. : : M I N D S P A C E : : .

31st

2009-06-26T16:04:00.002+04:00

“2 more slides … and then it’s done” Indrajit was thinking. It wasn’t new for him to prepare presentations while travelling by air or train. Indra was asked by Samsher to handle a meeting in Jalandhar on behalf of him.

Indrajit Pandit was working with one of the leading Marketing & Strategic planning firms in India. He was a senior manager for Western India region. Samsher Tyagi was his colleague; moreover his very dear friend. Both had started their careers in this company at the same time. They had worked together in Eastern region for 6-7 years to make it most profitable region before they got promoted as senior managers. Indra was asked to manage Western region and Samsher was asked to manage Northern region.

Click here to read more ...

R i Y A D H -- 2 (Last Part)

2009-06-13T20:55:00.001+04:00

Part 2 (Last part)

As the background is set now, let me pen down some more experiences –

5) Mamlaka & Fasiliyah

These are the 2 tall buildings which happen to be the only places of interest in the city. Mamlaka (also called as Kingdom Tower) is a beautiful piece of construction and you can go to the skybridge on 99^th floor. Really cool view you get from there. (Link). Nothing special in Faisiliyah though.

Click here to read more ...

R i Y A D H

2009-04-17T03:31:00.002+04:00

Background:

8 weeks project in KSA (kingdom of Saudi Arabia).. I don’t know what did I feel when I got to know this. It seemed an interesting project to work on. But Saudi?? I definitely had some apprehensions before I nodded my head indicating my readiness to take it up.

Something about KSA:

For those who do not know – KSA is one of the most challenging countries to stay in. They expect expats also to abide by their customs and respect their religious beliefs. You are not supposed to schedule a meeting in thier prayer times (5 times a day). All the shops close in their prayer times (approx 25 minutes for each time; 5 times a day). Women are not allowed to work here in offices (apart from a few exceptions). Women are not allowed to drive in KSA. Yes that’s a fact – believe it or not! And, every woman in the country needs to wear Abaya (Burkha) irrespective of the religion she follows!

With this background, I was set to fly to Riyadh – the capital of KSA. Read more ....

B for Bandhavgarh

2008-12-12T09:10:00.006+04:00

6 friends (Dipti, Hemant, Jigna, Jaydeep, Ramkrishna, Sonal) ...
5 safaris ...
4 days of isolation from the mainstream world ...
3 shivery mornings which froze us from hair to you know what ...
2 royal sightings ...
1 experience of a lifetime!

Read more ...

Exotic Egypt

2008-10-11T21:45:00.006+04:00

Its been a long long time since I've written something in the "Khabar" series..

This time its "Khabar Egypt ki"..

After almost 6 months I had got an extended weekend - from 1st October to 4th October - Thanks to Eid al Fitr.. My Bahraini friends - Hemant & Vikas had planned for a holiday in Egypt.. I thought it will be a great idea to join them for this trip.. Karan, my roomie in Dubai, was also game for the trip.. So the plan was frozen.. Hemant & Vikas would fly from Bahrain to Alexandria (their port of entry in Egypt) and will reach Cairo by train on the same day.. Karan & I would fly from Dubai and would meet H & V at Cairo directly..

I'm hardly gonna put any historical facts in this khabar as its very complicated and even I wont be sure that whatever i'll be writing is true or not.. For instance - One of the Ramses kings had 200 children.. 80 sons and 120 daughters.. He married some 12 of his own daughters and had children from them.. So the mother of that child was also his sister and aunt.. The newly born will again be called Ramses.. One Ramses king ruled for 67 years and one ruled for 31 years.. Guides tried to explain but it was too heavy a dose to digest within 2 days.. If you are interested, please wikisearch for "Tut Ankh Amun", "Nefertari", "Ramses", "Tuthmosis", "Anubis" etc..

So lets get back to the track and get involved this Egypt ki khabar.. Read More ...

Jaane tu.. Ya jaane naaaa..

2008-08-09T19:06:00.004+04:00

Saturday afternoon 3 to 5.. Dubai office.. Can we meet to close the filing for PQR company?

I hate such SMSs!

But there aren’t many options available to escape from this situation if your manager sends this SMS to you. And thus, I somehow woke up at 11 o’clock on one of the Saturdays and managed to reach the office by 2:53pm. In spite of being a holiday there were 20-25 people in office, mostly from audit department, trying to complete their pending work. I found an empty desk and settled there. I was listening to Jaane tu.. Ya jaane na’s (JTYJN) title track on my mobile phone using the earphones. JTYJN was still very fresh in my mind as I had liked the simplicity and freshness of the movie.

“Adib, where’s file number 3? I need to see the financial statements and audit opinions of 2007 for ABC company. I had told you to keep that file ready. Can you get that file please?”

I looked up.

Bare skies

2008-07-31T16:13:00.004+04:00

[ Note: This is the last part (3rd part) of the story "Bare Skies". For the 1st part, click - "It rained that night ..."

and for the 2nd part, click - "Swissed" ]

-------------------------------------

Abhay could read those questions on Sanchita’s face.

“Too much of travelling dear! Exhausted a bit coz of this jet lag; that’s it!” He replied. Sanchita knew about Abhay’s busy and hectic schedules, so there were no further questions left in her mind.

After having breakfast, they started for Milan. Abhay said, “Lets go via Bern and Luzerne.” Sanchita had a broad smile on her face as she didn’t bother whether Abz gonna drive via Bern or Zurich or Luzerne or any other place for that matter. She just gave him a tight hug.

Highway 18 of Swiss was as beautiful as Sanchita. Abhay took many detours ‘en route as he knew the places in that area really well. Sanchita had been to Swiss before but she was experiencing the real Swiss with Abhay.

1 day stay in Bern, 2 days in Zurich, 1 day in Luzerne, 2 days in Lugano and finally 3 days in Milan………With Abhay….

Sanchita was having the best time of her life!

Sanchita came back to Mumbai from Milan ‘n Abhay got started with his project in Milan. When they were in Swiss, Sanchita had asked about their engagement. Abhay had replied that he’s ready for it but it’d be great if the engagement happens when he completes Milan project. That project was timed for 23 weeks but Sanchita didn’t have any problem with that.

As expected, Sanchita got a deal from Rolex and her life in Mumbai got even busier. Elegance was now spread across 4 metros and she had big plans to take it to even more places in India. Even Abhay was under tremendous pressure as 2 of his team members from Milan project team had resigned and there were no resources available with necessary skillsets. So Abhay was handling their parts of work also. Burning midnight oil had become a routine for him. He had almost forgotten what a weekend feels like. Thrice a day calls had reduced to a call in 2-3 days.

5 months had elapsed since they had met in Europe.

Their communication got reduced to a text message in a day. Sanchita had started getting a feeling that Abhay is going away from her. Sanchita tried twice reaching Abhay over phone. Abhay couldn’t take her calls as he was in a long meeting with Milan International Airport Company’s Director. Abhay returned the call after the meeting and Sanchita felt even strongly that there’s some problem at Abhay’s end. But she couldn’t gather anything specific from their conversation. She thought about giving a call on coming Sunday as Abhay would be working from home and wouldn’t have any meetings in the office.

“Abz.. Abz dear.. Please tell me what’s the matter.. Please dear.. Please dear..” Sanchita was worried.

Sanchita gave a call to Abhay’s parents also. Sanchita was in regular touch with Abhay’s parents. She had a normal, casual conversation with them. No traces of tension at all at their side!

