ToUriStS iN McLeoDGanJ...

"Day 0: Wednesday"

office was not the regular office... and had to go the CP office and not the Okhla one...
left at 1700 hrs somehow after completing some important work... and reached the Himachal Bhawan.. i was to find out about the buses to Dharamsaala here... it was only me and Tushar who were going on the trip...

i really really wanted to take Radha along.. but looks like Goddie had different plans and he made us take a bus.. actually not "A" bus but multiple buses on our way to Dharamsaala...

the Volvo leaves ISBT at 2000 hrs and was full... there is another bus at 2015 hrs which apprantly was cancelled.... so we could not take it either.. another funny thing that happened was that the guy at Himachal Bhawan told me that the buses leave from there.. but the buses are from ISBT which meant that we got late for both the buses and were not in a position to take any of them either...

anyway... a look at the queue for the ordinary bus to Dharamsaala made me almost cancel the plan... too many ppl... and rotten buses... so we decide to find out private buses to Dharamshaala... we managed to get one... which we boarded at 2130 hours from ISBT... it then went to Lal Quila... and then again to the IST.. and then again to the Lal Quila.. before it took at U-turn to stop on the other side of the road in front of the Lal Quila again...

i so far have never spent this much time in a bus ever without the bus going anywhere... oh.. and about the bus.. this was a sleeper class bus... someone which is kinda common in Rajasthan.. infact the bus had a registration on Jaipur as well...

we finally moved out of delhi around 2300 hrs... and then stopped at the border for fuel... and then again for some Tax related issues.... the bus finally picked up some speed after crossing the border which was around 0000 hrs... and it reached Chandigarh is about 4 hours only.. including a 30 minute break near Pipli...

"Day 1: Thursday"

most of the time in the bus was spent sleeping.. so i am not too sure of the route that the bus took after Chandigarh... however we had taken this bus till Pathankot and we managed to reach there around 0800 hrs... took a private bus to Gaggal from Pathankot and completed this distance of about 80 kms in about 3 hours... and then another bus to dharamsaala from Gaggal... and then one more bus to McLeodganj... our final stop !!!

her name is Zema which means beautiful... isn't she?

on our way we got some valuable information about what do to and where to stay from a guy too... so we decided not to stay in Dharamsaala and moved to McLeodganj instead... which actually turned out to be better...

i broke my favorite shades on the trip.. now left with only the frame :)

took a decent room for 350 bucks a night... and then moved out of the room to walk around... Tushar suggested that we should do the local sightseeing the same day.. which meant hiring an auto for 200 bucks... and a visit to nearby places like the Dal Lake, St. John's church, some view point, and finally the Bhagsu Nag Temple... we also went for a short long walk from the temple to a nearby waterfall... spent about 1.5 hours to and fro... got into an argument with the Auto-wala because he said that we should not have spent more then 30 minutes there... anyway...

a view from our hotel...the small hump that you see on the first mountain is Triun...

went back to the hotel... and then went out again for food and all...

McLeodganj is a very very neat place if you want to experiment with food.. there is so much to eat... i had Spaghetti with Cheese for Lunch, India Food (though i did not want to) for dinner.... all sorts of Italian, Tibetan, continental food is available.. and not too expensive either...

Another highlight of the place:
Figures to kill for and Skins to Die for... so many firangi chicks around... and if thats not enough.. there is more !!! the Local Chicks are more or less awesome too...

I was certainly feeling out of place... there were either Tibetans or firangies around.. anyway...

so after a long day.. i slept while i was talking to tushar... and then i guess he went out and sat in the balcony for a while.. before he slept too...

our room...nice.. clean...

Day 2: Friday

We had done some homework to find out about the bus back home the last evening... and managed to get a ticket for the Saturday Volvo in the morning...

next on the agenda was a trek to Triun... we could see it from our hotel balcony and it looked far away too...



the breakfast here is worth mentioning.. the farmer's breakfast and the JJI breakfast.. at the JJI cafe.. will talk about it later too...

we took an auto till Gallu Temple.. which was a good 6 kms away... and the roads ( well thats what i can think of calling that path as cars, jeeps, autos etc. are supposed to move on it) were scary... something that needs a good 4 wheel drive was being negotiated with a 150 cc three wheeler.... with all the weight at the back.. increasing the chances of going down the hill on the small mistake.. anyway.. we were lucky.. and managed to reach the place where we had to start off with the trek...

in about 10 minutes we reached a T point.. and had to choose between one of the two directions... and no one to guide too... i chose one... and it took us about 20 more minutes to reach a point which looked like a dead end.. crossed the mountain with some support from the rocks at the edge... and managed to move to the other side.. we had to be careful not to slip... we did not...

and after walking for a good 2.5 hours on a path second to the worst i have walked on.. we reached the top of the mountain... Triun... the pain was worth it... i cannot explain what it looked like with words.. maybe the picture would help...

Triun...

lots of foriegners... and a few shops... this was the best place to spend a couple of days... the only sounds were crows or air.. and an occasional cheer of the ppl around... lovely.. beautiful...

Triun again...

on our way back to McLeodganj... the walk took over 3 hours... phew... it was tough..

the walk back was tiring.. and longer.. as we had to walk those 6 kms done in the auto on foot this time... managed to reach McLeodganj around 1800 hrs... had tea and mango lassi in one of the roof-top restaurants... went back to the hotel... rested for a while.. and then came out for a walk...

somewhere....

just walked around before i wanted to sleep... came back to the hotel.. and slept in peace...

Day 3 : Saturday...

