Favourite Pictures of 2019

We are just 3 days away from 2020 and at this point, I thought of sharing my favourite pictures for this year. It was quite difficult for me to select a few. These may be a part of my Instagram posts etc, and may not be the best ones I shot. They are just my favourite. Also, these are in no particular order.

1. Kodial Teru: Or the Mangalore Car Festival. Earlier this year, I went to my home town to attend the week of the annual Managalore Car Festival, also known as Ratha Saptami. The atmosphere was colourful, vibrant and high on energy. For a person, who is not particularly fond of crowds, I just loved the whole atmosphere.

2. Sundays at Cubbon Park: For a big part of the first half of this year, it was a ritual to visit Cubbon Park on Sundays, to be one with nature and acclimatise our lungs to some fresh air, the below picture was taken on one such occasion.

3. Trevi Fountain: I would be blogging about this soon. I had an opportunity this year this to visit Rome and there were some mind blowing places there, one of which was the Trevi Fountain- the bright white marble fountain.

4.  The Colosseum of Rome: It was a privilege to visit one of the 7 wonders of the World- the Colosseum of Rome. It was supposed to be a quarry and before that an amphitheater to view gladiatorial fights and races.

5. The Spiral Stairs at the Vatican Museum: This is not an attraction in the Vatican, I just loved the view.

6. Pieces of Moon: It is a dream to be on the moon but I do not know if it would be ever realized in this lifetime. I consider myself fortunate to have seen some small pieces of it at the Vatican museum- gifted by Richard Nixon to the People of Vatican City. 

7.  View from Stanserhorn: I also had the opportunity to visit Switzerland this year- coming soon on my blog and this majestic view below is said to be that of the birthplace of Switzerland by one of the fellow visitors of the place. This picture was taken atop Stanserhorn.

8. Belur: In my last blog, I have written already how I was blown away by Belur. The below picture taken close to sunset is one of my favourites. 

9. Book House: Sometimes visits to a book shop brings me a lot of calm, the smell of old books and new and the touch of paper have an indescribable satisfaction. It is sometimes my Happy Place. Just being amidst piles of books brought a smile to my face.

10. The Most Extraordinary Autorickshaw: Given the traffic in Bangalore city, it is hard to imagine that anyone driving can be passionate about their job. This summer, I happened to take a ride on the most extraordinary auto. It had a mobile charging station, drinking water, a fan, make-up mirror, positive quotes, calendar, clock etc. Each of those were my favourites. I am just posting one of them. When I reflect on it at the end of the year, I realised what an effort the autodriver/owner had made to provide some amount of service to the passengers and how in turn it made him satisfied with his really tough and stressful job of navigating through the traffic all through the day, which in turn motivated him. If someone doing such a job can manage a smile and show care for his passengers, I think we in our comfortable offices have really got no reason to complain.

Belur and Halebidu

Insignia of the Hoysala Dynasty

This post is in continuation to the one on the Summer Holidays in 2019. I had mentioned in that post that I would be writing about our visit to Belur. We also covered Halebidu which is just a few kilometers from Belur.

I had first visited Belur and Halebidu years back to accompany some colleagues visit India from Belgium about 10-11 years ago. I remember being bowled over by the beauty of Halebidu but only had a vague memory of Belur. On that occasion, we also visited Shravanabelagola. That trip was from Bangalore. On this occasion it was from Manipal.

We stayed at Hotel Mayura Velapuri in Belur. This was a KSTDC run hotel by the state government tourism department. To be honest, I had very low expectations of this place. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the cleanliness and hygiene at this place. The rooms were pretty spacious and well ventilated. These were quite affordable as well. There is a restaurant in the premises with good food. What's more- it is also at a walking distance from the Chennakeshava temple- Belur's main attraction. The road leading from the hotel to the temple are lined with various eateries and bakeries so you can be sure you'll never go hungry here. Just wanted to share that KSTDC or the hotel have not paid me to write this for them. It is my genuine opinion of the place. You can decide to stop over at Halebidu as well and KSTDC has a Hotel Mayura Shantala there. I have not stayed there, so really cannot say much about it. However, this hotel is also really close to Hoysaleshwara temple- the main attraction of Halebidu. You can actually see it from the outside of the temple.

