random scribbles

social networking

2010-08-31T13:44:00.002+05:30

After resisting for a long long time, I have finally got bitten by the social networking bug. I am now trying to resurrect my facebook account by actually putting in some updates and connecting to friends. I also created a twitter account www.twitter.com/chinmayalbal

Lets see how long the new infection lasts ;-)

22K crore!!! that's lot

2009-09-08T16:40:00.003+05:30

Quick Q - how many zero's in 22000 crores? Let me think .. 1 crore is 10^7 i.e 10000000. So 22000 crores is 22,000,000,0000. Whew .. can't count it with 10 fingers.

This is the money that BBMP wants to spend making some random flyovers and elevated roads all around the city. In the end, we will be left with no trees and a lot of short sighted, badly planned grey concrete blocks around the city, directly blowing smoke into the properties around the elevated roads. Not to mention the fact, that if this ambitious project takes off, we will have to endure excrutiating pain on our roads due to the construction and blockages. This is in addition to the already clogged roads due to Namma Metro.

So the question everybody is asking, will this grand plan complement the Metro rail project or will it jostle with the metro for attention, space and the money that is being allocated? We need some clear direction, plans and transperancy from the government in this regard

Appalling low voter turnout

2009-04-24T09:09:00.002+05:30

Bangalore North, Central and South constituencies which boast of probably the highest literacy percentage in the whole country saw a voter turnout of less than 50%. This is appalling and downright disappointing.

Folks, we will have ourselves to blame if some random jerk comes to power and screws up the already broken system we have.

New species found

2009-04-23T13:00:00.003+05:30

On a recent trip to Nagarhole, while on the morning safari, we did not have a single sighting even after a couple of hours of drive. Folks in the jeep were getting impatient and literally jumped in joy when we saw a "jungle fowl" - only to realize that we were on the outskirts of a village and we had "sighted" a rooster. Then we spotted a man who was doing some household cleaning and the conversation that followed

Santanu - "look a man doing work at home"
Subbu - "What do you call a man doing work at home?"
Chinmay - "homo domestica??"
Subbu - "What do you call a bachelor then?"
Santanu - "homo foresta?"

It happens only in India

2009-01-29T11:49:00.002+05:30

Fake Padma awardee

Tickles my funny bone :-)

The Poonch Encounter

2009-01-08T10:37:00.002+05:30

The Poonch Encounter has entered the 8th day without any breakthrough. The terrorists are still resisting our army inspite of a big push. I am obviously unaware of the ground realities, but a burning question in my mind is why is the army not using helicopter gun ships to wipe out the militants?

Also, why is there so little coverage in our media to this encounter? It has been reduced to a footnote in both the print and TV media. Is this because it is not happening in some remote jungle and because there are no VIPs caught in the crossfire?

Awesome Engineering Feat

2008-12-29T15:07:00.002+05:30

Absolutely amazing read - Before the levees break

The kind of effort Dutch engineers are putting into keeping the sea water from flooding their coastal cities is a marvelous engineering achievement. Makes economic sense too, since according to the article "The half of the country that is below sea level—including the area behind these dunes—generates about 65 percent of its GDP. That's nearly $450 billion a year."

The planning and resources that are being spent on the feat is absolutely awe inspiring.

Rumours can be dangerous

2008-12-24T11:15:00.002+05:30

This Sunday (Dec 21) was the pulse polio vaccination drive organized jointly by the Government and Rotary International. I have been a volunteer to this program in the past and know all the hard work that goes into administering the polio vaccine to thousands of babies in the country.

It was really shocking to read about the rumours that were spread across Bangalore on Sunday and the aftermath of that. Thousands of anxious parents thronged hospitals and the situation went totally out of control. The police commissioner had to issue a statement stating everything is fine and nothing to worry.

The TV news channels that beamed these "Breaking news" without verifying its authencity should be banned immediately. I hope such "rumours" do not have an adverse effect on the future pulse polio vaccination drives

Trek to Auden's Col - Oct 2008

2008-10-20T10:07:00.048+05:30

Auden's Col

Auden's Col is a mountain pass situated in the central Garhwal region. It connects the mountain peaks Jogin I (6465m) and Gangotri III (6580m) and is at a height of around 5242m. Auden's Col binds two glaciers on either sides - Khatling glacier on the south and Jogin Bhamak on the north. A little distance lower to Jogin Bhamak is the Gangotri III glacial system. Auden's Col is approachable from Gangotri and one can trek up to Kedarnath following Auden's Col and Khatling glacier. Auden's Col gets its name from J B Auden, a famous British geologist. He first explored the region in the year 1939.

The trek was being organized by Lacchhii of bakpackers. I got in touch with Lacchhii through Bharata who was seriously considering doing this trek and was looking for travel partners. After a lot of deliberation and assessment of my current physical condition I decided to join the trek.

Auden's Col is a less frequented trekking route in this region of the Himalaya compared to the Khatling Glacier and Kalindi Khal. So not much information was available about the route itself. The one blog that we heavily relied on during our preparation was by Mr. VSK Sharma and the information provided there came in very handy during the trek. It was apparent from the pictures and the blog reports that this was going to be a very challenging and technically demanding trek. Bharata and I compared notes almost everyday for about a month regarding the list of equipment required and the physical training. These notes proved vital for our preparation and we were fairly satisfied with our readiness when we left for the trek.

