tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-283306872024-03-08T03:02:05.832+05:30Posts On The RampageAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-68394528746891904472013-08-17T17:40:00.000+05:302013-08-17T17:40:05.910+05:30The Roopkund Trek<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Little sleep over three days with many back to back
journeys. Starting a physically challenging trek requires a certain level of
serenity and this was sorely lacking as I landed in Delhi on that Friday
morning. To make things worse, the train tickets did not get confirmed and
Dilip and I had an overnight and overpriced bus journey to Kathgodam. That was
immediately followed by another day long (11 hour) road trip to Loharjung (7575
ft) making it the proverbial last straw that broke the camel’s back. But a
broken back is not good enough to climb an astounding 10,000 feet in 5 days.
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The first thing that my mother asked me on the phone was if
the Delhi hot winds (called loo) were blowing and if it has too hot. I had to
explain that it was in fact very cold up there in Loharjung. After a quick
dinner at Patwal’s guest house, I was able to sleep like a log, but only for
seven hours. Had to remind my roommate to not repeat the mistake of waking up a
sleeping log or dog.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Day 1: Loharjung to
Didna</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The day started with a simple breakfast of aloo paratha
(1/2) and wheat dhaliya. We set off on the Curzon trail towards Didna after
walking down from the Patwal’s place. After taking some time to buy a pair of
snow gloves, I joined the team behind everyone else. The going was very slow. I
wondered if it was the lack of sleep, less breakfast I ate or if it was
something else. It soon started raining and that made the pace even worse. The mind
was preoccupied with thought of the next steps and about walking meditation,
without actually doing any of it.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Finally we reached Didna after a couple of hours of descent
and an equally long ascent. The village offered a great view of the mountains.
After a lunch of the usual Dal, Chaval, Roti and Aloo Sabji, we went for a post
lunch hike. It continued to drizzle and the rest of the day was quite
uneventful.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Day 2: Didna to Ali
Bugyal</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
After the limited ‘conditioning’ that the previous days trek
provided, it was time to make things interesting. So off we went on our way to
Ali Bugyal (Bugyal means meadows in this part of the world). There were steep
climbs all along. Many rhododendron trees were in full bloom making the
strenuous climb actually appealing visually.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
We took a short break at Topna where the water bottles were
filled. The sun was out with the clouds clearing out. A quick sun bath was
helpful (a regular bath was already out of question till we returned to
Loharjung). </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
We soon resumed the steep climb to Ali Bugyal after crossing
a very pretty oak tree forest. The rolling meadows of the Bugyal offered a very
long trail. Soon the dark clouds started showering hail on us forcing us to walk
faster. Dilip and I sprinted to reach the trekker’s huts covered with green
domes made of fibre glass. We would get into our regular tents later. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Since it was getting quite cold with the hail+ rain mixture
still falling we decided to spend some time in the kitchen. Getting lunch ready
typically takes a fairly long time and the time keeping oneself warm near the
stove is well worth it. While the cook normally serves lunch for everyone at
one go, we managed to convince him to serve us early since he was anyway making
the noodles in batches due to limitations with both the stove and utensil. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
With lunch done it was time to for a siesta. The view of the
surrounding snow clad mountains was pretty. The camp site was very picturesque
and can easily rank among the best in the world. When it was late evening,
three of us trudged up about 450 feet for a better view of the mountains and of
the camp site from above. It would also help us acclimatize better for the
higher altitudes we planned to reach in the coming days. While the views were
good, the climb down proved to me how poor in shape my thigh muscles were (both
hamstrings and quadriceps). </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
We had a dinner on time – paneer matar (cottage cheese with
peas), roti, rice and cabbage curry. The untimely eating with prolonged breaks
between meals created perfect conditions for stomach acidity. The day’s heavy exertions
also meant that the body had to both work on repairing itself and digestion – a
daunting task indeed!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Day 3: Ali Bugyal to
Pathal Nachaniya</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The next morning we woke up to a wonderful sun rising up
from behind the snow peaks. One couldn’t stop admiring the beauty of the camp
site. After a breakfast of Puri Chole and Wheat Dhaliya, we slowly started the
day’s trek. After tracing back about 100 meters along the previous day’s route,
we made a right along the hill. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The trail snaked round the hill with the meadows rolling
down beneath us. Where the tree line intersected the meadows, there were
flowery bushes that looked like a natural garden with white and purple flower
laden hedges. From where we were, we could see Baidyni Bugyal and ahead were
the peaks of Mt Nanda Devi and Mt Trishul dominating the horizon. We would stop
at Baidyni Bugyal on our way back. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Soon we came up on snow on the path. While this was a great
sight, it would also become the bane of our existence for the next few days. The
mixture of snow and ice that one had to cross was a tricky affair. Any misstep and
the resultant fall would be very steep and prove costly. After a few crossings
that tested our courage, we quickly opted for crampons that attached to the boots
providing a steel cover below with spikes. The crampons made it only slightly safer.
Where there would be a hard cover of ice (frozen snow melt overnight), one had
to walk carefully with the toe angled in correctly.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Within minutes of the icy crossings beginning, we turned
back to see one of the mules in our caravan slip and roll down towards the
valley. Its keeper jumped behind to save his mule. The mule somehow stopped mid
way and refused to climb back! This event was enough for all the mule keepers
to make an about turn making our trek logistics that much more complex.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The last icy crossing of the day brought us to the highest
point of the day - Ghoda Loutanya (“place where the horses are corralled and
released to nearby Bugyal to graze and return by end of the day”). It was not
as scary due to a ledge offering protection below. I was able to run up the
snowy slope to reach the meadow. Stones were placed on top of another as an
altar to worship the local deity. This place was actually a mountain pass that separated
two valleys.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
After a short break, we made our way into the other valley
along a path that skirted the mountains right slope. We saw Kurmonital Bugyal
below. This was a unique Bugyal that looked like a natural golf course with at
least 7 to 8 fairways. Pretty sight.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Half an hour later, I descended down the valley to reach the
camp site for the day at Pathal Nachaniya. We could have used the green trekker’s
fibre huts that were located near the trail but our site had easy access to a water
source. Pathal Nachaniya is so named as it was at this site that according to
Roopkund legend, three dancers were swallowed by the earth when the king’s
retinue displeased the gods.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
As we relaxed during the evening, the sight of the next day’s
trail on the mountain was visible like a thin sliver on the mountain’s side. It
was a daunting sight and one really worried if such a steep climb was really
possible.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Day 4: Pathal
Nachaniya to Bhagwa Basa</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The next day’s trek began from the camp site with a climb up
toward the trekkers huts. Within a short distance we came to a small temple
named Chota Vinayak (Small temple for Lord Ganesha). The name contrasted this
place from Kailu Vinayak which was a bigger temple located at the mountain pass
one would reach after the steep climb up the mountain.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
We saw a group of locals sitting near the temple smiling at
us, somewhat amused by the urbanites that have come to their world seeking some
adventure. One of them carried something special in his hand. They called it “keeda
jadi” which was basically a kind of caterpillar mummified by a fungal infection.
Found only at altitudes between 3,000 and 5,000 metres and that too in this
part of the Himalayas, it is a prize catch fetching its weight in gold. Keeda
jadi is popular in China as a medicine and as an aphrodisiac. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
After checking out a few “keedas”, we set off on our path to
meet Kailu Vinayak. This path which looked so scary from a distance was quite
comfortable. En route, we had wonderful and clear views of an entire snow clad Himalayan
mountain range that included Mt Nilkanth (shaped like a Shiva lingam) and
Chaukhamba (a massive flattish peak). On our path, there was some snow in
between but for the most part the path was a dirt trail. We had to resort to
crampons only once.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Eventually we reached Kailu Vinayak, a beautiful temple with
a nice altar. The statue of Ganesha was half covered in snow, which gave him an
exquisite look. After paying our respects for safety thus far (and praying for
more protection in the coming days!), we took a long break. The place offered panoramic
views of the twin peaks of Mt Nanda Gomti and Trishul. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The final stretch for the day was the trek to Bhagwa Basa. The
path was a semi circular cutting across the large valley. The sun was overhead
causing the snow to melt at many places. This made the path quite slushy and at
places the foot would cave into knee deep snow/slush. The path did not require crampons
as the snow was offering a good grip to the shoes. As my body warmed up, I got
into a jog and enjoyed the one hour brisk walk/jog to Bhagwa Basa.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The camp site had two more of the trekker huts, but one of them
was full of ice that got accumulated. We anyway would get into tents later in
the day but this time they would get pitched on top of thick snow. Given the mule
fall the previous day (it appeared so distant), it was a long long wait for the
rations and supplies to reach the camp site. So we took rest on a large boulder
that was overlooking the valley. We had a Khichdi lunch after the supplies
arrived and took a small nap.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Evening time was play time and some of us climbed up the
nearby slope for a slide down. The climb up was not easy (especially after a day’s
hard work) but I enjoyed my two trips down. It snowed a bit and the weather was
getting cold. The entire landscape was white all around, another contrast from
the previous day’s camp site. The diversity of landscapes is another compelling
reason that draws one back to the Himalayas again and again. The day ended with
a beautiful sun set that as a backdrop had rain clouds in the distant valley
showering rain.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
At around quarter less four in the morning, I got up to take
a leak. When I looked up, I saw the Milky Way as a faint white patch streaking across
the sky from South to North. The sight of our galaxy is fairly common in the
high mountains and is yet another pull factor. In these parts of the world one
gets to see it before dawn.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Day 5: Bhagwa Basa to
Roopkund</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The day promised to be the toughest day and was also the
longest day in terms of effort. We had to trek up to see the Roopkund Lake and
them come back to the camp site for a quick lunch and then continue to Pathal
Nachaniya. No wonder the day’s trek started at 5 am. We had a tough climb up
the snow slopes to reach a place called Chidiya Naka. It took us time to cut
the ice and create steps to climb up. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Like the previous afternoon, we followed an anticlockwise
path along the middle of the mountain slope. At some places we saw remnants of
mini avalanches. On a much small scale, one could see small snow roll offs that
accumulated more snow as they rolled in a spiral path. The resulting shapes were
nature’s work of art – three dimensional roses made completely of snow.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The progress was very slow as the guide had to cut steps wherever
the slope was steep. The crampons were now worn constantly. As I warmed up, I wanted
to go a bit faster and slowly reached the head of the line. I looked at the
guide for permission to move further and he nodded. Soon disaster struck.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
We reached a place where two large rocky formations created
some sort of a snowy gateway. The slope was very steep here, almost vertical. The
right side of the rocky formation was further along. The left side appeared closer
and I started walking towards it. I was a mere two feet away and used my hiking
stick as a pivot to jump across to the rock. Attempting this with all the heavy
woolen gear I had was foolish, but then I say that in hindsight. The metal stick
could not take all the weight and snapped. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
I started to fall into the deep valley below and the first
reaction was panic. Within a second or two I recovered and used all my four
limbs and the remnant of the stick to dig into the snow. Fortunately I was able
to stop myself after slipping down by four feet. Then as the team leader
Sandeep came, I was able to slowly standup. However I was shaken and this did
affect my confidence for the next few hours.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
We resumed the arduous climb and made more steps to climb. Had
I waited for the steps to be made, I would have perhaps been spared of the
fall. We arrived at a resting place. Recouped our energies and made more steps
to finally reach the destination. Some fifty feet below us was the fabled lake
called Roopkund. It was of course frozen but shone like a jewel under the sun. We
had a small celebration on the achievement of being the first group in the
season to reach the lake, that too so early in May. Under other circumstances I
would have climbed down to reach the lake. But the exhaustion took the better
of the team and no one went down (except the porters for whom this was all
play). </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Return Trip
Begins</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Despite the sun being up in the sky, it was getting chilly
as we were not moving. So after a longish break, the return trip started. I
find climbing down tough in normal circumstances as it tests the hamstrings the
most. This time with the snow melting under the noon sun it was slippery and treacherous
too.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Nevertheless we started off with a spectacular slide down on
the steepest slope which was from our pre-Roopkund resting place. My rain coat
made my slide very fast causing me to flip over in the process. The subsequent
climb down was tough due to the melt; our crampons were not finding any grip
since there was no snow powder. To make matters worse it started to snow as
well. In this part the snow falls as small round balls – almost like thermocol balls
and not like the regular snowflakes. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Dilip also had a fall and before that he sprained his ankle.
A few other people fell too. When we reached Chidiya Naka, it required more
cutting as fresh ice froze in areas where there was snow melt. This took
considerable time and finally we reached Bhagwa Basa.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The camp site was a big relief after all the adventure
during the day. After ingesting a lot of water, we took some rest. Had a heavy
lunch of Khichdi and packed our bags to leave for Pathal Nachaniya via Kailu
Vinayak. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
This route was again made treacherous with the melting snow
and freezing ice. The risk was fall taking one to either a cliff hanger end or
smashing into a rock if one happened to appear before. The entire route bore
absolutely no resemblance to what it was just the previous day. With great
relief we reached Kailu Vinayak, took off the crampons and thanked Ganesha
there once again. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
From then on the climb down was quite comfortable. There was
ice at some places but it was easily crossed, with help at times. On the way
back I saw a rock shaped just like a lion’s face. This made a nice sight. The pace
was brisk and it was feeling quite hot both due to the exercise and the fact
that we had lost altitude. The same camp site of Pathal Nachaniya was reached.
