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.

Ethereal Voice

That Music has the power to lift your spirits, is a known fact. And if that is the ethereal voice of Jayshri Ramanathan popularly known as Bombay Jayshri, it needs special mention. Being a renowned Classical Singer, who would have thought she would render filmi songs with equal ease, but that's a rare feat that only she could manage. Sometimes I think once a person is a classical singer and a noted one at that, there is no need to sing filmi songs which are considered a tad lowly compared to Carnatic. But what she does is, to render the lowly filmi song in a way that increased its stature manifold. I can't imagine the song 'Vaseegara' from Minnale( 'Manohara' from Cheli in telugu) in any other voice than hers and there are many more like that. She lends that strong bass to the song which increases the total effect. Of course the music director Harris Jayraj should be applauded for coming up with a good tune but I would appreciate him for choosing Jayshri madam to sing it, because a tune is like damp clay in the hands of a singer, they can make anything of it. Wouldn't you agree ?

Tomato Cheese Macaroni

This is something I make when I'm very hungry and dont have too much time to whip up something filling to eat. It deviates from the standard pasta recipe,( that pasta needs to be boiled separately), but then when you dont have time, small sacrifices (which do not alter the taste) need to be made.

Ingredients :
Sunfeast Benne vita - 1 cup (any shape) (available in supermarkets, really good)
Onion -1
Tomato -1
Garlic - 2 pods
Cheese slice - 1
Milk - 1/2 cup
salt and pepper to taste

First grind the onion, tomato and garlic together. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a thick bottomed saucepan and saute the above paste in it for 2 minutes. Pour three cups of water, add the salt and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook for 5 mins occasionally stirring gently. Add the cheese slice and the milk and let it simmer for 2 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Now add the pepper and serve hot. Makes a quick dish which is yummy and also wholesome. This takes harldy 10 mins to make and my kids love it. If you are counting calories, you can skip the cheese slice.

Try it and you'll love it.

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 ...

My true friend

We all have a lot of people around us- parents, siblings, spouse, friends, relatives and the number of them put together might run into hundreds or maybe more. Now when you have a situation or a problem in your life whom do you turn to?Suddenly the population in this group shrinks to single digits. Some turn to parents, many turn to friends, some to relatives, but among them, is there at least ONE person who listens to you patiently, does not judge you no matter how ridiculous your views are, lets you speak your mind, understand your words and also your silence and accept you as you are?
If your answer is yes, you are lucky, and if its more than one , you are tremendously lucky. And if that one person happens to be your spouse, its like Icing on the Cake. You don't have to explain yourself to such a person or people since they know you inside out and understand your predicament. Sometimes when you are in despair, just listening to your anguish relieves you and reduces your burden and once you are out of it, it might be surprising to note that even you might not subscribe to your own earlier views. A true friend knows this, only too well and is always ready to offer his/her shoulder and might differ from you but will never desert you. Sure you need one true friend like that and the best way to have one, is to be one....

Here's to my BEST FRIEND in life. Thanks for being my friend in the truest possible sense.