Life as we go along!!!

Passion called photography

2011-03-02T23:47:00.005+05:30

Moon - on a full moon night, rather morning just before sunrise.

Sunrise, the same day, from our balcony.

knots...knots...or is it life....

critical balance.....

merging to the center....

Crescent moon, lighting up the background...Jaipur...

little ones...playing...in their own world...

:-)

charmed.....

Light and sound show at Old Fort, Delhi

2011-02-23T13:21:00.007+05:30

We had been knowing about the Light and Sound show on the old fort for last few weeks. Finally, we got an opportunity to visit it one afternoon in 3rd week of Feb' 2011.

It is fantastic show with lot of information. Rather than going to the ubiquitous Shopping Mall, go to this show an evening.

Going towards the newly decked up amphitheater in the old fort. They have kept the old world charm completely.

Show was named aptly as "Ishq-e-Dilli". For people who have been in love of Delhi for last thousands of years.

The story talked about the many layers of coties that have built upon here. Since the Indraprastha and Mahabharat times to the latest ones.

The famous "Chaurus" playing scene.

The most ridiculed, Chir haran scene

The chakravyuh...

The different dynarties including a complete saga of Mughal rule on India.

Red fort on old fort.

The 1857 Gadar.

Heroes of the Gadar.

Union Jack

Queen Elizabeth!

Pillars of independence.

The tri-colours....

Hey Ram.

Cheers....

Full Moon Morning

2011-02-22T13:31:00.003+05:30

It was on 19th Feb 2011, early morning. Last night was full moon night and today in the morning, Sun wasn't yet up and Moon was yet to set.

I captured these before 6 am in the morning.

National Zoo Delhi on Gandhi Jayanti, 30-Jan-2011

2011-01-31T16:10:00.015+05:30

Vacation---pure bliss

2010-12-13T18:32:00.000+05:30

Vacation : Leisure time away from work devoted to rest or pleasure

Ah, I understood and felt the meaning of vacation for the first time, for real.

To start from the start....

We had been planning for long for a long trip, actually driving holiday. And in fact I had been dreaming of it for long now. These small Chandigarh, Jaipur trips are making me a highway driver, no fun in drives anymore.

My plan was to go towards Kinnaur and further Spiti during the Christmas and New Year holidays. I had already applied and got approved my leaves and so, I had from 25th Dec to 3rd Jan '2010. Total of 10 days. A lot of suggestions from the travel fraternity and the suspicious looks from my own family were making it clear, that Spiti was not to be, at least this time.

Again, the rest of the gang was also interested, when I had just mentioned the plan around 2 months ago. Fellas were serious and asli maja SAB key saath aata hai. And this time, out of five people working of the six adults, all five were in a situation of holiday and taken leave for those 10 days. That was an unbelievable
situation , so we had to be going together, all of us.

It was decided, we have to make this a vacation, rather than a touch and go, covered all points, typical holiday. And it turned out to be like that this time.

We were three families, each one typical nuclear family, 1+1 and a little one. All three kiddos between 6 to 7.5 years of age. All of us met on a get together 15 days before the start day. I was trying to pursue that we all go in our friend owned Innova, all in one. The Innova owner wasn't agreeing to this at all. She was adamant that this isn't a good idea. No avail, and finally we decided upon two vehicles to be taken.

An Innova and an Ikon.

I had to rush to get the Ikon serviced and get ready for the hills, I knew it is not good to go to service station around month end before a vacation for your credit card, but it had to be.

The plan as it looked like : The prime goal of this trip was to make a snowman. Kids had to make one, play in snow. We are three families, so started thinking about taking a cottage in the outskirts of Manali. Got talking to one Sharmaji from Special Tours (http://www.specialtoursindia.com/). He told us about a new property they had, the Pine Wood Cottages and gave us a good rate. The cottage had a care taker and a cook there itself. A little expensive, but what to do, we were going there from Christmas to New Year, and they jack up the rates by more than double during the time.

But with the experience of going to Manali, recently ( in Oct'09), in a direct Volve, we were determined not to to go to Manali straight. Looking for a midway break, I could see a place in the hptdc website showing availability of 3 rooms, just a small diversion from our route, REWALSAR. I read about it and thought, this is it. The hptdc Tourist Inn read like good, affordable and less than 150 kms from Manali for the next day.

So that is it, the rooms were booked online and customer IDs stored, for further use. :-). Also remitted some money as advance to Sharmaji, net banking has made life
such easy, isn't?

A few days into the plan and we made all the lists as well. Of the things to carry. One going to canteen to procure all
the liquor that we are going to need on this trip. Me going for all the snacks that we might need on this trip and one for
all the ration that we might need on this trip. One person preparing and taking all the necessary things for games that
we were to play there, what kids would be playing etc.

The D-day came, we had planned to start at 3 am, to avoid the early morning rush on NH 1. I slept early the night before
and my better half was left with a lot of packing. She did it till late.

Day 1: 25th Dec 2009, 3:05 am

Trrring trrring...the phone ring woke me up. Jappi on the other side was saying, abbey uthh jaa.... Jumping from my bed,
I saw, its 3:05 am.

No problem. All izz well.

Started lugging the luggage in the boot. Ah, there is so much of it. Am glad, we didn't take only Innova. I thanked our friend Geeta on not letting us decide upon the one vehicle plan. The luggage was huge and we we packed and jacked all,
and started towards Jappi's place. All were already waiting there.

Adjusted the remaining luggage and the passengers were distributed. Me and my wife as driver and co-passenger in the Ikon and all three kids as the rear seat passengers. The other four adults comfortably sitting in the Innova. This became
the de-facto arrangement for the rest of the trip, and we enjoyed it upto the brim. Never a dull moment with so many holiday mood kids around. And the kids used to listen, when I would tell them anything, or threaten them, ha ha.

So, all set, we fill up petrol, check air pressure, trip meter set to zeroand start around 5 am from Delhi towards NH 1.
The route was comfortable, but as usual dvindling between fog and no fog zones, the progress was slow. Kids also slept in some time and we kept on cruising smoothly and slowly. The first break around 8 am, at the famous dhabas near Karnal.
I will splash the name as soon as I remember. After an hour almost, we start from their, everybody charged up again with tummies full and freshened up, hey hey.

Just around half hour into the drive again, we receive a phone call, from the vehicle ahead. They tell us about a fog zone starting soon and to drive slow. And we hit a blatant fog zone, and nothing is visible at all. Just like that it sprang
in the front and the cars came from 80-90 to 20 suddenly. Ah, that was real bad. Kept on driving slowly behind one or the other vehicle. Everyone had their blinkers on. And some people were still overtaking. Phew....

Another call, a trail of 5 cars is hit and is standing on the left, in invisible situation, do not be on the left side. OK. We kept on driving like that, but I got tired in half hour. And we again pulled into the Kingfisher Resort at the Cdg Patiala junction just out of Ambala. Stayed there for the next 40 minutes or so. A little sun light started coming out and the fog was receding now. Time to saddle up again now. its already around 11 am and we have a lot to cover. Only at 200 kms in the trip right now and another 250 to go. Its going to be a tough driving day.

Then, I took the right turn from Zirakpur and we went through Pinjaur, Baddi, Nalagarh etc and the rest of the route. The route wasn't very good actually. We kept on moving ahead slowly, kept on driving till the afternoon and only stopped at Swarghat HPTDC hotel for the lunch. And you would not believe, people in Innova were already tired of the travel. Ah, I know the rest of the journey is going to
be difficult. Plus there are UN-known s. Innova had stopped for lunch at Hotel Hill Top, Swarghat. We reached there well before 2:30 pm. But, the poor service made sure the waiter doesn't get any tip and that we do not leave before 4 pm from there.

Now we were also trying to find out from people, how far actually our destination for the day Rewalsar, still is. As of now, it is still 110 kms, aahh.

I already had a print out, from google to turn left from Ner Chowk. It lies after Sundernagar and before Mandi. By the time we cross Sundernagar, it is getting dark already. Now we would be taking the sub route , from Ner Chowk, and I really have no idea how the route is going to be.

Its pitch dark now, but the adept traffic cops are smoothly handling traffic on the hills. They guide us towards the Ner chowk and the turn we have to take. We were ahead now, so we take the turn, inform the other car about the turn and wait there, till they arrive.

Soon they came upon, the shouting and blaring voices of females from the back seat could be heard till around a hundred meters. "This is not fair. What kind of a journey it is. It is too far. Why couldn't we stay at Swarghat itself. etc etc.."

Ah, I know it is tough to drive in this terrain, especially seeing the rough weather in the other car, the guys in that car must be driving with passion. Ha ha ....But this is all what puts the icing on the cake.

The road from Ner Chowk to the Rewalsar Tourist Inn, was just awesome, out of the world. Around 20 kms, in pitch dark, in the single lane, surreptitiously increasing height with sometimes sudden height bumps. The less used roads, are like what in hills, I hope you have some idea. Well, after that almost an hour and half of hair raising experience, driving on those roads, kids bellowing in the back seat with enjoyment and fun. They had had quiet a good sleep after lunch at Swarghat and were having the most of the day now.

I was driving continuously, less need to give any horns, as the oncoming light provides an idea about an approaching vehicle. Also, I was having thoughts, how would be the weather in the other car. This was the most fun thing at that time for me.

Although I know, it was definitely a tough route and for beginners, it was too much for the first day. Although, we were still inside our budget of around 450 kms for the first day, but the terrain, darkness and traffic crossings had made the mind haywire for some. Especially those, who want to know every fifteen minutes, how much of journey is left actually. I had initially hinted that the drive of around 450 kms, could be done by 4 pm if we start early at 3 am from Delhi. We were still in budget for kilometers but not with time. Although we did stay a lot in between, spent the time at midways joints, but we forget about that time and just think that it is 6:30 pm right now, pitch dark hill road, and we do not know how much of it is still left.

Anyways, for me, that drive was the most refreshing part in the whole day. Don't know why, but I was fresh and charged up like anything after 460+ kms under the belt for the single day, whoofh...

The rest of it was the usual conundrum, ha, the rooms allotted, check in, milk for kids, tea for adults, glasses and soda for alcoholics. And gup shup for the evening. It was heavily chilly and we could feel the difference.

Weather was heavy inside as well, ha ha, but only for a few more hours. Let the sun shine.

Couple of glasses in, dinner ready for grabs and we finished it up quickly. A small night stroll, checking out the surroundings, it had a wonderful small town feeling in the eerie hour of the night.

That was almost it for the day. Ha, long day it was. And no photos for the day, can you believe it.

Borrowed a few photos for the day, from Jappi, splashed below :

- A stretch break en route.

This is how kids were riding in the car, for most of the time.

Kingfisher Resorts near Ambala

Finally in peace, Merry Christmas- at Tourist Inn, Rewalsar.

Bliss...continues

2010-12-12T22:13:00.000+05:30

We had light vodka before settling in for the night. That was a must to brave the chill. Kids enthusiasm wasn't coming down till midnight. They had setup a Christmas tree and all of us with the Santa caps. Too good a time it was. Post all that fun and frolic, a straight drive of more than 460 kms, it was a tight sleep indeed.

Bham....Bham.....Bham.....Bham.....

Somebody slamming the door, early in the morning. What happened dude??? "Abbey saaly bahar to aa" said Jappi....and I could hear various voices from outside. Hurriedly, I just opened the curtain from the rooms window. The look outside was magnificent and larger than life.

In all the literature, I had read about Rewalsar, I never had gotten this idea about such a beautiful Padmasambhava sitting at a hill top.

Kids were also up and playing in the hotel compound area. Admiring the beauty of the colorful Guru Rinpoche, as they say.

A zoomed out view of the Padasambhava, showing all "bhav-bhangimayein".

We quickly freshened up and went out for a stroll. It had such a small town feeling and beautiful early morning character.

The town's population as per the last census is 1369, unbelievable, isn't. There are more people than that in single towers in Indirapuram, hey hey. After a refreshing tea at the local tea stall near Revalsar lake, we were ready for the day. We decided to get ready soon and then go to meet the legend of Padmasambhava over the hill top. Jappi still went further exploring the monasteries by the side of the lake while we went back to hotel to get ready.

Based on the dinner we had at the Tourist Inn, we decided to skip the breakfast there. We would rather have it on some road side dhaba en route.

The drive to the hill top was exciting, due to the steep incline it had and the views from the top...priceless.

Guru Rinpoche...sitting atop the hill.

The colors spread all across.

The views from atop the hill, all around were also out of the world.

The beautifully located Tourist Inn. See how wonderfully placed it is in that small town.

The small and revered Rewalsar Lake, all surrounded by temple, gurudwara and monastries.

After feeling the cool breeze from the hill top, we reversed our vehicles and started in the other direction, towards Mandi, on way to Manali. The road from Rewalsar to Mandi was broader than the last night one from Ner Chowk to Rewalsar.

Vacation... pure bliss...day 2

2010-12-12T11:30:00.000+05:30

26th Dec '2009

Rewalsar, in itself is a very small town of only less than 2500 people. Has a huge influence of Buddhist culture in the whole town.

Day 2: As soon as we woke up to the knock of the door, for the other fellas were up early. We were idling till late, still it was only around 7 am. And what a sight it was from the balcony, whoosh. I was zapped, just by looking at it. unbelievable.

When we slept last night, none of us got any hint of what we were going to see in the morning.

A huge 35 ft high Guru Rinpoche statue just across the cliff, looked at as in the usual wide eyed manner. The colors and the size of the statue completely zapped us instantly. I woke up wifey and daughter and they were also like, Wow, what is this.

The lake was stone throw distance from the balconies of our rooms in the Tourist Inn. We went down, had tea at the road side tea stall there. Jappi, upto his usual antics, clicking the tea pots and handi's and biwi and of course rest all the things in the universe.

We visited the monastery just on the lake shore and then came back for getting ready. The journey for us is not yet over. Although the feel does say, Rewalsar is indeed a fantastic place and we could surely stay here itself for a few days for sure.

Pure Bliss....Reaching Manali

2010-12-10T19:54:00.000+05:30

After the fantastic time on the hill top, in the magnificent aura of Padmasambhava, we started our descent. Everyone was thrilled to have witnessed the 123 ft high statue. Am attaching here, another picture, from the wikipedia, for all of us. This captures and shares the enormous power and energy in just manner.

People are happy now, not too much bothered about the road, distance, but definitely concerned about the morning breakfast. What with three hyper energy bellowing kids amongst us, and me as the permanent driver for al the kids, we soon had to take that required break.

We stopped at a riverside restaurant for lunch, especially for kids to have a good time there.

After sumptuous meal en route, we marched towards our destination, taking many breaks. Kids as well as Moms were feeling swiveling stomachs with the hill drive continuing. And we were taking many breaks before we reach our destination.

As I told earlier, we had booked a cottage for all of us this time. This would be the first Britisher's kind holiday for all of us, and we are super excited and as I arranged for most of these things, I was praying. Although the last one at Sattal, earlier this year had been fantastically hit with all of us. Anyways, for now, drive on.

Talking to the caretaker, we took the route to the cottage and arrived there finally. It was already dark when we reached there, so we couldn't click any photos then. But the next day, this is how it looked from the outside.

