Why are we guys like this !!!!
I have experienced this twice now... one of my good friends... well i call her a good friend coz she has been around to hear me out when i had anything to speak.... she was not feeling well for the last few days.. and i called her up yesterday... the talk went nicely.. and then she said... Prashant.. i need to talk to you... being the super intelligent i am .. i asked her if this was the last time we were talking... and then she said "KINDA".... i mean.. what does kinda mean... its either the last time.. or its not.. anyway...
why this happened... here is why... she has a boyfriend... and he probably is not comfortable with the two of us being friends... insecurity... trust... faith... whatever.... though he is nice enough not to say that in clear words to this friend of mine... however... in subtle words the message was shared.. and she took the right decision... for her its HE who should be more important and talking to me ... or being friends with me is something that is not that high on the list...
lost another friend... for no fault of mine... the last time it had happened was when i was in Hughes... a friend of mine called up one fine day... and toldme that Prashant Manish is not really comfortable with us talking... and she would never talk to me again.. and i let go !!!!
Guys... why are we like this... why can't we accept that our girlfriends can also have friends... why do we bloddy act like this... and i am not excluding myself from the list.. i probably am like that only...
possesive
insecure
anyway.... i just hope things just work out fine for both of them... coz if they do not ... this guy needs a serious kick in his butt !!! that girl is giving up her nature for him... she is changing herself for him.. he must be one helluva guy... am i jealous.. yeah... i think i am... am i angry... yes i am ....
would i let go...
YES I WILL
30/07/05
29/07/05
iNtErEsTiNg !!!
28/07/05
MeeT d'JeRk
Jerk....
usually refered to as something that you experience while on the road...
not the one which happens because of sudden acceleration or slowing down... not the one which happens because of pot-holes on the road...
but the one who meets u when you are driving...
the one who would change a lane without any signals...
the one who is proud of the fact that he is driving on the wrong side... and fast as well...
the one who is pround of the fact that no intersection would slow him down...
the one who is happy with entering a fast lane from a small street lane and surprise the ppl driving on that road...
the one who sees that that the ppl in front of him on a traffic-signal are moving but would still honk his horn as if there were evil spirits trying to catch him...
the one who is sure that he has to overtake from the left only...
the one who does not know the difference between high beams and low beams.. and makes sure that he is driving in the high beam only...
I salute you JERK !!! May God bless you.... and save yourself from me...coz if i manage to catch you sometime... you really need HIM to save your ass !!!
on second thoughts.. i decided to google the word... and here are a few interesting things that i found about the JERK...
A jerk is basically a person without insight. He is not necessarily a fool or a dope, because some extremely clever persons can be jerks. In fact, it has little to do with intelligence as we commonly think of it; it is, rather, a kind of subtle but persuasive aroma emanating from the inner part of the personality.
A jerk, then, is a man (or woman) who is utterly unable to see himself as he appears to others. He has no grace, he is tactless without meaning to be, his is a bore even to his best friends, he is an egotist without charm.
The slang term jerk meaning 'a stupid person' first appeared in 1919, according to the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, and became popular in the 1930s, when it was glossed in the American Mercury as 'eccentric fellow; fool'. It is a shortened form of jerkwater, which, in the 19th century, was a remote station where a locomotive had to "jerk" water from a water tower to fill its tender.
Jerk : An unpleasant, tiresome person: bore. Slang drip, dweeb, nerd, pill, poop.
usually refered to as something that you experience while on the road...
not the one which happens because of sudden acceleration or slowing down... not the one which happens because of pot-holes on the road...
but the one who meets u when you are driving...
the one who would change a lane without any signals...
the one who is proud of the fact that he is driving on the wrong side... and fast as well...
the one who is pround of the fact that no intersection would slow him down...
the one who is happy with entering a fast lane from a small street lane and surprise the ppl driving on that road...
the one who sees that that the ppl in front of him on a traffic-signal are moving but would still honk his horn as if there were evil spirits trying to catch him...
the one who is sure that he has to overtake from the left only...
the one who does not know the difference between high beams and low beams.. and makes sure that he is driving in the high beam only...
I salute you JERK !!! May God bless you.... and save yourself from me...coz if i manage to catch you sometime... you really need HIM to save your ass !!!
on second thoughts.. i decided to google the word... and here are a few interesting things that i found about the JERK...
A jerk is basically a person without insight. He is not necessarily a fool or a dope, because some extremely clever persons can be jerks. In fact, it has little to do with intelligence as we commonly think of it; it is, rather, a kind of subtle but persuasive aroma emanating from the inner part of the personality.
A jerk, then, is a man (or woman) who is utterly unable to see himself as he appears to others. He has no grace, he is tactless without meaning to be, his is a bore even to his best friends, he is an egotist without charm.
The slang term jerk meaning 'a stupid person' first appeared in 1919, according to the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, and became popular in the 1930s, when it was glossed in the American Mercury as 'eccentric fellow; fool'. It is a shortened form of jerkwater, which, in the 19th century, was a remote station where a locomotive had to "jerk" water from a water tower to fill its tender.
Jerk : An unpleasant, tiresome person: bore. Slang drip, dweeb, nerd, pill, poop.
26/07/05
bLaCk dAy !!!
Dunno how many of us saw it on TV yesterday... I did..
and i was disgusted with what happened... almost cried with anger... the way the policemen were beating up the workers @ Honda... merciless... takes away all my faith in that deparment... there were clips being shown over and over again as to how the Lathis of the policemen were being showered on hundreds of ppl.... disgusting... one big BLACK day in the history of Gurgaon and Haryana Police.. not to forget the pain that the people who were beaten up are going through... and their relatives who at time are struggling to find out where their loved ones are....
it all starting with the 4 workers being dismissed.. i have a few friends at HMSI, they were talking about some protests going on for the last month and a half... Honda has suffered major losses in that time period.. and after what happened yesterday.. i have serious doubts about how the things would get back to normal...
Shame on the Administration of Gurgaon, Shame on the Police Department of Gurgaon... Shame on those ppl who will generate some political mileage out of it instead of trying to improve the situation.
and i was disgusted with what happened... almost cried with anger... the way the policemen were beating up the workers @ Honda... merciless... takes away all my faith in that deparment... there were clips being shown over and over again as to how the Lathis of the policemen were being showered on hundreds of ppl.... disgusting... one big BLACK day in the history of Gurgaon and Haryana Police.. not to forget the pain that the people who were beaten up are going through... and their relatives who at time are struggling to find out where their loved ones are....
it all starting with the 4 workers being dismissed.. i have a few friends at HMSI, they were talking about some protests going on for the last month and a half... Honda has suffered major losses in that time period.. and after what happened yesterday.. i have serious doubts about how the things would get back to normal...
Shame on the Administration of Gurgaon, Shame on the Police Department of Gurgaon... Shame on those ppl who will generate some political mileage out of it instead of trying to improve the situation.
25/07/05
ODM ChApTeR - II
I am late in writing what happened... and why... thanks to my machine at home.. which chose to freeze just 2 minutes before i wanted to post the message... no no.. i was not writing online.. i had written everything in a notepad... and this time.. this did not work out... anyway... here i am again.. about my thoughts on the ODM Chapter-II
I was late... well that is not usual... i hate being late or waiting for ppl who are not on time... but time was just flying as i had a number of things on my agenda for saturday.. completing some work in office... then conduction a training and a refresher, and then fixing the rear speakers of my car.. and then getting a rear curtain in the car.. and then rushing to CCD, CP for the ODM-II... hehehe this looks funny.. lemme elaborate.. rushing to Cafe Coffee Day in Connaught Place for the Orkut Delhi Meet-II.
well i was a good 30 minutes late... and i had Aseem, Bhaskar, Deepak and Akshay waiting there...
Aseem, I have known for a while....
Bhaskar, I have met once in ODM-I.. we had the meeting on the 1-Apr-05
Deepak, was not a stranger thanks to the convos we had over our scrapbooks and the Delhi community in Orkut
Akshay, was the new kid on the block, a 3rd year Engineer Student from IIT Chennai.
The usual round of introductions followed... and then we decided to pool in some moolah to avoid any confusions about who's spending what... and how... so Deepak became the Munshiji... and we handed over the money to him...
had not eaten anything since morning and enjoyed my favorite Iced Eskimo there.. with a veg sandwhich... with the rest of the gang enjoying wat they wanted... Aseem here told a nice small story about how he got confused with the various flavours of Hot Coffee when he came there the first time... hehehe.. even i enhanced my knowledge about what is Mochachino and what is Cappachino there... for me it still remains hot coffee....
and then came in Bharti maidam... with Rahul... the only chick.. oops.. girl to join the meet... and brought with her.. yes yes!! along with Rahul.. a lot of smiles and giggles...
Met Bharti for the second time.... she is a nice chirpy gal.. with lotsa laughs... and Rahul... welll he looked like a calm composed guy... and later i found out that he was an MBA and looking forward to joining the Army... i am sure he is going to be a good Army man... God bless...
the conversations more or less revolved around fotos and cameras in CCD as we had three cams... ok 4... hehehe.. Aseem also had his Nokia 6600 which has a fairly decent camera... and the rest of them were with Bhaskar ( a fuji, finepix.. good small point and shoot digicam), Deepak ( an advanced, 5 mp Panasonic Digicam, which i btw found a li'il difficult to use... i really need manuals before i can use such gadgets... i do not think i took any good fotos from that cam... though Deepak was really good with them) and then my conventional Canon 3000v SLR ( I am really comfy using this.. i feel it gives me more flexibility then any digicam, i might be wrong.. but then... thats what i feel)...
ok back to the ODM-II... Bharti and Rahul had to leave... they had to pick someone up i guess.. and we 5 also decided to move to someplace which was quieter then CCD... and what could have been better then Pragati Maidan... wide open roads, greenery, and peace... all was available there... spent sometime there... looking at my Valley of Flowers trip... clicking some pictures... and managing 6 passes of Euphoria.. yes.. the band was to play there... some conference arranged by an insti called Pie Education... for engineering aspirants.. however.. we did not go there... time constraints..
and moved to CP again... and this time to Cafe 100... inner circle.. had some more fotos taken... and some convos about Delhi being the rape capital of india.. to how media gets the mileage outta these things.. and why some Political Parties were now realising that Aishwarya Rai is their sister and they will take Salman to the jail coz he mistreated their sister...
well... we ate and drank.. and then decided to call it a day... actually a wonderful day... Aseem and Deepak moved towards his car.. Bhaskar and Akshay went ahead to take the Metro.. and i took out my car to reach home... what a day it had been... loved it... and this is how the ODM Chapter-II came to an end....
lets see when do we have another ODM... the chapter-III... lets see where... and when..
I was late... well that is not usual... i hate being late or waiting for ppl who are not on time... but time was just flying as i had a number of things on my agenda for saturday.. completing some work in office... then conduction a training and a refresher, and then fixing the rear speakers of my car.. and then getting a rear curtain in the car.. and then rushing to CCD, CP for the ODM-II... hehehe this looks funny.. lemme elaborate.. rushing to Cafe Coffee Day in Connaught Place for the Orkut Delhi Meet-II.
well i was a good 30 minutes late... and i had Aseem, Bhaskar, Deepak and Akshay waiting there...
Aseem, I have known for a while....
Bhaskar, I have met once in ODM-I.. we had the meeting on the 1-Apr-05
Deepak, was not a stranger thanks to the convos we had over our scrapbooks and the Delhi community in Orkut
Akshay, was the new kid on the block, a 3rd year Engineer Student from IIT Chennai.
The usual round of introductions followed... and then we decided to pool in some moolah to avoid any confusions about who's spending what... and how... so Deepak became the Munshiji... and we handed over the money to him...
had not eaten anything since morning and enjoyed my favorite Iced Eskimo there.. with a veg sandwhich... with the rest of the gang enjoying wat they wanted... Aseem here told a nice small story about how he got confused with the various flavours of Hot Coffee when he came there the first time... hehehe.. even i enhanced my knowledge about what is Mochachino and what is Cappachino there... for me it still remains hot coffee....
and then came in Bharti maidam... with Rahul... the only chick.. oops.. girl to join the meet... and brought with her.. yes yes!! along with Rahul.. a lot of smiles and giggles...
Met Bharti for the second time.... she is a nice chirpy gal.. with lotsa laughs... and Rahul... welll he looked like a calm composed guy... and later i found out that he was an MBA and looking forward to joining the Army... i am sure he is going to be a good Army man... God bless...
the conversations more or less revolved around fotos and cameras in CCD as we had three cams... ok 4... hehehe.. Aseem also had his Nokia 6600 which has a fairly decent camera... and the rest of them were with Bhaskar ( a fuji, finepix.. good small point and shoot digicam), Deepak ( an advanced, 5 mp Panasonic Digicam, which i btw found a li'il difficult to use... i really need manuals before i can use such gadgets... i do not think i took any good fotos from that cam... though Deepak was really good with them) and then my conventional Canon 3000v SLR ( I am really comfy using this.. i feel it gives me more flexibility then any digicam, i might be wrong.. but then... thats what i feel)...
ok back to the ODM-II... Bharti and Rahul had to leave... they had to pick someone up i guess.. and we 5 also decided to move to someplace which was quieter then CCD... and what could have been better then Pragati Maidan... wide open roads, greenery, and peace... all was available there... spent sometime there... looking at my Valley of Flowers trip... clicking some pictures... and managing 6 passes of Euphoria.. yes.. the band was to play there... some conference arranged by an insti called Pie Education... for engineering aspirants.. however.. we did not go there... time constraints..
and moved to CP again... and this time to Cafe 100... inner circle.. had some more fotos taken... and some convos about Delhi being the rape capital of india.. to how media gets the mileage outta these things.. and why some Political Parties were now realising that Aishwarya Rai is their sister and they will take Salman to the jail coz he mistreated their sister...
well... we ate and drank.. and then decided to call it a day... actually a wonderful day... Aseem and Deepak moved towards his car.. Bhaskar and Akshay went ahead to take the Metro.. and i took out my car to reach home... what a day it had been... loved it... and this is how the ODM Chapter-II came to an end....
lets see when do we have another ODM... the chapter-III... lets see where... and when..