The group of trekkers consisted of Manjesh, Bharata, Dip, Sai Prakash, Lacchhii, Shashank and myself

[L-R] Manjesh, Bharata, Dip, Sai Prakash, Lacchhii, Shashank, Chinmay

The trip was scheduled between Sept 30 - Oct 1, 2008 and the initial itinerary of the trip was:

Gangotri to Ghuttu via Auden's Col
30.09.08 Bangalore Delhi -- By Train
1.10.08 Journey
2.10.08 Delhi to Rishikesh
3.10.08 Rishikesh to Gangotri By Bus/ Taxi. Stay at GMVN/ Hotel.
4.10.08 Gangotri -- Rest day.
5.10.08 Gangotri to Nala Camp
6.10.08 Nala Camp to Rudugaira BC
7.10.08 Rudugaira BC to Col BC
8.10.08 Rudugaira BC - Rest day and acclimatization.
9.10.08 Col BC to Khatling Glacier
10.10.08 Glacier Camp to Waterfall Camp
11.10.08 Waterfall Camp to Chowki
12.10.08 Chowki to Kharsoli
13.10.08 Kharsoli to Gangi
14.10.08 Gangi to Ghuttu
15.10.08 Ghuttu to Haridwar By vehicle
16.10.08 Haridwar to Delhi By vehicle
17.10.08 Delhi to Bangalore Journey

Note: All alititude measurements mentioned here are from Bharata's altimeter. The altimeter was calibrated for 3000m at Gangotri

Oct 2: Travel to Delhi - Rishikesh
Most of us left by Oct 2 early morning flights to Delhi. A few of them had left earlier by train to Delhi. The idea was to meet up at the ISBT, Delhi before proceeding to Rishikesh. Bharata and I were the last to reach Delhi and we boarded the 3pm bus to Rishikesh. It was a hot and dusty ride and the distance of ~240 kms seemed an eternity. The bus did not reach a max speed of even 40 km/h and the state of the roads definitely did not help. Eventually we arrived dusty and tired at around 10:30 pm to the GMVN guest house in Rishikesh. The rest of the gang had checked in the evening and were having a good time getting to know each other. Bharata and I quickly gobbled up our packed lunch and crashed to get in some rest before the long journey to Gangotri.

Oct 3: Edge of the seat excitement from Rishikesh to Gangotri
The chaiwala at the roadside tafri who also doubled up as a taxi cab agent had promised to send a jeep that would take us to Uttarkashi. As promised a cab came thundering along at 5am and we all groggily got into it. The polite, smiling driver soon turned into a reckless maniac as the sun rose. We realized why this is called the Dev Bhoomi - there was a bunch of people in a cab collectively praying for their lives and bowing at every roadside temple :-)

The driver was ripping around the hairpin bends and blind curves at breakneck speed and even threatened to push the bigger vehicles off into the bottomless valley. Obviously no one ever told our angry young man about the virtues of "yield" and "right of way" on ghat sections. To make matters worse our driver started feeling drowsy and was driving even faster in an attempt to reach Uttarkashi before afternoon. Soon everyone started cajoling and pleading with the driver to drive slowly. This only made him driver more rash and we managed to make it to Uttarkashi by the skin of our teeth. I gave a big whoop of joy as soon as we reached and all of us ran from the jeep with a big sigh of relief.

In Uttarkashi we met up with Himalaya Sherpa to whom Lacchhii had outsourced the organization of the expediton. Himalaya Sherpa was responsible for arranging the porters, guides and the equipment required for this trek. Over lunch he explained all the arrangements made, safety precautions in place etc. Everyone was pretty excited after the lunch meeting with Himalaya Sherpa and we got into our next cab that would take us from Uttarkashi to Gangotri. The journey from Uttarkashi to Gangotri takes about 4-5 hours. The route is very scenic and we got glimpses of snow capped mountains, fast flowing mountain streams, huge apple orchards on the way.

We checked into GMVN, Gangotri at about 5 pm and later that evening attended the famous Ganga aarti performed at the Gangotri temple.

Ganga temple

Oct 4: Acclimatization trek on route to Kedar tal

We decided to go for an acclimatization trek on the route to Kedar tal. The path to Kedar tal started right behind the GMVN guest.

Bhagirathi river in Gangotri
There was a steep ascent at the beginning of the trail and we were walking along the huge gorge created by Bhagirathi river. We could see all the leaf cover was turning yellow – a sign that winter was fast approaching.

Fall Colours
Gorge formed by Bhagirathi

The goal for the day was to gain an altitude of 500m and acclimatize ourselves to that height. We climbed up steadily and reached an altitude of 3540m and decided to stop the climb when we reached a spot from where we caught a glimpse of the mighty Thalaysagar peak (6984m). The trek back to Gangotri took about 2 hours and we were back at the guest house by 3:30 pm

Thalaysagar peak (6984m)
By evening all of our luggage and camping equipment had arrived at GMVN and we crashed to bed early all excited for the trek starting the next day.

Oct 5: Gangotri to Bhoj Karak

We tumbled out of bed at 5:00 am and started the final preparation for the trek. All the porters were also up and doing the final packing and load distribution. The plan was for the porters to carry all our luggage and we would be carrying a day pack with some bare minimum stuff required. We poured over the maps available to us and started the expedition at 7:00am along with one porter.

