Last year (2005) in the month of April I moved to Pune, to be specific it was the night on 28th. I reached Pune station and headed straight to Hotel Kundan Palace with my parent's, it was company provided accommodation at Akurdi. BTW I still have not met the gentleman (who is related to my sister's in-laws) who sent us a cab at that wee hour.
Well now after a year I've left that BEAUtiful city and moved over to Hyderabad. I didn't bother changing my profiles. I still would like to say I'm from Pune and just moved to Hyderabad for a while.
Yep I liked Pune and still do, although Hyderabad is not a bad place to live. It is hot, but for a person like me coming from down south - Chennai, the heat of Hyderabad should not be a problem. And it’s well connected to the other cities and towns around. Getting around to different parts of India from Hyderabad is not a problem. Actually I had been to Chennai over the last weekend; it took almost 12 hours by bus, which was an overnight journey.
It’s easy to get out of this city at any time any where. If I want to go to Bangalore it’s just an overnight journey, again if I want to go to Pune it’s another overnight journey. Well of course these are the reasons I keep giving myself to like this city. "It’s always easy to get out and get away".
In a way its better I get to accept living in this city, because I find circumstances favoring a longer stay here. My fiancé will be moving to a new apartment next week. And after my marriage in July, I would eventually have to move in with him to "miyapur". That's where the apartment is!
But I don't know why but from the day I came here I've been thinking about way's to get out of Hyderabad. I know its not possible to move to another city in the next 6 months or perhaps in the next one year, but somehow I can't give in.
There are great many places to visit around Hyderabad, I got a map during my second week here. We visited to the most famous Hussian Sagar Lake. Well I suppose this lake seems to substitute a visit to the beach in Chennai. Why am I so sarcastic about Hyderabad I wonder???
Hmmm.. Come to think of it, I've never been to a lake and no way can I go to a beach in Pune. But there was never a time I winced about not being to a beach in almost one year.
I'll just have to take some time to get to know this place better. Hope I would have something interesting to blog rather something nice the next time I sit to write about Hyderabad.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Another Year - Another City
Mumbai @ 2345
We had been to Bombay over the weekend. We took an early morning bus from Pune rather Chinchwad for 140 bucks each. After a short stop for breakfast we reached Dadar at around 9.30 am. We took a train to Mumbai CST, checked into to a hotel near Victoria Terminus, because we were warned about the price of hotel rooms in Mumbai and that it might get difficult to find accommodation during the late evenings. But we found this not so luxurious room for 400 a day. So we dumped one backpack and took only the necessary in the other and set out.
From the Hotel it was just one straight road to all the necessary "Places to Visit" in Mumbai.
The first on our list was Bombay Natural History Society; sadly we never could enter this place. We located the building but ironically we didn't know how to enter the building. We found this main door which remained locked on both the days we tried to visit it.
The second on our list was the Prince of Wales Museum. We recognized it by the gleaming doom that was as described in the travel guides. We paid for the tickets 10 bucks each and also the fee for using the Camera, boy that was 30 bucks :(
Well that was one good Museum. Everything on the 3 floors of the building was worth the sight. My partner is a history freak and he enjoyed it more that I did.
The third on our list was Jehangir Art Gallery. This time we did not find the building at all. Instead we found the National Gallery for Modern Art. We entered this place with a ticket of 10 each this time no cameras allowed. Some of the paintings though abstract were pleasing.
One artists' work we observed most was A.A. Almelkar
Note: They were selling copies of some of the paintings at one counter. We happened to like this painting of a young women holding the ropes fastened to a couple of goats. We paid 50 bucks for it. The picture was similar to the one we had seen on Omar Khayyam book. I had gifted that book to my friend.
The fourth on our list was Haji Ali Darka. That was a pleasant trip. We stepped out of the art gallery and asked the security guard as to how to get to the Darka. He gave a couple of bus route numbers. And right outside the gallery was the bus stop. We didn't spend even a minute there the bus came by immediately. The Darka was a B-E-A-Utiful sight, it was like an island, connected to the main land by a pathway making a visit possible only during the low tide.
Obviously the fifth on the list was the Mahalashmi temple. It was not crowded during our visit. So that was ggggoooooooddddd. We got a sacred thread tied around my wrist :
We had planned to go to Church gate and then return to CST so on our way back the sixth place on our list was the Chowpathy beach. We took a bus to Sur sager. I'm basically from Chennai which boasts of the second largest sea shore in the world "The Marina Beach". So I was not that excited about the visit to Chowpathy. Moreover the water as well as the beach was dirty. And oh boy, there were some 6 to 8 benches under parasols. So we ran and sat under one, had a sip of water and tried to relax, just then a guy walks up and asks us to pay 60 bucks... we were pissed off. Told him we are new to the city and we got up to walk towards the sea.
After a while we walked back to the bus stop. Took a bus to hanging gardens on Malabar hills which was the last stop. This was seven on our list. We found a park bench and rested for a while. And walked around the park, got a wonderful view of the sea from above.
We stepped out of the park; saw a vendor selling nuts again.
Nuts, now that was mandatory during the whole trip. Whenever we found a vendor selling nuts, we would do him a service by offering him 4 bucks for 2 small paper cones of peanuts. :D
Then we walked down to a tea stall had a refreshing cup of chai. Took a bus to church gate, the eighth on the list.
