My tryst with Pune Running

I was running alone for the last 6 months and I was quite happy with this new found activity. I had very simple goals, target 5 km at the start and then move on towards completing 10k and then maybe a half marathon. I was able to run 5 km easily after a few days of practice but I was not able to push myself harder after a few months. I stayed in my comfort zone.

And then the dip started.

The days I used to run, I felt really good and the days I did not run, I knew there was something amiss. But still when the alarm bell rang, I would find imaginary excuses to keep me in bed. This was the end of my running journey I thought. How could I motivate myself to wake up at 6. 

This was impossible. The End. I thought.

Then one fine morning, when I managed to wake up by divine intervention, I went running. My path crossed with the Pune Running team. Utpal already knew me as I had covered one of the Pune Running events as a photographer. He might have been shocked to see me so early. Instead with a big smile he asked me to follow them. Instinctively I took a u turn and here I was running with a group.

The game changer. The inflexion point.

The leaders of the group were running at a high pace and slowly I got tired playing catch up. I still had 2 km to go before the end and I was wondering why I woke up that morning 😛 I started to walk and to my surprise, Akash who was running just in front of me slowed his pace and asked me to keep going. I told him to continue but he didn’t listen. He knew that I was new and was ready to give up if not for his support. Till the end of the course, he kept pushing me. I had run that day after a week I guess .. And I covered around 6 km.

Out of breath. But much wiser.

We then went to Aditi Garden and did some stretching exercises. My body felt much more relaxed. I knew that I had to join the group. After 2 or 3 days I went on another run with them and this time I clocked 7.8 km and the next day we had a session specifically on strengthening our body. Then the next day I ran 6.4 km. Some days I have a pain in my leg while running but I know that it will go away after the wonderful stretching session. My pace is a little slow and I am normally the last one reaching the end point but I am happy that I am crossing my limits on a daily basis. Right now I am focused on increasing my running mileage rather than pace and I confess that running in a group has done wonders.

 

 

I am meeting new people who love running and who help me to keep going. Abhishek, my namesake, helps me to wake up in the morning if I ignore my alarm. These days I am the one waking him up but it is always better to have a partner in crime 😛 The group also organizes longer runs(> 10 km ) on Sundays. which will help test my mettle further.

 

After reading all of this, you might me thinking that you do not have the time for this, there are a zillion other things to do but let me tell you that it is very important that you must take out some time of the day or the week to play or to exercise. This then becomes a firm commitment towards your health and gives you a guilt free break from your work too. I do not want you to join Pune Running specifically but if you promise to spend 1 hour a day towards your physical fitness, I will consider that the purpose of writing these 734 words was served 🙂

 

“Winning has nothing to do with racing. Most days don’t have races anyway. Winning is about struggle and effort and optimism, and never, ever, ever giving up.”

For more inspiration subscribe to RW Quote of the Day and for help in execution join a group like Pune Running.

Don’t judge yourself. Just Deliver.

I create a facebook page for posting my photographs. I try postponing this because I am scared about the response. With great courage, I create a page and share it with my friends. But I am still scared about the feedback. I keep checking the site during the day but it doesn’t add any value.

Similarly we write something on the internet and then we try to check what is the response to what we had written. If the response is good then it gives us a high and distracts us from our current action. If the response is bad then our whole day is affected and if we get no response then we become more anxious.

But people need to understand that seeing the response randomly is not very productive. I know feedback is very important but there should be enough time given to judge your efforts. Just as in statistics there is a minimum data to be considered before we take a decision, in the same way enough time should be given for proper feedback. If after that, the response is bad or meek at best, you can worry how to do better the next time around 🙂

So just ship and don’t look in the mirror
unless it’s the end of the day.

These will be the years ..

