Gaata Rahe Mera Dil...

A new section I'm adding to my blog from this month on.
& I'll continue this atleast till the next May.
Song of the month.
There's usually a song I get consistently get hung on for days together & ofcourse & it is hummed for days together.
Isin't necessarily a latest to catch onto me..but mostly they're some old favs which I discover in my stored music .
They may be stupid to imagine now... but they've been songs I've liked when I've heard them at different stages & ages of my life, hence hold an attached charm for me.
Thought some musical notes on my wall would be good too. :)
So, here's the song I've been humming the most part of the last 10 days or so.
Cutely romantic! I like! :)

First Class!

After a good four months, today's Indiblogger mail brought a big smile on me.

From the past four months since the time I've joined Indiblogger, my ranking has consistently been 50.

Last month when it brought in the same ranking yet again, I was amused & bemused at trying to figure out how it worked. :P

This morning when I opened my inbox, I was grinning away noticing my progress atlast!

- & that too by a good jump of 10 points!!

I still have NO clue of how it works & is calculated, yet I was glad & am adding it here as a small sign of my progress.

Feels like I'm showing off my report card! :P

It's good to touch first class! ;) :D

Nine Five

After my meagre dinner, as I was pretty tired of the previous night's travel, so had semi crashed out by 11:30 or so.

In between Power cuts & calls from home, it was finally 2:00 by the time I slept.
While sleeping a thought was to go for a walk in the morn...but later that....'m finally drifting to sleep ...

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Though I'm generally not lazy in trips, I didn't want to rush today. It was a Sunday!
... & Sundays are by default lazy!! So my walk did happen.... except that it was in my dreams! :D
A quick run over the newspaper, a few calls again, my morning had started good. A surprise call from a friend whom I was speaking to almost after five months just added to the pleasant surprises!! :)

By 10:45 I was out of my room waiting for the taxi I hired for sightseeing to arrive. Fresh, Bright & happy. :)
Going thro the sightseeing brochure while waiting for the taxi, again the thought was reaffirmed that Yercaud is indeed small. I thought I would be done by a couple of hours...

Ohh!! & there I'd planned to spend quite a part of the day in nature's lap, in peace.

Decided to just go along for now, next things next. Will enjoy whatever few places this place offered.

Good for me the taxi I hired was an official Tamilnadu tourism one & felt lucky as the driver could speak broken English!
Later realised, actually I got thrice luckier...on a good day.
Why?
Coz this driver guy was also a guide & pro active photographer! :D
Not only did he show me small interesting places, he also volunteered at beautiful scenic points to click pics.. Lol. Was good for me! :D

Started off my day with the visit to 'Lady's seat'....followed by the 'Gent's seat.'

Now I have NO clue why they were named so! I did try to find out, but alas, there was just no info on it there. & what was, was in Tamil! English was just about present a little to identify the places I guess.

Asked the driver too. With his limited English & my limited understanding of that, I could not make anything out...so I let the mystery of the names be.

BTW, these two places are the view points of the ghats from which one travels upto Yercaud.
One gets to see the snake curves & the beautiful winding roads of the ghats from these two, nearby but different places. Being camouflaged by the fog.. even in the peak of May, the ghats looked beautiful.

Next was the Rose garden on the list. I got dropped off at the top of the hill & was told by the driver that he would meet me at the exit of the park. You generally have a common entry & Exit for parks, isn't it? Honestly, I got did not understand what he meant then. I thought he was about to run away!

After making sure he wasn't, I left him at that point hoping that when I reach the exit, I do find him there!
Walked inside the park & slowly realised what he meant.
The park had a walk which led downhill & probably to the exit at some other point down the pathway.

Full of silver oak trees & long manicured paths, this garden was scenic & was a very pleasant sight to the eye. it was also pretty green & shaded. As it was a Sunday, quite a few people were out on the day & I made friends with a cute little girl whom I had met earlier at the lady's seat. Meeting kids is always absorbing, they bring life with them.

One amusing thing I did note was that even if the place was called Rose garden, there was just a small patch dedicated to the roses & that too weren't much in bloom!

Lost in thoughts taking in the place, I drifted off in some off path ...& as I was just wondering if I'd gotten lost, I spotted my guide cum driver.
Wandering near the exit with a feeling of getting lost? How often does that happen!

One thing I did notice while to & fro'ing from one place to the next, was that Yercaud has a lot of ups & downs. Could make that out from the taxi ride too. Wondered about the people who stay there, they must be getting so tired!