Route map of our trek – Gangotri to Khatling

The idea was to trek for about an hour before the rest of the porters joined us and then have packed breakfast and walk upto the Nala camp. The path started from behind the GMVN guest house into the pine forest. About two hours into the trek we reached the Rudraganga river gorge. The river was thundering down the valley and its echo could be heard from a very far. We had to cross a log bridge and continue the trek from the other bank of the river.

Log Bridge on Rudraganga river

Steep Climb through the pine forest

We continued walking along the steep incline along the gorge hoping that the porters would catch up with us. All of us were very hungry by now and eagerly awaiting the porters arrival. At around 10am we reached a nice sunny clearing by the banks of the river where we decided to rest and wait till the breakfast arrived.

Posing for photographs waiting for breakfast to arrive

We waited here for about 45 mins but there was no sign of the porters yet. We started wondering if they were having some problems and decided to continue till the camp site, hoping they will catch up with us soon.

After another sustained climb, we crossed the tree line and reached the grasslands. From here we caught the first glimpse of the Gangotri III peak.

First Glimpse of Gangotri III

After crossing a couple of small waterfalls which were rushing to join the Rudraganga and landslide areas, we reached a small campsite at Bhoj Kharak (3640m) at 12 noon. We met two trekkers from Bangalore along with their porters who had already set camp here. They were on their way to scale the Rudugaira peak. We stopped here for some time and continued towards the Nala camp. About 30 mins into the next stage, we were unsure of the path to continue and decided to rest again. I personally was very low on energy since we had not had any breakfast and had been trekking for almost 6 hours now on a steady ascent. While we were waiting here, Lacchhii decided to go back to Bhoj Kharak and send one of the porters from the other trekking group to look out for our porter and guide. Luckily one of our porters Nandu, reached Bhoj Kharak by this time and signaled all of us to return back. We got to know from him that there was shortage of porters and they had issues sharing the load. So the stronger porters among them were going back and forth between Gangotri ferrying the load. We had our packed breakfast of aloo parathas and sat in the kitchen tent pitched by the other trekking party while a steady rain poured outside.

The rains stopped at around 4pm. Bharata and I decided to climb the hills around the campsite so as to get acclimatized to the height. This was a very good outing and Bharata taught some some interesting techniques of descending steep slopes. This came in handy later in the trek.

Our tents arrived late in the evening and we slipped into them thankful that the wait was over. It was not the smoothest of starts for our trek and we hoped things would be better the next day.

Oct 6: Bhoj Kharak to Rudugaira Base Camp

We decided to head straight to the Rudugaira Base Camp bypassing the Nala camp. An hour’s trek was added to the day's journey since we had not achieved our target of Nala camp the previous day. We started at around 9am with Nandu showing us the way. The trek started with a steep incline of about 150m after which was there was steady path leading to the Nala camp. We reached the Nala camp (4000m) at about 10:15 am

View of Bhoj Kharak camp site from up the hill

Enroute to Nala Camp

We walked along a well formed path – mostly steep climb till we reached a landslide area with a waterfall. Once we crossed this water fall, there was a really tough stretch of continuous steep ascent which was more than 70* at places. After an hour or more of this difficult leg, we reached the Rudugaira Base Camp (4350m) at 12:30 pm. The camp site offered excellent views of the snow peaks aournd us. We had the Rudugaira peak to the South-West, Gangotri I, Gangotri II, Gangotri III to the South and the Jogin I to the South-East. We also caught the first glimpse of Auden’s Col from the campsite.

Rudugaira Base Camp

Rudugaira peak

We sat in a rock shelter enjoying the view and ate our packed lunch. There was good sunshine and we could see clouds forming over the peaks in the horizon. Within a matter of 15 mins, the whole place was covered with clouds and it started snowing heavily. We ran for cover and sat in a rock shelter. The porters were still on the way and luckily they arrived within an hour’s time. The porters pitched the tents at around 3pm and we got into them for safety and warmth.

Things were very disorganized on the porters side yet and there was no fair distribution of load. Moreover there was water scarcity in the camp and we had to melt snow to drink water. Lacchhii decided to take matters in his own hands and started helping our guides Shailu, Babloo and Nandu get the house in order.

Oct 7: Rest Day and Acclimatization

It was a cold morning and we recorded the temperature at -4* C. There was no particular agenda for the day and all of us were trying out the gaiters and Koflach snow boots provided by the porters. Bharata and I decided that we were comfortable with the Lafuma shoes that we had got and go ahead with them. We decided to go for an acclimatization walk in the morning and started along the ridge of the Rudugaira peak and climbed upto an altitude of 4550m. It was a bright and sunny morning and from here we got a very clear view of the Jogin I, Gangotri I, II, III peaks and Auden’s Col.

Jogin I

Auden's Col
Gangotri III
Gangotri II
Gangotri I

View on the Gangotri side

Panorama of all the peaks

We stayed here for about 30 mins, but there were clouds forming on the horizon and we decided to hurry back to the camp site. We reached the camp site at around 12:45 pm and had a hot lunch. Soon enough there was snowfall again and the entire campsite was carpeted in a white blanket of snow. The temperature dipped to below zero Celsius again. My water bottle was frozen solid the next morning.

