Friday, December 31, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Exploring the Unexplored...
This is my personal tour diary of the Lakshadweep trip.. I am gonna try to make it as short as possible.. But the length of the trip and the amount of enjoyment cannot be shortened much, so here it goes..
Since the start of my professional life more than 3 years back, i had been to quite a few trips.. None were as unique as this one.. Since childhood i have always dreamt of travelling on a cruise(more than on an aeroplane) and visiting an island.. Both my dreams were satisfied in one go..
But there was one disappointment that we were not able to enjoy the night time view of the sky, because of the incessant rains and cloud cover during nights(started raining just the day we started our trip :().. This robbed us of our sunrise and sunsets as well.. On the brighter side the days were pretty cool with just the cloud cover and no rain, meaning there is no sun as well..
The trip started with the 7 of us.
Day -1:
We had our train from Bangalore to Cochin at 5.45PM on 24th of November.. We passed our time on the train by playing UNO Card game.. We had our dinner and decided to sleep early as our train was supposed to reach at 4.30AM the next day..
Day 0:
We reached Eranakulam junction by 4.45AM in the morning.. Were supposed to report to the Lakshadweep office well after 8.30, so we thought of charging our mobiles and taking rest.. After resting for around 1 hour, we had our breakfast in the Railway station and started at around 7AM to the Lakshadweep office, which is some 10 kms from the railway station, on reaching the office we came to know that the office wont be opened before 9AM. So we started roaming around the cochin port..
After a while we came back to the office and collected our cruise tickets and got a complimentary t shirt and a cap..
From there we were taken to the check point where our tickets were checked and luggages scanned.. Here we met a Lithuanian named Tom who had come on a tour to India.. Then we boarded the Cruise and got a feel of it..
Lunch was served around 1PM and the ship started at 3.15PM.. Thus started my first cruise journey and Lakshadweep was awaiting my arrival :D..
On the way out of the port we sighted few dolphins merrily swimming in the ocean.. This was my first time seeing dolphins out of captivity..
Freshened up and came out hoping to see a nice sunset, but it was not the case due to the cloud cover.. Then we had our snacks and started playing UNO again till our dinner was served.. Then after dinner we again went to the top deck to get some fresh air and sat down chit chatting..
We decided to play Dumb charades, and since Tom was also accompanying us we decided to guess only on Hollywood movies.. And we had an awesome time enjoying the different acting styles and the great guessing of SPB.. Had our dinner, we went off to our cabins and had a good night sleep..
Day 1:
Woke up early in the morning in hope of seeing sunrise, but the cloud cover made it almost impossible for the sun to shows its face to us.. After getting over the disappointment, we were able to see our first island, Kadmat it is..
We had our breakfast and we boarded a small boat which was to ferry us to the main island, since the island is surrounded by Lagoons and coral, the cruise could not reach the shore.. It was still drizzling and after enquiring with the locals we were disappointed to know that scuba diving wont be good in this weather..
Thus we set foot on the first island, drenched completely.. We were welcomed with welcome drinks, coconut water(would have preferred hot tea in that weather :P).. Then we were informed that we were to be briefed about the activities by the tour manager in some time.. But we were in no mood to wait for it.. For almost 18 hours we were completely surrounded by water, but not able to jump in it.. Now was the chance and we grabbed it with both hands, actually whole body :D.. All of them wore life jackets and me being the bond who knew swimming jumped in the ocean just like that..
We played for some time trying to hit each other with the volley ball we got.. Some got nice hits on the face and some acted as if they got seriously injured :P though nothing happened.. Then we were told that we were to go for a snorkelling session, a guy was to accompany us and show us corals and fishes.. We were given instructions of how to breathe with the snorkel.. For the next 1 hour we were taken one by one into the ocean for sight seeing :) while others were still enjoying the swim and some were posing for the cameras..
Then we were informed that kayak'ing can be done on the other side of the island.. The island was not even 100 meters in width so we had no problem in reaching the other side.. Then we started our session.. Since there were 7 of us, i volunteered to risk myself with a single kayak while others took a double one.. Thus started our journey alone into the sea.. We kayak'ed for the next hour or so, making all others wait for us to return.. I personally thoroughly enjoyed this one..
After more photo sessions, we went to enquire about scuba diving as the climate now had become good, clouds clearing and sun deciding to show its face.. They told it will cost 2.5K for a 20 minute session at 2 meter depth, which we thought was not worth is, as we expected it to be at least 10 meters depth.. And there was only one diver to guide us, so we wouldn't be able to do it simultaneously.. Due to these reasons we thought against diving..
Then we had our lunch and while others took some rest, me and monks played a game of TT.. After some rest we started playing volleyball until they called us for a trip around the island to visit some local factories and the north most point of the island.. After returning each one of us split and went their own way alone in the beach.. This was when i built my marvellous sand castle.. I don't remember when was the last time i built a sand castle.. PPR was jealous of my castle and made sure that he took his castle's snaps more than mine :P..
That's it for the day, and we were called to board the boat which would take us to the cruise.. Again it started drizzling and became cloudy, to ruin our sunset once more.. Had a nice hot water shower and went up the deck once more.. This time Tom had stayed back in Kadmat for a longer trip, so we didn't worry about playing antakshari.. This was one funny and enjoyable antakshari with songs from 4 different languages(Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada) being sung by chorus voices.. This continued for the next 1 hour or so, and we went for our dinner.. After dinner we continued our trend of playing cards.. This time around we changed to playing poker.. And we went to sleep around 10PM thus ending an eventful day..
