Start again!

Last blog posted June 19th 2013. Now this makes me dumbstruck. I mean seriously? Has it been this long since I wrote last? Unbelievable! Well, yeah! The past few months were too hectic to take up any new writing anyway. But that shouldn't have delayed my hobby of blogging! Anyway, better late than never..

All these days when I was aloof from my blogpost, every now and then I would think about a subject to write on. While walking on the road, while having a cup of coffee, while chatting on messengers, even when when working in office! :) But as far as my opinion goes, to actually write something you really need to sit calm, think over the aspects of the subject, choose write words and execute your plan over the screen! A blog written in hurry, later makes you wonder if really it was you who wrote it!!!

Now that I have washed up my brain and started typing on keyboard something other than hi-bye-howareyou-howzwork-etc, I think I will try and continue scribing as and when I get a chance!

Till then.. Keep blogging!

Foggy Mazamitla

To take a break from mundane life since last few days we friends decided to have a trip to Mazamitla, a very popular hill station known in Mexico. The planning was done well in advance and considering the enthusiasm shown by all, I hoped for great trip with my fingers crossed.
We started from Guadalajara city at around 7.30 am on Saturday morning by local transport to reach the 'terminal de autobuses' near Nuevo Central. There aren't options to choose from, so we went on booking for 'am transport's bus service for Mazamitla. The booking was done quickly and the journey to the 'Sierra' started at 9.45 am. The road to Mazamitla has a very long patch which passes on the outskirts of 'Lago de Chapala' which makes the monotonous journey bearable. The winds flowing from the lake were creating chills through our spines even in a sunny day. On the other side you could see the Mountain ranges and country side of Mexico, small lakes and especially the nurseries growing different kinds of berries. No wonder Guadalajara is always filled up with all kinds of supplied berries like strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc.
By 1.00 pm we reached the 'Terminal de autobuses, Mazamitla' which was a very small place compared to the one in Guadalajara. We came out of the terminal and headed towards the hotel 'Huerta Real' we pre-booked, even though people visiting Mazamitla geenrally prefer 'Cabañas' i.e. wooden cabin houses on rent. We got fresh and headed for the 'Tour de Sierra'. In market area of Mazamitla there are many shops who offer this tour, we chose 'Explora Mazamitla' near 'Marcado de municipal Mazamitla'. The tour started at 4 PM and the true Mazamitla visit started.
The first halt of the tour was at Adventure park 'Posada de Sierra' which offered valley crossing, shooting, dirt ride, paint ball and much more. We only had 30 mins to spend there hence we chose Valley crossing for short distance. This was the first time I was doing such an adventure, in fact many of us. So with a little fear and excitement we completed this task and all we had was fun and more fun. The systematic execution of the valley crossing was successfully done and completed till the point of getting down had a ropeway bridge and my friends went crazy and trying to shake the bride after reaching at the other point of it. Sure they got beating once girls crossed the bridge safely. After a coke and photo session the tour bus left for the next thing on the list.
Berries always attracted me for they offer many health advantages and shape. The next spot to visit was related to berry farms and the 'poncho', 'bread-spread' and liquor made by them. The assistant there explained how the berry products are made, right from the grinding, fermentation, filtering till packing. They offered us some to taste and asked if we would like to buy some. We bought the 'bread-spread' made by blackberries and left for the next spot which offered waterfall and beautiful garden.
The waterfall was a natural one and offers a beautiful view of the valley. Besides this , there was a garden, a pool with a overbridge and ropeway bridge , which we didnt leave a chance to cross.  After this we came back with the tour with all spanish and hindi songs sung by passangers.
The market of Mazamitla has a very ancient church in the centre of the Mazamitla city. Its a very huge church and visitors would come to pray there all the time of the day. We chose a spot to fill our stomachs in a pizza corner just beside the church. They offered very tasty pizzas and burgers at a very nominal prize. Then we headed towards the hotel rooms, because by the chills and fog had started to freeze our bodies literally. The cafe on the way filled our stomachs with cup cakes and coffees though.
The next day we got ready by 10.30 am and had our breakfast, only to check out of the hotel and leave for some adventure sports, because on previous day we couldnt go for dirt ride. We took a cab to reach there instead of Tour bus and spent full hour doing the dirt ride. Well the dirt ride was real fun when the tracks are tricky and bikes have tires so big and fat , which won´t let you fall, the handle is loose and makes the bike go random. Yeah, it took time for us to learn the tricks to ride such bikes, but when we learned, there was no looking back and only fun-filled rides were enjoyed.
The trip was approaching to an end and we had to leave for Guadalajara. We were looking at those mountains, foggy and green, with clouds on their tops, the small but artistically built houses and bunglows. We captured many of the things Mazamitla offered in our minds and few on Cameras. On the travel back to Guadalajara, everybody was tired but a glimpse of smile passed through our faces because probably this was the most enjoyed weekend in last 1 year for them! Mazamitla simply made few coming weekends bearable and smooth!!!

