Kodaikanal with Ananya Vats

It feels like everyone's talking about two things right now. Pickleball and podcasts. So what happens when someone who's lived her whole life on the court decides to bring those two worlds together? I'm Sanya Mirza and I'm bringing you a brand new podcast, serving it up with Sanya. I've had some incredible conversations with friends, fellow athletes, artists and entrepreneurs. Each episode starts with the game of Pickleball and once the rallies are done, the real talk begins. Serving it up with Sanya, watch and listen on YouTube and wherever you get your favourite podcast. Hello and welcome to a brand new episode of the Musafer Stories, India's very own travel podcast where each week we share the journey of travelers in their own words and relive their experiences with you, Alice Nuz. Hey guys, welcome to a brand new episode of The Musafer Stories. Hope you're all well and keeping safe. On the podcast today, we speak with Ananya Watz, a product manager at Google Maps and an avid traveler as she takes us to the queen of hill stations as this places popular none. So, let's hop onto the episode and find out more. Did you know about India's first Oscar entry or the surprising origins of the internet here? Ever wondered who played both cricket and football at the national level or the real story behind the Rasekullah Wars? Join me, Kunal Vijaykar, as I dive into tales of innovation, achievement and resilience that have shaped our nation. Unite to a century store is India, presented by IDFC First Bank, available on all audio streaming platforms. Did you know Indian's report nearly 800 cases of online financial fraud every day which has resulted in losses exceeding 1000 crores in the last 5 years? To keep you safe from such fraud, I am starting my newest podcast series, Conversation with Vigilanti and initiative by HDFC Bank. In every episode, I will feature special guests who can share expert insights on the different types of fraud, their modest operandi and how you can protect your money. Stay safe, stay vigilant and don't forget to tune into Conversation with Vigilanti. Catch the episodes on all audio streaming platforms and we for Vigilanti YouTube channel. A product manager and a traveler to the Mustafa Stories and I thank you so much for being on the Mustafa Stories and welcome to the podcast. Thank you so much, I am pretty excited to be here. Thank you Anand, thank you for reaching out and we are glad to host you on the podcast today. But the intro I did earlier was pretty short and concise, so why don't you speak a little bit more about yourself and your likes? Sure, sure. So currently I am based in Bangalore, it's been a couple of years here and I am a product manager at Google Maps, apart from that I love to read, I do write, do a couple of art forms also and of course I travel, actually Pandemic has been quite a pivotal moment because I started doing a lot of long travels and solo vacations. So over the past four years, I've been to around 20 Indian states, I've traveled 18 countries and I manage all the trips with a full-time job, so there's a lot of sort of travel planning and researching that goes into it. Yeah, I think that's about me. Yeah, wonderful. And I'm sure your job also acts as a welcome distraction, looking at maps all day. You tend to get distracted, I'm just joking, but I could have, but bring up that you work at Google Maps. So I always love just looking at maps and zooming in and zooming out of places, trying to figure out where or what orientation some places are. But yeah, clearly you're very, very multi-talented and I'm glad that the silver lining of the Pandemic which is a difficult time for all of us has been that you've been able to focus a lot more on travel and discovered new places and countries. You mentioned you've heard to the podcast before, so you kind of know the drill, right? We basically focus on a place, the experience of visiting there, things to do, see, experience, eat, meet, write all of that. So that in mind, where are you taking us and our listeners to today? Sure. Yeah. So I'm basically taking to a really, really beautiful place near Bangalore. It's famous for its flowers and green trees and mountains, we're going to Kodai Kanal. It's clearly my favorite for a weekend trip from Bangalore, like it's something which could be covered in the short number of days and then you kind of get the best of nature. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we used to boast about Bangalore having good weather, but I know these days Bangalore also gets pretty hot, so yeah, it's a perfect getaway for a weekend because Kodai has usually good weather around the year or at least cooler weather around the year. I'm glad that you did get a chance to experience the hell station, all we also refer to as the princess of hells, right? Can you tell a little bit more about how to get there and when is a good time to visit? Sure, sure. So the best time to go is obviously monsoons, like everything is super green and you see like mist on the roads. It's quite dreamy, and I think that's kind of applicable for whole South India. But then it's also pretty nice and winters. I personally have visited twice, once in May when it was very green and once in March when I would not recommend anyone to go like before monsoons because almost, you know, it's quite dry and you see half the beauty that Kodai can all has. So I would say monsoons, autumn, winters would be the best time. It's quite close to Bangalore, as I mentioned, so you can take like an overnight bus or you can even drive down, takes around eight to nine hours. You can go on bike also because the mountains are really nice. Apart from that, there are airports like Madurai, Coimbatore or nearby, so in case you're coming from other places, from there you can take a cab and reach Kodai. Yeah, brilliant. Firstly, thank you for setting that geographical orientation for us, as well as how and when to visit, right, that part of it. You can also shed some light just in terms of the cell station, how it came about, like the history that talked to it. Sure, sure. Like a lot of hill stations, I think Ooty is also one of them. This was basically set up by Britishers who were looking to, you know, escape to a more cooler place and at that time mostly Mysore was the center, which was quite hot. So Kodai canal was established by Britishers around 1800s and that is something that you can even see now in all the old buildings, the architecture, it's very colonial in nature. And the names of places, like the famous spots in Kodai canal have the whole, you