Many a tourist get confused between Dutch and Danish and my impression that Dansborg fortress was Dutch was proved wrong as soon as I visited the Tranquebar beach. The Ozone rich beach of Tranquebar was a pleasant way to spend our spare time where the hindu monuments are closed between 1 to 4 pm invariably. This place boasts of the second rich place on earth which contains a rich content of O3 ( signifying heavy oxygen ) after Swiss.

The ozone rich Tranquebar prevents the harmful ultraviolet from penetrating the atmosphere, which has a rejuvenating effect on the health of an individual breathing the air, which was a real surprise to me. No wonder the trip to Tranquebar and Velankanni did not make us sick due to constant drenching we had on fourth November 2009.

On 5th May 1620 a treaty was signed by Tanjore king Vijaya Raghunatha Nayak and King Christian IV to set up a trading centre at Tranquebar. Based on the agreement a sum of Rs 3111/- per month rent would be paid to the Nayak King as royalty for lease of land to Danish authorities. The document was signed with gold insignia and signed by the king in Telugu ( which is actually Kannada since Vijaynagar emperors belong to Karnataka ) This document is preserved in the museum at Copenhagen.

Fort Dansborg was built by Danish Navy commander Ove Gjedde in 1620 AD, as a residence for the governor and other officials for about 225 years. Around the same time Roland Crappe ( first governor ) too bought some land and constructed other bunglows surrounding the Fort.
The fort stands tall on the Tranquebar golden beach. The ramparts of the Fort which spreads to the sea has been consumed by sea erosion. The crumbling fortress wall is being pounded by sea waves. The govt. of TN. Erected granite blocks preventing further sea erosion near the Masillamani temple in 2007. The area surrounding the Fort is left open and the beach around the Fort is a nice and clean landscape. It may be matter of time before the sea consumes the beach.
Dansborg fort housed a number of governors ( 35 in all ) starting from Roland Crape (1624 -1636 ) upto Peter Hansen ( 1841 – 1845 ) till the area was sold to the price of 12.5 lakhs.

A number of Danish ships visited the Tranquebar Port from Cophenhagen. They used to smuggle Tea from India and sell it in Britian at a huge profit. Since the decline of trading opportunities and Napoleonic wars saw the decline of Danish empire in India.

This fort is built with brick and mortar in a typical Danish architecture. The boundary walls of the Fort is almost 8 feet thick which stretched into the beach. The surrounding boundary wall of the fort is as thick as upto 15 feet with plaster of paris adorning the walls. The finish in yellowish tinge gives it a heritage look. The Fort area which is almost 100 feet x 80 feet width is having a built up area of one fourth its boundary. The inner ramparts were used to store merchandise and house the prisoners of war.

The governors residence was secured with watch towers and security men on all four sides of the fort. This building currently houses the ASI museum. The artifacts on display covers the entire gamut of Porcelain items and memorabilia from different parts of the world.

There are number of Hindu sculptures too which have been salvaged from the crumbling edifice of the shore temple. The history of the Danish has been well displayed with framed notices. The replica of the treaty signed between the Nayak and the Denmark king too is displayed.

Enterance to the Fort is from the south, which probably was one of the reason for the place not prospering according to the Vastu tradition. In fact there are instances of frequent break out of Cholera, dysentary and other diseases which consumed lot of Danish citizens.

OTHER PLACES OF VISIT :
1. Printing press established by Ziegenbalg
2. Ziegenbalg’s house
3. Varadaraj Perumal Temple
4. Basava Mahal
5. Gateway of Tranquebar
6. Pillars House
7. New Jerusalem Church
8. Danish governors bunglow
9. Collectors Bunglow
10. Church of Swedish Mission



LOCATION : Tranquebar or Tharangalpadi is located 296 km from Chennai after Poompuhar. It is enroute to Velankanni on the ECR road. It can be reached from Maylatdurai and Nagpatinam railway head too. The nearest airport is Trichy. We took the route from Chidambaram on the ECR road with a Pondi permit taxi towards Velankanni.

