Visting Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar again

It was raining a lot, so after Kakai came down from Ahmedabad, Biga suggested going to Srisailam and Nagarjuna sagar as there was a possibility that the dam gates might be open (Biga said it is a terrific sight watching the water roar and rush out and it is as you can make out from our August 2001 pics at the bottom of this post) . But alas, what we had hoped for did not happen and we ( especially kakai) did not get a chance to see that awesome sight.
However, the trip itself was fun. We stayed at Srisailam at Karakali Bhavan facing the green hills. the view from our verandah was great. I also got to see a model of the Srisailam dam ( it was GREAT), ride a ropeway, enjoy a boat-ride on the river Krishna and see many other new things. We left Hyderabad on Saturday morning and returned home on Sunday night, I with high fever. On the way, Ma made me drink a spoonful of some horrible syrup (because of the fever), which I agreed to only after Kakai bought me a truck from a wayside shop.

The road to Srisailam

Karakali Bhavan, The red building- This is where we stayed at Srisailam Kakai and me at Srisailam dam

View of the Nallamalai hills ( this is where YSR died in a helicopter crash last year) from the ropeway at Srisailam

In the ropeway

Boat ride on the Krishna river at srisailam

At the Nagarjuna sagar dam.

And below are some of the photos from my last trip to these places in 2001 August- at that time I was a baby, as you can see.

At Nagarjunasagar (Up)

At Srisailam ( down)

In the ropeway (Up)
Spirited boy (Down)

Photos- Pramatha Nath Saha

A coffee scented holiday in Coorg

Just back from a wonderful vacation in the coffee estates of Coorg. We stayed in a homestay amidst a coffee plantation, where I made friends with Soujanya- the granddaughter of the owners ( Coorg grandpa and granny). I had a lovely time- taking a stroll in the misty coffee estates, running around with Soujanya and having idli with honey and ghee ( for the first time in my life). Just have a look at the pictures below and you will have an idea of the wonderful holiday that I had.



With Soujanya, her elder sister and her grandparents.

Now, after the homestay it was time for tasting life outdoors, in a camp in the midst of a coffee plantation to reach which we had to walk about 2 kms from the road head with a man carrying our luggage. The camp site was ringed by hills and trees and we stayed in tents.



Swinging in a hammock- can life be any better?

After two days of jungling, it was time again to return to the concrete jungle once again. We stayed at Mysore on the way back. The palace of the Maharaja is such a huge building- VERY VERY big and looks VERY VERY beautiful when illuminated during the night.

Papi Hills- A marvellous mobile-less holiday

Once again, I am on the Gooooooooooooooo!

We left Hyderabad for Bhadrachalam on Saturday morning. Biga had given his car for servicing the previous day and just as we were about to begin our journey (by then it was 9.30 in the morning) he noticed that the stereo player was missing. And retrieving that from the car workshop meant one more hour of city driving through rush hour traffic. By the time we were out of the city (finally) it was past 11.
We drove for about 2 hours and again had to stop, this time by a group of students who were sitting on the road and shouting “Jai Telangana!” They told us that we could go only after we too shouted the same with them. Now this was not agreeable to the cars in front of us ( seems all were hardcoe Andraites) and they had got into a verbal duel with the agitators. Realizing that things were turning troublesome, Biga called one of the agitators and told him that we had no problems conceding to his demand. He asked all of us to say “ Jai Telangana” which we chorused immediately and after that we were free to leave. After that, I kept shouting “Jai Telangana” at frequent intervals, till Biga sternly told me to stop.



We reached Bhadrachalam well after evening and checked into the previously booked AP Tourism guest house. After the Panchmarhi fiasco, Ma always makes sure to books hotels at least for the first day, so that we ( especially Biga) don’t have to spend hours going round and round hunting for a roof over our heads like we had to in Panchmarhi.
The next day we woke up early and drove to Pochavaram from where the launch would take us to Papi hills with a night stay in bamboo cottages on Kolluru island. Cruising along the clean emerald green waters of the Godavari flowing between thickly forested hills was just lovely. We had breakfast on the deck while lunch was arranged at an island. The launch dropped us around 2 pm at Kolluru telling us that it would pick us up at the same time the next day .


