Deepavali 2015 - Wet Wet Wet!

10th Nov, 2015: Naraka Chaturdashi 
This time, I must say that Deepavali got a bit dull because of the cyclone that got the city flooded with rain!. We also missed Deepu, Asha and Nisha who were out to Goa taking a break.

As always, the day started with 'Enne Shaastra'!. By noon, Pooja, Anna and myself headed to the 'Donkahalla' field and purchased a whole load of crackers, despite pouring rains. Rain or no rain, the there can't be a Deepavali without crackers!

We purchased a sackfull of night crackers and came home! Pooja was mighty pleased despite the pouring rains!

We had a good solid lunch and watched a nice move in the afteroon. The rains continued through the evening, but we managed to light up the sky with Flowerpots and Zameen Chakras in the rain itself!. 

Sanju joined us in the evening and that made Pooja very happy. Ruchir loved the fireworks and tried some SurSur Bathis with Anna helping him!

11th Nov, 2015 - Lakshmi Pooja
Souji and the kids joined Harish and Lavanya at their house. I joined them in the evening after office (worked from home). 

Incidentally, Harish's new Nano car arrived and we all went to the near-by temple for a pooja. The rains had stopped overnight and coming back from the temple, Pooja, Sanju and Ruchir got back to bursting crackers and had a lot of fun. 

We had dinner at Lavanya and Harish's house and returned home late in the night!

12th Nov, 2015 - Balipadyami
We went back to Hanumanthanagar in the evening where Pooja and Ruchir burst all the remaining fireworks. We started lighting the fireworks just as it became dark and finished them just early before the rains came down in torrents!

Overall, this Deepavali was a Wet Wet one and wish the next year will be bright and more enjoyable!

Here are some photos from this years festival of lights!

Deepavali 2015!

Amma's 70th Birthday and Satyanarayana Pooja!

23rd October, 2015:
Amma turned 70 this year and we all celebrated by cutting a small cake at home. As usual, Ruchir did the honours!

8th November, 2015:
Anna and Amma performed a Satyanarayana Pooja at the Subrahmanya Matt, next to APS college grounds (Mallikaarjuna Swamy Temple Annexe).

We also invited all the near and dear ones for this occasion. The event started with a light Breakfast at 8:30AM.  It was glad to see most of the people attended the Satyanarayana Pooja which went quite well.

Incidentally, Vaasu Maava who joined the function turned 90 on the same day and all of us wished him and received his blessings.


Got to know the Lunch was good and people enjoyed the food. The event went very well and was a grand success!.

Thanks to one and all for making time to attend thefunction and making it really awesome!

Here are some photos from both the events (actual Birthday and the Function):

Amma's 70th Birthday - Satyanarayana Pooja

Another 2 day trip to Mysore and Srirangapatna!

October 2015
Dasara fesitval came along with a Long weekend of 23rd and 24th October and that was reason sufficient to start the motor and get out of Bangalore.

No matter what the plan, the steering takes control of the driver and rides to Mysore. This time too, it was no different. We thought of multiple options - Chitradurga, Harihar, Hassan etc etc... but finally, it just happened to be Mysore.

23rd - Friday (Vijayadashami) - Noon:
We left Bangalore by noon and were in Mysore by 3 PM. Directly reached Hotel Siddartha and managed to get a double bed room. Quite lucky considering the heavy rush at Mysore during Vijayadashami day. We took some rest and then walked towards the palace.

Huge rush everywhere and crores of people! Palace gates were closed still as the Prince was performing some function inside. We walked around and Souji wanted to ride the Tonga. So we got hold of one and did a Tonga ride around the Palace! Ride was fun, but the horse was having a tough time running around with very heavy traffic.

We got down near the Palace grounds and where the Dasara Exhibition was on. Got in and spent a couple of hours lazing around. The lighting, the fountains and the Palace in the backdrop was quite a scene!

By the time we were done with the exhibition, found that the palace gates were open, so did a quick walk inside and checked out the glorious lighting inside. The rush and noise was unbearable and Ruchir was getting cranky, so we walked back to the hotel. We had a good Dinner at Siddartha and settled down for the day.

24th - Saturday:
Went out straight to the Windflower resorts, but found out they do not have a day package or sorts, but is meant only for those who stay for a day! The location and amenities they have is top class and will plan to stay over there some other time! Pooja was a bit disappointed as she had packed her swimming suit and was really waiting to go for a dip. Next time!

Mysore Zoo was the next best choice and Ruchir had never seen a zoo. So we barged in along with thousands of others!. It took the usual 3 hours to complete and Ruchir did enjoy watching the big animals.  

We went back to the hotel and checked out. We had lunch on the Bangalore Highway road and then at Srirangapatna, we took a right to go to Gosai Ghat!. 

Ruchir and Pooja spent a good time playing on the steps of Cauvery which was flowing quite full!. There were hoards of people but the water was fresh and clean. Ruchir and Pooja loved it.

Next we took the inside route to Karighatta, crossed the huge bridge and climbed the winding roads that took us to the top. We spent some time looking at the landscape from the top and then climbed down. The nature looked so green and serene. Beautiful sight!

We came down to the canal where Ruchir and Pooja again had some fun in the water. The water was gushing furiously, so it was a bit scary as well!. 

We made a pit stop at the 'Aale Mane' right at the foot of Karighatta hill. The 'Aale Mane' was all decked up, (Ayudha Pooja just the day before!). The lady owner of this unit, gave us a quick overview of how Jaggery is prepared from Sugarcane and the different stages in it's preparation. 

We purchased 2 Kgs of fresh Jaggery (1 Kg @ Rs. 35!!!) which I believe is double the price in local stores here in Bangalore.

We reached the Bangalore Highway by about 4 PM and drove back home by 7 PM. 

A small and quick visit to refresh ourselves, but a fun one!

Here's some pictures and videos from this trip!.

Another visit to Mysore and Srirangapatna!