Hats off to the boundless energy and passion and dedication and love that bound the GLP production team so well..Here's my take or "confession", as Rahul calls it..
I can safely say that this has been one of my most fulfilling experiences ever. Not only did I FINALLY get to go to ONE of my dream places, Hampi. Thanks You GLP team for having fulfilled this dream .Of course, I wanted to go to Hampi to climb, nevertheless for the time, this is more than enough..really MORE …..I was supposed to be just another tourist…If you ask me about the monuments and their heritage, I will gladly log onto google and provide all the information…That’s what I know about the monuments there… you want to know about the experience, I can fill pages describing how I feel( ok..that would probably qualify for exaggeration).I fill complete, like I’ve found something I did not know I had, a space inside of me that is empty no more. I love to travel not because I find myself in the world but to remember that there is a world inside of me ….I can’t start with who to Thank for making this THE most amazing trip…whether God- to have coincided everything so beautifully that I experienced much more on the trip than I could have ever imagined OR Rahul to have been resourceful, patient and smart enough to have discovered GLP and turned it into GLP India, for giving me the hat of co-producer, for have been so amazing at coordinating the entire thing, being on the balls of his feet ALL the time, for being so patient and cool- no matter what the situation- there were so many issues- and he dealt with them gracefully and calmly- never have I heard him raise his voice or get overtly excited(yeah we did abuse the bureaucracy and ASI guys, and emailed you -know -who…but that doesn’t qualify) OR Omkar- for having being the most amazing help all throughout-right from haggling for our shopping to just plainly bearing and standing tall(not like a buffalo though :P) through the entire shoot,for aving given everything, your best to the shoot without complaining a bit OR Abhishek- for being just amazing and patient company and helping the team throughout, listening to our tantrums and acting to solve problems, for giving more than cent percent to this production throughout and for having made it….OR Meghna-who has become more a sister to me in the past few months, with whom conversations are amazing, who is so level headed and down to earth, and whose skills with the camera I had only heard to be amazing-she’s been so patient ,calm and yet skillful, right from the way to how she manages the camera- to how she manages the people managing the camera, OR Muttu for being the most amazing , smart, intelligent, co-operative subject we could have ever had…true rockstar!!!OR Madhu for just being there- to take over the camera or conversation, to be the Daddy of the team, smiling all the while OR Akash – for handling the equipment so deftly ,for giving the perfect picture poses, for being amazingly humorous and not complaining, despite the heat, despite me being pestersome, despite there not being enough Birds to watch:d or we not making the much wanted trip to Chola wines:p, OR Vishal- who did an amazing job right from the equipment to designing the t-shirts and caps at such short notice that we all so proudly wore and who has become my brother with whom I giggled a lot(I’d say he giggled more :d),OR Ruhie-who has been amazingly patient with the numerous demanding calls that she’s had to make, for some of the most amazing snaps that she took, (although the place is etched in our memory, she has solidified with her beau pictures),to just being the most enthusiastic, cool, energetic, never -say-no giggly company on the trip, OR Sk- for wearing the producer’s hat so well- for taking ownership for everything, for assuming responsibility for all that went wrong..and right, who had promised that he would make Hampi happen for me- one way or the other..and he did!i can’t ever thank you enough, but for now thank you buddy, for making it more than merely hampi for me
And finally ME for having finally made it!!!!!!!!!!!
You guys ROCK!!!!!! can’t wait to work with ALL of you guys again!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Hampi Travels- day 4-the last day!
8th, Sunday
Meghna and me wake up at 5:15 next morn and head to Rama guest house at 6 am. We wait for Sk to come…but either he stayed at Rama guest house as well last night or he just did not get up. We proceed to Rama guest house where Muttu is fast asleep.Rahul wakes up. We are all so anxious and excited…we’re on the 26th hour of the shoot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We contemplate whether to wake Muttu up- Its almost 630 am…..Muttu finally wakes up at aroung 635 am….and we shoot our last shot!!! The shoot is officially over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!We round up the rest of the people. Sleepy producer sahib, shouts in his just awoken state- why din’t you guys wake me up!!..anyway , we head to the next thing-to-do for the day- to shoot the interview- meanwhile everyone feels the need for a cup of coffee so we head to Prince restaurant. Just after we order, we hear that Muttu has come…The restaurant owner is nice enough- he asks us to take the coffee glasses and return them later on..he even asks us to pay later on..amazing how nice strangers can be…We go to the terrace. The view from there is panaromic indeed-with the Tungabhadra on one side and Virupaksha on the other…..Muttu doesn’t fail us- he answers all questions brusquely and only fumbles when asked his email address. He talks about his life, his expectations, his dreams……and his sense of humour is just brilliant……Muttu talks about how he saved enough to build a new house for his parents in his village, how just few ago he gave up his savings( which he had saved up to buy an autorickshaw) for his sister’s wedding, how he usually goes and solicits non-native English speaking tourists in the hope that he would learn a new language and increase his linguistic skills. I think the interview lasts hardly for about 30 minutes. Later on we proceed to take snaps of the GLP team…there’s no t-shirt fitting Abhishek so we take the pic by pinning the tshirt to him- NO member of GLP can be left without the Tshirt after all!!! Sk is upto his usual antics- trying to balance the camera on a overturned broken bucket kept on a broken chair…We tae numersous snaps- cinematographer and producer sahib not happy…then Ruhie trips over a loose pipe on the terrace…her nail is out loose and shes bleeding….Sk cleans and bandages the wound…we all exhort her to abuse- in the hope that it will lessen the pain..even Meghna gives permission by daintily shutting her ears…hehe. The shoot is finally FINITO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 we keep t he equipment back at the rooms and head to the Tungabhadra..yippeee yayyyyyyyyyyyy….on the way we go to Basappa’s place.He has a 9 month old baby.Meghna is play ng with him. Madhu asks her to hold the baby and practice……Basappa gives diections to Muttu to take us to the right spot – apparenlt the companies upstream have released molasses into the river ..yuckkk……but that doen;t deter us:d:d:Dafter sometime, we finallyyyyyyyyyyy enter the Tungabhadra…the water is cool, not cold..we start swimming..i am amazed that I am swimming so fast despite of the time lag since I’ve gone swimming(3 years!!)..and ten I realize…its not me…it’s the river…the current is strong…..i panic and try to stop , cant..sk helps me to the banks..Akash ad vishal just don’t let go of the pole- lest they flow away. Madhu , undeterred by currents attempts to swim to a stone in the middle of the river- and reaches it!!!!bravo!!!!
We leave the river and go to the vendor opposite and gulp down cool coconut water….Head back to our rooms, pack, leave for lunch, shop again, go to Virupakhsa a,d then at around 16:00 finally leave……..Hampi trip is finally over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!On the way to hospet, we all go to Muttus village to meet his Mum ….and then with leaden feet to hospet to catch our bus back home…back to the rut….back to work …..
Hampi travels-day 3-THE day
7th
And finally after months of deliberations and building up the team, running after permissions and ensuring that EVERYONE can make it to Hampi and deciding what all equipment etc is to be taken , it’s finally the day of the shoot!!! It’s 4:35 am , and Meghna and I haven’t woken up despite of 4 alarms that we had set. We wake up to the guys anxiously knocking the door. We quickly change and leave. Outside Akshat, we begin our journey with the ceremonial breaking of the coconut. We proceed to Rama guest house and at the bottom of the stairs , start fixing up the steady cam and setting up the camera. We stealthily proceed upstairs. Muttu is fast asleep (as expected) , the streets are dimly lit, with sleepy cows sitting all around the place(thank god there are no barking dogs!!)It still amazes me how clean the streets are. We realise that we don’t have a spare battery. Rahul and I go back to Netra guest house (where the boys are put up) to get the battery. We have to unceremoniously wake up poor Akash. We get the battery and head back. The cows are still asleep. We can see the village slowly waking up. People are performing their morning ablutions and whichever corner we round , we can see Virupakhsa standing tall in the background(no multiple storey buildings to hamper the view here you see!!)At around 5:30 am, right on dot, Muttu wakes up. He neatly folds his mattress and proceeds to perform his morning everythings. Then he goes down to have his morning cuppa of freshly brewed tea. There are surprisingly quite a few number of people at the tea cart, including a few tourists, and its not even 6 am !!!!! Muttu then awaits his customer for the day at a pre decided place. Around 6 am, Satya ( a French tourist) walks in and we start to walk towards our first monument for the day- The sunrise point on Matanga hill. Our first change of tapes occurs. We move through the slightly stirring streets of Hampi bazaar. Few tourists are mulling around, and quite a few dogs…Rahul is jumpy , as usual(he doesn’t really dig animals too much- and certainly not barking ones!!!)We continue to the outskirts of Hampi bazaar and start our climb. Here Sk takes the camera-he's got a strong foothold over em rocks you see:)and the confidence to run uphill as well.We have to whistle to Muttu and Satya and ask them to walk slower….phew…the climb ain’t difficult…but I think it just showed many of us how out of shape we really are! Anyway we continue upwards with a fellow tourist-“Momma” for company. We go and wait at the highest point of this hill. The view is breathtakingly overwhelming ( I know these are clichéd words, but one HAS to go to Hampi to see what I mean, no camera will be able to capture the place)- more of my favorite rocks of course. I can see the famous sister stones(famous in the climbing fraternity especially) ,Vitthala temple, Acyutraya temple, the Tungabhadra river, and many more of the hundreds of monuments that dot the landscape. I still cannot believe I am staring at my beloved Hampi…its at the is moment that it really sinks in ..i AM in HAMPI!!!!!!! There are a couple of dozen of tourists- all sitting ready with their cameras-to TRY capture the beautiful sunrise in their cameras- a memory to take home, to show around, to frame, to muse over in times to come……Sk is jumping around with his camera- he is as fidgety and jumpy as the tens of monkeys prowling around. He’s looking for the perfect angles and pictures(He is an amazing photographer despite not having any professional training in the same. His angles are just marvelous). There is this little 4 day old monkey and its mother. When we look at the baby, the mother gently and protectively puts her hand on the little one and draws its close…it was such a touching scene, difficult to be orchestrated or practiced..mother’s love for her little one…..The sunrise comes- and doesn’t disappoint…the landscape becomes even more pretty and overwhelming….Sk tries to show some foreign tourists how to get that perfect shot(had to impress em bunch of gals after all!!) Finally Muttu and Satya move away from the sunrise point to savour the other beautiful monuments in the distance. While Satya is busy taking shots of the landscape, Muttu moves around, trying to sell postcards. He interacts with a German couple. And then proceeds to have tea and sell postcards to Momma. Meanwhile, Rahul and I start scrambling around to get the release forms signed from the German couple. This is probably when the first faux pas occurs. Rahul and I are standing talking to the Germans, when we see that on the opposite side, where Meghna is shooting, the camera pans towards us…we immediately duck,…and Meghna smiles…we were on camera!!!I think it’s the Global Lives T-shirts that made us so conspicuous. All day long, we are busy running around the camera, hiding behind pillars, ducking into the tall dry grass.By mi day, if we were ever found scrounging around for the rest of the team , some unknown local stranger would always point us in the right direction to the team, thanks to the t-shirts…..We see Ruhie, Vasappa and Omkar sitting down waiting for us. Anyway, so after cups of tea, we began our way down from the other side, towards the Achyutraya temple. The sun is out in full swing, out come the fake aviators:p..Akash is busy doing the “behind the scenes ”shoot. We enter the enclosure of the monument, where even the sun barely reaches..time to use Sk’s BIG torch light again……We continue our way, walking through the ruins…trying to keep in pace with Muttu and Satya, clicking beau snaps-group as well as profile pics,…we are so obsessed:d…we visit a Hanuman temple…..watch a poor monkey get electrocuted right outside the temple..isn’t that ironic!!
Well I realize that the very inexpensive elastic pants that I had bought the previous evening are climbing their way down my hips-time to go back and change I guess…So I head back while apparently these guys tour through Virupakhsa, Hampi Bazaar , and do multiple rounds of Hampi, when Muttu is busy meeting his friends and relatives. Then they rent out bikes and head to ganesh temple at Hemakutta hill. I go back , have a bath, change and the plat du jour having gone down the hatch( at New Shanti), accompanied by some fluid ounces of strengthening filter “cafee”, I was about to stretch, feeling lazy to head back into the hot sun , when I heard the telephone tootling ..these guys were near the guest house and were leaving….. Go with Madhu and Abhisek to Ganesh temple. Meghna’s parched. She hands over the steadycam and camera to Akash who then begins dutifully following the “subjects”.
We come down and go to another monument( don’t remember the name)…and when we come back on the road, hear of some commotion..which is settled by our own very irate and anxious producer sahib. We then get back to Hampi bazaar where, while Muttu converses with his friend and helps a French lady who speaks only 10% English(according to Muttu), the rest of us settle for the much awaited mid day chop . Producer sahib asks us to scatter from the scene and meet back not before 14:30 at Hemakutta Hill. Post lunch, Muttu , Sk, Bala, Meghna go with Muttu, Ruhie, suffering from migraine goes to have a nap and Abhishek ,Bala, Madhu and me go to tour the sights around Hampi- like a true tourist…Nagraj takes us around-to vitthala temple where we are mesmerized by the carvings and the chariot made of stone…we are in awe of the Vijaynagar dynasty who built up this wonderful place. We go to Queen’s Bath and loads of other places…but looking at the mammoth spread out structures, Madhu shakes his head and says- do you really wanna go?!?! So we get back to where Muttu is now having a nap to be told by a pensive and tensed Meghna that the laviliiers have showed up on us……so we try changing batteries and untwisting the wires. Finally we also put the V1 to rest and take out the hired Z1.Still the lapel mikes don’t work. Sk and Vishal go to Hospet to try get the mikes fixed. Meanwhile, luckily for us, Muttu has decided to take a nap. A leaf falls on his pants. Akash deftly zooms the camera onto his face and gets the ungainly leaf out of the way….shooting main yeh sab bhi karna padta hai!!! Sk and Vishal get back..and we try again…no luck. Finally Sk starts pondering on whether he can ask someone from Mumbai to come to Hampi to give us the mikes…because we have the interview shoot the next day for which the Laviliiers are undoubtedly necessary. Sk and Rahul go back. Muttu wakes up , and starts mulling around. But mostly he sits bored. We just do’t know what to do. Meanwhile Basappa arrives and says he knows a camera rental guy in hospet so Vishal and he head back toHospet to try renting out lapel mikes…after a while they too return back after having scouted around some 20 odd shops….meanwhile Sk and Rahul have sent out a frantic mail to David asking him to advise on what to do ….worse comes worse, they decide to come back in the last week of March to shoot the interview..SO much tension!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I guess sometimes its always better to give in to that uneasy feeling that something was likely to go off at any moment with a pop. Thing is with equipment, you never knew what it was going to do next or into what murky depths of soup it would carelessly plunge you.
Anyway, Muttu decide to go play cricket with his friends. Madhu takes over the camera. He and Akash follow Muttu to the grounds .Meanwhile we are sitting chatting and debating over the sound issue. Finally Meghna says that she doesn’t think the output will be drastically afftected .So we decide to let things be. One hour’s almost up and the conscious DOP realizes that Madhu and Akash don’t have tapes so Sk and I go to deliver the tapes to them. Then around 17:00 Satya comes on his bike…and they’re off to Sunset point..12 hours of the shoot already done..unbelievable!!!!!Ruhie, Madhu, Akash,Vishal , Abhishek and I are waiting for an auto to come…but we wait and wait and wait..apparently Nagraj hadn’t called for another auto. Madhu and Abhishek head back to their room.After a while and taking picks of the sunset etc, we head back to our rooms as well. I am extremely disappointed- I REALLY wanted to go watch the sunset from atop a hill(my fetish for “above sea level” areas just doesn’t go!!!)Anyway, after freshening up , Ruhie and I head to New shanty- to gulp something to drink. We make plans for the next day- we decide that come what may- we WILL go have a dip in the river……and take a ridein the boats..We decide to carry on with our meal as well..The guys call up- they want to join us too. Rahul is back and updates us- apparently Madhu, Meghna,Sk, Bala and Muttu have gone to Muttu’s village. We , as usual, sit in our favorite place and order. Everyone’s hungryyyy…Almost by the end of the meal the rest of the guys are back from Muttu’s village. Rahul and Akash go to take charge at Rama guest house where Muttu is while the rest settle down for dinner. Rahul absolutely refuses to go to sleep ..he insists that he is fresh and WILL stay up all night to ensure that the tape-changing goes on smoothly. So , finally it’s decided that Akash and Rahul will stay the night. The DOP does the settings in the camera and bidding goodnight, we move on to get our rest.Somewhere in the middle, we get a call from David…Sk goes back to Rama guest house.
We get back, take a bath and get to bed. Its been a longgggggggggggggggggg day…..
Hampi travels-day 2
6th-
At around 1130-1200-we reach Hospet and haggle our way(me speaking in my accented Kannada, only to be replied back to in a very Jamaican accented English) with the autorickshawalaas to reduce the price of our travel to Hampi, and we finally , after calling up Rahul etc reach an agreeable price of Rs. 100/-.I am super excited –after more than 4 years of yearning to reach Hampi, I am just 11 kms away from there. And my eyes wait patiently, awaiting THE place I’ve been waiting to visit for more than 4 years now. And the place doesn’t disappoint me- I see stone structures in the far horizon..and I smile- I am home! These are isolated stone structures all over the place, just boulders strewn and piled one over the other to create something that is so artistic and beautiful…atleast to my stone-parched eyes. I’ve been yearning to come to this place to climb. Of course, my climbing will have to wait for yet another trip(s).
