We are a democracy ? We are secular ?

At the drop of a hat, we keep beating the drums of being the vibrant democracy, 21st century's superpower and with all the decorative phrases. And when people like Arvind Kejriwal question it, folks like Javed Akhtar cite an example of how much better we are as compared to Pakistan (I am referring to Aaj Tak conclave in december).
 So we are a great democracy ? If we want to fool ourselves like a rabbit putting its head in a hole in the earth and thinking no one is seeing it, then sure we can continue to fool ourselves.

We can fool ourselves while young girls get arrested for exercising their freedom of speech and expression on Facebook.

We can fool ourselves while the political jokers of the country can hold the country to ransom by banning movies because they seem to hurt the sentiments of people or they show a community in poor light. Shame on such an administration that cannot even uphold the constitution and ensure the constitutional rights of its citizenry.

The whole circus around Vishwaroopam is so sad and shameful. I am pretty sure that most people would understand a movie and are not childishly emotional to be hurt by anything and everything. Its those so called representatives who need to be really marginalized and ignored because they are the biggest morons holding the whole communities to ransom with their idiotic behavior. What a shame that the world's largest democracy doesn't even have the stability or maturity to sustain or adopt different views. A movie can take a country to ransom ? And we call ourselves a vibrant democracy ?

Its high time we are honest to ourselves and call a spade, spade. That unfortunately we are not a democracy. We are not a democracy where a common man has sound to his/her voice. We are just a liquid taking the shape of whatever is thrust upon us.

We might be doing great if all we can do is compare ourselves with Pakistan or Bangladesh.

But then, is that our benchmark ? We need to ask that. Until then, professors will be arrested for sharing cartoons, young girls will be arrested for posting on facebook and many Kamal Hassans will be harassed because their movies hurt someone's sentiments.

In the world's largest democracy, everyone seems to get offended too soon . Sigh!!

Happy Diwali

That time of the year. The best time of the year. The time of the year when the whole India lights up and shines up. That time of the year when suddenly everyone forgets the wear and tear of the life and just immerses themselves in the beauty, fun and glory of the moment and relishes every minute of it. Everyone forgets about the corruptions, next day's grinding, street garbage and all the daily travails to ensure that this moment is too valuable, precious and sweet to let go. Everyone wishes everyone the well being, prosperity and love.

And  so did our childhoods start. Started with eager waiting for this day. So that we could go to the rooftops to put an array of small little candles and light up the house. So that we could go purchase the pile of varieties of firecrackers, more than the neighbor's kids :-). So that we could keep ourselves hungry for the delicious food at home and at neighbor's homes.

Running around in the street to see what kinds of crackers did other kids have. Running around to see whose firecracker made the loudest sound. Making sure we didn't end up eating at one house and missing out on other houses :-)

And we all grew up.

Deepavali in Bengaluru in the last five years was different. A part of the heart loved the lights and firecrackers. A part of the heart was very concerned about the elderly to whom the loud sounds were not friendly. A part of the heart wanted to have fun. A part of the heart was sad about the firecracker factories and the working conditions. It was a clash within the heart. Should I buy firecrackers or should I not. But I would still enjoy the lights and the delicious food. :-) The love for food would never fade away .
The whole evening would be a continuous drama of firecrackers without a break.

And then I would go to the rooftop at 2:00 in the night to enjoy the silence that was completely taken over in  the evening. The whole sky would be fogged with the smoke from the firecrackers. There would still be one or two firecrackers I could see going into the air. But the silence would seem like a dream of a lifetime.

And I go into some random thoughts in the middle of the silence staring into the sky at 2:00 a.m in the morning.

And we wait for the beautiful unifying festival of lights again.

Happy Deepavali to everyone. Enjoy it. Stay Safe.

Team Anna Contemplating Political Party ?

When I read that news, I immediately realized that many people very expectedly were anguished at the thought. It was like "Oh my god politics? These guys are dirty".  But to me, this was a beautiful beautiful music. I was just waiting for such news to come since the day the agitation began. This news will definitely send some jitters in the minds of the rogues of the Indian Politics. It has already started becoming evident.

