Parag Mahalley

Foreign transaction fees for international travel booking

2011-02-05T12:15:00.006-06:00

International travel booking made at BA.com, using an US credit card, in the US, charged in USD, resulted in a foreign transaction fee (FTF). Ticket was issued by BA,US but the payment processing gateway happens to be in the UK!.

So apparently, this isn't uncommon and there are tons of such disputes. The FTF is charged by the credit card company and not the airline, so no point talking to the airline.

Why not try and avoid this in the first place? The airlines (and other online vendors) could help:
The payment page could list the address of their payment gateway and show a courtesy message/warning about potential FTF.

I'm sure its hidden in their terms and conditions somewhere but it should be more pronounced that that.

Alternatives:
- Pay a travel agent.
- Use a card that doesn't charge FTF.
- Dispute the FTF.
- Accept the FTF.

Lahanpan Dega Deva

2011-01-22T13:05:00.005-06:00

All time favorite!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGfTLUrNbmw

A request to be a child again (or humble, small)... several simple and beautiful analogies..

Gist:
"Jayaa angii mothepan, taya yatana katheen"
(One who thinks highly of themselves or is egoistic, suffers great pains)

Enjoy!

Favorite prayer, aarti, bhajan?

2011-01-16T12:48:00.005-06:00

There is something magical, captivating about prayers, even more so during the early morning hours. I've fond memories of this when we visited our native place in India. As kids, we didn't know the meaning but the melodies were very peaceful.

Not too long ago, we started compiling these as a YouTube playlist available at http://tinyurl.com/aartis.

Would love to hear about your favorites - regardless of religion, language of course.

Peace!

Happy Navratri!

2010-10-09T08:03:00.005-05:00

Friday October 8 2010 to October 16 2010

What is the significance? What should be done? (English)

Navaratri Sadhana Parva - Meaning and Importance (Hindi, 33 mins)

On this auspicious occasion, Res. Dr. Pranav Pandya will provide discourses on Bhagvadgita (in Hindi), daily from 6:30-8 PM (IST), 9-10:30 am.(US Eastern time). Live video broadcast will be available at http://www.awgp.org/live.

Aman is here!

2010-06-09T10:07:00.005-05:00

Eighth of June, Two Thousand and Ten.
Seventeen Hours and Twenty Three Minutes.

Six Pounds and Three Ounces (Twenty Eight Hundred and Two Grams).
Eighteen and Nine-Tenth Inches (Forty Eight Centimeters).

Aman means Peace, Trust, Safety (similar to Amin, Amen).

Update: Pictures here.

Shrew VPN, RSA Soft token, 64 bit Windows Server 2008 R2

2010-06-03T17:14:00.003-05:00

Issue: Shrew VPN with build 2.1.5 worked fine with a RSA hard token (key fob). Recently "upgraded" to the RSA soft token and VPN stopped working. Experienced similar behavior that is explained here.

Solution: Installed the 2.1.6-beta-8 stable dev build. That's it! No changes to Phase 2 PFS Exchange or any other settings.

Bye bye key fob!

Summer Youth Camp and Family Retreat

2010-05-23T21:23:00.003-05:00

When: July 11-16, 2010
Where: Washington DC Metro area
Details: http://awgpyouth.org.

I've enjoyed participating in these camps since they started about 7 years back. It has been an enriching experience, definitely something that is missing in our day to day lives.

I would like to stress that this is not a religious initiative but purely emphasizes on thought transformation for a better future. The motto is “Hum Badlenge - Yug Badlega", "Hum Sudhrenge - Yug Sudhrega". I.e.“When we transform ourselves, the world will be transformed; when we reform ourselves, the world will be reformed”.

If you don't have anything planned for the summer for yourself or your kids, give this a sincere thought, you will not regret it!

Please review the site for registration forms, flyers etc. I can certainly address any other questions that you may have, so don't hesitate to reach out.

Peace!

June 2010

2009-12-05T12:54:00.005-06:00

Parenthood! :)

Smart Strip 1, Standby Power 0

2009-11-17T16:06:00.007-06:00

Standby Power Wiki
Devices and functions that can consume standby power:
* Power supplies, transformers and inefficient electronic devices.
* VCRs, DVD players and some audio systems.
* TVs and Set-top boxes
* Microwave ovens
* Computers, digital monitors and printers
* Air conditioning systems with remote control.
* Devices with "Instant on" functions, with remote control receivers, or waiting for the user to interact.
* Devices with a stand-by light or clock.
* Power adapters (such as wall warts), whether they are powering a device or not.
* Home video game consoles (e.g. Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 & Sony PlayStation 3)

Got the SCG3 Smart Strip to address this. (Ordered it from Amazon with 5-9 shipping, got it on the 3rd day!)

Plug your computer (or television) into the blue "Control" outlet and your peripherals into the white "Automatically Switched" outlets. When you turn the computer (or television) on, the Smart Strip turns on the "Automatically Switched" outlets and when you turn the computer off, the Smart Strip completely cuts power to the"Automatically Switched" outlets.

That's my Green contribution for the day! :)

The Hindu-American Identity

2009-08-25T22:21:00.005-05:00

We all (and especially first generation immigrant parents) have much to learn from today's youth. This could also be extended to the Indo-American identity as well.

Here are a few excerpts from the winning essays [http://www.hafsite.org/nextgen]. Very mature thoughts, brilliantly presented!

Land Of The Free, Home Of The Veda: The Hindu-American Identity And Cultural Synthesis. "For me, this is truly the greatest advocacy possible: synthesis, not simply tolerance. I will learn and explore my binary heritage, synthesize its elements of rationality and excellence, and create an informed definition of what my religion and my culture mean to me. I will go out and live the life it mandates, show the world what a purusharthi looks like, and when I am asked how I was able to do it—I will say it was because I am a Hindu American."

The Hindu American Identity: A Melting Pot Within A Melting Pot". I have been given an opportunity as a Hindu American to share the teachings of Hinduism to others, and to clear up misunderstandings of the religion. It is so important to maintain my identity as a Hindu American because I am a part of the generation that is starting to make major decisions about the future of our country."

Of Cows And Football. "America would be glad of such a venture. They have embraced fragments of Hindu culture – yoga, vegetarianism (the preferred dietary style of many a celebrity!) – and have gained a favorable impression of Hinduism as a whole. Further pervasion would lend American society an outlook that harvests an acceptance of others, an appreciation for every object and being, an understanding of obscure scientific realities, an acute sense of right and wrong, and a transformed set of values."

My Battle Within: The Identity Crisis Of A Hindu Soldier In The US Army. "Krishna’s picture sits in my office as a constant reminder of my Hindu-American Identity; a reminder that strength in principle outweighs the comfort of indifference. No matter what challenges lie ahead of me, I will bear my uniform each day with pride knowing I am defending a nation I truly love, and caring for a platoon of soldiers who do the same. It is through the discharge of my duties to God and Country that I have finally found the identity I was looking for all along; that of a fulfilled Hindu-American."

Food monopoly

2009-08-14T17:56:00.013-05:00

This is such an eye opener - greed and corruption at levels you can't imagine!

The world according to Monsanto (documentary).

This is one of the most powerful, must see films for anyone interested in the behind the scenes world of the food industry, and how just one world dominating corporation holds the keys and patents to much of the worlds food supply.

Monsanto, which started out as one of the planets largest chemical companies is also responsible for such chemical compounds as Agent Orange, Bovine Growth Hormone, PCBs and genetically-engineered crops.

Part of the movie talks about the numerous farmers' suicides and social crisis in Vidarbha, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Specifically how Monsanto owns Mahico the local seed company and their push to sell genetically modified BT cotton and soy seeds.

Can't wait to see the Food Inc. movie. Here are a few
reviews.

Makes one think:
- What food should I eat?
- Where should I buy food?
- If I grow food, what fertilizer should I use?
- Where can I buy non genetically modified seeds?

Update: 5 Common genetically modified (GM) foods

Adios!

2009-01-10T20:00:00.016-06:00

Saturday, December 27, 2009

Last morning in Playa! We checked out around 12:30, and bid farewell to Anna. Next we stopped by the beach one last time and went to the bus station. Our return flight from Cancun was at 5pm - so we had booked tickets to leave Playa on the 1:10 ADO bus (remember to book at least a day early if you have an earlier flight). Saw "Mr. Jack Sparrow" in Spanish on the way. I kept trying to get my already comfortable seat to recline, with no luck.

At the Cancun airport

The ADO bus reached terminal 2 around 2:10pm. Everyone had to get down here - there is a free shuttle every 20 minutes to terminal 3. In terminal 3, there was a long serpentine line at the AA counters. We quickly checked the flight status monitors and learned that most all flights were delayed due to bad weather in the US. We had a connection through Miami which would get us in Dallas at 11:30pm. There were 2 direct flights now (due to the delays) to Dallas prior to our flight. While we were waiting in the line, we decided to find out if we could bump up to those. The super friendly AA personnel found open seats, we explained the situation to the security personnel and she led us to the priority counter and we were good to go (including checked in luggage)! What a relief!

We picked up lunch at the airport grill, cleared security in no time (no need to remove shoes!) and got to the gate. The flight was delayed another 30 mins, so we had time to eat before we boarded.

Duty free receipt

The duty free receipt showed our items but some other passenger's name passport number, and flight number. A possible identity theft risk! Not sure if the software/cashier just carried over the previous passengers information, as we didn't have use ours, since we paid in Pesos.

We wanted to call family back in Dallas, informing them about the flight change, but were surprised to find out that there were no public telephones at the gates, which accept coins - only credit cards accepted! We were able to use our cell phone, but took us a couple of minutes to remember to dial 1 first.

What did we not do?

- Snorkeling and Scuba. Anna did check on prescription diving glasses for me, but couldn't find any. So before the next time we head down, I'm definitely wearing contacts, or renting prescription eyeglasses.

- Visit the beaches in Akumal and Tulum.

- Visit the ruins in Coba.

Back home

The flight back was uneventful and landed in the US of A before we knew it. From 80F to 45F in under 3 hours. Also, I didn't miss going to the visa line at immigration. :)

The much anticipated vacation is over - we had an absolutely wonderful time and look forward to the next time in Mehico! We are thankful to all the great tips and resources online, especially the forums, and hopefully our travelog contributes some more!

Pictures and Videos: Playa , Chichen Itza

Playa - Day 5

2009-01-05T00:46:00.012-06:00

Friday, December 26, 2008

Sunrise at the beach

It was a rare occasion for us to be on the east Atlantic coast and see the sun rise over water. Since we didn't want to risk leaving this opportunity for the final day, we double checked the sunrise times and made sure we got to the beach at least 15 minutes prior to it. We loved the fact that it was only a 2-3 min walk!

It was very peaceful - the fresh gentle breeze, barren beach, calm waves, and a bird or two in the almost clear sky. Just as the sun broke on the horizon, a few local fishermen teamed up to push their boat into the water and ride the waves. Good Morning, Playa!

Al-Hambra Solarium

We chilled at the hotel for a bit, had brunch at Babe's Noodles and stopped by the internet cafe. No emails/phone for a couple of days had some family members concerned :). Next we went down 8th street to the beach front hotel, Al-Hambra. They have a solarium (terrace) atop the 3rd floor, which is apparently open to the public. It is a small area with some lounge chairs and quite a few potted tropical plants. The best part however was the panoramic view of the beach, and the colorful city! A must see!

Their beachfront restaurant, Zabor had an interesting menu - they cook meats, veggies on hot rocks on your table (has some Mesoamerican history). We decided to try it out for dinner.

5th Avenue shops

Then we walked along the beach and then back up to the main street, checked out a few typical tourist stores, and bought some gift items and typical Mexican salsas. We learnt about the cigar making process, and the various aspects of Tequila. Did not know that they also made sugar from the same Agave plant as they make Tequila from!

The "Hindu" store

Later in the evening, we stopped by the Indian looking store next to our hotel. It had decorations of the elephant God, Ganesha everywhere, along with Indian dresses and household decorative items. We had been curious for a while, so decided to find out what the deal was. The store lady(Marah) said, "Welcome to your home!". Apparently she had been dreaming of elephants and such, when she was pregnant with her younger daughter. Then somehow she got in touch with some Hindu (we were amused by the usage of Hindu instead of Indian) Sikh families who were in the export-import business. She wore a Ganesh pendant and said that she had become a devotee since.

She was super nice and excited to meet us and promised to make Samosas for us when we visited next time. Also, she did ask us if we were from Canada! The only justification we have for this is that she related Indians to Sikhs to Canada (which has a lot)! We asked her about Indian restaurants in town - she didn't know the name but gave us rough directions to one on Calle 10 and 26/28th.

As we walked out, her older daughter ran up to us and gifted a small doll to Lajja! Muchas Gracias! Dhanyawaad! Shukriya! What a small world! If we do visit Playa again, Samosas are definitely on the list.

Dinner

So we headed down Calle 10, towards this Hindu restaurant, which we eventually could not find after much asking around. From our research, we knew that new businesses open and shut down very frequently in Playa - so we were not too surprised. So, back to Avenida 5!

Decided to try out Mediterranean food at Maktob (instead of the Mesoamerican rocks option at Zabor, as planned earlier). It was a small cozy place, and had our favorite Vegetarian Mazza platter on the menu. Food was good, service was decent as well. A couple of guys pulled out the Hookah and sat near the front table. Several people stopped by, asking about it and trying a puff.

It was interesting to see all the activity around these small local joints. A lot of foreigners (mostly Europeans) have migrated to Playa, started these business and they seemed to know each other.

Back at the hotel, we did most of the packing and crashed.

Playa - Day 4

2009-01-05T00:45:00.025-06:00

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Feliz Navidad (Merry Christmas)!

It was a slow and late morning for us. I think we watched a European league soccer game and one of the Lord of the Ring movies. We chatted with Anna and Dirk for a bit and headed out for brunch.

100% Natural

We had discussed the food here with Dirk. He said, you will love the ambiance, the menu, and the food until you eat it. :) We had read good reviews online, so it was worth a shot.

