Why Birthdays

I don't mind people wishing 'happy birthday', have some happy banter maybe & move along. Such as some of the friendly guys on FB, members of TBG, some sincere people in my family, etc. I'm grateful to them. It's heartening to know they really care, or are being friendly, maybe just trying to be social, etc. Doesn't matter, but good motives in the end. That's all matters.

On the other hand are some people who're mean, ignorant, pathetic, insincere, or just crazy! This post is for those. So here goes my rant for them who deserve it... If you're one of those people, you'll know for yourselves what I mean.


Why should someone be happy that it's their birthday?
Why is everyone so excited, if not even an acquaintance, when it's someone else's birthday?
Why is it looked at as an obligation for someone to "celebrate" their birthday?
Why can't a birthday be a no-event? Isn't it just another day in the life! You might argue it can't really be called a no-event, since getting past that date means all the forms you fill for the next 1 year would have a different "age" filled in. But does it really matter?!
Why is it a norm to wear new clothes, or at least dress properly, on their birthday?
Why does everyone want a treat for a birthday? I understand they'd get a free meal (probably some drinks too), but why the annoyance & pestering for a party when they're just acquaintances? Should every remote acquaintance be treated to a party? Probably a few hundred people would turn up then!
Why doesn't anyone care someone is unwell on their birthday, even after it's mentioned explicitly?

Why does someone have to call more than a dozen times early in the morning just to wish 'Happy birthday'? Why can't they stop calling if the call isn't picked up? A dozen missed calls in about 2 hours from the same number, and counting!
Why are there messages like "... I'm very sad, you didn't call" for not getting wished for the birthday on the phone? Doesn't sending an SMS suffice?
Why do people revel in others' miseries? I admit I do sometimes take pleasure too, but there's a limit - why can't some people see it?


I guess it's quite understandable, given all these questions I've asked, that it's my birthday in question. It probably was one of the worst ones ever. No real friends/relatives around. Sick. Completely devoid of any fun.
I congratulate those who've made me write this post & also made me ask all these weird questions for which I'm not really looking for any answers.

I don't care

Alrighty then! In my review about those wireless headphones at eZone, I'd described the background to what went in to buy that crappy set. I'd also described my experience at the shop. And much more. Similar posts on other hardware I'd bought - the croma mp4 player, iball speakers, etc.

Most of the comments were good, thanking me for the posts. I'm quite happy about it & sometimes feel good that I've helped a few.

However, I've got a few other comments for some of those posts that I should just get to the point! That is, not talk about the background, but rather just give a list of positives & negatives. Some of the comments even said the entire review was useless.

This blog post is for those who have complained or even berated. I don't care about you guys! I've deleted your comments & will continue to do so. If you don't like it, don't read it. This is MY blog. I didn't invite you to read my blog! I don't even have an Adsense account. I make no money from my blog. If you got a problem, go deal with it yourself. No use wasting my time or yours.

croma mp4 player with touch screen - 16GB

As described in a recent blog post, I'd thought of buying an mp3 player ASAP! I usually do at least SOME research before buying anything. This time, I didn't have that privilege. Just had to go to the nearest electronic store & buy something!

First we saw was croma store, on Indiranagar 100 ft road. Went in, saw Apple iPods - iPod shuffle, iPod classic, etc. And few others - croma mp3/mp4 players, Sony ones, etc.

Considered iPod shuffle since it was tiny. But its capacity was also tiny - just 2GB?! I easily get bored listening to the same song more than twice same day. Needed something above 8GB, so that more songs can be stuffed in & repetitions are minimized.

I liked iPod classic, because its memory size was 160GB. Everything else had just 16GB, 2GB, 32GB, etc. However, it seemed very outdated and lacked several features offered by other players. Also seemed quite expensive.

A big turnoff about Apple players was the necessity of iTunes. So looked for other options. Only good ones were by Sony and croma's own. Sony ones didn't seem that great.

Finally, shortlisted to 2 models from croma itself. One was approx. Rs. 9000, the other Rs. 6000. Features weren't that different. Just the screen size. I'd wanted just a simple mp3 player. So went for the cheaper version, "croma mp4 player with touch screen - 16GB", model: CRER1049.