We round a place and are stopped for toll and there are some boys selling postcards and About Hampi books. I hand over the money to one of the boys and he shakes his head and says “I am Muttu. Hope you had a good journey” We are all very happy to meet him. He sure is one smart chap with slapstick, and yet diplomatic comments for everything and he’s only all of 18 years old!!! We meet the rest of the gang at the Hampi gate and walk through Hampi bazaar amongst stores and stores selling colourful clothes-kurtas and t-shirts and elephant pants ,bags ,jholas and silver jewellery as well!!! My excitement meter is ticking higher and higher!!! And we reach Akshat guest house to be greeted by the B’day girl, Ruhie, looking completely like she’s on a holiday!! We wish her and hear about her b’day cake and surprise etc The boys pick up their stuff and leave for their rooms. We freshen up. I wonder what to wear..all my clothes seem so HOT to wear in the heat, I settle for t he tracks and a t-shirt.(ALL my clothes except the t-shirts came back to Mumbai untouched).
We leave to shop and just see the place. We go to one of the shops and end up buying almost 20 pieces of clothes.!!!!!!People are so friendly , the streets are so very clean and the air is so unpolluted…I see a couple of foreigners walking around with crashpads..my eyes open up wide and the yearning swells up again..i search for Sk..he points out to another couple with bags-to show me my other fetish-backpacks!!:p
After our bout of shopping and mental notes of other things to buy provided we have the money, we finally head out to lunch. We go to a place at Hampi bazaar who doesn’t deliver momos even after an hour, so we leave the place and head to Chill Out. It is a really serene place ,with padded seating…and books by the counter. Akash picks up a book and and picks out an “interesting” story of a “One night stand” and starts reading out aloud and then slowly stops-I guess the content is not descriptive enough :p. Everyone is just lying , resting, ordering their favorite dishes. Our eyes go round when we see Vodka Pasta. Akash immediately changes his order and orders that. The food takes forever to come. It’s pretty decent. We then leave…we have an interview to do with Muttu. We go to the guest house-The DOP aka Meghna decide that the light isn’t good enough for the interview. We see another place with a terrace and a panoramic view of the Tungabhandra river and its banks beyond, the Virupaksha standing tall in the background..but well, its evening and the light is still fading…I go to search for some gift wrapping …I come back to find NOBODY…….and nobody around knows where they all have gone..i try calling these guys up- they don’t pick up. I proceed, therefore, to roam hither and thither about the lanes in the hope of locating them, wishing that I had a couple of bloodhounds to aid me in my task!!God damn silent mode!!I DON’t know the name of their guest house, nor mine..so much for being excited!!! Luckily after wandering around for sometime, I get network on my phone and get to where they are, at Netra guest house to find the interview set-up being done. Iit’s a nice yellow-chromish background…DHAM….one of the lights perched on its stand falls…well it’s a good omen someone shouts…everyone feels light again…..and then after a few more minutes of trying to get the perfect light and finally when the stage is set to shoot(Meghna is still cribbing about the output)……the electricity goes….and there goes the interview for that day. We schedule it for Sunday morning- Meghna is happy – that’s what she wanted- to shoot in natural light….we wrap up and leave for dinner. In the interim, we sit and discuss with Muttu the tentative schedule for the day of the shoot- so that we can schedule our schedules around it…..Go to New Shanti- which will continue to be our haunt for the next 2 days….After going through last minute details and all that, we mustv’e gone to bed at around midnight-apprehensive whether we would wake up at the appointed time the next day. I was afraid we’d wake up at all…(the next few days we’d be upping with the lark EVERYDAY)…
At around 1130-1200-we reach Hospet and haggle our way(me speaking in my accented Kannada, only to be replied back to in a very Jamaican accented English) with the autorickshawalaas to reduce the price of our travel to Hampi, and we finally , after calling up Rahul etc reach an agreeable price of Rs. 100/-.I am super excited –after more than 4 years of yearning to reach Hampi, I am just 11 kms away from there. And my eyes wait patiently, awaiting THE place I’ve been waiting to visit for more than 4 years now. And the place doesn’t disappoint me- I see stone structures in the far horizon..and I smile- I am home! These are isolated stone structures all over the place, just boulders strewn and piled one over the other to create something that is so artistic and beautiful…atleast to my stone-parched eyes. I’ve been yearning to come to this place to climb. Of course, my climbing will have to wait for yet another trip(s).
We round a place and are stopped for toll and there are some boys selling postcards and About Hampi books. I hand over the money to one of the boys and he shakes his head and says “I am Muttu. Hope you had a good journey” We are all very happy to meet him. He sure is one smart chap with slapstick, and yet diplomatic comments for everything and he’s only all of 18 years old!!! We meet the rest of the gang at the Hampi gate and walk through Hampi bazaar amongst stores and stores selling colourful clothes-kurtas and t-shirts and elephant pants ,bags ,jholas and silver jewellery as well!!! My excitement meter is ticking higher and higher!!! And we reach Akshat guest house to be greeted by the B’day girl, Ruhie, looking completely like she’s on a holiday!! We wish her and hear about her b’day cake and surprise etc The boys pick up their stuff and leave for their rooms. We freshen up. I wonder what to wear..all my clothes seem so HOT to wear in the heat, I settle for t he tracks and a t-shirt.(ALL my clothes except the t-shirts came back to Mumbai untouched).
We leave to shop and just see the place. We go to one of the shops and end up buying almost 20 pieces of clothes.!!!!!!People are so friendly , the streets are so very clean and the air is so unpolluted…I see a couple of foreigners walking around with crashpads..my eyes open up wide and the yearning swells up again..i search for Sk..he points out to another couple with bags-to show me my other fetish-backpacks!!:p
After our bout of shopping and mental notes of other things to buy provided we have the money, we finally head out to lunch. We go to a place at Hampi bazaar who doesn’t deliver momos even after an hour, so we leave the place and head to Chill Out. It is a really serene place ,with padded seating…and books by the counter. Akash picks up a book and and picks out an “interesting” story of a “One night stand” and starts reading out aloud and then slowly stops-I guess the content is not descriptive enough :p. Everyone is just lying , resting, ordering their favorite dishes. Our eyes go round when we see Vodka Pasta. Akash immediately changes his order and orders that. The food takes forever to come. It’s pretty decent. We then leave…we have an interview to do with Muttu. We go to the guest house-The DOP aka Meghna decide that the light isn’t good enough for the interview. We see another place with a terrace and a panoramic view of the Tungabhandra river and its banks beyond, the Virupaksha standing tall in the background..but well, its evening and the light is still fading…I go to search for some gift wrapping …I come back to find NOBODY…….and nobody around knows where they all have gone..i try calling these guys up- they don’t pick up. I proceed, therefore, to roam hither and thither about the lanes in the hope of locating them, wishing that I had a couple of bloodhounds to aid me in my task!!God damn silent mode!!I DON’t know the name of their guest house, nor mine..so much for being excited!!! Luckily after wandering around for sometime, I get network on my phone and get to where they are, at Netra guest house to find the interview set-up being done. Iit’s a nice yellow-chromish background…DHAM….one of the lights perched on its stand falls…well it’s a good omen someone shouts…everyone feels light again…..and then after a few more minutes of trying to get the perfect light and finally when the stage is set to shoot(Meghna is still cribbing about the output)……the electricity goes….and there goes the interview for that day. We schedule it for Sunday morning- Meghna is happy – that’s what she wanted- to shoot in natural light….we wrap up and leave for dinner. In the interim, we sit and discuss with Muttu the tentative schedule for the day of the shoot- so that we can schedule our schedules around it…..Go to New Shanti- which will continue to be our haunt for the next 2 days….After going through last minute details and all that, we mustv’e gone to bed at around midnight-apprehensive whether we would wake up at the appointed time the next day. I was afraid we’d wake up at all…(the next few days we’d be upping with the lark EVERYDAY)…
Hampi travels-day 1
5th-
And finally on 5th started the ACTUAL journey of GLP,India…that was the day the 1st set of people-Sk(Srikumar),RC ,Ruhie, Bala and Vishal reached Hampi and the second set-Meghna, Madhu, Abhishek , Akash and me left for Hampi. On 5th, besides making arrangements and trying to cycle the “easy” 9 km, and shopping, these guys ended up meeting one of the “godfather”’s of the tourist guides- Mr.Basappa- who promised that he would tag along ad ensure that we could shoot smoothly.
And finally on 5th started the ACTUAL journey of GLP,India…that was the day the 1st set of people-Sk(Srikumar),RC ,Ruhie, Bala and Vishal reached Hampi and the second set-Meghna, Madhu, Abhishek , Akash and me left for Hampi. On 5th, besides making arrangements and trying to cycle the “easy” 9 km, and shopping, these guys ended up meeting one of the “godfather”’s of the tourist guides- Mr.Basappa- who promised that he would tag along ad ensure that we could shoot smoothly.
I am co -producer!!!!
On 28 January 2009, got a frantic mail from Sk , asking him to help out with some procedural aspects of a film project he and Rahul had got. i just called up the number mentioned in the mail- the Bangalore ASI number and got some information for him…and I think from that day on was inducted into the GLP India team. Next, I found myself at a meeting with Sk, Rahul, Ruhie and Akash at Candies, Bandra discussing what needed to be done. Ruhie surprised, rather shocked all of us by telling her that her “uncle” who she was going to talk to about the shooting permit fees was Mr Subbarao, the RBI governor!!!!!The next few days were helping them make the budget and the proposal, I was pleasantly surprised to see my name as co-producer!!!!! Deepa Bhat, who had NOTHING to do with movies except watching them….was actually ( on paper) a co- producer!!! Until then, my idea of a producer was one who only funds a film, realized for the first time that a producer’s function encompasses much more!!!!
Well then on, it was crossing fingers, and everything else( if its practically possible) every few days-for the GLP proposal to be approved by the GLP team, and getting a waiver of the permit fees. First we had a lot of hope with the waiver, thanks to Mrs Subbarao being a friend of Ms .Anshu, the Delhi authority who has the power to waive off our fees. But apparently the day we sent our proposal , was her last in the Delhi jurisdiction. First we were to shoot on 26th, but because of personal constraints of many of us and of course, we hadn’t gotten the basic approval from the GLP team yet. They had some questions for us about the subject and some production issues and finally last weekend after working our cogs around every conceivable obstacle, on ( Saturday), 21st February 2009, we got our approval( not that there was even an iota of doubt of an otherwise!!!)l!!
And then we had to wait for the tardy response of ASI Bangalore and our various”contacts” at ASI Delhi to finally get permission for the shoot…which turned out to be so tiring and time consuming and irritating….Rahul was so very tensed…I still remember his face when I met him Monday at Meghna’s place, 2 days before he was set to leave for Hampi. He was so anxious and tired and waiting to DO something, and GET something done!! We were waiting for Tuesday when we would finally get our permission letter.
So then I start calling up ASI on Tuesday 11a.m onwards- and all they say every time is that there is no electricity so they are unable to send the email…and then finally at noontime-Rahul mails..and the permission letter says that we are allowed to take “Photographs” at the specified 3 monuments!!! Am sure that at that time-the three of us are staring into our computers cursing What the heck!!! we went through all these for the past few months for PHOTOGRAPHS!!!!! Well and then another day of calling up ASI Bangalore every 15 minutes only to be disappointed and listen to the frustrated receptionist every time. Finally we spoke to Mr. Patil who asked us to email him YET again!!! We did so, and called back in another 15 minutes-he wasn’t at desk…and so on .The receptionist was so flustered …she was like HOW many times have you spoken to the veryyyy busy ASI honcho!!!, and she went on to tell us that a CAMERA can shoot only photographs. we had to take on the arduous task to tell her that a CAMERA is of two types, one of which shoots videos!!!
Anyway finally we got the word from the ASI honcho that we will have no problems shooting and we got the number of the ASI chief, Hampi to be contacted in case of any problems. Phew!!!
Well then on, it was crossing fingers, and everything else( if its practically possible) every few days-for the GLP proposal to be approved by the GLP team, and getting a waiver of the permit fees. First we had a lot of hope with the waiver, thanks to Mrs Subbarao being a friend of Ms .Anshu, the Delhi authority who has the power to waive off our fees. But apparently the day we sent our proposal , was her last in the Delhi jurisdiction. First we were to shoot on 26th, but because of personal constraints of many of us and of course, we hadn’t gotten the basic approval from the GLP team yet. They had some questions for us about the subject and some production issues and finally last weekend after working our cogs around every conceivable obstacle, on ( Saturday), 21st February 2009, we got our approval( not that there was even an iota of doubt of an otherwise!!!)l!!
And then we had to wait for the tardy response of ASI Bangalore and our various”contacts” at ASI Delhi to finally get permission for the shoot…which turned out to be so tiring and time consuming and irritating….Rahul was so very tensed…I still remember his face when I met him Monday at Meghna’s place, 2 days before he was set to leave for Hampi. He was so anxious and tired and waiting to DO something, and GET something done!! We were waiting for Tuesday when we would finally get our permission letter.
So then I start calling up ASI on Tuesday 11a.m onwards- and all they say every time is that there is no electricity so they are unable to send the email…and then finally at noontime-Rahul mails..and the permission letter says that we are allowed to take “Photographs” at the specified 3 monuments!!! Am sure that at that time-the three of us are staring into our computers cursing What the heck!!! we went through all these for the past few months for PHOTOGRAPHS!!!!! Well and then another day of calling up ASI Bangalore every 15 minutes only to be disappointed and listen to the frustrated receptionist every time. Finally we spoke to Mr. Patil who asked us to email him YET again!!! We did so, and called back in another 15 minutes-he wasn’t at desk…and so on .The receptionist was so flustered …she was like HOW many times have you spoken to the veryyyy busy ASI honcho!!!, and she went on to tell us that a CAMERA can shoot only photographs. we had to take on the arduous task to tell her that a CAMERA is of two types, one of which shoots videos!!!
Anyway finally we got the word from the ASI honcho that we will have no problems shooting and we got the number of the ASI chief, Hampi to be contacted in case of any problems. Phew!!!
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Amongst the Sahyadris again!
18/10/2008
11:30 am
Left to meet Sensei..it was her B’day. Me and Riddhi met up and took her a cake. Somwhere on the way , went and picked up my Lafuma sack,sleeping bag and tent from Akash at MAM.It was good fun catching up with her after a long time. She was amused and touched that we remembered so much about her…..Whilst in the middle of a conversation , I received a message from Avani asking me to reply asap whether I was interested in coming for a trip to Rajmachi. I obviously jumped and said YES immediately.Anyway, left for Nani’s place at about 15:15.Reached there, dumped the bags there, apologized to Mau for not letting her have her Sunday at the institute( as I would be going on the trek).Then me and SK went for Body of Lies…an ok-ok movie with Leaonardo Di-Caprio acting as good as ever. Anyway after the movie, we decided to hang out and then Avani messaged saying that the trek might be cancelled. Sk gave his damned grin and told me that I wouldn’t have gone anyway.. he then dropped me off at Queen’s park asking me to come collect his headlamp and all IF I were going..it is so irritating when someone tries to pre-empt you. From the rickshaw also he called out that I will not go!!!grrrrrrrrrrrrrr…anyway , started walking to Nani’s house..so much for an adventurous weekend!!When I reached nani’s gate, Avani called telling me to not get too happy and that the reason for her decision is NOT my sms:p..the trip was on..we were meeting at 21:00 at Dadar station.I tried calling up Sk , but as usual , Mr Popular’s phone was engaged!Got through to him and asked him to wait wherever he was…met him at Band signal , and went to his place where I picked up his headlamp and mats and then we went to a shop in Bandra to pick up a cap.
Came back to Nani’s place, kept the phone and camera battery to charge, transferred the photos from the drive onto the lappie phaphat packed and left for Dadar. By the time ii had dinner and left , it was 20:45(and we were supposed to meet at 21:00).
Went to Santacruz station, picked up a loaf of bread and 3 pairs of socks ,and ran to the train.mustve’ reached Pritam by 21:15.Met up with Antara(she’s from E&A)..my throat was gone and there was no sign of the other 4.So I went in for a cuppa of coffe..the guy misunderstood and ended giving up 2 cups instead of 1..sat opposite a veryy cute baby.
These guys came at about 21:30 and then the 3 guys-Nihar, Pariket and Savio went to take a leak….and they went on for another hour , while Antara,Avani and me were dutifully trying to check out which bus goes to Lonavala. They mustve come at around 22:30, tummies satiated with few pints of alcohol , after which we found a bus to baramati at around 23:00.Got in and caught the whole of the last seat. And started talking about this and that. Antara and Savio were on and on about their respective cameras with Savio teaching Antara a couple of tricks with her cam(both have a Nikon)Nihar was sitting ahead..and conversing with his neighbour , apparently he can strike a conversation with about anyone ,, an admirable quality which we saw more and more on the trip. He would converse in his broken marathi and just strike up a conversation! Anyway , we started talking about Movies, and got stuck up …NONE of us and I repeat NONE of us could remember the name of the black guy in American Gangster(and Philadelphia and bone collector and Courage under fire) we could also not remember the guy in Hotel Rwanda( and Crash)…finally we gave up and I messaged Sk and he promptly replied Denzel Washington and Don CHeadly…hahah so much for being film buffs!! !And then Avani gets stuck up on an actor with a mole near the nose- a white actor….none of can remember ANY Caucasian actor with a mole..not a famous actor at the least!! so we went on and on thinking, she couldn’t even recollect the name of any movie he has acted in…so she called up her friend and he promptly replied Robert De Niro…and then we all were upon her , chiding her, telling her that Robert De Niro has NO mole near his nose!!!! called up Sk and he too confimed Avani’s version!!none of the rest of us still believed it…(anyway fact is that he DOES have a mole, albeit way above, near his eye and not near his nose).Anyway , fact is that we all will always remember Avani and this trip everytime we watch a Robert De Niro movie(which she also smsed me right now!!)After all this excitement of discovering how bad we really are with our favorite actors and movies, we all settled down. The bus lights dimmed and I, sitting near the window was watching the sahyadris..it felt so good to be going for a trek after such a longg time,antara and savio went to nap and avani and pariket were listening to some music on his ipod.i went to sleep and would wake up everytime avani guessed a song or strated singing or discussing it:p.One such time, she said “Nirvana” at a time when I was smiling at the awesomely cool a/c like gale that was blowing in my face and I said..yeh this weather sure is Nirvana…Avani and Pariket gave me such blank looks:hehehe..
