Photo story two

Photo story ...

It was snowing
The chill stole up my windcheater and into my bones gnawing it like with a chain saw .
A RAW agent in New York cannot use cold as an excuse .
Extremes of climate was part of an agents life
Drawing a loaded weapon aiming it and hitting targets cannot point at frozen fingers
Excuses and apologies dont exist in the vocabulary of the profession
The targets dont understand them
They know only one chance the thin thread between life and death
I hardly fit the role which was exactly what was needed
I looked every inch an academic Indian who had come to 53 avenue 24 th street for another dreary meet .
The ubiquitous Indians seen on the Manhattan thoroughfares .
They were there all the time
With families towing grinning at selfies in Times square
Gingerly holding a Manhattan cocktail and wincing at its bitter Bourbon in the crowded bar
Bouncers watched somberly as scantily clad girls moved around hunting for prey
The smoke inside the bar was more than the flakes outside.
As its warmth descended down into my bowels a glow suffused on my homely face
Anything to beat the cold
The wait in the Brooklyn bridge for hours was a torture till i saw the short Japanese walk briskly giving me a camera to shoot his picture like any tourist would !
Only difference after that he just walked away while the camera found its way into my windcheater and now to give it to the lanky huge Russian bartender was my job .

The cocktail was half empty when he sidled up to me with arched eyebrows
Idrastinikov
He grunted wheezily while i extricated the chip in the camera and slid it near my glass
With the deft of a magician he took it and left the scene
I looked around

The crowd was behaving no different
An indistinct Indian nursing a cocktail in a Manhattan bar made no news which is precisely what I wanted
Merging into crowds was our USB drilled into us during our years in training !
One minute we are there and then a crack of a shot and we disappear like Houdini .

The satellite phone I had was tiny the latest
i took it as it trilled
And just said two words
Cocktail good
Thousands of kilometers away sitting in an old Delhi office an obese officer tapped into his laptop an indistinct coded message
Mission accomplished

Photo story one

Photo story

He belonged to Kerala IB ,stood first in IPS came up the ladder and was now Exise Commissioner  .
Hardly do they need to get into action .

They have enough men and some women to be the operatives .

But this was big .

And he wanted to nab the king of the racket himself .

The December chill of Dubai drilled into his bones
He stepped out of the dhow into colourful Deira .
Walking through the spice markets he reached the Gold souk .
He sat on an iron bench .
His eyes were covered in glasses.
The crowd milled around ,
And then he saw an indescript man in a pathan suit .
He was only 5.5 in height and gave no indication of shortness .
The man came out of a shop with a small package .
The inspector walked ahead
The cold end of a berret 200 was pressed into the Dons  flank.

In 2days scene shifts to Borivilis  excise office
The yellowed walls of a cracked balcony is the scene .
The short man was tilted almost on his back
He was left hanging with his fingernails 22 stories high
The Suburban train chugged below the refuse strewn railway line
It wouldnt be a happy death he knew
So he confessed
The commissioner smiled
A job well done
The short man too  sighed of relief

Thuravoor Mahashethram

In our scriptures lord Vishnu has taken ten avatars .
Narasimha is a man lion ..human amphibian combination.
Asura or demon Hiranyakashipu had always hated Vishnu who had destroyed his brother Hiranyakha as a varaha or pig avatar in a previous story .
All these may amuse people why we have such umbelievable stories but most Hindu religious stories arenot just that .
They have several layers of truths meant for several levels of intellectuality and spiritual accomplishments .
At times these demons are in our mind and its our conscious self the divine spark which needs to take these avatars to root them out .
There are not many temples with narasimha avatar as its deity .
One of those is in Thuravoor on road from Aroor to Alleppey ...
Hiranyakashapu has some much powers he gets from Brahma after his long hard penance.
He cannot be killed by man or animal neither during day or night or inside or outside house or building .
Very wise indeed .
But then he forgot who he hated was .
So the Lord took a human animal combo came oit of a pillar in midnight sharp neither day nor night .
Prahalada had told his father Hiranyakashapu Vishnu was everywhere when asked in pillar or in rust .
The temple was supposed to have existed for long .
Records exist from 2 to 4 th century .