We walked around church gate; we saw the high court, the goal maidhan and then did some book shopping on the roadside. I picked up this book about Lance Armstrong - "it's not about the bike". And my friend bought a book called "Vedanta Treaties" some spirituality stuff, that's what he informed me:
The ninth on the list was hutatman chowk and the tenth the Flora Fountain. The two places are almost one. The hutatman chowk is known for business and the flora fountain for shopping. Shopping was not part of our itinerary so just walked down the streets and headed straight to the Hotel, had dinner and crashed.
The next morning we checked out at around 7. Walked towards the eleventh place on our list the Gateway of India. :) Something we were excited about. We clicked lots of pictures of the stone archery. There were statues of Chhatrapatin Shivaji and Swami Vivekhanda near the garden in front of the gateway.
Across the street was the famous Taj hotel.
It was 7.50 when we started hunting for a place to have breakfast. Sadly none of the restaurants were open except for one; we didn't like the place so we settled for a glass of sweet lime each.
At around 8.30 we got our tickets for the ferry to visit Elephanta caves the twelfth place on our list and the final. That rounds' to a dozen places we visited in Mumbai.
We bought "Luxury" tickets that cost 120 bucks each just 20 more than the usual. We realized we just wasted 40 bucks for the luxury that we found "written" only on our tickets and seen nowhere else.
Anyways, we were on our way to the caves, it took one hour in that slow as a tortoise motorboat. The ticket charge includes the fee for a guide. That was pretty cool. After we reached the dock we had to walk for almost 20 minutes to reach the cave.
The guide explained precisely about the cave, how it was excavated, how it was named and how it was destroyed.
We found a Maharastra tourism restaurant on our way back to the dock. So we stopped there to have dosas and a cup of chai. The price of which was our first ferry back to Mumbai :(. Yep we missed it.
It was 1:30 when we reach gateway of India. It was hot. We though of doing some shopping and then head to Dadar to catch a bus back to Pune. We took a taxi from gateway to flora fountain and we paid 13 bucks. Well it may not seem significant to mention it here but I was awestruck because in Chennai I would have to pay 40 bucks for a rick for the same distance.
We didn't do any shopping, simply to say the shops were not "my type". I wanted to check out cameras but being a Sunday most of the authorized outlets were closed. So we decided to head to Dadar immediately. My partner was never interested in shopping anyways.
So we walked to CST and took a train to Dadar. We found an air conditioned restaurant for Lunch around 3:00. Then headed right to the government bus stops to get a ticket back to Pune that was 155 bucks each. The bus started at 4:00 and reached Pune rather Akurdi at 10 to 6.
Well why the title Mumbai @ 2345? That was our "total" expense to, in and from Mumbai.
P.S: Includes all the pennies we spent for peanuts too ;)
Credits' to my partner!
From the Hotel it was just one straight road to all the necessary "Places to Visit" in Mumbai.
The first on our list was Bombay Natural History Society; sadly we never could enter this place. We located the building but ironically we didn't know how to enter the building. We found this main door which remained locked on both the days we tried to visit it.
The second on our list was the Prince of Wales Museum. We recognized it by the gleaming doom that was as described in the travel guides. We paid for the tickets 10 bucks each and also the fee for using the Camera, boy that was 30 bucks :(
Well that was one good Museum. Everything on the 3 floors of the building was worth the sight. My partner is a history freak and he enjoyed it more that I did.
The third on our list was Jehangir Art Gallery. This time we did not find the building at all. Instead we found the National Gallery for Modern Art. We entered this place with a ticket of 10 each this time no cameras allowed. Some of the paintings though abstract were pleasing.
One artists' work we observed most was A.A. Almelkar
Note: They were selling copies of some of the paintings at one counter. We happened to like this painting of a young women holding the ropes fastened to a couple of goats. We paid 50 bucks for it. The picture was similar to the one we had seen on Omar Khayyam book. I had gifted that book to my friend.
The fourth on our list was Haji Ali Darka. That was a pleasant trip. We stepped out of the art gallery and asked the security guard as to how to get to the Darka. He gave a couple of bus route numbers. And right outside the gallery was the bus stop. We didn't spend even a minute there the bus came by immediately. The Darka was a B-E-A-Utiful sight, it was like an island, connected to the main land by a pathway making a visit possible only during the low tide.
Obviously the fifth on the list was the Mahalashmi temple. It was not crowded during our visit. So that was ggggoooooooddddd. We got a sacred thread tied around my wrist :
We had planned to go to Church gate and then return to CST so on our way back the sixth place on our list was the Chowpathy beach. We took a bus to Sur sager. I'm basically from Chennai which boasts of the second largest sea shore in the world "The Marina Beach". So I was not that excited about the visit to Chowpathy. Moreover the water as well as the beach was dirty. And oh boy, there were some 6 to 8 benches under parasols. So we ran and sat under one, had a sip of water and tried to relax, just then a guy walks up and asks us to pay 60 bucks... we were pissed off. Told him we are new to the city and we got up to walk towards the sea.
