–Finally found the One whom I was looking for so long. One of the best days of my life

I had been to a couple of BNHS outings, one to Navha Sheva and the other to Shewri and they were fun. So, I became a member of BNHS and this was my first weekend outing, something that I would cherish for a long time.

The Bhigwan camp was from 26th to 28th of Dec’08. Its a small town approx. 110 kms on the Pune – Solapur road (NH-9) and is surrounded by the backwaters of the mighty Ujjani Dam on the river Bhima. It is a proposed sanctuary for migratory birds, an area of about 18000 hectares. The backwater area is spread across and around the town of Bhigwan. I bet it is probably the best spot in South Central India to see ducks and other birds in enormous numbers.

We left Bombay early Friday morning from Dadar in a BNHS 25 seater mini-bus. We stopped for breakfast in Panel and then stopped again for Lunch little ahead of Pune. I was not at all amazed to know that people who had finished Lunch already started birdwatching in the nearby area. At first we saw a Male Purple Sunbird, then a female one joined in. After a while we saw 2 pairs. They are so restless, keep jumping around from one branch to another. The moment we saw birds, everyone came back with their binoculars and SLRs and started clicking. People on the road were wondering what are these guys upto!

Later, we moved on and stopped near a wet land for a couple of hours for birding. Here, we saw the following birds:
Western Yellow Wagtail
Grey Wagtail
White Wagtail
White-browed Wagtail
Citrine Wagtail
Large Grey Babbler
Booted Warbler
Purple Sunbird
Indian Baya Weaver
Black Drongo
Cattle Egret
Grey Heron
Painted Stork
Glossy Ibis
Ruddy Shellduck
Common Teal
Northern Pintail
Brahminy kite
Common Greenshank
Indian Roller
White-Throated Kingfisher
Little green bee-eater

Our count was nearly 35 odd when we discussed the birds that we saw in the bus on our way to Mayureshwar sanctuary. We reached there just before sunset. It was so nice to see a large group of Chinkaras roaming around freely in the sanctuary. A couple of them stopped by to pose in front of our cameras Thanks to Sandy, she spotted a couple of Bonelli’s Eagles resting on a tree right in the horizon. Sunset was absolutely amazing. Its really surprising that when I am in Bombay, I am so lost in the rat race that I have never noticed sun-rise and sun-sets. They had booked hotels in Baramati which is around 22 km from Bhigwan. Later we headed towards our hotel, freshened up, had a delicious dinner and called it a day as we had to assemble at 6:30am next morning for a round of bird watching at the backwaters of the Dam.

Baramati is a wonderful city with loadsa sugarcane, grapes farms. We saw sugar fields everywhere infact they chai-wallas used to add a generous amount of sugar to our early morning cuppa coffee making it very sweet. The best part of Baramati was food. I had the most amazing breakfast everyday. Used to hog on food. I had the most amazing, the most delicious missal pav along with hot vada pav with green chillies. After mouthwatering breakfast we headed for birding. Throughout the day, we went to 4 different spots and saw the following birds:
Little Grebe
Indian Cormorant
Little Cormorant
Little , Intermediate and Great Egret
Purple Heron
Indian Pond Heron
Black crowned night heron
Asian Openbill Stork
Wooly necked Stork <–These were majestic. I just loved them.
Painted Stork
Black headed Ibis
Greater Flamingo
Ruddy Shellduck
Garganey
Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon
Northern Shoveler
Indian Spot-Billed Duck
Cotton Teal
Black-Winged Kite
Black Kite
Shikra
Osprey <– Absolute delight to see them in flight.
Western Marsh Harrier <– Still my favorite bird of prey.
Common Kestrel
Purple Swamphen
Eurasian Coot
Pheasant tailed Jacana
Small Pratincole
Red and Yellow wattled Lapwing
Less sand plover
Wood Sandpiper
Green Sandpiper
Little Stint
River Tern
Whiskered Tern
Eurasian Collared Dove
Laughing Dove
Rose Ringed Parakeet
Asian Koel
Greater Coucal
Pied Kingfisher
Common Kingfisher
Barn Swallow
Wire tailed Swallow
Red Vented Bulbul
Red Wishkered Bulbul
Common Iora
Indian Black Robin
and many more.

As the sun set in, we began to move towards our hotel, freshened up and again met in a conference room to discuss the birds that we had seen. Nikhil Bhopale our group leader from BNHS patiently answered all our birding queries and gave us some useful tips on identifying the birds correctly. Later, we called it a day as we have to get up early again and go birding!

The last day was very eventful, we packed our bags and headed towards a place called Kumbhar gaon for more birding and then headed back towards Bombay in the noon after more delicious food of Maharastrain cuisine.