19/07/05
GeTTiNg OuT oF iT !!!
I have a friend... =>i am sure you also have a lot of them...
she is in love( no not with me.. i am a pure third party here.. not involved in the mess)...=>i am sure you friends also love someone or the other...
the guy she loves does not reciprocate... =>i am sure you know what that feels like...
the guy she loves is a very good friend... takes care of her.. likes to talk to her... spend time with her.. but when she confessed her love to him he told her that he could not love her... ( could not... what does that mean)... and that he was feeling guilty for not being able to reciprocate and that he just could not think of a relationship for sometime..( very valid points...) he wants to think about his career at this time ( he should do that... its important).. and that he could not get married for the next 4 years ( ok.. so that timeline is set too!!) => i am sure this sounds like something you have heard or seen or witnessed or felt sometime or the other...
now coming to the issue we have been discussing for the past couple of days... she wants to get out of the feeling of love for him.. but is not able to... i asked her what is she doing to get away from the feeling.. here is what she told me..
prashant, i think about not messaging him.. but i end up SMSing...
prashant, i think about not talking to him.. but i end up TALKing...
prashant, i think about not thinking about what he did.. why he did...but i end up THINKing...
my response... my dear, every sentence that you said ends with a verb related to him only... so invariably you are doing what you are running away from... and to really avoid this... start thinking about things which end up differently... like...
i think about reading books...
i think about watching TV...
i think about walking...
i think about learning guitar...
i feel that none of these things are related to anyone outside her ownself.. its about her... and would stay about her...
why do ppl get so irrational when they think they love someone... ( include me here, the prashant about 1.5 years back... madly hooked to a girl, used to be like this...) I will talk about this sometime later... things which we do in love... and how concern becomes pestering... how questions become lack of privacy and independence...
getting back to what i started the post with....do you think i gave her the right opinion.... why do u think someone would not like the person who likes him or her.. and if (s)he does not.. then what can the other person do... after being rejected !!!
she is in love( no not with me.. i am a pure third party here.. not involved in the mess)...=>i am sure you friends also love someone or the other...
the guy she loves does not reciprocate... =>i am sure you know what that feels like...
the guy she loves is a very good friend... takes care of her.. likes to talk to her... spend time with her.. but when she confessed her love to him he told her that he could not love her... ( could not... what does that mean)... and that he was feeling guilty for not being able to reciprocate and that he just could not think of a relationship for sometime..( very valid points...) he wants to think about his career at this time ( he should do that... its important).. and that he could not get married for the next 4 years ( ok.. so that timeline is set too!!) => i am sure this sounds like something you have heard or seen or witnessed or felt sometime or the other...
now coming to the issue we have been discussing for the past couple of days... she wants to get out of the feeling of love for him.. but is not able to... i asked her what is she doing to get away from the feeling.. here is what she told me..
prashant, i think about not messaging him.. but i end up SMSing...
prashant, i think about not talking to him.. but i end up TALKing...
prashant, i think about not thinking about what he did.. why he did...but i end up THINKing...
my response... my dear, every sentence that you said ends with a verb related to him only... so invariably you are doing what you are running away from... and to really avoid this... start thinking about things which end up differently... like...
i think about reading books...
i think about watching TV...
i think about walking...
i think about learning guitar...
i feel that none of these things are related to anyone outside her ownself.. its about her... and would stay about her...
why do ppl get so irrational when they think they love someone... ( include me here, the prashant about 1.5 years back... madly hooked to a girl, used to be like this...) I will talk about this sometime later... things which we do in love... and how concern becomes pestering... how questions become lack of privacy and independence...
getting back to what i started the post with....do you think i gave her the right opinion.... why do u think someone would not like the person who likes him or her.. and if (s)he does not.. then what can the other person do... after being rejected !!!
16/07/05
DiLLi - VaLLeY oF fLoWeRs aNd BaCk !!!
So finally i sit down to write about my trip.. i was waiting for the fotos to come in before i write so that while you are reading about the trip you can also see what i saw...
Friday, 8-Jul-05
I was back from office by 1400 hrs to attend myclass.. and back home by 1700 hrs after my class... Aro was not yet in.. coz the bus he was coming had a flat tyre.. and that delayed his arrival to my place... he finally managed to reach by 1800 hrs... and then we started packing our stuff... two huge bags... and about 50 line items needed to be packed for this long 8 day trip.... we were still not sure about that plan.. about when and where we would be except that we have to move out of home asap and reach the Lal Quila to catch our bus...
we left around 1900 hrs and took an auto to reach the Chandni Chawk Red light... i felt that the 5 rolls i was carrying were not good enough and i needed more.. so we went to the market there and grabbed another 5 pack of the Fuji 100 rolls... the shopkeeper gladly gave them to me for 220 bucks.. a good Rs. 2 more then the price in the market... next stop the travel agent's counters.. and we found out that the first bus to Rishikesh would not leave before 2200 hrs... we were not ready to wait for that kinda time and move to ISBT to catch a bus...
We managed to get good seats in a faily decent 2X2 UP Roadways bus.. called the Pawan Gold... and took our seats at 2100 hours... at that time there are loads and loads of buses to Rishikesh... actually every 2 minutes you will see a bus moving into that direction... this bus looked like the most comfy of all.. and we took our tickets... cost of the tickets... 312 bucks for two... the bus finaly moved at 2145 hours after we had two big cups of the Mother Daily Mango Delight Icecream... we were expecting to reach Rishikesh by 0330 hrs in the morning... but a traffic jam after Muzaffar nagar increased the travel time by over 90 mintues...
~ UP roadways bus we took from Delhi to Rishikesh, seen here parked at the hotel near Khatauli... we had to push this bus to start it here.. making it a true 2X2 Pushback :)
Saturday, 9-July
We managed to reach Rishikesh only around 0530 hours... thanks to Traffic Jam.. and quickly rushed to the Srinagar Bas Stand.. this is where we had to take the next bus from... We were planning to go to Badrinath... we were told that we could take a bus run by GMOU Ltd. stands for the Garwal Motor Owners Union Ltd... infact most of the buses on this route are associated with this body...
when we reached there... we got to know that there was no way we could reach Badrinath by night.. as the bus was scheduled to move only at 0630 hours and it would reach Joshimath in about 12 hours... late enough to skip the last Gate from Joshimath... we had no other option but to board the bus... it was a small... actually reach small bus.. and we managed to get the first seats from the back on the gate's side... i could hardly manged my legs between the two seats.. and was wondering how i would manage to be there in that bus for about 12 hours... trust me it was not a very nice thought... anyway.. the bus moved at 0630 hours for a destination about 300 kms and 12 hours away.....
we stopped for a quick breakfast after about an hour.. and had some Aaloo Paranthaas with Curd...
~Our first break after Rishikesh.. what you see in the foto is the bus which took us to Joshimath...
Long travel that was.. and the view outside the windows was really beautiful.. most of the time was spent sleeping and the rest looking outside the window.... we passed through.. Srinagar ( in Garhwal), RudraPrayag, KaranPrayag, Nand Prayag, PipalKoti etc to reach Joshimath in the evening...
We got stuck in a Jam caused by a landslide and had to waste about 45 minutes waiting for it to get cleared... and once it was done.. we moved ahead...
~ The road being cleared... Border Roads Organisation has done a great job with the roads on this route...
One thing which i noticed here in the jam was the disclipline with parking... reminded me of the reason why we got late on our way to Rishikesh.. the traffic from one side of the road would try and take as much space as they can.. and then block all the lanes that the traffic from the other side can use to cross.. but here it was different... the vehicles were nicely parked at one side of the road... and ensured that there was enough space forthe vehicles from the other side to cross when the road clears up...
~ Notice the way vehicles have been parked... rare sight in a jam if this was in Delhi...
We manged to reach Joshimath earlier then expected.. it was 1700hrs... and we got to know that we had missed the last gate only by 30 minutes... if we had not been caught in that Jam.. we would have reached Badrinath in the night itself... anyway... li'il that we could do about it... we searched for the GMVN ( Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam) Guest house... and did not find it upto the mark... the room rent was 350 bucks for a night.. and it was not in the best shape either.. so we decided to look for something cheaper and better.. and then checked in a hotel called Hotel Sriram right next to the Guest house.. for a room which was for Rs. 250 a night.. definitely better then the guest house.. and the owner of the hotel was a very nice fella himself.. we spent about 30 minutes talking to him before we moved into the room... the view from the room was very beautiful... the air pure and the feeling great...
~ The view from our room at Joshimath...
Took a back with freezing cold water... and had a quick dinner before sleeping... did not take much time for our tired bodies to get to sleep... we had decided that instead of the going to Badrinath we would go to Govindghat.. and then to Hemkund Sahib and the Valley of Flowers before we move to Badrinath...
Sunday, 10-July
We got up early... around 0500 hours... managed to reach the gate by 0545 hours.. this is where we could get a bus to Govindghat.... managed to get the seats in a decent bus which moved at 0600 hrs... and we were in Govindghat by 0645 hours....
~The Gate system at Joshimath... to avoid any jams on the small road ahead !!!
We just could not stop looking at the mountains when we reached Govindghat.. the view was magical.. clouds all over.. huge majestic mountains... lovely wind...
~ Got down of the bus at Govindghat... the view was too beautiful to move from there...
and then we received a shock !!!!
we had thought that we could take a cab/taxi something to Ghangria... but this is where we realised that we had to walk 13 kms to reach Ghangria also known as Govinddham... anyway... li'il we could do about it... so we starting walking... and realised it in the first 500 metres that it was not going to be easy... though the weather was good.. there was no sun.. and it was kinda cool too... we were still all in sweat... and we had bags which weighed over 10 kgs each... it was going to be one challanging journey...
~ Rafting anyone :) the sound of the waters could tell you about its might too...
I just could not take it anymore after about 6 kms.. and had to hire a pony... no no.. not for myself.. but the bag... talking about ponies... this entire path had a never ending smell of horse shit...
so basically you would breath air.. walk on stones.. listen to a small but very mighty river and smell horst shit on this way from Govindghat to Ghangria... there are plenty of small shops all along the path where you can get cold drinks (the 500 ml bottles) for 25 bucks... glucose buiscit packets for about 10 bucks... and anything to eat... and if it is packed... it is going to be awefully expensive.. and the prices would increase as the altitude increases....
We reached Ghangria around 1500 hours... very tired.. and very hungry.. and it had also started raining a li'il... and we did not have our raingear with us.. it was in the bag.. and the bags with the TattoWalla... who had already reached about 30 minutes before us...
~Our hotel at Ghangria
we had a quick afternoon meal... well.. for a meal we had some noodles... and then we checked into this small but decent hotel called the Hotel Pritam...
We were too tired and it did not take us more then 30 minutes to fall asleep... which means were already in deep sleep by 1600 hours....
We woke up around 2000 hrs... i guess we were hungry.. and then had a nice walk around the place... and some bad dinner... and some great Gulab Jamuns ( tat too at a price of just 5 bucks each)... now with everything so bloddy expensive there.. this treat was more then wat we could ask for... anyway...after having the sweets we headed back to our hotel... applied some move on the legs... they were in real bad pain.. and then went off to sleep to get up early next morning...
Monday, 11-Jul
Woke up at 0430 hours.. thanks to the alarm in my mobile... an alarm clock was all it could have been used for.. coz there were no signals i could catchafter rishikesh.. anyway.. that was something that i really liked... no one could call me up... away from the world....
so by 0530 hours were out of the hotel.. had some biscuits and some tea at a tea stall and then started our trek for Hemkund Sahib.... had no clue what were heading for... we thought what we had experienced in the last three kms to Ghangria was the worst that could happen.. it was a climb at 45 degs.. and we were walking on stones... had to look at every stone we were stepping on... otherwise would end up having some strained muscles.. and fractures...
anyway.. we knew it was going to be tough... 6 kms... and moving from 3049 m to Hemkund Sahib @ 4329 m.
~ 100s of Ponies are there in the morning... costs about150 bucks to reach the Glacieron the pony and then walk from there...
We were walking on a path which was not one of the best laid.. i remember looking at every stone that i kept my feet on...
~ The kinda path we were walking on.. this is a better part of the entire way...
But trust me.. it was worth it... the views that we had from the way.... the air that we were breathing.. the faith that we witnessed... it made it all worth it... people of all ages.. kids, women, men.. old or young... everyone was determined to climb up and reach the Gurudwara...
~ Look at the steep climb... some determination it takes to do this trek...
~ What a view... made all the pain worth it...
Finally after walking for over 4 hours... crossing a Glacier.. and climbing up over 1200 steps ( there were two ways to the Gurudwara after the glacier.. we could take the stairs or the slope.. we chose to walk on the steps... knowing that it is tougher to climb up the steps.. we still took'em... wanted to reach faster actually)
~ The Glacier we had to cross to reach Hemkund Sahib... looks scary.. and was too..
