Nandi hills with Appa Amma

Had a wonderful time with Appa and Amma on their anniversary day.Had gone to Nandi hills and was really amazed as to how well they have maintained it. Had a picnic lunch and then went to the Bhoganandeeshwara temple at the base,its a 9th century temple constructed under regimes of Banas and Rashtrakutas and then maintained by Cholas,Chalukyas and Vijayanagar empire. Its an incredible temple,sadly we went there in the night time and the light was not good for photography.Plan to re-visit it during daytime sometime soon just for photographing the place.

Had a wonderful time with Appa/Amma.I have realized that the older I grow the more better I understand their relationship and my relationship with them.Now being myself married for an year and a half I appreciate their 34 years of togetherness so much better and it is indeed very special. Their bantering's like small kids/their affection for each other/their dependency on each other/the way they understand each other/the way they cant stand each other and at the same time cannot be away from each other/how their entire world and thoughts and fights revolve around each other,each would be lost without the other.

I am very lucky to be back in India and spending all this time with them physically and getting to know them better,more as friends now. Love you the most Appa and Amma.

Tried capturing a few photos from this day trip.

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History buff Amma admiring Tipu Sultan summer palace,willing to bet that she has teleported her self into that era within her mind.

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Another shot of her admiring things in her own silent way.

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Monkeys wreaking havoc and making hay off an open window in a car.

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The famous Tippu drop,the story every kid is fascinated with. Overheard a dad sayingto his 7-8 year old son - 'People who made big mistakes were pushed off here by Tippu as punishment',son asks very innocently -'If they made small mistakes then what punishment would they get?', Dad - 'Check with your mom'. I chuckled,dad heard me and gave me a grin. Life!

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Stopped at a vineyard near nandi.

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Jasmine admiring the grapes.

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Million dollar smiles! On top of Nandi hills.

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Were lashed with very heavy rains on the way back,a record of sorts for the year is what I read in the newspaper today.

Infy 10 K

Ran the Infy 10 K today. Personal best of 54 min 30 seconds. Me and my team mate Birbal posing with our finisher's certificate. The first place guy finished the race in 39 mins.Yikes!And the world record is 26 mins 44 sec.Double Yikes!

Ramtek

Ramtek, literally meaning 'Ram's vow' ,we visited this wonderful Ram temple on a day trip from Nagpur. Its about 70 kms from Nagpur and like thousands of temples on hills in India,this is another temple on a hill with the town of Ramtek at its base. A look up on wikipedia gives the following facts, Ramtek has got Historic temple of lord Rama. It is believed that Ramtek was the place where Rama, the Hindu god, rested while he was in exile. Legend has it that the aashram of great Hindu sage Agastya was situated close to Ramtek. While the sages performed religious rites, the demons used to disrupt their activities and slayed a great number of holy men. Lord Rama was distressed to hear about this, and took a vow to relieve the world from the demons. 'Tek' means vow in local language, hence the word Ramtek comes from 'Vow of Ram'. Thus it is believed locally that whoever takes a vow at Ramtek is blessed by the gods for its fulfillment. The 'padukas' of Lord Ram are believed to have been worshipped here for centuries The present temple is believed to have been built by the King of Nagpur Raghuji Bhonsale,after his victory over fort of Deogarh in Chindwara. This place is also famous for its relation with Great poet Kalidasa. Kalidasa has written Meghdootum in hills of Ramtek The place is more popular for Kalidasa writing Meghdooth here and there is a Kalidasa smarak built here. Also,the fun part are the 'Rama doothas' who have appropriately taken residence in this temple - black faced Langur's. They are a rowdy lot and are notorious at snatching things from people,but when shouted at and instructed to take things in a disciplined way they surprisingly listen,sit on their haunches and decently take the 'channa' from your hands. If Kalidasa really stayed here and wrote his meghadoot then that puts this place atleast at 1500 years old as Kalidasa was from the 4-5th century Ad. But wiki mentions that the latest temple was built by Raghuji Bhonsale who died in 1755 which puts the current temple at atleast at 300 years. But it is a very nice place,calm and serene.

Bagali

My country is such an amazing place and there is so much to discover and there is so much history in every town and village. During dussera we visited a place called Bagali enroute to Hampi which is about 50 Kms from Harihar.This is a hidden historical gem. Thanks to Ramachandra mama for pointing this place out. This place is so obscure and the village is so small I would have never thought there was such a beautiful temple dating back a 1000 years. The temple is called Kallesvara swamy temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.It was constructed during the reign of the western chalukyan king Ahavamalla in 987 AD and constructed by Duggimayya.The main diety is known as Kalideva. There is a sabha mantapa with 54 ornate pillars. Its a very beautiful temple.There are some erotic sculptures which is a testament to the open mindedness of our ancient people and gives some insight to the sexual practices a thousand years ago.

Every sinew aches.Being punished by the body for being lazy.Long ways to go.

Long and winding road playing in my head.

14 km run.Taking some time to get back to kms from miles.

Just love flipping through the yellow stained pages of a good book - puppet on a chain, Alistair Mclean.

Muskina jola or bhutta

Aah! Nothing beats eating Muskina Jola or Bhutta on the streets.Ended up eating two in a row at Nagpur with 'zyada' lime and butter.

First run around Sankey

Today went for a run for the first time after nearly 2 months and it felt really great. I went to run around sankey tank and was truly surprised at how well they have maintained the area around the lake. There were hundreds of people either running or walking or exercising and i was truly inspired looking at them.I did 2 laps which is about 7 kms(about 4.3 miles) and was totally exhausted at the end of the run.My physical fitness has dropped like an anchor and have to make a conscious effort to regularly work on it. After the run while coming back I could not resist the temptation to eat at Raghavendra stores and ended up thoroughly enjoying a plate of idly vada and coffee.Hey! I just ran 7 kms and deserve it! This is the best part about Bangalore - Eating!!

