CATS

Photo Gallery - 4th Nepli to Nepli Trek

2009-10-14T00:59:00.000-07:00

The day began early for 20 CATS...

Sukhna Lake indeed is the place to greet the Sun God..

Tete-e-tete amungst the CATS whilst waiting for
CAT Rachna and her son CAT Ansh to arrive... who had
got delayed as her car had been blocked by another car and
she could not leave her residence...
CAT DeepInder quickly stepped in to pick her up and reach Nepli Gate direct...

....and the rest of the entourage started moving towards
the Nepli Gate from our assembly point of Sukhna Lake,
slowly but surely,
enjoying the rising sun kissing our sleep deprived whiskers ;-)

Brightly painted peacocks welcomed us at the Nepli Gate,
where we handed over our official permit and parked the cars...

A final 'Roll Call of Attendance' being marked off our Registration Sheet,
to ensure no adventerous feline went missing between the lake and the gate!

See, I told you CATS are full of mischief and adventure...
Can't take them anywhere ;-)

It was not long before we set our paws on the lush green trail...

and there was a surprise every corner...
CAT Puneet was elated to find a Peacock Feather,
to take home for her lovely daughter CAT Ana who did not came for the trek...

wonder what CAT Kunal and CAT Chat are so mesmerised with...

Was it this magical web woven by the spider and
beautifully caught on the camera by our new CAT Raman?

Any guesses for what this white fluff is?
.
NO... think again... Still no???
.
This white fluff contains the eggs laid by the butterflies I am told...

but none of us could find out the reason why all the trees
in this particular patch of the jungle, were all leaning towards one side...
We tried to walk away from the trail and into the jungle
but still failed to establish the possible cause(s)...

Mr Ishwar Singh, perhaps you could explain?

Whilst it was a fun morning for the CATS,
it was work as usual for some...
a reality of a blessed life we all lead,
never fails to hit us whenever we go out trekking...

Another young boy out to earn his bread and butter for the day...

Food for thought for our young ones, duly taken care by another
new-comer CAT Ajit and ofcourse the old timer, CAT Rachna M...

and just in case you are thinking that CAT Rachna A is letting
the child in her have a field day in the jungle.. THINK AGAIN :)

Like last trek in Nepli, CAT Gurtej had slipped in a choe
and landed on his rear end...
and CAT Rachna A fetched the water out of the village well
to give him an instant bath and wash the mud off his back ;-)

Though the trail was lovely, it had started getting a little warm for CAT Sanjeev :)

CAT Raman kept saying, 'I can't believe this is Chandigarh!'

Watch Towers are so much fun to stop by and indulge in a spot of bird watching.

and there is plethora of information pertaining to the jungle,
its' flora and fauna that has been carefully painted inside each watch tower...

a place where our fellow CATS perplexed these two felines
by getting upto mischief... AGAIN!!!
atleast 4 cameras must have clicked atleast dozens of pics within a few seconds...

First MEOW MOMENT of the trek...
A group photograph at the last watch tower before
we stopped at the Nepli Hut for a breakfast break...

Picturesque Nepli Hut with sprawling and well manicured lawns
gleefully welcomed 20 CATS into its' fold...

A short 'langar' break followed whereby everyone shared
whatever they had brought along in their rucksacks..
'Matthiyaan' brought by CAT Chat were an instant hit and did many rounds :)

A quick poll after breakfast was held when only 5 hands
went up in favour of trekking one hillock before we head home...
However, with a little meowing, 16 stayed back to leg it more
whilst CAT Sanjeev, CAT Chat, CAT Raman and CAT Rachna A
decided to head back to their cars.

So it was Garri for some and Pahaari for the rest :)

Even though the sun was shining at our back,
we stepped forward bravely ahead..

and it was proving to be a little steep already for the first timers...

but the hike had just begun CATS ;-)

Forget the old timers, even the experienced CATS were finding it
a little taxing to walk the ramp under the blinding sun without any breeze!

Rest we may a little...
but we had a hillock to climb where the best view of Sukhna Lake
and the Capitol Complex was waiting for us at the
Hawa Mahal; yet another watch tower in the jungle.

Stop not till the goal is reached... unless ofcourse you are CAT Krishan
and have spotted something interesting to click on the way ;-)

CAT Puneet sightfully complains,
'Mera pati meri photo to leta hee nahi hai!!'

CAT Ravinder resting his paws along with CAT Aman and CAT Ansh...

Giving Up is not in our genes!

The second MEOW MOMENT of the trek...
CATS finally at the Watch Tower :)

Can you name this beautiful fly?

CATS at the final pit-stop of the trek - Nathewala Khu

Any idea why we are all looking so 'Bheegi-Bheegi Billiyaan'??

A quickly deviced 'head spa' at the village well;
for the drained CATS and by the resourceful CATS ;-)

As CAT Om would say,
'Billlliyaaan - Gillllliyaaaann'

Final count of the feathers which were collected during the trek...
Can you name the birds to whom they belong to?

Yet another productive Sunday morning spent in the loving company of CATS :)

- CAT Supreet

Moment of Celebration - CAT Uday got married :)

2009-10-10T02:23:00.000-07:00

My Dear CATS,

It took us a while to lay our paws on the photographs of our dear CAT Uday's wedding photographs, but here they ae nevertheless :)

With absolute delight I announce that CAT Uday got married to his beloved Crystal on a hot balmy day in a traditional marriage ceremony.

Our dulha CAT Uday looks so young and fetching in the traditional attire. A far cry from his short/T-shirt and Hat avtaar we all are so used to of :)

The coy bride in Crystal, the happy parents and family and friends around, they could not have tied the knot in a better way.

The traditional ceremony was followed by a reception... and how could the wedding me complete without an odd CAT popping its' whiskers around ;-)

Our biking CAT Harmesh Inder attended the wedding along with his wife.. MEOW

Let us all wish CAT Uday and Crytal a very long, happy and fulfilling life together CATS.

Amen,
CAT Supreet

Photo Gallery - Biking in Kansal

2009-09-14T06:30:00.001-07:00

Friday Morning: 21st Aug'09

With plenty of first timers, allow me to introduce them to you.
CAT Riyaal had brought along his neighbour Minnie,
CAT Uday had his lovely wife Crystal with him,
then we also had Ajit, Lynn, Harman and Kimberly;
not to forget our regulars CAT Sandeep and CAT Harpreet.

Our multi-lingual and multi-cultural pack of 11 CATS
left Karuna Sadan at 6.10am, where CAT Pramod
personally handed over the bikes on rent to us.

The staff of Mr Ishwar Singh was as effective and vigilant, as ever!

Between the 10 of us, we could speak 9 languages and
had collectively visited nearly 30 countries!

Rearing to hit the trail within the Kansal Forest....

Lynn, I and Kimberly radiating in the splendid natural habitat of Kansal :)

....washing powder NIRMA ;-)

CAT Gurinder's son Harman, who was over from UK
for 10 days was simply over-awed by the beautiful environment
he was surrounded with...

He kept on saying, 'This is not India!!!'

The newly constructed Watch Tower in the side lawns of the
Log Hut at Kansal offering panoramic views all around

The walls of the Watch Towers give valuable pictorial information
about the flora, fauna to be found in the local jungle...

along with geographical details about the forest as well..
commendable attention to detail from Mr Ishwar Singh again...

Most of us were reminded of the Swiss chalets we had
been visiting, whilst walking back towards our bikes...

It was a BEAUTIFUL morning spent biking in Kansal CATS.

Saturday Morning: 22nd Aug'09

7 of us got onto our bikes from Karuna Sadan again at 6am
for yet another visit to Kansal... the main difference from yesterday
was that we had 3 kids with us to take care of today :)

CAT Amanat and CAT Ansh waiting for me to complete the formalities of the gate entry...

Just then the gate keeper arrived with a 4days old kitten,
which was being hunted by 3 dogs close to the forest gate...
as you can see, the kitten appears to be as big as CAT Amanat's hand!

With no sign of its' mother CAT around,
our own little kittens tried their best to provide comfort
to the meowing kitten; but to no effect...

The gate-keeper eventually decided to take the kitten
under his shelter till it grew up to fend for itself...

