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Melukote Temple is around 130 kms from Bangalore.

Early in twelfth century, the great Srivaishnava saint Sri Ramanujacharya took up his residence and lived here for about 14 years (said so). It thus became a prominent centre of the Srivaishnava sect of Brahmins, who obtained from the Hoysala king Vishnuvardhana, who had become a follower of the Acharya, an assignment of the fertile tracts of land in the neighbourhood, especially of the Ashta Gramas, on either bank of the Cauvery.

At Madiwala Market. The couple looked happy selling tomatoes. :)

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Roadside Fruit Stall at Madiwala Market, Bangalore.

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Last October, Compy turned five. Being in a state of dilemma to upgrade to a laptop or not, I decided to go for a laptop ditching my earlier desktop. ;) Now, the latter part was to decide the so called brand. Comparing Dell XPS, HP pavillion and Sony Vaio, I couldn't stop myself grabbing the Sangria Red Vaio. :D

My friend, N~, was very kind to buy it from US of A, as soon as I informed her the model no. Last Sunday, I got it and haven't explored much features yet.


© Manasa. All rights reserved.

Carvings on the stone pillar at Lepakshi Temple.

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It is an immense pleasure to read this book especially if you have grown up watching the famous detective serial on Doordarshan : Byomkesh Bakshi, the role well executed by Rajit Kapur. Originally authored by Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay in Bangla language , this fiction contains 54 episodes, out of which seven haven been successfully translated to English by Monimala Dhar and the same has been published by Rupa Publishers. Each story is based on a different outline, be it robbery or murder and the suspense is maintained till the end.

Byomkesh Bakshi is a Bengali  detective who is accompanied by his friend, Ajit banerjee, who is a writer. On solving each case, Ajit pens down their experiences. Byomkesh Bakshi is also known as Indian Sherlock Holmes.

The book has seven stories:
1. The Deadly Diamond (Raktamukhi Neela)
2. The Hidden Heirloom (Seemanta Heera)
3. The Avenger (Achin Pakhi)
4. The Man in a Red Coat (Chhalanar Chanda)
5. The Phantom Client (Shailarahasya)
6. Quicksand (Chorabali)
7. Room Number Two

The most impressive note mentioned was, "A thief cannon crib about the stolen stuff from him, that has already been stolen by him."

Afaik, I couldn't find any videos for these episodes on Youtube. :(

Book Title:Byomkesh Bakshi - Stories-Saradindu Bandyopadhay

(ISBN:81-291-0096-7 ~ Pub Year: 2003 ~ Pages:207 ~ Binding: Paperback ~ Publisher: Rupa)


PS: Dear Bengali friends, I am eager to read the remaining stories. If any of you find time, please translate them for me. IMHO some publisher might catch hold of you to get them published. :D

© Manasa. All rights reserved.

Mural paintings on the roof seen at Lepakshi Temple, Andhra Pradesh.

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An year ago, impressed by the new features of Nokia E-series phones, I bought E-51, after my return from Udupi . While I explored helluva features of the phone and addicted to GPRS just because this phone supported features innumerable, though I missed out many features like WLAN, Skype and others. Accidentally, I dropped my phone in water this Feb. :'(

Approaching Nokia Care turned futile as they confirmed that the phone cannot be repaired since the motherboard had completely conked off. Though, I wanted to buy the same phone, Nokia had stopped the production. With a heavy heart and little money, I had no other go rather than opting for Xpressmusic edition.

More in next post. ;)

© Manasa. All rights reserved.

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I don't know what these flowers are called...!