A Historical Transition

One morning while I was surfing tv channels, a thought struck me which made me think and I was so overwhelmed by the thought, that I could not stop myself from penning it down. I consider myself and people of my generation (who have grown up with me) luckier than any other generation that I can possibly think of. Please keep the history books away for a while and so should be the famous Darwin’s theory.

The reason I made the above statement is because of the fact that we could see and experience human life getting changed like never before. Yes we have been a generation of transition. Having said that I am not pointing out that the transition will stop after us. This process has always been and will continue to happen as long as there is a last trace of life left on this planet. The point is that we had (though most of us never realized it) a chance to witness transition within transition. This may sound like philosophy or thoughts of person who has had a bad day. Well not really, let’s go straight to the pointers which will prove my point of view.





1. Television: This one is really interesting and something we can easily relate to.


What the coming generations will miss:

The generation which had lived before ours witnessed an era which can be summed up as the black and white television era. With the economy slowly getting better the first time the famous Indian middle class got the idiot box was during the 1982 Asian games. It was a historical moment which would change the face of entertainment in the coming decades.
But for that moment it was just a box with a picture tube that people were trying to get some idea about.So they had a set but where are the programs, all it took were a few days for the government to come up with a makeshift studio which was primarily beaming the games. Then the studio was institutionalized and Doordarshan came into being. There was no question of a remote control as flipping channels was out of question and Doordarshan was the Soul(ahem…sole) channel. The most remarkable thing this channel did was to redefine what Sunday could mean to an Indian. Waiting for rangoli, animation, dose of mythology and finishing with a hindi movie. Elders of the family used to be glued to the sets for their dose of news at 8 o clock in the night. Not to mention the path breaking series like Ramayan, Mahabharat, Buniyaad, Karamchand et al.

What the last generation missed:

Television has gone colored. It is the same world as ours; the characters are truer to life and you have more channels then hours in a day or may be years in your life span. The most important addition and addiction was none other than the remote control. Flipping channels became the national past time and a new definition was arrived at: the person carrying the remote had the control of the family. This small and miniature piece of electronics sometimes caused families to split. I am not trying to paint a negative picture for this generation, as there are some points which made television like never before. 20-25 years ago people would have found it impossible to think that the small television set would empower them so much that court cases would be fought with common man being apprised of the minutest of the details, or for that matter political leaders would start to fear at least something in this world. International quality programs would get beamed straight into Indian households. Television became the tool which empowered common man more than any other instrument. People of the earlier generation will surely miss the thrill of Reality shows (if at all there is any) and how can I forget the “sacred relationship between saas bahu”, which made the other members of the family virtually non existent.

2. Computers: well frankly I hate to talk about this machine but I just can’t refuse the due share of glory!!


What the coming generations will miss:

In India the computer entered right after the entry of big brother the television. Those were the days when government of India had received special aid from World Bank to computerize its operations and personal computers were imported into Indian shores.
I remember visiting my father’s office once and I still have vivid memories of the first personal computer of my life. That machine had a memory of 2MB and the CPU spanned a size of a full scale cupboard. The computer during those days only had MS-DOS operating system and multimedia could only have been an insane thought. Floppies were thrice the usual size that we all have seen and were ready to loose your precious data. It was a stand alone machine as networks and internet were still in incubator. Then came the internet and along with it an all new bouquet of tools which would eventually become the pillars of information convergence.

What the last generation missed:

There is an altogether different world existing which is called the virtual world. People of the earlier generation will surely get baffled to find out that office work could be completed from right within home, or teams sitting across different geographies could talk, listen and see each other as if they were all sitting together. A computer chip half the
Size of your thumb could score 300 GB of data and yes this is not the limit I am still counting. The good old snail mail is all set for disinvestment, and up now we have emails.
lightening fast, with lot more storage capacity which comes almost free of charge. The conventional cameras have gone for a toss and so are the accessories along with the complicated procedure of developing photographs, now its just click, save and print.
The online messengers have replaced the telephones for the wired lot by using IP for sending voice packets. The list is long and there is just no stopping.


3. Automobiles: A clear indicator or in many ways trigger of the industrial revolution (if I may take a wheel to be an integral part of an automobile).