know, colonial nomenclature to it. It also kind of ensures that it's very well planned in the sense that it's quite green. There are lots of gardens and flowers, which is my favorite part of the Kodai canal, actually, the sheer amount of flowers and colors that you see there. Yeah, absolutely. And even in literal terms, the term Kodai canal in Tamil means the gift of the forest, right? It loosely translates to that. So yeah, it's very lush green and as a part of the nil giri ranges. So really, really some beautiful and scenic sites along with the good weather to experience while you're visiting here. Now you didn't mention about the British connection. So thank you for covering off that too. So we know what to expect. In terms of the itinerary itself, you did mention that it's a good weekend, I forget away. And even historically, it's been like, I don't know, from the times of my parents and that generation, like honeymoon destination, that's how it's been considered. But in New York, how long was your itinerary for? Yeah. So it was actually a little spontaneous. I went for a long weekend, which is three days with my friends. And we went by bus and we were supposed to return on Monday. But then I really liked the place. And I had my laptop with me. So I just extended my status on Sunday and I took a hostel and I stayed there. My friends actually came back. But since I had the remote work option, I stretched my visit and like just stayed there. But I think a Kodai canal in general could be covered properly in three days. But then as they say, if you really want to experience a place, even a month, there's a short time to visit. So you can stay for as long as you want. Yeah. Absolutely. And God bless those companies that give that sort of freedom to work remotely so that there is flexibility around planning our tours as well. Wonderful. So let's jump into your itinerary itself and see the type of things and places and experiences you had. Where do you want to kick this off when just in terms of taking us around? I'll start with the first three day trip, which was well planned by me and my friends. We actually stayed at a place called Watakanal. It's a couple of kilometers apart from the Kodai canal main city. And the main reason to choose Watakanal was the greenery because you're kind of in the middle of the hills. It's again very accessible from the bus station. You can just take an auto and reach it. And Watakanal has this really famous point, which is called Dolphin's Mos. It's actually a short trek of around one and a half hours each. And it's very pretty, like as I said, this greenery all around, it's not that difficult. So that is where we started. So we reached around early morning. We went to our stay, we kept our bags and then we went for the trek straight away. We had a lot of fun, came back and there's this cafe called Altaf's Cafe. It's right at the start of the Dolphin's Mos. Very nice views, great food. So we just had lunch there. And then we went around and walked to explore some of the famous viewpoints and waterfalls. So if you're new to the place, there are a plenty of cap services available, which cover a certain number of points. It's one of the easiest way to explore the town, because they would have like, you know, the village tour or the waterfalls tour and all. And you can actually discuss the places that you want to visit and they'll cover that in a day or half a day, depending on how much time do you have. So we did that, but you can also do that by yourself. Like if you have your own car or bike, you can take that and explore the places. A lot of them are within a certain group, so it could take like certain number of fast. But yeah, that's like one of a good option that's available in a good eye. Yeah, sure. And I'm assuming you took the former right, you basically hired a cab for the period. Is that what you did? Yes, yes. So for the first day, we took a half for the tour. So we took a cab driver and he basically showed us some waterfalls, which were near the water canal. So there was this silver cascade waterfall and I think pure, solar waterfall. We visited those waterfalls and then we came back because again, it was the first day. We just wanted to relax a little. The second day, we had a full day tour, which covered the main Manavanur lake, the Pombray village, two coins, the pine forest. So we basically, again, we can spend as much time as we wanted each place. It's quite flexible. So we ended up spending a lot of time in Manavanur Lake. It's one of my, I would say, favorite places in this town. There's also like a critical boat ride that you can go and you can just sit around the lake and just enjoy the peace. I don't know if it was lack of tourist season, but we had the lake almost to ourselves. So it was quite a nice sunset that we watched and we just chilled around the lake and then it was like a full day gap thing that we do and then we came back to our sea. Okay. Yeah. Let's just, just want a couple of those points as well, all right. Starting with the Manavanur lake that you mentioned. This seems to be a little bit away from the city, right? It's not nicely exactly in Pondi, right? At least that's all I came across. But yes, it's a little away from the main center of Kudai. So that is why I basically talked about the gap service. So what they do is they basically do all the points which are close to each other together. So Manavanur Lake also has another lake in front, which is called Kukul Lake. And they're all a couple of hours away from the city center. So basically when you start from Kudai Ghanal City center and the city center is very easy to understand. There's a Kudai lake, which is a star shaped lake that's the center of the Kudai Ghanal. So you start from there and then you move in a certain direction and there are points on the way. So for us, it was Pumri Village Point, which is basically a very colorful village. You see, from you can click pictures and all. Then we went to the Lake View Point. Lake View Point is another place at the top, there you can obviously see the lake, but also the green be all around. And then we drove down to the lake itself. After that there was the Kukul Lake, which is a little ahead of the lake and then we returned back to Kudai. So these are all the places and Pine Forest was also on the way. So these are the places which were kind of club together. And then if you want to visit the city, there's another two because that's in a different direction. Yeah, but like you mentioned, the Manavan Lake is a very, very picturesque and pristine and glad that you one got to do the