Earlier the jokers in Congress used to comment that Anna Team should join the politics and fight if they have the guts. And after this news, a leader in Congress said "Their political inspirations are out in the open and we always knew it". Duh ?  Stop being perennial jokers guys. What do you want ? Are you happy about Team Anna's intention to join politics or are you not happy ? Let me guess. You are freaking nervous. So nervous that you have frozen and are not even able to enter into any kind of negotiations with them.

This was the first time in ages since the whole of India threw its support and weight behind India against Corruption and Team Anna. These movements always are dependent on mass support. The masses for whom they are fighting. The masses for whom they have taken the pains. This was not the time to judge the honesty and sincerity. Any movement is bound to be plagued by slanders, controversies and mud slingings. But the successful campaigns are those who stand the test of  the tough moments. And I think in a rare pleasant situation, the whole of India succeeded in holding the non violent campaign of Team Anna. Team Anna was just a face that the whole of India needed to express their displeasure and disgust with the establishment.

We should all be proud that the Team Anna campaign has even started contemplating entering the politics and fight against corruption by entering the arena. We should not only support this initiative but should also try to do whatever make the political entry of Team Anna successful. With people's support this political campaign will definitely maintain its cleanliness and will stand bravely against the money and muscle power. No money and muscle power can eventually succeed against an entity that is supported by people's will and power.

But there will be several questions that will linger in our minds :
Will this party be successful ?Or will it fade away ?
How can it gain critical mass to be even able to make changes ?
How can it put up a fight against the parties dominated with criminals ?
How will it have the financial backing to support itself ?
How can it ensure that it gets the right passionate people ?
How can it ensure it stays true to its principles?

And there will be several questions on its feasibility ? And there will be several detractors as well who will never be optimistic about a change. But it is not the time of the detractors. It is the time of the optimists who have believed that their small efforts can make a difference. And hence we need to support every effort by Team Anna in the political formation and fielding the candidates we want. We have to form a grassroots support base that will be behind this political formation by Team Anna so that they can travel to every nook and corner of the country and educate the masses of their rights and how they intend to bring about the changes in the country.

It is not going to be easy. But so was not the fast by Anna Hazare when it started. When it started it was just like any other fast and it would have stayed like any other fast had it not appealed to the masses and not raised a sliver of hope for a better tomorrow in the minds. Team Anna is also a group of simple human beings just like you and me and thats why our help and our support will be needed more than ever.
We should not get distracted by the intricate nuances but should rather have our eyes fixes on our goal : The end to corruption and hope for a better clean tomorrow.

I am having a very positive hunch that many honest and passionate people who have been selflessly working in the grassroots and were worried about entering the political stream because of no hope (due to lack of money or muscle influence) will now be encouraged to join this new political formation by Team Anna if they can sense an assurance that the political formation by Team Anna has the backing of the same masses who backed them in their initial crusade against corruption.

With our solid support to a new political party and with a hope that we can have one more choice beyond the corrupt and hopeless current mainstream and regional party options, the mainstream parties will definitely have jitters in their stomachs in the coming future although they wont accept it and will definitely try to undermine and destroy this crusade just like they have unsuccessfully tried in the past by undermining the crusade against corruption.

And as I mentioned in a blog sometime back, we have no other way but to be optimistic and support this initiative in all possible ways.

To the innovator that brought so many smiles :: You will be missed dearly

This morning, I woke up, got ready and went to have my breakfast. There was a TV on the wall with some song playing in it. And there were scrolling lines at the bottom showing different news. I started reading those lines and the next moment was sheer pain and sorrow in the heart. The news read "Steve Jobs Dies". I was not sure for a second if I am reading it correctly. Is this real news? Just a few weeks back he stepped down being Apple CEO. How could it be so sudden? Was it known?

Since then it has been just painful feeling in the heart. Couldnt focus on breakfast at all since the mind was refusing to believe the news.

Why so much pain for a person who was not even directly related to me? The answer was very simple. You feel a lot of pain and you feel hurt when someone who in some way or the other touched your life leaves the world. And it could be complete stranger.

