My First Day

As I had thought I got up at 5:30 AM when Appa Dearest woke me up. It had been my daily routine to get up early in 10th, but never have taken bath so early. I always bathe in natural light conditions you know! Ok let me skip the obvious activities and jump to Kumarans.

I am the first of my friends to enter the college. At 8 AM. No, not to help the Aayammas(or whatever they're called there) sweep the floor. I am always early to college thanks to Carrier Edj :P. I saw the notice board where class-section details were put up. I saw which class I belong to and my friends belong to. Then I saw the time. Sharp 8. So I asked the Security man as to where the classes are going on. He pointed the infinity behind him and said "ಅಲ್ಲೆಲ್ಲೋ ಇದೆ!". I kept gaping at the infinity and then thought he might be talking about the stairs. With no other choice, I just rushed up the stairs. I seemed to be the Lone Loser on the 1st floor of Kumarans. The how can I be what I am without making a fool of myself? 

I saw a staff room. I went forward. I saw a khaaali class. Next to it was a class with a few girls and boys. They looked like 2nd PUC students writing an exam. So I dint want to disturb them. I went even further and the other class was empty too. I had already grabbed the boys' and girls' attention, mind you. Not very surprising though. Just walking to and fro with a sheepish look on my face will seem funny to anyone. Thrice I oscillated like a fool. And thrice did the students look at me and my idiotic act. Then finally I asked them: "Career Edge...?". The girl who looked the most studious nodded her head and pointed at her desk, as if to say, "Yes, you sheep, this is where your sacrifice will happen!!!!" I just got in and dumped myself next to her. Actually Bridge Course classes had started long before. But this was the 1st class I was attending. She was revising the previous day's portions then. Then the classes went on. I understood 95% of what he taught. 

Then, we were supposed to assemble in the ground, freshers as we were. I was very happy and only little surprised to see my 5 year old friend Aishwarya! We are in the same class again, after 5 years! Some purohit said some shloka, made us repeat some after him, and then we were led to our classes. The class teacher came late.

He himself says that we are "unfortunate" to have got him as our class teacher. He claims to be extremely strict. Umm.. Let's see. There was no classes on 6th.

It was today we got classes and met our teachers. Nice staff I guess. I hope so too!

                         So to conclude, it was nice getting into Kumarans. Instead of complaining of the Bad and the Ugly of Kumarans, I want to practise to appreciate the Good of the college. I have no regrets on joining the college. I'm happy with my present company of acquaintances. Well there's always a good company of "friends" for the rest of my life, wholly comprising of an immortal entity - A2.

Preparation for My First Day

Hi all. Given below is an informal report of the much hyped My First Day. So much hyped as if it were to be the first ever day of my life. Fine, let me get started. First things first. There was this orientation on 2nd June.