Kukul or the boat ride and you also had it pretty much for yourself, right? In the time of the year you were visiting. So that's great, but I also read that there's other options in case somebody's interested in his planning. I don't know if those are open around the year, but there's definitely options around there. And this other lake, right? Kukul. Again, probably something that depends on when you're visiting, but it has like a beautiful spread of water lilies across. So that way that lake too, it's probably a little more offbeat compared to the Manavanore lake, but definitely something worthwhile and something you could visit. And a couple of other places you mentioned, right? Even the pine forest, this is a very, very popular pine, I would say a very touristy spot because pretty much everybody makes this spot here and it's been a part of a lot of the movie shooting movie locations as well, right? Like a lot of movies to get to tend to be shot here. So very likely that you won't mess out on this and especially if you're taking one of these packages for a day, like a cap taking you around for a day. It's one of the spots that will definitely be on the itinerary. I'm glad that you got to enjoy all of these and given that it's also the right time of the year that everything is nice and green, I'm sure everything was just amplified in terms of beauty. And I just want to go back to the first point as well. You mentioned where you started off your trip with, the Dolphin snows, right? It's a small hike, right? If I'm not wrong, Ananya from like whatever the trail point of trail had you begin, there's a little hike to reach to this, basically hill top, you could say, that's in the shape of a Dolphin snows, correct? Yes, yes. So it's around one one and a half hours, one side and we actually stayed very close to Dolphin's nose. So it's in Butter Canal only and our stay was like right across the road from where the trek started. So that is where it was the first thing we did and quite nice, like, you know, you get a lot of, again, most of the hikes are nice because, you know, you're surrounded by trees and all sides, but it's also like in terms of well worth, you know, a lot of time to spend. It's prettier in peak monsoons, that's what I heard. But again, even during May and June, it's very nice. Yeah, absolutely. And it's not a very strenuous trek, yeah, it's roughly doable. Yes, yes, it's definitely doable. So there are a lot of Maggie and T points along the way. So you can, it's quite commercial. It's not like a offbeat thing at all, but that does not take away the beauty of the case. So you can, you know, stop and have Maggie T. So we, because we just came, like, from our overnight bus, we actually stopped for breakfast, like, we had Maggie and T on the way and then we moved there so you can definitely, you know, take pauses and even people with, you know, who are not very fit can actually do this trek. It's not, you know, strenuous at all. Okay. A wonderful cat that this is very accessible and doable. So great way to kick off your day. And also can you talk a little bit more about the waterfalls that you made stops at, which once for these again, and like what type of, were they unique in their own sense or were they more similar to each other, can you speak a little bit to those please? Yes. So, because it was not monsoons, the waterfalls were actually not very full. So one was the beer show that waterfall, which is basically, so it was supposed to be a really, really, you know, high volume waterfalls, but what we saw was kind of like a stream. The second one was silver cascade as the name says, it was basically a layered waterfall. So it did look pretty, but again, I would recommend to keep waterfalls as a highlight if you visit in monsoons and otherwise, there are other places that you can spend, you know, four time on. So for us, waterfalls was not the highlight of the trip. Yeah, apart from that, I think there were other way pretty of places, but totally depends on the time that you visit. Okay. And there's also this other, I don't know if it's the silver cascade or something close by the bumper waterfalls or the little falls like the river tour, right? It became really popular after a little shot, one of their ads featuring the models and the famous little theme song, right, or the, I guess, the jingle or whatever that is called. They shot that and since then, it's been very popular. So it's likely that if you're visiting and especially if you're taking these cab rides, they'll take you to those, depending on the time of the year. But yeah, given the hills and how scenic these western guards are, waterfalls are definitely part of the overall places that you could do come across. And there's so many of them that are unnamed as well, I'm sure, but some of the popular ones, and you already mentioned here, you could definitely make sure to cover those off as well, given the time of the year you're visiting, right? Some of them are very beautiful and cascading, so make sure to visit here as well. But yeah, it looks like a pretty packed start to the itinerary, you start off with a hike to the, to the dolphins nose, which in itself is, I think it'll take a little bit of time, it's especially an hour and a half each way. And you also covered off other places like the Manavanur Lake, the Kukal Lake. And what was the village viewpoint, was that the, sorry, village viewpoint, the late viewpoint that you mentioned? And yeah. Yeah, it's the Pombrai Village Viewpoint. So Pombrai is a colorful village, so the basically houses are of different colour. And when you look from top, it looks really beautiful because it's surrounded by all the greenery, and then you have those little colourful villages. Now they also have a really nice zoster in the, with the Pombrai Village Viewpoint, so I would definitely want to kind of, you know, revisit the place. But what we did was we basically stopped at the viewpoint and we clicked pictures. It's, it's a really nice place to just, you know, stop for a while and look. You know, I did see that this is one of the upcoming places to, like, when not, for somebody not preferring to be in the midst of the city itself, where it can be pretty crowded, especially if it's a touristy season, can be like a lot of people visiting. So, so Pombrai or Pombrai, when I'm not very familiar with the pronunciation, but this is a village that has a few good options to stay and also is a little cut off, so that way you don't necessarily see the same sort of tourist and flow, although it's becoming more and more popular. And yeah, like Ananya