With the little kitten taken care of, our own
pack of CATS left behind our gang set to take off :)

Hardly had we got onto our bikes when kids came across
the first dam full of tadpoles and some mating butterlies...
Though CAT Ajit and CAT Rachna managed to stop them from
paddling deep into the water, it was an enjoyable lesson in biology for them ;-)

This pond held attention further as it had various stages
of being; from tadpoles to frogs in it...
Both CAT Ansh and CAT Aman were so curious that
they almost fell into the pond...

We had to raise our voice to get the boys back on the bikes!

CAT Uday had to rush back to get ready for work,
but we decided to explore the area around Kansal Log Hut
a little more with the kids...

Can you imagine that whilst the city baked in heat,
we had this lovely foggy morning greeting us by the lake at Kansal...

CAT Ajit was surprised to see that we had come
fully prepared with cookies, fruit, lassi, juices, rusks
and sandwiches for the biking morning!

Our services were improving by the day :)

and this was the state of Sun at 8.15am that morning ;-)

Though CAT Ajit had come only for the second time with us,
but he had already become an indispensible part of CATS...
He took our kittens to the field after breakfast when our
highly observant CAT Ansh said while running,
'meri tummy mein khaana uchhal raha hai!!!'

if you thought the fun was over with the biking, THINK AGAIN...

As we all waited for CAT Rachna to get back on track
since she had missed a turning, this lovely little pool with a fish and
single blooming lotus caught the attention of our kids AGAIN!!

Despite being given many warning by CAT Ajit and I,
they tried to hunt for the little fish kept in water to clean it off mosquitoes,
they tried to beat the little frogs in water with a stick...
till they lept a little more towards the pool...

and SPLASH.....

A very sheepish CAT Ansh was found amoung the fish and lotus in the pool !!!

CAT Ajit quickly pulled him out of the shallow pool,
amidst roaring laughter and bewildered looks ;-)

To this day, neither do we know nor we are sure
CAT Ansh has figured out, just how on earth did
he manage to land himself in the pond.

A BIG LESSON of this beautiful and memorable biking morning is:
Always LISTEN to your elders!!

- CAT Supreet

Photo Gallery - CATS 2nd Birthday

2009-09-09T07:07:00.000-07:00

Agreed it was an impromptu birthday party,
agreed that only 17 had registered,
agreed that it was a weekday,
but the ones who came meowed their way through the evening.

First timer CAT Riyaal did not know what to do with this bunch of odd shaped CATS ;-)

We started a little late due to a massive traffic jam at the adjacent roundabout, but CATS were ready for the kill in no time... just look at this line up of beauties CATS :)

The first lot was chirping away so much, that this lot could hardly get a word in ;-)
Another newcomer of the evening, CAT Naveen gingerly walked upto our table and asked for Supreet. His face dropped when I got up to shake his hand.

He had all along assumed that Supreet was a man!

CAT Tony may seem quite here but was his usual witty self but as you can see,

CATS had not quite sunk into Riyaal as yet!

Given so many new faces around, a round of introductions was held,
whereby older CATS merrily told stories about each other..
I am sure CAT Rachna still does not know what to do with CAT DeepInder ;-)

Whilst the older lot were enjoying a group CATTY session,
our kittens were having a wonderful time by themselves on the sides..
CAT Amanat and CAT Garima bossed CAT Aman
and CAT Ansh around ;-)

Even sumptuous food could not quiten this lot... what to do eh!

Delicious and sumptuous food was served efficiently and lovingly
by the staff of Sundaram's. We had a vada, dahi bhalla, upma,
arguing with idli, uttapam, dosa, sambhar and rasam along with
3 chutneys competing for space inside our bellies!

Infact, Mr Sundaram himself ensured that CATS had a wonderful evening.

the 'boys' and the 'girls' made up to have dinner together ;-)

it really is amazing to see various age groups interacting in CATS

CAT Chat took charge of the smallest table to keep an eye on
CAT Sandeep and our dainty little CAT Surbhi ;-)

As a thank-you gesture for the heart warming service at extremely
affordable cost, CAT Charanjeet gave the 'CJ touch' to the evening by
preparing a memento for Mr Sundaram, which read 'Ati Sundaram'.

The memento was presented by our 4 little kittens to Mr Sundaram.

The food was so good that we infact forgot our cake altogether!

...and we had an unforgettable cake to remember this evening by.
I had ordered white cake with soft pink lace and dark green paw imprint.
The baker misheard me and we ended up with a white cake sporting
dark pink lace and a light paw imprint!!

Our GrandOld CAT Chat cut the cake with CAT Aman and CAT Ansh.

CAT AP immaculately cut 29 slices of our cake to ensure equality amungst the CATS :)

Aaw... memorable moments eh...
Though 17 had signed up, 29 showed up ending up fighting for space in the camera frame ;-)

We also had another reason to cheer.

CAT Sandeep got engaged to CAT Surbhi 2 days ago,
giving us a true-blue blooded FIRST CATS COUPLE.

Honestly, we had been waiting impatiently for this to happen.
Infact, CAT Tony was the first to exclaim,
'Shaq sa to mujhe inn per Tanda trip se hee tha!!!'

Do join us in wishing both of them a beautiful and fulfilling life together.

- CAT Supreet

Photo Gallery: Chail Day Trip

2009-09-09T05:20:00.000-07:00

Don't miss the 'CATS ON THE MOVE' car labels especially made by
CAT Aman and CAT Amanat the night before...

17 CATS left the tricity by 8am to head towards the hills before the kids
went back to school... This trip was organised, 'on request' by CAT Jyoti :)

But not before we had had some food in our bellies

Paranthas galore with an odd sandwich thrown in.. healthy CATS!!

What is travelling without some good music?
Fixing the CD stuck in CAT Rachna's music system was the priority after breakfast

Read on if you want to know the reason behind the giggles of these two lovely CATS...

We were really looking forward to having a little tea break whilst sitting in the river flowing underneath the Sadhu Pul, made by the British in 1904... There was hardly any water in the river and that too was filthy... After the laughter died, a sane decision was made to skip Sadhu Pul break altogether and move to Chail instead...

CAT AR maintained his record by reaching Chail first!
This father and daughter duo posing whilst waiting
for the rest to arrive at the highest cricket ground of the world...

The cricket ground has been taken over by the Army School at Chail and the gates were locked!

This is what greeted us at the celebrated and much talked about
highest cricket ground built by the Maharaja Patiala..
A desolate looking lone tree stood cemented to the ground with a board which read,
'HISTORIC TREE - do not climb'.

There was no one who could give us the any information behind the grounds
or even this tree unfortunately.

All we could see by peering through the fence was running track, basketball court
instead of the lush greens and well kept pitch.

Aaah... a nice meowy shot in front of the locked gates to the stadium :)

Another one for the records... underneath the official board!

and then it was a short hike to reach Sidh Baba Mandir;

CATS were gleefully greeted by our 'bhai bandhu' ;-)

CATS dutifully taking their shoes off to enter the temple premises

the place where the Palace was originally was to be built
when Baba appeared in his dream and asked him
to shift the Palace to another location...

Welcome to the temple!

The well kept outer hall was lined with deities...

The inner sanctum had the idol of Sidh Baba...
with the photograph of Maharaja Patiala hanging outside on the pillar

a make-shift Shiv Temple outside underneath the tree...

Lovely walk through the tree lined path...

There's always something which manages to distract our CATS from the path ahead!

Everyone got around CAT Kulwant after the visit to the temple,
who was recovering from a bad bout of travel sickness
even with CAT Paramjeet driving the car at 40kms an hour!

CAT Om took really good care of CAT Kulwant who eventually needed a jab to stop the nausea...

No matter how difficult the times, smiles can never be far from us :)

which soon turns into peeling laughters ;-)

CAT Aditi had lovingly made delicious chocolates at home, as CAT AP had declared on the biking trip to Jayanti Devi a few months ago... With every piece of chocolate equally divided amungst 17 of us, it was time to reach the Palace for lunch.

CATS in various modes of rest, whilst waiting for lunch to arrive...

and then we pounced upon the food ;-)

The PURRfect Pose of The Chail CATS

I am saying nothing!