Saturday started late... packed our bags.. checked out of the hotel... went to Dharamshaala.. found the Kangra museum of Art closed because of a local holiday... came back to McLedoganj... spent the entire afternoon in the JJI's cafe... about this place now... JJI is a name that comes from the Initials of the JJI EXile Brothers... the cafe is a small shop with 4 tables.. and about 10 chairs... awesome music.. wonderful food.. and the best place to spend time in, if you want to just relax... had the best Honey ginger Lemon tea there... had some great Farmer's breakfast... and some delightful Pasta in Tomato Cheese Sauce...loved it...

took the bus back to Delhi @ 1900 hours... wonderful bus.. a semi sleeper to Delhi... reached delhi in 12 hours.. and home around 0800 hrs on sunday...

The Trip ends !!!! AWESOME... LOVED it...

time for some tips/statistics....
~ Total money spent in Travel : 1400 bucks per head (Private buses Delhi-Pathankot, Pathankot-Gaggal, Gaggal-Dharamsaala, Dharasaala-McLeodganj; Back in a Volvo 750+ bucks per head)
~ Stay : 350 a room per night...
~ Food : depending on what you want to eat.. the food however is not expensive at all... a meal for two should not cross 200 bucks even if you eat a lot...

~ This is a place to just relax.. and chill.. and go for a couple of treks... if you are interested in treks... ensure that you carry some good shoes, some medicine, water, and food...
~ Enjoy the variety of food available...

and HAVE FUN...

p.s. i will have the pics by Wednesday.. hope to upload them the same day too...

JuSt LikE ThAt....

do din kaa bahi khata....

yesteday while going to the office.. got a call from a colleague and he told me that all the routes to the office are blocked... MCD demolitions, protests and all... which meant that there was no way i could reach office...

which meant a plan B... and i worked from the CP office... i like CP... love it infact... hope the new buildings do not screw up the heritage still left in CP... managed to roam around the place a bit, went to chandni chawk too to get the film rolls... talked to Sayan.. met Ashi in the BCL... and then went over to meet up with richa... and bumped into Sayan in the Khan Market... so all in all.. some activity filled day..

and when i reached office.. i saw my room which no longer looks even close to a room all broken.. the picture shows something that used to be my room at sometime.. and thats my bed.. and my pillow... all full of dust and mitti now :(

you should be able to see the main gate outside and radha in the driveway too... when i am back from the trip.. things would have changed big time...

yesterday evening...

~got pissed with tushar because he was not replying to the message that i sent about the trip...

~got sad that the trip looked like its not going to happen...

~was fine once managed to talk to tushar... and the probable mode of travel to dharamshala...

as per my calculation... if i am talking my car to dharamshala and using the local transport there.. its going to be cheaper then the volvo.. will need to work on the rest of the expenses a li'il to tweak them...

mom looked comfortable with the idea of me taking the car even if there are two ppl... they are fine with the way i drive i guess :) which is good for me...

today in CP too.. meeting sayan in a while for lunch at Subway...

what else...

nothing actually...

ta tu for now....

MoNdAy.... CoMeS... TOo... QuiCk....

looks like i am down to writing only weekend posts :)

shweta are you still loving it * in the Mc Donalds tone*

well... this weekend was different from the other ones so far... spent in dust, heat, soil etc etc... there was not much that i was doing.. however resting and getting out was certainly out of question...

wanted to go to Chandni Chowk to get some film rolls for the trip, but did not go... thanks to the unbearable heat outside...

sunday was more or less a repeat of saturday... except the time spent at the workshop....
got the car washed properly.... and the wheel balancing and the alignment done....


came home and polished the car... and she is looking hott now...

and then came monday... sooner then needed... and i am in the office.... not feeling like working at all....

hoping that the next two days quickly get over... wednesday night i have to get out of delhi for dharamshaala...

anyone joining me?

qUiCkiE :)

the last two days have been really busy in office.... phew...

and summers have arrived in delhi... it only makes sense to reach office before 0900 hrs.. so that i can save myself from the traffic as well as the heat...

and not leave office before the sun sets... bad bad summer...

construction would start at home today... we are building a floor for ourself.. any ideas, contact details and suggestions on the interiors/exteriors/furniture/paint combo/ flooring/kitchen works would be appreciated...

and i am getting back to work now...

TwO DaYs...TOo MuCh FuNn...

this weekend was fun !!!

spent most of time outside home... and below is a list of things i did..
~ saw two movies.. back to back...
~ went to gurgaon for a night out with friends...
~ enjoyed the ride of a Yamaha 350D LT at 110 kmph on the Highway...
~ test drove a car for a friend.. and looked at a few more...
~ went out to my maasi's place...
~ talked to richa for 29 minutes and some seconds which she says is a record...


the details follow...

first movie... Mistress of SPICE

one of the most masaledaar movie ever in Bollywood... and it wins because of the sheer amount of spices in the movie... i mean most of the movie has been shot inside a store which Aishwarya Rai owns... called Spice Bazaar... and Aishwarya Rai is called TILO in this movie...

now comes the interesting part.... Tilo says that everyone has a spice for him/her.. which is a fair deal... and all the spices which are in the Spice Bazaar... talk to Tilo... and as soon as someone enters the store.. Tilo finds out what spice he/she wants... there is this lover boy who wants to woo his girl... so she gives him recipes and spices that help.. and then there is this young Surd who is not one of the most popular guy in the neighborhood.. so she hides some daalchini in his turban.. and in a few weeks.. he comes back all dude-ish and all.. with a crew cut and all...

and so on a so forth..

