Do you have Vitamin Deficiency!!!

I have recently learnt a concept of progressive elaboration, so am attempting to write this blog in progression as I complete the book “How to Get what you want and want what you have” by John Gray (Famous writer of Men are from Mars and Women from Venus).

It has this interesting concept of life requiring a set of vitamins in our 10 love tanks. It is elaborated that while we live, we have need to have all our 10 love tanks filled to be satisfied. Following are the vitamins, their description and age timelines.

Vitamin G1 - Love and support from God - Conception to birth
Vitamin P1 – Love and Support from our parents - Birth to 7
Vitamin F - Love and Support Family, Friends and having fun - 7 to 14
Vitamin P2 - Love and Support Peers and others like us with similar goals - 14 to 21
Vitamin S - Love and support from ourselves - 21 to 28
Vitamin R - Love and Support Relationships, Partnerships and romance - 28 to 35
Vitamin D - Love and support from some one who is dependent on us - 35 to 40
Vitamin C - Giving back to our communities - 41 to 49
Vitamin W - Giving back to the world - 49 to 56
Vitamin G2 - Serving god - 56 and Beyond

John suggests that we often have a deficiency of a particular vitamin, due to which one of our love tanks is not filled and we feel dissatisfied. An interesting statistics he has highlighted is, a higher percentage of divorces happening around 28 for those who got married in their Self Love age (21 to 28). They feel the deficiency of not having lived their life and blame the partner for what they are missing within themselves.

Hey don’t push your marriages till 28 reading this, but might be you would be able to appreciate the family life when you have loved yourself or are well connected with yourself!!!

As I further read the book, I understood for most difficulties in life the solution starts with making sure we are filling the first five love tanks. By taking sometime out of our week to fill our past love tanks, we are able to move forward to create the life we want. If you have flowers in your garden, it is not enough to water then once, we need to regularly attend to them and keep nurturing them. Following description provides the symptom for identifying your unfilled tank, remedy to fill the tank and suggests a mode to achieve the same.

Vitamin G1: Love and support from God

Symptoms: Life tends to be a struggle; we become stressed and tired thinking that we have to do it ourselves.

Remedy: Connect with god to realize we are not alone and there is a higher power assisting us.

Mode: Meditation.

Vitamin P1: Love and support from parents

Symptoms: We tend to be held back in by feelings of doubt, inadequacy and unworthiness, waves of emotional disturbance and distress in our lives.

Remedy: Need to get someone to listen to you, understand you and give you unconditional love. As this tank begins to fill you become more supportive to you yourself.

Mode: Therapists or counselors or friends act as hired parents and some healing exercises

Vitamin F: Love and support from family, friends and fun

Symptoms: Life is too serious and you are not having fun. It feels your primary relationship suffers from criticism, blame or boredom.

Remedy: Need to nurture our old friendships and create new ones. Old friends help us love and accept ourselves the way we are and new friends bring out new parts of what we are. Humour, funny movies and having fun is additional ways of filling this tank.

Mode: If you don’t have many friends, start doing things for others. By first giving and then receiving in return you gradually begin to like each other and become friends.

Vitamin P2: Peer support

Symptoms: Loneliness, too confined to the family

Remedy: You should nurture your interests separate from your partner and join some group activities. It helps awaken the teenager in you and you will have surges of enthusiasm, vitality and energy to move ahead in life.

Mode: Attend a game of your favorite sports team in a stadium, movies in cinemas, theatres, religious activities, concerts of favorite singers.

Vitamin S: Self Love

Symptoms: Much of the time we hold ourselves back because we are concerned about what others will think of us. We want to do things, but we don’t because if we make mistake we would reminded of it forever.

Remedy: To love yourself give yourself permission to experiment in life. Get away from people in your everyday life, so that you are free to try on new outfits and behave differently. Give yourself the freedom, to do things you have never done before and go somewhere you would never go again.

Mode: Take a few minutes everyday to reflect on what you want and then set your intentions by putting in your order.

Vitamin R: Relationships, partnerships and romance

Symptoms: You are not able to decide on a partner or likewise in a relationship, after a while love stops flowing.

Remedy: In either case, it means your other love tanks are not filled. If you are not getting the right partner, you are looking in the wrong direction. Just start dating and don’t look for the perfect person. When a student is ready a teacher is always there. Similarly, when you are ready for a relationship and you are open to dating, the perfect person shows up. Soul mates are never perfect, but they are perfect for you as a partner.

Mode: Learn relationship skills.

Vitamin D: Unconditional love to someone who is depending on you.

Symptoms: Without children, unknowingly sabotage a relationship or the possibility of a new relation by over nurturing and treating a partner like a child.