Day 2:
Again as usual, the day started enthusiastically at 5AM in the morning, in hope of catching a glimpse of the rising sun.. But alas it was not to be the day.. Just the same old disappointment of getting up early to no avail.. Had our breakfast and got ready to board the boat which would take us the next island Kalpeni.. Here again we had the same old welcome drinks.. After that we were taken to a smaller island nearby, this time in a smaller boat :o..
Here we were to do snorkelling and kayaking.. Since the other day we had a long session of kayaking and we were more interested in snorkelling, we decided on snorkelling.. We snorkelled for a very very long time, going around the back water, looking out for different kinds and colors of fishes and corals.. After this we were again taken back to the main island, where we had our lunch and started playing volleyball..
After that we were taken for local tour, visiting factories, lighthouses and the north most point of this island as well.. The view was fabulous here, and i was able to collect lots of shells..
We never wanted to leave this place.. But forcefully we were evicted as others were waiting for us..
Then there was a delightful folk dance done by the locals, where a 73 old man was dancing so enthusiastically that i got floored by him.. His energy levels, stamina were so good that even though people younger than him were taking longer breaths he was still smiling and dancing gracefully..
Then we had to leave the island for the cruise, and again it was cloudy thus depriving of our well deserved sunset..
On reaching the cruise we started playing poker again.. Continued the same after dinner, and slept at around 10PM thus ending our day..
Day 3:
Again the same old story till the welcome drinks, so i am not repeating it.. But this time the cruise was very near the island.. This island being Kavaratti the capital of lakshadweep.. It is a completely commercial island.. Our first trip today was a glass boat ride.. Since it cannot accommodate all the tourists at the same time, we decided to go last.. We played football for sometime, throw ball with a human monkey :P for some time..
Then we saw a normal looking girl, who was glorified due to the non availability of any girls for the past 3 days, and all 6 of us sat and started sight'fying her.. After some time we got bored and went the co-ordinator to enquire about availability of other water sports.. Oh yeah you might be wondering why i mentioned only 6 of us right!!.. PPR was sitting far away from us, thinking that even looking at a girl will make god prick his eyes :P.. (Lyt ra PPR feel avvaku)..
We came to know that there were no other water sports other than the same old snorkelling and kayaking.. Since kayaking was already included in our package, we went for it.. By the time we came back to the shore, our glass boat was ready to take us for a ride, and we were able to see lots of different species of fishes in the deep sea.. Scuba diving at this place would have been awesome.. Missed scuba diving :'(..
We came back to the island and were treated with another folk dance show this time by kids of the island.. That's it.. Our Lakshadweep trip was abruptly ended.. We had to go back to the cruise.. Some of us took a last dip in the sea and boarded the cruise full wet.. Took a hot water shower and went to the top deck to catch a glimpse of the last possible sunset, and even that was not visible.. Then we had our dinner and played a game of UNO and slept early feeling sad that the trip ended so soon..
Day 4:
This time only 3 of us woke up early in the morning to catch a glimpse of the rising sun.. Though it was not a great one, it was more than what we could see the previous days.. But none of us had cameras and by the time we woke up the other guys, it was gone, poye pochu..
We had our breakfast and awaited our arrival to cochin port which we did arrive at around 11AM.. On the way we sighted few more dolphins..
We roamed around cochin for the next few hours and boarded our bus at 5.45PM.. Our bad luck, the tyre got punctured and delayed the bus by an hour.. Next day morning we reached Bangalore and back to boring office..
To summarize it, it was great trip.. Enjoyed the first time cruise ride.. Food was very very good,, Enjoyed snorkelling and kayaking.. Folk dances were good.. Sceneries were awesome.. It is a must go for those who want to try something different other than the same old trekking's and hill stations..
Snaps
http://picasaweb.google.com/
http://picasaweb.google.com/
http://picasaweb.google.com/
A Jobless Idiot..
Since the start of my professional life more than 3 years back, i had been to quite a few trips.. None were as unique as this one.. Since childhood i have always dreamt of travelling on a cruise(more than on an aeroplane) and visiting an island.. Both my dreams were satisfied in one go..
But there was one disappointment that we were not able to enjoy the night time view of the sky, because of the incessant rains and cloud cover during nights(started raining just the day we started our trip :().. This robbed us of our sunrise and sunsets as well.. On the brighter side the days were pretty cool with just the cloud cover and no rain, meaning there is no sun as well..
The trip started with the 7 of us.
 |
| Boyzz, Monks, SPB, MoMS, Finny, PPR, Tintin |
Day -1:
We had our train from Bangalore to Cochin at 5.45PM on 24th of November.. We passed our time on the train by playing UNO Card game.. We had our dinner and decided to sleep early as our train was supposed to reach at 4.30AM the next day..
Day 0:
We reached Eranakulam junction by 4.45AM in the morning.. Were supposed to report to the Lakshadweep office well after 8.30, so we thought of charging our mobiles and taking rest.. After resting for around 1 hour, we had our breakfast in the Railway station and started at around 7AM to the Lakshadweep office, which is some 10 kms from the railway station, on reaching the office we came to know that the office wont be opened before 9AM. So we started roaming around the cochin port..
 |
| At Cochin port |
After a while we came back to the office and collected our cruise tickets and got a complimentary t shirt and a cap..
From there we were taken to the check point where our tickets were checked and luggages scanned.. Here we met a Lithuanian named Tom who had come on a tour to India.. Then we boarded the Cruise and got a feel of it..
 |
| Our majestic cruise |
Lunch was served around 1PM and the ship started at 3.15PM.. Thus started my first cruise journey and Lakshadweep was awaiting my arrival :D..
On the way out of the port we sighted few dolphins merrily swimming in the ocean.. This was my first time seeing dolphins out of captivity..
