Bodhi Zendo - Abide where there is no abiding

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This is not a resort or tourist attraction; but for those looking for a non-religious spiritual get-away, Bodhizendo offers three day meditation course every first Thursday of the month. You can stay here at any time of the year if you follow the monastic order. Bodhizendo was set up by Fr.AMA Samy, a Jesuit priest, an independent Zen master, combining the Hinduism, Christianity and Zen Buddhism. The center offers bread and board for a meager Rs.350/- per person per day. The rooms are basic and neatly furnished; the best housekeeping we have ever seen. The entire center runs on eco-friendly solar heating with a very minimalist approach. A very well landscaped center garden and zen garden surrounded by deep valleys and lush greenery including a vegetable garden. While staying here, me wet many interesting and people from around the world who all have one common goal- to live a meaningful life. 

Read more about the meditation: http://www.intromeditation.com/Wordpress/bodhi-zendo-monastery-in-india/

To reach here from Coimbatore, you need to take a bus to Palani (3hrs) and board another bus heading towards Kodaikanal (2hrs) and get down at Perumalmalai, 12km before Kodaikanal, through the winding road, which makes the bus a vomit comet. A 30min walk from Perumalmalai junction through St. Joseph's Farm will take you to Bodhizendo.

The nearest railway station is Kodai Road but easily accessible is Dindigul Junction. From Perumalmalai, you can go to Dindigul (2hrs) and Madurai(3hrs) via Vatalagundu. Another option is Thekkady via Vatalagundu-Theni-Cumbum-Kumily (4hrs,Rs.55) Locals say there is a route from Kodai to Munnar via Kilavarai with 7km walk if you get permissions from the TN Forest Department. There is a private bus (Rs 750, 5hrs) from Kodai to Munnar via Bodhinayakanoor which starts only if they enough passengers. The easiest way to reach southern part of TamilNadu or Kerala from here is to take a train from Madurai or Dindigul. There are many trains to Chennai and Bangalore from Dindigul. If you are travelling to Cochin or Coimbatore, take a bus to Palani and proceed further. Dindigul and Palani are in two different directions from Perumalmalai and takes less than 3hrs by bus.

The schedule is as follows :

5:30 am : Wake up gong
6-7 am : Formal Zazen (sitting meditation)
7-8 am : Breakfast
8-9:30 am: Samu/Seva
9:30 am : Coffee/Tea
10:30 - 12 noon : Silence
12-12:30 : Free zazen
12:30 - 1:30 pm : Lunch
1:30 - 4 pm: Silence
4 pm : Coffee/Tea

5:30 onward Silence
6 - 7 pm : Formal Zazen
7 - 8 pm : Dinner
8-8:30 pm : Free zazen 

Samu/seva is expected from everyone for 90min a day. During mini-sesshin (3days) and long sesshin (6days) there will be longer hours of zazen- 7hrs with breaks in between. You need to spend at least 3days to settle into this quiet experience of soul-searching. We spent close to five weeks here including a long sesshin in June. Any time is ideal time to visit the place but from December to May the house usually is full. It is not necessary to come during the sesshin, other times are equally useful and worthy. At the time of our visit the master was present and he left to Europe for 3 months. 

If you want to work on yourself, spend a few days here. You may go back with a different worldview.

This is the practice of Shikantaza: just sitting, just observing, just being here and now, with no seeking and no goals. It is the intimacy with oneself and with the world. This is the Zazen of intimacy.

From the book:  Zen heart,  Zen Mind
The teachings of zen master AMA Samy

Anjana Vidyakendra- a rural school to make a difference

After a year long backpacking trips through rural India,  we have come back to Bangalore, but rural Bangalore. We are working as primary school teachers at a rural (halli) school. The location is at Tattanoor, 20km away from Whitefield and 15km from Sarjapura. The school is 7km from Ayurvedagram, which is around 13km from Hope Farm junction, Whitefield. Other route is from Sarjapura which is closer to Silk Board.  

