The in's and out's of Aurangabad

This is my latest attempt at a travelogue and I hope that it would prove to be a useful outline to those who wish to make a trip to Aurangabad.

The Gist :

Places of Interest : Aurangabad, Ajanta caves,Ellora caves and Shirdi

Duration of the trip: Two - Three days

Total Travel distance:
Aurangabad - Ajanta 120 Kms.
Aurangabad - Ellora 20Kms.
Aurangabad - Shirdi 135Kms.

Estimated cost (for a group of 6): Rs.9000-11000.

Season : late August to early Feb.

The Plot :

The first thing that one must decide on before embarking on such trips is the total duration of the trip. It becomes very crucial when it comes to micro-management of time spent at each of the spots. Ideally I would recommend three days for this particular trip, though with good time management and a light-weight photography, one can wrap it up in two days. In case you plan to visit Shirdi too, then I would suggest you make that as the starting point of the trip. As mentioned, the travel from Shirdi to Aurangabad would take around 2 1/2 to 3 hours and its best to spend rest of the day at Ajintha. Ellora being very close to the city, you can take a shot between the city tour and Ellora within a day. The second option that you can choose (though personally I would prefer the former) is to visit Ajintha and a part of the city on day 1 and Ellora, Daulatabad fort and Shirdi on the second day.

The Pinions :

Ajintha :

This place is a heaven for the art lovers, and I can tell you for sure that patrons of old-age paintings wont be disappointed at all. Ajintha caves are located at a distance of 120 Km from Aurangabad, the easiest means to get there is by engaging a cab or through the Maharashtra Govt. Tourism bus facility. Cabs can go only upto the parking lot(4 Km from the actual caves), from where you have take the buses provided by the Tourism dept that takes you right upto the mouth of the caves. Please take your cameras along with you as only videography is prohibited, you could very well use digi-cams without flashes and take as many pictures as you want. Also make sure that you engage a guide (charges were Rs.450) without which it would be more than the 'lost in the fair' situation for most of us.

There are around 10-11 caves that are of prime interest, as the guide would tell you. Each one of them have some Jatak tale painted on the walls. The first cave contains the two famous pcitures "Bodhisattva Padmapani" and the "Bodhisattva Vajrapani", each resplendent in its own beauty. They are both '3-D' enabled and so are many of the paintings on the roofs. Another piece of art that shouldnt be missed is a painting which has real pearls embedded in it. There are also some caves which were the dormitories of the artists who are also great Buddhist saints. Given sufficient time, patience and love for art, Ajintha takes almost an entire day to be admired.

Do's :

• Take your camera inside the arena without fail. Photography along the exteriors are allowed.
• Take food and rations without fail.

• Take ample quantity of water.
• Ideal visiting time :9 AM - 5:30 PM

Dont's :

• Dont buy food from the vendors, there is a serious ignorance of hygiene.
  

Ellora :

Ellora, a perfect complement of Ajintha is purely a sculptors heaven. Located close to the city of Aurangabad (20 Km), it provides the facility to be visited at any time of the day. Ellora comprises of around 16 completed caves among which the last is the most beautiful. It gives you the impression as if you were in one of the traditional south indian temple. You can find statues of almost every God in our ancient mythology. Any statue that you look at is of the highest quality and of pristine beauty. That's least expected considering the fact that three-four generations of people have worked on a single piece of carving. Such is the intensity with which one has to enjoy these great works. Each of the cave contains either a statue of Buddha or a stupa according to the traditions of Mahayana and Hinayana tradition.

Do's :

• Ensure that you take your camera along with you.
  
• The place is very peaceful, you may even want to enjoy the silence and solitude in there.
• visit as many caves as possible. You may find each to be differently oriented.
• Ideal visiting time :8 AM - 5:30 PM

Dont's :

• Avoid taking a guide there, you may be ushered into hurry.
• Avoid venturing into certain dark corners of the cave. It could be a health hazard. (Experience speaks ppl :P )

Daulatabad Fort:

"Appearances are deceptive" goes well for the Daulatabad Fort, which lies on the way to Ellora caves and so is often the sacrificial goat for the extra time we spend at Ellora. To begin with the disclaimers, this fort isnt so easy to climb as it looks. So if you are not game for a tough climb, please choose to admire this fort from below :D . For the more adventurous, this fort could provide you a mini-trekking with all the dangers associated with it. There are umpteen locations in the fort where you would fancy taking photographs. The very construction of the fort with its cascaded structuring gives you an idea of the theme of the fort. The minaret, the biggie cassock cannons and the bhool-bhulaiyya enthralls the on-looker with their queer uniqueness. The climb goes around in a circular path around and unfortunately there are no short-cuts, the fort was meant to be in-accessible and in-accessible it remains. It is constructed in such a way that at any point of time the wall is too steep and high to climb and thus forcing everybody to use the path laid out. The top durbar looks ridiculously simple considering the climb and effort it took to reach up. There are no ornamental works, no dance halls, no rooms.. just a simple courtyard where the air gushes in magically from nowhere. After the climb, you feel intoxicated by the cool wind that blows refreshingly into you. Sitting in this place, you can easily drift off into timelessness. You will be too tired to offer any kind of resistance that you naturally begin to enjoy everything and nothing, slipping into a state of nothingness. Perhaps this could be the reason why ppl of olden days worked themselves to tiredness....

Do's :

• Forget to take water at your own peril. In case you are visiting during summer, you might even manage to casualize yourself from dehydration. So remember to carry ample supply of water.
• Go during the day time. You cannot go to the fort after sunset.
  
• Ideal visiting time :7 AM - 9:30 AM

Dont's:

• Don't take heavy food before you climb.
• Don't try to take a single shot at the climb, take periodical rest if you feel tired. You wont enjoy rest of the trip if you break your back.
• Don't hurry through the dark sections of the climb. The stone tracks are very smooth and slippery due to periodical wear and tear.

Shirdi:

Unfortunately, I couldnt spend much time at shirdi as it was the last point of our journey. Nevertheless we managed to take a shot at the temple. It was extremely lucky for us that we could make darshan under an hour because it usually takes more than two hours even during off-seasons. The temple itself is worth visiting and would take around an hour to see. Since there are sufficient bus services from Shirdi, it could well act as the staring point or the terminal point for you trip.

Other places :

Apart from these major locations, Aurangabad houses a replica of Taj Mahal which is a definite place to be visited. Apart from that you have Panchakki, Aurangazeb's tomb and Grishneshwar temple (one of the jyothirlingas). All of these are fairly closely located and can be visited after the dark.

Tips :

* Please ensure that you get some lodging on your own. There are quite a number of lodges that are available at a little distance from Aurangabad bus station. Try inquiring at a few places so that you get a fair idea of the rentals.
* Even for the local sight-seeing its profitable to get a cab/jeep from one of the travels near the bus station. You could actually get one at a reasonable rate if you are adept at the art of haggling.

The entire trip will be full of fun and frolic if you can go as a group of 5-8 . Its wholesome fun to travel around the cross section of Maharashtra where the culture is quite different from that we see in southern states. It will be a glide to travel this part of the country if we make elaborate planning and take a mental note of the approach route. I am sure that this post will provide you an outline for planning a trip on your own.. so get going guys,.. and happy travelling...

Kudos to love

"Sching in the rain .. I am schwaiiing in the rain...! " proclaimed my mobile rippling out a cacophony in the voice of our Kaipulle. I lazily picked it up only to be coaxed by my buddy Mr.GK to a movie. When you are a bachelor, a week end without movie is a unpardonable crime and the poor guy wanted to save me from that blasphemy. Being the valentine week-end (though the D day was more than ordinary for me !!), we decided to commit ourselves to a dedication towards cupid. As the custom is before you any movie, I strolled around the theater looking at the posters of the movie. The caption went as follows..

                      Six different couples
                           twelve different lives
                 One common problem
                           LOVE.....

what the heck...??? Are you insane..? an entire movie full of problems..? Ouch !! where is this leading to... My serenity was disturbed by the rustle of the crowd, and a pair of hands pulled me into the tumult and before I could regroup, I was hoisted into my seat by my dear roomies. A man behind me played tabla on my shoulders and asked gleefully.. "Beta..., Kya yeh picture hindi mein hoti hai..? " Whoa !! No comments... "Telgu mein to nahi hain naa..?" No comments.... "kaise bhi ho koi problemmm nahi..." No comments ...."interval kab ayegaaa..?" No comments... "sunaa hai ki yeh pitchaar achchi hai... ha ha" .. No comments.. One hell of a company I had..