With food inside, CATS were really charged up for some super fun...
Since CAT AR, CAT Arti, CAT Anu and CAT Chat were leaving soon,
we decided that they should have the first attempt at 'Helium Sticks'

If only they knew what was in store... watch the video if you dont believe me ;-)

The first lot abandoned half way through,
this is the second lot with not much better luck ;-)

Their task was to bring the stick down without any finger loosing touch with the stick.. but the harder they tried, the higher the stick rose instead of coming down ;-)

Eventually CAT Om worked out a process in this team game
whereby instead of 6, only 2 should hold the stick at a time...

it was actually not very difficult to do... a very frustrated CAT Ansh had worked out his own method and was openly demonstrating to CAT Kulwant but no one was listening to him ;-)

In order to have some success in the game, CAT Jyoti said to CAT Om,
'Face Me', to which he immediately responded, 'But how can I ever do that!!'

it was getting sillier by the minute ;-)

But with determination and grit, practically everyone managed
to bring the stick down, if not in a team then atleast in pairs...

and then came the turn of toungue twisters.. the least said, the better!

Bagga Daddu Wadda Daddu Watt Tappe Daddua.... now say it 10 times... if you do not succeed, then watch CAT Gurneet in our videos for a free lesson ;-)

a very old historic Cedar Tree in the lawns of the Chail Palace...

By the way... this is Chail Palace!!!
we had a little tour of the palace before heading back to Chandigarh, reluctantly so :)

CATS going beserk in the first rain of this summer's monsoons..
we were merrily dancing on the highway itself in Sanwara

Please meet our glamorous waitress Rachna :)

Jokes aside, had it not been for our efficient CAT Rachna,
it would have taken us much longer to get recharged...
After a lovely and much needed coffee break at CCD in Sanwara,
we climbed into our cars for the final stretch of the journey home

The most unexpected and sad part of the day was this forest fire around Parwanoo...
We still dont know the origin and the reason behind this fire... but the view was imprinted in the minds of each one of us.

It's our environment CATS, our Mother Earth.
Let us all protect it.

- CAT Supreet

CATS Chail Day Trip

2009-08-16T09:00:00.001-07:00

CATS trying their hands at 'Helium Sticks' after a sumptuous lunch in the lawns of Chail Palace.

This particular team comprised of CAT Chat, CAT AR, CAT Arti and CAT Anu... The task was to bring the stick down to the ground, but it just kept rising!!!

CATS Chail Day Trip

2009-08-16T08:22:00.001-07:00

Watch for yourself the silly fun CATS got upto during the Chail Day Trip...
An afternoon of tongue twisters had everyone's knickers in a twist in the lawns of the Chail Palace.. There was not a pair of eyeballs which had not zoomed onto this merry bunch of CATS, trying their tongues on various twisters!

Addition in CATS Family

2009-08-11T09:48:00.001-07:00

A new addition to the CATS family being received with great aplomb.. Our first CATS Dulha and Dulhan are going to become the proud parents of a little kitten soon.... MEOW :)

mediCATe - Help a Kidney Patient

2009-08-09T03:01:00.000-07:00

My dear CATS,

I am writing to you about an adventure of a different kind altogether.

An extremely poor young renal failure patient from Himachal came to Chandigarh about a month ago, for kidney transplant operation. The family had taken shelter at a temple in Mohali (opposite ph-8 bus stand), where our fellow CAT Pammi happened to meet them. The family had sold off property to raise funds for the surgery but were still short. CAT Pammi helped raise approximately Rs.30k to ensure that the surgery went through as planned.

For the ones who are scratching their heads, she is 'guide Pammi Bai' from our 2nd Nepli trek, who danced without music with CAT Rahat for a slice of plum cake! Her daughter Garima is a classmate of our CAT Amanat at YPS. Surgery was conducted at Silver Oaks Hospital, a private institute as it was taking too long to run through the processes at PGI and the patient was loosing time.

The surgery was sucessful but there is another problem. All the cash that had been raised by the family, temple donors and CAT Pammi, stands totally used in the surgery and post-op care. The patient must take medicines for 6 months to ensure minimum chances of organ rejection by the body. Medicines for each month will cost about Rs.5,000/- a month. He has medicines only for 1 month. If you all permit, then I have a suggestion to share with you.

Can we collectively raise Rs.30,000/- needed to buy the medicines for this patient? To ensure no misuse of funds, I have a copy of the prescription and we will purchase the medicines from the chemist ourselves and give them to the patient. Medicines would be purchased at a reduced market rate too since the chemist has agreed to forego certain percentage from his profits for this patient.

CATS, it is not easy to live with kidney failure and to go through dialysis 2-3 times a week. It's even more difficult to have a suitable donor, who's ready to donate one kidney to you. This patient has gone through all those hurdles. All these efforts may go to waste if he can not consume the organ saving drugs for the coming atleast 6 months. I have double checked this information with a Doctor from GH-16 also who has confirmed the details of the treatment.

You can contribute whatever amount you are comfortable with, monthly or in lumpsum. Payments can be made, as usual, as the reception of Chandigarh Beckons hotel in sector 42 in a sealed envelope with CATS mediCATe Fund written in bold, along with your name.

Kids at home have already plunged through their piggy banks. CAT Aman has given Rs.100/- and CAT Amanat Rs.130/- I think we will need to do more.

Can we work paw-to-paw to help this family CATS?

CAT Supreet

Food for Thought: Responsibility on the Roads

2009-08-03T22:42:00.000-07:00

Dear CATS,

Since the sad state of traffic in Chandigarh is something I feel very strongly about, I had to comment of all the brouhaha about the many traffic awareness programmes the traffic police carries out and the raising of the traffic fines.

Regarding the raised amount for traffic challans alot of the Chandigarh population is of the view that it would instead be better to spread traffic awareness among the road users. May I please point out that motor vehicle licence holders are supposed to have been tested on their knowledge of traffic rules before they are granted a license by the authorities. Awareness can be spread among the users of non motorised vehicles(bicycles,rickshaws etc) but since they cannot be challaned hence no reason for them to worry about the fines.

I am of the firm view that all road users are perfectly aware of all the rules but they follow the principle of "Rules Are Made To Be Broken". Often people come up the wrong side of the road on a dual carriageway in a hurry to take shortcuts(rotary in front of the general hospital sec.16 and many other rotaries). Every child has learnt the traffic light rhyme in playschool which tells us that the red light tells us to stop,yellow to be ready and green is to go-yet grown people will zip through the red light with scant regard to their own or others safety.

It is common sense to give way to vehicles coming from the right of the rotary and wait to enter the rotary behind them, but we are so high on ego that we have to be first and push our way in causing a snarlup for no reason.Where traffic should be slowing down when approaching the rotary, cars are mostly seen hurtling down at great speed so as toget ahead of the right side traffic.Incase of indicator lights,the right side indicator is to be given only to indicate an imminent right turn to be taken by the driver and not to indicate to the vehicle behind to overtake. How do we tell the difference?!!

Parking ones vehicle in a crowded market is a matter of etiquette and regard for your fellowman. There is no thought shown for someone elses time and inconvenience.Vehicles are parked hindering the exit of cars already parked and incase you tick off the driver he will give you the"-whats the big deal"?-kind of look and drive off without any sign of contrition.

The onus of wearing a helmet is on the individual as it is for their own safety. Cyclists and rickshaws should also be fined for not riding on the cylcle tracks where available and for flouting traffic rules .They are a major cause of accidents and end up being victims..Hence punishment in the form of prohibitively heavy fines is the only answer to curb this menace and to make the city safe for all.

Any Thoughts CATS?

CAT Rima

Catty Support for Catty TGDC Teams

2009-07-25T22:04:00.000-07:00

My Dear CATS,

So many of you have written since both the teams bowed out of the TGDC competition, that I feel compelled to share your words of support, protest and encouragement with all of you.

CAT Madhvi:
Hey Supreet,

Why don't we have our own somewhat similar version of the ('To be or not to be ') driving challenge? Cheers for the fabulous effort put in by you. You are honing ur skills for bigger challenges!

CAT DV Bhatia:
Supreet ji,

A bit dissapointed, but no regrets. You did your best and the rest was in the hands of God who was, perhaps acting through HIS organisers of the Event. In the process, you/we all learnt a lot. But hats off to you for handling the compaign so well. Reaching the TOP 100 is no mean an achievement. Insha-allah, agli baar to jeet hamari hi hogi.

