Hogenakkal Falls – The Niagara of South India

It was second of October and we had a national holiday in India on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary. So, we set out to visit the Hogenakkal Falls.

Hogenakkal Falls is located in the Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu. The falls can be viewed from both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as it lies on the border. Also, this is the point where river Kaveri enters the state of Tamil Nadu.

Hogenakkal greeted us with ample sunlight. This was not much of a surprise as the sun rarely feels diffident at most places in Tamil Nadu.

Once you reach Hogenakkal, you have to walk down a few stairs to get tickets for the coracle ride. Coracles are small and round boats made out of bamboo. Coracle or as the locals call it ‘parisal‘ is one of the main attractions there. Hogenakkal Falls is not accessible by land and one can only reach the falls by water.

The place was crowded as it was a public holiday. We, who don’t speak the native tongue, generally face problems in long queues. We waited for our turn and received our tickets.

A maximum of five including the helmsman were allowed in a boat. We had to take two coracles as we were eight in number.

On the way to Hogenakkal Falls

The coracle ride over river Kaveri was fascinating. Coracles, being small and round shaped boats, turn both clockwise and anti-clockwise depending on the way one rows it.

The helmsman gave us a nice swirl. First clockwise and then anti-clockwise. This swirling and whirling was certainly high on adrenaline, but it assailed me a faint rotatory vertigo.

Coracles at Hogenakkal

After half an hour of riding through the waters, we reached the falls and were welcomed by the most beautiful views of Hogenakkal.

Hogenakkal Falls

The river is surrounded by hills and dense forests. The gushing river water drops into a semi-round cavity and forms the Hogenakkal Falls.

Situated at a distance of 127 kms from the IT capital of India, Hogenakkal Falls, popularly known as the Niagara of South India, is a good one day trip destination from Bangalore.

Akash Chaudhuri
Email Id: akashchaudhuri93@gmail.com
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The Reluctant Fundamentalist – Review

Author: Mohsin Hamid
Publisher: Penguin Group
Pages: 184

The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a metafictional novel by Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid. The story is a dramatic monologue with an autodiegetic narrative.

The story starts at a cafe in Lahore, where Changez, a bearded Pakistani man meets a foreigner. Changez presumes him to be an American by his built. He volunteers to introduce this stranger to different Lahori delicacies. They sit down in a cafe and as dusk deepens to dark, Changez talks about his years in America.

Changez had moved to New Jersey from Lahore to study Finance at the Princeton University. He was also a part of the varsity soccer team, but had to discontinue playing due to an injury. In his final year, he got recruited by the Underwood & Samson Company, a small valuation firm who hired less but paid maximum.

On a trip to Greece from Princeton, Changez meets Erica. They feel a striking emotional bond from the conversations they have there. Their relationship unfolds and gets complicated as the story progresses.

After having spent four years in New Jersey for college, Changez moved to New York to join the Underwood and Samson Company, where he was a part of a team of five. The team members were both different and similar. Different because of the gender and racial diversity. Similar because all of them belonged to elite universities like Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and Yale.

During his stay in New York, he often thought about how New York was different from Lahore.

“Pakistan was many things, from sea-side to desert to farmland stretched between rivers and canals.”

Whereas, America had universities with funding more than the national budget of education in Pakistan.

The story takes a turn when Changez visits Philippines on his first work assignment. On 11th September, his last day at Philippines, a hijacked plane crashed into the World Trade Center at New York and everything changed overnight. He is then detained at the airport while returning to New York and is released only after hours of questioning.

He gets back to work, but keeps on hearing that Pakistani cab drivers were being beaten, mosques, shops and even people’s houses were being raided by the FBI. Changez thought all these to be rumors and certainly exaggerated. He thought these things happen to the poor and not to Princeton graduates earning eighty thousand dollars a year. But, disappearances of Muslim men and ghostly night-vision images of American troops dropping into Afghanistan were the only stories on news.

He just couldn’t take his mind away from this. It worried him as his family was still in Pakistan and Afghanistan was a neighbor to Pakistan. Muslims in America started to face discrimination in the business world. Rescinded job offers and groundless dismissals became very common.

That December, Changez travels to Lahore and finds out “things are not good”.