Remedy: Being responsible for the needs of others is a essential requirement of the soul. By feeling responsible and giving your love unconditionally your soul will be strengthened.

Mode: Take care of children, grandchildren, pets and gardens. It means taking care of anything alive.

Vitamin C: Giving back to the community, assisting in making world a better place.

Symptoms: Unable to expand your spirit

Remedy: thinking about helping others. The gifts we have received from life are the gifts we have to share with our community. This kind of giving can be so gratifying that we forget the other people we love, so be careful and not neglect your family in the process.

Mode: volunteer work to help others not directly related to you.

Vitamin W: Giving back to the world

Symptoms: Many people start feeling old because they are not expanding and thus not growing.

Remedy: By connecting and sharing yourself with other cultures, you will discover that although people are different but we are all the same inside. Seeing the world will bring out new parts of who you are and will keep you young.

Mode: Get involved in some kind of world cause like travel, see the world and share your light.

Vitamin G2: Serving god.

Symptoms: Many people immediately age and get sick at this time, because their other tanks are too empty to fulfill this new requirement to give selflessly in service.

Remedy: This is time when we reach our full glory. Now we can be in touch with our greatest powers and gifts. By now all your love tanks have been filled and your greatest joy is in serving. As you enjoy this state, you feel more and more that you are one with everything and everyone. You become a pure channel of God’s grace to all you meet.

Mode: Serve and connect with God.

It is interesting theory though and would encourage you to just think - Are your love tanks filled? “do you love yourself?” and “have you been content with your family”, “are you happy with your career” or are you facing any such symptoms. If yes, then would encourage you to apply the remedies as suggested.

The book has a lot more details on Meditation methodologies, how to understand your desire etc and would suggest all of us should atleast read it once to know ourselves more.

Happy reading!!!!

What's your Rashee!!

Ashutosh Gwarikar, was the reason why I thought I would try out this movie, which was 3 hours long and had 2 intermissions. Yes, you read it right, 2 intermission out of which 2nd intermission explicitly looks like from censor board. But before you read further, we should congratulate Priyanka Chopra ,who has done a commendable job in each of the roles. She has made it a must see movie, if you often relate people with their Rashee!!.

An interesting thought to ponder was, why is the movie based on females? It could have been be a gal looking for a man. Is it because we have Male dominated society or because only women have different colors/shades?. No debates please, just a thought.

Am not going to reveal the story as many of you still have to see the movie, but some facets which you should watch for and may like to discuss on this blog (as comments).

As you all would have read in the newspaper, its about 12 gals or 12 rashee which he plans to meet based on a book he reads while he is awake at night (affected by US Jet Lag).

While I assumed they are showing it by birthdates, but mum identified it was accordingly to name (she reads both horoscopes :-)). So, I picked up the Hindi Magazine to check the Rashee and their matching alphabets, but as I don’t remember most of the names, so can be wrong in the blog.

Please be sure you understand it that way, and note the names as they announce the name of the gal before every planned meeting. Just for your help (as am sure you don’t read Hindi papers/magazines), following were the alphabets of the characters and my interpretation of their traits.


A - Aries - Pure Heart
V - Taurus - Evaluating/Hidden personality
K - Gemini - Confused/Chirpy
H - Cancer - Very Honest/Clings to past
M - Leo - Aggressive
P - Virgo - Selfless
R - Libra - Too Practical/Logical
N - Scorpio - Passionate
B - Sagittarius - This is edited
J - Capricorn - Sober/Simple
S - Aquarius - Open Minded/Smart/Practical
C - Pisces - Living in their world

S was the Rashee I could relate myself to the most and hey boasting is allowed on one's own blog!!

In the movie, it would be interesting to see how Ashoutosh has actually maintained the respect for each Rashee as he mentioned in the disclaimer . To enable that, the best approach he took was not to highlight much on the characteristics of the Rashee, but the situations these women were actually in. Some were very successful career wise, some devoted to our country and some living just in their past.

Then there were some social issues which were highlighted, how women are pushed into marriage for emotional support, for money, for family sake and some are even made to fake their identity. It also, highlighted the issues of dowry, adolescent marriages, and reasons why marriage becomes a contract for some.

All women can be seen sailing through their situations, either themselves of through some help. They all have dreams which they wish to achieve and Marriage is not the only thing in a women's life today. It is important, but not a compulsion anymore. Another aspect is the realization for some parents, who always underestimate what a woman can be, if she is able/allowed to choose.

But it also highlighted the fact that it is very difficult to make a decision as you are not able to judge a person in 10 minutes or a day which you get to decide. Also, the dilemma men face when they meet women, who are as competitive as they are. Can they compromise their career, preferences etc for a gal, if they are expecting the same from them.

