A day at Vatika Resort
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Asha's Delhi schoolmate Sridevi, husband Tanuj and daughter Gauri live in Whitefield. It was planned to go on a trip with them on our arrival in Bangalore. Nandi Hills was the target, but in the Diwali rush, we realized that all the places there were booked. That's how farm houses were searched. Those too were mostly booked. The search finally reached the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border. Our journey to Whitefield was to join them for that trip. As the road journey was tiring, we planned to go by train. It was understood that there will be a passenger train as it was not a long distance journey. Metro Rail is not as developed in Bangalore as it is in Chennai. Now construction has picked up pace. After a year, it may even reach the white field. Now the eastern terminus of the metro ends at Baiyappanahalli.
Checked out from the hotel at eight o'clock. In a taxi, we reached KSR (Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna) railway station for Whitefield in MEMU. It was a new bogie. The train was not crowded, hence enjoyed the trip. The ticket price is only ten rupees. It was 21 km distance, took forty minutes to reach. It crossed the stations of Bangalore Cantt, Bangalore East, Baiyappanahalli, Krishnarajapuram and Hoodie Halt and finally we reached Whitefield. Tanuj had come by his car. He made friendship so quickly that it was not as if we were meeting each other for the first time.
The traffic is not good here either. Whitefield is a place that developed without any planning. Narrow roads and high population density are the problems here. We reached their apartment after thirty minutes journey .There was one more member besides them. Isabella aka Issa. She is a pug dog. Tanuj testified that Issa was with him even before his marriage. Padma quickly became close to Issa. The trip consisted of preparing a small house for Issa in the dicky of the car and putting her inside. Being an animal which sleeps for 12-14 hours every day, she might not have felt much discomfort.
The journey to Vatika was with the help of Google. As we continued our journey through traffic, bad roads, farms and villages, we wondered if the journey will end somewhere without a road. But, finally we reached Thalapalli village in Hosur taluk in Krishnagiri district, there the Vatika Club and Resort is located. When we arrived, we saw a group of 20 people enjoying the facilities there. It was lunch time. We joined the buffet. There were chicken biryani, chapati, rice and curries. We enjoyed the meal and rested in the room.
It had been more than ten years since Vatika started. There were various fountains, playgrounds, rain dance floor, swimming pool and parks for children. A village market, shop, study center etc. had been built as sculptures. There were rabbits, pup, various types of chickens and ducks. About 10 double rooms were there, that include a bamboo house and wood house. The damage of being out of business during the Covid period was generally felt. Repairs were currently underway. Manager Pawan said that they were trying to return to its old glory by April.
Vatika belonged to Congress leader Dr. Rama Reddy. He died recently. Now his son Karthik is in charge. There were about 10 employees, half were locals and the rest were outsiders. We spent time walking around the paddock, watching and participating in the children's activities. Then, walked a short distance in the village in the evening. Jain farms are aplenty there. Their farms are more than eight hundred acres there. Apart from that, Senior citizens’ apartments, Sukhshanti is also here. Adjacent to the Vatika is a lake. Then we could see the mango plantation and papaya cultivation too. By nightfall ,we were the only guests there. ambience was quiet, chilly cold. It must have been twelve o'clock when we went to sleep. I had a good sleep.
In the morning, I went for a walk. Farmers were busy with their work that time. I spent some time in the fields where the farmers were growing flowers and chillies. I came back after an hour and had breakfast. We started around 11.30 am from there. This time we had found some better roads. The road was less crowded. Yet it was about one o'clock when we reached Whitefield. We got into the apartment and quickly got out with the luggage. It was doubtful that we would get the passenger to the Central. We reached the station five minutes before arrival of the passenger. Although it was full, we got seats. Reached KSR around 2.15 pm, bought Hyderabadi biryani and fried rice from IRCTC, from where we had the breakfast day before. It was really good, tasty food. Kunchu and his friend Vishnu had come on the platform. After a while, Nandu also arrived. Enjoyed chat with them till the train reached the station. Mysore- Chennai Jansatabdi was full. We reached back to Chennai at half past nine😍
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Vatika club & resort,Thallapalli village, Bellathur, Po, Bagalur, Hosur ,Tamil Nadu – 635103
M- 9880428797,Reservations- 9500456105
Email- book@vatikaclubandresort.com
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