Warm water and snacks welcomed me there.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Having completed the toughest part of the trek, there were
two key realizations. One is that the trail up to Kailu Vinayak that looked so
daunting from Pathal Nachaniya was doable, step by step. The same applies to
life’s challenges which also appear intimidating at first sight. Second is to
focus only on the next step, never look down or up. Only the next step matters,
nothing else.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Day 6: Pathal
Nachaniya to Wan</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The prospect of sighting the Milky Way once again made me
wake up again at 3:30 am. There was no camera though, to time lapse the picture
as Ankur who had the right piece of equipment was unwell and could not wake up.
Nevertheless enjoying the sight in person matters the most (of late I have seen
tens of professionally made pictures of the galaxy in tumblr). </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The day’s work started at 8:30 am with a quick hike to Ghoda
Lautaniya. Kurmonital Bugyal’s golf course view was visible from above as we
made progress. From there we made our way to Baidyni Bugyal and had some tough
going as we encountered snow and hard ice once again. What made it riskier was
the fact that we had returned our crampons the previous day. The temptation to
just climb down over the rocks into the valley below and head straight to our
immediate destination was resisted. We could have taken hours in the wilderness
of the pathless valley below.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Having negotiated the icy patches, we veered off the main trail
by taking a smaller trail into the valley below. It was a long descent and we
crossed the Bugyal and reached Baidyni Kund. There was a Mahishasur Mardhini
temple as legend has it that this is the place where the demon Mahishasur was
vanquished by Kali. This was a rustic place with horse running around the large
lake. The lake was still and mirrored the views of the snowy peaks around. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
After a long break there, we resumed the return journey at
quarter less noon. The descent was steep, unending and painful. The thigh
muscles underwent incessant torture. The only visual relief was a patch of beautiful
rhododendron forest that we passed through. With rhododendron flowers in various
shades of pink, rose and white, it was a beautiful sight. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
After hours of climb down, we finally reached a metal bridge
that sat across a river. Our ears were desperate to hear this river’s sound as
we made the painful journey back. A short break there gave an opportunity to
fill some water and chill out. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
We resumed the journey with a climb up to Wan village. Wan
is situated on the top of a hill and there was a cell phone tower located right
there. Welcome back to civilization! </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Another long (and painful) descent ensued. We saw a Parvati
temple on the way. It had a large bell near its compound wall. This was rung. Close
by were two very tall and extremely wide deodar trees. There was more descent and
finally we emerged out of a line amid the village’s tightly packed houses to reach
a motorable road. Our jeeps were packed there and they would take us back to
Loharjung.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The modest Patwal’s motel at Loharjung offered hot water
which meant a proper bath after a week! Since dinner would take more time as
usual, we went to a nearby shack and ordered something to keep the belly pangs
at bay. Dinner was accompanied by some celebration and closure ceremony to cap
what was yet another memorable trek.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-12714493232962674162012-05-01T13:19:00.001+05:302012-05-01T13:19:09.515+05:30Whats the right distance?All right, lets admit. Twitter has almost killed writing anything more than 140 characters. The blog that i used to tend to quite often, until couple of years ago has fallen somewhat silent. But what if i wish to say something in more than 140 characters or pithy sentences on facebook? Hence the revival of this blog with this post!<br />
<br />
Extend the metaphor, what is the right distance to go? Right size for anything? Rightsize is actually a verb now, and it depends on what ones appetite is and more importantly how much one can endure. When i picked up running in the US, the right distance for me was a 5k. Later in Hyderabad i redefined it to 21.1 km. I am fairly clear that i do not wish to move up to the 42.2 km league - not that it is not possible, but at this stage i feel it is not worth the effort. The same question applied when i moved cities last year. How long does one persevere in overcoming the inevitable initial teething pains?<br />
<br />
An idea that is quite liberating and thereby helping one stay the course, is to define the distance or time frame upfront - set expectations with oneself and dont give up so easily. This could apply to a diet, a running regimen, job, a career etc.The following was a <a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/rammedury">tweet </a>few days ago as i was pondering this:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="js-tweet-text">
The funny problem with the mindset of a long distance runner is that when you face trouble, you run deeper into it.</div>
</blockquote>
Nice way to end a blog post, by quoting a tweet!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-10298593073294740322010-12-13T00:44:00.009+05:302010-12-16T03:59:34.648+05:30Maritime Museum and Royal ObservatoryThis weekend i happen to be in London and what better way to spend a day than to visit some of the free museums! The plan was to visit the Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory which also houses a planetarium. Both places have one thing in common - they symbolize man's eternal search for the last frontier; indeed humans have a gene for exploration. I consider myself a seeker too, which explains why i was there. Here is quick summary and some tips on these places.<div><div><div><br /></div><div>The Maritime Museum had several nice exhibits, the most famous being Nelson's uniform, Frederick's boat and countless sea-farer artifacts. The theme of exploration and how brave men in Europe risked everything to find new passages to India and the East was the most impressive. The museum has done a great job of bringing those episodes to life, and also set the context behind such expeditions. Exhibits showing how the strengthening Ottoman empire stifled routes to the East forcing Europeans to take to the sea, how the Renaissance era equipped them better and changed their world view, and how the missionary zeal of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_the_Navigator">King Henry</a> of Portugal instigated the likes of Dias and Vasco da Gama to go explore, were all very insightful. If so many cross currents had not come together in history, then I am sure the British would have never come to trade and rule India!<div><div><div><div><br /></div><div>After the museum tour, i made a brisk walk uphill (reminded me of the fast walks during the <a href="http://rampost.blogspot.com/2010/09/rupin-pass-trek.html">Rupin Pass trek</a>) to the <a href="http://www.nmm.ac.uk/places/royal-observatory/">Royal Observatory</a>. They had a section on the Greenwich Meridian (which was very touristy) and a full fledged Planetarium with regular shows. I skipped both for lack of time, and headed straight to the Astronomy section. The ninety minutes spent here were most rewarding. </div><div><br /></div><div>One of the good books i read (rather, managed to finish) this year was "<a href="http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/category/Non_Fiction/The_Edge_of_Reason_9780143066705.aspx">The Edge of Reason</a>" by <a href="http://theinkconference.com/speakersdetails.php?id=0">Anil Ananthaswamy</a>. After reading <a href="http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl2714/stories/20100716271408000.htm">this</a> interview with the author, I bought the book on <a href="http://www.flipkart.com/">flipkart</a> (India's Amazon.com). The book moved me and rekindled my childhood interest in astronomy. This interest stems from a basic question that is also deeply spiritual; it starts as "What the hell am i doing in this world?" and soon leads to other questions like, "What <i>is</i> this world?". The book helps you realize how insignificant our world really is in the larger scheme of things in 'The Universe'. Hundreds of billions of galaxies in this universe and the possibility of multiverse i.e, multiple universes (10 to the power of 500, exactly) both flummoxed me and excited me.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anil's book takes the reader to sites in the world engaged in cutting edge physics and astronomy using various advanced telescopes. The Observatory had a wonderful exhibit (similar to this <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/EM_Spectrum_Properties_edit.svg">image</a>) that shows where each such telescope would fit in. Along the large wall there was a sine curve showing the electromagnetic spectrum; one can easily contrast the frequencies of radio, microwave, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, x-rays and gamma rays. Since we cannot see much outside the visible light and the atmosphere absorbs many of the frequencies, some of these telescopes had to be taken into outer space. The most famous one, of course is the Hubble Telescope. During my previous trip to London three months ago, i was looking for the Observatory but somehow ended up going to the Science Museum, where i saw an IMAX movie featuring the Hubble Telescope. That <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pQQJHEN1cA">movie</a> showed pictures of distant galaxies and supernovae that are a slight peek into the beauty and grandeur of the universe.</div></div><div><br /><div><div>The Observatory has done a decent job of explaining many of the basic concepts about the universe (Big Bang, black holes, etc). It was nice to see several pre-teen kids swarm around some of the exhibits. There was a nice 'Make you own Launch Vehicle' to explore Venus, a comet OR one of the moons of Uranus; a team of three individuals had to choose two spacecraft objects each and then launch the vehicle. The launch would fail if a wrong combination of components was chosen. There was also a telescope like exhibit which allowed you to zoom into one of four cosmic objects. </div><div><br /></div><div>Moving down to the ground floor, there was a display of images by the winners of 'Astro Photographer of the Year' contest conducted in association with Flickr. The <a href="http://www.nmm.ac.uk/visit/exhibitions/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year/winners/">images </a>were literally 'out of the world'. Flickr also has an <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/astrophoto/">Astrophotography</a> group that is worth checking. If you are visiting London, then i strongly recommend a visit to the Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory. And do read Anil Ananthaswamy's book.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-52502315291840915682010-11-17T08:17:00.008+05:302010-11-17T18:03:11.203+05:30India's Employability Gap and the IT industry<span class="Apple-style-span"><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><p class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; "><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span">Last Saturday I was on a panel titled 'Plugging The Employability Gap', hosted by the two year startup <a href="http://www.nicefitcareers.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span">NiceFit </span></a>at the Centre for Organization Development. The topic is hot, with the economy grappling with shortage of skilled manpower as growth resumes. </span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span">The focus was on the IT industry, as it is on of the largest sources of jobs in the organized sector. This industry has grown from $4b in 1998 (1% of GDP then) to 70b in 2010 (6% of GDP). It accounts for 16% of India's exports and exports 70% of its output. </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span">More than 2.3 million are directly employed (30% of them women) and another 9 million (4 x factor) are indirectly employed.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; ">With growth kicking back in, the industry plans to hire 1<span class="apple-style-span">20,000 - 150,000 in the current fiscal year. If growth continues at the present rate of 20% per annum, the industry will employ a mind boggling 30 million by 2020! This year alone, AP's IT industry needs to hire 90,000 people to meet growth (20%) and attrition (10%). </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; ">The obvious question is where will these future employees come from? India is witnessing a demographic dividend and will have several hundred million youth coming into the job market. But these statistics may not convey the true picture, as it is said that only 1 in 4 engineering graduates are actually employable today.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span">A closer look at the numbers in the Hyderabad region (AP state) show that there are 650 colleges graduating 250,000 engineers - 25% of India's output. AP also accounts for 30% of India's overall 3.5 million graduate </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span">output</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span"> across streams. Of the engineering output, </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span">25% get into campus jobs (yes, 1 in 4). </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; "><span class="Apple-style-span">Another 10-15% go for higher studies and 8 - 9% end up being self employed </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span">(some voluntarily, others due to lack of 'options'). That leaves a whopping more than 50% having nothing to do! </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; "><span class="Apple-style-span">To sum, in the state of AP alone, there are 125,000 engineers (50% of the college output) without jobs while the local IT industry needs 90,000 people but can only hire 62,000 from colleges (25% of the output). This is a net shortfall of 30,000. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span">If supply of talent cannot meet up with the demand, then the rosy growth story will not materialise.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The industry will be forced to ramp up in other geographies (China, Eastern Europe, Philippines etc). There will be more backward integration ie, industry will build its own education infrastructure. Infosys' <a href="http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sonia-inaugurates-infosys-gecii-in-mysore/517341/"><span class="Apple-style-span">Global Education Center</span></a> is an example, 'graduating' 50000 people through its intense six month boot-camp over the last three years.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span">More in a subsequent post on what it takes to plug this 'Employability Gap'.</span></span></span></p></span></div></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-3376658456386061202010-11-15T07:48:00.011+05:302010-11-17T16:26:53.460+05:30Cricket and Tongue Twisters<meta equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">Yesterday I went with a group of friends to see the India New - Zealand cricket<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-new-zealand-2010/engine/current/match/464532.html">test match</a>. Though Sachin Tendulkar got out almost as soon as entered the stadium, local boy VVS Laxman (a true hero and a humble man) held the fort and pushed India's score along. This was my first international live match in a stadium and i was impressed, even without the zing-bang of a T-20 match (DJs. dancers, music etc). We were seated not very far from the commentary box and the view of the pitch and batsmen was close enough and the weather initially was good.<div><div>
<br /></div><div>A welcome break to the match viewing (just as the weather got really hot, and Rahul 'The Wall' Dravid started to make the match boring), was the<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.cricketworldcup2011.org/cricket-video/2951/intel-tongue-twister-promo-featuring-ravish-desai-for-the-india-newzealand-cricket-series.html">Intel 'Toungue Twister challenge</a>. A television crew from Neosports which is running a promo for Intel spotted our group and called us in for the contest. Perhaps they chose us since were the only few in the crowd, not salivating at the sight of the actress Priyamani, who was seated in the box directly behind us. Such 'segmentation' could be topic of another post!</div></div><div>
