BhEeD BhAJi bHeL & d' BeAcH !!!

this is how i would describe sunday evening...

finished off with the training by 1530 hrs.. and then went to a small restaurant to have tea... boss was coming to mumbai to i had to go to the stations.. oops the airport to pick him up... and Anis had to to the airport as he was leaving for ahmedabad... so i thought i will leave with him.. and come back with boss....

we left from Lower Parel around 1645 hrs... and then went to the Linking Road. bandra...

oh my God !!! so many shops for only gurl's footwear... what the heck !!!! and what crowd... quality quantity together... sahi hai baap !!! is this a high end version of Sarojini Nagar.. that is what i kept thinking all the time.. while trying to walk around... the kinda crowd we have in delhi at the trade fair... looks like mumbai lives with that amount of people per square metre of land !!!

the linking road...

khair.. Anis was getting late and i was not really sure if i wanted to hang around that place... there were too many missiles for gurls there to hurl at me if anyone felt bad about my existance in mumbai :P

so we catch an auto.. and ask him to fly to the airport... well.. poor guy could not do anything about speed.. the traffic limits everything around.. so we reached the airport just about 20 minutes before anis had to leave.. i am sure the flight was delayed and i hope he had enough time to check in and all !!!!

what next.. Atul calls and tells me he has reached as well.. and i walk to the arrivals... met him... the cab came... first time sat in a honda city nai wali... very comfy car.. and then to his hotel...Hyatt Regency...

now you guys might be shocked but this was the first time i was in the room of a five star hotel.. first time i saw a wash basin made out of glass... first time i saw an ironing board in a hotel room... first time i saw at least 12 towels of various sizes in a hotel room... phew so many firsts... the view from the hotel room was beautiful too...

view from boss's room at the Hyatt...

and then boss and me went to joohoo... i am not going to crib about the traffic any more now.. please assume that whenever i write i went anywhere i met loads and loads of traffic... juhu beach... woops.. so many shops serving.. Pao Bhaji, Jain Bhaji, Kala Khatta, Pani Puri ( Golgappe or Paani ke Batashe), Sev Poori, Bhel Poori, alaa Poori and Balaa Poori... and then some sand... and then i saw the sea the second time in my life... the small waves... the air... looked like a purr-fect place to be with someone special... sea side... ok.. back to the ground reality... i was with boss.. and he has stayed in mumbai for about 5 years... so he could tell me whats good where... i ate the green chane.. and then the pao bhaji.. and then some bhelpoori... to be frank.. the Bhelpoori was not really as i expected it would be.. i have eaten better stuff in Delhi !!!

joohoo...

why is the juhu beach dirty like hell.. more polybags and kachra then a waste pit... people should not do it... this is one place where a lot of outsiders would carry some impression from.. and when i notice that most of mumbai is pretty disciplined, this part should not have been neglected !!!

the pao-bhaji stall at the joohoo beach !!!

next i find myself in an auto for santa cruz station... a 4 rupee ticket again.. he he.. i somehow knew alredy the ticket is going to be 4 bucks !!! hehehe.. and then a seat to put my ass on in the local !!!! wow dream come true... it was 2215 hrs.. and trust me there was no dearth of people around... the city for sure never sleeps... i reach Dadar pretty quick. move out of the station.. swimming my way out of the ocean of people on the overbrige.. reach my hotel.. and find out that i have to change a room again in the morning.. this is twice now... anyway.... i keep my stuff in the room.. and rushed out to find out about how i can go to shirdi..

400 bucks for a volvo ticket...
6 hours drive..

not bad.. i might go with boss !!!

slept nice in the night... for some reason being alone is not pinching me.. i am kinda enjoying the time i get with myself these days... just doing nothing.. being with myself on my own...

woke up in the morning... and got ready with ease.. went to the station.. and went to the platform... the train came.. i was able to enter it just fine.. and then i noticed the compartment was kinda different then the usual ones so far..
no no no.. i was not in the ladies compartment.. but the first class one.. the cushioned seats.. the less crowd.. it was different really.. and i did not have that ticket for that compartment ofcourse.. so like a good citizen.. and to avoid a ticket and the free embarassment that comes with it in an new city i got down at the next station.. and got into the usually crowded one... ok.. this feels better... and i also intelligently made my way to the middle of the compartment where i could stand with ease...

and guess what..

there was nandita das in that train.. there was shooting going on in that compartment...

hehehe.. just kidding..

nothing big happened.. i got a seat again this time... this was as big a surprise as seeing nandita in person when you were least expecting it... i was looking at the rail map.. and counting the number of stations.. so that i know where to get down... intelligent me also knew how to get down from the train as well this time..

just stand in front of someone who has to get down on the station you have to get down on.. and make sure you have someone in front of you who looks ready to do anything to get down as soon as the station comes.. the trick worked.. and there was just out in a second.. smooth like jack daniels !!!!

the crowd in the mumbai local trains is like the strong wind.. is like the huge wave... is like that force of nature that does not let you stand in front.. you have to mind it.. have to move with it.. you would be intelligent if you face the side where the crowd is going and let this unnaturally natural force of nature do the rest for you !!!

a 25 minute drive in an auto after that.. and i reach mind-space.. the new age concrete jungle in mumbai... malad west is where this is... cewl.. the entire day in the office.. monday heat.. loads of work.. number of meetings... lotsa tool demos... and waiting for the day to get over...

i wanted to meet priya today.. but looks like i will be late.. i asked her if she could accompany me to marine drive... but looks like thats not possible... will meet her in dadar sometime later in the week.. thanks priya for being around in mumbai.. you've been a great help here !!!

i think i will be able to post this only on tuesday, that is 27-Dec... ta tu for the day today !!! will write something about the monday evening as well !!!

initiate post part II => tuesday...27th Dec'05 1100 hrs

so what did i write yesterday... thta i am not going to talk about traffic.. ok... well i think i cannot stay without writing about it.. left office around 1930 hrs... Malad(W) near the Iorbit Mall.... and reached Andher(W) in an hour and 15 minutes... smoke, traffic, uff !!!! sick !!!! and that looks like a normal traffic.. not because there was an accident or something like that... the traffic was just there.. not ready to move !!! anyway... took the local from Andheri to Dadar....got a seat again... and reached hotel around 2200 hrs...

morning started late... but it took less time to reach office today.. the train compartment i entered was kinda empty.. i could stand with ease... and then got a seat at the andheri station too... for some strange reason.. even though the seats in the compartment were empty people were not willing to sit... instead they were quite happy clogging the gates like hell !!! but then as i wrote last night.. i am wiser now.. i just need to stand in between two people who have to get down... make sure i do not loose my balance.. and getting out is a peice of cake...

in the office right now.. might go to the InORBIT mall tonight.. lets see what is so special about that too... i am not really keen to enter any malls coz i already have an overdose of malls in delhi.. gurgaon, delhi, and now kaushambi has more malls then i can handle !!! but lets see....

the next post would come in a li'il late... not sure when.. i guess when i am in banglore.. or if i get net access anywhere near Dadar.. and they allow me to use my laptop !!!

