The Case of the Stolen Debit Card

This is one post many of my friends wanted me to write. It was in Draft mode for quiet a long time(more than a year) because of a few reasons and now, here it comes...

This incident is dated 21st January 2008 - a day to be remembered in this journey of my life...

I stay in a hostel, which is a bit on the costlier side. I was in a two-member room - got to share my room with another roommate.

I was going to Yoga classes (Isha Yoga - 7 day Inner Engineering program) from 6 AM to 9 AM everyday and Sunday full day(6 AM to 6 PM). Monday morning, I noticed that my debit card is missing from my purse and hence, immediately checked my account using net banking and found that my debit card has been swiped across various counters in Hyderabad Central for a total amount of about Rs. 43000 and the balance in my account was only Rs. 15.

Tried phone banking and for some reason it did not work. Then I visited the bank's branch in Jubilee Hills and the branch manager there was really helpful and I blocked my debit card and he informed the necessary people to start investigation on the transactions and told me about the procedure I will have to follow.
I had to submit the Lost/Stolen Card form with franking(stamping of Rs. 100 in each sheet of the form. There were two sheets) along with the copy of FIR which I will have to get it from the police station in my area where I suspected losing the card.

While travelling back to office, I got the number of Hyderabad Central's office from Just Dial(040 -24444444), called them up and explained what happened(That a stolen debit card has been swiped 7 times across various bill counters in the mall). They told me to come in person.

I was going to the police station to raise a FIR. On the way, I collected the bank statement from the bank's Hi-tech City branch along with the exact card swiping timings.Then went to the police station and the police officials had just gone on some duty and I was told to get a User form from any of the e-seva centres which is a pre-requisite before they come.

In the meantime, I decided to visit Central and while I was on my way, I called up my roomie and asked her if someone entered our hostel room and I explained what had happened. She told me that none entered the room and told me to call her up if I needed any help and keep her informed what I am doing. At that time, I didn't suspect her at all as she is very rich that she spends around 10K per day without worrying.

She asked me what I am doing. I said I am going to central to see if I can find out anything. She asked what can I find there. I told her I will call her later.

Then went to central, tried meeting the office people - they were of little help. Then if I hadn't told u before, there were 7 swipings between 12.17 hrs to 15.58 hrs(Shopped for 43K within 3.5 hrs).
One for 9990.00 in Just LifeStyle(Just In Vogue), 17500.00 in IIIrd Eye(a digi cam shop) , 1 said Madura Garments and the rest all said Hyderabad Central. Though 3rd Eye and Just LifeStyle are also in Central, thank God it showed its own names against swiping.

Somehow, got in touch with Just In Vogue. Initially, t he person in charge was reluctant to give any information. Then I had to say that I am "Fathima" and I am telling u that a fraud has been committed using my card in ur shop but u r not ready to give information. He said, he will give info only to bank and all that. I tried to find if its a guy's watch or a girl's watch,etc. At last he budged and showed the signature and details. The signature was totally different and the phone no left there in the bill was fake.

Then went to the camera shop and guy in charge was very helpful. He told it was a girl and she was roaming there for more than 1 hr in that area.

Then went to the back office of central. The guy over there was also helpful(None of the top officials were helpful) and led me at last to the CC footage room. (Usually, the footages get erased and re-written every 24 hrs. So I was afraid that it may get erased). There, somehow after a lot of convincing, they agreed to show it(as they said proper permission has to be obtained).

In the meantime, my roomie was calling to ask what I was doing. I was really getting irritated.

Then in one footage of the camera(I could give the timings the person was in each shop based on the swipings) in front of the watch shop, I saw a girl's back pose exactly at the swiping time. So got confirmed that it was a girl. But the camera at that place was not working properly, so could see only a blurred image.
Then I tried to see the footage was at another place. At that time, my roomie called up again and confessed again that she did it, and at the same time, I saw her in the camera.

She told me to come to room immediately and that she is not that type of girl,blah, blah, blah and that she will return back all the money and all that.

So, I got my money back later and all that...
Thanks to everyone who helped me in identifying the culprit...

Re-cap

Its nearly five months since I have been actively writing. Was I too busy to write, did I run out of ideas, or, did I just get bored of writing? None of these. Too many things seemed to be happening around me and in the world, that I was getting drifted along the whirl, rather than holding on to my position.

