't have got a chance to see some rare places like Rameshwaram, Ujjain and Omkareshwar. But I can't really lower my standards to that of Mr.X and work in an unethical manner.

So when I am going to New York, London, Sydney... ??? I have such wishes. I honestly accept.

Yevlavo pathutom life la.. Edhu yenna ;-) :-) ...

Victory through character. That's my dream. It will be a reality.

Signing off with cheers,
Krishna Kumar.S
Junior KK

Rituals beyond caste barrier

2011-06-05T02:45:00.000-07:00

Dedicated to my younger sister. I assume that since you have reached my blog page, you must be my friend or a regular reader of my travelogues. Today be privileged to read about my sibling. It may take few minutes of your time, but it's worth reading.

Due to my strong personal convictions, I would like to say that this article doesn't supports a belief in Dravidian ideology or EVR Periyar's view, but my own feelings as a human being who feels the pain when a pin pricks, who gets cough and common cold when infected and who cries during sorrow.

I haven't disclosed much information about my sister as I wasn't interested in revealing that and it's because she is a girl. We are not siblings by blood, or birth but siblings by choice. We were good friends since childhood since school days and we believed we could be good siblings too. I know her since childhood, then lost in touch with her, but later we became close again in the last decade. I owe this lady a lot-a debt I can't pay back.

Everyone has got problems in life. I have my own problems too. It's always easier to advice, not knowing the gravity of the problem a person is facing. That is the way the present day world is going and that's the way everyone behaves. Any problem's intensity and pain could be felt only when you face it. I also faced it. I am not going to talk about it nor go deep into it, but I want the world to know a few things.

Scenario#1:

My life was in complete shambles. It was not my fault, but I can't blame the world for it and it won't lead me anywhere. Mistakes were done by everyone. It was the beginning of a sorrow phase. By nature, I am kind-hearted, gentle but this was a scenario where even a person like me would lose temper. I was completely justified in my anger. I felt bad to lose in a few things which I haven't even dreamed of losing in my life. I cracked and fell before the whole world. Everyone started to advice me and it hurted me. It was my ill-luck that I lost and it wasn't my mistake, but I paid the prize for it. My sister was different. She was the only person in this whole world who said,"Bro-relax. Please forget it. I know how tough it could be, I understand your pain, people are blinded by their temporary success so they feel they are superior enough to comment about others misery". That was the time where I needed love and attention. I got it through my sibling.

Scenario#2:

There was a time when I was without a job during recession. My family laughed at me. I didn't feel bad, but I was amused at the immaturity of the world. But my sister didn't laugh at me. Neither she adviced me! She just told,"Bro-you are a talented unique person, think about me every time you feel down, after all I am the most important person in your life na ?". I liked that cute SMS which she sent to fire my spirits up.

Scenario#3:

Sometimes I do regret about the past. It doesn't mean that I lack maturity or I need to grow up. The fact is I have faced too many hardship. Someone might say,"Krishna, you are too frustrated or you are young to understand". No one would have handled a scenario better than what I have handled. When it comes to life, few things matter a lot. Those few things are namely people around you and your own luck. If these two things are not in favor of you, then forgot about success in anything in your life. Even Bill Gates would have been a failure and not a billionaire in his corporate life. Anyone who has brains will accept that. Those who don't leave my page right way and please don't come back.

I was in such a scenario many times. But I was still able to smile due to my sibling. Her cute smiles, childish voice, matured thoughts made even my tough,dark gloomy days of sorrow look good. What I needed in life was someone who could give hope of victory during my tough times. She certainly did. She genuinely understood that I was unlucky or rather unfortunate and a victim of injustice. That gave me the courage to fight the odds in life and I certainly did change the tide of the war in my life on my own. During Second World War-2, the USSR or Russia did lose during the intial stages while fighting with Nazi Germany, but the tide did change!

It was always easier to advice sitting under the comfortness of life. We seldom care to know what other person's journey life is all about, but we tend to advice. It's not that I hate advice, but the gravity of the situation was so high, I couldn't take it all on my own. My sister stood with me and only gave hope because that's the only thing I expected. She did nothing else. She didn't do my job, or give me money, or involve in my personal stuffs, but only gave hope. She always had a belief that her brother was a good person and understood the pains I went through.

There is a customary in Indian marriages i.e a sister ties the third knot of mangal sutra at her brother's marriage,which the brother ties over the neck of his bride. The first two knots are tied by the boy with the third knot tied by the sister. I even told my sister,"You have been a great sibling to me, why don't you take this right of being my sister ? You can tie the third knot in my marriage". My sister was not much interested in that and I could judge by the tone in her replies. But I appreciate her liberty in her views. I can understand why she wasn't much interested in volunteering in this.

Possible Reasons:
1. She is not related to me by blood or family.
2. She is not a brahmin, whereas I am one.
3. As she is not related to me, if she ties the knot, my own family members may feel let down for not choosing them and this might be a big problem for me. (She would have feared about my life and mental peace and forfeited it even if she wanted to be a part of this).
4. By birth, she is a modern girl with modern thoughts. She is not much into rituals.

In less than 2 months, I would be celebrating my 26th birthday, completing 25 years! Silver jubilee completion! I am no shy person when it comes to celebrating birthdays and this one being the completion of 25 years, it's always special. I strongly admit that I have handled life the best way it could have been to grow up to a situation where I am now amidst so many problems. Thanks to my "chellam" (favourite) who had played a role in it. I believe that a sibling is one who truly cares and need not be of same blood or from same kin or gothra or caste. I would rather prefer someone who has stood with me during tough times to tie the knot rather than give the right and honor to someone who does it for the namesake just because she shares a relation with me in my family. I don't mean to insult any religious sentiments or rituals here, but certainly words fail here to describe the countless good things my sister did to my life. I didn't share the same umbilical chord through which we took food when we were foetus. We didn't share the same womb. But I respect her so much.

Once I even told her, "Kuzhandhai (means a baby in Tamil language) , if you are not interested forget about the rituals. You need not take part in rituals as a sibling, but you can still perform this in a different way. When I get engaged, I will share my Facebook id and password. After my engagement, you change my status to 'Engaged' from Single and when I get married, you log on to my account again and change my status from 'Engaged' to 'Married'. You have tied the knot !!! How is it ? We can still follow the RITUALS BEYOND THE CASTE BARRIER".

-Krishna Kumar Subramanian
a.k.a Junior KK
A lucky brother to an intelligent sister.

I need to win this for Him

2011-05-01T05:16:00.000-07:00

1st May, 2011.

It has been a good weekend so far. Did some shopping-bought one coolers(and got one free as well), short shirts(gotta try them tomorrow), got some colorful casual shirts as well, washed clothes, cleaned my apartment and listened to some good music. This song 'Ahista Ahista' is awesome and catchy :-). A peaceful weekend is also the right time to set your priorities right!

I had just returned from one of the classic trips of my life Bangalore-Chennai-Bhopal-Ujjain-Indore-Ahmedabad-Bangalore. Had the pleasure of visiting numerous temples in Madhya Pradesh, the most memorable one being Omkareshwar Jyothirlingam along with Mahakaleshwar at Ujjain. With the blessings of the almighty God, I had an opportunity to interact with my own country men belonging to various linguistic backgrounds, travel to numerous villages and also had a chance to visit the Sabarmati Ashram at Ahmedabad.

All these solo travels to 11 Indian states(as on date) and 30 Indian cities(nearly) has given me experience, boldness and the courage to face life in the righteous manner. I had been subjected to numerous learnings in my life,at work place and in my travels as well. I must admit the fact that I had learnt more whenever I had travelled outside my home state Tamilnadu. Eventhough I work in a totally different line of work in a different industry, all these travels have given me maturity to face and interact with people and convey things in the righteous manner. When I step into any new city or even when I meet a stranger, there is no sense of insecurity or fear in my mind as I have experienced this many times to learn to overcome it. However, I would still exercise care and caution because you never know when you will get trouble :-).

My career is important to me and I must put every possible effort to make it colorful. All these travels and experience will help me in my career as well, as I believe any career by itself is a journey of meeting peoples. I have an obligation and sense of duty to make a bright, defining, memorable, achievement in my career for someone special to me. I have an obligation not towards my country alone, not towards parents or friends but towards Him. If not for myself, at least for Him, I need to win this. How much ever tough be the task, or how much ever non-co-operative and mean people might be during this journey, I need to win this for my Lord Ram and dedicate the success to him one day at Madurantakam. Stay assured, I, myself will stand and deliver and win this for Him.

-Krishna Kumar.S
Bangalore, India.

Why I like Kolkata ?

2011-04-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

Kolkata is my favourite city in India and I have mentioned this many times in my blogs, Facebook status and in few of my travelogues. Why? This is the question I faced a lot of times, but I decided to keep it low. Today, the evening of 3rd April, 2011, I decided that it's high time that the world should know why I like West Bengal, Jharkhand and Orissa.

The story runs as follows:

Many in the outside world only know me as a "traveller", a straight forward person, a train lover, a kind of sensitive person and maybe some people even think that I don't know much. All these perceptions aren't exactly true. The world isn't aware of many responsibilities that I bear on my shoulders even before I graduated out of school. All these responsibilities have given me many sleepless nights, worries and also maturity. I have tasted victories and also failures. I can't talk about my responsibilities in this blog now, as it is personal.

There were numerous incidents in life where I had seen only absolute harshness or ill-luck. Let's take one incident for example.

During the year 2008, recession was at its peak. I was unable to get a job and I need to settle for a temporary job in a call center. My salary was Rs.10,000/- per month. I was thankful to Lord Ram of Madurantakam whom I respect at heart. It was my first job. With my first stipend of Rs.3000/-, I travelled with my own money to a place called Arokkonam by Chennai-Central-Arokkonam fast passenger on December 25th, 2008. This was my first trip after I started working and it was a great moment in life that I travelled in a train with my own money. I felt exactly like what Sachin would have felt after winning Worldcup.

I always had the pressure of handling my career and other responsibilities at the same time. What happened was something unfortunate and shouldn't have happened. Many of my cousin brothers who had lived in abroad & foreign countries mocked at me. My salary was a piece of joke. But I didn't bother. For me my job was as dearer as great Lord Ram of Madurantakam Temple and I feel Him when I work. My job was like God to me. Most of my cousins had car, whereas I went to work by bus/train. I didn't feel bad as I liked being with my countrymen traveling in Government transport.

As if this was not enough, Chennai booed me too in its own style. I don't want to go deep in to that. I knew it was my hour of shame. I also knew that it would end one day.

A small gist of remarks I had received (few from my cousins & few from those who shouldn't have behaved like that):

* "Rs.10,000/- no girl will even look at you". (As if I am begging them to look at me)
* "Krishna-I took my wife for a honeymoon abroad. When you get married, where do you plan to take your wife? To some village in Tamilnadu".
* "Have you ever had lunch at top-class hotels, resorts, pizza huts ?"
* "Have you ever been out of India? Do you know anything other than Indian villages? Seen New York, Washington, Dubai ?"
* "Have you ever tried branded formals, Lee, Wrangler, Reebok. Unakku yenga adhu ellam theriya pogudhu, nee auto-karan, cycle-rickshaw karan pant dhaane podara ( Translation from Tamil: How will you know all that, you only wear auto-rickshaw walas pant)

I am not from a poor background, but it's written in my faith that I need to undergo this phase in life for few years. It was unfortunate but it changed me a lot. I was suppose to live a rich, glamorous life, but few miscalculations cost my life's happiness for many years.

November 22nd, 2009, the day I will cherish forever in my life, the reason being the fact that I kept my foot on West Bengal with my cousin brother who has come to help me in my new job. Imagine what would have run on my mind on that day ? I was in a new place, new land, different culture, different food habits, different climate, with a tough task at hand ? It was always a tough task to perform especially when your mental morale and confidence is low.

Given all these things that had happenned, what do you think would have run on my mind ? I had typed this question again because this was certainly the moment and turning point. How insecure I could have felt being alone in another part of the country? I had the task of handling my own life in the most toughest situations in a different environment. My own people didn't encourage me much, but Kolkata stood with me. This surprised me.

It is considered as a dirty city, unclean, undeveloped. But what I experienced was totally different. The people were so kind and gentle. They accepted me for what I am and they considered my happiness as their own happiness. The people of West Bengal impressed me so much that I even tried my best learning their language. In a matter of few weeks, I could tell all colors, numbers from 1 to 70, animals and also how to greet people in Bengali. My entire confidence was coming back and I rebuild myself. I went on a good will trip to neighbouring state of Jharkhand (Naomundi, Bokaro, Dhanbad) and Orissa (Bhubaneshwar, Puri).

I saw some successes in my life. I had new friends who were cosmopolitan, yet traditional with lots of love, affection and my life became colorful. I also liked the courage, determination, strong willed nature of the North Indian girls which I don't see amongst their South-Indian counterparts.

Kolkata is certainly my most favourite city in India.

And now my life has changed a lot, but I haven't forgotten the lessons I learnt. Even now, with my father's wealth, I can still buy a Honda city car, roam around with friends, drink, smoke, have girlfriends. But I am not interested in living such a life. I had always lived my life in a stable manner, I admit that I did lose stability for few years due to personal problems, but Kolkata and people of West Bengal made me realize what I am truly capable of.

I hope now the whole world would understand why I say often,"I am indebted to Kolkata and West Bengal" , "I owe a lot to Kolkata". I have a great adimiration for this city which gave me a new life, redefined my outlook and most of all made my life colorful. It's indeed the 'City of Joy'.

"Korbo, Lorbo, Jitbo re....."

Best wishes,
Krishna Kumar.S

Journey to Kerala-2006 [College Tour]

2011-03-12T06:43:00.000-08:00

July 26th, 2006.

Kerala is popularly dubbed as my "sibling state" for many reasons. Kerala was the second state in India to which I travelled after my birth and I visited Trivandrum quite often during my early years of life in earth. Kerala is also home to one of the sweetest girl in my life... Nope. You guessed it wrong. It's not a girlfriend. It is not my mom! It is my school mate who is like a sibling to me. Citing all these reasons, I always had a special softcorner for this small state.

In 2006, I visited Kerala with my college mates as part of college tour. As of 2011, this was my last visit to Kerala (I plan to visit Kerala soon. God gift me a chance!). We took 6041 Alleppey Express from Chennai Central to Ernakulam town. WAP-4#22281 was the power for the train and the performance was incredible. That was one of the best high speed runs I have experienced in Indian Railways. The train was running on-time throughout the journey. Luckily, I got an emergency window-seat and without any second thoughts I opened the windows completely and started my usual hobby of watching trains.

At around midnight, my college mate Sudarshan came running and applied cake on my face. It was my 20th birthday !!! July 27th !! For the first time in life I celebrated my birthday in a train! At around 1AM, it started raining and I was forced to use the glass window. I still remember the glorious sight! There was a loud honk and a WAG-7 blasted past my window on the next track towards Chennai with a long goods rake. I dozed off at 2AM and got up at 6:30AM. My college mate Niranjan and myself had a serious discussion on whether we should brush our teeths or not. I still remember Niranjan's reply,"Kaka, kuruvi laam pallu theikudha?". Hilarious reply!

We got down at Ernakulam Town station and boarded a bus to reach our hotel named Shalimar near Ernakulam Junction. Kerala was green, scenic and it was a chilling experience. We travelled in a small ship from Cochin Harbour to a small island nearby (I forgot the name). We visited Synagogue, Jew Steet, an old museum and returned back to our room. The next day we visited an old wildlife sanctuary and few other places which weren't of much interest to me. But I enjoyed and liked the weather very much. It was drizzling always and the climate was neither too hot nor too cold.

On the early morning hours of 29th July, 2006 we started from Ernakulam and headed next to Munnar in bus! Munnar wasn't a delightful experience for me. The hotel food was pathetic and not at all spicy and interesting. I am not a fan of hill stations for some mysterious reasons.

After spending a day and night in Munnar on 30th July, we started in bus towards Thrissur. We didn't see anything in Thrissur as it wasn't part of our schedule. I spent a couple of hours railfanning at Thrissur watching trains. We boarded Trivandrum-Guwahati Express back to Chennai at Thrissur. Surprisingly, this train TVC-GHY Express which holds the record of running late always since its inception was on-time and it reached Chennai bang on time!

Today 12th March, 2011-it''s been 5 years almost ! This Kerala trip still remains etched in my memories. Plenty of reasons on why Kerala is very important to me. My beloved sibling state...

-Krishna Kumar.S
IRFCA-SBC, Bangalore.

Trip to Northern Karnataka: Hubli & Dharwad

2011-02-05T08:02:00.000-08:00

Dharwad Peda... delicious !!!!

Towards the last days of October-2010, I planned a visit to the twin cities of Hubli & Dharwad in Northern Karnataka along with a short visit to Goa. The trip went as per plan and it was yet another memorable solo trip. I went on to cover Hubli, Dharwad in Karnataka, Madgaon, Panaji, Ponda and Vasco in Goa. In the morning hours of October 31^st, 2010 I kept my foot in Goan soil, to mark my first visit to the state and Goa was the 9^th Indian state I would see in India. Travelling can be – some say it should be – a very personal experience, but that's no reason not to share the joy I experienced on seeing new places in India.

People could be classified broadly into two categories. One who like to grow roots and stay in one place. Sometimes I belong to this category. I am happy and content with what I am and I like the comfort of familiarity sometimes. In free time I would rather enjoy some quiet moments at home rather than venture out. This is the story in most weekends of my life. The second kinds of people are the ones bitten by wanderlust. Their aim in life is to see places. Sometimes I belong to this category as well. Given a couple of free days time or a public holiday on Friday, I would pack my bags and head to explore a village 400km away from hustles of modern life. I have been finding out more and more each day that I belong to the second category and sometimes in first category.

October 30^th, 2010 was the day I visited Hubli & Dharwad and I travelled by the 2079 Jan Shatabdi. Catching the train was not an easy task as it was schedule to depart SBC at 6AM, but I lived nearly 20 km away from Majestic at Bommanahalli. I went to bed only at 1AM the previous day and I could grab only 2.5hrs of sleep before I got up for another day. Bangalore weather was cold but I found it tolerable and by 4:30AM I was ready and standing at Bommanhalli Junction. Luckily I got a cab to Majestic for Rs.20/- and within 40 minutes I was at Bangalore Railway station. I purchased a few biscuit packets for breakfast and walked to the platform where I was expecting the coaches of my train to be shunted. I was carrying clothes only for two days and I was to return by Monday afternoon directly from Madgaon to Bangalore by train (waitlisted ticket). Since Monday being Kannada Rajyotsava and a Government holiday, I planned to take rest before reporting back to work on Tuesday.