After a while we walked back to the bus stop. Took a bus to hanging gardens on Malabar hills which was the last stop. This was seven on our list. We found a park bench and rested for a while. And walked around the park, got a wonderful view of the sea from above.
We stepped out of the park; saw a vendor selling nuts again.
Nuts, now that was mandatory during the whole trip. Whenever we found a vendor selling nuts, we would do him a service by offering him 4 bucks for 2 small paper cones of peanuts. :D
Then we walked down to a tea stall had a refreshing cup of chai. Took a bus to church gate, the eighth on the list.
We walked around church gate; we saw the high court, the goal maidhan and then did some book shopping on the roadside. I picked up this book about Lance Armstrong - "it's not about the bike". And my friend bought a book called "Vedanta Treaties" some spirituality stuff, that's what he informed me:
The ninth on the list was hutatman chowk and the tenth the Flora Fountain. The two places are almost one. The hutatman chowk is known for business and the flora fountain for shopping. Shopping was not part of our itinerary so just walked down the streets and headed straight to the Hotel, had dinner and crashed.
The next morning we checked out at around 7. Walked towards the eleventh place on our list the Gateway of India. :) Something we were excited about. We clicked lots of pictures of the stone archery. There were statues of Chhatrapatin Shivaji and Swami Vivekhanda near the garden in front of the gateway.
Across the street was the famous Taj hotel.
It was 7.50 when we started hunting for a place to have breakfast. Sadly none of the restaurants were open except for one; we didn't like the place so we settled for a glass of sweet lime each.
At around 8.30 we got our tickets for the ferry to visit Elephanta caves the twelfth place on our list and the final. That rounds' to a dozen places we visited in Mumbai.
We bought "Luxury" tickets that cost 120 bucks each just 20 more than the usual. We realized we just wasted 40 bucks for the luxury that we found "written" only on our tickets and seen nowhere else.
Anyways, we were on our way to the caves, it took one hour in that slow as a tortoise motorboat. The ticket charge includes the fee for a guide. That was pretty cool. After we reached the dock we had to walk for almost 20 minutes to reach the cave.
The guide explained precisely about the cave, how it was excavated, how it was named and how it was destroyed.
We found a Maharastra tourism restaurant on our way back to the dock. So we stopped there to have dosas and a cup of chai. The price of which was our first ferry back to Mumbai :(. Yep we missed it.
It was 1:30 when we reach gateway of India. It was hot. We though of doing some shopping and then head to Dadar to catch a bus back to Pune. We took a taxi from gateway to flora fountain and we paid 13 bucks. Well it may not seem significant to mention it here but I was awestruck because in Chennai I would have to pay 40 bucks for a rick for the same distance.
We didn't do any shopping, simply to say the shops were not "my type". I wanted to check out cameras but being a Sunday most of the authorized outlets were closed. So we decided to head to Dadar immediately. My partner was never interested in shopping anyways.
So we walked to CST and took a train to Dadar. We found an air conditioned restaurant for Lunch around 3:00. Then headed right to the government bus stops to get a ticket back to Pune that was 155 bucks each. The bus started at 4:00 and reached Pune rather Akurdi at 10 to 6.
Well why the title Mumbai @ 2345? That was our "total" expense to, in and from Mumbai.
P.S: Includes all the pennies we spent for peanuts too ;)
Credits' to my partner!
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Valley crossing
4th March 2006
Valley crossing at Nagphani, between Duke’s nose and Dutch’s nose.
(Dukes and dutches are considered husband and wife.)
It seems 2 years ago a couple got wedded in between the valley hanging on pulleys.
Must have been some wild wedding! Hope the adventure is lasting through their marriage.
The concept of valley crossing came up when mountaineers wanted to quicken their expedition. Earlier when mountaineers had to cross two mountains they had to climb one and descend and again climb the next to cross. This consumed a lot of time. But by crossing the valley using the pulley mechanism reduced their time.
Although for the process they need to set up the equipment. One of the members has to go up to the other mountain and set up the ropes and pulleys.
First they need to fasten the ropes to trees and rocks at both ends. Then attach the pulleys. Now the ropes need to be in equal tension for the pulley to pass from one end to the other with the weight of a member hanging. The members need to ensure their harness is in place and their pulley in control.
My experience was wild enough. It was about 200 feet of distance between the dukes and dutches. Most of the members had a smooth cross.
Nagphani is about 30 minutes from Lonavala station.
The view from atop nagphani is amazing.
And the view of the valley down between dukes and dutches was a great sight.
We could also sight the Mumbai express highway hanging between the valleys!
Valley crossing at Nagphani, between Duke’s nose and Dutch’s nose.
(Dukes and dutches are considered husband and wife.)
It seems 2 years ago a couple got wedded in between the valley hanging on pulleys.
Must have been some wild wedding! Hope the adventure is lasting through their marriage.
The concept of valley crossing came up when mountaineers wanted to quicken their expedition. Earlier when mountaineers had to cross two mountains they had to climb one and descend and again climb the next to cross. This consumed a lot of time. But by crossing the valley using the pulley mechanism reduced their time.
Although for the process they need to set up the equipment. One of the members has to go up to the other mountain and set up the ropes and pulleys.
