To God's Abode

The pretext of a friend’s wedding took Viswa and me to Trichy, Tamil Nadu on Sept 10, 2010. Friday, the 10th Sept was a holiday on account of Ramzan and we, like most in Bangalore, promptly packed our bags to a nearby tourist destination.

Our itinerary for the extended weekend included a visit to Trichy (Tiruchirapalli) and Madurai, then back to Bangalore on 12/09/2010, a Sunday, to grab some rest and bring the house back to order after a two-day hiatus. As requested in most wedding cards, we graced our friend’s wedding, provided them our company on their special day and headed out on our religious odyssey.

First, we headed to Srirangam, about 8 km from Trichy central bus stand. Srirangam is a temple town standing between Cauvery and Kollidum rivers, connected to the mainland by a bridge. Considered, possibly the largest temple complex in India, Srirangam is the abode of Sri Ranganatha Swamy (Vishnu) and the temple, of immense importance to Vaishnavites, is revered as Vaikuntam on Earth. About 156 acres in extent, the tall, imposing main gopuram (tower), 13 tiered and 72m high, completed in the year 1987, welcomed us to an architectural marvel, dotted with 21 gopurams in a complex spanning seven concentric walls. Built from 14th to 17th centuries, the Hoysalas, Cholas, Pandyas, Cheras, Vijayanagar Empire and Nayaks of Madurai have all contributed their bit to this temple.

We walked through the crowded market streets, right across the tall, concentric compound walls to reach the main complex. To our left, we visited the deity of Chakrathalwar and to our right, the shrine of Shri Ramanujacharya, the 1000 pillar mantapa (under renovation and therefore closed, it consists of 953 pillars actually) and the art/sculpture mantapa. Walking straight, we crossed the Garudaalwar shrine, the prasadam/food counter and reached the sanctum sanctorum after a short wait in the queue. We were in front of the lord, Sri Ranganathaswamy, huge and charismatic, in reclining position. Outside the inner sanctum, to the left, is the shrine of Ranganayaki Devi. There were three deities in a line here, Sridevi, Bhoo Devi and Ranganayaki, all adorned beautifully. There are many other shrines in the temple complex - Narasimha, Dhanvantri, Varahaswamy, Krishna and Kodanda Rama to name a few. We visited the temple at 2.30 pm, right after it opened for devotees and completed our tour in two hours; the temple complex is that HUGE.

From Trichy Central bus stand, many buses ply to Srirangam. Similarly, many buses connect Srirangam to Chattram bus stand (Trichy Rockfort/Mala Kottai), our next destination. The hill temple dedicated to Ganesha is an iconic landmark in Trichy. The barren, rounded, brown hillock, about 3500 million years old, houses the Manicka Vinayagar (Ganesha) temple at the foot hill/base, the shrine of Thayumaanavar (Shiva) mid way and Ucchi Pilayar temple at the top (again a Ganesha shrine).

The rock fort was originally built by Pallavas, later fortified by the Nayaks. The hill temple overlooks a tank (water pavilion) used for ceremonial purposes. The tank is flanked by shops/market area on all four sides. A flight of about 417 steps takes one from the base to the Ucchi Pilayaar temple atop the hillock; I did not count to check. The climb is not at all tedious; it is highly rewarding, a superb, visual treat all the way.

The Thayumanavar temple mid way has a shrine for goddess Kundalambikai with a golden tower (vimana) over it. There are two Pallava cave temples of the 7th century times, one close to the Thayumanavar temple and another is little difficult to locate. After leaving Manicka Vinayagar shrine at the base, one hits a road, turn to the left here, walk for about 50m on it and take right to reach the second cave temple, behind a bunch of houses.

The climb from Thayumanavar temple to Ucchi Pillayar temple can inspire life in any trite soul; the cool, refreshing breeze at that height, the beautiful, panoramic view of the temple town, view of the rail/road bridges over river Cauvery, of the imposing tower of Srirangam at a distance, a mix of trees, fields and houses/shops and a mild drizzle recharged us thoroughly.

We drank a cup of hot filter coffee and devoured hot bajjis from a restaurant near the temple, reminiscing the images, we captured of Trichy from atop the hill and that of gods/goddesses so beautifully decorated. As we enjoyed dinner at a restaurant in the central bus stand area, we acknowledged that the temples are truly BIG in every aspect and rituals are performed with immense sincerity and devotion.