The orientation day was actually meant to introduce the dignitaries, viz Mrs.Meenakshi Balakrishnan alias Mother, Raviraj Bhat alias RRB Sir and Counsellor(Forgot her name. Oops! But nice lady...). RRB Sir tried to look strict and serious by repeating good habits.
                                        "Be regular. Be punctual. Atendance is compulsary. Be good. Be decently dressed..."
               And thus he went on. Be that, be this. The rest were fine. Seniors and PU pass outs inspired us with their sky-reaching marks(bad adjective, I know :-/). I lost count of my inevitable yawns and was fed up of applauding. The entire program was managed by II PU volunteers(I hate to call them seniors!). Kumarans' left me at 12:30 PM. (Ussappa!).
                                      Then there was my grandad's funeral, and then off I went to my uncle's house. My aunt is one of the best company I can get. We are unique like poles that don't repel. I like variety of food. Junk food, to be precise. So does she. She talks a lot. So do I. She took me all around RR Nagar to fill in our shtomakk with absolute junk and make dinner out of it!  Imagine a Golgappa, Pani Puri, Vada Pav AND ChocoCake on the same day! We went to Gopalan the next day and roamed. Know what, I got my cartoon drawn there! Amma had come there too. And that's the end of RR Nagar. I came back home. I would have stayed there a day more, but for Career. Career Edge I mean! I had to be there for admission stuff.
                                      Then came my 0th day. Read it as zero-th day. I mean the day before 1st! 5th of June 2011. I kept my bag ready. I also tried on the dress I wanted to wear today. And at night I could not afford to sleep late. Had to get up at 5:30 AM. And yeah, after two months - two long months that just fled away like a chased rabbit, I asked my father to wake me up so early! He gave me a are-you-really-my-daughter-Vidha3 look and nodded his head with a mild smile. I grinned back at him. Very strictly restricting myself from music while sleeping, I tried to sleep. Still resisting the temptation, I tried to sleep without music. I realised that even "I" can do things with slight determination. I thought even giving up the slightest temptaion requires a lot of determination. Ah! Now I know why I am lazy! I finally slept at the same time I would have slept if I listened to music. May be around 11:30-12 I fell asleep. I know, too late for 5:30. But I did get up as soon as my father woke me up.
                      *yaaawn*I thought I will blog about "today". But I see that I wrote one article on the preparation itself! I better sleep before mom or dad comes and reminds me I have college tomorrow and I have to wake up early and all that nonsense that I know!
To be continued.

ಅನಿಸುತಿದೆ ಯಾಕೋ ಇಂದು..

ಪರಿಸರ ದಿನಾಚರಣೆಯ ಶುಭಾಶಯಗಳು!! 

ಈ ಪರಿಸಾದ ದಿನಕ್ಕೂ ಕನ್ನಡಕ್ಕೂ ಯಾವುದೇ ಸಂಬಂಧ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್ ಮಾಡೋಣ ಅನ್ನಿಸಿತು, ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಈ ಭಾಷೆ ಬದಲಾವಣೆ. ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನು ಉಳಿಸಿ, ಪರಿಸರವನ್ನು ಉಳಿಸಿ ಎಂದು ಬಾಯಿ ಬಡೆದುಕೊಳೋಕಿಂತ ನಾನೇ ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಏನಾದ್ರೂ ಬರೆಯೋಣ ಎನ್ನಿಸಿತು. ಹೇಗಿದ್ದರೂ ಈ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್ ನಿಂದ  ಕಾಗದ ಉಳಿಸಿ ಉಪಕಾರ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇನೆ(ಬ್ಲಾಗ್ ಇಲ್ಲದಿದ್ದರೆ ಇನ್ನು ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಉಪಕಾರವಾಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದು ಯಾರಿಗೂ ನಷ್ಟವಾಗುತ್ತಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂದೂ ಗೊತ್ತು). ಆಗಾಗ ಹೀಗೆ ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು. ಮಾತೃಭಾಷೆಯ ಅಧ್ಯಯನವನ್ನು ಏಳನೇ ತರಗತಿಯಲ್ಲೇ ತ್ಯಜಿಸಿದ ನನಗೆ ಕನ್ನಡ ಎಷ್ಟು ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಬರುತ್ತೆ ಎಂಬುದನ್ನು ಆಗಾಗ ನಾನೇ ಪರೀಕ್ಷಿಸಿ ಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು ಸರಿ ಎಂದು ನನ್ನ ನಂಬಿಕೆ. ನೀವೇನಂತೀರಾ?

ಅಂದಹಾಗೆ ಪರೀಕ್ಷೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ನನ್ನದು. ಫಲಿತಾಂಶ ಈ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್ ನ ಓದುಗರಾದ ನಿಮ್ಮದು.  