And finally, what is the basis on which we should make a decision. Or it is just a destiny!!! (“Marriage…a quest of destiny” – March 2008).

You all would be inferring the end from your perspective, but I could relate theme of the movie to the words of a acquaintance I met once, who said "We should not typecast ourselves to the LINDA traits, as every individual is quite unique and each on of us is a precious drop in the ocean(THIS WORLD)".

I also realized, that it is not our horoscopes but the situations in which we are that make us what we are, rather than our Rashee!!!.

But but….I would still continue reading LINDA, as it helps to understand a person at times.

So, Enjoy to movie and do send me your comments.

Ever Noticed the World Around Us!!!

On the way to office I often notice people around me, in the bus, on the road or in different vehicles. The faces I see everywhere never match each other. Its makes me appreciative of god's creation, thinking how many mould's he has to give us such different shapes. We are here in different colors, bound in different religions and customs, though our blood and the scientific constitution of the body is same, but still we are so different.

On the long distance, I see their faces and notice their expression changing from neutral to smiling and at times a tiny drop appearing in their eyes. Are they smiling because they are happy, or thinking something silly they did today and when they cry is it some pain or remembering someone they loved. It is just like a newly born baby, who people presume is in his/her own world. Babies dont know how to speak, but its only their expressions which we can interpret.

I often notice people looking out of the window, though their eyes are just looking at the objects around, but is their mind also on what they are seeing. Are they appreciating the beauty of nature, looking for some nice faces or something else. A few friends told me that they are just talking to themselves or analyzing themselves and some are making some plans for the hours to come but their mind is consistently working.

I often notice couples driving together to work. One partner is trying to make a communication while the other is silent. When a person is silent, no one knows what is going in their mind, what are they thinking or concentrating on. And there are couples who are laughing and giving each other attention. It makes me eager to know about their relationship, how long they have been together and would they be soon like other silent couples once they have spent some good time together. Are they happy together or just adjusted to each other or is silence the only thing between them.

A friend once told me a quote, "He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words" but I wonder how does he expect someone to know what he is feeling. How can someone know, is he silent because he is happy, or because he is sad or might be angry with someone. Some say face is the mirror of the mind, but how do we read faces and their mind.

On the roads, I notice people heading towards somewhere, some people driving fast, impatiently changing lanes as if they are in a hurry. A friend says, it seems as if no one is satisfied and its a rat race either in traffic or in real life. Everybody is trying to win the race and ones own win is not that important as others defeat is. Are all of us heading towards a direction or a just on the go, what is the destination we have to reach or we would just keep walking.

Then I notice my friends with whom I interact everyday, they smile with you, laugh with you but they have a different story behind them each day. What they are expressing, is what they are feeling today or are they just faking it. Your colleague sitting just next to you, does he like you or somewhere has a grudge with you, is he your friend or a foe. Sometimes you feel they are the best of your friends and you can trust them, but some unfortunate day your trust is broken.

These instances which I see everyday and the estranged world around me which is full of humans like me - some of whom I know, some of whom I wish to know and those I see & forget everyday - makes me wonder "why do we hate others, if we are alike(humans)", "why do we like others, if we look different", "why do we become silent in a relationship, when we chose it ourselves", "why are we running against each other, if we have the same destination(death)" and "why is the world like this or it could have been different".

If you have ever noticed the world around us, can you tell me...."Yehi duniya hai to aisi yeh duniya kyun hai, yehi hota hai to akhir yehi hota kyun hai"

.... With due regards to friends who contributed to the thoughts in the blog!!!!

Majma!!

Woh doston ki mehfil, woh yaaron ka majma
yaad aata hai, woh milke hansna
Hanste hanste zameen pe ludakna

Woh mausam alag they woh lamhe alag
beet gaye woh din jaise falak

kash woh lamhe tham jatey waheen
woh dost na bichad jatey kaheen

Par aaj woh din fir aya yahan
khul ke kissi ne hansya yahan
ansu nikle aye ankhon se yun
woh mausam laut ayen ho jyun

Ab dil chata hai,yeh pal na hon juda
ye doston ki mehfil sajtee rahe sada

Or hum yuhin hanstey rahein sada!!!!

"Those were the days" are very common words I have heard from many people around me. We all have good memories of our past. Some remember school days and some are appreciative of the college days. A carefree life for all, with love in the air for some and non stop fun times for others. Boys learned all the vices and skills to flirt around with gals. Girls learned all the ada's and getting more attention from boys. But there are some who come along just like that.

It is the time we start understanding the meaning of being a friend and build an unforgettable bond. The times spent together, the jokes and the incidents often come in our talks and we reflect on the past.