The lawn area from the balcony. Although it was freezing, the lawn washed with sunlight used to be the most fantastic place for all of us, especially kids.

Inner echelons of the cottage, this is the first floor drawing cum dining room.

I know, this doesn't give a good idea about the place. The place was plush built, complete with four bedroom. Two bedrooms on the ground floor, drawing room and a kitchen. Outside lawn I have already shown you. The first floor had similar pattern, with two bedrooms, excluding the kitchen and adding the dining table. All of it wall to wall carpeted, and we were liking it from the looks itself.

Along with the looks, we had others to accompany us, during our 6 night stay over there in Manali. And we are already heavily prepared for the vacation.

When I was initially communicating with Mr Sharma for our cottage stay, all the cottages that I had wanted to book for our stay were already booked, and we could get none of those. We had no booking while it was less than 15 days left for depature. Then just a few days from our trip, Sharmajee told us about a property, namely, Pine Wood Cottage. A few photos again to give an idea and perspective about the place, location and views.

Front view of the Pine Wood Cottage :

Open lawn in front of the cottage :

View from one of the balconies :

Drawing room and fire place, it had fire place on both the floors and we enjoyed that everyday of our stay :

One of the bedrooms :

We had liked the cottage from the photos Sharmajee sent and the way he spoke about it.

Pure Bliss.....settling down in the cottage

2010-12-09T20:26:00.000+05:30

26th Dec, 2009, late evening 11:30 PM
It is difficult to imagine now, but we had actually done so much preparation for this vacation. Sharmajee ney kaha tha, that there would be a cook but you will have to buy all the material, that you would want.

So, we had made distinctive lists, to be procured by each person, snacks, dry fruits, bakery ka samaan, Vodka and scotch, soft drinks, games to be played, kids activities, colour and drawing books, ration - ghee, besan, butter, cheese, jam, ketchp, sugar, tea, and what not, in fact any other thing you can think of. ) We were fully stocked for our stay there. While reaching there, we already told them to have few milk packets available there. There were two people to help us there, a cook, a young slow lad, who used to cook delicacies. And the other one, who primarily used to prepare the fire place in the evening for us and rest used to help the cook in cleaning up etc.

Just after arriving, we looked at the rooms. Our very own, seth-sethani stayed back in the ground floor bedroom and the lesser mortals, me and Jappi went to the first floor bedrooms.

Both the fellas helped us, fetch the luggage from the cars. While Tek Singh, the cook, started preparing tea/milk for all of us, we started getting our luggage opened up and freshen up a little after two day driving. The temperature was hovering around zero. The access from first floor to ground floor was from outside only. The stairs were in covered verandah, but still open to the chilling wind outside. They set up heaters in all our rooms and in living area as well. We got the fire started and the living area livened up. We had enough ration, but no vegetables to be cooked, so gave him some money and he fetched some veggies soon. It was fun time there, no laptops, no expected calls. Kids wre also enjoying like anything, while we havn't yet spent a day here.

Tek Singh came out as a good cook, although some of the things were not as per the taste, the ladies were looking for, so they were instructing him about masala and other preparation methodologies, usual you know )

All our preps about the ration etc came very much in use and right on purpose there. The kitchen was equipped with all that is required. The utensils were not the best and needed improvement. That's the suggestion we gave to Sharmajee as well on our way back.

After a sumptuous meal for the night, we succumbed to our beds. And yes, the cottage has three covered, and lock security parking's, so we could easily park our cars and sleep comfortably. Many a times, this is a problem in hills, so this was a plus point

We have 6 nights including today's and 5 full days ahead. And we have no itinerary at all, no set programs, no sunset point, honeymoon point, suicide point to visit at all. Just one thing in the wish list, alike for kids and parents- we want to build a snowman. Feels good, yeah.

See ya tomorrow.

Cheers.....

Leisure Day at the cottage

2010-12-08T03:37:00.000+05:30

27th Dec 2009

"Thak thak thak thak...." again the same thing. Uth raha hoon bhai......Ah, a fresh day....Good Morning everyone. Wow, this is actually a different morning. "Tek Singh, yaar chai banaley jaraa fatafat". Another one, "Tek Singh, nashtey mein kya banayegaa". All of us sitting outside in the warm sunlight, it used to be very cold still in the morning. Sipping tea, females were the most happy lot then. And we, well , no newspaper for the morning is a fantastic morning actually. After a long gup-shup round, we felt like at least do the daily rituals, so as to feel human.

Sun washed open lawn area, that was the highlight of the cottage and we spent good amount of our time, sitting and idling there :

Still idling, behind in orange is Tek Singh, our favourite cook, standing by the side kitchen gate:

View of snow capped mountains, towards right from the lawn area :

The DD cottage just across the road, they also seemed very good and there were many cottages, at least 10-12 of them just in the same area we could sight :

DD cottage had good parking and lawn area, and was also full during the period of our stay:

View by the sky, a chopper hovering around, giving us the Z category security )

View of snow capped mountains, towards left from the lawn area. Small village could be sighted and the early morning dhuan :

Still idling in the lawn area, kuch jyada hi idling ho gayi bhai- but thats what we came here for :

Breakfast time

We lazed, got freshened up, took shower, and got ready just in time for the lunch. Post lunch, we felt so sleepy and tired, just can't tell you. Kids were playing and beloowing all around. But here came task for us. The vegetables and some of the supplies were to be refilled. Plus, we were not liking the water there too much. So post lunch, we took out a car and went towards town to fetch the supplies. The car entry is costly in Manali town, I didn't know that. The last times have been on bus, on bike and I just didn't know about that. So, we found a store, showing up good supplies just outside the town. Got the 5 ltr Bisleri bottles, eggs, bread, milk and other necessary daily use things. And after this exhaustive activity, cam back home...."Tek Singh, yaar chai banaley jaara...".."Yaar saath mein pakaudey bhi bana liyo".

Sitting besides the fire in the evening.

Going outside after sitting around the fire place was always a cold affair

Later that evening, we realized, there is no TV in the cottage. We told SharmaJee, to get at least one set for the living room. Although, it was fine without the Television set as well. We were getting time to discuss our ideas and thoughts. Views about life, what to do actually and various other things. Time went by very smoothly and we felt good about the day. Tek Singh prepared good food and all the ladies in the house were happy. Kept talking till late in the evening and slept well past midnight.

Goodnight.....

Finally, the snowman day comes....

2010-12-07T15:02:00.000+05:30

28th Dec' 2009.

ठक ठक ठक ठक ....... chalo Sir, gaadi aa agyi hai. Ah, good morning....what
...oh now I remember, we had already planned to go to Rohtand today and had booked a gaadi for that.

टेक सिंह ने चाय और दूध बनाया and we got ready along with that | वाह क्या बात है|

It was a Force Traveller for all of us to go to the Rohtang. The long time desire to fulfill for all of us, to play with snow, to touch it, feel it and we just love the feeling. Kids are excited, and so are all of us.

Started the journey, some photographs en route from the huge sprawling Traveller.

This vehicle has such huge space, we all could sit comfortably and I was so much thinking about doing our next tour in this vehicle. Don't know how much comfortable it would be for the whole Manali-Leh sojourn. But, that may be the next time. As of now, frozen water falls from the window.

The tarmac was smooth till now and the views, as usual heavenly. Everybody was enjoying. The fun of all driving in the same vehicle is too much ahead than separate vehicles. So, we were also enjoying the small journey together, clicking all around.

There are so many shops renting out the snow costumes. We started counting one way and the shop numbers, starting from 1, went uptil 1000+. Wow, how many people are surviving on the basis of this business. Sheer volumes, as we see all around there.

So, we took cue from the driver and stopped at one of the shops known to him and started looking for dresses for all of us, nine people. It is such a big deal to try out and take those dresses then and there. We still tried and after much troubled, fitted into dresses. Getting the kids to try those dresses out was one hell of an experience. Woh itni moti and bhari ho gayi ki ghabra gaye bachey to, and because the snow is not yet there, it is difficult to imagine the usage of this dress on the shop. And still it is not something, you could wear at any point of time.

Anyways, after much deliberation, our little one also wore it and we started. The road was closed, just after Marhi. Thats how far we could get.

We got down, started going to the snow. It is hardened very much. And the little one starts crying. Whoa, she says, these snow boots make her feet very cold. After trying for some time, I went back to the parked vehicle and changed to her own shoes, and then finally she was more comfortable.

Completely packed up, not very happy mood, its bothersome to carry that suit around.

Even with the gloves and the special dress, it was hard to be in the snow for long. Kids did start playing a little, but it used to be very slippery too. And so, after helping them all build a small snowman of there own, we quickly dashed out of the very hard and dirty snow/ice.

Kids crawling out of the snowman creation zone. It was so hard and slippery, we had to crawl to places.

The chai/maggi/andeywala doing brisk business there.

We also stayed there sometime, having our fill of maggi/eggs and chai. The breeze was so strong and chilly, all of us were almost shivering of it.

Expansive views from the top of the small mountain we climbed :-)

I clicked my camera on all sides.

Ananya, all packed up.

The complete gang :

including me now, hard to recognize, hey hey....

Sitting pretty (heavy) :

Slope mountain view, we climbed up at some place and walked further inside, just for fun.

We started our journey back after 2-3 hours over there, not too thrilling for all of us. The snow suits are mess. I decided, next time, I will pack 2-3 dresses of my own and then play in the snow freely.

The usual, very less traffic on our way back :-)

Just a quick turn at Gulaba.

Something to know about Gulaba :

All drained out, on way back :

We had less energy left on our way back, so we skipped the plan to visit the Solang Valley and instead went straight to the Mall Road, then lunch, although it was almost 5 pm, a little too late for lunch. And then, as we were tired, all of us went back to our very favorite Tek Singh. Of course, we did remember to get whatever ration he would need, that was daily duty.

The usual boys session starts at 7 PM. :-)

Cheers.....

Preparations for the winter trip to Spiti Valley

2009-11-16T10:16:00.006+05:30

So, we are in to start with the trip, and I shall try to write all my preps for that trip here, so as to not miss anything and make a better and comfortable trip, this one. Its with my family, including my little one.

Duration : The trip duration would be 9 days, with 1 day for any emergencies.
Dates : 25th Dec 2009 - 2nd Jan' 2009
Mode of transport : Ford Ikon' 2004 model.
Travellers : Self, wifey, our 6 yr(by then) old daughter, Jappi (is sure, he wants to join as of now. Rest others (Bunty, Geeta, Rimpi, Bimpi & fam are still thinking) are still thinking and contemplating about it. I guess I need to prepare a detailed plan to be able to convinve them.

This is the list of things I need to take care about, get done with, before we can start with the trip, am jotting down the things, along with the approx cost along side.

Leave application for 4 days 28-31st Dec'2009
Car silencer work to be done - 5000
Fog Lights required for the car - 1500
Extra bulba for the car - 500
Extra tubes for the car - 800
New tires to be bought for the trip, the tires are already 42000 kms old now - 15000
Camera - what about it, the 7yr old, 5 MP cybershot would not be sufficient, think about it. - borrow from a friend.
Car service - all oils and lubes to be checked/changed - myself to be there for the servicing and see/check everything. - 3000
First day stop at Shimla, to be booked in advance.
All winter wear required for further trip to be bought at Shimla - 5000
If there is more than one car, we shall buy good quality walki-talkie.
Prepare a complete day by day plan for the trip with map, soon.
Sump Guard - find out more, this seems like a must have. Find about MotorCraft in Noida, contact Raj Kapoor - 9811071147. Costing - ?????
How much a spare tyre would cost. I would only need the rim basically, while changing all the tyres, I can keep one of these as the spare one. That way I would have two stare tires always.

Shall keep on updating this with the new planned activities and their status.

What a long strange trip it has been.....LADAKH

2009-06-28T10:42:00.004+05:30

My story about my ride to the roof of the world.

This was one long awaited trip of my life. I think if not everybody,most of the people while growing, would at least have once or more dreamt of one such trip.

Riding to Leh-Ladakh on motor bikes. Bikes........mountains.....snow all around....heaven....

This time when I was thinking of life as a passing thing, had thought of many things which can be done to rejuvenate myself. A long 10-12 days trek to explore the Himalayas on foot. A long 4 week mountaineering course in the Himalayas. A group organized trip to the Himalayas, Leh-Ladakh in SUV's , etc.

Nothing materialized for me, trekkers with whom I wanted to go, didn't want to take me along, as I had no experience. Almost 2 months ago, I was able to zero in to going to Ladakh on motor bikes. This got into my mind as Shail, my younger bro, who had now shifted to Jodhpur, had last year only bought the new cruiser in town, the Bajaj Avenger. I had ridden it, and me and my wife, both loved the ride. It was extremely comfortable for ride, is a heavy bike, at 152 kg unladen weight, the curves used to feel very smooth with a pillion as well.

So, the final decision was, that I shall be going for the the Ladakh region on the motor bike. I applied for 2 weeks leave in April itself. The leave was to be during the June'08 month.

The route to Leh region is generally closed for around 8 months. The snowing in that region is heavy and the BRO(Border Road organization) maintains the roads, clears the snow off them, opens the roads around June 1st-2nd week and maintains them upto 15th Sept.

Vital stats for the ride :

Riders
Prem Arora on Bajaj Avenger 180 cc, 2007 model from Delhi
Atul on a Honda Unicorn from Benaras
Haider on Pulsar 150 from Kanpur

Travel Duration : 14 days

Total Distance Covered : 3027 kms

Major events : One bad fall in a river near Srinagar.
: Firing near Hazratbal dargah, while we ere there

Night Halts : Hoels, tents, town houses, govt guest houses, etc.

Total Fuel expenses : Rs 3600/-

Rest all(food, hotels,bike repairs,etc) : Rs 4400/-

Trip preparation : Rs 25000/-

Trip Fun : Infinite

While you go through this, all the photographs are in small size. This is because, the first page doesn't take too long to open up. To show enjoy the photographs, you would need to click on them. Cheers...

Day 1 : Delhi - Chandigarh

Day 2 : Chandigarh - Simla

Day 3 : Simla - Bhawa Nagar

Day 4 : Bhawa Nagar - Pooh

Day 5 : Pooh - Banjar

Day 6 : Bajnar - Sissu

Day 7 : Sissu - Sarachu

Day 8 : Sarachu - Leh.

Day 9 : Thiksey, Hemis and Bike repairing

Day 10 : Leh - Mulbekh

Day 11 : Mulbekh - Sonamarg

Day 12 : Sonamarg - Batote

Day 13 : Batote - Chandigarh

Day 14 : Chandigarh - Delhi.

Mumbai Terror Attacks

2008-11-28T10:09:00.003+05:30

This is dire situation for India. The terrorists showing too much aggravation and willingness to attack on the face. This is something very new which hasn't been seen yet in India.
The terrorists want to threaten you, challenge you on your face and then want to hog the lime light for long durations, rather than a single suicide bomb blast. In this, create a hold up situation and then try to hold ground for longer durations.

I think, there are many things India would need to do to face these new challenges.

