Weekend Getaway from Hyderabad - Dindi Resort, Konaseema Andhra Pradesh

Where: Konaseema, Andhra Pradesh

Distance from Hyderabad: ~500 kms

When: 25th to 26th September 2011

Group Size: 8 People

Stayed At: Dindi Resorts, Along the Banks of the Godavari River (Rs. 2500 per room per night – Non Peak Season Rates)

Transport:
Since we all were based in Hyderabad, we drove down in two vehicles - a Maruti Swift (Diesel) and a Chevy Aveo (Petrol).

Ratings:
Food - 4/5
Service - 4/5
Infrastructure - 3/5
Ambience - 3.5/5
Accessibility 2/5
Novelty Factor - 4/5
Value for Money - 3/5

Day 1:
We had almost 500 kms to cover, so we set off at 4:30 AM from Hyderabad. After rendezvousing on the Outer Ring Road near Shamshabad Airport, we drove past Ramoji Film City and headed to Vijaywada on National Highway 9.

For the first 40 odd kms, the road is 4 laned and very comfortable to drive on. However, GMR Infrastructure hasn't yet completed the project and till almost 50 kms to Vijayawada the road is still under construction. By the look of things, I reckon that it wont be completed for at least another 15 months.

We stopped off at a highway restaurant called Seven which is at the Suryapet town (140 kms from Hyderabad) to have breakfast around 8:00 AM. I was pleasantly surprised to see such a well run joint in the middle of a highway still under construction. Service is quick, the loos are clean (ladies agreed), the place is well lit & crowded. It is as good (or bad) as any food court I've seen in a mall. They had north Indian & south Indian food. They even had a Subway counter, an HDFC Bank ATM and a car wash. And the bill for 8 of us was just Rs. 700/-.

After a good breakfast, we headed to Vijaywada and reached there by around 1:00 PM. Unfortunately, Vijaywada doesnt have a bypass or an outer ring road system in place. So you have to drive through the town. Depending on the time of the day & traffic conditions, this can take you anything between an hour or two. Vijaywada is a well developed city and even has a Taj Gateway. Good idea to stop somewhere for a loo break because once you hit the highway again, there arent any good places.

We opted not to have lunch at Vijawada, since we had already ordered lunch at Dindi Resort. After picking up a few (ok, more than a few) beers, we left the city. The highway from Vijaywada to Vizag is complete and it was a pleasure driving on it. Soon after you leave the city, you come across HUGE paddy fields. At the time we went, the grass was a brilliant green, which only paddy can have, and for city dwellers like us it was an awesome site. Beautiful green fields stretched out on either side of the road for as far as the eye could see. With the beer kicking in, the iPod finally playing and a smooth road suddenly our trip was a lot more fun.

By the time we reached the resort, it was 3:00 PM and needless to say we were all starving. The food that was served was very good. Had some excellent prawns & chicken along with rice, veges & daal. Good solid coastal Andhra food. Just an FYI, there is an AP Tourism Guesthouse next door which is bang on the banks of the river.

The resort consists of three cottages built over a 'pond'. The water in the pond is changed regularly from inflows of the river, which is barely 100 feet away. Two of the three units are slightly small and comfortable for three people. The third, which is the largest, has a small balcony (totally unnecessary) and a lovely sit out. This is a great spot to have a large group.

Post lunch, the smarter ones amongst us opted to rest while the married ones were taken for a two hour boat ride on the Godavari River. Am told that they visited an island and the resort people showed them an even more secluded place where another small resort is coming up.

After freshening up, we settled down to have a few drinks & snacks. Needless to say, the snacks were really well made once again. Fish, chicken, prawns just kept on being served. Dinner was just as good as lunch & no one had any reason to complain, either about the food or the service.

Day 2
The next morning I was woken up at 6:30 AM by a friend who used the only lever that would get me out of bed. He said, "Let's go take some pictures". After grumbling for a few minutes I dragged myself out of bed, got ready and headed out with him. We walked down to the river and took some pictures. After a while we headed back & I proceeded to wake up people. Let everyone share my joy! The ladies got up, though only when promised that I would take their portrait pictures. The guys, well... some of them needed the sleep.

After a long photography session, we got ready while the wifeys struggled to drag their husbands out of bed. By the time everyone was ready, it was 10:30 AM. Once again, the cooks gave us a great breakfast. Poori sabzi, mysore bonda, dosas, vadas, idlis, uttapas and a whole bunch of chutneys is all I can recall.

After saying our goodbyes (and paying our bills), we headed to a place called Antervedi which is at the mouth of the Godavari River. It was about 20 kms from Dindi Resort and took us a while getting there as we had to drive through many villages. When we finally got there, we visited the beach and then went to the river. There were people offering boat rides (800 bucks for 8 people) but since we had a long drive back, we didnt have the time. On the way back, we stopped off at the temple which unfortunately was closed for lunch. Still, good intentions count I guess.

The drive back was long and for quite a while boring. Instead of going back the way we came, we decided to take another route based on what the resort owner had told us. This was a mistake as it turned out to be much longer. Hate to say this, but after a while I got up of seeing paddy fields and longed for the highway and a good dhaba.

We finally had lunch at 4:00 PM just 30 kms short of Vijayawada. Everyone was ravenous but I still think the food was great. After a heavy meal (700 bucks for 8 people) everyone felt a lot better.

We got in to Vijaywada at 6:00 PM, the worst possible time, and were stuck for almost an hour. Traffic barely moved as trucks, buses & office commuters piled up. By the time we got out of the city it was well over 8:00 PM. We had a late dinner at the same restaurant, Seven, and reached Hyderabad by 1:00 AM. Though we were exhausted by then, everyone was happy and we parted in a good mood.

My Takeaways:
1. If you are going on a long roadtrip, take a diesel car. Petrol just isnt worth it. We spend 3000 on the Swift's fuel and 7500 on the Aveo's. No matter how you look at it - big car vs small car or whatever - there is a HUGE saving if you use diesel.

2. Leave early. Its worth it. Better to drag yourself out of bed in the morning than reach a place late and be too tired to do anything. The same thing applies to the return journey, I wish we had left a couple of hours earlier.

3. Take turns driving as it can get tiring and even the best drivers will make mistakes. But dont allow a city driver to take the wheel at night, especially on a bad road.

4. Though this may sound silly, if you have people who havent met before, mix up the groups in different vehicles. Give everyone a chance to get to know each other before you reach your destination.

5. Carry your own water (and alcohol) since you dont know when the next good stop will be.

6. Plan ahead. Decide where you want to stop for breaks. It sure as hell beats driving around looking for places, which can either slow you down or be a safety risk if you suddenly decide to stop.

7. Drive in a convoy. Decide who will lead and make sure that you stick together more or less.

8. Carry mosquito repellents, you never know. (Though we didnt need it)

Photography Learnings:
1. A kit lens (Nikkor 18-55 mm AF-S) is fine for a trip like this. It has the wide angle that really helps and works fine in low light conditions.

