live on wheels...

2009-10-23T19:04:00.025+05:30

Yercaud Again!!

Bangalore - Yercaud Motorbike trip 2, 3, 4th October 2009

Second time in two years, give it to the place or the urge of riding. Riding always is an unchallenged winner but the place also matches up this time. Had been few months since our last trip and the plans were keeping themselves to the notepads, so we decided to head unplanned.

Yercaud, when I heard it from Ashish the first thought that struck was, not again. But then, the rush weekend,

explosive prices and the urge of riding overrode the base class method of not_again to Okaaay.

We head with two bikes, Pulsar 200 my 19k kms companion and Machismo 500 a new entrant - Ashish’s latest asset, and three of us Rashmi, Ashish and I. With couple of guys having got married recently the count of the bikes and people has come down, for good or for bad that’s up for debate.

A quick plan worked in the background day before and we got a place to stay booked, to avoid any last minute surprises considering it was a rush weekend.

It was a little rainy on the 1^st so we decided to leave after sunrise, left Bangalore on 2^nd at 6. Going by an average speed of 60kms p/h it should have taken us maximum 4 hours for Yercaud but when it’s about the ride we don’t care about the time, innumerous breaks for tea, food, photography are a must.

We reach by 1, guided by the most creative signboards, winner being “You are sufficiently warned”. Someone in PWD got fed up of writing these warning boards and wrote the masterpiece, once for all. What I loved though was the road; I wish we had such good roads in Bangalore city.

Yercaud is known as poor man’s Ooty, and rightly so. Nature and weather were just awesome, reminded me of rides to Nainital, as soon as you cross Hanuman Garhi and get closer to the lake city, the rejuvenation kicks in, same was the feeling here. No comparison to Nainital though, it ain’t a poor man’s place anyways :)

Poor man’s Ooty, because you get almost the same refreshment and refueling as Ooty at almost 1/3 of the cost. Not many people know about or not many people make plans for Yercaud, leaving it also 1/3 crowded than Ooty.

So we reach Yercaud, and first thing we do is search for Cliffton Inn, Yatra.com’s second blunder in two years, I’m amused how these guys are wonderfully consistent in screwing up, probably Six Sigma. Though I was happy we had beds and bedsheets, unlike the last time :)

Second thing to do was search for a lunch place, my last time’s experience at this wasn’t encouraging, but things change and we were lucky enough to find a hotel, though we yet had to place a special order and wait for 45 minutes.(Don’t worry, you have another very good place to eat in Yercaud, I’ll speak about it :))

Somehow time doesn’t seem to pass at such places, and after all this drama we yet had 3 hours to kill before sunset.

One good thing about a smaller group is you don’t have to fight on what next, wherever the first bike turns to the other follows :). And that takes us to Lady’s seat, the first look disappointed me to the core, don’t know when people will learn to use the dustbins. Not that Govt. has enough of them everywhere but yet how much does it take to carry the waste to the nearest. Justifies the ban of plastics in many tourist places of the north.

Ignore that and rest is bliss, view from this place is a view of lifetime. An inside tip for the ones who can spend a little, ditch the view point most of the people flock at and head to the one next to it, 5rs ticket for the Doorbin, and the best spent 5rs of my lifetime, try for yourself.

After a good photography session here we left for Botanical Garden, a not so impressive place and after a couple of clicks headed for Pagoda Point, from my last trip experience I knew it is a must visit place after sunset. View of Salem city flooded with lights from this point is just breathtaking.

But this time nature had different plans, the place was covered with thick fog. The little displeasure of losing the view was blown away by the amazingly beautiful weather. It was like being on the clouds, may be cloud 9 :)

I tried all the best possible settings of the camera to click some moments, and did get a few good ones. The ride back to the resort through the dense fog was a little horrifying but an Experience.

Dinner was the next big question; we yet hadn’t discovered the best place I’m supposed to talk about :) We decide to try “Lake Forest – Club Mahindra”, an expensive looking place, but anything for good food :). Only to discover we being outsiders would be served only buffet, it was kind of OK to fill up, but @ 250per head sure didn’t justify the cost. The resort though is beautiful, a honeymoon place I must say.

