A Memorable Day

I completed my 31 years of existence on our beloved planet on 29th of August. I can surely rate it as one of the most memorable days of my life. It reassured me that I still have lots of thoughtful friends and I am after all not some irresponsible recluse that I was imagining myself to be. It was truly heartwarming to accept wishes from so many people, especially since it was happening for the first time with me. For at least a day I felt as though I am the most important person in the whole world. Of course there were many gifts too. To me, they are all priceless. I will guard it with my life for the rest of my existence here. I had been a little cynical about celebrating these special days.. father's day, mother's day, lover's day, birth day... Money spinning inventions of gifts and greeting cards mafia. But that day I realised that even if some intelligent entrepreneur makes a killing every time somebody celebrates a special day, it doesn't really matter. The amount of boost in morale, the extent of spread of infectious good will and the motivation to be good and do good and the feeling of being wanted and loved that the recepient feels during the celebration of his or her special day justifies every penny spent. It's an amazing feeling, trust me.

Bangalore to Pondicherry to Velankanni

When I was planning to drive down to Pondicherry from Bangalore for a holiday, I was really surprised to learn that there is actually very little useful information on the web. I found the information on the route, quality of roads, the correct distance of the destination and the places to see in around Pondicherry grossly incomplete and inadequate. Nevertheless, I did go for the trip and enjoyed it thoroughly. Though I saw most of the must see places in around Pondicherry, I lost lots of time in accomplishing it since the planning wasn’t very rational. So I am posting this so that if any body has similar intentions of going to places that I visited, they will have a good source of information to plan their iteinery.
Distances :
1. Bangalore (BTM layout) to Pondicherry - 290 Kms
2. Pondicherry to Velankanni – 170 Kms
Route :
1. Bangalore to Pondicherry -
Bangalore – Hosur(30Kms) – Krishnagiri(48 Kms) – Mathur (25 Kms)– Utharangai(18 Kms) – Chengam(30Kms) – Thiruvannamalai(35 Kms) – Gingee(20Kms) -Tindivanam(65 Kms) – Pondicherry(37 Kms)
a. The road from Bangalore to Krishnagiri is excellent ( NH 7). For a short distance of about 5 kms from Krishnagiri to the NH 66 towards Thiruvannamalai you will have to pay a toll of Rs.25. From the toll booth at Krishnagiri go over the firs fly over and take the side road before the second fly over and turn left at the signal. If you drive for about a km you will see a huge board overhead pointing to right towards Thiruvannamalai.
b. Even though it’s a NH(66) , its only two lane and the initial 40 kms has lots of potholes. There are lots of cross roads till you reach Thiruvannamalai with out any boards showing directions and even if there is one it will be in chaste Tamil. So I suggest you to stop at each cross road and ask the locals.
c. Jay walking by both humans and animals is the norm on this road. Drive carefully and be generous in the use of the horn.
d. But over all the road to Pondicherry is quite alright. You can comfortably make around 60 kms an hour on an average. So the journey shouldn’t take you more than 5 hours.
2. Pondicherry to Velankanni –
Pondicherry – Cuddalore – Chidambaram – Sirkazhi – Karaikal – Nagore – Nagapattinam – Velanganni
a. Though the distance is only about 170 kms it will take you a little more than four hours because of the mindless and chaotic traffic on this road. The people who live in towns along the road don't seem to differentiate between the road and their front yards. You will see them taking casual walks all over the main road being totally oblivious to the speeding traffic.
b. Quality of the road is good. It’s a two lane road, but reasonably wide.
c. Better to eat breakfast at Pondicherry and pack something for the lunch also if you are hygeinic type.
d.Must see places on the way..
Chidambaram - Natarajar temple here is breathtaking, an unparalleled example of Chola architecture. This temple is being run by Deekshitars for the last 800 years or so and doesn't receive any endowments or contributions from the government. While you are there let your hearts cry for the neglected temple cars, each one a master piece by itself , a sheer poetry in wood, exposed to the onslaught of elements.
Nagore - It has one of the most popular muslim shrines of south India. People from all religions offer prayers here
Karaikal(Thirunallur)- Temple of Shanishwar. Many celebrities from all parts of India visit this temple
Velankanni- Church of Arokya Matha, a 500 year old church. An example of faith overpowering religion. You can sense those divine vibes all over this place. Atleast I did.
Where to stay?
We stayed at Hotel Jairam. Its right in the middle of the city, very close to the main shopping area, J N Street. Its a very reasonbly priced hotel with an excellent vegetarian restaurant. The staff are courteous and service is prompt. I would certainly suggest this place to all those who are looking for value for their money.

