A New Trip.

Trip to Mysore and Coorg

It was a wonderful, with new clothes, and new mindset, it was a new start altogether. I was scared to travel, because it was after two years that I took up travelling alone after my loved one passed away. Bus journey is what I remember.

We stopped at a place for tea. And then take on again. By dancing to music, we passed our time. We reach Mysore at 9.00 am. After a nourishing breakfast we start for sightseeing. We are a small group of 12 with two teachers accompanying us. We go to the Chamundeshwari Temple, atop the hill. On way down, we also stop by to look at the Nandi Hills. We get back to Hotel. Have lunch.

Move out to go to St. Philomena's Church. Millions of bees greet us from their hives at every nook in this Heritage Church. And once stepping inside, a beautiful peace calms us down.

I've got my instant photo taken by the local guide, and I'm happy as I can take this back as a souvenir . After a lovely one hour that we spend at St. Philomena's Church,we move on to the Mysore Palace. We spend our time in a different era of life, examining artefacts that stand testimony to the glory of this Wodeyar King. Taking in the beauty of this historical place, we move on to the Brindavan Gardens.

We literally run in the Brindavan Gardens to have the time of our life. That is because it is a sunday, and it is 7:15 pm when we reach Brindavan Gardens. And 7:30 pm, the Fountain Show starts. We are running, jogging, sprinting and dodging the crowds as we herd towards our goal - the fountain show. The fountain show that lasts for several minutes, we enjoy and come back the same way - running, jogging, sprinting and dodging! We retire for the night at the hotel with a non-veg dinner and an ice-cream.

Coorg

On day three, while we are heading towards Coorg, we visit the Buddhist Monastery. The Buddhist Monastery is a huge and well-looked after place. What is beautiful about this Buddhist Monastery is that it is huge, but inspite of which one is still able to hear the still small voice from within.

With this feeling, we move on. We lunch at hotel and move on to visit the Raja's Seat. We click photos and decide to stay on in the nearby gardens. It is 5:30 pm, and as we drink in fresh air, we decide to freshen up our minds by singing to ANTAKSHARI. It is 6:45 pm, and we then have to move back to our hotel - where we treat ourselves to non-veg food! And the next day, we get up to have breakfast and after a quick check-out, we move out to watch the Abbey Falls. After quite some time of anticipation about this place which never seemed to arrive, we finally do sight the falls.

Watching Abbey Falls revealing its beauty, we also get to watch something else - and that is SHOOTING that is taking place at the Abbey Falls.

With this, we move to the bus which takes us to Mysore Station - from where we will get back home. Before that, we take a halt at a hotel to have lunch. And by 4:30 pm we are at the Mysore Station, ready to board 6:30 pm train which is home-bound!

This is dedicated to Nethra, a member of this 12-member trip.

She has lost her father recently and this is dedicated to her and her family's well-being.

Day after Mangalore Tragedy

In May 2010, just a day after the Mangalore Air Crash in which many persons had perished. I was about to take a journey by Air, just a day after. These are my feelings.

I always think of Mangalore as this beautiful idyllic place. Because Mangalore is none like others.

It is both beachy and hilly, which makes it a very different place altogether. I've been to Mangalore more than once in the past and recently more than twice and everytime I think about it I conjure up images of silent beauty that filled me when I visited Mangalore sixteen years back.

That's why when I heard about Mangalore accident on 22nd May, 2010, I was deeply shocked. I went back in my mind to all those lovely memories, saved up in my mind about Mangalore. I couldn't believe that a silent city is witnessing heart-rending cries on this day. What froze me more was that next day I was travelling by air on my own!

Morning I woke up and found myself reading about the accident in graphic detail. A Prayer for lost souls comes out from me. I pray that all goes well with my flight. Time moves on and I'm at airport, waiting to catch my flight. I thank God and say a word of Prayer. Every movement of the flight makes me aware of how're lucky I am that I'm alive! And I thank God for it.

I've reached Chennai safely.

Today I look back and realise, I've been lucky. What if I was on Dubai - Mangalore Flight B 737 - 800 on that ill-fated day?

Dedicated to Huzefa Unjhawala whom we have lost in a bike accident last October, and hundreds of others who have lost their lives in the recent Plane and Train Accidents.

When an Adventure Becomes a Misadventure

Gloominess starts to surround, when amidst death, accident happens. And an accident such as a freak one hurts you more than anything else. One such freak accident, freaks me out one sunday when I decided to drive my bike on the road. Deciding to drive the bike itself was a decision that has been very sacred to me. And I say my Prayers asking Allah to protect me and everybody else while I'm on the road. My next step is to go for a warm-up ride. Now I gain enough confidence to take it out into the real road. [Please remember now that this is my first ride on road for work]. All is well so far. The climax of this narrative is coming near. Road is straight till now. Now the challenge comes when I take a turn. All is well still. It is a busy street, but still I feel that all is in control till this god-forsaken slope comes in. The slope is high, uneven, narrow and surrounded by poles. In short, it is RISKY. I put on the accelerator. I vroom in. And that's it. Instead of going up. I go down. I am hurt. But my spirit doesn't get hurt. Of course it was painful. But few hours later, I'm alright and writing this.

But it doesn't mean that everytime I do something like this and can get away with it. Because I have seen that accidents can turn fatal. Be it bike, Plane or Train.

Welcome Home dear Visitor

Hi. My name is Alifia.

And I'm starting my new blog on Jun 15, 2010. This is In the name of Allah.

And i especially thank the persons who believe that i can make beneficial use of the media of blogging.

Through this blog, I intend to publish events that have made an impact on my mind.

I am sure I am going to have a nice time from now onwards!

Thank you for your time.