OrKuT MeEtS AgAiN - ChApTeR IV

for me the day started kinda early.. had to finish some important work before i could rush to meet up with Jassi and Deepak for a pre-ODM do @ the Gali Paranthe Wali !!!

and i was late... reached around 1120 hrs... and then found out where they were.. and then met Richa... and then met Jassi and Deepak... and then Sayantani called... or i guess Deepak called her to find out where she was... and we were to wait for another 10 minutes so that she could join us for the bruch in the walled city !!!

there she was... as expected in front of a book stall.... a small hellos with everyone.. and then we moved to the State of the Art... Rajiv Chawk Metro Station... three levels... two lines... Dwarka/BaraKhamba and CS-DU line... we had two smart people with smart cards... Jassi Praji... and Richa ji... so we bought three tokens.. and reached Chandni Chowk pretty quick... enjoying the feel of the metro !!!

This is where i was thinking about the Kolkata Metro and the Mumbai Locals... phew... look at this and then think about them.. there is a difference.. as of now.. this is way way ahead of both of them !!!

out of the metro station.. and to the Chandni Chowk Market... bought a few rollls for myself.. and then a sun cap for the lens... and two Batteries for the camera !!!

a walk towards the Gali Paranthe wali, asking Richa to buy those dresses with the mirros in them.. and she agreeing to buy them and wearing them on her Farewell... a small visit to the Gurudwara ( my first in all the visits so far.. thanks Jassi)... a small talk about how in some places the shoes are kept in bags and not touched... a quick decision to decide where to eat out of the three places left.... followed !!!

and here is a list of what all we ate...

• Aalu Parantha
• Matar Parantha
• Paneer Parantha
• Khurchan Parantha
• Kela Parantha, and
  
• Lassi yummmm ( though i feel it could have been much thicker... it was the last time)

Richa was not too keen to eat there and wanted to share my paranthas with me.. but the brave gurl took a brave step and ate two paranthas on her own... after some loud suggestions by the person taking care of the famous five there !!! he also gave us all a few names... well.. not all actually...

Richa was the Choti Maidam.. and he pulled her leg ekdum maje mein...
Sayantani was the Badi Maidam...
Jassi Praji was the Babe Babu... and
Deepak bhai was the Chota Babu... and for me he could not think of anything... though he mentioned that i was just like him... well i take it as a compliment !!! he was a total entertainment... and i would love to make people smile the way he did...

i was wondering.. what if the fake smiles from the people across the counter from the new age cafe's and the McDonalds and the Pizza huts are removed.. and such smiles and conversation added to the modern day food joints would make life so much better to live !!!

well to start with my coffeee shop is going to have people who enjoy being there.. and not work work there only only !!!

what next... Aseem was there... and we were late... and not worried...
Aseem has always been on time.. and has been a part of all the ODMs so far.. like me and Bhaskar... Jassi as well gave a guest Appearance in the Chapter - III before he had to rush !!!

so we reach CCD CP... and Aseem and Akash were there already... oh i forgot.. Arup... also met us outside the CCD.. he is on orkut too.. but not very active... and knew Sayantani... so we 6 entered the CCD together !!! and two already there.. makes it 8 !!! nice gang !!!
in not much time... Gaurav and Gaurav and Harpreet joined us.... and then Bhaskar... good he did not miss the ODM... he's been doing a lot of hard work and money generation lately.. and it was good to see him take out sometime and come for the meet !!!

a round of introductions followed... Jassi was as usual a li'il quite... and i am sure the rest were kinda surprised to see him silent after the kinda work he does on Orkut !!! hehehe.. we were shocked too.. when we met in the ODM Chapter I !!!

food.. drinks.. cookies... more drinks... and people backing out of the Golgappe Eating competition... and we playing dumb sharads followed.. before i had to leave for a function in FICCI !!! and i was on stage after a gap of 4 years... what fun !!! ( will write about that later)

this was a nice day... fourth Chapter written in the History of ODMs.... a book that started on April 1 2004... the April Fools day and has come a long way from there.... wonderful... from 6 people to 12 this time...

ODM Chapter - I
Prashant
Aseem
Bhaskar
Mayank
Jaspreet
Night

ODM Chapter - IV
Prashant
Aseem
Deepak
Jaspreet
Richa
Sayantani
Aroop
Gaurav Goyal
Gaurav
Harpreet
Akash
Bhaskar

Feels good...

hope to be a part of another ODM pretty soon... and looking forward to more people joining in !!!

RaNg de'

I saw "Rang De Basanti" on Thursday... 26th Jan.... The Republic Day...

and i have to say that please watch this movie.. if you have any emotions for India..!!!!

I was very very touched by the movie..had tears in my eyes as well... three times i remember....

go ahead.. watch it... and WAKE UP for yourself !!!

i'Ve bEeN tAgGeD !!!

OK this guys drops a comment.. and tells me that Prashant ji.. you are tagged... and now you need to get the creative guy inside you come out of sleep and write a ishtory !!!

Thank you Rohit !!!

I took the rules from his blog only..
(1) write a 100-to-200-word entry using the following words: I, me, blow job, grapes, random, power, loneliness, water, robot and blue;
(2) use these words once and only once; and of course
(3) the entry should make sense.

I am not good at writing short stories.... but Rohit tagged me and i have to write one now... most of my short stories end up being essays.. but here is one...

____________________

Blue is Maxie's favorite colour.. for some reasons girls are supposed to like Pink... and why the hell should she do that... thought Maxie... she is a girl who does not care... she lives her life the way she wants... she has all the power to take her own decisions...

and the door bell rang !!!

what took him so long.. she was thinking while opening the door.... this was Robbie... Maxie's robot friend she was seeing these days... (don't be surprised... I am talking about 2106 AD....)boyfriends are too much of a mess Maxie thought.. and the best part.. Robbie was not crazy about blowjobs as well like all her ex-boyfriends....

and she was happy that Robbie asked her out when she met him first in Wine Making Competition... what a day that was... Maxie and Robbie were to be partners in that competition and had to stomp on all the grapes in that barrel... it was fun... she still remembers how cute Robbie looked when he brought her Water on that sunny winter afternoon and said "me thinks you thirsty. you drink this !!!"

