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Showing posts from April, 2014

A Beautiful Anomaly

I have seen various types of people in life. From armchair warriors to snobs etc etc. Religious or ethnic hatred is one of the most common that I have seen. But so far all of those had some political ideology mixed with faith. For example I have mixed with conservative Hindus who did not like Muslims, and fanatical Muslims baying for Hindu/Sikh/Jain/Buddhist blood. But the Hindu was invariably a Hindutvadi or a BJP supporter or something of that sort. The Muslim would also be an Islamist. This time I met a third kind - pure hatred, that does not derive it's strength from any political ideology. This beautiful lady hates Muslims without having any affinity to the Hindutva ideology and not even any to Modi or RSS or the like. I am yet to come to terms with the exceptional exception but I will produce her answers to some of my questions, without any modification. I, of course, don't endorse any of this nor do I insinuate that she is a hate monger. I don't wish to portray he

Mysore - the Good and the Ignored

Mysore is a far from neglected when it comes to tourism. Mysore has long been a very beautiful small town with exquisite temples and destroyed forts. Once the capital of the princely state of Mysore, it has now been eclipsed by Bangalore. Even then the history is rich and has extremes of good and bad. Mysore palace topmost point Fake HDR-ed from the Mysore Temple complex - the aura should give you the hint We got a gorilla. If we are to go by what's written on the board outside, he is the sole gorilla in India now. Spotted this bear playing with a few ducks Mysore zoo - The look should tell you what he thinks about me or my camera A temple from the Mysore Palace Complex itself - fake HDR-ed Vrindavan Gardens - The cool thing is that this is built adjacent to the huge dam. The Mysore Palace from the cart that we hired for a round trip. The Mysore Palace - The House of Wodeyar has come to an end though. The last 'king' died a cou

Visit to Thiruvananthapuram

I am approaching the bastion of Indian sickularism. Yes, what is known as God’s own country – this is called Kerala. This is one of those places that make a self-respecting Dharmic person to bash his own head at the mindless exposure to non Dharmic influences. I had plenty of experiences on my way itself. This is not the first time I am going to Kerala though. Actually this is the third time. The first visit was by far the best. It was a family trip to one of the most beautiful places of Kerala, the tourist circuit. From the backwaters of Allipuzha to the silent beauty of Munnar and the expanse of the Periyar, I have seen them all. Kerala is very green; there is no doubt about it. This is not entirely a plus point as I will expand later. The people are okay, I have had very widely mixed interactions as opposed to the people of the rest of India. The route that our train is taking goes from Bangalore to Tamil Nadu, all the while bordering Kerala. It enters Kerala at its ext