What the coming generations will miss:

“Humara bajaj”, talking about the two wheeler segment this was the street cat of Indian roads for decades. With the way India was progressing or otherwise during the Nehruvian era and subsequent socialist governments, Indian roads were either non existent or were just so dilapidated that the best way was to walk your way through. India needed a piece of mean machine which could turn things on their heads and sail across. Bajaj was the answer to millions of Indian hopes. This rugged tiger ruled the roost and as a famous commercial tells, it became member of many middle class Indian families.
Now switching to four wheeler segment, the 70’s and the 80’s saw a big shift in this segment as people started switching from fuel guzzlers like Impala and Buicks to ambassadors and premier(aka Indian Fiat). All through the 80’s, you talk about a four wheeler and the above two brands had a monopoly. The shape and size of there cars were and indication of the era that India was going through. Ambassador moved widely with the government machinery and was widely known as the power carrier and rightly so it blocked the entry of any foreign brand from entering India as that could well be suicidal for it. Well this did not last long and towards the end of 20th century the sun was setting on these brands.

What the last generation missed:

Well by now “humara bajaj” was out of steam and even the manufacturer admits it. This is the age of innovation and collaboration as the new century India saw Indian and foreign companies coming together and giving Indian what they had never seen (assuming we are not talking about movies). The family feud was at its prime as 4 stroke engine read the obituary of the elder brother the 2 stroke engine. The power of the engine was increasing every month. Cut throat competition made consumer the king and now the consumer himself was directing the R&D. Now talking about the next segment, what the last generation saw were only four wheelers as they can not be called cars. The turn of the century saw not just new companies with cars but also multiple segments and each segment had a different target market segment with differential specifications and strategies. Maruti quietly(referring to the engine noise) replaced ambassadors and fiats as far as general people were concerned. With the gulf war during the nineties and brewing tensions in the Middle East fuel prices were at an all time high and Indian for the first time had to think of fuel efficiency. With Maruti they found out that a car can deliver up to 20 Kilometers/Litre. Since then Indian consumer has not looked back. The last generation was a complete alien to terms like MPFI, VTEC,DTSI, RTR etc. These are not just mere abbreviations these are milestones (sounds perfect) in the never before research & development in the automobile industry. The list goes on with environment friendly cars from battery operated ones to concept cars and the solar energy operated vehicles.

Stay tuned for what is coming up, and dont forget to give me your valuable comments.

Can DIAMONDS ever be someone’s best friend

This piece of writing is not against anyone or any gender in particular, I believe that it is in favour of humanity.

Today I went watch a movie called ‘Blood Diamond’. I went there simply for fun sake but the movie turned out to be the one which made me think!!!!

The movie is all about the Diamond trade in the world. It tells you a nerve wrecking story of what the people of Africa have to go through to provide the so called elite people with the so called world’s most precious stone. The movie forced me to do a bit of study on this topic and I am presenting some startling facts of my study.

1) The diamond that you are wearing right now is most probably a “CONFLICT DIAMOND”. The process of obtaining the stone and to get it to you gets it this name.

2)Most of the world’s diamond production comes from the central and southern Africa. We are all aware of the fact that this part of Africa has been marred with civil war for more that four decades. What we usually hear from media is that there are forces fighting against the dictators for democracy but I can bet that’s not the true picture.

3)Conflict diamonds are diamonds that originate from areas controlled by forces or factionsopposed to legitimate and internationally recognized governments, and are used to fund military action in opposition to those governments, or in contravention of the decisions of the UN Security Council. These Conflict diamond caches have often been used by rebel forces to finance arms purchases and other illegal activities. Neighbouring and other countries can be used as trading and transit grounds for illicit diamonds. Once diamonds are brought to market, their origin is difficult to trace and once polished, they can no longer be identified.

4)Some diamonds have helped fund devastating civil wars in Africa, destroying the lives of millions. Conflict diamonds are those sold in order to fund armed conflict and civil war. Profits from the trade in conflict diamonds, worth billions of dollars, were used by warlords and rebels to buy arms during the devastating wars in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone. Wars that have cost an estimated 3.7 million lives.

5)The countries devastated by this “Diamond War” are Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo(DROC) and many more.

6)I have to mention DROC especially here because of the scale of war its people have seen in past forty years or so. Small arms, ammunition, and other military supplies made within the country also have played a significant role in these troubled areas. The government-owned Zimbabwe Defense Industries (ZDI) has profited considerably from the DROC conflict. ZDI provided about $250 million worth of arms to the ADFL (the Kabila-led armed force) during its 1996-97 campaign against Mobutu. The primary organization which has benefited from this trade is AL-QAIDA. Need I say more here?

7) The warlords abuse the local population for diamond mining. The local people are put through the worst of conditions to obtain a lifeless stone. If the people do not obey warlord’s orders then they are starved to death, the women are raped, the children are made drug addicts and so on. I have a few pictures that are released by the AMNESTY INTL. on this.