The Ollikara mana is the traditional namboothiri family who were the temples custodians for centuries .
We did meet one lady from the family who invited us to her ancestral wooden house close to the temple with small idols inside too ..
Though the Travancore Dewaswom manages the temple these days .
Since it was in border of Cochin kingdom and Travancore and Trivandrum royal family owned it there was an unwritten law that the day Travancore raja visited the temple they would need to return it to Cochin .
So no Travancore kings ever came to the temple .
Sri Chitra Thirunal in 1957 was first king to do so and he too walked on a red carpet to symbolically keep with the promise .

The temple is unique as it has two sanctum sanctorums with two deepastambhams
One for Narasimhamurthy and other for Sudarsanamoorthy
Sudarsanamoorthy existed from first century but Narasimhamoorthy was built by a chera king in 7 th century .
One is sqaure and other round .
Fine carvings decorated thier walls
The Narasimha murthy sanctum has low roof and one needed to bend while walking inside .
Sastha was outside and also naga idol was on one side with a folk singer .
Lamps are built all along the outer wall and a huge pond is seen in the temple ..

There also is a huge elephant pandhal the biggest in Kerala

Hyderabad the heaven of foodies

HYDERABAD THE HEAVEN OF FOODIES

The Asafi Jahi dynasty ruled the Deccan for 7 generations .
Strangely this magic of destiny too had something to do with food .
Asaf Jah was travelling down to Deccan .
Hepaid his respects to sufi saint Nizamuddin Auli who asked him to partake his simple meal with him and served him Kulchas .
Asaf jah quickly ate 4 kulchas as it was very tasty .
He apologised to the saint for devouring food but saint asked him to take more and Asafi Jah had seven kulchas .
The saint blessed him and told him you will rule Deccan for 7 generations from now and thus came with Qutb shahi dynasty or nawabs of Hyderabad and a grateful Asaf Jah made the Kulcha a part of Hyderabad kingdoms national flag .
So a place with food in its flag should be the mother of food places .
And it is .
Over the years the influence of local and foriegn cuisines and influences melded to form an unique Hyderabadi cuisine .

During the pre 17 century Vijayanagar reign it mostly Telugu cuisine that dominated.
Once Deccan sultanate rebelled from Delhi there was influx from Turkey and Arabia  .
Dastarkhanna or food on a tablecloth in Turkish called Dastar became famous .
The use of saffron rice and kebabs is from these Turko persian influences .
The Arabs too contributed to the famous Haleem, a wheat mutton gruel legendary of Hyderabads breaking fast in Ramadhan fasting days but also seen all around the year .
The Telengana ,marathwada,Karnataka influence is seen too .
Kalyana Biriyani is seen mostly as a karnataka influenced flavoured biriyani where smaller rice is used ,unlike Hyderabad Biriyani ,it uses tomatoes .

Now just a list of major to eat in Hyderabad most of which we did .

Haleem
....lukmi   made of mutton kheema a snack
Tahari ..mutton with rice
Pathar ki Ghost...type of mutton khabab made on a stone
Hyderabadi Kichdi
Tala hua Ghost
Faludas and shorbets
Qubani ka meetha
Sheer kprma
Firni
Hyderabadi Kichdi
Baagar ee baingan