ಓದುಗರೇ, ನಿಮ್ಮ  ಸಹನೆ ಹಾಗು ನನ್ನ ಬ್ಲಾಗನ್ನು ಓದುವ ಉದಾರ ಮನಸನ್ನು ನಾನು ಅಭಿನಂದಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ. ಒಂದು ವೇಳೆ ಹೀಗೆ ನನ್ನ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಇದ್ದಾರೆ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ದಯವಿಟ್ಟು ಪ್ರೋತ್ಸಾಹಿಸಿ. ಇಲ್ಲ ಎಂದರೆ "ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿಲ್ಲ!" ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಿ. ಅದೂ ಕೂಡ ಒಂದು ರೀತಿಯ ಪ್ರೋತಾಹವೇ ತಾನೇ?

ಈಗ ನಾನು ನನ್ನ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್ ಗೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟ ಜಾಹೀರಾತು ಸಾಕು. ನನ್ನ ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನು ಪರೀಕ್ಷಿಸಿದ್ದು ಸಾಕು. ಈಗ ಪರಿಸರದ ದಿನದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಚರ್ಚಿಸೋಣ. 

ಈ ದಿನವು ಪರಿಸರದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಪರಿಜ್ಞಾನ ಮೂಡಿಸುವುದಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಆಚರಿಸಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಅರಣ್ಯ, ಬೆಟ್ಟ, ಸಮುದ್ರ, ನದಿ, ಮರ, ಮುಂತಾದವುಗಳ ಮಹತ್ವವನ್ನು ನಮಗೆ ಸಾರಿ ಸಾರಿ ತಿಳಿಸುವ ಒಂದು ಪ್ರಯತ್ನ. ನಮ್ಮ ಪರಿಸರದ ಈ ಮುಖ್ಯ ಅಂಗಗಳು ಇಲ್ಲದೆ ಜೀವ ಜಂತುಗಳು ಬದುಕಿರಲಾರರು ಎಂದು ನಮಗೆಲ್ಲ ಗೊತ್ತು. ಪ್ರಾಣಿಗಳಿಗಂತೂ  ನಮಗಿಂತ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿ ಅರ್ಥವಾಗಿರುವ ಸತ್ಯ ಇದು. ಆದರೂ ನಮಗೆ, ನಮ್ಮಂಥ "ಬುದ್ಧಿಜೀವಿಗಳಿಗೆ" ಯಾಕೆ ಬೇಕು ಪರಿಸರವನ್ನು ಕಾಪಾಡುವುದನ್ನು ಜ್ಞಾಪಿಸಲು ಒಂದು ದಿನ?

ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧ ಕ್ರಾಂತಿಕಾರಿಗಳು, ಮಹಾನುಭಾವರಾದ ಗಾಂಧೀಜಿ, ಅಂಬೇಡ್ಕರ್ ಮುಂತಾದವರ "ನೆನಪಿಗೆ" ಅವರ ಜನ್ಮದಿನವನ್ನು ಜಯಂತಿ ಎಂದು ಆಚರಿಸಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದೇನು ಪರಿಸರ ಜಯಂತಿಯೇ? ಅಂದರೆ ಪರಿಸರ ಇನ್ನಿಲ್ಲ ಎಂದು ತೀರ್ಮಾನ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದೇವೆ ಎಂದಾಯ್ತಲ್ಲ! ಸ್ವಾರ್ಥಿ ಮಾನವನಿಗೆ ಪರಿಸರ ಬೇಡವಾಯಿತೆ? ಆದರೂ ತನಗೆ ಸಿಗದದ್ದು ಬೇರೆ ಪ್ರಾಣಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಿಗಬಾರದೆಂದು ವನ್ಯಜೀವಿಗಳ ಪರಿಸರವನ್ನು ಕೂಡ ನಾಶ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾನೆಯೇ? ಈ ದಿನವನ್ನು ಆಚರಿಸದಿದ್ದರೂ ಪರಿಸರದ ಹಣೆಬರಹ ಹೀಗೆಯೇ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದರಿಂದ ಪರಿಸರಕ್ಕೇನು ಲಾಭ/ನಷ್ಟ ಆಗುತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. ಹೀಗೆ ದಿವಸಗಳು, ಘಂಟೆಗಳನ್ನು ಪರಿಸರಕ್ಕೆ ಅರ್ಪಿಸುವುದರಿಂದ ಅದರ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಗತಿ ಬದಲಾಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಏನೋ, ತಿಂಗಳಿಗೆ ಅಥವಾ ವಾರಕ್ಕೆ, weekdayಯ ಒಂದು ಘಂಟೆ ವಿದ್ಯುತ್ತನ್ನು ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾರೂ ಕಡ್ಡಾಯವಾಗಿ ಉಪಯೋಗಿಸದಿದ್ದರೆ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪವಾದರೂ ಪರಿಣಾಮಕಾರಿ ಆಗಬಹುದು. ಆದರೆ ಹೀಗೆ ವರ್ಷಕ್ಕೊಂದು ಘಂಟೆಗೆ Earth Hour ಎಂದು ಹೆಸರಿಟ್ಟು, ಅದರಲ್ಲೂ ಅರ್ಧದಷ್ಟು ಜನ ಪಾಲಿಸದಿದ್ದರೆ, ಇದು ಯಾವ Earth Hour? 

