Visit to Tonnur kere

A long weekend was approaching and so my family decided we go for a less tiring weekend getaway near Bangalore.

After some search, we zeroed in on a place called Tonnur kere, which is located to close to Mandya. Its a 130km drive from Bangalore. The roads are are in ok condition after Mandya. Its a place just to sit on a bench and relax, have a look at the blue waters , chat with friends and family and enjoy.

There isnt much of crowd as of now. The place has nothing but a very good lake. We travelled in the month of May[summer time] and the water was full.  Its a good view. There is nothing to eat around. We carried our lunch , and had a great picnic. There are also some old temples in Tonnur, which we visited.

On the way back we came via Melkote. This place too has some temples to visit. There was a temple up the hill which we couldnt climb, so missed it. On the way back we made a quick visit to Jananpada loka, which was worth a visit!!  We were back to Bangalore by 7pm.

On the whole it was a great trip for one time.

Some pictures below:

We were also blessed with a very cool weather that day ;) have fun.

RC Blog: How i got my US Visa

RC Blog: How i got my US Visa: I was in the 'The city of Visas in South India' - Chennai on August 24th. I reached the US Consulate at 8:30am, i was inside by 9am. I was s...

How i got my US Visa

I was in the 'The city of Visas in South India' - Chennai on August 24th. I reached the US Consulate at 8:30am, i was inside by 9am. I was sent in to get my HDFC receipt and passport verified. Something unpredicted happened. A glitch . It was regarding my lost passport. My first passport was lost. So currently i have  new passport. The verification officer looked at it and asked-

"Is this your first passport?"

'No" i said .

"So what happened to the first one?" he kept looking at my passport

"I lost it". gosh its obvious i lost it. It was clrealy indicated in the new passport that the old one was LOST. This question came out of the blue to me.

He was an Indian. "Do you have an FIR copy with you?". he asked

"No, i dont have it right now. May be its at home. Not sure". I said. And i started to feel the heat. I needed this Visa at any cost.

The officer went inside, called a women, she checked for some records on the computer. I just stood there and looked at them . I had no clue as to what really going on.

After a couple of tense moments , they took my passport and asked to give my fingerprints. OK. Now i sought solace with this. Atleast i went on to the next step of the process. I was sent to the next level, where the interview would be taken. Finally i thought. But NO!!! I was aksed to wait for a couple of minutes. I was later asked to go to counter # 13. Oooops... i should have known why number 13 means no luck?

Counter #13 was for lost and fake passports. I went in to find a lady ask me a few questions again. I looked at some newspaper cuttings pasted in that counter regarding fake passports and crime. OMG!!!! I was in a tizzy. I  got to know that the old lost passport number printed in my new passport is wrong. The number was unusual. It was not matching with any records they had. ok.. so this became a bigger glitch.

Since i had no FIR copy, the lady asked me to mail it to an email ID [If i have the FIR] , and asked me to go ahead for the interview. Now, i was a bit laid back. 

I was called for interview in 2 min, and was asked:

1. why are you going to US?
2. Where does your husband work?
3. what places will you see?
4. What is your annual income?
5. I was asked to show my marriage pics [atleast 5 of them] 

and thats it.... "Your Visa is appoved. Have a safe stay in US" the interviewer said.

OMG.. i had made it. I looked my watch. It was just 9:25am. I was out of the consulate at 9:30am. The very next day i went and picked my passport/visa from the VFS office as i needed my passport  immedeatly for other reasons[else they courier it].  And yes... i was done with the entire episode of vicissitudes :))

PS: I sent a mail the very same day i gave the interview, regarding my real old passport number to the mail ID they gave me. However ,they dint hold my visa process for that information. And.. never ever be careless with your passport. ;)