Lately I have been addicted to this song .. the piano tune at the start is haunting and addictive but it is the lyrics which compel me to click the replay button. This song really forces me to think about things that matter for me when pessimism creeps in. Executing my plans might be a different ball game altogether but simply making a choice consciously is a major step in my opinion .To think positively amidst all the noise that life brings forth .. is a challenge in itself.

So to do justice to this song and its lyrics I thought of filling in the blanks after the statement “These will be the years .. “ and trying to change my life by making a few simple choices.

“These will be the years .. “

• when I fall in love with running in the morning and being fit in general
• when I do what I am really passionate about
• when I find the love of my life
• when I get over my fears of making a mistake
• when my good habits are deeply ingrained
• when I expect more from myself

As the part of the lyrics goes ..

Lonely Traveller in Ireland : Pub shub main ki kara

Arey bhai Ireland aaye

Aur saala pub nahi gye

Toh kya khaak Ireland aaye

 

Normally I do not like drinking but sipping Guinness whilst listening to Irish Trad was an offer I could not refuse . Later on I got addicted to Apple Cider .. but that’s another story altogether. Guinness is like a legend in Ireland .. Believe it or not .. there is a 7 floor Guinness Storehouse which is like the place to go to in Dublin for tourists.

Tall Dark and Handsome – you just can’t ignore a pint of Guinness .

But still over the course of the trip , I believe that it was the pubs and the atmosphere there that made me go there again and again .. and not the taste of Guinness or even cider. Now you might ask why there are so many pubs in Ireland .. you are always close to one . It is just that the weather in Ireland is so full of rain , that people have no choice of socialising in the outdoors . So a pub became synonymous with Irish culture.

Live performance @ Brazen Head – officially the oldest pub in Ireland

 

Another good thing about my Irish trip was that it coincided with the start of the European Football Championship and since Ireland was participating in the tournament after 12 years there was a lot of interest around the game . Though Ireland lost all of their group matches , I think so you have to applaud the spirit they have . Their fans in the stadium were singing at the end of the game even after they were losing 4-0 to Spain.

 

All Folk’d Up – This is the one of the best performances I have seen  ..

The things that stuck in my head were :

• A teetotaler who was serving drinks in Temple Bar
• A stranger offering me another pint of guinness and then having an awesome 2 hour conversation with him
• Finding out that in the most of the pubs , only tourists used to be there .. it is a myth that Irish people drink daily

 

Performance@Temple Bar – the most famous pub in Dublin

PS: If anyone wants some more dose of Irish music , I have a CD too 🙂

 

Lonely Traveller in Ireland : Good Bad and Awesome

If someone had told me when I was in college final year that I would be visiting a foreign country in next 2 years .. my exact answer would be “Pagal ho gya kya hai kya “( English translation : Have you gone mad ) , but such is life that it will surprise you at every instant . Sometimes something good may be waiting around the corner and sometimes not so good but we should always remember that no matter what kind of experience you have ( read: Good Bad and the Awesome ) , it will in the end make you stronger .

Now that the journey is over , I can say that I had the time of my life in Ireland . It is still like a dream and yet I remember it so vividly .So where do I start .. being an Indian I love my food so I guess I was really excited about the different types of cuisine and taste that Ireland had to offer . The difference between Indian and Irish food could be explained in 8 words – “The spices are out and potatoes are in “. If I had no budget issues I would not have had a single Indian meal in my stay at Ireland , but such is the reality that you have to manage with whatever resources you have . And in the end I think so I had enough amount of experiences related to food , that a blogpost was born 😛

“PART OF THE SECRET OF A SUCCESS IN LIFE IS TO EAT WHAT YOU LIKE AND LET THE FOOD FIGHT IT OUT INSIDE.
– MARK TWAIN”

The Good

I was staying in a hotel where there was complementary Irish breakfast and I made good use of it . The menu was the same over the course of 3 weeks , but there were so many items that I could mix and match some of them and not get bored . By the end of my trip , the croissant and the hash brown had become a permanent fixture in my breakfast . Plus there was toast and omlette and the juices . The sweet bread containing raisins was nice too . There was bacon and sausages too but I gave them a miss for obvious reasons . Breakfast used to be one of my saviours related to having food but at a minimal cost .