Just to have a re-cap, let me look at things, irrespective of whether they are important or silly, but worth recollecting, if I look back into this post few years later.

Completed my one more revolution around the sun last month.

Been watching a lot of movies(old and new) of late - Thanks to Moserbaer, cable TV and Hitec theatre - Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi(Good one - well it has SRK in it. One time watch though), Astitva(Must Watch and Neat. *****. When Astitva movie released years ago, I had fallen in love with the song "Mein thi, Main hoon, Main Rahoongi...". Tabu is just amazing),Khwaish, Maan Gaye Mughal-e-Azam, Ugly Aur Pagli, Phoonkh(Not Scary as advertised. But a good one), Princess Dairies (Sweet), Ghajini (Tamil version was better. Surya looked more human), Yuuvraaj (Disaster! Sallu's crying on full screen....Yuck! Anil Kapoor and Katrina were good) , Jodhaa Akbar (Hrithik's performance is good. I liked the movie overall). Yet to watch Slumdog Millionaire, Billu, Arundathi, Raaz - The Mystery Continues ....

AR Rahman is a genius. I couldn't stop loving "Tu Meri Dost Hai..."(Yuuvraaj), "Tu Muskura..."(Yuuvraaj), "Masakkali..."(Delhi-6).

Got a new cellphone (Nokia 1650)

Moved to new house and came the very emotional decision making situation of segregating a lot of things from nursery rhyme books, grammar books, Hindi Manohar Kahaniyaan, first rank batches got in school(with the rusted safety pins intact), compass, mini drafter, 2H 2B pencils used in Engg Drawing, mom's M.Sc. record note, Huckleberry Finn, Laurel and Hardy, old floppy discs, floppy holders, Gokulam magazine in which my story was published once - I don't know how they can be termed "important material"(thats what I have told my mom who didn't get a peek into these) - But I am just not able to make up my mind to get rid ofthem. So they all joined me in the new house, of course camouflaged in new boxes :-).

My yearly quota of cold, fever and throat pain already visited me. So no more of them, for the rest of the year!

One of my close friends from my school had called me and I couldn't recognise her voice. What a shame! Well, she is now the mother of 2 kids and yelling at them has given an authoritarian tinge.

Will add on if I had missed anything ...

Indefinite Break!!!

Thanks for dropping by. Looks like I have just hit a bloggers' block.
Will take an indefinite break from blogging!!!

House of Flying Daggers

I have never looked beyond Tamil, Hindi, English movies and occasionally, Telugu and Malayalam movies. UTV World Movies looks like a boon to me. After this channel started some 5 months back, I am realising how much I have been missing ...the world????? The movies come with subtitles(Thank God!).

Chinese movies have become my favourites. As a horror movie lover, there was a dearth of real good horror movies until I came across this channel. When it is horror movies, English movies try to get away with the distorted images which evoke disgust rather than horror, Indian language movies or serials with a lady in a white saree(and white chudidhar nowadays) with some face mask. But Chinese and Korean movies will give all these, a run for their money. Leaving aside horror, French, Spanish and Italian movies are good but test my patience at times.

"Viva Cuba" is a Spanish Cuban movie which keeps you engrossed in the journey of the two kids, because when you were young, you would make the same silly assumptions like they do. It captures even the most subtle nuances. "Monday" introduced me to Japanese humour - where in, I used to associate Japanese only with technology and hard work. And there are many more different genre of movies like Jules et Jim(French), Boccacio 70 (Italian), Eye in the sky (Hong Kong based Chinese), etc.

Coming back to what made me start writing this post - House of Flying Daggers, a Hongkong movie in Mandarin language. It is an action-oriented romance movie, or rather, romance-oriented action movie - it has Martial arts in the most beautified form. All martial arts movies I have seen, make me yell - "I am not here to take a mini-course of Martial Arts. Can we get on with the story please". But it has been captured so beautifully in this movie, that it looks more graceful than dance.

I can also compare this movie with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Devdas" at times, for the extravagant background, the only difference being Devdas looked rich and beautiful and House of flying daggers looked fresh and beautiful. While watching Devdas, one will get lost in the background (and Sharukh) more than in the actual story going on. Similarly, the locations are breathtaking that one can just take snapshot of each scene and use it as their desktop wallpaper.

