Chidambaram

III day.

We had BF in Green park and started from there to Chidambaram. We went to see Vaitheeswaran koil and luckily it was Tuesday. There was so much crowd. This temple is among one of the navgraha temples....Mars temple.Shiva is worshipped here as a god of healing.This place is famous for nadi shastra..astrology of palm leaves. I was very curious to know about this for a long time but when time came, people said that its not true and then there are shops in a line..all of them for naadi shastra and no way to kn ow who is genuine.So we didnt ask anything:(..but I still feel that i missed that.)

And then it was time to return back.

When I visited Madurai,Kodaikanal and rameshwaram, i was amazed at what a rich cultural heritage we have, and it has been relegated to a corner. In this era of economic boom, our handloom weavers and local artisans are not getting any benefit of this globalisation. In Madurai one can find golden look earrings and all in just 10/ and they are made from the coins and colored beads. In kodaikanal artificial jewellery in traditional designs is very cheap and good.In Rameshwaram, very good sarees are woven and a fraction of the price . I just wish that some NGOS come forward to organise them, because with some organisation and and some help in the filed of designing and color combinations they can really come very far in life.This way we can save our heritage and give a respectable and comfortable life to our lots of country men

Shopaholic and sister...Sophie Kinsellaa

Shopaholic and sister...Sophie Kinsella
This is about Rebecca brandon, who is newly married and addicted to shopping,suddenly she comes to know that she has a half sister , she tries her best in her style to bond with her. The story is all about her shopping extravaganzas and how they affect her married life and relationships... written in a light hearted way, its quite interesting and enjoyable.

Delhi..Khushwant Singh

Written in first person, this is an account of delhi in  60..70 and some mughals and 17th century people and the environment at that time..people like nadir shah, Poet Meer, Saadi..and kings like aurangjeb, bahudur shah jafar,and there is nothing redeeming about anyone, it seems as if they lived a life of complete debauchery and so did the protagonist.


Snapshots..Shobha dey
i am getting bored with her, she is writing nothing better than porn.

A FINE BALANCE...Rohinton Mistry
This is  a story with real people, set in70.80's.Main character is Dina shroff who is a headstrong person from her childhood, has her own ideas about marriage ,love and life and lives accordingly.Everything is very natural, but one thing disappoints me that there is nothing good happening anywhere anytime in their life and most of the character have many flaws..why couldnt writer make it a little more enjoyable by including some happy moments and some good people. Everybody there suffers a lot and has nothing much to look forward too..There is no saviour anywhere..quite depressing..I would rather read about some imaginary people than reading such misery..

One Amazing thing..Chitra bannerjee Divakaruni
I am becoming her fan, whatever she writes,one thing is sure that it would be interesting. here the story starts in Indian visa office in US where people of different countries are present and an earthquake happens, they are trapped, and then they decide that to pass the time each one should tell one amazing thing or incident from one's life...All the stories are not given closure, I would have liked it more to see the end..its an open book.

I heard a lot about Virginia Woolf, so got a book from her, but i couldnt read it:(
Read a short story collection, collected by Khushwant Singh, where stories are from famous writers, some translated from different languages...few are good, but nothing much to write about

Is it?

It has been a long time and I have so much to say but still thoughts are so muddled up in my mind that it would take tine to sort them out.I was on my vacation trip to my siblings and mom and state.yes there is a change in places also.Specially if you go there in winter, everything is so different. And now living here for so many years, I am not used to cold weather, so instead of enjoying quilts and hot tea, I found it troublesome.. See this happens even in India, why blame those who immigrate abroad:)..There are always few things which we miss and other which we dont like.
I miss the way we celebrate the festivals in north, and those get together like bhajans, Sundar kand path and even kitty parties,and people meeting with open hearts,but totally dislike the display of wealth in everything and so much wastage of food just to show off,and people always running after money.....
Here I like the spiritual bend of mind, people more interested in fine arts, simple food, I just wish that they were a little more social and cordial to visitors.
People like me sometimes feel homeless, as we dont feel like we belong to north the way we should and here in south we are always north Indians so who am I?
I am an Indian....may be thats why we feel national  identity more than the regional one....
What do you think?

Kumbhkonam

II day.

We had a sumptous BF what with hot idlies, Vadas, dosa, and butter toast too, with hot coffee, couldnt ask for anything else, filled myself to the brim and then we started to Kumbhkonam.

After around one hour we reached Patteswaram temple, this is durga temple and the idol is covered with silver.
Darasuram..This is the Unesco heritage site, a hindu temple built in dravidian style..huge gopuram and shivling.
Nageshwara kovil....This is a shiva temple and known for its shrine of Rahu..its one among the navgrah temples.
Uppiliappan coil....This is very near to Nageshwaram temple and dedicated to Vishnu.

Now the times was around 12, the time for temples to be closed , so we looked around for a hotel and found Green Park...it was reasonably good, we had a big room with dining table and sofa,we didnt need all that but it was spacious and clean and with all the amenities too..like AC TV.We had lunch in their restaurant and it was delicious.Though they dont serve everything they list in menu.Then we took some rest, but when i am out , i dont feel like resting, so we went out around 3.30, and started from Sarangpani temple..But it was closed and they said that they would open at 4.30, but they didnt open till 5.30.So we just sat there..It has a very big chariot, biggest i have seen so far. It is said that this is the biggest Vishnu temple in south.