Caution :Ashtma patients are required to avoid this destination which can cause allergic reaction in OZONE rich environs. It is good antidote for heart disease.

Historical Background : Around the beginning of the 17th century, a Portuguese vessel Santa Maria set sail to Colombo from Macao. While it was sailing in the deep bay of Bengal it was caught in a cyclonic storm with waves rising above 5 feet and rocking the vessel. Portuguese sailors were staunch believers in Virgin Mary, they knelt and prayed for their mother Mary to rescue them from the violent nature’s fury. The sinking souls vowed to build a chapel in her honour if they were rescued from sinking. Thus the fury of nature abated and within 10 minutes the sea calmed with tranquility unknown hitherto. The battered vessel was veered towards the coast of Vellankani.

They were received by the local fishermen community, who spotted the Catholic linage of the sailors and lead them to a thatched hut which was used as chapel in those days. The Portuguese sailors in gratitude renovated the thatched chapel with brick and mortar construction. The Chapel was 24 feet in length and 12 feet in breadth signifying the cross. They dedicated this church to the Blessed Virgin Mary to honour her miraculous power of healing and saviour from crisis. If one breaks up the word Velankanni word in Tamil it means White Virgin or meaning Virgin Mother Mary.

LEGEND : ( Courtsey : Velankannichurch org ) : EVENT ONE

Sometime during the sixteenth century, Our Lady with her infant son appeared to a Hindu boy carrying milk to a customer’s home. While he rested under a Banyan tree near a tank (pond), Our Lady appeared to him and asked for milk for her Son and the boy gave her some. On reaching the customer’s home, the boy apologized for his lateness and the reduced amount of milk by relating the incident that occurred on his way. On inspection, the man found the milk pot to be full and realized that something miraculous had happened. That man, also a Hindu, wanting to see the place where the apparition occurred, accompanied the boy.
When they reached the tank, Our Lady appeared once again. On learning that it was Our Lady who appeared to the boy, the residents of the local Catholic community became ecstatic. The tank where the apparition took place is called "Matha Kulam" or Our Lady’s tank.

EVENT TWO :

Some years later Our Lady appeared again. This time to a crippled boy who was selling buttermilk near a public square on the outskirts of the same village of Vailankanni. She asked him for buttermilk for her infant Son and the boy compiled. Our Lady asked the boy to inform a certain wealthy Catholic man in the nearby town of Nagapattinam of her appearance. Not realizing that his crippled leg was miraculously cured by Our Lady, the boy rose up and began his journey. The man also had a vision the previous night in which Our Lady asked him to build a chapel for her. Together, the man and the boy returned to the site of the miracle.
This time Our Lady appeared to both. The man erected a thatched chapel for Our Lady at the site of Her second appearance. This chapel became a holy place of veneration to Our Blesses mother and She was called henceforth, Mother of Good Health ("Arokia Matha").

OUR VISIT TO VELANKANNI :

We began our journey with the cyclonic effect on the coast of Nagapattinam on the fourth of November 2009 from Myalathdurai to transcending the barriers of religion. The entire day trip was stormy akin to the weather faced by the Portuguese sailors in the 17th century. I was praying to the Virgin Mary silently that I should get to see the Basilica in all its splendour and without much rainfall. Behold it was around 5.30 pm when we reached and the murky light cleared along with the heavy downpour and we witnessed the grandeur of the Church, which had an aura of divinity.
Just imagine getting drenched in the weather for the entire day whenever we stepped out of the car, it used to pour and we returned wet. In ordinary circumstances one would abort the trip and get back to the cosy atmosphere in hotel rooms. We refused to return and continued our journey to pray to the Virgin Mary, and she blessed us with health. We were fortunate that we did not fall sick due to constant wetting in the rain.