First they need to fasten the ropes to trees and rocks at both ends. Then attach the pulleys. Now the ropes need to be in equal tension for the pulley to pass from one end to the other with the weight of a member hanging. The members need to ensure their harness is in place and their pulley in control.
My experience was wild enough. It was about 200 feet of distance between the dukes and dutches. Most of the members had a smooth cross.
Nagphani is about 30 minutes from Lonavala station.
The view from atop nagphani is amazing.
And the view of the valley down between dukes and dutches was a great sight.
We could also sight the Mumbai express highway hanging between the valleys!
Monday, February 13, 2006
Tiger tiger burning bright... in the forest of the night...
Visited the Kanha tiger reserve between the 25th and 30th of January 2006.
The entire National Park area is 940 sq. km. located in the Maikal hills of the Satpuras, parts of Mandla & Balaghat districts of Madhya Pradesh.Apart from a healthy population of tigers, the reserve is the only habitat of Barasingha or Swamp Deer.
Fauna Found at Kanha
Mammals:
Chital
Sambar
Barasingha
Gaur
Wild boar
Sloth bear
Langur
Tiger
Birds:
The Reserve supports around 300 species of birds.Storks
Drangos
Parakeets
Herons
Teals/Ducks
Green bee eater
Getting There
Road : Kanha National Park is connected by road with Jabalpur 175-kms and Nagpur 266-kms.
Temperature
Minimum : 2°C
Maximum : 43°C
Visiting Seasons
April to June (Summer)
November to January (Winter)
The park remains closed between July and November (Monsoon)
Flora Found at KanhaMoist Peninsular Sal Forests
Southern Tropical Moist Mixed Deciduous and Dry Deciduous Mixed Forest
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Bangalore Galore
Our weekend at Bangalore was the most unexpected happy hours.
I had the time of my life. Although we were together for only 20 hours or so.
As soon as I reached Koramaogala, I took an auto to Forum. Met Ashok and Dheepak at around 1 in the afternoon, we went around the mall and finally stopped at Transit for lunch then headed off to Landmark. After browsing for a while, I bought a book for myself. Ascii had bought books for me and Dheepak. Got it gift wrapped and all.
Abbhirami joined us after her lunch at Transit with a friend then we left to a coffee shop. (A chain of coffee shops called Cafe Coffee day, have a lot to talk about this place. Referred as CCD here after)
We were chatting rather Ascii was talking and the three of us were mostly listening, at least I was only listening. (Saving my throat for the long nights chat)
Then another friend of Abhi joined us for coffee. BTW the coffees we ordered was Ascii's favorite topic then. Especially mine, i had ordered for some "Ethiopian Quawha".
Bangalore is a heavily crowded place. Man i realized it more than ever when I stepped into brigade road... phew!
Okay coming back to were i left. Well we left the coffee shop to stroll into Brigade road. Dheepak took us to a famous chaat shop called Koshy's. The chaats were authentic!
And that's where we started clicking photographs. We then walked down brigade road to M.G Road at the corner was a Art and craft store, the Cauvery Emporium.
We bought some wooden artifacts there. As usual we clicked snaps. Now after the walking and shopping, we decided to sit somewhere for a while and talking about the chain of coffee shops, we ended up at CCD actually the reason was we wanted to charge our mobile phones. In the meantime we ordered for Assam Tea.
Our shutter-bug friend Dheepak enjoyed photographing the surrounding, the tea, the spoons, the tea cups, the milk pot, and finally us. ;)
His clicky creations can soon be viewed by public at
http://sudasudacoffee.blogspot.com
Ashok called up Priya to join us at CCD. But then it took her a while so we decided to walk for a while before we meet up with Priya and go out for dinner.
So we strolled into Residency road. There yet again we saw a CCD outlet. And a Crossword bookstore. I and Ashok were doing some serious talking and Dheepak was doing some very very serious photography. Finally Priya came, we went around the bookstore. Ashok got a call from Abhi that she was at Brigade road. So we went back to Brigade road and were deciding on a quiet place for dinner. It seemed like most of the places would be crowded... man that was the limit. Bangalore crowd is just too much. I guess soon they would charge people if they want to walk through some roads like Brigade or M.G.
Unfortunately we could not travel much for a quiet place as Abhi had to catch a
train after dinner, we ended up at Pizza corner on Brigade road :(
But surprise, this place was not very crowded and no hajar music either.
We had a peaceful dinner. Ordered 3 large pizzas, most of us hogged at least 3 slices but Abhi did not have even one whole slice :(
We finished dinner around 9:30 pm and we packed up the rest for Aravind who had by then reached the Bangalore station.
From there we pushed off to the station. In two auto's, myself and Ashok we in one, trying to catch up with things. As usual he asked me to "Take Care of Myself"
There was some serious stuff we were talking about like life and satisfaction and how "happiness is a state of the mind"
Oh boy!... I'm gonna miss him even more after he leaves back to the U.S.
Anyways, coming back to the station, we met Aravind. Another round of posing for the cameras. Then we went to the platform where Abhi was to board her train back to Chennai. Sad, I couldn't spend much time with her.
After Abhi left we took a cab to Priya's house.
It was after midnight, when Aravind started having his cold pizza dinner.
We started off talking about ... "Censored" ... oops the discussion is supposed to be private. Nothing discussed within priya's house can be revealed here. ;)
But that was the most amazing part of the trip.
