I have landed here ... in the U S of A. After a long (terribly long) wait, I somehow made it.

It was decided on a phone call on Tuesday that we are going to Goa on the coming long weekend (Oct 2 – Oct 4). Some of us will go from Bangalore and others will join us there from Pune.
I booked the Bangalore-Goa bus tickets (return too) through Sea-Bird (which was a pathetic service in itself).
Scheduled departure from Bangalore: 8:15 PM
Scheduled arrival at Goa: 9:15AM
While I was booking tickets, Pranali cross-checked multiple times to make sure it is an AC bus. Though I was not so much in favor of taking an AC bus thinking that the weather anyways is cool and the night would be cooler.

Thursday evening, the bus started 15 minutes late. We didn’t get time to have dinner. AC, DVD-coach, semi-sleeper, partial luxury bus. The bus keepers (2 drivers for the night driving + 1 helper boy) had only one DVD, with only one movie – Shaadi No. 1 (horrible movie, because we were fearing they might put some Kannada movie, so the only relief was the movie being Hindi).

The bus stopped at a road-side restaurant at 12 midnight where I and Shambhu ordered for 2 plates Chhole Masala. Never did we know that it is a “Chhole Masala” prepared out of putting (not even properly mixed) Chhole into the curry of Egg-curry. Disgusting that was! And how much did it cost? 45 Rs. What a waste of money? Feared of having a stomach upset after eating the rubbish, I had a glass of juice and a 500 ml bottle of Slice. Thankfully, now I can sleep with a good taste in mouth.

The road was such a mess; the bus was swinging left-right-left because it was a narrow road and the ditches were making it shut-up-and-bounce because it was a broken road too. It was not easy to sleep (rather stick inside your seat), and scarier were the thoughts of coming back on the same route when our seat numbers were 34, 35, 36 (the last row of seats).

Savita calls me at around 7 in the morning (Pune group has already reached), “Where have you reached?”
Me (unaware of what lies ahead): I think we are a bit late but we should be there by 10 or 10:30.

After facing some traffic-jams on the way, we knew that we are at least 1.5 hour behind the schedule; the bus reached Ankola at 9 AM and stopped at Kamat Hotel. It had started raining by then. After some time we were told that the road to Goa is blocked due to rain. There is plenty of water on the connecting bridge and the news coming in was that the water level is still rising.

After waiting for around 1.5 hour, the passengers of the bus decided to take the train route. Because we were just 120 km from Goa, no one wanted to turn back. The bus took us to Ankola Railway Station. We got to know that there is a train Ankola-Madgaon at 11:30. Hardly had we started believing that we’ll reach Goa, it was announced that the 11:30 train is cancelled because of heavy rains. Damn! So, when is the next train? 5:30 PM. We were still deciding within ourselves whether we should wait for another 6 hrs at the platform, is it worth a wait; comes the next announcement: 5:30 train to Madgaon stands cancelled too because of the submerged railway track. Great! So this news put an end to all the discussions leaving us with no other option than to wait for the rain to stop and the roads to clear.

Though we tried for other options like taking interstate buses, buses through Hubli, attempts to book cabs (even at higher proces) but all in vain. Everyone was just too scared to go that way.

Finally the bus took us back to Kamat (where all buses for that route were halted) and we waited there till 4 PM when we heard that the Sea-bird buses have started leaving for Goa. We felt a sense of excitement again. The buses had really started and we had hardly moved 5 km when the bus was stopped by some cops. They were turning all the heavy vehicles back saying that the road is still not open.

Back to Kamat and it is still raining. The only option left now is to head back to Bangalore. We didn’t have time to waste. The day was setting (there was no sun by the way) and it was getting darker. The later we go, the lesser were the chances of getting a bus to Bangalore.

6:15 PM – Hired an auto from Kamat to Ankola bus stand only to realize that we have just missed one bus to Bangalore and the other buses left are full. No Vacant Seats! We were advised by some local people to catch a bus from Ankola to Kumta and from there we would be able to get buses to Bangalore. Did we an option not to believe them and think of our own?

Boarded a bus to Kumta – 40 km. Luckily got a seat in the otherwise packed bus and unluckily got the worst possible seat in that bus. Of the two windows by my side, one window pane was broken (read missing) and the other was so loosely fit that it was roaring into my ears. So cacophonous it was that I felt like breaking that one too. We got down at Kumta in even heavier rain at 7:30 PM. Rushed straight to the ticket counter and I was the happiest person on earth to know that a KSRTC bus will leave for Bangalore at 8 PM.

The rain was just not stopping and mind you, it was not drizzling, it was pouring; but who cares, we have a bus now. We loaded ourselves into the bus and parked ourselves into the best possible coordinates as if we are the owners of the bus. Yeah, the bus was more or less empty. I teased Pranali, “Won’t you like to board an AC bus?” We were hungry, we were drenched and we were tired, but this bus took all our worries at once.

I recalled the “Jab We Met” Kareena Kapoor dialog, “बस भगवान् जी, अब और excitement नहीं चाहिए बोरिंग बना दो जी अब इस रात को ”.
The bus started. We were now on our way back to Bangalore after converting a supposed-to-be-exciting Bangalore-Goa-Bangalore trip into a more-adventurous Bangalore-Ankola-Kumta-Bangalore trip.

But, I pictured: “पिक्चर अभी बाकी है मेरे दोस्त” when our loving bus had a flat tyre at NT Road, Shimoga. 2 AM in the morning. Could I ask for a better night-out for myself? I walked out of the bus till the driver-conductor duo replaces it with the spare tyre they had. Sometime later, I observed that the driver-conductor duo is not doing anything and just waiting for something and discussing. Out of curiosity, I just asked them, “अंकल जी, अब क्या हुआ?” And to my amusement, they replied, “सर, ये जो स्टेपनी है, ये फिट नहीं हो रही ये टायर इसके साइज़ का नहीं है ”

I mean, how is that possible? It was like “carrying a cycle tyre as a stepny to your scooter”.