Steve Jobs was one person who may not have been close to us but was the one who touched everyone's lives. He touched the lives through his inspirational speech at Stanford. He touched the lives through the creations that stirred the people's imaginations. He touched the lives through the sheer fun and pleasure he gave when an iPod, iPhone or iPad landed in people's hands.

Whenever thoughts of creativity will cross our minds and the struggle between mediocrity and courage to dream will come to the fore, we will think of Steve Josb to regain our confidence in ourselves to strive for excellence.

As for me,

Whenever I will search for directions on iPhone, I will remember you
Whenever I will enter the calories I took into my iPhone app, I will remember you
Whenever I will struggle to strive for excellence, I will remember you
Whenever the desire to dream seems to be fading, I will remember you

You will always inspire us to excell through every battle in life

You will be remembered for ages to come for the joy you gave  this world through your creations

India's Second Freedom Movement

Wow!!
The whole series of  events over the past two days have indeed been jaw dropping. The way in which people have come out onto the streets and held rallies and expressed their support for Anna Hazare has been stupendous.
Definitely, the Government in its wildest dreams has never expected the situation to come this far. All it might have thought, based on its previous experience was that, if it just puts Anna and his associates behind bars for a few days, people will go back to their chores and everything will be fine. As an example, see what happened when they dealt with Ramdev.

But the Government advisors could not have been embarassed more. The credibility hit that Congress has taken is too much to repair. But the Government refuses to get the whole picture.

It refuses to accept the fact that people are frustrated way beyond threshold. All that people were waiting for was a face or a few faces that could represent them and their frustration. They had and have no hope from the government. In order to give their trust and place their confidence, all they wanted from this face or these few faces was one with simple style of living, honesty and credibility. Any person with such credential would have fit the bill. Anna Hazare, Arvind Kejriwal and Kiran Bedi definitely did fit the bill. They have carried a lot of credibility in their resumes. And when people saw this, they had no reason to mistrust them. Government refuses to get this simple fact.

Another significant motivation was the transparency of this group. No group is perfect and they will make mistakes. But this group has put in all efforts to keep the process completely transparent, most importantly the money matters. Because that is where the biggest risk of collapse of any campaign lies. Time and again the government has tried to malign the campaign by raising doubts in people's minds about the funding sources for this campaign. And in response to this silly tactics of Government it has been proved again and again how honesty and truth will always prevail. This has only consolidated and cemented the credibility of Anna's team. But Government fails to see it.

No Indian citizen who is on the streets supporting Anna and his team is blindly following. Everyone knows that the bill cannot be a perfect one. Everyone knows that we are not living in a land of Utopia. Everyone knows that this bill will have limitations. But everyone also knows that this bill is more honest bill than the one proposed by the Government. Here again the credibility comes into picture. An Indian citizen just doesnt have trust in the Government representatives drafting a bill. Its unfortunate but true. And when the government personnel unashamedly proclaim that they are the representatives of the people, the people have been laughing in their rooms. Laughing because these government personnel have been elected because there was no alternative to the citizenry. So getting elected doesnt necessarily mean people have entrusted the responsibility to represent us. And at this moment when people like Anna Hazare, Kiran Bedi or Arvind kejriwal start a campaign, people are saying "Thank God someone save me from this mess". Its the strength that we suddenly derived as a team that we were lacking in individual capacity. But the Government clearly fails to see this.

Government is clearly in a denial mode. And to help the government get out of its denial mode this revolution is going to sustain. I hope more and more folks in whom India trusts join it so that the whole India rests its weight and support from there on to ensure we see a bright, honest and prideworthy future for our next generation.

Its critical that Government gets out of its denial mode, fires its ill advisors like Kapil Sibal, shuts down its ill spokesmen like Manish Tiwari and gets down to the negotiating act : Not on where to have the fast but on how to end it and honestly work towards bringing in a strong Lokpal bill.