“Sanch, I’m under tremendous stress. I need you. Can you come down here? Please…..” Abhay had called Sanchita on Sunday morning at 4 o’clock IST.

Sanchita understood there’s something seriously wrong with Abhay and Abhay needed her badly. But she had to wait for 5 days to get a new visa stamped on her passport. In between, Abhay had called again and had asked Sanchita to fly down to New York as he had wrapped up the Milan project and he was flying to New York on the same day.

It took 5 more days for Sanchita to get her documents in place for a new visa for US; and a day more to delegate the responsibilities for Elegance. She landed at JFK on a bare skied morning. Abhay was supposed to pick her up but she didn’t find him at the airport. His cell was also switched off. She decided to wait for him for a while. While she sat in one of the lounges, she picked a daily from one of the stands.

A small news item on page 5 caught her eye.

Indian professional found dead in his apartment… “Abhay Sheshadri, 33, working with Hudson & Mitchell as Senior Consultant in Terminal Design team was found dead in his apartment in Clayton Towers yesterday night. Garreth Smith, his colleague at H&M, informed police about it immediately when he entered Abhay’s apartment at 9:30pm to meet him. Police have found traces of cocaine in Abhay’s apartment and they suspect drug overdose to be the cause of death. Mr. Smith has also confirmed Abhay’s drug consumption habit of last 5-6 months. He also informed police that Abhay was about to join rehabilitation center in a day or two after his fianceé who was about to fly to US from India. The body is been sent to forensic department for further investigations.”

New York’s bare skies seemed nothing as compared to Sanchita’s eyes.

Swiss'ed!

2008-06-02T23:50:00.002+04:00

[ Note: This is the 2nd part of the story "Bare Skies". For the 1st part, click - "It rained that night ..." ] and for the 3rd & final part, please click - "Bare Skies"]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Abz, missing you dear! I'm very tired actually now but gotta attend this show. Where are you? …. Can’t hear you properly… a lot of noise. …. Hey hey, the show is starting in a minute. I'll have to get in. I'll talk to you after that. Bye hero!"

And Sanchita rushed to the Fashion One’s studio. She was there in Geneva to attend a couple of fashion shows and to discuss possible business with Rolex. Sanchita’s dad, Mr. H. V. Rai, was a businessman in Mumbai and had opened 2 big malls in last couple of years. His agency was Mont Blanc’s biggest franchise in India. Sanchita had joined lately to her dad’s business. “Elegance” – an exotic, royal, classy fashion boutique in Bandra, was her brainchild. Her designs were quite popular among Indian powerladies. She was the one who had suggested considering to do business with Rolex to her dad. Mr. Rai was quite excited about it and decided to hand over the complete responsibility to Sanchita for this venture.

The meeting, in Geneva, with VP – Marketing & Sales of Rolex had gone well and Sanchita was expecting a positive decision from their side in a couple of days. Fashion One was one of her favorite fashion houses and she promoted Fashion One’s collection also in her boutique in Mumbai. Fashion One had given her special invite to attend the Celebrity Fashion Show that was organized in Geneva in 2007. The Rolex meeting was scheduled between 2 to 3:30 pm while the show was supposed to start by 5pm on the same day.

She had quickly given a call to Abhay before entering into the show.

As expected, Fashion One’s show was spectacular. After greeting the designers and some celebrities, it Sanchita stepped out of the studio. It was close to 1 hour past midnight by then. N voilaa!

Sanchita couldn’t believe her eyes. Abhay was waiting there for her in the lobby of Fashion One house. He smiled ‘n winked at her. She rushed towards him and hugged him. “Abz, how come you’re here? You were in New York na? You never told me you were gonna come to Swiss.”

“Aye chic, was missing you rey” Abhay said. “Let’s go to the hotel. You wouldn’t mind na if I stay with you in your room?” He again winked at her.

She just smiled!

“Let’s go dear!” Abhay said n they got into the car. Abhay had rented a sparkling maroon BMW 325i convertible from Geneva airport.

Abhay was a brilliant chap. After completing his masters in architecture from UIAM, he got picked by Randall & Co. After initial foundation years in Randall, Abhay had joined Hudson & Mitchell, the most innovative architecture firm in the U.S. and probably in the world. Abhay’s specialty was airport terminal designing. His designs used to be radical and 100% original. His imagination was something out of this world. Within 4 years of joining he had become H & M’s top resource for terminal designing. Budapest’s terminal 3, Istanbul’s SBH airport terminal, Perth’s terminal 3 were completely designed by Abhay. He had a special contract with H & M which enabled him to work on maximum of 2 projects a year. H & M were more than happy to pay him a very fat salary plus the benefits to keep him with them. He had travelled around 45 countries in the world. He was fluent in many foreign languages. German, French, Spanish, Italian to name a few. He also understood Russian but he couldn’t speak with ease.

Abhay’s father, Mr. Rajkiran Sheshadri had 5 dealerships of Skoda motors in the state of Maharashtra and Goa. Abhay’s father and mother lived in Aurangabad in their family property. After initial schooling, Abhay had hardly lived with his parents ‘coz of education and then job; but whenever he could get some time out, he used to come n spend time with them.

Almost 2 years had passed since Abhay had met Sanchita for the first time. Abhay was on vacation for 2 months and had come home that time. They had met a few times in Mumbai before Abhay had to go back to Detroit where his next project was waiting for him. Abhay’s head office was in New York but he hardly went there as his work was spread all across the globe.

‘N today they were meeting after a gap of about 7 months. Sanchita was delighted to see him. Abhay had to do a feasibility study in Milan. He had scheduled his survey according to her dates in Europe ‘n there he was! In Geneva … With Sanchita … His chic!

They raced to Intercontinental where Sanchita was put up. As they entered her room, Abhay ordered for red wine, fried fish & fondue. They freshened up and then were ready for a lovely dinner. Sanchita was looking even hotter in her nightie. Abhay was gonna find it difficult to control himself for long. He knew it.

“Babez, let’s have some fun!” Abhay was full fidaa on her and she also knew it. He pulled her towards him on the bed. Her silky hair were kissing his face. It was maddening for Abhay. She responded him with a passionate kiss. Love was at its purest state. Their souls were meeting.

The next day morning, Abhay asked Sanchita to take a break for a week from Elegance and other work so that they could stay in Europe and spend some time together. It was October ’06 when they had met briskly in Singapore. Abhay had about 9 days in hand before his survey project at Milan would start up. Sanchita just had to do a few phone calls and she was through!

9 days with Abhay … In the most picturesque areas of Europe!

She was excited.

Abhay looked lost for a while. Maybe something was running in his mind. Sanchita noticed that but Abhay immediately returned back to his own self with jokes n pranks.

But … But … What was running in Abhay’s mind?

It rained that night...

2008-04-05T01:54:00.017+04:00

3rd cigarette.. Abhay was totally enjoying that weather.. He was just sitting peacefully n smokin as if he was the king of this world!

It was raining cats n dogs..Abhay's tag heuer showed the time of 1:17am.. He had stopped at some closed roadside dhaaba shed in Ambenali ghaat which runs for about 39 kms from Poladpur to Mahabaleshwar.. He had not seen a single vehicle after leaving Poladpur at 11:50pm..

For half an hour, he was standing still in the rain n enjoyin the refreshin smell of the soil.. Then, to have a fag, he had come inside the shed.. He was feeling good & peaceful.. Even his Tata Safari was liking that break after running continuously on the road for more than 9 hours.. He had started from Panjim at around 3pm..

