It gave me a lot of pleasure to read about the couple who gate-crashed the state dinner for our dear PM at the White House last week. I cant help admiring the balls these two had to actually breeze through the layers of 'security' and mingle with biggies like the US Vice-P and the White House Chief of Staff. The US security chiefs are repeatedly stating that Obama was not in danger at any time, but any of these two could have stuck a fork down his throat if they wanted to.
I am so tired of the millions of hollywood movies that portray all types of US security forces (CIA, FBI, Secret Service, Marines and whatnot) as the super-efficient and uber-cool tough men in designer suits and shades, running around, saving the world. The superiority complex is of gigantic proportions.
But now the Salahi's have dented that image in such a nice way! I was laughing all the time i read the news on different sites. The Secret Service, responsible for protecting the US Prez, must be going bonkers, having urgent delta level secret meetings somehow trying to tide over this embarrassment. hahaha
Can imagine some smart-ass senior giving a smart-ass speech: "Officers, we have had a security breach level 21. Code RG054 (thats Roger-Gamma-Zero-Five-Four) has been violated. Deploy 80 sections of our top commando's to further secure the White House perimeter. Get all top agents to drop all cases and focus on the Salahi's. We must establish their links with the Al Qaeda or the Hizbul. America cannot be compromised. This is the day we have been trained for. We cannot let the world think that America can be breached or can be made fun of. Gentlemen, we will prevail." Loohoosers!!!!!
:-) :-) :-)
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Oh brother...!
My good friend Ashish (Boozy) has been lamenting about his status amongst girls as a "brother"....he has in fact let the tears flow quite freely on his blog. Now this is a situation that many many guys would find quite familiar, probably bringing to the surface some long smothered memory of a dream crushed by an untimely rakhi...
Females. This is nothing but another weapon in their hands to control us. They have boobs! I mean, isn't that enough? What do we counter that with? A beer belly? Talk about fighting fair...grrrr.....
Having said that (and i dont lose any chance to say female bashing stuff - what else can a middle aged short fat chap do for kicks eh?) i do feel Ashish is missing the woods for the trees. He is grabbing the wrong end of the tissue roll. I mean, how can he fail to see that this 'situation' is in fact pregnant with wonderous possibilities. Allow me to elaborate...
My first girl friend used to think i was pure brother material...and then we dated for a couple of years. My second girlfriend used to think i was pure brother material...and then i dated her for 3.5 years...and after that i've been married to her for 5 years. I could rest my case here, but would like to drive home the point by way of a theory that can best be explained in 2 parts:
1. Girls are really fond of their fathers and brothers; and they can be quite bitchy about their mothers and sisters. Hence it is a good beginning to be called brother material. It gets even better when you can move up to father material, because then you can
(a) actually say stuff like, "who's your daddy??" when doing interesting stuff, and then
(b) become a daddy
2. When a girl calls you 'brother material', it is her way of telling you that she likes you, she is comfortable with you and thinks you are special. And yet there is no way she's gonna admit to herself that she has actually managed to miss out on all the studs and fall for...well...you. Here's how her mind works: "HIM??? What the hell, no way! Then why do i feel so nice when i'm with him? Oh yes! He's my brother!!!".
This is the time for you to strike and make hay brother, for the iron is hot and the sun is shining!
So if you are in a situation where a girl is having long, meaningful conversations with you, there is an exchange of witty, sarcastic banter and healthy insults, an interest in each others life, and a warm feeling in the heart and other regions upon seeing each other, it is probable that this situation will quickly end in 2 ways: 1st - "Strip! Now!!, or 2nd - "you are like a brother to me". Remember, that you can change your destiny from the 2nd to the 1st.
Anybody who felt hurt because of any of the above (the same ones who take mc / bc seriously), chew on this:
All of us in this country have grown up saying "all Indians are my brothers and sisters" every morning, and yet we have the 2nd largest population in the world.
Females. This is nothing but another weapon in their hands to control us. They have boobs! I mean, isn't that enough? What do we counter that with? A beer belly? Talk about fighting fair...grrrr.....
Having said that (and i dont lose any chance to say female bashing stuff - what else can a middle aged short fat chap do for kicks eh?) i do feel Ashish is missing the woods for the trees. He is grabbing the wrong end of the tissue roll. I mean, how can he fail to see that this 'situation' is in fact pregnant with wonderous possibilities. Allow me to elaborate...
My first girl friend used to think i was pure brother material...and then we dated for a couple of years. My second girlfriend used to think i was pure brother material...and then i dated her for 3.5 years...and after that i've been married to her for 5 years. I could rest my case here, but would like to drive home the point by way of a theory that can best be explained in 2 parts:
1. Girls are really fond of their fathers and brothers; and they can be quite bitchy about their mothers and sisters. Hence it is a good beginning to be called brother material. It gets even better when you can move up to father material, because then you can
(a) actually say stuff like, "who's your daddy??" when doing interesting stuff, and then
(b) become a daddy
2. When a girl calls you 'brother material', it is her way of telling you that she likes you, she is comfortable with you and thinks you are special. And yet there is no way she's gonna admit to herself that she has actually managed to miss out on all the studs and fall for...well...you. Here's how her mind works: "HIM??? What the hell, no way! Then why do i feel so nice when i'm with him? Oh yes! He's my brother!!!".
