before I sleep

Magic of streets

2010-06-07T22:01:00.002+05:30

Street photography or rather passion to capture or observe 100s 1000s of different emotions and reactions of common people.. they are so rich and touching which no movie or cinema can ever give ... you have made a great choice ... I get scared with this thought feeling that people might feel offended by it .. Did you ever face such a situation ? - Madhur

I think I know exactly what you are speaking about. I tried several months to dare and make my first street shot because I was really scared that people could feel offended, but then I tried it and it was such an amazing experience, that I coudn´t resist and tried it again and again. I am still fresh beginner at this genre, so I don´t have many experience, but my first experience is very positive. I found out that street isn´t about how to hide best, but very often about interaction with people. First I make shot and then I smile at people (when they notice me, sometimes they don´t) and ask them: "Can I?" And until now they all smiled back at me and they didn´t mind at all. Maybe it was just good luck, but it gave me amazing feeling and now I understand very well why street photographers fall in love with this genre so easily. - Alzbetta [link]

I found out that street isn´t about how to hide best, but very often about interaction with people ...

Well said. Exactly what I understood now ... I never used to look at people faces while walking on streets. Always thinking up something in my head or gazing on the non-living things :-). But interestingly, if I am sad or feeling troubled with what is going in my life, or can't make up my mind about a situation, then, I move out from within and look at people, and suddenly it gives a positive feeling that everything will work out.

A smile goes a long way and its possible to get lots to cheer oneself up. I just need to ask for it. - Madhur

Life

2010-06-06T17:42:00.001+05:30

If you want to have life, you have to die every moment for it.

- Swami Vivekananda

बुरा जो देखन में चला ...

2010-05-15T17:42:00.001+05:30

बुरा जो देखन में चला, बुरा ना मिलया कोई
जो मन खोजा आपना, मुझ से बुरा ना कोई।

- संत कबीर

Thoughts and destiny

2010-03-24T17:12:00.003+05:30

Watch your thoughts, unknowingly they translate into words
Watch your words, inevitably they become actions
Watch your actions, with repetitions they become habits
Watch your habits, shape the perception of your character
Watch your character, else chaos becomes your destiny

Truth

2010-03-24T14:20:00.002+05:30

Man is not travelling from error to truth, but climbing up from truth to truth, from truth that is lower to truth that is higher.

- Swami Vivekanand

Solitude

2009-12-24T21:36:00.002+05:30

You are alone or not you got to walk ahead. Thing to remember is, if we are all alone then we are all together in that too. It helps me sometimes ...

All things

2009-10-31T23:19:00.005+05:30

Time passes in moments, moments which rush in past define the path of the life just as surely as they lead it towards its end. How rarely do we stop to examine that path to see the reasons why all things happen, to consider whether path we have taken is of our own making or simply which we wanted to drift with our eyes closed. But what if we could stop, pause to take stock of each precious moment before it passes, we might see the endless forks in row that shaped our lives and seeing those choices, choose another path.

- X-Files

Character

2009-10-25T10:43:00.004+05:30

Some say we all are born as blank slates. Some say we all are born good. A fact is, we all go through situations in life when we feel vulnerable. Do these situations judge our character or do they actually create it ?

Time Travel

2009-10-22T22:44:00.004+05:30

How precious is it to go back in time ? Only to discover that in facing the past you must face up to yourself and exiting the prison of time does not free you from prison of your own character, one from which there is no escape.

- Redrum, X-Files

That Day !

2009-10-12T23:29:00.001+05:30

I so dearly wish there comes a day when I live in that day !

सैयोनी

2009-09-26T10:29:00.003+05:30

सैयोनी ...
सैयोनी ...
चैन एक पल नहीं ...
चैन एक पल नहीं ...
चैन एक पल नहीं ...
और कोई हल नहीं
सैयोनी ...
सैयोनी ...
कोन मोड़े मुहार ...
कोन मोड़े मुहार ...
कोन मोड़े मुहार ...
कोई सावन नहीं ...
चैन एक पल नहीं ...
और कोई हल नहीं
सैयोनी ...
सैयोनी ...
क्या बशर की बिसात ...
क्या बशर की बिसात ...
क्या बशर की बिसात ...
आज है कल नहीं ...
चैन एक पल नहीं ...
चैन एक पल नहीं ...
चैन एक पल नहीं ...
और कोई हल नहीं
सैयोनी ...
सैयोनी ...
छोड़ मेरी खता ...
छोड़ मेरी खता ...
छोड़ मेरी खता ...
तू तो पागल नहीं ...
हे ...
चैन एक पल नहीं ...
चैन एक पल नहीं ...
चैन एक पल नहीं ...
और कोई हल नहीं
सैयोनी ...
सैयोनी ...
सैयोनी ...

- जुनूं

Success

2009-09-16T22:13:00.002+05:30

Success is not a result of spontaneous combustion but one must set himself on fire - Reggie Leach

I

2009-09-16T07:35:00.007+05:30

Self reference is an illusion created in deepest trenches and edges of mind but always understood as the most superficial and obvious.

March 24 2010

always begging to define me

Nature

2009-09-16T07:32:00.002+05:30

Everything in nature progresses to its extremes including the limits which define those extremes.

Vision

2009-09-09T23:00:00.002+05:30

A pure mind sees mountains as mountains and rivers as rivers.

24th March 2010 - Changed title from Truth to Vision

Doubt

2009-09-03T21:34:00.002+05:30

In honest world, a doubt is nothing but lack of knowledge.

To be free

2009-08-28T00:48:00.003+05:30

All I know is one should not try to conclude anything else one would miss the "real" knowledge stored in time. Let the experience be the understanding rather than a logical outcome. This is what it means "to be free".

Wonderland

2009-08-16T10:26:00.007+05:30

I want to tell you something ...
which may not make any sense ...
but i should say it ...
because one day you might remember it ...
may be it will make you feel better ...
At a certain point in your life ...
when probably too much has gone by ...
you will open eyes and see for self who you are ...
especially for everything that made you so different ...
from all the awful normals ...
and you would say to your self ...
but I am this person ...
and in that statement that correction ...
there would be a kind of love ...

I am so scared ...

We all are ...

- Miss Dodger and Phoebe

He who dreams of drinking wine may weep when morning comes; he who dreams of weeping may in the morning go off to hunt. While he is dreaming he does not know it is a dream, and in his dream he may even try to interpret a dream. Only after he wakes does he know it was a dream. And someday there will be a great awakening when we know that this is all a great dream. Yet the stupid believe they are awake, busily and brightly assuming they understand things, calling this man ruler, that one herdsman ‑ how dense! Confucius and you are both dreaming! And when I say you are dreaming, I am dreaming, too. Words like these will be labeled the Supreme Swindle. Yet, after ten thousand generations, a great sage may appear who will know their meaning, and it will still be as though he appeared with astonishing speed.

- Zhuangzi

The Cretans are always liars.

- Liar's Paradox, Epimenides a Cretan

Conversation with papaya seller

2009-01-11T17:44:00.003+05:30

It is surprising to find that one can strike an interesting, emotional, full of experience and life with people you meet everyday. I guess every common man's life is a story in itself.

Me: What are the papaya rates today?
Seller: 16 Rs/- per kg.
Me: Amm... are these have been ripen synthetically?
Seller: No no .. these all have been ripen on the tree before plucked for sale. You would not find these easily in the market.
Me: They do look nice but they are quite big. I can't finish them both.
Seller: Sahib .... you can easily finish this one.
Me: No .. I can't. I think I would look elsewhere
Seller: Alright.

After few minutes looking around in the haat, I could not find small enough papays which can fit my stomach.

Me: I want to eat papaya. I really like them but they are quite big.
Seller: Sahib, I cannot live without papaya a day.
Me: Ohh .. really, don't you feel bored with eating papaya everyday ?
Seller: Sahib, 2 years back I was working with leather industry in sector 62. I fell sick so bad that I couldn't even drink water. I went to Kailash hospital and spent almost 38k. I have severe acidity and gas problem. They did all those sorts of tests .... what do they call it, endoscopy. Some one suggested me to start having papaya as a regular medicine and here I am today all fit and fine selling papaya.
Me: So you no longer work in that leather factory.
Seller: No.

...

2008-11-13T22:11:00.000+05:30

... देखना मेरे सिर से आसमान उड़ गया है,
देखना आसमान के सिरे खुल गए हैं ज़मीं से ...
... देखना क्या हुआ है ये ज़मीं बह रही है
देखना पानियों में ज़मीं घुल रही है कहीं से ...
... आसमान बादलों पर करवटें ले रहा है
देखना आसमान ही बरसने लगे ना ज़मीं पे ...
... पांव रुकने लगे राह चलने लगी ...

- गुलज़ार

All I know
Is everything is not as it's sold
but the more I grow the less I know
And I have lived so many lives
Though I'm not old
And the more I see, the less I grow
The fewer the seeds the more I sow ...

