Origin > Identity > Destiny

Book Review : Player One by Douglas Coupland

2011-11-07T23:19:00.002+09:00

The book claims to be a five-hour real-time story set in an airport cocktail lounge. Five(technically speaking, its four) 'different' characters end up stumbling on each other in the lounge in what happens to be a global disaster in the 'outside world'. Coupland introduces his characters in the beginning of the book; the story is spread across 5 chapters with each chapter happening over a span of an hour. You do not feel each of the hours passing by as you read the book, but the characters do change with the course of events and exhibit their unique traits.

I had started with MicroSerfs a few days back and simply loved the plot and Doug's style of humour and storytelling. He makes the reader think from different angles towards his subject and imagine or role play his characters and leaves the final summary to be deciphered - and this is exactly how he does in this book wherein he makes his characters travel through time(over a span of 5 odd hours) in an airport lounge.

The single biggest thing about Coupland is his witticisms and the way they are spewed all around, even during times of a disaster. The characters emerges from its shell and presents interesting(and the usual) questions about life and time, albeit in a slightly different fashion.

A few of them:

..a plane trip exposes you to situations and landscapes unthinkable until recent history, moments of magnificence and banality that dissolve what few itty-bitty molecules of individuality you possess. After a plane trip, you need to rebuild your ego, to shore up your sense of being unique. Thats why religions target airports to find new recruits...

History only remembers people who invent new hairdos : Julius Caesar, Einstein, Hitler, Marilyn Monroe. Why bother with conquering Europe or discovering nuclear science when all you need is a bit of style innovation? If Marie Curie had given a bit more attention to her appearance she'd have been on the ten dollar bill.

When Donald Duck traded his wings for arms, do you think he was trading up or trading down?

The last 20-30 pages of the book contain Doug'sims which are nothing but definitions of some sesquipedallion syndromes and characteristics of the present society and way of life - these are interesting and worthy of a read(very Tyler-Durden-like).

It is not a "great" read, but does ask some of the most often asked questions on society, religion, after-life, existentialism, human-identity etc. In my honest opinion the plot was not a great read, and neither was the character-play; it was the wittiness of the author and the way he presents the questions(and some of them unanswered) to the readers that makes this book a buy.

Book Review : Salmonella Men on Planet Porno By Yasutaka Tsutsui

2011-11-07T16:16:00.002+09:00

What happens when Murakami meets Salvador Dali in a cafe with Kafka?

I stumbled on this collection of stories by Yatusaka Tsutsui and picked it up with an earnest interest after i sampled through a few pages in the bookstore. The book contains 13 short stories, each of which exemplifies certain mundane-ness to absurd proportions without trying to be politically correct and polite at certain instances; it also makes you laugh sometimes, if not always. During the course of reading this book, my expectation increased with every page, as Tsutsui builds up on the tempo and underscores the idiocy in the everyday life and the traits of certain people(if not all) in the society. The cultural awkwardness at some places may rejig you, but you are all the more engrossed in the story and are waiting to know the end. The climax though might seem uneventful, is what sets the style different from others. Without being too abstract, and constructing a parallel universe to juxtapose the events from Planet earth onto an equivalent set of highly extrapolated stupidity, the author takes the reader to a completely different realm.

Each of the stories is a thoroughly imagined classic in which the protagonist leads the life in another fictional world. Be it "The Dabba Dabba Tree", in which the society's bent for eroticism is suitably characterized by the introduction of a tree in the bedroom which makes you dream, and makes the dreams and reality coexist or in the "Rumours about Me" in which he(protagonist) is constantly disdainful of all the attention that he 'might' be getting or "Dont Laugh" in which the construction of time machine is in the center of all the giggling and laughing, Tsutsui does construct a different kingdom of thoughts. The 'tourist' syndrome is aptly presented in "Farmer Airlines" and "Bear's Wood Main Line". The humour becomes pretty dark in "The Very Edge of Happiness"; and rigmarole of the everyday office life is again magnified with the help of a fictional war life situation. In the story "The World is Tilting", the author again portrays a region of land which keeps tilting and simultaneously showcases the dynamics of the people in the region. "The Last Smoker" is the story about a person who does not want to give up smoking in a land which has banned smoking, and how he has to hide and run and finally becomes 'the last smoker' and hence becomes an 'endangered specie'. "Bad for the heart" is about a person who needs pills for his life to proceed onto the next day, and how he has to face the brunt of his wife and the incompetency of the courier service which has to deliver the packet to him.

"Salmonella Men on Planet Porno" is the highlight of this book, and is the biggest story. Tsutsui is one of the masters of imagination and he constructs a parallel universe in this story, wherein things are again extremely erotic with their associated 'obscenity' according to Dr.Mogamigawa(one of the characters of this story). But towards the end it does get transformed to a planet of love, where things happen for a reason. The author gets full points in the way he introduces animals and insects on the Planet Porno - fondleweed, flatback hippos, eleventh-hour crocodiles, gugling alligators,matchbox jellyfish, forget-me-grass, itchy scratchy tree. Animals like panting hart, false-eared rabbit, grindhog, gaping hooter, collapsible cow or birds like the penisparrow or insects like the screeching cicada are there for a reason. Also, the way relic pods are introduced lends a new dimension to this paradise of love and care. Newdopia - wherein, the humanoid natives look completely like humans, but wander around nude, does introduce the weirdness in the psyche to a different level altogether; but the author does it on purpose.

The characters remain in the stories and do not attempt to break out; and i am sure,even if they try to do, they cannot, as Tsutsui has sufficiently handcuffed them in their own realities. There is a sense of claustrophobia in all his characters. All the weirdness in his tales, though at the time of reading does feel very funny, but the associated epiphany is worth notable. Would calling Tsutsui the "Master of Surrealism" in the literary world be a hyperbole? I am not sure as i have to sample a lot many more.

Chocolate Review : The Three Musketeers

2011-11-04T17:42:00.000+09:00

Oh Life! What will I do if you(Chocolates) were not around?

There are times when you make a resolution to give a break to eating to chocolates, lose a few pounds and then re-start the adventure; but most (or all) of the times the resolutions are to be broken. And thats exactly what happened this time, which led me to stumble on 3 nice chocolates which i am going to review in this post.

Lindt Lindor White - A beautiful Milk chocolate that just melts in your mouth!
The first of the chocolates was the Lindt Milk. Needless to say this is/was one of the best smooth chocolates out there. Though not creamy(i will be reviewing Lindt's Creamy Milk Chocolate in the next post), this chocolate is so smooth that it almost immediately dissolves in your mouth. The texture reminded me of Butler's Rasberry with Milk, though the taste is pure milk in this case. It smells a little bit of the milk powder, but you are too lost in the smoothness to find it obstructing your palate. The package is neat and Lindt-like(nothing extra-ordinary) and once you break it, the next thing that comes to your mind is to break and pop it into your mouth and let the adventure start from the tip of your tongue :)

Frey's Dark Lemon and Pepper - Dark Tangy Fantasy
Though the last Frey bar that i had was a disaster, i took that as a one of case and bravely bought this. Having never tasted a chocolate with a lemon taste(closest was the Lindt-Chilly), i decided to give this a try. And the gamble was well worth it. The dark chocolate is not very sweet and the cocoa jells in very well with the lemon. You do not feel the pepper until you almost swallow the stuff. The tangy taste lends an extra dimension to the overall taste bud. Its again a smooth chocolate packaged in an unassuming cover. I will try variants of lemon chocolates for sure in the near future; the slight sourness in the chocolate is a totally different ball game if you are are always used to the caramel.

Jack Daniel's Jennesse Whiskey - The Dark Beauty with the Kicks
This Dark Beauty was a mammoth beast. It was quite sometime since i had a liquor chocolate and this time, I had to decide between the Whisky/Vodka/Gin variants. I went for the 'JD'. Each block of this chocolate is quiet a mouthful with its core filled with the Whisky. The core breaks and the liquid fills your mouth and dissolves the chocolate and you feel the 'smell' at the top of your mouth (do NOT break chocolate outside of your mouth with a liquor based chocolate!!). The feeling is that of sitting in a small coracle and let the river take its course. A smooth chocolate with good mix of sweetness(is not too sweet though) and the cocoa, this will probably be a winner in its category. You feel the 'Thor' inside the chocolate wake up and wage a war inside you in no time ;)

From the Landmark Sale this year

2011-11-03T19:22:00.003+09:00

This year probably saw me buying books quite aggressively. A total of 30 titles which should keep me occupied for the next year or so.

The initial few days of the Sale saw some *really* good coffee table books on sale; these made me salivate, but i did not buy any of them - a mistake! These books were totally missing after the first week of the sale; am sure someone would have lapped up the entire collection.

1. Tavernier's Travels In India Between Years 1640 and 1676 - Valentine Ball
2. The Lonely Planet Story by Tony Wheeler and Maureen Wheeler (May 15, 2007)
3. Ghost Train to the Eastern Star: On the Tracks of the Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux (Aug 6, 2009)
4. The Latest Answers to the Oldest Questions: A Philosophical Adventure with the World's Greatest Thinkers by Nicholas Fearn (Jan 16, 2007)
5. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
6. Asimov Laughs Again: More Than 700 Jokes, Limericks, and Anecdotes by Isaac Asimov (Sep 15, 1993)
7. Big Bang: The Origin of the Universe (P.S.) by Simon Singh (Nov 1, 2005)
8. Why People Get Sick: Exploring the Mind-Body Connection by Darian Leader and David Corfield (May 26, 2008)
9. Justice League of America - DC Comics
10. More Peanuts Collection by Charles M. Schulz (2006)

11. The Murder Book by Jonathan Kellerman (May 20, 2008)
12. Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XXI (1927-1931): The Future of an Illusion, Civilization and its Discontents, and Other Works [vol. 21]] by Freud (1971)
13. Life of Pi(Hadrcover) by Yann Martel and Tomislav Torjanac (Oct 8, 2007)
14. Have Pen, Will Travel: Observations Of A Globetrotter by M. J. Akbar (Apr 20, 2011)
15. The Watson Dynasty: The Fiery Reign and Troubled Legacy of IBM's Founding Father and Son by Richard S. Tedlow (Nov 1, 12003)
16. Golda by Elinor Burkett (Jun 30, 2009)
17. Sneaker Wars: The Enemy Brothers Who Founded Adidas and Puma and the Family Feud That Forever Changed the Business of Sports by Barbara Smit (Mar 17, 2009)
18. Microserfs: A Novel (P.S.) by Douglas Coupland (Nov 11, 2008)

19. From Stonehenge to Samarkand: An Anthology of Archaeological Travel Writing by Brian M. Fagan (Jul 20, 2006)
20. Alistair Cooke's America by Alistair Cooke (Aug 25, 2009)
21. Player One by Douglas Coupland (Sep 1, 2011)
22. Call of the Mall: The Geography of Shopping by the Author of Why We Buy by Paco Underhill (Dec 21, 2004)
23. Bobby Fischer Goes to War : How A Lone American Star Defeated the Soviet Chess Machine by David Edmonds and John Eidinow 2(Mar 1, 2005)
24. Codebreakers: The Inside Story of Bletchley Park by Sir F. H. Hinsley and Alan Stripp (Aug 9, 2001)
25. Salmonella Men on Planet Porno by Yasutaka Tsutsui (Jan 12, 2010)
26. Jpod by Douglas Coupland (Jun 4, 2007)
27. New Europe by Michael Palin (Jun 26, 2008)
28. Thatcher's Britain: The Politics And Social Upheaval Of The Thatcher Era by Richard Vinen

iPostBox - Stamps from India and Rest of the World

2011-11-03T02:32:00.003+09:00

I used to collect stamps and first day covers(FDC) when i was in school; though the interest in FDC soon waned, i continued to collect Stamps(usually those from India). One of my cousins also helped me increase my 'portfolio' and gave a few doubles. But with the due course of time, this hobby waned and finally became totally dormant. Though i kept my stamp collection intact, i am not sure what happened to the FDC collection. During one of my recent 'visits' to my book-shelves, i stumbled on my old stamp album and thought of giving it a nudge and developing this interest. Also, the recent visit to SriLanka helped me fuel this fire, as i got a good collection of stamps from there.

With this interest in mind, i am thinking of posting my entire portfolio online in a 'different' blog purely dedicated to Stamps and share the knowledge with others. Hence, (and thanks to a free blogger domain), i am launching iPostBox : http://ipostbox.blogspot.com/

I will be positing a blog atleast once a week and hope to attach some nice trivia associated with the Stamp. Also, in the due course make pen-pals from different countries and exchange stamps and covers from the rest of the world. So if you are reading this post, do drop me an email so that i can share my address.

I also hope to further this interest and make a pretty reasonable collection and use it as an educational medium to teach the kids. I am not sure successful i would be, but i will definitely give this a try.

Philately or stamp collection is dying and not many are into this. With the widespread usage of emails, the days of snailmails are fast getting over. I hope to have this collection atleast as a reminder of our beautiful 'heritage' as we enter the 'complete cyber age' :)

On a side note, i find cultivating a hobby to be emotionally and mentally very peaceful. You are not *always* attached just to your work, and are on the lookout of something interesting which need not essentially have monetary benefits. Hope you too have an interesting hobby :)

Stamps from SriLanka

2011-10-21T22:18:00.002+09:00

During our recent visit to SriLanka, i was surprised to see that people use the postal system(snailmail) quiet often; atleast i could see quiet a bit of crowd in most post-offices that i could spot from the buses. I happened to see a pretty big Post Office in Kandy, and wanted to get some stamps and first day envelopes(if at all SriLanka had it) for my collection. We had a terrible time crunch, and i never stepped into any of the post-offices, Alas!

But what came as an even bigger surprise was the small outlet of the SriLankan Post Office in the airport which I stumbled upon by chance. They had a pretty good collection of stamps(both used and not-used) and were selling it at the same rate - i.e, 5LKR per stamp. I picked up a few, and the following is an honest attempt in publishing them in the public domain and sharing the knowledge with others.

When i was browsing through their collection, i saw a large quantity of stamps depicting birds; the person also was selling a set of 20-40 bird-stamps for around 400-500LKR; i preferred buying in the loose and 'form my own collection' than buying it as a set. I do not like the idea of buying a 'set' of stamps - it looks very 'pre-configured' to me.

From top -left to bottom(go along the reading direction) : Coucal, Arenga, Blue Flycatcher, Hill Mynah, Oriole, Rufous Babbler, Head Laughing Thrush, Blue Magpie, Layard's Parakeet, Yellow Fronted Barbet, Yellow Eared Bulbul, Lorikeet, Slender Loris, Leopard, Lyre Head Lizard

Two main tourist attractions in SriLanka are their nature and ruins; and this has been adequetly presented in their philatelic collections. The coins and statues unearthed from the ruins in Anuradhapura and Pollanurawa have been suitably captured and presented. Also, you can see the beautiful natural reserves of Hortan plains and Knuckles.

The rectangular photo in the third row in the following picture is probably the longest stamp that i have in my whole collection.

I was presently surprised to find the following 2 stamps : on Tsunami disaster in 2004 and the other on Corruption. I am not sure whether India has a stamp on Corruption, but this was a welcome surprise to me. Also, another trivia : Dec-9 is the International Anti-Corruption Day(nice!).

SriLanka also has some interesting stamps of different patterns; though i do have triangular and diamond shapes of a few countries, am stumbling on a trapezoidal shape(the middle one) for the first time. Sports and Cricket are the themes in many stamps.

In fact, the person in the booth wanted to sell a commemorative collection of stamps on Muthaiah Muralitharan's (collector's edition) for 220LKR, but i somehow, i did not buy it.

I hope to take pictures of my stamp collection and post some interesting stamps in here. I guess, i would learn lots of aspects of philately during the due course and also meet interesting people in this community and exchange , which is the most crucial aspect to this hobby.

3 GOOD Travel Books Worth A Read

2011-10-19T15:22:00.003+09:00

Well, post our visit to SriLanka early this September, i have been quiet voraciously reading both on and off the Internet. Holding a 'book' in your hand and reading it, and if it happens to be an old book with yellow papers, then its an icing on a cake(in Hindi, we call it as 'sone pe suhaga'). Nevertheless, with the festive season in the air, and with not much travel around, it was a perfect time to deep dive into the amazing world of books(with papers :) ); and i was fortunate enough to stumble on some *really* good reads.

1. Danziger's travels : Beyond Forbidden Frontiers"
This was given to me by a colleague, and i must say that this probably is one single book which i will remember for quiet sometime. The book was a first edition print, and also the papers were a tad old. Danziger starts from London, and travels across Europe to reach the highly volatile Iran-Iraq border and then crosses it(with the heart still beating :) ) and then via Afghanistan reaches Western China province. Not many know that Western China is a religious minority - that of muslims, and is not very open to tourists/travellers; our protagonist travels some uncharted waters and narrates his experiences in amazing detail. It is an adventure ride all throughout, with every page filled with many details and amazing experiences.

And did i tell you that Danziger does this 30 years back, during the 70's. Aye.

I did not find this book in Landmark, and i think its pretty tough to get it; nevertheless, try it in any online store, and am sure that you will praise me for this recommendation. The English is very simple and the flow just keeps going on and on. I do not want to divulge much about this book, except for mentioning (again!) that this is a MUST read for any adventure travel enthusiast or a budget traveller.

2. Paul Theroux's - "The Ghost Train to Eastern Star"
I picked up this one at the ongoing Landmark sale. I have planning to read this book for quiet sometime, and this also happens to be my First book of Paul Theroux. The book is like a sequel to the Great Railway Bazaar(which I haven't read yet). Paul Theroux does a train journey from London to India and then onto SL, Thai etc(in 1970s); and in The Ghost Train to Eastern Star, he revisits the same route 30 years later(in the late 2000s). Paul Theroux starts off with some real world truth about travel and how travellers/tourists escape the 'real' world and talks a bit about it in the philosophical context; and then once he starts off in his ride, he intersperses his experience(s) in every country with what happened 30 years back. He manages to meet atleast one famous author in every country and narrates the rendezvous. I *really* liked his encounter with Haruki Murakami. I never knew so much about Murakami, except for having read a handful of his books.

Anyway, there is one minor crib about this book : Paul Theorux keeps on denigrating India almost everywhere, and I did not quiet like it. Lets face it(and ignore the fact that I am an Indian); but given that India is a true multi-cultural society with a billion odd people, you ought to find 'different' things. If you are crib about the population density, then visit Kazakhistan wherein you might find one family in a 11sq.km radius. There are so many good things about India, and the associated people and tourism, always cringing about 'tonnes of people everywhere' just makes it sound boring; probably, Paul Theroux had a Naipaul Syndrome!

Overall, the book is an enjoyable read, and it will remain in my library forever. I will also be reading his Great Railway Bazaar soon to understand/appreciate his experience when he was much younger :) By the way, i do not think that Paul Theroux is a budget traveller; and at many times during the book, it looked as if, he writing/creating stuff just to write a book and sell it!

3. M.J. Akbar's - "Have Pen, will Travel"
Firstly, you will *NOT* find such a travel book anywhere; what i mean is, the style in which M.J.Akbar narrates his experiences are AMAZING. I have always been fascinated by his writing style, and have always been an ardent reader of his editorials. If you haven't read him earlier, you can read his blog to see his clarity in the thought process and how he presents nothing but the facts - a true characteristic of a journalist.

The book is divided into multiple chapters, each spanning a handful of pages, wherein the author narrates his experience in a particular country. Since, M.J.Akbar had to travel a lot in his work, i guess, bulk of the experiences are during his visit to various countries for the conferences or talks or some story. Nevertheless, he does not make the chapters as a newspaper story, but talks about the unique aspects of the region, along with its history(wherever applicable) along with some really interesting and intelligent quips. I just could not keep the book down once i started reading it.

Let me caution you that this book is 'intelligent'(again!), and you really need to read-between-lines to entertain yourselves with some witty remarks by the author. Enjoyable and highly recommended!

In addition to the above, i also ended up reading "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach and also, a part of Nicholas Fearn's "Philosophy:The Latest Answer To The Oldest Questions" .

Five books in a month is not bad :)

What I have been eating - Chocolates

2011-09-11T21:49:00.000+09:00

The origins of the word "chocolate" probably comes from the Classical Nahuatl word xocolatl (meaning "bitter water"), and entered the English language from Spanish.

And for more of that head straight to wikipedia on Chocolate and the History of Chocolates. This post is mainly to review a few chocolates that I have tried over the last couple of years. So plunging right into the 'dark-brown' world.....

Lindt Excellence : Chilli
Tagline: "Fine Dark chocolate with extract of chilli pepper"
Weight:100g
Cost: 235INR
This 100g beast is probably the best chocolate that i have had till date. What i expect from a chocolate is a different salubriuous taste and flavour which blows my head off without me knowing it ;) And this is exaclty what this chocolate had to offer me.

This is a dark bitter chocolate with very nice chilli after taste; which adds a more powerful signature taste to it without being too excessive. This chocolate along with a cup of milk would be an ideal evening drink or can be consumed straight, if you do not mind the slight bitterness. There is a slight heat at the very begining that might go unnoticed but heat in the aftertaste is the winner here. Texture wise, this is a smooth chocolate.

Coming out of the Lindt Excellence stables, this was defintiely a tad appart from the series. I am surprised that despite the unique flavour that his bar had to offer, very few stores sell this - probably, people are not very keen on the chilli flavour and prefer the 'caramel' of the chocolate which is a totally different ball game.

Lindt Excellence : 85% cocoa
Tagline: "Luxuriously smooth : deliciusly intense"
Weight: 100g
Cost : 235INR
There are three words to describe this one : "DARK" , "SMOOTH" and "BITTER". Am sure most people would not like such an intense bitterness in chocolates, but what they miss is the pure cacoa which comes along with this, and the pure genuineness of the chocolate that would otherwise be never be felt. I agree that this chocolate would probably be the most bitter of all the ones stocked out there, but i think this chocolate is best to be consumed with a glass milk either in the morning(along with your paper) or in the evening(after a heavy day's work). The smoothness does stick to your tongue for sometime and hence the bitterness is felt for an extended period of time, unlike the others from Lindt.

I have been hearing that chocolate with the same percentage of cacoa, that is 85%, can indeed taste different and is dependant on various factors during manufacturing. I am yet to sample other varieties with 85% cacoa.(I also hear that there is a 99% cacoa from Lindt!)

STORCK's Riesin : Dark chocolate - chewy toffee (with original gavoa: cacao blend)
Weight: 270g
Cost: 5USD

This was a surprise to me. I stumbled on this chocolate and found that it was a German brand and immediately picked it up. I had never sampled a German chocolate before. The caramel is sweet but what makes this stand apart is that its not 'sugary-sweet' and the dark chocolate in it blends amazingly well and spreads a beautiful aroma in your mouth. The chocolate sticks to your teeth, but i think thats what it was meant to be - "a chewy tofee" and am sure kids would love this. I bought this at the Cairo Airport and again stumbled on this recently in Duty Free at SriLanka, but i am not sure what happened during the latter, and i totally missed buying this again(loser!).

Godiva : Chocolatier Gems : Assorted dark chocolates - caramels, truffles, solids
Weight: 284g
This bag of individually wrapped dark chocolates would be a probable winner, even with those who do not like dark chocolates much. The caramels taste a lot like Reisin Dark Chocolate(toffee), but are slightly less sweet.The texture is smooth and the caramel lingers around for sometime. The truffles are equally good and are not intense. Overall, though this package is labelled 'Dark', the intensity is medium. The packaging is nice and appealing and individual wrappers are equally well done.

Daim - Smooth Milk Chocolate Bars with a surprisingly crunchy butter almond caramel centre (42% milk choc)
Weight: 336g [12 bars]
A Swedish chocolate from Kraft, this was so different from what i had expected. The package consists of 12 bars(all are same). I wanted to eat a good milk chocolate bar and the bar was just right. The bar can be consumed either after refrigeration when the caramel inside it hardens or can be kept out in the open for sometime, so that the chocolate melts a bit. I would like to buy this again for it is simple and crunchy as its advertises itself and probably even exceeds expectations. I hardly felts the almonds, but the smoothness in it and the texture of the caramel when bitten was perfect. Take a bite, and leave it float in your mouth for sometime to 'feel' it. Swiss definitely are pioneers in the field of chocolates.

By the way, this is a 42% milk chocolate(unlike the Americans who call even a 10% to be a milk chocolate).

Munz : Swiss Premium Chocolate
Weight: 300g
I had never stumbled on Munz before and picked this up along with a Lindt to compare the two and i must say that this tastes better than the Lindt Milk. The packaging is very much similar to that of Lindt and so is the texture. I could feel the milk more in here than in the Lindt. The chocolate just dissolves in your mouth and you just do not want to gulp it down fast :)

Lindt Swiss Premium Chocolate (Milk Extra)
Weight: 300g
Cost: 9USD
Like a typical Lindt, this has the almost similar packaging and as i mentioned above for Munz tastes almost similar but Munz takes over this in the sweetness department. Both Munz and Lindt are definite buys.

Butlers - A selection of chocolate caramels and pralines
Weight: 125g
Butlers! Oh Butlers! I think this selection of caramels and Pralines is probably the best amongst its peers. The pralines are so darn nice and smooth. Am at loss of words when it comes to Butler's as almost all their chocolates are so nice and wakes up the kid inside you. The caramels in this box are equally great and the sweetness is just right. Simply "Go For It" when you see it in the stores.

Ghirardelli - Masterpieces collection
Ghirardelli is from USA.This was an assortment of chocolates, primarily of truffles and caramels.

It consists of Milk Caramel Chew, White Gourmet Truffle, Milk Pecan Caramel Classic, Dark Raspberry Gem, Milk creamy white heart, Dark ORange Gourmet Truffle and Milk Gourmet Truffle. The Dark Raspberry Gem was the best among this collection of chocolates. It had a sharp distinctive flavour and the raspberry filled core when pinched/pierced fills the mouth with this taste. The last time when i had a Raspberry chocolate was the Butler's Raspberry Milk chocolate which was and is still the best milk chocolate that i had till date.

Absolutely Divine - Creamy Milk Chocolate Squares (30% cacoa)
Weight:128g
This set of individually wrapped milk chocolates is definitely one of the most simple milk chocolates. Its pretty smooth and sticks around for sometime, and i feel that just one square would not be enough to actually 'taste' the chocolate in it. The cacoa does not stand out and the chocolate is pretty much a minimalist. Having said this, i would definitely like to try out the "Intense Dark Chocolate" from their stables and see how it ranks when compared with its peers.

Hershey's Pot of Gold : Fine confections
Tagline : "Premium collection of truffles,nut clusters, caramels, and other fine confections"
Weight: 283g
This would probably be a good cheap collection of confections which introduces one to different varieties of 'collection' chocolates. Most of that in this collection are very simple and nothing stands out. My complaint with Hershey's is that i find an increasing amount of peanut and hazelnut aftertaste in most of their chocolates which destroys the very aspect of cocoa. Nevertheless, i guess this would be a very good gift for the entire family especially pleasing younger ones during any celebration.