Now :)

Best wishes,
Nirmal-Manish, Monica & DV Bhatia
(Your voters /votaries)

CAT DeepInder
I suspect the credibility of this TGDC competition. What was the criteria of selection in the next round???? You should seek for an explaination because looking at the top 100 profiles, our teams met the best of that!!! Its infact very disapponinting for us!!!! But no issues, we shouldnt worry on their biggest loss!!!! May be this competetion hasnt managed to catch up our standard......

Rajen: (fellow CAT's friend who voted for us)
The profiles of the other contestants which I had seen on the site were no match for the CAT's teams... but as they say Life is not always fair...

THANKS for making it all a worthwhile experience for CAT Ashish and CAT Gopika, CAT Paramjeet and myself.

CAT Supreet

(NB: I hope none of the CATS who wrote in would mind my publishing their emails here, given that I have not sought their permission beforehand.)

Final bow of CATS from the TGDC

2009-07-25T22:02:00.000-07:00

meow CATS,

This is to inform you that now your second and last ray of hope to take the flag of CATS further in the competition has also extinguished. Team comprising of CAT Paramjeet and CAT Supreet has not been selected for the TOP 12 round. A bit disappointing since given the rest of the profiles we feel we had the right mix of profile, passion and experience for this contest.

However, even reaching the TOP 100 would not have been possible without the ferver support and ofcourse the votes of ALL OF YOU CATS. The voting round threw so many surprises at us. CAT Jyotika was an absolute surprise package of the voting round. This bubbly girl had been with us only once and she was pleading, praying, and bullying people to vote for us. CAT DeepInder could not get enough support from Fortis Hospital for his beloved CATS. Another surprise was the resilience of CAT Hemant with his social networking. CAT Sandeep was willing to bend a few rules but fortunately stopped short for both the teams. Each one of you have been amazing, CAT Chat chatted his son to vote for us, CAT Madhvi too chipped in even though she has had grave reservations about the authenticity of this contest from day 1. CAT Arti not only voted but kept on sending best wishes along with votes from her friends.

CATS, I know I am not acknowledging each one of you; the passion with which you all have followed this contest with both of your teams but I hereby give a standing ovation to each one of you, for every vote that you cast and confirmed, for every friend/family/colleague you got to vote for us.

THANK YOU,
CAT Supreet

TGDC - TOP 100 announced

2009-07-22T00:15:00.000-07:00

My Dear CATS,

I am late in reporting on the blog but the results of The Great Driving Challenge are out, for which all of you had been fervously voting for the following two teams of your CATS:

a) CAT Paramjeet and CAT Supreet
b) CAT Ashish A and CAT Gopika

Team A has gone reached the Top 100. Very disappointingly for all of us though, our Team B could not make it, despite a combined effort and having a good selection of photos and huge number of votes. Both Paramjeet and I would sorely miss having our witty CAT Ashish A and charming 'bheegi billi' CAT Gopika on this journey.

As the competition is still tough to reach the top 25, then 9 and finally top 3 in the final round, we will continue to need your full support AGAIN. We have submitted the paper documents which have been verified as well by the Team TGDC.

I expect TOP 9 to be announced tomorrow so remain glued to your screens. If we do make it to the TOP 9, then once again all the CATS would need to pool all the efforts in for your CATS Team to enable them to reach the Final 3. More on this later.

I would like to THANK all my CATS for your unquestionable support to both the teams in ensuring that we make thorough to the next round.

I would also like to take this opportunity and THANK ALL OUR FRIENDS IN THE MEDIA who supported us by highlighting our application and other applicants from Chandigarh in this competition.

MEOW :)
CAT Supreet

TGDC - Paramjeet and Supreet's Travel Plan

2009-07-17T01:34:00.001-07:00

Route:

Mumbai – 443 – Ajanta Caves – 126 – Ellora Caves – 12 – Deogiri Fort – 16 – Aurangabad – 267 – Nanded – 306 – Hyderabad – 213 – Kurnool – 358 – Bangalore – 143 – Mysore – 170 – Chikmagalur – 209 – Jog Falls – 224 – MarGao – 90 – SindhuDurg – 416 – Ratnagiri – 357 – Mumbai

Day 1
Mumbai – Ajanta (443 Kms)
Average driving time 8 hrs

Passing through cities of Igatpuri, Nashik and Malegaon to reach Ajanta Village, we plan to stop at Sula Vineyards 8kms suthwest of Nashik en route for a wine tasting/sniffing session.

Day 2
Ajanta Caves – 126 – Ellora Cave – 12 Deogiri Fort – 16 – Aurangabad (154 Kms)
Average driving time 3 hrs

The plan is to visit the Daultabad Fort after exploring the Ajanta and Ellora Caves. We will stay at Aurangabad for the night.

Day 3
Aurangabad – 267 – Nanded – 306 – Hyderabad (573 Kms)
Average driving time 10 hrs

Preferably an early start for a brief stop at Nanded to visit Shri Hazur Sahib en route to Hyderabad.

Day 4
Hyderabad
Local driving only

A full day of site seeing. We plan to visit Charminar, Golconda Fort, Shahi Tombs, Salar Jung Musuem, Birla Temple and look for authentic biryanis while we are in city known for its amazing Awadhi Cuisine.

Day 5
Hyderabad – 213 – Kurnool – 358 – Bangalore (571 Kms)
Average driving time 9 hours

Preferably an early start to a long day with a break at Kurnool to visit the Kurnool Fort. Plan to reach Bangalore in time to enjoy some night life in the city of pubs.

Day 6
Bangalore – 143 – Mysore – 170 – Chikamagalur ( 313 Kms)
Average driving time 10 hrs

Start from Bangalore for Chikamagalur via Mysore with a break at Mysore to visit famous Mysore Palace.

Day 7
Chikamagalur – 209 – Jog Falls – 224 – Margao ( 433 Kms)
Average Driving time 12 hrs

An early start to towards Jogfalls traversing through magnificent western ghats to break at Jog falls, Asia’s highest waterfalls and then continue to break for night in MarGao, the famous area of south Goa known for its beaches.

Day 8
MarGao
Local driving only

Spend a day at leisure to visit beaches, St. Xavier’s church. Try the Goan cuisine at famous beachside shacks.

Day 9
Margao – 90 – SindhuDurg – 416 – Ratnagiri (506 Kms)
Average driving time 15 hrs

Drive through Panaji, stopping on the way to visit Agoda Fort and then take a break at Sindhu Durg Fort. We will continue to Ratnagiri from there for the night halt.

Day 10
Ratnagiri – 357- Mumbai (357 Kms)
Average driving time 8 hrs

Plan to drive along the coast line back to Mumbai via Alibaug.

Total Travelling Distance in 10 days - 3350 Kms

You can view our Travel route map here > http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=116701581614433805057.00046ed28f304cd89af43

APPEAL for VOTES...

2009-07-09T10:53:00.000-07:00

My Dear CATS,

We came across a motoring competition, 'The Great Driving Challenge' on the net whereby you are required to chalk out a route of your choice, which must cover 3000kms in 10 days. The process is that the applications are open till 17th July. Then the organisers will select 100 applications, which will be trimmed further to 25, scaled down to 9 and then finally only 3 will be offered to drive through their dream route.

Since us Leh CATS were getting really nostalgic this month, this turned out to be an opportunity not to be missed. Hence, CAT Paramjeet has applied with me as his partner and CAT Ashish A has applied, hopefully with CAT Gopika as his partner.

However, we can not do this without you CATS.

We need your active help and support. We need your valuable votes to keep us moving up the ladder and have the opportunity to be in the final 3.

May I request you all to spare 5mins of your time to VOTE FOR US. Just follow the simple steps as mentioned below to register your vote for us.

1. Click on the link http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/application/paramjeet
2. Click on the red tab saying VOTE FOR US towards the top of the page
3. On this page, you will be asked to fill in your name, email address followed by the little verification box.
4. Now your page would say, that your vote has been accepted and you should check your Inbox or Spam folder to ensure your vote gets counted for us.
5. Now check your email Inbox to see if you have received an email from TGDC Team gdadmin@greatdrivingchallenge.com. If yes, then open it and confirm your vote by clicking on the link (such as this - http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com//votes-thankyou?vid=1247157124328126) that is indicated.