As we move on, we make new friends, similar feelings emerge again and we start spending time together, but old friends always remain within our hearts. But fotunately today, we do have great websites like orkut, facebook etc which keeps us all connected and the hearts are filled with joy to know about them, see their kids and smile on their new experiences.

Those times, those people who are long gone might not come along, these Majma's would again be forgone, but it makes this wonder writer wonder..."agle mode pe na jane mile jaye kon"!!!.

Route No.2M - A Dumb Bond

Dedicated to all the Members of Route No. 2M.

Route No. 2M plying from Noida Sector 125 to Rohini is a 1.5 hrs journey from the company to our homes. When I joined the bus after a long stint away from the same, it was a quite affair. Nokia Express 5310 and a headphone were the companions aboard and it was all about me and my thoughts.

I noticed people around me, some used to gossip, some sleeping and some looking out from the window, don’t know finding what. I called this phenomenon GSP - G(Gossip), S(sleeping) and P(Peeping) syndrome.

One day a new member joined our bus. He was/is a smiley, white and tall guy, a typical Punju with a slight Punjabi ascent in English. As is said about Punju's, they love to smile and live to eat, he couldn’t very well adjust to the GSP syndrome. He used to look, notice the GSP group and wonder where to start.

He caught up with a small group of members who together started a popular game "Dumb Charades". The group started enacting movies, deciding the rules of game and invariably making a lot of noise.

The GSP group was amused to see the enthusiasm after a 9 hours long work and wondered the reason for the stored energy. I happen to notice them play one day where a member was enacting the movie "Rakhwale". He raised one finger upwards and a thumb down, which I understood means one word and Hindi. He identified a unique way to describe the movie, a gun fighter who is placed on the India & Pakistan border and is protecting the country. No body could bring out the typical Hindi word he was expecting so he went for a sound's like which was more interesting to see and interpret.

He highlighted all of us as in family relations which is commonly known as "Gharwale" and a person shouted Rakhwale. I could see the frustration of the enactor and different thoughts of the interpreters. Some were right on target to understand, others gave weird answers.

Though I had never till then attempted to play it, but it invariably made me think of how would I do it if I were to enact or interpret? It made me realize though the dictionary meaning of the word dumb is “lacking intelligence or good judgment”, but it needs quite intelligent and logical method of enacting actions to act like a dumb. But, it also brought in me the depressing feeling of thinking about people who cannot speak and can only express themselves through actions.

Slowly many members of the GSP group started interpreting in their minds, and their eyes would be hooked towards the person who was enacting. Now most of the members have moved out of the GSP syndrome and actively participate, either enacting or interpreting. I got pulled to the group, when I successfully interpreted one word, Urdu movie. Since then, am involved in the fun and somehow feel the same energy after a 9 hours day, which I was earlier amused on.

Everyday, each one of us wait for the time when we would be together again in the bus, some idle moments in the day are spent googling for movie names and trying to find the most difficult movie name possible. Members also try to enact a simple movie in a more interesting way to make other annoyed and eventually happy. Members have especially changed their bus routes, try to come by bus and some of them getting down early, frown on the arrival of their stops as they are crucially placed in interpreting the movie. Few members in the group have been identified for their quite interesting skills. Introducing a few here

Mr. Expert: Who has an expert/critical opinion on the interpretation
Tadipar: Who don’t give a valid movie or give simple movies
Encyclopedia: Well know interpreter of typical Hindi/Urdu words
Dictionary: A content full of Hindi movies names dating back to 1920's
Latest Dictionary: She knows the latest movie names as a zap.

This game today has created a unique bond - "A dumb Bond" among the members of the bus whom we scantily know as a person, but we do know what they are good at in dumbing!!!!

Wish to Lose weight now, ask me how!!

Its said, Losing weight is a thought which is difficult to erase from a woman's mind, but today it has become imperative for any individual who wants to make an impression. Traditional methods of losing have been religious fast which force you to develop resistance towards temptation. But for those like me who cannot stay empty stomach all day, here is a tried and tested method to loose faster while eating all day. But a word of caution, as excess of everything is bad, dont use it as a tool to zero down at once. And do remember the only solution to a better figure is a brisk walk or regular excercise but these diets can be used as a solution to fit into that favourite dress which you want to wear at the party.

So, for all my fellow friends who wish to have six to 10 packs on the lines of Mr. Salu, Sharukh and Aamir and zero figures as of Aish, Kareena am sharing my tested healthy way to loose.

This program is designed for a target weight loss of 5-6 Kg. per week. It will also improve your attitude and emotions because of its systematic cleaning effects. The effectiveness of this seven day plan is that the foods eaten burn more calories than they give to the body in caloric value. This plan can be used as often as you like to without any fear of complications. It is designed to flush your system of impurities and give you a feeling of well being. After seven days you will begin to feel lighter by atleast 5 . You will have an abundance of energy and an improved disposition.

