TAJ : My Hostel in Munnar

Disclaimer :People who have not studied/lived in Munnar, may not be able to gauge or enjoy this post in its full meaning...so kindly bare with me...

Nostalgia is a wonderful feeling to have,especially when you are back somewhere special after a few years. I had visited my old college hostel recently and as you rightly guessed, this post is an after effect of that.


All these years , anyone who has been patient enough to hear me out, would know that i simply go on and on about my college life in Munnar, especially about my Hostel life.Ravi a colleague of mine (now in Pune) sat with me for two hours at 1 AM in the freezing cold of Munnar at the hill where my hostel is situated, hearing me go on and on about my hostel life with utter patience...hats off to Ravi who also showed what listening skill truly is.

We were the first batch to enter in CEM and since there was no college hostel, we lived in a bungalow nestled above the CSI church in old Munnar, christened as 'TAJ' by us.
Now there are numerous incidents related to my college days in Munnar, hostel life with my 25 odd hostel mates etc which cannot be done justice to in one post...So this one is just to introduce you all to my Hostel.

In recent times, the Hostel movie series of the blood and gore genre has given a slight edgy effect to the term Hostel...And the place i am about to show you has all the required elements of a thriller.So let me guide you up the hill to my hostel were i spent the best days of my life...



When you start to climb up, you first run into a old gate made up of railway track rails used by the British when trains used to run in Munnar...Rust proof gate ;-) (As of now this gate has been replaced by a bigger concrete arch).




Note : Click on picture to view bigger resolution ones.



Going up this small hill on this winding road , you reach a majestic looking old stone Church build in 1910.




Pic : CSI Church...and on the left a glimpse of my Hostel...


From here, when you are standing in front of the church, you get a view of the part of Munnar known as Old Munnar...



The well tarred road now turns into a small winding trail behind the church, leading up to first,the house of the resident priest and then further up, to a small bungalow which was my hostel.





Going further you reach my hostel at last...TAJ !







Climbing further brings you to the spooky looking storage shed of the Church which has been the source of fuel (in the form of old furniture stored here) for our numerous mid night camp fires at center of the cemetery...





Further up the hill side is occupied by the church's cemetery...graves scattered lazily across the wilderness giving each 'occupant' a permanent view of the beauty of Munnar






One such occupant, Theodore Edward, holds a special place as i have spent many hours studying at the foot of the tree shown below...






Usually within 15 min the book gets closed and the rest of the time is spent taking in the fresh mountain air and looking lazily around at the wonderful green spread...so the study place usually ended up as a chill out space for me...




Pic : View of old Munnar from my timeout place...




Pic : View of my college...the top building in the middle of the pic...




Pic : View of the big tree were i used to chill out with the grave of Edward on the left...



Hereon the trail straightens up and as you walk further you are surrounded by tall majestic trees...






Climbing further up will bring you to the top of the cemetery...Here you will see a flight of steps leading to a small clearing where we used to have our camp fires, which usually required no reason at all to have, except for the heck of it...



Walking past the steps and clearing you will see a grave with the area around it raised above ground level (as if on a platform) and surrounded on all sides by a small hedge which makes it stand out...you also notice that its at the top of the cemetery beyond which there aren't any more graves giving the impression that its the first one here...Well my friend, you have now reached the resting place of Eleanor Isabel May...She was the descendant of Edward Brabazon, First Baron of Ardee...but to us she was and still is the first and last lady of TAJ...



Her grave holds a special place in our hearts and we make it a point to visit her whenever we come to our Hostel...

Further up is the hill top with shrubs,rocks and trees...second spookiest place after Anachal on which i blogged a long back... Nothing else.

Nothing else is present on this hill... Now this 'nothing else' makes full sense only when you, who are used to well light city streets, are walking up this trail past the dark menacing stone church on a freezing rainy night with strong winds making howling noises, the trees swaying back and forth, and all you want to think of is the faint light you can see somewhere up (the hostel's porch light), while you try not to think about the cemetery to your right as you slowly climb up trying not to slip on the muddy trail...

