Robin McLaurin Williams

The man who got me hooked to English movies.

The man who showed what a Teacher was supposed to say.

The man who brought a smile even on the saddest of ones.

The man who got a depressed gorilla to hug him.

The man who made people laugh till their stomach hurt, just to see them happy.

The man who was so spontaneous that one camera was never enough.

The man who brought alive the Genie which was otherwise meant to be a boring one.

The man who helped me celebrate my madness.

The man who taught the world that it is awesome to be crazy.

The man who dashed my tiniest of hope that a person of genius with happiness do exist.

The man who brought my life to a stand still by his death.

The man I knew little of, but felt that pinch of guilt over his sudden passing.

The man who was a stranger, yet would forever make me feel if there was anything at all I could have done to stop him from taking that decision.

Dear Robin, I will always love you. I am hoping you are in a better place now and have found your happiness. When I meet you up there i want to see you with that awesome smile on you. Am sure God is hurting his belly laughing. Love you dude..you shall always be a part of me… O Captain…My Captain!

 

Changes I would like to see in Quora

I love Quora…Rather loved Quora… now I visit it only when I have lot of free time to kill. It was once my favourite site to fill my hungry brain. Quora was a knowledge trove, now it has also become an entertainment site, the ones with the most innovative answers and good writing is a winner.

Though it is an amazing crowd-puller site, I suspect its crowd retention capability.

It is so annoying to see things you are not interested in, the ones you would consider trash landup in your wall. The worst part would be, in order just not to miss a few gem Q&As I will have to go through few thrash. No offence, but requirement of people are different, and the requirement itself differs from time to time for the same person and Quora needs to step up to fix their usability…else see a lot of walkouts.

Things they can work on.

Categorization of topics.

Let us say I am interested in the topic of health. It is a huge topic and there are lot of things that it would cover. So eventually what happens is that your wall gets flooded with topics you wouldn’t be interested at all. This can be especially annoying for the members who have been around for long. Say I liked a topic, the topic tends to get populated with sub-topics and as they do the wall gets flooded. This causes me to waste a lot of time in just ignoring topics I am least interested in. Or to continue using I will have to keep unfollowing topics as every day pass by. Would users have the patience to do this? or rather walk out of Quora. What can be done is, when one follows a parent topic, the list of subtopics can be displayed to choose from. And a system to notify of the new sub-topics added to the followed topic, to know what we can expect and an option to unfollow if need be.

Example, I wouldn’t want to follow questions like the one below because I like to read about India.

 

Monitoring of questions on Topics. 

The volunteers are already doing a great job. But a understandable and descriptive one would be more useful. Does a matter of opinion really fall under ‘Fashion and Style’?

 

 

Subjective and Objective answers. 

This is an another huge hindrance. Over the period of time, I see subjective answers becoming more popular than objective ones. I don’t mean objectivity is required in every aspect of topic and the answers provided. But a mere compartmentalization will help. Ofcourse, there is a very thin line between subjectivity and objectivity, but can you say a proven theorem is subjective? Or a question ‘what happen to your hair without shampoo’ as objective?.

Suggestions.

A better algorithm for suggestions. The suggestions are really bad.

I have no idea why the above topic was suggested to me. Is it based on people I follow? Or topics I went through? I am still perplexed.

This post is not meant to be a sham, I love Quora and just want it to be better. A place I can come back to read what I am interested in and not land up spending time in unfollowing topics or filtering through the wall.

Onida Devil

Remember the times when we did not have DTH, not even cable!. Those were times when we dint have choices but what was broadcasted was the best and a no-nonsense, it was the times of our good old Doordarshan. News was news. I still remember watching the shocking death of Mother Teresa and my mom quoting ‘Just a week ago, it was Princess Diana’. Then there were quiz times with our sports quiz master Sumanth C Raman, we would struggle to match his speed, and come Sunday, it was Shakthiman time. During summers in Grandmom place was when we were introduced to the evenings of Oliyam Oliyam, our neighbor aunties and teen akkas used to come over to watch in our grandparents place, we would cringe and run off to play, ‘That is time, let’s share’ Grandma would say.

I remember, one weekend sitting with my family, to watch the usual Saturday 9 PM Hindi movies. We were huddled in front of our TV, all lights off, with pillows mountained high, we sloped on it to rest. That was when I first saw the Devil! My eyes were fixated on it, it lurked around the buildings of a community, and a guy threw his TV out from the balcony. I never understood the ad, but I remember running into watch the ad everytime it played, believing that is how a devil truly looked.

The avatar was donned by 3 different actors over the years.

I remember as I grew up, knowing their tagline, it said Owners pride…we had a Onida…so we assumed we were to be proud. Majorly, I was relieved because our TV wouldn’t be thrown out from the balcony like they featured it in an ad. By the way, i tried my best but I am unable to find the video of the ad, please share with me if you do! Would be grateful.

