I used to have the following quote in my orkut initially-
“When I find myself fading, I close my eyes and realize my friends are my energy”
A perfect example to testify the quote- our trip to Talakadu and Shivanasamudram!
The date of the Alumni day! A reunion for the Batch 9 of XIME, and a chance to meet my NRK (Non-resident Karnataka) friends who never had a gang name!
The trip, the day before the Alumni meet, to me, was a special one- a reunion (probably the last one, as all are planning to get settled, either with a family ;-), or with a better job), a day away from work tensions, soreness and boredom. My ex-roomies and batch mates were busy fixing the picnic spot, using our own corporate mail ids to communicate with each other- we started with Nandi Hills, Banyan tree, wonderla, Mysore and what not. Finally when no one could not make up their mind on what to do, namma bengalooru huduga, the Airtel Shreenath just barged in with these names- Talakadu and Shivanasamudram. Probably nobody had ever heard of these names, so all moaned a steady ‘YES’ to the place.
The Tempo traveler which could seat 13 of us was immediately booked. Singaram Palaniappan backed out the last minute, due to an upset stomach, and so in the end, the number was down to 16.
“When I find myself fading, I close my eyes and realize my friends are my energy”
A perfect example to testify the quote- our trip to Talakadu and Shivanasamudram!
The date of the Alumni day! A reunion for the Batch 9 of XIME, and a chance to meet my NRK (Non-resident Karnataka) friends who never had a gang name!
The trip, the day before the Alumni meet, to me, was a special one- a reunion (probably the last one, as all are planning to get settled, either with a family ;-), or with a better job), a day away from work tensions, soreness and boredom. My ex-roomies and batch mates were busy fixing the picnic spot, using our own corporate mail ids to communicate with each other- we started with Nandi Hills, Banyan tree, wonderla, Mysore and what not. Finally when no one could not make up their mind on what to do, namma bengalooru huduga, the Airtel Shreenath just barged in with these names- Talakadu and Shivanasamudram. Probably nobody had ever heard of these names, so all moaned a steady ‘YES’ to the place.
The Tempo traveler which could seat 13 of us was immediately booked. Singaram Palaniappan backed out the last minute, due to an upset stomach, and so in the end, the number was down to 16.
Shreenath- the Airtel Romeo
Navin- the finance geek
Monica- the mini gujju HR babe
Sheetal- the Agony aunt
Shiny- the shining Siebel Guru
Roshin- the global fisherman
Anoop- the sleeping beast
Vicky- the LG Phailwaan
Varma- the silent killer
Vinod- the ‘not so clever’crow
Rinju- the ever-drunk economist
Thomas- the ‘kalla’ black saint
Rajesh- the mammootty
Ramesh- the timid ‘macha’
Nanditha- the sleeping beauty
And
Myself- the author refuses to comment about herself!!!
Now a little info abt the place!!!
Situated in a rocky terrain with traces of vegetation, Talakadu is 160 Kms from Bangalore / 85 Kms from Mysore. The place is famous for its temples and a myth about an entire village that has been buried under the sand. It is a unique, unique in the sense that in the middle of no where, one sees sand. Sand, sand and lots of sand! Almost the kind of sand one sees in beaches.
Legend says it's because of some woman's curse long time ago. A tale filled with greed and lust for power. It was the time when Talakadu and Srirangapatna were under the Vijayanagar empire. The death of the last ruler, Srirangaraya, provoked the Wodeyars of Mysore to declare war. As Srirangapatna fell, the Wodeyar ruler sent his soldiers to get the jewels of Srirangaraya’s widow, Alamelamma. As she fled from her pursuers, she is said to have jumped into the Cauvery, uttering curses. My guide gets all dramatic as he proclaims the curse: "May Talakadu be always covered with sand and may the kings of Mysore always remain without heirs." Strangely, Talakadu has been under a sea of sand for a long time and the family tree of Mysore rulers show a large number of adopted heirs.Wow!!!got to know a lil' about the tale from Navin when I had a chat with him in the vehicle. That made me a lil too excited about seeing talakadu.
The road trip was horrible. Our driver was not sure of the place. Thanks for my kannadiga friends, they asked the civilians for the right path to our destination, The only distraction in between the dusty journey was our late breakfast from ‘Kamat Yatri Nivas’. Boy!! What a breakfast! I m usually not very fond of Dosas and stuff, but the Neer dosa that I had at ‘Kamat’ was simblyyy amaaaazing!!! Not to mention the colorful chutneys, vadas, pongal and the dry fruit laddu and the besan laddu. We spent quite a fortune at Kamat.