The ambiance was really nice, almost like a little opening in a dense forest. The menu was quite elaborate and also their philosophy pamphlet was an interesting read. The service was a little slow - most things in Playa were and we didn't mind it!. The food was fresh and delicious, especially the Hibiscus drink!

Beach

Next, we strolled down to the beach and found a spot under one of the thatched umbrellas. Lajja read her book and I experimented a fair bit with the camera settings. Lots of colorful and intriguing subjects to capture :). However we couldn't swim there as the local fishing boats were anchored. So we walked along the beach to the area near one of the resorts. The water was nice and warm and only knee high with almost 100 meters in from the shore. The floor was uneven in some areas, but even then the water was only chest high.

After spending some time in the water, we sat and saw the sunset - an interesting silhouette of the Playa architecture with seagulls in the foreground. More reason for photographic experiments!

Walk around town

Next, we stopped by Ah Cacao for hot chocolate and bought some chocolates for back home. We also checked out the famous Jelly Fish lantern store next door. The lanterns are carved from some fruit or gourd, they have colorful stones embedded on the sides and shells hanging from the bottom. Bargaining with the seller there, with our limited Spanish and charades was an interesting and fun experience.

On our trip to Chichen Itza, we had liked two types of chips - Tomato and some other extra hot ones. We decided to check out Megamart to see if they carried a bigger packs to bring back home. The store was way less crowded compared to Walmart, seemed more like a Target. We got the chips, some more water and on our way back, checked out the local municipality plaza.

The plaza was well decorated with Xmas lights and a huge Xmas tree. It had a water fountain with arches for the major cities in the state. Another structure had highlights of the Mayan culture and history. Several locals hung out there - some benches there reminded us of the 5 gardens area in Matunga, Mumbai. :)

Dinner at Karen's

We had checked out their menu earlier and it had decent options. They also had festive live music and it was quite crowded. We were lucky to get a table quickly though. Considering the common 2 for 1 special, we ordered our 2 drinks. Shortly thereafter we were served 4 drinks - 2 of each! At other places, the special translated to 2 drinks from the same category. Here, they meant 2 of the exact same drink! That was way too much Pina Colada!

Also we got an unordered appetizer and no, it wasn't a Xmas special - I think the music was too loud for our waiter. The main course was ok. With all the previous confusion, we were not surprised that the check was incorrect. We were glad to get out of Karen's.

Most of the shops had closed early for Xmas, but the restaurants were packed late into the night. The number of people on the street seemed more than usual, as we headed back to the hotel.

Chichen Itza - Day 3

2009-01-05T00:40:00.000-06:00

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Chichen Itza on Wikipedia

Playa to Chichen Itza

We were a bit early for our 8am departure, so we checked out the activity around the bus station. There were about 4-5 food vendors on carts, selling what looked shredded meats of all sorts on small flour tortillas with hot sauce. There was another vendor making fresh orange juice. They seemed very popular with the locals.

We boarded the ADO bus at 7:55 and were on the way at 8. We were very impressed with the punctuality here in general - so its a good idea to reach 15-20 mins prior. The journey is about 3 hours without any stops. But the bus makes 5 min stops in towns of Tulum, Coba and Valladolid. The bus stations are typically about 10 mins away from the highway, in the heart of the towns, so it was around 4 hours before we got to Chichen Itza. We were on highway 307 through to Tulum and then on a narrow 2 lane highway (180?). The landscape had several small towns/villages with vast stretches of forest in between. They played WallE this time, followed by some teen flick, so we caught up on some sleep. We got some heavy rain around Coba and were a bit worried, but luckily it subsided just as we reached.

The ruins

The bus dropped us in a big parking lot in front of the main entrance. There were several tour buses there with groups of 30+ people in each. There is a small cafe past the entrance, so we stopped by to grab a quick bite. Then we got our entrance tickets (208 pesos each) and looked around for a guide. We were told that a guided tour lasts about 2 hours - so we had some buffer time before our return bus at 4:30. We were told by the bus company to be at the parking lot 20 mins earlier. Since that was the only bus for the day, we had to make sure we kept track of time. Apparently there is a good laser light show at the main pyramid in the evening - but that wasn't a choice for us ofcourse.

You can walk around the ruins yourself, but we were advised to hire a local guide to better understand/enjoy the history, architecture and culture there. So we asked around for an English speaking guide. Our guide, Ruben wanted 600 Pesos total for the tour - typically that cost is shared between 2-6 people. There is no official pricing here, so you just have to decide how much you want to pay. So we waited for a while as Ruben looked for other people and finally ended up paying 200 Pesos for both of us, a 3rd guy paid 400.

Ruben walked us around the ruins, explaining in detail, the significance and interesting aspects of each of the structures - temples, shrines, and the pyramid. His little book had several pictures of how the ruins looked in their original excavated form - emphasis on the colors that had turned grey over time. The Mayan symbolism, beliefs, traditions, and culture are quite fascinating, especially their religious dependencies and historical implications.

Some key things we remember:

- They had their own number system.

- Their calendar revolved around the harvesting seasons.

- The square symbol represents the heaven.

- Snakes, eagles, jaguars were important.

- Human sacrifice was common to please the Gods. We saw stone cones, on which skulls were supposedly mounted. There is also a sacred well, which had several skeletons.

- They had a fairly advanced observatory.

- The Maya language is practiced to date, including radio shows and television stations. Every information panel and each site had a Mayan translation.

- The carvings were very detailed and extensive. Some portions even had the original orangish red color.

J.K Rowling must have been inspired by the great ball court here - quite a few similaraties to the game of Quidditch played in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. One version of the ball court story has it that the winner would be sacrificed, thus liberating his soul (depicted as snakes), to please the rain Gods.

The main pyramid is impressive and worth the visit - the public is no longer allowed to climb on it. We were told that there are other ruins nearby, including Coba, where you can climb on the pyramids. The shadows along the edges of the pyramid would line up during equinoxes, resembling the back of a rattlesnake. This was a key day for the Mayans, with regards to the harvesting cycles.

After Ruben was done, we walked around a bit, checked out the local Mayan vendors near the pyramid and headed back to the parking lot on time. We were happy to have seen our first wonder of the modern world!

The return journey was pretty uneventful, dozed through most of it.

Dinner at Rolandi's

We freshened up, rested for a bit and headed to Rolandi's near the ferry terminal. Tried the famous pizza there - each slice of our mixed veggie had one vegetable on it - so if you didn't like mushrooms, you could just share that slice! Food was good overall, but they were a bit short staffed, which meant longer than usual wait times - we were getting used to that by now. It seemed like our waiter was the only one running around.

It was a long, tiring, but "wonder"ful and memorable day! :)

Playa - Day 2

2009-01-04T23:24:00.020-06:00

Tuesday, December 23, 2007

We had breakfast in our room and then met with the hotel managers, Anna (from Italy) and Dirk (from Germany). They offered maps and tips about various spots in the city and the various activities/tours around the area. We gathered the information and decided to mull over it through the day.

The beach!

We then walked down to the beach on Juarez. It was a gorgeous day with 75F and clear blue skies. Not to mention the beautiful turquoise waters, white sandy beach, and palm/coconut trees!

We strolled along the beach all the way to 30th. All the beaches in Playa are open to the public, so you don't have to worry about the portions in front of the resorts and hotels. There are a couple of beach clubs, which offer lounge chairs, umbrellas, and beds on the beach. The charges are typically waived if you order food from their restaurants. Parts of the beach before calle 8 are rocky and you have to watch out for the boat ropes. There are a couple of new hotels being constructed along the beach, so they don't have any chairs in front of these properties and hence have the widest sandy parts. There are some areas with thatched umbrellas, which surprisingly no one seemed to occupy. We didn't realise how two hours passed by, and were getting a bit hungry.

We walked up Constituyentes and then right on 5th. This part of town seems a little nicer, has relatively more condos, upscale shops and less locals. We stopped for lunch at La Vagabunda, known for its breakfast menu. We ordered the famous waffles with tropical fruit toppings, delicious hash browns and smoothies. It was nice and relaxing, sitting street side, watching the lively tourists, local businesses and admiring the unique architecture. Seemed like quite a cultural melting pot, teenagers to seniors, not that many kids under 10 - guessing they were at the AI resorts. Local artists, painters, musicians stopped by, performed at the restaurants, or on the streets. With no rush for "la cuenda", it was a slow, laid back afternoon.

"What's next? How about the beach? Sounds good!"

We got a couple of lounge chairs in the front row near the water at a beach club... lazed for a while and then got in the water. The sand was crowded with tourists, and the water with the locals. It was the holiday season, so tons of people everywhere. The water was nice and warm, and not too deep - we could stand for about 50 meters or so. It was fun to swim in the deeper waters - however realised how out of shape I was! Time flew by - it started getting slightly chilly as the sun went down. A few rain clouds were headed inland as we walked along the beach back towards Constituyentes. We watched a beach volleyball game for a bit on the way.

Ah Cacao!

It was time for a hot chocolate at the famous Ah Cacao cafe! Did you know that Chocolate was invented in Mexico? Apparently, Hernan Cortes, the Spanish conquistador, carried the secret recipe to Spain in the 16th century. We got a couple of drinks and the deliciously renowned chocolate brownie! Sudden rain showers followed for about 15 mins, causing everyone to rush inside. Except for this one couple from Canada who decided to adjust their umbrella and continued enjoying their drinks in the rain! It was fun watching the busy intersection.

After the rain stopped, we walked back to the hotel, chilled for a while, freshened up and headed back on 5th avenue.

Chichen Itza planning

We definitely wanted to visit the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, one of the modern wonders of the world. It would be a day trip and would involve lots of walking around. The forecast for Thursday and Friday had more rain that usual, so we decided to go on Wednesday and get that out of the way. We walked over to the ADO bus station and booked tickets. There was only one bus from Playa at 8 am, which reaches Chichen Itza around 12. The return bus left at 4:30pm. The roundtrip fare per person was 436 Pesos. More about this trip in the next post.

Dinner at Tropical

Next, we strolled along 5th avenue for a bit and decided to have dinner at the Tropical restaurant. We chose seating upstairs overlooking the busy street. Here we had possibly the bext Mexican food we've ever had. Delicious enchiladas and fajitas with the fresh vegetables, spicy salsas, juicy limes, guacamole and tropical drinks. The service was great as well.

This experience was quite a contrast to the typical TexMex, we are used to here in Dallas. The portions were much smaller, especially the cheese, beans and rice, and the salsas much fresher. Also, no free chips and salsa, so you can really enjoy the main course! We didn't feel bloated afterwards either. Also, another notable difference was how fine the veggies were chopped, not just in the salsas.

Later, we got back to the hotel, packed for the Chichen Itza trip and called it a night.

Playa - Day 1

2009-01-04T18:19:00.018-06:00

Monday, December 22, 2007

We left Dallas in the morning with temperatures around 25F, eagerly awaiting the 80F weather in Cancun! The direct flight was delayed a bit but lasted only 2.5 hours - our shortest international flight ever and with no time zone changes! :)

At the Cancun airport

We landed at Terminal 3 in Cancun - immigration and customs were a breeze. First thing we needed were Pesos for the 1 hr bus ride to Playa (USDs are accepted also but you would lose marginally with the conversion rate). The travel exchange counter across from immigrations had the USD sign and the following next to it - Buy 10.505, Sell 13.505. That means 1USD gets you 10.505 Pesos. We bought just enough for the bus ticket (90 pesos each) - we knew that the ATMs in Playa would give a much better rate. We did ask for a few 20 Peso bills as we had heard that change is difficult to come by in the town.

The red ADO bus counter was right there near the exchange - we got the tickets and went to the bus near the Coconut drinks shop on the right after exiting the terminal gates. The bus is a luxury coach (like the video coaches in India) and runs every hour. Once the driver was ready, we handed the tickets to the driver, loaded our luggage on the side of the bus ourselves and were on the way to Playa. The bus made a stop at Terminal 2 on the way.

In Playa

The ADO bus station in Playa is at the corner of Avenida(Avenue) 5 and Juarez. Our hotel (Hotel Villa Del Mar) was only two blocks away, so we walked there. Anna had stepped out, so Sonia checked us in. The room was good sized and looked cozy! It was past 3pm then and we were starving for lunch!

After exchanging currency at the cambrio downstairs (12.50 Pesos/USD), we walked down a block to the famous 5th Ave for our first meal. This street is lined on both sides with a variety of restaurants and shops, and was packed with tourists. The odd numbered avenues (5, 10, 15... 30+) run north-south and parallel to the beach. They intersect with the even numbered streets (Calle) (2,4,6... 30+) running east-west. A walk along 5th avenue from 2nd to 30th would take roughly 30 mins - so not real long.

The menus were almost always outside, so we could check the veggie options upfront. We ate at Jaguar's - food was decent. It is considered rude to bring the bill (la cuenda) unless asked for, so we waited for it quite a bit. In general, things seem to happen at a much slower pace, which was perfect for the vacation mood. The tip was not included in the bill, however when we paid, the waiter was hesitant to offer change and tried to sweet talk us into leaving the balance as tip. The forums had warned us of this, so we had to insist a bit.

We had to go to the beach next to check out the Caribbean waters! It was lovely (the breeze, the sounds and the smell) but a bit late as the sun was almost disappearing. We walked on the beach for some time and headed back, thinking about the next day there.

Next, we stopped by an Internet cafe (5 Pesos for 15 mins), emailed our families and then walked to the ATM at Juarez and 25th.

ATM

As mentioned earlier, Santander offered the best exchange rate (13.10+ Pesos/USD), with minimum fees, as they have a partnership with our local US bank. The withdrawal experience was interesting as the menu was in Spanish. So it certainly helps to know translations for some of the key words. Note that the currency is denoted in $s, which means MXN$ or Pesos, not US$. We withdrew the maximum allowed for a single withdrawal (3000 Pesos). There is an option for the type of bills you want - we chose multiples of 50 and got a combination of 50,100, 200 and 500 bills.

There was a message for a 7.5 Pesos fee for the transaction - which is nothing compared to other banks' ATMs. Make sure you count the amount and store away the bills before walking away. The only way to know the exchange rate was to check our bank transactions online. On another occasion, we got a rate of 13.31 Pesos/USD. So the moral is, always withdraw at the ATM, not at the cambrios around town and at the airport! And ofcourse, always pay in Pesos (otherwise you would only get 10 Pesos/USD)!

