Reminiscences

A Journey to Waihi Gold Mines and beyond

2012-02-09T01:40:00.000+05:30

Generally famous for its natural beauty New Zealand does have a wide variety of places and attractions which are quite unique and have their own vibrant history.
One such place is Waihi, most famous for its open pit gold mine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waihi

I know the names of places are quite interesting here in New Zealand because of their Maori origins, still I have learned that we should not laugh at these names. :)
The names like Ram-garh, Lax-man-garh etc. etc. are quite funny and gibberish to the people non native to those parts of the world. The same happens to us here. :)

Coming back to the point, we got a chance to go to this place as we had a long weekend holiday because of the Waitangi Day.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitangi_Day

There are so many places to see and visit in New Zealand that choosing few of them to be seen in 3 days is a task in itself. Believe me when I say so because it needs a lot of discussion and planning. :D
Especially when the number of people is 5. Everyone has his own opinion. :)

We went to this place on Saturday 4 February and until Friday night, we didn't have any idea what we would be doing on the weekend. However, unanimity prevailed when we heard about this place and all agreed to see the GOLD MINE. :D

Prior bookings had to be made before reaching there as the guided tour of the gold mines takes only 11 people at a time. We made the booking on Saturday morning and were quite relaxed that we would be finally seeing a real mine. :D

The drive to Waihi was a smooth one as all the usual drives in New Zealand till now, as there are only vast pastures, cattle and sheep to be seen once we get out of the towns. :)
The drive was only a 100 kms, probably less than that and it took us only an hour and a half to reach there well in time. We got ourselves registered for the tour and walked on to see the town. Being closely associated with the gold mine, the town has all the heritage related to the same e.g. we found statues of workers on the main street of the town.

We could see the quite town market in less than half an hour and after some photo clicks, we went to the assembly point to start the guided tour. The guy (i think his name was Murray, not sure though) who took our registration details for the tour was the tour guide himself. :) We were 11 people in total, us 5 and 3 old couples on a usual holiday. They were quite old, I must say; I have never seen such old couples holidaying in India. :)

We got into a 12 seater van and started to go around. Although we had seen the open pit mine just minutes before the tour, we started from the authorized entry point of the mines. Murray showed us the old equipments used in mining. Then we climbed to the top most point of the mine from where we were given a lot of information about how the mines work, how the city lives on with the mine etc.

We came to know that there are 2 major mines in the area Martha Mine and Favona mine.
The one which we saw first was Martha Mine, the open pit one. The other one was underground and no one was allowed to go inside that except the authorized personnel.

Murray also told that some parts of the city are supposed to have gold in the ground beneath the colonies. He then also told that his house also sits on a potential gold mine and he can be a billionaire. :D I thought he was joking. :D

We got to see the whole Martha Mine from 2 different view points and learned that how difficult the whole process of getting out gold was. Meanwhile we were clicking the usual photographs. :)

While discussing with Murray about the extraction techniques used, he came to know that we were engineers and had some knowledge about the whole process. Then he seemed to be more interested in explaining us the whole process. :)

Finally we were taken to the Favona mines opening portal and got to know how things worked there.
I am not mentioning the technical details here as it would be too boring. :D

Murray also showed us a 10 gm gold tablet and 100 gm silver tablet which had been minted after extracting from the Martha mine. We were quite cheerful to see the gold finally. :D

He also told that in the gold factory no one except authorized ones can go inside and we all under the camera surveillance. He told that the manufactured bullion bars go to Perth, Australia for separating the silver from the gold. The interesting fact here is the gold ore contains silver apart from gold which is almost 3 times the quantity of gold.

We asked Murray when does the transfer of the bullion bars happen from the Waihi plant to Perth and joked that a real 'Italian Job' can be made here. :D

He replied that it was the BILLION dollar question and no one knew the answer to it. :D

The whole tour took 2-2.5 hours, but I really enjoyed it as it was interesting to actually see the whole technique which we had read only in text books. :)
If you are interested in seeing what was the actual process of mining out the gold, here is the link :-
http://www.marthamine.co.nz/mining/the-mining-process/

It was a great experience seeing the mine and understanding how the whole thing works. It would be etched in my memory for a long time now. :D

Geeta Saar in Hindi and English

2012-01-24T02:18:00.000+05:30

Time for some spirituality now. :D

Some days back i had a discussion with one of my friends about Bhagvad Geeta and its importance in everyday life.

After that even I thought that I should revisit the saar (extract) and try to follow it as much as I can. :)

So I am copying this text from these sources mentioned below for my ready reference. :)

BHAGAVAD GITA SUMMARY in Hindi (गीता सार)

The Bhagavad Gita is the essence of the Vedas and Upanishads. It is a universal scripture applicable to people of all temperaments, for all times. It is a book with sublime thoughts and practical instructions on Yoga, Devotion, Vedanta and Action. Two of the most significant passages of the Gita are Lord Krishna's instructions to Arjuna on the nature of correct actions and the role of God in protecting his devotees.

"खाली हाथ अाए अौर खाली हाथ चले। जो अाज तुम्हारा है, कल अौर किसी का था, परसों किसी अौर का होगा। इसीलिए, जो कुछ भी तू करता है, उसे भगवान के अर्पण करता चल।"

"You came empty handed, you will leave empty handed. What is yours today, belonged to someone else yesterday, and will belong to someone else the day after tomorrow. So, whatever you do, do it as a dedication to God! "

क्यों व्यर्थ की चिंता करते हो? किससे व्यर्थ डरते हो? कौन तुम्हें मार सक्ता है? अात्मा ना पैदा होती है, न मरती है।
जो हुअा, वह अच्छा हुअा, जो हो रहा है, वह अच्छा हो रहा है, जो होगा, वह भी अच्छा ही होगा। तुम भूत का पश्चाताप न करो। भविष्य की चिन्ता न करो। वर्तमान चल रहा है।
तुम्हारा क्या गया, जो तुम रोते हो? तुम क्या लाए थे, जो तुमने खो दिया? तुमने क्या पैदा किया था, जो नाश हो गया? न तुम कुछ लेकर अाए, जो लिया यहीं से लिया। जो दिया, यहीं पर दिया। जो लिया, इसी (भगवान) से लिया। जो दिया, इसी को दिया।
खाली हाथ अाए अौर खाली हाथ चले। जो अाज तुम्हारा है, कल अौर किसी का था, परसों किसी अौर का होगा। तुम इसे अपना समझ कर मग्न हो रहे हो। बस यही प्रसन्नता तुम्हारे दु:खों का कारण है।
परिवर्तन संसार का नियम है। जिसे तुम मृत्यु समझते हो, वही तो जीवन है। एक क्षण में तुम करोड़ों के स्वामी बन जाते हो, दूसरे ही क्षण में तुम दरिद्र हो जाते हो। मेरा-तेरा, छोटा-बड़ा, अपना-पराया, मन से मिटा दो, फिर सब तुम्हारा है, तुम सबके हो।
न यह शरीर तुम्हारा है, न तुम शरीर के हो। यह अग्नि, जल, वायु, पृथ्वी, अाकाश से बना है अौर इसी में मिल जायेगा। परन्तु अात्मा स्थिर है - फिर तुम क्या हो?
तुम अपने अापको भगवान के अर्पित करो। यही सबसे उत्तम सहारा है। जो इसके सहारे को जानता है वह भय, चिन्ता, शोक से सर्वदा मुक्त है।
जो कुछ भी तू करता है, उसे भगवान के अर्पण करता चल। ऐसा करने से सदा जीवन-मुक्त का अानंन्द अनुभव करेगा।

This text in Hindi means the following (approximately, not exactly) in English.

Whatever happened, it happened for good. Whatever is happening is happening for good. Whatever that will happen, it will be for good.
What have you lost for which you cry? What did you bring with you, which you have lost? What did you produce, which has destroyed?
You did not bring anything when you were born. Whatever you have, you have received from Him. Whatever you will give, you will give to Him. You came empty handed and You will go the same way.
Whatever is yours today was somebody else’s yesterday and will be somebody else’s tomorrow.
Change is the law of the universe.

7 Things Highly Productive People Do

2011-12-23T11:33:00.000+05:30

I know this post is copied :D

But I believe it is a good read and worth applying, hence copying it here.

source : http://www.inc.com/ilya-pozin/7-things-highly-productive-people-do.html

7 Things Highly Productive People Do

You probably don’t want to admit it but you love distractions. In fact, just like monkeys, you get a shot of dopamine every time something pulls you in another direction. Why do you think you check your email so much?

Want to be more productive and get your focus back? There are no secret tricks here… do one thing at a time. Stop multitasking—it’s just another form of distraction.

Easier said than done, I know.

Recently I sat down with Tony Wong, a project management blackbelt whose client list includes Toyota, Honda, and Disney, to name a few. He’s an expert in keeping people on task, so I thought he’d be a good person to ask.

Here are his tips for staying productive:

Work backwards from goals to milestones to tasks. Writing “launch company website” at the top of your to-do list is a sure way to make sure you never get it done. Break down the work into smaller and smaller chunks until you have specific tasks that can be accomplished in a few hours or less: Sketch a wireframe, outline an introduction for the homepage video, etc. That’s how you set goals and actually succeed in crossing them off your list.
Stop multi-tasking. No, seriously—stop. Switching from task to task quickly does not work. In fact, changing tasks more than 10 times in a day makes you dumber than being stoned. When you’re stoned, your IQ drops by five points. When you multitask, it drops by an average of 10 points, 15 for men, five for women (yes, men are three times as bad at multitasking than women).
Be militant about eliminating distractions. Lock your door, put a sign up, turn off your phone, texts, email, and instant messaging. In fact, if you know you may sneak a peek at your email, set it to offline mode, or even turn off your Internet connection. Go to a quiet area and focus on completing one task.
Schedule your email. Pick two or three times during the day when you’re going to use your email. Checking your email constantly throughout the day creates a ton of noise and kills your productivity.
Use the phone. Email isn’t meant for conversations. Don’t reply more than twice to an email. Pick up the phone instead.
Work on your own agenda. Don’t let something else set your day. Most people go right to their emails and start freaking out. You will end up at inbox-zero, but accomplish nothing. After you wake up, drink water so you rehydrate, eat a good breakfast to replenish your glucose, then set prioritized goals for the rest of your day.
Work in 60 to 90 minute intervals. Your brain uses up more glucose than any other bodily activity. Typically you will have spent most of it after 60-90 minutes. (That’s why you feel so burned out after super long meetings.) So take a break: Get up, go for a walk, have a snack, do something completely different to recharge. And yes, that means you need an extra hour for breaks, not including lunch, so if you’re required to get eight hours of work done each day, plan to be there for 9.5-10 hours.

I will try to apply at least some of these suggestions and lets see if this works. :D

An year outside India

2011-11-29T03:28:00.000+05:30

It has been a long year and an exciting one too. :)

First time out of India and that too for a year continuously, can be definitely challenging. Especially when one is used to having worldly comforts of servants, food delivered at door step without even calling anyone daily, driving a motorcycle whenever and in whatever way one wants...and much more. :D

Anyway, each thing in life has its pros and cons. The best way to live life successfully is to always look at the Pros [huh, as if i do that always]. ;)

Just trying to look at the pros of living in a place like New Zealand can bring up a list of many significant and insignificant things e.g.