All the days after that afternoon were totally away from loneliness giving both of them smiles, and laughter, and happiness and joy in a random order...

and today they were meeting again for the first time after Robbie came back from a emotional reprogramming module in his company... it had to be a special day....

I am going to have a great time today... with only this in her mind...she rushed to open the door...

__________________________

Ok Rohit... are you happy now !!!

and am i supposed to tag anyone?

Ok... here are a few people i would tag...
Rohit again... now write another ishtory...
Sayantani...
Bhaskar...
Deepak...

enjoy everyone....
i have another strange post in mind.. which i am going to write.. may be tmrw !!!

HaPpY SiNgH Ho GaYa mAiN !!!!

i went out to pamper myself today...

Got a hair cut.. the most expensive so far in my life... nice hole burnt in the pocket.. but then not too bad for a feel good...

and then a shopping spree...

Koutons Trousers.... 57% OFF :D
Lee Cooper PullOver...40% OFF ( Incidently i had to leave the same pullover in the shop a few months back because i was short on cash.. and i bought it today.. i had loved this one so so much that time....)

Allen Solly PullOver...40% OFF...

am i showing off.. kinda.. yes... umm.. maybe... never mind

:D

i am happy to buy all this for myself today... and tmrw is Radha's Service DAY.. so another happiness coming my way... my car happy... me happy...

There is more happiness here... For you dear Reader... the fotos of my trip have been uploaded to Flicker... and here is the link...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bharatdarshan/

OR if you want to see specific places here is where you click...

• Kolkata
• Mahabalipuram - Pondi - Mysore
• Bhopal - Mumbai - Elephanta

p.s. you can also check out the new FLICKR BAdge in the Left Bar to check out the fotos !!!

yE yE !!!

what a DRIVE !!!

i woke up at 0500 hrs to the music on Red FM in the morning today... why !!! because I had to reach office at 0700 hrs for a training...

phew... itta compromise karna padta hai mereko training dene ke liye.. but then it was every second worth it... here is why...

• I reached office in 13 minutes FLAT... a distance of 18 odd kms...
• I drove at 120 kmph... and the car felt ROCK SOLID... love you baby...mmmmmmmuah
• I heard three of my favorite songs during these 13 minutes...

All Star -> SMASHMOUTH

The ice we skate is getting pretty thin
The waters getting warm so you might as well swim
My world's on fire how about yours
That's the way I like it and I never get bored

ey now you're an All Star get your game on, go play
Hey now you're a Rock Star get the show on, get paid
(And all that glitters is gold)
Only shooting stars break the mold

Somebody once asked, "could you spare some change for gas
I need to get myself away from this place"
I said yep what a concept
I could use a little fuel myself
And we could all use a little change.


I'm Believer -> SMASHMOUTH again...

I thought love was only true in fairy tales
Meant for someone else but not for me
Love was out to get me
That’s the way it seemed
Disappointment haunted all my dreams
Then I saw her face
Now I’m a believer
Not a trace of doubt in my mind
I’m in love
I’m a believer
I couldn’t leave her if I tried

It's My Life -> BON JOVI

It's my life
It's now or never
I ain't gonna live forever
I just want to live while I'm alive
(It's my life)
My heart is like an open highway
Like Frankie said
I did it my way
I just wanna live while I'm alive
It's my life

• And I loved the breeze that whooshed by my face when i was driving !!!!

wish i could do that everyday... i might just do it.. not really come to the office but get up in the morning.. early morning and go out....

VaGuE ThOuGhTs !!!

I thought i justify the title of my blog... and there is my grandma present in this world.... who does it better... class apart...

Ladis and Gentel Mans pliss BhelKome

Richa Vague Bhardwaj !!!!

:D
:P

p.s. i had to write it buddy... just could not stop myself...

and now time for some of my vague thoughts as well....

~ what if we do not treat time as a standard and something else... like for example we say the the bus would come at 0630 hrs... what if we start saying that when the bus comes then it would be 0630 hrs...

KoLkOtA iN a DaY !!!

flashback...

Saturday in Kolkota...

i will just write the route i took.... and not much about the rest...

• Started from Salt Lake... took a rickshaw to Korunamoyee... 10 bucks...
• Korunamoyee to Howrah... local bus... 8 bucks... front seat.. via Sialdah
• Howrah to Berul Math.. local bus... 7.50 bucks...
• Berul Math to Dakhineshwar... boat.... 7 bucks...
• Dekkhineshwar to Howrah.. local bus via Berul... 7.5 bucks...
• Howarah to Fairle... Launch on the river Hugli... 4 bucks...
• Fiarle to BBD Bagh Bus Stand via Mellenium Park and Writers Building... walk....
• BBD Bagh to JadhavPur... mini bus... 8 bucks...
• Jdhadavpur to Panchasayar... Taxi...50 bucks...
• Panchasayar to Esplanade/Dharamtalla... State Run Bus...8 bucks..
• Dharamtall to Victoria Memorial.... TRAM.... 4 bucks... Victoria Memorial to Robindro Sodon... walk...
• Robindro Sodon to Salt Lake... Private bus... 7.5 bucks...

monginis; taxis;flurys;icici bangla; victoria memorial by night; the hand pulled rickshaw; robindro sodon; early morning at the korunamoyee stand; belur math; howrah bridge; TRAM; flight back home

phew... and Arobindo was wondering if i would be able to make this in one day... well i did... and in time for a good sleep before i woke up around 0430 hours for the 0700 flight to delhi....