Overall experience so far...

Pros/Positives:
1. Plain & simple mp3 player
2. Also plays videos, can read *.txt files too, FM, view pics & can also be used as voice recorder
3. Has a g-sensor. Implies it'll re-align the videos/pics based on how you hold it. Also you can give it a jerk & it'll jump to the next/previous item on the playlist. You can disable this, for example when traveling on a bumpy ride, by setting a timer. It's not easy to find in the settings, need to hunt around a bit.
4. Has a microSD card slot, that can help expand by an additional 4GB.
5. Free earphones from croma, MRP Rs. 700

Cons/Negatives:
1. Not great battery life. Although the guy in shop mentioned it has 24hrs playback time, it doesn't even play half of that time! I'd be surprised if it even would last 8 hrs. Haven't tried, but I think it'd just barely make it. Also got to switch it off when not in use. Otherwise it'll drain out as if it's playing something!
2. Very small screen size of 7cm (2.8 inch) isn't that great for movies, viewing pics, etc. Lots of real estate wasted too, i.e., the screen could've been much larger. Feels like you're holding a small metal brick. I've seen people mistake it for a mobile sometimes!
3. Touch screen is TFT/LCD. Implies it doesn't respond that well to touch. Got to press hard, use fingernails, or try several times, make sure you're pressing the correct point on the tiny screen, etc. You'll get used to it after a while.
4. Earphones aren't that great.
    a) They have a metal finish, implying if you turn up the volume a bit too high, or connect to a laptop that leaks some current. You'll feel a tinge of shock in the parts of the ear where it touches - very uncomfortable feeling!
    b) Bass output is horrible. Even after setting the equalizer to Bass! Tested with headphones that don't have this issue, just to make sure it's not the player's problem.
5. Can't edit playlist at all, i.e., can't remove files, can't set any order, etc.
6. Videos:
    a) Get stretched to the resolution of the player's screen size, full size. So, you'd almost always see the videos stretched horizontally/vertically, since it's rare to get videos that'd match the resolution of the player's screen.
    b) Supports only upto 480p. Nothing beyond that. So forget about HD, i.e., 720p or 1080p. And even x264. And also limited support for formats. Maybe I'm asking a bit too much here, but I'd count it as a negative!
7. Some songs just don't play. They're fine when playing on laptop. Not sure whether it's an issue with the file itself or the player.
8. Text files:
    8.1 Some text files are truncated too. For example, a 300KB file can't just be 2 pages, when a 250KB file is a few hundreds of pages.
    8.2 Can't really change the font - can set to some predefined colors and a few minor inconsequential tweaks.
9. Non-standard port for charging/transfer, so got to use what's provided & carry the cable along when travelling. I was hoping it'd have a mini usb port so that I could use the same cable I use for my phone.
10. Absolutely no reviews or specs of this player online!
11. Just 4GB expandable memory?! You gotta be kidding me.


But then, I remembered the [V] Bai's quote: Itne paise mein itna ich milega!

For Rs. 6k, what do you expect anyway.

Overall, even with such a long list of negatives, it's a decent buy. However, this market still got to evolve. Hopefully it will. Someday.

P.S. Those who wish to write ugly comments, read this

How wild can it get - the final one

Continued from here.

Thought of taking care of some unfinished business. The earlier posts were all written using my phone, not really that comfortable. Now that I've got access to my laptop, will elaborate a bit more due to comments received on a few things mentioned in earlier posts.

1. The brats - why was I annoyed with them?
For instance, take the first day when I didn't have my earphones on. Pugal was shouting, after a few hours in the bus, "Driver uncle, stop the bus!", "Driver uncle, stop the bus!", .... He was just shouting continuously for a long time (20-30 mins, I think). People around, including his parents, had a hard time trying to calm the kid or at least divert his attention. I didn't know why he was shouting to stop the bus in the first place! I'm not sure what else he did next 2 days since I was immersed in music, except when the announcements were made (already detailed these in earlier posts). So don't know what all antics he did the next 2 days. So then, I feel that single instance should be sufficient enough to state why someone could get annoyed.