Teach for a Lunch:

Please visit us on a saturday. You can bring your family too. You can engage a class- be it a topic from syllabus or out-of-syllabus. Bring your puzzles/games/skills. 
Have lunch with us and return in the afternoon. Or just come to our school to meet our enthusiastic children. They slide down from the library after taking a book to read. They walk barefoot on the courtyard cow dung (gobar) flooring - antibacterial and a natural insect repellent. Our students draw kolams on this floor in different geometric patterns that they learned in their Mathematics class. Did you know the kolams were put in front of the house to keep the ants at the door step?

A rocking amphi-theater with a honge tree at the center. A 'play-station' loaded with sports and recreation. Mouth-watering nutrition meals. It would be nice for your kids to know what they have in plenty and what they are deprived of :-)

http://brahmi.org - see more details on the website. About the name,  school is named after Hanuman's mother. Channa Raju and his wife Uma started this school to provide education to the girls in this area - so that at least they can postpone the eventuality of child marriage (15 or 16 they get married off). 

At Anjana Vidyakendra, we use methods from Arvind Gupta, Sudarshan Kanna, Khan Academy and Teachers of India - more suitable for rural children who may not have access to projector and digital classes.  We make toys from scrap materials. We play games with left hand. We made puzzles out of food packages.

 

See the pictures: https://plus.google.com/101149651204061760649#photos/101149651204061760649/albums/5979154604236780289

 

We have a science exhibition in February saturday and with that we wind up from Anjana for this academic year.

Minimalist travellers

From the pristine Northeast to the pampered by tourists South we saw the diverse and vivid colours of India! The last year was undeniably the best times in our life so far. The exquisite cultural experience, umpteen memorable moments, priceless friends - make the experience of our travel precious.

The trip began with charming Shillong - a very appealing welcome to the Northeast! Next was the romantic Bomdila and heavenly Tawang with generous locals. Fairytale Menchuka - this place is a fairytale with people precious like angels. Enthralling Sohra (aka Cherrapunjee) with tender and warm populace, mesmeric Mizoram with stunning people, the elegant Nagaland - Hornbill festival - with captivating men and women. Very confidently we can declare that exploring Northeast India was the only desire we ever had. Despite spending three months there, we feel places to be explored are plentiful. 

Jobless - Yes, we were not on sabbatical, had no job to come back to. The idea behind travelling was to experience different cultures, to figure out various possibilities of job. Today, we know which job interests us, what location pleases us. With so many friends all over India, surely we have a lot of job opportunities.

A few takeaways from our travel experience:

• Time - it is a luxury, relish and enjoy while you have it. Money can't buy time, on the other hand time can buy you money. 
• Nature - it has provided us more than it can, yet we are greedy for more. Care for nature in every step you take.
• Health- take care of your health without excuses, 20min exercise everyday helps a lot, both mind and body.

As a philosophy of life, we follow 'Minimalism'; a tool used to rid yourself of life’s excess in favor of focusing on what’s important so you can find happiness, fulfillment, and freedom. Read more:  http://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/

Toy train and a birthday gift

(C) IRCTC

A birthday gift can't be better than this according to me - a ride on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway miniature train munching homemade chocolates, with my soul mate. We took the ride from Udaghamandalam (Ooty) to Mettupalayam. The train runs on diesel engine from Ooty to Conoor and changes to steam engine at Conoor. Not only the ride but the scenery too gets fascinating Conoor onwards. The chugging and puffing of the steam engine takes us a few years back, with the hot white puff of steam giving a fairytale effect. The huge mountains, numerous tunnels and the breath-taking bridges - increases the level of excitement and the adrenalin rush. Little past Conoor, we were lucky to spot a wild elephant running ahead of us on the track bewildered by the screeching horn of the train. It was surprising to see the steam engine run so fast, when it reached the plains. The ride is something to be experienced and not possible to express merely in words. The concept of Mountain Railways is flabbergasting!

It is easier to get the tickets for the downward journey (Ooty-Metupalaiyam) than upward (Metupalaiyam-Ooty). As the train takes the same route uphill and downhill it is not disappointing travelling downhill. Second seating costs you Rs.25, starting at 2:15pm and reaching Mettupalayam before 6pm.

