tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14803967593600782472026-01-12T13:52:22.165+05:30For those with an inclination to learn, there are sermons even in stones.Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-51587070701711528722018-11-19T15:23:00.000+05:302018-11-19T15:23:18.845+05:30

I woke up late and to make my day worse the breakfast offered at KSTDC Mayura Bhuveneshwai also didn’t go well with my mind. I hate late mornings when I am on a trip! With a bit of anger, I ditched my friends and went out solo with my backpack & water bottle on a very sunny day at around 11 am. After a km walk, I reached abandoned Gangatti Jain temple, neither there was a deity not

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Hampi, Karnataka 583239, India15.3350132 76.46002399999997615.319699700000001 76.439853999999983 15.3503267 76.480193999999969tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-35005079942529400642017-04-06T12:42:00.000+05:302017-04-06T12:42:01.073+05:30

As part of my study tour to Digantar, I happened to be in Jaipur, the famous pink city, and also it happened to be my first time in Rajasthan. I wasted no chance to explore as much I could! Even though I was there in the month of March, early summers, heat was still bearable and I loved being there. I could not see all of it and I have promised myself to comeback to see Rajasthan soon! You

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Jaipur, Rajasthan, India26.9124336 75.78727090000006726.4592396 75.141823900000063 27.3656276 76.432717900000071tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-39703753924453240342016-08-08T19:33:00.000+05:302016-08-08T20:05:28.747+05:30

I had heard so much about Coimbatore & had also passed couple of times, but never got a chance to stay. I knew it’s famous for education, manufacturing industries & known as “Manchester of South India" due to its cotton production and textile industries. I was not surprised when PM included Coimbatore in 100 smart cities. I spent good 4 days teaching and exploring Coimbatore. When I

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India11.0168445 76.95583209999995210.767464 76.633108599999957 11.266224999999999 77.278555599999947tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-50474712700868543872016-04-03T18:31:00.000+05:302016-04-03T18:31:51.815+05:30

Taking leave from my routine job and Mentor India work, I was in West Bengal for close to 9 days and got a chance to experience bong life a bit. It took no time for me to take note of ambassador times here. Hindustan Motors may have shut down, but the legacy of their yellow taxis don’t seem to die. I guess, it’s the same with colonial British establishments. Where in earth can you take a tram to

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Kolkata, West Bengal 700001, India22.572646 88.36389499999995721.6349985 87.073001499999961 23.5102935 89.654788499999952tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-72282370729281879752016-04-03T18:10:00.000+05:302016-04-03T18:34:21.185+05:30

Darjeeling is famously known as “Queen of Hills” and I could easily feel the way air changed as we crossed Sukhna military base & climbed up to Kurseong from NJP railway station in our private vehicle. On road it is 3 hour distance, but if you do have sufficient time- close to 7 hours, do take toy train from NJP to Darjeeling, aka, Darjeeling Himalayan Railways (DHR), which is indeed breath

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Darjeeling, West Bengal 734101, India27.0360066 88.26267510000002426.9228561 88.101313600000026 27.1491571 88.424036600000022tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-59826453786241733092016-04-03T17:57:00.002+05:302016-04-03T18:35:57.011+05:30

It had rained in Darjeeling the day before we started Sandakhpu trek. We didn’t know whether it was a good omen or the indication of disastrous trek ahead. Luckily, it turned out to be good for us as it didn’t rain for next 5 days when we were on road and skies only got clearer each passing day! This is my travelogue of climbing highest peak in West Bengal at 12000 feet and walking through

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Sandakhphu, West Bengal 734201, India27.1055328 88.00160010000001927.103765799999998 87.999078600000018 27.1072998 88.004121600000019tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-48155129462581844122016-01-13T13:26:00.000+05:302016-01-13T13:54:51.697+05:30

Welcome to 2016! I transitioned from 2015 to 2016 with series of soul searching trips. I started with my 3rd pilgrimage to Sabarimala (I had blogged my 1st time experience here), one place that reinforces humanity and teaches basic human virtues. Sirsi visit was my last trip of 2015 followed by new year 2016 trip to Malkhed. In this travelogue, you would visit with me only to Sode a.k.a Sondha

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Karnataka, India15.3172775 75.7138883999999737.4877734999999994 65.386739899999981 23.1467815 86.041036899999966tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-38762521238189823412015-12-29T17:01:00.001+05:302015-12-29T17:03:18.232+05:30

This was my first non-tourist Delhi visit, means, for the first time, I left out places to visit/things to do from my itinerary and filled it up with meetings/visits. I must admit that it couldn’t have got better. 3 days, completely packed schedule and lovely weather- I had ball of time representing Team India Inclusion Summit at various {a}venues. To start with, it was at Vigyan Bhavan

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0New Delhi, Delhi, India28.6139391 77.20902120000005228.1680166 76.563574200000048 29.059861599999998 77.854468200000056tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-70090660023635457692015-12-29T16:42:00.000+05:302015-12-29T17:02:15.300+05:30