At Pochavaram- Before getting onto the launch

The ride to Papi hills

A view of Kolluru Island and the Bamboo Huts
Inside our hut

Staying at Kolluru was an experience of a lifetime. The place has no electricity while mobile connection was absent after we left Pochavaram. The bamboo huts were we stayed had mattresses laid on sand and in the night when after dinner it became very cold, Ma made me wear a sweater and jacket before covering me up with two blankets. It was like sleeping out in the open under the stars. Dinner was a buffet style barbeque on the sand. There was also a campfire and I had great fun dancing there on Biga’s shoulders. After a short while, when Biga got tired and was about to put me down, another uncle volunteered to take me on his shoulders and this trend continued. Needless to say, I had a whale of a time, riding on uncles’ shoulders.


The next morning we bathed in this stream and went for long walks in the hills.


AT Koluru, I had a little friend , Lahari ( she was just 2 years, less than half my age) and both of us would sit on the swing and talk in languages only we understood.

Soon it was noon and time to return. The sight of the approaching launch signaled the end of our island holiday and at the sight of Pochavaram, my spirits dropped considerably as I realized that the ride on water was over and the journey back home was about to start now.
That night we stayed at the Rekhapalli Forest Guest House ( about half an hour’s drive from Pochavaram). There that night Biga shaved his head after dinner in preparation of the puja he would be offering at Bhadrachalam next day. The next day was Republic day and Biga donning a completely new look participated in the Flag Hoisting Ceremony at the forest rest house after which we started for Bhadrachalam and went straight to the temple.


The journey back to Hyderabad too turned out to be quite interesting with Biga (equipped with his GPS enabled iphone) trying American style driving on Indian roads. The results?- We landed up on roads which could not be located on the map, whereas the people around us failed to throw any light about routes marked on the map. And whenever and wherever we stopped, I along with Maa got down and took a walk in the surrounding fields. Watch me plucking cotton right from its roots!


We finally reached home at 8 in the night after 10 hours of driving and armed with packed biriyani for dinner.

Back from Mypadu- My own beach

Another travel writing assignment for Mapa Mapa. Another holiday for us. This time it was to Mypadu , a little seaside village near Nellore. OH! WHAT FUN!!!!!!!!!!!
Three days of building sand castles, running on the beach and at times into the sea! The guest house where we stayed was five minutes walk from the sea, and we ( Mapa Mapa and I) spend all the of the day on the beach- I playing on and with the sand, while Mapa Mapa talked to the people around us and took notes ( of God knows what?- perhaps crabs, waves and fish). Biga slept a lot in the room- perhaps that is his idea of a holiday.
The sea looks so lovely in the moonlight.
A chieftain to the Highlands bound Cried "Boatman do not tarry! And I'll give you a silver pound To row me o'er the ferry."

Seeing Mapa Mapa write, I also started drawing pictures of what else , the sea? Can't you see?

I am in the process of making sandcastles.

See I have built a sandcastle with 10 towers on the beach. Middle is the king's palace with pink flag.

Sari weaving at Patur village- One morning we ( Biga and I ) accompanied Mapa Mapa to the nearby village of Patur to see how saris are made. This was a new experience for me, for till now I had seen saris ( obviously), but not seen them getting made. Mapa Mapa bought 3 ( 1 for for Thammi, 1 for Bhaiti and 1 for Monidadi/ Mejdadi).

A Holiday in Hampi- the land of big boulders, magnificent monuments and mischievous monkeys

When Ma first told me that this 15 August weekend we would be going to Hampi, I mistook it as Humpty ( remember Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall?) and was unable to understand how we could visit someone who exists only in the page of rhyme books- then Ma showed me pictures of Hampi on her laptop and I understood- we are going to Hampi and not Humpty! Idiotic me!
On 12 th morning we drove out of Hyderabad. The weather was cool and pleasent and ( thankfully!) it was not raining. We stopped for a break at a nice shady temple in NeerManvi, where Ma gave me a bath after which I took a little nap on top of Biga.

