Kodaikanal – Fact file

Kodaikanal is one of the most popular hill stations in India.  Situated at an altitude of about 2,133 m and covering a total area of about 21.45 sq.km this is place that is known for its sylvan beauty.

History

Kodaikanal was known to be a home for various prehistoric tribes. Locals suggested that villagers who used to stay at the base of the Palani hills, moved over to Kodai to avoid confrontation with Tippu Sultan’s forces. It is believed that under the British Raj, foreigners found it hard to survive the oppressive Tamil Nadu heat and used to die as a result of suffering from epidemic diseases.  Kodai was a perfect environment for the Britishers and it was not very far from Madurai, the famous temple city of Tamil Nadu. It did not take long for the Britishers and the other foreigners to adopt Kodai as their new home. The influence of foreigners is pretty evident. As I was traveling from Madurai towards the top of the hill, I found a forest full of pine trees. Pine trees are not usually found in these parts. The only real pine variant that is found in India is the Chir Pine, mainly restricted to Kashmir and parts of Northern Pakistan.

Major attractions

1. Silver Cascade : a small waterfall that you will see as you climb the hills on the way to the top. Ideal time to catch this would be just after the sun rise.
2. Coaker’s walk : This is narrow path that has been cut along the ridge of the south eastern side named after Lt Coaker who built in 1872.  The view of the underlying plains and the city of Madurai that this place has to offer is simply magnificent. IMO, one the most beautiful tourist attractions that Kodaikanal has to offer.
3. Boat Ride at Kodai Lake: Kodai Lake is a man-made lake that is present right at the heart of the Kodai hills.  The boat ride along this lake is a nice experience.
4. Pillar Rock View:  This place offers a nice view point of cloud-covered misty mountain tops on the front side and a few rocks on the other side that have assumed the shape of a pillar. This place is also known as Monkey Point for the huge number of monkeys that you find at this place. I would suggest to keep a close eye on these notorious chaps as to never know what they are upto.
5. Green Valley View: This place is also known as Suicide Point. Not sure if this place has recorded that many suicide attempts but it is an ideal place to commit suicide if anyone is really interested. There is no point of return whatsoever. There is a market place leading up to the Green Valley View which is usually buzzing with a lot of activity.
6. Bryant Park and Chettiar Park :  IMO, Bryant Park  is nothing special and can be skipped.  Ideal time to visit Chettiar Park would be sometime during the morning or evening.
7. Horse riding: for some reason is very popular amongst tourists here.

Shopping

Kodaikanal is famous for its home-made chocolates and also its eucalyptus oil. There are plenty of places where you can get both. My suggestion is to shop for these at the market present near the Green Valley View. Apart from this, you may also want to target Anna Salai , cottage crafts shop, which is run by Corsock (Coordinating Council for Social Concerns in Kodai). They sell crafts made by the developmental groups and the commission charged is used to help the needy.

Final Touches

Kodaikanal is without doubt one of the most beautiful places that I have had the privilege of visiting in my 8 year long stay in India. The place is blessed with abundance of natural beauty and also a lovely bunch of people who are always kind and generous to the tourists. What is significant is the fact that the locals understand the importance of maintaining the natural beauty of this place and take great pride in cleaning up the gardens and planting new trees. Unfortunately, the tourists who visit these places do not share the same sentiment and have not shown the slightest hesitation in littering the parks, gardens and forests with plastic bottles and other garbage.

How to get there

The ideal way to reach Kodaikanal is via Madurai. There are regular buses that are available from Madurai towards Kodaikanal. There are also buses from Coimbatore, Thiruchirrapalli, Dindigul and Bangalore. The closest airport is in Madurai which is about 135 kms away. Kodairoad Station is the closest railway station to Kodaikanal.

Few snaps

Mumbai terror attacks

As me and my colleagues were enjoying a nice friendly game of CounterStrike, little did we know that some something similar was happening in Mumbai, in reality, at about the same time.

Shame on those who were responsible for such acts of cowardice!

Open Letter to Matthew Hayden

Matthew,

We in India understand and appreciate the Aussie culture. We understand what Adam Gilchrist is trying to say in his book titled True Colors. We are obviously not blind in noticing that while you and your team are on the field playing some tough cricket, you also don’t mind hurling ugly abuses at the opposition with an uncontrolled use of the four letter word. But we also understand that all that cussing is forgotten with a simple hand shake and a beer after the game. It is as simple as that and there is nothing personal ! Fine! Accepted !

Even you wouldn’t deny the fact that some of your best performances have come in India. We adore you and love to watch you bat out here.

But when you take cheap shots like this or like this, we lose all that respect that we have for you as a player and as a person.

