Mumbai-Dandeli-Yana roadtrip: in the lap of nature...

Did a fabulous 5 day trip from Mumbai – Dandeli – Karwar – Mumbai, visiting Yana and Gokarna inbetween. In all, covered 1,600 kms. So here goes…

(Don't mind the team-bhp logos on the snaps - had originally posted the travelogue on team-bhp.com here.)

Preparation: team-bhp, google maps and a lot of route tips, special thanks to ampere and ravi bhat
Equipment: i20 Asta that has done 30,000 kms, camera and a crazy mind that thinks the idea of a relaxing holiday is to drive 300 kms everyday

The idea of the trip started with a wish to visit Yana (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yana,_India). During the route planning, decided to stay at Old Magazine House, Ganeshgudi in Dandeli forest and another stop at Karwar. To make the drive more relaxed, divided it into two parts: Part 1 was to drive to OMH, spend a couple of nights and then on to Karwar, spend a night and cover Gokarna and Yana either before or after. Plan was to drive down from Karwar to Mumbai in one stretch, so that the trip would take only 4 days. A rather amusing incident changed those plans and ended up spending 5 days!

For the first part of the drive from Mumbai to OMH-Ganeshgudi, decided to take the NH4 upto Belgaum and then turn off into the Khanapur Road. The route was: Mumbai – Belgaum – Khanapur – Ramanagara – Ganeshgudi. Mumbai-Belgaum was on NH 4. Having driven on NH4 before, and experienced the traffic on Pune – Satara – Kohlapur and in order to reach OMH well in time, decided to get an early start, at 3.00 AM. It was only me and my wife, who is also an excellent navigator. I was so excited about the drive that I could not sleep at all the previous night!

So off we started at 3.20 AM and in no time hit the Mumbai – Pune Expressway. Having very little highway driving experience in the dark, I kept the speed to a reasonable 80 kph. This stretch as always was a breeze. The road got progressively bad after Pune and the stretch upto Satara surprisingly had several potholes. Thanks to the early start, we completely avoided the nasty two wheeler traffic on that stretch. By the time we reached Satara, it was already light and the speed thereafter shot up to 90 – 100 kph on an average. The only bottleneck was the small ghat road after Satara where for some unknown reason, there was a massive traffic jam. Vehicles had stopped for almost a kilometer. It cleared up after about 20 minutes or so and we lost that much time. Decided to take a breakfast stop before Kolhapur. Last time we had stopped at a Food Mall in a defunct Reliance petrol pump about 35 kms before Satara that was decent, so decided to stop at the same place. We were there by 8.45 AM. Unfortunately, the food was pathetic and we had to cancel the order. Stepped into Sai International – a self service style restaurant a couple of hundred meteres away and was surprised by the excellent food and spotlessly clean toilets (they have an attendant who hands you liquid soap and tissues, full five-star ishtyle!). Had a good fill of idli, vada, dosa etc., though I prefer to eat light on long drives and we were back on the road by 9.45. We then crossed the border into Karnataka. If the NH 4 in Maharashtra is good, in Karnataka it becomes spectacular. It is 6 laned, with tall shrubs on the divider, wide service roads along the entire length that prevents most local traffic spilling onto the GQ and what a road! Forget potholes, there are no bumps either! Such a pleasure to drive.

Before Belgaum we got off the GQ and turned into Old PB Road / College Road, onto Rani Chennamma Circle and onward to the Khanapur Road. Tanked up on fuel after RC Circle and was surprised to have clocked a mileage of 20 kmpl! The road upto Khanapur was good, but between Khanapur and Ramanagara it was quite bad – lots of potholes, pretty deep ones and big stones lying on the road. But it was not a very long stretch and after Ramanagara, the road again became excellent. After Khanapur the Dandeli forest starts and what a dense forest it is! The scenery is fantastic and in some parts, the road runs close to the Supa Dam backwaters. Didn’t stop much here, but here are some pics of the excellent road, dense forest and a snapshot of the backwaters.


We reached OMH by about 1.30 PM and had informed the resort people in advance of our late arrival and to keep lunch ready for us.

OMH is a jungle resort run by Jungle Lodges and Resorts, managed by the Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka. The place is a bit innocuous, and one has to drive atleast 200 – 300 mts on a gravelly stretch from the road to reach the resort. Nestled literally in the middle of the forest, the place is a treat! Lush forests all around, chirping birds everywhere (this is a spot frequented by serious birdwatchers), excellent service. The place has no TVs, no room service, no AC, and not much ambience in the rooms. But then again, if this is what you want, better stay at home or at a 5-star right! We fell in love with the place immediately. Here are some images of the resort.