“तो अब क्या करोगे?”
“कुछ नहीं सर, वेट करते हैं, KSRTC का कोई और बस आएगा, तो passengers को उसमे बैठा देंगे ”
“^%%^$&%*%!#” अब क्या बोलूँ मैं?
The other passengers were also out by now.
Even after a wait of around half an hour, no sign of any KSRTC bus. A bus came in the opposite direction. They lent the spare tyre. The tyre was replaced and we were on wheels again. Anything else is in store for us?

The bus stopped at another Kamat restaurant, but we were relaxed that we are very near to Bangalore now. So, we freshened ourselves and had good breakfast. We had a mini photo shoot inside the bus only to save as a witness to our miseries. Finally! We reached Majestic at 11 AM.

But to take things again to the negative side, cancelling the Sea-bird return tickets was another nightmare that we faced. We had to spend almost 3 hrs in and around Sea-Bird office to get it done and I reached home at 4 PM completely drained, no energy left.

That was the end of our pain but I must admit that the 2 girls: Priyanka and Pranali, were too calm all this time. Girls generally are expected to cry/crib in such a chain of failures. But these two were way too energetic to walk all along without giving any negative vibes. But I must say, the long weekend was completely utilized :P

Next morning I got up with the newspapers filled with the news of floods rightly mentioning some of the areas where we had been just a night back.

Let me first tell the reason of my high unavailability on the blogs in past one-and-a-half month. I was on internet but most of my time was eaten up by the “Tours and Travels”, “Hotel Bookings”, “Bus and Train Schedules” sites. I was apparently on India tour and was travelling most of the time covering all modes of transport (by road, rails and air):

Aug 22: Pune – Bangalore: Infy Transfer
Aug 29: Bangalore – Delhi: Indigo Flight (One rupee ticket :P). At Pravesh’s home
Aug 29: Delhi – Rohtak: To my home
Sep 2: Rohtak – Chandigarh: With mom
Sep 6: Chandigarh – Delhi: For Delhi Airport.
Sep 6: Delhi – Bangalore: Indigo Flight (One rupee ticket :P).
Sep 20: Bangalore – Kochuveli: With Parents. Charge with Nithanand.
Sep 22: Trivandrum – Kanyakumari: Parents saw the giant ocean waves for the first time.
Sep 23: Kanyakumari – Bangalore: The train saw around 30 UNO games we played on the way for 9 hours continuously.
Oct 1: Bangalore – Goa: A failure!
Oct 2: Goa – Bangalore: A success!

And on the cards is: Bangalore – Trivandrum: Sometime in October end.

In all these movements across state borders, I have even forgotten to give my new phone number to some of my friends. Let me finish this one quickly!

If things continue to be like this, I am afraid I need to put a “Where is Rathee?” gadget on this blog (inspired by “Where is Tom?” of “Ask Tom” fame).

Though most of these tours and trips were nice experiences in their own sweet ways, but the last one: “Bangalore – Goa” deserves a special mention here because of its link to a much bigger picture. Let me try to write separately on this in my next entry.

I had already finished my packing the earlier day with some minor leftovers for the last minute. Dad’s got office. Prepared breakfast and had it too. My train (to Bangalore) is at 11:45 AM and his (to Delhi) at 5:30 PM. Army Chief “Deepak Kapoor” was visiting AFMC. Dad left. I rushed back and forth in the rooms recollecting if I’ve missed something to put in my bags. Dad came back early (got me a bottle of hand sanitiser) and we prepared meals for the travel.

As it happens with most of the parents, they load their child with almost everything in their capacity without realising that their kid needs to carry all this. Ditto situation and the same question. How do I carry this stuff now? But my dad is never short of ideas – ideas driven by common sense. Why not? Being in Army, he has been doing all this packing, packaging and pulling for around 35 years now. Result -> I had the heaviest of luggages and I was the most confortable carrying it.

Left the house.
We are sitting on the back seat of the auto to railway station but not talking much. But we are looking at each other in between through the rear-view mirror. We’d be departing in opposite directions today.

Reach station. Enter train.
I was thinking that I am the first one to enter the compartment until I noticed a 50-something uncle sitting on the upper berth holding his undergarments in front of the AC. Gosh! What’s he doing? Is he putting a filter for the air to come out? Nah! he is trying to dry these. After a struggle of some 10-15 mins (how long could he hold these in hands?), he tied his lingerie stuff to the pegs around him. Better than before, but still! Others have entered in but might not have noticed (busy in setting their luggage) the display of his stuff. I got up and suggested him that it’ll take more time for these to dry under AC, better take it outside and spread your “Andar ki Baat” things under the fan outside the compartment. Perhaps he liked the idea, unpegged them and moved out. Good!

Start the train and the phone calls. Grrr… everyone is talking about swine flu. “Put on a mask”, “Take Tamiflu”, “Cover your nose”, “Don’t touch your face” etc. etc.
The longest phone calls since… I don’t know when. But never had I talked for so long that my hand set heats up. This time I could feel the warmth of the phone as well as of the ‘S’ and ‘P’ on the other side. Yeah, a conference call. Signal was coming and going, but the call went on, battery dying but the call went on. For around 2 hrs.

Dinner time. Sleep time.

After 2-3 rounds of increasing the temperature of the AC, the people were still feeling cold. The oldies asked for the AC to be switched off. Damn! Why are they travelling in AC coach if they can’t live with it? I couldn’t sleep the whole night and managed to catch some sleep only in the morning hours.