Kas in 2011

Since I’ve moved to Pune, I had heard a lot about Kas the valley of flowers. Last year, got a chance to visit the long awaited place finally. But we were not fortunate enough to get to see all type of flowers. Hence I was desperately wanting for the next year to arrive, so that the incomplete wish would be satisfied at once. After a tiring trip to Goa, visit to Kas on next weekend would have been too hectic, but the fear of repetition of last year’s incident enforced us to leave Pune and head towards Satara district eventually. This time we were visiting Kas with bikers group ‘The Bladerunnerz’.

We gathered at our meeting point in Pune at around 5 o clock. There were 12 bikes in all, heading towards the valley full of attractions. Riding at a speed of 100 was like an easy task for almost every rider among us. Fogs had covered the highway for almost whole the distance. We took a halt for small appetite, a tea and couple of Samosas. It was necessary because, up on the plateau you would not get any stall or hawkers selling any food item, as the property is not owned by Indian Government as a national heritage.

Now that we had entered Satara city, the roads were small and a bit crowd even at 8 o clock in Saturday morning. The route was fresh in mind, as I felt like it was the last month only, when we had visited Kas. The beautiful turns and long tails of roads were fascinating. Soon the point came, where you get to see flat earth on both sides and in the mid, there exists the long straight black road calling you ahead.

If one random morning, you wake in a bed of flowers, the delicate ones, how would you feel? Marvelous right? I had the same feeling, when I got down off the bike and rushed to the blanket of wild flowers. The cameras started clicking rapidly as soon as we got down. There we could see many types of wildflowers. One of them is called Mickey as its yellow color and shape matches exactly with a cartoon character ‘Mickey Mouse’. One was a very tiny flower having looks like cotton but having small bunch soft prickles as its petals. One was lavender colored cylindrical flower having many small petals. It’s really difficult to mention all of the flowers in here; hence a pictorial treat will be appropriate.

As we had reached there well before the time when weekend-rush starts flowing towards Kas, we got to see many areas easily. It rained the night before Saturday, which made the soil muddy, where vehicles could not reach. We reached such areas and enjoyed the beauty of the blanket of flowers. It was irresistible for us to click many photographs of flowers, we with flowers in background, bikes put in a semi-circle, etc. After this photo session, we moved towards the Kas lake.

Compared with the last time I visited Kas lake, the crowd was much less in number. The lake was clear like glass. We could see the soil underneath the water. As there were very new people in the trip, we took an introduction round for everyone. The riders were very well experienced ones. The pillions were pretty enthusiastic, considering it’s quite boring to sit idle on the back seat with no challenge.

After delightful visit to Kas lake, we headed back to Pune, though some of us went to visit a famous windmills in that area. The weekend was becoming used advantageously with a nice experience because of fewer crowds. Perfect trip it was!

India : Chaos of crimes

It’s been a long time since I wrote my thoughts out; maybe around 2 months back. There was this peculiar thought going on in my mind since last few months. There might be hardly anyone who hasn’t given a thought to this particular subject. If you can get it, I am pointing out to the current situation of our country India. This is a contented topic itself and I daresay I will try to cover all the points on fire presently.

The current population of India is above 1.2 Billion, out of which, more than half the score is secured by males over females. This obviously doesn’t happen easily. People in India try so much to keep the male : female ratio as high as possible. Of course, killing a female infant or fetus is not an easy job after all. Though I don’t understand the need behind this cruel act of theirs, I presume, they are quite afraid of what if there is no one to carry on their names! They fail to understand that though they had a right to give birth to an infant, they have no right to kill her, untouched by the selfishness and immorality. Those little infants, who don’t even know that they exist in this world of humans and animals, trees and flowers, mountains and rains, water and air; are killed so brutally, that the entire human breed will get ashamed of it. There is a mismatch between the number of males and females, which will cause a natural unbalance in years to come. Is there really a need of killing those sleeping beauties?

When talking about the male-female ratio, it struck to my mind “am I forgetting about the rape cases happening every other day in India???”. Rape .. one of the bold topics to discuss. A girl, following her routine, is stopped by passerby and is raped. I mean, it might not have occurred in her wild dreams, that she will be raped by an unknown/known person. Who gave this right to that inhumanly person to empty out his energy on someone weaker than him? Have we ever heard female raping males? Then who has made it a law, that males can rape females? In certain areas of India this has been a regular activity for the residents and their senses have gone numb now!