The day finally ended with our search for tea, and that took us back to the lunch place. And then we bid Good night with the promise to get up early and visit Padoga Point for sunrise.

Day 2. Unlike all other trips we did get up on time, only to discover the freezing weather outside, with thick layers of fog it made no sense to ride 5kms when we knew the sun wouldn’t show up. We got up again at 10, had breakfast at our lovely resort and rode straight to Kiliyur Falls.

8km ride, 1 km trek and all worth it. Spent a good time there and had long camera sessions.

It was lunch time and search time again. Somehow Rashmi remembered seeing a board of Shevroys Silver Oak Restaurant, pillion riders have the luxury of not loosing anything.

If you follow the road from the lake towards the city bus stand this place will be on your left at the second turn. Looked like a normal Bangalore restaurant and was overcrowded too, not deciding to wait we came out to try our luck in the Chinese restaurant, “Red Dragon” next door run by the same Shevaroy’s management.

This is the best place to eat in Yercaud, the one I was supposed to talk about.

Reasonable price, amazing food and decent service. Not just the Chinese place, Silver Oak is equally good, we had our dinner and next day break fast at Silver Oak and it was worth each penny.

After lunch we did a city tour. Saw the best ever school playground at Monfort School and visited the city church.

In the evening we went back to Lady’s seat; trust me just for the Mirchi Bhajji’s, a delicacy not to be missed.

The weather was clean with almost no clouds and there wasn’t a second thought when someone said, lets go to Pagoda Point. This was our second shot at it, and it all paid up. Brilliant views of Salem at night from this place will keep you glued and you would not want to come back.

Day 3: We had half a day at our disposal, because second half was reserved for traveling.

We did not plan to visit Shevaroy’s temple, but a bike ride on that road is a no no miss.

And on our way what we find is the lost Orchidarium, I say so because Rashmi had been hunting for this place from day 1, but nobody in Yercaud seemed to know about it. And when we find it, Sunday – closed, what luck :( AND then the savior, Rashmi’s Tamil speaking skills proved good enough to get us in.

It’s a National Orchid Research center friends, but you get in and you would know why no one in Yercaud knows about it. BTM Park is maintained much better.

The ride on Shevaroy Temple road was awesome anyways :)

We hit the road back to Bangalore at 2 and were comfortably home by 8, with all the important breaks in between :)

Yercaud is a wonderful place if you can enjoy nature in its raw existence.

It’s called poor man’s Ooty and so it is. Nothing is maintained, you can notice few conservation efforts by the government at some places but then our super educated people leave no chance of improvement, be it the world is a dustbin or let the world know about my love attitude.

We enjoyed it, and anyone with the right spirit would. Go there and live by the moment. You never know what makes you smile, picture perfect views or a funny display board offering part massage :)

Quick Facts

Distance from Bangalore	230 kms
Route	Bangalore-Hosur-Krishnagiri-Salem-Yercaud (NH7 till Salem)
Road Condition	Awesome
Where to Stay	Lake Forest – Club Mahindra Hotel Shevaroys Sterling Resorts Ponkailash Holiday Home
Places to Visit	Lady’s Seat – Sunset point, breathtaking views of Salem city. Pagoda Point – Sunrise Point. After sunset view of Salem under lights. Kiliyur Falls – Must visit waterfalls. Adventurous trek to this place adds to the fun. Bear's Cave Shevaroy Temple Monfort School
Place to Eat at (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)	Shevaroys- Silver Oak Restaurant (Hospital Road, near Shevaroys Institute of Hotel Management) Red Dragon Restaurant (Next to Silver Oak)
Petrol Pump	Yes
Service Stations	Small Repair Shops, Tubeless tyre puncture repair shop available. Salem (30km) has service stations for all major manufacturers.
Nearest Airport	Salem
Nearest Railway Station	Salem

Happy Riding :)

Kamal

2009-09-13T11:21:00.013+05:30

8 Day trip to Kumaun Hills, Uttarakhand, India - Simply Heaven
One thing my friends associate with me whenever it comes to a trip is, planning. A few google searches to impress people around doesn’t actually harm, so I really don’t mind them believing I’m a good planner :)

There’s a trip I would love to do myself but time restrains me now. Good thing is, I have seen most of the places as all are near my native :)
I planned this for one of my friends. It’s not a bad plan actually, and that makes me share it.
Take time off and do this one, you will feel reborn and rejuvenated, trust me.