Would you mind asking your friends, family, extended family, social network to support us.

PLEASE VOTE to help your fellow CATS.
CAT Supreet

NB: We are waiting for CAT Ashish A and Gopika's application to be accepted. I would request you to vote for them also as soon as its accepted.

Photo Gallery - Paint Balling Session

2009-07-07T01:35:00.000-07:00

Excitement galore all around..

CAT AP trying on the head gear, even before he got into his overalls!!

17 CATS were promptly divided into two groups - Though we wanted to name our teams as Alpha and Romeo!! but eventually were called after the uniforms we wore; Army with 8 CATS headed by CAT Ashish A and Police with 9 CATS headed by CAT Jolly.

Since anyone below 12yrs was not allowed to particiapte, I had a tough time convincing the organiser that CAT Amanat was actually going to be 13 soon!

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The Organiser also got me to sign as the Parent of the pack of CATS and CAT Paramjeet got to sign as the Guardian ;-)

CAT Aman and CAT Ansh were happy playing spectators to the fighting CATS, though honestly they could not care less with the PSP in their hands ;-)

Getting into the overalls was not easy...

The fabric was thick to protect us from the bullets and the weather was too hot.. making it a real task to fit into one-size fits all overalls... Ask CAT Gopika about it ;-)

Finally... all set for the kill :)

Briefing Session for the game in progress...

Boy... the Gun!!

Round No.1 - a short trial round to get familiarised with the game...

Army takes the far end...

Police gets into position behind various bunkers and obstacles near the entrance...

CAT Supreet and CAT Harpreet behind the middle bunker... given how she's holding the gun as you can see, CAT Supreet's hardly a shooter ;-)

Police girls, CAT Amanat and CAT Gauri at the far end...

The ground was littered with Obstacles of all kinds.. there were tyres, wooden barch screens, bunkers, sacks.. and ofcourse a refree too!
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Police CAT Jolly leading Police CAT ...

Referee keeping an eye on the Police ;-)

Action in Paint Balling is an adventure of a different kind altogether.. it brings out raw animal instinct in you.. the only thing that matters is the WIN...

Army CAT Joey raising his hands after being shot...

Army CAT Jasmeet gunning after Police CAT Supreet!

CAT Amanat was so terrified that she hid her gun inside the sacks and just kept shooting blindly.. Army CAT Paramjeet later said, 'We had no idea where these bullets were being fired from till we saw the nozzle of the gun sticking out from the sacks!'
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..Baby of the Police Team, CAT Amanat's strategy worked since she was the last one to be caught by CAT Paramjeet and CAT Ashish A :)
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Game 1 OVER - Police 0, Army 1

CATS meowing to share their respective experiences together..

'Toone mujhe do baar goli mari ab dekhna main tumhein kaise maarta hoon agli baar!'... 'You didn't give up when I shot you'... 'Aap mere hee peeche kyon parre huye the??!!!'

It was really amusing to see these grown ups fighting like kids ;-)

Anyway, Game 2 began after a 5mins break...
CAT Jolly led the Police into the far end..

and Army took position at the near end... with a yellow flag kept in the middle of the field..
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Task of the game was to grab the flag and take it to the extreme end of the opposing team's facing wall... The 'Suicide Bomber Brigade' of Police, comprising of CAT Jolly and CAT Atul planned to simply bulldoze their way to the flag and hoist it on the other side.. CAT Atul managed to run upto it but got shot.. Army on the other hand played the wait and shoot strategy which worked!

Army CAT Ashish A shooting indiscriminately in the air to declare their win in Game 2 :)

Game 2 - Army 2, Police 0

The jubliant Army returning home for a well deserved rest...

Opponents sharing notes.. Army CAT Rachna gunning at Police CAT AP for having held her up in her bunker till he eventually shot her... CAT Amanat bewildered at having discovered the killer streak in her genteel father :)

Enemies sharing a laugh together, after exchanging the bullets at point blank range!
CAT Jyoti got hit in the arm but both CAT Jasmeet and CAT AP shot each other in the neck... Boys!!

Medicines for all... along with shared laughter.. that's the spirit of CATS ;-)

The Army strategising their game plan for the final round about to begin...

The task in Game 3 was that each team had to nomicate a member as 'President' and then protect the President from the enemy. CAT Supreet was told to become the President and made to sit in a bunker whilst Army nominated Bheegi Billi CAT Gopika as their President and left her in the safe custody of CAT Paramjeet behind the wooden screen...

Army had already won 2 games so all they had to do now is sit tight.. It was frustrating for the Police since they were gunning to kill the armymen but they just kept hiding..

Police CAT Jyoti keeping an eye out for her President!

The President... or President-ni as CAT AP would say!
It was not easy to cower down in the bunker with all the bullets whooshing past you.. I demanded running commentary ;-)

With casualties on both sides, the game was called a dud in the end by the referee...
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FINAL SCORE - Army 2, Police 0.

With the 'Official Fighting' declared over.. the infiltrators sneaked in ;-)
Both the kids, CAT Ansh and CAT Aman were given an opportunity by CAT Om to learn how to shoot at the target, under supervision of course... Our Dulhan, CAT Jasmit also came in to shoot a couple of rounds after the game.

Overall, it would not be wrong to admit that we had GALA FUN.. It was a sight to behold to see everyone charged up to kill anyone in view... We also found some good shooters in CAT Ashish A, CAT Paramjeet, CAT AP, CAT Nishant and CAT Jasmeet.. CAT Gopika and CAT Supreet are good defenders.. CAT Joey needs to practice hiding a little more... CAT Jolly and CAT Atul can kill anyone by their suicidal tendencies and if that fails, then by their sheer weight!!

YALGAAR HO... MEOW :)

- CAT Supreet

Photo Gallery - Tirthan-Solang Valley Trip (Day 4 and 5/5)

2009-07-02T22:51:00.000-07:00

DAY 4

Day 4 began quite early for me. Though our room was the tiniest but it was blessed with the best views. I had mildly sun washed snow capped mountains to admire with burds chirping away in the balcony. As declared, I did not make any wake up calls or usual knocks on the doors to anyone. Infact, I was pleasantly surprised when CAT Om gave me a wake up call at the appointed hour in the morning! I felt completely spoilt :)

Soon after the usual hustle and bustle began to ensure that everyone was ready in time. Most of us were ready by 7.30am for breakfast but a handful got late. We had to leave for Naggar early as winds were not showing any favours and we wanted to have as much opportunity to paraglide as was possible.

We were most pleasantly surprised as we were marched into this open van along with a Korean girl, a driver, 6 pilots for a joy ride of 20mins... At one stage, I head counted 19 people hanging from every possible hook of this van!

We had hardly caught our breath from the joy ride that we were told to start trekking along a steep hill to the top... But hey.. give us a moment to take a photo ;-)

We thought we were huffing and puffing our way up but the guide told me later, 'You guys were verry verrry gudd'

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Chalo - yeh trekking kahin to kaam aayi ;-)

All the layers had come off by the time we reached the top of the hill... the base for paragliding... we were told that this is the best place to paraglide from, after Bir Billing...

in case you are wondering why we are lying around after only 20 mins of hike... then just look at the next photo...

Look at the valley below... this is how far we had travelled since morning!!
Breath taking views awaited us.. if only the winds would start picking up in the right direction...

The Catty Gang from the car of CAT Ashish A in the meantime indulged in some games where we had parked the cars before jumping into the open van... CAT Ashish A got the bull's eye in archery... just as they caught a fish also...

Praying for the winds, pilots got the parachute ready for us...

CAT Jyoti, all strapped up.... Hawa ke intezaar mein!!

With some strange change of heart, the pilot sent off the Korean girl first instead of CAT Jyoti.. CAT Gauri got lined up next but she tumbled down in the aborted attempt.. I was the first CAT to eventually take off whilst the winds lasted and CAT Aman the pilot said would be taken, even if there's no wind!!

Everyone feels that this is one moment which would always remain fresh in the memory of CAT Aman.. not many get an opportunity paraglide at the age of 7, which is something he has been able to achieve thanks to all the CATS... and ofcourse he has something more to tease his elder sister with now.. He has done paragliding whilst CAT Amanat has not!!

This is one moment which simply can not be described in words CATS...