•   Walking to the office daily, keeping the body in a good condition. :D
•   Living without a fear of adulteration in even the basic materials e.g. milk, food. ;)
•   Not seeing any corrupt practices (they might exist, but I am not in contact with any of them so I am happy) :)
•   Being treated well by the shop keepers unlike India where people still try to judge the purchasing power of a customer by just seeing him, his clothes and his way of talking etc.
•   Enjoying the sea front every morning from our house.
•   Living with college friends whom I know for almost 9 years now.
•   Working at a place where everyone greets everyone on meeting daily.
•   Working on the things which really give a sense of accomplishment upon completing.
•   Cooking own food daily and experimenting with it (although I really miss the Indian sweets here) ;)
•   Neat and clean surroundings where your clothes hardly get dirty. You have to really do something outrageous to do that. :D
•   Seeing so many people lining up for rugby opening match and ceremony but still maintaining a fluent decorum. :)
•    Realizing the visible difference between roads, traffic conditions and rules being followed in India and here. ;)
•   Talking to any stranger whom you have just met for 10 seconds and discussing the weather with them.
•   Walking bare feet in the cold sea water on the beach and collecting sea shells. :D

It does not mean that I don’t miss India. :D

Being away from home has made me understand the real value of home. May be that’s why I am quite excited to visit India after an year, although only for a month but still sounds very satisfying and relieving.

PS: I was supposed to publish this post before I went to India for a month holiday.
But lazy me :D again late in publishing it :D
Anyway, I will be back soon with the reminiscence of my India trip.
Stay tuned.

I always try to include some photographs into my blog to make it look more interesting.
This time I thought I should hyperlink a forum's photo thread's link on which I am an active member. :)

Enjoy the NZ pics. :)

Some might not be visible as login is required, but still it is worth seeing. :)

Gadbade Festival in Northern India

2011-11-11T04:17:00.001+05:30

When I went to India last month, I got a chance to attend all the major festivals at home. It was an experience which I had been looking for since my childhood when I had moved out of town for studies, then work, then eventually out of the country for work again.

I visited my birthplace Nahan after a long time and got a chance to see my grandparents who were equally excited to see after more than a year. I discussed with my grandfather about the festivals and rituals which we used to follow and their significance. Despite being a candid discussion, I actually recalled and learned a lot. As a child I was never too patient to understand why we celebrate some festival as I would always be after the festivity treats, sweets, foods, gifts etc. :D
I visited my grandparents on October 11, 2011 this year which eventually was the Sharad Poornima day according to the Hindu calendar. As a part of the annual ritual I got a gift from my grandmother for ‘Gadbade’ festival and I recalled about the same in a flash. I wasted no time in deciding that I would write a blog entry about this festival as very less people know about it and it would be an interesting read for many of my friends. :D

I have seen that people know very well about Diwali and even the non Indians seem to know it very well as a layman as they usually witness some Diwali festivity in their countries when Indians celebrate it there. Even in New Zealand, many kiwi people know about it and appreciate it. :)

Anyway, here is a reference link from Wikipedia which would be interesting :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diwali

Although I wanted to write about it the same day, however the festive season kept me so busy that I am here writing about it exactly after a month. :)
That day however I searched the internet about this Gadbade festival and I was amazed to see some blogs already present. I thought it has made my job a bit easy. :D

So here I go copying and pasting the contents although I have tried to intimate the authors so that it might not look like a copyright violation. Moreover, the way author has written this post about Gadbade festival, I need not improve on it or add anything to it. I mean the current content is awesome and I’d be copying it as it is. :)

In India, some festival is celebrated almost every week esp. in the period intervening between Rakhsabandhan and Diwali. One such festival is 'Gadbade', which is celebrated in haryana on Sharad Purnima which falls in the month of Oct or Nov. On this day, the Moon is brightest in the entire year. On this festival, moonlight or prakash is worshiped. The festivities start in the evening. Gadbade is name of the earthen pot with holes, which are lighted with diyas . In the evening these pots are painted and are worshipped after the moon is visible in the sky. One Gadbada each is lit for each family member. After the puja, the elders of the family and neighborhood place coins in the pots of childern as the mark of their good wishes and ashirwad. After that the Gadbade are placed in corners of the house to ward away the Andhkar.

Some myths are also associated with Sharad purnima. It is believed that, on this day moonlight has special powers, like the eyesight of the person putting thread in needle repeatedly improves. Also eating kheer placed under moonlight is supposed to cure many diseases like asthma.

Source:-http://indiaenchanting.blogspot.com/2009/11/in-india-some-festival-is-celebrated.html

Here's another piece of writing which I found online:-

Gadbade - not all villagers celebrate it, but its a cool festival I ever seen. Children gather in small groups and light candles in small earthen pots and then they go to the other people houses during night time around 7 pm - 10 pm and sing a song "Naccho Naccho meri gadh badi yo, Naccho naccho meri gad badi yo!!" which means "Dance - dance my little lamps" and the elder people give them some money usually in CENTS and children become excited and next day they end up at the shop to buy some toffees for the money they received last night.

Source :- http://villages.ws/india/haryana/kaithal/bhagal_guhla_0026190.htm

What is Karma?

2011-09-15T14:16:00.001+05:30

While going through this very interesting article on the internet, I thought I should share it with you.

Yes, it is a case of mere copying and pasting however it should not violate any copyrights as I have quoted the source too. :)

http://hinduism.about.com/od/basics/a/karma.htm

What Is Karma?

The Law of Cause & Effect

By Subhamoy Das, About.com Guide

The self-controlled person, moving among objects, with his senses free from attachment and malevolence and brought under his own control, attains tranquility.
~ Bhagavad Gita II.64.

The law of cause and effect forms an integral part of Hindu philosophy. This law is termed as 'karma', which means to 'act'. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English defines it as the "sum of person's actions in one of his successive states of existence, viewed as deciding his fate for the next". In Sanskrit karma means "volitional action that is undertaken deliberately or knowingly". This also dovetails self-determination and a strong will power to abstain from inactivity. Karma is the differentia that characterizes human beings and distinguishes him from other creatures of the world.

The Natural Law

The theory of karma harps on the Newtonian principle that every action produces an equal and opposite reaction. Every time we think or do something, we create a cause, which in time will bear its corresponding effects. And this cyclical cause and effect generates the concepts of samsara (or the world) and birth and reincarnation. It is the personality of a human being or the jivatman - with its positive and negative actions - that causes karma.

Karma could be both the activities of the body or the mind, irrespective of the consideration whether the performance brings fruition immediately or at a later stage. However, the involuntary or the reflex actions of the body cannot be called karma.

Your Karma Is Your Own Doing

Every person is responsible for his or her acts and thoughts, so each person's karma is entirely his or her own. Occidentals see the operation of karma as fatalistic. But that is far from true since it is in the hands of an individual to shape his own future by schooling his present.

Hindu philosophy, which believes in life after death, holds the doctrine that if the karma of an individual is good enough, the next birth will be rewarding, and if not, the person may actually devolve and degenerate into a lower life form. In order to achieve good karma it is important to live life according to dharma or what is right.

Three Kinds of Karma

According to the ways of life chosen by a person, his karma can be classified into three kinds. The satvik karma, which is without attachment, selfless and for the benefit of others; the rajasik karma, which is selfish where the focus is on gains for oneself; and the tamasik karma, which is undertaken without heed to consequences, and is supremely selfish and savage.

In this context Dr. D N Singh in his A Study of Hinduism, quotes Mahatma Gandhi's lucid differentiation between the three. According to Gandhi, the tamasik works in a mechanic fashion, the rajasik drives too many horses, is restless and always doing something or other, and the satvik works with peace in mind.

Swami Sivananda, of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh classifies karma into three kinds on the basis of action and reaction: Prarabdha (so much of past actions as has given rise to the present birth), Sanchita (the balance of past actions that will give rise to future births - the storehouse of accumulated actions), Agami or Kriyamana (acts being done in the present life).

The Discipline of Unattached Action

According to the scriptures, the discipline of unattached action (Nishkâma Karma) can lead to salvation of the soul. So they recommend that one should remain detached while carrying out his duties in life. As Lord Krishna said in the Bhagavad Gita: "To the man thinking about the objects (of the senses) arises attachment towards them; from attachment, arises longing; and from longing arises anger. From anger comes delusion; and from delusion loss of memory; from loss of memory, the ruin of discrimination; and on the ruin of discrimination, he perishes".

I am in New Zealand

2011-05-06T10:35:00.001+05:30

I have been trying to publish this post for a long time now. :)

I will complete 8 months outside India on May 7, 2011. Looking back it seems that only a week back I had arrived in Wellington.

Coming to a new country is always a great experience. Many disagree, but I somehow find it that way. It becomes even more special when one comes out of his native country for the first time.

Same happened in my case. I travelled to Wellington on September 6, 2010 and reached here the next day. In transit, I crossed many countries, of course in air :D and set foot on 2 different countries: Singapore and Australia.

Wherever I had a halt, I tried to find the similarities and dissimilarities with India. May be that is basic human nature. But I found that whole experience to be interesting. In the flight itself, I came across 2 different cuisines which made me realise that I am really outside India now. :)
I am planning to write a detailed post on my flight experiences but I am very lazy to do that. So I think the blog will have to wait for that. Till then I shall continue here.

So when I landed in wellington, my first reaction was “have I landed in wellington or Nahan (my birth place in Himachal Pradesh)”. The only 2 differences I could find between the two places were that of wooden houses and seaside, both of which are absent in Nahan.

Yogi was there to receive me and was quite excited to see me after a year. We took a taxi and went home and he showed me around after that. Since then I have been roaming here and there in New Zealand. And, I must say I love it. :)

Here are some things which I noticed after having lived in this country for more than 7 months now.