Frey : Chocolate Noir
Tagline: "Fine Dark Chocolate with almond-honey-nougat"
Weight: 100g
Cost: 2.5 USD

Frey claims that they are the "Swiss Premium Chocolate maker since 1887", but i am not sure why the word "premium" is attached in here. The chocolate is simple and nutty. Dark is probably a misnomer here, as it tastes more like a milk-chocolate. The outward texture is simple and smooth but a bite shows the chunks of almonds. The packaging is simple and this would be a good snack. This chocolate is more fudge-like than a simple dark chocolate which leaves the cacoa after taste. I havent sampled much from Frey's but am sure that they must have some other confections which are definitely a winner.

ION Milk chocolate
Weight:85g
Cost: 1.5USD
I never knew Greeks made chocolates; atleast i never knew that they had an International brand and this curiosity made me buy a bar in the Cairo Duty Free shop. The chocolate was somehow just not upto the mark. I mean, if you are looking for gourmet taste, then this definitely does not rank anywhere close to it or aspiring to be of one the best. It is an ordinary looking no-brainer with a very sweet taste and with no chunks. This is just a simple milk chocolate which you might even forget after the bite.

Maestro : Vochelle Hazelnuts in Dairy Milk Chocolate
Weight: 50g
Avoid is the best word that would come to your mind if you see this in the store. I did not find anything unique or tasty about this piece. I probably survived as the bar was small and did not cost me much. I think this chocolate is pretty famous in Malaysia, as i stumbled on mainly Malaysian stores when i wanted to Google and try to find more about this company and the product. Nevertheless, you can always try any other brand like Dairy Milk or 5Star for a better taste. I think this is one of those chocolates which is popular because it might be a fast seller because of the price, but definitely i wouldnt even buy then.

Kravour : Sinfull Chocolates
Weight:35g
Cost:30INR
This chocolate had bloomed(and i hate it). The package was bad(probably that explains the blooming?) and i am not sure why i actually picked it up.

Remember, choosing a "Chocolate" that suits your tastebuds is very much dependant on you. The choice varies from person to person, and is not like 'masala dosa' which is liked by all. Since there are so many variants to chocolates, one has to sample the various different varieties (which itself would take a lifetime) and then if time-permits, form an allegience with a brand or make. I always think that the journey is more important than the destination and in the World of Chocolates, i am sure that this is all the more valid.

(I collect the wrappers of the chocolates that i eat; i think its a nice hobby and it feels great when you browse through it on a lazy Sunday afternoon :) )

9D/8N Trip to SriLanka

2011-09-07T22:50:00.000+09:00

Prelude:
After our recent trips to Andamans and all alongthe West Coast of Karnataka(India), I personally wanted to visit some ruins andalso check out some new country in a week's span. Since there was a timelimitand also a budget in place, I had to prefer any of the neighbouring countries,as I did not want to spend much time in the flight/commute and also not takethe burden of VISA processing. SriLanka has a Visa On Arrival(VoA) for Indians and this was a welcome one; and also was a much cheaper place. After doingsome initial checks on the Internet we booked the tickets and started doing ourpreliminary research. The research efforts soon waned off as we were busy withthe day to day work. During the due course, SriLanka announced removal of VoA and this caused some jitters in the plan; but a few calls to the consulate affirmed that nothing was going to change till end of August(a sigh of relief). A wakeup call just a week before we took off put us into motion, but even thatwasnt much useful. We decided that we would not book hotels or any tour guidesand do the trip pretty much on our own. The die had been cast and we were set.

Itinerary:
Day 1 - Aug 27 (Saturday) : Chennai - Colombo - Dambulla

The flight from Chennai to Colombo is a littleover an hour. The uneventful journey flies away quickly; the view of the Gulfof Mannar(near Rameshwaram) is beautiful. The land getting tapered off and theoutlines of the Ram Sethu bridge are beautiful to look at from the skies. The Bandaranayake Airport at Colombo is neat andswanky. Its not very big, but the layout is neat and compact; there is a smalllounge for every flight departure, unlike one single big lounge in other airports(though there is also a big lounge lined up with duty free shops).There is a shuttle from the Airport which drops you off at the nearest busstand(called Katunayake) , which is around 500m away, from where you get busesto Colombo Fort(reaches in 45mins). I was impressed with the first glimpses ofthe road, as they were neat and well laid; but had my questions as most roadsnear airport are generally nice.

Reached the Fort Bus stand and enquired around and then caught a bus to Dambulla. The buswas a normal one, without air conditioning, and the seats would not recline. Wereached Dambulla at around 7:30pm. As we did not have reservations made for thestay we had to lookup a few hotels in the LP guide, and called up Healy, asthey seem to be the least expensive of all. LP guide that we had was of 2005,and the rates have almost doubled since then. A small shopkeeper by the roadhelped us by giving his phone to call up Healy and we then took a tuk-tuk(to be rippedoff) to Healy which was near the Post Office.

I did not like the room at Healy and woulddefinitely NOT recommend it, but it was pretty late for us and I was in no moodto check around. We retired early after having dinner at an adjoining hotel.

Day 2 - Aug 28 (Sunday) : Sigriya - Dambulla - Pollonurawa
We woke up early and walked all the way(1.5kms?) to thebus stand to catch a bus to Sigriya. The ride is for 30-40mins. We had a heavybreakfast at the Ceylon Hotel Corp's Sigiriya Rest House hotel there and then started the climb at around8:45am. Sigirya is famous for its monolithic structure; and also the various frescoesand paintings that adorn some of its caves.

Sigriya Rock

This was supposed to be a palace,but recent findings connote that this would as well have been the meditatingplace for the monks. The paintings are beautiful; and most of them are that ofthe goddess Tara Devi(tantrik/buddhist).

Paintings inside the caves of Sigirya

The sun was bright and we had veryminimal supply of water. I had anticipated it to be a tough climb, but we wereat the top in 45mins with ease. The view from the top was very nice; it wasquiet windy. A rain could have played spoilt sport, but it all went fine.Descent was quick, and then we caught a tuk-tuk back to Dambulla. (Plan to start the climb as early as possible, before the Sun gets too active).

We then checked out of Healy and went to theDambulla cave temples, which was just a 10 minute walk. I missed buying theticket at the entrance and was informed after reaching the top that theCultural triangle ticket is not valid here. I had no plans of walking back andclimbing again and let this pass. It was very sunny and we were getting baked. We then came down and checked outa museum by the side of the Golden Temple.

Golden Temple at Dambulla

After having a heavy lunch in the hotel(forgot itsname) opposite to the bus stand, got a bus to Pollonurawa. Pollonurawa happenedto be a much smaller town than I had expected. It had just one main road andmany small houses and shops around. Got a room at Darshini hotel which was nearthe Junction and just a stone's throw away from the bus stand. The room was nobetter, and there was hardly anyone else except for us in the hotel whichseemed to have around 10odd rooms. At 700LKR it was a good deal, for itsproximity to the ruins and the bus stand. There are no great places to eat inPollonoruwa(atleast not something that you can boast about). Most of the themare located on the Main road and serve the usual rice+curry.

After a good nap, we went for a walk in theevening and also stumbled on Suchira Communications(a cycber cafe on the Mainroad) which rents out bikes for exploring the ruins. We struck a deal at 200LKRper bike/cycle for the next day and after a test ride on the roads retired forthe day.

Day 3 - Aug 29 (Monday) : Pollonurawa - Anuradhapura
We started our day at around 6:30am and thenreached the entrance to the ruins. The morning was beautiful, with mild breezeand clear skies. I hoped for the best. We cycled around the ruins, stopping atvarious important sites marked in the LP map.

Ruins at Pollanoruwa

Biking along the ruins

Also, the place has numerous placardsfor the important sites. The clear blue skies greeted us everywhere and thedagobas with their spires and the blue background was just apt.

Dagoba

Humidity wasperfect. Saw some really huge dagobas and some ruins. A note about ruins hereis that instead of structures i.e, with walls etc, most ruins just have thebasic foundation which is not very interesting to watch. Though,the dagobas andthe sacred quadrangle are nice.(I still vote Hampi high). We biked till 10:30amvisiting Gal Vihara(the last in the ruins) and then the lake(Samudra) and thenthe archeological museum.

Gal Vihara

Gave back the bike and after an earlylunch(rice+curry) we caught a bus to Kekirawa. The bus was pretty crowded butwe managed to find a seat after standing for sometime. Caught another crowdedbus from Kekirawa to Anuradhapura and reached Anuradhapura by around 3pm. The bus dropped us near the railway stationand we enquired there for a possible room. After asking around with the StationMaster we got a spacious room for 700LKR. The room was huge and well ventilated.This proved to be a good decision as we had to catch a train to Kandy in themorning at 5am.

Since we were tired, we preferred to hire anautorickshaw(tuk-tuk) to go around Anuradhapura; also, the sites in A'pura arequite spread out and I dont think biking for few hours without asking aroundwas a good option. Also,1000LKR for around 3.5 hours of sight seeing was a goodbet to spend the evening. We finished almost all the important sights in A'puranamely:

Ruvanelisaya Dagoba
Sri Maha Bodhi
Lankarama
Thuparama Dagoba
Isurumuniya Vihara
Mirisavitaya Dagoba
Jetvanarama Dagoba
Kuttam Pokuna(Twin Ponds)
Ratnaprasada
Abhayagiri dagoba (the museum was closed).

Abhayagiri

Luckily found a small hotel serving rice+curry andappam near the railway station. A heavy dinner it was! And a nice sleep ensued.

Day 4 - Aug 30 (Tuesday) : Anuradhapura - Kurunegala - Rambukana - Pinnawala - Kandy
We did not do the much hyped Kandy-Nuwara Elayaroute, but instead thought of spending some time in Kandy and then deciding thecourse of action from there. Enroute to Kandy we also wanted to visit theElephant Orphanage at Pinnawala. We caught the early morning train to Colomboand got down at Kurunagela. Another option was to go to Polgahwela and thencatch a connecting train to Kandy from there(but due to the Pinnawala factor wedropped this); also, Kurunagela has better bus options than Polgahwela. Webought 2nd class tickets to Kudunagela and were surprised to see that almostall seats were full by the time we boarded the train. We settled for a seat in3rd class.

There are many buses from Kurunagela to Pinnawalavia Rambukana. So from Kurunagela you have to go to the Rambukana bus stand andcatch another bus to Pinnawala. The ride to Rambukana to Pinnawala ishardly around 10minutes and the bus drops you right in front of the orphanage.The Elephant Orphanage boasts of sheltering around 55-60 elephants and takingcare of them.

For 500LKR (for SAARC countries only;other countries 1000LKR) you get a ticket to watch the bathing and feeding of theelephants. I guess, they have 3 cycles in a day wherein the elephants are takenfrom the Orphanage to the river closeby(called Oya) and then after an hour orso taken back and then fed. There is a separate ticket(more dough) to be boughtif you want to feed the elephants personally(and take pictures during the act).If you want a picture taken next to the elephants, then pay a few hundreds tothe mahouts.

From Pinnawala, you can go to Kegalle and catch abus to Kandy; but someone advised us to get down at the Colombo-Kandy junctionand then catch a bus from there. This was a wise decision as we saved sometimeby not going to Kegalle. The ride is beautiful and it meanders via some lushgreen foliage and many 'hotels' which seem to offer elephant rides. We reachedKandy around 4:30pm and then again went to the Railway Station for a possibleroom. The Station Master acknowledged and we got another cheap room in a goodlocation for a very good rate(again 700LKR!). After a quick shower, we decidedto go around. It was a long walk around the Kandy lake and the weather was justbeautiful. The heat from the ruins had waned and it was mildly chill at Kandy.

Kandy Lake

Visited the Tooth relic temple and then an insipiddinner at the Pizza Hut. Also, bought some cakes and fruits for the nextmorning's breakfast. Since it was Eid's eve, most shops had closed early.

Tooth Temple, Kandy

Day 5 - Aug 31 (Wednesday) : Galle - Unawatuna

We had the early morning(5am) direct train toGalle from Kandy. Having already witnessed the rush in the trains here, wedecided to travel in 3rd class. 3rd class is a variant of the 2nd class whereinthe seats are just a tad wider (i,e 2 seats are clubbed into one single seat).The rates in 3rd class are half of that in 2nd class. I was very much excitedabout this train journey. The train started bang on time, and as expected itgot full very soon. It was nice to watch the paddy fields and the dagobas whichwere spewed across. Uneventful ride to Galle culminated at 11:20am after passingvia Colombo.

Ticket Counter at Railway Station

As we decided to stay at Unawatuna, we did notenquire about rooms in the railway station. We were surprised to find thatthere was a cricket match under progress in the famous Cricket stadium atGalle. We found out that Australia was playing a test match against SriLanka;we found many Australians on the road replenishing their stock(water!) to watchthe match.

After lunch(a heavy rice+curry+noodles) we caughta bus to Unwatauna. The sun was bright and it was getting a little hot. Weroamed around the streets of Unawatuna for possible places to stay. I hadbudgeted for a 3 to 4star accomodation, but most of them were full, or were notvalue for money. As I was standing next to a small shop, a lady inside told meof a room available. We went and checked this Amma's Guest House; I liked theroom and for 900LKR per night, this was a steal. The room had a biglounge/balcony outside it from where we could view the ocean.

View from the room; sunny and rainy days

After a quicknap, we spent some time along the beach. The water was clear turquoise blue, butthe shoreline was threatening, as it formed a gradient and also the waves werea tad tough. We wanted to scuba dive, and checked with some diving schoolsthere; none of them gave us clear indications of visibility and the depth tillwhich we would dive. Also, it had been raining for the past few days in thisregion, so I was a little skeptical about the visibility. I did not want towaste the dough, and hence we cancelled the dive for the time being and insteadroamed around the streets.

Day 6 - Sept 1 (Thursday) : Unawatauna - eve Galle
A good night's sleep and I was all charged up. Wewent to Galle for lunch and then watched the Cricket Match from the top of theFort. Though it was sunny, the view was amazing. We then roamed around the Fortfor sometime. It started to rain and we decided to retreat; the match wascalled off for the day with the covers put on the pitch.

While coming back, I saw Sanath Jayasuriya comingout of the stadium and I was all excited. I asked the guard whether we could goin and get some autographs from the players and were welcomed without anyquestions or checks(!!). We waited for sometime, and then saw the Australiancricket team coming out. We did not know the team compositions in both thequarters, and were at loss of names even when we spotted some - for eg. thoughI could recognize Michel Clarke and Hussey, I just couldnt place their names.Nevertheless, we saw Mitchell Johnson, Ricky Ponting and Shane Watson; gotautographs from the former 2 and clicked pictures with many. Then the SriLankan team came out; and we spotted Sangakara, Mahela , Mendis, Atapattu etc.

It was funny to see that the security for theSriLankan team was more than that of the Australians. Also, the ease with whichwe could get in made me ask questions about the security in place - for it wasdue to security concerns that Australia did not visit SL earlier. Anyhow, itwas a nice evening and for the first time I was 'actually' standing next tosome cricketers and getting photos clicked ;)

Day 7 - Sept 2 (Friday) : Koggala, Habaraduwa, Galle
After a nice sleep and sweet tea prepared byPeiamma(owner of Amma's), we left for Koggala to visit the Turtle Farms.Apparently, Koggala does not have any hatcheries but was THE place for clickingthe Stilt fishermen. The stilts are passed on from father to son forgenerations and is very valuable. The fishermen supposedly sit on these andcatch the fish when there is the right tide.

Stilt Fishing, Koggala

For tourists, if you pay these fishermen somemoney, you can make them sit on the stilts and take photographs(not my cuppatea!). We just took photographs of the empty stilts instead ;) . Asked aroundonly to be told for sure that Koggala does not have any turtle farms and we hadto Habbaraduwa(which was around 3kms away - towards Unawatuna). The bus droppedus some 1.5km away from the hatchery; we decided to have lunch in one hotelwhich was along the road. Lunch was good with the usual Rice+Curry but thistime, we had some hot parottas(Parottas are cousins of Indian Roti). The walkto hatchery was much needed, as I was totally stuffed.

The hatchery charges around 400LKR(!!) for seeingthe different stages of breeding the turtles. We werent very keen and insteadpreferred to watch the match at Galle. Caught a bus to Galle and this time wepreferred to watch the match from inside the stadium. The tickets were pricedat just 30LKR ; the weather was beautiful and it was a nice experience to watchthe match.

We decided to walk around the Fort and checked outthe Dutch Church and also the Maritime museum. Preferred to come back toUnawatuna and retire early.

Amangalla

Dinner was at Jina's which claims to servegood vegetarian food , but I did not find it any interesting. The humus and thetomoto soup we ordered were below par; though the home-made multigrain breadwas good.

Day 8 - Sept 3 (Saturday): Colombo

Our tour was almost coming to an end and today wasthe today to go back to Colombo. Caught a bus from Unawatuna to Galle and thenafter breakfast at one of the hotels, boarded a bus to Colombo. What was to bea 3hr ride ended up being a 4.5 hour tiring ride with some heavy rains in themiddle. By the time we reached Colombo Fort station the rains had stopped(thats the best thing about SriLanka - it does not rain incessantly!).

Colombo does not have many budget hotels; most ofthat which exist are 5stars which are spewed next to the beach. Finding a hotelwas a toughie; we roamed around the Fort station for sometime, but to no avail.Later we enquired at the Tourist Information Office outside the Fort Station tobe informed of YMCA. The YMCA building is around 150 years old and the roomsare not so great. Most of them are high ceiling ones and smell dampness. Since,we were out of options and also this was a cheap one, we preferred to stay, andalso the stay was only for a night. After a quick nap, we again roamed aroundthe markets of Pettah. Bought some more Rambutans :)

Day 9 - Sept 4 (Sunday) Colombo - Chennai
Night was dreadful - I hardly got any sleep as wasdisturbed by the noise from traffic and also the mosquitos(the place does nothave nets).

View from the loo at YMCA, Colombo Skyline

Checked out pretty early from YMCA(better to sleep in airport!) andafter a quick breakfast in one of the hotels near the Fort bus stand boarded abus to Airport. Thanks to the driver who drove meticulously slow inspite of thelow traffic, we reached Katunayake junction in 1.5hours(sigh!). The next fewhours were spent in window shopping at the Airport. The Bandarnayake Airport atColombo feels very compact, but is very clean and lots of shops. A surprise wasa small super market(Cargill's Food City) in the airport which sells stuffs atmarked price(I wish all airports had this, instead of the outlets which sell atexorbitant prices!). Also, I happened to stumble on the outlet setup by thePostal department -- bought a few nice stamps after very long time for mycollection. Boarded the flight and reached chennai by 2:30pm.

Summary:
Accomodation:.
.The rooms in Railway/Train stations are nice. They are huge and pretty much clean, and are an excellant value for money. If you are on a budget, then definitely prefer them.
. Avoid Colombo. Prefer to stay in Galle/Unwatana or other options like Chillaw or Hikkudawa or Bentota which are just a few hours away from Colombo.
.Use LP guide for reference alone, and do checkout other hotels. Some of them are cheaper than those listed in LP.

Commute:
. Train journey is a MUST(probably i am biased as i love trains).
. Buses are plenty and you dont have to worry about them at all. But, try to avoid travelling in the evening, the place shuts down pretty early and you do not want to be roaming around empty streets in search of a room in the night.
. Buses in some less frequented routes like pollonurawa-anuradhapura are less; but still you can break your journey and go along.
. Do not travel for more than 3-4 hours in a bus. The seats do not recline and you dont want to freeze your knees.
. The airconditioned buses should be comfortable to tackle the heat, but i did not travel in them, as i saw the leg space to be very less.
. We hardly took any tuk-tuks. Bulk of it was in Dambulla wherein we had to move from Post Office to Bus Stand and one instance wherein we took tuk-tuk for sigh seeing in Anuradhapura.

Food:
. This was a definite let down for me; i expected much spicy and tasty food , but i did not find many. The usual for a vegan like me is Rice with Curry. I guess, the non-vegetarians have a much better spread.
. SriLanka has some nice fruits: Rambutan was a definite good find for me. We both loved it. There are also avocados and some other native fruits. (I wish we had rambutans in India!)
. Tiara cakes are nice and good for breakfasts. If you have an early train or bus to catch, buy one of these and it will keep your stomach full. For less than 200LKR, a cake usually serves 2 with ease.
. Tea - the local shops serve tea loaded with sugar - so let the person know to put minimal or no sugar based on your consumption pattern. Also, most of them use milkpowder instead of milk.
. A meal would cost between 600-1500 LKR per person if you are having in a good restaurant. Otherwise, a rice+veg.curry would cost somewhere around 130-150LKR and fills the stomach.

Shopping:
. Clothes are plenty and cotton is good. The prices are very much like those in India; and if you can bargain well, you might sometimes end up getting some good deals in the shops.
. Souveneirs - At Unawatuna, there are lots of wood carving shops selling masks and other works. Bargain hard. A recommended shop from where we bought some stuff is the one just outside Amma's Guest house and the owner is VERY nice and gentle person.
. Avoid buying at the airport; the prices are exorbitant. The only value buy in the airport is the Postal department which sells cheap stamps.

Overall:
. If you are visiting SriLanka for the beaches, then I would recommend Andamans instead of it. The beaches at Andamans are much-much-much beautiful and virgin, and they have some great sunrise and sunsets. Also, the sand is much more whiter and waves are much less daunting.
. A very cheap country; Excellant roads and amazing bus connectivity to almost all places.
. Biking in the ruins of Pollonoruwa is a MUST.
. Kandy is a nice city to stroll around; especially around the lake. It resembles very much like Nainital at Uttarakhand. Try to spend a day or two. Avoid Colombo.
. The cricket stadium at Galle is just too darn beautiful. The view from the Fort is awesome; plan your travel suitably so that can watch a match here.

Expenses:
Entry Tickets (for one in LKR)

Cultural Triangle : 2750
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage : 500
Tooth Temple at Kandy : 500
Galle Cricket Stadium : 30

Sundries(all in LKR):

Bike/Cycle rentals at Pollonurawa(for one): 200
Anuradhapura Sight seeing in tuk-tuk : 1000
Shopping : 1700

Stays/Accomodation(double bed; all in LKR):

1N @ Healy Guest House, Dambulla : 1300
1N @ Darshini Guest House, Pollonurawa : 700
1N @ Room in Anuradhapura Train station: 700
1N @ Room in Kandy Train station: 700
3N @ Room in Amma's Guest House at Unawatuna: 900*3 = 2700

Commute Expenses (For one person):
Chennai - Colombo - Chennai (Spicejet) (Air) - 5250 INR
@SriLanka (All in LKR)

Katunayake Junction to Fort (Bus) : 41
Fort to Dambulla (Bus) : 150
Dambulla to Sigriya (Bus) : 35
Sigriya to Dambulla (Auto) : 200
Dambulla to Pollonurawa (Bus) : 76
Pollonurawa to Kekirawa (Bus) : 78
Kekirawa to Anuradhapura (Bus): 55
Anuradhapura to Kurunagela (Train) : 180
Kurunagela to Rambukanna (Bus) : 78
Rambukanna to Pinnawala (Bus) : 10
Pinnawala to Colombo-Kandy road junction (Bus) : 13
Colombo-Kandy road junction to Kandy (Bus) : 75
Kandy to Galle (Train) : 175
Galle to Unawatuna (Bus) : 16
Unawatuna to Koggala (Bus) : 10
Habaraduwa to Galle (Bus) : 20
Galle to Colombo (Bus) : 115

All inclusive total expenses for two: 24,000 INR (approx 57,600 LKR or 533 USD)

The One Way Street

2011-06-23T16:18:00.000+09:00

How many times you have ever felt that you are walking up a one way street...just walking , walking and walking a little more. The feeling of the same monotonicity, the grind with the hope of finding something different down the alley; the hope that this one way would go and meet some new street or bend to a new boulevard filled with roses and tulips, the hope of finding a new puppy left alone, without a collar, to be picked up and to be cared for, the hope of finding and meeting someone new who brings in a new hope of life, the hope of getting a basket filled with trinkets and chocolates, the hope of reaching the end of this world and then starting again. Where does this one way street lead to?

Don't you want to turn around and ask yourself whether you want to just trudge along the same direction where this street leads you to, or do you want to take a detour and enter a new arena that you haven't entered or experienced before, try out the other challenges in life and see where it leads you to.

Today has been one of those days, again, where the mind seeks to get past the oblivion and prefers a direct route than circumnavigate, but the thoughts of extrapolating things in life, taking into effect the sacrifices of your fellow men , the red daffodil that always lies on your way, ready to be picked up and then placed right back on the road where it was lying, the things of the past wherein you had committed a mistake but fought hard to correct it and then brings things back in shape - all these and more always affect our life in more than one way.

iWoz

2011-06-20T14:41:00.000+09:00

So, after almost 4 years i got a copy of iWoz during a casual visit to Blossoms book store. The visit was preceded by super sumptuous lunch at On the Edge, which is on the 13th floor of Barton Center. The visit to Blossoms is always nice. You are surrounded with ceiling high stack of awesome books; and you gape at them always wanting to read the entire stack but at the same time, prefer to preserve the neatness of the stack and also think about how time is always running out before one can read all the great stuff there. Anywayz, i picked up a copy of iWoz; and after a quick nap in the eve, started reading it. After having read iCon, i wanted to read more about the other Steve - Steve Wozniak, with whom Job had started Apple.

I had read iCon in early 2006 and loved it. It was a page turner and if i remember it right, i started it on a Friday night and had finished the entire book by Sunday evening. iCon is filled with many important events in Jobs's life - both personal and professional; reflecting on various traits of his. The author had done a commendable job, though it was not a biography but looked at some of the very personal events in Jobs's life.

I started reading iWoz, and almost finished one-third of the book in an hour and the first thing that i did Sunday morning after breakfast was to continue reading it and finished it post-lunch. The book written by Woz himself is another page turner.

Having read so many news articles about Jobs and Apple,i never knew much about Woz and this book was the much needed reading material on what it was to be the "Woz of the Silicon Valley". Woz explains in much detail about his engineering aptitude(s) and creations with the childish curiosity -- something that is much lacking in today's engineers. Right from phone phreaking to founding Apple, interspersed with couple of marriages and divorces, and the eventual CL9 to the engagements with the schools in his neighborhood -- Woz has always wanted to be the best of his class, and also the first. The perfectionism in his creations along with the minimalism is a characteristic brand value of Apple. Also, Woz clears some of the misconceptions that surrounds his (and also Jobs's) exit with Apple etc which was an eye opener for me. The childlike curiosity, with a keen inclination towards playing pranks(and getting away with it) with the mental acumen and stability of an grandpa would be virtues of Woz.