Freshened up and came out hoping to see a nice sunset, but it was not the case due to the cloud cover.. Then we had our snacks and started playing UNO again till our dinner was served.. Then after dinner we again went to the top deck to get some fresh air and sat down chit chatting..
 |
| This became our daily sitting place. |
We decided to play Dumb charades, and since Tom was also accompanying us we decided to guess only on Hollywood movies.. And we had an awesome time enjoying the different acting styles and the great guessing of SPB.. Had our dinner, we went off to our cabins and had a good night sleep..
Day 1:
Woke up early in the morning in hope of seeing sunrise, but the cloud cover made it almost impossible for the sun to shows its face to us.. After getting over the disappointment, we were able to see our first island, Kadmat it is..
 |
| Kadmat Island visible in the cloudy sunrise |
We had our breakfast and we boarded a small boat which was to ferry us to the main island, since the island is surrounded by Lagoons and coral, the cruise could not reach the shore.. It was still drizzling and after enquiring with the locals we were disappointed to know that scuba diving wont be good in this weather..
Thus we set foot on the first island, drenched completely.. We were welcomed with welcome drinks, coconut water(would have preferred hot tea in that weather :P).. Then we were informed that we were to be briefed about the activities by the tour manager in some time.. But we were in no mood to wait for it.. For almost 18 hours we were completely surrounded by water, but not able to jump in it.. Now was the chance and we grabbed it with both hands, actually whole body :D.. All of them wore life jackets and me being the bond who knew swimming jumped in the ocean just like that..
We played for some time trying to hit each other with the volley ball we got.. Some got nice hits on the face and some acted as if they got seriously injured :P though nothing happened.. Then we were told that we were to go for a snorkelling session, a guy was to accompany us and show us corals and fishes.. We were given instructions of how to breathe with the snorkel.. For the next 1 hour we were taken one by one into the ocean for sight seeing :) while others were still enjoying the swim and some were posing for the cameras..
 |
| Torturing the natural inhabitants |
Then we were informed that kayak'ing can be done on the other side of the island.. The island was not even 100 meters in width so we had no problem in reaching the other side.. Then we started our session.. Since there were 7 of us, i volunteered to risk myself with a single kayak while others took a double one.. Thus started our journey alone into the sea.. We kayak'ed for the next hour or so, making all others wait for us to return.. I personally thoroughly enjoyed this one..
After more photo sessions, we went to enquire about scuba diving as the climate now had become good, clouds clearing and sun deciding to show its face.. They told it will cost 2.5K for a 20 minute session at 2 meter depth, which we thought was not worth is, as we expected it to be at least 10 meters depth.. And there was only one diver to guide us, so we wouldn't be able to do it simultaneously.. Due to these reasons we thought against diving..
Then we had our lunch and while others took some rest, me and monks played a game of TT.. After some rest we started playing volleyball until they called us for a trip around the island to visit some local factories and the north most point of the island.. After returning each one of us split and went their own way alone in the beach.. This was when i built my marvellous sand castle.. I don't remember when was the last time i built a sand castle.. PPR was jealous of my castle and made sure that he took his castle's snaps more than mine :P..
 |
| My sand castle |
 |
| The best we could see of the sun setting |
That's it for the day, and we were called to board the boat which would take us to the cruise.. Again it started drizzling and became cloudy, to ruin our sunset once more.. Had a nice hot water shower and went up the deck once more.. This time Tom had stayed back in Kadmat for a longer trip, so we didn't worry about playing antakshari.. This was one funny and enjoyable antakshari with songs from 4 different languages(Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada) being sung by chorus voices.. This continued for the next 1 hour or so, and we went for our dinner.. After dinner we continued our trend of playing cards.. This time around we changed to playing poker.. And we went to sleep around 10PM thus ending an eventful day..
Day 2:
Again as usual, the day started enthusiastically at 5AM in the morning, in hope of catching a glimpse of the rising sun.. But alas it was not to be the day.. Just the same old disappointment of getting up early to no avail.. Had our breakfast and got ready to board the boat which would take us the next island Kalpeni.. Here again we had the same old welcome drinks.. After that we were taken to a smaller island nearby, this time in a smaller boat :o..
 |
| Enjoying the welcome drinks :) |
Here we were to do snorkelling and kayaking.. Since the other day we had a long session of kayaking and we were more interested in snorkelling, we decided on snorkelling.. We snorkelled for a very very long time, going around the back water, looking out for different kinds and colors of fishes and corals.. After this we were again taken back to the main island, where we had our lunch and started playing volleyball..
 |
| Insides of the lighthouse |
After that we were taken for local tour, visiting factories, lighthouses and the north most point of this island as well.. The view was fabulous here, and i was able to collect lots of shells..
 |
| Sri krishna parmathma trying to start a war :P |
We never wanted to leave this place.. But forcefully we were evicted as others were waiting for us..
Then there was a delightful folk dance done by the locals, where a 73 old man was dancing so enthusiastically that i got floored by him.. His energy levels, stamina were so good that even though people younger than him were taking longer breaths he was still smiling and dancing gracefully..
 |
| Posing with the folk dancers |
Then we had to leave the island for the cruise, and again it was cloudy thus depriving of our well deserved sunset..
 |
| This was again reserved by us for our club |
On reaching the cruise we started playing poker again.. Continued the same after dinner, and slept at around 10PM thus ending our day..
Day 3:
Again the same old story till the welcome drinks, so i am not repeating it.. But this time the cruise was very near the island.. This island being Kavaratti the capital of lakshadweep.. It is a completely commercial island.. Our first trip today was a glass boat ride.. Since it cannot accommodate all the tourists at the same time, we decided to go last.. We played football for sometime, throw ball with a human monkey :P for some time..
