Convocation Time

its pouring again ..

As i am glued to the screen watching streets of mumbai drown in water, images of july26th 2005 emerge in my eyes. And once again i thank god for my near.
After a 3 month long vacation i was on my way to mumbai. My train was running late by 3hrs and reached mumbai by 10. When i got down it was drizzling as expected in july. I caught a local and by 1130 i was in my room. It had started to rain heavily by then. In the next two hours it rained like cats and dogs disrupting the trains and the road traffic. By evening things were out of control, water level in the hostel had risen to a level that most of the rooms in the ground floor were half drowned leaving students running here and there.
It rained a total of 940 mm in one single day, more than what most cities get throughout the year and half of what mumbai gets during the whole season. The aftermath
Trains, flights, buses everything came to a stand still. My train was supposedly among the last ones which reached mumbai. For the next 3 days mumbai was cutoff from the rest of the world. Schools, colleges, offices closed.
Following months saw the maharashtra govt. making huge promises, but with mumbai drowning again i have no doubt that not even one would have been fulfilled.

Trekking in himalayas :)

Safe back home as i am writing this blog, memories of the trek are still vivid in my mind. The ten day long expedition was thrilling and far more exciting than any of my previous ones, for this was the first time i felt so close to nature. Never before did i imagine a life without even the basic amenities like electricity, let alone the computer screen which i am glued to 24 hrs a day. It was an experience in itself which i believe everyone should have at least once in a life time. It is when you learn to appreciate the beauty of nature, its vastness, the sheer thrill of being so close to nature.

It all started when 3 of us, Ankur, Roshan and I, met in chandigarh on our way to Kasol, where we had our base camp. After acclimatisation and some basic training of rock climbing and rappelling, we set out for the trekking on the third day. We were a total of around 40 people form various parts of the country, but largely outnumbered by the gujjus. It was my first experience of living in tents and to be frank at first i didn't like it at all. Four years of hostel life had got me so tuned to sleeping late in the night, that 'early to bed and early to rise' was an arduous task for me. And that too when its the vacation time. But soon enough we had 'bridge' save us from the compulsion of sleeping early. We spent hours playing bridge in torch light until it was late in the night. In the day time we used to climb around 1500 feet everyday to our next camp where we were welcomed by a series of whistles starting with welcome drink, soup, tea, snacks, dinner, horlicks and what not. By the end of the 6th day we were at 12000 feet and ready for our final climb to the Sarpass. The temperature outside had dropped to less than 5 degrees, and for a person like me who has never been even in 10 degree's of temperature, things weren't all that easy.

On 7th day we woke up as early as 3 Am and started our journey to Sarpass. By 9 we were at the top of the peaks surrounded by thick snow everywhere. It was an experience of a lifetime. Covered with 5 layers of clothes i knew that the cool breeze will have a hard time reaching inside. We kept marching until we reached the top form where we were supposed to slide down a km and a half. This was no doubt the best part of the whole journey. All the agony of waking up early, living in tents, attending nature calls in open had at once been replaced by a sense of utmost joy which kept me longing for more. Those fifteen minutes of excitement were worth all the efforts of days. We then spent the next hour playing in the snow and made a 'Snow Man', just when small flakes of snow started falling, 'Wow .. its a snow fall' i screamed.
On my way back i could not forget the sight of the mountains covered with thick layers of snow, something which only the lucky ones on this earth get to see.

Years down the line, whenever i would recall my trip to Sarpaas a smile will come across my face with a longing desire to go back to the nature once more ...

Goodbye IIT

It's 5 PM, 8th May 2007, and i am standing at the PA system right in front of the poltu tree waiting for the taxi to arrive. Couple of friends have gathered to bit me good bye ..
It was a very nostalgic moment for me, 4 years at IIT had given me soo much, but the most precious were the friends with whom i shared my joys, sorrows .. my secrets ..

I still remember the day when i first entered my room, small, delapidated, covered with mud and cobwebs as if it had not been occupied for years. I cried at the very sight of it, 'Dad!! i can't live here for 5 long years'. It took me some time to adjust, but after that i never felt it was small. The only time i faced space crunch was during exams when 5 of us used to get cramped inside and study endlessly. Thankfully that was less than 5 percent of my time at IIT. 4 years have passed and today i m vacating the room, i feel as if a part of me is lost. With a heavy heart i leave the door wide open for the first time after years.

As i sit in taxi, with my computer and luggage neated tucked at the top, i could barely manage to hold my tears. To an outsider it may seem like a 'vidai smaroh', its only when you are in that moment you realise its true essence. Last ten minutes had gone by embracing each other, bidding good bye .. it truely was a vidai samaroh

frns forever !!!

