"Awesome Kalasa Experience"

Before even I started writing this mixed experience, I knew this would be running very long. All the way in this trip I had a very mixed feeling of not having my best friends accompanying me. Somehow this was biting me badly inside. But I had to make this trip for many reasons. I needed a grand break. And this break was made possible by Girish, Mangesh and the surprise package Sumedh, my best buddy from college.

Day one:

Start off with Goddess Annapoorneshwari's blessings:

We reached Kalasa Town in the morning at 7a.m to be picked by our trek organiser Mohan's brother. The Jeep that we were picked up was disappointing. I was hoping the trip would not end with the same quality. We were welcomed by Mohan and his Home Stay attenders with a beautiful breakfast. We had a quick shower and started off to Annapoorneshwari Temple. Horanadu & Kalasa are synonymous with this temple. The Experience of the temple to start off our trip was great and a DIVINE one. Anytime one happens to be around Horanadu must visit this gorgeous temple. The bright face of Goddess Annapoorneshwari really mesmerizes you. I was just looking at Her face & lost myself into the divine world, only to be pushed by the waiting devotees to make a move.


Second destination: Kalasa View Point

Around 3 km from our home stay is Kalsa view Point. We were not very happy go to the view point. Mohan, insisted us to go this place as he considers this as the best place to get a bird's eye view of the entore kalsa town area. Mind you, it was too good. Full of mist. Every step we trekked up to this point was worth this visit. Once the mist settled down , it was time for some
Click-click. Below are some of the photos that I happened to take here. Hope u like them.



We came back to the home stay to have some Kokum Juice and snacks. Straight away started to our next destination.




Third Destination: Kyatanamakki Hills:

I had seen the photos of this place posted by one of my trekking friends. These were the photos for which I had to come here. The jeep that disappointed us in the morning had to prove us wrong. There is no other machine in the world which can make it to the top of these hills. First 10 km were pretty OK to drive around. We had nice back massage all the way. We never expected the bumppy ride to become a life time experience. The next 8 km were absolutely non-motorable. I do not know how the driver managed to get us there on the top of the hills safely. We drove through roughest of the rain forests to reach this place. The fotos below are self explainatory. The winds were quite wild and it was difficult to stand on the top for long. The picturesque view from the top is worth a million bucks. One can experince best of the Malnad Jungle views and the entire Mountain range from this point. Standing at 6500ft above sea level this place is not to be missed.

We had packed our lunch from the homestay. Lunch 6500ft above sea level is something very few people on this earth would experience in their life time. Pictures speak louder than my words!


Fourth Destination: Hidden Paradise, a water falls in the midst of the jungle.


On the way back from Kyatanamakki hill top, the driver drove us through Malnad Shola forest. All the way down till the Water falls it was slippery. Driving was very difficult and the rain Gods did not favour any drivable weather. It started raining quite heavily and we ran into the Jungle only to find a dream water falls there. Passed our time for an hour playing in the ice cold waters till the rains stopped. what an experience to end the day. We were all drenched and dripping from everywhere. Come, live my first day's experience with some more photos.

Why am I Happy on YSR's Death?

Hello Friends,

I had put up a message on my orkut account reflecting my happiness on YSR's death. Not to my surprise, I had a flood of scraps and notes from many of my friends showing difference of opinion. People asking me how come I can be happy on somebody's death. Dead is dead and why I should be putting comments on a public platform or social networking site like Orkut ? On the face of it they are right. I don't deny that. Anyone when alive has religion, sex, caste etc attached to him/her. Once the person is dead he/she is no one but the past tense. Why be so sentimental about it?


For me, there are two kinds of people on this earth. One is good and the other not so good. YSR falls in the second category. People who are not so good are either born black sheep, or lack of opportunity makes them a bad person. YSR since becoming the CM of Andra Pradesh was involved in Large scale conversions of poor Hindu people in the tribals belt to Christianity. My investigation in these years show me a staggering figure of 20% of AP region is Christian today by the grace of YSR. Following any religion is not a crime nor is conversion, until and unless u are not hurting sentiments of other people and cause social dis-Harmony.

Some factual and true allegations against YSR.

1. More than 500 Hindu temples destroyed in the last 6 years. Hindu temples have become a joke for the Govt and have been given no support to carry on their practices. Most Money making (thru donations and funds) temples are taken over by Govt and the money is being mis-utilized to convert people. what a day are we here to witness. Hindus funding their temples to get converted to Christianity !

2. The world's Richest temple, Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam (TTD) as we know was always under the Govt. The money of this rich temple was taken out by the govt in the name of welfare of the poor and being used for converting Hindus. Pamplets were being distributed by missionaries for not to attend or visit temples. They have set up 70 churches on the main Tirumala Hill and writing derogatory statements against the peace loving Hindus and their beliefs. 70 churches on Tirumala Hill !! Where did all the money come from? Why are churches being built on Tirumala hill? Why not other places? How dare Christ followers are writing dirty about Hindus Gods? Who is backing them up? If not Govt, then who?