This is the time for you to strike and make hay brother, for the iron is hot and the sun is shining!
So if you are in a situation where a girl is having long, meaningful conversations with you, there is an exchange of witty, sarcastic banter and healthy insults, an interest in each others life, and a warm feeling in the heart and other regions upon seeing each other, it is probable that this situation will quickly end in 2 ways: 1st - "Strip! Now!!, or 2nd - "you are like a brother to me". Remember, that you can change your destiny from the 2nd to the 1st.
Anybody who felt hurt because of any of the above (the same ones who take mc / bc seriously), chew on this:
All of us in this country have grown up saying "all Indians are my brothers and sisters" every morning, and yet we have the 2nd largest population in the world.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Michael Jackson - This is it...
I was a huge Michael Jackson fan in school. I was crazy about everything he did: his songs, his dancing, his videos, everything. I remember coming back from school every afternoon and playing Beat It 4 or 5 times and dancing around the room like an idiot. My mom used to almost roll on the floor laughing! I knew so many of his songs by heart. I couldn't understand many of the words then, and since that was the pre-google era, i used to make up non-sensical words trying to make them sound similar to what he was singing.
Over the years as my music taste evolved (i moved on to stuff like Eagles, GnR, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, REM, Cold Play, etc) and as his career graph plunged, i lost touch with his music. But every now and then whenever i chanced upon his songs i would listen with glee.
I saw This Is It in pune. As i feared, less than 5% of the cinema hall was occupied, and that too mostly by middle-aged firangs. I ensured that i sat in the middled of a large unoccupied space, not wanting any stupid noisy non-fans spoiling my experience by rustling plastic bags or jabbering away on their mobile phones.
I was blown away. This documentary is basically created from bits and pieces out of hundreds of hours of footage during the rehearsals of his come back tour This Is It. 50 shows, to be performed in London, had been sold out. Had those shows happened, they would have been absolutely MJ style; larger than life. Unfortunately he passed away weeks before the first scheduled concert. He and his crew had been working on the concept and execution for more than 4 years...
MJ became a star at the age of 6 as the lead singer of the Jackson 5. His solo albums Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous and History were all best sellers. Thriller remains the best selling album of all time, spending 37 weeks at the top of the US Billboard chart, and selling 110 Million copies (the 2nd best sold 49 Million copies), easily beating other greats like Pink Floyd, AD/DC, Meat Loaf, Eagles, Bee Gees, Guns n roses, Dire Straits, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles. He won 13 Grammy awards (7th highest ever) and 22 American Music Awards, gave the world 17 No.1 singles, and achieved estimated sales in excess of 500 Million copies (different sources peg these anywhere between 200-750 million).
He changed the whole concept of music videos, delighting fans with terrific videos like Thriller, Beat it, Billie Jean, Smooth Criminal, Bad, Black or White, Remember the Time, Earth Song, and many more...
From the mid-80's onwards his skin colour and facial structure started changing, leading to rumours of numerous skin surgeries, reconstruction, and bleaching. It was said that he was suffering from a severe psychological disorder called 'body dysmorphic disorder' causing obsessive dissatisfaction regarding his appearance. There were reports that his nose had once fallen off. Some attributed these problems to an abused childhood (he publicly admitted on Oprah's show that his father Joseph used to regularly beat him up as a child). Then came the child sexual abuse allegations. People were quick to label him a freak, and he gradually regressed into solitude, for many years making news only for the various controversies surrounding him.
This Is It was the return he planned. Despite the years of absence and deteriorating health, he remained an awesomely talented musician and singer. And this documentary also shows the perfectionist that he was. His selection of dancers, stage props, moves, lights, visual effects, sound effects, etc, were all fine tuned to the smallest detail. And unlike many popular musicians, he had an amazing control on his music, hearing and correcting even a single stray note played by any musician around him.
Though it is immediately noticeable that he wasn't dancing as much (supposedly weakened by years of addiction to painkillers and valium), his trademark moves were as smooth. His lead guitarist, the blonde Orianthi Panagaris, was simply amazing. I was screaming along all the songs i could remember, not giving a shit about whether other people could hear me or not. How i wish atleast one of these shows had happened...
MJ remained a crowd puller till the end. There is endless footage of fans screaming, weeping, fainting during his performances. There is no doubt that there would have been similar frenzy had these last tours happened. I just hope that now that he is gone, people slowly forget the controversies, and remember him for his music. The one and only King of Pop.
Over the years as my music taste evolved (i moved on to stuff like Eagles, GnR, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, REM, Cold Play, etc) and as his career graph plunged, i lost touch with his music. But every now and then whenever i chanced upon his songs i would listen with glee.
I saw This Is It in pune. As i feared, less than 5% of the cinema hall was occupied, and that too mostly by middle-aged firangs. I ensured that i sat in the middled of a large unoccupied space, not wanting any stupid noisy non-fans spoiling my experience by rustling plastic bags or jabbering away on their mobile phones.