The other saviour was the Indian food at “Delhi O deli” . It was located a fair distance away from my office , but it became my almost every other evening ritual to go to the restaurant and have the daily fiver meal .After having my early dinner I used to roam around Dublin without that thought coming to my mind ki “Pet mein chuhe daud rahe hain” . I used to think that the meal was really value for money , considering that I used to get only 2 parathas for almost the same amount of money . Europe as a place to travel is quite expensive when it comes to food , so I had done a lot of research when it came to budget places to eat and this restaurant was on the top of my list and it did not disappoint me .

Good : Early Dinner  @ Delhi O deli and Breakfast @ Hotel

The Bad

You try new things to eat , and sometimes you think “Holy crap how can they eat this “ and that is what happened when I had a plate full of mussels when I was on a boat cruise in Kjillary Fjord . The previous day I had ordered Sea food chowder and it turned out to be awesome ( more on that later ) . This made me think I could be on a roll here with the next sea food item I ordered . Kjillary Fjord is famous for its muscels and I thought where else I would get to eat mussels . The fineprint “Cooked in white wine” further swayed my mind and when the dish finally came to our table , I was served  a pile of them . From the first taste , I knew it was going to be hard to finish . I had to open the shells and take out the eatable portion with a fork . It was so raw that it made me feel really sick . Plus the white wine made things much more obnoxious . When I got back on the tour bus , I was feeling like vomiting but I tried to keep calm . I thought I had ruined my trip but in the afternoon I got some time to catch a nap under the Galway sun and that made me feel much better . One burp and I knew that finally my stomach was able to process the input . No mistake of mine , but ek bad experience to banta hai 🙂

Bad : Thank God I only have one pic for this .. yuck !!!

The Awesome

Fish and chips – What do I say about this delicacy . You have got to try it to really know how good it is . I had lemon sole ,fresh cod and haddock – all different types of fish but having a similarity that they all tasted heavenly. After having chips for the first time , I used to give it a miss from next time around even though they were cooked in duck fat. Actually I found them a little bland , so I had to use all my sachets of ketchup and vinegar to spice up a things a little bit .

The second awesome thing I had was the one that I had mentioned earlier – sea food chowder and it was almost not going to be a part of my life as I freaked out at the first look if it . An Indian behind me , urged me to give it a try and the rest as they say is history . I do not know how it is made and what the ingredients are but my God I really loved it . How I wish I had another bowl of that thing .

Awesome : Sea food chowder is the soup pic , while the others are different type of fried fish

So what has been your food experience when it comes to travelling .. have you stuck to the tried and tested or did you follow the rule “When in Rome , do as the Romans do” .. let me know your comments

PS:  Finally I have started writing about my trip and I intend to publish one post every week . Also more pictures coming on Flickr/Picassa maybe . Keep pushing me .. 🙂




Trek to Anamgad …

Remember that old song : Jaana tha JAPAN pahuch gaye . … Chin samjh gaye na 🙂
Now the same scenario applied in our case too … jaana that Siddhagad pahuch gaye … Anamgad samajh gye naa 😛
And why Anamgad … because we do not know the name of the hill that we climbed but who cares .. we had loads of fun and we could see the beauty of the Sahyadri range from the top 🙂

It was Friday at office , and it seemed that , after many discussions over tea in the cafetaria , the trek to Bhimashankar had to be cancelled because it was very long to finish in one day. Just after the cakes meeting at 5 , Khushboo quickly made up a plan to go to Siddhagad and even though there was not enough knowledge about the base village , the interest had been reignited . So on a early Saturday morning , I set out to go for a trek with seven of my friends at Amdocs { Khushboo ,Saumil,Jaya,Pooja,Swapnil,Vipin,Suparna } and Khushboo also brought along her roomie Deepika to bring the count of total people going to 9 .Unforunately some more people like Ritesh , Pankaj and Leena could not make it this time , and we missed their company and shero shaayari a lot .

