Elephant camp

Posted on July 15, 2007 by Kishor

Dubare Elephant Camp is a hot destination for tourists visiting Kodagu during summer. The ‘Elephant Interaction’ package, which is a hit among visitors, begins early in the morning with a host of activities including bathing and feeding of the jumbos. Nestled alongside the River Cauvery, the camp offers a unique and relaxing experience. My daughter was too excited to see the elephants from close quarters.

On the other side of River Cauvery lies the elephant camp.

Tourists crossing the river by boat to reach the camp.

Elephants enjoying the bathing session. Enthusiastic tourists are seen splashing water on the jumbos.

I am ready to take the plunge…

After relaxing in ‘pool’, elephants return for the feeding session.

A board displays names of elephants and their age.

Hey, fans deserve something better

Posted on July 14, 2007 by Kishor

Fans of Oman football team look dejected after their team lost to Thailand. (Pic source: AFP)

“You have to know that Omani players had three weeks holidays and only one month training, so we could not have a good level of fitness for this tournament. The other teams didn’t have holidays like us.”

Thus spoke Oman coach Gabriel Calderon after his team lost to Thailand in the second match.

Isn’t the coach responsible for advising the federation on training schedules for the team? We all know that Oman had qualified for the Asian Cup a long time ago, and they had all the time in this world to prepare for this important event. The Gulf Cup got over in January this year. What were the players doing till July? Why wasn’t a methodical fitness regime planned out for them during the ‘rest’ period? Blaming the fitness levels for their loss is not the right thing a coach can do at this juncture. In the whole bargain, are the gullible fans taken for a ride?

Golden temple

Posted on July 12, 2007 by Kishor

Taking a breather from our hectic holiday schedule, we managed to visit the Golden Temple at the Tibetan refugee settlement in Bylakuppe. The place is 30 km from Madikeri, and 90 km from Mysore. The Golden Temple is housed in the Namdroling Monastery, and true to Tibetan architecture, is very attractive and colorful.

Entrance to the monastery.

Statue of Lord Buddha inside the temple.

Front view of the Golden Temple.

Door handle in one of the temples. Intricate design caught my attention.

Wall painting inside the temple.

Inside view of the temple.

Currently reading

Posted on July 12, 2007 by Kishor

Melody is back

Posted on July 11, 2007 by Kishor

A still from the movie. (Pic source : www.musicindiaonline.com)

For a long, long time –– a decade to be precise –– I had not purchased a Kannada movie music cassette/CD. Reason: deteriorating music and mindless lyrics were ruling the roost from almost 1996. Thanks to this year’s superhit movie, Mungaru Male, things look much brighter now. Ever since I heard songs of the film, I’ve just fallen in love with the melodious compositions. I can’t get enough of it. Efforts to watch the movie fell flat though. I am told the songs were creating ripples in some European nations too. Listen to it; it’s too good to ignore.

Quote of the day

Posted on July 11, 2007 by Kishor

“Never believe anything untill it is officially denied”

Monsoon woes – Part 2

Posted on July 10, 2007 by Kishor

It’s tricky to travel during heavy rains. If you lucky enough, you will reach your destination comfortably. One rainy afternoon, on our back home, a huge tree fell over the highway near Sullia, blocking the road for nearly two hours with around 500 vehicles on either side. After some agonizing moments, the trees were cut and vehicle traffic resumed. Landslides and uprooting of trees are two major worries during monsoon, especially in ghat sections.

Stranded vehicles on either side.

An elephant landed on the spot to assist in clearing the road.

Vehicular traffic resumes.

No-frills lunch

Posted on July 9, 2007 by Kishor

From my experience, I’ve learnt that low-cost and no-frills hotels dish out lip smacking food. After visiting Talacauvery, on our way back home, we stopped at Bhagamandala for lunch. We zeroed in on Hotel Santhosh, which has a rural setting to it. The lunch here was decent and tasty. For Rs.100 (RO 1), four of us had a hearty lunch. The menu comprised of rice, sambar, rasam, vegetable, papad, curd, butter milk, pickle, dal vada, bhajji and payasam. The lunch evoked nostalgic memories of the good old days.

Meals are served on plantain leaves.

Dal vada, bhajjis were the accompaniments we ordered along with meals.

Hotel’s hand wash area in the backyard.

The exterior look of Hotel Santhosh.

Aussie bias

Posted on July 9, 2007 by Kishor

This is a paragraph from a report that appeared in AFP after Australia struggled to hold Oman in Asian Cup soccer yesterday:

The Gulf state, ranked 74 and playing against the Australians for the first time, frustrated their 48th-ranked opponents and stoically protected a 32nd-minute lead with a packed defence and questionable injury-feigning tactics.

This report has been filed by an AFP reporter, Robert Smith, and going by the bias in the story, I am assuming he is an Australian. Feigning injury has been going around in soccer from time immemorial, and top teams in Europe and South America have well adopted these skills. Whether one likes or not, feigning injury is here to stay in soccer.

Oman really played well yesterday and almost shocked the hot favourites. People who question Oman’s tactics yesterday, should also be aware of Australia’s sledging strategy in cricket. But, then they get away with it. For them sledging is nothing but ‘competitive spirit’. When others do it, it hurts.

Monsoon woes

Posted on July 8, 2007 by Kishor

During the first half of my holidays in India, the monsoon never came, and in the latter part, it rained like mad. For almost two days, thanks to heavy rains, I couldn’t get out of my house in Kodagu. Overflowing rivers, flooding, and landslides became order of the day. Power breakdowns were common, and in some interior areas people went ‘powerless’ for more than 10 days. Barring landlines and mobile networks, only source of communication in these times were the vernacular local dailies.

Throughout my holidays, wherever we went, people kept asking, “You missed the terrible Oman cyclone right?”. Yes, we missed by a whisker, was our constant reply. But, when we landed back in Muscat, Gonu effect was evident in our flat where water had seeped in through the A/c ducts, damaging some furniture.

Here are some monsoon-related photos from India:

Mist-clad mountains before sunrise.