Road trip to Kanyakumari - Southern tip of India

Driving hours in traffic can be extremely frustrating and painful. Traveling in a luxury private mini coach with super comfortable and reclining seats, cozy bunk bed, entertainment system and above all not having to drive is relaxing. As a family there couldn't have been a better self paced journey from the ancient temple town of Madurai to the culminating point of three seas - Kanyakumari.

As we walked out of the Madurai airport, I was pleasantly surprised to see the new airport building and its facilities. Our coach was waiting and we were greeted by our driver. Luckily few of my family members spoke and understood  tamil (the local language). Hats off to the man behind the wheel who cleverly managed to maneuver smartly through the traffic. Rameswaram, a holy temple town along the eastern seaboard of India and around 50 kilometers from Srilanka was our first destination. As we passed through the small towns and villages, the changing landscape and road side shops and not to forget the movies on board made our 7 hour drive look short.

Rameswaram is considered to be one of the four holy pilgrimage sites, where legend says that Hindu god Rama built a bridge,across the sea to Lanka (now Srilanka) to rescue his consort Sita from her abductor Ravana. The Ramanathaswamy temple dedicated to the hindu god Shiva is located at the centre of the town. The following day started with a visit to the temple. We were lucky to have some very knowledge guides who explained the historical significance of the temple and took us around the magnificent galleries and corridors. Waves from the Bay of Bengal washed the shores of this small island town. Thousands of devotees took holy dip in the sea and the 21 wells within the temple compound in the faith that this will wash away all their sins.

Paying abide to this holy place we headed south to Kanyakumari, en route the magnificent Pamban bridge, which connects Rameswaram to the mainland. This is an architectural marvel by itself. As we drove down south, lush green banana plantations, coconut groves, green fields and lakes with lilies painted a beautiful canvas. We stopped to enjoy fresh coconut and palm kernels. This experience took me back to my childhood when these local delicacies thrilled me.

At the end of another long day we relaxed at our hotel in Kanyakumari and enjoyed some southern cuisines. I woke up each hour to make sure we did not miss the sunrise. The captivating and mesmerizing sunrise from the horizon was worth waking up at wee hours. The golden rays on the water sparkled each and every wave. Fishermen were busy getting ready for their venture into the open oceans. The view of the Vivekananda rock and surrounding three oceans from the terrace cannot be described in words.

After a quick visit to the Kanyakumari temple, we all planned to take the boat ride to Vivekananda rock. Swirling ocean waves and strong winds made our ride a little choppy. Calm and peaceful atmosphere inside the memorial hall was worth every effort.

Later than afternoon we headed to our final destination, Trivandrum. Colorful houses, churches and temple along the route was quite interesting. The backwaters were ideal for boating. Progress and growth was prevalent on this stretch of our journey. I was told that villages are now replaced with big buildings and resorts. Luxury cars replaced small two wheelers. As the sun dropped in the horizon we reached the coastal city of Trivandrum to spend our night at the hotel before we could board our flight next morning. 

It is certainly difficult to pen down the experience in this blog. A few captured moments can be see in my smugmug site.

http://worldunfolded.smugmug.com/Travel/Cities/Kanyakumari-and-Rameswaram/27785259_xv8RBM

Architectural Marvel - Temples of Kiradu

Given an opportunity I would like to be in a place lesser known to masses with cultural or historical importance. Somehow, lady luck takes me to such places once in a while and my eyes popped open when I got to see these ruins of 11th century marvels.

Located about 50 kilometers from Barmer enroute towards the border town of Munabao in western Rajasthan, these temples are hidden in the desert terrain. Look for the sign on the state highway or make sure you ask the helping locals before you know you have crossed the diversion. 

As you walk down a few hundred meters from the gate into this archaeologically protected area, one gets the glimpse of these sand stone marvels nestled in a back drop of green baboor and kikar trees (local desert trees that have deadly thorns). They are not tall nor are they spread out, yet these temple captivate your eyes. I have see many beautiful and giant temples which have sprawling landscape and can take off any man's imagination as to how these were built hundreds of years ago.

The pillars, geometrical shapes, sculptures, designs and idols will certainly mesmerize the visitor and wonderstruck at the amazing craftsmanship . Time and tide has taken a heavy toll in this heritage site. However the effort and restoration work makes one feel happy that we are taking time to preserve our history for generation to understand and appreciate the kind of artistic capabilities our ancestors had. Science and modern machines can churn out wonders, but it is the incomparable skill, courage and passion of geniuses that brought these temples to life in this worlds centuries ago.

A few more images of these magnificent Kiradu temples can be see in the link below

http://worldunfolded.smugmug.com/History/Temples-of-Kiradu/27618507_WKHS2j

Generating electricity - A healthy way

From dawn to dusk, biking, working out in a gym is part of a daily routine for many around the world. People are obsessive in trying to build a healthier body and look better.