And I am getting a strong urge to tell you the plot of the story. But let me sign out before I do that. The movie's first time telecast was last Thursday's 8.30 PM slot and was re-telecasted on Saturday afternoon. I hope there will be repeat telecast in some other slots vcry soon. Don't miss it!

Hail UTV World Movies!!!!!

Blog Readability Level

India Unbound by Gurcharan Das

I hardly read books on economics, politics, etc. So I thought, a few pages in to this, I will probably abandon the book.But the book didn't let me do that. After a couple of pages, I could not put down the book until I completed it. The book is like a orator who grabs the attention of a totally disinterested audience by his/her power of speech.

I remember reading about this liberalization, MRTP Act, etc. for my MBA. When I read them, it were mere acts, which had a set of laid down policies. I never understood the impact these acts and policies had on India Inc and the common man. I knew corruption exists in India but never knew the firm root cause ( I thought it was people's greed coupled with opportunity). I have seen private sector is efficient and public sector is not but never wondered why such a big umbrella should be present under public sector; I knew Japan's ecnomic/industrial growth rate is high but never did it strike to me that it was not less population and more hardwork alone that led to it - it was planning and the right policies. I have always considered India's population is detrimental to its growth but didn't realize we had "human capital" which could be our boon and not bane. I can go on and on regarding the clarifications I got about "India" itself from this book. My total outlook has changed.

I liked the way Gurcharan Das has brought about the point, where in India tried to embrace the goodness present in democracy, socialism and capitalism and ended up embracing the worse things in all.

Some of the key points in his book:
1. Giving services and things like power, rice free of cost will not end poverty. Bcoz it will just result in short-term relief and also empty government treasury.
2. Making people capable of earning by educating them and creating employment opportunities is the only way of eradicating poverty. By creating employment oppotunities, he doesn't mean creating a lot of government jobs and keep paying salaries. He means to encourage enterpreneurship by reducing the obstacles to the enterpreneurs and create jobs in a competitive environment, which will generate "quality" employment.
3. Unless a lot of bureaucratic controls cease to exist, the corruption is there to stay.
4. We cannot replicate any nation's economic policies, as every country is unique(We are unique). Its like there is no particular panacea for all diseases.
5. And a set of policies aren't suitable for a country always. We should keep changing them with requirements and place proper monitoring systems to check the results and modify them if they aren't helping in anyway.

In my humble and earnest opinion, the contents of this book should be prescribed to academic curriculum (I am not sure if it already has been included)!

A must read for every Indian if he/she has to know what our country has underwent after independence!

Jab I Met

Wowee!!! I was in the new Airport at Shamshabad on Wednesday to catch a flight to Coimbatore and to my surprise, I met ISRO Chairman Mr.Madhavan Nair there! I had seen him in newspaper only a day ago. I could hardly believe what I saw and I asked him if he was Madhavan Nair and he acknowledged it.

Now, I realise, I should be carrying a autograph book with me.

I also heard Actor Rajnikanth travelled in the same flight(in which I travelled) to Coimbatore the next day.

More abt my review on the new Hyd International Airport in my next post. I liked the airport unlike the critics.

Tagged by ReetuAshwin

Family
Dad, Mom & Sis. I take them for granted. I dont feel sorry abt what they tell me or what I tell them.

Friends
I talk to many but I am choosy abt my friends. And hence the count is for sure not more than twenty.

My Love
I love myself a lot. I am my best company, well-wisher and friend. (Mein aap hi apni premika; Mein Aap hi apni Saheli)

Things I Like
1. Red colour
2. Jasmine(Gundu malli) flowers
3. Applying mehndhi in my hands and legs
4. Bright dresses, glittering accessories.
4a. Lipstick 4b. Glass Bangles 4c. Anklets 4d. Kaajal
5. Visiting places of historical importance(and feeling a part of it)
6. Books
7. Bharathanatyam and other forms of dance too( I fell in love with the hip movement of Odissi).
8. Fried Fish
9. Ears which can listen to me tirelessly
10. My laptop
11. My scooty
12. Sharukh Movies
13. Dances of Madhuri Dixit , Padmini and Vyjayanthi Mala.
14. Very old Tamil movies abt Kings, Vittalacharya movies.