the real excitement begins.. when Tilo starts liking this guy called Doug... and does not give him the spice he should get.. but gives him sometime else.. Tulsi to be specific... for remembering things.. and then he comes back to her to share what he remembered... and then to make him come out with his inner deepest secrets she gives him limewater with Pepper... so that he shares his secrets.. and because of all this.. the Spices get angry with Tilo and start reacting in a way they should not.. things go beserk.... WHY... because Tilo broke the rules... phew !!!

and then she decides to get out of her business.. and then gets ready for a night of passion... related to Red Chillies for some reason... and she does.. whatever she wants to do that night.. and then burns herself.. and the store is all destroyed.... the next morning however she lives... without a scratch on her body !!!
and then i guess the boyfriend and this spice girl live happily ever after.. I GUESS !!!


and this movie was a li'il too hot to handle for me... which meant that i had to watch another movie to come out of the state of shock... so what do i do... i go to the ticket counter.. and buy the tickets for ICE AGE II...

i loved the part I and II did not disappoint either...although the part one was better... it had a better ishtory.. which looked natural...
this time it looked like more of an attempt to make ppl laugh... not that it was not successful.... my favorite Sid the Sloth still remains my favorite... Maddy the Mammoth did things he did not feel comfortable in for the other mammoth chick... and the squirrel SCRAT.. who was nuts after the nuts.. was still nuts after the nuts... Diego... overcome his fear for water as well in the part II....

and the new characters are
Ellie... who thinks that if someone says that she has a huge butt.. he is sweet !!!
Crash and Eddie who are possums.. and are maha-shararti... and nasty !!! to start with they made life kinda difficult for Diego and Sid...

loved the movie... loved it loved it loved it...

also ate.. an over-expensive parantha... which was less of the parantha.. and more of the stuffing...

so much for the movies...

the evening was spent at home.. more or less.. and moved out of the house to reach gurgaon around 1900 hrs... was in gurgaon by 2030 hrs... this was the last party at Aro's place... U24/25.. this house has seen more years and parties then any other house in Hughes gang !!! so we talked.. ate...drank... smoked.. till morning.. and came back... it was a total fun !!! its surprising how even after changing jobs... being in different shifts... making new friends.. the entire batch 1 and 2 of Hughes BPO ( which is no more there) is still together...and a parallel party was there in Banglore.. arranged by subbu... with Arun, Sammy, Sushant, Amit Junior and all... I guess Kailash was there too...

me and Narang went to his place around 2200 hrs to grab the video card i needed.. and that is when we put the rest of the bikes and the cars and the trucks to shame @ speeds over 100 kms per hour... Narang is a tech freak.. and it shows in his computer and his bike... ask him anything and he knows... i am so proud of him.. so so proud of him !!!

so that was saturday !!! spicy to start with... funny in the middle.. and happy in the end !!!


Sunday started late... around 1100 hrs... and then a quick 20 minute drive to Mausi's place where we discussed the blueprint for her house... which they started constructing.. and back by 1600 hrs.. Amit came over by 1630 hrs.. and we went to see a few cars for him...

the first one.. Ford Ikon flair... at a on-road price of 5.08 lacs this approx 78ps car looks a decent buy... it looks like the most spacious in its category... however they say that maintaining a ford is kinda tough.. and a few of my friends know this by experience...

the next car was a Indigo.. where we were greeted by a useless Salesman.. who did not know shit about the car he was selling.... so that takes Indigo out of the compeition atleast as of today..

i also wanted amit to try a Petra.. which most of the ppl do not know about... in the same 5-5.5 lac category... this car is the best technically... and otherwise too.. compare the power, mileage, maintenance, space, safety.. whatever... Petra wins in and out... anyway.. we could test drive a Petra or see it on display either.. so hard luck..

the last stop was Rohan Motors... Swift and Esteem... Esteem gives a low quality feel... not really worth a test drive even.. Swift looks good... and feels good too.... smaller windows make you feel that you are sitting inside a box.. and gives a sense of security too.. less glass on the car makes it better for summers in India... however it probably is not the best value for money... but then.. its a premium hatchback.. and ppl who have that kinda money should definitely spend on swift...

back home in the evening... after a quick stop at the TeaShop... and then i got down to changing the Video Card for my computer... now i have a nVidia GE Force AGP Card in my computer which is powered by a AMD Sempron 2400+ processor ( 1.7 GHz) with a 512 MHz SD RAM... i was trying to download some CPU utilities too for my machine yesterday.. but could not... they were for AMD Athelon.. though the site said that they will work on a Sempron too... anyway...

Today was just like any other Monday.. hectik... coming to an end though....

lets see how the week goes...

NiCeR DaY ToDaY...

this evening was much better... infact the day was nice as well...

talked to sayan in the morning... somehow that set the ball rolling.. i can just be myself with her.. and be more stupid too... and she responds just the way she should... a darling she is...

and then i was wearing a new shirt too.. nice vertical summer shade stripes... nice... another feel good thing..

and then i went to my previous office building to have lunch.. met some people i used to work with in my previous profile; that was nice..

and then gabbar called in the evening.. that was nice...

and then i ran out of office early today... 1745 hours to be precise.. that was nice..

and then met Deepak, and Aseem and Burf... enhanced my knowledge on Mutual Funds... heard about all the jazzy stuff Deepak's new firm does... and his new profile too.. which sounds pretty impressive..

and Aseem's new role too... in Indus Logic... this chap has matured a lot since i know him... i think its about 3 years now... Good going Aseem.. keep it up..

and then we walked around the sector-18 looking for food... some treat to our eyes... oh.. and deepak had already left by then.. so it was between me, Aseem and Tushar that we had to do all the looking around.. on Deepak's bahalf too...