Walmart

Our hotel did not provide breakfast (but our room had a fridge and microwave), so we decided to stock up on some fruits, milk, yogurt, and snacks from Walmart. It was about a 15 mins walk from the ATM and was super crowded, hardly any room to move around. They had the star shaped lanterns hanging everywhere, part of the Christmas festivities.

The hotel did provide a liter of water every day - we didn't bother asking if they would charge for anything more. We had heard mixed opinions about using tap water, so we decided to not take a risk and buy some. They had a special for water at 7 Pesos/liter - around town the rate was anywhere between 11 and 20 Pesos/liter, depending on the store. Overall shopping there was relatively cheaper than the US, and the vegetables/fruits seemed very fresh and varied.

We also found that swimwear was much more expensive than in the US - possibly targeting the tourists. It is a challenge buying swimwear in the US in the winter months, so plan ahead!

The checkout line was interesting - for less than 20 items, there was one line which eventually led to about 8 checkout counters. Other counters had their own line. We also noticed that the locals shopped much less compared to what we are used to seeing in the US. We learned that they shop more frequently - 2 or 3 times a week - instead of stocking up at once.

Dinner at Babe's Noodles and Bar

On our way back from Walmart, we decided to stop by Babe's for dinner, based on reviews from the Playa forums. They primarily offer Asian cuisine with a Swedish touch - that translates to not so spicy food and a piece of bread with the salad/soup! We had to ask for hot sauce later. The food was great overall (especially the vegetable rolls sampler), with lots of veggie options (curries, noodles) and non-alcoholic drinks, and was reasonably priced. Here, a 13% tip was included - we later learned that this was common at most places. We preferred it that way to avoid any confusion with the change, calculations etc.

We walked down 5th ave, back to the hotel for a good night sleep. Day 1 in Mexico was interesting, safe and fun. It did take a bit getting our heads around the currency, exchange rates, calculations and such, but we felt pretty comfortable and were ready for the remainder of the vacation - especially the beach!

Playa travel preparation

2008-12-29T17:54:00.007-06:00

The flights and hotel were booked and we were excited to pack our bags and go! We would be gone for 6 days, 5 nights, so didn't really need to pack too much, but we love to research/plan!

We found a web site, prepared by a couple who got married in Playa recently, with all the basic information for their attendees. The following pages were particularly helpful:

- What to pack?

- Getting from Cancun to Playa

Currency

1USD converts to 13+ Pesos. The USD is widely accepted in Mexico but the conversion rate used is 1 USD to 10 Pesos, for ease of calculation (and some profit). If you didn't want to tax your brain or use your cell phone for the calculations, here's a handy conversion cheatsheet that can be printed for your wallet.

We looked into getting some Pesos from our local bank - the rate was around 11.5 to 12 Pesos/USD but had to order 1000USD to avoid some fees. Our bank partners with a local Mexican bank, Santander and learnt that using our ATM card would get us the best conversion rate with the lowest fees. So we decided to carry some USDs ($1 bills), get some Pesos from Cancun airport for the bus ride and then use the ATM when we got to Playa.

We also called our local bank to verify daily withdrawal limits and also to inform them about our travel dates, in case they suspended our ATM for suspicious activity.

We did verify with our credit card companies that there would be a minimum of 3% extra charge, if used internationally. So they would be used as the last option.

Cell Phone

We found out that AT&T phones would work without any activation in Mexico, with a 99c/min rate. We would need to dial 001 to dial US numbers. The carrier was also informed of our travel dates, just in case. The rate drops to 59c/min with the monthly plan of $5.99.

Legal documents

It was strongly advised on the forums and travel sites that we make a copies of our passport, green card, travel itinerary, contacts in Mexico and emergency contacts in the US. Each traveler would carry a copy of this set with them at all times and another copy would be left with the local contact in the US.

Food

As our hotel did not offer breakfast, we planned on a visit to the local Walmart/Mega store when we got to Playa. Lajja decided to carry some Theplas, especially as a backup option for breakfast.

First Aid Kit

Including basic medications for motion sickness, diarrhoea, headaches etc.

Sunscreen/Sunblock

Get sunblock NOT sunscreen.

Language

Living in Texas, we are used to some Spanish, but no where near to being comfortable in Mexico! Here are some introductory lessons that could be useful:

- Basic Spanish for travel in Mexico

- Free Spanish lessons online (with audio)

- Mexican food glossary

Camera, Chargers etc.

Since we wouldn't be carrying a laptop, we got a 8GB memory card for the camera - enough for all the pictures and videos. For the next trip, we will carry a waterproof case!

Enough preparations, we were ready to get out of this cold weather!

Mexico vacation planning

2008-12-28T19:27:00.001-06:00

We had been contemplating a much needed vacation around Xmas for quite some time now. It had to be somewhere warmer than the crazy Dallas winter. Mexico was an easy choice, given the proximity and the recent green card approval, although fond memories from Hawaii did cross our mind!

Where to go?

The main destinations in Mexico under consideration were Puerto Vallarta(PV) and the Mayan Riviera (MR). Based on our limited research, PV's highlight was the Mexican culture and seemed to attract elderly tourists, whereas the MR offered more to see/do around the white sandy beaches and attracted all age groups. Strong recommendations from a couple of co-workers drove our decision towards the MR. It is located along the north-east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula (parallel to the Carribean coastline) in the state of Quintana Roo. Luis, thanks for suggesting LocoGringo!

Which city in the Mayan Riviera?

There are lots of options here - all inclusive resorts, hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, etc. The all inclusive (AI) option sounded the easiest in terms of planning - you basically pay a flat rate for the hotel room, unlimited food and drinks, and taxes. The hesitation however was about our diet limitations - vegetarian food and no alcohol. Almost all of the AI restaurants have very limited or no vegetarian options, so it did not make sense. We spoke to travel agents at Funjet Vacations, Apple Vacations and learnt that there was a non AI option, known as the European Plan (EP). However, there were hardly any affordable resorts with the EP option, available for our travel dates.

So it really came down to deciding our criteria for the vacation. This turned out to be more time consuming that we thought, primarily due to the fact that this was our first "international" vacation (traveling in the US is relatively much easier). After much deliberation, we narrowed down our needs and preferences:

- Vegetarian food options

- 1 day to visit Playa del Carmen and Cozumel

- 1 day to visit the Mayan ruins

- 2+ days to relax and unwind at the beach

- Basic water activities including shallow water snorkeling, swimming... not too crazy about scuba or fishing etc.

- Total stay of 4-5 nights

- No fancy, upscale resorts

- Safe, quiet, clean room (preferably close to the beach)

- Prefer not to rent/drive there

- Prefer English speaking people around

While reading up on the forums for one of the AI resorts [http://www.unofficial-barcelo-maya.com], suggested by Keith, we saw a reference for a specialist travel agent, AnnaLynne from Lone Palm travel. She addressed each one of our criteria in detail and strongly suggested staying at a hotel in Playa (short for Playa del Carmen) instead of an AI resort. That was enough to convince us!

Playa guides

There is a ton of information about Playa tourism but the following resources proved the most helpful:

- Playa.info Guidebook written by the locals (mostly migrated foreigners). Very impressive coverage on pretty much everything you would need to know about Playa, especially the forums and the trip reports!

- InTheRoo.com Comprehensive directory of businesses in Playa, including an interactive map.

Which hotel in Playa?

AnnaLynne had recommended a few hotels:

Beachfront

Playa Palms - http://playapalms.com

Playa Maya - http://www.playa-maya.com

Alhambra Hotel - http://www.alhambra-hotel.net/en/Home.php

Mosquito Beach - http://www.mosquitobeachhotel.com

Off beach (but close enough to walk)

Luna Blue - http://www.lunabluehotel.com

La Tortuga - http://www.hotellatortuga.com

El Cielo - http://www.hotelcielo.com

Peak season starts a week before Xmas and most hotels are booked way in advance. Some popular ones require a 7 night minimum stay as well. Unfortunately, none of the above hotels worked for our dates. We should have booked much earlier but could not finalize our dates due to various reasons.

We turned to TripAdvisor for hotel reviews, and narrowed down a few based on rates and availability. It was also helpful to crosscheck the rates and availability on the hotel's website. Since not all hotel sites were up to date, we wrote to them to confirm - most all were responded in a day or two.

Fortunately, Henry from El Cielo recommended Hotel Villa del Mar (VDM), and they had availability. It is a couple of blocks from the bus terminal and about the same from the beach! We exchanged a couple of emails and phone calls with Anna from VDM, and felt comfortable finalizing the hotel. Finally, we were ready to book our flights and hotel!

Travel Booking and Insurance

We booked our flights at AA.com. There are several direct flights (2.5 hours) between Dallas and Cancun (an hour drive from Playa). We got a direct flight on the way there but a connection via Miami on the way back. Not too bad given the dates! On the check out screen, there was an option for travel insurance. Like all insurance, the detail is in the fine print or a phone call away. We checked with our credit card companies, evaluated the odds of any mishaps and decided to decline additional coverages.

The hotel booking was done conveniently via a bank transfer in USD $.

With flights and hotel covered, travel preparations are next!

Hotel Hackey Sack Rate!

2008-08-28T14:37:00.005-05:00

http://www.hotelpalomar-dallas.com/
Reservations - Hotel Reservations - Search

"GUEST MUST HACKEY SACK FOR ONE MINUTE AT FRONT DESK TO GET 50% OFF RATE "

Wonder if other establishments are honoring any other guest skills!

How old are the tires on your vehicle?

2008-08-13T23:01:00.004-05:00

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4826897

Seems like any tire older than 6 years from its manufacturing date has a high risk of tread separation, even if the tread appears as brand new.

It is unfortunate and shocking to see dealers sell old (10+ yrs) tires as new and also the lack of awareness and policies overall!

Please pay close attention to the manufacturing date on each tire on your vehicle. You can find it on the tire as shown below.

The format is WWYY or WWY, where WW is the number of the week in a year and YY/Y is the year. i.e. 414 means 41st week of 1994 and 2402 means 24th week of 2002.

Also if you can't spot it on the outside, it could be on the inside. If this is happening with new tires, imagine the used tires for sale in the market!

Green Card

2008-03-06T21:35:00.006-06:00

Got this in the mail last week - "Welcome to the United States of America! Your application for permanent status is approved." Finally!

Should have received that 16 months earlier, but better late than never! :) Btw, that's based on the family based application. God knows when the employment based process would have completed - labor certification alone took 4 yrs!.

Primary benefits:
- No more visa required for US entry. (No travel permits!)
- No visa required for Canada, Mexico travel. Yeah!

India Trip 2007

2008-03-06T20:14:00.004-06:00

It had been close to two years since our last trip. We had not seen our newborn neice yet. Two of my cousins, Devika and Kamakshi, were getting married in Nov and Dec. So, we planned to reach Mumbai before Diwali, booked tickets for Sunday, Nov 4.

However I could not leave without getting my travel permit (due to pending Green Card). We got in the mail on Friday night! You can imagine how chaotic Saturday was, with last minute packing, getting the house cleaned up, etc. To our relief, we were both aboard the flight as planned! New York to Mumbai was a 13 hour direct flight - much better than anticipated.

Here is what followed:

- Diwali @ Mumbai
- Devika's wedding @ Pune
- Pune - Delhi - Haridwar - Delhi - Bangalore - Mysore
- Devika's reception @ Mysore
- Vidarbha trip including Kamakshi's wedding/reception @ Akola

Lots of fun ofcourse, but also very hectic overall. Towards the end of the trip, we had about 10 days in Mumbai to spend time with family, relatives and friends. Hopefully next time we will stay put in Mumbai for a bit longer!

And just like that 2007 was almost over, as we landed back in Dallas!

Lots of pics on Flickr. Enjoy!

House Painting

2007-07-31T21:32:00.000-05:00

We roughly had a month between getting possession and moving in. One thing we definitely wanted to do before moving in, was to add color to some of the boring white walls. We decided to do the bedroom, living room, entry way and one of the guest rooms. Obviously lots of questions followed (some were not so obvious though).

Following are some key choices/tips/thoughts etc. Lot of these come from talking to friends who had already done this earlier.

How much prep work is needed?
Lots! This is the most time consuming part - but it will be worth it when you start painting. Account for lots of masking tape, floor covers, gloves, clean up supplies etc. If you thought rolling out a piece of tape in a straight line was easy, think again! Don't forget to remove the electrical socket face plates, blinds.

Which colors to choose for each room?
Really depends on your (and your better half's) personality. Different colors and different finishes symbolize different characteristics, moods etc. Think about complementary colors. There are tons of online resources which allow you to mix n match colors based on your room shape, size etc. Pick up free brochures from the stores. Ofcourse there are endless home design magazines for reference as well. Transitions are key as well. Imagine how one color would blend with another as you enter into a room.

How will the colors look in different lights?
Very tricky! You would be surprised how different your favorite color looks in daylight (direct/diffused), white, soft white, bright white bulbs. You can try holding the little paint swatches under different lights in the store, but the best option is to try them out on the wall or paintboards. Paint 1' x 1' squares of shortlisted samples and notice the colors over a day in different lights.

How long will it take?
Obviously depends on size/texture of the wall, number of doors, windows, color etc. We took about an hour to get the masking tape on for an average room 12' x 12'. The color selection took way longer than we anticipated, but once we had it down, the actual painting with the initial primer was about 1 hr for each coat. Roughly 4 hours drying time is the standard recommendation. The touch-up, clean-up depends on how steady your hand is around the corners, edges etc.

It takes a lot of time and patience! Luckily we had an empty house to paint - so no furniture to move. We painted different walls/coats during weekday nights/mornings.

Which paint to buy?
We tried Behr(Home Depot) and Valspar(Lowes). Valspar was much much better! The Signature series boasts of single coat finish and lives up to it! We also used two different primers, white for light colors, light to dark gray for darker shades.