On day 2, we began early at 6.30 am and visited the Thiruaanai Kaaval temple, which we reached by bus from the central bus stand after a 20-minute ride, crossing the bridge on Cauvery. Thiruaanaikaaval temple is a highly revered Shiva temple, built by Kochenga Chola Raja about 1800 years ago, in a sprawling compound (about 18 acres). Housing the deities – Shiva and Parvathi, more appropriately – Lord Jambukeshwarar and Shri Akhilandeshwari, this temple marks its prominence as it signifies one of the five elements (pancha bootha) i.e. water (the other 4 temples and their elements are - Chidambaram (sky), Kalahasti (wind), Tiruannamalai (fire) and Kanchipuram (earth)). The temple compound is huge and consists of five concentric walls encompassing the main sanctum.

We visited the shrine of Akhilandeshwari, (on the left on entering the main temple complex) first, many small shrines and temple tank on the way to the main deity – Shiva’s shrine. A custom at this temple is to see the Shiva lingam (Jalakandeshwarar/Jambukeshwarar) through the nine square window frame/grilled window. The vast expanse of this temple astounded us.

There are many temples around Trichy – Samayapuram Amman temple, Narthamalai, Gunaseelan temple to name a few. We intended to cover the three primarily important temples in Trichy town and I must say, our first phase of the journey ended well with a sumptuous meal of idli, vada, dosa and pongal at the Kurunji restaurant near Central bus stand. Food in Trichy (South Indian tiffin items, more precisely) is of a very high quality/taste, very affordable and is served with a lot of courtesy and affection. The autorickshaw drivers, shop vendors were exceptionally rude, but that came as no surprise as auto drivers are more ill behaved in Chennai.

We boarded a bus to Madurai from the Central bus stand and embarked on a 116 km long journey from Trichy via Viralimalai and Melur on NH 45B. Three hours on the smooth highway brought us to another equally important temple town-Madurai.

We lodged our backpacks in the Mattuthavani bus stand cloakroom and geared up to visit the Tirumalai Nayyakar palace. Built in 1636, by Tirumala Nayak of Madurai, this palace supposedly built by an Italian architect is an exemplary piece of Indo Sarcenic architecture. The palace consists of two portions, the Rangavilas and the Swargavilas, of which only the Darbar hall, Dance hall/Nataka shala and the entrance remain. The present remains account for only ¼ th of the original palatial structures. It is purported that Tirumala Nayak’s grandson demolished the Rangavilasa to procure materials for building a similar palace in Trichy, an activity he never accomplished. The restoration work commenced under Lord Napier, the governor of Madras in 1868-72. The palace is closed during lunchtime 1-2 pm and hosts a light/sound show in Tamil and English in the evening hours. The audience hall has an array of huge, cylindrical, white pillars, long corridors marked by arches and ceilings full of exceptionally beautiful paintings, restored with utmost care.

As the clock ticked 4 pm, we left the palace, drank two full glasses of a certain, yummy and highly satiating “fruit mixture” from a road side shop and marched towards the most prominent landmark in Madurai – Meenakshi Sundareshwarar temple; a temple looked upon with immense veneration in India. I was filled with awe when I caught an ariel view of this temple in the World Tamil Conference 2010 anthem (Semmozhi Maanadu anthem), the concentric rectangular walls with tall, beautiful gopurams (towers), one on each side. The temple is extraordinarily marvelous and houses deities equally awe-inspiring - Shiva in the form of Lord Sundareshwarar meaning Beautiful Lord and his consort, Parvati, as the gorgeous Meenakshi.

The main entrance to the temple is through the east gopuram, the road first hits the Raya gopuram, reaches a Mantapa that teems with bookshops and then a Nandi Mantapa facing the sanctum. A clean, wide pathway, devoid of shops and encroachments exists around the temple, for people to walk around and see all four peripheral gopurams. Visitors can enter the temple through any of the four entrances (each has a cloakroom/footwear stand) but the main entrance is through the east gate.

The breathtaking experience at this temple commences as one walks in the long hallways, their ceilings covered with colorful paintings, seeing the brilliant, full relief sculptures adorning the pillars before the main sanctum, that of Nataraja, Bhadrakali, Agora Veerabhadrar, Agni Veerabhadrar, Kalyana Sundaram, Dakshinamurthi and many more. All these sculptures are labeled in English, Hindi and Tamil; this is an appreciable effort.

We headed straight to the Sundareshwarar shrine, saw a big, silver idol of Nataraja – in the Rajata Sabha/Velliambalam on to our right and the Lord Sundareshwarar, in the form of a Lingam in front of us, the sight was a true spectacle. Leaving the main shrine, we reached the shrine of Mukuruni Vinayagar; a Ganesha idol carved out of a single stone. Truly, a fortuitous event to see the lord in such a revered temple on an auspicious day like Ganesha Chaturthi. We walked further and saw the Porthamarai Kulam (the temple tank/tank with the golden Lotus), the passage around the tank had walls full of mural paintings depicting the marriage between Lord Sundareshwarar and Meenakshi and from the epic Tiruvilayaadal. We took time to study the model of Meenakshi temple kept on display and visited the shrine of Meenakshi Devi lying in the south west. The goddess is sheer beauty personified. In the last leg, we visited the shrine of Lord Kalyana Sundaram and the 1000 pillar mantapa on our way back to the east tower. The 1000 (actually 985 pillars) pillar mantapa houses a museum and is maintained by the ASI. The Madurai Meenkashi Amman temple, truly, marks the pinnacle in the Dravidian temple architecture; abounds with beauty and grandeur in every aspect.