This book is a must read for every Engineer on the planet, for it gives some of the best insights into the life of probably The Greatest Engineer of Our Generation - Woz, himself.

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

2011-05-20T14:14:00.000+09:00

There are some books which are light and heavy and the same time; the grammar is simple and words and the sentences are easy to read but the thoughts are prolix and pertinent. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse is one such book. Rating this book would be a sin, and i would instead recommend it to all; especially to those who are confused - confused about spiritualism. And even if you do not believe in spiritualism, read this book, for it explains some of the most beautiful things which are fundamental to many relationships in our life.

This book tries to reflect on certain facets of life and spiritualism, without directly providing solutions to them, it does not sound very pedantic or didactic at the same time; and hence is one of the MUST reads. The story is NOT about BUDDHA; dont be mistaken by the title. The plot is that of a young boy who tries to discover himself and things around him and in the due course, like a snake shedding its skin, keeps transforming and experiencing different phases in his life.

Born in a brahman family, he leaves his parents searching for the 'TRUTH' in his life:

A goal stood before Siddhartha, a single goal: to become empty, empty of thirst, empty of wishing, empty of dreams, empty of joy and sorrow. Dead to himself, not to be a self any more, to find tranquility with an emptied heard, to be open to miracles in unselfish thoughts, that was his goal. Once all of my self was overcome and had died, once every desire and every urge was silent in the heart, then the ultimate part of me had to awake, the innermost of my being, which is no longer my self, the great secret.

His pal Govinda joins him in his journey and they leave together. He spends his adolescence with the samanas in the forests. The curious and restless mind of Siddhartha questions everything and they also question the life of the samanas and their path towards achieving the TRUTH.

He has lived for sixty years and has not reached the nirvana. He'll turn seventy and eighty, and you and me, we will grow just as old and will do our exercises, and will fast, and will meditate. But we will not reach the nirvana, he won't and we won't. Oh Govinda, I believe out of all the Samanas out there, perhaps not a single one, not a single one, will reach the nirvana. We find comfort, we find numbness, we learn feats, to deceive others. But the most important thing, the path of paths, we will not find.

Siddharta meets Gotama(Buddha) during his journey and questions him on his teachings with utmost respect:

but the uniformity of the world, that everything which happens is connected, that the great and the small things are all encompassed by the same forces of time, by the same law of causes, of coming into being and of dying, this is what shines brightly out of your exalted teachings, oh perfected one. But according to your very own teachings, this unity and necessary sequence of all things is nevertheless broken in one place, through a small gap, this world of unity is invaded by something alien, something new, something which had not been there before, and which cannot be demonstrated and cannot be proven: these are your teachings of overcoming the world, of salvation. But with this small gap, with this small breach, the entire eternal and uniform law of the world is breaking apart again and becomes void. Please forgive me for expressing this objection.

Gotama does reply to him as a true teacher and informs him of true intentions of his teachings and their goal.

But be warned, oh seeker of knowledge, of the thicket of opinions and of arguing about words. There is nothing to opinions, they may be beautiful or ugly, smart or foolish, everyone can support them or discard them. But the teachings, you've heard from me, are no opinion, and their goal is not to explain the world to those who seek knowledge. They have a different goal; their goal is salvation from suffering. This is what Gotama teaches, nothing else.

Siddhartha and Govinda part ways ; Govida decides to stay with Gotama whereas Siddhartha proceeds to discover more. Here comes the crucial phase in Siddhartha's life wherein he meets Kamala, a courtesan in a city with whom he spends a few years in the riches and also has a son. Siddhartha leaves Kamala again and spends the rest of the years with the ferryman in the river. The ferryman is the second most important character in this story, who teaches many aspects to Siddhartha by adopting the River as the source of inspiration; the river manifesting itself as a teacher and guide from time to time.

The Last chapter of the book, aptly titled Govida, who is the protaganist's pal, is probably the crescendo of the entire performance. Siddharta meets his pal and the dialogue is very intense sprouting different thought processes in the reader's mind. Every paragraph in this chapter is a box of gems; and i would like to quote a few of them here.

"When someone is searching," said Siddhartha, "then it might easily happen that the only thing his eyes still see is that what he searches for, that he is unable to find anything, to let anything enter his mind, because he always thinks of nothing but the object of his search, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed by the goal. Searching means: having a goal. But finding means: being free, being open, having no goal. You, oh venerable one, are perhaps indeed a searcher, because, striving for your goal, there are many things you don't see, which are directly in front of your eyes."

Siddharta goes onto explain about the 'Truth' in the life to Govinda:

he opposite of every truth is just as true! That's like this: any truth can only be expressed and put into words when it is one-sided. Everything is one-sided which can be thought with thoughts and said with words, it's all one-sided, all just one half, all lacks completeness, roundness, oneness.

When the exalted Gotama spoke in his teachings of the world, he had to divide it into Sansara and Nirvana, into deception and truth, into suffering and salvation. It cannot be done differently, there is no other way for him who wants to teach. But the world itself, what exists around us and inside of us, is never one-sided. A person or an act is never entirely Sansara or entirely Nirvana, a person is never entirely holy or entirely sinful. It does really seem like this, because we are subject to deception, as if time was something real.

And here comes the 'Anbe Sivam'(Love is God) moment, wherein Siddhartha hints at Buddha(God) in each one of us:

The world, my friend Govinda, is not imperfect, or on a slow path towards perfection: no, it is perfect in every moment, all sin already carries the divine forgiveness in itself, all small children already have the old person in themselves, all infants already have death, all dying people the eternal life. It is not possible for any person to see how far another one has already progressed on his path; in the robber and dice-gambler, the Buddha is waiting; in the Brahman, the robber is waiting. In deep meditation, there is the possibility to put time out of existence, to see all life which was, is, and will be as if it was simultaneous, and there everything is good, everything is perfect, everything is Brahman.

I have always believed in symbolism and Siddhartha uses the same instrument to teach Govinda on the essence of the different spiritual paths and goals.

I did it without any specific intention. Or perhaps what I meant was, that love this very stone, and the river, and all these things we are looking at and from which we can learn. I can love a stone, Govinda, and also a tree or a piece of bark. This are things, and things can be loved. But I cannot love words. Therefore, teachings are no good for me, they have no hardness, no softness, no colours, no edges, no smell, no taste, they have nothing but words. Perhaps it are these which keep you from finding peace, perhaps it are the many words. Because salvation and virtue as well, Sansara and Nirvana as well, are mere words, Govinda. There is no thing which would be Nirvana; there is just the word Nirvana.

Quoth Govinda: "Not just a word, my friend, is Nirvana. It is a thought."

Siddhartha continued: "A thought, it might be so. I must confess to you, my dear: I don't differentiate much between thoughts and words. To be honest, I also have no high opinion of thoughts. I have a better opinion of things.

To thoroughly understand the world, to explain it, to despise it, may be the thing great thinkers do. But I'm only interested in being able to love the world, not to despise it, not to hate it and me, to be able to look upon it and me and all beings with love and admiration and great respect.

Do read this amazing book and let me know of your comments. The book is also available in Gutenberg.

Reading List for the next year (or two)

2011-04-28T21:37:00.000+09:00

I would ideally like to read all of these books in the next one year or two, in no specific order; there are more to the list, but i would be happy if I am able to finish these first :)

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions - Edwin A. Abbott
Tertium Organum - P. D. Ouspensky
Sidhartha - Herman Hesse
I know why the caged bird sings - Maya Angelou
The Color Purple - Alice Walker
Illusions - Richard Bach
The Prince - Niccolo Machiavelli
The Republic - Plato
One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel García Márquez
Blood Brothers - M.J.Akbar
Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller
Full Moon - PG Woodhouse
Barbarians at the Gate - Bryan Burrough and John Helyar
How the Mind Works - Steven Pinker
Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain - Oliver Sacks
The Family That Couldn't Sleep: A Medical Mystery - D.T. Max
Man and His Symbols - Carl Gustav Jung
The Diaries of Franz Kafka
Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia - John Dickie
Yakuza: Japan's Criminal Underworld - David E. Kaplan, Alec Dubro

(I have the ones in bold, and need to buy the rest! And yes, i do accept gifts :) )

Kumaon Chronicles

2011-04-14T16:38:00.001+09:00

Prelude or How it all Started

I was looking for possible options wherein one could relax, eat some good food and also have a cheap vacation by hitchiking; of all the options that i had and given the month of March(wherein Leh would be closed), i preferred to either hit the beaches or the mountains. We had a great vacation in the Andamans a few months earlier and preferred this time to visit the mountains. Now it was - either the western ghats or the Himalayas; and without any doubt the option swung towards Himalayas. We first booked the flight tickets to Delhi from Bangalore and then decided to research on the possible options. Shimla/Manali, Sikkim, Kumaon and Garhwal were possible options - I preferred to go to Kumaon or Garhwal; and then cornered in on Kumaon as I had been to Garhwal earlier.

The region was now decided, and then started the aspect of researching the TODOs and the MUST-SEEs in this region. We had a pretty good idea of the entire region by our research and decided on a rough itinerary spanning 7-9 days. During our research, we tried to find out travelogues done in public transport and shared-taxis, but got no results; also my posts in IndiaMike did not gather sufficient response on the same subject. Most of the travelogues were by those who had hired a cab on a rental basis of 1300-1500 INR per day and went around the region. This would suit and be economical if you are going in a group of 4-6, but not for a couple who were on a budget trip. Now I decided that we SHOULD necessarily try to roam most of the regions in buses/shared-taxis and then use a private cab only as a last resort.

Our trip was beautiful and we had a great time in the mountains. A couple of days were long, and spent on the road, but otherwise the tranquility and serenity of the entire region was something that would be etched in our memories for a long time.

I have tried to make this travelogue as detailed as possible, and have captured most of the points. Do leave a comment if you need any further assistance in planning your travel. To reiterate, we had a great time going around in buses and shared-taxies, and am sure that if you plan your vacation well, then you can have an even greater experience in the mountains.

Read on...

Day-1, Saturday, 2-Apr-2011 - And we Start
Left home at 9:30 am to reach the airport by around 11:40am and then boarded the flight at 1:45pm to arrive in Delhi at 4pm. The pilots were kind enough to announce the scores at regular intervals, and the passengers were equally enthusiastic in cheering when a wicket had fallen. During taxiing, i came to know that Dhoni had dropped Ashwin for Sreesanth (dooom!).

Airstrip @ Bangalore

Caught the Volvo which is available just outside Terminal-1 to Connaught Place; but the conductor forgot to stop the bus at CP and we ended up at New Delhi Railway Station, which was a blessing. Being a holiday and also a day when whole of India was glued to the TV and radio sets for watching/hearing the match, most of CP was closed. We went to Paharganj and roamed around for sometime and had tasty alu-chat and sandwiches and washed them down with thick lassi and sugarcane juice(each of them costs just 10-15 INR). Many shops were closed due to the cricket match, and those that were open, were listening to the commentary. There was a HUGE cheer with the entire street erupting whenever India got a wicket. I loved it! We then spent sometime in the Ramakrishna Ashram, immersing ourselves in the calmness. The Ashram has a beautiful garden with different varieties of flowers.

Caught a metro then to Chandni Chowk, roamed outside the Old Delhi Railway station for sometime and had our dinner in one of the eat-outs. The places to eat outside the railway station are not very neat, and hence do not indulge if you are very keen on hygiene and cleanliness.

Spent the next few hours in platform listening to the commentary; India's position looked very bleak and I had given up the hope of winning. The train arrived on the platform, and the match was getting even more crucial. People were using their mobile phones as modems and streaming the matches in the laptops whereas some had the radio commentary on phones in the loudspeaker mode. Dhoni hitting the winning six caused a big roar and all the teens in the train formed a mini-train and started cheering and shouting. It was a high-adrenaline environment. The Old Delhi skyline saw some fireworks. We retired for the day soon.

Day-2, Sunday, 3-Apr-2011 - We have arrived!

We reached Haldwani around 4:40am. The bus stand at Haldwani is just half a kilometer(or less) from the railway station. We started the first leg of our journey with a hot cup of tea and then boarding a bus at 5:30am. Haldwani to Kausani ride lasts around 6-7hours, going via Ranikhet and Someshwar. You get to see beautiful landscapes all throughout the journey; but dont expect to see any snowcapped mountains - that happens only after you reach Kausani!

Enroute we stopped at some village for tea and breakfast. We had some tea and bread pakoda; I saw many buying sweet packets; and on speaking to them , i found out that it is called as 'bal mithai' made out of mawa(a kind of flour). One of the most important things in travel is sampling the local cuisine, and one should not miss it especially when it comes to sweets(La Dolce Vita). I bought a few of it. There are two variants of this sweet - one with the small sugar balls on top of the raw chocolate looking bars, and one without the sugar balls. I liked both of them!

Inside the Bus, enroute Kausani

We reached Kausani around 12.30pm and checked into our room at Uttarakhand Hotel. Had to bargain the rates from 700 INR to 350INR per night. The room was in the first floor and had direct views of the Himalayas without any obstructions. The room was clean and had a TV and hot water in the morning (7-10am). I was pretty happy to get a good hotel at such a rate (good omen!). We dumped our luggage and had lunch at the Garden restaurant which is just opposite to the hotel; though the food was good, it was over priced and was oily. We rested for sometime and then walked to the Anasakthi Ashram which is just a kilometer away.

The Mad Hatter, View of Kausani

It was one of the most beautiful evenings that i would cherish for a long time. The first evening in the mountains after a really long time and the chill winds was a refresher; like a fresh lime-mint on a sunny day. We roamed around the Ashram for sometime and then a hot cup of tea was perfect for the cold evening. I did not carry a sweater along, but the chillness in the air was wonderful, giving the occasional goosebumps. At 7pm, we congregated for the evening bhajans. I had expected a usual set of old people who would sing some old patriotic and devotional songs; but things were different(and thats the fun of travel - you get to enjoy what you never had expected). We started off with around half a dozen people of all ages, but soon the entire perimeter of the prayer room was full. We had people from Rajasthan, Delhi, Saurashtra, Tamilnadu(us) and Bengal. we sang some patriotic and devotional songs, but the diversity was wonderful. The Bangla family that had participated was wonderful, and i heard the 'Dhano Dhanye Pushpe Bhara' song after almost a decade! The Rajasthani family sang some nice folk songs, which i did not know earlier, but the tone and the melody in it gave me the goosebumps. We ended with the National Anthem being sung by everyone, and i did not feel like stepping out of the prayer room.

The way back to our hotel room was dark, but the thoughts of the songs and the 'unity in diversity' thoughts gave us the company all throughout. It was then that we stumbled on Aradhana restaurant near the Junction(which ended being our abode of good food for the our remaining stay at Kausani)

Day-3, Monday, 4-Apr-2011 - Kausani

Not many days does one get up early in the morning and gets to see the stunning views of the mountains and birds chirping all around. Morning was cool and the mountains looked pale blue; but as the sun rose, so did the magnificence of the Himalayas; the morning rays striking the peak of the Trishul was like the increasing resplendence of the God's ornate face when the 'arati' is done and the chirping of the birds was like the priests reciting the mantras to wake up the God within all of us. The grandiloquence of the entire view and the accompanied aura was something that cannot be compared with anything else. The mynahs and the other birds chirped continuously; the beautiful sounds only to be broken by the occasional tractor which passes by. Sipping a hot cup of tea and watched the Sun's rays continuing to strike one peak after the other; Trishul on the left and the Panchuchuli on the right; and slowly the entire range was shimmering in golden orange.

The morning dance was shortlived , spanning only for an hour or so, and by around 7pm, fog had set in, only to see the outline of the himalayas. Nevertheless, the beauty was to be cherished forever and the magnificence was everlasting.

View in the morning from Kausani

After hot aloo parthas at Aradhana Restaurant we caught a bus to the tea factory which was just a 10minute ride away, and then returned in an hour or so. There is nothing great about the Tea Factory - probably, it was due to the fact that none of the operations were underway when we went; it should probably be a nice experience to see the tea leaves go through all the stages of 'development' finally to end up as a simmering hot cup of tea ;)
Sun was bright thoughout the day, but it wasnt very hot. Evening was the time to stroll around and enjoy the landscapes and immerse oneself into the beauty that transcends everything else.

Day-4, Tueday, 5-Apr-2011 - From one Heaven to the other : Kausani-Baijnath-Chaukori

We stayed to witness one more beautiful morning of mind numbing sunrise and the snow-capped peaks. And then, we started from Kausani post breakfast at the Aradhana restaurant at around 9am. Got a bus to Baijnath.Almost all buses which go via Kausani, go to Baijnath.

Baijnath(also called Vaidyanath) is a small cluster of temples by the Gomti river. It lies between Kausani and Bageshshwar in what is called as the Katyuri valley - it was once called as Kartikyapura as it was ruled by the Katyuri dynasty during the 12-13th centuries. There are idols of different gods and goddesses, but the main temple houses Goddess Parvati in a beautiful carved black stone. It is believed that Lord shiva and Goddess Parvati were married here. The temple architecture is characteristic of the Katyuris i believe, as the one at Jageshwar is also similar. The idol of Parvati looked very similar to the design of the idols at Belur and Halebidu(not sure how the Hoysalas and Katyuris knowledge-shared!) The Gomti river was pretty dry when we visited, but i hear that it gets filled up during monsoons. The small lake formed from the river houses loads of fishes - some as big as 3-4 feet!

The Mad Hatter @ Baijnath

We then caught another bus to Bageshwar and then after the lunch there proceeded to Chaukori. we had to get down at Kotmanya to proceed to Chaukori; got a shared-taxi and after a 15minute ride we were in front of the KMVN at Chaukori. KMVN rates were high(700-800 INR) and then we got a decent deal at Hardik resort for 300 INR a room. There was no one except for us in this resort! The resort's assistants were nice and helpful. We then went for a long walk around the neighbouring hillocks and exploring the rundown structures at the hill-tops. Evening set in fast and the assistants at Hardik got us some hot rotis and dal.

KMVN cottages in Chaukori

View of the Himalayas from Chaukori

Day-5, Wednesday, 6-Apr-2011 - How we got stranded and ended up having a great time : Chaukori-Berinag-Guptadi-Patal Bhubhneswar-Guptadi-Raigarh-Ganai-Rampur.

Have you felt a bucket of hot boiling water getting cold in matter of seconds - well thats what happens in Chaukori! Preferred to have the breakfast at KMVN; the views from KMVN were great, though by the time we finished , around 9:30am, sun was bright and the panchuchuli range was again covered with fog.

Chaukori is a nice little place where there are hardly any people or shops. There are a handful of hotels and some amazing neat views. Chaukori is the perfect place where you just want to laze around or probably read a book. You get to hear *only* the chirping of the birds. We finally bid adieu to this beautiful nice place in hopes of revisiting it again sometime in the future.

We caught a shared-taxi to the neighbouring town of Berinag and then caught another one till Guptadi. Guptadi is a small junction from where roads branches off to Raigarh and Gangolihat. Patal Bhubhaneshwar is around 6km from Guptadi. We were again lucky to get a connecting shared-taxi to Patal.

Patal Bhubhneswar - This awesome cave is believed to be as old as the Earth itself. It has been mentioned in detail in 103 chapter of manaskhand of "Skanda Purana". The first human who entered this cave was King Rituparna of Surya Dynasty during the tretayuga. It is said that during his visit he had encountered several devils and 'adisesha' himself acted as his guide. In Duapar yuga, this cave is rediscoverd by Pandavas. In Kaliyuga, Adishankaracharya consecrated this cave and since 1191, the priests have been performing rituals here and people have been visiting here both for worship and for wonder. For worship in this cave priest(Bhandari family) came from Kasht(Bhandaris) are appointed by Chand Dynasty King. At present 18th generation of Bhandari Priests are doing all the religious ceremonies along with Rawals, Gurs, Dsaunis, Duapas and Bhuls.

We rested for sometime outside the caves and then after a mediocre lunch in one of the hotels there, proceeded onto Guptadi. While we were waiting for the connecting taxi to Jageshwar from here, someone (who happened to be a Youth Congress Secretary) gave us a lift till Raigarh. It was already 2pm and then we caught a connecting cab till Ganai. The driver told us that we would easily get cabs from Ganai to Jageshwar or Bade China from where we could continue, but hardly did we know that he tricked us. On reaching Ganai, we were told that no transportation was available post 3pm to anywhere on the route to Bade China. we waited till 5pm and got no shared taxis. One of the guys who was travelling with us and was waiting for the connecting bus/taxi was the son-in-law of a farmer(Mr.Singh) in the village of Rampur which was just a 10minute ride from Ganai; he invited us to stay with them if were not to get the transportation. After some careful deliberations, we accepted his offer and then reached Rampur in a cab which was to go till Sheraghat.

Wheat fields of Rampur

His house was a nice two-storeyed one by the road. We gave us a small room on the first floor, which was neat, albeit filled with flies. We got some great views of the mountains and the green wheat fields. I could see and hear a stream at a distance and was told that it was the Sarayu river. The farmer's daughter offered us some tea and then we went for a walk along the wheat fields and rested near the banks of the Sarayu river for sometime. Prayer was being offered in the small village temple which was built by the bank. There were a few ladies who were plucking some dried plants and also a few who were breaking stones along the river bank. It was a beautiful tranquil evening and the sun was slowly setting down. Happened to see that mustard was being grown along with wheat - guess this was due to the beneficial aspects that each plant casted on another. By the time we came back to the house, it was dark. Rested for sometime and when we heard the knock on the door, we realized that it was 8pm!

The family offered us dinner - ghee coated phulkas, egg gravy and amazing alu-mutter along with the thickest curd serving. The curd was made out of buffalo milk and the purity was beyond comparison; we had to literally slice the curd. Mr.Singh told us that they dont ferment milk to get curd, but instead they keep it in some vessel which automatically converts the milk into curd.

Onion seeds

Day-6, Thursday, 7-Apr-2011 - Another long day on the road : Rampur-Bade China - Pithorgarh road-Jageshwar-Pithorgarh rd-Panunwala-Almora-Bhowali-Nainital

Early morning view of the mountains from the terrace was a treat and i could hear the Sarayu river clearly, along with the birds. Quickly packed our bags and the daughter of Mr.Singh brought us fresh buffalo's milk and some dosa(this was like dosa, but made in the local way - was made of rice flour) and potato-peas curry(from last night). As we were quiet heavy from last night's dinner we did not have it(i had a piece of the dosa) and then conveyed our gratitude and then moved on.

Got a bus from there to Bade China. I had to sit in the front seat and the 2 hour ride was pretty rickety and a little dusty. I had a small gas cyclinder right next to me, and the thoughts of it bursting right under my foot sometimes gave me the chill in the spine. Nevertheless, it all went fine and the bus driver made us alight just before Bade China, near a junction which forks to Pithorgarh. We were told that we can get buses/taxi from here to Jageshwar and dont have to go all the way down to Bade China for this - and hence saved another 8km ride, i.e, 15-20minutes of travel. After a quick hot masala tea, we got a bus to Pithorgarh road which would drop us 2km away from Jageshwar. One of the locals informed us that it was pretty difficult to get the connecting bus/taxi from Pithogarh Road to Jageshwar , and we might be lucky if we get one. Luckily, we got a lift in one of the cars which was run by a hotel there and got down in front of the temples after a 10min ride which goes through dense pine/deodar forests.

Jageshwar temple (Jyothirlingam)

Jageshwar is considered to be one of the 12 Jyothirlingams in India. 'Jagesham Daruka Vane' is the line from one of the slokas that lists the 12 jyothirlingams. The cluster of temples was consecrated by Adi Shankaracharya and houses few gods and goddesses. There is an eternal flame(diya) which has been burning for centuries inside the sanctum-sanctorum of the main Shiva linga. The temple campus was pretty small for its importance as a Jyothirlingam site; the crowd was also very less(handful of them!) and after a quick darshan and lunch at one of the hotels by the road we departed from here.

We again got a shared-taxi from Jageshwar, got down at Pithorgarh Road and then went onto Panunwala for the connecting ride to Almora. At Almora, we had to haggle with a few taxi drivers for the ride to Nainital and finally settled at 85 INR per head to Nainital. The driver was extremely nice and inspite of the dusty and really bad roads, we managed to reach Bhowali at 4:30pm and then got a bus to Nainital and reach Tallital by 5pm.

After a nice alu-chat(cannot be beaten by the one at Paharganj) and tea at one of the eat-outs in Tallital, we walked all the way from Tallital to Mallital, the walk being broken with the usual hotel checks et al. Light drizzles and strong winds welcomed us in Nainital. It was beautiful to see tides formed in the lake and the drizzles, which lasted for a few minutes; it was a welcome shower. Finally, checked into a room at Kohli Hotel. (Tallital and Mallital are the two ends of the mainlake at Nainital. Tallital is the end closer to the bus stand, whereas Mallital is on the other end; Malli is closer to the Market. You get cycle-rickshaws from either ends to the other for 8 INR). After giving some breather to the legs, we came out for a walk along The Mall road, indulging into another bout of street food and window shopping, and finally retiring after having dinner at Macchan Restaurant.

Street Food @ Nainital

The view of the lake and the entire city from the balcony of the Kohli was nice. The Bada Market and the hanging electricity cables gave way to the lake and at the distant end one could see the lights of the shops and houses at distant Tallital twinkling.

Day-7, Friday, 8-Apr-2011 - Zoo, Boating and Roaming in Nainital

Had a sound sleep only to get up at around 8:30am; and after the breakfast we walked towards the Nainital Zoo. The road next to Alkas leads to the Zoo. Its a nice walk upto the zoo; though you have to be in good shape to make the ascent. Prefer to go via the road than taking the steps if you are walking, its always advisable to use the ramp for ascent than the stairs. I was visiting the zoo after almost 3 years and i was as excited as a kid visiting a candy store after a long time. After watching the pheasants, it was the tiger in the cage - it was highly unkempt and there were loads of flies in the cage. It was disappointing. We roamed around from cage to cage watching the different species of birds and canids, leopards and the deers.

Peocock dance @ Nainital Zoo

Thats not a sponge ball! @ Nainital Zoo

Blackberries @ Nainital

After having finished most of the cages, we walked down via the stairs and then proceeded on for lunch. Post lunch, we walked and lazed near Mallital and then tried our legs at pedalling the boat. The boat ride costs 100 INR for an hour; you can also opt for an oared-boat in which case i think you have to pay some more to the oarsman. We preferred pedalling. It was a beautiful, clear afternoon and the occasional cool winds were refreshing. We roamed around the market area and bought some candles as memorabilia. After having some light street food, we preferred to go back to the room to give the legs some rest. We retired pretty early after having dinner at Embassy.