I will not talk much about the history of these temples. You can check out Wikipedia for that. I want to briefly summarize my experience visiting them.

After checking into the hotel in Belur, we had lunch at the restaurant in the premises and headed out to the temple in Halebidu. The temple has vast green grounds and a pool which appeared to be dried up. The temple is a grand structure or a group of structures with beautiful carvings on the out walls and the inner walls, some pillars and the ceiling. These are 12th century structures which were constructed so impeccably without any of the technology available today. It is an exhibition of fine craftsmanship. The temple is made of stone and dedicated to Lord Shiva. The carvings on the walls depict different scenes from Hindu mythology and sacred texts. Also evident is the damage to these beautiful structures either during some invasions or reckless behaviour of tourists who have tried to ingrain their own names into these. There is also a giant bull- Nandi statue on one of the sides of the temple. It was a hot day and the stone flooring heated up considerably- the temple had laid out mats in some parts which provided some relief but there were other parts where we had to hop over swiftly to avoid burns on the soles of our feet. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to take pictures inside the temple- I would have loved to share the beautiful interiors of the temple.

Hoysaleshwara Temple

View of the temple from the green lawns outside

Nandi temple

View of the temple from outside

Some of the carvings on the outer walls of the temple

Around twilight/dusk, we went to the Chennakeshava temple in Belur. As I mentioned previously, I only had a vague memory of my visit here. The entrance to the temple has a traditional south-Indian temple entryway and opens into a very very vast courtyard. My mind was blown away with the beauty of the place and its vastness. I loved it. The twilight just added to the beauty of the place. We stayed for the evening Pooja. The idol of Chennakeshava was a beautiful black one, ornate with silver ornaments and flowers. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to photograph the deity. The whole place seemed surreal- very unearthly. The interiors of this temple are quite similar to that of the temple at Halebidu.  This temple too, had similar damages as the temple at Halebidu. We relaxed a bit in the courtyard before heading back to the hotel.

External Archway

From one of the entrances into the temple

During Nivedyam of the deity

Partial view of the vast courtyard

Another view of the courtyard

The carving on the ceiling

Some of the external pillars of the temple

Narasimha Avatar depicted on one of the pillars

External walls of the temple

Another view of the courtyard

Some more carving on the main entrance leading inside the temple

I would highly recommend a visit to both these places, including Shravanabelagola for anyone planning to travel to Bangalore.

Summer Holidays-2019

This summer, we travelled to Manipal as a family. My husband's uncle and aunt live there and were happy to host us. We travelled there in June. Now, those who know this part of India, probably also know that this is not the best time of the year to be in a place like Manipal. However, this time, we were fortunate to have overcast skies on and off and monsoon seemed like it is just round the corner. This is a brief summary of our trip.

On day 1, we visited a few friends in Kundapur. On our way back, we noticed a beautiful temple dedicated to Goddess Durga Parameshwari at a place called Kumbhasi. It was recently constructed and very well maintained. In the evening, we visited the Manipal lake.

On day 2, we visited Malpe beach but this time, there was a lot of development and beautification that had happened here. It looked different from the Malpe beach I once knew. After spending some time here, we continued to another beach called Hoode. It was a hidden gem and is really clean and nice on Sundays.

Some pictures from Malpe:

Some pictures from Hoode:

On day 3, we visited Padubidri beach which has been very well developed and made very tourist friendly. After spending a considerable part of our day here, we went back to their place and relaxed and then continued to a beautiful park. After spending some time here, we went out for dinner at Ocean Pearl.

View from the park

The Park

On day 4, we visited our elderly uncle and aunt, you might remember from this blog. They have changed their care home and now live in one in Karkala. They are extremely happy there and the surroundings of their place as well is much more calm and serene. This place has a beautiful mango orchard and their very own cow stables (or goshala).  After spending some time with them and taking a tour of their place, we headed in the direction of Soans Farms. We took a nice tour of the place where we could see several unusual trees and variety of fruits. We knew the fruit but not really the trees and the other products of the trees which can also be used for other purposes. We absolutely loved this place. We bought some sweet and juicy pineapples from here. The highlight for me was the cashew juice, which we do not get in Bangalore. I must have gulped down several glasses of this deliciousness.

Soans Farm

On day 5, we visited the beautiful Kapu beach and enjoyed not only in the waters but also relaxing by the light house and also enjoying some excellent seasonal fruits here.

