A Drive To To Kungal Betta

 

A Drive To  To Kungal Betta

Every weekend, or rather every alternate weekend the 3 of us close friend always plan out something usually a day out to beat the 5 days WFH pressure. So this week also we decided to go out for a long drive somewhere. The problem started when all 3 of us had 3 different destinations in mind and wanted to go to the place of his choice. Though we decided we will start at 11 am from my place , but due to the confusion of the place and the difference of opinion we finally decided to give in to one of us and just drove off towards Mysore Road by 12.30 pm

The place decided was in Ramanagara, some 50 km off from Bangalore. The drive to Ramanagara through Mysore road can be tiring as there is construction of Metro going on. So though it says 1 and a half hours we reached in close to 2 ½ hours. Once you cross Kengeri the traffic slows down and you can enjoy the scenery.

It was already 1 30 pm when we reached Ramanagaraards Mysore Road by 12.30 pm.so we stopped on the main road in one hotel, Gowdru Hotel where we had Veg and Non Veg both. Food was okay but too much of salt in the curry so did not enjoy much. We need to take a deviation inside which leads us to many small villages where one can view farms, greenery all around and small ponds and lakes thanks to the monsoon. It started raining so heavily making the journey so memorable and beautiful. We played the Jab We Met wala song to make the journey more interesting. We stopped at one small pond which looked simply beautiful and clicked pictures. Thanks to the weather as well ( it was full cloudy ) , we sat for some time there before we proceeded further in the car.

The road further took us inside where we finally reached the destination through the village end at 3 pm. We stopped to confirm the way to the Betta, and they showed us the way inside the isolated road leading inside. But though we can actually take the car inside, we decided against it as the road was steep and a little further the roads were uneven and bad. Coming in bikes will be a better option I feel.

So we decided to hike till the Kungal Betta. The beginning of the road to the Betta has a stone Ganapati on the right hand side and on top of it is a huge, steep towering rock formation protruding out in a small curve over the Ganapati.  We prayed to him and started our journey on feet. The weather being good, we walked slowing enjoying the woods, greenery, rock, some natural cave formations, and of course clicking pictures. We would have walked a few km or more in the woods and we reached and we reached an open ground on the hills where on the right hand side, the scenery all around was so breathtaking. We sat on some steep rocks for more than 30 minutes to enjoy the view and breeze. We had still another half the distance to climb up which looked steep and since we had come on foot and the road leading further inside was isolated and it was already getting dark, we decided against it. But the way further to the top of the cliff has some 2-3 temples which one has to go through a rough road, steep climb, in between caves, we thought of coming back again with a bigger group and of course very early so that we can spend more time there. The best part about this place is it is so secluded. One can come here if one enjoys trekking ,  to enjoy the peace, serenity one is looking for. Far from the Madding Crowd

 We started our way back from the half distance we had covered and back to our car at around 5 pm. On the way back we encountered many monkeys near the Ganpathi idol climbing their way up the cliff. On the way back I also coaxed my friend to give me the car to drive for some 200 metres or so since the roads are empty which I enjoyed. It been ages since I got my DL but not driven after my DL test We started our way back to Bangalore. Mysore road in evening is at its worst with nonmoving traffic. By the time I reached home it was 7 pm..

But the journey to Kungal Betta is worth it. Looking forward to going back there hiking again and making it to the summit to have a better view from the top.

A Drive To DR Hills- Devarayana Durga Hills

 

A Drive To DR Hills- Devarayana Durga Hills

Like any other weekend plans we decided to go out on Saturday. So I checked from my friend for suggestions of some unexplored place which I had not visited. He told me that last week he had gone to DR Hills and the place is worth visiting.  So the 3 of us friend decided to make a trip to Devarayanadurga Hills .

This place is off Tumkur road and is a temple town surrounded by forests and hills and temples. Devarayanadurga means Fort of the God and is in the Tumkur district and is some 2 hours journey from Bangalore.