My journey began as per schedule and I sat by my window seat gazing out at the world outside. I love train journeys. Perhaps, it is one of the best ways to enjoy life. It is a real stress buster too. It could be even more enticing if you are travelling in ordinary second class as you get a chance to be a part of the surroundings and even get a better view of the outside world. I sat listening to MP3 in my mobile and enjoyed viewing the outside scenery-that’s something I do often during my train journeys.

Sidharoodha Mutt-Entrance

The first halt was Yesvantpur. My train had all seats filled and luckily there weren’t anyone standing in the middle or sitting in the aisle or clinging to the doors. Overall, I felt the atmosphere to be friendly, spacious with lots of air and joy. The next stopping was Tumkur and it was a good 1 hour away from my present position. The landscape was a bit rusted and dry. As the journey progressed I was also feeling a bit sleepy due to lack of sleep. I held my bags tightly to avoid getting robbed and dozed off. I woke up when my train was nearing Arsikere at 8:30AM, but I went to sleep again. It was only after Chikjajur I was awake properly. Devangere, Harihar, Ranibennur, Haveri were some of the stopping’s in which my train halted and it reached Hubli bang on time at 1330hrs.

My first task was to find a lodge. I would be staying in Hubli only for 8 hours as I was to leave for Goa the same day night at 2300hrs. I found a lodge just for Rs.130/- per day near the railway station itself and refreshed myself. My first task was to visit Sidharoodha Mutt, 4km away from Hubli Railway station. I boarded a local city bus which took me to a place near the mutt and from there I walked for nearly 1km to reach the mutt.

The entire complex was located amidst peaceful surroundings with a big tank nearby. This place was ideal for mental rejuvenation. The mutt had a museum too with old items, various images related to Hinduism. My favourite was the Linga temple in the mutt. The eyes of the linga looked real and I did feel as if Lord Shiva’s gaze was at me. Not many people were around and I walked to the pond nearby and sat for some time alone. And just for fun picked up a few stones and threw on the pond. I wish I could do trips like this often to remote places, but sometimes it never clicks due to many other commitments in life. After spending a good 2 hours at the complex, I started my way back to Hubli Railway station.

From there, I called up my friend Sridhar Joshi in Chennai who was actually a native of Hubli. The conversation turned out to be humorous as usual. Joshi guided me through phone to the nearest shop, nearby railway station which sells good “Dharwad Pedha”. I believe Joshi knew the shop owner quite well! I purchased a good ½ kilo of pedha and then boarded bus to Dharwad. The bus was empty and the speed was good and I reached Dharwad comfortably. I purchased some more pedha (sweet) and other sweets in the shops of Dharwad and had tiffin at Dharwad itself. By the time I returned to Hubli it was dark.

As I entered my room, I received a call from my friend, Sampath Kumar, a Loco-Pilot who works in Konkan Railways. He suggested that I should return by bus and not in unreserved compartments in my return journey. Taking his words, I cancelled my tickets which were waitlisted and rushed to Hubli old bus stand to find a good travels to book my return trip from Madgaon to Bangalore in bus. I managed to get a confirmed booking in Vijay Anand travels and the ticket cost me a good Rs.750/- for a distance of 700km. I appreciated my friend Sampath Kumar’s advice that travelling with a confirmed booking is always better and safe compared to unhygienic travels in unreserved journeys. His words and timely advice saved a lot of troubles which could have disturbed me if I had journeyed back 700km in unreserved compartments.

Front view of Sidharoodha mutt

Hubli impressed me very much. Though it was small compared to Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore- overall I liked the atmosphere, energy and vibrancy of the city. The Masala dosas sold in hotels in Hubli were delicious. They weren’t spicy compared to Tamilnadu and it was a bit sweet too, but I still liked it. After having a bath, I grabbed 2 hours of sleep and checked out at 10PM and walked to the railway station. I prepared myself for the second phase of the trip. DESTINATION GOA!!

Though I was in Hubli only for 8 or 9 hours, the city impressed me at first sight. I liked the energy, enthusiasm, activeness which I saw amongst the people of Northern Karnataka. My life has become similar to that of a nomad. Though Tamilnadu bears the title of being my home state, I want to consider West Bengal and Karnataka as my home state on par with my mother state of Tamilnadu as I spent some part of my life in other states too. I am a Bengali when I am Bengal, Marathi when I am in Maharashtra, a Malayalee when I am in Kerala, a Bihari when I am in Bihar & Jharkhand and a Kannadiga when I am in Karnataka. Nanna dhvanige ninna dhvaniya seridante namma dhvaniya.

-Krishna Kumar.S

Travel Writer, IRFCA-SBC, Bangalore

Karnataka, India.

www.irfca.org

Great Ram of Madurantakam

2011-01-30T03:02:00.000-08:00

30th January, 2011.

The weather was cold and I was too lazy to get up early on a Sunday. With great difficulty, I managed to get myself up and refreshed myself. As usual, I logged on to Yahoo! to check my mails. There were lots of spams, promotional mails, but amidst all this junk there was a mail which was of interest to me. It was a mail from a software engineer named Srinivasan with the title "Thanks to Lord Ram of Madurantakam". His words in the mail were as follows: "Thanks a lot for this post on Madurantakam. What you have written is 100% true. Ram exists in Madurantakam. I prayed for my career and guess what..... the most fascinating episode in my career is about to take place with His blessings. I am going to Germany. Kuddos man! Thank you. I am grateful to Lord Ram". These mails aren't ordinary ones, but testimonials to Lord Ram who exists and protects Madurantakam. His glory will never fade. Any kid born in Madurantakam is brought up telling his glories and virtues about how He blessed British Collector Lt.Col.Plaze.

I live a bit far from Madurantakam now, but my feelings and respect towards this deity has grown up manifold due to this separation. I feel peace every time I think of him. I feel calmness inside me when I write about His glories. I feel proud when India wins a cricket match. I feel equally proud of my Lord when someone says,"Great Ram of Madurantakam blessed me". Once upon a time, I was a skeptical person who always had doubts of stories related to miracle and expected proofs, but once I started believing him wholeheartedly, I changed a lot.

This post is again a humble dedication from my part to my beloved Lord Ram of Madurantakam.

Regards,
Krishna Kumar.S

Visit to Srirangapatna and Nimishamba Temple

2010-12-18T05:45:00.000-08:00

"Dear Friends, this travelogue is a humble dedication to people of Karnataka. I consider it as an honor and privilege to write about this great state and its citizens. I am also thankful to God in giving me a new opportunity to interact with people of this state and learn many good things from them".

With best Regards,
Junior KK.

Nimishamba Temple, Srirangapatna.

16th October, 2010.
Time: 04:15hrs.

The clock strikes 4:15AM. The alarm in my mobile starts singing,” Nanna dhvanige ninna dhvaniya, seridante namma dhvaniya. Na swaramu nee swaramu sangamamayi manaswaranga avatarinchey.......”. I woke up and got ready in 30 minutes. The climate in Bangalore was cool in the morning hours. At 5:30AM, I came out of my house at Bommanahalli and walked past the mosque towards Begur Road. Local isthiri wala Sridhar was busy with his pressing work. We greeted each other and after 5 minutes chat with him I started with my journey to Bommanahalli bus stop. A couple of street dogs accompanied me till the signal. I boarded 356C bus bound towards Majestic circle.

The bus was crowded even at that unearthly hour. That surprised me a little. As my bus crossed Madiwala, I almost got a seat, but a guy pushed me aside and threw his bag thus reserving the seat. After he sat, he gave an accomplished look at me and I couldn’t resist laughing inside. The journey lasted 40 minutes and I reached Majestic comfortably even though I was standing all the way. I walked towards the Railway station and purchased a ticket to Mysore though I was visiting Shrirangapatna. To be on the safer side, I purchased an Express category ticket so that I had the advantage of travelling in both Express and Passenger just in case if I changed my plan to visit Mysore (had a different backup plan).

Sriranganathasamy Temple, Srirangapatna.

I walked to platform 6 and waited patiently. 214 Tirupati-Mysore Fast Passenger arrived 20 minutes late with a BZA WAG-5#23x91 locomotive and there was a mad rush. I occupied one of the doors and waited for the train to start. Those 15 minutes seem to be the longest in my life. At 7:45AM, I heard a typical WDM-2 type honk and my train slowly chugged out of SBC. I liked the driving style of the loco pilot. My train curved towards the right and then towards left and after crossing Nayandahalli the train picked up high-speed. The first halt was at Kengeri. There was a mad rush and my train became jam packed. With a couple of youngsters sitting in the doorstep, I stood behind them observing the scenery as the train travelled across rural Karnataka. It was diesel action all the way. Diesel locomotives have a charm of their own! It’s also nice and interesting to watch them, though I am more of an electric fan.

My passenger reached Maddur at 9:15AM. A good amount of crowd got down at Maddur. Couple of vendors holding “Maddur Vadas” boarded the train and they started making good business! I had an idea of tasting it, but later quit it as I was a bit concerned about hygiene. I knew it would be good and hygienic, but still I thought “maybe next time”. My train was running a bit late as it had started late, but I wasn’t bothered. I found some space near the door and I started rail fanning. There weren’t any crossings so there weren’t much rail action, but overall the entire atmosphere was awesome and it made me feel good.

At Mandya, some chain-pulling incident happened and as a result my train was made to wait for 5 minutes. Yeliyur, Byadrahalli, Pandavapura were scheduled stops and my train halted there. It was a pleasant sight to watch the villages from trains. I noticed that the train was fully packed only till Maddur and after Maddur the train was mildly crowded.

After getting down at Srirangapatna, I walked to the front to observe the locomotive. After a scheduled minute halt, my train started and it was a real beauty to watch KJM WDM-2 departing the station with its smoke all around. As the train disappeared, I sat under the tree to enjoy the rural beauty of Karnataka and then proceeded towards Srirangapatna Ranganathaswamy temple.

I was impressed by the temple at first sight. There was a delay in darshan as poojas were conducted for the deity. I purchased laddu prasad for my cousins and then went around taking photos of the temple, sculptures in my camera mobile. I was amazed at the beauty of the sculptures and the cleanliness of the temple. The temple was indeed well maintained. I spent a good 45 minutes at the temple premises before leaving to my next destination Nimishamba temple 5km away from here.

After visiting the temple, I proceeded towards the town and walked inside for a kilometre. By now the weather was too hot with scorching sun right above my head. There weren’t any good hotels, but I accidentally bumped into a nice chap. He was an auto-driver and he suggested that I should take a bus to Nimishamba temple instead of going in auto. I told him that I would rather go in his auto, but he wouldn’t accept and he suggested that a bus would be cheaper costing only Rs.5/- instead of Rs.40/- for his auto. I was amazed as I haven’t come across such an auto-driver so far in my life who advocates so much for bus. I told him that an auto would be more convenient and proceeded with him. He agreed to take me to Nimishamba temple and drop me back at Shrirangapatna bus stand for Rs.40/- without any waiting charges. It was a jackpot for me. I never heard such things in Chennai.

I enjoyed the journey very much. It is believed that anyone visiting Nimishamba temple should donate lemons to the deity. In return they are offered lemons by the priest which were kept in pooja earlier and those lemons should either be made into juice same day or kept in home for 21 days and then thrown out. I offered 3 lemons and got 3 lemons as prasad. The temple looked fairly small with Kaveri River nearby.

Nimishamba is a form of goddess Parvati. There is a belief that Parvati will clear off all problems and trouble of her devotees within a minute. That explains the reason for the name "Nimishamba". "Nimisha" means a minute.

I roamed around the temple for around 25-30 mins and returned back to my auto. I thought that auto-driver may demand a few rupees extra, but he didn’t ask me anything and he dropped me off at the bus stand. I walked towards the nearest hotel. I had two chapattis and one masala dosai. The hotel wasn’t very hygienic, though it looked big, spacious with a lot of tables. The bus stand was very near and in 15 minutes I managed to catch a bus to Bangalore. I boarded the bus at 13:00hrs and I reached Majestic at 16:30hrs. I had problems of finding a bus to Baiyappanahalli and it took 30 minutes to find one. After 1 hour ride, I reached BYPL Nilgiri’s stop. My cousin brother’s house was very near to the tracks. I spent the weekend at his house before returning to Bommanahalli.

-Krishna Kumar.S
a.k.a Junior KK
IRFCA-SBC

Save the girl child!

2010-09-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

I had been waiting to publish this article for some time. Let me share with you about what I have observed in the society. I have observed two sets of people. A conservative, worried, always tensed generation belonging to the age group of above 30 (born before 1980 era) and another is a hopeless breed of so called “cool dudes” (born in 1985-86 along with me). I regard the present day younger generation of India in the age of 14-25 as hopeless souls, hooligans with wrong attitude and lack of character. Since I also belong to their age group, I am also useless. Let me make this confession and start with the article. Well, of course not entire present generation is bad, but majority of them have no intelligence or the basic manners to respect values. I blame the cinema industry for treating women as sex objects.

Now let me narrate a real life incident. I was travelling to NIIT Nungambakkam to get some of my documents verified. It was a hot day in September. I was travelling in 29C and I boarded the bus at Adyar signal. I took my seat near the window. My bus stopped at Stella Mary’s bus stop where lot of college girls got in. They were dressed in modern dresses. The present day generation is so infatuated by the money thrown by IT/BPO industries the younger generation has failed to realize the harm in following Western culture especially in a repressed culture like India where men are desperately hungry to taste the forbidden fruit. Being modern or dressing in western style is not wrong, but there should be some discretion practiced. Right from womb till grave a girl child is never safe. India is not former USSR or erstwhile Soviet Union where women are given equal rights. Girl children are killed in womb. Girl babies are killed in villages after birth by giving poison. If they manage to survive all this, they get molested or raped. That’s the way they get treated in this land where men worship Durga and Goddess Lakshmi.

Now let me narrate the bus journey. There were a bunch of useless college students in the back. These guys think that they become professionals if they join a B.E or B.Com course. No one is a professional. People become true professionals when they know how to treat another human being in a humane manner. I doubt whether these guys of present era come anyway near it. Let me describe their appearance. Piercing in ears and in the chin, handkerchief over the head, t-shirt without collar with the divine ‘F’ word written multiple times, shaded jeans. I can also type a few more, but my sisters would be reading this. I would rather stop here. It is for the better tomorrow of these people, Indian Army soldiers die in the border and the worst part is that God is watching all this. What’s even more pathetic is that a soldier dies in border fighting intruders; his wife becomes a widow and gets a pension of few hundreds while the people inside the country continue to enjoy life. The worst thing is that no one is bothered. Someone else is suffering. Someone else has become a widow. Is it my daughter? Is it my sister? That’s the way everyone thinks which is entirely wrong.

Coming back..

As the bus stopped at Stella Marys the college girls got in. One of them couldn’t control his excitement and desperation and exclaimed "Machi, Super figure da". (Machi in Tamil is a short form for brother-in-law) His friend was too elated and couldn’t help whistling. The girl noticed and you should have watched her reaction. Man! She was happy! I turned my face and looked out of the window and I was laughing inside. I was thinking of former President Abdul Kalam and his statement requesting youngsters to dream. The youngsters were indeed dreaming a lot!

After I got some of my documents verified I started my journey back. I was to board 29C again. I came to the bus stop and was waiting there. 29 C came and I boarded it. As the bus crossed Stella Mary’s a girl boarded the bus. Immediately, the entire gang (this is a different gang, but still no difference) started shouting raising double meaning slogans. The poor girl got a bit afraid and sat in the front itself and didn’t even come to purchase the tickets. Then these guys were planning to approach her. The girl got a bit fed up and she got down fearing embarrassment.

Maybe after a few years, if China invades India, all these boys should be conscripted and should be posted in the border to defend every inch of Indian soil. If they retreat from the border, they should be shot by Generals for retreating. It requires more courage to retreat than advance. At that time, they would realize how tough life could be if one is in the suffering end. The entire woman population is taken for granted and is being preyed by hungry men. I know I can’t do anything. I won't react to this, but I have the right to portray them here. I could only wish the Soviets were around and they wouldn’t have allowed this to happen.

The reason for all this nonsense is the aggressive expressions of love that one sees in the movies. However, according to some psychologists the root cause of eve teasing is the patriarchal mindset of the Indian male. They like to believe that they have power over the women society. They thrive on the fact that even today a large number of women still prefer to ignore rather than to confront. I blame all this on the cinema industry. All these bloody films have projected women as a sexual object and not as human beings with emotions and hence the cine industry has created a "Frankenstein" in the younger generation.

During my school life I have observed that girls who are dark in colour are bullied a lot and girls having fair skin are portrayed as Goddess. I seriously don’t see anything so great between dark complexion and fair complexion. Human society fails if crimes can't be prevented. Majority of the films portray heroes passing sarcastic comments on dark skinned women and even passing remarks on women who are fat. There is also a sarcastic portrayal of eunuchs. I wonder how the Government gives permission to publish such scenes. The government has failed in its purpose to protect its citizens.

I seriously wonder what the sensor board is doing. And immediately, critics might argue saying that there is a right to practice freedom of speech. Is that a freedom of speech or freedom to insult a human being? If such things are to be practiced let the Preamble of the Indian Constitution is changed. Why should India be declared as a socialist, secular, democratic republic? Let it be an ordinary democratic republic. There is no bloody socialism over here. I only see that there are ethnic jokes like Sardarji jokes, Anti-Brahmin jokes and ethnic violence. There is no secularism. I see more of communal violence and inter-caste violence. And I would like to reserve my comments about democracy in India.

-Krishna Kumar.S
a.k.a Junior KK
IRFCA-MAS

Reason for multiple religions

2010-08-27T06:40:00.000-07:00

It was some time ago during one of my visits to temples I discovered something which could be an answer to queries regarding multiple Gods and multiple Religions. An answer that could even bring peace to the world. The answer is quite simple and basic. During the days of 2008 when I started working, I got my first salary. I bought some sweets for my parents. I wanted to gift some dress to beloved ones. Since I had no brothers or sisters, I had no ways to celebrate. I did have “foster” brothers and sisters but they were either far or busy with career preparations. I thought I should buy a saree as a gift and present it to a girl. But do you think that if I present a saree to any girl at college or at workplace, will she accept it? She would either think that I had wrong intentions or she would be afraid to accept fearing what the society would think of her? I need to celebrate at any cost!

Generally, I like doing things rather than keeping them pending. I browsed my mobile's directory to find out if any of my friend’s sisters would be able to help me. I tried calling them the line was either engaged or they were out of station or they were on the other line. I lack patience in life generally! I felt that I would dedicate to Goddess Parvati- female form of Goddess in Hinduism. Parvati is the consort Lord Shiva and theoretically she represents the power of shakthi meaning power, which is possessed by men proving Men and Women are inseparables. In short, it means that a woman represents a man’s power.

