Way to Waynad

After much careful arrangement (not by me of course) and planning we set out to explore Waynad in the God's own country (Kerala). With some hectic work, a stomach upset and a bad cold you dont have the time to google enuf abt the place and plan for some decent shopping. Little did i know that the place i was visiting had also magical healing power over the worst disease in the world (common cold).

I wouldnt say that the railway station was any better than ours but as we went into the interiors of Calicut, specifically heading towards Waynad, the cool, fresh, crisp breeze gives you the effect of a dozen facials and half a dozen bleaches. It was like the wind was flavored with spices and herbs that are meant to heal you from all the chronic stress diseases that you tend to carry from the city. You know what i loved the best, people there not knowing any other language but Malayalam, i mean that's so cool as you can talk and comment right on the person's face without him getting offended :) Imagine if there were managers around in office who only knew Russian and dont get a clue of English or Tamil...i am sure we (ppl like me) would love it and they wud hate it.

Being monsoon time there was constant drizzle and periodic rains, though it failed to dampen our (my office team) spirits. Our first item on the itinerary was the Soojipara falls, to which the path was roadless and sometiems pathless. But the falls was the real kind... i mean not like the ones near the city where you might have to imagine that the water is falling though u will be guranteed to find rocks. Even the sprinkles from the falls extend to about half a kilometer. My boss proudly (becos it is his place) claimed that taking a dip in this place wud prolong the life span by 5 years for a person and quick came a witty retort from my friend asking if it can nullify the effect of smoking on human life, now you know why we work in the engineering team of Tata Comm....we may not have solutions but we ask the right questions :)

We tried our best to get the "puttu" that has always been said to be famous in Kerala, but found that it was made to seem famous by our "movies". The next day was some serious trekking to Edakkal caves, which i wud say was the highlight of the entire trip. The lunch we had was a fantastic one in a low lit sticky place, where you will be stared at for asking extra pappads, friendly people you know. Amazingly cool and narrow trekking path that leads to a cave that was used by people in the 3000BC, or so we were told. The male and female stick figures drawn by them on the walls of the cave was funny (even a 3 year old today draws better) but was worth taking a look at. Even worse was the guide who showed the figure of an animal with horns and said that was elephant, now how can the guide be wrong...obviously the stone age men must be wrong!

I bought some spices, honey and nuts only to find that they werent as fresh as i thought them to be. Afterall they are from the Crafts society of Waynad, i cant expect them to be authentic...may be i should have explored some road side shops. No no, come on how can i wind up the trip without some shopping, otherwise what would happen to the Economy and tourism development of Calicut. We went into a small shop in a street similar to Ranganathan st of Chennai and bought some 6 Mundus (keralite sarees). We had a friend bargain relentlessly for us to get us a 20 Rs rebate on our total purchase...wow, claps...probably the shopkeeper wud have given us more discount had the bargain specialist not pitched in.

Anyways thus concluded our wonderful trip to the God's own country. God was so happy for my visiting his place that he thanked me by sending escalations on one of my projects to the managers during my vacation, so that he could in turn help me out tackle the situation and thereby pay me back.So good is he......endless is his mercy!

http://picasaweb.google.com/jarvar/WaynadAug2010?authkey=Gv1sRgCI-Dz8DOm6SU_wE#

My perception of the Inception

I like watching movies whenever i am stressed or when i want to feel pampered. I ensure to book myself atleast a comfortable seat and device a solid snack plan if the experience is what i am interested in. On the other hand if i am desperate about watching a certain movie i dont mind any theatre and skipping the snack. Of late there has been hardly any such movie that i wanted to watch except for Inception.

I am not a Nolan fan here but someone dear to me is. After hearing the fantastic review on the movie i was almost craving to watch it. Though the theatre where i got my seat booked was a turn off, the movie itself was a great turn on. When someone talks so much about the director and how his movies have been all great and intellectually interesting it is simply irresistable to watch it, atleast to taste the work of the dierctor for yourself.