How much paint is needed?
Home Depot offers non returnable samples in Quart sizes ($8-10), which we found to be too much. Instead Lowes has much smaller samples which work out great. Also a 1 gallon can covers about 400 sq ft for a single coat, for about $25.

What tools/supplies are required?
Rollers, lots of roller covers (depending on wall textures) - don't bother washing and reusing them, paint wipes, gloves, painter's plastic for the floor, edge rollers, fine tip brushes for touch-up, roller trays, disposable roller tray liners, roller extensions (life savers!), masking tape (2+ inches wide), paint can lids for easy pouring.

How much will all this cost?
The tools/supplies cost us no more than $100. Buying in bulk is a good idea, cos you will end up using them, and worst case, if you don't, you can use them for the next project!

What if we don't like the color once its completed?
We were worried about that until we finished one wall. After that, it was no big deal, piece of cake, to redo a wall :) So don't worry about experimenting at all!

As usual, pics are on Flickr.

All in all, we absolutely loved the whole experience. It's amazing what a little color could do to your life!

Our First House

2007-04-13T20:02:00.000-05:00

After 8 yrs of living in apartments, we finally ventured into the housing arena, in late February. Our apartment lease ends on May 11, so we roughly had 3 months for this project.

Our preferences:
- Single story
- Less than 15 yrs old
- Approx 2000 sq ft
- 3 bedrooms
- 2 baths
- Gas stove
- Decent size kitchen and yard
- No more than 30 mins for commute to work
- Accessibility to the highways
- No South facing entrance (West, East, North preferred in that order)
- No South facing kitchen cooktop (East, North, West preferred in that order)

Visited a couple of new home sites, only to find out that they were Patio homes - not to our liking. Then we chose a Realtor, and started researching various listings. We probably saw around 25 houses in 12 days, in Frisco, Allen, Murphy, Richardson and Plano. It was an interesting experience, ranged from well kept, nicely decorated to really "unique" ones (will take a while to forget one with the Prussian Blue walls and carpet!). To each his own, I guess.

On Thursday, March 15th, we really liked one in North Frisco - it was up for sale or lease. The seller was expecting a lease that weekend, so we made an offer on Friday, to primarily keep the house on the market, of course after an extensive comparative market analysis. The offer was turned down, so we counter offered. Saturday morning, our offer was accepted! That was quick!

We had to get our mortgage approved in the next 10 days. That probably was the most time consuming and grueling part. Got several quotes/good faith estimates(GFEs) from lots of brokers, banks, etc. It took a *lot* of patience to study the industry jargon, compare and negotiate quotes. Once the GFE was signed, the loan rates were locked. We roughly had 3 weeks for the closing deadline. Besides researching home insurance, there was not much we had to do meanwhile.

Thursday, April 12 - Closing - This was the day we were supposed to get our keys, after the famous or infamous signature marathon. We signed about 300 documents, some of which were absolutely ridiculous, for e.g. the one which requires you to sign, to validate the sign on another document! It lasted for an hour or so, overall, wasn't too bad. After the funds were wired to the title company, later in the afternoon, we finally got the keys!

As my co-worker Phil said, "You're a proud owner of a mortgage payment". Indeed. :)

Some highlights of the house:
- New (built in late 2004)
- Ready for move-in (we can't think of anything to fix right away)
- Decent size (2100 sq ft)
- Open kitchen, with granite counter tops, island and well designed shelves
- Good size rooms (Master Bedroom 18x12, Kitchen 16x13, Dining 14x11, Other bedrooms and study 13x12)
- Tile in entrance, kitchen, baths and dining
- Good size yard
- Lot size 7440 sq ft
- Front entry dual door garage (don't really like the back alleys)

See pictures here.

We wish to thank our family, friends, Realtor - Susie Garcia (my co-worker and friend, Luis's mom), Mortgage broker - Majid Kamalipour (recommended by Pulkeshi), for all the guidance, patience, and support, making our first home buying experience, relatively painless and memorable. We hope to see you all over some time soon!

Move-in will be over the first weekend in May. Needless to say, lots of things to do between now and then.

Aloha!

2007-03-22T10:05:00.000-05:00

We were lucky and blessed to visit the Hawaiian islands for our 1st Wedding Anniversary! I could try describing it, but it would not do justice to the natural beauty and experience. Wonderful place, weather, food, people...

Pictures are finally sorted and uploaded. We've tried to add comments as much as possible. Hope they tell the story to some extent.

If you are planning to visit, definitely get a copy of the latest guidebook by Andrew Doughty. You will not need anything else to plan your stay! Mahalo! Keith, for recommending these!

Welcome Neha Siddharth Toshniwal!

2007-02-07T12:24:00.000-06:00

Vrushu, my little sister gave birth to a cute little baby girl, Neha on Monday, January 29, 2007.

Congrats Vrushu and Sito!

A decade

2007-01-14T14:10:00.000-06:00

Jan 13, 1997. Parag flies thousands of miles away from home/family and sets foot in Boston, US of A. Today marks a decade since that day. 10 yrs, wow! A lot has happened obviously - finished grad school, started earning, welcomed new family members, joined new families, made lots of great friends.. its been a blessing.

A decade seems like a good time span to look back and evaluate the events and even measure one's achievements. If you think about it, our life span on an average consists of 7 or 8 decades. The first 2 whiz by even before you know it. The 3rd one is where you sort of settle down, learn what you really want to do, etc.

What will the next decade look like? From what I've heard, the years 2012 through 2020 will be exciting and revolutionary of sorts, so definitely looking forward to it.

Diwali Mela

2006-10-20T19:16:00.000-05:00

Dallas desis showed up in large numbers (over 35,000) at Texas Stadium to celebrate the first ever Grand Diwali Mela. It was organised by the DFW India Society.

We were hoping to see our friend Pulkeshi perform as Hanuman in the Ram-Leela. Unfortunately we were delayed cos of traffic, parking, food etc. Well, primarily food. There were vendors (popular local desi restaurants) who had set up food stalls outside the stadium. As expected there was a mad rush for the food. Most of the food was over by 7:30pm and a couple stalls were remaining.

One of them was by Taj Chaat Center, which is located inside one of the biggest grocery stores in Dallas, Taj Imports. They had banners for Bhel and Pav Bhaji. There were easily about 100 hundred people in front of that stall, in 3 lines which became more like 10 near the serving table. There was no division of lines, no one to monitor them, people pushing each other, screaming, food spilling as people tried to make their way out - highly uncivilized to say the least.

Yes, we are all Indians and that's how its done back in India, but have we not learnt/adapted anything after several years of staying in the US of A? Could we try and be a little bit more organized?

After spending 30 mins in the line for Bhel, one of the vendor guys comes out and rips the banner which advertised Bhel for $3. What does that tell you? Probably that Bhel is out of stock. That's what everyone thought until they reached the front of the line only to find out that Bhel was being sold for $5! And we are talking about one small styrofoam bowl here. Can they get any more greedy?? Do they not have any sense of guilt??

No point blaming the vendors though. It is the organisers who failed in their planning/execution. Ofcourse it is a challenging task to organise such a big event, but one can not miss the basics.

Common sense would suggest the following:

1. The organisers should have laid out line boundaries, the type we see at airports, to avoid chaos. If possible, have volunteers to monitor the lines.

2. Vendors must have fixed prices no matter how many people show up. Have volunteers to monitor any malpractices.

3. Learn from other such events all around the country, for e.g. Anand Bazaar.

On the upside, they did get some things right:

1. Good venue, advertisement.
2. Cheap entrance tickets.
3. A fairly decent entertainment program.

One of our friends' father (journalist) is visiting from India. He wrote an article about the Mela in an Indian newspaper, Lokmat. He ends the article wondering why the local American media did not cover the event. On second thoughts, I'm glad that it wasn't.

Bottom line, it was disappointing to see such a representation of the Indian community. Imagine what kind of impression this leaves on people, not just Desis but the international audience. I hope the local organizations/communities (especially IANT) buckle up and put up a significantly better event next year.

QOTD

2006-10-20T16:24:00.000-05:00

Good one by Albert Einstein.

When you look at yourself from a universal standpoint, something inside always reminds or informs you that there are bigger and better things to worry about.

Kojagiri party

2006-10-18T19:04:00.000-05:00

It was that time of the year when we Maharashtrians stay up and watch the full moon's reflection in condensed/flavored/masala milk and then drink it. This interesting tradition is observed on Kojagiri (jagran means staying up) Pournima (full moon night). The idea is to stay up playing games, socialising, drinking (not just milk... lately), etc.

Pankaj-Toshita Dhadse had arranged the party this year. Interestingly the first for me in the US of A. We had about 20 people (Malis, Magis, Bodhankars, Mahalleys, Patels, Banubakodes, Chakradeos, Chipalkatti (yes, just Jay taking a break from the labor room duties) and Bhushan Rele).

The guys were incharge of getting the make shift bon-fires (one wasn't enough to keep the cold out). Throughout the night, there were several times when we had to turn on the faucet to save Dhadse's yard from catching fire. Apparently using the hose to do so, under influence, was a challenging job for some.

Desi food was catered from Ms. Rama Mehta.. everyone relished it. The kids were glued to cartoons as usual for over 5 hrs.

In preparation of the main item, two big pots of milk were on the stove for as long as I can remember. It was a brave, committed effort of trying to condense skimmed milk with whatever fat there was in it. I think around 12:30am everyone had waited enough and we decided to drink it after ofcourse watching the full moon's reflection in the pots. It was fun convincing people that, the small white spot in the pot was actually the moon. For those who had wine earlier, I wonder what chemical explosions must have happened in their tummies. Our Dhoni aka Arrrr aka Vilas had about 3-4 cups! We need that strength to send the ball over the fence anyways ;)

Alongside the ladies played cards with the "must win tonight" attitude or at least seemed like it. After a while, we tried Pictionary. It was interesting to say the least - several of us discovered hidden artistic talents, guessing talents. On one instance, Sushil Mama started drawing scenery, like we all did back in school days.. the mountains, the sun, river, hut et al. His intentions were for us to guess the word, "Difficult"! Needless to say no one guessed it. If you think about it, it is a difficult word to draw. We ended up splitting it and drawing KKK members to guess the "cult" part!

Antakshari followed.. started off with songs with only the word "moon" in it, in any language. Ashwini, Vilas, Magi Kaka, Krupal were the winners in that, they came up with songs which most of us had not heard in years, if that. Amit was almost in the meditation pose while rendering some Kumar Sanu numbers.. must be the wine or the milk, who knows! Pankaj M specialises in the songs starting with M for no apparent reason.

The night ended around 3 am.

All in all a very entertaining time. Thanks everyone! We have a baseline for next year!

Pictures are on Flickr.

Cricket - common sense, umpires, technology

2006-09-23T13:25:00.000-05:00

DLF Cup Game 6 India-Aus. India lost the "semi-finals", chasing a mere 213!

Primarily because our batsmen did not apply themselves till the end.

158/6 36.2 overs - Mahendra Singh Dhoni - Hoicked a short ball to deep point; replays showed it was a no-ball. Was there really any need to take such risk especially knowing that there are plenty of overs remaining, and that there are no more recognised batsmen left?

After losing Dhoni, it seemed like the Indians lost faith in themselves. What happened to common sense? What's up with RP Singh taking singles to face the likes of Lee, McGrath in the following over? Even worse, why did Mongia respond to those single calls? Being well settled at 60+, he could have very well taken us home. How does one not understand such a basic strategy? Its about time the team prepares themselves mentally as opposed to displaying individual extravagant flashiness.

The poor umpiring certainly didn't help the cause:

* The ball that Dhoni was caught on, was a clear no-ball.
* Harbhajan Singh was given out even when the Snickometer showed otherwise.
* Dravid was given out LBW when the ball had pitched out of the stumps' line.
* During the Australian innings, Haddin was given not given run-out over doubts about Harbhajan not having control of the ball while disturbing the stumps. Replays were definitely conclusive otherwise. Haddin went on to score 46!
* For a run out call, the umpire had to be asked to call the third umpire. If the fielders hadn't insisted, the batsmen would have survived without seeing the replay.

All these instances bring up the much debated issue about how umpires should utilise technology in making crucial decisions. If you have the technology, why not use it? Why should the on field umpires be ashamed/feel threatened to ask for technology assistance, when in doubt?

Why can't the third umpire intervene and override the wrong decisions?

Its simple, When in doubt, use all the resources available to make the correct decision!

Little things add up and teams lose crucial matches partially because of silly rules. It affects the morale of the players themselves and also the fans! After all the fans view the instant replays on the big screens on the field.

Just hope that the ICC irons out some of these issues, before the world cup in March!

Labor day weekend - Smokies & Ba

2006-09-23T12:24:00.001-05:00

Sep 2-5, 2006

This year the VJTI group reunion was at the Smoky Mountain National Park. It was nice to spend time with everyone, met some spouses, kids for the first time.

Smokies VJTI group reunion pictures

It's great that we all have kept in touch since graduation back in 1996!

Sep 3 - Lajja's grandmother (Ba) passed away, back in Mumbai, after battling cancer for a long time. It was a huge shock especially as Lajja had been planning to fly back the following weekend to see her. She was one brave and very positive person who lived her life to the fullest, such a joy to be with. She had written a touching letter asking that no one mourns/cries after her death. Her words have certainly helped us all deal with the tough times.

Honeymoon - Uttaranchal trip

2006-09-15T16:44:00.000-05:00

After researching several options (Kashmir, Kerala, Himachal, Ladakh etc.) we finalised on a resort (Kalmatia Sangam) at Almora in the Kumaon region of the northern state of Uttaranchal. We spent a couple days in Shantikunj, Haridwar and then went on to visit Mussorie, Rishikesh and Almora. Following is a brief narrative of the memorable trip from Feb 9 through 21.