I went to Nalli, a big shop in Adyar near to my house. Purchased a Chinnalum pattu. Went straight to the temple and handed over the saree to the Gurukkal (priest). Now what am I trying to say here? Though, I have a socialist secular view, I do believe in God. God is one and the same. But He has come in different forms to convey joy to humanity. On that day at the temple, I was able to give the saree to the Goddess. She accepted it like a sister. I can’t offer a saree to Lord Shiva idol nor to Jesus. There arises a need for multiple figures to satisfy human thoughts. And also whenever a human being is happy he needs to share it with others as that’s the general tendency. I was happy at that time and I was able to share it with someone. This incident did teach a lesson in my life. I am also happy that on that particular day none of my friends picked up their phones or were out of reach from their towers. It’s a miracle! Otherwise, this article wouldn’t have been written now. I just can’t believe that even my friends Rajesh and John didn’t pick up the phone that day-these guys take up in the first ring usually!

Variety is the spice of life. Enjoy it! Jesus came to the world took all the pains and died on the cross for the sins committed by humans. Here it proves that God would never quit on humans and He is willing to take any amount of pains for the mankind. He would never give a challenge which cannot be faced and handled by His creations. Allah hasn’t got a physical figure-here God proves that he is omnipresent and everywhere! There might be some questions in your brain now.

What are the communists here in this world for? My view is that they are also good people trying to do goodness to society by bringing everything under Government control to offer food, security, education to every citizen. And how come there are many Religions? The answer is simple. Ages go there lived people who were fascinated by many things and they wanted to propagate their views, theories, and culture. Each one wrote their own version which was indeed just and true. The subsequent generations got fascinated by each theory and adopted the one which interests them. Like if I like reading about history and heritage definitely, I would suggest reading and writing as a hobby and not partying! The basic outline of every religion is not to hurt another human being but to walk in the righteous way.

You might ask why in every religious complex like temple or dargah it is written that people of other faith shouldn’t enter. Answers are simple. This is a typical human behaviour. Even in my life, I had a lot of views. My friends agreed and appreciate it. Not one or two. Everyone! The whole bunch. If people agree with you, you generally have the tendency to treat them well. I had some other views too which may be right or wrong. My friends disagreed. I would get angry and I would try to show my discontent in some way. It projects I am hurt or upset by the disagreement. Likewise, the same applies to Religions and that’s what is happening in the human society. Human psychology!

It’s high time and people stop hitting each other. Before that, I should change myself as I am also a short tempered imperfect person. Each and every event in life is interconnected and leads to another event and it’s an endless process ultimately ending in truth. Every story, every proverb has got a meaning and a moral! For example, there’s a story in which Lord Vinayakar quarrels with Muruga for a fruit and Lord Muruga (Subramanian or Karthik as known in North India) separates from God’s family due to dispute. Lord Vinayakar circled around parents and claimed that going around His parents was equivalent to that of circling the earth. This could be mean that respecting parents is bound to bring goodness to man. It also indicates that a quarrel or a dispute has always got a disastrous consequence. Seriously, even I need to think about this! At school, I was educated by Anglo Indian teachers, brought up by Hindu parents and some of my friends are Muslims. If either of these people hasn’t entered into my life, my life would have gone for a toss or a big six! I wouldn’t have even graduated.

Critics might argue inquiring from which Engineering college did Lord Ram graduate to build a bridge between Srilanka and Rameshwaram? Or else inquire about how a Virgin gave birth to Jesus? My only answer to them is that there are few things in life which cannot be unraveled and would still remain a mystery and it lies above human sense perception clearly indicating the presence of Supreme Power, the omnipotent reality. One needs to be humble and attain self realization or Enlightment; maybe he could unravel more mysteries of life..... More than what I have written over here.

One last thing anyone might like to ask. Can God be seen? I haven’t seen him either, but I can explain why God doesn’t show his physical form or responds to human queries regarding this presence? The answer is simple. Take me for an example. I love chat items, watching trains, sometimes writing articles, taking photographs. I have dreams of how my future wife would be and what I should do for her. I have got lots of expectations. Just imagine if God shows himself to me? Do you think that I would have any desire/wish in life after that? Do you think that I would marry any girl? If all men start thinking like that way, the world would come to a standstill and would cease to exist in 100 years. Skeptics might ask then why God created the world. Didn’t I say earlier that there are certain things which lie above human perception? The best way one can serve any deity is to rise as high as possible.

-Krishna Kumar.S
Chennai, Tamilnadu.

Divinity of Madurantakam

2010-08-16T08:11:00.000-07:00

Madurantakam is a small town located 84km south of Chennai. It is famous for a Ram Temple located at the center of the town and the temple is 1500years old. I personally like Madurantakam very much for many reasons. Primary reason is that a British Collector himself had a darshan of Lord Ram in the year 1796. This is also the only Ram temple in the world in which there is no separate sannidhi for Anjaneyar or Hanumaan. This is because when Lord Ram returned from Lanka with Seetha, Hanumaan was assigned a different task by Lord Ram and as a result he was not present. That's why there is not separate shrine for Anjaneyar at Madurantakam. Instead there is a small temple for Anjaneyar in front of Ram temple which was built later.

I visit the Ram temple at Madurantakam almost every two months if I am in Tamilnadu. Being a devotee of Lord Vishnu, I am always interested in Vishnu Temples. I am personally impressed with the overall majestic appearance of Lord Vishnu as Lord Ram in the Yeri Katha Ramar Temple. His brother Lakshman’s majestic appearance adds more beauty. As far as I know this is the only temple in which Lord Ram is portrayed as holding Sita’s hand. I got this information through the temple priest with whom I converse often.

Madurantakam has an interesting legend associated with it. It is believed that Lord Ram gave darshan to Lt.Colonel Plaze, a British collector when he prayed to Lord Ram to assist him when he was in trouble. It is to be noted that Plaze was a sceptical person.
In the year 1796, the temple authorities decided to build a shrine for Janakavalli Thayar (Goddess Sita). It was a rainy season and Madurantakam Tank was getting full. There was a fear that the bunds would give away and water would come into the town. At that time, Lt.Plaze noticed a huge pile of stones piled up near the Temple. He inquired the purohits why there were so many bricks and stones inside the temple complex.

The purohits replied that those bricks were to be used for constructing a separate shrine for Goddess Sita. The collector was amused. He said that building a shrine wasn’t a priority. He believed that the bricks should be used for repairing the bunds of the tank or should be used to strengthen the bunds. The purohits replied that Lord Vishnu never betrayed any devotee and He always answers the prayers of his devotees. Purohits asked the Collector to pray to Lord Ram sincerely from his heart and they assured him that his prayers would be answered and he would be saved from trouble. Plaze wasn't in a mood to listen to all these stories.

The rains never stopped and the villagers were worried. The entire town of Madurantakam was filled with water everywhere and daily life was affected. Many feared that the tank would overflow and water will come into the town. As a District Collector, Lt.Col Plaze had a lot of work pressure and he was extremely worried. He went to the spot along with his team and inspected the bunds. He prayed at heart that the bunds shouldn’t break. He had no chance now. He has to rely on God now.

There was a flash of lightning. He saw two figures standing at a distance. One of them had a bow in the hand. Lt.Col. Plaze was amazed and spell bound. It was none other than Lord Ram (Vishnu) and his divine brother Lakshman. His prayers were answered! Lord Ram and Lakshman themselves have taken the task of protecting the tank. None of the other members in the team who were with him in the site saw Ram or Lakshman. It was believed that the Collector fainted after having darshan of Lord Ram.

When the rains stopped, the Collector approached the purohits and apologised to them for being sarcastic. He personally took charge of the construction expenses and a shrine for Janakavalli Thayar was built. As a sign of respect, the temple authorities engraved a small idol of Col.Plaze in the walls of the shrine of Janakavalli Thayar as a sign of respect. Even in the temple entrance Col.Plaze’s name is mentioned in return of grattitude.

I love Madurantakam and it's my favourite place in this world! Wherever, I travel to, I would always come and visit this place. This is where I find peace, love and tranquility.

-Krishna Kumar.S

Journey to Chakradharpur (Jharkhand, West Singhbum district)

2010-08-14T03:17:00.000-07:00

December 25th, 2009.

I got up at 3:30AM. It was too cold. With the help of geyser, I prepared some hot water and put my legs into it. After 15 minutes, I was feeling better. I was ready in 30 minutes. My adopted pups were awake and were happy to see me awake early in the morning. They started licking my legs and were jumping crazily. I was a bit afraid. Even though, I like dogs I always make it a point not to touch them much or even allow them to lick. I managed to push them back to my apartment and hurriedly moved out with my backpack.

I came out of my house and walked to my neighbour Anoop Bhuyan’s house. He and his nephew Saurabh were getting the car ready for the journey. There were lots of luggages. I am not a person who has great knowledge of car, but I could identify the model as Santro. The time was 4:15AM. The plan was to start by 5AM, but looks like we were ahead of time in our schedule. The plan was to visit Chakradharpur in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand. My neighbours and I became thick close friends within months of our first meet. I was very much interested in roaming around the countryside. They knew it and they asked me to simply join along in their personal trip. I thought it wouldn’t be nice, but they didn’t allow me to decline the offer. Even I was interested in seeing Chakradharpur. Even the very name thrilled me! The name sounded very majestic and imperialistic. I thought ‘Chakradhar’ was a King’s name. That was my guess.

Chakradharpur was situated roughly 340km from Howrah. The plan was to reach the place by 11AM. I would be staying in a separate room at a friend’s place and later join them in the car for the return journey the next day. My friend Anoop is a 40 year old conservative Bengali while Saurabh was a college goer younger to me by a few years. He always had the habit of calling me”Dada”, later I requested him to call me by my name Krishna, but he would just not listen to me.

We started at 4:30AM. Anoop was a good driver! He was driving very well. I almost felt like I was in a train. Excellent speed! Kolkata looked deceptively calm during the early morning hours. Some parts were deserted, but I still found some parts crowded and people were busy. I wondered what they were doing in wee hours of morning. Salt Lake City (Kolkata) looked beautiful even during the morning hours.

The journey was long. It could have been tedious for Anoop and Saurabh, but I was simply enjoying as I like travelling. I took my mobile and started taking notes regarding details needed for my travelogue. Since there were lot of luggages we couldn’t opt to travel by train and moreover, there were other plans for Anoop. My plan was to simply roam around, so it wasn’t a big deal for me. Whether it’s train or car or even a horse cart.

After roughly 1.5 hours we stopped for tea. It was great to have tea in the morning. It was really warm. After 15 minutes, we resumed our journey again. This time Anoop was driving the car a bit slow. I wondered why. Was something mixed in tea??? I had my own worries.

West Bengal looked beautiful, but it lacked in infrastructure. The roads were a bit poor here and there with a lot of dumps and bumps. I observed the countryside and it was beautiful. I was thankful to God for giving me an opportunity to travel to these places. I remember marking these places in map, but never knew that I would be travelling there in any part of my life time. It’s a special feeling. It gives a lot of peace and happiness. I wasn’t going to miss this moment. I connected my mobile and I was listening to some of my favourite songs. No prize for the guesses. I was listening to my favourite Backstreet Boys, Michael Jackson collections.

Around 11:15AM, we reached our destination. Chakradharpur had a lot of railway quarters and colonies for staff. The town (city?) was a bit quiet on that day with not much of activity around even though it was Christmas. I was feeling a bit tired. Saurabh helped me with my new room for the next one day and I refreshed myself by taking a shower. I told him that I would be roaming around the town only in the afternoon and I would like to take some rest. He left me alone and I went for a nap. I didn’t feel like eating anything. I didn’t know why. After one hour nap, I got up and went along with Anoop for lunch at the hotel nearby. I had rotis with rice, while Anoop went for a heavy Non-Veg stuff. He couldn’t understand why I was still a vegetarian. I told him that I was a Brahmin.

After lunch, I went around the town by walk. It was a wonderful experience. I stopped by the countryside and had “gol-guppa” or Pani Puri with onions. The taste was good. Brought back fond memories having Pani-poori in the streets of Kolkata. The local bus stand was not in proper condition but there were other things to boast about. The place still represented British era and it was beautiful. The place was a railway establishment and I could see a lot of quarters and other Government buildings. There were statues dedicated to freedom fighters and people looked amazingly simple with great character.

As I walked towards the bus stand, I came across a board which read as Cuttack-370km, Patna-568km, Nagpur-819km, Vijayawada-1107km, Nasik-1468km. My goodness there were lots of places mentioned. What about Chennai? Well, what about Kolkata? It is the nearest major metro and it was mentioned. Cuttack is mentioned, but what about Bhubaneshwar-the capital? Most of all, why isn’t the capital city of Ranchi not mentioned here? I felt a bit amused.

My first task was to board a share auto or bus to a place called “Kera” to visit Bhagwati temple. It was 10km away as per information collected from my friends in Kolkata. The main hurdle was language. But I was confident of managing with my Hindi. I boarded a bus and purchased ticket to Kera. It was a long journey! The driver took nearly 40 minutes. The bus wasn’t crowded. The roads were dusty. The road conditions in the outskirts were very bad! I found myself travelling between midly dense forests and lonely state highways. The villages gave a sleepy appearance. I was enjoying this journey very much. I was listening to my beloved Backstreet Boys-I want it that way. After 40 minutes, I got down. The temple was nearby and it wasn’t as big as I assumed. I thought it was “Bhagwati Amman” but it was simply Bhagwati Temple. Later only I realized that Amman is a name used only in South India and in the North India it’s “Ma”. The temple was simple and peaceful. My next destination was Ponga to visit a Shiva Temple.

Villages in India manifest a deep loyalty to their hometown. They identify themselves proudly representing their hometown. Even I don’t represent Chennai that proudly. I need to learn a lot from these villagers. I have also observed that a family rooted in a particular village does not easily move to another and even people who have lived in a city for a generation or two refer to their ancestral village as "our village”. I have always felt a sense of pride and loyalty when I speak with Indians who live in villages. They carry themselves with pride not giving to underhanded ways. Maybe some of our guys in corporate offices should learn a lesson or two from these people.

These people also have the habit of sharing things. They share common village facilities-the village pond, grazing grounds, temples and shrines, cremation grounds, schools, sitting spaces under large shade trees, wells. Perhaps equally important, fellow villagers share knowledge of their common origin in a locale and of each other's secrets, often going back generations. Interdependence in rural life provides a sense of unity among residents of a village. I haven’t observed anything as such in cities. Why such contrasts exist?

Viewed from a distance, an Indian village may appear deceptively simple. It may even look silly for a few. A cluster of mud-plastered walls shaded by a few trees, set among a stretch of green or dun-colored fields, with a few people slowly coming or going, oxcarts creaking, cattles roaming around, and birds singing. In reality, any Indian village life is far from simple. The work ethic is strong, with little time out for relaxation, except for numerous divinely sanctioned festivals.

I returned back to my friend’s place at 6 PM. Citing language problems, I wasn’t much interested in roaming at nights. I didn’t want to outdo myself or try anything eccentric and get into trouble. I was very hungry too. I returned back to my friend’s place and had an early dinner at the same hotel where I had lunch but this time alone. Jharkhand’s cuisine was nice and interesting. I love rotis! Rotis, Dal, Khukri, with lots of vegetables. It cost me a good Rs.50. After dinner, I silently slipped to bed.

The next day morning I started my return journey towards Kolkata with Anoop and Saurabh, with lots of luggages. After long hours of continuous driving, we took our breakfast at a place called Galudih. Our next halt was at Ghatsila near Jharkhand-West Bengal where we took rest for about 30 minutes. As we crossed the border, a board sign read,” Welcome to West Bengal”.

-Krishna Kumar.S
a.k.a Junior KK

Stress Buster-A friend's suggestion

2010-08-08T07:08:00.000-07:00

How to cope up with stress, problems, bugs and useless people? There are many temporary fixes for the above mentioned problem, but these happen again and again. I was wondering whether there would be any permanent solution. Sometimes, I tackle worries by simply ignoring them. The true fact is that sometimes I am clueless about how to handle things, so that’s the reason why I prefer to ignore things. Fortunately, ignoring problem become solutions. Instead of getting worked up to find a solution, sometimes it is better to ignore problems.

In one such confusing scenario I was clueless. I was suggested by my friend/colleague to dance alone in room to the tune of your favourite music to relieve anger, stress, or boredom. I was surprised at this. At first I thought my friend was joking. I asked,” I don’t know how to dance?” The reply came,”Arre, it’s easy. Simple shake your hands and legs just like that to the tune. You will feel the difference”. The idea is a bit funny and interesting too. I decided to implement the same.

I was sitting with my machine at around 1AM. The compiler spit out errors as usual. I wasn’t irritated, as this work wasn’t my priority now, but still if I am able to accomplish this it would boost my overall confidence, morale and self esteem.

In such a scenario, I remembered the “dancing technique”. At 1AM in the night, I started listening to my favourite Michael Jackson’s-Smooth criminal. Sitting in front of my machine, I had a glass of water and started shaking my legs and hands simply to the tune of Smooth Criminal. I am not a dancer and I am a shy person when it comes to dancing and singing. I was also singing the exact lyrics and within a few minutes, my stress was gone!!!! Even Michael Jackson will turn in his grave, if he hears that his music has got so much of value.

However, by my experience I knew this was a temporary solution. This is something like anaesthesia. Before the effect of anaesthesia falls away, the “operations” need to be performed. I immediately started to work on a task. No, you guessed it wrong! It wasn’t the bit of code which was throwing error. I started to work on my travelogue about my recent trip to the town of Madurantakam (beloved). And after few hours, I came back to the piece of code and it was working fine.

But when I went to bed, I had a smile on my face. Shaking legs, hands for music...... LOL! How did that help me to solve the problem? God only knows. Whatever... I found out a way out thanks to my friend.

Thanks for your patient listening,

Regards,
Krishna Kumar.S
(Travel Writer/Rail nut)
IRFCA-MAS (Indian Railways Fan Club Association)
Visit us at: www.irfca.org

Navjeevan-New Life: Trip to Kumbakonam Navagraha Temples

2010-06-19T06:30:00.001-07:00

The road leading to Guru sthalam at Alangudi.

28th, April 2010.

I had returned from office at 8PM and I was taking rest. Feeling bored, I decided to watch TV before having my dinner. I was browsing through TV channels and I came across an interesting programme related to Hindu mythology. It was about the mythological story related to Lord Sukran, Maha Bali and Vamana avtar. As per mythology, Lord Vishnu took his 5th avtar as Vamana, a dwarf Brahmin to humble the rich king Maha Bali who threatenned to overpower the Devas. Vamana approached Maha Bali and asked for bhiksha which was three footsteps of land. Sukran being the Guru for Maha Bali knew the conspiracy behind it as he had the ability to anticipate what could happen next.