When you come outside India for the first time, your mind is exhausted twice easily as it calculates every price into INR first and then tells you to buy or not. :)
This is a very small country as compared to India and I believe that is the best part.
There is more variety of cars here than the variety of people. :D
There is no conductor in the public transport buses.
Also, we say ‘thank you driver’ while hopping off the buses. :O
Fishing and Sailing is a major hobby here.
Every talk starts with ‘today's a nice day, huh :)’. And now I understand why they say so, because half of the year it is raining or cloudy here.
Living in high temperatures is a privilege here; which is something else in India. :D
The banks here charge you to open an account unlike in India.
People here are well acquainted to Indian food and like it too. :D
You can have any kind of regular or irregular haircut here and it would still be deemed as fashionable. ;)
There is a good chance that you will face fleas and bedbugs even if you haven’t known them whole of your life. :D
People, who have lived here for more than 5-6 years, do once consider going and settling in Australia.
Torn currency notes are accepted here. They are plastic notes so the term plastic money really works. :D
You will find more variety of goods in an Indian grocery store than you have ever seen in any Big Bazaar or our own nearby Kiryana store in India.
In Wellington, if the time table mentions the arrival time of a bus as 4:38 PM, then the bus will arrive at 4:38 PM. :O
In Wellington, you can barely walk if you are caught in winds somewhere; and I literally mean it. :O
The natural weeds in this country are not cacti or thorny, fragrant flower grow here as weeds. :O
Every road is well marked with exits and lanes and even the GPS navigator fitted in your car knows it.
Getting a bike driving license is difficult here as compared to that for a car. :O
There is only a single type of mango available here, which too is imported. :O :O :O
If you go outside the city areas, you won’t find any person for miles. And again I literally mean it.
The number of lambs and cows is greater than the number of Homo sapiens here.
You probably won’t find earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes and tsunamis; all in any other country. :O
Every flora and fauna has been tried and tested before introducing to New Zealand. Quite a difficult and impossible task isn’t it. May be that’s why we don’t find any snakes and poisonous creatures here. :O
Most of the shops close at 5 PM in the evening and those who remain open advertise it as a USP. :O
I have not seen metallic shutters to close the shops anywhere in NZ, may be apart from the jewelers.
The news papers have their 40% or more content as advertisements. News of any road accident or person getting killed makes a big headline here.
No one ever blows a horn on the road. If you hear horns being blown, then you are driving in a wrong way. :O :O
I haven't seen a real Kiwi till now, still I hope to see it soon. :D

Neither this list ends here nor my stay here. :)

7 Lessons From the World’s Greatest Minds

2010-12-01T04:39:00.001+05:30

OK. I admit I am very lazy and the same could be seen from the condition of my blog. :D

I just came across this post in a blog and couldn't resist myself from sharing it.

So here goes the awesome post as it is (courtesy: illuminated mind)

7 Lessons From the World’s Greatest Minds

Have you ever wished you could go back in time and have a conversation with one of the greatest minds in history? Well, you can’t sorry, they’re dead. Unless of course you’re clairaudient, be my guest. But for the rest of us, we can still refer to the words they left behind.

Even though these great teachers have passed on, their words still live, and in them their wisdom. I’ve made a list of seven what I believe are some of the greatest teachings by the world’s greatest minds.

1. Realizing Your Dreams

“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.”
- Lawrence J. Peter

In order for us to achieve our dreams, we must have a vision of our goals. Writing down our dreams and creating a list of actions helps us stick to our plan. As it’s said “if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it”. When we turn our goals into measurable actions, we gain clarity and are able to see the necessary steps we must take in order to achieve them.

Action: Visualize a life of your wildest dreams. What did you dream of doing when you were a child? What would you do if you had a million dollars? Create a vision for your goals and start breaking them down into small actions that you can take on a day by day basis.

2. Overcoming Fear

“It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, “Always do what you are afraid to do.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The best way to learn something is to dive right in to it. When we overcome our fear of failure, we learn that only those who are asleep make no mistakes. Fear is the only thing keeping us from experiencing a life of love and fulfillment. If we make a commitment to an uncompromisable quest for truth, we will realize that as we grow more into the truth, our fears start to disappear.

Action: You must define your fears in order to conquer them. Create a list of everything you’re afraid of and start facing them one at a time. Make a commitment to yourself now to not let fear rule your life.

3. Intention and Desire

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.”- Guatama Buddha

Our thoughts determine our reality. When we stop thinking about what we don’t and begin thinking about what we do want, our lives begin to transform. Instead of working against our desires and intentions, we move into alignment with them.

Action: Create a list of your intentions and desires. Wherever you go, take this list with you. Read it when you wake up and before you go to sleep.

4. Happiness

“Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of mind than on outward circumstances.”
- Benjamin Franklin

Happiness comes from an inner peace, understanding and acceptance of life; a perspective of truth that opens your eyes to the beauty of life all around us. Happiness cannot be achieved by external status, it must be an internal state that we realize when we see our innate perfection.

Action: Realize that happiness is a choice. In every decision you make ask yourself “how can I respond to make myself happy and fulfilled?”

5. Self Acceptance

“If a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” – Jesus

When we stop trying to be what we are not, we realize our authenticity. Before we had knowledge, we were completely authentic. We learn to use knowledge to measure and judge, which is a powerful tool we have as humans. However we create an image of perfection in our mind of what we should be, but are not. We confuse knowledge for nature. We believe in the lie of our imperfection. When we realize this we can reclaim the truth of our perfection and live in love and acceptance.

Action: Make a commitment to never go against yourself. Practice non-judgment and realize that the same part of your mind that condemns you is the same voice that caused you to take the action in the first place. We don’t even have to believe what we say to ourselves.

6. Appreciation and Gratitude

“So much has been given to me, I have not time to ponder over that which has been denied.”
- Helen Keller

How many times do we count our misfortunes rather than our blessings? When we take time to open our eyes to the miracle of life we can see the many gifts that have been given to us. Remembering all the beautiful aspects of life and all the reasons you are blessed can immediately shift our mood. We can move from sorrow and despair to appreciation and hope.

Action: Each time you find yourself complaining about something, re-direct your focus to something you are grateful for. Make a habit of transforming your awareness of troubles into an awareness of abundance.

7. The Art of Simplicity

“I made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it short.”
- Blaise Pascal

Perfection is not when there is nothing to add, but when there is nothing more to take away. As Bruce Lee once said “the height of cultivation always runs to simplicity.” True mastery of our lives is realizing the simple joys of life, removing distractions and clutter from our lives.

Action: The art of simplicity is knowing what to take away. Practice recognizing when you’re spending your time on unimportant tasks and re-focus on the important.

This list is by no means exhaustive. There are other many great teachings that I did not include here because I felt like they were already expounded on thoroughly elsewhere, such as Einstein and Gandhi’s timeless classics. There are also great teachings to be found from our parents or friends.

Sandeep's wedding (day 3) Contd.

2010-08-06T10:36:00.002+05:30

(Continued from here - Day 3)

Finally we also made ourselves comfortable to see the actual proceedings of the marriage. The whole mandap where the marriage would take place was set up in the house's main courtyard. The Bride and the Groom were seated near the havan kund for pooja and the ceremony. Then the whole process commenced. The main point which we learned about the marriage was that the Paani Grahan sanskar (which is the most important ceremnoy of the whole marriage) was scheduled at an auspicious time determined by purohit ji and would be performed at that particular time itself, other things could be delayed, but not this one.

Sandeep's masi ji described us in detail about the whole sanskar and related it to the whole Hindu marriage concept which was quite a knowledgeable thing for us to learn. As the marriage ceremony was taking place, we all were having chat with the local people and Sandeep's relatives, sisters, cousins etc about the whole thing. After some time Jai Mala took place and both the Bride and the Groom put garlands into each other's necks and were tied by a cloth for 7 rounds (pheres) around the holy fire in the Havan Kund.

Then started the Pheres and purohit ji helped them perform each of those with the description of the each round in detail. It was quite an interesting to listen where in he would tell the detailed significance of each Phera around the holy fire. In 4 pheras, the Groom would walk in front and the Bride in the rest of the pheras. The whole ceremony had some funny moments too, where Sandeep would have blushed however we couldn't see it because of his veiled face. :P

After a complete ceremony of just less than two hours, Sandeep's veil was lifted and we were able to see the face of the Groom, finally. Phew. :D. Afterward, Poonam and Sandeep were accompanied to a room where they were allowed to sit comfortably after a long and a tiring ceremony. We could visibly see the sigh of relief on both of thier faces. After all, getting married is a difficult job, at least in India. :P

Then we all decided to have lunch, which would become a tedious affair for all of us. It was raining so heavily so that we couldn't go to the kitchen and get the food. So we fetched a big thali from the house kitchen and asked a local guy to get us some food. He got us sizzling hot Rajma Chawal and we 5 people started eating from the same plate while holding the plate from one hand each and eating from the other, that too without a spoon. That became quite an incident for the locals there and they wondered about our friendship. Even Sandeep and Poonam were laughing at us when we were eating in that manner. :D

We enjoyed the food a lot, no matter what. Finally it was the time for the Bidai ceremony and Bride and Groom were seated on chairs where the Bride's parents and some relatives touched the feet of both of them. Now this was a completely new thing for we people. We appreciated this ritual. As the Groom stood up to walk, every one started looking for his shoes which were securely kept with one of our friends so that no one could steal them as the normal ritual says. :D

The guests quickly started moving and Groom and Bride were seated in their respective Palki and Doli which would be then carried down to the main road. After half an hour's climb down the hill we reached the road and started for Solan. Meanwhile we saw that Sandeep's Sehra was studded with glowing LEDs which would make it a very noticeable thing. We enjoyed a lot on seeing his Sehra. :D

After a small half an hour drive we reached Solan and came back to the marriage palace where reception was about to take place. There we met Yogi's mother and his cousin Rocky. It was nice to meet aunty ji after a long time. My mom was also looking forward to meet her. Although they would stay for a small time, but we enjoyed a lot. Then we got ready for the reception and went to the reception hall where a very big gathering was waiting to catch a glimpse of the newly weds

We accompanied them to the hall and after getting some photos clicked had some dinner. I got quite tired after the whole day and in fact the late night reception too. But Saurabh was at his energetic best and was enjoying himself a lot. I went to sleep after some time as we had to reach Delhi the next day. The wedding was one of the best events which I had attended in a long time and would be totally unforgettable for a long time to come. :)

Sandeep's wedding (day 3)

2010-08-05T10:14:00.004+05:30

(Continued from here - Day 2)

July 31 was an important day for all and for Sandeep, above all. After all, it was his wedding day. After waking up early at 6 in the morning, I went to mom's hotel room to get ready for the day. Me and mom had a laugh on seeing that it was raining heavily and had rained the whole night. I got ready for the day in half an hour and after that there was a beeline of relatives for using the bathrooms. I thanked mom for waking me up and pressurizing me to get ready.

Now Sandeep had to undergo the Sehra-Bandi ceremony, where the maternal uncles would dress him up in new clothes and cover his face with the Sehra. All relatives and we started assembling in the hall where the ceremony was scheduled to take place. Meanwhile, I and Manoj were given the most important duty of getting the car exteriors decorated with flowers. We took the car to a floweriest and started the same. It was quite difficult to paste the flowers on the car using cello tapes as it was raining and the car was completely wet. We managed it somehow and accomplished the task well in time.

Meanwhile Sandeep was seated in the Puja seat for the final ceremony before departure of Baarat. After having breakfast, I stood nearby him to see what was exactly going on there. First of all, the relatives came forward and helped him dress up in Shervani and Churidaar. Then, Purohit ji tied a pink turban around his head and the Sehra was tied on the turban. After making sure that he was in a comfortable position, the Puja was started.

Now his paternal aunts presented him garlands made up of Rs.10 notes and he had to wear that. Rajesh was quite amazed to see that and asked me if Sandeep would wear it for the day or just for the while, for which I told him that he would wear it for the whole day ahead. After some usual photo session with Sandeep in his Sehra, we were ordered to move on for the Baarat departure.

We had some dancing on the band's tunes. Sandeep was seated in the decorated car along with his father and Purohit ji, which Rajan would drive and was flagged off soon. We decided to follow them and after dancing for some time, we saved our energies for further and got into Saurabh's car. It was raining lightly and was cloudy. As we went on the way to Salogara, where we had to halt for the final climb to the Bride's house, we stopped the car at many places on the way and clicked some photos.