We lit up 3 candles in honour of the Virgin Mary and donated some currency into the box, and bought back Memorabilia in honour of DVD and book from the Church counter. We had a wonderful dinner at the church canteen too to relish our trip to the core. All the tiredness of the 13 hour trip vanished when we got up in the morning miraculously. Thanks to VIRGIN MARY

SIGHTSEEING AT VELANKANI

1. Garden of Jordan
2. Museum
3. Arokia Tank
4. Retreat Centre
5. Various Accomodation
6. Tsunami Memorial
7. Home for the aged
8. Health Centre
9. Shopping Centres
10. Other Churches

We attended typical Brahmin marriage in the traditional bastion of Bangalore. What a surprise was in store for us was the list of rituals dished out by sect of more than a dozen priests. It was as if a yagna was in progress, when the kings used to undertake the same for the welfare of the subjects.

The climax of the wedding was a bursting of a bomb ( cracker ) right in the midst of the marriage sanctum. This was a first time I have witnessed a bomb going off in the midst of the ceremony giving a jerk to the weak hearted. How I wish I had continued my video coverage, unfortunately I had switched off the same and took some time to recover from the shock.

Bride and the bridegroom must have been mentally prepared they were shaken but not stirred. There was no commotion in the assembly, which means such weddings do have bursting of crackers as a routine. The next major ceremony was literally the bride being lifted and bought down at the time of removal of the barrier in the form of a shawl before the mangalsutra tying ceremony.

The thali tying ceremony was not so elaborate, but various other rituals such as blowing flowers, pouring of rice on each other, embedding tilak, etc was an elaborate affair. The groom was thoroughly enjoying each and every moment of the ceremony. He underwent such an elaborate ceremony with a smile itself was a testimony to the fact that he knew the priests, relatives and the bride so well. It was sort of a musical chair game, once the bride used to be engaged in ceremony and another time the groom.

The idli breakfast with carrot halwa was tasty, however the lunch was a let down with the quality of rice being below standard. All other accompaniments were tasty. The chiroti sweet was the pick of the dish. We liked the other items such as kootu, chutney, and baji. It was sort of change for us on a Sunday to go out and attend a wedding instead of winding down at home.

The video will reveal all the uncovered features in my write up. Please do browse the same and log in your experience or impression on this Brahmin wedding. Do not forget to bless the couple for a long and happy married life.

N Krishnan feeds 400 mentally ill people on the streets of Madurai three times a day, every day, all 365 days of the year.
The 28 year old has been doing this for seven years via a charity called the Akshaya Trust.
A look into the kitchen reveals a spotlessly clean room.. Sparkling vessels stacked neatly, groceries and provisions all lined up in rows -- rice, dal, vegetables, spices -- all of the best quality.. One would think this was the kitchen of a five star hotel.
Maybe Krishnan achieves that effect because he was once a chef at a five star hotel in Bengaluru.
"Today's lunch is curd rice, with home made pickle, please taste it," he says, serving me on a plate made of dried leaves.
The food is excellent.
"I change the menu for different days of the week.. They will get bored if I serve the same food every day," he says with an enthusiastic and infectious smile.

Krishnan cooks breakfast, lunch and dinner with the help of two cooks. He takes it himself to his wards on the street each day.
"I don't feed beggars. They can look after themselves. The mentally ill won't ask anyone for food or money. They don't move around much too. I find them in the same place every day."
That morning he put the food in a large vessel, the pickle in a smaller one and loaded it into a Maruti van donated by a Madurai philanthropist.
Ten minutes later we stopped near a man lying on the ground by a high wall. Krishnan put the food next to him. The man refused to even look at it, but grabbed the water bottle and drank eagerly. "He will eat the food later, looks like he was very thirsty," said Krishnan.
At the next stop, he laid the dry leaf-plate and served the food. He then scooped some food and started feedin g the mentally ill man himself. After two morsels, the man started eating on his own.
We then crossed a crowded traffic signal and stopped the vehicle. On seeing Krishnan, four individuals moved slowly towards the Maruti van.. They stood out in the crowd with their dirty, tattered clothes and unshaven beards.
They knew this Maruti van meant food. But they did not hurry, knowing that Krishnan would wait for them.
Krishnan served them under a tree and carried water for them. "They are not aware enough to get their own water," he explained.
And thus we went around the city till the Akshaya patra was empty. Of course, it would be full again for dinner later in the day.
Past 7 years
As we returned, a startling fact hit me. Not a single mentally challenged person had thanked Krishnan. They did not even smile or acknowledge him. Still Krishnan carried on in a world where most of us get offended if someone doesn't say thank you, sometimes even for doing our jobs.
The food costs Rs 8,000 a day, but that doesn't worry him. "I have donors for 22 days. The remaining days, I manage myself. I am sure I will get donors for that too, people who can afford it are generally generous, particularly when they know that their hard earned money is actually going to the poor. That is why I maintain my accounts correctly and scrupulously."
He then pulled out a bill from the cabinet and showed it to me. It was a bill for groceries he had bought seven years ago. "This bill has sentimental value. It is the first one after I started Akshaya."
The economic slowdown has resulted in a drop in the number of donors. Earlier, they sustained meals for 25 days.