2. Kukke Subramanya - a big disappointment
I'd heard quite a lot of interesting things about this temple. Firstly, I shouldn't have had any expectations. It was quite disappointing in the end. Nothing like I'd heard. The place is situated in a valley, looks good, not awesome. The temple itself - I don't understand what's so great about it!

3. Free food at the temples
For someone serving free food, it's a very decent meal. But for me, who's quite pampered, spending a few hundreds per meal usually, it was a complete let down. Quite obvious, you'd think.
So what's the free meal all about? There's a queue usually. We're in the hall within a few minutes. Sit down in long rows, probably 100 people in a row.
Round1: Everyone gets a steel plate, or a plantain leaf.
Round2: Then a small quantity of some dry curry. Usually Bottle gourd, Pumpkin, mixed veg curries having unknown vegetables, etc. I don't usually like these, so almost wasted in every place.
Round 3: Rice, immediately followed by Rasam. Rasam is just boiled, slightly brown-colored, water, with a little salt & masala to taste.
Round 4: After about 2 minutes of the earlier round, another round of rice. Immediately followed by Sambar this time. The only difference between Sambar & Rasam being - Sambar is a teeny-weeny bit thicker than Rasam & also has some additional vegetables such as onions, bottle gourd, pumpkin, etc.
Round 5: If you've set aside some rice, you can get buttermilk. Buttermilk, is actually 1 liter of curd in 25 liters of water.
And you're done. In another 2 mins you're walking out, washing hands. 10 mins in all!

4. Veg food for 4 days, continuously
Past few years, the longest period I've eaten veg food continuously was probably just a couple of days! After a very long time, at least 3 years, I've eaten veg food for 4 days continuously!
Surprisingly, I've got a comment from one of my colleagues on Monday that I've gained weight. Couldn't believe given what I'd eaten those days! Or was it because of the 'junk' food ;)

5. Inside the temples
    a) Since I walked much faster than the others, I was usually the first to go in & come out. At Adi Subramanya, for example, I was in & out twice, with a gap of 10 mins. Still people hadn't even completed 1 visit!
    b) If there were long queues, I just bypassed the queue. For example, in Udipi Krishna temple. I was out of the temple, finished lunch too. People weren't done with darshan still! For me, standing in such long queues seemed pointless. People who went in the queues, waiting for hours, when in front of the shrine/idol, just closed their eyes to pray! C'mon, what's the point! Isn't all the wait to have a good look.

6. Tilak on forehead
End of 3rd day I noticed I didn't put a tilak on my forehead at any of the temples in past few days. Never! I noticed it because I observed many others sporting multiple colors, shades & shapes of tilaks! No one around to forcefully apply one on my forehead meant I was very happy in the end! I'd walked off when some of the priests offered to apply tilak on my forehead. Explains why.

7. Money at temples
Also, whenever I've taken teertham, I've dropped Rs.1 or Rs.2, whichever came to hand first when digging through the wallet. If I was going to have a free lunch/dinner, dropped some amount of Rs.10, upto Rs.30 in the hundi. Some places where the food seemed above average, walked back & put in at least Rs.10 more if I'd initially only dropped Rs.10. End of the trip, I realized I'd spent almost all the change I had. Highest denomination used was Rs.50. So all the 100s & 500s in the wallet stayed dormant. Entire expense too was quite low, about Rs.400, I think. Didn't keep track.

8. Pics
All pics were self pics. That is, place the camera somewhere, set the timer on for 10 seconds. Go run to the position & have the pic taken when the timer runs out. No one, except me, touched the camera throughout the trip. The guide had offered to take a pic couple of times, but I politely refused. I'd most trouble taking pics when it was raining. Unfortunately, at those times there wasn't anyone around I could trust who could've taken my pic. For example, in Kollur it was raining heavily & I couldn't take a self pic. There wasn't any place to place the camera such that it could be shielded from the rain & also capture the temple entrance with me standing somewhere around. Another place I can remember where I couldn't take a self pic was the Aneguddi Vinayaka temple.

