Coorg is locally known as Kodagu in India from the Kodavas who inhabit this region. As we go up the Western Ghats, we see the slopes carpeted by coffee plantations interspersed with pepper. It is an ode to nature and no wonder it has been attributed the sobriquet, Scotland of the East. There is a beeline of tourists who visit Coorg and the proof of it are the various boards of homestays which interrupt the seamless flow of greenery. The colonial bungalows, the sprawling estates, the charm of a plantation lifestyle has lured many tourists to Coorg who live in homestays and resorts that offer you a glimpse of the charming town and its cultural landscape. But there is more to Coorg than coffee as we discovered during our holiday. A heady mix of hidden myths and Indian legends, a vast history and cultural and spiritual influences add to the magic.

Origin and History of Coorg

Coorg has several stories around its very name. The river Cauvery originates here at a small place called Talacauvery and is worshipped by the locals and hence the name “Kodava” which means blessed by mother Cauvery. Kod means give and avva refers to mother Cauvery, so the Kodavas call themselves children of Cauvery.

There are several myths surrounding the origin of the Kodavas themselves, the most popular being that they are descendants of Greeks who settled down here after the conquest of India by Alexander, the great. However the Kodavas have retained their original customs even though they have merged with the larger milieu. They worship Karana (ancestors) as family deity, Cauvery as mother and Iguthappa as presiding deity. While they pray in Hindu temples, they revere Ainmane or the ancestors house as the place of worship.

It is said that the history of Coorg was mainly deciphered through inscriptions. Several Indian dynasties from the Gangas, Cholas, Hoysalas, Nayaks have left their stamp here. However it is the Haleri kings who have reigned over Coorg for about 250 years. Bitter battles have been fought by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan and the British to conquer Coorg during their era.

Places to see around Coorg

Madikeri

Coorg is a cocktail of heritage, nature, coffee and wildlife. Madikeri or Mercara as it was called was the district headquarters. You would need at least half a day to soak in the atmosphere here. Visit the old Madikeri fort, Raja’s seat and see the Indo Sarcenic architecture in the Omkareshwar temple. Do not miss the Abbey Falls and the Raja’s tombs close by.

Heritage trail

The Haleri kings have left behind a small palace called Nalknad palace near Kakkabe. The highest peak Thadiyanadamole presents himself here for trekkers who would like to scale it.

If on a spiritual quest, do not miss Bhagamandala, the confluence of the three rivers – Cauvery, Kanika and Sujyoti which is largely mythical. And from there, head to Talacauvery where the river Cauvery is said to have originated in the Brahmagiri hills. Rivers in India are worshipped by the locals and you would find temples around the same.

Wildlife

Coorg is a haven for wildlife enthusiasts. The elephant camp at Dubare, the Irpu falls bordering Nagarhole forests and the coffee plantations are for the pantheist. Follow the coffee seasons and if you are staying in any of the homestays, ask them to take you around the plantations.

Kushalnagar and the Golden temple

There is a mini Tibet created in Coorg. Do not miss Bylakuppe if you are close by to Kushanagar. You can go to the monastery and see the Golden temple and can also try some Tibetan snacks and pick up some traditional carpets or wall hangings as well.

Festivals

You could plan your trip based on either Keilpodu or weapons festival in Sepetember, Cauvery Sankaramana in October, Huthri or the harvest in November-December.

Shopping

It’s a great place to pick up some Indian spices and coffee powder.

Getting there

Coorg is 250 kms from Bangalore and 130 kms from Mysore by road and it is ideal to drive down from either of these places. Buses ply on these roads as well while the closest railway stations are in Mysore and Mangalore. The airports are in Bangalore and Mangalore. Coorg is pleasant all year through although the monsoons are particularly heavy during August –September. There are homestays and resorts galore to suit every budget.

This post was written by Lakshmi Sharath who blogs at A Travel Blog of an Indian backpacker on behalf of AffordableCallingCards.net, which offers different long distance calling cards, such as calling cards to India.

Designed to run on normal unleaded gasoline, the Transition would boast of a cruising speed in the air of around 185 kph at a flying range of 740 km. You can drive it along the highways with its wings folded. You can also make it fly as it has been designed as an environmentally friendly plane too. Fuel consumption is said to be around 7.85 liters per 100 km Transition will come features that all regular road vehicles have – air bags and all that is.
While cruising along highways, the wings remain folded and would rely on a conventional front-wheel drive. You ill also be able to park it any regular sized parking lot comfortably.