2. A lot of people, especially in rural areas, dont know how to use a DSLR. So carry a tripod if you want a group picture with everyone in it. I know this sounds like overkill, but trust me, when you get back you dont want someone missing from your group pic (esp the last one you take before you leave).

3. A prime lens (Nikkor 35mm AF-S 1.8 G) is a great lens to take portrait pictures.

4. Get up early, no matter how sleepy you are, if you want to take good portrait pictures.

5. Carry a reflector, I know I wish I had one.

Ranthambore Safari

Where: Ranthambore, Rajasthan

Nearest Airport: Jaipur (~150 Kms)

Nearest Railway Station: Sawai Madhopur (8 Kms from National Park)

When: 11th to 14th May 2011

Group Size: 9 People

Stayed At: Ankur Resorts, Sawai Madhopur (Rs. 2000 per room per night – Non Peak Season Rates)

Transport:
Flew to Jaipur from Hyderabad by Jet Airways & landed at 1:20 PM. Took an Innova to Sawai Madhopur which is approx 150 kms from Jaipur. The Innova cost us Rs. 3,500/- and took almost 4hours. Actually it shouldn’t have taken so long but the driver insisted on taking us via a ‘short cut’. While he may have saved on the distance, it took us longer to get to Sawai Madhopur.

Went back to Delhi on the August Kranti Rajdhani which we took from Sawai Madhopur Railway Station. Boarded the train at 6:30 AM and were at Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station by 11:00 AM.

Camera: Nikon D3000 with a 50-200mm VR lens

Safaris:
Usually the timings are 6:00 AM to 9:30 AM for the morning safari and 3:00 PM to 6:30 PM for the afternoon one. But since there was a tiger census on, the morning safari got delayed by an hour.

Our group was only interested in the safaris, so we booked both the morning & afternoon safaris. While I’ve heard that the walk to Ranthambore Fort is a good one, we opted not to take it. We were lucky to get Zone 2 & Zone 3 on both days.

Day 1:
In the morning, our first safari was Zone 3 which is the most picturesque of the zones with 3 large lakes. Interestingly, we didn’t spot a tiger on either of the days in this zone. But we did see crocodiles, wild boar, spotted deer (Chital), Sambar Deer, Peacocks and many different kinds of smaller birds. Zone 3 also contains the famous lake palace ruins where the tigress Machali fought, and lost to, her daughter for this prize territory. This being my first safari, I got excited with all the animals around and went a little crazy with my camera. And since I was shooting in RAW mode, I ran out of memory space though I was using a 4GB card. A friend had a Nikon Binoculars which really helped us spot the birds, and is a must have on any safari.

We got back to our hotel for a quick lunch, rested for a bit and then headed out for the second safari of the day which was in Zone 2. This time we were lucky and managed to see a leopard at the entrance of the park. I was told that seeing a leopard stalking on the ground is quite rare and most leopard sightings are on trees. Though we had seen deer and crocodiles, the leopard was something else altogether and it really perked up the group. A little later we came across another gypsy and the guide told us that a tigress had been sighted further down the road. As beautiful as the leopard was, the excitement of seeing a tigress made us all forget the leopard. And we weren’t disappointed when we came up to the spot where the tigress T39 was resting. This time I forgot to change my camera settings from JPEG back to RAW, a beginners mistake. Though she was not too far off, there was a lot of jungle undergrowth and hence I wasn’t able to get any great pictures. On the way back, we spotted two owls in the distance and took pictures of them.

Needless to say, the group’s mood in the evening was great and everyone had a good time. Seasoned safari goers tell me that the tiger sighting to happiness ratio is 1:3. Which means that if you don’t see a tiger for 3 safaris, people tend to get cranky. They also told me that you usually see a tiger once every 4-5 safaris.

Day 2:
The next morning we were allotted Zone 2 again. Feeling like a ‘veteran’, I decided to be choosy about taking pictures. And promptly forgot about this when we were told that the same tigress was in the area again. Our guide and driver were old hands at tiger spotting and went to different spots where they thought she might be, including driving along the river bed. Just when we were beginning to think that she had left the area, our guide doubled back to the first spot and told us to be quiet. The thrill that I felt when he leaped up from his seat and shouted ‘Tiger’ was like nothing I have ever felt. The earlier day, T39 had already been spotted by other gypsies and was simply sitting around. This time we were the first group to see her and she was just emerging from some tall grasses on the far bank of a small stream. We were very very lucky as she crossed over to our side of the stream and sat under a tree near us. At one point she was too close for comfort, and though I didn’t realize it then, our guide did and took us away. It is at such moments, that tourists have to trust the judgment of the guides. We tend to forget that tigers are wild animals and shouldn’t be taken for granted. After taking many pictures of T39, we headed to another part of Zone 2 where we were told T17, another tigress, was resting. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see her because of the thick undergrowth.

Once we got back to the resort, there was a brief discussion on whether or not we should go for the last safari that afternoon. Some of us wanted to leave for Jaipur but since the majority of the group was still on a tiger high, we decided to hang around for another safari.

This time we got Zone 3 again. Having seen a tigress twice in the earlier two safaris, we knew the odds were against us. So the group was relaxed and we spent more time joking amongst ourselves. In fact, the highlight of the trip was a tourist in another gypsy who got named ‘Burst Man’ since he kept taking pictures in burst mode – even when he was shooting stationary birds. Our guides also realized that we were not interested in the usual discourse and focused on driving us around. We hung around till 6:30 PM and then reluctantly headed back to the resort.

The next morning, some of us caught the August Kranti Rajdhani Express to Hazrat Nizamuddin Station in New Delhi while the rest headed to Jaipur.

My Takeaways:
Ranthambore National Park is very well organized, and my friends told me it is the best run park that they have seen. This was my first safari and based on this limited experience, I would like the share the following points with anyone who is interested in Ranthambore:

1. Listen to your guide. They know their job so please don’t second guess them or tell them what to do. If your guide says you are too close to a tiger, you better listen to him.

2. Be respectful to rangers, guards and anyone working in the forest. It’s thanks to them that we can still see these beautiful animals.

3. Unless you have a very good reason and the park is not full, do not expect that you can argue or bribe your way into changing your zone. Most people want to go to Zone 2 & Zone 3 but each zone has a fixed quota of vehicles and if that has already been met then you can’t change it.

4. If seeing wildlife is your main focus, go during the summer months. The jungle is sparse & animals are easy to spot. Plus, once you’re in the gypsy you don’t really feel the heat.

5. Remember that spotting a tiger, or any animal for that matter, is about luck. Your guide will do his best so that you see a tiger (his tip depends on it), but nothing is guaranteed. If you don’t agree with this, go to a zoo next time.