<br /></div><div>They made us sign 'waiver of rights' forms for the video shoots they were about to take - very professional indeed. The anchor walked in - dressed in all red and black. Thanks to the show i was able to discover a talent in me - that of reeling out tongue twisters. We were given three<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongue-twister">tongue twisters</a>, in increasing order of difficulty (starting with "Fast faster fastest Smartest Smarter Smart"). I managed to reel them out and the prize was free tickets to the remaining two days of the test match. Good fun, and i tried some with my daughter when i was back home (say "English engine" ten times)!</div></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-36504537794984014302010-11-09T22:41:00.001+05:302010-11-09T22:41:38.927+05:30Go for the difficult option<div class='posterous_autopost'>Love this gem from Paul Graham:<br /><div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.8ex; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; padding-left: 1ex;"> Use difficulty as a guide not just in selecting the overall aim of your company, but also at decision points along the way. At Viaweb one of our rules of thumb was run upstairs. Suppose you are a little, nimble guy being chased by a big, fat, bully. You open a door and find yourself in a staircase. Do you go up or down? I say up. The bully can probably run downstairs as fast as you can. Going upstairs his bulk will be more of a disadvantage. Running upstairs is hard for you but even harder for him.</blockquote> <div style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.8ex; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; padding-left: 1ex;"> What this meant in practice was that we deliberately sought hard problems. If there were two features we could add to our software, both equally valuable in proportion to their difficulty, we'd always take the harder one. Not just because it was more valuable, but because it was harder. We delighted in forcing bigger, slower competitors to follow us over difficult ground. Like guerillas, startups prefer the difficult terrain of the mountains, where the troops of the central government can't follow. I can remember times when we were just exhausted after wrestling all day with some horrible technical problem. And I'd be delighted, because something that was hard for us would be impossible for our competitors.</blockquote> <br /><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.8ex; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; padding-left: 1ex;"> Here, as so often, the best defense is a good offense. If you can develop technology that's simply too hard for competitors to duplicate, you don't need to rely on other defenses. Start by picking a hard problem, and then at every decision point, take the harder choice.</blockquote> <p /><div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0.8ex; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-left-style: solid; padding-left: 1ex;"> <b>This is a good plan for life in general. If you have two choices, choose the harder. If you're trying to decide whether to go out running or sit home and watch TV, go running. Probably the reason this trick works so well is that when you have two choices and one is harder, the only reason you're even considering the other is laziness. You know in the back of your mind what's the right thing to do, and this trick merely forces you to acknowledge it.</b></blockquote> </div><div>Full piece at <a href="http://paulgraham.com/wealth.html">http://paulgraham.com/wealth.html</a> </div> </div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-75800683873969636072010-11-09T16:36:00.006+05:302010-11-15T07:44:18.347+05:30What Will Revitalize Education in India<div>None would disagree that education is the key to progress, be it for an individual and for a nation. Obama's <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/09/14/presidents-back-school-speech-we-not-only-reach-our-own-dreams-we-help-others-do-sam">speeches</a> and Tom Friedman's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/opinion/21friedman.html">columns</a> harp on this all the time. Many youngsters (i know <a href="http://sriperinkulam.com/">one</a> personally) are quitting lucrative corporate careers to pitch in and revitalise the state of education in India. There are many NGOs active - <a href="http://www.azimpremjifoundation.org/home.html">Azim Premji's foundation</a>, Pratham, <a href="http://www.teachforindia.org/indias-educational-crisis.php">Teach for India</a> etc. </div><div><br /></div><div>The hardened political establishment doesn't inspire much on how the education sector can be reformed. I tend to believe that charity and mere volunteering will not change things. The corrupt will continue to divert funds menat for education, unless there is reform in the system and people start demanding for more. Fortunately there are some trends that could engender a tipping point.</div><div><br /></div><div>There are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Statistics_in_India">650 million mobile phones</a> in India now, a huge number. The price of handsets is steadily dropping and now there are now mass-smartphones in the $100 price range, powered by Android. This with the upcoming 3G network launches by many telecom companies will usher in the era of rich content on a simple mobile device. </div><div><br /></div><div>The applications and implications of this could be far reaching; classrooms in remote areas could easily stream in lectures and experiments by the best teachers around the world. This without installing costly computers that are also come with maintenance costs. Imagine the experience with a cheaper iPad like <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Enter-Adam-the-iPad-killer-made-in-India/articleshow/5570642.cms">Indian device</a>! The <a href="http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/Indias-35-tablet-shown-off-reveals-Android_5221.html">form factor</a> and the content could easily beat the <a href="http://laptop.org/en/">One Laptop Per Child</a> device which was started with an aim to help education in poor countries. The net impact will be people demanding quality education right on their mobile phone.</div><div><br /></div><div>Keeping technology aside, if the education establishment were reformed even a wee bit, then the potential impact on the nation will be humongous. If the reform moves towards enabling parents decide the quality of education services that their kids get, then the impact will be dramatic. This could be done by giving the parents vouchers that they then <a href="http://schoolchoice.in/aboutus/index.php">choose to 'spend' on schools</a> and teachers of their choice. The revolutionary impact of <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/arts/magazine/article881869.ece">Public Delivery System reform</a> in Chattisgarh, where the onus of the delivery was entrusted to the local bodies shows the way. If one can get better and assured delivery of rice and wheat from the government, why not better education?</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-58298108754091200242010-10-09T19:21:00.001+05:302010-10-09T19:21:23.816+05:30Run and get cheered via Nike+ and Facebook<div class='posterous_autopost'><div>Now Facebook has gotten into the simple act of running.. Nike+ has launched its GPS app for the iPhone that allows you to receive cheers as you run! Check it out!</div> <div> </div><img src="http://image.official.nike.com/lib/feaa15707564067c74/m/1/20101009_NP_01.jpg" border="0" height="369" alt="" width="338" style="DISPLAY: block;" /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-35796905346120190362010-09-30T23:10:00.010+05:302010-10-02T23:03:28.842+05:30Rupin Pass Trek<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">10 Sep 2010 [Delhi - Kalka]<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">On the night of that Friday, the group of five trekkers headed for Shimla (enroute to Rupin Pass) converged at the Old Delhi railway station. The mood was eager, but was soon dampened learning that the flooding Yamuna led to the closure of a bridge. India was reeling under unprecedented rains and there were floods in many parts of the subcontinent. Would our train at Delhi get cancelled? Fortunately the Kalka Mail got rerouted to New Delhi railway station (NDLS) and did not get canceled.</p><p class="MsoNormal">It was a race against time for us to reach NDLS, to catch the train. It was chaos at NDLS, as there was no proper departures-announcement board and the enquiry queue was miles long. A guard there advised us to climb the foot over bridge and wait for the announcement. It sounded like a good idea and we trooped over there; the announcement came and we moved to the train that luckily turned up. This was the first of many just-in-time manoeuvres that helped us complete the trek and get back home in time. The air conditioning in the train was a welcome relief given the sultry and humid weather in Delhi. At Kalka, we connected to the Shivalik Deluxe Toy Train (which we learnt, always waits for the feeder trains from Delhi). The famous heritage train and the scenic route lived up to the world class reputation they carry. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>11 Sep 2010 [Kalka - Shimla]</b></p><p class="MsoNormal">Upon reaching Shimla the next morning, we checked into the hotel that Vikranth and Mothay had already identified for us (they reached a day before). A nice siesta helped refresh and a few remaining trek items were bought on the famous Mall Road. I’d expected it to be a large city-square like in some European cities, but the Mall Road turned out to be somewhat narrow. Nevertheless it was the place where the local youth hung around and there was enough hustle and bustle all around. Almost all the well-known brands were represented on Mall Road. Certain points on the road offered panoramic views of Shimla. The countless lights on the hill side looked charming.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">12 Sep 2010 [Shimla - Thiyog - Rohru ]<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The much awaited journey started on Sunday morning when the sixteen trekkers left for Gosangu (the trek's start point) in three Sumos. There was the expected delay in the start, by about an hour. We reached Dhalli on the outskirts of Shimla where the trek organizer Arjun Majumder of India Hikes (IH) joined the group. Breakfast stop was at Thiyog for some aloo paranthas.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The wide tarmac roads soon became muddy; later the mud was like thick brown grease on the roads and then the roads further narrowed down as we criss crossed little known villages. As the road trip progressed, the Sumos would get stuck in the mud at some places, struggling to get out. Those who feared motion sickness did not have to worry as the vehicles were moving very slowly navigating the rain and mud. </p><p class="MsoNormal">The surrounding hills were pretty with the thick white clouds hovering over them; the motionless clouds looked like cuddly sheep settling down into their pens. By night fall, we somehow managed to reach a small town called Rohru. We had covered only 130 km in 9 hours, taking a longer route since the main route was apparently closed. In the interest of safety it was decided to stay the night at Rohru and hotels were hunted.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">At the River View hotel, hot dinner was served and a briefing was held by Arjun. We hadn’t yet reached Gosangu and it might take another day; result: the trek would get reduced by one day. The perils of Altitude Mountain Sickness (AMS) were discussed and we were told to continue to take the medicine Diamox. Diamox thins the blood, allowing it carry more oxygen and hence helps acclimitasation; it has some side effects - you pee more but also get a good sleep at high altitude.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">13 Sep 2010 [Rohru - <o:p></o:p></b><b>Larot - Chanshil - Dodra]</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">The morning of Tuesday we left for Gosangu again by 8 am. The route followed the surging Rupin River initially. Early on, the lead vehicle took a wrong turn and it took almost two hours to retrace the way back.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>One wondered if a simple GPS device would have helped; any trek organizer ought to have one. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">We stopped for breakfast-cum-lunch (brunch) by around 11 am at a village called Larot (MSL – 2550m). The shack owner took almost an hour to prepare the meal; the rajma-chaval (kidney bean and rice) turned out to be very delicious (hunger does wonders!). <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The area also had many apple orchards and some of us took the liberty of helping ourselves with fresh juicy apples, straight off the tree. Meanwhile the drivers (instigated by our vehicle’s driver) confabulated and started making loud noises about the bad road, the extra day, and various other issues, without directly asking for more money. The stage was being set for a ransom. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">We pushed on post lunch and enjoyed scenic views of the Chanshil valley. We could see meadows, pine and deodar forests and as we climbed Chanshil the tree line was also visible.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The Chanshil pass offered panoramic views of the entire valley; it was beautiful with the wispy white clouds floating up slowly. The strong wind made it really chilly and we did not stop for long there. The Himachal Tourism board plans to build a small facility here.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">As soon as we resumed, the driver made a dramatic stop, threw his hands up and made signs of 'giving up'. He relented only after he was assured of some more money. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We slowly reached Dodra village (MSL - 2310m) by 3:30 pm. That would be our night halt; Gosangu was another 90 minutes from there but the rains had messed up all the lodging arrangements. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Here our trek lead Sandeep from IH joined us; Arjun went back with the Sumos. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The trekkers slowly spread into the village to enjoy the rustic sights. Many village houses tied up grass into large mats and dried them out; they would serve as fodder for their livestock during the harsh winters. The village had a few temples, the biggest one for the local Jakha Devata (Vishnu form), one for Lord Siva and another for the Goddess Shakti. The villagers had a custom of decorating their temples with the trophies the children win in tournaments. An older custom was to also add the busts of animals (mostly sheep and goat). The Jakha temple’s door also had numerous coins nailed to it; some of them were real antiques. We took a lot of photographs of the village life and the children in particular. Of particular interest was a mute child who was also very active.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">One of the very talkative trekkers, was very anxious to start a campfire even before the trek started and the others had to oblige. The villagers turned out to be experts at tending fire but they joined very late. One of them, Tiwari narrated how he trekked to Rupin from Dodra in just two days! <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Soon dinner was served (Dal, Rice, Roti, Cabbage curry). The trekkers retired into one large dormitory and two rooms. Three of us got into a log cabin about 200m away.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">14 Sep 2010 [Dodra - Gosangu - Kwar - Bavuta]</b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Dodra is a small village and like many of its kind in India, does not have enough toilets. The first thing to tackle in the cold morning (and it was raining, of course) was to take care of the, ahem, morning business.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>So off we went with tissue paper roll and bottle of water in hand, not to forget the umbrella/raincoat. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Our host in the log cabin graciously offered use of the adjacent balcony but we felt a bit embarassed; it would be inappropriate and so we ventured out in the rain. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Breakfast took a long time to cook. Some of us (the six who rode in the same Sumo) joined in the kitchen to help and peel the potatoes. The kitchen being a warm place was also ideal to escape into. We later learnt that the plan was to have Maggi noodles and quickly leave; this was changed as someone wanted to have delicious puris instead. Soon breakfast was ready but the puris turned out to be thick and the curry had no seasoning. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>This led some to complain, but most were looking to get out and get to the elusive Gosangu.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">So for the third day, we got into a vehicle heading for Gosangu. Luckily the drive lasted only about 90 minutes (it would have been a 30 minute walk for a local cutting across the hills). The views to our right, showed the rich tapestry of the Kwar hill side that appeared like a quilt stitched with numerous patches; each patch being a field, tree cluster or a meadow. To our left, there was another hill with steep slopes and not much foliage; there was however a thick layer of grass on the entire hill, and with its elaborate folds it looked like someone draped a giant green cloth on the entire hill.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Finally, Destination Gosangu was reached! It was huge relief as the endless journey ended! It was decided to start the trek to the first camp at Jhaka (via Kwar and Bavuta) past the bridge; a few who wished to could ride till Kwar in the jeep and join the rest there. It felt good to get on to the trail. The legs felt alive after the prolonged ride. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Soon we came upon a massive land slide that dwarfed the entire mountain side and painted it a thick shade of brown. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We had no choice but to clamber down and up the brown mudscape. After we saw a middle aged villager woman and her child dance their way across a faint trail, we picked up courage and got going. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">We reached Kwar village after in less than two hours. At the village bore well, we took a long break; two of us even tried taking a small nap. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The village children milled around for chocolates that were being distributed. We then saw another group of American trekkers who were returning from Rupin. Apparently they could not cross the waterfall and had to turn back. With the bad weather, it was possible that we experience a similar fate. But if we were lucky we could cross the river at the waterfall and go on to Rupin pass. </p><p class="MsoNormal">At Kwar our second trek guide Gajju joined us. After a longish break, we resumed our trek (the larger a group, the longer the break!). These long breaks when added can easily impact the trek schedule. A second smaller landslide was navigated with ease. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We also came upon a nice waterfall and cute old wooden bridge on the way. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After a steep climb, we reached Bavuta gaining almost 1000 ft over Kwar. </p><p class="MsoNormal">To our dismay we found that the innkeeper did not have the lunch ready (he claimed he was waiting for a phone call that never came).<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The bad weather was messing up the initial trek logistics and the domino effect continued; it would take some more time and patience to align things. It took a very long time to cook the lunch and we used the time to rest at a beautiful house that overlooked the valley. </p><p class="MsoNormal">What got served finally, was a simple fare of rice and plain kadi, but we were so hungry that we gobbled up whatever was served. At 5pm, I was not sure if it was a late lunch, supper or an early dinner. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The wildly fluctuating meal timings were leading to binge eating and in turn, to acidity or indigestion. (*Lesson:<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>always carry some fruits or chocolates to compensate for missed meals, if you wish to avoid gastric trouble*). Dinner at 8pm was a better fare, roti made of the Jawar and the local ram dana (long purple corn grown the fields and giving the hills that quilt like look). <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>A dessert dish (Kheer) was also served. </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal">It was now obvious that we had to stay the night at Bavuta and reach Jhaka only the next day. We were already behind by two days and not reaching Jhaka meant a further slippage! But the shocking news of that night was that ten of the sixteen trekkers decided to opt out. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The reasons cited were many - bad weather, speculation on waterfall/river crossing, headache etc. A few were frank to admit lack of preparation, not taking Diamox and fitness. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The constant rain and gloomy weather did not help a bit.</p><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This was indeed a big jolt to the team, but six of us decided to continue. Going back was not an option. It was a coincidence that we were the same group of six that travelled together in the Sumo from Shimla, and all of us came from Hyderabad! We stayed the night in the same beautiful wooden rest house.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We had had a word with the house owner Balakram and he was happy to let us stay. The innkeeper was also keen but his place was already overcrowded.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The six of us conferred with Sandeep, to redraw the plans and on how to make up on lost time. It was decided to trek the next day, all the way to Saruvas Thatch, which meant we would double-camp i.e., cover two days plan in just one. After dinner, the clouds had cleared and we could see the moonless sky brightly lit with countless stars. It was so clear that we could see many constellations and even the faint white band that is the Milky Way - our home galaxy! This sight was a highlight of the trip.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">15 Sep 2010 [Bavuta - Jhaka - Saruvas Thatch]<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">A pleasant surprise awaited us after we woke up the next day. The house where we stayed actually had a toilet outside. This made things very simple and there was no need for the kind of loo expedition we did the previous morning. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It is said that the presence of a toilet is a sign of development in rural India; we saw the lack of it in Dodra village the previous day. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">As luck would have it, there was no breakfast served as the innkeeper claimed some vague reason. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The recourse was to eat chocolates or cereal bars and get going. We said our goodbyes to our friends who were heading the other way. They encouraged us, wished us luck and gave us their stock of Diamox tablets and a few chocolates. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">We started relatively early, by 8:15am. By now the sky looked less gray as the clouds had somewhat cleared after a spell of rain at 7am. We trekked towards Jhaka on a scenic route. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After about 45 minutes, the sun emerged out of the clouds lighting up the entire valley. We were already warmed up and sweating by then and it was time to discard a few layers. What the heck, it was time to strip down and soak in the sun and drink some Vitamin D! The true meaning of ‘sunbathing’ was realized only then! </p> <p class="MsoNormal">We came across corner in the trail was overhung with huge cliffs on all sides. The place looked similar to the kind of cliffs one gets to see in the forests around Tirumala Hills. The cliffs were dripping with water; every layer in every rock was just oozing water, enough to fill a water bottle within seconds. The water, moisture and relative closed atmosphere resulted in thick undergrowth, much like a rain forest. </p><p class="MsoNormal">There was also a very cute old wooden bridge that we used to cross the Rupin river. The river flowed by the side and its pure aqua green water was a neat sight. We were told that the water was very muddy just a month ago. Why was the water clean? Did the rains stop upstream? Or is there no more mud to be washed away? What does this mean for the river crossing? With these thoughts we kept climbing. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">After gaining 2100ft (1hr 45min later), we reached Jhaka (Day1 camp, per the original plan). Consistent with the meal plan (or lack of it), the brunch was delayed at Jhaka too. But Newar Singh, our host had apple trees in his garden, and we asked for some. They were peeled, cut and served keeping hunger pangs at bay. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We made use of the sunshine by washing socks and drying our clothes in the huge sundeck/balcony of our host. In line with the apparent prosperity, the host’s house also had a toilet.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Lunch was excellent, aloo paranthas served with raw onions, large bowls of curd/yoghurt and cheese spread. It would energise us till we reached our camp at Saruvas Thatch that evening. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>With the drop outs, we now had more trek enablers (10 porters - who all joined us here, 2 trek guides, 1 trek lead) than trekkers. We also got our coveted 'High Altitude Trekker' caps here from Sandeep. With reduced supplies and rations, the porters had more space and we happily agreed to pass on some of our heavy luggage pieces enclosed in plastic. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">At noon, we left Jhaka which was the last main village on the route to Rupin. As we took the steep steps up and away from Newar Singh’s house, the trail changed and the path roughened out with fewer stones and markings. There was an old woman seen carrying a huge load of freshly cut grass on her back. Her name was Neelam Devi and she looked resplendent with a large red bindi adorning her heavily wrinkled forehead. She could have been easily 70 years old but with the mountain folks, it is tough to tell as wrinkles are part of their genetic makeup; even children have them. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The path climbed up and up, roughened out more, and soon it became pretty lonely. With the porters out of sight, it was tough to tell if the route was indeed correct. The path then wound down to the river and to a small bridge on the left across a tributary stream. The bridge was made of poles with large stones placed for footsteps. This was another scenic spot with the gushing river; the bend in the river offered views of two mountains. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Soon it started raining again and the rain coats were out. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The rain was incessant and trekking with the raincoats on was uncomfortable as the sweat accumulated inside.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The path roughened out more and soon there were only rocks; the rocks became the path.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>After a while we had to enter the river to move forward - we waded through the water and then walked across the exposed pebbles and rocks. Now the river became the path! </p> <p class="MsoNormal">After a final climb we reached the meadows by about 5:30pm. In local Pahari dialect, the word for meadow is ‘Thatch’. This was Saruvas Thatch, our camp for the night. By the time we reached, the porters had already pitched the tents on the banks of the river. Where there is a meadow, expect to see sheep and possibly cows grazing. Immediately we saw a commotion on the opposite bank of the river. Hundreds of sheep started clambering down and bleating like crazy, expecting to be thrown lumps of salt. Normally the shepherds feed them salt once a week, but who doesn’t want a free snack?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">These sheep are usually left free to graze and are herded at night, or home in to the smoke from the shepherd’s campfire at night. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The odd one escapes to the wild, but has to face predators that include bear, wolf and panther. The sheep graze here from summer through October. To escape the harsh winter, they start moving to a lower altitude towards Dehradun, the journey taking 30 to 45 days. September – November is also the season when they breed; we could see several young lambs. A herd of 600-700 sheep would have at least 100 lambs. The seemingly vulnerable lambs are born with enough wool on them to help them survive the winter.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The camp site was set in an idyllic location. There were steep cliffs on either side of the river giving the valley a bowl shape and protecting us somewhat from strong winds. The snowy mountain tops were visible now and then gone, as the clouds were busy acting as curtains, offering a peek here and there, of the majestic peaks. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">It was a satisfying day’s work as we were well underway on the trek.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We had easily put in eight hours of solid trekking, braved rain and overcame steep climbs. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>It was still raining and would rain deep into the dark night (till about 2 am) but we were ready for anything now. Siva had overcome a cramp in his calf muscle and set an example of perseverance. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">It was getting very cold and it took a while to get the warm clothes back from with the porter. We rushed into the tents to get warm and take some much needed rest. As we settled into our tents, the porters got to work preparing dinner for the group. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Hot tea was served immediately and by 7pm hot vegetable soup was also served; we eagerly lapped it up, profusely thanking our ‘waiters’. Dinner came around 8pm – dal chaval with tiny slices of onion and cucumber which was eaten ravenously. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">16 sep 2010 [Saruvas Thatch - River Crossing - Upper Waterfall]<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">By 2am the sky had cleared completely and there was not a trace of cloud. We woke up at around 6am to a hot chai (bed tea) and clear skies. The golden glow of the sun was reflected off the mountains on the south side; to the north the snow peaks were clearly visible. The weather pattern in the high mountains during for this season was slowly unraveling: okay weather between early morning and early afternoon; later gathering clouds and resulting precipitation as rain/sleet/snow. I was told mountaineers who scale the highest peaks always understand and respect this pattern. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The morning loo expeditions became shorter with the open meadows (no villagers nearby) and faster (due to the cold weather). The cooks had already started their work in the kitchen and we were given crisp paranthas and rotis (with cheese) for breakfast. A fire was also set up in the open and some of us tried to dry socks there. Drying socks is a temporary relief; either rain or the next stream that you cross soon makes them wet. (recommended to carry several dry pairs of socks).</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The crossing of the waterfall was once again the topic of discussion over breakfast. The local shepherd said “No big deal, can be done”. Sandeep, our trek lead said with no expression and as a matter of fact, “We have to cross”. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>He also meant “With safety”, but that was apparent from his serious demeanour. “Once we cross, then Rupin, Rontigad and Sangla (rest of the trek) will be ok”. </p><p class="MsoNormal">To make matters worse, we later ran into another shepherd who said that deep water will NOT make the crossing possible. They also gave an alternative – to climb real steep via a circuitous route and cross the river at a shallow point – taking an additional<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>two hours. We kept our fingers crossed, not knowing how the river will behave (given the heavy rains), and knowing that one party had returned and some of our friends had opted out.