MoRe MuMbAi !!!

posting this from the office at 1100 hrs on sunday....

flashback...

what is the time right now.. lemme check... 2245 hrs... in my room... and the date today is 24th Dec... i have more about mumbai today to write... but before that.. something about what i have been doing in the last two days...

flashback...

yesterday...
usual office.. nothing great.. came back late from the office... had dinner at a restaurant near the hotel... came to the room.. watched "Gods must be crazy" and slept... i think i have written this in the last post too... so nothing new...

inside the office building...this is the reflection in a mirror on the floor of the roof...

today... went to the office late... did not feel like getting out of the blanket... for people who are missing me in delhi.. i am using an AC in this room full blow... and mom told me yesterday that she had not seen the sun for three days..

and the son for about two weeks now... love you mom.. love you pa... your son is just fine... do not worry... he is more of a loner kinda guy so being alone is not killing him at all.. he has a mind to think.. eyes to keep looking around....and loads of work which keeps him really busy the entire day and gives him enough reasons to sleep peacefully....

so back to today.... did the training just fine... thank God we had three people with laptops in the training which meant good amount of hands on done.. otherwise it was just my laptop that was being used for hands on by the team.. the training was not that effective yesterday coz the people really needed to work on the tool to understand ( i realise that but i cannot really anything about it...) but today it turned out to the best session so far in the 4 sessions i have completed so far... the entire north has been trained... west would be completed tmrw.. and then i move to south and then to east !!! funn... eh !!!

was able to get over todays agenda by 1830 hrs.. and then came to know that Prasanna ( the IT guy from Mobility Maharashtra, Pune) was planning to go to the MahaLakshmi Temple... and he asked me.. and i was more then happy to say yes !!! he is an IBMer so he can hire a cab from Hertz.. and pay using his AMEX... i do not have that option.. and what did we have for a cab today.. a black Mitsubishi Lancer... i like that car.. its sleek....

so first stop... mahalakshmi temple... drove next to the race course as well... and then walked down to Haji Ali... and saw the sea in the night... scary !!!! it is... really.... second time i saw the sea now... i am not sure what direction i was looking at now...was it the west or the east or what the hell... coz when i went to Gateway of India that day.. the sun was setting opposite to the sea.. and i was totally confused.. it was supposed to set in the sea here !!!! why was it setting ina different direction... a quick look at the map helped me understand how the coast was structured...

phew but trust me i usually good with directions.. but i am taking more time then usual here in mumbai with that... this is not me !!! need to read more...

anyway about today.. MahaLakshmi and then Haji Ali..

the Haji-Ali Dargah...

inside the Dargah !!!

the road next to the sea... B E A U T I F U L

and then what next... one major temple left.. the Sidhdi Vinayak Temple, PrabhaDevi Mumbai !!!! so we head towards that temple...

one of the busy mumbai roads...

all sins taken care of... all Gods happy.. and i am an angel now... with wings.. and i did not even drink Red Bull !!!

one of the roads in worli...

then a great dinner at a restaurant called the Shobha Restaurant in Mahim !!! and a taxi back to the hotel...

now my observations about the city...
~ its fast... no i am not complaining... this is just an observation.... i still walk at my own pace here...
~ its crowded... no matter what time of the day it is.. you will be in the middle of traffic... and a sea of people...
~ it has lots and lots of taxies.... all FIAT... mmmmmmmuah :)
~ you have to be careful before you ask a taxi-wallah to take you anywhere... always walk for a minute or two in the direction you have to go... and then stop a taxi going in that direction... that helps !!! the first thing that the driver would do is turn down the metre.. and go where you has asked him to go.. no arguments nothing.. at the destination he will check the meter tell you the fare.. you give him the fare... greet him.. and smile.. and get out of the cab.. simple... Dilli mein meter and auto.. wishful thinking eh !!! and thrice the amount from the hotel to the office and back was exact 37 bucks.. which means that the meters also work just fine !!!!
~ do not look like a stranger to the city... just be yourself... just look busy and in a hurry...
~ mumbai has a lot of shops.. or probably the route that i take has too many of them. dadar, parel, lower parel... only shops and shops both sides of the road...
~ there is no way that the roads can expand in mumbai.. which means more vehicles are going to add to the length of the jams... and nothing can be done to increase the number of lanes the jam is in...
~ there are very few two wheelers.. i have atleast struggled to find a lot of them... unlike bhopal and delhi.. where there is an equal number of two wheelers as the 4-wheelers... oh.. and bhopal.. definitely twice the number of 2-wheelers then cars etc...


what else...

oh and yes...

i ate the pao bhaji.. good.. but for some reaon was extra red and not because of the chilly.. i guess more tamatar... or tomoto for people who do not understand the hindi...

i ate the vada pao.. i was thinking it would have the vada of idli-vada in it.. but no it was a pao with an aalu bonda in it... now my next question.. what the hell do people call that vada here... then found out.. its called Melu Vada...

ever heard of cutting chai... well i have.. and i saw the term being used today too... maza aaya sunker... "ek cutting chai dena :)" mast ekdum... oh and yes... i saw a lot of people coming to the restaurants having a quick tea and leaving.. good hai.. dilli mein nai hota ye... and guess what they have the tea in a cup and a plate.. the saucer.. and then pour the tea from the cup to the saucer and then drink.. wow... i used to do that in college whenever i could.. and here its done too.. loved that view...

the pic says it all...

i had the kolhapuri veg today.. spicy.. ek dum good...

i have not been able to use the SLR a lot so far in mumbai.. probably tmrw.. sunday.. when i move around the markets checking for stuff i can capture in the cam !!! thanks to my phone.. most of what i am seeing i can capture and its good enough to go on the blog...

will stop now... need to sleep.. with post the post tmrw morning after i reach office.. till then shabba khair.. keep travelling with me.....

iNdOrE 2 UjJaiN 2 MuMbAi !!!

Ok... i am in my room in mumbai right now.. and the time is 1951 hrs... and today is 22nd dec..i think i will be able to post this only tmrw after training.. which means on the 23rd sometime in the day... lemme start from where i left the last post... i am not sure but i guess i wrote it in indore from the office..

ok...

flashback...


office indore... TSD training done and implementation initiation... the first leg of the training over... and i am ill... fever.. and some infection on the face... which means that i should not be going to Ujjain in the night as planned earlier.. i should be seeing a doc and sleeping ... and leave for ujjain as soon as possible in the morning... so i meet a doc after office on 20th evening... he says that the infection is because of cold and that i have a cold bite... which led to all the red marks on the face.. some tabs for cold and some anti-biotics meant that i should be fine in two days... looks like i am... so just ate some idhar udhar ka stuff around instead of a proper meal.. and went to bed.. and what do i see.. AXN is airing Fast and the Furious.. one of the movies i always wanted to watch.. and i sit down to see the movie.. which means that i cannot sleep before 0015 hrs... and what makes anyone in the world think that i will get up by 0300 hrs as i wanted... anyway.. i sleep around 0030 hrs and inspite of the alarms ringing at least 5 times.. and i snoozing it off every single time i did not get up early... i finally woke up at 0700 and rushed out of the hotel... i checked out.. and went to the bus stand in indore... there are regular buses to Ujjain from Indore.. the fare is Rs. 30.. pretty comfortable private buses which have under MPRTC, the Madhya Pradesh Road Transport Corp... the bus would not move at a snail's pace till its full... which means about 45 minutes inside the city itself.. a distance which can be covered in 1 hrs takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to complete... i had to visit the Mahakal Temple in ujjain which meant that I get down on the flyover just before the bus stand... i did... walked down to the mahakal temple... bought some prasadam... and went inside... lovely temple.. and one of the 12 jyotislingas in india... this one is also a Swayambhu Shivling, which means that it appeared on its own.. this jyotirling is also called Dakshineshwar, which means that its facing the South... was fortunate enough to reach when there was a Shringar going on followed by a Mahaarti... if you really want to visit the Mahakal Temple, then the right time is about 0400 hrs when there is Bhasm Aarti being performed... a ritual when the shivling is decorated with human ashes...

inside the Mahakal temple complex in Ujjain...

keep walking...

the pillars in one of the temples in ujjain...