Then we saw a normal looking girl, who was glorified due to the non availability of any girls for the past 3 days, and all 6 of us sat and started sight'fying her.. After some time we got bored and went the co-ordinator to enquire about availability of other water sports.. Oh yeah you might be wondering why i mentioned only 6 of us right!!.. PPR was sitting far away from us, thinking that even looking at a girl will make god prick his eyes :P.. (Lyt ra PPR feel avvaku)..
 |
| Me kayaking |
We came to know that there were no other water sports other than the same old snorkelling and kayaking.. Since kayaking was already included in our package, we went for it.. By the time we came back to the shore, our glass boat was ready to take us for a ride, and we were able to see lots of different species of fishes in the deep sea.. Scuba diving at this place would have been awesome.. Missed scuba diving :'(..
We came back to the island and were treated with another folk dance show this time by kids of the island.. That's it.. Our Lakshadweep trip was abruptly ended.. We had to go back to the cruise.. Some of us took a last dip in the sea and boarded the cruise full wet.. Took a hot water shower and went to the top deck to catch a glimpse of the last possible sunset, and even that was not visible.. Then we had our dinner and played a game of UNO and slept early feeling sad that the trip ended so soon..
Day 4:
This time only 3 of us woke up early in the morning to catch a glimpse of the rising sun.. Though it was not a great one, it was more than what we could see the previous days.. But none of us had cameras and by the time we woke up the other guys, it was gone, poye pochu..
 |
| A glimpse of the sun rise |
We had our breakfast and awaited our arrival to cochin port which we did arrive at around 11AM.. On the way we sighted few more dolphins..
 |
| The only dolphin we were able to capture thru our cam |
We roamed around cochin for the next few hours and boarded our bus at 5.45PM.. Our bad luck, the tyre got punctured and delayed the bus by an hour.. Next day morning we reached Bangalore and back to boring office..
To summarize it, it was great trip.. Enjoyed the first time cruise ride.. Food was very very good,, Enjoyed snorkelling and kayaking.. Folk dances were good.. Sceneries were awesome.. It is a must go for those who want to try something different other than the same old trekking's and hill stations..
Snaps
http://picasaweb.google.com/
http://picasaweb.google.com/
http://picasaweb.google.com/
A Jobless Idiot..
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Freak Man!!!!
Seeing the post title, everyone would be expecting a classic similar to Batman, Superman and things like that.. But this post has nothing to do with just any super-human (As i am a double super human :D).. This is just some idiotic ramblings by a totally jobless idiot (Though nowadays i am getting very less Jobless minutes :'()..
My friend uploaded a picture of mine in FaceBook, which can give tough competition to all the Egyptian Mummies.. My head was totally covered in bandages, yea i am exaggerating :P.. Remembering that nostalgic day, made me realize that many of the injuries i had are freakish to say the least..
Title : Freak Injuries
Episode 1: Location - Terrace
It was a sunny day, and we were playing a nice game of cricket.. I was batting on zero .. A nice in-swinging Yorker was bowled.. I played a nice looking defensive shot and was posing for the cameras (I know that details are not needed, but how else can i elongate the post huhh ;)).. Suddenly i could see a fielder dashing in, trying to knock the stumps.. He did manage to knock them off, not the stumps though but my teeth.. The next moment i was running with a tooth in my hand and he was following me crying and pleading to not to complain to my parents :P..
Episode 2: Location - Classroom
I was the leader of my class.. It was the teacher on whom i had a crush :D.. She asked me to collect the answer sheets from the class, and so i obeyed.. In my enthusiasm i tripped over a bag lying on the floor and BHAM!, i fell, my jaw hitting the corner of a desk and a deep cut in my chin.. I still got up and gave the answer sheets to my teacher, who was looking at my blood dripping face, horror struck :)..
Episode 3: Location - College Mess
This is by far the most freakish accident i ever had, and it was the first time ever i had stitches.. We were having our lunch in the mess.. The guy sitting next to me was making fun of the guy sitting opposite to him.. All this time i opened my mouth only for eating, was not even listening to what they were talking.. That guy got so much agitated that he threw the steel tumbler which he had in his hand towards the guy sitting next to me.. Yea right his aim was so good (we were not even a meter apart), that i hit me flat on the head, the top edge of the tumbler drilling into my skin and blood oozing out.. Had 4 stitches.. Gave treat to everyone in the hostel for this incident :P..
Episode 4: Location - Bangalore Streets
This is one incident where all my friends had a very good laugh hearing about, and no one believed the incident as i described.. I am sure no one will believe even now.. It was around 7 in the evening, and i was already agitated, coming out of a completely useless AMWAY meeting.. The streets were dark and i was walking alone and no living creature visible.. Suddenly something stinged my leg..
At first i thought, by mistake my leg touched the silencer of a bike standing nearby, but when i turned back to check, to my horror a dog was running giving nasty glares at me.. Then i realized that it was the dog which bit me :P.. At first i thought that it was the AMWAY guys who sent the dog behind me :D, since i came in the middle of the meeting without even listening to them.. There it was, my first dog bite.. I was just walking silently, it came from behind, bit me and ran off.. I did not throw stones at it.. It did not stamp on its tail.. But still :(
Episode 5: Location - Kaveri river
It was supposed to be a fun bike ride.. But it ended halfway.. Due to over enthusiasm i jumped into the water without changing to shorts.. When i realized that and was coming back to the shore to change, just walking, my leg finger got cut.. A part of my finger was dangling and i lost at least a litre of blood :D.. It required 7 stitches and the bike trip had to be cancelled because of that..
These are just some major episodes.. I didn't want to drag this like an Indian daily soap, so stopping it short and sweet :P...
Hoping nothing freakish happens in the Lakshwadeep trip :P..
A Jobless person who is trying hard to be Jobless..
