Thursday, August 26, 2010

Nelliampathy

This is a blog post on a place I have been to recently. I am very sure that not many of the readers would have heard of this place. 

Well, Nelliampathy is a hill station near Palakkad (2 hr journey from palakkad). I have been to most of the hill stations on South India, but none has impressed me as much as this. The primary reason for this should be the fact that not many people know of this place. The very journey to this Hill station is an awesome experience. Even at 2 in the afternoon there is hardly 5m visibility.

Fully snow filled tea plantations

Enroute Nelliampathy there is Pothundy dam, which is famous for the fact that it is the second largest Earthen dam in Asia. In front of Pothundy dam, you get excellent tea from a 'tattu kada' :) All along the upward climb there are small streams of waterfalls with crystal clear water. There are extensive teak plantations all along and once you reach Nelliampathy there is tea and coffee plantations. The highlight of the journey was the awesome scene that nature presented as Kesavanpara, when the snow and clouds moved away in front of my eyes to give a breath taking scenery. Other places to visit are Sitarkundu and Karapara.

Nelliampathy hills as seen from Pothundy dam

                 The dampener however is the poor mobile range available :P Anyone planning to go there do have a BSNL mobile connection . One thing I can guarantee you will never be disappointed :)

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Epic IV story - Part 1

I am starting of on the narration of one epic awesome journey I had been on this past week. It was supposed to be "Industrial Visit" which turned out to be more than just a TOUR!!!!!
                               The journey started off on 30th July after lots of desperate negotiations and major HR deliberations. As always the starting time got delayed - by just 3 hours :P . First up we were to go to COORG (more on coorg episode in the next part of IV story). Though everyone was high on 'enthu', first day 'blues' was clearly evident. Things began to change however with "Punjabi House" film screening..... chalus began coming, goals galore to boost :) This however lead to a sleepless-night :( Was eating away the time with 50-50, Good day and other miscellaneous items. Once the ghat section began and first rays of Sun came , nature presented itself in all its beauty.
                                The delayed start however proved quite costly since we missed the deadline for reaching Coorg by morning and ended up renting room at Manathavadi(Wayanad) and reaching Coorg only by the afternoon. The rest of the story will be continued in subsequent blog posts (donno how many i will take though :P)

Monday, August 9, 2010

A time line of Iyer life

I got this as an e-mail and couldn't resist posting it since it was so realistic. All other Iyer's would have a similar opinion too, i suppose :)

Age: 6 Months
All these mamas and maamis have come here...
For a grand welcome of their new born fellow Iyer...
And my parents will feed food to me with a ring...
And give me a name long enough for you to sing...
(Krishnamoorthy Venkataraghava Krishna Doraiswamy,
But will simply call me Dorai!)

Age: 10 years Topping my class is an inborn talent I possess
(We are an exception)
Teachers & relatives, whom I never fail to impress
Daily dosage of idli, dosai, sambar, rice and curd
Who on earth do you think will not turn into a nerd(hehe)

Age: 22 Yrs(Just after graduation.. . Preferably Electronics Engineering)
Yipeee Yipeee Yipeee... I completed my BE in IIT...
Also got a call from Infy...Ya right...Narayana Murthy...
( Proud fellow...Southie ! )
Up & Away to Bangalore by the next morning flight...
And then someday to USA...Yay Yay Yay...Onsite. ..
(You are right... Rhyming no?!)

Age: 26 Years(Single status in USA)
It has been four long years since I have come here...
And not a single girl who is ready to come near...
Here in United States I thought I'd get laid...
Down came crashing, the dreams that I'd made...

Age: 30 Years
(8 yrs Onsite, somewhere in USA)
I miss my sambhar rice and the tasty thair saadam(curd rice)
Will speak to amma to find me a homely madam...
Will leave for Thirunelveli on a 30 day leave...
And come back with a maami right up my sleeve...


Age: 45 Years(Still onsite, we think)
I have two kids, but there is a gripping fear...
Both of them have no signs of being an Iyer...
Krishnaswamy & Sreemahalakshmi I named them fondly...
But Chris & Sally I call them if I want them to even reply...

Age: 60 Years(retire hogaya baap)
I am back to Thirunelveli with my ever faithful wife...
But my kids stayed there and think I don't have a life...
Tirupati, Guruvayoor, Shabarimala all we've been to...
Sun TV is our faithful friend which we always turn to...


Age: 75 years
(Now everything seems impossible)
Ayyayyo, what happened to all my dreams?
They have all simply turned into screams.
Children have already married and divorced thrice,
Playing with our grandchildren would've been nice.
Left with us are only aches and pains,
Life is full of only losses, with no gains.
Are we going to be the last of the brilliant Iyer generation?
To our children, tradition and culture are only a botheration!


From a Tamil Brahmin Iyer