During the seven days you must drink 10 glasses of water each day. Complement this plan with a 45 mins walk and you would get better results.
DAY ONE: All fruits except bananas. Your first day will consist of all fruits you want. It is suggested you consume lots of melons the first day, especially watermelon and cantloupe.
DAY TWO: All vegetables. You are encouraged to eat all raw and cooked vegetables of your choice. There is no limit on the amount of type. Avoid oil and coconut while cooking vegetables. Have large boiled potato for breakfast.
DAY THREE: Any mixture of fruits and vegetables of your choice. Any amount, any quantity. No bananas yet and no potatoes today.
DAY FOUR: Banana and milk. Today you will eat as many as eight bananas and drink three glasses of milk. You can also have 1 bowl of vegetable soup.
DAY FIVE: Today is feast day. You will eat 1 cup of rice. You also have to eat about six whole tomatoes and drink 12 glasses of water today to cleanse your system of the excess uric acid you will be producing.
DAY SIX: Today is another all vegetables day. You must eat 1 cup of rice today and eat all the vegetable you want cooked and uncooked to your hearts content.
DAY SEVEN: Today your food intake will consist of 1 cup rice, fruit juice and the vegetables you care to consume. Tomorrow morning you will be five Kgs lighter than 1 week ago.

If you desire further weight loss, repeat the program again. Repeat the program as often as you like, however, it is suggested that you rest for three days before every repetition.

And hey do share your comments after the successful attempt. Happy Losing!!!!

Kerela - Nature's Paradise

This blog is dedicated to all honeymooners, families, friends who would like to contribute to Indian tourism by embracing our nature’s paradise – Kerela.

I would first like to introduce you to the members whose name you would be often reading in the blog. I the author of this blog took my mum and a friend for a ride on this trip. Mr Attapan we called him Anthony was our driver for the entire trip and our organizers were Mir tours from Kerela(wish I can get some money for their advertisement here). There are few more critical members whom I would introduce as and when they would be required to appear.

Kerela, the mystic land of green and Satyuga was the destination most sought after a lot of diligence. A much desired holiday of the year was impacted strongly by various problems, starting from Mum's election duty to a large deal at my office, Terrorist attacks at Mumbai, followed by a threat of air attack on the deemed day of travel in the name of Babri Masjid anniversary. However, we did a SWOT analysis of the situation and decided to go ahead with the trip as planned.
Strengths – My weight in KGs,
Weakness – My friend’s in KGs,
Opportunities – to travel under high security and meet our Heroic NSG commandos
Threats – we would lose a lot of money if we didn’t go
Our Friends, family and colleagues shared the sense of threat with us and did wish us a best of luck and a great holiday while my boss was envious of my 9 days of leave at a stretch (another threat at recession time J).

6th December 08, 12 Noon, Delhi

Easycab group - can be reached at 42424242 - relieved us a bit of our tensions by sending us a Logan, a kind of luxury cab to take us to the airport. And we started towards the airport enjoying the spacious luxury ride along with a discussion on how many days we can survive on Idli & Dosa and the south Indian heat.

All kudos to Indian government (we voted for them on 29th) for the layers of security checks which took us around 2 hours before we reached the boarding gate. November being a marriage month there were many newly wed couples, some strange some smart enough to be oogled at. Me and my friend discussed the color of some husbands which were contrasting with their wives and weight of some wives which was contrasting with their husbands. But one couple x 2 retained our attention for a while as the hubbies have competed with their wives for the Mehendi which was extending to their elbows. Rajasthan was the place they had come from and were making as much noise as possible to get them noticed. A proper page three experience!!!

Around 7 PM, Cochin

I didn’t talk much about the flight but it was Jetlite which was delayed by three hours already and we didn’t even get a proper glass of water to drink until we ordered something from their menu which was actually costly and also tasted bad. You know what am hinting you!!! J

Mr Attapan aka Anthony was the man who we had come to pick us up at the airport and there he was standing with a paper showing my name as if waiting for a diplomat (its good to feel special when you spend so much). He was a very very “very” thin man with semi bald head and average height but his smile large enough for us to see after a tiring journey. He told us to move towards the car parking and we were expecting an Indica as per our package but were very happy to see a silver colored Logan again. The first word Anthony spoke to us was “Hindi ata hai”??