Suddenly he saw hazard indicator towards Mahabaleshwar side in the ghaat.. He was wondering who'd that be.. He smiled.. He was happy to see that there are some more crazy people like him in this world who would take their cars in such kinda rains!

He raced his Safari towards Mahabaleshwar.. Within 5 minutes he reached the car with hazard indicator on.. It was a black colored Honda Civic.. Abhay got down from his car and walked towards that Civic.. He didnt see anyone around.. He wasnt able to see anything inside the car as it had dark tinted glasses n it was simply pouring by then..
He was completely drenched..

He knocked on the glass..

She was beautiful! Actually speaking, she was stunning.. She stepped out of the car.. Abhay asked whether she'd need any help.. She didnt speak for quite some time.. Abhay was mesmorised by her beauty.. Glorious skin - lookin better in that rain, beautiful face with a very little makeup, Height of about 5' 7", perfect figure in that black dress for evening parties, slightly colored n neatly cut hair, n eyes - full of expressions!

She was hesitant to speak but she didnt have any other option either for gettin any kinda help.. She requested Abhay to check the engine.. Seemed like her car wiring had picked some problem in that excessive rain.. Abhay opened the bonnet only to see that there was some serious problem with the wiring.. Such that Civic couldn't have moved even by an inch..

"I'm going upto Aurangabad via Mahabaleshwar n Pune.. Lemme know if I can drop you somewhere.. Seems like the wiring of the car is in big mess n I dont think you'll get any other car here atleast for next 5-6 hrs.." He said..

She wanted to goto Mumbai n actually needed the lift in the opposite direction - towards Poladpur.. But she didnt have a choice.. She was stranded there for more than 2 n half hours.. No cellular networks.. No cars coming from either side.. Heavy rains.. She had seen headlights of Abhay's car from far n so had put on hazard for getting some help..

"Can you please drop me somewhere near Pune wherein I can get a cab for Mumbai?" Her voice was soft n as beautiful as she was.. "Sure, lets go", Abhay responded..

She felt like heaven when Abhay offered her a sandwich n can of cola.. Abhay was a big foodie n used to keep hell lotta food stuff in the car everytime.. "Thanks a lot; I really needed that!", smilingly she said.. "Name's Sanchita.." She continued.. "Abhay.. Abhay Sheshadri.. Nice to meet you!", he responded..

After initial awkward moments, Sanchita felt safe n sooner found very comfortable in Abhay's company.. He offered her lift till Mumbai as he was in no mood to end that meeting with Sanchita n she was also quite happy to take that lift.. He dropped Sanchita in Bandra at around 8:30 in the morning..

But was that a start of all new journey ??

Maybe the gentle kiss that Sanchita planted on Abhay's cheek while getting down from the car can answer that...............

---------------------------------------------

[ Note: This is the 1st part of the story "Bare Skies". For the 2nd part, click - "Swissed" ] and for the 3rd & final part, please click - "Bare Skies"]

2007.. A year full of happenings !

2008-02-24T23:18:00.000+04:00

2007 …
A year full of happenings!
Good, bad, n yes a few ugly ones too..
Lets not get into the ugly ones..

I started the year 2007 on the best note possible.. Got into one of the better B-schools, n went to Singapore..

Back to school days.. Frankly speaking, I hardly cherish any memories from my schooling life.. But this was great.. 97 new friends! I really enjoyed company of each ‘n every person in my batch.. Learnt a lot of punjabi words, thanks to my roomie (big brother) Anurag aka Paaji.. :)

It was always great being with him.. We Celebrated a lot of booze parties.. everyone was invited.. Celebrated all the birthdays that fell in that period.. Didnt bother about the next day quizzes, exams, presentations.. One of the best ways to gel with people..

Had my share of tough emotional times also.. It took me some time to get over it.. It was good that I was not in Pune.. Was constantly under pressure of studies.. So didnt have much time to spend for this.. Havent met her after that but I just wish good luck to her for the future.. its not easy to get rid of some memories.. but not impossible also.. for sure..

8th wonder in the world happened n we got a clear 4 day off in Singapore sem.. wallah !!! Explored the small town of Bintan in Indonesia in those 4 days.. Its beautiful!!! Must visit for every beachlover..

There was also an animal called “SGP” which I had to tackle with my 9 brave friends.. SGP is special group project wherein a group needs to do some project with local company and do some business value add for them.. Somehow we managed to get over with that SGP stuff.. we struggled, we stressed to limits (beyond limits actually).. But we did some great stuff.. Got appreciated by the company and by school as well..

With a sentosa party, the singapore sem came to an end..

Dubayyyy.. it was time to rock in Dubayy then.. came to dubai in june when the temperature is at its peak.. say 50 degrees odd.. but that gave me the true dubai flavor.. Akshat, aditya, joy dada n saini were my roomies for dubayyy.. but yuga n surabhi used to spend more time in our room than their own room.. equaion was yuga joy but surabhi was used to do tp only..

Did lotsa timepass in Dubayy.. movies, outings, n yes skydiving.. Wallah ! cant forget that thing ever..
Our dean agreed for submission of our final project report rather than a presentation.. so we were totall chilled out!

Dubayy episode also came to an end..

Had a great time in UK n swiss.. met old buddies, remembered some great times again, laughed like crazy.. all in all, had a great time.. :)

Finally reached India via Dubai on Dec 27th.. Spent abt 2 wks with family before comin back to Dubai..

Happy new year, guys :)

jd

(P.S.: I know i’m posting this blog on feb 24th but I wanted to post this in Jan 1st wk itself :P )

Sansani : Khabar Dubai Se # Part 5

2007-08-22T14:40:00.000+04:00

12,000 feet above ground..
I peep out of an open doored Cessna airfcraft..
I feel a bit of fear..
but a lot of excitement..
I take a look around..
Can see blue ocean n deserts..

a few tense moments....

n,

I jump out of the aircraft................

Whoaaaaaaaa .......!

Phewwww.....Guys, my 1st ever skydive couldnt have got better than this.. After jumping from the plane I experienced free fall of about 60 seconds.. After initial 2-3 seconds, I felt like a superrrrman ! I was flying :) Dancing in the air :) You achieve the maximum speed of abt 200 kmph for a few seconds in that free fall.. The Najaara was simply superb out there.. Me n my instructor, Yevgeny (pronounced as 'Eugene'; dont know why !?! ) were coupled together using the best safety equipments. Yevgeny n me (as a single unit) and steve, the videographer 'n photographer, had jumped together n immediately steve was at his work of capturing those wonderful moments. Steve was relatively new in the field of skydiving photography.. His jumpcount is only 800+ (you read it right, eight hundred plus) for videography.. Talkin about Yevgeny, he has got more than 20 years of experience in skydiving ! 20 years ... ggllllpppp...

After that 60 second free fall, yevgeny opened the parachute for us.. n whooooff.. It gives a solidd recoil ! This was the regular parachute which was gonna ground us safely.. They open the balancing chute as soon as we jump from the plane. It helps in balancing the weights of 2 people.. Steve was still under free fall and we saw him gushing speedily.. He was gonna open his chute @ 2000 feet while we had opened our chute @ 3000 feet.. It took us abt 5 minutes to hit the ground.

Steve was ready with his helmet camera+camcorder to capture my landing moments.. He did that with perfection.. :)
Yevgeny n me landed safely there @ lawn patch..

My craziest ever adventure mission was accomplished !