and then a nice dinner at the moti mahal delux... my first visit to the noida restaurant.. pretty decent !!!

and then back home by 2210 hrs... and watched the Sa Re Ga Ma Pa... what awesome singers !!! I wish i could just sing 10% as well as some of them... God bless them...

so things are better now... am meeting chips tmrw morning... and i have to take her to a movie.... ticket milegi ya nai.. movie dekh payenge ya nai...

dekhenge hum log (*_*)

{C} CoUnTiNg My GiFtS...

i was just thinking about what all did i get for my birthday this year...

there were these flowers... lots of them...

there were these wishes... again loads of them...

a part of Sony Headphones... ekdum direct from the US...

now what was missing was some gift baskets... these guys have this amazing collecion...and anyone could have just gone to the page, and bought me one... but NONE... even though i remember asking for them in one of previous posts.. but ppl just seem to forget...

never mind... dekh lunga !!!

jUsT FaiR....

i am in one of my worst moods .... today... tonight.... right now...

i guess its just fair for life to be unfair at times !!!

there has to be a balance between

the smiles at the sadness !!!

the cheers and the tears !!!

the sounds of friends laughing with you and the ice cold silence that surrounds you when you are alone...

the success and the failure that makes you cherish each one of your milestones more then ever...

the feeling of achievement and the realization of a loss at the same time...

the feeling of winning that 10 km marathon... and the pain in your legs....

the cold air at the top of a mountain... and the bruises you earned while you were climbing up...

the need to cry out loud.. and the strength you give to the ppl around you at the same time...

that smile on ur face... and that small tear in your eye...


i guess life is just fair enough !!!

Good Morning God... Gimmie strength... because i need it... and you have no other choice but to give it to me !!!

Amen....

OutTa HeRe....

i submitted the list of things that i commit to complete at work in the next one year, today...

long list...

and way to go...

have also thought of a few more things.. which need me to be more serious about myself and where i want to go and what i want to achieve...

i think i will be able to think while i am driving for 400 kms at a stretch... towards Dharamsaala....

and i want to do this thinking in the second week of may... starting the evening of 10th(Wednesday) to the morning of 15th.. or maybe evening of 14th(Sunday)

I plan to visit Dharamsaala, McLeodganj, Pragpur, Nalagarh.... and i would not be surprised if i go to Manali too which is about 235 Kms away from Dharamsaala...

anybody game?

_________

the next question comes about what would be done in dharamsaala in these days...

expected drive time to dharamsaala is 8 hours.. about 500 kms...

trekking options:

Dharamsala is one of the most popular starting points for treks and rock climbing over the ridges of the Dhauladhar range. There are tailor-made treks in the Kangra valley around Dharamsala and adjoining places. The trekking season starts from May and goes on to October. The most frequented route from Dharamsala to the Chamba valley, over the Indradhar Pass (4350m), is arduous trek but the most novice trekkers can manage to complete it within five days.

There are many easy walks of small treks around McLeodganj and Dharamsala such as Toral Pass (4575m) that start from Tang Narwana (1150m), which is 10-km from Dharamsala. A 2-km stroll takes one to Bhagsu, then a little further a 3-km walk will bring the trekkers to Dharamkot. If one wishes to go on a longer walk then he can walk 8-km to Triund. The snow line of Ilaqa Got is just a 5-km walk.

The most difficult route is towards the north, a five to six day trek across Bhimghasutri Pass (4580), covering near-vertical rocky ascents, sharp cliffs and dangerous gorges. An easier four or five day trek from Dharamsala crosses Bleni Pass (3710m) in the milder ranges of the northwest, weaving through the alpine pastures, woods and passing through few streams, before terminating at Dunali, on the Chamba road.

The area is rich in small rivers and streams, which give ample opportunity for angle fishing. The 20-km stretch of the river Beas between Nadaun and the Pong Dam offers ample of opportunities in angling for Mahaseer.

QuOte (un) QuoTe

"i need to know something more than nothing to be able to do what i want to do"

:D

i wrote it.. and then i could not understand it when someone else said that she could not understand it.. hehehe...and then i read it again.. and understood it...and i guess it makes a perfect email signature !!!

LaZiE LAsT WeEkEnD....

If i had to give lazy weekend awards then the last weekend is going to get the first prize... i mean i cannot believe it myself... i did not even see the main gate of my house on Saturday till like 2130 hrs when i went out to get food for myself...

and i also did not get home cooked food either on three out of four occasions this weekend ( two lunches and dinners )
i ate chinese... noodles and sweet and sour veg..

i ate south Indian.... rava masala dosa and idli...

And i cooked for myself some pasta... and this time i was not that good.. because i forgot to add Pepper and Red chilly Flakes :( but it was good otherwise... the amount of the salsa sauce and mayonese was just right to make it taste fine... and i am inclined towards trying out something new next time... lets see... will move one step closer to making better pasta next time !!!

what else did i do.. :P i did a lot of nothing this weekend...
oh.. and yes.. i read those two mags that Ashi got me... Wow cameras in there... for some reasons firang lands have these online stores.. where you are get anything.. and that too at very decent prices... and India is still getting introduced to online shopping... we sure are a few years behind there... i saw exorcist too... it could have been scary if i was watching it in the night.. but Sunday afternoon it was.. so it was ok ..