Wouldn't it be interesting if this energy spent by each could be harnessed and converted into useable means. Harmonious way to build a healthier society and contribute back to it.
Scientist and engineers have been researching ways to meet the every growing hunger for electrical power in the cheapest and efficient way. Various devices have been built over the years and tested to satisfy this increasing demand.


We often hear that the prison population is increasing and there are conflicts within these facilities. Imagine if these offenders were put to work and we could get them to work and generate some electricity. What an option would that be. I am sure some tax dollar will be rightly spend and in return ensuring fitness for these inmates. To recognize their contribution, low level offenders could get their sentence time shortened based on the amount of work they do. 


I was trying to do some search in this area. Guess what, I stumbled upon this brazilian prison cell which has done this effectively.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/offbeat/story/2012/07/10/brazil-inmates-generating-power.html


I guess this is a classic example which could be modeled around the world. We could further take this thought to all the gyms where electricity generated by the users could be used in-house. Symbiotic relationship at its best build and better body while generating energy for the generations to come.

California Central Valley - An interesting landscape

California is all not about its sprawling beaches, world famous wineries, hollywood and bountiful coast line. As one heads a hundred mile inwards from the coast, the  most talked about pleasant year round temperature changes to hot and dry. The scorching heat from the sun shoots the day temperature to above 100F. Amidst this lies a vast fields growing vegetables, fruits, nuts and above all milk and milk products. 
Central Valley has always played an important role in the overall economy of the state and the country.
During my recent drive through this central valley into the high sierras, I was amazed to see what this area provides for  us and how nice people around this place are. 
As we drove past the grapevine, the first thing I noticed was the dry and hot weather with dry and barren mountains.

Driving along CA 99, suddenly brings some pleasant sight with Almonds trees, vineyards, apricots, squash, okra and even lavender 

As we moved further north, the fields now also add large diary farms. This belt is the main source of the popular California Milk. 

Some interesting facts that I realized about California's milk production. 

• California leads the nation in total milk production. In 2010, California produced 40.4 billion pounds of milk – more than one-fifth of the nation’s total production. (California Department of Food and Agriculture - CDFA)
• Dairy farming is a leading agricultural commodity in California, producing $5.9 billion in annual sales in 2010. (CDFA)

The California grape crop accounted for more than 90 percent of the 2010 United States’ utilized grape production. 40% of the world raisins are from California San Joaquin valley. This is where the famous Sun-maid raisins has its head quarters and leads in the production of raisin. 

According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, in 2010 California was the No. 1 exporter of agricultural commodities in the United States. Tree nuts were the No. 1 agricultural export for California, followed by fruits and vegetables.California accounted for nearly all the national production of almonds.

Even with all this hot and tough weather, this certainly is the place for all the cash crop and the milk that brings in the revenue for the state and the country. California is the top state in cash farm receipts in 2010, with $37.5 billion in revenue. The state accounted for 16 percent of national receipts for crops, and 7 percent of the U.S. revenue for livestock and livestock products.

Are we investing enough? or are we joining the band wagon?

A developed economy quickly takes ones mind to modern infrastructure be it the road, rail, air or water ways. US had been leading in this race to provide its people with the best in the world. However that is not true any longer. US now ranks the 23rd in terms of Infrastructure as many reports now show. The aging highways, bridges and over booked airports have added to commuters misery and it is only getting worse.


With the economic downturn, the infrastructure projects are always put on the back burner. The very key element on which this country runs. I wanted to see what has been spent in the last few decades even if we haven't done much in the last few years due to many reasons.


Based on research done by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the following pictures shows how spending on infrastructural projects have been done as compared to GDP.

The picture above show that US has been spending money both at the state and federal level. The picture below changes the view.

Now taking a look at the population growth along with the growth in the vehicular traffic, this looks scary. Highway Authority provides this outlook which provides a glimpse of what is going on

So what can be done to address this.


1. Raise road use or fuel tax - This is easier said than done. With a depressed economy this is the last thing any government would like to do.


2. Better management of Federal and State funds - Assigning proper responsibility and allocation of funds, some of the must need infrastructure projects can be done better.


3. Private and Public collaboration - As many developing and developed economies of the world have done, joint venture projects can be initiated and then a small fee can be levied for using this.


4. Promoting more public transportation projects - On a long run this becomes cost effective and also will reduce the dependency of individuals having to drive for hours regularly. This would reduce congestion and the existing infrastructure can be used effectively.


Sooner or later some of these things will need to done in this US too, otherwise this is soon going to be a positive catalyst to disaster.


Cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Houston, Atlanta and many others have an extremely chocked roadways and airports. If we want to avoid a collapse, some drastic measure and may be hard choices needs to be taken.


I would like to love to hear what others feel about this and what suggestion you may have.