He fights a mental crisis and has doubts about his identity. Where does he belong to? America? Pakistan? Or neither? He is both nostalgic and cynical at the same time. He feels confused.

He returns to New York after spending few weeks at Lahore. He gets back to work, but continues to ponder over many scattered thoughts.

Finally, one day he decides to quit his job and permanently moves to Lahore.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist is an abstract and intelligently framed story. It continuously plays with your imagination and psyche. The narrative is unconventional but exciting. Also, being an Indian, the story gave me a different insight to the events of 9/11.

Akash Chaudhuri
Email Id: akashchaudhuri93@gmail.com
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The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari – Review

Author: Robin Sharma
Publisher: Jaico Publishing House
Pages: 196

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is a story about Julian Mantle, a brilliant, handsome and fearless trial attorney. A Harvard Law School graduate turned litigation lawyer whose courtroom theatrics regularly made the front pages of the newspaper.

Julian was very successful and affluent. He had a great professional reputation, a seven figure income, a spectacular mansion in a neighborhood favored by celebrities, a private jet, a summer home on a tropical island and a prized possession – a shiny red Ferrari.

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is about a physically, emotionally and spiritually drained workaholic lawyer.

John, who was a junior to Julian, sees everything very closely. Julian had selected him to be his assistant for a case which later came to be known as “The Mother of all Murder Trials”.

The story begins when Julian Mantle suffers a heart attack on a Monday morning in the very court room where he had won many cases. Post the heart attack, Julian quits his law firm, sells all his material possessions and decides to set out on a spiritual journey to India.

The story skips to three years later when Julian returns to visit John.

When Julian had left for India, he was fifty-three years old and looked as if he was in his late seventies. Whereas, he looked much younger and appeared to be in pink health on his return. John was surprised to see this incredible transformation. He couldn’t believe that his former colleague, who always used to have a morbid expression, was now glowing radiantly.

Julian wondered in disbelief.

“Was it some magical drug that had allowed him to drink from the fountain of youth? What was the cause of this extraordinary reversal?”

John asks Julian about the secret behind this magical transformation.

Julian narrates his experiences and learning from his time in India and how he met the Mystic Sages of Sivana. He shares all the wisdom that he had learned to lead a more prosperous and rewarding life. He tells how physical, emotional and spiritual goal setting is as important as our materialistic goals. He describes all these life lessons through a fable which he had learned from the Sages of Sivana.

The book relays many secrets of leading a purposeful life. Although, it becomes monotonous and repetitive at times, it explains every life changing practice with logic and reason.

The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari is not just a tale of wisdom from the mystical land of Sivana, it also raises some very hard and realistic questions to the modern way of life.

Akash Chaudhuri
Email Id: akashchaudhuri93@gmail.com
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If God Was A Banker – Review

Author: Ravi Subramanian
Publisher: Rupa. Co
Pages: 260

If God Was A Banker is a story about two management graduates (Sundeep and Swami) working their way up the corporate ladder. Sundeep from IIM Bangalore and Swami from IIM Ahmedabad met each other on their first day at the New York International Bank (NYB). Aditya, Head of Retail Banking for NYB in India hired both of them as they were the top minds of their respective institutes.

Both Sundeep and Swami had great intellect, but contrasting personalities.

Sundeep had no conscience and was everready to cross any limit for meeting his deadlines. Whereas, Swami would never compromise on his values, be it at the cost of falling behind in the race.  

Sundeep, son of an Army Major and the winner of the Director’s Gold Medal for the best all-round performance at IIM-Bangalore was overconfident and dynamic. 

On the contrary, Swami belonged to a very humble background. He lost his father very early and his mother had to work extremely hard to raise Swami and his sister.

The story begins on a cold and dark winter morning in New York, where Sundeep is lying on his bed staring at the chandelier. He couldn’t sleep the entire night before as something had been bothering him. He had a meeting with the Group CEO of NYB the next day and the agenda was the poor and unethical conduct that Sundeep had shown over his time at NYB. The entire story unfolds as Sundeep ponders over his past while waiting for this meeting. 

He goes back to the starting days, when he and Swami joined NYB together as management freshers and what led him to this current situation. He repents about how things could have gone differently.

It is a classic tale of what happens when success gets into one’s head. The book is very gripping and continuously shows us the difference between breaking rules and playing by the rules.