9. My experiences with gadgets
    a) mp3 player - croma mp4 player 16GB, although I've several cribs, the player has pretty much served its purpose
    b) Phone - Samsung Galaxy S2, quite impressed with the phone & battery. Used GPRS a lot. GPS didn't work when there was a thick cloud cover, or when in bus. Haven't called anyone, although it occurred to me on the last day when I was super-bored, to call, but decided otherwise
    c) Digital camera - Panasonic FZ40, extremely impressed with the battery. Hadn't charged for the whole journey. Just 1 out of 3 bars disappeared end of the trip. I might've taken a hundred pics & some HD video footage too

How wild can it get - III

Continued from here.

To maintain consistency, I'll write rest of the trip details using the phone itself!

Sept 4
So then, it was Sunday. Woke up in the most annoying way.

Got a phone call from the hotel people at 4 am. I'd set my alarm well past 4.30am. I'd lost at least half-hour of sleep and was obviously outraged at it. But couldn't protest since it'd be an unnecessary waste of time. Just had to let it pass.

Tried to sleep some more time. However, since I'd to get up in a few mins anyway, woke up and started with regular chores of any morning.

Was ready by 5 am. I'd half-hour to kill. Just laid down for a while, went downstairs by 5.25 am. Just 1 family was there by then. People slowly trickled in.

Got in the bus by 5.50 am. Bus started off at 6. First was some modern temple of Shiva inaugurated by the then PM, Rajiv Gandhi.

It seems the guide had announced the day before when I was asleep that he'd show 2 additional temples and hence will charge Rs 50 extra. This temple we were going to first was one of them. We were in Mangalore. Went past the Bajpe airport. The guide mentioned there was some mishap a few years ago & this airport was in the news.

Reached the temple at around 7 am. It was big and decent looking, but I wasn't that impressed. Mainly because the fountain in the temple was actually just a pond, filled with what looked like dirty water!

Left there by about 7.45 am. Next was Kadri. That was an old temple spanning a large area. Wasn't that great. I was in & out in a few mins. Nothing noteworthy.

Next was breakfast time. The bus stopped & the guide announced that there were 2 hotels Shivbagh & Shanbagh. We should go to Shanbagh, not Shivbagh. Got down, looked around for a moment and it became apparent that there wasn't any hotel by name Shanbagh! I guess the guide would've been very embarrassed and would be searching for a place to hide his face.

For me it didn't matter. Luckily they had dosas, so had a Masala dosa. Completed much earlier than others because most others had coffees and teas.

Started again and proceeded to Mangaladevi temple. Took very few mins. I was in and out in 2 mins! People took 20 mins!

One of the bus' tyres was flat, so the driver & his assistant replaced it with a well inflated one. By the time they were done, everyone returned. So continued to next destination, Sri Rama temple, which was on the way to Dharmasthala. Reached by 11.30am.

This was the second modern extra temple the guide had promised to show. This was much bigger than what we'd seen in the morning. I was in & out in 5 mins. Others, as usual, took their own sweet time of 30-40 mins.

Started to dharmasthala, the next destination. Reached at 12.30pm. We were told we had time till 2.30pm. That's a lot of time for me, especially at a temple! Had to do something that'd help kill a lot of time. There wasn't much to see there, except have darshan & have lunch.

It seems the free darshan would take 30 mins to an hour. There was a Rs 200 ticket, taking that'd reduce the waiting time by several minutes. I wanted to add minutes, not cut. So joined the free darshan line. Slowly and steadily, had darshan in not 30 mins to 1 hour, but 30 mins plus 1 hour! It was 2 pm already by the time I was out. I still had to have lunch, just 30 mins left. I hadn't taken any pics either!

Only saving grace was, there were others from our bus standing behind me in the line. It meant they were late too. But that didn't mean I had the right to delay as I wished!

Got into the free lunch line, got done in a few mins & was out by 2.25 pm. Just on time. Spotted the guide standing near the entrance & had a chat.

He suggested I go to visit bahubali, it'd take 10 mins to go by auto & 10 mins to come back. 5-10 mins to look around. Bus would start at 3 pm instead of announced 2.30pm due to the rush. I wasn't interested in visiting more temples. I already had an overdose & was quite numb. The suggestion seemed crazy. Just took some random pics.