6. Book your safaris online well in advance. Do not depend on landing up at the park and expecting to get a vehicle.

7. Better to book multiple gypsies, if your group is large, than a canter. Gypsies are more mobile and can go to places where the canter can’t.

8. Make sure that everyone is carrying the same ID proof as given at the time of booking & one indemnity form per safari. You will need to show your ID proof each time before entering the park.

9. If you aren’t carrying a cap or a hat (like me), check with your resort if they sell these items. I picked up a hat for Rs.200 and a photographer’s jacked for Rs. 400. Both were of good quality and came in handy, especially the hat. As a last resort you can always buy it at the gate. But please cover your head.

10. Carry at least 4 litres of water for 6 people. It is unfair to ask the guides or jungle patrols for water.

11. Turn your phones off before you enter the park. It will save your battery as in most places there isn’t any signal.

12. A good binocular really comes in handy on these safaris. Sometimes a bird or animal may be too far away to photograph, but that doesn’t mean you can’t look at it and enjoy its beauty.

13. Most guides will not cross over into other zones, even if it means forgoing the chance to show you a tiger. The reason is that if caught, they will lose their licenses. So please, respect the rules and don’t put someone else’s livelihood in danger.

14. If you can, come via Delhi. Book train from Delhi to Sawai Madhopur. It is cheaper, shorter and lot easier to coordinate. The railway station is about 5 minutes from most of the resorts .

15. Don’t get down from the vehicle. Ranthambore is very strict about this rule and breaking it will only cause trouble between you and the guide or for the guide if a forest ranger spots you doing so.

16. When you are leaving the park, your vehicle will stop at the base of the fort. Be careful at this point as there are monkeys around and since you are tired, you may leave something lying around which they could snatch.

Photography Takeaways:
1. Anything less than a 300mm zoom lens and you’re wasting your time. I was lucky to get decent pics of T39 with the 50-200mm, but a 70-300mm lens would have been better.

2. Use JPEG mode for the ‘regular’ animals – deer, peacocks, birds and save memory space. Use RAW mode when (or if) you come across the rarer animals – tigers, leopards or sloths.

3. ISO 100 is enough for most situations. No need to push a higher ISO unless the light is bad

4. Don’t get so excited about taking pictures that you come in the way of your fellow passengers. Remember, they are just as excited as you.

5. Unless you’ve been on many safaris, there is a good chance that you will take many more pictures than you normally do. So carry extra memory, doesn’t hurt.

Well, that’s it folks. My first safari. Can’t wait for my next one.

If you're interested in seeing the pictures I took, here's the link to my Facebook Album.

Delusions

Ever so often one hears of some defamation suit being filed or protest being held because someone’s sentiments were hurt. Oh really? Oh reallllllllllllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyy?

Why is it that the ‘leaders’ and social busybodies who claim to represent those whose sentiments were hurt never get angry about other things as well?

Why don’t they get angry about the poverty in this country? Or the filth in which most of our people live? Or the fact that even after 60 years of Independence we still do not have anything close to 100% literacy (am not even talking about education.. just literacy)? Why don’t they protest about people being malnourished while food grains rot in the Government’s godowns? Doesn’t the site of the widows of slain soldiers weeping on national TV make them want to do anything about this country’s security issues?

I’ll tell you why.

It’s because we’re a bunch of hypocrites. A nation of whiners and over-sensitive adolescents masquerading as adults. The only time we act tough is when we’re in a mob.

We like to talk. About our glorious ancient culture, about how democracy has failed us when we compare ourselves to China, anything that makes our cushy little worlds a little less cushy. Oh yes we like to talk. Getting out of our armchairs and doing something to help is something that we’re not up for. The only time we’ll get out of our chairs is protest about something that hurts our sentiments.

Awwww. Don’t feel bad.

Feel ashamed.

Ashamed that we cling to twin illusions of ‘safety in numbers’ (hope they get the guy next to me instead) and ‘ostrich mentality’ (as long as my family and friends are okay, who cares what happens in some far off village). History tends to repeat itself in our land. The same scams, the same corrupt politicians, the same gullible electorate and tadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... the same inefficient, inaccessible, unaccountable system.

H.L. Mencken said, “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”. I think the same sad truth could apply to us as well. Our leaders prefer rabble rousing and mob justice to judicial and constitutional channels. Their logic is impeccable. Why spend years fighting for something when you can grab it right away? All you need is to convince the people that in some way their culture, religion, caste or these days – statehood has been insulted.

And this is why the system doesn’t work. Everyone wants to take, no one wants to give back. We demand our constitutional rights, but how about our duties? Duties to ourselves and to those less fortunate than us.

We have one of the world’s largest population of those who live below the, outrageously named, ‘poverty line’. And yet we feel proud when we see 4.. or 5.. or 2.. who cares... Indians being named in the list of richest people in the world. Isn’t there something fundamentally wrong about feeling proud at the sight of obscene wealth & yet being indifferent to obscene poverty? Hypocrites I tell you.

Now take literacy. Most of us have been born after Independence. Which means we were born to a sovereign and independent country which claimed to be socialistic as well. Or at least some of us were. There are many others who were born into the same feudalistic, caste riddled, male dominated societies that their ancestors lived in hundreds of years ago. Which probably explains why we have such a pathetic record when it comes to improving literacy.

We want to host the Olympics, while we can’t put together a decent hockey team.

We want the world to recognize us as an emerging superpower. Yet we can’t convict a terrorist who was caught on CCTV shooting people, including a policeman.

We take pride in the fact that our economy was resilient during the Great Recession. But don’t seem to mind that most of this ‘resilience’ was due to the parallel economy.

We want to be a destination for medical tourism but don’t think it’s necessary to provide basic healthcare to our own countrymen who can’t afford it.

We believe that we have a glorious past, but think nothing of scratching our names on the walls of the monuments that were built during that glorious past.

We get touchy when our neighbour hurts our sentiments, but we don’t mind if the Chinese treat us with disdain; mainly because we bend over backwards to not antagonise them.

At the end of it all, I don’t think that we suffer from delusions of grandeur. We suffer from delusions of competence.

An Open Letter

Dear Learned Indian,

I hope you will help me sort out a few things in my head. I watch you on TV, read of you in the papers and see you on the roads. Your confidence and knowledge shines through in your opinions that you so generously share with everyone. I am sure that you will help me figure out the following:

1. Why do you get angry when Indian boys are beaten up in Australia, but you think it's good fun to tease or molest young white girls when they come to your country? Pardon me for asking, but isn't the saying 'Atithi Devo Bhava' and not 'Atithi Babe Bhava'?

2. On one hand you have very high expectations from your cricket team and do not tolerate any mistakes or losses. At the same time you continue to vote for the same corrupt criminals. I mean, aren't they both an overpaid bunch of people who under perform, and yet have an exaggerated sense of their own importance?