If you are looking at flying, you can do it via an airport, airstrip, or suitable flat land. The Transition will be ready for flight when the wings are spread out and the rear-facing propeller is engaged to enable the vehicle for take off. All it needs is a runway of just over 500 meters, said a physorg.com report.

The Transition had been made to wait for Federal approval as there were concerns about its weight. The 600 kg had been feared as over the limit for a light sport aircraft. However, the latest is that the Transition has received special exemption and it will now be able to fly without any legal hassles binding it. According to the report, the extra 50 kg allows the vehicle to include safety equipment needed to meet federal motor vehicle standards in addition to aviation standards.

Expected to cost $194,000, Terrafugia is likely to roll out Transition by end of 2011. Significant is the fact that Terrafugia has already bagged 70 orders for the vehicle. Designed by a team of engineers trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Transition could be seen as a modern day wonder.

(Images: Terrafugia)

Check out this video in case you are looking for more:

The LG GS290 comes with a 3-inch LCD touchscreen display that boasts of 240×400 pixel resolution. A 2 megapixel camera, built in Oxford dictionary and 28MB of internal memory that can be expanded up to 16GB are part of the prominent features. It also sports a one touch access to social networking sites with Facebook interface. The LG GS290 supports MPEG 4 videos and video editing, while multimedia features include FM tuner with recorder, 3.5 mm earphone jack and an MP3 audio playback.
LG has incorporated a battery that promises 5 hours of talktime and up to 390 hours of standby time.
Meanwhile, the LG Cookie Plus GS500v has a 3-inch LCD touchscreen display. A 3 megapixel camera, one touch social networking capabilities, editable screen shot, MMS and a 3-way user interface are the notable features. The device supports 3G connectivity and Facebook auto update. On the storage front, it has 30MB of internal memory that can be expanded upto 8GB.

Launched on May 9, 2003, Hayabusa, had approached the 540-metre-wide Asteroid in September 2005. Asteroid Itokawa was discovered in 1998 and named after a Japanese scientist Hideo Itokawa, a pioneer of the Japanese space program nicknamed “Dr Rocket”. After arriving at Itokawa, it studied the Asteroid’s shape, texture and composition and even attempted to collect the sample, but failed to do so.
According to a Physorg.com report, the spacecraft was expected to depart by the end of 2005. But unfortunately, Hayabusa (pictured alongside is an artist’s impression of Hayabusa in proximity to Itokawa’s surface) was hit by a series of technical troubles. It went out of control owing to fuel leakage and thus the operators in Japan were unable to control the spacecraft. But again when the ground control restored communication it was too late for the spacecraft to enter the orbit for its return and had to wait for three years until the position of earth and Asteroid became ideal. Though the Hayabusa’s chemical propellant tanks got empty, the engineers had to use the spacecraft’s ion engines to guide the spacecraft home. Since the ion thrusters have low acceleration, each trajectory correction has taken longer than it would have done with the chemical engines.
Still it remains doubtful whether the probe managed to grab any material from Itokawa; scientists will have to open the capsule to find out. Even if Hayabusa failed to grab large samples at Itokawa, scientists hope the capsule may still contain small residues from the asteroid that could be analyzed. The spacecraft now lies within about 3,600,000km of our planet.
The journey has captured immense public attention. There are also proposals that the spacecraft be given a National Honour Award. It is hoped that Hayabusa (meaning Falcon in Japanese) can overcome all the troubles and can achieve a safe landing.

Be an evil alcoholic

What do you think of sipping beer from a skull and spinal cord? Sounds evil right! Well here’s a new drinking gadget named ‘skull beer bong’, consisting of a fake skull and spinal cord. The product is priced at $13.99. So grab this killer gadget and turn into an evil drinker.

Wear your beer!

Finding it difficult to carry your favorite beer while going for trekking? Well, here is an easy way. A newly found gadget named ‘Reef Sandal’, priced at $48, facilitates in filling each sandal with 1.5oz of your beer into the liquor cabinet. So next time wear your reef sandals while going for trekking and enjoy your cup of beer.