There seems to be a rebellion of sorts among the BJP MLAs, against the leadership. This may be because of the ever increasing popularity of the CM. The primary reason for the discord is seen as levy of tolls, which is vehmently opposed by the mining lobby. The Reddy brothers want the toll off the hook, for their goods. This was proposed to rebuild the lost properties in Bellary, Raichur and Gulbarga districts.

Long term solutions for the flooding will be only through building huge concrete canal projects which have been undertaken by AP. The other day when we travelled to Madaksira via Hindupur, we found the canal project reaching the distant corner of AP. Ananthpur being a dry district is now being fed by the help of this canal, which is excellent planning. The people who been dislodged in AP is comparatively lesser than Karnataka, but the benefit of flooding has ensured irrigation of vast tract of lands in AP. The credit should single handedly go to Rajshekar Reddy the ex CM of AP who ruled the state with iron fist, so to say.

Now BJP has been given the mandate to rule Karnataka, and in its first year itself, as a party it is showing colours of division. If at all change of leadership is contemplated it should be for its fullest term and not half hearted measure. BJP had come to power with a clear mandate of Yeddis leadership, and now the betrayal of its own party MLA s are showing that Karnataka can never have stable leadership like ertswhile leadership. There has always been a trend of factionalism which is the cause for retarded progress of the state. Congress and opposition leaders want to see the downfall of the govt in such a scenario where the state is poised for rapid development in terms of infrastructure. Everybody wants to take the credit for the progress particularly the Metro, Bridges and other infrastructure development in Blore. The time has come to put aside all the differences and look at long term planning.

The welfare of the people will be in having stable leadership, karnataka needs to learn its lessons from neighbouring states such as TN, Kerala and AP, which have steady leadership. When the leader is stable, progressive measures can be undertaken otherwise the leader will be only a puppet in the hands of the lobby. The state needs to go to the next level and plan massive irrigation canals maybe even link up to the canals developed by AP, ensure concrete roads in all major cities of Karnataka, install solar lighting in Northern karnataka where the sunlight literally peels one s skin, and improve the road connectivity with contract for maintainence for 10 years.

It is good news that tourism has taken a massive hit in Karnataka, which down by 50% this can serve as a breather for the industry to ramp up the infrastructure and clean up the mess. Bangalore particularly cannot take the load upto 2012, till the metro starts chugging. I am sure the people have realised that infrastructure needs to developed so that the comfort and pleasure of travelling can be enhanced.

We hope in the interest of the state the crisis is resolved quickly and we get to see the focussed development of the state.

Palghat fort is also known as Tipu's fort, maybe he spent lot of time in this fort to quell the rebellion and undertake the jihadi task prescribed. The Fort is assumed to be renovated by Hyder Ali in 1766 according to records available.