... I wish I hadn't seen all of the realness
And all the real people are really not real at all
The more I learn, the more I learn
The more I cry, the more I cry
As I say goodbye to the way of life
I thought I had designed for me ...

... All of the moments that already passed
We'll try to go back and make them last
All of the things we want each other to be
We never will be ...

... then I see you standing there
Wanting more from me
And all I can do is try
Then I see you standing there
Wanting more from me
And all I can do is try ...

- Nelly Furtado

Staring at the moon so blue
Turning all my thoughts to you
I was without hope or dream
Try to dull an inner scream ...

I'm gonna try in the future
not to live in the past
I guess that I was a dreamer
if I thought it could ever last ...

- MLTR

... कभी देखो मन नहीं जागे, पीछे पीछे सपनो के भागे
इक दिन सपनो का राही, चला जाए सपनो से आगे कहाँ ...

- गुलज़ार

... In the sunlight that's where I'll be
In the moon night close your eyes, you will see me ...
... Child is born, true love is sworn, all the in-between
Well you walk on, walk on until the path is gone
Learning love is the only everything ...

- Celeste Prince

Collected from:-

चुपके चुपके - गुलज़ार
Try - Nelly Furtado
More than a friend - MLTR
You took my heart away - MLTR
ज़िन्दगी - गुलज़ार
Wherever you are - Celeste Prince

धर्म

2008-10-12T12:03:00.001+05:30

जानूं मैं कि आत्मन के बोध से इश्वर में समा जाऊं
चाहूँ मैं कि ना हिंदू ना मुस्लिम ना ही इसाई कहलाऊं
जानूं मैं कि ख़ुद को जान लूँ तो खुदा को पाऊं
चाहूँ मैं कि ना हिंदू ना मुस्लिम ना ही इसाई कहलाऊं
जानूं मैं कि परछाईं को थाम इशु का सहारा पाऊं
चाहूँ मैं कि ना हिंदू ना मुस्लिम ना ही इसाई कहलाऊं
जानूं मैं कि साथ अंधेरे के रौशनी से पार जाऊं
चाहूँ मैं कि ना हिंदू ना मुस्लिम ना ही इसाई कहलाऊं
जानूं मैं कि हर धर्म चाहे ख़ुद से बाहर आ जाऊं
ताकि ना हिंदू ना मुस्लिम ना ही इसाई कहलाऊं

2008-09-29T08:55:00.003+05:30

प्राकृतिक दिनचर्या

प्रातः काल सूर्योदय से पहले उठें तथा उठते समय बांयी करवट ही उठे|
जागने के तुंरत बाद मुंह पर स्वच्छ जल भरकर मारिये| इससे दृष्टि कमजोर नहीं होती और चश्मा भी उतरसकता है|
प्रातः ही शौच से पूर्व ताम्र या चांदी के बर्तन में रात का रखा हुआ चार गिलास पानी पीना चाहिए| इससे कब्जबवासीर, रक्तपित, नेत्र सम्बन्धी और कफ से होने वाले रोग नहीं होते तथा बहुत से रोगों से छुटकारा हो जाताहै|
प्रातः काल खाली पेट चाय बहुत हानिकारक है|
शौच समय पर जाएँ| पेशाब या शौच करते समय दांत दबाकर रखने से मजबूत होते हैं|
याद रखें स्नान से पूर्व, शौच से पूर्व, सोने से पूर्व और भोजन के बाद पेशाब अवश्य करें| शौच के बाद गुदा को१५ से २० बार संकोचन करें, इससे गुदा सम्बन्धी रोग एवं शीग्रहपतन दूर होता है|
हो सके तो सप्ताह में एक बार तेल मालिश अवश्य करें|
सूर्य के सन्मुख मल-मूल त्याग ना करें| ऐसा करने से चर्म रोग होते हैं|
दांत एवं जीभ साफ करते समय गले में स्थित तालू की सफाई अंगूठे से अवश्य करें, तथा गुनगुने पानी मेंनमक डाल कर घरारे अवश्य करें| इससे आँख, कान नाक, गले के रोग नहीं होते|
प्रातः भ्रमण अवश्य करें एवं खुले में गहरी साँस के साथ प्राणायाम एवं योगासन अवश्य करें|
जब समय मिल जाए तब तब प्रातः काल धूप में खुले बदन १५ से २० मिनट अवश्य बैठे|
स्नान से पहले सूखे तौलिये से दस मिनट घर्षण करें, तथा स्नान के बाद भी हथेलियों से रगड़कर शरीर कोसुखाये और फिर तौलिये से पोंछें|
बिना भूख भोजन ना करें और जब भी करें भूख से कम खायें|
दिन में केवल दो बार भोजन करें जिसमें अधिकतर अपक्वाहार (फल, सब्जियाँ, ताज़ा हरे पत्ते, अंकुरितअन्नकण, शहद आदि) हों| यदि तीन बार करना है तो नाश्ते में फल एवं उनके रस|
ध्यान का अभ्यास अवश्य करें|
भोजन के बाद थोडी देर वज्रासन में अवश्य बैंठे या आठ साँस पीठ के बल लेकर, सोलह साँस दाहिनी करवटलेटकर तथा बत्तीस साँस बायीं करवट लेटकर लें| इससे भोजन शीघ्र हजम हो जायेगा तथा वायु रोग नहींहोंगे| रुकी हुई वायु का निष्काशन होगा|
सांय काल भोजन के बाद १०० कदम अवश्य चलें|
भोजन करने के बाद लकड़ी के कंघे से सर को खुजलाने से बालों का जल्दी गिरना, पकना, सिरदर्द, एवं सिरकी खाज नहीं होती|
लगातार तीन घंटे काम करने के बाद थोड़ा विश्राम (शवासन) कर लें तथा साप्ताहिक छुट्टी अवश्य मनाएं|
दिन में एक दो बार खुल कर जरूर हंसें|
वस्त्र सादे सूती और स्वच्छ पहने| ऊनी कपड़े बदन से छूते हुए ना पहने|
प्रति दिन चार पाँच तुलसी एवं नीम की पत्तियों का सेवन करें|
दिन में सोने की आदत ना डालें|
अच्छे विचार (पोसिटिव थिंकिंग) को अपने जीवन में उतारें| इससे मानसिक तनाव कम होगा|
मन में निराशा को स्थान न दें| आशावादी बनें|
हारता वह है जो हिम्मत गवां बैठता है|
रात में पानी पीकर एवं पांओं धोकर सोयें|
सोने से पहले मुख शुद्धि एवं तालू को साफ कर लें|
सोते समय उत्तर या पश्चिम की तरफ पैर करके सोना चाहिए|
थोड़ा सख्त बिस्तर पर सोयें एवं तकिया ना लगायें या पतला तकिया लगायें|
बिस्तर के गद्दे, तकिया, चादर आदि धूप में डालने चाहिए|
नींद आने पर ही सोना चाहिए|
बिस्तर पर पड़े-पड़े नींद की राह देखना रोग को आमंत्रित करना है|
सोते समय कभी भी मुंह नहीं ढकिये|
नींद लाने के लिए कभी दवाई ना लें|
रात्री १० बजे तक सो जाना चाहिए|
आवास प्रकाश एवं वायु युक्त तथा स्वच्छ वातावरण में होना चाहिए|

- योगा गुरूजी

पल

2008-08-09T21:56:00.014+05:30

अगस्त २००८ में लिखने बैठा था ये कविता पर हर बार वो बात नही आती थी। हताश हो कर, मैंने मार्च २००९ में जो समझ आया लिख दिया। मेरे एक मित्र ने ऐसी टिपण्णी करी की इसको बदले बगैर मुझसे रहा न गया।

Kannan: bahut accha hai... parantu itni hatasha kyon?

खुशी की बात ये है की जैसी मैंने अगस्त में प्लान करी थी, वो शब्द आज जबान पर आ गए। और आज ३ अप्रैल २००९ को ये पुरी हुई है | इस ख्याल को पुरा करने में मेरे पिताजी का बड़ा योगदान है |

संशोधित प्रस्तुति

लहराते चित्रपट पर मुस्कान सजाये
गुज़रे लम्हों से सुनहरी यादें ढूंढ लाये
मन छलिया मधुर चलचित्र दिखाए
कल-कल कर ये पल बहता जाए

धुंधलाते चित्रपट पर जाल बनाये
गुज़रे लम्हों से कारण ढूंढ लाये
मन छलिया मुद्दे से ध्यान भटकाए
कल-कल कर ये पल बहता जाए

लहराते चित्रपट पर स्वप्न-महल बनाये
आनेवाले लम्हों में मरीचिका दिखाए
मन छलिया हर इक्च्छा पूरी कराये
कल-कल कर ये पल बहता जाए

धुंधलाते चित्रपट पर स्कीमें बनाये
आनेवाले लम्हों में अटकलें दिखाए
मन छलिया हार के द्वार ही पाए
कल-कल कर ये पल बहता जाए

कल के दर्शन में आज को भुलवाए
ख़ुशी गम चिंता राहत महसूस कराये
बैचैनी में घड़ी की सुइयां पकड़ न आयें
देख मेरी स्तिथि कलियुग ठहाके लगाये