We were yapping till around 5 in the morning!!!
Then we realized we need some rest, so we slept for 2 hours or so.
Then by around 8.30 am we packed our stuff as i was to leave directly to the airport to catch my flight at 11:40 am.
We went to a close by restaurant for a heavy breakfast.
The Dosas were good but the Pongal was terrible, very filling rather. Over with a cup of hot coffee and tea.
We then took two auto's to the airport.
Man I had a wild time getting to the airport.
The Auto Walla stopped off at a petrol pump for more than 15 mins.
Then again half way thru his auto broke down.
I had to take another auto, finally reached the airport around 11.25 … yeikes…
Bad timings.. I couldn't stop to say my good-byes to anyone :(
It was pretty sad. The last few moments left me weeping in the flight until take-off.
Unforgettable trip that was!
Yestreen blissful thoughts rise up in my mind
Settles in a corner of my heart for me to find
Some exciting, some funny, some calm at zero degrees
Sending a chill down my spine, those sweet memories
I had the time of my life. Although we were together for only 20 hours or so.
As soon as I reached Koramaogala, I took an auto to Forum. Met Ashok and Dheepak at around 1 in the afternoon, we went around the mall and finally stopped at Transit for lunch then headed off to Landmark. After browsing for a while, I bought a book for myself. Ascii had bought books for me and Dheepak. Got it gift wrapped and all.
Abbhirami joined us after her lunch at Transit with a friend then we left to a coffee shop. (A chain of coffee shops called Cafe Coffee day, have a lot to talk about this place. Referred as CCD here after)
We were chatting rather Ascii was talking and the three of us were mostly listening, at least I was only listening. (Saving my throat for the long nights chat)
Then another friend of Abhi joined us for coffee. BTW the coffees we ordered was Ascii's favorite topic then. Especially mine, i had ordered for some "Ethiopian Quawha".
Bangalore is a heavily crowded place. Man i realized it more than ever when I stepped into brigade road... phew!
Okay coming back to were i left. Well we left the coffee shop to stroll into Brigade road. Dheepak took us to a famous chaat shop called Koshy's. The chaats were authentic!
And that's where we started clicking photographs. We then walked down brigade road to M.G Road at the corner was a Art and craft store, the Cauvery Emporium.
We bought some wooden artifacts there. As usual we clicked snaps. Now after the walking and shopping, we decided to sit somewhere for a while and talking about the chain of coffee shops, we ended up at CCD actually the reason was we wanted to charge our mobile phones. In the meantime we ordered for Assam Tea.
Our shutter-bug friend Dheepak enjoyed photographing the surrounding, the tea, the spoons, the tea cups, the milk pot, and finally us. ;)
His clicky creations can soon be viewed by public at
http://sudasudacoffee.blogspot.com
Ashok called up Priya to join us at CCD. But then it took her a while so we decided to walk for a while before we meet up with Priya and go out for dinner.
So we strolled into Residency road. There yet again we saw a CCD outlet. And a Crossword bookstore. I and Ashok were doing some serious talking and Dheepak was doing some very very serious photography. Finally Priya came, we went around the bookstore. Ashok got a call from Abhi that she was at Brigade road. So we went back to Brigade road and were deciding on a quiet place for dinner. It seemed like most of the places would be crowded... man that was the limit. Bangalore crowd is just too much. I guess soon they would charge people if they want to walk through some roads like Brigade or M.G.
Unfortunately we could not travel much for a quiet place as Abhi had to catch a
train after dinner, we ended up at Pizza corner on Brigade road :(
But surprise, this place was not very crowded and no hajar music either.
We had a peaceful dinner. Ordered 3 large pizzas, most of us hogged at least 3 slices but Abhi did not have even one whole slice :(
We finished dinner around 9:30 pm and we packed up the rest for Aravind who had by then reached the Bangalore station.
From there we pushed off to the station. In two auto's, myself and Ashok we in one, trying to catch up with things. As usual he asked me to "Take Care of Myself"
There was some serious stuff we were talking about like life and satisfaction and how "happiness is a state of the mind"
Oh boy!... I'm gonna miss him even more after he leaves back to the U.S.
Anyways, coming back to the station, we met Aravind. Another round of posing for the cameras. Then we went to the platform where Abhi was to board her train back to Chennai. Sad, I couldn't spend much time with her.
After Abhi left we took a cab to Priya's house.
It was after midnight, when Aravind started having his cold pizza dinner.
We started off talking about ... "Censored" ... oops the discussion is supposed to be private. Nothing discussed within priya's house can be revealed here. ;)
But that was the most amazing part of the trip.
We were yapping till around 5 in the morning!!!
Then we realized we need some rest, so we slept for 2 hours or so.
Then by around 8.30 am we packed our stuff as i was to leave directly to the airport to catch my flight at 11:40 am.
We went to a close by restaurant for a heavy breakfast.
The Dosas were good but the Pongal was terrible, very filling rather. Over with a cup of hot coffee and tea.
We then took two auto's to the airport.
Man I had a wild time getting to the airport.
The Auto Walla stopped off at a petrol pump for more than 15 mins.
Then again half way thru his auto broke down.