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">We planned to head out by 8am but the actual start was at 9:15am. We walked along the gurgling Rupin river and then inside it (bit like the previous evening). We stopped at a bend in the river to drink some water and enjoy the view. There were some mountain cows nearby and one new born calf was particularly cute and playful.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Soon we came across a massive structure across the river that looked like a giant mattress from a distance. Then it looked like a broken bridge, a practical structure, but the place was too remote for anyone to build a bridge. As we came closer it became clear that it was a large piece of ice sheet, which once evidently occupied a much larger volume in the valley. Was it the remnants of an ancient glacier that has melted (thanks to climate change)? Raju our guide explained that it was the ice sheet formed from last year’s snowfall that has now melted; the recent heavy rains further shrunk and disfigured it.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The first big climb of the day was to the ‘Lower Water Fall’, a tall but thin cascade of water to the right side of the main river. Further up the main river itself was a water fall; the upper part was simply called the ‘Upper Water Fall’. Our target was to cross the river below the Upper Fall and then trek up to the upper part to camp there. </p><p class="MsoNormal">The climb to the Lower Fall was interesting as there was no clear path, only boulders big and small strewn across in a very steep incline. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>An experienced person could make out a path across the boulders and areas where the grass looks a little more beaten down; we had to either wisely follow a porter closely or just make wild guesses and clamber up. </p><p class="MsoNormal">The cold early in the morning, somehow fooled us into not drinking water till the first climb invoked the thirst pangs.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>By then the exertion and sweating caused significant dehydration. To make matters tougher, the rain started beating down hard on us.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Eventually we crossed the Lower Fall and after a short distance (about 200m), to the left there was a massive rock outcrop offering shelter from the rain. We made use of the shelter to remove the raincoat, shed a layer or two and then put the rain coat back. Sandeep advised that the body is cold when the trek starts but with time it gets warmed up making it necessary to manage the layers.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Similarly at a break, it is important to conserve body heat and put on something warm, especially if it is a longish break. Dress to the weather, period.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The next stop was the all important river crossing. It was another steep climb from the place we stopped at near the Lower Falls. Once we got to the river, the porters and trek guides started scanning the stream up and down to figure out the vantage points. Bishu, one of the fastest porters climbed up high and was raring to go across and had to be restrained. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Meanwhile a fast and flexible lad named Jagat chose a couple of rocks downstream, leapt across the river and delicately balanced himself on a small rock. It would have easily earned him a gold medal at the Common Wealth Games, had he participated. Instantly Jagat was our hero! </p> <p class="MsoNormal">A rope was thrown across to Jagat and it was then tied to two large boulders in the mountaineering style. The boulders were afar but were carefully chosen keeping in mind the take-off and landing spots on either side of the river. Sandeep has an advanced course in mountaineering under his belt, and he was the first to cross the river using the rope (and test it as well!). The harness and the props were all made using only ropes, no metal or plastic was used anywhere. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>One by one the six trekkers were hauled across and then the porters and equipment followed suit. I would have preferred an active movement,<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>rather than the passive hauling, but we had to save time. During the 1.5 – 2 hours this entire exercise took, we bit into our packed lunch of Roti and Aloo curry. It was not possible to cross the river by wading across; Jagat had indeed saved the day for us.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">A few minutes of sun ensued but soon it started raining a hailstorm and we rushed forward. Another steep climb followed and by 3:45pm we had reached the Upper Water Fall camp site (MSL: about 4100m; how I missed carrying the Garmin device). We were welcomed to glorious blue sky and sunshine which again lasted only a short while. The view was stunning with the valley under a mixture of white clouds and blue sky extending to the south. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As we settled into our tents, we were satisfied at another day’s hard work yielding excellent results. We had done another double camp (back-to-back) and recovered the two days lost due to delayed start. The crossing was clean and done; we proved the naysayers wrong! </p><p class="MsoNormal">We could not celebrate with a camp fire as there was no fire wood at all; we were well above the tree line at 11000 ft. Dinner came at 7:45pm; on time! Things were slowly looking up and what more, we had very tasty khichdi served along with a papad. The finishing touch was dry halwa, a simple sweet dish.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">It was raining and the rain slowly changed to sleet and later snow as the night progressed. Through the night we had a couple of ferocious Himalayan dogs for company; they belonged to the nearby solitary shepherd. In fact the evening, as I ambled into the campsite, I was warned by the trek guides to stay away from the big black dog with drooping hair.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">17 sep 2010 [Upper Waterfall - Rupin Pass - Rontigad]<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">In the morning, we woke up to see a white carpet outside the tents. It had sleeted and snowed resulting in an accumulation of 3 inches.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The loo expedition this morning had a twist, with the big dog alternating between aggressively rushing forward and retreating to loud shouts. it was finally held at 50ft distance under the torch’s spotlight, while the business was accomplished.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Given the task for the day ahead, we had a power breakfast – corn flakes with milk and tangy dhaliya consisting of capsicum, green mirchi. Keen not to repeat the previous day’s mistake, a lot of water was ingested. After getting ready to move, we moved into the kitchen tent to keep warm. An important advice was given about not to shave in the cold conditions (result being a badly bruised face). </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The sleet continued even as we moved out of the tents by 9:45am, a relatively late start for the day.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>By now the custom of the six trekkers leaving first with a lead porter or a trek guide was in place. The porters and the trek guides would then finish packing the tent, supplies and equipment, cross us at some point and go on the reach the camp site much ahead of us giving them time to setup camp for the night. This morning, Raju the lead guide accompanied us – he mustered us, ranked us in some order and asked us to march single file.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The climb way from the campsite was steep (as usual) and with wet socks in wet shoes, something we had gotten used to by now with the weather being what it was. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We started the trek in slush (mix of snow, mud and water) but as we climbed the snow accumulation increased, till we were stomping across half a foot of snow. The terrain looked pristine, and the entire ground was picturesque white. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The trail soon turned left and there was no more ground left to climb up. We were upon a trail made of only rocks, similar to what we had faced the previous day before the Lower Falls climb. But now the rocks were all covered in snow, making it very difficult to land the foot at the right spot. Since the rocks had a lot of gaps between them, one wrong step and the leg would get stuck forcing a fall. This made one use the hands more often, and move almost sideways making this phase of the trek a rock climbing sequence. The mountaineering stick we were given by IH came handy during the climb, but now it was not of much use.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">After negotiating this phase, we came upon terrain that was less rocky. The snow cover was about half a foot, and we took some respite after the intense climbing. Sandeep scooped out some snow, made a snow ball out of it and used it as a makeshift water bottle biting into it occasionally. He advised us not to eat the snow directly, but let the snow melt in the mouth first. </p><p class="MsoNormal">After about half an hour, we came upon an open area with a large lake on the left. Straight up, on the horizon we could see the faint U formed by the scraggy mountain. The bottom of the U (it was actually very high up) was our destination – the mountain pass named Rupin.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Rupin Pass looked distant; our immediate attentions were occupied more with the lake. We marveled at its half frozen beauty and the serene atmosphere around it. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Since our water balls were almost empty, we made some snow balls and bit into them. We took a break and feasted on the snow balls garnished with ORS! </p><p class="MsoNormal">As we moved forward, we came upon a small stream that emerged out the lake on the left. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Even at this altitude, there was a small fish seen in the stream, swimming around aimlessly. We moved further ahead and while we were trying to keep our backs erect, It was interesting to note tiny plants proudly place their little stalks and flowers above the white snowy carpet. They managed to somehow stay dry and erect, until the snow practically engulfed them. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">After trekking in the deep snow for another half an hour, we the reached the start of what would be a daunting climb. By far this seemed the steepest climb of the trek, almost vertical in its slope. What more it was full of rocks. The difference from the rock climbing sequence navigated earlier in the morning was the slope, all 75 degrees of it! Now vertical climbing on rocks is okay, trekking in snow is okay; but what if these two are thrown at you together at once! Only thing working for us was that the hailstorm or frozen rain somewhat subsided for a little while.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">One good thing about thick snow is that it makes the path clear, allowing a trekker to follow in the footsteps of someone who went ahead.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>On a vertical climb, it almost ends up creating a stair case of snowy footprints. The other good thing about thick snow is that it provides some cushions after one of those inevitable falls. One can also dig into the snow with the ten fingers of two hands which is useful if the leg cannot find a firm foothold. The snow surprisingly holds well and helps in climbing up; imagine the hands in the snow like the claws of a woodpecker stuck into the bark of a tree! </p> <p class="MsoNormal">There was no option to turn back, the only option was to move ahead. So with a Zen like approach, we moved ahead focusing only on the next step ahead and nothing else. One step after the other and one step at a time, only the next step mattered. The climb was the toughest of the trek, exhausting and backbreaking. Though the temperature was below zero Celsius (there was a hailstorm hitting us in the eyes), our bodies were so heated up with the climbing that we did not feel the cold. In fact we were profusely sweating under the rain coats, which also caused some dehydration. </p><p class="MsoNormal">To make matters worse, even a small twitch in the forehead would lead to several doubts: was that headache, am I getting AMS? All needless thoughts brought in by exhaustion. One way to beat them back was to drink more water and take deep breaths. The best thing to do was to keep the head down and just focus on the next step; looking up and trying to gauge the distance to the top would only de-motivate and prolong the agony.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">And then after an interminably long climb, all of a sudden Rupin Pass was reached. The time was 1:45pm. At 15,500ft we felt like we were on the top of the world; at least on top of the Rupin and Sangla valleys both of which were visible on either sides of the Pass. The Rupin valley offered wonderful views as the weather on that side seemed to clear up for a short while. Sangla valley hid its beauty under the hail and clouds. Our guides and a few porters had already reached and some of them went down again to help a few of the trekkers. Their dedication and courtesy cannot be thanked enough. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">At the Rupin Pass, was a small wooden shrine dedicated to the Mountain God and the team offered their thanks for allowing us to get there in one piece. We were fortunate to be there and silently conveyed our deepest gratitude for the same. Raju performed a small Pooja, and prashad (dry coconut) was distributed quickly. The team had to move on quickly as it was extremely cold out there making the body lose heat rapidly. I could feel the fingers in my feet freeze as I watched the proceedings. After the mandatory photo shoots, we left Rupin Pass by 2:15pm.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The next phase of the trek was a continuous descent. Our destination was the first meadow on this side of the mountain range, a place called Ronti-gad. ‘Gad’ in this side of the mountains meant meadow (it was ‘Thatch’ on the other side). We passed another frozen lake on this side and enjoyed close up views of the stark mountain range as we climbed down. The mountains with their millions of rocks, <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>and edges that were covered with snow reflected the light in a way that made them glisten like jewels. As we climbed down, we could see the black&white view of the glistening mountains merge with the sepia shade of the mountainside’s exposed rocks and grass.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">After navigating snow, we soon came upon a mix of snow and slush that made the descent unpleasant. The slush then gave way to grass and rock giving our feet a firmer footing. The advantage of moving down quickly was that the temperature improved and so did the blood circulation in the body. In another hour or so, we saw the first bird on this side of the Pass. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">As we approached Rontigad (MSL: 4100m), a lot of sheep were grazing in the hill side and the meadows. The shepherd was a middle aged man named Rajesh. He enquired, “Did you see any wolves?”. Negative was the reply; given our group size, even if the wolves had been around, they would have easily hidden somewhere. Rajesh had no dogs guarding his herd; apparently they had all gone down into the village to make their presence during the mating season. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">From this point in the mountain, our camp site could be seen way below in the meadow. It was a sight we were not used to, since we were always trekking up to our camp sites! The tents below looked cute, much like Lego blocks. The camp site was once again set up (altitude of 130m below Rontigad) in a beautiful location, overseeing the deep valley with the river gushing below. As expected, the tents were setup by the time we reached the place. We enjoyed a nice view of the mountains from the tents. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">As the night set in, the skies cleared for another brief interval. A half moon emerged and the snow peaks could be seen in the faint moonlight. It was a serene atmosphere. We had achieved two major milestones – one was crossing the river on the previous day and then today’s climax of crossing the Rupin Pass. We felt relieved. The porters actually broke into a dance and wore big smiles that stretched from one ear to the other. They also had good fun pursuing some stray mountain cows that relentlessly came back smelling salt on one of the stones that held the kitchen tent.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">The food service now was a vast improvement over what we experienced in the first two days. Tea (and black tea) was served upon arrival. Soon after we retired into the tents, pop corn and soup followed. Dinner was then served – roti, onion curry, rice, dal and gulab jamoon. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>We felt really pampered with this kind of food served on a night when it was still raining, at an altitude of 4000m. The only thing missing was a camp fire. But it was raining and since we were still above the tree line, there was no firewood either. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><br /></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">18 sep 2010 [Rontigad - Upper Sangla - Sangla]<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Once again it snowed through the night and by the morning, there was a couple of inches of snow around the tents. The night temperature went below freezing. There was also a big thunderstorm (with hail) in the night that twisted our tents out of shape. Early in the morning even before the sun rise, we could hear loud claps of thunder and blinding flashes of lightening that pierced through our tents. </p><p class="MsoNormal">There was enough accumulation of ice on the tent surface to flatten the tops and push the sides inward. Some of us in the sleep could feel the tent side touching us and even thought it could be an animal trying to cozy up to the tent (the exhaustion was such that none woke up). </p> <p class="MsoNormal">We once again woke up to bed tea in the morning. The plan was to make an early start after a functional breakfast made of Maggi noodles. We left the camp site at 8:15am, as usual with rain coats trying to protect us from rain and sleet.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I discovered that with continuous precipitation over several days, even the rain coats give up, and water somehow finds its way inside. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">We traversed slushy mud and made a tricky climb down. There was some excitement after an hour, as we found the tree line again. The two hour descent was uneventful and soon we were at our first village – Sangla Kandla (or Upper Sangla). We came across an old lady who enquired about us and asked for tea. Now that was something not to be refused. She led us around her home and into a very narrow courtyard and made us sit practically in her cow shed. The tea took a long time to cook (like anything else in the mountains) and our trek guides and trek lead caught up with us there. It was a funny sight, nine of us in the rain, sipping half cooked tea in a crowded cow shed. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">The descent to Sangla resumed at 11am. After a couple of hours of walking through deodar forests, we reached the bottom of the valley and came upon a large bridge that was adorned with Tibetan Buddhist flags. The perennially muddy Baspa river flowed under the bridge; the incessant rains must have deepened the shade of its brown waters. School kids milled around us, some asked us for chocolates (one even pointed to the wrapper in my raincoat pocket which was empty); we politely said no. Besides all our food supplies were exhausted by then.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Sangla town belongs to the Kinnaur district and is very beautiful with looks straight out of a picture post card. It is dominated by high mountain peaks with the mountain ranges circling it almost on all sides. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The tallest peak is Kinnaur Kailash at 6050m said to be the winter home of Lord Shiva; perhaps it would make a great climb some other day. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">We reached the guest house by 2pm; the arrangements were modest. We were looking to get out soon and did not wish anything fancy either. We had late lunch by around 5pm and IH distributed our trek completion certificates. After a futile search for the right Kinnauri cap and shawl, we came back to the guest room waiting for the vehicle that would take us back to Shimla. We were told that there was a massive landslide 5kms out of Sangla. It was not predictable when the road would be open again.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">After a long wait, just by happen stance, we stepped out of the room around 8pm and enquired with some drivers to learn that the road was now open. Our care taker was trying to hide the information as he was keen on us extending the stay through the night (more income for him!) but we were fortunate to get out. Any further delay would have had a domino effect on the sequential bus/train and flight bookings. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">After some haggling for the vehicle, we managed to catch a Sumo jeep at 10:30pm. The midnight dinner at Babaji’s Dhaba in Tapuri was a highlight. After a bumpy ride through the entire night, we were lucky to reach Shimla by 9am. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>The same luck that saw us through an overflowing Yamuna at Delhi, bad roads through Rohru-Dodra, crucial decisions at Bavuta, river crossing at Upper Falls and finally landslides near Sangla got us back on time.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-83425823332091671672010-05-22T18:01:00.006+05:302010-05-22T19:23:33.009+05:30A Trip Down Nostalgia Lane<div>Last weekend our family made a trip to Mysore; in fact we made it an extended weekend to give ourselves more time to meet the people and places that we frequented often during our two year stay at Mysore between 2001 and 2002. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>Mysore is a place that I was drawn to, when I was a student in Bangalore in the late 1990s. The same charm that the place exuded on the noted novelist RK Narayan worked on me too! Several trips and treks to areas around Mysore later, I decided to move there when my organization started a new centre. A couple of years later my nomadic job took me to several other places abroad. When I decided to return back, I came back to my home state for various reasons. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>So, last week we went to the famous palace a couple of times, the hotels on Harsha street, Kalidasa Road, the temples in Vontikoppal, the zoo, the lakes (Karanaji, Kukkarahalli) etc. The city has also changed a bit in the last eight years. Nothing ever remains the same! For one there is more traffic and many more traffic stoplights than before. So in many ways our trip was a nice refresh of the good old memories. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>Memories are like soft wispy clouds and wandering in them makes one feel good. Human memory is usually selective: it easily forgets the bad things of the past and retains the sweet ones. And then there are layers upon layers of such memories. Having grown up in many cities and visited several places I seem to carry a pretty large stock of these creamy layers!</div><meta equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><div>
<br /></div><div>Jiddu Krishnamurthy used to say that memory creates attachments; being wedded to the memory of the past is to lose the ability to observe and experience the present. That is surely true, as long as one is aware of the line between wallowing in old memories, to relishing them once in a while! Nostalgia with awareness would acceptable to even JK.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-59647180695397200202010-03-24T13:53:00.002+05:302010-03-24T13:59:40.715+05:30Revenue vs Profit = Vanity vs SanitySomeone somewhere said, "Revenue is <b><u>vanity</u></b>, Profit is sanity". So true for any company, small or big. I am a keen follower of this conversation at various places. <div><br /></div><div>Hence it is very interesting <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-revenue-vs-operating-profit-share-of-top-pc-vendors-2010-3">to see</a> that Apple the maker of cool tech products, has a whopping 35% of the profits made in the PC industry, while it takes only 7% of the share of revenues! Now Apple is also seen as a company that appeals to people's sense of vanity! </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-51786882337533411482010-01-19T22:52:00.007+05:302010-01-23T19:46:13.524+05:30Twenty things in Twenty-o-nine<p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto; line-height:normal"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"; font-family:";color:black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">A New Year is a great occasion to take stock. 2010 marks the beginning of not just a new year, but also a new decade! Wanted to spend a moment to recap the 20 things that worked for me in 2009 and then may be dream 10 things that I aspire to do in the year 2010:</span></span></p> <ol start="1" type="1"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Vipassana: The year started with a great introduction to meditation and a closer introspection at what spirituality means. Was able to do a ten day Vipassana course that I wanted to for some time. The impact has been transformational to say the least. Only thing is I haven’t been able to practice the technique ‘religiously’.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">'The' Himalayas: Since I was a kid, I always wanted to see the Great Himalayas. In September was able to realize the dream and got a peek at the mighty mountain ranges when we made a trek to the Valley of Flowers, Hemkund, Badrinath etc. Have been amazed by the sheer scale of the mountains, the beauty of the ranges and the tranquility there. Few other things I did for the first time were skinny dipping at 15000 ft near Hemkund Sahib, white water rafting in the Alaknanda river and actually jumping into the river midway, jumping off a cliff from 15 feet into the river! What an adventure!<o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Karate, Budokan style: The mind-body fusion and application that martial art calls for is kinda meditative. Signed up for a 3 month intro course - flexibility improved, endurance improved and overall I felt fit. Will pursue this further!<o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Running: The affair with running continued this year too. Ran my second Half Marathon with a better time than the first one. The next event on the calendar is the Auroville HM in February.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Cycling: This was a new one in 2009, and what an amazing ride it has been! The Freedom Ride held in August this year on India’s independence day was the longest, but there were many other short rides done with Hyderabad Bicycling Club and with Thunderbolts (cycling club at my workplace). Occasionally I take the cycle out for the office commute and some errands near home. It feels great and adds up to the environment cause.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Yearend Trek: This year the Christmas long weekend was spent in Pench Tiger Reserve. It is becoming an annual thingie, just like the September trips.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Technology Conclaves: After skipping them in 2008, I found myself attending the TiE ISB CoNNect and NASSCOM Product Conclave. It was nice to see and hear some great technology minds and get to know what’s buzzing in the Tech world. Singular insight: no value gained if you don’t have something to discuss about.</span></span></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Coding: The last few years haven’t seen me do much of coding, something I loved as a teenager (though had no computer then!) and later in college. So when I re-discovered the joy of coding in Python, and a web application framework called Django, it was nirvana again. I hope to develop some useful application during my spare time on weekends.</span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Wii and gaming: As a kid I couldn't convince my parents about buying a home computer in 1989. Those days they had Sinclairs that used the television as a video output device. My parents fear was that I will end up playing video games, and I couldn't convey my passion for programming in BASIC. Later when I took up computers in a big way, I never got into gaming and avoided even stuff like pacman, tetris. This year, the success of Nintendo Wii drew me in, due to its active nature. Have enjoyed the device a lot, and plan to buy a few more titles.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Books – The reading habit has fragmented heavily with the Web/Twitter/Blogs etc, not counting the many magazines and newspapers. With more twitter usage, I found myself using less of Google Reader. If reading a book is like having a full meal, I have moved to eating bite sized snacks. Can’t recall much except 1-2 fiction books like Lashkar and Art of Living (on Vipassana), Go Kiss The World. Hope to read some good books this year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Voting – I feel proud, having voted in the general elections in May and the Municipal (GHMC) elections in November. The least one can do to change the pathetic politics around is to vote. There is huge scope for improvement in enabling people to vote using technology and the internet. It is another matter that politics in the state sunk to its lowest in 2009.</span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";mso-fareast-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Honey I shrunk the commute! – In May, I took a strategic decision to move closer to my work location. This freed up almost two hours per day. The impact on quality of life has been great, helping me fret less and do more!<o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Toddler to Child – My daughter Ritsika is now five years old, and not a toddler anymore! Each stage of a child’s growth is precious and a sheer miracle. At this stage, I look forward to more activities together.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Table Tennis – The only sport on which I did relatively well as a child was TT. An inter-corporate seniors tournament held in December, gave a chance to dust off the racket and get into the game. Learnt from Madhu Kishore, a State level player about some basics which helped me make a Podium finish and also win a community TT event.</span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Golf: My love-hate relationship with golf continues. There were months when I played the game regularly and times when I ignored the game. I love the elegance of the swing, the focus, and the walk in the greenery with like minded folks, but not the huge amount of time it demands. With more colleagues picking up the sport, the new year should see more golfing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Year of Twitter: Blogging has taken a back seat with Tweets taking over! But I am slowly veering to the view that both can co-exist. Writing a blog helps one think clearly and long enough. My Facebook usage has also increased this year as more and more college mates get on the bandwagon.<o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Carnatic music: Always loved the classic compositions by Annamayya and Tyagaraja. So was excited to be part of a hundred thousand people contingent that sang some select compositions of Annamayya. And guess what, this event was recognized as the largest such gathering ever, by the Guinness Book!<o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Hello Ubuntu: While I haven’t yet said good bye Windows, I have switched my home computer to Ubuntu (a Linux version) – use it for email, photos, videos, coding, music etc. I now miss nothing in Windows (except iTunes).<o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5incolor:black;"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif";mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";mso-bidi-Times New Roman"font-family:";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The year marked 11 years of my working career. One thing I learnt from Bagchi’s Kiss the World, one of the few books I finished during the year, was that there is nothing called retirement, leave alone early retirement. This put to rest some romantic notions I had about retiring by 50 etc. Had a fun time thinking about unsettling vs stability and what is the best time to have a reflection on mid-life musings!