Journey Bhubaneswar to Bangalore to Mysore

TRAVEL MEMOIRS Part 1 of 5
Date of travel: 21-12-2008 (Sunday)

What a memorable week it has been!

I had been on a 5-day holiday trip to Mysore, Ooty and Bangalore, accompanied by my Sana Mamu and Mayeen (Chhote Mama aur Mami), their son Baibhav (Aanoo), daughter Sanjeevani (Linu), Binod Mamu (a cousin uncle) and Lina Mayeen (his wife).

(I'm aware that Bangalore is now Bengalooru. The new name sounds more comic than kuntry; I'll continue to use the older name in my posts.)

This is my first-ever attempt at writing travel memoirs. Since I already had a blog of my own, I was noting down points while travelling around so as to organize and publish them later on my blog. In addition to being able to share my experiences with a larger number of people, I'm pretty sure that these written memoirs will help keep those wonderful memories alive forever!

The first day was all of traveling and none of sight-seeing. We first flew to Bangalore from Bhubaneswar and then traveled to Mysore by car. A few recollections of that day:

Flight delay
This is the most irritating thing that can ever happen on a journey. A 1 hour delay in a 20 hour-or-so train-journey is somewhat acceptable, but a 1 hour delay prior to a 2 hours flight-journey truly blows up one's fuse. The reason suggested for the delay was "fog", though I couldn't see any sign of fog in the sunny sky at 12 noon. Our IT Kingfisher 3446 flight, scheduled to depart at 12:10, finally took off at 13:15.

Window Vista
I had flown quite a few times before and each time, I had been lucky enough to get a window seat. This time, I didn't! Without those wonderful aerial window vistas and those "living-in-the-clouds" feeling, I disappointingly realized that sitting in a flight is not very different from sitting in some A/C deluxe bus (except, probably, for the services of the air hostesses).

Wah, Bangalore Airport!
The dazzling new, lavishly spacious, beautifully crafted and wonderfully well-furnished Bangalore International Airport is a viewer's delight! I have been to the airports at Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and of course, Bhubaneswar; this airport is arguably the best I have seen so far!

Even the slightest touch of disappointment due to the flight-delay vanished in a moment at the amazing sight of this airport!

Gaadi Mere Saathi
A pre-booked Chevrolet Tavera received us at the airport. I must make a special mention of the driver, Mr. Nayaz Khan (Annu), who became our driver-cum-guide for the rest of our trip. An extremely cool guy who once remarked, "Mere life mein koi tension nahin hai, sahab....aur tension aayega bhi toh main lega nahin" (I do not have any tension in my life, Sir...and even if tension arises, I won't take it), he was chirpy, ever-cheerful and always ready to travel that extra mile for our convenience.


Bangalore-Mysore highway
All of our 7 heavy baggages tied on top of our vehicle, we set off for Mysore directly from the airport. Soft Hindi tracks on 94.3FM Radio One, infinite posters of a Kannada movie, Mast Majaa Madi, on the streetwalls and sight of trucks loaded with granite slabs kept us interested on our way out of Bangalore.




On the Bangalore-Mysore highway was located Wonderla, a thrilling amusement park considered to be one among the very best in the country.

Also on the highway was the town of Ramanagaram, on the rocky terrains of which the biggest Bollywood blockbuster Sholay was shot. The most-imitated villain of Indian cinema, Gabbar Singh, had delivered some of his unforgettable dialogues on the hills of this town.

Mysore miss
We entered Mysore at around 20:00 hours. We decided to attend the famous musical fountain show at Brindaban Gardens that night itself, but missed it by a whisker. We reached the place just a minute before the conclusion of the 15-min show.
We had our dinner at Hotel Vishnu Bhavan, a popular veg hotel in Mysore and retired for the day at the CSTRI Guest House.

Part 2 of this series of memoirs (titled: Mystique Mysore) is coming soon...stay tuned!

The first day involved a bit of hectic traveling but set the stage for an exciting experience in the next few days!

A true champion

Anil Kumble has retired from international cricket!

I, generally, do not write articles unless something within myself strongly urges me to do so. This incident has certainly provided that strong urge.

Courtesy the usual fortnightly Analog Circuits tests on Tuesdays, I had been refraining myself from spending time on writing this article since the last couple of days. Not any more!

(By the way, today's Analog Circuits test got postponed to next Tuesday, which simply means that my last weekend's fight has gone in vain.

I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter...

Sounds so true! Doesn't it?)

Why this sudden urge? Anil bhai has been my favourite cricketer ever since I started understanding the game of cricket; a cricketer whom I simply loved to watch in action. He, for sure, didn't have the flamboyance of a Tendulkar or the fashion of a Dhoni, yet he was an elegant and effective cricketer. What struck me most about him was the dignified manner in which he conducted himself, on and off the field. As Ian Chappell puts it,

“He was a cricketer who never compromised his dignity. He fought hard, but never lost his poise”.

In this era of modern cricket, when sledging and violation of rules have become cricket-style, this man, in his 18 years career, has never had to face the match referee for indiscipline; has never ever got involved in any sort of controversy. Hard to believe, isn't it?

I met Anil bhai for the first time (and, till date, the last time as well) in January 2002 when he was in Bhubaneswar for an ODI against England. Wide-chest, big build, easily over 6-ft tall, he presented a giant figure. No wonder they call him “Jumbo”!

