Thiruvananthapuram - Bangalore : The Fastest Route

Trivandrum - Bangalore: Fastest Route

The cellphone alarm was ringing aloud, disturbing a sound sleep, but I was happy and excited to get up even though it was only 3.30 in the morning. A totally unexpected road trip is in the offing. By 4am, I found myself behind the wheels, enjoying the feel good fragrance of a new machine. The owner of this machine, my brother, was sitting beside me, discussing the route to take.

The 1500c petrol mill was pulling us ahead and the smooth power delivery and brilliant engineering of Honda ensuring that passengers are having a dream time inside.

The destination was Bangalore, a good 750 Kms away from where we cranked the machine in the morning. Last time when I did this road trip, it took more than 12 hours for this journey. The route taken then was the NH 47 route.

Thiruvananthapuram - Quilon - Alappuzha - Ernakulam - Thrissur - Palghat - Coimbatore - Salem - Hosur  - Bangalore (total distance: 730 km)

We had chosen a different route this time which was some distance more than the above route, just to experiment and also to experience the newly built NH7. The route was

Thiruvananthapuram - Nagercoil - Thirunelveli - Madurai - Salem - Hosur - Bangalore.

The roads were empty, but the recent rains had ensured that there are enough reservoirs on the road itself to store them. Empty roads means a smooth and relaxed drive. We were now travelling the southward direction. Soon we zoomed past Neyyatinkara, a normally busy junction.

Time and Distance Stat

Time	Place	Time	Place	Distance	Speed
04:00 am	Ulloor at Thiruvananthapuram	04:45am	Neyyantinkara	35km	46.67Km/hr

Total distance: 35Km, Average Speed: 46.67Km/hr

The Thiruvananthapuram Nagercoil sretch of road is one of the busiest roads. Even at this hour, there was so much traffic that overtaking slow moving vehicles was a pain as every other moment a vehicle was coming in the opposite direction through the narrow two way lane. Wonder why successive governments are not taking any concrete steps to widen this stretch of road which is the main corridor to the state of Kerala.

Passed the check post at Amaravila without any major traffic block and soon all the sign boards and road side hoardings switched to another language - Tamil, signifying that we crossed over to another state of India - the TamilNadu. By the time we reached Nagercoil, traffic had picked up too.

Time and Distance Stat

Time	Place	Time	Place	Distance	Speed
04:45 am	Neyyantinkara	5:30 am	Nagercoil	35km	46.67Km/hr

Total distance from source: 70 Km, AverageSpeed: 46.67Km/hr

The twisty curvy roads were being negotiated with considerable ease. Till Nagercoil we were South bound. From Nagercoil lot of signboards were there which correctly guided us. The huge windmills began to appear and to watch them in abundance close to the roads make us feel as if they are aliens.

It is still early in the morning, but there was enough light to click the first pic of the day's sojourn

Roads became more and more straighter and well maintained. Trucks formed majority of traffic, but most of them were well behaved, and we just need to follow what the truck driver's signal. The kind of maturity which truck drivers show on road in Tamil Nadu is something which Keralites also need to master. In such a sceneario horn is barely a necessity. The moment they saw a speeding car on there rear view mirror, they will give space for the speeding vehicle to pass when the conditions are conducive and we just need to wait for their signal. With such well mannered traffic and good roads average speeds increased and we soon touched the much awaited NH7.

Time and Distance Stat

Time	Place	Time	Place	Distance	Speed
05:30 am	Nagercoil	6:00 am	NH7 entry	30km	60Km/hr

Total distance from source: 100 Km, AverageSpeed: 50 Km/hr

One of the basic needs for sustained development is presence of quality infrastructure. Roads are indeed one of the major infrastructure and India seems to be catching up in this area much later. High quality highways were a rarity here. Once into NH7, the complete feel of the journey changed. It was like moving from a bed of thorns to a bed of roses. It is a 6 lane road.

Ambient light levels increased, the rising sun was painting the sky with lively colors and with each passing moment the attraction quotient of the sky was increasing and this quotient finally reached a level when we stopped the vehicle and got out to catch the action from outside the confines of the moving car.

Speed in this small drive session of 10 minutes was a steady 60, eventhough we could have travelled much faster, we were not able to, thanks to the superb roads which made us sit in awe and the beautiful sky.