You are in the air... You can go round in circles, you can hop, you can come down and then suddenyl go up again... you are in control..... MEOW

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What rafting is to water.. Paragliding must be to the air...

and this is the landing site in the fields not very far from the Beas River....

This is the moment when CAT Aman suddenly gained confidence manifold...

He started prancing around like Dog with Two Tails... and dancing like a peacock in the rain.. and hopping across the fields like a wild goat... Suddenly, he could do everything without a hoot in the world!

I just wish that every child within CATS atleast gets to avail the opportunities life throws at us and stride ahead in life full of vigour and confidence, rather than limping through it. Let us all give our children the ability to dream beyond the 'possible'.

With archery and fishing over, the last pack of CATS also started trekking their way up the hill, but not without indulging in the usual mischief ;-)

Unfortunately, winds were not too kind that day. We could not arrange the weather for this activity too. Only myself, CAT Aman and CAT Gauri could paraglide. Rest had to be trek down with a heavy heart. We had to travel down to Kullu to have lunch and then raft you see. CAT Madhvi had her exam the following day at 9am, CAT Shilpa had to get back to work and CAT Navpreet had to get a project off the ground too.

CAT Gauri and I felt guilty as hell as the rest could not paraglide.

If only we could arrange the weather!

After a delicious lunch at Kullu HPTDC resort, we quickly changed into rafting gear and jumped into our rafts....

CAT Gopika opted out as she had fever, CAT Amit chose to supervise driving down of cars to the pick up point though CAT Ashish A agreed to sit in the raft upon exhortion ;-)

Amidst chants and cheers and memories refreshed from last year's rafting trip... we put our pedals to work... Whilst CAT Navpreet was at the helm of entertainment in the other raft, CAT Om took the position in our raft.. Apart from the usual frolicking and throwing water at each other and the occassional call to 'Huqooooommm'... CATS in both rafts had great fun.

CAT Aman suddenly lost all his confidence at the sight of cold water being splashed at him from all sides, even though the rapids were only of grade II and perhaps an odd grade III. From 'Maine rafting ker li aur Didi ne nahi ki' he started shouting, 'Mujhe bukhaar ho jayega!!'

CAT Om surprised us all with his impromptu rhyms:

Billiyan - Gilliyan

Billiyan - Dhilliyan

Billiyan - Jhalliyan
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After all this fun, we were greeted by the news at the finishing line that CAT Amit's car had broken down and had been taken to a garage. This meant that most of us did not have a change of clothes after having merrily soaked ourselves wet whilst rafting in icy waters of Parvati/Beas combine. Here again, hats off to the Catty spirit. CAT Paramjeet immediately offered his shirt and CAT Gopika gave her pair of shorts to our little CAT Aman who was shivering away. Others also shared their chappals and T-shirts and jackets to ward off the chill. Infact, CAT Paramjeet had a pair of unclaimed black Reeboks and a pair of socks knocking around in his car for a week :)

Upon reaching the garage we found that CAT Amit's car can not be mended till the following morning. CAT Ashish A being the saviour that he is, he refused to leave CAT Amit by himself to sort out the car and declared that he was going to stay behind till the car got sorted. CAT Paramjeet immediately let go of his dream of paragliding and offered to drive down to Chandigarh since CAT Madhvi's exam was hours away. 6 of us packed into his car to reach home by 2 in the morning.

All this happened WITHOUT a word of request from anyone, without a whimper of help being asked. CATS managed everything by themselves, between each one of them they have the strength and courage to stand by each other, not just in good times but also in rough times. It is this spirit of CATS that humbles me each time I meet any of you, for each of you carry a story which comes alive for me when I meet you.

DAY 5

Anyway, going back to our trip, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise for 6 of the 7 CATS who stayed behind. Everyone got to paraglide simultaneously the following morning as the winds were favourable whilst CAT Amit got the car partly fixed. Mind you, this all happened due to the adulterated diesel !!!

The joy is written all over their faces... I dont need to say a word.. They had been to the top of the world at back :)

However, I do promise a paragliding trip for the CATS who could not paraglide on either of the two days; especially CAT Paramjeet, CAT Shilpa, CAT Navpreet, CAT Madhvi and our reluctant CAT Amit. I would include CAT Amanat too so that she can get CAT Aman off her back!

After lunch CATS pushed the car into action to be looked at the authorised car dealer in Mandi. Unfortunately even after a diagnostic session of 2hours when they could not pin point the problem, CATS came into action again.They decided to drive down from Mandi to Chandigarh non-stop as even though it meant no loo-breaks or food/chai breaks along the way. The second lot reached Chandigarh monday night at 11pm. We had a lovely time during our trip. For the first time we went over the schedule, for the first time we had a car break down, for the first time we had to suspend a long distance activity, but there is no obstacle that we could not overcome... there was no adversity which my fellow CATS did not hit on its' head and shouted MEOW!

- CAT Supreet

Photo Gallery - Tirthan-Solang Valley Trip (Day 3/5)

2009-07-02T22:34:00.001-07:00

DAY 3

With sun shining mellow and a sway in the trees, our third morning arrived with loads of excitement for us. There was hardly any water running through the taps (and the flush!), evry CAT had to be washed or drycleaned, every single piece of luggage had to be packed away in the cars for an early departure towards Rohtang.

However, CATS took everything in their stride... half dressed dreamy eyed CATS could be spotted brushing their teeth or washing their faces at every possible tap around the dormitory...
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I probably offended rather than befriended my CATS since I kept yelling, 'Be Quick, Pack Up - YOU ARE LATE!!' to every poor soul coming my way... I did not want us to be stuck in the traffic going up to Rohtang you see.. and I had to get my little CAT Aman dressed too, who's knees first had to be dressed by CAT Om and doing up his long hair used to be a joint venture between myself and CAT Jyoti. I would do the plaits and had sub-contracted out tying the 'joora' to her! Infact, CAT Shilpa pointed out in the morning, 'you spend more time in getting Aman ready than on yourself!'
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In all honesty, I would never have been able to bring the kids on any of the trips, had it not been for the active support of all the CATS, since the very inception. I guess that's what makes us special, we stand by each other rather than adopting a typical 'chalta hai' attitude :)

And we surprised our Guide Ankit, by being ready 'just' in time!!
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We were late by only 20mins as CAT Navpreet decided to tie his turban just before jumping into the car... the boy has to look sexy you see ;-)

CATS just before hitting the road towards Rohtang...

I think I must have died under a bridge or building one, for I can not help myself when I see one! Though Ankit was feeling exasperated due to the delay we were causing by making unscheduled halts, we assured him that this would be the last one; atleast for a while!!

The place we stopped for breakfast.. this place had put up enough posters around to keep his guests well entertained whilst he went to buy potatoes for the paranthas!

But apparently, the food was sumptuous as CATS could not stop eating!!

Yupp... that's me... knocked out by the deadly combination of fatigue and 2 Stemetils!

I was so afraid of holding up my fellow CATS due to travel sickness in climbing the hills that I took 2 pills in quick succession, which ofcourse meant that I was either asleep or dazed at best through the day :(
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Best was that I was totally zonked at this stage that all I wanted to do was sleep, but every CAT of mine was so concerned about my state that they kept knocking on the car window pratically every few minutes to ask, 'Are you okay? Can we get you something?'

Love you all :)

Round of Cheerful Cheery Cheers in one car :)

Snores galore in the other ;-)

Army came in handy for the water filled CATS; we had a quick loo-break at Gulaba

(not at the monument ofcourse!!)

Sight where we blew our first flying kisses to Rohtang ;-)

Lovely terrace fields along the way to the top....

Snow covered Rohtang was getting closer by the mile... but we were really mesmerised by this lovely stream gushing down the hills...

Till we went a little further and traced the ORIGIN of this lovely gushing stream :(

This really was the end of the romance you know!

Vultures feasting over the carcass of a dead horse/mule...

Lessons in hard and not so scenic realities of life!

But here is one lesson which cost us a bob. We made an error judgement and committed a mistake we do not want any of you ever to make.

CAT Amit thought he did not have enough diesel in his car and just to be safe, a deal was struck with these army 'looking' guys whereby they purchased 20ltrs of diesel in black from these 3 people. Even though CAT Madhvi had slight concerns about the quality of the fuel, but Ankit was quite confident that armymen are honest and are known to help out people in distress all the time.

