tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-241449002024-09-04T23:10:44.980-07:00The. Journey. Is. The. Destination.Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-62153545481892335282010-01-09T04:49:00.000-08:002010-01-09T04:49:33.892-08:00

So I went ahead and booked myself a domain. You can take a look at it here. Not that there is a whole lot up there right now. Or that there are a whole lot following this blog to begin with. But for those (6) non-family & friends who follow this blog, please continue visiting. Hopefully paying for my domain might make me write more.

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-78208737075940872612009-07-19T09:00:00.000-07:002010-01-19T20:34:00.175-08:00

End of June is not exactly the best time to be travelling to Central Tamil Nadu. Especially when our friendly Gormint is trying to improve the infrastructure. So in short, the drive was hot & it was dusty. But they did do a good job of itl improving the infrastructure that is. And while they were at it, they also made all maps redundant. Because as the NH 7 moves up in life to a 4-lane track,

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-42848132046445068132009-05-23T13:26:00.000-07:002009-05-23T13:26:16.141-07:00

So I'm sitting here and watching doomsday movies about climate change and how we're screwing Mother Earth's happiness. But I don't think we're screwing anyone but ourselves. The Earth was here before we came and it'll be here long after we're gone. All the talk of climate change & global warming reminded me of the times spent in cooler climes. A couple of summers ago, The Wife & I made

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-50584849048844032212009-01-14T18:48:00.001-08:002009-05-23T13:33:29.643-07:00

In the last holiday season - considering Diwali to New Year's - we went to the Nilgiris twice. Thrice, if you acknowledge that the holiday/festival season starts in August in India. Why this munificence in our custom? Simply because sometimes, a place makes you want to keep going back. Like the song that you want to keep playing all day, sometimes even in your head when all is quite in the night.

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-3232130401201362582008-10-17T22:57:00.000-07:002009-06-02T07:14:30.058-07:00

So we learn about this place near Ujire which is supposed to be a really nice trekking trail that doesn't usually feature when folks are talking about trekking in Karnataka. While a lot of folks seem to have trekked it, there's not a lot of information floating around.And the title kinda says it all. We chose November on the premise that the rains would've abated. However, it rained, and it

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-68293550240723138702008-08-25T09:39:00.000-07:002008-09-05T06:29:02.621-07:00

Us desis like our freebies. The more the better. When we book hotels on the Continental plan, we're the ones lining up for breakfast like the way "real estate agents" line up when somebody mentions SEZ. Or how we stampede into Big Bazaar when they offer 50% off on their 100% crap. Now thanks to The Wife, we lucked into gift vouchers to any Taj anywhere in India. Now based on empirical data, you

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-17547936278092030482008-07-27T07:48:00.000-07:002010-03-24T09:59:20.028-07:00

So it's been a while since I've been around in the Peninsula and it's been a long set of journeys to all points due North, South, East & West during this time. And some of these ramblings have taken me to places close to National Parks, reserve forests, forests or just areas where non-humaniod beings are wont to lurk. And in all these times I've seen a sum total of about 75 chital and 3

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-44805665518711380762008-04-19T11:21:00.000-07:002008-08-10T07:16:56.062-07:00

An indication of long weekends is the huge traffic jam outside of Kamat Lokaruchi on Mysuru Road. I'm sure there are indicators on Hosur Road, Hyderabad Road, Old Madras Road, New Madras Road, Tumkur Road - you get the drift. Since travelling with the Usual Suspects usually involved bolting awake at 05.30 and out of the house in 15 mins, we usually missed this mass grazing where assorted mothers,

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-78301433197194767162008-01-16T19:11:00.000-08:002008-01-22T19:20:55.500-08:00

Someone tells me that the Brits swarm in hordes to Goa for the winter, slather themselves with suntan lotion and roast. So, besides the blue waters of the Arabian Sea, there is a sea of pink sunburned blubber on the sands. Be that as it may, we figured setting aside the sun burn part they're all onto a good thing. Which is why exiting Coffee Valley found us pointing our way westwards. Now it's

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-72925291221109837642008-01-01T06:00:00.000-08:002008-01-09T20:44:18.134-08:00

I've an excellent idea for the start of a vacation. Take the road. Better yet, take the road late so that you are in the Nelamangala sector by mid-morning. As is its wont, it'll server a peach of a jam. In my opinion, nothing can be guaranteed to help you appreciate the fact that you'll be away from all of this madness more. Be that as it may, I spent an excellent weekend in the hills. With an