Oct 8: Rudugaira Base Camp to Auden’s Col Base Camp

It was a very cold morning again, but the skies were clear and I was able to capture some magical moments atop the Gangotri peaks

Gangotri III
Gangotri II
Gangotri I
The idea was to start early in the morning and reach the Col BC by noon. However seeing so much snowfall, some of the porters got scared and decided not to proceed further. This was a big setback to the entire expedition. To complicate matters a bit, Manjesh was suffering from an acute case of Mountain sickness and was not in a shape to proceed further. Finally after a lot of discussions, a few porters decided to leave with the extra rations and other luggage that was not required. Manjesh too decided to accompany the porters back to Gangotri.

The rest of us started towards the Col BC at around 9:30 am. We started walking along the ridge of the Gangotri mountain and had to cross some rocky morains and the Gangotri III glacier. The day’s trek consisted walking mainly along the steep ridges and we managed to reach the Col BC at 1:00 pm. The Col BC (4560m) was setup along the Gangotri III glacier system.

Glacial Cave
Trek along the rocky ridges

Gangotri III glacier
Snout of the Gangotri III glacier
Setting up camp on Gangotri III glacial system
Snowfall in the afternoon

We managed to setup the camp just in time. There was a very heavy snowfall in the afternoon and it snowed continuously for a couple of hours. It was miserable sitting in the tent and this was probably one of the coldest evenings of my life.

Oct 9: Col Base Camp to Advanced Base Camp

There was lots of planning and deliberations to cross Auden’s col. The plan was to start at 5am. However due to the extreme cold conditions, we could not start before 7:30am. After about an hour of climbing on snow ridges, we came to a huge wall of ice. We could not have climbed this wall without ropes. So our guides Shailu and Babloo, who had the crampons, climbed the wall and fixed a rope with the help of an ice axe. We took turns to take support of this rope and climb up the ice wall. The rope was fixed to about 80% of the ice wall and from here, we had to use our hands to scramble up the ice slope.

Shailu and Babloo fixing ropes on the ice wall

Taking turns scrambling along the ice wall
The other side of the ice wall was rocky and we were able to descend easily. From here onwards we had to walk over a ridge that snow ridge and it was steady climb to the Col ABC. The last part of the trek was tricky when we had to walk along a steep hill side which was covered knee deep in snow. Our guides helped us cross this snow line one person at a time.
Walking along the ridge line

Shailu, Babloo and Nandu helping us cross the slippery gully

Auden’s Col from the Col ABC

We reached the Advanced Col BC (4720m) which was on the Jogin Bhamak at around 12:00 noon and our guide Babloo decided we would pitch camp here. It was estimated that we would take another 2 hours to reach the Col and 3 more hours to reach the other side. This was too much of a risk given the weather changes. A few of our team mates were also going a little slow that day and hence it was a good idea to settle down and recharge our batteries.

Oct 10 – Col ABC to Auden’s Col

God had blessed us with clear weather the previous day and the entire troop was in high spirits to start the final assault towards Auden’s Col. The sun was shining bright and we started the trek at 8am. We started on the gully in front of our camp and started the gradual climb on the right of the gully. After some time of walking through knee deep snow, the guides asked us to stop and decided to go further ahead to ascertain the safety of the route.

Starting from Col ABC

Walking up the steep icy slope

Waiting for Shailu and Babloo to mark a path for us

We waited almost 30 mins before they returned and were asked to change course since the route ahead was directly in path of the Jogin Bhamak glacier and its crevasses. Nandu who accompanied Shilu and Babloo had a close shaved when he slipped into waist high snow and barely escaped falling into the crevasse. We went down the gully and climbed onto the next ridge. From here it was climb, climb, climb again through knee deep snow. The only redeeming factor was the spectacular scenery of the Jogin Bhamak and peaks around us.

Beautiful Ice formations on the glacier

Galcier Tables

Once we had crossed the beautiful ice formations and the glacier tables, we took a break. Shailu asked me to finish off my energy drink and dry fruits saying that this would be the last break and from now on it would be a continuous climb to the top. The climb to the top looked very difficult from here. We had to negotiate the bottomless crevasses, knee high depth snow and the 70-80* incline from now on. One more worrying factor for me personally was it was already 12 noon and the weather could turn bad any moment. Luckily there were only a few passing clouds and with a silent prayer I started off following others.

Climbing up the slippery slope
Path to Auden's Col

Dodging the crevasses on the way up
There was one particularly tough stretch and we had to climb roped up. Babloo and Lacchii were supporting the rope while Bharata and I climbed up. Once on top, Babloo and Lacchii went forward to create a path for the rest of us, while Bharata and I took turns holding the rope for the rest of the team to climb. Our hands, legs and hinds were numb with cold by the time everyone was up the rope. From here, there was another 70* climb to the top. We were able to reach the top by around 3:30pm. The reading on Bharata’s altimeter showed 5242m. The porters did a very good job of climbing to the top with very heavy loads and they were the real hero of the day. All the team managed to reach the top by about 4:30pm and there was a mix of joy and relief on every members face. We joined together for a pooja on top of Auden’s Col and thanked God for having been kind to give us the strength and good weather for the climb.