Had a heavy meal of the freshest, tastiest and healthiest stuff. Caught a quick nap and explored the place. The place is fabulous – they only have 4 – 5 cottages and one dormitory. Being the middle of the week, there was only one other room occupied. Also, there is mobile network only in one small square in front of the kitchen which we promptly labeled ‘The Networking Square’! Of course, it was such a joy not to be disturbed by calls all the while! Incidentally, a tree fell on some electric pole nearby and there was no power supply for 24 hours! They used to run the generator for preparing and serving lunch, dinner, breakfast only! That again was great – the peace, the quiet, the sounds of the forest, the pitch dark of the forest… a fantastic experience!

We got up early the next morning to go birdwatching. Inspite of this not being the peak of the birding season, spotted about 40 different species of birds, the Great Malabar Squirrel, a viper etc., Some pics (not very good quality, to my great grief) attached.




Unfortunately the water from the Supa dam was not yet released, so we couldn’t do white water rafting. Also, due to the SC ban on tiger tourism, we couldn’t do any jungle safaris to spot the big mammals: elephant, leopard, deer etc., This was a real dampener, but we decided to enjoy the forest instead. The ban though was lifted a day after we returned and hope to do another trip for the safaris 

So instead of the safari, we did a coracle boat ride in the Kali river (I think) and spotted a large group of Great Indian Hornbill and a variety of other water birds. We also went on a trek into the forest, where we came across a bear hole, this giant spider and reached the top of a hillock to get this fabulous view of the Supa Dam backwaters. The place is so beautiful we didn’t feel like coming back.



I must say the staff at OMH are fabulous: based on our breakfast order the first day, they immediately understood our preferences (for eg., I don’t like onion in my omelette) and got exactly what we wanted the next day without even asking! Such service is expected in high end resorts, but in one managed by the Govt., wow! They also helped us to plan our route to Karwar: they made enquiries with local drivers and advised that the route via Anshi was patched up and very good, except for a 3 – 4 km stretch. We decided to follow their advice.

The next day we did more birdwatching and then it was time to head towards Karwar. Based on the advice of the OMH staff, we took the Ganeshgudi – Joida – Kumbharwada – Anshi – Kadra – Sadashivgad – Karwar route. The drive is about 100 kms and most of it is through the densest forest imaginable. This is the same Dandakaranya mentioned in our epics – forests so thick that sunlight does not touch the ground! And it was true! In several stretches, the canopy of dense trees prevented sunlight from reaching the ground! We were very hopeful of spotting a leopard or atleast an elephant, but could only spot a huge cobra leisurely crossing the road! The road itself is in very good condition except fo the the 6 km stretch between Kumbharwada and Anshi where there is literally no road, there are only rocks and stones on the road. Few pics here.

Drove into Karwar and I made a foolish mistake! We were booked at the Devbagh Beach Resort again managed by the Jungle Lodges. Due to some incorrect directions I received, I drove right onto the beach! About 200 metres on the sand and I realized I made a mistake. Stopped the car, called the resort for futher directions and by then, the wheels of the car had sunk into the sand. Put the car in reverse but to no avail! Only ended up digging up myself deeper. I was now in deep trouble. Literally! A couple of fisherfolk tried pushing the car, but it would not budge. Tried to put wooden planks but that didn’t help either! By then, lost mobile signal also! Had to run a couple of kilometers, get directions as to where exactly I was – if I don’t know where I am, how do I ask for directions on how to get where I wanted to go! Called the resort for help and asked them to send a jeep with rope. It took them almost 30 minutes to come – that’s when I realized I was way off! They had brought a Scorpio with 4 staff members. Took them to the beach where I had left the car and my wife guarding the car! When I reached there, I was shocked! My wife had managed to attract the sympathy of the village folk, who thought what a stupid husband she must have, to drive a car on the beach! Anyway, the resort is also connected by the beach and two staff members had come to assist from that route. Very thoughtfully, they brought a bottle of water since it was quite hot! What service! Again, completely unexpected from a Govt. run enterprise, but hats off! So, it turns out that by the time I came back, the village fold brought a contraption that is used to drag the boats on to the beach. A rope is tied to the car and it wound around a pillar fixed to a platform that that has a long lever. Four men turn the lever, the rope winds around the pillar and the pulley effect (horizontal) gives great torque that managed to drag the car back quite a bit. The Scorpio then came to rescue and pulled the car rest of the way out. Unfortunately, my efforts to pull the car back in reverse in the first instance dug it in so deep that the bottom of the car banged against the sand. Had to get that fixed and I lost one day.