I passed F.IACTA !

There was always a tiny little bit of insecurity in me for not having any recognised qualifications in Cardiac Anaesthesiology inspite of working in the specialty for close to two and a half years. In an age of progressively increasing awareness amongst the public and professionals regarding the need for superspecialty training in their health care givers, I had every reason to feel the way I was feeling. In an attempt to fill that lacuna in my credentials I decided to appear for Fellowship exams conducted by Indian Association of CardioThoracic Anesthesiologists( F. IACTA). This year the exams were conducted in SRMC Chennai. Let me tell you at the outset itself , it is definitely not an easy exam to pass. Only two years since its conception, the IACTA is striving hard to set high standards and credibility in this fellowship programme. This is being reflected in the percentage of successful candidates .. a miserly 30% last year and an even thrifty 25% this year!
And I passed this exam successfully. Period.

Anaesthesiology at Narayana Hrudayalaya

This is the title of another blog which I created a couple of days back. Being one of the few net savvy employees in the department the onus, I felt, was on me to do something like that. The response from my colleagues has been reasonably good I must say. I have managed to enroll few contributors already!
Basically I just wanted a forum to discuss, publish and display few of the interesting stuff we do in the hospital. I only hope it will be well nourished and taken care of.
Here is the link to the blog..

"The Mobile Store" Offer

I have always been skeptical about the freebies the retailers offer in return for shopping with them. There must be a catch, I used to think. But now I am of the opinion that, Catch or no catch it doesn't matter if at the end of the day you get a good worthwhile deal. The reason for the change in my perception with regards to the "Offers" is this.


I had bought a cell phone for my mother 4 months back at "The Mobile Store". It was through an exchange offer, I had given my beaten up, two year old cell phone and paid an extra Rs. 1900/- for a Nokia cell phone. The assured freebie I got was a family package. They had offered to pay for my stay in one of the 20 holiday destinations across India and Nepal if I sent them a DD of Rs.600/- as processsing fee. Only for the stay, not for the food and travel expenses. With lots of doubt and suspicion I did what ever they had asked me to do, with full understanding that there is a very high possibility of being taken for a ride. But surprise! surprise! With in two weeks I received a courier confirming the reservation for the hotel in a destination that I had asked, on the date that I had preferred.

The resort was "Sterling Lakeview resorts", Kodaikanal. A wonderful place to holiday with your family. I went there, stayed in the resort and enjoyed the scenic beauty of Kodaikanal for full three days and two nights with out paying a single dime for the stay. It would have otherwise cost me around Rs.5000/-. All this for buying a cell phone costing just Rs.1900/- . Thank you! Some times you get Lucky!



Read my review on "Sterling Lakeview, Kodaikanal" here

Lady in Red !