I was blown away. This documentary is basically created from bits and pieces out of hundreds of hours of footage during the rehearsals of his come back tour This Is It. 50 shows, to be performed in London, had been sold out. Had those shows happened, they would have been absolutely MJ style; larger than life. Unfortunately he passed away weeks before the first scheduled concert. He and his crew had been working on the concept and execution for more than 4 years...
MJ became a star at the age of 6 as the lead singer of the Jackson 5. His solo albums Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous and History were all best sellers. Thriller remains the best selling album of all time, spending 37 weeks at the top of the US Billboard chart, and selling 110 Million copies (the 2nd best sold 49 Million copies), easily beating other greats like Pink Floyd, AD/DC, Meat Loaf, Eagles, Bee Gees, Guns n roses, Dire Straits, Led Zeppelin and The Beatles. He won 13 Grammy awards (7th highest ever) and 22 American Music Awards, gave the world 17 No.1 singles, and achieved estimated sales in excess of 500 Million copies (different sources peg these anywhere between 200-750 million).
He changed the whole concept of music videos, delighting fans with terrific videos like Thriller, Beat it, Billie Jean, Smooth Criminal, Bad, Black or White, Remember the Time, Earth Song, and many more...
From the mid-80's onwards his skin colour and facial structure started changing, leading to rumours of numerous skin surgeries, reconstruction, and bleaching. It was said that he was suffering from a severe psychological disorder called 'body dysmorphic disorder' causing obsessive dissatisfaction regarding his appearance. There were reports that his nose had once fallen off. Some attributed these problems to an abused childhood (he publicly admitted on Oprah's show that his father Joseph used to regularly beat him up as a child). Then came the child sexual abuse allegations. People were quick to label him a freak, and he gradually regressed into solitude, for many years making news only for the various controversies surrounding him.
This Is It was the return he planned. Despite the years of absence and deteriorating health, he remained an awesomely talented musician and singer. And this documentary also shows the perfectionist that he was. His selection of dancers, stage props, moves, lights, visual effects, sound effects, etc, were all fine tuned to the smallest detail. And unlike many popular musicians, he had an amazing control on his music, hearing and correcting even a single stray note played by any musician around him.
Though it is immediately noticeable that he wasn't dancing as much (supposedly weakened by years of addiction to painkillers and valium), his trademark moves were as smooth. His lead guitarist, the blonde Orianthi Panagaris, was simply amazing. I was screaming along all the songs i could remember, not giving a shit about whether other people could hear me or not. How i wish atleast one of these shows had happened...
MJ remained a crowd puller till the end. There is endless footage of fans screaming, weeping, fainting during his performances. There is no doubt that there would have been similar frenzy had these last tours happened. I just hope that now that he is gone, people slowly forget the controversies, and remember him for his music. The one and only King of Pop.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Farting away to glory!
I happened to chance upon a really great blog by a guy called chronicwriter. He has put up some really funny stuff. He has written one post about farting and i just had to share it with you guys. I loved the pic of George Bush and Colin Powell and also the names he has coined for various types of farts. Check it out:
http://www.chronicwriter.com/2009/10/363-letting-it-go.html
It is indeed funny how we find the act of farting so embarrassing despite knowing that each and every person around us have also been farting all their lives. Even the bloody topic is so taboo. All this when it is one of the most natural acts in the world. And not that we can help it. When it has to come, it just has to come! Wouldn't it be great if we could all stop getting so conscious and treat it like something as normal as, say, a hand gesture.... Imagine office meetings punctuated by people bending to one side in their chairs and letting it rip. hahaha
In this stressful world, maybe it would even be therapeutic if we could learn to relax our buttocks and actually enjoy the act. This could be a great way to let off some steam!
One of my friends in school had a nasty habit of holding out his hand and asking any nearby person to tug on his outstretched finger, and then letting go. The person holding his finger would end up feeling so violated and would have to wash his hand a few times atleast! :-)
Check out this clip, supposedly from a thermal imaging camera at some airport (dunno if it is authentic, but it sure fun to watch):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUHvpszbilc
And completely besides the topic, check out this one too, quite nice:
http://www.chronicwriter.com/2009/10/365-blogging-for-beginners.html
http://www.chronicwriter.com/2009/10/363-letting-it-go.html
It is indeed funny how we find the act of farting so embarrassing despite knowing that each and every person around us have also been farting all their lives. Even the bloody topic is so taboo. All this when it is one of the most natural acts in the world. And not that we can help it. When it has to come, it just has to come! Wouldn't it be great if we could all stop getting so conscious and treat it like something as normal as, say, a hand gesture.... Imagine office meetings punctuated by people bending to one side in their chairs and letting it rip. hahaha
In this stressful world, maybe it would even be therapeutic if we could learn to relax our buttocks and actually enjoy the act. This could be a great way to let off some steam!