Books
Horror Thrillers(or is it Horrific thrillers), Mysteries and historical books top the list. Philosophy and self-improvement are a strict no-no. My Book List

Movies
Even a illogical one will do as long as it keeps my mind occupied and I am able to comprehend what is going on without having to strain. I love horror flicks with beautiful, cunning or no ghosts. Recent fav is Jab We Met. Kinda fallen in love with the movie.
Fav include Chak De India, Devdas, Viva Cuba, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,......

Myself
Superstitious, selfish, organized girl, who is absolutely comfortable when left alone. I can forgive easily but not forget. I prefer to switch on and off my brains whenever required.

Recent Plans
To buy "Prison Break" DVD.
To see "Jodhaa Akbar" in theatre(hope it is still running).
To visit Charminar again for shopping.
Mango season has started. Wanna try different varieties.
To visit Hussain Sagar Lake.

Activities
Fell in love with UTV World Movies channel and watching it regularly.
Studying US map to know the location of states exactly so that I can relate to it when I hear abt it in movies/serials.

Dreams
I want to be an archaeologist and travel across the world and visit places of historical importance.

Hmmm, on a second thought... rather dream, I visualise myself as Queen of a country - living in my own fort, having learnt all the 64 forms of art(from archery,horse riding, disguising, cooking, dancing,ship building, singing, poetry,painting, spying, hair dressing and all that) in Gurukul, have a faithful horse of my own, able to take strategic and military decisions for my country, devise economical policies and financial policies with the help of my ministers. I will be awaken every morning with the music from musical instruments, take bath in pond using ayurvedic powders, have breakfast like a king( :-)) , wear bright dresses and glittering ornaments, go to my durbar, discuss that day's happenings, have a good lunch, spend the afternoon dancing and watching dance and music, going out for a walk in the evening, going out in disguise in the night to keep a watch over my country. And occasionally fighting wars and battles(few battles in sea too). Live life Queen Size! :-) I think Kalki and Sandilyan are to be blamed for this dream of mine.

May be I want to become a Structural Engineer(Inspired by Wentworth Miller of "Prison Break") or a ship building engineer(Inspired by "Kadalpura" written by Sandilyan).

I want to open my own detective agency but again, what will I work on (I dont want to work on what these on the news detective companies work - finding fowl plays of suspecting spouses).

Own a theatre and watch ( and make people watch) movies I like.

I have lot more dreams. Miles and Miles to go before I wake up from my dreams.

I tag:
Divi , Arvi Sharma, Munch , Iris, Janani Sundararajan, RSam, Vinesh and Abhinav.

Hyd Explorations - 3 : Chowmahalla Palace, AP State Museum and Salarjung Museum

When talking about the Nizam period, I have to mention about two royal ladies - Durr-e-Shehvar and Niloufar Khannum Sultana.

Durr-e-Shehvar:
The Princess of Berar
Wife of Prince Azam Jah Bahadur
Daughter in law of Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan Bahadur
Daughter of Last Caliph of Turkey Abdul Majid Khan II
Mother of Mufarram Khan and Mufakkam Khan(Esra Jah is wife of Mufarram Khan)

Niloufar Khannum Sultana:
Cousin of Princess of Berar Durr-e-Shehvar
Wife of Moazzam Jah
And was considered as one of the most beautiful ladies of her time

Chowmahalla Palace
Click here to visit the Official website of Chowmahalla Palace
Entry fees is Rs.25 and it is at a walkable distance from Charminar.

Chowmahalla Palace gets its name from the four palaces it comprises off. It belonged to the Nizams. It has lots of photos of the royal family - esp. Princess Niloufar and Princess Durr-e-Shehvar.

Now it has a studio called Royal Studio, where in visitors can wear dresses as worn by the royal family and get their photos taken. It costs around some Rs. 100 to Rs. 200(Not sure).

I came across a lot of new words during my visit here.Sikiligar is the name used for Sword smith; In a house, Zenana is used to denote the part where women live in and Mardana for men; Mahallat is an evocative name used locally to refer to the ladies in the household of Nizam-ul-Mulk, head of Asaf Jah Dynasty and ruler of Deccan. In this museum, it is used to denote Royal ladies of Asaf Jah dynasty 1885 - 2005


AP State Museum
The entry fee is Rs.10.
This museum houses a Mummy of 16 or 17 year old girl. The Mummy has been brought from Egypt. There is a description of how the dead bodies are processed. The Mummy is fully covered with cloth and Kept in vacuum, but the cloth at the toe nails are worn out, which when seen gives a spooky feeling.
Here, there are many statues, sculptures, Spittoon(Sailabchi), Nagardaan, Pandaan,Guldaan(flower vase), Aftaba(water jug), Surahi(water jug)which were excavated or collectedfrom various places in India. Tulwar is a type of sword and it doesn't translate directly to sword, as I had believed.