Just got hold of this pic, thought i would share it with you .. As you might have guessed its a post b'day photo .. bums ke baad aise hi haalat ho jaati hai, jaise ki anchal ki hai is photo mein .. waise i m lucky when it comes to bums, i always manage to escape just in time .. :D

Gourmet, epicure, connoisseur !!! am I ???

Pizza Hut
Pop Tates
Cafe Coffee Day
Cafe Mocha
Newyorker
Cafe Mondegar
this is the list of places i have been to in the last 24 hrs ..


At this very moment let me guess whats in your mind.
Pretentious... Grandiose... Pompous...
Well if thats the case, then let me assure you that i am not being boastful here and wait i can prove you that. Firstly because hardly anyone knows about my blog, and even if he/she does there's simply no reason why i would expect them to read it. So bragging about me been to places seem a waste of time and efforts. Secondly, the purpose of my writing this blog is quite different. It' for me to remind myself of the good old days i spent at IIT.
10 Years down the line as i sit down in front of the idiot box with a cup of tea in my hind and absolutely no excitement in my life, this blog would probably bring a smile on my face as i would recall the time i spent wid my pals .. be it the bird watching at mocha or the booze at pop tates. You may say i am being nostalgic .. but guys i have a good enough reason to be ..

Now that you have come all the way, i would like to make it bit worthwhile. Here i share with you my experience. Hope you find it useful.
Pizza Hut - Awesome pizzas, garlic bread worth a try. Ambience is formal, It's a place you would like to go out with friends not neccesarilty your gf/bf. Wallet gets lighter by around 200 per head.
Cafe Mocha (My favourite) - Ambience very informal, sure you would like it. Known for its hukka, shakes and desserts. A place you would like to go with someone special :) .. Wallet gets lighter by 300 per head.
Pop Tates - Awesome ambience, heaven for those who booze. State of the art Sizzlers and Pastas. Lasagne worth a try. Economical, an ideal place for a good treat.
Cafe coffee day - Cafe Frappe & Sizzling brownie worth a try. Avoid juices, you would end up eating only ice. Nice ambience and music. Need not worry about wallet getting lighter.
Newyorker - This was my first time. Formal ambience, 'Nachos' not to be missed. But more than that i had an awesome time 'bird watching' :P

One night @ South bombay

Its 3 in the morning and i am sitting right outside Pizza hut with Rahul, sipping tea, sharing some of our innate secrets. Out of the blue i say 'Lets go to Marina Drive' and the next moment we are in search of a petrol pump.

At 100 kmph, with droplets of water in our eyes, a small mistake may mean a lot. But that's what the whole excitment is all about, isn't it !! At fifteen minutes past 4 we are at the Gate way of India, hiding silently in the darkness of night, overshadowed by the glitter of Taj. The next few hours were spent wandering aimlessly covering marine drive, chaupati, haji ali, worly seeface ... By the time i was back to hostel it was around noon and we had already travelled more than a hundred kms ...
These are the times when you feel a sense of freedom, independence .. i cherish such moments of my life.

Mumbai marathon - The sprit of mumbai

Had heard a lot about the spirit of mumbaikars ... Marathon 2007 reflected it in a true sense.
'Dream run' as they call it, is just 6Km as many would say. But for me 6Kms was a tough target. Thanks to the cheering that i finally managed to complete it, though i did feel awkward seeing uncles and auties run 21 kms.

Shirdi

From Shirdi

Just back from Shirdi

hukka@mocha

Well to start with let me praise mocha a bit, i am tuely a fan of it .. The ambience, the cuisines, shakes, desserts and not to forget the hukka are simply awesome. So it was the obvious place for my job treat. The only hurdle being that i wasn't sure if there was one in hyderabad. But with bit of googling i found out that there is indeed one in banajara hills around 25 kms from where i stay.
With 3 of my closest friends with me it was bound to be among the most momorable of the treats. We spend around 2-3 hours smoking hukka .. (its tobacco free!!) ... you do feel a bit dizziness but that's due to the smoke. Seeing abhijath struggle with the hukka was more fun than hukka itself. All in all great fun, just that i would have liked a few more of my friends to have joined, but may be some other time.

Happy New Year

Happy new year .. may 2007 bring you all the happiness in life ..
for me '06 went quite well .. this was the year in which i entered 8 (my CPI),won dept. elections, got placed in Indcutis .. made wonderful friends .. all in all an awesome time .. well one resolution which still stands nowhere near completion is to have a gf .. but theek hai '07 ke liye bhi to kuch chodna chahiye na