Reached Lonavala at about 130 am, visited the toilets and most of us had a cup of chai. Then we left to find us some transportation to get to the village where we would start our trek from. We got onto the main road only to find a deserted street with no auto in sight. We went around found some guy in a bike and asked him for directions..he asked up to take the 3rdleft from the bust depot. Pariket , with his superb negotiating skills, found a maruti car willing to take us to the village for some 10 bucks a head. After some going back and forth and trying to guess the exact turn that we needed to take , someone finally told us to take the road just bfore HDFC bank, which turned out to be the correct road. The road from there to the top is actually a motorable road right upto Rajmachi village. But after a while when the road became a kaccha road, the maruti guy refused to go further ahead and dropped us off. We finally started to walk. It was 235 am!
We walked and walked , passed the gate of Captain;s resort, passed a lot of thatched huts which reminded me somehow of Kagal, with its cowdunng and burning wood smell.We came to a fork where one road led upwards and another straight, we walked stratight then came back and went up and sat for while ,Pariket and Savio went to find out whether it was the correct rd,it was not, so back down again and we continued walking. For some unknown reason ,there was a little water on the roads. It was a nice moonlit night and throughout the trip , we did not feel the need to turn on the headlamps/torchlights. We stopped after about an hour and half and sat to eat bread with Avani’s melted cheese.With some grub in , we recommenced and continued to trudge slowly .I t was an easy path(like I said ,it’s a motorable road )The road went up and down but as never steep. The weather was awesome .At the start of the trip( and as reminded by Sk) , we were expecting a sweaty trip.But it turned out quite otherwise, we were hoping we had expected this earlier and had carried jackets to combat the cold. But then we were keeping a steady pace and were sweating a little bit, so we never felt too cold really. Some of us were tempted to just lie down on the road- the breeze was so amazingly cool.It was like a/c.really amazing. After a 4 hour walk and around 18 kms later , we finally reached Rajmachi village at around 645. Nihar was amazed that we all seriously weren’t carrying brushes, nor felt the need to want to brush. Shaking his head in disbelief, he finished his prized ablution while Pariket and Savio instantly fell asleep on the 1stflat, manmade construction they saw in the village.We ordered for tea and milk and sat outside a shop.An old woman came and asked us whether we wanted some water or tea and then asked us whether we wanted to sleep for sometime. Savio woke up after sometime. Nihar was playing with the village dogs, shaking his head at how badly treated they were and offering them Avani’s marie biscuits. Nihar and savio ordered for some egg bhurji. Savio was insisting that he slept for only 15 mins while actually he was snoring for over 30 mins. While we all were feasting, Pariket woke up after an hour’s slumber wondering how the rest of us were surviving without any sleep. All well fed and (some) well rested, we again debated on the route o Karjat(we were comin down via the karjat route). Avani pointed out to a route from front of the shop where we had tea and was seconded by an old woman standing at the door. So we started our way back down at around 845.We walked down breezy , grassy routes.The blowing grass gave the effect of a blanket being jhatkaoed.It was beautiful!! We continued to trudge down for around 45 mins when Avani suddenly stopped and exclaimed that we were back on he Lonavla route.Everyone else said no- as we had not noticed any deviations on the route the night before…it was im[possible , we couldn’t have had made that error.Pariket went a had to chck and discovered a wall which we had seen the previous night.We indeed were back on the way to lonavla.This fact was confirmed some people we met.Apparently this was the same spot where Avani had done a route error ;last year. Rajmachi definitely has something against Avani.Anyway we debated whether we should move on to lonavla or go back to the village and go to karjat.back t o the village would be an hour and from there to karjat would be around 2 hours, while on this path , we had a 3 hours, non-canopy,hott journey ahead of us! The decision was made and we started disbelievingly trudging our way back to the village. 2hours of the cool weather was lost because of this mistake!!!!!Anyway , we went past the jangal mein mangal room and past those grassy slopes and when were just , behind the village,we asked a village boy who was passing by what the route to karjat as he just looked to his left and pointed to a stone with a white marking showing the route!!!we couldn’t believe that THIS is what we had mossed, sucha clearcut marked path!!!So began our journey back to civilization.This wasn’t a simple stroll.This way down was a slope down, with most parts requiring bending down,and holding onto the rocks to o a step down.Our legs were screwed!!Thighs, knees all gone..and then came the sun in full glory,our water resources were down!!and the sun had no mercy, nor did the hill.In hindsight, it was no t at all a diffucul route.The path is well marked and doesn’t require any sort of dangerous acts.But because of the steeper slope, it took a toll on most peoples thighs..to try not to fall head first, we hd to be very careful.I slipped and fell , while trying to change my cam batteries and ended up being the last one . after an hour and half with only one stop (in the 1st half hour for eating and drinking),we did not stop at all.My legs were gone and I was afraid that stopping and sitting down would make me not want to get up again.. captain avani kept edging us bit by bit. Nihar did not complain one bit. He just maintained an even pace. But such was the hurry to get back down , that nobody but me stopped to take pics of that amazing place. I too did not end up taking too many , lest I fall way too behind! We passed a stream where Pariket and savio replenished water supplies to some extent. We continued trudging down. We could hear the train and that mirage of a sound would lift our spirits,..just 15 minutes further(probably)..We finally came to a place where the road started becoming more of a plain and finaly we were convinced that we weren’t far away now. Hurrah!!! 10 more minutes!!! Then we asked a couple who passed us how much further and they said “30 mins”!!!
They were right.We reached the village and lost savio at around 1230 pm.We filled ourselves with Fanta and Thumbs up.(yeah me too..ive gad soft drinks after god knows how many years..but they did not have water or milk).Feeling better , and with no sign of Savio , we refused to an offer to give us a ride to Karjat for 200 bucks!!!a 15 minute walk down and the same ride was 10 bucks a head(60 total).We started walking when a villager called out to us and told us that a friend of ours was waiting with a rickshaw!!! Savio to the rescue!!!!! We haggled with the guy and got the fare down to 20 bucks a head(120 total).The train to home was at 13:15.But there was no way we could make it! Nihr tried his hand at the rickshaw for sometime.We reached the station at around the same time. The train was gone and we had an hour to kill before the next one at 14:00.So we had glasses and glasses of the refresing nimbu paani.I and avani filled our bottles with it to sip slowly on our way home. Some ate vada pav , some drank lassi. All plans of the guys filling themselves with beer had one kaput. Getting a shower and a bed was the priority!! We boarded the crowed train and settled ourselves on the floor of the bogey. Antara got a seat and was immediately snoozing, even before the train started! Uncomfortabel that we were, Savio and Nihar too went for a normal seat once they found one. Avani said she preferred to stand inside the compartment rather than at the door where there would be a whole crowd of people coming in. It was the central railway after all!!The crowd came and how!!!I thought there would be a stampede or something. I and pariket stood up and continued talking and he tried protecting me from thr vile men looking for a good massage. Anyway I got this bright idea of getting of at kurla instead of going through the craziness of going to dadar and catching a train to santacruz Sk called during the journey down and was amazed that we were so tired. It was brijesh’s treat too that night (oh no!! i was already pooped).Reached nani’s home at around 1515.had a bath a quick lunch and dodging mau’s questons, took my aching body straight to bed!!
An amazing trip really. I think besides a picteresue place in the Sahyadris, what is of essence in a trek , is good company. The whole trip was a whole lot of fun. Avani was amazing. She’d just start singing relevant songs, just like that. Her energy was uncomparable. It would probably have been , if Savio hadn’t put on so much of weight. She was simply a lot of fun! She and Savio kept pulling each other’s legs so much! Savio did the entire trek in slippers. Nihar , Pariket and Antara we awesome company too. Everyone kept the mood light and conversations going. I realized just how much I moved and missed nature and also the known fact of how unfit I was. Being unfit just compounds a lot of discomfort on such trips. So hopefully same time next year, same/similar trip, lighter me and no ache complaints!!!!!
11:30 am
Left to meet Sensei..it was her B’day. Me and Riddhi met up and took her a cake. Somwhere on the way , went and picked up my Lafuma sack,sleeping bag and tent from Akash at MAM.It was good fun catching up with her after a long time. She was amused and touched that we remembered so much about her…..Whilst in the middle of a conversation , I received a message from Avani asking me to reply asap whether I was interested in coming for a trip to Rajmachi. I obviously jumped and said YES immediately.Anyway, left for Nani’s place at about 15:15.Reached there, dumped the bags there, apologized to Mau for not letting her have her Sunday at the institute( as I would be going on the trek).Then me and SK went for Body of Lies…an ok-ok movie with Leaonardo Di-Caprio acting as good as ever. Anyway after the movie, we decided to hang out and then Avani messaged saying that the trek might be cancelled. Sk gave his damned grin and told me that I wouldn’t have gone anyway.. he then dropped me off at Queen’s park asking me to come collect his headlamp and all IF I were going..it is so irritating when someone tries to pre-empt you. From the rickshaw also he called out that I will not go!!!grrrrrrrrrrrrrr…anyway , started walking to Nani’s house..so much for an adventurous weekend!!When I reached nani’s gate, Avani called telling me to not get too happy and that the reason for her decision is NOT my sms:p..the trip was on..we were meeting at 21:00 at Dadar station.I tried calling up Sk , but as usual , Mr Popular’s phone was engaged!Got through to him and asked him to wait wherever he was…met him at Band signal , and went to his place where I picked up his headlamp and mats and then we went to a shop in Bandra to pick up a cap.
Came back to Nani’s place, kept the phone and camera battery to charge, transferred the photos from the drive onto the lappie phaphat packed and left for Dadar. By the time ii had dinner and left , it was 20:45(and we were supposed to meet at 21:00).
Went to Santacruz station, picked up a loaf of bread and 3 pairs of socks ,and ran to the train.mustve’ reached Pritam by 21:15.Met up with Antara(she’s from E&A)..my throat was gone and there was no sign of the other 4.So I went in for a cuppa of coffe..the guy misunderstood and ended giving up 2 cups instead of 1..sat opposite a veryy cute baby.
These guys came at about 21:30 and then the 3 guys-Nihar, Pariket and Savio went to take a leak….and they went on for another hour , while Antara,Avani and me were dutifully trying to check out which bus goes to Lonavala. They mustve come at around 22:30, tummies satiated with few pints of alcohol , after which we found a bus to baramati at around 23:00.Got in and caught the whole of the last seat. And started talking about this and that. Antara and Savio were on and on about their respective cameras with Savio teaching Antara a couple of tricks with her cam(both have a Nikon)Nihar was sitting ahead..and conversing with his neighbour , apparently he can strike a conversation with about anyone ,, an admirable quality which we saw more and more on the trip. He would converse in his broken marathi and just strike up a conversation! Anyway , we started talking about Movies, and got stuck up …NONE of us and I repeat NONE of us could remember the name of the black guy in American Gangster(and Philadelphia and bone collector and Courage under fire) we could also not remember the guy in Hotel Rwanda( and Crash)…finally we gave up and I messaged Sk and he promptly replied Denzel Washington and Don CHeadly…hahah so much for being film buffs!! !And then Avani gets stuck up on an actor with a mole near the nose- a white actor….none of can remember ANY Caucasian actor with a mole..not a famous actor at the least!! so we went on and on thinking, she couldn’t even recollect the name of any movie he has acted in…so she called up her friend and he promptly replied Robert De Niro…and then we all were upon her , chiding her, telling her that Robert De Niro has NO mole near his nose!!!! called up Sk and he too confimed Avani’s version!!none of the rest of us still believed it…(anyway fact is that he DOES have a mole, albeit way above, near his eye and not near his nose).Anyway , fact is that we all will always remember Avani and this trip everytime we watch a Robert De Niro movie(which she also smsed me right now!!)After all this excitement of discovering how bad we really are with our favorite actors and movies, we all settled down. The bus lights dimmed and I, sitting near the window was watching the sahyadris..it felt so good to be going for a trek after such a longg time,antara and savio went to nap and avani and pariket were listening to some music on his ipod.i went to sleep and would wake up everytime avani guessed a song or strated singing or discussing it:p.One such time, she said “Nirvana” at a time when I was smiling at the awesomely cool a/c like gale that was blowing in my face and I said..yeh this weather sure is Nirvana…Avani and Pariket gave me such blank looks:hehehe..
Reached Lonavala at about 130 am, visited the toilets and most of us had a cup of chai. Then we left to find us some transportation to get to the village where we would start our trek from. We got onto the main road only to find a deserted street with no auto in sight. We went around found some guy in a bike and asked him for directions..he asked up to take the 3rdleft from the bust depot. Pariket , with his superb negotiating skills, found a maruti car willing to take us to the village for some 10 bucks a head. After some going back and forth and trying to guess the exact turn that we needed to take , someone finally told us to take the road just bfore HDFC bank, which turned out to be the correct road. The road from there to the top is actually a motorable road right upto Rajmachi village. But after a while when the road became a kaccha road, the maruti guy refused to go further ahead and dropped us off. We finally started to walk. It was 235 am!
We walked and walked , passed the gate of Captain;s resort, passed a lot of thatched huts which reminded me somehow of Kagal, with its cowdunng and burning wood smell.We came to a fork where one road led upwards and another straight, we walked stratight then came back and went up and sat for while ,Pariket and Savio went to find out whether it was the correct rd,it was not, so back down again and we continued walking. For some unknown reason ,there was a little water on the roads. It was a nice moonlit night and throughout the trip , we did not feel the need to turn on the headlamps/torchlights. We stopped after about an hour and half and sat to eat bread with Avani’s melted cheese.With some grub in , we recommenced and continued to trudge slowly .I t was an easy path(like I said ,it’s a motorable road )The road went up and down but as never steep. The weather was awesome .At the start of the trip( and as reminded by Sk) , we were expecting a sweaty trip.But it turned out quite otherwise, we were hoping we had expected this earlier and had carried jackets to combat the cold. But then we were keeping a steady pace and were sweating a little bit, so we never felt too cold really. Some of us were tempted to just lie down on the road- the breeze was so amazingly cool.It was like a/c.really amazing. After a 4 hour walk and around 18 kms later , we finally reached Rajmachi village at around 645. Nihar was amazed that we all seriously weren’t carrying brushes, nor felt the need to want to brush. Shaking his head in disbelief, he finished his prized ablution while Pariket and Savio instantly fell asleep on the 1stflat, manmade construction they saw in the village.We ordered for tea and milk and sat outside a shop.An old woman came and asked us whether we wanted some water or tea and then asked us whether we wanted to sleep for sometime. Savio woke up after sometime. Nihar was playing with the village dogs, shaking his head at how badly treated they were and offering them Avani’s marie biscuits. Nihar and savio ordered for some egg bhurji. Savio was insisting that he slept for only 15 mins while actually he was snoring for over 30 mins. While we all were feasting, Pariket woke up after an hour’s slumber wondering how the rest of us were surviving without any sleep. All well fed and (some) well rested, we again debated on the route o Karjat(we were comin down via the karjat route). Avani pointed out to a route from front of the shop where we had tea and was seconded by an old woman standing at the door. So we started our way back down at around 845.We walked down breezy , grassy routes.The blowing grass gave the effect of a blanket being jhatkaoed.It was beautiful!! We continued to trudge down for around 45 mins when Avani suddenly stopped and exclaimed that we were back on he Lonavla route.Everyone else said no- as we had not noticed any deviations on the route the night before…it was im[possible , we couldn’t have had made that error.Pariket went a had to chck and discovered a wall which we had seen the previous night.We indeed were back on the way to lonavla.This fact was confirmed some people we met.Apparently this was the same spot where Avani had done a route error ;last year. Rajmachi definitely has something against Avani.Anyway we debated whether we should move on to lonavla or go back to the village and go to karjat.back t o the village would be an hour and from there to karjat would be around 2 hours, while on this path , we had a 3 hours, non-canopy,hott journey ahead of us! The decision was made and we started disbelievingly trudging our way back to the village. 2hours of the cool weather was lost because of this mistake!!!!!Anyway , we went past the jangal mein mangal room and past those grassy slopes and when were just , behind the village,we asked a village boy who was passing by what the route to karjat as he just looked to his left and pointed to a stone with a white marking showing the route!!!we couldn’t believe that THIS is what we had mossed, sucha clearcut marked path!!!So began our journey back to civilization.This wasn’t a simple stroll.This way down was a slope down, with most parts requiring bending down,and holding onto the rocks to o a step down.Our legs were screwed!!Thighs, knees all gone..and then came the sun in full glory,our water resources were down!!and the sun had no mercy, nor did the hill.In hindsight, it was no t at all a diffucul route.The path is well marked and doesn’t require any sort of dangerous acts.But because of the steeper slope, it took a toll on most peoples thighs..to try not to fall head first, we hd to be very careful.I slipped and fell , while trying to change my cam batteries and ended up being the last one . after an hour and half with only one stop (in the 1st half hour for eating and drinking),we did not stop at all.My legs were gone and I was afraid that stopping and sitting down would make me not want to get up again.. captain avani kept edging us bit by bit. Nihar did not complain one bit. He just maintained an even pace. But such was the hurry to get back down , that nobody but me stopped to take pics of that amazing place. I too did not end up taking too many , lest I fall way too behind! We passed a stream where Pariket and savio replenished water supplies to some extent. We continued trudging down. We could hear the train and that mirage of a sound would lift our spirits,..just 15 minutes further(probably)..We finally came to a place where the road started becoming more of a plain and finaly we were convinced that we weren’t far away now. Hurrah!!! 10 more minutes!!! Then we asked a couple who passed us how much further and they said “30 mins”!!!
