Idle musings

"Mangana kayalli manikya kottange" is a Kannada phrase that literally translates to "like handing over a gemstone to a monkey". The Hindi equivalent is "Bandar kya jaane adrak ka swaad". Its literal translation is "What can the monkey know about the taste of ginger". Both these phrases are about experiences that appear to be beyond the capacity of one's limits, in this case the monkey's! I felt a lot like the monkey/s in the phrases when I booked tickets to the Mahindra Percussion Festival 2025. My knowledge about percussion, drums and classical music in general is minimal - at best! That did not prevent me from reserving two tickets on Sunday, 02-Mar-2025 though. I wanted to experience the percussion festival for myself. My wife and I reached Prestige Center for Performing Arts early, drank coffee at the Food Court in Forum South Mall and collected our wristbands for entry into the auditorium. What we saw was that there were many familie...

    Thanks to my brother, ten of us in our family enjoyed a four day stay at Kabini Jungle Lodges and Resorts from 24-Dec-2024 to 27-Dec-2024. The time spent together was memorable.     On 24-Dec, a Tempo Traveller picked all of us from our homes. My wife and I were the last ones to board, being closest to Mysuru road on which we had to travel. The vehicle was clean and well maintained. Our driver drove steadily, speaking only when he was spoken to. We stopped at a restaurant for breakfast. The crowd was pretty heavy. Since there were ten of us apart from our driver, finding a table for all of us together took some time. Breakfast was relished. I notice that whenever there is an early start, I feel hungrier earlier than usual. It was the same here: all of us were ready to savour breakfast. A couple of days ago, we discussed about visiting Srirangapatna or Mysuru on the way, but on 24-Dec after breakfast, all of us felt that going to Kabini directly was a be...