First Flight of my Life

I know, it sounds weird, but yea, In my 3+ work experience, I did not get a chance to board plane.
When I decided on MS in USA, apart from many other important new experiences which I should face, one obviously was the Flight journey. Having one or two visits to Airport (as a visitor), I hardly knew anything about the airport etiquettes(which I was worried about).
THE day has finally come ,and it was RajivGandhi International Airport, Hyd. I have already heard a lot about what to do (from my bro) , what not to do, things to remember, Passport - always check, do not forget the baggage blah blah blah. At the airport, as we usually see in a typical telugu movie, A gang of around 20 people arrived for my sendoff. Some were happy that am finally on my way trying out my dreams, some were sad that am leaving them, and wont return in near future( specially mom) , But in my mind, I was just thinking how my next 24hrs would be.

It was August 15 '13, and I was going to board British Airways(Till Heathrow, London). yea, It sounds weird for many Indians with the Aug15 ( The Independence day) and British Airways combination, It hardly matters anyway. As soon as I entered the airport, I stood enthralled, astonished by seeing the flags  all over the airport, flag colored papers decorated and almost every Indian of airport staff with a flag on his/her shirt. I felt proud for myself :D, and I told to myself "a good start !" and moved on.

I found three British Airways personnel sitting and guy directed all the BA passengers to check-in their bags. He welcomed me with very warm wish, you guess it right -" Good morning Mam, Happy Independence day!", Happiness all along, I checked-in my bag , then to Immigration officer, I shocked him with a greet (Happy Independence Day!) , and moved to security check and finished it in 5min. done! that's it. Am ready to fly :-D

Two more hours to fly, And am all done with formalities, so I decided to explore the airport. There are many things which we can shop about, Clothes, books, accessories etc. There are many options for food as well. I had my breakfast ( Idli Wada ! - My fav) and Now its time aboard.

My first peep into Flight , A long compartment of seats like a chair-car in shathabdi express :D with 2-4-2 seats between two pathways. Its time for me to sit, Hurray!, I got a Window seat. I think now am loving it :D

In the aircraft,  the food(special Indian meals which was too good), the ambiance, the comfort, the movies (English, Hindi) , everything was awesome. Takeoff , Landing was little scary but apart from that everything seemed like a simple ride. whenever there were turbulence, it was like a roller coaster ride.

Heathrow Airport ,London , It was so big - it took us a lot of time in walking to the desired terminal. This airport I would say is vast , beautiful  and of course one of the world's busiest airport. So many option to shop and Eat!.

And now, its American Airways (from Heathrow  -> Dallas) , Another time in a queue and couple of questions and a boarding pass. Now I felt like, an experienced flight boarder :P :P.  I had 20min before my connecting flight, the next task , yes , to check the Airport Wifi , More than to mention the family that I reached London , Check-in on FB,  letting people know I am in a foreign Land for the first time :D.

American Airways, Yes- a 11hr fight,  Not many Indian faces, American food, Welcome to America! I told to my self. Again a window seat !! I was delighted. Peeping out of the window now and then, was my Time pass in the flight. The oceans, the mountains etc from the window, were like Arial view, is really a very good experience.

I reached my destination ( dallas- fortworth airport DFW), and Immigration check again. A separate line for Internationals and Americans.  and yes our queue was pretty big, it took an hour at the Immigration check and baggage collection and then a stamp on passport, And we are done!!
I am now in America, officially for my MS :D

Hyderabad Again..!

A 3'day (rather, i would say - 2'night) trip to Hyderabad.
Every time i visit Hyderabad, it was always a brand new experience for me and i mean it. It was a 3 day trip in March (Summer already gearing up) and Our mission was to have a close look at the night life, so our Day1 started @4pm. We (Gang of 6) started-off to "Park" which has a pub named "Kismet" located exactly opposite to Necklace road (MMTS station). We decided to have a small meal, so stopped at KFC which was located close to "Park". People who don't believe in "KFC run by deaf and dumb", Can visit this branch of KFC.It was my first visit to KFC and i felt privileged.

