Three weeks of hectic activity plus a few other unforeseen tensions made us crave
that the holiday home we bought in Mysore
got ready pronto…well it more or less did, just in the nick of time for us to
take a break during Dasara. We had to make a pre-occupation check so off we
went on 18th Oct and got all the umpteen things that need to be done to get a house to be a
home, and having done that we planned Dasara at Mysore . Returned on Oct 20th.
Day 1 – Bangalore – Mysore - 22/10/2012
Monday, Oct 22nd, after performing the
Satyanarayana Puja at office, our annual offerings to the Lord on Ayudha Puja,
finished loading the truck and we set off – Ranga, me, Toshu and Anirudh to
Mysore at 2pm. Fortunately being the lean hour, we were able to get out of
Bangalore after a brief stop to tank up. A coffee break at Kadambam and
we cruised into
Unpacked, and after a
brief discussion where we were all in agreement that the next two days will
have maniacal crowds, it was decided to go check out the lighting right that
evening. So we set off once again at 7.30pm and were lucky to get a slot to
park the Scorpio smack opposite the palace, which was good, as all of us had
our eyes rooted to the spectacular lighting and jaws somewhere near our feet,
and driving would certainly have been hazardous. We also joined the sea of
humanity which was walking through to the Mysore
palace and the exhibition grounds both ethereal and absolutely out-of-the-world
lighting…what a visual treat, it was man’s creativity at its very best! Wow…all
cameras went click-click non-stop and even when we returned home via JLB road,
the lighting of the royal city was what we were still talking about. A sight we
will I am sure, not forget in a hurry.
Came back home, had home made dinner of rotis and subzi and
sat down to watch Masterchef and Grey’s Anatomy. By 11pm, we were all ready to
hit the sack.
Day 2- Mysore – Namdroling Monastery – Mysore - 23/10/2012
Got up to birds chirping and sat down with a hot cuppa in
the balcony watching the sun rise. Everyone went for a walk, bought some milk
and eggs, returned home, made a good breakfast chatting and joking as a
communal kitchen with the boys toasting the bread, Ranga and me rustling up
omelets and coffee. A good hot bath and we left home at 9.30am for Kushalnagar –
5kms before we turned to reach the Tibetan settlement (at a dist. of about
85kms from Mysore) which now houses more than 15000 monks of all ages, from as
little as 4 years to maybe 80+, and is one of the largest settlements of Tibetans in India.
The beauty and serenity of the temple built in 1999 by Rinpoche never
ceases to amaze us, though there were a few more people than what I would have
liked, it in no way reduced the attraction of the Golden temple. We spent a
good 45min there, went window shopping at the Tibetan market and ended up
buying some noodles as well as the ceramic figurines of baby Buddha (really
cute…couldn’t resistJ).
By this time it was nearly 12.30pm, so we headed to Kushalanagar and went to a restaurant
called Caravan and had a hot lunch. A bit over priced for the size of helpings
but no complaints on the taste. Then we set off back for Mysore . Reached home at 3.30pm. Everyone decided
to nap for an hour or so. Had tea at 5pm and then we all settled down to watch
the movie “Where Eagles Dare”. After the movie, rustled up a good dinner, followed
it up with Masterchef and everyone was feeling drowsy by then. Off we went to
bed. (Totally clocked 186kms today)
Day 3 – Mysore – Masinagudi – Mysore - 24/10/2012
Determined to steer clear of the mad rush by visitors to the
Jambu Savaari, we headed out of Mysore on Ooty road at 10am, close to our home
and enjoyed the lovely green forests of Bandipur and Mudumalai, a first for the
boys…and they were lucky…we spotted several elephants at regular intervals, in
fact a cow elephant got a bit frazzled when many cars stopped to click her
photo, trumpeted and got ready to charge!
Every single vehicle took off at
double quick speed (this is the kind of situation where 0 to 100 in 10sec etc.
kind of tag lines better work!! J)!!!
Well, it did and amid nervous laughter, we then spotted the docile spotted deer
and also some black faced macaque (though no photos, everyone was too much in shock to take any more photos!) and before we knew it we were in Masinagudi. It
was 12.10pm. 100kms had just whizzed by! The natural beauty captivated everyone just as much as the cool breeze.
We watched a karaga by the villagers to
Masini-amman (who else?) and watched as they immersed the same in the river and
then proceeded to Casa Deep Woods for lunch.
We chatted with the staff as they
have become good friends by now, while the boys played some TT, then at 1pm we
went in and had the sumptuous buffet, where we tucked into some great South Indian
food, and prasadam from the Vijayadashami homam they had just completed and
replete, we set off back home at 2.15pm. On the way back, unfortunately, all
the animals must have been in siesta mode, and we spotted nothing. Reached home
at 4.30pm. (Clocked 212kms today)
After dinner, as we all were in the balcony, Toshu decided
to close the door not realizing it can’t be opened from the outside.!! All
engineers and we had got locked out – embarrassing, but more to the point, how
the heck do we solve the problem? Some ingenuity and some sheer brute force and
severe sweating and 45minutes of high drama, we got back in thanks to Toshu who
sort of redeemed himself! Well, life is nothing if not exciting…esp with Toshu
around! Too drained to even watch TV, the boys played chess while we just sat
in a bit of a daze.
Then silently everyone crawled into bed.
Day 4 – Mysore – Bangalore - 25/10/2012
Next day, none the worse for two scares the previous, one by an animal and the second by a two-legged one:-), we all had a cup of hot coffee, locked up and left
home at 8am. Reached Siddharth at 8.15am and after a good breakfast left at
9am, reached Kengeri at 11am, and amma’s place at 11.30, spent some 15minutes
with them and returned home by 12.15pm
A wonderful holiday, enjoyed by all and more importantly, in
the comfort of home! I love my holiday home and look forward to many
happy days of stay in the years to come…
Photos clicked on Ranga's Cannon and Toshu's Sony Xperia Cellphone.
Total kms on the Odo - 783kms
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