Tempo traveller mein sahi tempo set karne ke liye , Saumil’s playlist was really useful with a mixture of both old and new songs . We kept humming our favorites as it played on the music system . As we kept going out of the city , the number of buildings started to decrease and we could see the green fields made greener by the monsoons .. The driver misunderstood our instructions as he drove us straight to Bhimashankar , the mountain top where the Shiv temple is there . After discussing with the locals , we found out that we had missed a right turn which would take us to the Narivilli village our base point … par ab aye hi hain toh darshan hi kar lete … after all the temple at Bhimashankar is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India . So this was a bonus for us .. and after seeking the holy blessings we went back down the hill and this time took the right turn . Slowly the width of the road started decreasing and after some time it was all kaccha road . We reached a hamlet after crossing a river and after talkin to the villagers we found out that Narivilli ( the base village for starting the trek to Siddhagad ) was still very far away ( 1 hour 30 minutes by foot because the roads were not good for a vehicle to go ) … we finally decided to ask our driver to wait here as we would trek one of the hillocks close to this village .

Slowly but steadily we climbed this hill , taking rest wherever needed . We did not know how much time it would take to reach the top so when we found a open place in the jungle , we decided to stop for a light lunch . Suparna was like an angel as she prepared jam and pickle sandwiches for all of us . There were also some cookies, cakes and some other things and ya Gatorade too for the energy refill . When we started again , to our surprise we reached the top very soon .. i guess in 5 minutes . Yes … we had conquered the top and off went the bags from the shoulders and the smiles were back on the faces for the many photos to be clicked that were going to be liked on facebook 😛

The cool breeze was really soothing after the difficult climb and I for one kept staring at the beauty of the Sahyadris . From the top we could also see the village from where he had started and our vehicle just stationed beside the mud road . The ghats looked so beautiful as some portion received sunlight and some were under the shade of the mountains . There was no network there .. and I felt so disconnected from the real world and in harmony with the real beauty of this planet – the natural beauty on Earth . Deepika’s advice to Saumil on posing before the camera brought a huge smile that stretched right across our faces and after some more poses in front of the shutter-bugs , it was time to leave . But wait … there was still enough time for Pooja to show off her dancing skills before we started downhill . As we went down the slope , nobody took a break , as it was only a matter of having a sure footing and keeping our balance . We reached another village when we reached the base but no problem … we found that our vehicle was only walking distance away . Just after a group photo in front of the car , the heavens started to open up and the pouring rains made an perfect end to the trek . On our return to Pune , we stopped by a small waterfall by the roadside where we had a round of tea and some more chitchat . The dancing in the van on the way back was ek number .. some really talented people in this group I must admit . Back to the “Shor in the city” but this is the way it is meant to be .

 

Now for the Awards …. this is goin to be nice 🙂

• The person who lost his “soul” award : Bose who lost both the soles of his shoes during the trek 😛
• The “Foo” factor award : No awards for guessing this one … it is the self proclaimed “foo powered” Saumil 🙂
• The Guiding Light award : Vipin who shows the path where this is none … and for helping to climb Anamgad by one route and coming down by another 🙂
• The Good Mommy award : Goes to Suparna who makes such wonderful sandwiches .. both jam and pickle ones and makes sure no one goes hungry
• The Dancing Queen award : Pooja takes this title .. for her wonderful performance on the top of Anamgad
• Ashleelta ki bhi Hadd hoti hai award : and it goes to Swapnil for reasons we cannot share on this blog 😛
• The Photographer who likes to be clicked award : Deepika who shares this award with her mobile ” HTC wildfire “
• The Real Trekker award : Goes to Khushboo .. who didn’t even have to drop a sweat during the whole trek 🙂
• And the award for Getting up with even more gutso everytime you fall ….. goes to Jaya … who kept on saying that ” neeche jaana toh bahut aasan hai ” even after falling 3 times on the way down 🙂

And last but not the least , as a team .. we are “legends of awwwe ……. wait for it ………….. awesomeness” .
Thanks for all the memories 🙂

Trek to Peb Fort – Literally on cloud nine :)

I was feeling sick on Friday ….
Amdocs was playing a crucial match on Saturday …
The bus was scheduled to leave at 4:30 am in the morning ….