Next on my list was Ramaswamy temple, this is called the Ayodhya of south, as there are few temple here where we can see Ram sita, lakshaman , Bharat and Shatrughna..When we do parikrama we see the whole Ramayana depicted thru pictures all around,but all the description is in Tamil, so we cant enjoy them..

NAGESHWARAM KOVIL

DARASURAM

RAMASWAMY TEMPLE

KASI VISHWANATH

UPPILIAPPAM KOVIL

SARANGPANI

Kasi vishwanath..This is a shiva temple, deity being the same who is in Varanasi..it has Mahamman tank also and it is said that all sins can be washed away by having a bath there.

Outside Ramaswamy temple there are many tea shops and serve excellent tea, so good that i had two:)..I wanted to see the market but driver couldnt find parking ,so we had to go back to hotel and called it a day

THANJAVUR

I was planning for a long time to see the temple cities of Tn and this time on sakranti god fulfilled my wish.We made a three day trip
1 day..

we started from Chennai around 6 in the morning. whenever i get up early, it feels so fresh and rejuvenating that i promise myself that i am going to make it a routing, but sadly it never happens.Since I didnt know anything about either the cities or temple, my friend's DIL made a detailed itinerary for me, keeping in mind my preferences.and what a methodical person she is.I feel very grateful to her, as she did it on a very short notice.She had advised us to have breakfast at Neyvelli..ITC restaurant, but since we started a little late,(she had advised us to start at 5.30), our driver stopped somewhere on the way to eat..but the place was not good, neither the food nor cleanliness..

Around 11 we reached Chidambaram and saw Natraj temple its a very ancient temple of Shiv ,what a huge temple it is, one gets the feeling of complete awe.There were so many foreigners there and most of the women wearing silk sarees and I thought what an irony it is, our young generation finds it cumbersome and they are loving it.There all Swamis keep asking you about your address, but our friend had already warned us not to tell it to anyone.so we had darshan and came out. There are many restaurants outside, so one can have lunch there.

Then since it was closing time for temples we decided to travel to Thanjavur. On the way we had some tea and snacks.I found lot of thatched houses there, may be because of heat..In TN, it looks that govt hasnt gone to the interiors, development is limited to big cities only. There are narrow bumpy roads.But it was therapeutic to see so much of lush greenery.We reached there around 3.30 and went to see Thanjavur Palace first...Its not exactly palace like, just a reminder of that. Rest there are museums.for old manuscripts.and you will be surprised to know that even in 17th century medical people had full diagrams of our systems.There are different type of files,minute writings on tree barks...Then there are bronze statues and so finely carved that you can see the nails even beautifully...amazing craft and people we had..

Then we went to see Brihadeeshwar temple and it was the most beautiful and big temple I have seen, everything is so huge and amazing, even if one takes a parikrama it will take some time..I cant express in words..its impact on you...awesome..

THANJAVUR PALACE

CHIDAMBARAM TEMPLE

bRIHADEESHWAR TEMPLE

Then we looked for the hotel to stay. There were two good ones but they didnt have place and some were very expensive. Ultimately we found onePLA Residency..it was excellent, in everything.ambiance, comfort and cleanliness and reasonable too at 2200/ night inclusive of BF and what a sumptuous BF they had..perfect.Since the market was completely closed we had an early night.

Politics

I feel very frustrated when some famous people say that politics and sports should be  kept separate or music and politics should be kept  separate. arent sports and music a part of our life and arent our soldiers a part of our life? If our hand is hurt our eyes cry, can we keep them separate and say dont feel hurt?Our soldiers are not killed, they are BEHEADED...shouldnt we  say in one voice.we shall not tolerate it?.Is it politics to feel for our fellow countrymen?...

How can people even think about AMAN KI AASHA  and SUR SHETRA with this back ground. We are considered weak if we think humane.War is not the answer and so is these culture exchanges..First we must make ourselves strong in all respects..internal, security and border security..and traitors should be punished, cleanse our own society, only then think about any cultural or otherwise exchanges.

SUPERSTAR INDIA

SUPERSTAR INDIA..Shobha De
It is about India, Indian people, their quirks, moralities, food everything. She has written and covered almost everything about our lives and since this book was written in 2008, situation has changed. She thought Mayawati and Hillary Clinton will be heads in their respective place but it didnt happen..She has hyped Vijay Mallya..look where is he now and same with Amar singh..India is changing at a higher speed than she could visualise.  The only thing that rankles me is that for the things she ridicules and in the same line she accepts that she also does the same.so if evolved people will also not make effort to change then how will it be done.
But the book is written in a fluid way and very interesting to read, I wanted to quote many sentences here, but I think it would be better if you read it..
worth it, try it

ENGLISH AUGUST..Upmanyu Chatterjee
I am puzzled why some writers are hyped so much..heard a lot about this book and there was a movie too but its totally boring, secondly the protagonist has no redeeming qualities..He is an IAS officer, but has no honesty of thoughts or deeds, uses obscene language, smokes drugs, shirks from his job and duties and fantasises about his friend's mother and another friend's kid daughter...I abhor such people..
not worth trying even.



MISTRESS OF SPICES...Chitra BanerjeeDivakaruni
This book has been made into a movie also starring Aishwarya Rai, though i can imagine her as mistress of spices. I havent seen the movie, but book is superb. Its a fantasy of the writer that there  is this occult art where one can learn to speak to spices and be guided by them and help a lot to others thru them, but as is usual there are certain restrictions to lead that life and one cant deviate from that line.
very interesting book, worth a read.


TELL ME YOU DREAMS..Sydney Sheldon.
Very usual Sydney sheldon, but interesting...