We set off Bangalore at 12 pm. The drive to tumkur road is beautiful with not much traffic on this road. Our journey consists of small stops in between, to click pictures, to take a restroom break and of course for lunch. Since we had left at 12 pm, we reached the1 highway by 1.30 so decided to break for lunch. We found a neat looking place Halli Oota where we had our lunch.

Once we take a deviation off the Tumkur road, the roads become curvy as we reach the hills and forests. The drive to the place is nice and roads are good.

On the way to the DR Hills we come across a beauty full pond. A perfect place for picnic. There was a little crowd but each one was maintaining the social distance. I think once can swim in this pond but did not see anyone doing that except getting their feet wet and taking pics. But I just loved the place. We spent some half an hour there enjoying at the banks of the pond and lying on the rocks

We reached the place by 4.30 pm. We need to go up to the hills in our car where one can park. From there we need to climb up the hills through steps. And yes, on the way up there are 2 deviations each one leading to 2 different temples

It has 2 temples on the top one of Yoga Narasimha and Bhoga Narasimha and lots of monkeys. One needs to be careful not to carry anything in hand for the fear of being snatched by the monkeys. Both the temples are open from 2pm to 5 pm. Since we were late, we had time to see only one temple, we took the road to Yoga Narasimha temple. There are fleet of steep steps up the top of the hill where the Yoga Narasimha temple is situated. After some 20-25 steps, we came across Hanuman temple. We bowed our head in prayers and proceeded further up the steps. Since the steps are steep, we had to stop in between to catch our breath. Finally, we reached the summit and the entrance of the Narasimha temple. The priest told us to hurry as the temple was about to close. We hurried inside. Inside is a beautiful idol of Lord Narasimha. We offered our prayers and came out of the temple to see the view from above. The view is mesmerizing from above of the hairpin roads engulfed by hills and forests. We sat there for few minutes and started down. On the way down is another temple of Hanuman next to a temple pond. We prayed there as well and came down. It was time to start back to Bangalore. The journey back was just as beautiful with the sun setting in the jungles. We across a small hillock where we stopped and thought of climbing as it looked so inviting. Most of the other people also were stopping for the same reasons there.

 .

We were getting late now. We climbed down and proceeded towards Bangalore. It took us some 2 hours to reach Bangalore. But glad we took the suggestion .

Classical Indian Dance Forms

Classical Indian Dance Forms

1.  is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in the state of Tamil Nadu hundreds of years ago. It is one of eight forms of dance recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi  (the others being Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, Manipuri and Sattriya) and it expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism

Bharatanatyam

Bharatanatyam style is noted for its fixed upper torso, bent legs and knees flexed (Aramandi) combined with spectacular footwork, and a sophisticated vocabulary of sign language based on gestures of hands, eyes and face muscles. The dance is accompanied by music and a singer, and typically her guru is present as the Nattuvanar, director and conductor of the performance and art. The dance has traditionally been a form of an interpretive narration of mythical legends and spiritual ideas from the Hindu texts. The performance repertoire of Bharatanatyam, like other classical dances, includes nrita (pure dance), nritya (solo expressive dance) and natya (group dramatic dance).

Bharatanatyam remained exclusive to Hindu temples through the 19th century. It was banned by the colonial British government in 1910, but the Indian community protested against the ban and expanded it outside the temples in the 20th century.

2. Kathak -The word Kathak has been derived from the word Katha which means a story. Kathakars or story-tellers, are people who narrate stories largely based on episodes from the epics, myths and legends. It probably started as an oral tradition. Mime and gestures were perhaps added later on to make the recitation more effective. Thus evolved a simple form of expressional dance, providing the origins of what later developed into Kathak as we see it today.

The Vaishnavite cult which swept North India in the 15th century. and the resultant bhakti movement contributed to a whole new range of lyrics and musical forms. The Radha-Krishna theme proved immensely popular alongwith the works of Mirabai, Surdas, Nandadas and Krishnadas.