3. You talk of Indian culture, or should I Bharatiya Sanskriti, yet you love to see semi naked women gyrating obscenely in the Swiss Alps in your movies. How many of you actually go for Indian plays or dance performances? I'll bet you haven't read Kalidas, but can recall at least a few words from Shakespeare?

4. Why do you smirk when the Pakistani army fights in the Swat valley, yet change the channel when the news reports another Naxalite attack in some district? Is it really true that one country's problem is a civil war and the other's is just a domestic issue? Or is that starved tribals and their children are not from your India and so shouldn't disturb your comfortable world?

5. Why are you so impatient when you drive your car and honk all the time, and yet you don't mind waiting for hours when you to a Government office? Does honking actually make traffic move faster? And do babus really deserve your respect?

These are just a few things that came to mind. I see you offering, what must be, informed opinions all the time on TV and any other public forums so I guess you are far wiser than I. Please enlighten me, oh scion of an ancient and glorious land.

Yours Logically,
A Confused Indian

PS: Except for the first point, I am as guilty as any of all the points I have raised. Am not casting stones, am just looking in the mirror.

Gen Next? How About Gen Now?

After watching Steve Job's Stanford 2005 Commencement Speech for the nth time, I decided to check out some of the subsequent commencement speeches made at Stanford. I struggled for 8 minutes with Oprah (2008) talking about herself & her god daughter (Class of 2008) and shamelessly trying to play to the gallery before I had enough of the woman. I then saw the link for the speech in 2006 by Tom Brokaw.

I have never heard of Tom Brokaw before. Turns out he is a world famous and, unlike Oprah, is also a learned person who has worked as a TV journalist all over the world for the last 30 years. His speech was that of a mature man who has seen a lot that life has to offer. It was also polished and hard hitting, as one would expect from an experienced journalist. Unlike Steve Jobs who talked about deeply personal lessons or Oprah who talked just plain crap, Tom focused on the responsibility that the Stanford class had to other people.

He talked about how he has interviewed the most famous & powerful people on the planet, and yet is still humbled by men & women who dedicate their lives to serve causes. The point he made about biologists in the Amazonian rain forests who endure illness, danger & discomfort just to try & catalog species before they are wiped out was a strong one. More so was the story he told about a doctor from a poor family who took a huge loan to go to Stanford & then went and joined Doctors Without Borders so that he could save children. The story of the Mongolian nomad who rode 15 miles on his horse just to vote held the class in rapt attention.

Tom then went on to remind his audience of the what he called 'the greatest generation America ever produced'. He was referring to the men & women who overcame the Great Depression, defeated the Axis Powers in WW2, laid the foundations for America to become the most powerful nation in the world, and yet found the time & compassion to not only rebuild their erstwhile enemies but also to liberate blacks & women in America.

Now my question to you is this, what kind of generation will we in India be remembered as? Where are the leaders who will do a Roosevelt for us? How many people are there amongst us who will take the path less traveled and turn their backs on the corporate rat race? How many of us actually care about the environment or the plight of people who aren't as fortunate as we are?

A close friend of mine often derides this nation for its plight. She says that we deserve to be poor and backward. Maybe she's right. There are times when I can't help but agree with her. But there are also times when I feel that this cannot be our answer. I personally know that almost all (of the little) that I have achieved has been due to the support & values that my parents gave me. I certainly didn't 'deserve' to be their son. I was just lucky. And so are most of us. As much as we'd like to think that we are self made men & women, we're not. We're the product of what our parents, our teachers, our friends and if you stretch the point, our country has made us.

Maybe its time we stopped worrying about things like our stock portfolio, our last rating at work, our next promotion, the new car the neighbour just bought and god knows what else.

There are much bigger challenges our generation has to deal with. Global warming, terrorism, religious intolerance, poverty, environmental degradation, pollution. Take your pick.

Unlike our parents & their parents, we've been lucky enough to never know what food shortages, foreign rule, lack of jobs & opportunities are. We've grown up in a land of plenty, we've been educated in the best institutions and we're armed with the latest technology.

This is our time. If we don't make a difference now, we never will. Steve Jobs spoke about how though we are young now, not too far in the future we will be 'the old' that has to make way for 'the new'. We need to ask ourselves if we want to be remembered as the generation that settled for reality shows when it had the chance to save the planet?

Ladies & Gentlemen / Boys & Girls, the clock is ticking....

I Told You So

I hate to sound like a 'I Told You So', but check out the post I wrote in July 2006.

'Who Needs the Pakis'

Am getting tired of our netas talking about 'the world's obligation to help us' (Hey spineless PM, no one is going to come & help us. Please behave like a true sikh) and how we have ruled out the military option (Why take it off the table? You think the Pakis will be convinced with our evidence once they know we don't have the balls to act?) and how we will provide evidence when the time is right (If not now, then when will the time be right you buffoon!).

Lets face it guys. We're a soft pushover of a nation. And worse, a bully. Our netas will send their goondas to beat up taxi drivers & kill doctors. But when the real enemy shows up ..... neither the netas or the gundas are to be seen. And the netas who do make a appearance, end up insulting the brave men & women who give their lives for this country by turning the whole thing into a media grabbing mockery.

So lets go back to playing cricket, watching reality TV and blogging. Cuz none of us, certainly not me, are going to really do anything that will change the sorry state of affairs.

Now, I love my country, am proud of it and am hopeful of what we might achieve. But I also believe in what Mark Twain said, “Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”

Jai Hind

Mumbai – Maatam Ka Shahar ... By Arvind 'Deddy' Mundra

This happens to be the first hindi post on my blog. Now, don't start laughing. I didn't compose it. An old friend of mine, Arvind Mundra (aka Deddy.. from the famous Boney M song.. 'She Loves Her Deddy') wrote this beautiful poem.


Ye jo abhi haal tak jadu ka nagar tha..
Ab Maatam ka shahar hai..

Kuchh napunsak safed labaas wale,
jinke daaman mai khoon sabse lal lagna chahiye,
phir apni hijri zubaan hilate nazar aa rahe hai..

Ye vahi hai jo haath jhod ke aapka vote mangenge,
Aur phir besharmon ki tarah,
haath baandhe aapke maatam mai shaamil ho jaynege..

yun lagta hain
jaise aap vote nahi, maatam-nama de rahe ho..

Magar gaur se dekhe to,
Napunsak to hum sabhi hai..
Jo ek faulad ki aulad nahi paida kar paaye..
Ilzaam to hamare safed khoon pe hai,
Jo lal hoke bhi lal nahi hai..
Jisme faulad ki kamee hai..

Aur aisa khoon bah bhi jaaye
To kya maatam karna..

Aao us din ka intezaar kare,
Jab khoon tadaf ke ye na kahe ke aur mat bahao mujhe,
Main tumhe faulad ki aulad dene ko taiyar hoon..