The antecedents of the Palghat fort have not being revealed to the world for sake of maintaining the communal harmony is quite understandable. However the fact and traces of the hindu temple and Kalyana mantap now being converted into a museum courtesy ASI is evidence enough for keen observers. Some historians point towards a jain temple too being present in the temple complex which may have crumbled. A proper carbon dating of the pillars would reveal this fact too. The British have modified the Kalyan mantap into a cosy residential house for one of their generals. The pillars of the mantap have been used to construct the residential quarters, which have subsequently modified into a museum by ASI after it took charge of the Fort in 1925 AD. The main building houses a prison for petty crimes.

The fort is built across an area of around 50 acres with a Rhombus plan covering all angles. There are 8 strategic watch towers, surrounded by a moat filled with water. The land around the fort is beautifully landscaped with greenish turf and plants. There is private garden too which is ticketed. It is well endowed with variety of flora.

One hanuman temple is located near the citadel of the fort with an ugly contraption of corrugated sheet protecting the premises against rain and shine. Probably protecting the heritage of vanquished Vijaynagar emperors. The developments may be treated by historians as encroachment but the fact remains that an ancient temple edifice has been modified by the rulers of the time, to suit their strategic interests. The political pressure to maintain status quo has prevented eviction of the temple priest and their family, probably protecting their livelihood more than heritage.


The fort itself is a beautiful bastion constructed with granite stones which could probably withstand the cannon firing from the enemies. The crocodile infested moats have been designed to protect the fort being besieged from all sides. The inner fortress may have been designed to hold around 1000 soldiers, and the outer area would have housed around 20,000 soldiers living in tents and temporary structures for ready movement of troops.

A palace for the kings seems to have been converted into the present day jail. The harems of the queens seems to have crumbled due to lack of maintenance. If one can stretch their imagination there must have been plenty of spicy foods cooked in the premises and abundance of romantic interludes from the time of Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan, Zamorin and the British.

In all probability the French architects were involved in renovation of the Palghat fort like the Forts in Bellary and Sandur. The positioning of the cannon grooves is well executed and planned by the architects taking the safety factor into consideration. There is a well close to the outer edge of the fort wall for drinking water catering to needs of the soldiers.

Overall the Fort symbolizes the defense strategies of medieval times, combined with ancient trade routes formed by Palghat Gap which was the entry point from Eastern to Western coast. The Tamilakam region obviously gave birth to a separate culture which influenced the kerala coast to a large extent. The destruction of the most important trading centre Kodaganallur during 1341 floods paved way for diversion to Kochi harbour, along with Kozhikode port. The visit to Palghat fort does not tax once pocket because there is no enterance fee levied by ASI, which is heartening. One can spend upto 2 hours comfortably closely observing various facets of the Fort, the inner ramparts and outer garden area along the boundary of the moat.

LOCATION : Palghat fort is located bang in the centre of the city. It can be reached by air through Coimbatore, Calicutand Angamalli airport. By train one can reach Palghat from Chennai, Bangalore, Mangalore and Trivandrumwhich is covering all the four corridors.

My friends wedding trip was an eventful affair at Tirupallur, Palghat. First time around we had an insight into kerala type of wedding function. The event was an all family affair, with equal stress laid on meeting friends too. The boys family hails from a village near tirupallur and girls family hails from Ernakulam, but both of them work for the same company in Blore. Being a Nair family wedding the girls family take lot of initiative. A bus full of family and friends drove all the way from Blore to attend the wedding celeberations.

Our accomodation was booked at Hotel Gayatri, we landed at around 1 am in the night after visitng Munnar. We were lucky to find a restaurant open at that unearthly hour, to have a nice dinner. Even though the hotel was booked the watchmen and the reception was almost closed. We took the help of the auto driver to wake up everyone concerned.

Next day morning we woke up liesurely at 7.40 am, and had a nice hot bath. We had first round of breakfast at the hotel. After breakfast we were lucky to meet the bride and the groom who came back from Guruvayoor, where the ceremonial wedding took place. We could have attended the same but for accomodation and heavy rush at Guruvayoor.

Bride was decked with full of jewels across her entire wedding attire. Boy as usual was in simple wedding dress, may be signs of the future bodings in a matriachial type of society.

