Travel

Travelling to Kerala after the floods? Here are 5 things you need to know

Kerala is as beautiful as it always was. Listening to the stories of bravery and the spirit of revitalizing tourism throughout my trip last month was heartening. My two-week long trip was overwhelming, awe-inspiring and joyful. I am sure you have concerns about travelling to Kerala and to be fair even I did. Here are 5 things you need to know when you are travelling to Kerala.

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1. It is 100% safe

There have been several WhatsApp messages and rumours that have been floating around about a possible epidemic. All of that is untrue. It is safe to travel to Kerala and while people and hotels have faced problems, things are back on track now.

2. Kerala needs our support

Kerala is just getting back on its feet and needs tourists to come over. I had been planning my trip since January 2018 to see the Neelakurinji, flowers that bloom once in 12 years. On my way to Munnar, the driver told us that we were his only booking in the past one month. The floods have not only affected the bigger hotels but also individuals like drivers, small home stays, boutique hotels, tour guides and many others who are dependent on tourists for their livelihoods. So go on a holiday to Kerala to relax, rejuvenate and also support the local economy.

3. Their stories will inspire you

We met fishermen who helped rescued several people, met hotel staff that ensured that their guests were safe and met people who took their neighbours into their own homes. It was heartening to hear these stories of bravery and triumph over a calamity of this proportion.

4. There are smiles everywhere you go

Kerala Travel Blogger — Fresh pineapples outside Eravikulam National Park

From a shopkeeper selling pineapples and raw mangos to tourists to a luxury hotel, everybody in Kerala will greet you with a smile. Many people I met expressed happiness at seeing tourists coming to Kerala.

“Where are you from?”, “Where are you going next?” accompanied with several recommendations of what I should be doing when I go to a certain place was how my conversation flowed.

5. Kerala is working hard to bring things back to normal

Handloom Weavers Co-Operative Society Ltd based in Karimpadam, Chendamangalam were one of the groups that incurred losses which threatened their livelihoods. Local entrepreneurs Lakshmi Menon and Gopinath Parayil came up with a simple idea; the Chekutty Dolls. Made from fabric that was partially destroyed during the floods, these dolls are a symbol of hope many weavers. The fabric is washed carefully to ensure hygiene and dolls are created from it. Each doll is unique and beautiful.

Simply put,

“Chekkutty has scars.
Chekkutty has stains.

But Chekkutty represents each one of us who survived the floods”

Besides the Chekutty dolls, there are several initiatives by local NGOs that are working to rebuild Kerala once again.

Kerala is waiting for you with open arms. What stops you from visiting God’s own country?

27 Badass Autorickshaws from Mumbai

Mumbai autorickshaw drivers are badass, funny and kind all rolled into one. I love the fact that many of them make an effort to truly represent themselves through their autos. I have been involved in many autorickshaw chases where I have tried to capture something rib-tickling, cute, funny or complete bizarre written on them. My two years of hard work have culminated to this post. Here’s presenting 27 badass autos from Mumbai (and one from Delhi).

Auto 1

Roughly translated it says,

Go fast as you want,

I will take you to your destination

If I doze off while driving

I will introduce you to God

(I am not the world’s best translator and it sounds much better in Hindi)

Auto 2

Came across this auto at Kalyan a year ago right when I was confused about what I wanted to do with my life.

Auto 3

Auto 4

One of the autorickshaw drives I remember vividly. This man spoke beautiful Hindi 🙂

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Auto 17 (from Delhi!)

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People ask me why do you love autorickshaws so much. It is simply the fact that it takes guts, intelligence and money to proudly display your thoughts on your vehicle. Every time I ride an autorickshaw, I learn something new. I have had brilliant conversations with so many different drivers and was once even the first customer of a brand new auto rickshaw. I have met people who have helped me out when it was raining heavily to go out of their way and drop me to my destination, kindly say “koi baat nahi” when I did not have enough money for my fare and bought me a cutting chai just because felt like.

I have discussed politics, my job, dreams, and aspirations and have listened to stories of an era gone by where Mumbai was Bombay. I am truly, madly and unconditionally in love with autorickshaws and the chutzpah of the mandy drivers I have met. I respect them for their service of dealing with angry customers, heavy traffic and yet they keep doing their work of taking us to our destinations safely.

Hope you enjoyed the post 🙂

P.S. All the photographs were clicked on my battered Asus Zenfone Laser 2. There are so many more that didn’t make the cut because the images were too blurred. I plan to do a post on Badass Taxi drivers, too. Would you like to read it? 🙂

P.P.S. Please be kind if my translations are not up to the mark

A Blind Date called Life

It takes guts to be vulnerable and to trust people. I have learned to live every day of my life as it were a blind date and to render myself vulnerable to the world. In 26 years of my life, the world has wooed me, showered me with affection, made me gasp in wonder, sometimes shed a tear or two, made me chuckle with its wicked sense of humour, inspired me and has never failed to delight me.

