The Great FALL -- CHUNCHI FALLS

Till last year , my greatest debacle in terms of seeing a waterfall was aby falls, not cauz it was not good but may be because it just fell short of expectations i had carried from the reviews of the people around here. But this time around , there was neither an expectation neither we got anything. The curprit --- the girl in red. Not that she might have drank the entire waterfall , oops , i forget to tell you that it is waterless waterfall , atleast , the time of year it was planned was nothing but a failure .. Khair , the pics are very good and can be deceiving for all , even us .. but all thanks to the wonderful Kodak Digicam of Sameer ...

Now Chunchi falls , or the Great fall .. was full of sand dust and .. rocks .. expecting water .. not stand a chance for it till it is your own sweat .. .. and we could see traces of water atleast a Km away if not less. While coming to Chunchi falls , we saw a lavish Gate which said "chunchi falls 5 Kms " but an elderly lady sitting there told there is a dead end and there is another enterance. We dont know if there was a dead end but one thing is sure , we went in mazes and loops and again saw huts and villages which were nothing but seemed that we have transpired in time to a back date , say mediveal times. All mouses made of hay , grass and mud. all doors shut and like a colony of ants just trampled by mischevious gang of children. With none to ask for directions and relying heavily on senses and boards, we finally reached The Great fall .This is me standing at the deepest accessible place there . the other straight route we left was actually the correct one :) but when the day is not your way , it really is not .

Below is image of what we supposed to be hosting a plentiful of snakes sleeping warmly in depth of mother earth. But vipuls' grandpa stopped me from doing that, and Sameer's all intention of the wonderful weekend went in vain .

below are few pics of Chunchi fall disaster , and i dont think any one will disagree ... see the wicked smile on sameer's face here ( green t-shirt )

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MEKEDATU AND CHUNCHI FALLS

What Happens when A herd of Mad Eye Moodies refuse to bend to the nerves and go for impossible ... It ends in something good ... but the May 13 2007 was surely not a day to remember or cherish. However Dont mistake it from pics ... I am going to split the Day of 13th May as always in parts ... as the space is always a constraint... This time we had another reason to cheer. We were going under the blessing of Vipul's grandparents, with whom I had my best times atleast in bangalore. With the quality of food to the love that was showered on us for the stay in Bangalore could not be expressed in words. So the journey started from our Place in Bangalore HSR layout. The journey was planned to start early in the day at 6:00 AM where the person who arranged the trip was to join, but she declined at the final moment. So we finally had the cab coming to us at 8 AM and to pick another friend , we had to travel lengthwise across the other end of bengalooru. we waited for her for 20 min , and then the journey started . already delay was over 4 hours. Then we decided to stop for a wonderful breakfast at a place in bangalore. This is the time when we started off to makedatu , but Rizana insisted to visit Chunchi falls first ... so we all decided to reach the place. My God , the route to chunchi falls went through all the villages in the world and the roads to die for ... please take take it too optimistically :) Then we went to Chunchi falls ... finally reached ... Will write at length about wonderful chunchi falls next ..

We all going for the wonderful breakfast ....

My Mysore House

Other than the cherished moments i had in infosys while training , in which the accomodation was provided by the company , i was asked to move out once this training was completed. and then we group of 10 went hunting for a house right in the mysore , from street to street where there can be a dignified place to stay. We finally got a haunted house , which was closed since past 5 years , and as always with a spirit to break the terror in the house , we all decided to move in. But it must really have something in it, for tthe thought of us moving in the same caused ripples and many of our house mates were moved to bangalore and we did not get a shot to challenge the so called spirit in the house. Nevertheless , we moved to a 3 BHK with a splendid interior and cool environment. I am putting up pics of the same . The house was then occupied by 6 of us , me , ashish , dipankar ( my love) , Neeraj ( Laziest of them all ) , Aravind ( i have not written it ) and Sidhi Bhaiya (coolest of them all ). I will post about all of them in my next few posts . here are a few shots of the home i stayed for my brief stay in mysore. The First Pic is drawing Room .

And this is the Kitchen ... had everything here ... and morning tea ... bus that place was jannat (paradise)

above is the place we used to brush brush brush our worn out teeth , and as such was meeting point .....

Above is the drawing room ( other angle) with such a lavish living space , and Neeraj cud be found most of the time sleeping here , or if you are lucky you can find Neeraj getting a scolding from apna Dipankar , and if you are luckiest of them all , you can always find deepak and dipankar here :) watching TV ...