कल-कल कर हर पल बहता जाए
कल-कल कर हर पल बहता जाए

प्रथम प्रस्तुति

हताश हो यादों में खुशी क्यों खोजे
आज के लिए बीते को क्यों कोसे
ऐसे ख़ुद को क्यों रहें है छल
कल-कल बहता जाए ये पल

इक्छापुर्ती वश सपने क्यों संजोये
भविष्य से चिंतित आज क्यों रोये
ऐसे ख़ुद को क्यों रहें है छल
कल कल बहता जाए ये पल

कल में खोये भूल गए क्या आज है
अनादी अनंत जिसका सार है
ये भी किसी ने सही है फरमाया
कल-का-युग कलियुग है आया

Tagged

2008-04-26T22:46:00.000+05:30

Last movie seen in a theatre: One Two Three
Have you heard the title song, its so simple and true that if one just think over lyrics for once, a smile is inevitable
1-2-3 1-2-3,
duniya main aana hai free,
duniya se jaana hai free,
dekh tamasha duniya ka ek dum free,
1-2-3 1-2-3

What book are you reading:

Life of Pi (Yann Martel) - Imagine a person who wants to be Christian, Hindu, Muslim, and Jew, devoted to god, gets stuck in a life-boat after loosing all his family in vast Pacific Ocean. Ahan its not Caste Away dear, he has companions, a zebra, an orangutang, a hyena, and a bengal tiger :-).
Society of Mind (Marvin Minsky) - Mind is made up of mindless matter usually considered to be clustered in societies which when separate has no meaning but when they are together to do a task, the meaning becomes obvious. Mystery remains as what engages and disengages them. The book uses the concept of "soul".
One more thing, it has used example of a child so often that, now I dearly wish to observe a child how he learns with time. What he does when he sees a new thing ...

Favourite board game: Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, Chess, Scrabble - The best part of dice games is to dearly wish a number and rumble the dice with all your inner might (ofcourse you don't need physical strength) and jump when you get it.

Favourite magazine: Nandan, Champak (from my childhood days, I still don't mind reading one), Readers digest

Favourite smells: Alcohol (Whisky) - a teetotaler now, Whiteboard marker, smell of dust when it rains after a long dry spell, 5-bhai sabun I use it with Ariel for washing clothes in machine - highly recommended formula for those who wear their jeans until it turns brownish

Favourite sound:

Wind chimes - Imagine a lovely morning with cool breeze clear ambience after a rainy night and the silence is broken ocassionaly by chime music struck by the breeze. It gets better if you have your partner with you, :-)
koo-koo: don't mix this with any birds chirping, just the sweet cuckoo singing on a tree lit by morning sun with little haze in ambience causing rays to disperse and fill up the space.
sounds from happy babies .... :-), off-late watched Tarzan, Monsters Inc. Disney does an awesome job. Never heard such sounds in real life.

Worst feeling in the world: Loneliness, I fear imagining it. I can't think of my existence as a sole entity.

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?: Mostly dreams I had, I always have dreams,

Favourite fast food place: Haldiram for chile, kulcha etc., MacD for McVeggie burger. I like matar-kulcha a lot esp on a nukkad. The taste to spicy lemon paste they use is awesome. My stomach no longer allows me to enjoy my favorite thing .... sigh :-(

Future child's name: I would leave it to her, first things first .. I still haven't found one

Finish this statement, “If I had a lot of money I’d…” be watching it thinking what to do with it. I am not kidding. I still need to learn how to spend money as I give up very soon.

Do you drive fast?: Rarely, sometimes on highways. I am a peaceful person you see

Do you sleep with a stuffed animal? sigh ;-)

Storms - Cool or Scary?: Awesome site to shoot, don't have a good camera though

Do you eat the stems on broccoli?: Don't mind it

If you could dye your hair any colour, what would be your choice?: Shades of brown as a gradient

Name all the different cities/towns you have lived in: Faridabad, Indore, Madras, Tirupathi, Rewari, Delhi, Mumbai, Noida, Banaras, Mugalsarai, Sakaldiha, Dhanapur, Sikandrabad ... does it look like a long list

One nice thing about the person who sent this to you: Good to be friends with, beauty with brains, She writes quite well. Especially few liners about any incident pointing the most peculiar thing you can imagine.

What’s under your bed?: Mat, some dirt which maid didn't clean up and I am too lazy to ask her to clean it up :-D.

Would you like to be born as yourself again?: I can't answer this question. I can't decide as I am yet to find myself.

Morning person or night owl?: Morning person, lately I have not done much to keep up with it. I need to do something tomorrow only :-D

Over easy or sunny side up?: buzy-bee, need help to understand this question

Favourite place to relax: Home

Favourite pie: Heard a lot about pies haven't had one. Not kidding its true.

Favourite ice cream flavour: Butterscotch with nuts. Not much into ice-creams though.

जन्मदिन मुबारक - Happy Birthday

2007-08-03T20:12:00.000+05:30

सपनो से कहीं ख़ूबसूरत यार हमने पाया,
नय्मत उस खुदा कि जिसने तुम्हे बनाया,
खुशगवार है कितना आज ये दिन,
बहुत बहुत मुबारक तुम्हे ये जन्मदिन.........

भटकता था कहीं मंजिल कि खोज मैं,
रस्ते पर चलना उस हमसफ़र ने सिखलाया,
दूर था खुदा कि रहमत से अब तक,
सुकून उसके दामन का तुमने महसूस करवाया
आये ये खुशियों भरा दिन बार बार क्योंकि
आज इस दुनिया मैं आया था मेरा प्यार..........

एक पल है जाता और दूजा है आता,
पूछे मन बावरा, ये थम क्यों न जाता,
क्या है कोई नुस्खा कि समय के पार मैं जाऊ,
दामन मैं मेरे यार के थोडी खुशियाँ और सजांऊं,
जन्मदिन कि हार्दिक शुभकामनाये..........

"Cheap" Reliance handsets

2007-07-08T14:54:00.000+05:30

Reliance recently launched very attractive offers like Jodi (unlimited free calls), 1234 lifetime, etc. with a new range of dirty cheap "Classic" handsets, and it has already caused a tremendous boom in Reliance subscriptions. These handsets are manufactured by a 2005 startup company, Rose Telecom, located in Seoul Korea. The cheapest handset, RC-R601, comes only Rs. 777/-. This combined with offers from Reliance makes them a definite buy for any cost conscious consumer.

Recently, a friend of mine bought a new Reliance connection with a Classic RC-R631 colored handset in the evening. It was promised that the connection would be started by night. As, expected, connection was not activated on time but unexpectedly, we could not find any mention of SAR limits in the product manual. Though, we did find some scary law jargons like, "... NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY HARM CAUSED BY THE USE OF PRODUCT". How good would it be to trust such a handset? The answer is "not at all".

Next day we called up Reliance Store to ask for a replacement of this handset with any LG, Nokia or Samsung. Even after a lot of arguments, the answer was "Not Possible". We went to the store and ended up in more useless heated arguments. Our reason was simple that

"If you do not allow us to open up the box and look at product manual until we buy it, how can we come to know about this important technical detail. At least pass on this customer feedback to Reliance asking to justify the product on this aspect."

We got to hear many interesting statements in return,

"Largest handset manufacturer", "How can you NOT trust a big company like Reliance", "How are you so sure that any other company's handset is safe", "How can you trust what is there in the product manual", "why are you buying a cheap handset", "Of course if company is giving something for cheap it would have somethings missing"

Though the threats of canceling the credit card transactions did not work, but the customers buying Classic handsets left empty handed. My friend was fortunate enough to receive a phone call in the evening from the store giving an apology and readiness to replace the handset with LG RD-3000. This time we dug up the internet to locate the FCC certification (FCC ID: BEJRD3000) for this model. It was surprising to note that this product is not listed on LG's website. But is mentioned on Reliance web without giving important details.

How many of us have ever been concerned about the health impact caused by the use of wireless technology, especially from mobile handsets? I guess few and, I am not excluding well educated people from this list. Dr. G Prakash Babu has already recited his experience about "cheap" Classic handset loudly on Complaints Board. Usually people don't like grazing through Product Manuals, probably because most of them are so easy to use.

There has been a tremendous amount of research done and still going on to understand the affect of Radio Frequency radiation on human health. Nevertheless, it is definitely considered as a threat beyond mentioned limits which is 1.6 W/kg by FCC and 2.0 W/kg by EU. Usually this information is revealed in a secretive manner in one of the pages of product manuals. Also, the websites try to hide this information to its best, by burying it in 2.5MB product manual, or by mentioning on obscure pages of a sub-domain.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate information about any Indian regulatory body which sets such standards for handset distribution. So, I strongly suggest that one should take an informed decision before buying such handsets. One can do the following

Don't buy such "cheap" handsets
or
Dig up the product website or other informative websites like engadgetmobile
Always insist on looking at the product manual at the store
Try to spot an FCC ID mentioned on the box or inside the handset before inserting the battery. This works only if product is also launched in US or EU
In general and specifically with cheap handset, keep it as far as possible from you by using headsets while in calls and keep them in mobile case or best in bags while carrying with you
Also, buy a model such that the antenna is as far as possible from brain and ears. Flip phones suite the bill quite well.