 

So many excuses could have been given …. but now in hindsight I can say that it was a great decision to go with 6 of my friends at Amdocs , to be a part of this out of the world experience .

From the Left .... thats me ,Aniket,Samant,Patidar,Alok ,Ranjan and Pawan

Waking up is always the problem the rest is easy . Thanks to Rahul Ranjan’s call we were woken up in time …. otherwise this blogpost would never have existed . The sun had not still come out when we reached our boarding point around 10 mins late . Slowly more people started trickling in but there was no sign of Aniket,Rahul and Alok . Everyone was getting anxious as to when the bus would start but we asked them to wait for our friends . Finally they came in running ….. and at 5 o’clock off we started on this wonderful journey .

Uthne mein halat kharab ho jaata hai ... but we are still smiling 🙂

Best photo by miles !!!! God save Aniket and Rahul from Pati LOL 😀

It was a four hour journey to the base camp in neral .On reaching there we had Sabudana Khichdi for breakfast . Because we thought we were going to have breakfast in a dhaba …. we thought we would buy some bottles of water there only … But all are assumptions went wrong and they was a real worry on our minds that we were really going to get short on water .

We had no idea of what was in store for us but there were two guides – Sam and Kaustav to help us along the way . We started by crossing a little stream .

The gradient was increasing gradually as the trek went on …. with the vegetation getting more dense . In the process of photos being clicked we were taking some rest . You just had to turn back and look in awe at the view . This would give us the motivation to continue further . On the way there were some electric towers where there was plain ground and we used to sit down there for a while . Suddenly the course got really steep and it continued this way till we reached the top . There was a little green snake on the way to make us all stop … but Sam was there to take care of this wriggly problem .

The thing that stopped our progress and hearts too .... 😛

Every one was really tired and the question on everyone’s lips was how much more till we reach the top . Finally we reached a cave where there is a small temple inside and we were really proud of what we had achieved . We stopped there for lunch .

Inside the cave ... there is the statue of Shivaji

After having a decent enough lunch it was time to go by another route to reach a railway station from where we would follow the rail tracks and we would reach a road . I was thinking that now that we had reached the cave it was going to get easier . I was so wrong . Going downhill is much more dangerous … as you need to maintain full balance . One wrong move and you are gone slipping into the valley . There was a cliff on our trail and it was impossible to climb it on our own . So there was an iron ladder stationed there …..

On the way there was an awesome place to click some photos . One minute you can see the streams and lake down there and the next minute it was all covered by the clouds . The wind was blowing in your face and you just want to soak it all in . You can only dream of such places …. but now I was right there soaking it all in .

View from the top

When clouds are there ...

Then when we reached the railway station we were really tired by then .

Very Very tired after reaching the rail tracks

From then on it was just plain terrain as we followed the rail tracks . We could only see 10 metres ahead of us because of the clouds . It was almost like the tracks were leading us to heaven 😛

The best part was yet to come …. as there were many small waterfalls on the way . When we went in to get ourselves wet it was so refreshing . It was a Godsend for us !!!

Sheer relief after all the fatigue !!!

After some more walking we were on the road from where you could hire taxis to take you down to base point where our bus was there … We had some garam garam Wada Pav there and ya lots of water 🙂 After changing to some dry clothes there , it was time to head back home .