Daal ke bafle ki dukaan.. i had never even heard of this before...

for people who wondered what the cow-dung cakes are used for...

i moved out of the temple in about an hours time.. and then took a local tempo to the bus stand... and then had a light heavy breakfast.. and then took the bus to Indore... was in Indore by 1430 hrs.. which meant that i could leave for Bhopal very much on time.. and i did... took a bus at 1500 hours and reached Bhopal at 2000 hrs... the bus was late by about 30 minutes... took an auto.. reached the same hotel in the new market... kept my bag in the room and rushed out to eat my last bit in bhopal... had pan, had shrikhand, had some kalakand, and some indli wada sambhar... came back to the hotel.... and slept peacefully...

Osho.... there is something about his eyes...

Bhopal.. the Upper Lake... beautiful morning sun...

reached the airport in the morning and as expected the Indian Airlines flight was late... hey but i realised that i was again not travelling by IA.. it was Alliance Air.. what has netconnect done? have they given me all the tickets for the worst airline or what... anyway.. not bad to start with i guess...

Allianz Air again...aaargh !!!

the earth is round for sure... i had to reach that level and know it for sure !!! now i know...

i reached mumbai early afternoon....

round and round...

welcome to the financial capital of India mr. Prashant Bhardwaj... and if you were thinking that the auto-wallas in mumbai are the most honest guys in india.. then wake up.. you are about to be cheated big time... well yes.. this guy wanted to charge 250 bucks for the distance between Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport and Dadar Central... which looked more to me but then i was not sure.. and then he tells me that he cannot go that side of mumbai and that he would drop me at the taxi stand and i could take the taxi.. no need to pay anything to the taxi wala guy as he would pay him the fare.. well obviously he was lying.. i ended up paying 100 more bucks to the taxi wala guy after some argument... i hate it.. i should have talked to both the drivers when i switched vehicles... and this would not have happened... anyway.. i will be careful next time.. coz no one is going to leave any opportunity to overcharge and cheat around here... thanks Mumbai for this warm welcome !!!

anyway i managed to see a completely other side of mumbai as well and that too not in a long time... i will come back to it..

the gateway of india...

i reach the hotel i was to check in.. and what do i find out.. there is no room available.. i am zapped... i had a confirmed booking.. what the fcuk.. called up my friend who had helped me get the room.. she said she will check and call me back.. poor soul.. she must be feeling bad about this... sorry baby... anyway the hotel wala guys gave me a room for a night.. and i rushed out as soon as i kept my bags inside to find a hotel.. after i check out where my office is...

the office is in Lower Parel.. i am in Dadar.. i have to take a western railway and go south... one station after dadar is lower parel... ticket fare - 4 bucks.. long line... loads of people... and no dearth of change with the ticket lady... good... i find out the platform.. its number 2.. the good thing about dadar is that i can take the locals which run on the central line as well as the ones on the western lines... good...

i check out where my office is in Lower Parel.. this is Peninsula Towers, Wing A.. not too far away from the station.. about 5 minutes of walk... chalega.. i can stay put in dadar itself... i come back to Dadar... and this time in a bus.. bright red BEST bus... it drops me at the dadar bus stand.. and i reach my hotel after walking through one of the biggest and busiest flower markets i have seen.. what a pretty smell... ummmmm... lovely... and then the overbridge.. ppl... rush... sun... traffic.. and me... looking around for a place to stay in... after 22nd... phew.. its tough i could not find anything...

and then a message from that darling friend..she wanted me to call her friend in mumbai who had arranged for the room.. i called her up.. she is priya by the way.. sweet voice... she told me the the issue had been sorted out.. and i could stay put at the anand lodge itself.... good.. this is a good place to be in...

so my next smallie trip starts after i know where I am staying.. i have a few hours... and i can see something in mumbai.. what to see? umm... camera is calling me.. do something dude... so i check out the map that i bought a while ago.. checked the train routes.. and decided i would go to Chatrapati Shivali Terminus and from there to the Gateway of India... second exp with the local trains in Mumbai... reach CST in about 20 minutes.. fare again 4 bucks... and then i go out.. and try to find a way to go to the Gateway... i asked his man on the bike about the way.. and he said he will drop me there.. very good.. this is what i was talking about.. the other side of mumbai.. hostipatility.. thank you again.. this guy was a part of the police here.. CID to be precise... and dropped me at the Mumbai Police Headquarters.. and from there I walkdown to the GOI... hmm... ok... nice... looks better in fotos.. nothing great... too crowded... too much too much.. i hate this... and this is where i see the ocean for the first time... the earth really is round... hey.. that reminds me.. today i was able to see how the horizon from my plane window.. white and blue.. B E A U T I F U L...

The Taj ...awesome..

stayed there for a while... and then just walked around.. saw the TAJ Hotel... phew.. huge.. beautiful.. royale... mast ekdum... a walk around the place and then back to the station... this time i thought i will take a bus... and on my way i saw the National Gallery for Modern Art.. thought why not just go in.. and i made one of the best decisions ever by doing this.. the place had on exhibition works of some German Artists.. WOW is the word !!! WOW...

red red bus !!! :) BEST

and then out to the bus stand... lots of BEST buses.. and me not sure which one to take.. so this is what i do.. i take out my handbook again.. and see where can i go.. i cannot find the list of buses that will go to CST so i look for an alternative.. and Churchgate is the alternative... so i take the bus number 122 to Churchgate.. and the fare again 4 bucks.. is that a lucky number with mumbai or what? anyway.. saw the Mumbai Vidhyapeeth and the High court on the way to Churchgate... i am not sure what architecture that is.. but its too beautiful !!! i wish i had a college with such a building.. i want to go there again.. lets see when...

oh.. look.. the bus without a driver !!!

Churchgate Station... 6 bucks this time for Dadar.... fast train... and i reach dadar in about 30 minutes.. eat some light food.. and enter the hotel... just take care of my baggage and all.. and then sit down to write this post down.. long eh... somethoughts that i have about mumbai...

mumbai...
fast... too fast...
delhi is slower.. bhopal was the slowest of them all so far.. and the most relaxing !!!
ok back to mumbai...
everyone is in a rush to reach somewhere...
thousands of people moving around..
crowded...
the gurls are hott.. and lots of them too...
dedicated compartments for ladies in the local trains.. very good !!! helps avoid situations which are not very happy to be in...
i will take time to adjust to the hustle bustle of the city...
i read somewhere that in the peak hours the crowd of the local trains will take you inside the train and take out out of it as well.. and i really experienced that when i was coming back to Dadar from Churchgate...

how could i not click this.. the mumbai local from Churchgate to Dadar !!!

all these names.. dadar, borivalli, churchgate, VT, etc etc used to reach my ears through movies so far... and i was there today.. felt good about that.. felt i have come a long way... and that made me walk slow for some reason.. i do not want to rush ahead in my life.. i want it to move at its own pace.. and i promise to speed up if need be..