1) As an individual, I always oppose the US foreign policy, especially the last few years when they have been the reason to have thousands and thousands of civilians killed in the middle east region. Still, as a country, they have been able to resist any future terror attacks and did give the terrorists night mares after having bombed US cities. As a country, US has been able to instill confidence in their countrymen that they are capable of handling any such attacks and can curb, handle them very efficiently.
So, now, India also will have to take this positive stance for any kind of terror activities. Our politicians shall have to stand up to take decisions and own them. Indira Gandhi did the operation BlueStar, she faced the aftermath of it, but still stood ground, she owned it. She had the grit and confidence to go ahead with it. I am not saying it is justified or not, but our netaji's need to have such confidence to take decisions, which is already endangered.

2) The police force currently is working on the pace of electricity department or any other for that case. That is, there is no difference between a person working in police dept or and electricity or water supply deptt.
We need to create a dedicated force to combat terrorism. Which should be equipped with latest gadgets, equipments and trained in combating terrorism. They should be trained in war fare activities and are governed by dedicated individuals. We need to have a different way of functioning.

3) The media should have some regulations. In this case we saw, the ATS chief is wearing the helmet, the bullet proof jacket, talking on the cellphone live on the news channels. The attackers must be watching everything sitting inside and it can fairly be imagined that this might have helped them.

Reality Bites

2008-09-30T14:24:00.003+05:30

For last couple of months, we have been working on a project, To find a suitable and good residential apartment for ourselves within the budget and with all facilities, good builder, good interiors, good fixtures and good building maintenance, which has a fantastic view from the balcony, where the apartment gets good sunlight during the winters also and which has good landscaping for our kids to play and a few other things.

I guess, this is the same checklist everybody must be having while looking for their nest in this wide wide world. We also had the same wish list few weeks ago. Slowly and steadily, things kept getting cut off from this list and we were soon compromising on almost everything. We were getting expensive flats, with no interiors done, just bare flats, that too for exorbitant cost, at least some of them. They would say it is 1450 sq ft super area, but actually the flats covered area would be less than 800 sq ft.Phew.

Initially when we started, for the first time, we finally had gone ahead and spoken to a few property agents and they were now showing us the flats. A couple of them, which we saw initially, were good, on the ground floor and with good air and sunlight. We immediately liked both of them and started talking about them. Ha, they only wanted 11 out of 35 as white, rest they wanted in cash.Heart broken, we tried this or that, but they were adament. We had to let go of those deals.

For long then, we were going through the see, like dislike, see round for many builders and floors.

Dreams

2008-07-15T12:03:00.005+05:30

If you can dream it, you can do it.

I have read it many times, don't know if that is true or not. Still, what I am trying to do is, write down my dreams, small and big, trivial and important, material or spiritual, all that I can recall. Actually, lately the list has become so long that I am no longer able to remember it. And when, after some time, I just recall it, am so sad to have lost so much time and have not done anything in the direction of fulfillment of that dream. And so it happens, every few days and the days and weeks go by.

I don't want to let the life go away, slip away from my hands like this anymore and so this attempt.
For one second, just remember the last time you went for a holiday, a vacation. Not to your parents or in laws or any relatives place, not for the wedding of your cousin. A real holiday, to any outstation. How good it was, how did you prepare for it, how did you feel when you come back. You feel rejuvenated and have so much of enthusiasm just after that . Slowly, in the mundane daily routines, that goes away.

I have always felt, not actually did anything for it till now. That, we can always have a fantastic life, enjoying and happy days, everyday. Achieving the goals and targets and living life to the fullest. But, we generally get damper and damper. And that has nothing to do with the bad day you had in the office today or if you had a small dual with your spouse or that someone in your family is not keeping well or it was the worst traffic in the last few days you faced today or anything else. With time we keep on getting such things in our everyday life andare not generally able to keep up with the level of enthusiasm. Until you get a dose of motivation.

I have had these doses of motivation a few times in my life. The professional training is the most effective thing, I feel, to boost your inner self, to lift up your enthusiasm to live life to the fullest and to get motivated beyond compare. But, the professional trainings are generally conducted by the company one is employed in. I haven't come across anyone who would have done it on one's own. Although, I think it would be a good investment if we can do these trainings personally and have your family members also take these trainings.

Anyways, the other good way is to read a good book. Books are the best companions of a man. As they do the same thing to a person, be it a good time or a bad time in one's life. I haven't been reading anything good for long now, and I can't even remember how long. By good, I meant, something that would give me good motivation.

Rather I was reading the travel books, if you know. All sorts of travel books I was reading and buying. Am happy with the collection I have now, they are a continuous source of information for me and have already started helping me in planning my trips.

Anyways, the dreams, I want to live many a dreams, a few might not be possible but still, there is no harm in dreaming. And if you dream for moon, you will at least reach starts, as they say.

What is required to be done, is to move towards achieving your targets, fulfilling your dreams, everyday. One step at a time, but still always be focused towards them and never loose the enthusiasm.

And what happens, is that, in a small bout of household works, a couple of bad days at office, s small illness of wife, kids homework, the Mumbai film fare award show at the night, and scores of other things, which are short timed, take a lot of our mind. But, we never return back to the same state of mind, the willingness to fulfill the dreams.

So, what we need is a continuous dose of motivation. Everybody needs it, and by every body I mean you and me, all of us.

Proposed ride plan I to Leh - June'2008

2008-06-05T16:19:00.013+05:30

Proposed plan to Leh II - June 2008

I was still thinking about the rest of the days...when new plans sprung up. I had time this weekend and so I thought about covering Spiti Valley as well. Atul and Haider were also thinking of covering Spiti Valley this time but told me to so on the way back and when I spent some time reading and looking at the maps and trying to create the travel itinerary, it seemed a perfect thing but the other way round, i.e., on the way to Leh and not coming back from Leh.

The spiti valley side would allow all of us to acclimatize better, as almost all the places are between 3000-3500m en route and by the time we reach Sarchu, we would be staying at 3000+ for many days. The thought looks good, on paper as well.

So here's what we have thought now :

Day 1, 14th June, Saturday : Me riding from Delhi to Chandiagrh, Atul and Haider in train, starting from Jodhpur for Kalka.

Day 2 : If the train is on time, which generally is not more than an hour late, we should be ready to go by around 10-10:30 AM from Kalka. If so, our destination for the day would Jeori. If the train gets delayed, and we are starting at 12 or 1 in the noon, then also we would plan to atleast cover till Narkanda which is around 5 hrs from Kalka.

Day 3 : If we have made it till Narkanda only, start early and go to Sangla valley, may be to the last point ahead, Chitkul villabe before border and then go towards Rekong Peo and sleep if possible in Kalpa. The Kinner Kailash manjar from there is out of the world. En route, don't forget to fill your tank at Powari, as that is the last filling station for the next 200+ kms till Kaza.

Second Take
If you somehow stay at Chitkul, stay at Raj Guest House, shouldn't be hard to find.

Day 4 : Kalpa to Tabo : Ride safe, reach Tabo, if possible, via Nako , try to stay at the Tabo Monastery.

Day 5 : Tabo, start early, go to Ki Monastery and Kibber village, high up diversion from Kaza. Then come back to main route, ride till may be Losar or so. Rest for night, tomorrow is a big day.
Second Take
Do visit Dhankar, am hearing a lot about it these days. I don't know if a short stay at Kaza would be possible or we would have to devote a complete day there, lets see how it works. Ki must, Comic, the highest inhabitation village also looks very appealing, all on this route.

Day 6 : Leave Losar, cross Kunzum La, keep your eye focused and you would see the road(so called) to Chandertal, go thru the rough terrain of 12 kms and back after having the fantastic vies of Chandertal, leave towards Gramphoo. Hope everything is fine with everyone's bike, if not we will have to go towards Manali from Gramphoo. Else keep riding towards Keylong from Gramphoo, and take the night halt on the need basis. Probably we shall be at Sissu when the day breaks.

Day 7 : Sissu to Sarchu, After Sissu, the route is already discussed below, it would remain same. We shall cover from Sissu to Sarachu, around 141 kms for the day.

Day 8 : Sarachu to Leh.

Day 9 : Rest Day at Leh, also apply for permits to visit inner line areas, well its a Sunday, so we have to see, if thats possible or not.

Day 10 : Considering, we didn't get permits on Day 9, we shall be applying for them today, also we might go to rafting on Zanskar river. I want to do III or IV rapids and not II or I.

Day 11 : Leh - Khardungla - Diskit - Hunder

Day 12 : Hunder - Panamik - Khardungla -Leh.

Day 13 : Leh - Sarachu

Day 14 : Sarachu - Manali

Day 15 , 28th June 2008, Saturday: Manali - Delhi

This leaves us with a buffer day, during the whole trip, might decide to halt at Chandigarh and come back on Sunday.

Proposed plan to Leh I - June 2008

It seems, there is a vacuum in the life, with a sense of doing nothing for long kind of feeling. This is where am trying to do something to say to my self and look up in the mirror with some pride.

Well guys, the ride of a life time is going to start on 14th June'2008 as per the plan as of now. The leaves have been sanctioned in the office and the preps have started, although a lot of prep is still remaining, but am pretty much hopeful that I shall be able to complete most of it before leaving.

This trip of a life time is a motorcycle ride to the most magnificent place on the face of earth, Leh, the capital of Ladakh region. The route to Leh is the most remarkable in the earth and has the highest roads in the world, so if everything goes fine, I shall be riding on the worlds five most highest roads.

Just for the sake of understanding, Nainital, Manali etc all are around 6200-6300 feet high above the sea level, while the roads which we are talking about here are at the height of 17000-18000+ feet from sea level, so you can understand.

The problems that happen at such height : primary one is that oxygen is less and the body requirement is not fulfilled so the body is uneasy. If you take it coll for a day or two, the body gets acclimatized to the less oxygen intake and then you would be good to go running around.
Initially, they say, if you see a fantastic cliff, stand on a mountain top and want to shout "I am the king" from there, or just want to run away for nature's call, don't do it. Shouting, running, getting excited and pretty much things you wouldn't want to do at those heights. Be it a fantastic situation or be it your motorcycle is down, keep your cool and that will see you through.

Do prepare carefully and comprehensively, this is where I am doing the same - my preparations.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And of course these are the details of the riders...

1) Prem Arora - 34, Bajaj Avenger 180 cc, 16.5 bhp, First time hill rider from Jodhpur, Rajasthan.

2) Atul Mishra - 30, Hero Honda unicorn, 150 cc, 13.5 bhp bike, had been to Leh on the same bike once in June 2007 is from Benaras(modern day Varanasi). Check his photos at http://atgemini.spaces.live.com

3) Zeeshan Haider - 30, Bajaj Pulsar , 150 cc, 14 bhp bike, had been to Leh in June 2007, is from Kanpur. Check out his photographs at http://picasaweb.google.com/haider.vogue

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So the current plan is :

	Day	Height	Place	Distance	Total

	Sat 14/6		Delhi
			Chandigarh	280	280
	Sun 15/6		Chandigarh	0
			Pinjore
			Mandi
			Kullu
		2,050	Manali	290	290

	Mon 16/6		Manali	0
			Palchan	10
		2,530	Kothi	5
		3,320	Marhi	24
		3,980	Rahtang Pass	12
		3,200	Gramphoo	11
		3,140	Khoksar	5
		3,130	Sissu	13
		3,160	Gondhala	15
		2,573	Tandi	10
		3,350	Keylong	8	113

	Tue 17/6	3,350	Keylong	0
			Gemur	18
		3,142	Jispa	7
		3,400	Darcha	7
		3,820	Patsio	14
		4,892	Baralach-La	31
		4,253	Sarachu	32	109

	Wed 18/6	4,253	Sarachu	0
			Brandy Nallah	20
		3,950	Takh	13
		5,065	Lachlung La	20
		4,630	Pang	24
		4,703	Moorey Plains	24
		4,500	Debring	30
		5,360	Tanglan-La	10
			Rumtse	32
		4,100	Gya	3
			Miru	14
		3,384	Upshi	14
			Karu	11
			Thiksey
		3,505	Leh	36	251

Rest Day- Permits, etc	Thu 19/6	3,505	Leh

	Fri 20/6	3,505	Leh
			Khardungla	40
			Diskit	38
			Hunder	8
			Sumur	40	126

	Sat 21/6		Sumur
			Hunder	40
			Diskit	8
			K-Top	38
			Leh	40

	Sun 22/6		Leh
			Chang La
			Pangong Tso	150

	Mon 23/6		Pangong Tso
			Spangmik
			Leh	150

	Tue 24/6		Rafting on Zanskar River

	Wed 25/6		Leh
			Pang
			Sarchu	251	251

	Thu 26/6		Sarchu
			Keylong
			Manali		222

	Fri 27/6		Manali
			Chandigarh		290

	Sat 28/6		Chandigarh
			Delhi		280

14th June 2008 : Delhi - Chandigarh ( 280 kms) The first day of the ride, it is still plains, so we plan to leave early in the morning and reach Chandigarh before noon, 12 O clock.

15th June 2008 : Chandigarh - Manali (290 kms) We plan to leave again early in the morning by 5 am, so that we can enjoy the landscape en route to Manali, the hills I guess start around Swarghat, and its a fantastic ride after that. If we are able to leave as per plan early, I think, we should be in Manali by 2 O clock. My heart
is to find a place for night stay outside the Manali city, towards the Rohtand pass, and if possible towards palchan or Marhi, which would cover half the distance between Manali and Rohtang pass.

16th June 2008 : Manali - Keylong (113 kms) This is wherw the real ride starts, the route, to start with where we cross the Rohtang Pass, which means , pile of dead bodies. It is something around 13,400 ft, we cross over and after feilling up at Tandi, the last petrol pump before Leh, which is still 365 km far, we take a break at Keylong, the largest town in route to Leh.
I plan to complete this Manali-Leh , 471 kms stretch in 3 days, so as to be able to enjoy the complete ride at leisure and click photos whenever I feel like. I hope, I shall be back to this region many more times in future, but none of those trips would be like this first one and so, I do not want to run hastily and cover distance just for the sake of it.
So, leisure and enjoy the beauty of the route every step is the ultimate plan.

17th June 2008 : Keylong - Sarchu (109 kms) This would again be a leisure ride , not much distance to cover, a lot of beauty to be nestled and kindled along the route for this part as well.

18th June 2008 : Sarchu - Leh ( 251 kms) This as I have heard and read is a fantastic ride. Pang, the fantastically looped Gata loops, the most exciting Moorey plains, where you feel like ripping, although it is still dangerous. Hopefully would reach Leh before the sun sets, the last 60 kms is almost plain where you can maintain 60-80 kmph.

19th June 2008 : (Rest Day, apply for permits, look for rafting tour operators) So, now living at 3500+ m, take it easily, don't rush around for anything. Take the complete day easily and only go and get the permits for Khardungla, Pangong Tso, other inner line places.