Time and Distance Stat

Time	Place	Time	Place	Distance	Speed
06:00 am	NH7 entry	6:10 am	Photo Stop	10km	60Km/hr

Total distance from source: 110 Km, AverageSpeed: 50.77 Km/hr

The place where we stopped was not bad at all, because towards the western side we could see someone being trapped.

On the eastern side, we could see the red ball of fire between those trees lined up in these plain lands.

Our steed also got in one of the frames in this exemplary environmental settings.

Sure, she deserves a more professional portfolio shoot. Made up my mind for a one more portfolio shoot of this mean machine later in the day, if time permits.

The red ball of fire was rising up really fast and within no time, it came up in full glory making everything around it red.

Time and Distance Stat

Time	Place	Time	Place	Distance	Speed
06:10 am	Photo Stop	6:20 am	Photo Stop ends	0km	0Km/hr

Total distance from source: 110 Km, AverageSpeed: 47.14 Km/hr (excluding breaks: 50.77)

We swapped positions and my brother was in the drivers seat. The time consuming part of the journey was over and from now on it is NH7 all the way to Bangalore. Only doubt in our minds were how crowdy it will be in the peak hours and in major towns.

The gliding continued, yes it was a gliding kind of an experience. At times you forget that the vehicle is moving. These are the kind of roads where you could easily mistake a speed of 120Km/hr to be half of that. I was enjoying the scenary on my left side (the western side). The first rays of the sun falling on these lovely rocky hills was giving it a fresh appearance.

Just see that this pic was taken when the car was moving at speed of about 100Km/hr and I could zoom the camera and still manage to take shot of this mountain without a shake.
More hills were to follow and the plains ensured that we get a very very wide angle of whole scheme of things

At certain places the roads were made by cutting hills, just to keep them going on straight.

Within no time we could see sign boards pointing to take the service roads to Tirunelvelli, which meant that we already reached Tirunelvelli. The roads still were deserted and we were doing really good speeds and were covering distances faster than expected.

Time and Distance Stat

Start Time	Place	End time	Place	Distance	Speed
06:20 am	Photo Stop	6:50 am	Tirunelveli	45km	90Km/hr

Total distance from source: 155 Km, AverageSpeed: 54.71 Km/hr (excluding breaks: 58.13)

The lack of intermittent braking, which is a necessity in two lane roads, ensures that the ride is comfortable and a ensures a very high average speed. Traffic till now was miniscule and only thing to be ensured was that the driver does not dose off, coz he don't have much of an activity.

A rocket like structure soon captured our attention. It was situated so far away that it was in our field of vision for a pretty long time eventhough we were travelling in rocket like speeds on the road. Finally when we passed the structure we understood it to be a cement factory.

The concept of service roads and road crossings via underpass has been implemented in this highway which ensures that the town traffic congestion does not have its impact on the highway and to prevent road crossings. Whenever a service road appears, we knew that some town is fast approaching.

The next town in sight was the Duraiyur, but again zero traffic ensued. This sector travel ensured that our average speed crossed over to the 60Km/hr territory.

Time and Distance Stat

Time	Place	Time	Place	Distance	Speed
06:50 am	Tirunelveli	7:00 am	Duraiyur	19km	116Km/hr

Total distance from source: 174 Km, AverageSpeed: 58 Km/hr (excluding breaks: 61.41)

The gliding is continuing. If one needs to sleep in the vehicle, this is the perfect road to do that. But I never feel sleepy while on a road trip in the day time even if I am not driving. A little after 20 minutes from Duraiyur, saw a board towards the western side pointing to Sankarankovil.

People driving down from Bangaloare to Kollam can take this route to Sankarankovil and then proceed ahead to Thenkasi, Thenmala, Punalur and Kollam.

Time and Distance Stat

Time	Place	Time	Place	Distance	Speed
07:00 am	Duraiyur	7:21 am	Sankarankovil Turning	35km	Km/hr

Total distance from source: 209 Km, AverageSpeed: 62.39 Km/hr (excluding breaks: 65.65)

A distance of about 200 kilometers in 3 hours is pretty good considering the fact that the initial 70 kms took a whopping 1.5 hours. Roads continued to be superb and the travel was now completely through plain lands. We were getting more and more away from the Western ghats.