There were a bunch of naughty little kids with us in the bus and I really had a gr8 time with them during the otherwise boring 6 hours journey between Baramati and Bombay.  I will remember this trip for a very long time. And before I go birding seriously, I desperately need to buy a very high end DSLR camera. I have short listed Nikon D 80 to start with. Have started saving for it and would probably buy it in another 3 months or so.  I have uploaded the pics to my flickr album. Again, the pics don’t do justice to the amount of fun that we had coz I used the 5MP point and shoot camera.

• I was able to travel to Ahemedabad,  Bangalore, Rajkot, Nagpur, New Delhi, Pune, Shirdi, Igatpuri, Bhigwan and a lot more places in India. The trip to Bangkok, Pattaya and the Full Moon Party at Koh Phangan in Thailand were among the most memorable moments of 2008.
• Got a chance to see Iron Maiden perform Live in concert and was also there for Russell Peters’ show.
• Ran the Dream Run of Mumbai Marathon.
• Quit Directi and joined URBZ.
• Bought a new 16GB iPod Nano, Apple MacBook.
• Started this new hobby of Birding
• Learnt a bit more of French
• Got hooked on to cycling after buying a new Raleigh bicycle.

Uber cool list compiled by Zishaan

1. Get high on qawwali at Haji Ali
2. Spot a celebrity at Juhu PVR
3. Sit down on the steps of Asiatic Society library
4. Crane your neck to see the Bombay Stock Exchange building
5. Spot a leopard in IIT Bombay campus. If you can’t, then settle for an IITian girl
6. Enjoy a play in Prithvi Theatre
7. Enjoy the NCPA in a play or opera
8. Find some calm around the Banganga tank
9. Haggle for non-antiques in Chor Bazaar
10. Face the high tide on Worli seaface
11. Bet money on race horses at the Royal Western India Turf Club, Mahalaxmi
12. Dangle your feet, lean back on your palms and enjoy the sea from the Marine Drive promenade
13. Go for a heritage walk in the Naval Dockyard (first Sunday every month, Indian nationals only)
14. Explore the Sanjay Gandhi national park. A national park in city limits? Oh yeah!
15. Soak in the Victoria Terminus
16. Watch DDLJ at Maratha Mandir
17. Party at Hard Rock Cafe and mourn for a minute the death of mills around Parel
18. Jog on Juhu beach
19. Sit on a tetropod at Nariman Point in midnight till police constables shoo you away
20. Stand still on flyover bridge at Dadar station and watch the crowd whiz by you
21. Find out who is grittier. You or Crawford market?
22. Find the Fort wall
23. Ride the Victoria on Marine Drive. Yeah, cheesy, we know
24. Discover the city’s Jewish connection at Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue
25. Watch sunset over Aksa beach in Madh Island
26. Discover the underbelly of Bombay in Dharavi
27. Stay for a night at Taj Mahal Palace hotel. You definitely want to tick off this luxury address for the oh-I-stayed-there-for-a-while conversations, don’t you?
28. Catch the national madness of cricket in Oval Maidan
29. Read a Bombay book (Suketu Mehta’s Maximum City?) in Azaad Maidan
30. Cheer a football match at Cooperage ground
31. Bury your nose in books for hours at Strand
32. Stroll in Bombay University
33. Climb the airport wall in Kurla to gain phenomenal views of Boeings
34. Swoon at a concert in Bandra Kurla complex
35. Gaze at the Queen’s Necklace from the Hanging Gardens at dusk
36. Hunt for antique furniture (real or fake?) in Oshiwara
37. Hike up the Mazgaon Hill
38. Buy books from roadsides around Flora Fountain
39. Envy the private palaces of Malabar Hill
40. Party on a ferry in the Arabian Sea off Gateway of India
41. Take a break from the city. Vasai offers the ramparts of Bassein fort, ruins of Portugese churches and East Indian food
42. Trek in Sahayadris
43. Say hello to the fauna at Byculla zoo
44. Buy a camera from D N Road’s gray market
45. Dare the red light district of Kamatipura
46. Guess what RFID system they use to tag clothes at the Dhobi Ghat
47. Take a power nap at David Sassoon Library
48. Catch movies at art-deco cinemas: Regal (1933), Eros (1938), Metro (1938)
49. Bow your head before city’s famous deities: Mumbadevi, Mahalaxmi, Walkeshwar, Siddhivinayak, Iskcon
50. Dine where Shahrukh Khans and Ness Wadias dine: Olive, Indigo
51. Feel the sufi mysticism at dargahs of Haji Ali and Maqdoom Ali Mahimi
52. Shop at the Bandra boutiques or if they are too expensive, give Hill Road or Fashion Street a shot