YSR himself being a Christian , do u think he would not have supported this? The Temple authorities' religion is changed, they have been converted. The people who make the delicious Laddoos for prasadam, the temple Barbers who shave devotees' heads willing to give away their hair for the God, the cleaners, security are all Christian today...!!

3. 2 among the 7 Sacred Hills belonging to TTD were auctioned for sale and guess who won the bid, none other than Missionaries! Do u smell something rotten? If Missionaries dont have money, where is the money coming from to buy such high priced land? There has been a Stay order now against the sale after a massive awareness effort by the pro Hindu Nationalist organizations. The YSR govt justified the sale/auction of the hills by saying TTD did not have enough Liquidity funds to run its machinery!! World's richest temple which recieves funds close to 2 million dollars everyday does not have money? So easy to gimmic and fool poor and innocent Hindus.


4. Christian Subsidy to travel to Jerusalem for Christians. What a shame !! Why cant Christians of India look towards their own country for Holy places? Why Jerusalem? Why cant Indian churches be Indianized and have their Independent mechanism? While Hindus are given zero Subsidy to visit their Holy places why Subsidy to Muslims and Christians? That too from the hard earned Tax money of the Hindus.

Coming back on rejoicing on the death of so called good CM of the poor ,YSR, I am happy not on his death, but I expect the Inter faith conflicts raised up by his rule would come down. I only expected a double bonus if his Son also were to be in that chopper that day. Not so lucky! Why should one not rejoice on the death of a devil who did not respect other religions? When we can celebrate Deepavali for its history, Dasara for history why not YSR's death? I did, not on an individual's death but on the death of the Devil and its direct outcomes.

Being good and true is always the Dharma followed by every Hindu. Being ignorant and over-complacent in the name of Peace is what is killing Hindus from inside. This is very well described in Bhagwad Geeta as "Sajjan Vikruti" One cannot be immune to evil happenings in the name of being good. Every man is a Kshatriya in his own terms. As and when required the Kshatriya inside us has to wake up to the call of the society and fight for it. Now its the right time.


Jai Shri Ram,

Bharat Mata ki Jai.

Why do I end up writing on food?

I have been wondering all these days why I end up writing all my posts on food... Strange ! Personally speaking, I have varied ideas and vast topics on which I can write and share with you all. Somehow I end up writing only on food and publish it. Today, when I published the post on Brindavan Hotel, I felt it even very strongly. Read all my posts again with utmost care and detailed eye.... I smelt food again !!

Ooooppps, I have had enough on the blogger about food... So what all can I write on? Our great country - Bharat, History and lessons learnt, Science and Technology, Travel, Photography, Fitness, Clothing, Market, Office culture, Religion etc .... The list is actually never ending...I Plan to make sections for each of these topics and write...See you there


Support me all along and keep commenting...Happy blogging.

Brindavan Hotel

How would you like to walk on a bustling road: Traffic. Pollution. Construction. Mortar. Cranes. Screeching vehicles. Hunger. Basically, good old M.G. Road. You are still walking... You turn to your left. There is a sign that says "Brindavan Hotel". What the heck you say! You walk in (you are hungry, remember!! anything will do at the moment!). You enter the building. What you see around you is somewhat different. Oasis, you say. Of course, you would. Since starting off in 1967 the ambience of the hotel (translate it to restaurant) has not changed much.

Mr. Mohan Rao, the hotel owner gave us a short course on the history of the place. Which I will tell you later. Let's come back to our hunger. Food. It was Saturday noon and lunch time. Time for full meals. Unlimited. Eat as much as you can. Finishing off roti, 4 kinds of sabji, rasam, rice, sambaar took not more than 30 mins. Fabulous!! I could write pages of how good the food is. The rasam itself is worth a king's ransom. But that is what makes Brindavan a favourite with some very well known names from the Southern part of India.

The chairs and tables are slowly being replaced as all date back to the day the hotel was started and have begun to show signs of age. But Mr. Rao assured us that no other changes will be made to the place. Even the new furniture is stated to be such that it can mingle with the ambiance. We expressed our displeasure that the furniture was being replaced.

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In case you didn't notice, I keep mentioning about the owners. Yes, Mr. Rao was generous enough to spend time with us and supply our curiosity with answers. Considering the fact that he has hobnobbed with some very big names, this was an absolute honour.

He gave us a brief history of the place. Mr. Rao is from Mangalore but grew up in Tamil Nadu (he speaks very good Tamil). This place was got on rent initially from the owner of that land. Raja Muthiah Chettiar himself suggested to Mr. Rao's father that they should take this place. And the inauguration too was done by Raja Muthiah Chettiar. The owner impressed by what they had done to the place suggested that they buy it!! Once again Raja Muthiah Chettiar came to the rescue and the land was bought (the land itself is worth crores today considering that it is bang on M.G. Road). Where lesser mortals pretend to be great, Mr. Rao spent time with us and gave us a round of the menu served as well!

