Footprints: July, 2006

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July 28

Feeling Nice..

It has been a lovely week at work. Not that everything went fine. Lots of things were going wrong and I tried my best to get things back on track. After a long time, I am experiencing this immense sense of satisfaction at work. I finally feel I have discovered what the term "job satisfaction" actually means to me. Man, it feels wonderful..

July 19

Trip to Bijapur

Last weekend, we (9 of us from the team) went on a trip to Bijapur to attend a friend’s (colleague too) reception. I badly wanted to be a part of the trip because of the history associated with Bijapur. And it turned out to be a decent experience in spite of the 24 hours we spent on bus-travel between Bangalore and Bijapur and my ill-health. We visited the city of fortresses on Saturday. After a delicious Masala dosa and chai from Kamat, we set out to explore the city. First visit was to Gol Gumbaz, a famous historical monument, built around 350 years back by Mohammad Adil Shahi. It is an architectural marvel and houses the tombstone of Mohammad Adil Shahi and his family. On reaching the dome of Gol Gumbaz one can experience a panoramic view of the whole city covered with ruined/old forts and monuments. There is a museum and a mosque that is attached to Gol Gumbaz. The mosque was apparently being used for prayers during Adil Shahi’s period. The museum holds some antique artifacts. We got to see some household articles, Persian carpets, armours, cannon balls, 5 feet swords, Sufi paintings etc from Adil Shahi’s era.

The second stop was Ibrahim Rosa (spelt Rouza in some places) and it houses the tomb of Ibrahim Adil Shahi, another member from the Adil Shahi pedigree. Having decided to not hire a guide after our terrible experience at Gol Gumbaz, we started exploring the place on our own. We ended up taking pictures all around the place in many different poses. The place though undertaken by the archeological department still appears ruined except for the surrounding lawns.

We then moved on to see Gagan Mahal, yet another ruined monument, which used to house cultural events during Adil Shahi era. Final stop for the day was Malik Maidan which holds one of the biggest cannon structures preserved through the ages. The size of the structure and technology used to activate such a weapon left most of us overwhelmed. The real feast for the day was ofcourse the rich Khana at the reception, one of the best I have ever had. The Pani poorie and some of the sweets served will remain evergreen in all our memories.

Sunday’s agenda took an unexpected turn when the guys overslept. So the original plan to go to Badami was cancelled and we decided to explore some nearby places. Our first destination was a Shiv Mandir in the outskirts of Bijapur, a sculpture very similar to the one at Kemp fort Shiv Mandir in Bangalore. After a quick photo session and another quick visit to a Hanuman temple (a place frequented by our newly married friend), we proceeded to Almatti dam, 60 km from Bijapur. The dam site was a letdown with muddy water and dam gates that left us wondering if it would ever be open. But the snacks we had on the way to the dam view points were worth the visit for me. The damn also has a beautiful garden and an upcoming Stone Park with a small pond and boating facilities. Three of us went on to explore the upcoming park leaving the rest the gang that was interested in boating. The Stone Park appeared quite thematic for us. The sculptures that formed a human chain around a huge map of India, probably depicting people across the states and some carvings around the park depicting the life of people from rural India were truly amazing pieces of art. Finally exhausted and beaten down by the sun we headed off for a lunch. With no decent restaurants around and craving to taste food on a road side Dhaba, we got into one of those places where truck drivers and other rural people regularly hang out. I was all excited to try out a road side Dhaba for the first time ever and the experience turned out to be exhilarating. The food was awesome and the sweet lassi has no comparison. With a bus to catch at 8pm, we decided to head back to Bijapur and take a quick look at one last monument that we had left unvisited the previous day – the Barah (12) Kaman. Well the story goes like this- Mohammad Adil Shah’s son aspired to build a 12 storey structure that would eventually beat out the architectural splendor of Gol Gumbaz. The father not willing to let such a thing happen, defeated his son in a war and never let him realize his dream. Today the Barah Kaman remains with just the base floor and no ceiling. That completed our list of places to visit in Bijapur and we returned to Bangalore to start another hectic week at work.

Breaking the Silence

It has been close to 2 months since I have blogged. Well I have been lazy, depressed, gloomy and lost. But last weekend has been quite refreshing and now I have realized that it is time to gain the lost momentum. I plan to write few posts on leadership covering some topics that have been bothering me for sometime now. So do check the blog in the coming weeks.