Sunday evening i listened to some of the oldies that i have... HMV CDs with some classical songs... loved each one of them...
phoolon ke rang se... dil ki kalam se.. tujhko likhi roj paati ( one of the best songs ever)
jaaneman jaaneman.. tere ye do nayan.. chori chori leke gaye dekho mera man...( love singing this one)

and a few more....

the breaking news on the tv channels this weekend was Promod Mahajan's episode.. its unfortunate that he was shot by his own brother... and whats more unfortunate that hundreds of ppl in this country die everyday because they cannot get blood on time, while Pramod mahajan was given over 30 bottles of blood because of a leak in his liver... This just make me feel that to survive in this country you either need money or power... if you have anything of the two.. you will be good.. if you do not have anything of the two.. just mind your own business and life your life... and hope that you do not get into situations where you will need any of the two !!! sad !!!

oh.. that reminds me... if anyone of you wants to organise a blood donation camp.. get in touch with me... i will help you out... you can arrange a camp in your college, your office, your locality anywhere... summers specially is a time when the blood banks are short of blood big time...

monday was just another monday.. but i got ready in less time then other days... i also manages to iron my shirt and trousers.. and also shave.. and went to the office like a perfect gentleman... white shirt... nice beige coloured troubers... polished black shoes.. and nicely styled hair !!! if you are looking good it shows on your face too... a certain level of confidence wraps you if you are dressed up smartly !!!

oops.. its already 0730 hrs... and i have been sitting in front of the PC for about 45 minutes now.. lemme go and get ready !!! have a wonderful day everyone :)

JuSt LiKe DaT....

its fun when u just do not want to do anything at all...

like i did today...

the habit of waking up early ensures that even if there is no alarm.. i still cannot sleep beyond 0800 hrs :( so like it or not.. i have to get up... and i did today too...

and then just idled away to glory with both the laptop and the desktop switched on... while i kept transferring some data from the lappie to the home PC... the laptop has been acting up for a few days i am afraid i will loose some important data if it conks off...

a nice bath in the afternoon.... a good lunch and sleeeeeeep for 3 hours saw me wake up to a lazy evening...

and then got reminded of a few things that needed completion for work.. did them and done for the weekend ( i guess ;)

rohit just called.. he is in noida.. but i cannot meet him.. looks like mom has a few plans.. and i am in no mood to get into an argument about me not giving enough time at home right now... so i am home....

last evening was good... left from office around 2000 hrs.. after Ashi came in... so it was Me, Ashi and Munshi who went to GK this time for the Golgappa treat !!! a different shop this time.. but good stuff...

and a walk around the place.. and a discovery... the Sales House... wonderful shirts... i am going to buy at least 5 next week.. and a few trousers too... did not buy it yesterday because my billing cycle for the card is coming to an end... and delaying the shopping for 3 days means getting a interest free credit cycle for 50 days...

and then also ate the pan at the Prince Pan bhandar... i think that was the last time i am eating the pan there... its not value for money at all... not that it takes anything to spend those 15 bucks.. but they make the pan look a lot bigger then it really is by wrapping and re-wrapping it atleast 3 times with paper and stuff... and when you reach the actual pan.. u have nothing more then something of the size of a small toffee to eat !!! huh...

that reminds me of the Banarasi Pan wala in New Market, Bhopal.. i have never eaten better Pan then Bhopal !!! i am missing that shop :(

i called up tushar to find out what he was doing.. looks like he is busy too with his folks.. so the late evening ice tea does not look possible for today !!! anyway...

what else..

i want to watch IceAgeII tmrw... lets see... if i can manage to go there in the evening and get myself a ticket i will....

oh.. and yes.. Ashi got me two magazines from British Council... and its full of Camera reviews and related stuff... loved the mags... will read them too !!! ye ye !!!

am happy !!!

iNnOvATe !!!

we all go through a phase in our everyday life when the usual things we do become so boring, so irritating so monotonous that we do not want to do them anymore... we do not want to be part of that daily routine life anymore.... and we do not know what can be done to change things.. because most of it looks like its not in our control...

some examples...

• i hate to get up early in the morning... its such a pain...
• i hate to take that same chartered to office.. or that bus to college is so crap...
• i just cannot do this job anymore.. its taking me no where...
• my job is so boring....
• i do not have anything worthwhile to do in the evening... all day work and then nothing.. it sucks...

don't all of us go through something of this sort.. almost very regularly...

i also do...

and what do i do to take care of this..

well

• either i can crib...
• or i can keep quite and keep things inside me and keep getting troubled
• or i can think of something that changes things...

like...

if i have problems getting up in the morning... i might think of doing something first thing in the morning that excites me... to start with listen to an alarm that is nice ( this might need a phone where you can change alarms as your favorite songs)

or go to the radio.. and listen to my favorite station...

or just get out of the house and take a walk around the neighbourhood...

or switch on my PC and run the cartoon that i love to love..

if i do not like the way i travel everyday...
then...

i can take a different bus.. maybe a bus 10 minutes earlier then usual...

i can take a different route if i am driving myself...

listen to the tapes that i bought 3 years ago.. and have not heard in a long while...

or spend time over the weekend recording my favorite numbers and then listen to them in my walkman or discman...

or give one of my old friends a quick 10 minute call... wonderful way to catch up...


ok..what was the next problem?

hmm... i do not like my work at office...

well there are times that this cannot be changed... too bad we cannot choose our own bosses and work profiles( at times)

so what can be done...

do the same work.. but Innovate !!! try new ways of reporting data... change the fonts that you use... think about naming conventions for your files... and so on and so forth...

try new things in doing the same activity...

shift your desk as well...

try facing the window if you have one.. and look outside when u do not feel like working...

walk upto the person you like talking to at times and go for a cuppa tea together.. .

about evenings now...

call up old friends.. those 10 minutes do wonders...

work out for 10-20 minites..

pick up an activity... like drawing.. sketching.. learning to play an instrument.. swim... go to the gym... that makes you spend time outside the house...

make sure you are the one who prepares salad for dinner ( thats all that i can do hence this idea)

read.. and then share it with someone who would listen to you...


i am sure there are a million other ways to improve our lives... but there ARE WAYS... we just need to look around.. and find them out for ourself...

treasure hunt...

isn't life one?