In 2009, the company decided to drop its devil and soon their tagline too, which was however retrieved partially. Though the Devil had a slow death after a 20 year hiatus, it would remain in the memory of the 80’s and the 90’s kids.

pc:indiatimes.com

My second favorite ad of the devil is the one promoting their speakers. I remember asking my dad if our Onida TV had the KYG Horn, and him nodding that we did, and me…walking away with a smirk smile. This indeed shows how crucial it is to target the kids while making the ads, and how obviously it affects and influences them and thus why we do need censorship.

Another great ad just to promote a lucky draw…who could have done it this well. The actor was also my most favorite of all three other devils.

Going ‘No Theme’

Soon It will be one year of my entry back into blogging. The year 2016 has been tough and February and march were months where I was looking to take up something new, that was when I saw my blogger friends take up the AtoZ Challenge. I decided to take it on.

I had to decide on a theme. But, when you are neither a writer nor a fan of writing long, this challenge can become boring and exhausting. Hence I decided to go ‘No theme’.

It’s not that ‘no theme’ made it easy peasy, it was tough thinking of a topic to write..a topic I can add to and not just write what all voice out. And having your career, personal life, a minor accident and most of all having the conviction to write 26 articles…was..is a bit heavy on the neck.

I still remember deciding to take the challenge only on the 1st of April. I thought I should start writing about Angkor Complex in Cambodia as a starter to my long pending post on the south east asia trip. Little did i know, that it would take me two sleepless nights, losing write up twice and breaking my head to remember, which was what from the thousands of pictures and atlast posting my first travelogue.

Then came B, which i wrote in five minutes, a beautiful conversation with my niece (link).

Keeping myself on the lighter side were C on Christopher Nolan, D on Demeter, E on Euphoria. For F I tried a little humour, a post on a childhood memory, my first of kind writing.. I am quite happy with the outcome.

Followed were G for Game of Thrones, H on Harley Davidsons’, I on Internet, J on Javelin. Back to travel blogs were my posts for K on Khao San Road, M for Malaysia, P for plan on the south Asia trip. My first and closest I came to writing on Love (obviously for L).

I remember while thinking for every alphabet, I would go like this…O for Onida..I could write on the devil with horns? Orangutan..and Jane Goodall? Omr…my engineering college life? Odd Even rule…Kejriwal? Office? Origin..anthropology?. I think of trying to challenge myself with a heavy topic, but mostly I go easy. But, I am definitely not complaining, there is always time to write more.

All the very best to all who have taken up the challenge, may you complete it with vigour and flying colours.

Oh! Special thanks to my friend Kavipriya, for suggesting to write on N for…….’NO THEME’.

The Plan: Backpacking through 4 Countries in 11 Days!

In Short 4C11D Trip Part 1

If you had read my author section, you must have noticed I love to travel. My love for travel has been there for a long time. So, as soon as I was independent I decided to save and set off to explore places.

This was one such travel I did last March and sorry about the late post.

The Plan

I was in the company of three other friends. We squared in on the locations based on cost, location of two others (they were already visiting Singapore) and the best route to exit/enter India efficiently and cost effectively.

So, Southeast Asia was the best and the cheapest for travel. We slowly started narrowing down on the countries, letting go of Burma, Indonesia, Singapore, and Laos as we would land up wasting a lot of time in travel alone.

The final Four: Malaysia-Vietnam-Cambodia-Thailand.

We decided to enter through Malaysia, as it was the cheapest entry and exit via Bangkok, the next cheapest option. I suggest anyone to do vice-versa; Although, what better than ending the trip partying in Bankgok! ;). The feasible other countries to cover was south Vietnam(not North.because of the time constraint), Cambodia and Thailand.

Malaysia: Kaula Lumpur.
Vietnam: Ho chi Minh(Old name Saigon-Capital City) and Mekong Delta.
Cambodia: Phnom Penh-the Capital City and Siem Reap-the place of Angkor temple complex(Angkor Archaeological Park).
Thailand: Bangkok.

Places missed due to lack of time: Genting Highlands in Malaysia and Pattaya.

On my trip to Malaysia, click here.
On my trip to Angkor, click here.
On my night at the party Street- the Khao San Road, click here.

Soon to follow: On my destinations Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

Love

‘One’ said, “Love is true when you give your all, without expecting.”

‘Another’ said, “Love is about give and take.”

‘One’ is the Angel and ‘another’ is the devil. Or are they?

If I referred ‘One’ as an Angel, then ain’t I saying that love is unselfish, and that it is the truest without expectations, and eventually it is right that way? And if I referred ‘Another’ as a Devil, then ain’t I saying that relationships aren’t a two way street?

So let’s say I differ, and call ‘One’ as the devil and ‘Another’ as the Angel.

So by referring ‘Another’ as the ‘Angel’, then ain’t I suggesting that it is okay to keep giving even though you don’t receive any? Or by referring ‘One’ as the ‘Devil’, then ain’t I suggesting to give love only when you know you get it in return?

There are just too many definitions and dilapidated conditions on what love is and how it should be lead. But what really is love? How do you lead one? Again too many do’s and don’ts, relationship advices which are written in hordes.