The reason behind these rape cases is not lack of education. This is an attribute of a person which if not directed correctly, takes an inhuman avatar of abuse. Certainly, education can help in this case. Our country is no more like it was 100 or 200 years ago. The number of schools and colleges is increased like anything, in last few years. Considering the population of India, it was needed. But are we getting the right education that we are supposed to be getting? Are the children watched and cared the way they are supposed to? Are the teachers aware of what exactly and how the subjects can be taught? I guess, here is where experience speaks. In years passed, at a small age also, we used to distinguish between intelligent and teaching-just-for-the-sake-of-it teachers. So, the question remains the same.. are the children LEARNING?

They say when you don’t get paid enough, the work that you do, automatically demotes. Now it’s a common talk among us all, how much corruption are we witnessing in India daily? Government offices, police stations, RTOs, hospitals are all defaulters, but I was amazed to see taking bribe to get ‘darshan’ in temples! People escaping off the actual amount of income tax they are supposed to pay, are in a way missing on their duties towards their nation. Of course, it’s not a secret now that our ministers assume that, the tax paid by citizens is ministers’ property. So why would people prompt themselves to pay taxes? Why wouldn’t they use the same money to improve their lifestyle?

It’s been 20 years since India’s sixth Prime Minister Mr. Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a planned suicidal bomb blast. One of them was Afzal Guru. Even after finding him guilty, our government is not able to hang him till death. A mad man called Ajmal Kasab, who fired bullets on people waiting for a local train to arrive, in Mumbai and was held later, is yet enjoying his luncheons and suppers in the jail. Our poor government and its rules are strong enough to keep him alive, till he completes jubilees of his age. Many murders’ and rapes’, and theft cases are pending in the high court’s as well as supreme courts for years. The accused and victims die while they wait for the verdict. Are laws and government authorities incapable to punish the guilty? Or are there some more important things going on in our country than our safety? As I am writing this, I got news just now, about the bomb blast in front of Delhi High Court. Though an alert was given to Delhi government, just because of carefree attitude of our government we faced another murder incident of some innocent people. Who is responsible for this?

Have you ever seen open air toilets? If not, just visit a railway tracks in major cities like Mumbai, Delhi. Slums in Mumbai are the worst thing in India. People from different states come in search of a job or business. Nobody wants to die of hunger, everybody wants to earn handsome amount of money no matter what. When their needs do not get satisfied in their native places, because of lack of employment and industries, they arrive in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, with their belongings including wife and children. And then no road or corner in the city is left unexplored. You would get lacs of such humans on the roads in the city, though I wonder whether they really should be called as humans, because the life they live is worse than stray dogs. Why this need of migration from native to unfamiliar state occurs in the first place? Why their own state government is not capable enough to create an employment for such people then and there itself? This huge population in cities does not care about the cleanliness, that’s the reason why they throw paper cups, wrappers, papers, plastic bags and such dust anywhere other than dustbin. I have seen thousands of people throwing things out of train and bus, spitting on the roads, asking their children to throw the garbage out of the moving vehicle. If children are subjected to this kind of tuition from their own parents and relatives, what a responsible citizen the child will become won’t he? People hear tales of beauty of foreign countries from others, and they forget the fact that, we can also make our country beautiful by keeping it clean and maintain some discipline.

The unemployment in small cities and villages lead some of the weak minded people to robbery. Every other day, we get news of theft in a jeweler’s shops, flats, offices and much more. I mean, a person is earning from a business and feeding his children, and somebody suddenly comes out of the blue and grabs the money and stuff, and just goes away? How the heart of the victim would feel after letting rot the garden that he had flourished with hard work? Chain snatching has become a daily activity of some minors who are facing problem of insufficient pocket money. Amazing, isn’t it?

Every nation has all types of personalities, weird, arrogant, selfish, innocent, leaders, firm, criminal and many more. But in spite of such things, many of them have progressed so dramatically and they are now known as Developed countries. Then what are we lacking in? Is it education, morality, leadership, money or anything else? It’s a high time for us to find out the answer of this question, or else the day is not so far, when we all will be either dead in a bomb  blast or killed for money, or dead in a long term disease. Don’t just say you are an Indian, but be one! Jai Hind Jai Bharat!

Welcome Client !!!

It was a relaxing time since last few days. Less work and eventually more time to pass. So attending team meeting was also considered as a kill-time activity, though hard to believe! But this time it wasn't the general so-called-updates meeting. There was something new to hear from the lead this time. She announced to us that our client is planning to come to India for a general visit. Now this came as a shock to me, as I had never expected clients coming just for a casual visit. There must be something in his mind, I thought. Maybe a new project or extra work for that matter. Thinking about his purpose would no way matter to anybody, as I was just another employee of my HUGE company. So who cares! Definitely, my lead had started planning all the activities on those two special days of his stay here in India.