Thrill and a little bit of danger are what makes the unknown so exciting. Taking that leap of faith can take you on an unfathomable journey that will be beyond your wildest imagination.

Without this leap of faith, I wouldn’t have…

i) Seen humans treating a goat as a celebrity

The devastating floods of Kerala made me nervous to go Eravikulam National Park to see Neelakuriniji flowers that blossom once in 12 years. The trip to Munnar was emotional; I saw a bridge that had been destroyed, landslides were evident in many locations and our driver recounted the heartbreaking stories of devastation

Tourism had taken a hit and things were slowly crawling back to normal. I couldn’t help feeling a little low till I saw this sight!

A Nilgiri Tahr, the sure-footed mountain goat, was calmly posing as frenzied humans shuffled around clicking her photographs.

Goats wearing a sweater in Sohagpur

The weather was bitter at 7 am in the morning in this small town of Madhya Pradesh. My friend and I were roaming around the silent streets of Sohagpur looking for some breakfast. An old man saw me gush over the goats and go mad clicking photographs. He pointed us to a small shop serving the best pakoras and jalebi you would have ever eaten.

A lost camel in the middle of the street in a city

The camel was lost and so was I on a sweltering hot day in Pune. I had lost my cool with the driver when he suddenly stopped and pointed out the camel to me. In a single moment, my irritation was replaced with a sense of wonder.

Coincidence?

The city of dreams has the perfect vehicle for a blind date; the humble autorickshaw and taxis. I truly believe that the world uses these vehicles to deliver a message to me every now and then.

From showing me a taxi asking me “Women are you ready?” when I was mulling over a job change to showing me the philosophical “Phir wahi manzil ki talash” (in search of my goals once again) when I needed a bit of motivation; the Mumbai autos and taxis always have a secret message for me.

Meeting fishermen in Trivandrum

Language is never a barrier when compassion exists in the hearts of t people. I speak no Malayalam and yet it was through broken English and hand gestures I managed to have an entire conversation with three fishermen of Trivandrum. Their parting request for me? To click their photographs of course.

The thrill of being in the middle of nowhere

Being geographically challenged to the extent that it takes me five minutes to figure out which direction the map is asking me to go. I have often stumbled upon beautiful places by accident and Gadeshwar village was one of these places. I was hot and miserable and out of nowhere, I spotted this!

The Rajasthani Mona Lisa

The world has a funny way of fulfilling our wishes. It has always been my dream to go to Europe before I turned 25 and see the Mona Lisa in person. Sadly, that did not happen. One day at Jaipur, I was reminiscing about my dreams with a friend when I saw this. Our very own Rajasthani Mona Lisa.

Do you think the world does not listen to us when taking us on a blind date? It certainly does 🙂

Turning hate into love

A simple act of defiance using the tools you have at present is enough to change the world. Sitting in a local train compartment, my blood was boiling when I saw derogatory remarks towards women. My fellow passengers were muttering about it, too. One woman decided to take a nail polish out of her bag to simply rewrite the message to something positive.

Incredible isn’t it? How the world can surprise you even in the worse of situations.

It is worth living every day in this world like it were a blind date. The joy of exploring the world is an enriching experience by itself. Tomorrow is full of enchanting, untold secrets that the world is planning to spring on us. The world is kind to us humans but it believes in tough love too.

My many blind dates with the world have taught me many important lessons and I would like to share them with you:

i) Never be afraid of spontaneity

ii) Go on mad adventures; you only live once

iii) Revel in simple pleasures your blind date with the world gives you

iv) Never say never

v) Fall in love with yourself

vi) Never be afraid to trust and be vulnerable

vii) And finally, never give up hope, for it is hope that keeps us going

Dreaming of my next blind date with the world enlivens me and feels me with pure joy. I will be off to many more crazy adventures and I hope that my post has opened you up to go on a blind date with the world, too.

5 must visit places on your trip to Bangalore

Located in the Mysore plateau of Southern India, Bangalore is a city of many tales. I recently traveled from Chennai to Bangalore for a short trip. Beginning with the construction of a small mud fort by a feudal lord in 1537, Bangalore has today grown to become a major urban center with numerous multinational IT companies having their headquarters in the city. Popularly referred to as India’s Silicon Valley, it is also known to be the garden city given the large parks located in the heart of this busy metropolis. I have put together 5 places you must visit when in Bangalore.