On day 6, we went back to enjoy the Hoode beach but this was a weekday and it was not at all clean or maintained properly. There were plastics strewn all over. Let us protect ourselves and the sea world by refusing to use single use plastics- it is not easy, but is our only shot at giving Earth its chance to survive.

On day 7, we head back towards Bangalore by road. Our plan was to not go to Bangalore directly but stay overnight in Belur before heading back home. (I will write a separate but a small piece on the Belur experience.) We loved the journey to Belur from Manipal, the breeze was cool and we could almost feel the monsoon around the corner in the valley which would take us to Belur. We stopped briefly at a way side tea-stall atop a small hill, and enjoyed some light food and tea/coffee here before starting our sojourn to Belur.

Staying Healthy-2019

This is a follow-up post to my post on Weight Loss in 2019 which I wrote earlier this year. A lot of my friends asked me how I manage to stay away from sweets or be more or less regular with my exercise. Sometimes they tell me that I am a strict disciplinarian or that I have great will power. In today's blog, I would like to touch upon how I planned my 1st steps towards a healthy lifestyle. I am not yet there and have a long way to go but I am happy with whatever I have achieved so far.

The actual steps I took is available here. I would like to touch upon the 3 frequently asked question by my friends and colleagues.

How do I decide when to eat sweets?

I decided to eat sweets on 50 days of the year. For this, I just picked up the calendar and mark out all the birthdays, anniversaries, special occasions and festivals. These are days which call for celebration, so I definitely would consume some sweetmeats. You will still be left with about 20-25 days, just distribute it all year round, just make sure that they are not bunched to close together. With this, you have your visa ready.

How did I give up eating packaged foods?

I was never a huge fan of packaged foods. I would eat it occasionally, so it was not very difficult for me to give it up. I do make some exceptions, when I travelled to Europe last month, I did carry some packaged food. Being a vegetarian, it is hard to predict if I can find vegetarian food everywhere. Though it was not really necessary, it does come in handy and I do eat packaged foods then. It also helps if you do not stock up on unhealthy food stuff at home. You feel like eating these things only when these are in front of you or you know they are very accessible to you.

How did I build discipline towards exercise and healthy eating?

Honestly, there is no discipline or will-power that was built. You just need to love yourself enough, nurturing and nourishing your body and mind will come really naturally. When we love something, care follows automatically, without any effort or condition and this in turn makes you happy and also reflects on your exterior as well. So, only advice here is, learn to love yourself; caring for yourself will follow without any effort. No one else can love you more than yourself. It is not narcissistic and nothing to feel stupid or guilty about. 

The House on the Strand by Daphne Du Maurier

I bought this book from Blossom Book House last year. Though I have read several works of Daphne Du Maurier, I had never heard of this one until my aunt told me about it.

The narrator in the book- Richard Young, is not really working at the time. He has a very close scientist friend Magnus, who develops a drug which can port a person mentally to another time. Magnus requests Richard to test it for him. Now, the person who is porting to another time is an invisible spectator to the events of the time they are transported into and can only observe but of course not influence anything in that world. Richard is initially reluctant to try, however, on the persuasion of Magnus agreed to test the drug on himself (being a clinical research professional, I do not condone such an approach to drug testing). Richard stations himself in Magnus' mansion in Kilmarth which is supposed to be really ancient and constructed several centuries ago. He is transported to 14th century England and finds himself amidst the aristocracy of the time. Also, he finds himself following a steward of the time- Roger, a pivotal figure in Richard's ported world. Richard enjoys what he sees, and takes frequent "trips" to the past to a point that he gets obsessed with what he sees and his curiosity of know how things unfold gets a stronger grip of him.

As and when Richard continues to take the drug, the related side-effects grows stronger and stronger. Richard is married to an American- Vita who has two boys. All of them fly to Kilmarth to accompany Richard but he is in a point in his life, where he could do without them due to his obsession with the trips. Vita is an intelligent and very inquisitive person. She observes Richard strange behaviour but is not able to put her finger on the reason for it. She believes it has something to do with Magnus but is not sure, what exactly. The story takes an unfortunate turn leading to an inquest which find Richard in the middle of things. It is very obvious to Richard that whatever happened was due to the drug but he manages to deceptively conceal it. He does not learn from it and continues taking his trips until he finds strangling his wife. It is this time that he realises that it is time to seek for help, which he does. He rids himself of the drug and decides to take a break from the place- only to find some more which he had hidden but forgotten about and decides to take one last trip. Fortunately for him, this trip gives him the closure he needed and the story ends there. For more details, you have to read the book.

