Friday, June 29, 2007
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Open High Availability Cluster
The product I worked on for 2 years in SUN, is now available for the open source community.
Solaris Cluster made first contribution of source-code to the OpenSolaris community.
http://www.opensolaris.org/os/community/ha-clusters/
check out these cool videos on Solaris cluster
Solaris Cluster made first contribution of source-code to the OpenSolaris community.
http://www.opensolaris.org/os/community/ha-clusters/
check out these cool videos on Solaris cluster
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Customer satisfaction and Indian Banks
As there was never any competition, Nationalized banks in India never cared about customer satisfaction. But today, the Indian customer is more demanding. He has a wide range of banks to chose from. The Nationalized banks have to gear up for the competition.
I have a bank account which I have been operating from my childhood. As I grew up and started working, I started banking with private banks in India. The banking experience is so different now. The biggest advantage that the privatized banks have over the Nationalized banks today is phone banking and Internet banking. Nationalized banks are catching up but have a long way to go. I am really happy monitoring my account status, transferring funds, paying my utility bills, credit cards, etc., sitting in one place. I don't have to go to the bank. Now most of the Nationalized banks have core banking installed. I can transfer funds from my accounts with private banks to these, but I am still afraid to do so. The reason - no customer support (call center). Today, if I transfer funds between two privatized banks, I have a transaction number, through which I can always track the status by phone and Internet. But with nationalized banks, I have to run to the bank which is located in the other part of the city and when I land there, I have to go through a big Que, figure out whom to talk to and go past other hazels, only to realize that no one in the bank has a clue on whats happening. I have sometimes come across bank managers in Nationalized banks ( I really don't want to name the bank, but it is one of the biggest banks in India) who don't know how ECS works. For the same reason,I have to go to the bank every month to deposit cheques to repay my loan.
I do most of my personal work on the weekends including my bank work. But, when I land in these Nationalized banks on a Saturday with queries, the bank employees and managers (including chief manager, housing loan manager, and other managers) rudely ask me to come back on a weekday, because they have a lot of customers to cater to on the weekends. Is it my problem that the bank has more customers on weekends and they cannot handle them. Is it my problem when bank employees take vacation during other long weekends and summers. I always thought that I (customer) was the king. But, while dealing with these banks, one has to forget it. It was a surprising that when I went to the bank manager for a personal loan, he ignored me. Upon insisting, he asked me to come after a month and he would think over it ( couldn't expect that from a manager). I had to go to a privatized bank. They even sent a person over to my office. He made at least 4 visits to my office, to give the application form and collect it. He even filled up the form for me. Now who's the loser. And yes, I do repay my loan through ECS. Today a big chunk of the corporate world goes to private banks for housing loans, due to convenience, even thought the rate of interest is a little higher. People are ready to spend a few extra rupees for more services.
When I speak to some of these bank employees about why they treat their customers like this, they say that most of their staff is old and won't change their way of work for today's demanding customer. One classic defence they have is, 'we cater from pensioners to farmers. Does your MNC bank cater to them. Because we have a huge customer base, we can't scale up to those levels of MNC banks. MNC banks only cater to corporates'. Well that's your business decision to support farmers and pensioners. You have now a bigger reason to change. You have a huge customer base, don't lose them.
As a final note to these banks - Wake up and act fast. Customer is the KING. Treat him well, else he will chose some one else.
I have a bank account which I have been operating from my childhood. As I grew up and started working, I started banking with private banks in India. The banking experience is so different now. The biggest advantage that the privatized banks have over the Nationalized banks today is phone banking and Internet banking. Nationalized banks are catching up but have a long way to go. I am really happy monitoring my account status, transferring funds, paying my utility bills, credit cards, etc., sitting in one place. I don't have to go to the bank. Now most of the Nationalized banks have core banking installed. I can transfer funds from my accounts with private banks to these, but I am still afraid to do so. The reason - no customer support (call center). Today, if I transfer funds between two privatized banks, I have a transaction number, through which I can always track the status by phone and Internet. But with nationalized banks, I have to run to the bank which is located in the other part of the city and when I land there, I have to go through a big Que, figure out whom to talk to and go past other hazels, only to realize that no one in the bank has a clue on whats happening. I have sometimes come across bank managers in Nationalized banks ( I really don't want to name the bank, but it is one of the biggest banks in India) who don't know how ECS works. For the same reason,I have to go to the bank every month to deposit cheques to repay my loan.
I do most of my personal work on the weekends including my bank work. But, when I land in these Nationalized banks on a Saturday with queries, the bank employees and managers (including chief manager, housing loan manager, and other managers) rudely ask me to come back on a weekday, because they have a lot of customers to cater to on the weekends. Is it my problem that the bank has more customers on weekends and they cannot handle them. Is it my problem when bank employees take vacation during other long weekends and summers. I always thought that I (customer) was the king. But, while dealing with these banks, one has to forget it. It was a surprising that when I went to the bank manager for a personal loan, he ignored me. Upon insisting, he asked me to come after a month and he would think over it ( couldn't expect that from a manager). I had to go to a privatized bank. They even sent a person over to my office. He made at least 4 visits to my office, to give the application form and collect it. He even filled up the form for me. Now who's the loser. And yes, I do repay my loan through ECS. Today a big chunk of the corporate world goes to private banks for housing loans, due to convenience, even thought the rate of interest is a little higher. People are ready to spend a few extra rupees for more services.
When I speak to some of these bank employees about why they treat their customers like this, they say that most of their staff is old and won't change their way of work for today's demanding customer. One classic defence they have is, 'we cater from pensioners to farmers. Does your MNC bank cater to them. Because we have a huge customer base, we can't scale up to those levels of MNC banks. MNC banks only cater to corporates'. Well that's your business decision to support farmers and pensioners. You have now a bigger reason to change. You have a huge customer base, don't lose them.
As a final note to these banks - Wake up and act fast. Customer is the KING. Treat him well, else he will chose some one else.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Mungaru Male review
Yes, over all a watchable movie. A movie that can be watched with your family.
My personal rating - Average
Actor Ganesh and director Yogaraj Bhat have tried to replicate the Sharukhan-Karan Johar combination. Ganesh has desperately tried to imitate Shahrukh khan, putting up that sympathetic look/smile in every scene. He reminds me SRK when he tries to spread his arms wide open and the camera revolving around him. He has done it atleast a 2 dozen times.
There are lots of reviews on the web which are full of praises for this movie. This had set a very high expectation, though I had been asked to watch the movie without too much expectation.
The movie sequences were quite predictable. By interval I was under the opinion that the movie was crap. I even messaged some of my friends who had recommended this movie to me about how I felt. Some messaged back that I should watch the movie till the end before I passed my judgement, and some said, that I don't deserve to watch a good movie like this and should get out of the movie hall.
What created the above impressions are the following scenes.
- When a man falls in to manhole, does he think about cleaning himself or does he think about the girl.
- Hero sees the girl only once and that too for a short while and later makes heroic attempts (thats his job) putting his life in to danger, to recover a hand kerchief, when his mother is waiting alone for him in a deserted street. We see such stupid scenes in many Indian movies.
- When the hero feels very deeply for a rabbit just within 2 days of meeting and makes that desperate attempt to save its life by running on a railway track (even if you and I don't, the heroin is definitely impressed by this).
- when you see a train which is less than 50 mts of stopping not to slow down.
- I don't know any temple in karnataka where people carry their loved ones till the top of a hill. All the men were carrying women so effortlessly (my wife was giving me those nasty looks)
- When people speak to him, Ananth Nag replies as though he heard everything even though he is deaf.
- A scene is created where both hero and heroin get wet and the heroin has to change her clothes and look hot (an old movie trick used in many Indian movies. How can one forget Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore in Aradhana)
People generally tell me that I pass above comments because it is a kannada movie. I wouldn't have done that if it was a bollywood movie (they say). But thats wrong. Anything that is not up to the mark and take the movie goer for a ride will be critisized.
What pissed me off most about the movie was the death of the rabbit. Why did the director have to kill an innocent creature which really didn't have any significant role.
The Jog falls scene has been well shot. Songs are excellent. It is a good attempt from the director, but has to work on these small issues. The movie goer cannot be taken for a ride. I am happy that a kannada movie is breaking all box office records. This movie has pulled not only kannadigas but also non-kannada speaking crowds to the theathers which is remarkable. The movie industry should go ahead and make a lot more good movies.
Feel free to put your comments on the post, but please read the first line of this post before that.
My personal rating - Average
Actor Ganesh and director Yogaraj Bhat have tried to replicate the Sharukhan-Karan Johar combination. Ganesh has desperately tried to imitate Shahrukh khan, putting up that sympathetic look/smile in every scene. He reminds me SRK when he tries to spread his arms wide open and the camera revolving around him. He has done it atleast a 2 dozen times.
There are lots of reviews on the web which are full of praises for this movie. This had set a very high expectation, though I had been asked to watch the movie without too much expectation.