thank you life.. thank you God.. i have a lot to be happy about... some to be sad about too.. but more reasons to smile then frown !!!

hey.. just wanted to write down the states and some cities i have been to... feel good factor you see

Delhi
UP
Uttranchal ( Kausani, Bageshwar, Binsar, Patal Bhuvneshwar, Almora, Ram Nagar, Jim Corbett National Park, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Nainital, Chamba, Dhanaulti, Mossourie etc etc)
Himachal Pradesh ( Shimla, Badog, Solan etc etc)
Punjab ( Chandigarh, Amritsar )
Haryana ( Kurukshetra)
Jammu & Kashmir ( Vaishno Devi)
Assam ( Guwahati and Jagi Road)
Shillong
Rajasthan ( Jaipur)
Madhya Pradesh ( Indore, Bhopal and Ujjain)
Maharashtra ( Mumbai)

not too bad a track record eh !!!

and hey can i count the cities i flew over :P :D when i was in the flight !!!

i like this song from Bluff Master... Right Here Right Now... makes me feel like dancing !!! jusst whatt i likke !!!

and the post finally comes to an end at 2057 hrs on the 22nd of Dec.

______________________________________

new day 23-Dec-05 .... starts at 0700 hrs... with a standard alarm.. and one snooze !!!

was thinking of going to the cafe coffee day yesterday evening... but chose not to.. just rested in my room... saw a movie i had recently bought... The Gods must be Crazy Part I ; ekdum masta movie hai....

was in the office by 0900 hrs... and the training started around 1015 hrs... now a break...

phew mumbai traffic in the morning... Delhi i feel is better.. i don't think anyone can drive for pleasure here... its just to reach from here to there.. and back... everyone is moving.. going somewhere... I hope they find what they are looking for...

BhOpaL 2 iNdOrE !!!!

Indore... supposed to be the business capital of Madhya Pradesh... this is where I am today...

curtains in the room in Bhopal...

left office around 1700 hours yesterday... and collected my bag and rushed to the bus stand... so this helps me see the other side of Bhopal.. the crowded, with bad roads, and irritating traffic... and i realise that no city is india is different from any other city...

the nicely decorated meter in an auto in bhopal

i was feeling as if i was moving around in the Transport nagar near the sadar bazaar in delhi.. what traffic man !!! uff... the auto walas drive the same way as in delhi.... zig zag zoom...

so i reach the bus stand in 30 minutes... and i love it.. this was the core city.. lots of loud people trying to pull passengers to their buses... lots of mess !!! :)

Bhopal Bus stand...ekdum mast !!!

just what I was missing for a few days !!! i chose to just walk around the place for a while before I take a bus... so i just walk around.. feeling at home.. and at the other exit of the bus stand i see an AC coach.. looking just like a volvo...

love this feeling.. i know i can reach indore comfortably now... so i take the bus... nice big bus.. bigg seats... and comfortable too.. and to top it all.. Video Coach.. and AV... looks like i would be just fine...

the bus did not take long to move.. just about 10 minutes and it was on its way to Indore.. Around 1800 is when the bus started...

just outside the bus-stand.. about to take the highway to Indore...

it just had one break in between around 1930 hrs... and reached Indore at 2145 hrs... this is when the conductor also had promised.. the bus on time.. and the movies played on the way... SuryaVansham.. and No Entry.. not bad eh !!! but too loud !!! however i was tired and i could sleep as well for a while.. missed a few phone calls too on the way !!!

so in Indore... and the first impression... nothing great.. just like any other city i have been to.. but there was on thing that i noticed.. the Autos in bhopal were hell lot better... and this time i was looking at old autos.. real old ones... the ones with the engines in the front !!! i get down of the bus.. and pay 20 bucks to reach the hotel... Hotel RajShahi... nice very nice... one of the best that i have stayed in so far...

i sleep after a light dinner.. and when i woke up in the morning i had fever... took some breakfast and then a crocin.. feeling better while i am writing this... i also have something on my face.. kuch gadbad lag rahi hai.. i think i will see a doc in the evening..

i was checking out in the morning... when Abhishek who arranged for my stay suggested that i stay put in the hotel and leave for ujjain in the morning only.. which made sense looking at my halat in the morning.. so i did not check out... my bags are there itself.. and i will leave for Ujjain tmrw morning.. early morning around 0500 hrs...

i will get back to work now.. getting the implementation done here in Indore today.. might meet Pawan as well in the evening... he does not meet me when he is in Delhi.. i might meet him when i am in Indore...

bHoPaL !!!

so finally after thee days i get a chance to do some local sightseeing...

being a sunday most of the ppl who attended the training were not really keen on staying for the whole 8 hours... so we did some good case studies and were free by 1500 hrs... i was tired after 3 days of hectic schedule.. and just wanted to sleep.. but then i have to go to Indore tonight for implementation and then go ujjain and then come back to Bhopal and then take a flight to Mumbai.. hectic eh !!!

anyway... autos in Bhopal are awefully expensive... almost 8 bucks per km.. and trust me bargaining does not help.. they probably run at this rate only... delhi suddenly looked better in terms of autos.. but then there is one thing which i really liked... the autos have been kept very well... nicely painted... with plush seats.. a lot of them have decorated them very beautifully... i like it...

did not see a lot of clinics around.. but saw a lot of ayurvedic centres.. looks like this city is more about the age old genuine therapies... good again !!! so back to the hotel around 1530 and very tired... just packed my stuff for indore and then moved out with my cam...

wanted to go to the bus stand to find out about the bus to indore... and managed to get all the information from an auto-walah itself... went to the bank and then to the Bhopal Jheel... or the Bhopal Lake or the Upper Lake also called the Bada Talaab !!! very nice place.. and huge.. HUGE... really... could see the other side of it from one angle.. wow !!!

and lotsa boats in in... paddle boats... rowing boats... speed boats... kayaks... very nice.. and the membership to the water sports club is very economical too... was just wondering how would it feel to actually stay back for a few months here.. and just spend time there... either learning how to row.. or doing something or the other.. there were so many soo many ducks are there too...

Just near the lake are two more places which were of interest to me but i did not have time to visit them.. one is the Van Vihar ( the Zoo) which is spread over 445 hectares of land near the upper lake and Bharat Bhawan which is supposed to be a centre of Performing and Visual Arts... has a museum as well.. the place looked nice.. but i had to rush to the Airport to meet boss... so i left in a hurry after spending about and hour and a half at the lake..

sunset at the upper lake

the evening spent with boss... walked around a place called Bhopal Haat where the Saras Mela was there.. nice place.. and then came to new market.. just roamed around for a while.. and then back to the hotel after dinner !!! so all in all a nice evening...

Bhopal looks like a nice city to me.. very calm.. green... and with goood roads...

am in the office now... will work till around 1700 hrs and then rush for indore... from there to ujjain tomorrow night.. and then come back to bhopal by wednesday night.. and catch a flight to mumbai....

its been nice so far... hoping for the best ahead....

OuTtA DeLhi !!! iN BhoPaL !!!

ok... i am in bhopal now... and here is the flashback for yesterday...