So the next time you go to buy this precious stone are if you are wearing this stone, look deep into it and I am sure you would see the colour of the blood of all the people who have lost there lives just to get the stone to you. Looks deep red isn’t it???

Sunscreen

I have always been looking for songs making some sense. This one which I recently came across is definitely right up there. I am talking about the song "Sunscreen" by 'Baz Luhrman'.
check out the lyrics and let me know if you liked it or not.

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Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine. Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday. Do one thing everyday that scares you Sing Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself. Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements. Stretch Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone. Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.. Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders. Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out. Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth. But trust me on the sunscreen…

Trip to the Rajputana

Gadsisar Lake at Jaisalmer:Contrary to the popular belief, it is not an oasis but a water conservation tank by the then maharaja of Jaisalmer, Maharwal Gadsi Singh.This structure just outside the city walls once acted as a reservoir that controlled the entire supply of water to the arid city!


The Jal Mahal at Udaipur: Situated in Lake Pichola. Legend says this lake was a man made one which the Kings of Mewar got constructed to ensure water supply during summers. the Jal Mahal is supposed to have two floors beneath the water level, which get exposed as the water level goes down during summers. this property has been leased to the Indian Hotels Company(Taj Group).

The Mehrangarh Fort at Jodhpur: This fort is considered as one of the marvels of Indian Engineering. The foundation of this fort was laid on 12th May,1459 by Jodha himself on a rocky hill six miles south of Mandore. The hill, a hundred and twenty meters high, was known as Bhakurcheeria, the Mountain of Birds.Mehrangarh has never, not even once, been taken in a siege. Invincible and mighty, inspiring awe, admiration, envy and fear in friend and foe alike, Mehrangarh is the very spirit of the Rathores.

Umaid Bhawan Palace at Jodhpur:Umaid Bhawan Palace is popularly called Chittar Palace,the foundation of this grand piece of architecture was laid on 18th nov. 1929 by Maharaja Umed Singh.The beauty of this building that it does not use any mortar or cement to bind stones together, all pieces are carved stones joined together by interlocking.It was one of the last royal constructions, supposedly built to provide work for drought relief for poor villagers.

Jaisalmer Fort at Jaisalmer: This fort was constructed by Raja Rawal Jaisal, a Bhati Rajput ruler.Jaisalmer fort is popularly known as Sonar quila for the yellow stones used in its construction.Even today, you will find that nearly one fourth of the old city's population resides within the fort.

Reality behind Reality shows :Racism or TRP

All this hue and cry over what happened with an Indian actress on the sets of big brother is all blown out of proportion. I have reasons to believe that all this is just a publicity stunt by the producers of the show.

1. Big brother was not performing up to the TRP expectations and for the past 5 weeks the show was languishing at the bottom of the TRP scale. The results have already indicated the upsurge. Tuesday night's show was watched by 4.5 million people, 1 million more than Monday's. (Source: The Guardian UK)

2. The actress herself was aware of the things which happen on such shows, and the fact that she will be surrounded by aliens there but still she chose to go for it because of the hefty sum she was paid approx. 3.5 crores (Source Times Now)


3. The kind of objectionable language pointed out by media is the same which is put to regular use in our own desi BIG BOSS. That means that the guy from Delhi is getting racist about the girl from Mangalore or that the Mumbai girl is getting racist about the guy from U.P. we need to look more urgently into our local racism.


4. We all know that lately the actress is not doing to well in bollywood and she needs this money badly. That’s the reason I do not foresee her leaving the show abruptly even after the so called turmoil of hers. It'll definitely affect her stardom. She’ll gain a bigger name when she comes back to India. She’ll be treated as a warrior. There is after all not much difference between politics and Glamour industry.


5. What is more surprising to see even the Government of India playing a part in this pseudo controversy. Any Indian who goes to another country to work does so by choice and many of them are subjected to such treatment everyday. Does the media or the MEA ever highlight or do anything about them? Or is it for a chosen few?


6. These reality shows are not live shows. They are produced and all the participants know that the cameras are on and more than that, these are edited shows. If the producers had wanted, they could have edited out racist remarks against Shilpa Shetty. (source : CNN IBN)

As our society continues to progress and prosper and we pride ourselves on being more civilised, how ironical that we derive so much enjoyment from uncivilised reality TV shows.

