1st October, Havelock This day dawned quite early, as it was our last chance to see the sun rise through the water. But the gods conspire against us - the entire horizon is cloudy, and so as they say 'no cigar'. But it was lovely to sit on the beach as it slowly became light, to talk and sing, to just keep looking, while the sun climbed up from behind and slowly creeped out of the clouds . 7 o'clock and we have a long day in front as we plan to get back, especially if we plan to get back to PB today. I also wanted to run across and call home, but no power and hence no STD booth...don't ask me..it sucks.. After breakfast we left for the jetty, where the ferry ticket ... read more

29th September, Havelock, VijayNagar Beach I never sleep well anywhere on my first night, and this early dawn break was creating havoc to my system. I was up at 4 and could not sleep. After tossing and turning for a while, i felt it was better to put this wakefulness to good use, and off i went to the beach. The light was just creeping up, and everything was just ethereally silent. I could see the waterline way up, where it had come up at the high tide and everything had a washed up look. I sat with my notebook and my camera on one such washed up rock and as the water lapped on my feet, i wrote and took snaps and waited for the sun to come out. And it did, and how! ... read more

27th September, Chennai Central Station. Great Indian Railways. The Train arrives in Chennai perfectly on time - 6.00 am. It never amazes me, the whole Indian Railways thing. Its like a nation in itself, and the stations its cities. As we come onto the Chennai Central platform, a new dawn is breaking in that city. People, ingeneous people still to wake up from their night's sleep, sleeping in proper beds - mattress, bedsheets, pillows, covers, mosquito net hitched up between adjacent station benches. Somewhere people wash up and brush their teeth, somewhere people are getting ready to start their day with boarding the train they must board. And over all the enormous gulf of people, like a steady stream, slow, langurous, moving in one (or predominantly one) direction, weaving, lurching, swinging. As i got on ... read more

Okay, so I am off tomorrow, and this might be my last day of free internet. It seems momentous to me, leaving alone for almost a holiday all alone after such a very long time. Will I be okay? Will I miss them so badly that I hate being away? Will I just be dying to come home? Will I keep everything together? What if I am sick? Enough worries. I have work to finish yet, but i guess very little would now get done. I am already on the trip in my mind. Tomorrow evening I take the Chennai Express starting from here at 17.20 and reach Madras early morning. From there a rush to the airport for the Deccan flight to Port Blair. Costed me Rs 12,000 and change for the return. We are ... read more

The Saturday was brilliant. First we went to the toy museum. It was biting cold, and rainy, so we were glad with the lift we got from Kemal's boss, a two door salon car with a stick shift gear and driven like a maniac. And there we were, aross the Bosphorus to the Asian side. As Kemal said, we had come home. Across a beautiful suspension bridge, one of the longets we have seen, and into the very residential quarters of the Asian side. The toy museum is a five floor house converted to a veritable toy gallery, surely almost one of its kind, founded by the Poet Sunay Akin in 2005. A quick search in the internet would get you the directions and if you are travelling with kids, try to make it for the ... read more