Time and Distance Stat

Start Time	Place	End time	Place	Distance	Speed
07:21 am	Sankarankovil Turning	7:37 am	Sattur	27km	103 Km/hr
07:37 am	Sattur	7:55 am	Virudhnagar	25km	83Km/hr

Total distance from source: 261 Km, AverageSpeed: 66.64 Km/hr (excluding breaks: 69.60)

The constant speed driving ensured that the total average speed is going up. The next major town upcoming was Thirumangalam. This is another junction, where one can take a deviation to Thenkasi via Rajapalayam. 

While coming down from Bangalore if one wants to go to Thenkasi, then taking deviation from Thirumangalaam is shorter than taking deviation after Sattur.

Time and Distance Stat

Time	Place	Time	Place	Distance	Speed
07:55 am	Virudhnagar	8:15 am	Thirumangalam	31km	93 Km/hr

Total distance from source: 292 Km, AverageSpeed: 68.71 Km/hr (excluding breaks: 71.51)

The next major town is Madurai. Post NH7, I have not travelled in this route, so I have memories of a heavy blockade in Madurai. Was eagerly waiting for the town to arrive for I was curious to know the impact of this super highway on one of the major towns.

The signboards showing service roads to Madurai was on display and we were travelling through some fly overs with a sight of denser buildings far away.

The GPS receiver of phone showed that we were travelling a little away from the heart of the town. A nice thought out design for there was not a single blockade during our crusade through this city.

Time and Distance Stat

Start Time	Place	End time	Place	Distance	Speed
08:15 am	Thirumangalam	8:20 am	Madurai	10km	120 Km/hr

Total distance from source: 302 Km, AverageSpeed: 69.69 Km/hr (excluding breaks: 72.48)

The journey upto Madurai now took 4 hours, 10 minutes, without really hard pressing the accelarator or frantically driven to reach destination faster. It was a really relaxed drive, with the driver feeling no more fatique than his co traveller.

Once we passed Madurai,we decided to take a break in the next available hotel and some our steed also had to be fed with some fuel along with our tummies. A geography change was apparent as there were some beautiful rock formations

We also encountered the first occurence of a "Diversion" board, since some work was being done on the track in which we were travelling.

We were soon back on our track and the landscape got better since we seemed to be heading towards some mountains.

Exactly 24kms after Madurai, in a place called Vadipatti, we spotted a Petrol Pump which also housed a Dhaba.

There was no rethinking as to where we were heading to.

After 2 hours of cruising through NH7, the black beauty was again shut down to give some rest. We had a small breakfast, while our steed rested after gulping in loads fuel.

What a nice gesture to give credits to the workforce behind this beautiful Pump.

"The hands that built BP Vadipatti"

Time and Distance Stat

Time	Place	Time	Place	Distance	Speed
08:20 am	Madurai	8:35 am	Vadipatti(BP Pump)	24km	95 Km/hr

Total distance from source: 326 Km, AverageSpeed: 71.13 Km/hr (excluding breaks: 73.81)

There ends part 1 of this post " Thiruvananthapuram - Bangalore : The fastest route"

Click here to read part 2 with more superb landscape and descriptions of this wonderful express way to Bangalore !!

Disclaimer: 

Please don't treat this as a benchmark time for travel between the destinations specified. The travel time depends solely on the time of travel, the trafic and road conditions.

Kindly avoid driving with an aim to reach the destination in a quicker time. Start early and do a relaxed drive. 

Practice defensive driving.

"Better late than never"

Onam - A Journey through the Celebrations !!

Festivals, are something which adds color to our lives. There are many kinds of festivals associated with each religion, caste, creed, culture, geographical boundaries etc, but all of them share the basic underlying principle - to remind us of our culture, and to celebrate the joy of giving, sharing and above all be happy.

This little state of Kerala, is no different and it seems like people are waiting for festivals to come for they flock from different parts to celebrate the occasion.

Onam, the festival which all Keralites celebrate irrespective of caste, religion or regional bias, just passed by and I could see the happiness and the buzz around, be it in my kids school, my office, the city around or in my home.

Let me just take you for a journey through the festival moments around me.