The movie sequences were quite predictable. By interval I was under the opinion that the movie was crap. I even messaged some of my friends who had recommended this movie to me about how I felt. Some messaged back that I should watch the movie till the end before I passed my judgement, and some said, that I don't deserve to watch a good movie like this and should get out of the movie hall.
What created the above impressions are the following scenes.
- When a man falls in to manhole, does he think about cleaning himself or does he think about the girl.
- Hero sees the girl only once and that too for a short while and later makes heroic attempts (thats his job) putting his life in to danger, to recover a hand kerchief, when his mother is waiting alone for him in a deserted street. We see such stupid scenes in many Indian movies.
- When the hero feels very deeply for a rabbit just within 2 days of meeting and makes that desperate attempt to save its life by running on a railway track (even if you and I don't, the heroin is definitely impressed by this).
- when you see a train which is less than 50 mts of stopping not to slow down.
- I don't know any temple in karnataka where people carry their loved ones till the top of a hill. All the men were carrying women so effortlessly (my wife was giving me those nasty looks)
- When people speak to him, Ananth Nag replies as though he heard everything even though he is deaf.
- A scene is created where both hero and heroin get wet and the heroin has to change her clothes and look hot (an old movie trick used in many Indian movies. How can one forget Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore in Aradhana)
People generally tell me that I pass above comments because it is a kannada movie. I wouldn't have done that if it was a bollywood movie (they say). But thats wrong. Anything that is not up to the mark and take the movie goer for a ride will be critisized.
What pissed me off most about the movie was the death of the rabbit. Why did the director have to kill an innocent creature which really didn't have any significant role.
The Jog falls scene has been well shot. Songs are excellent. It is a good attempt from the director, but has to work on these small issues. The movie goer cannot be taken for a ride. I am happy that a kannada movie is breaking all box office records. This movie has pulled not only kannadigas but also non-kannada speaking crowds to the theathers which is remarkable. The movie industry should go ahead and make a lot more good movies.
Feel free to put your comments on the post, but please read the first line of this post before that.
volunteering at SUN
Working at SUN is not just about coming out with cool technologies, but also contributing back to the community.
We mobilize employees to visit a blind school, senior citizen home, and school for poor children. They do this at least every quarter. They support the old age home, "Shambavi Home", by sponsoring all the medicines required by the residents throughout the year. Last year, school children from an orphanage were invited to the Sun campus giving them a sense of what work is like in a corporate environment. The volunteer team also treated the children to fun--complete with a movie, magic show and sweet feast.
The volunteer team in India is committed to social responsibility. Their commitment, high spirit and team work is something to emulate. They make a difference!!!
Read more about Sun India volunteering team. I am proud to be a part of this team.
We mobilize employees to visit a blind school, senior citizen home, and school for poor children. They do this at least every quarter. They support the old age home, "Shambavi Home", by sponsoring all the medicines required by the residents throughout the year. Last year, school children from an orphanage were invited to the Sun campus giving them a sense of what work is like in a corporate environment. The volunteer team also treated the children to fun--complete with a movie, magic show and sweet feast.
The volunteer team in India is committed to social responsibility. Their commitment, high spirit and team work is something to emulate. They make a difference!!!
Read more about Sun India volunteering team. I am proud to be a part of this team.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
whats new on my blog
Yesterday I have made a few changes on my blog.
1. ClustrMaps
Site meter kept count of how many people visited my blog. Many people complained to me that they could not view my blog completely as the site meter was stopping them from scrolling down.This was mostly the problems faced by IE users. The blog worked just fine with Firefox. Now I have decided to try ClustrMaps. It gives a pictorial represntation of the site hit count from different geographies.
I had around a 1000 + hits on my blog before I removed the site meter
2. Google search
I have added google search tool bar on my site. One can search the web, as well as through my blog.
3. Google Ads
I have added Google Ads on my blog. If one visits my blog, then he/she will see ads from Google. If anyone clicks on it, I make money. This is a cool feature introduced by Google. All one needs to do is sign up for it and Google will take care of placing the right Ads on your site.
Read more about Google Ads on https://www.google.com/adsense/
Let me see if I can make some money here ;)
1. ClustrMaps
Site meter kept count of how many people visited my blog. Many people complained to me that they could not view my blog completely as the site meter was stopping them from scrolling down.This was mostly the problems faced by IE users. The blog worked just fine with Firefox. Now I have decided to try ClustrMaps. It gives a pictorial represntation of the site hit count from different geographies.
I had around a 1000 + hits on my blog before I removed the site meter
2. Google search
I have added google search tool bar on my site. One can search the web, as well as through my blog.
3. Google Ads
I have added Google Ads on my blog. If one visits my blog, then he/she will see ads from Google. If anyone clicks on it, I make money. This is a cool feature introduced by Google. All one needs to do is sign up for it and Google will take care of placing the right Ads on your site.
Read more about Google Ads on https://www.google.com/adsense/
Let me see if I can make some money here ;)
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Hilarious... Lovers converstaion over phone
Got this as a forward.Don’t take seriously….Just for fun…..
THIS IS A TYPICAL CONVERSATION of Lovers in Kannada.....
Note: 1. Conversation madhye within brackets irodu manasina maathu
2. Love maaDtha iroro baykonDre naan enu maaDakke agalla
She Gives a Miss call to Him....and he calls her back..
She: Hello!
He: (Ayoo..ivatten kuiytalo.... ) Hi ...en helu..?
She: enu illa sumne call madde...
He: ( Call yavag madde.. Miss call thane kotte... ) oh...ok ..en madtidde chinnu??
She: ig tane oota aytu honey..nin en madtide?
He: nandu ig tane oota aytu.. iga...."kunidu kunidu bare" haadu keltide
Fm nalli
She: nice song..
(And then she hums the line "Mungaru maleye enu ninna hanigala..")
He: ( Allen eeli kichugdtidya?? ) hey!!!! Nin isht chennag haadtiya? Nang gotte irlilla
She: *giggles*
He: Hey. Innond sala hadu pls!
She: illi ella malgidare..amel ella bhaya padtare..
He: ( Correct...Avru yavdo mohini pishachi ankotare... ) Come on! Please!
She: hogo. I don't sing that well
He: ( Adu oorge gottu... :-) ) It was really sweet. Please hadu dear
She: nangeno odd agide anstide chinnu
He: adral enide chennage hadtiyalla
She: neene helbeku
He: ( Nana? Nan bere daari ildira helde.. ) iga haadtiya ilva?
She: yako thale tintiya
He: Sigh! Ok
She: I don't have that great voice
He: ( Donkey kooda nachkolo voicu.. ) hmmmm
She: sari ishtond keltidya... onde ond stanza hadtini ayta??
He: ( Innen kaadidyo.. ) Great!!!!
She: yaav haadu haadli ?
He: ( Nin yaav haadu hadidrenu...nan nidde antu haalagoytu... )Hmmmm. "Nimmbe hanninanta" from Premaloka?
She: Nice song. But nange lyrics gypka illa
He: ( Text book bitre ningen gypka irutte helu... ) santoshakke hadu santoshakke?
She: illa ade haadu haadtini
He: ( Ella onde yaav haadadru kivi kedutte?... ) Cool
(She clears her throat, hums a line and then)
She: hey beda chinnu. Am feeling very shy!
He: haadu haadu.. nina haadina savige nanu mulgi mulugi telabeku
She: nodu galatey shuru madtidya...
He: ( Gottaytu thane ... mattinenu..: ) )No no. neenu shy andyalla adke. Trying to make u cool
She: Hmmm
He: please haadey
She: naale haadla?
He: ( Haaaaa tappskonde guru.. Escape... ) sari maa ning yavag haadbek ansutto avagle haadu
She: Hmmm
He: Good night
She: Good night
She: Sweet Dreams.. Take care...
He: ( Jeeva ulitu... ) Sweets dreams to u too...
After a while She calls He (tat never happens, she gives only a missed call),,,,
She: Hey..Malagbitya
He: ( Illa current kandu hidita iddini... ) Illa ma.
She: En maadtidya..
He: ( NaDu rathirili enn ice-pice aa aadakagutte... ) Match nodta idde
She: sari neen Match nodko
He: ( Avaglinda ade madtiddey... )Hey. Its ok. Hale match thane.
She: alla. Did u feel bad I didn't sing?
(Since it is a tricky question, He thinks for a while)
He: (Bad ah, this was the luckiest day in my life, since you didn't sing :- ) Bad anta nanenu helta illa. But I want you to be comfortable first. naale hadtini andyalla. So, me waiting..
(ivattu tappskonde ankondidde .. :-()
She sings 1 stanza from the song
Thoooo......... ....
He: Wow. Too good!
She: sullu. Nangottu nan voice eshtu kacchadvagide anta
He: ( Ningu Slef realization ide antaytu.. :-)... )Hey you really sing well.
She: hogo helbekalla anta hing ella heltiya
He: ( Chi Kallli, Correctag kandu hididbitte..... ) Che! Che! Nin voice sari illdidre nanu istott keltane irlilla
She: Hmmmm
He: nin ishtu chennag haadtiya anta gotte irlila ( Matte gottagodu beda.. :-(:-( )
She: Hmmm! Sari good night.. ninu malko..