Also, please suggest a way to proliferate this information to our cost conscious public before its late for them.

A January in Manali

2007-06-09T20:43:00.002+05:30

"Why do you want to take such a risk of going to Manali? It is snowing heavily and landslides are reported all over the news" ... 21st century news channels report much more than what is needed and make our parents worry, sometimes unreasonable. Why should I spare myself, I was also worried about the cold.

"C'mon, you are not going to freeze there. People with similar skin depth and fat content spend their lives in such places." ... Words of wisdom uttered in extreme frustration. It is so easy to trivialize someone's fear.

Nevertheless, I packed even the last piece of my rags (on expert's advice, makes one feel comfortable). We somehow managed to kabadofy tickets in a luxury super delux two seater bus. You know why, it is a HOT honeymoon location in winters. It might be easy to stand naked in winds of alaska as compared to bear the slow chilled thin air breeze coming from cracks of the train or a super delux two seater bus window. No blanket can save you from the agony. But it was fun.

The thought of getting frozen in cold vanished as soon as I saw the snow laden peaks beautifully lit with golden x-rays, ofcourse sun-rays stupid. We tried to capture some from moving bus but wasn't possible. We reached Manali at roughly 6:00 AM. It was quite cold due to strong winds but manageable. After some search, we crashed into Hotel Beas View. Refreshed, we set out to enjoy the awesome sunny weather and valley covered with a blanket of fresh snow. All of us were pretty excited to enjoy smash-a-snow-ball bash. We decided to wander first and enjoy the sights nearby. Rahul decided to spare our pockets and became our guide for the trip. We first went to see the one and only temple of Bhima's wife Hidamba. She being a ghoul, it is no surprising to see walls decorated with stuffed animal heads and fresh blood near "Bali-Vedi". All said, we were more excited to smash each other with snow balls. It was fresh, it was white, it was soft, it was clean, it was god damn fun.

We wanted to go to Solang valley for skiing but roads were completely blocked with snow. We had no other choice but to roam around in Manali for the first day. Meanwhile, we decided to go to Dharmshala after Manali and straightened out the logistics with Antrek Tours and Travels. I would never recommend you to avail his services. Read-on to find out the reason. It blacked-out very early in the evening and we spot snowing on peaks. It gets quite cold when it starts to snow.

In good spirit, we decided to end the day here and crash in hotel after some more wandering. We decided to make it quite early in the morning to capture golden peaks. Unfortunately, the warmth of bed did not let us open our eyes on time. But we finally managed to capture a couple nice composition. Soothe yourself and read-on.

A clear sky boosted our energy and with bright sun we were sure to be able to skii. We hired a Maruti 800 (:-D) to take us to Solang Valley. Mid-way we realized that it is almost impossible to reach Solang due to slippery roads. We rented some skiing-gear and marched to a village nearby. There was a decent stretch of snow to satisfy our desire to ski. Unfortunately, the shoes were quite large for me and were almost covering my knees. I tried a little but soon realized that it would be easy for me to crack a bone or two. So, I decided to run rather than ski :-P.

After enjoying skiing, we visited Duggadh to see old Manali fort and Nicholas Roreich's museum. The guy had built a very nice summer home on a sweet, romantic hill-top. His collection coins, exotic pottery, musical instruments and paintings from different cultures was quite exotic and antique. Apparently he was a Russian who finally married an Indian, Devika Rani, and settled in Manali. She is very a graceful and charming lady. See for yourself.

After spending almost an hour we went to see the Naggar Haveli where King of Manali used to live. It is completely made of wood with heavy carvings. Apparently, it has become a commercial place now as a hotel or place to shoot Bollywood sagas. We were unlucky not to be able to closely see the temple inside the haveli. Its wood work is exquisite and a pleasure to admire. But do remember that leather in any form is not allowed in the temple premises.

Done with Naggar Haveli, we head back to our hotel rooms as we had already booked bus tickets for Dharmshala for the same night. None of us had anticipated how troublesome could be this night. We had done the bookings from Antrek Tours and Travels and we were informed that bus would reach somewhere around 5 o'clock in the morning. We were quite pleased with the timings as we could finish sight seeing the same day and head back to Noida. The bus started around 7:00 PM and everything was going as planned. Around 2 o'clock in the morning, the conductor woke us up and asked to get down saying this is Dharmshala. We were quite surprised with it and tried to converse, looked around squinting. Since, we were left with no option, we decided to get down.

All of a sudden it started to freeze and everything was damn cold, and to make things more difficult it started raining. Luckily we found shelter close to a shop to save ourselves from getting wet. There was nobody around and talking to all taxi folks was hopeless. We soon found out that we are almost 15-20 kms away from Dharmshala and the goddamn bus went in different direction. Also, even after offering handsome amount, no taxiwala was interested in going to Dharmashala at this hour because it was snowing heavily. We were happy to hear the news as we would get chance to play in fresh snow and even more to see a snowfall. But also sad that we need to some how reach Dharmshala or else find a place to dry ourselves. We stayed at the place till 3:30 AM in the morning until a Himachal Roadways bus salvage us. It was still snowing on the way and driver was able to drive 65 seater roadways bus. Technically, the tyres were skidding rather than rolling. One of the helper occasionally use to wipe the snow on the windshield as it was blocking driver's view, and he had to do so in moving bus because the road was slippery enough for the bus to slide down the hill.

Some how we reached the bus-stop around 5:00 AM. We soon realized that we won't be able to find hotel room at this hour and waited at the bus stop for sun to rise. We started moving towards McLeodganj and got revived with a beautiful look of clean sky and rising sun. We crashed in a cheap hotel, managed to have some breakfast and checked out within few hours. We were excited to go to McLeodganj where it had snowed heavily last night. We took a Maruti Omni cab from Dharmshala.

McLeodganj is quite densely populated with Hindus, Tibetians and lots of foreigners. It is the holy place of Dalai Lama where he visit quite often to preach Buddhism, and hence, the reason for so many foreigners and tibetians. I had some eerie feeling about the place because the tibetians and hindus don't mix up well together and they have physically separated colonies. We did not spot any of them in each other's colony.

We were welcomed with snow balls as soon as we entered the area and to our surprise opposite sexes were heavily involved in it. After a while we realized its not just snow balls they were enjoying, eve-teasing is right description for it and apparently, guys were the victims too. It was rare to see but we did enjoy it as well. One point I would like to stress on is Tibetian chicks were hot!!!

We kept roaming around the accessible roads enjoying the fresh snow, clouds and clicking once in a while. We managed to take some panoramic shots as well. As expected from beginners, we did not switch of the dates on the photographs which you will find little disturbing in panoramas. McLeodganj has a nice waterfall which serves as a summer retreat. At this time we could only see it from a distance because it was bit risky to reach there due to melting snow.

Since, there wasn't much for sight seeing and the infrastructure had gone topsy-turvy after snowfall, we decided to leave for Noida the same night. Also, awfully costly hotel rooms was one of the reasons too. We had some snacks in a tibetian restaurant on the way back and took a roadways bus for Dharmshala in the evening.

My shoes were completely drenched and I decided to dump them after buying a pair of slippers. Before leaving the place we did enjoy some fresh fruits and the lovely sunset. Rahul took a whole bunch of pictures as sun was about to leave after completing its job for the day, and we headed back to Noida.

Special mention

On the way back we stopped on some dhabba at night to attend nature's call and stretch a little. We saw a family who seemed to be coming from a marriage. The groom was all loaded with garlands, of course not of flowers, but of indian currency. What caught our eyes was the shimmering lights all over his head. All excited seeing such different outfit, I went down to take a snap. My hands were shaking with sleep and cold, so couldn't click it well.

