Muscat airport, a transit

While transiting through Muscat airport for the first time the impression it gave was that of a humble small time airport. The flooring was old and no ample waiting space with broken chairs in waiting area. So had to just hang around the gate till it opened up. During that time read flyers saying that the target is to become one of the top airports in the world by 2020. Then what is this that's before your eyes, clear mismatch!

Once the gate opened the queue extended to the adjacent two gates as the area was small. As the queue started moving, a fellow passenger working in Muscat joined behind and asked if it's the same flight he's looking for and got introduced. He said Muscat is a cosmopolitan place and no one is left out. Lot of Indians work here and enjoy good climate with access to native food as well.

Now with everything going well what about the airport was our question to him. From the airport bus which was taking us to the aircraft he showed us the adjacent almost completed new airport which was to be inaugurated soon. Oh! this is the 2020 airport then..

On the return back to Chennai it was the brand new airport. Very comfortable for international passengers, flight status and sign board at the right places, offering good shopping experience, hygienic rest rooms, lounges and huge waiting area. Movement from one gate to another made easy with great accessibility in place. It was fun comparing to the old airport seen for the first time :)

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Anjaneyar Temple - Gerugambakkam, Porur

Very recently we came to know about the Anjaneyar temple built by actor Arjun is at Gerugambakkam. On a Sunday evening we drove towards this place. We need to detour from the Kundrathur main road to reach this temple and from then on we need to face a rough and patchy road. In just 5 minutes one can reach the temple. A small residential street leads to the temple. Very near it one could see few small stalls mushroomed up to sell pooja items. The vehicles have to be parked in the street near the temple gates. First is the corridor were few trees are seen. On taking left is the entrance to the temple and you can see the Lord Anjaneyar much ahead. Here too are few trees uniformly spaced out. There is a coconut farm adjacent to this temple. There is a shelter above Lord Anjaneyar, but for that it is a open air temple. Facing Lord Anjaneyar and to the left and right corner are two shrines - one for Lord Ganesh and the other for Lord Anjaneyar's - Lord Rama, Lord Lakshmana and Goddess

Pudhumanai Pugudhal (house warming)

கல்யாணத்தை பண்ணிப்பார், வீட்டை கட்டிப்பார் says an age old Tamil saying denoting the tedious nature of both as duties. The house warming ceremony denotes the culmination of building a house and entering into it for living. In a typical Tamil house hold, buying or building a new house is a pride and a dream. Building a house involves lot of rituals. First comes the 'Adikal naattu', laying the foundation stone. On an auspicious day, Just before the sunrise Bhoomi Pooja is done and the first stones are layed by the family and the builders involved. All present are given Prasad or sweets from the Pooja. This marks the kick start of the house building project. Once the building skeleton comes up with walls built and rooms differentiated there comes a time to fix the frame and threshold of the doors. This requires Vaasakaal Pooja to bring up the Vaasal. A team of married ladies in odd numbers form the main part of this ceremony. Navaratnas are buried below the Vaasal and e

Gandikota trip - Day 2 - Belum Caves

The second day at Gandikota was again a rainy onw with heavy thunders the previous night. Seeing sunrise was ruled out but we set out at 7AM after a quick refreshment. Most of the shops were shut due to power cuts since it's been raining continuously since last night, managed to get mini cup chai for Rs.10 and went to the right of the fort where we could see a different view of the creek. The air-conditioned tent accommodations are also here. Also, adventure sports happen here. The place was shabby due to overnight rains and the tourists had littered the place completely with bottles, glass pieces and food items. This happens in most of the tourist places, unless the visitors take the responsibility to keep the place clean, government cannot help maintaining. As we went through the restaurants nearby, no food was available due to lack of power. So we decided to drive to Jammalamadugu for breakfast. Within 20 mins we reached Jammalamadugu, it was a beautiful morning owing to weathe

Our wanderings and perceptions

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