Reached Bangalore half asleep. Got surrounded by the auto-wallahs and coolies as I got down but I was in no mood to let them carry. As I am walking out of platform 1, 3-4 auto-wallahs are following me. A routine talk with these guys:

Auto Driver: Where sir?
Me: Electronic City.
Auto Driver: [Almost holding my luggage] हाँ, जायेगा ना. चलो बैठो.
Me: कितना?
Auto Driver: ज्यादा नहीं लगेगा सर.
Me: [मेरे पास ज्यादा हैं ही नहीं देने के लिए…] फिर भी कितना?
Auto Driver: 300 दे दो सर.
Me: [Ha Ha! I have only 250 in my purse!] बहुत ज्यादा है.
Auto Driver: ज्यादा कहाँ सर! बहुत दूर है. अच्छा चलो 270.
Me: [पर अंकल इतने पैसे ही नहीं हैं, बाकि क्या कपडे उतार लोगे?] 200.
Auto Driver: क्या सर. इतना दूर है और वहां से खाली रिटर्न आना है. कोई सवारी नहीं मिलेगी. 250 दे दो. [Got hold of one of my bags]
Me: [एक तो ये सामान वैसे ही काफी भारी है, ऊपर से तू भी लटक जा!] 200 से ज्यादा नहीं हैं मेरे पास. प्रीपेड ऑटो स्टैंड किधर है?
Auto Driver: सर, मीटर से चलो. Meter one-and-half.
Me: मैं बस में चला जाऊंगा. सिर्फ 20 रुपये लगेंगे और बस को रिटर्न खाली नहीं आना पड़ेगा.
Auto Driver: बस नहीं मिलेगी यहाँ से.
Me: [बेटा मैं पहली बार नहीं आया हूँ यहाँ!] [I start walking. He is left behind.] ओह! नहीं मिलेगी? कोई नहीं अंकल जी, Thank You. मैं पैदल ही चला जाऊंगा. :)

Dragged my luggage from railway station to bus station (Majestic) via an under road subway. Got the AC volvo (could not get AC in the train, atleast here). 45 Rs and I am there. Wohoo! I am thinking – Good that the auto driver didn’t agree to my offer of 200 Rs. :)

"अबे तुझे तीन हफ्ते हो गए ये कहते कहते कि इस हफ्ते जाऊँगा, इस हफ्ते जाऊँगा अब जायेगा भी कि यहीं डेरा डाल के बैठा रहेगा "

When 90 people got H1N1, everyone is wearing surgical masks, when 2 million people got HIV no one bothers to wear a condom.

Makes sense, Eh? Very true to an extent!

Pune is witnessing an acute shortage of surgical masks these days. Thanks to the dramatic hoopla created around these masks. And not to forget, we have a fancy N-series (not to be confused with Nokia N-series, though it’s no lesser) of masks in circulation. Masks seem to be in vogue – they are selling like hot cakes and they have started becoming more of a fashion statement.

"The much hyped N95 respirators are designed to filter 95% particulates of 0.3 micron, while the size of H1N1 virus is about 0.1 micron. Hence, dependence on N95 to protect against H1N1 is like protecting against rain with an umbrella made of mosquito net."

The Dean in AFMC circulated a notice saying, "No one should be seen wearing surgical masks unless while operating on a patient." Now, can you beat that? I was quite happy on this announcement. The basic idea is that people wearing these masks is just another source of creating panic.

Why don’t the people understand that these face masks are of no help (or of very limited help for that matter) to them, if not properly used/handled and why they don’t damn understand that when they throw these used masks on the road side, they are opening another bigger can of worms for others? Why can’t they dispose their masks properly? Why do they use these masks without knowing proper guidelines of their usage and disposal?

Can you really prevent yourself to come in contact with H1N1 when it is in so much magnitude in the air (Pune has it at the highest intensity level – 6)? At a scale where it has been declared a pandemic by the WHO, it’s almost impossible to avoid coming in contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions.

बचपन में एक चुटकुला सुना था। एक गाँव में जब भी कोई बूढा गुज़र जाता था, तो गाँव के स्कूल में एक दिन की छुट्टी कर दी जाती थी। एक बार दो दोस्त सुबह सुबह स्कूल जा रहे थे, तो एक गली में दो बूढे ताश खेल रहे थे। एक दोस्त बोलता है, "देख मोहन, अपनी दो छुट्टियाँ पत्ते खेल रही हैं।"

अचानक ये चुटकुला क्यों याद आया?

रविवार को मैं सब्जी लेने गया, तो रस्ते में ऐसा ही कुछ देखा। एक प्राईमरी स्कूल के बाहर दो बच्चे बात कर रहे थे। अचानक कुछ सूअर वहां से गुज़रे। एक गिनती करने लगा। और फिर दुसरे को कहता है, "ओये देख, ८-८ स्वाइन फ्लू ! अपनी एक महीने की छुट्टी होने वाली है।" उसके चेहरे पर वैसी ही स्माइल थी जैसी की दर्शील सफारी की थी जब वो "३ X ९ = ३" लिख कर खुश होता है। जो भी है, नादान बच्चे, अपनी ही दुनिया है। पर ये तो अच्छा है की इनको ये पता है की ये स्वाइन फ्लू शुरू कैसे हुआ? पुणे की यही बात ख़ास है - यहाँ के लोग (बच्चे भी) बहुत जागरूक हैं। पर बच्चों कि बात सुन कर, सूअरों ने भी आपस में बात कि होगी - "देखो बच्चों को भी पता चल गया। ये सब साला मेक्सिको के सूअरों ने किया, और इल्जाम हम पर लग रहा है। अब भैया गेहूं के साथ घुन तो पिसेगा ही !"

माहौल अचानक बदल सा गया है।

लोग मास्क पहन कर घूम रहे हैं।

कॉलेज के छात्र ऐसी बातें करते हुए मिल जायेंगे - "अगर फलां टीचर ने मुझे इस बार अच्छे नंबर नहीं दिए तो उसके मुंह पर जा कर छींक दूंगा।"

छात्र अपने मास्टरों के मुंह पर छींकना चाहते हैं, सॉफ्टवेर इंजिनेयर अपने मैनेजर के मुंह पर और मैनेजर लोग शायद अपने मैनेजरों के मुंह पर।" इस बार अगर अप्रैज़ल अच्छा नहीं किया, तो मैनेजर जी गए।"

लोगों में छीन्कासुर प्रवृति (भस्मासुर से प्रेरित) आ गयी है। दुश्मनी निकालने का अच्छा तरीका है।

मास्क जो कि सिर्फ डॉक्टर लोग पहनते थे, वो भी सिर्फ ऑपरेशन करते समय, अब हर कोई पहन रहा है।

लड़कियां अपने सूट से मैचिंग कलर के मास्क खरीद रही हैं। अब सूट से मैचिंग लिपस्टिक तो नहीं दिखेगी, मास्क ही सही।

पहले गर्लफ्रेंड-ब्वॉयफ्रेंड मोटर बाइक पर ऐसे बैठते थे कि बस क्या बताएं (दो के बैठने के लिए पर्याप्त जगह होती है, पर न पीछे वाली सीट फिर भी खाली, दोनों के बैठने के बावजूद), अब थोडी सामाजिक स्वीकार्य दूरी बना कर रखते हैं। (Now, Love is not in the air, Swine Flu is in the air...)

