Back with my travelogue!

It has been some real long time I blogged and today I pushed hard to come back and draft something to make my blog go to alive mode J

I hope to update this space every now and then JNo promises as I am good at breaking it!

Not sure what topic I wanted to write and I was thinking a bit and then I wish to write about my recent trip to places around Bangalore…oh yes the trip was spiritual and we planned to visit only temples and nothing else…

It was a Friday morning and I was at my work…Got a call from my hubby stating that the he is going to pick me up that evening and we are going to start our tour from there…I was like what?I did not pack anything at all and here he was jotting a plan..I protested and he agreed to pack everything for me!Now that he had assured I was kinda ok…By 07.30pmwe started our tour through our car..My hunger pangs could not wait anymore and thank god my husband got some poli from Anandhabhavan and I ate it all in a minute…

It was a real tedious journey as it took some 12 hours for us to reach Hassan…I was desperately longing for a break and We did halt at Hassan…We booked a room in “Kadamba” lodge…slept for 2 hours,prepared ourseleves andhad awesome breakfast at Kadamba..The karabath,masala dosa were the stars..

From Hassan we started to Halebedu...Reached there by 11am…It was one helluva soothing place…wonderful architecture…vast space to roam or sit and enjoy the beauty…We were walking on the grass till near a small river like pond…It was so blissful…It is actually a Shivan temple and its architecture attracts so much of people…

The next destination was Bellur...It took few hours for us to reach Bellur from Halebedu…We reached Chennakeshava temple and its architecture is very much similar to the one at Halebedu…ditto the same…Had lovely dharshan…Got a mortar and pestle for Rs100…We had lunch at Bellur and it was ok…just ok …Nothing great to tell about it…

We felt we should go to Horanadu and our next destination was Horanadu…It took some hours for us to reach Horanadu and yes you will need to drive in the hairpin bends to reach Horanadu…I was puking all through my journey as I am allergic towards travel and especially the car journey…Reached by 06.00pm and had lovely darshan of Annapoorani…My Mil said that the masala ingredients like bay leaf,cinnamon and likes would be good there and she got some good quantity of it!

From there we started to sringeri and again we were travelling in deserted roads in the hills…was bit scary and finally reached Sringeri…Had our dinner in a small Brahmin hostel…idli and poori..thatz all…Stayed in the mattam lodge…must say that the rooms are maintained so well…The next day got up…had bath in the hot water and went to the temple…The temple was so clad with mist and I loved every bit of it…Had the dharshan of Sharadha amma and went to tunga to just see the river…It is a sight to see how the fishes jump when you put puffed rice…My kid and all of us loved to see it for a while…

The next destination was kollur…reached by 12pm and finally saw Mukambikai amman…The noon poojas and amman oorvalam is really an eye candy…Lunch was at kollur..again pathetic food…

From Kollur,we went to Murudeshwar…Our dream destination…Finally made it happen in 2013..The Stunning Shiva amidst the sea is itself is a must watch place JThe scenic beauty of the sea and the big statue of Shiva was welcoming us…You could even find the statues of Arjuna and Krishna…Depiction of geethasaram over there…I felt so happy to see my favourite temple finally!

My husband was meaning to visit gokarana and I was skeptic about the plan but we did made it possible…It was night when we reached there…But went to Mahabaleshwar temple ,had dharshan…Again food was pathetic…Missed to see the beach but stayed there in the night…

The next morning we started to our last destination of the tour Udipi…Udipi is again my fav place may be I like Lord Krishna…You could see people singing while they make garland for Lord Krishna in the temple…I felt so blessed to see Lord Krishna through a small opening…Yes you would be able to see the lord only through an opening…Had lunch at the famous Woodlands hotel and then started back to Chennai…The road from Managalore tiill chakleshpur was worse indeed! Had tough time driving through the route…Had awesome dinner at Chakleshpur and it again took 12 hours for us to reach Chennai..

It was indeed a hectic and tedious trip but a trip to remember forever as we visited our dream destinations Murudeshwar and Udipi J

Thatz all for now…Will come back soon J

I am back again!