Finally the day came when he arrived in India and eventually came to visit our office. Many of us hadn't seen him till then and for that matter none of our clients. A very pleasant personality! An only phrase struck to my mind, the moment I saw him. A 6 feet tall well built handsome guy in his thirties. Certainly, he was very smart, intelligent and a person with great presence of mind. An eternal smile on his face was making him look better, I would say. In his mid thirties though, he had a charm of a guy in his twenties. We all welcomed him and his colleague, who is Indian, with bouquets, had a small talk with them and left for our cubicles. As it was a lunch time and he was supposed to be taking his lunch and meeting with our group manager and other managers, he postponed our pre-planned discussions to next day. It was simply postponing today's death to tomorrow!!! Of course, a face-to-face talk with a client was something new for me. In my entire career, I had never seen my client, leave alone talking with them.

Apart from this we were actually looking forward for the dinner session with him in following evening. We had chosen one of the best ambient restaurant for him. It was buffet dinner, except the starters part. The starters were there on our table, kept on a barbeque for getting roasted. In all this happenings, the expressions on his face were remarkable. They were a mixture of curiosity, happiness and amaze! It was his first visit to India, but he already knew many of the INDIAN things, right from places to visit to typical Indian food. He was amazed to see the process of cooking 'tandoor roti'. He was marveled when he tasted the 'kheer'. And he was the happiest person among us when he tasted "chat" on the chat counter. He couldn’t stop talking about his love for Indian food. He wanted to know each and everything about Indian food in a span of time as short as 2 hours. We all were eager to answer him as well as enjoyed the same. He wanted to know the types of fishes we eat, the spices used for preparation of fish and chicken, the name for lady's finger/Okra, how biryani is prepared and much more! Not just the food recipes but he also wanted to know the proper way to have lunch/dinner in Maharashtra. When told to him that in Maharashtra first rice-daal, then roti-vegetable and in the end rice-daal is the general sequence of having meal, he was extremely exclaimed. He got lost in the calculation of overall calories after that. When asked for dessert, he was actually forbidden of the thought of having anything after that stomach-full meal. We insisted him and finally he agreed. But he didn’t regret it, as he just loved all the sweets including typically Indian ras-malai and kheer. History repeated again, he asked about the recipes of both the items. His curiosity was like that of a 1 year old child's. Though after the dinner "meetha paan" was must, we couldn't find paanwala there, hence dropped the plan of it and returned back to home.

The next day's schedule was an Gavin-all-the-time one. A meeting with him which continued for 2 hours, but which was scheduled for just an hour. A lunch with him and the last day's postponed individual meeting with him too. So this second day was expected to be eventful and so it was too. As per the agenda, he took a meeting with us all and I was simply marveled by his skills and brilliance. His knowledge and way of presenting the same were simply to be praised. He kind of held his audience's minds in his excellent talks. The time passed faster, though he was speaking of upcoming projects, which would be so boring at any other given time. Soon the meeting was over and it was time for lunch.

Now, interestingly the lunch was ordered in our office itself, so as to save time and fit all the scheduled things in well manner. On a special request from our dear guest, his favorite "paneer bhurji" was ordered. The day before he had talked about this well known food item, which we are way too much habitual of. I was shocked to see the glimpse of satisfaction in his eyes, after the 'bhurji' was served in his plate. I thought I also saw a smile filled with pleasure, after he had its first bite of paneer and roti. I must mention here his typical way of pronouncing 'Roti' was a cute one. In the end of the meal, when Gulab Jamun were served to him, he didn’t know what the dish was called as. As soon as he came to its name, he was so happy to eat the gulab jamuns, as if he came to India just for those 2 tempting balls of maava and sugar syrup!

The lunch was followed by the individual meeting sessions with him which went as smooth as a person talking with his/her colleague whom he knows since years. It was simply a pleasure to talk with him. His modesty and generosity were remarkable. One thing I can’t resist myself from sharing to you is his love for his wife and daughter. Till date how much we have seen in films and news, people not just in foreign countries but recently in India too, are known for their divorces, lack of chemistry and many such not-so-good incidents. In such a time, here is a person, who, when away from his family, is thinking about them continuously. Not just his wife and daughter, but he didn't forget to mention his parents and their overall bonding. He knew what 'love' and 'care' means. Here I was seeing a man with respect and decency, with humor and fun, with talent and endowment. He might not be the perfect person in this world, but I felt he was just across the border of perfectness!