Apart from Nilgiri Mountain Railway and homemade chocolates the reason to go to Ooty was to visit Keystone Foundation (www.keystone-foundation.org) in Kotagiri. In Ooty, Raja Lodge (0423-2443512, #5, Mannuvel pillai st, main bazar, near bus stand, opp railway station) is a good option with double rooms ranging from Rs.300-600, former with shared bathroom and the latter with private bathroom and water heater. While in Ooty, we were obliged, faute de mieux, to stroll through the Botanical Garden - very popular amongst Bollywood as well as south Indian movies for romantic song sequences. Thanks to the rains and low number of tourists, for proving the following sentence from Lonely Planet about the garden wrong - "Look out for a fossilised tree trunk believed to be around 20 million years old, and on busy days, roughly 20 million Indian tourists".

Kotagiri:
Nilgiris comprise of three popular hill stations - Ooty, Conoor and Kotagiri. Kotagiri being the oldest of the three stands at an elevation of 1800m amidst tea estates. The road to Kotagiri passes through one of the highest points in the locality of 2400m. Keystone Foundation in Kotagiri is an NGO working for betterment of the indigenous communities. The unique talent of few indigenous communities is honey collection. The organisation mainly focuses on honey collection and related products. They encourage indigenous people to collect honey the traditional way and keep a watch on ecological balance through experienced environmentalists. They market all products made my indigenous people and sell through the marketing label Lastforest. They have Green Shops that sells the products like honey, soap made out of bee wax, locally grown organic spices etc. These shops are to be found in Kotagiri and Ooty. They also run a Bee Museum in Ooty, which apart from having interesting facts about bee also showcases informative and educational movies (not commercial movies). The ride to Kotagiri from Ooty itself is interesting which takes a little more than an hour. Unlike Ooty, you will not be disturbed by touts or guides here and you can wander on your own in this clean town.

The pleasant weather and the welcoming people of Kotagiri made us stay in Kotagiri for a day instead of Ooty. Kotagiri enjoys a climatic advantage over Ooty in that it is protected by the Doddabetta mountain range from the onslaught of the south-west monsoon. Restaurant next door dishes up delicious Tamil Nadu style meals, but no dinner. Interestingly Kotagiri has got a lot of schools ranging from Government to International Boarding Schools. The main income of the place is from tea and agriculture, tourism has not picked up in this hill station of Nilgiris. Next morning we set off to Ooty to board the long awaited Nilgiri Mountain Railway miniature train. Stay at
Ramesh Vihar Hotel, HRM Buildings, Kamaraj Square (Tel : 04266 271346, dbl Rs 825), better than a few cheapies on the same road.

Vagamon - Laurie Baker's home

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 Did you know Laurie Baker lived at Vagamon before he moved to Thiruvananthapuram circa 1960? Well, it was a serendipity for us when we reached Asha Sadan at Kurisumala.

After the novelty of monsoon showers, it was not a very good idea to ride a motorcycle to Vagamon from Cherthala. There is a shorter route from Cherthala via Vechoor-Edayazham-Kallara-Kuruppunthara-Kuravilangad-Pala-Erattupetta to Vagamon taking around four hours  covering 100km by an old Yamaha RX100. Change gears after Erattupetta for winding, steep, war field like roads. The roads are preparing for a  complete 4lane conversion and many blasts tore open the mountains. Few sections of the road reminded us of the roads in Arunachal Pradesh.

Deluge of the monsoon season berained the valleys and mountains. At 982m altitude the three hills -  Thangalmala, Muruganmala and Kurishumala at Vagamon were wet and cold requiring some warm clothes. There are frequent KSRTC buses from Kottayam and Pala. A few private buses go to Kumily via Vagamon-Elappara. The old house of eco friendly master architect Laurie Baker was bought by a nature lover and he developed Asha Sadan (Tel: 98479914519, 8281723268, dbl Rs.800, www.econestashasadan.com), simple vegetarian meals are not overpriced and very tasty. You can choose from basic rooms, cottages and dormitory. Sagar, the manager claimed upto 250 people have stayed at once there including many Malayalam movie stars.  Strolling around a lovely campus of Asha Sadan watching the lush green slopes filled with a thick blanket of fog is sheer bliss. Kurishumala Ashramam is a short walk away.