Though we reached Cochin late, but Anthony made sure that we didn’t miss much of the action on the MG road which is the most popular road in most of the cities in India. While in Delhi it is more known for beautiful gals emanating from college, but here we found grand shopping plaza’s and big hoardings with Gold plated models(gold is very popular there). I fortunately remembered a location called marine drive which was a sea side view in Cochin. It was not comparable to the marine drive of Mumbai, but one thing we found most touching was the charts which were put up by residents in remembrance of UnniKrishanan, the brave man who lost his life saving many of us in Mumbai. The hoardings wrote Apologies to the parents of UnniKrishnan for the behavior toward this young martyr, their only son.

With the heavy sigh we moved towards the car and Anthony took us to one of the famous restaurants in Cochin for our dinner. We took a south Indian thali and a plate of idli and were astonished to see a bill of just Rs. 162 which is very uncommon for a whole meal for three people in Delhi. Let me introduce to you the range of spices which were there in the food and please take some pudin hara if you don’t have a appetite for very spicy food. Ending the dinner with a south Indian pan which was served complimentary we were really willing to hit the bed after a tiring day. Thus we didn’t spare a talk with the hotel receptionist or a brief look around in admiration of the only 4 star hotel of our trip “Pearl Continental”. Please don’t think that it was a bad hotel, the room was really nice but just one factor which killed it was that it was next to the railway station and trains spared no sympathy toward very tired guests of the hotel. We zapped around the south Indian channels to find our favorite program “Kaante ki takkar” on Sony for some hearty laughs before closing eyes to the day.

7th December 08, 8 AM

We started for a 3.5 hour scenic/picturesque drive to Munnar as per the description in the itinerary. But it was indeed a beautiful view starting initially with a lot of green palm trees and spreads of green carpet. Soon we started climbing the hills. The first destination we reached was Cheeyappara Falls which was similar to views generally we get when we travel to Northern hill stations, so we preferred to pass by the same. Next was Kallar Falls on the right where we again insisted to move ahead but Anthony was adamant on the next falls named Valara Falls. He stopped the car against our protests and showed us a way to move towards the water. We found the path and mum guided us through the path handholding as if we are going to school for the first time.

After modeling around the falls and training Anthony “the best of photography skills” using our camera we moved ahead to the next view point up on the hills - Karadippara View Point. The wind has become a bit cool but the sun tended to be stronger than the winds and kept the wind bearable. Bhutta, was the thing we really needed in the weather but two more instances struck us hard. One was the automation of Bhutta making process in which he used a motor to blow into the fire which was ignited using wood as compared to coal which is often see in Delhi. Second was red chill powder which has a big vote there and that was the Masala which was used to garnish the automated heated Bhutta. It was our second encounter with the spicy dishes since we entered Kerela. Though unknowingly we missed Pine Apple Garden and Rubber Plantations on the way somewhere but we opted not to visit Spice Plantations which we did a bit later though.

After checking into the hotel(Abad Copper Castle), we evaluated the massage rates in the hotel’s ayurvedic center and found them quite high. Kerela for those who are unaware, is famous for many ayurvedic centers but beware of false doctors is what we read while in Delhi. Sirodhara we had read was one of the famous massages performed only for head but it is very relaxing for the mind. Anthony had suggested us to get it done outside and we did found 10% difference in the price in the city, Munnar. He took us to Maurya Ayurvedic center which he suggested was a good option and in fact it was. We booked an appointment for 4 PM and reached Mahavira restaurant for our 3rd spicy encounter, but this time we were smart enough to request them to make it less spicy. You need to have a hours gap between your lunch and massage time so we finished the lunch at 2 PM and then Anthony took us to a flower Garden which had a exotic range of flowers for interest of any horticulturist. Am sure honeymooners would not be encouraged to visit it neither were we, but we had to kill an hour. We also clicked some snaps in woods on the way to Munnar and enacted some sequences of QSQT.

After the massage and a good amount on ayurvedic oils in our hair we visited a Historical Church which was on a small hill giving us a glimpse of old times. International Blossom(Hydel)
Park was on our way back to the hotel but we skipped it after the earlier Bagaban we had opted to see.

8th December 08, 6 AM Munnar

Me and my friend went for a stroll uphill around the hotel. View was fabulous and later we realized it was pothemedu view point which we had to come for sunset view. At the view point a gentlemen was doing “ALOM VILOM” in the early morning winds while we were tempted to run away with his sweater. But running down the hills is a bit dangerous to attempt early morning so dishearted we went downhill and clicked some snaps in tea estate claiming ourselves as THE TATAs.

After morning breakfast, we departed for a full day sight seeing tour and the first spot was Rajamalai (Eravikulam) National Park – famous for Nilgiri Tahr(Wild goat). Mum and the wild goat became friends as she was calling her “Rajamalaiiiiiiii” in rhythm and she came towards us to strike a pose. After a good glimpse of the goats and the hills around we came down at the bus station. While waiting for the bus which takes you back from this national park to parking lot, we were witness of some love madness. There was a couple - the gal wearing a red top and Capri in 10 degrees along with red footwear - clicking snaps in varied poses. One strange pose was where he held the gal high in his arms, strong man I must say. All around were laughing and gossiping, but they say love is blind….