Filled to hearts content, caught in a mild shower, we grabbed a simple dinner from West Masi Street, headed back to Maattuthavani bus stand to board our bus to Bangalore. On our journey back home, on NH-7, we recounted all we had seen. Feeling of regret, of not paying a visit to Thiruparankundram Murugan temple in Madurai, not being able to explore good food options remained but were easily subdued by an overwhelming sense of joy, or term it, a serene sense of satisfaction/a tranquil demeanour that results only when you return from the Abode of Gods.

Sports Ka Superstar - More Questions

The semi final episodes are drawing to a close, there's just one more round before we BANG onto the grand finale of the sports quiz Sports Ka Superstar. Yesterday's episode had a mixed bag of questions, some easy, some difficult, not a very high scoring episode. Also, some contestants like Ramki, Pranav and Arun Hiregange, more adept in quizzing, slipped from becoming the "awesome twosome" by a hairline margin. In my opinion, the two selected from this episode, especially the winner - Gaurav from Bangalore, will face the heat with the rest at the grand finale.

I decided to list down the questions of yesterday's show (dated 08/09/2010) in a new post, I had some problems formatting the contents of the earlier post. Guess it ran above the prescribed/manageable length.

Set 4: (Questions from the episode dated 08/09/2010 + 8 questions from prelims episodes, answers to this appear as my comment - refer comment 1 of the comments section to this post)

1) Which one of these games does not have a goalkeeper – polo, water polo, football, hockey?
2) At 2004 Athens Olympics, which athlete broke the 400m national record made by Milkha Singh in 1960 Rome Olympics?
3) Crocodile hold, elephant stance, charging elephant are all skills employed in which sport?
4) Which country’s national football team bears the nickname – Bafana Bafana?
5) Name the only Olympic medalist from Namibia who holds the current CWG record for 200m, a record since 1994.
6) With which team did Michael Schumacher make his formula one debut?
7) What is the “bull taming” sport in Tamil Nadu known as?
8) Name the strongest female chess player in history who became the grandmaster at the age of 15 years 4 months. (visual q modified)
9) Name the French footballer of Indian origin who made his debut for the French national team in the year 1999. (visual q modified)
10) Which edition of CWG is known as the “boycott” games?
11) The player who hit the fastest century in Indian Premier League.
12) Name the sport that is played with two kinds of balls – “kitty” and “woods”
13) Name this Swedish athlete just behind Jackie Joyner Kersie in the all time heptathlon points list (visual Q modified)
14) Name the gold medal winner in 2004 Athens Olympics – women’s singles tennis (visual Q modified)
15) Name the first woman sportsperson to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award
16) Name the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award
17) Name the sporting organization founded on 23rd June 1937 in Army HQ at Shimla
18) In Durand cup, currently, the winning team is presented with two other trophies, name them.
19) In 2010 Wimbledon, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut played the longest ever tennis match, how long did this match last?
20) Name the first woman to have run the entire Boston Marathon.
21) Name the South African band that featured along with Shakira in 2010 FIFA anthem – Waka Waka
22) Name the first Indian in NASCAR
23) Name the president of Rajasthan Cricket Association from 2005-2009
24) Name the players of the very popular/successful men’s tennis doubles team from Australia which bore the nickname “The Woodies”
25) Which major mishap is associated with the Tamburello corner?
26) Who is nicknamed as the “The Flying Sikh”?
27) In the name Jeev Milkha Singh, Jeev is the shortened form of what?
28) To whom did Milkha Singh lose the Bronze medal by a whisker in the fateful 400m run in 1960 Rome Olympics?
29) Who threw his Olympic medal into the Ohio River after a feud with a whites gang and after being refused service at a whites restaurant?
30) Name the player who received two golds in CWG for lawn bowls and was inducted to Scottish Sports Hall of Fame in 2007?

