We are among Top 100

The results are out and we are among the top 100 in the ongoing TGDC contest. And boy we were relieved. !! Its been quite some time since we felt like this. The feeling akin to a student waiting for results or a lover waiting for the nod of his sweetheart. Very unusual circumstances for a normal techie couple to undergo, but then since we entered this contest, things have been anything but usual. Since Anand is very busy with his work commitments, I had to take it up as a challenge to work on the application, those maps etc, and after we put the kids to sleep, we would discuss and rework where necessary , sometimes well until 2 am. This contest has got us into backpacker mode since the day we saw the advt and we've been fighting that childlike giggle everytime we think of our travel plan. Its been amazing till now and now we've set our sights higher.

A Dream called TGDC

Welcome to the weird, wired, virtual world.. where everyone's connected to each other via Orkut, Facebook, or Gmail. The Great Driving Challenge campaign has brought out travel enthusiasts, bloggers, photgraphers, amateurs and professionals alike. Everyone vying for votes, some reaching out to their long lost cousins, some making up with his nitpicky neighbour, just to make that extra vote count. Everyone tweeting, burning midnight oil or CFL lamps rather, staring at their lappy screens , tracking their vote count.........what not. This campaign brought out a thousand dreams, but one desire to turn it into reality. Whoever goes on to drive those 3 golden cars will be followed, cheered, encouraged, applauded at every milestone.

Coming to our journey in this contest so far, We have done a great job reaching out to friends, friends of friends, and our Orkut communities. Our friends have genuinely supported us, campaigned on our behalf, and cheered us at every step. Their love has touched us in a way never felt before, and we are really grateful to each and everyone of our voters. We're happy to have experienced the love and affection of 630 + (at last count) wellwishers through this campaign. Integrity is something which we stand for and genuinely believe in. Hailing from humble middle class households, our feet stand in terra firma and our life so far is self made. Our travels are all about self discovery and living the moment to the fullest. Whether the chai that we have in a road side shack or the pasta in a high end Italian bistro, its our togetherness which adds flavour to our experiences.

Thank you TGDC for a wonderful campaign which brought out a thousand brilliant stories, dreams, travelogues, photographs and an enriching learning experience. We enjoyed this experience with all humility, integrity and creativity.

Lastly, TGDC, if you were looking for a couple for whom, travel is all about discovery, and not going from point A to point B, then look no further... Your search ends here..

Thank you TIA

I'm part of this orkut community and blessed I am to be a TIAn. I've posted our link requesting fr votes and got great response from this close knit family of sweet,cute, smart, intelligent and progressive women.

Telugu Inti Adapuduchulu !!!!!

We Rock!!!

TB and TBFC

Today we requested our orkut communities, Telugu Brahmins, TBFC to help us in getting more votes.. and got some good response. Considering the fact that , it was against rules in the above communities to post personal advertising threads, we could not do it earlier. We requested the moderators, but they promised to keep the thread only for 48 hours. Let's hope for the best.

View The Road Less Travelled in a larger map

The Great Driving Challenge

Hey friends,

We entered the Great Driving Challenge cconducted by Mitsubishi Cedia Sports and we would like to seek your support in the form of votes and testimonials. Please click this link below and keep the votes flowing...

http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/application/Ananda/
This is going to be one helluva ride....

We have been to Mantralayam in Kurnool district (A.P) recently by car. We were planning to visit the sacred samadhi of Sri Guru Raghavendra Swamy since long but it materailised now. We could not take pictures inside the temple as it is not allowed.

Mantralyam is a Hindu religious place where the Moola Bridavanam of Sri Guru Raghavendra Swamy is located. Sri Guru Raghavendra Swamy, (1601-1671), was an influential saint in Hinduism. He advocated Vaishnavism (i.e. worship of Vishnu as the supreme God.) and Dvaita philosophy advocated by Sri Madhwacharya. He is considered to be a reincarnation of Prahlada, the devotee who was saved by Vishnu, in his avatar of Narasimha. Shri Raghavendra Swamy is said to have performed many miracles during his lifetime and is believed to continue to bless his devotees to this day.

On our way back, we were delighted to see vast expanses of Sunflower fileds... it was like a yellow treat to eyes.. we took pictures and played in fields like children... enjoy the pics..

Vacation

Hey,

I've disappeared for quite a while, didn't I ? I've been on a vacation from 25th April to 11th May and I'm back rejuvenated and relaxed. I've been to my hometown Visakhapatnam, the most beautiful place on earth, or so I feel. I was joined by my hubby after a week and we set out leaving our kids with their grand parents.

We have been to Puri and Konark in Orissa and Bhadrachalam in AP and must say the heat was too much. But we were undeterred and were waiting for a break from the routine, so we didnt complain. Visited the famous Jagannath Temple in Puri and The Konark Sun Temple in Orissa for which a detailed account will follow soon. 