On reaching the destination we parked the car nearby and were totally astonished to see that the climb was a mighty one and would be an ideal trekking experience. Sandeep was seated in a palki (called Dola) and was carried to the venue by some professional guys. As we started the trek, I and Saurabh had a big adrenaline rush and were getting excited to see that whole thing.

We danced our way to the top in spite of my recurring back pain and clicked many pictures on the way. It was a completely picturesque climb to the top and we came across the Shimla-Kalka narrow gauge railway line on our way. Finally after a climb of 30-40 minutes, we reached the top where the marriage was to take place. In the enthusiasm we forgot that out moms were also coming behind us. On reaching top, they taunted us for the same. :P

The place was absolutely marvelous, out of the world, amazing, beautiful and what not. We saw many different kind of flora which are quite rare in the plains e.g. walnut trees, Japanese fruit etc. We even tried some of them afterward. On reaching there, we were welcomed with garlands and a small shagun tokens. We were seated and were given refreshments. I literally wondered that how could they manage such a good arrangement at the place which was so difficult to climb. Later we came to know that all things were carried up manually or by mules.

Anyway, after getting refreshed, the Milni ceremony started and the counterpart relatives from both bride's and bridegroom's sides were introduced formally as per the local rituals. After some dance and merry making, Sandeep was accompanied to the main venue of Phere. We also followed him after some sight seeing and roaming around.

Sandeep's wedding (day 2)

2010-08-04T18:14:00.001+05:30

(continued from here - day 1)

As usual I woke up early in the morning after a comfortable sleep and learned that Aman and Rajesh (our two friends who were Sandeep's roommates in Bangalore) had arrived there. They also came to the room to rest after a long drive from Delhi to Solan. We had a good chit chat and laugh about Sandeep getting married. It was nice to see college friends after such a long time.

After Aman and Rajesh slept to take some rest, we got ready for the day ahead. The local relatives had already started arriving and it was a pleasure meeting them although we were total strangers for them. The major ceremony of the day was the welcome of the maternal uncles and other relatives from the mother side. In north Indian weddings, the mother side relatives have a major role to play as they sponsor the Sehra (the bridegroom's veil), the clothes and other gifts to the bridegroom.

We got ready and after 2-3 hours Aman and Rajesh woke up after a refreshing sleep. We were seated for breakfast and I noticed that the relatives were preparing the breakfast for all the guests in the house. We relished eating chhole poori and ate to our fill. Sandeep was as usual busy in his puja and other religious rites before the arrival of the maternal uncles.

Meanwhile, I got a call from my mom that she would reach there anytime. I went to the bus stop to pick her up. After picking her up, we reached the main venue of the day's function, at hotel paragon palace. The relatives who were at the house started moving towards the venue and Sandeep's brother Rajan was given the duty to ferry them to the venue. :)

I noticed that Sandeep's family was quite punctual and because of their strong belief in religious rituals, they accomplished and tried to accomplish every ceremony on the appropriate muhurat (auspicious time) prescribed by Purohit ji. I liked this a lot as I personally am quite punctual which creates a bit of trouble for others who deal with me. :)

After everyone arrived in the reserved hall, the ceremony started. I was accompanying my mom and we were discussing about the rituals and ceremonies being held and the differences in the same in our household marriages. Now the bridegroom was seated for a puja and the family members had to apply haldi (turmeric) paste on his face and body. This is quite an important ritual in every north indian wedding. Even the bride has to undergo this ritual.

The relatives came one by one and as instructed by Purohit ji, applied mustard oil in his hair and haldi paste on his face. Meanwhile I and mom had a satisfying lunch along with the introductions and chit chats with his relatives at the venue. Aman had brought his SLR and was busy clicking photographs of the ceremony. After the ceremony was over, the relatives (except the bridegroom) gathered outside the venue to welcome the mother side relatives.

Meanwhile Saurabh and his mom arrived and we were given a room in the hotel to get fresh for the next ceremony. After getting ready, we moved outside to see a complete welcome with accompanying band and garlands. A huge gathering was in the making. After welcoming everyone from the maternal relatives, Saurabh started dancing and pulled us and all the relatives in the dance. It was an enjoyable moment as the otherwise shy relatives (including me) were made to dance on the conventional wedding tunes.

After some dance and merry making, all gathered in the puja hall for the major ceremony of the day. This was called 'sainth' where the maternal uncles would gift Sandeep the sehra and new clothes after applying haldi and mustard oil as earlier. This time non family members could also accompany for the ceremony, as did my mom. After the ceremony, the old clothes worn by the bridegroom are given to someone (here, his barbers) as charity.

As the ceremony was going on, I took my mom and Saurabh's mom to a stroll on the mall road. We did some window shopping and enjoyed the walk through the mall. We came back in an hour or so and found that our common friend Manoj, who resides in Nalagarh and is Sandeep’s school friend, had arrived. I met him after 3-4 years. Sandeep’s ceremony was near closing and we were invited for dinner now.

We enjoyed dinner with family members and cousins. It was a good chit chat and we took almost 2 hours to complete the dinner. After that, the bridegroom's sisters would apply mehendi (henna) to his hands. After seeing off my mom and Saurabh's mom to the hotel room, we accompanied Sandeep for the mehendi ceremony. Each sister (real and cousin) would apply mehendi on his hands and ready him for the next day's baarat. The last thing I remember before dozing off to sleep was that Sandeep was having a good joke with his sisters who had made exquisite mehendi patterns on his hands. After a day's activity, I was so tired that I couldn't resist myself from sleeping in the very hall where mehendi ceremony was going on.

Sandeep's wedding (day 1)

2010-08-04T17:35:00.001+05:30

Plans for the wedding had started the day Sandeep told us about his marriage last year. This was a very important occasion for all four of us Sandeep, Yogi, Saurabh and me as it would be the first wedding amongst us. Finally the week of the wedding arrived. As usual i started planning the whole trip with Saurabh, which was successful, at least to some extent. We decided to get out of Delhi on July 29 which was Thursday. The major breather was that Saurabh would take us in his car. However we would realise it later whether it was a breather or a tension. :D

Saurabh’s mom also agreed to accompany us, that led me ask my mom to come there and attend the wedding. We started on the decided day in the morning, although we were 2 hours behind the schedule still our journey to overcome the notorious Delhi traffic was fruitful and we successfully went past the Delhi border in time. I was given the navigator seat and also some additional responsibilities of keeping the chauffeur awake and entertaining the audience with the super hi-fi audio cassette system installed in the car. ;)

The drive was very smooth and we crossed Panipat in just an hour after passing the Delhi border. We took a break at a road side dhaba before Karnal and enjoyed the tea there. After the short break we were again on the road with the speedometer’s needle hovering around 80-90 consistently. We passed Karnal, Kurukshetra and Ambala on the way. As we were heading towards destination, the green surroundings were turning greener and winds were getting cooler.

Once we crossed Chandigarh and took the Shimla highway, we could easily see the lush green mountains and blue skies with some clouds here and there. The drive became steeper as we reached Kalka and we were on the typical Himachal roads as we crossed Parwanoo. We were greeted by intense showers as we drove past the hills of Parwanoo. The rain stopped after 15-20 minutes and we stopped on the road side for the view of the mountains and had some photos clicked. :)

After that we resumed our journey to Solan and reached there in time. After getting directions from Sandeep who had sent his younger brother to accompany us home, we reached their home and were greeted by Sandeep’s parents and grandparents. Sandeep was busy in some puja which would eventually last for complete 2 days. ;)

There we met his other relatives including his two brothers Rajan and Harish. We chilled for some time and then had lunch with them afterward. The climate was too cool and pleasant for us delhites. We even noticed that most rooms in his house did not have ceiling fans, as they were not needed.

In the evening we attended a small puja ceremony in the house and after that Saurabh and aunty left to meet their local relatives. Sandeep took me and his grandparents for a stroll in the nearby area. We could the see the beautiful mountains amidst the clouds and could feel the chill in the air. After half an hour or so we came back to home and met the Purohit ji. He was a knowledgeable person with quite convincing knowledge on the field of astrology. I had a long discussion with him on the very subject and we shared our experiences regarding the same. Obviously others in the room were getting bored. :P

Then we went for dinner and had a good simple dinner in completely village style after so many years. As a matter of fact i ate the dinner without a spoon after so many years and simply enjoyed that. Sandeep couldn’t accompany us for the dinner as he was on a fast as a part of the rituals being followed. After dinner we went to the room allotted to us by them to have a nap. We laid the mattresses on the floor and after some chit chat and light moments, decided to have a sleep. The chill in the atmosphere forced us to take a quilt and i was still wondering about a quilt in the month of July. After a long day’s drive, we went to sleep and get refreshed for the next day.

BangaloreD for the first time (part 3)

2010-05-12T17:44:00.005+05:30

(Continued from here - part 2)

Being single has many benefits but not without the added disadvantages. Not being able to enjoy a party is one of those disadvantages. Any where we inquired about the New Year’s party, we got a negative response as we are singles and i don’t know why Bangalore has a bad eye for singles even if they want to enjoy and hang around. Anyway we continued searching and our never say die attitude paid off as we got a booking for dining out and that too without any hassles of being single or double. :)

We got the booking in the Sahib Sindh Sultan Restaurant in Forum Mall. So finally the major task was completed. I was happy as I was not going to pay for it, being the guest of honor :D. On the New Year’s Eve, Sandeep had to go to office and as usual I and Yogi went out for a stroll. The stroll lengthened a bit and we reached Brigade Road again. There we shopped more and understood the saying “shop till you drop” pretty well. After getting totally tired, we again went to an open air Barista cafe and had some gossip about nothing and everything.

On coming back to home, we were ready for the party. After Sandeep had arrived, we went off to the restaurant at around 9 so that we would not miss the fun there. On reaching there in time, we took out reserved seats. I liked the railway coach like ambiance of the restaurant. With soft music playing in the background, we enjoyed our starters along with some exotic birds there ;).

Interestingly, the waiters were also dressed up like the rail car attendants. I had been eating and eating for past half an hour and the waiter didn’t stop bringing new dishes to us, then I realised that it was a buffet dinner. We were given some props like masks and birthday caps to have complete fun and pomp.

We ate and ate and ate and amongst the mobile camera photo sessions, didn’t realise why everyone was getting up. People rose from their seats and began the countdown to the New Year. Lights were blacked out and on the strike of the midnight gong, lights were put on. People cheered and wished each other a happy new year.

Sandeep and Yogi went inside the disco and had a good head banging session. I waited outside as i didn’t like the too loud noise inside. There i saw a totally bollywood style couple, drunk and fighting, the girl was asking the boy to get a taxi for her and the boy was insisting the girl to go to his home ;). That created quite a show there.

After another half an hour, we decided to walk back to home. While walking, we sang songs and walked like full tight drunkards, and successfully got the attention of the crowds too :). Finally we reached home and wished Aunty ji and Sandeep’s other roommates a very happy new year. And in no time we were on our beds in deep slumber after my whole life’s longest dinner which lasted 2 and half hours.

The next day, we were again charged up as Sandeep was ready to take us to the Art of Living ashram. Yogi had gone to office and me, Sandeep and Aunty ji were ready to go there. We got a bus from the same old, sony world signal and I doubtlessly appreciated the traffic decorum which the bus drivers maintain in Bangalore.