Should you have expectations or not? Well, let us consider that we do follow the advice of our closed ones, and not have any expectations and enter into the relationship. Then how do the expressive ones and the non-expressive ones close-in? Then where do the ones that ‘get attached and detached easily’ meet the ones that ‘take long to get attached but once they do, can’t detach themselves off’? And What about the ones who have different definitions of best friends? where do they find a common point? Or is it possible to go on without a common point with the most important people of our life? It might, yes, if you are prepared from the beginning, but what about the relationships you already are in? How do you go on with the push and pull in expectations? Is it possible to have the same relationship with a person who considers you in a different level of importance than you do them?

Aren’t these questions for you to find out, rather than the rule books.

Isn’t Love just love, it doesn’t come with a rule book, does it? So why do we go on to create a wall of do’s and don’ts? What worked for one, how can it work for another? People are not meant to feel the same way. And that is how humans are.

Be it with anyone…blood-related or by choice. Isn’t love just a set of emotions you develop for someone.

If we still claim that these do’s and don’ts help us not to get hurt..what does that make us? We are among generations were we are so afraid to get hurt and just can’t handle disappointments. Maybe it is time, we did. 

Must do’s and don’ts in Khao San Road, Bangkok, Thailand

When you are just back from a happening place in Thailand, and you come back to see Wikipedia naming it the location of the month… That’s icing on the cake!
Yup that’s right I have been to one of the most happening places in Asia..the Khao San Road.

For newbies, Khao San road is a one kilometre stretch street where you shop, party, eat and drop. The party goes on all night. Whether you are an introvert traveller who likes to just watch people or a party animal, it has something to offer everyone and is a must go. This is a street in central Bangkok where drinking and dancing happens on the street, literally. Plus, a lot more that can’t be said.

What you must do there!

• Randomly join a group and start dancing. The most inviting crowd you can see and what best .. The pubs compete to play the loudest music.

• Try your choice of poison, esp. the local beer from the alcohol carts. I loved how amusing the sign boards were. Guys calling out holding huge placards to buy from their carts and pubs.

I remember, one sign board that put me in splits, it read ‘No bad food, no weak alcohol, no bad service here!’.

• Buy the most nonsensical t-shirts you have see. The tees’ and boxers are the funniest.

• Street food. From eating scorpions to posing to eat a scorpion, you can!

A wide choice of grilled food that can walk, swim and fly, oops..that did.

• Get a Tattoo/henna of your travelled countries, or simply buy flags of countries for your backpack.

• Braid your hair. True hippie style 🙂

* Funky accessories. If you are a fan of bands, rings and neckchains this is your place for everything colourful!

• Laughing Gas from balloons!

I did try this one.. It din’t have any effect on me. But my friend did seem to have, I was told you need to know to smoke to inhale it properly. However I do have my doubts.

• What better after a lot of dancing… drop and get a foot massage.

However there are things you can avoid and not do in khao San Road.

1. Do not buy anything that cost more than 100 Bhat. Being a active tourist area, the hawkers find every opportunity to rip you off.

2. Though many say Khao San as an affordable place, I would beg to differ. The adjacent Ramabuttri street has the most affordable backpacker hostels and they are just amazing with a lot of amenities. Not only that, if you want a peaceful sleep after a long day of hustle, Khao San is not your place. The party goes on the entire night and the noise is pretty much audible in the hotels.

3. Not the place for a quite dinner. Head to the restaurants of the nearby streets, try the yummiest of food and snacks, from amazing varieties.

4. The most important thing, stay safe and get set for more than just cultural shock if you are not used to freaky party scenes.

5. Men, if you are asked on a date by a stranger..dont be fooled, just make sure she is not a prostitute. A flourishing business in Cambodia and Bangkok. I must say…I was shocked how prevalent it was.

To read on the ‘4 country in 11 days’ trip plan, click here.
On my trip to Malaysia, click here.
On my trip to Angkor, click here.

Soon to follow: On my destinations Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.

Javelin Throw

I was a Javelin Thrower in my school days. My tall figure made my sports teachers think I would be good in it. True to the fact, i was moderately good if not great.

A Javelin is a spear like device that you throw high in the air in a projectile motion, the sharp end pokes the ground, and that distance is measured. The thrower with the maximum distance is deemed as the winner.

A Javelin is essentially thrown while the player running from a distance ejects it into the air. I remember in the initial days when I threw it running it would go in every direction including towards the sky- vertically upward and even behind my back but not forward at all. Ofcourse, my coach went on to teach me to try in different styles, it did work, I did learn and I was better at it. I enjoyed it too. I did win third place in state level.

But what I never understood was the faces the professional players made. Yes ofcourse it would require you to exert all your energy to throw the javelin, but the scary face?

Thaakudaaaaaaaa Perumaaluu

Ayyo kochikikaatangale.

Aaaup....Ayyo Amma... Gappu.

Anyways, Now that I think of it after almost 10 years, I wish I could try it sometime, would be fun.

I do wish to upgrade to spear fishing. I remember while watching these movies where people being marooned, went spear fishing. As a javelin player I used to practice spear fishing on mud, ofcourse when my coach was away.

Let me maybe save that for being marooned.