This reminds me of the famous quote by Martin Luther King, Jr
“Our science has outrun our spirits. We have guided missiles and misguided human beings”

JAI HIND !!!

Frankly I do not see these protests ringing any bells for the government. As the whole reservation bill is not an instrument of welfare for the people of india, instead it is an instrument of welfare of a set of political parties particularly Congress. At this point I must also mention that this party is living in a fool’s paradise. If the high command of this party had a bit of interest and courage to delve into the pages of history, they would have thought a thousand times before raking up an issue like this.

The person whom we associate the most with reservation is Mr. V.P. Singh. When he came to power, he was heading a coalition government with the support of the BJP. As we all know that the government did not do any progressive work for what ever term it enjoyed behind the treasury benches so, with an aspiration to come to power with full majority in case of a mid term poll, they decided to rake up the reservation issue and implement the Mandal commission report which was already biting the dust for more than 20 years then.

But little did this Mr. V.P. Singh know that this bill would be the last nail on his political careers coffin. He could not even win a single election afterwards and as we all know that he is nothing more than a languishing soul at present.

The situation as I can see as of now is not very positive and in spite of having leadership (I doubt) like Manmohan Singh, I think this government will go ahead with this proposal though with minor modifications here and there.

All the protests are conveying our messages to the center but political compulsions supersedes such peaceful democratic protests because at the end of the day it is the number of votes which determine the rulers of the nation and if the voting patterns for the past 50 years are an indicator then the upper cast have never voted in flocks and have always shifted there preferences owing to many reasons like

1) Development.
2) Background of the candidate.
3) Performance of the previous government.

Where as the low casts have always voted in flocks and their only basis is caste.

So the people at the Raisina Hill have their views quiet straight forward that if they have to come back to power and rule this country many more generations they have to appease lower castes.

But I guess we can change the future but history remains unchanged and I hope that some one from the government will have enough courage to see what happened to VP.

Only shiv sena so far has come against the bill in open because they have largely and upper caste support base and have been unequivocal about their vision and line of thought for the society. No other major political party has so far opposed the bill in open though a lot of words are exchanged in private and understandably so because no one wants to do away with the large chunk of OBC votes.

Well the situation may look very bleak at the moment but this is time when we have to think about how to possibly manage the situation and give worthwhile solutions to the generations to come.

1) We have to seriously broaden the mental horizon and start thinking about higher education avenues apart from Engineering and Medicine. I know there are many courses which are making their presence felt and people are getting good benefits also, just that we need to shed the stereo type thinking and be more open minded as far as higher education is concerned. If the experience of the current generation is an indicator then we all know just how many of us took courses like Engineering and Medicine as personal choices and that why is a large section of people working in IT sector keep cribbing about job satisfaction and increased level of stress. We have to be more open to choices and encourage the younger ones to do what ever they feel they are best at. As far as I know the market has been going great guns and the private sector will try its best to stay away from reservation. If at all it will happen it will be mere tokenism as they can not compromise on quality. So the future augurs well for private sector.


2) The kind of unity we have shown to the country and the whole world should carry on and the initiative should not loose momentum at all. The strength of the protests should get translated into a political strength. I am not asking that we all should get into politics and start running for elections but as we all know that we are living in the age of vote banks, we should unite and consolidate the votes that we have with us and become a force to reckon with. This is the only way we can get into a better position to bargain with the government about our rights and privileges.


3) Lastly for the people who still want to become technocrats and doctors (I know there is a sizable chunk), they need to step on the gas and gear themselves up for an all the more fierce competition. Its not that we have not seen competition, we have all been there and have done that. But now the terrain will become increasingly tougher and it’s our responsibility that the young ones are all ready to go. I am proud of all the people who have displayed great character and gumption in the worst of circumstances and have come out victorious. I know we can still do it.


I must also congratulate the people who are participating in these protests and thank them for setting the ball rolling but we must also understand that this is just a start and we have to go a long way. The only thing which is not encouraging is that we the Indians do have a very shot lived memory and if the current movement meets the same fate then all this will become history and as I pointed out earlier ‘we can not change the history’.




JAI HIND


-Prabudh

P.S. All the views and ideas expressed here are my personal and not intended towards hurting anyone’s sentiments. I duly apologize if at all I have done that.

How Safe Is Our Sky Today

With luck going in favor I could again get air tickets at reasonable price. With the advent of low cost airlines air travel has really become less burdensome on the pockets and has really attracted travelers sitting on the fringe between railways and the airlines.

But there is one thing which really makes me concerned is the condition of our airports and makes me wonder are the airports really equipped to handle such sub sonic onslaught.

