Happy Feet

tap tap tap! The little mumble stole the show :) Worth watching!

Lage raho Munna Bhai!

It was quite an effort to get tickets for this movie! Needless to say, Circuit and Munna Bhai kabhi flop ho sakthe hai kya? Superb Movie! I thoroughly enjoyed :)
Gandhigiri Zindabad!:)

Dor

Nagesh Kukunoor is always known to deliver outstanding and captivating subjects woven into a lovely tale in his own style. Rockford, Hyderabad blues (1&2) were amazing! Dor was something which i was looking forward to and as expected there was nothing disappointing but indeed i was in all admiration for this wonderful story teller for his huge capacities of potraying women so well!

Dor is a story of two women from completely varied worlds and how they come together through a tryst of destiny. In short Dor is a moving story of a lady who doesn't care of lengths and breadths of the world to save the one she love and the story of another who is dwindling between society, loss of love, friendship, hope and ultimately, redemption

Needless to say, Dor was entertaining but a real teacher!

Anthony Kaun Hai?

Superb! I thought it was an excellent movie absolutely worth a watch. Classy sequencial comedy :)

Footsteps on the cursed land - Talakadu

This was the third time i had stepped on the cursed grounds of Talakadu and every time i go there the experience is entirely different ... way beyond the feeling of boredom in spite of the visits over and over again....

Talakadu to me has always been fascinating because of the immense powerful history it carries along... the curse of a women that causes heaps and heaps of sand to flow over the entire ground...

Started off at 7:30 with my office buddies and friends.. heading towards Talakadu.. we chose
to visit only this place because it was quite sure it was a great deal to take everything we could of this wonderful place.. took the way through malavalli and all of our eyes was tucked in on one thing... a beautiful field of sunflower plants.. what could have been best at that moment! we jumped out of the vehicle and started going crazy in the fields [the natives 'm sure they were having a hearty laugh :) ] captured some memories, moved and reached Talakadu...
There is a resort in Talakadu.. i don't know why but it always tries to fascinate me.. spending a day or two besides a huge bed of water must be great .. i wish i get a chance "some day".. :)













Our "gang" is known for gettin crazy over water.. had good fun playing throw ball on the banks.. (hmm warming up :) and there we went.. thump.. into the water.. jacob and i played for sometime and sat on the banks watching our friends play.. these guys were throwing each other into water :) height of craziness i must say.. but all in good fun and a great memory we wanted to carry along... what after
that.. ofcourse! photo session :)































































Talakadu has good arrangements for people have food and relax for sometime... enjoyed sometime and......it was time for serious learning....
Walking on the sand to see the temples which trace back to centuries together is a great feeling... we hired a guide who made our visit worth it. This was a college going boy.. very sweet and very sincere in what he was doing. He did some great explanation tracing back history...
Once it was the thriving capital of the Ganga dynasty. Then came the Cholas, who named it Rajarajapuram, and then the Hoysalas under Vishnuvardhana. But now, Talakadu lies buried under huge moving sand dunes, that are as high as 15m in places.

Talakadu's fate is due to a cursepronounced on the town by Alamelamma, the widow of Tirumalaraya, the last viceroy of the Vijayanagara king in Srirangapatna. Raja Wodeyar, the ruler of Mysore, coveted the fabulous jewels owned by Alamelamma and sent his soldiers to obtain them by force, taking advantage of her husband's death. Alamelamma fled to Malangi, on the opposite bank of the Kaveri from Talakadu but when her pursuers closed in on her, jumped into the river with her jewels. Before the waters swallowed her, she is said to have cried out aloud: "May Talakadu be always covered with sand; may there always be a whirlpool in the Kaveri at Malangi and may the kings of Mysore always remain without heirs!"




























Talakadu has mysteriously been covered by sand, there is a whirlpool at Malangi and the family tree of the Mysore rulers shows a large number of adopted heirs.

It is believed that at Talakadu there are thirty temples submerged in the sea of sand. The temples which are still visible above ground are the Pataleshwara and Maruleshwara(built by the Gangas), the Keertinarayana (Hoysalas) and the Vaidyeshwara (Cholas). We saw one temple (i think it was built by the Hoysalas) being excavated and it was dug so deeply to reach the floors of the temple. The stones and pillars of the temples were numbered and kept safely in a different place close by.

It was interesting to know that though the forest department has planted trees to prevent the desert from advancing, it is still encroaching at the rate of 3 m a year. The source of the sand is the Kaveri itself. All the silt and sand deposited in the river bed and on the banks during the dry summer months are blown on to the town by the winds of the south-west monsoon. The river may also have changed its course many times in the past, leaving the sand behind. Whatever may be the reason, the curse or nature's course, Talakadu will be an evergreen memory in my mind...

Superman Returns!