He also knew that the person in disguise was Vishnu. Mahabali was a rich prosperous king and he was surprised why the puny dwarf Brahmin asked only for three footsteps of his land. Considering Bali’s wealth, the Brahmin could have asked more land, jewels, money and food. Sukran warned Bali that he is suspicious about this Brahmin’s strange request and advised him to ignore his request. But Bali had the habit of not saying "NO" to anyone who approached him for a favour or alms. He decided to agree to the Brahmin’s demand of giving land. The background story is that Maha Bali so powerful, the Devas in heaven felt that he would soon conquer all worlds. So the devas prayed to Vishnu and Vishnu advised them not to worry and He would take care of Maha Bali. To prevent Maha Bali from becoming powerful, Vishnu took this avtar to outwit and humble Bali.

The weather was cloudy and it was drizzling.

As per rituals, water is sprinkled from kamandalam (a jar filled with water carried by sages) and that indicates the whole hearted approval for the donation. To prevent Bali from doing this act, Sukran changes himself into a bee and gets inside the kamandalam to prevent water from coming out. When Bali tries to perform the act of sprinkling waters, water doesn’t come out of the nozzle. Vamana realized this and takes a darbha (a leaf) and inserts it into the nozzle of the jar to clear out the obstacle. Sukran who was already hiding inside in the form a bee gets hurt and loses one of his eyes. Vamana then proceeds to show his universal cosmic form and keeps one leg on earth and another leg on heaven. He asks,"Where shall I keep my third leg?". Bali kneels down and shows his head. Vamana keeps his third leg on Bali's head and pushes him down to the undergroud world.

I was amazed when I heard this story. I have heard of this many times, but this time I thought differently. I was impressed with Sukran’s love for his devotee Maha Bali. Sukran was the Guru and Guru means teacher. He loved his disciple so much that he volunteered to help him even when he wasn’t listening to his warnings. This reflects the relationship between a mentor and a disciple. There is so much to be learnt from ancient traditions. It might sound a bit foolish, but I went ahead and planned for this trip to Kumbakonam because I wanted to see Kanchanur where Lord Sukran resides. I also planned to cover the remaining Navagraha temples which I didn’t see earlier during my previous trip. There are many people who visit this temple for various reasons, but I visited simply because I liked Sukran’s affection towards his devotee Maha Bali. Maybe I need to learn a lot from Hinduism.

Alangudi Guru Temple entrance.

I had already visited 5 Navagraha temples in 2008. The remaining temples were Suryanar Koil near Aduthurai, Sukran Temple at Kanchanur, Guru Temple at Alangudi and Chandran (Moon) Temple at Thingaloor. I knew that this trip was going to be fantastic. I don’t know why, but I felt so and I was very very excited. There were no tickets available for the onward journey so I decided to travel in unreserved compartment. I got a side lower berth for my return journey in 6854 Cholan Express.

April 30th, 2010.

I reached Egmore at 2200hrs. I accidentally met my colleague Prem Sagar who was going to Tiruchi that night. After having a few words with him we both departed towards our respective platforms. I went towards the platform where my train’s rake was expected to be shunted in. My plan was to board 2793 Egmore-Madurai Express. If I wasn’t able to board it due to excessive crowd, my back-up plan was to take 6175 Kamban Express which departs at 23:15hrs. Luckily, I managed to get a window-seat in the unreserved compartment of 2793 Madurai Express. I waited anxiously for 30 minutes and my train finally departed at 22:45hrs. I was excited as this Navagraha temple trip has been pending long time.

Since my childhood I had travelled through suburbs many times in express trains, but I haven’t got bored. Its lots of fun to be in an express train tearing past small stations at high speed without stopping. I enjoy every bit of what I observe. My train negotiated the curve between Saidapet and Guindy at high speed and it was a treat to observe the entire train in a curve at night time with all compartment lights switched ON. My train skipped Tambaram and its next halt was at Chengalpet. At Chengalpet, a lot of people got in and my compartment was a bit crowded with people sitting, sleeping on floors. Few of them were sleeping even under the seat. Last minute decisions to do trips would lead to situations like this. Travelling in unreserved could be tough sometimes.

I was awake till 1AM and shortly before Villupuram, I went to sleep. I had no choice than sleeping in sitting posture. My sleep was never continuous and I woke up several times before my train reached Kumbakonam. If my memory is right, my train reached Kumbakonam around 5AM and it was late by nearly 40 minutes (I guess). It was raining heavily outside and I waited for a few minutes at the station. The rain never stopped, so I decided to take an auto to a nearby lodge.

I didn’t have an umbrella with me, so I had no choice than taking an auto. Walking in rain is not really advisable. I knew autos would be expensive unlike Kolkata. The auto guy seized this opportunity as it was raining and demanded a good Rs.70/-. I reduced the rate to Rs.50/- through negotiations. I went to the famous ARK Lodge and found out that there were no rooms available. After searching in a few lodges, I found an accommodation in a lodge near Kumbeshwar temple. It was a non-AC single bed room with restroom and it cost me Rs.125/- per day. It was indeed cheap.

I refreshed myself quickly and got ready in 30 minutes. My first destination was Alangudi-Guru temple. I had heard that visiting this temple brings good news, talents and punyam. I have also heard that one who is blessed for 14 generations could only enter this temple. I hoped and I desired that I could be one of them. It might sound a bit stupid for my readers if they hear that I believe these stories, but I prefer to be and live like a villager.

Guru bhagwan, Alangudi.

I would like to recollect my past in which I studied in a highly modern school with wealthy people around. Even today some of my friends inquire why I am like this. So simple, without any modern thoughts, wearing only formals, formal shoes. Why am I not wearing reebok shoes, t-shirts with slogans like “So many girls no time, Drink water save beer, Intel inside Idiot outside”? Why am I not going to Spencers Plaza with girlfriends? Or why don't I have a GF first of all? Why am I not boozing, smoking, colouring my hair in Bollywood style? Why am I not going to Discs, DJ’s?

I have got only one anwer. “I don’t know”. Anyway, I don’t mind if this world calls me a villager.

I came to Kumbakonam bus stand and boarded a bus to Alangudi which was 17km away from Kumbakonam. The rain had stopped, but the weather was still cloudy. I loved the atmosphere. “Ammadi, aathadi, unna enakku thariyaadi”. Cinema songs were running in full volume! The bus driver was in an aggressive mood. He started driving the bus at high speed and within a few minutes we were out of the town. The scenery was fantastic. Lush green fields, small ponds, coconut trees, banyan trees were a treat to my eyes as my bus rushed towards Alangudi. After half an hour, I got down at Alangudi. The temple was 0.5km away. I was in no hurry. I took my own sweet time to walk through the village. The atmosphere impressed me very much. Kids were playing with tyres, small girls were playing with pups, women were carrying water pots in their hips, men in dhotis were going towards their farm. This is the Tamilnadu which I admire at heart.

A small Vishnu temple at Alangudi located very near to Guru temple.

After crossing a few small streets, chasing a few hens, I spotted the temple at a distance. Within a few minutes, I entered into the temple. I felt honoured. This is one of my life’s greatest moments and I cherish this even today. This is the sthalam of Guru Bhagwan and the presiding deity here is Abathsahayeswarar and His consort is Elavarkuzhali Ammai or Umayamma. The temple name is Abathsahayeswarer swami temple. The story of the Devas and Asuras churning the celestial ocean or the parkadal is related to this temple. During this churning, a deadly poison in the name of “Halakala” was created. Lord Shiva consumed that poison here to save the world. Hence the name Alangudi: Ala meaning poison. The Lord himself came to be known as Abathsahayeswarar (one who helps in crisis) as he saved the world from impending danger. ‘Gu’ in Sanskrit means darkness and ‘ru’ means the destroyer of that. Hence Guru means one who destroys darkness or one who enlightens. Thus Guru is one who leads you from the darkness of ignorance to the light of knowledge.

Inside Vishnu temple at Alangudi.

There was a small Vishnu Temple nearby and I paid a visit to it too. The temple was well maintained and clean. Lord Vishnu was seen in standing posture and looked brave and majestic. After spending a good 45 minutes in the temple, I returned back to the bus stop and boarded a bus back to Kumbakonam.

My next plan was to visit Thingaloor-Moon Temple or Chandran. Thingaloor is situated 39km away from Kumbakonam. At Kumbakonam, I again boarded a bus towards Thingaloor. This was the longest bus ride ever in my life. The bus was very slow. Infact, I thought that the bus engine would die any moment. It was damn old and poorly maintained. After 90 minutes ride, I got down at Thingaloor. It took 90 minutes to cover 39km!! You can now guess the condition of the bus! The temple was 3km away from bus stop and I walked on a small neat clean road for nearly 30 minutes to reach the temple. There were lots of trees, green bushes, fields on the sides of the road.

I was amazed at the diversity in human civilisation. One part of the country has got tall buildings, bridges and another part of the country has small huts amidst temples. I was also pained to observe that few people live in diet, while most live in poverty. This mystery could be unraveled only by an enlightened soul.

It is believed that Lord Chandra worshipped Lord Shiva here(at Thingaloor) to save him from a curse and gained his blessings. Hence it is believed that those who have any Chandra Dosha in their horoscopes can get relief from suffering by offering prayers and performing pujas to Lord Kailasanathar, Goddess Periyanayaki and Chandra Bhagwan. Devotees who worship Lord Chandra are blessed with good health, mother’s welfare, and get rid of the stress and sorrow in daily life. The temple is roughly about 1500 years old. Built in the 7th century by Pallava King Rajasimha, this ancient Shaivite shrine reflects the early Dravidian architecture. A huge Nandi is seen in the front, facing the temple.

I lit 7 ghee lamps at this temple and went around the temple thrice. Had a good darshan of Lord Chandra and other deities. Though the Navagraha temple is famous for Lord Chandran, the main deities here are Kailasanadhar (Lord Shiva) and Periyanayaki (Goddess Parvati).

On way to Thingaloor-Chandran temple. The scenery was awesome!

During my brief sojourn at Thingaloor, I befriended a 45 year old researcher from ISRO named Gunasekharan. He was originally from Salem but settled in Trivandrum. He was also visiting all Navagraha temples spread around Kumbakonam. We both were together for the next 3 hours and we discussed about various topics related to Navagraha temples around Kumbakonam. We reached Kumbakonam at 1400hrs. The weather was still cloudy. I felt lucky. Tamilnadu is never cloudy during the month of May! This was certainly my day!

I had meals at Vasantha Bhavan at Kumbakonam bus stand along with Gunasekhar. It was fantastic experience. While visiting South India one should always have meals especially at places like Thanjavur, Madurai and Kumbakonam. The amount of warmth, hospitality one gets is more than in high funda places like Chennai. Gunasekhar noted my number and we agreed to keep in touch. We bid goodbye and separated.

I went to Canara Bank ATM and withdrew Rs.800. I thought it would be necessary. I returned to Kumbakonam bus stand again. My next destination was Sun Temple at Aduthurai, 15km away from Kumbakonam. I boarded a bus bound towards Mayavaram and within 25 minutes, I was at Aduthurai. But the Sun temple was situated in a remote location with limited bus connectivity. I booked an auto for Rs.100/-. The driver said that he would take me to the Sun Temple and Sukran temple (Venus) and bring me back to Aduthurai bus stand. I thought it was a good deal for Rs.100/-. Morever, it was a reserved auto and he agreed to stop anywhere any time and there would be no waiting charges. I didn’t want to stretch myself further as I had walked a lot from morning.

Small road leading to Thingaloor Moon temple.

Sun Temple located at Aduthurai was crowded. I purchased flowers, coconuts for archanai. This standalone temple for Suryan has shrines for other planets as well. This is the only temple which has got separate shrines for all 9 planets. The temple is famous for Lord Surya or Sun God. However, the method of worship at this temple is different. There is a particular order of darshan which has to be followed.

Devotees are first required to have the darshan of Prananatheswarar and Mangalambigai at Thirumangalakudi before visiting Suryanar Koil. This temple is just 1 km from Suryanar Koil and is situated in the same village. I didn’t know about this! After taking bath in the temple tank or at least a prokshanam, we should first worship the “Kol theertha Vinayakar”-Lord Ganesh. Then the devotees should worship Lord Nataraja. Then we should proceed towards the main sanctum to worship Visalakshmi & Kasi Viswanathan before worshipping Sivasuryanarayan (Surya). After worshipping Suryan, one should worship Guru Bhagavan who is facing Sivasuryanarayan. Now, the circumambulation or the pradarshanam procedure changes. We can now go in an anticlockwise direction and worship Saneeswaran, Buthan, Angarakan, Chandran, Kethu, Sukran and Raghu before worshipping Chandikeswarar. Then we proceed in a clockwise direction and return to worship Kol Theertha Vinayakar. This may seem very confusing but there are arrows at the temple to guide the devotees. I followed all procedures except taking bath at temple and visiting the nearby Prananatheswarer temple.

I was a bit eager to taste “Goli Soda” which is quite famous in South Indian towns. I went to a nearby shop and I was glad to find that goli paneer soda was available. It was awesome! The lemon juice added gave that extra kick!

My auto man was waiting for me faithfully. If it was Chennai, I would have been charged separately for waiting time. I took my own sweet time roaming around taking photos. I asked him to proceed towards Kanchanur which was located 5km from Suryanar Koil. During the middle of the journey, I asked him to stop for a while near a pond and I spent a few minutes taking photographs. Natural beauty was awesome! The weather was good and I wanted to use it to the maximum.

Rural Tamilnadu.

At around 16:30hrs, I entered Sukran Temple (Venus). This was the last temple in my list and I am happy that I had the chance to visit all 9 temples. I had a good darshan and the crowd was a bit less compared to Sun temple. Lord Sukran is said to bestow health, prosperity, marriage and happiness to the devotees. My auto guy dropped me back at bus-stand and after waiting for 15 minutes, I got a bus back to Kumbakonam. Since all these 4temples were located in different directions, I need to come back to Kumbakonam every time to board a bus before proceeding in another direction. But I enjoyed travelling so I didn’t mind. It was a real stress buster and I was looking for a break like this.

I returned back to my lodge at 1830hrs. I took a bath as my body was full of dust due to travel. I refreshed myself and walked to Hotel Archana and I preferred to have my dinner in an AC room. I was surprised to find that my favourite Chilli Parotta was available here. My joy knew no bounds and I immediately ordered one set of Chilli Parotta with Onion salad. After my dinner, I returned back to my room with a soda bottle. You guessed it wrong! I was not going to drink alcohol! I like having soda! I went to sleep around 9PM and I got up only at 6:30AM. I checked out at 8AM. Since I had occupied the room for more than 24 hours, I needed to pay Rs.250/- instead of Rs.125/-.

Thingaloor-Chandran Temple entrance.

I was returning back to Chennai the same day and my train was expected to arrive at 10:35hrs. I had more than 2 hours at hand. I decided to see a couple of temples nearby to my lodge before leaving Kumbakonam. Kumbeshwar temple was near to my lodge. I paid a visit to it. After visiting Kumbeshwar temple, I visited Ramanathaswamy Temple. I was impressed with the temple’s architecture and most importantly I liked the temple’s elephant. I love animals and I like spending time with them.

In life, I had lost my temper sometimes especially when I had faced injustice or when I was a victim of injustice. But showing hatred as revenge never gave me any happiness. I changed gradually to be a silent person. Why should someone’s rude/harsh behaviour dictate my character? Why should I change? I would rather live my life like this elephant peacefully without harming anyone else. The mahout was a bit harsh to the elephant and he was simply pricking it with his spear. It requires more courage to face a tough situation. It requires more courage and maturity to forgive a person. It wouldn’t have taken much time for the elephant to hit back at him.

I spent around 30 minutes at the temple observing various sculptures, drawings and paintings. The entire story of Ramayana was depicted in the form of drawings on the walls of the temple. It took 30 minutes for me to read the entire story.

Suryanar Koil Temple entrance.

I boarded an auto to the railway station and I reached 15 minutes before time. I was taking 6854 Cholan Express back to Chennai. The train was running late by 25 minutes and it arrived at Kumbakonam only at 1100hrs. I was a bit excited and nostalgic as I was travelling in Cholan Express after nearly 15 years. The last trip in Cholan was in meter gauge and those were good old days. WDP-3A#15518 locomotive was the power for my train. Meter gauge days are gone and now broad gauge locomotives have taken duty. My seat was a Side Lower Berth in the left side of the compartment. As my train went through rural country side, I observed that these places haven’t changed much except for the fact that now the trains are running on broad gauge tracks. My train entered Chidambaram around 1220hrs.

Sun God.

Chidambaram was my mother’s native town. I use to visit Chidambaram often once upon a time, before a family quarrel destroyed everything, but later it was restored with the blessings of God. My maternal uncle use to take me to this railway station everytime to show this Cholan Express when I was a kid. I use to wave at the train, climb on the engine, play with pups in the station. I use to have poppins sitting on the station bench and watch trains. Things have changed now. I am old and no more a kid. I can’t sit and observe trains, buses like kids. The old station benches are not to be seen. Meter gauge trains are no more. Even my uncle is no more. Chidambaram station has lost its charm. I wish I could get back to old days.

Kanchanur Sukran Temple entrance.

I settled comfortably in my side lower berth looking outside the window enjoying the rural country side. It was a hot sunny day with a lot of dust. My train reached Villupuram at 1430hrs. I got down and purchased a fanta bottle to quench my thirst. My train departed Villupuram at 1440hrs.

Return journey in the legendary Cholan Express!!!!

Since it was a single-line section, my train wasn’t given preference and hence it was put in loop line to allow other prestigious trains to cross. At Perani, Vaigai Express crossed my train. At Karunguzhi, my train was made to wait for nearly 20 minutes to allow Mumbai-Nagercoil Express to cross. After scheduled halt at Chengalpet, my train didn’t halt anywhere and proceeded all the way to Egmore.

WAG-5 with a freighter. Spotted just before entering Villupuram from main line.

My friend Manikantan was at Kodambakkam station and he informed me through SMS that he would be standing near the level crossing and he told that he would wave at me. The train was a bit slow and I was able spot Mani standing near the tracks and I waved at him!

2635 Vaigai Express crosses my train at Perani.

I reached Egmore at 1745hrs. It was indeed a long tiresome journey as I wasn’t travelling in AC. But I love travelling in sleeper class as it allows me to have a good look at the country-side. I reached home at 1900hrs.I distributed prasadham to everyone at home. It was a classic trip!!

-Krishna Kumar.S
Chennai, Tamilnadu.

A trip to Madurantakam with Varsha

2010-05-22T07:09:00.000-07:00

Madurantakam Yeri Katha Ramar.

February 30th, 2011.