He: ( Nin haad kelde mele .. innenu nidde kathe ashtte..) Good night!
She: Take care
He: You too
She: Hey....
He: ( Ahaa... ivlu bidolla thande,,, )Ah.. helu ..
She: chinnu nijvaglu nan voice chennagidya
He: ( ....halagogu, nin voice record madi ondsala kelu ) nijvaglu! Ofcourse.
She: bari sullu
He: ( Ivlajji !!!!!!! inn nidde madok bitilandre......... ) Not at all. You sing very well
She: Hmmm. Eno heltiya. Good night.
He: Good Night!!
THIS IS A TYPICAL CONVERSATION of Lovers in Kannada.....
Note: 1. Conversation madhye within brackets irodu manasina maathu
2. Love maaDtha iroro baykonDre naan enu maaDakke agalla
She Gives a Miss call to Him....and he calls her back..
She: Hello!
He: (Ayoo..ivatten kuiytalo.... ) Hi ...en helu..?
She: enu illa sumne call madde...
He: ( Call yavag madde.. Miss call thane kotte... ) oh...ok ..en madtidde chinnu??
She: ig tane oota aytu honey..nin en madtide?
He: nandu ig tane oota aytu.. iga...."kunidu kunidu bare" haadu keltide
Fm nalli
She: nice song..
(And then she hums the line "Mungaru maleye enu ninna hanigala..")
He: ( Allen eeli kichugdtidya?? ) hey!!!! Nin isht chennag haadtiya? Nang gotte irlilla
She: *giggles*
He: Hey. Innond sala hadu pls!
She: illi ella malgidare..amel ella bhaya padtare..
He: ( Correct...Avru yavdo mohini pishachi ankotare... ) Come on! Please!
She: hogo. I don't sing that well
He: ( Adu oorge gottu... :-) ) It was really sweet. Please hadu dear
She: nangeno odd agide anstide chinnu
He: adral enide chennage hadtiyalla
She: neene helbeku
He: ( Nana? Nan bere daari ildira helde.. ) iga haadtiya ilva?
She: yako thale tintiya
He: Sigh! Ok
She: I don't have that great voice
He: ( Donkey kooda nachkolo voicu.. ) hmmmm
She: sari ishtond keltidya... onde ond stanza hadtini ayta??
He: ( Innen kaadidyo.. ) Great!!!!
She: yaav haadu haadli ?
He: ( Nin yaav haadu hadidrenu...nan nidde antu haalagoytu... )Hmmmm. "Nimmbe hanninanta" from Premaloka?
She: Nice song. But nange lyrics gypka illa
He: ( Text book bitre ningen gypka irutte helu... ) santoshakke hadu santoshakke?
She: illa ade haadu haadtini
He: ( Ella onde yaav haadadru kivi kedutte?... ) Cool
(She clears her throat, hums a line and then)
She: hey beda chinnu. Am feeling very shy!
He: haadu haadu.. nina haadina savige nanu mulgi mulugi telabeku
She: nodu galatey shuru madtidya...
He: ( Gottaytu thane ... mattinenu..: ) )No no. neenu shy andyalla adke. Trying to make u cool
She: Hmmm
He: please haadey
She: naale haadla?
He: ( Haaaaa tappskonde guru.. Escape... ) sari maa ning yavag haadbek ansutto avagle haadu
She: Hmmm
He: Good night
She: Good night
She: Sweet Dreams.. Take care...
He: ( Jeeva ulitu... ) Sweets dreams to u too...
After a while She calls He (tat never happens, she gives only a missed call),,,,
She: Hey..Malagbitya
He: ( Illa current kandu hidita iddini... ) Illa ma.
She: En maadtidya..
He: ( NaDu rathirili enn ice-pice aa aadakagutte... ) Match nodta idde
She: sari neen Match nodko
He: ( Avaglinda ade madtiddey... )Hey. Its ok. Hale match thane.
She: alla. Did u feel bad I didn't sing?
(Since it is a tricky question, He thinks for a while)
He: (Bad ah, this was the luckiest day in my life, since you didn't sing :- ) Bad anta nanenu helta illa. But I want you to be comfortable first. naale hadtini andyalla. So, me waiting..
(ivattu tappskonde ankondidde .. :-()
She sings 1 stanza from the song
Thoooo......... ....
He: Wow. Too good!
She: sullu. Nangottu nan voice eshtu kacchadvagide anta
He: ( Ningu Slef realization ide antaytu.. :-)... )Hey you really sing well.
She: hogo helbekalla anta hing ella heltiya
He: ( Chi Kallli, Correctag kandu hididbitte..... ) Che! Che! Nin voice sari illdidre nanu istott keltane irlilla
She: Hmmmm
He: nin ishtu chennag haadtiya anta gotte irlila ( Matte gottagodu beda.. :-(:-( )
She: Hmmm! Sari good night.. ninu malko..
He: ( Nin haad kelde mele .. innenu nidde kathe ashtte..) Good night!
She: Take care
He: You too
She: Hey....
He: ( Ahaa... ivlu bidolla thande,,, )Ah.. helu ..
She: chinnu nijvaglu nan voice chennagidya
He: ( ....halagogu, nin voice record madi ondsala kelu ) nijvaglu! Ofcourse.
She: bari sullu
He: ( Ivlajji !!!!!!! inn nidde madok bitilandre......... ) Not at all. You sing very well
She: Hmmm. Eno heltiya. Good night.
He: Good Night!!
Monday, June 04, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Kedarkantha Trek
For many years, I wanted to go to the Himalayas for trek. The time was never right for it. Finally this year, I made up my mind, to touch the Himalayan base. I had been hearing about the trekking programs conducted by Youth Hostels Association (YHA). This year YHA had a new program to kedarkanta peak (earlier the same trek used to get extended up to Harkidun). We made our bookings for the trek from May 1st to May 12th. The group was set. Padmanabh, Nanda kumar, Vijay, his wife Geeta, Raghavendra (Rags) and myself registered ourselves for the trek from Bangalore. Our friend Chaitra too registered for the same trek from Hyderabad.
Summers are very hot in North India and thats why decided, NOT to stay at Delhi. So, we booked our evening flight from Bangalore to Delhi. From Delhi, we had booked a cab to Mussoorie, Uttaranchal which was our reporting camp.
Day 1
We were on our way to the airport to catch our flight when we received a call from the airlines telling us that our flight was canceled and we had to take an earlier flight departing to Delhi. Upon reaching the airport, the lady at the counter told us that our flight was delayed by an hour. After checking in our luggage we were relaxing at the lounge when we received another call from the airlines telling us that the flight might get canceled. We rushed to the lady again who told us that the flight is just delayed by and hour. When we told her about the phone call, she spoke to someone on the other phone. Then she asked us to go through the security check and meet another gentleman. Without a clue on what was happening, we cleared through security checks and met the person whom we were asked to meet. He asked us to proceed towards the aircraft. When asked if the flight was on time, he, without replying to our question, just asked us to board the flight which was ready to take off. The scene was like any city bus stand, where the bus conductors look out for passengers and pull them in to their buses. Without much choice, we boarded the bus which would take us to the aircraft where, we noticed that there were atleast a 100 people fighting with the flight attendants. Upon inquiring, this is what we found. There were 2 aircrafts departing to Delhi, of which one was delayed. So, the airlines was trying to fit all the passengers in to a single plane. One of the flights was supposed to fly via Ahmadabad. So the airlines wanted to fly this aircraft via Ahmadabad. But, the passengers to Delhi were not allowing it. Also, the passengers to Ahmadabad were fighting to take the plane to Ahmadabad. Amidst all the confusion, one airline attendant asked us if we wanted to fly to Delhi and upon nodding our head, he quickly ushered us in to the plane. There were no seat numbers. Just like a city bus, one could occupy any seat that was vacant.
The fight continued outside the plane. The angry passengers wouldn't let the plane take off. Some of the passengers inside the plane were watching the fight (fun) happening outside and meanwhile, the plane was filled with tons of mosquitoes. Now all the passengers got busy swatting the mosquitoes in the plane. What a comic scene it was. It was good 2 hours entertainment for us as we had decided to fly in a low cost airlines.
The rest of the journey was less eventful. We reached Delhi and waited for Chaitra who was supposed to join us from Hyderabad. She reached at 12.30 am and we took a taxi to Mussoorie.
Day 2
We reported at Youth Hostel,Mussoorie at 9.00 am. We took some rest, and then headed towards Mussoorie shopping area . After having heavy brunch, we bought for gloves, monkey cap, Rambo knife (!!) etc.
In the evening, myself, rags, chaitra and vijay went Paragliding. Later, there was a briefing session conducted by YHA. There were a total of 29 participants in our batch. Out of this 29, atleast 23 were from Karnataka (from Bangalore, Mysore and Shimoga) and 17 were school boys (8th to 10th std). We chose a team leader and an environmental leader. 'Yours truly' was chosen as the Master of ceremony for the programs to be conducted at the camp fire every night.