Bus started at 2.55 pm. Reached kumaradhara river by 4.30pm. This was another extra stop. We seemed to be way ahead of schedule. Nothing great here either. The guide mentioned this river had some great healing/spiritual/magical powers. That means nothing to me. It was just a muddy river with a bit strong currents & lots of fresh water fishes. Ah, how I wished I could find a place that sold cooked fish!

Started to the next destination, actually the final one for the trip, Kukke Subramanya. It was announced we stay here until 9 pm. We'd reached around 5.15pm. Meant almost 4 hrs! Seemed like an eternity.

The old temple, Adi subramanya, closes at 6 pm. So went very fast & done with darshan in 2 mins. I should've taken my time by going slowly. There was no crowd, so I was out by 5.30pm.

Thinking what to do next, went in again & out again, 5 mins this time! Took some pics, started back at about 5.50pm to visit the more modern temple.

Several others seemed to be having difficulty in coming out on time. I couldn't understand why. Not my problem though, so moved on.

I was out of the modern temple by 6.15pm. I'd to take off shirt & banian here. Actually at dharmasthala and a few other temples too before this. It'd become common by then & I'd gotten used to it.

As suggested, I planned to have the free dinner at the temple itself. But that'd begin only at 7.30pm. Had to do something until then. Checked the map on phone for any interesting places nearby. Nothing! Except those 2 temples, there wasn't anything interesting in a few km radius! Again, missed the bike & wished to be back. 3 days was a bit too much.

There were only veg restaurants. I was quite disappointed. Only stores/shops around were the usual fancy items, toys, trinkets, etc. They're ubiquitous near any temple. What else could we find near a temple anyway. Just walked up and down the roads, window shopping.

I'd lost count of how many times I'd gone up and down the same road! Probably 10, 15 or even 20 times. I was enervated.

Got into the dinner line by 7.15pm. Had dinner and was out by7.45 pm. I'd at least an hour more! Spotted the prasadam counter. Had a laddoo. That could keep me busy only for a few mins.

Just to see if there were any other bored souls around, walked back to the bus to find only 1 family. That too I suspect, they were tired, rather than bored. It was just me. As I was walking along, noticed most people from our bus shopping & bargaining. I was interested in nothing there. Just wanted this to end. Walked around few more mins.

Came back to the bus by 8.40 pm. Put on the earphones & tried to sleep. The bus started by 8.55 pm. Earlier than planned 9 pm. I was pleased.

The guide apologized for any mistakes or inconveniences caused by him or the support staff. Probably they're told in their training to tell that. I felt it wasn't necessary. He said the bus would stop at the same place they'd stopped on first day near hassan.

I didn't want to be disturbed. Put on the earphones & increased the volume a bit too much. While I had my earphones on & music ringing, movies such as 'Dhamaal', 'Nee Sneham', 'Manasantha Nuvve', etc. were screened on the way for past 2 days.


Woke up at 12.30am because of a bump on the road that flung me up. Realized the bus had stopped and moved on. The movie that was playing earlier was over. People were fast asleep, the noisy brats too. Took off the earphones, switched off the mp3 player & slept.

Woken up by an announcement at 5.15 am. We'd reached B'lore. People got down at different places along the way - Rajajinagar, Majestic, etc. Contemplated getting down at Majestic, but thought of getting down at the last stop, badami house, since it was closest to our place. Walked over to the nearest bus stop. Earphones plugged in, music still thumping.

Reached home by 6.15 am. End of a wild journey. What was I thinking going for this tour.

I'd summarize my experience as amused first, bored & enervated later.

Apart from that, I was a bit disappointed with the mp3 player, impressed with my phone and even more impressed with the camera! Will probably post about those later.

Continued here.

How wild can it get - II

Looks like there's a character limit to the posts when using the blogger-droid app. So a new post, that's actually a continuation of the previous one since I've hit the character limit in the previous post.

So then, Sept 3

Woke up by 5 am, ready & in the bus by 5.30am. There wasn't much delay by anyone, so started off by 5.45.