[ Photos @ http://picasaweb.google.com/jaydeephingne/SkydivingUAQ ]

[ video @ http://youtube.com/watch?v=ROd7L7yka4k ]

Some background :
Akshat, Aditya n me were the 3 crazy souls from our college gang who had the balls to go for skydiving.. We had zeroed down "Umm Al Quwain Aeroclub" for this activity.. This particular club is abt 1 hr drive from Dubai.. They do abt 15-20 dives a day but you need to book in advance for your dive.. A skydive (also known as Tandem Jump) at this club costs 1000 dirhams (450 dhms extra for the video and snaps).. [ 1 dirham = 11.5 INR ]

Yess, one more adventure ( n the most memorable till date ) added to my list !

Just FYI my list stands as follows (as of 22/august/2007):
Skydiving (Umm Al Quwain - UAE),
Reverse Bungee (Singapore),
Scuba Diving(Indonesia, Lakshadweep-India),
Trekking (Maharashtra, Himachal),
Beach parasailing (Maharashtra),
River Rafting (Karnataka),
Mountain biking (Karnataka),
Canoeing (Indonesia),
Kayaking (Lakshadweep),
Snorkelling (Lakshadweep),
Water Skiing (Lakshadweep),
Rappelling (Maharashtra, Himachal),
Rock Climbing (Himachal),
Valley Crossing (Maharashtra)

yooohooo !!!

Well guys thanx for being patient enough and reading this update 5 !
Hope you like it....

Cheers,
Jaydeep Hingne (certified Tandem Jumper)

Dubai Darshan : Khabar Dubai Se # Part 4

2007-08-05T14:50:00.000+04:00

Hi guys,

Time for another update:: Khabar Duabi se # part 4 !

This time we, a group of 15 lukkhas doing IT management @ SPJCM, had decided to go for dubai city tour or dubai darshan..Weather was very pleasant at 50 degrees odd (:P} but we were getting bored sitting @ our hostels. So we had taken this brave decision to go out.

Our first destination was Dubai museum which is located in Bur Dubai. Bur Dubai means old Dubai. There still exist some very narrow lanes and traffic blocks happen regularly.
Museum was good; we could see some ancient arabic stuff there. After that it McD time for lunch ! Then we went to "heritage village" and "diving village" which were absolute crap. We didnt waste much time there n moved on for Dubai creek park. By mistake we went ahead n landed at "Al Boom Tourist village". (see the name - Al Boom). there was no tourist attraction there @ Al boom, so after clicking a few snaps we moved for Dubai creek park.
Dubai creek park is a nice place wherein they've created one of the nicest golf courses in dubai. Dubai open happens there n big stars like Tiger woods n ernie els do come over there. We couldn't have afforded to play golf there, so after spending some time there we moved on to our next destination - Hyatt's Ice skating rink. (FYI : There are 2 Hyatts, 2 Le meridien's in Dubai). We went to Hyatt near palm deira n enjoyed doing ice skating for abt 90 minutes. :) i couldnt do it for more time 'coz my bum was badly shaken by the 2 falls while trying to balance ....
Next activity was abra ride. abra is a small boat which can carry abt 20 people. We booked 1 abra and had a nice ride in dubai creek for abt 1 hour.

Dinner was at paki ghazi restaurant. Nice place !

:)

Have uploaded some snaps in web album @
http://picasaweb.google.com/jaydeephingne/dubai
Do check when possible.

Also, i'm attaching first 3 dubai khabars in this mail as i had forgotten to add a few people in the list for some updates.

cheers ..!
jd

Desert Safari # Khabar Dubai Se : Part 3

2007-07-11T14:55:00.000+04:00

heylo !!!

i'm back with one more update....
(You guys must be thinking that JD is doing everything there in Dubai except the studies... :P)

Well, this time it was "Desert Safari" !!!

We, 24 guys from our rockin batch, loaded ourselves into the mean machines - "Landcruisers" n we were on our way for desert safari experience ! The package includes 45 minutes of dune bashing, dinner, sheesha, henna painting, unlimited soft drinks, sand boarding n of course belly dancing !!!! :)

You guys must have seen Drifting in fast n furious, but driting in sand dunes is awesome..our drivers took us for a joyride { :P } for about 45 minutes then on.. Dune bashing, as they call it, was simply awesome.. after that, we could do a very small camel ride..it was not even for 2 minutes i guess :D

Then we went to the shamiyana place n there we had some nice time enjoyin flavored sheesha, n delicious dinner...n when a lebonese dancer came up for belly dancing, majaa aa gaya !

have uploaded some snaps at picasaweb..
[ http://picasaweb.google.com/jaydeephingne/dubai ]

jd

Burj-Al-Arab # Khabar Dubai Se : Part 2

2007-07-01T14:58:00.000+04:00

Hi guys,

heres the update from my side.....

Yesterday we, a group of 17 people, had gone to Medina Jumeirah n Jumeirah beach.. Medina Jumeirah is small fort like place wherein they have a few high class shops.. we simply cannot buy anything there.. too expensive ... some antiques are also there.. then we went to trilogy - one of the best discs in dubai.. Awesome sound n awesome babes too :)
party starts @ 12 midnight there n goes on till 3-4 am.. we had to move from that place early but we have some 5 - 6 months more in dubai !!! :)

then we went to jumeirah beach.. but wait !!!!

we came across Burj - Al - Arab on our way.. W O W........................
its wonderful, beautiful, too good !!! you cannot walk in to burj jus like that but the watchmen were kind enough..we shot atleast 50 snaps there.. To go into burj, the minimum charges are 450 dirhams ( abt 5000 INR ).. You can book a buffet lunch for 450 dhms n goto that wonderful place..

we moved to jumeirah beach after that foto session @ burj.. that beach is nice n you get a very nice view of burj from there...
after spending some time there, we finally returned back to our hostel @ abt 2.15am.......

album updated :: i've uploaded some pix of Burj n some other pix in dubai album....do have a look wen possible...
[ http://picasaweb.google.com/jaydeephingne/dubai]

Khabar Dubai Se : Part 1

2007-06-28T15:02:00.000+04:00

Hi all,

Finally today i got the opportunity to write something about this wonderful city called D U B A I !!!

When the air hostess said that temperature outside is abt 35 deg celsius (at 10 o'clock in the night), i was shocked..I got the idea how comfortable my stay is gonna be in Dubai..The 1st thing one notices in dubai is its airport.. you dont feel like its an airport; its like a huge mall.. n then comes the immigration center which has 50 counters n still you have to queue up for atleast 30 mins to get that formality done !!! tooooooooooo many people flyin in .........

My hostel is abt 30 mins bus ride from the airport..its in international city, a region built for various countries like china, italy, france, greece etc.. Our hostel is in china cluster.. its totally in desert.. there's only one shop where you can go walking.. Its a general store wherein you'll get stuff required for daily use.. We got a 5 bedded accomodation.. 2 rooms + kitchen + 2 bathrooms + 1 small balcony.. (have attached a few snaps).. we also have 4 almirahs + 1 fridge + 1 microwave + 1 electric toaster + 1 iron board + 1 washing machine + 1 electric kettle in our apartment.. aditya, akshat, joy n siddharth are my room mates; all into IT management..in the junior batch, i met a few old buddies also..