This was the most fantastic day of my life. I took my younger sister Varsha to my favourite place Madurantakam, which is 84km south of Chennai. I love my sister very much and I had always wanted her to accompany in my travels, but it was never possible as she was very busy with her career and I didn’t want to disturb her too much. I never took her beyond TN. We started at 0600hrs from our house in Adyar. We boarded the new Tata Marcopolo type-M49 bus and got down at Guindy Railway station. The bus ticket cost Rs.3 each. We both walked to the ticket counter and purchased two tickets to Madurantakam. It cost Rs.14/- each.

Madurantakam Ram Temple-Gopuram.

The train was expected to arrive only at 06:55hrs. We had nearly 50 minutes at hand. We both sat in one of the platform benches and started talking about yesterday’s cricket match. I love “Varsh kutty” very much. The age difference isn’t much and I am elder to her only by one year! She has been my companion during my tough times and she has helped me to get through tough situations in life. I always use to tell our mother that she is more intelligent than me. But Varsha always believed that I was more talented due to experience gained through travels. I may have travelled, but I never had the ability to learn from the past nor use my so-called experience. What is the use if one couldn’t use his resources properly? What’s the point if hardwork goes in vain due to simple mistakes? But it was my sister Varsha who made me correct this mistake. I started learning from my mistakes in the past. She taught me to learn from my mistakes. Or rather made me learn using her own ways.

Taken during our return journey.

I was lost in my thoughts thinking about my sister, a shrill honk distracted me. It was a WAP-4 honk. WAP-4#22550 was hauling Pandian Express and it crossed us at high speed. I have taught Varsha to identify locomotives, numbers etc. After the train passed, she asked in an innocent childish voice, “Anna, is this WAP-4?” I replied, “Yes”.

I like this attitude in her. She tries to learn everything. She makes her own decisions after analysing things. Many think that liking trains is kiddish, but Varsha was different. Though she isn’t interested much in railways, she respects my love for these machines. She googles to finds details and tries to learn on her own about Railways. I have told her many times that she can also become a railfan, but she wasn’t interested in going to that eccentric level. She is 23, but still her voice is like a 6 year old child.

WDM-2#16881 with NCJ special at Karunguzhi.

We spent time watching a lot of trains coming from various places like Kanyakumari, Sengottai, Rameshwaram, Nagore. At 0710hrs, 103-Pondicherry Fast Passenger arrived at Guindy. It was nearly 15 minutes late. The locomotive for the day was WAP-4#22220. We boarded the second coach. There were few seats available, but I preferred to stand along with Varsha kutty atleast till our next halt. Within a few minutes, the train was doing 100kph. Varsha was standing near the door and I was a bit worried. I found two empty window seats and we both settled in it comfortably as we didn’t want to stand all the way. Our train reached Tambaram at 0730hrs. Just as we departed Tambaram, WDP-3A#15534 was seen entering Tambaram with Pothigai Express.

WDP-3A#15503 with Pearl City Express near Paranur.

Our train had halts at Guduvanchery, Potheri, Singaperumal Koil, Paranur and reached Chengalpet at 0815hrs, nearly 20 minutes late. WAP-4#22693 was seen hauling Villupuram-Tambaram passenger at Maraimalai Nagar. WDP-3A#15503 was spotted at Paranur hauling Pearl City Express. After 10 minutes halt at Chengalpet, our train started its run. Since all Chennai bound expresses from south were running late, our train being a passenger was put on loop giving preference to Expresses in the single line section. At Ottivakkam, WAP-4#22232 crossed us with Madurai-New Delhi Sampark Kranti Express. At Karunguzhi, WDM-2#16881 crossed our train with a weekly special from Nagercoil. I was enjoying the crossings and I got down each time to take photos but didn’t allow Varsha to get down! She got bit upset due to this.

WDP-3A#15534 with Pothigai Express near Tambaram.

Our train reached Madurantakam at 0915hrs. It was nearly 40 minutes late. We both walked for nearly 1 km to reach the temple which was located at the center of the town’s market. Varsha was visiting the temple for the first time and she was a bit excited. The temple wasn’t crowded much too. We had darshan of the Lord quite comfortably as there werent' many people around. As we explored the temple, I explained the legendary tale behind this temple.

In the year 1796, the temple authorities decided to build a separate shrine for Janakavalli Thayar (Goddess Sita). It was a rainy season and Madurantakam Tank was getting full. There was a fear that the bunds would give away and water would come into the town. At that time, Lt.Col. Plaze, the British collector noticed a huge pile of stones near the Temple. He inquired the purohits why there were so many bricks and stones inside the temple complex.

The purohits replied that those bricks were to be used for constructing a separate shrine for Goddess Sita. The collector was amused. Lt.Plaze said that building a shrine wasn’t a priority. He believed that the bricks should be used for repairing the bunds of the tank which had broken. The purohits replied that Lord Vishnu never betrayed any devotee and He always answers the prayers of his devotees. Purohits asked the Collector to pray to Lord Ram sincerely from his heart and they assured him that his prayers would be answered.

Madurantakam-Railway station entrance

The rains never stopped. The entire town of Madurantakam was filled with water everywhere and daily life was affected. Many feared that the tank would overflow and water will come into the town. As a District Collector, Lt.Col Plaze had a lot of work pressure due to this and he was extremely worried. He went to the spot along with his team and inspected the bunds. He prayed at heart that the bunds shouldn’t break.

There was a flash of lightning. He saw two figures standing at a distance. One of them had a bow in the hand. Lt.Col. Plaze was amazed and spell bound. It was none other than Lord Ram (Vishnu) and his divine brother Lakshman. His prayers were answered! Lord Ram and Lakshman themselves have taken the task of protecting the tank. When the rains stopped, the Collector approached the purohits and apologised to them for being sarcastic. He personally took charge of the construction expenses and a shrine for Janakavalli Thayar was built. A small idol of Col.Plaze is engraved in the walls of the shrine of Janakavalli Thayar as a sign of respect. Even in the temple entrance Col.Plaze’s name is mentioned in the pillars.

Coming back to the present....

Varsha kutty was impressed with the temple's beauty and the surroundings. I can notice that by her looks. We slowly went to other sannidhis one by one and had darshan of other deities. We spent time seeing the paintings on the walls too. Varsha even took a few snaps too. One particular image which impressed her was that of Goddess Parvati’s marriage in which Lord Vishnu was giving her to Lord Shiva. She couldn’t understand the significance of the picture entirely. I explained it to her. “Varsha, this practice is known as Kanya Dhanam. The bride’s father or elder brother gives away the girl to her husband. No Hindu marriage is complete without it”.

Madurantakam Lake.

We went around the temple thrice. Varsha was very happy. I was happy too. At last I did something useful for my sister. I love my sister very much. I like her kiddishness, innocence, anger. Sometimes I am afraid of her too. During my disappointments, she has always been with me trying to change my mind. If I refuse to change, she has even forced me to change. I had no options than obeying her as she has been along with me always giving me hope. She is more valuable to me than any other friends. In a few circumstances in the past when I was down, she has literally taken over my life and shown me the path to happiness.

This is similar to a state under President’s rule. She is my President. She would continue to rule me, till a proper Chief Minister comes to take care of me. But her part isn’t over yet. She would be present during the oath taking ceremony and tie the third knot in my marriage giving her approval and appointing a new girl as Chief Minister to monitor the state. She has every right over me and I am happy every time she uses her rights.

We had our breakfast at Nirmala Bhavan. We walked back to the railway station. It was a long walk! We purchased our tickets up to Mambalam and waited for the newly introduced Villupuram-Egmore Passenger. It came at 1205hrs with WAP-4#22390. I peeped into the locomotive and was surprised to see 55-year old Loco-Pilot Ram. I knew him very well for the past 5 years. I told him that I had come along with my sister to see the temple. He invited us for a ride. I agreed as this was perhaps the best chance to take Varsha in a real locomotive.

Varsha was excited as this was her first ride in a real locomotive. Within a few minutes our train was hitting 100kph! WAP-4 shakes a lot at high speed! The track sounds were awesome. Praang!!!! Praang!!! LP Ram even allowed Varsha kutty to operate the honks once. The passenger had only 10 coaches and it was a piece of cake for the WAP-4. We reached Mambalam at 1330hrs. We both got down at Mambalam and waved at Ram as he departed towards the final stop Egmore.

We walked towards T.Nagar bus stop and took a 5B bus to Gandhinagar bus stop. As we walked into our house, I asked her, “How was WAP-4 experience??????” She replied, “Superb! Awesome!”

-Krishna Kumar.S

This article is dedicated to all girls who are considered as sisters by me.

Navjeevan Series "New Life": First Class Trip to Salem

2010-05-14T22:39:00.000-07:00

WDM-2#16296 with Garib Rath Express at Pukkiravari. The train was in loop waiting for our passenger.

April 2nd, 2010.

I started at 20:30hrs from my house and reached Egmore at 21:30hrs. I hurried to the hotel just outside Egmore to have my favourite Chilli Parotta as I haven’t had it for the past 6 months. To my disappointment, the hotel staff told me that only noodles was available. My friend Sriram Karthik joined me when I was busy with my noodles. Together we walked towards our train. As usual we went to the front to find out the locomotive number. We found that WDM-2#16802 LHF was our power.

I was actually doing an eccentric trip (as usual). The plan was to travel by First Class as first class coaches were going to be removed from service soon. Also, I haven’t seen the section between Virudhachalam and Salem. We were eagerly looking for this trip due to the above mentioned reasons. Sriram Karthik also agreed to join in the trip and another friend Chidambaram agreed to come till Virudhachalam as he was proceeding towards Tiruchi for some personal work. So I charted a plan as follows.

Plan:

1. Taking 1063 Egmore (MS)-Salem Express till Virudhachalem (VRI). Getting down at VRI at around 3AM in the morning. I am not a time-table guy, I am not sure of timings. Sorry!
2. Observe night trains passing through VRI from 3AM till 5:30AM. This was Sriram Karthik and Chimbu’s plan! My plan was to sleep in the platform bench.
3. Board VRI-SA passenger at 5:30AM to Salem. The train reaches Salem around 8:30AM.
4. The return journey is by West Coast Express from Salem to Chennai in First Class compartment.

The Ultimate Road Number King in MAS!! Sriram Karthik!

I am not a guy who notes speeds, numbers nor a guy well versed in timetables. I simply enjoy train travels and I wish to keep my hobby to that limit itself and not venturing into technical details. So I didn’t care about noting down any timing, or spotting or numbers of the locomotives which I saw in action during my trip. However, my dear friend Sriram Karthik was exactly the opposite. He sat all night and noted down all the numbers and crossings with timings! I should really appreciate Sriram on this. Few members are simply great and I am nowhere near in these aspects of rail fanning.

I believed that my train started on time and very soon we were doing very high speeds. Chidambaram boarded at Tambaram and sat with us for some time. He had got a Side-Lower berth in a different coach, but he was interested in being with us for some time. I got a Side-Lower and Sriram got a Lower berth, but none of us were interested in sleeping early.

I was impressed with the driving of the Loco pilot. 18602 WDM-2 was indeed a performer. Even though I am not a great diesel fan, I do like the WDM-2’s. But at heart I had the feeling, that good old WDM-2 days are over. But it wasn’t. The acceleration and speed was awesome. I was not keen on being awake as my focus was not to observe the crossings, but to enjoy the section between VRI and Salem and the return journey in First Class. Chidambaram and I went to sleep when our train crossed Olakur. I opted to take Sriram’s LB and Sriram comfortably settled in my Side-lower berth. Sriram Karthik was awake all night in Side Lower Berth!!

When I woke up next, I noticed that my train was in Villupuram. For the next few hours, my sleep wasn’t continuous. I woke up every time when my train stopped for a crossing. At Tiruvennainallur Road 6108 Mangalore-Chennai Egmore Express was waiting in loop. RPM WAP-4#22806 was the power. At Puvanur, WAP-4 crossed with 2632 Nellai Express and it wasn’t doing great speeds. However, what happened next was something awesome. We were put on loop at Parikkal and 2638 Pandian Express crossed us at a high speed. The honks were monstrous and when the locomotive crossed my window, cold breeze hit my face. I went to sleep again.

Chimbu and Sriram during the early morning hours. The location is Virudhachalam Railway station. Even at that time Sriram is pondering over his notes, timetables, referring to spottings etc etc.

Sriram Karthik woke me up when my train was nearing Virudhachalam. I was feeling very sleepy and I slept on the bench for a few minutes as Sriram and Chidambaram were talking about various rail related topics. It was a different pleasant experience. I mean sleeping in a railway station’s bench at night hours when the whole city is asleep, gazing at the empty sky and stars. The atmosphere was very fresh. I inhaled fresh air and after a few breaths I was feeling as if I was in heaven.

Two of our friends Naveen and Raghu Jayaraman were returning from Sengottai in 2662 Pothigai Express and they agreed to meet us at Virudhachalam. WAP-4#22222 hauled 2662 Pothigai Express entered into VRI in a monstrous style. Amazing! I was speechless. Once the train rolled to a stop, we waited at the coach entrance. Sleepy looking bearded Naveen and a fresh looking Raghu came out and greeted us. Naveen was seeing me after a long time and even at that unearthly hour; he couldn’t resist pulling my legs.

Within two minutes, starter was given and Naveen/Raghu departed towards Chennai. Chimbu and Sriram started talking about train topics and I returned to my slumber. I was enjoying in my own dream world. Sleeping in a railway station is a pleasant experience. Sriram purchased the tickets to Salem and woke me up at 5AM. Our train was already in platform and to our surprised we found that WDM-2#16802 was attached to its helm. This was the same locomotive which hauled our train to VRI earlier. As our train was about to depart, Chimbu’s train came in another platform and so we bid good bye to him as he was heading towards Tiruchi.

Our train had an on-time departure at 5:30AM. The section was scenic and I enjoyed it. It was a single non-electrified line. Our WDM-2 was doing well. Sriram Karthik felt that the Loco-Pilot wasn’t driving well and he wasn’t making full use of WDM-2’s power efficiently. The LP accelerated and decelerated repeatedly for no reason. I couldn’t figure out either, but that wasn’t my job. I sat by the window side and observed the cows, dogs, goats and rice fields as my train went through a scenic route.

We arrived at Salem around 8:30AM. We had only one hour time before 6628 West Coast arrived at Salem. Immediately, without wasting any time we had our breakfast of Idlis, Dosas etc. Sriram was returning in coach as he was not able to get a FC ticket. WAP-4#22517 arrived with West Coast Express and without wasting any time, I boarded my train.

When I boarded the FC coach, I was shocked. There was only one elderly person travelling in it and the rest of the coach was empty. I looked at the chart and found that many FC travellers have got down at Coimbatore and Palakkad. I was overjoyed. There was no one to disturb me!

My cabin was a coupe which can accommodate two people. I got a window-seat facing the locomotive! But the window was towards the left so that could mean I can’t observe any trains which were actually going to come on my right.

22517 did perform well in my opinion. I thoroughly enjoyed my ride. I was all alone for nearly 5 hours all the way up to Chennai. No one disturbed me and I was floating in my own world. I gazed out of the window and observed the fast moving trees, roads, mountains, posts, stations. For some stupid reason, my train slowed down a lot especially near Jolarpettai, Ambur, and Arokkonam. But thanks to the buffer in the timings, my train reached on time at Chennai Central. It was a hot day and certainly not a season to rail fan, but I was in Chennai after a long time and I desperately wanted to do this trip. I got down from the coach and waited for Sriram. When I saw Sriram, I was amused. He was looking a chicken which has been fried. Chennai heat was really severe.

As we walked towards MAS entrance, Sriram lamented that 22517 didn’t perform well. However, I seriously differ from this. In my opinion, the locomotive did perform well. However, the train was made to wait unnecessarily at JTJ, AB and AJJ, otherwise it could have arrived MAS very early!

-Krishna Kumar.S
IRFCA-MAS (Transferred from Howrah)

Journey to West Bengal

2010-03-26T10:16:00.000-07:00

Journey to West Bengal

Tickets were booked in Coromandel Express through tatkal and I travelled in 2AC for the first time. I had a thought of taking flight but later I dropped the plan. With the help of my cousin brother Jaikarthik, I got my tickets booked without any problem. I reached Chennai Central along with my cousin brother. We had our morning breakfast at 0730hrs and we waited at platform 11.

My school mate Manoj was also travelling in the same train-Coromandel Express but in 3AC coach. As the rake was shunted in to the platform, there was a mad rush for the UR or unreserved compartments. Even reserved sleeper coaches weren't spared and there was a mad rush! Within a few minutes, there were people sitting on floors, in between bays, near the doors etc etc. We were a bit relieved that we were going in 2AC; else we would have had a tough time. I also noticed that there were many people trying to get into A/C compartments without proper tickets.

I was a bit disappointed that we had got upper berth. A window seat would have been a better choice to see sceneries of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. Anyway, there were other priorities. Our coach was A-1 and 32-34 were our seat numbers. My friends Vimalakar, Sriram Karthik and Vivek were at MAS and assisted me with my luggages. Our train departed Chennai Central later by a few minutes. The power was WAP-4#22295. There were lots of jerks. I felt a lot of jerks in Basin Bridge itself. My train never accelerated and it didn't even touch 60kph for a long time. We had a 5 mins halt at Tiruvottiyur. It took 35 minutes for us to reach Ennore and we crossed the Ennore creek bridge with extreme caution (10kph-15kph).

The train was very slow for some mysterious reason! I came to the door near Kavaraipettai and witnessed my train negotiating the curve after Kavaraipettai. It was fantastic. I stood at the door till GPD outer. My train crossed Gummidipondi at 60kph. Lucknow Express came in the opposite direction with an Itarsi WAM-4 and it was going towards Chennai Central (MAS). In my opinion, my train never touched 110kph. It was damn slow. There were lots of jerks. I went inside my coach and I got busy with a packet of kurkure and Lays. I was listening to my Western Music collection as usual.

There was a Bengali family travelling along with us and they were our friends for a day. The person was working in IBM and he was travelling with his wife and their 6 month old daughter Pratyusha. My train crossed Gudur at 1215hrs at extremely slow speed. My friend Manoj came to my seat and we were talking for about 1 hour. We were pulling each other's legs (war of words)-something which we do often. That's what we have been doing for the past 15 years whenever we find time.

After Nellore, I went to upper berth. AC cooling was good and overall it was a comfortable journey, but I missed a lot of sceneries. I door plated occasionally, but most of the time I was with my elder cousin brother. I decided to take a nap after Nellore and I went for a short power nap. I got up at 1600hrs and I realized that my train was in Vijayawada. The train was obviously late! I called up my home and updated my parents. I hoped that the train would touch high speeds after crew change at Vijayawada, but it turned out to be even more pathetic.