They were right.We reached the village and lost savio at around 1230 pm.We filled ourselves with Fanta and Thumbs up.(yeah me too..ive gad soft drinks after god knows how many years..but they did not have water or milk).Feeling better , and with no sign of Savio , we refused to an offer to give us a ride to Karjat for 200 bucks!!!a 15 minute walk down and the same ride was 10 bucks a head(60 total).We started walking when a villager called out to us and told us that a friend of ours was waiting with a rickshaw!!! Savio to the rescue!!!!! We haggled with the guy and got the fare down to 20 bucks a head(120 total).The train to home was at 13:15.But there was no way we could make it! Nihr tried his hand at the rickshaw for sometime.We reached the station at around the same time. The train was gone and we had an hour to kill before the next one at 14:00.So we had glasses and glasses of the refresing nimbu paani.I and avani filled our bottles with it to sip slowly on our way home. Some ate vada pav , some drank lassi. All plans of the guys filling themselves with beer had one kaput. Getting a shower and a bed was the priority!! We boarded the crowed train and settled ourselves on the floor of the bogey. Antara got a seat and was immediately snoozing, even before the train started! Uncomfortabel that we were, Savio and Nihar too went for a normal seat once they found one. Avani said she preferred to stand inside the compartment rather than at the door where there would be a whole crowd of people coming in. It was the central railway after all!!The crowd came and how!!!I thought there would be a stampede or something. I and pariket stood up and continued talking and he tried protecting me from thr vile men looking for a good massage. Anyway I got this bright idea of getting of at kurla instead of going through the craziness of going to dadar and catching a train to santacruz Sk called during the journey down and was amazed that we were so tired. It was brijesh’s treat too that night (oh no!! i was already pooped).Reached nani’s home at around 1515.had a bath a quick lunch and dodging mau’s questons, took my aching body straight to bed!!
An amazing trip really. I think besides a picteresue place in the Sahyadris, what is of essence in a trek , is good company. The whole trip was a whole lot of fun. Avani was amazing. She’d just start singing relevant songs, just like that. Her energy was uncomparable. It would probably have been , if Savio hadn’t put on so much of weight. She was simply a lot of fun! She and Savio kept pulling each other’s legs so much! Savio did the entire trek in slippers. Nihar , Pariket and Antara we awesome company too. Everyone kept the mood light and conversations going. I realized just how much I moved and missed nature and also the known fact of how unfit I was. Being unfit just compounds a lot of discomfort on such trips. So hopefully same time next year, same/similar trip, lighter me and no ache complaints!!!!!
Friday, March 28, 2008
What's happening to the world'smost prosperous economies?!?!
Japan's Core Inflation Rises,
Jobless Rate Worsens
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
March 27, 2008 11:52 p.m.
TOKYO -- Japan's inflation rate climbed at its fastest rate in a decade in February and the jobless rate worsened to 3.9% under data released Friday, raising concerns about the health of the world's second-largest economy.
The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, rose 1.0% in February from a year ago -- the fastest reading since March 1998, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.
Japan has long struggled with deflation, or falling prices, but Friday's data, which also marked the fifth straight month of gains, show that higher prices for imported oil and commodities are adding pressure on living costs.
Separate data released by the ministry said household spending was flat in February from a year earlier, an indication that the economy was getting less support from domestic demand, while exports that have long driven the nation's growth are also losing steam.
The result fell short of the 2.5% rise expected in surveys by Dow Jones Newswires and Nikkei.
Economy Minister Hiroko Ota voiced concerns that recent sharp rises in consumer prices could have a negative impact on consumption growth.
"With economic growth pausing and workers' wages not increasing, I cannot say that recent rises in consumer prices are good," Mr. Ota told a news conference. "I'm concerned about how such price rises -- mostly stemming from rises in gasoline and food prices -- will affect consumers."
Separately, Japan's unemployment rate stood at a worse-than-expected 3.9% in February, the Ministry of Public Management said. The results reflected slowing domestic and overseas growth, which has made business less willing to hire workers.
Japan's unemployment rate was 3.8% in January.
The ministry said the total number of jobless was down by 40,000 on year, marking the 27th consecutive month of decline.
The jobless rate registered to 4.0% in September and October before dropping to 3.8% in November and staying flat for three months.
The core CPI for the Tokyo metropolitan area for March rose a preliminary 0.6% on year, the data showed. The number is considered a leading indicator for nationwide consumer prices.
Jobless Rate Worsens
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
March 27, 2008 11:52 p.m.
TOKYO -- Japan's inflation rate climbed at its fastest rate in a decade in February and the jobless rate worsened to 3.9% under data released Friday, raising concerns about the health of the world's second-largest economy.
The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, rose 1.0% in February from a year ago -- the fastest reading since March 1998, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.
Japan has long struggled with deflation, or falling prices, but Friday's data, which also marked the fifth straight month of gains, show that higher prices for imported oil and commodities are adding pressure on living costs.
Separate data released by the ministry said household spending was flat in February from a year earlier, an indication that the economy was getting less support from domestic demand, while exports that have long driven the nation's growth are also losing steam.
The result fell short of the 2.5% rise expected in surveys by Dow Jones Newswires and Nikkei.
Economy Minister Hiroko Ota voiced concerns that recent sharp rises in consumer prices could have a negative impact on consumption growth.
"With economic growth pausing and workers' wages not increasing, I cannot say that recent rises in consumer prices are good," Mr. Ota told a news conference. "I'm concerned about how such price rises -- mostly stemming from rises in gasoline and food prices -- will affect consumers."
Separately, Japan's unemployment rate stood at a worse-than-expected 3.9% in February, the Ministry of Public Management said. The results reflected slowing domestic and overseas growth, which has made business less willing to hire workers.
Japan's unemployment rate was 3.8% in January.
The ministry said the total number of jobless was down by 40,000 on year, marking the 27th consecutive month of decline.
The jobless rate registered to 4.0% in September and October before dropping to 3.8% in November and staying flat for three months.
The core CPI for the Tokyo metropolitan area for March rose a preliminary 0.6% on year, the data showed. The number is considered a leading indicator for nationwide consumer prices.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Central Banks-soothe or Stoke?!?!?!
COUNTRY BRIEFING
FROM FINANCIAL TIMES
By Chris Giles in London and James Politi in Washington
Central banks' efforts to ease strains in the money markets are failing to stop financial institutions from hoarding cash, stoking fears that the recent respite in equity markets may not signal the end of the credit crisis.
Banks' borrowing costs - a sign of their willingness to lend to each other - in the US, eurozone and the UK rose again even after the Federal Reserve's unprecedented activity in lending to retail and investment banks against weaker than usual collateral and similar action in Europe.
The continued friction in the money markets came even as stock markets were showing new signs of optimism in spite of fresh data from the US showing consumers at their most pessimistic for 35 years and house prices falling at the fastest rate on record.
In London, where the Bank of England has faced criticism for not being as proactive as other central banks, the three-month Libor rate was set on Tuesday at 5.995 per cent, its highest of the year. This is nearly 0.9 percentage points above the level investors demand for risk-free money, a spread nearly as high as that which led to central bank interventions in September and December.
The European Central Bank allocated €216bn ($337bn) in seven-day funds in its regular weekly operation on Tuesday - some €50bn higher than the amount it estimated would have normally been needed - at an average rate of 4.28 per cent, which was the highest since late September.
The Fed's latest lending to banks under its Term Auction Facility was also in heavy demand, receiving bids for $88.9bn compared with the $50bn on offer, an excess of demand almost as great as the previous auction two weeks ago, before the collapse of Bear Stearns.
But equity markets ignored the continued stresses in the plumbing of the financial system, partly in the hope that they were driven by liquidity hoarding at the end of the financial quarter.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 gained 3.5 per cent, closing 193.9 points higher at 5,689.1, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 rose 3.1 per cent to close at 1,266. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed up 2.1 per cent while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 6.4 per cent.
The rises followed strong gains on Monday in the US after the revised JPMorgan offer for Bear Stearns. At the close, the S&P index was also up 0.23 per cent - its earlier gains pared by further evidence the credit crisis risks sending the US economy into a deep recession.
Consumer confidence crumbled to a five-year low in March, and US home prices experienced a record slide in January.
The Conference Board's confidence index fell from 76.4 in February to a reading of 64.5 this month.
"Consumers' outlook for business conditions, the job market and their income prospects is quite pessimistic and suggests further weakening may be on the horizon," said Lynn Franco of the Conference Board. Except for a brief period in 2003 when the Iraq war began, the index is at its lowest level since the early 1990s.
The expectations index, which tracks consumers' assessments of future conditions, fell from 58 last month to 47.9 in March, its worst reading since December 1973.
The collapse in US consumer confidence came as the S&P/Case-Shiller Index of US home prices showed a sharp decline in January. Home prices in 20 large cities fell by 10.7 per cent in January compared with the same period last year, a drop that was slightly worse than expected but marked an acceleration compared with a 9.1 per cent fall in December.
The slide in home prices - the biggest monthly drop on record - could damp hopes that the US housing market may be close to a bottom. Those hopes were raised on Monday when data showed that sales of previously owned homes rose for the first time in seven months in February.
FROM FINANCIAL TIMES
By Chris Giles in London and James Politi in Washington
Central banks' efforts to ease strains in the money markets are failing to stop financial institutions from hoarding cash, stoking fears that the recent respite in equity markets may not signal the end of the credit crisis.
Banks' borrowing costs - a sign of their willingness to lend to each other - in the US, eurozone and the UK rose again even after the Federal Reserve's unprecedented activity in lending to retail and investment banks against weaker than usual collateral and similar action in Europe.
The continued friction in the money markets came even as stock markets were showing new signs of optimism in spite of fresh data from the US showing consumers at their most pessimistic for 35 years and house prices falling at the fastest rate on record.
In London, where the Bank of England has faced criticism for not being as proactive as other central banks, the three-month Libor rate was set on Tuesday at 5.995 per cent, its highest of the year. This is nearly 0.9 percentage points above the level investors demand for risk-free money, a spread nearly as high as that which led to central bank interventions in September and December.
The European Central Bank allocated €216bn ($337bn) in seven-day funds in its regular weekly operation on Tuesday - some €50bn higher than the amount it estimated would have normally been needed - at an average rate of 4.28 per cent, which was the highest since late September.
The Fed's latest lending to banks under its Term Auction Facility was also in heavy demand, receiving bids for $88.9bn compared with the $50bn on offer, an excess of demand almost as great as the previous auction two weeks ago, before the collapse of Bear Stearns.
But equity markets ignored the continued stresses in the plumbing of the financial system, partly in the hope that they were driven by liquidity hoarding at the end of the financial quarter.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 gained 3.5 per cent, closing 193.9 points higher at 5,689.1, while the FTSE Eurofirst 300 rose 3.1 per cent to close at 1,266. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 closed up 2.1 per cent while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 6.4 per cent.
The rises followed strong gains on Monday in the US after the revised JPMorgan offer for Bear Stearns. At the close, the S&P index was also up 0.23 per cent - its earlier gains pared by further evidence the credit crisis risks sending the US economy into a deep recession.
Consumer confidence crumbled to a five-year low in March, and US home prices experienced a record slide in January.
The Conference Board's confidence index fell from 76.4 in February to a reading of 64.5 this month.
"Consumers' outlook for business conditions, the job market and their income prospects is quite pessimistic and suggests further weakening may be on the horizon," said Lynn Franco of the Conference Board. Except for a brief period in 2003 when the Iraq war began, the index is at its lowest level since the early 1990s.
The expectations index, which tracks consumers' assessments of future conditions, fell from 58 last month to 47.9 in March, its worst reading since December 1973.
The collapse in US consumer confidence came as the S&P/Case-Shiller Index of US home prices showed a sharp decline in January. Home prices in 20 large cities fell by 10.7 per cent in January compared with the same period last year, a drop that was slightly worse than expected but marked an acceleration compared with a 9.1 per cent fall in December.
The slide in home prices - the biggest monthly drop on record - could damp hopes that the US housing market may be close to a bottom. Those hopes were raised on Monday when data showed that sales of previously owned homes rose for the first time in seven months in February.
A new Arthur Anderson?!?!?!
Is KPMG heading the same way as did THE AA firm?!?!Surely not because of the belowmentioned New Century Financial Corp..but the way the firm is directing its capabilities..could well be heading the same way as the erstwhile AA....
KPMG Aided New Century Missteps, Report Says
By PEG BRICKLEY and AMIR EFRATIMarch 27, 2008; Page A6
A court-appointed investigator looking into the collapse of New Century Financial Corp. said in a report that its auditor, KPMG LLP, devised some of the improper accounting strategies that allowed the company to hide its financial problems for years.
The investigator, Michael J. Missal, said the company might be able to recover money for its creditors by suing KPMG for professional negligence and negligent misrepresentation. He also recommended the company sue several of its former top executives to recover millions of dollars in bonuses and other compensation paid to them.
KPMG "contributed to certain of these accounting and financial reporting deficiencies by enabling them to persist and, in some instances, precipitating the company's departure from applicable accounting standards," Mr. Missal said in a 550-page report filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., and released Wednesday.
Dan Ginsburg, a spokesman for KPMG, said, "We strongly disagree with the report's conclusion concerning KPMG. We believe that an objective review of the facts and circumstances will affirm our position."
The Justice Department, as part of its investigation into New Century's collapse, is looking at individuals at KPMG who audited the company, according to people familiar with the case. But these individuals are not currently a target of the investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Justice Department inquiry is being handled out of the Santa Ana office of the U.S. attorney for California's central district, based in Los Angeles. A spokesman for KPMG declined to comment.
A spokesperson for New Century said in a statement: "The Company is pleased that the Examiner's report is finally completed and that we can take the next steps of confirming the plan of liquidation, therefore substantially concluding the bankruptcy process."
In his report, Mr. Missal said that in one instance, a KPMG partner who led the New Century audit team castigated a subordinate who had questioned one of the company's accounting practices as it prepared to file its 2005 annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to Mr. Missal, the KPMG partner told the subordinate in an email: "I am very disappointed we are still discussing this. As far as I am concerned, we are done. The client thinks we are done. All we are going to do is p- everybody off."
New Century, based in Irvine, Calif., was once one of the country's biggest providers of mortgages to people with poor credit histories. In 2006, it originated nearly $60 billion in subprime mortgages. It collapsed in April 2007 after its accounting problems came to light, accelerating the meltdown in the subprime-mortgage market. That meltdown precipitated the biggest credit crunch in at least a decade.
In his report, Mr. Missal said New Century had "a brazen obsession with increasing loan originations, without due regard to the risks associated with that business strategy." Its loan-production department, he said, was "the dominant force in the company," which trained mortgage brokers in sessions it referred to as "CloseMore University."
The company had low standards for originating loans, Mr. Missal said. "The predominant standard for loan quality was whether the loans New Century originated could be initially sold or securitized in the secondary market," he said. "The increasingly risky nature of New Century's loan originations created a ticking time bomb that detonated in 2007."
New Century owes its creditors more than $1 billion, but it has said in court papers that they are likely to recover no more than 17 cents of every dollar they are owed. Because the company has few assets left, much of that funding is likely to come from lawsuits against parties responsible for the company's collapse.
In an interview Wednesday, Mr. Missal said KPMG "didn't have the healthy skepticism that you would expect from your outside independent auditors." One of the accounting errors Mr. Missal identified involved a decision not to account for a "growing backlog" of troubled loans New Century was obligated to repurchase.
Senior New Century executives knew as far back as 2004 that the subprime-mortgage boom was doomed to go bust, Mr. Missal said. But he said its accounting practices allowed those dangers to be disguised.
KPMG Aided New Century Missteps, Report Says
By PEG BRICKLEY and AMIR EFRATIMarch 27, 2008; Page A6
A court-appointed investigator looking into the collapse of New Century Financial Corp. said in a report that its auditor, KPMG LLP, devised some of the improper accounting strategies that allowed the company to hide its financial problems for years.
The investigator, Michael J. Missal, said the company might be able to recover money for its creditors by suing KPMG for professional negligence and negligent misrepresentation. He also recommended the company sue several of its former top executives to recover millions of dollars in bonuses and other compensation paid to them.
KPMG "contributed to certain of these accounting and financial reporting deficiencies by enabling them to persist and, in some instances, precipitating the company's departure from applicable accounting standards," Mr. Missal said in a 550-page report filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del., and released Wednesday.
Dan Ginsburg, a spokesman for KPMG, said, "We strongly disagree with the report's conclusion concerning KPMG. We believe that an objective review of the facts and circumstances will affirm our position."
The Justice Department, as part of its investigation into New Century's collapse, is looking at individuals at KPMG who audited the company, according to people familiar with the case. But these individuals are not currently a target of the investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Justice Department inquiry is being handled out of the Santa Ana office of the U.S. attorney for California's central district, based in Los Angeles. A spokesman for KPMG declined to comment.
A spokesperson for New Century said in a statement: "The Company is pleased that the Examiner's report is finally completed and that we can take the next steps of confirming the plan of liquidation, therefore substantially concluding the bankruptcy process."
In his report, Mr. Missal said that in one instance, a KPMG partner who led the New Century audit team castigated a subordinate who had questioned one of the company's accounting practices as it prepared to file its 2005 annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to Mr. Missal, the KPMG partner told the subordinate in an email: "I am very disappointed we are still discussing this. As far as I am concerned, we are done. The client thinks we are done. All we are going to do is p- everybody off."