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The last round of semi finals happened yesterday - 13/09/2010. With just 20 days more for the CWG at Delhi, the concern of a neat display is a perennial high - first over corruption, money laundering, completion of venues on time, then on health aspects as the number of dengue cases are skyrocketing by the day, most recently on warnings from host nation government officials on an impending terror strike during the games. As a nation, we all are on tenterhooks, waiting to see events unfold from Oct 3-14, 2010. Not digressing further, I have updated a set of 40 questions (26 from yesterday's show and rest from previous episodes, after a gruelling memory exercise :)). The questions in yesterday's show mostly dealt with Olympic events, the questions I recollected from past episodes are more CWG centric.

Please find the answers to the questions below as a comment (comment 2) from me in the comments section. Happy Quizzing !!

Set 5:

1) Which of these events will be a part of the Delhi CWG? 50km walk, 20 km walk, pentathlon, bicycle motocross
2) The term steeplechase derives its name from which sport?
3) Which team won the Ranji Trophy in the year 2009-10?
4) Which game originated at Melrose, Scotland in 1880s when a local butcher Ned Haig organized it for fund raising for a sporting club?
5) Which city did Delhi beat by 46 votes to 22 to win the right to host 2010 CWG?
6) Ippon, Koka, Yuko, Waza-ari are four scores in which sport?
7) Who is the only tennis player to have won all the 4 grand slams and an Olympic gold medal in the men’s singles?
8) Which city has hosted the Asian games maximum number of times?
9) In which Olympics, did Leander Paes win the bronze medal for men’s singles, becoming the second Indian to win an Olympic medal in an individual event?
10) Name the Ukrainian heavyweight boxer who is the current IBO, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine champion of the world. (visual Q modified)
11) Name the legendary baseball player who bears the nickname “Sultan of Swat” and “The Bambino” (visual Q modified)
12) What is the title of Dhyan Chand’s autobiography?
13) In 2010 FIFA world cup, Jerome Boateng represented Germany, which country did his half brother Kevin Prince Boateng represent?
14) Who defeated Bobby Riggs in the widely publicized match called the “Battle of Sexes” in the year 1973?
15) Which Bollywood actor represented Indian in cycling?
16) Name the Czech long distance runner nicknamed as “Czech Locomotive” who won gold s for 5000m , 10000m and marathon in 1952 Helsinki Olympics. (visual Q modified)
17) Name the first woman athlete to have won 6 Olympic gold medals. (visual Q modified)
18) Name the athlete who holds the record for 1500m middle distance track event (visual Q modified)
19) In which Olympic Games did women compete in weightlifting event for the first time?
20) Kalenjin tribe, the running tribe, known for long distance running skills belongs to which country?
21) Ever Onward is the motto of which sporting event/games?
22) Name the Olympian who was diagnosed with Polio at the age of 7 but accumulated 10 golds over 4 games.
23) The athletes of which country were taken hostage/murdered during the 1972 Munich Olympics?
24) In which sport did Jonty Rhodes represent South Africa apart from cricket?
25) Which five time US open men singles champion is also the youngest to win the title?
26) Which sport was demonstrated by the Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal in the 1936 Berlin Olympics?
27) Which athlete was forced to leave Munich (1972) before closing ceremony of the Olympic Games for the fear that he should not be targeted by the Palestinian gunmen?
28) Which sport is locally known as Hu-Tu-Tu or Chaduguddu in different regions of India?
29) Where did the first edition of CWG take place?
30) Who marches first in the Parade of Athletes in the CWG?
31) Who hosted the games under the name Commonwealth Games for the first time?
32) When and where did the Commonwealth Games take place for the first time in Asia?
33) The CWG held in 1962 were also known for “heat, dust and glory” for the inhospitable weather conditions. Where was this edition of the games held?
34) Name the first black African to win a gold medal Olympics, who clinched the gold (1960 Rome Olympics) in marathon event running barefoot.
35) Name the Indian athlete who failed the gender test and was stripped off her silver medal of 2006 Asian games.
36) Who remained not out in the innings when Kumble picked up all 10 wickets in the test innings in the year 1999?
37) Who won the Orange Cap for the IPL held in 2010?
38) In which edition of Olympic games did Agassi win the gold in men singles, managing to complete a career golden slam?
39) Name the legendary figure in Indian motorsports who died in an air crash while flying a trainers aircraft

40) Which of the following is not related with Cricket? Deodhar trophy, Irani trophy, Shimla trophy, Ranji trophy

Sports Ka Superstar

For the last two months, I have been hooked to a certain quiz show on Doordarshan channel - Sports ka Superstar. This is a sports quiz produced by BIG Synergy productions (Siddhartha Basu), anchored by Mini Mathur and Shera (the mascot for Delhi CWG 2010).