It is been an eon since I blogged…Sigh…I was meaning to update this blog for long and today I pushed hard and finally I am back… Ask me the reason for my hibernation? I was on maternity leave and finally my little boy arrived He is close to 1.6 years old now…He keeps me busy always…With the little time I get,I always look to spend it with my little one… Have never heard of postpartum syndrome until I witnessed the same…The brand new mother in me made to sacrifice night sleeps,run around to make things ready for my kid…I understand bringing up a child is not an easy task and you will need to sacrifice things for the little one which I am feeling very glad about  After my maternity leave I joined back office but in a brand new role…Which I am loving it all…Sometimes I take a daringly bold decision and I totally believe that it will be for my betterment… My love towards food has increased tremendously which paved way to explore restaurants and start my own food blog…You can have a glance of my food blog at www.moicuisinecorner.blogspot.in. Been on travel for the past few days and I wish I document things…Will write on all these trips in my next blog… I wish I will be regular to blogging 

Movie review: Kalakalappu

Could not believe myself writing a second consecutive post in a row! Hurray!!!Thank god I completely came out of writer’s block J I don’t love watching movies. I could see people staring at me whenever I tell the above statement. My husband tries hard to take me to a movie and most of the time his attempt fails. The last movie that I watched was “Nanbhan” and I loved it for the shear reason “It was rib tickling” These days I love to watch movies that fall under “comic” genre…There were days when I watched emotional movies and cried to hell…I am always good at deviating from the topic and so let me get back to the movie review. Vimal,Shiva,Anjali and Oviya plays the lead roles in the movie .Vimal along with an old man(thatha) runs the “Masala Cafe”.He struggles to run his ancestral restaurant…He faces so much of difficulties which gives him a chance to borrow money .His attempts to make the restaurant a best one always goes vain. Anjali plays the role of a health inspector. She was asked to inspect the hotels but falls in love with Vimal. Shiva plays the role of Vimal’s brother who in turn falls in love with Ovija, the grand daughter of the Old man(thatha). They encounter a series of incidents first that deals with diamonds, betrayal by a friend to capture Masala cafe and Anjali’s relatives forcing her to marry her uncle. Did Anjali gets into the life which she wishes for? Did Vimal gets his hotel back from his friend who betrayed him? Did the youngsters bring any twist to the hotel and did they make the hotel a best restaurant? You will need to watch the movie for the story line. The movie was directed by Sundar.C and produced by Khushboo. Songs were not that catchy, at least I felt that way otherwise the movie is just a rib tickling one and will make you to laugh like an hyena. If you are looking for a movie sans emotion and with a very mild storyline then you shall definitely watch this movie.

[Book Review]Fwo Fates

When I felt my reading habit has become very poor I got a mail from Blogadda team stating I was one of the 10 bloggers to review the book "Two Fates". For few minutes I could not come to ground state and was really excited. Thanks a ton Blogadda team,if not you then I would not have got a chance to read the book this soon. Now I am coming to my job of reviewing the book.

"Two Fates-The story of my divorce" is Judy Balan's first book.
Few words about the author:
Judy Balan is a single mother who did quit her advertising job to become a full time writer .I recently came to know about her blog and skimmed through her post and they are just awesome.

Two Fates-The story of my divorce-Review:

The cover page of the book was so appealing to me and it gave an idea about the story line. After scanning through the cover page I concluded that it was going to be punjabi-tamilian story(My guess is right).

The story starts with Siddharth coming to a Psychotherapist aka Deepika Sundar...Siddharth wants a divorce from his wife. His family members feel that he should consult a Psychotherapist to get rid of the divorce thing and sends him to Deepika's office. That is how he meets Deepika Sundar aka Deepu/Deeps.

The story starts with Deepika sharing her story of divorce with Siddharth.

The lead characters in the novel are Rishab Khanna and Deepika Sundar.

Deepika meets Rish in the weirdest situation when Rish's friend dump Deepika's friend but Rish and Deepika falling in love for each other.Rish an IIT-IIM alumni works for an IT company but always have an eye to become a writer on the other hand Deepika hails from a literature background and works for an advertising company who also has a strong inclination for writing but later changes her mind to become a Psychotherapist. They try every possible way to get an approval from their parents for their marriage and finally the families nod their approval and both of them enter into their wedlock.