~Ice on my hand... and me on a Glacier...
The view at the Guru Dwara was breathtaking... it was just too beautiful to be described in words... i do not know enough adjectives to describe what i saw... so will just stick to some pics...
~ The lake near Hemkund Sahib...can't believe i actually dip my feet in it...
~Hemkund Sahib
I managed to gather enough courage to dip my legs in the lake near the GuruDwara and wash my face with the water.. it was freezing cold... can't tell u how bad i was shivering after i did that dare.. and there were ppl who were taking a dip in there.. .phew.. how did they manage it.. is something that they only know... to make things worse.. it started raining.. which dipped the temprature to sub-zero level and then the only pair of socks that i was wearing got wet... man !!! i was not in a good situation there...
went inside the GuruDwara...
came back...
had some hot and really tasty Khichdi and Tea at the Langar.. and then started walking back...
which turned out to be more painful and long then we expected.. every time i was keeping myfoot down on a stone.. the entire leg used to cry out loud in pain.. from my ankles to my knees... it seemed that i just could not take it any longer.. but still there was no other option but to carry on... and so we did...
and reached Ghangria at 1500 hours... with almost broken bones.. had managed to save myself from slipping a couple of times as well... the knees and the ankles were in pain like hell... and yet there was a satisfaction of achieving something that a lot of ppl do not...
~ Ghangria when we came back from Hemkund Sahib...
before we could sit down for lunch in our hotel.. there was a huge sound of stones falling.. and it was just behind ourhotel... we had to run hard to save ourself... the sound made us feel that a stone could hit us any moment.. but we were lucky.. though the noises were scary... the landslide was at a distance... so no harm done to anyone...
had a good lunch.... and then were off to sleep by 1630hours... not before applying lot of Move to our legs... this is were we realised how soothing these lotions can be...
got up around 2000 hrs for dinner... had a quick bite.. and then our favorite Gulab Jamuns and went off to sleep again by 2200 hrs... tmrw was going to be a long day... we had to go to the Valley of Flowers.. and then back to Govindghat....
Tuesday, 12-Jul
Woke up early morning... but coz we were so damn tired.. justcould not get out of our beds... managed to somehow get moving at 0530 hrs... the legs were still in a bad shape..lots of pain still.. but we had to do it...
so packed our biscuits.. and some peanuts... and started for the VOF....
~ a bridge that we had to cross on our way to the Valley...
soon after we entered the gate.. we realised we were in a different world... i could only hear a small river flowing nearby.. and could listen to the insects... even breating heavily would be considered noise there...
it was just to beautiful.. and right now.. i hate my vocab.. i just cannot find enough words to write what i felt... just cannot :(
anyway... the pics might just help...
~ Though this was not the peak time for flowers... we still managed to catch up with a lot of them...
We were again walking on some steep paths.. though the pain was there... the beauty of the surroundings.. kept the thoughts of the pain away...
~The trek is too beautiful... steep but beautiful... tiring and relaxing...
Crossed two small glaciers.. and two landslide areas with complete care... and got stuck at a glacier about 500 metres from the Valley... it looked too dangerous to move ahead on that.. though i had a stick with me.. i was not sure i should move ahead... i was scared.. coz there were no one around to help... and a minor mistake there could have meant... death... that too in cold waters... just could not take that risk.... so stayed there for sometime.. enjoyed the view.. and headed back to the hotel.. so that we could start our journey to Govindghat from there...
~ This is what the Valley of Flowers looks like...
~The Valley of Flowers... all nature.. pure as pure can be...
~ The glacier we could not cross... Aro became too sad after this... though i was kinda content with watever we managed...
We were back in Govinddham (Ghanngria) by 0930 hrs.. had some heavy breakfast, hired a pony to carry our bags and then moved started for Govindghat by 1015 hours... Had to walk for another 13 kms... we knew its going to be a tough walk ahead... and were determined to make it through...
so we started...
~ Some camp just before Gangria... probably was an Army camp... also had a helipad there..
~ Walking in the middle of the nature with almost dead feet... pain and pleasure together...
We reached Govindghat by 1500hrs...
~ These shoes were brand new when i moved out on friday.. and look at them now :)
this where i saw remains of a tragedy which struck the small town a few days back.. a flash flood... about 11 people lost there lives.... and about 230 vehicles were destroyed beyond recognition... 200 two wheelers and about 4-wheelers... the area was still being cleared and the scooters and the bikes were being dumped at the sides... it was scary to see the state of these....
~ A bike as good as waste in GovindGhat... reminds me of the power of Nature...
had to wait till 1715 hours before we got a bus for Badrinath.... we had again missed the previous gate by just about 15 minutes...
what we landed into was another jam.. because of a landslide... waited for an hour for that to clear up... and then decided to go back to Govindghat for the night... we were already too tired to take it any longer.... and then God knows that came to our minds... both of us decided to get back home...
the decision was quick and was not questioned by anyone of the two.. so we took at jeep to Joshimath and landed at the same hotel... where the owner was really glad to see us...
Talked to him for a good 45 minutes before we went to the room... then i rushed to get the tickets for the first bus out of Joshimath to Haridwar...
had a great dinner after a nice warm bath... and slept after repacking the entire stuff by 2200 hours...
Wednesday, 13-jul
Got up at 0330 hrs... and move out by 0400 hrs to take the Himgiri Express to Haridwar.... the drive back also involved a lot of sleep... beautiful sceneries around... some fotografs...
~ The Himgiri Express parked at a place called Teen Dhara...
~ Notice the small white car being pulled up...please drive very carefully always...
~C the Earth Movers in action again...
We were in haridwar by 1600 hrs.. looked for a place to keep our bags... and then moved to the Har ki Paudi... stayed there for while.. before going to the famous Mohan Ji Poori Wale.. to stuff our tummies with Poories, Halwa, Kachories, and Gulab Jamuns... then had some good Lassi... followed by a fantabolous pan....
~At Har Ki Paudi in Haridwar
bak to the Bus stand by 1715 hours.. and took the first bus to Delhi.... a failry decent bus.. the front seats again.. so that we could get enough leg room.... though we were expecting to reach delhi by 2200 hours... a Jam struck again.. and this time near Khatauli... just before Sakauti... spent a good 2.5 hours there before we reached the ISBT late night around 0100 hours...
it was a trip well done... too muchhard work.. and surroundings that i had never seen before... i would like to go again to the same places... but then this time i would act a li'il more intelligent...
we managed the entire trip in somewhere around 2500 bucks per head... and here are a few learnings from the trip :
- Start working out atleast a month in advance when you are planning such long treks...
- Stop smoking for this time period at least....
- Always carry a pair of socks with you ;)
- A stick always helps when you are climbing up or down...
- Always look before you step forward... make sure that you do not step on the wrong side of the stones...
- Carry along with you loads of will power and mental strength....
waiting for another trip already... well.. thats what i am .....
~Weather back home was great as well... took this foto after some good showers on Thursday
Friday, 8-Jul-05
I was back from office by 1400 hrs to attend myclass.. and back home by 1700 hrs after my class... Aro was not yet in.. coz the bus he was coming had a flat tyre.. and that delayed his arrival to my place... he finally managed to reach by 1800 hrs... and then we started packing our stuff... two huge bags... and about 50 line items needed to be packed for this long 8 day trip.... we were still not sure about that plan.. about when and where we would be except that we have to move out of home asap and reach the Lal Quila to catch our bus...
we left around 1900 hrs and took an auto to reach the Chandni Chawk Red light... i felt that the 5 rolls i was carrying were not good enough and i needed more.. so we went to the market there and grabbed another 5 pack of the Fuji 100 rolls... the shopkeeper gladly gave them to me for 220 bucks.. a good Rs. 2 more then the price in the market... next stop the travel agent's counters.. and we found out that the first bus to Rishikesh would not leave before 2200 hrs... we were not ready to wait for that kinda time and move to ISBT to catch a bus...
We managed to get good seats in a faily decent 2X2 UP Roadways bus.. called the Pawan Gold... and took our seats at 2100 hours... at that time there are loads and loads of buses to Rishikesh... actually every 2 minutes you will see a bus moving into that direction... this bus looked like the most comfy of all.. and we took our tickets... cost of the tickets... 312 bucks for two... the bus finaly moved at 2145 hours after we had two big cups of the Mother Daily Mango Delight Icecream... we were expecting to reach Rishikesh by 0330 hrs in the morning... but a traffic jam after Muzaffar nagar increased the travel time by over 90 mintues...
~ UP roadways bus we took from Delhi to Rishikesh, seen here parked at the hotel near Khatauli... we had to push this bus to start it here.. making it a true 2X2 Pushback :)
Saturday, 9-July
We managed to reach Rishikesh only around 0530 hours... thanks to Traffic Jam.. and quickly rushed to the Srinagar Bas Stand.. this is where we had to take the next bus from... We were planning to go to Badrinath... we were told that we could take a bus run by GMOU Ltd. stands for the Garwal Motor Owners Union Ltd... infact most of the buses on this route are associated with this body...
when we reached there... we got to know that there was no way we could reach Badrinath by night.. as the bus was scheduled to move only at 0630 hours and it would reach Joshimath in about 12 hours... late enough to skip the last Gate from Joshimath... we had no other option but to board the bus... it was a small... actually reach small bus.. and we managed to get the first seats from the back on the gate's side... i could hardly manged my legs between the two seats.. and was wondering how i would manage to be there in that bus for about 12 hours... trust me it was not a very nice thought... anyway.. the bus moved at 0630 hours for a destination about 300 kms and 12 hours away.....
we stopped for a quick breakfast after about an hour.. and had some Aaloo Paranthaas with Curd...
~Our first break after Rishikesh.. what you see in the foto is the bus which took us to Joshimath...
Long travel that was.. and the view outside the windows was really beautiful.. most of the time was spent sleeping and the rest looking outside the window.... we passed through.. Srinagar ( in Garhwal), RudraPrayag, KaranPrayag, Nand Prayag, PipalKoti etc to reach Joshimath in the evening...
We got stuck in a Jam caused by a landslide and had to waste about 45 minutes waiting for it to get cleared... and once it was done.. we moved ahead...
~ The road being cleared... Border Roads Organisation has done a great job with the roads on this route...
One thing which i noticed here in the jam was the disclipline with parking... reminded me of the reason why we got late on our way to Rishikesh.. the traffic from one side of the road would try and take as much space as they can.. and then block all the lanes that the traffic from the other side can use to cross.. but here it was different... the vehicles were nicely parked at one side of the road... and ensured that there was enough space forthe vehicles from the other side to cross when the road clears up...
~ Notice the way vehicles have been parked... rare sight in a jam if this was in Delhi...
We manged to reach Joshimath earlier then expected.. it was 1700hrs... and we got to know that we had missed the last gate only by 30 minutes... if we had not been caught in that Jam.. we would have reached Badrinath in the night itself... anyway... li'il that we could do about it... we searched for the GMVN ( Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam) Guest house... and did not find it upto the mark... the room rent was 350 bucks for a night.. and it was not in the best shape either.. so we decided to look for something cheaper and better.. and then checked in a hotel called Hotel Sriram right next to the Guest house.. for a room which was for Rs. 250 a night.. definitely better then the guest house.. and the owner of the hotel was a very nice fella himself.. we spent about 30 minutes talking to him before we moved into the room... the view from the room was very beautiful... the air pure and the feeling great...
~ The view from our room at Joshimath...
Took a back with freezing cold water... and had a quick dinner before sleeping... did not take much time for our tired bodies to get to sleep... we had decided that instead of the going to Badrinath we would go to Govindghat.. and then to Hemkund Sahib and the Valley of Flowers before we move to Badrinath...
Sunday, 10-July
We got up early... around 0500 hours... managed to reach the gate by 0545 hours.. this is where we could get a bus to Govindghat.... managed to get the seats in a decent bus which moved at 0600 hrs... and we were in Govindghat by 0645 hours....
~The Gate system at Joshimath... to avoid any jams on the small road ahead !!!
We just could not stop looking at the mountains when we reached Govindghat.. the view was magical.. clouds all over.. huge majestic mountains... lovely wind...
~ Got down of the bus at Govindghat... the view was too beautiful to move from there...
and then we received a shock !!!!
we had thought that we could take a cab/taxi something to Ghangria... but this is where we realised that we had to walk 13 kms to reach Ghangria also known as Govinddham... anyway... li'il we could do about it... so we starting walking... and realised it in the first 500 metres that it was not going to be easy... though the weather was good.. there was no sun.. and it was kinda cool too... we were still all in sweat... and we had bags which weighed over 10 kgs each... it was going to be one challanging journey...
~ Rafting anyone :) the sound of the waters could tell you about its might too...
I just could not take it anymore after about 6 kms.. and had to hire a pony... no no.. not for myself.. but the bag... talking about ponies... this entire path had a never ending smell of horse shit...
so basically you would breath air.. walk on stones.. listen to a small but very mighty river and smell horst shit on this way from Govindghat to Ghangria... there are plenty of small shops all along the path where you can get cold drinks (the 500 ml bottles) for 25 bucks... glucose buiscit packets for about 10 bucks... and anything to eat... and if it is packed... it is going to be awefully expensive.. and the prices would increase as the altitude increases....
We reached Ghangria around 1500 hours... very tired.. and very hungry.. and it had also started raining a li'il... and we did not have our raingear with us.. it was in the bag.. and the bags with the TattoWalla... who had already reached about 30 minutes before us...