1130 hrs i get a call from netconnect that my tickets have arrived.. and i can go to pick them up.. the flight was at 1645 hrs so i though tushar bhai would drop me to to GK and then i will take an auto from there and go to the hawai-adda to catch my plane...

i am sure its a pain to find out what platform the plane is leaving from when you have so many airlines in play... was wondering if the pilots also have the word pilot written on the door of the cockpit ... like the bus drivers used to have PILOT written on the door of the buses...

wondering why they call a cockpit a cockpit? hehehe.. anyway...

so i leave home around 1315 hrs.. after packing my stuff and eating my food.. and saying ta tu to my parents.. who looked fine with me going out for a month.. but i could feel mom was kinda not comfortable about her boy being outta home for that long... i hope she is just fine now.. she called me in the morning as well... and i think that must have made her feel better...

tushar cheated for me.. he just swiped his card on his office door and did not go in.. coz he had to drop me to the netconnect office... thanks d00d.. your name goes in the red history book of mine for being the guy who was with me when i got my first flight tickets...

ok.. i reach netconnect.. and i get a call from banglore office of netconnect.. to tell me that the flight was delayed... woops... i was warned of this by amit... be prepared for delays if you are travelling with IA.... well it happened to start the trip itself !!! never mind..

aro come over to the airport to see me off.. and was there till 1700 hrs and that is when i entered the airport to take the bus to bhopal.... oops. the flight... still not used to writing that word !!!

the auto-wala dropped me outside a place with a huge board which said... Indira Gandhi International Airport... i was wondering how come domestic flights take off from an international airport.. probably the board was never taken off... anyway...

aro comes after a while.. and says that he does not think i am at the right place to take my flight.. it was terminal 1-B and then we checked.. ok.... he checked.. and we found out that i had to go to terminal 1-A to take the plight.. oops the flight !!!

we walk down to the 1-A.. talking loud as always... and had much to talk about.. richa called.. and it was fun talking to her too... being with aro is in anycase one of the nicer things i do to myself... he is a gem of a friend...

and i met vandy... a hott girl who was in my college.. she was as pretty as she used to be... i think she had a tough time remembering my name... neva mind.. beautiful girls at times are short on memory and skirts.. hehehe.... anyway...

i saw Raju Srivastava.... and i saw Manasi Scott... for ppl who do not know them neva mind... and fyi... raju is a stand up comedian... and is regular with the great indian laughter champions.. and manasi scott is a singer with one solo album to her name.. she sings very well.. but the album did not do pretty well.. i think she should sing more in english.. she is good at it...

ok.. inside the airport now.. ta ta bye bye to friends... and me on my own... i asked the guard to find out where to go.. and he directed me to an xray machine.. i put my baggage on a belt.. and its scanned and then tied up... so that no one can open it... ok good.. what next...

go to one of the 37 counters of IA in the airport.. hey but only 6 are functional... IA is it.. yes... neva mind... wait of about 20 minutes.. and they weigh the baggage.. and mark it.. and put it on another belt which would take it to the plane...

i keep my laptop with me only.. and put a IA cabin baggage tag on it... self service very nice.. i also ask the guy to gimme a window seat.. and he gives me a 9F... window it is... in front of the emergency exit.. so i can see the wing too.. mast view... small windows.. very very very small.. and cramped leg room... volvo is better.. sach mein..

the flight is delayed.. and the plight is delayed... i am tired and hungry... and finally take the bus to bhopal.. oops the plane at 1845 hrs.... and then the place takes off.. what a feel... i could feel that accelaration on that seat.. wow.... thrilling... and then suddenly it takes of.. and then i see so many small lights... moving and still.. and delhi suddenly looks beautiful.. the best that i know so far... lovely.. and then after a while its too high and its too dark to see outside... the plane continues changing heights.. and gives that feel of being in a giant wheel... some toffees, a apple juice and a refreshing snack later... i am looking at bhopal from a high now.. quick it was... and then the plane deaccelerates.. breaks hard.. oops.. it felt as if its gonna stop right in the middle of the air... but it did not.. i guess the momentum was too much for it to stop.. so it kept moving ahead.. and then went low.. and then lower.. and then lower.. and then suddenly a loud boom... lotsa vibrations in the plane... and we are safely on the runway... phew.. it was good... i liked it for the first time atleast... thrill again...

it suddenly took a u turn.. and then moved to the platform quickly... out of the plane.. nice weather..... costly auto... hotel.. room nice.. blah... dinner.. blah.....a few phone calls.. blah... sleep..blah... morning... nice huge glass window in the room... good view outside.. blah... chilly morning.. blah... 5 minute walk to the office.. blah.... long training day...blah.... bad throat used to the limit.. blah... pain in the throat as of now.. blah... and the end of this post... phew...


this is what has happened... i wanted to go to the bhopal jheel today.. dun't think can make it.. so will just pick up the cam and the tripod and roam around in the new market where my hotel is...

ta tu blog.. ta tu friends... will write more.. and hey.. here is the ticket fotos.. my first flight tickets.. and tushar's thumb !!!!

YoOn Hi ChaLa ChaL RaAHi !!!

my last night in noida in 2005... loong work trip ahead of me for the next one month !!!

i am off to Bhopal tmrw evening.. and then to mumbai.. and then to chennai... and then to banglore.. and then to kolkata...

and back home.. on the 15th of Jan morning...

long time eh...

looking forward to a lot of learning on this trip !!! Thank you God for making this possible...

am excited... and thoda sa nervous too...

DaRk

is



COLD...

sCaReD !!!

Channel: star world
Program: Miss World 2005

what do i see...
about 25 Chinese women dancing on the stage in a beautifully choreographed performance...

and what do i think...

what if these were not Chinese women, but a group of Indian dancers, doing Kathak or Bharatnatyam or Kuchipudi or something else...


and then i felt sad very sad about the fact that Indian art forms are vanishing with every passing second... every second we have more people who are dancing on the remixes, and copying every possible movement of the body they can from outside Indiyaah !!! but then are we doing at the cost of our original art forms...

i see more people inclined towards the guitar, the keyboards, the drums and more... but then what happens to the harmonium, the dholak, the tabla, the sitar, the mridang !!!

i cannot write how scared i am with the thought of that day when no one would know what a sitar is... when the only place to find a tabla would be a museum.. when i can see the Kathak only on old CDs...

:(

NoW WhAt !!!

1) Statement number 2 is true...
2) Statement number 1 is false...


:D
:)

i'Ve BeEn TaGgEd !!!

Richa tagged me.. and then called me up to tell me that she tagged me.. and now i have to make this post...

5 somethings....

5 things i just loooove to eat:

# Noodles
# Sweet and Sour Veg
# Rajma Chawal or Kadi Chawal
# Any Mithai
# South Indian Food


5 Hindi songs i like:

# Liye Sapne Nigahon mein, Chala hoon teri raahon mein... Zindagi aa raha hoon main...
# Pyaar Hamein kis mode pe le aaya... ke dil kare haye.. koi ye bataye.. kya hoga...
# Hum bekhudi mein tumko pukare chale gaye....
# Phoolon ke rang se.. dil ki kalam se.. tujhko likhi roz paati...
# and loads and loads of them... would do total injustice to my love for hindi oldies if i limit it to five songs...


5 English songs i like:

# I beleive i can fly - R Kelly
# Summer of 69 - Bryan Adams
# I want to be your underwear - Bryan Adams
# All Star - Smashmouth
# and tons of more songs...


5 things i hate:

# Double Standards
# Arrogance
# Stupidity
# The Kapoor Sisters Lelo and Bebo.. or is it Lolo and Bebo... for the people with low GK.. Karishma and Kareena Kapoor
# Assholotic Drivers on the roads of Delhi...


