The Ooty Diaries - Toda Temple

It wasn't very cold in Ooty and we got going to the Botanical Gardens through which you climb up to the top and find the Toda temple. 

Toda temple - cannot enter without the priest

Toda temple

We parked outside the Botanical Gardens and went in. It's lush green, filled with beautiful trees, flowers, quaint buildings of the European era, glass houses and so on. We followed the signs that said Toda mund and walked up and up and up. 

Glass House

Botanical Garden

The Botanical Gardens creeps up the hill and is at many levels. At the first level we passed and entry to the Raj Bhavan with not a guard in sight.

Raj Bhavan

Climbed higher until we reached an exit gate, walked right on the path until we found another sign and then stepped into a Toda area where they now have a stall that sells their produce. A little ahead was the temple. 

Some Todas who were sitting there guided us and told us to see from the outside and not go inside. The temple was a fascinating structure with a low door, many signs and symbols etc. There were a few buffaloes around - an animal that's sacred to the Todas.

World's Largest Camera

We climbed back down, admiring the landscape, stopped at the glass houses, and made our way back. Breakfast at the hotel and then I set off for a walk towards the Ooty lake while Abhi got down to some work.

3D Art

 It was a nice walk with the scent of eucalyptus trees. On the way back i stopped at this place called Thunder World which had a museum of antique cameras. And some other stuff. 

Infiniti booth

St. Stephen's Church

We checked out and set off to the Rose garden. But then we decided against and turned towards Mysore.

Lovely ride back through Madhumalai

The drive was beautiful again and we had Pink Floyd playing from Division Bell, an album i listened to a lot when i travelled from Mumbai to Pune in the 90s. At some point we hit Gudalur, stopped by to see an amazing house, and then headed out to Mysore.

Another beautiful drive through the Madhumalai forests where we saw some deer flocking around. A peaceful drive into Mysore, stop at Sapa cafe where we got some lunch and met Abhishek's friends Nidhi and Shreyas. Post lunch we went for a walk at the Kakkurahalle lake, a nice 5 km walk that ended with a beautiful sunset. Shreyas told me that the lake was infested with crocodiles.

Sunset at Mysore

From there to their house for a cup of coffee and we set off at 8 pm to Bangalore. Back home after a spot of dinner at 1230.

Lovely two days. 

Ooty Diaries - Bangalore to Ooty

A few years ago I saw this coffee table book that was on sale in a book store called 'Landmark'. Those were the days when there were these places called bookstores. Anyway the book was about '100 Wonders in India' and I read it and have since been trying to improve my numbers in this senseless game of visiting as many of these wonders - senseless because who knows who will come up with a different number next time. But on the plus side, ever since I got that idea in my head I knocked off quite a few - many of which I passed by in the past. 

 

Anyway one thing that stayed in my mind was a tribal community called Toda near Ooty. Since I was heading to Bangalore to listen to my old (like in old) pals Def Leppard, I fantasised about taking a slow bus to Mysore, meet my friend Dr Tenzin, then go further down to Ooty, check out the Toda settlelment, take another bus to Palghat and meet Hari for a beer and finally take a 3 hour bus ride to Kochi to meet Tharian and force him to have a beer if he's not in the mood for it which he isn't sometimes. Since they are in the realm of fantasies, I can safely plan anything.

Luckily my nephew Abhi was all game to join me on this trip and we decided to drive to Ooty in his car and consequently I cut off the second half of the trip. We set off nice and early, enjoying traffic free roads in Bangalore till the time we exited and chugged along smoothly on the Mysore road. Good conversation kept flowing, Abhi handling both driving and conversation, and we hit Mysore at about 11. 

First on agenda was to meet my old (young) pal Tenzin, now a Tibetan doctor, who runs his own clinic. Tenzin showed us his clinic which looks spick and span. He told me he was the doctor, therapist, receptionist, pharmacist and cashier. He looks good and tells me that his patient's are picking up,took us to a breakfast joint where we ate some fabulous dosas and headed out.

Now to get to Ooty we must cross the Madhumalai tiger reserve and frequent signs of 'we are not responsible for attacks by wild animals' popped up. Anyway it was a beautiful ride through the forest.

 We passed through this long, long town called Gudalur which is at the foothills of Ooty and on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, just after the Madhumalai reserve ends. And then we turned into the hills - some lovely tall trees centuries old perhaps, green tea gardens, deep valleys - until we found the Pykara falls which is where everyone says the jeep safari guys were.