No points to guess this is my room .. both above and below . See , Siddhi is still sleeping , it was 3 PM when this was taken , and he has still not brushed ...

Mysore Dushera Trip

In Mysore, Dussehra is the most popular festival. It is celebrated on a grandiose scale here. Elephants are decked up with robes and jewelery and taken in processions through the streets of the city. In fact, many people visit Mysore from all over the country to watch this colorful event. There is also a floating festival in the temple tank at the foot of Chamundi Hill and a procession of chariots around the temple at the top.
If you ever happen to be in Mysore at that time of the year , one will not fail to notice , banana leaves on enterances and vehicles. People dancing and carrying procession here and there.
The Dussehra of Mysore or Mysore Dassara as it is famously called is a 10-day long festival. On the day of Dussehra, a procession of caparisoned elephants carrying the idol of goddess Chamundi is taken through the city. The festival is celebrated in a grand style with scores of cultural performances in the great Durbar Hall of the Maharaja's Palace. On Vijaydashami, the 10th day of the festival, a colorful procession featuring caparisoned elephants winding through the gaily-decorated streets of the city, mark the occasion.

During the festive season the entire city is decorated and lightened in a most impressive way, that attracts thousands of tourists to the city. The Palace and other important buildings are also embellished and illuminated - worth a sight.Majestic processions, a torch light parade, dance and musical events vitalize the placid city. Many cultural programs are organized in the Mysore Palace, performed by famous artists. Sport events, poet's meet, food festival, film festival are also held. The famous Dasara exhibition is organized at Doddakere Maidana, by the Karnataka Exhibition Authority, where many public and private sector, State Government departments and other business class set up their stalls to promote their industries. Craft fairs, traditional wrestling matches are other highlights of the exhibition.

The parade of Mysore is undoubtly the best one , maybe just after the Republic Day Parade,still it is really a worth a watch , and no fees for the same

The dancers above are by far the best performance i ever saw, second year in succession , and these falw-less , error free synchronised moments and dance steps throughout the Devaraja Road is a pleasure to watch. The parade possession also had all reach in all sections of the society with subjects ranging from Water conservation to Girl Education.

The rain played a spoilt kid once again with all things so wet , had to put my Sony Cell back in poly bag , and missed a few shots , but this rain was by no limit of imagination going to stop the enthusiasm either in the people participating in parade or the ones cheering it .
Below can see people flocking the roofs for watching a celebration of lifetime - Mysore Dussera

In the pic above , one can see the number of people who go to watch this mega , heart pleasing and wonderful display of the our culture , and the preparations of people to make this occassion a grand success. I would here also praise the police for managing such a great crowd with such an ease ... even though they resorted to heavy beating of the people not listening ..

2006 Mys Dussera was one of my best mys dushera , and believe me if u r in Bangalore or Mysore , or any part of India, this is one thing that should not be missed. The magestic procession and raw display of faith and power at its best in Mysore

Memories Continue To haunt

hi all ,
I am back to where i was ... another year on my existence on Earth is going to complete and i am again haunted by the memories .. . .. these are times when we were just out of training and our close friends had to part and scatter. Like a packet full of sweets , and delibrately torn apart ... we all fell apart .. some in pune , some in hyderabad ... and some in other companies .. but that strong bond we defined and developed in training gels us even today, and will continue to come in this blog for a long time now ... so friends ... u might be away or far .. here is someone who will always be there to salute and celebrate the SPIRIT of FRIENDSHIP ... for now and forever ...
Aby Sagar and Anand (from left to right)
There is a Ranji trophy going at the back and both Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid were supposed to come , and there was a real good enthu between friends but neither of the two showed ....

Anand and Sagar -- at staircase of ampithreatre where we had lots and lots of parties .. DJ nights and mastii ..


Sagar , Me and Aby... had a real good time baked in the sun then ....

Andy in Italy

The Diamond Of my Life

My sister Bhavna Gupta , who is nothing but my life , and for one I miss Delhi the most. A topper throughout her carrier(touchwood) she has come on radio as well as her pic appearing in one of the local dailies in Delhi, she is an absolute realistic girl who looks out for opportunities to grab them. Recently she attended her convocation after passing out from MDU in flying colours. She is one of the most smiling and ever happy person in this world. she is one of the most rare gem the God ever created, so she is nicknamed "Diamond". I just wish i will be in Delhi with her ... soon and forever ...

Mysore To bangalore ..