We boarded a bus and went on our way to Banshankari. There we had to wait for some time for the next bus and after boarding the bus, we started on our way to AOL ashram. The Mysore road was quite picturesque as both sides had ample greenery. We reached the ashram in about half an hour and went inside the premises.

The ashram is located in a totally peaceful area, away from the noise of the city and the lush green surroundings make it even more attractive. We entered the main building and sat there for some time. Sandeep showed us the satsang place of Shri Shri Ravi Shankar. We also met some of his friends who were also associated with AOL.

There was a strange sense of serenity in the satsang place. After roaming around in the building, we moved outside for a stroll in the compound. Sandeep showed us the eatery and we had a simple satwik lunch there. We went further up to the meditation place of Shri Shri Ravi Shankar. It was a beautiful circular building with a big tree in between. The roof of the circular building was divided in to 12 sun signs and the devotees were meant to practice the proprietary Sudarshan Kriya, while sitting under one’s sun sign.

That was a peaceful experience for me as Aunty and Sandeep were busy in their meditation and i had a refreshing nap. Suddenly a very fair foreigner with a beautiful little blond girl in his lap came to me and asked if I was a New Zealander. I was baffled to hear his question and asked him candidly, why he asked me that. He told that i looked like a New Zealander and more over i was wearing a cap which Yogi had brought from Wellington. That was a surprising moment for me. :)

Anyway, we started back to home after our spiritual excursion and reached home in an hour. I must mention here, the people who say that Bangalore traffic is very irregular, must come to Delhi and see the difference themselves. I bet they will stop cribbing about the Bangalore traffic :).

Next morning, the cab arrived at time and I bid adieu to friends. It was time for me to catch the flight. While booking the flight in Delhi, I had never expected that there would be a show stopper named Fog. I boarded the flight half an hour before the scheduled 6 AM departure. The notorious Delhi Fog played spoil sport and we were stranded on the Bangalore Airport for about 3 hours.

At around 9 AM, the pilot got the confirmation for flight and we flew. As we were already late, the pilot flew very fast and we reached the Delhi airspace in around 2 hours. We kept flying above the city for some 30-40 minutes before we started the landing process. I could see the passengers murmuring prayers as the fog was very thick. Even i couldn’t figure out the thud and the realisation when we landed on the air strip.

Even today, I wonder how the pilot landed in that sheer invisible airspace where i couldn’t even see the wings of the plane. That was completely the triumph of technology above the human eyes. We landed safely and after collecting my luggage, i moved towards the arrival terminal to get a cab to Noida and have some long needed rest.

BangaloreD for the first time (part 2)

2010-04-30T06:30:00.004+05:30

(continued from here - part 1)

The next morning, I found the weather very pleasant there, as I had always heard. In fact the other thing which totally surprised me was a coconut tree in the courtyard of the house. I had seen a coconut tree first time in my life and was overjoyed like a child :). It had some 5-6 coconuts on it too.

On getting ready we had breakfast and set out to roam around in the city. Sandeep and yogi were equally enthusiastic to show me the city and their usual hang outs there. I had a look at the surroundings and was instantly amazed by the greenery and the pleasant weather. The noon was a bit sweaty however it was far better than the chilly winters of Delhi.

First of all, we went to Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum. It has different exhibition halls namely Engine Hall, Electrotechinc, Fun Science, Space Technology and much more. I was very amused to see the working models of each and every theory in Physics, Engines, and Science etc which we used to study till standard 12 and had to just visualize everything because of lack of such resources.

Being somewhat of a science geek, I was so involved in the halls and all the models that I forgot that there were two other people with me :). I believe they also were laughing at me on seeing my child like enthusiasm in that museum. We clicked some awesome pictures in the fun science hall and saw some extremely amazing experimental set ups kept there. It was a very good experience to see the abstract things which one has studied only in books, come alive. I thought, some day I’d definitely bring my kids to show them those things which may be obsolete for them. :)

After the museum, we went to the famous MG road there. Yogi had brought for us black kiwi T-shirts with a big white colored fern (the symbol of New Zealand) printed in front. We were wearing that T-shirt which was a big head turner for the local people there. May be they were thinking of us as 3 idiots :). We roamed on the MG road and saw the famous M Chinnaswamy stadium which was quite nearby. Also I was amazed to learn that there was a circle named Anil Kumble Circle.

We went to the even more famous Brigade road :D, which may be seen as the Rajpur Road in Dehradun or may be the Mall Road in Shimla. I had started feeling a bit tired after hours of roaming and walking. We sat in a nearby Café Coffee Day outlet and had long chats about anything and everything. In the mean time, yogi was recording the moments on his handy cam which I thought to be a total show off ;).

In the evening, we had a small peek around in the Garuda Mall, had some snacks and then went back to home. I had a serious chat with aunty (yogi’s mom) about his marriage and future prospects ;). Sandeep’s roommate and our classmate Aman had come back from office by that time so we all had a good chat about the college and old days.

The next day I called Pallavi (my fellow moderator on the pagalguy.com forums) and asked her to plan a meet with Bangalore PG junta. She obliged and we decided to meet the legendary Prem anna (another fellow moderator). There I also met Sarang Tatimatla. We had a great time and I had a special Kerala Thali for lunch. I liked the cuisine and enjoyed it a lot. After lunch Pallavi dropped me near my home. On reaching back I slept for some time.

In the evening, we were again ready to go and we went to the Forum Mall nearby. After some time and some video recording by Yogi, we came back home at night and had dinner. I called my other friends in Bangalore and they also came to meet me. We had a great time there.

The next day we all decided to watch 3 idiots which had released on the Christmas weekend and had generated rave reviews. Sandeep had booked the tickets online and we reached the PVR cinema in Forum Mall, in time for the booked morning show. To our disappointment, all the shows had been cancelled because of the death of Dr. Vishnuvardhan, the famous Kannada film actor. All the cinema halls in the city were closed because of that and we had to take the ticket refund.

We had some photo clicking and shopping in the very mall and came back home before noon. In the evening, we decided to go to MG road. After some shopping and bird watching, we sat for a coffee and finally went back home. There we had a brain storming session on where to go for the New Year’s party. The trouble was that we were 3 singles and all the famous clubs there had couple entry. This issue indeed required some deep strategising and planning :).

BangaloreD for the first time (part 1)

2010-04-25T18:08:00.003+05:30

I am always thrilled whenever I get a chance to visit any new place. Same was my state of mind when I planned to visit my friends in Bangalore for this year’s New Year party. It would be the first time after 2006 that I’d be in a new place to celebrate the New Year. Though I am not a party animal, I was excited to visit a place hyped for being the IT hub of India.

I got my air tickets, from Delhi to Bangalore, with Indigo Airlines just a week before the departure. Obviously it burnt a big hole in this frugal spender’s pocket :P. Yogi had planned to come from wellington 2 days before my arrival at Bangalore. So I’d see my best friends together after a gap of more than a year.

Finally on December 28, 2009 - a chilly winter afternoon in Delhi, I started for the airport to catch the flight scheduled at 3 PM. Sandeep had asked for some special sweets and groundnuts for lohri, so I obliged him by being a low cost carrier for the same :). After an hour and a half in buses and autos, I reached the airport with almost an hour to spare.

The moment I reached there, I was a bit confused to see the totally new terminals and had to ask the policeman to guide me to the right check in terminal. I reached the Indigo check in counter, checked in my luggage and got the gate pass and other formalities done. After 15-20 minutes we were on our way to board the flight.

I was the second person to get into the flight and as usual I had already booked a window seat to have a complete view ;) . I took my seat and a newlywed lady happened to sit in my adjacent seat. Another middle aged lady, whom I helped keep the luggage into the overhead box, thought us to be married and gave her best wishes to us. The newlywed lady blushed instantly and I had a good laugh about the compliment :D.

The flight took off at the scheduled time and I was wondering that fog could cause a delay there. After 10 minutes we were above the fog and sun was shining bright into my eyes. The whole city below us was covered by dense fog and it seemed that we were flying above a vast stretch of cotton laid evenly.

As we moved away from Delhi the fog became more sparse and after half an hour, it completely vanished. I had kept my mobile phone in flight mode and continued clicking some pictures of the landscape below. The flight had a halt in Ahmedabad. The weather there was quite opposite to that in Delhi. I could see people in their summer dresses.

We took off from there after a 20 minutes scheduled halt. After 15-20 minutes, we were flying near the sea shore and I could see the characteristic land mass of south Mumbai. I could also identify the newly constructed Bandra Worli sea link and was excitedly clicked its picture. Now as we approached Bangalore, the sun was setting down and I saw some amazing patterns formed by the thick clouds in the sky. For a moment, the plane went through a dense cloud and started shaking a bit. I could see the awesome lightning bolt among the clouds.

After some time we started the descent towards Bangalore. It was completely dark now and I could see the tiny lights on the ground getting closer. We landed at exact 7 PM which was the scheduled time too. Hats off to Indigo for that on time performance. After getting back my checked in luggage, I moved towards the outer platforms of the airport.

Bangalore has an efficient bus service from the airport to almost every part of the city. As instructed by Sandeep, I boarded the BIAL-7A bus and started the journey towards the city. The roads were exceptionally smooth, may be because of being recently built. The bus was a low floor bus with dedicated compartments of luggage. I started scanning the city as we crossed it and entered the main old city. As decided, I had to get down at the Sony World crossing, which I did after an hour.

There Sandeep and yogi were waiting for me and I was happy to see them after such a long time. We walked towards Sandeep’s house and it took us only 5 minutes. There I met yogi’s mother and Sandeep’s other roommates. After dinner, we had a good time chatting and didn’t realize that it was already 2 AM. So we slept and saved the rest of the talks for the next day.

My own domain name :)

2010-04-25T17:28:00.000+05:30

Finally, after a spell of inactivity, i have decided to revamp my blog and get this customized domain name http://raghavabbhi.com . Thanks to blogger.com for the same. :)

Now i have an identity on the internet too, my own website where i can post whatever i want.

Just checked that the hit counter has also crossed 1K which is quite unbelievable for a nerdy kind of a blog like this. :)

My sincere thanks to all who are reading this blog and have read it. Keep watching this space now for more activity and seemingly interesting experiences.

First Time Spectator

2009-11-01T11:36:00.005+05:30

They say, Cricket is a religion and I experienced it very well yesterday when I went to see the India Australia one day international match at the Ferozshah Kotla stadium in New Delhi. It was the first time I had got a chance to see a cricket match in a stadium. Although I am not a very die-hard fan of cricket, still being an Indian I have normal levels of cricket in my blood like any other Indian.

On Thursday, my roommate suddenly called and asked if I wanted to go and see the 3rd ODI at Delhi, I gave him an affirmative and so he bought the tickets for us. Later he told that the rush was so much on the ticket counter that it closed quite early and hence giving the illegal community to black market the tickets at their own will. The tickets he bought were officially for 500 bucks but it cost him 600. Far too nominal I’d say later on hearing from another fellow spectator from a nearby town who had bought the same ticket on the match day for 3000 bucks.