From there was a quick visit to a freedom fighter's home & then to the oldest British built church of the place, I was on my way to the place I'd find most beautiful.
Moved to Pagoda point from the church. My most fav place in this hill station. This place was housed within a Christian religious college of learning.. Now most tourists miss the actual sight seeing point, that is way inside the college grounds. I liked the peace there so went off to see what more the place offered.
I thought that was beautiful, but as my guide led me to the end of the grounds. It was AMAZING! The sights from that point, from where the city of Salem & a couple of other places nearby are visible, giving a broad overview of the towns below was amazing.
Even at 1:00 in the peak noon, a cool breeze blew in the air making it more perfect. I defined this place as the perfect place in this hill station. I also discovered a time measure unit here. A unit by which the time is measured using the sun's rays. A first for me, it sure was intriguing.
After spending a considerable amount of time at the Pagoda point, we moved to Don Bosco school. A very old & a pretty famous one, I was instantly awed by its hugeness. Obviously again a British built school, the school housed some pretty amazing playgrounds, the hostels & a small bird sanctuary too. [If I could call it that.] Had a close one to one with our national bird. & Ohhh... I can safely say its the most beautiful male ever!! ;)
Only thing I felt bad was it should've been in its own wild surrounding..or atleast had company. Peahen please! Company of Ostriches & few other birds wasn't ideal company for it, right?
Last, but not the least, visited two very old temples of Yercaud. One Rajarajeshwari temple & the other the Shevroy's temple, which is built inside a rock. One needs to duck & go within to pay tributes & duck your way out too. BTW, this temple was at the highest altitude of the place. However, I felt, the temple could do with a little outer structure development.
& it was time to get on the way back to the resort after my day out! No food did make me Hungrrrryy & unfortunately the cake I picked up on the way, was not great & did not help at all!
The bright side was that the weather & the ride back to the resort were too good & I almost didn't miss my being hungry.
Here ended my tour of Yercaud. I missed the Killenjeri falls..but that's OK. Once you've missed something...it better to forget it from the place too! :P Well yes, I did remember it here...I love visiting falls in the hillstations!
Next day with the same way 35Rs. taxi ride to the bus stop & 12Rs bus ride to Salem ended my too short yet blissed journey to a small calm place called Yercaud.

To Yercaud!

A few blogs back I was contemplating to visit some place; as had been one of my this year resolutions.

I wasn't sure I could make it anywhere as I hadn't prepared anything for it .. like in finalizing a place, researching it, locating accommodation, tickets etc.

However, I believe, if the desire's deep, it gets you moving! [Atleast in certain things!]

So on May 1st I decided to check out to a place called Yercaud.
Most are not aware of this place. It is a small hill station, about an hour's drive from Salem city in Tamilnadu.
Its also called the poor man's hill station. [My finances were not great... so this sounded good! :P ]

Since I have not been to Tamilnadu much, I was a lil apprehensive as for the MAIN language problem there.
Yet, I thought, what the heck, I am visiting some place in India, I should manage.

So, with a couple of days frantic search on the net, on phone on maps, on Lonely Planet ... & after making a few reservations, off I took on the 7th May.

Reached Salem 6:30Am! Didn't expect that early to reach as the ticket mentioned 8:00. Nevertheless, obviously was glad then.

Got down & walked my way to the local bus stand AFTER just about managing to get the direction to there. That first experience did give me a lil jitter. People there really do not either understand even sign language or they don't believe in helping foreigners! [Yea, made me feel like one then.]

Wandering back to the pleasantness, its always a different feeling to observe a new place in the crack of morning. the various people out on the roads at that time of the day give you a reflection of the city's soil.
& you actually get a chance to absorb it too...as the place is not fully awake yet. I love the impressions that I form like that.

Soon enough I was on my way to Yercaud in a local bus...which was pretty crowded at 7:00 in the morning too! Learnt many people ferry up & down Yercaud - Salem for work & jobs.

Reached Yercaud & was aghast in the first 10 minutes itself! Nooo..not for the place; but I was aghast to pay 35Rs. for the taxi to my hotel as compared to the 12Rs. that I spent on the bus fare!!! Lone travelling always pinches a lil harder. Not that I'm really complaining though. :)

The first impression I had of the place was that it really looked a small place...& unfortunately was becoming a victim of expansion. That shouldn't be allowed as the hill station is not that far from the city; exploiting it would lessen the charm & take the temperature up due to globalization.