Of course Hyderabadi biriyani uses Lucknowi dum pukht nethod to slow cook its exotic mutton and fine long leaved Basmati rice spiced tenderly .
Paradise restaurant since 1953 today has a lot of franchises .
Bawarchi looks like a poor mans paradise in ambience but its tastier in its Biriyani than  the paradise one .
The paradise one too was superb .
We had some excellent juicy kebabs both in Bawarchi and in Paradise .
Baingan e barar is at times accompany biriyanis made of brinjal
The MLA Potalam Biriyani with its strange name in the Spicy venue in Jubilee hills where authentic Telengana Andhra cuisine was served .
It was an big thin  omelette with finely flavoured prawn mutton kheema biriyani inside.
One potalam will easily serve 2 as we left behind half our potalam .
The thali itself had pooris many chutneys pickles and curries called pulusus .
The steaming white fine rice was served with a dollop of ghee first to be taken with some dhal .
This opened the taste buds wide .
Later came sambhar called Pappu charu or pulses curry .
After this the thin soup like Rasam
Later thick white curds
To me a sprite and to my wife a thick creamy lassi .
Rayalseema Ruchulu is another famous place for Andhra cuisine .
When we come to desserts too Hyderabad doesnt lack behind
Qubaini ka meetha
Sheer korma
Firni
Faludas
Osmania biscuits
.
Of course home made delicious ice creams unlike any we had tasted was found in famous ice cream in Nampully in an old building .
One sat in the open watching the milling traffic and metro passing by as one dipped into the delicious flavours .

Irani tea outlets are very famous all over Hyderabad .most have red coloured highly flavoured tea boiling in kettles and very invigorating usually taken with osmania biscuits .
Osmania biscuits named after the nizam is both salty and sweet made of butter and flour .
Its crunchy
Next to Charminar in old city you find an Iranian restaurant Nimrah chai .
It has the most delicious cookies bread and bun and cakes .
Huge crowds occupy the front .
Iwent in and selected a huge jam bun
It was warm fluffy and smelt nice .
With the red colured chai ,the snack ,some osmania biscuits transported us  upto heaven .

Earlier in morning arounŕd 8 am we asked for Govinds the famous dosa place near the Charminar ,no one seemed to have even heard of it
Finally we reached a junction with many people waiting for a dosa in front  of a small cart and Govind was the primma donna joking laughing and at same making excellent dosas .
Ours  was so grand
Much smaller than usual dosas this was auburn in colour crisp on edges and as filling had onions cut vegetables.
By the time we left Govinds dosa more than 2 of them and some vadas had lodged in my gut with an excellent red coloured chai to wash it down .
I heard theres an upmarket Govind dosa in another part of city though we didnt try it .

One definitely cannot ignore the home made ice creams well known in Hyderabad .
In Nampully theres an old antique building which has a vast open ground in front owned jointly by ice cream shops there.
We sat in Famous ice cream .
The ice creams were soft succulent and tasted Home .
We did see exotic pans .

Finally if I dont mention Karachi biscuits in a Hyderabad food post I am doing injustice .
During partition days a family migrated from Sindh in pakistan to Hyderabad and brought their baking skills by opening Karachi biscuits .
The sheer variety of choice of cookies cakes biscuits bun breads etc is astounding .

And thus Hyderabad i declare is one gateway to heaven

Paradise Biriyani

And to end our Hyderabad food odyssey where else but in Paradise the legendary Biriyani outlet .
Started in 1953 as a cinema theater canteen it grew into a symbol of Hyderabadi biriyani though some say it aint so great and its poor cousin Bawarchi is as good .
With many franchises managed by corporate governance Paradise shows Biriyani is big business .
Would have loved to see their kitchen and preparing biriyani in thier kitchen but then was wondering if they would permit maybe come next time with my SLR and label myself as PRESS .
We ordered some lovely chicken kebabs as starters came to know kebabs were first made in Turkey and Persia and were grilled meat or chicken of course smothered in spices in India .
The kebab was juicy fresh and mint chutney was invigorating .
It sort of prepared our taste buds to the primma donna of the show the Mutton biriyani .
We ordered double masala one
My advice dont do that as the masala was bit jarring
Better to have without extra masala
Best part is the fine basmati rice
The flavours were exquisite
I do like a bit lime or tomatoe in my biriyani for a slight sourness but in hyderabadi biriyani tomatoes arent welcome .
No dry fruits too
The raita was bit watery
The mutton pieces in biriyani need to be boneless chunks well cooked it should come out in layers
This was cooked well but had bones in small pieces too
I mentioned this to the waiter as the biriyani didnt come cheap .
So my verdict Paradise is real good as a biriyani outlet
Thier kebabs too are tasty
But as they become busy they should not find short cuts too .

