Fengshui on the highway - it happens only in Kerala

India never ceases to amaze you especially if you are on a road trip. There are surprises in almost every curve of the road. During my recent trip to Kerala, I was prepared for churches, mosques, temples, synagogues ..but this completely took me by surprise. 

A Laughing Buddha  was standing tall on the highway, in the middle of nowhere with a beautiful garden surrounding the statue. When we slowed down a bit, I found a board that announced that this was a nursery and a fengshui consultancy rolled into one. Now this is something that probably happens only in India 

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by Jour ~ Friday, November 19, 2010 0 comments

India through my eyes

You find them anywhere- atop old temples, inside fields, sometimes even at homes - King, God, Demon , Soldier - he seems like a mascot, protecting every temple in the south.

To see different worlds, please visit  My World Tuesday 

You can also follow me on my travels on  My Facebook Page and on  Twitter

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by Jour ~ Monday, November 1, 2010 0 comments

India through my eyes - rustic life

While returning from Daroji, we stopped by at a small village near Hampi to have tea. The locals gathered around us and the mothers asked us to take photographs of their kids. They were extremely happy to see the photographs and within minutes, the entire village, which probably consists of a few houses had gathered around us. As I left the hamlet , I saw the happy faces of these people and told myself that happiness is not that elusive after all. 

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by Jour ~ Monday, October 11, 2010 0 comments

Its festival time in India !

Indians are forever celebrating - births of Gods and Goddesses, their marriages and the victory of deities over demons. For some the celebrations are wrapped in a religious fervor, but for me, its always been more of a cultural tradition , rather than a religious affair. I love most festivals because of their color and vigor and very often , they bring the great Indian family together. All celebrations begin and end with food.

Today we celebrate Krishna Jayanthi or Gokul Ashtami or Janmashtami as it is called in various parts of the country. The celebrations are also as diverse as it can get and today most of the festivities spill from homes and temples to the streets.  The legend goes that Krishna in his childhood used to steal butter from earthen ware pots held aloft or hidden around the homes. In towns today, young boys or girls perform acrobatics by forming a human pyramid to break the pots which are tied up in the air on a rope.  The pots normally carry money and the spoils are celebrated by the community . 

In South, some families welcome Krishna home. As a child, my mother used to tell me that Krishna  will visit our homes during midnight. " He was born in the midnight, remember, " she said and narrated the story all over again. She used to painstakingly create designs of tiny feet on the floor , leading from the entrance to the puja room.Very often I used to wake up and wonder if Krishna had walked down the path. Sometimes I used to place my feet on those designs and pretend to be in Krishna's shoes and get yelled at in the bargain ." Krishna will not come home if you do that, " she used to warn and I used to run away to play. While most of these are rubbished today as superstitions, I believe there was so much of innocence and belief in those little things that made our day. Today, most festivities lack those little things, which gave us so much of nostalgia and connected us to our community and our culture. 

I was in Madras (Chennai ) recently when the street vendors were busy selling terracotta idols of Krishnas to families. With Ganesh Chaturthi , Navratri and Dasara around the corner, the painted terracota idols are making a quick sale. I am down with a bad stomach and hence can  neither enjoy the butter, the sweets and the savories today, nor am I painting feet of Krishna on my floor - but I would just like to revel in the festivities around. 

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by Jour ~ Wednesday, September 1, 2010 0 comments

India through my eyes - Breakfast at Ranganatittu Sanctuary

The juvenile painted storks along with the adult painted stork having a go at their breakfast in Ranganatittu Bird Sanctuary .

