Singing in the rain....

Ok, so it isn't raining that hard yet. But what the heck, at least it's rain!!Hope it becomes a little more regular in a few days...
My exams finished today...finally... and now I'm off on a South India trip.The program is very hectic as it is a study tour, but I'm still excited about it.
So, there won't be any new posts for 2 weeks at least.Amit , you got that??? :-)

I plan to write about it when I'm back and have some time.Till then, it's a break from blogspace.

Well well....

Your Birthdate: June 7

Born on the 7th day of month gives you a tendency to be something of a perfectionist and makes you more individualistic in many ways. Your mind is good at deep mental analysis and complicated reasoning. You are very psychic and sensitive, and you should usually follow your hunches. You may not take orders too well, so you may want to work alone or in a situation where you can be the boss. This birthday gives a tendency to be somewhat self-centered and a little stubborn.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Mahabalipuram - finally

As promised, the post about the Mahabalipuram trip.....The weather wasn't exactly perfect for a sightseeing trip, and we suffered mild heat exhaustion by the end of it, but it was worth the trouble.

Mahabalipuram or Mamallapuram as it is also called, is a tiny hamlet about an hour's drive from Chennai on the picturesque East Coast Road ( there isn't any West Coast Road, so I'm not sure why the "East" was necessary). It's a good route, but at points along the way there are reminders of the tsunami that struck last year. You see the destroyed huts of former fishing villages, and camps set up by various national and international aid agencies. We also passed some nice looking resorts, and a big water park kind of thing.

The temples and ruins of M’puram mostly date between 6th and 8th centuries AD. All local granite, some made into bas-reliefs and some into monolithic "caves". Arjuna’s Penance is the best and most famous of the friezes, and a very good specimen of the Pallava work. A large number of “Manadapams” are also scattered around it.

Then there are the 5 Rathas – each dedicated to one of the Pandava brothers. The first of the lot is quite crude and shows not much ornamentation, and you can clearly see the improvement in workmanship as we move to subsequent Rathas. Apparently work on these Rathas was stopped after the death of the king Narsinhvarman.

The pride of place belongs to the Shore Temple, a World Heritage Site. Apparently, it is the earliest known example of a stone temple in South India. It stands bang on the beach like a lonely sentinel, and makes a pretty picture. The interesting thing is, the entire temple wasn’t made at the same time. Apparently in the beginning there was just a small shrine with a monolithic reclining Vishnu and a large but somewhat crude Shivling (I’m still not sure which of the two came first). Later on the larger temple structure came up, along with a compound that contained water tanks etc and was surrounded by a wall on which sit several granite Nandis. Apparently the ships coming towards the port at that time used to set their courses by the temple. There’s a lighthouse not far from there as well.

It must have looked impressive from afar, standing guard on the shore of this former royal port. You can still sense some of that awe-inspiring quality, but unfortunately there’s been a lot of erosion of the stone by the salt-laden winds. We did see some restoration work going on, though. I would have loved to see the site where the other, apparently bigger temple has now been discovered after the tsunami. However it’s not open to visitors, as they’re still digging it up.

There are the usual hawkers pestering you with stuff you’ll never want to buy, and one man even followed us around for a while because he was convinced we needed a guide, but the harassment really is of the manageable kind. I’ve seen much, much worse in Agra…..

We ended the trip with a stop at Taj Fisherman’s Cove for lunch and some much needed liquid restoratives…Unfortunately we couldn’t make it to Dakshinachitra, which is less than a kilometer away from this resort. Apparently, typical wooden houses from all 4 southern states have been transported here and then re-assembled to create a beautiful multi-cultural South Indian crafts village. Well maybe next time…

I would recommend Mahabalipuram to anyone who’s visiting Chennai. In fact if one is driving to Pondicherry from Chennai, you can easily stop here for a couple of hours. Just remember to get a sun-hat, lots of sunscreen, and yeah, as much water as you can carry !!

Summer holiday...

I've just returned from short a trip to Chennai, visiting my sis who's working there. It was quite interesting, if you can overlook the fact that it was hot as the proverbial hell and humid to boot.

Chennai is a city of such contrasts, it's amazing. Some parts of it are so traditional, so conservative, and then there are areas which are so hip and modern that it's difficult to believe that this is the same city. Adyar, where my sis has a flat, is a very nice kind of place. The houses are usually just 1-2 storey high, and the roads are tree-lined and quiet. It reminded me of our place in Bangalore 10 years back.

We did some sightseeing, including the mandatory visit to Spencer Plaza which is the biggest mall in the city. Spent one early morning at Besant Nagar beach. It's smaller and not as famous as the Marina Beach, but it's also less crowded and therefore less dirty. But my favourite outing was the half day trip we took to Mahabalipuram. More on that later, perhaps in a separate post.

Sis took us to some wonderful joints as well. The first evening, we went to the Park for drinks and dinner. They have a very popular bar called the Leather Bar. The furniture is leather, the floor is covered in leather ( or was it faux leather?? couldnt make out in the dark), and even the pillars are covered with the same stuff. They have these rather cute guys in tight black tees and leather pants ( what else??) who bring you first a lit candle, then your drinks. Quite nice. But as we 3 ladies were by ourselves, we seemed to be attracting some curious stares. Apparently unaccompanied women at pubs and bars are a rarity in Chennai. But still, unlike Delhi, the men don't sit back and leer at you non-stop.

Park also has a very nice rooftop restaurant called Aqua. They have these canopied beds arranged around the poolside, and the sound of the water is apparently really soothing. They have a live band on Wednesday nights. Unfortunately we went on a Wednesday, when it was not just loud because of the music but also crowded because of a large Korean group. Too bad. Maybe next time.

The best discovery of my trip? A tiny place called Painted Platters, somewhere around Poes Garden. It's this tiny eatery in the backyard of an equally tiny French place ( La Madeleine if I remember correctly), with small benches and tables and a picket fence, beyond which you can see mango trees. They specialise in desserts. And when I say specialise, I mean that they only make desserts and they make them so beautifully that it leaves you breathless. We had the Mississippi Mud Pie, and I was in a chocolate-induced coma for the rest of the evening. It was like nothing I'd ever had before. Anyone visiting Chennai must visit this place.

One place I missed visiting this time was Bike and Barrel. It's a TGIF kind of pub, and I love it bcoz the DJ plays great rock music. And because the management takes very good care of unescorted ladies, which is something I don't usually see in Delhi.

Anyway, it was a short 4 day holiday but very relaxing. And now, I have loads of work to catch up on. But my next post will be about Mahabalipuram. And hopefully ( this is for my friend Amit L ) i'll put it up in just a few days' time. Ciao for now.

My birthday is coming up in a couple of days. And I've already started getting all quiet and introspective. Why the hell are birthdays so depressing when you get older???