Finally off the rough terrain

On the way we had lots of fun playing Antakshari for some 3 hours . Our guide Kaustav was really amazing in the way that he remembered almost all the songs of the 90’s ( mostly Govinda’s ) .The manner in which he sung Kajra Re … the old and the new combined together will linger in my memory for a long time . It was so much fun …. that time just flew away .

Most dangerous part of the trek ....

The trek on the whole was simply AWESOME. We were quite lucky that there were no accidents … that there was no rain to make the terrain more difficult . There were many moments where I just had to have full faith in God and take the next step . Such treks really bring you close to nature … and you want to stay there longer …. no worries no tension of time passing away … its just such a shame that it is only a ephemeral episode and you have to come back to office on Monday 😦

Simply Beautiful .....

Sometimes you just have to do , to see to believe it . So don’t take my word ….. go out on a trek this weekend and write an account of it . I am sure you will not regret it .

PS1: – Since I have a weak memory I wanted to write this down so that I can remember this day for the rest of my life 🙂
PS2: – 10 minutes is all it takes for registrations for treks organised by Amdocs club to fill up ….. now I know why 🙂

 

“I have a dream” – Martin Luther King Jr.

For as long there is a dream there is a hope
and as long as there is a hope there is a joy in living.

Most of my friends know that I am quite passionate about football . If given a chance I can literally Eat , Sleep , Dream football and that is the chance I want for myself .  I am ready to work my ass for it , I am ready to sacrifice for it  .

So what do I want to do?
I want to open a football academy and try to build a social community  around it based on the principles of fairness and fun. Normally people see football as just a game , but I see it as more than that . It has the power to unite people , it has the power to give joy …. to bring hope .
Just take the project Football for Peace in Lebanon for instance , Christians and Muslims can play football together, despite the fact they have fought a bloody civil war against each other.
Here I have a paragraph from the site http://www.rockwoolfonden.dk/programme+areas/international+peace+building/football+for+peace+in+lebanon which really says it all as to why I am so motivated to do this thing .

Football involves feelings, and team sports can function as a catalyst in bringing people together. Football is about fun, fellowship and team spirit. It brings instant happiness to the lives of children. It also brings parents, siblings and football trainers together in an effort to create a framework for the children to enjoy themselves. All this goes on across ethnic, religious and political divides. The adults meet and communicate in a neutral environment where the focus is on the games and the opportunities for the children. Even though meaningful dialogue may have broken down in everyday society, the warring parties can find common ground in the context of sport. A sense of fellowship created around the game of football, and within the framework it establishes, helps to build a platform for the meeting of many different interests. The potential for building bridges is clear when we see children transform a road or a backyard into a lively football pitch with a wealth of activities on offer.  Participants in a seminar are often amazed to discover just how much they are in agreement with people “on the other side”. A Christian local councillor, Melanie Chahine of Araya, said that she had not even sat close to a Muslim since the first civil war began in 1975 – not to speak of working closely with one on values and dreams!

It has always been my dream to become a professional footballer , but since i have most certainly passed my age ( I just play to have fun these days ) I have this dream of helping other kids to have a chance of going professional  . The football scene in India is improving day by day  ,  trying to catch up with cricket “the undisputed leader “. Using Sports as a medium to earn their daily bread has been looked down by the society at large . I want to change all that .
I want to use football as a vehicle to bring about a change ( even if it is a miniscule one ) to give hope to the next generation’s dreams .
One of my friends at Fiitjee told me that in Sikkim ” the guys have so much talent that they can make it big if given the opportunity but because of the harsh reality when they pass out of school they have to do menial jobs to have a reasonable source of income .”Only the lucky few are able to get educated and get a good job but they too are not very happy with their life as was the case with Ashwin .