I would also request you to join me on Facebook, where I share my travel stories, photographs and some published writing, some of which are not yet on backpacker. Please click the link here to be part of the journey and to share your stories as we go by 

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by Jour ~ Sunday, July 11, 2010 0 comments

India through my eyes - In the days of twitter and FB statuses

I saw this quaint little postbox just before I entered the portals of the Hoysala temple, Somnathpur .One day I told myself, I will shut myself from the digital world and return here , just to send a real post card to myself at least .I did that during my first international trip, when I was 21 and all excited to cover South East Asia and Australia. I sent a post card to my parents from every country and each post card was a souvenir . I didnt have money to buy anything and my memories lie in those post cards

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by Jour ~ Tuesday, June 15, 2010 0 comments

India through my eyes - A fishy story

A poster in Mahabalipuram ..they know how to bring on the fishy tales

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by Jour ~ Wednesday, May 5, 2010 0 comments

India through my eyes - A formula for a clean city

As we walked in Kasauli rather aimlessly, we saw this warning near the Kasauli Club.Must say it works..the place was rather clean

Btw, I was pleasantly surprised when I found a mail in my inbox informing me that I have been nominated for Indibloggies -2008 in the travel category. There are quite a few blogs out there in other segments as well. I would appreciate it if you can take a few moments and vote for me .

Another temptation for travel buffs out there. Arun, my partner at Travelwise is planning a trek to Goecha-la, a high pass in Kanchenjunga National Park in Sikkim. The details are here and if you are tempted to join him, he would be more than happy.

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by Jour ~ Tuesday, November 24, 2009 0 comments

India through my eyes- No Please !

Very often when we travel we tend to take pictures of local people. Usually I ask then for permission , but sometimes I like to take a candid moment.

I was in Thiksey in Ladakh when I saw these boys chatting. I asked them and they gave me an exasperated expression..Not another of those tourists , pls ...said their look. I couldnt help laughing when they hid their faces with a lid as a mock show of protest . And thats when I took the picture..I showed it to them later and we had a laugh and they later allowed me to take a couple of more pictures.

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by Jour ~ Thursday, October 22, 2009 0 comments

India through my eyes - Its Red hot !

Rustic India is indeed colourful and its not just greens and browns that we are talking about.Its red hot too..Chilli and Andhra Pradesh are quite synonymous..they say Telugu food is quite spicy too. I was crossing the Andhra -Karnataka border near Mantralaya when we stopped by this fiery colour. I think India is red hot ! what do you think ?


This is My World for now..To view different parts of the world please click here

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by Jour ~ Monday, April 20, 2009 0 comments

India through my eyes - Work is worship

At the entrance of an ancient Hoysala temple , Adagur near Hassan. No one has probably entered the temple portals for days while it stood in the wilderness , but work must go on. The coconuts were on their way to the Hassan market.


Im going to be travelling tomorrow for an event.You could look me up at Cerebrate.I will see you all next week.

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by Jour ~ Wednesday, April 1, 2009 0 comments

Images of India - On a hot summer day

 

Of late Ive been driving into rural India more often than once. Almost every trip has taken me into this rustic world where villages and small towns seem to beckon me. This has probably been so over the last six months and probably barring Chennai and Hyderabad, I havent been to a city . I just returned from a weekend trip only to become a casualty to Bangalore's pollution, heat and dust. Maybe thats why Im advocating a holiday to a pollution free world

In a way, I seem to be more inclined towards villages than small towns. I believe rural tourism has great potential - not just portraying the stereotypes or "real India" as the guide books say, but a connect back to the simpler,more basic way of life . What do you think ?

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by Jour ~ Wednesday, March 18, 2009 0 comments

Images of India - a drying yard in a coffee estate

I was in Malenadu last week, on my way to Sringeri and we transited through the coffee country - Hassan, Belur, Chikmagalur.If you followed my twitter updates, you would have got a feel of the journey.

I was at a couple of coffee estates , which have a colonial feel to them.One of the plantations is up hill in Chikmagalur near Balehanoor and we drove into the drying yard. There was less coffee and more spices, especially green pepper in this drying yard .


Persuaded by Gopal and Deepak I've enrolled for the photoblog contest.Pls vote for me here and dont forget to vote for Deepak and Gopal as well.

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by Jour ~ Thursday, March 12, 2009 0 comments

India through my eyes - Palette or plate at Lepakshi ?