Feb 9, Thursday

After finally being done with the third family wedding in Mumbai, we left for Delhi on a 11.30am Jet Airways flight. We arrived there pretty much on time & found our driver, Sudhir waiting for us. We started out immediately for Haridwar, which is about a 6hr drive. We slept through most of the drive, since we were both exhausted with the weddings in Mumbai & other social activities, which were of course tons of fun. We only stopped once for lunch at a roadside dhaba in U.P. Food was good, very simple, basic, tasty food… we resumed our journey straight away.. Most of the drive we passed lots of sugarcane fields… also on the road, trucks full of the same sugarcane being taken away to be processed into sugar. The canes are much thinner than the ones we see in Maharashtra. Well, we lost our way a bit once we were at Haridwar & after many turn abouts, we reached Shantikunj. We got registered, got into our rooms, met Kuldeepbhai & once we were settled, we went to the canteen & had a little bit to eat. The pragya-peya there is so good compared to what we brew at home!

Feb 10, Friday

We started the morning by going to see Shail Jiji to get her blessings. Unfortunately Pranavbhai was in Mumbai the same days we were at Shantikunj, so could not get to meet him. After seeking her blessings, we went over to Kuldeepbhai & Sheetalben’s place (who were also recently married) for breakfast… they had made so much.. we had poha, tea, idli sambhar & gulab jamun!! And this was only breakfast!! Well, soon after that, we decided to make a quick trip to Mussorie. It is only about 90mins away by road & we got there in good time.. well, considering it was low season for tourism, the only people we met there were honeymooners! The architecture there provides a good example of old fashioned, British colonial era. The day was a foggy one, so we did not get very good views of the Himalayas unfortunately, however, it was still beautiful & we got to do a little bit of shopping (although honestly, all the stuff there is not local, but comes from Delhi!), managed to get good deals on some Kashmiri items, etc. We took some pictures in the traditional Garhwali outfits which was a lot of fun, took a ride in the cable car & tried some gol gappas… not really Delhi style though! Well, that wrapped up the day in Mussorie.. we thought of going to Kempty Falls.. which was about 30kms from Mussorie, however, seeing the view from ½ way down, we decided to pass it & just drove back to Shantikunj.

Feb 11, Saturday

Rishikesh! I loved the city! So beautiful!! I fell in love just as soon as we arrived there & saw the Ganges! We had to take a little boat ride to cross over to the main town Rishikesh… felt the holy water, it was amazing… the views are so breathtaking.. everywhere you look… the Himalayas in the backdrop, the river- so vast, so huge, so beckoning!! We walked about the city for a bit & had a late lunch at the famous ‘Chotiwala Restaurant’ & just as the name suggest.. it is a restaurant where the owner sits at the entrance in his big choti(choti definition – google ;) ), well, you’ll see in the pictures what we are talking about. We enjoyed our lunch while following the India-Pakistan one day series & if I remember correctly, India did win that one!! After lunch, we walked around the city, visiting the ashrams, temples & the 2 famous bridges there – Ram Jhula & Laxman Jhula… Before sunset, we attended Ganga Aarti at Parmarth Ashram & the significant thing about this place is that little pupils of the ashram, aged approx. 7 or 8 perform the aarti! It was quite something! The sunset was gorgeous! Cannot find words to describe the experience! You just have to be there to feel the beauty, the splendour & the energy you feel there.. soon after that, we came back to Shantikunj…. We had dinner with a family with Divyesh bhai’s family… it was really good… & we retired back to our rooms soon after that.

Feb 12, Sunday

We started the morning by going up to Gurudev & Mataji’s room.. we got a tour of how they lived & we got to see the ‘Akhand-deep’.. Akhand deep is the oil lamp that has stayed lit since 1926!! Thousands of people come to Shantikunj just to get a glimpse of this deep; so you can imagine the lines we had to wait in before we ourselves got to see it! After that, we headed off to the banks of the Ganga so witness the sunrise.. oh! The mornings are so peaceful, so serene.. you have the forests & the mountains & the silver water gushing away.. we sat there just gazing at the river for the longest & then after having Parag & our driver dive in to fetch some rocks, we headed back to our rooms. We had our breakfast & spent the rest of the day visiting the university – http://www.dsvv.org/ , the Brahmavarchas Laboratory & Research Centre & visiting with some of our friends there. In the evening, Parag had a meeting to attend to, so I was in the room, packing & cleaning up as we were to leave by the midnight train to Kathgodham. Shantikunj was quite an experience!

Feb 13, Monday

The midnight train was delayed by an hour or so, which put us into Kathgodham slightly late. We arrived about 7.30am & found our driver, Kanta Prasad waiting for us to take us to our resort, Kalmatia Sangam at Almora. Other than Lajja suffering from motion sickness, the journey was beautiful & very scenic. Arrived at about 10.30am & were welcomed by Nyima Douglas, the manager & the rest of the staff. We were offered a glass of Rhododendron juice & then checked into our beautiful cottage! We spotted several birds – The Himalayan Magpie (after which our cottage was named), Eagles, some woodpeckers, etc. We then had our breakfast – toast, tea, orange marmalade, orange juice, cream cheese, etc, etc..
We were the only guests at the resort since it was the off season – which basically meant that we had the entire staff at our disposal, including the chef, so we got to try different items to our liking every day! They actually even offered us to check out different cottages there at the resort, should we like something else better, they would move us there.. we did like 2 others, however, we decided to stay at ours, as it has one of the best views of the Himalayas. The views are not exaggerated on the resort website.. the entire place & its surroundings were just as we saw on their site. Well, that afternoon, we decided to taste the local flavours, so the chef prepared a lovely Kumaoni lunch for us – millet roti was sooo good! After lunch, it was naptime & we followed some of cricket commentary on the radio! Again, we won!! Dhoni went berserk in this one!! For dinner that night, we ordered Italian & that concluded day 1 of our honeymoon.

Feb 14, Tuesday: Valentine’s Day!

Woke up in the morning to beautiful views outside… It was amazing, we could actually see the Himalayas from our beds itself! After looking around for a bit, we had our breakfast & then just stayed out on the patio looking at the wonderful views outside. After a delicious lunch of Punjabi food, we took a walk around the resort..there was this path that curved around thick woods whereby we found some of the most panoramic views of the mountains & the valleys… not to forget the trees & other foliage… it was all amazing! We kept clicking away! It was a lazy Tuesday after that.. again took a nap & then for dinner we had some wonderful lebanese items.

Feb 15, Wednesday

Happy Birthday Baba!
After breakfast, we took a walk to the local Kasardevi Temple – which was a 30min hike uphill. The temple is built between huge rock formations. There is also a Shiv Temple next to it. The temple is several years old. On the hike back to the resort, we came across a few villagers & there I got my first chance to carry a little goat In my arms! As you will all see in the pictures, I did it wrong! But it was an experience!!

After lunch, we had planned to visit Maath Village. One of the staff was also a local at the same village & so he was to be our guide for the excursion. The village was down in the valley & on our way down there, we came across tons of thorny shrubs which we learned are called ‘bicchu ke patte’ which literally means scorpion leaves – leaves that sting! Our guide told us that they are used by the teachers at village schools to scare students!! Even a brush against them would leave you with a burn for days! We met locals at the village.. everyone knew Bhishen, and they were amused to see me dressed in jeans!! Women are usually clad in their saris or skirts there, so it was very amusing for them!! People were so very friendly there.. Walking down the valley, we saw lots of terrace farming; it was soo beautiful! Lots of wild flowers growing through out the valley. At the bottom of the valley, we visited this centuries old Shiv temple. We took a little break at the temple & then headed back up. On the trek up, we took several pictures with the village locals, some fun ones on the roof top of a house! Bhishen took us to his house to visit his family & have a cup of Kumaoni tea. The tea was welcome refreshment after all this exercise of climbing back up. The climb up took us double the time as climbing down earlier that evening. We met another family when we reached the top & shared a cup of tea with them. People there so hospitable & so warm! This was one of the best experiences of the trip. It was very invigorating!!
Back at the hotel got a bit of rest & then had dinner.

Feb 16, Thursday

After a good breakfast, we headed out for Jageshwar. It is about an hour & half drive from Almora. The main attraction there of course are the group of temples which belong to the 10th century… before we got there, we got off from the car & took a one mile walk to the temple.. the walk was soo beautiful.. both sides surrounded by tall evergreen & pine trees.. one could drown in the fragrances of the trees & the beauty of the surroundings! Finally, after a slow stroll, we arrived at Jageshwar – situated in a valley with deodar trees as its gates! Jageshwar is believed to be the abode of the 12 Jyotirlings. The site consists of 120 odd temples, dedicated to the various manifestations of Lord Shiva. The Archaeological Survey of India has undertaken the project of preservation/conservation of the Jageshwar Temples. The temples are beautifully constructed, however, the turn off there are the Pandits, who are just interested in wiggling some money out of you. After there, we went back to the valley & had a picnic lunch. We just sat there observing the kids who were just done with school running downhill from there…all happy to be free. After our little picnic, we walked around a little bit more, collecting stones & then headed back towards Almora. Of course we had to have car trouble… our car stopped every 2-5 mins on our journey back up to the resort, which proved a good thing for me, as I was suffering from a great deal of motion sickness. Half way there, we stopped by at yet another temple called the ‘Chittai Temple’.. this is a temple of a local Golu God, who is supposed to rid you of all your worries if you leave a little letter there for Him & once you have what you were looking for, you can come back to the temple & donate a bell…. So there you see, thousands & thousands of bells, big & small, the biggest one weighing up to one quintal!! After that, we headed back & stopped on the way for an amazing view of the sunset… indescribable shots! Finally reached the resort & I hit straight for the bed as I was so sick from all that uphill commute. After a short nap, we had our dinner & retired to our cottage.

Feb 17, Friday

What a morning! The clouds cleared and the majestic Himalayas finally came out to greet us! What spectacular views we witnessed.. The fog finally cleared & we got to see the whole stretch of the Himalayas, the panoramic 350km view.. with various peaks such as Nandadevi, Kedarnath, Badrinath, Trishul, Panchachuli.. all names of different peaks of the Himalayas & also got a good glimpse of the Nepali Himalayas. It was an amazing morning. We took pictures & were hooked to our binoculars all morning. If there was any day to be having breakfast on the balcony of the restaurant, it was today! After breakfast, we lay on the hammocks for a while & then we went back to the cottage. We pretty much lazed about at the resort that day, read books from the library, looked some more at the gorgeous peaks & relaxed.

Feb 18, Saturday

Woke up early to catch the sunrise. It was a run up a little slope to one end of the resort property where we got to witness the most beautiful sunrise ever! As the sun was rising, it cast its rays on the mountains & you could see the colours reflecting on the ice clad Himalaya peaks & they in return reflecting their own light & colours to grant us some picturesque shots. This day was also spent lazing about the resort; just took walks & enjoyed the views as it was a clear day & we could get good glimpses of the mountains & the valleys.

Feb 19, Sunday

It was yet another clear day, clearer than yesterday & after enjoying our breakfast, we went back to our cottage & sat outside where Parag took to sketching the Kumaoni Himalayas. I tried her hand as well in the evening, it was fun. We just hung around the resort & actually had an appointment with a foot reflexologist, who came by the cottage & we both had sessions with her.. it was wonderful. We both took naps after that as we were so relaxed. In the evening, we just took pictures of the cottage & sorted our things a little bit, as we were to leave for Mumbai the next day.

Feb 20, Monday

Happy Birthday Vish!

In the morning, after breakfast we took pictures with the entire staff there. Then we settled our bills & visited the boutique there at the resort.. bought a few gifts for the family & then took one last walk around the cottage. Visited their meditation park. After that, we finished our packing, got ready & had our lunch after which we departed for Kathgodham to catch our train to New Delhi. On the way down, we stopped by a weaving factory, called Panchachuli, operated by women only. It is run by a German lady who started this centre to give the local women a chance of standing up on their own feet. They do all the weaving, dying (natural dyes only) & printing of the various woolen items such as stoles, scarves, shawls, blankets, etc. We took a tour of the place & also did a bit of shopping from there. You do not mind paying those extra bucks for cashmere, after you see all the hard work they put in. We were off once again & stopped half way to Kathgodham. There we took a break at an ashram which was surrounded by small streams & valleys of flowers. It was a very pretty sight, especially since it was almost twilight. We resumed our journey back to the station, got there with plenty of time to spare. So we had our dinner at the Northern Railway canteen & then boarded our train. We were on our way back to Delhi.

Feb 21, Tuesday

Happy Birthday Parag!! Awoke Parag at midnight to wish him for his birthday! Had to keep it quiet as everyone in our compartment was asleep. In the morning, we arrived at Delhi on time. It was such a hassle to get a registered auto-rickshaw to take us to the domestic airport. All the coolies & cab drivers, auto drivers choke you for the ride! Finally got to the registration stand & we got our rickshaw & got to the airport (It is highly recommended that you take the registered rickshaws or cabs if you need to commute between railway stations or airports as otherwise, the Delhi cabwallas & autowallas are known to take you around the longer way & charge you more than you need to pay!) Once we arrived there, we found out that our flight was delayed by an hour because of the fog; the hour soon became a few hours as even at 11am, there was so much fog there, that you couldn’t see but a few feet ahead of you. Meanwhile, we got ourselves some coffee & celebrated Parag’s birthday with a few slices of coconut cake that I had asked the chef back at the resort to pack before we left. After that mini celebration, we walked around the airport visiting the book stalls & listening to the announcements of all delays that day. We finally took off at 12pm, instead of 7am & got home. Aai had prepared a yummy meal for us & we showered, ate, napped & got ready for the dinner party. A few of our family & friends came by that evening – we had the food catered & everyone had a good time eating & talking about the trip.
Thus came an end to our honeymoon! Hope that we can go back & visit Almora again & enjoy the beautiful sights of nature.

Funny thing that happened a few months after we returned back to the United States… I was working on a tour package for one of my customers, when I came across Bright & Corner, Almora! Parag’s company is named Bright Corner!
2kms from Almora is situated Bright & Corner. This place became famous for excellent sight of sunset & sunrise. From B & C, a different kind of view is obtained of dawn & dusk. The unusual calm & peacefulness during this time is rarely felt on any other hill station offering a similar view.
Serene & calm circuit house very close to this point is an added attraction. Nearby is the Vivekananda library in Ramakrishna Kutir. In this library, one can find many books relating to philosophy & spiritual thinking. There is also a place dedicated to Swami Vivekananda. It was at this place Vivekananda spend few days while his stay in the Himalayas.
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Overall a truly wonderful, memorable fortnight! Pictures are at Flickr - Honeymoon set.

