DW in a train to Kanyakumari from Trivendram

Kids in a train to Kanyakumari from Trivendram. They were opposite to DW’s berth.

Hills seen from a moving train (to Kanyakumari from Trivendram)

Samosa, slightly smaller, served on an Op-Ed page of The Hindu in a train to Kanyakumari from Trivendram

DW enjoys a cup of tea in Kanyakumari

Curious girls waiting to see sunrise in Kanyakumari

Waiting for Sunrise in Kanyakumari

Sunrise in Kanyakumari

kids waiting to see the sun rise in kanyakumari

The first rays of sun hit DW on a beach in Kanyakumari

A lady uses binoculars to watch the sunrise in Kanyakumari

Photographing the sunrise in Kanyakumari

People play on a crowded beach of Kanyakumari

A mother and her son pose to camera so as to bring the rising sun on their palms in the photo

a kid in kanyakumari beach

a kid in kanyakumari beach tries to fix a towel on his waist

a family in kanyakumari beach

Women standing on a rock in Kanyakumari beach

Women watching sea waves in Kanyakumari

Boys on the beach

A man prepares a sea shell to sell

The customer wanted something to be wrtten on the shell

He is writing what his customer wanted him to write on the shell

The shell is now ready to be sold

Once something is written on the shell, it needs to be dipped in water again.

meal served on banana leaf in a kanyakumari hotel

dw eating on banana leaf in kanyakumari

dw lunching on banana leaf in kanyakumari

passengers in a train to madhurai from kanyakumari

DW and legs of passengers sitting on the upper berth of a train to madhurai from kanyakumari

dangling legs of passengers in a train to madhurai from kanyakumari

Wdw standing in a line in Madhurai train station to buy a ticket to Rameswaram

DW struggles to take a nap on the street just outside a hotel in Rameswaram

DW takes a nap on the doorstep of a hotel in Rameswaram

rameswaram temple

the auto driver of rameswaram who ripped off dw by charging Rs 100 for two kilometers ride

view of a tv tower and rameswaram temple

a kid swimming on a beach near rameswaram temple

Kids emerge from the sea at a beach near Rameswaram beach

dirty beach near rameswaram temple

a train passes from over a sea bridge leaving rameswaram behind

a train passes from over a bridge leaving rameswaram behind

DW inside a train on way to Madhurai from Rameswaram

a train and a bridge over sea near rameswaram

DW eating laddu that his co-passengers offered to him

passengers in a train

DW wearing dhoti in front of madhirai meenaxi tempmle

DW wearing part of a dhoti in front of Madhurai, Meenaxi Temple. Part of a dhoti? A separate story altogether.

Dhoti wearing DW and a policeman who was on duty at the Meenaxi temple, Madhurai

DW tries to pose for the camera as per the instruction of the policeman at duty at Meenaxi temple who offered to take a photo

dw wearing dhoti in meenaxi temple

Photographer policeman: He offered to take DW’s photo from DW’s camera.

DW readies to get some sleep on the upper berth of an AC sleeper bus. The bus journey begain from Salem at around 11:10 PM and ended at around 6:30 in Bangalore.

DW on the upper berth of an AC sleeper bus from Salem to Bangalore

participants of a handwriting workshop in bangalore learn the art of clapping

participants of a handwriting workshop in bangalore

DW in a handwriting workshop in bangalore

“Toh Rupa kya pehnegi?” I asked. Read about the incident in the blog text.

Food was served on banana leaf and a plate in a restaurant in Bangalore

Stay healthy.

DW eats food served on banana leaf and plate in a restaurant in Bangalore while his left hand clicks the photo. Now, look at the face of the man on the other side of the table!

DW on a Motorcycle Taxi in Goa. From Madgaon railway station to Kolva beach hotel

DW goes to Kolva beach from Margo railway station in Goa on what is called “Motorcycle Taxi”

birds at kolva beach goa

Holding a copy of Palpasa Cafe, DW poses for camera at Kolva Beach, Goa.

DW was able to gift the book to a girl in a cafe nearby Kolva beach fulfilling his promise to writer Narayan Wagle.

I refused to get my hands painted by her in Kolva beach, Goa. She refused to be photographed.

It’s been a couple of days since I posted my last entry about my visit to India.

Meanwhile I went to several places in south India.

1. Kanyakumari: Saw the sunrise which is more or less similar to the one that I had seen from Nagarkot a few months ago. Ate food on banaba leaf.
2. Rameswaram: Slept outside a hotel gate.
3. Madhurai: Went to Meenaxi temple wearing dhoti.
4. Bangalore: Gatecrashed a handwriting workshop.

The other experience: Bus journey (sleeper coaches), shivered all night on AC.

Here is the detail: I went to Rameswaram (from Kanyakumari via Madhurai) on Thursday I think (I will confirm the days when I get time as I am not keeping tack of days really). I stayed there for a night and half a day. I reached Rameswaram at around 4 in the morning. The autowalla who took me near the temple from the Railway station helped me to look for room in hotels but no success. All hotels, at least those around the temple, were occupied. Or perhaps that was a bad timing, people were sleeping on the reception desks and floors. When woken up by us they would simply give us a  reply: no, nahi, room nahi.

It’s still dark and I was already there… very tired because of whole night of train journey. I had started from Kanyakumari at 5:50 PM, reached Madhurai at around 10 PM, stood in a long line for the ticket there and left Madhurai at around 11:30 PM. There were very interesting young folks in the compartment and we talked a lot (as and when the horn of the train permitted us to talk) and I felt that the distance was covered very quickly. Continue reading →