Our college is in Academic city wherein there are some university campuses also..Everyday buses are arranged for us to drop us to college in the morning and then back to the hostel in the evening..so everyday, its a fight to catch the bus.. if you miss the bus, you gotta take the cab to college which would roughly cost abt 35 dhms.. taxis are the only way to commute for us.. there are city buses in dubai but they ply in the main city :)

in first 2 days, we went 2 of dubai's famous malls - city centre, mall of emirates.. mall of emirates - popular as MoE - has a ice skiing facility too.. we jus roamed around for 2-3 hrs in those malls.. its impossible to cover all shops in any of the malls in a day.. we did a lot of shopping for our daily use..cheese slices, bread, sauce, namkin stuff etc etc..I didnt dare to click too many snaps in malls because if the women over here feel that one is clicking them, they can make sure that you go behind the bars !!! so dont mess ! :D
but lebanese n arab women really really beautiful ! :)

calling to other countries is very expensive from here (abt 2 dhms per minute or 24 INR per minute)..thoda jyada hi mehanga hai !!! :D

chalo, cutting short here....
do keep in touch guys......

Jaydeep

PS: if you dont get the fotos, do check my album @ picasaweb.
[ http://picasaweb.google.com/jaydeephingne/dubai/ ]

Funtime @ Bintan, Indonesia.

2007-04-19T14:40:00.000+04:00

100,000 rupya!!! Wallah!!!

abababbbbbbbbababababa......

This was how I reacted when the cabbie handed over a 1-lakh rupya bill for covering a mere 25 kms… But soon I had to digest to the fact that I was in Indonesia wherein the lowest denomination for a currency note is 1000 rupya and 1 USD = 9000 IDR! (ababbbbababababaaa....once again !)

Well, it was Good-Friday (April 6th, 2007) when I packed my bags to set foot in a new country, Indonesia! Sumeet, Tushar, Kush n Sameer (aka Baazigar) were the lucky souls who got the opportunity to join me in the venture. On reaching the Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal, Singapore early morning to catch a ferry for Bintan, we found it already packed with loads of people. The first available ferry to Bintan was only at 5pm. There was no way we could have afforded that long a wait, as it would've wasted our whole day. So we - the smart managers, took an immediate decision to go to Batam. Batam, also in Indonesia, is more of a commercial town than a holiday destination. So we took 10AM's ferry to Batam n got our indonesian visa stamped at Nongsapura ferry terminal of Batam. An hour of the ferry ride to Batam was great fun!!! Sumeet’s crazy modelling was just one bit worth mentioning! From Nongsapura, we took yet another 100,000 rupiah taxi to go to the Port of Punggur terminal. This was where we would board the ferry to Bintan..

After the hectic round of acrobatics, we landed at Tanjung Pinang terminal of Bintan at around 2pm (Indonesia time). I had booked the hotel on Trikora beach online. (I had to stay true my name, e-jd !) Again, we hired "one lakh rupya (rupiah) taxi" to reach the place. Nostalgia Yasin Bungalow (NYB), our resort, was simply superb; location, rates, food – all defined to perfection!!!

White sand beach with blue water lagoons, no plastic waste on beach, no traces of oil in water!!! Now isnt that a too good to be true??? But that’s what the place was like!

Edy welcomed us all to NYB with a fresh round of coconut water, and the huge and amazingly sweet Indonesian coconuts at that!

The next moment, we were in canoes. I was the only one amongst the four of us who was experienced in canoeing, which made it all the more fun for me!

The next day, it was time for a ride through the mangroves. It wasn’t as exciting as we had expected, but an experience to remember was the speed boat. Next on the list was banana boat ride; a banana shaped rubber float which can accommodate 6 people. This is then pulled by a speed boat in deep seas. Awesome fun, that ride!!!

Then on 7th april, we also did more of canoeing and biking in the nearby area..2 Honda Supras were given to us to roam around.. We went to fishermen village, other beaches nearby..Mee goreng was our hot favourite in the food items there..club sandwiches, french fries, coke were amongst the most wanted items..

Next day, I went for scuba diving while Sumeet, Sameer n Tushar went for 2nd round of biking.. I tried scuba again after 4 n half years..it was damn tough..My 1st attempt wasnt so successful but I got a hang of it..then i tried 2 more times n I had wonderful time 50 feet down there.. Bintan has a lot of live corals around..Also I could see many colorful fishes, sea grass..Its an experience which simply cannot be put into words..

4pm, 8th of April 2007 and it was time to say goodbye to Bintan!
We took the last ferry back to Singapore. ’Falcon 3’ was our vessel which was like a "junta vessel"; haat dikhao, ferry rukao! But it was nice to sit on the upper deck and enjoy the view! (I don’t know what exactly we saw in the journey :) but as we approached Singapore, we saw a very nice-looking post-sunset skyline of the city.

Another great excursion had just come to an end!!!

I'd be packing my bags soon though :)

-- jaydeep (april 19th, 2007 :: 0340 hrs SGT)

p.s. foto album @ http://picasaweb.google.com/jaydeephingne/BintanIndonesiaApril2007

River Rafting @ Sitanadi, Karnataka

2006-07-02T14:29:00.000+04:00

Rain , Rain n more Rain....................................
It just didn't stop raining there in Someshwara Reserved Forests..Someshwara Reserved Forests ???? huh ????
Well, thats the place i had gone for doing one of my most awaited adventure sports, River Rafting..We, a team of 4 guys, started from Pune n were supposed to reach Hebri, a small village in karnataka which is about 40 kms from Udipi..In Karnataka, monsoons had already arrived, so we were welcomed by heavy rains in Udipi..Udipi to Hebri was a nice scenic ride in the public transport bus with all Kannada bhajans playing at full volume..At Hebri, commander jeep had come to pick us up..Our staying arrangement was done in the tents in thick forests of Someshwara which comes under Kudremukh Forest Division..I have been to many jungles before but that looked like much much thicker than the forests i'd seen before..

After a quick breakfast, we were all geared up for RAFTING in our safety jackets n helmets !!! Instructors told us about the rafting technique, about the equipments..We had opted for the longest rafting run of 22 kms..When we saw that River Sita, we were taken aback as that was a biiiig river n had stoners (trees that grow in the summer after the water dries out of monsoon river) too.. Kedar was the first lucky person to taste that dark green water of Sita river..At a rapid, he couldn't control his position n fell into water..We had many more rapids to go..it was great fun maneuvering rafts through those rapids..But it was damn tiring too.. Just before we had our lunch, i got the opportunity to see the bottom side surface of my raft..While passing thru a rapid, i lost control n fell into water..Thanks to the life jacket so that i'm still alive n am able to write this blog !

We had our lunch underneath a bridge..Our resortwallahs had cooked special south indian style food n they'd brought it there on our way..We continued rafting after the lunch break..It was around 6pm when we finally had finished doing rafting..Our jeep had there to pick us again..Our shoulders, arms, wrists were paining like hell..Combiflam was our dessert for that night !!! Then it was time for playing cards after dinner..We had hardly any other option as we were in a very remote area..
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Day 2 ::
The next day started on a terrible note as my small sack, which had camera n other electronic stuff, was missing..I was totally shocked..We asked everyone but didn't get any positive answer..Just taking a chance, we started looking into the forest area nearby our tents..N WHOA !!! My sack was there, completely torn..The local guys said that it must be the monkeys' work if my sack had any food stuff..

n yeah, they were correct..My sack had a packet of bakarwadis n some peanuts..Monkeys had taken that food stuff n had left the bag there in trees.. Fortunately, the camera was there n was in working condition.. We went for Kayaking after having breakfast that day..We had to go to Warahi river for doing Kayaking as Kayaking needs quiet water n not rapidly flowing water as River Sita has.. Kayaking was also great fun..This time Nikhil also joined Kedar having a dip in the river water.. We came back to our tents n as like day1, had some great time in playing cards..
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Day 3 :
MOUNTAIN BIKING !!!
Yeah, we had a great time doing mountain biking that day..We rode for abt 2 hrs but that was simply awesome..Riding on those small tracks, watching those beautiful surroundings was heaven !
After these wonderful ventures, we left for Pune from Udipi..But with lots n lotsa amazing memories !!!