Day 3
We were served breakfast and our lunch was packed by YHA. We departed to our base camp at Sankri, which is around 175 kms from Mussoorie. It is 8 hours journey by bus to Sankri through the ghat section. We reached the base camp by 5.00 PM. Sankri is a small village surrounded by mountains. Ours was the first batch for the trek. After evening snacks and tea, we settled down for some rest. We were served dinner at 7.00 pm and later we had camp fire, where I had to call up on people to perform.
We were informed about everyday timings.
5.00 a.m. wake up. Bed tea would be served.
6.30 we had to return the sleeping bags and blankets provided to us.
7.00 a.m. break fast
7.30 a.m pack our lunch
8.00 a.m. departure
5.00 p.m Tea/snacks
6.30 - 7.30 p.m Dinner
8.00 a.m - camp fire, Milo/Boost served and then go zzzzzzz.
This is generally the practice in most of the YHA camps. This being the base camp, we had to spend one day getting acclimatized to the height. Sankri is at a height of 6470 ft (1970 mt). At higher altitudes, some people develop breathing problems and other high altitude sickness.
Day 4
We were woken up by a familiar tone shouting 'baeteeee .... baeteee', which was to be understood as 'bed tea'. We woke up and got ready for morning exercises. At 8.00 a.m we were off for a small trek and rappling course. After coming back ,at 1.00 a.m, we had lunch followed by orientation program. By evening, the second batch arrived at the base camp. Together we had a camp fire and later hit the bed.
Day 5
This was the big day. We had to start our trek to the next camp Juda Talao. Talao means lake in the local language (Pahadi). The trek distance was short. We had to cover only a distance of 4 km, but a steep ascent to a height of 8465 ft (2580 mt),i.e., a height gain of 2000 ft. The route was very picturesque with lots of greenery around. There were some small streams and meadows on the route. During summer, the snow melts and many streams get formed. Also, it was raining every day from the day we landed which added up to more streams.
As it was the first day, we trekked slowly. We took a lot of rest in between as there was no hurry to reach the next camp. Some of the boys were facing problem climbing. After around 4 hours of climb, we gave a break for lunch on one of the meadows. By the time we finish our lunch it started raining. From that point onwards, we did not stop anywhere and completed the rest of the 1.5 kms of steep ascent in less than an hour to reach our camp site. Camp site was located in a beautiful meadow with a small lake by the side. We saw some hail stones around the camp site. Our camp leader told us that there was a hail storm the previous day and the hail stones hadn't melted still.
By evening the sky cleared. Some people stayed back in the tent while others went out for an evening walk in the forest. Rags got busy with his bird photography, while we were busy with landscape photography.
Day 6
We were woken up by the sounds of birds. We started our trek at 8.00 a.m. after a nice breakfast (Upma). The next camp site was kedarkanta which was at a distance of 7 k.m. We had to gain nearly another 2000 ft. The camp was at a height of 10,032 ft (3058 mt). The trek was relatively easier than the previous day as the gradient was lesser.
On the route, we encountered snow. This was the first glimpse of snow during the trek. We all dropped our bags and started playing in the snow. We reached the camp site by afternoon. Rains were holding up, but it was very cold. The camp site was on another huge beautiful grass land. There were beautiful mountain peaks in front of the camps. Behind the camp was the kedarkanta peak. The valley in front of the camp was facing Mussoorie/Dehradun. Mobile signal was available from Himachal Pradesh as we were on the borders and everyone got busy calling their family and friends. How often in a trek do we get mobile signal :)
We played cricket at a height of 10,000 ft. It was fun playing with the boys who were very friendly and easy going. We were finishing our game when a hail storm started. It rained heavily for more than half hour, after which the lush green meadows got converted to a sheet of white blanket. The entire place was covered by hail stones. During the rain, one of the boys who was venturing out and did not come back to the camp.
His brother went in search of him. There was no sight of both of them for quite some time. The camp leader went in search of them and brought them back. They both were shivering as they were drenched in the rain and hail storm. The temperatures were close to 5 deg C. Both were in a state of shock. Cold temperatures and icy winds added to their misery. They were taken straight to the kitchen and made to sit in front of the fire. After a while, the weather cleared up and it was time to click a few more pictures.
Day 7
It was a beautiful morning. Kedarkantha peak was in sight. We had to climb around 2,500 ft to reach a height of 12500 ft (3815 mt) on a steep surface. We started climbing from the word GO. In between, we had to cross small stretches of snow. After 3.5 hours with sufficient rest in between, we summited the Kedarkantha peak. From the top we could see a lot of snow peak mountains.
It was a breath taking view. After spending half hour at the peak, we started our descent. Our next camp was at 'Lohasu Thatch' (Thatch means grass land) which was at a height of 9481 ft (2890 mt). There was a 100 mt stretch of snow which we went down sliding. After this point we were caught in hail storm again. The hails were hitting us like bullets as we marched towards our next camp. The route was slippery at places as the snow had melted in many places. Rains had stopped by the time we reached our camp. We were It was quite cold as we were closer to snow peaks. All our warm clothing came out. Few people were wearing 6 layers of clothing. Sky cleared up and we had one of the most beautiful view of the mountains. We had a 180 deg view of a lot of peaks which included Kala nag, swarga rohini and Har ki dun. We could witness beautiful sunset.
Day 8
We were heading towards Dhundha which was the coldest camp of our trek. Dhundha is around 5 kms from 'Lahosu Thatch' and at a height of 10100 ft(3078 mt). The weather was very y pleasant. We had a cross a few glaciers and grass lands. As the trek was quite easy, we trekked slowly enjoying the view and stopping often for photographs. We reached the camp quite early in the afternoon. The camp was surrounded by snow. It was another day of hail storm which was quite heavy. Again the entire camp site was covered with snow. There were pipes getting water to the camp site from a near by stream which froze. Luckily we had filled drinking water in bottles earlier. I wore all my warm clothing and got in to my sleeping bag in the night waiting for a long trek ahead of us the next day.
Day 9
We were informed earlier that this was our longest and toughest day of trek in the entire program. Initially, it started with crossing a few glaciers and then we started climbing up. The route was very similar Tadiandamol in Coorg district in Karnataka. The route was very foggy and the visibility had dropped to around 50 mts. We had to ascend to a height of 11,500 ft before reaching the next camp. We were on our way to the top when it started snowing. The icy winds from the snow mountains around, took the temperatures to below zero degrees( may be to -5 or -10 deg C). Al l our shoe was wet with ice cold water. Fingers were freezing. To avoid frost bites, we started marching in the same place, waiting for the blizzard to stop. After half an hour of continuous pouring the sky cleared up. People sighed relief thinking that now things are under control. Little did we know that this was just the beginning. What we experienced from here on, was an experience of lifetime (atleast for a few of us).
We started marching forward when we came across snow mountains which we had to cross. None of the participants knew for how long they had to cross the snow. There was no way we could stop or even head back. So we formed a line and started walking on the snow one behind the other. It was quite difficult to walk there as most of us were walking on the snow for the first time. Due to every day rain/snow, there was a few feet of snow. At every step, our legs would go 2 to 3 feet in to the snow and at places more than 4 ft. We had a few experienced mountaineers as our guides. With their help, we started walking steadily, but slowly. People were getting tired. The children had started experiencing high altitude sickness like breathlessness, head ache, giddiness, etc. Couple of people even started fighting. Some boys were crying to go home calling out for their parents.
Bulk of our group constituted of young boys. Some of the senior trekkers started helping the junior members. We would hold their hands and guide them through or talk to them continuously to cheer them up. For the seniors, holding hands and guiding others was more tiring than actual trekking. It was around 2.00 pm and we had still not taken a lunch break. Lunch break had got canceled because of the blizzard. The only thought on everyone's mind was to reach the next camp. After a long march, we crossed the first mountain and were relieved thinking that that trek was coming to an end, but only to find that we had to cross another mountain, where we had to walk on a 60 deg steep slope. On one side, there was a deep 1000 ft drop. There was no support and the snow was quite slippery. Our mountaineer guides quickly put anchors in the snow and tied ropes. Then we crossed the 50 mt stretch on a steep slope holding the ropes. We crossed the slope only to find another similar one. There were no ropes here for support. We had to wait for all the members to cross the previous mountain slope, so that the ropes could be brought on to this slope. Again the ropes were tied and we crossed the peak. While crossing, one of the boys lost his balance and started sliding down. We were all shocked and thought that we lost him. He had gone down by atleast a 50 mt, when two guides from two different ends quickly went down to grab the boy. Luckily the boy did not hit himself against any rock. They helped him back to the track. When this was over, another boy and later even vijay lost balance and started sliding down, but were caught by our guides quickly. When we were all done crossing the peak, we dropped our bags to relax. Soon, one of the trekkers went ahead to see the route ahead. He came back and informed us that there were atleast 3-4 slopes that we had to cross. Some people were having blisters on their feet due to long walks on the snow.
