Something that i never expected happened. I just could not keep my mouth shut. i never realised how people can be so sensitive. The best part, i never learn from my mistakes. I discussed with the guy whose leg i had pulled with a girl, and he says, why does this always happen to you!!!! I felt bad in a way,i am still feeling bad. Not for the fact that i had hurt her, not for the fact that a Joke went bad.... Just for the reason that, i am not learning. I only hope this blog reminds me to keep my mouth shut when others are around. Talkin leads one to so much shit!!!! i want to believe in the saying, "Silence is a virtue"
But does one enjoy when quite? Are meetings with friends justified if one has to be quite? I dont think i will ever know, but i will always keep quite and try to learn from my mistakes....
Friday, September 5, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Meeting... with an insight!!!
We met up with "The Tribals" again and played these tiny old school pranks on everybody. It was a great evening yesterday. Visiting a coffee shop after so long brought back old memories of college days. I still dont know why i stopped visiting the coffee bars... Is it just that we dont have the time anymore? or the need to stay home after a gruelling weeks work gives a more relaxing outlook? I think that a coffee bar was a place where we could discuss those intricate details which we could not do at home. We needed a place to sit, talk, eat and do things which we could not do under the strict supervision of our parents. That phase was a must on college and that need is no longer there now. Hence, the need for a coffee bar just faded away.
Every thing was going nice and smooth till the time we needed to order something to eat. Now here is the best part, i was given the job to order for the college girls. I selected what they might like the most. Most liked my selection except one of them. And she was really devastated by what she had got. A prominent sadness had clouded her face and she just could not get out of it. All the time i was contemplating whether i had given her something that she did not like, or was it that the others got more of some thing that i ordered. I tried to relate to my old college days and I came to the conclusion that it was probably the size of the dish that left her sad. She had the best of chocolate slices but she was not content becoz other had got more. Their plates were full. If i was in her place, I would have reacted the same way for sure. But i remembered an old instance.
"A teacher asks his class to come home for tea. They all were served with tea in different cups. Some nice crystal ware and other hip new ceramic cups. there were two cups extra in the tray and they were the least attractive ones. Everybody looked through the lot and picked the best cups and at last only the two plain looking cups were lift back. The Teacher took the cups of tea, passed one to his wife and sipped throught the other. He said, "Most of us want the best of everything in life, but the best is not on the outside, its from the inside. The best is not in the quantity, its in the quality. The tea is the same in all the mugs but everybody looked at the mugs and gave them more importance". His saying has marked a great impact on my thoughts and i look beyond the plate of food in the offering.
When i suggested some thing for them, no matter what the quantity, no matter what the stuff, it had love from me and i was just giving my best. Sometimes our best just does not satisfy everybody....
Every thing was going nice and smooth till the time we needed to order something to eat. Now here is the best part, i was given the job to order for the college girls. I selected what they might like the most. Most liked my selection except one of them. And she was really devastated by what she had got. A prominent sadness had clouded her face and she just could not get out of it. All the time i was contemplating whether i had given her something that she did not like, or was it that the others got more of some thing that i ordered. I tried to relate to my old college days and I came to the conclusion that it was probably the size of the dish that left her sad. She had the best of chocolate slices but she was not content becoz other had got more. Their plates were full. If i was in her place, I would have reacted the same way for sure. But i remembered an old instance.
"A teacher asks his class to come home for tea. They all were served with tea in different cups. Some nice crystal ware and other hip new ceramic cups. there were two cups extra in the tray and they were the least attractive ones. Everybody looked through the lot and picked the best cups and at last only the two plain looking cups were lift back. The Teacher took the cups of tea, passed one to his wife and sipped throught the other. He said, "Most of us want the best of everything in life, but the best is not on the outside, its from the inside. The best is not in the quantity, its in the quality. The tea is the same in all the mugs but everybody looked at the mugs and gave them more importance". His saying has marked a great impact on my thoughts and i look beyond the plate of food in the offering.
When i suggested some thing for them, no matter what the quantity, no matter what the stuff, it had love from me and i was just giving my best. Sometimes our best just does not satisfy everybody....
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Recent Trip made me younger
My girlfriend would always tell me... "your old..." I would never want to accept that but the more i tried, the more i started believing her. The number of useless words i uttered regularly had come down drastically during the years. The need to talk less was eminent in most of my conversations. A more gentlemanly poise made me feel comfortable. How others percieved my composure has become an integral part of my living. All these have turned me into an "old" man among the ones i know.... For good or bad... well only time can tell
In my quest to know what are the other finer things that lets one judge you age, i recently acquired a lot of inputs after my trip to Wayanad. We were in the company of two kind of people, one, very young bunch of college going students and the other was a couple few years older. Both played a very vital role in my understanding of the word "Age".
The younger lot were really cool in terms of their limited understanding of the generic term called life... with the attitude to live for today, they were very happy as the minute passed by. Unlike most of us, who keep working our heads on the next days issues or trying to solve trivial problems, they have free minds. The reason for that is that they are still not independent in the ways of life. I believe that unless people start earning their buck and spending out of it, they would never realize its importance. Since one is free from so many thoughts, one tends to have a smile always.... The other thing is that, they are so self contended with everything they have, that the need to have more is hardly visible. As we grow older, the need to have more becomes prominent in our thoughts. This is the most important thing that i learnt being with them. "Keep things simple and you will be happy", is what comes to my mind when i relate to them.