Srisailam temple

It was such a huge ancient temple but no cameras or mobiles allowed inside
So these from outside hardly worthy of the grandeur inside .
Situated 215 km from Hyderabad the route travels through a tiger reserve a couple of hills and a dam .
On reaching the Nagarjunasagar Srisailam  tiger reserve the largest  in the country of over 3500 sq km  checkpost a cloth bag was given for Rs 20 to every vehicle.
All our plastic waste is to be put into it and to be emptied in bins on exit of resereve .
We can give the empty bag and collect 20 Rs.
I felt this a great idea of avoiding litter
Same can be used in many public places ,zoos,resorts,hill stations etc .
There was also a small map showing sitting resting places every 4 km for people to picnic if they want
Only in these spots can they eat.

Srisailam is atop a 450 mts hill .
Deep in a gorge flows river krishna .

Itook around 4.5 hours with
tea and lunch stops added to reach Sri sailam from Hyderabad .
The temple was atop nallamalai hills on right side of Krishna river in kurnool dt Andhra pradesh .
The temple is mentioned in ancient writings but only in 12 century was it officialy etched in stone .

This is from premilas post...

Srisailam Malikarjunaswamy (one of the 12 jyothirlingas ) darshan this evening🙏
It is said that this holy Kshetram exists from time immemorial.
In Krithayuga demon king Hiranyakasyapa  is said to have done penance here . In Tretayuga Lord Rama and Sitadevi have said to have consecrated the linga here. In Dwaparayuga Arjuna and the Pandavas during their exile are said to have had spent some time here worshipping the deities . In Kaliyuga Adi Shankaracharya and other great saints are believed to have worshipped here .
The present Garbhagriha where the Jothirlinga is said to have been built in the 13th century and  at present this vamana gopuram is gilded with gold plates which glitters and adds beauty besides the magnificent 4 big gopurams and the beautiful designs on the walls .
The Bhramaramba temple here is said to be the portion of the neck of Sathi Devi during Daksha Yagna episode  and is said to be a Shakthipeeth
Whatever be the mythology antiquity or history of this temple the serenity peace and happiness within has to be experienced than told . What a way to end 2019 ! Namashivaya 🙏

The town was quite and we walked along lonely roads to the temple which was quite big .
Inside Mallikarjuna temple it was just beautiful with gold plated gopura of sanctum sanctorum .
There were pujas going
An air of serenity pervaded the place and a small of pure ghee lingered in the air .
The prasadams were made in ghee .
We then were taken in

The Drums of love

The burnished lamp glowed in its efflugence .
He looked from a corner lost in the crowd .

The line of fine elephants stood swaying , thier tiny eyes crinkled in amusement .
The drums beat in synched unison .
The cymbals clanged thier full stops ,the mathalam thier commas .
The elephant keepers stood shifting sand in their long hours watch .
The crowd was in a frenzy mesmerised with the rythm thier hands jerking up with the beat .
Exopthalmic eyes open they watched in a trance .
To them there was nothing else but the drum beat and those gentle giants .

But to him his search went beyond
He was looking out for something which made his heart beat faster.

He had watched so for decades now .

She would always come in resplendent white mundum neriyathum , her lithe slim countenance sailing like a floating angel .

The gentle smile on her face was still the same from the time she wore a golden blouse and skirt ,
 in those days he a humble temple worker still had some wild hope that he would win her hand ,the hand of the darling of the royal family itself .

He never dared to tell it out but just watched with mountains of love at his etheral beauty .

Her forehead head shone with brightness and the sandalwood paste on it glowed,
Her popping eyes shadowed her setting sun red full lips
He would particularly zoom into those lips and think about the time he would posess its softness.
Her nape of the neck with its gentle down disappeared in fine elegance to forbidden frontiers and his mind would almost feel his nose touching them .
But his love stayed as it was

Did she even know he existed when she got married in the same temple ?