I am primarily concerned about two things:-

1) Safety standards of these airlines are leaving much to be desired. As we all know the staff boarding the aircraft with the passengers needs to be trained to the best level because they have to be prepared to face any eventuality. Specially the pilot and the co pilots. With not many flying schools in the country one needs to thinks do we have sufficient numbers of properly trained pilots. And we all know that aircraft maintenance is one of the most specialized jobs. Do all these newly born airlines have sufficient support staff to regularly maintain the aircraft?

2) With almost all the new airlines boasting of reduced prices and are still slashing prices at the drop of a hat with new schemes, is this price war affecting the airline in any major way. We all know that aviation fuel is at an all time high as far as costs are considered and with some of the major western airlines filing for bankrupsy or are virtually on the verge of being bankrupt how are all these new airlines coping with this costing pressure. To what extent the negative effect of this price war is getting scaled down to the consumers. Is the delicately balanced situation (if I may use the word) forcing the airlines to cut expenditure towards the upkeep of their fleet? Are they actually looking towards the welfare of their employees because a minor thing as employee welfare from the consumer’s perspective and have major impact on them and this impact can be adverse too.

The last thing we want to hear is that people start comparing flying in these airlines as flying MIG 21.

Shivasamudra- A memorable Trip

In the IT industry, there is a very common saying that Indians are very good at planning things but equally bad at implementing them. This time around I decided to turn this theory upside down (easier said then done though).I was lucky enough to get much needed “support” (I know my friends would hate me for using this word) from my friends. So we started planning for a two day trip to Mysore and Shivasamudra (something we a considered to be good at).it took us a bit more than 2hours time to chalk out a rough plan.

So it was a good start for us having successfully completed step 1, but by that time we were not aware of the things to come in future (things are actually not as simple as we think!)When we started approaching some of the other friends who were expected to accompany us during that trip, we had a face off with a thin line which separates imagination and reality (typically known as user requirements in industry jargon).almost half of them refused to go to Mysore with some reason or the other. With the other half of the lot sticking to the earlier plan it was all along a tough road ahead(some hint for the Bangalore-Mysore highway too).by this time I started getting some idea as to why is implementation so difficult as compared to planning.

We refused to bow to this challenge so we decided to hold talks with both the groups (the history of India-pak talks gave us a very bleak chance of any positive results) and to get to a consensus (it’s a buzz word in politics).I was lucky enough to have some understanding friends, who understood my miserable position, because of them we had reached consensus after the very initial round.

So finally implementation had its supremacy over planning and the tour was cut short by a day and that too to “Shivasamudra” only. But I guess this how the whole IT industry survives (being a part of the same, it shouldn’t be very different for me right?)

So finally that D day came when we packed our bags and were all set to march towards Shivasamudra.it was 4:00 in the morning and me ,Pankaj and Sandy were all tired because we did not sleep the whole night as we were occupied making food for ourselves. we had prepared an authentic Bihari dish”Bati-chokha” (at least the Biharis reading this should be able to relate with the name)

We started the journey at around 5:00 AM. We had hired a Sumo for us as that would accommodate us all perfectly. We started to drive towards Mysore. The road to Mysore was not in very good condition that’s why we were moving slowly. I must thank the weather gods that we had an awesome weather through out the trip. In the way we first stopped at a road side dhaba to have tea and snacks.

The view of the place and the nearby hills was so good that I had already started looking for that perfect picture through my camera. We went ahead and took the diversion right before Mysore to Shivasamudra. We did not realize that the road ahead is going to be a nightmare actually it should not be called a road in the first place. Well to add to the misery we got confused with the direction to Shivasamudra, thankfully the driver came to our rescue. I took some minutes to forget the condition of the road as soon as we hit lush green paddy fields. I looked like heaven to us far from the hustle bustle of Bangalore and not being bothered about the project manager and the project lead anymore.

It took us almost 4 hours to reach Shivasamudra where as is should take not more than two and a half hours ideally. By the time we reached the place we were all tired but the spirit was still alive in all of us to see the falls. We reached the place and grabbed a quick bite. When I said that it was a good feeling being away from job and boss I was all that right as the very next moment I saw my project manager there. For a moment I thought my PM is going to monitor me again. But this time I found GOD to be on my side and the manager left very soon. I could easily feel the fresh air of 15th Aug 1947 (for intellectuals I must point out that this is the day when India got her freedom from the project managers…OOPS … I meant The British).