Nainital Lake

Day-8, Saturday, 9-Apr-2011 - Sight seeing in Nainital and Departure.
The Kohli guys did not appreciate a late checkout(not even by an hour!); and we preferred to checkout by 10am after a quick breakfast, as I did not feel comfortable leaving my luggage with these guys. We then hired a cab for the local sight seeing tour, which would last around 2.5 hours and would cost 400 INR. This also helped us in killing some time and also keeping the backpack with us. I did not have any great expectation from this sight-seeing thingy, but the tour happened to be a good one with some really great views. The 2.5 hours just whisked by. The driver(Hitesh:9758163407) was nice and he did not make us hurry at any of the places.

Cave Garden

We started off from the Cave Gardens,and then onto Khurpatal and then some intermediate view points(like Lover's and suicide), Himalaya darshan and then Mango Point.

Khurpatal is a small turquoise green lake and has a village next to it, the whole of Nainital gets its vegetables from this village. It was a beautiful view.

Khrupatal

Mangopoint, View of Nainital (shaped like a Mango)

Try out the shooting which is offered at some places - for 20 INR you get to shoot 10 steel pellets at bottles which are places a few meters away, and is fun(i hit only one out of 5-6 shots!!). The trick is : you have to concentrate on the 'v' shaped mark and then align it with the cursor on the barrel ; and then pull the trigger. The feeling when the pellet hits the bottle is nice, as holding the gun tight without even moving it by a millimeter is quite an achievement.

Bid adieu to the driver and then walked along the Mall Road with stops along the benches by the road and then had lunch at Alka's. This was the celebratory lunch for a successful trip; and then we lazed near the lake for an hour or so, tallying the expenses. I was surprised to find that we were far far below the budget and it called for some more celebration(which we eventually had at Delhi!!). Caught the bus to Kathgodam from Tallital and reached Kathgodam railway station in an hour and 40minutes.

I was surprised to find that the Kathgodam railway station was s00per clean. There were no litters and the station did not smell bad(though there were lot of flies!). The floor was clean and shiny too. We strolled around the station for sometime. The next 3.5 hours were to be spent in the station till we caught our train at 8:40pm. The train was also clean and all the seats were neat. I went and thanked the Station Master for all the efforts in keeping the railway station clean and tidy. I wish all the stations in India are maintained like this - calls for good station masters and also responsible citizens who dont litter the place.

A clean kathgodam railway station

Certificate of cleanness and maintainance to Kathgodam

Day-9, Sunday, 10-Apr-2011 : Dilli Meri Jaan!

We reached the Old Delhi Railway Station at 4am and then moved into the waiting room for the next 4 hours, to get some more sleep and then freshen up to carry on towards Paharganj(yes, again!). Spent about an hour in the Ramakrishna Ashram and then roamed around the market, drinking lassi and sugarcane juice, interspersed with shopping sprees :) . Had lunch at Malhotra Hotel(not good, dont go!) and then caught the metro to New Delhi station and then caught the Airport Express to Terminal-3.

Delhi Metro - Airport Express

The train looks spartan clean and the was an unique experience. This was one of the cleanest and neatest trains i had ever been on. The train runs s00per smooth and was fast; and the entire journey was done in 16minutes (otherwise takes more than an hour in an Auto-rick or Bus)! Costs 80INR per head. Highly Recommended! The Metro train goes to Terminal-3 and then if you want to go to Terminal-1, then you have to catch the Volvo bus or take a cab. The shuttle service from Terminal-3 to Terminal-1 is ONLY available if you had taken a flight arriving at Terminal-3.

Boarded the flight back home and hence it all came to an end!

Bangalore City (think thats Hebbal Flyover)

Expenses (all expenses mentioned are for two people) :
Total                                     : 21000

Commute----------------------------------------------
    Bangalore - Delhi - Bangalore(Plane)              :11,800
    Delhi - Kathgodam - Delhi(Train)                  : 604
    Haldwani - Kausani(Bus)                           : 270
    Kausani - Tea Factory(bus)                        : 10
    Tea Factory - Kausani(cab)                        : 15
    Kausani - Baijnath                                : 30
    Baijnath - Bageshwar(Bus)                         : 40
    Bageshwar - Chaukori(Bus)                         : 90
    Chaukori - Berinag(Shared-taxi)                   : 30
    Berinag - Guptadi(Shared-taxi)                    : 60
    Guptadi - Patal(Shared-taxi)                      : 40
    Patal - Guptadi(Shared-taxi)                      : 40
    Guptadi - Raigarh(lift)                           :   0
    Raigarh - Ganai(Shared-taxi)                      : 60
    Ganai - Rampur((Shared-taxi)                      : 30
    Rampur - Bade China(Bus)                          : 70
    Bade China - Pithogarh Road(Bus)                  : 30
    Pithogard Road - Jageshwar(Shared-taxi)           : 20
    Jageshwar - Pithogard Road(Shared-taxi)           : 20
    Pithogard Road - Panunwala(Shared-taxi)           : 10
    Panunwala - Almora(Shared-taxi)                   : 70
    Almora - Bhowali(Shared-taxi)                     : 170
    Bhowali - Nainital(Bus)                           : 20
    Nainital sight seeing (Private cab):400           : 400
    Nanital - Kathgodam(Bus)                          : 68

Accomodation----------------------------------------- 2000
    Kausani(Uttarakhand)                              : 2 x 350 = 700
    Chaukori(Hardik)                                  : 1 x 300 = 300
    Nainital(Kohli Hotel)                             : 2 x 500 = 1000

Remaining in Food and Sundries

Some Useful Tips and Notes:

1. Prefer to get down at Haldwani than Kathgodam as Haldwani is the transport hub of the entire region. You get taxis and buses from Haldwani to almost every place in this region.

2. The buses halt at Someshwar for almost an hour for the driver to have his lunch; this would be a good time to visit the Shiva Temple - this is considered to be one of the Jyothirlingams. We missed this, as i completely forgot about it.

3. If you are in Kausani and dont visit Anasakthi Ashram and do not participate in the evening bhajan, then you are missing a LOT :)

4. Visit to Tea Factory can be done if you want to kill time; otherwise i did not see anything 'great'.

5. Prefer staying at Uttarakhand or any other hotel near the Kausani junction than KMVN; these are much cheaper and have more options for food. Prefer KMVn, when you have your own transport options and can afford the price of KMVN. KMVN is good, but comes with its own set of trade-offs.

6. We found the food at Aradhana Restaurant to be much much better than the others; this is a small and clean restaurant run by a family(husband/wife and 2 children) and serves good hot food at very reasonable rates. The owner is extremely nice. We ate most of the time here, as he served us food with our requirements(like non-oily).

7. Feed the fish in the Baijnath temple, it just costs 2INR for a packet and helps the local economy in a very small way; and also its a nice view to see the fishes fight to get the pulses(chana) thrown.

8. Hardik does not have the views of the snow-capped peaks but it is a nice calm place which is much cheaper than KMVN; prefer to stay at Hardik and then have breakfast and dinner at KMVN.

9. Visit to Patal Bhubhaneshwar is a MUST if you are vising this region. I can repeat this a zillion times.

10. Before you enter the caves at Patal, order for food(lunch) in KMVN and then proceed, doing this helps, as lunch would be ready by the time you return.

11. Start from Chaukori early, around 7-8am to finish Patal Bhubaneshwar early and then to reach Jageshwar by evening. Or else, halt at Patal or Raigarh for the evening to start the next leg of the journey the next day in the morning.

12. Visit to Jageshwar can be done if you are religious; otherwise the temple cluster looks very much like Baijnath and can be skipped.(Though i believe in the powers of a Jyothirlingam)

13. Kohli hotel was recommended in the Lonely Planet Guide in the budget section and we preferred this to others. But when we went into the room, we were totally unhappy, the room was unkempt and dusty and the paint had come off at many places. The toilet/bathroom was not at all clean. Also, the manager of the hotel and his assistant were quiet curt in replies(not at all freindly) (though the guidebook says that the Mr.Shah is one of the reasons to stay!). Since we were tired, we preferred to stick to this for now and then look for something the next day. But little did we know that we would end up staying both the days during our stay in Nainital in here.

14. Boating in the main Nainital lake is highly recommended.

15. Prefer buying candles from the guy who sits last in the market - in the lane after the Naina Devi temple; he does not have a 'shop' as such and sells stuff on a table; he does not negotiate the price but sells stuff at the cheapest rates of all. Good deal.

16. Visit to Kathgodam Railway station and travel by Delhi Metro-Airport Express are HIGHLY recommended; and dont miss the street food and buying trinkets and other hippie-stuff from Paharganj.

Videos: You can watch some of the videos taken during this trip in here : http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=0104A98CAD2B44ED ( will be adding more in here).

Highlights of the trip:
1. Stunning early morning views of the Himalayas.
2. Stay with a farmer family in a village near the banks of Sarayu river.
3. Delhi Metro - Airport Express
4. Anasakti Ashram - bhajans and the aura.
5. A Clean Kathgodam station
6. Walking with a Leopard

Ten days in Egypt

2011-03-18T12:49:00.002+09:00

Prelude:
Again, am penning down this travel note after almost a year. There was so much to do in Egypt and so many experiences cherished : i always used to start writing something, then get digressed and then totally forget(not to mention the workload!). But, this is a sincere attempt in capturing some aspects of our travel to Egypt in Feb last year(when it was calm and peaceful with a amazingly beautiful weather).

After thinking a lot about possible destinations for our honeymoon, I zeroed in on Egypt - it had the right mix of Adventure, History and Food; and more than all this , it has a 'civilization' - i love countries like India, Egypt, South Americas which have a 'civilization' - there is so much to learn and experience in such nations.

Then started the decision process of whether we can do this on our own or have to necessarily go via a travel agent. After having researched for sometime, it was decided that a travel agent would be better, as the language was a barrier and we wanted to take it easy(read 'luxury holiday'). And hence after getting quotes from a few travel agents, finally decided on 'The Freelancers'. Unlike my other travels, this one had all hotels, buses, flights, cruises, taxis...almost everything booked in advance! :)

We started from Chennai in the evening and then went to Mumbai(stayed overnight in the airport) to catch the early morning flight to Cairo via EgyptAir.

DAY 1 Monday, February 08, 2010
Reached the Cairo airport at around 12pm and then we were transferred to Hotel Longchamps, a 3 Stars hotel, a Standard room with Bed and Breakfast in the heart of Egypt. The room ,though not large, was clean and neat. Overnight in Cairo

DAY 2 Tuesday, February 09, 2010
A private sightseeing tour of Pyramids of Giza and Sakkara, the Sphinx and Memphis starting at 8am. We checked out of our room before we left for this sightseeing tour, as we had to leave for Luxor by evening and did not want to pay for the room for the day.

Spinx and the Three Pyramids

Sphinx

Not the 'original sphinx' :)

Ramses

In the evening we boarded the Sleeping Train to Luxor. The train was to arrive at 7pm and was late by 30mins. Nevertheless, the compartment was clean and we were given a 2 berth private cabin with an attached toilet.

DAY 3 Wednesday, February 10, 2010
We reached Luxor around 6-7am in the morning and were then transfered to the Jetty to board the Nile Cruise. The Cruise is the place to get pampared; you almost get to do nothing. Just sit, eat, relax and travel, and Eating is one of the MOST important things. Our stay was to be in the cruise for the next 3 days(and I am sure that i would have gained atleast 5 kgs during this period).

The Cruise operates sight seeing tours, and they let you know of the plan when you board and also daily in the morning once and in the evening, if you have to wake up early.

DAY 4 Thursday, February 11, 2010
ON the cruise, eating, relaxing and the sight seeing tours.

Cruises waiting on the Nile River

DAY 5 Friday, February 12, 2010
Again a day, when the cruise guide takes your around.

Hatshepsut

At Karnak Temple

made of alabastar

Saturday, DAY 6 February 13, 2010
Today was the last day in the cruise and we were to disembark at Aswan.

We started from Aswan at around 11am in our private car and reached Hurghada around 7pm in the night. The ride was wonderful and we survived a small accident, which would have been deadly if not for the promptness of the driver in applying the breaks. Not gory, but yea, definitely a chill in the spine for a new minutes.

In India, you would see cattles being loaded into trucks and other smaller vehicles, in Egypt, its the Ship of the Desert...everywhere!

A common sight - enroute Hurghada

We checked into our beautiful room at Hilton Hurghada Resort with a Sea view. The room was spartan clean and the resort looked just amazing.

DAY 7 Sunday, February 14, 2010
Morning was the time to explore the ocean and the bluness of the sea was just too darn beautiful. The perfect sun coupled with the crystal clear skyblue ocean was a treat to watch. Did Kayaking for almost an hour and the post-lunch session was for a snorkeling session in the deep blue waters of the Red Sea.

Red Sea

The breakfast at the Hilton is one of the best i have ever had till date. The spread is amazing, and with a really heavy and late breakfast, you can almost skip your lunch and directly go on for a dinner :) (more weight gains!)

Evening was spent roaming around -a long walk along the length of the stretch of the road that covers all the resorts and shops in Hurghada.

DAY 8 Monday, February 15, 2010
Day was spent mostly along the beach and in the evening we boarded our flight to Cairo.

View from Hilton

Reached Cairo airport and then moved to our room in Horus House. This hotel is in the same building as Longchamps but on a lower level than it. Overnight was spent in the hotel after a sauntering in the streets for sometime.

Tuesday, DAY 9 February 16, 2010
We had this day as buffer and used to explore the City of Cairo. We managed to learn the Arabic numerals and managed to roam around the city the whole day on our own. Language is not a BIG problem in the Cairo city, as you might stumble on someone who knows English and can help you out.

We first went to the Museum and then onto the Khalili Bazaar.

The Museum is one of the biggest i have ever seen. I was always enthusiastic about them, and was as excited as a kid who wants to visit a circus for the first time :) There was a long queue to enter and then we managed to get the first view of the ancient rocks and other statues that should have been centuries old. Room after room was filled with ancient relics and remnants of the great civilization. It is a treat to watch the broken sphinxs, the bust of Tutenkhamum, the small pyramids, the statues of Pharoahs, priests, their servants and maids, the empty caverns and the caskets. This is an experience that you have to have, and cannot be explained in words.

And then we roamed around in the streets of Cairo near the Museum and had a quick snack with our broken english in one of the hotels by the street. I forgot what we ordered, but it was different and good...and cheap. Then we took a taxi and reached the Khalili bazaar. Almost the whole of evening was spent in roaming around this bazaar trying to bargain and buy some souvenirs. If you want to buy an souvenirs for the loved ones back home, then this is the place.I could not find a big difference in price between India and Cairo, but 'Egypt' specific souvenirs(like small pyramids, papyrus etc ) were cheap. You need to bargain a LOT! For eg. if the seller says 100EGP, ask for 10EGP - i am not joking, but the seller agrees most of the times :)

Souvenirs in Khan-e-Khalili Bazaar

Overnight at the same hotel(Horus House).

DAY 10 Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Day was spent roaming around the neighboring streets.

Harley Davidson showroom in Cairo

And then, like all good things, this tour came to an end and we boarded our flight back home.

Expenses (for two) :

Mumbai - Cairo by EgyptAir : 40,000
Package Cost of 10 days tour: 1,02,000
Food: 10,000
Miscellaneous : 5,000
Sports : 10,000

Verdict:

A must visit place for any traveller
You need to bargain a LOT in the market.
Do not go during the summer months, prefer oct-feb.
Do visit Hurghada - its a really nice place and the stay at Hilton is cheaper than a stay at Leela in Bangalore. Red sea is clean and is the best place for snorkeling/diving.
Cairo is a nice place to walk around on your own. Its safe too. I wish they had walking tours!
Try out the local cuisine - we liked this dish called Koshary and my wifey makes it even now :)
Cruise is not a must, but if you want to relax, then its a good bet. You eat the best and also the sight seeing tours are nice. Recommended.
For those who like History/Civilization, try to read up stuff before you go there - helps a lot
Almost all the hotels where we stayed were nice and were value for money. Would recommend Longchamps and Horus House.
Travelling in the Sleeping train is also nice and a must. (I love trains!)
We didnt do Abu Simbel and Alexandria - For Abu Simbel you need to catch the early morning caravan and almost have to reserve 2 days for this, and also costs a bit. Do this if you have the time and dough.
You might be interested in the hotel air balloon - we did not do this; its quiet expensive but i think its one of its kind of an experience(which i miss now). Floating over the pyramids and ruins should be a great experience indeed.
And one more important thing : Egypt is a Tips nation, i.e, you have to tip/baksheesh almost everywhere. So if you are taking a bus from the cruise which takes you around and bring you back, you have to tip the driver, you have to tip the taxiwala, you have to tip the guide(on top of his service-a charge which you pay for the cruise); if you are taking a taxi from airport to the hotel, then you pay the charge and top of it a tip!!! sigh! I think this is totally upto you. I did not tip much. So carry suitable change, if you like leaving tips :)

Perfect Vacation : Andamans

2011-02-23T02:02:00.001+09:00

We did this trip to Andamans way back in Sept 2010 and never got a chance to blog about it. The itinerary, useful notes and trip suggestions follows.....

We did not plan much for this trip except for booking the flight tickets and 2 days stay at Havelock. In fact, if you are planning for a travel in India, I do not think you have to book anything well in advance anywhere unless+otherwise you are visiting a top tourist destination during a peak season. I am sure you will end up something nice with your adventurous spirit and the diversity that is present in India (I love this Country!).

Leave Bangalore for Chennai by Bus at 10:30pm.

Day 1 [Sept 4]
Reach Chennai by 5am. Go home, quick bath etc. Proceed to Chennai Airport. Morning flight at 10am to Port blair from Chennai in KF red. Reach PB around 11:30am. We could only see a white carpet outside our window ; terribly overcast. I had certainly opined that this vacation was going to be a total washout due to the rains; but , on an optimistic, we hoped for the best. It was drizzling when we got down from the flight at the Port Blair airport. Took a taxi from PB Airport to the jetty. The ticket counter at the jetty closes at 12pm, and we just missed it; but the guys told us that we can always buy the tickets on the ship. The Ship departs at around 2:30pm. Luckily got the tickets onboard.

You get to sit in a big hall in the ship which is a little damp with no proper air circulation - though there are fans , but they cause more noise than the airflow. We went to the deck and sat there till we reached Havelock. The nice wind along with the beautiful landscapes is a treat to watch. It was surprising that the air did not contain much moisture - i mean, the saline air which kind of clogs your brain when exposed for atleast an hour or so -- that was not present!

Reached Havelock around 5:30pm. We had booked our stay at Emerald Gecko for the next 2 days. Placed our bags in our beautiful bamboo hut and went out for a stroll. It was already a bit dark. Had an amazing meal at the Gecko's bistro.

Note : Sun sets in this part of the world quiet early and it is always nice to venture out early in the morning and retire early too. Plan to get up around 5am and sleep around 8pm.

We also enquired about scuba diving and were advised by the Gecko guys to approach Dive India which was just a walk away from Gecko

Day-2 [Sept 5]
Got up at around 5:30am and went for a nice stroll along the beach at Gecko. The high-tide was almost touching the boundaries of the Gecko resort. The morning tranquility along with the sound of the waves lashing on the trees along the beach was nothing less than nirvana.

Then we proceeded to Dive India - those guys had asked us to come around 7am. We also had a sumptuous breakfast at Dive India (the tea sucked a little though). The dogs at DiveIndia - Sam and Frodo - followed us. They were two adorable darlings whom i cant forget so easily. We hardly heard them bark even once, and they loved the coconuts and its water, so much so that they followed us and stood next to us when we had our own share.

DiveIndia guys made us wear the scuba gear and took us to Elephant beach which is around 20min ride in a fast boat. The ride was enjoyable and weather looked promising with hardly any clouds around. I forgot their names, but the two instructors from DiveIndia were excellent. They were extremely freindly, and i felt as if i knew them for ages. After a quick round of introductions and hand signals underwater, we were to experiment in the waters with the gear on.

The initial view underwater was good (not great though); the water was a little murky, but i could see the various dried corals. A few minutes of experimentation and the instructor took us in...deep in. The view was AMAZING. The murkiness had vanished and the water was clean! I wished i had a underwater camera to click the pictures!

After a 45minutes underwater dive, where we went 12-15m deep it was time to return back to the surface. DiveIndia guys had our snacks and Tea ready; and after a few click-sessions and snacks it was time to return back to the water and float around...float float float!

We returned back around 10:30-11am and we could see the low-tide in action, with the water having receded by almost 200-500m from the coast line. The dried corals and the rocks of Havelock were visible now. Havelock's ocean floor is not smooth and i had cut my foot the previous evening when i ventured without any caution; but the virgin beaches are worth ogling ;)

We returned back to Gecko and after a shower, we rented out a scooter and had a nice meal at one of the restaurants there. Went around and then proceeded onto Radha Nagar Beach. This beach is one of the best in Asia(and in the world). I did see some photos of this beach without any tides, but when we went, i guess due to monsoon, there were gentle waves. The beachline was long and there were only a handful of people there. Almost no litter, but lots of dried up leaves on the sands. The whole of evening was spent here.

The dinner at Gecko was awsum. They did not have a great spread for vegetarians like us, but the pasta that we ordered was luscious with a beautiful taste and smell of the spices. The paneer butter masala along with the rotis was pretty heavy for dinner, but when something tastes nice, you dont think about your stomach much :)

Day-3 [Sept 6]
Wake up at 5:30am. (Trust me, but it was as if 7am in the mainland! )
Swim in the silent waters at the Gecko , breakfast at German Bakery. Come back to hotel , packed bags. Lunch again at German Bakery, then leave hotel and reached the Havelock jetty by 1pm. Leave Havelock at 2:45pm and reach Neil by 4:30 pm. Checked into Tango hotel.

Since it was already 4:30, we quickly went on for a stroll along the beach. The beach here contains loads of sea-shells and there we went again collecting them. The ocean floor here too is not smooth and you can see the rocks and dried corals popping up from the waters. Though the hotel guys told us that the were 'swimmable' beaches on the other side of Neil Island (we werent much interested).

Splunking..Splunking

It was getting dark fast and we strolled till the end of Neil Island to a place called Sunset Point. There was absolutely no one around and we could only hear the waves. The ocean floor was smooth and the waves were pretty powerful. The slight overcast along with the orange rays from the sun was beautiful. It was getting dark fast, and we hurried back to the hotel. By the time we reached the hotel, it was completely dark.

Sunset Point at Neil Island

The next few hours were spend in the restaurant overlooking the beach in the hotel at Tango. The food wasnt great at all. Retired early to sleep in that unventillated room ;)

Day-4 [Sept 7]
Getup at 5am. Stroll along the beach.The mornings here are beautiful and a stroll along the beach is mandatory. Collected a few more sea shells.

Reach the Jetty at 8am and then catch the next ferry to PB.

View of the Neil Island from the Jetty

Neil to Port Blair in the Ferry starts at 8:30. We again preferred to sit on the deck than settle in the dingy cabin. Reached Port Blair by 10am. Checkin into Ashiana Hotel near the Jetty. I would highly recommend this hotel - the rooms are clean and well ventilated; and the owner is nice too. We accidentally stumbled on this hotel when our autowala suggested this. The hotels' proximity to the neighboring market and also the quietness was good. We then relaxed for some time in the hotel and then strolled along Aberdeen bazaar, had lunch at a hotel. The sun was bright, but it was not too uncomfortable for a long walk. We did not perspire much. We then proceeded onto Cellular Jail and the Rajiv Gandhi park.

Place where the prisoners were chained and belted/caned

Gallows at Cellular Jail

Cellular Jail

Evening was spent roaming aroud the streets and trying to find someone who would arrange a plan for us for the next day. We wanted to do Baratang Island and stumbled on an agency who had tickets for the next day. Evening snacks at Gagan restaurant(near the clock tower), packed dinner , reach back hotel and retire for the day early as we had to get up pretty early the next day.

Day-5 [Sept 8]
Getup at 3:30am and start for Baratang Island at 4am. The bus picked us from from our hotel and thus we started our day. It was raining continuously. The ride to Baratang Island is adventurous and you get to view the indigenous tribes of the land while going through the forest sections. One is not supposed to be in touch with these tribes, and hence the bus goes full throttle when the driver sees any tribes near the road. Also, he shouts 'jarawa!jarawa!' which is the name of the tribe and all the people in the bus get excited. Inspite of the instructions, a few lunatics threw chocolates and other eatables at them. If you are visiting this land, please see to it that you dont appreciate such behaviour. The tribes do not know plastics etc and we dont want to endanger their lives.

Then on, we stopped at a place(forgot the name) to board a ferry to reach the other side of a river. Though the distance between the shores would be hardly 300, the time taken is close to 20-30minutes. Its a slow float across the river. Then we board small boats in batches of 15-20 and were served breakfast on it. The ride along the mangroves was enjoyable (and i think this was the only highlight of the day, otherwise, it was pretty much uneventful).

You visit Limestone caves and then the Mud volcano. The Mud Volcano site looks like a place where some building construction recently took place - do not expect any sort of mountain or hillock here, its flat land with hardened clay.

Limestone Caves

Elephants helping move the logs

Back to PB city by 5:30pm. Lackluster Dinner at Annapurna Cafeteria and retire for the day.

Day-6 [Sept 9]
Sleep well in the morning and board flight at 12pm for Chennai. Reach Chennai at 2pm.

And thus a vacation, which was feared to be a total washout, happened to be one of the most memorable and beautiful ones. (I still remember Frodo and Sam and there does not exist a day when i don't think about them).

And, by the way, i think 6-7 days in Andamans is good enough to cover most of the places and have a good spread between adventure, relaxing, beach bumming etc. This can probably be extended by another few days to cover a few more islands etc, but again, this depends on totally on the time schedules that you might have. ONe big factor would be on how you are going to plan your island hopping as some islands need that you come back to PB for going to any other islands.

Also, prefer the time form just after monsoon till Jan end. I heard from the DiveIndia guys that the weather changes are affecting the corals and many got dried and washed last year, so try hitting this paradise as soon as possible.

Expenses (For two): 40, 000 INR approx (or less)
Travel:

Blr-Chn (bus) 500
Chn-PortBlair(air) 17050
Chn-Blr(bus) 720
PB airport to Jetty 100
PB to Havelock 390
Havelock to Neil Island 390
Neil Island to PB 390

Accommodation:

Havelock, Gecko, 2 Nights -2*1250 = 2500
Neil Island, Hotel Tango, 1 Night = 400
PB, Ashiana, 2 Nights -2*350 = 700

Sundries:

Food 6000
Sports 7000
Misc 2000

Along the Karnataka Coast Line

2011-02-22T13:32:00.001+09:00

So, me and wifey decided to go along the West Coast of India to celebrate our First Anniversary. We just booked the ticket from Bangalore to Mangalore and let everythings take shape as it comes. Initially, I had some apprehensions of going till Gokarna as I feared that we might run out of time by the time we finish the Jain circuit and Udupi. But it so happened that we finished the Jain circuit in a day and had loads of time. And we ended up doing Moodbidri - Karakala - Venur - Udupi (Malpe, Kapu) - Gokarna (Kudle, Om). We could have always done Murudeshwar and Honnavar, but i wanted to relax for sometime and not have a strenous schedule, as work was burning me out.