Next we were treated to a good kichdi at the boys house which was filled with relatives. We never felt out of place in view of some known faces, including the brother of the groom and uncle. We could say we received an extra special VIP treatment. Next we were transferred to the marriage hall by bus.

The wedding stage was pleasant decked with plenty of jasmine, rose and a yellow flower. The names of the bride and groom were embedded on the stage. A typical lamp and fruit decor adorned the sanctum of the wedding. There was no priest, chanting the mantra, rather the entire wedding ceremony was conducted by the family members, with pal palam drinking ceremony by the couple. This must be one of the embarassing moments of the entire wedding ceremony, since one is forced to consume a lot of stuff as a matter of ceremonial feature.

Wedding got over in a jiffy, with 15 minutes and there was a long queue and photo session to greet the couple. The couple were fresh as daisy when they met the friends, despite waking up the entire night.

The wedding was followed by a full course of veg meal with avial, cheka payasam, malai kheer, Cabbage kootu, pappad, pickle and many other dishes along with rice. It was one of the neatest wedding food i have had in my lifetime. Next we went to our room to relax and be ready for the reception which started at 4 pm.

Reception was a grand affair, with groom now decked with Sherwani, and looking glowing over shadowing the bride. The greetings and dinner followed. Thus ended our tryst with a kerala wedding.

Just imagine being an amateur trekker risking one’s life that too on a diwali day ( 17/10/09 ) to ascend the impregnable Madaksira fort. Last time around we wanted to trek this fort but could not in lieu of not finding a proper place to park our car safely. Moreover we were in a hurry to reach Pavgada Fort, which was our destination for stay. This time around it was only determination and guidance of 15 year old Hemanth who accompanied us as a guide. We took the unconventional escape route from the fort to ascend which is shorter. Who knew this path would be filled with thorny bushes, unsteady steps and literally a rock face with 60 degree inclination to ascend.

Once I almost tripped inside the throny bush pathway shaking me up for the first time. Next time around my wife was complaining of chest pain and she aborted the climb, I am happy she did it on the hindsight with her leather slipper it would have been impossible except with bare foot, which was not worth attempting, she went back to the base of the hillock. I decided we should go further up since we had hired a guide in Hemanth. Enroute I had to take 8 breaks to catch up with the steep ascent, and clicked some lovely photographs of the landscape and surroundings. At midpoint there was a steep rock face without support, my guide lent me a hand to ascend. But it would have been fatal if had transferred my full weight on his I would have dragged him down too. However I managed to tilt my weight on to the rock, in spite of it I had a dodge and landed with a slushy grass with water seepage from the Fort pond on top. We ascended further towards the top. At one place there was nothing to grip it was 12 feet high rock face with 60 degree incline with nothing to grip on the rock face. After studying and deeply analyzing the situation, I decided to risk my life for sake of surmounting the obstacle. This phase is only for professional climbers or to ascend with aids such as rope or railing or even a walking stick firmly held by someone from top. Maybe even a strong camera tripod would have been sufficient, but alas I had only umbrella with me. I just managed to cling on to the wild plants growing on the sides of the rock surface, there was only two gripping branches, and finally my guide lent me a helping hand from the top. This was absolute stunner for a 49 year obese personality.

Enroute I was fascinated by a manly face jutting out of the fort. The contours of the rockcut nose, mouth, teeth and forehead is amazing resemblance may be to a Roman warrior. I clicked snaps from all angle and used my resting time usefully. I gulped some butter milk which was laced with sufficient salt. The weather was becoming extremely hot, that too during winter time. I checked the time was 1 pm in the noon and my stomach was almost drained with energy. The only consolation since I consumed butter milk with salt, it helped to avoid muscle sprain which could have been fatal on such an ascent. But I decided never to descend by this pathway, which would have virtually impossible at the 60 degree inclination point with my rebok shoes, which had limited grip. We decided to travel through the main pathway which is neatly maintained with steps, but circuitous.