By now, people had got a hang of walking and balancing on the snow. Now, we didn't wait for the guides to make route for us in the snow. We started making the route and others followed. At one point, my legs went 4 ft in to the snow and when I pulled out my leg, I didn't have my shoe, it was stuck in the snow. I couldn't even turn back to pick it up as I was balancing my rucksack weighing close to 10 kgs on a 60 deg slope. I called out for the guide, who pulled out my shoe. I had to sit on the snow to wear it. After one more hour of trek, we reached a clear spot where there was no snow. It was close to 5.00 pm. We had taken 5 hours to cover 3 km trek in the snow.
It was finally the time to breathe easy.
The view was awesome - clear blue sky, snow peaked mountains, grassland and eagles hovering over. From that point, the camp was just 0.5 km and there was no hurry to go there. Though others rushed to the camp, some of us stayed back to enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery. After all, this what we had come for . We reached the camp by 6.00 p.m to be greeted by nice cup of tea and hot Alu Bondas. This camp - 'Talhouti' is at a height of 10,000 ft, surrounded by more snow peak mountains. We finished our dinner by 7.00. This was the last we saw rain
Day 10
Next two days to the base camp was very relaxed trek, mostly down hill. We had to descend 4,000 ft to reach the base camp at sankri. Camp leader had informed us that we could relax till late in the morning and head towards the next camp at our own convenient time. So, everyone woke up late. By the time we had our tea and breakfast, the news broke out that the route to the next camp was damaged, as a bridge on a river was broken.
So we were cut out from the base camp and had to head back the same route we came from - i.e. the snow route we took the previous day. There was a panic in the camp. No one wanted to go back in that treacherous route.Some people started protesting that they would stay back in the same camp till the bridge was re-built. The guides were getting ready. There was a big reluctance to start the day. One of the ladies - Mrs Rama Joshi ( an actress, who has acted in many movies and plays. She has also acted as the mother of Urmila Matondkar in 'Ek Hasina Thi') started crying in her camp. Camp leader thought that it was enough and told us that it was a prank. The route was clear and we could go to the next camp 'Giangad'. Everyone was happy with the new.The route was mostly descending, passing through the villages. The villagers met the trekkers to ask for medicines like crocin and other pain killers, which our trekkers gave them.
Day 11
Another boring day of trek. The trek was on a jeep track from Giangad to reach the base camp Sankri which was quite boring. After walking through some of the beautiful routes, it was a bad feeling walking on the road. We reached Sankri by noon and took rest till evening.
Day 12
Another boring day's journey back to Mussoorie in a bus through the ghat section. After reaching Youth hostel at Mussoorie, we went to Mussoorie town for dinner.
Day 13
We started early from Mussoorie to reach Dehradun which is 25 kms away. We left our luggage in a hotel and went out to see the Forest Museum at Forest Research Institute. After that we shopped in Dehradun. We took the evening bus to Delhi and reached Delhi by 3.00 am
Day 14
We took our early morning flight back to Bangalore
All pictures - CLICK HERE
- Nagendra HK
Summers are very hot in North India and thats why decided, NOT to stay at Delhi. So, we booked our evening flight from Bangalore to Delhi. From Delhi, we had booked a cab to Mussoorie, Uttaranchal which was our reporting camp.
Day 1
We were on our way to the airport to catch our flight when we received a call from the airlines telling us that our flight was canceled and we had to take an earlier flight departing to Delhi. Upon reaching the airport, the lady at the counter told us that our flight was delayed by an hour. After checking in our luggage we were relaxing at the lounge when we received another call from the airlines telling us that the flight might get canceled. We rushed to the lady again who told us that the flight is just delayed by and hour. When we told her about the phone call, she spoke to someone on the other phone. Then she asked us to go through the security check and meet another gentleman. Without a clue on what was happening, we cleared through security checks and met the person whom we were asked to meet. He asked us to proceed towards the aircraft. When asked if the flight was on time, he, without replying to our question, just asked us to board the flight which was ready to take off. The scene was like any city bus stand, where the bus conductors look out for passengers and pull them in to their buses. Without much choice, we boarded the bus which would take us to the aircraft where, we noticed that there were atleast a 100 people fighting with the flight attendants. Upon inquiring, this is what we found. There were 2 aircrafts departing to Delhi, of which one was delayed. So, the airlines was trying to fit all the passengers in to a single plane. One of the flights was supposed to fly via Ahmadabad. So the airlines wanted to fly this aircraft via Ahmadabad. But, the passengers to Delhi were not allowing it. Also, the passengers to Ahmadabad were fighting to take the plane to Ahmadabad. Amidst all the confusion, one airline attendant asked us if we wanted to fly to Delhi and upon nodding our head, he quickly ushered us in to the plane. There were no seat numbers. Just like a city bus, one could occupy any seat that was vacant.
The fight continued outside the plane. The angry passengers wouldn't let the plane take off. Some of the passengers inside the plane were watching the fight (fun) happening outside and meanwhile, the plane was filled with tons of mosquitoes. Now all the passengers got busy swatting the mosquitoes in the plane. What a comic scene it was. It was good 2 hours entertainment for us as we had decided to fly in a low cost airlines.
The rest of the journey was less eventful. We reached Delhi and waited for Chaitra who was supposed to join us from Hyderabad. She reached at 12.30 am and we took a taxi to Mussoorie.
Day 2
We reported at Youth Hostel,Mussoorie at 9.00 am. We took some rest, and then headed towards Mussoorie shopping area . After having heavy brunch, we bought for gloves, monkey cap, Rambo knife (!!) etc.
In the evening, myself, rags, chaitra and vijay went Paragliding. Later, there was a briefing session conducted by YHA. There were a total of 29 participants in our batch. Out of this 29, atleast 23 were from Karnataka (from Bangalore, Mysore and Shimoga) and 17 were school boys (8th to 10th std). We chose a team leader and an environmental leader. 'Yours truly' was chosen as the Master of ceremony for the programs to be conducted at the camp fire every night.
Day 3
We were served breakfast and our lunch was packed by YHA. We departed to our base camp at Sankri, which is around 175 kms from Mussoorie. It is 8 hours journey by bus to Sankri through the ghat section. We reached the base camp by 5.00 PM. Sankri is a small village surrounded by mountains. Ours was the first batch for the trek. After evening snacks and tea, we settled down for some rest. We were served dinner at 7.00 pm and later we had camp fire, where I had to call up on people to perform.
We were informed about everyday timings.
5.00 a.m. wake up. Bed tea would be served.
6.30 we had to return the sleeping bags and blankets provided to us.
7.00 a.m. break fast
7.30 a.m pack our lunch
8.00 a.m. departure
5.00 p.m Tea/snacks
6.30 - 7.30 p.m Dinner
8.00 a.m - camp fire, Milo/Boost served and then go zzzzzzz.
This is generally the practice in most of the YHA camps. This being the base camp, we had to spend one day getting acclimatized to the height. Sankri is at a height of 6470 ft (1970 mt). At higher altitudes, some people develop breathing problems and other high altitude sickness.
Day 4
We were woken up by a familiar tone shouting 'baeteeee .... baeteee', which was to be understood as 'bed tea'. We woke up and got ready for morning exercises. At 8.00 a.m we were off for a small trek and rappling course. After coming back ,at 1.00 a.m, we had lunch followed by orientation program. By evening, the second batch arrived at the base camp. Together we had a camp fire and later hit the bed.
Day 5
This was the big day. We had to start our trek to the next camp Juda Talao. Talao means lake in the local language (Pahadi). The trek distance was short. We had to cover only a distance of 4 km, but a steep ascent to a height of 8465 ft (2580 mt),i.e., a height gain of 2000 ft. The route was very picturesque with lots of greenery around. There were some small streams and meadows on the route. During summer, the snow melts and many streams get formed. Also, it was raining every day from the day we landed which added up to more streams.
As it was the first day, we trekked slowly. We took a lot of rest in between as there was no hurry to reach the next camp. Some of the boys were facing problem climbing. After around 4 hours of climb, we gave a break for lunch on one of the meadows. By the time we finish our lunch it started raining. From that point onwards, we did not stop anywhere and completed the rest of the 1.5 kms of steep ascent in less than an hour to reach our camp site. Camp site was located in a beautiful meadow with a small lake by the side. We saw some hail stones around the camp site. Our camp leader told us that there was a hail storm the previous day and the hail stones hadn't melted still.By evening the sky cleared. Some people stayed back in the tent while others went out for an evening walk in the forest. Rags got busy with his bird photography, while we were busy with landscape photography.
Day 6
We were woken up by the sounds of birds. We started our trek at 8.00 a.m. after a nice breakfast (Upma). The next camp site was kedarkanta which was at a distance of 7 k.m. We had to gain nearly another 2000 ft. The camp was at a height of 10,032 ft (3058 mt). The trek was relatively easier than the previous day as the gradient was lesser.