We drove to the ferry point in the staff Scorpio and reached the resort. Again, the place is out of the world. Imagine a long beach, lined with a pine forest and cottages in this picturesque setting. The place is excellent and ambience much better than OMH. They have AC (need to, can get quite warm), but no TV. But who’s complaining! They have not yet started water sports, so spent a lot of time on the beach and also hired a cab to visit Gokarna temple. We had lost so much time that we thought we may have to skip Yana. This was sad, since that was to be the highlight of the entire trip. The next morning we went dolphin spotting and saw lots of dolphins, some of them jumping out of the water. Managed to get some decent shots of these amazing animals as well as my first decent shot of an eagle in flight. Some pics here.



It took some time for us to collect the car, almost afternoon, basic servicing done and we knew we had lost time and there was no way I could reach Mumbai the same day. We either could halt in Karwar one more night or start driving and stop either at Belgaum or Kolhapur. Decided to do Yana on the way and what a good decision! We got route tips from the resort staff and they suggested we go on the Yellapur road. I was also told that some part of the road is not very good, but an i20 could handle it. So off we went, first on the Panvel – Kanyakumari road, turned off 5 kms before Ankola into the Hubli via Yellapur road. After about 20 -25 kms we reached Mastikatte. After 2 kms, there is a bus stop and a road leading to the right. Turned right here, crossed a bridge and came to the Hosakambi forest check post. Turned left here and simply followed the signboards (kudos to the Govt. for putting up lots of clear, unambiguous signboards) to Yana. The last stretch of the ghat road (about 4 – 6 kms) is a nightmare. The road is narrow, a little more than single lane road, very very steep, and absolutely no road. Only loose stones, dirt, gravel all over. My brave Berry (that’s what I call my car) managed to pull through without a scratch and we reached Yana. What a sight! It is simply out of this world and straight out of Lord of the Rings! It is almost like staring at Sauron’s tower at Mordor! We explored the place well and however long we stared at the place, it was not enough! Truly spellbinding! Some pics here.



It was now time to head back home. We backtracked upto the Yellapur road, drove on Yellapur road. Stopped at a Shanbag restaurant before Yellapur for a quick snack. We were planning to take the route via Haliyal directly to Belgaum, but were advised that the road has lots of speedbreakers for 50 kms, so go via Hubli bypass onto NH4. Decided to do that. The road passed through the fringes of the forest and we saw another large cobra crossing the road! There were also signboards warning of wild elephants crossing, but unfortunately, did not spot any. The Hubli bypass is a nightmare of a road, narrow and in extremely bad condition for almost the entire 20 -25 km stretch. By the time we were on NH4 it was already very dark. Drove on the GQ in the dark, but thanks to the good road quality, could do decent speed of 100 kph. Thought I will drive all the way to Mumbai at night, but it was too stressful. So decided to stop at Belgaum. A quick internet search revealed that Hotel Ramdev on the Old PG Road just off the NH 4 is good – thanks to Tripadvisor! Stopped there, got a good room and had a good rest. Started at 6.45 the next morning, stopped at our favourite Sai International for a late breakfast and we were at home in Mumbai by 2.30 PM, for lunch! What a trip that was!

Attached Thumbnails

Attached Images

  

Mumbai road trip

For a change, decided NOT to go on a long road trip on a long weekend. Instead, we decided to explore places in Mumbai. And so, on a wet saturday morning, M and I set off, to look up spots in South Mumbai. The first stop was the Church of St John the Evangelist, popularly known as Afghan Church.