As soon as i entered Kismet, i already started getting the feel of a pub(usually shown in Movies with disco lights) at the entrance and on the dance floor,The barman playing with the bottles, bouncers roaming around. Not to forget it's Hyderabad, and 9 30 pm is too early for night life. To my surprise in a matter of 1 hr i saw  kismet over-crowed. Music was extra-ordinary and the crowd was awesome, folks, who doesn't had intentions to dance also, will start jumping, and its not an exaggeration. For many, specially elders,who think its wrong thing to do- going to a pub - where people booze etc etc, i would say, a decent pub like Kismet with a trust worthy friends is heaven ( If you booze or not).I bet, The Music n people will elicit your energy levels(Great place to hang out for even non-boozers with a prerequisite that they shouldn't mind people drinking! ).

Dance Floor @ Kismet

The roads of Hyderabad, what ever time it is, not deserted ,will find Police patrolling, vehicles on roads and you are not alone at all. You can still find food- Tiffins (Idly, dosa etc) or authentic biryani, what ever it is.

Day 2: As we all were sporting freaks, we started off to In-orbit mall for bowling. It was a wrong timing. Not to forget, A Sunday evening, to a mall, that too where you find software professionals as neighbors, is really a wrong thing. The crowd was horrible with kids all over the playing arena. To have a break from all this, we decided to go to the food court and try something new, my eyes stuck when i saw Cream-stone Ice-cream counter (Famous one in Hyderabad), i tried 3 different flavors and all of them were equally delicious and you don't feel it as a real ice-cream  as  he minces it so finely. I would strongly recommend it to all the ice-cream lovers, and of-course i loved it.

We had to choose Rush sports bar, where were expecting less crowd for bowling. Bowling is the best game when you think, you can involve all your friends equally in the game  and I have to mention, I am disastrous when it comes to bowling, being am optimist, i would rather say, i am still in learning phase.
And now, It's time for go-karting! so we started-off to shamshabad airport for the same. The environs of go-karting there has no bounds when it comes to description, at least for a person like me, who doesn't like much crowd and noise. On a Sunday night or rather i would say Monday morning, Go-karting starts at 12 am. The track was really broader and we jumped in for a 9 lap race as soon as it was open. If you are on a race with a 6 people who are extra-ordinary drivers, i can guarantee, the money paid-off. Go-karting is something which should be done as a race, not as an individual . friends trying to over-take, trying to hit you and not let you come over them, the crazy U- turns( Last U-turn in this place was awesome), If you are stopped (because of some technical problems - like Engine down, fuel empty), and others come hit you, making your life more miserable. At that time, you think, this is Life :-).

It was the Day 3, and One of my friend wanted to check out the actual shopping in Hyderabad  but because of the Terrorist attack and alert, we dropped the idea of going to Charminar, and ended up to Koti. For banglorians koti looks like Jayanagar 4th block. though it was Monday, it was very crowded and there were  announcements everywhere to beware of strangers and Unclaimed bags etc (because of the attacks which hit hyd a week ago), and then i remembered my dad's words of not to roam in crowded places, so got out of that place in less than an hour ( I think its a record for 2 gals, getting out of a shopping area in less than an hour, and we did it).
Its time for Imax - the big screen, Must visit. The hall was really big ,which i have ever seen, at least when it comes to watching a movie and of-course the big screen too. we watched a movie named "jack the gaint slayer" In 3D. More than the movie, we were excited about the Screen, which makes it clear that I was First timer to visit Imax too.

After the movie, we were left out with almost 2 n half hrs for our Bus and we decided to go to Eat street and it was real treat to eyes because of the view from there, you can see the total of necklace road with lights along with the still water (the tank bund).
The Astrologers: You find plenty of astrologers with  parrots on the necklace road. These people are the cheapest among fortune tellers. I wonder how these people tell the fortune based on one card picked up from a pack of less than 20 cards. I think they just observe the other's instincts, have some knowledge of face reading, which will help them in making people believe them, no offenses anyway. If you really want some fun, you have to definitely go for it. They will really boost some of your qualities and you will enjoy the way they narrate it.

