http://www.blogger.com/feeds/14431171/posts/summaryWed, 21 Sep 2005 15:33:07 +0000http://www.nirmalmerchant.com/travel/travel.phpMerchant15http://www.blogger.com/feeds/14431171/posts/summary/113794163725425012Sun, 22 Jan 2006 14:46:00 +00002006-01-22T09:53:57.266-05:00The Planning: Even before I returned to India, my sister had threatened me that she would boycott any vacation within the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat.Mumbai city is the capital of Maharashtra State and most of my maternal relatives stay in Gujarat State. To my sister, going to any of these two places would be the same as moving from the living room to the kitchen.When I returned to Mumbai, http://www.nirmalmerchant.com/travel/2006/01/golden-triangle-in-east.phpMerchanthttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/14431171/posts/summary/112146422730149768Fri, 15 Jul 2005 21:49:00 +00002005-11-23T15:55:53.730-05:00I visited the temple at 5:30 am in the morning. It is a custom for the men to enter the temple bare-chested with a sarong around your waist. As I manuevered the dark corridors of the temple I realised it was time for the morning prayers. Infinite oil lamps lit the black stone walls of the temple and a golden glow seemed to surround everything. The colors of the flowers hit the eye as they stood http://www.nirmalmerchant.com/travel/2005/07/padmanabham-temple-story-of-creation.phpMerchanthttp://www.blogger.com/feeds/14431171/posts/summary/112120091026532434Tue, 12 Jul 2005 20:41:00 +00002005-09-16T18:38:37.636-04:00Now I had made this trip in February 2004 which is more than a year and a half ago. But the memories are still fresh and I have posted the pictures in the photo gallery so it deserves a mention here.. It was a 14 day business trip where I was posted to Thiruvananthapuram (hope I spelled that right) as a faculty at the TCS training center. The moment I happend to inform the members of my theatre http://www.nirmalmerchant.com/travel/2005/07/gods-own-country-kerala-india.phpMerchant