Anaimudi Peak – South India's Highest Peak was supposed to be around this national park which we but we later realized the same so would recommend that ask your driver to take you there as well. We moved into the car and the next destination was Madupetty Dam and Lake where we boarded a speed boat for 15 minutes for Rs. 300, a special/explicit honeymooner’s rate. The driver of the boat attempts to make you enjoy the thrill by tilting the boat at angles where you can enjoy the lake water.

We moved ahead to a Photo Point, Elephant Arrival Spot, Cinema Shooting Point which were actually a picturesque view of the place but nothing much to stop and enjoy, but there you can take a elephant ride but at Rs. 300 for 15 mins, seems to be a pattern right?

Echo Point we assumed to be a high peak where you would throw your lungs out thinking that the voice would echo. But it was a low lying lake an extension of the Madupetty Dam water. We chose to do some shopping rather than boating and while enjoying pineapple - with a dash of unavoidable chilli masala ;-( - we heard a strong man’s voice shouting “ Manjoooooooo”. We shared a laugh and the voice was heard again “Manjooooo” and this time we went ahead and saw the couple and their honeymoonic acts. Another couple with them were clicking their snaps where the guy was holding his (strong bodied) wife in his arms like the song..Jiski biwi choti..god mein utha lo …..J… Would recommend you do some rounds to the gym before you actually get married as it would be tested sooner or later J.

Next spot Gundala Lake and Headworks DAM were next to each other but weather had worsened and it started raining so we started back towards hotel. Tata Tea Museum was closed on Monday and evening Spice/Tea trailing at Munnar was nothing but a walk for which we went in the morning. But the weather was not with us so we preferred to come back enjoy the view from our hotels which was mostly covered by clouds by now giving us a heaven like feeling. My friend preferred to go for Sirodhara while I enjoyed the view from my hotel’s balcony. It is worth a view if you are in hills and more relaxing than sirodhara in which 1.5 litre oil is poured on your head(very hard to wash off). We did go to Munnar city every night to torture ourselves with spicy food but today we tried LAZZA(brand) ice cream to relieve our north Indian sensitive stomachs.


9th December 08, 8 AM

We started our onwards journey towards alleppey early because it was a 5 hours drive but we planned to visit the spice garden which we had missed earlier. Same road takes you back to Cochin and then towards alleppey through Cochin bypass. Spice garden was a place to be, as he showed us how spices like – cardamom, black pepper, clove, ginger, turmeric grow along with some fruits such as pineapple etc. Guide showed us a plant which is called all spices which can be used as a leaf in your curries and you don’t need to add any other spices not even salt. Strange but true!!!

The Drive to alleppey was very very long but we covered the journey learning some malyali from Anthony especially the words which represent money like Rs. 100 which is called “Noora”. Alleppey is known as a charming village on the Vembanadu Lake and it is known for its azure backwaters, swaying palms, and floating houseboats. On arrival we checked into Kettuvallam the ethnic name for a famous Kerala Houseboat and started on with our journey towards the lake. We took a video of the house boat which was a one bed boat launched on 29th November and ours was the second trip after three Malaysian gals. Unni our houseboat pilot was very friendly and knew hindi. He allowed us to drive the houseboat and feel special. Though we couldn’t do justice to the profession but it was still good driving than on Delhi roads.

Lunch was supposed to be served at Houseboat by our cook onboard and we were already very hungry but so were our eyes to see the view. Cruise was supposed to take us through the unique web of lakes, lagoons, canals and river but the first spot was to visit the Snake Boat where the house boat was stationed for lunch. At lunch we were served Kerela kadi, beans, dal, roti, rice, papad and we had fortunately told our cook with us on board to use sunflower oil rather than coconut oil which we had heard is a bit weird to taste(spices still persisted). Just after lunch as we were about to disembark to see Historical Church, Paddy Field, Kuttanadan Region the only region cultivate rice below sea level there was rain all over us. It continued for two hours while we cursed and enjoyed the rain, but we lost time enough to enjoy the backwaters ride. After two hours our houseboat moved towards the houseboat junction where it was stationed for the night. But our enthusiasm was not affected by the rain and we took a ride in a small canoe in the lake around us. Unni negotiated with the canoe driver on the price, who shouted “Noor”, but Unni told us Rs. 150 keeping his cut. But we knew the word “Noora” and were smart enough to decide on Rs. 100 only. Unni made a face and we realized knowing the local language does help. Sun was almost setting but the rain poured again and the canoe pilot saved us by sparing some umbrellas and while getting down we wished him “Namni”(means shukriya). The spectacular sunset was almost missed by the time we came back to the house boat and it was all dark now. We were served evening snacks that is kela pakoda(they are sweet and not spicy) and coffee. All CDs on the houseboat were of malyali movies and we just had one option to watch Mustafa with our co-spectators, “Mosquitoes”. Cook our host on board, gave us an option to choose between oil and coil to avoid the mosquitoes and we chose to use Mortein coil to avoid the tiny beasts.

