Trip to Thanjavur
September 22 to 28, 2013
I started my journey to Thanjavur, with a heavy heart. I had little interest to go so far for a week. I was feeling so terrible as if I had been given a Kaala Paani ka sazaa. Anyway, I packed my stuff and reached the station.
When I reached T, I was beginning to feel better. I had to do it. I decided I better do it well. So, I made a plan of things I wanted to achieve in the next 5 days. I had googled and identified some places I wanted to visit.
Primarily, I wanted to visit temples in and around Thanjavur and get a feel of the place. On most days, I switched the GPS option on my phone on and wandered through the streets of Thanjavur. I managed not to get lost. I reached the hotel, in one piece.
I went to the Big temple and wandered around for a bit. I had gone with a colleague, Lekha (name changed). First day, we landed up at the head office in the midst of the bustling town of Thanjavur. A balding COO with a slight paunch stuffed into a polyester uniform welcomed us and delivered a well-practiced lecture.
After spending some time at the head office and ensuring we got clear directions for reaching the branch, we set off. Since it was already noon, me and my two colleagues set out. Lekha, Shravan, and I went to the nearest Vasant Bhavan and hogged on full meals. Vegetarian of course!
I have converted to vegetarianism. I don't know for how long. Maybe I will remain for a longer time this time around. Let us see, how long I can remain without eating meat. Sigh!
So, I had to spend 4-5 days in the town, going to and fro from the branch, Karambayam. This village is close to a place called Pattukottai. Each day I had to take a bus that stopped near my hotel and reach my sorry self to the branch. The village was 1.5 hours away from the hotel. The bus was quite amusing.
There are many seats but the women have to bunch up near the entrance and sit almost on the driver's head. Well, it appears that way.
There are seats arranged near the driver, around the bonnet, behind the driver, and near the entrance. The bus had a voice announcement system that would crackle to life as and when a bus stop arrived. It was shocking for me on the first day. After that I got used to the semi-electronic human voice asking me to get down at Karambayam.
The driver drives really fast. In an hour or so, the village would loom up. The village itself was quite quaint with a beautiful arch adorned with deities and demi-gods.
I started my journey to Thanjavur, with a heavy heart. I had little interest to go so far for a week. I was feeling so terrible as if I had been given a Kaala Paani ka sazaa. Anyway, I packed my stuff and reached the station.
When I reached T, I was beginning to feel better. I had to do it. I decided I better do it well. So, I made a plan of things I wanted to achieve in the next 5 days. I had googled and identified some places I wanted to visit.
Primarily, I wanted to visit temples in and around Thanjavur and get a feel of the place. On most days, I switched the GPS option on my phone on and wandered through the streets of Thanjavur. I managed not to get lost. I reached the hotel, in one piece.
I went to the Big temple and wandered around for a bit. I had gone with a colleague, Lekha (name changed). First day, we landed up at the head office in the midst of the bustling town of Thanjavur. A balding COO with a slight paunch stuffed into a polyester uniform welcomed us and delivered a well-practiced lecture.
After spending some time at the head office and ensuring we got clear directions for reaching the branch, we set off. Since it was already noon, me and my two colleagues set out. Lekha, Shravan, and I went to the nearest Vasant Bhavan and hogged on full meals. Vegetarian of course!
I have converted to vegetarianism. I don't know for how long. Maybe I will remain for a longer time this time around. Let us see, how long I can remain without eating meat. Sigh!
So, I had to spend 4-5 days in the town, going to and fro from the branch, Karambayam. This village is close to a place called Pattukottai. Each day I had to take a bus that stopped near my hotel and reach my sorry self to the branch. The village was 1.5 hours away from the hotel. The bus was quite amusing.
There are many seats but the women have to bunch up near the entrance and sit almost on the driver's head. Well, it appears that way.
There are seats arranged near the driver, around the bonnet, behind the driver, and near the entrance. The bus had a voice announcement system that would crackle to life as and when a bus stop arrived. It was shocking for me on the first day. After that I got used to the semi-electronic human voice asking me to get down at Karambayam.
The driver drives really fast. In an hour or so, the village would loom up. The village itself was quite quaint with a beautiful arch adorned with deities and demi-gods.
I somehow managed to spend 5 days in this village. I spent 30 hours with the people called wealth managers.
When I returned to civilization, I had to party. So, I got a timely invite. Went to Ten Downing Street with S, Balaji, Vidhya, and the rest of the gang. Tequila shots kept doing the rounds and the laughter grew more boisterous.
When we drove back home, it was quite stressful. S kept telling me to drive carefully, take the main roads, stick to well lit lanes, etc. We reached home totally sloshed.
Happy me!
I am not very keen to return to any village for at least the next few months!
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