Auden's Col is characterized by the rock formations on either side known as "Rabbit's ears". We had heard a lot about it and it was very satisfying to be seeing them in person.

Finally on top - the view of the Khatling Glacier on the other side

Performing pooja on the Col

Rabbit's ears - the rock formations on either side of the Col

Crevasses on Khatling glacier

Posing on top of Auden's Col

The climb down the other side was estimated to take at least 2 hours and it was almost 5pm. So taking a lot of risk, we decided to camp on Auden’s Col itself. There was not enough space on the Col, so the porters pitched only the kitchen tent and it was decided that all 15 of us will spend the night in the same tent. The tent was pitched in the most precarious of places – an ice pond on one side and a huge 100m drop on the other. We decided to stay put in the tent till morning and not venture out in the night. As evening fell, the temperature started falling and we all slipped into our sleeping bags, huddled together for warmth.

Oct 11: Auden’s Col to Bakriwala Camp

The going was good till about 12am, when suddenly there was a huge storm with gale force winds which threatened to sweep the tent into the huge valley below. The entire tent was shaking and the tent’s outer cover was torn to pieces. Snow started entering the sleeping bags and honestly speaking we were all praying for dear lives. At some point in time, the pole supporting the tent collapsed and the porters put in a huge effort to put the tent back up in shape. We soon realized that staying on top of the Col was a huge mistake. The storm continued all night and did not stop till about 10 am. The whole tent was a mess by then – not the mention the huge dent in everybody’s confidence. When the weather turned a little better, Shailu and Babloo stepped out to take a stock of the situation. There was huge snowfall in the night and the path to descend down the Auden’s Col was covered in snow. There was a waist deep snow field to negotiate as soon as we got down the Col and we had almost 3-4 hours of walk before we reached Khatling Glacier, whose crevasses were looking scarier than the previous evening.

Shailu, Babloo, Lacchii and Bharata climbed up the side of the rabbit’s ear to take a closer look at the other side. After lots of deliberations and keeping safety aspects paramount, it was decided not to get down to the Khatling glacier side and go back by the same route we came. There was huge relief among all of us and we started the descent down Auden’s Col at about 11:30am – praying for the weather to hold till we reached a safe altitude. It was decided to walk longer today if the weather held good and reach as low as possible. We passed the Advanced Col BC, descended down the huge ice wall to the Auden’s Col BC and went further down to a camp known as the Bakriwala camp. This camp is regularly used by shepherds and is lower than the snow line. Better still, we had a running stream near to this camp which made things very easy for us. I managed to get some spectacular pictures of the sunset to add to my sense of relief and satisfaction of having climbed up the Auden’s Col

Our guide cum cook - Babloo Thapa
Clouds taking an orange hue during sunset

Sunset over Jogin
moonrise

Oct 12: Bakriwala camp to Gangotri

Oct 12 was a very pleasant morning – bright sunshine, relaxed people, a visit to the camp by a herd of Bharal and the most motivating thought – getting back to civilization by sunset. Babloo and Shailu promised us to take us through a short cut, a route that bypassed the Rudugaira Base Camp and taking us straight to Bhoj Kharak camp and Gangotri.

We had a huge feast for breakfast – puri, peas gravy, daal, rice and papad. All of us ate till we would have dropped, but held ourselves together since we had another 6-7 hours of downhill trek ahead of us. The route took us deep into the valley along the streams that form the Rudraganga river. It was an very difficult descent as we had to walk over huge rock boulders and cross the gushing mountain streams a couple of times. It was extremely demanding on the knees, but we continued at a very brisk pace, so as to make it Gangotri in time.

Glorious sunrise

Walking down the valley
Bharal
Farthest view of the peaks we walked on ..
We reached Nala camp at around 1pm and walked steadily downwards till we reached Gangotri at around 4:30pm. I was so hungry by the time we reached, that I sat and polished down 6 plates of bread toast and 2 cups of tea in one sitting :-)

Back in Gangotri

Lacchii, Dip, Shailu and Nandu had reached much earlier than us and had already made arrangements for our onward journey to Uttarkashi. Once all porters and members of our team had reached, we got back into the jeeps and headed towards Uttarkashi – reaching Uttarkashi at about 9:30 in the night.

Oct 13, 14 – Journey back to Bangalore

We had booked at taxi at 8:30 am from Uttarkashi to Haridwar. Reached Haridwar around 6pm and stayed in the Karnataka Bhavan Dharmashala. Next morning we booked another taxi to take us back to Delhi and then boarded the flight back to Bangalore.

It had been a very exciting trip. One that I will savour and look back upon for many years to come.

Rock ON

2008-09-22T11:54:00.002+05:30

Yesterday, Seema and I got a chance to watch "Rock On". Its a wonderful movie and is a tale of four friends who form a rock band. Its a story of how small things could bring in misunderstanding between friends and also about how we can patch up if we just reach out. The songs are all in place and there is no over dramatization like in other bollywood movies.

I think this is one sensible movie after a very long time and recommend as must-watch.

Incidently this was the first time I went to the Fame Lido multiplex and it was a very claustrophobic experience. The old world charm of the Lido theatre has been bulldozed by a huge concrete structure, all the trees are gone, all the huge open space has been swallowed up. There is no decent parking space and no entry, exit directions - and worst of all .. the place is a HUGE fire hazard. Can't understand how they get permission to build such structures.