Sunday in Delhi... Auto Expo...

hondo hybrid;go fida;DC styled ford fiesta;the 9-crorebike; modified swift and city; the rally swift; WV beetle

and meeting up with a friend... and then quick fast drive back home via the Toll Road... and then a walk to sector-18 market to buy a Steam Iron.. i bought a Philips....

bass...

baki ab pictures aane ke baad :)

oh and by the way... my PhotoBlog is active again... do check it out :)

WeLcOmE BaCk !!!!

back in delhi....

and DELHI is the best...

what roads... i could get down on the road and kiss the road today... the fastest i have been in a vehicle on the road in the last one month was TODAY...

LOVE YOU DELHI !!!

i tried to find a place where i could have tea.. could not find it though :(

more later :)

AkTa KoLKaTa !!! EkDoM bHaLo !!!

its been fun so far now in kolkata... the first impression was not so good.. well getting into a locality which looks just like where are you are living otherwise does not make you more comfortable.. you just try to look for more things which you are used to like friends and family and that does not help you much.. does it.. eh !!! neva mind...

lemme write about what i have been doing for the last two evenings...

i went to 15 Park Avenue... yes that is an address that Konkona Sen Sharma was trying to look for in Kolkata... and i was with her while she looked around for it... and with her in tht search.. partcipating or not participating.. willingly or unwillingly were Rahul Bose, Shabana Aazmi, Waheeda Rehmaan and a few more... a movie very well written, directed, crafted.. work of art.. and someone who appreciates sincere acting and cinema should not miss this opportunity to thank Aparna Sen to create this movie...

i am not going to talk about the story of the movie much except that i loved it... it kept me thinking all the time.. something that i usually do not do while watching my favorites.. well they are comedies ofcourse...

thats how day before yesterday evening was spent... and yesterday evening...

left from office a li'il early and then from the guest house around 1700 hrs to check out some kolkata.. the real city.. and not the artificially built up so called posh just like any other city with malls...

took a shared auto to Korunamoyee.. and then a shared cab... to Exide.. you must be wondering what kinda name is that for a place.. well that place actually is Ravindra Sadan.. but there is a building called Exide House there and hence the name....

from there a Metro Ride to Dharamtalla.. or what is called Esplanade.. this is supposed to be a good place to just spend time but i had other plans.. i wanted to see what the trams look like.. and take a ride if possible too.. well the first wish was taken care and the second one is deferred till saturday... i took a few fotos.. but i am not sure they are what i really wanted to capture.. i have a few things in mind.. and i hope to take care of them in bright sunlight on saturday....

the tram.. the metro.. the light and sound show... the park.. the flyover...

what next... a metro back to Ravindra Sadan.. and a walk around the place.. was lucky to catch a light and sound fountain show near the place.. and it was just mindblowing... its a 45 minute show... from 1815 hrs to 1900 hrs.. and then from aroud 1915 hrs to 2000 hrs for anyone who wants to see it... and then had some mithai at Ganguram ki dukan.. and a double egg roll at a road side Roll Walah !!! and just walked around the place doing nothing at all... and hey.. also bought three film rolls.... and then took a cab back to koronamoyee.. and got down near City Centre.. went to a shop inside the city centre to have tea... and eat some Khatam Dhokla.. and then have some tea.. and then walk around taking snaps...

2100 hrs.. time for my movie.. Tom Hanks and Leonardo de'caprio starrer "Catch Me If You Can"... slept and got up to a severe pain in my left leg.. a bad muscle pull.. could not even stand up properly.. just waited for a while for the pain to reduce a li'il and then came to the office...

another experience this was... took a city bus.. blue and yellow..metal from outside.. wood from inside... a typical seating system.. basically to enable more people to stand... and wood all around.. and the way it is driven.. uff.. rASH :)

the kolkata bus...

what follows is my plan on saturday... any additions to this would be appreciated...

leave for howrah very very early morning.. take a bus from Koronamoyee to Howrah... and then then take a train to Belur Math.. and then a Ferry to Dakshineshwar Temple... go to Esplanade from there.. and then to a friend's place in Panchasayar... and then come back to Park Street... if time permits.. go to Kalighat.. and a recent addition to the list.. The Indian Museam... I also need to click a few fotos of Victoria Memorial in the evening.. so going back to Robindro Shodon is a must.. also need to buy mithai from Ganguram or some other shop in Park Street !!!

Wat Say....

and hey...

Roundabouts in Kolkata are referred to as "ISLANDS"...
the Autos do not have meters....
and the Taxis need to be given 180% of the amount displaying in the meter....
kolkata metro = about 78% of the mumbai local trains.. wahi rush.. wahi bheedh.. i could see and feel the delhi metro's future there....

MySoRe - AnD nOw iN KoLkOtA

agenda of the post : mysore trip ... and the rest of it till right now...

the day started early actually very very early yesterday at 0400 hrs... sushant was to come over after his work got over... he came late but i got up at 0400 anyway.. got ready and called him over... and then waited for the cab outside the shopper's stop...

subhadip had booked a qualis for the trip.. and arun was also taking his mom along.. it was good.. all in the famly types.. so we were finally off to mysore around the 7th hour of the day... Sushant, Arun, Arun's mom, Me, Subhadip and Kailash.... and Vasu the driver... and this time the driving was better then the chennai-pondi trip :) no sudden turns.. no bad breaking... Vasu was asked to be careful after the first jerk, and that was the last time we needed to say anything to him on the entire trip.. he was a good driver... and made sure that we could get the max out of the trip as well.. nice...

life on wheels...

the highway between banglore and mysore is still under construction.. and even though the road is good... a lot of times you suddenly have to move to drive on the wrong side of the road... that actually demands you to be more careful and control you speed because there are no large signs that ask you to take a diversion, but the brigher side is that you get to drive on the smooth road all the time... with a few kilometres of exception as well...

these are the places I managed to visit in this day long trip....

the trip to mysore... my floor in the guest house..the lift..srirangapatnam, jamia masjid, daria daulat, chamundi hill, St. Philomena's church, Mysore Zoo, Mysore Palace etc.

• Srirangapatnam and the Daria Daulat Bagh
• St. Philomena's Church
• Chamundi Hill and the temple there
• Mysore Zoo
• The beautiful Mysore Palace and
• Brindavan Gardens

brindavan gardens...