We definitely recommend exploring Uttaranchal and visiting Kalmatia Sangam.

"Michchhami Dukkadam"

2006-08-28T21:01:00.000-05:00

Today, according to Jainism, is the last day of Paryushan. Hence...

Michchhami Dukkadam

i.e.

I forgive (from the bottom of my heart without any reservation) all living beings (who may have caused me any pain and suffering either in this life or previous lives), and I beg (again from the bottom of my heart without any reservation) for the forgiveness from all living beings (no matter how small or big to whom I may have caused pain and suffering in this life or previous lives, knowingly or unknowingly, mentally, verbally or physically, or if I have asked or encouraged someone else to carry out such activities). (Let all creatures know that) I have a friendship with everybody and I have no revenge (animosity or enmity) toward anybody.

Detailed meaning and explanation here.

We chased and we won... finally!

2006-08-26T12:49:00.000-05:00

Awesome game today. We played against Thorat and team at Custer and Renner. Definitely not a recommended ground given the unevenness of the pitch and outfield.

After a vote to decide whether we should bat or bowl on winning the toss, we chose to field. We have lost while chasing before, and wanted to prove a point.

Bowling was ok overall, plenty of wides and runs behind the stumps. Good batting by Girish (aka Jayasurya), Senthil (keeper) and Ganesh. After a flying start (8/over) They were 87 in 13 overs. With a couple of full tosses helping them, they managed to score 149 in 20 overs losing 9 wickets. Bhushan starred with his yorkers and perfect line. He definitely was the bowler of the match!

We lost Pankaj D and Sushil B early on, but only to make way for the star Jayprakash. He and Vishal with his good strike rotation, scored a 50 run partnership. We are chugging along at 8/over - on target. Jay thrashed 3 consecutive fours in an over - cover drive, square drive and another one. It was a treat to watch. He made it look effortless. we are 101 in 13 overs. They both fell to Ganesh's yorkers in quick succession. Kailas, Amit maintained the momentum. Kailas got hit, he must be wondering why he left his guard at home! He had to retire. After a good tight over by Ketan, we needed 17 in two overs.

Came down to 10 in the last over. We desperately needed a bounday, and Amit did just that by hoicking one over the square leg fence. After a couple wides and singles, it was down to 1 of 2 balls. Amit went for a swing, did not connect, the keeper fumbled, missed a run out chance, another fielder missed again and Bhushan was safe home ignorant of the fact that we had won!

Prashant, Sushil and Kailas were the umpires and did a good job, amidst some controversy and pressure. Pramod, Prashant did not get to bat, hopefully next time. We played with 12 players a side and did not have to retire anyone from batting except for the "I have the guard at home" guy. ;)

Overall a great victory for the team chasing a relatively big target. We all dispersed after loud cheers of "Ganapati Bappa Moraya"!

Areas of improvement:
1. Bowlers - controlling full tosses.
2. Batsmen - we need good our openers to play out the first 5 overs at least.
3. Field placement - especially for fast bowlers to avoid runs behind the keeper - let the bowler have the last say.
4. PItch decision - the opponents agreed to play the next match at Celebration Park, Allen

Pictures at Flickr

Also uploaded to our group site at http://sports.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/indus-cricket/photos/browse/e493

Couldn't have been a better start to the weekend! Enjoy and keep it up!

Transition continued...

2006-07-23T19:48:00.001-05:00

20th January 2006. Parag and Lajja tie the knot. :-)

Life changing events for us, the parents and the families. Everyone

Needless to say, there were plenty of ceremonies before and after the wedding, on both sides, extending over a week. The Vedic wedding ceremony was carried out by respected Asha Didi from Gayatri Pariwar.

Everything went very well and everyone involved had a lot of fun! It was just amazing to see such a huge "project" (Geek! yup) planned and every detail executed to perfection. It was definitely a blissful experience to say the least.

Pics are available on Flickr. Finally! I guess the delay is expected? ;)

Our honeymoon travels took us to Uttaranchal. More on that later...

Bright Corner to Geniant

2006-01-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

2006 seems to be the year of transition. Started off with Bright Corner merging with Geniant. Other than celebrating the 4 yr anniversary, doesn't really feel that its been that long.

Congratulations to everyone involved and Thank You for your support!

New Year, New Technology experience

2006-01-02T11:13:00.000-06:00

Reporting live from somewhere above the Mediterranean..

Boeing has internet access at a decent rate, plus the Lufthansa discount obviously helps!

Dallas-Frankfurt flight was good.. it was a new aircraft.. very nice! Wish economy class had power plugs! The new luggage restrictions are 50 lbs per checked-in piece of luggage. But from I saw at the airport, it is totally upto the discretion of the agent at the ticketing counter. If you are early to check-in or have contacts, you could be allowed to carry the regular 70 lbs for one bag atleast, without any extra charge. Otherwise it is 25 Euros for upto 70 lbs. Anyways...

Spent most of the time with Yogita's kids, Riti and Saanchi. Neha was a big help ofcourse. Unfortunately they both have a cold, so they were a bit cranky. But they were not alone, lots of kids on the flight, especially this second leg. Its been an experience. From whatever I've seen, moms should not travel alone with kids!

Reached FRA before time, and they didn't take the plane to the gate, so had to take a bus to the terminal. It was good in a way cos it ate into the 5 hour layover. It was ok, spent most of the time lazying around, except for the 40 min trip around the terminals to get milk for Saanchi. One would think it would be easier.

Another experience was making the international call. You have to dial 00 not just 0 before the country code, when dialing from Europe. This little piece of information wasn't easy to find!

Flight for Mumbai started 30 mins late.. hopefully we can cover that time. Food has been ok so far, nothing great. Movies - Saw 'Goal', hoping to see 'Parineeta' shortly.

Can't wait to go home and sleep for the rest of the week (I wish!)..

Btw, Wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year!

Yes, I had to blog from the skies :)

Many Masters Many Lives

2005-12-31T03:00:00.000-06:00

Following are a few excerpts from the book by Dr. Brian L. Weiss:

Understand that no one is greater than another. Feel it. Practice helping another. We are all rowing the same boat. If we don’t pull together, our plants are going to be awfully lonely.

On another night, in a different dream I was asking a question. “How is it that you say all are equal, yet the obvious contradictions smack us in the face; inequalities in virtues, temperances, finances, right, abilities and talents, intelligence, mathematical aptitude, ad infinitum?”

The answer was a metaphor. “It is as if a large diamond were to be found inside each person. The diamond has thousand facets, but the facets are covered with dirt and tar. It is the job of the soul to clean each facet until the surface is brilliant and can reflect a rainbow of colors. Now some have cleaned many facets and gleam brightly. Other have only managed to clean a few; they do not sparkle so. Yet, underneath the dirt, each person possesses within them, a brilliant diamond with a thousand gleaming facets. The diamond is perfect, not one flaw. The only differences among people are the number of facets cleaned. But each diamond is the same and each is perfect.”

“When all the facets are cleaned and shining forth in a spectrum of lights, the diamong returns to the pure energy that it was originally. The lights remain. It is as if the process that goes into the making the diamond is reversed, all that pressure released. The pure energy exists in the rainbow of lights, and the lights possess consciousness and knowledge”

I listen to my dreams and intuitions. When I do, things seem to fall into place. When I do not, something invariably goes awry

It was a great read, very insightful and thought provoking. Thanks Dr. Pandya and Nrupali!

Microwave dangers

2005-11-29T16:42:00.000-06:00

Had heard that microwaved food isn't good for you.
Curiosity finally led to this research.

I was absolutely shocked to read the findings. Here are a few:

1. Blood haemoglobin levels decreased significantly after ingesting microwaved foods, both total levels and the amount contained in each red blood cell.

2. Eating microwaved food causes loss of memory, concentration, emotional instability, and decrease in intelligence.

3. Warming breast milk in a microwave oven destroys 98% of its immunoglobulin - A antibodies and 96% of its liposome activity, reducing the milks resistance to infectious E.coli.

Do the research and stay away from this modern convenience!

Fly from space to your neighborhood!

2005-06-29T19:58:00.000-05:00

Love traveling?
Love cool technology?
Love Google Maps?
Bored?

Download Google Earth and fly away to any corner of the earth!

Yet another awesome product by Google!

Dimag ka fried rice mat kar!

2005-05-25T21:45:00.000-05:00

That's one of the audibles in the Indian Yahoo Messenger version! http://in.beta.messenger.yahoo.com

Enjoy!

Aayushya asach jagaycha asata...

2005-05-22T03:55:00.000-05:00

Beautiful poem on how to live your life (in Marathi).

Thank you, Subhash Kaka!

Geek and you shall find!

2005-05-15T02:23:00.000-05:00

Stumbled across Gadgetopia while looking for the Google Suggest plugin for Firefox.

Love that tagline and plugin!

Khubani Ka Meetha

2005-05-15T01:42:00.000-05:00

A totally unplanned visit to Zyka (in Richardson) introduced me to this Hyderabadi (read Nawabi) delicacy. Only took a few seconds for it to jump up to #2 in my desserts ranking!

It is basically a mixture of apricot paste with custard. Check out the detailed recipe.

If you have a sweet tooth, this is a must try! Don't go by the picture in the article above though :)

Thanks Vinay and Ajit!

Yellowstone pics uploaded

2005-04-08T01:37:00.001-05:00

Finally got around to uploading the Yellowstone trip (Sep 04) pics today. Check them out at Flickr. Some highlights of this trip with the VJTI gang were: Bonfire songs/dances, the log cabin we all stayed at, the galaxy of stars we could see from there, quality time with friends/kids, of course the geysers, and “Main to khoosh hoon!” :)

We finally won a game!

2005-04-01T00:14:00.000-06:00

It was tough coming back to the US of A after four months back home. Barely got any time to really settle down, with the new project at work, new apartment move-in, etc. The weekend cricket practice helped. It had been almost 5 months since I had played. We played a local team who we had lost to earlier. We started off pretty badly, but managed to win comfortably in the end. It was a much needed morale boost for the team.

Scorecard:

Batting Runs Balls 4s 6s

Vinay 0 3 0 0
Jayesh 5 8 0 0
Sushil B 4 11 0 0
Antim 4 12 0 0
Pankaj D 28 30 3 0
Parag 38 28 3 1
Pankaj M 2 2 0 0
Ajit 3 4 0 0
Bhushan 6 5 1 0
Extras 28

Total: 118/7

Bowling Overs Runs Wickets No Balls Wide Balls

Ajit 4 13 2 2
Jitesh 4 12 0 2
Parag 5 25 1 4
Antim 3 12 2 1 3
Pankaj M 1 6 0 1
Bhushan 2.4 8 4 2

Total: 100/10

No matter how stressful your week has been, a small dose of cricket over the weekend therapeutically cures all that. No wonder it is a religion! :)

Feb 18-21 Bangalore trip

2005-03-02T23:46:00.000-06:00

Visited Vrushu-Sito over the short weekend. Was nice to see them settled (almost) down. Friday evening we decided to go to Citrus at the Leela. Nice food and ambiance there. Started the next day with dhaaba style brunch at Angeethi, then some shopping at Brigade Rd, M.G. Rd etc. We were at FabIndia, a must visit shop for authentic, traditional cotton clothing. Next visited the newest mall in town, Forum Mall. This 4 storied structure seemed to house all of Bangalore, it was madness! Had dinner at the food court (with loud entertainment from multiple blaring flat panels playing different channels) and headed home.

Saturday was reserved for a day trip along the Mysore highway. Rented a car (which not surprisingly came with a driver). Mr. Shyam however chose to not respond to any questions/comments. He was programmed to drive and drive alone, did that well. Started at 6 in the morning. First stop was to see a single Banyan tree spread across 4 acres! We did not believe such a thing existed. Even after seeing it, it was tough to comprehend 4 acres, but that thing sure was wide! It was tough to resist our primate tendencies ;-)

Then we had brunch at Kamat’s Lokruchi, which serves authentic South Indian delicacies. A first there was Idli wrapped in banana leaves. Fresh Sugarcane juice and 'hing' laddoo followed. Next door was an exhibition about the tribes in the area (living conditions, culture, festivals etc.). We spend about an hour there and then got back on the road.

Next stop was at the Manchanvelle lake/dam/reservoir. It was beautiful there with clear blue skies, hills and wild flowers. More experiments with the digital macro mode were in order.

Tipu Sultan’s summer palace at Srirangapattanam was next. This probably is the best and finest example of hand painting I’ve seen. Every inch of the place is hand painted with the minutest detail, portraying the life of the Sultan, battles during his time, ambassadors to the palace etc. It only takes a minute to travel back 400 years into history. Next we went to Gol Gumbaz, the tomb site of the kings. It has a huge dome with four towers at the corners, with a 7 storied winding stairway. Took us about 30 minutes to get to the top, was worth it though. There were lots of school kids there trying out the echo at the dome. Was way too loud! Also saw the place where prisoners of war were held by the British. Imagine being chained to the wall, standing with your arms outstretched for days at a time.

It was close to 4 pm by the time we got to the bird sanctuary at Ranganathittu. It’s a nice little reserve with lots of bamboo trees, beautiful flower beds and of course a variety of migratory birds. We took a 30 min guided boat tour and sighted white, pink, grey egrets, some wrens and a crocodile not too far from us. Just as we got within very close distance to a sizable flock of flamingos, one of the guys in our boat decided to pop the popcorn bag, loud enough to scare them all away! All this despite plenty of instructions/notices to maintain silence on the tour. Saving 90 Rupees by allowing them on the private tour proved expensive in the end.

Last stop for the day was Vrindavan gardens on the outskirts of Mysore. They are at the base of the Krishna Raja Sagar(?) dam. We got there a little bit before sunset. These gardens are famous for the musical fountains with colorful lights. There are around 100 small fountains there which start after sunset. My camera battery died right at the beginning and we had to resort to Vrushu’s camera phone. The highlight of the evening was this one fountain which changed patterns to a medley of 5 songs (combination of regional, bollywood and patriotic songs). The show repeated every 20 minutes and every run was attended by at least 300 people at a time. It is a must see for everyone traveling to this area.