5 things i want to see:

# the jungles of South Africa
# Pyramids in Egypt
# The great wall of China from the space ( i heard that its the only man made architecture which you can see from space)
# Sunrise in Kausani on a bright clear day ( I have been to kausani twice and could not see it both times)
# again... my thoughts are not limited by the maximum entries i can put in this post.. so not closing this part too...


5 things i like about/in women:

# brains especially when they come in a surprise package with beauty...
# long hair and expressive eyes
# the smile when you least expected it and wanted it like anything...
# dusky skin tone
# the you make me complete look


5 Characters from TV that i like:

# Raymond from Everybody loves Raymond ( hey richa... common thingie here)
# Joey from FRIENDS ( how you doin')
# Ehsaan Qureshi from The Great Indian Laughter Champions
# Caroline from the Caroline in the City
# Monisha from Sarabhai vs Sarabhai (Another Common eh !!!)


5 Pastimes:

# Inter -the best way to kill time - net
# T - another time killer - V
# Conversations
# Silence
# MeuZik

i am not tagging anyone.. coz i am not sure if anyone would do this !!! so if you like it, do make a post on your page with this info.. if you don't want.. no issues...

I hereby TAG everyone who is reading this !!!

n0 cLiCkS !!!!

check this site out... wonderful !!!!

http://www.dontclick.it/

aArRgH !!!

there was a concern about how a certain situation is be to handled after we start using the tool that i am training ppl on...

the person who was asked this question did not know the answer...

he comes to me and asks me if i have an answer... fortunately i had the answer... and a valid one too.. he asks me to put it on an email and send it to him.... i do that...

next i have to go to his workstation for something.. and i see him copying and pasting my note to a new email and send it across to everyone concerned.... no mention of who actually gave the answer..

so much for working hard and knowing the right answers...
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GhOr KaLyUg !!!

Satyug
Tretayug
Dwaparyug
Kalyug

This is how the time is divided.. why am i talking about this.. well because shilpa and me were talking about a line which is used a lot these days...

"Kya Jamana Aa Gaya Hai... Ghor Kalyug..."

and i was talking about what all is captured in MMS these days... Shilpa incidently is working on some MIS for MMS in bharti.. and this is how the conversation started...


MeE !!! - how is work these days..
ma friend - gud and challenging ..
ma friend - :)
MeE !!! - what is it that you are doing now?
ma friend - MIS for MMS
MeE !!! - MMS
MeE !!! - hmm..
MeE !!! - MIS
MeE !!! - hmm...
MeE !!! - hmm..
ma friend - yup :)
MeE !!! - interesting..
MeE !!! - do you get to see all the MMS as well
MeE !!! - ;)
ma friend - lol@the series of hmmm..s
MeE !!! - :D
ma friend - lol@see all mms
ma friend - nopes
MeE !!! - :(
MeE !!! - ye to nainsaafi hai
ma friend - gud one doesnt get to see all dat..
MeE !!! - if you do not see the mms how can you have the mis taken care of..
ma friend - ;-)
MeE !!! - ;)
ma friend - oh mahn!!
ma friend - aap to kaafi khatarnaak baatein karte hain..
ma friend - ;-)
MeE !!! - main to sirf baatein hi karta hoon..
MeE !!! - log to pata nai kya kya karte hain..
MeE !!! - :P
ma friend - lol
ma friend - ghor kalyug aa gaya hai
MeE !!! - haan..
ma friend - ram ram

And my response was this...

MeE !!! (2:45 PM) - pata nai meri kismat satyug mein kya kar rahi hai abhi tak lekin
MeE !!! (2:45 PM) - :'(

so my dears.. ladis.. and gentel mans...this is abouts my kismats in this kalyugs.... the times has changeds... buts my times stills remains withs the olds yugs... aarghs...


p.s. the above conversation obviously has been edited... to keep a few things secret ;)

My MiNd ShOuLd WoRk LiKe My BoDy DoEs !!!

my mind should work like a body does...

i cannot beleive how this thought came to my mind... i was talking to richa when i told her what i am going to write here... and what was i talking about at that point of time... SHIT... so shit leads to good thoughts too.. here is how...

to keep a body alive ...eat.....
to keep a mind alive...communicate

your body... takes the best out of the food and leaves the rest... which goes out of a human body as shit...
your mind... takes whatever thoughts that come to you, whatever conversations i am a part of...

and what should it do.. it should just keep the best of that lot with itself.. and use that to enrich itself.. and just throw away the crap and the unusable shit !!!

my mind should work like a body does...

So MaNy FiRsTs !!!

aaj socha ke upar waale se poochun
ke mujhe itna kyon sata raha hai tu....
aur tabhi teri aawaz ne kaano par dastak di
ab kya sawal aur kya gam...

i am getting better with my poetry :D now i can write something once every 4 months :) hehehe.. very good prashant.. keep it up...

i was thinking about a few things which have not happened to me so far in my life... and now they are going to happen or are happening...

1. i have never been inside an airport - i get to be inside the airports in 5 cities of india next month...
2. i have never been close to an aeroplane or sit inside it - i get to fly for the entire business trip... delhi to kolkata to bhopal to mumbai to chennai to banglore ( by road) to delhi...
3. i have never seen the sea - i get to go to both the west coast and the east coast of india.. see the sunset in mumbai.. and a sunrise in chennai.. and maybe pondichery too..
4. i have never been outside my house for more then a week - i am going away from my house for a month now
5. i have broken all records of staying in the office.. for the last two months i am spending an average of 11 hrs in the office...


masta life hai !!! God bless me.. and gimme a lot of strength :)

and a girlfriend too ;) bong babe... or some from soorma bhopali's familiy...or a mumbai magic woman.... i am not really sure about banglore bombs and chennai chicks... hehehe.. they seem to be the names of some hockey teams from these cities :P

oh.. and burfi wrote a post about better gurls a few days back... i have a very very similar story... and here is the line that i use for myself...

All the Good Gurls are taken... and the bad ones do not find me good enuff ;)
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MoRe jUst LiKe ThAt !!!

Umre Daraaz maang ke laye chaar din...
Do aarzoo mein kat gaye.. do intezaar mein !!!

this is going to be one long post...

not being able to write for so long.... has made me miss some of the important things that i wanted to put down on the blog.. and i am not even sure if i can remember all of them...

anyway... i have too much of work load these days... but then i am not complaining.. somewhere deep inside me i am just sad.. that if i am so much capable of taking the kinda responsibilities given to me.. why can't someone in IBM realise this.. can get me onboard !!! i want to give this project my best shot.. and then go ahead full blast on a job search... this time into core consultancy...

what takes up most of my time these days is preparing the training material for a india wide tool implementation and training... the best thing about this project is that i am getting to travel to places i have never been to...

i am leaving delhi on the 8th of December for kolkata.. will stay there for 5 days.. and then move to bhopal for another 5 days before going to Mumbai and Banglore.. i am also planning to meet up with Deepak.. and catch up with him on the new years.. hope he would not mind.. though i am not sure if i am screwing up any of his plans which he must have made !!!!

i would be out of home for over a month.. the longest so far in my life.. its going to be tough.. its going to be exciting.. its going to give me a lot of time with myself.. and probably rediscover myself... lets see how it goes !!!!

and today was supposed to be the last sunday of 2005 when i am not working.. on the contrary.. i have been working for about 4 hours now :( i am already tired !!!! how am i gonna work all the next weekends :( lets see... i have a point to prove here to myself.. and i cannot let myself down !!!

some of the other interesting things that have happened in the last few days...