Dinner was served at around 9 but it was not candle light dinner. We wound up the movie after dinner and ran towards the AC room to take a nap after a long day. We were told the bed would be decorated so would recommend honeymooners to avail this deal in the package which we couldn’t :-).

10th December 08, 5.30 AM Alleppey

Alarm went loud and we could see no light outside the window, but we still moved out of the room to view the sun rise, as we had already missed the sunset. It was a great view with sun rays shining slowly to give a reddish look to the sky. Fishermen soon started to cross our houseboat for their work and some waved hand at us, “beautiful gals with eyes half open”. We clicked some snaps and continued to enjoy the rising sun with a morning coffee sip. At around 8 AM Unni came back and kettuvalam disembarked to reach the junction where we started from. On the way we clicked snaps, videos had our breakfast and reached the junction where Anothny was waiting for us. We bid farewell to the back waters in kerela to move towards kovalam.

10th December 08 4.30 PM, Kovalam

Kovalam is a internationally renowned beach(one of the top 10 beaches of World) and it has been favorite haunt of tourists since 1930's. A beach paradise with boundless blue of the Arabian Sea and is a sheltered natural bay and truly it was one. We were already very hungry when we reached our hotel and we moved out to check for a hotel. Sher-e-Punjab restaurant was what we wanted the most. North Indian food, after 5 days was a bliss and we ate more than our appetite along with a good chit chat with owner Ashok using proper Hindi. We came back to the hotel and moved towards the private beach in front of Palm shore where some foreigners were enjoying the sea. We joined them, clicked a lot of snaps and attempt to build a house in the name of Kerela development authority. Fun never ends when you are enjoying and so we continued to play around and there came the clouds again :-(. It didn’t rain fortunately but a clear sunset view was what we longed for. By the time sun was about to set, the clouds cleared a bit and we could see some good view of the setting sun. Dinner at Sher-e-Punjab followed by a stroll at the actual kovalam beach was a perfect way to end a hectic day.

11th December 08, 6.00 AM

Yet again we got up earlier than Mr. Sun and walked towards the beach to click some good snaps and enjoy the early morning stroll on sand. It was as beautiful as the evening and the light house became the best backdrop for our snaps.

At around 9.30 we started towards Kanyakumari, you must appreciate our appetite to see more and more. It was a 3 hour journey and we reached end of India, a spot of Kanyakumari to board a steamer to visit Vivekananda rock. After that we spent some time at Triveni Sangam (three oceans meet) trying to make out the three colors of the water. We could recognize only two but couldn’t wait till sunset as we had to visit wooden palace at our way back. When we reached the palace it was closed and we could just take a few picture at the gates. Am not elaborating much as these were only two places we could visit and it was very hot there. But the experience to touch the last end of India was too encouraging for us to still enjoy the place and the heat.

Next day, 12th December we clicked some snaps around the sea shore and boarded our flight from Trivandrum airport to travel back to Delhi via Chennai. India was playing against England and there was more security than usual at the airport. We are VIPs you would agree!! We had some snacks before boarding Jet-airways as it was no frills, but they served us food on a 1.5 hour flight which we never anticipated so we enjoyed the homely treatment. But Spice Jet(Chennai to Delhi) again mistreated us by providing us water only when we ordered something from their menu. These no frill flights are not worth a travel but price does matter!!!

After 16 days, 29th December 08

Having joined office and covering up a hectic schedule, I didn’t get any time to write this blog. But today, My boss commented on my Kerela snaps, “How can someone come back from such a place and work” and I could do nothing but smile. So, I decided I would walk down the memory lane and visit my beautiful holidays again.

Thanks a lot for reading through such a long blog, but am sure I have convinced you enough to attempt this visit to Kerela which I call - A Nature’s paradise. But do remember the best time to visit Kerela is in the winter months of Nov to Jan and the season starts on 15th December after which the hotel and travel rates would be high, so best before date according to me is 14th Dec. Also, Please remember to take the following along:

One Pullover for Munnar, Pudin hara for your stomach, mosquito repellent and some good CDs and DVDs for the houseboat and sunscreen lotion for Kovalam and an umbrella as it can rain without season.

Wish you a happy journey and a wonderful life!!!