20th June 2008 :
21st June 2008 :
22nd June 2008 :
23rd June 2008 :
24th June 2008 :
25th June 2008 :
26th June 2008 :
27th June 2008 :
28th June 2008 :

List of things for me to carry for the Leh ride

2008-06-05T13:47:00.003+05:30

Personal Things

Torch/Flash light - with extra battery
Candle & Matches
Camera + Memory Sticks + Extra chargeable and non chargeable battery ( try and find a tripod for the camera)
Pen/ Pencil & Notepad
Waist pouch
Self few photograophs
Photocopies in dozen of license/ also a few RC,ins,PUC copies of bike.
Toilet Paper
Shaving Kit
Towel - light weight, which dries fast
Nail Cutter + Folding Scissor
Toothbrush & toothpaste
Sunscreen Lotion ( 40 SPF)
Lip Gel
Deodorant
Swiss Knife + Razor Blade (Topaz wali)
Hair brush & hair oil
Shampoo Pouch
Soap -1
Soap Strips -2
Plastic Bags ( many)
Nylon Rope

Edibles

Electrolyte/Electral & Glucon C/D
Dry Fruits + Chocolates + Energy bars ( in total around 1 kg)
Water & Juices ( Begin your day always with 4 ltr of drinks, keep drinking regularly before feeling the thirst- I plan to drint atleast thrice every hour) - replenish the drinks quota whenever possible during the day and be ready with full for next morning.

Clothings and Accessories

Jeans - 2 (including the one wearing)
Jacket -1
Rain Suit (upper & lower both)
Warm inner ( upper and lower both)
Sweater - 1 ( am planning to buy it from Manali, its difficult to carry all this from Delhi)
Shirts - 3
T-Shirt ( 2 full, 2 half)
Vest - 4
Undies - 4
Swimming Trunks - 1
Monkey Cap -1
Belt -1
Socks - 6 ( Will buy 3-4 woolen from Manali)
Handkerchief -3
Muffler -1
Cap -1
Shoes - 2 ( Preferably one should be water proof, see if I can find rubber shoes of Duckback)
Sandals - 1
Specs - 3 ( 2 normal, 1 photochromatic)
Sunglasses/ snow glasses - 1
Mobile and charger
I-pod with extra battery

Bike Spares and Accessories

Duplicate Bike Key
Bike's OEM tool kit
Wheel spanners for your bikes tyre size ( 8-17) & pliers
Carton/Electrician Tape
Bungee Cords
Spare Tubes ( 1 froont and 2 rear tyre)
Puncture Repair Kit
Foot Air Pump
Spark Plug
Headlight and tail light spare bulb
Bike Cover
Cables ( clutch, brake, accelerator)
Engine Oil 1500 ml ( SAE 20W50 of API SG + JASO MA grade or superior)
Spare fuses
Tube Valve and valve key
Electrical wires

Medicines and First Aid

Diamox
Neospirin Tube & Nebasulf powder
Band Aids
Cotton Wool
Crocin ( fever, cold ,etc)
Brufen ( anti-inflammatory)
Moov
Thermo-meter
Benadryl
Ciprofloxacin
Perinorm (anti-vomiting)

Rappelling at Sattal

2008-05-12T10:31:00.002+05:30

Well, this was a long time due outing. Although it is to a place which we have already visited once, still this is a place to be at many more times.
Its Sattal Gateway Jungle Camps. This time, I was organizing the trip from our office and we had in the end I think around 40 people coming for the trip including I think around 10+ families with kids ranging from 6 months to 10 yrs. It looked like going to a fantastic trip over the May 10-11 2008 weekend.

The route is fantastic, with the initial leg from Delhi to Kathgodam being covered by train. This time, I was one of the people to organize it, so what we did was, we got train tickets booked for all of us in Tatkal, as there were no reservations available. So, Del-Kathgodam was by train, then Kathgodam to Sat-tal lake it was cabs ( sumo, qualis, travera, etc) Whoosh, the hill drivers, how they drive , GOD only save us. And they are so deft maneuvering the cabs on those cheeky turns and mountain roads. There after its a 15 min boat ride to the other side of the lake and further half hour trek to the camp site. I can't tell you how that half hour was, but its just that with me, carrying the maximum luggage on this trip, it was almost like 2 hrs of trekking. And, we had all duffel bags for this trip, while we should have carried back packs and ruck sacks. Bad mistake.

So, soon we reached our campsite, this is how it looked like. From the looks, it is fantastic and the tents were pitched in some order with a slight height gradient. People ran to the tents and got hold of one for each family or so. We were the last ones to reach along with the tour co-coordinator. And the fellow, he was also carrying one of our bags. I couldn't with Nanna also on me.

So, we also looked for the remaining tests and chose one out of them. Neha is also along with us, so Nanna is also very happy. And I hope Neha also likes this place, cos we have been here once and did like it much. So looks fine and likes the place in general. We all had a fantastic train journey last night. The train is right on time and so are we in reaching the camp site. All see the camp site lay out and start getting ready. Some how, people get hold of the volley ball, so they start playing and so do I. It is fun , exhausting yourself early in the morning before 9, this time we are not even up from bed on week ends.
Now, started getting ready, Neha and Shikha are already ready, and so off I go, get ready, use a little Luke warm water. Last time I had used pitch cold water directly to bathe, while it was in March and this time even in May, am using warm water, I guess its age.

So, after breakfast, it was time for the adventurous activities. There were two, just like the last time, although the places were a little different, but still all the more fun included. They had rappelling and river crossing. And so almost all of us did that barring a few. And the best part, Shikha and Neha also did it. She is thrilled to have done that. She couldn't do the river crossing, cos it was already over when she got down and it was time for lunch, Nanna hasn't had anything since morning. That always happens, as soon as we are out, she stops eating anything, and we wlso are able to spend less time on her, so. Still she was spending more time with Neha also. This one the right side is our tent. We spent some time basking in the sun rays filtered by the dense cover of trees and had tea sitting over there.

The activities were to start now, we saw the warm up, tying of ropes to trees etc, sitting on top of the tree which was being used for river crossing activities. Nanna enjoyed a little atop the tree but was soon back mingling with the rest of the people. She spent a lot of time sportingly with many people , while me, Shikha and Neha went ahead with Rappelling. They were time consuming activities. Still, they were fun to do and are one of the 'it' things we have done till now.

So, all in all the activities started well and almost all enjoyed , everybody along with wives did all the adventure activities, although there were a couple of people hurt a little, but nothing to dampen the spirits and fun over there.

Back at the campsite, had lunch and many people went ahead to sleep. ut some of the people are not meant for it, and so we people still started playing volleyball. Then after some time, flying disc, some other small games. Evening, we had cool time, sipping tea in front of our tent.

Evening, we had some usual and some unusual games, some rassa-kashi, some water bucket games, and all the girls amongst us enjoyed them well.

Some gala night with usual refreshments and drinks, the camp staff served us well, I hope all were happy. This is my maiden attempt in organizing anything. Some people would always be nagging, am happy to see that but I hope rest of them enjoyed on this trip. It was still substantial money which we had to spend on this.

Next day was roaming around in Nainital and then going to Kathgodam to catch the return train to Delhi. The route was fantastic. The weather turned suddenly, as is the typical of hills, and it started raining, it became cold suddenly. We had clothes, but Nanna was still feeling shivers, so we immediately bought a lower and jacket for her. It was amazing, the weather and drizzle there.

The route from Nainital back to Kathgodam had surprise for us, we had a flat tyre, but the driver fast so fast we could not imagine. He changed the tyre so fast, we just took a breeze out and it was done.

So, the journey back home was un event ful. Enjoyed that as well, as we had some time to talk to each other, spend time with new people, know them more. How true it is, if you want to know someone, travel with them,. I recently heard this on TV as well, it is so very true.

All in all a fantastic outing.

Bathing in Ganges at Shivpuri-Rishikesh

2008-04-15T10:28:00.006+05:30

It was a long weekend as Jayanta told me a few days ahead of the Monday, 14th April holiday, and boy, he did good to tell me about it. I had no idea about the long weekend coming ahead. So as soon as I came to know about it, the preparations started and we got in full swing to see how we can enjoy the most. For with our 4 yr old little angel with us, we decided to go to the Rishikesh-Devprayag sector.

Shailendra was also planning to come along but was still a little dicy to decide.
It took a couple of days, and as soon as he said yes, we got our bookings done with GMVN, Ganga resort in Rishikesh. It is the most fantastically located place I have ever stayed at. Right on the banks of Gangaji, it gives a fantastic view, cool breeze.
For me, Monday was holiday, but Shail didn't had this luxury, but anyways he used to go to office around 2 O clock.
Now, the plan is , start early morning 5 AM from Gzb and reach Rishikesh asap, check in to Ganga resort and have fun.
Soon, the day came and we tried to slept asap, still I could only get 2 hrs sleep, the anxiety creeps in, u know. Shail generally comes home by late nite 2 or early morning 4-5 AM or so. So, it was me who would be driving, although its not long, I think only 230 kms or so from our place till the resort.
So, we got up early, spoke to Shail at 4, they are also up and getting ready. Down by 5, we are bang on time, start around 5:20 AM from Gzb. I had forgotten to get the tank full at Delhi, so thought we will have to do it en-route. All as per plan, except, the kids. We thought both the kids would be fast asleep at 5 in the morning and we would be able to cover much distance pretty soon. But, both of them were wide awake fighting for space and enjoying the drive, and it took more than an hour of cool breeze for both of them to go into deep slumber. It was a huge traffic drive, it seems whole of Delhi was going towards that direction. In fact, I have seen it so many times now, Delhites throng to the nearby tourist places for weekend outings almost all year round and on long weekends, it becomes a mad rush. Now, we are also a part of it.
Little less than half an hour from Haridwar, the kids were moving a little, and it as evident they would be up any minute. We were also driving non stop for close to 4 hours now, yeah traffic is that huge, the avg is 45 kmph max, so we also thought of taking a stop. After many thoughts, Patanjali, the huge palatial ashram of Baba Ramdev was chosen as the place to halt at.

It is a magnificently made place and we enjoyed our time there. The kids got fresh and we had something to eat and drink.
Photo-ops time in front of the artificial water fountains there and we took almost 2 hours loitering here and there and enjoying.

Then, off we go towards Rishikesh, re-fuelling the car in between and reach Ganaga resort around 1 PM after much windings through the narrow lanes, phew the main road route was so much better, which we discovered later. The location and view from the hotel are fantastic, I can't describe enough.
We got 2 adjacent rooms on the first floor, they have huge balcony where you can sit and enjoy the view, evening tea. Keep sitting on there and you would loose the sense of the time passing by.
All of us were already very hungry, kids hadn't eaten anything at Patanjali and so, we ordered some snacks immediately. Went to take shower alongside, and then went downstairs in the restaurant to have lunch. Had a sumptuous lunch and we all were full to brim, much tired and thinking what to do now.
Gangaji is just flowing down there a few steps touching the wall of this resort And it is chilling hot outside. Shail and party were in a pretty lumber state, but we decided that we should be now going to Ganagaji and take a dip. And so we went down there, and soon they also joined. That was a good time there. Shailendra also after much deliberation, jumped in with his jeans on and we enjoyed the cool shallow water there for around 2 hours. Nanna was so ecstatic and was enjoying water like anything, we were happy. Shikha couldn't take a dip, nevertheless she enjoyed with all of us.

There after, we came back to our respective rooms, changed and then thought of going out to check the city, the famous Ram and Laxman Jhula. We spent a long time standing near and on the Laxman Jhule. Then we went to the famous Chotiwala's restaurant to have food. The food was ok, nothing great about it. But the chotiwala's are real treat to the eyes. Esp, our kids were very happy to see them. There are two of them now, I think they must be kin and are now running two Chotiwala restaurants adjacent to each other. And can believe, they always have a person sitting outside the restaurant on a high chair with proper getup and a feet long choti standing like a ruler. Wow, that is a sight.
In the late afternoon, when we were cossing the Ram Jhula, we saw a lot of rafters coming through, below the Ram jhula. It was a fantastic sight. Then we went back to our resort, took a good night sleep. We had decided to go to Shivpuri in the morning.
Sunday morning, we got up early, got the kids ready as well. Had breakfast at the restaurant and left for Shivpuri.
I don't actually know, if we reached Shivpuri or not. But it looked like we did. While going by, we saw a couple of shops on the right side and a little hustle bustle but we didn't notice much.Half a km ahead we asked someone and he said, go back, just before the bridge go down on the left side. So we did, and we parked almost at the river banks. Here she is, Gangaji mildly flowing with serene looks. And lots and lots of camps there, white sand beaches all around and unbelievably hundreds of people getting ready to go rafting. Every few minutes, there was a raft starting from that place. And the people were very enthusiastic about it. We soon took our positions in the river Ganaga, bathing and splashing water. Kids were a little reluctant today, so they kept out, so did Shikha. But, we were enjoying the weather, Gangaji, the rafters doing jai jai kar before embarking on the unknown 3 hr journey towards Rishikesh. These rafts would take around 3 hours to reach Rishikesh, these are the ones we were looking at yesterday also from Ram Jhula.
After spending a good time, we went back to the city, stopping in between at a lot of places , clicking snaps. All the time, it was actually Shailendra only, as I had as always not got my camera here.
Back i
Came back to the hotel, enjoyed in the evening with n town, had lunch, guess it was pretty late already, and then kept sitting on one of the ghats idly for many hours, till the time the beautiful evening aarti was over. Then went back to the hotel, had some masti, some food, and good sleep.

Early morning around 5, ready to start from there, Unevevt ful jouorney back home, midway ate like hippos at "The Grand Cheetal". It is a hugely expensive place but all the food material is of good quality and good taste, can stop here more in future as well.
Reached home before 12 in the noon and phew good long 4 hour sleep. :-)

Banjar to Sissu - Day 6

2008-03-29T18:04:00.010+05:30

Thursday, 19th June' 2008

Morning: So,we stayed in the Natures Lap Resort,fantastic place,no sound except the river flowing down the mountain.We had thought and planned for an early start.

And somehow before alarm goes of at 5, we woke up at 4:30 strange isn't. So after tea and initial hiccups we started I think around8:15 or so. A couple of views of the resort and nature around.

Around 10 kms we have gone and Haider is no where to be found, though the network is still working here but not able to contact him. We think he has left for Kullu already.

We reach Kullu and he calls up. He's at Bhuntar servicing his bike, would take a couple of hoours. We go ahead & get our bikes washed just before Manali. Later, I bought a 5 l can from Manali. Later Haider joined us there and we have lunch there in the late afternoon. While sitting there we heard the thumps and saw Dwaraka and team pass through.

We are already late ( around 2:15 pm) and Manali is still 19 kms from here. Phew, am a little perplexed about crossing Rohtang late in the evening, but Atul is confident and so we march through.

The day looked good, a little cloudy and we reached Rohtang Pass around 6 pm, very late. There were lots and lots of traffic and it was really tough navigating there. The muddy and slushy route was ready to make you fall there. And as it was getting late, I was ahead and was riding through the slushy roads first. And somehow in a hurry to cross the traffic and reach Rohtang pass, I crossed it without even being able to stop there and click photographs.

So, no stopping there, off we go, the target is Sissu. Around 4-5 kms from Rohtang is Gramphoo.You wouldn't know, there is nothing, except the board and a road cut going to Losar/Kaza.

Just as we crossed Rohtang pass, on the other side was nature's bliss. Unbelievably serene and beautiful.

We ride thorugh, Koksar was breeze. But I had a scare. I had my first fall there. Just navigating the curve while turning right, in front of me, there was a truck coming uphill and I just got slow and bham. Truck wala also smiled and stopped his truck, a fellow coming from the side helped me. Wasn't bad actually.