Self Stirring mug

For all the lazy bugs out there, here comes a gadget, ‘self stirring mug’. As with all other gadgets this mug uses two AAA batteries to power a motor which stirs the drink and the button is located on the mugs handle. The product is priced at $19. So next time you offer a cup of coffee to your friend simply add the ingredients into the mug and the mug does its job, leaving your friend bewildered!

Know your safety

‘Do not drink and drive’, a motto that we come across daily. If you think you have had only a little alcohol and worried if you are over your limit or not, then this gadget named. ‘Keyring Breathalyzer’ can help you out.

The device measures the amount of alcohol on your breath, which is done with its oxidized semiconductor that measures blood alcohol content (BAC) in seconds. All you need to do is blow in the sensor for around 3 seconds. The device will then report if f your BAC is low (less than .05%), borderline (.05% to .08%), or legally intoxicated (greater than .08%).

Starbucks at your home!

Do you have to run to Starbucks always, to have a hot cup of creamy cappuccino? Well here is an easy way out. Breville introduces Breville 800ESXL 15-Bar Die-Cast Stainless Steel Espresso & Cappuccino Maker. The machine is made from professional grade stainless steel die-cast and uses cafe quality créma from espresso grounds or coffee pods. The stainless steel wand produces a continuous dry steam; this is what froths up your milk to give you that classic cappuccino drink. So what are you waiting for, when you can have your own Starbucks at home.

Track your beer

You start with one bottle of beer and you end up in not knowing how many bottles you finished. You loose your count or forget it. The ‘Beer Tracker’, helps you in keeping count of the number of bottles you drank. This is a bottle opener with an LCD display, it will tell you how many bottles have been opened, but the problem comes when more than one person uses it. The Beer Trackers costs $10.

Funny – frog at your parties!

This lively gadget adds more life to your parties. The gadget named Frog Prince Lighted Wine Stopper keeps your wine at its best and what is more interesting is that it looks funny, as it features a frog with “Pretty soon, I’ll look like a prince!”on it’s stomach holding a martini glass. The frog’s crown lights up and has an on/off switch on the back side.

Ring your wine!

What do you think of possessing your own telephone booth in your house? Sounds funny. Well a new gadget named Rivvo Telephone Box Wine Cabinet has been come up in the market. It looks exactly like a telephone box with a height about 6ft. The features include space for 24 bottles of wine using a drawer arrangement, a pull-out shelf, back mirror and overhead storage for wine glasses. There’s even built in lighting just in case you need a late night drink. The product is priced at $499.

Clicker Universal Remote

A gadget for the lazy couch potatoes named Clicker Universal Remote. The Clicker is a thin and attractive universal remote with a bottle opener integrated into its side. Control for up to eight electronic components is available: There are component select buttons for TV, DVD, SAT, CABLE, VCR, CD, DVR, and AMP with 630 presets for most major brands and a preset search function for easy setup. The control of ninth component is the bottle opener.

Beerbot – beer pouring robot

Robots are said to reduce the human workload. So how about having a robot that fixes you a drink, when you just have to sit back and relax? The Beerbot does the job perfectly, from cooling cans, opening the flip top, and pouring perfectly into chilled glass mugs. The R2-D2-esquebot stores and refrigerates up to six cans, comes with programmable voice controls, a child lock, 2 custom glass mugs, 6 foam cup bases, a plastic floor protector, and even has a self cleaning mode.

Chilled beer in 90 seconds!

Dreaming of a chilled beer in this hot summer? All you have to do is rush back to your home, and instead of jamming the beer bottles into the freezer, you can have a device, ‘Beer Chiller’, that chills the beer in just 90 seconds.

Even though Wi-Fi has been in existence for quite some time, cell companies were reluctant to tap it to its fullest potential. This is because Wi-Fi was widely regarded as a competitor to their other networks such as 2G and 3G.

Today, Wi-Fi is fast becoming an important component of any smartphone and consumers are constantly enquiring about the availability of Wi-Fi capability in smartphones.

The introduction of 3G has seen mobile phone users clamoring for data and this has led to an increased amount of data usage. Mobile carriers are now finding it difficult to manage this surge in data usage. Since the networks are increasingly getting jammed due to excessive traffic, Wi-Fi is being seen as a solution to this problem. Traffic is being offloaded from such networks to Wi-Fi to alleviate the pressure on licensed spectrum. Add to this, the cheaper browsing rates and higher bandwidth offered by Wi-Fi, and the increasing number of consumers flocking to buy phones equipped with the technology will spell more profit for companies.