mentioned, the view of the village is what is one of the big takeaways here. It's a beautiful view, especially from up top, from that viewpoint that Ananya is mentioning. So, look at it, it's a lot of old, sloped tile houses, right, so colorful houses and you could get a good view of that, surrounded by a lot of these paddy, or paddy fields, or whatever the farming is done around. So, it's really a brilliant view to just look and appreciate. And I understand, even, I don't know, if you had a chance to go into the village, Ananya, or was it more around the viewpoint that you spent time at? We just saw the viewpoint, I think, so village was basically not the part of the package, but it is possible to go to the village. I don't think they have stay options, might have changed in like the last year or so, but you can still like visit the village if you want. There were also some temples on the way, which our capture ever told us about, so that's also like one option that would be explored. So, Pumurai village point is basically on the way from Budaikanal city to the Manavanodli, so you would kind of have that on the way, sir. Yeah, absolutely. So, if it's a bit interesting, you could definitely make a stopover, or if you're by traveling by yourself, you could perhaps venture a little bit into the village as well. Here, it's probably the same temple that, I mean, reference to, it's called the Kolantai Palapar temple, it's apparently very popular in the region and very reviewed. And then, I also hear the garlic from this village is very, very popular, so yeah, something you're looking to pick up as well when you're visiting, that might be one of the things. Very overall, just the view of the village itself is the main takeaway, and especially if you're traveling onto Manavanodli, make sure to take a quick bet stop here. Awesome. So, given that almost like this part of the circuit, right, you were covered and I was just in the first day and a half, or first couple days, or was it mostly the first day? First two days. First two days, right? So, the first day it was the dolphins nose and the waterfalls, and second day we did the view point and the lake. Okay, brilliant. So, we're next to Ananya, once we are covered off like this second, which is mostly to the west, I believe, from the city, but yeah, once you've covered the second ferry, you had a tour. The third day we actually wanted to take it a little light, so we mostly explore the city itself. There's this really beautiful walkway, which is called Kokas walk. It is a little crowded, but it's still very pretty, so you can, you know, go in the early morning or in the evening during sunset. And Kokas walk is constructed, like so there's basically a path, and on the other side it's just hills. So, there's obviously a railing, so that nobody falls off, but you can see clouds floating by, and it's a beautiful view. It's around a kilometer or so, the stretch, and on the other side they have shops, so the shops could be, you know, selling jewelry or little soft toys, or even some food stalls. So, those shops are usually by localised, they have their own timings, but the walk itself is very pretty. I actually went for Kokas walk thrice, so I went for the first time with my friends, and then when I extended, I went, like for two more times, showing people around, and like, it's really peaceful and really nice in the mornings. So, we did that. After that we did the pyrid park, it's a park in the middle of the city, it's very well maintained. There's a lot of local people in the park who are just, you know, walking around. There were also kids who were just playing or practicing some, you know, different gymnastics and stuff. It was quite interesting, and a good place to just, you know, be in the nature and, like, read or something. So, we spend some part of the afternoon there, then we went to Gunah Caves. So, Gunah Caves is something which is recently, it's kind of come again into, like, news. There's this movie which got released, which is called Majubal Voice. And I actually went to watch it because, you know, Gunah Caves were featured in the movie. So, they have this, you know, cavity or, basically, a pole, which is called devil's kitchen, and nobody knows the bottom of the hole. So, Majubal Voice is inspired by a real story of a couple of, you know, malally boys going on a trip and then one of them actually falls in the devil's kitchen hole and how they rescue him, which was almost impossible mission. So, although tourists are not allowed to go and see that, we can go till a certain point of the cave. So, that's what we did. And then there's this another viewpoint which is called pillar rock, which we saw. So, the last day of our trip or suppose so, last day, we basically covered these viewpoints and we explored some of the food places and it was more on the lighter side. Yeah. Yeah. Majubal Voice, right? Like I mentioned, it was released very recently, a 24/24 movie and Malayalam movie. So, somebody's looking to catch up on it, definitely, you will get a good sense of, because a lot of the shooting locations are in good eye canal. And it's based off of a two story, if you just mentioned that, but this happened, I don't know, sometime in the early 2000s, I think, where a group of friends went there and one of them actually fell into that, yeah, whole or a natural cave formation. And this basically, the Guna caves or the devil's kitchen that you're mentioning, right? This is the space or the natural cave formation between these pillar rocks that you're mentioning, right? The viewpoint and those, by the way, are also just absolutely stunning, right? It feels like it's one of, from one of those Hollywood movie locations where, I don't know, avatar or whatever you shoot, right? I just really look like a cylindrical pillar type formations and like a space between them kind of goes down, natural cave formation is formed. And the name also, the original name given to it by the Britishers, I understand, was like devil's kitchen. And then a movie called as Guna was shot there in 1991, featuring Kamal Hassan. And then they became popular as Guna caves. And now, Manjumal Boyz basically is another movie shot at the same location, covering like a real event that happened where a group of friends go there, one of them falls down and then there's a rescue operation that happens and it's a really nice movie. I've seen the movie too. It's, I think, edge of your seat through a type of movie. So if you haven't checked it out, it's another way of getting a glimpse of not just Guna caves, but also some spots and Kodai Canal, right? So