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-35704340882525777462007-05-24T11:48:00.000-07:002009-07-21T20:14:37.145-07:00

Ok, so it's time for the quarterly "team" building activity to be completed. Considering that the last time it was the cool climes of March, we'd gone to Amgol. Much fun and beer was had by everyone. The rains, that usually bless Bangalore around April, playing hooky this year, we planned on come place cool. Factoring in pre-conditions like weekend travel, interstate taxes and the memory of sore

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-70727375249690901922007-03-22T03:46:00.000-07:002009-07-21T20:12:49.856-07:00

Work is good. Mainly because it helps you appreciate the breaks better. I believe I touched upon this theme earlier. Anyhow, as it often happens in corporate-dom, we'd worked like dogs (no offence to the ladies who'd worked equally hard) for a long time. To the extent that most of the other teams would rather chew on their shoes than have any sort of interaction with us. Just around this time,

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-35260820587027672922007-01-13T01:25:00.001-08:002007-01-13T20:35:24.326-08:00

AmbleOriginally uploaded by Rain-In-The-Face. I've been lazy lately. A statement my near and dear ones would like to contest. On account of my being lazy forever that is. It is always the time that is debatable, not the fact.Anyhow, I used the weekend of 15th Dec (see, see, the lazy bum write NOW!) to finally get around to trekking the Pushpagiri. Which a lot of folks know as Kumara Parvata.

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-1159121681400995192006-09-24T11:06:00.000-07:002010-03-23T19:58:42.807-07:00

Valparai, 88 kms south-west of Coimbatore was the chosen destination. We did start out in time from Bangalore, but didn't bargain for god-awful traffic between Salem & Coimbatore. Not to mention the numerous breaks we took and the long detour into Erode to fill LPG. When we found one right on the road just out of Tirupur. And the couple of experiments in short cuts. Sigh. The things you

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-1143659254880987092006-03-29T11:02:00.002-08:002007-01-13T03:19:39.034-08:00

Road Trip n. A journey in an automobile, usually impromtu or unplanned. Road Trip n. A journey,usually coincides with a long weekend, undertaken because there is an automobile. The first is the dictionary meaning, the second, the meaning according to my roomies and myself. A lot of jaunts have been because there is an automobile and a long weekend. I went on this trip some time ago. 12th August

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-1143650613932334782006-03-29T08:41:00.000-08:002007-01-13T03:29:23.927-08:00

I love cities. I love living in one. I love my job. Hmmm... I guess that was little too unbelievable. But it's true. I really do. It makes me appreciate the long weekends that I can wrangle. I especially love it when I can get an extra day off, and take a 4 day vacation and loose only one day in leave.Visions of appam and beef fry that I enjoyed last Christmas at my roomie's place in Kerala were

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-1142960169698452832006-03-21T08:47:00.000-08:002007-01-13T03:34:55.975-08:00

Ah weekends! The time when you catch up with family, friends, your hobbies, the pile of clothes you haven't washed for a month. All of these are perfectly legitimate uses of 48 hours. So also a 650 km drive to nowhere.There once was a Chinese philosopher who said that the true traveller does not hurry to the destination as he realises that the journey itself is the destination. That is the kind

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-91753657200146789672005-04-08T20:39:00.000-07:002009-07-22T20:37:00.921-07:00

Yercaud is also known as the Poor Man's Ooty. It's quite uncalled for. It is nothing like Ooty. If you discount the lake. And the hills. And the boarding schools. And... so, fine. It is a lot like Ooty. But it is a heck of lot closer to Bangalore. At 230 kms, it is a good 100 kms closer than Ooty. Plus Ooty does not have Suhas and family and their heavenly food. But more about that later.The

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24144900.post-87621416637858090032004-12-29T21:02:00.000-08:002009-07-23T20:12:17.769-07:00

A new car, overly enthusiastic room-mates and a sick grandmother lead you to Munnar. At least it did me. The new car and enthu roomies are mine, the grandmother is one of my roomies'. My roomie expressed a desire to spend Christmas with his grandmother who had just recovered from a brief illnes, so off we went to Kerala. Turns out his place is close to Munnar. Relatively speaking.It's about 90

Rain-In-The-Facehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10743576066136633178noreply@blogger.com0