Four kilometre away from Kurishumala, at the town centre restaurants and lodges greet the tourist. Love Land Home (Tel: 9961017379, dbl Rs.700) is run by Seban and his brother Joji offering rooms and cottages. They can arrange home cooked food. Their mother Mary Kutty runs a restaurant at central junction, Kurishumala.

Vagamon is frequented by college students and youngsters looking for a cool location to consume hot booze. Film making crew and honeymoon couples throng the meadows and tea estates for shooting. Pine Valley, Thangal Para, Kurishumala Ashramam, Kolahalamedu, Suicide Point and cattle unit are the places of interest for 'sight-seeing' tourist. 

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Travellers can take a ride to Elappara (15km, 1hr) or Elaveezhupoonchira (22km, 2hr) to soak in the complete experience of the Western ghats. We got soaked in the morning, literally, after a ride to Elappara through the bad roads among the hills shrouded in the mist. Elappara is a medium sized town with petrol pump and ATM thriving on tea estate economy. Two roads in opposite direction take you to Kuttikanam and Kattapana from here. If you are driving from Munnar to Thekkady stopping at Vagamon is a good option. Less touristy and more misty.

The traveler is active; he goes strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes 'sight-seeing'. - Daniel Boorstin

Wayanad- where the jungle meets resorts

Early morning view of Chembra Peak from Kalpetta Town

 
Wayanad still retains the innocence and culture of farmers. People & culture perspective, it may be the best place in Kerala. Women are safe in public and people respect each other. When asked a gentleman not to smoke in a public place, he obliged without any hesitation. Bus drivers and conductors helped us to reach our destinations. Mass tourism has not spoiled the economy and ecology. But climate has changed in the last decade owing to the rampant construction depleting the green cover.

Ernad express is a good bet for anyone on the coastal south Kerala to reach Wayanad. Starting at 2am from Nagercoil, this 'day' train reaches Calicut (Kozhikode) at 12.30 pm. We boarded from Cherthala at 7 am (216 km, 6 hrs, Rs.85). From Calicut railway station a short ride by private bus will take you to the 'puthiya' (new) bus stand, circumventing Mananchira square and pond. A 3hr ride from Calicut to Vythiri turns adventurous a little after Thamaraserry. Thamaraserry 'churam' (ghats road) is a very famous road known for hairpin bends and described in the Malayalam movie Vellanakalude Nadu by Kuthiravatham Pappu. Once you reach Vythiri, you see hoardings everywhere about resorts - green, silver, view - all of them sound the same.

Kalpetta is the district center and there is no place called Wayanad in Wayanad district. For a budget backpackers' accommodation Kannur Ayurveda Center, Emily Road, Kalpetta (tel: 9495260535, dbl Rs.600, http://www.ayurvedawayanad.com/) run by doctor couple Vinod and Jeeja. Excellent home made food will be served in your room Rs.60/meal. An hour long ayurveda massage Abhyangam costs Rs.700. The whole body is massaged with Dhanyatharam Kozhampu nourishes skin and provides quick relief from travel fatigue. 

Roaming around any part of Wayanad is possible from Kalpetta, as there are plenty of buses, except Tholpetty, Thirunelly and Pakshipatalam. It is better to stay at Mananthavady for these wildlife destinations.We did a trip to Pulpally taking a bus from Batheri (Rs.19, 1hr, 25km) via Chetalaya - where there is a temple dedicated to Seetha, Lava and Kusha. This is an interesting route amidst teak forest with a few tribal settlements at Irulam. 

