RANDOM THOUGHTS

         NORTHEAST VISIT - Day 1 - 30 th Aug  We were at the Chennai Airport Domestic Terminal at 3.00 AM for our Indigo 6E 6771 flight to Guwahati scheduled to depart at 4.55 am . Our Sanjay Tour operator Manikandan himself was there at the Airport . It came as a surprise to learn that there were 51 of us on this tour . Barring a select few , Manikandan , being one of them , most were on the wrong side of the Sixties .  Boarding was quick and hazzle free . We were Airborne 10 minutes before departure time and landed at Guwahati Lokpriya Gopinath Bordolai International Airport very much before time .  A thing or two needs to be mentioned about the Guwahati Airport . It is supposed to be one of the biggest Greenfield Airports in India now  . The layout and the amenities here are simply superb.  The first thing that MK ( Manikandan Our Tour Operator ) did was to take a roll call . 51 of us were there in total as I said most of us on the wr...

           AMBASAMUDRAM TO TAMBARAM                           NORTH EAST VISIT  Our flight to Guwahati from Chennai for our visit to the Four Day NORTH EAST visit was Scheduled to depart on 30 th Aug at 5.00 am .  We had booked our ticket by the 3 rd AC on the 20684 Sengottai to Tambaram Superfast Express entraining the same at Ambasamudram which is pretty close to my place at Agasthiarpatty on the 28 th .  The M 1 compartment like all other compartments in the train was extremely clean and had nothing to complain about .  The name SUPERFAST EXPRESS though is an absolute misnomer. For one , it takes nearly 4 hours longer than the route by the chord line . There are far too many stops enroute and the duration at each of these stops is far too long for comfort . The train which commenced journey at 6.15 pm reached Tambaram at 7.45 am . The cacophony of the Mobile Phones ...

               PRECURSOR NORTH EAST VISIT  I have often heard friends and acquaintances mention in passing that I am born with wheels on my feet or wings over my shoulders . Be that as it may , I have always maintained that the Almighty has been rather benevolent on me . I am fortunate to have visited quite a few places which attract tourist footfalls in large numbers  both in India and Around the Globe . The visits to London Leeds Manchester Birmingham  Paris Lyon New York New Jersey Los Angeles San Francisco Philadelphia Toronto Ottawa Niagara Regina Brussels Ypres Amsterdam and closer home at Colombo Pilliyandala Bangkok  Singapore Manila Makati and Puerto Princessa come to mind immediately. I have been to many places across India and it  sure is going  to draw a fatigue if I were to start listing them in detail . Despite many attempts NORTH EAST however  is one place in India which I have not visited thus far...

      A  WELL ORCHESTRATED LOOT In these times of active and extended social media participation , we come across advertisements in various platforms like the FACEBOOK etc of products that easily  catch our attention . Glossy advertisements of all these products make them all the more attractive .  I have made purchases on quite a few occasions . The experience thus far has been very satisfying. Payments could be made before hand using the UPI or  the payments made on receiving the product .  Barely 10 days back , I came across a promotion on Facebook for Cotton Linen Full Sleeved Shirts in various attractive shades . A pack of 4 such shirts was being sold for Rs 999 /- with the delivery being undertaken by Amazon . I liked the shirts and ordered for a pack of four with the payment option being on delivery . The pack arrived today on an AMAZON package. What I found inside on opening the package came as a shock . Two totally crumpled T Shirts of th...

        TAKING US ABSOLUTELY NO WHERE !! We have made it a practice to visit , both the Sorimuthu Iyyanaar Kovil and the TENKASI Kasi Vishwanathar Temple each year after our return to India  from Canada . We had completed the Sorimuthu Iyyanaar leg earlier . We usually hire a cab for our visit by  the  Selvamcabs . With a bus service on hand starting hardly a Hundred Meters from our House at Agasthiarpatty and heading to Pavoor Chatram Bus stand from where frequent Bus Services were available for TENKASI , we decided to give this mode a trial . We boarded the almost brand new Bus with digital display Boards at 3.15 pm and were on our way . The route mentioned was via Dana and  Kadayam and Avudayanoor . Ours being the starting point , we were seated comfortably in the new Bus with hardly any other  passengers . Slowly other passengers began to enter and by the time we were at Amali School , the bus was almost full . I failed to notice that mos...

         SOME NICE PEOPLE AROUND US                                                                              Somewhere around the same day last Week , I had my Brother In Law , Wife and his Son's Family from the US Visit us at Agasthiarpatty for a short stay . A visit to the Tiruchendur Murugan Temple and their Kula Deiva Temple at Mela Pavoor was almost mandatory . To make it more interesting for their two young kids/grandkids we had planned a trip to the THENMALA ECO PARK in neighbouring Kerala for Thursday 11 th June  . On Wednesday 10 th evening itself we had showers at the  Ambasamudram Erichudayar Kovil River Bank where everyone had a fun filled evening   . On search , Google Akka was quick to inform us that things were downright bad at THEN...