इब्तदा-ए-इश्क

2007-05-24T20:08:00.000+05:30

आते-जाते, खाते-पीते, सोते-जागते, मन ख्वाबों-खयालों में खोया रहता है
जुबां से क्या बतांए, तेरे इश्क का सदका हर पल इस चहरे से बयां होता है

हर दौड की वही मंिजल है पाता,
हर चहरा एक सा नजर है आता,
हर आवाज में स्वर एक है सुनता,
ये बावरा मन बस तुम्हें है ढूंढता

तनहाइयों को गले हैं लगाते,
खयालों में तस्वीर हैं बनाते,
याद कर भरी महिफल में हैं शरमाते,
बेचैन इस कदर, करवटों में रात हैं बिताते

इब्तदा-ए-इश्क है रोता है क्या,
आगे-आगे देख होता है क्या

ज़िन्दगी - Life

2007-03-17T13:00:00.000+05:30

ज़िन्दगी - Life

ख्वाब न हो तो कहाँ होगी मंजिल,
मंजिल न हो तो कहाँ होंगे रास्ते,
रास्ते न हो तो कहाँ होगी आरज़ूं ,
आरज़ूं न हो तो कैसी होगी ज़िन्दगी

चाहत न हो तो कैसे होगी बेकरारी,
बेकरारी न हो तो कहाँ होगा इंतजा़र,
इंतजा़र न हो तो कैसे होगी मिलने की खूशी,
खूशी न हो तो कैसी होगी ज़िन्दगी

तन्हा न हो तो क्यों रोएगा दिल,
दिल न रोए तो कैसे होगा दर्द,
दर्द न हो तो कैसे होगा अहसास मिठास का,
बिन मिठास कैसी होगी ज़िन्दगी

नजा़कत न हो तो कहाँ होगी वो अदा,
अदा न हो तो कहाँ होगी खूबसूरती,
खूबसूरती बगैर कैसा होगा बालम,
बालम के बगैर कैसी होगी ज़िन्दगी

दिवानगी न हो तो कैसे होगा जूनूं,
जूनूं न हो तो कैसे होगी रवानगी,
रवानगी न हो तो कैसे रहेगा गर्म लहु,
बिन गर्म लहु के थम जाएगी ज़िन्दगी

Last week

2006-06-05T21:21:00.000+05:30

It was quite tough but worth memorizing some of the moments. One of my school friend, Harish contacted me on May 27th through orkut, and asked to meet him and another friend of mine Manu for a get together. We chose Gurgaon for general hangout.

I wasn't feeling well enough to go, but it was almost after seven years that we would be seeing each other. So, I decided otherwise. Bike was the obvious choice as compared to Delhi public transport.

I reached Metropolitan, one of the biggest posh malls towering along the MG road going towards Mehrauli. The area surrounding this road is quite developed as comapred to old Gurgaon. The mall was pretty huge and nicely constructed. We talked a lot about our lives, jobs, babes et cetera along with some chilled beer and kababs at Charcoal. Since, Manu is working in Army, a life which we hardly know, we had a lot to discuss. Also, he is a doctor and a lot of things happen around him. We watched Da Vinci in the afternoon from front seat. I have never done that before.

It was almost 5:00pm by now and we decided to leave for our homes. It was quite good to see those guys after almost 7 years. I started of by 5:15pm and wasn't feeling quite well. I definitely had some fever with some body ache.

Near Delhi Cantt crossing, I saw a car burning in the middle of the road. It was quite surprising as I have seen such things happening only in movies. I felt like stopping for a while to figure out what has happened, but decided to leave as the fever was increasing. I am still thinking how come that car caught fire? Did someone do it purposefully? But I did not observe any unrest around. Well, this will remain unanswered. Moreover, as you can see people were waiting calmly for the red-light to turn green around that burning car.

After crossing the moolchand flyover, I faced another shock. I felt quite strange at that time. One might say, I was frightened. I heard a harsh screeching sound behind me and, when I turned back, some bullshit taxi driver had almost hit me. The car behind him did hit his car. Well, any sane person would slow down if there is a ditch in the way, and thats exactly what I did. Hmm, nevertheless, I kept moving to avoid any brawl. I did not want to spoil my toll-bridge drive.

The 8-laned toll-bridge connecting Aashram and Noida is a treat for driving. It is picturesque too. Although photography is not allowed, but I still managed to click some shots while driving. I hope you like'em.

I reached my apartment by 6:30pm and was burning with 102F fever. Rest of the week went in taking pills, sleeping and making fractals. The fever was bad but at the same time it was quite amazing to take a 5-day break from the routine life. BTW, I did utilize the time and explored some of the best regions of Mandelbrot fractal. Visit Illustrations of Infinity for more details.

कुछ यादें - Few memories

2006-05-22T23:54:00.000+05:30

It is hard to even think of a life without memories. I always wish, try and promise myself to live every moment of this life to the fullest. These memories help me smile even in my worst times. People think if I am nuts because I sometimes even laugh while I am sitting alone remembering some beautiful moment. He he...

Recently, I found this poem in my diary which I had written quite a while back. I was doing my engineering or rather killing my time at hostel-6. It is about a person who is enjoying a rainy day remembering the story of how he came to know about his love of life and married thereafter....pretty dramatic huh!!! Do let me know how you felt after reading it.

कुछ यादें

इक दिन बादलों की छाई हुई थी घटा घनघोर,
हो के मदमस्त नाच उठे छत पर मनमोहक मोर,
जाने क्यों लगा कि ले गया मन का चैन कोई चित्तचोर,
रह गया मैं स्तब्ध हत्त्प्रभ, मचा भी न सका शोर ।

कुछ पल के लिए हुआ परेशान,
क्योंकि ढूँढ पाना उसको नहीं था आसान,
अचानक हुआ ये अहसास,
शायद हो वो यहीं कहीं आस पास ।

परेशानी और डर ने था मन को घेरा,
कि कहीं किसी ने हम पर जादू-मन्तर तो नहीं है फेरा,
ऐसे में उस खास दोस्त का आना,
और प्यार से बैठा के समझाना ।

कि होता है सभी को ज़िन्दगी में एक बार,
लुट जाती है रातों कि नींद और दिल का करार,
ऐसी हालत में ठीक नहीं चुप्पी साधे रहना,
ना तो कभी ना लौटेगा दिल का सुख और चैना ।

नाम न जानूं पता न जानूं, अजब उलझी ये गुत्थी है,
सुलझाने कि कोशिश में, उलझ जाती ये उतनी है ।

पर मन में उसकी अधूरी सी छवी है, कि मानो
सर्द मौसम के धुंधलाए शीशे के पार खडी है,
क्यों मैं अपने आप को झुटला रहा हूँ,
जाने क्यों सच्चाई से पीछा छुडा रहा हूँ ।

हिम्मत जुटाई बढ़ कर शीशे को पौंछने की,
बोला कोई, नहीं जरूरत अब कुछ सोचने कि,
देर न कर, अपनी तृष्णा को शांत कर ले,
हठी न बन, इकरार कर ले ।

हटाते ही वो पानी कि बूँदें,
सिर चकरा कर लगा घूमने,
ये क्या हो गया था मुझको कि,
अब तक पहचान भी न सका उसको ।

वो कहते हैं, देर आए दुरूस्त आए,
देख कर उन्हें अगले दिन, थोड़ा शरमाए घबराए,
ईशारे कुछ ना कुछ तो कह गए,
चुप चाप ही हम खड़े रह गए ।

अचानक प्यार से किसी ने पुकारा,
कहीं तो ध्यान भटक गया है तुम्हारा,
बारिश का आनंद तो लो ही,
पर गरमा-गरम चाय-पकोड़े चखो तो सही ।

कुछ नाम - some names

2006-05-18T19:20:00.000+05:30

Some names have deep meanings, which may co-incidently have quite a bit of significance in your life. Consequently, one might feel connected to that person and, sometimes so much that you may feel like giving it some meaning.

Recently, I had a similar experience which I am describing in some verses. I would not write anything about them as they have asked me not to do so.

कुछ नाम ऐसे दिल के करीब होते हैं कि आप ना चाहते हुऐ भी खुदको उनसे जुड़ी शक्सीयत के करीब समझने लगते हैं ।

पंक्ति

सांसों से है ज़िन्दगी का आधार,
शब्दों में है ज़िन्दगी का सार,
संगीत से है ज़िन्दगी में खूबसूरती,
बिना पंक्ति के लगती ये अधूरी ।

शीन

तुम में है अनंत का सार,
तुम देती ॐ को आकार,
जमों तो लो शिवलिंग का रूप,
पिघलो तो हो अमिर्त, इक जीवन स्वरूप ।

हिमालय कि चोटी पर तुम हो सवार,
करना चाहे ये दिल एक साक्शातकार,
किसी ने ये भी खूब कहा है, कि
दूर इतनी की पास जाना है कठिन,
मिले तो, मौत भी गवारा उस दिन ।

इक गुजारिश - A request

2006-05-11T23:28:00.000+05:30

Once in a while, I hear that I make it very difficult for myself to find happiness in any to everything. On the other hand, some say when I am happy, I literally fly. Well, I understand that some control should be there on emotions but somehow I feel that some of them want to hide their emotions. Is that a fear or they don't even want their friends to know how they are feeling? Who knows, but I felt like writing what my heart says. Sorry, its still in Hindi but I have put the gist in English already. If you feel like having a translation of what I had written, just drop me a comment. So, here it goes ...

वो कहे कि हम शिकवे बहुत हैं करते,
और साथ ही खुशी का इज़हार कम हैं करते,
और बदलने कि कोशिश भी नहीं करते,
हमारी उनसे है,

इक गुजारिश कि

हौठों पर है मुस्कान और शब्द सर्द,
कर मत ये ग़म ग़लक हो के बेखबर,
रात और दिन, आँसूं और हंसी,
जी ले एक भरपूर, पाएगा दूसरा तभी,
छिपा ना खुदको इनकी आगोश में,
खुल कर बाहर न आ पाएगा तू कभी ।

ये दिल - This heart

2006-05-11T19:28:00.001+05:30

I like writing what I feel. It could be anything from poem to a simple note. Unfortunately, paper-pen were never friendly to me and I used to gave up very soon. But, somehow computers are very natural and has been a boon to me in disguise. So, I have been writing on computers for quite a while now.