Its not a pleasant trip mind you because even though you think there are no real ghosts, some hostel mate may be standing hidden somewhere,braving the rain, waiting just to spook you...and all you can do is to wish that it turns out to be indeed an hostler, and not a bored resident of one of the graves...(I have to thank such nights from which i learned what sprinting truly meant, which helped me in my recent 7km Chennai run.)

Thus you come to the end of a small trip across one of the pristine hill sides in Munnar which we 25 odd guys used to call as our Home away from Home...TAJ !





Pic : TAJ Rulz - Our Hostel Emblem

Last but not the least, TAJ RULZ !!!

- A proud TAJian

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Diwali 2009 - St.Thomas Mount

Another Diwali has come and gone...Last year i got a chance to take
a picture of a touching scene right in front of my flat which showed
the true meaning and extend of sharing and i had blogged about it...

For the first time i got a chance to celebrate at Chennai...This Diwali me and friends decided to go to St.Thomas Mount as frankly we got tired of bursting fireworks n cooking and had nothing else to do...

First thing i noticed was the empty roads and closed shops...even the corner tea shop was closed which is a rare thing.On reaching St.Thomas Mount i was surprised to find that here too the crowds were very less, so we spent the time taking pics of the sunset which was clear from the height we were in...The view from there never seizes to amaze me as there are not many natural vantage points from were you get such a view...
(The man made vantage points a.k.a "High rise buildings" don't allow such an access to reduce suicide attempts).

The view from here shows you a big chunk of the city...On the left you can see Valasaravakam,Koyembedu, Vadapalani..Then in front comes TNagar,Mylapore and then to the right you can see Besant Nagar,Velacherry etc...
If you know Chennai you can understand its an impressive view...

Once it started to get dark, it was like a magic wand was waved across Chennai city...
The entire sky in front of us was lit with Diwali crackers especially the 'rockets' which fly into the sky and burst at varying height and in varying colors depending on their make.

It was the best Diwali gift given by the entire city to us...
Everyone bursting crackers and creating a never ending splendid view of a brightly lit sky...
At any time you could have around 50/60 rocket bursts clearly visible (not counting the smaller or distant ones)...It was one of those moments when you just fall silent and become a mere
spectator to the grand view in front of you...It was priceless...

The evening ended with me and friends donating blood as there was a blood donation camp running there... So all in all it was a pretty satisfactory Diwali...

I have added a low resolution video and a crappy photo shot from a cam with no shutter settings nor did i have a tripod...So these don't do justice to the event at all but i cant help but try to share these in the hope that you 'get' what it must have been like while standing up there and see an entire city go up with joy of celebration...

Chennai Marathon Sept 27th

For some time now i have been trying to be a regular visitor to the gym...and have lost few kilos in the process...but one thing that bugged me was the jogging part...Chennai traffic and road conditions make it a tough task to jog on the roads unless you wake up at sunrise and even then you have to take care of the speed devils sitting behind the wheel of the numerous company cabs...So all this left the good old treadmill at the gym,which never gave that feeling of completion at the end of a run which ones gets on a ground or on a road...People told me that jogging on the treadmill is not as effective as on the road as the treadmill is always in motion thereby helping us. So when i read about the chennai marathon in which there was a 7km run for the normal janta, i jumped at it.

Basically i wanted to see if i could keep jogging at that long a distance because in gym i stop at 2/2.5 km at max.

Sunday morning myself and set out for the Marathon.The main route to the starting point, and the only one we knew, was blocked due to traffic diversions for the 21km run which had already started...Numerous diversions later we found ourselves at the island ground. By sheer luck we escaped the heavy showers, which seemed to be a blessing in disguise for many who were fearing what the wrath of the Chennai SUN will do to the runners. We had barely took shelter in the medical emergency tent when it started to rain heavily. Ah, it was sight for sore Chennai eyes...


When it was 7.30 the rain stopped to a light drizzle and we started following the people in front of us...once we reached the road we found people started moving faster and then we knew the Marathon had started. I switched off my mobile and along with the camera placed it inside my friends backpack wrapped in a plastic bag to escape the rain. Little did i know that the mobile part will be regretted later on.