It turned out to be a great day which started at 0700 hrs and finally came to an end at 0030 hrs the next day... what next.. i did not sleep and did not anyone else sleep too coz i had to come to kolkata by a very very early morning flight... 0605 hrs... phew... i almost missed the flight as well... check in delays even after reaching the airport one hour before the time of departure...

this aircraft was the Airbus 320... what shit it was... the leg room smaller then a volvo... and i was not really comfortable sitting on those seats... i had not slept for over 26 hours... and the seat was not very nice.. but the view outside the window.. by far the best so far.... clouds all around... as if someone had spread the fluffy cotton all around.. and the sun rising out of the horizon... it was very beautiful...

stills from the flight.... i was @ 35000 ft. and moving at 550kms/hr

and then two evenings and two days in kolkata... aargh... i am staying in the salt lake city.. and very near to a huge mall called the City Centre... sunday evening i went to the mall and noticed that it was as good or as bad as any other mall in delhi... tooooooooo crowded.. i was as quick to move out of it as possible.. and then looked around for a place where i could eat something local... did not find anything... so had to be satisfied with a normal available anywhere dinner and then end it up witha small fruit punch at the monjinis... now this was surprising.. this cake shop was atleast 50% cheaper then the mumbai shop !!! anyway.. who cares till i get to eat the pastries....

and yesterday evening after the training... it was much better... went to the guest house.. kept my stuff there... and then rushed to Korunamoyee... and then took a shared van to Robindro Shodon...roamed around that part of the city.... had mithai at the ganguram halwai ki dukan... and then had kolkata egg roll... a glimpse of the victoria memorial... and then trip back to the guest house in a bus....

some observations about the city so far...

~the air is better then in banglore...
~too many mosquitoes in this part of the city.. thanks to it being very near a lake...
~the travel around the city is not very comfortable from this part of kolkata...
~too many ambassadors as taxies... mumbai was full of fiats.. and this ambys....

and i am not sure where to go to have mithai.. i want to have the bengali sweets.. lots and lots of them :( help me please....

oh and guess what.. for the first time in my life.. i saw a fiat test drive kiosk... they are in the building that i am in for the last two days.. and have the adventure, the palio nv and the petra on display...
missing you radha :(

AThEeYuM...

ATheeYumm.. did it take longer for you to speak this compared to the term ATM... i am assuming it did...
and thats not all.. in south the average time anyone takes to get out of the ATheeYumm is 10 minutes.. i have had this exp. twice...

first time in Chennai on the 31st:
i had thu withdhraw some money... before mhe.. there were thwo ladhies sthandhing in fronth of mhe... when their thurn comes they enther the AtheeYumm.. and spendh abhouth 10 minuthes there...and then they call mhe inside... no no nothing interesting happenedh... they were noth able to fighure outh how to use the damn ATheeYumm !!!

Firsth they were searchingh for da AtheeYumm Cardh.. and then they did not know how to swipe it in the machine.. and then they forgoth the pinh... finally i had to requesth them to let me use the AtheeYum... they didh... thankh you ladhieezz...

time spent in that AtheeYum = 12 odd minutes..

second time today morning...
standing outhsidhe the Mantri elegance AtheeYum... a guy goes insidhe and stays there for 10-15 minuthes... and then comhes out with justh a bloddy mini statementh... ullu ka paththa !!!

there is something that i missedh outh on yesterday... why was i feeling senthi...

i saw thwo goodh moovies yestherdhay night...

~ Eternal Sunshine on the Spotless Mind...

Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet...
story: Joel Barish meets Clementine.. and likes her.. she likes her back.. and with time like every other relationship their relationship turns sour too... and then Clementine erases Joel from her Memory and Joel also does the same.. Fate has it and they meet again the very next day both have erased each other's memories from their mind... and like each other again... and then come to find out about what had happened... very nice movie.. a li'il confusing at times coz I could not understand what was going on.. but then i tried and could understand the entire movie... a must watch !!!

joel and clementine looking at the sky lying down on a frozen lake... beautifully romantic...

~ 13 going on 30...

Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo
story: Jenna is a 13 year old kid who wants to look good.. be the centre of attraction and wishes to be 30 on her birthday.. the next that she knows is that she is 30 and comes to find out that she has not been one of the nicer people around.. not meeting her parents, making her way upto the top, selling her firms secrets to the rival magazine and all... and then changes for good.. does things nice.. and so on and so forth... a nice comedy... which has some romance as well in it... very nicely paced movie too... again a must watch.....

jenna and matt inside a small park where they were playing and swinging like kids.. and then fell down together... loved the silence that was there in this scene...

ok now why was i senti.. coz some of the old memories were brought back because of these movies... some sad memories.. some happy ones too...

bad bad... memories memories... get out get out !!!

TrAvEL, FoToS, FoOd on 31DeC2005

i have been troubled a lot in the past few days because of the fact that i could not drive my car on the open roads... and the place where I missed my car the most... well they call it the ECR... the East Coast Road... some people in chennai talk a lot about this ECR... and why not this 3 lane two way highway looks like one of the best in the country... look around you and you will see green.. and blue and more green and more blue... such a pleasure !!!!

when do i get to hit this highway you must be thinking... well the answer is the last of the last year i.e. 2005 took me to meet Deepak... a friend i have not known for long and i still call him a friend... which makes him a very nice fella... i do not emotionally care about whatever happens to anyone in this world.. but as someone has said.. exceptions are always there... my life has given me a few exceptions always to care for... ok... lemme get away from the senti stuff... i will tell you at the end of this post why am i feeling kinda senti right now.....i might even forget coz i am going to write about a different new year celebration tonight... another FIRST in my life...