AnOThEr... WeEkEnD....

this was a long weekend that just went by... lots happened in this long weekend too..

while i was worrying very hard because sayan asked me to... why? because she was away on a trip.. and she did not want to worry about anything.. so like a good friend in need, i offered to worry in her absence.. and so i did..

and what else did i do...

hmm... i realized that for someone who is earning around 30000 bucks per month, it was not possible to buy a decent house in Greater Noida..

the real estate prices are sky rocketing... to the extent of 25K to 30K per sq. Meter.. which means that for a plot of about 60 sq.m. someone would need to shell out about 15lacs... add to it the cost of building the house and the rest of the charges, registration, tax etc etc... phew.. tough.. life is tough !!!

so that was saturday's realization...

and Sunday... well.. thanks to DMRC... i was very very happy.. a metro ride from Barakhamba to Dwarka.. which took about 60 minutes made me happy.. met chacha and chachi after a long time.. chacha came to the station to pick us up and dropped us back too.. so it was kinda cool... i went from Noida to CP in the car... parked the car @ Birla Towers next to the Barakhamba Station and took the metro from there.. pretty neat eh !!!

and then came monday... the worst day of the week... enjoyed some of my favorite songs on my way to the office... and then the usual too much work at work days... started with a heated argument with one of the guys because he could not understand something that i was trying to make him understand for over a week now, and was continuously creating unnecessary noise about things... so he was taken care of... and then blah.. and some more blah.. which was followed by blah.. and more blah.. before i finally switched off the damn laptop and got out of the office leaving a few things for tmrw... had golgappe in the M block market... ummm... yummy !!! followed by the nimbu soda @ prince pan bhandar and then the thanda meetha paan...

and the icing on the cake.. a quick 3 minute dash to complete the toll bridge with bon jovi screaming his lungs out to Its my Life !!!


yo !!!

back home !!!

totally chilled !!!

where is the bed?

gotta sleep !!!


oops...

food..

gotta eat too..

ok..

lemme eat and sleep !!!

ta tu !!!

good night !!!

sHiMLa....

so now is the time to write about the last weekend.. why !!!

because i got the snaps today... writing about the trip without pictures is not really fun !!! so here i am...

friday evening... the bag was packed in 15 minutes... and me Aditya and Shubhika left for the metro station.. both of them had not seen the metro from inside so far, and the excitement was justified... so we took at bus ( we got on at 2100 hrs easily) and reached the Rajiv Chawk Station... huh !!! its the CP station... grabbed the tokens and took the train.. the crowd at this to take this train was nothing less then the Kolkata Metro !!! tooooo many ppl at the platform... thankfully when the train came to the station it was empty and we could get in with ease...

the Delhi Main Station... or the Chandni Chawk station has two exits... one which takes you to the Fawwara Chawk and the other ( which i took for the first time) which takes you to the entry of the Old Delhi Railway Station... Love you DMRC... going to the Old Delhi Railway station is fun now !!!

there were a total of 21 ppl who were going... all very excited... we quickly ate some sandwiches and searched for the bogie... and took our seats.. had to make some adjustments to sit together... so we asked a lot of ppl to exchange the seats with us... and they had no option... afterall who would like to sleep in between a group of 21 ppl.. we are expected to make noise right ?

the guys who wanted to have drinks enjoyed the drinks after the train moved.. and the other group... with 6 girls were getting bored... and then the game of dumb sharades started... and it was real fun for about 2 hours before some ppl woke up and asked us to sleep... but we could not stop... and carried on for a while this time controlling our voices...

reached kalka in the early morning around 0500 hours after i managed to sleep for about 3 hours...

tried getting a seat in the two trains scheduled to go to Shimla...but Shivalik Express and the Himalayan Queen were both full !!! and there were ppl waiting and fighting the TT because the idiots and taken waiting tickets and wanted a seat... anyway... we moved out of the station to find out alternatives to reach shimla...



took a joyride in a small truck to the Gandhi Chawk bus stand... and waited for a bus there... we could've taken three qualises for 100 bucks per seat... but we chose not to and waited more for a bus.. and finally a Himachal State Transport deluxe bus took us to Shimla... we managed to reach Shimla around 0930 hrs and spend about 1.5 hours looking for a hotel... and finally checked in to the Maharaja Palace near the Kali Badi Mandir... checked in... got ready... and moved out by 1300 hrs... had a wonderful time eating chinese food at Alpha near the LIC of India Office on Scandal Point... and then spent the rest of the day just walking around the Mall Road... what crowd !!! manh !!! i have not seen better girls in this quantity for a long time... the place was FULL of people.. and a good percentage of this PEOPLE was CHICKS... yummy !!!



some of the people got really tired and went back to the hotel while me and a few more decided to stay back on the Mall... i was one of the ppl who stayed back.. took some pics... watched some chicks... and then called everyone for dinner at one of my favorites The Plaza near Guptajee's on the Mall.. both of these restaurants have been the places i make a point to eat at whenever i am in Shimla...



managed to sleep around 0030 hrs... had to wake up early to go to Kufri...we managed to hire 2 Sumos and one Alto... some view points... lots of mules in kufri... and the nature park walk... some rain... a wonderful view point... some pictures... and some great kashmiri pulao and wonderfully tasty pineapple raita followed...