The 6 foot bald man was disgusting to his eyes though he heard he hailed from kottakal kottaram and was a great match .

Later she came only for vritchikotsavam  every year more older tireder and sadder though her beauty never dimmed .

She would clutch her children close ,with time they would clutch her as she grew older and slower .
He lasted all along in the same job and  never married
He just didnt want and had none to take care of .
He looked forwards to watching the love of his life every year.
He had retired 10 years back
 they asked him to at 70 years

Now he stayed in a tiny room nearby mostly eating in temple .
old aqauintances  saw that Unniettan never starved
The ettan who loved laxmi thamburatti for 60 years .
He watched her once again leaning on a pillar
His body just slumped as he fell
They quickly carried him to hospital but he had left the world as quietly as he lived .

Laxmi thampratti asked her grand daughter
Endha kutti avide ?
Whats happening ?

Ammmamma one old man fell down maybe your admirer !
They all laughed

Laxmi too sighed
 true i had lots she said

The drums beat till dawn

Sree poornathresiya temple

I consider myself lucky to live just  200 meters from an ancient temple
Sree Poornathrayeesa .

Thura means a  port on the banks of river Poorna with a Thiru which is a respectful connotation so its Thiru..Poorni...Thura later becoming Thripunithura .

It also comes from poorna thrayee which is lord of 3 vedas .

The place was an ancient land of vedic learning called veda poorni where Arjuna comes with an idol in his poorni or bag of arrows which he places in this area and by pun it is pooni thura or open poorni as thura means open in malayalam .

Arjuna was given the idol of lord Vishnu as Santhana Gopala or giver of children for childless
A form of Vishnu not seen usually here hes sitting on the celestial serpent Adiseshah instead of lying down in ananthasayanam
He sits cross legged one leg folded one hanging down with four hands one with Chakra or swivelling diskette a weapon one with Sanghu or conch one with lotus and other resting on Seshan the serpent seat .

Once a brahmin kept losing his children one by one they kept dying as children and in those days people can blame thier king for thier fate unlike these days where the peoples fate is decided by the bloody politicians ..
So brahmin keeps cursing the king for every childs death
When his 8 th child dies Arjuna happened to be with the king, he promises the brahmin that he will protect the child born from death but that child too dies though Arjuna tries to save child he fails .

The brahmin ridicules Arjuna for his great words and dejected Arjuna tries to jump into a fire to end his life , but Krishna stops him as he loves Arjuna ,tells him to get all children if he can find out
Krishna plays a celestial game
Arjuna travels to several world paathaalam swarga naraga indra etc but in vain finally krishna helps him in doing so during this time krishna shows Arjuna the maha Vishnu form and Arjuna trembles with fear and piety
Krishna gives an idol of santhana gopala to Arjuna and tells him to consecrate it in a suitable spot
Arjuna asks Vinayaka to help him and he finds out Poorna river bank .
Vinayaka falls in love with the place and occupies it himself
Arjuna pushes him to west corner and keeps main idol in sanctum sanctorum
Initially the idol is in moolastaanam a temple in west of present one Poonithura Krishna temple
Later its moved into puthan palace temple by Cochin royal family and still later to present location .
Poirnathrayeesan is elder brother of Chotanikara amma whose temple is 10 km away .
One of most important festivals is Vritscikotsavam and falls in nov dec its for 8 days and on 4th day a very important ritual happens its Thriketta ir offering by devotees into a golden pot
Huge lines stand to do that ..same day elephant is caprisoned in gold
In 2016 the Cochin Dewaswom which manages the temple wanted to melt old caprison and make new one
Dewaswoms are an anamoly for hindu temples
Filled with politicians who loot it they do anything which benifits them
The royal family pleads to dewaswo

m not to melt gold as new one cannot be made before vritscikotsavam but its done
That year there was no gold caprison and it hurt so many tks to the dewaswom .
Such is the history of this great temple