Lalbaug

Bangalore Tourism — Lalbaugh at Bangalore

Lalbaug, literally translated as the Red Park is a botanical garden commissioned in 1760 by Hyder Ali, the ruler of Mysore state. Over the centuries, the garden has grown in size which today stands at 188 acres. Several species of plants and trees are to be found within it making Lalbagh one of the largest collection of rare tropical plants in the subcontinent. It also houses a lake making it a popular spot for birding. Commonly sighted birds include spotted kite, Indian Cormorant, kingfisher, egret, heron and parakeets. Lalbaug is most popular for its glass house built in 1889 where flower shows are held twice every year.

Cubbon Park

Another large park in Bangalore is Cubbon park formed in 1870. T covers an area of around 100 acres and is rich with diverse flora and fauna. It is home to few snake species and is frequented by naturalists who wish to study the park’s wildlife. It also houses historical buildings like the state central library and statues like those of Queen Victoria and Sir K.Sheshadri Iyer. It has many paths laid out for walkers making it a popular attraction among the city-dwellers. It is famous for being a landmark lung area of the city.

Nandi Hills

Located at around 60 kms off the city of Bangalore close to the town of Nandi are the Nandi hills. The state horticulture department has made a garden for tourists and the spot is a popular tourist attraction during the summer months. It is a very well-liked spot by bicyclists who frequent this place during weekends. At an altitude of 400 meters, it serves as a training place for hill cycling. The Nandi hills are also famous for being a popular spot for paragliding activity.

Pyramid Valley

Bangalore has long been famous for being a spiritual retreat for those seeking peace and solitude. The many ashrams located in its green peripheral environs have made it an attraction for people world over.

The Pyramid Valley is one such retreat built solely for meditation. Founded in 2003, it is the largest meditation pyramid in the world. Located around 20 km off Bangalore in the district of Ramnagar, it is a quiet and peaceful area far away from the hustle and bustle of the city thus making it a perfect place for one to get in tune with nature and with oneself. A huge statue of Buddha can be found in its premises of this center.

Blossoms Book Store

Bangalore has a gold mine for the bibliophile in you. Located at Church Street, Blossoms houses over 20,000 second-hand books divided into different sections ranging from contemporary and classical literature, children’s literature, comics, arts and craft and many more. For a true bookworm, a trip to Bangalore is incomplete without making a visit to Blossoms. I cherished the well-worn copy of Gerald Durrells’ My Family and Other Animals that I picked up.

These were my favourite places to travel in and around Bangalore. With several flights to Bangalore, you can visit the ‘Garden City’ for an exciting trip.

Have you visited Bangalore before? Which is your favorite place to visit in the city?

Sunday with Timezone Malad

I firmly believe that we are never too old to play games. Team me up with my cousins and the child in me emerges. I love taking my family for fun outings, and last weekend, we zeroed down on Time Zone at Inorbit, Malad. And oh boy, did we have fun! Raman, Jassu, Manu, mom and I spent our Sunday and had the most fabulous time ever.

Timezone Malad with its brand new games, the fun music, and smiling staff is a perfect place for families. While kids can go bonkers over the wide variety of choices available, parents can relax on the massage chairs. That’s exactly what my mom did as my cousins and I headed to play.

With the newly added bowling alley, we just couldn’t contain our excitement. The kiddos whooped with joy when I took them to Krazee whirl cars, a new addition at Timezone Malad. For someone who has been a huge fan of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory had me glued to it for as long as I did not get something out of it, and guess what? I did!

The malls in Mumbai have all these toy cars and toy trains running around on the floors, but in Timezone my cousins discovered the Virtual Rabbids and in one of the other firsts, none of them let us leave until they had two rounds each. Raman was so scared in the first round that he wouldn’t let go of his sister’s hand! The second time around he definitely enjoyed himself much more.

The Camel Racer was one of the most thoroughly enjoyed game as all of us could play it and play it together, so whoever won, we’d all be happy anyway! Turns out we were creating the most noise in there, but for as long as we had fun, nobody cared!

Sweetland 5 was the most popular game; I saw several children queued up excited to try and win some ‘gems’. I loved shooting zombies and winning tickets. Raman, on the other hand, rode a horse while Manu decided to ride a bike. In three hours, we played every single game in the entire space.

A big part of the excitement for my cousins was to collect those coveted tickets. After all, you never know what kind of an achievement you just had until you can count those tickets and trade them for all those gifts on the shelves, isn’t it? We queued up to convert our tickets into points to redeem our gift.

Since we were so many of us, going to the prize shop and deciding what everyone wanted out of those tickets turned out to be yet another fun task, because there were so many gifts at the counter. We were, however, a little disappointed as for 712 points all we could purchase were some candies and a pencil. Would recommend Timezone Malad to be a little more generous with their gifts 🙂 I have made a short video of my experience with them. Have a look 🙂

Have you ever been to Timezone? How was your experience?

I’ve shared my experience at the revamped Timezone Inorbit Malad in association with BlogAdda

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