Mark My Words

The last couple of days have been unprecedented. At least for me. Yes, there have been terror attacks before… in my country & even in my city. But this was different. This wasn’t just an act of terror. It was an act of war!

To see videos of men roaming the streets of South Bombay and shooting people, to see the Taj Mahal Hotel burn, to hear firsthand about the mayhem inside the Trident, to have two dear friends trapped in a building next to Nariman House was too much even for someone as nonchalant & detached as me.

You sick bastards! I know you’re burning in hell. No matter what your instructors told you, there wont be 72 virgins waiting for you with wine. There’ll be an evil looking creature with a forked tail and a wicked grin. And he’s going to say, ‘Welcome back boys. Now let me have some fun with your sorry asses’. Make no mistake. You and your kind will burn in hell. Because there is no God(s) who would have asked you to do what you just did. You just did the Devil’s work, you stupid morons.

I have two things to say to the planners of this genocide. First, we’ll get you, you bloody cowards. We’ll hunt you down and make you pay for this. Even if we don’t, someday you will have to answer to a higher authority.

And second, we have survived invasions from the Huns, recovered from Ghazni & Ghouri and even outlasted the British Empire. You dumb fucks, do you actually think that we’ll be defeated by a squad of 20 year olds? Screw you! We’re going to rebuild the Taj Mahal Hotel… make it better and grander. We’re going to honour our dead soldiers. We’re going to pick up the pieces. And then, you motherfuckers, we’re going to come after you.

Jai Hind

Show Me My Money

The other day I came across this rather interesting article that was reprinted from some American newspaper. It featured an imaginary conversation that a poor American man has with an officer of some bank. He asks for a bailout, she tells him that they only offer loans. He asks if he is eligible for a loan given his personal finances and she says no. So he asks her why they are giving $700 Billion to the fat cats at wall street. She replies its because they really need the money. So the article goes on with the man pointing out that his financial position is no different from the investment banks at Wall Street. And the banking officer refusing to give him a loan. Finally he loses his cool and says, ' Okay then. Give me my share of the $700 Billion back'. As you can imagine the lady is stumped. The now irate customer takes her case (and the financial world's) about how no one took his permission before doling out bailouts. And since he thinks he needs the money more than Wall Street, he wants his share back. The story continues with him adding up the various bailout packages that the US Government has handed out to rich CEOs over the years. He then calculates what his share should have been and demands that they give it back to him.

This article got me thinking. What if we were to take this idea even further? What if we gave people the option of deciding how their share of the country's (India) annual budget was spent?

Silence. Pin drop silence. Then hysterical and mocking laughter? Hahaha... you want to give the Aam Aadmi the right to decide how we spend the Government's money? Damn right I do.

To prove my point, I am going to give you a few instances where power was taken from the hands of a chosen (self-nominated) few and given to the people. Let's start with the Right to Vote. Till a few centuries ago almost no country in the world allowed its people to choose their rulers. In fact, till the middle of the 20th century most of the world was ruled by masters sitting 5,000 miles away. Didn't those masters think that their colonial subjects weren't fit to govern themselves? Winston Churchill was certainly one of those gora saabs who thought that we were unfit to rule our own country. (Our netas n babus might be doing their best to prove him right, but that is another matter.. wink wink). But at least today people know that they if they don't like a particular administration they can opt for a change the next election. It is called the Pan India anti-incumbency factor!

What about the right to print books and circulate your ideas? Till Gutenberg came along only the very rich and the very powerful knew how to read and write. The nobles and the priests felt that it would be too dangerous to allow the common people to learn how to read & write. Haven't we come a long way since? Today any idiot can log onto the web and ramble on and on about some silly idea. I know one such fellow very well. But the point is that people today have the choice of not only what to they read, but to a great extent, what they write.

So why don't we take the financial decision making away from the hands of the great planners, open it up to the masses, bring in more transparency and let people have a say in how the government busts up their money. I think that the Right to Information Act is a step in this direction.

As someone who is concerned about the state of our environment, I want the government to spend more money on saving our forests, equipping our forest rangers with better equipment, funding research into renewable energy, educating our children, encouraging sports, providing better health care, improving the courts, and also... improving my country's defense and security.

What I don't like to see is netas busting up money on their pet projects and babus making us bear the bill for their foreign junkets. Neta dude, if you think that building a statue in the sea is a great idea, please convince enough of your followers to spend THEIR share of OUR budget on it. Once they realize that this statue of yours will come at the cost of their health care, education and municipal facilities you may find it a lot more difficult.

Now do you get the picture? Once ministers and their ministries realize that they will have to actually work for their budgets, am certain that things will improve. Still, its only an idea. One that will have to be dissected and refined before it becomes remotely feasible. But eventually, it will force netas and babus to do what they are supposed to do - govern, and not rule.

So I'll leave you with this thought, 'Take a look at your country, your environment and your local surroundings... and then ask yourself what would you want to change, if you had the money to do so?'

Independence Day...

Today I thought I would change things and not have some inane status on my gtalk messenger. So I put up a 'hmmm...' and settled down to what I thought would be a quiet day. As usual, it turns out that my best laid plans were relaid. Within almost 45 mins, five people had pinged me to ask what 'national problem I was thinking about'. Now I dont know whether to be flattered with the attention or whether I was being made a monkey of. Since I think am reasonably well evolved, I choose to exclude the simian option. Right then people, let's see.... What national problem should we talk about today?

Call it gut feeling or simple common sense but I think that one good thumb rule (or as an MBA would say, heuristic) to which direction a nation is headed is the importance that its people place on education. And if what I observed during the weekend drive from Hyderabad to Bangalore is anything to go by, India (at least South India) is on the right track.

We set off early on Independence Day and the rain gods decided to join us on the journey.So there we were making slow progress through the pot holed road that someone had the gall to call a 'National Highway'. Within a couple of hours some of us (not me) were wondering what on earth we were doing on a bumpity-bump road at 7:00 AM. Sure enough the 'iss desh ka kuch nahi ho sakta' statements started. As more and more people joined in, I took out my iPod and started paying more attention to the world outside. I thought to myself, 'Come on guys. Can we at least not grumble on Independence Day?'.

Over a period of time we happened to pass a lot of primary schools. Through the sleep deprivation haze, the nagging inside the car, the rain, the potholes, the trucks belching black smoke... one thing stood out. Almost every kid I saw was immaculately dressed. And whats more, they seemed to be genuinely thrilled about celebrating Independence Day.

I distinctly remember seeing kids wearing all-whites. And I mean ALL white. Their uniforms were perfectly ironed, their hair was neatly combed, even their white canvas shoes looked freshly polished. Now lets freeze that frame for a moment. You might wonder what do clean uniforms have to do with the future of this nation. Well I would say, EVERYTHING.