Inscriptions on stones/walls, which were found in various places, have been brought and embedded in concrete structures in the museum. The inscriptions are mostly in Persian(Naskh, Nastaliq scripts) and Arabic(Thulth script)

In one of my previous blogs, I have told about Jade stone vessels which were used to identify if the food is toxic. Here, in this museum , there are a collection of Jade vessels and a briefing about it. Jade vessel was considered to identify toxic food either by changing color or breaking. There was another type of material, which resembled Jade - Celadon. It seems Salah ed din (Saladin), Sultan of Egypt, sent 40 pieces of different vessels made of a bluish green stone material to Nur-ed-din, Sultan of Damascus and the material got named after Saladdin - Celadon.

Salarjung museum
The entry is Rs. 10.
This museum houses the articles and items collected by Salarjung who was the prime minister of Nizam and an art lover. Three generations of his have taken care of this - Salarjung I, Salarjung II, Salarjung III.

There was much hype about the musical clock and Double sided statue. The clock was an example of real good craftsmanship, considering the time it was made and its capabilities. The double sided statue which has a man on one side and woman on other side is a marvel. But I fell in love with "The Veiled Rebecca" statue made of marble by Roman Sculptor Giovanni Maria Benzoni. This was one thing that had me stumped to the ground. The status is of Rebecca who was brought up by her brother and when she was of marrigable age, he brings Isaac to home one day and asks Rebecca if she likes him. Rebecca likes him and covers herself using a veil because of shyness.The sculpture is to depict that moment.

Click here to see a glimpse of the statue though the photo here is nothing when compared to what you get to see in original.
Click here to see another admirer of Veiled Rebecca

There are many sections in the museum. And of all sections, I liked the clock section(where in the year and country where the clock was made was specified) and the manuscript section(which had old manuscripts).

Marie Antoinette(once Queen of France)'s dressing table and writing table are also present in the museum. One day is not sufficient to go around this museum.

Burglary and Camera

I thought I will step down from the palatial stuff to some mundane matters temporarily. But what do I see? There has been a burglary in Andhra Pradesh State Museum 2 weeks back(18th Januray 2008). I should have visited this museum before the burglary. Read about the burglary here:
Burglary at AP State Museum
Burglary at AP State Museum (The Hindu Newspaper)

And for people who have asked me why I don't carry a camera to places I visit, here is the answer:
First,few museums and palaces don't allow cameras to be taken inside
Second, in case, even if they allow, they charge exorbitant rates for it.
Third, pictures steal the show from description. If book or novel writers start substituting their descriptive writings with just pictures, it will be either distractive or take away the flow. So pictures suit only text books, where in we try to study the facts and not the beauty of the object in picture.
And the last (but not the least) reason is I dont have a camera with me(atleast in Hyd).

I am sorry if you expected something else by seeing the title and got disappointed :-).

P.S: Will be writing soon what you expected!

Hyd Explorations - 2 : Qutb Shahi Tombs and Nizam's Museum

I am currently reading "Sign of the cross" by Chris Kuzneski. It has reference to Tiberius who married Julia - about whom I have written in one of the earlier blog posts.The author's writing style has a similarity to Sandilyan's writing style. He has a secret unveiling and brought up in each chapter.

Coming to the explorations,I visited Qutb Shahi tombs near Golconda and Nizam's Museum at Purani Haveli.

Qutb Shahi Tombs
Route: Go to Nampally bus stop which is near railway station. From there, there is a direct bus(I don't remember if the bus number was 142 or 172) which drops one at the gates of Qutb Shahi Tombs.The route is Nampally - Masabtank - Humayun Nagar and on the way to Gachibowli, it takes a left turn to reach Qutb Shahi Tombs.

Entrance fee is Rs. 10 per person. Office phone number is 040-23513410

There is a museum named "Qutb Shahi tombs Site Museum".