ಪರಿಸರ ಉಳಿಸಲು ಮಾಡಬಹುದಾದ ಅಳಿಲು ಸೇವೆಗಳನ್ನು ನಾನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಬಿಡಿಸಿ ಹೇಳಬೇಕಾಗಿಲ್ಲ. ಈ ಹೊತ್ತಿಗೆ ಎಲ್ಲ ಶಾಲೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಮೂರನೇ ತರಗತಿಯ ಮಕ್ಕಳೂ ಭಾಷಣಗಳ ಮೂಲಕ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತವೆ. ರಸ್ತೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಸದ ರಾಶಿಯ ಪಕ್ಕದಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ದೊಡ್ಡದೊಂದು ಪತ್ರಿಕೆ ಅಂಟಿಸಿ "ಸ್ವಚ್ಚ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರನ್ನು ಉಳಿಸಿ" ಎಂದು ಗುಂಡುಗುಂಡಾದ ಅಕ್ಷರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಬರೆದಿರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಎಲ್ಲಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿ ನಿಮಗೇ ಗೊತ್ತಿರುತ್ತದೆ.

ಇನ್ನು ನೀವುಂಟು, ನಿಮ್ಮ ಪರಿಸರವುಂಟು. ಬದುಕಿರಿ, ಬದುಕಲು ಬಿಡಿ. 

ಜಯಶ್ರೀ, ತಲೆ ಕೆಟ್ಟು ಹೋಯಿತಾ? ಇದನ್ನು ಓದಲು ಎಷ್ಟು ಹೊತ್ತು ಬೇಕಾಯಿತು? :-P 

Yes, it's my Maavana Mane!

Family! Aww what a Family!
I would like to requote my gTalk status: Me and my nieces and my nephews and my cousins and my uncles and my aunts! Phew! What A Huge family!