On the way back we were slowed down considerably primarily because of some highly annoying drivers! And then there was Shyam of course, who was least bothered by all that behavior. We were too tired by then to even try to attempt to talk to him about the whole thing. Finally reached home around midnight, just in time to cut my birthday pizza. A memorable celebration indeed!

Monday morning, ran some quick errands around the town and enjoyed a delicious lunch prepared by Vrushu. It was interesting and satisfying to see her manage the kitchen, especially knowing her interest in cooking etc. growing up. :)

Bid farewell to both of them in the afternoon and came back to Mumbai in time for the joint birthday Puran Poli dinner (Baba’s b’day was 6 days earlier) with our family friends.

Photos at http://photos.yahoo.com/paragsm Album - 2005 Bangalore Trip

Sito also has some pics and a brief narrative about the weekend.

Happy New Year!

2005-01-18T05:15:00.001-06:00

Another year goes by… just like that! Yet again the usual question lingered. What to do for new year’s eve?

After many efforts to book some place for a family get together failed, decided to join a group, who had planned their celebration well in advance. The plan was to go to the western coastline near the Maharashtra-Gujarat border, Dahanu, Bordi and maybe Silvassa.

Dahanu is about 150 kms from Mumbai. Bordi is another 20 from there. We had rented a jeep for about 12 people… but there were some dropouts and the count ended up to be 8. Left around 9:30 am on Friday – met the gang at Borivli: Prashant-Nirali, Tarun-Kavita, Lajja, Minal, and Seema. And ofcourse Anwar, the driver! Soon enough we all learnt about his interesting taste in music. With limited tapes at our/his disposal, we suffered, having to listen to “Sheesha ho ya dil ho...” and the likes. :(( Besides the one flat we had on the way, the journey was peaceful. It was nice to feel the fresh air outside the city!

Photos on Flickr

Reached Hotel Beachside (Kaka Kohli’s Dhaba) near Dahanu around 12:30pm. The road to Bordi separated the Arabian Sea and our hotel. It is quite a looong coast and most of it is non-commercialized. There were plenty of palm trees along the coast, leaning into the skies. We had booked a big single room with accommodation for 10. After a decent lunch (except the malai kofta which was pretty sad), we crossed over to the beach. It wasn’t the cleanest of beaches, especially around the small village settlements. But oh well! Tarun managed to rent a couple of bikes from the hotel staff. We rode/walked along the beaches for a couple of hours. It was quite a workout but very relaxing at the same time, especially walking in the small pool of water in the middle of the beach at the end of it all. And of course, there was Seema happily running backwards on the beach, missing a step and bouncing back couple of steps, barely missing a sharp stone. Phew!

The hotel had a nice little pool lined with khatiyas and takiyas. We played charades for a couple of hours, started off with Hindi movies then ended with just words, some real complex Urdu derivatives included. The new group of friends was fun and easy to mingle with. By the time we were done with charades, it was close to 10pm. In the middle of it all, Ginisha joined us – she took a train to Dahanu later during the day. The hotel had a party arranged for new yrs, but looking at the music and audience, we decided to chill by the pool instead. So we ordered dinner and ate into the new yr, and welcomed it with a toast of fresh lime soda (for the most part) ;) Everyone stayed up for quite some time, with a super long Antakshari, singing session. Special performances by Balu (SP), Bappi, and a host of infamous singers (courtesy Prashant), encouraged everyone to sing decent, known songs ;) Around 4am 3,4 people were knocked out... the rest lazed there by the pool watching the clouds, palm trees, moon, some lost in various trances etc.;) We also played teen patti for some time, was fun. Soon enough it was sunrise time but we couldn’t go over to the beach as the doors were locked. Finally everyone crashed around 7:30 am.

“Arrey utho sab log! Kitne der tak sote rehto ho!” That was Kavita’s distinct wakeup “call” ending the first sleep of the new year. After much lazying around, everyone was ready by around 2pm. Lunch followed - our knowledge of the menu, ordering skills and the food improved much to everyone’s relief. Then a debate of whether to go to Bordi or jump in the pool went on for quite some time. Pool time it was, at the end of it! Most of us jumped in, others chilled outside. There were a few swimming lessons, lots of splashing, a few games and after we got the floats, some lazying around in the water. The hot cup of tea/coffee felt really good after getting out. That was followed by a spectacular sunset right across the hotel. The clear weather, tiny fishing boats along the shore and vivid colors/patterns made it a memorable one. Needless to say, we took a lot of pics.

Then some more food, drinks followed. We celebrated Prashant’s happy budday… the plum cake was yummilicious! He was lucky to escape the bums though ;) It got chilly that night all of a sudden. Our good friend, Mr. Kohli agreed to arrange a little bonfire for us near the pool. Most of us sat around, chit-chatting late into the night about random topics, including ghosts of course! It was a much clearer night, with a beautiful view of the numerous stars above. But we were dead tired soon and did not last past 4:30 am.

Next morning (2nd) was pretty slow. A long breakfast followed by riding the bikes in the neighboring village back roads, was the highlight of the morning. That area had a lot of open grounds - saw quite a few local matches there. We managed to delay the checkout time to 5pm instead of 10am. Decided to head out to Bordi, Silvassa was ruled out given that we did not have enough time before heading back.

Bordi was about 13 kms from the hotel. There was practically no one on the beach. The beach was much cleaner than the one at Dahanu. Interestingly the sea was about 2-3 kms away from the beach. Most of that distance was dense slippery mud, which we managed to walk through without any accidents. Along the mud were several interesting patterns/trails made by the sea creatures. We also spotted a jelly fish in the Sheershasan position. Walked in the water for some time and then headed back to the sands, it took us almost 2 hours. Time for some lemon water and junk food. Then some of us played cards, built castles (tried ;)) and some lazy bones preferred to rest their back and watch the spotless blue sky. It was already 4:30pm when we left the beach.

Came back to the hotel, packed, ate a late lunch, early dinner, watched the sunset from the dining tables this time and headed back to Mumbai. Another singing session followed, which obviously had to be interrupted by none else than Anwar! That dude had serious issues! Anyways, more singing followed and before we knew it, we were close to Dahisar, and were amidst the holiday traffic returning back home. Kavita being a non-Maharashtrian definitely took the honors for knowing more Marathi songs than any one in the group!

Obviously, no one wanted the wonderful little weekend getaway to end and there was already talk of planning the next one. When that happens, remains to be seen… Here’s wishing everyone a very happy, joyous and peaceful new year!

We do not fall in love...

2004-12-30T03:38:00.000-06:00

Read the following in the, "The Speaking Tree" section of Times of India yesterday.

We do not fall in love; we rise in love with God.

Amen to that!

Full article

Tsunami Terror

2004-12-29T01:52:00.000-06:00

A horrific tragedy in the Indian Ocean. 50,000+ lives lost, just like that! Individuals, families, generations wiped off, leaving behind shock and grief.

Why??? Guess there are no answers, never will be, and it probably does not even matter.

Maybe it’s Mother Nature’s cruel way of controlling the population. Maybe it’s a reason to bring out compassion and unite humanity like never before.

Peace to all!

Shwaas

2004-12-29T00:16:00.000-06:00

Saw the Oscar nominated Marathi movie, Shwaas(Breath) on Saturday. It’s a story of a young boy who is in danger of losing his eyesight, and his grandfather (played superbly by Arun Nalawade). It’s short, decent paced and very well made. It was nice to hear some typical Ghaati accent as well. ;)

Whether it is rewarded with an Oscar or not, a must see and definitely a good sign for Marathi cinema (whatever is left of it I guess)!

Virar, The Incredibles

2004-12-21T06:30:00.000-06:00

Visited Avi mama in Virar on Saturday. The journey from Borivali to Virar was peaceful, as it was a Saturday afternoon. Highlights on the way were, Vasai creek and the lush greenery with mountains in the backdrop.

When I reached there, found out that their building/society had organized a Carrom/Badminton tournament that weekend! It was great to see the enthusiasm amongst the organizers (most of them were of my age group or younger) and participants alike. Reminded me of growing up with my buddies in Lokhandwala. All matches were doubles – mens, womens and mixed. It was a good turnout overall. Luckily there was a vacant spot on the chart, and I was asked if I wanted to play carrom. Sure! :-)

It was interesting playing competitively without any real practice or knowing the opponents or my partner! We lost in the first round (leader after 4 boards wins), but it didn’t matter. It was fun nevertheless. Hung around for quite some time and watched other matches. Badminton matches were held in the court outside. There was loud music throughout the tournament. At one point they played a CD with Ganapati style dhol music on it. It was absolutely amazing! Can’t wait to buy that one!.

We took a break for dinner. Mami had made her trademark Puran Poli with Bhajiya, Kadhi and the works. If it wasn’t for the tournament I would have crashed after that sumptuous meal!

Later in the night, FM radio and nostalgic Hindi tunes took over. Some senior players attributed their losses to it. Luckily there was a vacancy on the badminton charts too! Played after at least 5 yrs. It was a single 15 point game for the first round eliminations. We lost again, 15-10 but that game was more fun that Carrom. The games went on through the night but mama had to leave early the next day for some exam. So we slept around 1am.

Came back home the next morning. Had planned a get together to watch Vrushu’s wedding photos/videos etc. Nagarkars, Abhishek, Aniket and Parimal came over. Pallu was down with typhoid :(. They got Jalebi from Super Sweets, Lokhandwala. Yummy!

Smita had booked tickets for the kids, to see “The Incredibles” at Fame, Malad - 6:15 pm show. It was a great movie, everyone loved it! The mall was crazy crowded, there was hardly room to sit down and eat at the food court. We decided to eat at Ruby Tuesday, but they had a wait of about 30 minutes. We waited for some time and then gave up. Ended up going to some restaurant near Pinku’s place. The smoke there was annoying, food was decent though. By the time I got back home it was close to midnight. End game.

Quite a weekend this turned out to be. Quality time with family/relatives and of course, the surprise tournament!

Sahee Re Sahee

2004-12-15T01:47:00.000-06:00

Later in the day, saw a Marathi play, “Sahee Re Sahee” at Borivali. Good to see so many Marathi people there.

We had planned to see this one for a long time, but never got around to doing the advance booking. Luckily Atul/Sarika called, they had an extra ticket. It was a nice comedy with Bharat Jadhav as the lead role.

Had Samosas & Mangola during the break. :)

Dec 14 Hmmm… Times have definitely changed!

2004-12-14T23:39:00.000-06:00

5:30 am - Morning jog – A jeep passes me from behind, a girl leans out of the window and yells, “Hey Sexy!” Before I can even put my head around what just happened, the jeep speeds away.

That was the most bizarre experience so far! Enough said.

Dec 1 – Dec 13 Work, Commute, McDonalds, Carrom, Munnabhai…

2004-12-14T23:36:00.000-06:00

Vacation is over, started work at the Mumbai office. Getting used to the traffic, and ways to avoid peak commute hours. Takes 1 to 1.5 hrs each way, and a lot of mental preparation to get to work/home in a peaceful state of mind.

Went to Pune over the weekend, drove along the expressway, was fun reaching up to 100 Kmph (yea yea that’s only 60 mph ;)). Loved the drive, it was nice to be away from the Mumbai traffic for once! On the way back, got a lot of traffic in Chembur, Bandra. But it did a world of good to my confidence and my driving skills with the stick shift.

Along the way stopped at McDonalds for the first time ever here! The McVeggie was decent, better than expected I guess.

Last Saturday, saw Hulchul in the theaters. Decent comedy, they could have done without the clumsy finale though. On Sunday, played Carrom with Baba after sooo long! That was good fun, brought back memories when we used to play every weekend for at least a couple of hours.

Then Bhende kaka, kaku came over to watch the wedding pics, video etc. After that stayed up to watch Munnabhai M.B.B.S. Our neighbour arranged for the VCD, so finally got to scratch one more movie off the should-have-seen-long-back-must-see movie list. Bole to, full 2 tapori ishtyle time pass! “Tension kayko lene ka? Ek jaadu ki jhappi de dena ka, kya!”

The other day met KM sir (our professor from VJTI). He visited the office, spend some quality time with him.

Also was great to see cricket records being broken, Kumble, Sachin, Zaheer and ofcourse Pathan! What a joy it was watching him bowl some great swing bowling!

With all the commute experiments under control, finally have a decent regular schedule now, both at work and home. Got around to creating this long due blog, still have to upload the pics.

Nov 30 All Done!

2004-12-14T03:35:00.000-06:00

Vrushu-Sito left for Calcutta, Darjeeling, Gangtok in the morning. Rest of us crashed and got the much needed sleep, rest.

Thus ended November, packed with a lot of activities, and possibly the most awaited, celebrated event for our family. It will be cherished forever!

Nov 29 Mumbai Reception

2004-12-14T03:33:00.001-06:00

Another day, another reception! This one was for everyone in Mumbai. It was held at Shivaji Park at the Scouts hall. Sito’s parents came in from A’bad.

It was nice to meet all our family friends in a couple of hours without traveling! The food rocked, especially the Sitaphal basundi!

At the end of the day, everyone was happy - for different reasons. The couple because they didn’t have to stand, bend down for namaskars and smile endlessly anymore. Their stamina was truly tested during the last 10 days.The families because they did not have to organize any more functions.

And as we moved out from the hall, a couple kids spotted model/actor Milind Soman jogging around the park. That led to a few excited screams, wows etc.

Came home around 12am. The couple packed for their honeymoon trip in the next 5 hours.

Nov 27-28 Devika Goes To Korea

2004-12-14T03:30:00.000-06:00

Got back home, had to get ready for the next reception, some last minute shopping etc.

Went to the airport at night to see off my cousin sister, Devika. She left for Korea for 3 months for some company training (LG).

Nov 26 Good Old Tinkle!

2004-12-14T03:27:00.001-06:00

Chill time at Chandu mama’s place, we all (two families) had a nice little lunch in their garden.