The movie began with the typical style of the Hindi movies of these days....A lovely couple living in their own lil' world of joy and splendor. Title time.... the titles sprang out of nowhere and ran its length wearily.. Bang ! appeared Govinda as a taxi driver.. when did he switch over as a comedian...? Bang ! appeared Anil Kapoor sitting alone in a room, staring vacantly at a digital table clock. Bang ! appeared Akshay driving a stylish car impersonating the rich cool guy. Bang ! appeared Salman as an impostor. Bang ! Appeared Juhi Chawla as a home-maker. Bang ! appeared Priyanka in a song sequence.. Bang ! Bang ! Bang !...... there you are, completely lost.., like a kid in a fair.

As the movie proceeds, the plot reveals and shows the faint outlines of the lives of these fine six pair of people. Priyanka, an actress who wants to move from the 'item' gal to be a 'Karan Johar' gal and Salman plays the prevaricated lover boy for her publicity stint. Anil Kapoor, a middle(old ??) aged professional who wants to have an exciting life which he seeks through a dancer he met in a train. Akshay, a 'kewl' dude who doesnt want to shoulder the responsibilities of marriage. Govinda, who looks for a valentine in a foreigner. And John Abraham, a man doted on his wife, a journalist who subsequently loses her memory in an accident. Whew..! I think that should surmise what the movie is all about. What....? Did the story fit in a paragraph..! No way !!!

People, believe me, I must be going cranky..... coz the movie lasted a solid 3:20 minutes on screen !! I felt thoroughly cheated twice, when I felt sure that the movie was about to end and the screen proudly presented the words 'INTERVAL' . Gosh ! Song sequences came blistering one after another in a never ending stream, sequence of dis-connected comical interludes and sentiment, sentiment and more sentiment.....! Ouch !! I almost had a heart-stroke... It seemed very complicated to me that though two people had mutual love, they had a zillion problems between them. For some inexplicable reasons each had an intricate problem that was infinitely complex to solve. The caption that I read slowly began to make sense to me... The director didn't get that one wrong...at least this once...

With these six stories going parallel, the movie marathon goes on and on... The credit should go to us all, for having the perseverance to stay on till the end. The screenplayer decides to end the movie bringing together all the pieces through some means or the other. By then, most of us are given up to deep to question any sort of logic in the movie. Oh ! and the man behind me was right... we dont need to either hindi or logic to get the movie right. Never I felt more weary after watching a movie.. Guys, sympathize with me... I am sharing the sorrows of six couples. ! Believe me people, we can never imagine love can cause so much a trouble.One thing is for sure... No more valentine's day for me.. ..!

Movie BottomLine : Pay for one movie, Get five free !!

Just a messy mess !!

Ever since my induction into bachelorhood (not that i was married ever :P) its been more of a necessity than a regualrity to eat at hotels. Initially one can get away with "decent" hotels that provide you s-class food, but as time progresses your purse begins to feel the pinch and quite automatically one begins to let loose his 'decent' funda. And when you get stuck to a place like Hyderabad, the decision come a bit sooner than expected. Believe me guys, it took me only a week to come to that!

Once that wisdom dawns, those hotels which never existed before magically seem to spring up before your eyes. Like fire-flies you move into one of these for 'trying' out the food there. Along the expected lines you tend to 'like' one of these options you have ventured so far. And there begins this blog, with my selection called as the 'KKTA' mess. Every time I think of this one, the more mysterious it becomes.


This mess is very similar to any mess that you would have in your imagination. A medium sixed hall with an amazing number of tables fitted into its small perimeter. It is like a black hole which can accomodate any number of people in it. Given its spatial orientation, you cannot expect it to be very comfortable. But hunger dominates over preferences and this epithet is used to its maxim in this mess. The profile of the mess is far from aesthetic. The entrance contains a rudimentary blackboard etched with the standard phrase 'Meals ready'.., as if people came there with purposes other than to satiate their hunger. The decoration is limited to the solitary portrait of the owner's dad who despite his overwhelming moustache tries to showcase his tobacco-stained tooth. The poor old man would have never smiled, had he lived long enough to see his photo lying in its dilapidated condition with a flower garland round its rusted frame which was to probably lie there until his next anniversary. The only article which looked gleaming was the 'galla' or the money box which captivates the utmost attention of its owner.