8 Day trip to Kumaun Hills, Uttarakhand, India - Simply Heaven - The Plan
Ideal for a group of 5 - 10. Mode of travel beyond Kathgodam can be Car or Motor Bikes,
though you might need a crash cab, mostly to carry luggage, if you wish to do this on bikes.
I'm currently based at Bangalore, so the trip starts here :), you would want to cut down/ add days if the start point is somewhere else.

Kumaun hills are Photographer's Paradise; make sure you carry your best camera. The trip has a relaxed plan that gives enough time to the photographer inside, to stop wherever and click whatever :)
Day 1

Bangalore – Delhi (Fly) – 2.20 min – reach by afternoon preferably

Delhi(Old Delhi railway station) to Kathgodam – Train – Ranikhet Express(5013)

(10.35pm – 5.45 AM)

Day 2

Kathgodam - Nainital - Hire a taxi (pre-book preferably) (35 Kms 1.5 Hours)

You will reach Nainital by 8 – 9 max.
Get a place to stay (KMVN Guest house preferably (http://kmvn.org/) - pre-book using the website. Getting accommodation at Nainital is not easy, unless it is really off-season, March – June is season, September – November is moderate. Durga Pooja (Sometime in Oct normally) is a big occasion, if you plan during those days be sure to get an accommodation beforehand.

Explore Nainital –

Nainital does not need any introduction and specially by me. Experience for yourself :)
Do’s:

Must Visit: Snow View(By Cable Car), Kilbari, Hanuman Garhi

Must Eat: Mutton Momo’s at Bhotia Market, Softee at Mall Road

Shopping : Bhotia Market, Mall Road (bargain to the core :))

Must Do: Boating, Cable Car to Snow View, A walk on Thandi sarak, A must walk on the Mall road in the evening.

Day 3

Nainital – Bhowali – Sattal – Bhimtal – Naukuchiyatal – Bhimtal – Ghorakhal – Bhowali – Nainital

Head to Sattal(23kms). Seven lakes within 10 kms, some are private and not accessible but you can see them all from the car. Enjoy boating at the last lake, have your breakfast at this place.

Visit Bhimtal(Sattal-Bhimtal, about 10 kms), take a boat to the Island Restaurant for a cup of tea.

Leave for Naukuchiyatal(Bhimtal – Naukuchiyatal, about 6 kms), this is one the most beautiful lakes, if lucky enough you can see the lotus pond full blooming flowers.

Head back to Nainital, visit Ghorakhal on the way if you have time. Temple of bells, one of the most sacred places for the people of Kumaun. Devotees make a wish and offer bells to the lord Gollu Devta, when the wish comes true.

Day 4

Nainital – Bhowali – Ranikhet – Kausani

Nainital – Ranikhet (60km, 2 Hours)

Ranikhet – Kausani (70kms, 2.5 Hours)

Head for Ranikhet, it is one of the most scenic and serene places of Kumaun hills. As the day progresses don’t miss to watch the snow peaks change their colour. It’s a lovely getaway if you wish to surrender yourself to peace and calmness and forget the chaotic blues of daily life.

Leave for Kausani around 3 - 4, will take 2 – 2.5 hours. Stay at Kausani.

Sunrise at Kausani is one of the best you would ever see in your lifetime. When the sun rises from the mystic Himalayas, and the white snow clad beauties turn crimson, it certainly is a view you would want to die for.

Day 5

Kausani – Bageshwar - Chakori – Munsyari

Kausani – Chakori (85km, 2 – 2.5 hours)

Chakori – Munsyari (50kms, 1.5 hours)

Don’t miss the tea gardens at Chakori and don’t worry about the travel time, entire route is absolutely breathtaking.