We started from home at 11 in the morning keeping in view the crunched parking availability in the nearby areas of the stadium. We were 6 people on 4 bikes and reached the Indraprastha metro station parking in about 40 minutes. We were quite relieved after learning that it was a 24 hour parking and kept the helmets too. Afterwards we took an auto rickshaw to the stadium which was not very far from the parking.

I was left completely shocked on landing out of the auto rickshaw and seeing the long queues for going inside the stadium. Immediately I thought that I won’t be able to enjoy here. We started moving towards the gates of the stadium. My gate number was 16 so I moved towards it where I’d be joined by another of my roommates later.
Small vendors were selling the 4 and 6 marked sheets, 3 sheets for 10 bucks or something like that. Painters were roaming around with colour bottles in their hands along with painting brushes to paint a tricolour where ever the customer liked. Mostly were getting it done on their faces, arms and foreheads.

As I reached towards gate 16 the crowd grew in number and similarly the policemen deployed to control them. I went through the barricades and was interrupted by the official there. On showing my ticket, he treated me cordially and gave me the instructions to go inside the gate. First there was a security check and thorough frisking of my jacket pockets. Unlike I had assumed, they allowed me to carry my mobile phone inside the premises.

On entering the premises I was stopped by the newly installed turnstiles which left me completely amazed. I entered the bar code printed on the ticket inside the prescribed slot and it let me go inside. This was quite a thing for a place like Delhi, I thought. I had to go to the TATA end, northwest stand level 2. As I climbed the stairs, I got a glimpse of the cricket stadium and simultaneously the pitch. I was elated to see it and couldn’t stop myself from smiling.

Then I found a seat in the third row from the bottom most in that level. I could see the whole stadium from there. The pitch and the inner circle were being painted with the crease demarcations and the indicating dots respectively. I was seated at around 12:15 which was way early the starting time of the match which was 14:30.

I kept on observing the surroundings and within a moment the whole stand was filled with people. I had kept the adjacent seat for my roommate who was on his way to join me there. He joined after an hour. Till that I enjoyed the crowd and clicked some pictures with my mobile phone camera. Two large screens were installed on either end of the stadium to show the replays and other important updates regarding the match.
Meanwhile, the Australian players came out to have a practice session and had a rigorous practice there. The crowd also had a rigorous practice of shouting and cheering. The moment Indian players came out to practice, the crowd went crazy. There was a big deafening noise especially when Sachin Tendulkar came out to practice with his kit. The crowd loved it.

Every time any player, whether Indian or Australian, came near the crowd, people would cheer him like anything and eventually compel him to wave to the crowd. Here I realised that the people are literally crazy about cricket. They could simply identify a cricketer from about 100 meters away sitting in the crowd.

At around 14:00 the pitch report started being telecasted and followed by the toss. India lost the toss and were put to bowl first. After half an hour, all players and umpires along with the match referee came out and paid tribute to David Shepherd, an umpiring legend who recently succumbed to cancer, by observing a 2 minutes silence.

The match started shortly after the same. Australians made a slow cautious start with their openers Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson. People were cheering each bowl being bowled by Indian bowlers. When the first wicket fell, the decibel level of the noise was immeasurable. Soon Foster’s (official drinks sponsors) trolley arrived in the ground for the drinks break. Surprisingly, they had young girls vending the drinks. The crowd cheered them too and may be passed many comments which were obviously indistinguishable.

The play resumed and after a slow second session, the crowd cheered whenever there was a fall of wicket or fifty partnerships or any personal fifty by the player. Amongst a big round of Mexican waves, we were enjoying ourselves too. Small vendors used to come around quite frequently selling eatables (obviously for a huge premium on the marked price). The floodlights were slowly being switched on because of diminishing sunlight.

Whenever a player would come near the crowd, they would shout his name and make him wave to the crowd. Every piece of fielding was cheered. Every appeal was followed by a huge roar. Final overs of the Australian innings were cheered a lot by the crowds because of some hard hitting and fall of wickets. The innings closed at 229 for the loss of 5 wickets leaving a target of 230 to be chased by Indians. The low score was more or less expected due to the tricky nature of the pitch.

In the innings break many people who were sitting tightly in their seats went away for relaxing and after coming back they’d find someone else sitting on their seats. This resulted in minor quarrels all over the place. The crowd was growing in number slowly. The visibility was getting reduced because of some smoke in the nearby areas and my eyes were getting irritated to some extent too.

Finally the Indian innings started and the moment, Sehwag and Tendulkar walked into the stadium, again there was a deafening roar. The play started and first over produced 12 runs followed by huge cheer from the crowd. Then came a lull period for the Indian innings, Sehwag got bowled at a brilliant delivery by Johnson and the crowd’s spirits were dampened. Soon Tendulkar also followed being run out. The crowd went pin drop silence for a while and rose again only when the new batsman came to the crease.

Dhoni’s arrival was highly cheered by the spectators who were anticipating some fireworks from him and Yuvraj. The game proceeded slowly and each single being cheered. The crowd was dying out to see boundaries. Suddenly then Yuvraj hit a four and a six which brought all on their feet. Then there were Mexican waves, hooting, whistling and every characteristic of a cheerful Indian cricket lover crowd. We were unable to figure out where the ball was travelling after being hit because of low visibility and shiny bright lights. I wondered how the cameramen followed the ball so closely.

Yuvraj finally departed at 78 when 29 more runs were needed to win. His departure was again followed by a great roar and clapping. Finally Raina came and steered India to victory along with Dhoni in the 48th over. We were very happy to see India victorious and thought that our money didn’t go waste.

We came out of the stadium after 5 minutes of the winning runs and saw the crowded roads and surroundings and utter chaos. Everyone was in a hurry to reach home. We also walked to parking and took our bike and drove to home. It was quite cold in the night.

This morning I read that the newly installed turnstiles had recorded 43,895 spectators which was quite a big number in itself. The whole experience was good and an amazing one. Only thing I didn’t like was the big crowd and some of the elements were quite rowdy and undisciplined. I don’t like to visit crowded places but this was a thrilling experience in all. Only time will tell whether I’d go there again for any other match or I’d prefer watching it at home on television itself.

My getaway to Kullu Manali (part 3)

2009-08-23T10:23:00.011+05:30

My third day at Bhuntar was a bit lazy one as compared to previous two. I woke up at around 7 in the morning and had a look at the valley from the house’s balcony. It was simply amazing. After tea and some light moments with uncle and aunt, I asked my granduncle about Bijli Mahadev. He candidly told me that he had never been to that place but just pointed to a peak from the balcony (the peak in this picture) and told that was it.
It was now my job to learn how to go there. After breakfast, I started from home for Kullu and reached there at 10. There at the bus station, I inquired about Bijli Mahadev and got to know that there was a limited bus service to that place and there was a 3 km trek to the peak.

I boarded the next bus and started for the destination. The bus started the climb to the hill and slowly the whole valley looked tinier and tinier. We reached the village Chansari at around 11 from where I started for the peak after taking guidelines from the local driver itself.

The way up the peak was made up of rocky stairs and the village people had opened small tea shops for the tourists. I started climbing the stairs and after 10-15 minutes I saw groups to tourists ahead of me, which assured that I was on the right way. As I walked past them, I saw they were having difficulty climbing the stairs and after every minute or so of climb, they’d sit down and try to rest their heavy breath.After 15-20 minutes I too felt the grind and took rest for a minute or so. Then I remembered a technique of using only one step at a time while climbing, told to me by my dad. I used that technique and felt that the rate of exhaustion had reduced to a great extent and I started enjoying the trek.

I kept on clicking photos of the majestic scenery and the forest itself. At some points on the trek very loud sounds would echo and I was amazed later when a local villager told me that it was the sound of the river flowing in the valley. I kept on climbing and was enjoying the chilly winds as I moved higher amongst the high deodars.

Finally I reached the peak at around 12:30 and the view was breathtaking. The hill top was not covered with trees, instead it was a grassy meadow and all the four side gave the view of the surrounding mountains and the whole valley. I was lucky that that weather was sunny that day which allowed me a complete view of the surroundings.
I saw the gate to the temple of Bijli Mahadev and was excited. Then I went across the gate and saw the temple. It is completely a wooden structure and high lightening conductor stands in front of the main door of the temple.
Talking about the legend of Bijli Mahadev, there is a Shiva lingam in the temple which is struck by lightning every year in the Hindu calendar month of Magh (January-February). As a result of which the Shiva lingam is broken to pieces and then the local priests again join the pieces using butter and sattoo. This amazing practice is followed every year and the fable says that lord Shiva takes the lightening on his lingam (penis) to save world from peril.I was keen to see the Shiva lingam in the temple and after having seen it, I asked the local priest (who didn’t at all look like a common priest seen in urban temples) about the legend and its authenticity. He told me that it was completely true and the lightning strikes every year and does not harm anyone except the lingam there. I was amazed to see the burnt ceiling and the upper wall of the temples which proved the fact.

Afterwards I saw the view from the hill top which was amazing (the small strip in the pic below is Bhuntar Airport on the banks of Beas River) and roamed around for some time. Then I asked a tourist to click my photograph there and tried to click some on my own using the timer in the camera. The descending slope behind the temple was covered with yellow flowers, which was quite a rarer thing to see. I could easily see the Rohtang pass from there and the Parbati river too.After spending some time there, I started for the base village as I had to get a bus from there for Kullu. I reached the village at 3 and waited for the bus for half an hour there talking to the locals. The people were very cordial there and were very happy to learn that I was a himachali too as I talked to them in their local language.

I boarded the bus to Kullu and learnt the local school just had its day off so the bus was thronged with cute little children and beautiful teachers. I must admit here that the ladies there are one of the most beautiful ones I have ever seen.

The buses are like a lifeline in those villages and hence the drivers treat the children as their own. Otherwise one can’t imagine a 4 year old child travelling alone in a bus with hoards of unknown people. I wasn’t able to find any tree other than apples, peaches, pomegranates, pears and plums in the nearby surroundings. They would bear ripe fruits in the month of June and July.

I reached Kullu and boarded the bus back to Bhuntar and reached home at 5 in the evening. There I showed them pictures and they were also ready to go there the next day. This was the best part of my journey to Kullu Manali. The next day I had to return to Delhi so packed my bag and went for a stroll in the nearby apple orchard.

My getaway to Kullu Manali (part 2)

2009-08-22T11:03:00.015+05:30

I had not at all imagined that the day 2 would be the most demanding of the whole trip. After coming back from ManiKaran the last night, I decided to go to Rohtang the next day. I took proper guidelines from my grand uncle there and was a bit baffled to hear that I’d have to start at 5 in the morning if I had to reach home timely in the evening.

Enthusiastically, I woke up at 5 in the morning and by 5:30 I was on the road to Bhuntar. As there was no transport at that time, i had to ask for a lift to Bhuntar bus stand in a tractor which was ferrying cauliflowers. The driver was an old man and was very cordial and told me the whole route very clearly. He dropped me at Bhuntar and luckily I didn’t have to wait very long for a bus, and that too i got a direct bus for Manali with a window seat offering me a majestic morning view of the Kullu valley.