4 days at uncles house was so packed up! There was no chances of getting bored! I was well occupied with all sorts of activities like babysitting(Sha and sometimes Shri), eat home-made junk(Ra Athge! :) ), do some household work, play carrom, play songs for the babies(CuppyCake Song, Laughing Baby And Dinka Chika, LOL). Every moment I kept silently moaning or rather regretting, that I should have had my camera. I also kept wishing that I had an SLR all for myself. Those innocent faces, the bright eyes, the unspiteful smiles, some without upper canines, mother's love, grandma's love - how lovely to experience! How photogenic! You should once visit their house during summer holidays. You find kids of all kinds - one who talks breathlessly beyond her age, one who thinks he's a hero of all blockbusters(Enthiran, Wanted and Magadheera to name a few :P), the hyperactive one who's crazy of action flicks and chewing gum and junk food and what not(this one's not a kid actually - quite older), the fussy one who likes to watch fighting scenes, the fussier one who is just fond of crying, the strange one and the relatively silent, short tempered and tensed one who feels ignored, (I know Vybs you're naming them all ;') ), then.... then....Yeah the bit stubborn one who is a bit cunning but a bit better than the fussy ones as she doesn't cry as frequently as they do. May be you might get bugged off with noise pollution and the silly squibbles, but if you are the kind to watch the world around you and make conclusions out of it(conclusions, not comments; and "make" conclusions, not "jump" into them), you must visit them. P.S: You need hell lot of patience!
                                It's totally different from the silent, calm atmosphere of Atharva. Every holidays I have to pay a visit to Shrimata - Nanna Mavana Mane! Otherwise the "Simhada Mari Sainya" will not spare me. By the way SMS (SimhadaMariSainya) has been one of the kids' favourite Kannada movie. I watched so many movies- Magadheera, Arundhati, Arya, Arya2(Yeah, only Telugu! Hardly understood a dialog by myself!), Golmaal 3(!1st half)!
            Kids are always amazing. Naughty or cunning or irritating, kids are kids. They still have some innocence left in them. May be they appear selfish sometimes, but that is a face of innocence. Rich or poor, kids are always happy. They build their own world around them. They spread their cheer all around. They bring smile onto others face even when they cry. No kid can escape from being cute. Whatever they do is cute. Even when they cry they are cute. Should I mention how cute they are when they smile? However it does not mean they should be let to do whtever they like. It depends you know. Strictness is sometimes required. Fine, leave the kids to themselves and come back to my Maavana Mane.
                                   I have two sisters there(I mean sisters-in-law). Very sweet and talkative ones. I like their company. Umm.. I don't think I've left out any detail. I'll go to bed before I get scolded again from Mommy Dearest. It's close to Eleven. Eleven o' clock is just nothing to some of my nocturnal sweethearts, but in my house it's like 3 AM! Bye g'naite!
Jaychi, GooNaa!

Oh! I have a blog!

Ya.. I have a blog. I keep forgetting this. No I'm in no mood at all to continue with the so-called travelogue. So many things happened after that at home. Let me write about that.

First thing I can remember: L-A-L-B-A-G-H! We were only 5.(or FIVE?!God!). We hogged at Maiyyas'. Bill reached a thousand. O lord.. Imagine how hungry we were! We ate pastry also!! That's one day we will not forget(we=those who came).

Next day my Vybsie came to my house! Obviously it was good!

On 18th of April I went to Mysore for 3 days. Residential Yoga program conducted by Sadhguru himself. I think I am very lucky. He is extra-ordinary. I think you all should meet Him once. No you have to meet Him. This should be experienced, not explained. The volunteers(mom was one of them :) ), the singers, the dance, Isha Home School students, the arrangements, the discipline... Woah! You cannot find it elsewhere, I swear! We stayed at Ginger. The stay was comfortable. On the way back, 3 kids accompanied us. They gave us good entertainment. They asked me riddles and stuff like that. And all that while I had thought I have lost my camera. Whenever I thought of it I could hear my hammering heart, reminding me of Appa's lectures about responsibility. No I'm not ridiculing them. I do deserve them. He's right. He's always right. And Lo! I found it the next morning deep inside the bag! 20th was bro's b'day. He was not here :(. But I had brought a gift for him. Gift Of Shimla! When he was back on 29th he saw it. He liked it! 24th was Rajkumar's bday. I think I saw some Raj movie on that day. Mostly Sampattige Saval. I just love it. Manjula was so slim and cute!

Hey hey... Wait wait.. Rewind. 29-28-Ritvik's Bday!!-27-26-25-24-Over-23-Akshatha's Bday-22-and-21st!!
The Unplanned Get Together. But..Uh-ho Akshata missing! But she was mentally present anyway! She spoke to us on phone. Deepti's sis Deeksha had come too! We ate Bisi Bele Bath and "I" ate shavge paysa! Nippattu was there too! It was nice meeting everyone after Garuda, and some after Lalbagh and Maiyyas.