सब एक दुसरे को "स्वाइन फ्लू" भरी नज़रों से देख रहे हैं। इंसान इंसान से डर रहा है। पहले भी डरता था, पर पहले सिर्फ आतंकवादियों या ससुराल वालों से डरता था, अब हर तीसरे इंसान से डर लगता है।

लोग जप रहे हैं कि हे भगवान् इससे बचा ले, बस कुछ दिन और, फिर तो २-३ महीने में अपने होनहार डॉक्टर लोग इसकी दवा बना ही लेंगे।

अगर थोडी देर के लिए इंसान भूल भी जाये कि ऐसा कुछ हवा में चल रहा है, तो हर १०-१५ मिनट में एक मेल आ जाती है कि भैया इतने इत्मिनान से काहे बैठे हो, थोडा डर बनाये रखो चेहरे पर - जाके हाथ धो कर आओ, खबरदार! अपने आँख-नाक को हाथ मत लगाओ, खुजली करनी है तो हाथ से नहीं, बाजू से करो।

पर सब बीमारी का एक घूम-फिर कर एक ही इलाज दिखाई दे रहा है - अच्छा भोजन और अच्छी सेहत। जहाँ भी पढता हूँ, प्रोटीन खाओ, बी-१२ खाओ, खूब पानी पीओ, व्यायाम करो। एक्स्ट्रा ये है, कि सफाई बरतो, सार्वजनिक स्थलों पर कम से कम जाओ, ट्रैवेल कम करो।

After all, "Precaution is better than cure..." बचाव में ही सुरक्षा है। बाकी ये किसे पता है कि कब चाँद कि तरफ पैर हो जायें? मैं भी बस यही मना रहा हूँ कि सही सलामत बंगलोर पहुँच जाऊँ फिर आगे वहां से लिखूंगा। पर ये भी कहाँ लिखा है कि बंगलोर बचा रहेगा। बंगलोर वाले मुझे बोल रहे हैं कि हम तुझे यहाँ घुसने ही नहीं देंगे। :(

हैल्थ मिनिस्ट्री का लिंक:

http://mohfw.nic.in/SWINEFLU.htm

http://nicd.nic.in/Tdr_CDA_Swine.pdf

As a usual Saturday, I joined my friends for playing cricket at 8 in the morning. Played till 11. When I came back and had a look at my phone – 8 missed calls from a friend. “What happened to her?” Called her up! Excerpts:

[It’s ringing…]
Me – Hello!
Furious S – How many missed calls did you get from me?
Me – Eight.
Furious S – And could you see the interval between the missed calls?
Me – Hmm… quite frequent. The phone was not with me and I was playing cricket.
Not-so-furious S – $%$&#^
Me – Ok sorry, what’s it?
S – We are going to Lonavla.
Me – When?
S – Now!
Me – What?
S – We are going to have breakfast and then we’ll leave for Lonavla.
Me – But, how? All-of-a-sudden!
S – We were feeling bored, so thought of going. It’ll take us half an hour to finish
breakfast. Join us a Wakad quick.
Me – Half-an-hour!
[I need to go to the market, buy vegetables, prepare lunch for dad, wash some clothes (which I had already dipped in) and bath]
Me – Hmm… it’ll be a bit difficult for me to join you at Wakad. How about if I come by a train and join you at Lonavla only?
S – I don’t know. Make it fast. We are leaving soon. Bye!
Me – Ok, Bye!

[Hurry up boy! C’mon!]

Went (ran) to market, bought vegetables, washed clothes, prepared lunch (a chutney was the quickest I could think of), had bath and asked Saumik to get me the timings of “Express” trains to Lonavla. I was quick, so was he.
The best possible option was to catch “Pune-Manmad Express” at 12:45.

Told briefly to dad about the plan and left for station at 12:10. Everything was so fast; I had the ticket in my hand at 12:40. Train left at 12:55 (IST – 10 min late is so-much-on-time).

Reached Lonavla station at 1:40 and joined others at “Bushy dam” at 2:10 around 40 minutes after them.

It was our second stint at Lonavla and it was again outstanding. All of us headed for waterfalls. The weather was as usual more than pleasant, the flowing waters more than titillating and we more than cautious with our steps on slippery rocks. Of course we did not want to washout our cameras as we so-coolly did last time.

Last week we went to Bheemashankar and we were disappointed for not getting any waterfalls around with Paramita jumping on every site where the water was falling even from a height of 2 inches, "Hey, waterfall, waterfall!" [Literally … each “falling water” was a “waterfall”]
And here we were at Lonavla with the real waterfalls around us giving a perfect complement to our Bheemashankar trip.

The “giant waterfall” that we feared to enter last year was a bit mild this time (thanks to no rains in the last 2 days) and we left no stone unturned to enjoy the magnificent water-body. And because we managed to carry our cameras safe-and-sound till there, posed-a-lot and clicked-a-lot. These waterfalls are a place where the “serious” become “rollicking”, the “shy” become “playful” and the “naughty” become “impish”. “Maine subah se kuchh nahin khaya tha!”, but the moment I entered the waterfall the “hunger” got washed away and I became a part of the waterfall itself. I sat silently (people around me shouting continuously) closing my eyes (not by choice, but the volumes of water banging on my head did not let me open up) under the head-tapping stream (pelting stream rather) listening to the tabla it was playing on my top.

We came out of the fall after some 1.5 hrs – drenched, with a skin like 80 year old, much-much heavier clothes, absolutely deaf and hungry again. Gobbled up some vada-pavs and corns in no time. Reached back to the parking area, parked ourselves in a side restaurant and again gobbled up vada-pavs and kanda-bhajji (obviously, “Maine subah se kuchh nahin khaya tha!”). Then we walked all the way (~ 5 km) amid scenic clouds and mountains, which was a nice diet to our eyes too, back to Lonavla bus stand to catch the return bus.