The sports quiz puts forth a great collection of questions, with multiple choice (4 choices) and buzzer, visual/direct (without choice/shootout) variants. Ten participants contest each time, with only 2 qualifying at the end of the show to the next round. The quiz show aired on DD on Mondays and Wednesdays at 10pm, has so far, handpicked 50 sports whizkids out of 25 episodes. The contest is now, on between these 50 players for selection to finals, with already 2 clearing the semi final hurdle on 30th Aug 2010.

The quiz is a must-watch as it is well anchored, the participants have immense knowledge of the subject and there is definitely lots to learn from the questions thrown. For long, I watched the show intently, answering questions along with the contestants, researching on unknown topics the next day. From now on, I intend to note down as many questions as possible and post it onto my blog for future reference.

I have jotted down some questions (see below) from the Aug 30, 2010 show (not all, some of them) and some questions from the previous episodes (some that I remember starkly) -

Set 1: (the answers to these questions will appear as a comment from me in the comments section)
1) Who said these words - It's hard to be humble, when you're as great as I am.
2) The name of the military leader who participated in the Stockholm Olympics 1912 modern pentathlon event.
3) Who is the only player to have scored a hat trick in FIFA finals?
4) Who is the first Indian member of the International Olympic Committee?
5) Which sport does the body FISA represent?
6) With which sport will you associate FIDE?
7) K.M Beenamol won gold in 800m track event in Busan 2002 Asian games. Her brother, KM Binu, won the silver medal in which sporting event the same year, same games?
8) Name this tennis player from Sweden who lost to Rafael Nadal in 2010 French Open.
9) Name the golfer who has the nick name – The Great White Shark
10) The 1934 CWG were held in London. Which was the initially proposed venue/city for the games?
11) The Merdaka tournament is associated with which game?
12) Name the game that was first introduced in Doha 2006 Asian Games.
13) Shaolin martial arts hail from this country.
14) Name the Olympian after whom a Cricket stadium is named in Gwalior.
15) This is a unit of measurement of length and is roughly equal to/little over 600 feet. Name this unit
16) Name the sport that is going to be demonstrated in Delhi CWG 2010.
17) With which sport will you associate the terms – glide and spin techniques?
18) Who is the only athlete to have won 4 consecutive Olympic golds in the same individual event and also bettered the record with every win?
19) With which sport will you associate the famous sportsperson – Jehangir Khan?
20) The book “From gloom to glory” is the story of which Indian coach?
21) Straight from the Heart is an autobiography of which sportsperson?
22) The Four Minute Mile is associated with which famous athlete?
23) Breaking the Surface is the story of which famous sportsperson?
24) Venus Rosewater Dish is presented to the winner of which tournament?
25) Which famous tournament in Tennis is named after a French Aviator?
26) It’s not about the bike is a book by a famous sportsperson. Name him
27) With whom will you associate the Rope a Dope technique in boxing?
28) With which sport will you associate terms like castling, the fortress, Alekhine’s gun?
29) Name the air pistol specialist who claimed 5 golds, 1 silver, 1 bronze in 2006 Melbourne CWG.
30) Which country won the most number of golds in Beijing Olympics 2008 and which country won the maximum number of medals at the same event?

Set 2: (the answers to these questions will appear as a comment from me in the comments section)

After yesterday's episode (01/09/2010), here I update the post with another set of questions, as many as I could note down. Good to note that of the two selected to finals from this episode, one Mr. T.B. Srinath belongs to my school (PS Senior Secondary School) and college/graduated from BITS, Pilani.

Below are the questions:

1) Who is the only Indian prime minister to have received the Olympic Gold Order?
2) Who along with Sir Roger Bannister ran a mile under 4 minutes in the 1954 Common Wealth Games?
3) Name the S.African cricketer whose autobiography is known as “White Lightning”
4) Which other country apart from England, Wales, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand has attended every edition of the Common Wealth games?
5) Who was named the greatest female athlete of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated for Women magazine?
6) Their national netball team features a silver fern for its symbol, name the country.
7) Which sport has a technique named after Mitsuo Tsukahara?
8) Name the chess grandmaster who is diagnosed with a kind of spondiloarthritis.
9) Which other nation, apart from China and Indonesia, has won the Thomas Cup since its inception from the year 1948?
10) Name the athlete, who in 1913, was stripped off his Olympic Gold medals on grounds of violating the amateur rules.
11) Which football club was sometimes known as Jubilee club, Hamidia club, Crescent club?
12) Name the first recipient of Arjuna Award for achievement in athletics.
13) Name the only player to have won twice, all the four grand slams singles title (each set of 4 grand slam titles was won in the same calendar year)
14) Which Ethiopian long distance runner is nicknamed Neftenga?
15) Name this athlete who four Olympic Gold medals in the year 1948, nicknamed “The Flying Housewife”
16) With whom will one associate the book “The good, the bad and the bubbly”?
17) Name the remarkable invention made by Mr. Stuart Robertson, the marketing manager of ECB.
18) With which sport will you associate the term small/little slam?
19) Which other city apart from Melbourne and Sydney has hosted both Common Wealth Games and Summer Olympics?
20) Question from one of the earlier episodes: What was awarded to the victor in Ancient Olympics?