Amit got married.. my manager in Hughes.. and his marriage function looked like a HSS Reunion.. and i am going to another marriages today.. Nishant. one of the best managers one can ask for... and he is getting married to his long time sweetheart Ruchika, who used to be a part of Hughes as well... God bless him.. and Ruchika... they make a great couple.. and the way Nishant handled the entire relationship thingie in office was amazing.. just another act to display the kinda grey matter he has.. so another HSSBPO reunion tonight...

Rupak is also getitng married tonight... he was the one who was totally against marriage.... and we came to know about his thoughts last year when me waquar saxena and rupak went to bhimtal.... and look at how things move.. he is getting married... God bless him and his wonderful better half too...


I have been talking about legalisation of prostitution and how and why we would or not accept someone who sells her/his body as a part of our lives... i will write about that later.. i am not really in a position to gather all my thoughts about that right now...

Met Narang somedays back.. on the 22nd to be precise.. its such a pleasure to meet... one helluva friend i have.. God bless you buddy.. love you...

Aro se bhi mila.. and it was as good as always to meet up with him... i can laugh my heart out when i meet this guy !!! i am going to meet his parents when i go to Kolkata.. apprently i do not need any introduction when i meet his folks.. they know me well through him though i have not met them ever...

what else has been happening.. nothing much actually...

i am still with the thought of a look makeover... have been switching between french cut beard.. a li'il bit of beard.. Nishant has specifically asked me to be clean shaven today or not come to the wedding...so... i guess.. i am going to look at myself clean shaved after quiet sometime today :)

what else... cannot think of anything..

just need to rush to the market to get a tie for myself !!! tmrw is my training pilot.. wish me luck !!!

i WaS ThiNkiNg !!!!

kitne ajeeb rishte hain yahan pe...
do pal milte hain...
saath saath chalte hain..
jab mod aaye to bach ke nikalte hain...

kitne ajeeb rishte hain yahan pe...


Raina had this song in one of her posts sometime back !!!!

somehow this song makes so much sense... relations indeed are kinda strange... we meet people who are strangers... and become the best of friends... and then we have ppl who used be our closest pals.. and distances come in between from God knows where...

are these things controllable... yes to an extent... there is a lot that i can do to keep my pals with me.... oh.. let me correct myself... i can do a lot to keep myself close to my pals...

but then what happens when they do not make an effort...

anyway.. that is a rotten topic and i really am not in a mood to write more about that...

what i really wanted to write today.. was about new relationships that bring magic to your life... new people.. new smiles... new days... new evenings... :) does it look like i am in love... hehehe.. it might feel that way.. but i am not...

i am outside love & relationships....and am trying to look at it from a outside world !!! Sunil got married yesterday, and we had a looong talk day before about how he was feeling about everything.. he was very very relaxed... and was very very happy too... and then he had so many reasons to be happy... and it felt really good to see someone who once used to study with me start another life !!!! and also be a part of one more life... ankita his wife (now) is a very lucky girl... Sunil is a mature guy.. and he understands how difficult it is for some girl to leave her house and start staying with ppl who are unknown !!!! and that too with a feeling that she would be judged almost with everything that she does... everything that she is going to do.. the minutest of the things would create an impression... how she walks in the house.. how she talks on the phone.. how is greets her new parents... everything... i think its very very tough !!!! just too tough for a human to think about !!! and so many of them go through it and a good percentage of it comes out of it happy !!!! God bless them !!!!

There is such a huge amount of responsibility that sunil and his wife are going to share now... a life that starts new !!! a life that needs them to be together come whatever may.. a life that promises to bring happiness... and with a condition... that they give each other space to breath... that they let each other speak their heart out... that they respect each other and the people they are and were associated with.. family friends relatives and wat not !!!!

at the end of the day they have to make sure that the other person looks forward to even one minute of time spent together !!! God bless you Sunil God bless Ankita !!! i hope they and all the couples in this world stay happy !!!!

and the good/bad girls who are still single.. and ready to mingle (please do NOT read "get married" ) send a message to me ;)

JiM CoRbEtt NaTiOnAL PaRk !!!

phone calls and sms.. they really give you what you want sometimes...

i got one sms last week.. i guess on thursday.. here is what i it said...

going to jim corbett.. kharcha approx 2400 bucks... leaving saturday...

and my reply which never went out of my cell.. i hate to type sms... was OK... however i made a call later and confirmed my presence for the trip...

the plan was to leave delhi on saturday early morning.. and be back by sunday evening.. it was going to be a quick getaway.. but then with the kinda guy i am.. anything outside this concrete jungle is fine with me... so i happily agreed.. even though i am running very very tight on cash... and Aro has helped me by letting me pay only 2000 bucks as of now.. and pay the rest when i want to... he will take care of my share as of now..

could not pack my stuff on friday because of a photo shoot late night... so came back around 0100 hrs.. and slept... i was really too tired to go ahead and pack my clothes.. thought will do it in the morning only...
Saturday... 0630 hours..

the murga on my cell phone starts screaming.. and i without wasting any time get up to get ready for my first visit to the well known JIM Corbett National Park !!!

i just fill my bag with one t-shirt, a pair of tracks.. one jacket and a shawl... that looked good enough... oh.. and not to forget my camera... 4 rolls.. and the tripod !!!!

left house at 0745 hrs to meet up the guys at Akshardham Flyover around 0800.. these guys were late and managed to pik me up at 0830 hrs only.... it was one of those cute Tempo Travellers that Aro had hired for this trip.. had seen a lot of them on my way to the Valley of Flowers.. guess a lot of sardars travel in these.. and call it coincidence... our driver was a Sardarji too... so a quick Sat Sri Akal... a brief round of into with Aro's team... i only knew Ruchi and Sanjit... and had heard about Indranil... rest were new to me.. and i was new to them... lemme recall their names.. i was too caught up with myself in the next two days to remember any names... i think we had Shilpi, Priya, Adeesha and Ruchi with Sunny, IG, Harshit, Sanjit Aro.... i am missing out on one name here... and i think i do not remember one or two names correctly as well... anyway... so the bus.. or the tempo kept moving slowly towards our desitnation...

the tempo traveller...

i was already bored because of the slow speed.. this was the same road that let me drive at a constant 90 kmph..and i was sitting right behind the driver causing more irritation when he was driving at 70 kmph... bigger vehicles seem to be running slowly then they really are as well..

we took the morabadab bypass and crossed it before we turned left towards the corbett which was still 95 kms away !!!

the road so far was just fine.. and from now it was going to get bad to worse.. kashipur had a diversion.. and it took us atleast an hour to get out of that town... we finally reached ramnagar... and asked for our resort which was the Corbett Nature Camp... about 10 kms from RamNagar we reached the camp around 1600 hrs... nice camp with cottages trying to look like huts... amongst the thick mango trees.. gave it a different look.. however i personally do not like places where they have to make a cottage look like a village... i have stayed in such huts real ones.. and i know how different it is from the artificial ones !!!