My friend uploaded a picture of mine in FaceBook, which can give tough competition to all the Egyptian Mummies.. My head was totally covered in bandages, yea i am exaggerating :P.. Remembering that nostalgic day, made me realize that many of the injuries i had are freakish to say the least..
Title : Freak Injuries
Episode 1: Location - Terrace
It was a sunny day, and we were playing a nice game of cricket.. I was batting on zero .. A nice in-swinging Yorker was bowled.. I played a nice looking defensive shot and was posing for the cameras (I know that details are not needed, but how else can i elongate the post huhh ;)).. Suddenly i could see a fielder dashing in, trying to knock the stumps.. He did manage to knock them off, not the stumps though but my teeth.. The next moment i was running with a tooth in my hand and he was following me crying and pleading to not to complain to my parents :P..
Episode 2: Location - Classroom
I was the leader of my class.. It was the teacher on whom i had a crush :D.. She asked me to collect the answer sheets from the class, and so i obeyed.. In my enthusiasm i tripped over a bag lying on the floor and BHAM!, i fell, my jaw hitting the corner of a desk and a deep cut in my chin.. I still got up and gave the answer sheets to my teacher, who was looking at my blood dripping face, horror struck :)..
Episode 3: Location - College Mess
This is by far the most freakish accident i ever had, and it was the first time ever i had stitches.. We were having our lunch in the mess.. The guy sitting next to me was making fun of the guy sitting opposite to him.. All this time i opened my mouth only for eating, was not even listening to what they were talking.. That guy got so much agitated that he threw the steel tumbler which he had in his hand towards the guy sitting next to me.. Yea right his aim was so good (we were not even a meter apart), that i hit me flat on the head, the top edge of the tumbler drilling into my skin and blood oozing out.. Had 4 stitches.. Gave treat to everyone in the hostel for this incident :P..
Episode 4: Location - Bangalore Streets
This is one incident where all my friends had a very good laugh hearing about, and no one believed the incident as i described.. I am sure no one will believe even now.. It was around 7 in the evening, and i was already agitated, coming out of a completely useless AMWAY meeting.. The streets were dark and i was walking alone and no living creature visible.. Suddenly something stinged my leg..
At first i thought, by mistake my leg touched the silencer of a bike standing nearby, but when i turned back to check, to my horror a dog was running giving nasty glares at me.. Then i realized that it was the dog which bit me :P.. At first i thought that it was the AMWAY guys who sent the dog behind me :D, since i came in the middle of the meeting without even listening to them.. There it was, my first dog bite.. I was just walking silently, it came from behind, bit me and ran off.. I did not throw stones at it.. It did not stamp on its tail.. But still :(
Episode 5: Location - Kaveri river
It was supposed to be a fun bike ride.. But it ended halfway.. Due to over enthusiasm i jumped into the water without changing to shorts.. When i realized that and was coming back to the shore to change, just walking, my leg finger got cut.. A part of my finger was dangling and i lost at least a litre of blood :D.. It required 7 stitches and the bike trip had to be cancelled because of that..
These are just some major episodes.. I didn't want to drag this like an Indian daily soap, so stopping it short and sweet :P...
Hoping nothing freakish happens in the Lakshwadeep trip :P..
A Jobless person who is trying hard to be Jobless..
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Deepavali aka Diwali aka The festival of lights!!!!
Hi ya folks, happy deepavali to all of ya........ :D
Deepavali used to be the most awaited festival of our childhood days, at least true in my case!! But the enthu has totally fizzled out the older i got.. Now diwali has become nothing but, 2 to 3 days off from office life, go home, have nice feast, eat lots of sweets, sleep well and fatten yourself up..
Part of this is because of all these rules banning high decibel crackers, due to the noise pollution it causes.. Who the hell is going to burst some bijili crackers huh.. The only good thing about Diwali nowadays is the night time view of the sparkling rockets, decorating the whole night sky...
Gone are the days, when even though u step on a live stone cracker and have a nice burn on your foot, you still burst crackers by sitting on a chair, rather than taking rest..
Gone are the days, when we used to prepare manja for kite thread..
Gone are the days, when we used to run around the streets waiting for kites flying all around to fall down..
Gone are the days, when we used to have kite fights, the whole building gathering in the terrace, shouting if someone tries to cut the thread hanging over their terraces when a serious kite fight is going on..
Gone are the days, when being in a room full of crackers an idiot throws a live sparkler into the room making the whole box of crackers go on for the next 10 mins with me still being inside.. Swearing that idiot for the next 10 mins even though i could not hear what i was speaking, hearing some trumpet blowing for the whole time..
Gone are the days, when during our rocket fights with other buildings, by mistake we burned up the the dry leaf shelter which they had put on the terrace of a school building and running down so that no one blames us :P..
It was all good when i was in the middle of all these things.. But now the same thing which i enjoyed during my childhood days, annoys me, making me swear whenever i hear a loud bang outside :(..
Hoping for a wet and damp diwali, without any noise and happy sleeping :P.. Just kidding...
I know there are still those who enjoy doing all these.. So atleast for that reason, i will plug my ears and let them enjoy their share of diwali ;)..
Have a crackling diwali...
A Jobless Idiot who is gonna go deaf for the next 3 days :P..
PS: Ya, i forgot, our company gave a humongous sweet box as diwali gift, which helped satisfy a poor little boy's hunger.. Thanks a ton :D
Deepavali used to be the most awaited festival of our childhood days, at least true in my case!! But the enthu has totally fizzled out the older i got.. Now diwali has become nothing but, 2 to 3 days off from office life, go home, have nice feast, eat lots of sweets, sleep well and fatten yourself up..