Enjoying the view and travelling at a not very fast pace, we reached Manali at 8 AM in the morning. There I inquired about the ways to get to Rohtang and found out that the shared cab would be the best way out for me as I was alone. So I got a ticket in a 12 seater mini bus via a travel operator there itself.

We started from Manali at around 8:30 and once again I got a very unusual seat in the bus, that of the conductor near the driver. I had the fullest view of the surroundings, both from the front window and the side window. En route to Rohtang, we stopped by a winter clothes store and took some heavy woollens on rent for a day. Then we continued our journey on the banks of the river Beas. The view was so beautiful that I couldn’t resist myself from clicking pictures even from the moving bus.
The road was so rugged that some people were a bit scared of it. I was chatting with the driver about the place and nearby attractions, when another tourist requested me not to disturb the driver. LOL. The driver also had a laugh at him.

We reached Marhi, the base station to Rohtang at around 11:30 and took a tea break there. The moment I came out of the bus, my spine was chilled to the core by the chilly winds there. I immediately put on my rented fur jacket. I bought some chocolates there and ate them so as to get maximum calories in that cold weather.

We started from there and reached Rohtang at about 1 because of the massive traffic jam and some ongoing road maintenance by the Border Roads Organisation. There we got out of the bus and told the driver to collect us at exactly 3:30 PM.

It was a majestic view as I had never seen such a vast extent of snow in my entire life. I could only identify 3 colours in the surroundings, white, blue and a hint of black. I was with a group of young boys from Delhi and started climbing the snow to reach the Beas temple there. After about 15-20 minutes of trekking on the snow, we reached the Beas temple.
The temple was just like an igloo and half submerged under snow. On entering it we saw a small circular room in the middle of which was an aperture on the floor out of which water was flowing. There the priest told us that it was the originating point of the Beas River. I was a bit shocked to see how water could flow amidst sub zero temperatures which could freeze almost anything.

After that we came out and started having some fun in the snow. We took 2 rides and decided that we’d walk to the highest point visible. On reaching half way we were exhausted and laid down to rest there. After clicking some photographs, we retreated back to the main area where the people were enjoying.
At around the scheduled time, we reached the bus and after every passenger boarded it, we started back to Manali. On the way we again stopped at Marhi for some refreshments and afterwards we stopped at a big waterfall for some time. People got some photos clicked there and then we started back to Manali. On the way we returned our winter clothes. I kept chatting with the driver about the local lifestyle and surrounding areas etc and learnt a lot about the place and its rituals.

He dropped us all at the bus station at around 7 in the evening from where I took the bus to Bhuntar. I reached back home at 10 in the evening where I had a very pleasing dinner after the day long trek.

My getaway to Kullu Manali (part 1)

2009-05-30T12:01:00.006+05:30

So...i am back after a long gap :)
it has been quite a time when i wrote here.

Recently i got a chance to visit my Bua's home at Kullu. I was happy as i had never visited that place in spite of spending 4 years in Hamirpur which is quite close to these places. My friends used to visit there and i thought, "kabhi na kabhi toh ghum hi lenge, Himachal hi toh hai"; but i never got a chance. Now, 3 years after passing out from college, i got a golden chance and decided not to let it go.

We decided to go by car and taking a day's break at Chandigarh. So we started at 7 AM from Noida and reached Chandigarh at around 2 PM after a 2 hour break in Panipat. We had lunch at Chacha's house and afterwards bua and uncle left for night stay at one of his friend's house.

The next morning we started again at 7 amidst pleasant weather and cool breezes as it had rained the previous day. The drive up to Bilaspur was a well acquainted one and we stopped at a place 10-15 minutes ahead for breakfast. The view of Gobind Sagar from the restaurant's window was beautiful and then it struck to my mind that i was carrying a 2 MP camera in my new nokia 5130.

I started taking pics even from the moving car. The place was beautiful and the cool weather was quite a relief from Delhi's humidity. I was feeling a bit sleepy but countered the urge to sleep as i had never seen the places on that route beyond Bilaspur. As we drove to Kullu via Sundernagar, Mandi and Pandoh Dam, the temperature started dropping and the breeze became more chilled. Then came the beautiful view of the Beas river flowing adjacent to us.

We took a halt at Hanogi Devi's temple built on the banks of Beas. All the temples in Himachal have one or the other myths associated with them and this one also had one too. People driving on the way generally halt at this place as a gesture of respect to the local deity and even if they don't have time to halt completely, they would stop for a second, pray and then go ahead. The location of the temple is very rugged as it has been built on the rocky gorges of Beas.

We came across a 3 kms long tunnel built for the hydel power project and i couldn't stop myself from appreciating that marvel of engineering. We reached home at Bajaura in the afternoon at 2 and were greeted by bua's parents and served a satisfying lunch.

After some rest and chit-chat i decided to go to Manikaran. After getting complete directions from grandfather about the conveyance and other things, I started. I reached Bhuntar from where I'd get a bus for Manikaran. I decided to go by bus because it gives a real life view at the locales. We started at around 3 from Bhuntar to Manikaran. The moment we crossed the bridge at river Beas, i realized that it would be a picturesque journey.

The bus started climbing the tall montains at a slow and steady pace. On the left side was the breathtaking view of the river Parvati looking like a tiny rivulet in the deep gorges. The thing which fascinated me was that the very top of the mountains was also inhabited and small trolleys were suspended from the houses to the other bank. I later saw that the trolleys were powered by electricity and were used to send daily supplies to the houses.

We crossed many villages on our way and also passed the famous Malana hydel power project. In the deep gorge on the banks of Parvati, it looked like a miniature house and a small pipe attached to it. There was a place named Kasol, which had a big settlement of foreign tourists who had come there for an arduous trek to Malana village.

Finally we reached Manikaran at around 5 and saw the majestic gurudwara complex built on the banks of Parvati. The gurudwara is famous for its hot water springs. Also i noticed that there was a temple in that complex itself which was a great example of peaceful co-existence. There was a hot cave near the springs which was quite like a sauna bath in spite of the chilly waters of Parvati flowing near by. Then i saw the springs and was amazed to see that the water was boiling hot and people were cooking rice, potatoes, dal and many other things by simply suspending the contents in a muslin cloth in the spring. I visited the shrine and had langar there. The whole food was cooked in that spring itself.

There were baths built for the devotees and the water was so hot that it was mixed with cold water first and then channeled to the baths. I had a stroll at the place and appreciated the nature's miracle of those springs. Devotees were coming in large numbers in spite of the tough journey.

Finally i decided to take the last bus back to Bhuntar at around 6:30 and reached home after a two hour drive downhill. This was the day 1 of my maiden tour of Kullu Manali.

What You Might Henceforth Learn At Business School

2009-03-27T09:54:00.005+05:30

i found this article in the TOI yesterday and found it really interesting.
here's the article

What You Might Henceforth Learn At Business School

Prakash Shesh

Good business schools are becoming aware that apart from learning how to maximize wealth, they need to also learn how to maximize happiness — their own and of those around them.

There is a difference between happiness and what we describe as joy and pleasure. On a warm day what a glass of cold lemon juice gives you is pleasure for it is momentary and sensory. Happiness, on the other hand, is experienced in the mind and is therefore infinitely more powerful.

Are we happier today than we were a hundred years ago? If we’re not, isn’t it amazing that technological aids have not been able to add to our happiness?
What could we do to feel happy or happier?

1. Identify what makes you happy: I have met very few people who are clear about what makes them happy. Since they are unclear about their objectives, they live a perennially unhappy life. List down what will make you happy. Generate goals that are specific, achievable but challenging.

2. Compete with yourself: A study conducted at Harvard demonstrated that people are happier when they are relatively more prosperous than their compatriots. Respondents chose between two situations:
a) Your annual salary is $1,00,000 while your compatriot gets $75,000;
b) Your annual salary is $1,50,000 while your compatriot gets $1,75,000.
Though the salary was more in the (b) situation, respondents overwhelmingly preferred (a). Why not compete with oneself instead of grieving over others’ achievements?

3. Don’t expect everyone to agree with you: We usually equate disagreement with enmity in spite of knowing that intelligent people rarely agree on anything; every individual has a perspective that’s unique. So try and persuade the other person but don’t be unhappy if you fail.

4. Live life according to your beliefs: Intellectual independence must follow financial independence. Implement your beliefs without inconveniencing others and be happy.

5. Live in the present: The past is dead and gone. Peep into it only to learn from mistakes. Dream of the future but remember you can’t enjoy it until it becomes your present. So don’t postpone what you can do today.

6. Increase the sources of your happiness: Gardening, singing, playing an instrument, exercising, meditating...The more the merrier.

7. Limit your desires: We get caught in that vicious spiral of infinite wants. The happiness you derive from moving from one product to another — bigger, better, more expensive — is at best short-lived. Try to figure out what you can do without. Incremental benefits as you climb up the value chain of materialism are fewer than the incremental costs that you might incur.

8. Forgive and forget: Forgiving your opponents who played dirty may not make you a winner but it would surely make you happier. Jealousy and prolonged anger are agents of death.

9. Keep your curiosity alive: People who vigorously retain the childlike habit of questioning are happy on two counts. They enjoy getting to know the answers and their curiosity keeps their mind alive and kicking.

10. Shun hypocrisy: We worship women as goddesses but don’t respect them at home, workplace or any other situation. We keep our courtyards clean by dumping garbage in the neighbour’s compound or on the street. Double standards don’t contribute to happiness.

11. Spend time with the young: Their happiness is infectious and costs nothing.

12. Give liberally: Share your smile, advice, cheer, money, help or just company. Giving should reduce your assets but giving happiness actually increases your own inventory — just try it out!

first flight :)

2009-02-17T05:07:00.004+05:30

so....
it has been a long time i wrote here.
recently i had my first experience of air travel so i thought i would write it here too :)

i had to go to Pune from New Delhi on February 11 and had booked tickets with Indigo Air well in advance. the flight was scheduled at 2:20 in the afternoon from IGI airport Delhi.
so enthusiastic i was for the flight that i reached the airport a good 1 and a half hour before the scheduled time.

on reaching the airport i just smiled at myself that no one could imagine that i had taken a bus, then an auto on the way to reach the airport, as people are used to hiring cabs to go there.
there i went to the Indigo counter where the steward gave me a boarding pass for the flight and checked in my luggage (a good old VIP suitcase).

then i went on to the flight check in area, had a rigorous security check and sat in the waiting area. after 30 minutes or so, i heard that the boarding had started. i also stood in the same queue.

i was amazed to see that a bus would carry us to the plane. for the first time, i felt it was funny but soon realized that it was a safe strategy at such a big airport and the act was justified when it took us complete 5 minutes to reach the plane by bus.

i grinned on seeing the plane as it was for the first time. he he. a total PAHADI i am.
then i went inside the plane using the mobile staircase.

i had deliberately booked the window seat for a full view.
i occupied my seat 10F and fastened the seat belt as i had been told and had seen many times.
after 15-20 minutes everyone was in and the door of the plane was closed.

i was getting thrilled as the time was passing. the plane started moving towards the runway and i thought how slow it is moving, will it be able to fly?
as we approached the runway, i saw a Virgin Atlantic flight taking off with full throttle.
then after 2-3 minutes we were in a position of taking off.

