Mundane Musings

So true When Sharan warned us that we had a ten minute walk from the road to reach his guest house in Hadathorai, Kotagiri, I was quite sure that he was exaggerating. The pictures he had posted did not evoke much confidence in me. They were predominantly of his wild garden and of the beautiful mountains around, but hardly of any of the bedrooms or bathrooms in the homestay. A ten minute walk to his guest house? Who was he kidding? Either this place was going to be a hole in the wall, I thought or it was going to be one hell of an experience. At the back of my mind though, I had some confidence in S’s choice of this place. He had a knack of picking up homestays and guest houses that were quaint/comfortable/superb and available for a song. This, he had picked up from Airbnb A magic of colours - Kotagiri So when we drove from Chennai, via Avinashi and picked up 50-something Sukumar, the guy taking care of the place, from the Kotagiri bus stand, I got th...

I'm presently reading Vir Sanghvi's Rude Food (2004) and I am thoroughly enjoying his sometimes tongue-in-cheek, sometimes blunt account of the food he has eaten in India and around the world. He is a bit of a kill joy though, for people who aspire to write about food, as he includes so many minute details about hotels and their chefs, food served in higher end hotels, the staffs' service, the kind of wine to drink, the foods to stay clear off for the weak-hearted in other countries, they best way to cook a truffle, truth about caviar and whew...what not. And all this, in his inimitable style that very clearly defines the title of the book. Sample this: I've never eaten a raw durian. Believe me, I've tried. But the smell (like a dead rat decomposing in a pool of vomit on your dinner plate) has been too strong for my delicate sensibilities. ....I've eaten durian preserves. I've tried durian pastries. And I've struggled with a cup of durian ice-cream...

Yes, I seem to have taken a rather long time to write a post and much longer to write this one. My impending trip to Kodai has got me in the mood to relive my last vacation. S and I are suckers for the hills and we are the happiest when we sit watching the rolling mists and the fine rain, with a cup of hot tea and hot hot bajjis to give us company. And somewhere in that heady mix, our rambling talks about our future plans to retire in the hills, also figure. Well...that, like my post, is definitely a long time coming. So where was I? Yep...my last vacation. When the summer sun beat down on us mercilessly in May 2012, we decided to pack our bags and set off to Ooty - the Queen of Hills and all that. The only deviation from our regular vacation was that we were visiting Ooty during its peak season. In other words, for S and I, a time when million tourists flock the place and all the things that come with them - plastic, noise, nosiness and a general negating of the pristine surround...