*Images from heralds, Pinterest and vivelljavelin, respectively.

Funny bones of Internet

Hey Internet,

You are becoming funnier. Gone are the days where you were the strict Maths Teacher and our knowledge treasure trove! No offence, you still are. But you no more can be trusted blindly. I agree it is not your fault, more the demand, more the supply, more the dirt. You have to be verified before accepting, your stakeholders each have their own version, and claim it right. Enter Wikipedia, which demanded proof, but what use? Even it has gone to be a dusty history reference note-not really true but can be used for basic knowledge. The advent of social media, helped millions connect, share and celebrate, but again these urban legends and hoaxes can petrify people.

But few funny blunders are just worth a laugh. Here are few funny ones, poor you.

• When Nolan made the Ghajini movie.
  

 

• When you want to go to Guindy from India!

 

• When the loss due to a rain, cost a state 100 Rupees!!
  

 

• When Rajinikanth spammed his followers on Twitter.
  
  

 

• When Frankie Valli became Frank Sinatra.
  

 

• When Facebook thought there was only one Punjab?

 

• When David Cameroon became the CEO of Google!
  
  

 

• When one wants to do this in a live public conference! Indernet nose eberything bass.
  

But dear Internet, you shall be remembered for you had to go through these.

 

 

My top three Harley Davidsons

Harley Davidson needs no introduction. A legendary motorcycle manufacturer, founded by friends duo in an aim to make a motorable bicycle, going on to survive in the hands of various ownerships and economy scuffles, they continue to ride strong!

Here are my favourite three, the ones I just can’t stop gawking at!

1. CVO Softail Convertible

My favourite cruiser! The ultra awesome customisable bike from in-house CVO, one of the best fuel-injection mechanism…and a stunner!!! An awesome cruiser and touring bike; best of all it’s light weight!

2. VRSCDX Night Rod Special

The non-vintage but the best modern looking bike, my Batman vehicle is what I call it! With an Engine developed with Porsche! One ride, just one is all I ask.

3. 1909 Model

Firsts are always the best. The game changing v-twin, 49.5 cubic inches displacement and seven horsepower, the reason the flagship hit the gold! An icon that forever holds this generation babies(read bikes) to thank for.

What more can a girl ask for ;).

What is your top three??

G for Game of Thrones

My list of Seven Characters I hate the least. Yes, you heard me right, if you are a Game of thrones fan, you would know it isn’t this perfect drama where we like the good guys and hate the bad guys. Good guys are boring to be liked eg. Father Ned Stark and bad guys can be really hated, no arguments there. And there are these characters just being humans, nothing great nothing less about them, we don’t add them in our favourite list but also not in our hated list but we look forward to them.

1. Daenerys Targaryen, queen of the Andals, a favourite character to many but one in my least hated-but likable list, a khaleesi of odds, who can be cruel and at the same time forgiving.
   
   

   Pc:popsugar.com

2. Oberyn Martell, hate his hesitation to take action but commend his foolish bravery to stand up against the mountain.
   

   

   Oh dear Red Viper.. pc:winteriscoming.net

3. Jaime Lanister, the bewitched sister lover, would-have-been Bran Stark killer; But his chemistry with Brienne (of Tarth) and his promise to Catelyn Stark made us forgive him. Can’t wait to know what he has for us in store in season 6, after a low key in the previous season!
   

   

   Pc:thewench-and-thekingslayer.tumblr.com
   

4. Jon Snow, the all-time-stays-mum-annoying guy but just when i thought he was beginning to bowl me over in the fight against the white walkers, he was dead!
   By the way…I do think he is dead…so dead!
   

   

   pc:Independent.co.uk

5. The last spot is tied between Sandor Clegane and Davos Seaworth.
   

   

   What was Clegane trying to do with Arya? I do wish he stayed long.. Evil G.R.R!! Pc:fanpop.com

   
   
   

   Hate his loyalty to Stannis. But love his devotion and love for shireen. Pc:reddit.com

6. Same as above. WordPress wouldn’t allow me to have a ‘5&6’, it resets my 7 as 1.😬

7. Arya Stark. I know this might come as a shocker to many but I have always had mixed liking and annoying dislike for her.
   

   

   Pc:gameofthrones.wikia.com

Who would be on your list??

Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques

If you had learnt french in school, I am sure the Headline must have instantly excited you! For others, “Frère Jacques” is a French rhyme. The rhyme is said to be one of the most popular rhymes in the world but I see very few people in India knowing it. So here I am sharing it with my friends in butler English.

I did my schooling in a convent school, a strict school, disciplined students we were. Our school which had its roots from France, is visited every year by vella-kara Akkas’ and Annas’, teachers-in-training, or so I thought, but now that I am an adult, I think there was a possibility they were travelling hippies. Let me remind myself, to verify on that later.

It was our first year of such class, it was staring for the first time, and not only were we fascinated by their pppppink colour skin, we looked forward to their classes. They taught us cool French stuff. I always liked the ones who taught songs. And they usually had guitar, and were lively, danced and walked around the class, even upto to my last bench. Being a tall girl I was mostly in last bench and we girls were always ignored, and they were a hit among us too. One vella-kaara akka, let’s name her Justin, I don’t remember her name, but remember her manja colour sokka, it was too bright for my taste.