Left for Mumbai in the evening. Train journey was nice, read a Tinkle digest – Suppandi, Shikari Shambhu etc. That train came from Kolkata, so a ton of Bongs on there. Learnt that they carried quite a lot of food too on journeys, of course no where near the Gujju capacity.

Nov 25 Akola Reception

2004-12-14T03:25:00.000-06:00

A pooja/yagna was performed by the newly wedded couple. The reception in the evening was nice, held on lush green lawns close to full moon night. All relatives and families from distant villages attended. It was nice to meet them all. The function lasted till mid night. For those who could not attend the wedding, we had the pictures from the wedding played on a television screen.

Nov 22-23 "I Do, I Do"

2004-12-14T03:21:00.001-06:00

Photos from Vrushali-Siddharth Wedding

The wedding venue and living arrangements were at a city club hall around 30 kms from the railway station. It was spacious and well organized. Met up with all the relatives, would be relatives etc. The day went by, participating in various rituals, leading into the evening which had the main reception. The reception was prior to the actual wedding, which was b/w 1-4am, basically for the immediate family members and the night owls.

We got a couple hours of rest in the morning, before we departed for Akola. It was a day journey, which most of us slept through. Reached there around 23rd midnight.

All ceremonies were performed per plan, much kudos to Sito’s family, executing all activities to perfection. It was all smiles except for my mother’s tears during the bidai (farewell).

On a side note, I’d never seen so many outfits changed in that short a time frame before!

Nov 21 Ahmedabad, Here We Come!

2004-12-14T03:16:00.000-06:00

All packed and ready to leave for A’bad around 8pm. We had half the train coach reserved, it was most of our close family friends; relatives were going to meet us directly at A’bad. The journey was a blast – food, mehendi, music, cards, gupshup and all!

Nov 9 - 20 Diwali, Wedding Preparations

2004-12-14T03:14:00.000-06:00

This period of time involved primarily preparing for Vrushu-Sito’s wedding – delivering invitation cards, shopping, travel reservations, packing, some office work from home – interviews, Diwali fun etc.

The plan was to leave for Ahmedabad for the wedding (Nov 22), then go to Akola (native place) for a reception (Nov 25), and another reception in Mumbai (Nov 29).  Yes, this was the optimal way to make sure the couple could meet all the clan!

Visited a couple of new malls – they are almost at par with the international scene, except for the parking. One exhibit near the food court was memorable (at InOrbit). It displayed a LOT of greeting cards prepared by kids, looked cool.

Vrushu came home on the 10th, so got to spend some time with her before she moved on to the next frontier. ;)

Also got hooked on to FM radio – found out about the cool stations and program details. Turn these stations on and you most likely will not need your personal CD/tape collection. There’s one program which plays non-stop oldies/classics (not re-mixes!) from 11pm-1am. Some of the RJs and ads are entertaining as well.

Diwali was ok, nothing too elaborate, it was probably overshadowed by the wedding preps. This time the city had a 10pm limit for the noisy fireworks, which of course was not followed strictly, but it certainly helped cut down the decibel levels. Still there were a lot of fireworks and hence pollution, which made it difficult to catch a good night sleep and also raised the temperature levels, during the day.

Nov 8 Back to Mumbai

2004-12-14T03:12:00.000-06:00

What was more memorable was crossing the Dadar bridge and boarding the fast local to Virar from Dadar. It was relatively empty in the early morning hours, but brought back memories from the yester years. During peak office hours, one would be really courageous to even think about boarding it. Those who go through this every single day, battle for a place to keep their foot aboard and a gasp of fresh air. It’s absolutely nuts but life goes on along the tracks of the city’s heart.

Definitely makes you wonder why Mumbai remains home to over 10 million and counting!

Nov 7 Solapur Trip Part 2

2004-12-14T03:10:00.001-06:00

Photos from Solapur Trip

Woke up early and visited the Siddheshwar temple (Lord Shiva) in Solapur. It is located near a lake front and has very beautiful surroundings. It is very well maintained, felt peaceful there.

We kids (?) packed up a surprise breakfast (grilled cheese veggie sandwiches) for the gang and moved on to Bijapur, another historic place but not on the pilgrimage front. Bijapur was the ruling capital of the Adilshah regime in the 1600s. It came into limelight during the Maratha freedom struggle. Shivaji’s father Shahaji worked under the Shah during his time. It is about 100 kms from Solapur and just across the Karnataka border. The journey was peaceful for most part, with lush greenery along side the highway. We crossed two major rivers in the area, Bheema and Chandrabhaga.

While crossing a small bridge we were part of a deadlock traffic situation (pretty common here, attributed to the road conditions, variety of vehicles driven, and the ‘Only I have the right of way’ rule). This incident although, had occurred because potatoes poured on the road from a small overloaded truck. After about 15 minutes and intervention from several drivers, we were back on track.

We hired a govt. guide for all the monuments to be visited in Bijapur. His mixed Marathi-Hindi-Kannada accent was pretty amusing. The guy knew the facts, as he explained the trivia about various mosques, monuments, in the area. At this one mosque, there is a set of stones, perfectly spherical in shape, each of them apparently can be lifted in the air by having 5 or 11 people touch the stone with a finger and uttering the phrase, “Ya Khwaja” in unison. Some people with us had seen it happen earlier, but the stones were locked up that day to make room for a local fair. :((

Another monument was called Twelve Arches. It is an unfinished structure with several arches at some distance from the king’s palace. Apparently the prince at the time, had planned to build this for himself, in such a way that the structure would cast a shadow over the king’s palace. The “story” for this project remaining incomplete is that, it’s always the father who “casts his influence” over his children and not the other way round. True but somehow not sure that was the reason.

Anyways, the key point to note in this area’s architecture is that all the structures are built with black stones without any supporting material. The stones are cut and placed in such a way that the stress is distributed and handled accordingly. Quite amazing for this to be done back then with limited resources and even more so to see them stand solid to date!

Another monument had a 55 ton cannon on display. It had the regime’s symbol (tiger) and holy words from the Kuran engraved on it. A tiger’s open mouth devouring an elephant (symbol of the older regime) forms the mouth of the cannon. The outer surface of the cannon is made from a 5 metal alloy which keeps the outside surface surprisingly cold despite of the inside/outside temperatures. It was quite hot there that day but the surface was noticeably colder. The cannon is mounted on a anchor which rotates up to 180 degrees, to attack the enemy in the right direction. Behind the cannon lies the city protected inside a solid 20 feet wall. Next to the cannon is a small water filled hole where the person lighting the cannon is supposed to jump in after lighting it, as a protection measure against the heat/sound of the firing.

Saw another palace with amazing craftwork on the walls, doors, arches, windows etc. Across from the palace is a mosque about 200 meters away. The construction allows the sound waves to travel in such a way that two people can communicate clearly sitting that much distance apart without overusing their lungs. This mechanism/arrangement is pretty common in most of the forts, palaces, monitoring decks during that era. This palace is called the mini Taj Mahal for its resemblance with the original one. It houses the tombs of the king and his family. Under the tombs in a secret tunnel/maze which was used to trap and kill invaders. We walked through one of them and when we looked back, we saw just a blank wall. Couldn’t believe that we had just walked through there.

The final monument was also a tomb, but this one was the best, Gol Gumbaz. It is about 8 stories in height with four stairways on the four corners and a big dome in the middle. The dome is about 130 feet in diameter. There are no elevators there, so its fun ;) to get to the top through the narrow, steep stairway. The dome inside is known to create 13 echoes in absolute silence. With the crowd there, we could very clearly hear 7. Amazing architecture that, with a breath taking view of the city from the top.

We were exhausted after all the visits, got back to the hotel around 6pm after a sumptuous meal at another dhaba. The plan was to go shopping, how exciting! Not! The only saving grace was that we were to go to just one shop, a famous factory store for bed sheets, carpets etc. So we spend a couple hours there and got some real good stuff for amazing prices.

That was followed by dinner, after which we left for the station. Our train left Solapur at 10:25pm. The return journey to Dadar was uneventful.

Nov 6 Solapur Trip Part 1

2004-12-14T03:06:00.000-06:00

My berth was right next to the compartment door and the door spring was broken. That accounted for a not so sound sleep, got out of bed around 6.

Stood by the compartment door and enjoyed the fresh breeze of dawn in the backdrop of lush green farms and small villages. Soon the silver lining across the skies made way for a beautiful serene sunrise. Needless to say, I had to capture it. Especially this shot where the track curved towards the east and I could see the front of the train along with the sunrise.

Had some Indian Railway garam caaaffffeeee and reached Solapur around 7 am. Met up with everyone there, went to the hotel, freshened up and got ready for the day. Of course have to mention the breakfast there - Upma, Poha, Misal, Idli, Yogurt and the local speciality, Singdana chutni! The yogurt in that region is amongst the best I’ve tasted. Anyways, the plan for the day was to visit Tuljapur and Pandharpur. We had rented a jeep for the travel. These two places and Solapur form a triangle, each way about 120 kms.

Tuljapur - This is one of most popular pilgrimage places in Maharashtra, primarily because of its historical significance (16th century). Raja Shivaji worshipped Goddess Bhavani here. From the temple is an underground tunnel which led to Shivaji’s fort nearby. The temple is not very well maintained unfortunately. Also bothering was the fact that the security people at the temple hurried everyone while doing the darshan. It wasn’t even crowded that day and they were yelling for everyone to move along. The temple had history but the peace was missing from the surroundings. Well at least the Prasad (pedhas) were delicious ;)

After that we stopped by at a roadside Dhaba. Had the local delicacies (bhakri etc) and moved on.

Pandharpur – Another famous pilgrimage place, Vitthal, Rukmini temple. Once a year, devotees walk across the state and country to visit here. This temple is in a much better condition, both in a structural and environment perspective. That was a pleasant experience.

In both places, saw that the local people were God-fearing, had very strong religious beliefs and led a very simple and contended lifestyle. It was refreshing to see.

By the time we got back to the hotel it was pretty late. Saw some weird movie on cable before falling asleep.

Nov 5 - India bt. Australia!

2004-12-14T03:04:00.000-06:00

Followed the match all day and what a match it was! If it rained wickets the previous day, it poured today! What a pitch, what a turn of events and the balls! Who would have dreamt of knocking out the Aussies under 107 to win the match? But as they say with Indian cricket, everything is possible! No kidding! Call it team effort, a miracle or the infamous hand of the curator. ;) It was nice to see a happy India team and fans after salvaging a win in an otherwise forgettable/miserable series.

Also found out that a couple close family friends, Nagarkars (Kaka, Kaku, Smita, Tushar), Sonawanes (Kaka, Kaku, Aniket and his cousin), had a weekend trip planned to Solapur before Aniket’s departure to Mauritius later next week, for med school. They asked me if I was interested. They needn’t have really.

In a couple of hours, I had a waitlisted train ticket and I was on my way to continuing the weekend trips. The ticket had cleared by the time I reached the station but it was in a different bogie, so I couldn’t spend any time with the rest of the gang. It was an overnight journey and since I had dinner at home already, there was not much to do in the train. Read a book and fell asleep.

Nov 3-4 Chill time

2004-12-14T03:03:00.001-06:00

Answered a lot of phone calls, chilled, got over the little bit of jet lag, enjoyed three homemade meals a day served, read Times of India, Mumbai Times and Loksatta, listened to FM radio :))

Found out that I could not get tickets for the final cricket test match at Wankhede. Didn’t feel too bad after seeing that most of the first day’s play was washed out. Second day it rained wickets, and suddenly the match got interesting!

Visited the Mumbai Bright Corner offices for the first time! It was cool to see the space and meet the team there.

Photos on Flickr

While exploring cell phone options for the next four months, one of our good neighbors offered her spare phone to be used. Popped in a prepaid card and I was on the Reliance network. Cool!

Nov 2 Home Sweet Home!

2004-12-14T03:00:00.000-06:00

Landed on time at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. The formalities at the airport were pleasantly surprising and efficient. There was one simple form to fill out and I was at the baggage claim before I knew. Although getting my bags took a while, customs was a breeze.

And then there was the much awaited moment, seeing my parents. :)) Hugs, tears of joy, Khobra barfi followed. Reached home around 3 am. Crashed in an hour or so, given that the next day was a working day for everyone except me!.

Oct 31/Nov 1 Dallas - Frankfurt - Mumbai

2004-12-14T02:57:00.000-06:00

Finally, all packed up and ready to fly out of the U.S. of A! Dropped the car at a friends place, replaced the laptop bag and reached the airport. Each luggage piece weighed exactly 32.0 kgs, amazing!

Flight to Frankfurt was peaceful, lasted only 11 hours. Saw ‘The Anchorman’ on that leg. The layover was about 5 hours. Roamed around all the terminals with the new digcam, was fun. Didn’t realize how time flew by. On the train there, met an airport personnel who resembled the younger Steffi Graf! I couldn’t resist asking her if there was any relation. She was amused and admitted that she was used to the comment. She was too shy to allow a pic. :((

Another interesting event was the visit to the all faith/prayer room at the airport. It was a small little room with a few chairs, some literature and a guestbook. It was great to read the comments of the visitors, reasons for stopping by, their experiences etc. The boundaries of religions disappeared there and felt connected with all those people in a strange, strong, natural way.

Boarded the next leg to Mumbai (7 hours) after they checked in my carry on for no logical reason. Was seated next to an American (He was married to an Indian) with his 5 yr old daughter, Sohana. She was very comfortable with the journey especially without her mom accompanying her. Time flew by chatting with them and watching Kyon Ho Gaya Na? I was indeed glad that the movie jaldi khatam ho gaya!

Oct 30 Bye Bye Irving!

2004-12-14T02:52:00.000-06:00

Cleaned up the apt, packed and moved apt stuff to a friends place for storage. I always believed in the equation, “The number of packed boxes is directly related to the degree of minimalistic nature of the person”. Well either that went out of the window or my degree has gone through the roof (all relative of course)!

I realized that after all the packing etc, past midnight, my cell phone was missing. A dialogue (charade) with the supervisor behind closed doors at Taco Bueno (dinner venue) didn’t quite help. The only hope was that it might have slipped in my friends’ car.