One of my friends in school had a nasty habit of holding out his hand and asking any nearby person to tug on his outstretched finger, and then letting go. The person holding his finger would end up feeling so violated and would have to wash his hand a few times atleast! :-)
Check out this clip, supposedly from a thermal imaging camera at some airport (dunno if it is authentic, but it sure fun to watch):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUHvpszbilc
And completely besides the topic, check out this one too, quite nice:
http://www.chronicwriter.com/2009/10/365-blogging-for-beginners.html
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Aching to break free
Boozy called to say that he had to work all through the national holiday on monday, when everybody else was at home with family and friends hogging on Diwali sweets. Often in the past he has worked through Friday nights and weekends, struggling to keep up with deadlines. That conversation got me thinking about the freakin insanity of the whole thing. Doesn't the "work to live, not live to work" concept hold good anymore? I have seen friends in equity sales, investment banking, or for that matter, in many arbit profiles, burning out by the minute.
In our whole distorted ordering of priorities, we end up giving such a ridiculous weightage to achieving (or holding on to) a fast track career, that we actually stop living. We used to have so much fun in college, with little or no money in our pockets. But then we walked on a programmed path towards becoming an engineer/doctor/CA/MBA/Businessperson and entered the rat race. No, this is worse. This is a shit race. We are all turds in a fkin shit race, gettin flushed away so fast, without getting a chance to leave any kind of mark.
Even just in my limited social sphere, i know so many young people who are unhappy with what they are doing. I'm not talking about people generally cribbing or being greedy for more. I'm talking about the unhappiness resulting from wanting to do something different. Something more meaningful or fun, or something reflecting our innate nature and individuality. And i'm talking about the kind of people who can never be at peace with the fact that they are working on a pre-designed job description in a pre-designed grade structure, and knowing that they can be effortlessly substituted by another dummy in a tie and a good shirt, who'll probably do the job as well, if not better.
I'm not in any way trying to suggest that a corporate job is bad. If you have a job profile that you like and are getting paid to your satisfaction, it can be really great. Promotions, bonuses, responsibilities, status....lots of good things to look forward to.
But if you are continuously unsatisfied and are pining to do something else, which will probably give you much more happiness and peace even if it is at a lower income, i hope you are lucky enough to have the courage to make that change. I'm still working on tightening my balls enough to finally break free. I want to give a shot at some long standing plans. If they dont work out, i know i'll be able to pick up a job again, satisfied that atleast i tried.
And that situation need not be all bad. For example, the place where i work is amazing. Bosses are great (though you cant have the same bosses forever....who knows if there is gonna be a terrible one in the future), culture is nice, have some good friends amongst the colleagues, etc. This is the kind of place where I can work for 20-30 years without being desperate to move. But inspite of all that, for a long time now there has been a constant unhappiness lingering under the surface. I know i have to try doing something on my own. And i know i have to explore my creative side. I just have to do it. Its now or never. There's a lot of clarity about that, but its still so damn difficult to take that final call....
Why are silly things like losing a year or having a gap in our CV so scary to us? One of the things we are probably most afraid of is falling behind our batchmates and peers and being thought of as a laggard. Fk it all.
This one is from the eyes of my friend boozy, and is for every person stuck and slogging it off in a deadbeat job...
================================
Aching to break free...
I get out of my home and
There's an eerie calm on the street
I head towards the station
I head towards the station
Dragging my tired and aching feet
It feels so strange to climb
The railway bridge all alone
Noone pushes or gropes me
Noone pushes or gropes me
Or even tries to flick my phone
Even the train pullin in slowly
Has a lazy air around it
No need to hunt for a toehold
No need to hunt for a toehold
Its so unreal...there's place to sit
My heart is sinkin fast
As the office block gets closer
The security guy signing me in
The security guy signing me in
Seems to whisper "what a loser!"
Project reports & Status reports
& data analysis spreadsheets
Deliverables & deadlines
Deliverables & deadlines
Hammer down like drum beats
The dull glow from the monitor
Lights up my swollen eye sacs
The keyboard rests on the monster
That I've grown instead of 6-packs
I am utterly exhausted
And my poor back needs some healing
But all thats nothing compared to
This deap-seated unhappy feeling
My tired body and weary mind
Are screaming out a warning
Yet, what am i doing in office again
Yet, what am i doing in office again
on a beautiful Sunday morning?
The only great thing today is
I dont have to stand in line
The coffe machine, the photocopier,
The coffe machine, the photocopier,
food counters & urinals are all mine
But I wonder where i'm heading to
Is this what i'd set out for?
The momentum has somehow built up so
The momentum has somehow built up so
Things dont make sense any more
Get an email from an old friend
Has some pics of the good ol' days
A guitar, drums, beer bottles,
A guitar, drums, beer bottles,
Great buddies who've parted ways
I wanted to play guitar and to write..
I wanted to do something cool
Something to pour my soul in
Something to pour my soul in
But i'm sitting here like a fool
The empty feeling inside me
Is screaming out a warning
Yet, what am i doing in office again
Yet, what am i doing in office again
on a beautiful Sunday morning?
- Vivek Rao
================================
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
2 weekends 2 trips - part 2
1-4 Oct: Sangli - Kolhapur - Saundatti
My mom has been speaking for quite a while about going to Saundatti to the Renuka Mata (who is our "Kulaswamini") temple. Since 2nd was a public holiday a plan quickly got formed. Since i rarely get out for religious trips, mom also made plans for a puja at Narsobachi Wadi near Sangli.