3. Kuchipudi, a pre-eminent Indian classical dance form counted among ten leading classical dance forms of India, is a dance-drama performance art that originated in a village of Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, India. Similar to all leading Indian classical dance forms, Kuchipudi too evolved as a religious art rooting back to the age-old Hindu Sanskrit text ‘Natya Shastra’ and connects traditionally with temples, spiritual faiths and travelling bards. This ancient dance form finds place in the 10th century copper inscriptions and in 15th century texts like ‘Machupalli Kaifat’. Traditionally it is regarded that the sanyassin of Advaita Vedanta sect, Tirtha Narayana Yati, and his disciple Siddhendra Yogi initiated, methodized and arranged the present day version of the dance form in 17th century. Usually performance repertoire of Kuchipudi that is broadly oriented on Lord Krishna and the tradition of Vaishnavism include an invocation, dharavu – short dance, nritta – pure dance and nritya – expressive dance respectively

4. Mohiniattam or Mohiniyattam is an Indian classical dance form that evolved in the state of Kerala, India, and is counted among the two popular dance arts of the state, the other being Kathakali. Although its roots date back to the age-old Sanskrit Hindu text on performing arts called ‘Natya Shastra’, similar to other Indian classical dance forms, Mohiniattam adheres to the Lasya type that showcases a more graceful, gentle and feminine form of dancing. Mohiniattam derives its name from the word ‘Mohini’, a female avatar of Lord Vishnu. Conventionally a solo dance performed by female artists, it emotes a play through dancing and singing where the song is customarily in Manipravala which is a mix of Sanskrit and Malayalam language and the recitation may be either performed by the dancer herself or by a vocalist with the music style being Carnatic.

5. Manipuri- one of the six classical dance styles of India, the others being bharata natyam, kathak, kathakali, kuchipudi, and odissi. It is indigenous to Manipur and is characterized by a variety of forms that are linked to folk tradition and ritual. Themes are generally taken from episodes in the life of Krishna, the pastoral god.

Manipuri, one of the main styles of Indian Art or Classical Dances originated in the picturesque and secluded state of Manipur in the north-eastern corner of India. Because of its geographical location, the people of Manipur have been protected from outside influences, and this region has been able to retain its unique traditional culture.

The origin of Manipuri dance can be traced back to ancient times that go beyond recorded history. The dance in Manipur is associated with rituals and traditional festivals, there are legendary references to the dances of Shiva and Parvati and other gods and goddesses who created the universe

7. Odissi- Odissi dance also known as Orissi is one of the eight classical dance forms of India. Its origin is traced to the state of Orissa in eastern India. It is the oldest surviving dance form of India on the basis of archaeological evidences. The classic treatise of Indian dance, Natya Shastra, refers to it as Odra-Magadhi. First century BCE bas-reliefs in the hills of Udaygiri (near Bhubaneswar) testify to its antiquity. It was suppressed under the British Raj, but has been revitalised since India gained independence. It is particularly distinguished from other classical Indian dance forms by the importance it places upon the Tribhangi (literally: three parts break), the independent movement of head, chest and pelvis and upon the basic square stance known as Chauka or Chouka that symbolises Lord Jagannath. on 23 December 2011, an Odissi performance was held with by 555 dancers both boys and girls from five countries participated. This was held at Kalinga Stadium which lasted for 28 minutes. This has been recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Silhoutte Paintings

Silhoutte Paintings

Lockdown- Punishment or Blessing

Lock down- Punishment or Blessing

The lock down across the country has created panic and fear among the people.  The number of corona cases which are increasing day by day is creating a negativity among us . We,  who were once free to roam around are now trapped within the four walls of our homes . The 1-day curfew imposed on us was just the beginning of our exile.  People are all wondering on the effect the 21 days curfew imposed on them will have now.

But we need to look at the positive side of it. We will realize how by staying indoors will keep us  safe and healthy . We can make use of the idle time by making it more productive and learning new things which we usually complain cannot do because of lack of time. I for one have been trying to do so.