Well done, Rubens !

2005-08-21T14:42:00.000+04:00

"Drop off !"

Ferrari team manager Ross Brawn radioed these words to Rubens Barrichello when he was only a few metres away from clinching a great win at A-1 ring (Austria) in 2002..Rubens just couldnt believe it..But he had no other option but to follow team orders..Michael was running second in that race and Ferrari wanted Michael to be on the top spot to maximize his lead in overall ch'ship..

Michael won that race with the gap of 0.011 seconds over Rubens..The narrowest winning margin ever seen in F - 1..

Rubens joined Ferrari in 2000 as their no.2 driver..But in the span of 6 seasons, Ferrari couldnt give proper justice to the incredible talent of Rubens..Rubens always n always had to play the second fiddle to Michael..No doubt, Michael got the glory days of Ferrari back again..But Rubens got under-estimated "n" no. of times..Rubens has won 9 G.P.'s till date and has got 2nd position for 26 times..Ironically, Michael has won races 19 times when Rubens came 2nd..This stat is quite revealing about the strategies adopted by Ferrari.. In this year's US G.P. too, Rubens was pushed off the race track by Michael when only 6 cars took part in the race..It was shear arrogance from the German..

Finally, in this year when Rubens decided to leave Ferrari, I was more than happy !..n now he'd joining BAR Honda as their no.1 driver..WELL DONE, RUBENS !!! Not only myself but all your fans across the world want you to win the races BEATING those red cars..just shake them off !!!

4 years of fun...thats engineering, guyz !

2005-08-12T15:09:00.000+04:00

4 full imperial sized sheets in one night..

That was the mission we had to accomplish..So all the gang came to my place n we, 5-6 guys, did that in less than 4 hrs..Thats where the concept of "GT" (glass tracing) rules ! The person who has invented this awesome technique was an engineer in a true sense..

Another adventurous thing in engineering life is "submissions"..You might not do as much work for your final exams as you need to do for your submissions..That sucks ! Really..Coz no-one reads those bunches of papers after you get the sign on it..For that signature, we are supposed to write 100 odd pages for almost every subject..Total crap !

Lectures are engaged so that students can get some inputs from prof's, but in VIT, we did sit for the lectures only for the hillarious comments made by our great great prof's..Prof Khandagale (prod dept) had once said, "Its similar, but not very similar ! " ..We just couldnt stop laughing for next half an hour..Then once Prof Kore got very angry..N he struggled to express himself n ultimately he uttered "I'm very hot ! What to say , got no words !! " ..N if you think this is it, better you read the comment made by Prof Nitsure..In SE, he delivered the coment of the decade.. "Nothing will go of my father, if you fall in pit ! " can anyone beat this ????? i guess its just impossible..Its word to word translation of marathi saying "tu khaddyat padlas tar mazya baapacha kahi jaat nahiye"..

VIT's canteen is one of smallest canteens among the city colleges..N more on that, they eat up canteen's space for more parking area every year..Thats really ridiculous ! Jaaye to jaaye kahaan !!! But you get lots of good punjabi, chinese stuff in the canteen.. Fortunately, I could participate in lots of technical competitions..Also did some organizing work in "mechatrix"..These kinda activities help you in developing good public relations, your managing capabilities, your technical skills..In BE, i got the chance of being Technical Secretary of the college..Nice experience it was ! ..

I really had a ball in VIT wih lotsa friends..I did have quarrels with almost every prof in TE n BE..But it was fun ! All in all, I would consider engineering life as one of the best time-periods of my life !!!

Lets take a Coffee break !

2005-08-05T04:35:00.000+04:00

Feeling really bored ?? Wanna stay awake all nite for submissions ?? Wanna refresh yourself ??

The best solution to all these situations is " COFFEE "..We all would agree with this..n now CCD's , Barista's are adding a different dimension to coffee experience..In these outlets, you can go almost anytime, have a cup of coffee with your friends, can chat with your pals without any time restriction..You can listen your favourite songs, buy books, play scrabble, watch tv etc etc...

In the afternoons n in the evenings, Cappucino or chococino or cafe latte are generally the favourites ; while in the late evenings, nites, late nites,, irish coffee, americano are the preferred ones..My favourite is 'americano' which is basically black coffee..It gives me a big zatka to stay awake all nite..Nescafe rules when you are home n dont want to go out..It just pulls you out from howsoever bad your mood could be..

cheers !
n Lets meet for a cup of coffee !

Amazing Lakshadweep

2005-08-02T17:09:00.000+04:00

Magical !!!

This could be the best possible single word description of Lakshadweep islands..You just cant stop saving the whole atmosphere in your memory for a split second too..Only on national geographic or on discovery channels, we get to see thsoe blue waters n lagoons n white beach sand..

It all began with our train journey from Pune..It took some 38 hrs to reach Ernakulam stn (Cochin)..But it was fun with lotsa friends..The next day, we had to catch a ship for Kawaratti from Cochin..When they told that it'd take around 16 hrs to reach Kawaratti, पोटात गोळा !!!

"Tipu Sultan", our conveyance to Kawaratti, was a huge vessel..n as they started to unfold its mysteries, we couldnt do anything but to panic more n more every second..That ship's expected life had ended 15 yrs ago..It had caught fire 'n' no.of times; the latest being just 6 months back..we had company of 500 odd people on that ship..n lots of cargo too..Tipu Sultan is the largest n oldest vessel that plies between Lakshadweep islands to Cochin..Kadmat, Agatti, Andrott, Bangaram, Kalpeni, Minicoy are the other main islands in Lakshadweep..Kawaratti, being capital, doesnt have an air strip though..The only air strip is at Agatti..

We could see lotsa dolphins as we were entering the main sea waters..We all had to sit on the deck area, n that too with plastic bags in pockets..Atleast, the constant breeze of fresh air eased the dangerous phenomenon called "sea sickness"..Canteen was a floor down..With no supply of fresh air in canteen, many of us had the first experience of puke on the ship..We ran off to the upper deck n did spend all the remaining time there only..Dumb-charades, antakshari, jokes can pass any amount of time really well..

After the dangerous stunts of dis-embarking, we reached Kawaratti by small boats almost 18 hrs after we had left Cochin..Kawaratti is a very beautiful place..Clear blue waters, white beach without any plastic scrap is surely a rare sight in India..We visited a factory in which the local public make a lotta things from coconuts..Yeah, only coconut products are made in Kawaratti..All the other things are shipped from Cochin..So we had to be very careful using the resources..Electricity, paper, n even a match box too..

The next day, we went for Scuba - diving..I could go upto 35 ft. max. down the sea level..After abt 25 ft down in waters, your lungs really start to get exhausted..I could see various kinda fish, turtles, corals (most dead but a few live ones too)..The whole experience of scuba was really amazing..

I tried my hand at water - skiing, kayaking, snorkelling too; water - skiing being the most tiring..After water - skiing, there wasnt any body part which didnt pain..But it was an experience !!

