Paradise on earth?

Hello world!!! I am so happy today for 2 reasons. One, I talked to a dear friend after a long time. My mood went form low to high instantly. Such is the influence that this friend has on me. Everyone should have a friend like this. Unfortunately, I forgot to wish her a happy valentine's day. Two, this is my 100th post! Woo hoo! Usually when people are happy they express it by doing something nice for some one or for themselves. When I am happy I like to go shopping or have a mini make over for myself. I did not have time for that today. So, I thought it appropriate that I give my blog a makeover instead. Hence the new look. Hope all of you like it.
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 Tiger Circle

 Video Cinerama

 Iceland

 A typical Manipal Student today

 Shantala

 Amita Bakery

 Manipal Bakery

 Hotel Green Park

 Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) side entrance

 MIT main entrance

 Brindavan Garden

 Venugopala temple

 Inside the temple 

 2 new temples (Hanuman and Ganesh) on the left hand side of main temple

 Naga (cobra temple) on right hand side of main temple

 Kailas Quarters ("galli" where I grew up)

C-5(B) - House where I grew up

On my recent trip to India, I visited my favorite place on earth - MANIPAL, where I was born and brought up. These are some of the pictures of the educationally rich town of Manipal.  This place means a lot to me. Tiger Circle is the main bus stop for Manipal. This is where you can find different modes of transportation connecting to many places in and around Manipal. This place is the heart of Manipal, where you can find restaurants, hotels, book stores, Ice cream parlours, video centers etc. Surrounding Tiger Circle are different colleges like Kasturba Medical College, College of Pharmacy, T A Pai Management Institute, Manipal Insitute of Technology (MIT) etc. Since I graduated form MIT, I visited that college. I only saw it from the outside. It was noting like what it used to be. It's hardly recognizable now. One huge difference that I noticed was that there were no bikes at all in the campus. I was told that they are banned inside the campus. As a student, I loved to eat pastries at the two most popular bakeries. Amita and Manipal Bakery. Nowhere have I found that good pastries till date. After a long day at college students from all colleges relax at restaurants like Shantala and Iceland with a cup of coffee. It is a nice place to hang out as it is located in Tiger Circle. Eve teasing is carried out to the maximum extent from here. So girls beware! My visit would not be complete without checking out the quarters where we lived. C-5(B) (the house I grew up in) still remains, but the garden is replaced by concrete. The road has become a private road, meaning no outside vehicles allowed. The one and only unique temple in Manipal is still very beautiful. Unique because, it's architecture represents a mosque, church and a temple all in one. More new small temples have been constructed around the main Venugopala temple. The spot where the Ganesh temple stands today, used to be an open pond for a long time during my days there. I have a sad story with a happy ending about this pond. Someday, I will write about it. The replica of the Mysore Brindavan garden is in Manipal. This is open only on Saturdays and Sundays. My friends and I were regular visitors to the garden on weeknends. There used to be a "mur mure" (puffed rice snack) stall that used to sell "Bhelpuri" for a nominal price of 50 paisa. We used to look forward to eating that. Manipal now has  many new tourist interests including a Planetarium. People come and go but Manipal will continue to grow. Manipal visit was nostalgic to say the least. If you like a college scene, then Manipal is your place. For me it was, is and will be paradise on earth!