Dakota rail trail

Did the dakota rail trail yesterday and totally botched it up. Its a 25 mile trail one way,very beautiful route for the first half, it weaves around a lot of lakes with stunning views.My plan was simple - do a 50 miler, reach the end and turn back. The start of the trail is about 15 miles from my house,so i had to lug the bike on the back of my car to that point. I came home from office at 5:30,got a quick bite and started off at 5:45. I got lost on the way and reached my point at 6:20. I did not know where to park my car so just pulled it over on the side of the road which was pretty deserted.I started my ride and it was beautiful,the temperature was in the 60s,beautiful lakes and homes,people in their boats,crossing wooden bridges and i was doing good time which i always do in the beginning when my energy levels are full.By 7:30 i had covered around 17 miles in about 60-65 mins of riding time.Thats when i started getting worried as i felt that i had grossly over estimated the duration till when the sunlight would be there.I thought there would be enough light till about 9 PM for me to get back to my car. But at 7:30 PM i see that the light is rapidly diminishing. I still persist riding onward as i want to reach my 25 mile marker but at the back of mind i am doing the calculation.I rode for another 15-20 mins and reached the 22 mile marker then hit the panic button.I had done close to 90 mins of riding and had got to the 22 mile mark and it was around 7:50 PM and if i turned back now i will reach back to my car at 9:20 PM.I put my brakes,turned around my bike, gulped down half a bottle of water and shoved a fist of trail mix in my mouth and started heading back. I started cycling furiously,very furious with myself for mis-calculating the time. The anger gave that additional bit of adrenalin and i kept a steady 18-19 mph(normally i do a 15-16 mph).The light rapidly diminished and by 8:30 it had grown dark with very little light. Mr.Mayur does not have a front head light on his bike,he just has a back side red blinker.Also Mr.Mayur is just in a half short and half sleeve cycle jersey and once the sun went down the temperature plummets to high 40s and low 50s as the lakes around cool the temperature a lot. By 8:45 PM I am riding blind. I can make out the edges of the path and cycling like crazy,very tired,cold to the bone,blind as a bat and just a 5 min rest break at the 22 mile marker.I have no clue how i rode from 8:45 to 9:15 ,the last 3 miles is beside a highway and the lights from the passing cars really helped me get a better view of the route. Then i finally see my car at around 9:15 PM and i give out a loud whoop,that feeling of relief is very hard to describe. Thouroughly exhausted i reach the car,just throw the bike on the side and get into the car and switch on the heater.That was the most amazing feeling ever- thats when i realized the priority of my needs - Warmth first,food next,rest after that. After 5 mins i get out of the car,put the bike rack on,load the bike and start heading back home promising myself to never to repeat this mistake again. When i reached home i looked at my cat-o-meter. I had done 44 miles in 2 hours 47 mins at an average speed of 15.7 mph reaching a max of 22.5 mph on a flat land and i rode faster from mile 23- 44 than i did from 1 -22. Fear does give you wings. :) http://www.traillink.com/trail-maps/dakota-rail-regional-trail-.aspx

Minnesota iron man 50 mile bike ride

All photos courtesy Alok. Alok,Nisha and Pratibha were amazing to come and cheer us at the finish line. First outside bike ride of this summer. Decided to ride the Minnesota iron man 50 mile with Bhargav,Vinod and Pranav on April 28th,2013. Did it in 3 hours 22 mins of riding time with two 20 min breaks inbetween(There were too many goodies to stuff in at the rest points :) ). Was fun.Great way to kick off training for the 150 mile MS bike ride.

What a beautiful day! A total blue bird sky,the sun is smiling,you can feel its warm glow on your skin, the winds are less naughty, the hares are out running in front of the house and the robin is chirping to its hearts content.Beckon the spring!

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. Helen Keller

Finally got to see the king!

I finally got to see Lebron 'King' James in the flesh and.. his play is as amazing to see live as to see it on TV. He makes basket ball seem so easy and effortless knowing what play to make when. His awareness of the court and where each of the players is so amazing .Some of his passes to wade was truly incredible. I never saw Michael jordan who was before my time and whom people claim is the best basketball player ever, but I am pretty sure that i saw the best basketball player of this generation live.I understand that 'best' is a very relative term and subjective but hey 60% of the people at the basket ball stadium wore a james jersey and its a timber wolves home game,people cheered more loudly when lebron james entered than they did for the entire heats team, in fact it was as loud as when the timber wolves team came in,that speaks for itself isn't it. :) People absolutely hate him or love him with passion! Anyways ,Mr.James,if you go down in history as one of the greatest to ever play the game,i can definitely vouch for it!

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more, From these our interviews, in which I steal From all I may be, or have been before, To mingle with the Universe, and feel What I can ne'er express, yet cannot all conceal. - byron

broken?

Yup.Skiing incident. Hand hit a tree while trying to avoid person fallen in front of me in a wooded section.

10 K cross country skiing

Participated in my first ever cross country skiing event.It was my first time on a pair of cross country skis. Rented it from UOM two days before,asked the guy how do i put them on,saw a few youtube videos on how to cross country ski ,practiced on Saturday for 15 mins and i was ready.It was a gorgeous route going on wirth lake,cedar lake,lake of isles and lake calhoun,yes,we are going over the frozen lakes. It was around 5-6 F but it felt more like 100 because of all my exertion and i could have probably skied bare naked as i was feeling so hot towards the end. There was refreshments along the route and it was fun. My time was 1 hour 40 mins to complete 10 K,the official time was 1 hours 54 mins as i was 10 mins late to the 9 AM event as we got lost trying to get in to the place through all the blocked roads. Going on Cedar lake My medal of completion.