53. Gape at famous residences: Shahrukh Khan’s Mannat, Amitabh Bachhan’s Jalsa
54. Discover theatre scene in the city at venues other than Prithvi and NCPA: Sophia Bhabha Hall, Breach Candy; St Andrews, Bandra W; Rangsharda Auditorium, Bandra W; Ravindra Natya Mandir Hall, Prabhadevi; Gadkari Rangayatan, Thane W; Shivaji Mandir; Bhartiya Vidhya Bhavan, Chaupaati; Tejpal Hall, Grant Road
55. Explore the Powai and Vihar lakes
56. Visit the museums: Prince of Wales, Monetary, Modern Art, Mani Bhavan
57. Admire the British era architecture in Fort: Churchgate station, Western Railway headquarters, High Court, General Post Office, Telegraph Office, Police Headquarters
58. Learn about the rock-cut architecture: Elephanta, Kanheri, Mahakali and Karla caves
59. Explore the churches: Gloria Church, Byculla, Portugese; Mt Mary Church, Bandra W, Portugese, 1640; St Michaels Church, Mahim, 1565, rebuilt 1973; St Thomas Cathedral, Flora Fountain, 1718; Wodehouse Church, Colaba, 20th century; Afghan Church, Navy Nagar, Colaba, 1858; Our Lady of Salvation Church, Dadar W, Portugese, 19th century; St John Baptist, Seepz, 1579; St Peter’s Church, Bandra, 1852, rebuilt 1938; St Andrew’s Church, Bandra, Portugese, 1575
60. Check out an art exhibition: Jehangir Art Gallery, Fort; Tao Art Gallery, Worli; Piramal Art Gallery, Nariman Point
61. Buy fish at Sassoon Docks, Cuffe Parade or Dockyard Road, Mazgaon
62. Find the forts of Bombay: Bombay Castle, Fort; Castella de Aguada, Bandra; Madh Fort, Versova; Mahim Fort, Mahim; Sion Fort, Sion; Sewri Fort, Sewri; Worli Fort, Worli
63. Buy a vintage bollywood poster in Mini Market or Lamington Road
64. Getaway to the beaches around Bombay: Alibag, Kashid, Murud, Nagaon
65. Travel to places overnight: Goa, Ajanta Ellora, Mahabaleshwar, Pune, Khandala and Lonavala
66. Discover the charm of marble tabletops, bentwood chairs and irani chai at Parsi cafes
67. Catch behind the scenes action at a Bollywood studio
68. Loft the ball for a six in your neighborhood ‘galli’ cricket but make sure you don’t break any window panes
69. Silently stare at the Towers of Silence and Agiaries
70. Shadow the dabbawalas for one full day
71. Walk through a koliwada
72. Ride a vintage lift in a 100 year old building
73. Travel in a local train. How about the Virar Fast?
74. Ride a double decker bus. Isn’t Bombay the only city where they still run them?
75. If you have made it to a penthouse in Bombay, you might as well enjoy the view
76. Drink cutting chai, eat vada pav
77. Gorge on late night sandwiches in Juhu
78. Sip some wine at an expensive seaside restaurant: Vie Lounge, Juhu; Dome, Intercontinental, Marine Drive; Aurus, Juhu; Salt Water Grill, Girgaum Chaupaati; Bayview Bar, Nariman Point
79. Figure what all the fuss is about having a beer in Mondegar or Leopold
80. Jack you car bonnet using a cold-drink bottle and eat kebabs at Bade Miyan in Taj’s back alley
81. Savour a fine authentic meal of East Indian cuisine at Anant Ashram in Kotichawadi
82. Eat a Gujrati-Marwari thali at Friends Union Joshi club in Kalbadevi
83. Smoke a hookah at roof-top restaurant Koyla in the Arab quarters of Colaba
84. Eat South Indian fare in Matunga
85. Eat pav bhaji, pani puri, bhel puri, sev puri at Girgaum Chaupaati
86. Chew a paan outside Shoppers Stop, Bandra W
87. Indulge yourself with fruity flavors of Naturals ice cream. And if it’s summer, try a cup of alfonso mangoes with malai ice cream
88. Learn out the art of ordering tea in a streetside cafe. “Ek paani kum dena.”
89. Drink Kingfisher, Cobra or Zingaro in your neighborhood look-alike bar of Nightlovers
90. Try the green chilli ice cream at Bachelorrs
91. Swing to some live music as you enjoy your continental meal at Not Just Jazz By The Bay. Do pay attention to the witty hoarding outside as you leave the place
92. Run the Bombay Marathon (Jan)
93. Enjoy the Kala Ghoda arts festival (Feb)
94. Cheer ‘Mumbai Indians’ in an IPL cricket match at Wankhede statdium (May-Jun)
95. Get drenched to the bone while biking in the monsoons (Jul-Sep)
96. Sing “Govinda aala re aala” as 40 feet high human pyramids take the prized matka (Aug-Sep)
97. Get lost in the crowds of Ganesh Chaturthi (Sep)
98. Watch thousands of pink flamingos in the mangroves at Sewri (Nov-May)
99. Eat nihari, kebabs and sweetmeats around Masjid on the eve of Eid (Ramzan)
100. Run a ‘free hug’ campaign. This is Bombay, meri jaan!