When we booked our return tickets , we were happy that we booked "paradise" as our boarding point,more than the Place of reach, It was dinner which made us think it as a better stop to the trip.
Paradise biryani is one of the most famous biryani hub.Paradise is the place named after this famous Restaurant which is located in secenderabad. We had total of three visits to Paradise in three days and two times to this main branch of Paradise. We had Chilli Fish -starter, Paradise special biryani(both chicken and lamb), Hyderabadi biryani, Egg biryani, dessert "double ka meeta", last but not the least "Pan" which you get downstairs in the same building and everything tasted so very delicious, A groovy end to the out-standing trip.

The Bandaje Falls - twists and turns

I was so excited when i signed up for Bandaje trek (First trek of my life), the most craziest thing which anybody would have done in their life. You may think, whats so crazy in signing up for a trek(Difficulty level 8 of 10). Its the time, i took for making my decision, no guesses please, It was just 5 minutes. and then Half an hour more, i was in an auto started off to majestic( yes, it was Friday evening around 6 30 pm, we got the info about the trek and Bus to Dharmastala was at 9 pm from Majestic). Including me , we were 14 people, who were going to be the players for next two days.
It was the devotional songs of Lord shiva in the bus which woke us up at 4 am the next day(Saturday), and yes it was from the Radio station of Dharmastala(Famous for Shri Manjunatha temple). Radio station at 4 am , making us think about the god so early in the morning, well, i was impressed(at least after my experience with some of the corporate temples(As i call them) in Bangalore  which are open from 8 am to 10am, 6pm to 8pm  on weekdays -Targeting software professionals). Anyway, A good start to the day, i thought. it was too early for many, though.
As soon as we got down at Ujjire ( 8km from dharmastala), we got in to a hotel to freshen up and then headed to a upidi tiffin center for a heavy breakfast. then we had to go to Forest department for an approval for the trek. There we are supposed to give an alternate number and address along with your name, which will be needed for them,if in case we are missing.

Day 1: The actual trek started , from a village in ujjire, with all my excitement intact, i started-off with a zeal. It was October (Rains and winter both), and was just a half an hour journey, and i had to meet the deadliest creatures on earth (For me)- The leeches. May be because of the Mist or the humidity in the forest, I donno, but the forest was full of Leeches, I had a weapon (Salt) with me against them anyway.

Introducing --- The Leech

Probably because of the rain (the day before our trek) or Mist or the season, The track or the trial was not clear and in a matter of 1 hr, we lost the way. and then We found a villager "Surya" ( a kid of 10-15 yrs) to help us out. He showed us a way which took us to a stream and then, he asked us to cross the stream and move upwards along the stream, but he was not interested to cross the stream with us and so he left.
The most experienced trekkers(seniors i call them :D) of the team decided to look for a trial and asked us not to follow them till they think that we are in the right direction. so we decide to cross the stream and wait for their green flag.

 And the seniors were right,we lost our way again. There was no trial along the stream and again we were stuck. It was 12 pm and we were no where in the actual plan. we decided to have our lunch and mean while some folks returned back to get some inputs on the trial. they figured out that we took a wrong way initially and headed to this stream, so we had to go back to almost the starting point and it was 2 pm already. Mean while, we saw two snakes(Breed: water snake) in the same water stream which we had to walk through to return. Welcome to the forest , i told my self after figuring it out as harmless.

We started the actual trek now, still keeping our spirits high to reach the falls before sun set. We had to trek in forest with our leaches for around 4 hrs (struggling to get ride of them, with salt, with water and tricks- tactics etc) but, they were unavoidable. Though we found two rattle snakes (Poisonous), leeches were the one worrying us more. Fortunately We reached the grasslands just before it totally became dark. Otherwise i can't even imagine my whole night in the forest with those deadly leeches. We made it finally was the other's thoughts, but for me, i was on top with happiness after getting out of the territory of leeches, though the trek was still on, we were already felt as Achievers.

Grass lands, better than the leeches world , but were hard to climb for me, may be because they were very steep, may be because we had to hold the grass and climb, because the glass was so rough to even touch, because the grass was full of mist and of course because it was already dark. With torches we managed to go to a place where there was less grass to put on our Tents.

The silence all over the place, the darkness next to me, not even Moon to see at, pleasant weather and the feel that there are only 14 people on earth. Yes it was life :-) (Atleast for a person who needed a break from the crowded bangalore). We had no water left out with us, so had to eat some oranges to keep off the thirsty and decided to sleep, praying for a quick night (because we sensed some Elephant dung while climbing up the hill). fortunately we din't get a chance to say hello to any elephants.