On the route, we encountered snow. This was the first glimpse of snow during the trek. We all dropped our bags and started playing in the snow. We reached the camp site by afternoon. Rains were holding up, but it was very cold. The camp site was on another huge beautiful grass land. There were beautiful mountain peaks in front of the camps. Behind the camp was the kedarkanta peak. The valley in front of the camp was facing Mussoorie/Dehradun. Mobile signal was available from Himachal Pradesh as we were on the borders and everyone got busy calling their family and friends. How often in a trek do we get mobile signal :)We played cricket at a height of 10,000 ft. It was fun playing with the boys who were very friendly and easy going. We were finishing our game when a hail storm started. It rained heavily for more than half hour, after which the lush green meadows got converted to a sheet of white blanket. The entire place was covered by hail stones. During the rain, one of the boys who was venturing out and did not come back to the camp.
His brother went in search of him. There was no sight of both of them for quite some time. The camp leader went in search of them and brought them back. They both were shivering as they were drenched in the rain and hail storm. The temperatures were close to 5 deg C. Both were in a state of shock. Cold temperatures and icy winds added to their misery. They were taken straight to the kitchen and made to sit in front of the fire. After a while, the weather cleared up and it was time to click a few more pictures.Day 7
It was a beautiful morning. Kedarkantha peak was in sight. We had to climb around 2,500 ft to reach a height of 12500 ft (3815 mt) on a steep surface. We started climbing from the word GO. In between, we had to cross small stretches of snow. After 3.5 hours with sufficient rest in between, we summited the Kedarkantha peak. From the top we could see a lot of snow peak mountains.
It was a breath taking view. After spending half hour at the peak, we started our descent. Our next camp was at 'Lohasu Thatch' (Thatch means grass land) which was at a height of 9481 ft (2890 mt). There was a 100 mt stretch of snow which we went down sliding. After this point we were caught in hail storm again. The hails were hitting us like bullets as we marched towards our next camp. The route was slippery at places as the snow had melted in many places. Rains had stopped by the time we reached our camp. We were It was quite cold as we were closer to snow peaks. All our warm clothing came out. Few people were wearing 6 layers of clothing. Sky cleared up and we had one of the most beautiful view of the mountains. We had a 180 deg view of a lot of peaks which included Kala nag, swarga rohini and Har ki dun. We could witness beautiful sunset.Day 8
We were heading towards Dhundha which was the coldest camp of our trek. Dhundha is around 5 kms from 'Lahosu Thatch' and at a height of 10100 ft(3078 mt). The weather was very y pleasant. We had a cross a few glaciers and grass lands. As the trek was quite easy, we trekked slowly enjoying the view and stopping often for photographs. We reached the camp quite early in the afternoon. The camp was surrounded by snow. It was another day of hail storm which was quite heavy. Again the entire camp site was covered with snow. There were pipes getting water to the camp site from a near by stream which froze. Luckily we had filled drinking water in bottles earlier. I wore all my warm clothing and got in to my sleeping bag in the night waiting for a long trek ahead of us the next day.
Day 9
We were informed earlier that this was our longest and toughest day of trek in the entire program. Initially, it started with crossing a few glaciers and then we started climbing up. The route was very similar Tadiandamol in Coorg district in Karnataka. The route was very foggy and the visibility had dropped to around 50 mts. We had to ascend to a height of 11,500 ft before reaching the next camp. We were on our way to the top when it started snowing. The icy winds from the snow mountains around, took the temperatures to below zero degrees( may be to -5 or -10 deg C). Al l our shoe was wet with ice cold water. Fingers were freezing. To avoid frost bites, we started marching in the same place, waiting for the blizzard to stop. After half an hour of continuous pouring the sky cleared up. People sighed relief thinking that now things are under control. Little did we know that this was just the beginning. What we experienced from here on, was an experience of lifetime (atleast for a few of us).
We started marching forward when we came across snow mountains which we had to cross. None of the participants knew for how long they had to cross the snow. There was no way we could stop or even head back. So we formed a line and started walking on the snow one behind the other. It was quite difficult to walk there as most of us were walking on the snow for the first time. Due to every day rain/snow, there was a few feet of snow. At every step, our legs would go 2 to 3 feet in to the snow and at places more than 4 ft. We had a few experienced mountaineers as our guides. With their help, we started walking steadily, but slowly. People were getting tired. The children had started experiencing high altitude sickness like breathlessness, head ache, giddiness, etc. Couple of people even started fighting. Some boys were crying to go home calling out for their parents.
Bulk of our group constituted of young boys. Some of the senior trekkers started helping the junior members. We would hold their hands and guide them through or talk to them continuously to cheer them up. For the seniors, holding hands and guiding others was more tiring than actual trekking. It was around 2.00 pm and we had still not taken a lunch break. Lunch break had got canceled because of the blizzard. The only thought on everyone's mind was to reach the next camp. After a long march, we crossed the first mountain and were relieved thinking that that trek was coming to an end, but only to find that we had to cross another mountain, where we had to walk on a 60 deg steep slope. On one side, there was a deep 1000 ft drop. There was no support and the snow was quite slippery. Our mountaineer guides quickly put anchors in the snow and tied ropes. Then we crossed the 50 mt stretch on a steep slope holding the ropes. We crossed the slope only to find another similar one. There were no ropes here for support. We had to wait for all the members to cross the previous mountain slope, so that the ropes could be brought on to this slope. Again the ropes were tied and we crossed the peak. While crossing, one of the boys lost his balance and started sliding down. We were all shocked and thought that we lost him. He had gone down by atleast a 50 mt, when two guides from two different ends quickly went down to grab the boy. Luckily the boy did not hit himself against any rock. They helped him back to the track. When this was over, another boy and later even vijay lost balance and started sliding down, but were caught by our guides quickly. When we were all done crossing the peak, we dropped our bags to relax. Soon, one of the trekkers went ahead to see the route ahead. He came back and informed us that there were atleast 3-4 slopes that we had to cross. Some people were having blisters on their feet due to long walks on the snow.
By now, people had got a hang of walking and balancing on the snow. Now, we didn't wait for the guides to make route for us in the snow. We started making the route and others followed. At one point, my legs went 4 ft in to the snow and when I pulled out my leg, I didn't have my shoe, it was stuck in the snow. I couldn't even turn back to pick it up as I was balancing my rucksack weighing close to 10 kgs on a 60 deg slope. I called out for the guide, who pulled out my shoe. I had to sit on the snow to wear it. After one more hour of trek, we reached a clear spot where there was no snow. It was close to 5.00 pm. We had taken 5 hours to cover 3 km trek in the snow.
It was finally the time to breathe easy.
The view was awesome - clear blue sky, snow peaked mountains, grassland and eagles hovering over. From that point, the camp was just 0.5 km and there was no hurry to go there. Though others rushed to the camp, some of us stayed back to enjoy the beautiful weather and scenery. After all, this what we had come for . We reached the camp by 6.00 p.m to be greeted by nice cup of tea and hot Alu Bondas. This camp - 'Talhouti' is at a height of 10,000 ft, surrounded by more snow peak mountains. We finished our dinner by 7.00. This was the last we saw rainDay 10
Next two days to the base camp was very relaxed trek, mostly down hill. We had to descend 4,000 ft to reach the base camp at sankri. Camp leader had informed us that we could relax till late in the morning and head towards the next camp at our own convenient time. So, everyone woke up late. By the time we had our tea and breakfast, the news broke out that the route to the next camp was damaged, as a bridge on a river was broken.
So we were cut out from the base camp and had to head back the same route we came from - i.e. the snow route we took the previous day. There was a panic in the camp. No one wanted to go back in that treacherous route.Some people started protesting that they would stay back in the same camp till the bridge was re-built. The guides were getting ready. There was a big reluctance to start the day. One of the ladies - Mrs Rama Joshi ( an actress, who has acted in many movies and plays. She has also acted as the mother of Urmila Matondkar in 'Ek Hasina Thi') started crying in her camp. Camp leader thought that it was enough and told us that it was a prank. The route was clear and we could go to the next camp 'Giangad'. Everyone was happy with the new.The route was mostly descending, passing through the villages. The villagers met the trekkers to ask for medicines like crocin and other pain killers, which our trekkers gave them.Day 11
Another boring day of trek. The trek was on a jeep track from Giangad to reach the base camp Sankri which was quite boring. After walking through some of the beautiful routes, it was a bad feeling walking on the road. We reached Sankri by noon and took rest till evening.
Day 12
Another boring day's journey back to Mussoorie in a bus through the ghat section. After reaching Youth hostel at Mussoorie, we went to Mussoorie town for dinner.
Day 13
We started early from Mussoorie to reach Dehradun which is 25 kms away. We left our luggage in a hotel and went out to see the Forest Museum at Forest Research Institute. After that we shopped in Dehradun. We took the evening bus to Delhi and reached Delhi by 3.00 am
Day 14
We took our early morning flight back to Bangalore
All pictures - CLICK HERE
- Nagendra HK
Monday, April 16, 2007
Baleno review
To write about Baleno
I think it is value for money car. Before it was discontinued, it was available at 6.1 lakhs on road (with 70,000 corporate discount) value for money. It is a race machine with a top speed of 175. It is one of the fastest cars in the segment (1.5-1.6 ltr) which can do 0-100 in 10-11 seconds ( though I never tried it, many of the forums say that it is faster than a Honda city)
Also I get a very good mileage of 11-12 within the city with AC and 15-16 on the highway while cruising between 100-140 with 5 people in the car. Not many cars in the segment have this good mileage. The gear ratio is very good. It goes at low speeds even at high gears. I don't have to change gears too often in the city traffic. I can pull through in 3rd gear even with 5 people.