Tucked away in a quiet corner of Colaba, close to Navy Nagar, Afghan Church is a Presbyterian Church built to commemorate the dead of the 1838 Afghan War. The imposing spire, rising to a height of 60 mts that was once visible to ships docking in the harbour, is now dwar

fed by high rises all round. Surprisingly, the church itself is in a derelict state, opening only for mass on sunday mornings. Since we went on a saturday, the church was sadly, closed to visitors. There wasn't even a caretaker to be found. The precincts were immacu

lately kept, and the facade was imposing. Since the main entrance was locked, we missed seeing the famed stained glass windows - apparently the largest in India. Will come back on a sunday morning post monsoon and post pics. Pic courtesy here: googlemaps/panoromio

From the Afghan Church, we proceeded to Kala Ghoda, to the Jehangir Art Gallery. There were several solo exhibitions on, mostly abstract paintings. Also on display were sculptures by an artist who works with mixed media: fibreglass, brass and metals, clay etc., I am sure there are people that appreciate modern art, but sadly we were not those. Hence a quick tour and exit, to Samovar Cafe.

Samovar is a quaint cafe attached to the Art Gallery, immortalised in the Basu Chatterjee movie Chhoti si baat, starring Amol Palekar, Vidya Sinha, Ashok Kumar (as the unforgettable Col. Julius Nagendranath Wilfred Singh) and Asrani. An open corridor running down an entire length of the gallery building is cloistered and converted into a narrow cafe, with rows of chairs on either side of the aisle. Since it was early noon, there wasnt much crowd save for a solitary foreign tourist. Sadly, the menu did not feature chicken-a-la-poos, though it did list kheema paratha and dahi vada. The menu had several delights for the maansaahaari, such as mutton samosa, chicken patty etc., We settled for the spicy cheese-veg roll, veg sandwich and the mango lassi. The staff were extremely courteous, efficient and quick, though on a lazy sunday morning, I'd rather they were slow! The ambience was enhanced by the background music - a collection of fusion music titled Chitra, by Venus. The staff even obliged us by getting us the CD cover when we enquired about the album!

From Cafe Samovar, we headed to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, formerly The Prince of Wales Museum (strangely, an internet search turns up a large number of hits for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sastu Sangrahalaya!) Surprisingly, the museum attracts a large number of visitors, from within and outside Mumbai. The visit began on a high note, munching on slices of kandmool - a juicy tuber supposed to be good for digestion.

The museum authorities permit use of a camera, without flash ofcourse, on payment of a small fee. Unfortunately, we had not carried the camera, hence, no interesting images from the visit. The museum building has an imposing facade: set in the Indo-Saracenic style, the structure draws from Islamic and Deccan styles.  The structure itself would be an object of study for architecture enthusiasts.

The teeming crowds actually surprised us - who would expect Mumbaites to turn up at a museum on a sunday, rather than some mall!  Anyways, it turned out that most of the visitors were tourists from other cities - Chennai, Kerala, AP, Rajasthan, UP etc., The excitement of the crowds was palpable!
Interestingly, a significant part of the collection is donated by Sir Ratan Tata (son of Jamsetji Tata), his wife Lady Navajbai Tata and brother Sir Dorab Tata.  Many artefacts donated by the family are priceless: jade artefacts, antique furniture, jewelry, sculptures - there's something from the family in every section of the museum.  In fact, it is surprising that the museum was originally called The Prince of Wales Museum and not The Sir Ratan Tata Museum!  Yet another example of the Tata family's selflessness in  service of the greater public good.

The audio guides available for Rs 100 give a pretty useful introduction, though we found the explanations for the sculpture section (dominated by mythological themes) fairly basic.  The central hall, formed by the cavernous dome, is awe inspiring.  The dome itself is inspired by the Gol Gumbaz of Bijapur - probably the largest free standing dome in the world.  The ground floor has an eclectic collection of jade figurines, ivory sculptures, jewelry and an entire section devoted to ancient sculptures, that easily took most of our attention and time.

The sculpture section
This houses sculptures from various Indian temple sites as ancient as  200 BC to as recent as 1600 AD.  For the mythologically and historically inclined, like us, this is a treasure trove.  What it lacks in quantity, it more than makes up in variety.  Spending more than an hour browsing the collection, we made a few startling observations.  For instance, most of the scupltures of the feminine, be it goddesses or dwarpalikas, upto almost the 15th century, are portrayed with a yagnopaveetam, the sacred thread.  Though it is a known fact that the scriptures nowhere prohibit women from chanting the Gayatri or undergoing the thread ceremony, the recentness of the depiction was surprising.  A couple of artefacts were wrongly labelled and we did have a good mind to speak to the curataor, but by the time were done with the exhibits, exhaustion overtook us and forgot about it.  One of the exhibits that caught our attention was a life size Durga made entirely of dried plantain bark.  The featuring and attention to detail was spell binding.
The central hall houses several smaller artefacts and trinkets, of which the jade collection was the best.  Carved jade cups so delicate that they are translucent, jade jewelry, carved jade boxes and keepsakes... one can spend the rest of the day gazing at these.  There are carvings of ivory and wood, mostly Goan, at this level too, but none can match the breathtaking beauty of the jade word.

