Hampi...a blast into our glorious past

Unlike our other trips, Hampi was a totally unresearched and ungoogled trip...Neither was our expectation sky high as we boarded the train to Hampi...But as our rickety auto took us through the ramparts of Hampi I realized the sheer size and magnificence of the 'boulderous' empire that welcomed us..We got off at the Hampi Bazaar and walked into the little homely guest house right in the heart of hampi bazaar...Ours were a few of the 'brown indegenous' faces that was encountered during the way, else it is a place for and filled with foreigners enchanted with 'incredible india'...As we went to grab our morning breakfast and scanned the menu that wasn't spellchecked, we were astounded by the 'french toast', 'pancake' and pasta menu that was given to us....the little stall's menu made no mention of idly/dosa :)....As the day progressed, we went about exploring the stone structures that dotted the hampi landscape with our little handbook - underground temples, 'queen bath', palatial remains of the 'king's durbar',beautifully carved monoliths..all engraved with the stamp of the empire that ruled the place...the craftsmenship and the skills of the men that worked through these architectural splendours shouting out loud in each of the structures that we explored...One of the day's highlight was the sumptuous lunch at the 'Mango Tree' restaurant where we kicked off our shoes..stretched our legs and relished our food watching and hearing the Tungabhadra river right in front of us....And the day ended with the sight of a wonderful sunset at Hanumantha hills....a fitting end to a lovely day..Day 2 we walked to Mathanga hill to catch sight of a divine sunrise...the rays of the sun streamed through the temple remains of Vijaynagara empire and it was worth every moment..the day's best moments were spent in a coracle ride through the cool waters of Tungabhadra river under the blazing sun and exploration of further structures by the riverside..The last day at Hampi got us nostalgic and already ' hampi sick'...We started bidding farewell to the lady who sold us hot coffee and 'nutella toast and pancakes', to the warm owner of our guest house..we bargained our way through the little shops on Hampi Bazaar and got us loads of trinkets, bags and little knick knacks to bring home...But what we did bring with us was a lot more..the memory of a splendourous empire, a town that was unlike the crowded metros that we live in..it's your own moment with history and also with the realization that our generation has not yet made a single monument that would survive 500 years and get a generation to 'wow' 'wow'!

Life lost in customer care numbers

I sometimes sit back and take count of the hours spent trying to sort our your daily tangles with the 'all powerful' customer care number...............and the result is mind boggling....I feel I have given away a large chunk of my 'good' life to the customer care executives in my circumference-  my credit card, my mobile and what have you........Firstly there is that nagging list of numbers to punch in......why cant we directly enter our required menu and get going? Then there is the bigger and if you ask me the most difficult task of making your customer care executive understand your problem...the term 'care' being unwanted in the designation.. I feel the biggest 'people' challenge that a professional faces is trying to keep your head and cool with the workforce called customer care executives...After the uphill task of making them understand you, you have to hear the pearls of wisdom which might not even be relevant to your question...and if they hang up ....god help you because you might need another 3 days to catch a person amidst all the 'your call is important to us' music that plays through the entire performance..And after all the charade there is a sense of urgency for the executive to wish you a 'great day ahead'...and you are left with no 'great' or 'day' ahead...Sometimeswe might probably do the whole cycle and get back to Uncle Scrooge days and store our penny and rupee in our socks.......atleast you can take them out without waiting for the 'business hours'!!!!!

A country that is going to the dogs

Each day my belief of the same is cemented as I get my daily dose of 'corruption' updates or in simple terms my morning newspaper...From CWG to CVC, the 3 letters may have changed but the underlying madness does not ....Government and governance have lost its meaning.. I am petrified of the next election when the country faces its biggest challenge ..of choosing a righteous leader from the pack that surrounds us..