Earlier, Onam was associated with Onam examination at school. More than Onam, the vacation after the pulverising exams were celebrated with vigour. Thanks to the children-friendly ruling of the government, Onam exams are done away with in schools, a decision which reminds us that political leaders can think in terms of welfare of the people too. It is surely a relief for all the kids around. Parents also will be feeling relieved too, as in this part of the world children's education gets into the head of most of the parents.

The advent of Onam began to tickle when my younger daughter, who in Pre-KG, demanded to get some white flowers for her Onam celebration at school. Yes Onam has arrived, the festival of colors, the time when flowers has the maximum demand. She was demanding flowers for making a "pookkalam" meaning a floral decoration using flowers. There is a history associated with it too. Gone are the days when we used to get all kinds of flowers from our garden and from our neighbourhood. We have to now buy flowers from the market and that too at exhorbitant prices. Got her some white flowers and dressed her up in a traditional attire for the Onam celebrations which was going to happen a little prematurely, coz her school will be closed for Onam holidays afterwards.

The school authorities are doing a world of good for these tiny tots by celebrating these festivals, coz they get a feeling of the culture and tradition. The way the little kids had dressed up made me stand and gaze at them once I went to drop my daughter at schoool.

The teachers at her school, assisted by these little ones made a beautiful pookkalam (the flower arrangement)

There was one kid who was dressed up like Mahabali, the King whose name is associated with Onam.

It is a widespread belief that King Mahabali, will visit his country to see the prosperity of his kingdom during Onam time.

There was singing and dancing and the kids were really enjoying and it is really a pleasant sight to see all these innocent kids together, sure to make any one's day.

The way in which the teachers were involving in the celebrations was really commendable, which made me think that this school is still maintaining the standards which I wrote about sometime back, while my elder one was studying there(Click here to read about this KG school)

Once in office, the email announcing the schedule of Onam celebrations came as a welcome relief from the tightly loaded work schedule and tea/lunch time meetings were soon made into a sort of strategic planning for making the events a grand success.

The first among the series of events was the tug of war competition and it is quite surprising that eventhough only 11 people from a house can participate, the whole members of the house gets along with the game and really involves in it.

Once the games are over the onlookers are equally exhilarated as those who are pulling the rope.

The mood at office has started to change. Every one was must have been feeling that happiness. The tug of war competition was held in the evening. The winners were given the traditional prize of Banana Bunch. But the prize soon disappeared into the stomach's of the onloookers and it was fun sharing the prize. People who lost the game also were seen shouting slogans and running around, signifying that victory alone does not matter much and even the losers were happy.

The "pookkalam" competition is scheduled for next day morning. But preparations has to be done the previous night itself. Not a single person who indulged in the pookkalam preparations will ever forget that night, for it is fun to be together among the different kinds of flowers, cutting them, shaping them, sorting them , creating designs and whole lot of things which carries on till late in the night and every one enjoys the moment.

Onam has started to mark its presence.

Even after a late night work out, all of the employees turned up pretty early, almost 2 hours before the normal office hours for creating the pookkalam. The hall where the floral decoration were being made was a symbol of celebration. The smell of the flowers was really special, the dress code of the day was traditional and the people whom we see in formal dresses were looking different in their traditional attire. Team work was on forefront and the event was surely giving a lesson or two on group activity.

Within two hours the time for setting the pookkalam was over. Everyone was happy and the designs looked very beautiful and creative more than enough to give a sense of self satisfaction. Once the work of setting up the pookkalam was over traditional lamp was lit and beautifully placed on its sides.

Watch the creations and get a feel of the beautiful designs.

This "pookkalam" was very vibrant, eventhough there are some design imperfections which are visible on a closer look.

This one was a symbol of perfection

Pookkalams can also be designed to convey a message or two as can be seen here.

The symbol of peace has been delightfully merged with a wheel which is one of the basic inventions which led to the prosperity of man kind symbolizing that our country is progressing forward.

But the best of the lot was this.

See how beautifull the color combination is !! This was an excellent work and looked more beautiful in flesh that in pic, possible because of the third dimension. Quite rightly this bagged the first prize for the event which was awarded amidst the "Nadan pattu" (traditional folk songs) by professionals. Of late the tune of such folk songs are getting more and more into the head of Keralites and is seen as an integral part of all the functions around. Music as always sets up the flare and the complete festive mood sets in. One of the colleagues had dressed up as a Mahabali too.