Part of this is because of all these rules banning high decibel crackers, due to the noise pollution it causes.. Who the hell is going to burst some bijili crackers huh.. The only good thing about Diwali nowadays is the night time view of the sparkling rockets, decorating the whole night sky...
Gone are the days, when even though u step on a live stone cracker and have a nice burn on your foot, you still burst crackers by sitting on a chair, rather than taking rest..
Gone are the days, when we used to prepare manja for kite thread..
Gone are the days, when we used to run around the streets waiting for kites flying all around to fall down..
Gone are the days, when we used to have kite fights, the whole building gathering in the terrace, shouting if someone tries to cut the thread hanging over their terraces when a serious kite fight is going on..
Gone are the days, when being in a room full of crackers an idiot throws a live sparkler into the room making the whole box of crackers go on for the next 10 mins with me still being inside.. Swearing that idiot for the next 10 mins even though i could not hear what i was speaking, hearing some trumpet blowing for the whole time..
Gone are the days, when during our rocket fights with other buildings, by mistake we burned up the the dry leaf shelter which they had put on the terrace of a school building and running down so that no one blames us :P..
It was all good when i was in the middle of all these things.. But now the same thing which i enjoyed during my childhood days, annoys me, making me swear whenever i hear a loud bang outside :(..
Hoping for a wet and damp diwali, without any noise and happy sleeping :P.. Just kidding...
I know there are still those who enjoy doing all these.. So atleast for that reason, i will plug my ears and let them enjoy their share of diwali ;)..
Have a crackling diwali...
A Jobless Idiot who is gonna go deaf for the next 3 days :P..
PS: Ya, i forgot, our company gave a humongous sweet box as diwali gift, which helped satisfy a poor little boy's hunger.. Thanks a ton :D
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Mission Possible -------------------- KP
Objective:
Levels:
Players:
Obstacles:
Weapons and Boosters:
I being the underdog supporter chose the weakest player among all, i.e, MoMS.. Yes the slowest one, but there is a saying that 'slow and steady one wins the race'.. mmm i know that this is no race.. but i liked the proverb :D.. Let the mission begin..
Even after reading all the junk above, if you want to continue reading, this is where the real trekking experience starts :P ;)..
It all started with uncertainty because of the Ayodhya verdict.. But somehow it did not get cancelled.. The real trip started with us meeting at Majestic bus stand.. I had not met Praveen and Harish(Boyz), so we had a little intro session.. Mmmm nothing but asking names :).. We took the 11 PM bus from Bangalore to Somwarpet.. The bus reached Somwarpet at around 6 AM the next morning where we had a nice breakfast.. The bus to Bidahalli was at 7.15 AM and it took around 1 hr to reach Bidahalli..
From Bidahalli we had to walk for around 5 kms to the base forest office.. On the way we found a nice little stream and we just couldn't resist the water and so we all jumped into it and took a refreshing dip..
After freshening up we continued our long and tiring journey towards the peak..
Then we reached the Forest office where they charged an entry fee of 115Rs per head.. Harsha(Chick Pooja) cracked a PJ asking if it is 115Rs per head, then how much will it cost for Ravan.. ( :P i know this is not needed)..
From here started the real trek into the dense leech infested jungle.. Some of us had taken precautionary measures by wearing 2 pairs of socks, Harsha even had a layer of plastic cover in-between the 2 pairs.. Some applied tobacco all over their legs, painted sunna on their shoes, carried loads of salt, just in fear of a tiny little bug :o..
The trek was not a difficult one.. But for some reason Prasanna(PPR) was getting very tired in the beginning after some 3 kms trekking.. I asked him 2 to 3 times, that if he is really not feeling well, then we can go back.. I so wanted to go back for no valid reason.. I just wanted my Iron Leg legacy to continue :D..
If we even wait for some seconds, there will be atleast some 5 leeches trying to suck our blood.. So we could never a long break unless we find a big enough rock.. On such rocks the number of leeches will be drastically less..
In one such break, Praveen gave us all a Horlicks nutribar.. I donno if it was because of the bar or the rain which had started during the break, but suddenly Prasanna was full of energy..
The trek was really simple till this time.. But there were some 2 huge rocks which we had to climb.. They were inclined at around 20 - 30 degrees and it was slippery which was made even worse by the rains.. Somehow we managed to climb and reach the top of the peak at around 4.30 PM completely drenched and happy to have finished 7 kms trek.. And the view was simply wow..
Since it was raining continuously we wanted to put up the tents as early as possible.. But one of the tents was not proper, so we hatched a plan and made harsha, praveen and harish to sleep in that one :P..
We went inside the tent which was too small for 4 of us to fit :(.. Somehow we went inside and had something to eat and took rest.. And the timing was also perfect, we viewed this amazing sunset.. It was really worth all the pain..
Prasanna was boasting till then that he never had a leech bite.. And just inside the tent he had 5 leech bites and we 3 were not even disturbed by the leeches :P.. We played UNO for some time and slept off at around 7.30 PM.. The tent and sleeping bags were not water proof, so we all were sleeping while getting soaked.. And the tent was not big enough to accommodate us all, so we could not stretch our legs :(.. Somehow we managed to sleep and i had a sound one..
The next morning we woke up to see the sunrise.. But this is all we could see due to dense fog cover..
We packed the tents and all our things and started the trek down.. This is where we made the first and only mistake.. We didn't know the way down and went some 1 km in the wrong way.. We had to come back and after some exploring we found a rock with a sign pointing the way down.. There was a steep rock just in the beginning of the way down.. At first we thought this is not possible as it was too steep.. But some how we managed to climb down the rock and after that it was very simple..
After 7kms of down trekking we reached Girigadhe where there is this bhatra mane who arranged lunch for us.. We had to tell him 2 days in advance for that..