We cycled n roamed around in that small place of Kawaratti..View from the light-house was simply fabulous !!! We did celebrate one of our friend's b'day there with a great party..
We had a helicopter ride schedulled too but we had to cancel that plan as our ship back to Cochin, was preponed by 12 hrs..Fortunately, this time the ship, "Amindivi", was quite new n was lesser crowded..It had nice seating arrangement but i preferred the deck area for the obvious reason.. Cochin->Kawaratti->Kadmat->Bangaram->Agatti->Cochin was the route to be followed this time..So needless to say, we were bound to take more time to return back to Cochin..30 hrs, to be precise !!!

After dis-embarking at Cochin port, we hurried to catch our train back to Panvel..Journey to Panvel in superfast Netravati exp., n through all the backwaters, coconut n cashew n supari trees, greenary around was really a pleasure..

हम चलें चंद्रताल !!!

2005-08-02T04:48:00.000+04:00

Friends,Romans,Countrymen,
In 1854, on the snow clad hill-slopes of the himalayas lived a wise hermit to loved to trek. He died in 1856. this log is dedicated to that poor old man who did not have the opportunity to make such a log.

Thus unfolds the lengendary kathaa of our danger-laden trek to Chandrataal:

It all began with our train journey to delhi...(june 26th)...reaching the railway stn @ 4 am was torture for most of the guys...but it wasnt so for the nocturnal creature that i am...26 hrs to Delhi were full-to fun, dangaa, tp, non-sense, food....yeah, we had too much food...

On 27th's evening, we had to catch the bus for manali...couldnt do much dangaa there in the bus for fear that the driver may suddenly decide to abandon us in some secluded spot and run off (with the bus of course)...28th was a bright sunny day in Manali...we (non-tekdi guys) went to jogini falls for acclamatization...was a great place...firang babes in their barely-there clothes (leaving nothing to the imagination) added spice to our excursion...We visited hadimba temple in the evening...nice place!!! my 6th visit to hadimba, in all...
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We left for the actual trek route from manali early in the morning on the 29th...0400 hrs...it was so damn cold we had people shivering from hair to u know what...We had to cross Rohtang pass as early as possible,but it was almost 7 when we finally left our hotel in manali...my Qualis was very capacious with only 6 guys sitting in it..The road to Rohtang kept telling us to mind its curves..as if we'd had an option..Rohtang was very crowded as expected...had our breakfast at a small place called Grampho, 16 kms from rohtang (last place on Manali-Leh highway on our way to ch'taal)...reached a small kasbaa called chhatru by noon...our first day trek was from *chhatru to dadar-fu*( sounds Chinese? )...moderate distance of 7-8 kms...
Walkin to dadar-fu was hardly tiring...dadar-fu was a great sight...there was a nice waterfall nearby...climbing climbing kiya...fun kiya...

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The next day, 30th june, 2 tekdi guys started feeling HAS (high altitude sickness)...
So we had to send "The Sickos" back to manali..the rest of us were to reach *Chhota-Dara*( no relative of any wrestler/gangster). 8 kms from dadar-fu...God damn HAS started troubling a few more guys by then...Chhota Dara was a windy site...some of us tried rock climbing there(TRIED!!)
i couldnt, coz my feet were blistered... :-(
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1st july :

Now it was pushkar's turn to go back to Manali...He was the most experienced Himalayan trekker amongst us...but HAS troubled him like hell...n the distance to be covered that day was 17 kms...also 1 girl, Persis, couldnt walk after sometime...so we sent her to *Baatal*, our destination camp for that day, via some passing jeep...walking there was getting harder n harder after every step...me n Amey Kunte had quite an amount of energy left...so we sprinted to baatal in 3 n half hrs without stopping in last 14 kms( clap clap ).

Persis was sitting there but wasnt feeling perfectly allright...In the evening, she n one more guy, Rao, had to be sent back to Manali..For the first time in all my trekking experience,were 5 people sent back to the start.

Baatal was very very windy...it took us more than 40 mins to pitch our tent...generally it requires 15 mins max.( doesn't speak too well of us now does it? ).
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3rd n 4th july :

The actual plan was to go to a monestry called Tokpo Yongma on 3rd n return to Chandrataal on 4th july evening...but looking at everyone's condition, the local guide said we shouldnt go there...so we stayed at Chandrataal...did some small climbs, played in snow, played cards, had fun in songs' mehfils. We prepared dinner ourselves n rested the local cooks...all in all had too much fun..

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5th july :

The day started on a terribly wrong note...it was snowing heavily from 0430 hrs...n there wasnt any sign of respite from the snowfalll...According to the original plan,we had to climb 7 kms n reach Kumzum Pass n go back to Manali from there via jeeps which were supposed to pick us up there..

but it was very very risky to climb up in the snow...so we decided to go back to Baatal, 14kms down...we lost our way in the snow...snowfall just didn't stop...winds were chilling...our sacks had protection but for heavy snowfall like that, it wasnt enough to keep the stuff inside dry...we were walkiing all day with wet socks, wet shoes, wet pants (ewwwww)...

We had to cover those 14kms in the shortest possible time...we had to pull the weaker guys all the time...finally we reached Baatal at 2 pm...jeepwallahs had come 2-3 kms from baatal to pick us up...what a relief !!!...after our lunch n clothes changing, we left for manali at 5 pm..

but where was the road ???

The entire road was covered with thick snow..Our Sumos were going through that snow trying to find the road...it s all depended on the drivers' skills...their memory, basically... where's the glacier, where's the crevice, n mainly where's the road....

It was still snowing...

We had to come out from our sumo n lagao dhakka *n* no of times...it was damn cold outside the vehicle...n in that we had to put our feet in 2 feet thick snow n lagao dhakka...

horrible !

Reached Chhatru back at 8 pm...it took us 3 hrs to clock 30 odd kms n that too with those expert drivers...

n the fun begins now...

After Chhatru, we had to clear the landslides !!!! yeah, you read it correctly...LANDSLIDES...
As we saw a landslide, we'd come out of the sumos, push the rocks in the valley... all this in snowfall, spine-chilling cold n in the night using torches or headlights...after clearing this, you get a new landslide on the next turn...

हे भगवान कर कल्याण !!! (hey bhagwan, kar kalyan ! )

We cleared almost 15 landslides from Chhatru...but finally we got stuck to a rock which was double the size of our sumo gaddi...it was impossible to move by an inch too...

so a decision was made to go back to chhatru n stay there in a small dhaba...it was 0000hrs 6th july, when we reached chhatru again...we were shivering continuously...sitting near a shekoti(burning horse shit!) n sipping tea, somehow we managed to pass that night...

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6th july:

We slept turn by turn in that small dhaba in Chhatru...as the weather got cleared a bit, we instantly left for Manali...our drivers had decided to pass that big rock anyhow...

They did drink like hell to sustain the fatigue n to have energy in that weather... आमच्या XX कपाळात ! (aamchya XX kapaalat) ...they passed sumos through that narrowest gap, i dont know how...its just undescribable...we were watching the sumo's 2 tyres alomst completely in the valley n the other driver was shouting *aane de aane de*...we didnt have balls to stay in sumo while they showing this stunt...we were standing atleast 200 metres away...

After clearing this landslide. we came across many landslides...the rocks were not as big though...at one place Kunte went ahead to clear a few rocks n a rock, sized almost equal to a small truck, went rolling bekkar fastly in the vally, just 5 feet behind him...we were all stunned...kunte couldnt even speak up for next 15 minutes...