We met Biju Joy's mother and brother at Marappanmoola, a short ride by bus from Pulpally Bus Stand. Panamaram is a low lying area in Wayanad which gets flooded during heavy rains die to its proximity to a tributary of Kabini River. Pallikannu church near Kambalakkadu is a favourite pilgrimage spot. We had a friend Biju George at Sarvodaya school, Echom teaching there. Both Biju Joy and Biju George studied with me at St.Xavier's college, Thumba.

Rain Soaked Tea Estates at Vythiri

Uravu Bamboo Heritage Centre  (http://www.uravu.net/) is 45 min from Kalpetta (Rs.12). Uravu promotes social enterprises based on value addition of local, natural resources, especially bamboo. This bus goes up to Mukkamkunnu, Meppadi is just 7km  through  tea estates and an interesting ride if you have own vehicle. Buses don't go beyond Mukkamkunnu. 

Blooms Green Farm:

Take a turn to Kenichira at Beenachi from NH212 between Batheri and Meenangadi. This route can lead to either Pulpally or Mananthavadi. Kenichira is a small town and Blooms Green Farm is 10min walk from the town, tucked away in lush greenery. It boasts an organic farm, a bunch of animals including ten dogs and a vast pond (www.bloomsgreenfarm.com, Tel: 999 555 3377, 999 555 7733). They also have budget accommodation starting from Rs.750 a little distance away and camping location at Makkiyad. Proprietor Jonh Joseph is a real estate developer and work with developing time-sharing villas with eco-tourism concepts. He organises an yearly shuttle badminton tournament in December. While unwinding yourself doing nothing, you can indulge in the delicious meals or go for an elephant ride within the organic farm.

A famous Kannada song "viraha nooru nooru taraha" from a well known director Puttana Kanagal is from the movie "Edakallu Guddada Mele" translates on top of edakkal hill. It was through this movie I came to know of Edakkal caves in Wayanad. I was looking forward to visit this place, as I'd heard a lot about it. Visiting the Edakkal cave gave me a sense of accomplishment, apart from meeting all my expectations I had. Soochippara, Pookot Lake, Banasura Dam, Pazhassi Tomb are a few other tourist attractions in different directions. Board buses from Kalpetta bus stand to reach any of these locations.

Green moss clad entrance at Pazhassi Tomb

There is a scenic route from Wayanad to Ooty via Gudalur. Most people will guide you to take a bus from Bathery, but there are TN buses from Calicut to Ooty. You can take a KSRTC bus from Kalpetta to Meppadi and board the TN bus around 8am which reaches Ooty by 1pm via Vaduvanchal-Cherambadi-Gudalur. An alternate driving holiday to Munnar if your predilection is for tea estates.

To reach Wayanad from Mysore, the shortest route is through H.D.Kote-Bavali-Kartikulam-Mananthavady- closed between 6am-6pm. The only route open through the night is via Kutta. Many KSRTC (both KA and KL) buses ply on this route and it takes around 3hrs from Mysore to Mananthavady for Rs 105. You can stay at Kabini Tourist Home, Valliyoorkavu Rd  (04935 240611, 954426399 dbl Rs.400, tr Rs.500) very close to the bus station at Mananthavady. You can visit Thirunelly and Tholpetty from Mananthavady; Kuruva Island is closed to visitors currently.

Sivanasamudra, Talakadu, Somanthapura- a school trip

Ask any school student of our generation who studied in Government school where were they taken as part of one day trip, the answer would be Bluff, Talakadu and Somanathapura.A road trip to Mysore with my parents and sister – as the rains continued to flood North Karnataka. Though, we considered Hampi and other Northern part of Karnataka, we acquiesced on a two day road trip instead of taking a 14hr bus trip.

We did not want to take the usual Bangalore-Mysore route, instead chose to drive through Kanakapura. This route is well connected by ST buses to Kollegala and further to Coimbatore via Sathyamangalam. The first 25km or so might take one hour of driving and the traffic and roads are better beyond Kanakapura.