Bhau came down to pune on sunday, 27th, just a few hours after dd and i returned from our mahabaleshwar trip. Mom had demanded his presence for Dassera on monday. On tuesday bhau, mom and dad drove to kolhapur, while rashmi, chiu and i moved to my in-law's place at karve nagar.
Thursday evening we left for sangli in a hired tavera and reached narsobachi wadi by 10pm, approx a couple of hours after the others had reached from kolhapur. We stayed at Ved Bhavan, a nice two-storied structure constructed by Sharad Upadhyay (Rashi Chakra) for conducting puja's, yagnya's, philosophical discourses, etc. The pic below shows the hall in which the puja was done; there is also a yagnya-kund there. Pittya had also come down in the car, and after a spicy dinner prepared by the caretaker couple, we chatted for a while before hitting the sack.
The puja started early morning the next day and was over just before noon. Then we took darshan at the beautiful Dutta temple on the Krishna riverbank. After that it was a half hour drive to baby (!) atya's place at sangli. In the evening we went to the famous Ganapati temple in the heart of sangli; it is really worth seeing. It is quite spacious and clean, with a beautiful idol that can be seen even from a few km outside.
Since the car couldn't seat all of us, dad and pittya took a bus to kolhapur while we drove down. Rashmi and i were visiting after 5 years and in fact we were seeing yogya's wife and kids for the first time. We hogged on some fantastic khichdi made by Rita maushi and then relaxed. The whole attention was on the two Aditi's, both looking absolutely adorable. A.Rao is 1yr 1m old, while A.Chavan is 1yr 9m old.
We left early next morning for saundatti, the car totally weighed down by 5 'healthy' individuals and a completely packed boot. It had started raining heavily in many parts of maharashtra and initially it was very tough going because our windshield wipers were quite screwed up. Luckily we managed to get the drivers side wiper changed at a small village on the way.
We had been told that the saundatti temple is closed from 1-4pm everyday, and so we took a small detour to see the Gokak waterfall. What a sight! Fed by the heavy downpour upstream, the waterfall looked like an angry monster. You can check out a couple of great videos on my brothers blog on this link:
http://blog.quasi.in/2009/10/waterfall-at-gokak.html
There is a rope bridge on the river just before the waterfall. It seems to be quite strong, reinforced by steel cables, and one concrete pillar roughly halfway across, but you have to walk on wooden planks which have gaps between them and the whole bloody bridge sways as you walk across. It was very scary and real good fun. The roar of the waterfall and the sight of the dark muddy river thundering past below makes it a nicely terrifying experience. My dad had given us strict instructions not to go on the bridge, and so bhau, rashmi and I promptly went. We went halfway and stopped at the pillar to enjoy the sight. Then rashmi and I actually begged bhau to go back to the riverbank and to a nice small temple (see pic below) overlooking the waterfall and click a photo of us standing on the bridge. Poor guy obliged. :-)
You can barely make us out on the bridge though :-(
We ended up spending too much time at gokak and reached saundatti by 4:30pm. On the way one of my uncles called from kolhapur to inform us that there was a really bad flood situation in karnataka and south maharashtra, due to which many roads near and around belgaun had been closed off. Saundatti is approx 65kms from belgaun and we bacame a bit apprehensive, but pushed on. There was water everywhere in the fields on both sides of the road, and the small streams we crossed were full.
On reaching we were shocked to find that the temple was not closed in the afternoon and had just been closed at 4pm! We somehow talked our way into getting inside for a quick darshan. There were only priests inside, bathing the goddess and starting the puja. We got real nice almost exclusive darshan for a few mins and then we had to get out. There was a brief bad scene when some super aggressive beggar women started harrassing my mom for money, but we escaped. The pic below shows the mandir kalash.
We were all really tired by now and the drive back seemed to stretch on and on. The heavy rain wasn't helping at all. I had been driving all the way since 7am and by the time we reached the highway near belgaun i suddenly started feeling damn exhausted and handed over the wheel to bhau. We reached kolhapur by 11pm, extremely fatigued, and just crashed.
The next morning we woke up late, had a superb breakfast of some speacial wada's pittya got for us. Then we were off to the famous Ambabai temple for darshan. After that were visits to Avi mama's and Nilu mama's places, and then we left for pune. Reached home late at night, with the wonderful prospect of monday morning hovering just a few hours away....
The whole family of 6 had gone out together after ages. Overall a great trip.
My mom has been speaking for quite a while about going to Saundatti to the Renuka Mata (who is our "Kulaswamini") temple. Since 2nd was a public holiday a plan quickly got formed. Since i rarely get out for religious trips, mom also made plans for a puja at Narsobachi Wadi near Sangli.
Bhau came down to pune on sunday, 27th, just a few hours after dd and i returned from our mahabaleshwar trip. Mom had demanded his presence for Dassera on monday. On tuesday bhau, mom and dad drove to kolhapur, while rashmi, chiu and i moved to my in-law's place at karve nagar.
