World of Books and Travel

BEFORE THE SUNSET is my 3rd novel which is going to be released soon.  It is the touching story of a man whose two children got separated at the birth of the younger one, and they meet again at the same spot after 25 years without knowing who they are.


The sample chapter is here.


Chapter 1

The lights shone brightly in all the houses on the 3rd street, except in the fourth house. It was half past seven and why has she not switched on the light yet, Raju wondered. Usually, when he returned home after work, his wife would be anxiously waiting for him at the door. All his weariness would disappear on seeing her warm smile and listening to her sweet words. He hoped nothing was amiss.

Raju knocked on the door repeatedly, but there was no response. He banged again, this time with a little bit of urgency, and still, there was no reply. He panicked when his wife didn’t open the door even after continuously knocking at the door and calling out her name. 

"Viji,...please open the door. Mmm....…

1. "One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things." - Henry Miller





2. "To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiary it is taken for granted." - Bill Bryson




3.  “We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.”
― Jawaharlal Nehru

4.  “Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow.” ― Anita Desai
5.  “Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” ― Gustave Flaubert
6.  “I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” ―Mary Anne Radmacher
7.  “The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” ― Augustine of Hippo
8.  “No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. …

Some times we look forward for getting some writing advice from the famous writers which may help us in improving our writing career.


1. “To me, the greatest pleasure of writing is not what it's about, but the inner music that words make.”    -  Truman Capote
2.  “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.”  - Robert Frost
3. “Writing a book is a horrible, exhausting struggle, like a long bout with some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven on by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand.”  - George Orwell  
4. “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.”  - Oscar Wilde
5.  “Any writer worth his salt writes to please himself... It's a self-exploratory operation that is endless. An exorcism of not necessarily his demon, but of his divine discontent.”  - Harper Lee 
6. We write to taste life twice, in the m…

During our family trip to Coorg, we stayed in a home stay named 'Chili Pili'. We wanted to be more with nature and for this purpose, we preferred to stay in a home stay.  This estate is a nature lover's paradise and we truly enjoyed our stay and food there.  It was truly a home away from home. The house is located in the centre of the estate, surrounded by coffee and pepper.





The hosts were very warm and friendly and made us feel at home. So it was definitely a pleasant stay of 3 nights with lovely Coorgie food.  We wanted to take a tour of their estate, but because of the lack of time, we cancelled our plan. 




The address of the Homestay -
ChiliPili Estate Stay
Hoskeri Village
Arekkad P.O
Kodagu Dist - PIN 571253

http://coorgchilipili.com/en/

Family Trip to Coorg - Part 5

Our last stop was at Golden Temple (also known as Tibetan Monastery). It is located 6 kms from Kushal Nagar, at Bylkuppe.  Established in 1961, it is home to more than 7000 monks and students and is still very calm and peaceful. 












The main attraction of this place are the 40 ft tall golden Buddha statues. The temple has three resplendent golden statues of Buddha Shakyamuni, Padmasambhava and the Buddha Amitayus.The walls of the temples and the institution are decorated with colourful paintings depicting gods and demons of Tibetan Buddhist mythology.  Tibetan festivals are celebrated with great gusto at the monastery.  

It is a beautiful place with well laid out gardens  There are shops for the purchase of various Tibetan items.  They are a little overpriced, but good items are available.  

As you enter this place, it  gives you an overall different and weird experience as though you are in a country outside India.

Navarathri is an important festival of Indians.  This year Navarathri is celebrated from 1st October to 10th October 2016.  This 9-day festival is dedicated to Goddess Durga.

In Sanskrit, the word 'nava' means nine and the word 'rathri' means night.  Hence this festival  is called Navarathri.





The 10th day is Vijayadashami or Dasara. As per the legends, the Divine Mother Durga had destroyed the evil forces of demon Mahishasura during this time.  




Vijayadashami is celebrated as victory of Lord Rama over Demon Ravana. This festival is also celebrated as victory of Goddess Durga over Demon Mahishasura. In Karnataka, it is celebrated as Dussehra (Dasara), and in West Bengal as Durga Pooja.