So Justin akka taught us this song. Since it was oral, I never understood the lyrics, so mostly we filled the sounds of the words that would most match, when we sang along.

This is the original song.

Frère Jacques, frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!
Ding, dang, dong. Ding, dang, dong.

We sang this again and again and again…and it was fun!

I remember the times peter-utufying that even I know French and singing this song. This song has come to my rescue to act out my innocence as a child.

I never knew the meaning until years later when I googled it out. But we always sang this song for anthaksharis and won, where would you get a song starting with Fa, we had strict rules back then not even Pa as replacement syllable was allowed. I also used to sing this song to my baby cousins when I baby-sit, mostly they cried. However later I came to know it is also used as a wonderful lullaby. Also, it is a nursery rhyme, why would they want to teach a nursery rhyme to fifth standards?, I still don’t know.

Here’s a good rendition of the song.

And what it means?? The song is sung to a church pastor who might have fallen asleep, and telling him to wake up, because the church bells are ringing.

This is supposedly the Tamil translation of the song.

Chinna Thambi, Chinna Thambi,
Nithiraiyo? Nithiraiyo?
Mani adikithu! Mani adikithu!
Ding ding dong, ding ding dong.

Konutaangayya! Konutaainga! Would you be interested to send me the audio of the Tamil version?

Euphoria!!

Have you ever been euphoric? Doesn’t it feel just amazing? Your Dopamine is on an all time high.. You feel a warmth in your heart(technically not), you are elated and that makes you feel hyper!

Many have their own sense of euphoria set on various levels. And, What gets me Euphoric?

* Music is my drug, my anti- depressant.
Shutting out the world and listening to my favourite music. This this..this Song at 2:50.. The voice, lyrics, music…Just meltsss my heart! ❤

Sun re sun beliya
Dil ne dhokha diya
Aankhein mili tumse naazani
Mere hosh-o-hawaas kho gaye
Dil ne ro roka
Yeh aankhein hain dil ki zubaan
Khwaab roz roz dekhe naye
Ho.. dil ka bhanwar bole sun sathiya
Chhup ne dupatte mein tu oh chhaliya
Prem pujari ke.. dil ka bayaan
Hota raha, rota raha priye
Toh phir..

And till date, i still don’t know the meaning of the lyrics!

* Reading Calvin and Hobbes!
And Bill just has something to say about euphoria too!

Oh how much I love Bill!

* Lying on the floor staring above.. Even better the sky, with a friend. Talking all the memories of the past..bliss!

* When I Float in water!
Whenever I decide to go for a swim, i land up floating most of the time than actually swim! I just love the sound of the small ripples of water..feels like..um..the sound of vacuum, if something at all like that existed.

You might wonder, if these simple things got me jubilant.. Then what about the actual worldly ones? I don’t…happy, yes…But I just don’t feel euphoric.. I never knew why. I think I would feel elated if I achieved or accomplished something, but I never am. Maybe mine lies in the temporary state of idleness.

Oh, What are your reasons? Success over your goal? Personal life- sex, baby, trips, music, dance, running?? I know a friend who gets depressed if he doesn’t run even a single day! He says, he is addicted and that it’s his drug.. gives him a high! Haha

Demeter: The powerful Greek Goddess

Pronounce as Duhmeeter.

Demeter is the Greek Goddess of Agriculture.

Pc:emaze.com

Her role in my humble opinion is often underestimated in the mythology. This women had the power to control vegetation, when she was happy there was a rich harvest, when she went sad the earth dried up. You might ofcourse argue with me…Isn’t that cruel? To put people in distress over your personal issue? But which God kept his/her personal life to himself.

The biggest distress was yet to fall on earth, it was when her daughter Persephone was kidnapped by the King of the underworld, Hades. Demeter searched for her daughter in all corners of the worlds and the upper world of the Gods too. Demeter heartbroken brought drought to the earth, there was no food to eat, people starved. Persephone was her daughter with Zeus. Soon to her disdain she found that her daughter was a captive in the underworld. The Gods who saw their people suffer, begged Zeus for his intervention. Zeus commanded Hades to return Demeter’s daughter to the upper world. And he did. The joy of Demeter flourished the fields, it was green all over. But the drama was not over yet! Hades revealed that Persephone while in underworld ate seeds of the pomegranate. And the laws of the underworld dominates that one who has consumed food in the underworld belonged there. Would Demeter agree? Ofcourse not! It was soon decided that Persephone would come 4-6 months back to the underworld in a year, equivalent to 4-6 seeds she ate of the pomegranate. Thus it was believed the mother would also return to the underworld with the daughter, wherein the earth experienced a period of dry spell.

Upon the return of her daughter she blessed the earth with a rich harvest, thus usually believed to be springtime in the Mediterranean.

