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South Canara: Where the Divine Meets the Green

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On the way back from Kukke Subramanya As a child, you visit a place and remember it - for the right reason or the wrong one. If that place leaves no mark, it simply fades away. About 25 years ago, I embarked on a temple tour across the Western Ghats with my extended family, thanks to my mama and manni (mami) . All I knew then was that it would be a fun trip. Beyond that, I had no expectations. It was a week-long pilgrimage that took us through Shravanabelagola, Belur, Halebeedu, Udupi, Dharmasthala, Sringeri, Kollur, and Horanadu. Sringeri Sharadamba Temple I still recall the enchantment of those places. The lush, evergreen slopes of the Western Ghats, bathed in the dusky hues of evening and refreshed by intermittent rain, have stayed etched in my memory ever since. Every turn on those winding roads, with terraced hillsides, charming homes, and coffee and tea plantations blending into the scenery, held an aura that words could never capture. Each stop felt like stepping into a ...
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Rudram

As you already know, I hail from Malleswaram in Bangalore.  It's the area with the maximum TamBrahm population.  The Kanchi Kamakoti Mutt is very close to my house, and I was always filled with fascination when I entered the temple premises.  The Veda Pathashaala kids have a unique charm about themselves and it's quite interesting how they carry on with their daily lives with a sense of discipline and devotion. As a kid, even as I went to college and work, I had the habit of going to the Mutt at least once a week.  My mother was much more regular than me.  The priest conducting the daily prayers and rituals was an epitome of perfect Vedic intonations.  There is something striking when somebody can recite the hymns with grace and authority.  The rendering, with the constant ebbs and flows, is easy to leave anyone in a state of trance.  It's pure bliss. After a few visits, I knew pretty much everyone in the temple.  I approached the perso...
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Beijing

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The Great Wall China is a fascinating country.  The fact that it is the most populous country in the world with the communist regime keeping a check on every citizen's fundamental rights is something that I have not experienced in India or the United States.  Though, with all the dangers that behold the world, no country can safely say that it does not monitor its citizens. Exploring other cultures and understanding their day to day lifestyle is a great aspect of travel.  Anyway, I was on a one week business trip to China and my trip was filled with interesting experiences. Day 0 - Vegetarian The start could not have been worse.  As I got into the flight, I realized that I did not mention about my dietary requirements at the time of booking.  So, I asked the stewardess if there was any option of me getting a vegetarian meal. She asked me,  "Have you mentioned it at the time of booking?" I said, "No" "Then sorry.  We don't bring vegeta...
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The social syndrome

My friend told me that he never blocks any of his friends on his Facebook news feed because that's the way he gets maximum fun on Facebook. "It's a great way to pass time.  Most of the guys I barely know.  Half of them are jokers." But, I somehow don't have the time for most of the nonsense that goes in the name of updates.  I don't even have a dedicated Facebook app on my mobile phone.  I just use the People Hub to get updates of people who are there in my phone book contacts.  Otherwise, I just don't care.  Most of the important updates in my friends' lives still come via emails or phone calls. Anyway, last week, we had been to the Sunnyvale Hindu temple.  After the renovation work, it's all the more beautiful.  And as is the norm, we met someone we knew.  As I said earlier, you just have to step out of the house, and you'll meet someone you know. We exchanged pleasantries. I knew he was in the bay area. Then, he told me, "I...
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Meetups

Meetups can be predictable, and also, totally unpredictable and unexpected.  In the Bay Area, we meet people consistently without a planned agenda.  Sometimes, we go to a restaurant and it just doesn't feel right, "How come we haven't met anyone today? What's wrong?" We have really had strange encounters. I had gone to the nearest Indian restaurant with my colleague.  Nowadays, I don't even act surprised when I see someone I know.  It's become a part of life.  I just greet and move on. Anyway, we both picked our stuff and were having our food at the table.  Suddenly, I see someone walk up front, order his food and walk back to his table.  I immediately told my colleague, "I think I know him.  He resembles a guy who was in Boston, but what is he doing here? I don't even know whether it's the same guy." My colleague told me to go talk to him if I was so confused.   I figured I would rather go talk to him, than wonder the rest of ...
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The food challenge