Thursday evening we left for sangli in a hired tavera and reached narsobachi wadi by 10pm, approx a couple of hours after the others had reached from kolhapur. We stayed at Ved Bhavan, a nice two-storied structure constructed by Sharad Upadhyay (Rashi Chakra) for conducting puja's, yagnya's, philosophical discourses, etc. The pic below shows the hall in which the puja was done; there is also a yagnya-kund there. Pittya had also come down in the car, and after a spicy dinner prepared by the caretaker couple, we chatted for a while before hitting the sack.
The puja started early morning the next day and was over just before noon. Then we took darshan at the beautiful Dutta temple on the Krishna riverbank. After that it was a half hour drive to baby (!) atya's place at sangli. In the evening we went to the famous Ganapati temple in the heart of sangli; it is really worth seeing. It is quite spacious and clean, with a beautiful idol that can be seen even from a few km outside.
Since the car couldn't seat all of us, dad and pittya took a bus to kolhapur while we drove down. Rashmi and i were visiting after 5 years and in fact we were seeing yogya's wife and kids for the first time. We hogged on some fantastic khichdi made by Rita maushi and then relaxed. The whole attention was on the two Aditi's, both looking absolutely adorable. A.Rao is 1yr 1m old, while A.Chavan is 1yr 9m old.
We left early next morning for saundatti, the car totally weighed down by 5 'healthy' individuals and a completely packed boot. It had started raining heavily in many parts of maharashtra and initially it was very tough going because our windshield wipers were quite screwed up. Luckily we managed to get the drivers side wiper changed at a small village on the way.
We had been told that the saundatti temple is closed from 1-4pm everyday, and so we took a small detour to see the Gokak waterfall. What a sight! Fed by the heavy downpour upstream, the waterfall looked like an angry monster. You can check out a couple of great videos on my brothers blog on this link:
http://blog.quasi.in/2009/10/waterfall-at-gokak.html
There is a rope bridge on the river just before the waterfall. It seems to be quite strong, reinforced by steel cables, and one concrete pillar roughly halfway across, but you have to walk on wooden planks which have gaps between them and the whole bloody bridge sways as you walk across. It was very scary and real good fun. The roar of the waterfall and the sight of the dark muddy river thundering past below makes it a nicely terrifying experience. My dad had given us strict instructions not to go on the bridge, and so bhau, rashmi and I promptly went. We went halfway and stopped at the pillar to enjoy the sight. Then rashmi and I actually begged bhau to go back to the riverbank and to a nice small temple (see pic below) overlooking the waterfall and click a photo of us standing on the bridge. Poor guy obliged. :-)
You can barely make us out on the bridge though :-(
We ended up spending too much time at gokak and reached saundatti by 4:30pm. On the way one of my uncles called from kolhapur to inform us that there was a really bad flood situation in karnataka and south maharashtra, due to which many roads near and around belgaun had been closed off. Saundatti is approx 65kms from belgaun and we bacame a bit apprehensive, but pushed on. There was water everywhere in the fields on both sides of the road, and the small streams we crossed were full.
On reaching we were shocked to find that the temple was not closed in the afternoon and had just been closed at 4pm! We somehow talked our way into getting inside for a quick darshan. There were only priests inside, bathing the goddess and starting the puja. We got real nice almost exclusive darshan for a few mins and then we had to get out. There was a brief bad scene when some super aggressive beggar women started harrassing my mom for money, but we escaped. The pic below shows the mandir kalash.
We were all really tired by now and the drive back seemed to stretch on and on. The heavy rain wasn't helping at all. I had been driving all the way since 7am and by the time we reached the highway near belgaun i suddenly started feeling damn exhausted and handed over the wheel to bhau. We reached kolhapur by 11pm, extremely fatigued, and just crashed.
The next morning we woke up late, had a superb breakfast of some speacial wada's pittya got for us. Then we were off to the famous Ambabai temple for darshan. After that were visits to Avi mama's and Nilu mama's places, and then we left for pune. Reached home late at night, with the wonderful prospect of monday morning hovering just a few hours away....
The whole family of 6 had gone out together after ages. Overall a great trip.
Monday, October 12, 2009
2 weekends 2 trips - part 1
26-27 sept: Mahabaleshwar
Dd and I spoke over phone on friday and suddenly decided to do a quick mahabaleshwar trip on sat-sun. I just wanted to get out for a while. He was on a months break between jobs and was actually quite bored with sitting at home. Understandable, since his work life is usually quite exciting: stressful days with heartbeats linked to the markets, followed by evenings at some uber-expensive bar, "servicing" some client or the other.
It was a short trip; he picked me up at pune at noon on saturday, and we were back in pune by 7pm on sunday. The best thing was that we had no agenda whatsoever, and just did whatever we felt like. I think we were just driving all the time, but since the roads were great throughout the trip, that was very enjoyable.
At night we boozed (dont we always) and had a nice looong chat. We were anyways jabbering away during the whole trip as a good drive, like booze, makes for good conversation. With dd it is always familiar territory and we probably said a lot of stuff that would have already been spoken before on some prior occassion. We are both major cribbers, and most of our topics have that common thread running through!