The book also throws plenty of light on the financial domain and corporate politics. Overall, If God Was A Banker is definitely a page-turner.

Akash Chaudhuri
Email Id: akashchaudhuri93@gmail.com
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Savandurga Hill Fort Trek

A friend of mine had come from Hyderabad to visit me for a week. The vacations were about to end and we had nothing planned as such. We made a sudden plan and decided to go for a trek to Savandurga.

Savandurga is a hill 60 kms west of Bengaluru. It is a part of the Deccan plateau and is considered one of the largest monoliths of Asia. Savandurga is very popular among rock climbers and hiking enthusiasts. Weather plays a very important role as far as climbing or trekking is concerned. It’s really difficult to climb Savandurga on a bright sunny day. That’s why many prefer a midnight trek over a day trek at Savandurga.

We started early from Electronics City and reached Savandurga around 11 in the morning. It was the month of October and the weather was friendlier.

Veerabhadraswamy Temple at the foot of the hill marks the starting point of the trek. We started our climb and as we progressed, the weather no more seemed friendly. The terrain was rocky and very highly inclined at places. It’s so steep that anything you drop might roll down the slope even before noticing.

Onwards and Upwards

Savandurga is also one of the most popular places for serious slab climbing in the world.  A pretty nice view of the forest below accompanies you throughout the climb. The view gets better the higher you get. You will also find small stretches of jungle and old fort walls towards the later stage of the climb.

We climbed, stopped, rested and struggled our way to the top.

View from the top

Visiting Savandurga is a must for adventure enthusiasts in and around Bengaluru. Good pair of climbing shoes, plenty of water and will to reach the top is all you need!

Akash Chaudhuri
Email Id: akashchaudhuri93@gmail.com
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Jim Corbett National Park – Photo Blog

Jim Corbett National Park is the oldest national park in India and was established in 1936 as Hailey National Park to protect the endangered Bengal tiger. It is located in Nainital district and Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand and was named after Jim Corbett, a well known hunter and naturalist.

Corbett National Park comprises 520.8 kilometer square area of hills, riverine belts, marshy depressions, grasslands and a large lake. The elevation ranges from 1,300 to 4,000 ft (400 to 1,220 m).

The park has sub-Himalayan geographical and ecological characteristics. An ecotourism destination containing 488 different species of plants and a diverse variety of fauna, it has been a haunt for tourists and wildlife lovers for a long time.

Tourism activity is only allowed in selected areas of Corbett Tiger Reserve so that people get an opportunity to see its landscape and wildlife. In recent years the number of people coming here has increased dramatically. Presently, every season more than 70,000 visitors come to the park. The increase in tourist activities, among other problems, continues to present a serious challenge to the park’s ecological balance.

Source of Information – Wikipedia

Jungle Safari

Into the Wild

Corbett Falls

Inside Jim Corbett National Park

Akash Chaudhuri
Email Id: akashchaudhuri93@gmail.com
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Hooghly Imambara – A Monochrome

Hooghly Imambara is a Shia Muslim congregation hall and mosque in Hooghly, West Bengal. The construction of the building was started by Muhammad Mohsin in 1841 and completed in 1861. The building is a two storied structure, with a tall clock tower over the entrance gate. The mosque has intricate designs and texts from Quran engraved on the wall. The interior of the mosque is decorated with marbles, candles and hanging lanterns.

Hooghly Imambara is famous for its vaunted clock. It is at the middle of the twin towers constructed on the doorway of the main entrance. Each tower, having a height of approximately 150 feet, takes 152 steps to reach its top. The clock has two dials with three bells having weights of 80 mds, 40 mds and 30 mds. Smaller bells ring at an interval of 15 minutes and the bigger one rings to signify an hour. The clock requires two people to wind it for half an hour of each week, with a key weighing 20 kg. It was bought for Rs. 11,721 (in 1852) by Syed Keramat Ali from the manufacturer: M/s Black & Hurray Co., Big Ben, London.

Source of Information: Wikipedia

The Veranda

The Courtyard

Entrance to the Mosque

The Spiral Staircase of the Clock Tower

Akash Chaudhuri
Email Id: akashchaudhuri93@gmail.com
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Carols, Cakes and Colors

Growing up in a Christian locality, I looked forward to Christmas every year. Christmas meant carols, cakes and colors. Red, white and green colors to be specific.