Bhadrachalam, the abode of Sri Rama, is the other place that we visited and we were pleased with ourselves to see the famous temple and the jewellery that Bhakta Ramadas has offered to the lord. Legend goes that Ramadas who was an official in Md. Tanisha's court, made the jewellery for Rama, Sita , Lakshmana and Bharata from the tax money he collected, for which he was imprisoned. Lord Rama appeared in Tanisha's dream and offered him 10000 gold coins and ordered him to release his devotee, which the nijam obliged. It was in prison that Ramadas wrote the famous keerthanas like ''Seethammaku cheyisti chintaku patakamu'' in which the ardent devotee taunts the Lord himself saying '' evarabba sommani kulukuchu tirigevu ramachandra''. Must say it was a treat in a material and also spiritual sense, to see those famous jewels in the museum right beside the temple.

We had a great time and in spite of the heat, we made sure we enjoyed every bit of it.

Trip to Vaishno Devi

Our daughter's name is Vaishnavi and there is a little back story behind her name. In the sixth month of my pregnancy I had Mata Vaishnodevi in my dream and she told me that there is a baby girl in there and asked me what I would name her. In total rapture , I replied that I would name the baby after Mata herself and the mysterious part of this dream is that I have never seen her before. Yet when I had Mata in my dream, there was only one name on my lips. Considering it to be 'Mata ka Bulawa' we set off to pay our obeisance to Mata in 2007 DEC after Vaishnavi's first birthday.

Since we haven't been there before, we left the kids in my hometown Visakhapatnam, or Vizag as it is fondly called, with their grandparents, and came back to Hyderabad. To our suprise we had tickets available to Delhi just the next day (normally trains to Delhi are jampacked and one needs to book well in advance to get reservation) so gladly booked and started packing hurriedly. We planned our itinerary during the journey. We reached Delhi,from there we went to Agra. We found out from the station master that there was a train to Jammu that passes thru Agra so we decided to take it.Finally the train came and the TC allotted berths to us against some cancellations. That part ended well and we sighed a relief. The next morning we woke up and enjoyed watching the fields in Punjab. Reached Jammu at about 11 am.

Then we took a cab to Katra, the base camp to reach Vaishno Devi Shrine. It was 7 pm in the evening by the time we were out of our hotel. Though we were apprehensive of the hour we wanted to see Mata as soon as possible, so we started off on our trek. Also we did not book any room on the top so we thought we would complete the darshan and come back.

To my surprise there were a lot of people walking up their way chanting 'Jai Mata Di ' as they do. But the real knock came from a guy who was lame in one leg but still was trekking his way up with the help of a stick. Really sometimes we harp on petty things when instead we should be counting our blessings. It was after I saw him that I decided never to be unhappy considering that I'm all hale and healthy.

We continued on our trek and gradually the temperature was dropping.We reached the top by 1 am. It was so cold over there and we were shivering completely. I dawned upon us that it was impossible to go back at that hour considering it would only get colder. Then something miraculous happened. A guy walked upto us and said he was leaving since he had a flight to catch and asked us if we would like to have his Dorm that he had booked. We were overjoyed that we could sense Mata's blessings even before darshan and paid the person the dorm's rent.

We proceeded to the cave where she resides and there she was giving us the Pindi Darshan, The Mahalakshmi, Mahasaraswati and Mahakali. We spent a good five minutes inside and we could hear a stream of water flowing somewhere behind the rocks. It was magnificent.

Once we were out we proceeded to the dorm and spent the rest of the night there. At 5 am we were up again and on our way to the top of the mountain ie. the Shrine of Bhairavnathji. It is said that the yatra is not complete unless one visits the Bhairavanth temple. We reached the top and it was very very cold there what with the Himalayan winds sweeping across. We lost sensation in our bare feet and our hands and face became blue. Finally took Bhairavnathji's darshan and started our descent.

Reached Katra and we took a bus directly to Delhi. We had a good time and returned to the station to catch our Rajdhani back to Hyderabad. The memories of this trip stayed with me for many days. Even now when I think of it I get transported to the cold foothills of Himalayas.

Our experience with Taj Mahal was exotic to say the least. I always wanted to visit the Taj after hearing so many stories about the monument of love and we had a chance to do so on our way to Delhi to visit our in-laws. It is indeed a marvel in white, pristine marble and we were so excited.

Words cannot describe this engineering excellence that immortalised Shahjahan's undying love to Mumtaz. So I leave you at that, enjoy the pics.

Splendour of Hampi

In our travels, we were fortunate to have visited the Hampi, the capital of Vijayanagara empire, in Karnataka. The ruins of the once glorius city stretch across a vast 14 sq km with lot of temples, forts, pavilions and stone sculpture. One needs to stay in Hospet, the nearest town to this monumental splendour in order to catch its charisma at a leisurely pace.