Set 3: (the answers to these questions will appear as the third comment from me in the comments section)

Yesterday's episode (06/09/2010) was a very high scoring session. Questions were relatively easier - my personal opinion. My favorite contestant from prelims- Pradipta Chattopadhyay, qualified for the finals. He has tremendous knowledge of sports trivia and yesterday he scored a neat 100/100 in MCQ s rounds. Along with him qualified Mr.Anand from Mumbai, outsmarting fellow contestants - Kinshuk and Sairam by a very narrow margin.

Below are the set of questions from yesterday's show. I have added two (that came to my mind) from the prelims.

1) Name the grand slam tennis tournament held last in a calendar year.
2) Who received the Golden shoe award for the best athlete in the 1986 Asian Games held at Seoul?
3) Name the only sport in which women took part in the 1930 Commonwealth Games, its first edition.
4) An annual hockey tournament, Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is named after which country’s monarch?
5) With which Olympic sport will you associate the terms – Epee, Foil and Sabre?
6) Which sport was introduced in the year 1895 for those who found playing basketball very tiresome?
7) Which sport introduced in the year 1895 was known then as Mintonette and was initially designed to be played indoors?
8) Besides lawn tennis, which other sport’s name features/is associated with Wimbledon?
9) Who is the author of the book Letters to a Young Gymnast?
10) Which was Sania Mirza’s first grand slam win?
11) The first three editions of Cricket world cup were officially known by what name?
12) Which victory came first for India, the Cricket world cup victory or the Hockey world cup victory?
13) Which nation is hosting the 2014 FIFA world cup?
14) In which water based sport is the eggbeater technique used?
15) Name the British athlete who won 100m gold in 1924 Paris Olympics, the feat that was depicted in the movie “Chariots of Fire”
16) What does the WADA monitor?
17) Which city hosted the equestrian events for 2008 Beijing Olympics?
18) What did the Czech athlete Jan Zelezny hurl for a distance of 98.48m at Jena, Germany in the year 1996?
19) What is the name provided to the four-year period between two Olympic Games?
20) Name the football tournament, introduced in 1888 to provide recreation for the British soldiers and Shimla secretariat personnel.
21) Which Indian tennis player’s mother played basketball for India?
22) In 1967, two warring factions in Nigerian civil war agreed for a 48-hour ceasefire to watch which player play?
23) Who announced retirement from hockey after 2010 hockey world cup?
24) With which sport will one associate the terms – Amar, Surjeevani and Gaminee?

25) With which sport was Leander Paes’ father Vece Paes associated?

On Friday, Sept 3rd 2010, Viswa and I went to Bangalore Cantonment station to see the Commonwealth Games exhibition train/CWG Express. The train arrived from Mysore and was scheduled to leave to Hubli on 3rd night. Open for public viewing from 10 am to 7 pm, the train in green color (the 2010 Delhi CWG is also known as the Green Commonwealth Games) had 5 coaches dedicated to information on Commonwealth Games and 6 other coaches for information on e-governance and Information technology.

The 5 coaches dedicated to CWG were laden with information on CWG, its birth, its history, its different venues/hosts, stadia/venues and their details for Delhi 2010 CWG, Indian sportstars, superstars in Indian sports who serve Indian Railways etc.

The mascot - Shera for 2010 CWG was completely adorable in the many cartoon strips displayed on information charts in train.

Wish I were an alumnus of La Martiniere School, Kolkata

Last week, I happened to read the article (refer full text and link below) in a column by Mr. Jug Suraiya in Times of India newspaper. I could not help laughing at the shade of satire in it. Very good read and here I add it to my blog for all future references :)
Link - http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/jugglebandhi/entry/take-a-tip
Title of the article, details of publishing - Take a tip by Jug Suraiya, 12 August 2010, Times of India, Bangalore
Full text - (refer below)

Take a tip

Without referring the matter to me, the porter in the New York City hotel picked up my bag six inches and put it on a trolley. He wheeled the trolley five feet to the elevator, and pressed the button for the 5th floor. He wheeled the trolley 10 feet to my room, opened the door and pushed the trolley in. He held out his hand. Bowing to the inevitable, I put $5 — which i could ill afford — into it. My bag had travelled 10,000 miles with me free of cost, its conveyance covered by the price of my air ticket. However, its journey of less than 100 feet in a NYC hotel was not covered by the price of the hotel room and cost me an extra five bucks by way of a characteristically American institution known as the tip.