Christmas Trees, Santa Claus, Reindeer, Stars, Bells and Lights – every little thing about Christmas used to excite me as a kid.

Christmas started from a small surprise wrapped into a sock from Santa, moving on to attending the morning mass at the Sacred Heart Church, coming back home to plum cakes and pastries, then being glued to the television for the rest of the day watching the nth rerun of Harry Potter on POGO.

The entire locality used to be decked up with lights and people wearing Santa caps was just a normal thing. The Sacred Heart Church had a barn model depicting the time when Jesus was born. The barn had little Jesus surrounded by Father Joseph, Mother Mary and a few lambs. All these little sculptures enhanced the decorations of the place.

Christmas Tree at Allen Park, Kolkata

Few more years down the line, Christmas in Kolkata meant a visit to St. Paul’s Cathedral and Park Street. Also, standing in queues at Nahoum and Sons for cakes.

Decorations at Park Street, Kolkata

St. Paul’s Cathedral, Kolkata

Having been moved to Bangalore for around four years now, Christmas is just another day when I don’t have to go to office. It’s a day when I get some extra sleep, get done with the pending household chores and watch Netflix. But I still continue to watch Harry Potter every now and then.

Akash Chaudhuri
Email Id: akashchaudhuri93@gmail.com
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Tirupathi – A Shrine Amidst The Hills

Six of us from Bangalore took a bus on a Thursday night and headed to Tirupathi. The plan involved visiting two temples there and returning back the next day.

It was a short and comfortable journey. We reached Tirupathi around 4 in the morning, freshened up in 40 minutes and left for the Padmavathi Ammavari temple straightaway.

The Padmavathi temple is situated in Tiruchanur, at a distance of 5 km from Tirupati in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. Padmavathi (or Alamelumanga) is the main deity of the temple. Padmavathi is the incarnation of goddess Lakshmi and is the consort of Lord Venkateswara.

We reached the Padmavathi temple and had to wait in a queue to get the tickets for darshan. There are three types of darshan one can avail – a free darshan, a 20 rupees ticket darshan and a 100 rupees ticket darshan.

We waited for around thirty minutes to get hold of the tickets and then another thirty – forty minutes for the actual darshan of Padmavathi.

Padmavathi Ammavari Temple, Tiruchanur

Post Padmavathi darshan, we had to change our bus as the bus which brought us from Bangalore wasn’t allowed to go up the Tirumala Hills. So we got into an APSTC bus which took us to the Tirumala Hills.

Tirumala Hill Bus

Sapthagiri, also known as Tirumala Hills, is 853m above sea level and is located in the Eastern Ghats. It has seven peaks – Seshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrushabhadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri. The seven peaks represents the seven heads of Adisesha (In the Puranas, Adisesha is said to hold all the planets of the universe on his hood and constantly sings the glories of God Vishnu from all his mouths. It is said that when Adisesha uncoils, time moves forward and creation takes place.). The Venkateswara temple is on Venkatadri, the seventh peak, and is also known as the “Temple of Seven Hills”.

Tirumala Hill

It was a beautiful and scenic journey. We reached there in another forty minutes and kept all our shoes and electronic devices in a shop before entering the temple. This temple is dedicated to Lord Sri Venkateswara, an incarnation of Vishnu, who is believed to have appeared here to save mankind from trials and troubles of Kali Yuga. Lord Venkateswara is also known by many other names like Balaji, Govinda and Srinivasa.

We headed straight to the temple and didn’t have to bother ourselves for queues and tickets as the Sheegra Darshan passes were included in our bus tour package.

Venkateswara Temple, Tirumala

People from all across the world come here to pay a visit to Tirupati Balaji. They stand there in queues for hours to get a glimpse of Venkateswara for few seconds. Like everyone else, we stood in queues for around 80-90 minutes for Balaji Darshan. The chants of “Govinda Govinda” accompanied us all throughout this time.

I have heard and read about people waiting in queues for 14-15 hours for this. Whereas, we were fortunate enough to complete all this within a time of 6-7 hours.