The first floor several sections - an extensive collection of Indian miniature paintings, one of the largest collections of Indian coins, and an assortment of arms and armour, various wooden and ivory artefacts.
The collection of miniature paintings is very extensive and showcases the different styles prevalent in various regions of the country.  We quickly moved to the coins section.  The history of coinage is traced with specimen from each phase.  There are coins from the pre-Mauryan period, through the various dynasties across India and right up to the 'Company' issued coins of the 18th and 19th centuries.  We were already running short on time and hence couldn't spend enough time here - probably another visit dedicated just to this section.
Exquisitely carved wooden and ivory furniture are placed all over the first level.  Most of these feature delicate filigree work as well as inlay work in metal and semi-precious stones.  Most are donated by the Sir Ratan Tata family.
The section on European and contemporary art was closed for renovation and was sadly, out of bounds.
It was nearing closing time and we decided to make a dash of the natural history section.  Though it was saddening to see magnificent animals killed and stuffed for display, two specimen caught our attention.  The first was an Indian rhino, in all its magnificent hulk, standing five feet tall toe to shoulder: never imagined that a rhino could be this huge.  The second was a bison that M found immensely handsome and dashing - I had to agree.  Though only a display, the bison had the calm commanding look that women swoon for, helped in no small measure by the huge bulk of atleast six foot tall.
It was now officially closing time and the guards started herding the laggards out.  We made a quick stop at the museum bookstore and picked up a couple of books on the Indus Valley civilization and ancient Indian coinage.

It was almost six in the evening and we were ravenous, the small Samovar lunch long since digested.  Headed to Delhi Durbar for a hearty meal, which turned to be not a great experience.  Un-responsive staff, slow service, dysfunctional AC were only a few of the complaints.  A quick repast later, we headed back home.  Surely, there is more to Mumbai than just her malls and shopping high streets....

The world of small things - fun with macro photography

After attending the Canon basic photography workshop yesterday, was raring to have a go with the camera today.  A lazy afternoon, with M away and I was looking for things to photograph.  Stepping out was ruled out - didn't want to take that chance on the 10th day of Ganapati, what with visarjan crowds thronging the streets!

It's been four months since I got the camera, though haven't used it much.  The last couple of weeks, have been trying to take as many practice shots as possible.  Did the same today, though being confined within the house limited the options.  That is when I chanced upon a lone apple in the refrigerator.

Photographing it posed several challenges; first, there were different sources of direct and reflected light in the room.  Then there was clutter everywhere.  Third, I didn't have anything to prop the apple on!  Decided to set up a makeshift studio: hung an old dhoti over the window to diffuse the direct sunlight, pulled a black chair and draped another old dhoti to camouflage the black cushion and provide good contrast (red on white).  The white cloth would also reflect the light off the flash, thus reducing the effect of harsh shadows.  Pulled out the tripod for good effect (currently am making do with SLIK, hope to progress to a Manfrotto someday) and I was set.  Got some neat shots of the apple...  Increased saturation in the first snap, but decided to leave the other two untouched, for the natural effect...

Love the angle of this shot... The out of focus front half and out of focus background, with the light shining off the side adds to the effect.  Increased saturation to bring out the colours...

 More experimentation here... have gone against the rule of thirds, splitting the frame into two and dedicating one half each to the subject and the background.  The composition turned out interesting results... No post processing here, not even crop.

Repeated the same half-half composition here, with a side view.  Though not as dramatic as the previous one, this nevertheless gave an interesting shot.









After the shoot, rewarded myself the apple; the fructose and carbs acted on me and I set out finding other things to shoot.  Shot a bottle of coffee powder and honey; the results were not satisfactory - too many reflections from various sources of light - have to get that polarising filter soon.

I was still not done.  Picked up a dismantled CD-ROM player and decided to shoot the interesting electronics and small parts.  Here are the results:

This is a line up of tiny screws from the player.  Notice the one rupee coin on the left side to get an idea of how tiny these are...