New Century, based in Irvine, Calif., was once one of the country's biggest providers of mortgages to people with poor credit histories. In 2006, it originated nearly $60 billion in subprime mortgages. It collapsed in April 2007 after its accounting problems came to light, accelerating the meltdown in the subprime-mortgage market. That meltdown precipitated the biggest credit crunch in at least a decade.
In his report, Mr. Missal said New Century had "a brazen obsession with increasing loan originations, without due regard to the risks associated with that business strategy." Its loan-production department, he said, was "the dominant force in the company," which trained mortgage brokers in sessions it referred to as "CloseMore University."
The company had low standards for originating loans, Mr. Missal said. "The predominant standard for loan quality was whether the loans New Century originated could be initially sold or securitized in the secondary market," he said. "The increasingly risky nature of New Century's loan originations created a ticking time bomb that detonated in 2007."
New Century owes its creditors more than $1 billion, but it has said in court papers that they are likely to recover no more than 17 cents of every dollar they are owed. Because the company has few assets left, much of that funding is likely to come from lawsuits against parties responsible for the company's collapse.
In an interview Wednesday, Mr. Missal said KPMG "didn't have the healthy skepticism that you would expect from your outside independent auditors." One of the accounting errors Mr. Missal identified involved a decision not to account for a "growing backlog" of troubled loans New Century was obligated to repurchase.
Senior New Century executives knew as far back as 2004 that the subprime-mortgage boom was doomed to go bust, Mr. Missal said. But he said its accounting practices allowed those dangers to be disguised.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Random Musings of a melancholy conundrum
Just watched Taare Zameen pe for the umpteenth time yesterday.Yesterday was under the pretext of my Mum not having watched the movie.the movie reminded me of the glorious yesteryears.Am sure everyone who watched it felt the same...all those naughty pranks,irate daddies,worried mummies musing"what will happen to this kid!!"
RC i guess was the one more shouted at than i was.He was like water always wanting to do his own thing.I remember almost beating him up for saying that God is nonsense and Krishna is a mere story and that the almighty RC is stronger than any imagined God.That was 20 years ago..and now...where is he?As near his"powerless God" as one can get after an engineering degree, a MSc with honors from UK , and god knows how many other feathers on his cap...And the Deepa Bhat who was suposed to be a doctor is still giving exams , still musing about her purpose in life and what she should really do..."give in" to "whirledly things"
But even though I am not sad , I have a little thought nibbling on me this morning . The more I live , the more I realise two things . I still don't have a 'purpose' in my life . (Oh,all right I DO go around proclaiming that I have found my purpose...but I seem to be taking steps in exactly the opposite direction....does that make me a loony?!?!)And second , now that I have lived some more , I have lesser time to find that purpose .It is like 5 years back I was "Chill yaar . I am only 22. Only God Buddha found a purpose in life at that age." But Now I am like "Umm . I am almost 26. And I think I will find a bigger meaning in life right after a little nap. "Sure , I have phases of 'being driven' in my life . Like I wake up and say 'Right . Today I will call the Hutch Customer care people and tell them they should be looting banks in masks and not calling themselves a telecom service provider for all the scary things they are doing to my connection'. So, little purposes about getting my cell connection up , analysing whether DSP TIGER's downside is lower than ICICI's Infrastructue...hell can they be compared at alll(blurrghhhh)ironing my clothes for the next day and such micro sized things dot my day. But there is nothing which connects all these dots ...I think and shout that I have my purpose outlined....but thats because of the fault in the Matrix's programming which makes some of us come around once in a while once our souls have been recycled enough number of times-enough to make us raw....as raw as we were on the day we were born.We(meaning I and such other poor confused souls like moi) have those short glimpses of utopia...and take as many steps forward ..but then stop.What is real?the fraction of a glimpse,or what i live everyday ..because of the glimpse is the real thing then all these dots are ,,well just a means to pass time...do i want to merely pass time,going on through a drudgeous life? or do i want to make those glimpses real and these dots a mere prop?!?!Do i want to be Neo?or some common mortal stuck in the Matrix?!!
RC i guess was the one more shouted at than i was.He was like water always wanting to do his own thing.I remember almost beating him up for saying that God is nonsense and Krishna is a mere story and that the almighty RC is stronger than any imagined God.That was 20 years ago..and now...where is he?As near his"powerless God" as one can get after an engineering degree, a MSc with honors from UK , and god knows how many other feathers on his cap...And the Deepa Bhat who was suposed to be a doctor is still giving exams , still musing about her purpose in life and what she should really do..."give in" to "whirledly things"
But even though I am not sad , I have a little thought nibbling on me this morning . The more I live , the more I realise two things . I still don't have a 'purpose' in my life . (Oh,all right I DO go around proclaiming that I have found my purpose...but I seem to be taking steps in exactly the opposite direction....does that make me a loony?!?!)And second , now that I have lived some more , I have lesser time to find that purpose .It is like 5 years back I was "Chill yaar . I am only 22. Only God Buddha found a purpose in life at that age." But Now I am like "Umm . I am almost 26. And I think I will find a bigger meaning in life right after a little nap. "Sure , I have phases of 'being driven' in my life . Like I wake up and say 'Right . Today I will call the Hutch Customer care people and tell them they should be looting banks in masks and not calling themselves a telecom service provider for all the scary things they are doing to my connection'. So, little purposes about getting my cell connection up , analysing whether DSP TIGER's downside is lower than ICICI's Infrastructue...hell can they be compared at alll(blurrghhhh)ironing my clothes for the next day and such micro sized things dot my day. But there is nothing which connects all these dots ...I think and shout that I have my purpose outlined....but thats because of the fault in the Matrix's programming which makes some of us come around once in a while once our souls have been recycled enough number of times-enough to make us raw....as raw as we were on the day we were born.We(meaning I and such other poor confused souls like moi) have those short glimpses of utopia...and take as many steps forward ..but then stop.What is real?the fraction of a glimpse,or what i live everyday ..because of the glimpse is the real thing then all these dots are ,,well just a means to pass time...do i want to merely pass time,going on through a drudgeous life? or do i want to make those glimpses real and these dots a mere prop?!?!Do i want to be Neo?or some common mortal stuck in the Matrix?!!
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Thoughts lead on to purposes...............-
Thoughts lead to purposes;purposes go forth in action;action form habits;habits decidecharacter & character fixes our destiny.-Tryan Edwards,American Theologian
Let me start with the true story of this little girl called Wilma Rudolph.She contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever at the age of 4,which left her left leg paralysed.She had to start using a leg brace in order to walk.The doctor said that she would never walk normally again.But her encouraging mother always told her tht if you have faith and courage,you will walk again.Wilma believed in her other and at the age of 9,she threw aside her leg braces, and dreamt of being able to run.The doctor ,obvioulst y ridiculed her dream saying”you can’t even walk”.But inspite of her handicap, ,Wilma began participating in races ,by the age of 13 .She was always last,but she had faith in her dream.In 1960 ,Wilma patticipated in the Olympics and won 3 olymic gold medals-.This got her the title of the 1st woman ever to to win 3 olympic gold medals in one year.And they said she couldn’t walk.
The journey of reaching your destiny starts from that tiny seed of thought,which leads to the conception of a legitimate purpose in your heart. It could be anything-a spiritual ideal,a worldly object. Of course I am not talking about every drifting thought.. Until your thought is linked with purpose,there is no scope for intelligent accomplishment.. Thoughts lead to purposes Once your purpose is clear,you take action to achieve your purpose and action should be alingned to and allied with the purpose. purposes go forth in action .What you repeatedly do becomes a habit. action form habits .As are your habitual thoughts and actions,so also will be the character of your mind.habits decide character .From building a strong character,like we saw in the case of Wilma,we reach our destiny .The Greek Philosopher Heraclitus quotes”Ethos Anthropos Daimon”-Man’s character is his destiny ..
Now there are a lot of people who say that what can I do…its is my destiny,It is not in my hands.But remember Aristotle’s words ”We are what we repeatedly do”Sit and crib-you will be damned,Act on your purpose with hope and conviction-you will get there.,So in short,what it means is “Sow an action,reap a habit,sow a habit…reap a character,sow a character..reap a destiny. “
Let me start with the true story of this little girl called Wilma Rudolph.She contracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever at the age of 4,which left her left leg paralysed.She had to start using a leg brace in order to walk.The doctor said that she would never walk normally again.But her encouraging mother always told her tht if you have faith and courage,you will walk again.Wilma believed in her other and at the age of 9,she threw aside her leg braces, and dreamt of being able to run.The doctor ,obvioulst y ridiculed her dream saying”you can’t even walk”.But inspite of her handicap, ,Wilma began participating in races ,by the age of 13 .She was always last,but she had faith in her dream.In 1960 ,Wilma patticipated in the Olympics and won 3 olymic gold medals-.This got her the title of the 1st woman ever to to win 3 olympic gold medals in one year.And they said she couldn’t walk.
The journey of reaching your destiny starts from that tiny seed of thought,which leads to the conception of a legitimate purpose in your heart. It could be anything-a spiritual ideal,a worldly object. Of course I am not talking about every drifting thought.. Until your thought is linked with purpose,there is no scope for intelligent accomplishment.. Thoughts lead to purposes Once your purpose is clear,you take action to achieve your purpose and action should be alingned to and allied with the purpose. purposes go forth in action .What you repeatedly do becomes a habit. action form habits .As are your habitual thoughts and actions,so also will be the character of your mind.habits decide character .From building a strong character,like we saw in the case of Wilma,we reach our destiny .The Greek Philosopher Heraclitus quotes”Ethos Anthropos Daimon”-Man’s character is his destiny ..
Now there are a lot of people who say that what can I do…its is my destiny,It is not in my hands.But remember Aristotle’s words ”We are what we repeatedly do”Sit and crib-you will be damned,Act on your purpose with hope and conviction-you will get there.,So in short,what it means is “Sow an action,reap a habit,sow a habit…reap a character,sow a character..reap a destiny. “
Udaipur Odyssey-the wedding that was!!
Udaipur(25/06/05- 29/06/05)
Sometime in April-Got a call from Garima saying she had some news –that she was getting married!!!!!!!!.Her marriage which was slated in the cool months of Nov-Dec had been unceremoniously preponed to the sultry month of June!!!I was still reeling under the impact of this news when she gave me the second bit of shock-The marriage venue wasn’t the same ‘ol Mumbai-it was the city of lakes and palaces-Udaipur!!!!!!!!!!
Man!!!the first image that came to my mind was some Rajput prince coming and taking our gullible,guiless Garima(shya!too much of alliteration)on horseback…..
My mind went into a frenzy…rhetoric questions kept popping up….June end…..wud I be able to make it??Wud my parents coolly allow me to go so far away for so long????Clothes!!!!!are my clothes good enough for a (pretentious)Marwari wedding????Chuck it!!who cares!!my plain ol’ cotton clothes wud be good enuff!!Man so many thoughts!!half a day was spent in rearranging my thoughts!!and then…damn!had wasted half a day of revision in a crazy frenzy…when I got back to books…my mind was still alive of fantasies….nup…not of rajput princes on horseback,….but Rocks!!Does Udaipur have any rock climbing places to boast of?Does it have terrain above sea level at all???but hell!!whats the point….who wud I climb with anyway…with that last thot…my overactive brain was back to memorizing provisions of Section 88D….
Add to all this was the fact that we were getting a free bus ride to Udaipur,…not to mention free stay:d.heehee!!rubbin my hands in glee!!
May End:Took Srikumar climbing one day(day I returned from Delhi and was supposed to be goin to native place).he loved it….the whole climbing experience.Next time I head from him was when I got back …he was leavin for Hyderabad etc…..(weddin season in full swing).Met him online a coupla days later…he had some crazy nick…which suggested a passion for climbing..i was impressed…I had influenced one more young thing to kneel to the prowess of rocks…errr rock climbing!He then told me he was goin to Hampi!!!!!!THE Hampi!!!!!Some progress!!
Anyway…thats a different story…….point is he came back as crazy about rock climbing as Deepa!!I had an ally!!!!tried convincing him to come to Udaipur….we did a lil bit of research and found out that there are indeed some rock climbing pitches around udaipur!!But probably no boulders…plans to take the crash pad for the wedding were made…errr,,not as a present for the couple..but for our rock climbing antics!As the 26th came closer…….our plans grew bolder….more concrete,,,there was no way we re goin to Udaipur and not climbing!!!
26th June’2005:Aargh!!!!!!Srikumar is not comin!!!!!there go the climbing plans!!And I thought the eternal bond between me and rocks cudnt be cleaved!!!!guess shall have to be stuck at the pretentious wedding dressed u p like a stupid doll…smile at ppl I don’t knw and try to act smart and suave…yuck!!!!!Srikumar!!!Ill come back and kill u!!!Well,no more weight of climbing shoes….jst the stupid sandalsL.Anyway…..I had for company te Prachi duo..not twins…jst that both possess similar names(and as different as cheese and chalk)Aargh!!!where did I get stuck!!!Kept telling myself I am going to have fun!!!My Calvinlike humor wud see me sailin thru fun the next 3 days!!!!
330-Time for bus to commence journey …gari calls up Anutosh…..to tell him we’re leavin Mumbai…his reply”so what can I do!!!!!”This uncouth,insensitive behaviour of Gari’s fiancé puts me off completely…Bloody Chauvinist!!I am already prejudiced against him…grrrrrrrrrr!!!
The bus journey was unrealistically quiet…no noise even from Gari’s cousins,nieces and nephews….Ate lot of food and swore not to eat anymore of this junk!Fed Gari as she was forbidden to hold anything in her hennaed hands,…Stomach jst went for a toss!!
As evening descended , the junta grew a bit more lively , nothing changed my mood much tho.The frontside of the passage was lain with bedsheets and sundry ..so as to accommodate the zingers…err..singers,the ever enthu junta were beckoned to play the all-weather game of Antakshari…Prachi(S)went ahead,it being one of her pet games.I jst sat idly looking out at the glorious sunset, over the the Gujarat landscape.The rains had filled the land with small beautiful ponds where children played with glee and shrubs grew wildy…and of course,nothing holds my attention than a few scattered ROCKS!!!Yeah , back to my muse!!!!My eyes din’t blink…as Dave Matthews,Aerosmith and Avril Lavigne bellowed in the background(din’t forget to carry my discman!)The book I had wowed to finish (1984)lay in the holder, unattended to.
Stopped for lunch at a restaurant in Surat(I think).Ran to empty my bladder..and realized tht sitting at the hind of the bus has more disadvantages than advantages…for one u were usually the last in the queue for the loo.Anyway,the Marwari aunties defied the signs that read”Men”and unabashedly diverted a part of the queue to the same…….so much for Women’s Lib!!!!
Dinner had been prepared all throughout the morning by a maharaj at gari’s place was now served to everyone…I ,the smart one refrained from any more of that heavy food…and satisfied myself by sitting and looking huffy and bored…
Nightfall means sleep….none was in store for me that night.Gari’s tiny cuz decided she wanted to sit with us on the last seat.i was the only one to get along a bedsheet…jst in case..came in handy…borrowed it back from Manisha mami and crept snugly under it …till I felt a poke in my arm…the kid wanted a piece of my sheet…well…I gave her some…but such a small sheet …being shared by 3 ppl meant it wud slide off from from those seated at the corners.So I benignly decided to give the kid my seat…and occupied her seat.HMmm….welll…it was the middle seat which overlooked the passage…so I had no foothold to plant my feet..hmmm…so was awake…out with the music again.Bam!!an attaché fell over my already flustered head…Bam!nother heavy bag!Bam!someones Suit!Shit!looks like luggage is trying to bludgeon me to death…..
27th June,2005…..
Look outside the window…see a line of mountains…smile….looks like this day shows some promise.Everyone’s eager to get out of the bus and take a bath…Udaipur still seems far away.Reach “Hotel Lake End”by about 845 am.Finally!!!!But wait!…..Gari needs to get off in a sari (shes wearin denim capris!)whoops!there with the help of her mum,3 friends and one portly cuz(Dolly)we manage to wrap her in an elegant sari..Done!Not yet!coz she needs to wear lenses….5 more mins….atlast depart company with that cramped up bus…time to stretch and think of a clean bathroom….go to room…room no-327.next to Manisha Mami’s room…oh bloody hell!hope I get some sleep in the night!
We enter our room..planning our day ahead….someone opens the curtain…I am in midsentence….my eyes widen …I run to the window amongst screams of my distraught friends: “Deepa’s gonna jump outta the window”…….Need one guess wat my tired eyes saw….Mountains……the hotel appareantly,living upto its name was on the banks of the Fatehsagar lake…and on the other sides….a chain of hills!!yippee!!!!!!!premonition was rite!!o hell!Srikumar u shudve come man!!I must add ,the lake’s been dry for 8 years now…….so was basically was a big stretch of land between the mountains and the hotel.Our room also directly overlooked the hotel pool.Damn!dint get the swimsuit!(thank god for that…I have an unflattering figure)
After freshenin up,(these 2 women take unnaturally long time in the bathroom!!),we decided to go shopping,as there was no function in the morning.I stepped outta the room…Manisha mami was stepping out of her’s…dressed in a flashy sari,make-up all done,Jewellery all matched…I was shocked…asked her if there was some function happening….NO….all that for Breakfast!!!!!!!!
Anyway,Prachi(S)got jelly legged seeing all the grandness…said we’d better change into better clothes…I put my foot down…after all we were going out…who gives a damn!
I passed up breakfast…..all those kachoris of the previous evening still undigested.Just had a cuppa of tea…and off we were, to discover a new place.On our way out,gari shot a signal…be careful…u don’t know this city.
Went to hathipole market ,bougt some cloth…haggling skills non-existent in my blood.Bothe Prachi’s made up for wat I lacked…got good,grand looking cloth at throwaway price.
Bought some Jewellery…both the Prachis disapproved
Prachi(M)went to extent of telling me..i have a different yet distinctive style,…kinda bohemian…yes Prachi I am different!!!Do not try to define me…I cannot be defined!