our camp... The Corbett Nature Camp

anyway... we kept our stuff in our respective cottages.. and what do i hear next... some loud music... phew... where the hell was that coming from.. and i soon found out that the kids there brought a speaker set complete with a sub-woofer with them !!! phew.. kids i tell you... i was out there looking for peace.. and it looked like i was not going to get it.. but then these were sensible kids and did not have the music very loud...

near the camp...

i was carrying only one extra pair of clothes.. so i just washed my face.. or maybe i did not.. and just grabbed the camera and went to the river side... there is this charm of being next to a river... lovely 1!! same feeling that i get near ganges in rishikesh.. just that this river was kinda small in comparison.. very small infact...

the river kosi...

the sun setting over the Jim Corbett Park

took some fotos... checked out the place around... decided that we have to cross the river on foot tmrw... and came back...had some snacks.. and just walked around... soon it was time for the bon fire... enjoyed it big time.. with antakshri being played between the girl and the boy teams...

the team enjoying the fire...

fire fire burning bright...

i was given the task of capturing that on tape... with a handycam coz i was not singing... lovely competition... and some realy good moments.. such things make trips memorable...

just walking around...

had a nice dinner around 2030 hours and rushed to sleep....
our camp guy told us that we better be ready by 0430 hours if we wanted to enter the jungle at all... there was a huge rush of visitors thanks tothe weekend... i was not really taking the seriously but then getting up early was not a problem.. in anycase i prefer to sleep a li'il less on my trips... so after some talks with aro.. i slept... to wake up early morning !!!

Sunday 0345 hrs....

the murga again started screaming.. and i got up.. got fresh... i was sleepy yes... and theni heard some noises... and guess was everyone was awake... strange... looks like everyone was excited about the safari.. very very interesting !!!

woko aro up... his phone's alarm also rang.. some irritating alarm that is i tell you... we were all ready by 0430 to go to the safari.... the gypsys were already there... and when were moved towards the entrance that is when i realised how serious the camp coordinator was...
we overtook atleart 4 jeeps.. and were pushed behind by 3 of them... it was more of a race that these jeeps were involved in... why.. lemme tell you...

Ram-Nagar gate... only 30 jeeps allowed in the morning... 15 of them get the booking atleast a month in advance...the rest 15 get the numbers by standing atthe gate at 0100 hrs...
Jhirna... first 30 jeeps allowed inside the jungle... first come first serve basis... and this is the gate that we had to reach... our driver shakeel was good.. and we were the 4th jeep !!!

the sun rising over Ram-nagar

a wait of about 80 minutes... me realising that i was hungry... and that i had to take lotsa snaps.... and that i was at the gate of a great place.... the gates opened... the registration was done by the driver... so no hassles there... as soon as we entered we stood up on our seats so that we do not miss anything...

outside the Jhirna Gate

and were lucky... ya seriously...
just 10 minutes into the safari.. and we spot a huge deer... with biiiiiiiiig horns... and one of the girls in the jeep got too excited... and started shouting... deer deer deer.. i guess that frightened the hell out of that lovely fella.. and he ran back into the bushes...

and that is where our luck came to an end...
i do not actually mind that now.. coz i think there was some aura in that jungle that did not make me miss the animals much... i was spellbound by the beauty of the entire place....

hey but wait.. there was a tiger around...

Shakeel, our driver... suddenly stopped and said that he heard a call... stupid me.. i thought he was talking about a mating call of some deers... turned out that it was the alarm call of deers when they see a tiger.... we took a u turn.. and waiting silently and patiently around the place where the call was coming from... the noises kept getting louder... we heard the deers, the monkeys.. and birds... but did not see the tiger.. neva mind.. the excitement of getting to see one was good enough !!!

waiting for the tiger....after we heard the calls..

the safari continued for another 2.5 hours... and i enjoyed it big time... i love that jungle !!!

back to the camp around 1000 hrs... me and aro had a quick breakfast... and then we moved towards the river.. this time to cross it somehow... we had to walk about 800 metres upstream to find a suitable place to cross it... and when we were both in the middle of the river.. we noticed some village women crossing it from a few metres further upstream with ease.. while we were struggling to keep our balance in place with the camera and tripod with us.. and the shoes hanging over our necks !!! adding more to the embarrassment.. two kids crossed the river in 5 minutes flat when we were about to reach the other side.. and that too in water that was just knee deep... uff !!! what idiots we were.... waist deep in water... lost balance several times.. barely saved ourself from falling inside the water... or call it an adventure... whatever :D

aro... showing me how nicely the women crossed the river...and from where !!!

now we walked downstream again.. to reach the huge stone that aro wanted to sit on... and that meant walking through the water again.. though i was not too keen to do that... but thanks to Aro's will i managed to cross half the river again.. and this time it was pretty easy... and reach that stone.. what a feeling.. accompalishment !!!!

the stone we wanted to reach...

we were Gods :D

and we did...

anyway... we stayed there on the stone.. for about 15 minutes... before we started back to the other side... walk up 800 metres... and this time cross the river in a better and more balanced way... and then walk 800 metres downstream and then climb up to reach the camp !!! done... back at the camp !!! smart guys with wet pants....

had lunch !!! and moved out of the camp around 1400 hrs... we headed straight to the corbett falls.. about 33 kms away... and then had to move to delhi via bajpur, rudrapur moradabad..... Corbett falls was beaituful.. nice li'il waterfall in the middle of nowhere !!!! loved that place... we moved out of there before it was stormed by a group of kids... from some school in ramnagar...

Corbett Falls... about 23 kms away from Ram-Nagar

the journey back home started around 1730 hours... and i reached home at 0130 hrs.. we took two breaks in between.. one in bajpur... and one to have our dinner @ gajraula !!!

lovely trip this was.... i think i have covered mostof the exciting places around delhi with this trip of mine.... where do i go next !!!

Jodhpur? Lanesdown? Dharamshala? Mandi? Tehri?

lets see.... May God be with us !!!!

oh.. and if you want to check out more fotos... check out the flickr badge on the left for JiM CorBett !!! hope you like the fotos !!!

jUst LiKe ThAt !!!

Life is strange..

and stranger is the way you change you look at it from every milestone that you reach in your life...

when you are 21 you feel that ppl who are 27 boring.. and should settle down and not interfere or give GYAN on what you should be doing and what you should not.. you wonder why most of them are so serious.. when its time to play...

and when you are 27 you find it hard to understand why someone who is 21 has to talk all the time.. why can't you just think and ponder over what you want to do in your life for a moment... why can't you have your own goals in life clear....

i think we forget that we were also 21 sometime back...

i know when i was still in college, i was of the most stupid ppl around.. i did not have a clue about the industry.. what i wanted to do in my life.. except that i wanted a job in the software field... and do what? no, i did not know that either... strange !!! and today i wonder why these young adults cannot act more responsibly and learn from what ppl a li'il older have been through...

anyway.. i have grown with time.. and i am sure most of them would also live and learn to be where they should be with age... but then.. you do not have any control on growing old.. but definitely growing up is a something that happens because of yourself....

another thought that has been coming to my mind for the last few days...

what is attractive?
yes i am talking about myself and what i feel attractive in the opposite sex...

looks.. yes... but offlate i have seen myself getting attracted towards the nicer looking dames... but not really being keen to talk to them...

but then girls who i feel can talk.. and i can get into conversations with, i find that they are far more attractive then any beauty queen !!! the intelligence that some of them have gives then far more charm then a hourglass figure would !!!

ODM ChApTeR - III (ReViSiTeD)