Recharging batteries

Well... after my last bout of thoughtfulness I realised, to actually concentrate on the task at hand I need to get away from London and recharge my batteries. With exams looming large on the horizon it really was important for me to get down to the dirty task of sifting through notes and lecture presentations of the term gone by to ensure that I knew enough of the stuff to get a good score. However, the mind refused to concentrate. It was at this juncture that an old school friend of mine turned up as a saviour. He has been studying medicine at the University of Glasgow for about three years and that's where he was inviting me for the weekend. Having last met him nearly 4 years ago, when he was had come around to India (he was finishing up with BSc from King's College, London), this indeed was a trip I would have been more than glad to go for.

A little check on the modes of transport available - road, rail n air, I settled for an overnight journey by road on a National Express coach scheduled for departure on Friday night (that's exactly a week before). Needless to say, the journey was pretty sleepless. Barely having slept on the journey, I was disappointed to find Glasgow being drenched by the weather gods on Saturday morning. And we were early. So, I just about waited around at the Buchanan Bus Station till my friend turned up (we shall refer him as R henceforth). Right after, R turned up we went for a coffee. Being about as early as 7:30 in the morning, hardly a few shops were open. Luckily, the nearby McDonald's had just started business. Saved our caffeine parched souls. A little bit of chit chat, while we waited at the bus stop. It was at this point that it struck us, that we could take a walk back to his accommodation. It was a 45 min walk, but given our past track records from schooldays, this was probably a warm up walk (which indeed it turned out to be later). A long walk and a nice chat!!

A little bit of rest, a breakfast and we were off for a bit of walking tour of the University of Glasgow's Gilmore Hill campus. What ensued was a long walk of about 3 hours. Back to quarters and it was lunchtime. Evening saw us headed out to nearest pub, where his chums had gathered. As the evening rolled by, more trooped in as did the number of our drinks go up. Now R, has decided to get me drunk (I still wonder why) and had sworn not to leave the pub till so (despite my warning him against it). As fate, would have we left when the pub close around midnight, R a bit high, while the old self being absolutely normal. I faintly remember him calling a gutter later that night before we retired to bed. A dinner of haggis with gravy was on the cards though. Now haggis is a traditional Scottish dish, so a must have if you are in Scotland. Its made of pork, so in case, you are sensitive to it ask for variations if they have it.

And so, lazing by and basically being the useless gits that we truly are, the next couple of days rolled by, till it was time to trudge back to London on Tuesday night. Thankfully, I had a co-passenger who didn't snore and the bus was fairly comfortable to allow for a good night's sleep. Now my co-passenger while returning was an 80 year old lady, who was travelling all the way to Kent to attend her elder sister's 90th birthday. Quite a commendable effort on her part, as she was travelling all along. Had a nice chat with her and was quite amused at her expression of "Oh dear", which perhaps punctuated most of her sentences. An old english habit?? I am not so sure.

A Slice of History

There are times when you visit a place you really get the feeling that if presented with a time travel machine, you would like to travel to back to an era at the same location and see how things were back then. On a recent trip to Mahabalipuram or Mammallapuram I had a similar thought. Standing on top of it's hillocks, and exploring its "known" secrets I couldn't help but think "what if".

Mahabalipuram hosts excellent specimens of early Pallava art around 680-720 AD. The Pallavas were the then rulers of the land and used Mahabalipuram as a port city. The sculptures consists of Monolithic carvings, Reliefs, Excavated carvings. The most notable of them all are the five rathas (chariots), said to be carved out of a single stone. The rathas are dedicated to the Pandavas and their wife Draupadi. The different styles of chariots allows one to understand the designs that the sculptures back then used. The excavated caves/mandapas (ones built into the stone) are present about a kilometre away. The temple of Govardhandhari and Ramanuja Mandapa shows the showcases craftsmanship and perhaps engineering expertise that people of that age exhibited. The Ganesh chariot, made square and carved of a single rock (monolithic carving) does leave you in awe as you would look closely at the details carved on it. The Bhima ratha is of a similar style. The other notable temple is the Shore temple. Being next to the sea, has caused a lot of it's details to be eroded with time, but the architectural splendour of the temple would still catch you breath. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, it has Shiva in a reclining pose within one of its temple chambers.