I'm glad that you got to visit these spots as well. Overall, yeah, it's just a good space to visit and even Guna caves, right? You don't even have to go too deep into the caves, like just the approach to it, like those trees and they're really interlocking root system or whatever that is, right? Taranya, I don't know if you came across all of those points. It's pretty interesting to visit them and just beyond the caves. Yes. It's for sure. It's beautiful and even the pillar rock view point, which is quite nearby, it's also really pretty. Like you can just stop and stare at that for a while. So I didn't obviously see the movie at that time, but yeah, it was quite an experience and I loved the movie. It was quite thrilling and also just having been in those places made it even more special for me. Yeah, yeah. I'm sure. So I'm glad that you got to visit and enjoy some of these experiences as well. And the other couple of places you mentioned, right, the Coco's work and the Bryant Park. Both of them have been basically named after some of the British officers who basically led the way and neither setting them up or establishing them. The Coco's work, especially from a viewpoints perspective with Brilliant, I mean, obviously you have the full length of the place to walk about, which is almost a kilometer that you mentioned. But even just some of the views you get from there, it's just absolutely breathtaking. Right. And that's something I would definitely encourage you to visit as well, given the wonderful works. And on a good day, you can catch a lot of the places like Dolphin's Knows and some of the other close by viewpoints from this place from the Coco's work. Something to definitely try out. And your Bryant Park is more on the lines of if you visit an OTE, right, the botnical gardens and stuff like that. It's very similar to that, but a lot of species or varieties of trees and flowers and plants. So that's also another just relaxing experience for some very few people just looking to. Get around and explore the trees and the plants of the place. I think you've covered a bunch of things. Did you also want to touch upon, again, this is still your original plant diary, right? Anything else that you did touch upon during this time? You want to cover off now, aren't you? We did go shopping and that was towards the end. So basically my friends then took a bus and went and I'm drawn to another hostel. But yeah, I think Kudai itself has a really famous spices and chocolate and the chocolates are really nice. So you can just go and try a bunch of chocolates. They're also very cheap for the quality and the taste. So we basically roamed around the market. The market was mainly around Kudai Lake. Kudai Lake is nice, not as, I would say, green and isolated as the lakes that I mentioned. But it's still good for boating and all around the lake. I think two sides of the lake there's this huge market that you can just walk around. They're shop selling all sorts of things. But the town is mainly famous for its spices and chocolates. So we got a bunch of that. And then I basically, my fair will do my friends who took the bus and then I moved to another place. The city also, although it's quite crowded and there's a lot of traffic jam around it, it also has a bunch of nice cafes and restaurants. So we explored some of those and you would definitely find good food in Kudai and even if so I'm a vegetarian, even for vegetarians. They're plenty of good options. It is usually smaller towns. There's an issue of getting good places, so Kudai Canal does not have that issue. They are plenty of options for whatever you want to do. So there's Abbi's Cafe, which has burgers and shakes. There was this near streets that we went to. And for South Indian, we went to this place. It's called Astoria. It's a huge sort of place where you get those different style links and it is quite tasty. So we explored a bunch of those. I actually came from, because I was staying for like four or five more days, I came down to Kudai again to just try some of these places again and have food. Yeah, absolutely. No, the options, especially from a food perspective. And even the cafe you mentioned earlier, right, that's by Dolphin's Knows, Althaf's Cafe, right? Althaf's Cafe. Yeah. Very, very popular, especially for your Mediterranean cuisine and burgers and falafels and the like and sandwiches. I mean, while looking up for this episode, I came across, it also has a very interesting background of the owner, right, who sent up, he basically was a chap from Shemoga in Karnataka and he like left home at a very early age and he came across these Israeli tourists, right? Lord of Israeli tourists visit India every year and he ran into them and he traveled a bunch of places with them in the North and Himachal and all of that. And finally, he decided to settle back down closer to home and set up a cafe. So a lot of the offerings are that the Mediterranean or falafel type of offerings are basically inspired by those travels. So a pretty interesting, like a very popular cafe, right? If you're in that region or in Watakana, you're very likely going to visit or run into this or have somebody recommend you Althaf's Cafe, so make sure you visit there as well. But yeah, the bottom line is in terms of food options and stuff, quite a popular hub, so there's no dirt of types of food or cuisine available. So you can certainly rest assured, not worry too much about the food options. And yeah, tell us a little bit more about the extended itinerary now, right? Beyond the, let's say the touristy circuit, most people do cover off this, right? And some of the points you mentioned earlier, plus the points in and around the city, like the Kodaya Lake, Kodaya Canal Lake, etc. Where did you move to from here and also pre-shared with us what kind of experiences you had here? Sure. Sure. So, Kodaya Canal in general has a bunch of hostels and also, like, good homestays, air VNBs. And my recommendation in general is to stay a little far from the city center, especially in places like Utti Kodaya, which was constructed, thinking a very small area in mind. So I stayed around 4-5 kilometers away from the city center in a hostel. It was at top of a hill, so the views were really nice. And because I was staying alone, so I prefer hostels because we get to meet other people. Also, I did not travel that much in the extended stay. It was mainly walks around the hostel in the evening. And then I had office work from morning till evening. So mostly I was working and, you know, having conversations with people. So, I met a bunch of really