In 2009, 55 percent of all smartphones shipped were Wi-Fi enabled. The figure is expected to rise to 65 to 70 percent in 2010. Although Wi-Fi phones made up only 12 percent of the total number of phones manufactured in 2009, the Wi-Fi phone market is expected to increase to 183 million in an estimated 1.2 billion cellphone market in 2010.

Wi-Fi can be used for making local distance calls over VoIP. Multimedia downloads such as films and songs are easier and faster through a Wi-Fi connection. However, statistics indicate that 90 percent of the existing Wi-Fi usage via mobile phones is for data. The surge in usage has also prompted Wi-Fi service providers to pledge to extend their connectivity in various areas. Free Wi-Fi connectivity is already being provided by some service providers in certain food and beverage chain stores.

Wi-Fi technology is also evolving to sweeten the deal. A faster and more efficient version of Wi-Fi named 11n is in the pipeline. With better multimedia support and security features, this technology is expected to be a standard feature in many Wi-Fi enabled mobile phones by the year 2012.

The Apple iPhone is credited with popularizing Wi-Fi enabled smartphones. Today, companies such as Motorola, Samsung, HTC, Nokia etc have jumped onto the Wi-Fi bandwagon with Nokia capturing the highest market share.

But it’s not just the phones that stand to benefit from the newly discovered potential of Wi-Fi technology. Producers of chips and Wi-Fi equipment will also gain from the booming Wi-Fi cellphone market.

Chip manufacturers like Broadcom, Qualcomm Inc, Atheros Communications Inc, Marvell Technology Group are expected to be some of the highest gainers. The rising number of Wi-Fi phones will inevitably lead to a rising demand for wireless bandwidth as well. Sellers of access points such as NetGear Inc and Aruba Networks will profit the most indirectly from this aspect of Wi-Fi.

But like every new technology, Wi-Fi is not without its own set of drawbacks. Integrating Wi-Fi networks with cellular networks still remains a challenge. The technology will also use up a lot of the phone’s battery stamina and thus is not very power efficient. There have also been many issues regarding the reception of good quality Wi-Fi signal in the past. There are also many people who are unaware about the benefits and sometimes, even the existence of Wi-Fi technology. There might also be certain places where Wi-Fi connectivity may never become a reality, thus rendering Wi-Fi phones useless for internet usage in those areas.

Yet, the technology continues to garner positive votes from many quarters. Besides consumers being able to do more using the mobile phone and Wi-Fi, in the bigger picture, the emergence of Wi-Fi in the mobile phone arena also increases the chances of the mobile phone becoming a direct competitor to the laptop.

The film got chosen following a mega promotion the makers had organized in Cannes last year, with Hrithik Roshan and Barbara Mori staying at the French Riviera for the promotion. The film’s rough cut was screened for publicists and buyers among others.
Meanwhile, apart from the Kites stars and crew, Indian presence will have added numbers this year when the Cannes festival opens. Anupam Kher and Frieda Pinto will be there with their You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Woody Allen’s latest creation which also stars Anthony Hopkins and Naomi Watts.
Back in India, the music of Kites is already turning a rage. Composed by Rajesh Roshan, the Kites album has five originals and four remixes. Romance the key theme in most songs. The most important highlight is that the album also has a song crooned by Hrithik Roshan. It is expected that the movie will open in theatres on May 21.

The prosecution’s case is that Kasab had sailed from Karachi along with nine terrorists in a boat and midway they hijacked Indian fishing trawler Kuber by which they arrived near Mumbai coast.

Kasab”s lawyer points out that he had come from Pakistan by Samjhauta Express as a tourist to Delhi and he arrived in Mumbai a few days before the attaks. Kasab has disputed the prosecution’s charge that he and other terrorists had opened fire with AK-47 rifles and told the court that he had never seen such a weapon.

The prosecution led by Ujjwal Nikam would be putting forward arguments to disapprove the claims

Special Public Prosecutor Nikam would also have to demolish Kasab’s stand that he was not injured in police encounter and that the injury sustained by him in his hand was inflicted by police to implicate him in the crime.

After landing in Mumbai, the terrorists, in pairs of two and four, fanned out to different areas and shot at people in Hotel Taj, Hotel Trident, Leopold Cafe, Nariman House, CST and Cama hospital, killing 166 persons and injuring many others.