Well the stage was all set for all of us to watch the natural spectacle and we all seem to be well prepared for it, Specially Sandy, Mathur, Server, Shailesh, Neha and me. To my dismay I found that people are even crossed the boundary erected by the authorities. But I guess in INDIA people do take some pride in breaking the rules (I guess that gives them a feeling of adventure).

It was tough to reach that actual fall because of the difficult terrain specially the lady folk had a tough time. Pankaj was the first one to reach the site and he was followed by Shailesh then it was my turn (doing justice with the athletic spirit I had with in me).

We forgot all the efforts that we took to reach the summit (in fact exactly the other way around). We all rested for a while and had some food there, this gave us an opportunity to click some snaps and capture the for ever. I had all the experiments with my camera (was actually trying to put to test my photography skills….does that sound exaggerated?).

When we reached to the fall we realized that is was so dangerous for a person to actually enter into the fall because a momentary lapse of concentration could easily have taken the person with the fast current which was falling down a rocks from the height 300 feet (easy opportunity for a person to become a rock star!). Well keeping all fears aside some of us decided to get into the grind.

We had to use whatever trekking skills we had to go into the fall. It was really slippery and for the moment I had my heart in my mouth. I and Mathur were contended to remain on a sort of a platform which was comparatively safer but sandy and Server had something else on their minds. Both of them went ahead and had a nice bath in the fast current (though we found later that the water was not all that good for bathing but guess repenting was the last thing on our minds at that time).

And then it happened (for all of you who think that this is a part of some suspense from a James bond movie….. I am not going to let you down).
Well sandy as usual had a lapse of concentration (generally he experiences concentration lapse …when he is around with gals. I guess he must have seen some around). Sandy lost his control and was almost about to become a mermaid (on a serious note we were dumb struck for a while). Well he some how regained his control and is still with us.

Looking at our experience I feel that government of Karnataka should give Shivasamudra a PG (parental guidance) rating.

When we got over with the falls all of us were damn tired and most of us were of the opinion to pack our bags, but I wanted to make the most of the trip and perhaps add a bit more adventure to it. I had vociferous support from Server and Sandy. Garima and Pallavi decided to extend their moral support to us. So we started with our treasure hunt in the hills, it wasn’t very difficult for us because we had seen Himalayas earlier.

Sandy was looking after the ladies and rightly so was far behind me and Server. We reached a place from where going ahead was not at all possible and guess what at that point we thought we found a treasure! For a moment I thought that there is no need for me to work in my life anymore. But as always the almighty was with us and eventually we found that the cave sort of structure that we found had nothing but stones and off course us in it.

We were not disappointed and moved ahead with a pledge to find our treasure some day in future.
We reached our sumo where we found the rest of the people waiting for us and cursing us like anything. We reached Bangalore in four and a half hours (night makes the drive all the more difficult especially when you do not have the street lights helping your cause).
We stopped mid way to a dhaba cum restaurant to sp a cup of tea. We were greeted graciously in the dhaba (not by the staff but the ever friendly mosquitoes).

We had a day of grilling and hard work but at the same time a day of fulfillment. When we reached our home we discussed the experience all night though we were left with no energy with in us, but I guess it was the spirit of Shivasamudra that still kept us going.

Looking forward to many such trips in future with a set of lovely friends.

Kodaikanal-A trip into the lap of nature

Here we are starting all over again. This time we have set our eyes on Kodaikanal. Before I go any further I must admit that the real challenge for this trip was in the part before the trip began. Getting a set of people who have a common interest and who are also interested in pursuing that interest of theirs (quiet an interesting comment!!).
Initially only four people were interested in going to Kodai (out of a list of 5 places). Then some serious behind the close door horse trading made it a group of seven. And at the end we had a confirmation from Sandy that he would be back from US in time to chip in with us for the trip and guess what he was not alone for he also had a friend of his with him. So at last we were a group of nine members who were ready to take on the beauty of Kodaikanal.

Initially there was quiet a lobbying for hiring a qualis or a mini bus and finally we all agreed upon a qualis thanks to Sandy for being so understanding (he himself agreed to sit with girls on one seat and would let the rest of the guys enjoy the comfort…sacrifice isn’t it?).

Since most of us are from the IT industry, its is quiet atypical for all of us to be together on a holiday and the three days holiday was a golden opportunity for us to do some quick planning and a quicker implementation of the plan. It was “TWELFTH NIGHT” I mean the night of 12th of August when we set the wheels of the qualis rolling towards our destination.