On a side note, I was quite happy with the driver. He drove very well throughout the journey, maneuvering even the difficult hairpin-bend curves with utmost care. At a time I thought the bus would topple sideways because he was taking a U-turn on a slope of 30° when the potholes-ridden road was probably just wide enough for the bus from brushing the bushes/trees on the sides!

The first place where we stopped was Bhatkal for breakfast. Since I don't like idly that much, ordered poori (dosa wasn't available!). Everyone else first ordered idly, but after seeing my poori plate, they too got pooris! One poori plate on every table after a few mins. I was having a laugh within.

Someone managed to order & get a dosa later. I felt deceived, but my tummy was filled by then, so just let it go. The dosa didn't look that great either that I'd reconsider & stuff my tummy.

Next went to Murudeshwara temple, situated between 2 beaches. The closest beach didn't look that good, so didn't go. Took a lot of pics.

There were several "photographers" claiming to take pics. INR 50 for 4 pics! My camera takes much better pics than theirs. Even my phone camera would be a better one compared to what they had. No wonder no one asked me that they'll take my pics.

Ate a laddoo at the temple, the free meals at these temples aren't nutritious. They're just carbohydrates, not much protein. So thought I'll eat whatever "junk" I could find.

Next was some small temple, Aneguddi Vinayaka temple, on the way to Udipi. Just stopped for 30 mins. Nothing much to see or do there. I was in & out of the temple in 5 mins. Others took much longer. In the meanwhile, I took random pics as usual.

The landscape throughout the journey was just forests. Thick growth of trees, forest floor looking like a green carpet, covered in moss/grass, but no hints of soil beneath.

Coffee, tea, Areca nut, paddy (rice), banana, etc. Plantations & estates at some places.

The rain also stopped in the morning after breakfast, which meant I could happily walk around taking pics with ease, now that I wouldn't have to hold the umbrella.

B.t.w. since the mp3 player was now charged, I was listening to music all day. That helped cutoff all noise from the people around. However had to be very attentive to any announcements made by the guide. So, reduced the volume a bit before dozing off so as to awaken in case there's an announcement. Ah, the perils of being on a tour package alone.

Next was Udipi Krishna temple. Reached around 1 pm. I completed darshan and had the free lunch by 1.30pm. Much earlier than anyone else. We were to start back at 2.30pm, which meant I'd an hour to pass time.

A prasad called laddige interested me, so bought & ate for the next 1 hour as I was roaming around. It's just a huge laddoo that's made of popped rice. As I was walking along, noticed that the pond in the temple had ducks, so a photography session with them! Not all of them were cooperative, but that's natural :)

Everyone was back in the bus by 2.45 pm, so started just a few mins before 3 pm. I guess we were a bit ahead of schedule. The guide decided to take us to Maple beach (Maple pronounced as Maa-play).

We were in the beach by 3.15pm, given 1 hour. From a distance, the beach looked quite good. Unfortunately, turned out to be a mirage! The beach was, in reality, completely littered with dead plants, twigs, etc. However, the water was clean. It wasn't dirty or ugly, but overall it wasn't the nicest of the beaches. I've been to better ones.

Went into the water, knee-deep, didn't like the floating dead plants & twigs that much. So was out in 30 mins. I still had another 30 mins to kill. Took some random pics again, as usual.

Some people seemed to have had a great time in the beach. They came very late. We started back at 4.55 pm.

Next was Kateel, some goddess temple. They were playing some movie in the bus. I didn't want to listen to that & increased volume in the mp3 player. I'd dozed off with earphones on, so didn't wake up when the guide announced. I'd become oblivious to the surroundings since the time the mp3 player started working.

Woke up when the bus stopped. It was 6 pm. Soundarya palace is where we were gonna halt tonight. Asked the guide what the plan was, after apologizing for falling asleep when he made the announcement. The plan, it seems, is to just visit the temple tonight, have dinner & start back again at 5.30am as the previous day.

The plan meant I'd a lot of time. Checked Google maps & scanned the area around. Found nothing interesting nearby. Meant I'd just the temple. Went there around 6.30pm, hoping it's a big temple & can spend some time exploring. Unfortunately, it wasn't that big. I was out by 7 pm.