Interesting Article on Tagore

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1913/tagore-article.html

dil kehta hai kuchh

दिल कहना चाहता है कुछ
चुप चुप के खुद ही सुनता है
आस पास में कोई नहीं हो
हर पल यूं ही घबराता है

सोचना इसका काम है
बस यह सोचता रहता है
कभी अतीत में
तो कभी भविष्य में खो जाता है

चाहता आखिर क्या है
यह कह नहीं पाता
इसकी चाह बस यही है कि
कोई इसकी बात सुनले और समझले

वोह बात जो उसने कही नहीं
कहने से पहले ही घबरा गया
इसकी चाह बस यही है कि
कोई इसकी घबराहट समझले

Happy Deepavali Bengaluru..And I miss you

Far away from Bengaluru, on this day of beautiful deepavali, I cannot stop myself from just thinking about Bengaluru. I cannot forget the beautiful nights of deepavali celebrated in Bengaluru. We would light up our balcony with little diyas in the evening. Then we would go down near the gate to fire some crackers. The whole evening sky would lit up with varieties of  fire cracker designs.

And the delicious dahi vadas.

Even after late into the night , we would go to the roof to enjoy the silence after the sound of the crackers. Every now and then there would be a sound from the distance.

But what a fun it was. Today we celebrated far away from Bengaluru and far away from India. It was great. It was nice.

But I cant stop thinking about you Bengaluru....

Its morning in India

Came across this interesting article in NY Times :

Its morning in India

What a Disastrous morning

We all woke up on May 22, 2010 to a disatrous news of Air India crash in Mangalore. For several hours we were shocked to hear how the precious lives were lost just when they were about to meet their loved ones.

News channels were completely covering the disturbing event that made all of us wonder what if it was me there.

Several information pieces were scrolled. Some ridiculous ones like the nationalities of the pilots etc. Some on pilot experience etc.

As we come to terms with this shocking event, it might be critical for all the citizens of this country to read the following press release by Environmental Support Group.


Mangalore Air Crash Tragic fallout of Criminal Negligence of Planning and regulatory Authorities

In our thirst for development, are we ignoring every aspect of our nature, our environment, our quality and calling the protestors as retrogrades only to wake up to shocking mornings when its too late?

Its heart breaking.

कहानी

सूनी सूनी सी ज़िन्दगी
दिल में ज्वाला पर है जगी
राह निर्जन सा लगता है
मंजिल पर नज़र मगर है लगी

चलना है चलते रहना है
किताब के पन्नों को उलटना है
कहानी जो अभी शुरू हुई है
किश्तों में उसे आगे बड़ना है

कई कलाकारों से बनी यह कहानी
कई रिश्तों से सजी
आगे बड़ते रहेगी
नए अध्याय जुड़ते रहेंगे

- शास्त्री वद्लामानी

ज़िन्दगी का गीत

चलो चलो चलो चलो चले चलो
बहती इस धारा में बहे चलो
ज़िन्दगी की लहरों के साथ साथ
मदमस्ती में बस गाते चलो

चलते चलते सूरज को देखो
हौसला तुम उससे लेते चलो
लहराते हुए पेड़ों को देखो
बुलंदी तुम इनसे लेके चलो

देखो देखो देखो उन चिड़ियों को देखो
गाती हुई वोह उड़ती चली
कलकी फ़िक्र न करती हुई वोह
आज कि मस्ती में हंसती चली

आज का वक़्त जो हाथ में तेरे
कल तेरे हाथों में ना होगा
इसलिए आज को जी भर जी लो
कल का सवेरा कल होगा

आये हो अकेले जाओगे अकेले
हो जब तक तुम रिश्ते बनाओ
खुद को अकेले ना उलझाओ
रिश्तों में तुम खुशियाँ मनाओ

गाओ गाओ गाओ कोई गीत ऐसी गाओ
दुनिया जिसे सुन झूम उठे
सन्देश कोई तुम इसमें भेजो
पड़ जिसे सबकी रूह जाग उठे

-- शास्त्री वद्लामानी

Where is my freedom?