This time around my trip to Mysore was nothing less of a mixture than a bollywood flick. First, I have to travel to Bangalore to Mysore via bus. But where the bus stand in Bangalore is, am referring to interstate bus terminal as most of the cities have in India. Travelling alone is the last thing on my preference list, and to bring a bike from Mysore to Bangalore, I needed a friend, or anyone for that matter. The choice was anonymous, it had to be Rajat. Ever ready to travel anywhere has a lot of head other than hair. So called him to confirm if he was, and as always he was. So we decided to leave on Saturday morning (3^rd March, 2005). Now I stay in HSR and Rajat in BTM , we had a bike but whom to reach who , so I requested a roommate to drop me to B.T.M. ,which he did. The only worry was that the person who was to take the bike back after I got off at BTM did not know how to drive the bike properly ,and it is learnt a Ford Ikon survived his driving skills. So now let’s go to majestic to catch the bus , but the auto driver himself told us the Volvo does not go from majestic anymore and took us to some other place and then told us that Volvo will go in evening. I wanted to get off and slap the person right away for being so mean, and then I asked the driver to drop us back to majestic , but he insisted there is another place where bus will be available and it is just 2 Kms away ( which was actually more than 8Kms). I was very anfry when we got down , and just told the person when I got down that all penny charged dishonestly , he will be punished. Sounds stupid , ask my friends who will tell you how powerful I can be in certain situations. When we finally reached the place , we came to know that Volvo comes from majestic , and that person who wanted to earn some 40 extra bucks ( diff in fare at majestic and place we got down) got so much cursed. Well , if that was only sad incident in the whole journey, then I would have gladly travelled with Rajat each and every time. There is an associated bad luck with every bad luck. The bus we got from that station was nothing but a pathetic fully air conditioned (don’t mistake it with technical ACs , it was full open , all broken windows , torn seats and international quality shockers system ) and speed that will send Ferraris and BMW to Pits ( my God , even Tempo was overtaking the bus). Finally we reached Mysore ,thank God have been to gym nowadays , else my back would have been a history. Then after reaching Mysore , as soon as I reached my home , I can see to the delight of my eyes , my Discover 8844, the number seems so good., the bike so mine and above all , ever so friendly and soothing Mysore , possibly the best Indian city in terms of scenic beauty and climatic conditions.

Well , I can write at length for Mysore , but this is blog for my trip to Mysore.Then me and Rajat (yup , the same one as in wayand blog) , went along to Infosys Mysore Campus ( we love to call it Infosys City ). Then went on to see the movie Nishabd in infy multiplex , the memories of which will cherish in my thoughts forever. The multiplex is nothing less than a dream , both in acoustics and structure. The dome structured monument is a four storyed gigantic eye candy. Then the remaining day was spent in reviving the memories of time I was in Mysore DC . then next morning again back to Bangalore on my Discover , me and Rajat ( below)

Morning time so I took the driver’s seat. Whew …. Get Set Go … and we were off to flier … morning breeze … empty roads (those who like me are in Bangalore can really appreciate traffic free roads) … the biking was as always it was on Bangalore Mysore highway …. Full speed … 100 kmph … and what more … regular breaks kept us moving. Then there was a Volvo bus we overtook .. this was our inspiration for rest of journey cauz whenever we stopped for a break the Volvo would cross us , and we would then overtake it … waving a hand each time at that smiling driver who also took the compition and tried to overtake … but with Rajat in driver seat … ha haha … one must be joking . Discover “ hawa se baatein ker rahi hai ” (Discover is flying with speed of wind) … There is this one incident which I should have mentioned .. lets see what it was ..... When we started from Mysore to Bangalore , Rajat told me not to drive above 70kmph , and I say I’ll try. Then as soon as we reached the highway , the speed of 110kmph was reached in flick of eyelid. And to believe it must be joking , Rajat put a hand at my shoulder indicating me to slow down, but I continued. As we crossed Mandya ( why is it I only drive in that stretch where people would barge in the vehicles as if holding a lisence to suicide or to create accidents. Soon after this Rajat got to driver seat and then , what the hell was 70 Kmph , he regretted his decision and told me afterwards that driving at 60-70 kmph would be an insult to this wonderful , butter smooth highway , or should I say fligh-way. It was at Mandya we first crossed that Volvo , and the last stop ( he hehe .. me also talking in bus-wallah language) was at a road side dhaba where we stopped for a small tea. And as I looked across , I saw Rajat standing at the high way , looking in the direction of Mysore . any guesses what was he looking at … a Volvo passed by , I was 50 metres away from him , and told him to have his tea. He said he was looking for …. Well .. Volvo just went by I told him … nah .. that was not the Volvo we are looking for .. for the one which was always there .. came speeding down at the same time when tea was ready … and this time around .. the driver waived a hand …..