I am sure that many have written their travelogues on Hampi from time immemorial, err, I mean from times of Lord Ram and Hanuman till today, from times of Kishkinda of Dandakaranya with most sacred Pampa sarovara to Vijayanagara to modern day Hampi. I see this as never ending fable in praise of limitless and His love for this place. They say, you would return dejected as you would seep in the

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Hampi, Karnataka 583239, India15.3350132 76.46002399999997615.319699700000001 76.439853999999983 15.3503267 76.480193999999969tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-4022513953788859532015-09-02T18:04:00.002+05:302015-09-02T18:17:09.785+05:30

Imagine that your birthday is on a Sunday and you have made no plans. All of the sudden, you make couple of calls on the Friday night and plan things out, and you start at 5am on Saturday morning and cover Abbey Falls, Mandalpatti and rest in a coffee estate homestay {Vinayaka homestay} at Madikeri, and on Sunday, i.e., on your birthday, visit holiest Bhagamandala, Talakaveri and Tibetan

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Kodagu, Karnataka, India12.3374942 75.80690819999995311.3449327 74.516014699999957 13.3300557 77.097801699999948tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-51523943106315132372015-08-07T20:07:00.000+05:302015-08-07T20:09:18.373+05:30

This trip marked the new beginning. Things I wanted to write, we video recorded them. Things I struggled capturing in words, camera has captured for eternity. This trip was to Belur, Halebeedu, Mullayanagiri, Chikmagalur, Kundadri Hills, Kuppalli House, Sringeri, Ambutheertha, Jog falls and Harihara Temple- all in 3 days driving past lush green and gorgeous Malenadu, where farmers were busy with

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-33996337298624323692015-06-24T19:48:00.000+05:302015-06-24T19:48:08.299+05:30

This weekend, for a change, I didn’t step out of Bangalore and instead, went on to explore some offbeat places {I mean places other than malls, eateries, pubs, gardens, lakes, getting stuck in traffic!}. I must confess that I was quite taken aback by what Namma Bengaluru had in store for me. Here is the travelogue of my weekend exploits:  Bangalore Palace Pyramid Valley, situated in

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Bengaluru, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-58375264011328208372015-06-09T17:41:00.000+05:302015-06-09T17:49:50.179+05:30

Late planning and late execution always lands you in a heap of surprises. If not you, the one who not even in his dreams thought that all of us would attend his sister’s grand wedding, would be left speechless and in tears! These are the moments we live for, right? One such opportunity came to us and we took no time in surprising our friend, Vijay, we took KSRTC Airavat Club Class overnight

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com1Goa, India15.2993265 74.12399600000003414.319381 72.833102500000038 16.279272 75.414889500000029tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-33809619040991687922015-03-25T15:26:00.000+05:302015-03-25T15:26:45.050+05:30

Having already been twice at Delhi, I had thought I had nothing much to explore or do. But, it indeed had few best things in store to throw at me. Crisis- when written in Chinese is a two letter word, where first letter denotes ‘Danger’ and the second, an ‘opportunity’ I concluded my talk and walked away leaving audience ponder over deeper philosophical meanings! This was at a recent IEEE

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Uttar Pradesh, India27.5705886 80.09818689999997320.3500971 69.771038399999981 34.7910801 90.425335399999966tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-71163442415958417032015-03-15T18:19:00.000+05:302015-03-15T18:27:33.461+05:30

I recently got a chance to attend “Bhagavata Saptaha” hosted by Ambalpady Padakannaya family, discourse that ran across 7 days covering 12 skandhas (chapters) of Sri Veda Vyasa composed (not written!) Bhagavata- treasure of knowledge that has every detail pertaining to God, need for avatars, life, purpose of life, science, universe, birth and future of universe, famous Mahabharata

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Ambalpadi, Udupi, Karnataka, India13.3374486 74.73078069999996813.3219981 74.710610699999975 13.3528991 74.750950699999962tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-61424258276902404042015-02-18T18:37:00.000+05:302015-02-18T18:48:46.375+05:30

After day long work, I caught Friday evening train to Puducherry {a.k.a Pondicherry} from Bangalore at 9.30pm from Banaswadi, remote railway station that looked more like a small 2 bhk home! Hotel Corbelli in Pondicherry was my home for next couple of days, a decent budget hotel in Mission Street. This street houses many eateries and is very accessible to everything in Pondy. Town was so

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Puducherry, Puducherry, India11.9138598 79.81447219999995511.789577300000001 79.653110699999957 12.0381423 79.975833699999953tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-32958953769903802032015-01-30T14:31:00.002+05:302015-01-30T14:31:38.809+05:30