~Our hotel at Ghangria
we had a quick afternoon meal... well.. for a meal we had some noodles... and then we checked into this small but decent hotel called the Hotel Pritam...
We were too tired and it did not take us more then 30 minutes to fall asleep... which means were already in deep sleep by 1600 hours....
We woke up around 2000 hrs... i guess we were hungry.. and then had a nice walk around the place... and some bad dinner... and some great Gulab Jamuns ( tat too at a price of just 5 bucks each)... now with everything so bloddy expensive there.. this treat was more then wat we could ask for... anyway...after having the sweets we headed back to our hotel... applied some move on the legs... they were in real bad pain.. and then went off to sleep to get up early next morning...
Monday, 11-Jul
Woke up at 0430 hours.. thanks to the alarm in my mobile... an alarm clock was all it could have been used for.. coz there were no signals i could catchafter rishikesh.. anyway.. that was something that i really liked... no one could call me up... away from the world....
so by 0530 hours were out of the hotel.. had some biscuits and some tea at a tea stall and then started our trek for Hemkund Sahib.... had no clue what were heading for... we thought what we had experienced in the last three kms to Ghangria was the worst that could happen.. it was a climb at 45 degs.. and we were walking on stones... had to look at every stone we were stepping on... otherwise would end up having some strained muscles.. and fractures...
anyway.. we knew it was going to be tough... 6 kms... and moving from 3049 m to Hemkund Sahib @ 4329 m.
~ 100s of Ponies are there in the morning... costs about150 bucks to reach the Glacieron the pony and then walk from there...
We were walking on a path which was not one of the best laid.. i remember looking at every stone that i kept my feet on...
~ The kinda path we were walking on.. this is a better part of the entire way...
But trust me.. it was worth it... the views that we had from the way.... the air that we were breathing.. the faith that we witnessed... it made it all worth it... people of all ages.. kids, women, men.. old or young... everyone was determined to climb up and reach the Gurudwara...
~ Look at the steep climb... some determination it takes to do this trek...
~ What a view... made all the pain worth it...
Finally after walking for over 4 hours... crossing a Glacier.. and climbing up over 1200 steps ( there were two ways to the Gurudwara after the glacier.. we could take the stairs or the slope.. we chose to walk on the steps... knowing that it is tougher to climb up the steps.. we still took'em... wanted to reach faster actually)
~ The Glacier we had to cross to reach Hemkund Sahib... looks scary.. and was too..
~Ice on my hand... and me on a Glacier...
The view at the Guru Dwara was breathtaking... it was just too beautiful to be described in words... i do not know enough adjectives to describe what i saw... so will just stick to some pics...
~ The lake near Hemkund Sahib...can't believe i actually dip my feet in it...
~Hemkund Sahib
I managed to gather enough courage to dip my legs in the lake near the GuruDwara and wash my face with the water.. it was freezing cold... can't tell u how bad i was shivering after i did that dare.. and there were ppl who were taking a dip in there.. .phew.. how did they manage it.. is something that they only know... to make things worse.. it started raining.. which dipped the temprature to sub-zero level and then the only pair of socks that i was wearing got wet... man !!! i was not in a good situation there...
went inside the GuruDwara...
came back...
had some hot and really tasty Khichdi and Tea at the Langar.. and then started walking back...
which turned out to be more painful and long then we expected.. every time i was keeping myfoot down on a stone.. the entire leg used to cry out loud in pain.. from my ankles to my knees... it seemed that i just could not take it any longer.. but still there was no other option but to carry on... and so we did...
and reached Ghangria at 1500 hours... with almost broken bones.. had managed to save myself from slipping a couple of times as well... the knees and the ankles were in pain like hell... and yet there was a satisfaction of achieving something that a lot of ppl do not...
~ Ghangria when we came back from Hemkund Sahib...
before we could sit down for lunch in our hotel.. there was a huge sound of stones falling.. and it was just behind ourhotel... we had to run hard to save ourself... the sound made us feel that a stone could hit us any moment.. but we were lucky.. though the noises were scary... the landslide was at a distance... so no harm done to anyone...
had a good lunch.... and then were off to sleep by 1630hours... not before applying lot of Move to our legs... this is were we realised how soothing these lotions can be...
got up around 2000 hrs for dinner... had a quick bite.. and then our favorite Gulab Jamuns and went off to sleep again by 2200 hrs... tmrw was going to be a long day... we had to go to the Valley of Flowers.. and then back to Govindghat....
Tuesday, 12-Jul
Woke up early morning... but coz we were so damn tired.. justcould not get out of our beds... managed to somehow get moving at 0530 hrs... the legs were still in a bad shape..lots of pain still.. but we had to do it...
so packed our biscuits.. and some peanuts... and started for the VOF....
~ a bridge that we had to cross on our way to the Valley...
soon after we entered the gate.. we realised we were in a different world... i could only hear a small river flowing nearby.. and could listen to the insects... even breating heavily would be considered noise there...
it was just to beautiful.. and right now.. i hate my vocab.. i just cannot find enough words to write what i felt... just cannot :(
anyway... the pics might just help...
~ Though this was not the peak time for flowers... we still managed to catch up with a lot of them...
We were again walking on some steep paths.. though the pain was there... the beauty of the surroundings.. kept the thoughts of the pain away...
~The trek is too beautiful... steep but beautiful... tiring and relaxing...
Crossed two small glaciers.. and two landslide areas with complete care... and got stuck at a glacier about 500 metres from the Valley... it looked too dangerous to move ahead on that.. though i had a stick with me.. i was not sure i should move ahead... i was scared.. coz there were no one around to help... and a minor mistake there could have meant... death... that too in cold waters... just could not take that risk.... so stayed there for sometime.. enjoyed the view.. and headed back to the hotel.. so that we could start our journey to Govindghat from there...
~ This is what the Valley of Flowers looks like...
~The Valley of Flowers... all nature.. pure as pure can be...
~ The glacier we could not cross... Aro became too sad after this... though i was kinda content with watever we managed...
We were back in Govinddham (Ghanngria) by 0930 hrs.. had some heavy breakfast, hired a pony to carry our bags and then moved started for Govindghat by 1015 hours... Had to walk for another 13 kms... we knew its going to be a tough walk ahead... and were determined to make it through...
so we started...
~ Some camp just before Gangria... probably was an Army camp... also had a helipad there..
~ Walking in the middle of the nature with almost dead feet... pain and pleasure together...
We reached Govindghat by 1500hrs...
~ These shoes were brand new when i moved out on friday.. and look at them now :)
this where i saw remains of a tragedy which struck the small town a few days back.. a flash flood... about 11 people lost there lives.... and about 230 vehicles were destroyed beyond recognition... 200 two wheelers and about 4-wheelers... the area was still being cleared and the scooters and the bikes were being dumped at the sides... it was scary to see the state of these....
~ A bike as good as waste in GovindGhat... reminds me of the power of Nature...
had to wait till 1715 hours before we got a bus for Badrinath.... we had again missed the previous gate by just about 15 minutes...
what we landed into was another jam.. because of a landslide... waited for an hour for that to clear up... and then decided to go back to Govindghat for the night... we were already too tired to take it any longer.... and then God knows that came to our minds... both of us decided to get back home...
the decision was quick and was not questioned by anyone of the two.. so we took at jeep to Joshimath and landed at the same hotel... where the owner was really glad to see us...
Talked to him for a good 45 minutes before we went to the room... then i rushed to get the tickets for the first bus out of Joshimath to Haridwar...
had a great dinner after a nice warm bath... and slept after repacking the entire stuff by 2200 hours...
Wednesday, 13-jul
Got up at 0330 hrs... and move out by 0400 hrs to take the Himgiri Express to Haridwar.... the drive back also involved a lot of sleep... beautiful sceneries around... some fotografs...
~ The Himgiri Express parked at a place called Teen Dhara...
~ Notice the small white car being pulled up...please drive very carefully always...
~C the Earth Movers in action again...
We were in haridwar by 1600 hrs.. looked for a place to keep our bags... and then moved to the Har ki Paudi... stayed there for while.. before going to the famous Mohan Ji Poori Wale.. to stuff our tummies with Poories, Halwa, Kachories, and Gulab Jamuns... then had some good Lassi... followed by a fantabolous pan....
~At Har Ki Paudi in Haridwar
bak to the Bus stand by 1715 hours.. and took the first bus to Delhi.... a failry decent bus.. the front seats again.. so that we could get enough leg room.... though we were expecting to reach delhi by 2200 hours... a Jam struck again.. and this time near Khatauli... just before Sakauti... spent a good 2.5 hours there before we reached the ISBT late night around 0100 hours...
it was a trip well done... too muchhard work.. and surroundings that i had never seen before... i would like to go again to the same places... but then this time i would act a li'il more intelligent...
we managed the entire trip in somewhere around 2500 bucks per head... and here are a few learnings from the trip :
- Start working out atleast a month in advance when you are planning such long treks...
- Stop smoking for this time period at least....
- Always carry a pair of socks with you ;)
- A stick always helps when you are climbing up or down...
- Always look before you step forward... make sure that you do not step on the wrong side of the stones...
- Carry along with you loads of will power and mental strength....
waiting for another trip already... well.. thats what i am .....
~Weather back home was great as well... took this foto after some good showers on Thursday
The pictures from the trip are available HERE.
07/07/05
fLaT TyRe !!!
exactly 12233 kms after I got the car.. i had my first flat tyre today.... even the tyre had to choose a day like today for rest... all mud around the tyre.. and now after i changed with the Spare... i have my entire Boot Space in mud.. and the Brand new tyre all soiled too .... will wash that tyre before I put it back in the car !!!!
Tmrw I would be out of delhi for a good nine days... the plan is to go to Joshimath and then decide where I can do from there.. depending on the weather...
Looking forward to see a lot of
Tmrw I would be out of delhi for a good nine days... the plan is to go to Joshimath and then decide where I can do from there.. depending on the weather...
Looking forward to see a lot of
- Rain
- Clouds
- Hills
- Snow
- Flowers
- Lakes
30/06/05
FinALLy
a week and a half to go before i get out of here... next friday is when my first of its kinds trip begins.. and i am really really looking forward to it... i have always read about the valley of flowers.. and i know that there is a place called AULI where you can find snow 12 months in an year.. and i have heard that Badrinath and Rudraprayag are beautiful places to be in... and now is the time when i am going there to be a part of that magical atmosphere...
i am really excited about it...
going from Delhi to Rishikesh to Joshimath to Govindghat to Ghangeria to Valley of Flowers to Gangheria to Hemkund Sahib to Gangheria to Badrinath to Joshimath to Auli to Joshimath to Tapovan to Joshimath to Rishikesh to Delhi...
phew... 8th July to 17th... Nine Days of bLi SS !!!
p.s. any thoughts and suggestions.. more then welcome....
i am really excited about it...
going from Delhi to Rishikesh to Joshimath to Govindghat to Ghangeria to Valley of Flowers to Gangheria to Hemkund Sahib to Gangheria to Badrinath to Joshimath to Auli to Joshimath to Tapovan to Joshimath to Rishikesh to Delhi...
phew... 8th July to 17th... Nine Days of bLi SS !!!
p.s. any thoughts and suggestions.. more then welcome....
24/06/05
19/06/05
hEaVy hEaVy !!!
how does it feel to have a lot inside you... and a deep desire and need to take it out... and not being able to find anyone to speak about it... i dunno whats happening to me these days... i seem to angry with everything around me... my ma my pa my friends who are not there... my days.. my evenings... bless me God for i need these days to pass by me....
if anyone would ask me what happened.. there probably would not be any answer to tat question.. coz i myself do not know... just another one of those days i guess.. where you feel that the world is just not right.... am thinking too much... too much...
on a lighter note... saw two movies.. ok three in two days... Batman Begins on saturday night... Parineeta today... liked both the movies.... worth watching for everyone who has not done that yet...
loved one song of Parineeta.. just loved it... Pihu Bole... beautiful...
if anyone would ask me what happened.. there probably would not be any answer to tat question.. coz i myself do not know... just another one of those days i guess.. where you feel that the world is just not right.... am thinking too much... too much...
on a lighter note... saw two movies.. ok three in two days... Batman Begins on saturday night... Parineeta today... liked both the movies.... worth watching for everyone who has not done that yet...
loved one song of Parineeta.. just loved it... Pihu Bole... beautiful...
12/06/05
EgO SuRf :)
Well.... i remember this activity with the name ego surf...
what you do is that you type your name in the Google Search bar... and then click on search.. and see what comes up...
to my surprise and delight.. the first three results were from my blog when i searched for prashant bhardwaj.... Go ahead... try it out yourself... but do not blame me for the results *colonD* (stole this term from Tushar's Dictionary)
10/06/05
AMD FiNaLLy !!!
:) why this smile...welll this is my first post from my home machine.. yippieeeeeeeeeeeeeee
i bought a new computer... something that i have been thinking of for over an year now... and my favorite brand (don't ask me why) AMD is in my house...
i have a AMD 2400 XP machine with a 80 GB HDD and 512 MB of ram with a 333 mhz FSB... this babe is working like a rocket right now... compare it to the last one that i had... hehehe... 530 mhz celeron processor with a 64mb ram chip... now thats what you call a jump... world record of sorts... is it?