I hate to admit this, but we ended up doing a lot of romantic stuff together:
- we took a horse carriage ride on the tableland
- we picked a motel room with a bathtub
- we ate chocolate fudge from one plate
- we shopped in the mahabaleshwar market (not hand in hand)
- and to top it all, we went boating
That horse carriage ride was such a big fraud. We were promised to be taken on a 45 minute ride and shown 10 "points". The smart-ass carriage boy we got bombarded us with arbit bollywood trivia related to pachgani and mahabaleshwar. "....amir khan came out of the water here....raj kapoor had a sexy scene there....karishma and amir kissed under that tree...." etc etc. And from time to time he kept turning back with a wicked grin and asking us "You married? All married couples come here and enjoy!". The bas*&%!
He must have said 'enjoy' atleast a 100 times.
He finished off the ten points in the first 5 mins and completed the round trip in 25. When we asked about this he asked us to spend 20 mins walking around clicking pics like other tourists. Actually speaking we weren't all that sad....we had anyways been just hanging on for dear life as the carriage had been bucking around like a wild bull in heat. I dont recommend that ride to any fellow spondylitis sufferer.
We had one amazing find in the trip though. The next day, on the way back, we stopped at Parsi Point near pachgani to take in the beautiful view and hog on some super delicious wada pav. The view from that point is that of a flat piece of land surrounded by mountains on 3 sides and a lake on the 4th. Looking down, we noticed a surprisingly large temple approx in the middle. Feeling curious we decided to explore.
We took a small by road from Vai and made our way towards Chikligaon, a small hamlet where the temple is situated. On the way we passed "Dhom Dam", where entry is absolutely forbidden since the terrorist attack on the Taj. Beyond the dam is a Boat Club. The name is misleading as there is actually just a tiny jetty-like structure and a couple of small motor boats. The caretaker of the neighbouring godown takes tourists on joy rides on these boats. I'm shit scared of water, but dd forced me into a life jacket, and then into a small motor boat for a long ride on the lake.
The view from that boat club is mind blowing! Pachgani and mahabaleshwar are really beautiful and all that, but this view was phenomenal. Amazingly picturesque and serene. Dd and I will probably always go there on every trip to mahabaleshwar.
A few km onwards, we reached the temple, which is really very large as compared to the small hamlets that surround it. Chatted with a talkative priest there, had darshan, clicked a few snaps and we turned back.
We reached pune by around 7pm and hogged on lots of chaat outside my building. That was the first chaat i had after shifting to pune and it felt great. What a way to end a great trip.
Dd and I spoke over phone on friday and suddenly decided to do a quick mahabaleshwar trip on sat-sun. I just wanted to get out for a while. He was on a months break between jobs and was actually quite bored with sitting at home. Understandable, since his work life is usually quite exciting: stressful days with heartbeats linked to the markets, followed by evenings at some uber-expensive bar, "servicing" some client or the other.
It was a short trip; he picked me up at pune at noon on saturday, and we were back in pune by 7pm on sunday. The best thing was that we had no agenda whatsoever, and just did whatever we felt like. I think we were just driving all the time, but since the roads were great throughout the trip, that was very enjoyable.
At night we boozed (dont we always) and had a nice looong chat. We were anyways jabbering away during the whole trip as a good drive, like booze, makes for good conversation. With dd it is always familiar territory and we probably said a lot of stuff that would have already been spoken before on some prior occassion. We are both major cribbers, and most of our topics have that common thread running through!
I hate to admit this, but we ended up doing a lot of romantic stuff together:
- we took a horse carriage ride on the tableland
- we picked a motel room with a bathtub
- we ate chocolate fudge from one plate
- we shopped in the mahabaleshwar market (not hand in hand)
- and to top it all, we went boating
That horse carriage ride was such a big fraud. We were promised to be taken on a 45 minute ride and shown 10 "points". The smart-ass carriage boy we got bombarded us with arbit bollywood trivia related to pachgani and mahabaleshwar. "....amir khan came out of the water here....raj kapoor had a sexy scene there....karishma and amir kissed under that tree...." etc etc. And from time to time he kept turning back with a wicked grin and asking us "You married? All married couples come here and enjoy!". The bas*&%!
He must have said 'enjoy' atleast a 100 times.
He finished off the ten points in the first 5 mins and completed the round trip in 25. When we asked about this he asked us to spend 20 mins walking around clicking pics like other tourists. Actually speaking we weren't all that sad....we had anyways been just hanging on for dear life as the carriage had been bucking around like a wild bull in heat. I dont recommend that ride to any fellow spondylitis sufferer.
We had one amazing find in the trip though. The next day, on the way back, we stopped at Parsi Point near pachgani to take in the beautiful view and hog on some super delicious wada pav. The view from that point is that of a flat piece of land surrounded by mountains on 3 sides and a lake on the 4th. Looking down, we noticed a surprisingly large temple approx in the middle. Feeling curious we decided to explore.