They start arguing for anything and everything...They gain argument as to what color the wall needs to be painted and for such minor things .During the course of time they start disliking the celebrities who resemble their spouse. To add fire to the situation they argue about the 2 states(Punjab and Tamilnadu) culture/habits.

Reshu periyamma Deepika's aunty is portrayed as a one who pulls Rish's cheek and make his cheek turn pink :)

A list of incidents happen with no further notice. The first being Deep’s MIL coming all the way from Delhi to Chennai where Deepika and Rish live .Arrival of Deepika's MIL gives a chance for the formation of "Old Wives Club" as Deepika says.Deepika's mom,Reshu periyamma and others join the club.

Meanwhile Rish and Deeps enter into argument as strong as before and both of them feel "divorce" as the only solution.

Deep's MIL gives her tickets to London and ask them to visit Scotland and Edinburgh as a part of second honey moon for baby making process.Old Wives Club jots plan for sending them there.They are asked to stay in Twinky’s place(Rish’s cousin). The couple reach London and stay with their cousin Twinky and her husband Prince(The royal business tycoon).They witness unexpected things there which never allows them to jot a plan or giving a room to discuss about their divorce...After all the unexpected incidents they reach Chennai again and this time people at home are busy preparing for yet another punjabi-tamilian wedding that is happening between Deeps’ cousin Karthick and Rish's cousin Kitty.

Meanwhile the couple consult a lawyer...Settle his fees for their divorce .Even the lawyer raises his brow on seeing this perfect-made-for-each-other couple. But the couple never wish to live together and finally get a secret divorce and wait for their time to disclose the news after Kitty and Karthick’s wedding.

Deeps’ inner soul pops up every now and then and asks her questions about the divorce. Rish on the other hand meets his guru and gets enlightenment that makes him a different Rish. Deepika surprised with sudden behavior of Rish plans to visit the Guru.

She meets the guru finally and does she gains enlightenment as Rish did? What happens to Kitty and Karthick’s marriage?Will people at home accept Rish and Deep’s divorce or will there be any twist there? Will they switch into a career for which they were waiting for?

Aww for all the above questions you need to flip the book to know the answers.

Note:
I so much liked Judy’s writing. The flow and the language were just awesome. The not-so-nice-thing aka divorce was so beautifully merged in the story with such a comical way and I loved every bit of it 

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

In love with Trichy

Born and brought up in one of the small villages near Trichy I feel
so happy to be of Trichy origin. Though I have migrated to other cities
to earn my bread I still love Trichy so much and I am letting the cat
out from my bag and say "It is the first city that sits in my
favourite city list". I have got married and moved to a different city
and I am feeling nostalgic about my own "namba trichy"...why not write
the thoughts surrounding ma mind in the form of a write up? good you
say?ok I am writing it :)

Higher secondary and college and my association of those lovely 5
years with Trichy can neva be forgotten...Those were the beautiful
days in ma life...wish to have those days :(

Rock city rocks:

Trichy na adhu "mallaikottai" dhan...The rock city simply shines in
the scorching heat. The Uchipillayar temple looks majestic and yeah
people pray "Thayumanavar" god inside the rock forte temple to have a
safe delivery.

Cofeeeeeeeee:

We are very near to Kumbakkonam which is famous for filter
coffee...Being near the bug caught us and we make finest filter
coffee :)Besh besh onga aathu coffee nalla yiruke,is what I here from
ma relatives...The answer my mom gives -is "nanga Padma coffee use
panrom"...80-20…People if you are thinking it is a pareto rule,I am sorry
you are wrong...It is coffee-chicory ratio...I was the sole person
responsible for getting coffee powder during ma college days and Padma
coffee was my usual shop...

Beat the heat ,have ice creams:

It was a rare opportunity to dine out during those days...I am not
speaking about late 90's but the mid 2000's to be apt 2005-2006...The
one shop I all knew for ice creams was "Michaels"...I always wonder how
on earth we get cup ice for Rs.5 and I shall get it only in Michaels
subjected need to wait in queue to get a seat...the enjoyment is rest
assured.