I am one of the lucky people who is going to be work in a sector in which he/she has some interest .  The path is not clear right now but I am sure my interest in programming will help me to rise as quickly as possible . When the time is opportune , I plan to focus most of my time on this venture of mine .  I am just going to use my job as a stepping stone to greater things , as I have a debt to clear because of the astronomical amount of money it took to get a engineering degree . Back to reality I guess ….. but I need to be pragmatic too or else the seed of my dream will not even be able to germinate . This journey of life will be enjoyed only if I am honest with what I want and then I focus on  it.

Why I am writing down this in public ?
After reading this  I am sure few years down the line , there will be people asking me “Hey Abhishek , what happened to your dream project ” . I want to have the pressure upon myself to give my 100 % so that I know I can stand up with pride and conjure up a reply to the above question . So many times we have seen that we have a dream but because only we know of it , it is just so easy to slack off and let it die in the realms of bewilderness.
And if anybody reading this becomes a millionaire please help by contributing something to support this project.

I would like if you could care to put your two cents in …. regarding the dreams you have.

A Delicious Lunch courtesy Arnab …..

It always feels nice when someone treats you but when there is an extra effort made in making the dish by himself/herself , it makes the treat more special and memorable .
This Friday afternoon , I was invited to my friend Arnab’s house for lunch .And when I came to know that he would be preparing the chicken himself I was a little skeptical .

When I reached his house the chicken was already marinated ……

Every thing was first made ready from chopped onion to garlic and onion paste . Kadhai chaadane ke baad I was just like a enthusiastic kid , watching my friend do his thing , trying to learn as much as possible . Something I observed that cooking is more about estimation which you learn from experience …. kitna masala dalna hai , kitna der tak onions aur tomato ko cook karna hai before you put in the chicken and most importantly kitna namak aur mircha dalna hai 🙂
He was very measured in his approach as he used to put water in the kadhai when he thought it was required and not at one go .
Baat karte karte the chicken was ready and it was time to put some generous dollops of butter to give the finishing touch to the dish .

Ab toh muh pe paani aa raha tha …..
Jaldi se bahar jakar tandoori roti aur cold drink le ke aa gaye .
And then the easy part ….. bas toot pade chicken par ….. gossiping with the chicken leg piece in my hand like some prized possession 😛
All the doubts I had with regards to Arnab’s cooking were put to rest ….. it was awesome
After filling our stomachs to the brim …. gaana sunte sunte bed pe let gaye . Pata nahin aankh kab lag gayi ….. a real Bengali when it comes to afternoon sleep 🙂
Then in the evening he dropped me to my house with the left over chicken packed for my family …. such a caring baccha
And my family loved it too

Thanx a ton again Arnab for the wonderful lunch

Before I finish this post I surely cannot forget that I also had the good fortune of feasting on chicken made by Rakeshji … my roomie in the hostel . Thanx to Sanjeev and Namo too for making that Holi extra special . The only difference was that making it on the heater is far more difficult than on the gas …. and there was no mixer to make the onion and ginger paste too . I remember how we had to make the paste and also that we made Sid’s room so messy 🙂

PS – I have always been fascinated by the many cooking shows broadcast on TV but never had the courage or the need to give it a try . But now I am surely going to make an honest attempt to learn to prepare some dishes . So friends beware ……… my next little experiment might leave a unforgettable taste on your palate 🙂

Aquatica and Avatar 3D # A deadly Combination

There was always a plan I had in my mind but I was waiting for the right time . But there is no better time than now . Kaushal was always aware of my plans and he tested the waters by letting some of the people know of our idea. Sid in these cases is always the first one to put his hand up and then Deepak aka Cena was the next to join in . But only four of us …. I wanted more to join us . We approached many ppl but all had their excuses ready – some valid and some so childish . I was starting to lose hope when at the last moment three people joined us – Naidu ( MVN as he is better known ) , Amarish and Sunny ….. thus our group was ready and plans were finalized . I always like to have some information about the places I visit from the web , but no matter how much you are prepared all the prep goes down the drain and u have to get down to the task of asking the people for directions 🙂

For the rest of the story