The food was ok.. But for us who were deprived of good food for 1 complete day, it was tasting very good.. It costed 60Rs per person which was ok as it was in no man's land and it was around 5 to 6 kms trek to reach the town..
From there it was a simple 5 kms trek down.. But Prasanna got injured in-between and it took more than a hour to cover the last 1 km of the trek.. By the time we backmarkers reached Kukke town at around 4.30 PM, Nithin and Raghav had already booked a room.. We went to the room and freshened up..
We went to the Kukke Subramanya temple and thanked god(not me :)) for successfully completing the trek..
Had our dinner and got into the 8.45 PM bus to Bangalore..
Thus ended my first successful trip in a long long time..
A Jobless Trekker..
PS: Haha i myself could not read the complete post and slept in between.. Kudos to all those are reading this :D
A trek on the western ghats, starting from Bidahalli, via Kumara Paravatha peak and ending in the temple town of Kukke
Levels:
There are four levels in this mission..
Level 1: Bidahalli to Forest office at the base of KP.
Level 2: Forest office to KP Pushpagiri peak.
Level 3: KP Pushpagiri peak to bhatra mane(Girigadhe).
Level 4: Bhatra mane to Kukke.
Players:
Praveen:
An enthusiastic player who will always be in the first group to reach any place..Boyz:
The player with the lightest luggage..Raghav:
The silent and efficient oneNithin:
The photographer
These 4 players are the best ones to play this mission with.. They will always reach first and without any problems.. Now there are 3 back markers who will always be the last, whatever maybe the scenario..
PPR:
So fragile that the player gets injured too often.. Has starting and finishing trouble.. But above average player in the middle..Chick Pooja:
Just the opposite of PPR, very enthusiastic in the starting and ending, otherwise always in the bottom 2.. Even a snail can walk faster..MoMS:
Always the last and the slowest.. No one would dare to chose him..
Obstacles:
There are many obstacles.. Some of the prominent ones are torrential rains which makes the route slippery, the route itself, the unknown unseen wild animals and last but not least the blood sucking leeches
Weapons and Boosters:
Some of the energy boosters available are Chocolates, Biscuits, water and lots of other food items.. Once Level 3 is completed there is a big energy booster available at Bhatra mane.. Now coming to weapons, most of the weapons availble are to counter the least dangerous obstacle, that is leeches.. Salt, Tobacco, sunna being some.. The player Chick Pooja has an extra weapon, a kitchen knife.. Out of all the players available, PPR, Chick Pooja and Nithin are loaded with the most weapons while Praveen and MoMS are the ones with the least weapons..
I being the underdog supporter chose the weakest player among all, i.e, MoMS.. Yes the slowest one, but there is a saying that 'slow and steady one wins the race'.. mmm i know that this is no race.. but i liked the proverb :D.. Let the mission begin..
Even after reading all the junk above, if you want to continue reading, this is where the real trekking experience starts :P ;)..
It all started with uncertainty because of the Ayodhya verdict.. But somehow it did not get cancelled.. The real trip started with us meeting at Majestic bus stand.. I had not met Praveen and Harish(Boyz), so we had a little intro session.. Mmmm nothing but asking names :).. We took the 11 PM bus from Bangalore to Somwarpet.. The bus reached Somwarpet at around 6 AM the next morning where we had a nice breakfast.. The bus to Bidahalli was at 7.15 AM and it took around 1 hr to reach Bidahalli..
From Bidahalli we had to walk for around 5 kms to the base forest office.. On the way we found a nice little stream and we just couldn't resist the water and so we all jumped into it and took a refreshing dip..
After freshening up we continued our long and tiring journey towards the peak..
 | |
Then we reached the Forest office where they charged an entry fee of 115Rs per head.. Harsha(Chick Pooja) cracked a PJ asking if it is 115Rs per head, then how much will it cost for Ravan.. ( :P i know this is not needed)..
 |
| I just wanted to add it somewhere.. Totally impressed with the photography skills :) |
From here started the real trek into the dense leech infested jungle.. Some of us had taken precautionary measures by wearing 2 pairs of socks, Harsha even had a layer of plastic cover in-between the 2 pairs.. Some applied tobacco all over their legs, painted sunna on their shoes, carried loads of salt, just in fear of a tiny little bug :o..
The trek was not a difficult one.. But for some reason Prasanna(PPR) was getting very tired in the beginning after some 3 kms trekking.. I asked him 2 to 3 times, that if he is really not feeling well, then we can go back.. I so wanted to go back for no valid reason.. I just wanted my Iron Leg legacy to continue :D..
If we even wait for some seconds, there will be atleast some 5 leeches trying to suck our blood.. So we could never a long break unless we find a big enough rock.. On such rocks the number of leeches will be drastically less..
In one such break, Praveen gave us all a Horlicks nutribar.. I donno if it was because of the bar or the rain which had started during the break, but suddenly Prasanna was full of energy..
The trek was really simple till this time.. But there were some 2 huge rocks which we had to climb.. They were inclined at around 20 - 30 degrees and it was slippery which was made even worse by the rains.. Somehow we managed to climb and reach the top of the peak at around 4.30 PM completely drenched and happy to have finished 7 kms trek.. And the view was simply wow..
Since it was raining continuously we wanted to put up the tents as early as possible.. But one of the tents was not proper, so we hatched a plan and made harsha, praveen and harish to sleep in that one :P..
 |
| The right side tent was perfect.. |
We went inside the tent which was too small for 4 of us to fit :(.. Somehow we went inside and had something to eat and took rest.. And the timing was also perfect, we viewed this amazing sunset.. It was really worth all the pain..