The couple was very happy and self satisfied, they came with the idea of having fun, in company of others or without. They danced with each other, walked with each other and cracked jokes on each other... they were so lively with each other. The need to think about anything else never came up as they had left those thoughts back home and had come to relax. "Knowing your need to do what you are doing now will take away all other thoughts and keep you free". I never kind of figured why i went on trips with friends.... why i wanted a vacation? If one knows the reason, he/she would be so contended that he got it, that other thoughts would never crop up.
I learnt that no matter what age or what thoughts one has in mind, if you have a reason to enjoy, you would stay young forever... (will do more research and post them later)
In my quest to know what are the other finer things that lets one judge you age, i recently acquired a lot of inputs after my trip to Wayanad. We were in the company of two kind of people, one, very young bunch of college going students and the other was a couple few years older. Both played a very vital role in my understanding of the word "Age".
The younger lot were really cool in terms of their limited understanding of the generic term called life... with the attitude to live for today, they were very happy as the minute passed by. Unlike most of us, who keep working our heads on the next days issues or trying to solve trivial problems, they have free minds. The reason for that is that they are still not independent in the ways of life. I believe that unless people start earning their buck and spending out of it, they would never realize its importance. Since one is free from so many thoughts, one tends to have a smile always.... The other thing is that, they are so self contended with everything they have, that the need to have more is hardly visible. As we grow older, the need to have more becomes prominent in our thoughts. This is the most important thing that i learnt being with them. "Keep things simple and you will be happy", is what comes to my mind when i relate to them.
The couple was very happy and self satisfied, they came with the idea of having fun, in company of others or without. They danced with each other, walked with each other and cracked jokes on each other... they were so lively with each other. The need to think about anything else never came up as they had left those thoughts back home and had come to relax. "Knowing your need to do what you are doing now will take away all other thoughts and keep you free". I never kind of figured why i went on trips with friends.... why i wanted a vacation? If one knows the reason, he/she would be so contended that he got it, that other thoughts would never crop up.
I learnt that no matter what age or what thoughts one has in mind, if you have a reason to enjoy, you would stay young forever... (will do more research and post them later)
Monday, January 14, 2008
The Duchy of Kalhatty
The Duchy of Kalhatty is an estate over 300 acres in size, in the land of an aromatic herb called tea. Kalhatty is a small region about 20 kilometres from Ooty, off the Bandipur-Mudumalai Highway. Easily accessible by road, it’s a beautiful drive to the estate. Herds of elephants, an occasional wandering bison and many monkeys kept us company along the way.
The Duchy of Kalhatty is an estate owned by Dr. Krishna Kumar Manikath Aiyar and his wife, Nuria, a Japanese lady who runs a non-profit organisation promoting racial and cultural integrity. The foundation is called ‘’International Children’s Village in Happy Valley” and is situated at Mathur, a small town 80 kilometres from Bangalore. That’s another story by itself.
Dr. Krishna Kumar belongs to the royal family, which ruled the region of Cochin before Independence. They live in true royal style in a castle on the hill leading an almost fairytale life. Cottages in the estate are rented out to guests for Rs.600 per person, per day, food included. It’s completely worth the money. Cars cannot reach the cottages, so you have the option of trekking up the last 1.5 kilometres or waiting for the jeep. Both options are exciting in their own way. You can also opt to stay at Dr. Krishna Kumar’s residence, which has rooms to let. These rooms are priced at Rs.4, 500/- and offer a variety of comforts including a spectacular view of the entire hilly range. It is best suited for couples and honeymooners.
Kalhatty gets real cold at night, so the bonfire feels good. You can also have a barbeque for Rs.500. The cook is very talented and the barbeque tastes heavenly. Sitting under starlit skies in the midst of a forest, looking out for dark figures that may be bison, elephants or even a Bengal tiger adds to the excitement.
City lights are only dim memories and the forest speaks to you in sounds that mesmerize and taunt. The smell of the wild intoxicates your mind and all you see is the beauty of the untamed forest. Mornings are beautiful, with millions of birds chirping all at once and bison grazing on a hill across the valley. A sightseeing safari will cost you Rs.1000, which includes boating in the Ooty Lake, a tour of the site where several films are shot, Pykara Falls, stunning tea estates and a couple of nice drives.
All the regular stuff apart, one of the most amazing things you can do is visit the king in his castle. The drive up to his place is an adventure. The hill is really steep and his jeep drives up at almost a 70-degree angle. Over dangerously narrow passages and slippery rocks we bounced along in a 4-wheel drive Gypsy driven by the king himself. It was an unforgettable ride. He drives real fast and knows the hill like the back of his hand. But for us rookies, it was an adrenalin filled adventure. More so because of a bison that blocked our path and insisted on leading the way for half an hour. Bison are very powerful creatures; the lone ones are most dangerous and can attack if you get too close.
The king, as we like to call him because he insists that he isn’t one, is a treasure house of knowledge. Talking to him is like watching a movie that shows you exciting glimpses of the entire world history. The Duchy of Kalhatty is his baby and he preserves its beauty as best as he can. Living amidst it is almost magical, like you’re transported to a different world; it’s truly a fairytale.
We didn’t want to leave Kalhatty and as we drove away from it a lone verse from Wordsworth’s poem began to play in our minds. “The woods were lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.”
General info: Kalhatty is 253 kilometres from Bangalore in the state of Tamil Nadu. From Mudumalai Forest, take a left onto Masangudi on Kalhatty Road. 18km from Masangudy is the Duchy of Kalhatty.
Buses are available from major cities to Ooty. Kalhatty is 20 kilometres from Ooty. Toy train to Ooty is available from Mettupalyam, 90 kilometres from Coimbatore. A beautiful ride, it has 156 bridges and numerous tunnels.
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