Baleno has got one of the best ACs and the best sound proofing. I recently sat in a Honda city and could every conversation outside.
It does not have all those great interiors as the Verna, but has everything you can ask for in a car. It has got very comfortable bucket seats, 3 cup holder, 2 ashtrays (for front and back seats), Arm rests for both front and rear seats, power mirrors, steering height adjustment, cigarette lighter,central locking with auto cop, etc
The boot is quite spacious (though not as big as the new Honda city) and serves most my purpose.
Few things I think that the Baleno misses are the air bags, Rear window wiper and rear window defogger ( vxi has this - of course you can't give everything in Lxi).
Does not have the elegant looks of an Ikon or an Accent, but got a beasty look which I kind of like (may be because I own it). The rear design could have been better like that of a Honda city. The rear is what gives it the beasty look.
What I am most unhappy with Baleno is its headlight power. It should have been better. Night driving is not very easy especially on a highway, as the throw is not very far and not very bright. I am planning to put a higher wattage bulb
The Lxi and Vxi differences are mostly cosmetic which include rear spoiler, alloy wheels, Power antenna, automatic climate control, front seat driver seat height adjustment.
Overall, I am very happy with this car.
I think it is value for money car. Before it was discontinued, it was available at 6.1 lakhs on road (with 70,000 corporate discount) value for money. It is a race machine with a top speed of 175. It is one of the fastest cars in the segment (1.5-1.6 ltr) which can do 0-100 in 10-11 seconds ( though I never tried it, many of the forums say that it is faster than a Honda city)
Also I get a very good mileage of 11-12 within the city with AC and 15-16 on the highway while cruising between 100-140 with 5 people in the car. Not many cars in the segment have this good mileage. The gear ratio is very good. It goes at low speeds even at high gears. I don't have to change gears too often in the city traffic. I can pull through in 3rd gear even with 5 people.
Baleno has got one of the best ACs and the best sound proofing. I recently sat in a Honda city and could every conversation outside.
It does not have all those great interiors as the Verna, but has everything you can ask for in a car. It has got very comfortable bucket seats, 3 cup holder, 2 ashtrays (for front and back seats), Arm rests for both front and rear seats, power mirrors, steering height adjustment, cigarette lighter,central locking with auto cop, etc
The boot is quite spacious (though not as big as the new Honda city) and serves most my purpose.
Few things I think that the Baleno misses are the air bags, Rear window wiper and rear window defogger ( vxi has this - of course you can't give everything in Lxi).
Does not have the elegant looks of an Ikon or an Accent, but got a beasty look which I kind of like (may be because I own it). The rear design could have been better like that of a Honda city. The rear is what gives it the beasty look.
What I am most unhappy with Baleno is its headlight power. It should have been better. Night driving is not very easy especially on a highway, as the throw is not very far and not very bright. I am planning to put a higher wattage bulb
The Lxi and Vxi differences are mostly cosmetic which include rear spoiler, alloy wheels, Power antenna, automatic climate control, front seat driver seat height adjustment.
Overall, I am very happy with this car.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Mungaru Male
Bangalore is known for unseasonal rains. It rains in in Bangalore during hot summer, when other parts of India are burning. Bangalore is known for its pleasant weather even in summer (thats why Bangalore is the IT capital of India). When I was a kid, we never had fans at our house as we never required them. Times are changing. 2007 did not bring any shower till yesterday (Apr 12). Temperatures were soaring high and it was getting very uncomfortable. Everybody was expecting rains which were supposed to pour during Sankranti, Holi, and Shivaratri festivals. But the rain god did not show any mercy.
But finally it arrived and in SYTLE. Yesterday was that blissful day. The entire day was very pleasant. The temperatures dropped considerably by evening and the cold winds picked up and finally at 8.00 pm, it started to rain. The skies tore apart. The thunders and lightning created shivers in the heart. On one side, it was such a welcoming fact, but on the other end it was scary. Scary because, it was pitch dark inside and outside the house and it seemed like every lightning fell on me. I was standing in near the compound from where I can see the brightly lit sky. There is a big open space in front of my house from where I could watch the grand spectacle. It is not like being in the heart of the city where people can hardly see the sky. People cannot see anything across the street even if they raise their head. So the effect is less. The thunders were so loud that I thought it would break all the window glasses. It was like a scene from a scary movie. Mom was screaming and was asking me to get inside.
It was a time for joy, time to celebrate.The rains had cooled the thirsty mother earth. It brought joy in millions of Bangaloreans. I hope that these rains continue through out the summer - Amen
But finally it arrived and in SYTLE. Yesterday was that blissful day. The entire day was very pleasant. The temperatures dropped considerably by evening and the cold winds picked up and finally at 8.00 pm, it started to rain. The skies tore apart. The thunders and lightning created shivers in the heart. On one side, it was such a welcoming fact, but on the other end it was scary. Scary because, it was pitch dark inside and outside the house and it seemed like every lightning fell on me. I was standing in near the compound from where I can see the brightly lit sky. There is a big open space in front of my house from where I could watch the grand spectacle. It is not like being in the heart of the city where people can hardly see the sky. People cannot see anything across the street even if they raise their head. So the effect is less. The thunders were so loud that I thought it would break all the window glasses. It was like a scene from a scary movie. Mom was screaming and was asking me to get inside.
It was a time for joy, time to celebrate.The rains had cooled the thirsty mother earth. It brought joy in millions of Bangaloreans. I hope that these rains continue through out the summer - Amen
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Friday, March 23, 2007
Air show in bangalore
Recently I attended the Aero India show 2007 in Bangalore. It was a 5 day event and I attended on saturday, 10th feb along with my friends Ganesh, Pradeep and Vijay. This event happens every alternate year in feb. 
I was attending this show for the 3rd time and found that the arrangements were the best this year with food and water availalbe at venue. There were good seating arrangements as well
The show began in the morning by around 10 am with spectacular display from MIG 35, F16, Lockheed-Martin F18, Sukhoi and our own (India's) Light combat aircraft (LCA). This year, the chairman of Tata group, Mr Ratan Tata, flew the F16 and F18 (wonder how he convinced the US army to let him fly that).
We had our lunch and a nice nap after the show in the shade and waited for the next show which was to begin in the afternoon. It was a hot day and we had innovative ideas to beat the heat. The highlight of the afternoon show was the awesome display by Surya Kiran. The Surya Kiran team consists of nine Indian pilots, and have displayed skills by flying as close as 3-5 mts at high speeds and have exhibited various formations like the arrow, diamond and concluding with the hearts.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Kagada (Paper)
November 25th 2006: Sun Microsytems was the primary sponsor for Kagada, a National Level Technical Paper Presentation Contest conducted by IEEE chapter of UVCE. Kagada in Kannada means Paper. UVCE is one of the top engineering colleges in Bangalore has been ranked 16th among the engineering colleges in India by the IndiaToday magazine in its annual ranking of India's top undergraduate institutions.Kagada had over 70 papers being presented every year by students from colleges around the country with the best colleges in India taking part in the program. The purpose of Kagada is to sharpen the technical intellect and the presentation skills of students.
Kagada attracts entries from various colleges due to an array of incentives that it provides. Students could choose from a wide range of topics. The papers presented were under the following streams-
* Integrated system and architecture.
* Intelligent systems.
* Engineering analysis and computing.
* Security and safety.
The papers underwent rigorous scrutiny by a panel of professors from Electronics, Electrical and Computer Science departments. 10 papers were shortlisted for presentation on 25th Nov, 2006 at Jnana Jyothi auditorium’s seminar hall. Christopher Armes, Director Solaris Revenue product Engineering at Sun Microsystems was the Key note speaker for the event. He, along with chief guest, inaugurated the event by lighting a lamp. Later, he spoke about Sun's open source initiatives and the Sun India University engagement programs. He also emphasized on how today's generation of students can get benefited from the open source movement. His address was well received by the students and other dignitaries present for the eventThe winners got a cash prize and gift hampers from Sun Microsystems.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Playing with the Grandmaster
On Thursday, 21st Dec, 2006, Grand Master Vishwanthan Anand visited Sun Microsystems office and I had the privilege to play a game of rapid chess with him. It is a great feeling to shake hands and get an autograph from the world No.2.I took a few pictures and autograph on the chess board. After the game of chess, we had an informal chat session with him. He has a good sense of humor.
More pictures HERE
Saturday, November 25, 2006
140 KPH and going ....
Speed is the name of the game. As I always say, there is only one way and that is the 'High way'. The highway could not elude me for long and I had to hit it on my Baleno. The destination too had eluded me for long, which was none other than the famous ChitraDurga fort.
