You Never Know

We travelled to Shirdi last weekend - took my own car along for a good self-driven road trip. The road is quite straightforward - from Mumbai take the Eastern Express Highway to Thane and Bhiwandi. This is the NH3 to Nashik, but we took a route avoiding Nashik. Left from home at 7:30 am. First stop was for snacks at Manas Resorts Igatpuri at around 10:30 am. The resort has been nicely done-up and looks a good spot for a weekend getaway a la Fariyas. 7 km after Igatpuri is the town of Ghoti which has a bypass road to Sinnar, which avoids Nashik completely. There is a board on the highway pointing to a right turn to Ghoti. The off-road leads through a market for about 2 kms, but ask for directions to Sinnar/Shirdi if confused. It leads to a railway crossing and a toll booth later - and then the bypass road smoothens out. This route was a scenic drive through some unspoiled lands. The photos show the windmills and lakes seen along the Ghoti-Sinnar bypass road. Another advantage was no hi...

There's been lots of news recently over Sr. Alphonsa - a Catholic nun from Bharananganam, in Kottayam district, Kerala being proclaimed a Saint on Oct 12th 2008. She will now be known as St Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception. This is newsworthy since she is the second saint from India and the first woman. Many would have expected Mother Teresa to be the first woman from India - but things dont move so fast in the Vatican - St Alphonsa has been canonized 62 years after her death. I was watching the news on Sunday - CNNIBN I think it was - an over-excited reporter outside Mahim church had found a Kerala-ite lady who "had actually been to the church of St Alphonsa" and was asked in true AajTak style - "How do you feel about it?" "Kaise mehsoos ho raha hai"types. As over-the-top as that was - it truly hit me then how proud a moment it was for people like myself and my family - those who have a small (and I mean really small) association with this saint,...