The movie opens up very confusingly with not so pretty faces all over the scene (somehow i dont think Leonardo is so handsome now). They talk of dreams and some kind of wierd mental security systems. Then you are suddenly shown some wired men all lying down while in the very next scene they are shown talking to each other. It took some time for me to realize what they were upto. But as the movie progresses you get so engrossed into the movie, thinking along with the characters, that you almost buy in the director's views. I think thats where the director's success is. When Leonardo teaches the new architect how fanciful ideas can seem real in the mind, the immediate playful thought to change the buildings upside down and the subtle impact on the projections due to an upset ambience is all too fantastic to mentally absorb in one go. The way the wife's character is portrayed and the story behind her is the best thing in the entire movie. The way an "idea" is treated through out the movie is commendable. If you like sci-fi movies like me then you are sure to like this one. I would compare this movie to our own lemon soda that gets to ur brain fast and strong when u attempt to gulp but refreshes you great if you have a liking for it.

I dont recall the last movie that i have become tired after watching but this certainly was one. I tried focussing so much that i when i walked out i felt like i had worked all night over an issue. But i think it was worth the watch.

My journey to the US

On the night of my journey i was overfed by my mother with all the south indian rasam rice and curd rice with absolutely no atom of space in my poor stomach. The best part of it is that with all that food stock in ur stomach you are expected to rise in 4 hours flat so that i can start in time to the airport. I am skipping the formalities at the airport and the seating in the flight to prevent the readers getting bored. But one thing worth mentioning is that the procedures of filling the forms and answering questions makes you so tensed and serious that you go into selective amnesia on smiling. I realized this when the English pilot at the entrance of the British Airways flight reminded me that i looked better with a smile (nice way of demanding politeness when they wish you good morning).

After patiently waiting for the hefty uncles and portly aunties to thrust their overstuffed bags into the small overhead cabins, i get to go to my seat expecting to finally seat myself on the specially requested window seat. Ah, how can i be so optimistic with my expectation? Because i waited for the uncles and aunties on the way i managed to lose my space in the cabin to my co-seaters who carried all their world into big hand bags. May be BA should revisit their cabin design and planning, especially for flights starting from India. I am happy i dint find kids being put into the cabin.

After finding some space in the 7th row from my seat, i managed to place my hand-baggage in the overhead cabin and also managed to get my window seat. I was expecting to see the night and day shift as we cross countries. But i realized that i will miss it anyways becos i will be too tired to notice that. Seeing that i was very disappointed with his plans, GOD decided to do some good to me to earn back his lost trust. He went into the minds of the lovely old couple seated beside me, who were probably on their way to meet their NRI son, and made them to move to the back row that was entirely empty. Can you imagine that ! I now have one full row of seat for myself to stretch and sleep on, though little did i sleep owing to the constant distraction from the fellow passengers who believe that walking in the flight will let them burn calories or improve their kids' walkign skills. Sometimes i wonder how so many people manage to have kids (almost of the same age) at the same time...is there some conspiracy that i m missing?

Heathrow girls were amazing. They really look like the ones they show on the TV and movies, short ( i mean real short) skirts and tube tops with a very thin frame. I guess even if i starved for half my life i wouldnt get to that size. The airport was huge and full of people. The best part of it is the security check, u have to remove ur coat, shoes, belt and the rest can be retained as they will undergo vigorous frisking. I have to collect these and run to the nearest restroom to re-assemble these things on myself and complete my attire.

Finally i manage to board the flight to Washington where i see a pack of school girls occupying my adjacent seat. I still dont understand why they stared at me like i was from out of the world...excuse me, i thought i was quite fashionable in my city. To save myself more embarassment i turned to my right only to face a very young romantic couple. I understand they love each other but couldnt figure out why they had to prove it by placing their hands in each others' coat. The girl went for a wine while the guy refused to take anything and i could immediately imagine how wierd it would be if my mom drank wine and my dad helped her with one. That was my first taste of the true western culture !