Please Grow Up! Your team was beaten comprehensively.  Admit it like a good sportsman and start focusing on what went wrong instead.

Your fan

Vivek Tulsidas

Obama it is

The big news over the past week has been the one concerning Obama’s victory in the recently concluded US elections. And while a few people (mostly McCain supporters) haven’t quite come to terms with this yet, the fact is that Obama fought the elections in a very smart and convincing manner.

I have my own reasons for taking a keen interest in this new, significant development in world politics. Mostly because I plan to do my higher studies in United States. So Obama’s decisions will also impact my life ( actually given the current scenario, it might impact my life whether I am in India or US).

So what will Obama do? What ‘change’ , a word that he used throughout in his election campaign, is he going to bring? More closer to home, how are his decisions going to affect my countrymen? Is he really going to bring in policies to cut outsourcing and thereby render my countrymen jobless? These are questions that everyone seems to be having on their minds back here.

The second concern is regarding Pakistan. How is Obama’s administration going to handle Indo-Pak issues ? Is this going to be any different from what the Bush-Rice partnership did during their time in the office?

Obama’s first assignment, however, is going to be to working towards getting the US economy back on its feet.

We shall see.

Jumbo

I would be lying if I told you that I was not surprised when Anil Kumble announced his retirement. In fact, I was pretty sure that he would play for atleast another season. Guess I was wrong.

It is a touch disappointing though that he decided to quit when the media and the experts were raising question marks on his bowling form and his captaincy. For Kumble, this is nothing new. He has faced the wrath of media,selectors captains and public right throughout his cricketing career. It is also unfortunate that he gets to lead his team in an era where liking and praising Dhoni for any small achievement seems to be the ‘in-thing’.

Cheers to India’s most potent match-winning bowler!

Wishing all my readers…

a very Happy Diwali !

Down memory lane

The big day was here: India V Australia , the finals of the Coca-Cola Cup and me and my friends were all ready. We were entering the Sharjah Cricket Stadium from the east gate and to our suprise, we caught the indian team practising and doing their round of warm-ups before the match right infront of our stand! There was no time to waste. We scampered down to the fence and I jumped to occupy the position in line with the man himself…Sachin Tendulkar! I was at loss for words, as I am even today when I sit down to describe the feeling. It was sheer joy bordering on silly euphoria. And after that, nothing that happened in the match mattered. shouted to him the standard Sachin chant – Sachiiiiiinnnnn…Sachin at the top of my voice, taking the wind out of my lungs. And voila! He looked! No sign of any emotion though. Which is understandable, given the number of people who wudve done that earlier.

As for the match, Sachin scored 134 and creamed the Aussie attack to all parts of the park!

For those of you who are wondering, I am talking about this match between India and Australia.

My post comes at a time when Tendulkar has managed to break Brian Lara’s record and become the leading run scorer in Test cricket. And while cricket pundits all around the world are debating on ‘Who is  the better batsman ? Sachin or Lara’ , I believe that anyone who truly understands and appreciates the game will know that in all likelihood , no one will hold the records for the highest aggregate of runs and highest number of centuries in both forms of the game at the same time for a long time to come.

Cheers to Sachin!

PS : Die hard fans of Sachin should check out the photo gallery setup on cricinfo. Nice pics

Dada

From the ’shirt removing and dancing on the balcony’ incident at Lords to being the ‘God of Offside’.

We are going to miss you Dada!

PS: Bisi could not have framed it better!

Back home ! :)

Yup. I am back in Kundapur. And I really deserve this mini vacation of sorts to escape the madness that so many of you call ‘Bangalore’ or ‘Bengaluru’ or whatever.

This place is heaven! And not just because it is my home and I get to meet my parents and eat some of nice food for a change, but more importantly I get the opportunity to stay disconnected from the rest of the world here.

Unfortunately, that is not going to be case for too long now. I can see how the look of this place is changing. It is still no where close to a full-fledged city, but at this point it bears the look of a small urban town gradually losing its charm with every day that passes by. Sad but true!

Got to go now. Will touch on this subject sometime soon when I am back in Bangalore. Ciao!

Aamir

I watcher ‘Aamir’ yesterday night. I do not want to reveal much in terms of the plot of the movie as such because by doing that I would be killing the movie itself for you (believe me! i am right about this!).

But ‘Aamir’ will give you a new perspective. It will give you a third eye view of some our social problems. It will open up the door to several questions : most of which will be unanswered. But more importantly, it will make an honest attempt at trying to convince you that not all that meets your eye is the ultimate truth.

Kudos to Rajeev Khandelwaal! His portrayal of the character called ‘Aamir’ is simply brilliant! RajKumar Gupta is brilliant in his direction.

Overall, a must watch!

Rating : 4/5