The weather was on our side as there was a cool breeze blowing across all through the journey. Our first stop was at the toll post when we had just entered into the state of Tamilnadu.

Since we were driving at night, it was decided that we are going to have breaks every 2 hours just to make sure that the driver is not very worn-out. We had almost 6 stops in between the journey and we all enjoyed the hot tea and coffee served in the dhabas on the highway. The taxi had an excellent music system to enrich our journey experience.

All through the journey there was a shuffle going between the people sitting on the front seat with the people sitting on the last seat because it is advisable that persons sitting right next to the driver must not sleep because it can cause somnolence to the driver which will eventually make every one have their final sleep (Ha Ha!).

So initially Pankaj and Prateek were sitting on the front seat, sandy with all the girls on the middle seat!! And monty, shailesh were sitting with me on the Last seat.

Initial round of shuffling saw Pankaj exchanging seats with Shailesh because he was eager to share the holy drink that we all were having on the last seat and obviously shailesh was quiet upset to move to the front seat as his tenure at the UN Security Council (the last seat) was over before it even started.

By the time we were half way everyone was getting sleepy and I must admit that Prateek and Monty did a wonderful job by staying awake for most of the journey otherwise we were all in great danger because “sleeping as dead could have easily become dead as sleeping” . I remember monty woke me up at a gas station when our vehicle had stopped for a break. It was 7 AM in the morning and all that I could see were plains and never ending plains and I was thinking that some body had told me that koidai is a hill station. The driver told us that in another 2 hours the uphill journey would start and that it’s a steep incline. By now it was high time that Prateek and monty should be rested for some hours and some one else should go to the front seat. Pankaj and shalaka went to the front seat ,monty and prateek came to the last seat. Sandy was still with the girls.

All I would say is “Better late then never” the first glimpse of the Nilgiris gave me a freash lease of energy and all the fatigue vanished in a second. I started dreaming about all the pictures of nature that I would be capturing using my digicam.

The journey uphill would have been much better had we had better roads as they left a lot to be desired (all said but seriously they were much better then our own Indian silicon valley…..I mean Bangalore if you still haven’t got it).

We reached kodaikanal at around 12 PM and started the quest for finding a suitable place for us to stay but to our shock the hotel people told us that the whole of the IT world from Bangalore is here and on top of that there was a conference of eye surgeons going on, so no rooms were available there. We had a problem on our hands and had little time to find a solution because by evening its gets really cold and we would be in serious trouble if we do not find a place by that time.

Shailesh said that some of his friends had told him that the locals also rent their bunglows for tourists which is actually a better option then hotels. Taking a cue from that we started our search for such bunglows. We got in touch with some locals who agreed to help us out for some commission. We had a look at some places but were disappointed to see the facilities. At last after we traveled for about 2 hours we got to a bunglow which was on the hilltop. We were really impressed with the facilities in the bunglow and the breath taking view that it had. But the adventure wasn’t over yet, the land lady was not very interested in giving the house to bachelors and that too a group of boys and girls from college(as we pretended) so I had to use all my convincing power to make sure that the lady allows us to stay there. Wisdom prevailed and the lady decided in our favor but on condition that there would be no smoking and alcohol consumption (for a while I was thinking that we have to manage it the 007 way…ah…more adventure coming our way).

We had two rooms equipped with beds for all of us to stay and I must admit that the whole arrangement turned out to be much more enjoyable than we initially thought.
We all took rest for around 2-3 hours and then we were all set to start with operation Kodai. I had checked the batteries of my Cam and it was looking like a perfect start.

We all went to the main market for lunch, pankaj asked for north Indian food which was like finding bugs in the code that I write (very difficult!!). But we somehow managed to zoom onto a restaurant which said that it served authentic Punjabi food (cooked in coconut oil). The food wasn’t all that good.
We decided to see the market for a while. We ate the locally made chocolates which all of us really liked specially Prateek.