Akash Chaudhuri
Email Id: akashchaudhuri93@gmail.com
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Durga Puja – Bonedi Baris of Kolkata

I have many qualities. But patience ain’t one of them. I believe I have an attention span of that of a kid. With me pondering on this thought for the past two hours, I heard the pilot announce, “We have landed in Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport and wish you all a very Happy Durga Puja!”.

Finally after five long years, I made it to Kolkata during Durga Puja. Homecoming is always special. It becomes more special during Durga Puja in this part of the world.

Durga Puja is a ten day festival which starts from Mahalaya and continues till Dashami. It is considered to be one of the biggest festivals in the world.

As the festivities started, we planned to visit the bonedi baris of Kolkata. The term ‘bonedi‘ comes from the Urdu word ‘buniyaadi‘ which in turn comes from ‘buniyaad‘ meaning foundation. Bonedi baris are ancestral houses of Bengali babus, dating back to the 18th century.

We started our bonedi bari puja hopping from Shobabazar. Shobabazar has two rajbaris, one is known as the Shobabajar Rajbari and the other is known as Maharaja Naba Kissen Thakurbari. Maharaja Naba Kissen was the Dewan of Lord Clive and was considered to be ‘Calcutta’s premier zamindar’ during his time and his palace in Shobabazar was thought of as the foremost in the list of North Calcutta’s great houses. Originally, built by Sobharam Ghosh in the early 18th century, Naba Kissen came to own the property in 1757. After acquiring the palace, he began a series of alterations and renovations.

The Thakur Dalan was completed in just three months, in time for a lavish Durga Puja Festival. Such was the prominence of Naba Kissen in the North Calcutta Society that other durga puja ceremonies could only begin after the firing of Naba Kissen’s palace canon. The original palace building features Mughal and medieval Bengal temple-style architecture. However, some areas that are partially restored show European influence. The durga puja at Shobabajar Rajbari is still celebrated with ample grandeur.

Shobabazar Rajbari

After this we moved on to Khelat Ghosh Rajbari in Pathuriaghata. Pathuriaghata was once the home of Bengali babus, now mostly dominated by the Marwaris. The Tagores were one of the oldest residents of this neighborhood. Babu Khelat Chandra Ghosh was the grandson of Warren Hasting’s clerk Ramlochan Ghosh. His mansion is filled with marble sculptures, paintings, crystal chandeliers and other art objects. All Bengal Music Conference is held here and is patronized by the Ghosh family. All Bengal Music Conference was founded in 1937 in the halls of this house. Indian classical music was still in a nascent stage then.

47 Pathuriaghata Street

Then we moved on to the durga puja of the Daws of Jorasanko. Late Shri Nrisingha Prasad Daw, after shifting the family business from spices to gun powder and as the business expanded, the business and family shifted here in Kolkata. Late Shri Narasingha Chandra Daw, known to the British as Nursing Chunder Daw, laid the first stones for the gun business that the family boasts of today. He handed over the family business and tradition over to his sons who took it further ahead.

The Daws of Jorasanko

Moving on from the northern part of the city, we went to Esplanade. Janbazar near Esplanade used to be known for the Rani Rashmoni Family. Rani Rashmoni was the founder of the famous Dakshineshwar Temple, who also remained closely associated with Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. She is the one who appointed Sri Ramakrishna as the priest for the Dakshineshwar Temple. Apart from this, she had contributed in other constructions like the road from Subarnarekha river to Puri for the pilgrims, Babu Ghat, Ahiritola Ghat, Nimtala Ghat, Imperial Library (now known as the National Library of India), Hindu College (now known as the Presidency University) and many more.

There are three durga pujas here. One at Rani Rashmoni’s ancestral house and others at her two daughters’ houses.

Rani Rashmoni’s Ancestral House

The bonedi baris are a big proof of Bengal’s glorious past. They still stand strong holding the cultural and historical significance of the place. Sadly, Bengal, once a business center, is now struggling to keep their sons and daughters in Bengal as most of them end up leaving the state for better opportunities.

Bengalis have failed greatly to do justice to the pre-independence slogan, “What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow”.

But come what may, most of us find out a way to return home every year during Durga Puja.

Akash Chaudhuri
Email Id: akashchaudhuri93@gmail.com
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