Finally after nearly a weeks trip we have reached safely at tvdm to Roopa's House. Though we managed to achiveve the objectives of the trip, it was very difficult and tiring one.
we left home on 24thh at 6.30PM . The train was on schedule at the stn. But left left late by 2.5 Hours due to non preparation of charts at Bangalore due to Christmas rush. We reached Dindigul at 8.15 Am against the scheduled time of 600Am. WE took at bus to palani and reached at 10.30 Am. Ater having Bfast near Bus stand we reached the Guest house at 11 Am. No vacancy was the initial word. Then , me and shwe went for tonsuring and came back. By that time appa had got the room. we went to the room refreshed ourselves and left for teh temple.
It was a kilometer walk to the winch station. Enroute we picked up sandalwood paste to br applied to our heads
We reached the winch station after picking up archana items only to find along queue that was expected to take not less than 3 hrs. We took a quick decision at the suggestion of the shopkeeper to skip the winch and start climbing, a decision that meant that appa and amma will need to take rest at the guest house.
Me shwe and Roopa commenced the climbing after taking a short trip to the clibing spot in a Tonga ( Carriage drawn by Horse). The clibing was swift and smmoth and took only 20 min. The best part was Shwe, only 3.5 years', climbed the most part of the stretch on her own. We reached the hill at 1.40 Pm and bought a 100rs ticket. the queue was very long and with monkeys hverign around, it was very risky as well. We managed to see the good only for a fraction of a second, but we resigned ourselves to the fate as it is the same case with all the temples.We had some prasadam and commenced our climb down the hill
The worst part of this entire eposide was that through ou the temple, money played havoc. To the guy who showed us our room we gave Rs 40.To get chandan insid ethe sanctum Sanctorum, we paid Rs 10. To the guy who gave vibhuthi, we gave five. All these not out of charity but by demand. The RAchanai was perfomed outsid ethe temple in One Sec. The Gy broke the coconut and gave it back to us. GOK what mantras he said for archanai.
We reached the room exhuasted at 4 Pm. We thought our ordeals for the day were over and were through with the toughest part of our journey.
We were all wrong.We reached the Bus station after having Lunch at 5 Pm only to find that there was a big crwod to go to madurai. After leaving out 4 buses and fingting for place in the fifth bus, we managed to get 3 seats. I had to sit on the Engine next to the driver for most part of the 3 hr Journey that started at 5.30Pm. We reached madurai to Govindan Mama's House at 9 PM exhausted and tired , when we realised that we had spent less than 24hrs on road during our journey.
Next day, we left for meenakshi Amman Temple. This temple had also turned out to be money spinner for the Temple Board. we too 100 rs ticket there too, but luckyly, we were in thequeue for just one hour and had gotout affter a decent darshan.
We reached govindan mama house for Breakfast. Me and roopa left for Nambu mama's Office(???). He brought dolls worth 500 rs for Shwe. we then wnet to pothy,s and did some quick purchase. We were back at Nambu Mama's PLace only to find that he had left without waiting for us, though he promised to do so. we reached Govindana mama's House and al of us left for Vilachery to see Parthimar Kalangar House. It was worth the trip
We reached back at 3.30 Pm and left for Tirunelveli by Train at 5.30 PM
It was a completely unreserved train and we had to fight for our seat there as well. However, we managedcomfortabl swats for all of us. The train was late by an Hour and we reached pattamadai at 11.45 PM to hit the BEd immeditely
The next day (27th December) was comfortable and relaxed. Rooopa's father arrived tah 1200 Noon and all of us left for Papanasam Dam and falls at 3.30 Pm. It was a trip worththe money we paid. We took bath in the falls , visited Papanasam Sivan Temple and reached home at 6.30 PM
28th December was relaxed with visits to perumal temple on Vaikuta Ekadesi. we left Pattamadai at 4.40 PM. We reached the Nallaiappar and Gandhimathi Amman Temple at 5.30 Pm. Took a round of the temple. Good temple with less crowd again money laundering. We reached tirunelveli staion at 6.30 PM for the Train at 7.20 PM.
Roopa's father and mother joied us on the same train to guruvayur at trivandrum with the bad news that the next days is a Bandh in Kerala and thre will be no vehicles and hotels open. Luckily that had Packed bread and biscuits for the next day.
We reached Guruvayur at 650 Am on 29 th december. No autos and no taxis on the road. We managed to find one auto to take appa, amma and Mami to a place near the temple. Me Ropa, Mama and Shwetha walked a Kilometer to catchup with them.