Read on for a more detailed itinerary and some travel notes.

Day 1 - Friday
We had booked a sleeper bus from Bangalore to Moodbidri, and it so happened that the road was horrendously bad. We were on the upper berth, and it was jumping and wobbling for most of the time, hardly had a good sleep! (I think the stretch from Hassan and all the way upto Mangalore was crap!)

The bus started from Bangalore(Bannerghatta road around 7:30am and we reached Mangalore in the morning around 6:30am. We had not planned whether we want to do Mangalore or carry on to Moodbidri. In the morning, i felt that we should be doing the Jain circuit and then head on towards Udupi, than sticking to Mangalore. Mangalore can always be done when we plan to do Kerala ; something like, start from Mangalore and then onto Bekal-kasargod and the rest of Kerala). Anyway, the bus conductor asked us to get down at Jyothy bus stand if we are to catch a bus to Moodbidri. We had to walk across the road and wait for a bus which came in another 5mins. Reached Moodbidri in around 50mins. We had our breakfast in a hotel in the Moodbidri bus stand. We did not note the hotel's name, but it was pretty clean - though not duly whitewashed. A idli-vada and quick tea is always refreshing in the morning. Asked quickly for directions to the Thousand Pillar Jain Temple and then proceeded onwards. Enroute we stumbled on a Hanuman temple. I had opined that this was just another temple, but it looks like this Hanuman/Anjaneya temples is a very famous one in Moodbidri.

A quick walk lasting 15-20mins lead us to the Thousand Pillar temple. Photography is not allowed inside the temple premises. When we entered, there was hardly anyone inside. The intial few pillars on the leading face of the temple were looking nice - though not impresseive; the prangan(area surrounding the sanctum) and near the walls were unkempt with grass and wild plants. Unimpressive, i had expected much grandeur in this temple; though the brass statue of Mahaveera inside the temple glowing in the bulb within the sanctum was nice to look at. The pedestals were nice but the pillars were lacking the much needed intricate carvings.

A jaunt back to the bus stand and then a tea in the same hotel and then a bus to Karakala ensued. The journey was for around 30mins. The sun was pretty bright by now and we had to wear our shades, as we had to climb hundred odd steps to visit the statue of Gomatestwara on the top of the hillock. A few chocolates before the climb and a quick ascent lead us to a flat land with the monolith statue of Gomateswara standing in the middle, surrounded by two sets of walls - one very close to the statue itself and the one around the temple. Clicked a few snaps and sat here for sometime. The shade outside the temple was cooler than that of inside.

We then came back to the Moodbidri bus stand and caught a bus to Venur. Unlike the hillock in Karkala, Venur is pretty much at the ground level; few steps leads us to the monolithic structure which is again on a flat concrete ground.

Venur does not have many lunch options, so we had it in one Jain hotel which was clean, though the food was nothing great. The hotel owner told us that there are regular buses to Udupi from Venur, but little did we know that those buses go via Moodbidri(duh!).

(And thus i had seen all the big-4 monoliths of Gomateshwara in Karnataka - Shravanabelagola, Karkala, Dhramasthala, Venur ! Yay!)

We reached Udupi around 5:30pm in the evening. Took a hotel near the road that leads to the Krishna temple. The room was neat and clean, but not luxurious - you dont get a deluxe room for 300 Rupees!). Went on a walk near our hotel and asked for the best hotel in that area with a few passerbys; almost everyone seemed to suggest Woodlands and after a sumptuous meal there and a follow up walk near the temple, we retired for the day.

Note : Prefer doing Moodbidri, Venur and then Karkala in order. There are buses from Karkala to Udupi and you dont have to come back to Moodbidri, we didnt know about this and lost about an hour in the transit.

Day 2 - Saturday
We visited the famous Krishna temple in the morning around 8am. Lord krishna - a black idol - was kept in a small room which had many oil lamps lit and was not to be reached by anyone. Devotees had to have a view of the Lord via a small window - the sighting would last only for a few seconds. The rush was not much and we had a good darshan.

A breakfast at Woodlands ensued and we took a nap in our room. We again went to the Krishna temple in the noon - for the mid day prasadams - the meals. Surprisingly, the temple treats brahmins and non-brahmins differently. I was wearing a Jean and a T and we both stood in the line for the non-brahmins. We were told that only those who wore dhoti were eligible to sit in the area marked for brahmins (we wondered how easy this system could be tricked!). The meals for the non-brahmins are served in the first floor. Everyone is asked to sit down and the marble in front of them is to be washed and food is served on this. I would expect that the scene on the ground floor was to be completely different, with banana leaves and a much better quality of food. In the abode of God, such differentiation is to be frowned upon. On a philosophical note, i do not understand why Man always comes up with means and measures to differentiate people(his fellow beings) !

Anyway, we proceeded onto the Government Bus stand which runs buses to Malpe. Malpe is around 5-6 kms from the Udupi bus stand and from the Malpe bus stand you can catch an auto to reach the beach. I did not find anything spectacular about the beach, though there was a ship building/repair yard on the left hand side of the beach. It was around 2 in the noon, and we did not loiter in the sand, but sat on the bench and whiled our time. A boat ride to St.Mary's island could always be done, but this would be too much 'touristy'. We got a lift from the beach to Malpe Bus stand and then caught a bus back to the Government bus stand. We were told that buses to Kapu had to be caught from the Private(or Service) bus stand. Kapu is slighlty far off and the ride lasts for close to 30mins. One can walk from the Kapu bus stand to the beach or hire an auto; auto costs around 25-30. We preferred to walk.

Tip: When you get down from the bus at Kapu bus stand, get onto the other side of the road and ask for directions to the beach; they will lead you to a narrow lane - get onto that and then go straight, you will reach the bypass road, and then cross it and take the road next to the temple on the other side of the road, keep going straight; once you reach a T junction, take the left and then take diversion from the road onto the sand which is next to a few huts there, a few meters away is the beach. This side of the beach is virgin and not people/tourists visit here. Also, you can spend some time in the shade of the monolith rock there and then climb onto it too ;)
The more famous(read 'crowded') part of the beach is on the other side of this rock.

Kapu beach has a functional lighthouse(there is no port here) and the sunset from here is beautiful!

There was a local mela going on in the beach when we went there and then took an auto to the Kapu bus stand back (this one is on the Bypass road). Back to Udupi and retired for the day after a meal at Woodlands ;)

Day 3 - Sunday
We got up at around 6:45am and vacated the room by around 7:15am. The hotel's manager told us that Train was way better than bus, as the former would take 2-2.5hours to reach Gokarna than the latter which takes around 5 hours. Also the roads are not good. The train was to leave at 7:50am from the station. I wanted to try our luck and caught an auto to train station and reach there by 7:30. The rush in the station was just beginning and the queue for the tickets wasn't long. We got the tickets and had a quick breakfast in the station. The train arrived, not very crowded, one of us managed to get a seat while i kept standing for a while and exchanging seats. Reached Gokarna road by around 10:40am. There was mini cab/bus waiting outside and for 15 Rupee ride lasting for 15mins we reached Gokarna. We were not sure about the hotels to choose from - i.e, choose a hotel in Gokarna or prefer any of the huts along the beaches. Preferred to rest for sometime, have some lunch and then decide.

And so we stumbled on Hotel Sri Sai Ram, this is a small hotel next to the SBI ATM on the main road, before you enter Car Street. Little did we know that this hotel will be our place for lunch/dinner for our remaining stay in Gokarna. This clean hotel is run by a family - husband,wifey, a son and a daughter; and i think there are two helpers who get them along with the kitchen and other associated activities.

Post lunch, we roamed in the streets behind the gokarna bus stand looking out for rooms and here we stumbled on Katyayani Guest House. This is run by a gentleman who runs a provision store just outside his house. Our room was on the first floor - damp and a little unclean. But since we were budget travellers, we took this and quickly cleaned the room. A quick nap and a long walk along the Gokarna beach in the evening followed.

Day 4 - Monday
Getup at around 7:15am, breakfast at take the road next to Ganapati temple and then proceed towards Kudle beach and then onto Om beach. The trek to Kudle takes around 40mins(when done slowly). ( the platform is quiet steep, till you reach the flat ground on the hillock. ). Kudle to Om Beach takes around 20-30mins(again when done slow)

(View of Gokarna beach from the hillock enroute Kudle)

The whole day was spent on these two beaches and the evening sunset at Gokarna beach.

Day 5 - Tuesday
Get up around 7am and a quick breakfast at Pai Hotel on Car Street. Proceed to Kudle beach. The morning sun was nice and bright and the 30minute trek was refreshing.

Also, we started the trek from Gokarna beach instead of the lane next to Ganapati temple. This was a boon, the ascent was not hard and also we were able to continue walking without breaks for quiet sometime. We sat in the shades of the trees in Kudle beach for sometime, till the Kayak guy came in. The sand was cool. The 1 hour long kayaing session was pretty good. We started off with a big thud in the water before we could paddle the kayak ;) We went around 0.5-1km inside the waters where it was still. It was quite scary sometimes. (Having kayaked in the Red Sea earlier, this was our second time, but, the Arabian Sea was a little scary when compared with the Red Sea).

Back to our room in Gokarna just in time to check-out, quick bath and vacated the room. Post lunch, time was spent sleeping in one of the huts along the Gokarna beach where the fishermen had kept their nets (it wasnt stinky ;) ).

A nice wooden-oven cooked pizza in the restaurant along the sides of the hillock at Gokarna and a beautiful sunset brought the trip to a beautiful end.; and the cane juice with ginger and lemon was a refresher to bring the energy back :)

Boarded the sleeper bus at Car Street at 7pm(started only at 7:45pm) and reach Bangalore by 6:30am.

Expenses (all expenses are for two pax) :

Travel:

Bangalore-Mangalore(Sleeper bus) : 700
Mangalore-Moodbidri(bus) : 50
Moodbidri-Karkala(bus) : 26
Moodbidri-Venur(bus) : 30
Moodbidri-Udupi(bus) : 50
Udupi-Malpe(bus) :12
Malpe bus stand-Malpe Beach(auto) : 25
Udupi-Kapu(bus) : 24
Udupi-Gokarna(train) : 62
Gokarna Train Station - Gokarna : 30
Gokarna-Bangalore(Sleeper bus) :400

Accommodation:

Hotel at Udupi (2 nights * 300 ): =600
Hotel at Gokarna (2 nights * 200 ): 400

Sundries:

Food : depends on what you eat ..we are veggies;)
Kayaking at Kudle:300

Grand Total (for two) : around 5000 INR

(I have been planning this tour for close to 4 years now; every time i planned this, something else came up in my schedule and i ended up doing something else. I am glad that this long pending visit to the Indian(Karnataka) West Coast is finally over; and with this, i think i have covered most places in Karnataka).

The Fighter

2011-02-14T21:26:00.000+09:00

The life presents many challenges in various different forms, but comes along with it many opportunities, skills and the energy to tackle them. Some use that energy to fight against all odds and make a mark for themselves; a few want to fight, but do not know how to proceed or use that energy and a few don't even bother to learn and make an impact. "The Fighter" , movie starring Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg, is not about a man's fight, its something more than that. It shows how a family collectively can come together and make an impact in ONE man's life - the family, though is a bunch of individuals each with their own identity and characteristic qualities. Man is a social animal. All societal structures promote this cause - though agree that some structures do get tarnished due to the mutual bigotry and dogmatic views. In the longer run, its always the collective which wins over the individual.

The plot is nothing new and the sequence of events are pretty much predictable, but what stands out is the performance by the actors which lends a charismatic charm to soul underneath the skin. The remarkable aspect about Christian Bale in this role is that he performs it with such ease - he performs 'automatically' - you dont see him 'try' for being a character; it looks as if the character moulds into Mr.Bale. We had seen him in The Dark Knight where he had to face the tantrums of the Joker - the various emotional challenges set forth by The Joker, and in The Fighter he does it again.

Watch "The Fighter" if you like boxing - the upper cuts, the jabs etc, but also watch it if you want to see how family and friends are mandatory for a person's survival.

In Conversation with my Shadow

2011-02-14T02:11:00.000+09:00

Me : How do you feel since i am always above you.
Shadow : I am down to help you be above me.
Me : Forgotten identity?
Shadow : No. A supporting structure.
Me: No one notices you.
Shadow: I do not want to be noticed.
Me: Identity commands attention.
Shadow: The feeling is fleeting.
Me: You are meaningless without light.
Shadow: I survive in darkness, i am inside you then.
Me: Whom do you converse with? You know no one.
Shadow: I exist as long as you are with me.
Me: Do you feel alone?
Shadow: Never. Am always around you.

On Indian Travel and Tourism Industry

2011-02-03T18:38:00.000+09:00

India is one of the top travel destinations with the wide diversity of cultures and geographies that it has to offer. But tourism is also one of the most under-rated and also under-utilized sectors in here. Though we have many state bodies which promote tourism in their own states, we do not have a collective framework which would help both the International and National travelers.

With the increasing spending power of the masses and also the quest to visit uncharted territories, toursim/travel does have significant growth prospects in India. For eg. did you know that the rapids of the Zanskar river are much more challenging that those in river Ganges?

In this short essay, i have tried to ruminate on certain aspects of the travel tourism industry which when implemented would be a great source of revenue for the Government and also would be a great source of information and provide safety and comfort to the travellers.

Hotel Reservation
Imagine if the Government collated all the Hotel information in India, and hosted it in one portal for everyone to have a peek at. Individual hoteliers can have their own login ids and can upload videos/pictures of their facilities. The location and tariffs would be structured and can be easily be searched upon. All the booking happens via this single website and the ratings of a particular hotel would obviously be based upon the traffic that it generates.Already sites like TripAdvisor etc are doing this, but since the Govt anway gives Licenses to hotels to operate, they can as well expose this information so that the credibility of the hotels can be established. This would be the directory service for all hotels in India.

The online reservation system if added to this service be a significant add on. For hotels that do not have Net facility, they can as well SMS or call up a call center to update their reservation status.

With the increasing amount of safety concerns for travellers and tourists, this would be an ideal endeavour. Based on complaints on safety, the Govt can blacklist hotels. Also, Black money can be curbed.

Flight Tickets Bidding System
It would be great if we have a website which lets us bid on flight tickets. So, if a particular flight has vacant seats before the departure and operator is ready to fill those seats at a slight loss to his profit margins(i.e, cut in the margin), then this would be a win-win situation for both the customer(who gets cheaper tickets) and also for the operator(who gets a decent traffic and also doesn't fly many empty seats).

For Handicapped
People who are differently abled and are often away from most of the travel need to be given special attention.This space has some promising scope for growth.

For LGBT
I am not sure how many travel agents cater to this audience. Again, though many regions in India are conservative, but a suitably adapted itinerary for the LGBT audience would be a great service.

Adventures
India with its diverse ecosystems can be a perfect place for adventure tourism.
The dense western ghats, the beautiful north eastern india, the deserts of Rajasthan, the salt plains of Thar desert, the canals of kerala, the rugged terrains of Ladakh, the majestic himalayan ranges and the numerous rivers have to be tapped for a clean and ecofreindly tourism.

Road conditions and Water Ways
Middleclass families and budget travellers prefer the road to flights. And hence the maintainence of roadways is very important to attract more tourists. Roads also are more ;leather; when compared to the other modes.

The last BJP Government under the active leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee saw some really good action on the road front; with some of the best National Highways being constructed and also linking the various villages with the neighbouring cities and towns. Baroda to Ahmedabad ExpressWay is one of the BEST in India that i have been on. It rates better than the Mumbai-Pune expressway. The former has the entire stretch laid on as a bluish-black carpet which is a pleasure ride.

I have not heard of any cruises that operate in any of the mighty rivers in India. Whereas the Nile cruises are a BIG attraction in Egypt. People always prefer the waterways to roadways, because waterways are more 'smooth' and scenic.

Other Sales - Stamps, memorabilia
Though i have mentioned in the last section of the post, i think this section is one of the most important as it generates HUGE amount of revenues for the government and positively contributes to foreign exchange. Every traveller wants to take back some memories from his travel. Though we have numerous shops outside every historic monument selling some sort of miniature replica of the monument or selling some handicraft, we do not have sufficient 'structured sellers' - a small example would be that of stamps. I collect stamps, but till date I have never seen any post-office which advertises the stamps or First day covers that are out. Even when i visit the post office and ask them specifically for anything 'new', i do not get a positive answer. I feel that sale of stamps and first day covers would add a significant chunk in here. Also, most of the state run handicraft emporiums price the items exorbitantly high. Me being an Indian, have never bought even a single item from these emporiums for the price of most of these items are 5-10 times that of the average price. A point to oppose my claim would be that of quality - but 'quality' does not essentially always have to be expensive. A kurta costs 600Rs in a Govt run emporium, whereas a kurta of a better texture and variety costs less than 500Rs in Westside. Khadi and Handloom shops have almost disappeared, and if they have sustained at a few places, then they are either dilapidated or hardly any big sales number.

What other aspects can you think of? Guides at the historic monuments, better recommendation systems and better network of travel agents. What else? Do let me know what else would you do if you were the Tourism Minister of India.

Analytics with Twitter Data

2011-01-20T12:16:00.000+09:00

Twitter is one of the largest "data-producers" on the Web presently. Am not sure about the exact numbers of the storage that the tweets require on a daily basis, but a few TBs would not surprise me; add to that the spurts in volumes when there is a controversy or some event happening. All of this leads to interesting data that needs to be deciphered; and also some awsome research work that can be applied to manage the data efficiently for the users and engage them more with Twitter.

When i was looking for possible features that I might actively use, i actually could list a few of them. I am pretty sure that the Product Managers at Twitter would have some of these features in their TODO list, but would be interesting to see when these actually get implemented; or the rationale behind not implementing them.

1. Users who follow you, but you do'nt follow them.
2. Users whom you follow, but they don't follow back.
3. Notification when a user stops following you. I need to research on why Twitter does not have this - was this by design?
4. Trend analysis of users who follow/quit you - based on the tweets that you do.
5. Show the most active users and lazy users - active and lazy are defined by the number of tweets and also the popularity of the tweets.Popularity can also be measured by how much discussion a tweet generates, or how much retweets happen for that tweet.
6. Automatic lists and follow suggestion : when we follow a user, twitter can suggest which would be the most likely fit for a user based on his tweet patterns. The present Suggestion scheme is not all powerful and needs some tweaking.
7. Discover clusters/groups of the followers. Centrality of users - show a graph wherein this relationship can be displayed.
8. Decipher moods/sentiments from the tweets; or other possible natural language processing techniques that can be applied on the tweets to gather interesting patterns or insights.
9. Usage analysis
a. Based on the day of the hour we can find out do people tweet often during mornings or evenings.
b. Do people prefer the web or mobile devices for tweeeting. What % of people uses other apps?
c. Who retweets you often? or what category of tweets by you get retweeted often or generate the maximum discussions.
10. Most famous tweets for the day/week/month - based on retweets, follow-up discussions, celebrity status of the tweeter, number of followers.
11. Duplicate detection of tweets. Also, automatic compression of tweets which fall in a thread. This would help a lot in reducing the information clutter.
12. what is the similarity between two users - based on the nature of tweets. Corollary would be : what topics/categories does a user often tweet on?
13. Better trend analysis.

Firefox 4 around the corner

2011-01-20T11:53:00.000+09:00

Mozilla announced that the latest Firefox 4 Beta browser is ready for beta release and users can download it and check out the cool features that are being introduced in this version. New features like App Tabs and Panorama are going to make the web navigation more easier and efficient; the team has introduced many new features under the hood which will result in faster page loads and also a speedier startup.

Not only for the layman, but even the developers can take advantage of the HTML5 features to make the web more engaging - features like WebM , HD video, 3D graphic rendering with WebGL, hardware acceleration and the Mozilla Audio API can be used to create more interesting applications. A full overview of the featureset can be found here.

Looks like other browsers like Internet Explorer and Chrome have to really innovate and keep up the momentum to match with Mozilla's Firefox.

Do you have any of these buzzwords in your resume?

2011-01-19T16:37:00.000+09:00

Linkedin came out with the list of the top 10 most often used buzzwords - the words that people use in their profiles while using linkedin from USA.

Top 10 overused buzzwords in LinkedIn Profiles in the USA – 2010
   1. Extensive experience
   2. Innovative
   3. Motivated
   4. Results-oriented
   5. Dynamic
   6. Proven track record
   7. Team player
   8. Fast-paced
   9. Problem solver
10. Entrepreneurial

Also, they did some analytics on these buzzwords and found out that the phrase "Extensive experience" is most often used in profiles of people from Australia, Canada and USA whereas people from Brazil and India mostly use the term "Dynamic". 'Innovative' is most often used in the European region; goes onto show why the Dutch always master the art of design.

This analysis by the Linkedin team has led to many revamping their profiles to avoid the so called 'cliched' terms. Do you have any of these buzzwords in your resume? Do you like it? Will you change it after this study or will include it in your profile if you already do not have it?

Analysis of My First Mozilla Open Data Visualization Competition Entries

2011-01-13T20:16:00.000+09:00

The First Mozilla Open Data Visualization Competition results are out. I had submitted 3 entries [one] [two] [three] for this competition and as I had imagined, my entry did not win any nor did it get any mention (I would have been surprised if it had got any!).

I kind of expected this, and realized it during the last few weeks before the winners were to be announced. I reviewed my submissions and found that I had not done justice to my analysis and there were many open questions; or avenues that could be bettered.

Self-Analysis and Comments:
1. As soon as i saw the data I jumped on it. I loaded the sample data into sqlite3 tables and started firing queries and started generating the charts. THIS was a BIG mistake, I should have taken some more time to read the structure of the data and probably cleanse it, and normalize the dataset.
I think i was overjoyed by seeing a 'real' dataset and how i could 'directly' contribute to Firefox in this analysis. The adrenaline rush made me do this blunder.
2. I also spent quiet sometime googling the already submitted entries so that mine was different from others. Though, this helps sometimes, i think it pressurizes one more and narrows down the vision. Treating the data holistically and deriving all possible analysis, or choosing a subset of the data and then analysing it should have been the way to go.
3. I would like to again state the fact that i did not normalize the data - this was the crucial step.
4. I should have spent a weekend on developing a dashboard or webpage with which people could play around. The excuse of time prevented me from doing this.
5. Verbiage - charts/images are good, but it is always nice to include some verbiage along with it when you do not provide a dashboard kind of an interface.
6. Lack of any statistical analysis - most of the analysis that I have done are pure SQL query based manipulations. I am working on this front and learning more statistical analysis techniques, which will help me in the longer run.
7. Some of mycharts were pure junk and did not convey the right message!
8. I should have used better charting libraries - those that have better presentation and are pleasant to the eyes. In the adrenaline rush, i overlooked this aspect.I thought of moving the charts to protovis, but i was too lazy once i submitted my entries(and also i got pulled into other visualizations).

Having understood (and realized) the mistakes that i did, and also the loads of learning that happened during and after the contest has helped me a lot; and am better prepared for the next visualization/data-analysis challenge. This self analysis did help me a lot.

Btw... Mozilla guys are giving away free Tshirts for all participants :)

Simple Article Extractor from HTML

2011-01-03T00:34:00.001+09:00

The following is a simple article extractor from a given web(html) page. Being in Python its simple and is less than 55 lines of code. I tried this on a few webpages , and was satisfied with the output.
Though i have mentioned the comments as part of the code, the following is a quick HOWTO of how to make modifications to this article extractor:
1) To extract meta information , like author, title, description, keywords etc - extract the meta tags in line 30, i.e, after the soup object is constructed, but before the tags are stripped. Also, in strip_tags, return a tuple instead of the text alone.
2) Understand how 'unwanted_tags' works; feel free to add the ids/class names that you might encounter. I have mentioned only a few, but more names like "print","popup","tools","socialtools" can be added.
3) Feel free to suggest any other improvements.


from BeautifulSoup import BeautifulSoup,Comment
import re

invalid_tags = ['b', 'i', 'u','link','em','small','span','blockquote','strong','abbr','ol','h1', 'h2', 'h3','h4','font','tr','td','center','tbody','table']
not_allowed_tags = ['script','noscript','img','object','meta','code','pre','br','hr','form','input','iframe' ,'style','dl','dt','sup','head','acronym']

#attributes that are checked for in a given html tag - if present, the tag is removed.
unwanted_tags=["tags","breadcrumbs","disqus","boxy","popular","recent","feature_title","logo","leaderboard","widget","neighbor","dsq","announcement","button","more","categories","blogroll","cloud","related","tab"]

def unwanted(tag_class):
  for each_class in unwanted_tags:
    if each_class in tag_class:
      return True
  return False

#from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1765848/remove-a-tag-using-beautifulsoup-but-keep-its-contents
def remove_tag(tag):
  for i, x in enumerate(tag.parent.contents):
    if x == tag: break
  else:
    print "Can't find", tag, "in", tag.parent
    return
  for r in reversed(tag.contents):
    tag.parent.insert(i, r)
  tag.extract()

def strip_tags(html):
  tags = ""
  soup = BeautifulSoup(html)
  
  #remove doctype
  doctype = soup.findAll(text=re.compile("DOCTYPE"))
  [tree.extract() for tree in doctype]
  
  #remove all links
  links = soup.findAll(text=re.compile("http://"))
  [tree.extract() for tree in links]
  
  #remove all comments
  comments = soup.findAll(text=lambda text:isinstance(text, Comment) )
  [comment.extract() for comment in comments]
  
  for tag in soup.findAll(True):
    #remove all the tags that are not allowed.
    if tag.name in not_allowed_tags :
      tag.extract()
      continue
    
    #replace the tags with the content of the tag
    if tag.name in invalid_tags:      
      remove_tag(tag)
    
    # similar to not_allowed_tags but does a check for the attribute-class/id before removing it
    if unwanted(tag.get('class','')) or unwanted(tag.get('id','')) :
      tag.extract()
      continue
    
    # special case of lists - the lists can be part of navbars/sideheadings too,
    # hence check length before removing them
    if tag.name =='li':
      tagc = strip_tags(str(tag.contents))
      if len(str(tagc).split()) < 3:
        tag.extract()
        continue
    
    #finally remove all empty and spurious tags and replce it with its content
    if tag.name in ['div','a','p','ul','li','html','body'] :
      remove_tag(tag)
      
  return soup
#open the file which contains the html
#this step can be replaced with reading directly from the url
#however, i think its always better to store the html in the 
#  local storage for any later processing.
html = open("techcrunch.html").read()
soup = strip_tags(html)
content = str(soup.prettify())

#write the stripped content into another file.
outfile = open("tech.txt","w")
outfile.write(content)
outfile.close()

If the formatting is screwed up, then you can access the code here or here.