Ok fast forward: I mean, "go back to the next page :P" (Aww Lakshmi Mam!!!)
Shopping! With Amma! Ah at last I'm spending time with Amma! Gandhi Bazar made a handsome profit thanks to Souji! Bought dresses, jewels, etc for myself. Rather, Amma bought them all for me. I felt very bad for the massive money-drain. Around 5000 bucks would have been saved, had I not bought new dresses. (Duh, it's just once in a while yaar. Stop whining and go on.) Ok then on May 3rd there was Mehendi at Souji's place, but due to MoT problems I got it done at GB(Gandhi Bazar guys!). It was nice. Very nice. Gandhi Bazar is boring for some people, what to do.. For me it is the best when it omes to shopping! From the next day it is Souji madve! She was so excited! And, perhaps, still is! She was looking drop dead gorgeous through the wedding. She has to, it's her marriage after all!
The wedding went on really well but for a long time! I got a chance to just click, click and only click in Abhi;'s SLR. That was real fun! I shot pics from my camera too! So Mrs.Souji is my neighbour now! Yippee!

OK.. Next part - Break Ke Baad

Day4: Delhi

This was our last day in Delhi. Shunti didn't want to have us anymore :P So we dumped ourselves at Baba Inn! Well it was only one night stay there. The surroundings of the rather new hotel is conjested, but the hotel is good inside(Except for the lack of hot water). We had very few places left in Delhi. Jantar Mantar, Dilli Haat and Sarojini Market. Then, off to Shimla.

1.Jantar Mantar
Nothing much to say about it. It is supposedly an astronomical marvel. But we didn'l understand how it works. But we got good pitures. I got some of the best potraits of Jaychi! Then we moved on to Dilli Haat. We learnt the basics of bargaining here!

Jantar Mantar

Jantat Mantar -2

2.Dilli Haat
A traditional shopping complex. You get traditional goods of all kinds from all states here. There are a variety of restaurants too - Tamil Nadu Restaurant, Andhra Restaurant, Rajasthani, Gujarati and so on! We chose Rajasthani food. It was nice. I had never tasted Rajasthani before. Then we thought of resting a bit and then start shopping, but came to know that Sarojini Market is just a stone's throw from Dilli Haat. So went to the Market right away.

Welcome

Bangles

Gujarati Ghagras n Cholis

Rajasthani Restaurant

3.Sarojini Market
This reminds me of the Jaynagar shopping complex. This is much bigger than the Jaynagar one though. Bargaining didn't work much in 2 shops only. But in rest of the shops we saved a lot. When we came back to Baba, we tried on all the clothes we bought and CLICKED! It was exciting! We were quite satisfied with our selections and bargaining abilities! At least it will help us for the shopping we would do in Bangalore!

Typical Marketplace

Shopping!

So this is how we killed time in our room. Click, Click and FACEBOOK! The "Shopping Spree" photo is already profiled, and comments are already flooding! And SomeOne's so thrilled at the quick response, and is pouncing on me! :P But when the number of comments reduced, we said good night to Bangalore, and slept.

Day3: Agra

Our day3 also happened to be the day of World Cup Semifinals between India and Pakistan. All my friends met at Mani's place and watched the match together. But we only depended on the commentry we listened to on the radio. We left Shunti early at around 6:15 AM. On the way we had our breakfast at Sagar Ratna in a place called Kosi in Uttar Pradesh. We saw 2 limbed monkeys controlling 4 limbed monkeys and pitied the latter. Then we reached a place called Sikandra on the way to Agra. Akbar's tomb is located in Sikandra.