Here is a larger blown up view of the first four fellows: the one on the left would not be more than 3 - 4 mm tall.













A couple of views of the circuit board and the mechanism that moves the CD:

The non-cropped view - the CD player in its entirety with the innards exposed.  The whole thing is about 4 - 5 inches across.

 The circuits and IC's blown up (the little green square in the bottom left corner of the previous image).  This bit is only slightly larger than a one rupee coin.

This is the mechanism that moves the 'reader'  back and forth.  The stub on top is a tiny micro motor, no more than a centimeter in length.















Hope to move outdoors soon, once the rains subside and get more pictures...

Back to blogspot

After a lull of an year and a half, am back to blogging. Much happened during my absence: Google+ threatens the supremacy of FB, US of A is humbled by a rating agency, Sensex tanked, Team India won many cricket tournaments and lost several, Salman made a resounding comeback with Dabangg and Ready, inflation in office commute cost is > increase in earnings, a friend ran the 250 km 4 Desert Race (Atacama), I swam 250 mts in the pool, graduated from point and shoot to DSLR, moved jobs...

Will be back with more details on all this and more, watch this space!

You are only Bala, no?

Some phone conversations are memorable. Several years ago, I was part of one such conversation on my mobile. The time: sometime between late night and early morning. The location: a friend’s place, partying. The person on the other side of the line: a young lady with a shrill voice and a strong kannada/tamil accent. Here goes…
My phone rings.
Ding! Ding!
Me: Hello?
Lady: Hello?
Me: Hello? Yes?
Lady: Hello? Bala speaking?
Me: Sorry ma’am, you got the wrong number.
Lady: Hello? I want to speak to Bala?
Me: Sorry ma’am, I am not Bala.
Lady: You are not Bala?
Me: No ma’am.
Lady (every word drawn and stretched, the way only women can): Heyyyy, you aaar only Bala. I know you are Bala.
Me: No ma’am, I am not Bala.
Lady (petulantly): I know you are Bala. You always fool me like this only.
Me: No ma’am, I am telling you I am not Bala.
Lady: Ai, you are only Bala, no?
Me: Well ma’am, I am not Bala, but if you still insist, I have no problem speaking to you.
Click!
Some phone call that!

Mumbai Matinee...

This one is on movies - to start with, picked up the VCD of Samson and Delilah - the 1949 classic by Paramount and produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille - the same legendary director behind such epics as Ten Commandments. Based on an episode from the Book of Judges in the Bible, the movie tells the story of Samson - a strongman - who delivers the Israelites from the Philistines. Samson is endowed with superhuman strength: he kills a lion with his bare hands and slays an army of thousands using the jawbone of an ass as a weapon.. The highlight of the movie is the climactic scene in which Samson topples a pagan temple - very well shot, considering that this was half a century ago, and long before the advent of computer graphics. Had been looking for the CD for many years and was thrilled to find it today! The best part - found it in a mall! Better still - its a Moser Baer CD! Kudos to Moser Baer!

Have also been watching lots of movies these days... call it being vela, or the absence of cable, but I have been enjoying this every bit. First on the list is Om Shanti Om - a Karz like movie, only, this one is a comedy and far more enjoyable. Add to it a controlled performance by SRK (if you've seen his movies from the 90's, you will realise what I mean!) and a gorgeous Deepika Padukone who looks pretty in a over-the-top imitation (I'd rather not use the word recreation) of the 70's look and it was full paisa vasool. Here are my favourite scenes from the movie - though spoofs, they are all done in good taste:

At the top of the list is the shooting of a Rajnikanth-like movie. Its hilarious and we laughed our guts out. The "enna rascola!" and "mind it!" were really well delivered to the accompaniment of background music that heightened the effect.

Following closely is the Filmfare awards sequence showing the nominations for best actor. Akshay Kumar's macho Matrix-cum-Mithunda-style action sequence had us rolling.

Several others, like the one in which SRK plays an extra in an action sequence, the premiere of Deepika Padukone's movie with the now famous Manoj Kumar incident... overall, a fun package.