The pongal served in Brindavan is the kind that grandmother made. No onions and certainly not watery!! Same goes for the vattakuzhambu. The person who cooked initially was from Pallakadu. Mr. Rao tells us he would not enter the kitchen without a bath. Then the kitchen would be cleaned, the stove got it's respect, only then cooking would begin. The gentleman was with Brindavan for the initial 15 years till the day he passed away! Hiring a new cook was not easy but fortunately the gentleman who assisted was now promoted. From what I have tasted, I know he is doing a great job.

Apart from Raja Muthiah Chettiar the place is frequented by artists - Mandilin Srinivas, P. Susheela are just a few - and businessmen of various nature. Don't want to name here but a certain gentleman running his own chain of restaurants is known to frequent Brindavan!!!














Is it a surprise then that they were the runners-up in the Times of India's “Dosa Coffee” contest (they were a last minute entry). The Deccan Herald has to say this about Brindavan http://www.deccanherald.com/content/6459/southern-touch.html.

At just Rs. 70/- a thali, it is just perfect! Right in the middle of M.G,Road you can actually get food that is priced like that, is unlimited, tastes amazing and the hotel owners are more like hosts. If you haven't guessed it yet, yes I went there again ;-) and that's how the photos of Masala Dosa and coffee!!

Veena Stores

" Veena Stores "

Location: Margosa road and 15th cross Junction in Malleshwaram, Bangalore.

Specialty: Popular for Idli - Wada and Khara Bhaat (Upma).

About the place:

Veena Stores is strategically located for good business. Right at the junction of 15th cross and Margosa road in Malleshwaram, very next to a bus stop. There are multiple reasons why this place is so much crowded. One being the location and the second and the Most important the kind of dishes that are available. Idli- wada and Khara Bhaat are most popular amongst the food lovers. The specialty being, the Idli just melts in your mouth. I swear, you dont even have to bite it. Keep it on your tongue and it melts, literally. Similarly with the upma that is made here. The upma is simply out of the world. The flavours are great and the aroma is heavenly. Cashew nuts that go into the 'tadka' with other masala add to the richness of this dish.

It also serves very popular south Indian dishes like Shaawage Bhaat (Sevvaiyan upma), Kesari bhaat (a sweet, that is normally in combination with Upma called 'Chow-Chow bhaat') etc. There have been many new additions into the menu recently. Poha, Sweet pongal, Pongal etc. Have had a privilege to taste all these dishes whenever i had wished to, as i stay very close to this place (Rajajinagar 1st block). What you don't get here is Sambaar for the dishes, but chutni for everything. There is a 'chutni man' standing outside the stall to serve people who have run out of chutni. Chutni is not very spicy but just right. Served with almost every dish at this place. Thats default. If you don't need chutni please let the serving man know in advance.

Every day scene:

Crowded place. Its always peak hours. Anyone who has a first look at this place from a distance keeps guessing whether a group of people arguing on the foot path or there is some interesting street show going on. The eatery opens at 7 every morning has its days break at 12. Reopens again at around 3 pm to close later in the day around 8.30 pm. Sundays open for half day. People come, enjoy their food and walk away with a happy tummy.

Ambiance is typical road side stall like. This shop has only one counter that serves food that is shared with the cashier standing at the corner. People just pop their hands out, order what they want, pay and collect the coupons for it. Rub your shoulder at the serving counter get your dish and happily enjoy standing on the clean Malleshwaram footpath. Yes, there are no seating arrangements. You can only call it a concrete road side stall, but that would not be nice to this place that serves the best south Indian Dishes.

Popularity:

Known to almost everyone who stay in Malleshwaram, Rajajinagar Area. It hits the news Papers every now and then. The owner proudly displays the published columns in his shop. People who have to catch their bus from this place have to have at least a coffee with single idli everyday. The morning and evening walkers also spend some time here. Its so popular that you should not be surprised if known public figure like Industrialists, Film stars, Politicians are seen enjoying their dish quietly in their parked cars in the next lanes. Have seen few Kannada movie stars myself, sending their drivers to get the dish and then lavishly enjoying it in their Mercs, BMWs and Porsches. Located next to a bus stop also attracts moving people easily.

Costs:

Very down to earth. A plate Idli - Wada and a coffee should cost you not more than 20 Rupees. But of course, you will not stop at just one plate, I bet !!


Menu :

Idli,
Wada,
Shaawage Bhaat,
Khaara Bhaat,
Kesari Bhaat,
Pongal,
Sweet Pongal,
Puliogare,
Avalakki bhaat (Poha),
Coffee, Tea
and some very nice Herbals Cool drinks.

Ratings out of 5 stars

Ambiance : ***
Food: *****
Value for money: **** and half


**** A MUST TRY PLACE FOR EVERY BANGALOREAN !!!!!!! ****

This is my entry to the online event - Latest eat-out in B'lore - hosted by .::Metamorphosis::.