Munsyari - Located at an altitude of 2, 200 meters above the sea level amidst snow capped Kumaon Himalayas

http://www.bharatonline.com/uttarakhand/pithoragarh/munsiyari.html

You can speak to the guest house people, and get a trek arranged to glaciers like Ralam and Milam, if really interested in some wild time out. (need more days off for the trek for sure though)

Day 6

Explore Munsyari

Khaliya Top & Betuli Dhar: Known place for skiing and adventure sports. Betuli Dhar is about 5kms, from Munsyari.

Madkot: 22 kms, from Munsyari. Madkot has hot water springs which are said to cure Arthritis and skin eruptions.

Birthi Fall: Spectacular waterfalls

This completes the first half of the trip, for the return journey we got two options:

Option 1

Day 7

Head to Ramnagar (Jim Corbett National Park)

Munsyari – Bageshwar - Almora – Ranikhet – Ramnagar (224 kms, 5 - 6 hours)

Stay overnight at Corbett National Park or Ramnagar.

Do a night safari if possible at Corbett park, or do a day safari next day (Pre-book to avoid last minute rush)

Day 8

Take the night train from Ramnagar to Delhi - Corbett Park Link (5014A) (21.40pm – 3.55 AM)

Day 9

Delhi – Bangalore

Option 2

Day 7

Head to Kathgodam

Munsyari – Bageshwar - Almora – Bhimtal – Kathgodam(196 kms, 4 – 5 hours)

(the train leaves at 20.40 pm, Kathgodam is not a busy station, arriving there half n hour before is good enough, you can probably ease the journey with numerous tea and photography breaks :))

Take the night train from Kathgodam to Delhi - Ranikhet Express(5014) (20.40pm – 3.55 AM)

Day 8

Delhi - Bangalore

Importants:
- Get accommodation and preferably pre-book, at KMVN guest houses as much as possible, they are cheap, safe and always have the best locations, like at Kausani you can view sunrise from your room only :). (http://kmvn.org/)
- Book a taxi for 8 days, preferably from Kathgodam, KMVN has a Guest House there and they should be able to help you with this. In a group of 5 - 6 this turns out to be cheaper and also saves a lot of time and luggage carrying effort.
- Speak hindi, everyone knows the language there.
- Carry woolens, few places are chilly be it anytime of the year.
- Complete journey beyond Kathgodam is on hilly roads, I hope you can take that
- Bargaining at all places other than the restaurants :), is not a bad idea, the boat rates etc. at certain places are not government controlled.

Disclaimer: The plan and information are based on my knowledge and some Google search about Kumaun. I though, do not guarantee the accuracy of travel time, distance and the places too in case the Government decides to delete or rename some by the time you happen to visit :)

Happy Traveling,

Kamal

2 year 7 months

2009-08-26T20:25:00.001+05:30

2 year 7 months... since my last post... wow.. life's been busy or i've been lazy.

When i had almost started to believe i was immune, recession hit me. Nopes, i'm not out of work, work's recession proof. I'm out of weekly trips, trying to cut down the costs respecting the general public sentiment to save the money which i don't have anyways :)

When I'm not traveling i'm either into movies or into my computer. The masked people ate up my movies, its not the flu im scared of, these annoyingly unpleasant people with masks all around make me feel sick. So it has to be the computer now, and that is when I realized on one of the social networking websites', in the 'About Me' section, I start it with the link to this blog, the one which was updated 2 year 7 months back. So for the people who followed this link to read 'About Me', you've been tricked anyways, and wouldn't find it here either :). And for the others, I'm trying to revive this blog. Muthathi obviously wasn't my last trip, there have been many, got a very long list, soo many that some of my friends now call me a travel advisor :).

Will try to relive some and pass on useful info in the coming posts.. watch out.

2007-02-28T12:01:00.000+05:30

‘The Muthathi Night Camp’

7 enthusiasts, 1 car, 1 bike, 3 tents, 6 sleeping bags and one eventful night. This isn’t a plot for the next Ramsay brother’s movie; it’s a real life experience just out of Kamal Mehta’s ‘The Muthathi Night Camp’.