Everything fell in place and in time for me since morning till the time to catch the bus back-to-Pune arrived. That's when I realized the 7 missed calls from dad. Called him up and told that I am already in a bus to Pune. We were looking for a bus with a particular route (via Wakad) so that the girls can comfortably drop into their homes en-route. My dad was calling frequently asking the whereabouts, raising the tension-meter and these 3 girls with me were "not bothered at all". Grrr... was that funny, because as per dad I should have entered Pune and I was still "loitering" at the bus-stop? Waited for around 45 minutes and let go 5-6 buses to Pune (because Wakad was not not on their routes) and see, we got into the worst possible bus after that. The bus took the longest possible route (not via wakad) and dropped us at Shivajinagar at 10 PM. Took autos to the respective places to reach home after 10:30 PM.

[Face Papa!] Ok, he is sleeping. Shh.. Just sleep, I'd face him tomorow.

But boy, the trip was oh-so-economical, spending not more than 150 per head (including everything – to-and-fro tickets, snacks, eatables and all the more fun). I have learnt that the trips planned (or not-planned) impromptu turn out to be more fun and leave us more satisfied in the end.

Check out the coincidence: Lonavla was the first place I trekked when I came from Bangalore to Pune and Lonavla is the last too when I am going back to Bangalore from Pune. My take away - this place will always bring pleasant memories to me.

कल बैठे बैठे यूं ही पापा से बातचीत करते हुए ये बात छिड़ गयी।
कहने लगे, "हमारे परिवार का रहन सहन कितना ज्यादा simple है? परिवार ३ जगह फैला हुआ है, पर एक भी जगह एक टीवी तक नहीं है, बड़ी कार की बात तो दूर, कोई स्कूटर/मोटरसाईकिल भी नहीं है। वाहन के नाम पर सिर्फ एक साइकिल है रोहतक में, जो भाई साहब को करीब ४५ साल पहले दहेज़ में मिली थी। घर में कोई कूलर/एसी नहीं है (पंखे से काम चल ही जाता है), कोई किसी तरह का कोई आभूषण नहीं पहनता - ना कोई अंगूठी, ना कंगन, ना गले की चेन, यहाँ तक कि कोई घडी भी नहीं बांधता। किसी भी प्रकार का "junk food" खाने कि आदत नहीं है किसी को, कम से कम मसालों से बना भोजन।
कारण ये नहीं कि ये सब खरीदने के लिए पैसा नहीं है, या हैसियत नहीं है, पर बस यूं ही, किसी को शायद लगा ही नहीं कि इन सब के बिना ज़िन्दगी अधूरी है।"

वो बोल रहे थे, और मैं सिर्फ़ सुन रहा था। बीच बीच में "हूँ...हाँ... हम्म" से अपनी उपस्थिति दर्ज कर रहा था।
बात पते की थी। मैंने कभी सोचा नहीं था कि मैं जिस माहौल में पला बढा हूँ, मेरे पास ये सब संसाधन शरू से ही नहीं हैं। पर सोचने कि बात ये है कि मुझे कभी इन सब का अभाव भी महसूस नहीं हुआ, और ना ही अब इन सबकी ज़रुरत महसूस होती है। शायद मैंने इन सबके बिना ही जीना सीख लिया है, और मैं खुद से खुश हूँ। अब तो आदत हो गयी है, या यूं कहें कि खुद को समझा लिया है।
वैसे वो साइकिल (४५ साल पुरानी - "Eastern Star" कंपनी की) अब भी दुरुस्त दौड़ती है और घर के लगभग सभी रसोई के बर्तनों की उम्र मुझसे ज्यादा है।

सोच रहा हूँ कि क्यों / कैसे हर वस्तु इतनी लम्बी चल जाती है हमारे घर में (शायद दुसरे घरों में भी चलती हो, कभी पूछा नहीं)? शायद हमें अपनी चीज़ों को सहेज कर रखने कि आदत है।
घर में कोई भगवान् में यकीन नहीं करता, पर फिर भी कहूँगा कि ईश्वर कि कृपा से सब अच्छा चल रहा है।

महात्मा गाँधी न कहते थे, "सादा जीवन और उच्च विचार ही स्वस्थ जीवन की कुंजी हैं।"
बाकी का तो पता नहीं पर जाने-अनजाने गाँधीजी की ये बात तो हम follow करते ही हैं और गर्व है मुझे अपने इस रहन सहन पर।

After a long gap, I thought of surfing through the blogs/net for the updates my friends have put. Not that I was very busy all these days, but just didn't feel like browising the internet (though the security audits in my company were also a reason). I had started getting a feeling of emptiness and then some introspection led me to Google and hence the blogs. Feeling better now! :)

Things have lot changed since I last visited my "Blogroll".

Stock markets have revived (and how?) post elections and UPA's thumping win.

2-month long strike of Bollywood's film producers against the multiplex owners ended. Movies ringing again.

IPL got over. Cricketers made heavy bucks in SA, but our filmstars associated with different teams ended up in disappointment.

T20 worldcup - debacle for Indian team.

I am too happy for Saina Nehwal. Wish her all the best! Most of the people erratically pronounce her "Sania".

iRace (Infosys Role and Career Enhancement) got implemented. Lemme tell you, employees were really nervous about this, though it had absolutely no impact on their salaries and compensations.

Nandan quit Infy and joined as the head of the Unique Identification Authority of India (who says govt jobs are not challenging). Got a forward this morning only which says that Nandan after attending his first session in Parliament, sent an SMS to our chief mentor NRN: "You won’t believe it but these guys work just like us. I am on a NATIONAL BENCH for the next three months!". Details on another blog here.

Monsoons (Rains, to be precise) finally arrived in Pune making it all green after a long wait.

And many more that I can't recollect right now...

And I am ready to move back to Bengaluru. I am a better swimmer and a better cook now (can feed myself atleast).

During the surf process, got this thread on Microsoft answers: "Hard Drive weight increasing?" and I am pleasantly amazed to see how people are trying to make the customer understand that there is no way we can have an equation to convert "memory" into "weight". Ha ha ha ...