chennai.... 30th dec-2005... Anna International Airport.... Prashant is smarter after his experience in mumbai and heads straight for the Pre Paid Taxi Counter... and takes a taxi to the Thiru-Vaan-Miyur... where Deepak lives... this plan was being thought of for a while.. and it finally had been taken care of.. he and Deepak were to go to Pondi to celebrate the new year... two friends... fond of travel.. and fotos... both with their own thoughts and ideas... it was supposed to be fun !!!! prashant was looking forward to it !!!

deepak came down to make sure prashant does not have a problem in searching for the house.. prash was thinking and imagining a society like the ones he had seen in gurgaon and noida and other places.... but this was different... right on the main road... later he found out that it was the HIGHWAY.... now how cool is that... 7th floor.. the highest prash had ever stayed at so far... and a cool breeze... a few talks about the plan, and this is what was decided... they both go to mahabalipuram with parul and her folks who were in chennai for a holiday and they move in a different direction from there...

sleep greets prashant only at around 0100 hrs on the last day of 2005... and he has to wake up around 0800 hrs.. its going to be a long day ahead hero.. get up... so gathering all his will against the sweet sleep he gets up and gets ready... what the FUCK... this is what comes out of his mouth when the tap water goes in the first time.. the water was salty... well the water was not really salty... it was the bloddy salt that was a li'il waterry... huh !!! and after he has taken his bath deepak also happily points it out and asks him how was the experience of having a bath with salt :) well... good to be different... bad to be usual... prashant was wondering how tough it is for deeps to stay there...

anyway parul is about an hour late.. and then we make them wait... for about 5 minutes... the deluxe qualis... peeche wali seat bhi middle seat jaisee.. its the best muv pras has traveled in so far.. the most comfortable of all... and then he realised.. the car was comfortable.. and the driver NUTS... the driver was driving as if he was driving in a video game... it was like he was realising that there is a vehicle in the front when he could read the fine print on the number plate on the rear of the vehicle in the front.. and thenhe would suddenly move to the right.. and then suddenly to the left.... and prash sitting at the rear seat could feel that... and he could see that speedometer as well to make him all the more uncomfy.. anyway a few kilometres helped him adjust to the unique way of driving... in anycase he had see something of this sort in the amby last night too... the car would go all the way to the left.. and then all the way to the right... and just inches before it would hit the divider all the way to the left again to kiss the footpath.. was a drive.. and imagine without a headlight :) some talent pool chennai has in the drivers !!!

ok back to ECR..... and cut to the parking outside the shore temple in mahabalipuram... pete or prash had thought of the temple to be huge temple.. but it was smaller then he imagined... it stood beautifully next to the sea and also had managed to survive the Tsunami in 2004... however the walls were big time corroded.. nevertheless it was beautiful... and CROWDED.... the good and the bad have been mixed up pretty nicely for prash in this trip of his... a walk around the temple... a few fotos... some of them without humans too... good work done.. and then off to the other side of the road to check out some rock carviings and a light house.. one of the better parts of that trip.. walk around the rocks... climbing up and down.. and then managing to catch a few good shots in the cam... makes all the effort worth it.. and the phone camera also came out good to click a few snaps too....

a snapshot of the 31st Dec 2005....

and now the golden question... how do they go from here... do they continue with parul and folks.. or do they stay back and do some other arrangement.. the display of intelligence came when they decided to hang in there with the folks.. where else could they get that kinda comfort.. a smooth drive.. and decent lunch away was the small town of pondi... the sea was so different here... mumbai was calm.. this was more aggressive... white waves.. green sea... rocks... air.. purrfect... and when they tried to find whats there to catch up in pondi the answers were not very appealing... visiting a church too.. and then after a few thinking sessions.. and some questions and answers.. the dynamic duo decided to move back to chennai with parul and party only !!! and that was a good decision !!!

chennai back again... wondering what can be done... and pete and deeps move to eat... Pondi also went ahead to meet his friends... shit why can't i remember his name.. one of the guys was Swapnil, the fighter.. and pondi was who.. anubhav??? i think its better to leave it upto to deeps to correct this name !!!!

three autos and 20 minutes later, deeps and prash climb the stairs of EDEN... a wait of 45 minutes... dissapointment and anger because the bloddy waiter did not tell the lady assigning the tables about the two.. and then finally a table and two chairs to have dinner... prash kept looking others' plates till he got a seat.. everything looked so yummy.. this was a restaurant for continental food.. and pete never had been to such a restaurant.. so another first... the dinner started with the Cheese Toasts.. something that just melted as soon as he kept it in his mouth... lovely.. pizza hut's garlic bread with cheese is SHIT !!! and then a pasta dish... and spaghetti followed by the fresh fruit icecream !!!! A W E S O M E it just could not get better then this in 2005.. pete ate the best food he ever had in a restaurant... ofcourse the times when he was dead hungry and GE or Green Park's parantha stalls greeted him are not counted or taken into account in the comparison.. but whatever said and done.. this food was good enough for him to just go back to chennai and have food after waiting for 45 minutes standing inside the restaurant...

this is where conversation brought them to the topic of wines and daaru.. and prash was kinda interested in having the white wine which was to be used in the night... this is when prash found out that deeps is a few months younger to him.. and he was pleasently surprised... its good to know people who you can get into conversation with.. and most of the time prash has been able to give that kinda respect only to people elder to him... khair.. the best food ever.. and a good conversation.. and a few new things about deeps made prash a more knowledgable fella... when deeps likes the food he is eating, he would not talk but would eat with complete concentration.. so if you happen to eat with him.. and he looks more interested in food... let him be... he will give you your share of time when the time comes... but food comes first :)

and then back to his home... and then pondi arrives with his friends.. and some things to eat.. hey his name is Anubhav only... he opens up the white wine bottle after freezing it for a while.. and pete is also given a peg it the divine drink... now the first question that comes to his mind is.. why is the wine called white.. if the colour is a pale yello.. anyway.. he wanted to taste it.. so he did.. and thats IT... bas abb aur nai.. one sip was good enough to let pete know that he is most definitely not a wine guy.. he can never drink wine or beer or any other drink whatso ever.. so that wine is saved from getting wasted by the rest of the gang.. and after watching a few episodes of the Great indian laughter challange and wishing each other a happy new year.. the gang goes off to a sleep only to wake up late late late in the morning... a wonderful lunch with rajma chawal in chennai :) and then a relaxed auto journey to the station saw pete through... he also saw the marina beach.. which was nothing but an ocean of people.. only human heads all around the beach.. what shit !!! a train to banglore with a lot of south indian language all around... and some decent enough food in the train helped prash reach Banglore in the last hour on the first of january 2006.... the rest is history.. and has been mentioned in the Banglore Bugs !!!