The 7 unpredictable’s Shalini-the F1 Racer, Arif – the Fanatic, Dada – the Communicator, Mohanty – the Guitarist, Suresha – the Cynic, Basab – the Songster and me – the Poor Narrator.

February the 9^th 2007 – Symbiosis G

6.00 PM: Dada gets up after the long days work if there was any …’Lets go somewhere out folks. This week’s too boring’. Hmmm all 5 heads nodding in agreement. But where? a dim voice creeps in from somewhere. That’s a million dollar question!! Let’s call Neeraj, someone suggests, Neeraj Malve from Bangalore Mountaineering Club.

7.00 PM, Symbiosis 002: This isn’t a regular teleconference. The foundation is being laid for the adventurous night ahead.

Hey Neeraj can u suggest some place for a days trip, Night camp sort off.. let me tell you here though Dada initiated he would himself had walked out iff he didn’t get to sleep in the wild with the animals. So from a day’s trip it becomes a ‘Night Camp’. Common we must be crazy, arrangements for a night camp in just 12 hrs?? Hey don’t worry Neeraj’s there.. just show the enthu he’ll give u everything and at the lowest in Bangalore. That sounds great. Communicator and the Cynic rushed to get the tents and sleeping bags from BMC. All details in, all set.

February the 10^th 2007 – BTM Water Tank

4 PM: Though I always believed we should have started earlier but because of some miscommunication between the Communicator and the F1 Racer that lead to a communication gap between all we found ourselves in a lot of communication problems later.

Finally we start, from 5 earlier to 7 now… Arif – the Fanatic a regular ingredient so had to be here, Basab – the Songster a lil scared and a lil amused of whats gonna happen but still in because he could not put down our so convincing and so enforced proposal. 5 in the red Ferrari, 2 on the black Ducati and the journey begun.

Cruising along the Malaysian Grand Prix track, the Kanakpura Road, if someone saw a road with bigger and better potholes let me know ill change my nomination for the ‘Worlds Most Amazing Engineering Wonders’.

With the F1 racer in full swing speeding Ferrari at an enthralling speed of 20 kmph, we could not have made earlier covering a distance of 125 km in just 4 hours. We did send the bike faster to get the arrangements and yes with our Kannada trump card ‘the Cynic’ but I should tell you we don’t use him just anywhere.

Should mention the drive through the dense Bheemeshwari jungle was just amazing, the road, the headlights and the music this is what I could feel and see and yes the potholes in the last 20km surprisingly vanished that gave us a dreadful feeling …. We aren’t in other world right ?? Rehman bhai’s other world?? The world of the……..

Fanatic and Cynic now in the village trying their best to find the Forest Office. They even asked the forest guard ...’Where’s the Forest Office?’ but he just dint seem to be aware of it but our Fanatic is too smart I tell you and he did get it.

But are we hearing correctly??... No camping allowed here tonight there are some special people with special permission from the specials and they might get disturbed. What ?? Means all plans in vain ? No camping ? No bonfire? No sleeping in between the animals? This isn’t done and moreover we don’t have a place to sleep. Aliens amongst the villagers with only one person knowing there language and that also we dint wanted to use…remember our trump card how can we open all cards so early?… where would we go now??

While we 6 are cursing our luck and the brave decision to come all the way unprepared, our communicator had some different plans... Hey what is he doing between those villagers and why is he standing with that fellow like a best ever friend with hands across shoulders; and here comes the ray of hope… Mr. Hospitality. This Bengali dude is too good man that’s why we call him the communicator. He’s got everything set and that too at a lower price than the forest people. Mr. Hospitality takes all the responsibility of our night camp, dinner, safety … hmmm that sounds cool.

Following Mr. Hospitality’s footsteps we reach the river bank … no no we are not camping here we gotta cross this river … crazy right?? Some say its adventure, but tell me crossing Cauvery at 9.30 pm in a coracle, without lights, without life jackets, without a swimmer and someone said the river had crocodiles… now this is what?? Adventure??

F1 Racer, Fanatic, Guitarist and Me crossed the river in the first shift and here we are now stranded on the other side of Cauvery in the jungle of Bheemeshwari away from the village making a video I’m still waiting for the prints people say you get to see more faces than actually were at such places, don’t know if someone is carrying one??

