Golf at Mercara Downs

Last month I traveled to Coorg. For the uninformed, this is a region in Karnataka that is famous for its coffee plantations and gentle hill stations. We stayed at a place called Madikeri.
Around a km from our resort was a Golf course called Mercara greens. It claims to be one of the oldest golf courses in South India. Looking at the Club house it seemed one of the smallest and youngest as it was not even 10 years vintage.

As Katy Paaji, the LT group Hony tour organiser, had already done the home work both of us were carrying some golf balls and our gloves we set out the next morning to see what Mercara Downs had to offer. On reaching the club house we saw that the entire staff consisted of 3 people of which one one lady was able to understand us and help us out. We fixed up a game for the next morning and left feeling like Mission half accomplished.
the next morning Katy paaji and I left for the golf course in the morning feeling like JM Singh and Tiger Woods. Paaji wanted to walk saying it is only 2 km and we do much more on the treadmill. I was sceptical but followed on and soon realised that walking on the treadmill/dreadmill is very different from walking in the hills where there are uphill and downhill. By the time we reached the club house huffing and puffing 30 mins later we felt that we have finished 9 holes already.
The fairways and the green/browns looked very inviting but there were no Caddies!!! 'Ugadi Saar, Wall Caddies gane to village Saar'. As Ugadi was still 15 days away it seemed a lame excuse and we entered into a long phase of figuring out if she could get some caddies by the time we came back from breakfast. Well she agreed and after an hour or so we were standing on the first Tee with hired golfsets that looked as if they were at the club to prove the antiquity of the club.
With us was another avid golfer from Ahmedabad who had come all the way to Coorg with his own golf set. We looked like amateurs in his presence. The first hole is a 330 yards par 4 where one has to go uphill. This was my second experience was playing in a hilly course so it was mortifying and humbling to see how the force of gravity works to bring the balls down a slope if not perched on flat greens. The greens were kerchief sized and so it required precision to hit and stay there. The second hole has jungle to the left and Katy paaji promptly decided to undo his previous par/bogey by sending a ball in the woods. In the next hole he blasted another one in the wood which his Caddie got back. Somehow we went through this up down motion of walking from one hole to another till Katy said' Enough is Enough' I need water. This was the point where he was looking down on the 7th hole where we were perched on the top of a hill looking down into a biggish lake and beyond all that was a green. On both sides of the lake and beyond were woods, dark and foreboding somehow evoking Robert Prost in saying You guys have Miles to go before you sleep.
I have hydrophobia and I promptly sent two balls one after the other in the wood on either side. katy on the other hand was threatening to drink the water in the lake sounding like one of those Monsters in a Ramanand Sagar mythological who threaten poor villagers ' mujhe Khana do warna tumko kha jaonga'. Since drinking the water was not an option he took out his anger and frustration on the bolf ball and sent it soaring 200 yards beyond the green. And next thing I knew was that Katy had vanished.
A frantic look around showed Katy sprawled in the front seat of the Innova speeding away before I could get him to play another hold.
Thus ended our 9 holes at Mercara Downs which was my third round of Golf on vacations and was definitely more enjoyable than the one at vienna.
More on that in some time.

My Son - A member of the Student Council

My son who has just joined class Vth has been selected as a student council member. Since I have been a lifelong member of the back benchers club ( BBC) this was a proud moment for me. The Investiture ceremony was a serious one with proper Chief Guest delivering lectures and kids giving speeches etc. I was a little envious of my son as in our times these events were not done with so much of ean and style. Also I think the kids today are heap more confident. At his age if I had to speak 5 straight sentences I would have ran from the stage. But it was fun.

Child Bear and Coldless Phone

Around a decade back I was working for THE SPORTS CHANNEL and traveling all over the boondocks of Rajasthan and UP. In those travails ( oops travels )I saw lots of examples of indi-genius use of the English language. The gems being Coaching Clashes for young children in Muzzafarnagar and Child Bear at a 'English Wine and Beer Shop' on the way to Ajmer. Those days I didnt have access to digital cameras or NOKIAS and so could never take a pic for posterity. But I was always impressed and amused by this amazing ability to understand deeper aspirations. i mean what better to teach the young of Muzaffarnagar but clashes. And how best to get young users for beer but through child beer or maybe they had the Pint bottles in Ajmer .
But yesterday I saw the great Indian invention. Move Over Chinese phones, here comes the ultimate handset, the Indian phone that keeps you safe and sound. protects from sneezes and flu - The great Indian COLDLESS PHONE.Available in the heart of posh South Delhi.