we reached the shimla station @ 1600 hours a good 2.5 hrs before the toy train was to leave Shimla...we had planned to take the general tickets... and to kill time we just kept our bags inside the small ticket counter area... and started what i am never going to forget ever in my life...



the next two hours saw me, Rajat, Lalit, Shivasheesh singing songs loudly.. and on request...we even were asking the other passengers for just 5 bucks for any songs.. hindi, english, marathi, punjabi, sanskrit.. whatever... after sometime the show shifted to the platform where we had the entire passengers of Shivalik Express as our audience.. and we even managed to Sing our way to 5 bucks from a foreigner.. in addition to about 50 bucks that we earned from within the team by singing songs of their choice !!! i will see if i can get one of these videos and upload it...

and as soon as the train arrived... the general dibba was full :( and we did not have a place to sit... so we quickly graduated to a sleeper class compartment and talked to the TT about the extra fare... and made the payment !!! nice... 30 seats in one compartment and 21 of them were with us !!! so no points for guess what followed...

about 4 hours of non-stop singing... with all of us singing at the top of our voices... and me adding some beats to the songs by picking up two empty water bottles and using them for managing the tempo of the songs... a personal question hour.. one Chichora hour... and some non-veg jokes followed... and this journey from Shimla to Kalka because one of the most interesting and well spent journeys of my life !!!

kalka came...we took our seats... and were back in Delhi by 0700 hrs in the morning... so a weekend very very well spent in the company of some amazing people...these are the times when you know life's good !!!



the next weekend is already here and i am not doing much this time...

and i noticed that starting Sep'05 i have managed to be one a outstation trip every month !!! i am praying to God that this continues forever !!!

Amen !!!

oh... and i almost forgot... the fotos have been uploaded to flickr... you can check them out by clicking here

GrOwiNg....uP.... sTiLL...

I am on this planet for 27 years, 11 hrs and 45 minutes as of NOW...

birthdays used to be one day when all my family members.. chacha chachi, mama mami, mausa mausi, bua fufa, all cousins came over to my place and we used to celebrate...

and then it stopped... everyone became busy in their own lives... and i moved on too... and then came the time when i started celebrating with friends.. dinner, lunch, tafri watever...

i remember having a party in Lodhi Garden as well... my college gang was with me.. and we had a picnic in the centre of the park !!! it was fun..

and then came the time when i had my girlfriend to celebrate the day with... nice romantic days... ugh !!! can't think of repeating that as of now...

and for the last few years... the birthdays have been more of a silent affair... meeting a few friends... lots of calls yes !!! and the usual work !!!

today, i feel birthdays are milestones in my life... the time when i should be judging myself on what i have done in the last one year... i have grown older... but am i more mature with time as well.. have i learnt anything in the last 52 weeks...

well... the last year has been fairly fair to me.... have learnt a lot... but i still cannot sugar coat my words... i am still very blunt with words... maybe this coming year things would improve...

i have grown on my patience levels... i can not let go a li'il easily and i can listen for longer...

i still do not know how to handle stupidity...

i love driving more then i used to on 11-April-05...

i love fotography more then i used to on 11-Apr-05...

i love travelling more then ever...

i have met some wonderfully nice people in the last one year...

i have managed to be out of relationships and related worries for another year...

above all...

I have managed to be MYSELF !!!

OuTTa.... HeRe !!!

i am getting out of delhi tonight... for two days...

much needed break from the negative frame of mind i have been in since the time my salary got credited this month...

i need some fresh air...
i need some train...
i need some curves on the road...
i need some hills...
i need myself...

i am going on my way to get it !!!

{C} A LiFe.... & a DaY...

i used to think it was only India which was full of festivals and reasons to celebrate and all the jazz... but with these firangi concepts of "day" coming in... we have
Valentine's Day
Father's Day
Women's Day
Mother's Day
Rose Day
Friendship Day

am i missing some of the popular days?

i guess not...

and to top it all, we have seperate gifts for seperate days... Rose day obviously calls for a Rose... on the Valentine's Day anything red and heart shaped sells... Father's day would see some special for-father gifts... not to mention some special mother's day gifts for the day for Mom's too...

if i had to make a wish list... this is what i would really like to celebrate...

• listen to your music the whole day, day
• kick your irritating neighbour day
• run over the bugger on the road day
• no incoming calls day
• speak only truth day ( i am sure the world would be observing silence this day :D)
• scream at the top of your voice day
• play childhood games day
• only smiles day
• fire your boss day
• be what you wanted to be in your life day
• take your crush out on a hot date day
• kick your crush's boyfriend/girlfriend day
• live like a single day ( for married ppl ofcourse)

what else... lots i guess...

tell me what all days would you like to celebrate in an year !!!

i am waiting...

PaSTa...PaRTiE....

please welcome... prashant bhardwaj... the COOK :)

while i can cook ideas and naughty acts in my brain... i can successfully manage to feed myself with a fresh nice "made with some help" chilled pasta salad as well...

it all started in eatopia... i wonder how many things would start from there.... one of my affairs about 3 years back... the ODM... and now the pasta salads... when i ate the pasta salad there... and really liked it... and wanted to make it myself...

sayantani was there to help with the list of things i needed before i could make it... and i managed to buy the capsicum... or the bell peppers as she calls it... green ones; some carrots... and hara dhaniya... on saturday itself...

now the hunt for the right kind of pasta started on sunday afternoon... and ended at store-18, which now is my favorite store for things i need... because 1. they take cards, and 2. i got all i needed there.. including the mayonese, the pasta, and some salsa sauce....

so back to my house ready to cook...