I am happy :)
i bought a new computer... something that i have been thinking of for over an year now... and my favorite brand (don't ask me why) AMD is in my house...
i have a AMD 2400 XP machine with a 80 GB HDD and 512 MB of ram with a 333 mhz FSB... this babe is working like a rocket right now... compare it to the last one that i had... hehehe... 530 mhz celeron processor with a 64mb ram chip... now thats what you call a jump... world record of sorts... is it?
I am happy :)
06/06/05
SuCCeSS sToRiEs !!!
Ma circle is getting better....
which circle... friends' circle... why is it getting betta'... well here is why...
2001 : I knew ppl who were struggling hard to get a job, who were still not sure of how life is going to treat them and they were annoyed, frustrated with the kinda market we had... a pack of strugglers.. ppl who did not want to give up and had the guts and sprit to move ahead and fight the present for a better future... even i was struggling to get a place somewhere in the industry... IT did not like me.. BPO did.. and i joined it..
2003 : had made a lot of new friends in the last two years... and had seen them grow along from agents to L2 techs and team leaders.. and the ones who were with me in my masters... got jobs.. some good.. some ok sorts.. but still carried on... i was also moving ahead.... though not vertically but was maturing as a professional...
2005: another two years of hard work and play together... moved from being an Technical support associate in Wipro spectramind to a Team leader in Hughes to a Process Architect with IBM. my friends... the new and the old... moved up and ahead too...
Waquar, Ashish Saxena, Rupak , Sunil, Ashutosh, everyone is doing well.. they are from my PG batch of 2001
Waquar with HFCL.. and married too :)
Ashish Saxena.. finally where he wanted to be... in the core Telco work with Wipro banglore...
Sunil and Rupak with Agilent technologies...
Ashu with Motorola... he recently bought a flat for himself in Pune... good news !!!
I still remember the days when Me, Waquar, Ashish and Ashu were trying to get some companies to do a campus interviews in 2001.. what a tough time that was..
am missing out on some names here coz i am not sure where they are doing what... i guess sheetal and priyanka are in b'lore as well...
Ashraf is in Europe, Gaurav is in UK too...
and Pradeep Duggal... he joined the Indian Army in the third sem of our PG... and we have not been in regular contact since...
Jassi, Dipayan, Maya, Mansi, Aditya, Ashish, Batra.. all of them from my spectra group...
Jassi now a Group Lead in Spectra,
Dipayan a team lead in Daksh,
Maya and Mansi doing well their respective research firms,
Batra still with Wipro Banglore... he joined it after we worked together for about an year in spectra...
Adi with Microland as an assistant manager...
Ashish with his own business in digital printing.. and happily married to his long time gurlfriend Deepti, infact he still prefers calling her his girlfriend then wife...
some names that i still remember and have no clue about what they are doing..
Amit, Nash or Navneet ( i guess he is with Oracle these days), Gagan ( i used to call her Gabbar :), Dipankar, Bruce aka Vikram, Joshua, and lots of them more...
Coming to Hughes now.. a place where I think i learnt the most out of all the places i have been...
bad boss good boss bad management good management appraisal hikes work culture magicians escalations emulator green belt six sigma love hate growth
there is so much that happened there
mine was the first batch to take voice in Hughes.. and i was the ONE who took the first ever voice call which came to Hughes BPO.. actually technically it should have been Aditya Anand.. but that idiot dropped the first call.. hehehe.. so its me now :) and for some reason.. Jadoo ( our intranet site in Hughes had Manish Jain's name and foto for his historical moment) aaaaaaargh.. anyway... first batch for voice.. lotsa things to do.. all of us from the BPO background.. and also knew the opportunity that was there... me and narang were fortunate enough to realise it with Nishant who was a Team lead then... and started working on the idea... helped us a lot and it was not long before we guys were recognised and were handling teams on our own.. Team Leaders to say !!! hughes is another story to write actually.. some other time may be.. that is not the intent of this post actually...
so from ppl who were taking calls for 8 hours a day and more at times...we moved to being team leaders, assistant managers, and managers and program managers...
Me Aro Sanjit Arun Sudip Sunil Shaji Hati Jai moved from being agents to Team Leads
Narang moved from being an agent to a Team lead to an Asst. Manager to a Program Manager now...
Nishant amit now are managers from a move from Team Leaders to Asst. Team Leaders...
Vikas Naveen asst managers from being agents to Team Leads and to the current post...
Somu from a Team Lead to an Asst Manager to Business Development for HSS or FSS...
i think i have missed out on a few names here too.. but then what the heck.. remembering so many ppl and so many names 14 months after leaving the company is a good deal :) so ppl whoz names are not here.. do not mind... just lemme know you are missing...
and my friends from my locality.. from the net also deserve a mention here...
Pawan aka tiger... IIM Indore.. eh...
Neha the scientist Issar :) in Paris trying to figure out why don't mosquitos have malaria...
Gaurav Japan Srivastava.. the Japani fotographer.. who still remains the same fella for me even though we were not talking for over 4 years... my teacher in fotography too..
And the person who is the reason why I wrote this post.. Bharti... how did that happen.. well i do not know... she is now an Architect from the School of Planning and Architecture.. and was very very tensed before her jury.. and i was kinda concerned too.. but as expected she is thru... done with her jury.. and a happy architect now :) with a lot of time with herself.. we discussed something in detail about dreams which i might post sometime later....
was talking to her yesterday.. and thought of all the ppl i know who are success stories in themselves... ppl who have fought the present and crossed the hurdles that came in their way... and are where they are today...
I am proud of all of my friends whether you see their name here or not....
Good going everyone... Keep walking...
which circle... friends' circle... why is it getting betta'... well here is why...
2001 : I knew ppl who were struggling hard to get a job, who were still not sure of how life is going to treat them and they were annoyed, frustrated with the kinda market we had... a pack of strugglers.. ppl who did not want to give up and had the guts and sprit to move ahead and fight the present for a better future... even i was struggling to get a place somewhere in the industry... IT did not like me.. BPO did.. and i joined it..
2003 : had made a lot of new friends in the last two years... and had seen them grow along from agents to L2 techs and team leaders.. and the ones who were with me in my masters... got jobs.. some good.. some ok sorts.. but still carried on... i was also moving ahead.... though not vertically but was maturing as a professional...
2005: another two years of hard work and play together... moved from being an Technical support associate in Wipro spectramind to a Team leader in Hughes to a Process Architect with IBM. my friends... the new and the old... moved up and ahead too...
Waquar, Ashish Saxena, Rupak , Sunil, Ashutosh, everyone is doing well.. they are from my PG batch of 2001
Waquar with HFCL.. and married too :)
Ashish Saxena.. finally where he wanted to be... in the core Telco work with Wipro banglore...
Sunil and Rupak with Agilent technologies...
Ashu with Motorola... he recently bought a flat for himself in Pune... good news !!!
I still remember the days when Me, Waquar, Ashish and Ashu were trying to get some companies to do a campus interviews in 2001.. what a tough time that was..
am missing out on some names here coz i am not sure where they are doing what... i guess sheetal and priyanka are in b'lore as well...
Ashraf is in Europe, Gaurav is in UK too...
and Pradeep Duggal... he joined the Indian Army in the third sem of our PG... and we have not been in regular contact since...
Jassi, Dipayan, Maya, Mansi, Aditya, Ashish, Batra.. all of them from my spectra group...
Jassi now a Group Lead in Spectra,
Dipayan a team lead in Daksh,
Maya and Mansi doing well their respective research firms,
Batra still with Wipro Banglore... he joined it after we worked together for about an year in spectra...
Adi with Microland as an assistant manager...
Ashish with his own business in digital printing.. and happily married to his long time gurlfriend Deepti, infact he still prefers calling her his girlfriend then wife...
some names that i still remember and have no clue about what they are doing..
Amit, Nash or Navneet ( i guess he is with Oracle these days), Gagan ( i used to call her Gabbar :), Dipankar, Bruce aka Vikram, Joshua, and lots of them more...
Coming to Hughes now.. a place where I think i learnt the most out of all the places i have been...
bad boss good boss bad management good management appraisal hikes work culture magicians escalations emulator green belt six sigma love hate growth
there is so much that happened there
mine was the first batch to take voice in Hughes.. and i was the ONE who took the first ever voice call which came to Hughes BPO.. actually technically it should have been Aditya Anand.. but that idiot dropped the first call.. hehehe.. so its me now :) and for some reason.. Jadoo ( our intranet site in Hughes had Manish Jain's name and foto for his historical moment) aaaaaaargh.. anyway... first batch for voice.. lotsa things to do.. all of us from the BPO background.. and also knew the opportunity that was there... me and narang were fortunate enough to realise it with Nishant who was a Team lead then... and started working on the idea... helped us a lot and it was not long before we guys were recognised and were handling teams on our own.. Team Leaders to say !!! hughes is another story to write actually.. some other time may be.. that is not the intent of this post actually...
so from ppl who were taking calls for 8 hours a day and more at times...we moved to being team leaders, assistant managers, and managers and program managers...
Me Aro Sanjit Arun Sudip Sunil Shaji Hati Jai moved from being agents to Team Leads
Narang moved from being an agent to a Team lead to an Asst. Manager to a Program Manager now...
Nishant amit now are managers from a move from Team Leaders to Asst. Team Leaders...
Vikas Naveen asst managers from being agents to Team Leads and to the current post...
Somu from a Team Lead to an Asst Manager to Business Development for HSS or FSS...
i think i have missed out on a few names here too.. but then what the heck.. remembering so many ppl and so many names 14 months after leaving the company is a good deal :) so ppl whoz names are not here.. do not mind... just lemme know you are missing...
and my friends from my locality.. from the net also deserve a mention here...
Pawan aka tiger... IIM Indore.. eh...
Neha the scientist Issar :) in Paris trying to figure out why don't mosquitos have malaria...
Gaurav Japan Srivastava.. the Japani fotographer.. who still remains the same fella for me even though we were not talking for over 4 years... my teacher in fotography too..
And the person who is the reason why I wrote this post.. Bharti... how did that happen.. well i do not know... she is now an Architect from the School of Planning and Architecture.. and was very very tensed before her jury.. and i was kinda concerned too.. but as expected she is thru... done with her jury.. and a happy architect now :) with a lot of time with herself.. we discussed something in detail about dreams which i might post sometime later....
was talking to her yesterday.. and thought of all the ppl i know who are success stories in themselves... ppl who have fought the present and crossed the hurdles that came in their way... and are where they are today...
I am proud of all of my friends whether you see their name here or not....
Good going everyone... Keep walking...
04/06/05
x-pReSSion, FiLmi iShTyLe !!!
my latest hobby... browsing thru Economic times website and look for something interesting to read online.... this interesting is something that might be talking about some companies... their plans to grow and diversify... whats new coming to india... what the latest happening in some industry...
and here is what i stumbled upon... not really applicable for me as of now... but whenever the need comes i just might go back to this link and take a few tips.... till then... if you were wondering on how to..... go ahead.... Express your love, filmi style!!!
and here is what i stumbled upon... not really applicable for me as of now... but whenever the need comes i just might go back to this link and take a few tips.... till then... if you were wondering on how to..... go ahead.... Express your love, filmi style!!!
03/06/05
WaLKiNg ArOuNd !!!
I have been googling around the last few days... not doing anything worthwhile.. just wasting away time... *i think i need to get more serious about a couple of things in life if i have to move ahead... and if i do not realise this.. i just might be too late !!!!* anyway... we will discuss that later... me and me and me... there is so much other then me happening here....
read thru Auburn's blog to help myself decide on having Water or Coke to take care of my thirst...
And Alka's blog to read about the pains a girl goes through... though i think there is much much more to that in a relationship.. this post of hers only talks about the sad part...
Was happy and suprised to see my name on the Indibloggers list.. i have no clue how my URL reached there... and it was good to find out some ppl actually came to my blog from there too... am I on the world map here ;)
Tushar managed to eat a packet of Taka-Tak and liked it too.. and has given some valuable inputs to help Haldiram's do a better job with this snack....
Though an old post.. and very interesting... Tipsy Topsy's rowing exp in Nainital.... though me and ma friends did not really like that place on our two day trip to bhimtal and around.. and are not going back there at any cost.. but i kinda know a lot of ppl who like going to Nainital.... well their call.. who am i to decide for them....
RaVi hAnDa has some good tips for guys here.... Worth reading !!!! and specially for those who are the target in Alka's blog....
Kayla mixed emotions reminded me of the times when I was about to complete my schooling, my grad and my post grad... what great times were those...
and why was I googling.. well i want to go the valley of flowers this july.. and i have no clue on how to make the itenary... need to figure out a lot of things.. and guess would need to buy some camping gear and a bagpack too... lets see how it works for me....
wish me luck everyone...
oh.. and ... yippieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
the weekend is coming :)
read thru Auburn's blog to help myself decide on having Water or Coke to take care of my thirst...
And Alka's blog to read about the pains a girl goes through... though i think there is much much more to that in a relationship.. this post of hers only talks about the sad part...
Was happy and suprised to see my name on the Indibloggers list.. i have no clue how my URL reached there... and it was good to find out some ppl actually came to my blog from there too... am I on the world map here ;)
Tushar managed to eat a packet of Taka-Tak and liked it too.. and has given some valuable inputs to help Haldiram's do a better job with this snack....
Though an old post.. and very interesting... Tipsy Topsy's rowing exp in Nainital.... though me and ma friends did not really like that place on our two day trip to bhimtal and around.. and are not going back there at any cost.. but i kinda know a lot of ppl who like going to Nainital.... well their call.. who am i to decide for them....
