Idle musings

     It was a Thursday evening. My wife had left my mother at my aunt's place. "Shall we go to Ooty or Wynad this weekend?", I asked. "Are you  joking?! There is no way we can get accommodation during the weekend!", was her spontaneous response. As always, she was right. The hotels that looked good in Wynad were all booked. Udhagamandalam (the newer name of Ooty, a hill station in southern India) had more options, but here also the popular hotels were all full. I did some more browsing to check about transport since I don't drive much. I found a KSRTC bus that left Bengaluru at around 7 am and reached Udhagamandalam at 2:30 pm. "We could go to Ooty", I informed. "Now you tell me! I am supporting a summer camp in April. I thought I could plan activities during the weekend. Let me see, I will tell you tomorrow.", my wife said in a tone that brooked no argument! I silently nodded and agreed - it was the wise thing to do!     I took the Monda...

   Imagine being transported about 500 years ago in time. There are some glaring differences in daily life: the electric bulb has not been invented, there are no automobiles. Social conventions are different. The idea of a global village cannot even be conceived. Travelling 1000 km is considered as a difficult journey, which probably took a week to complete. However, trade flourishes much like today, despite the difficulties. The markets contain produces from lands far away. I can think of a seller in the market saying: "These are ordinary pots, but if you want something special take a look at this. It is a pot from China, with blue artwork. Only for you, I will offer it for ...." Imagine being in Vijaynagar, Hampi around this time. What would it have been like?   Luckily, we don't have to imagine. The Portuguese traveller Domingo Paes visited Hampi in 1520. Here is what he had to say about its market: "“The quantity of merchandise which is sold in these bazaars is v...

    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...

One has heard of father-in-law, sister-in-law and other “in-laws”. I coin a new term today: “friend-in-law”! My wife has a friend from her working days who she has known for more than twenty years. The friend, her husband, their daughter, my wife and I visited Puducherry recently. I had half a mind not to write a blog post, since we had visited Puducherry earlier. My blog post https://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-recovery-smart-phone-and-trip-to_1.html shows my impressions about Puducherry in 2012. What is the point of repeating myself? Then it struck me that I have written about Dubai thrice, the first time at https://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.com/2003/06/dubai-2003.html , then https://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.com/2008/01/dubai-and-uae.html and also at https://fewidlethoughts.blogspot.com/2013/12/my-nieces-dance-recital-and-dubai-again.html . My wife’s cousin spoke with me a couple of days ago. During the conversation, I spoke about the Rajgiri fort that we visited on t...