Maintaining a blog as a publishing website is very easy and has fulfilled my hopes of having some place in this huge web space. I usually write in Hindi (Devanagri script), and always had a difficulty as to how I should publish the work somewhere. I used to do it by converting it into some image format.

Recently, I stumbled upon something called Open Type Unicode Fonts. I also found out a nice freely available Universal Unicode Editor. It supports WYSIWYG editing in Hindi and just a CTRL+c and CTRL+v is required to put what you have written in the blogger's editor. Yes, believe me it is that simple!!!

Well enough blabbering for now. Hey anonymous! I sincerely hope you enjoy this poem.

ये दिल

पढ कर वो चंद शब्द उनके,
अहसास धडकनो का लगे बढ़ने,
होठ़ों पर आ जाए भीनी सी मुस्कान,
ये दिल खेले भावनाओं से खेल ।

छेड़ें मन के तार कुछ ख्याल,
ऊंहूं छोड़ो इसे..., कहे कोइ बार बार,
इस अजीब उलझन में पड़ लगूँ हंसने,
जाने क्यों खेले ये दिल भावनाओं से खेल ।

किस्सा नहीं ये सिर्फ़ इस बार का,
लोट़ आता है जैसे मौसम बहार का,
अभी तो शायद ये जाए बीत, पर
फिर खेलेगा ये दिल भावनाओं से खेल ।

This heart

Reading those few words from her
my heart starts beating harder
worries fade, sadness turnes into a smile
This heart plays emotional games

Beautiful thoughts tingle my soul
Leave it! Cries someone again and again
Befuddled, I laugh at my situation, cursing
dunno why, this heart plays emotional games

not something which happens only once,
comes back again like spring seasons,
may end peaceful this time though,
this heart will again play emotional games.

Occasional cooking is fun!!!

2006-04-30T14:22:00.000+05:30

Well, sunday the funday. Our maid is on a long holiday, and I had no mood to go outside for lunch as it is burning hot. So, I decided to cook something myself. Firstly, I planned to cook Rice, pulses and ladyfingers for two of us, Rahul and myself. But he decided to go to office and, I lost the mood to cook so many things.
After some thoughts, I decided to have Kulcha (a kind of bread) with ladyfingers and curd. Hmm, I had never cooked alone before and wasn't quite sure of what is going happen. Nevertheless, I kept my cool, did usual preparation of washing, chopping, etc. I remembered how mom used to make this dish at home. While chopping one should make sure to cut small pieces for better taste.
Put some refined oil in kadhai and heat at normal flame for 2-3 minutes. Add some heeng, Jeera, Methi and wait till it turns reddish. Put chopped vegetables and mix it well. Now, put Red chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt according to your taste and again mix it well. If you wish, you may also add some Garam Masala. Close the kadhai with a lid and let it cook in its steam for 3-5 minutes. There is an easy way to find out if the cooking is enough by cutting it using a spoon. You definitely need some experience to for that. Now, let it fry in open until it becomes a little reddish according to your choice.
Voila!!! Within half an hour, I was ready with a homely indian ladyfinger dish. Well, I was quite happy when mom tried it and gave me full score for it. Well, cooking once in a while is lots of fun.

The first ride!!!

2006-04-26T20:55:00.000+05:30

April 14-16, 2006 Noida-Nainital-Ranikhet-Bheemtal-Saattal-Noida

Since, March we have been chattering and planning for a motor-bike road trip to some place in Uttranchal. I will give all the credits to Rahul (one of us) for motivating me and few other guys to join this wild trip (thought earlier but turned out to be a cool experience). Initially, nine people showed interest and gave an affirmative nod, but as usual some gave up on the last moment due to one reason or the other. I want to be honest here that I myself wasn’t quite sure that such a trip can happen around me.

Nevertheless, the planning materialized for five of us (from left)

Raghu – cheesy, had done such ride before
Sandeep – he has some affection with his helmet, read on…
Vinu – calm and composite personality
Rahul – almost six-feet with a mischievous 5.5 kgs heavy and bulky lump of mass called brain
Myself – since, this is my memoir they will not get any chance to write about me

Travelogue

Day01 Noida-Nainital
Day02 Nainital-Ranikhet
Day03 Ranikhet-Bheemtal-Saattal-Noida

April 16 2006

2006-04-26T07:16:00.000+05:30

Ranikhet-Bheemtal-Saattal-Noida

Rahul and I managed to get up at 4:00 AM and went through our daily routine. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dabur Industries limited for making such wonderful little green gems of pudin-hara. Even after hogging so much the other day, my stomach was still with me and happy. As usual, we had to push the other guys to get ready asap. We finished taking some toasts and tea for breakfast by 7:00 AM and started descending for Bhowali. Somehow every one of us got diverted to different routes and lost whereabouts of each other, until I found them at a village waiting for me. Then again, I lost those guys. Simple fact, I was able to drive at 45-55 km/h and others around 60-65 km/h. Morning drive was simply awesome due to the freshness in the air and surroundings. We found a bike parked somewhere in trees on a uphill slope and started surmising the possible reasons but soon realized that we have plenty of other good things to think about. I am really thankful to Vinu for taking such good pictures. I seriously encouraged him to do some more serious photography.

We parked at Bheemtal by 9:15 AM. It was a big lake with a lone rock and rest-spot in midst. There was not much to admire as the mountains were brownish due to very less vegetation, but this would definitely look amazing during rainy season. Also, we did not feel like boating in the lake.

We saw a duckling enjoying swimming with its parents and the party grabbed a still. After some refreshments (lays, H2O etc.) we left for Sattal. As the name suggests there are seven different lakes, rather they used to be. Now, government has connected 4 of them for boating activities to promote tourism (money, money, money …).
The lakes are situated at a quite lower height. I felt the road was quite steep plus bit narrow. It was horrible to see some people drive rashly on curves without responding to honks. Some people just can’t get rid of their carelessness. The view from height was quite amazing. The vegetation around the lake was simply awesome as compared to Bheemtal. We were quite excited to get down and do some boating in this lake.

Mr. Joshi caught us while we were parking near the stalls. He was an outspoken guy speaking fluently with lots of guts. He promised to take care of our luggage and we decided to go paddling in the lake. He charged 120 bucks for the complete boat ride and he himself was paddling. He told us quite a bit about this place and how it is secluded from the mainstream spots near Ranikhet and Nainital. We believed the guy as the ambience was still serene. Others decided to hire a rowing boat for fun. I wasn’t quite sure whether the lakes we visited had clean or dirty greenish water until Mr. Joshi clarified that it is because of reflection from surroundings. One good thing about Sattal is that one can come here for camping, and also to get a taste of adventure sports and some wild life. We spotted a YMCA rest house close to the lake shore where we can stay for a night or two. He suggested that there is a nice trek of 18kms to Kathgodam, the nearest railway station. He mentioned about some river and round the year waterfall which lie in the way.
While we were relaxing in the boats, we saw a Bhojpuri film being rolled with some known actress (name I forgot). Families who were boating nearby were quite excited to see the actress and admiring her beauty, and I was wondering how much layers of make-up she might be having at this moment. We did not have any interest either in the movie shooting nor the “beautiful actress”. Sandeep was having a blast here rowing the boat, but unfortunately, this time he wasn’t wearing his antique helmet.

We were thirsty and hungry by this time and decided to have lunch in Mr. Joshi’s restaurant (he was keeping our bags). I had some rajmah and jeera rice along with fruit juices. It was almost 12:30 PM when we were on the road again heading back to Noida via Haldwani-Kathgodam-Rudrapur-Rampur-Moradabad-Ghaziabad-Noida.
Bheemtal onwards the descent was quite steep and the roads were hell smooth. I took one or two risky overtakes, but soon was in control. I wasn’t quite able to catch up with everyone, Raghu stopped at Haldwani to fill some air. Rahul was moving ahead of us but always keeping in touch through cell phones. The roads were wide and good as soon as we crossed Kathgodam. I could feel the fire in the sun rays but wind was helping in maintaining the body temperature. There were lots of trees on the either side of road filtering most of the heat. We again met 20kms before Rudrapur and somehow, I was ahead of Rahul. I had some water and others enjoyed sugarcane juice. We relaxed for 15-20 minutes and hit on the road again by 2:15 PM. This was the last time I saw Rahul before reaching Noida. We all had decided to drive real hard to atleast cross Hapur bypass before sun uncle says saiyo-nara for the day.
I could easily distinguish the dust and pollution in the air. This stretch was a little rough on tyres. I took one more stop to have some cold-drink and buy some water for the journey ahead. It was a small shop in some village. I was lucky enough to get the stuff chilled enough to give a good feeling. Raghu caught up with me at a police check post where they asked us to show all the papers. They were hunting for bakras to jugaadofy dough for todays liquor bill.