Pallava Dynasty: A powerful dynasty in south India which ruled for more than 500 years with its capital at Kanchipuram. Read more at Pallava, Pallava Dynasty

Pandavas and Draupadi: Mythology has it that the Pandavas were borne to Kunti and Madri, wives of king Pandu, by gods due to a boon received by Kunti from sage Durvasa. Read more at Pandavas.

Mahabalipuram is connected by road to Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu and is 52 kms away. One can hire a car or take a bus from the city. The entire trip to Mahabalipuram would last a maximum of 2-3 hrs. Do ensure you have a guide with you when you visit the town, as without it the importance of the sculptures would never be evident to you. Sadly enough the ASI has done little on that account, with hardly any plaques around describing the importance of the structure.

The Land of Merlion and Suvarnabhumi !!

Righty ho.... back after a nice vacation during which I covered quite a few places. So not much writing for now... the travelogue is still being written... so patience please!! Till then enjoy some of the pics... more will follow!! :)

Singapore

Merlion, Centosa Island - Mom and bro in foreground

Seaworld, Centosa Island - Dad, mom and bro

Dolphin Show Venue, Centosa Island

Amphitheatre, Jurong Bird Park

Butterfly Park, Centosa Island - Sis and me

Suvarnabhumi (Bangkok)

Temple of the Emerald Buddha


The Grand Palace

The Marble Temple

The Coronation Hall - Bro

That's not all!! There are more... But then those would have to wait!! Till then cheerio!!

Runtime 2007

Well this is an annual get together organised by the firm where I work. The unique thing about this get together is family is invited. Loads of programs, awards and games, spread over two days at some location which keeps on changing every year!! This year Runtime was being held at Mumbai, the d-day being 5th and 6th May.

5th May - Pune -> Mumbai

The journey begins at about 0600 hrs. 4 buses start on different routes to pick up people and continue towards Mumbai. Yours truly happened to be the bus coordinator for one of them - No. 3. What started out as a fun journey soon turned into a dreadful one as the bus hit the expressway at a snail's pace and continued like that till the last minute!! Ah, the frustration!! Can't explain it!! 1200 hrs we finally hit Mumbai or rather Navi Mumbai (nearing vashi), where to our surprise the driver heads straight towards Airoli....... What is he thinking?? No way we can turn back!! And so in the humidity and oppressive heat of Mumbai 30 odd souls wait for the journey to get over.

The destination - Naval Bagh, Madh Island, Mumbai

1400 hrs: Finally we are there. Naval Bagh.......... 8 hrs journey!! Phew!! boy were we tired?? We checked into Hotel Retreat, where incidentally only the families were to stay. So we stags and the "spinsters" get a room each to freshen up!! And move out to Naval Bagh!! Nothing much was left for us though.......... except the lunch. So, what with lunch done........ The dance troupe of Pune (fellow colleagues) moved out for their dress change and venue check (and stuff like that). Incidentally, the evening venue was different. This time it was Saina Resort, about 2-3 k ahead. And the rest of the gang simply lounged around!! Will never forget the smell of fish their....... remembered it from my childhood days...... ewwww!!!

Saina Resort - Aaja nachle!!

The evening promised to be nothing but full of dances. Interspersed with some award ceremonies :D. I'll skip the awards and head for the dance shows......... First on stage was the team from Mahape. They did some sort of a tribal dance sequence, couldn't make out much of it!! Next on stage was "Aamchya pune office cha dance troupe". Now this was a performance to watch out for. The girls troop in to the tunes of Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps". No comments on that ;). Next the boys with "Bebo" (heard that for the first time!!), and finally all of them on stage for Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie"........ And well.... not a single hip was lying then.... they all wanted to dance!! :) And finally The SEEPZ guys with a stupendous rendition of the title song of Omkara - which was primarily classical (close to the tandav nritya!!). And finally nach baliye begins!!

