Mysore Experience

As part of our South trip last March, we spent a couple of very memorable days at Mysore.

We started from Bangalore in the morning a about 8 am. The Bangalore-Mysore highway construction work was in full swing all along the route and it promises to be a grand highway soon. Our driver knew the place well and stopped us at a very nice roadside place for breakfast. We enjoyed the idli/vadas and had a nice time on the swings outside.






The next stop was at the island capital of Tipu Sultan- Sri Rangapatnam. There are some very beautiful monuments here. But for us the most enjoyable was the 20 minutes ride in a Coracle at the Sangam point on the southern tip of the island.








The low lying boats gave us a feeling of swimming with the ducks and other birds.












We had a nice thali at Mysore for lunch. Toured the ornate palace. The high painted roof was most fascinating.

Later we proceeded to Brindavan gardens. The children insisted on taking a speedboat rather than walk the gangway - it was nice that they did. The lone 'high' spout fountain was spectacular from the boat. My dad remembered the gardens to be as beautiful 30 years back when he had last been here.









The light and music fountain show was very well thought out and executed.













On coming back, went to see the Palace by the night- its quite a sight with all those 1 lakh bulbs aglow.







Next day started with a visit to the towering St. Philomena’s Cathedral. It is quite an imposing and beautiful church. We couldn't capture it all


















Then came the most enjoyable part- a visit to the famous Zoo. The zoo is laid out beautifully among trees of all kinds. The white tigers are a sight to behold. As was this large tree in the back ground.















We didn't have time to go to the bird sanctuary - but we will definitely return to this magnificent city some day.

Very Accomplished Cheats

This is about a very well run con-job at a 'company owned company
operated' IBP petrol pump at CP, Delhi. Its a very small pump with
only two pumping stations side by side. The guys there have perfected
a routine so that its very diificult to check the 'zero' before they
start filling up. As soon as you turn into the Petrol Pump, one of
the guys would urge you to stop much further down than you normally
would. Once you stop and open the tank door (thats the key- most of
the cars now a days have remote tank opening levers so its very
fast.) The other guy would be ready to start filling as soon as you
open the tank door. It happens so fast, you can just shake your head
and pay the 300-400 extra with impotent anger boiling inside you. It
happened with me once.
Next time, I wanted to make sure I wasn't mistaken the first time,
and the guys were actually cheating. So I stopped the car where I
could see the meter clearly. But the guy who was pointing me to go
further, asked me to move so as to make it easier for the dispenser
to reach the tank opening. I moved a little down and watched as the
other guy was ready to start filling up as soon as I pulled the tank
door lever. To his dismay, I got down, asked him to reset the meter
to zero (which was at about Rs 350) , and then only opened the tank
door. I could clearly see the disappointment of loosing some easy
bucks on his face.

Plans for this Diwali

Over the years we have been quite tired of the extra pollution in
Delhi around Diwali. So this year we plan to escape to Diu to spend
the Diwali week. Its still a long way off (OCt 20th ..) , but have
made bookings on SpiceJet for Delhi -Ahemadabad and back - of course
the 3k return ticket makes it possible to go so far in a 5 day holiday.
Any tips / experiences are most welcome :).