People generally ask me for places to visit around Bangalore. ChitraDurga is an ideal place for a one day outing, as it is only 200 KMs from Bangalore. Approach to this place is excellent. One can start in the early morning and return back to Bangalore on the same day. ( See also Places to visit around bangalore )
I had wanted to visit this place for a long time and finally the time had come. I had to get a few enthusiasts who could join me during the trip.
It was hard finding people who would not mind waking up at 4.30 a.m. on a Sunday and start the journey. After making a lot of phone calls, finally I could convince 2 of my cousins (vijay and Nanda) and 2 of my engineering class mates (guru and chaitanya) to come with me.
After picking up everyone, we reached the outskirts of Bangalore by 6.15 AM. We set out on Tumkur road, and there was already a fair amount of traffic at that time. We reached Tumkur by 7.00 AM and stopped for break fast. Then we continued on the NH4 to ChitraDurga. This particular stretch of road between Tumkur and ChitraDurga is really very very good.
It just reminded me of the free ways in the USA, with the only difference being that there were no entry and exits. But otherwise, the road is one of the best roads I have traveled in India. One can really test the Max speeds of the car on this stretch and I was trying the same on my Baleno.
There are a lot of wind mills all along the route. This is the only place in karnataka where wind energy is utilized. We reached ChitraDurga by around 9.30 a.m. And headed straight to the fort where we hired a guide to show us around the fort.
They have a lot of things to tell us about the history of the fort. The famous song from kannada movie 'NagaraHaavu' explains the history of this place very nicely. 'Obavvana Kindi' is the most popular spots inside the fort, from where, the soldiers from the army of Hyder Ali tried to enter the fort, during their war against the 'Madakari Naayaka', the ruler of ChitraDurga. To our surprise, there was a Kannada film being shot inside the fort and we saw none other than the famous kannada film actor/director Upendra shooting for his film 'ParoDi'.
There are a couple of good hotels in ChitraDurga where one can go for lunch. After lunch we went to 'ChandravaLLi thoTa'. There is a small lake and an underground cave at this place. We did the mistake of entering the cave without a torch and that's probably the reason why we had more fun. There is pitch darkness inside the cave and luckily we had a cell phone with a torch without which it would have been impossible to take a single step. We got lost multiple times inside the cave and started going in circles. Finding the way out was quite fun as each time we took a different route, we would land back in the same place we had started from. We saw many groups like ours looking for the proper exit out of the cave. Outside the cave there are some beautiful and magnificent rocks. October to February is the best time to visit this place as this is a dry region and the rocks would be extremely hot during other times.
On the way back, if one has time, can go to a 'Jogi Matti' which I have heard is famous for high speed winds. Due to shortage of time, we did not go to this place.
On the way back, near hiriyur, we took a deviation of around 20 kms from NH4 to reach the 'Vanivilas sagar' dam. This place is also popularly called 'Maari kaNive'. We reached this place by 4.00 p.m. The weather was ideal. We took a walk on the dam from where we could see a lot of wind mills on all the surrounding hills. We took a coracle ride in the dam waters with the cool evening breeze hitting our face. This is place not to be missed when one goes to ChitraDurga. After spending around 45 min. at the dam, we headed back to Bangalore, stopping in between at Tumkur for some refreshments.
Place: ChitraDurga
Distance: 200 km from Bangalore
How to reach: Excellent roads from Bangalore.
Time: 3 - 4 hours by road
Best time to visit: Sept. to Feb.
Places of interest : Jogi Matti, VaniVilas sagar Dam
More pictures here
- Nagendra HK
People generally ask me for places to visit around Bangalore. ChitraDurga is an ideal place for a one day outing, as it is only 200 KMs from Bangalore. Approach to this place is excellent. One can start in the early morning and return back to Bangalore on the same day. ( See also Places to visit around bangalore )
I had wanted to visit this place for a long time and finally the time had come. I had to get a few enthusiasts who could join me during the trip.
It was hard finding people who would not mind waking up at 4.30 a.m. on a Sunday and start the journey. After making a lot of phone calls, finally I could convince 2 of my cousins (vijay and Nanda) and 2 of my engineering class mates (guru and chaitanya) to come with me. After picking up everyone, we reached the outskirts of Bangalore by 6.15 AM. We set out on Tumkur road, and there was already a fair amount of traffic at that time. We reached Tumkur by 7.00 AM and stopped for break fast. Then we continued on the NH4 to ChitraDurga. This particular stretch of road between Tumkur and ChitraDurga is really very very good.
It just reminded me of the free ways in the USA, with the only difference being that there were no entry and exits. But otherwise, the road is one of the best roads I have traveled in India. One can really test the Max speeds of the car on this stretch and I was trying the same on my Baleno.There are a lot of wind mills all along the route. This is the only place in karnataka where wind energy is utilized. We reached ChitraDurga by around 9.30 a.m. And headed straight to the fort where we hired a guide to show us around the fort.
They have a lot of things to tell us about the history of the fort. The famous song from kannada movie 'NagaraHaavu' explains the history of this place very nicely. 'Obavvana Kindi' is the most popular spots inside the fort, from where, the soldiers from the army of Hyder Ali tried to enter the fort, during their war against the 'Madakari Naayaka', the ruler of ChitraDurga. To our surprise, there was a Kannada film being shot inside the fort and we saw none other than the famous kannada film actor/director Upendra shooting for his film 'ParoDi'.There are a couple of good hotels in ChitraDurga where one can go for lunch. After lunch we went to 'ChandravaLLi thoTa'. There is a small lake and an underground cave at this place. We did the mistake of entering the cave without a torch and that's probably the reason why we had more fun. There is pitch darkness inside the cave and luckily we had a cell phone with a torch without which it would have been impossible to take a single step. We got lost multiple times inside the cave and started going in circles. Finding the way out was quite fun as each time we took a different route, we would land back in the same place we had started from. We saw many groups like ours looking for the proper exit out of the cave. Outside the cave there are some beautiful and magnificent rocks. October to February is the best time to visit this place as this is a dry region and the rocks would be extremely hot during other times.
On the way back, if one has time, can go to a 'Jogi Matti' which I have heard is famous for high speed winds. Due to shortage of time, we did not go to this place.
On the way back, near hiriyur, we took a deviation of around 20 kms from NH4 to reach the 'Vanivilas sagar' dam. This place is also popularly called 'Maari kaNive'. We reached this place by 4.00 p.m. The weather was ideal. We took a walk on the dam from where we could see a lot of wind mills on all the surrounding hills. We took a coracle ride in the dam waters with the cool evening breeze hitting our face. This is place not to be missed when one goes to ChitraDurga. After spending around 45 min. at the dam, we headed back to Bangalore, stopping in between at Tumkur for some refreshments.Place: ChitraDurga
Distance: 200 km from Bangalore
How to reach: Excellent roads from Bangalore.
Time: 3 - 4 hours by road
Best time to visit: Sept. to Feb.
Places of interest : Jogi Matti, VaniVilas sagar Dam
More pictures here
- Nagendra HK
Friday, November 24, 2006
what sex is your brain
This is not about the relationship between man and woman, but about how your brain works.
It is all about
- how emphatizer are you,
- whether you have an engineer's brain or not,
- about how you can read people's emotions.
- etc
Want to find out how your brain works, take the test (This will take around 30 minutes)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sex/
It is all about
- how emphatizer are you,
- whether you have an engineer's brain or not,
- about how you can read people's emotions.
- etc
Want to find out how your brain works, take the test (This will take around 30 minutes)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sex/
Saturday, November 18, 2006
On Top of Savanadurga
It had been a very long time I had trekked or climbed. It was an instataneous decision. I asked my cousin Nanda, if we was game for a climb to Savanadurga. He too is a very enthu guy when it comes to traveling and was game for it. We decided about going there at 10.30 PM the previous day and started at 6.00 AM next day. This was atleast my 5th visit to this place.
SavanaDurga is one of the largest monolithic rock in Asia. It is always debated with Madhugiri betta (hillock). The Savandurga hills are frequented by pilgrims who come to visit the Savandi Veerabhadreshwara Swamy and Narasimha Swamy temple sited at the foothills.
To reach Savanadurga, one has to travel for an hour on Magadi road from Bangalore. We stopped by for a small round of break fast. We reached our destination by around 8.00 AM. It roughly takes an hour to climb the peak. I would advise anyone trying to climb Savanadurga to carry lots of water and some snacks. If you are not physically fit, the climb could be a little tiresome. It is always better to start early in the morning. 
It gets difficult to climb as the day progresses due to the heat. We clicked a lot of pictures during the climb which slowed our progress. After an hour's climb, with a couple of breaks in between, we reached the top in an hour. On weekends there are quite a few climbers who come there. From the top, one can view TippaguNDanaHaLLi reservoir, which is one of the drinking water sources for Bangalore. There is a small broken temple at the top and a statue of Nandi.
After spending an hour on the top and clicking a few more pictures, we descended and headed for home.
click here for more pictures
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