My tent

Day 2:
When i came out of the tent, I was almost on top of a hill and i can see only Hills with greenery (glass lands and some forest ) all around. It was a cloudy morning, Mist every where, Cool breeze making you more fresh .. yea I had a reason to celebrate after i get back.

It was one of my memorable mornings in my life. The weather lifted all our spirits again to have a kick start to second day.

Our Team

Our First mission was to find water to drink, and then head towards the gigantic Bandaje falls. We reached the falls in Half an hour and started off with breakfast to celebrate the success of reaching the desired destination.

Now its time to find a Fort which will make our mission complete half way and then return back from the fort in another route to reach Horanadu before sun set. Fortunately we found a trail after some time and our rate of trekking increased exponentially. More than the trail, i was happy because of the absence of leeches.

The Wonderland

We finally reached the fort without many twists and had our Lunch there. after a one and half day food constituting of bread , jam , bun etc , Eating an Methi ka parata with Mango pickle was heaven.
Then, we thought we were sure of the return trial when we started from fort and after a half an hour of journey, we figured out that we are in a wrong trail and we can't afford to return as it was already 3 30 pm.

Our Columbus( of the team) found a new trail but he was not sure if that will lead to the village down, which we could see from up the hill. Because i was happy  that whole day because of not having much difficulties since morning, which din't last anymore, was hit with a big twist . The trial was very difficult because the train has a space for Only one person can walk at a time, towards my Left was a steep cliff and right was a deep valley, had to make use of rope at one point of time as the surface was slipping and if you slip, you will end up in that deep valley(if you are alive). To our shock (at least for me ), that trial led to a forest which was full of leeches .They were climbing up like hell, making our life more miserable and of course it was 4 30 pm and we still in forest searching for a proper trial which will lead us to a way which Forest department use for getting their Jeeps up.
We kept our hopes on and speed-ed up trekking in the direction of the village which we were able to see , and counting on the Altitude levels to check if we are really heading down the hill. finally found the Trail of Forest department and then we were sure that from there it was just 2 km to reach the village and everybody were really happy with a wow!! as soon as we made Found a village and some villagers. I was happy being Alive :-).

And with the help of the villagers we reached the place where we found a jeep which will take us to Horanadu (Our boarding point for return). Our bus was parked in front of the Famous Annapoorneshwari temple. So we got a chance to visit the temple and had our dinner in a small hotel near by before we got into the bus and got into deep sleep remembering the 2 day experience and realizing that "The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience".

Varalakshmi Vratham (Warangal Style)

Varalkashmi vratham is the festival where Goddess Lakshmi is worshiped. Worshiping Goddess Varalakshmi on this day is treated  as auspicious as worshiping Ashta lakshmis (8 goddesses): Wealth, Earth, Learning, Love, Fame, Peace, Pleasure, and Strength.
This is a very special festival for most of the married women (in Hindus). The day  falls on a Friday (usually before Pournami - Full moon day )in a season called Shravana Masam (according to the Telugu Calender).


This festival is done by married Women for the well being of all the family members especially her husband.

Being an atheist, for me this Pooja is more like a culture which i would recommend to incorporate to keep alive our holy spirits, in turn the affirmative spirits. Worshiping goddesses depicts the respect to women we have which got inherited from our ancestors. According to me , Every ritual , every superstitious act in this culture definitely has a scientific reasoning behind it.  The Kind of food they offer to god (called as Prasadham) is mostly made of nutritious rich ingredients.

Specially In this festival, Women/Gals are invited to pray the god along with the host and host will express her tribute by giving mainly some bangles, bananas and also the Prasadam. In our culture, every women(at least Married Women) should wear Sindhoor (Kumkum, English - Vermilion), bangles. If these things are gifted as part of the ritual , it is treated as auspicious for the host as well.

Most impressive part of this festival is making up of the goddess, decorating  accordingly with a tumbler, coconut, Cloth, flowers and jewelry.

despite of the westernization , these kind of festivals will remind us of  the wonderful culture we have.
Lets keep up the spirits of ,one of the world's ancient Culture, high by just remembering and following.