Koksar to Sissu is 15 kms, 4-5 kms is too good a road. After that the 10 kms stretch was the worst, I have rode on till date. 10 kms of loose small stones on the whole sand and dirt track.

The guest house location was the best among all our trip hotels, just out of the world. Take a peep of this view from the window, looks to me the best window in the world.

Night Halt : Trivani Guest House
Food + Lodging - Rs 600/=
Fuel : Rs 350/=
Trip : 186 kms for the day.

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The resort and view from there:

Traffic jams at Rohtang Pass :

Starkly different other side of Rohtang :

Sissu outskirts in fading day light

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Day 5: Pooh Ghayagi

2008-03-29T17:54:00.003+05:30

Wednesday 18th June' 2008

We were not upto the mark, still started at 6 am from Pooh. Had tea at Spellow where the bullets crossed us. Then we crossed them back on the checkpost. And it did rain incessantly. Wear rain gear, remove it as it becomes hot, then again wear it.....this goes on.

We had thought of having lunch at Rampur, which is 160 kms from Pooh. But we rode well through the day through the rains as well and had lunch at Sainj ( 185 kms) from where we had to take the Kullu diversion.

Then, the Sainj to Aut state highway is fantastic, We had not expected that. :-) It kept raining all the time here and also we had the most fantastic views here. Valley's, people living there and looking at us strangely, kids waving all the way.

We finally started inching towards the Jalori pass. Just 6 kms before the pass, we stop, have many tea's and eat some. Bikes were also heated up. After almost half hour, I felt a little warm.

The last 6 kms was tough, more so as the visibility was also very very low. Still we reached there around 5 pm. This was good thing, so stopped there for almost an hour. Many cups of tea, eggs and photographs later, we started. The descent was the scariest I have seen in my life till now, although, this is the first pass of my life :-)

Finally staying at Nature's Lap Resort in Tehsil Ghayagi, Banjar, district Kullu which is aroung 10-12 kms from the pass.

Night Halt : Nature's Lap Resort, Ghayagi
Food + Lodging - Rs 850/=
Fuel : Rs 200/=
Trip : 250 kms for the day.

Some photographs for the day:

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Day 4: BhawaNagar Pooh

2008-03-29T17:51:00.004+05:30

Tuesday, 17th June 2008 :

2:50 PM - Om restaurant, Pooh Colony

We have had more than 100 kms after Bhawanagar. Till Powari, roads were hell, but we enjoyed it, the Tapri hydel electricity plant on Sutlej in between for 30-40 kms, I think, phew, what road it was.

Filled petrol of Rs 100/- at Powari, as it was rationed there, only Rs 100 petrol for bike and Rs 200 petrol for car. The check post people had also mentioned "Malling Nullah". And here at the restaurant in Pooh, the locals are also mentioning the same, just 3-4 kms after Nako, major land slides are happening and road is blocked for many days at Malling Nallah.

Ah, the only route towards Leh is blocked here.

Still kept on riding, and suddenly found our biker friends, en-route some 15 kms ahead of Pooh,whom we had seen in Shimla. We had never met them before then. And they said it " The road is closed ahead at Malling".

Discussed, thought over, no options actually, we returned to Pooh. Back to Tensingh's Om restaurant and hotel. It's a new hotel and freshly painted, so very clean and no flies or insects, etc. Good room and we settle down.

Plan to leave early at 5 am tomorrow. Want to cross Jalori pass now, to go via Manali route.

Let's see how it works.

Night Halt : Om Hotel - Tensingh
Food + Lodging - Rs 685/=

Trip : 140 kms for the day.

Route for the day : Bhawa Nagar - Tapri - Ribba - Pooh - Khab - Nako - Khab - Pooh.

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Some photos for the day:

Bhawanagar govt guest house we stayed in last night:

Posing on Kinnaur roads:

Sutlej river accompanies for 200+ kms never leaving roadside for a moment, the humungous flow sometimes so near the road level is so much distracting :

Posing with Sutlej backdrop

Red flag, where ever it used to be there, means landslide zone, wait till its gone or they clear it up

Suddenly after a urn , we saw this. It was making huge roar, huge and we just had to stop there. Pose, click and click for an hour or more, in front of the Kassang Nullah. Click on these photos to see the real Kassang :-)

Kassang going down in Sutlej

One of the mild water streams, Atul fell down in the middle of this one.

Me, crossing this stream, the water used to be bone chilling and used to fill in our boots in every crossing.

First views of snow capped mountains :

From inside of Om restaurant, where we had lunch. What a view from the restaurant, isn't?

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Simla BhawaNagar Day 3

2008-03-29T17:47:00.007+05:30

Monday 16th June' 2008

Bad start for the day, late departure.

Delayed start from Shimla at 9:30 am. Slowly we reached Narkanda, after a lot of breaks. But the day today was a lot better, while yesterday were huge
rains and complete washout.
After Narkanda, we ripped through till Rampur-Busheher, and its a fantastic road. Sutlej river accompanies us all along this route and we get magnificent views all around. The "Neeras"
village is almost on the edge of the Sutlej river, beautiful.
Moving ahead in the evening, we thought of staying at Bhawanagar for the night. Somewhere I had read, that there are good places for night stay there. When we reached there, darkness had
started enveloping the small town. After couple of queries we came to know that the nearest place to stay would be Recong Peo, ah please no, its at least 45 kms from here, and we do not plan to ride these roads in the night.

By chance we met a govt employee, and he helped us stay in the Electricity board guest house; and what a location it was. Splendid. The food was great, the location, ambience was out of the world I know till date.

God's gift - we are in Kinnaur.

Plan for tomorrow : Wangtu-Tapri-Karcham-Powari-Ribba-Akpa-Morang-Jangi-Spello-Puh-Khab-Kah-Yangthang-Chango-Shailkaro-Sumdo-Hoorling-Lari-Tabo-Lusith-Kaza.

The change in height is going to be more than 2000 m. So, here we are sleeping with fan on and quilt wearing half T-shirt. But I think, we have to be prepared properly for the next 250 kms. Plan to hit Kaza tomorrow. Start early tomorrow.

HPSEB GH : Rs 300/=
Trip meter : 180 kms for the day.
Food : Rs 100/=
Fuel : Rs 400/=

Route today was : Chota Simla - Narkanda - Rampur-Bushehr - Neeras village - Jeori - Bhawa Nagar.

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Day 2: Chandigarh - Simla

2008-03-29T17:40:00.007+05:30

Sunday, 15 June 2008:

It looked like a cloudy day today. Last night, wasn't a very good sleep, but I slept good early in the morning at 6 and so kept sleeping till late. Got up only when my phone rang. "Hello" , Atul and Haider had reached Kalka, downed there bikes and were ready with full dress.

That filled a little hurried-ness in my mind already which anyways is not good for long rides. So, I started getting rerady, shower and other rituals didn't take much of my time. The luggage was already tied up there on the bike, I hadn't opened it up yest night. So, I started pretty soon from Chandigarh for Kalka, By that time they were already ready and so i asked them to move towards the Simla road and have breakfast and that I will catch up them over there on the highway itself in some time. This is the second time, I am going to meet these guys. I hope, it won't be too tough to go through the whole ride and almost next 15 days togethere with so much unknowing amongst us. So, I tanked up in Chandigarh itself and then slowly trudges through the Chandigarh, Panchkula, Pinjore and then Kalka traffic to reach the dhaba they were waiting. The meeting rituals and it had already started raining. I put my wind sheeter and the rain gear lower so as to save myself of the rain.

The hills start just around Pinjore and the route becomes fantastic there onwards. Being cloudy, the route was looking too good for the day, although it was raining cats and dogs in the mean while. There were clouds all over the road almost all through the route. I had always only dreamed about walking through the clouds and here, today, I was living it, my dream. There were clouds all around and were so dense, that the visibility would drop to less than 5 meters at some places.

Dense fog en route at almost all the places for the whole day. These couple of snaps are taken at noon, around 12 O clock on 15th June 2008.

When it started pouring heavily, I stopped at some place. Called up other people. Phew, we were almost scattered around 50 kms. One already near Shogi, 13 kms short of Simla, me around 50 kms from Simla sitting in front of Solan Bus Stand and Atul still another 15kms behind me.Slowly, both of us started inching towards Shogi, braving rains now, soon weather Gods saw our effort and gave us way, and Shogi we reached. I had already changed once at Solan as I was shivering there, after being drenched for many hours. Now, I was wet again, almost. We started again and thought of going ahead of Simla to stay for the night. A couple of miles ahead of Simla is a small place Chota Simla, it comes in Simla only, as it is very small distance from The Lift. We found a place there, Hotel Ashiana, Rs 1500 for the night after much negotiations by our negotiation master Atul. This was going to be the most expensive accommodation of our whole trip. Still the room was OK and was very near to the Lift and mall. A few min ride saw us parking near the lift and go upto the mall. We were scouting for a small iron, all our clothes were wet and we wanted to do something about it. We found one and were now looking for a decent place for wine & dine. The only place we got was Comberemere, it was very expensive and so the first day of group riding was getting heavy on us after the light beer and heavy food.

Went back to the hotel, then ironing of some clothes done for the day. My new Woodlands, :-( were so so wet, that they are not going to dry up in next 10 days. Sob sob...I have no other pair of shoes except a water proof sandals.

Thinking about tomorrow, we go to sleep today.

The day saw us through
Chandigarh - Pinjore - Kalka - Solan - Shogi - Simla -Chota Simla.

This ride for the day of total 121 kms only was the smallest I think and the wettest ride of my life. It made whole loads of my whether proof bags litter and all the stuff in them got wet. My only shoes were dripping to the core. All my preps were being laughed at on the second day of the trip.

Hotel Ashiana Regency : Rs 1500/= for triple occupency.

Trip meter : 121 kms for the day.

Food : Rs 375/=
Fuel : Rs 400/=
Beer : Rs 875/= ( @ Hotel Combermere, if you go to Shimla, this is adjacent to the paid lift for the public. This hotel also has a lift which you can use, and in itself is a good place :-)

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Some photographs for the day:

Road situation and visibilty, almost all the day. Evening it got a little better.

My waiting spot, in front of Solan Bus stand, for almost 2 hours.

Fantastic views, what with the cloudy weather and incessant rains :-)

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Day1:Delhi - Chandigarh

2008-03-29T17:34:00.005+05:30

Saturday, 14 June 2008:

It was a cloudy day already and it had been raining for last few days. All the way from Delhi to Chandigarh.

I couldn't make an early start. My daughter, was in Jodhpur for last few days. She was coming from Jodhpur via Mandore Express with my younger brother, who was coming in with her, to accompany as well as to see me off for the longest ride of my life.

The train was late, arrived around 10 AM and so we reached home around 11 from old Delhi railway station. Shikha and Ananya had reservation of Shatabdi at 5 PM for Chandigarh. I started my packing casually. Shail, my younger brother, was a big help. We did the tying up of luggage to the bike together. it would have been very difficult to do it for the first time all alone. So, I was ready before 2 and off I went off around 2 O clock in the after noon, towards my first halt, Chandigarh.

Getting ready for the first start of
the ride, 14th June 2008, my daughter helping me.

The Jaipur stint had been good a couple of weeks ago and so I was hopeful of making good time. I fairly did and was there at the Chandigarh railway station at 8 PM, almost 20 min before the shatabdi arrived.

When my family came out of train and my daughter saw me, she was amazed and excited to see me there and kept on asking, "Papa, kya aap bike se aaye ho?" many a times and then after would tell this to everybody for many days.
Went to the in-laws place. MIL was suggesting me, that even if I abort now, do I have to report any place. Do I really need to do it, can't I just say I did, without doing it, etc. They are generally worried about it, although they might have had done several such adventurous in their own time, still, as elders...they always are.

Atul and Haider had also started from Jodhpur via Kalka Mail and were expected to reach Kalka next day early morning and I was to meet them there itself.

It was still hot in Chandigarh at night. It always happens, when ever I want to sleep early so as to catch the train early morning or something else, the sleep always evades me and so this time also, till late in the night, I wasn't able to sleep.

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Batote Chandigarh 26 June 2008

2008-02-29T18:52:00.001+05:30

Day 13 : Batote - Patni Top - Kud - Udhampur - Ramkote - DayalaChak - Madhopur - Pathankot - Mukerian - Jalandhar - Phagwara - Ludhiana - Chandigarh.

The longest riding day of my riding life.

Total for the day : 450 kms

Fuel : Rs 500/- ( 9.9 l)

Sonamarg Batote 25 June 2008

2008-02-29T18:48:00.001+05:30

Day 12 : Sonamarg - Kulan - Gund - Kangan -Ganderbal - Srinagar - Avantipora - Khanagal, Anantnag - Qazigund - Jawah Tunnel - Banihal - Ramban - Batote.

Plan for today is to touch Pathankot after crossing Srinagar.It should be more than 450kms.

Also plan to visit Hazratbal in Srinagar,before bypassing it for further journey. Tomorrow Atul
and Haider will leave towards Amritsar and I will move on 1A towards Chandigarh.
I should be in Chandigarh tomorrow,Thursday 26thJune evening. These days Baba Amarnath
route is open,so there is huge crowd on Sonamarg. This side the route it seems is the
smallest by walking. Just after Sonamarg,there are huge camps catering to yatris who have
come for Darshan.

The yatra goes by Panchtarni,if people want they can also go to Shashnag. The walk from
Sonamarg-Batal side is the shortest to cover both, Panchtarni and Amarnath cave.

The route from Pahalgam side is long and also goes through Shashnag. Last, there was
some protest in Srinagar and so downtown is very tense. A driver of Tempo traveller who lives
in Srinagar downtown told us here.

The police/army fired against protestors and so there had been a couple of deaths.
And so the ambiance is tense.

10:30 PM : So ,it was a bloody eventful day for us. Eventful I can say now,as it is over now
and by GOD almighty, nothing serious has happened to anyone badly.

We started early, around 8 from Sonamarg and thought of having tea and breakfast at
some dhaba. We stopped at the first dhaba below the tourist rest house where we were
staying for the night and had chai-paranthas.The guys serving the paranthas etc were
contiously saying, the road is closed ahead. Then after talking to guys it was clear that all the
vehicles that were going towards Baltal were stopped.

We enquired, and it looked like, the army had started the convoy of private vehicles all along
around 8 am. We thought we will reach where they would be and started on our. Moving ahead,
there were slow truck traffic in between and cars were also who kept criss crossing in between.
And even though we tried a lot, these guys are faster and so I got separated.

Crossed Kangan among all protesters. There were huge protests going on and in Kangan, I was
just saved, I kept riding just behind this state roadways bus and touch touch to the bus. Bus went
through the burning crowd. Some stones were being pelted, but the bus slowly went through
and they gave way, and behind that I also sneaked through.

Now I know, being on the bike is so risky in these situations. Then met these guys.
They were waiting just outside a petrol pump. Proceeded towards Gandherbal. As soon as we
were near the town, the police and CRPF were thin and the protesting crowd just in front of us
and had started beating and kicking the vehicles. We were badly few feet away. Unbelievably,a
lot of them were still kids, I think between 12-14yrs of age, but they had became a mob by then.