An Evening with Python's itertool module

2010-12-30T20:48:00.000+09:00

Why I love Python? Well, have you been to Himalayas and have watched the morning sunrise? There are certain feelings that cannot be explained. The fun of programming in python cannot be compared. Anywayz...more on Python and the associated 'joyness factor' in a later post. :)

Often while working with large datasets with Python, one needs to take extra care of the memory and even the simplest of the programs have the potential to make the system go slow and consume the entire memory. Python itertools module has some nifty functions which you will end up using most of the time while working with large data sets, especially when working with text. I spent sometime playing around with some basic functions in the itertools module which are simple to use and often find usage across various functionalities. Though the python docs do a pretty fine job of explaining the individual itertools functions, this post is just an enumeration of a few handpicked functions that I often use.

The following snippet does a quick bigram and trigram generation of a given line:

from itertools import *
def bigram(line):
words = line.split()
for i in izip(words,words[1:]):
print i
def trigram(line):
words = line.split()
for i in izip(words,words[1:],words[2:]):
print i

sentence = "Python is the coolest language"
bigram(sentence)
trigram(sentence)

If you notice , 'language' is not part of an empty tuple. If you want to fill the last tuple with a default value, use 'izip_longest'

for i in izip_longest(words,words[1:],fillvalue='-'):
print i

A sentence can have many non-alphabetic characters, 'filter' does a quick job of removing them. It takes a function as an argument and a list. The function is applied on individual elements of the list.

print filter(str.isalpha,words)

'imap' would probably be one of the most jazziest and coolest of the itertools functions. Lets see its usage in the following example. Assume that you want to find out the longest word in a given file which contains a word list. What is the 'conventional' way of doing this?

infile = open('words.txt', 'r')
len_longest_word = 0
while 1:
word=infile.readline()
if not word:
break
tmp_len = len(word)
if tmp_len > len_longest_word :
len_longest_word = tmp_len
print 'len_longest_word :',len_longest_word
infile.close()

The same when done via imap is just one sentence :) ..as follows. (note : we are reading the entire file in one go).

infile = open('words.txt', 'r')
contents = infile.read()
words = contents.split()
print "len_longest_word:",max(imap(len, words))
infile.close()

Now, lets say we have to analyse the frequency distribution of a few lists or lets say we have to process a group of lists by accessing successive elements, then the following is a very simple and neat way of acheiving this. (Try doing a frequency distribution of n lists containing numbers using 'chain')

from itertools import chain
a=[10,20,30]
b=[100,200,300]
for i in chain(a,b):
print i

Often, we want to group elements in a dictionary by its values; instead of iterating through the dictionary and writing redundant code, itertools comes with a cool 'groupby' which allows us to specify the dimension in which we want to group.

from operator import itemgetter
d = dict(a=1, b=2, c=1, d=2, e=1, f=2, g=3)
di = sorted(d.iteritems(), key=itemgetter(1))
for k, g in groupby(di, key=itemgetter(1)):
print k, map(itemgetter(0), g)

The above example on groupby was obtained from here.

Facebook Features for 2011

2010-12-25T18:32:00.000+09:00

Facebook has been one of the biggest happenings on the web which caters to audience of all age groups. Though Facebook will continue to innovate and launch new features, along with fine tuning their software infrastructure, i would expect(kinda predict) the following features for 2011 :

Automatic tagging of pictures - face recognition
A better friends recommendation system
Sentiment analysis of status updates - show a suitable emoticon based on sentiment
Event recommendations - from what people in your network have been attending
Smarter text input system - some form of auto-complete feature?
"Interesting" factor - for eg. pictures (and hence compete with Flickr Explored)
Marketplace - compete directly with eBay and gain some market share
Messages - can this overtake GMail? (i am not sure; dont think so too )
A good RSS feed aggregator/reader
Some more tweaks to the profile page
Better games
Location based apps
Some integration with the Enterprise?
Tackle Privacy concerns that comes as part of capturing user content

I would expect a couple of distruptive changes too, which makes Facebook a 'clear' leader in social networking.

Python Huntington Hill method

2010-12-24T03:20:00.000+09:00

The following python code implements the Huntington Hill method which was used to generate the apportionment details in my previous post.

import math

def huntington_hill(popln,num_seats):
  num_states = len(popln)
  representatives = [1]*num_seats
  std_divs = [math.sqrt(2)]*num_states
  for j in range(num_states,num_seats):
    max = 0
    for i in range(1,num_states):
      if (popln[i][1]/std_divs[i]) > (popln[max][1]/std_divs[max]):
        max = i        
    representatives[max] +=  1    
    std_divs[max]=math.sqrt(representatives[max] * (representatives[max]+1))
  return representatives
  
  
POPULATION= [("JAMMU & KASHMIR",10143700),("HIMACHAL PRADESH",6077900),("PUNJAB",24358999),
("CHANDIGARH",900635),("UTTARANCHAL",8489349),("HARYANA",21144564),("DELHI",13850507),
("RAJASTHAN",56507188),("UTTAR PRADESH",166197921),("BIHAR",82998509),
("SIKKIM",540851),("ARUNACHAL PRADESH",1097968),("NAGALAND",1990036),
("MANIPUR",2166788),("MIZORAM",888573),("TRIPURA",3199203),
("MEGHALAYA",2318822),("ASSAM",26655528),("WEST BENGAL",80176197),
("JHARKHAND",26945829),("ORISSA",36804660),("CHHATTISGARH",20833803),
("MADHYA PRADESH",60348023),("GUJARAT",50671017),("DAMAN & DIU",158204),
("DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI",220490),("MAHARASHTRA",96878627),("ANDHRA PRADESH",76210007),
("KARNATAKA",52850562),("GOA",1347668),("LAKSHADWEEP",60650),
("KERALA",31841374),("TAMIL NADU",62405679),("PONDICHERRY",974345),
("ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS",356152)
]

NUMBER_SEATS= 545

mps = huntington_hill(POPULATION,NUMBER_SEATS)
for i in range(len(POPULATION)):
  print POPULATION[i][0]+","+str(POPULATION[i][1])+","+str(mps[i])

Huntington-Hill Method on Indian Census Data of 2001

2010-12-23T22:29:00.006+09:00

In USA, the apportionment of seats is based on the census taken (based on the population of each the states). The USA Census Bureau uses an algorithm called Huntington-Hill method for apportioning. Watch the following video which explains it :

The algorithm is pretty simple and you have a look at it here. I ran this algorithm on the India Census data collected in 2001. I got the present distribution of Lok Sabha seats across states from wikipedia. The following table shows the distribution of seats based on the Algorithm(2nd column) and the 3rd column shows the present scheme of apportionment. The last(and colored) column displays the difference.

I am not sure how the present Indian apportionment process works, but looks like we are not way off from the USA's apportionment process.

Do you know how United Kingdom(UK) computes the apportionment? It would be fun to compare, as India was ruled by East India Company and we can know the correlation between the Indian, American and the British way of apportionment of seats.

Data Visualization Fail # 3

2010-12-21T12:14:00.000+09:00

I found the following chart in one of the reports by a Business Intelligence website which compared the various BI vendors based on different parameters. It chose a Vendor and then compared the Vendor with the Category Average and also the Maximum Category Score. This is a Radar Chart.

Now, lets improvise this chart.

For the sake of keeping things simple(read 'without programming'), i used Excel to show how some amount of effort and care to present 'useful' information would be beneficial for the readers. I quickly wrote down the various readings from the above chart into an Excel Worksheet:
Column1:The Metric Names(like Maturity, Scalability etc);
Column 2: Max Category Score,
Column 3: the vendor,
Column 4: Average Across Vendor),

selected the table data and Insert ... Choose the Column(Bar Chart) and voila ...you get Figure 1.

I find Fig.1 to be much much better and readable than the original Radar Chart. We can easily read how the vendor, the average and the max category score relate to one another. The default colors from Excel are also not bad; though i would have avoided the grid lines and have preferred the number mentioned on top of each of the bars.

But I still could not see the trend - trend in terms of how the Vendor fared w.r.t the others. Then i moved to choose a Line chart and you get Fig2. The line chart with the markers clearly show the trend and how close the Vendor is to the Category Average; and on some parameters, it max'es the Category Score and is purely the market leader.

I hope this simple example clearly demonstrated how good visualization techniques can help in better understanding and interpretation.

Visualizing War, Peace and Love over 3 centuries

2010-12-19T19:31:00.000+09:00

The Google Books Ngram Viewer shows the frequency of occurrences of the words over the duration specified (from 1700-2008) in the various books scanned by Google. This is pretty cool, and one doesnt have to download all the book information and then do a frequency analysis. Also the viewer supports multiple words to be specified and see how they trend over the years.

I quickly tried checking the trend for the words 'love', 'war' and 'peace' and following is the visualization of the same . You can view the chart and also play around with it(and other words ) with Google Labs Books ngram Viewer here.

I am not sure what exactly happened during 1740 to 1770; to my limited knowledge 1760s saw Industrial Revolution. The spikes in the word 'war' during 1910s and 1940s correspond to the World Wars raging on then. Did you notice that 'war' is again trending up and 'love' and 'peace' are going down?

On a closer look, this looks to me like a direction reversal for 'war' and is it possible that we are going to see some bloodshed soon? Notice, that whenever there has been a direction reversal in the 'war' trend, there has been a war.

Some more trend here , here , here and here . Any other interesting words/phrases to be visualized?

Mozilla Open Data Visualization Entry-3

2010-12-19T02:00:00.002+09:00

This is my 3rd Entry to the Mozilla Open Data Visualization Competition.
My 1st entry can be found here.
My 2nd entry can be found here.

In this entry , I have to tried to analyse how the age factor affects the usage of three of the features in Firefox 4, namely - Keyboard Shortcuts, Search and the new feature - Panorama. For this analysis, i used the small dataset from "Firefox 4 Beta Interface - Version 2". The following chart presents the data grouped as per the feature and shows the % usage of different age groups.

Also, I have presented the top 3 often used keyboard shortcuts that are used by different age groups. In this, i have preferred a tabular layout, as i feel that data of this nature is best visualized using a tabular format(it is not necessary that every visualization needs to be presented
in some bar or pie chart :)).

The analysis does find that 18-25 and 26-35 age groups are the maximum adopters of the Panorama, Search and Keyboard shortcuts.

Also, it is observed that 'new tab', back', and 'find' are widely used by the younger audience. The usage of the 'back' and 'new tab' keyboard shortcuts drops as the age of the audience increases.

Mozilla Open Data Visualization Entry-2

2010-12-18T02:49:00.002+09:00

This is my second entry to the Mozilla Open Data Visualization competition. You can find my earlier entry here.

This Entry tries to analyse how people spend time on the Web. In this entry too, i have tried to analyse on four fronts. [But these are generic compared to my previous entry - i.e, my previous entry was more w.r.t users and their relationship with Firefox; whereas this Entry is mainly related to the user's general behavior - which were obtained from the Firefox Survey. Nevertheless, this analysis does give some insights into various facets of user-web interaction]

1) Does the knowledge of Computer or the Web affect the way users visit various websites?

2) How do people come to know about the latest computer technology and trends?

3) What is the phone ownership pattern of the users who own a smartphone?

4) On what kind of websites do people spend their time?

[I have deliberately avoided explaining the interpretations and understandings - as I believe that the numbers speak for themselves. However, any doubts in the charts can be explained]

My 1st Entry to this competition can be found here.
My 3rd Entry to this competition can be found here.

How to draw a Headless Man using Splines

2010-12-17T20:48:00.000+09:00

Tools Used : HighCharts, some creativity, and loads of patience :)

India ZIPScribble Maps

2010-12-17T12:00:00.000+09:00

And it so happens that i managed to get a handle on all the zip codes in India and their corresponding longitudes-latitudes. This is what you get when you connect all the zipcodes in India :

And then when you order the long-lat pairs :

The next in this series is going to be :
1) Calculate the total distance travelled when you connect all the zipcodes (from map#1).
2) Do a TSP(Travelling Salesman Problem) on the zipcodes (from #1 above) and plot the route. Calculate the distance.
3) Do #2 for each of the states. (this "can" be used when you are planning your travel)

Mozilla Open Data Visualization Competition

2010-12-16T20:34:00.005+09:00

The following are the results of my analysis of the data from the Mozilla Open Data Visualization Fall 2010 contest. I downloaded witl_small.tar.gz (from "A Week in the Life of a Browser - Version 2" ) which contains a sample of the data for my analysis.

I did not download the full set as my bandwidth has been crappy for sometime and also was running out of time. (The queries can be run on the FULL data though.) Mozilla has provided many attributes related to the various activities on FF (and there are SO MANY of them!). Since i stumbled on this contest pretty late in the game, i was unable to analyse ALL the attributes/dimensions. I preferred tackling a few questions in good detail than analysing many dimensions without much depth.

So my analysis consists of the following 4 visualizations which try to answer 4 different questions.

Tools Used : Protovis, HighCharts, Python, SQLite3 (Excel was used for Preliminary analysis/data cleansing)

1) What is the Web usage pattern of people of different age groups?
Or in other words, What is the average number of hours spent by someone who is 30 years old?

2) Is their a correlation between the number of years being associated with Firefox and the number of hours spent on the Web daily?
or in otherwords, do people who have used Firefox for 3-5 years or more, spend more number of hours using the Web Daily?

3) What kind of bookmark activity do people do who are associated with Firefox for a number of years(we analyse *only* those who use any of the bookmark feature)
i.e, how is the bookmarking creation/choosing/modifying spread among the bookmarking operations?

(In the above chart, you will find 3-6m column being empty - the reason being, there was no data for this in the sample - i hope that the same is present in the full data set).

4) How do different age groups function w.r.t various features on the Firefox?
Note: this chart is to be read vertically - i.e, for a given feature, lets say Private Mode, which is the age group which uses this feature often? You will find that on viewing the column Privatemode, the age group 18-25 has the darkest color, which means that this is the age group which uses the feature often. Hence, the color gradient from the lightest to the darkest encodes the least to most often used.

[I have deliberately avoided explaining the interpretations and understandings - as I believe that the numbers speak for themselves. However, any doubts in the charts can be explained]

My 2nd entry to this competition can be found here.
My 3rd entry to this competition can be found here.

ChronoDrop - Visualizing Events

2010-12-15T20:40:00.002+09:00

I always liked Subway Maps - they are easy to understand and also look visually pleasing. And then i stumbled on the following visualization wherein Subway Maps are used to show the Acquisitions that Google had made over the past few years. The graph does look good, and shows the domain of the firm by color coding the 'route'.

But this graph suffers from a BIG defect : it does not show the 'time' factor; as in, we do not know the sequence in which Google acquired the companies. Also, it does not show the amount shelled out by Google in acquiring each of the firms. And I wanted to rectify this by choosing a better medium.

I am not a designer and my illustration skills are very limited. Hence i mostly restrain myself to charts and graphs than creating a kicka$$ poster or infographics illustration. But, the problem was very interesting and i thought i would take a dig at this and also see how good I am with some illustration skills.

I devised ChronoDrop - a visualization technique to group and order events that have an associated time factor. Assumption being, the events do not belong to multiple groups(/domains) and are to be represented in a timeline. So, in this case, a company cannot belong to both Social and Technology - we demarcate the separation in strict terms so that the readability is enhanced.

In the following illustration, I used ChronoDrop to show the acquisitions that Oracle has done since 2005. The companies are divided based on the domain - like, databases, middleware etc.

Why did i call it ChronoDrop?
- Well, 'chronos' personifies time and i wanted this representation to be based on events which are spread across time.
- And why Drop? I always preferred scrolling down than scrolling horizontally. How many times do we scroll horizontally? In fact, good UI designers despise horizontal scrolling; i have seen numerous instances, wherein presence of a horizontal scrollbar is loathed upon (more than that, horizontal scrolling is just a BIG pain in the a$$).

Some more modifications could be done to ChronoDrop, like,
1) making the font of the Company name scale according to the amount spent on acquiring it. I wouldn't prefer logos, as images can cause a quadratic change (also they become quiet inefficient unless/otherwie the graphic is to be printed as a poster).
2) If animation was possible, then we can show the Date of acquisition(and any other details) when the mouse is hovered over the company name (hyperlinks are always possible). I did not want to display the amount in the 'static' image, as I did not want to clutter the viz.
3) The amount spent on the acquisition can be shown in the static image, but this requires some illustration skills which i do not readily possess. For eg. If we can increase the image size, then we can easily accomodate the cost factor beneath the organization name.

Something that i liked about ChronoDrop is that, this graph can be generated programmically pretty easily. I hope to generate a library for this sometime.

Well, i do not think ChronoDrop is a game changing technique/representation in the visualization field, but this my FIRST attempt at designing/conceptualizing a medium in this arena.

Probably, some more useful illustrations of ChronoDrop :
- IMDB's top 250 movies based on genre grouped by release dates.
- Comparing the tenures of the US Presidents with that of Indian Prime Minsters; scams during the respective tenures could be interspersed.
- Sporting events(cricket, football, hockey, archery, tennis, badminton) over decades
- Various Natural Calamities(Earthquakes, Typhoons, Floods/Landslides, Volcanos) over decades.

Around the World in 14 Hops

2010-12-15T18:03:00.004+09:00

"Boredom leads to inspiration". One uneventless bored noon is enough to do anything - and i went world hopping; and it takes only 14 hops - with one of them being tracing the same route(9,10).

Just if you missed noticing, the above map appears on Facebook login page.

Scribble Map

2010-12-14T20:22:00.000+09:00

I was looking for possible visualizations using maps on the Internet; thinking as to how people would be using lat/long details to present information. One obvious example would be use maps to show the sales/revenue spread across the various LoBs of an organization. Many enterprises capture the spatial information and display along with the 'regular' data(sales/revenue..etc etc). By the way, spatial maps, however simple they might sound are very important to bring a breath of fresh air into an otherwise uninspiring presentation of Enterprise data - you no longer work with tables, but directly on the map-region wherein the action is taking place.

But was there more that can be done with maps? Anything more funny and hackworthy? And then i stumbled on ZIPScribbleMaps - i found this extremely interesting; especially for a country like India which is huge and diverse, some visualization w.r.t Pin codes (or Zip codes) would be neat.

I quickly searched the web for a complete list of India Pin Codes, but it was quiet funny that i was not able to find it anywhere. You have to pay to get this information - especially if you want the zipcodes along with the lat/long information. (I think Govt should opensource this).

The following shows the ZIPScribble map for the state of Andhra Pradesh (I will do this for the rest of the Indian States soon - probably this weekend).I used the Google Maps API v2 and plotted the polylines between the pin codes, and this is what you have :

The first map shows the scribble, when all the pincodes are arranged in ascending order and lines are drawn between two consecutive postal codes.

The Second map shows the scribble, when we remove the duplicate lat-long pair and arrange them in ascending order (So that a PIN is not repeated).

Hollywood movies Visualization -Trilogy Meter

2010-12-13T02:56:00.000+09:00

Spent some time scraping the data from IMDB - ended up manually scraping the data for the 10 movie trilogies that I always liked. This was more of a personal project as in I wanted to see how trilogies fared - in terms of budget, revenues and the final ratings that the users provide. The rating shown is the rating of that particular part of the trilogy on 12-Dec-2011 from IMDB.
Each of the bars in each of the graphs of Budget,Ratings and Gross Revenue denote a part of the respective trilogy, with the leftmost bar being part 1, mid being part 2 and the right bar being part 3.

Visualizing Movie Quotes in Venn Diagram

2010-12-12T04:52:00.000+09:00

I love Venn Diagrams - they are easy to conceptualize, design and understand.

World's Billionaires Visualization

2010-12-10T03:05:00.000+09:00

I always wanted to be RICH (just like everyone else) :)

There are 1101 Billionaires in the World in the year 2010 as released by Forbes Magazine. Now, I have the data and some interesting patterns can be deciphered. Some visualizations from the data set.

Spread of Billionaires across Age Groups:

Spread of Billionaires across Countries would be a usual visualization. So here is a quick heatmap of the same. I used openheatmap to create this - i would have ideally preferred that i am able to choose the colors so that the gradients are more pronounced and show the spread (but alas!). You can also interact with this map in here.

The Forbes list also gives the details of the Citizenship and the Residence of the Billionaires. This data can be used to find out the pattern here; i.e, find out the billionaires whos Country of Citizenship is not the same as Country of Residence; or try to find out how the countries of Residence and Citizenship correlate; which is the thickest arc in the data which links two countries? (though i would have preferred that clicking on the arc leads shows some useful tooltip, but i was not able to find that option in Protovis).

Also, some interesting facts came out of the data:

There are 8 'couples' - as in, set of 2 persons whose combined assets touch 1billion or more.
Of the 1101 names, there are 105Families; the total asset value of these 105 Families is 2990.4 Billion $. Top 3 countries having the rich families : US(25), China (9), India (7).
The combined wealth of all the Billionaires is close to 3567.8 Billion $.
Top 5 Countries measured in terms of the highest net worth of the Billionaires: USA(1349.3), Russia(265), India (222.1), Germany(217.7), China(133.2). (Again, this data can be showed as a heat/choropleth map, but i did not want to overdo on this viz).
One more interesting observation would be to find out how age and the wealth work together. So, i quickly divided age by wealth to find out the most 'successful' - 'Success' here is defined as those whose age/wealth factor is as close to 1. And i found that top 5 on this race are :

William Gates III (Rank:2, Age:54, Worth:53, Success Factor:1.0)
Carlos Slim Helu & family (Rank:1, Age:70, Worth:53.5, Success Factor:1.3)
Warren Buffett (Rank:3, Age:79, Worth:47, Success Factor:1.7)
Mukesh Ambani (Rank:4, Age:52, Worth:29, Success Factor:1.8)
Eike Batista (Rank:8, Age:53, Worth:27, Success Factor:2.0)

The following visualization was more of a fun factor. It shows the tag cloud of the names of all the Billionaires in the world. The font size shows how frequent some of those names occur.

Data Visualization Fail # 2

2010-12-07T18:33:00.000+09:00

In the following set of charts i have tried to highlight some 'pain' points and also suggest how these charts can be made more attractive without sacrificing the 'data quality'. All the charts were obtained from the presentation present here. I stumbled on this presentation at Slide Share which has a few marketing charts, and i think i can use this to present some of the visualization gotchas or chartjunk.
Again, the idea is not to criticize the author of these charts but valuable suggestions on how to make 'beautiful' presentations from the same set of data. Due to lack of time, i am not able to generate the equivalent 'beautiful' charts, but would definitely present the suggestions.

Chart 1:
a) Background grid lines can be removed
b) Since the value associated with the bar is already displayed at the top of the bar, i wouldnt necessarily be having a Y-axis.
c) I would prefer a Tufte Graph for this - makes more sense as the number of bars are less.
d) The color chosen is good and also the axis descriptions are neat.

Chart 2:
a) Though there are only two pie charts being used here, and each of them has only 3 regions, we might think that probably it fits the use-case here, but i feel a set of histograms or line graph would make this even beautiful.
b) I would always suggest a Tufte Graph when the number of regions is very less and there are not many dimensions to be considered.
(There is nothing 'criminally' wrong in using pie chart here)

Chart 3:
a) Two pie charts with many regions!!!
b) Color chosen are not good.
c) Colors do not show the intention - on the first glace it looks to me that Direct Mail, Trade Shows and Telemarketing are to be clubbed together and so be "Email Marketing" and "Other" & PPC and SEO - i think this is a strict NO-NO.
d) Prefer a simple bar graph.
e) Also there a BIG chart ERROR : In the 2009 graph, we see Blogs and Social media in ONE pie which comprises 9% whereas in 2010 graph, these two are divided into two pies. ~dumph~

Chart 4:
a) The hort.stacked bar chart is an overkill here.
b) Tough to read
c) The % scale on the hort axis does not make sense to me. Would have preferred the number to be present in each of the 'pieces' of the bar.

Chart 5:

a) Date Format - me being from the Indian Subcontinent, i always have a trouble when date format is given to me in xx/xx/yyyy format - i am not sure whether the first xx is a month or date. I always prefer the dd-mmm-yyyy or dd-mmm'yy format. In this kind of a graph, where growth rate is to be shown, mmm-yy would have been perfect.
b) Rather than chosing the Growth Rate, i would preferred the number of active users on the Y-axis. This is a small nit.
c) Clustering on a Q-on-Q basis would also have been better.

Data Visualization - Charts and Libraries

2010-12-05T00:09:00.001+09:00

When i was searching the net for possible Data Visualization libraries i stumbled on many. The following are some of the charting libraries that i have compiled from the Internet (i got the main ones from the following two links : here and here .) I have lifted the text associated with the libraries from these 2 links; however i will reviewing them personally too, as and when time permits.

I will be updating when i stumble on any library that is interesting; libraries that can be quickly learnt and used. I will mainly be concentrating on Free libraries. Please do add a comment if you want to recommend anything interesting too.

At this moment I want to thank all the authors/designers who are behind these libraries and have contributed significantly to the data visualization arena.