RaVi hAnDa has some good tips for guys here.... Worth reading !!!! and specially for those who are the target in Alka's blog....
Kayla mixed emotions reminded me of the times when I was about to complete my schooling, my grad and my post grad... what great times were those...
and why was I googling.. well i want to go the valley of flowers this july.. and i have no clue on how to make the itenary... need to figure out a lot of things.. and guess would need to buy some camping gear and a bagpack too... lets see how it works for me....
wish me luck everyone...
oh.. and ... yippieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
the weekend is coming :)
02/06/05
oUt WiTh iT !!!
have been thinking about this for a few days now... communications, conversations, relations, expectations everything mixed up... was wondering why and how people who were friends once tend to move away from each other...
is it that our lives take different turns with time... or our priorities differ... or as Raina says "out of sight.. out of mind"... not really sure...
i am wondering why ppl who once used to be an integral part of my social circle are now nowhere to be seen.. except in some old photographs or some occasional phone calls which are good enough to remind me of the great times we had...
where did the distances creep in from... how come "moving on" became leaving the great present behind...i must say in a lot of cases.. i stopped making any efforts to be in touch... there used be so li'il to talk about.. and at times i feel.. just a casual hello call would have done wonders to keep things alive...and in some of the cases.. where i did some sincere efforts to keep in touch the magic "two way communication" did not happen and eventually those relationships came to a halt...
during all these letting go times.. i managed to earn a lot of new friends... and continued with letting the olders ones go !!! and somewhere down the line i feel that life has become more like a automobile assembly line... where things come to get together... they grow together for a while.. and then comes a time.. when the near perfect piece of machine moves on.... leaving the assembly line there... to think of the good and the bad which got into the machines when they were there...
is this note getting too pessimistic.. well that was not the idea.. the idea was really to find out
why ppl go away... why do we let the best of our friends move away knowing that they are invaluable for us...
why do we part saying that i will be a phone call away.. and not that i will call you sometime...
why do we part saying that i am gonna crib if you do not write an email... and not that i will try and write to you...
why do we part saying "bye bye"... and not "see you"... ( this reminds me of Aarti... who never used to say Bai... she always said C U... good goings Aarts... God bless...)
phew... too heavy a note.. but i am feeling kinda light after getting all this junk outta my head...
time to read the lyrics of a song and try to humm whatever i remember of the music....
Well the years start coming
So much to do so much to see
Hey now you're an All Star
And all that glitters is gold
It's a cool place and they say it gets colder
The ice we skate is getting pretty thin
Hey now you're an All Star
And all that glitters is gold
Hey now you're an All Star
And all that glitters is gold
Somebody once asked
I said yep
Well the years start coming
So much to do so much to see
Hey now you're an All Star
And all that glitters is gold
Thanks Smashmouth....NOW ME IS FEELING BETTER :)
is it that our lives take different turns with time... or our priorities differ... or as Raina says "out of sight.. out of mind"... not really sure...
i am wondering why ppl who once used to be an integral part of my social circle are now nowhere to be seen.. except in some old photographs or some occasional phone calls which are good enough to remind me of the great times we had...
where did the distances creep in from... how come "moving on" became leaving the great present behind...i must say in a lot of cases.. i stopped making any efforts to be in touch... there used be so li'il to talk about.. and at times i feel.. just a casual hello call would have done wonders to keep things alive...and in some of the cases.. where i did some sincere efforts to keep in touch the magic "two way communication" did not happen and eventually those relationships came to a halt...
during all these letting go times.. i managed to earn a lot of new friends... and continued with letting the olders ones go !!! and somewhere down the line i feel that life has become more like a automobile assembly line... where things come to get together... they grow together for a while.. and then comes a time.. when the near perfect piece of machine moves on.... leaving the assembly line there... to think of the good and the bad which got into the machines when they were there...
is this note getting too pessimistic.. well that was not the idea.. the idea was really to find out
why ppl go away... why do we let the best of our friends move away knowing that they are invaluable for us...
why do we part saying that i will be a phone call away.. and not that i will call you sometime...
why do we part saying that i am gonna crib if you do not write an email... and not that i will try and write to you...
why do we part saying "bye bye"... and not "see you"... ( this reminds me of Aarti... who never used to say Bai... she always said C U... good goings Aarts... God bless...)
phew... too heavy a note.. but i am feeling kinda light after getting all this junk outta my head...
time to read the lyrics of a song and try to humm whatever i remember of the music....
Somebody once told me
The world is gonna roll me
I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed
She was looking kind of dumb
With her finger and her thumb
In the shape of an "L" on her forehead
Well the years start coming
And they don't stop coming
Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running
Didn't make sense not to live for fun
Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb
So much to do so much to see
So what's wrong with taking the back streets?
You'll never know if you don't go
You'll never shine if you don't glow
Hey 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
It's a cool place and they say it gets colder
You're bundled up now
But wait 'til you get older
But the meteor men beg to differ
Judging by the hole in the satellite picture
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
Hey 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
Hey 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...
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
Well the years start coming
And they don't coming
Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running
Didn't make sense not to live for fun
Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb
So much to do so much to see
So what's wrong with taking the back streets
You'll never know if you don't go (GO)
You'll never shine if you don't glow
Hey 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
Thanks Smashmouth....NOW ME IS FEELING BETTER :)
31/05/05
RiDiNg mY fRiEnD's DrEaMz !!!
Riding my friend's dream... literally.... last to last weekend i was in Gurgaon... just to catch up with old friends... yes old... the reference is to their age :)Why am i writing about something that happened a fortnight ago right now... well coz the picture proofs of that meeting came yesterday... hang in there you will know what am i talking about !!!
so i meet aro.. at his apartment... yeah.. thats wat they call in in the firangland.. an apartment... where he treated me to a chilled mug of LASSI :) and i had it in a huge BEER MUG... well why.. just to get the feel of having beer ;) anyway... and after some usual and unusual stupid and not so stupid convos about life, and the extra terrestrial ( that would be him) and shuffling the settings of his deck and the TV, we decided to go to Hughes....
Narang was there in the evening shift.. and it was great to meet him as usual... he listened to the new amp and the tube in my car.. and was happy and satisfied with the output though agreed that it needed some minor tweaking for a better performance...
so the time came.. and i was excited to see what i really was there to see... his new old bike... well new coz he bought it recently.. and old coz its a 1987 model... is he crazy... yes he is.. and the bike is crazier... its a Yamaha RD 350.... hearing it growl when he kick started it was amazing.. and i had no clye what it was capable of until narang asked me to sit at the back seat and hold on to him... i heard that our loved Abhijit Hati freaked out after 5 mintues on that bike and i was advised to be careful..... so i was... and trust me i was holding narang for good... i almost fell when he accelerated the bike... what else do you expect from a raw insane power pack which can go from 0 to 100 kmph in 9 seconds flat....
what followed next was a long short drive... long thanks to the kilometres we covered.. and short thanks to the time it took.... the bike was roared like a lion and get respect automatically on the road... phew what a ride that was....
thinking about the kinda bike enthusiast narang is.. it would not be long that this baby is going to shine and move like a brand new one... enough of words...
time for some fotos now....
and for those who want some tech details.. here is what you might like to read about the bike....
1987 Rajdoot RD350 LT
- 0.5 Bore running Genuine ART pistons.
- Stock Mikuni Carbs with 165 Main Jets.
- Original Jap Points
- Stock Pipes
- Wire Mesh Filter
- Genuine Yamaha Chain Set with 17 teeth Front Sprocket.
- Stock Seat.
- Paint and decals are intact.
- Tops out at 140 ( Speedo ) (* trust me this happens with this bike*)
this would be worth another foto shoot.. in day light and when narang is back in India after his trip from Mexico with the parts and accessories he needs to get this baby burning the road !!!
so i meet aro.. at his apartment... yeah.. thats wat they call in in the firangland.. an apartment... where he treated me to a chilled mug of LASSI :) and i had it in a huge BEER MUG... well why.. just to get the feel of having beer ;) anyway... and after some usual and unusual stupid and not so stupid convos about life, and the extra terrestrial ( that would be him) and shuffling the settings of his deck and the TV, we decided to go to Hughes....
Narang was there in the evening shift.. and it was great to meet him as usual... he listened to the new amp and the tube in my car.. and was happy and satisfied with the output though agreed that it needed some minor tweaking for a better performance...
so the time came.. and i was excited to see what i really was there to see... his new old bike... well new coz he bought it recently.. and old coz its a 1987 model... is he crazy... yes he is.. and the bike is crazier... its a Yamaha RD 350.... hearing it growl when he kick started it was amazing.. and i had no clye what it was capable of until narang asked me to sit at the back seat and hold on to him... i heard that our loved Abhijit Hati freaked out after 5 mintues on that bike and i was advised to be careful..... so i was... and trust me i was holding narang for good... i almost fell when he accelerated the bike... what else do you expect from a raw insane power pack which can go from 0 to 100 kmph in 9 seconds flat....
what followed next was a long short drive... long thanks to the kilometres we covered.. and short thanks to the time it took.... the bike was roared like a lion and get respect automatically on the road... phew what a ride that was....
thinking about the kinda bike enthusiast narang is.. it would not be long that this baby is going to shine and move like a brand new one... enough of words...
time for some fotos now....
and for those who want some tech details.. here is what you might like to read about the bike....
1987 Rajdoot RD350 LT
- 0.5 Bore running Genuine ART pistons.
- Stock Mikuni Carbs with 165 Main Jets.
- Original Jap Points
- Stock Pipes
- Wire Mesh Filter
- Genuine Yamaha Chain Set with 17 teeth Front Sprocket.
- Stock Seat.
- Paint and decals are intact.
- Tops out at 140 ( Speedo ) (* trust me this happens with this bike*)
this would be worth another foto shoot.. in day light and when narang is back in India after his trip from Mexico with the parts and accessories he needs to get this baby burning the road !!!
29/05/05
MiSSiNg HeR !!!
did not expect this day to end at this kinda note...
i really miss neha... after she has left for paris ... i find it so tough to talk to anyone about whats really happening inside ma' mind now....
there is no one who says.. nai nai anymore...
there is no one who tells me.. aise maje nai aate na...
and there is no one who will stand in front of my and make me realise where i went wrong in that day where i think everything went just right...
i kept writing emails at a regular interval for a few weeks after she was gone.. and got some replies too.. and then the frequency reduced.. and its almost nill now....
i guess the last i wrote was about the fotographs that i clicked on the rafting trip.. and then not much... but in the the brief email convo that we had last week.. seems that my feelings.. which were a mix of sadness.. and anger...came out kinda hard and she is feeling bad about me complaining...
she had left saying that i better keep writing to her regularly or else she will crib and get angry... and here it was the opposite... i got angry and i was cribbing...why.... one simply complicated reason.. expectations... i was expecting that once she settles down in paris she would have a better internet connection and would be able to write more often then not... and failed to realise that because her project would be starting she wouldbe working reeeeeeally hard on that which she is...
well whatever be the reason... i am not getting those small happy one liners that would do me good.. that would keep me happy... i am being selfish here.. i know...
i think this blogging thing is not doing much good here... coz she knows whats happening here... and i do not have a clue about what my dearest friend is doing...
missing her bad today :(
i really miss neha... after she has left for paris ... i find it so tough to talk to anyone about whats really happening inside ma' mind now....
there is no one who says.. nai nai anymore...
there is no one who tells me.. aise maje nai aate na...
and there is no one who will stand in front of my and make me realise where i went wrong in that day where i think everything went just right...
i kept writing emails at a regular interval for a few weeks after she was gone.. and got some replies too.. and then the frequency reduced.. and its almost nill now....
i guess the last i wrote was about the fotographs that i clicked on the rafting trip.. and then not much... but in the the brief email convo that we had last week.. seems that my feelings.. which were a mix of sadness.. and anger...came out kinda hard and she is feeling bad about me complaining...
she had left saying that i better keep writing to her regularly or else she will crib and get angry... and here it was the opposite... i got angry and i was cribbing...why.... one simply complicated reason.. expectations... i was expecting that once she settles down in paris she would have a better internet connection and would be able to write more often then not... and failed to realise that because her project would be starting she wouldbe working reeeeeeally hard on that which she is...
well whatever be the reason... i am not getting those small happy one liners that would do me good.. that would keep me happy... i am being selfish here.. i know...
i think this blogging thing is not doing much good here... coz she knows whats happening here... and i do not have a clue about what my dearest friend is doing...
missing her bad today :(
ByE ByE WeEkEnD !!!
umm.. the weekend is about to get over... and back to office... how come time moves faster when its a saturday or a sunday... and for some reason.. the clocks.. the watches of the world slow down when its weekdays....
anyway... first half of saturday spent in taking care of the Aircon in the car... and the result... well... chilling it is.... literally...
second half spent in sleeping and watching two too good movies.. Kangaroo Jack and Dil Chahta hai... add one to the number of times i have seen DCH... even i do not remember it anymore....
sunday morning.... ummmmmmmmmm... who wants to get up... no one.. but i had to.... coz we need to take care of the kitchen machine which has conked off.. and the only place where it can be repaired is Narayana.. yes... for ppl who know where i live... its kinda awkward.. but the brand that we have is Sumeet.. and the only service centre is supposed to be there in Narayana.... well... it was supposed to be there as we later found out... they have closed down their operations in Delhi :( haard luck... neva mind... we can get anything repaired here in india... and to our luck... we managed to find one guy who knew exactly the problem we were having with the machine.. and after some initial diagnosis.. and a quick response on the repair estimate he assured a machine as good as new in about 10 days.... why that long.. welll some parts need to be shipped to Nasik and a new one needs to be arranged from there...
