Colors of Spring

Today morning, I decided to take out my brothers bicycle out for a ride on the Kanakpura road. These are some of the Photos shot on the way. Though I have to admit that I didn't go very far given that I do cycling once in a month nowadays. :)

Puducherry (Pondicherry)

This post got stuck in the rocks for a long time. This trip was done three months ago during the quarter breaks of my MBA. The breaks between the quarters are always cherished as though as if it is worth more than gold. This time we decided to drive down to Pondicherry and Mahabalipuram. The plan was to leave Bangalore in the early hours of Saturday and to return by Sunday night. We started off from Bangalore at around 6 in the morning and headed off to Banerghatta road, from Banerghatta road we took the NICE road towards electronic city and then were soon cruising at high speeds on the golden quadrilateral. From Krishnagiri we need to take a turn towards Chennai and after a couple of kilometers drive we get a deviation to the right which is the Pondicherry road. This road is a state highway and is not in the pink of its health. Pot holes are very generously littered along the entire stretch till Pondicherry. It is not possible to maintain an average speed of more than 50 kmph. The road traverses through forests and villages with typical south Indian sceneries of farms and huts. One more important thing to note is that there are no decent eateries along this stretch. If you are starting early then it is better to pack your breakfast.

On the way to Puducherry there is fort called Ghengee fort. The fort is right next to the road and would require some climbing to reach the top. It looked very inviting from the entrance but we didn’t attempt the climb since my parents were not too eager.

We reached Pondicherry around 1 in the afternoon and headed straight towards the beach area, this area has the road running parallel to the beach. We got a hotel room in the by lanes of the beach area and the beach was only a 5 minute walk. The rent for the room was in the range of 600-800 Rs.

After lunch at a vegetarian restaurant we headed towards the Puducherry museum.

Then we headed to the beach, the beach near the city is fortified with rocks, perhaps to stop the soil erosion. After consulting a coconut seller we headed towards the Auro beach on the ECR(East coast road). The road going to the beach is right next to a place called Surya beach resort.

We had lot of fun on the beach, soaking in the breeze and having fun with the waves. Finally late in the evening we headed back to our room for a bath. We decided to give our car a break and set on foot searching for a vegetarian restaurant.

The city near the beach is spick and span with all the colonial old buildings properly maintained, but this is present only for a radius of about 2 Km after which puducherry takes the shape of any other bustling Indian city. We found a good Vegetarian restaurant called Bilva on MG Road, the specialty of the place is the unique way in which they present the food. After the good dinner we ambled back to our room to find out that there was a good vegetarian restaurant just next to our rooms, only thing was we should have started in the opposite direction.

The next day we woke up early to catch the sunrise. The hotel main gates were locked and the person responsible was deep in sleep, probably after having spent the night on booze he might have gone to bed very late, anyways we managed to wake him up. The sunrise was marred by a lining of clouds on the horizon but nevertheless it was a wonderful.

We left for Mahabalipuram after seeing the sunrise. Pondicherry is a great place to laze around, with a good beach.

Road, Movie

People may expect a lot of things from this movie, after the likes of DevD and Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, Abhay deol has become synonymous with the alternate cinema trend. One of the best movies that I have seen of Abay Deol is Manorama Six Feet Under.
Road, starts of with the Abhay’s character looking for a direction in life. His fathers failing oil business beckons him but he willingly grabs an opportunity to take a rundown Truck which is a moving theater to be delivered to a museum across the desert. His escapism isn’t for real though since he keeps a count of the number of days that will keep him away from home. On the way he encounters different kinds of people with their own issues and problems, a young urchin trying to a find a better job, An old mechanic who wants to reach a Mela which no one knows where it is and a sultry Banjarin girl who is searching for water in the desert all by herself and joins the motley crew without a second thought.
The film maynot have a very smooth flow but the director tries to capture a lot of things in a very symbolic manner. The scene wherein the Water Dacoit leader falls for Abhay’s staterment that by applying his hair oil, the Dacoit will become a real Mard looks very superficial and he exchanges hair oil for water. It was only later when my friend paresh gave his take on the scene did I appreciate the fact that this is what the real world marketing is all about, Water being the most sought after product is the currency and Abhay comes to his elements by selling his fathers hair oil in the most difficult of the places.
Cinematography as well as the music is very good. A decent watch, but only to those who appreciate such movies. The script could have been made more realistic though.