There was a big jerk and even my berth shaked! My brother and I exchanged glances. After a very poor, horrible honk my train started from Vijayawada. I went and stood near the door to observe the mountains. The train was taking the wrong line! It was keeping right instead of left. I wondered why? Are such things common in SCR? I realized that there was a freighter in the left track. After travelling for a few kilometers in the right track, my train switched back to the left track. We touched 80kph consistently and we maintained the same speed for a long time. The classic moment was yet to come. WAG-7 of Kanpur came in the opposite direction with a short passenger rake. It was a wonderful sight especially with the mountains in the background. But I don’t know why? For some mysterious reason, my train never touched high speeds.

I managed to pass time by reading some dailies, newspapers. The entire trip was not a rail fanning trip, so rail fanning wasn't a priority. If I had got a lower berth things would have been a bit different! The people in the lower berth were always sleeping and we weren't able to sit even in the aisle seat. I was very disappointed. The entire coach was dull and everyone was sleeping. I came to the door near 755km post. My train was not going fast at all. I am not a high speed train fan, so I didn't bother. But fans of Rajdhani and Shatabdi would have been disappointed if they had travelled along with me in Coromandel Express that day. I couldn’t make out much as it was very dark and I came back to my berth.

My train reached Bhadrak on time. We were surprised. My brother felt that the driver who took charge after Vishakhapatnam was extremely good at driving. My train was now running on time! I got down at Bhadrak. Orissa looked very beautiful. My train had a loco change at Vishakhapatnam. As a result of that my coach was now fifth or sixth from the locomotive. I am not sure of the exact position. After Bhadrak, the acceleration was too good and there were no jerks.

I am not sure where exactly the crew change took place. It must have been in Khurda Road or Bhubaneswar. The driver who took charge for the final leg of the journey was too good. Simply wonderful! I doorplated for a while and I observed small stations like Morkhena etc etc flying past.. Then I came back to my berth. I was feeling disappointed. The person in the lower berth was occupying every bit of the berth. I couldn’t even sit in the aisle and watch through the window. So I went back to the door and I stood all the way for the next 3 hours till Kharagpur. I realized that the passengers running ahead of my train were put on loop and my train overtook them comfortably at 110kph! It was an awesome sight! My train reached Howrah on time. It was a fantastic experience.

I bid good-bye to Manoj and I said that I would meet him once I was settled. I had a glance at the city as my Taxi flew towards Salt Lake. The city looked a bit old and resembled some 1970’s. A small smile came over my face. I had a look at the people. I got confidence from observing their simple lifestyle. I believed that this was going to make a tremendous difference in life. This was only the beginning of a good friendship between this land and myself. A relationship which grew strongly within a few months, characterized by mutual trust, a sense of brotherhood and most of all I learnt how to treat a human being with respect.

-Krishna Kumar.S

Divinity of Madurantakam

2010-03-07T00:17:00.000-08:00

Gopuram of Madurantakam-Yeri Katha Ramar Temple.

Why I like Madurantakam?

Madurantakam is a small town 84km away from Chennai. It is famous for a Ram Temple. I personally like Madurantakam very much for many reasons. I visit the Ram temple at Madurantakam almost every two months. Being a devotee of Lord Vishnu, I am always interested in Vishnu Temples. I am personally impressed with the overall majestic appearance of Lord Vishnu as Lord Ram in the Yeri Katha Ramar Temple. His brother Lakshman’s majestic appearance adds more beauty. As far as I know this is the only temple in which Lord Ram is portrayed as holding Sita’s hand. I got this information through the temple gurukkal with whom I converse often. One of my ambitions in life is to give Yeri Katha Ramar-a dhoti and thundu. I hope He would accept my gift.

Madurantakam has an interesting legend associated with it. It is believed that Lord Ram gave darshan to Lt.Colonel Plaze, a British collector when he prayed to Lord Ram to assist him. It is to be noted that Plaze was a sceptical person.

In the year 1796, the temple authorities decided to build a shrine for Janakavalli Thayar (Goddess Sita). It was a rainy season and Madurantakam Tank was getting full. There was a fear that the bunds would give away and water would come into the town. At that time, Lt.Plaze noticed a huge pile of stones piled up near the Temple. He inquired the purohits why there were so many bricks and stones inside the temple complex.

Temple Tank.

The purohits replied that those bricks were to be used for constructing a separate shrine for Goddess Sita. The collector was amused. Lt.Plaze said that building a shrine wasn’t a priority. He believed that the bricks should be used for repairing the bunds of the tank which had broken. The purohits replied that Lord Vishnu never betrayed any devotee and He always answers the prayers of his devotees. Purohits asked the Collector to pray to Lord Ram sincerely from his heart and they assured him that his prayers would be answered.

The rains never stopped. The entire town of Madurantakam was filled with water everywhere and daily life was affected. Many feared that the tank would overflow and water will come into the town. As a District Collector, Lt.Col Plaze had a lot of work pressure and he was extremely worried. He went to the spot along with his team and inspected the bunds. He prayed at heart that the bunds shouldn’t break.

Yeri Katha Ramar in all glory.

There was a flash of lightning. He saw two figures standing at a distance. One of them had a bow in the hand. Lt.Col. Plaze was amazed and spell bound. It was none other than Lord Ram (Vishnu) and his divine brother Lakshman. His prayers were answered! Lord Ram and Lakshman themselves have taken the task of protecting the tank. When the rains stopped, the Collector approached the purohits and apologised to them for being sarcastic. He personally took charge of the construction expenses and a shrine for Janakavalli Thayar was built. A small idol of Col.Plaze is engraved in the walls of the shrine of Janakavalli Thayar as a sign of respect. Even in the temple entrance Col.Plaze’s name is mentioned in the pillars.

While browsing through the Internet, I came across this legendary story. I was impressed. I visited Madurantakam for the first time in 2008 and as on date, I have been to Madurantakam 13 times. Tamilnadu has got lots to offer the world in my opinion. A British Collector believes in Lord Ram, but why do people over here inquire about the engineering degree of Lord Ram? I am confused and at the same time amused. British people are generally reserve and they follow a lot of rules. Even they have understood the existence of Ram.I think Lord Ram is a Civil Engineer and I am not sure in which college he graduated but the Britishers themselves have honoured him with a degree in Civil Engineering. The proof is the very existence of Col.Plaze's name in Madurantakam temple. What really matters is the knowledge and not the college. My Lord had enough knowledge to prevent the tank from breaking. He was the same person who built this world too. I am proud of Him.

Whenever I visit Madurantakam, I generally spend more than 4-5 hours at the temple complex. I like the taste of the divine theertham (water), the fragrance of camphor, the oil lamps, the granite floors, and the taste of tulsi leaves which my Lord Narayan likes very much. Madurantakam is one awesome place overall.

-Krishna Kumar.S

Journey to Kalinga Desam-Part 3

2010-02-21T01:32:00.001-08:00

Konark-Sun Temple.

There were various items kept in display at shops outside the Sun Temple. Balaram, Subhadra and Jagannath trio set, a model of Konark wheel, a model of Konark Sun Temple, Ganesh, Vishnu, Shiva and other deities. They were a bit expensive. The shop keeper mistook me for a Bengali and took it as an advantage and said that the Balaram-Subhadra-Krishna set cost "cholees tanka". I told him,"ponneru tanka". After some hard bargain in English, Hindi and broken Bengali, Sanjeev and myself reduced the price from Rs.40(cholis taka) to Rs.15(ponneru taka). After some shopping, we both went to a hotel and had Masala Dosai. Masala Dosai was bit different and unique. It had lots of vegetables, some leaves along with potatoes. It was very tasty and I liked it. We both then walked to a musuem nearby and had a glance at Orissa's historical collectionsa and some old paintings. Once the fog had cleared, we returned back to the temple to take a few photos. Fog and mists were causing hinderance earlier, but when we returned again, we found that the fog had cleared.The climate was cool and pleasant with little bit of sun.

Orissa was a different experience for me and I liked interacting with the people here. I personally hate forming affinity groups. The real thrill comes when you interact with a person who speaks different language. The real spice of life is when one accustoms to a new lifestyle and learns from the local people.

Sanjeev Rao was leaving to Puri by bus while I took a bus from Konark to Bhubaneshwar. We both thanked each other and after sharing our telephone numbers we departed. I should admit the fact that Sanjeev was good at bargaining. Even I can get cheated for some Rs.10 or 20 extra, but such things are not possible with Sanjeev.

The distance of 70km was covered in two and a half hours. The ticket cost me "poytreesh taka"(Rs.35). I was happy that I was managing the situation despite an acute language problem, but I was learning Bengali fast. The bus journey was an fantastic one. My bus went on top of lot of bridges and I could observe that Orissa had a lot of water. There were small ponds everywhere.

My bus reached Bhubaneshwar at 1130hrs and I had my lunch immediately. Oriya meals was too good and I loved it, but I couldn't identify most of the dishes. But I told the server/bearer that I am a vegeterian. Meals cost me Rs.30/-. I lazily walked towards Bhubaneshwar Railway station which was only a stone's throw away. The station was small and I was entering the station through Kalpana Chauk entrance. I felt as if I was entering into Saidapet or Kodambakkam or Villupuram. Since Bhubaneshwar was the capital city of Orissa, I expected the railway station to be very big but it turned out to be small and simple.

My return link was 2822 Dhauli Express at 1315hrs and I had nearly 90 minutes. I spent some time roaming inside BBS station. Since I had only one backpack with clothes, I had no burden and I was able to observe quite a lot of things comfortably. WDS-6#36125 Kharagpur was seen doing some shunting business. VSKP WAM-4#20616 came with a passenger from Palassa. Rajdhani Express to New Delhi was getting ready to depart. A girl who recently got married was moving to Delhi with her husband. As the train departed, tears rolled down in her eyes.

Dhak-Dhak, Jung-Jung.. Rajdhai departed slowly. She waved to her parents with tears. I felt a bit sad too. If I had a sister, I would also be waving at her with tears. But I never had that feeling as WAP-4's and WDM-2's are my siblings.

WDM-2#16246 came with Sambalpur-Puri Express. 2821 Dhauli Express came from Howrah bang on time at 1245hrs. My coach was D-6 and I got a window seat facing towards the locomotive. I settled quite comfortably and waited for my departure. To my horror, the train didn't start at 1315hrs. It started only at 1400hrs. Nearly 45 minutes late!

Konark! Pic taken during early morning hours.

Something unfortunate happenned soon after departure. The lady sitting next to me lost her chain. The door was near to our seat and the culprit was waiting there for a long time. When the train departed and reached the outer, he quickly snatched the chain and jumped down and fell on the tracks. The lady was shocked and for the rest of her journey till Bhadrak she was crying. I felt sorry for her and I was in no mood for railfanning. I took a few minutes to recover from the shock. As the train picked up speed I looked back and saw the thief getting up from the tracks and wiping the dust off from his shirt and pants. Her mother in law was scolding her intially, but later she consoled her. It is easy to scold anyone, but it is impossible to put ourselves in another person's shoes. We never knew what the other person's journey in life is all about. Maybe if we were in other person's shoes, we might not even be half as good as them.

My train reached Cuttack at 1425hrs. Santragachi WAP-4#22825 was spotted with NDLS-PURI Puroshottam Express near Cuttack outer. After Cuttack, the train became an unreserved passenger all the way upto Howrah. People with open tickets got in and were standing in between seats and also in the aisle. You can imagine my plight. I couldn't eat snacks or drink water comfortably as there was no space to stretch.

Till Howrah, I sat in the same seat looking outside the windows and jotting down important points needed for this travelogue. The best part was yet to come! In the next 6 hours, I witnessed some real monstrous quality driving! This was something which I haven't witnessed earlier in my life. My train did normal speed till Cuttack. After Cuttack, it was a single line secton for a few kilometers. WDM-2#18575was spotted with a BCNA rake near Mancheswar. Angul 28046 WAG-7 was spotted with coal rake just outside Mancheswar station. Looks like all the freighters have stopped for some reason.

Konark during early morning hours.

It seems that my Loco-Pilot was very upset with the delayed start. After Cuttack my train was doing very high-speeds. As my train curved towards the right, I saw dust being sprayed on the platforms of Kendarapara Road. WDG-3A#13401+WDG-3A#13403 came with a long freight rake in the curve. It was amazing. Truly amazing. But my LP didn't give up the speed. Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak. Praaanggggg!!!!! Jal-Jal, click-click, Jal-Jal, click-click, Jal-Jal, click-click, Jal-Jal, click-click. Both my train and the freighter crossed each other at dangerously high speed. Passengers inside my coach closed their ears including the TTE. It was very noisy and the honks of the diesels were very frightenning.

Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak. My Loco-Pilot was like Adam Gilchrist of Australian cricket team chasing a score of 250 in a T-20 international match. BRC WAG-5#23689 came with a BCNA rake and crossed my train at a good speed. Even the freights were doing high speeds!!! I couldn't believe. I spotted VSKP WDG-3A#14602 with a BCNA rake near Kapilas Road. There were lots of freight trains hauled by diesels and unfortunately I couldn't note everything as I was completely mesmerized by the driving of my Loco-Pilot.

The brake application was neat and clean. No jerks. I haven't travelled in a Rajdhani or Shatabdi earlier in my life, but this train came very close to the glory of Rajdhani/Shatabdi.I spotted Rajdhani towards BBS near Soru. It must have been Bhubaneshwar Radhani. I had my own doubts too. Or was it only a empty rake? The speed was too fast and I couldn't make out much. My train's average speed was 71.5 kph excluding the delay before start. Meanwhile, all my friends back in Tamilnadu were updated through repeater Sriram Karthik in SMS. I do this often during my inter-state travels. I even got replies from friends in TN asking me to describe the speed, scenery and my feelings in a more detailed manner. Each roaming message would cost Rs.3 but I wasn't bothered. I like sharing my enjoyment with my friends in Tamilnadu. WAP-4#22271 was too fast and too good. Santragachi locomotives are good performers. That's my conclusion.

Bhubaneshwar Railway station. Kalpana chauk entrance. Pic taken by Krishna Kumar.S

I spotted lots of diesel under wires after Bhadrak. I was simply amazed at my LP's driving skills. The way he was drove, I felt that he wouldn't stop even at Howrah and he would go all the way up to my house in Bidhan Nagar. I connected my headset to my mobile and started listening to "Dhadhak Dhadhak" of Bunty Aur Bubli. I listen to that song ofte during my train travels. The music was too good and my train was blasted at nearly 110kph. You can imagine how much I enjoyed this return trip. Asansol WAG-7#28113 crossed my train with a coal rake after Bhadrak. As I was constantly looking outside the window, my face became dark due to dust and my shirt got dirty. But I wasn't bothered.

Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak. The real beauty was when my train ripped through points. Track sounds appear a bit different especially when the train is not changing over. I am running short of words, I hope you understand what I am trying to say.

MGS WAG-7#27037 hauled an BOXN rake at slow speed as my train ripped through small stations at 100kph! I felt as I was flying on tracks! Brutal driving. As my train curved towards the right, WAG-5 twins 24061 and 24035 came in the opposite direction heading towards BBS with a BOXN goods wagon rake. It was a real beauty. I can't express it over here, but I wish you were there along with me that day.

Irrespective of how much you travel, towards the end of the day you would conclude that your home town is the best. I use to feel like that when my train crosses Gummidpondi and enters Tamilnadu. I had the similar feeling when my train entered back into West Bengal. How much ever you roam or railfan, you feel quite content only when your train enters back into your home town. Though West Bengal isn't my home town, I felt happy after my train entered back into West Bengal. I use to feel like that when I was in TN. But for my loco-pilot this meant nothing. He was driving as if there were no brakes in the locomotive. The onlookers in stations were baffled and astonished as my train flew past them. I wonder why there wasn't so much of aggression yesterday when I took the same train to Bhubaneshwar.

My train reached Kharagpur at 1830hrs-late by 27 minutes. I thought that my train would get held up after Mecheda due to EMU traffic. But my train wasn't blocked at all but the speed was below 80kph. The speed dropped to 40kph for a few kilometers as it neared to Howrah. I thought it would get delayed near Howrah outer, but it got all clearances and entered into Howrah station at 2030hrs. I was late only by 15 minutes. What an amazing experience. I rushed to the front to congratulate the driver, but to my disappointment there was no one in the cab. It was empty. I boarded a reserved taxi and reached Bidhan Nagar within 40 minutes without any problems. My five adopted pups were waiting for me at the gate. It's been months since I adopted them, but they haven't got a name yet. As I climbed up stairs to my room, they rounded up and didn't allowed me to enter the house, till I gave them their quota of biscuits. I went to bed quietly.

-Krishna Kumar.S
IRFCA-Howrah.
West Bengal, India.

Journey to Kalinga Desam-Part 2

2010-02-21T01:07:00.000-08:00

Photography prohibited!! Pic taken at Konark Temple, Orissa.

Trip Report Continuation....

I came outside Bhubaneshwar station immediately without wasting time and managed to get a cab to Puri for "threes taka"(Rs.30). The distance between Bhubaneshwar and Puri is 65km, but the taxi cost only Rs.30. Guess why? The call-taxi driver had already dropped a customer at BBS and he was returning to Puri empty. He wanted to make some extra money. So he simply charged the bus fee equivalent of Rs.30/-. The bus ticket to Puri costs Rs.30/-. I found that this was money-saving and more comfortable. The taxi started at 1300hrs and I reached Puri at 1415hrs.

Konark temple was covered with mists and fogs in the morning. I waited patiently to take a better photo.

With cab-driver's help, I found an accomodation in Hotel Subhadra near the temple in Puri. He scratched his head a bit and smiled at me. I understood what he expected. I gave him "kudi taka"(Rs.20). He gladly accepted it. If it was Chennai, things would have been different as expectations are more there. The A/C room cost me Rs.650 per day. It was a double bed, single room with TV. After taking rest for a few minutes, I came out and entered into the hotel next to my lodge. I had 4 rotis with sabji and pickles. The experience was fantastic. The taste was very good. I enjoyed the food.

Without wasting time, I immediately proceeded towards the temple. The temple was 500 meters away from my hotel. After nearing the temple complex, I found out that mobile phones were not allowed. Few people weren't bothered and many were carrying their mobiles, but I didn't want to take a risk especially in a new place. I walked back to my room and kept my mobile in my room and came back to the temple. I lost some good amount of time here.

One of the pundits or pundas tried to make some money out of me and tried various techniques by holding my hands and promising me to do pooja. He caught my hands a bit strong and he thought that I would be afraid. I gave a dirty look and reduced his guts to ashes. I looked at him even more firmly and removed even the last bit of his courage. There were lot of visitors from Andhra Pradesh. The darshan was suspended for nearly 45 minutes in the evening for some special pooja and I spent some time roaming around the compex.

Pic taken near Cuttack. Onboard 2821 Dhauli Express to BBS.

After 45 minutes, the crowd became less all of a sudden and I entered the complex quite comfortably. At a distance I saw Goddess Subhadra flanked by her two brothers Balram and Jagannath. It was a glorious sight. After darshan, I purchased a few small dolls as momento and returned back to my room. I slept for two hours. At around 2030hrs, I went down to have my dinner. I had rotis with sabji again.