I'd have liked to have my bike in this situation. But this wasn't that bad even though I was sitting in the last row. The ride is quite bumpy, can't hear the guide unless he uses the PA system, etc. There would've been different challenges if riding on bike - especially in these rains, on these roads.

Anyways, came back to room, took some pics of the room since I was a bit impressed with it, given the remote location the hotel was situated. The room was a lot better than the room I was given the previous day.

Back to the temple around 8.15pm. Watched the pooja. Was looking around for signs/hints on where the free dinner is served. Just walked around for a few mins, followed a bunch of people who seemed to be talking about what I was after. So just followed them, and found myself in the right place.

The food here seemed better than at the other places. B.t.w. I don't consider this as free food. Everywhere I've eaten free food, I've dropped Rs10-30 in the hundi.

Hopefully tomorrow I won't stay asleep when an announcement is made. Got to sleep a bit earlier than yesterday, would be good to make best use of it then.

So then, that's all folks!

Continued here.

How wild can it get

It was August first week when it dawned upon me that I could take 1 day off on Sept 2nd and get 5 days of vacation. There was no plan but I reserved my vacation. Thought I could go to western ghats.

One of my colleagues was interested too. Unfortunately he didn't have a bike. So a search for bikes-for-rent in Bangalore started. I wasn't serious about the search since it wasn't for myself! It was his responsibility to find one.

Even after a week he couldn't get a bike. I had to make alternate plans. Upon a discussion with Susheel, my cousin, we thought best go to kurnool.

The plan: I go on bike from Bangalore. They come by car from Hyderabad. Both of us rendezvous at kurnool. I park my bike at kurnool. We go around in the car for a few days. I get dropped back in kurnool. I drive back to Bangalore. They drive back to hyderabad.

All was good, so made hotel reservation for a couple of days in a place we wanted to visit. Everything was fine until just less than a week before our scheduled departures it started raining. Heavily! I was still okay with the plan but they were not. So, the plan was called off.

I had to cancel the reservation. Since the cancellation charges were the same until 48hrs before check-in, I cancelled just around 50-60 hrs before check-in. Just in case there's a change of mind on their end.

I asked around again if anyone has plans to come with me - my colleague again, and Ananth, IITM batchmate. Neither of them could commit to any plan. So finally I was on my own.

I'd already taken the day off, so can't go to office. I could, but what's the point?!



The first holiday, 31st August

My internet had stopped working the previous day. Phone hasn't been working since several days, probably months. So called up Airtel guys first thing in the morning at 7.30am. He said a technician would come & fix by 1.30pm. That sounded good, it meant I had just half-day gone, rest half to plan or do something.

The Airtel guy however, called at 12.50pm saying he'll come in 5mins. Called again at 1.15pm saying phone has been fixed. Indeed it was. However internet wasn't still working. So he said he'll come in some time. Around 2pm he took my address. Called again around 2.30pm asking for directions. Finally turned up around 3.30pm. Resolved the issue by configuring the modem. All done by 4pm. But I didn't feel like doing anything rest of the day. Just caught up on general news, gadget news, etc.


Sept 1

I was invited to Ganesh puja at cousin's place. Had to go there for lunch. Plan for the day was to make a plan for rest of the vacation! So thought of going to badami house to book some KSTDC tour package, for anything I haven't been to is available.

There I was, at badami house, wondering where I could go. There were some good packages to beaches, hill stations, etc. But I was informed no seats in those packages were available, not even the last row! Should've expected that. There were 2 seats available for the Karnataka temple tour though.

Thought hard for about a minute whether to go or not. If yes, there's no turning back! I'll also have to go alone - me, temples! Almost anyone who knows me well would be shocked to know that I decided to go on this tour, alone!

There were 2 seats available, both in last row. Seat 33 was window, 34 aisle. Just to see if anyone else would come, I chose 34. Any interested person would be happy to take a window seat. Even if no one comes I'd just shift to the window seat.

The already shocked old man was even more shocked when I chose the aisle seat - I was traveling alone, on a temple tour, taking an aisle seat!

It's supposed to begin at 9pm, same day. I had less than 10hrs to start. Went to cousin's place as planned. Came back home by 4pm.