If only. The fuel they bought was adulterated and cost us a day extra of the trip and Rs.25,000/- to get the car repaired.
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HARD LESSON: Make it a policy that you must always fill up your tanks at authorised fuel stations wherever you come across any, even if you feel that the tank is stil half full and your journey is shorter.

However, we did not know about the fuel being adulterated at this stage and were simply deliriously happy at not just having reached Rohtang Pass despite being stuck in the traffic for 1.5hrs, but actually gone beyond a little to the Spiti side too...

The other two cars stopped behind at the start of Rohtang itself since CAT Paramjeet was also running low on fuel and CAT Ashish's car was suspected to have broken a shocker on the way up. Additionally, CAT Gopika had a severe headache and nausea due to altitude sickness which we took care of with Diamox prescribed by CAT Shakuntla before our Leh trip last year.

Mohtarma Madhvi in the meanwhile enjoying the sleigh ride...

CAT Joey and CAT Gauri 'tubing' down the snow... Aaachhhooooo!!

CAT Navpreet updating his facebook and his mates on the phone ;-)

CAT Aman enjoying his second brush with snow, first being at Shali Peak 18months previously.... He was more happy about the fact that he was able to reach Rohtang whilst his elder sister, CAT Amanat could not!!

Kids!!!

He may be young, but the 'No Litter' policy of CATS has become well engrained in this young soul... Atleast he is learning one good thing in life and that is to respect his environment..

... and this is beautiful terrain that you missed guys!!!
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It is only a day's journey away from Chandigarh.. if only you could take out the time...

Some last minute photo shoots before we jumped back into the cars to head back towards Manali... All of us were very hungry since it was close to 4pm and we had not had our lunch!

Journey on the way down was also full of adventure. With one car low on fuel and second car with a suspect shocker, we had traffic jams and rain to keep us company. The car behind of CAT Amit actually fought its way through the snow blizzards and temperature of -3C to reach back.

We shared whatever food, niblets, and drinks we had in the cars.. We even purchased some corn on cob on the way but we were missing having 'propah' food for sure.

CAT Navpreet chose an eatery away from the row of dhabas in Kothi for a late lunch.... This is where all the CATS finally got together.. Stories of tubing and sleighing and snow balls made the rest of us green with envy :(

Que Sera Sera.... Given the shortage of fuel and the damage to the other car, high altitude sickness and the brilliant hind sight, we still feel that we made the best decision by turning back after touching Rohtang, under those circumstances.

We reached Manali just as the sun went down. Our hotel was in the middle of the town. Ankit showed me the rooms which he had appointed for each sub-group of CATS. With minor readjustments, we had settled in the rooms of our choice. Another group of girls from YPS were also staying at the hotel who were facing a medical emergency. It caused concern to me since both CAT Aman and CAT Amanat are in YPS too. Our benevolent fellow CAT Om once again swung into action and advised the school teachers on taking care of the young girl in pain.

We chose to skip dinner since we had stuffed ourselves with food during late lunch on the way back from Rohtang. Ankit once again told us to be ready by 7.30am the following morning to ensure we get a good chance to paraglide. I also handed over the baton of responsibility of waking everyone up the following morning. I was feeling tired by worrying about everything over the last few days and was still a little drugged from stemetils I kept stuffing myself with the whole day to keep the nausea in check. In my effort to ensure everyone enjoyed themselves throughout the trip and keeping the schedule intact proving a challenge, I had perhaps stretched myself beyond what my age permits! Perhaps I was looking towards my fellow CATS to be a little accommodating. I am getting old you see.
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Some of us decided to look at the local fair, others wanted to explore Old Manali, some wanted to sleep/rest and I wanted to wash CAT Aman. It was his third day without a bath!!! Honestly, it felt divine to have a hot bath.. Another sign that I am getting old :)

A very CLEAN Good Night ;-)

Photo Gallery - Tirthan-Solang Valley Trip (Day 2/5)

2009-07-02T22:11:00.000-07:00

DAY 2

This is what we woke upto on Day 2.. Can you beat this view CATS?

However, we found out soon that CAT Om had been terribly ill through the night.. Something he must have eaten during the day on way to Aut did not agree with him and he had been sick as a parrot through the night... But he did not wake a single soul during the night and he insisted that everyone went ahead with the planned activities, including his wife and daugher instead of hankering after his health..

CAT Shilpa in the process of getting ready for the day ahead...

Aparts from the paranthas, toasts with scrambled eggs, homemade jams of various berries without preservatives and fresh fruit.. surprise for the breakfast was wafer thin pancakes, which as you can see, CATS can not have enough of ;-)

Our first activity of the day was rappelling which seemed an uphill task at that time..

However, even a delicious and sumptuous breakfast could not keep the CATS down...

Don't believe me?? ......Chalo phir urr ke dikhaayo :)

One can not escape from the impromptu lessons in the jungle either...

Extraction of natural oils being done for various purposes.. if any of you have any doubt about what this little drop is about, then just ask CAT Ashish A who had inspected the tree!

This was the monster challenging us.
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In all honesty, when we first looked at its straight face, even the experienced Rappellers amungst us fell silent!
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'Arre yeh Ankit marwaayega aaj??!!!'

Incase you are smirking at our silent misery, then just look at his picture. It was tough to even climb up to the top through the path which was too trecherous for us Punjabi Billiyan.. there were no footholds and nothing to grasp incase you slipped!

Infact CAT Aman kept yelling from the road to me,

'Bua, neeche aa jayo.. abhi aayo!'

All the CATS are grateful to CAT Joey, the brave one who volunteered to go first... MEOW :)

It was surprising that apart from CAT Joey, all the boys opted out for one reason or another while the fiesty felines went ahead...

'kyon ki darr ke aage jeet hai :)

The cliff on top of the rock had no foothold and you can see CAT Gauri being led by two guides towards the cliff edge...

Do have my word for it... it was scary even to reach the edge of the cliff!

Though CAT Jyoti was terrified but one line from CAT Gauri was enough, 'Mumma aap to nahin ker paayoge yeh!'

Call it the spirit of CATS.. the Challenge to Motherhood.. or sheer madness... There was no way CAT Jyoti was going to skip out... MEOW :)

CATS making merry amungst the lily flower beds and wines after conquering the scary rock...

CAT Gopika and CAT Joey held a competition of the best 'Puppy Face & Act' in Tirthan itself!

It seems CAT Gopika had won this round.. with CAT Navpreet in agreement..

I feel her Paro has trained her wonderfully well :)

The Community Centre at Banjar where commendable community projects are taking shape to make the localites, especially the women economically independent. The dormitories and the forest rest house is also here to accommodate the wandering souls.

CATS making their way through the jungle and numerous pretty bridges to reach the rock climbing site...

we were home :)

CATS listening to the climbing instructions attentively...
Though the rock did not look that menacing, the climb had to be done free-hand...

but boy... looks can be deceptive, especially if climbing from the 'other side'

The first one to climb up....

Once one reached the top, rest of us literally scrambled to follow...

at one stage there were 5 of us trying to molest this rock!

Thereafter 3 of us tried our paws from the difficult side also.

The cheery on the cake was the sight of ice cold fizzy drinks in the hands of the little German Boy and CAT Amit. BLISS!!!

Post lunch and a little siesta, CATS made their way through a precarious path leading to this very pretty site... for river crossing!

Catch was that the weather was cloudy, water was freezing and river was running away with much greater force... As the photo shows, you see many resting on the rocks rather than being on the rocks ;-)

CAT Gauri took the laurels to take the first plunge...

The girls were really in leading in every activity boys... That does not really sound like CATS since we have always seen equal participation ALWAYS.

The only reason CAT Gauri could not reach the other end is because the support rope turned to be a little shorter than the shore!

But we were overjoyed when CAT Joey reached the other end...

as you can see as well... he's deliriously happy!

In his own words, he loves the cold and he loves the water, so he had a killer combination :)

Alongside the fishing demonstration took place.. though actual fishing had to be postponed because of the torrid rapids in the river and the rain ofcourse... CAT Navpreet and CAT Ashish A were really disappointed, but we could not arrange the weather for them :(

That's how bad the weather became CATS...