She was not all that bad. To what I have observed I think she is one of the most thankful people and gave back in abundance to people who helped her.
This is supported by an incident. Once while she travelled the length and breadth of the world in search of her daughter, she stopped by a King’s palace in disguise as a old maid for shelter. The king appointed her as the caretaker of his sons. In order to thank him, she wanted to bless his son with immortality, thus beginning a ritual of placing his son in fire, the King walks in shocked to stop the process. So she went on to teach her aid Triptolemus the secret of cultivation, as a thanking for his help to retrieve her daughter. He went on to teach many more, hence the belief that mortals learnt to grow crops.

Demeter is also known as Ceres, from which the word cereal is derived from. She is often pictured as a women with a bundle of wheat plant, torch, even corn.

She is also believed to be the Goddess of fertility and referred as law-keeper of life and death.

Demeter has two cult(aka festival) credited to her(leave alone one cult for a God usually set to have suffered), considered as few of the greatest mysteries, speculation still holds ground. They are, the women only cult Thesmophoria and all gender Eleusinian Mysteries. On that later.

C for Christopher Nolan

Ever been in a state where you go into a loop of never ending cerebrations?? You think of something, you want all and every whys’, hows’ of yours answered and then you go into a sea of interconnected thoughts, processing and connecting the dots and (bam) you either get a revelation, a proverb, a crazy redundant meaningless irk coming into you, or worse, you just fall flat on your face, not to worry ofcourse on the pillow, and shut your ears as if that would stop you from thinking! Well I I am one of those too. And one of those who can’t just stop watching Nolan movies, for they love the never ending loops.

And here are my top five favourite picks from one of my favourite director/writer and an amazing thinker.

• Doodle bug– A short film that can impact as awesome as a three hour movie. A descriptive eerie of the horror-imagination of yours.

• Memento– The original Gajini, but can spin your head. Perseverance of a revenge!

• The Prestige – While many like the plot and all, my favourite part is when Tesla and Edison story is spun in the movie.

• Inception – Time travel, dreams, reality-compounded.

• Interstellar – My friends might be surprised to see this movie in my list, for I do not think this is Nolan’s best take. Interstellar might go down the list maybe after I watch Insomnia, the only movie of his I haven’t watch, surprisingly inspite of it being a Robin Williams starrer..Ummph..strange me. Anyway the best for its scene of the fourth dimension concept! Absolutely brilliant!

Some of you might be surprised to see the Batman-Dark Knight Series missing, well, Dark Knight is my favourite but would hesitate to have it on top5, until maybe I am into my Evil mood * joker grin *.

Tell me what is your favourite movie of Nolan??

B for Ball

While I was explaining my cousin about this AtoZ challenge, my niece jumps in and says ‘How difficult can that be? A for Apple, B for Ball, C for Cat….’. I cut her in the middle and say ‘I have to write hundred words minimum’.
Niece: Hundred aaaahhh!
Me: Aama(yes). Will you help me?
Niece: Seri. (means Okay)
Me: Tell me, I will write down.
Niece: Okayyieeee.
I play with my ball.
I have soooo manyyy kinds of balls.
We use ball for playing football and for basketball.
My friends play with ball.
With ball, we can play so many games.
My favourite is throw and catch.
Balls are available in many shops.
Me: Do you remember when you played with a ball first?
Niece: I remember seeing a ball for the first tayam in in in…Umm…’Daddy..daddy..when did I play ball for the first time?’
Me: Just tell me the time you remember.
Niece: I was a baby. I can’t remember.
Meanwhile, Cousin replies: When you were 1 year old ma…
Niece: When you..che..I was 1 year old, pinni.
Me: okay. I am noting.

It was time for them to leave to their home. So she tells me she will message me the remaining.

While leaving..
Niece: So do you want for C as well.
Me: No, just B will do.
Niece: Okay. Let me know in case you want in the future. Do give me time alright.
Me: Okay Madam.

After few hours, i call her mom to ask if Luckshana* has her other lines ready. She comes to the phone.
Niece: Pinni** you see there is B for bus. I go in bus so many times. Bread is there pinni!. Bread is an eating thing. Children love bread. When you are not well you can eat bread. It is square in shape. We can make a lot of dishes like sandwicchhh. * pause * Aan!.. See to that no fungus is there before eating.
Me: Can we also finish for Ball?
Niece: Oookay. * thinks and starts narrating *
There are different sizes of ball.
Ball is round in shape (repeats this line thrice, thinking for the next line).
Continues…
Air is inside the ball. When the ball bursts, the air will come out.

• long pause *

Me: Then?
Niece: How many words have you written?
Me: Don’t know I will have to count.
Niece: Count it.
Me: Wait..* evil me..typing the whole conversation *
Niece: * Murmuring to her mom behind * ‘How long does it take to count? Sure, there must be a lot, that is why she is taking a lot of time’.
Me: * controls laughter * I am unable to count, I will count later and tell. Do you have anymore for the ball?
Niece: Nah.. I can’t remember anything more.. I can if I try really hard though. But I do have for C, however not for E..it seems tough.