Started packing. Realized I'll be extremely bored since this is a temple tour & there'll only be elderly people, or married couples. Neither of those people I like interacting with.

So went to croma and bought an mp3 player. Didn't want to risk draining my phone's battery.

Came back home by 6pm. Charged all equipment. Copied several Albums onto the mp3 player and was ready to go by 7.50pm. I felt I forgot something. Realized next day morning that it was the soap that I'd forgotten.

Reached badami house by 8.50pm. Boarded the bus (KA01B9144). And we were off. The guide, Shivraj, seemed friendly as usual for any KSTDC tour packages. I had my earphones on until I fell asleep around 10pm. Paused the player, took off the earphones and dozed off.

Around 00.30am just a few km before hassan, the bus was stopped for people to attend to any nature calls.



Sept 2

Woken up by the guide shouting into the bus' PA system to freshen up so that we could visit the temples. We were in kalasa.

I'd to share a room with 2 others. They were as quick as I. Probably seasoned travelers. Anyways, we were all ready & left by 7am.

First in the list was horanadu, annapurneshwari temple. Horanadu, it seems, means town of bulls. I couldn't find one though.

Being a temple of a goddess, male devotees are supposed to remove shirt & banian before entering the temple. Being new to this, I removed mine in the bus itself and walked around half naked in the chilling rain, holding an umbrella and wearing blue jeans!

Almost everyone else removed their shirt & banian just before entering the temple & wore back on after coming out. I didn't feel like the smartest, but didn't mind. Just went ahead.

Had the free breakfast. Went back to the bus which was now parked a few hundreds of meters away from the entrance. It meant I'd have to walk barefoot all the way on the road. It was prickly but didn't feel as bad as I'd imagined it could be.

Restored my dignity by covering my top half of the body. Took some pics and back in the bus.

I was bored already. The mp3 player battery seemed to have lost all its charge. Looks like I hadn't switched it off properly. I'd nothing to do but look around. People sitting around me weren't interested in me, neither was I in them. There were kids around, which meant lots of cacophony!

I just immersed myself into taking pics, looking outside the window. It was raining all day. Very wet and dull weather. Perfect to stay at home, cuddled in a blanket. But this was a tour, conscious decision.

I was a stranger in my own country! Everyone else seemed weird to me. They just didn't care about the surroundings. It seemed like it was just me peering out the window all the time.

On the seat before me was a 6-7 year old kid named vaishnavi. In the rows to my right, they had a 2-3 year old kid named pugal (pronounced as "poo-gull"; yes, sounds strange). Both noisy brats! I was missing my mp3 player badly.

Next temple was kalasekhara temple. Nothing much there. Though the guide mentioned we needn't take off our shirt/banian, the guard outside the temple gate forced us to take off the the shirt/banian. Came out, took some pics again.

When in bus, waiting for other tourists to board, the guide came to me and had a short conversation. He'd first assumed I was a north-indian. He expressed his surprise that I was on a temple tour. I replied saying I'm not coming to visit any temples, but to go around western ghats before coming by bike. This is a trial to get a taste of how the roads are and what it's like. So far I've been quite impressed.

Next was sringeri. Reached by 1pm. Went around for a while, took some pics. Had the free lunch. Started to the next place around 2pm.

Next was kollur. 95 km. Having so many old people and kids on board meant frequent nature calls. After a few hours, he was stopping almost every 15pm mins. So finally at around 6 pm, took a half-hour break and also allowed tea/coffee. Probably a good thing because there weren't any more stops after that until we reached kollur.

Kollur is in a thick forest. Some of the common animals, as told by the guide, were king cobra, bison, etc. I couldn't spot any of them - it was well past 7 pm by the time we reached. It was dark too.

Just had enough time to visit the temple & have the free dinner!

Unfortunately for me, the free food served by these temples didn't seem nutritious enough. So had a large chocolate bar that I'd brought along, just perfect for these situations!

Started writing this blog after reaching the room, it's been 2-3 hours, I think. I've written all this using my phone, SGS2. So excuse any typos/errors!

Another 2 days to go. Let's see how it goes. First place tomorrow is on a beach. Got to be in the bus by 5.30am. Means bye-bye folks!

Continued here.