Again we had to go back to find shelter somewhere as it was past 7.30 pm...it was very risky to park the vehicles on the road n sleep inside...We found a small house belonging to a tibetan...he allowed us to stay in...gave us food too...We, 18 guys had to distribute in his house n gotha...snowfall had again started...no-one could sleep...It was the highest degree of cold i have ever experienced...wettish jackets,pull-overs,sweaters could hardly protect us from that cold...

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7th july:

We were supposed to be in delhi on 7th to catch the train to pune...but we weren't even in Manali...there wasnt any communication possible...no mobile networks...

Now, we had to decide whether to stay there or to move ahead...some of us were in terrible health...but, we decided to move ahead...Sumos were not feasible as there were too many landslides ahead...so we started walking...after doing 7 kms, we reached a place called *Grampho* which was a place on manali-leh highway...so we had a chance to get some transport from there to manali...

But luck was on our side this time (ABOUT TIME!!)...

2 empty jeeps coming back from leh agreed to drop us at manali...but they werent so sure about the road ahead...but somehow we left for Manali...
Till rohtang, it was again full white-wash...again we cleared some landslides...after crossing rohtang, there was a big fresh landslide stretching about 300 metres...impossible to clear up by hands...but mobiles were working now...we walked through that landslide n waited for the jeeps to come from manali side...our jeeps arrived after sometime n we finally reached Manali at 6 pm...

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8th july:

Manali-Delhi bus passes via Kullu...but Kullu was also closed due to floods for some days...again the luck was on our side...on 8th , our bus could pass through kullu n we were on our way to delhi...by this time, our train reservations from Delhi to Pune had gone waste...
We could only get confirmed tickets of a royal train called Firozpur-Mumbai janata exp, which is supposed to take 6 hrs more than the avg time on that route...
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9th n 10th july :

reached Delhi in the morning...4 of us decided to fly back to Pune...
Our royal train was in the afternoon...it came 1 n half hrs late...but we reached dadar before time on 10th's evening...we did lots of dhamaal in train...we were all again charged-up...
30 hrs train journey felt like nothing...
after dinner, took 2145 hrs' asiad from dadar for pune...n reached pune at 0130 hrs, 11th july...
husssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..........................................

LANCE -- The Living God !

2005-07-27T16:26:00.000+04:00

If theres any person whom you can identify as a living God, only 1 name comes to my mind..

Lance Armstrong..

This 32 yr old american has been a real Champ all his life..he has just won Tour de France for the record seventh time..Tour de France (Tour) is considered as the ultimate test of cycling..

n winning the Tour for 7 consecutive years isnt a joke !

The real twist in the story is that he has won all his Tour titles after recovering from "testicular cancer"...He had traces of cancer in his lungs and in his brain too..He had to undergo severe chemo cycles to survive..n that too with survival chances of 25% max.. Cycling was a far cry..His doctors had little hope of his survival.. But the man of steel took the strongest chemo as one would undergo a simple therapy..

After goin through doses of chemo, he started cycling again in the last few months of 1998.. He had won Tour stages before but he had not won Tour title yet..So he started to ride his bike with the sole intention to win the Tour..Daily 5 hrs of biking on the various terrains of US and europe were really hard on him..But he was really up for the Tour title..He trained hard for it..He got the best support from his team n family too..

Not did he win the 1999 Tour, but he continued winning the Tour for 7 consecutive years.. A world-record ! He was forced to pass through 'n' no. of doping tests after his return to cycling, but he was proved innocent everytime..He had not won a stage in 2005's Tour but was leading in overall standings..He won the 20th stage beating his toughest rival jan ullrich (GERMANY) n also clinched the Tour title..

After winning this year's Tour, he has retired from the proffesional cycling.. He's been a true inspiration to all..We just cant think of running away from some difficult situation, when we think abt the story of this man..Also "lance armstrong foundation for cancer patients" gathers millions for the betterment of cancer patients..

Hats off to you, man !!

No wonder you are one of the most influential people in the world !!!!

(Lance Armstrong : Rank #15, Forbes Magazine)

Sepang 2003

2003-07-30T16:58:00.000+04:00

It was a dream come true when i was on my way to the Sepang F - 1 circuit in Malaysia.. I have always been thrilled by "speed" n i am especially crazy about F - 1.. I never thought that I'd be able to watch an F - 1 GP live so early.. In 2003, it just happened n we were on our way to Malaysia..

Sepang circuit is celebrating its 10th anniversary, this year.. it is built 'bout 60 Kms from the main Kuala Lampur (KL) city.. The KL international airport (KLIA) is 20 Kms further away on the same road.. Sepang circuit offers a great combination of fast n slow chicanes..

The race day was on 23 rd march, 2003 .. Incidentally, that day India was playing against the Aussies in the cricket world cup final.. Raymond, our local guide n driver had come to pick us up at 0800 hrs at our hotel in KL.. I was quite surprised by the timing coz race was supposed to start at 1500 hrs.. Raymond told us that they were going to have an air show before GP.. Soon, we were on our way to sepang circuit.

We reached Sepang at around 0915 hrs n it was already very crowded.. I just couldn’t imagine 120,000 people from all over the world gathering at one place.. All the teams had put up their stalls near the entrance.. All the teams' official merchandise was available there but needless to say it was simply out most of the peoples’ budgets.. I could afford to buy only a t-shirt with Sepang circuit embroidered on it..

We had "hill side with open seating" tickets.. ( cheapest ones !).. but the location was good.. we had to sit on the hills near the end of chicane, so we could watch the cars for a long duration.. It was getting hotter n hotter every minute.. Sitting in 45 deg C, can never be comfortable.. n firang babes in their teeny - weeny bikinis were heating it up even more !!! People had come from various countries of Europe, North n South America, Asia.. There was support for every team that raced.. Even the poorest team, minardi, had loads of supporters.. Fortunately, I was neighbored by lots n lots of tifosis..

At 1200 hrs, 4 fighter planes presented the air show.. It was simply superb !!! It was the best air-show I’ve seen, till date.. Then it was F - 1's routine practice session for about half an hour.. There was a huge round of cheers when the cars passed by each stand.. Especially for the local hero, Alex Yoong, who was driving a minardi that season.. Then all the drivers came for a lap in vintage cars.. It was fun seeing those guys, who are used to speeds of up to 360 Kmph, crawling at about 20 Kmph in those cars.

1500 hrs.. The moment I was waiting for so eagerly !!! The race started..n on the first lap itself, I could see some 6 cars spinning and going on to the grass including the maestro "schumi".. As the cars passed by our stand, we experienced the deafening sound of their engines.. Its that sound n atmosphere for which people pay hundreds of dollars.. I just cant put it in words.. When half of the laps were covered, Kimi was leading the race.. That day his McLaren was performing brilliantly.. Earlier that season, McLaren was finding it difficult even to finish off the race.. But Kimi did hold on to his position n went on to snatch his maiden F - 1 win !!! It was great to see supporters of all teams applauding for Kimi when he drove the victory lap..

I wanted to see the podium celebrations too but Raymond had warned us about the traffic jam that'd occur after the race.. Also I was not sure about reaching the podium area in that ocean of people.. As we reached to the car, there was already a queue of nearly 200 cars near the exit point.. It took us quite a lot of time to reach KL.. But there was no chance of complaint.. After all, I had watched an F - 1 race "LIVE" !!!

The only glitch comes to my mind, when I see F - 1 today, is 'why couldn’t Narain Karthikeyan race in that season ????' .. If he could've, there must had been at least one Indian tri-color waving high in that ocean of people !