And that! my friends is one of the many conversations I love. Aren’t kids the best! ❤

*Luckshana is her name. Spelled as per numerology. Poor dad is in for a toss for choosing the spelling. Can’t wait for her teenage tantrum.

**Pinni is aunt in Telugu.

The monuments of the Angkor

My first day entry for the AtoZ Challenge. So here it is A for Angkor Temple Complex.

Last year March, I went on a south east Asia Trip and Cambodia was one of the countries. My travelogues are still lying in my draft, yet to be completed or published. So to get myself to blog more frequently I decide to take this challenge. I am hoping to finish it successfully.

To read on the ‘4 country in 11 days’ trip plan, click here.

Ok. Let me start by breaking a myth and tell few interesting trivias along the way.

Number one Myth: Unlike the wide belief, Angkor Wat is not the entire complex but just the center temple, and the first in the capital city of the Khmer Empire. The entire campus of the monuments including Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm,etc is called the Angkor Complex. Unlike our Kings who built in different towns even though they belonged to the same dynasty, the Kings of the Khmer built their state temples and monuments in and around the Angkor to mark their rule; thus Angkor Complex becoming the biggest Hindu Temple monument.

The journey: Couple of friends and I started from the city to Angkor complex at 5 30am, for the Angkor Sunrise. We took a one day Pass which costs 20$, while you do have an option to take for three days or a week, 40$ and 60$ respectively. Angkor is open from morning 5 to evening 6. So, you can enjoy the sunset and get back to the city.

Trivia: Angkor means the ‘Capital City’, the Khmer Kingdom was established with Angkor as its Capital, and Wat means ‘Temple’, So the first ‘Capital Temple’ was built by Suryavarman as a supposedly dedication to himself as ‘God-King’, which I personally think could be a false assumptions.

On the way to Angkor, lake view. The water system of the ancient city of Angkor still remains a puzzle to many. The reasons range from humongous reservoirs and lakes which had the capacity to support a population of 1 million, which brings to the question did that many live already there the during the 12-19 century??; The water system did not have an outlet, bringing to question was it a form of protection or irrigation? Almost all of the monuments have a water body around them, doesnt that remind our forts back home, where the water body were filled with crocodiles to prevent invasion and attack, so the logic I presume was for protection.

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The best way to commute is to hire a tuk-tuk for the entire day at 30-35$, which can easily fit in 4 people. And most of the drivers, guide you around the place and give you a dozen drinking bottle, trust me even that wont be enough. Get ready to get dehydrated, especially during the summer the temperature can be at its peak and the climbing of those steep steps, long corridors and hoping from one temple to another can drain you out, we might have drank a liter of water minimum every two hours. We recharged ourselves with loads of water, bananas and coconut water which are all available inside the complex.

 

The first stop is the Angkor Wat for the sunrise. Once we reached, we found a nice place and settled in to admire the beauty. It was quite shocking to see the crowd already set in for the sunrise.

The SUNRISE!!

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More Shots!

Walking through the Angkor Wat, a temple/mausoleum built by Suryavarman in the 12 Century for Lord Vishnu, a practice different from that of the Kings of that century and Dynasty, wherein most were for Lord Shiva

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One of the Hindu temples with longest corridors.

The walls on the East and West are built to resemble a mirror image of each other.

The temple Shrine which once had a Lingam replaced by Buddha after Jayavarman.

Thousands of Buddha statues lie faceless, such were the extent of loot. It was and still believed a head of a Buddha is lucky for the House.

The side wing of the Angkor Wat

 

The ornamentation of the corridors are same like that of our temples and our tamil houses. These walls once had mirrors adorned on them!.

Just like our Hindu temples almost every entrance to a monument had inscriptions, usually that of the guarding demi-God,for the Supreme God aboding the Shrine.

The End of the Tail of the Naga. The temple has a construction of a huge Naga around the premise, a symbol of the protector.

Angkor Wat is adorned by beautiful carvings of the Apsaras- The celestial nymphs. The sculptures of the Apsaras supposedly have more than 35 different hairstyles.

Angkor Thom.
Angkor Thom became the state City of the Khmer after the Successor of Suryavarman, Jayavarman VII, considered the most successful ruler of the Khmer dynasty.

To the Angkor Thom, you are welcomed by the Gate of Angkor Thom and the State temple of Jayavarman, Bayon.

Gate of the Angkor Thom. Typically, it is a wall that runs through the entire premise of the Angkor Thom.

In the entrance of the gate is the huge sculpture depicting the Kurukshetra War, the churning of the Amirtham by the Devas and the Rakshasas.

Bayon
The monument of the 216 gigantic faces of happy, serene and ever-smiling Buddhas, constructed by Jayavarman II.

The many faces

Bas Relief in the Bayon, depicting war of the Khmer Empire.

The Bayon is typically of three stages of construction, the circular foundation, rectangular walls and the Buddha faces placed on top.

The interiors of the temple.
Bayon though built as a dedication to Buddhism, was later modified as per Hindu tradition.

This was an intriguing pillar in Bayon. The structure looked strong, but shook easily just on slight pressure, it also had a gap between itself and the floor. Also, when I rested my ears on the pillar, there was this beautiful sound of water flowing.