I had to take another auto, finally reached the airport around 11.25 … yeikes…
Bad timings.. I couldn't stop to say my good-byes to anyone :(
It was pretty sad. The last few moments left me weeping in the flight until take-off.
Unforgettable trip that was!
Yestreen blissful thoughts rise up in my mind
Settles in a corner of my heart for me to find
Some exciting, some funny, some calm at zero degrees
Sending a chill down my spine, those sweet memories
Friday, January 06, 2006
Thursday, December 29, 2005
The Wheel - W. B. Yeats
Through winter-time we call on spring,
And through the spring on summer call,
And when abounding hedges ring
Declare that winter's best of all;
And after that there's nothing good
Because the spring-time has not come ---
Nor know that what disturbs our blood
Is but our longing for the tomb.
And through the spring on summer call,
And when abounding hedges ring
Declare that winter's best of all;
And after that there's nothing good
Because the spring-time has not come ---
Nor know that what disturbs our blood
Is but our longing for the tomb.
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Monday, December 12, 2005
Void Voyage
Everything is so strange, here I started blogging rather searching outside and inside for a purpose in vain.I one of the books that i read it was quoted how many people search for a single clear purpose. And imagine if we really found and achieved it what else would be left for in life to live.
I used to feel I’ve seen and had enough of life and when I say what I feel; there is generally more than one soul to tell me, the worst is yet to come. And I asked why wait till then. Again they have an answer, how can you escape so easily?
And i wonder is that how everybody views life, as a challenge?
After reading and seeking several books, i wouldn't say my search has come to an end. None of the fruits of my action towards a purposeful life, a meaningful life has brought me closer to myself or somebody else or to the divine.
Rather everything and everybody took me places away away farther away to no-where.
Sans beginning sans end: - sans search
Whatever I may do, my thought, my dreams, my creations, my revolutions and my reevaluations will one day be obscured by sand. Including all challenge great and small that I survived through.
My search will never end as it has abruptly stopped.
A wish or desire to see something unique something otherworldly was probably my search. But guess I took too much time to now realize it’s not promising.
Now life goes on, flows on like an endless brook, a babbling brook.
It has a long past a long future but at the moment it just gushes down.
Not stopping for anything nor going towards anything.
All it now knows is it can find or make a path to just flow.
It does not want or wait for anything or anybody anymore.
Just keep moving to meet the abyss, to drop down to the unknown where it may finally belong.
Until then it just has to go on!
No emotions will augment the journey, but I know its going to be quick ;) Because I’ve traveled a route earlier trying to fast forward my life. Even now those moments are dejavu.But it never works that way.
I just need to let go of myself, let the natural boundaries guard me or constrain me, now I’m totally mislaid to bother how I’m going or where. I'll just keep going.
Let loose life cannot be concealed or controlled by a harness!
it may seem usual like a morning paper,
daily work, stops at a cafe and stirring emotions,
but eternity engulfs, dissolving everything to nothingness.
I used to feel I’ve seen and had enough of life and when I say what I feel; there is generally more than one soul to tell me, the worst is yet to come. And I asked why wait till then. Again they have an answer, how can you escape so easily?
And i wonder is that how everybody views life, as a challenge?
After reading and seeking several books, i wouldn't say my search has come to an end. None of the fruits of my action towards a purposeful life, a meaningful life has brought me closer to myself or somebody else or to the divine.
Rather everything and everybody took me places away away farther away to no-where.
Sans beginning sans end: - sans search
Whatever I may do, my thought, my dreams, my creations, my revolutions and my reevaluations will one day be obscured by sand. Including all challenge great and small that I survived through.
My search will never end as it has abruptly stopped.
A wish or desire to see something unique something otherworldly was probably my search. But guess I took too much time to now realize it’s not promising.
Now life goes on, flows on like an endless brook, a babbling brook.
It has a long past a long future but at the moment it just gushes down.
Not stopping for anything nor going towards anything.
All it now knows is it can find or make a path to just flow.
It does not want or wait for anything or anybody anymore.
Just keep moving to meet the abyss, to drop down to the unknown where it may finally belong.
Until then it just has to go on!
No emotions will augment the journey, but I know its going to be quick ;) Because I’ve traveled a route earlier trying to fast forward my life. Even now those moments are dejavu.But it never works that way.
I just need to let go of myself, let the natural boundaries guard me or constrain me, now I’m totally mislaid to bother how I’m going or where. I'll just keep going.
Let loose life cannot be concealed or controlled by a harness!
it may seem usual like a morning paper,
daily work, stops at a cafe and stirring emotions,
but eternity engulfs, dissolving everything to nothingness.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
CAN Conquer CANcer initiative
This is an initiative titled “CAN Conquer CANcer” aimed at spreading a message to dispel the myths surrounding the disease and help create awareness.
It’s probably the 1st time in Blogsphere history that a contest is done on this scale with so much involvement from people from around the globe.
Here’s the link to the CAN Conquer CANcer initiative Blog Contest.
http://connexionsonline.biz/conxw/ican/
It’s probably the 1st time in Blogsphere history that a contest is done on this scale with so much involvement from people from around the globe.