An Indian citizen asks that question almost every second. Or may be, his soul asks him. Sometimes he makes the voice of his soul heard out in the form of expression. Sometimes he stifles it within and keeps up a face saying I am free and I am fine. Because that's the only way it seems, to make peace with the life around you. Our "great" constitution is a big book with lots of rights for its citizenry. The right to live freely is there. The right to express opinion is there. The right to move freely is there. We have the right to life and personal liberty. These are all under the fundamental rights.

Yet, a rogue of this nation has the audacity to make utter ridicule of our constitutional right by letting his hoodlums beat up the Biharis in Maharashtra. The protectors of the constitution sit meekly and watch. Ofcourse they use their mouth loudly in condemning the act. But the taxi driver or the road side vendor who suffers the brunt asks: Where is my right to make livelihood? Where is my right to move freely ? Where is my right to liberty? Why do you mention these rights in the constitution when you cannot guarantee me any of these? Why do I have to fight so much for it?

Yet, a Telangana struggle happens and all the above rights seem to be completely non-existent. The life comes to a halt. Shops are shut down. Transport is shut down. Every Tom Dick and Harry issues threats at free will. Public property is damaged at free will. Move around at your own risk. And the ensurers of these fundamental rights seem to be completely helpless in making sure that come what may, these rights will never be sacrificed.

Yet, A famous personality passes away. And the whole city comes to a grinding halt. The so called fans suddenly are angry because the personality passed away. The shops are forcibly shut down. Schools and colleges are shut. Buses are pelted. You venture out at your own risk. And all our so called rights ensured by the constitution are tossed out of the window. And the ensurers of these fundamental rights seem to be completely helpless in making sure that come what may, these rights will never be sacrificed.

Yet, a little teenager dies after molestation and utter humiliation and it takes 19 years for the country to wake up? Suddenly our blood starts boiling only to become cold again. Suddenly the CBI former Joint Director says that he wanted to press the charges. Suddenly the National Commission for Women wants stringent charges. Suddenly, the ministry wants to meet the victim's family. Where were these enthusiasms 19 years back? Incompetence is the answer. And the voices now are just an attempt to cover up that incompetence. The incompetence of not able to protect the simple and powerless citizens.

And as I write this, an RTI activist has been mercilessly killed in Pune while he was on a morning walk. Why? Because he used RTI actively to unearth several land scams in Mumbai Pune region.

And we keep repeating like a parrot, "I am proud", "I am free" , "I am secure". Damn. Why are we so much habituated to accepting the rubbish around us that we finally make peace with by imagining the right to freedom, right to liberty, right to expression and several other so called rights whereas in fact these are just by accident. If you get it then great and if if not, then sorry.

And after a while cynicism takes the front seat and thats the final nail.

Someone asked god to give him the serenity to accept the things that he cannot change and the courage to change the things he can.

God give me the courage to not only change the things I can, but also the courage to change the things that I think I cannot.

Work like a Donkey today, Live like a king tomorrow

This is an interesting story from my childhood. It may date back to around 18 years back that is around 1992 when I graduated from high school and about to enter the plus2 that is 11th and 12th, the two years spent before you get into undergrad.

An uncle of mine who is no longer in this world, came to my home to find out how I did in 10th class. This is a typical habit of the uncles of the neighborhood. In any case, he used to give me some good fundas.

While talking to me, as I was seated on a still scooter in my house ( I remember this very vividly), the uncle said, "Beta, remember one thing. The next two years are very crucial. In these two years, if you work like a donkey, you will live like a king after that. But if you live like a king in these two years, you will live like a donkey after that."

I really loved those words so much. What he effectively meant to say was that if you work hard in these two years, you will lead a great life later on. I think I took those words of the great man too literally.

I really worked like a donkey during those years. Fair enough, I got into the most premier technological institution of India, that is Indian Institute of Technology. All good about the donkey work in the two years. But the fact he missed out was that, once you work like a donkey in those two years, you will continue to work like a donkey throughout your life. Because now you are addicted to working like a donkey. So I continue to work like a donkey I guess :-) Whether it be for success. Whether it be for fame. Whether it be for money. Whether it be for peer pressure. Whether it be for reasons I dont know.