<o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" color="black" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;line-height:normal;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list .5in"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Well, I have to keep at least one (or more) things to myself!</span></li></ol><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Happy New Year Once Again! Have a blast in Twenty-Ten!</span></div><p></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-57542491393518941122009-12-31T10:56:00.005+05:302009-12-31T11:25:17.396+05:30Whither Brand Hyderabad?The ongoing political crisis in Andhra Pradesh has many wondering what will happen to Brand Hyderabad and all the glitter it has gathered over the last decade. There is concern that if AP is partitioned, then investments will move away. Unrest is already affecting the business mood and the fear is that in future, Maoist violence may increase and weaken the city, or that a partitioned state that still controls it will divert resources to other lesser developed parts.<div><br /></div><div>Telangana has had genuine problems about resource allocation, an exploitative political leadership and self-respect. The jury is out on whether this warrants a partition of India's first state formed on linguistic basis - read <a href="http://www.hindu.com/2009/12/25/stories/2009122555700800.htm">this Hindu editorial</a> for one view. As far as Brand Hyderabad goes, I believe the damage is not irreparable. Urbanization is a mega trend and location wise, Hyderabad taps a massive hinterland. The divisive Telugus may go and serve other metros Madras and Bangalore, like they always did (it was more so before Unification in 1956). But this is clearly not a zero sum game. </div><div><br /></div><div>If a new state capital for Andhra-Rayalseema is created, other metros may benefit, but this will also mean more construction on the new capital, more work leading to an economic boom. The Andhra-Seema folks may work with a vengeance and leverage the huge seacoast they have for the first time. And if the Telangana issue is sorted out without partition, then the Brand will only bounce back stronger. Brand Mumbai has been resilient despite several major terrorist attacks. Brand Delhi remains strong despite turmoil in nearby Af-Pak. Didn't Japan witness a huge ascendance right after the World War II mayhem? So fellas, stay optimistic and hope that the uncertainity soon subsides, giving people like us work to do. The sun shines brighter, once the clouds clear up.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-58058904410409550192009-12-29T22:21:00.006+05:302009-12-29T22:59:23.822+05:30Pench Trip - Croquet, Riverbed Running (4 of 4)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjALXoNMHrQMumPA0gqKSUWOxKwpVGfA3iBGclIqMtUC1cGfYBSnUOTNjGMiWfNuAEKm9OP3CvNjuUq0DVJEy4f1TYmD_KlRm1FXFay6BwPGqBF7lFL-aUPM4Hgl3lMTRp8qE19/s1600-h/IMG_1021.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 231px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjALXoNMHrQMumPA0gqKSUWOxKwpVGfA3iBGclIqMtUC1cGfYBSnUOTNjGMiWfNuAEKm9OP3CvNjuUq0DVJEy4f1TYmD_KlRm1FXFay6BwPGqBF7lFL-aUPM4Hgl3lMTRp8qE19/s320/IMG_1021.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420702519433851282" border="0" /></a>Sunday was our final day at Junglethlon, and that morning after breakfast we played a game of croquet. I had never played this Victorian game before but found it very interesting. Pradeep planted some hoops and sticks on the ground at various places and gave us a wooden mallet and four balls. Each player had to strike the ball through the hoops, hitting others’ balls to get ahead. It felt like a combination of golf (the putting) and billiards (hitting others’ balls).<div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2FenhIAvtmmEi2t4BeQPiK9URays8iNFErY61BVJ2MEJlxD8WF5sSlxMYpMX7W4svUf26GBlAHhbKI3cNpEJCDBXSAuqnA1umADO3v7sT-4-V6Oe_mFpnk75V0s150VlNpt32/s1600-h/IMG_1045.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 165px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2FenhIAvtmmEi2t4BeQPiK9URays8iNFErY61BVJ2MEJlxD8WF5sSlxMYpMX7W4svUf26GBlAHhbKI3cNpEJCDBXSAuqnA1umADO3v7sT-4-V6Oe_mFpnk75V0s150VlNpt32/s320/IMG_1045.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420702524551254562" border="0" /></a></div><div><br />After croquet, the final event of Junglethlon was river bed running. We trekked a bit to get to the river and then ran some 6 to 8 kms. Parts of the river were very scenic. I found a few trees in the dry riverbed that had massive bulbous roots, trunks and even branches making them look like they were made of potatoes!<br /><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI99faKvecMixq7l5q9rpgL4ruvFWCVeJdM91bFJK3BsWNHSAelOSf6BzARwmp6RljTmzb2A6PsOWu4nWo8LevlLQ_qLtMFEfV38Lun_FHYJLg9qPADevq2d5g7DJx-SF5sMte/s1600-h/IMG_1057.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI99faKvecMixq7l5q9rpgL4ruvFWCVeJdM91bFJK3BsWNHSAelOSf6BzARwmp6RljTmzb2A6PsOWu4nWo8LevlLQ_qLtMFEfV38Lun_FHYJLg9qPADevq2d5g7DJx-SF5sMte/s320/IMG_1057.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420702525992946194" border="0" /></a>Finally the time to disperse had come, and after the last meal together, the team left for Nagpur. On the way Pradeep showed us one of the schools that he supports and explained about the Pench Rakshak program. The work they do at the grassroots level in community support and education is amazing! We reached Nagpur railway station just in time, and said our goodbyes capping off a wonderful trip.</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-20712471673414121432009-12-29T22:15:00.006+05:302009-12-29T22:58:51.877+05:30Pench Trip - Safari & Fire Making (3 of 4)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAoeTUELhrox6wzuZ8ay9PqeMVDVbibZvEuKqzKPILAjkZzn-zOOaKyvCSejbrbS_N9iIBI8fm1KOGVnaUq_dWzJFFa0Rk1z-SNEKChh25ZGojbfGgFTDzNB0E0vcg0ai0toab/s1600-h/IMG_0884.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 204px; height: 153px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAoeTUELhrox6wzuZ8ay9PqeMVDVbibZvEuKqzKPILAjkZzn-zOOaKyvCSejbrbS_N9iIBI8fm1KOGVnaUq_dWzJFFa0Rk1z-SNEKChh25ZGojbfGgFTDzNB0E0vcg0ai0toab/s320/IMG_0884.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420701464578554626" border="0" /></a><br />We rose early, not to miss our appointment with Mr Sher Khan in the Pench forest. Rudyard Kipling spent his time in this forest and this is where he wrote the famous Jungle Book. Having read this story to my daughter several times I was all familiar with Bagheera, Baloo, Mowgli, Kaa and others – the area is full of their pictures on various signboards.<div><br /></div><div>Once the red tape at the forest office was done with by Pradeep, we set forth in our gypsy into the forest. We were assigned a guide, despite his efforts the tiger was not traceable. We saw the tiger’s pugmarks though, and se<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt77Cmq-N4G8IB3gW09rEIKRsV8IiohCrlRmG7y61LUZZKFdJhawpJiy1pWfgFDMHVKWBvksRfhXKhhLb9hUQFNqulLWynriStI4knNvR3eZTJ3GQ_gau06r9CsJffdvQckTm-/s1600-h/IMG_0865.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 197px; height: 147px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt77Cmq-N4G8IB3gW09rEIKRsV8IiohCrlRmG7y61LUZZKFdJhawpJiy1pWfgFDMHVKWBvksRfhXKhhLb9hUQFNqulLWynriStI4knNvR3eZTJ3GQ_gau06r9CsJffdvQckTm-/s320/IMG_0865.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420701464222758834" border="0" /></a>veral game like Cheetal (a deer), Sambar (another Deer), Nilgai (an antelope), Warthog, Peacock etc. At Alikatta, we enquired about the ‘Tiger Show’ in which tigers are arranged to be ‘sighted’ on elephant back parties. The wait was long and the group was not keen on the ‘arrangement’ though I was not so sure. We moved on, and more of the same sightings followed till we exited the sanctuary, and got back to another sumptuous breakfast of puri-bhaji, poha and omelettes.</div><div><br /></div><div>Major Pradeep wouldn’t have us rest, and the next task given to us was to light a fire. It again may sound simple, but the effort proved humongous (if you have seen Tom Hanks do it in the movie Castaway). Getting the tinder <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSB3JjxLytjqhhHYm9Nlcl8sa13ELVFvE3rs9B8QLxJVr2hZqGbsJ7QJazsqdv5e-TGcARCM4EO5bvlI9H8_l2QnJfJF84orhH3fCCa5iPJLh6qtNAqQ30XK81iM25SRqsXXub/s1600-h/IMG_0898.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 215px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSB3JjxLytjqhhHYm9Nlcl8sa13ELVFvE3rs9B8QLxJVr2hZqGbsJ7QJazsqdv5e-TGcARCM4EO5bvlI9H8_l2QnJfJF84orhH3fCCa5iPJLh6qtNAqQ30XK81iM25SRqsXXub/s320/IMG_0898.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420701474855763138" border="0" /></a>to light up in itself is tough and takes a long time rubbing wood against wood. We tried using a magnifying lens and a paper (a shortcut actually) but even that failed! The lens would burn a hole into the paper but it wouldn’t light up! Meanwhile our eyes were so strained that they almost popped out of the sockets. Though we finally used a match, a major lesson was learnt in putting together tinder, twigs, air (yes, Oxygen), sticks and logs into a fire-friendly arrangement.</div><div><br /></div><div>Post lunch we went back to the night shelter task, cleared the floor of the large tent, erected the central pole that anchored the parachute, secured<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYyzCeCuSIQ7EmP7zBxXUdqniB_I9Pea-gM27KckN79iQxCQ_OaIC4EDVtFqzy9pD8hkiLjmWydtpcazXccreonB0FkKEXcJXIlLiNTxQjtqHJpa4_ng0aGI3gDwkgBLRYhAAy/s1600-h/IMG_0910.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 211px; height: 158px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYyzCeCuSIQ7EmP7zBxXUdqniB_I9Pea-gM27KckN79iQxCQ_OaIC4EDVtFqzy9pD8hkiLjmWydtpcazXccreonB0FkKEXcJXIlLiNTxQjtqHJpa4_ng0aGI3gDwkgBLRYhAAy/s320/IMG_0910.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420701477524358098" border="0" /></a> the parachute ropes to nearby trees. Srikanth and I deployed our fire skills in creating a fire place, a hole in the ground where the fire would burn through the night keeping us warm and the stories coming.</div><div> </div><div>The next venture was to get into the jungle, walk around a bit, and then figure out how to get back. Before that we climbed a 25 feet tall water tank that gave a view of the jungle nearby. After walking around the jungle a bit, we used the sun’s position in the sky to determine which direction to return. We also learnt that at night, the crest of the moon always points west and on a full moon night, the ears of the bunny on the moon always point south.</div><div><br /></div><div>Towards the evening, Srikanth, Manu and self took the cycles and headed to the check dam passing a few villages. It was a 6km each way ride, and was uneventful except for the spectacular fall I had. On the way back, I had gotten off road and was maneuvering my roadster back onto the road. While negotiating the sharp left, the handlebar reversed itself, abruptly stopping the cycle and sending me flying into the air. I fell on my bums, and then rolled over with barely a scratch. Had I resisted the fall injury would have been certain, I was happy that the fall was gracefully done.<br /><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIz1Mvgc1gT86W253psoKFSX1Kh-1GbKo9NLLKSOZ11lmaqtwee_Z-nL_xrAg1MARMt6aZlIustyslaegkqb-dRSEi1h429NvqlpcVFm7_-rJ7Fiy62ZDmynw7-p-BMWiWXoed/s1600-h/IMG_0983.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 198px; height: 148px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIz1Mvgc1gT86W253psoKFSX1Kh-1GbKo9NLLKSOZ11lmaqtwee_Z-nL_xrAg1MARMt6aZlIustyslaegkqb-dRSEi1h429NvqlpcVFm7_-rJ7Fiy62ZDmynw7-p-BMWiWXoed/s320/IMG_0983.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420701488025798610" border="0" /></a></div><div>The night was spent in the shelter we created, eating good food and listening to all kinds of stories. We also split into three shifts of two hours each for tending the fire. Pradeep later called up to say that the resort manager liked the shelter so much, that he planned to retain it.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://rampost.blogspot.com/2009/12/pench-trip-day-4-wrap-up.html">Click here for the final part of the travelog</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-32209803545671394192009-12-29T21:59:00.007+05:302009-12-29T22:58:04.849+05:30Pench Trip - Building Machan (2 of 4)The next day morning we visited Ramdham, a religious theme park on the Nagpur – Jabalpur highway. We had some time before the Junglethlon party picked us up at 11am. Major Pradeep Rao, Manu, Avni and Shrey welcomed us to the gypsy. It was a bit disappointing to see only four registrants though the Facebook page showed upto 33 people. The ‘extreme’ edition was scrapped as well – not that I was up for it (had a right calf muscle cramp and<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLGIGvolJZOYZtKq6TyGDLZgPPc0bAOfNxUseL2PbWD3OsDNLJ8Pl967hDJoZ0kBN1_-AK0vojenctxvyW5U_kyjQXoVHtkd8cxhbwOuZP3UY9fuMuQKLKhL0fnXc8-yvmSNRf/s1600-h/IMG_0782.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLGIGvolJZOYZtKq6TyGDLZgPPc0bAOfNxUseL2PbWD3OsDNLJ8Pl967hDJoZ0kBN1_-AK0vojenctxvyW5U_kyjQXoVHtkd8cxhbwOuZP3UY9fuMuQKLKhL0fnXc8-yvmSNRf/s320/IMG_0782.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420699726531220818" border="0" /></a> a left ankle-tendon pain). Nevertheless the drive to Pench was good – nice road and even nicer weather.<div><br /></div><div>We stopped at Khawasa on the highway – Pradeep, Srikanth and I picked up roadster bicycles from Jaleel’s cycle shop. We cycled the 12kms to the Tiger-N-Woods camp located on the edge of the Pench Tiger Reserve. We were in the forest buffer zone and the ride was good. It helped ease up my calf muscle – cramps need massage and what better than a nice cycle ride? We passed Turia village and some Gond habitats before reaching the venue. En route, Pradeep pointed to a bad patch on the road saying he almost jackknifed into the ditch there – I rode carefully. My bicycle fall would happen later, on another ride.</div><div> </div><div>At the venue, we had a quick ‘breakfast’ past noon – once again puri bhaji, and quickly got down to work. Our first task was to build a machaan on which six of us would spend the night. Pradeep showed us one with stilts in a nearby field, and another one on a tree without stilts. It all looked simple, but as we got down to finalizing the spot and identifying raw material, the complexity d<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4vxY3NOiFUgT_-IK3Yk8Nrm7cPw7yPyRnSOYXjsNOKEPkPc-XkE97_3FvCucerfq_eJFDHR8wGMovqoVLq3WZyStIbmH2wwxkblJaRlwx_1BGvT-LxqaaEWqFvQVC2gLoyW0Q/s1600-h/IMG_0774.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4vxY3NOiFUgT_-IK3Yk8Nrm7cPw7yPyRnSOYXjsNOKEPkPc-XkE97_3FvCucerfq_eJFDHR8wGMovqoVLq3WZyStIbmH2wwxkblJaRlwx_1BGvT-LxqaaEWqFvQVC2gLoyW0Q/s320/IMG_0774.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420699716769124258" border="0" /></a>awned on us. Should we leverage a clump of trees as stilts? Or do we build ground up? Can we strengthen the tree machaan if there is space for six? As we resolved these questions precious time sped by. We finally decided to use a parachute as canopy and built six stretcher type beds on stilts.</div><div><br /></div><div>I had never wielded an axe before, but quickly learnt how to - find a foot rest for the left leg, bend at the waist but keep the rest of the back straight, swing fully and <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFRBbyix1K7ZIdi14o1jF3frj1w_OpnrmNjUl6X-XyrKcnOQ_iCC4n2PAKrfN_CUe8SHe9ywAU7XhWGouoHASMShg8aJ8bUtpLgzq2kILekf7uWSJ4O-gBXx6ViRCKD8wFVOr/s1600-h/IMG_0792.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 204px; height: 153px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEFRBbyix1K7ZIdi14o1jF3frj1w_OpnrmNjUl6X-XyrKcnOQ_iCC4n2PAKrfN_CUe8SHe9ywAU7XhWGouoHASMShg8aJ8bUtpLgzq2kILekf7uWSJ4O-gBXx6ViRCKD8wFVOr/s320/IMG_0792.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420699736269099666" border="0" /></a>carefully hitting the wood into a V pattern. After some serious log cutting, I was a happy camper. Soon it was dark and we realized the stilts were not happening on time. The night-shelter task was abandoned only to be taken up the next day.</div><div><br /></div><div>We sat around a bon fire having good food and even better banter. We<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwN7RNSIjmQQC1BqCYx1-UbSg8CWREXI6GlCZSR4F-lgUL6jNn8VMXgD8fthox9MRexgcCpt1DwCveL81LfDFkYxJDESi3dLaGVo-UqKvcVsX1arD9cjMlWc88MwkgDBITrH7M/s1600-h/IMG_0801.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 209px; height: 157px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwN7RNSIjmQQC1BqCYx1-UbSg8CWREXI6GlCZSR4F-lgUL6jNn8VMXgD8fthox9MRexgcCpt1DwCveL81LfDFkYxJDESi3dLaGVo-UqKvcVsX1arD9cjMlWc88MwkgDBITrH7M/s320/IMG_0801.