interesting people. So, Kodaya, that's when I came to know that it's famous among the bikers because they were, like, biking groups who were coming there and staying for, like, one night, two nights. And those conversations were really interesting. During the next weekend, so I was supposed to come back by a bus, but because I made so many friends in the hostel itself, I actually, you know, came back with those people in their car. So we drove back to Bangalore. And I would, so I did come to the town twice during my stay there. It was only possible twice because I had, like, office work and, again, I just wanted to relax and not, like, explore the places. So, as I mentioned, I did co-curs walk again. The first time we went, we went in the evening, so it was quite busy time with, like, all the shops open. The second time I did, like, a morning walk where the shops were still too open, so it was very peaceful. And, again, like, prettier. I also did Byron Park, basically, when I came to the town and mainly explored the food scenes and the shopping scenes. So, it's also famous for its woodwork. So, we got some bunch of small, you know, soapy nears, which were for a womb or, you know, friends. And there was this place called Cloud Street. I don't know if it's still open, so it was famous for its sizzlers and we tried sizzlers. And, again, like, a bunch of friends which were just newly made, so we just kept on exploring random things. And I came back on the Sunday, basically. Okay. Yeah. So, guys, remote work is actually real work also, and it doesn't mean that it's because you're working remotely. You can spend the whole day going around and then pretend that you're still online. But yeah, I'm glad that at least this gave you an opportunity to also meet new people and then revisit some of the places too, right, that you liked and also explored some of these food places. And, yeah, if you're looking to pick something up back, I mean, usually with a lot of these celebrations, you do have, you know, they call them homemade chocolate, but yeah, whatever it is, but it is usually a selling point of these places that they have a lot of really delicious chocolate on sale, so make sure you grab some of them and in spices as well like, how many I mentioned earlier, overall, they seem like a very relaxing trip, right? And even in terms of experiences, there's everything from if you're looking at something more adventurous, like your hiking or boating or other things like ziplining, etc, you have those options, other options, primarily around nature, right, your waterfalls, your lakes, your viewpoints and everything. And if you want to just spend time doing nothing and just take it easy, the best would be to, like, move someplace a little bit cut off or off beat or far away from the city center and, like, just to stay at a hostel or someplace like that and it could almost turn this into a vacation type of experience, right? So all of those different options are available while you're visiting Kodakanaal. Another thing I don't know, probably shouldn't mention, but I'll mention it anyway, it's also infamous for, or used to be infamous for rooms or mushrooms as they were referred to. I won't get into the specifics, I couldn't want to get into trouble, but I hear a lot of fake, like sellers show up that tend to sell these to you as well. It's best to stay off of those things as well because, really, you don't need things like these to enjoy Kodakanaal in the first place. But, yeah, overall, there are a lot of options for one to export. I don't know, anything else that we did not touch upon or things you'd like to mention that people could consider? Yeah, so I think during the stay that extended stay basically, my highlight was just the walks that I took, you know, just wandering around the nature, looking at the stars and all. And in general, because Kodakanaal is also like played by overdoodles, like a lot of cities, a lot of small towns. But what I really liked about the place was the overall awareness about the environment that was there. So basically, you know, there's this newspaper called Kodakanaal, it's widely circulated, which brings for the issues that the town is facing. They have a really good, you know, garbage maintenance policy. So, you know, you don't get those small water bottles, or the one-liter bottles. You have to buy either a five-liter bottle or you carry your own, like, you know, water bottles. So I think in general, they are doing a lot and that's commendable because I've not seen that happening in North. So I've also traveled to other hill stations and, you know, I really like that, but there's also a lot more to be done. So at the time I was traveling, there was the stops of, you know, construction on Kodali. And the citizens are so aware, they're protesting against that. And the newsletter that I just mentioned had, you know, interviews and actual, you know, campaigns against it. So it didn't actually happen as far as I know. But it was quite interesting aspect. And I think because I stayed for a longer period of time, I got to see those side of things and, you know, talked to a lot of localites that how much they appreciate, you know, the nature around them and how the construction should be more mindful. So they're taking concrete steps to kind of make sure that's the case. I think that is also a big takeaway from my Kodayikanal visit that we should be very mindful as travelers. And, you know, we should not litter the place. We should not damage it, and if possible, leave it better than, you know, when we came to that place. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Because it is, unfortunately, a reality, right? Over tourism will happen, given people have more and more disposable income, indispensable income, disposable, I guess, but either way, people will travel more and more. And it's hard to stop that, but probably what's more achievable is spreading awareness and being conscious of the choices you make when travelling to such places, right? And thank you for calling that point out as well, because places like these are definitely at the mercy of tourists doing their own bit. You know, given that how many of them are visiting, it's definitely not something that can be solely taken up by locals or governments or whoever's in charge, it has to come from the tourists themselves too. So I glad that you made that call out, and it's important for us to save and preserve places like these for our future generations, and that can only happen if we are spreading awareness about these things. And I'm glad that even local initiatives and