And we were still thinking to catch it after we left after a gap of 10 min , but for this was not to happen , as we had already reached the city limits, and the bus would have disappeared in the long formidable Bangalore traffic , as I turned round for the outer ring road to the final destination …. Home Sweet home. But it still was a 24 hour event ful journey , my sixth trip to Mysore and back on bike … with Rajat for a second time ..

Mitesh's Onsite Party

this post is dedicated to Mitesh Pravin Vartak(above) , a true and another good friend , another gain from infosys. How can i dare to forget how the boring Saturdays in ECC when Mitesh would turn up every saturdays , much to fury of my another very good friend , Mitra , who preferred a more private life. But as always , Mitesh brings with him a smile , a beam of ray to hope your day up , and off course my lone source of washing the clothes :) .

But i have known him since 10Oct 2005 , where we first met. I really dont recollect how exactly we met , it i am sure of DJ's connection in that. Also came with Mitesh was Lalit and Pallavi's friendship. Hey hey , me getting into too many names , seems i wont be completing my blog ever. But yes Mitesh has been associated with most bad luck ( other than Onsite , like washing all sins in sacred Ganges at once) . From losing to mobile phone , which i often mockered about but then going through the same fate .
Mitesh has been one of my good friends in infosys and is currently in Swizterland .

An Evening In Infosys

After a full fledged work drenched day , what i appreciate most about infosys is the ability to refresh one instantly with world class facilities , right in the campus , add to it Cafe Coffee Day and its inexpensive coffee, flavoured by friends all around. with a CCD cup in hand and surrounded by friends for half an hour seems to refresh you and drives away all the tension away. Most of the evenings went in CCD. and the topics range from most technical to most emotional. Most of the coding problems gets solved in this period. While i was in Mysore , the infy FC1 and FC2 also boasted of CCD , but this infy bangalore CCD near bldg44 is best. And sitting in this CCD , we can see most beautiful fountain , with rainbow colours to revive you .The below is the coloured fountain , and then the familiar Latte Coffee Mugs ... Say Cheers ...

Wedding of my cousin

hmmm ... a little late for blogging and a long time since i did so . losing my nokia N73 was a major reason , and i accept it . It was the best thing to happen to me , till it was stolen, other than my engg , and my job , and my family , and friends .. few things which can't be stolen ....

Well blogging this time to cherish one of the greatest moments .. i went home , back to delhi on Jan 20 2007 ,,.. .the occassion , my cousin sister's wedding. the day of glory was 23rd of 1stmonth of year 0f 2007.
My flight was on morning of 20th jan , and as usual , it took off after a delay of 1 and a half hour , and reached delhi , to be greeted on airport by my mom and two cousins. Well , with a typical beard , and long hair , my mom was not very happy with the look i carried , a typical mafia one ...well , if she did not approve , it had to go , and all my styles , which only i think looked cool , were off .
well , then i was off to the home where marriage was due .. and it indeed looked like one .. so many ppl flocking around , and having a blast ...
i went back home , and met the most beautiful diamond in my life , my sister . Well she was not at all in holidaying mood , as was going to have her semester exams from the next week.
Then there was a lot of shopping in the air , and moving about here and there and telling tales from bangalore and mysore. Then it was time , and i dont know when those 3 days vanished in thin air and the day of marriage came. the marriage was arranged in a farm house , and all arrangements were complete.
the bride looked like an angel as she is , and the groom , most handsome of them all. What more i can say , the wedding seemed really to be arranged in heaven , as the happiness can be seen on both the bride and groom .....
for all i can say is touchwood , and remember this song from movie dhadkan as she came to the wedding ceremony . ..

"Shehnaaiyon ki sada keh rahi hai
Khushi ki mubaarak ghadi aa gayi hai
Saji surkh jodi mein chaand si dulhan,
Zameen per Falak Se Pari aa Rahi Hai"
Here's the couple i was boasting for such a long time .... deepak and anjali .
And would I be doing injustice if i forget to have Ravi in the frame. With good sense of humour and rocking the party whole night long , he is brother of the groom ..


And brother of the bride , the paala paala bacha , srikant ... Looks cool na