You see, its not as if the kids opened a magic box and took out some special uniforms for this particular day. Given that it was raining like mad (and had been for a week) the very fact that the kids were dressed so appropriately obviously means that someone at home must have gone through a lot of trouble to ensure that their uniforms were washed, dried, ironed and their shoes polished. This also means that the teachers had managed to instill a sense of pride and occasion in both the children and the parents. And this in turn means that there must be a healthy and strong rapport between parents and teachers.

I guess it goes to show that left to themselves most people want their kids to study hard, do well and grow up to live better lives than they did. Since rural India seems to be betting big on education I think things will change for the better.

As I sipped my dhaaba chai (yum yum) I looked at myself (figuratively) and my companions. I saw a bunch of overpaid, cynical, hungover, self absorbed souls who didn't really give a shit if it was Independence Day or not. To us it was a long weekend which was to be used to meet up with more people like ourselves. And as I went to pay the chaiwaala I looked at the kids again. The excitement and energy that they radiated made me wistfully think of the days when I was like them.

Has our generation... Gen X... Gen Y... Gen Algebra... if you want, failed this great country? I hope not. But I fear we are perilously close to running out of time. We are young only once, and history (and those young kids in white uniforms) will soon judge us.

India and Asia

Gurcharan Das’s article in yesterday’s Sunday Times was really thought provoking & interesting. He talked about his tour of lectures across South East Asia and the kind of queries & comments he received about India. While there were the obvious ones about our ‘depressing infrastructure’ there were others that required more thought and introspection.

Why is it that India hasn’t taken its rightful place amongst the world powers? Why are we still reluctant to flex our muscles? And why is it that Asia views China’s rise as a cause of concern but not so India’s? Well, there are no simple and straightforward answers to these questions but I will try my best to do so.

To begin with, it is not that India does not think that it belongs at the same table as the other world powers. Nor are we reluctant to flex our muscles and take what we want. To understand how India goes about treating its neighbours one must understand how India treats itself. Even at the risk of using a cliché, India’s strength is its diverse culture. ‘Unity in diversity’ really is our national beacon. It is not by accident that even after 61 years of independence we have proved the doomsayers like Churchill wrong. Instead of falling apart we have grown closer. I think that the strongest factors that hold us together are our cricket team, our love for movies, our defence forces, our judiciary and finally our much maligned bueracracy. While the first two our products of private enterprise and even individual genius, the other factors that hold India together are not.

So getting back to the questions that were raised, India cannot and will not morph into a power hungry empire eager for conquest and domination. For that is too much against our civilizational DNA. The modern day Chanakyas in Lutyen’s Delhi know very well that no sooner than we invade another country will we be sowing the seeds of our own self destruction. For every Bangladesh that is invaded there will be ten more revolts for self governance in the north east. One thing that keeps our soldiers and civil servants motivated is the belief that they are fighting on the right side. The idea that they are defending their matra bhoomi and protecting their families. Without this righteous glue, morale will fall, discipline will waver and the iron frame of India will come crashing down.

So I say to all our Asian neighbours, sleep easy and do not look towards India in fear and trepidition. You will never wake up to the sound of Indian Army boots kicking down your door. For we are happier being a united regional power than a police state super power.

Note:
While one certainly admits that not everything is as it should be and there are difficult obstacles facing us as a nation, I do not think that they are as threatening as the ones that faced our founding fathers. An aggressive Pakistan, a shackled economy, no access to advanced technology and a food crisis that makes today’s seem like a harvest bounty were just some of the many issues that had to be tackled, and then overcome during the early days of the Indian Republic. If we could weather those storms, I am more than confident that we will be able to tackle the current and the future threats.

Mr Prime Minister Man (Sung to the tune of Mr Tambourine Man)

The other day our honourable Prime Minister made a very strange remark. He asked political parties not to politicise the food shortage issue. Excuse me, but thats a really flawed statement. First all, if politicians from political parties do not 'politicise' issues what else will they do? (Oh yeah, get into sports management a la IPL). But seriously, if something as serious as a food shortage musn't be taken up by our 'leaders' and resolved, then what is the Government for? (Oh yeah, implementing big budget corruption initiatives in the name of the aam aadmi).

All this left me quite pensive and I decided to take inspiration from the great Bob Dylan himself and sing a song to our honourable Prime Minister. This parody needs to be sung to the tune of 'Mr Tambourine Man'.

Hey Mr Prime Minister Man
Cook some rice for me, I am hungry but there aint no vote I am casting
Hey Mr Prime Minister Man
Cook some daal for me, and in the jingle jangle of elections I might come following you.

Though I know that in the evening the darkness will return to the land
Children’s books will be dropped from their hand
Leave them blindly here to stand, but still not sleeping.
Your Government’s sluggishness amazes me, you seem to have lead in your feet
But you will still rush to the Chinese to meet
And your ancient political party is too dead for dreaming.

Hey Mr Prime Minister Man
Cook some rice for me, I am hungry but there aint no vote I am casting
Hey Mr Prime Minister Man
Cook some daal for me, and in the jingle jangle of elections I might come following you.

Take me on a trip on your ‘Yuvraj’s’ magic swirling helicoptership
The tribal’s lands have been stripped, they are losing their culture’s grip
On their rights we seem to step, they wait only for the police’s boot heels
to come crashing down
They’re not ready to go anywhere. Quietly into the dust they won’t fade
And on republic day parade, we will have them dancing on the road
And then go under it

Hey Mr Prime Minister Man
Cook some rice for me, I am hungry but there aint no vote I am casting
Hey Mr Prime Minister Man
Cook some daal for me, and in the jingle jangle of elections I might come following you.

P.S. : Please note. I aint against any party nor am I anti-government. I just wish that we (people and the government) would do more for our country. And our environment.

Jodha Akbar .. Yawn, Bas Kar

Just got back from the movie Jodha Akbar. And for once in my life, I was in complete agreement with our cultural police, the RSS. Yes, I was angry with what I saw on screen. How could they make such a movie! Not just the Rajputs, but every Indian should be upset. Why? Coz Ashutosh Gowarikar has taken one of India's greatest emperors and turned him into a wannabe Gandhian.

And that is where I differ with our right wing friends. I am not contesting the veracity of the marriage details but I object to the sheer crap that was shown. Ashutosh Gowarikar seems to have spent a bomb on the sets. But after seeing this movie I think he should have become an interior designer instead.

What irritated me the most was the miniature scale on which everything was shown. Take the final 'battle' for instance. It looked more like an inter-village brawl rather than a showdown between an emperor and his challenger. 500 poorly dressed guys on one side facing 450 even worse dressed guys on the other. With everyone looking hot and sweaty coz the scene is shot on the banks of some long dried up river. And lets not even get into the hilarity of Ash turning up at a battle, just in time for her to make up with her 'bhai saab!!!'