Despite its rustic ambience, the mess attracts quite a number of people inclusive of me. The operation of the mess is very unique with its visitors following a steady pattern. For crowd managability, a token system is followed where one has to stand in a queue that perfectly disobeys *all* queing theories known. But with expertise or patience you can manage to get a lunch coupon for yourself after paying a price rounded off to its nearest ten. And next comes the toughest part where you have to literally "catch" a place to sit down. Within a couple of visits you gradually learn the tricks of the trade. One can actually book a table by pinning down their coupons on the table and with a little more experience under your belt, you would want to stick your coupons with a drop of water beneath it so as not let it fly away. With a little more experience and speculative risk analysis you might even abandon your watch on the coupon and sit on a bench for the sake of a fan over-head.


Once your turns arrives, you get a prefilled platter(actually i would have ventured to call it a plate if it were a tad smaller :P) with a solitary banana bonanza and some fired rice (not a typo guys !!). Within an alarmingly short time, a server comes to you and fills your plate with a big lump of rice and another fills up the small pot-holes with a couple of curries and a fry(some inexpensive veggie fry). The refuelling (filling) of the plates happen with amazing response time and you are never with an empty plate. The waiters here are at the pinnacle of optimism. They prompt you for rice once your are at your upper limit as if your hunger can reappear within minitues. The profitability of the mess is ensured with it maximising its clientele within the epoch. A variety of pickles accompany your lunch with a small cup of curd. Customer service is enhanced at this point by proving you an optional extra spoon with which you can rustle up a mini lassi out of your curd cup.

Oh and you must be expecting a couple of probing hands which pin up coupons at quite alarming places. Alertness is the mandate !! Once you are done with your lunch, you are expected to extend the courtesy to your fellowbeing by vacating the chair at the earliest and any delay in doing so might be the causal action for a uncalled bickering. And whats more..., to top the food, you even have fennel seeds to nibble :D. Coming out of the mess, you are filled with contentious emotions, with all thoughts metling into the same trough, getting lost in the oblivion.......

BottomLine Recommendation : Enter at your own risk !!

Tidings of a Kingpin

Now I have least doubts on which of my posts are preferred by my readers.. No guesses .. its Movie reviews. Well, what canI do, but to sympathize our beloved movie patrons.(I cant/am not supposed to find mistakes with myself u see :P). Well after a golti flick it is time for Tamil Epoch to rule my pages. No, never think I would watch any tamil movies on a diwali day. Neither would I watch a tamil movie in Hyd. There happened certain miraculous comedies that made me go to chennai in the recent past. And so I decided to make the best out of the trip with back to back diwali flicks. After four months the first movie I watched in tamil was vattaram, so I deserve your outright sympathy !! "Annan paechu eppovume one way. Angarundu return paechu varapdadu."

Lets get down to business now. And if you thought this review is about vattaram, then perhaps you had ignored my request for sympathy. Grrrr.. The movie theatre was packed to brim with thala fans. Then came the Ultimate Star on the screen with an apparent style that brought a couple of loud cheers from his fans. By the way FYI it was only his shadow that was visible ! Then the priciple of Advaita is shown by the screen-player(huh !?) with the look-alike father-son topology of plot. The rich father pampers his only son(or is it not ??) with all the pleasures in the earth, and the good son refrains from becoming the vitiated tyke. The story moves ahead with the two signing a pact with the former giving up 'sutta' for the latter taking up social work. All this trouble only to launch the US's(acronym for Ultimate Star) would-be lady love. Guys, you cant help it, its the director who has the first,last and the only say in this regard.

The lady love acts as a concubine to teach the hero some lessons on civility or to chase his band-wagon back from their camp.(I am still not able to identify the exact reason, so thought I could add both the possible reasons. Precision is of Ultimate importance u see !!) But the US is magnanimous to ring the wedding bells despite the obvious and what more do you need to spark a romance ?? Well, they get engaged and then one can see a "marked-change" in the US's characteristics. he behaves as a vagabound and ruffian. He even tries to kill the elder US. Well, I should say at this point that if the triple role ad funda could have been avoided, it would have been a better suspense.

The scream-play(oops... a honest typo guys !!) proceeds to shows the other sibling of the younger US, who happens to develop a terrible abomination towards the elder US, thanks to his claim that the elder US was the factor behind his mother's mentally challenged stature. Oh !! and despite the obvious resemblance both the younger US and the elder US choose to consider the possibility of him being a sibling. Aw !! what a crunch.. The elder US, who so far was stuck to a wheel chair, stands up and fights to save his life. The acting looked good here fortunately, keeping us actively involved with the screenplay.