Communicator, Songster and the Cynic arrive in the second shift with the remaining luggage.

Though it seemed more scary than adventurous but was just unbelievable, far from the city’s chaos, a naturalists’ experience.

We get to the place for camping and start pitching the tents. It was another struggle trust me with some special physicists comments… Hey the ‘Angle of Curvature’ is not proper decrease it by a few degrees and the tent would adjust.. But how about folding the stick, that would increase the angle agree but the tent just might fit. Engineers should not camp together.. believe me. Finally after all the special comments and the hot scientific discussions we did manage to fix the tents though not absolutely professionally. The campfire is up by now and done by our host of the day Mr. Hospitality.

Here come the guidelines... Remember ‘Kaal’ movie... the rules of the jungle?? Luckily we had only three.

First, do not swim in the water, crocodiles will take you along; someone tell him we don’t know swimming. But we aren’t supposed to get near the water too.

Rule no two, don’t let the campfire go dead else the animals specially the elephants will take you along with the tents.

Rule no three; sleep in rotation one person should be awake at any point of time. Now did you understand our 6 sleeping bags funda?? But who has come here for sleeping man.

Then comes the majestic dinner special courtesy Mr. Hospitality. Chicken soo good in midst of a jungle could not imagine getting better in The Leela, with dal, rice and the roti’s .. felt like heaven .

As the moon rays split through the lovely woods, we 7 near the bonfire with Guitarist and the Songster singing in the wild. The most amazing experience of my life. Though we all turned singers later with some dying efforts by the guitarist to get in sync with us. Here we remember all the oldies the evergreen soothing tracks down the memory lane… and yes a special tribute to Himesh Reshamia’s ‘Aashiq Banaya Aapne’ .. We did wanted to burn him with the song in the fire but were in such a good mood for that.

One by one all down it’s just me and the guitarist … singing till 3 with cautious eyes around looking for the animals and the other world guests. Its time to wake The Fanatic.. and go to bed and once he got up I don’t think anyone slept.. though I did manage to steal a nap.

February the 11^th 2007 – Cauvery River Bank, Muthathi

Its five in the morning pack the tents fast.. you don’t want forest office people to trace you after they declining the permission right??

Well we packed everything, the sun has just rose and look around.. this is where we were all night… man it is soo lovely soo scenic soo splendid … we were spellbound for minutes.

The trip doesn’t end here we had a wild time hunting for crocodiles...got to see a glimpse of one. The stone crests in the Cauvery are just perfect for crocodile habitats and that’s where we spent a lot of time … couldn’t really see one from close, reasons being getting late there… crocodiles get into the water once the sun is up… and also because we were such a silent bunch of people.

We also planned for a trek though it was dropped; we feared it to be useless as no animals would dare come out in such heat, Feb isn’t the right time for trekking there we believe.

We spent our afternoon splashing and bathing in the Cauvery a natural spa and healer.

Needless to mention the fresh n tasty breakfast and lunch, courtesy again Mr. Hospitality.

Life doesn’t give many opportunities like this to experience nature from so close. We would have loved to stay there forever but who would write the buggy code otherwise.

We headed back to Bangalore at around 1 pm, the F1 Racer got some hiccups with the Ferrari now but we did manage easily; After all we had become strong by now though still finding the difference between being adventurous and being crazy.

And Yes…Did I forget to mention we haven’t yet used our trump card… smart we are … no??

optimist or pessimist...

2006-05-06T10:12:00.000+05:30

Something has changed it’s the life or the time, difficult to say. When I look back into the path I paved for myself can see a long desert and some oasis, it’s up to me to live with either. The deserts gave me the strength to fight back and the oasis emboldened the spirit within. Should I complain about the hard times? People say it’s a part of life, I tend to believe them; they were always there however hard I tried to elude, could not! Some times as the best ever friends, sometimes as alluring gifts wrapped in the sheets of momentary bliss. Always fought back and that is what keeps me going, I thank all those moments and all those people who in their ignorance gave me the power of being than what they were meant for.
Being different is not easy, fight with everyone around and you are different or live with them and you are lost. Being different is sometimes being pessimistic and sometimes optimistic, find out the things you don’t want to do…you are a pessimist, bring in the changes …you are an optimist. Its good to be either sometimes, in a way its good to be yourself, pessimist or optimist is what the world thinks about you, you believe them or not... your pick.
Life’s tricky, get some logic and you are going, as we say in the programming world, it’s just the logic… implementations are language specific….. What’s your language??

dekh sooraj doob raha...