The other thing that bugged me about the movie was the unnecessary amount of time wasted on the kitchen war. The future of the empire is at stake, but we have to go through half an hour of culinary scuffles. And to top it off you have the dialogue which must have been the joke of the Mughal empire, 'Rukiye!! Usse mat khaana. Usmein namak kam hain'.

Given the fact that Mr.Gowarikar made the fabulous Lagaan, I find it difficult to pardon him for coming up with this insipid tale. The list of my (main) complaints are:

1. Where the hell is Birbal? Not to mention the rest of the navratnas. All the courtiers looked like they had crawled out of Mordor in LOTR
   
2. Did he have to use ketchup sauce for bhaisaab!! (who looks like a young AB) when he was dying? I know that even actors are afraid of AIDS, but ketchup as a substitute was ridiculous.
3. When Akbar is looking for Jodha amongst all the Rajput women (as part of the test), does she have to wear the best looking saree? It was like putting up a neon saying 'Hey honey, look here'.
4. The dance scene where the praja praises the raja was straight out of a poor fashion/tribal dance/aerobics class mix. Reminded me of Mehbooba in RGV's Aag.
   

To be fair though, there were a few good things about the movie. Notably, the chemistry between Ash and Hritik. Towards the climax (no pun intended) of the sword fight, you could make out what was going on in their minds.

Ash: I wanna smooch him. He's so hot. But Jaya saasu will get angry. Dhoom 2 almost cost me the wedding.
Hritik: Ooh la la. Can i get lucky again? Oh damn, Suzanne gave me hell for last time.

The costumes were good too. Especially Ash's. Lol. And the hijra was played brilliantly. :-) But all in all, was very disappointed with the whole show.

Why Didnt It Strike Me?

The following words of wisdom are from some of our 'finest minds'. Makes you wonder where we are headed as nation. If so called learned people can come up with these paradigm shifting and ground breaking statements it makes me wonder, WHY DID'NT I PUBLISH THIS NONSENSE BEFORE?

• Translate the passion for knowledge into effective learning - My head is still reeling from the understanding it gave me. I guess his next statement would be, 'Translate the passion for work into efficient processes'. People, why didn't we think of this
• No matter what organizations do, they have to bother about their bottom lines - Till I read this statement, which must be the result of 10 months of research, I actually thought that organizations were places where people who had 'effective learnings' could put abstract and unrealistic theories into practice. Hmmmm...
• The key differentiator is the soft side of life - OMG!!!!! Now this has to be one of the gems of the 21st century. Hooooo munga. Guys, next time you wanna stand out in a crowd just start touching n feeling people. Try and get cozy and snuggle up to people. You sure will stand out. I mean, everyone will know u r the pervert who is being chased by a mob.
• Larger the inequality, lower is the economic efficiency of country - Hell yeah. Now we're talking. Am sure the people of Sudan or Mozambique will nod their heads in agreement. If we're all living in mud huts, dancing around fires in the night and hunting rabits for breakfast we'll elevate poverty in no time. Where is that mud I need to smear on myself before I go hunting?

What really saddens me is that these statements were made in an institution of learning. And not in an election rally. If jokers who make these statements can be employed/felicitated by our temples of learning, I think I am ready to become a high priest!!!

Stop AND (Not OR) I'll Shoot..

Talk about irony. The NOIDA (UP) police has just come up with a novel way of combatting high jacking of cars on the NOIDA-Greater NOIDA Expressway. Their answer is to FINE people who OFFER lifts. Yes, that is right. If you offer someone a lift on the Expressway, the cops will thoko you with a heavy challan. Doesnt matter whether or not your passenger was really in distress.

If you cant catch the crooks, punish the people who get robbed. 'Yes Mr.Gupta, it is your fault that you didnt take stricter protection measures.' Lol.. As per the press release, in case you see an old person stranded, or a woman in distress or even an accident victim, you are suppposed to keep your eyes on the road and floor the accelerator. And once you come to the end of the expressway, you can go to the police station and tell the kind cops there that there was a life and death situation 15 kms and 20 mins back which they can go investigate.

Come to think of it, it seems like a radical idea. So by extension, people should get fined for the following:

1. Getting run over by Delhi's Blue Line buses - 'who told you to go 50 metres within a bus stand?'
2. Helping someone cross the road - 'Did you know how many people get knocked down every day on the road?'
3. Sending your new neighbours food & water - 'We live in dangerous times. Dont trust anyone. The food might be drugged'
4. Bringing someone else's child home along with yours - 'You might want to kidnap this child coz he's better at studies than your duffer son'

And then people accuse Indians of becoming callous and uncaring...

Pay Me to Fly

Today's headline in the Hindustantimes brought a BIG smile to my face. The Delhi Consumer Court has asked Go Airlines to pay people 15k for a delay/cancellation in Feb this year. Too cool. Since I've been busting up a lot of money flying around the countryside the last couple of months, I know firsthand how frustrating it is to receive an SMS saying, 'We regret that your flight will be delayed by XX hours because of the late arrival of the incoming aircraft'. Sweet mother of a holy man. Thats like saying, 'The patient died because he stopped living'. I am all for free markets and open trade, but the state of consumer rights in this country really needs improvement. For years now, airlines have been giving us 5th world service and we've had no choice but to lump it.

I remember when I left ISB in April '07 and went to Bombay (yes, Bombay not Mumbai) via a SpiceJet flight. It was supposed to leave at 2150, but got delayed to 0015. Thats a delay of 2 hours and 25 minutes. Now as anyone who has flown will tell you, the only food worse than airLINE food is airPORT food. Naturally, yours truly was more than keen to avoid spending his last meal in Hyderabad consuming some stale fare. And since the delay in the flight would mean I would reach Bombay around 0200 in the morning, I thought that we would be given something to eat by SpiceJet. I thought wrong. The smiling lady at the counter told me that it was a SpiceJet policy to serve meals only if the flight was delayed by 3 hours!!!

Yes that is right. Even if you reach your home at a godforsaken hour of 2-3 AM, when no sober soul is awake, you will not be given anything to eat. $%^&*(*^%$%^&*... that was my reaction. So to all the SpiceJets, BlandJets, Air Deccans, Air Himalayas, Go Airs, Come Airs.. serves you right!!! Wooooo hoooo.... High time I say. Make em pay.

Thinking strategically, how about getting other industries to pay us for unexceptable services? A list that might make sense is:

1. Phone companies for all the dropped calls or miss call alerts when your phone was within range
2. Neo Sports and DD Sports for eating up the last ball of every over and the first one of the subsequent over
3. Internet Service Providers who bill you for overshooting your download limit but dont answer your complaints when the net is down/slow.
4. Credit card companies who call you up when you are busy with office/sleep/food/driving/sex/tv and ask if you would like some stupid life insurance or medical insurance.
5. Private cabs who charge you for being 10 minutes late, but dont care a hoot if they come an hour late
6. Bloggers who ramble all kinds of nonsense (dont know any myself) and expect you to read their posts.