And all the while I have been writing this, I was thinking of a caption for this post. Could not get any! Now I need to invest 5 independent minutes into this task.

Na, still no help with the title of the post. But "Ah! what an enjoyment it is to read the views/reviews/re-reviews on the net." I'll try to be more regular.

I had stopped writing in this space because of some unpleasant reasons. Now, those unpleasant reasons are far more pushed back by the recent incidents in Mumbai.


Let me admit, I had never ever surfed the newspapers so comprehensively that I have done in the past 3 days. Seldom do I watch TV. But this weekend was a change. I got my back hurt while diving into the swimming pool, but do I really feel the pain in my back? Nah! I am not even thinking about it.


Things have been written, articles printed, discussions held, rage published. Everyone who gets his hands on any kind of communication media is expressing his anger, rage through his own means. Staying in the sister city to Mumbai (Pune), I can sense what is going on and what people are going through.


Events, persons that were outshone by this horrendous attack:


1) Cricket: India leading 5-0 in the series. Surely would have been the headlines with interviews of shining cricketers. England team has returned to its homeland. Hope to see them back in (now tentative) test series.


2) Economic Meltdown: All media was flooded, stocks dived, people lost their bank balances, lost their jobs and what not. But lives definitely are much more important than money.


3) VP Singh: The man who dethroned Rajiv Gandhi from the PM’s seat is no more. The news surely deserved to hit the headlines, but remained almost unsaid (tacit, I guess).


4) Raj Thackrey: Where are this guy and his “brave” sena by the way? Why did he not come up to save hundreds of Marathi Manoos killed at the railway stations? Why did he not stop the NSG commandos (most of them from UP and Bihar) from entering the city? Won't he want them to learn Marathi before saving our lives?


Now picture this: Few of our NSG commandos were killed by terrorists’ bullets hitting in their heads and chests, though they had the helmets and bullet-proof jackets ON. Can't you smell the corruption here?


Things are not going be so “rosy” from now on. Not for the politicians, not for our security forces, and not even for us – the citizens. Shouldn’t we be the world leaders in fighting against terrorism? Is there any other nation holding more experience than us in this field? We should be helping others to overcome this evil, but we ourselves are not equipped enough to fight against it. Why are we not learning from our past? We can't afford to be pigeons shutting our eyes looking at cats.


Indian Army says, “Forgiving terrorists is left to GOD. But fixing their appointment with GOD is our responsibility”. Amen!

As if the consistently crashing stock markets are not enough to irritate you and send a chill down your spine.

I usually don’t sleep while commuting in the bus. But yesterday was a one-of-its’s-kind day.

I boarded 6 PM bus from Infosys. At 6:45, we were hardly 1 km moved from the original position (Am talking about displacement (the vector), not distance). I usually sit on the first seat because you get space to spread your legs in front of you :P I looked back and found everyone “dead sleep”. So I too tried to sleep. Luckily, I succeeded somehow.

Why “Luckily”?
Because, that bus was so wrecked, the seats were not in good shape (no head rest) and the engine was roaring like anything. Traffic all round. I tilted myself against the glass window and slept. What I last remember before sleeping – we were at the entering foot of the "Wakad Bridge" (flyover). Slept for about half an hour when sudden brakes by the bus driver left me awake. When I woke up – we were still on the same flyover.

Now when I was awake, I put on the FM to my ears. Wow! All the radio stations (including our very own Vividh Bharti) were airing Himesh Reshamiya Songs. Did I have a choice, what frequency to tune?

At around 7:45, struggling through the rush, we caught an almost clear road. But… there are days when, whatever you do, however you do, you can’t escape the "so-called-luck" following you. We stopped at every Red Light on the way with a halt time of more than 60 seconds at each of them, all the way to AFMC.

The problem is – How to extricate from this? I am not able to find a personal solution for this problem. Should I change my route? Should I change my timings? Should I get a PMPML bus pass, and stop traveling by Infy buses. I will have a flexibility of route and timings in that case.

I just can’t imagine my plight when the most awaited “Commonwealth Youth Games” is round the corner. The traffic is going to go worse.

The only nice thing that I did yesterday was: Got my eyes registered for donation. Got to do more exercises now :P

Two bugs: [1] Traffic [2] Festival

I can’t believe I am saying this and I never thought that I’ll be saying this so early:

Whoa! Unbelievable! For the past two weeks, I am spending 2 hrs or more in Pune traffic from office to my home. And it never took me this long even on the worst days of traffic in Bangalore (I agree that I didn't live so far from Electronic City, but still).
Distance b/w Hinjewadi and AFMC ~ 25 km.
Time taken (at least) = 2 hrs.
By simple algebra, Average speed of my commute ~ 3.5 m/s
That is slower than a normal man's walking speed.

I ran out of Bangalore cribbing about the same thing, but the traffic seems to be following me. I actually felt a little comfort in my initial days in Pune but the situation worsened gradually and now I won’t hesitate in handing over the “Poorest traffic” trophy to Pune.

The jams seem to be a result of “Ganesh festival” going on and the situation is hoped to be improving from this Monday. Festival is OK, but people just don't have traffic sense.

We in India, have a many more seasons except the regular summer, winter etc. We have a season of weddings that goes from October to April in North India. Then we have a season of festivals. Two festivals, I have seen, seem to be very state specific. “Durga Pooja” in West Bengal and “Ganesh Chaturthi” in Maharashtra! These states seem to have a copyright on these two festivals. People collect funds to celebrate. The disciples of these Gods collect the funds from their respective societies in order to have huge celebrations on these festivals. On the contrary, I have seen people consuming alcohol on the money raised for these events (the very evening after Durga Pooja). Yesterday also, I saw some groups of people taking Ganesha idols for Visarjan, but the people were dancing drunk and they were smoking while carrying Ganesha. What is all this? Do people raise funds to celebrate or to feed upon it?

I don’t believe in God(s) but I am not even against those who have faith in them. But I appeal (to those who believe) to at least show some respect to the almighty, the one you fear the most. I had been much happier to see people collecting funds for “Bihar flood victims” and investing it there only. But “raising money for celebrating a festival and then spending it on uncompromising things” is just unacceptable. This is something “We Indians really need to learn”.