There were so many vehicles all over. But we had bikes,so we had taken a U turn immediately
and started over. Haider was first then Atul was in the fornt and I was behind him. By then cars,
taxis etc had also started taking U turn.

And what we were trying to go through was a narrow mud lane. On the left side of it was
a 7-8 feet deep rain water nullah. I was following Atul in between the returning cars, Suddenly
he stopped speaking to some car wala, trying to explain him the situation. I also had to stop
immediately behind him, was riding almost with touching mudguards. But the mud lane where I
was driving, had no space on the left side for my foot, and as soon as I braked, and tried to
put my left leg down, I went down and down.

And I see myself toppled over in that nullah, upside down. Similar to the last time, I had left
the bike this time also and jumped over. I also got fell over in that nullah and my head banged
against a huge boulder. I heard a huge bang and couldn't understand for a few seconds what it was.
Luckily, was wearing the helmet properly, didn't get hurt. The bike was upside down in the nullah,
the protesting crowd was just behind us. I was bellow there in the nullah. The water stream
wasn't huge,still I think around 2 ft or so of water wasd gushing down the slope.

These guys started trying trying to pull my bike over.I was trying to push it from behind. Two
more locals joined to help in pulling the bike over. By GOD's grace, we were able to pull the bike
and then i got myself upright on the road. Both of them had rushed to their respective bikes and
a local guy was struggling to keep the bike upright. He was lean and the bike is very heavy, almost
180+ kg the water in the whole luggage.

I came up and hold the bike, all were running away from the protesters. By GOD's grace,
I push the button and the bike started in the first click and i also started running away.

All this happened so quickly but that felt like a long time then.

Haider was trying to abuse Scorpio wallas who were almost trying to run us over while we
were pulling and pushing the bike out of that nullah.

We kept riding for a few kms, then CRPF guys held us and many yatris. We waited there
for almost 2hrs or so. Then they let us go, we started and reached Srinagar. There CRPF guys
were not letting people go towards the Hazratbal but Haider was firm, he had to go. So both of
us waited outside near Dal Lake near a shop while he left his bike and appearing like local, he
went on foot to the Dargah.

Almost took 45 min there and came back. There had been some shooting outside the
dargah. Phew, so much for the day.

We started again and reached Avantipura, stopped for lunch, called up home, Mom, am
happy to be alive. Then started again. The route was peaceful further. Crossed Jawahar tunel in
the evening and were at Kud at dusk. After that we rode for 2 and1/2hour in the hills in
the night and reached Batote.
We were just 12kms short of our revised target of Patnitop. Stayed over night at hotel Hill View.

Total for the day : 265 kms, maximum till now for the day in hills.
Night halt : Hotel Hill View
Fuel : Rs 200.

Mulbekh Sonamarg 23 June 2008

2008-02-29T18:47:00.001+05:30

Day 11 : Mulbekh - Kargil - Drass - JoziLa - Baltal - Sonamarg.

I Can go solo riding. Just need to know the puncture thing and apart from that the normal bike
things. The cables are generally good. We need to have proper for brakes, chain links also.
Chain gets loose everyday, hill riding loosens it. The climb for Lamayuru was better that Gata
Loops, one is it was easy and second it wasn't that cold as it wasn't that high.

Anyway,Gandherbal had some shooting yesterday and three terrorist and one army man
went down. This Gandherbal is en-route to Srinagar when we approach it today.

Target for today is Sonamarg if things go fine or else may be move forward to Srinagar. Lets see.

It is the most fantastic location, we could have ever stayed. Gulmarg and Sonmarg and kashmir
is really the Swarg. Yeh Hindustan ki Jannat hai. I have taken lots of photos in both places.

Started from Mulbekh at good time, I think 8 after breakfast. Crossed Kargil . It is just any other
Indian town. Its just that it has become very famous after the 1999 war with Pakistan.Moreover,I
think this is almost 100% muslim populated town I have ever seen.

Although it didn't look like scary or so at all. But the friendly faces till Mulbekh have slightly
started to diminish now. We stopped at Drass, at the Kargil War Memorial.

The Tiger Hills are touch to the memorial and other battle zones are visible further.
The Border as the army man there told us, it only 10kms from the place we are standing that
sound scary. They told us about the Kargil war, India and Pak had a peace treaty, whereby both
countries would withdraw there men from border in winters as it turned to be severely cold.
Although it seems ,in 1998 Pak didn't do it that way and had started capturing parts on the
Indian territory.
This was for the first time reported by some locals, they said 'ki shayad koi terrorist aaye hain'.
A few army men were sent for them and they were all butchered. Then the battle started .

The battle lasted many months between May-Aug1999.

Also in the way yesterday , Gurudwara pathar Sahib was just after 25kms from Leh, we stopped
and spent some good time at Gurudwara Pathar Sahib, and heard the complete story from one
fellow.
It is being maintained by army since 1962 and around 7-9 army men are always there to
manage it. They were serving hot tea and everyone was welcome to join for Langar always.
It felt good to visit Upar Waley ka darbar for first time in so many days.
And the jawans were also very friendly.

!0:30 pm:
Sonamarg, we are sleeping on the floor in dorimtory, lets see how it goes tomorrow.

Total for the day : 169 kms
Night Halt : JKTDC Guest House

Day 10: Leh Mulbekh

2008-02-29T18:41:00.005+05:30

Monday, 23rd June 2008 : Leh - Pathar Saheb - Lamayuru - FotuLa - NamikaLa - Mulbekh.

Started from Leh pretty late, the target as all said wasn't tough for the day, Kargil, the most famous spot of the last fight India had seen.

Started from Leh around 9:30, First thing, got bike repaired - Thank God, she looks in good condition to ride back home now. Slowly we start,the route is fantastic. I almost ride alone for 150 kms because these guys are always ahead of me. But it was good I took photos liberally,at all places I wanted to. They were riding fast.

I am expecting these snaps to be my trip highlight. The climb of Lamayuru, the moon land, was fantastic. The bottom of valley was visible from the topmost point of climb. I felt these loops were far scary and higher than the famous Gata Loops.

Climb to Fotu-La was also good and so was Namika-La. Had lunch at Mulbekh around 6pm.

Then tried at Jammu And Kashmir tourism guest house. Stayed at Tourist Bunglow.
It is a good location.

Actually, today we started very late and stopped while we have plenty of sunlight left. A lot of sunlight and solo riding today. Enjoyed the day a lot.

Total for the day : 190 kms
Fuel : Rs 300/ - ( 5.5 l)
Night Halt : J & K tourist bunglow, Mulbekh.

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Some photos for the day :

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Day 9 - Leh

2008-02-29T18:38:00.006+05:30

Saturday, 22 June 2008: Leh - Thiksey - Karu - Hemis - K-Top half way - Leh.

This was a very much required rest day, although we didn't adhere to the complete rest day philosophy, still a better and brightly sunny day.

Both Atul and Haider to leave Leh early tomorrow on their way back via Srinagar. I intend to atlast do K-Top . Lets see if i can do it today, also i think we will have to go separately. Me going a day behind them may be. I don't want to do that although.

So,I tried to do K Top , but my bike was having major problems. The rear brake was almost gone and if you don't know how dangerous it is to ride on hills with only the front brake. Well, I don't need any medal neither am I gonna get any. So I climb down from midway, directly go to a bike mechanic. Get the rear brake toned properly. Now it actually feels too tight, but may be it is just my feel.

These guys have already been to Leh Palace and now I meet them near Shey Gompa. Later we go to Thiksey monastery. The day was leisurely spent.

One thing I would like to tell all, never get into the hands of travel agents for your permits. Or at least, not with smaller ones, who act like touts. My permit was actually, just my name added to an earlier permit of few people and taken a photocopy. I didn't like this at all and would mot recommend this to anyone.

Night 10:30 pm : Plan is to leave from Leh tomorrow morning.
Monday Leh-Kargil
Tuesday Kargil-Srinagar
Wednesday Srinagar-Pathankot
Thursday Pathankot-Chandigarh
Friday Chandigarh-Delhi

Total for the day : 106 kms

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Some photos for the day :

Beautiful moment, colors captured just outside the town.

Wonderful Leh view point, I stopped around 4 kms ahead of it and then back tracked my route. Actually it was getting very risky on those heights with only front brake working.

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Sarachu - Leh Day 8

2008-02-29T18:34:00.006+05:30

Day 8 : Sarachu - Gata Loops - Nakeela - Lavhulung La - Pang - Moorey Plains - TangLang-La - Rumtse - Upshi - Leh.

Last night,we slept pretty early around 9:30-9:45. It was very very cool rather cold, I think almost zero , it was freezing, because there was snow just above the camp.

So,going to pee even was a problem as you have to get out of the bed,the warm quilt. Thanks god, we have taken an attached toilet deluxe tent.

I slept and woke up around midnight.Was completely fresh.Later,the whole night,I couldnot sleep because of the less oxygen levels in the air. The night was really bad.

Got up to the sound of bullets passing by the campsite. Some bulleteer group is riding past the campsite.

After getting ready,some breakfast we got ready into ride for Leh today. Some strange chakkar, some ajeeb headache, stomach upset, uneasiness etc had increased today. It is AMS I think, due to less oxygen.

I am not taking Diamox,rather trying to increase the water intake to compensate for the less oxygen.

So we left around 8, the initial few km were bad. Then made an entry into army register at Sarachu check point. This is Himachal and J&K border post. Now we are entering Jammu & Kashmir.

In the meantime,had water numerous times. The AMS I think was getting harder. My body was not listening to my mind, that all this is short lived. Every now and then, I would stop my bike and lie down in the middle of the road.

At Pang,it didn't look like going further is possible. More so when Tang Lang la is still to be crossed. T-La is more than 17500 ft high. Still got ready for it.
Atul has got good enthu and that does make the difference between this small group of three.

Went ahead into Moorey Plains, the unbelievable flat lands at 14000+ ft height. Ajeeb strange feelings enter in mind, heart. I feel very lonely today. Kept on going ahead, and then T-La. Both Atul and Haider are riding far ahead today, I guess may be I have not seen them for last 2-3 hours. Both of them had left as it was very very cold up there. They kept riding for low lying areas.

T-La (17582#), the temp was sub-zero. I clicked a couple of photographs and then literally fell down. Then asked a Safari wala to click 2-3 photos of mine so that I have some memory. But the place was magnificent. Army walas were feeding brave chilled souls with tea, biscuit.

The views were fantastic. And I wanted to have tea. But these guys were gone and I didn't want to be there for long all alone. It is unbelievable, but the height and loneliness creates such strange feelings in ming, that some times I used to be standing some place and crying just like that. Anyways, soon, started getting down. They were halted at Rumtse. We had some snacks there.

After Rumtse, it was a breeze till Upshi and then Leh and the altitude had gone down so has the AMS and we all were feeling better.

Reached Leh around Sun down, may be 7 pm or so. Feeling better now. I had felt like spending more time in Tang Lang La but couldn't.

Total for the day : 259 kms
Night Halt at : Zik Zik Guest House.

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Some photographs for the day:

Early morning at Sarachu camps, all were up by 5, and sun light, wow what a warmth it was:

A moderate pass in between, Nakeela @ 15547 ft

The famous "Gata Loops"

Rear view :-)

Standing the heighest point from Manali to Leh @ 17500+ ft

World famous, Moorey plains, a flat land at 14000+ ft height.

Don't be a gama in the land of lama.

Halt at Pang, very high halt :-)

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Sissu Sarachu Day 7

2008-02-29T18:16:00.004+05:30

Wednseday, 20 june 2008

Day 7 : Sissu - Tandi - Keylong - Jispa - Darcha - Patseo - Zing zing Bar - Baralach-La - Sarachu.

Morning Diary :

So, we met Oolie last night in Triveni guest house. He's from Germany and is travelling with a Keralite friend in Scorpio towards Leh.

This is his 7th visit to India and 6th to Leh-Ladakh. Phew, too much na. As a 60 yr old German, he is strong enough to take on these routes, even though it is in an SUV. He knew all about the route, has stayed at all the places
some time or the other, has many friends in Leh also.

The best part which I liked is, when he mentioned about India. He always comes every year, here for 2 months. He has already seen half the world still he comes to india every year now. I asked him why not explore any other place and only India.

He said, "See, I'd seen a lot of them, and here I got all I want, so I don't want to explore any other place now. No time to waste".

A small anecdote he mentioned.

"Everybody goes to Pangong Tso for a day trip or at the max stays there for a night. Once I went there for a week. So, there in the campsite, there was a common dining tent where people come, eat, keep on sitting , discussing etc.I used to be sitting there everyday. Everyday, some new people will come. Some day an Indian Doctor with family, some army officer with family, some guys on adventure trip.
Everyday, they would see me, an old man, that too a foreigner sitting alone. THey would come to me and ask, come join us, have meal together or they would come over and join me. One night a few Israeli guys came in. In that common tent, they didn't even wish me, they completely ignored me.

Even if you do not want to spend time, you can say Good-evening and thats might be all."

Well, I was happy to hear this one.

He continues "I am welcome everywhere I have gone. Never in India, I have seen this feeling in anybody that you are not welcome here.
The warmth, love they all show and shower is what makes me come back again and again."

I loved the conversation.

About the travel plans, our further travel plan is to reach Sarachu for the day. We have to cross Bara-Lach-la today. Yesterday I was scared and nervous inside, when I was departing from Manali and in that mind set I guess, I missed the Rohtang board and kept riding.
Would be filling petrol at Tandi.

9:30 pm at Goldrop Royal Camps, Sarachu ;

9:30 pm at Goldrop Royal Camps, Sarachu - So, we have been able to achieve our target orf Sarchu. The day has not been very good still 'all is well that ends well'.

We started from Sissu, a little after 10 am. Although we only had to cover 140 kms, still this 140 kms is always more than 12000 ft of height and in the mountains, the most extreme terrain.

Filled up our tanks, can to brim at Tandi. Riding, we were waiting for Keylong to come. There would be the last STD booths to call home. There was a small line on the booth, so we called up home and told them the latest status.

Now, slowly and slowly we marched torwards Bara-lach-la. There were scariest of the water strems I have passed yet in my life. One was huge and Atul said he will go back to pose while crossing it again. He went back and while negotiating the stream again. he fell down.

Luckily for him, we were capturing everything in the cams :-) Anyways, that stream was pretty bad. Although till now, there have been countless streams, still they scare me everytime. Roads 6 kms before La were hellish and then its butter cream till La and further. Spent some time clicking and chatting at La. Its 16500 ft. you know, so, start the descent then. Haider was perturbed with the height now. and we rode fast till Bharatpur and stopped there, its 5:15 pm, so I think we crossed the pass around 5 pm.
And it was a good pass.

Just after that scary stream, when we were rinsing aour shoes and socks, a fellow all alone came from Leh side on his CBZ. He is Lokesh from Ambala and is doing the solo and is almost on completion. He had started from the Sinagar side and is now going back through Manali side. Solo, phew.

He had also gone to Baba Amarnath. So we all had prasadam.