Me: Sahab delhi tak jaana hai kyon saaman khulwaa rahein hain
One: Wo to thik hai per jitna jaldi papers dikhaoge utna jaldi aage jaa paaoge
Me: arre sahib saaman baandhne main dikkat ho jaayegi
One: Dekho aise to jaane nahien de sakte. Aage bhi checking hogi, abhi nikaal lo kaam aayenge
Me (after fetching the papers): kahiye kaunsa kaagaz dikhaon?
Two: sub dikhao ek ek kar ke.
Me: aap bolo to sahi
Two (got frustrated of me): tum idhar laao
One: insurance jaroor se dekhna
Two: kya sub theek hain. Jaao abhi bag main upar rakh lo aage bhi checking hogi. Abe kisi ko (bikers only) mat jaane do.
Three: Arre sahib janaani hai saath main jaane dijiye..
Me (frustrated outside and smiling within): kya sahib der karwa di aapne.. keh raha tha jaane dijiye

Later I realized that someone stole my gloves while I was showing papers to those policemen. Well, I felt 40 bucks are insignificant to the distance and time ahead, so hit on the road right away.
As soon as I joined NH-24 again, the road was pretty good and it was lot easier to maintain a speed of 50 km/h. I kept bumping in Raghu once in a while and Rahul kept in touch through cell phone. I took one more stop at a dhaba around 5:00PM for some Lassi but had to manage with a Mango Frooti. I decided to go non-stop from here and reached Hapur bypass by 6:00PM. There onwards, I drove at a speed of 70 km/h until it was dark enough to switch on the headlights.
The closer I got to Ghaziabad the worse was the traffic. It was poles apart to what we saw in the early morning going to Nainital. Soon, I found out the reason for it. Some minister’s son or daughter was getting married that day and the reason of slow traffic. Traffic was running slow for almost a stretch of 2-3 km around the venue. I was wondering, why the heck such guys have to pain others even when there is a celebration time.
After, a continuous drive of 3 hours, I reached Gateway Apartments S-51 Noida where I met Vinu and Rahul. He surprised me by saying that it was not more than 10 minutes since he has the reached the apartment. Strange isn’t it!!! I was faster than expected.

Other snaps from the day

April 15 2006

2006-04-25T06:35:00.000+05:30

Nainital-Ranikhet

We were ready in just an hour and went out for a good breakfast, aaloo-puri, paranthas etc. By 9:30 AM we were descending towards Bhowali for fueling and headed off for Ranikhet. I know it is dangerous to drive without your helmet on, but I dared to enjoy the clean air and picturesque surroundings. After fueling, Rahul asked us to park in the middle of the road, and take a snap quickly. Well, no one will ever forget that stop and the ride which followed it, especially the pillions. I am seeking others help here to describe the experience better, as I did not had the luxury to concentrate on anything else but road. You can compare it to a mix of Nevada and Pacific highway stretch in Roadrash (it’s a famous game by the way, so bang your head with the wall if you don’t know about it

We drove with an average of 40 km/h on the winding twisting smooth curves honking all the time. Rahul, the iPOD chap was ahead of all and I decided not to miss the trail this time. We biked for almost 20kms non-stop. That was something…”Loose Control – Be a rebel”. We took just one stop before Ranikhet and, then crashed straight into Parvati Inn. We got a two room suite for 900 bucks which has lot better. The owner gave us a 40% discount on 1500, which is the actual season rate for the room(s). We loved the room for its nice color and woodwork. I lost my presence of mind to click a shot but hope you believe me. You do right…?
I have not told you anything about Sandeep yet. So, here it goes, this guy was reluctant in taking off his helmet even when attending nature’s call. Whichever snap I look at now, he is wearing helmet. You won’t believe me, so find out yourself.

We planned to visit Chaubattia Garden, Bhalu Dam, Jhuladevi Mandir, Sun-set point and, Baba Harikhan Aashram (dunno why?). By 1:00PM we came down to have lunch. There were only two guys both for taking and serving the orders, which meant long wait. 2:30 PM and we were cruising the road again. The only way to reach Chaubattia garden is via the cantonment area of Kumoan Regiment. As soon as we reached the chowki, one of the personnel, Mr. Nair, did the usual inquiry and asked us to wear helmets all the way (I wasn’t wearing it). He gave some life fundaes on safety etc. I had every reason to believe him.
The vegetation was quite dense on these slopes and it was an eye-candy to drive through it. I enjoyed it a lot but with my helmet on of course. I was bit frightened with signs saying “Tiger has the first right on roads”. I am not sure if tiger still exist there but according to military guys, leopards were quite common. Rahul was quite excited and was expecting to spot one.
One has to park the vehicles and walk through woods to reach Chaubattia garden. Similar was the case with Bhaludam. Since, we were running out of time, we had to choose between the two. Mr. Nair has advised us not to go for Bhaludam suspecting we would be lost in woods searching for the way and won’t be able to make it before dark. Nevertheless, I insisted on trekking to Bhaludam. One of tourist guide told he knew a short route which would roughly take 3 minutes on bike plus 15-20 minutes of trek. After a small discussion we decided to go through it. He led us to the start and left to attend other tourists. After some struggle we realized that it would not be wise to go with bikes at this hour (3:30 PM). So, we decided to park the bikes and walk.

The woods were quite dense and it was tough to spot humans. Rahul dropped a bombshell pointing towards the current carrying barbed wires, which according to him was there to keep wild animals away. While writing this memoir, I realized that it might be a separation between army and government owned areas.

We met another party who was in search of this dam and did not have any luck. They were three, two guys and a gal. I only know this about them that one of them works with DRDO. Rahul and I were moving quite fast because we wanted to get our bikes back on road before sun sets. Sandeep was finding it tough to move on the terrain. The guide has told us to take a right from a tin shed hut. Unfortunately, we crossed it and after going quite far, some villager told us to go back. By the time we were back at the hut, the guide himself was there with a couple of other tourist folks (third party). It was already 4:00PM by now and we were indecisive whether to go ahead or not. I was quite determined to reach the dam and forced everyone to come. Rahul agreed easily. After 20 minutes of steep descent, we were at the dam.

There was only 5m water that too very close to dam. It would have been a good experience to move along the bank of the river for some distance but I gave up the idea without any effort. DRDO chap took our group photograph while we relaxed a bit. I was eager to leave some mark as a token of our presence. So, I signed the dam’s wall for everyone. We decided to go back fast as we wanted to visit more places. Sandeep found the terrain quite challenging and was moving slowly. I felt going non-stop till the place where we have parked our bikes. Rahul kept close to me but got worried for others in mid-way.
By 5:15 PM, everyone was back and we were driving again. We stopped to pray in famous Jhuladevi’s temple close to the army check post. While I was getting ready for the prayer, a beautiful woman came with her spouse (Rahul?). As usual, Rahul was quite excited to see a beautiful women and tried his best to capture her, of course in camera you pervert. All of us were amazed to see a “rose tree” in the temple.

Mr. Nair insisted Raghu and party to have some tea before leaving but we were getting late to reach the sun-set spot. On the way back we felt like having some refreshments. So, we dropped the sun-set spot from the wish list and stopped at Meghdoot restaurant. I managed to capture a glimpse of the dusking sun.

We saw a big group of foreigners enjoying meals at the restaurant. The striking thing was that each and every female without exception was wearing salwar-kurta, bindi etc. This stayed in our minds and we left Meghdoot by 6:30 PM for Baba Harikhan Aashram. As expected the aashram was located in a lonely area close to jungle. It was already dark and we were driving with our head-lights on. This was the first time when I drove on slopes in dark. I was bit uncomfortable initially but got used to it easily. The aashram was quite well constructed using modern methods. There were a couple of rules written on the board kept at the entrance, but this one is still in my head – “Drugs are not allowed in aashram premises”. We went straight up to the temple from where the chants were coming. All of us were shocked to see so many foreigners chanting effortlessly in Hindi. We sat down with them and I closed my eyes to relax for a while. The music was soothing and quite comforting to ears. The view from the temple premises must have been amazing as painted on a stone tablet. You can spot most of the Himalayan ranges from that place. Unfortunately, I do not have any photograph to share with you, but it was worth riding in night to visit this aashram. We still suspect that lot of money is pumped into it through foreign accounts.

It was almost 9:30 PM and we were feeling quite hungry and no one was interested in dining at Parvati Inn. So, we walked up to Alka restaurant located round the corner. We got chappatis with lots of butter, some usual paneer stuff, dal makhani, raita, pulao etc. We ate for almost an hour till we were exhausted. Meanwhile, we were also deciding about tomorrows plan, whether we would have time to visit some other places, and which could be a better route to Delhi. Some relative of hotel owner told us to go via Kathgodam-Rudrapur-Moradabad. But one thing we were sure of after dinner was that we will go via Kathgodam route. After lot of calculations (all wrong I suppose) for the time overhead, we planned to cover Bheemtal, Naukuchiatal and Sattal. The additional price we would have to pay is to leave by 6:00 AM. Meanwhile all these discussions, we asked the hotel manager to change the dirty bed sheets. He gave us hard time explaining that no one has changed it since afternoon.