Within 5 minutes into the run i got the runners stitch and thought i was a goner.My friend who is a good runner was already out of sight and so was my mobile ! So the only thing left was to keep on running. The atmosphere was really cool. I could see the 21km run guys returning to the finishing line having covered 21kms in 1.5 hours. The road sides were filled with people who had come to cheer the runners and also included many would be runners who decided not to run at the last moment. Runners were in all shapes and sizes - friends, families,people from the big companies in company Tees , school kids in big noise groups led by their school bands, and people like me who came on the cold wet morning to prove a point to themselves, that this is doable. Since the run was open to all people there were lot of boisterous groups of slum kids running around fighting with each other by splashing the water from the bottles placed at intervals along the course by the organizers. Mid way through the run i felt really thirsty (my bottle was also 'cleverly' placed in my friends backpack) and saw a organizer distributing bottles around 200 feet away. The same moment i saw it, i heard a roar of delight from the kids behind me who were looking for new ammo for their water battles. I am sure those kids would have never seen a heavy guy like me run like i did at that time, knowing full well that if i was late there was going to be no bottles left.

I was able to complete the 7km run in 50 minutes which included around 10 minutes when i would have walked fast to catch my breath. What keeps one going is the numerous people in front of you and many constantly zipping past you that there is no dearth of motivation - especially if a couple of goodlooking gals zip past you with ease which also hits your ego. Once i reached the finish line i started looking for my friend. Instead i ran into the company HR to whom i was to report to in the morning to collect my marathon number tag. I informed that i was late due to traffic and rain,collected the company Tee and cap that i should have been wearing during the Run and made my way to the parking lot for a long wait for my friend.


The journey to the marathon in the cold pleasant morning through empty roads of chennai, the friendly people who were very helpful in giving the new directions and shortcuts due to the traffic restrictions, the energy of people of all ages who took part in the run, the scores of people standing in the rain and cheering the runners was an unforgettable experience - the icing was the personal satisfaction of completing the 7 km Run and still be on two legs.

1st day show of Mohanlal movie Sagar alias Jacky

Movie ticket bought in 'black' - 100 Rs
Egg puff(2) - 16 Rs
Sprite - 12 Rs
Seeing Mohan Lal's latest release 1st day in the super stars home ground - SreeKumar theatre,thiruvananthapuram,with a sea of liked minded fans - Priceless



This idea has been borrowed a zillion times from a famous tv ad by many, but to put in perspective the importance of this occasion i couldn't think up of something else.

Thursday noon saw me standing outside the Thriruvanathapuram railway station having completed a 15 hr train journey, for a visit to home town.I had already made plans to see the movie Sagar Alias Jackey with my friends on the coming Saturday. On my way to the bus stop to catch a bus to home sweet home, I had to cross the Sree Kumar theater and the sea of fans thronging the theater premises attracted me to there.

Fans of Mohanlal were taking mini processions (separate ones by each fan club) around the theatre premises with some using decorated auto rickshaws and other vehicles to carry the banners and posters.

The energy in the air was electrifying - all around me were fans of the stars braving the heat,the crowd and the angry policemen for one simple reason - to see their super star on the screen on the first day.

Thinking that i could be able to book the tickets for the weekend i stood their for some time. When i entered inside i escaped barely from a couple of stampedes when the policemen did mock charges waving their latties to control the crowd.I decided to stay outside and click some pics. Out of nowhere a guy approached me and asked if i wanted tickets in black. It was like asking a kid standing in front of the candy shop if he wanted one. Of course i said and paid 100 rs for a 35 rs ticket. After all i have paid 120 per movie in Chennai multiplexs for so many movies and to get a lal first day ticket in Sreekumar theater didnt require much thinking.

Now that i got the ticket in my hand, the only question was how to get in ?