2006-04-23T12:54:00.000+05:30

dekh sooraj doob raha
roshni kam ho gayi
beet gaya ek aur din
zindagi kam ho gayi

aaj karle jo hai karna
kal na kehna dost mere
jis pal mein chaha tha ye karna
vo ghadi gum ho gayi

dekh sooraj doob raha
roshni kam ho gayi

samay bahut hai tej chalta
rok saka na koi ise
chal pada jo saath iske
zindagi phir ban gayi

dekh sooraj doob raha
roshni kam ho gayi

sambhal ja ab bhi samay hai
kar le ichhayein tu poori
is pal main jo tu jag gaya to
manzilein phir mil gayi

dekh sooraj doob raha
roshni kam ho gayi
beet gaya ek aur din
zindagi kam ho gayi

my hindi side ;-)

mangalore feast... some more pics

2006-04-15T11:27:00.000+05:30

what a glory...(St.Aloysius College)

foods' good...(Haoming Restaurant)

buried in heaven... (Kaup Beach)

playing with the waves...(Kaup Again)

v5 (Our Hotel corridor)

coding the toast...

2006-04-07T00:48:00.000+05:30

toast....thats the only thing we did'nt had there..

we didn't even code there, so ?? well i had to start somewhere....

i can see some hands searching for the 'qwerty' probably they just got a fix for the bug they found before the testers... everyone's beaming .. was the food soo good ? But the food has'nt yet been served .. oh its the desire of having good food oneday... so this big smile very likely means the food in the cafeteria isn't good ... well i don't say that... you should be cautious when n where to smile... ok lets not give all credit to the restaurant.. why do we miss the photographer who did the immaculate job of bringing smiles on these eversmiling faces.. well it might not just be the photographer the camera is also good Arif bhai..and the way you're trying to click the second one i feel its a little overconfidence on the camera but still it did manage to get it.. gud job camera.. So its the camera friends, do get that camera to wear a perfect smile :-)

why do i miss my place?

2006-04-04T17:53:00.000+05:30

still want to ask why i miss my place?

Uttaranchal - a world beyond words ... the more i think, more complex it becomes to write...
yes i miss it.. the place is destined to be missed...
cool breeze that takes along all the worries and fills you with freshness and spirit... the pleasant singing birds that sing the 'earth song' far better than Michael Jackson... the dense pine forests where trees talk and you listen... the cool oak forests where water is much sweeter than the sweetest... the white snowy mountains which shine brighter than the diamond under sun... the lush green hills where nature herself wonders her creation ...the innocent cute kids who speak something in pahari that they only understand ...the herds of cattles which walk as if they own the world... the step farms that look as if nature has paved a way for her to the top... the careless life, away from tensions and fears of the fast running world... yes i'm talking about a place that does exist on this earth... a place that would be anyone's dream... the place i belong to... the place i miss...

2006-03-30T10:37:00.000+05:30

its not the latest but certainly historical for us, conquering Aloysius was always a dream, dreams are meant to be achieved and here we are with one of the biggest ...
Danuta, Gopal, Sarosh, Yagnesh and me in high spirits and big smiles

Overall Championship - Epitome'05, St. Aloysius College, Mangalore, India.
Photo Source: Times of India - ePaper, Mangalore Edition, 29 September'2005

burning bangalore

2006-03-30T00:38:00.000+05:30

its quite unsual for a city like bangalore that the mercury is flying high, its gone very hot these days ... well this is a geographical change or because i'm here....don't have a clue....
namma bangaluru would soon see a downpour ... i want the temperature to come down, can't hear all people blaming me for the burning fire :-) ................