New Beginning - again !!!

2008-04-28T15:10:00.003+05:30

This has often been an on-now / off-now thing with me - the question of regular exercise and good workouts :-)

Here are some of my previous attempts that died an unmentionable death

1. Daily evening walks at Sankey tank. This was brilliant idea, worked very well for a couple of weeks. But this was bound to fail, since we (Seema and I) had to leave office early to reach Sankey tank before sunset and Bangalore traffic made sure that this did not happen.

2. Gym - We joined the gym, started in right earnest and even promptly Rs. 1000 as the fees. Then you won't believe what happened - some thief cleaned out the shoe stand in our house and we lost all our enthusiasm to get back to the gym.

3. Joined a yoga class which started at 5:00 am. Needless to say this failed after 4 days.

4. Started jogging, swimming, yoga, cycling, badminton and other such programs on numerous occasions with anyone wanting to join (thought motivation was easy being in a team). These ended up being nonstarters too after some initial investment in sports gear. As a result of these programs and the things I purchased, my room now looks like I am a champion at every sport that has ever been played

Now after being continuously plagued by not so optimum health in the last 3 months, I have restarted my exercise program since last week. This time I have sworn that it will become a regular feature and not die down like all my previous attempts. I have even subscribed to a health magazine this time so that reading it keeps me motivated. I am just hoping that over the next 1 year, the magazines don't pile up and I don't fatten up :-)

PS: hey, this is my first post in 2 years - thats a new beginning too ;-)

Bangalore Traffic: The brighter side

2006-01-19T19:40:00.000+05:30

If there was a vote conducted for the most talked about topic in Bangalore for 2005, the traffic and how bad it is etc. etc. would win by a huge landslide margin. I do agree that the traffic levels and its management is horrible .. but the optimist in me does see the brighter side of this.

Here are few points of how the traffic at its current level is beneficial to all us

1. Helps Develop Patience:
No one can deny this.. all the hours waiting for the signal to go green, moving only a few feet at a time, circling the same road even with its one-ways many times searching a parking slot helps develop extreme patience.

2. Develops quick reflexes:
I think we Bangaloreans have the quickest reflexes in the world. How else can you explain going from 80-0 in 1 second and lesser than 10 feet? I even went in between an auto one side and a garbage truck on the other at 60km/hr the other day with exactly 3 cms gap on either side and didn't bat an eyelid - can qualify for Ripley's Believe it or not stunt. All of us have developed excellent navigating skills in thickest of traffics, creating lanes where there are none, swerving away with the least possible distance between the stationary and the moving object and many other acrobatic maneuvers which require excellent hand-eye co-ordination and super quick reflexes. :-)

3. Excellent Bladder control:
We have to sit through endless traffic jams and ignore nature's cries, calls, hoots whatever.. in the process we have developed the best bladder control amongst drivers of any other city other in the world.

4. Attain Sainthood:
Driving through Bangalore's roads are a test of our character. If you can drive for 1 day in Bangalore -
without honking
without swearing at the reckless jerk in front
without getting tempted to bash up the driver who drove too close to your vehicle
without blaming the traffic cop at the signal
without answering the ringing mobile phone
without losing patience searching for parking space
then you have most of the qualities required to achieve sainthood :-)

stop defacing the city

2006-01-12T08:12:00.000+05:30

Over the last 2 years there has been a new fad affecting Bangalore city. Every sundry jerk in the city wants to greet and congratulate everyone else on some festival, birthday, local events etc. And the best way to do it ?? Put up a multicoloured digital print of the chap and his croonies at every nook and corner of the city. In the good old days ( read as - before digital prints became affordable ) we used to see hoardings and cutouts only during election times.

I personally get very irritated to see some jerk putting up his own picture in the road corner and gawking at passersby. There is no hoarding these days that has lesser than 20-25 photographs on it. Indian mythology had the Ravana's and some other asuras who had multiple heads. But you know this is kaliyuga and we have to outdo everything that happened in the other yugas... so we have these new incarnations of jerks and his cohorts. To save on space and to please maximum people the chap puts up all his friends pictures and in the process looks like Ravana with multiple heads :-)

All this is in addition to the political types who fall over each other to welcome ther leader and treat the open spaces in the city as private property whenever the party leader makes a flying visit to the city.

This madness has to stop. Bangalore has now got the dubious distinction of being the "Billboard city of India". Hopefully the civic authorities wake up soon and ban these hoardings, but I think thats a fat chance.

Nightmare

2006-01-04T14:23:00.000+05:30

Most of us vivid dreams every night. Infact sleep researchers say we dream every 60-90 mins (I'am not talking of day dreaming here - that happens all the time :-). But most of these dreams are forgotten. The only ones we remember are the ones that occur in the early mornings, just when we are about to wake up and the nightmares. Nightmares are our own in-house horror movie production units. Just like we have our favourite movies which we watch often, we also seem to have our favourite nightmares that we see every now and then.