Back to the roads!!! There were more potholes than tarred road. But we finally managed to reach talakadu by around 1 pm. It was true!! Out of nowhere, the place was covered with beach sand, as though it was jus imported and spread at this place. It was very crowded inspite of the heat. Lot of kids playin in the water, some taking a boat ride in the middle of the day (phew, they looked like baked bread when they finished the boat ride), and many roadside vendors trying to make a profit. All of us were quite tired after the bumpy ride. Our backs had taken a lot of beating, so we just lay down on the sand for solace. Shreenath, Navin and Varma were still interested to leaf through. So they went in search of a recently excavated remains of a temple, while we updated ourselves about each others whereabouts and pranks.
It felt good to just be with them. I realized how much I missed college life, especially the ‘Central lawns’ of XIME. The guys even enjoyed the tid bits of gossip that was flowing around, the break ups and marriages!! They never missed the opportunity to ogle at the women around, though they could hardly find the ones of their choice!! Post some photo sessions and a mini boat ride in the boat, which to me looked like a huge bowl (I had to pay just ten rupees for the cute boat ride, thought he might ask for more as soon as the hefty Thoma got inside), we were ready to bid adieu to the ‘cursed’, yet beautiful ‘Talakadu’, and rush to our next destination- Shivanasamudra!!!
Navin- the finance geek
Monica- the mini gujju HR babe
Sheetal- the Agony aunt
Shiny- the shining Siebel Guru
Roshin- the global fisherman
Anoop- the sleeping beast
Vicky- the LG Phailwaan
Varma- the silent killer
Vinod- the ‘not so clever’crow
Rinju- the ever-drunk economist
Thomas- the ‘kalla’ black saint
Rajesh- the mammootty
Ramesh- the timid ‘macha’
Nanditha- the sleeping beauty
And
Myself- the author refuses to comment about herself!!!
Now a little info abt the place!!!
Situated in a rocky terrain with traces of vegetation, Talakadu is 160 Kms from Bangalore / 85 Kms from Mysore. The place is famous for its temples and a myth about an entire village that has been buried under the sand. It is a unique, unique in the sense that in the middle of no where, one sees sand. Sand, sand and lots of sand! Almost the kind of sand one sees in beaches.
Legend says it's because of some woman's curse long time ago. A tale filled with greed and lust for power. It was the time when Talakadu and Srirangapatna were under the Vijayanagar empire. The death of the last ruler, Srirangaraya, provoked the Wodeyars of Mysore to declare war. As Srirangapatna fell, the Wodeyar ruler sent his soldiers to get the jewels of Srirangaraya’s widow, Alamelamma. As she fled from her pursuers, she is said to have jumped into the Cauvery, uttering curses. My guide gets all dramatic as he proclaims the curse: "May Talakadu be always covered with sand and may the kings of Mysore always remain without heirs." Strangely, Talakadu has been under a sea of sand for a long time and the family tree of Mysore rulers show a large number of adopted heirs.Wow!!!got to know a lil' about the tale from Navin when I had a chat with him in the vehicle. That made me a lil too excited about seeing talakadu.
The road trip was horrible. Our driver was not sure of the place. Thanks for my kannadiga friends, they asked the civilians for the right path to our destination, The only distraction in between the dusty journey was our late breakfast from ‘Kamat Yatri Nivas’. Boy!! What a breakfast! I m usually not very fond of Dosas and stuff, but the Neer dosa that I had at ‘Kamat’ was simblyyy amaaaazing!!! Not to mention the colorful chutneys, vadas, pongal and the dry fruit laddu and the besan laddu. We spent quite a fortune at Kamat.
Back to the roads!!! There were more potholes than tarred road. But we finally managed to reach talakadu by around 1 pm. It was true!! Out of nowhere, the place was covered with beach sand, as though it was jus imported and spread at this place. It was very crowded inspite of the heat. Lot of kids playin in the water, some taking a boat ride in the middle of the day (phew, they looked like baked bread when they finished the boat ride), and many roadside vendors trying to make a profit. All of us were quite tired after the bumpy ride. Our backs had taken a lot of beating, so we just lay down on the sand for solace. Shreenath, Navin and Varma were still interested to leaf through. So they went in search of a recently excavated remains of a temple, while we updated ourselves about each others whereabouts and pranks.
It felt good to just be with them. I realized how much I missed college life, especially the ‘Central lawns’ of XIME. The guys even enjoyed the tid bits of gossip that was flowing around, the break ups and marriages!! They never missed the opportunity to ogle at the women around, though they could hardly find the ones of their choice!! Post some photo sessions and a mini boat ride in the boat, which to me looked like a huge bowl (I had to pay just ten rupees for the cute boat ride, thought he might ask for more as soon as the hefty Thoma got inside), we were ready to bid adieu to the ‘cursed’, yet beautiful ‘Talakadu’, and rush to our next destination- Shivanasamudra!!!