Anyway, we walked to the way to the falls and found that it was a 350 mt walk to the falls from the main road. Most people did not do the walk and instead waited for the battery operated buggy. Not us. We walked, the air cool even at 130 pm, went down several steps to the waterfall which is a gentle, sloping one, maybe better during rains, walked up, stopped for a bite, a drink, got info from Mahesh shopkeeper where to find the Toda mund and went. He was very discouraging about the jeep safaris.

Anyway we went as directed to the film shooting hill which requires a ticket for you to climb up the hill where film shootings take place, enjoyed the view, spotted on Toda hut down below and went down to it. We headed out after taking a few pics, admiring the blue mountains in the background. 

Onwards to Ooty where we reached in the evening times after a couple of stops and checked into hotel. We stepped out to eat a snack, went back, found this lovely church of St Thomas right next to the hotel which had war graves. The church was from 1857s I think.

 

We rested after a light dinner, having decided that the Toda temple behind the Botanical garden should be our place of visit tomorrow. Lovely drive, interesting journey, great music. Abhi played a group called Leisure which sounded good to me. I should explore that a bit.

Miranda Days - DU Beat and The Geography of Grief

A's article for DU Beat - The Geography of Grief

And Another Concert of an Old Favourite - Def Leppard

I gave some kind of an intro to my history with Def Leppard which goes back some 40 years in my earlier blog. The concert was at NICE grounds which is at the other end of the city - a good two hour drive or a 90 minute Metro ride. 

My three nephews Abhi, Shrinjay and Shashank decided we'll drive and it took us exactly 2 hours 7 minutes to hit the parking lot at NICE. Parking was organised enough and we quickly entered our designated Gold space and found some place to stand and sway.

Thermal and a Quarter was opening for Def Leppard - the group so named because it has three Malayalis and one quarter Malayali - and it was celebrating its thirty years in existence. I loved their numbers, their political statements, and their energy. The nephews made visits to get food and drinks.

A half hour break during which it threatened to rain and then the 1977  band from Sheffield in England - 'Def Leppard' came on stage. An ageing Joe Elliot, Rick Savage, the ever smiling Rick Allen, and others came on and sang. Some of the numbers went by without me knowing them but the ones i knew we had fun singing along etc. 

'Animal', 'Foolin', 'Rocket', 'Love Bites', ''Armageddon It', 'Rock of Ages', 'Two Steps Behind' came along with some songs I was not too familiar with and ended with 'Hysteria' and finally 'Pour Some Sugar On Me'. They played visuals of the group playing in their younger days and they looked so young and so good. But you got to hand it over to them - to still come and sing to an audience that they are only connected through music work all their heart and soul.

The crowd was elderly, people trying to relive their memories like me. a smattering of slightly younger lot who had perhaps heard these numbers and very few teenager types. Families came, old friends gangs (one raucous old gang of men, college gang perhaps, in front of us raising hell), people swayed, danced, women dresses in hippie like 60s fashions and not the clothes of today's turn. No singular magic moment, but lots of good memories. It was too loud and I could not hear myself at all. I borrowed ear buds from the ever resourceful Abhi and tried to limit the damage to my poor ears.

Overall I was glad I went. I enjoyed listening to all the old hits. Then we headed out even as the band played 'Pour Some Sugar on Me'. The return journey took two hours again.

Def Leppard in Bengaluru

There was this time during college days in the mid 80s that I took a liking to this group called Def Leopard. I enjoyed listening to Hysteria and then bought Pyromania. Hysteria always made my slow rock playlists and was one for those long drives. 

So when Abhi, my nephew, called from Bangalore to say that Def Leppard was playing, i jumped at the opportunity. So here I'm, going to the concert with my nephews Shrinjay and Shashank and Abhishek.

Who would i have thought I'd be listening to them live one day. Of course my friend George wasn't so kind - help them in to the stage - he said. 

Looking forward.

Flowers of Delhi

Delhi has these beautiful gardens and flowers, wide open spaces, many parks, all of them aesthetically landscaped and well maintained. 

Just a sample. 

Laughter Channel - Krishna at it Again

One more gem from Krishna that had me laughing out loud. Thank you Krishna.