At Bharatpur we all had snacks etc and then started towards Sarchu. Haider forgot his bag there, so we had to ride back and fetch his bag. Almost 30 kms of bad bad roads again, ah I hate this.
The good part, was, he found his bag ;-)

So, sleeping at 10 now in Sarchu. Hope to reach Leh tomoorw. " Liye sapney nigahon mein , chala hoon teri rahon mein....jindagi ...aa rahaa hoon main ".

Night Halt : Goldrop Royal Camps, Sarachu
Food + Lodging : Rs 1000/=
Fuel : Rs 456/=
Trip : 158 kms for the day.

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Click on the photo to view full size.

Where to I see, front or the rear:

Snow capped mountains as a backdrop, what a petrol bunkit is :-)

Keylong, the last std booths were from where we contacted our family.

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Books I have been reading

2008-02-29T11:27:00.005+05:30

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho- It needs no introduction I think, almost everybody must have read it. This I guess made the writer, a huge icon, and then it started to bring rest of the writings of the writer to the plane.

Also read Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho. Finished both of them, I think I read Alchemist more than once, at least some parts of it.

Been reading Veronika Decides To Die and left before the end and haven't been able to pick it up again, I think I will have to do the re-reading for some part.

Read The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseinei a couple of weeks ago.
Currently reading A Thousand Splendid Sun by the same author. Both are in the same backdrop of Afghanistan for almost 30 yrs starting 1975.

My favorite write, Mitch Albom, by chance I read his book Five People You Meet in Heaven and I became fan of the way he writes. Still have to read his first Tuesdays With Morrie.

In Travel category, my favorites are Outlook Travel Guides, and I do regularly read and secure the copy of Outlook Traveller every month. Still have to start reading Lonely Planet, they are still kind of expensive.

The Monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma, I think I read it a couple of years ago.

Recently I saw dateline islamabad by a amit baruah I think, but before I could grab that, I saw another one, which I couldn't resist. The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits by CK Prahalad and I hopped on to it. Its a tough one and I think I will at least take a year to finish it.

With that I also got the Times group India Travel Guide.

Along with them, I am also reading Alice in the Wonderland and Adventures of Tom Sawyer along with my daughter, natrrating a chapter a day to her.

Shall keep on updating this list with the ones I have read and am reading...

Kailash Kher Live Concert at Qutab Minar

2008-02-18T20:02:00.002+05:30

Many things in life, if you want to do them, don't need a lot of money, just some effort from your side.
Well, we have heard of something like this, but we were to realize it pretty late in life, yet pretty early.
We have been going out to some unusual places recently, all the ones which we want to but still we only go to malls and come back home. We have started visiting Museums, the exhibitions, matches etc. Now, it was time for a live concert. We read about a concert, live show, by Kailash Kher being organized by Times of India at Qutab minar complex. The passes to the concert were available at Planet M outlets. So, one evening we went to the Shipra Mall outlet of Planet M and got some passes for ourselves.
We have never been to Qutab Minar itself and so didn't had an idea about the parking situation there, etc. So, we thought, we will go by auto , after parking our car at some proper parking place, may be Palika or Ansal Plaza. but, we got late and headed directly to the Qutab complex. Went inside the parking, phew it was full, and was sheer good luck for us that we were able to get out of the parking. We went ahead and parked our car on the road side where many people were parking.

Went inside, it was a long dusty walk, lot of people around. but the arrangement was pretty good with lots and lots of chair, blasting music speakers. Soon, Kailash Kher was here, he is a pretty small guy but has fantastic sense of humour. The songs he sang mesmerized all three of us,. Nanna still hums the songs sometimes and if FM is playing any of those songs, she recalls. We all enjoyed there. Went to get some tea-coffe, was on the house, I was floored. Wow, TOI.

Initially we were sitting behind, from where the singer and crew were pretty far. Later we went ahead and were standing pretty near to them. Kailash introduced all of his team members and it was pretty surprising to see Sonu Nigam's brother there also playing an instrument there.
Kailash and crew were pretty humble in all the ways and looked like the enjoyed the good swaying crowd there. It was around 70 minutes and I think he must have sung 7-8 songs.

All in all a good evening their in the lighted Qutab Minar complex, the first for us. And I hope, we have many more events, exhibitions, concerts and matches to go ahead for. Soon, the IPL matches are going to start with much fan fare, lets see, if we can make it to any of those.

till then...cheers...

Davis Cup :India-Uzbekistan Tie, DLTA

2008-02-12T16:00:00.006+05:30

I had heard about DLTA for long from one of my friends, he used to have his office just adjacent to DLTA (stands for Delhi Lawn Tennis Association). We used to go to meet him there, DTC route # 533 is the one, if I remember correctly, which used to drop there, just opposite DLTA, at the red light (cross roads). Used to call up my friend from the PCO (juice shop) there and he would come out, we would go to IIT Hostel gate dhabas, gorge on the sumptuous aaloo paranthas with lots of butter. But those were the days, was young then.
Well, so what I meant was that, this friend of mine used to tell me all the time, about the matches that used to happen there at DLTA including Davis Cup. This was the time, around 7-8 years ago.

This year, I read some place about the Davis Cup tie going to happen and that in a couple of days in Delhi. So, all set then. DLTA told me that you don't need to buy any tickets , but would get complementary passes to watch the matches, if you come here at the R.K.Khanna Stadium at DLTA, Africa Avenue Road.

So, Saturday afternoon, we were there, although a little late around 1:15 PM, match was suppose to start around 12:00 noon. The parking was to be allowed based on some yellow VIP parking pass which we didn't had, so we had to park in the open on the other side of the road, but still it was fine.
It was a lone match on Saturday, the doubles match with Indian side being represented by Mahesh Bhupati and Rohan Bopanna. We could only seethe last 25-30 min of the game, but I tell you, Mahesh is such a master of the doubles game. He has such reflexes at the net, and reaches such impossible balls, and places them so beautifully, that the opposition has no chance to survive. So the Indian duo, finished up the match in less than 90 minutes total. Leander Paes is the non playing captain of the team and was encouraging all the time. Although, it was pretty clear, that Paes and Mahesh were looking eye-to-eye at all, but it didn't look like making any difference, when it came to going all out to win the game.

And for the first time in my life, we were seeing all those stars in front of my eyes, playing a match for the country, live, motivating each other, winning points and the Uzbeks getting frustrated with the losing points. We had fortunately taken along our camera this time, so we had some beautiful photographs of our national tennis heroes.

We asked the office bearers for a couple of passes for the next day also, and they obliged us with them instantly. So Sunday was the decider day, where in two reverse single matches were to be played. The day would start early at 10:00 AM on Sunday at the stadia.

So, if we have to reach there, we should start around 8:30 from our place, so as not to miss the match, as it will definitely take an hour to reach there, and another half to do the parking etc. So we discussed and decided, that it won't be possible for our little daughter to be up and ready before 8:30 for something she doesn't understand and is not excited the much we are and that the wind is still biting cold.,So the verdict was I shall be going to the matches alone.

I was a little late and started around 8:45 AM, but being Sunday, I reached there quite comfortably before 9:45 AM and was seating comfortably there. It was a better seat today, as I had reached early and searched for a better one, with good view for the match. I hadn't brought the camera today, as I wished to enjoy the matches completely. And what a day it had become. For the glimpse, the matches started around 10:15 AM and were done around 4:45 PM.

The first match was between Rohan Bopanna and Denis Istomin, at one point Rohan was ahead with score 6-4,6-4 and ahead in the third set by 4-2 and still, can you believe it, he lost the match. So it became a five setter running for more than 3 hours. For me it was electric, but still the stands were disappointed a little and so was I as India had lost the match and was not standing at 2-2 with the last match to be had between Prakash Amritaraj and Dustov.

In the meantime, on the home/family front, I asked my wife and kid to reach the stadia on their own, so that can also witness the second match. And they reached around half an hour before the second match. It was to start around 1:45 PM. The players and officials were having lunch and so were we. The stadia had again started echoing the sounds of "Bharat Mata ki Jai" and "Maro Mao, Jor se maro", "Rohan Bhaiya ki Jay", "Prakash Bhaiya ki Jay"; but still the crowd was very decent, they some times used to go over board while cheering up for India team between the serve and points, but whenever the match referee used to point out, they made it a point to even say "Sorry Sir, We will take care". It was fun and enthralled crowd, although not as full as the cricket stadia gets, still it was fantastic environment over there.

So Prakash came to play the last and decider match of the tie which was still live after four matches. For the records sake, the last time India played Uzbek in Davis Cup, they lost 4-1. So, a lot of pressure and expectations on Prakash's shoulders, with his father Vijay Amritraj sitting in the viewers gallery, he comes in front of Dustov who had lost the single day before against Rohan. Match went from this side to that all the while, but the long fought battle was finally won by Prakash, taking India to a 3-2 victory against Uzbek, and I used to know it, but felt it for the first time, what effect does cheering up makes for the players and pressure it creates for the player of the opposite team. We had the advantage of playing in the home ground and so, were full of cheers for the game.
But surely, there were a lot of good cheers for the good game both of them played. The second game was a little better from the game's point of view as they used to have rallies, while in the first game, Rohan or Istomin always used to kill the game never taking it to more than 3-4 strokes.

Well , so it was fantastic to see the winning Indian team taking a round of the court with Indian flag, having a toast right there, with Vijay Amritraj also in with big smile and happy feeling. We witnessed the after match lively atmosphere there for more than 15 minutes and then left. "Chake De india" has become the sports motivational song, after every set the stadium used to play the song in full blast. And after India won, the party wasn't stopping at all.

A news story for this Davis Cup matches on Sunday at Sify for your reference

So, we had a fun filled day, Nanna also liked it very much, and I am tired like hell. I guess, played tennis after long time yesterday and then the whole day outdoor sitting, which I haven't done for long made me feel so.

Now, this Times Festival is going on, and they are going to bring the Wadali Brothers and Kailash Kher to sing on Saturday and Sunday respectively, but where, they haven't yet announced. I hope, I will at least be able to witness one of those live concerts.

Visit to 18th World Book Fair, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

2008-02-11T13:19:00.000+05:30

Well, another world book fair in Delhi, same location, Pragati Maidan. The last one we visited was last year in September, a little different one, named as Delhi Book Fair. This one, the World Book Fair is organized by the National Book Trust of India and in fact NBT organizes a lot of book fairs in India, from Goa to Jodhpur to Meghalaya and Assam, its trying to propagate the reading habit and trying to make the books available to one and all in all corners of the country.

Well, we thought, the earlier the better, so Saturday would be the first day. But as per Nannas wishes, we sailed towards the National Rail Museum on Saturday for a fantastic fun-filled day.

And so we were there at Pragati Maidan on Sunday , 3rd Feb 2008 and to our relief, it wasn't crowded at all. In any case, the book fairs are far less crowded than the Auto Fair.

Just for the stats, the Auto Fair had around 1.8 million visitors this year in Jan while this World Book Fair had less than 1.2 m. Well the numbers don't tell the whole story, this despite the fact that the ticket for book fair was just Rs 10/- each all seven days of the week, while the entry for Auto Fair was Rs 150/- for weekdays and Rs 300/- each for the weekends. Well, doesn't matter, am just trying to vent the disgrunt I have for this, as all these books available there such huge knowledge for anybody and everybody, but we are not able to understand the value of them in our lives.

So, this World Book Fair, wasn't any different from the earlier ones. This time, Russia was the Guest of Honor for this fair, so there were a lot of activities going outside hall # 7, some nukkad natak, or enacting a kids story from Russia to make people aware of the culture and life there. A drawing competition for the kids, the kids were drawing some unbelievable art and the whole wall, I think around 25-30 feet was covered with the paintings up to a height of 6 feet, so if you calculate, a lot of paintings.

So, we kept on roaming the Pragati Maidan, but Nanna was very tired, and it was tough for us to carry her and then freely browse the innumerable books there. How I wished, we had brought the stroller with us. But well, nothing can be done now. So, moving ahead, there were a few things in our list already, the first was, to buy a black board. And soon we reached there, and got a good black board, which on the other side is a white board. And it has already started coming to use at home, that I can't tell you.

Alright, there were a lot of publishers, which many of us know about. There are two which I found the most fantastic and new discovery kinds. One, Indus Publishing House, which specialises in the books of Himalayan terrain, be it the forest, wildlife, herbs and horticulture , trekking, rock climbing, natives, migrants, culture, festivals, life on mountains. It was an amazing collection they had. Earlier I already had a few books from the Outlook gallery on travel, but I think this is a class apart. Although I still have to read one from them, but the sheer collection is too good. In fact, now Outlook, has also started coming out with their own series of travel for many countries, after covering the whole of India. I also have subscribed to the "Outlook Traveler" magazine, and I like it very much, Marco is the best thing in it, if you know.
Second, was Parragon Publishing, they had some fantastic books on display, about oceans, history, science, polar regions, wildlife, Ferrari's, bikes and they were all with fantastic photographs. Something, which I highly appreciate in a book of information providing kinds, as it makes it readable for kids as well. I don't know their Indian outlet or website, but they mentioned and I have seen myself also, their books are generally available at all good book shops, Crossword, Om Books, Oxford Book Store, etc.

We got a few books from many different stalls and we are all set to go. It has been a good day, but somehow we missed the Stationery fair. We always like to go to Stationery fair, which is also on there along with the Book fair. When in US, you get good shops with everything related to stationery, and you like to go and shop there, but here its difficult to find any good stationery shop, which caters to all your requirements, so we wanted to visit it, but couldn't help. Although, I have recently heard, that Reliance has opened up a huge stationery shop in a Gurgaon mall, just like there Reliance Digital or Reliance Footprint and am looking forward to visit it soon.

I appreciate and applaud the National Book Trust for doing such good efforts.

Visit to National Railway Musuem, Chanakyapuri

2008-02-07T11:09:00.000+05:30

Its been a long time since we were thinking of going to National Rail Museum. Although, it wasn't particularly this Saturday, i.e., 2nd Feb 2008, that we were going there. In fact as the World Book Fair had started on Friday, we were almost sure to go there on Sat. But, then Sat morning, the newspaper told us, that the Rail Museum is celebrating their Museum Day over this weekend and are having a few workshops and other attractions for kids as well as adults. This did pull our thoughts towards it and finally Nanna decided that we should be going to Rail Museum and may be can visit the Book Fair tomorrow, i.e., on Sunday.

First of all, we missed where it is, and reached the Nehru Planetarium but then after asking a couple of auto wallas, who gave us the most perfect direction possible, we reached there. The next dour neighbor to the Rail Museum is the Royal Bhutanese Embassy and its an exact replica of all the Bhutan architecture we see in any book or magazine, or I can say, was a perfect example of the Dzongs with same structural design and exterior paintwork and looked awesome from the front gate.

So, back to museum, its a huge rush there and no parking, but thats a normal scenario here in the capital, so no problems. Then the entry tickets are Rs 10/- each and Rs 5/- for kids.

As soon as we enter, there are so many old steam engines in the view. Especially for Nanna, to see a railway engine so close was exhilarating. And many of those engines were really very clean and open for kids and adults to climb up and see for themselves. So, she went into a couple of engines, reached their top and was enjoying to the most. There was a fantastic souvenir shop, from where we bought a couple of key chains, some magnets and stickers etc. Although, there were good books available on Railways and trains and also models of Fairy Queen and a few other stem engines, but they all were upwards of Rs 1000/- .