I thought it was first a giant palette used by the royal artists to paint the walls of the temple..maybe I imagined that the colours for the exotic murals came from here. The Vijaynagar kings had indeed patronised the artists to paint some wonderful murals that still stand the test of time in Lepakshi..However I was told by the guide that this was probably where the locals used to be served food and hence the "thali" like shape of this sculpture. I wouldnt know which is right though..

December has seen very little travel from my end except for my trips to Chennai which has become quite regular. I was there last week and got back yesterday and I am off again tomorrow. I havent been extremely busy , but just been a bit tied down with little things.I will be slowly catching up on all your blogs and here is the regular reading list from me.My Inside Story in Today's Metro Plus is about Lepakshi as well, meanwhile CLAY has an interesting story by Celine on the Datia Palace

And its celebration time as Ive got this award from Hitchwriter, whose posts and photographs are always a pleasure to visit. Thank you so much. I really cannot choose 8 bloggers and as usual, I pass it on to all those who visit my blog.

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by Jour ~ Sunday, December 14, 2008 0 comments

India through my eyes - The Ramappa temple

The ASI board says that it was built in the 13th century (1243 AD) by a General, Recherla Rudra serving in the army of the Kakatiya king, Ganapatideva. Located in Palampet, a small village , this is the famous Ramappa temple .We travelled around 70 kms from Warangal and we did not even find a single signboard.Even though it seems out of bound to most tourists, its quite a favourite among locals. The picture however is taken against the background of one of the smaller shrines in the temple complex. More on Ramappa Lake here.

Some weekend reading if you have the time. Medhini's beautiful story on Sanchi Stupa in CLAY,Jungle Lodges's blog has some great wild life stories in Tales of the Wild and my story on the journey of a coffee bean in Bangalore Mirror today. The last one especially is not your regular travel story, so let me know what you think.I have a lot of writing to do this week and I go to Chennai after that.Have a good week

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by Jour ~ Friday, December 5, 2008 0 comments

India through my eyes - Direct marketing !

The title says it all..in Warangal . No, we didnt eat or have a drink there .

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by Jour ~ Wednesday, November 12, 2008 0 comments

India through my eyes - carrots in kodaikanal

We were passing through this idyllic village called Mannavannur near Kodaikanal looking for a lake ..it was an agricultural belt and the terrace farms looked inviting..we did not see anyone and then in a green corner, we found four men "cleaning" the carrots they had harvested..the carrots were left lying near a small stream and the men would then do a little dance on them, rubbing them with the soles of their feet ,probably kicking them a bit as well and then packing them into little sacks that were later sold in the market..I did not have a video camera..so here are the pictures..



This post is dedicated to Jeevan who reminded me regarding the Kodai post..will be putting up a longer one soon

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by Jour ~ Friday, October 17, 2008 0 comments

India through my eyes - What the Gods eat !

Grams sold outside the Azhagar (Alagar )temple dedicated to Vishnu near Madurai . This is bought by devotees and served to the Gods.. I asked why and no one answered..

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by Jour ~ Friday, October 10, 2008 0 comments

India through my eyes - Kiski band bajegi ?

7 am on a Sunday morning on Mount Road in Chennai .This band of boys are up early and they do not seem too excited. Probably the wedding season is keeping them busy .

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by Jour ~ Tuesday, September 23, 2008 0 comments

India through my eyes

Outside the 17th century Thirumalai Nayak Palace in Madurai, a group of old women sweat it out to make a living. They sell a few knick knacks, some colourful bags and trinkets. I met these old women who were trying to sell me a few bags that I did not want. But I was caught by their warm smiles and their desperation to make a living at this old age. I took their pictures - one of them coyly smiled as she was just preparing to have lunch. We bought a few bags as well and a small trinket ..just to make their day

I am to Madras (Chennai )again for a couple of days and will see you all later in the week. I would like to thank Aaarti and Jeevan for giving me these awards. I give them away to everyone who take time off to visit my blog everyday and motivate me with their comments. Here are the two awards - the first one is from Aaarti and the second fron Jeevan . Thanks guys.

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by Jour ~ Monday, September 15, 2008 0 comments