I have never been keen on hero's from comic books but suddenly I see 'm a huge fan of Superman!
Apparently I have already watched the movie thrice! Gosh! Now that's the height of effect a movie can have on an individual and honestly, not once did i get bored :)

Now what's drove me to the theater thrice? Well, let me keep it simple. The movie is simply great!!

ICE AGE - The Melt Down

Cute movie :) Simply Loved it!!
Serious note : Very clever way of making folks realize the seriousness of Global Warming

Vellore - A Sneek Peek

I was visiting Vellore for training in CMC and was not very excited since I have always heard that is always extremely hot. But luckily, amidst the training sessions, I got good chances to explore a little about this very interesting city.

Traveling to Vellore was an amazing experience. The roads are very good and it was a pleasure to be crossing Kolar and little towns of greenery like Palamner, Krishnagiri and others.

Out of so much I have heard about Vellore, the facts that have interested me is that Vellore had the privilege of being the seat of the Pallava, Chola, Nayak, Maratha, Arcot Nawabs and Bijapur Sultan Kindoms. It was described as the best and the strongest fortress in the Carnatic War in the 17th Century. It was witnessed the massacre of European soldier during the mutiny of 1806. The history of the District assumes a great significance and relevance, as we unfold the glorious past. The Monuments found in the district give a vivid picture of the town through the ages. In the 18th Century Vellore District was the scene of some of the decisive battles fought in Ambur 1749 A.D., Arcot 1751 A.D. and Vandavasi 1768 A.D. as a result of the long – drawn struggle between the English and the French for Supremacy. Hmm a lot of history there :)

The two days I spent exploring Vellore using the very little time I had will always remain memorable. It is beauty to watch the Blue Mountains surrounding the whole city of Vellore.

The world famous Christian Medical College is the darling of the localities. I could see a good number of initiatives in health by CMC and that was admirable. One should surely not miss the beautiful CMC campus. It’s a must see for its scenic beauty!

Vellore has many historical monuments and important places to be visited by a tourist but due to lack of time I could only visit the Arcot fort and the beautiful Jalakandeswarar temple inside the fort.
Archeologist, based on the stone inscriptions suggests that the Fort in all probability might have been built during the rule of Chinna Bommi Nayak (1526 to 1595 A.D.). The Fort is one of the most perfect specimens of Military architecture in South India.
The Jalakandeswarar Temple inside the Fort is a very fine example of Vijayanagar architecture. The Kalyanamantap on the left of the entrance, with intricate carvings and delicacy of execution bears testimony to the engineering marvel and advanced state of sculpture of the times.

I also got to visit the Ascension of Mary Church a little outside the heart of the City. The time I spent in the church is something I cannot put I words… It was just soulful.






































With the day’s sunset, I just spent some cool time in the park next to the fort reminding myself of all good I came across in the city with my friend Samyukta.

Wild Karnataka - Chunchi Falls!

I hadn’t been anywhere out of Bangalore ever since I started studying and working simultaneously. After very long this thought of going out with colleagues just flashed my mind and within no time we just planned a weekend trip to Chunchi Falls with Charles, Nandini, Jeni, Ralph, Reshma and the little Lumina.

I hadn’t heard much about this falls and so was a bit nervous about how it may go :) Since Chunchi falls was not very far, we decided to leave a bit late against the usual protocols of leaving early morning, only to know that we’d get stuck in Bangalore’s most amazing traffic jams!! So the lesson learnt was whether close by or far, leave early :)

Chunchi falls situated in Kanakapura taluk is about 90 kms from Bangalore. About 16kms before Sangama, a left to Yeleguri village will leave to the falls ruled by river Arkavathi.

To experience the falls, one needs to go down the rocks and its quite an exhaustive job. Just a little care and we were down there. Probably it was not the right time to visit Chunchi Falls (First trip. ‘m learning :). There was no much water as I expected it be. But still it was not bad at all. The experience of looking out for streams to play in and bouncing over the ball shaped rocks was just fun!! To play at the foot of the falls is quite a dangerous affair, but still, I could see some brave ones down there. I know ‘m modest :) So accepting I couldn’t dare go down, I was happy playing the smaller streams of water joining falls on duty.

Legs in the cool water and watching the sun go down, was an experience!

After all the fun time (and yes, my legs were already aching so badly) climbing up hill to reach the cab looked like something that was next to impossible. Well all I could do is just carry all the lovely memories of having experienced this place called Chunchi falls and reach home for a sound sleep after all the day’s hard work :)

Queen Matilda’s Gyan

Distance: 90 kms from Bangalore

Best time to visit: Early winter, early summer

Commuting: It is best to visit the place with one’s own vehicle. There are good numbers of buses available till Kanakapura but limited buses go further.

Food: There is absolutely no food available in the spot except tender coconuts.