Musing on that I decided to have a low key day; i.e wanted to explore a bit on my own rather than jump on the sight seeing band. It would anyways not take long to cover this place!

So after spending a leisure morning & noon reading by the window sill of my room, at 4:00 I set off to the Big lake. One of the main centres at Yercaud.

When there, I noticed at regular distances there were these Tamilnadu tourism 'promote green environment' placards/ banners & advertisements in simple & effective ways.

Really appreciated that. A nice effort that they're making.

Spent some time there...met a few interesting/non interesting/over friendly people & moved away to catch a magic show nearby.

Wow! It felt so good to feel the awe at tricks that I thought I was done with enjoying only in my childhood. Pretty much enjoyed the show & walked back to the hotel with [suspiciously too nice!] an uncle. Told you na, met a varied lot there. People getting over friendly in the first go? Nah..Not my style! Shrugged him off politely & ended the day with books, sandwiches & tea. :

Breakfast had given me a preview of the food buds of the place..& they didn't suit mine. :(

Here ended day 1 of my 3 day trip. Ofcourse day 2 is where all the action lies, so day 2 will be up once it happens.

& Its goin to be tomorrow. Look for it!

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My Morning Cuppa

"Are you a morning person?"

If someone asks me this, my reply would be in the negative. I need that little time in the morn to settle in for the day...its not that I'm grouchy or anything such, its just I like to start the day on a lil quite note..with my own company.

& With One more thing.

My Morning Cuppa.

Since the time I left school, I got onto the chai habit... & chai only what Ma makes. Its a habit which has been stuck onto me & makes me feel like a dependant at times.

Its just her tea I'm addicted to..& I can make out if anyone else...just about anyone else makes it.

I also have my special glass in which I enjoy my daily dose...which you see in the pic. :D
& so, I dread the even few days she goes outta town...

Last 10 days, Ma wasn't in town & I missed my morning revitaliser... had started getting withdrawl pangs of not getting my daily dose after a few days!
Even if I make my tea, it just does not taste that way..the way she makes. & how much ever I try!, I just come a good close version to it.

I guess this is what's called, "माँ के हाथ का जादू। "

Today she got back...& so recharged I am again by her tea, that I just knew my day would be good. I knew that I had my batteries charged full!

.. & sure it was that way. :)

This is just a lil note to say, "Thanx Ma for the cup of life that you provide me with every morning... ofcourse, apart form the tonnes of other things that you do...."

Love you.

A Virtue?

Being honest doesn't seem like a great virtue to have; when someone else does not understand it & you end up paying the price of being truthful.

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Drenchers & Soakers

Have you ever consciously noticed how people you meet in your day-in-day-out life effect you? Without them even saying a word, you connect/inconnect to them.

Have you noticed, when you meet certain people, you immediately like them..instantly feel good...find an easy camaraderie in their company.

Likewise when you meet some other people, something immediately puts you off them, you get a distinctly uncomfortable run down feeling?

I'm sure we all do feel that.
I trust people give out vibes about the kind of individuals they are, & depending upon the matching of these vibes with the DNA of our beliefs, we relate to them accordingly.

Broadly, this can be classified into two main categories.

Drenchers & Soakers.

Drenchers are the people whose presence, whose company makes you feel happy, alive & enriched. You pick up good things from them. They are people with positive encouraging attitudes. Even on their bad days, one still does not feel the rubbing off of negativity from them. Such do they powerfully weave themselves with their constructive character.
They Drench you with comfort & happiness, hence the term Drenchers.

On the other hand,

They are some people who, the moment you meet them, you feel sapped. They seem to drain the energy from you. It could be by the way they even just look at you, to the way they butt into your personal life, asking uncomfortable questions... or by filling you with unnecessary tales of others lives..or again by simply being the discouraging whining types. Rarely anything meaningful comes out of a meeting with them.
They Soak you of all your energies & hence I call them the Soakers.

Whereas the Drenchers always prod you on, the Soakers always pull you down.

Everybody has their share of Drenchers & Soakers in their lives..& goes without saying who is the preferred lot from these two.

When life's happy, Drenchers always double up the joy..& when life's down & queasy too, they're the ones who help you pull up fast.

Either ways, they're the ones one should surround oneself with.

On that note, here's a big bow of acknowledgement to all the fine Drenchers of my life.... Thank you for being there. :)

© Except for image, all rights reserved with Biraj 3Vedi. To re-print, prior permission required from the author.