Back to room with our wares…dropped em in the room,freshened up….i changed into my capris….Prachi(M) cleverly suggested to revert back to better clothes as every1 else was all dressed up..Good thing I listned to her….Gari was in the”Lakhi hall”all dressed up in a sari…with ghoongat et all…….was a shock of kinds….
Food….WHY do they put besan in every dish??I ended up eating dal-chaval with Prachi(s)hissin in dissaproval over the absence of Rotis in a north-Indian meal…hmmm…
Back to room and flopped on bed!Dead tired……Slept till 530pm….time for Gari’s engagement!…woke up.Vin called up(good surprise) however couldn’t talk to him much coz of my depleting roaming balance!sigh!.went to window-no sign of public…….tried finding the itenery…found it dissolving beneath soap in bathroom…hmmph!!now wat??
The 2 gals refused to get outta bed and argued that anyways nothing starts on time……hmmm..i wasn’t convinced…..cudnt get then to see my side …they were jst way to lazy….
630pm-Ashu(Gari’s cuz )comes up panting to our room…..to tell us tht weve already missed half of the engagement!!!!!Grrrrrrr………
I was ready anyways…how much time does it take to pull on a dress and wear matching Jewellery and smear surma….
But the Prachis….spent another 30 mins dressin up.putting on their make up blah!blah!grrr…..
Ashu comes again……engagements over…but get ur sorry asses down asap…hmmph!!grrr…I m gonna kill u prachis…
Am so ashamed….Gari is like where were u guys when I needed u to be there
We’re introduced o the super –grumpy,non-smiling,chauvinistic-looking Anutosh…..really no match for gari..forget the looks..even in attitude(and altitude).
Sangeet (is tht wat its called??)begins…..all cuzns and frnds are performing on stage
Startes drizzling….we move in…into the shadows..away from the crowd ..where the prachis can protect theire make-up and lenses from the rain!!!grrrrr…….
After sometime….gari comes on stage.enthralls everyone with her colorful,graceful dance,,,…I decide..that’s it…I m goin to be with Gari……go to her..talk with her…feel like ive made up by not bein g there for her engagement……theneveryone is called on-stage to dance to the tunes of the DJ…..dance…….cant stop tappin my feet….damn!!I mst dance
So go off…draggin Gari with me
Have a blast……coame back down after 30 mins ……..eat a nice meal
Lovely delhi chat,alu wada,pani puri….cold coffee(mst have glugged a litre)
In bed by about 1230-1.00 am…after a round of gossiping and bitching……amidst me boldly declaring tht I shall be goin to the mountains first thing next morning..to which I got a very patronizing look from Prachi(S)……welll guess these 2 damsel weren’t goin to allow me to go by myself…hmmmph!!!!.there ends the first day….
28th June,2005
D-Day…….Woke up at 5 am(can’t help it…body clocks adjusted that way)Felt fresh tho….Took a quick bath and sat staring at the glorious view from the balcony….all the initial resolve of getting my ass to the mountains was…poof!!!…the lethargic little town had ensnared my senses and made me like itself…damned lethargic!!!!
Waited for the 2 madames to wake up and get dressed up…there was some small function of Gari/s to be held in her room…We decided to dress well ,to make up for the previous morning’s debacle.I insisted in goin in shorts…but well,I guess 2 Prachis are too much for me,plus dint want to be disowned in the middle of nowhere.managed to pull on some dress over my lethargic limbs….wore yesterdays churidar and dupatta(who cares!!!!)…well…everyone else came to the functions in their night suits n pajamas…hmmph!!so much for “dressin up!!!”I felt very important to be one of the 4 gals holding the dupatta over gari’s head whilst her various uncles and aunties smeared her with a paste of oil,mehndi,turmeric,etc…….hamara number bhi aayega….poor gari…she could kill us!!!
Went back to room,bitched a little bit more, and I decided I wanted the Bedsheet Prachi (S) had procured the previous day…so off for lunch and then to Hathipole Market again.The time between this point and the point we returned back to our rooms is very interesting coz we ended up pampering ourselves like little princesses!!
We went to the market and on the way back,,Prachi(M) remarked tht her hair looks like a witche’s..so I suggested she have it straightened.We went to “”Prabhat beuty parlour
…he said his staff waas not there blah blah…meanwhile we thot wed get our face cleansed professionally too…so off we went in search of another parlour and 45 mins and 160 bucks later,emerged with glowing faces.We had our faces pounded n massaged for a hole 20 mins!!!Off to prabhat again for our hair(yeah I had jumped into the”look good-feel good”bandwagon too)Went into the parlour to see…uhh…ANUTOSH!!!!!yup.the bridegroom was there with a faithful to get his”jobs done”…so much for metrosexuality in non-metros!!!
Anyway,the guy fixed our hair too soon……..coz he was in too much of a hurry(but was real cheap..only 75 bucks for blow dry!)
Went back to hotel and got ready………Prachi(S)wore a sari….
I spent timed deciding whether gold looked better or silver?????…chose my fav-silver..timeless and smart..not festive….but yet!!!
I wanted to be with gari…but the hampersome 2 some cribbed again.so we waited…..and waited..till finally a distraught Gari called us…and asked us to be with her………grrr…..how pathetic we mustve looked…Gari flies us all the way to udaipur,puts us up..and we stay clamped up in our room!!cluck!cluck!
Anyway..were hardly there for 20 mins in her room…Karuna bhabhi is there-talkin bout her expensive saris and honeymoon!!aargh!!bloody show-off!!!
I ask Priya(Garis frnd)whether we re gonna change bfore th weddin..she says.”.I need to ..all this heavy sari uknw…but I guess u guys..ur clothes..i mean …u don’t need to change!!”Icant stand this!I really cant!and ppl said Priya is a chweet little darling!!hmmph!!
Leave for reception …..arrive in a “heavily draped with bugs: reception lawn…yuckkkkk!!!!!every damned seat is covered with em damn crawlies!!!!!what a day!And my hair…starts getting ruff…hair was so much better without sub-standard,inattentive treatment!!
Lawn is all sploshy ..stupid sandals…..feet all yucky mucky!!!aarrghhhh!!!!!!!sneakers and shorts are for days like these!!
Feeling all claustrophobic…..the party lacks the presence of smart young guys….wat the hell m I doin here when I cud be nite climbing!!!!!(on second thots no relation between party and climbing)
Good Gracious Deepa tt I am…help distribute sweets and dry fruits to guests….slump down on chiar…time to go get food!!
Food stalls all empty…rumor has it tht 2300 people had eaten till 830..bloody hogs!!!
Anyway grumpily devour a cold nan!!!…bitch n crib even more………
Prachi(M)suggests we go back to rooms and nap bfore the weddin……..hmm…nt bad but will it look good
Manisha mami absolutely forbids….Deepa mst stay and help..shaadi ka ghar…so much wrk…gotta feed the ladkawalas!!!!.hhmmm.
11 pm-Notice I am not the only one at breaking point!bloody sandals…..can snap any time…and I though BATA was reliable!!!!Ask grumpy Prachis to exchange as I will be at the reception…….
Help!help!help!Atul mama is really emotional!the whole atmosphere is way too sombre……hmm…wat willit be like at my weddin..ppl will be rubbin hands is glee”gd riddance..finally cud get rid of Deepa…” (wat pathetic thought!!…mst learn to be more optismistic…ppl love me…errr…do they really??)
Food by now is swiiming with dead creatures..mmm..Chinese wud hv loved alu bug curry or bug dal fry!!!!!
Whow!!!Page 6 already!!!!!this is really an odyssey!!!!
Getting back to 28th June……..went back to rooms at bout 1 am
Hurrah!its 29th..1 more hour to Gari’s weddin!!go to room only to see Prachis awake and bitchy….add to that room is filled with bugs
Good assortment of bugs!
I protest…no ppoint sleepin for an hour…no way we gonna wake up…pestered by Prachis into bed…ok ok…so dead that don’t care about the bugs crawlin over me!!yeah…its difficult to believe that bugs and Deepa can co-exist in the same room…..
Wake up!!!!!Aargh!!!!its 430 am…we missed the wedding!!!!!panick strikes!!!!!!!I shake up everyone out of theire slumber……v.v irritated…I am almost in tears…we missed her wedding for God’s sake!!!!!jump out of bed,wear shoes and scoot off to find wedding venue………she mustve gone by now!!!
Last few rites of marriage still goin on…bridegroom all in yawns,,….bride…all in tears…mood very very sombre….absence of tiny cousins very obvious!!
Like a dam bursting,,,,the tears start flowing….I am the only one…who s hi n dry…hmmmm…still don’t believe gari is married and I MISSED HER WEDDING!!!!!Me start feelin the tears too..wat the hell!!!!!
All its and tears over by about 630!!Her uncles ,shuddering and distraught is consoled by an admirably composed Gari……..brother,mother uncles, all cry…no need to watch a Barjatya movie anymore………
Come back to room disheveled and distraught!stillcant believe I missed her wedding!!!
Had my bath…and we started chatting…..none of us liked Anutosh(hurrah!!atleast some common ground with these 2 women!)..what they told me next numbed my brains!!!!!!Its way to gruesome a truth to be published on a public forum:(….Anyway…cudnt sit there no longer..got up and left for the mountains…my sanctuary is such times….Walked up to “Neemuch nmata ka mandir”which is a bout 1 km climb uphill..took bout 15 mins to peak..and was down in hardly 5 mins!!!!!
Walked back…too sunny…v.v.tired and sleepy…..thot I’d rather go and nap bfore packing session!
Started walking down the concrete road…got bored…got more interesting idea….walked through the lake……errr….DRY LAKE(guess that makes things clearer….no point in making one think ‘ive got some supernatural ability to walk on water rather than swim)..The lake was deserted…it was a vast expance ,on the other side of which was Lake End Hotel…of course,my POA was to get off the lake,onto the road somewhere in the middle and head for the”Rock Garden”…..We had seen the lake-bed looking parched and drought like-but up close,it was worse-the cracks in the earth ran a bout a foot deep with about half a foot distance between ,so I was practically jumping on the land….
As I was doin so,I spotted something which made me smile-none other than a beloved boulder.A man emerged from next to it and showed me the wa y to the road….but I instead threw my bag on the ground and rummaged through it for the extra pair of socks.I pulled them onand climbed up and down…up ad down….I finally felt at home again.My strangled heart felt as if a big hand had been unclasped from it…Man!I LOVE rocks!!!!
Unfortunately,I wasn’t carrying my climbing shoes.And it wudve been more fun if Srikumar had tagged along,coz even alongside the rad, I spotted a couple of protruding(and inviting)rock faces,and invited myself over.I must admit,I mustve looked quite foolish wearing 2 pairs of socks and climbing alongside on the road as motorists hurried down looking amused!!WHO CARES !!!I didn’t stop till a couple of men, started approaching me…they probably thought I was trying to get attention.That was the first moment that I panicked because they were following me!(all these details are obviously kept from my mum)Anywa,did go to the rock garden…only to realize halfway that I was suddenly bored of being alone,and went back to the hotel.I was looking forward to the a cold shower and the nice pest-free bed(hopefully).I was so dead tired.I reached back t the hotel at about 1030-11 am and was welcomed by a disgruntled pair of room mates who had been waiting me to have breakfast.sigh!
Come back from breakfast and lookk longingly at the bed…but alas!it was already 11 am…..had to commence packing……did that and jumped into the bed…but then , these 2 women started taking again…bitching more likely….I was in a similar mood…so joined them from my horizontal position.I was still sulking over the fact that I missed her wedding…
Anyway,so we packed,went down for lunch,came back finished packing….and took our bags down in the hall…from where it was loaded into the bus.Gari was there,tired after all the functions and lack of sleep.She was still in her wedding joda-coz therewas some pooja it seems.Anyway,we were chatterin with her..I still cudnt believe tht the resplendent woman in front of me was our Garima..she had suddenly grown up too quick.She was up there for us now.We can look at her ,touch her,but never quite reach her stature.Calm and composed as ever while inside she must be burning wth apprehension…she had hardly ever lived without her family,and now…….
Kudos to this woman!!!!
Nayway,lemme get back to wat I was doin…BITCHING….hmmm…so then we boarded the bus.We were back to sitting on the last seat…this time accompanied by more people than were comfortable as all trains were cancelled due to heavy rains in Gujarat.
(Hey am continuing this saga on 9th December 2005,almost half a year after the weddin)
Memory is a bit rusty at this point(shud remember to eat almonds everyday)…but yeah…was cramped up in the bus with almost a week’s lack of sleep…..with whole bunch of noisy kids around(I know I lurrvvvee kids…but this was a one time too many).
Anyway…I got a bunker to lie on..so tried to make up for lost sleep in 30 mins…but well,the din……..
Anyway,the rest of the journey is a blur…….came back home and jst dropped on the bed…
Well,all said and done,no matter how much I have bitched bout other ppl here,or cribbed…it was a trip to remember.And I am not going to say that I didn’t have a lot of fun.Problem is when stuff doesn’t meet ur expectations,and when u expect as much as I did from this trip,even normally enjoyable moments turn sour.I still love all my frnds and absolutely adore little noisy kids.And am sure some day…..will say…”I went to Udaipur and had a ball at my friends wedding”And here ends my8 page odyssey… (SHITT!!!!!!) …. to one of the most beau cities in Rajasthan.
Sometime in April-Got a call from Garima saying she had some news –that she was getting married!!!!!!!!.Her marriage which was slated in the cool months of Nov-Dec had been unceremoniously preponed to the sultry month of June!!!I was still reeling under the impact of this news when she gave me the second bit of shock-The marriage venue wasn’t the same ‘ol Mumbai-it was the city of lakes and palaces-Udaipur!!!!!!!!!!
Man!!!the first image that came to my mind was some Rajput prince coming and taking our gullible,guiless Garima(shya!too much of alliteration)on horseback…..
My mind went into a frenzy…rhetoric questions kept popping up….June end…..wud I be able to make it??Wud my parents coolly allow me to go so far away for so long????Clothes!!!!!are my clothes good enough for a (pretentious)Marwari wedding????Chuck it!!who cares!!my plain ol’ cotton clothes wud be good enuff!!Man so many thoughts!!half a day was spent in rearranging my thoughts!!and then…damn!had wasted half a day of revision in a crazy frenzy…when I got back to books…my mind was still alive of fantasies….nup…not of rajput princes on horseback,….but Rocks!!Does Udaipur have any rock climbing places to boast of?Does it have terrain above sea level at all???but hell!!whats the point….who wud I climb with anyway…with that last thot…my overactive brain was back to memorizing provisions of Section 88D….
Add to all this was the fact that we were getting a free bus ride to Udaipur,…not to mention free stay:d.heehee!!rubbin my hands in glee!!
May End:Took Srikumar climbing one day(day I returned from Delhi and was supposed to be goin to native place).he loved it….the whole climbing experience.Next time I head from him was when I got back …he was leavin for Hyderabad etc…..(weddin season in full swing).Met him online a coupla days later…he had some crazy nick…which suggested a passion for climbing..i was impressed…I had influenced one more young thing to kneel to the prowess of rocks…errr rock climbing!He then told me he was goin to Hampi!!!!!!THE Hampi!!!!!Some progress!!
Anyway…thats a different story…….point is he came back as crazy about rock climbing as Deepa!!I had an ally!!!!tried convincing him to come to Udaipur….we did a lil bit of research and found out that there are indeed some rock climbing pitches around udaipur!!But probably no boulders…plans to take the crash pad for the wedding were made…errr,,not as a present for the couple..but for our rock climbing antics!As the 26th came closer…….our plans grew bolder….more concrete,,,there was no way we re goin to Udaipur and not climbing!!!
26th June’2005:Aargh!!!!!!Srikumar is not comin!!!!!there go the climbing plans!!And I thought the eternal bond between me and rocks cudnt be cleaved!!!!guess shall have to be stuck at the pretentious wedding dressed u p like a stupid doll…smile at ppl I don’t knw and try to act smart and suave…yuck!!!!!Srikumar!!!Ill come back and kill u!!!Well,no more weight of climbing shoes….jst the stupid sandalsL.Anyway…..I had for company te Prachi duo..not twins…jst that both possess similar names(and as different as cheese and chalk)Aargh!!!where did I get stuck!!!Kept telling myself I am going to have fun!!!My Calvinlike humor wud see me sailin thru fun the next 3 days!!!!
330-Time for bus to commence journey …gari calls up Anutosh…..to tell him we’re leavin Mumbai…his reply”so what can I do!!!!!”This uncouth,insensitive behaviour of Gari’s fiancé puts me off completely…Bloody Chauvinist!!I am already prejudiced against him…grrrrrrrrrr!!!
The bus journey was unrealistically quiet…no noise even from Gari’s cousins,nieces and nephews….Ate lot of food and swore not to eat anymore of this junk!Fed Gari as she was forbidden to hold anything in her hennaed hands,…Stomach jst went for a toss!!
As evening descended , the junta grew a bit more lively , nothing changed my mood much tho.The frontside of the passage was lain with bedsheets and sundry ..so as to accommodate the zingers…err..singers,the ever enthu junta were beckoned to play the all-weather game of Antakshari…Prachi(S)went ahead,it being one of her pet games.I jst sat idly looking out at the glorious sunset, over the the Gujarat landscape.The rains had filled the land with small beautiful ponds where children played with glee and shrubs grew wildy…and of course,nothing holds my attention than a few scattered ROCKS!!!Yeah , back to my muse!!!!My eyes din’t blink…as Dave Matthews,Aerosmith and Avril Lavigne bellowed in the background(din’t forget to carry my discman!)The book I had wowed to finish (1984)lay in the holder, unattended to.