We also watched Dus Kahaniyaan. Its a package of ten separate and unrelated stories of 10 - 15 minutes duration each. Loved the format: diversify and derisk, as they teach in Finance 101! Each story is an incident - a slice of life. Some were lousy - High on the highway and Sex on the beach, for instance. Loved Matrimony (had the best plot), Rice Plate (Naseeruddin Shah with just one dialogue was awesome, as always and Shabana Azmi was disappointing in the role of a bumbling Maami, again, as always. But she tried; she tried REALLY HARD - you can see it), Gubbare, in that order. Puran Mashi written by Gulzar and directed by his daughter is tragic, as most Gulzar short stories are, though M liked it. Rise and Fall and Zahir were, well, also there. Manoj Bajpai did not impress in Zahir and the background score in Rise and Fall was good. Overall, another good package. Hope they make more movies in this format.

Have lined up more movies for the weekend - watch this space for more.

Coco-nutty

This one is for that heavenly drink that comes in green bundles – packaged by nature, served by your street corner nariyal paani walla. Widely spread across the sub-continent, the only common thing is the nomenclature – tender coconut. The similarities end there!
To start with there is the Sri Lankan variety – called King coconut. Bright orange in colour – like the rising sung – this large nut will easily quench the thirst of two people, and more. It is HUGE – king size. And intensely sweet. Its nothing like what is available in India. The malai or the flesh of the coconut is another treat – sweet and creamy (unless you opt for the mature nuts that have a thicker and tougher flesh), and a meal in itself.
Then there is the Indonesian variety, that I got to sample in Bali. The way the vendor opens the coconut is a work of art in itself. Four chops and the top does not fly off, like they do in Bangalore. Instead, off it comes in your hand like a lid off the tender coconut. The water tastes very similar to the ones in India, however, these are far larger and have probably thrice as much water. It appears that most firangs are not aware of the fact that the flesh of a coconut is edible – when we asked the vendor to remove the flesh for us, he simply handed us a spoon with a “help yourselves” look. Extracting the flesh with the spoon was naarikela paka, as referred to in Sanskrit literary circles, but it was abundant.
And there is the Bangkok variety. I am not sure if the vendor that I purchased it from had spiked it with alcohol, though he opened it in my presence, for it had a slightly fermented taste. It was not repulsive though – far from it, in fact. It was in a way, a voyage of discovery for the taste buds – a completely new taste and texture. Ah, how can I forget the texture – the water of the coconut had a velvety feel to it, not the creamy feel of the malai wala nariyal, or the watery feel of the paani wala nariyal. This was different – it was like the caress of the softest velvet. The flesh too retained the flavour, taste and texture of the water – though not as abundant as the King Coconut or the Balinese variety, it was more mature, thicker and tougher, but tasty nevertheless.
And now to the Indian variety – and how many of these are there! Right from the look and feel of the nut, to the way it is served and the taste – it differs across regions. First the Bangalore variety – large and bulky, you can opt for either the ganji (the equivalent of the Mumbaiya malai wala¸ or the variety with edible flesh) or neer (meaning paani wala, or watery one, with only the hard shell inside and no flesh) variety. It is cut open with powerful chops delivered with a large sickle that makes you look in awe at the dexterity of the vendor who does it with finesse, not harming a fingernail on his hands. The water in the ganji variety is sweet and that in the neer variety is flat, with a woody taste. This is common across regions – the more the flesh, the sweeter the water (and lesser in quantity!). The flesh is extracted in a similar fashion, by splitting the nut – shell coir and all – longitudinally, with the same power chops. A piece of the outer covering chopped off serves as a rudimentary scoop. Then there is the Mumbai variety. Smaller in size than the Bangalore variety, there are two sub-varieties, depending on the source of the nut. There is the Alibaug nut and there is the Gujarat nut. The Gujarat nuts are sweeter – with even the paani wala varieties being sweeter than in the rest of the country. The Alibaug nut has a flatter taste. In Mumbai, the nuts are opened with a very sharp kitchen knife; the tougher shell is cracked with a flat strip of iron a couple of millimeters thick. The small opening at the top is enlarged and a piece of the outer covering cut out to form an improvised scoop is used to extract the flesh through this opening. Did I say that the paani wala variety does not have edible flesh? Well, for those who like it, the shell of this variety of nuts has a crunchy layer, that can be cut and stripped with a knife – it tastes somewhat like the flesh of a raw singhada, with a woody tinge. Its supposed to be good for digestion and yes, I love it.
So its not for no reason that the coconut tree is called the kalpavriksha – the tree that grants all desires; I would go one step further – this is the tree that gives life – quenching the wayfarer’s thirst with drink and fruit.