16th May 2010 - Akshaya Truthiya

Exactly a year back, it was the day of house warming ceremony of one of our neighbours. The house was beautiful, beyond words to describe it. The owner had used all kinds of artistic designs to make it look marvellous both from inside and outside. Added to this was the house warming ceremony decorations that included the traditional serial set lighting, the banana leaves "Chappra"and the eye catching Rangolis that made it look just perfect. And it was a sight to see the aesthetic tastes of the ladies dressed in their best silk sarees and the small kids running all over the house taking pictures in the newly built mansion.

I stood in our patio with my evening cup of tea, witnessing the happiness that lingered in the people on that occasion. What a joyous moment it was! Soon, my thoughts drifted away to our own house, that would one day have a similar occasion, at Rajeshwarinagar. Named aptly as "Sannidhi", it is now indeed a peaceful shrine for us, an abode with wonderful scenic beauty around, which makes it feel like Heaven on Earth! A better visualization for all those who have not seen it is provided through some pictures attached below.

Like every other house, ours also started from a barren piece of land to what now can be called as a bungalow with the most equipped amenities. Sannidhi stands out from others not by the number of floors or the costliest of marbles used to build it, but by the amount of effort each of us put in making our dream come true. This blog is a special dedication to dad, who spared no pains to visit the site twice each day, stand in the hot sun without caring for hunger or thirst and took all measures to supervise the workers. Secondly, although physically far from family, it was because of Chaitra that our dream is actually a reality now. It was because of her working day and night and helping us secure a financial debt that assisted in the first step to go ahead with the plan. And needless to mention, we are indebted to dear mom, who is the mistress behind all the managerial work of carrying out everything so successfully.

Sannidhi, as mentioned earlier is located in one of the most beautiful areas of Bangalore. As calm as a meditation hall of any ashram, our terrace is my favourite place where on one side, we can see the picturesque view of coconut trees of the adjacent Kala farm, and on the opposite end is the view of Omkar hills. There is a proposal to construct the Jyothir Lingas on top of that hill, which, I guess, would then make it even more famous. The Omkar Hills has a huge clock which strikes every hour, reminding me of the fact that time is so precious. Also worth quoting is the fabulous Shakthi hill resort, which i bet is an awesome retreat for everyone. It has in it the Aarmugam temple depicting the six faces of the Lord in different directions. This view is visible from "Happy Valley", along with the ISKCON temple that is under construction at Vasanthpur.

Added to this is the cultural paraphernalia of Rajeshwarinagar that includes the Rangamandira

and its adjoining mango groves. Even more beautiful is the breathtaking Nimishamba Temple whose Goddess Durga is believed to grant our desires each minute (Kannada word, nimisha, meaning minute). And how i could i even forget to mention the legendary RajaRajeshwari Temple which is the main reason behind Rajeshwari Nagar getting its name. This temple is one of the oldest in Bangalore, and the gold plated idol of the Goddess sits in Her holy shrine, looking wonderfully beautiful , and blessing all her devotees. People say that this is one of the biggest temples and effort is being made to make it one of the richest in the near future.

Rajeshwari Nagar also has in its vicinity, numerous engineering colleges like RNSIT (where I did my undergrad), JSSATE, SJBIT, RVCE, GATE, VIT etc. The parks at different stages of BEML Nagar are a definite reliever of stress for all the hostel students residing there. Not to disappoint the foodies are the mouth watering food joints like Delhi Chats, Cool Joint, Aman Rasoi, and Bansuri Sweets. Walking in the mango groves enjoying the marvellous breeze

and then a plate of Masala Mandakki or a special Bengali sweet or chat at Bansuri Sweets would make a perfect evening.

Overall, I can say that am proud to be a resident of such an awesome place. R R Nagar totally rocks !!!!