Inspiring story - Mr Subramani..

I came across this posting on rediff, I think it deserves a little more coverage.

http://in.rediff.com/money/2006/apr/27spec.htm

Kerala - God's own country

I thought it was a well marketted punch line, till I criss crossed most of Kerala, myself. The only place I missed was Guruvayoor. I rushed through most of Kerala in about 8 days. I rushed through as if there was no comming back to this beautiful place. The routine was to get up early, catch an early breakfast and drive to the next place by lunch, seeing places enroute as well. Well, we did hire a cab and managed to not get tired, but still I miss the place not that I missed the essense, but that I long for more. I did not know that then, but having been to a lot of other places like Rajasthan, Coorg, Bandipur, Ajanta and Ellora, after my Kerala trip, I miss that tranquility. Not that the other places are of lesser interest, but they are different. Different like Vanilla Gold, Black Current and Butter Scotch ;), each has its own flavor - now you know why my BMI is northbound. Tranquility is Kerala for me. The kind of tranquility that you can get only from nature - the crip fresh morning breeze, the greenery around and breathtaking sceneries - the kind of things that elevate you to a different level of living and peacefulness.

Rajasthan, by contrast is man made, colorfull and vibrant. These two are supposed to be the most sought after tourist destinations in India. I know there are a host of others and some of them yet to be covered by me. But then I will have to wait for some more time for those dreams to be full filled. I almost went to Goa last year but the torrential rains and unpredictable weather upset my plans. I would have still braved it but then I wanted to take my parents along and had to grudgingly bow down to the weather God's whims.

But going back to the Kerala trip; it is surprising to see what Kerala has to offer to the tourist, in such a small area. From the highest peak in South India - Anna mudi, to thick forests of Perriyar (you can go on an exciting night trek into the reserve with armed gaurds), to the hill resort in Munnar (with Tata Tea plantations all over the place), to the beaches of Kovalam, the back waters of Kumarakkom and Allepy, to the Raja Ravi Varam's paintings in Trivandum, to the antique but still operational chineese fishing nets in Ernakulam, to the Onam festivities with the snake boat races (I missed this, but saw it on TV), to the rituals of Guruvayoor, the list goes on. Its been more than two years but my memories are still fresh. Some of the following photos are only a sample of what Kerala has to offer. Some day, I will go back at a much liesure pace....

Fish can smile...

A rare commodity in the now-a-days' fast paced world, where no one has the time to stand and stare, leave alone smile. Cultures transformed to put up an artificial smile, heavily driven by consumerism. The smile is stuck to the face like lipstick. Best potrayed by the air hostess in Meet-the-Parents movie. (click on the picture, to enlarge)

In a world where most of the things are artificial, no warmth, no affection, no happiness, in the smile - I was lucky to have a fish smile at me, luckier to have captured it for ever. I can always look at the fish and smile back. The cute yellow fish was enjoying its swim - I imagine, and was always smiling. I can smile back without fear of having somethng sold to me. I should admit, I am sold to the smile. The cute one lives in the Monterey aquarium. Must be chuckling to itself even now. Just happy to be there. One can learn many things from other life forms and one of the best books I read is Jonathan Livingston Seagull* .
(Copyrights belong to the owners of the website and the author Richard Bach)

But some others like this Sun Fish are grumpy:

Size does matter...

The funny things in life. I bought my Sonata 06, close to the New Year and less than a couple of months earlier, I was driving the best selling car in India - Maruti 800.

The differences between the two makes me chuckle. While the Sonata is a beast weighing 1.5 tons that sticks to the road well and gives an amazing feel, the Maruti, was almost half in size and weight - always gave me the feeling that it will fly off above 80kmph. Though the higher power of the Sonata allows it to race above 220kmph without a hitch, I could only push it to around 150 - without being ticketted ;). The drive too is exellent, with surprising manuverbility.

But still I miss my Maruti - I could squeeze it between the pillars of my apartment with my eyes closed. The best thing is that I was not really woried about anything happening to it and paying the price. Even Jyothi could handle it. It was a stress free car.

With the beast, I have to be more carefull, always have to watch out. The momentum is huge and even a small contact would result in a dent. The accelerator is very sensitive and even a small touch would sent it zooming. With the Sonata, I have to watch every nook and turn. I went for the bigger car here as it offers more road safety and Sonata is 5* rated car. The mileage is good, but nothing compared to the Maruti. While the Sonata glides like a dream, you could hear the Maruti engine complaining underneath you for small loads. Still both are exellent vehicles for their purposes. It might seem like I am comparing apples and oranges, but then I just had one after the other - cant help the comparision.

Surprisingly enough, the Maruti was white and this - Black.

Quite lonley... for about 250years !

The lonely Cypress, this tree has seen it all. For 250 years, it has been the sentinel outpost. Standing there and whithering the storms, come what may - sun or rain. With luck the Lonely Cyprus, in the Pebble beach's, 17mile drive, would be there for another 50 odd years. He is lonely because is cut off from the rest of his folk and is left standing on a small rock. Kudos, for his resilience and best of luck for the future.

Other than this, you can get some stunning views of the beach along this lovely drive. Unfortunately for me, it was cloudy and raining. Since it was in the evening, the light was even worse. Had to do with whatever I got today. But still pretty worth the money and the effort.

There he blows !

Copied from Moby Dick, but I almost felt like a whaler myself, only that I have my camera instead of a harpoon. Location was Monterey Bay,CA - where you can supposedly watch different types of whales round the year. I was lucky to find my humpbacked. This familiar whale, named River, by the marine bilogists, was pretty shy. He has been comming to the bay for a good 15 years, but is still shy. Must be a really closed guy, not the one to open up to his eager audience. He did put up a bit of a show though. Like most of his kind. He gives you 3 most common tricks. First he blows, he blows 3 meters! thats is when he surfaces, every 4 mins or so. This is the give away, so he gives you sometime to adjust your camera. Second trick is he shows the length of his back and lastly and most spectacularly he slaps his tail, before going off into the depths of the sea for another feeding session. This guy showed another trick of his by peeking up a couple of time and showing his teeth and a big mouth. That was fun. It would have been to fun to watch more of these creatures. I heard that, May-Jun should be a good season, especially if you are looking for the killer whales and the big greys. While you are there make good use of the famous Montrey Aqauarium and the good sea food you get on the Fishermans warf.