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Shivanasamudra:

Close to 100km from Kanakapura, after driving through the villages of Mandya and crossing Malavalli, on NH 209, you will reach Belakavadi. The second hydroelectric power station in India, Shivanasamudra (sea of Siva) was established in 1902 across river Kaveri. Locally known as BLUFF this power plant has an interesting story. Dewan Seshadri Iyer constructed this dam to produce electricity for Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) where John Taylor Company was extracting gold for the British. But the Dewan was telling that electricity was meant for Mysore. The people did not believe this and called it a ‘bluff’, eventually electricity was supplied to KGF. Recently a 5MW Solar Power Plant is installed here. Two spectacular waterfalls – Gaganchukki and Bharachukki brought this place to tourism map. When we crossed the dam and solar power plant, we reached a parking lot near KSTDC Hotel. As we stepped down, we could see two separate waterfalls, assumed by many as Gaganchukki and Bharachukki at the same spot. Gaganchukki has two separate cascades at this location and Bharachukki is around 10km away inside an army cantonment driving past a temple and mosque. Be prepared to pay hefty parking fees and Grama Panchayat development fees en route. You will be flabbergasted at the volume of water and the width of the cascades at both these waterfalls.

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During summer the quantity and force of water would be less and a few years ago, there was no security or a fence to stop you from going to bottom of the waterfalls. At Bharachukki, we have gone down to the bottom of waterfalls and played in the water, which no longer is possible. It was nice to hear the childhood stories from my father about how he had to carry my sister on his back uphill while returning.

Another 25km through T. Narsipura-Kollegal road takes you through the rural life of Karnataka. People literally sit on the road processing black lentil (whole Urad Dal) near the feilds. A long fly-over will bypass this small town in the future. T in T. Narsipura stands for Tirumakudalu - meaning the confluence of Kabini (Kapila), Kaveri and Spatika Sarovara – a mythical lake.

Talakadu: Ancient capital of Ganga dynasty and later captured by Cholas, Talakadu was important in Karnataka history. 28km from Sivanasamudra, Talakadu is part fiction and part facts. Talakadu had over 30 temples and this historically vibrant city got buried in sand, an ecological disaster linked to an inexplicable legend of ‘Curse of Talakad’. As the legends unfold, Raja Wodeyar of Mysore was ogling at a nose-jewel of Rani Rangamma of Vijayanagar family and proceeded against Talakadu. Rani Rangamma, throwing the jewel in to the Kaveri drowned herself uttering a three-fold curse. “Let Talakad become sand; let Malangi become a whirlpool; let the Mysore Rajas fail to beget heirs”. Another pious lady, Almelamma is also credited for this curse in some other legends.

We would slide down the sand and run up all the way to repeat the sliding on sand not bothering of scorching sun. The main temple complex cannot be visited now, as it is under renovation by ASI. Anyhow, around the temples there is nothing but sand. Fortunately, there is a shaded walkway around the temples in this desert like sand dune. Panchalinga Darshana occurs every 12years, next due in 2021. We spent our lunch time at the Kaveri riverside, which is a picnic spot.

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Somanathapura:

Well maintained by ASI, Somanathapura is a fine example of Hoysala architecture, more quiet and peaceful than Belur and Halebid. Built using green schist, the Keshava temple has trikuta (triple shrine) with a vestibule connecting to the main rectangular mantapa, decorated with reliefs and friezes with pierced windows screens above them. All the three shrines are sixteen pointed stellate (star-shaped) in design and their towers follow the same pattern, which allow light from all directions to fall on this marvellous architecture.

Hop on and hop off KSRTC buses to visit these places in day and you can head to Bangalore or Mysore at the end of the day. You take a diversion from Bannur to either Mysore (25km) or Mandya (30km), if you are returning to Bangalore. If you are staying at Mysore, there are many new hotels on the K.R.S road if you don’t like to stay inside city. Inside the city, Hotel Dasprakash at Gandhi Square (Tel 0821-2442444, dbl Rs 780) is still better than the lot with ample car parking and a nice vegetarian restaurant. The Mysore Palace and Jayaramachandra Art Gallery is just 15min walk. Next morning after an obligatory visit to Brindavan Gardens and SriRangapatnam, we drove over thousands of speed breakers on Bangalore-Mysore state highway before reaching home.