I was listening to news in TV for sometime in my room and I went to bed at 2200hrs and got up at 0400hrs the next day. I got ready in 30 minutes and I checked out. I took a rickshaw from my hotel to Puri bus stand. It was a straight road, but the bus stand was a bit far. It cost me Rs.15/-. The guy was an old man and a kind person. He asked me for few rupees extra. I gave him "dosh taka"( Rs.10) extra. He was happy and he even helped me to find a bus to Konark. Konark was 37km from Puri. The private bus was to start at 0600hrs, but the driver took his own sweet time and waited till the bus was filled with passengers. We started only at 0637hrs.

I really enjoyed this bus-ride. Orissa was very beautiful. It gives me great pleasure and honor to write about Orissa and it's uniqueness and there could be no higher honor for me. My bus went through small scenic villages. Even the bus stops looked beautful. The entire area had a lot of greenery and there were lots of trees. Everything had a charm of its own. I saw a single-line electrified track accompanying our bus for sometime and later it went out of focus as my bus deviated towards Konark. I assumed that the track connected Puri and Bhubaneshwar. My bus went through small villages, primarly dealing with occupations like handicrafts, pottery, agriculture, livestock and farming. Great people with great thoughts, living a simple lifestyle. They may have worries, but those are genuine ones due to toughness of life.

Orissa was very unique and scenic. It was a bit dusty too.

When the whole world was worried about recession, thousands of ordinary Indians living in these small villages of Orissa, Jharkhand enjoyed their life by their simple lifestyle. Compared to these people, I have graduated nothing in my life. I need to learn a lot from them. These people know a lot of things. Those things aren't taught even in leading business schools or MNC's, corporates.

I reached Konark at 0745hrs. I met an old gentlemen named Sanjeev Rao from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. He worked for Income Tax deparment and currently posted Vizianagaram. He has come to Konark and Puri was sight-seeing. He knew better Hindi and we both helped each other. The entry ticket to see the Konark Sun Temple cost Rs.10/- and I bought a permit for Rs.25/- to take photos. The structure was very huge and I was amazed at the talents of Indian artistes who had so much of skills even in 10th century A.D-an era where there was no machines, advanced tools nor vehicles. If people are good at heart, they can deliver a lot of things. Technology is not a solution to everything.

-To be continued.

Journey to Kalinga Desam-Part 1

2010-02-21T00:48:00.000-08:00

This article is whole heartedly dedicated to people of Orissa. I am from Tamilnadu and I live far away from you, but you people mean a lot to me and I love each one of you. I have my own personal reasons for it.

Best wishes to my brothers and sisters in Orissa,

-Krishna Kumar.S
"Toma mora swarer milan srishti kare chalbochatano".

January 30th, 2010.

The alarm clock woke me up at 0315hrs and I was ready in 30 minutes for another trip. The climate wasn't chill and I managed to walk comfortably to Tank Number 8 in Sector 2(Salt Lake). The stray dogs followed me for a short distance and they were suspicious about my activities. But I didn't panic-I quietly walked to the nearby Taxi stand and took one to Howrah Railway station. I instructed the driver that it should be a reserved taxi and no one should be boarding it other than me. Within 30 minutes, I reached Howrah thanks to some real skillful driving. Compared to Chennai, rates were reasonable here. Even if the driver asked Rs.20 or Rs.30, I didn't mind. I proceeded towards a small restaurant in Howrah station and had two vadas and one pizza with tomato sauce.

I was taking 2821 Dhauli Express till Bhubaneshwar(BBS). My plan was to visit Puri and Konark for the weekend. Travelling to Orissa has been one of my dreams and I am happy that I got the time to do. As usual, like any other travel buff, I went to the front to find the power for the day. Santragachi WAP-4#22271 was at the helm. I boarded my coach D2 which was near the locomotive and my seat number was 19. It was a window seat facing guard.

Konark wheel. Pic taken by Krishna Kumar.S

My train started on time at 0605hrs. It gathered speed in no time and literally sailed through the sub-urbs. I was surprised as I expected my train to struggle at least till Mecheda due to EMU's. Kharagpur WDM-3A#16382 R was seen shunting small rakes near Howrah outer. As my train negotiated a curve, I looked towards the rear end and realized that my train was a long one. I am not sure whether it was a 23 coacher, but it should have been a 18 or 19 coacher. After crossing Mecheda, I got a window seat towards locomotive. The person in front of me was feeling cold and he asked me whether I would be interested in a swap. I gladly accepted it.

I have a funny habit! Whenever, I am travelling, I send SMS to one or two friends who in turn act as repeaters and forward it to nearly 30 to 40 people in their respective distribution lists who like reading travel SMS's. I use repeaters who repeat SMS to avoid the cost involved in sending an STD SMS to everyone in Tamilnadu. I take the help of a friend who is a railfan named Sriram Karthik and another friend in personal front whose task is to forward my messages whenever I send them. I also make it a point to share my travel stories in SMS to update them LIVE, as and when it happens.

My train reached Kharaghpur at 0745hrs. At around 0748hrs, Barabil Jan Shatabdi overtook my train Dhauli Express at Kharagpur(KGP). I couldn't believe this. When I took this train to Naomundi two months back, it struggled to reach KGP due to sub-urban traffic, but it has covered 114km in 80 minutes today. How could that be possible? My train started at 0605hrs, but how come Barabil JS starting at 0625hrs overtake my train? Was Barabil Jan Shatabdi-a real high-speed one?

Konark Temple horse, Orissa.

After Kharagpur, my train was really fast. I felt a lot of aggression in driving. No jerks, no unnecessary application of brakes but still aggressive. I felt as if I was flying in a supersonic airplane. My mobile received an SMS from AirTel at 0850hrs. It was as follows: "Airtel welcomes you to Orissa. We wish you a pleasant stay here. For assistance call 121". I also received a message from my friend Abhijit Das, "wishing" me a happy journey.

It was an emotional moment for me. When I was in class 3 or 4, I remember marking Puri, Konark, Orissa in maps during history classes and exams, but I really can't believe that I was actually in Orissa itself interacting with Oriya people. You know how much it means for me. It means a lot!

My train reached Jaleswar at 0855hrs. Not many people got down here. The next halt was Balasore at 0940hrs. WAP-4#22269 was spotted at Balasore with a passenger in the loop. The passenger train wasn't crowded much. Since I was sitting in the left, I couldn't see the train traffic going towards Howrah. I wish I had got a window seat on the right. Dhauli Express crossed Bahanagabazaar at a high speed and even the onlookers in the platforms were amazed at my train's speed. My train reached Bhadrak at 1030hrs.

Surya idol kept inside in an isolated place. Konark, Orissa.

After Bhadrak, Dhauli became a passenger literally. Lots of people with UR tickets(open tickets without reservation) boarded the train. As my train blasted through Manjuri Road, I had cutlets, bread and sauce. Orissa was amazingly beautiful with trees, small houses, huts, small mountains. It was a bit dusty too. The wayside stations were amazingly clean with long platforms. Tatak-Tatak, Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak,Tatak-Tatak.

The track sounds were amazing.

That's me at Konark Sun Temple, Orissa. Pic taken by Sanjeev Rao.

My train reached Jajpur at 1105hrs. After Jajpur, the train kept below 90kph for some unknown reason. We had an unscheduled halt of nearly 15 minutes at Kendarapara Road. The best moment was yet to come. After nearly 10 minutes, I heard a long honk. WAP-4 was coming with an express. I observed that at Kendarapara Road, the tracks curved towards the left. It was a real treat to watching her coming in the curve. The train blasted past Kendarapara Road at nearly 110kph. I was spell bound. It was amazing. Immediately, within a few minutes I spotted another train. It was a Rajdhani. GZB WAP-4#22569 was hauling Rajdhani Express towards New Delhi. The Rajdhani wasn't doing great speed as expected. VSKP WAM-4#20510 was spotted at Cuttack with a passenger. The weather was a bit hot and dry compared to West Bengal. My train reached Bhubaneshwar on time at 1245hrs.

-To be continued.

Kolkata Metro

2010-02-13T22:56:00.001-08:00

February 7th, 2010.

It was a strict order by my father that I should railfan in Kolkata metro. I had been in Kolkata for sometime, but I haven't seen the metro but I have been to Bhubaneshwar, Naomundi, Chaibassa, Dangoaposi, Kendopaosi! My father called me more than 10 times in the past few months and requested or rather ordered me to railfan in metro! It is to be noted that my father has great opinions of IRFCA, moderators and Indian Railways. He is a railfan himself, but he hasn't got much knowledge about technical specifications, road numbers etc.

I boarded a share auto from Tank Number 8 in Salt Lake Sector-2 to Ultadanga(Bidhan Nagar station). It cost me Rs.8 and the share auto-driver was from Bihar. From Bidhan Nagar, I took an EMU to Dum Dum. This ticket costs me Rs.4. I reached Dum Dum at around 1100hrs. I was travelling in an EMU after a long time. I was surprised to find that metro trains don't run during the morning hours on Sundays. The service would start only at 1400hrs. I wondered what to do for the next three hours? I decided not to withdraw from the plan but decided to pass time in Dum Dum itself. WAG-5#23996 hauled a goods trains past Dum Dum at a slow speed. It changed tracks right infront of me. The speed was slow and not even 15kph. WAG-5HB came with Lalgola-SDAH passenger. I couldn't note the road number. I noticed a lot of freight train movements. The freight trains kept below 15kph and they were moving very slowly. I also noticed some officials travelling in a OHE inspection car.

BWN WDM-2#17416 ACD fitted loco arrived at Dum Dum with SDAH-Lalgola passenger at 1245hrs. I managed to pass time watching EMU's, freight trains and light locos. At 1340hrs I went down and purchased tickets upto Tollygunge(renamed as Maha Nayak Kumar station). My train departed on time at Dum Dum and the acceleration was simply fantastic. The motorman was driving as if he was Virender Sehwag chasing a score of 350 in 50 overs. I think that the maximum permissible speed was 55kph. Eventhough the MPS was less, the acceleration was too fast.

The patronage was too good. The track sounds were nice, but I should admit the surface rail sounds were even more better. But this was a new experience. I liked it. As the train moved out of Dum Dum, automated announcements came in Bengali and English updating passengers about the next station. Announcements were made when the train stopped at the station.

This is highly beneficial. You get to know the next station in advance and also you are reminded about the current station when the train stops. The train stopped only for a few seconds and the door closed automatically within few seconds. There was a sign near the door asking passengers not to lean on the door for support. Drivers and guards were in blue-shirt and dark pants with a smile on their faces. What's the reason? They seem to be enjoying their work.

The first station was Belgachia. The other stations(in order) were Shyam Bazaar, Shobha Bazaar, Girish Park, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Central, Chandni Chowk, Esplanade, Park Street, Maidan, Rabindra Sadan, Netaji Bhavan, Jatin Das park, Kalighat, Rabindra Sarobar and Mahanayak Uttam Kumar(Tolly Gunge). Later in 2009, the service got extended to Kavi Nazrul. But I got down at Tollygunge. If my knowledge is right, the train comes from the ground to surface after Tollygunge. I noticed that the track didn't have ballasts and there were no OHE's. I thought that the power for the train was drawn from the tracks. My train accelerated very fast and in no time it was touching MPS and it curved towards right heading towards Kavi Nazrul.

I didn't want to waste time so I decided to return as soon as possible. I used the subway and came to the otherside of the station. I had purchased the return ticket at Dum Dum itself. I decided to skip one train as it was very crowded. To my surprise the next train was also crowded. Ha! Things are not like Chennai over here!! I made up my mind that I should start in the next train. The next train was nearly 15 minutes late and it was crowded. I got into the first coach and stood in the corner all the way to Dum Dum. The train got more crowded in Maidan and it was crowded all the way till Dum Dum. Many people inside couldn't detrain and they even called their car-drivers to come and wait in other metro stations to pick them up.

I reached Dum Dum on time. I was the first person to come out of the coach. To my surprise, I noticed a lot of people rushing towards escalator. I thought that they were going to catch a connecting bus. I remembered onething at this point of time. This scene was quite similar to that of passengers getting down from Pallavan Express at Ariyalur and then rushing towards station entrance to catch a connecting bus to Thanjavur as the bus generally waits for passengers coming in 2605 Pallavan Express.

But I was wrong. My guess was wrong! Lots of people came from the train and within seconds the escalator was flooded. My goodness this was the reason! To avoid the rush, few people ran through the escalator and stairs. I took an EMU to Bidhan Nagar from Dum Dum. I returned in a shuttle taxi back to Sector-2, Salt Lake. My adopted pups were waiting for me. I went to the nearby shop to buy biscuits for them.

One day I will leave West Bengal. Everything has got an end. I hope that day is very far. I am not an emotional person but on THAT DAY I will cry irrespective of how happy I am in life. It would be a great loss to me.

-Krishna Kumar.S
a.k.a Junior KK
IRFCA-Howrah (Transferred from MAS in 2009)

Kestapur Market in West Bengal

2010-02-05T21:29:00.000-08:00

Life in Bidhan Nagar

I had been living in Bidhan Nagar for some time and I felt that I should write an article about Bidhan Nagar in return of gratitude. For any human being, mother is important as only through a mother a child comes into this world. Likewise, a place or a city also influences a human being’s life. A city or a town is as sacred as mother. I live far from my mother, but as of now West Bengal is my mother. Next to mother, a state or a city actually acts as a foster mother. Not only in my case, but that’s the truth in every human being’s life. When I was Jharkhand, Jharkhand was like my foster mother-if not my actual mother. Every human being should love his land and the very land in turn becomes his best friend, companion and soul mate. All materialistic desires are overcome by becoming a friend of land.

Since it is winter, the weather in Salt Lake a.k.a Bidhan Nagar is very chill and even a guy like me who likes chill weather wears sweaters, mufflers. The area is entirely residential place and a sort of high-class posh area. Most of the houses are independent houses similar to my house in Chennai and people seem to be from well to-do backgrounds. I had a few problems, but the best way to tackle problems is to be pro-active and non-reactive. Every place I have seen had problems but I prefer to ignore them, else I would be laughing inside. When I came here for the first time, I felt impressed as the area was a bit isolated, silent and peaceful. It was quite far away from the hustles and bustles of city traffic. The roads were well maintained and were without bumps. Rickshaws were still popular and I find one almost every 5 minutes with a passenger. I always take a stroll in the roads during the weekends and evening.

During such strolls, I have observed quite a lot of things. The township was indeed well planned. It was quite near to the airport. City Center and shopping malls were quite near and conveniently approachable. The Taxi drivers couldn’t understand much English, but their meters spoke the truth. Sometimes, I do get a printed bill. It impressed me a lot. I suggest my readers not to take autos as drivers cheat a lot!
There were many other things which impressed me! No one throws garbage on the roads! All trashes are collected by a person who comes in a three-wheeled cart in the morning. The total fee every month for this service is Rs.50/-. People don’t litter the streets and majority of them follow a high degree of cleanliness. People of Bidhan Nagar are indeed living life the way Dr.Roy dreamt.

There were two types of markets in Bidhan Nagar. One is the modern CK market in CK block and another one is Kestapur market. There are also other markets, but I visit these two only. CK is actually the name of block like CK block, AK block, AL block. CK Market has got almost all things except vegetables, fruits, fishes and mutton etc. CK Market has got lots of shops, grocery shops, stationary shops, hair dressers, sweet stalls, shoe-sellers and other commercial stores. Kestapur market is entirely opposite in nature. I would rather call it a fish market as there are more fish stalls than vegetables. I have been there many times and I have taken many photos.

I always wondered what Kestapur actually meant. Later, I found out that it was actually ‘Krishnapur’ but in Bengali it is pronounced as Kestapur. As I walked along the bazaars, I could observe a lot of people busy purchasing various commodities, vegetables, fishes etc. The prices were cheap in my opinion. Fishes were caught during the morning hours and some of them were still alive. I was a bit surprised as I remember reading in my school that fishes die soon once taken out of water. I saw a few of them jumping on the ground. A couple of hits on the head by the fishermen/fish-seller silenced them permanently and then they were packed in plastics to be sold. Their souls were granted ‘moksham’ and they left this materialistic world.

Next to the fish shop was a mutton stall. I could observe various other fish dealers each proclaiming their products to be the best. I had a thought of purchasing some fishes for my pups but I changed my mind. The weather was still chill even when sun was out. I went around and took a few photos. Kestapur market had a beauty of its own.

There are browsing centers, banks nearby but the only problem is that there aren’t any good hotels near my house in Bidhan Nagar. I had a few problems during my initial days, before I learnt to accustom. Life teaches a few things in a hard way. I find that there are lots of medium-sized playgrounds, park in every block. During weekends, lots of youngsters and IT professionals play Cricket and it is a great pleasure to watch the game. Mostly during the weekends, playgrounds are filled with kids, boys of all ages and the entire atmosphere is filled with a lot of energy. It’s also fun to watch cricket played by kids. Everything has got its own taste in life.

Good luck to Salt Lake.

-Krishna Kumar.S

Amader Bidhan Nagar

2010-01-08T06:33:00.000-08:00

Bidhan Chandra Roy was the prime architect behind West Bengal's growth.

About Bidhan Nagar

* Statistics, location details, dates and other historical details were acquired through Google searches. Please do let me know if any wrong details were published.

Bidhan Nagar is a planned township in the Indian state of West Bengal. It was planned and developed by the ex-West Bengal Chief Minister Bidhan Chandra Roy during the year 1958-1965 to accommodate the increasing population of Kolkata. It is located in the eastern part of Kolkata city and it is popularly known as Salt Lake City. Bidhan Nagar has a population of 1.5 lacs people as per statistics taken recently by the Government of India.

Being a planned city, Bidhan Nagar offers a lot to its residents. From top class hospitals, shopping malls to parks, playgrounds, Bidhan Nagar is certainly a paradise on earth. Bidhan Nagar is similar to Anna Nagar or Besant Nagar in Chennai. Salt Lake is an IT hub and many software companies have their corporate offices in Sector V.
About Bidhan Chandra Roy

Bidhan Chandra Roy was a respected physician and renowned freedom fighter. He also served as Chief Minister of West Bengal. Bidhan Chandra Roy was born on July 1,1882, at Bankipore in Patna, Bihar. His father Prakash Chandra was a Government servent. Bidhan was the youngest of five children and was greatly influenced by the simplicity, discipline of his parents. His parents inculcated in him the idea of service by taking care of people.