Indians are the ultimate experts on appearance. They are these ultra-sophisticated, precision- tuned, super-sensitive instruments built to detect the tiniest change in your exterior from twenty paces, and bring it to your notice, unsolicited, at the first available opportunity. At parties, banks, restrooms, potti kadais and funerals (sometimes your own), the average Indian’s appearance-analysis antenna is always working, twitching to pick up perceived changes in compatriots, and transfer info thereof to his filter-free mouth to be disseminated to the drive-by victim with no time-lag whatsoever. They range from: You seem to have put on weight. You seem to have lost weight. You seem to have regained your lost weight. You seem to have lost your regained weight. to You have gained colour. You have lost colour. (I have never known which of these is complimentary. Because ‘white’ is the preferred colour, as we know. But does one get ‘whiter’ by gaining colour or losing colour? Because, white, technically, is the absence of colour.) You seem to have lost some hair (to men). You seem to have gained some hair (to women). You seem to have aged (to someone they haven’t seen for twenty-eight years). I have a list of these guys. They are all repeat offenders. Here are responses you can expect from me if I catch any of you saying anything about anyone’s appearance in my presence: Your loins seem to have sagged a bit. Why didn’t you bring your chin along today? You look so much like your father when he was being cremated. You seem to be wearing your dandruff a little differently these days. So cool of you to go bra-less, man. Your paunch seems to have a double-chin. Nice to see you’ve extended your bald patch evenly over your head. Your mouth smells different. I like that whole asymmetrical-butt-cheeks thing you’ve got going. Are you wearing those trousers ironically? Your wedgie seems to have deepened since I last saw you. Can you move your nose a bit so I can see your face? (From the archives)

Laughter Channel - Things by Krishna

Realised I needed a place where I can collect stuff that made me laugh out loud after reading Krishna's post on 'Things'. Krishna Shastri Devulapalli is one of my favourite funny writers who always makes me laugh so I'll post his stuff generously here along with other funny stuff. 

This one is from Krishna's archives. 

...

Krishna Shastri Devulapalli on fb

‎....

‘The God of Small Things’, ‘Things to Leave

Behind’, ‘Not Only The Things That Have

Happened', 'Things We Lost In The Fire', 'The

Book of Everlasting Things' ... hmmm?

I think I have stumbled on the formula for

instant literary recognition.

My book has to have 'Things' in the title,

dammit.

Conducting a poll here on what my next book

should be called if it has to win an award.

And as per NCERT guidelines, obviously, it will

be poignant, lyrically told in achingly beautiful

prose, and will deal with loss and redemption.

Things I Need To Take for the Things On My

Behind

Things I Didn't Say For Fear of Getting Kicked In My Things

The Things That Happen When I Take Those

Small Blue Things

Go, Get That ... This Thing, No?

Not Only This Thing But That Other Thing Also

Things I Said When I Thought You Weren't

Listening

The Very Things To Avoid When Things are Thinging

Thinging In The Rain

When The Small Thing Doesn't Become A Big Thing

The Things We Say When That Big Thing Is Pointed At Our Behind Thing

A Thing of Beauty Is An AI Thing

Things I Did With My Thing and That Other Thing

The Things I Pretend Happened While At Lit Fest Things

The This Thing Of The That Thing

Things To Remember While Mookuthing

And my Telugu masterpiece -- Thingari

Sachchinodi Panikirani Things

(From the archives)

...

Made me laugh each time. Krishnaaaaaa, brilliant.

Death in Summer - William Trevor

Vinod gave 'The Love Department' which i loved so I checked on William Trevor and found that this book was among his finest. And Vinod bhai had it so I borrowed it. It's a beautiful read.

The book starts with the death of Letitia, wife of Thaddeus, in a bike accident, leaving behind an infant child. The husband and his mother in law, look around for nannies and several apply, none being suitable. However one of the nannies, Pettie, who is a wild one owing to her abuse in her childhood in a home for the homeless, takes a fancy to Thaddeus and imagines herself taking care of him and his infant. She is assisted in her endeavours by one of the boys who was also in the home, Albert, who keeps an eye on her and tries to keep her out of trouble, kind hearted as he is.

Thaddeus does not love Letitia. However he has inherited a huge estate and spends his time living off the produce of the estate until rich and generous Letitia marries him. So generous is she that when she finds a letter written to her husband by an old lover, Mrs ferry, of his seeking financial help for her medial condition, she offers her money. Mrs Ferry however dies despite the help Thaddeus provides.

Pettie, in her obsession for Thaddeus's love, decides to take away the object of his affection, the infant child and kidnaps her. She is seen by a couple of kids, panics, leaves the child in the ruins of the home of homeless where she grew and disappears. The police arrive, investigate, and soon, Albert arrives with the baby, saying that he got a note about its whereabouts. Pettie dies too, somehow ends up in the rubble of the home, which is demolished. Albert tries to tell the Thaddeus family that Pettie did not mean to harm anyone and all she was looking for was love. To meet her love Thaddeus, she spends all her fare, by travelling twice to their residence.