The couples were too good.......... We saw them grooving away to "Say Na", "Dil mein baji guitar", "pyar ki yeh kahaani sunoh" and a few medleys!! In short awesome chemistry, great moves............ the mood was set!! And then the DJ set in with some really groovy music........Wild dancing and a sumptuous dinner later, at about 2300 hrs, the singles club members set for their hotel at Powai.........

6th May - Some rest and sleep

0100 hrs: Finally checked into the room. What a sleepy journey....... and slow too!! Arghhh............ I was ready to kill the driver!! Anyways, took a nice bath..... caught up a few calls (kept them really short for a change!!) and crashed into a dreamless sleep. Its been a long day!! Have to wake up early for the buffet breakfast.

1100 hrs: I just open my eyes, and was shocked to find no one in the room!! "Huh!! What happened??" Checked my watch!! "Crap!! Missed breakfast!!" Couldn't help but recollect my hostel days when I would invariably miss the "good" breakfasts by oversleeping!! (More of that in some other post). Anyways, with my sleep having scurried away to god knows which remote corner, what with my hunger pangs setting in, I set about for a leisurely bath... and then some coffee and the morning paper!! Ah!! Princely state of affairs, don't you think?? hehe......Through with coffee and the newspaper, I decided to check out the hotel facilities and headed for the recreation room. And found an old sweetheart there - Snooker!! Soon enough found a partner in Sunil, and got on to a couple of games of snooker, which we had to drop in the end and rush for lunch............. we were too engrossed in it!!

Catching up

While doing all this, I happened to chance across a senior of mine from college. Was pleasantly surprised. They were putting up in the same hotel coz of some training of theirs. It really was good catching up with her!!

SRPF grounds

1800 hrs: Just reached there, the sun still blazing on our heads....... I had chosen to go for a jacket tie affair for the formal dress code show..... IN the end the tie remained tucked in my jacket, while the jacket only got a chance to grace me when the sun went down, the breeze was a bit cooler!! The awards were on.............. This time, C# - the official music band performed and regaled the audience with some really superb tracks. The finals of Nach Baliye followed......... keenly fought...... the deserving couple took away the prize. And then....... SILENCE on stage as teh crowd tucked in to delicious food laid out in front of them.

2030 hrs: "Yaaron dosti............" Someone started crooning on stage. Yes, folks........ KK just announced his entry!! Drop the food, its time for some real music........ From then till about 2200 hrs, he mesmerised the entire crowd with his melodious voice and even more enchanting songs!! It was bliss!!From there back to the hotel. Crash and sleep......... for we had an early start the next day for Pune!! Runtime 2007 had come to an end.

Met up with old friends, guess earned a few friends......... enjoyed, freaked out....... Did it all....... In short was a good break!! A hectic but fun filled vacation!!

To wilderness and back!!

The Beginning!!

As the year 2006 drew to a close, certain wanderlust struck souls decided to ring in the new year in a different manner. Not the regular party hopping neither sitting back at home and whiling the time away...... nopes this was not what these people had in mind. They wanted a getaway........ somewhere far from the crowd, the hustle-bustle of the everyday life, somewhere amidst the nature. And thus, the plan to go to Diveagar was hatched. A beach side village on the Konkan coast, this place was almost a perfect picture of what we had in mind. However, fate willed otherwise. No accommodation, and thus again we started scouting around for a place which would offer exactly what we had in mind. And then Malshej Ghat happened. A beautiful but lonely spot amidst the western ghats, this place is roughly 170 km away from Pune, and 70 km from Kalyan. A small village on NH 222 in the Thane district, this place had a charm of its own but that was what we found out much later. Spirits were high as we gathered people around us. And soon enough we had a team of 6. Me, Kuntal, Ipshita, Soumi, Soumen and Arunava. And the journey was to start on 29th December, 2006 - 9:00 p.m. And then the wait for the designated day started....................