The city of Hampi enjoyed it peak roughly between 1510-and 1530 ad under the rule of Sri Krishnadevaraya of the Tuluva dynasty, and it is said that it was a major trade centre with anything between horses, food grains to gemstones being traded there. The king was a patron of art and poetry and the period saw many a poet deliver their best literary works. Every stone over there has a story to tell and one cant miss the romance that reverberates the whole place. The must see places in Hampi are the Stone Basavanna, the Virupaksha Temple, The Vittala Temple, the Stone Chariot and the musical pillars. It is a backpacker's paradise, and it is a delight exploring the inside story of each place in Hampi. Being the hopeless romantic that I am, I was totally transported to a different world when I went there. I even imagined the whole place as teeming with people and myself selling bangles in one corner to a handsome young bloke(obviously they were meant to be gifted... well... probably....to me [;)] ) in some bygone era.....ohh.. well it could have happened in some previous birth or I would prefer to believe so. What a pleasant dream...

Like all dreams, it had to end, but then I'm glad I had the memory to hold onto.. it was exquisite, marvellous and ecstatic. Now coming back to reality, its just 350 odd kms away from Hyderabad and makes an ideal weekend getaway. If you are planning a honeymoon (no matter whether its first or second or nth) I recommend this place. Go ...

Our Trip to Goa

Its a beautiful Sunday morning... As I sit back lazily with a cup of coffee my mind goes back to Nov 20 2003. We got four days off from work and my hubby suggested we go to Goa. As luck would have it all the Goa bound trains and buses were full. We tried all possible options but to no avail and I should admit I could see the dissappointed look on his face. We decided we are going to Goa come what may. And the next morning early at 5.00 we set out.... well ...on our bike.. ..where else but to Goa.We asked the driver of a goa bound bus for the route and the distance (around 780 kms)We packed some biscuits and eatables,made sure tank was full with petrol..some woolens and lots of enthusiasm and we were on our way.The route we took from Hyderabad was via Raichur in Karnataka but after that we werent sure about the route. We didnt get much advice from passersby, some even looked at us strangely ..but nevertheless we continued our drive, stopping by when tired, but taking only short breaks. Practically we didn't know what the major towns in that route were and we werent having a map. Not the right way to set out but we weren't bothered.. being young and fearless, we continued our journey having tea and biscuits at roadside teastalls and stopping for 5 minutes when legs ached.
It was 5.00 in the evening when we reached Bagalkot and we understood that we cannot cover the entire distance to goa that day itself. Nevertheless we continued and reached Belgaum by 8.30 PM and decided to stay there for the night. Considering it was a hectic day, we took a decent room in a hotel ,took a hot shower, had dinner and not a word ... both of us fell asleep. But we knew we had miles to go.. so woke up at 5.00 am again the next day and set off to Panaji .

The ghat road Via Londa is a beautiful stretch and we enjoyed our journey immensely..
stopping by to take pictures or sometimes just to take a peek into the vally.. it was beautiful ..We reached Goa at about 11.30 am and believe me we were immensely pleased with ourselves..having travelled a distance of 750 odd kms on a two wheeler. Our spirits hit a new high and we felt on top of the world.We checked into a nice resort and took some rest ..That evening we went to Calangute beach ..had a good time ..later went for a cruise on the Mandovi river.. after that excruciating journey it was totally relaxing.. being the cold November air .. It was very romantic and totally worthwhile. The next day we set out on our exploration.. we went to Majorda beach, Goa port and some very unusual places that the regular tourist wouldn't get to see..all day we drove but what was there all along was that undying spirit. We went to Dona Paula that evening ..watching the sun set in the Arabian Sea was a soothing sight. It was an incredible experience that would stay with us all our lives. That night after dinner we came out for a walk..the laid back streets of goa were immensely rejuvenating.

The next day was our big day again. Got up at 5.00am and started this time taking a lot of beautiful memories .. joyous moments ...romantic feelings .... and last but not the least the India map that we bought the previous night. This time around we had the western ghats to cross and we took the Maharashtra route (via Sangli Solapur Humnabad Hyd).Across the plains of Maharashtra we drove with the road passing through vast plain deserted land. It was a long day and it was 7.00pm when we reached Solapur and Hyderabad was 300kms away. The town looked musty and somehow we didnt like the idea of staying there for the night. But even if we went further there is no decent place on the way where we could stay for that night.We made up our minds to continue driving thru the night. And yes it was a tough decision considering the cold winds blowing across the plateau.. but all we had on our minds was to get back home.. and we did ... We drove through, having just the silvery light of moon and an occasional lorry that went past, for company. It was getting colder and colder and the night seemed longer than it was. He stopped occasionally for tea and a smoke but never losing heart. It was 3.00 am by the time we reached home. We ourselves couldnt believe what we just did.. we pinched ourselves. I made some coffee and we sat back thinking about the adventure...

It was definitely a high point in my life and something that we could discuss.. relish ... reminisce ...something that we could take with us through eternity.......