There are many tombs and a mosque and a separate mosque built for Aurangazeb when he came to capure these parts of India. The description at the entrance of the site museum gives a concise view of the Kings (and a Queen too. Mistress of King - Bhagamathi is also buried near her King) buried in the tombs there. Except for the last Nizam, who was taken as a captive, the rest of Qutb Shahi rulers are buried here. The architecture is a blend of different cultures, with Persian and Turkish dominance. And most of the rulers constructed their own tombs before they died.

The notice outside each of the tombs intrigued me. It said : "Dwelling inside the hall (tomb) is stricly prohibited".

Nizam's Museum (A must see)
This is behind Princess Durru Shehvar Children's Hospital, Near Police Commissioner Office.
Route: It is near to Afzal Gunj bus station.

Entrance fee is Rs. 70. Museum office Phone number is 040 - 24521029

There is a very lengthy two storeyed room which has a two-storeyed wardrobe or cupboard(on both sides).The first storey contains clothes and the second storey contains perfumes,soaps(made of Jadibooti) and accessories like shoes, etc. Now, as the steps have become weak, the visitors are not allowed to climb to the second storey of the cupboard, but as the doors are made of glass, one can see the contents from the floor. It seems the Nizam won't wear the dress he wore once, again.

There is a lift operated manually by pulling ropes in working condition. It is for the King to come from ground floor to first floor to his wardrobe room. After he gets dressed, he goes down by the same lift.

There is a marble bed, a marble writing table, and a marble cupboard which the Nizam used to take it along with him when he went on hunting. They are very heavy and I wondered how tedious a task it would have been to carry it. It seems the Nizam used to stay in hunting sites for months together and hence it was worth carrying. But one should see how the iron nuts and bolts are screwed in to marble stones without cracking it to make the furnitures.

Collections of the last Nizam gifted to him in a single day(during Silver Jubilee Celebrations in 1937) are on display in this museum. The collections of his Prime minister is in Salar Jung Museum.
The collections here range from Paan dhaan, Attar Dhaan, carpets, letters of appreciation and best wishes(Dua) written on a variety of things, bidri works, letter caskets,hukkas(the utensil used for smoking) ,perfume sprayers(not like what we have - they are so beautiful). They are made of gold, silver, gold plated silver, iron, mother of pearl(Sippi. I didn't know so far that Sippi was known as Mother of Pearl). Even a vessel into which you spit chewed Paan(beter leaf) is made of gold! Jade stone vessels(For testing liquids and solid food) to find if poison is present in the food items. It seems the color of the vessel changes if the substance that is put in to it is toxic.
The throne which was used by the Nizam during the silver jubilee celebrations is also kept for display.

There are two types (classification based on blade shape) of swords on display - Abbasi(straight blade) and the other one having a curved shape. Actually there are many types of swords in the world. Visit this to know more about Swords.

There was one painting of the sixth Nizam with his crown. Not an ordinary one. They give you lens to look into it. If you see through the lens, a few spots which look like a mere design for normal eye are in reality the faces of the previous Nizams. That is, the Nizam's ancestors are painted so minutely(Like writing one's name on rice) on his crown. And the Nizam's two sons are painted in his eyes(the black retina or whatever you call it).

The curator of the museum or the officials there take care of things very well.The number of visitors is less and they patiently guide you and give a description on all displays. One negative thing is there is no proper restroom in the museum.

Princess Durru Shehvar Children's hospital that is in front of Purani Haveli was constructed in the memory of Princess Durru Shehvar who got married in to Nizam's family.

Hyd Explorations -1 : Golconda and Shiparamam

I am in Hyderabad now - City of Pearls, City of tradition and most important of all - Biryani City. So far I havevisited Golconda and Shilparamam.

Shilparamam is near Hi-tec city in Madhapur. The entry fee is Rs. 20 per person. And they also gave me a complementary 2008 monthly calendar written fully in Telugu(May be I should look out for "Learn Telugu in 30 days" now) .Shilparamam is more like a "Coimbatore Exhibition" except for the fact that the flavour is different a bit and there are many more things to explore. There are pearl shops, fancy item shops(few are costlier than Chennai Pondy Bazaar Shops and some are cheaper), many wood works, handicrafts, chamki works - especially the chamki work dresses were mind blowing but I didn't like the quality of the cloth much and it was very dark to make a choice(Here in Hyd, I feel it gets dark very early) and a few special places/ stalls to attract visitors. Made a quick visit as the Indian Crafts exhibition is only till 31st December. Will have to visit again to explore more.