Dear uncle, I think I too much followed your wisdom. The thing I should have done was, I should have first defined success for me since this definition is very much context specific and can be defined specifically for individual. And in that context I should have carved out the donkey work. Now I am clueless what is success.

Well I just was thinking about the past as I am away from work and this story suddenly came to my mind.

Happy New Year

Waited and watched
As the turn of the time took me
Suddenly from one year to the next
From one decade to the other
As the moment clicked
Lots of hopes and lots of wishes
Started blossoming in the heart
As we look back,
So many thoughts keep crossing our minds
About the events
Some we are satisfied about
Some we wish happened differently
And some we wished did not happen
Life and time keep coming in a bag of varities
And it happens every year
year after year
Some of us will make resolutions and some will not
But at the innermost self,
we all want peace, love and happiness.
And these have no specific form.

May this year make your wishes true and may some of these wishes benefit you while all your wishes benefit the community around you.

One of the 3 Idiots says a very simple thing "Passion ko pursue kar, success to jhak maarti hui aa jaayegee".

We do not need a movie to tell that to us. We just need to remember the fundamental philosophy every moment, everyday as a new year year passes by, becomes an old year and we again wait for another new year with hopes, resolutions and excitement.

Motor Bike Ads

Does it really matter? Does it matter if the Ad shows risky postures? If I am a customer I think it doesnt matter to me. So, let me think from my perspective hence. Why do the motor bike folks dont get it?

The outrageous one is the latest Honda Bike Ad. Gosh!!. The biker there (Hrithik Roshan) literally drives the motorcycle through some Tsunami and cyclonic situation.

Ok!! Do you want to say that you can do this with the bike? Ofcourse not. Hence, there will be a footnote with font size 6 that says these are dramatized actions and do not try to imitate them. Then why the heck are you showing them? Its arrant stupidity in my opinion.

Why dont these guys get that I am rather interested in the clear and concise specifications of the motor bike? Why doesnt the bike manufacture dare to explain the specifications and boast them rather than driving through some tsunamis? It would help everyone in such a huge way wont it? How many times have we not got confused at the showroom where the agent almost succeeds in convincing us that he is selling us the moon?

Finally, I feel, the bike and car ads are ridiculously immature, outrageous and useless (from the information content point of view).

Thats my rambling of the day.

Happy Diwali

दिवाली की रात, आसमान के साथ
बनायी हमने फुलझडियों की रंगोली
जगमगा उठी हर दिशा, खिल उठी हर गली

Boating in the Ulsoor Lake

Today, the sunday was kinda interesting. In the afternoon, after lunch, we felt like we will do a little boating. How romantic :-) So we went to the Ulsoor lake to try the boating in the legacy lake of Bengaluru. Three options were available. The motor boat for 8-12 people was costing Rs. 20 per head while the couple's manual pedal boat was Rs. 80 without rooftop and Rs. 100 per head with rooftop.

From the moment we sat in the boat, all that was in mind was when will I get out. My wife complained that I spoiled the fun with my complaining, but I couldnt help it. :-)

The water was just so dirty that you cannot imagine until you actually go and sit in the boat. Oh my god. At some point, I was almost on the verge on puking. It is so green and viscous that I felt some diesel has gotten mixed with the water.

Once again, it reinforces my belief that we are just so good at screwing up our nice beautiful natural resources.

Another complaint session. Its fun complaining . Its in my nerves and the things around me get on my nerves.

You have to really take a boat ride to have a first hand experience how dirty the water there is.

For All the Egos Hurt

I really liked this article in Times of India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/world/us/Would-Khan-have-fared-better-as-Kennedy/articleshow/4899589.cms

With news Channels airing the Shah Rukh Khan ordeal story 24 hours as if the world has come down, with Ambika Soni making knee-jerk comments (that shows how mature our ministers are. Old Age is on their side but definitely not the maturity), I wonder when will we wake up and shed our VIP disease?

It surprises me to hear even the younger generation talking complete rubbish on how the whole nation has been insulted etc.

