Let there be light

Though totally unrelated to this blog - I recently read the "Last Question" by Isaac Asimov after being pointed out by someone. And soon I was indulged in various thoughts starting from my Prism experiment in the School physics lab to Aurora Borealis.



After several years I was in town for the festival of Karthikai. The festival is particularly famous in Tamilnadu - In fact one of the oldest too.

You can read more about it here. http://mailerindia.com/hindu/veda/index.php?karhikai


Every house in the street is decorated beautifully with traditional lamps. On a calm night with clear skies, the streets look beautifully decorated and the natural light reveals the artistic silhouettes of the pillars and the lamps themselves. Thats one moment I wished whole heartedly for a power shutdown.!

A Road Trip

Recently, one of the guys from my college days had completed a huge road trip on his "Rajdoot" - Yes on a bike. He had been out for 39 days covering a total of 6900 odd miles in his bike in the northern part of India (in the foot hills of himalayas). All the way from Delhi to Nainital and Kargil, Leh and other high points in Kashmir on a BIKE !!!!. Amazing. Absolutely mind blowing and really worthwhile adventure. Kudos to him.

I envy him. I am jealous. I am not an experienced bike rider, but his experiences and great photos really pushes my urge. In the US I have been on some long road trips, but none on par with that one and that too in India.

I really like the idea of getting totally lost in wilderness for a month or so. No need to contact anyone and no duties calling. I should probably start planning such a trip right now and make my life more worthwhile.

Good Eateries in Madras

This time in Madras, I spent most of my time relaxing and eating delicious home cooked food. Even when we ate outside we ensured we eat at the best place possible.

From such experiences I found that the "Murugan Idli Kadai" in T.Nagar was immensely pleasing. Its a small place but always crowded. The menu consists of simple south indian foods at a very very reasonable price, served just the right way on a banana leaf. They of course sought their name from their Idlies but then everything i tried was very tasty. Varieties of chutneys and sambars are served to complement the dosas and idlis. They even had the typical south indian drink - Gigarthanda - south Indian Falooda (supposedly very famous in and around Madurai), but unfortunately ran out of it when i was there. But overall this place rocks. The best south indian food in town.

With vastly expanding culinary interest of Indians, several Chinese and pizza joints have opened up too. Noodle place is supposedly good but didnt try it. The "Subway" has opened up in several places in the city, though the cost of Rs 100 for a 6 inch sub may not be affordable to most of us. They have indian varieties such as Aloo tikki sub, Chicken tikka sub and even mediterranean varities such as Hummus and Falafel sub. Still its highly unpopular as the sandwich culture could never catch up against stiff competition from the Indian fast food varieties i.e., dosas and chats.