chopped the veggies, nicely... boiled the pasta for about 20 odd minutes with some salt and a few drops of oil... washed.. or rinsed with cold water...

took some mayonese... beat it... and then mixed it with the pasta... added some chilly flakes... some pepper... a li'il bit of salt... and the mexican salsa sauce... the veggies... i had "power boiled" the carrots as well before... and then some grapes too...

and chilled it for about 30 minutes... and then relished the treat... too bad mom could not share it... it was her fast yesterday.. and pa in any case eats only once.. so he could not comment either...

and because i really needed some comments so i took some to tushar... and i did not know that he does not really like pasta and all.. so it was a dull reaction from him too.. Preeti however told me that it tasted just fine... and i am happy that it was eatable !!!

so ladis and gentalmans... next time you really need to eat some nice pasta salad... please feel free to come over to my place... but... gimme a days' notice so that i can get all the things i need to cook a good delicious salad for you ;)

ta tu...

and i have to go to gurgaon tmrw again... a drive of 50 kms one way !!! aargh !!!

AnOtHeR DaY... HaPpY...

life been pretty hectic for the last few days... starting from the day of joining... no no.. nothing has changed in terms of work.. but the quantity has picked up...

i have applied for my corporate card... and as soon as it arrives, i need to travel to EAST... Bhubneshwar, Guwahati, Kolkata and Patna... might just steal a couple of days for myself as well during these work trips...

yesterday was very very good evening... went to dv8 in CP... the dj there ROCKS !!! literally i used to think Blues plays the best rock in CP, but this was much much better !!! after listening to some wonderfull rock for about 3 hours... with a couple of drinks... and some good foodie snacks... moved out and walked on the empty and otherwise very crowded roads of CP... i love CP... and would always call it that way.. no bloddy Rajiv or Indira Chawk for me ever !!! Manish told me about all the bird watching that he used to do there when in college... we went towards D'Pauls as well hoping that it would be open but it was not... so basically it was a very nice evening spent in the company of some good friends....

slept very late... after working on a couple of things for office :( yes... rohit can vouch for that... i was working at 0100 hrs :( slept around 0200 hrs after completing my work desperately hoping that tushar does not call up in the morning for jogging... that bugger did... and i had to get up... oh and by the way i have been jogging for two days now... terrible pain in the entire body... and an old left knee injury reminding me to take care of it !!! so i cannot jog a lot :( would have to think of other fat burning ways ;) other interesting fat burning ways :P

met sayantani today... it was fun... her office is so cewl... all books ... i feel good when there are so many books around, i usually do not read any.. but what the heck.. i still like that feeling... and i could trouble her with all my nonsensical talks while she was inviting some bachelor big shot for a book launch on the 4th april !!! 4 books arebeing launched on that day !!! and her name is on two of them... am totally proud of you editor girl !!!

and then we thought about what we want to do.. where do we want to go.. initially she was to treat me to a movie.. which she denied... also the PVRs for some reason had no bloddy show before 1400 hrs... what are they doing in the auditoriums before that time !! huh !!!

anyway... we decided to go to Cafe Coffee day, Green Park... this is at the backside of the deer park... on a road which has very less traffic... and i like it for the view it gives... but then i decided to experiment with the route that we take, and landed up on the Lodhi Road... and then decided to go to IHC... i have somehow started liking IHC a lot... there is something or the other you can watch there... and something or the other is always on there... like it was today... started with a full parking lot... and a b/w foto exhibition with fotos of some street children... being sold for amounts like 10K-20K !!! huh !!! and then went to this painting exhibition of breasts and butts... no seriously !!! this exhibition had all the paintings but 6 which had women painted in all different colours and the two body parts as mentioned above being focused at !!! Sayan also asked me why one of the chicks on one of the paintings had a strange orange butt !!! the only reason i could think of was that she was spanked big time, before the artist got down to painting her !!! anyway... we then went to the Visual Art Gallery, where there was an exhibition of some musical collages !! it was nice... abstract... very nice...

when i used to sketch... i used to try to hard to have everything proper... proper eyes, proper face and a balanced landscape and all... but then most of the paintings/art work i have seen actually is not that way... abstract obviously is not easy but i guess its a better form of the free flow of expression.. and leaves you with a lot of questions too.. and as sayantani puts it, the work there was Visually Interesting !!! nice...

oh and there were these two hotties taking care of the exhibition there !!! and of them wanted my name and address !!! ya... to be written on the guest book :P hehehe...

Eatopia followed... and a lot of talk too... about LLAs, and chicks, and guys... and sayantani kept telling me that i am gross and disgusting all that.. and i should talk to a girl like that about other girls.. but then i made her understand that if she is a friend, i should be able to let my thoughts and words flow freely in front of her... otherwise its not really being friends... which meant more conversations... maza aaya...

oh.. and we picked up a line from that exhibition in the Visual Art Gallery.. so profound.. here it is for you guys : "Even the face of an angel can be devilish red when the sound of his voice is not true"... nice eh !!!

and then i dropped her @ the power grid office where her dad was waiting for her... and on the way i made her listen to one of my favorite tracks these days...

Toone Deewana Banaya to Main Deewana Bana...
Ab mujhe hosh ki duniya mein Tamasha na Bana...

Abida Parween has done magic to these words... and 10e obviously liked it... oh.. and i also gave her a compilation of the best of angreji music that i have.. and i got the CD of Kailash Kher's album Kailasa from here... so we also exchanged some music too !!!

came back... slept... and woke up !!!

talked to richa... all the best for your exams sweetheart... do well !!!

nice day so far... lets see whats up in the rest of the weekend...

ta tu for now !!!