The roofs’ had a natural sunlight entry. Not only that, any sign of an agni gundam(Vedi) there was this outlet.

 

Lintel of the Bayon, A Buddha temple with Hindu inscriptions? I am sure this was built after Jayavarman VII

Mind-blowing inscriptions of the civilisation and cultural practices of the Khmer Empire.

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Angor Thom. The once thrived and feared upon and the most safe-guarded cities of the Khmer.

The Elephant Terrace was a wall for the city of Angkor Thom. The Terrace was position of supervision for Jayavarman when his troops returned victorious.

The Leper King Terrace
A monument dedicated to one of the Kings of Khmer who had leprosy.

 Baphuon
The state temple in dedication to Lord Shiva by the Khmer King Jayavarman VIII, who believed in Hinduism and converted many of the monuments back to Hindu traditions from Buddhism. However, in the 15th century it was again converted to a Buddhist temple.

If you had noticed, this very act of the monuments being balled between the religious believes of the Hindu and Buddhist Kings is a great history in itself to read and have a little laugh.

The steps of the monuments are really steep, the reason for the Kings to do so was that they were believed to be supreme and thus Supreme shouldn’t be easily accessible.

Ta Som
A less famous temple dedicated by King Jayavarman VII to his father, the temple is known for its Buddha face as the Gopuram and the strangler fig entrance.

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Pre Rup
The state temple of the King Rajendravarman dedicated to Lord Shiva. The temple is a depiction of the funeral system in Cambodia, where the funeral happens in the temple, and the ash is rotated in different directions as the rituals are done.

Preah Khan
Another temple built by Jayavarman in dedication to his father. The place is where Jayavarman won his battle against an invasion by the Chams Clan.

Neak Pean
One of the monuments of the Angkor that intrigued me. The construction has a Buddha temple in the center of a man-made Pond. And the temple is abode two entwined serpents.

History:

Neak Pean was originally designed for medical purposes (the ancients believed that going into these pools would balance the elements in the bather, thus curing disease); it is one of the many hospitals that Jayavarman VII built. It is based on the ancient Hindu belief of balance. Four connected pools represent Water, Earth, Fire and Wind. Each is connected to the central water source, the main tank, by a stone conduit “presided over by one of Four Great Animals (maha ajaneya pasu) namely Elephant, Bull, Horse, and Lion, corresponding to the north, east, south, and west quarters….The stone conduits in the little pavilions are fashioned to represent the heads of the Four Great Animals…the only exception being that on the east, which represents a human head instead of a bull’s.” Originally, four sculptures stood on the floor of the lake. The only remaining statue is that of the horse Balaha, a form of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, saving sailors from the ogresses of Tamradvipa. The temple on the lake was originally dedicated to Avalokitesvara. Willetts believed that “this is Jayavarman as he would have wished to have appeared to his people”

Ta Prohm
Last but not the least, is Ta Prohm a favourite of many. You see, as I was hoping from one monument to another, it was noticeable that each monument is being restored and taken care of APSARA(the Cambodian Archaeology body) and an Archaeology body of another country, while I did notice Japan, China and USA, it was dejecting to not see India, until the best was saved for the last! The Tomb Raider temples scene, the famous picture associated with the Angkor Wat was that of Ta Prohm, and was being restored by our very own Archaeology Survey of India!! And those few minutes were just awesome!

Ta Prohm though made famous by the Angelina Jolie starer movie, remains a favourite among many for its beauty, the trees grow entwined with the walls of the temple.

The interesting History (!): In 1186 A.D., Jayavarman VII embarked on a massive program of construction and public works. Rajavihara (“monastery of the king”), today known as Ta Prohm (“ancestor Brahma”), was one of the first temples founded pursuant to that program. The stele commemorating the foundation gives a date of 1186 A.D

Jayavarman VII constructed Rajavihara in honour of his family. The temple’s main image, representing Prajnaparamita, the personification of wisdom, was modelled on the king’s mother. The northern and southern satellite temples in the third enclosure were dedicated to the king’s guru, Jayamangalartha, and his elder brother respectively.

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The temple’s stele records that the site was home to more than 12,500 people (including 18 high priests and 615 dancers), with an additional 800,000 souls in the surrounding villages working to provide services and supplies. The stele also notes that the temple amassed considerable riches, including gold, pearls and silks. Expansions and additions to Ta Prohm continued as late as the rule of Srindravarman at the end of the 15th century.

We ended the tour with the sunset at Phnom Bakheng. The mountain temple of Hindhus and Buddhists.There are lot many many monuments in and around Angkor for which just a day or a post wouldn’t do justice.

Few Clicks of the people in Angkor

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P.S: I have tried my best to give a glimpse of the beauty of the Angkor and I hope you did enjoy it. I do wish I had a DSLR to take even more captivating pictures. But the rich history shall always be etched in the curious part of my brain and would read on!

On my trip to Malaysia, click here.
On my night at the party Street- the Khao San Road, click here.

Soon to follow: On my destinations Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.