papers like the, yeah, I think it's more digital or I don't know if they do print as well, but yeah, Kodai Chronicle is one of them, and it has a variety of such interviews and topics that covers about Kodai Canal. They had a flea check that out too, if you're looking into some of the histories and back stories of the place. Thank you so much for covering on all of these beautiful things. A couple of other interesting points I came across to when I was doing my research, and I don't know if you came across them. One of them was this place called as the Kodai Canal. We get the right name for it. It was called as the Kodai Canal Solar Observatory. So that was also believed to be like a 130-year-old solar observatory that was set up to basically do a lot more research around the sun and its implications on the climate and other events happening. And even it was set up after the events of I think sometime in the 1800s, there was like a great famine that happened in the region. And as a reaction to that, like the initiator was taken up to research more and to what can we find out based off of the activity on the sun. And there's a bunch of things, especially for somebody who's interested in astronomy, astrophysics, those types of things. You could visit this museum as well, I believe. That's something I found interesting that one could definitely, if you have time and space on your right-and-aery, you could certainly cover something of like that too. But I think Ananya did a brilliant job of actually giving us a good holistic view of what an experience and could I can all can be like. In terms of keeping up with your travels and other activities, is there some place you log out of these Ananya that people could follow you work on? It's not very structured because there's always other things getting in the way. But I have a newsletter, which is essentially about my travel explorations, about different things. So it's on sub-stack where the game of Amling Annie. And I do share stuff on my Instagram also, especially my travel pictures and experiences around that. But mainly I'm currently focusing on writing a book. It's a travel memoir and that's where I'm kind of spending most of my time. I do hope it would be out next year, but let's see because the whole process is a long-low process. I'm currently mainly writing that. Okay, wishing you all the best for your book and hopefully we do get to share that with Lesnes as well. So please keep us posted so we can tag that to the show notes. But we'll make sure to include your newsletter as well as your Instagram profile so that people can certainly follow your work and reach out to them if they have any questions about planning a korea canal like Nuri. So thank you for sharing that information. But any final thoughts on Ananya before we wrap up the episode. Sure, thank you for having me. I had a lot of fun talking to you about that. Yeah, absolutely. The pleasure was all ours. And thank you so much for taking us to this Queen of Hills and the gift of the forest, right? Like we refer to korea canal as and showing us all the sites and the sites and scenes and I'm sure if you go there, sounds as well. We had a great time just exploring korea canal with you and also got a sense of how an extended continuity for korea canal can be planned. Thank you so much Ananya and we look forward to following your work in the future too. Sure, thank you so much. That was just another great episode on the Massoffer Stories. Make sure to show us some love by sharing the podcast with your friends and family. We are on Instagram and Twitter at Massoffer Stories. If you like this podcast, don't forget to check out other interesting podcasts on the IBM network. Listen to us on the IBM Podcast app or the website. Follow us on our social media. We are at IBM Podcasts on Twitter and Instagram. Hey there. Love sports, bold stories and big personalities. Then you'll love serving it up with Sanya. Hosted by Tennis Legend Sanya Mirza, IBM Podcasts latest show brings you Candid. No filter conversations with the biggest names in spot and entertainment. Check out this moment from her episode with the one and only Karan Johar. You had both of us actually have been raised by two parents and there was usually one bad cop and good cop and in my case as well my father was the good cop. He's the good cop and my mother was the bad cop and she was the one who was disciplining and we both are at a stage in our lives where we are single parenting. Me to a large extent and you almost fully and you do have your mom who helps you but tell us a little bit about that because yours was actually by choice. I think it was something I've always wanted. I feel like I'm inherently a parent even when I wasn't. I've always had you know feelings of paternal instincts towards the kids I've worked with in the movies or the kids I've mentored as a director. Like Alia Varun. Alia and Varun and all of them and like I just felt I always wanted but I somehow knew that it was a decision I had to take along with my mom and when I said it to her when I felt I was fully emotionally equipped to be a parent I asked her and to my sure and utter joy she was like I can't wait and I feel like it's daunting for me because I'm an only child and a single parent and it's a double whammy because my mom's not been keeping really good health in the last year. She had a stroke last December and from then on she's not being able to do what she was doing as a co-parent she's also 83 years old so it is not easy you know that you know and I have twins so I have double the issues I'm the only dad on two WhatsApp mom's group yeah I'm the one who has to schedule their lives give the time and balance it by running a company and be there for my mom it's all it's overall overwhelming but that joy of just having that love being the proud recipient of the love when they come and give you that hug that hug and it doesn't matter to them and sad to say this but it's I never want them to be unwell I always have to be happy but the moment they hug you when they have a tear in that eye and you feel like you that because now kids have stopped hugging the way they used to and they were three and four now you're too big for that love yeah because I want an eye and there's nothing doing because I'm like my dad my dad was tactile wanted the hugs and kisses and I desire to be hugged and they meet me but when they need you and they are feeling wonderful and they give you that hug that's to be heaven yeah that moment of that child in your arms and you hold them tight and and just hug them with your core I feel like I