Rang De Basanti

Saw Rang De Basanti again. For the nth time. And it always leaves me a little dry-throated and misty-eyed. Is this the India that people like Mahatma Gandhi (yeah, I admire him. So f**k yourself if you don't agree with me), Subhash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and countless unknowns gave their lives for? So that we could remember them, briefly, on certain days and then head to the closest mall for a movie? Haven't we lost the plot when after 60 years of independence 300 million of our people live below the 'poverty line', where state governments run coordinated pogroms and millions of peoples are displaced just to satisfy the needs of a few. Is this what our soldiers lay down their lives for even today? Is this what independence has come to mean?

No. Not to me. I find it very hard to digest the fact that I am part of an elite class that does not seem to think that freedom applies to everyone. How many of us have stopped to think while bursting diwali crackers about the child labourers in Sivakasi? Does it even register in our consciousness when we buy designer clothes that the equisite stitches are in fact done by small children who will never have the chance to wear normal clothes, forget these designer labels? Our sheer callousness doesnt stop with our fellow humans only. Oh no, we have to include the entire animal & plant kingdoms in our greed & apathy. So we lop of trees when they come in the way of our hoardings, shoot dogs on the street when they become too numerous, pollute our holy rivers, strangle gangetic dolphins. All in the name of development. Come again? Dev-what? In whose name?

It's at times like this when I wish that there was an easy solution. But like one of the characters says in Rang De Basanti, 'how many of them are we going to shoot? These corrupt politicians & bureaucrats haven't fallen from the skies. They've come from us'. And hence it is up to us to change things. So do we join the police, the military and the IAS as Rang De Basanti would like us to? Well, yes. Some of the change has to come from within the system. But I think that unless there the system is forced to change, things will never really improve. At least not fast enough. And this is exactly where I think that individual citizens & corporates must take a stand. We cannot use this country like its resources are meant for consumption in only our livetimes. No sir, as cliched as it sounds, unless we think about what country we will leave behind our generation will be remembered as one which had the power and the chance to change things. But instead stood back & waited until it was too late.

The following snap is from Greenpeace India's website. I think it says it all....

The choice is ours. Everyday one reads newspaper reports of how the Earth is getting into an ecological debt. And as anyone who has any sense will know, there comes a time when a debt must be repayed. The question is this..... are we going to help repay this debt or are we going to pass it on to our children, with accrued interest of course?

Ahoy There.. Again

Guess who's back.. back again... lol.. its been a LOOOOOONG time since I posted anything. A lot has happened since then. Got placed with a 'dream' job. Wouldnt have exchanged it for any other on campus. Went to Goa, had a blast, had food poisoning, had a blast again. Then went to Sikkim and the China border. Was an awesome trip. We went to the Nathu La pass at 14430 feet and took snaps with Chinese soldiers who were on the other side of the fence. Came back to ISB, managed to finish my courses in Term 8 (thanks to Salsa Doc for allowing me to free ride). Every night in Term 8 was party night. And every party was like New Years Party. Lol.. great fun. We had a term for it.. DIS-Orientation Week.

Graduated in April. Folks came down. Then I went to Bombay to meet Akshay (my bro). Had another great time there. Disorientation week continued there.

Came back to ISB. Spent a week for the Co2008's orientation. Had a nice time. And now I am in Chilka, Orissa. Got bored to death initially. No net, no company. Boy was it bad. Thank God the BSNL morons fixed it finally. Feels good to be back in the 21st century.

Well.. will blog more often now. Just thought I'd let u know that I am alive and well.

Cheerio!!!

Orissa.. The Wild Wild East

I went home on the 30th. Flew in to Bhubaneshwar by Kingfisher (great food and even nicer airhostesses). I remember looking out of the window as the plane descended and initially I saw a small hill and lots of trees. After a little while I saw paddy fields and a few huts. As the plane came closer and closer to the ground, I saw a few buildings, more paddy fields, and thats all. All of a sudden the airfield came into view and other than the runway there was nothing in sight. Upon disembarking I got a shock when I saw the condition of the terminal. Thought I had landed in one of the Biggles novels. Literally.

The countryside was green, looked fertile and yet was extremely deserted. I have never seen an Indian countryside so devoid of people or development. The road we were using to get to Chilka is part of the Golden Quadrilateral, but it has been 'localized'. The dividers have been destroyed in places so that people can cross and it is not rare to see vehicles (autos and even cars) travelling on the wrong side of the road! I dont mean to sound like some gora, but I was astounded by the lack of road sense. People just didnt seem to care what was going around them. I saw a youth saunter across the road and narrowly miss being run down by a lorry. He didnt seem the least bit concerned. It was almost as if he had some tacit understanding with the lorry drivers that he would be spared.

Chilka lake is HUGE (1100 square kilometers) and obviously what I saw was a tiny part of it. The naval base is extremely well laid out and since there was an annual inspection due, it looked clean and well maintained. But outside the base, there is NOTHING. Just a dhaba called 'Chilka Dhaba', which incidentally serves the most amazing crabs and prawns, but the tiny township called Balugaon is very very underdeveloped. I wondered if it had changed since the 1950s. What worried me the most was that this part of Orissa was supposed to be the more 'developed' area. Imagine what it is like in the interiors!

To be fair, there were lots of signs of heavy construction going on. And one did see many trucks loaded with machinery. I just hope that the people of Orissa get to enjoy the benefits of all this investment.

Here is a good example of Govt. - Private Enterprise Partnership...

Who Needs the Pakis?

A friend of mine from Pune, lets call her AP, wrote (she actually wrote it) me a mail in response to the famous "Letter to a Terrorist" mail that I had fwd. She pointed out a lot of things. One was the pathetic way in which we treat our own people. Be it the Nagas, the tribals or the dalits. The other thing she mentioned was the apathy of our Govt. to the real security problems in India.

At that point I shrugged it off, possibly due to the wave of nationalism that surges through you after such tragedies. But going through the papers today, I've realized that AP is spot on! When cops with the ATS were investigating a terrorist link, and it lead to a leading MLA from the Maharashtra govt., they were transferred to Hyderabad. Woah, talk about priorities here. The vigilance on the SIMI has been relaxed off late because there are assembly elections in UP. What is our govt. up to?

Do we really need the Pakis to come & blow up our trains when we have such kind of leaders? These jokers are capable of screwing this country on their own. All the Pakis need do is sit back and watch these people fall over themselves to build vote banks and fight over the next panchayat or munciple elections. We dont have any strategic planning. We dont have any crises planning. In fact, I dont think we have any planning at all. We lurch from one disaster to another. And if somehow, we manage to avoid complete humiliation (read Kargil) its because of the brave men & women, common people mind you, who put their lives on the line for India. For all of us, the stupid, silent, cynical and eventually ungrateful masses. What a waste.