Prasanna was boasting till then that he never had a leech bite.. And just inside the tent he had 5 leech bites and we 3 were not even disturbed by the leeches :P.. We played UNO for some time and slept off at around 7.30 PM.. The tent and sleeping bags were not water proof, so we all were sleeping while getting soaked.. And the tent was not big enough to accommodate us all, so we could not stretch our legs :(.. Somehow we managed to sleep and i had a sound one..
The next morning we woke up to see the sunrise.. But this is all we could see due to dense fog cover..
We packed the tents and all our things and started the trek down.. This is where we made the first and only mistake.. We didn't know the way down and went some 1 km in the wrong way.. We had to come back and after some exploring we found a rock with a sign pointing the way down.. There was a steep rock just in the beginning of the way down.. At first we thought this is not possible as it was too steep.. But some how we managed to climb down the rock and after that it was very simple..
After 7kms of down trekking we reached Girigadhe where there is this bhatra mane who arranged lunch for us.. We had to tell him 2 days in advance for that..
 |
| Waiting hungrily for the food at Bhatra Mane. |
The food was ok.. But for us who were deprived of good food for 1 complete day, it was tasting very good.. It costed 60Rs per person which was ok as it was in no man's land and it was around 5 to 6 kms trek to reach the town..
From there it was a simple 5 kms trek down.. But Prasanna got injured in-between and it took more than a hour to cover the last 1 km of the trek.. By the time we backmarkers reached Kukke town at around 4.30 PM, Nithin and Raghav had already booked a room.. We went to the room and freshened up..
We went to the Kukke Subramanya temple and thanked god(not me :)) for successfully completing the trek..
Had our dinner and got into the 8.45 PM bus to Bangalore..
Thus ended my first successful trip in a long long time..
A Jobless Trekker..
PS: Haha i myself could not read the complete post and slept in between.. Kudos to all those are reading this :D
Friday, October 1, 2010
Iron Leg Part 2!!
From the day i wrote the Iron Leg post, there were two other trips which were planned and cancelled in the last minute due to various reasons.. All due to the certain Leg mahima :P..
Now now i always used to say 'try try but don't cry'.. So i am giving another chance for my leg to prove otherwise.. This time we have planned for trekking and camping for 2 days.. Even before we started there was some uncertainty due to the ayodhya verdict issue.. I thought even this trip will be cancelled even before starting..
We have not yet started, but i somehow feel that this will go through.. Will it?? Now if the trip is successful there will be a new post on the trip, else there will be Iron Leg part 3 ;)..
A Jobless idiot..
Now now i always used to say 'try try but don't cry'.. So i am giving another chance for my leg to prove otherwise.. This time we have planned for trekking and camping for 2 days.. Even before we started there was some uncertainty due to the ayodhya verdict issue.. I thought even this trip will be cancelled even before starting..
We have not yet started, but i somehow feel that this will go through.. Will it?? Now if the trip is successful there will be a new post on the trip, else there will be Iron Leg part 3 ;)..
A Jobless idiot..
Monday, August 30, 2010
Danger Danger!!!
I have been upgrading and re-upgrading my system for the past few years just fearing for this day.. But alas it has nevertheless arrived.. It is on the verge of getting breached.. In the past 6 months it has been compromised not once but twice.. How the hell am i going to stop these breaches?? :(..
Am i so easy to read?? How could they find it out so easily??
No one was successful in forcing me to work till recent past.. If i decide that i won't work then i won't.. If they try to force me to work then gone, there used to be a big fight and one on one meetings and so on.. That is why even though i keep playing games for most of the time in office, no one dared to come and ask me :P..
The first time it happened i thought it was just a small hole in the wall.. Last week i was so frustrated that i went and told my lead that i am not interested to work and i don't want to work for at least 2 weeks(I specified 2 weeks because there was a final release in 2 weeks and i wanted to skip that :D).. He actually accepted saying that it is ok, you can work whenever you want, take rest now :o.. I was so happy that i failed to see it coming..
For almost 2 days i did not open my code even though they were struggling to meet the schedule.. 3rd day i could not stand it.. I went to my lead and said that i can take up the work and finish it.. He did not even ask, i just like a hero went and assured him that i will work..
At that moment i thought this lead is so cunning.. He knew how i am and accepted when i said i wont work.. If he had said something else on that day, i am sure that i would not have worked for these 2 weeks, because once i decide, i wont listen to even myself ;)..
Now if all the leads are going to do the same, then the Jobless days of my life are going to end :(..
In danger of losing my Jobless days,
A Jobless Hero :D
Am i so easy to read?? How could they find it out so easily??
No one was successful in forcing me to work till recent past.. If i decide that i won't work then i won't.. If they try to force me to work then gone, there used to be a big fight and one on one meetings and so on.. That is why even though i keep playing games for most of the time in office, no one dared to come and ask me :P..
The first time it happened i thought it was just a small hole in the wall.. Last week i was so frustrated that i went and told my lead that i am not interested to work and i don't want to work for at least 2 weeks(I specified 2 weeks because there was a final release in 2 weeks and i wanted to skip that :D).. He actually accepted saying that it is ok, you can work whenever you want, take rest now :o.. I was so happy that i failed to see it coming..
For almost 2 days i did not open my code even though they were struggling to meet the schedule.. 3rd day i could not stand it.. I went to my lead and said that i can take up the work and finish it.. He did not even ask, i just like a hero went and assured him that i will work..
At that moment i thought this lead is so cunning.. He knew how i am and accepted when i said i wont work.. If he had said something else on that day, i am sure that i would not have worked for these 2 weeks, because once i decide, i wont listen to even myself ;)..
Now if all the leads are going to do the same, then the Jobless days of my life are going to end :(..
In danger of losing my Jobless days,
A Jobless Hero :D
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