One monkey helping the other earn

1.Akbar's Tomb, Sikandra
Akbar, before his death, had built his tomb himself. In other words, can we say he dug his own grave? Anyway this tomb is also a silent place with not many tourists. His tomb, I guess, is not as popular as his granddaughter-in-law's. It is hardly crowded. As soon as you enter, you see intriguing designs etched on the wall and ceilings. Urdu writings are seen too. Then you are led to a passage which gets more and more darkened as you move forward. Now you actually reach the tomb. The chamber is half-lit by a bulb. A person says something and shouts "Allah-hu-Akbar", which echoes for a long time. Then we come out of it and move on to a wide pathway nearby, where, when you stand exactly below the tip of any of the domes and make a sound, you hear a distinct echo(reminded me of physics: Sound, the Unsound chapter!). Now we continue our journey towards Agra.

Akbar's tomb - Entrance

Interior designing?

Passage leading to the Tomb

Echoes!

2.Wah Taj!
You all know about this Wonder. I need not explain to you who built it for what joy, or how beautiful it is. You have seen evough photos. I will just describe the disgusting crowd which made me feel nauseatic. We get tickets from a place a bit far off the Taj. from there, no vehicles allowed. Eco friendly battery powered vehicles take us from there to the Taj. Now that we have got down, guys who call themselves guides ask if we want guides. Whether we say Yes or No, they will go on. We thought a government guide will be a good choice. So one guy brings another and starts pestering us. "No", we said. Two more guys came to us. We
rejected and went our way. Now that we have reached, it's checking time! They check our bags with great interest. Eatables are prohibited, and we had brought "obbattu" and some fruits. The lady asked us to keep it
in a shop. There was competition even for this. There was a row of numerous souveneir shops. They wanted us to keep our things there, and when we ruturn to get them back, they will obviously make us buy something in their shop. We kept it in some shop and returned. Now that we have come inside, it is the photograhers' turn. They want to take a photo of we holding the Taj in the tip, we jumping in front of Taj, and
many more weird poses. We were happy with our own cameras. It was freaking hot and sunny there! Our feet were burning when we had to walk on the marble floor without slippers. We get in. Photography is prohitibited inside. We could see the graves from a distance. When you shout, it echoes. Some youth found it amusing, as if he had never heard an echo. He kept on shouting and then got a punch from the person
who, I think, was supposed to maintain peace inside the monument. We went into other chambers, only to see families lying down on the floor and resting, as if it's their lawn. I saw a woman go to a corner, turn to a wall, and change her clothes! God help them! We went out of the hall and saw the Yamuna flowing. We could see the Agra Fort. So that was Taj. We went to the souveneir shop and bought miniature Taj Mahals. We returned to the ticket counter by the battery vehicle and got into our Innova. What next? Agra Fort.

Wah! Taj!

River Yamuna

Agra Fort from Taj Mahal

Battery powered vehicles

3.Agra Fort
Agra Fort is quite close the Taj Mahal. It is a replica of the Red Fort at Delhi. This is where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by Mr.Aurangzeb, his very son. He could view the Taj from his jail. We also viewed Taj Mahal from there. Here too, you find Diwan-e-Aam and Diwan-e-Khas. It seems to me like a world of marble!

Agra Fort

Close up

Tallness!

Diwan-e-Aam

Arcs

Taj from Agra fort

Arc-ictecture

Next we had lunch at an Udupi Krishna Bhavan. Jaychi and I had North Indian food there(:P), but after the South Indian lemon rice. Food was good there. It reminded me of my mom's lemon rice(yum!). Next we went to Krishna's birth place, Mathura. It was full of cows. It stinked! On the way we had glimpses of the cricket match in the televisions of the roadside shops. We went to the temple. There were not only wal paintings, but ceiling paintings too! Jaychi and I couldn't just imagine how the painters managed it. Right next to it is a mosque. And people are okay with it (And may they be okay with it forever!). And that was the end of it. We left Mathura to back to Delhi. We didn't have time to go to Brindavan. So back to Delhi. We reached Delhi at night. The next day was our last day in Delhi. I watched the remaining match and slept, while Jaychi dozed off before the end. And lo! India Won! YAY! Good night!