Other snaps from the day

April 14 2006

2006-04-25T00:10:00.000+05:30

Noida-Nainital

14th April 5:00 AM A201 gateway apartments “abe chalo na kya kar rahe ho tum”, cries out Rahul (typical of this guy). But this time he had the right to do it because we were supposed to start at 4:00 AM. Nevertheless, we met his failsafe buffer condition of one hour or so. We had three bikes, Rahul and Raghu on their Unicorn’s and me on my Passion. Rahul was supposed to take Vinu, Raghu was supposed to take Sandeep and I was glad to drive alone. I don’t like someone cracking behind me to drive carefully or fast or whatever. I decided to tie my luggage on the bike (good use of space and peace of mind). We got hold of Vinu from Kendriya Vihar and took NH-24 thereof.
Very soon, I realized that it would be tough for Vinu to carry a heavy luggage on his back all the way. So, I asked him to take on my bag pack, as it was lighter and less bulky. Engineers got down with there expert comments on how one should tighten the ropes. I was overwhelmed by their concerns for me!!! It was almost close to 6:00 AM by now and we were headed towards Hapur bypass.
We jugaadofied a digital camera, not just any but an Olympus C765 with 4M resolution plus 10x optical zoom (courtesy: Mithlesh). It is famous for its automated and advanced controls. I handed over the camera to Vinu as he can click some shots while we were enjoying the smooth ride. He was quite new with the camera but did a very fine job. I sincerely feel that he is a natural photographer. You don’t believe me right, just have a look.

It was heart-throbbing moment for me when I saw the sun rising from the horizon, and the road leading me into it. It is hard to describe but, I almost felt that something touched my soul in and out. I know I will live that moment all my life. Unfortunately, this is the best snap I have to share that experience. After crossing Hapur we made a stop at a road-side dhaba for breakfast. You wouldn’t believe but all of us unanimously said that the wind was bit chilling. We had couple of paranthas and dahi to satisfy our hunger. Everyone was happy with the quality and felt refreshed. It was almost 7:00 AM by now and the sun rays were soothing. Vinu grabbed some nice pictures on the bypass. I am putting the best one for you as I do not want to be a burden for your bandwidth. Looking at these wheat fields, I almost felt that beauty is all around us we just need to observe differently.

Till the end of Moradabad bypass, we rode effortlessly with very few stops to nourish the vegetation around. The drive was amazing and zillion thanks to NHAI for building and maintaining these roads. After crossing the Moradabad bypass (excellent again!!!) and before Rampur, we decided to go via Swaar-Baazpur-Chotta Haldwani rather than the usual routes.

I believe every one would agree with me that it was the worst part of the whole trip. It was a stretch of 40Kms approx. and took more than 2.5 hours for us to literally end it. Rahul felt being forcefully driven through a roller-coaster. I am not sure whether he has experienced the smoothness of any roller-coaster before but I can guarantee that these 40kms were hell worse. Throughout the stretch, I pushed myself to complete it non-stop and all of us knew it somehow. We took just one 2-3 minute stop to straighten our backs and inspecting the bikes a little bit.
We were quite relaxed as soon as we joined the national highway which comes via Moradabad-Ramnagar. We got Sandeep I little nervous with the thought that sugarcane juice he just had is not only good during jaundice but also the one which causes of it. After traveling for some time (too relaxed) we all assembled again for some water and swore a lot at the so called roller-coaster road. Hey don’t you think Rahul’s posture and personality resembles that of a typical neta? We were roughly 50 Kms away from our first destination – Nainital.
All of us got quite excited with the nice atmosphere along this stretch with plush green trees and clean air. It was a real treat to eyes that only see lots and lots of metal and concrete in daily life. There was a stream along the road but dried. It might get alive during rainy seasons. The hiss of the blowing wind was so absorbing that some of us really felt there is water flowing nearby. Rahul clarified that it is very common to misunderstand this sound.
As we started gaining altitude, the curviness of roads also started increasing. I was somehow able to manage a descent speed of 30 km/h but it was no where close to our wing riders. One could see the roads were being repaired with fresh layers of crushers and tar-coal. May be it is done every year as a part of preparation for the next tourist period. Tourism is a huge source of income for the Uttranchal government and community.

Whatever, I was quite happy, we were quite happy bending, twisting and turning with the roads. I could hear a song continuously in my head, “Loose Control – Be a rebel”. Look how happy Rahul is and why not he or rather anyone would be. Well, I was the slowest of the three, so they used to stop and wait for me. Vinu grabbed a couple of nice pictures looking from a good height which I have shared next. I love all of them, you know why, because I have lived all of them. Whenever I see them, they come to life as if everything is happening again. It is right to say, “Life without memories is worse than death”.

3:00 PM Nainital was packed with delhi-ites as everyone wanted to get away from the heat and this long weekend was a boon in disguise. As planned, we started hunting down a cheap hotel to crash in for a while. It was also decided to spend the night in here and would start early for Ranikhet. After some search we were able to get two rooms in 800 bucks for a night. It was right in front of the famous Naini lake, the main attraction here. Sounds costly huh, well remember that was a long weekend. Nevertheless, we felt this would be cheapest one we could get. The only best thing of this hotel was nice, big and safe parking space. The hotel name was “Sheela”, and for one moment, I almost felt it might be a typical bollywood dance bar.
As expected, I had forgotten to keep my shaving kit. It is a syndrome of 3 hours sleep at night which is just 1/4th of the usual. Official conference calls, damn I could not get rid of those. Hey, let me cut this crap here and continue with the trip story. So, I did some usual shopping and got ready to have a bath, he he… but guess what, water was ice chilled. Nevertheless, I did it with a bucket or two, jumped into bed and fall asleep for an hour or so. It was 6:00 PM by now and we started hunting for a good place to eat. You wouldn’t believe this, no matter which restaurant we went up to, the seats were full of dust. Probably, it was just the season start and tourists put life in those places. We had couple of dishes, the usual ones chola-bhatura, dosa, bread-toast, coffee etc. It took more than one hour for us to give up eating. It was quite refreshing by the way.
So, we started our next item on itinerary, bird-watching. As usual, I was indifferent to this activity and enjoyed the warmth of the place. It was a pleasure to see so many people who have come to relax for the weekend. I started ransacking the garment shops for a pair of gloves which I can use while driving to avoid extreme dryness. Meanwhile we saw the Sports Stadium of Nainital, which usually becomes a taxi-stand during this season to handle hoard of tourists. Rahul took us to enjoy the Tibetan market known for cheap stuff. I had the sole aim of buying a pair of gloves and everyone was like… huh! Grow-up kiddo. There was one shop which had purplish Puma painted cotton gloves. It was a nice fit for me. I visited that shop thrice in two hours while searching for some other option somewhere. Ultimately, I bought them for 40 bucks. Rahul was using Indar’s iPOD while I was hunting for gloves. Some tom-dick-n-harry saw him with it, and called loudly “ye mobile nahien iPOD flash karne ka zamaana hai”. Some people have time and mind to notice such things, and some people like me have time to not only notice but think about’em… crazy huh.
It was almost 9:00 PM by now and we were searching for a chain and lock for our bikes. Rahul and I finally decided to go for a deal of 180 bucks for both. Well, by this time some of us felt a need of deserts and Rahul took us to some shop he knew. We enjoyed some chocolate truffle pastry, chocolate chip etc. and went on. Next stuff – Ice-creams!!! I refrained from having one. We also visited a book shop where I bought Richard Bach’s Illusions, and meanwhile, these guys grazed through some of the travel books. I was quite touched with one scenic poster of Om Parvat (3,500 m) which is on the way to Adi-Kailash. I somehow felt connected to that place and took a dream of trekking it sometime. By this time we felt tired of walking and went back to hotel. We decided to go to the famous hill top next morning for the scenic sunrise view. “Good Morning you morons, it is already 7:00 AM”, cried Rahul. You see, true IST followers.

Other snaps from the day

Life is a quest!!!

2006-04-23T20:21:00.000+05:30

The only motive of our lives is to keep exploring it and embrace "the ultimate sleep". Some people call it death, some call it nirvana. Its upto them. Some say you end up in hell or heaven or stay in between. Well, I believe it depends how you had let yourself explore the meaning of life, and in other words, sculptured its end. So, I believe in what Robert Frost has said and, its the theme of this blog and my motto of life.

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep."

About my rides

2006-04-02T03:24:00.000+05:30

Few people around me and on web have inspired me to travel on bike. With a busy work life, it is really tough to be with right people at right place and time, with whom such trips can be planned and executed. I will write about any ride worth memorizing, no matter how small the journey would be.

Straight from heart

2006-04-02T03:16:00.000+05:30

Some of my attempts to write poems.