The gates were locked and the security guy told that they will not open as already too many people were inside. The only option - jump the wall waving your ticket so that the police don't beat you. Now i had a heavy backpack as i was straight out of the railway station. Those who know me know that i am not the skinny type ;-). So i climbed the wall over the pointed Steele bars (which reminded me how mercilessly i used to laugh when i saw guys getting hurt in similar situations in movies).

Once inside it was pretty simple - hold onto your purse and mobile like your life depended on it and flow with the crowd to get inside.

Pieces of papers were flying around, guys running around waving their shirts screaming. The noise when Mohan Lal name was shown in the openinig credits and when finally the star came was awesome. This picture is the entrance scene.

Although i had my camera in my bag, i decided to use my cell lest they book me for piracy or something.

The movie is aimed clearly at the fans. The story is average with no importance or depth to any other characters other than the super star's. Bhawana is not an actress who can make us believe that Lal's character will fall for her. Jothirmayi's item song is below average.Compared to this, Big B had better characters,music and even punch dialogues. But compared to 'Bilal', Sagar Alias Jackey wins hands down. Only problem is Lal has little to showcase his acting skills and there is no emotion on his face.The character neednt have been so serious.
The visuals are great, the camera work superb and seems lots of money has been spent on it seeing all those cars and planes.
So if you are a lal fan, go with a gang of friends and have a blast.

Catepillar Photoshoot - Euploea core or Common Crow Butterfly

It started with my dad waking me up early morning saying that there was something interesting in the garden which was apt for a photo shoot...Now people who live away from home will know how satisfying the sleep in your old bed feels like, so naturally I was reluctant to get out of bed.


15 minutes later (come on, it was a cold Jan morning, so it took time to come out), I was standing in front of a potted plant in our garden with sleepy eyes. My dad told me that this plant was missing leaves for a few days now, and he was surprised as this plant was normally not attacked by the usual pests which attack the other plants in our garden. He then showed me the 'culprit’. It was a long caterpillar which was happily devouring the leaves one by one.
(Click on the pictures to see full size)

Now i am not exaggerating when i say devouring because that’s what it was precisely doing...you should have seen the speed with which he ate...In proportional ratio, if he where my size, he would have beaten me hands down, or shall we say 'legs' down...

So i took out my camera and a chair, and started clicking...Taking pics was difficult as I didn’t have a prime lens with me. To those unfamiliar with SLR cameras, these are inexpensive lenses which effortlessly focus on a single object while blurring the background. This makes close up shots a walk in the park...

The way he went about eating was simple. He will go from branch to branch to look for the fresh young green leaves. Then he will get under them and nibble at the point connecting the leave with the stem...(It reminded me of Kalidas tale of cutting the same branch on which he sat). Well, the caterpillar did this till he had chewed through half of the stem and the leave was hanging down. Then he will stop this and start eating the leave from the bottom to top...This he will finish in 10/15 minutes and then move in search of the next leave.



Next day morning when I checked the plant, he was hanging upside down under a older dark leave which was not in his normal menu...I gently blew at him to check if he was alive and he immediately curled up as if cursing me for the disturbance... I suspected that he may be starting to enter the next stage of Pupa. I had to go to church at that time. So I was back after 1.5 hours at the same location and he had turned into a Pupa ! That 4 cm long fat caterpillar of yesterday had turned into a pupa shell hardly 1cm long. The shell was wet and light in colour and looked bit transparent. So i started the 2nd photo shoot. That evening when i checked him out, his shell had turned into a beautiful shiny golden colour and looked like a drop of molten gold that had solidified...Unfortunately I couldn’t stay back to see him come out which takes around 2 weeks as I had to get back to work.

Later that day i was reading online on this transformation of pupa(Chrysalis) to butterfly and saw a picture of the same kind of catepillar that i had in my garden ! Further search provided the valuable information - the caterpillar was of the common crow butterfly. It was so satisfying to be able to know what exactly one was clicking all this time...


On that’s what I call one fine satisfying photo shoot !

I added the pics i took into the gallery section of this butterfly in wikipedia . Check out the pics in the end with the location as thiruvananthapuram,kerala.