The traditional "Onam Sadya" (Onam feast) arranged at office was something special as it is really great to have about 900 collegeaus having food together.

It was truly a memorable day at office, the last working day before Onam holidays. Step out of office at the evening to see that the main street is well lit up. People are already taking a stroll through the main city road, the most beautiful thing being the trees on both sides of the road are completely illuminated. Even though this illumination has been there for the past many years, each year Onam is not complete without a walk through this road.

Traffic in this stretch will be blocked for one week of Onam celebrations and people are permitted to move through the main road. Those who are born and brought up in this capital city of Kerala will have many fond memories of this Onam week celebration.

As a kid we used to enjoy the walk with our parents, with the road side balloon vendor providing more color and the balloons and small toys which we get from them is something truly priceless. How many times we may have asked for more and more toys with our parents and it was fun walking all the way back carrying the proud possesions back home and most probably these balloons won't reach home, coz they will break before we reach home.

As we grew up, our perspectives changed and the young blood demanded company of other like minded people called friends for a walk through these beautiful stretch. We enjoyed the colors around cracking jokes and the occasional ice creams, bombay sweets and other delicacies from the road side vendors adding flavour to the occassion. The exhibitions inside the Kanakakkunnu Palace grounds (watch the beautiful palace here), which used to be no more than some traditional art forms was truly worth a visit. How many times we may have met our old friends here.

Time flew past and the walk through these lit up streets, began to look even more colorful with the air and fragrance around tickling the romantic mood when we strolled through these streets with hands gently touching and having no idea of the crowd around, in a world of our own. Yes the romantic moments had started. Life was fast changing and new roles were being played. The celebrations suddenly become more and more beautiful and it didn't take much longer to start donning the next role of life.

Roles reversed and now I am taking my kids for a walk around. The crowd for sure has increased leaps and bounds. When the children demands a balloon, I just think of my childhood, when the young guys walk around in freaking manner, I just think of my college days, and there are couples strolling around in a world of their own, these celebrations are an integral part whatever stage of life we are in.

Consumerism has taken over and the Kanakakkunnu palace grounds are turned into a carnival like place with all kinds of junk rides with no kind of safety measures being temporarily built up for making fast moolah out of the crowd, but it definitely creates a carnival like ambience, quite unlike the olden days.

Traditional art forms being played in the earlier times are now taking a back stage as they did not mean business. But amidst all this, the sight of this giant wheel is a treat to watch, eventhough I really suspect the safety precautions ensured in this makeshift arrangement

Moving out towards the centre of the city all the buildings were beautifully lit up and there is a contest run by the tourism department on most beautifully lit up building.

The municipality building was shining in full glory.

If Onam brought this much color to the city, then it had something more to do at home too. Holidays have started and the celebrations shifted to home. One of the major advantages of festivals was being felt. Almost all close relatives were at home and as expected more the people more the fun.

All at home joined hands to make a pookkalam.

The design is ready in front of the house.

Time to arrange the flowers and lady folks were responsible for this activity and it was a good job.

The final output was pretty good to see.

The kids were happy to see this beautiful pookkalam in front of their house and since they too helped in creating it, we could see the sense of ownership among them too.

Soon most in the family got dressed in traditional attire and it was time for a photo shoot in front of the pookkalam. Not every day all of us have a chance to meet and be with each other, since job locations are different.

It was time for grand onam feast at home. The traditional arrangements was ready.

The moments of dining together, cracking jokes, sharing all the happenings since we last met, gossiping was real fun and the happenings are something which we will not forget in the near future.

One more photo session ensued and all kinds of creativity was being tried out by the budding photographers and the fun continued.

All good things have to end, but good times seems to last shorter than what it actually is. The celebrations was soon over, but not without leaving lots and lots of good memories.

More than the myths, more than the rituals, more than the custom, it is the joy of togetherness, the buzz around and the happiness it provides, which makes the festivals so so special. Long live the festivals!!

The way in which festivals are celebrated may undergo change according to the changing times, but continue celebrating and it sure will serve its purpose.

NB: There was a dip my blogging time during last month, including visiting the blogs I follow too. It was not a deliberate break, but the real tight schedule at office and being host to some wonderful relatives meant, I had to take my blogging time off. In between made some interesting trips too. So some travel blogs are soon coming up and wanna catch up with new posts of my blogger pals too.