Here’s the link to the CAN Conquer CANcer initiative Blog Contest.
http://connexionsonline.biz/conxw/ican/
Monday, December 05, 2005
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Monday, November 21, 2005
Friday, November 18, 2005
Thursday, November 17, 2005
What the bleep?
If you have heard or seen the movie "What the bleep do we know!?", that's great!
If not, you could read the study guide before you go watch the movie.
BTW, this guide is useful for those who have seen the movie too.
http://www.noetic.org/research/files/Bleep_Study_Guide.pdf
If not, you could read the study guide before you go watch the movie.
BTW, this guide is useful for those who have seen the movie too.
http://www.noetic.org/research/files/Bleep_Study_Guide.pdf
Surveys!
Wonder how many really like taking surveys.
Well I do! But only prefer meaningful ones.
A friend of mine Mr. Vishal Gokhale mailed me the below link to a Personality Survey from the BBC website called "What am I like?"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/whatamilike/index.shtml
Well I do! But only prefer meaningful ones.
A friend of mine Mr. Vishal Gokhale mailed me the below link to a Personality Survey from the BBC website called "What am I like?"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/whatamilike/index.shtml
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Haiku
Haiku is a short, three-line poem (originally from Japan) with the form: 5,7,5 syllables.
Its impressive, short and precise poetry.
I tried writing one myself.
Warm under the quilt while;
The chill winds blowing outside
Frost on the window
Try these links:
http://www.haikuworld.org
http://www.tinywords.com
Its impressive, short and precise poetry.
I tried writing one myself.
Warm under the quilt while;
The chill winds blowing outside
Frost on the window
Try these links:
http://www.haikuworld.org
http://www.tinywords.com
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Boredom
The ocean is still
No waves meet the shore
Too much time to kill
And mind yearns for more
For a climb uphill
And see what's in store
But the search makes me ill
And sick of rowing an unguided oar
Let me take a pill
Go to slumber and snore
On soft and light quills
And forget all that bores.
No waves meet the shore
Too much time to kill
And mind yearns for more
For a climb uphill
And see what's in store
But the search makes me ill
And sick of rowing an unguided oar
Let me take a pill
Go to slumber and snore
On soft and light quills
And forget all that bores.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
An MBA?
How good is an MBA?
Some good soul out there, could enlighten me.
Your comments are valuable! My appreciation in advance.
Thank You!
Some good soul out there, could enlighten me.
Your comments are valuable! My appreciation in advance.
Thank You!
Universal Birth Registration
I didn't know birth registration was an issue until I readabout it! That little piece of paper helps ensure that you get access to education, healthcare, or anything else needingidentification. It's shocking to find out that 36% of children born each year (48 million!) are invisible - they aren't registered at birth.
I encourage you to join me in supporting the Campaign for Universal Birth Registration being led by Plan, at http://www.writemedown.org
This is one campaign we could see real progress on quite quickly!
I encourage you to join me in supporting the Campaign for Universal Birth Registration being led by Plan, at http://www.writemedown.org
This is one campaign we could see real progress on quite quickly!
Monday, August 15, 2005
A day before Independence, 2005
Indian Independence Day (August 15th) happened to fall on a weekday (Monday).
I could have planned for a long weekend, if not for some work that drove me back to office on Saturday. Yet I and a couple of friends got around planning something for Sunday.
So we finally decided to head to Lonavala and Kandala. An hour’s journey from Pune via local train.
We started to other places around Lonavala. Its a beautiful city, if well maintained it would turn out to be heaven on earth.
I could have planned for a long weekend, if not for some work that drove me back to office on Saturday. Yet I and a couple of friends got around planning something for Sunday.
So we finally decided to head to Lonavala and Kandala. An hour’s journey from Pune via local train. It was 9 fifteen when we reached Chinchwad station and bought tickets. At around 9.30 the train pulled over and we rushed in as locals don't stop for more than 30 seconds. We were a group of six. We all got to find seats after a couple of stops. 30 mins passed and then we realized we were on a special train to Lonavala which almost took us 2 hours to reach our destination :)
In the meantime we started playing Dumsharads. I and my roommate are totally novice to the Hindi language. But that did not stop us from guessing the names of several Hindi movies. It was fun and somehow averted the frustrating slow journey.
Lonavala, finally! We set foot on the station at 11.20.
It started to rain right after we came out of the station.
Now we started hunting for tour cabs preferably a Tata Sumo.
After enquiring at several places. We booked a Sumo and started towards Bushi Dam.
A drive in the clouds.
Waterfalls were a common scene at Lonavala.
At Bushi dam, we did not step out of the car. There was hajar crowd already trekking towards the dam. So we preceded towards a place called Air force shooting spot.
Know as a famous shooting place for several Hindi movies.
At Bushi dam, we did not step out of the car. There was hajar crowd already trekking towards the dam. So we preceded towards a place called Air force shooting spot.
Know as a famous shooting place for several Hindi movies.
When we reached the spot. It was so thickly surrounded by fog. We could hardly see where we were walking. In a couple of minutes i started rain started to pour. We order for chai and corn bakoda's at a near by tea stall.
The garam chai with bakoda on a rainy day, it was sensationally refreshing.
After the rains the place was a little more visible. Yet only 10 feet from us was clear. We went for a walk, clicked some snaps.