The first time I saw her , she just took my breath away! The first time I was taken on a ride by her, every part of my being begged for more!
She looks stunningly beautiful in which ever angle you chose to see her.. She moves with amazing grace and agility.. She is very accommodating, always at your service, on your command.. She is the " Lady in Red" who is painting the whole city red.. She is a city bus.. not any other city bus.. She is the Volvo "Vajra"!
These buses are one of the best things that has happened to our erstwhile Garden City, Bengalooru. This masterstroke by our beloved BMTC, is in keeping with the cosmopolitan and techno-savvy image of this city. These buses are cool man! not just because they all have powerful air conditioners humming under their hood! All those hi-tech gadgetry inside the cockpit, comfy seating, friendly crew, reasonable fares and I can go on.. No wonder they are a big hit among Bangaloreans.
I am one of the fortunate ones because there are six Vajras plying everyday to my workplace, but I am one of the very unfortunate ones, because my work hours doesn't permit to use any of them..
So I sit here, cramped inside my little car, stuck in the traffic jam, driving bumper to bumper, moving inch by inch .. envying at the lucky ones who are cruising along comfortably in "their" Vajras..
" Yelli Iddira?"


Some Useful Links..
BMTC Volvo Route Details- http://www.bmtcinfo.com/english/volvo.htm
Volvo Locator Service "Yelli Iddira?" - http://www.clinf.com/yi/

Sripuram Golden Temple ,Vellore

I was under the impression that Om Shakti Amma is a lady and had wondered " Hmmm... amazing Sanyasin this one is !!" (Puttting together Rs.600 crores to build a temple and coordinating the project to its successful completion is a mind boggling feat by any standards , for any human being!) .. And I was under the impression that the Darshanam in this lesser known, under publicized ( I hadn't read or seen anything about it in the media) temple will be easy and it will be just a walk through.. I was also cynical that, this will be just another mega construction,by an unimaginably rich Mutt , unabashedly flaunting its wealth and its rich devotee following.. And I couldn't be more wrong on all these assumptions !
Aralthiru Om Shakti Amma is a young male Sadhu with very insightful thoughts on everything, the place was over crowded and witnessing the magnificent and majestic spectacle of The Temple was blissfully divine!! It has to be seen to be believed..it is simply breathtaking !you will very soon run out of superlatives if you start describing the temple!! Built at the centre of a sprawling , star shaped 200 acre plot( named 'Sripuram' now), this completely gold plated sanctum is located in the middle of a pond. The reflection of the temple gives an amazing optical illusion of an another identical structure located right underneath. The whole temple glows like fire under the strategically placed illumination ( obviously it is best seen after sunset). The impeccably clean premises( surprise , surprise !!) are strewn with placards displaying the sayings of the Seer. The walk way to reach the sanctum( the golden temple proper) encircles it. I found it very thoughtful and intelligent.. while waiting in those long, unending queues to reach the sanctum you can be continuously enjoying the awesome view of the temple from different angles. The worshiping deity of the temple is Ma Shakti , Amma Narayani (an avatar of Lakshmi). If you chose the special darshanam which costs Rs.250 for two, you will be allowed very close to the sanctum sanctorum and you can see the magnificent deity resplendent with dazzling adornments for about 5 minutes.. I will tell you those 250 bucks are worth spending for that mind blowing spectacle. Of course as a bonus, you will get to jump the long queue and will receive a bag of prasadam .

Reaching there from Bangalore is easy especially if you are driving on your own. It is about 10 kms from Vellore City in Tamilnadu and about 215 kms from Bangalore( if you are starting at Electronic City). The road is excellent and the journey is very comfortable. From electronic city you will have take NH7 till Krishnagiri( Electronic city-Hosur-Krishnagiri), from there you need to take a left after the toll booth to enter NH46 to reach Vellore( Krishnagiri, Ambur, Vaniyambadi, Vellore). Yes, the toll!! you will have to pass three user fee collection booths on the way( Krishnagiri, Vaniyambadi, Vellore) that will you put you down by Rs.!56 ( if you are in a car and if you buy two way tickets... it makes sense to buy like that if you are planning to return the same day). You can conveniently leave Bangalore by around 12noon and be back at around 10pm , because the road is really good and ... emply! It makes sense to have lunch at Bangalore since there are no good hotels on the way( eat atleast at Hosur, that will be your last chance it you don't mind waiting till you reach Vellore).
It is truly one of those places one must see before dying. Go and see it as soon as possible..
p.s:Photography is prohibited, so couldn't post any images.