GST has been a buzzword offlate and even after good amount of reading, I was not able make much out of it. Few of us got a privilege to be at Le Meridian Bangalore for a one day conference on Goods and Services Tax (GST) organized by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). I went with the clean slate (read blank sheet of paper) and blank mind. In this blog I am

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0 India15.3172775 75.7138883999999737.4877734999999994 65.386739899999981 23.1467815 86.041036899999966tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-57845378960682831462014-12-30T16:36:00.001+05:302020-11-22T19:22:08.359+05:30

Best part of writing travelogues- when you look back at it, you relieve those moments and cherish them! I am very fortunate to have got some chances to travel, explore and live the cultures- may be for a day or two. Though I have missed blogging on my trips to Mysore, Dandeli & Goa, here is the best of incredible India for you- A Agra Agumbe Alleppey Amritsar Anandpur Sahib B Banavasi

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0India20.593684 78.962880000000041-8.580994 37.654286000000042 49.768361999999996 120.27147400000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-43167493297395408962014-12-30T16:30:00.000+05:302014-12-30T16:30:11.155+05:30

A special day. Yeah, I woke up before my alarm buzzed. Today, I didn't carry my heavy laptop to office. Instead, I had sixteen chart papers, ten crayon boxes and hundred fifty balloons. Blue clear sky, as always, I ran to catch my office shuttle. In this chaos, a stranger managed to stop me on the way, to check if I am an artist, I just ended up saying “I work for SAP”! As a part

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Bengaluru, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-86970936415214271572014-12-30T16:27:00.000+05:302014-12-30T16:27:19.933+05:30

Sakaleshpur, known as Scotland of east, was our weekend target. Six of us, set out on Saturday morning with a hope to dwell in nature for a day. 260kms or 5 hours wasn’t far away, with our car- Innova showing its Ferrari instincts. Great morning, great breakfast, oh yeah, Hotel Mayura near Bellur cross in BM (Bangalore-Mangalore) Road, quality of food here was surely not comprised with its

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Sakleshpur, Karnataka, India12.9441511 75.786565312.9132006 75.746224800000007 12.975101599999999 75.8269058tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-15302093763625169062014-12-14T19:34:00.000+05:302014-12-17T14:33:10.436+05:30

I have been to Delhi couple of times now & every time I visit, it just amazes me and always has something special in store. This time it was no less, thanks to amazing weather, meeting Delhi’s Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung with my author boss Ferose, GIFTED sessions with Kiran Bedi ma’m, Kingdom of Dreams Sundeep Rao & happy hours that followed, and of course, ticking off some places that

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0New Delhi, Delhi, India28.6322444 77.22072379999997328.186321900000003 76.575276799999969 29.0781669 77.866170799999978tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-35127089858304056822014-12-10T20:12:00.000+05:302014-12-10T20:12:54.681+05:30

I had ended my previous Fanship Days experience blog with a quote from Socrates- about life/living/worthiness/basically, lot of philosophy. I'll take up from where I had left and will do an honest attempt to put my learnings in this blog- you know like the last emotional note that you write Gearing Up- Yakshagana before good things end. As I write this, India Inclusion Summit 2014 is over and

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Bengaluru, Karnataka, India12.9715987 77.59456269999998312.4764182 76.949115699999979 13.4667792 78.240009699999987tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-50041869103547508192014-11-06T12:42:00.000+05:302014-11-06T19:50:47.334+05:30

I previously didn't know that one of the perks of Fanship Days is that you get to experience & attend high profile INK talk. This time it was organized in Mumbai, city that never sleeps, where I almost never slept {this is what one says when you sleep for 3-4 hours instead of regular 10-12 hours!}. It was easy for me to introduce myself to anyone from the elite audience at INK- thanks to

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Mumbai, Maharashtra, India19.0759837 72.87765590000003618.5957917 72.232208900000032 19.556175699999997 73.52310290000004tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-11555890347736024882014-10-29T11:52:00.000+05:302014-11-04T14:48:35.595+05:30

Sometimes, road less travelled always gives you the greatest feeling of contentment. I was happily coding and writing research papers, then this call to take road less travelled came. It had small trees that shined in green and glittered with sweetest of sweet fruits. But where the path led to? I didn’t know… And I took that road. The road less travelled… “Man cannot discover new oceans unless

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1480396759360078247.post-66193317636439836262014-10-17T20:17:00.002+05:302014-10-20T14:09:34.466+05:30

Rains… Clouds… Greenery… 3 words kept buzzing in our minds when we started from Bangalore at 9.40 pm after a hectic week. I took no time and crashed in our pleasant overnight KSRTC sleeper coach bus to Sirsi. Next morning, sleepy town that had unique 5-road circle welcomed us with phone network. Why is it so unique? We went on to discover that our phone networks only when we are this Yana

Jaideep Raohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09431634261160707992noreply@blogger.com0Sirsi, Karnataka, India14.6195 74.83539999999993614.5580415 74.754718999999938 14.680958500000001 74.916080999999934