jayantiblogshere

Bear with me for a little flashback. This happened somewhere in the late eighties … Our house was getting spring cleaned and the children (especially us girls) were told to be in the best of our behavior for the next two to three days. It was because we were expecting a guest. Our guest was related to us from our Maternal grandfather’s side. Apparently in his hey days he was a much respected Harikatha (also referred to as Katha Kalakshebham) exponent. He was a direct disciple of the famous Mangudi Chidambara Baghavathar (whose famous name we had not heard until then).   We were told that our great grandfather and later my grand father patronized this artiste till bad times fell upon them in the form of urban migration and old age caught up with all of them. Our guest arrived and within hours his presence was overpowering.   My mother who at that time was in her late thirties apparently grew up being cradled in his arms as an infant and in his lap as a to...

Life on the slow track … After ‘ How I got those bloodsuckers off my A*s* ’ went viral and got me a lot of flattering as well as a few not so flattering feedback, the pressure to continue to post on my travels has been very high. That trek up the Kumara Parvatha was undoubtedly the highlight of my experiences.   Actually, it was meant to be a post talking about a very deep spiritual encounter but turned out to be some kind of a thriller and veiled corporate bashing.    Perhaps I have not been able to convey what I actually set out to convey. Some other time, I will attempt to elaborate what a profound spiritually uplifting experience it was.  For now as I am settling into this ‘Life on the slow track’ mode there have been a lot of amazing learnings and experiences that I am waking up to.  Of course, It is not all that hunky dory.    I know there a’int going to be another fat pay check at the end of the month into my bank acco...

No swear words however mild has been used during the writing of this post. Kumara parvatha ke hoge beku .. rasta .. eedu … This was the 5 th person in the last 24 hours that I had asked for the way to Kumara Parvatha and who gave me the usual smirk ... Ok … let me start from the beginning. After an exhilarating solo trek to Kodachadri in Malnad, a couple of days before, I was determined to do Kumar Parvatha, a pparently the toughest trek in the Malnad region of the western ghats. All the Travel junkies that I googled around described the trek in detail , how tough it was and how to go about it. So I knew pretty much what to expect. None had done it solo except Rohith H. And that too in the monsoon.   I read his blog a zillion times for inspiration. I landed at the temple town of Kukke Subrahmanya and checked myself into the third hotel after being denied by the first two because they said they do not give accommodation to single people,  despi...