A trip to be remembered

I had been to Malaysia in the mid February and I must admit that it was one of the most exciting tour I have ever had. It was a 4 day trip from Singapore and we covered Kuala Lumpur, Genting Highlands and Taman Negara.

Day 1:

We started from Singapore on 12th night and reached KL early at 3.30 in the morning. Fortunately the room we had had booked was at a walk able distance from the bus stand. We started at around 8 in the morning and left for Batu Caves. It is abode of Lord Muruga on a lime stone hill. It is one of exotic temple I have ever seen. It was very natural and the tall Muruga statue at the entrance made it grand. After coming out of the temple, we had our breakfast and left by cab for Genting Highlands. It is a hill station with theme parks and casinos. The journey from KL took around 2 hours due to heavy traffic. Once we reached basement, we took a cable car to the highland and it is said to be the fastest cable car in the world. The view from the car was lush green and the whole area was covered by rainforests. The rides in the outdoor theme parks were fun and coupled with cloudy and chill climate made our trip more pleasant. If the theme park was fun, the casino was entertaining. First of its kind for us and were really amused to see so many people putting their money on betting. So we thought why not put some money on betting and we indeed won around 70RM. We left Genting at around 5 PM and reached KL by 8 in the night.


Day 2:

We left KL at 8.30 in the morning and boarded a bus to Taman Negara. The journey was a pleasant one with palm trees on one side and mountains on other side of the road. We reached a place called Jerantut at 12.30 PM for our lunch. The we left the place at 1.30 to a nearby jetty where we were supposed to take a boat on our way to Taman Negara. It is 2 hrs boat ride and one should never miss this if they are planning to go to Taman Negara. We reached the place at around 6 in the evening and checked in to the resort. The place was breathtaking with lush forests on either side of the resort. We took a jeep at 10.30 PM in to jungle for night safari. We did see few animals like wild cat. But the real adventure was when the jeep driver switched off the jeep and his torch light in the middle of the jungle. It was pitch dark and we couldn’t see anyone around. It was scary and eerie. It was a planned one from one of my friend and the jeep driver. We returned to the resort at 12 midnight and had a wonderful sleep.

Day 3:

We left for the canopy walk at 9 in the morning. It was inside the jungle and had to do some mountain trekking as well. After the canopy walk we left for a cave exploration. Little we know that cave is full of bats and had to crawl all through inside the cave until we reached there. We managed to crawl through the cave and came out after 30 mins struggle. It was one of the most adventurous part of the trip until what happened in the evening. We set off for a bath in waterfalls which is around 30 mins from our resort in to the jungle. The pathway was mind blowing as usual and we reached a place from where we had walk in to the jungle to reach the falls. We were asked not to spend much time in the falls as it is already 6 in the evening. After having wonderful time near the falls, we came to the place from where we were supposed to take the boat to the resort. The guide allowed us to take bath there. Our excitement grew bigger once we went into the river for a bath. After changing our dress we decided to return to the resort. By the time we started from that place, it was getting darker. Half way mid it was pitch dark and we are still in the middle of the jungle. We were able to hear sounds made by the birds and some animals. I was wishing that we could spot a tiger but unfortunately we were able to spot only a monkey and few birds. We reached the resort at 8 in the night and the guide informed us that this is the first time they are coming so late from the jungle. I personally loved it. After having our dinner, we went for a night walk in to the jungle and we were lucky to spot a wild boar, scorpion and a deer.

Day 4:

We left the place at 9 in the morning and reached KL at 1 in the afternoon. We had our lunch and went to the famous Petronas Towers. It was an architectural genius. From Petronas we went atop of the KL tower and had a breathtaking view of Kuala Lumpur. After spending few hours there we took a bus to Singapore and reached here at 12 midnight.

From the exotic jungle to buzzing city, we experienced everything in the span of 4 days but still didn’t stop us to making a trip to Malaysia again. Hei Malaysia di sini kita datang lagi.

Get the basics right

Well… I do have a problem of choosing a topic whenever I feel like updating my blog. Even now I have no clue what I am going to update but just want to start something so that I can pass my time in office. Ok, let me write something about the most important development that happened in India in the past week.

33% quota for women in parliament and state legislatures:

I am not against giving quota to anyone as long as it is effectively utilized, but the problem in our country is it is often misused. Politicians use this to garner votes, people just try to satisfy the minimum requirement to get a job or a seat in college having a thought that they can somehow get through the quota system. I personally feel that quota should be allotted to those who are sincere and hardworking and of course who are unable to sponsor themselves. It is these people who need quotas and not the wealthy people coming from the so called backward caste. Now let’s come to the 33% quota for women. I heard some experts speaking in the news channel that this is not a quota for women but a representation. I agree that women need some representatives for them in the parliament and state legislatives. But the bigger problem for women is not the lack of representatives but lack of exposure. It is this lack of exposure that holds them back from not being able to join mainstream politics and of course fear of fighting with male dominant counterparts. Before passing any bill on quota I feel, the government should ask 2 questions to themselves.

1. How are we going to ensure the safety for women in India?
2. How are we going to fight against the problems that women face in the society?

There is a common perception in our country that women are always dependent on male. I have heard people talking philosophy about this. They say women need dad’s security when in school, brother when in college, husband after marriage and son after she becomes old. I agree in the current situation when women are not safe in our country they need the security of their dad, brother, husband and son. But what have we done to ensure safety for women? The answer is NOTHING. I am sure if we get the basics right and set the things in order there will be women representatives in our parliament and state legislatures.

Vinnaithandi Varuvaya

Jessie, nothing took me by storm after watching a movie. She was classy, awesome and gorgeously beautiful. What was so special about Jessie when I have seen most of her movies and never was so impressed by her apart from few other films. She was simple and traditional. Well, it is not just simple and traditional, it is a comnbination of brilliant cinematography, costume design and her voice that made her beautiful. Kudos to Gautam Vasudev Menon. However, it was Karthik who stole the show in the movie. I was never a fan of Simbu. I never liked his dialouge delivery, acting and style. I felt as if he is imitating someone. But after watching Vinnaithandi Varuvaya, everything changed. He was at his natural best especially his dialouge delivery and acting. I never thought this guy can do such roles. I bet, he can go places if choses proper script and sensible acting.

Enough of Jessie and Karthik. Its getting too predicatble. Lets come to cinematography. I am sure no one has shown India so beautiful that Manoj in recent times. If not for him, I doubt whether the movie would have made an impact on me or not. Hats off to him.

Music, I do not want to say anything about it. Who on this earth cannot appreciate the Mozart of Madras. He is genius, one of the best, a legend....hey!!! am losing out adjectives here :)

Thamarai saves her best when it comes to Gautam Menon. Some of the lines that she has written are simple superb. I cant tell one single line in particular here. I loved everything.

Finally, congrats to Gautam Vasudev Menon. I dont know from where on this earth he is getting such ideas. A simple love story at its best. When some one like K.Balachander has appreciated him, then its evident what this person in capable of doing it.