Monday, October 22, 2012

Intelligent people of Mandya

We pass through Mandya on the way to Mysore. Now Mandya happens to be the largest town on the way to Mysore. It's claim to fame is sugarcane produce and so rich sugar lobby people.

While you cross Mandya, there is this 5 km stretch which goes through the city - SH17. This place has put around 4 signals on the road. Each of the signals is above 150 secs. So one, you keep waiting and then 1 signal is next to bus stand. So irrespective of state of signal, bus drivers feel they have the born right of way and so keep pushing their buses in the middle. This just makes the signal stop of 150 secs even worse. As some times when signal is on, buses are all blocking the way and you can't go.

May be its worth investing all that money you earn in some intelligence and planning, people of Mandya.



Sunday, October 21, 2012

Vivanta by Taj @ Madikeri, Coorg

So we left from bamgalore around 2 pm. And realized that of all the times we have driven to Mysore from Bangalore, which is quite a few in past 2 years we have been in Bangalore, this time is the best time to leave from Bangalore to Mysore. May be rains on the way played a part because the roads were pretty clear.

We reached Mysore in 3.5 hours. Which is a record till now. We stayed at Brindavan gardens. Nice place to stay for a night. The Queen bed room is small. But serves the purpose for a night. It has good views of the garden. So all in all, good place.
Next day left for Coorg. The roads are surprisingly good. Four lane till Hassan and then two lane. But well built, no potholes. It still took us around 3 hours to cover around 95 km because of ghats.
At the Taj, they sprinkled holy Kaveri river water and opened the gates to a grand opening. It's a high lobby on top of a mountain. Nothing marking the boundary so gives a feeling of infinite stage extending till horizon. Extremely beautiful. If you don't see it, you are missing something in life. It's a work of art. They have made this 7 storey building to have the large infinite deck. The temperature controlled infinite pool underneath and entertainment /activity area. All in all pretty good.

The cottages are huge. I mean huge. The cottage we stayed in was bigger than our Mumbai house. One living room with fireplace. One large, and I mean large bedroom area. Then 2-3 steps down to study and viewing deck. Large windows overlooking the valley. Huge bath area, wardrobes, walk in closets and what not. It was pretty good.

Issues, no issues? Well, not really. There were issues. The restaurant processes were not figured out. The food was exorbitantly priced. There used to be a good half an hour of delay once you order the meal. So eat and then go to restaurant so that you can wait there for the food to arrive. Options were limited and they were not sure what to do if you need customization. Any, even the smallest of customization.

We witnessed the first ever buffet served during dinner in the hotel on 20th Oct. Was served an hour late from the time it should have started.

The place is new. Soft launch happened on 15th oct. Fully functional by 15th dec they say.

The place is nice. Coorg is about coffee plantations. And this place is about rain forest. The resort is on 250 acre of land. Mountains, valleys and ponds. All in the resort. Belongs to a private investor and Taj has leased it I think. 6 acres has cottages and pathways and all the stuff. Rest is jungle. Nature trails, cycling trails and what not.

It's a mixed bag review only because we have seen very high standard of service from Taj before. This still has to cover a lot of ground before it reaches say Holiday village in Goa. Or Coonoor Taj.

Overall. Extremely beautiful place. Very relaxing. Very pricy in everything. Needs improvement in service quality in restaurant. I think I will visit again. May be after Dec 2012 once it's fully launched.

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Some life...

Was watching rains this morning and thinking of mountains.

If I could, would just go to mountains. Somewhere in himachal or Kashmir. Build a hut near a small mountain river.
May be just open a tea stall next to river on the side of a road. Serve hot tea with buns. Drink lots of tea. :).

Talk to people of the village. Read local news-papers. Sit on bench next to the tea stall.
Keep looking at river flowing by and mountains. Read lots of books in the night. Go on walk in mountains and forests in morning and evening.

That would be some life. :).

It's beautiful today

It's very rainy and very wet. The road to Arjun's school is quite scenic. Lots is grasslands, fields and trees.

It's fantastic when it rains in the fields. I can just stand there and keep watching the rain in fields.

I have always believed that water has a property which drains all tiredness, sorrows and what not. I still remember, in Mumbai, in struggling days desperately trying to get a better job, I used to go and sit at Marine lines looking at the sea. And in like an hour or so, I used to feel refreshed and ready to try again.

It's beautiful when it rains on the sea also. And I am missing Mumbai again. For the rains, for the sea.

Don't feel like going to office today. Feel like getting wet in rains, sit in puddles and splash water. Just like older days. Wilder days :).

I like rains. It changes the perspective of how you see a place. It's beautiful and it makes even the traffic stuck roads look great.

I never had issues puddles on road. And the drain pipes. So many times have I just stood under a drain pipe splashing water full force.

I like everything about the rains. The good, the bad and I think both good and bad is great.

In my scheme of things, rains is as spiritual as mountains. Nothing else even comes close. Except of course when it rains in mountains. It's amazing then. And it's the most beautiful sight in the world.
Superlative in every sense.

Here's to the rains. :)

Sunday, October 07, 2012

Mumbai

Nitya and I were talking about this yesterday. There are times I still miss Mumbai so much. May be just for the heck of it.
It's difficult to get the city our of your system. I still will put my money on Mumbai long term than Bangalore.