Random Reminiscences

Since every day is like a weekend (Thanks, Corona), I decided to ramble and remember things (Random Walk Theory, or early signs of..., you decide).

Many years ago, we were in a small town called Harihar. Now we are at Indore, where it's mostly Har (Shiva) that rules. I know that among Iyers and Iyengars, one follows Vishnu and another Shiva, but which is which, I forget..

I have known a lot of smart Iyers- among students too, Anjali and Aishwarya come to mind. Since Iyengars did not use their tags, not sure which ones were.

My first visit to the North of India included Delhi, Amritsar, Shimla, Agra, Haridwar, and Srinagar, Gulmarg, Wular Lake, Pahalgam- I still remember staying on a Houseboat owned by one Ali Mohammad Dubloo who fed us Gushtaba and lots more.

I had relatives in Mumbai, Nagpur, Indore, Baroda, Delhi, Satna, Jabalpur, Pune, Hyderabad,..but not in Orissa and West Bengal. Made up with a job at Bhubaneswar in 1991, and visits to Kolkata.

Lander College in Greenwood, where I taught once, had a good Dramatics dept., and staged plays regularly. One was Equus, I remember. Impressed by the three I saw at IIM Indore over the last few years, involving a talented bunch of students (Sanjana, Jasmine, Shreya, Shrunga, Avik, Philip, Prachi, Kaavya, ..), and my director-friend Shweta, with her Woman Friday, Varunika.

Managed to visit Kodikkarai, from where Sri Lanka is just a small walk across the sea, thanks to a Golfing trip deep south with Gadgil and Vijayakumar. The Golfing trips southwards have been very productive, and gave me a Hole-in-one twice, at Kodaikanal and Wellington Golf Clubs, which I can boast about for the rest of my life.

Tamilnadu Diaries

This is a brief travelogue of recent forays we made into the deep end of eastern Tamilnadu. On the way back from a golfing trip to Kodaikanal, we decided to be adventurous and ventured into the area near Vedaranyam, and the tip of the sea nearby at Kodikkarai (pic 2 with me and the boat). Sri Lanka is easily accessible from there. The Tamilnadu government wants to turn the area into an ecotourism destination, as there are forests with animals and birds in and around. Vedaranyam is also a big salt-producing area, with around 5 lakh tonnes of the stuff being produced in a year.

Our route took us from Kodaikanal through Madurai, and after a lunch halt at Mellur (pic no. 1- Biryani in what is called a military hotel in those parts), through Pudukottai,

Pattukottai, , Muthupetta to Vedaranyam and on to Kodikkarai by the sea. Got there just in time for a breezy sunset. We took another route to reach Trichy, our night halt, by way of Mannargudi, and Thanjavur.

Next morning, after a stay at Trichy, we drove back to Chennai via Mahabalipuram (last two pics) via the East Coast Road, and spent some time at the beach near the famous Shore temple. The ECR is a picturesque driving alternative to the regular highway. We also partook of the Kumbhakonam brand of Filter coffee which dots the highway.

The first pic features my colleagues and golf partners Ravi Gadgil (he is also in no.3) and Vijayakumar, from IMT Nagpur.