Let me now go to Golconda, I dont remember the entry fees. I think it was Rs. 10 or Rs.20. I have visited this earlier. But wanted to go around it more patiently.

Disclaimer: Whatever information regarding the fort is written here were heard from guides(when I visited 1 year back) and random readings.

Coming to Golconda, the fort was build by Qutb Shahi kings, whose tombs are next to Golconda(yet to visit). Few things abt Golconda - it now has the remains of the fort which got ruined when Aurangazeb raided.
I have visited many forts but nothing has impressed me like this fort - If I hadn't done engineering, I would have gone into archaeology or may be I lived in forts during my previous birth:-) . I like this fort better than others - may be because despite the ruins, many parts are still intact and you could still find architectural marvels.
Few things you can see there:
1. A weight tied to a handle.
It seems those days, to get monthly wages, the soldiers will have to carry this weight (there were actually two) - one in each hand from the palace gate to the top of the fort. It was a kind of physical fitness examination too. And they were given grains as monthly wages.
2. Taramati Baradari
This has a secret passage to Charminar(which is obviously closed now by a huge rock), via which the king can reach Charminar in 5 minutes.
3. A ruined university(not clearly demarcable)
It seems this was as famous as Nalanda University and foreign students came here and took up residential courses.
4. Ramdas Prison(Ramdas Bandi Khana)
Gopanna also known as Bhaktha Ramdas was a good minister. But few ministers who were jealous of his status in the King's court charged him of being traitor as he spent government money for the renovation of a temple without permission. So he was put into a underground prison for around 12 years during which he didn't have any external contact. There was a hole at the top of his prison through which sunlight entered and through which food and water were sent to him. So during this years, he has inscribed the images of Goddess Saraswathi and other Gods in the walls of his prison.
5. Granary to store grains
6. Rooms of Queens
7. Horse stables
8. Taramati Masjid
A mosque for Taramati to pray after she got converted to Muslim religion
9. One Kali temple and Nandi temple at the top of the fort
10. Water tanks.
There were step by step tanks - meaning tanks at each level using which the water was first transported/moved from first level to the next and so on till the top of the fort.
11. Gun powder artillery
12. Place to bathe the dead of the royal family before taking them for burial

And gardens and fountains and many more.

Version of the Taramati/Bhagmathi story as heard from the guide a year back:
Taramati and Bhagyamathi were two dancers and the king fell in love with both. When he proposed, Taramati was there but Bhagyamathi ran away out of shy(Bhagyamathi sharmaake baag gayi). So he married Taramathi ; renamed her Hyder Begum; and created a town in the name of Bhagmathi (Bhagya nagar).

Other version which I read, which seems more true:
Bhagmathi was the prime courtesan during King Abdullah Qutb Shah's grandfather's (mohammed Quli Qutb Shah) times. The same way Taramati and Premamati were famous courtesans during King Abdullah Qutb Shah's times and Taramati was the prime courtesan and was close to the King. It seems as a honour to them, their tombs are placed next to the Kings in Qutb Shahi tombs.

Places yet to visit:
Purani Haveli (and Nizam's museum)
Chowmahalla Palace
Qutb Shahi Tombs
King Kothi Palace
Asman Garh Palace
Falaknuma Palace - it seems they are converting it to luxury hotel

Any information regarding the above places is welcome.


P.S: Sorry! Will take photos next time

Further explorations of Bangalore

On Karnaka formation day(1st November 2007), me and my roomie decided to visit Nrityagram(www.nrityagram.org) - My first trip out with somebody (usually I go alone)since I came to Bangalore.

Nrityagram is a residential dance school founded by dancer Protima Gauri. It is situated in Hesaraghatta village which can be reached by 1 hour journey from Majestic/Kempegowda bus stand, Bangalore. The onward journey is through a different route and the return journey is by another route as the roads are very narrow for two-lane transport.