The world is mesmerized by these two guys. They have created history this time in Beijing – one on track and one in water.

Google is the most extensively used search engine. In July this year, we got a new search engine "cuil" (http://www.cuil.com/) – A rival search engine by three former google employees.

People already must have compared the search engines. Geeks pounce upon anything new that comes in the tech world and review it in and out. But I would like to quote a particular feature of CUIL: As and when you go on typing the search keys, a drop down (attached to the search bar) with 10 results keeps getting refreshed dynamically based on the current search key. The feature is actually Cool (cuil, for that matter).

Google being a gang of geniuses adopted this feature in no time and even took it to the next level. Google drop-down refreshes with more relevant results. Most sought after results at the top!

Justifying the post title -
I started searching for “Microsoft”. As I typed ‘Mic’ and got “Michael Phelps” as the topmost result.
You search for “USA” and get a Jamaican, “Usain Bolt” topping the results.

See what Olympics have done to the world:


But Cuil displays no such thing. The results there are not so relevant. CUIL already has a lot of issues, but being a new kid, things can be condoned for a while. Competing with Google really takes a heart. All the best CUIL!

One more update from Google: Picasa Web Albums have undergone a redesign. The new look! Change always appears good, let’s see how it comes along over time.

Please get the information from any of the following links and get going to do your bit:
[1] http://biharflood.wordpress.com/
[2] http://biharfloodrelief2008.blogspot.com/
[3] http://removing.blogspot.com/2008/08/bihar-floods-how-to-help.html
[4] List of Medicines required: http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pXkYURrkCSy7Cd6zB4VmMQg

Thanks in advance for your consideration!

आज कल राम गोपाल वर्मा की बॉलीवुड में काफ़ी हवा है - लोगों की फूँक निकाल कर रख दी है। ऐसी ऐसी फिल्में बना रहे हैं कि लोगों को सोचने का पूरा पूरा मौका मिल रहा है। फ़िल्म देखने से पहले लोग सोचते हैं - "देखें या नहीं?", फ़िल्म देखने के बाद लोग सोचते हैं - "ये मैंने क्या किया?"

आप सोच रहे होंगे की मेरी नज़र राम गोपाल वर्मा पर ही क्यों अटकी? दरअसल ये एक ही ऐसा महामानव है जो हर साल ढेरों फ़िल्म बनता है और फिल्मों का स्तर तो माशाल्लाह गिरता ही जा रहा है। मैं सोच रहा था कि जिस रफ़्तार से वर्मा जी लगे हुए हैं, और जिस जिस तरह की फिल्में वो बना रहे हैं, भविष्य क्या होगा? गौर करने की बात ये कि इनकी हर अगली फ़िल्म पिछली फ़िल्म से बुरी होती है।

आइये रामू जी की कुछ पुरानी, नई और आने वाली फिल्मों पर एक नज़र डालते हैं:

=> सरकार
===> सरकार राज
=====> सरकारी अनाज
('सरकार' बहुत ही बढ़िया फ़िल्म थी, 'सरकार राज' ठीक ठाक, अब इस कड़ी को यहाँ रोक देना चाहिए नहीं तो 'सरकारी अनाज', 'हमारा बजाज' या ... )

=> नाच
===> निशब्द
=====> नहीं हुई हद
(...शब्द ही नहीं हैं...)

=> डरना मना है
===> डरना ज़रूरी है
=====> डरना मजबूरी है
(जब डरना मना था, तब लोग डरे जब डरना ज़रूरी हुआ, तो लोग हँसे)

=> राम गोपाल वर्मा की आग
===> राम गोपाल वर्मा की फूँक
=====> राम गोपाल वर्मा की थूँक
(पहले आग लगाई, फिर फूँक से उसे बुझाने की कोशिश, नहीं बुझी तो अब थूँक ही बचता है जी)

राम राम! ये रामू जी किस प्रकार की फिल्मों की और बढ़ रहे हैं... कुछ समझ नहीं आ रहा है! रंगीला, सत्य, भूत, कंपनी जैसी उच्च कोटि की फिल्में बनाने वाले रामू कुछ मूड में नहीं लग रहे हैं ।

वैसे और भी कुछ अच्छी फिल्मों की मिट्टी पलीद होती नज़र आ रही है:

=> डॉन
===> डॉन टू
=====> कौन तू

=> मुग़ल-ऐ-आज़म
===> मान गए मुग़ल-ऐ-आज़म
=====> भाग लिए मुग़ल-ऐ-आज़म
(मधुबाला नहीं मना पाई मुग़ल-ऐ-आज़म को, मल्लिका शेरावत को बुलाना पड़ा, राखी सावंत आएँगी तो?)

=> कोई मिल गया
===> ककक्रिश
=====> कककककिशमिश
('क' की संख्या पर कोई लगाम लगाओ भाई ... )

'दौड़' बनी तो 'रेस' बनी, 'रन' बनी तो 'भागम-भाग' भी बनी, अब बारी है, 'जम्प' और 'उछल-कूद' की।

'टशन' आई, 'फैशन' आई, तो 'टेंशन' लाओ, 'पेंशन' लाओ - बूढे लोगों को भी देखने में मज़ा आए।

मैं यहीं ब्रेक लगता हूँ... ये लिस्ट तो बहुत लम्बी जा रही है।

डिस्क्लेमर (तथ्य): खाली बैठे व्यक्ति के दिमाग में कुछ भी आ सकता है, जैसे मेरे दिमाग में आया :)

Sorry for being a bit late in writing this.

This Saturday I made myself lucky to visit Lonavla – A place of waterfalls. Finally, I set myself out for my “first adventurous trip” after coming to Pune and it was simply amazing.

Protagonists (7): Jharna, Nandita, Trupti, Savita, Shambhu, Jigar, Praveen

We booked a Qualis and started at 7:30 in the morning, but spent around 2 hrs in Pune itself picking people from their respective places. Played UNO on the way, so could not concentrate much on the sceneries en route, which I felt later, we should have.
Reached Lonavla at around 10:30. When we got down from the cab after reaching the place, the weather was awesome with wind at full speed. We were busy clicking photographs and there it comes - RAIN. It started with little showers and turned into a heavy downpour in no time.