Bomb Blasts and the spirit of Indians

I was tempted to use Delhites in place of Indians but then thought that across the country this must be the case.
People are more interested in being a Tamashai rather than be prudent and be safe.
Around an hour back just outside our office in Barakhamba Road, N Delhi two small packets were found unclaimed on the pavement. Due to the heightened security post the bomb blasts very soon there were some policemen who came to check the stuff. Since it was sealed they called the bomb squad.
Generally that area has some 100 people mulling around but with the news of the bomb spreading like wildfire (it spread to our floor which is 10 floors up ) there was soon a crowd of 500-600 people surrounding the bomb. And on being told to move back and be safe they were behaving like football defenders being told to move back by the referee. They were so reluctant to move back that it seemed the cops were asking them to do something illegal.
Anyways even our cops are crazy, the bomb disposal squad was without any protective gear and if anything had happened I swear I at least would have felt that they deserved it.
I think this episode should have been filmed and telecast all over the media networks so that the Indian mujahideens would just give up trying to scare people by their stupid idiotic acts.

Big Bang and The world coming to an End

I am generally reasonably well informed. I mean I might not know the present price of potatoes in Burkina Fasso but am aware of who Sarah Palin is and where Singur is. So it came as a big surprise to me when I reached office yesterday afternoon to be told that tomorrow is Apocalypse.
It seems there is this mega experiment happening as per Reuters which will enact the start of the universe and so there will be a black hole which will suck everything. It seemed straight out of India TV, Aaj Tak or IBN7.
That brought us all to discussing about how the standards of news has fallen. Every other day the Breaking News is about How demons have come, Chudails in a village and commissioner ka kutta gum.
In this case at least there is some scientific stuff happening and so the genesis of the story but what is the base of all these stupid stories which pass of as news. Who is responsible? who can the public look up to when the 'venerable' Rajedeep Sardesais channel carry such trash.

Fish Thali in Goa

I am just back from five days in rainy Goa with friends and family. Actually with the no of times that this particular group has gone out on Vacations I should say ' With Family'.
With the week evenly spread between North and South Goa, I had the opportunity to see two different facets and sides which I had not seen on one single visit earlier.
Taj Holiday Village is a quintessential Taj experience. Great Service, Great people but very ordinary food. With the Desi Katrina hurling itself against the gauada fort as a background we were forced to stay within the confines of the Hotel and per force have food at the restaurants within the complex.
I have a healthy disrespect and distaste of buffet food and Taj did not do anything to change my opinion. the food was ordinary with even the Ala carte not doing anything to make it feel good. Even if the menu has to have the Indian Buffet fav of Paneer and Daal they can have some local variations but No that would be expecting too much I guess. The only positive was the pizzas that the kids had every evening, they were nice thin crust ones with the right amount of cheese and toppings.
Brittos at Baga was nice for lunch but I thought that the Crab Cakes had other meat also in it and it was not pure Crab. The grilled prawns were quite nice and the drought beer finally made me feel i was in Goa.
Pre Independence night saw the Taj chefs wake up from their slumber and create something nice and so had the variety of Beef Xacuti, Crab Xek Xek and grilled fish, chicken and prawns on the menu. It was quite good for me as I focussed my attention only on the sea food and like a true bengali decided to bring my fingers to the party. I really cant eat fish with Knives and forks, the la di la crowd be damned.
the next day was our trip the the intercontinental at Canacona which is the extreme south of Goa on the Karnataka border. In the time that it took us there we could have gone to Delhi and back and by 2 O'Clock my stomach was grumbling. We stopped at a small roadside eatery called Karmangla Hotel ( or something like that ). Since the choices were plentiful we orders Fish Thali and prawns. I think the secret of enjoying good food is to have it with zero expectations. The thali arrived in leaf plates and comprised of boiled rice, a bowl of spicy curry, mish mash of shrimps, a small fried fish and some mashed fish which was more fish bone than fish. The fish curry had the right blend of spice and the tangy flavour helped the rice get that feel of great accompaniment. The fried fish had a coating of Sooji which gave it a nice crunchy feel. the shrimps were done just so to give that exquisite shrim flavor that reminded me of my grandmoms bhaat bhaja with kuchi chingri. The spicy prawns were made with lots of chillies so that the prawns while melting put off a fire in your mouth.
After this heavenly meal we reached our hotel to see the rest of the gang having a buffet lunch and I was so glad that we were in different vehicles.

No Honking in Delhi

I have been bit by a bug. In a city that believes in the adage that have horn will honk I have decided to drive without honking. Earlier I would have thought it difficult but now after 30 odd days of driving without the mandatory Beep beep the realisation has dawned that it aint that difficult.
It all started one fine morning while I was dropping my son of to school and he complained that i was honking too much. I thought ok let me try out driving without using the mechanical obscenity screamer.
It has been three months now and more or less I can proudly say that I am driving well now.
Now if only my fellow drivers will start following the rules.