My trip to India in March turned out to be
the best trip ever!
Let's start from the very beginning.
The above two lines, my friends, was written sometime last month. It is May 18, 2016 today, almost 7 weeks since I came back from my fantastic India trip, and this post has pretty much no content whatsoever. I have been taking a memoir writing class, and really, what it is doing to me is that I am beginning to realize that this whole writing about one's life and events from one's life is, in one word,
tedious! Other words I'd use would be boring, boring, boring. There, I said it! I am good with a page or maximum two, but that's about it. I suck at similes and metaphors. Here I am trying to live mindfully, living in the moment- you know, mindful living is currently trendy. And while I'm trying to do that, I am also expected to go dig into my past and write pages and pages on my doll and how my doll with the open-shut eyes was my best friend back in the day (Gosh, I sure was one lonely child!). I am officially done with this whole memoir writing business. And therefore, I have decided to ditch the writing part for this post, because there's too much to write, and I do not want to think. Instead, I'll show you pictures from my trip, with captions, so you understand what I'm trying to say. Incidentally, telling stories through pictures is also quite the trend these days!
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| Guava. YUM! |
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| What? Our neighborhood Papa John's is there too? Hmm |
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| Ah, a good South Indian style meal on plantain leaf. Waiting for more food to be served.... |
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| Miss those banyan trees. On way from Bangalore to Wellington. Fun road trip with mom and dad |
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| I see hills, I see tea plantations |
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| Heading towards Coonoor to get to Wellington |
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| True Blue |
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| Yay! After 29 years!!!! |
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| The little shop we got Maggi noodles and Marie biscuits from!! Still there!! |
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| Beautiful Bougainvillea |
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| Entry to Wellington Gymkhana Club- that's where Dad had booked our stay |
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| Ooh, nice tiled entry to the cottage |
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| Begonia- that's where we stayed |
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| Reminds me of the good old military living quarters.... our living room used to pretty much look like this |
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| View from the room (mom and dad sitting there....) |
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| Champaka Tree |
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| The Champaka Flower- oh, that fragrance!! |
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| Morning Tea |
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| Glyricidia sepium- another fragrant flowering tree, blooming all over the place |
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| My old school- KV Wellington, now Army Public School |
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| The staircase that led to our classroom- still dusty as ever! |
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| The same staircase |
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| Club Dress Rules- for Ladies- "respectable" dress please! |
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| Eucalyptus trees- the air smelled like eucalyptus |
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| Tea plantations |
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| Colorful houses |
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| Ooty! A random outdoor furniture store |
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| While going down, back towards Bengaluru- 36 hairpin bends! That was quite a drive, Dad!! |
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| Construction worker women |
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| Men digging |
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| Tea Stall |
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| Steps |
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| More tea |
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| Pilgrimage? Procession |
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| Viewpoint |
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| Via Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. No tigers though! |
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| Bar, Jeep, Blue Mosque |
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| Welcome to Karnataka State |
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| Silk City, Ramanagara- "Sholay" was filmed here |
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| Tender Coconuts |
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| The Ramanagara Hills- the very hills that "Sholay" was shot in and Gabbar Singh went, "Arrey O Samba, kitne aadmi the" |
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| Back home after wonderful road trip with mom and dad |
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| Vidyarthi Bhavan, estd 1943 |
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| Delicious Vada Sambar |
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| Expert at carrying dosa plates- look at that!! |
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| Benne Masala Dosa- my favorite! |
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| Yum-yum |
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| Greasy!! Mm! |
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| Delicious Sabudana Khichdi made by mom, with love |
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| Century Club Rules- Not sure why anyone would walk into a club in their underwear! Lol! Hot pants? |
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| Holy Basil- "Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki" |
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| My savior in that heat! |
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| The 60 year old Stone used for washing clothes, used even today! |
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| New Delhi!! After 29 years!!!! |
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| Hard Working Cycle Rickshaw Waalas- standing in the scorching heat, waiting for passengers |
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| Our old house (the blue door) back in 1989-90 |
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| My old school- KV Jalahalli 1989-1992 |
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| Gangamma Devi Temple in Jalahalli |
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| Temporary accommodation- the last place I stayed before heading off to college in 1992! |
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| Dilapidated |
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| Our house!! 1990-92 |
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| Yep, that was our house! :) |
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| Couldn't believe my eyes- had friends who lived in this house!! It's all gone now! |
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| Banyan Tree and the ginormous prop roots |
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| Temple architecture |
I visited Wellington after 29 years and I visited New Delhi after 29 years too! How does that work? Well, we left Delhi in 1987 and moved to Wellington. That makes sense, right? I celebrated my birthday with my mom and dad in Wellington amidst the beautiful Nilgiri Hills- it was nice and quiet and lovely.
That's the gist of my India trip. Hope you liked the pictures. If you notice, this time there wasn't much emphasis on the food part of it. I mean, a self-proclaimed foodie saying that the food didn't excite her this time- that's like a whoa! really? I did of course enjoy the
benne masala dosas, idlis and vadas, and the delicious food cooked by mom. Sadly, my stomach didn't hold up too well this time.
Hashtag girl-welcome-to-the-40s
If I have to describe this trip in one word, I'd say
nostalgic. And no, I'm not going to wrack my brain to come up with similes and metaphors to write pages and pages of the how and why this trip was nostalgic. And no, I'm not going to tell you how I found my old doll in the attic and went down memory lane, thank you very much!
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