suddenly the sound of the aviation turbine changed and i guessed that it was time. we started moving on the runway very fast and i was looking out the window.

suddenly the speed increased considerably and i felt a thump in the heart. 5 seconds later i saw that we were in air. i couldn't believe it.
WE WERE FLYING. I WAS FLYING.

i looked outside the window like a child. the size of the surroundings started shrinking and my smile got widened.
then after 3-4 minutes we were amidst the clouds. i was just fascinated by that and the thought that i was air borne made me shiver with joy. i just wanted to scream and jump but AHHHH....it was a plane, a closed space.

anyway, on reaching the top of the sky we overtook the clouds and the captain announced that we were at an altitude of nearly 11 Kms in the sky.
after the clouds dispersed, the land was visible. we were above Rajasthan. and i believe i saw Udaipur with the beautiful lake. then we crossed Ahmadabad and after some time i saw the tiny rivulets merging in a great water body. i was elated to see the SEA for the first time in my life. suddenly the air-hostess came and offered refreshment. i just refused straightway without even looking at her, and i could guess that she laughed slowly.

after some time we started descent to Pune. i saw the numerous plateaus in that region and was recalling them in my standard 9 geography book. he he.

as we descended slowly, the view became more and more beautiful. vast greens and small rivulets flowing across them.

finally we landed at Pune airport, quite a smaller one as compared to New Delhi.
the plane took around 10 minutes to stand still after the flight.
as i got out of the plane i greeted the captain standing in the front of the cockpit.

so here was i in Pune in a matter of 2 hours. a distance of over 1200 kms in mere 2 hours.

the whole journey will remain etched in my mind forever and the single moment which i can't ever forget is the thump i felt when i saw myself flying.

similarly different

2008-08-23T12:34:00.007+05:30

the server is busy.
the file is getting deployed for the past 5 minutes.
it will take another 20-25 minutes to accomplish the test.

what am i doing in that frame of time????

i am reading this article by JANARDHAN ROYE in the Times of India and can't control my laughter.

Nostalgia for the simple life and uncomplicated everyday options seized my middle-aged mind when, abroad, one ran out of toothpaste, and dashed to the supermarket. The plan of action - zip in, pick up the toothpaste, race back to make it to the meeting on time - got unstuck from the word 'Go'. I found the Oral Care section at the retail outlet. There, stretching as far as the eye could see, were toothpastes: Total Fresh Stripe, Janina Whitening, Advanced Whitening, Fresh Energy Gel, Herbal Family Protection, more Active Gel this time Red Hot...the ridiculously large selection boggled the mind. All one wanted was a simple toothpaste that one routinely buys, something with a minty flavour. I moved from left aisle to right aisle looking for it. No go. I was dazzled by more toothpaste options moving to another aisle: Baking Soda and Peroxide Whitening with Tartar Control, Herbal White, 2-in-1 Germicheck...the bounty of the marketplace was impressive, even if it made my head spin. I remembered my morning meeting some 20 minutes on, mesmerised by it all and bowled over by the giddy progress the toothpaste industry had made. "Where the heck is mint?" i muttered under my breath. An elderly sardarni probably heard me, for she said, "Beta, there." I raced to the 'mint' shelf after thanking her. Almost immediately the heart started pounding faster.

In front was a forest of White Daily Fluoride Mint, Classic Strong Mint, Ginger Mint, Cool Mint Freshness, Jasmin Mint, Ayurvedic Fresh Mint, Herbal Mint...deluged by mints, i found myself going "Which mint? Which mint?"

That was months ago. I found to my horror shopping again for toothpaste back home that phoren craziness had taken over my friendly neighbourhood kirana. Hordes of toothpaste brands, fruity flavours included, adorned the shelves. A choice that should be easy and simple had become tricky and complex. I found that choices were abounding in our daily lives like never before when thinking about it later. Milk at the booth looks similar but comes in different coloured sachets. Flick television channels, programmes come on that are eerily and monotonously similar. At the clothing store, most jeans look similar. In the grocery store, all imported apples look the same. Is this bewildering array of choices draining our brains and restricting us rather than freeing us? Over to you Jaaved Jaffrey: tell us, what's different?
(link)

and while reading it i remember that i have faced the same situation many a times in the mall, in the cafe, in the superstore.

recently, i went to meet my friend at south Ex and we decided to sit at Barista cafe. i am generally wary of these places with high style quotients and people speaking least understandable English jargon, may be what they call slang.

she asked me to place the order at the counter but i avoid doing so as the whole world of choices makes me go crazy. even if i have to take a simple black coffee, it won't come without a dozen questions like "which beans", "strong or very strong" and many more. finally, after some gup-shup, i convinced her to order for me too.

reading this article, i am simply recalled of that particular incident at barista.

in the meantime the testing has completed and i must get back to work. hopefully it should be successful. :)

Mukteshwar Trek (part 3)

2008-08-07T18:16:00.001+05:30

Although we hadn't done anything much except chattering and sight seeing, everyone was quite tired at the mere mention of the trek's distance – 5 kilometers and may be more, that too on a very rugged terrain where every step was to be footed carefully. Showing courage we started. I was in the front of the bunch most of the times. Say it my enthusiasm or my cherished 4 years of pahadi experience at NIT Hamirpur.

When we started, the guide showed us the location of the cascade in the middle of the valley, so far that one would need a binoculars to figure it out. We had a descent in the valley but quite carefully as it had rained heavily the last day and rocks-soil were quite loose. We saw many great landscapes in the valley and everyone was clicking either the sight or getting clicked himself by others. We moved on. After a good 40-45 minutes we reached a road head where the guide stopped us and told to get down from the road. Everyone was bewildered because there was no way, just pine trees and bushes, that too on a sixty degree incline. We carefully started again. And in around 15-20 minutes, reached the base of the cascade. It was simply breathtaking. Everyone was elated to the core. We kept aside our bags and climbed on to the dry side of the rocks. Amit and me had already planned to take a shower there. Deepak also joined us. We enjoyed a lot having a bath, that too after 1 whole day... :)

Seeing us, others also joined us. I went in the main stream of the fall and whack...I was stunned by the force of the water falling on my head. Getting imbalanced, i fell in the water. It didn't hurt but i got a warning to keep away from the main stream. After some half an hour or so, we packed up, dried ourselves and changed clothes.

We were again surprised to see the rope across the cascade and learned that river crossing was also an activity there. It was an adrenaline pumping stunt done with all the safety measures like harnesses and gloves. We enjoyed it a lot. After climbing back to the main road, we called our bus and went to the camp as no one was in a position to walk further. As soon as we reached the camp, we gathered at the central shed for a cozy bonfire. Temperature was around 15-20 degrees and we were feeling cold. Bonfire gave us some respite from the cold. I was sitting beside the fire when i noticed blood oozing out of my right ankle. I couldn't figure out why that happened. On showing it to the guide, he took some edible salt and put it on that spot, that's when i learned that a leech had stuck my foot in the waterfall. The bleeding stopped in 10-15 minutes.

After some chatting and gossiping, dinner was ready. We all enjoyed dinner a lot because of the day's exertion. After some time everyone signed off to their respective tents. The funny part was the warning that the guide gave us about wild leopards and ordered to well zip up the tents. The moment i laid on the bed, i didn't know where i went.

Next morning on waking up, we saw that the clouds had entered our tents and outside it was raining lightly. The whole ambiance was translucent when the guide called us to the main shed for morning tea. We had planned to go for a sunrise trek but rain didn't allow that. So we started assembling in the shed and same round of giggles and gossips started. While getting ready for breakfast we planned to go to the Mukteshwar temple. After breakfast we kept our luggage in the bus and started towards temple.

It was raining lightly. The temple was about 70-80 steps above the road and as good as another trek for us. Many of us breathed heavily upon reaching the zenith. But it was worth the view. I got a feel of the Jakhoo Mandir in Shimla. We prayed for a while there, listened about the local myth there and after coming back to the bus started for Bhimtal.

The way to Bhimtal was through the same arduous mountains. I enjoyed the view of the valley from the window, but being tired, had a short nap on the back (which wold make me famous, later). On reaching Bhimtal, we decided against boating there because of the time crunch we were having. After roaming around and some sight seeing, we started out for Kathgodam-Haldwani for lunch. At around 4:30 PM we started from there towards Noida.

The whole trek was great and one of the unique experiences for me as i had never been to that place. Although every hill station is more or less the same with a usual mall road, great weather, local artifacts but this place was, i felt, a bit different from those many places that i have been in Himachal. It was a refreshing break from work, the memories of which would reside in my mind for many years to come.

Mukteshwar Trek (part 2)

2008-08-01T17:46:00.011+05:30

We started a good 2 hours late as per the planned schedule. But the good thing was – we started. Despite some minor traffic snarls caused by the kanwariyas, we went at a brisk pace. Although it was midnight, even it couldn't stop anyone from chattering and giggling. I enjoyed a short nap meanwhile. When i woke up we were at a roadside dhaba, unusually hustling in spite of the odd 2:30 AM in the night. I was hungry and had some bread pakoras, which i relished. After having some snacks we started again. The road was quite a notorious one and didn't let me sleep peacefully. Still i continued to do so as i knew that the next day was going to be tiring.

The next time i woke up was at Rudrapur (Udham Singh Nagar). We reached Haldwani at around 5:30 AM in the morning and just 15-20 minutes later crossed Kathgodam. The Kumaon hills had started to come by. It was the first part of the drive in the hills. Everyone was awake at the sight of the mountains and the rising sun with a bit of chill in the air. We screamed with joy. It was a common sight for me because of my well acquaintance with such mountains in Himachal, but i also relished that sight. We stopped at a roadside place for 5-10 minutes, where i saw a small rivulet coming out of the hills. I washed my face and drank some water from it, the natural mountain water.

We started again for Nainital and finally reached there at 8 AM and as soon as we got down from the bus, started looking for a hotel for a short stay of 2-3 hours. We found one and freshened ourselves up. We went for a stroll along the lake side and the view was simply breathtaking. We had breakfast at a small restaurant in the market beside the lake. We had spent a lot of time in some unnecessary things and decided to skip the boating part so that we could reach Mukteshwar in time. But DIL HAI KI MANTA NAHI....:)
We had a final consensus on boating and proceeded for the same. We took a whole round of the lake along with some sightseeing and some usual naive camera clicks. I rowed the boat for some 4-5 minutes. That was the best part of the ride. Everyone enjoyed a lot.

Now we moved on to reach Mukteshwar. The whole scenery was marvelous. I kept my neck outside the window for most of the time. People had some travel sickness and were causing some minor halts at different places. But as usual i was stout like a banyan. I again took a short nap on the last seat of the bus stretching my legs.
Finally people woke me up and told to get down as we had reached the camp. We moved on to the camp. The first view of the valley mesmerized me. I was standstill for a minute or two enjoying the scent of flowers in the valley and the clouds so near that it seemed i could touch them. After keeping the luggage in our tents, we started clicking the shots and assembled at the central hut for lunch. Never in 3-4 years, i had such a satisfying lunch, along with the scenery and nature. After some jokes and giggles, we set out for a trek to cascade.
(to be contd.)