BaNgLoRe BuGs !!!

4 days and 3 nights in banglore.. and i am already doing a countdown of the hours i am left with in banglore !!! what crap this city is !!!! with a few good things.. it has been a pain so far being here...

first a queue for about 25 minutes to get a pre-paid auto when i reached here on sunday night... i managed to reach the guest house by 2340 hrs.... and the good part was the lady managing the guest house was really sweet.. and arranged for my check in to the Guest House smoothly.... nice large room... the best so far in my trip !!!

10th floor... with a large balcony... a nice wrought iron bed... the flat also has a washing machine, a fridge, an oven, a coffee machine, an ironing board, dsl and dial up internet connection, color tv, big almirahs... and an AC ( hv not used it though).. fundoo...

and where did i have to go for training.. about 15 kms away... ok.. that is in kilometres... and an hour and 15 minutes away in terms of time !!! what the heck !!!

and the travel time increased every day by 15 minutes.. one way roads... roads.. no.. sorry streets.. very few streets that qualify to be called roads here... and then most of the actual streets have been turned into roads for the traffic leaving the residents in those localities in pain !!!

Met vinay for two days after the office... and it was great spending the time with him.. he was kind enough to take me to places were we could eat all sorts of junk local crap !!! I loved it... different versions of the Chaat that we get in delhi.. a strange looking jelly custurd straberry ice-cream was on the list of the things that i ate.. also went to the Commercial Street.. and that street was phulll of sunder sunder kanyaas... very good place.. but the entire bloddy street is about 200 metres.. so not much eye tonic could fit into this cramped street.. par jitna bhi thaa achcha thaa...

second evening was much better..
ok.. before i start... picture this...

a paper plate...
and then a small newpaper on it..
followed by a small 6" by 6" banana leaf cut
and then the real different stuff....

lots of gulcand ( the sweet stuff made from rose petals) and then a li'il bit of butter mixed in gulcand... and then a fresh banana cut into small small tukde followed by two scoops of icecream and some additional taste added by small pieces of fresh cut apple and a wafer and a cherry...

yumm !!!!

and then some phirni with badam milk...
and some excellent dosa with gooooooood chatni...

the funduu icecream... some biiig buildings.. the longer then usual bus.. and a long empty road-can be called a miracle too...

and then a good night sleep... good two evenings..

the days have been hectic...
the traffic screwed up...
the evenings good..

met up with some old friends...
sushant came over to the guest house.. his office is two minutes from where i stay...
met arun, sammy, shubhu.. they are just like family.. and its always good to meet your family members...
and yesterday.. rather today morning at 0500 hrs.. i met jassi in his office.. sushant also is in Oracle.. so both of them were there.. and we three went to the Oracle Cafeteria.. and talked our hearts out.. its always fun to be with Jassi.. his non-stop funny sentences.. with the icing to the cake added with the Gaali every sentence.. make the conversations more interesting... and his views about banglore... were hilarious if not anything less !!!!

i plan to go to mysore on saturday.. lets see if i can go... i really want to get out of banglore seriously and not turn back towards this city !!!!

and hey.. i had heard bad bad things about the auto walas of banglore.. even jassi has a wish that he can beat the hell out of one of the auto walas before he heads out of this city... BUT for me.. so far so good with autos... thank you God...

ok.. here is a small list... hehehe thanks BASTM.. i am making lists as well now..

things i do not like around me this week..
~ TRAFUCK... oops.. it should be TRAFFIC
~ MG Road... i can show the people around here bigger better roads...
~ Roads, streets, lanes, bylanes, footpaths
~ the SMOKE... why can't they move to alternate fuels.. most of the autos and the nigger vehicles are smoke machines here...
~ no seat belts, no helmets

a still from the shatabdi.... lotsa fresh bananas... a view from my balcony... the traffic.... no helmets.. and the strange auto shapes...

things i liked...
~ my room in the guest house.. what a view from the 10th floor...
~ ummm....
~ the junk food that i ate so far.. thanks Vinay...
~ meeting family... Arun, Shubu, Sammy, Sushant and Amit Kumar, and Jassi... mera Spectra ka goodie good friend...
~ umm...
~ i guess thats it...

will write more !!!

LaSt YeAr ThIs WeEk !!!

I was one angle of a love triangle... and a serious one too...

I was in love...

aur ab.........

• ghoomna
• phirna
• foto kheechna
• khana peena
• doston ke saath quality ki bakar karna
• aur jamm ke kaam karna time bache to :P

oh.. and people.. check this out...
my new long post...

AnOtHeR LoNg PoSt !!!!

a still from "the elephanta caves"...

