A road trip to cherish

Am back on these pages to reminisce another vacation and a crazy trip that we made. If I put it down here, can always return to savor those days once again.

Since the children are now studying in Kerala, one has to wait until they get a vacation for us to move around. This time it was the Onam vacation and although it would have been my first Onam in Kerala after coming to Kuwait, our promise for a road trip had to be kept. Our plan was to drive to Bombay and maybe take a break in Bangalore. No hotel was booked but only the car was serviced to ensure a smooth drive. This time around we had two drivers; one reason why we embarked on this trip. Our son who landed in Kerala year before last took his licence as soon as his age allowed and was already driving comfortably (if one can forget the occasional screams and advise given by his parents).
We left early in the morning on a Sunday and hence had an almost traffic free roads in Kerala. The road after Vadekkencherry is too good. In fact the National Highways are too good outside Kerala. Not sure how Kerala can have a 3 lane highway when the space is limited but......I mean look at the roads...


Kochi - Salem Highway (NH544)

The drive and the food is what we were all looking forward to.

At Peelemedu, we had a very delicious Thali. Along the national highway, specially in TN, one can find good restaurants and toilets behind petrol bunks. Most of them are built similarly and this one was named Gowrishankar Pure Veg. The normal meal is at IRS 80, while the special Thali(vegetarian) was IRS 150. It started with lentil soup and ended with an ice cream. The fried cauliflower even tasted like chicken to our chicken lover son who seldom relishes a vegetarian meal. The waiters hovered around asking us if we wanted anything extra or more. They ensured we ate until our stomachs were full. The bathrooms were neat too which mattered even more.

We had to break our journey either inside Bangalore or little ahead by skirting around Bangalore.  Hubby decided that we break the journey outside Bangalore, since getting out of Bangalore would be tough, so we chose Tumkur. Daughter had already chosen Naveen Regency, after reviewing them on TripAdvisor. Since it was getting late, we did not want to go hotel hunting even though the GPS was behaving pretty well. Luckily we found them very close to the highway and although they are not well maintained, the food was good. We just needed a few hours of sleep before we hit the road again.

It was only later that we realized that not getting into Bangalore was the best decision since the Kaveri riots would have cut short our trip. Oblivious to the agitation we left Tumkur early in the morning.

The roads were too good and the drivers were having a gala time. Both Father and Son reached speeds which Kerala would never give them. We passed places which we have only read about, occasionally stopping for toll gates or refreshments. I think there was a toll gate every 60-100 km and we ended up paying around IRS 2,000 for the Kochi-Bombay road.

Just before Pune, we stopped for lunch at hotel Kaveri and found that it was run by Keralites. They had a vegetarian and a non vegetarian restaurant. We skipped the vegetarian this time and headed for non veg. It was pure malabari food and tasted really great.

 We skipped Pune and headed for Mumbai. Went through many tunnels and drove down the mountains. Reached our destination after 9pm since the traffic inside Mumbai was pretty slow and the drivers very impatient. Not seeing the regular MH car but a KL registration may have made them put extra efforts to heckle. It was after two decades that we were both visiting Mumbai and I found it to be the same old Bombay.

We took a taxi to tour Bombay the next day and the driver gave us a Mumbai Darshan. The kids were more interested in shopping and that is what we mainly did in Bombay. We dined at the fairly new restaurant Bombay Vintage.

 

 

 

We selected the chicken and fish meals; the Mangalorean Tiffin style while the children had a Continental fare.

 

We had planned two days in Bombay and was supposed to return via Bangalore to visit relations, but the riot made us drop the entire route and take Goa for the return trip. Thus the much awaited Goa trip too was accomplished. Since we had a function to attend on Sunday and the kids had to return to their classes, we could spare only two nights and day at Goa. Another blog post maybe....



 

Moral Police

"Home stay parties mislead young girls."

BANGALORE: If the girls brutalized by moral vigilantes in Mangalore last week were looking for any womanly understanding from the Karnataka State Women's Commission, they were in for a big disappointment.

I

If we have such woman at the helm of Women's Commissions then it is better the girls in Magalore wear a purdah each time they venture out. 

