Backwaters of Kerala

November 6th, 2007

Two weekends ago we went house boating in the Backwaters of Kerala. The views of the canal, exotic palm tress, watching people go about their daily life, the fresh air and eating big prawns was a good experience. The houseboat itself had a lot of entertainment (except cable TV obviously). The two rooms had AC too for a comfortable sleep.

On the way back we stopped off at Cochin. We went to the Jew Town area where there was a Synagogue and European looking cobble stoned roads. In the past the area has been occupied by the Portuguese, Dutch and British. We had lunch at a French restaurant. I ate a something ‘de Normandy’ … all I remember was that the sauce had a thick mushroom flavour, very French and delicious!

Photographs courtesy of Peter.

The type of boat we were on
The type of boat we were on

The living room
The living room

Enjoying the breeze
Me enjoying the breeze

Palm trees galore
Palm trees galore

Pete & Jeetandra
Pete & Jeetandra

Big prawns
The prawns we ate for dinner

Our captain
Our captain

Arrr, matey! What’s that over there?
Arrr, matey! What’s that over there?

A view going down a canal
A view going down a canal

Jew Town
Jew Town

Food Court Disco

November 6th, 2007

Every fortnight or so a disco is set up at one of the food courts during the middle of the week. Video courtesy of Jason.

Dasara Parade

November 6th, 2007

Three weekends ago a bunch of us went to the yearly Dasara parade which was held at the centre of Mysore. The procession started at Mysore Palace. The parade itself had some elephants and a lot of dances as expected. We couldn’t work out the meaning behind some of the performances, but they were energetic and colorful. The entire vicinity was completely packed. There were many people climbing metal frames, trees and just about anything that was climbable! However, I would recommend being very careful at such an event. It is pretty dangerous if you get caught up at the wrong place at the wrong time. I definitely learnt my lesson in the need to avoid crowded areas, and predicting where those crowds might occur.

The view
Bit of a shame the fence
was obstructing the view

Brave spectators
Some brave spectators

Elephants marching along
Elephants marching along

Packed seating area
The packed seating area

BBC Interview

October 22nd, 2007

Our batch member and sharp minded Marco got interviewed by the BBC. The clip contains many of the UK batch working hard in class and playing table tennis afterwards. I’m in the clip at 1 min 32 sec climbing the steps to the GEC with Marco.

Ayudha puja

October 22nd, 2007

As part of the Dasara festivals, a day is taken to see the spiritual side in daily tools by worshiping them. This includes tools used in trade such as computers and vehicles. Cars on the road were seen with flowers decorated over them. At work, there was an image created with coloured sand/powder of a certain goddess related to this ritual. On the day of this celebration a box of Indian sweets was given to all trainees at work too.

 Ayudha puja
Decoratitions marking
Ayudha puja at work

Sonu Niigam

October 22nd, 2007

A week ago there was a 10 day Dasara festival here in Mysore. There was a buzz in the city centre. There were projected screens at busy roads and a lot of events going on in the evenings.

Last Wednesday we ventured into town to observe about 45,000 people at a free concert. Sonu Niigam is one of India’s most famous singers, and he was definitely entertaining the crowd. I thought he was the James Blunt of India: popular, pop, tall, handsome and with bags of charisma. Before his act there were these more traditional Indian dancing which included some of the dancers *warning* this will make you cringe *warning* bent their backs, grabbed their feet and then rolled over! They also constructed some impressive human pyramids.

Sonu Nigam performing on stage
Sonu Niigam performing on stage

Zooming in on Sonu Niigam
Zooming in on Sonu Niigam

Daud Run

October 22nd, 2007

There was a fun run last Tuesday inside the campus to raise money for the poor in India. About 1,000 employees at the campus took part. There were two competitive men and women races and a general fun run for everyone else. A friend who won the women’s race got some suprising attention at the grocery store the very next day. She won a nice iPod nano too. The Karnataka state cricket team also showed up, including a former bowler of the Indian national cricket team, Anil Kumble. I ran beside him for a few seconds just for kicks!

 Preparing for the fun run
Preparing for
the fun run

Famous cricketer
This cricketer drew
a lot of attention

Temples and Villages

October 22nd, 2007

Two weekends ago we went to several very old sites. At Belur and Halebid there were intricate decorative sculptures from some of the ‘most artistically exuberant periods of the Hindu cultural development’. At Sravanabelagola there where 614 steps which led up to a 17.5 metre statue of a Jain deity.

Sculptures at Belur
Sculptures at Belur

Inside a temple at Belur 
Inside a temple at Belur

Sculptures at Halebid
Sculptures at Halebid

Outside a Halebid temple
Outside a Halebid temple

Climbing up the hill at Sravanabelagola
Climbing up the hill at Sravanabelagola

Also, Jason and Andrew made friends with a welcoming and hospitable local farmer called Shwamee. It was an interesting experience to gain an insight into the life of a farmer. We met Shwamee’s family, had dinner with them and Jason bought some macaroni and cheese as well as lots of American candy and chocolate which the children really enjoyed. For living in a small hut it was spotlessly clean. They liked our music gadgets. The family only spoke Kannada and did not speak a word of English or Hindi (apart from a very few words like ‘rice’) so we had to play charades most of the time to communicate. Shwamee also showed us around his farm:

Shwamee’s rice field
Shwamee’s rice fields

Shwamee’s sugar canes
Shwamee’s sugar canes

More rice fields
Another rice field with Prakesh,
Andrew & Jason

We came back midday and I went to class again to finish off some work. After that I got to ride Andrew’s new sporty TVS Apache motorbike! It has a digital speedometer and the 160cc engine has a nice crunchy sound to it. I’m now riding Andrew’s scooter that he was renting.

Day trip to Coorg

October 10th, 2007

Last weekend we went to Coorg, about 2 hours drive from campus. We drove through bumpy roads most of the way there. Our first stop was at a Tibetan monastery to see the golden temples.

Golden Temple
Three of the largest statues
at the monastery

 Monks
There were many
monks around

 Temples
About fifty young boys were praying sincerely
to the beat of drums inside the right temple

We then went to see Abbey falls. It was moderately pretty.

Abbey Falls
Abbey Falls

There were some nice views from the high altitude of the location.

On the road from Abbeyfalls to Madikeri
A misty view on the route from
Abbey falls to Madikeri

Raja’s Seat
A view from the Raja’s Seat

Our last stop was at a bamboo forest. It was quite empty but there was a suspended bridge that swayed (if everyone together bounced on it hard enough), some tree houses, rabbits, dears and elephants. Antony managed to spot a small scorpion too!

Bridge
The suspended bridge
into the forrest

Scoprion
A scorpion

Park Lane Hotel, 2

October 10th, 2007