From Wikipedia, an oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines contradictory terms.  I don't need a Wikipedia to get this basic information.  I learnt this in my primary school.  But, life throws many such explanations on a day to day basis and still sometimes, you make the same mistakes again and again. My wife and I are foodies.  My wife always complains that I eat and she puts on calories.  Yeah, yeah, yeah! I watch my weight.  And, definitely, that's not my problem.  But, when it's not your problem, and it's her problem, it means there is a problem.  No question about that. Sample the many such scenarios on a day to day basis. We go to Sprouts (it's an awesome place in Sunnyvale).  You get all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables.  And, you also have a section where you have the best chocolates, nuggets, almond coated dark chocolates, walnut coated chocolates, and a wide variety of stuffed chocolates with whatever nuts and re...
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The tryst with spelling

Spelling and grammar form the two pillars of any language.  The fact that there is a Scripps National Spelling Bee challenge to test the outrageous abilities of young kids only highlights the fact that the language with all its abbreviations and short cuts, still relies heavily on the correct spellings and pronunciations.  The advent of several portable devices has given rise to a situation where people think that the colloquial usage of certain words is now not an aberration, but the norm. I do have a smartphone just like any other spoilt human being today.  I text people, though not as frequently as the teens of today.  The main usage of my smartphone is to guzzle news reports and feeds, and of course check my email and reply with not-so-long emails.  For the longer emails, I revert to my laptop with keyboard support. I cringe when I see messages like this. ill c u tmrw cos i m bz at prty tnite got 2 do my wrk tday. can u snd me ur notes There is ab...
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India cash and carry, Sunnyvale

Bay area signifies a lot of positive things for an engineer.  I've always dreamt about the place ever since I was in college, and after a few years of learning my wares at the mid-west, I moved to the west coast. San Francisco, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Santa Clara and so many other small cities signify the heart of the tech population in the country.  Every lane, every street, every building in every corner, houses an engineering setup - startup or a multi-national.  When friends from other cities come over for a visit (which itself is rare when you are in the mid-west), they drool at the sight of these companies. "Man, I need to come here." "This is the place to be, for a techie" and so on. The weather is cool, doesn't get into the extremes, although the winters can be colder than to your liking.  Whatever it is, there is something that makes bay area tick when it comes to engineering.  Being an Indian, unlike in any other part of the US, you would see...
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Taiwan

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Travelling is fun.  There are no two ways about it.  You always pick something new when you see a new place.  My friends, who are on constant business visits to China, when they tell me about their experiences, I wonder how it would be for a vegetarian to survive in a South East Asian nation.  I didn't have to wait long enough as I was sent to Taiwan on a business visit along with a colleague. Taichung, Taiwan I found my window seat on the plane.  Of course, I was expecting a middle aged man or an old lady to find his/her seat next to mine.  That's the way it's always been.  All the good looking girls were seated right behind me or just ahead of me.  Obviously, I was totally surprised, when a young lady walked towards the seat next to mine.  Something had to be wrong, I was sure.  Anyway, the introductions were done.  She was a French girl settled in the US.  Fun company, I thought.  I checked my Lumia 920 for the me...
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India trip - Learnings

Coincidence is a rare thing.  It happens all the time, but unless it is absolutely explicit, you don't realize that there was actually one.  Some of the worst and best things in life are those that happen on the spur of the moment, and somehow, when they seem to be remotely connected, they add a new flavor to the whole situation.  Mostly, you're making a reference to someone, when the same person either calls you the next instant or shows up on you.  You call it a happy coincidence or a comeuppance depending on your equation with the reference. You question yourself occasionally. Recently, I was at a point where I was questioning my beliefs and the whole purpose of existence, presence of God and so on about things which I have no idea of, and which even if I read a million texts, would ascertain none.  I spoke to a lot of people, and most of them have been through this phase or dismiss it as over the board thinking.  Whatever! I am surprised that peopl...
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