We took a small by road from Vai and made our way towards Chikligaon, a small hamlet where the temple is situated. On the way we passed "Dhom Dam", where entry is absolutely forbidden since the terrorist attack on the Taj. Beyond the dam is a Boat Club. The name is misleading as there is actually just a tiny jetty-like structure and a couple of small motor boats. The caretaker of the neighbouring godown takes tourists on joy rides on these boats. I'm shit scared of water, but dd forced me into a life jacket, and then into a small motor boat for a long ride on the lake.
The view from that boat club is mind blowing! Pachgani and mahabaleshwar are really beautiful and all that, but this view was phenomenal. Amazingly picturesque and serene. Dd and I will probably always go there on every trip to mahabaleshwar.
A few km onwards, we reached the temple, which is really very large as compared to the small hamlets that surround it. Chatted with a talkative priest there, had darshan, clicked a few snaps and we turned back.
We reached pune by around 7pm and hogged on lots of chaat outside my building. That was the first chaat i had after shifting to pune and it felt great. What a way to end a great trip.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Glorious monday morning!
I see so many grumpy faces in office today morning....and just because its today morning! Are you feeling the monday blues too? Why???
Its a beautiful monday morning and there is loads and loads of work to be done! Dont you feel the excitement of a full days work schedule surging through your veins? Doesn't it add meaning to life? Doesn't it make every rupee lying in your bank account seem sweeter, cause you have really earned it?
Breathe in deeply and let the challenges of a glorious monday morning give you a high that no single malt can. Walk up to your boss and demand tighter deadlines, tougher tasks and complex deliverables, cause you can do it today. Repeat to yourself that you can do it today! Slap yourself tight in the face and let the sting remind you to be grateful that you have a cushy office job and a good home to go back to.
Just think... for the next 5 days you dont need to waste time, just lying around watching tv....you can instead:
- look forward to waking up nice and early after just 5 hours of sleep
- look forward to the restful hours of commute where you get a chance to rub shoulders (and several unmentionable parts) with your fellow countrymen
- look forward to toiling till late in the evening, excercising your grey cells, pushing back your thinning grey hair
- look forward to 5 days of energetic activities like
.......intellectual masturbation to cook up crappy ideas
.......desperate class participation to liven up dreary meetings
.......healthy bouts of back stabbing with colleagues
.......self-respect-crushing directives to juniors
.......and to top it all, some delicious ass licking of customers, seniors and influential secretaries!
So i say, cheer up, cause its a glorious monday morning!
Its a beautiful monday morning and there is loads and loads of work to be done! Dont you feel the excitement of a full days work schedule surging through your veins? Doesn't it add meaning to life? Doesn't it make every rupee lying in your bank account seem sweeter, cause you have really earned it?
Breathe in deeply and let the challenges of a glorious monday morning give you a high that no single malt can. Walk up to your boss and demand tighter deadlines, tougher tasks and complex deliverables, cause you can do it today. Repeat to yourself that you can do it today! Slap yourself tight in the face and let the sting remind you to be grateful that you have a cushy office job and a good home to go back to.
Just think... for the next 5 days you dont need to waste time, just lying around watching tv....you can instead:
- look forward to waking up nice and early after just 5 hours of sleep
- look forward to the restful hours of commute where you get a chance to rub shoulders (and several unmentionable parts) with your fellow countrymen
- look forward to toiling till late in the evening, excercising your grey cells, pushing back your thinning grey hair
- look forward to 5 days of energetic activities like
.......intellectual masturbation to cook up crappy ideas
.......desperate class participation to liven up dreary meetings
.......healthy bouts of back stabbing with colleagues
.......self-respect-crushing directives to juniors
.......and to top it all, some delicious ass licking of customers, seniors and influential secretaries!
So i say, cheer up, cause its a glorious monday morning!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Life...
Does it really matter if somebody likes
These random words, a few scribbled lines,
This life itself is poetry
Those were at most concocted rhymes...
:-)
These random words, a few scribbled lines,
This life itself is poetry
Those were at most concocted rhymes...
:-)
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
All down...
Sniff sniff. Spent the last 2 days in bed with a bad case of cold and throat infection, accompanied by burning in the eyes, headache, etc etc. Thankfully no fever though. Wife was down with similar symptoms from saturday to monday, but improved today. Mom also had cold, cough and tummy ache, so even she's feeling pretty low. Dad was alright till today and was managing Choti all alone, but even he has developed cold today. Choti gave us a scare today by vomiting thrice, but is much much better now.... :-)
I've recovered 50% by now; throat seems better but nose is flowing at the rate booze usually flows at our parties...no takers though! hehehe Feeling really tired bec of the persistent cold, but am not complaining too much; have been through worse shit.
Eyes are tired, desparately need sleep but my full and flowing nose is making sleep impossible. Have to get up every few minutes. So thought i'll post my woes here, and then continue reading Othello.
I've recovered 50% by now; throat seems better but nose is flowing at the rate booze usually flows at our parties...no takers though! hehehe Feeling really tired bec of the persistent cold, but am not complaining too much; have been through worse shit.
Eyes are tired, desparately need sleep but my full and flowing nose is making sleep impossible. Have to get up every few minutes. So thought i'll post my woes here, and then continue reading Othello.
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