It's flash-back time guys !! the elder US goes on to say his past life of a dancer and his marriage becoming a failure due to his lady-like features. Dont probe more into it guys !! He did have his connubial night :D. Well, the act disrupted his ex-fiancee and she goes into the maddy-realm. We have to give 9/10 to US for this portion of the act. He is pretty good at the walk/stance of a feminine grace. Another round of cheer from his fans !! Well the story takes no more twists and goes along the expected lines. After a revelation they realise that there were two siblings(Thats why i asked you to shed ur doubts abt the elder US earlier :P). The elder US sacrifices his life to save his ruffian off-srping and also manages to marry of his good off-srping to his lady love. The End.

No, its not an abrupt end to the story, as u can see.. All's well that ends well.. Oh ! but the punch dialogue at the end could have been avoided. The tactic of spelling the movie title at the end has been adopted too many a times. Nevertheless, it was an efficient way of whiling away three hours of your life.

Movie Bottom-Line : Watchable if you choose to ignore the semantics !!

All 'bout Geometric proportion !!

Writing reviews about movies has been quite refreshing for me everytime I write it. It is like watching the movie once more without having to pay for it ! Nevertheless, it is the fact that the process gives me a lot of scope to narrate incidents associated with it, that gives me the real motive to write movie reviews. Well, now that I am in the Golti land, what more can you expect than a telgu movie. Now dont ask me whatever in the world prompted me to watch a telgu movie... The pathetic situation is that no tamil movie releases in this part of the world.

There is a big conspiracy behind that scenario. Well, I am gonna reveal that to you, the most dark secret that daunts the tamil-telgu movie industry in the modern times. Most, or rather invariably all Hit movies in Tamil is dubbed into Telgu and vice versa. Now that would reduce the profitability when running multi-lingual movies in the same place. But then, there are always people, samaritans, puritans like me who watch a movie even if they dont understand a bit of it ! The venture took off like this.. Me and my rommies (Note : ALL TAMILs without an iota knolwdge in Telgu ), didnt have much to bicker about the choice of the movie. All of us were in synchrony with the 'Thala' movie.



Getting tickets for a chiru movie is the toughest thing in the world. Thanks to our patience we mangaed to gather four tickets. This city has a strange way of crowd management within theatre. They make you wait on road until the movie is about to begin !! Well, make hay when the sun shines, and so we took this opportunity to treat ourselves to a Ginger Tea. When its 'thala' movie, you never need an announcement as to when the movie acutally began. The hooting begins precisement 2 seconds before the movie kicks off. You could expect a gusty entry for our 'thala', and you wont be disappointed.. A punch (verbal and action), preceeds our thala's face occupying the entire screen. By the way, the shoe that our thala wears dominates the screen for the first few minutes... Man !! that shoe manufacturer would have definitely paid some money to get that kind of advertisement !!



The entire movie revolves around our thala and his bravado. A number of footlooses accompany this three hour ride. Thala dance numbers are a must see, especially the 'collar dance' moves were zimbly awesome !! Our thala blends so well with his co-dancers (lots of ladies of course),that we often miss him during his footloose. Then comes the key concept of the film, the magical "mukkuru" (aka Three) where our 'thala' explains the concept of tree(as in Trie structures) coupled with Geometric proportion Series. I know you couldnt make head or tails out of it.. Obviously it aint such a simple concept !! :P Well, It goes as follows.. Thala says that all that a person need to do for the society is to help three persons. Those three will help another three and so on....The entire movie revolves around this eternal concept.Our thala also proves the fact that world is round when his mukkuru help saves him from the traumatic villain's henchmen.

And our thala has a history too... He is invariably the best Major that the Indian Army had in the recent past. After a putting a brave fight in a war, he gets mortally wounded with a bullet safely lodged mm away from his heart. A small push in his body would in turn push the bullet towards his heart. Such a critical scenario for out thala !! :( . But not to worry guys, for there are milliions to pray and push the bullet out for our dear Thala :)... And that's what happens in the end. The GP factor works out for thala and people come in torrents to pray for him.
Movie BottomLine : HENCE THE PROOF.