back from there around 1900 hrs... went for a haircut... what a feeling.. back to my usual short hair.... too good in summers i tell you...
and yes... talked to aro.. about my financial state in the month of june.. we had planned to go to ranikhet.. but thats not gotta work out thanks to the kinda money i have spent in the month of may :( but i am happy.. all of these were long term investments and in things that i wanted and finally got.. so no regrets...
and july is to welcomed with a trip to the valley of flowers... lets see how it works... out....
anyway... first half of saturday spent in taking care of the Aircon in the car... and the result... well... chilling it is.... literally...
second half spent in sleeping and watching two too good movies.. Kangaroo Jack and Dil Chahta hai... add one to the number of times i have seen DCH... even i do not remember it anymore....
sunday morning.... ummmmmmmmmm... who wants to get up... no one.. but i had to.... coz we need to take care of the kitchen machine which has conked off.. and the only place where it can be repaired is Narayana.. yes... for ppl who know where i live... its kinda awkward.. but the brand that we have is Sumeet.. and the only service centre is supposed to be there in Narayana.... well... it was supposed to be there as we later found out... they have closed down their operations in Delhi :( haard luck... neva mind... we can get anything repaired here in india... and to our luck... we managed to find one guy who knew exactly the problem we were having with the machine.. and after some initial diagnosis.. and a quick response on the repair estimate he assured a machine as good as new in about 10 days.... why that long.. welll some parts need to be shipped to Nasik and a new one needs to be arranged from there...
back from there around 1900 hrs... went for a haircut... what a feeling.. back to my usual short hair.... too good in summers i tell you...
and yes... talked to aro.. about my financial state in the month of june.. we had planned to go to ranikhet.. but thats not gotta work out thanks to the kinda money i have spent in the month of may :( but i am happy.. all of these were long term investments and in things that i wanted and finally got.. so no regrets...
and july is to welcomed with a trip to the valley of flowers... lets see how it works... out....
26/05/05
ChEeRs 2 mY fRiEnDs !!!
I have reasons to scream loudly today....
no no.. not because i am in pain or something..
but because i am happy...
what happened... yea...nice question...
well here is what happened...
Narang calls up and tells me that there is something that he wants to tell me, before i find that out from anyone else... and i was like what... and he tells me that
he would be going there with Soumya... another very dear friend who is a part of the BD team in Flextronics....
and that brings me to another good news... Naveen Katlaria is the next Assistant Manager in DIRECWAY now... one of the coolest fellas i have met.. and we have been childhood buddies...
i can cry with joy today... and i can dance with happiness as well...
no no.. not because i am in pain or something..
but because i am happy...
what happened... yea...nice question...
well here is what happened...
Narang calls up and tells me that there is something that he wants to tell me, before i find that out from anyone else... and i was like what... and he tells me that
- he has been promoted to the position of a PROGRAM MANAGER.. that is a jump of two vertical positions from where he is right now...
- he goes to the US to transit the Flextronics America's IT helpdesk.. so will spend a good 2 months there in Mexico, which has the Flextronics Headquarters and houses over 25000 employees.
he would be going there with Soumya... another very dear friend who is a part of the BD team in Flextronics....
and that brings me to another good news... Naveen Katlaria is the next Assistant Manager in DIRECWAY now... one of the coolest fellas i have met.. and we have been childhood buddies...
i can cry with joy today... and i can dance with happiness as well...
25/05/05
NeW KiD oN 'd' bLoCk...
I have been trying to put up my foto-log for the past few days... after some effort... it has come up.. and looks nice too...
now wat i would be waiting for some critical appreciation...
lets see when where who...
someone would just look at a foto and like the place/object/person captured....
someone would like to think that (s)he could have taken a better foto...
someone would like to tell me how i could have taken the same foto in a better way...
i see a lot of things coming my way....
would i be able to click with all of them... lets find out !!!
now wat i would be waiting for some critical appreciation...
lets see when where who...
someone would just look at a foto and like the place/object/person captured....
someone would like to think that (s)he could have taken a better foto...
someone would like to tell me how i could have taken the same foto in a better way...
i see a lot of things coming my way....
would i be able to click with all of them... lets find out !!!
22/05/05
RiShiKeSh AgAiN WiTh FoToS !!!
Playing beach volley ball just while the rafting was being prepared for a great trip down the ganges....
From left to right... Caroline, Adams, Waquar, ME and Toosh.... All set in our rafting gear with the life jackets, our helmets, and the paddles... the life jackets and the helmets we brand new... what a feel that was.....
After we crossed some rapids there was a lot of distance which was flat and without any rapids... there all of our got out of the raft and were floating in the river.... in this foto.. very near to the raft....
And in this Waquar and me are trying to get Toosh back to the raft.... trust me it was not easy to swim with just one hand being into play....
Just before we were about to reach ram jhoola.... strong sun... tired though excited bodies...
And me... with the helmet off... in front of the raft.... what a trip this turned out to be.... three trips and the first one where i could managed to get the pics....
and by the way these are the pics from my new camera used more or less in an auto mode.. with a fuji proplus 100 roll !!!!
nice eh !!!!
18/05/05
CoNdiTiOnEd 2 LoVe !!!
I had an interesting discussion with a friend yesterday...
she would be getting married pretty soon.. and said that she was "conditioning herself to love the person she is going to get married to".Somehow i felt that is not how things are going to work for me... i do not think i need to make myself love the person i am getting married to... it would happen.. with time ofcourse... there is not need to work hard towards it at all...
what i feel would be the key to any successful relationship would be respect for the other person as a person... if i can respect the other person... i think i will hear what (s)he has to say... also try and understand it... and from there move towards things like compromise, trust, not to forget love, affection and all those...instead of telling a person that i love her i rather tell her that i respect her for what she is.. and what she is not... and let things and feelings take their time to develop....
i have not been able to write all what i had in mind... i guess i am short of words here....
rightmore might write more !!!!
she would be getting married pretty soon.. and said that she was "conditioning herself to love the person she is going to get married to".Somehow i felt that is not how things are going to work for me... i do not think i need to make myself love the person i am getting married to... it would happen.. with time ofcourse... there is not need to work hard towards it at all...
what i feel would be the key to any successful relationship would be respect for the other person as a person... if i can respect the other person... i think i will hear what (s)he has to say... also try and understand it... and from there move towards things like compromise, trust, not to forget love, affection and all those...instead of telling a person that i love her i rather tell her that i respect her for what she is.. and what she is not... and let things and feelings take their time to develop....
i have not been able to write all what i had in mind... i guess i am short of words here....
rightmore might write more !!!!
AnOtHeR 1
I am waiting for the girl of my dreams... till then... i live in reality !!!!
Prashant Bhardwaj
17-05-05
2200 hrs
17/05/05
WaH wAh
Of all the grey that I have, seems that I have more on my head than in my head.
Prashant Bhardwaj
17-05-05
1330 hrs.
16/05/05
RiShiKeSh & BaCk
back to delhi.... back to summers.. back to heat... this weekend seemed longer then it really was....
i jumped from a 22 feet high wall into the ganges....
i travelled in the lovely UP roadways and Uttranchal roadways buses for over 12 hours...
i slept most of the time during time mentioned above in just about 20% of the space that i usually need to sleep...
i waited at har ki pauri for the aarti to begin for over 2 hours...
i saw the friday sun setting in delhi...
saturday morning sun-rise in Rishikesh...
saturday morning sun-set in Haridwar...
and i slept the entire day on sunday....
not to forget that I got back my oldie goldie Maruti 800 after the grand work done on it....
too much to do for a weekend... here is how it all started....had planned for a rafting trip.... yes.. i went for one about a month ago... so what... second trip to the ganges was planned for the weekend of Friday the 13th.... left home around 2200 hrs with Waquar and Tushar and in about an hours time.. reached the ISBT only to realise that the next.. and last 2*2 push back deluxe bus to rishikesh was to leave the ISBT at 0000 hrs.... almost every bus was going to rishikesh.. and we three did not bother.... and to our unpleasent surprise that last bus did not turn up :( and we were left with no option but to take a up roadways to rishikesh... fare just about 116 bucks to rishikesh.. comfort... none... we still planned our way towards the last seats of the bus and tried to lay down so that we could just pretend to be asleep when someone comes and we can continue that way till the end of our journey... but fate had something else in mind... that damn bus was full.. and I had to move from almost lying down to sitting on two seats... and continue that way till rishikesh.... trust me it was not the most comfortable way to travel...
we reached haridwar.. in the morning.. around 0530 hours... and it was a wonderful temprature there... saw the ganges when i woke up..and a cool breeze welcomed me as well... and this time i did not get back to sleep... was awake till rishikesh with my camera in front of my face so that i could take some good pics.. lets see what have i managed to capture when the fotos come....
in rishikesh around 0600 hrs.. with no shops open... asked a few rafting agents about the status.. and managed to get some place in a raft... from shiv puri to rishikesh..though i reeeeeally wanted to do that 27 km stretch.. but no space... so 450 bucks.. and shivpuri to rishikesh is what we had to settle for....
went to the river banks after we finalised everything... and stayed there for a good one hour... what a feeling that was.. really cool strong winds.... and the sound of water flowing in its full glory.... why is delhi not on the banks of ganga i was wondering..... and then realised that it would have the same fate as the yamuna... so i dropped the idea of doing something to get it closer to Delhi...
started for shivpuri at 0930 hours... and to give us company were two foreigners and one fella who was an indian but his accent highlighted his amount of conversation with the two UK based friends he had... Adams and Caroline.. and this guy was Charandeep....
this journey from rishikesh to shivpuri was interesting too.. as i was sitting at the back of a Tata 207 ( a small pickup truck) and it was fun standing there and enjoying the breeze hit my face while our driver was negotiating sharp turns on the hills and i working hard to hold on to the bars to save myself from falling :)
anyway... we reached the place from where we had to start... used a specially designed pump to inflate the lovely blue coloured raft !!! brand new bright red life jackets.. and smart looking yellow and blue paddles....
we were in the river at 1145 hours finally... first time for waquar and tushar.. and both of them were visibly excited... third time for me.. and i was looking forward to a great experience again... the water level was high.. and the current sharper.. but to my surprise the rapids were easier this time.. coz the raft was just gliding over them.. comparing the exp to the previous ones.. it was not as exciting... but the over experience was not any less then the ones i had before...
i managed to overcome my fear of height and water (combined) and managed to jump from a wall 22 feet high into water this time... i could feel my heart beating just before i jumped... but once i jumped.. i could do that again.... i probably would next season....
finished rafting by 1430 hours.... and were off to haridwar after having a light lunch at madhuban restaurant.... we were feeling very very sleepy... and had a good power nap... all three of us on our way to haridwar.. it was terribly hot.... and once in haridway we were only looking for a shade near the Har ki Pauri to rest... we managed to find a good place below one of the bridges.. and sat there for a good one hour.. before deciding to check out the local market and have lassi... (which was my idea) somehow i know all the good and inexpensive places to eat.. not only in delhi but outside too :)... anyway.. an hour later... me and tushar were back in water.. for a holi dip at the "har Ki pauri". the flow of water was too high.. and i could barely manage to stand even though i was holding the safty chain tightly... anyway.. managed to kill some good time there and washed away a lot of my sins... before changing to fresh clothes... looking for a good place to sit and then enjoying the Evening Aarti !!!! What a lovely exp. that was....
starting back to delhi soon after that... and was back home at 0300 hrs early sunday morning.... so much for the second rafting and a religious trip to haridwar and rishikesh !!!!
