Cloud Computing Workshop in India’s Scotland: Coorg

I was invited by Mr. N N Naveen for an “Cloud Computing (Google App Engine ) with Codenvy” Workshop at Coorg Institute of Technology (CIT), Ponnampet. It was one of best journey I have taken to share my knowledge. But in turn learnt a lot more.

The journey started from Dharwad to Mysore in AC Sleeper Coach. As the bus booked was of KSRTC. I was worried about the service offered. But it was a better journey than expected. I liked the idea of divider between beds to give some privacy. You are lucky if you get non-talkative drivers.

Day 1:

I was picked by Mr. Yadhu Krishna of CIT towards Ponnampet via Gonnikoppal.

The lush green view was amazing. Interestingly I came across the elephant camp called Dubare. As per the locals, this is where Mysore Dasara elephants are trained. Lot of Coffee estates greet you with Electrified fences. Well maintained roads and beautiful houses are a bliss to watch.



Surprised to see so many meat shops, when enquired, it is pork what Kodavas like the most. It was hard to get North Karnataka breakfast. But you can get Dosa. Kodavas prefer warm water with food. The College campus feels blissful in the greenery.

The Walk:

The inspiration and information for this blog came from the ‘The Walk’ I had with N N Naveen by evening of Day 1. Thanks to his patience to share his knowledge on every aspect of Coorg culture. To walk in woods with a friend like Naveen is a memory to treasure forever. His mention of Coorg as India’s Scotland is an inspiration for this blog title. Also got to know there are more family dieties called ‘Daiva’ than the general single God for large community. This little flower grabbed my attention at a nearby temple.

Why Coorg(Karnataka) is called as India’s Scotland?

It was the British Planter community who had affectionately coined the term ‘The Scotland of India’ for Coorg. Most of the planters were Scots and the uncanny similarities between both places earned Coorg that nickname. Also like Scotland, Coorg is mountainous, misty and cool. The highlands and the vast meadowlands of both places look almost identical. The two also had local brews they felt strongly about.

On the cultural front, both Coorg and Scotland had clan based societies, where both clans warred with each other constantly in the earlier days. Arms were an integral part of their costumes and each valued its independence equally. The Scots kept dirks (short daggers), while the Coorgs had their peechekathis (carved daggers).

Also got to know Kodavas care about three things in life.

Kadi: They mean, meat (mainly pork and chicken)
Kudi: They mean, booze and coffee
Kuni: They mean Dance.

We had dinner at Cuisine Papera located at Gonnikoppal. One of best restaurants to give a try. The Kodava artifacts welcome you to place.

Day 2:

The Session:

The workshop started after small inauguration with a lovely inauguration song sung by students. It was pleasure to meet The Principal, Dr. P. Mahabaleswarappa, Mr. Anand(HOD).


My session started with funny ABC game as a ice breaker. Later the students were taught Cloud characteristics, Deliver Models, Deployment Models, Virtual Machines, Dockers. Finally about Cloud based development.

Hands-on Session:

The students were instructed hands-on session on Codenvy, cloud(docker) based IDE. First they tried HelloWorld then went ahead to Google App Engine stack. The students deployed sample HTML code to Google App Engine using Google App Engine SDK on their ID on appspot.com domain.

Students were keenly to gather the knowledge provided.

Students working on Codenvy Stacks.

This photo was taken while I was fixing a technical glitch.

Hangouts: A cloud9 ride to Iruppu Falls

The Ride map to Iruppu Falls with Navile Nageshwara Naveen:

It was great feeling to ride through woods. Thanks to Rajesh Sir for lending his Pulsar. The ride was of 45 mins. It was one of best rides I ever had. Rather than the water falls I found the Temple situated there most fascinating. Most beautiful with simplicity. Here are few angles I tried to capture the Temple.

It is was Godly feeling yet also makes you feel how minuscule compared the mighty nature.

There is story behind the temple shared by Naveen regarding “How Iruppu falls was formed?”

Well it is dates back to the era of Ram, Laxman and Hanuman. Rama was performing some ritual, where Hanuman was expected to be there with Linga. Somehow Hanuman delays and ritual gets performed without him. This makes Hanuman angry on Rama and sits with his long tail around Brahmagiri hill. While hunting Hanuman and consoling him, Ram gets thirsty. To quench the thirst of Ram, Laxman hits an arrow to form Iruppu falls(also known as Laxman Teerta). Here are some pictures which I found at temple which depict the story.

Day 3:

The day started with creation of Adobe ID creation, exploring GitHub. The students learnt about forking the code from repository and creating hybrid Mobile App using PhoneGap Cloud Build. Here is the presentation for the workshop.

It was great to see the enthusiastic students learn backed by their HOD. Thanks to Naveen and Chetan Sir for giving their best in coordination. Missed to visit Mandalpatti, Mruntunjaya Temple and other nearby places. Overall it was ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ experience again. My wanderlust is striving to visit Coorg again.