Dec 28th samay hua hai raat ke 10 baje... aur ab padiye itmeenaan se aaj ki kahani...

or let me start with yesterday itself... there was some activity yesterday too... some teerth yatra again... after office we headed to Atul's Hotel... kept his laptop.. and then rushed for Mahalakshmi... this is when we took the western highway and the ride was smooth in the ikon he had hired... reached MahaLakshmi kinda late.. but then you have that urge to see your watch everytime you feel its late in mumbai... and then you realise that its late if you beleive the watch.. but then you are in Mumbai.. the city never sleeps...

ok.. so MahaLakshmi it is.. and we enter inside.. the gates right now are closed i guess for some aarti or something and after a wait of about 15 minutes ensures that we are inside one of the only temples in the world dedicated to the Goddess of Wealth... is that one of the reasons why Mumbai is called the Financial Capital of India....

anyway.. out of the temple and then took a cab to the Sidhdhi Vinayak Temple... we were warned of the crowd we were to see there... but then you have to see it to beleive it... the line had atleast 200 hundred people only outside the temple... and then a look inside... which proved that there were another 200 hundred inside the temple in a queue which was not moving at all... and then we saw the entry which had a 50 buck ticket... we joined that line.. and then we saw another entry which was dedicated to the Gold and Silver card members... this is the first time i have seen something like this... Free Line, 50 bucks, Silver Card, Gold Card, and one more Yearly Pass.. hey wait.. i have seen this funda in the Kamakhya Temple in Guwahati too... a line with 2 bucks as the ticket, one with 50 bucks.. and a third with 500 bucks and VIPs....

look at the name.. uff...

ok so the temple is crowded like hell inside.. and i just managed to tell Goddie God that i would stay away from the crowd.. and would not really fight my way inside to the main statue... we get out in about an hours time... and that can be called a record of sorts... and then take a cab to Dadar.. which was about 15 minutes away... both of us were hungry and were looking for a place to eat at 2330 hours...

the marine drive in the night...

this is where we discussed a few good things about mumbai restaurants...

~ there is a small Temple in most of the restaurants....
~ in some of the restaurants, they will not refill your water glasses, but would just replace the glass with a full glass of water...
~ all the restaurants are washed properly every night...

nice... very nice... I like this... i feel i am getting a lot of things to crib about when i get back to delhi :P

about today... 28th Dec.... the day began late.. very late infact.... i got up at 1000 hrs.. and then took my time to get ready... was out of the hotel room by 1200 hrs... took the first local to VT... oops.. Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus.. and then a taxi to the Gateway of India... a 120 rupee ticket to the ferry to the Elephanta Caves.. and boarded the ferry from the gate # 4 behind the Gateway of India... had to shell out another 10 buks to sit on the upper deck... and it was WORTH it... talked to the person who was driving the ferry... stood on the upper deck like Leonardo D'Caprio in titanic.. the only difference being, i did not a Kate Winslet to kiss or draw and the ferry was not sinking because of an Iceberg...

marine drive...

the speed was slow... and the view exciting... it was my first exp of a journey in the sea.. Elephanta Caves are on a island about 11 nautical miles away from the coast... and it takes about 1 hour to reach there...
got down at the island.. to see that there was a small train to take some way towards the caves... saves about 10 minutes of walk... and it costs 8 bucks for a return ticket... i chose to walk.. and then had to shell out another 5 bucks as a part of the revenue being generated for the village which is there on the island... and then a walk up the 120 stairs... now what i hated about the place was it had a million people and about half a million shops.. ok ok i am exhagerating, but then it had more people then required.. and definitely the number of shops could reduce...


a 10 rupee ticket and the money i guess this time goes to the ASI lets me enter the hillock where the caves are..... and what do i see !!!

well.. marine drive again...

Woh !!! Manh !!!!

i cannot describe anything that experienced for the next two hours in words... today i am feeling that my vocabulary is not really good.. my expression of joy, excitement, surprise ends with a very fews words... any some of the pictures might help me say what i want to... huge statues man made, out of stone, huge caves, beautiful !!! just kept walking around the island and reached the Canon Hill.. where there is a huge Canon kept ... the view from this point was great.. i could see the place where i got down of the boat at a distance.. and the sea all around !!! beautiful....

the vada pao ka outlet...

walk back to the boats... you can take any boat back to mumbai from here... and i did.. and paid 10 bucks again to sit on the upper deck !!! and this time the view was worth a million bucks.. i have seen the sun setting in the sea.. but only in pictures.. and this time.. i was looking at the sun for over 45 minutes ending his day.. and setting in the horizon... i was happy.. my heart was full of joy.. and i had already finished over two rolls of film... and i could not stop clicking... manh.. why don't i have a digital SLR... i could have taken atleast 500 fotos today.. but my fotos were limited... and i am sure i could not have done what i have done with a digital point and shoot.... i need a DSLR... mom dad someone is going to pester you on his burthday....

back on the Gateway of India after a good half a day off INDIA... do you realise that.. i realise that.. i was not on the mainland for the first time ever in my life... God this is great !!! Thank you...

then my usual walk to the bus stand.. and then a cab to VT... and then a 10 minute line to the ticket from VT to Dadar.. and surprisingly a local where i could get a seat.. what is this happening... i getting a seat too regularly now in the local trains now.... and getting down pretty easy too.. i keep my bags at the hotel room.. and rush out with my laptop to find a cyber cafe.. and the ones that i find do not allow me to connect the lappie to their network.. assholes... they were afraid that i am going to infect their network.. i assured them that the computer is running a anti-spyware, a firewall, and an anti-virus software all updated.. but they did not care... i called up Gautam and requested him to send the email i was supposed to send !!! thanks Gautam...

and then back to the hotel.. kept the laptop.. grabbed a hundred rupee note.. and went out of the hotel to hunt for a good Vada Pao... i had seen the Jumbo Vada Pao stall yesterday.. and i headed for that... Vada Pao, the indian burger... and i love it.. its 1000 times better then the McDonald's burgers... and then i have some good lassi at a shop... back to the hotel... plan to watch "Gone in 60 seconds" with my favorite Nicolas Cage and Angelina "umm lips" Jolie... but thought that i should first write about the day before i catch up with the movie... and here i was.. with the post.. will upload it whenever i get time sometime later... till then... ta ta people...

umm... and the day today is 29th Dec, my mom's birthday... and the time right now is 2132 hrs... i am not taking any chances by not writing about today for a couple of days coz i am afraid i might miss out on somethings... so here i go about how the day was on thursday, the 29th of Dec.

the day starts late like yesterday... and what really wakes me up is a phone call from office... finish that... and then pack my stuff.. this time it looks like i have matured as a packer.. and my stuff is nicely tucked up in the two bags that i have...

on foot.. and inside the train...