At the mid point of the fort, there is the Kings durbar hall, a devi temple and small pond wherein our guide dipped himself to cool his body. The water was greenish indicating unsafe for us. So I avoided taking bath, instead I was clicking away snaps to glory, with the landscape revealing the enterance to the fort and newly built Sai baba temple. I was surprised to find a lone foreigner lady from Finland who accompanied a batch of students from the orphanage at Mankapalli. All of them looked famished since they had ascended through the circuitous path. Even though I was shaken I was not stirred. This destination is definitely not for weak hearted

Location : Madakasira fort is located approximately 160 kms from Blore, one has to travel on NH7 the Hyderabad highway. There are two good places for breakfast, one is Brindavan, in chickballapur another Kamat restaurant at HP petrol bunk after chickballapur town. One has to take a deviation towards left just immediately after the Kondapalli Andhra check post and reach leepakshi and have a dharsan from Lord Veerabhadra to ascend Madaksira fort, which may have saved the day for me on hindsight. Madakasira fort is 45kms away from Leepakshi after Hindupur, where one can have a good lunch in two of the hotels, one his Paaya and other one is Parijata.

Check out the video link of youtube 171 MB, which i could not load on Dekhona due to space limitation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=by2gdkD7PXM

My conviction that Goa is no more a safe heaven for tourist is getting more and more reinforced with recent spate of multiple murders. Earlier it was foreigners like Scarlett, who were targetted, now the Indian women too are falling victim to NEW " jack the ripper"

The latest murders seem to be targetted at labour class women who are either married or teenagers. The gruesome murder points to some ritualistic type of murder, with burning of torso, removing the evidence of rape. The police suspect it may be a gang of people involved in the serialised murder. The count is bound to increase over a period of time since the bodies are all being dumped in the river bed or the arabian sea.

Last time when i wrote about the developments many brushed it off as non event. But i am convinced now with this spate of murders Goa is unsafe after daylight. So in case anyone planning their trips should return to the pavilion after day light, that is the only way to ensure safety. Start early and end up early to bed whenever you all visit goa. You may ask what about dinner, just parcel it and have it in your room or lodge that is the safest bet.

I hope the police crack the case of the recent serialised murder at the earliest to give some hope for future tourist. After 2001 purse snatching incident which is still unsolved case in Margoa police station i have lost the charm for Goa, which was my favourite destination for 2 decades almost. What says you Sajith ?

Disclaimer : No aspersions on Goan people

The recent reports that CHINA taking objection of PMs visit to Arunachal Pradesh seems to be height of diplomatic disaster. First of all they have illegally occupied Tibet and continue to do so in the face of stiff opposition of the natives of the soil. Instead of vacating the alien land they seem to be casting aspersion on Arunachal, Kashmir, Sikkim and probably NAGALAND too. If one takes their historic record they seek war only to keep their troops on their toes. I am not sure how long they can follow this philosophy and still claim to be a superpower. Let us assume that they are bestowed with the status of Superpower. Can they afford to keep their economy progressing with war maneavoures. Communism for me is all about all about Classless, Religion less, Discrimination less and oppression free society. Are we seeing signs of disintegration of these very ideals.

What the current leadership is grappling in China is really mystery to everyone. Are they trying to propagate Coercionism instead of Communalism. LETS us enforce everything if people like it or not. In that case they should be known totalitarian or dictatorship. India being their biggest customer for all their goods and services without any restriction has been favouring China with MNF status almost, except when it is hurting Indian economy anti dumping duties are levied, which is sovereign right of any nation. Commonsense demands that customers should be treated as King not as servant to the dictates.

I hope sanity prevails in DRAGONs head, rather than aimless spewing flames of jealous and greediness. When India is a democratic federal set up, conducting elections in AP every five years, how can they even dare to cast apersions. It for all Indians to stand up and protest rather than govt. trying to lodge protest. The very act of issuing Visa on plain paper reveals the hidden agenda. Some nations never learn from history, when you are in the wrong path, it will end up in a black hole, destroy the very edifice of such nation.

Disclaimer : Expression of free speech, subject to correigdim in case of strong logic.