Me and MAma (Roopa's Father) went in search of the lodge we had booked room with. we finanly found about a kilometeraway from our place. the place was inaccesible to auto and hence we had to walk.
We wnet ot our rooms, had ashower and dressed up and went to the temple. We finished off with Thulabaharam for Shwe with Jaggery and Banana. We also managed to see the god going round in the temple. We then went out and joined the queue. The crowd was less and should not have taken more than an Hour. but the temple authorities were doing Shuddikaranam Puja and hence the door was being closed ond opened. It took us nearly two hours to get out of the temple after a good darshan. But this was one temple where there was no Money Laundering. We readched our rooms for a Nap. We got up at 4pm and went in search of Food. Luckily, hotels had started opening by then.
All of us had food in stages and tok a taxi ti reach the Vadakkunathan temple in trissur. The Temple was very peaceful and beautiful. It is rare to see such temples these days.
Finally we reached the thrissur station and a tooka train to trivandrum to rech herw at 5 Ma in the moring
Hopefully, next few days will be rest days
More to Come
Ram
December 30, 2009
September 21, 2009
Canon IXUS 100 IS Review
I have never done such a fast purchase of an electronic goods in my life. We to the shop, saw the model, liked it and picked it up. No maore than 5 minutes to decide. But I do not regret the decision 3 days later. The camera is sleek and ultra compact. Has a lot of features. The image resolution is good and the photographs have comeout nicely.
I had been wavering about a purchase of a digicam between A1100 IS and IXUS 95 IS. We ( Me and my better half) read through lot of reviews tested both cameras at various shops and finally decided on IXUS 95 IS. When we reache dthe shop, the guy at the shop told us that he had only pink colour. looked pretty sleazy, the colour of course. Then we asked him about 100 IS. It ooked sleek, compact and handy. It is quite pricy though at 13000/- bucks but i was bowled over by it.
I had a good expericence on the first two days and i am still trying to figureout various controls and options in the camera. The function button looks very combursome as the camera size is small. i had a tough tie fiddling around with buttons on the first day
Conclusion : good camera, sleek and compact, fantastic image quality but pricey
I had been wavering about a purchase of a digicam between A1100 IS and IXUS 95 IS. We ( Me and my better half) read through lot of reviews tested both cameras at various shops and finally decided on IXUS 95 IS. When we reache dthe shop, the guy at the shop told us that he had only pink colour. looked pretty sleazy, the colour of course. Then we asked him about 100 IS. It ooked sleek, compact and handy. It is quite pricy though at 13000/- bucks but i was bowled over by it.
I had a good expericence on the first two days and i am still trying to figureout various controls and options in the camera. The function button looks very combursome as the camera size is small. i had a tough tie fiddling around with buttons on the first day
Conclusion : good camera, sleek and compact, fantastic image quality but pricey
July 7, 2009
Roti Maker Review
I purchased a jaipan roti maker after a lot of resistance from my family members. I was quite confident that things would work out well despite the poor reviews on the roti makers.
Some said-
It works for a day
only branded aata needs to be used
it should be eaten hot only etc etc
I discarded all that and decided to risk the money.
we did not taste instant success. we had to do a bit of R&D
we made a few mistakes
1. The aata has to be flattened sufficiently
2. The flattend aata was not placed in teh right location. It has to be placed about 1-1.5 inches above the center
3. we did not close the lid and the handle at the same time
4. DO not apply too much pressure. when you press the aata ball, a stranage sound start coming from the roti maker. Stop applying pressure just as the sound starts and open the lid of the roti maker
5. Make the dough sufficiently in advance and make sure it is soft enough to make phulka
once we followed the above steps, it was very esy to make the roti. we had nice soft rotis to eat
I was really impressed with teh way our roti maker worked
Some said-
It works for a day
only branded aata needs to be used
it should be eaten hot only etc etc
I discarded all that and decided to risk the money.
we did not taste instant success. we had to do a bit of R&D
we made a few mistakes
1. The aata has to be flattened sufficiently
2. The flattend aata was not placed in teh right location. It has to be placed about 1-1.5 inches above the center
3. we did not close the lid and the handle at the same time
4. DO not apply too much pressure. when you press the aata ball, a stranage sound start coming from the roti maker. Stop applying pressure just as the sound starts and open the lid of the roti maker
5. Make the dough sufficiently in advance and make sure it is soft enough to make phulka
once we followed the above steps, it was very esy to make the roti. we had nice soft rotis to eat
I was really impressed with teh way our roti maker worked
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