__________________________________
sunday evening spent in taking care of my old 800.... it was with the mechanic for about two weeks now.. where it was being restored... new paint... new interiors... an overhauled engine.... suspension and steering overhauled... its moving as good as new now... i decided to put in new tyres as well.... total cost of 5 tyres after the wheel balancing and alignment came to 5600 bucks... and the total expenditure onthe car about 30K INR... i think its worth it... and definitely better then going for a new car...
will post some pictures of the new car too... soon....
so much for now.... will write more... waiting for the fotos to be developed soon.. lets see how soon i can get them printed and scanned !!!!
i jumped from a 22 feet high wall into the ganges....
i travelled in the lovely UP roadways and Uttranchal roadways buses for over 12 hours...
i slept most of the time during time mentioned above in just about 20% of the space that i usually need to sleep...
i waited at har ki pauri for the aarti to begin for over 2 hours...
i saw the friday sun setting in delhi...
saturday morning sun-rise in Rishikesh...
saturday morning sun-set in Haridwar...
and i slept the entire day on sunday....
not to forget that I got back my oldie goldie Maruti 800 after the grand work done on it....
too much to do for a weekend... here is how it all started....had planned for a rafting trip.... yes.. i went for one about a month ago... so what... second trip to the ganges was planned for the weekend of Friday the 13th.... left home around 2200 hrs with Waquar and Tushar and in about an hours time.. reached the ISBT only to realise that the next.. and last 2*2 push back deluxe bus to rishikesh was to leave the ISBT at 0000 hrs.... almost every bus was going to rishikesh.. and we three did not bother.... and to our unpleasent surprise that last bus did not turn up :( and we were left with no option but to take a up roadways to rishikesh... fare just about 116 bucks to rishikesh.. comfort... none... we still planned our way towards the last seats of the bus and tried to lay down so that we could just pretend to be asleep when someone comes and we can continue that way till the end of our journey... but fate had something else in mind... that damn bus was full.. and I had to move from almost lying down to sitting on two seats... and continue that way till rishikesh.... trust me it was not the most comfortable way to travel...
we reached haridwar.. in the morning.. around 0530 hours... and it was a wonderful temprature there... saw the ganges when i woke up..and a cool breeze welcomed me as well... and this time i did not get back to sleep... was awake till rishikesh with my camera in front of my face so that i could take some good pics.. lets see what have i managed to capture when the fotos come....
in rishikesh around 0600 hrs.. with no shops open... asked a few rafting agents about the status.. and managed to get some place in a raft... from shiv puri to rishikesh..though i reeeeeally wanted to do that 27 km stretch.. but no space... so 450 bucks.. and shivpuri to rishikesh is what we had to settle for....
went to the river banks after we finalised everything... and stayed there for a good one hour... what a feeling that was.. really cool strong winds.... and the sound of water flowing in its full glory.... why is delhi not on the banks of ganga i was wondering..... and then realised that it would have the same fate as the yamuna... so i dropped the idea of doing something to get it closer to Delhi...
started for shivpuri at 0930 hours... and to give us company were two foreigners and one fella who was an indian but his accent highlighted his amount of conversation with the two UK based friends he had... Adams and Caroline.. and this guy was Charandeep....
this journey from rishikesh to shivpuri was interesting too.. as i was sitting at the back of a Tata 207 ( a small pickup truck) and it was fun standing there and enjoying the breeze hit my face while our driver was negotiating sharp turns on the hills and i working hard to hold on to the bars to save myself from falling :)
anyway... we reached the place from where we had to start... used a specially designed pump to inflate the lovely blue coloured raft !!! brand new bright red life jackets.. and smart looking yellow and blue paddles....
we were in the river at 1145 hours finally... first time for waquar and tushar.. and both of them were visibly excited... third time for me.. and i was looking forward to a great experience again... the water level was high.. and the current sharper.. but to my surprise the rapids were easier this time.. coz the raft was just gliding over them.. comparing the exp to the previous ones.. it was not as exciting... but the over experience was not any less then the ones i had before...
i managed to overcome my fear of height and water (combined) and managed to jump from a wall 22 feet high into water this time... i could feel my heart beating just before i jumped... but once i jumped.. i could do that again.... i probably would next season....
finished rafting by 1430 hours.... and were off to haridwar after having a light lunch at madhuban restaurant.... we were feeling very very sleepy... and had a good power nap... all three of us on our way to haridwar.. it was terribly hot.... and once in haridway we were only looking for a shade near the Har ki Pauri to rest... we managed to find a good place below one of the bridges.. and sat there for a good one hour.. before deciding to check out the local market and have lassi... (which was my idea) somehow i know all the good and inexpensive places to eat.. not only in delhi but outside too :)... anyway.. an hour later... me and tushar were back in water.. for a holi dip at the "har Ki pauri". the flow of water was too high.. and i could barely manage to stand even though i was holding the safty chain tightly... anyway.. managed to kill some good time there and washed away a lot of my sins... before changing to fresh clothes... looking for a good place to sit and then enjoying the Evening Aarti !!!! What a lovely exp. that was....
starting back to delhi soon after that... and was back home at 0300 hrs early sunday morning.... so much for the second rafting and a religious trip to haridwar and rishikesh !!!!
__________________________________
sunday evening spent in taking care of my old 800.... it was with the mechanic for about two weeks now.. where it was being restored... new paint... new interiors... an overhauled engine.... suspension and steering overhauled... its moving as good as new now... i decided to put in new tyres as well.... total cost of 5 tyres after the wheel balancing and alignment came to 5600 bucks... and the total expenditure onthe car about 30K INR... i think its worth it... and definitely better then going for a new car...
will post some pictures of the new car too... soon....
so much for now.... will write more... waiting for the fotos to be developed soon.. lets see how soon i can get them printed and scanned !!!!
08/05/05
EoS 3000v Date !!!!
Another day gone... and it ended giving me something that i was waiting for a very long time... my new EOS 3000v Date camera !!! got this baby bundled with the EF 28-90 lenses for a nice price of 11500 bucks...
for the last few days i was eating Gaurav's head with all the seemingly stupid questions... though he being a professional fotographer for over 2 years now... was patient enough to listen to me and answer as many questions as he could.... we decided to go to Chandni Chawk to find out what the market was really like on saturday.. and see if i can find something that suits my level and pocket equally nicely....
there was no intention of a purchase... the idea was to do some research only... so there we were in one of the biggest photographers paradise at around 1030 hrs... not many shops had opened by then.. and we could talk to a few shops.. and one of the guys showed me 4 camers... the EOS 66, EOS Rebel K2, the EOS 3000V and the nikon f75. the first two under 10K, EOS 3Kv for 11500 and the F75 for about 14K.... nikon looked better in terms of the body quality... features not much different... canon better in terms of money.. and the one that i bought.. too cewl in terms of the feel good factor... and when i am to move up to digital SLRs in sometime.. it made sense to save money....
so we decide we want to buy that camera... did some price verification at a few more shops... did not realise that we had spent over 1 hour in that shop looking and talked about the various options that we had... anyway... we were hungry and did not want to loose the opportunity of treating our tummies especially when we were in chandni chaowk.... our first stop... "Gali Paranthe Wali".... ummmm.... paneer parantha... mix parantha, dal besan parantha..... and curd made from cow milk...pet bhar gaya.... and now that we wanted to burn some calories after being filled with guilt and the fat.. we decided to walk to Fatehpuri.... and then have the famour rabri faluda at Giani's.... umm... lovely stuff there... and we were too full and it was too hot to walk back to lal-quila.. so we took at rickshaw..who effortlessly drove in the middle of the road where rickshaws, cars, two-wheelers, autos, jeeps, and pedestrians beautifully coexistt...... we got down in front of the ICICI bank but the damn ATM was broken.. so i decided to give SBI some money.. 55 to be precise and take some money outta their ATM.... took out the money... bought a relay for the inverter which papa wanted.... and 10 CLF tubes... for 17 bucks each.. they usually cost anything between 25-40 bucks in noida... so money well saved....
our next stop.. the camera shop.. where i made the payment for the baby you see the foto of in this post.... fuji proplus pack of 5 for 220 bucks.. and a nova b/w roll for 37 bucks... and a UV filter for 25 bucks... did not like any of the bags... and so we fitted the camera in the bag that i was carrying and moved on to monestry.. where gaurav wanted to buy a jeans from...bought the jeans... walked around place.... and then back to the buss adda.... or ISBT as ppl know it... took at DTC back to ghar..
reached home happy :) lets see how much i improve with time... there is a lot of things to learn..... life's beautiful.... does that look equally cewl from the other side of the camera... TIME WILL TELL.....
for the last few days i was eating Gaurav's head with all the seemingly stupid questions... though he being a professional fotographer for over 2 years now... was patient enough to listen to me and answer as many questions as he could.... we decided to go to Chandni Chawk to find out what the market was really like on saturday.. and see if i can find something that suits my level and pocket equally nicely....
there was no intention of a purchase... the idea was to do some research only... so there we were in one of the biggest photographers paradise at around 1030 hrs... not many shops had opened by then.. and we could talk to a few shops.. and one of the guys showed me 4 camers... the EOS 66, EOS Rebel K2, the EOS 3000V and the nikon f75. the first two under 10K, EOS 3Kv for 11500 and the F75 for about 14K.... nikon looked better in terms of the body quality... features not much different... canon better in terms of money.. and the one that i bought.. too cewl in terms of the feel good factor... and when i am to move up to digital SLRs in sometime.. it made sense to save money....
so we decide we want to buy that camera... did some price verification at a few more shops... did not realise that we had spent over 1 hour in that shop looking and talked about the various options that we had... anyway... we were hungry and did not want to loose the opportunity of treating our tummies especially when we were in chandni chaowk.... our first stop... "Gali Paranthe Wali".... ummmm.... paneer parantha... mix parantha, dal besan parantha..... and curd made from cow milk...pet bhar gaya.... and now that we wanted to burn some calories after being filled with guilt and the fat.. we decided to walk to Fatehpuri.... and then have the famour rabri faluda at Giani's.... umm... lovely stuff there... and we were too full and it was too hot to walk back to lal-quila.. so we took at rickshaw..who effortlessly drove in the middle of the road where rickshaws, cars, two-wheelers, autos, jeeps, and pedestrians beautifully coexistt...... we got down in front of the ICICI bank but the damn ATM was broken.. so i decided to give SBI some money.. 55 to be precise and take some money outta their ATM.... took out the money... bought a relay for the inverter which papa wanted.... and 10 CLF tubes... for 17 bucks each.. they usually cost anything between 25-40 bucks in noida... so money well saved....
our next stop.. the camera shop.. where i made the payment for the baby you see the foto of in this post.... fuji proplus pack of 5 for 220 bucks.. and a nova b/w roll for 37 bucks... and a UV filter for 25 bucks... did not like any of the bags... and so we fitted the camera in the bag that i was carrying and moved on to monestry.. where gaurav wanted to buy a jeans from...bought the jeans... walked around place.... and then back to the buss adda.... or ISBT as ppl know it... took at DTC back to ghar..
reached home happy :) lets see how much i improve with time... there is a lot of things to learn..... life's beautiful.... does that look equally cewl from the other side of the camera... TIME WILL TELL.....
06/05/05
LaDKi WaLe AaGaYe !!!
Some family came to see me....
after all my parents want me to get married... the father and the brother of my may be to be came to meet ma parents and me..
I am asked a simmple question..
beta would you like to get married?
no, i like myself to be treated as someone who is willing to get married.. and then when everything finalises i elope with the person i choose for myself... for some reason that does not workout.. and i have to come back home to be displayed in front of another family...
do you know how to cook...
yup.... though that is not really appreciated by the ppl who eat what i cook...
do you know how to sing...
yes... i was one of the finalists in the African Idol....
what are your hobbies...
listening to music...cooking... and other ghar ke kaam...
and they say to my folks... hamein ye ladka pasand hai....
isn't this wat most of the girls who get treated as objects when someone or the other comes to see them, would like to happen to a guy... why not for a change the guy is displayed at his place.. and someone asks him if he knows how to cook.. and if he can wash clothes.. and if he knows how to use the sewing machine... i am sure lotsa gurls out there would like to see this happening... unfortunately this is something not really happening !!!!
coming back to what is going on at my place....
beta is ladki ne MCA kiya hai.. and she is working in some MNC.....
beta us ladki ke papa kisi school mein princi hai... ladki ke baare mein abhi kuch pata nai hai....
this is getting really scary now... do i have to decide if i want to spend the rest of my life on this planet in one day... that one day when i would meet the gurl my folks probably would think is the best for me... actually they will not take any call before i decide what i really want to go ahead for.. but still the first level of filtering is being done by them...
i am thinking about the kinda gurl i would like to spend my life with.. reealy thinking now.. and also thinking about what kinda gurl can manage to spend her life with me.... oh boy !!! some brain needs to go into this...
i am shit scared... what is going to happen in the next few months and how i am going to live through it... upar wala jaanta hai !!!!
after all my parents want me to get married... the father and the brother of my may be to be came to meet ma parents and me..
I am asked a simmple question..
beta would you like to get married?
no, i like myself to be treated as someone who is willing to get married.. and then when everything finalises i elope with the person i choose for myself... for some reason that does not workout.. and i have to come back home to be displayed in front of another family...
do you know how to cook...
yup.... though that is not really appreciated by the ppl who eat what i cook...
do you know how to sing...
yes... i was one of the finalists in the African Idol....
what are your hobbies...
listening to music...cooking... and other ghar ke kaam...
and they say to my folks... hamein ye ladka pasand hai....
isn't this wat most of the girls who get treated as objects when someone or the other comes to see them, would like to happen to a guy... why not for a change the guy is displayed at his place.. and someone asks him if he knows how to cook.. and if he can wash clothes.. and if he knows how to use the sewing machine... i am sure lotsa gurls out there would like to see this happening... unfortunately this is something not really happening !!!!
coming back to what is going on at my place....
beta is ladki ne MCA kiya hai.. and she is working in some MNC.....
beta us ladki ke papa kisi school mein princi hai... ladki ke baare mein abhi kuch pata nai hai....
this is getting really scary now... do i have to decide if i want to spend the rest of my life on this planet in one day... that one day when i would meet the gurl my folks probably would think is the best for me... actually they will not take any call before i decide what i really want to go ahead for.. but still the first level of filtering is being done by them...
i am thinking about the kinda gurl i would like to spend my life with.. reealy thinking now.. and also thinking about what kinda gurl can manage to spend her life with me.... oh boy !!! some brain needs to go into this...
i am shit scared... what is going to happen in the next few months and how i am going to live through it... upar wala jaanta hai !!!!
03/05/05
TiMe, CaRs DifFeReNt ; pLaCe, cLoThEs SaMe !!!
This is a mix of two fotos.. the one with the zen was clicked about an year and half ago.. when me, aro and Narang had gone to attend Jai's wedding in D'doon...
incidently i was wearing the same clothes... and aro had the same t-shirt... we were standing on the exact same location.. in the middle of the Rajaji National Park...
some nostalgic moments these were !!!! missed you narang here :(
rAdHe rAdHe !!!
Radha in her full glory at Mama's place !!!! Ain't she an absolute beauty :)
Nazar na laga dena ;)
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