Are we just too much egoistic ? Are we failing to get over the fact that everyone is equally likely to be questioned more? It just happened to be SRK this time?

Ahh!!! only pleasant thing in the middle of all this crap happening was a nice gesture by
P. Chidambaram to go and watch the World Badminton Championship sitting in the gallery. But again, if we were not stuck with this VIP culture and believed in equal treatment to everyone, we would not have even raised our eyebrow at this gesture of PC. But the very fact that we said,
"oh this is a nice gesture" shows that we do not expect this. That we expect PC to take special treatment. That is assumed.

And this assumption is the root of several evils.

Kanyakumari Trip

I cannot get over Kanyakumari.
The beautiful ocean view lingers in my mind
The thriving waves echo in my heart
The colors of the ocean paint my vision
A voice from the nature calls my soul

And this post gets delayed forever. My life has become hectic. I am not sure about what to give priority. Naturally, the one that does not pay but gives satisfaction got a backseat. It is around 12:50 in the night of a weekend. I am in front of my computer, staring at windows and suddenly got that urge to write with a delusive imagination that there definitely will be atleast one future reader : myself :-) And I am not sure if I will be able to complete it this time either.

And again a fortnight later, another attempt to add more details.

Introduction
Well. We had been planning for the kanyakumari for a long time. That beautiful image of southernmost tip of India used to linger in our minds. Finally, we decided to jump and go on a travel mission. This, we decided soon after we came back from Pondicherry.

Planning for the Trip
We looked at differen options of going to Kanyakumari. Naturally, two prime ones were by bus and by train. After some thought, we decided to go by train. Next was the search for the trains available. The train that we found was Kanyakumari. We went ahead and booked the tickets.

The Journey
I must say that Kanyakumari express is one of the slowest train and it can be extremely boring. The train left the Bangalore Central station in the night around 9:30 p.m. And it reached Kanyakumari only the evening of the next day. But the scenery of the journey is awesome. All over the journey were scenes of backwaters. What a heavenly sight it is.











At Kanyakumari

• Stay

We reached Kanyakumari around 6:00 p.m We had a booking at Vivekananda Ashram at Vivekananda Puram. We heard that it is a simple and inexpensive place and yet pretty good. So we wanted to try that out rather than a usual hotel. After getting down at railway station, we headed out for Vivekananda Puram in an auto rickshaw. Cost us Rs. 20. The station is around 2 kms from the Vivekananda Puram.

• Vivekananda Puram

We stayed in a small 2 bedroom accomodation. I must say that the room is pretty ordinary and like a hostel. But who cares? I didnt as loong as the environment is good. And we were not disappointed. The campus is awesome. It is quiet, simple and full of greenery. There were museum, temple, canteen etc. Even they have their own beach area.

• Sunrise
  

Vivekananda puram folks have their own beach from where sunrise could be enjoyed. So we woke early in the morning and walked through the nice garden of Vivekanandapuram and waited for the sun rise. I must say the sea was ferocious. The sunrise view was brilliant.

• Vivekananda Rock
  

There are ferries that take people to the rock. It feels like meditating here. The ferries take Rs. 20 per head to go to Vivekananda rock. It started raining as soon as we were about to catch the ferry. But thankfully, the clouds cleared. And we could enjoy the beauty on the rock.

• Other Places of Interest : Kumari Amman Temple, Wax Museum et al
  

Kumari Amman Temple is right on the shore. You have to drop off your cameras outside, open your shirts and then go in. Wax Museum is a place recently opened in Kanyakumari and hosts the wax statues of some celebrities.

• Return Journey
  

After two days of fantastic stay at Vivekanandapuram, it was time to bid adieu. The time was at around 10:00 a.m in the morning. A slow train, moving through the beautiful parts of the country. All along the route were backwaters, mountains and everything that make you dream and think "If I had a house here" :-)



The train finally reached Bangalore early in the morning.

• Epilogue

A great trip, a great place. Makes you feel like go back and enjoy the peace in the beauty of the Vivekanda Rock and the peace of Vivekananda Puram