Meri Diary: August 2005

Kerala : Gods Own Country

Kerala is the beautiful girl on earth, South west part of India, between Western Ghats of Hills and the Arabian Sea with an area of approximate 39,000 sq.km. It is blessed with endless beaches, lush green forests, mountains, waterfalls, fertile land, banana, pineapple, papaya, mango, jackfruit grows in abundance in Kerala and palm fringed lakes and backwaters.

The backwaters of Kerala meandering inland lakes networked with canals stretch to over 1900 km. Boat trips across these tranquil stretches are an experience unique to Kerala. One of the most memorable experience for the tourist visiting Kerala is the opportunity to enjoy the backwaters of Kerala on a house boat (Kettuvallam).

A visit to Kerala will recharge your body and soul. You can relax your mind with Kerala's natural beauty.

Here are some of the beautiful photos of this "gods own country".

Some Images: Which Will Make You Say WOW!!

"A Picture is worth thousand words". These images are breath taking. Every photo is conveying a message here. I wish I would have been in such a place to enjoy the nature.

Google Earth: Move The Earth As You Like

I believe that yahoo is one of the best portal. You can get any information you want from www.yahoo.com. Quality of the pages is also quite comparable. But since some time I started using some of google's product (earlier I was using google search engine only). Like www.blogger.com, for posting my blogs. (equivalent to yahoo 360, still beta, yuck..), Picassa, to organize my photos. Man! the products by google are awesome.

Ggogle has a little to offer, but what they have is incredible. And recently I used Google Earth, this is an excellent product. In this you can view on earth as you are looking from satellite. I could even spot my apartment in Los Angeles. It has some of the famous places bookmarked, like, Grand Canyon, Chicago River, Manhattan Island, Eiffel Tower, Red Square Masco, Sant Peter's Basilica Vatican City. This product is really cool. You can download it from here

But one things I would like to bring to your attention is that, the places in USA or having more clarity than any other part of the world. Here are some of snapshot taken by me from Google Earth.

Rastrapati Bhavan: New Delhi, India

Eiffel Tower: Paris

Forbidden City: China

Grand Canyon: USA

So download and see the world the way you want!

True Friends: A Thought

I bet we all have friends, I classify my friends in two category good, and very good.

How do you classify?

True Friends always pop up to say Hello...

True Friends don't Care if you're a lil' different...

True Friends will drive you anywhere!...

True Friends never fight like cats and dogs...

True Friends let everyone come along...

True Friends don't laugh at you when you get new glasses...

True Friends help you up when you're down...

and True Friends never let you do something u know you will regret when you wake up the next morning!

ENJOY AND BUH BYE!!!

Lakshdweep: A Perfect Island for Your Next Summer Vacation

Lakshadweep is an archipelago consisting of 12 atolls, 3 reefs and 5 submerged banks. There are 10 inhabited islands and 17 uninhabited islands with a total geographical area of 32 sq. Kms., 220 to 440 Kms. away from the coastal city of Kochi in Kerala, in the emerald Arabian sea. The Lakshadweep islands are a geographical extension of the Maldives island chain. Referred to by many as the 'ultimate island paradise', each island floats serenely in a sea whose water range from palest aquamarine and turquoise to deepest sapphire and lapis lazuli.

Early history of Lakshadweep is unwritten. What now passes for history is based on various legends. Local traditions attribute the first settlement on these islands to the period of Cheraman Perumal, the last king of Kerala. It is believed that after his conversion to Islam, at the behest of some Arab merchants, he slipped out of his capital Cranganore, the present day Kodungallor - an old harbour town Kochi, for Mecca. When his disappearance was discovered, search parties went after him in sailing boats and left for the shores of Mecca, in search of the king from different places. It is believed that one of these sailing boats of Raja of Cannanore was struck by a fierce storm and they were shipwrecked on the island now known as Bangaram. From there they went to the nearby island of Agatti. Finally the weather improved and they returned to the mainland sighting other islands on their way. It is said that after their return another party of sailors and soldiers discovered the island of Amini and started living there. It is believed that the people sent there were Hindus. Even now unmistakable Hindu Social stratification exists in these islands despite Islam. Legends say that small settlements started in the Islands of Amini, Kavaratti, Andrott and Kalpeni first and later people from these islands moved to the other islands of Agatti, Kiltan, Chetlat and Kadmat. This legend of Cheraman Perumal is not, however, substantiated.

Here are some of the images of the beautiful island!! Enjoy!!

Rameswaram: A Religious and Tourist Place

Rameswaram, a well known pilgrim centre, is not only connected with the history of the great epic Ramayana but also remains as a symbol of National Integration. It is one of the most sacred towns of India, it is well known for its temple corridor-the longest in India, the Bathing Ghat, Kothanda Ramar Temple and other nearby islands-abundant with coral reefs and other marine wonders. Following are some of the images I have to post. These images are being collected from internet. So there is great chance that you might have already seen these.