The most frequent of my nightmares, is me getting ready for a Maths exam which is just a few days away and I have not prepared for it .. worse I do not even have the books that I need. I religiously watch this horror movie every couple of weeks. Once I woke up so shaken that I actually pulled out my marks sheet to assure myself that I have completed this paper many years ago and there is nothing to be afraid of :-)

But the important question here is whether my subconsious is trying to indicate
something to me. I made a feeble attempt once at reading The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud who is considered the father of modern psychology. This attempt ofcourse ended when I slept on the book. There is also the The Dreams Foundation which is doing active research into the science of dreams and providing interpretations into our most frequently occuring dreams and nightmares.

The most common belief among researchers is that dreams and nightmares are a mirror of innermost hopes, fears and that our subconsious is trying to tell us something through this medium. So henceforth my new topic of interest is studying of dreams and trying to make sense of what I see.
I'am sure this is something I will do in right earnest :-)

YAWN !! that its for now folks, I've an important research assignment to pursue .. bye .. ZZZZ

The Ticking Time Bomb

2005-12-29T11:04:00.000+05:30

The last 15 years or so have seen such a rapid growth of Bangalore that the city old timers find it really hard to believe that all this was possible in so less a time. Bangalore has lapped up the economic liberalization and the IT/ITES wave like no other city and is hungry for more. The IT industry and the services industry associated with it has created a new breed of young go-getters with an immense appetite for growth and consumerism. All this is good for the health of the economy as a whole. The real estate is booming. The hotel, tourism, catering, transportation and construction industries never had better times than as of now.

But is everything hunky-dory and green as it seems from the surface ?

The answer according to me is sadly - NO. The IT boom has created a big chasm between the haves and the have-nots. These are the people in the unorganized sectors, small scale industries and others whose lot has more or less remained the same in spite of all the liberalization. The people who make the majority of our population. Walk into any bylanes away from the glitz and glamour of our malls, shopping complexes, glass facade offices and we are exposing the soft underbelly of our city. There is seething anger and frustration here of all the people who are barely managing to eke out a living. The real estate prices have risen so high, that I fear that our most basic necessity - housing is not within the reach of a majority of the population. The cost of living is so high that making ends meet is extremely difficult. The feeling amongst such people is that the government is pampering the IT industry, granting them every facility, bending their backs to appease the bigwigs, while they are left to rot in the squalor of their slums. Call me paranoid or a doomsday sayer but I think if we neglect this situation for too long, it will just blow on our faces one day.

The anger and frustration are already apparent on the roads. Take for instance an accident between a yuppie in a brand new car and a guy in an auto or a two wheeler. Whatever the circumstances of the accident, all the people on the road gang up against the yuppie and strip him of every paisa he has on him. If a yuppie goes to a government office to get some work done the bribe amount goes up automatically. If a yuppie is out there to buy or rent a house the prices are instantly jacked up by a cool 20-30%. The IT industry people are also soft targets for all sorts of crimes - robbery, mugging and other such things that happen at all points of time in the day. So the feeling I get is everyone is out there to milk the cash cow.

I feel that something serious needs to be done about this question of class inequalities or there will be a big backlash soon. How can this be done ?? Frankly speaking - I dont know. The marxist and maoists tried to create a classless society based on equitable distribution of wealth, but that model as we know failed miserably. We probably need to work a model that gives a more wealth creation opportunities to everyone and this would require a lot of effort from everyone and also a strong political will from the governing bodies. But the politics of democracy will not let that happen .. since the politicians need to keep the majority of the people poor so as to maintain their vote banks.

So whats the solution to this problem ?? How do we strike a balance for a more harmonious society ? Please let me know ...

Blogo-Therapy

2005-12-02T14:42:00.000+05:30

Recently I read an article in the newspaper on the thearapeutic effects of blogging. People worldwide are resorting to blogs to vent out their angers, frustrations, share joyous moments and generally give gyaan. It certainly gives a good feeling to know so many people are reading about what you feel. All this is having a positive effect on calming tense nerves and is a excellent way to let out trapped steam.

In the past people had more time to generally meet up either in the village square or in the market after a long days work and talk and catch up with all the events that were happening. Nowadays we bump into people only during traffic snarls or in the long check out queues at the supermarket, so there is hardly any scope of having a discussion. If at all we actually meet someone then the discussion is always broken by the incessent ringing of the mobile phone.

So it is here that blogging comes in - It is a new age mantra for man's basic need to communicate with others and down the line if it helps to calm down and destress themselves then its all the more better. So go ahead folks get your own blogs and start penning down your thoughts.

New Avatar

2005-11-17T17:10:00.000+05:30

Today I begin a new life in a new avatar. Seems like a hitched a ride with Calvin on his transmorgifier/time machine and now I find myself in a new place, new setting :-)

Suddenly everything is new and am not in my old comfortable backyard where I belonged for quite sometime now and Iam literally groping to find my way around here. But its a nice, rejuvanating feeling and a beginning with new hopes and new challenges.

In my new avatar I resolve to:

1. Work Hard :-)
2. Eat healthy :-))
3. Exercise :-)))

Ofcourse till all these happen, I would want to just sit back and enjoy the new feeling ;-)

AAggghhh !!! where's common sense

2005-10-29T13:04:00.000+05:30

Nature keeps reminding us very often that she is all powerful and we should obey her rules. All the areas that got flooded during this week's "chandamaruta" were previously lakes and tanks, nature's own drainage system. See here

Someone in the adminstration and city planning department forgot to tell Mother Nature that they were sanctioning a layout in a place that was previously a lake and when it rained heavily, mother nature promptly tried draining away the excess water to where it was supposed to go. Lo and Behold all the "low lying" areas were "flooded". I feel very sad for all those people who built their dream homes in these localities, putting in all of their life's savings. The short sighted and corrupt administration are the sole people to be blamed for this.