Then, there were a few workshops happening there. One was a guided tour of a the museum, the learned person from the Indian Railway would tell us about all the engines, their life and their history. It would have been good, but with Nanna, it is difficult. Then there was another about Bird Watching. The one, which I was interested about was "Train Modeling".

There I met a volunteer, who was working and showcasing the modeling there at the museum, just for the sheer liking and following for the models. He himself had a lot of models and has been following this hobby since childhood. Well, although, there he was telling about the models, a small slide show about different models, and I was primarily interested in railroad modeling. Still meeting him, I had a lot of information. primary was that there are people who are interested in the same thing, and many of them in Delhi. That there is a yahoo group also. That yahoo group told me about the website of Indian Railway Fan Club, seems like very good, but I still have to explore it well. That gentleman from B'lore is devoting 2-3 hours daily to revive the old engines, the models which are kind of 100 years old. He mentioned, that there are 10-12 volunteers, who are planning to build a huge model railroad withing the next one year by contributing. It seems like fun and I hope to be back here soon.

There there were a couple of small steam engines running around, where we could buy ticket and sit in. So, we got tickets for ourselves and waited for the train to arrive at the station. It is a very small one, and it was definitely very enjoying ride for us and especially for Nanna. The joy train took a complete round of the museum, which has stations with benches where people can sit, tunnels, turns and all the fun. It was fun, and Nanna was jumping with joy. She wanted to sit in the train for some more time, but the line at the ticket window was very long, so I forgot that idea. And, we lunged towards the food court, a few tents serving the chat pakaudi etc. For next time, I will remember to buy 2-3 pair of tickets in one go for the train ride.

Then, there was a steam engine, which was I think 10 inches or so high, and was being driven by sitting on top of it, and could take only two small kids as its passengers. It was fantastic to see it running. Nanna was a little afraid so didn't ride it, but I will make sure the next time we go there, if its running, she sure takes a ride.

The biggest mistake of the day, we didn't take camera along with us for the day. Well, to take it in positive stride, we decided to be back here at the museum very soon, and this time with camera, so as to take back the beautiful memories.

Investments for saving tax in India

2007-12-26T12:19:00.000+05:30

Am writing this, while being bombarded by a few people about many queries related to the income tax, savings instruments etc.

We will discuss these following things in general:

1) Tax slabs for different types of individuals
2) Examples for people with different income levels - with or without savings.
3) Different investment avenues
4) My advise for different people to approach the tax savings

Tax slabs for different types of individuals -

Individuals (Actually Men & HUFs) -
First Rs 1,10,000/- is exempted
Next 1.10 L - 1.60L @ 10%
Next 1.60 L - 2.60L @ 20%
Next 2.60 L - 10.0L @ 30%
10.0 L onwards - @ 30% + surcharge @ 10% of total tax payable/paid.

Women -
First Rs 1,45,000/- is exempted
Next 1.45 L - 1.95L @ 10%
Next 1.95 L - 2.95L @ 20%
Next 2.95 L - 10.0L @ 30%
10.0 L onwards - @ 30% + surcharge @ 10% of total tax payable/paid.

Sr. Citizens -
First Rs 1,95,000/- is exempted
Next 1.95 L - 2.45L @ 10%
Next 2.45 L - 3.45L @ 20%
Next 3.45 L - 10.0L @ 30%
10.0 L onwards - @ 30% + surcharge @ 10% of total tax payable/paid.

Examples for people with different income levels - with or without savings :

Don't have energy left to write about these, so am pointing you to some old examples.
These examples are for last years tax slabs, but I think you would generally get an idea.

Different investment avenues for saving tax:

There are many different avenues which an individual can access for tax savings.
Here am primarily talking about tax saving instruments only,' ocs in my view,
somebody who does the tax saving part of the salary/income diligently, would certainly
become a prudent investor pretty soon.

PPF - Public provident Fund. Minimum lock in period is 3 years and total tenure for a PPF account is 15 yrs. Can be opened in SBI or I think some other nationalized banks and also Post Offices. I have mine in Post Office. but do remember, if you don't deposit anything for a whole year, they deduct Rs 100/- from the account. I did pay the penalty a couple of times in last few years.

NSC - National Savings Certificate. It is a fixed 6 yr savings certificate (i.e., lock in period here is 6 yrs ) and it generates an interest income of 8% compounded half yearly. e.g., a sum of Rs 10,000/- invested today would become Rs 16,010/- after 6 years.

LIC - Am not saying insurance as such, 'cos LIC in general is an investment avenue in itself, and there are many plans which nobody else offers. Well, LIC has a plethora of insurance cum investment plans for individuals, couples ,kids for all different ages. Generally, almost all of these insurance plans ar for 15-20-25 years, so these are like real long term investments. The plan should be well chosen as per the age, life stage of an individual, and not because an agent is pushing you.
And I must say, LIC has some very good plans for Indian customers. And the huge advantage when somebody purchases an LIC plan is of credibility that LIC has been in India since ages and that it has been giving money to people for years.

ULIPs ( Unit Linked Insurance Plans) - These are pseudo insurance plans floated by all the insurance companies including LIC these days and the insurance companies are in the market with big gums promoting all the different ULIP plans with huge sales and marketing schemes, advertisement propaganda. These insurance plans invest part of your premium in the stock market either under some existing plans or with new schemes in the stock market/debt market. Don't ask me about debt market right now, I ll explain another day may be. but primarily, ULIP plans cut the mortality charges ( money required for the insurance company to insure an individual for the specified sum assured) and also deduct admin charges, initial charges, yearly charges, stationary charges, abc charges, def charges, ..., xyz charges, list goes on, and I think they still don't disclose all of them.

ELSS( Equity Linked Saving Schemes) - These are purely investment instrument, whereby all your money is invested in the tax saving mutual funds.I hope nobody is asking, what is a mutual fund. So, different Fund houses, like SBI, HDFC, Reliance, Fidelity, Sundaram, etc have their own tax saving plans. Each plan has a different motive. Invest in whichever suits you, and yes, if you were thinking about it, the lock in here is 3 yrs. I guess, its the minimum in almost all of the tax saving instruments I have discussed above.

For layman, a mutual fund is a group of people, pooling in money to invest in the stock market to generate better returns, where in that pooled money is managed by professionals.
In mutual funds, there are a few options, which are initially confusing for people. The investment options are
1) GROWTH - the money grows with time and investor can redeem whenever they want.
2) DIVIDEND - the money grows and the fund house declares dividend ( you can say the profit of the money invested) and pays it
to the investors. The declaration is on the fund house discretion.
3) DIVIDEND RE-INVESTMENT - the money grows and the fund house declares dividend ( you can say the profit of the money invested) and
invests the money back into the mutual fund on behalf of investor.

My 2 annas, never choose the 3rd option(Dividend Re-investment).
If you want the profit to be returned to you periodically, choose 2nd(Dividend) option, that is fund house discretion, when they declare the dividend.
Else if you want to keep the option with yourself, choose the 1st (Growth) option. My recommendation would be to go for GROWTH option generally.

My advise :

People who have just started their carrier, i.e., in 20+ age before 30 yrs of age - should primarily invest all their investible surplus in the Mutual Funds. So for tax saving, they should invest all of the amount left after EPF (Employee Provident Fund) in these ELSS funds.

My suggestion is to choose between the following schemes to start with :
1) SBI Magnum Tax Gain Scheme 93 - Growth
Fund start date : Mar 1993
Return since start date - 18 % p.a. [Compounded annual growth rate, CAGR, you would read many times in many articles]
Return for last 3 years - 65 % p.a.

2) HDFC TaxSaver Growth - Growth
Fund start date : 1996
Return since start date - 31 % p.a.
Return for last 3 years - 49 % p.a.

3) Birla SunLife Tax Relief 96 - Growth
Fund start date : 1996
Return since start date - 35 % p.a.
Return for last 3 years - 48 % p.a.

4) HDFC Long Term Advantage - Growth
Fund start date : 2000
Return since start date - 38 % p.a.
Return for last 3 years - 43 % p.a.

All the above mentioned schemes are open ended tax saving schemes, and so you can invest in any of these any day of the year.

With, time and different life stages, people should start purchasing the term insurance policies, start investing in money back and with profit plans from LIC. I guess, I ll talk about them some other day, and this much is enough for today.

Please feel free to provide any feedback, and I shall update it with your suggestions. Or may be to know more about anything I have mentioned as a passing reference, drop in a note.

Glossary of terms :

Previous Year - Is the year in which we earned the money
Assessment Year - Is the year in which we are filing the tax return for the money earned
in the previous year.
Financial Year - Is the same as the previous year.

{ e.g., when we file return in May-June 2008, the A.Y is 2008-09 and the P.Y or F.Y is 2007-08 }

HUF - Hindu undivided Family
CAGR - Compounded annual growth rate

Visiting Sahitya Akademi and SAARC Textiles Exhibition over the weekend

2007-12-17T22:36:00.001+05:30

This weekend was actually very eventful. We had already learnt that this saturday was the last day of the Sahitya Akademi books exhibition (cum sale) at Rabindra Bhawan, Ferozshah kotla Marg. It was a chilly morning and so it was a late rising day, still we got the best of it and were there around noon, 12:15 pm or so. I had already prepared a list of all the books which I felt good by names or which were award winners. Shikha spent good hour and half selecting books while I kept asking the fellow about the books in list. he was amused to see somebody with list and asking for books like "Cat on the Houseboat", "Bacchhon ne pakda chor", etc. Few of them were out of print. We got hold of more than two dozen books and the fella gave us some extra discount. So happily, at noon when Nanna said she is very hungry, we moved out of the exhibition area, but it was a good visit to that place. In general, they have a permanent sales outlet for the Sahitya Akademi books all year round over there on the first floor.
We definitely thought, we shall come back to this place and explore it more some other time.

Next, on Sunday, we casually went to Pragati Maidan, to see some Inside Outside Mega Show. As per the title, we know, it was a show about home furnishings, interior decorations, etc. but, we had some time in our hand, and what better place then Pragati maidan to spend it.
But, there was a surprise. Some SAARC Textile exhibition was going on there, we went inside strolling and started taking looks at the stalls. There were lots of fine rugs ( read expensive) from Afganistan and they were really good. Fantastic hand work, wall hangings, paintings from Bhutan and Nepal and shawls also were good. Some good soft toys from Sri lanka also. Nanna was also enjoying there, looking at things, while I spent time talking to people from Nepal, Bhutan, SriLanka about the things they have brought here and how has been there experience.
They were happy to be here. But, by the density of visitors on a warm Sunday afternoon,
it felt like, we need more promotion for SAARC exhibition like things.
But where did we spend the most time was Pakistan. The stalls from Pakistan had good stuff for the better half's. And so, there we spent two grand for two suit lengths for my better half. And I was happy to see her happy like that. We also saw a couple of people bargaining there like we usually do in Palika or Sarojini Nagar, and the exhibitor's looked very frustated by that. While talking to them , they mentioned, why some people would say we will only give Rs 40 for something of Rs 200. That is Delhi special I guess.
The IO Mega show, for which we went there, was kind of useless for us, so we spent not more than 5 min there. All in all, ITPO and Pragati Maidan are fantastic places to be.
Also we have the Auto Fair in Jan and World Book Fair in Feb lined up ahead.

Visit to GOONJ office

2007-12-17T18:41:00.000+05:30

Well, its been many months, since I had been thinking of going to the Goonj office in Sarita Vihar, Delhi and so today it was
It was a perfect eye opener, the way they have been functioning and are managing the staff of more than 40 people and the values and behavior they have inculcated in them is extra-ordinary. It made me think, about the corporate trainings we go through time to time, to generate the motivation and belongingness feeling. I could feel that belongingness and motivation in the people working over there in the half hour or so, I spent over there. The guy Imran, who had shown us the work area primarily, was working overtime and that too on his own zeal to work rather than the pressure to show something. And I think the responsibility and authority he had was the primary motivations plus may be working with Anshu Gupta or being able to work at the grass root level and see the beneficiaries in front of your eyes and see and make the whole channel working in front of you in unison for this to happen are also the reasons. He is from Kashi. I was trying to understand the reason he chose this as his primary full time vocation but still am not fully satisfied.
But along with them, I intend to understand their modus operandi of choosing the local NGOs and sending the truck load full of material to them, then to another one, then look forward for reviews of their work. Hope am not being cynical, but still its a mammoth task to do. They have grown and are now sending a truck load full of material almost every 4-5 days, that makes it approx 90-100 truck loads in an year. I wish to be associated and be visiting villages and see/meet the beneficiaries in future.

And I must say, in their own manner, Goonj is working in the most professional and organized manner that is possible and in the most dignified manner for all the employees there. They have slowly expanded the work areas while there office is still situated in Sarita Vihar for people to see who are visiting.

Hopefully, I shall be paying more visits to their office and would make these visits more worthwile for them in the coming times.

Earlier in my carrier, I was associated with "World Vision India" (PartnerID- 1020731) and was sending them regular monthly payments. But later, I felt a need to be associated directly and see whats happening or if its happening the right way or not and since have stopped those monthly contributions.
Later I was also associated with a small team working on the education for poor children in Ghaziabad and Noida, and that was the best grass root level work I had witnessed till date. Going in the slums or labour colonies, watching the kids study in the rugged platform or dingy abandoned building floors, but they definitely looked happy. And you know what, those slums or the make shift labour colony, whatever you say, would generally have a small jhuggi, which acted as a cinema hall, where some enterprising guy would show movies through VCR/VCD on a TV, and the people used to spend money on that. But when they were asked to shell out Rs 20/- only for their children education for a month, they had many problems & excuses. So, it was both, non-willingness and attitude problem I guess.

But I sincerely appreciate, what they were doing without any help, almost independently. They had hired teachers at some places, erected shelters for schools and at a couple of places in Noida, they were helping and working in unison with the Govt schools. I had also sent them monthly contributions. But later when I stopped, I guess a year ago, I am not doing anything at all, and thats pinching me. Am forgetting the name of this institution, shall post it when I recall.

Shifting back to Indirapuram

2007-04-04T16:49:00.000+05:30

Last weekend, 25th March' 2007, we finally got to shift at our much liked location Media Times Appt, Indirapuram. This was after a break of almost 4 months. Earlier also, we were living in the same place on a 3rd floor appartment. Now, we are exactly below that appt, on the 2nd floor.
Shifting itself was almost hassle free, as we had called in for professional movers & packers. Still to unwind all, and settle your house in livily living condition took most of our week.
In the mean time, the new school also has started for our daughter, and she has started regularly going there, punctually at 9 AM. This also means that, now I am also punctual now as am also off and out to office at the same time as well.

As my wife mentions, after coming here, this is what I have been seeing, the same structure, it seems this is what we have in our fate for lifetime :-)
She says so, 'cos this is the same appt we came to start our lives together after we got married.
Well, whats in or whats not, is not in our hand. We shall keep on doing our work.

And now, after shifting house, we have still to do a few things to make it a complete home. She already has a complete list of things to be done at home.
While I parallely run with my own list, which primarily includes the financial targets over the next financial year. As, the new FY 2007-08 starts on 1st April, I want my planning to be in a better manner this time so as not to hurry things in the end.