Though not unique to US culture, giving a tip for services rendered is the bedrock on which American capitalism is based. According to folklore, the word tip, as in gratuity or baksheesh, is said to be derived from the initial letters of the phrase 'to insure privilege'. To insure privilege, or good service, from a waiter in a restaurant, say, you gave the chap a tip over and above the price of the meal consumed. This custom was soon extended to other areas of daily commerce so that everyone, from taxi drivers to tour guides, hotel porters to Wall Street multinational bankers, expects a tip for services rendered — though in the case of the Wall Street bankers it's not called a tip but an incentive bonus, which is often in excess of a million dollars a year and which might well have helped to nudge the world into the global economic crisis.

Crisis or no crisis, almost everyone I encountered on a professional basis in America — cabbies, bartenders, the folks who served you fast food and the people who pointed out to you the local sights of interest on a hop-on, hop-off tourist bus — not just expected, but often demanded, a tip for doing whatever it was that they were supposed to be doing anyway, and for which presumably they were already being paid. And just in case you missed the point, sometimes they'd even do the arithmetic for you and tell you on a restaurant bill, for instance, exactly how much the tip worked out to if you left a 15 per cent tip, a 20 per cent tip or a 25 per cent tip. But 15 per cent was the absolute bottom line. If you tried to get away with anything less than that it was likely to be interpreted as an overt act of hostility liable to provoke an appropriately warlike response.

It got so much that whenever I found that once again I had lost my way — which I have a great knack of doing, in America or anywhere else; why is it that the place I'm looking for is never in the place that I'm looking for it but in a totally different place altogether? — I wouldn't ask passers-by for directions. What if the person I stopped turned out to be a professional, unionised directions-giver and demanded a tip for the benefit of telling me that where I wanted to be wasn't where I was, and where I was wasn't was where I wanted to be? Fifteen per cent, minimum, just to hear that? Get lost. Which is exactly what I did.

Going around in circles in America, I realised that we in India also have a long tradition of giving tips. Except we don't call them tips. We call them guru dakshina, or tatkal, or speed money, or ghoos. Or just plain bribes. Which we perforce pay to service providers like cops, and babus, and politicians, and the guy who replaces our empty LPG cylinders, to make sure that they do indeed provide the service that they are meant to provide to begin with. And because we think of these things as bribes, we beat up on ourselves, and the world beats up on us, for being corrupt. No one beats up on Americans for being corrupt, not even those Americans who happen to be Wall Street bankers. It's a question of vocabulary. Change the word 'bribe' into 'tip' and 'corruption' becomes 'capitalism'.

So next time you have to make a hand-out to the LPG delivery man, or to your friendly, neighbourhood CWG contractor, don't think of it as a bribe. Think of it as a tip. As in a 'totally innocent practice'.

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Jug Suraiya is an eminent journalist, a great satirist who features in the opinion editorial in Times of India newspaper. His column carries creative names like - jugular vein and juggle bandhi.

In the habit of reading Times of India for over 4 years now, watching Times now channel news debates; I have grown fond of Jug Suraiya and Swapan Dasgupta. While the former uses very simple, funny thought with many a pun at places, the latter is spotless clean on facts, facts on history and politics, highly verbose in nailing down the point. The fondness for both seems to only increase with time. They both are very noted journalists and are alumni of La Martiniere, Kolkata. Wish I were an alumnus of the same school, guess it is never late ... can learn so much from their blogs/posts/columns, would love to write like them someday.

Dud...Dud...Dud to Melkote

Preface:

On Aug 7, my husband and I made our first bike trip for the year 2010 to Melkote.
Melkote, 137 km from Bangalore is a famous hill temple close to Mandya on Bangalore-Mysore highway (SH-17). Previously, weekend trips on our Royal Enfield Thunderbird bike to places around Bangalore was an integral part of routine. But this year, we had to wait until August to open the years’ travel account due to our new found passion for swimming. 

There are 1001 blogs on Melkote, yet, this trip being the first one for the year 2010, I too wanted to write a note on it. I will try giving a new layout to this travelogue entry.

About Melkote:

A sacred place for Iyengars, Melkote is a hill temple site in Mandya district in an area called Thirunarayanapuram. The hill is called Yadavagiri and overlooks the Cauvery valley. Melkote is a revered religious center for the Vaishnavites, it served as the abode, for over a decade, for the famous saint Shri Ramanujacharya. It is believed that the saint healed Hoysala king Bittideva’s daughter’s disease, an act for which he sought Bittideva’s conversion from Jainism to Vaishnavism and acquisition of fertile land on banks of Cauvery for construction of Vaishnavite shrines. King Bittideva adopted Vaishnavism, became known as king Vishnuvaradana and Melkote flourished as an important religious centre since 12th century. 