Critics have often questioned him as a 'spinner' who couldn't turn the ball enough, something that his contemporaries, Shane Warne or Muttiah Muralitharan, could do so vicously. But Kumble's real strength was in his subtle variation of pace and length and imperceptible deviation in line, that could fool even the best batsman in business. Anyway, when he could pick up more than 900 international wickets with his soft and slow turners, did he need to spin the ball any more?

Anil bhai gave India its proudest moment when he gobbled up all 10 wickets in an innings against Pakistan on a foggy day in February 1999 at the Feroze Shah Kotla, thus becoming only the second cricketer ever to achieve this feat (26.3-9-74-10 were his magical bowling figures). He achieved a personal milestone recently, in August 2007 against England, when he slammed his first international century. No other Indian batsman on that tour could reach triple figures!

Anil bhai celebrates his maiden international century

An incident, which no cricket-enthusiast can ever forget, occurred in May 2002 at Antigua. A Mervyn Dillon bouncer fractured Anil bhai's jaw. He was in pain and stitches. The next morning, during West Indies' batting, he observed Sachin Tendulkar extracting bounce and turn from the wicket. He immediately got up, “I'll go out and bowl”. The jaw was temporarily held in position by a thick bandage, the tooth was moving, there was a big crack. But he wanted to bowl. And so he did. In one of the bravest acts in cricket history that followed, he bowled 14 overs on the trot (yes, 14 overs!) with his broken jaw, claiming the prize wicket of the great Brian Lara in the process. Who would dare to question his commitment?

Anil bhai, with his bandaged fractured jaw, celebrates the dismissal of Brian Lara in a Test match against West Indies at Antigua, 2002

Sourav Ganguly, India's former captain, once remarked, “If the opposition is 250 for 1 and I am looking around the field, there will be one man looking straight back at me because he wants the ball.” That's Anil Kumble!

His contribution to Indian cricket shall be cherished forever. At his final post-match press conference, when he was questioned how he would like to be remembered as, he replied,”...as someone who raised the bar for his team; someone who always gave his 100%”.

His never-say-die attitude will continue to inspire many. His dignity and sportmanship will set benchmarks. He is, and shall forever remain, a true champion!

Dear Anil Bhai,
As you bid good-bye to cricket, an inexplicable sense of disappointment grips my heart. I salute your achievements and contributions! I'll miss you...

Final moments: Last Test match, at Feroze Shah Kotla

Yet another day

Yesterday was an uncharacteristically dull day. My wing seemed unusually silent. I couldn't help but go around finding out what was wrong.

My neighbour, Aruppu, inside his room, was on a "movie spree" (as he termed it). After returning from classes, he had watched 3 movies in a row without break and was in the middle of the 4th when I knocked on his door. I decided not to disturb his flow. I moved along.

A couple of rooms away, Darling was looking blankly at a newspaper, feeling low over a bad quiz result. I tried pepping him up but he was not in the usual kind of mood. I couldn't do anything more than leave him alone.

A few locked rooms thereafter and next came D'ram. He was busy doing something on his comp. I said "Hi" through his window. Without even looking up, he replied a "Hi" so low in volume that I understood he was clearly not interested in anything other than his task at that moment. I continued moving.

One room later was Ala. His dust-allergy had given him a cold. With a towel on his shoulder to counter any untimely nose-overflow, he appeared in a state of discomfort. I compassionately inquired about his health and medication. He needed rest and I decided not to disturb him.

All of a sudden, I started feeling dull and down for no explicable reason. Coming back to my room, I logged onto GTalk with the hope of finding something, someone inspiring. I generally check all the status messages everytime I come online and usually find many interesting ones. But yesterday, as I said, was uncharacteristically dull. Barring the usual KJ's Tran PJs, there wasn't anything much I could derive inspiration from. I changed my status message to "Down...", honestly indicating my state of mind. A couple of people immediately responded and tried to lift my spirits up. It was really nice of them to do so. These kind of responses certainly make one feel that he's being cared for.

During the course of a chat, I realised that I had loads to mug up for my B slot (Communications Systems) exam, scheduled to be held next week. The usual unit of measurement for this course's syllabi is the number of pages to mug from a textbook authored by a certain Bellamy; for the upcoming exam, this number, I was told, was over 200. If Robert Frost knew my plight, he would have probably written this for me:

The chapters are lovely, long and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
Loads to mug before I sleep,
And loads to mug before I sleep.

I wished I could finish off Bellamy the earliest!

It was time to retire to bed. I played some soft Rafi numbers and switched off the lights, vowing to start afresh next morning. Yet another day had ended...

Yun Hi Jee Lenge

This piece by Sahir Ludhianvi truly touched my heart....

Isko hi jeena kehte hain toh yun hi jee lenge,
Uff na karenge, lab see lenge, aansoo pee lenge;
Gam se ab ghabrana kaisa, gam sou baar mila,
Hum ne toh jab maangi kaliyan, kaanton ka haar mila.

For the benefit of those who might need it, here's a crude translation:

"If this is what they call living, I'll live it this way;
I won't moan, I'll stitch my lips, I'll drink my tears;
What's there to be afraid of sorrows now when I've got them a hundred times;
So much that when I requested for flowers, I got a garland of thorns."

Film: Pyaasa (1957)
Singer: Hemant Kumar
Lyrics: Sahir Ludhianvi
Music: SD Burman
Song: Jaane Woh Kaise Log The Jinke...