Stopped for lunch at a restaurant in Surat(I think).Ran to empty my bladder..and realized tht sitting at the hind of the bus has more disadvantages than advantages…for one u were usually the last in the queue for the loo.Anyway,the Marwari aunties defied the signs that read”Men”and unabashedly diverted a part of the queue to the same…….so much for Women’s Lib!!!!
Dinner had been prepared all throughout the morning by a maharaj at gari’s place was now served to everyone…I ,the smart one refrained from any more of that heavy food…and satisfied myself by sitting and looking huffy and bored…
Nightfall means sleep….none was in store for me that night.Gari’s tiny cuz decided she wanted to sit with us on the last seat.i was the only one to get along a bedsheet…jst in case..came in handy…borrowed it back from Manisha mami and crept snugly under it …till I felt a poke in my arm…the kid wanted a piece of my sheet…well…I gave her some…but such a small sheet …being shared by 3 ppl meant it wud slide off from from those seated at the corners.So I benignly decided to give the kid my seat…and occupied her seat.HMmm….welll…it was the middle seat which overlooked the passage…so I had no foothold to plant my feet..hmmm…so was awake…out with the music again.Bam!!an attaché fell over my already flustered head…Bam!nother heavy bag!Bam!someones Suit!Shit!looks like luggage is trying to bludgeon me to death…..
27th June,2005…..
Look outside the window…see a line of mountains…smile….looks like this day shows some promise.Everyone’s eager to get out of the bus and take a bath…Udaipur still seems far away.Reach “Hotel Lake End”by about 845 am.Finally!!!!But wait!…..Gari needs to get off in a sari (shes wearin denim capris!)whoops!there with the help of her mum,3 friends and one portly cuz(Dolly)we manage to wrap her in an elegant sari..Done!Not yet!coz she needs to wear lenses….5 more mins….atlast depart company with that cramped up bus…time to stretch and think of a clean bathroom….go to room…room no-327.next to Manisha Mami’s room…oh bloody hell!hope I get some sleep in the night!
We enter our room..planning our day ahead….someone opens the curtain…I am in midsentence….my eyes widen …I run to the window amongst screams of my distraught friends: “Deepa’s gonna jump outta the window”…….Need one guess wat my tired eyes saw….Mountains……the hotel appareantly,living upto its name was on the banks of the Fatehsagar lake…and on the other sides….a chain of hills!!yippee!!!!!!!premonition was rite!!o hell!Srikumar u shudve come man!!I must add ,the lake’s been dry for 8 years now…….so was basically was a big stretch of land between the mountains and the hotel.Our room also directly overlooked the hotel pool.Damn!dint get the swimsuit!(thank god for that…I have an unflattering figure)
After freshenin up,(these 2 women take unnaturally long time in the bathroom!!),we decided to go shopping,as there was no function in the morning.I stepped outta the room…Manisha mami was stepping out of her’s…dressed in a flashy sari,make-up all done,Jewellery all matched…I was shocked…asked her if there was some function happening….NO….all that for Breakfast!!!!!!!!
Anyway,Prachi(S)got jelly legged seeing all the grandness…said we’d better change into better clothes…I put my foot down…after all we were going out…who gives a damn!
I passed up breakfast…..all those kachoris of the previous evening still undigested.Just had a cuppa of tea…and off we were, to discover a new place.On our way out,gari shot a signal…be careful…u don’t know this city.
Went to hathipole market ,bougt some cloth…haggling skills non-existent in my blood.Bothe Prachi’s made up for wat I lacked…got good,grand looking cloth at throwaway price.
Bought some Jewellery…both the Prachis disapproved
Prachi(M)went to extent of telling me..i have a different yet distinctive style,…kinda bohemian…yes Prachi I am different!!!Do not try to define me…I cannot be defined!
Back to room with our wares…dropped em in the room,freshened up….i changed into my capris….Prachi(M) cleverly suggested to revert back to better clothes as every1 else was all dressed up..Good thing I listned to her….Gari was in the”Lakhi hall”all dressed up in a sari…with ghoongat et all…….was a shock of kinds….
Food….WHY do they put besan in every dish??I ended up eating dal-chaval with Prachi(s)hissin in dissaproval over the absence of Rotis in a north-Indian meal…hmmm…
Back to room and flopped on bed!Dead tired……Slept till 530pm….time for Gari’s engagement!…woke up.Vin called up(good surprise) however couldn’t talk to him much coz of my depleting roaming balance!sigh!.went to window-no sign of public…….tried finding the itenery…found it dissolving beneath soap in bathroom…hmmph!!now wat??
The 2 gals refused to get outta bed and argued that anyways nothing starts on time……hmmm..i wasn’t convinced…..cudnt get then to see my side …they were jst way to lazy….
630pm-Ashu(Gari’s cuz )comes up panting to our room…..to tell us tht weve already missed half of the engagement!!!!!Grrrrrrr………
I was ready anyways…how much time does it take to pull on a dress and wear matching Jewellery and smear surma….
But the Prachis….spent another 30 mins dressin up.putting on their make up blah!blah!grrr…..
Ashu comes again……engagements over…but get ur sorry asses down asap…hmmph!!grrr…I m gonna kill u prachis…
Am so ashamed….Gari is like where were u guys when I needed u to be there
We’re introduced o the super –grumpy,non-smiling,chauvinistic-looking Anutosh…..really no match for gari..forget the looks..even in attitude(and altitude).
Sangeet (is tht wat its called??)begins…..all cuzns and frnds are performing on stage
Startes drizzling….we move in…into the shadows..away from the crowd ..where the prachis can protect theire make-up and lenses from the rain!!!grrrrr…….
After sometime….gari comes on stage.enthralls everyone with her colorful,graceful dance,,,…I decide..that’s it…I m goin to be with Gari……go to her..talk with her…feel like ive made up by not bein g there for her engagement……theneveryone is called on-stage to dance to the tunes of the DJ…..dance…….cant stop tappin my feet….damn!!I mst dance
So go off…draggin Gari with me
Have a blast……coame back down after 30 mins ……..eat a nice meal
Lovely delhi chat,alu wada,pani puri….cold coffee(mst have glugged a litre)
In bed by about 1230-1.00 am…after a round of gossiping and bitching……amidst me boldly declaring tht I shall be goin to the mountains first thing next morning..to which I got a very patronizing look from Prachi(S)……welll guess these 2 damsel weren’t goin to allow me to go by myself…hmmmph!!!!.there ends the first day….
28th June,2005
D-Day…….Woke up at 5 am(can’t help it…body clocks adjusted that way)Felt fresh tho….Took a quick bath and sat staring at the glorious view from the balcony….all the initial resolve of getting my ass to the mountains was…poof!!!…the lethargic little town had ensnared my senses and made me like itself…damned lethargic!!!!
Waited for the 2 madames to wake up and get dressed up…there was some small function of Gari/s to be held in her room…We decided to dress well ,to make up for the previous morning’s debacle.I insisted in goin in shorts…but well,I guess 2 Prachis are too much for me,plus dint want to be disowned in the middle of nowhere.managed to pull on some dress over my lethargic limbs….wore yesterdays churidar and dupatta(who cares!!!!)…well…everyone else came to the functions in their night suits n pajamas…hmmph!!so much for “dressin up!!!”I felt very important to be one of the 4 gals holding the dupatta over gari’s head whilst her various uncles and aunties smeared her with a paste of oil,mehndi,turmeric,etc…….hamara number bhi aayega….poor gari…she could kill us!!!
Went back to room,bitched a little bit more, and I decided I wanted the Bedsheet Prachi (S) had procured the previous day…so off for lunch and then to Hathipole Market again.The time between this point and the point we returned back to our rooms is very interesting coz we ended up pampering ourselves like little princesses!!
We went to the market and on the way back,,Prachi(M) remarked tht her hair looks like a witche’s..so I suggested she have it straightened.We went to “”Prabhat beuty parlour
…he said his staff waas not there blah blah…meanwhile we thot wed get our face cleansed professionally too…so off we went in search of another parlour and 45 mins and 160 bucks later,emerged with glowing faces.We had our faces pounded n massaged for a hole 20 mins!!!Off to prabhat again for our hair(yeah I had jumped into the”look good-feel good”bandwagon too)Went into the parlour to see…uhh…ANUTOSH!!!!!yup.the bridegroom was there with a faithful to get his”jobs done”…so much for metrosexuality in non-metros!!!
Anyway,the guy fixed our hair too soon……..coz he was in too much of a hurry(but was real cheap..only 75 bucks for blow dry!)
Went back to hotel and got ready………Prachi(S)wore a sari….
I spent timed deciding whether gold looked better or silver?????…chose my fav-silver..timeless and smart..not festive….but yet!!!
I wanted to be with gari…but the hampersome 2 some cribbed again.so we waited…..and waited..till finally a distraught Gari called us…and asked us to be with her………grrr…..how pathetic we mustve looked…Gari flies us all the way to udaipur,puts us up..and we stay clamped up in our room!!cluck!cluck!
Anyway..were hardly there for 20 mins in her room…Karuna bhabhi is there-talkin bout her expensive saris and honeymoon!!aargh!!bloody show-off!!!
I ask Priya(Garis frnd)whether we re gonna change bfore th weddin..she says.”.I need to ..all this heavy sari uknw…but I guess u guys..ur clothes..i mean …u don’t need to change!!”Icant stand this!I really cant!and ppl said Priya is a chweet little darling!!hmmph!!
Leave for reception …..arrive in a “heavily draped with bugs: reception lawn…yuckkkkk!!!!!every damned seat is covered with em damn crawlies!!!!!what a day!And my hair…starts getting ruff…hair was so much better without sub-standard,inattentive treatment!!
Lawn is all sploshy ..stupid sandals…..feet all yucky mucky!!!aarrghhhh!!!!!!!sneakers and shorts are for days like these!!
Feeling all claustrophobic…..the party lacks the presence of smart young guys….wat the hell m I doin here when I cud be nite climbing!!!!!(on second thots no relation between party and climbing)
Good Gracious Deepa tt I am…help distribute sweets and dry fruits to guests….slump down on chiar…time to go get food!!
Food stalls all empty…rumor has it tht 2300 people had eaten till 830..bloody hogs!!!
Anyway grumpily devour a cold nan!!!…bitch n crib even more………
Prachi(M)suggests we go back to rooms and nap bfore the weddin……..hmm…nt bad but will it look good
Manisha mami absolutely forbids….Deepa mst stay and help..shaadi ka ghar…so much wrk…gotta feed the ladkawalas!!!!.hhmmm.
11 pm-Notice I am not the only one at breaking point!bloody sandals…..can snap any time…and I though BATA was reliable!!!!Ask grumpy Prachis to exchange as I will be at the reception…….
Help!help!help!Atul mama is really emotional!the whole atmosphere is way too sombre……hmm…wat willit be like at my weddin..ppl will be rubbin hands is glee”gd riddance..finally cud get rid of Deepa…” (wat pathetic thought!!…mst learn to be more optismistic…ppl love me…errr…do they really??)
Food by now is swiiming with dead creatures..mmm..Chinese wud hv loved alu bug curry or bug dal fry!!!!!
Whow!!!Page 6 already!!!!!this is really an odyssey!!!!
Getting back to 28th June……..went back to rooms at bout 1 am
Hurrah!its 29th..1 more hour to Gari’s weddin!!go to room only to see Prachis awake and bitchy….add to that room is filled with bugs
Good assortment of bugs!
I protest…no ppoint sleepin for an hour…no way we gonna wake up…pestered by Prachis into bed…ok ok…so dead that don’t care about the bugs crawlin over me!!yeah…its difficult to believe that bugs and Deepa can co-exist in the same room…..
Wake up!!!!!Aargh!!!!its 430 am…we missed the wedding!!!!!panick strikes!!!!!!!I shake up everyone out of theire slumber……v.v irritated…I am almost in tears…we missed her wedding for God’s sake!!!!!jump out of bed,wear shoes and scoot off to find wedding venue………she mustve gone by now!!!
Last few rites of marriage still goin on…bridegroom all in yawns,,….bride…all in tears…mood very very sombre….absence of tiny cousins very obvious!!
Like a dam bursting,,,,the tears start flowing….I am the only one…who s hi n dry…hmmmm…still don’t believe gari is married and I MISSED HER WEDDING!!!!!Me start feelin the tears too..wat the hell!!!!!
All its and tears over by about 630!!Her uncles ,shuddering and distraught is consoled by an admirably composed Gari……..brother,mother uncles, all cry…no need to watch a Barjatya movie anymore………
Come back to room disheveled and distraught!stillcant believe I missed her wedding!!!
Had my bath…and we started chatting…..none of us liked Anutosh(hurrah!!atleast some common ground with these 2 women!)..what they told me next numbed my brains!!!!!!Its way to gruesome a truth to be published on a public forum:(….Anyway…cudnt sit there no longer..got up and left for the mountains…my sanctuary is such times….Walked up to “Neemuch nmata ka mandir”which is a bout 1 km climb uphill..took bout 15 mins to peak..and was down in hardly 5 mins!!!!!
Walked back…too sunny…v.v.tired and sleepy…..thot I’d rather go and nap bfore packing session!
Started walking down the concrete road…got bored…got more interesting idea….walked through the lake……errr….DRY LAKE(guess that makes things clearer….no point in making one think ‘ive got some supernatural ability to walk on water rather than swim)..The lake was deserted…it was a vast expance ,on the other side of which was Lake End Hotel…of course,my POA was to get off the lake,onto the road somewhere in the middle and head for the”Rock Garden”…..We had seen the lake-bed looking parched and drought like-but up close,it was worse-the cracks in the earth ran a bout a foot deep with about half a foot distance between ,so I was practically jumping on the land….
As I was doin so,I spotted something which made me smile-none other than a beloved boulder.A man emerged from next to it and showed me the wa y to the road….but I instead threw my bag on the ground and rummaged through it for the extra pair of socks.I pulled them onand climbed up and down…up ad down….I finally felt at home again.My strangled heart felt as if a big hand had been unclasped from it…Man!I LOVE rocks!!!!
Unfortunately,I wasn’t carrying my climbing shoes.And it wudve been more fun if Srikumar had tagged along,coz even alongside the rad, I spotted a couple of protruding(and inviting)rock faces,and invited myself over.I must admit,I mustve looked quite foolish wearing 2 pairs of socks and climbing alongside on the road as motorists hurried down looking amused!!WHO CARES !!!I didn’t stop till a couple of men, started approaching me…they probably thought I was trying to get attention.That was the first moment that I panicked because they were following me!(all these details are obviously kept from my mum)Anywa,did go to the rock garden…only to realize halfway that I was suddenly bored of being alone,and went back to the hotel.I was looking forward to the a cold shower and the nice pest-free bed(hopefully).I was so dead tired.I reached back t the hotel at about 1030-11 am and was welcomed by a disgruntled pair of room mates who had been waiting me to have breakfast.sigh!
Come back from breakfast and lookk longingly at the bed…but alas!it was already 11 am…..had to commence packing……did that and jumped into the bed…but then , these 2 women started taking again…bitching more likely….I was in a similar mood…so joined them from my horizontal position.I was still sulking over the fact that I missed her wedding…
Anyway,so we packed,went down for lunch,came back finished packing….and took our bags down in the hall…from where it was loaded into the bus.Gari was there,tired after all the functions and lack of sleep.She was still in her wedding joda-coz therewas some pooja it seems.Anyway,we were chatterin with her..I still cudnt believe tht the resplendent woman in front of me was our Garima..she had suddenly grown up too quick.She was up there for us now.We can look at her ,touch her,but never quite reach her stature.Calm and composed as ever while inside she must be burning wth apprehension…she had hardly ever lived without her family,and now…….
Kudos to this woman!!!!
Nayway,lemme get back to wat I was doin…BITCHING….hmmm…so then we boarded the bus.We were back to sitting on the last seat…this time accompanied by more people than were comfortable as all trains were cancelled due to heavy rains in Gujarat.
(Hey am continuing this saga on 9th December 2005,almost half a year after the weddin)
Memory is a bit rusty at this point(shud remember to eat almonds everyday)…but yeah…was cramped up in the bus with almost a week’s lack of sleep…..with whole bunch of noisy kids around(I know I lurrvvvee kids…but this was a one time too many).
Anyway…I got a bunker to lie on..so tried to make up for lost sleep in 30 mins…but well,the din……..
Anyway,the rest of the journey is a blur…….came back home and jst dropped on the bed…
Well,all said and done,no matter how much I have bitched bout other ppl here,or cribbed…it was a trip to remember.And I am not going to say that I didn’t have a lot of fun.Problem is when stuff doesn’t meet ur expectations,and when u expect as much as I did from this trip,even normally enjoyable moments turn sour.I still love all my frnds and absolutely adore little noisy kids.And am sure some day…..will say…”I went to Udaipur and had a ball at my friends wedding”And here ends my8 page odyssey… (SHITT!!!!!!) …. to one of the most beau cities in Rajasthan.
My FIrst Trek-Chanderi
3/7/2005----trip to chanderi.
My very first trek…..left home the night before to go to Neeti’splace amidst a frown fraught with anger and dissaproval from my dad…….all nite long cudnt help thinking wat my fate wud be when I returned….wud this first trek be my last trek too???
Neeti looked tired…but her mind was abuzz with recipes…”What to bake/cook”She amazed me by stayin awake to cook pasta and bake a choco –cake.(Her eyes without exception close at 10pm on any other day) .Managed to wrap up by 1 am.Got a sms frm Srikumar…sayin he cudnt get no sleep…so we spoke at length,speculating about the trek,with comments from a half-asleep neeti in the background.Woke up at 4 am next morning,finished our morning biddings,left home,and reached the pre-decided place of Pritam Hotel(Dadar),caught a busride to Panvel ,had breakfast at a restaurant nr the bus stand,caught another busride to our destination.