i get out of the hotel.. grab a vada pao... and then take a local to Churchgate... seat again... :) i am the Local Train God !!! a walk around churchgate... had lotsa juice.. different types... Pineapple, Water Melon, cheeku shake lots of them.. and then i find my way towards the Khau Galli... to be frank it turned out to be a dissapointment....

the double deckers in mumbai...

on second thoughts it was not that bad... about 15 odd shops... serving all sorts of mumbai specials... and this time i do not eat anything but had some Ganne Ka Rass, and some mango lassi and then went to a nearby ground where there were a few cricket matches on.. and enjoyed that for about 45 minutes, before I decide to get away to Marine Drive... it was quite near... i had thought it would be far.. passed by the Mocha.. Priyangini had suggested that i should go there to check out the hottie hott babes of mumbai... umm... i have seen better in delhi... you know what i think in Delhi hott gurls are present around some specific places only... unlike mumbai.. where you can definitely spot some cool girls around anywhere... anytime...

anyway.. i make way for myself to marine drive.. and i decide to spend the rest of the day there.. walking from one end of the Necklace of the Queen to the other.. and back... that makes it a total of about 8 kms... i just kept walking.. enjoying the sun.. and the weather... reached Chowpati.. had some bhelpuri there.. and then started walking back... to catch the sunset i always had been waiting for in my life.. but hey... the sun did not go set in the sea.. it was a good inch above the horizon.. not fair :( i was thinking i would be able to see half the sun inside water.. and the other half above it.. well never mind.. it was good enough... some good snaps there... and then the lights came on... it for sure was beautiful.. and the number of people now had started increasing.. so i decided to make a move back.. oh... i forgot.. i also went to an aquarium there.. it was nice... took the local back to dadar.. went to the ATM.. settled my bill.. and then went out to see what can i do after i have to check out of the hotel tmrw morning.. there is this small cinema hall near the hotel.. i think i will catch the matinee show there Bluff Master is the movie.. and that would keep me busy for three hours..and i can leave Dadar at 1600 hrs... thats still kinda early for the flight.. but i guess i rather leave then wasting time around !!!

so that was how the second last day in mumbai was spent... eating and drinking...

a few things about mumbai that i love to love
~ the strong.. very very strong public transport system, the locals, the buses, the taxis....
~ the double decker buses are still running here.. i love it...
~ there are so many juice corners around this city.. and really cheap... i loved that part...
~ looks like most of this city runs on time... this is good...

city minus the traffic... great city...

saturday 0120 hrs; last day of the year 2005 starts... and what did i do in the second last day of the year 2005... here is what i did....

the day started a li'il early then the last two days... around 0900 hrs.. i had to get up.. and pack all my stuff... and then leave for a movie... to kill time for atleast 3 hours... and around 1000 hrs i was done with my packing... and i got a message from Priya.. who was kinda free for lunch... so i thought good... i don't have to waste time watching the movie.. i get ready.. leave my stuff with the hotel wala guys... take a local to VT and meet up with priya for lunch... her office is on DN Road... beautiful... why was i not here before... anyway... we meet outside her office.. i get her a few flowers just to thank her for whatever she had done while i was in mumbai.. i could not have got a place if priya was not around... we go to a very very decent chinese restaurant near her office itself... and they serve more then what two people can eat.. we ordered for just one noodles.. and we ate .. and had enough to pack and take away too.. but then neither was in keen on a parcel.. and she too was not interested.. so we had to waste about one third of the food and move out... i thanked her again and then rushed to dadar... picked up my stuff...and took a taxi to the airport.. and the fare this time :( 120 bucks.. and how much did i spend the last time.. i guess it was around 350 bucks.. i came out well of mumbai.. and it turns out that its one of the cities i like to like...

sushant called in.. and told me that he is going to meet me... i checked in.. also was happy with the fact that the flight was an hour late.. which meant i had more time... and rushed to Bandra... where Sushant was waiting for me... it was so good to see him after so long.. he has been a good friend always... and talking to him is always great.. we move to the Ban Stand Bandra, i see the deserted fort.. and we just hang out there only for a while... till the sun sets.. and then moved to the cafe coffee day.. and then search for Shahrukh.. he called but he did not give me his address.. however he being a famous cine star.. it was not hard to find Mannat, his bunglow... bang in front of the sea.. i envy him for the breeze he gets in the evenings...
so now i think i had covered all the places that Priyangini had mentioned in her comment on the post... oh.. and i also had the green chana chaat.. this time the third time... i had it the first time at the juhu..and again there only...

reached the airport... through the typical mumbai traffic... i will keep cribbing about that all the time... and the flight this time was not delayed further... and whoa !!! the jet was huuuuuuuuge... this was the first time i managed to sit in the Indian Airlines and not the Alliance Air... the plane was an Airbus 300 and it had 10 seats in every row.. and also had a executive class section... the air hostesses were slightly better... had a nice dinner on board.. mumbai looks beautiful in the night.. i could figure out where the Marine Drive was, thanks to the Air India Building near the Nariman Point... i think i liked Delhi better when the plane took off for Bhopal.. anyway.. i have also started reading the City of Djinns by William Dalrymple... interesting book....


Saturday 31-Dec-2005 2118 hrs.... chennai @ Deepak's Residence...
what to expect in the next few paragraphs... the trip to MahaBalipuram and Pondy !!!

today is what? the second of january 2006 !!! and i have not posted anything for about a week.. actually i have been writing .. and keeping it with me.. did not have any access to the emails

ok... 03 Jan 2006... i have not wished anyone a happy new year.. i have not posted anything on the site.. and i did not tell anyone about what happened in Chennai.. shame on me...

here is the flashback...

a church in pondicherry...

the shore temple Mahabalipuram.. and more...

reached chennai late... and left early for Mahabali Puram... saw the entire place.. and then went to pondi and came back... shit.. i am not really feeling like writing right now... i think i will stop here... and write about my Pondi and Mahabalipuram Trip sometime later.. it was too good to be missed out...

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...