I only hope that all the thousands of crores of rupees that is being sanctioned for relief does not "drain" away into some middleman's pocket and is utilized for the purpose it is intended for.

At least now we should learn some lessons and try not to tamper with nature and not get in its way. Eventually we will know is the real "boss".

Wishful thinking !!!! you might say ....

budget goes through the roof

2005-08-23T19:52:00.000+05:30

One of the industries that has immensely benefitted from the IT boom in our city is the construction industry. Prices have sky-rocketed in the last 5 years and have touched the stratosphere so to say. The prices being quoted by all and sundry makes me dizzy. Iam always counting the no. of zeros in the figure they are quoting. Not surprising at all, given the huge gap between demand and supply. Also, the lax laws and loopholes have given the sellers a free hand to quote obscene rates and get away with it.

This weekend we visited a housing fair conducted by a leading bank titled "Budget Homes". This was a really catchy term and we were lured into the exhibition like a bunch of bees drawn towards honey. We had a "budget" in mind and had resolved to keep away from the stalls of the big builders, we knew they were not in our "budget" anyways. So we kept looking for small time builders hoping for sanity to prevail. In one of the stalls of some unheard of builder, I asked "whats the per sq rate?" the lady without looking up said "3000". I thought I didnt hear something right and repeated "Three thousand, rupees ????" and her reply in a scornful take it or leave way was "Yes, 3000 rupees". Out we walked from the exhibition, shocked and dazed, carrying a kilo of brochures, routemaps and house plans being handed out in the stalls, wondering whose "budgets" these people are catering to or are we very unrealistic in setting our "budget" .. hmm tough going.

But then after going home I looked up at all the brochures stacked up and thought atleast I can make 5 rupees more when I give away this month's waste paper :-)

Ofcourse our search for the budget home still continues.

filmi - very filmi

2005-08-17T19:38:00.000+05:30

I was off for the whole of last week and it gave me a lot of time to let my thoughts wander here and there. One of the threads of thought during channel surfing was the oft-repeated dialogues in Hindi movies, some of which have got cult status. I have compiled some dialogues that get repeated in almost every movie and some from Sholay, one of my favourite films.

Plan to keep adding to this list ..... feel free to put up your fav dialogues in the comments section ;-)

famous hindi filmi dialogues

Maa ....

Beta, aaj tere college ka pehla din hai .. maine tera manpasand gajar ka halwa
banaya hai

kutte main tera khoon peejaoonga

mother to son - yahi wo aadmi hai jisne hamare hasnte huve pariwar ko ujad diya

when boodhi maa gets into flashback mode - Aaj se theek bees phele .....

police to villan - hum ne tum ko charo taraf se gher liya hai... bhagne ki
kosish mat karo

kanoon ke haath bohot lambe hote hain

desperate love line - main tumahre bina nahi jee sakti

even more desperate - main tumhare bacchhe ki maa banne wali hoon

during the last fight scene while the hero is beating the villan to pulp -
dishum - ye meri maa ka suhaag cheen-ne ke liye, dishum - ye hamara hasta hua
pariwar ujaad ne ke liye, dishum - ye garibon ki roti cheen ne ke liye etc etc.

bhagwan maine aaj tak tujh se kuch nahi maanga ,, le kin aaj mera suhaag mang
rahi hoon

bhagwan ke liye mujhe chhod do

workers to mill owner - saab, hum gareeb hai, lekin hamari do waqt ki roti
paseena bahakar kama te hain

villanous sadhu to heroine - aao beti ... hamare sharan me aao ..

police inspector giving witness in court - hum ne isko range haato pakda hai

lawyer to witness - kya aap bata sakte hain, 15 february ke raat apne kya dekha
?

Villan's vision and mission statement - bohot jald, saare hindustan pe hamari
hukkumat chalegi

mere har saans me, har ang me tera hi naam hai

jab se tum ko dekha hai, mujhe raat-din, bhook-pyaas kuch bhi pata nahi chalta

famous gabbar, jai, veeru, basanti and thakur dialogues

hmmmm, kitne aadmi the ?

arre o samba, kitna inaam rakkhe hai re sarkar hum par ?

basanti, in kutton ke samne mat nacho !!!

jab tak tumhare paon chalenge, is ki saanse chalengi

Jai !!!

saala nautanki

itna sannata kyon hai bhai ???

dhikkar hai, wo do the aur tum teen,phir bhi laut aaye, khali haat... kya soch
ke aye the, gabbar khus hoga ? sabasi dega ?? iski saja milegi, zaroor milegi

mujhe gabbar chahiye, ZINDA

gaon walo,

chal dhanno, aaj basanti ki ijjat tere haat me hain

me too !!! me too !!!

2005-08-05T05:51:00.000+05:30

Alright .. I will hand this one to peer pressure. All my pals have been flaunting shiny new blog pages for the past few weeks. So I have decided to throw my hat into the ring and join in the blogfest.

P.S - hope this is not one of my initiatives which last a few days and then I forget about it ;-)