From Hesaraghatta bus stand, Nrityagram is at a distance of 5 km which can be reached by auto(which costed Rs. 60). The auto driver even gives you his cell phone number to call him when we decide to return(as people come there only by their own cars or mode of transport. So there are no autos/cabs to take you back from Nrityagram to bus stand). Exactly opposite to Nrityagram is a Resort named Kuteeram of Taj Group.
But all through the way, we enjoyed the scenary very much, that we decided to walk back and covered the 5 kms by walk during return. On the way, we saw poultry farm, turkey farm, emu farm and a dam.
Coming back to Nrityagram, it follows the Gurukul method of education. Dance is taught free of cost. Food, Stay is all free. The only thing a student has to do is stay there for three years to learn it.
We were allowed to photograph everything other than dancers. There are separate buildings constructed for each type of dance - Bharathanatyam, Odissi, Mohini Aattam, Kathak, etc.But when we went there, only Odissi classes were going on and only at the most 2 students were there as nobody was ready to take off 3 years of their life to dedicate to learn dancing.
We could see sculptures everywhere; a temple dedicated to Protima; a yoga centre, a kitchen; separate buildings for visitors to stay; buildings for students and teachers.There was an amphitheatre where dance programmes were held during "Vasanth Habba"(Spring Festival). What impressed me most is the buildings and environment. All buildings including kitchen looks like "Kuteers" of sages that were in Gurukul times. And each building for different forms is build according to the style where the dance form originated from. For eg: the building which houses classroom for Mohini Aattam will be in the style of Kerala and so on. And its green everywhere around. The place is cared for well. A must visit!

Total cost per person:
Domlur to Majestic(in Volvo) - Rs. 25
Majestic to Hesaraghatta bus stand(by bus) - Rs.10
Hesaraghatta bus stand to Nrityagram(by auto) - Rs.60
Entrance fee for Nrityagram - Rs. 20

I also visited "HAL Aeronuatical museum" and Kemp fort one Saturday. HAL museum may be a good visit for people who have interest in aeronautics. For me, I was just looking at the photos of presidents and prime ministers of different countries who visited during the building of different aircrafts. The entry fee was Rs. 20. I could say that another Rs. 10 charged for going to Air traffic control room was a waste, because the only thing you could see from there in seeing planes landing or taking off from runway, as if you are situated in a building next to airport.

And regarding Kempfort, I saw the big statues of Lord Ganesha and Lord Shiva. One thing which irked me there was that , one can buy diyas, light it and leave it in the small artifical pond created there. But the people who were cleaning the premises using water from water hose were pouring the water on diyas(not intentionally though) which blew off the light of the lighted diyas. Hope someone takes care of it.

Chak De India!

Why I liked it so much? You can make a person learn something in the following ways:
1. Advice.I will forget it next minute.
2. Tell a story; let the advice be the moral of the story; end the story with the moral. I will remember the story and forget the advice.
3. Dont force the moral of the story. Let the moral not stand out as a separate entity. Let it be intertwined with the story so much that , when I remember the story, I will remember the words of wisdom or vice versa. Well, Chak De did just that.


My Learnings from Chak De :
1. Aim at your goal(Not just hockey goal). All other things will fall in place.
2. Be clear as to what you want and work towards it. Dont get satisfied or depressed by the small crests and troughs that come your way. You haven't actually achieved what you want.
3. Give your full attention to what you are doing.
4. Its courage and confidence that is required to eradicate hurdles and not physical strength.
5. You never know when one of your strengths will be helpful so much in a way that you wouldn't have expected.
6. Knowing your strengths is important. But the more important thing is to know when and where to put it to use.
7. You dont get a second opportunity always.
8. No one other than yourself can stop you.
9. Its ok if you have made a mistake. But its not ok if you make it again.

I can elaborate on it and what led to these, but as I am not writing answer for a 20 mark question, I will put that aside. Any one who has watched Chak De will be able to relate to the above 9 points.

Movie week

Watched Page 3 (Zoom TV) and Traffic Signal(Set Max).

Page 3 showcased the reality of the top class and Traffic Signal showcased the reality of lower class, both the uglier and sad part of reality. Huh! These kinda movies make me very depressing. I dont want to watch this genre!


Managed to get "Chak De India" morning show ticket in Rex theatre yesterday!
I have been an ardent SRK fan for long and I feel this is his best movie till date and the best character he played so far.
Not even a single dialogue can be afforded to be missed. They ought to be remembered in daily life.
Apart from Kabir Khan, my favourites are Komal Chautala, Balbir, Preeti Sabarwal, Bindia Naik,Shuklaji in the given order.
Though Bindia's character was a bit negative, I liked the way she took up her opportunity and didn't hold up on to useless ego, when she had to play her part in a crucial match.