Ajax.org
Ajax.org Platform is a pure javascript application framework for creating real-time collaborative applications that run in the browser.
http://www.ajax.org/

AnyChart
AnyChart is a flexible Flash based solution that allows you to create interactive and great looking flash charts.
http://www.anychart.com/products/anychart/gallery/

Axiis
Axiis is a Data Visualization Framework for Flex. It has been designed to be a concise, expressive, and modular framework that let developers and designers create compelling data visualization solutions.
http://www.axiis.org/

BirdEye
BirdEye is a community project to advance the design and development of a comprehensive open source information visualization and visual analytics library for Adobe Flex. The actionscript-based library enables users to create multi-dimensional data visualization interfaces for the analysis and presentation of information.
http://birdeye.googlecode.com/svn/branches/ng/examples/demo/BirdEyeExplorer.html

Bluff
Bluff is a lightweight charting library that ports Ruby’s Gruff gem to JavaScript. Weighing at only 11KB gzip’ed (you also need JS.Class which only weighs 2.6KB gzip’ed), it’s surprising that you’ll be able to get 15 different types of charts out of this library. It features tooltips, a ton of configurable options, legend support, and the .set_theme method for declaring reusable themes.
http://bluff.jcoglan.com/

Degrafa
Degrafa is a declarative graphics framework for creating rich user interfaces, data visualization, mapping, graphics editing and more.
http://www.degrafa.org/samples/data-visualization.html

DojoX Data Chart
An addition in the Dojo 1.3 release is the new dojox.charting class. Its primary purpose is to make connecting a chart to a Data Store a simple process.
https://user.sitepen.com/~mwilcox/Chart/DataChart.html

Chronoscope
If you need to visualize thousands or millions of points of data, check this out. Very well designed and can be navigated with the keyboard or mouse. There's a Javascript API, a Google Visualization API or try it as a Google Gadget on Google Spreadsheets, iGoogle, or Open Social.
http://timepedia.org/chronoscope/

Dundas
Dundas has a wide range of data visualization solutions for Microsoft technologies. They offer a number of data visualization tools including: Chart, Gauge, Map and Calendar for .net and Dashboards for Silverlight.
http://www.dundas.com/Components/Gallery/ASP/

Dygraph
dygraphs is a JavaScript library for producing interactive charts for time series data. It was designed to plot dense data sets (such as temperature fluctuations). It has user interfacing options such giving the user the ability to specify time intervals on the fly, displaying of values when mousing over parts of the chart, and zooming. It also integrates with the Google Visualization API.
http://www.danvk.org/dygraphs/

ExtJs
Ext JS is a cross-browser JavaScript library for building rich internet applications. It now includes charts.
http://www.extjs.com/products/extjs/

FusionCharts
Animated flash charts for web apps. Looks like they work with most technologies.
http://www.fusioncharts.com/Gallery/Default.asp

Google Chart API
The Google Chart API lets you dynamically generate charts.
http://code.google.com/apis/chart/types.html

gRaphaël
gRaphaël is a Javascript library to help you create stunning charts on your website.
http://g.raphaeljs.com/

Highcharts
Highcharts is one of the most promising JavaScript charting libraries to hit the scene recently, with its large array of features including seven charting types (line, pie, and bar among them), the ability to zoom in and out of charts, and tooltips for offering more information about data points.
http://highcharts.com/

iLog Exlixir
Enhance data visualization within Flex and AIR applications with IBM ILOG Elixir.
http://www.ilog.com/products/ilogelixir/demos/

Javascript InfoVis
JavaScript InfoVis, a charting library influenced partly by MooTools, is a robust and excellent solution for data visualization. It’s modular (just like MooTools) so that you can include just the parts you need to keep your pages light. It has animation effects capability to captivate and engage your users, plenty of charting types, a helper class for working with JSON data, and much more.
http://thejit.org/

JFreeChart
Creates charts such as bar charts, line charts, pie charts, time series charts, candlestick charts, high/low/open/close charts, wind plots, and meter charts.
http://www.jfree.org/jfreechart/samples.html

JQuery Plugins
There ar a lot of JQuery chart pugins:

    * Visualize by the Filament Group
      http://www.filamentgroup.com/lab/jquery_visualize_plugin_accessible_charts_graphs_from_tables_html5_canvas/
    * JQChart
      http://plugins.jquery.com/project/jQchart
    * Flot
      http://code.google.com/p/flot/
    * Sparklines
      http://omnipotent.net/jquery.sparkline/
    * TufteGraph
      http://xaviershay.github.com/tufte-graph/
    * jQuery Google Charts(jGCharts)
      http://www.maxb.net/scripts/jgcharts/include/demo/
    * jqPlot
      http://www.jqplot.com/

JPowered
The PHP graphing scripts provide a very easy way to embed dynamically generated graphs and charts into PHP applications and HTML web pages.
http://www.jpowered.com/

JSCharts
JS Charts is a JavaScript chart generator that requires little or no coding. JS Charts allows you to easily create charts in different templates like bar charts, pie charts or simple line graphs.
http://www.jscharts.com/

JSXGraph
Developed at the University of Bayreuth in Germany, is a standalone JavaScript library for plotting complex geometric shapes and data such as Bezier curves, differential equations, and much more. It has animation features for moving graphs, interactive components such as sliders for experimenting with changing values of variables, and plenty of charting types to choose from.
http://jsxgraph.uni-bayreuth.de/wp/

Kap IT Labs Diagrammer and Visualizer
Kap Lab's Diagrammer provides ready-to-use yet highly customizable multi-layout data visualization and diagramming for Adobe Flex and Air.
http://lab.kapit.fr/display/kaplabhome/Home

MilkChart
A simple to use, yet robust library for transforming table data into a chart. This library uses the HTML5 tag and is only supported on browsers other than IE until ExCanvas gets proper text support.
http://code.google.com/p/milkchart

MooChart
For now, moochart only plots bubble diagrams, but there are plans to expand this MooTools 1.2 plugin to feature pie, line, and bar graphs. The plugin has 14 options that you can use for customizing your diagram’s look, and tooltips for providing more information about a bubble when mousing over them. moochart is open source and released under the MIT license.
http://moochart.coneri.se/

Open Flash Charts
Open source Flash charts.
http://teethgrinder.co.uk/open-flash-chart-2/

PlotKit
PlotKit is a Chart and Graph Plotting Library for Javascript. It has support for HTML Canvas and also SVG via Adobe SVG Viewer and native browser support.
http://www.liquidx.net/plotkit/

ProtoChart
Protochart is a JavaScript library for use with the Prototype JS framework. It uses HTML5’s canvas for modern browsers, and the ExCanvas library for Internet Explorer support. It has six types of charts including line, pie, bars, points, lines with points, and area graphs. It allows for the display of legends that are highly configurable to help identify items on your charts.
http://www.deensoft.com/lab/protochart/index.php

Protovis
Protovis composes custom views of data with simple marks such as bars and dots. Unlike low-level graphics libraries that quickly become tedious for visualization, Protovis defines marks through dynamic properties that encode data, allowing inheritance, scales and layouts to simplify construction.
http://vis.stanford.edu/protovis/

Style Chart
Style Chart is a free JavaScript-based charting web service/API for creating hosted charts. It’s also available as a downloadable library in case you want to host your own charts (though you need to register in order to download it). It has the things you’d expect from a robust and configurable charting library such as tooltips, legends, and 19 types of charts including 3D pie, 3D bar graphs and Pareto charts.
http://chart.inetsoft.com/

Telerik Charts for Silverlight, WFP, ASP.NET
Telerik Charts offers rich functionality and data presentation capabilities.
http://www.telerik.com/

Timline
Timeline is a JavaScript widget for creating interactive timelines. You can scroll through items featured in chronological order by using your mousewheel or by holding down your mouse button on the timeline and dragging left or right. Clicking on a dot, which represents an item in the time line, will reveal more information. Timeline is open source, released under the BSD license
http://www.simile-widgets.org/timeline/

TimePlot
Timeplot allows you to dynamically generate time series graphs. Hovering over data points reveals their value. Timeplot was developed as part of the SIMILE Project at MIT. Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to utilize Timeplot. Timeplot is open source and available the BSD license. The Timeplot demo and download links are on this page
http://www.simile-widgets.org/timeplot/

Data Visualization Fail # 1

2010-12-01T15:43:00.000+09:00

The following chart is from Transparency which shows the Corruption Perceptions Index for 2010.

The highlighted blue circles are the regions wherein the color difference is most minimal. I dont think using very minor color gradients in visualization is going to help much in understanding the spread. A first look at the map, demarcates the world in to American(with Oz and North EU) and non-American countries as only Yellow and red are the prominent colors. Regions that are highlighted , using blue circle, do have a variation in the perception index, but to the proximity of the gradient our eye fails to catch them. The best example is probably, South Korea(5.4) and Japan(7.8) - there is indeed a problem here. These two countries fall in two different slabs , and there is a 30% difference in value between them, but on a cursory glance we fail to notice this difference. Similarly, countries within African, European and Asian continents cluster together,
if there is a small country which stands out from the group, then this viz fails to show that.

Remember that color is never seen alone, color is always seen based on what is surrounding it. An effective use of color will group related items and command attention inproportion to importance. Colors are the most neglected and also the most abused factor in any chart. Colors also show the intention of vizualization.

This is a typical case of "Chartjunk due to colors" . One might opine that one can always zoom in and see the difference, but let me show you what happens when i zoom in on Eastern EU.

But, the viz also scores some marks on some other positive aspects:
- An excellant legend (though i would have preferred the words "Very Clean" and "Highly Corrupt" to be placed more closer to the values)
- Displays the countryname/index value on hovering over the country.
- Prescence of a table below the chart which ranks the countries - and this table can be sorted/searched. (the rank information here would have been an icing)
- A multiplication factor of 10 on the Index would have been easy to read ( its easy to read 10-20, 20-30, than 1-2,2-3)

Klueless 6

2010-11-19T13:08:00.010+09:00

So Klueless 6 is out and I have been breaking my head with it....lost some hair in the due course..

Try : http://www.ahvan.in/ahvan10/klueless6/

Initially, i did not want to give the clues, but there are many who keep searching the Net for possible clues, and some of the levels are just too arbit(which is all the more fun!)...so this post is just for you guys. Here are some clues or hints for cracking the different levels.

Klueless 6 Level 1 Clue : Come on. Cant you just click?

Klueless 6 Level 2 Clue : A coin is always tossed.

Klueless 6 Level 3 Clue : Censored.

Klueless 6 Level 4 Clue : The title was made too easy; if you still dont get it, cant you spot the
region in the map?

Klueless 6 Level 5 Clue : Solve the riddle. But am sure you always work on it.

Klueless 6 Level 6 Clue : You need to cross this level.

Klueless 6 Level 7 Clue : Do what the picture asks you to do. hint 2 Clue : Spot anything?

Klueless 6 Level 8 Clue : Use what is visible.

Klueless 6 Level 9 Clue : If you dont know the mask, you cant proceed. He belongs to?

Klueless 6 Level 10 Clue : Easy one. Use your language skills.

Klueless 6 Level 11 Clue : Source gives you a hint

Klueless 6 Level 12 Clue : I think this is the toughest level. Very good one. No clues, try your luck
and loose your hair.

Klueless 6 Level 13 Clue : You outta know science to solve this.

Klueless 6 Level 14 Clue : Sigh! Go and have a drink now.

Klueless 6 Level 15 Clue : Title gives you a good clue, and yes, you better listen to him.

Klueless 6 Level 16 Clue : Cant you really find the missing ?

Klueless 6 Level 17 Clue : Look Up.

Klueless 6 Level 18 Clue : Counting and multi-coloured tongues.

Klueless 6 Level 19 Clue : Toughie - like 12. You gotta be a CS guy with add-on skills. But dont surrender.

Klueless 6 Level 20 Clue : Am working on this now.

[ I am slightly busy now with reading and other duties and am trying to keep myself away from the Klueless6 addiction for a week; i shall return after a few weeks ]

Year End Jaunts - Kutch

2010-01-02T12:57:00.023+09:00

[Work in progress - some more verbiage will be included]

Day 1 - Monday - 28th December, 2009
- Reach Nasik in the moring
- Visit Triambekshwar

- Go on to Daman via Vapi. Watch Sunset at Daman

- Back to Vapi and then onto Vadodara

Day 2 - Tuesday - 29th December, 2009
- Vadodara to Pavagadh
- Ropeway and then onto Champaner Kali temple

- Back to Vadodara and then onto Ahemedabad
- Ahmedabad to Bhuj

Day 3 - Wednesday - 30th December, 2009
- Reach Bhuj and then onto Mandvi
- Check in hotel at Mandvi early morning.
- Get up at 8. Walk along the beach from 9-12:30. Then Vijay Vilas palace.

- Evening walk in the shipmaking yard

- and then some street foood and good sleep.

Day 4 - Thusday - 31st December, 2009
- Get up early morning. Move to Bhuj
- Parag and Aina Mahal

- Bhujodi - visit some weavers and see their crafts

- Then onto Ahmedabad via Anjar and Gandhidham

Day 5 - Friday - 1st January, 2010
- Spend overnight at Ahmedabad Airport and catch the early morning flight to Bangalore. Reach Blore by 12pm.

Expenses:
Pune to Nasik(Volvo) = 250
Nasik to Vapi = 90
Vapi to Daman = 10
Daman to Vapi = 10
Vapi to Vadodara = 141
Vadodara to Pavagadh = 30
Pavagadh to Ahm = 80
Ahm to Bhuj = 151
BHuj to Mandvi =
Mandvi to Bhuj = 30
Bhuj to BHujodi = 5
Bhujodi to Anjar(Pvt bus) = 20
Anjar to Gandhidham = 15
Gandhidham to Ahm = 134
Ahm ST Bus stand to Airport(Auto) = 100
Ahm-Blr Spicejet(Air) = 5129
Blr Airport to Home = 100

Room at Mandvi = 450
Food Expenses = 500

Total = 450 + 1166 + 5129 + 500 + 200 = 7500

Whats Brewing

2009-12-14T12:07:00.006+09:00

Thinking of doing Bangalore to Delhi , by road, in 10 days. Solo.
Pit Stops : Mumbai, Aurangabad, Nashik, Daman, Udaipur, Barmer, Jaisalmer, Pokhran, Bikaner, Jaipur, New Delhi.
Budget : 10,000 INR (includes Delhi-Blr flight)
Mode of Transport : Mainly buses; Hitchhike wherever possible.

Possible changes to the plan :
1. Stop at Ahmadabad and instead go exploring Gujarat
2. Explore Maharastra and Madhya Pradesh.
3. Get wasted in some virgin beaches along the Western Coast

Read and To-Be Read

2009-12-11T14:05:00.006+09:00

2009 was the year when i read the maximum number of books in a year - probably, more than when i was in college. Books coupled with a hectic schedule at work, loads of movies and some occasional travels/treks kept me occupied for bulk of the time. The worst hit was my feed reader, which has tonnes to be read.

#1. "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" by Haruki Murakami
2. "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time" by Mark Haddon
#3. "Hard-boiled Wonderloand and the End of the World" by Haruki Murakami
#4. "Blind Willow , Sleeping Woman" by Haruki Murakami
#5. "Dance Dance Dance" by Haruki Murakami
*6. "Heart of Darkness" by Joseph Conrad
#7. "The Calculus Wars - Newton,Leibniz & the Greatest Mathematical clash of All Time" by Jason Bardi
8. "The Mind's I: Fantasies and Reflections on Self & Soul" by Douglas R. Hofstadter, Daniel C. Dennett, and Daniel C. Dennett
*9. "My Uncle Oswald" by Roald Dahl
*10. "The Stranger" by Albert Camus
#11. "The Eye of the Needle" by Ken Follet
*12. "Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness" by William Styron
13. "Watchmen" by Alan Moore
14. "Surely You're Joking Mr.Feynman!" by Richard P.Feynman.
#15. "The Fermata" by Nicholson Baker
#16. "Disney War" by James B. Stewart
#17. "McMafia - A Journey through the Global Underworld" by Misha Glenny
#18. "Warlock" by Wilbur Smith
19. "How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space" by Janna Levin
#20. "Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book" by Gerard Jones
#21. "The Swiss Account" by Paul Erdman.
#22. "Den of Thieves" by James B.Stewart

My wish list for the year 2010(below) is more ambitious and i hope that i would be able to complete them. Bulk of them are not available in the Indian markets and if available are priced exhorbitantly. So, if you happen to be in Chennai/Bangalore , then I would like to swap some books.

And also, by the way, i whole heartedly accept gifts :)

1. "Vurt" by Jeff Noon
* 2. "Norwegian Wood" by Haruki Murakami
* 3. "Sputnik Sweetheart" by Haruki Murakami
* 4. "Kafka On the Shore" by Haruki Murakami
* 5. "After Dark" by Haruki Murakami
* 6. "Pinball 1973" by Haruki Murakami
7. "Blue Octavo Notebooks" by Franz Kafka
8. "The Trial" by Franz Kafka
9. "Collected Stories" by Franz Kafka
#10. "Promise and Power: The Life and Times of Robert McNamara" by Deborah Shapley
#11. "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World" by Alan Greenspan
*12. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl
*13. "Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator" by Roald Dahl
#14. "The Fourth Protocol" BY Fredrick Forsyth
*15. "In Search of the Miraculous" by P.D.Ouspensky
*16. "Darkness at Noon" by Arthur Koestler
17. "Invitation to a Beheading" by Vladimir Nabokov
18. "Man and His Symbols" by Carl Gustav Jung
19. "Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" by Oliver Sacks
20. "Satan Burger" by Carlton Mellick III
21. "The Sack of Rome: How a Beautiful European Country with a Fabled History and a Storied Culture Was Taken Over by a Man Named Silvio Berlusconi" by Alexander Stille
22. "Gomorrah: A Personal Journey into the Violent International Empire of Naple's Organized Crime System" by Roberto Saviano
23. "The Pursemonger of Fugu: A Bathroom Mystery" by Greg Kramer
24. "The Brothers Karamazov" by Feodor Dostoevsky
#25. "On wings of Eagles" by Ken Follet
#26. "Man from St.Petersburg" by Ken Follet
#27. "Every Man a Speculator: A History of Wall Street in American Life" by Steve Fraser
28. "Night" by A. Alvarez
#29. "Gates to Alamo" by Stephen Harrigan
*30. "The Gulag Archipelago - An Experiment in Literary Investigation" by Solzhenitsyn
#31. "Cryptominicon" by Neal Stephenson
#32. "How the Mind Works" by Steven Pinker
*33. "Food of the Gods" by Terence McKenna
34. "Microserfs" by Douglas Coupland
*36. "Fateful Triangle - The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians" by Noam Chomsky

The starred ones(*) above are eBooks. Though i hate to read books in my computer, but given the unavailability of the books in the Indian markets and also the high prices, reading it online is not a bad proposition.
The hashed(#) books are the ones that i already have as hard copies.

Hair Raising Love Story

2009-11-29T13:47:00.002+09:00

Prelude
Myself and Shree Kumar went on the search for a trail a few weeks back in the Western Ghats. The idea was to find out a trail which connects Kukke to Madikeri(also called Mercara, in the Coorg district) - a straight line distance of around 35Kms through some mountains, jungles and villages .Buses do a round trip of 100kms instead. Our idea was to cut across these and reach Madikeri. Though i can go on and on about what happened, and how we abandoned this trail and went on in search of a 97m waterfall and the gory details of the leech attack etc etc, but i will reserve that for latter.
Instead ...read on.

Chapter - 1
We were cutting across a dense jungle, with some thorny bushes and creepers. We were lost and were trying to get back to a trail that we had used before so that we could get back on track and pursue things from thereon. It was then that something screeched my arm and caused an intense pain. I thought that it was some thorny bush that managed to scrape through my skin and hence the pain. I removed the creeper from my skin and also removed the small fern like thorns that were stuck on my jacket. 2 mins later, backside of my palm started itching intensely. The skin had turned pink; i tried not to itch it but it was so intense that i could not stop rubbing it. Shree was a few steps in front of me. I told him that something was itching and he better be careful with the bushes. He suspected a 'kamblipoochi' (millipede with the carpet cover which causes itch - it is found on drumstick trees).

It was then that i saw something really wierd happen. The miniscule hair on my fingers froze and stood erect, as if, it was inserted in liquid nitrogen; i also saw it increase in length.Am not sure whether it actually increased in length or was it an optical illusion caused due to the hair being erect. Well,how many times have we taken cognizance of the hair on the fingers. When i rubbed them, they just fell off. It was exactly like a banana breaking after it was inserted in Liquid Nitrogen! I just kept looking at it; am not sure whether i was looking at another optical illusion but i saw the hair grow from those areas again quickly. It was like those small samplings grow in a fast forwarded film which captures the birth and growth of a plant from a seed. I got terrified (and excited) and was yelling at Shree about this. I connected this with 'My Uncle Oswald' and the correlation with the dried Sudanese blister beetle ; and how ESI erectile dysfunction syndrome and baldness were two multi billion markets. In a matter of seconds, i had pictured myself sitting on top of a mountain of currency notes and be the empire in a market that was driven by hoax pills and unwanted surgeries. A fresh piece of life to all those bald heads and how they could now be irrigated and made into lush new fields. All those women who were bored with bald heads could not get a respite (not to mention that some women 'still' preferred bald heads :P ).

All excited, I screamed, called Shree to show him what was happening and offered him a proverbial 'partner' position in my new-yet-to-launch business empire. Shree came over and inspected. He didnt believe me first. I did not want to give him a demo for i was afraid that i might not follow the 'right procedures'. But i took my chances and decided that I will do a demo and lure him into this business proposition.

A standing ground amongst the bushes was chosen and i showed the backside of my palm to him. I asked him to look at those fingers and concentrate on the hair there. The skin was pale red. I told him that the redness was probably some side effect of the 'growth'. The hair was erect. As a deft demo'er i told him the sequence of steps that i would be doing and what he can expect out of it. I brushed my right arm quickly against my jeans to remove any unsolicted germs which could effect the 'area'; brought it over and reiterated the steps to him. I was all excited and so was he, though he did not still believe it.

I rubbed my right arm over the hair so that they could fall. They didnt. It stoood steadfast. Probably i did not apply the requisite pressure. I again rubbed it hard. The hairs were all standing as if they were the last survivig poles in an armageddon movie. Shree mocked and kept on walking. I stood there. I could not believe it. I took a few steps and again stopped. I again called Shree and told him that i would pluck the hair. I did. Now they came off. I asked him to wait and watch. We waitied for 15seconds. Nothing happened. I waited. I was counting one to ten at the back of my head. The thoughts of being the next Reliance or the next IBM was still hanging around. Shree kept on walking. I told him that probably we could wait for a few minutes more and see what happens. I again inspected the fingers at five minute regular intervals. Nothing was happening. And thus it all got over. All my thoughts/ideas of a new business empire lasted only for a few minutes. It all got washed down the toilet with a gentle press of the flush. And i soon forgot about all this hair raising incident.

Chapter 2
Shree and me were trekking together for the first time. We had known each other for a few years now and used to chat a lot online, but this was the second time that we met.Treks and travels are the best times when one discovers a person's true identity/character. Also, one gets to hear many stories and incidents which are nice to hear. Experiences are shared and some forgotten memories retold.

I have never been fascinated by love stories. The only love story that truly inspires me is the Story of the Taj Mahal. I think most teens get into this 'love' mode not exactly understanding the nuances of it. I would not generalize it by calling 'all love stories are farce'. But from what i understand, i think it takes some level of maturity to understand the larger aspects of life and how the spouse is important in the journey; infatuation is transitory. Without getting into rhetoric, i would summarize it by saying that 'One needs a reason to live and if the spouse is that reason, then there is no greater joy'.

Shree's pal was in the Indian Army and was in the Kargil War. His truck exploded due to an IED(Improvised Explosive Device) ; he flew into the air 200mts away and his truck blown into pieces. Luckily he survived, but he was immobile and lost sensation in the lower half of the body. His spine was badly injured. He was treated in the hospital for a few years wherein he was in coma. When Shree went to visit him , he saw that his pal's arm was badly atrophied. What used to be the arm of a armyman was now meek, slender and barely a few centimeters thick. Shree could not believe his eyes.

I asked him whether his pal was married. Shree replied that 'now he is'. I did not understand it. He was not married before the war, but apparently he is now. He married a nurse in the hospital wherein he was treated.

If a lady decides to 'commit' her life for someone who is not-functional for the rest of his life, and is not repentant about it, is a lady of true virtue and wisdom.

My eyes were wet. My mind numbed.

Good Bye
Shree was snoring next to me in the bus back to Bangalore. I was thinking about these two incidents, looked at the backside of my palm and smiling at the sequence of events.

Simple things in life are the most joyful, always. Life is beautiful.

The Andhra Land

2009-07-23T21:34:00.004+09:00

Andhra Pradesh is the rice bowl of India. The eastern parts of the state are filled with paddy fields and the western regions are mostly dry. As a kid, when i was in Orissa/Assam , we used to travel by trains(the usual Coromandel/Howrah express or the Trivandram-Guwahati Express), almost ONE complete day used to pass by this HUGE state. Not to forget the steaming masala dosas, vadas and idlis at the Rajamundri railway station and nice mangoes at Vizag and Vijayawada.

I have not heard of many who have traveled much in A.P or have visited A.P for leisure; and those have visited have gone only to Tirupathi or Ahobilam. And that led me to check out this bland but yet interesting state.

Did 2 excursions of the state (all in 'dabba' bus) :

Tour 1 (Feb'07) :
Kurnool was the base and roamed around. Budget : 3k INR
Day 1 : Bangalore - Hindupur - Lepakshi - Hindupur - Anantpur - Kurnool
---- Ruins and paintings at the beautiful Lepakshi temple, and the big nandi.
Day 2 : Kurnool - Banganapalli - Belum Caves - Nandyal - Mahanandi - Nandyal - Kurnool
---- Belum Caves is the second largest underground cave system
---- Mahanandi boasts of a temple which has a pool wherein water is so clear that you can spot a pin at its bottom
Day 3 : Kurnool - Yemmiganur - Mantralayam - Kurnool - Alampura Chowraste - Alampura - Kurnool - Bangalore
---- Raghavendra Temple at Mantralayam
---- Alampura ruins

Tour 2 (Jan'08) :
Budget : 2k INR
Day 1 : Vijayawada (KanakaDurga temple, Undavalli and Mogalarajapuram caves, Kondapalli)
Day 2 : Vishakapatnam (Simhachalam temple) et al.
Day 3 : Araku - Borra Caves
Day 4 : Bhadrachalam (Ram temple) - Warangal(Temple and Fort ruins)

Other place of obvious interest are : Hyderabad, Ahobilam, Srisailam (the latter 2 being important temples)

Couple of pointers w.r.t travel in A.P:
# Very Dry and HOT - STRICTLY avoid summer months.
# Temples and ruins are more than greenery
# Good connectivity by buses (no worries on this front)
# Not frequented by many tourists
# Cheap

My personal faves in A.P would be :
# Lepakshi
# Belum Caves
# Alampura ruins
# Spine numbing ride to Belum caves via the dry Cuddapah fields (take the small 'dabba' bus and enjoy with the locals)
# Early morning sunrise from KanakaDurga temple overlooking the Krishna river.

Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/venkat83/NorthernAndhraPradesh
http://picasaweb.google.com/venkat83/Alampura
http://picasaweb.google.com/venkat83/Mahanandi
http://picasaweb.google.com/venkat83/BelumCaves
http://picasaweb.google.com/venkat83/Lepakshi

Hope this was helpful if you are planning a trip to the Andhra land.

Road Trip - Jammu to Delhi via Drass, Leh and Manali

2009-07-17T22:46:00.009+09:00

[Click on the map for an enlarged view]

So this is what it was :
[Day 1] July 3th, 2009 : Blore to Delhi and then onto Jammu
Started from Bangalore at noon. JetLite flight to Delhi. Hopeless airhostesses. Reach ISBT by 5pm. Board a super 'dabba' bus to Jammu at 7pm. Amazing chat with a jawan who was in Siachen and who had also fought in the Kargil war. Nice chats with other fellow passengers. Didnt sleep much.

[Day 2] July 4th, 2009 : Roam around in Jammu
Reach Jammu at 10am. Hot and dusty Jammu. Took a room and a quick nap. Stroll in the bazaar in the evening.