I have been listing out all the things that I would have wanted to do and have started doing it .I have now started  indulging in my hobbies

1.       Have started painting/ sketching/ trying new methods of paint! thanks to  U Tube

2.       Have been able to find time to read my favorite novels

3.       Exploring cooking as a hobby and am a good beginner for a start

4.       Going back to gardening which I did once upon a time.  I am trying to grow a vegetable garden. Let me see if I can be successful 

5.       Trying to write my thoughts and experiences in my blog which I had left for lack of time.

6.       Try out new creative indoor games.

7.       Spending time with family. Our office time and the travel time hardly gave time to spend quality time with them. It is like getting to know them again.  

8.       And of course, giving myself an hour everyday in the morning for my yoga/ exercise

9.       Try something new .

I am each one of us can list down the activities that would have loved to do and use the time given to start it once again. And I am sure the 21 days lock down can easily be overcome

Impulsive Or Compulsive Buying

Impulsive Or Compulsive Buying

It is only off late ( a few years back) that  I have realized that I have become a Compulsive or an Impulsive  shopper. Do not know what to define myself one as?  Maybe you can help me on this.  Do not know how it has started and I am never the kind of person who buys things unless and until it is required – quite practical I have been. This compulsive shopping urge is on particularly with clothes that I purchase but not always only on few occasions I think so.  But it happens only when I am there with my close friends on all occasions.

And it more so happens when I decide that I will not waste any more money unnecessarily. One occasion that I remember and get amused is when I went with my friend as he had to buy sarees for his wife. He suggested Pothy’s in Majestic as it was a festival time and offered discounts and he wanted my help in selection. So I said yes and accompanied him. Pothy’s is some 3-4 floor building and each floor has various & beautiful selection of sarees and dress materials. Since we reached the place after finishing office we reached almost 7.30 pm. We decided to first loom around and started with the Ground floor. I was busy helping my friend with the selection but seeing the beautiful colors and prices could not resist and I ended up selecting a couple of sarees for myself and told the lady to keep it aside as we had to check the next floor as well. It was then the lady told that the billing will end at 8- 8.30 and that she can hold it only for 20-30 minutes and we had to bill only in that floor.

If there was only one floor all this would not have happened.  It was then our comedy started. We realized we had only 30 minutes and we had 3 more floors to cover. We had only 10 minutes at each floor and our race against time started.

 We rushed to the first floor, quickly walked around the floor, picked up a couple of sarees, spoke to the lady at the counter, requested her to keep the saris aside as we will come back and pick up.

Our strategy was same at each floor. We then rushed to the 2^nd floor , quickly scanned around , checked the prices and picked up a couple of sarees and gave it to the lady. The same at the 3^rd and the 4^th floor. And each time before rushing to the next floor would check the time on the mobile. Finally, on all 4 floors we picked up totally 8 sarees. 

Now, came the final test. Out of the 8 sarees that we had picked we had to pick the final 2 as that it what we had a budget for only 2 sarees. There was only 1 thing we could do for that ie, go down to each floor where we had kept the sarees and make the final decision.   And this had to be quick as we had only last 10 minutes.  Our exercise started again. This time we had to rush down to each floor and pick up only the best among the 8. The decision was hard as all sarees were nice. In the last 10 minutes we had to struggle to pick the best. Our brains were working fast as we had to also pick the beats not just in color, quality, offer of buy 1 get 1 but, also the price. Finally, we both did it. My friend picked up 2 i.e. 4 because of Buy 1, Get 1  offer and me too . We were like “Yeah we made it “with our full beaming faces to the final billing counter.

When we both stepped out, we laughed it out thinking of the race we had just ended. We also realized, how hungry we both were. So, we bought some snacks and hogged like we had not eaten before. It was 9 pm already and I rushed home after bidding goodnight to my friend. But it was only when I reached home and opened my almirah to keep the sarees, I realized again. Why the hell did I buy it. I already have too many which I still have not worn and there was no place at all for anything new

Not that I regret buying it as definitely it was a good choice and I know I am going to wear it of course. 

But what do it term it as – Impulsive or Compulsive. But whatever it was I did enjoy it.