Walked up a concrete path for about 30 mins to the base…..had a round of introductions and instructions from the leader of the trek-Kavita.And then started our trek to Chanderi by the Panvel route…a not-so –oft tried path.There was a huge crowd for the trek-more than 50 people.Everyone but me seemed to be an avid and experienced trekker.One guy I can’t forget is raj who had got his son along…he carried him in his bag all the way to the top….Hats off to his stamina and determination.
The trek uphill was uneventful,except for some holdups due to overgrown branches and beautiful waterfalls.The most eventful part of the trek up was the amazing wind atop Chanderi………one felt one cud just be blown off the mountain into the valley below.You could never be too careful out there…..everyone was treading cautiously and slowly.The view from atop….was breathtaking….sadly wasn’t carrying anything that wud take a lasting and tangible image of the place which is now etched in my memory.
We reached by about 1pm. after a non –taxing 3 hour trek.(Rain and waterfall refreshed us in the interim and so did Srikumar’s Glucon-D).I relaxed my eyes by looking at the vast scenery in front of me..It was a relief from staring at the muddy path ahead or at your slipping feet.Atop Chanderi is a small cave with a small temple within its recesses.Out came all the food…yumm…bread,cheese,pasta,cake,theplas,salami,egg sandwiches,chapatti –bhaji,dahi-bhaat………….food!food!and more food!
At about 2 pm,we commenced our trip down.I wont forget me innocently remarking to Vishu that the trek down would be quicker…FACT CHECK….the trip down would take more time because one has to be careful not to topple over the person ahead in that slippery terrain…
And right he was……we left in batches,giving a leeway of atleast 15-20 mins to the pervious group to get as far ahead as possible…but when we started,we could see them right there!!!as if they’d hardly moved!!We were moving at an ant’s pace…trying to keep outr feet firmly planted on slippery terrain ,and at the same time trying not to get blown away by the amazing wind.
I had a nice time….walkin down in those floaters…..The 2 waterfalls helped…in getting my muddy clothes back to their original colour.We hit the concrete road by about 630.Srikumar and Savio got this brilliant idea or runnin all the way to Panvel(bout 13 kms…)but we caught them nr the rickshaw stand,bout 4 kms away,caught a rickshaw back to Panvel ,in the bus to Mumbai at 830 ,time flew by..I had a nice nap..so did many others,the only one with her eyes wide open was Neeti.I was so thrilled with this experience I walked about half the way home(Made poor tired Srikumar do so too:p:).Back home by 1045.
Nice trip…a memorable trek for me.,being my first one.And,well about Dad,he enquired why I don’t I go trekking to the hill next to my ancestral house in Karnataka.!!!!!!!!!!!
My very first trek…..left home the night before to go to Neeti’splace amidst a frown fraught with anger and dissaproval from my dad…….all nite long cudnt help thinking wat my fate wud be when I returned….wud this first trek be my last trek too???
Neeti looked tired…but her mind was abuzz with recipes…”What to bake/cook”She amazed me by stayin awake to cook pasta and bake a choco –cake.(Her eyes without exception close at 10pm on any other day) .Managed to wrap up by 1 am.Got a sms frm Srikumar…sayin he cudnt get no sleep…so we spoke at length,speculating about the trek,with comments from a half-asleep neeti in the background.Woke up at 4 am next morning,finished our morning biddings,left home,and reached the pre-decided place of Pritam Hotel(Dadar),caught a busride to Panvel ,had breakfast at a restaurant nr the bus stand,caught another busride to our destination.
Walked up a concrete path for about 30 mins to the base…..had a round of introductions and instructions from the leader of the trek-Kavita.And then started our trek to Chanderi by the Panvel route…a not-so –oft tried path.There was a huge crowd for the trek-more than 50 people.Everyone but me seemed to be an avid and experienced trekker.One guy I can’t forget is raj who had got his son along…he carried him in his bag all the way to the top….Hats off to his stamina and determination.
The trek uphill was uneventful,except for some holdups due to overgrown branches and beautiful waterfalls.The most eventful part of the trek up was the amazing wind atop Chanderi………one felt one cud just be blown off the mountain into the valley below.You could never be too careful out there…..everyone was treading cautiously and slowly.The view from atop….was breathtaking….sadly wasn’t carrying anything that wud take a lasting and tangible image of the place which is now etched in my memory.
We reached by about 1pm. after a non –taxing 3 hour trek.(Rain and waterfall refreshed us in the interim and so did Srikumar’s Glucon-D).I relaxed my eyes by looking at the vast scenery in front of me..It was a relief from staring at the muddy path ahead or at your slipping feet.Atop Chanderi is a small cave with a small temple within its recesses.Out came all the food…yumm…bread,cheese,pasta,cake,theplas,salami,egg sandwiches,chapatti –bhaji,dahi-bhaat………….food!food!and more food!
At about 2 pm,we commenced our trip down.I wont forget me innocently remarking to Vishu that the trek down would be quicker…FACT CHECK….the trip down would take more time because one has to be careful not to topple over the person ahead in that slippery terrain…
And right he was……we left in batches,giving a leeway of atleast 15-20 mins to the pervious group to get as far ahead as possible…but when we started,we could see them right there!!!as if they’d hardly moved!!We were moving at an ant’s pace…trying to keep outr feet firmly planted on slippery terrain ,and at the same time trying not to get blown away by the amazing wind.
I had a nice time….walkin down in those floaters…..The 2 waterfalls helped…in getting my muddy clothes back to their original colour.We hit the concrete road by about 630.Srikumar and Savio got this brilliant idea or runnin all the way to Panvel(bout 13 kms…)but we caught them nr the rickshaw stand,bout 4 kms away,caught a rickshaw back to Panvel ,in the bus to Mumbai at 830 ,time flew by..I had a nice nap..so did many others,the only one with her eyes wide open was Neeti.I was so thrilled with this experience I walked about half the way home(Made poor tired Srikumar do so too:p:).Back home by 1045.
Nice trip…a memorable trek for me.,being my first one.And,well about Dad,he enquired why I don’t I go trekking to the hill next to my ancestral house in Karnataka.!!!!!!!!!!!
Lost!!!!!!!
Lost!!!
Lat few days have benn a confusion of exhiliriation and pain....9th April,Sunday,Will not forget this glorious day.I went climbing to GT after a span of almost 2 months.I met Diesel at the wide gates of my beloved SGNP .Kavita joined a while later. Also met Rahul who'd come there for some camp.We proceeded to the bouldering area at Gt.On the way...mum called up sayin that I had to go to Suhasinakkas place at Thane to sign up some forms...Arrgghhh!!!There goes my perfect Sunday.My original plan was to climb,then be back home for lunch where Manisha and R would be coming.But all down the drain ,in a way.R would kill me if she knew the end to HER Puurrrfect sunday!!1Right on cue,she calls up imediately after.I told her what I had to do..and there she starts lecturing again...about how i ALWAYS do this to her-ditch her at the last moment and blah blah..and the phone gets cut...She calls again and starts shouting -WHY DID THE HELL you cut me off...hell!!i dint do nuthing memsahib.......the phone gets cut again...she calls again..another few mins of firing...then she asks me to leave immediately(its about 10 am),reach home,collect the papers and leave for her place..so tht we cn catch the 2 pm movie -Being Cyrus...wtf!!!!!I had not even unharnessed my heavy backpack as i was distracted talking to her...taking her baseless and selfish insinutions quietly....I told he rin no uncertain terms tht it was NOT POSSIBLE for me to leave..hell!i'd hardly reached there!SO she said big deal!I have to make some adjustments blah blah!I then told her that I wasnt alone..there were 2 more gals with me,and I could'nt and wouldn't leave emalone.Its way too dangeous.If I leave,theyd leave too...and tht would be unfair..as we'd planned this climb atleast a week before I'd met R!!!Fine!!She banged the phone down...and then called again accusing me once more of hanging up on her!!WTH!!And then she asked me again(imagine...we'd already wasted precious mins discussing)whether I could meet her....I said NO...well,...BYE...Peace at last:)I know I sound so mean in a way..and I did...I agree i ruined her Sunday...but she was the one who could have compromised..to spend some time with her "best friend"My guess is that she only wanted some company to watch a movie,now that Mr G is outta her life.Hmmph!!!
Anyways,after the initial Grumpy begining,we began our bouldering.But the bad begginning that had rubbed into my heart....it starteing rubbing on my fingers too...i mean literally yaar....my fingers are raw...everyone's fingers got raw..So much that at the end of the day,,,although we were hardly tired,are fingers were goners!The I think at about 7,a new guiy,with an American accent walked in and took off his shirt and started climbing with us.Initially each of us respectfully ignored each other..but then the temptation to spot such a good climber(Ahem)was too much for us i guess...so we started talking about climbing etc,..realised tht he's originally frm mumbai''hed' gone to US to study and come back to india only a few days ago.He found GT frm the net(Thank God!!!)Anyways,turns out that he stays at 4 bungalows.ANyway.Mum calls up to tell me tht Mani has already arrived!!Oh Shit!!!Ok we all decide to wrap up and leave...when we are on our way to the gates, i realise tht my sunglasses are ,missing!!!!!MISSING!!!!!!My expensive and dear ones:((.Anyway Sharad then tells me tht he'd seen em lying rite in th middle of the path when he was coming...hmmso me and the guys head back up to search for em..but we OBVIOUSLY dont find em...so we trudge back to the gate...in the sweltering heat!!!!We get to the station.Me n Shantanu(new guy ..remember!!) got into the train.We had some interesting conversations...hes from Parle tilak and VESIT..and he's learnt Portuguese and Spanish...hes lvisited loads of places ..coz he loves travelling...Anyway..Mai calle dm e around Indian oil...SHantanu got off at 4' blows.Then I was revelling in my own thoughts.the conversations had mitigated my sadness of the loss of my sunglasses.BUT THEN....when i got up to gt off at Lokhandwala...my celly wasn't there...it just wasnn't there!!!!!Now that loss hit me hard,,,....and i mean realll hard!!!!
Not that I cried or anything..but still...a phones a phone:)
And then 2 days later,am hit hard again....wit hthe loss of a part of my body...my tooth....my wisdom tooth had to go for the pain it was causing me!!i had a root canal on another tooth....
So there it is...3 things gone in the span of 2 days...what did i get?
i met Soares miss
and i met Harsh's dad
yeah in a quirk of fate..i met him at the citibank atm at khar after my root canal..and all the while i had been thinking about Harsh..coz he had undrgone a root canal bfore he went to japan!
Anyway,the most interesting thing was tht while i was undergoing the tooth thinng..my mind was wrking over time,..it was as if i was dictating to my diary..i cant eactly remember wat i was thinking...all i remember was tht it was very poetic:)
ANyways,thats wat I lost and gained in 3 days!!!
Lat few days have benn a confusion of exhiliriation and pain....9th April,Sunday,Will not forget this glorious day.I went climbing to GT after a span of almost 2 months.I met Diesel at the wide gates of my beloved SGNP .Kavita joined a while later. Also met Rahul who'd come there for some camp.We proceeded to the bouldering area at Gt.On the way...mum called up sayin that I had to go to Suhasinakkas place at Thane to sign up some forms...Arrgghhh!!!There goes my perfect Sunday.My original plan was to climb,then be back home for lunch where Manisha and R would be coming.But all down the drain ,in a way.R would kill me if she knew the end to HER Puurrrfect sunday!!1Right on cue,she calls up imediately after.I told her what I had to do..and there she starts lecturing again...about how i ALWAYS do this to her-ditch her at the last moment and blah blah..and the phone gets cut...She calls again and starts shouting -WHY DID THE HELL you cut me off...hell!!i dint do nuthing memsahib.......the phone gets cut again...she calls again..another few mins of firing...then she asks me to leave immediately(its about 10 am),reach home,collect the papers and leave for her place..so tht we cn catch the 2 pm movie -Being Cyrus...wtf!!!!!I had not even unharnessed my heavy backpack as i was distracted talking to her...taking her baseless and selfish insinutions quietly....I told he rin no uncertain terms tht it was NOT POSSIBLE for me to leave..hell!i'd hardly reached there!SO she said big deal!I have to make some adjustments blah blah!I then told her that I wasnt alone..there were 2 more gals with me,and I could'nt and wouldn't leave emalone.Its way too dangeous.If I leave,theyd leave too...and tht would be unfair..as we'd planned this climb atleast a week before I'd met R!!!Fine!!She banged the phone down...and then called again accusing me once more of hanging up on her!!WTH!!And then she asked me again(imagine...we'd already wasted precious mins discussing)whether I could meet her....I said NO...well,...BYE...Peace at last:)I know I sound so mean in a way..and I did...I agree i ruined her Sunday...but she was the one who could have compromised..to spend some time with her "best friend"My guess is that she only wanted some company to watch a movie,now that Mr G is outta her life.Hmmph!!!
Anyways,after the initial Grumpy begining,we began our bouldering.But the bad begginning that had rubbed into my heart....it starteing rubbing on my fingers too...i mean literally yaar....my fingers are raw...everyone's fingers got raw..So much that at the end of the day,,,although we were hardly tired,are fingers were goners!The I think at about 7,a new guiy,with an American accent walked in and took off his shirt and started climbing with us.Initially each of us respectfully ignored each other..but then the temptation to spot such a good climber(Ahem)was too much for us i guess...so we started talking about climbing etc,..realised tht he's originally frm mumbai''hed' gone to US to study and come back to india only a few days ago.He found GT frm the net(Thank God!!!)Anyways,turns out that he stays at 4 bungalows.ANyway.Mum calls up to tell me tht Mani has already arrived!!Oh Shit!!!Ok we all decide to wrap up and leave...when we are on our way to the gates, i realise tht my sunglasses are ,missing!!!!!MISSING!!!!!!My expensive and dear ones:((.Anyway Sharad then tells me tht he'd seen em lying rite in th middle of the path when he was coming...hmmso me and the guys head back up to search for em..but we OBVIOUSLY dont find em...so we trudge back to the gate...in the sweltering heat!!!!We get to the station.Me n Shantanu(new guy ..remember!!) got into the train.We had some interesting conversations...hes from Parle tilak and VESIT..and he's learnt Portuguese and Spanish...hes lvisited loads of places ..coz he loves travelling...Anyway..Mai calle dm e around Indian oil...SHantanu got off at 4' blows.Then I was revelling in my own thoughts.the conversations had mitigated my sadness of the loss of my sunglasses.BUT THEN....when i got up to gt off at Lokhandwala...my celly wasn't there...it just wasnn't there!!!!!Now that loss hit me hard,,,....and i mean realll hard!!!!
Not that I cried or anything..but still...a phones a phone:)
And then 2 days later,am hit hard again....wit hthe loss of a part of my body...my tooth....my wisdom tooth had to go for the pain it was causing me!!i had a root canal on another tooth....
So there it is...3 things gone in the span of 2 days...what did i get?
i met Soares miss
and i met Harsh's dad
yeah in a quirk of fate..i met him at the citibank atm at khar after my root canal..and all the while i had been thinking about Harsh..coz he had undrgone a root canal bfore he went to japan!
Anyway,the most interesting thing was tht while i was undergoing the tooth thinng..my mind was wrking over time,..it was as if i was dictating to my diary..i cant eactly remember wat i was thinking...all i remember was tht it was very poetic:)
ANyways,thats wat I lost and gained in 3 days!!!
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Dots.....
Had gone to Rupal's place yesterday...she was ,well,.....worse for wear.Anyways went there straight from work after she called me ,distraught and suicidal.Watched Banaras....I didn't even know that it was the first day of the movie,nor did i feel the quake that shook Mumbai at 11.30 pm...so much for being concious and "aware" i guess....
I use so many dots when I am writing nowadays,not because my sentences are incomplete,or they mean to imply more than what is already packed in that sentence.I just don't know why???
Why do we fight?Why do we disbelieve?Why do we always want things our way only and no other???WHY do we claim to have FAITH when our belief is really only clouded by our prejudices...we don't accept anything at face value..we want proof,we want to hear what we want to hear and no more,no less...is that faith??questioning the same power that we have faith in,disbelieving in those little dogmas set by the powers that we claim to have faith in just because they dont appear in our comfort zone...Our faith ,in fact is clouded,marred,....dotted with our egos...
WHAT is faith????????Dotted dogmas????
Man!what i just wrote...i really have no idea where it really came from.A part of it is realy a part of my discussion with Rupal yesterday....and another part of it is my guilt,for not really following what i have faith in..WHY???because it is more comfortable not following.I guess I am as conceited and as hypocritical as the people i give this kinda"gyan "to...
Hmmph...this confession doesnt really make me feel too good about my self..
I have so much to write..but not enough words or time to pen 'em all down.Will have to leave it at that now........
P.s:Count the number of dots in this meaningless essay!!!!!
I use so many dots when I am writing nowadays,not because my sentences are incomplete,or they mean to imply more than what is already packed in that sentence.I just don't know why???
Why do we fight?Why do we disbelieve?Why do we always want things our way only and no other???WHY do we claim to have FAITH when our belief is really only clouded by our prejudices...we don't accept anything at face value..we want proof,we want to hear what we want to hear and no more,no less...is that faith??questioning the same power that we have faith in,disbelieving in those little dogmas set by the powers that we claim to have faith in just because they dont appear in our comfort zone...Our faith ,in fact is clouded,marred,....dotted with our egos...
WHAT is faith????????Dotted dogmas????
Man!what i just wrote...i really have no idea where it really came from.A part of it is realy a part of my discussion with Rupal yesterday....and another part of it is my guilt,for not really following what i have faith in..WHY???because it is more comfortable not following.I guess I am as conceited and as hypocritical as the people i give this kinda"gyan "to...
Hmmph...this confession doesnt really make me feel too good about my self..
I have so much to write..but not enough words or time to pen 'em all down.Will have to leave it at that now........
P.s:Count the number of dots in this meaningless essay!!!!!
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