Treat your taste buds:

Umm well dining out was not an easy task that too if you are from an
orthodox brahmin family like me whose parents neva have the willing to
eat out...But still my dad took us once in a blue moon...oh how much I
love Vasantha Bhavan, Raghunath,Adhi kudi and Mathura lodge...I have not
been to any other hotels and so I totally love the above mentioned
hotels...Cheep rates best food is what I attribute with Trichy...

Go shopping:

Diwali was the only occasion where we got an opportunity to shop
during my school and college days...Appa and amma accompanied us(bro
and me) and the usual textile shop would be Sharathas...It is a
one-stop-shop for all your textile related things...We take 2 hours to
complete our shopping but always feel contented with the quality and
price in Sharathas...

"Janaki raman" is one shop where you get "prasava legyam" to
"urugai"...Our visit to Trichy will be incomplete if we don't vist
Janaki ram...

"Chinthamani" juice shop was my fav and gobbled n glasses of juice for
Cheep rates :)

Food for thought:
Will I forget those days when I greedily roamed in the book chowk to
get ma favourite novels and bargain it to get it for cheep.

My Wren and Martin book which I got it from "Agastiyar book shop"
still looks lovely(the other fact is I have not used the book much and it
is still fresh :p)

Higginbotham was one shop where I marched to get books that was rare
and new to the market...


ohhhh I can go on and on about ma Trichy :)I stop for now and will reserve it for a next post...All will be your(Trichy) royal lover...

I am back :)

"I wanna get back to blogging...yes I wanna get back :)"

oh I was muttering the above lines for million times and boy it took these long to get back to blogging. I solemnly swear(nth time) that I will be regular in my blogging marathon. What can be a better way to break my hibernation? yuppie you got it right...ramblingsssssssss...

1.Been an eon since I read books...The recent book that I read was "R2020" by our own Chetan...yet another book apt for making bolly movie :)corruption ,love and education plays a major role in the plot...Not very much impressed with the book still 5 point someone tops the list.

2.Marriage makes you responsible...yes that is my gyaan after marriage ...lol..at least I need to be responsible when it comes to cooking to satiate our hunger pangs right?...What it all started as a responsibility has become my passion...I have started exploring dishes...addicted to food blogs and started to try something or the other...know what have started my food blog as well  www.moicuisinecorner.blogspot.com is the url 

3.My little one keeps me busy these days :) yes I gave birth to a boy baby :)He takes all my time and I am loving it soooooo much...

4.On the other hand some things changed against me and I feel for it a lot...Hope time will heal things and bring me what I wanted.

5.Patience is the important thing that I desperately want it now. Being a short tempered ,I could not stand even petty things .I wish I gain the powerful tool called patience.

So much I spoke. Didn't I? will reserve it for next post. Till then Ciao :)

May his soul rest in peace:

My mother called me today at 9am and asked me to watch the live telecast from Puttaparthi. I browed for Shankara channel and landed there to see the last respect being paid to Sai's body.

When I heard Saibaba's demise on 24th April 2011,I was in a state of shock. True that I pray him every day. I have faith in both Saibaba's(Shirdi and Puttaparthi).But when I started to watch the live telecast ,grief started to engulf me...I started to remember the days when I were in trouble and when I prayed all gods including him.

It was Sundara mama who first showed this spiritual person into ma life. When mama sang Sai bhajans , We also joined him...As the days rolled, I have gained faith in Saibaba and the most uttered word became "Sairam".

Someone told me "if you want to tell something to Sai, write it in a letter and post it and he will for sure read it"...From then on whenever I felt gloomy I started to write letters ,I posted only a few and many remains to be on my stash. I was on my verge of completing my B.sc. MBA was all I aimed for and I heard about Sathya Sai University.I wrote a letter to the authorities asking the procedure but I was not sure about the exact address for communication .I posted it with the address that I had but never got a response...Later I realized either the address of communication must be wrong or Sai blessed me to have something better in ma life.

He was a humanitarian who helped thousands and thousands of people through his universities ,hospital and services .I have never been to Prashanthi Nilayam, but heard a lot from others. His demise is a great loss. Though he leaves his body he will always be there to save us from troubles and bless us always.

The live telecast moved me a lot. All I can say is "His services were no par" and He aptly fits to the saying "Deivam manushya rupena".

May his soul rest in peace