[Day 3] July 5th, 2009 : Jammu Sight Seeing
Parents arrived early morning by train. Received them in the railway station and then to the hotel. Went sight seeing in the hot sun. Visited some temples and some more temples.

[Day 4] July 6th, 2009 : Visit to Vaishno Devi
Early morning depart for Katra. Reach Sanjheechat by helicopter. Walk for 2 km to the actual cave(bhawan). Back to Sanjheechat from Bhawan by walk and then to Katra by helicopter. Back to Jammu in the evening. Parents happy :)

[Day 5] July 7th, 2009 : Rest Day. Jammu to Srinagar
Damn HOT day. Day spent in the hotel , talking and eating and sleeping. Left parents in the railway station in the evening at 5pm.
I came back to bus stand and then after some hassles got a shared cab to Srinagar. An amazing ride . Nice fellow passengers. They told me a lot about Kashmir - climate, issues, food and water. Who were VERY nice to me. Was thrilled and excited . Night halt in the cab in front of Jawahar Tunnel, as it was closed.

[Day 6] July 8th, 2009 : Kashmir Valley, Sonemarg and Drass
Start from Jawahar Tunnel at around 7:30 am in the same cab and then reach Srinagar at 10am. View as soon as one emerges out of the tunnel was mind numbing. Amazingly beautiful. Came to know that all buses to Drass/Kargil/Leh have departed already in the morning and there was no means now :( Luckily, got informed by a guy there that there was a bus that was going to Sonemarg to pick people back to Srinagar; from Srinagar i can hitchike to Drass/Kargil.
Hopped into this bus; nice landscapes enroute. Reached Sonemarg around 1pm and then got into a truck that was going to Leh. Was stopped at Zoji Pass by the Army. Got stuck. Luckily got a school bus and the army jawan asked me to go to Drass in that. Thanked the jawan. Had the ride of the lifetime with the kids in the school bus. Singing and clicking. Reached Drass at 8pm - sun still to set. Couldnt sleep much in the night.

[Day 7] July 9th, 2009 : Kargil and Leh
Woke up early at 4:30am and went for a stroll. View of Tiger Hills was amazing. Came back to room, packed and kept walking. Took a cab which was going to Kargil. An 'intellectual' ride to Kargil from Drass. The scenary was captivating. Reached Kargil by 9:30am. Walked around 5-6kms till outskirts of Kargil to catch a truck to reach Leh. Got one. Stopped in the middle for break. Got a cab from nowhere and then a beautiful, challenging and dangerous ride to Leh. Reached Leh in the evening. Took a dormitory. Roamed around in the bazaar in the night and then retired for the day.

[Day 8] July 10th, 2009 : Leh to Keylong
Start early from Leh at 6am. Via dusty roads and snow capped mountains and snow fields. Slow and jerky ride in the bus. Reached Keylong at 9am. Night halt in a dormitory.

[Day 9] July 11th, 2009 : To Delhi - Keylong to Manali and then to Chandigarh
Bus ride with school kids singing. Uneventful ride to Manali via Rohtang Pass. Petrol smoke fills the air near Rohtang. Temperature raises after Manali. Gets hot by the evening when we reach Bilaspur then 'really' hot as we reached Chandigarh in the night.

[Day 10] July 12th, 2009 : Delhi
Reached Delhi at 5am. REALLY hot and humid. A much needed bath after 4 days. Day spent sleeping in the hotel. A long stroll and some street food in Paharganj in the evening. Sweat!

[Day 11] July 13th, 2009 : Back to Banglaore
JetLite flight from Delhi to Bangalore early morning. Hopless cabin crew. Fly. Back home.

Expenses:
Commute : 6035
- Flight to-fro Bangalore-Delhi 3740
- Volvo to-fro Blore airport (125*2=) 250
- Delhi to Jammu(Haryana.T.D.C Bus) 325
- Jammu to Srinagar (Shared cab) 350
- Srinagar to Sonemarg (J.K.S.T.D.C bus) 170
- Drass to Kargil (Shared cab) 70
- Somewhere-near-kargil to Leh ( Shared cab) 500
- Leh to Keylong (HPTDC bus) 470
- Keylong to Delhi (HPTDC bus) 485

Stay : 1240
[at Jammu( 3 days)= 550; at Drass(1 night) = 100; at Leh(1 night) = 50; at Keylong (1 night) = 40; at Delhi (1 day) = 600]

Food : 1300

Total Expenses : approx 9000 INR

Decaying organic matter

2009-06-12T15:17:00.005+09:00

Today, I feel like small chunk of compost in a bigger pile of shite.

Woke up to ASMZ and GYBE still reverberating in my pigeonhole apartment. I was unable to enjoy them today morning. There was something wrong. Nothing wrong with yesterday - Thursdays nice to me. A shave, the cologne, branded clothing...reebok tshirt, shoes, levis trousers -- i was not wearing clothes. I was a walking advertisement. A 'thing' who needed other 'things'.

'The core of mans' spirit comes from new experiences.....I walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps of the past.'

I saw 'Into the Wild' again. The masterpiece which has had a profound impact on me, and the protagonist with whom i can easily connect to. Each and every line uttered in the movie is a jewel. Have never seen a better definition of 'love'. Makes me wonder of its existence!

'am going to paraphrase Thoreau here... rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me truth. '

What is TRUTH? Is the quest for TRUTH a dangerous journey? What is danger?
Questions and more Questions ... that are easy to ask, but the answers when deciphered can lead to more thirst and endless journeys.

Yes - I am in the same heap. The same pile of maggots who wants to be different for the heck of it! Unique snowflakes, eh?! The same pile of numb shackling schmucks who show off more than their capabilities. The entire spectrum of social numbnuts who 'try' to appear cool and hep. Sick desperations. Attention deficit disorders.

Why am I in the heap? The answers. I am afraid of the answers.

I shall rise and raise. Disclaimers have become a norm. Sometimes, losing all hope leads to salvation...freedom. As Tylor Durden says 'let the chips fall where they may.'

Lets evolve...but into what?

Crimson Red

2009-05-18T02:18:00.001+09:00

The darkness in the midst of the white snow,
Lay the Master and his foe,
For once shall they seek the pride,
Dream that they will, before their final ride.

And the skies soared with eternal roar,
Brothers they were, before the war,
Too late, the greed left the nasty scar,

Bugles played their best, before they lay their enemies to rest,
Masqueraders punished, traitors stoned,
Women raped, kids guillotined,
Filth and rats in the streets galore,
Darkness shall play when the dawn bemoan.

For, He has mistaken his identity, serenity is nothing but a rarity,
Origins were doubted and hence the destiny, Not once will it be claimed a victory.

Norwegian Blue Parrot

2009-05-05T11:35:00.002+09:00

Nope - this blog is not dead yet. Neither did it go to meet its maker.
It is just ruminating about all the things in life.
It shall sprout up with life soon(read 'few days'), for it cannot be idle.

Courage is NOT victory

2009-01-11T15:39:00.001+09:00

M.J.Akbar is probably one of the best writers(along with the likes of Gurumurthy, Arun Shourie et al) presently in India, whom i admire and appreciate the most. His choice of words and technicality of his articles are a pleasure to read and ponder. He is probably the only prolific Islamic Indian writer of the contemporary times who is insightful, understands his religion and the worlds affairs sincerely.

His latest editorial in today's(Sunday, Jan 11, 2009) Times of India(Chennai Edition) is worth a read. Check him out here.

I loved the way he ended his article : "Men die for two diametrically opposed reasons: when they value what they seek to defend, and when there is nothing worth living for. Israel has created a state worth defending. The Palestinians must be given something to live for. "

Jackdaws

2008-10-25T13:23:00.003+09:00

The day was gone
The night came on
The monks and the friars, they searched till dawn
When the sacristan saw
On crumpled claw
Come limping a poor little lame jackdaw
No longer gay
As on yesterday
His feathers all seemed to be turned the wrong way
His pinions dropped, he could hardly stand
His head was as bald as the palm of your hand
His eye so dim
So wasted each limb
That, heedless of grammar, they all cried : :That's Him!"

- Ken Follet

And back from the N.India trip

2008-10-22T13:33:00.009+09:00

I am back; after 17 days as i had run out of my budget. I had planned around 3000 INR for a period of 30 days*, but i ended up spending a little too much on street food in Varanasi and Ayodhya and had to cut short the number of days and be back home. It was a good trip covering many aspects of life and meeting different kinds of people and talking to them and exchanging experiences; not to mention the 3000+ pictures that i clicked (have to upload em somewhere!!).

Trail :

Chennai -> Mumbai -> Delhi -> Agra -> FatehpurSikri -> Jaipur -> Pushkar -> Varanasi -> Allahabad -> Chitrakoot-> Varanasi -> Ayodhya -> Jhansi -> Orcha -> Gwalior -> Chennai.

Itinerary:

Day - 1 (30 Sep) Tue : Chennai to Mumbai (Flight- Spicejet) ; eve walk in Churchgate-Colaba. Around Gateway of India and Taj Hotel.

Bombay Marine Drive

Day - 2 (01 Oct) Wed : Mumbai to Delhi(Flight- Spicejet) ; Spend the eve in Delhi

Delhi Metro

Day - 3 (02 Oct) Thu : (its Id!)Around Delhi - Red Fort, India Gate; Leave for Agra(5 hour bus ride); Reach Agra in the Eve.

Day - 4 (03 Oct) Fri : (Its a Friday - Taj is Closed!)To Fatehpur-Sikri. On the way back, view Taj from Agra Fort. Roam around Agra.

Fatehpur Sikri - Salim Chisti Durgah

Day - 5 (04 Oct) Sat : Leave for Jaipur (5 hr bus ride); Eve around Jaipur(Amber Fort).

Day - 6 (05 Oct) Sun : In and Around Jaipur

Hawa Mahal, Jaipur

Day - 7 (06 Oct) Mon : To Pushar(uneventful ride to Puskar). In the eve to Gultaji-ka-Mandir(also called Monkey Temple).

Pushar Lake

Day - 8 (07 Oct) Tue : In and Around Jaipur(City Palace, Amber Fort and Gultaji-ka-Mandir)

Monkeys at Monkey Temple

Day - 9 (08 Oct) Wed : Leave for Varanasi/Benaras(reach Delhi by Jet and then to Varanasi via Spicejet). Took a beautiful drive from the Varanasi Airport to city bus stand via the local bus - nice ride - heard some good nice Avadhi Hindi and Bhojpuri. Stayed at Kanchi Sankaracharya Mutt, Hanuman Ghat. Went for a walk along the streets of Varanasi. Its Navami!! and the streets are filled with the most beautiful women and salivating street food.Roamed around the streets and the durga pooja pandals.

Durga Pooja Pandal at Varanasi

Day - 10 (09 Oct) Thu : Start for Chitrakoot(along with another family who were in the Mutt). Reach Allahabad. Bathe in Prayag/Sangam - confluence of Ganges, Yahuna and Saraswati.Visit some small temples around.Anand Bhavan closed.

View from the boat in Prayag. Australian Sea gulls there.

Dusty and bumby ride to Chitrakoot. Reach in the evening. Stay in a Ved-Pathshala - in the middle of agri fields and loads of greenery all around.

Day - 11 (10 Oct) Fri : Bathe in the Mandakini river(RamGhat). Visit Banarasi Ram, Bharat temple, trek-up to HanumanDhara(mysterious perennial stream appears from nowhere and disappears into nowhere), KanchMandir(temple made of mirrors and glasses), Janaki Kund(Sita used to bathe here), Ram Darshan and Ayush Dham. Ram Darshan was the best of this entire trip - the paintings and the PoP sculptures were amazing; the statue of Ram and Sita in the final room was like a 'durbar' and was pleasing to the eye,mind and the soul. Stroll along the Ayush Dham was beautiful, see different varieties of Cows and how they were nurtured; there is a Cow-research institute here. Came back to the pathshala to see a small snake in the room!

View from HanumanDhara, Chitrakoot

Day - 12 (11 Oct) Sat : Start the day at 4am. Bathe in the Vedpathshala's pumpset(in the open) in darkness. Did a 5km parikrama(on foot) of the Kamadhgiri). The pathshala's teacher('master') was the guide for the day.Visited Gupt-Godavari, Sati-Anusuya temple and Bharat-coop(this is the well in which Bharat(Ram's brother) poured the waters of the all the oceans and the rivers in the world - the well never dries and is the only well in the region that had water during my visit here).

Monkeys with the statue of Tulsidas, during Parikrama of Kamadhgiri, Chitrakoot

Beautiful non-stop and full throttle ride from Chitrakoot to Sitamarhi via Allahabad.Sitamarhi is the place where Sita is supposed to be gone into the Mother Earth.Reach Varanasi at 10pm. Have a good pot of thick 'malai' curd in the local malaiwala and sleep.

Model of Sita going into Mother Earth, SitaMarhi

Day - 13 (12 Oct) Sun : Nice walk around Varanasi to visit the temples of Lord Vishwanatha, goddess Vishalakshi , goddess Annapurni and Kala-Bhairava. The security in the Vishwanath temple was amazing; there were a hundred gates to it, all of which merged into 2-3 final ones.Nothing is permitted inside the temple except for the dress that one wears and probably watch and a non-leather purse. Visited the ruins and the monasteries of Sarnath in the noon. Evening was a visit again to Vishwanath temple for the Saptha-Maharishi pooja;Got place bang opposite the lingam, near the garbha-griha and watched this mind numbing ceremony -- This was also one of the spotlights of this trip. The 1 hour long pooja with the priests chanting some mysterious mantras was amazing. The floral lingam decorations and the final arati of the lingam was something of a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Came back after this and roamed around the streets and ate some good street food.

Sarnath ruins

Day - 14 (13 Oct) Mon : Woke up early in the morning and took a dip in the Ganges in Kedar Ghat. Came back took my camera and walked along the ghats. Went from Harishchandra Ghat(famous for crmating bodies) all the way to the right. And then came back and went all the left till Manikarnika Ghat(again, a very famous ghat for cremating). Met some interesting people from different walks of life along the ghats - a boatman, dhobi(cloth-washer),kids selling postcards, saints, naga-sadhus, drug-dealer, few foreign tourists, etc etc. Boarded the train at midnight to Ayodhya.

Ghats of Varanasi

Day - 15 (14 Oct) Tue : Reached Ayodhya at 4:30 a.m. Took a small cheap room near the station and slept for sometime (the previous 2 days have been hectic). Start the day at 7:30 am. Bathe in Sarayu river. Roamed around the streets of Ayodhya. Visited the famous Rama-Janma-Bhoomi(RJB).Security at RJB is impregnable - the entire region was like military stronghold - army and police at every nook and corner to take care of the delicate situation. Saw the statue of Lord Rama in the tent in the site - heard some 'interesting' comments from the visiting die-hard-Ram-devotees.Ate some amazing sweets and good food along the streets of Ayodhya. Boarded the train at 6pm for Jhansi and slept immediately :)

Streets of Ayodhya

Proposed temple at the Ram Janma Bhoomi Site

Day - 16 (15 Oct) Thu : Reached Jhansi at 7:30am. Dumped my luggage in the cloak room and started for Orcha.Roamed in the ruined palaces and the temples in Orcha. Orcha is a must-visit place in this region. The noon sun was too harsh and in the meantime i had also covered all places there(just didnt take a plunge in the river betwa - but the view from the palaces of the turquiose green waters was beautiful).

Palace at Orcha

Came back to Jhansi and visited the famous Jhansi Fort.

Place from where Queen Lakshmi Bai jumped out of the fort on her horse

Jhansi Fort

Took a train ticket in the UnReserved category to Gwalior and went into the Sleeper compartment - was caught by the ticket checkers, but managed to convince them and got out without a fine(actually i didnt know that i am not supposed to travel, as a Police constable told me that i could).Moved to the General(Unreserved category) and sat on the stairs. It was a nice ride in here. Midway i slept, and i think something hit on my knee, and there i was , with excruciating pain. For a minute, i thought that i had lost my leg, and tried to standup and i did, but could not feel my leg. I let the blood flow for sometime , but the pain was amazing - but there was no blood around! I just let it pass and controlled the pain till i reached Gwalior. I decided to play it safe a little, as the knee joint hurt a little when i tried to climb the stairs - spent sometime in the station's intenet cafe and then got bored and atleast thought of checking out the local lores.I chose not to visit the Gwalior Fort and the other temples as they needed some walking and i did not want to excert any pain on my knees. I asked around and went to the Baaada Bazzaaar and roamed around here. Some of the most beautiful(read 'not sexy') women are in Gwalior. It was great to see all of them wearing Indian dresses(i.e, Salwars/saris) - hardly could spot any wearing western wears. Spent some talking to the Fine Art students who were sketching in the bazaar junction. Also, ate some more luscious street food. It was a time well spent.

Day - 17 (16 Oct) Fri : Boarded the train at 3:30 a.m from Gwalior to Chennai. Train was late by an hour. Day spent in the train and chatting with the fellow travellers. There were teens(in their 19-20) from Kashmir who were undergoing AirForce training in Avadi and were returning back(to Avadi) after a vacation back home (in Kashmir); and also jawans(soldiers) who were returning home(to TamilNadu) from Kashmir border for Diwali vacation. Brain numbing chats with the guys and their experiences. Spellbound. The teen soldiers were showing me the pictures of their girl-friends back home in Kashmir and how one of them got engaged to his GF recently. I could see a couple of wet-eyes here and there. The guys also offered me Golden Apples(the best variety) and dry fruits. Had a wonderful chat with the guys on Kuran and the Kashmir-issue. I must say that this was one of the best days in my life. Train was running 3 hours late.

Day - 18 (17 Oct) Sat : Train 15 min ahead of schedule. Bid adios to mates in the train - exchanged addresses and ph nums. Reached Chennai(Home) at 8:30 a.m.

There i was .. bearded+stinking..back home.

* Update : I was sponsored from Mumbai to Varanasi. After that, it was on me.

Travel Update

2008-10-07T23:46:00.003+09:00

The project has come to a close and we have had some very interesting times. We had some real great fun and explorations over the past one week and things have come to an 'official' end. We were kind of unlucky w.r.t the project as we had not clicked even a single picture till today. And today turned out to be the 'lucky' day with some really-great-fabulous(and yes, i can use more adjectives here!) frames being clicked.

ok..ok.. Curious Q is : What is the project about? i understand the curiosity , but am afraid that i have to keep my mouth shut for some more time, till we get the entire series shot over the next couple of months(or years ??). Please do cooperate and and do understand that this project is something that will be great to watch after a few years or after a decade. (now i totally understand that your curiosity levels are at an all-time high and i have completely got your attention :P .. but yes, things will be 'revealed' once things fall into place.)

Brief of what has happened till now :
(30 Sep) Tue :Chennai to Mumbai (Flight- Spicejet) ; eve walk in Churchgate-Colaba
(01 Oct) Wed : Mumbai to Delhi(Flight- Spicejet) ; Spend the eve in Delhi
(02 Oct) Thu : Around Delhi; Leave for Agra(5 hour bus ride); Reach Agra in the Eve
(03 Oct) Fri : Around Agra
(04 Oct) Sat : Leave for Jaipur (5 hr bus ride); Eve around Jaipur
(05 Oct) Sun : In and Around Jaipur
(06 Oct) Mon : In and Around Jaipur
(07 Oct) Tue : In and Around Jaipur

So that completes the Golden Triangle!!

I am going to Delhi tomorrow and am planning to spend some time in Benaras(Varanasi) , by the Ganges. Then i plan to visit Lumbini and Kathmandu(both in Nepal) and return back home. Also, i need to crunch in Gaya,Sarnath and Allahabad - dont know how i am going to manage all those!

Hope things go on fine and hoping to stumble on right minded people & continue the journey.

Day-1 Mumbai

2008-10-01T02:32:00.002+09:00

Took the Spicejet flight from Chennai to Mumbai and reached Mumbai on time, but wait...all my hopes of taking the pictures from the flight got wasted, as i had a really bad window glass. I guess Spicejet has to change all its window-glasses ..mind it - it is not dirty - i guess it looked like small broken glasses were fixed with fevicol - i could hardly see anything - it was like some really thick cloud stuck to my window glass. Hence, my camera for the most part of it was sleeping and i was sleeping, as it was futile 'peeping-out'.

Then came the most interesting part -- i had to go from the domestic airport to NewMarine Lines(near Churchgate). I could either take an auto to Andheri or SantaCruz and take the train and reach Churchgate in less than 1 hour and end up spending 20Rs(at the max) or take a taxi and reach directly. I chose the latter, and ended up paying 300rs and almost spent 2.5 hours in the taxi -- the traffic jams near Dadar and KablaDevi were bad!!! I did not have a choice but to take the taxi, as i was carrying my camera and wanted it to safe.

The ride from the airport to the hotel was nice. I could see many facets of Mumbai and it was fun watching all of it. I did not realize 2.5 hours just flew by. There are couple of things that Mumbai has impressed me with, till now:
- The city when seen from the plane is different from other cities - the skyline is gorgeous.
- I did not see any group of people standing anywhere in the city and chit-chatting -- everyone was on the move and everyone carried an air as if they had some business meeting in sometime.
- Everyone is equal here - people here are what they are for - i saw some really good dressed women and men standing by the road and having tea('chai') , which one cannot see in other cities.

Having said that, we did not do much clicking today. we just went on a long walk from Churchgate to Colaba and back - saw the Gateway of India(which is under restoration) and also went inside the Taj(hotel). Taj here is lavish , extravagant and grand - the best hotel in India i have ever seen. I wanted to click inside the hotel, but i was kind of shabbily dressed and was already attracting attention - and hence we quickly moved out. Had dinner at Kamat and moved back to the hotel and am penning this down from my bed with all lights off, eyes semi0closed and ...i ...slepttttttttttttttt................

Moving On

2008-09-30T10:36:00.003+09:00

Had my last day at work yesterday(Monday) and am all set for my next adventure.

I am planning to backpack for sometime across India before i decide on what to do next. I am joining an American Photojournalist as an assistant for the next 10 days and am gonna travel+click with him for sometime.

After that i plan to travel for some more weeks on my own and travel all the way up till Leh/Ladakh. I have been hearing a news that the road to Leh is blocked due to landslides/snow. I am really disappointed by this. But whatever, my spirits are high and looking for some good fun and learning.

Chennai -> Mumbai -> Around Mumbai -> Gujarat -> Rajasthan -> Punjab -> Chandigarh -> Leh is what i have in mind. Am not sure whether i would be able to finish the entire itinerary, but would try my best. I want to cover the major tourist destinations and then the ruins and the local art/craftsmanship. Would be more of an explorer than a 'tourist' ...as always. (Do drop me an email/comment, if you want to jam up)

I am not sure when i would return back - if i am tired/bored/run-out-of-cash/lightning-strikes-me , then i might as well return back earlier than planned.

PS : I dont mind sponsors and can give you good pictures in return :)

Twittered!

2008-09-27T19:16:00.003+09:00

Finally am into the Twitter arena after having a prolonged self-imposed exile(or whatever) from it.

Random thoughts henceforth @ http://twitter.com/venkat83

PS: I dont really understand how they(twitter guys) are going to make money!!

Update: It is http://twitter.com/venkasub

Long days!

2008-09-02T21:02:00.002+09:00

Nah...Nah...this blog hasn't died away in the blogosphere , but is just preparing for a new begining.

Myself and Balaji a.k.a labsji are working on something interesting and hence it has been really hectic. For the past 2 weeks we sleep at 4-5am and have pulled a couple of all-nighters ... hence , life is being really nice to me and is teaching me loads of good stuff(as always).

Keep tuned....this blog might as well get a new face and some *really* interesting stuff coming all your way.
[Guess, i need to put some ads here and there and start monetizing ;) ]

A blind eye to the right cause

2008-08-05T02:05:00.002+09:00

There is a famous story of the Vanilla icecream and General Motors that used to circulate the web few years back(am sure it is still going around in forwards)....This story is a marvelous one which teaches lots of management principles and way of looking at things. Most often it happens that we look at things with a wrong perspective or due to the inherent bias we dont even look at things that matter the most - it is these simple things/details that take mammoth proportions going down the lane and bring us down. For the benefit of my readers, am reproducing the story here ..

A complaint was received by the Pontiac Division of General Motors: 'This is the second time I have written to you, and I don't blame you for not answering me, because I sounded crazy, but it is a fact that we have a tradition in our family of Ice-Cream for dessert after dinner each night, but the kind of ice cream varies so, every night, after we've eaten, the whole family votes on which kind of ice cream we should have and I drive down to the store to get it. It's also a fact that I recently purchased a new Pontiac and since then my trips to the store have created a problem.....

You see, every time I buy a vanilla ice-cream, when I start back from the store my car won't start. If I get any other kind of ice cream, the car starts just fine. I want you to know I'm serious about this question, no matter how silly it sounds "What is there about a Pontiac that makes it not start when I get vanilla ice cream, and easy to start whenever I get any other kind?"

The Pontiac President was understandably skeptical about the letter, but sent an Engineer to check it out anyway. The latter was surprised to be greeted by a successful, obviously well educated man in a fine neighborhood. He had arranged to meet the man just after dinner time, so the two hopped into the car and drove to the ice cream store. It was vanilla ice cream that night and, sure enough, after they came back to the car, it wouldn't start. The Engineer returned for three more nights. The first night, they got chocolate. The car started. The second night, he got strawberry. The car started. The third night he ordered vanilla. The car failed to start.

Now the engineer, being a logical man, refused to believe that this man's car was allergic to vanilla ice cream. He arranged, therefore, to continue his visits for as long as it took to solve the problem. And toward this end he began to take notes: He jotted down all sorts of data: time of day, type of gas uses, time to drive back and forth etc.

In a short time, he had a clue: the man took less time to buy vanilla than any other flavor. Why? The answer was in the layout of the store. Vanilla, being the most popular flavor, was in a separate case at the front of the store for quick pickup. All the other flavors were kept in the back of the store at a different counter where it took considerably longer to check out the flavor.

Now, the question for the Engineer was why the car wouldn't start when it took less time. Eureka - Time was now the problem - not the vanilla ice cream!!!! The engineer quickly came up with the answer: "vapor lock". It was happening every night; but the extra time taken to get the other flavors allowed the engine to cool down sufficiently to start. When the man got vanilla, the engine was still too hot for the vapor lock to dissipate.

As always, am not going to draw an inference out of this. Let your mind see , what it chooses to see.

Cribbing = Negativism

2008-06-09T01:36:00.000+09:00

The problem with 'people who crib' or 'the problem with cribbing' is that they are AN INTENSE SOURCE OF NEGATIVE ENERGY....

the epidemic source of negativism not inhibited by any counter-cribs but a gradual delinquishment of the available observing nodes.

Raise... Search ... Obtain... Relish... Move on... :)