SHIMOGA: C. Manjula an advocate and member of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Women's Morcha has been appointed Chairperson of the Karnataka State Women's Commission.
She succeeds Prameela Nesargi who resigned from her post recently.

Ms. Manjula, who hails from Bhadravati, is a students' activist right from her college days when she served the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in various capacities. She is nominated as the member of the Syndicate of the Kuvempu University.

I watched the video where these young men were clawing at the girls and hitting the boys.

 If they so love their women folks will they ever treat the girls thus?

 Is it because they are missing all the fun?

Those boys did not appear to be helping any girl, instead they seem to be having good fun molesting those girls. Not sure how the parents of those girls stood watching them be dragged and hit by total strangers. Guess it is time these girls took some karate classes too.

I also suggest these young men be first send to KSA and then to USA. Let them taste both kind of freedom and then learn to appreciate their own country better.

Source: 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Mangalore-attack-Girls-should-skip-parties-Karnataka-womens-panel-boss-says/articleshow/15320099.cms
http://www.hindu.com/2011/01/09/stories/2011010959400300.htm

PATHETIC

Let me also write my 2 bit about the Mangalore incident.

Watching it on TV was horrible. So many marauding boys pouncing upon helpless girls and there was none to shield them. They call it mob terror. A word I am tired of hearing. We heard it for the Sikh riots and also during the Gujarat riots. We also continue to hear it during many other incidents. It makes us Indians sound so pathetic. Forget the so called reason that we have a law enforcement agency that is “afraid” of the “mob” but more than that is the fact that some of us don’t have a mind of our own. Some minds can be turned on or off by any Tom, Dick or Harry and for any pathetic reason. They suddenly forget that they are human while imagining that they are the only ones worthy to live. But unfortunately it is not easy to mobilize them for the good reasons; and there are plenty of them in our country and one especially that the whole world is now forced to watch since it has an award tag on it along with a “dog” tag. This mob was also not useful during the “Mumbai” carnage. How ironic.

I also read that this said Sena has not apologized for its behavior and has vowed to continue its act. I am sure India is listening especially since we can see the aftermaths for ignoring it happening very close to us in Pakistan and Afganisthan (let us not go farther). Even they started slowly but steadily and are now almost in total control. We in India continue to use the same word- pathetic to describe it.

An excerpt from an interview with Bajrang Dal on rediff.com.

You too have been vocal about the manner in which girls conduct themselves. Do you have similar plans like the Sena?

No. We will never resort to violence. We are conducting awareness camps in colleges and telling girls about the importance of preserving our culture. Some girls who were found to be misbehaving have been warned. That is the extent we will go up to. Violence against women is a complete no for us.

Wow! Yet again the whole onus of cultural preservation lies singularly upon the mighty shoulders of the “fairer” sex. Now that they have been warned, I am sure they will be marauded/molested the next time. After all these girls are spoiling the weak boys who for some reasons cannot stand on their own. It is just like how I recently read one fine Gentleman write that only Eve is to be blamed for all the sins that Adam committed and continues to be commit. They all do have a common line and we do not have to break our heads analysing them.

But there is one factor which is encouraging. Majority of the Indians, and the political parties has rejected it. BJP too has rejected it. I hope now BJP understands why some of us still hold reservations on “Hinduvata”, how much ever good it is made to sound. But then I do hope it not just for the upcoming elections.

I did listen to discussions on TV where a woman went completely off track and said that drinking is to be blamed and girls and boys should have never been in that pub drinking. While one cannot ignore those women whose lives and homes have been destroyed by “liquor”, this incident is not about drinking or about morality. If it is a licensed pub frequented by men and women and then they have their rights to do so. Maybe it is time these Sena activists stopped drinking themselves into oblivion. Even if anyone has any problems it should only be their immediate family members and not any Tom, Dick or Harry. My son did point it out when he stood watching it with a very shocked expression on his face while we tried to explain the reason. He said none other than their parents have the right to touch them. It is pathetic that these senseless idiots do not have even the reasoning power of a child.