I personally think that there are 14 million reasons to be in Bombay and over a million things to do here.

I love birds and am an avid birdwatcher (no pun intended )

I wanted to go for one of the birdwatching outings organized by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) for a while now. However, I was either traveling or too busy with some thing that had stopped me for going for one and the same reason applies for not updating my blog for more than a month. So, this time I had made up my mind that come Sunday morning and I’ll make up for the outing no matter what. I hopped on to the BNHS mini bus from Vashi and in an hours time made it to Nhava Sheva. One of the busiest ports in India. We stopped on the way at many places where we could see birds. Initially we saw a flock of ducks, waders, lesser and great egrets and pond herons resting in the small pond. As we moved on we saw a couple of white throated kingfishers and hundreds upon hundreds swallows resting on electric wires. The sight was really good. We went back to the bus and moved to the next spot, we saw more of waders, sandpipers, common redshanks. The sight of a bunch of munias fluttering around us made my day.

I had gone first time with BHNS for birdwatching and had a good company of avid birdwatchers. They were carrying the field book of birds and listing down all the birds seen in their diary. Our group leader Nikhil Bhopale had a very very sharp eye. He could spot birds with his naked eye and correctly identify it and at times its gender too. I was totally awestruck. No wonder Nikhil is a two time winner of HSBC bird race. There were people carrying their SLRs with tripod stands and very high end lenses to capture the sightings of birds. Birdwatching requires a lot of patience. A couple of times I was wondering is this for me ? But when I saw the flamingos in flight, I all my restlessness had paid for. I have a 5 MP point n shoot digicam. So, the pics taken by it don’t do justice at all to the real life experience that I had.

It was around 8:30 am and our bus halted at the corner of a road. We all got down and our group leader guided us to deep inside a small alley as it would be impossible for the bus to take us there coz of bad roads.. After walking for almost 500 meters we witnessed the most amazing sight. Here, we saw painted storks, grey and pond herons, spoonbills, sandpipers, gulls, intermediate and large egrets and of course flamingos. There were exactly 10 of them. They were far and thankfully we all had a good pair of binoculars to see them, a must for all birdwatchers. There were many small birds around in small groups. Even saw a couple of spoonbills in flight. They looked so beautiful. At our next stop we saw a lot waders, sandpipers, redshanks and also few coots, drongo, large cormorant, bee eaters, larks, munia, red avadavat and a bunch of purple moorhen. They were really good. When a marsh harrier came by, all the small birds started moving around. The marsh harrier has an amazing wingspan. We even spotted a falcon sitting very high on an electric pole. By around 1pm we made our way back to Bombay and a brahminy kite bid farewell to us. I am looking forward for more such outings. It was a gr8 learning experience and one thing I need to work on is my patience and of course buy a high end SLR with good lens. I have uploaded the pics on my flickr album. Again, coz of my stupid digicam, the pics don’t do justice to the fun we had while birdwatching.

Investment Ideas!

If you purchased $1,000 of Delta Airlines stock 1 year ago, you would have $49 today.

If you purchased $1,000 of AIG stock 1 year ago, you would have $33 today.

If you purchased $1,000 of Lehman Brothers stock 1 year ago, you would have $0.0 today.

But, if you purchased $1,000 worth of beer 1 year ago, drank all the beer, returned the aluminum cans for a recycling refund, you would have $214.

Every once in a while an album comes that I listen to all the time, be it day or night repeating the songs again and again in my playlist. Death Magnetic from Metallica is one of them. I am a big fan of Metallica and have been following it since a long time now. It was released on 10th of last month and since then I have been listening to it everyday and even getting my friends hooked up to it. Its their first album with the new bassist Robert Trujillo and it seems he has done a gr8 job. I was kinda disappointed with their earlier album St. Anger but this one just ROCKS.  All Nightmare Long, Cyanide, The Unforgiven III, The Day That Never Comes, The End of the Line are master pieces. I like the start of All NightMare Long, its just awesome. I wanted to buy the new iPod Nano (4th Gen) since it was released and this album made me even more desperate to get one so, finally a couple of days back I bought a new iPod Nano 16 gigs and a pair of in-ear earphones for the extra effect, more on this later.

I even bought a Death Magnetic Poster from pringoo.com. Its too good, but coz of some unsaid reasons I can’t put it in my room Have to be satisfied with a wallpaper on my desktop. To headbang while watching Metallica Live in Concert after this album has instantly topped my wishlist.