It's tragic in so many ways and one feels for Pettie and Albert as much as one feels for Thaddeus and Letitia and Mrs Ferry. William Trevor fills in so many details that you get lost in the world while he slips in a dramatic twist - much like life does. Fabulous writing, lovely characters, unforgettable story.       

Acts of Love - Moments at Sunrise

Shared moments at Hussain Sagar at sunrise. Acts of Love. And stories that lie underneath. 

Two friends sharing a special moment

And hope arises with the new day. 

A young couple - a memorable moment shared 
 

Two friends again - looking into the future and what it holds for them

Will they come back here again after ten years or twenty? It would be nice if they would.

Two friends the girls - and a stranger helping

The two girls are friend and they caught hold of this boy to take their pictures or videos and he did it with complete commitment. And once again one wants them to retain the same love for each other, after twenty years or more.

Boy waiting for the sunrise 

 Alone. And the dog jumps in for company. But he is a disciplined kid who was doing push ups and other exercises, who has the will to get up and watch the sunrise alone by himself. He will do well.  

 

There's autumn where life sheds the past. And there's greenery and new leaves, giving hope and promising the new. The cycle continues - we rise and fall, we fall and rise. And death awaits all. Until then, breathe and enjoy the life the good God's given. It's a beautiful life full of sunrises, friends, lovers, helpful strangers, friendly dogs, fallen leaves, new leaves, clouds, breeze. Ah, breathe in the love!
 

Lovely.

Hyderabad by Walk - Darul-Shifa to Mir Alam Mandi

Tanya announced a heritage walk from Dar-ul-Shifa to Mir Alam Mandi, with focus on the City Planning from Qutb Shahi era to the Nizam era. My usual walk partners were busy so I went alone.

Aza Khana-e-Zehra Ashurkhana (1930)

The old Municipal Office (MCH) now slowly fading away into history

The walk would begin at Aza Khana -E- Zehra, an Ashurkhana of great beauty with high ceilings and beautiful interiors (built by the VIIth Nizam in 1930 in memory of his beloved mother Zehra to whom he was very attached), onwards to Darul Shifa, the Ashurkhana in Darul Shifa, to the Jillukhana darwaza of Purani Haveli, to Munshi Naan, to Inayat Jung deodi, to this chai joint, to Mir Alam Mandi.

Darul Shifa entrance - us entering

Abbas Union FC

Ok, let me begin at the beginning. The walk was scheduled early at 730 which suited me fine because it is easy to drive at that time with no traffic, easy to park in that part of town, and its not too hot and we wind up in time for breakfast. Anyway we met at Aza Khana e Zehra - Sushil, Sahil, Razzak were waiting. I parked in the gully next to the Ashurkhana and sent up a prayer that no traffic cops would be on the prowl at the early hour. Tanya joined us with Kaushal, her genial friend from Haldwani, and soon we got everyone in, some 10 of us, and got going. As always Tanya shared well designed post cards with pictures and a lot of information packed into them about the places we were visiting (with maps of that era).

Symbols on the walls of Darul Shifa

The Thinking Man Made of Scrap - Creativity is possible anyplace, anywhere

The Aza Khana-e-Zehra was shut due to the early hour but that did not stop us from admiring it from the outside - its right next to Salar Jung Museum. In the inside are high ceilings, a huge prayer hall with lovely windows, jaalis, carpets and other beautiful stuff which I saw in another walk. Across the road was the Municipal Office which was spread over 6000 sq mtrs now on the way to oblivion as it gives up its life for the Metro Line. its a very interesting structure - rather European and quite quaint. I always used to wonder what this building was and thanks to Tanya, the mystery is unravelled. She also said it used to sell railway tickets at one corner. The MCH moved out in 1986 to its new office near Tank Bund.

An old building now a PHC

Munshi Naans basking in the sunlight

A little further on the right was the Darul Shifa, or House of Healing, a Qutb Shahi era hospital or rather, house of healing built in 1595 CE during the reign of Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah (the founder of Hyderabad), which no longer serves the purpose. In its heyday it apparently was the place where medicine men from all over the world would come to treat patients who were treated free of charge. However its premises hosts a few lovely Ashurkhanas which I saw before so didn't venture into. One of the Ashurkhanas has the Sartauq Alam, a steel standard on which is fixed a piece of the fetters of the fourth Imam of Shia Musalims, Hazat Zainul Abideen. As Ashurkhanas are places of mourning and worship for Shias, one could see posters condemning the death of Iranian leader Ayotollah Khameini. Inside we checked some of the old signs and designs on the Qutb Shahi buildings. Quite interesting.