Initially being hesitant in getting wet, the feeling was completely washed away by the showers in the face as we leapt towards one of the waterfalls (out of many facing us) in the downpour itself. A miscalculation here: Except me and Jigar, everyone took their mobile phones along with them and Shambhu’s digicam too. For some it was intentional while others were just carried away by the excitement and forgot to leave them back in the cab.

Jharna’s handbag came to rescue the ruined gadgets but little did it help. The damage was already done. Though we were in full rain, completely soaked, we didn’t stop clicking photographs putting a shade of hands around the camera and mobiles. Little did we realize that the water had found a way into the gadgets?
So, the cost of the trip was Shambhu’s camera and all the Sony Ericsson phones (except mine, Jigar had Nokia) we had. Some of them are able to revive themselves while others are still to be brought back to life. So, the photographs are awaited till these gadgets start breathing again.

The Giant Waterfall: The scenario was like this. We are enjoying in a waterfall. Suddenly, we see another waterfall far away. A mutual decision to reach there. Hit that waterfall. Then the next and the next… Jharna evolved to be a falling girl (she didn’t miss any opportunity to slip, or fall), Nandita evolved to be a fish (she even lied down in one of the waterfalls), Trupti and Savita were quite cautious with their steps (thankfully!). In this scheme of things, we happened to hit a giant waterfall all set to mesh up anything that comes its way. The force was terrific and we could see the force increasing. Some of us sat at one of the slim legs of the waterfall but not for long. The water was hitting very hard at our backs. And it was so loud that we had to literally shout to make ourselves hear. There was a Vada-Pav, tea-coffee shop nearby this waterfall. It was so cold around that even a 50 Rs./tea cup won’t hurt you.

Serendipity: After enjoying this – one of the heaviest waterfalls around, we decided to come back to our cab. On the way, out of the excitement of exploring the place, we took a different route and kept moving until we discovered that we are lost. But the place where we were lost was such a beauty. Pristine it was! It was greener than the greenest and enclosed by a wire fence. The only disappointment was: Our camera had already been feasted upon by the cruel rains. So, couldn’t click the shots there :(

We did some calculations, listening to the voices of people shouting far away to figure out a way out of this scenic place. Somehow, we found our way back. I actually had my only fall of the trip on this way. Trying to be over smart, I thought of jumping over a small water stream while others followed a decent route. I jumped and landed on a rock which was not firm on the ground. The rock rolled over but the momentum took me forward (with a lost balance) only to make me fall in the mud. The ugly face of the fall: This was the only place till now, which didn’t have clear water. The group had a nice laugh on my fall. I would say I was lucky that we didn’t have the camera at that time, though Nandita managed to get some shots on her mobile while I was cleaning myself in the stream water.

Lost and Found: After conquering a series of waterfalls (one after the other) and Bushy Dam, we started towards the “Shooting Point”. We found “Amby Valley” and “Air Force Station” on the way but only Armed Forces personals are allowed to enter, so moved ahead. We got down at “Shooting Point” and left the cab on the road. We had moved just about 8-10 meters in the chilling wind without realizing what is following us. When we turned back, we found that our cab is lost, even the road was not visible. Such was the density of clouds. But again, the place with its ultimate beauty was just like a meadow. And we could realize its real beauty only when the clouds were carried away by the wind and there it spreads in front of us - the green expanse.

We climbed up, we climbed down, we shot, we slipped, we fell, we ran, we did all fun that we could in the beautiful space. Away from the project, away from the work, away form any kind of tension, it was a day.
We were completely drenched for 12 continuous hours. The funny thing, even if we (boys) had extra changing clothes with us, we didn’t feel like changing. We were in rains the whole time, so no point in changing clothes if you don’t have an umbrella. The girls in the group proved to be “the intelligent beings” (at least here) to get themselves changed and even had umbrellas.

The bad part: Such trips usually have some disappointing parts. But we didn't have any except that the driver of the Qualis was new to the routes and he didn’t have much knowledge about the places and the routes. Result – so many U-Turns. We had about 8-10 of them during the day. Time waste! U-turn is not just a U-turn; you also have to cover a section of route again. Result – Didn’t get enough time to visit Khandala.

On the way back, it was all Jharna and Nandita, the singing sensations of the group. These girls have the lyrics of each song by heart (along with the dance steps, of course), howsoever latest the song is. The talent is amazing.

We were back in Pune at around 10:30 PM. I still wet, entered my room at 11:30 PM. Had a bath, made myself banana shake, brushed my teeth and off to sleep at 12:10.

Special thanks to Shambhu that he was always ready with his money bank to buy the Vada-Pavs, tea-coffeee, pakodas, bhajjis or any other eatables, anytime, anywhere – on roads, inside the waterfalls, at the dam, the shooting point and all other places that I have missed. A twist here too: His wallet along with the money, the cards etc… was left with Jharna (in the protective bag) when she got down at her place and resultantly, Shambhu had to spend his Sunday sleeping and feeding on friend’s pockets :)

All in all, a memorable trip! My first from Pune and hence one of my best weekends here with a wonderful group of friends.

Highlights:
[1] Waterfalls – There are plenty
[2] Bushy Dam – Consisted of three waterfalls in itself.
[3] Shooting Point – Movies are shot here.
[4] Lions Point – Couldn’t see much because of very dense fog. Even the place was a little dirty because of a commercialization.
[5] Walvan Dam – The surrounding area is all gardens, though we couldn’t witness much because of the “Strictly Private…” notices.[6] The moment I took my feet off my shoes. What a moment man, really! My feet breathed like anything.

Points to remember (learning, as they say):
[1] Average expenditure per head if go by cab (from Pune): Rs 400
[2] Trekking shoes – Beware of the slippery rocks! You slip one, you slip all!
[3] Extra changing clothes plus towel
[4] Most Imp: Leave your mobile phones in the cab, if you really want to enjoy. If you are “I can’t live without my phone” types, have a water proof poly bag handy. The falls won’t show mercy to your costly gadgets and you know these electronic gadgets are too much water prone.

Thanks for dialing in. Stay tuned for the pics!

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