From there we moved to the Kodai lake. It was an awesome place. It offered us all that we were looking for. We did cycling (of course off the lake), boating , horse riding , air gun shooting(guess it was a new found childhood for all of us). The boating was really exciting as we had a nice boat race there. I was not among the front runners as ours was the only boat carrying 3 persons namely Prabudh (That’s me), Sandy and Anisha, and the fact that it was an old boat did not help us either. I still do not understand how could we all be so interested in cycling, pankaj and shalaka were the first ones to take the bicycles and then me, monty, neha and shailesh followed suit. All my notions that the lake was actually a small one were proved wrong by the cycle ride I had around the lake. Man! It was really a big lake. I thought that the two ends would never meet but to the relief of all of us we came back safe and sound. There was a funny incident which happened while we were taking the cycle ride, Monty and Shailesh were on the double bicycle and Monty got off the cycle when he thought that we have reached the end but actually we could only reach half way by that time. That place was really crowded and without the street lights and then it happened (nothing of that that sort yaar!!) we lost Monty. We were totally clueless about searching for monty as the place was new to us and the language problem made it all the more difficult for us. Then I decided that the only option available with us is to scream out loud his name. We did that and quiet contrary to my experience it turned out to be a successful strategy. So for a brief period we were reduced to 8 and then back to 9.

We spent the whole of the evening there. We stated looking for a restaurant where we could have dinner(and certainly not the Punjabi food in coconut oil). We had a change of plan as all of us were really drained out of energy. We decided to get the dinner packed for us. When we reached the bunglow we started viewing the pics that we took during the trip. Most us were really exhausted and were ready to go to sleep as Sandy was crying aloud that everyone should be awake by 6 AM in the morning. The girls did listen to him and were quick to go to bed, but Sandy knew the boys very well he knew that we are going to take our own sweet time. The best part of the night was that due to space constraints Sandy had to share the bed with ……??? (stop thinking like that , will you ?) with PRATEEK.

That night I, Monty, Pankaj and Shailesh had different plans. We had a game of cards till 1 AM in the morning. Monty and Shailesh did not know the game initially but some how using the common sense they were winning, slowly they learnt the game and started losing. I and Pankaj won the game at the end. We all went to sleep at 1:30 AM in the night and the next thing I remember is Shailesh brushing his teeth right in front of me (at 9 AM). I was as usual the last member to have woken up and had just 30 mins to be ready for another day of adventure in nature’s lap.

We also decided to check-out of the place. We thanked the land lady that she helped us when we needed it the most. We also clicked some snaps with her and promised that all those snaps would me Emailed to her. I guess Anisha has kept that promise. We started the day with a long list of places to be visited in 12 hours as we needed to leave for Bangalore by 10 PM max. The first place that we plan to visit was “Pillar Rocks”. Getting to this place was not easy as roads are not very good. By this we had not realized that with so many people in kodaikanal it would be virtually impossible for us to reach all the far flung places of interest. It took us almost 4 hours to reach the Pillar Rocks and we decided there that we will skip the rest of the destinations as we thought that going to all those destinations would make us all spend time in the traffic and that all the effort would go waste. We decided to return back to the Lake and enjoy there for the rest of the duration while we are in kodaikanal.

We reached the lake and I asked Prateek and Monty to book the boats right away as there was a mad rush at the boat club. Meanwhile the rest of us went to the market and bought some snack. We started boating which actually turned out to be an intelligence bureau boat ride (for more info on the boat ride see the videos the we had shot). We took extra time for the boat ride. The two persons who undoubtedly enjoyed the boat ride the most are Sandy and Prateek (don’t ask me why cos my lips are sealed).

From the lake we moved to a Tibetan restaurant for our final meal in Kodai. That restaurant was fabulous. The interior was nicely done to give us the Tibetan feel. The hostess was dressed in Tibetan attire. We quickly ordered for some dishes from the menu and eagerly waited them to be served for us to savor them. Prateek had a nice time with the hostess making her understand the orders and the further instruction that he is very particular about. Well initially the hostess was really patient with us but looking at the way we were chatting and shouting there I guess it was too much for her to bear and then on top of all of this the orders of Prateek which were for obvious reasons hard to decipher for her, Bard would have loved to see the modern version of “Comedy Of Errors” happening there at the restaurant. That was time when we bid good bye to Kodai. We started our journey back to Bangalore at 10 PM and we had the similar seating arrangement in the taxi as we had when we were coming to Kodai.

Then journey started smoothly but later on the undulating roads took their toll on Shalaka. She started feeling queasiness and we had to stop on the way. We stopped for 15 minutes and she felt better so we moved on. Every one was so dead beat by that time that the brave soldiers of Kodai started falling one by one. The next thing I remember in the morning is the well known electronic city on the Hosur road.

The journey was coming to the end. It was 15th of August and we wished each other “Happy Independence Day”.

We all headed towards our homes with a vow to regroup and head for Pondicherry next time.

The 3-day trip can be summarized into “a fun filled trip with its share of excitement, adventure, team spirit and above all CONFUSION”

Ciao you all till we meet again in Pondicherry !!!



-PRABUDH