After the rains the place was a little more visible. Yet only 10 feet from us was clear. We went for a walk, clicked some snaps.
It was amazing; i could not believe such places existed in India. So cold a weather and a welcoming green of nature all around.
When we got back to the cab. The driver was telling us that there were many other secluded places which are even more scenic and romantic. Since we were a mixed crowd of friends, he did not want to take us to those spots ;)
When we got back to the cab. The driver was telling us that there were many other secluded places which are even more scenic and romantic. Since we were a mixed crowd of friends, he did not want to take us to those spots ;)
We started to other places around Lonavala. Its a beautiful city, if well maintained it would turn out to be heaven on earth.
We stopped at a vegetarian restaurant towards Kandala for lunch. We ordered for a
variety of food. But the quality was bad :(
Next we went to yet another BEAutiful shooting spot. A picturesque meadow.
Trees, pond and a vast stretch of pasture boundless
variety of food. But the quality was bad :(
Next we went to yet another BEAutiful shooting spot. A picturesque meadow.
Trees, pond and a vast stretch of pasture boundless
Massive mountains and far away cascades matchless.
The surrounding Stillness gently arouses mellowness.
Every breath so fresh, so calm, one tends to be pensive.
The remaining places were the Tiger valley and unset point at Kandala. 
Tiger valley
Description: A park. No tigers!
Purpose: Serves a fantastic view of the surrounding hills and waterfalls.
Sunset Point
Description: Some 30 feet from tiger valley. On the road that leads to the express way.
Purpose: A perfect spot to watch the sunset.
The last place on our list was a Dam maintained by Tata Power. A well maintained place. The walk towards the dam was fun and scenic.
And the Dam itself was a sight to see. Could not click pictures of this great view.
As its a private property.
On our way back, we bought some roasted sweet corn. Munching it all the way back to the Station.
Description: A park. No tigers!
Purpose: Serves a fantastic view of the surrounding hills and waterfalls.
Sunset Point
Description: Some 30 feet from tiger valley. On the road that leads to the express way.
Purpose: A perfect spot to watch the sunset.
The last place on our list was a Dam maintained by Tata Power. A well maintained place. The walk towards the dam was fun and scenic.
And the Dam itself was a sight to see. Could not click pictures of this great view.
As its a private property.
On our way back, we bought some roasted sweet corn. Munching it all the way back to the Station.
It was six 40 then. Unfortunately the next train to Pune was only at 7.20.
So we asked the driver to take us for another round or to another spot.
Well he refused. So we bough our tickets and walked into the station.
So we asked the driver to take us for another round or to another spot.
Well he refused. So we bough our tickets and walked into the station.
We had some namkeen and we bought tea at a stall on the platform.
We were sharing our thoughts after the stress releasing day. We talked too much that we didn't realize that our train had already pulled over at the station. We were at platform 1 and had to rush up and down the bridge to reach platform 3.
We were sharing our thoughts after the stress releasing day. We talked too much that we didn't realize that our train had already pulled over at the station. We were at platform 1 and had to rush up and down the bridge to reach platform 3.
And finally boarded the train back to Pune.
Saturday, July 16, 2005
My best friend's blog
Ascii
Ashok Narayan Veeraraghavan, one of my best friends and someone I always turn back to when in bliss or in mess.
He is the reason I started blogging. And I’m absolutely glad I started it. Thanks Ascii!
Visit his blog at http://vashok.blogspot.com
On a small trail.
Down the road, a gurgling stream protected bedind the fence.
A scenic view of the Mulshi dam.
We went into the forest on a small trail. This is the view of the Mulshi dam from up there.
The view of the meadows on the trail.
Observing the nature on the trail.
After a short trail through the forest we took this road beside the Mulshi dam.
On the trail we saw this particular plant used in ayurvedic treatments. When the juice of these leaves were applied on the gums, they go numb. Hence facilitates in tooth extraction without pain.
Fish tail Palm that we saw, called so because the leaves of the palm appear to be like the tail of a fish. The flowers of this tree looked like a hanging chandelier. Jyanthi explained that when this flower was completely bloom, there would be a narrow hole in the center, and often Bats roost in the central pith of this flower. And during the nights one could notice them flying out of the center of the flower in search of food.
We spotted this Beehive on the Way to the waterfall.
A scenic view of the Mulshi dam.
We went into the forest on a small trail. This is the view of the Mulshi dam from up there.
The view of the meadows on the trail.
Observing the nature on the trail.
After a short trail through the forest we took this road beside the Mulshi dam.
On the trail we saw this particular plant used in ayurvedic treatments. When the juice of these leaves were applied on the gums, they go numb. Hence facilitates in tooth extraction without pain.
Fish tail Palm that we saw, called so because the leaves of the palm appear to be like the tail of a fish. The flowers of this tree looked like a hanging chandelier. Jyanthi explained that when this flower was completely bloom, there would be a narrow hole in the center, and often Bats roost in the central pith of this flower. And during the nights one could notice them flying out of the center of the flower in search of food.
We spotted this Beehive on the Way to the waterfall.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Waterfall Rappeling
On the Way to Mulshi Dam
This tree house was near a motel, where we had stopped for breakfast.
Consecutinve waterfalls on the way.
Consecutinve waterfalls on the way.
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