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5420699738049676594" border="0" /></a> spent the night in machaan style double bedrooms that were elegant to say the least – wide balcony looking out into thick jungle, well appointed bathrooms, large bed etc. Now Srikanth was serious about the challenge and spent the night in his sleeping bag, going to the real machaan near our camp site. Sincerity is his forte!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://rampost.blogspot.com/2009/12/pench-trip-day-3-safari.html">Click here for more on Day 3 of the trip</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-49284305482197705242009-12-29T21:56:00.005+05:302009-12-29T22:57:23.277+05:30Pench Trip - Ramtek (1 of 4)<div>Srikanth, my colleague at work and i headed out of Hyderabad on the night before Christmas eve. Luckily we missed the Telangana trouble brewing in the city just as the Home Minister made an announcement that triggered protests. We took the Dakshin express train to Nagpur and reached the next morning.</div><div><br /></div><div>From Nagpur we headed to Pench on a red bus. Only that the Pench we first reached (via Parsheoni, where we took a jeep) was in Maharashtra, and the other end of the Pench tiger reserve. Animated discussions with locals helped us convert this failure into a success – we were very close to Ramtek and decided to spend the night there (at a far lesser cost than Pench!).</div><div><br /></div><div>Ramtek has a lovely temple dedicated to Lord Ram situated on top of a steep hill. After checking into the Ramagiri lodge at the foothill, we climbed up the steep steps. It was only Srikanth, me and several langurs (monkeys) which seemed to have a free run there. There are three temples in a sequence located within a fort on the hill top. The architecture appeared to be a mix of North Indian style temple domes built on Hoysala style platforms. The serene atmosphere and the spiritual bearing of the langurs enhanced the winter breeze we were enjoying. No wonder, Lord Rama rested here before heading south to vanquish Ravana. And no wonder, Kalidasa sat on these very hills, composing the wonderful Meghadūta.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://rampost.blogspot.com/2009/12/pench-trip-day-2-ramtek.html">Click here for more on Day 2 of the Pench Trip</a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-43680817933805763702009-12-29T20:55:00.006+05:302009-12-30T18:25:06.416+05:30The Pench Trip<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">It was a trip that was made in the usual year end tradition that I am developing now. Go out into the wilderness, commune with nature and challenge oneself with a trek in the second half of a December. The trigger this year is a reflection of how the internet is impacting us - I found the event and the organisers on Facebook! The destination was Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh (MP) and the event Junglethlon.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">In the following travelog posts, i will provide more details on what transpired each day.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><ul><li><u><b><a href="http://rampost.blogspot.com/2009/12/pench-trip-day-1-ramtek.html">Day 1 – Ramtek</a></b></u></li><li><u><b><a href="http://rampost.blogspot.com/2009/12/pench-trip-day-2-ramtek.html">Day 2 - Junglethlon Begins, Machan making</a></b></u></li><li><u><b><a href="http://rampost.blogspot.com/2009/12/pench-trip-day-3-safari.html">Day 3 - Safari, Fire making, Cycling</a></b></u></li><li><u><b><a href="http://rampost.blogspot.com/2009/12/pench-trip-day-4-wrap-up.html">Day 4 - River bed running, Wrap up</a></b></u></li></ul><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="http://srikanthperinkulam.com/blog/2009/12/the-junglethlon/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Click onto Srikanth's blog for a more detailed (and better) account</span></a></span></div><p></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-62194053733472433212009-08-30T10:35:00.006+05:302009-09-01T00:33:11.216+05:30The Second Half MarathonHyderabad had its 2009 edition of Half & Full Marathon events today. And it was the occasion for me to complete my second half marathon. A decision to go for it was taken just two weeks back, in the euphoria after the Freedom Ride on Aug 15<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span>. It was much like cramming for an exam overnight, and the preparation was not fully adequate. In terms of long runs, I could do one 10k run and another 9k. I was not sure of the 'how' but blindly went for it.<br /><br />A big bummer was that i took the '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">carb</span> loading' thing too seriously. I must have overate yesterday and when I got up this morning, realized the tummy was not feeling right . Things could have gone worse, but i managed the run at a sedate pace and refrained from eating much (contrary to what is advised). The foot injury sustained in a charged-up Karate class was not helping much either. Overall I managed to still shave eleven minutes from my previous HM and clocked 2:27:38. I hope to improve this with better prep next time around.<br /><br />I must thank the Hyderabad Runners group for the encouragement and guidance without which i could not have imagined running these kinds of distances. In my later teenage years i had sustained major shin injuries and any kind of running was fully out of question. The group led by the highly motivated Rajesh Vetcha, Satish Mandalika, Devyani Halder, VV Prasad, Vasu (vnug), Anirudh Pandey, Divya and many more, is a great example of excellence combined with humility.<br /><br />The event itself is becoming more and more popular. This year there were several people from Kenya (where else, of course!), USA, South Africa etc. Several old men were <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">running</span> briskly easily beating people forty years younger to them! Many ladies and girls were also doing very well. Overall the run was well organized with lots of volunteers . Special mention to <a href="http://www.riyaz.in/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Riyaz</span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"></span></a>, <a href="http://www.srikanthperinkulam.com/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Srikanth</span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"></span></a> who biked down from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Habsiguda</span> to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Hitex</span>, Sumanth who biked from Yousufguda, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Deepthi</span> who travelling from Fatehnagar and stayed at a hostel overnight, many more from my workplace. Let's hope this run gets a much bigger crowd next year.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-17513452641743658152009-07-23T22:16:00.005+05:302009-08-08T23:17:25.911+05:30More updates (Tweets) than posts (Blogs)I can't deny the fact that over the last few weeks the frequency of posts on this blog have decrease. Now, the tweets - that's another story - they are on the rise and just today i noticed that i tweeted almost six times in a day! Micro-blogging aka Tweeting has caught on, and i am hooked too! It is much easier to share a tweet about a thought, a feeling, a reaction, a mood, an amazing experience - instantaneously. To post to the blog on a topic, one has to collect one's thoughts, wait for that moment when there appears to be enough time, and then type out the words - too much work!<br /><br />Tweets on the other hand, demand neither preparation nor perfection. You can tweet any time (the phone is always there), and there is no edit - once out, it is out; unless it is so bad that you have to delete it (you are allowed to!). There is a sublime beauty in the 140 character limit!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-55590163099748787852009-06-27T21:59:00.007+05:302009-06-28T22:35:19.976+05:30Part of a Guinness Record!Last month, i was fortunate to be part of a an extra ordinary <a href="http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2009051156330200.htm&date=2009/05/11/&prd=th&">event</a> organized by Silicon <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Andhra</span>, an event that pulled in a hundred sixty thousand people to sing the popular songs of a sixteenth century poet-saint <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Annamayya</span>, on his 601st birthday. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annamacharya"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Annamayya</span></a> occupies a unique place in Telugu history and literature - he had composed 32,000 songs devoted to <a href="http://www.tirumala.org/">Lord <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Venkateswara</span></a> (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Balaji</span>). Each of these songs is a gem, and i had the good fortune of growing up listening to the LP records of MS <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Subbu</span> Lakshmi singing them in her mesmerising voice. One of the most unforgettable experiences of my life was her live concert in 1994 (just the night before i had a big exam).<br /><br />Now the artist/singing fraternity is fairly politicized (which fraternity is not?) and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">fragmented</span>. However it was impressive to see many of them come together onto one platform and pull off this event. There was a grassroots movement too, by people in many villages, towns, schools and corporates to learn the songs. Since some Good <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Samaritans</span> at my work place (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Rambabu</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Kaipa</span> - a CSR champion, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Srinivas</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Prabhala</span> - an accomplished artist) took the lead, it was easy for me to venture slightly beyond bathroom singing. On the big day, my eighty year old grand mother and I made it to the venue, amongst the milling crowds and savoured the occasion. There was a spring in my grandma's step despite a nagging knee injury, and she handled the crowds like a charm! The only thing amiss was the real sound of 160k voices which was drowned out by the blaring loudspeakers relaying the artists on stage (G <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Balakrishna</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">Prasad</span> and his son).<br /><br />The event clearly brought out, the deep hunger people have to learn and enjoy Telugu classical music. Hope music in the state get a big boost with this Guinness record making event!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-35577980073637537942009-06-09T21:31:00.004+05:302009-06-09T22:12:21.259+05:30The Last Eleven YearsYesterday I completed eleven years of my work life. I have evolved a lot as an individual, yet in many ways I still remain the same 'old guy'. Incidentally over the last weekend, two of my companions on a long bike ride were trying to guess my age!<br /><br />What caught my eye on the first day of the twelfth year, was <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mag/2009/06/07/stories/2009060750100300.htm">this article</a> by Ramachandra Guha on his reflections about the India of the last eleven years! He talks about how India is experimenting on various dimensions all at once - nationalistic, democratic, industrial, urban and social. I somehow remain utterly optimistic about how this evolution will culminate!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-9739378625688308702009-05-02T07:08:00.002+05:302009-05-02T07:23:54.738+05:30"Lashkar" by Mukul DevaIt has been a while since i read fiction, and <a href="http://www.mukuldeva.com/">Mukul Deva</a>'s <a href="http://mukuldeva.com/lashkar.html">Lashkar</a> proved to be a wonderful resumption point. Lashkar is a fast paced and gripping thriller, with a plot based on terrorism and Pakistan. Mukul goes to the heart of the matter touching both how terrorism impacts people at a personal level, and how it needs to be tackled. Took me most of a Saturday to run through it, and be amazed at the fact pace of it.<br /><br />I grew up reading a lot of war fiction by Alistair McLean, Desmond Bagley, Robert Ludlum, Frederick Forsyth etc. Mukul's military thrillers are clearly in this genre and he easily ranks well in this peer group. Strongly recommend!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-92111615970533930032009-05-01T09:54:00.005+05:302009-05-01T10:50:30.971+05:30"Indians Deserve Their Politicians"<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Atanu</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Dey</span> <a href="http://www.deeshaa.org/2009/04/28/just-deserts-india-deserves-the-congress/">quotes</a> this <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c8524754-29f4-11de-9d01-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1">Financial Times article</a>, and sums up that the Indian people deserve the Congress. An auto walla told me something similar yesterday evening. I was taking an auto rickshaw from Secretariat to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Domalguda</span>, hardly 1.5 km distance. Most auto wallas either do not come, or demand Rs 20-30 (way above the usual minimum fare of Rs 12).<br /><br />This man was an exception, he smiled, and even politely enquired me about the elections. I told him about <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Loksatta</span> the new party, and how it could win a few seats in Hyderabad. He nodded saying, "Well there are few educated people who will vote for them, especially in the Jubilee Hills constituency". When I suggested most other politicians are crooks, this young man (all of twenty years) concurred but added, "It is the Indian public that is to blame, we vote for them after taking money, we accept their <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">biryani</span> feasts and liquor packets and vote for them. We deserve their rule as we break the rules of civic engagement. We are the bigger thieves!". "Why, the other auto wallas demand Rs 20 for the same ride, isn't that too thievery?", he asked.<br /><br />I came home feeling good about meeting one man with clarity of thought. He aptly summarised, what took an <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Games-Indians-Play-Why-Are/dp/0670999407">IIM professor a full book</a>.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28330687.post-37566978712324302012009-05-01T08:16:00.008+05:302009-05-02T07:11:14.419+05:30"Terrorism in India" & 'Secular' Bogeys<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Rediff</span> published an article titled <span class="f22">'<a href="http://election.rediff.com/report/2009/apr/30/loksabhapoll-terrorism-started-because-of-bjp.htm">Terrorism started because of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">BJP</span></a>'</span> and links it to 26/11 <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Mumbai</span> attacks. I am not a die-hard political supporter of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">BJP</span>, but still find this article absolutely inane, because it confuses the real reasons behind the rise of terrorism.<br /><br />Global terrorism traces back to the Cold War political tussle between USA and USSR, when the latter invaded Afghanistan. The US cynically exploited religion to defeat the Soviets, by funding terrorists and the Pakistan Army (which got radicalised thanks to General Zia and created the Taliban). Pakistan has been using both the funding (very cleverly procured and blackmailed, it is now clearly an art) and the terrorists as a weapon against India (since it has no other <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Raison</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">d'être</span>), leading to attacks such as 26/11. Now this Frankenstein monster is turning against Pakistan and threatens to destabilise the South Asia region. Destabilising effects will likely be more terrorist attacks in India and deeper trouble in Kashmir, as these terrorists and some Pakistani Army elements sort out their immediate issues and refocus on India.<br /><br />It is ridiculous to see this desperate search for Indian 'equivalents' for the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">AfPak</span> terrorism patterns, and blame them as the causes, all just to sound more 'secular'.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12538518996071222376noreply@blogger.com0