Bidhan completed his B.A. at Patna with Honors in Mathematics. He applied for admission in the Bengal Engineering College and the Calcutta Medical College. He was accepted in both institutions but opted to go to medical school. Bidhan left for Calcutta (presently Kolkata) in June 1901. During his college days, Bidhan came upon an inscription which read, "Whatever thy hands find to do, do it with thy might." Bidhan was deeply impressed by these words and they became a source of inspiration for him throughout his life thereby setting an example for the Indian way of living. Later in his life, Bidhan transformed a chaotic, less developed West Bengal into a more organized state in the Indian Union.

During the British era, due to partition of Bengal, Bengal was divided by the English rulers. Bidhan was still at college at that time. He didn't like the idea of dividing Bengal. Bidhan resisted the idea but he didn’t take part in any sort of resistance movement or agitations. He controlled his emotions and concentrated in his studies realizing that he could serve his nation better by qualifying in his profession.

Immediately after graduation, B.C. Roy joined the Provincial Health Service. He exhibited immense dedication and hard work. Bidhan was more interested in service than himself. He believed that a human life was more valuable than money.

As years passed, Bidhan wanted to improve his knowledge in the field of medicine. He was interested in furthering his education. Bidhan sailed to England aiming to do FRCS. He had only Rs.1200 in his hand when he travelled to England. The Dean rejected his application as he wasn’t interested in a student from Asia, but Bidhan applied continuously for more than 30 times and at last he was given admission. He completed MRCP and FRCS within two years and returned back to India.

Dr. Roy believed that Swaraj would be a distant dream if health isn’t taken care properly. He believed that physical fitness and mental freshness was more important than anything else in this world. Dr. Roy believed that the youth of India would determine the future of the nation. He felt that the youth must not take part in strikes and fasts but should study and commit themselves to work. Dr. Roy once quoted in a public meeting, "My young friends, you are soldiers in the battle of freedom-freedom from want, fear, ignorance, frustration and helplessness. By a dint of hard work for the country, rendered in a spirit of selfless service, may you march ahead with hope and courage...".

When Gandhiji was undergoing a fast in Parnakutivin, Poona in 1933 during the Quit India Movement, Dr. Roy called to take care of his health. Gandhiji refused to take medicine on the grounds that it was not made in India. Gandhiji asked Dr. Roy, "Why should I take your treatment? Do you treat four hundred million of my countrymen free?" Dr. Roy replied, "No Gandhiji, I could not treat all patients free. But I came... not to treat Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, but to treat "him" who represents the four hundred million people of my country". Gandhiji accepted his medicine.

After Independence in 1947, Dr. Roy’s name was proposed by Congress for the post of Chief Minister. But Dr.Roy wasn’t interested and he was more interested in his profession than politics. However, upon the advice of Gandhiji he agreed to take up the post. It was a very crucial moment in the history of West Bengal. Due to creation of East Pakistan, Bengal was suffering from shortage of food, commodities, poverty and malnourishment. However, Dr.Roy was optimistic and he believed anything is achievable if dedicated hard work along with smart work could be done to address the situation. He then systematically and calmly began to work on the immense task in front of him.

Within three years law and order was returned to Bengal without compromising the dignity and status of his administration. He told the people in a public meeting, “We have the ability and if we have faith in our future and if we exert ourselves in determination, I am sure that no obstacles, however formidable or insurmountable can stop our progress. We all should work united, keeping our vision clear with a firm grasp and control over our problems”. India honoured Bidhan Chandra Roy with Bharat Ratna in 1961.

-Krishna Kumar.S
Tamilnadu, Chennai

Journey to Jharkhand

2010-01-01T07:07:00.001-08:00

Location of Jharkhand in India map. Jharkhand borders West Bengal, Orissa, Chattisgarh and Bihar.

"Amar prio poschim bonger bhai bonera ami Krishna tomader jaanai ai Travel Blog ek anthorik amonthron".

12th December-2009

I woke up at 0330hrs in the morning. The weather was too cold and chill. I felt like a German soldier fighting in Russian winter during World War-2. I got up and brushed my teeth. I got ready in 30 minutes. I heard the earlier day that the temperature nearly reaches 12-14 degree celsius at night. My adopted pups(still nameless) were already awake and were surprised to see me up early in the morning. I waited for a taxi for nearly 30 minutes near Tank Number 8! It was too cold. I was wearing only sweaters and not mufflers. I had pieces of cotton in my ears.

I boarded a shuttle-taxi near Sector V (Bidhan Nagar) and I reached Howrah Railway station at 0500hrs. The charge was Rs.30/- and I felt that it was quite nominal at least compared to Chennai. Howrah was very busy in the morning hours too. There were lot of people in the platforms waiting for their respective trains and some were waiting for their relatives who were coming in trains which were to reach HWH in the morning hours. I could see people from different states and I can hear Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, Marathi and Hindi voices. Railway station and stations have their own charm. What do you say?

Howrah station was very big and it had a lot of platforms. My train 2021 Howrah-Barabil Jan Shatabdi was starting from 23rd platform. Speaking in little bit of Hindi, I managed to locate the platform. I am not much used to Howrah even though I had been around here for some time. My seat was in D-4 coach and I got a window-seat with the seat positioned towards the locomotive and my coach was third from the locomotive. I went to the front of the train and found a Tata Nagar WAM-4#21332 attached to my train.

I was surprised to find a Tata Nagar WAM-4 as power. (Non-travel fans can ignore my technical description). I thought that this Jan Shatabdi always got a WAM-4 type locomotive from Asansol shed as Asansol was famous for WAM-4’s, WAG-5 type locomotives.

I had a glance at other passengers in the coach. I could see people from different cultural backgrounds. It’s indeed a privilege to travel with fellow countrymen who speak different languages. It’s a blessing to be an Indian. My country’s diversity has impressed me a lot and thanks to the Indian Railways the glorious Indian fabric remains intact, though the terrorist are trying to break our unity. Too bad that I couldn’t strike a conversation with the person next to me. He was a Bengali and I can’t speak Bengali much. Even if he speaks in Hindi, I can’t reply as my fluency in Hindi is poor. But languages don’t really matter. Respecting a human being irrespective of ethnic background is more important.

Pooooong!!!!! WAM-4 gave a loud honk and the train started. I felt that the locomotive was actually acknowledging my thoughts with its honks. My train started at 0629hrs-late by 9 minutes. I got a bit excited. I was going to see a new place in Jharkhand. It was called Naomundi which is roughly 375km away from Howrah Jn. The best way to see India and its real beauty is to travel by train and observe the rice-fields, mountains and the rural sceneries. Preferably, I would like to travel by second class sitting coaches as I can look outside the window as A/C coaches don’t really give much freedom and the charm is lost. My train was a bit slow till Santragachi. It took nearly 30 minutes to cross Santragachi.

Due to local trains, passengers and other traffics, my train got stuck and it halted many times before Santragachi (SRC). The loco-pilot or the engine-driver seemed to be an experienced senior pilot. The way he drove the train impressed me. No jerks, no unnecessary application of brakes and he obeyed all caution orders. Sitting right inside the coach, I was able to judge his driving skills and I was amazed at his driving techniques.

Trains have a beauty of their own. Irrespective of age, everyone likes trains. I like it too. During many of my travels, a train is my only companion. I don’t know why, but I like watching them. They really look beautiful in my opinion. I wish in my next life, I would be an Engine driver or a loco-pilot.

After Santragachi, my train picked up speed and for a long time it consistently maintained 60kph. Many sub-urban stations passed in a jiffy as my train blasted through honking. The onlookers in the station were amazed and spellbound by the brutal speed. I could recollect a few station names. Tikiapara, Andul, Sankral, Abada, Bauria, Chengel, Uluberia, Bagnan, Nandaiganjan, Panskura. It was really cool to witness WAP-4’s in high speeds.

My train reached Kharagpur at 0810hrs. In my opinion, it was an impressive run and impressive performance by the locomotive WAM-4#21332 from Tata Nagar. I had sandwiches and cutlet for breakfast. That was the only vegetarian item available in the train. Since I am a vegetarian, I accepted whatever veg-item was available in the train.

It was indeed a classic moment. I enjoyed my train ride very much. I took a bite of my sandwich with tomato sausage. The taste was too good. I listened to Backstreet Boys in my mobile’s headset and as I enjoyed the music the train curved towards my left side amidst rural wastelands. It was a beautiful sight. Since I was in the 4th coach, I couldn’t witness the curve much and so I looked back. Wow! The entire train was negotiating a curve at 80kph. It was nice. I can’t express it in words.

I received a message from Airtel at 0905hrs. “Welcome to Jharkhand. We wish you a pleasant stay here. For assistance please call 121”. I was happy and satisfied. When I was young, I always use to wonder how the rest of the country would look like and I had always wanted to interact with people speaking different language. I had always wondered what people in other parts of India would like and how they would dress. I have travelled to many places. I have been insulted too as I can't speak proper Hindi. But I don't bother about that. If I was to worry or react to it, then it would make no difference between me and the other person. I am happy that God has given me a chance to interact with people over here.

Kokpara, Galudh, Asanbon were some of the station names which I could recollect from my travel notes and notepads. As my train crossed many stations, I took my notepad noted down all necessary details that would be necessary for writing this travelogue. I was amazed at the landscape, the speed of the train and the energy amongst East-Indian people. Everything had its own taste of its own. I need to accept that.

My adopted pups.

As my train slowed down due to a caution order, WAG-7#27727 accelerated through Asanbon with a long freight rake possibly containing iron ore from Naomundi or Chaibassa. My train reached Tata Nagar at 0940hrs. Lot of people got down at Tata Nagar. Few travellers having an ordinary open ticket (without reservation) also boarded the train and occupied the empty seats.

I had seen Jamshedpur only in India map. Now I was really in Jamshedpur! I couldn’t believe that I was really in other part of India. Jharkhand was truly amazing and beautiful. My train went through many scenic areas of Jharkhand which was very green. I could observe a variety and mixture of landscapes comprising of rustic dry wastelands, fields, small mountains and even a few iron-ore excavation sites. Everything in this world truly had its own beauty. I feel that it’s my privilege to write about West Bengal and Jharkhand. The languages might be different, but we are still the same.

Taken inside a market in Jharkhand.

“Tomar sur, mothir sur, srishti koru koyikko sur”.

There’s always a talk about IT hubs like Bangalore, Chennai, Pune but why not about places like Icchpuram, Madurantakam, Doravari Chatram, Kendoposi, Morkhena, Naomundi, Iccpuram, Dangoaposi, Barabil? I have noticed something in these people, which I don’t see in a metropolitan environment. The real spirit of India lives in these places. I can’t express the beauty in words. I strongly believe that every state in India is equal and important and there is nothing called as inferior and nothing called superior.

My train reached Dangoaposi at 11:50hrs. I believe that Kendoposi and Dangoaposi were tribal names and since these places were near Orissa border, the names had a bit of Oriya flavour. My train reached Naomundi late by some 15 minutes. I got down and I observed the station. It was small and there were cows and dogs! This is what I like to observe! “Gorus”(Cow) and “kookoors”(Dogs)! I spotted a few “Chaguls”(Goats) too. I went inside the town a bit and I took a few photos. However, my memory card got corrupted and I lost all my photos.

My train departed after waiting at Naomundi for nearly 10 minutes. I had a glance around the station and for a while I felt as if I was floating. The station appeared to be on top of a hill or some elevated place. Iron ore-excavation activities were going on and this place was well known for mining activities. I saw my train slowly disappearing in a curve. It was a classic sight. I appreciate beauty. The same train would return back after two and a half hours and I would board it back to reach Howrah. I had less than three hours and I wasn’t in a mood even to waste a minute!

I was wearing a sweater! It was a bit cool even when sun was around. I walked around the village for some time and took a few photos, but I didn’t ingress far into the town. I interacted with a couple of people in Hind and gathered details about Naomundi and its speciality. The entire scenery was awesome and I enjoyed it. Almost every 5 minutes, I saw a goods train either going towards Orissa or towards West Bengal. Looks like this area has got a lot of freight actions! Most of the freighters had twin locomotives and were extremely long with many wagons. I took photos of mountains, stations, animals but sadly the memory card got corrupted and majority of the photos were lost! It hurts even today!!!

I returned to the station after roaming around. I looked at my watch and I realised that I was nearly half an hour in advance. A couple of railwaymen approached me and inquired whether I was from L&T. I was amused. Looks like there were expecting someone from Larsen and Toubro. Given my elderly experience, they mistook me for an Engineer! I sat in the platforms observing the rural sceneries. A small pup came near me and sat near my leg. He looked deep into my eyes. He was certainly expecting something from me and I decided to entertain him. I took a packet of bournbon biscuits and gave him one by one. He had problems eating the entire piece. So I took the responsibility of breaking the biscuits into two. He liked the taste! I was happy for him.

He was certainly enjoying. I gave the entire packet of biscuits to him. His hunger was removed. He looked at me with gratefulness in his eyes. He immediately lied down and looked at the skies with his legs up and looked at me. Dogs generally do that to their masters. I know the meaning of it. It reminded me of my adopted dog Damien in Chennai.

My train arrived at 1430hrs and it was late by 10 minutes. My coach was DR-1 and it was the last coach. I was lucky to get a window seat again and I got one facing the locomotive again. There was a person sitting in my seat. He said that he would get down at Dangaoposi, but I commanded him to move away. The Loco-pilot was in an aggressive mood. I guessed so. The speed was awesome. I was feeling a bit sleepy and I had a power nap for 30 minutes. I had a nice view of the entire landscape, mountain in my return journey too. Amazing. I wish I had a better camera.

My train reached Tata Nagar at 1700hrs and it was a bit cold after 1730hrs-so I closed the window. I feared that I would catch cold! I spent the remainder of the time listening to music in my mobile. My train reached Santragachi at 2050hrs and had a halt of nearly 10 minutes. My patience was really tested as my train crawled towards Howrah at a snail’s speed halting often! My train reached Howrah at 2120hrs. I boarded a taxi to return back home and I reached Bidhan Nagar at 2220hrs. My adopted pups (still nameless) were eagerly waiting for me at the doorstep. I didn’t have my dinner as I had a small one in my train itself. I wish my four-legged friend in Jharkhand had its dinner too. I was quite content. Now I have a friend from Jharkhand. A four legged friend who likes bournbon biscuits.

-Krishna Kumar.S

-Written on December 13th, 2009. Due to personal work, I wasn’t able to upload the travelogue. Thanks for your patient reading.

Vada Pav by Bihari cook

2009-11-17T19:37:00.000-08:00

I was returning after a normal eye-checkup with my aunt. I asked my auto-driver to drive all the way to Krishna Sweets near Adyar insteading of going to my house directly. The reason being the fact that I need to use the remaining Ticket Restaurant coupons before the end of 2009. My plan was to buy some chat items as usual. I entered into Krishna Sweets only to find that there was a new guy at the CHAT STALL and not the usual person whom I know very well. I can find out by his looks that he was from North India and I could even guess that he was from Bihar(my guess was right).

I went to the counter and ordered half kilo Onion Pakkoda. I really wanted to taste any chat item prepared by this Bihari cook. The reason being the fact that I wanted to have food prepared by a different launguage speaking Indian from some other part of the country. The guy was new to the job and he was taking his own time. I stood next to the stall with my onion pakkoda packet and waited for Vadapav to be prepared. I liked his style of work. He was patient, calm and relaxed while doing his work. His entire feelings in heart transformed into delicious food. When you cook some food, whatever you have in your heart comes in the form of taste!!

While packing the items he got confused. There was another customer standing next to me and he gave them the wrong parcel-the parcel which was actually meant for me. When he realised his mistake he immediately ran to the entrance and the person was nowhere in sight. He came back and apologised to me. I didn't mind. He instantly offered to make another one for me. He was speaking in Hindi, which I couldn't understand completely. There was no bun remaining, so he asked me whether I would be interested in Pav Bhaji or any other item. He also said that I need not pay extra.

I simply ordered a Pav Bhaji as it was cheap and I didn't want to exploit Krishna Sweets!! I was given another chance to witness his cooking style. He picked the bun and sliced it into two pieces and applied ghee. He heated the bun a little on a tava. He had already prepared "paste" or sidedish. My parcel was ready in no time at all! I asked his name and when he said I couldn't understand his accent. I asked about his native and he said that he was from Bihar. I asked whether he was from Patna and I couldn't understand his reply either. But there is nothing wrong in that. In their state, if I speak anything, they wouldn't understood it either! It happens. I was happy that I had the chance to speak to an Indian who had come far off from his motherland.

I went home and I was browing in the Internet. I decided to see some cinema and I picked up "Poi Kaal Kuthirai DVD"-a tamil comedy film taking in 1980's. My cousin brother came only at 10PM. I already had some pakkoda and Pav Bhaji, so I gave him Vada Pav and the remaining packet of pakkoda. This was the first time my cousin brother was tasting Vada Pav and he enjoyed. He said that he hasn't heard or tasted this dish earlier. We both enjoyed the dish. Love, goodness of heart, innocence, good character, gentleness of the young Bihari cook were the best ingredients in Vadapav/Pav Bhaji! I don't really believe in any sort of prejudice opinion against any human-being. Goddess Annapoorni-sister of Lord Vishnu, Herself resides in every Bihari heart and hand. It's becase of her blessings that they are able to cook well and serve others. Even I am not blessed by her, as I don't know to cook. Anyone who knows about Hinduism properly without any radical thoughts would agree with me!

-Krishna Kumar.S

Exploring Indian Union~~सत्यमेव जयते~~

THAT was not expected

Trip to Madhya Pradesh & Gujarat-Part 3 [Final part]

Trip to Madhya Pradesh & Gujarat-Part 2

Trip to Madhya Pradesh & Gujarat-Part 1

Raju's Temple Visit Website link

My Thoughts-Random updates from my end

Enchanting Tamilnadu-Kumbakonam & Mayavaram

Tamilnadu-Land of temples

Anything for Chicago, but nothing for Gobichettipalyam

Rituals beyond caste barrier

I need to win this for Him

Why I like Kolkata ?

Journey to Kerala-2006 [College Tour]

Trip to Northern Karnataka: Hubli & Dharwad

Great Ram of Madurantakam

Visit to Srirangapatna and Nimishamba Temple

Save the girl child!

Reason for multiple religions

Divinity of Madurantakam

Journey to Chakradharpur (Jharkhand, West Singhbum district)

Stress Buster-A friend's suggestion

Navjeevan-New Life: Trip to Kumbakonam Navagraha Temples

A trip to Madurantakam with Varsha

Navjeevan Series "New Life": First Class Trip to Salem

Journey to West Bengal

Divinity of Madurantakam

Journey to Kalinga Desam-Part 3

Journey to Kalinga Desam-Part 2

Journey to Kalinga Desam-Part 1

Kolkata Metro

Kestapur Market in West Bengal

Amader Bidhan Nagar

Journey to Jharkhand

Vada Pav by Bihari cook

Exploring Indian Unionसत्यमेव जयते