We reached Hampi by early afternoon. The scene on both sides was very striking- big boulders stoutly sprouting up amidst the greenery as if the place belonged to them and them only.
In Hampi we stayed in a hut surrounded by the boulders- which were almost everywhere- behind the hut where we stayed , on the roadsides, and even in the Tungabhadra river which flows by the place. Biga told me that this place was once ruled by monkey kings Bali and Sugrib. I think it still is. That explains why the place is bursting with banana plantations , probably to cater to the hordes of those descendents of the monkey kings, always on the move and always monkeying about.

Driving into Hampi.

With Kakai on the banks of the Tungabhadra river.

Hampi was earlier known as Vijaynagar, and ruled by two brothers. Hampi's monuments - hundreds of them - are popular among tourists,both firangs and Indians and the area is one of the exotic locations for the Bollywood and local film shootings. Biga told me that Jackie Chan's film “Myth” was shot in the Hampi.

At the stepped bath in the palace complex.

At the Elephant Stables in Hampi.

If one wants to witness the competition between a human architect ( like my mother) and Vishwakarma (the Architect God of Hindus), then Vithala temple is probably the right place on earth. Any number of words would fail to do justice to this wonderful monument dedicated to Lord Vitthala or Lord Vishnu. Legend has it that Lord Vishnu found it too grand to live in this temple, popularly known as the car temple because of the huge wheels on its sides.
If this is the car temple, then is there also a bus temple, truck temple? I wondered.

This is the resort where we stayed in Hampi- a lovely one by the side of the Tungabhadra river, surrounded by boulders and fields of banana trees. The bathroom had a rock face as a wall.

Below are my Hampi friends. I had a lovely time with them - they swinging me on the hammock and I enjoying it in Maharaja style.

Encouraged by the antics of my monkey friends, I even climbed the ladder to reach the roof.

After Hampi, we went to Badami. Ma told me that once a bad demon named Vatapi lived in the caves high up the hills and in the evening, after the place is out of bounds for people like you and me, its spirits still roams there.

See I am climbing up the steps in Badami along with Biga and Kakai. And below, you are seeing me inside of the caves in Badami, feeling the stone carvings.

A Grand Holiday- on the river, in the hills, by the sea

This holiday, thanks to Mapa Mapa's work, was like my favourite triple flavoured icecream- a combination of river, hills and the sea.

First let me tell you about the Konaseema cruise where we spent a day and night on a houseboat on the lap of the river Godavari.  I had taken my drawing book and in one of the pictures you are seeing me trying to draw the sunset as I see the sun sinking into the river water.

The Araku Valley

The next in line was trip to the Araku Valley for which we took the  train from Vizag. On the way back to Vizag from Araku Valley, we saw the Borra Caves (which Dadai by a slip of tongue once called  Burra Caves- well you might be interested in knowing that Burra is the name by which Dadai calls me) and all of us, including Bhaiti, went down 400 steps into the earth to see the centuries old fossils.

Now about the last and best place on this trip- Rushikonda beach near Vizag. It is a beautiful  place with blue sea golden sands and green hills and Biga has promised me that since it is just overnight from Hyderabad, we will go there again. Here on 11 March I turned four and we celebrated the occassion by having a grand feast in our sea facing room sponspored by Bhaiti- Chilly Chicken, chicken dopiaza, Kadai paneer, fried rice and lassi.

The last word- On this trip everyone had a lovely time -I played on the beach to my heart's content, Biga slept to his heart's content, Dadai bathed to his heart's content, while Mapa Mapa just walked and walked around to her heart's content, saying that it was part of her work and no one ( not even Dadai) dared to stop her for fear for missing another fabulous holiday like this.