Infact, we had to shift our abode form the tents to the dormitory in the evening...

Whilst waiting for CAT Paramjeet and CAT Madhvi to arrive from Chandigarh to join us, CAT Joey entertained us by strumming some lovely melodies on his guitar, CAT Gauri was too enchanted by 'Guru-(Ghantaal)' CAT Joey, CAT Om thankfully had recovered from his bout of illness too, CAT Shilpa was simply enjoying the moment, CAT Amit was supervising the operation of washroom taps, whilst CAT Ashish A and party were devicing a plan to skip out to Christopher's... again!!

CAT Paramjeet had a project to complete and Azeeza Madhvi had to sit her finals for Urdu Diploma on Monday, they left Chandigarh around 4.45pm. Since it was going to be after 9pm that the last lot of CATS from Chandigarh was expected, CAT Amit and I decided to send for a driver to guide them from Aut (Pandoh Tunnel) to join us.

They arrived at 10.30pm, had dinner and eventually joined us at the dormitory at 11.15pm.

Finally, there were 13 of us :)

Photo Gallery - Tirthan-Solang Valley Trip (Day 1/5)

2009-07-02T21:57:00.001-07:00

Tirthan-Solang Valley trip was the family oriented multi activity long weekend for CATS this summer. With activities such as rock climbing, rappelling, river crossing, night trekking, bird watching, jungle trekking, fishing, paragliding, camping etc on the itinerary, we surely were set for a ball.

DAY 1:

We preponed the departure by a couple of hours on a suggestion put forward by our dear CAT Ashish A, to ensure we have maximum fun in the jungle of Tirthan. CAT Shilpa was the first one to arrive, I was the second one to reach by dragging CAT Aman along. While CAT Ashish A and CAT Gopika went to pick up the sexy boy CAT Navpreet, CAT Joey arrived with his Pa, CAT Amit and eight of us hit the road by 6.45am.

Tirthan... here we come :)

The two cars regrouped at Ropar where we had a quick tea/coffee. I paid later for having chosen Verka Badaam Milk since it did not agree with me :(

CATS pounced upon the paranthas by the time we crossed Bilaspur as we were all famished... We are not to be blamed you see, it was 10.30am and our rumbling bellies had all the right to complain!

Soon after 1pm we reached Aut, where we took right from entering the Pandoh Tunnel to head towards our destination - village Banjar, at the feet of the Great Himalayan National Park.

Since we were running ahead of our schedule, we could not resist the temptation of the Tirthan River running alongside the road. We made atleast two unscheduled stops to prance around in the inviting river and plucked plums from the trees along the road before reaching Banjar, where our guide Ankit was waiting for us.

Forget He-Man or Hanuman Ji bringing in the parbat for sanjivni booti... meet our new CAT Shilpa who's sole aim was to have pure unudultered and uninterrupted fun since this was her first break in four years (read, first break since having her little son Saachi 4yrs ago).
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Seen here holding a boulder above her shoulders, CAT Shilpa ensured that she did everything twice not just once, wet her twinkle feet whenever possible, dirty her hands in whichever activity was taking place, shoot everything along the way twice over (!!),
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This girl knows no fear... Aditi, you have met your match :)

Our German host, Helmut did not know quite what to make of CATS!

Since there was a little accident in the kitchen of the Berry Beery Good Cafe, it was going to take a little longer for the snacks to arrive. We took out our cardboard box full of snacks and drinks from the car to share and sooth the rumbling bellies. CAT Joey brought out the guitar to calm down our ruffled feathers whilst the Tirthan gurgled away a few feet away from us.

With food and guitar session over, it was time CAT Joey held a lecture on the science of music with CAT Gopika, CAT Ashish A and CAT Navpreet as his obedient pupils...

CAT Amit dozed off with the spray from the river providing and instant and natural air conditioning service on that big rock, which later was re-christened as CATS H.Q.!!

A new set of CATS joined us crazy 8 at this point in the evening... CAT Om, his wife CAT Jyoti and their darling daughter CAT Gauri... We were 11 now :)

Given the restless souls CATS are.... fun had to begin again ;-)

...and if you think CAT Gopika is going bonkers, then do look at the next picture!

Don't even ask what these two are upto!
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With CAT Aman being the youngest at 7yrs and CAT Amit and CAT Om competing for the top slot, now add two teenagers in a group of 13.. and with the rest of the adults going questionably insane ...any wonder that Ankit and Helmut having trouble in figuring out what CATS are about ;-)

Food however is serious business and we respect what is served to us...

CATS finally getting their Pakoras and Pasta at 7.30pm..

Since it has been a hot day and the fizz-addicted CATS had gone without a pop for a whole day, we requested for Nimbu-Pani (fresh lime) to be served to us after the snacks. As we sat in anticipation of a chilled Nimbu Pani to served to us, it was quite naural for a fresh lime addict like me to be hugely disappointed as the lime they served us was Boiling HOT!!! Apparently nimbu pani is always served hot to the trekkers in the jungle.

Seeing my face drop off our yet another new CAT Om chipped in, 'Arre kya ho gya yaar.. apne apne glaas uthayo aur chalo nadi kinare.' We literally dipped our glasses in the river... lo and behold... chilled nimbu pani was ready for us :)

To ensure CAT Om got batptised into the CATS family properly, CAT Aman obliged by scraping both his knees and CAT Om and CAT Jyoti promptly took out their first aid kit to do the needful. CAT Gopika follwed suit and had a deep gash on the back of her knee. By this time we had run out of guages and we used paper tissues to keep the medicine in place for her.

Despite a bit of blood shed towards the end of the first day, all was put right by both the doctors in no time :)

...CAT Rajpal - it would have been nice to have you with us!

By the way, this was our washroom with a curtain for the door... The agreement between CATS was that since we could not 'knock' on the door, we would yell out to check incase someone was inside before lifting the curtain..

Parde mein rehne do.... parda na uthaayo ;-)

After indulging in a spot of night trekking after dinner, CAT Ashish A, CAT Navpreet and CAT Gopika disappeared whilst rest of us made way towards our tents by the riverside...
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CAT Amit and I decided that we would get up by 5am to lugg the first set of CATS towards the washrooms. The idea was to ensure that each one of the 11 CATS was cleaned, brushed and dry cleaned by 7.30am latest so that we could for for bird watching in the jungle.

The river singing by your side and the stars above you, the tiredness from a long day took over the dreamy eyes soon. GOOD NIGHT and see you tomorrow :)

CATS Tirthan-Solang Valley Trip

2009-07-02T07:39:00.001-07:00

And in case you think paragliding is unsafe for anyone less than 12yrs, think again.

Watch CAT Aman, all of 7yrs old taking off on his maiden paragliding flight :-)

Also allow me to confirm that CAT Gauri at 12yrs undertook not one, but two successful flights after she tripped over the first time. CAT Joey at 16yrs also flew, along with the rest of the CATS.

There really is nothing that CATS can not achieve, once we set our hearts on something :-)

CATS Tirthan-Solang Valley Trip

2009-07-02T07:38:00.003-07:00

After an aborted attempt, this was the first successful take off at Naggar for CATS that morning. We really needed atleast one CAT to fly off to boost our morale.

Incase you think CAT Gauri had jittery nerves since she’s not even in her teens, then do allow me to convey that ‘yours truly’ faired only mildly better!

Just listen to the ‘expert’ comments being made by the CATS, none of whom had ever undertaken paragliding before… MOEW ;-)

CATS Tirthan-Solang Valley Trip

2009-07-02T07:38:00.001-07:00

Brief interview of our dear CAT Gauri, second youngest member of our group all strapped up to take off just when we felt some favourable winds at Naggar...

The excitement of paragliding for the first time and the fear of the unknown since she was the first one to take off made way for some jittery nerves :)

CATS Tirthan-Solang Valley Trip

2009-07-02T07:37:00.001-07:00

CAT Madhvi reciting a lovely and most appropriate couplet in urdu, while we were waiting for the winds to pick up so that we could enjoy the kiss of the breeze whilst paragliding in Naggar

CATS Tirthan-Solang Valley Trip

2009-07-02T07:33:00.001-07:00

CAT Shilpa crossing an icy cold Tirthan River whilst it was raining heavily, to bring the second day of adventure sport activities to a close for CATS.