The Jillukhana Entrance of the Purani Haveli

The ground in front of Darul Shifa is the home ground of the oldest football club in Hyderabad, Abbas Union FC, which is coached by former player and Dhyan Chand awardee Mr Shabbir Ali. I heard that the ground will soon turn into a Metro Station making play grounds even rarer and distant for young kids. How many prospective footballers' destinies would change with that one decision is food for thought. 

Nawab Inayat Jung Deodi

Onwards towards the chowk where Munshi Naan used to be but has since shifted since it was bang in the Metro Line. We stopped at an old office of some sort which has now been converted into a PHC or the Ayush variety. A short walk and we found Munshi Naan - they were busy making fresh naans and we all got a few and ate some pieces of that delicious bread Tanya ordered for us. A customer who had just picked up some naan told us some nice things about Munshi Naan and went on his way. Nothing better than a customer referral.

Approach to the Mir Alam Mandi

Mahankaleshwara temple

Our next stop was at the yellow gate of the Jillukhana of the Purani Haveli which is where the decked up elephant comes on Muharram days and gets garlanded by the Kotwal of the city to this day. It is an impressive gate which we missed during several walks. The road opposite the gate leads directly to Chatta Kaman which is an over bridge that the Salar Jungs used to cross over to the gardens and guest house area closer to the Musi river. And if you go further, Hotel Nayaab, Madina, Shadab and Pathergatti. Now to give us a perspective of how large the Diwan Deodi was - the main gate of the Diwan Deodi starts from near Hotel Madina and spreads across to the entire area that includes the Salar Jung Museum which was where the famous Lakkad Kot of the Salar Jungs was located. Tanya said there was a stepwell and a mosque of that era still in the Salar Jung Museum premises - should check that out. Gardens, an opulent Deodi that stretched right till the Mir Alam Mandi.

Mir Alam Mandi Kaman

Kaushal Admiring the Gate- Impressive

We walked a bit more, turned left and stopped at this place for chai and moved on, past the Inayat Jung Deodi which is quite prominent on the main road. Further down and we turned right into the Mir Alam Mandi road, walked past a huge temple, right up to the gate of the Mandi which was again, high enough for elephants to pass. Inside the gate is a busy 200 year old Mandi, one of the oldest and largest markets in Hyderabad, spread over 5 acres and hosting about 300 vendors, brought into existence by Mir Alam in 1804. The kaman itself is of great historical value and the pictures of the old kaman look very different from what it is now - the entire place is under restoration.

Mir Alam Mandi

The Kaman

Now, Mir Alam was the Prime Minister to the third Nizam Skiandar Jah (1804-1808) and it was he who began construction of the Salar Jung Deodi on the bank of the Musi. He was the great grandfather of Salar Jung I who served as Diwan when the sixth Nizam, Mahboob Ali Khan took the throne when he was a mere 6 year old and guided him through teh years of growing British dominance. The Salar Jung family gave five Prime Ministers or Diwans to the Nizams and naturally the Diwan Deodi was a seat of power. 

Map of the Diwan Deodi (courtesy Tanya)

Mir Alam lived in tumultous times with interesting contemporaries such as the mercurial Raja Chandu Lal, James Kirkpatrick (the white Mughal), Mah Laqa Bai Chanda etc. Mostly famous for leading Hyderabad's charge with the British East India Company against Tipu Sultan, a mission that ended successfully, he appears to have been instrumental in the construction of the mandi adjacent to his deodi. The Mir Alam tank which is seen as an architectural wonder of those years is named after him.

Entrance to an old Deodi - stories everywhere

Old man with his oranges

The walk ended there so I had to walk back to the car. Zubair was heading to Abids so I offered him a ride since I was going to Paradise. We walked back, took a detour to see the old Kotwal building, bought a couple of oranges from a really old seller who went through the practice of sorting oranges, picked the worst, and gave them to me, which I promptly gave off to another really old beggar at Paradise.  Me, I am just the medium. 

A group pic by Sushil

Good walk, full of good humour, energy and information and food and chai, well led by Tanya who is always full of good cheer, good information and enthusiasm. Interestingly this was an all men group, which was a first, and Tanya led the group with her customary ease and grace and thoughtfulness. Thanks Tanya.