What with life moving along in its familiar wheel of daily chores, before long it was 29th morning as me and Kuntal stepped out to buy wood and coal to make a bonfire for us at Malshej. Oh, I forgot!! Our reservations were made at the MTDC resort out there. One cottage, 6 people.....6 nutters!! And so we bought the supplies....... But, all was not meant to be fine, as Ipsy reported in sick. Still we decided to go ahead and went about our daily activities that a professional life demands.

The DropOut!!

29/12/2006, 9:00 pm - Me and Kuntal were waiting for the hired car to turn up at our office. It duly turned up at 10..... We loaded the Tavera, with beer and wood apart from our luggage, and moved ahead towards Soumi's place, where she and Arunava would be waiting for us a pre-decided landmark. Meanwhile, Soumen got stuck at some client meeting in his office at Magarpatta city. What a blow!! This set back out calculations by quite a few hours. Still, we had to hang around. To utilise it fully, the four of us had dinner, turned up at my place for our first drink of the trip (soumi the exception here!!). soon enough it was midnight. Soumen was in meeting for over an hour now. At this juncture, we hatched a devious plan to get Soumen out. And started for his office. But, fate had a different surprise for us in store.Soumen was not to be found at his office. We ended up bothering more than a few people across the various floors of his office. No meeting, no Soumen. Unable to figure out the situation clearly, we had to make a move now. We couldn't even reach him. Dejected at the turn of events we started on our way to Malshej Ghat at 2:00 a.m.

The BIG blow!!

As the cool breeze hit our face, we started getting into our groove. The night felt cold, but good!! We were finally on our way. The journey had begun. As we stared out into the night, watching the world sleep caught in the wrap of its self-created cocoon, where a myriad of emotions and thoughts swim along each other, we slowly eased into the warmth of the rug and the comfort of the music played in the Tavera. Everything was perfect. We prepared ourselves for Malshej still a few hours away. Till.................. till things went wrong!! It was near Rajguru nagar that the car broke drown, inexplicable but yes it broke down............. With it our joyous bearing was clouded by the uncertainty that such situations bring along with them. What shall we do now??

The way out..... and finally Malshej........

Kuntal took the initiative to look for some alternative mode of transport. After much looking around, he managed to hire a Maruti van at 3:30 in the morning!! And so we packed ourselves in the van and we continued our journey, with only the woods still left the Tavera. Malshej Ghat.......... here we come!! As we drove through the night, me and soumi managed to grab more than just a few winks of sleep. With break of dawn, we drove into Malshej, and finally at MTDC resort at 6:00 a.m. The scene was too beautiful............ And so our date with nature began!!A walk around and after catching some sleep, we whiled away the afternoon in our cottage with some music and loads of adda!! Come evening we stepped out, get a feel of the locality or whatever was in existence there. Imagine this place was cut off from the world, save for the lone phone booth some 2 km away. We strolled and then ran a little to the settlements there, and managed to gather some woods and kerosene to light up a fire in the night.

30/12/2006, 11:00 pm - The attempts to light up the fire started. After much effort and time consumption, we managed a fire. And what a fire it was. Simply great. Its embers lasted till teh early hours of the morning. Sitting by the fire, we chatted away to glory, sometimes the talk being serious, sometimes all in good fun. Laced with snacks and music...... and then the silence of the night, it was a night well spent as we finally retired in the wee hours of the morning....... the remnant of the fire still warm enough!!As the sun rose above our heads, our stay at Malshej too drew to a close. Our broken down Tavera nowhere in sight we decided to board the state transport bus to "Aalefata" from where we would get buses for Pune. And so our journey back home started, which oddly enough wasn't really eventful as was the journey to Malshej. But it remains a trip worth remembering, sights worth recalling and moments worth talking about!!

At the end of the day, I recall the lines from the great poem "Ithaca" where Constantine says:

"Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage, without her you would have never set out on the road, She has nothing more to give you. And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you. Wise as you have become, with so much experience, you must already have understood what Ithaca means."

Note: The photographs are courtesy Kuntal Saha.