The list of places to visit at Melkote looks like below –

1) Cheluvanarayanaswamy temple – this temple is at the foothills with the main sanctum dedicated to Lord Vishnu, there are shrines of Lakshmi, Hanuman and a statue of Shri Ramanujacharya. The pillared Ranga mantapa in this temple depicts fine craftsmanship.

2) Rayagopuram – Stepping out of Cheluvanarayanaswamy temple, taking the straight road and turning to the the right leads to the Rayagopuram, an incomplete structure with 4 pillars. As every blog mentions, this is the site where Aishwarya Rai dances for Barso Re song in the movie Guru. This is also the site where super star Rajinikanth shakes his leg for Rakkama song of Dalapathi fame.
Incomplete structures, in my opinion, have a strange element of beauty about them, like the kalyana mantapa in Lepakshi temple, Hindupur and the mausoleum of Adil Shah II – Barah Kamaan in Bijapur. One can climb to the top of Rayagopuram and catch a glimpse of Cauvery valley.

3) Akka-Thangi Kulam - Walking down the Rayagopuram leads us to the Sanskrit research academy, taking the road as it curves leads us to Akka-Thangi kulam, the sister ponds/tanks. These tanks lie in front of a Kulashekaralwar temple. 

4) Yoganarasimha temple - Now we head back to Cheluvanarayanaswamy temple, take the road away from it, a right turn as instructed by tourism dept. board to reach the steps leading to hill top – Yoganarasimha temple. The road is motorable up to the mobile phone towers and from this point; it is only a 5 minutes climb to the top.
The view of the Cauvery valley from this temple at a height of 1777 m above sea level is awesome. Take time to relax, take in the fresh air, soak up the beauty of the valley far below, now filled to heart’s content, take the same road down, turn to the right to stop by the temple tank – Kalyani with pillared mantapa around it and a flight of stairs leading to clear water meant for bathing/religious rituals etc

Photos:
1) View of the Cauvery valley from atop Melkote hill/Yoganarasimha temple



2) View of temple tank/Kalyani from atop the hill


3) Akka-thangi kula (sister tanks/ponds)


4) The incomplete Rayagopuram that features in movies


5) Pillared ranga mantapa inside Cheluvanarayanaswamy temple


6) View of Melkote hill temple from a distance


Travel means loads of fun …

Bangalore-Mysore highway – State Highway 17 is a great road to travel on, a superb highway, full of life. The last time we traveled on this road was to Bandipur in the year 2008 and I must admit that there has been a whale of change on this road since then. The Mysore highway boasts of restaurants like Kadumane (before Wonder La, Bidadi), Kamat Lokaruchi (near Janapadha Loka), 4 Café Coffee day outlets between Ramanagara and Channapatna, 1 Barista and 1 McDonalds outlet, 2 Kamat Upachar hotels near Channapatna, 1 MTR outlet near Indradhanush Café coffee day, 1 Adigas restaurant after Maddur. That’s a long list and this apart the highway also has regular shops for tea break, dhabas etc. There is absolutely no worry of food/water and the highway is abuzz with activity.

Away from all this hustle on SH-17, to reach Melkote, one takes the right turn, immediately after leaving Mandya town. This winsome journey stretching for about 37 kms winds through sugarcane and paddy fields. The road is in very good condition and carries the sweet scent of jaggery all along. When traveling on this stretch of 37 kms, one easily realizes a drop of 1-2’C in temperature, thanks to the number of trees, fields and water bodies around.

A road trip with good food is like a boon and Melkote trip scores a neat 100. Outside, Cheluvanarayanaswamy temple, there are many stalls which sell the famous Iyengar Puliyogare. We found one such stall where a elderly couple offered us a big dhonai (Palm leaves cup) of hot Puliyogare and sweet pongal, each priced at Rs 15. Ambrosia (in my language – devaamrutham) I would call it, we dug into the contents and bought Puliyogare powder prepared by them to recreate the magic in our kitchen :)

More insight into our trip:

We left home at 6.30 am, stopped at Kadumane, Bidadi for breakfast and tea. We also stopped at Kamat Upachar, Channapatna to have a look at the wooden toys they had on display. We stopped for a tea break at a small village on the road leading from Mandya to Melkote. We reached Melkote at 10am, completed our darshan and lunch, left at 2.30 pm. There was no wait/queue in either temple but a brief, strong spell of rain restricted our movement for about half an hour.

Saturday, the 7th of Aug 2010 was well spent, a nice bike trip to an important religious and historical centre filled with many gud (pun intended – gud in Hindi means jaggery) memories.