I think the book was much ahead of its time. It is also interesting to see that time travel or porting to another time was something that was already a topic of discussion when the book was written, which I think, may have inspired the main theme of the book. The language was relatively simple. I think it was a very gripping read. As a reader, you don't need a drug, just the vivid descriptions of the author to transport you to England in the 60s and also 14th century. I am glad to have this book recommended to me and would surely recommend it to others who are interested in such genres. This is not much of a review, I know- sometimes, not a lot can be said about a great book. On a scale of 5 (5 being excellent), I would rate the book 4.5.

Q3 2019 Update on Goals

Where has this year flown by? It was just the other day that I was greeting people for the 2019 New Years'. Every year seems to be going by faster than the previous year. I am beginning to wonder if the clock moves faster every year.

In Q3 of this year, I got to do a crazy amount of travelling. I went to Europe for work for almost a month, and put the weekends to good use. Due to the travelling and the preparation for the travel, I have had a set back in achieving and focussing on some of my other goals. The travel was unplanned and when it materialised, it presented itself with different types of opportunities for personal growth and development. I set goals so that I can live a purposeful life where I develop myself, learn new things and feel fulfilled. Let us see, how my Q3 was:

Health:

• I am going to continue exercising at least 5 times a week. 
• Additionally, I am eating sugar on specific days of the year and paying close attention to what I am putting into my body and will continue with this effort.
• Getting adequate sleep

Q3 Update: I have been exercising pretty regularly in Q3 as well and stuck close to my no-sugar schedule pretty rigourously. Adequate sleep was still work in progress but I slept and woke up at regular times. I am ruling out participation in a team sport completely. I do not think it is something I will actively pursue this year.

Personal Development:

• Read/Listen/Follow to news every day
• Take up 2 certifications/courses- one which will help me in my professional career and the other which may or may not help me professionally but it is something to help me further with a hobby or help me develop a new skill.

Q3 Update: I have been following the news everyday, although it is primarily the headlines. My preparations for the 1st certification has been in full swing. However, due to the trip and its preparation, I had to take a hiatus from the preparation of my certification course. I will continue my preparation for one of them alone- I want to do it properly an do it well. I would most likely write the exam next year.

Hobbies:

• Reading: This year I would like to read just 1 book by the end of the year. With work and studying that I will be doing this year and with the other goals, I do not think I will be able to read more.

Q3 Update: As mentioned previously, I have finished reading one of the 2 books that I started before I set my goals and the other one is almost done. I will reveal my "book of the year" once I finish with my current reads. Usually, I like to read on my trips but I had anticipated rightly that it would be quite hectic and did not do any reading during the trip, for the very first time.

• Writing: Last year I started out writing every day and then ran out of content to write everyday. This year, however, I will be writing weekly. It can be about anything but should definitely include 1 thing I did proactively, 1 thing that demonstrates synergy and 1 thing with a win-win attitude, and the progress made with other goals.

Q3 Update: Unfortunately, my greater involvement in the trip prep, put this on a back seat but now, I have started writing again, and believe it or not, off late, I have been doing it everyday.

• Blogging: I would like to write 1 blog post per week from now on. I know it was my goal last year as well and I did not completely meet it. As I said, I have thought long and hard and now have a very good idea of how I can achieve it this year. 

Q3 Update: Unfortunately, I have not been blogging regularly but I am trying my best to catch-up.

• Art: I would create 1 art work per month. I am happy to inform that I am already underway.

Q3 Update: This is underway but I have not been very regular but I intend to catch-up soon.

• Cooking/Baking: I love cooking and baking. This year, I am going to try making at least 5 healthy gourmet recipes. In addition, if time permits, I will like to successfully bake 2 types of bread (inspired by Jenna Fischer's Instagram!!).

Q3 Update: I will have to wait until end of this year to accomplish this goal.

That is it for now, I have had a lot of unexpected travels this year but I am happy with the amount of knowledge and experienced that I gained from these.