don't know what heaven feels like but that to me is my heaven yeah no same and for me as well I think the whole the whole single parenting yes it is hard but also because we're working and we do so many different things right but you know have you seen the flip sides on yeah it's actually liberating because you're not at crossroads with anybody else like everybody else when you're not yeah yeah yeah yeah I know well well I know that's why I don't have that flip side y'all well cross border is well so I mean you have a situation which is even more daunting and overwhelming but in my end I feel actually I'm blessed yeah of course I feel you know when my twins were being born and when they were born I had a hundred people give me pieces of advice on parenting twins or reading books hearing podcasts I did nothing I was like we are blessed with what we call a superpower it's called instinct your instinct is a parent kicks in and it's your instinct is different from every other situation and parent exactly and there is no right or wrong way it is your way and over parent there's something called over parenting yeah I am not an over parenting but I do find it challenging to leave him like now when I'm here you know because I live in Dubai and you know and I feel the same maybe when I have to travel that's the biggest challenge for me like to stay away right like for a period of one week then I have to like obviously just like your mom comes in my mom man what a blessing like right now she's with him because I'm you know working for this one week and I'm here and I won't see him and and that for me is the hardest part anything else I'm fine with but you know sometimes that we'll also make him more independent I always see the plus and everything instead of worrying about the minuses I feel there are big pluses in every extreme search situation like the big plus here is that your son and my twins will be very very independent and they'll be strong and they'll be resilient yeah and that's something that I would wish for all of them like we say in shallah we really really hope for that to happen last last couple of questions both of us have been in the public eye or spotlight if you say for many years now and I was very young I was like 15 16 you were as well and it's hard I mean single parenting all of this stuff but also having romantic relationships yeah it's hard yeah how do you feel do you feel that how have you made peace with the fact that you are today you're single you know to your single or we think your single okay my strategy is your status is single okay your official status public status is single no my real status single so have you made a peace with that that you know you're okay with it yeah there is a line in another song which I'd like to see could not meet here there's in the game freshnessy of origin co-her mille in the game I'm okay now there was a point of time I really wanted the love I wanted the companionship I remember talking about this I wanted a relationship and I went through all kinds of dynamics a broken heart one sided love I even made a film on it that was cathartic but beautiful for me I would help me heal I waited I realized that is somebody going to love me for who I am or what I bring to the table then you come on with doubt then that everyone says oh put yourself out there I'm still looking for that there I don't know where that there is somewhere who abroad they say like you know abroad milke patani you know you know you know I live here I have a mom and two kids I have to live here so I've gone through those beats and I don't get lonely it's not it's a reality when you know when you get the loneliness is in your highs yeah not in your lows actually because in your lows you have your mom you have your family yeah I have two cousin sisters I'm very close to my best friends I have my my family my friends my kids just to hug in your highs what you do like you celebrate a victory like I remember I got a call saying you won the national award and I put the phone down and for one I kept thinking like what should I do tonight who's house do I go to who do I sit with and who's hand do I hold who do I feel that I feel little bit I should pack my back today and feel a little happy it's those moments you know when I went to receive the national award they asked me who's your plus one and I had no one I had no one like Apurra was winning it who's my partner at work and my best friend and he was bringing his wife everybody was discussing this house of women you know however my mom is not physically capable of coming and my kids are too young and I was like how it just felt that reality with and many a night you sit at home when you're eating alone eating alone is the other thing that makes you feel a bit lonely and you're I'm saying yeah because I'm relating to a lot and many a time I don't even go to the dining table Sania because that makes me feel worse so I eat in my room like I know they say you shouldn't lie down and eat and you should sit and eat but I sit up like this they have a table they put my food on it and I eat and I always bought something so I can actually dilute the emptiness of the moment of the loneliness of that being because I've come to realize that I'm okay today I'm I've dealt with it but yes the love of a partner to the sharing the nothings of your day or the highs of your life with is very different from what you get from a parent a sibling or a child that love and it's not the intimacy or the sex it's just the partnership that you form it's almost a friendship and the the companionship right that's what you're talking about meant actually to be a unit of two yeah you know real true love comes from a partner that you have you know whether it was the beginning in origin of man and woman or man and man or woman and woman and whatever the dynamic today is but if we are meant to a unit of two and then we go and create a family yeah but this real unit is of two we were never meant to fly solo no matter what we were created in pairs yes yes we are and we are yeah but now we're up next it's already nearly nine but maybe maybe not yet and they say never say never yeah that happens my arms are wide open like sharo khans yeah you know i'm willing to welcome you know i've told the best love stories i so loved but unfortunately i didn't buy it myself love what you just heard that's only the beginning catch the full episode of serving it up with sanya now streaming on youtube all major audio platforms and on menthra glam stream don't forget to follow the show and hit subscribe so you never miss an episode [BLANK_AUDIO]