Pradeep Eledath

Facebook - The Evolving Face of Friendship

2011-03-05T19:07:00.002+05:30

Facebook has been a revolution on the social media scene and has changed both the definition of a friend and that of friendship. For many of us Facebook has become a mandatory part of our lives. There have been various studies conducted on usage of facebook across the world. The results in real percentage terms vary considerably, but one fact is consistent that a majority of us are addicted to social networking sites. One study has pegged about 50% of facebook users would check their updates first thing in the morning.

This is strange is it not? While the advertizing world attempts to reach out to the world, this invention is something that keeps pulling audience towards it consistently. Social meeting places come very commonly to humans. Starting from royal baths of the ancient Roman era to today’s modern multiplexes and malls, they are all over the place. It was only a matter of time before someone explored the possibility of mimicking the living world into the virtual one. The creation of facebook today seems very natural but to be able to look into the social patterns of humans and touch a raw nerve to create facebook was a sheer act of brilliance. Facebook is unique in ways, normally as an individual you control your personal information and on no other medium would you tolerate anyone leaking you personal information without your approval. Facebook provides a subtle social pressure on every user to expose more and more of his or her personal information. Whoever would have thought that they would voluntarily post their last night party pictures in every gruesome pose the next day. Every unacceptable norm in the real world is flouted on facebook and is considered acceptable. The new “no” is “yes” in the FB world.

Facebook has taken an identity of its own. The $60 billion company has entered people’s households and it’s no longer surprising to see kids expressing their love for their parents and lovers expressing their love for each other on FB. The intense desire to go public with everything from your daily chores to milestones in your life to posting achievements has become the norm of the day. It’s no longer cool to make polite conversations, it’s smarter to update your profile and wait for someone to reply. FB is the new father of the world. FB decides that you can only have 5000 friends and no more and people are still left wondering, when you can have hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter, then what’s the big deal with FB. You are as cool as the number of friends you have on FB. Sub-500 is passé, while above 2000 and you’re a living legend, well almost - you got to reach that magic figure of 5000 to be called god. Business enterprises had their internet proxies all set up to block social networking sites. This trend continued for the past few years. Now these very organizations have realized the potential that these sites hold as a strong marketing tool. Most organizations are moving towards opening access to social networking sites in office. This is seen as a motivational tool rather than a hindrance. Today radio shows, TV programs, daily soaps, business enterprises, movie stars and even political parties have their own FB pages.

For such a new business to reach $60 billion in just 6 years since inception is a wonder in itself and goes a long way to reaffirm our faith in the power of the internet and the social fabric of mankind. And all Mark Zuckerberg and Co. did was build something to network the objects closest to our hearts, our friends. FB is a virtual site with a heart. Facebook remains the living legend, till someone digs deeper into our hearts and hits the next gold mine…

Driving trip Dec 2010 - Delhi-Udaipur-Ahmedabad-Diu-Somnath-Jamnagar-Chittorgarh

2011-01-26T17:40:00.045+05:30

In line with my annual target to achieve something which i can call a personally enriching i decided to embark on a family driving expedition. The planning was a challenge. Just deciding where to go can be quite intimidating. I prefer the hills but driving in the hills can be quite painful and cannot be called quite an experience. So decided to sort this for myself. Ill get driven to the hills and would always drive to the plains. since the north was out, the options left were UP-MP or Rajasthan-Gujarat. Decided to pick the latter. The finally planned route was Udaipur-Ahmedabad-Diu-Somnath-Jamnagar-Chittorgarh-Delhi, a planned distance of 3000 km. I personally thought of the trip as quite challenging, had never done something of this magnitude before. Friends too thought of it as quite drastic, but had made up my mind and decided for it. Convincing my family was a bit tight but eventually all went fine and we decided to go for it.
The car a Nov 2008, Honda Civic, the family self, wife and 13 year old son, and the plan was to drive myself across. I had done this once in 2004 and its been 6 years, was a bit excited and a bit tense. Then started the exercise of reading numerous blogs on the issue. Happy to know that many had done this and more and my trip looked like childs play. That was a comfort.
25 Dec 2010, Saturday: Delhi-Udaipur (via Jaipur-Kishangarh-Bhilwara-Chittorgarh)

Speedometer reading - 18232 Km

- 667.6 Km
Stay at Udaipur: Evening 25 Dec 10 to morning 27 Dec 10
Started from Vasant Kunj, a south Delhi suburb at 0643 hrs, it was a fine morning cold but relatively clear. I was to hear later from my friends that it was a very foggy day and lots of flights were cancelled. But we managed to make a safe and clear exit out of Delhi. My milometer at start(ignore the dates in all the pictures, my camera has a date problem) reads 18232 Km.We started off along NH8, all was fine till we left Gurgaon, trucks started lining up from the second toll onwards. thereafter for the entire stretch till we stopped for breakfast at 0915 hrs at Hotel Midway Tokas, about 103 KM from Delhi. Then started a long session of parathas for breakfast which would go on for the next 9 days.Half hour break later we were on our way, the entire stretch till Jaipur was in a bad state with 6 laning of roads going on. I remember i did Jaipur by road in 2006 and again in 2009 and on both occasions it was a pleasure. Now its become painful to drive to Jaipur. It took me almost 5 hours at an average speed of 50 kmph to get to Jaipur, normally a 3 hour drive. I don't recommend anyone to go to Jaipur atleast till mid 2012 hopefully by when this road work would get over. About 357 Km from Delhi and about 100 km south of Jaipur is Kishangarh.From here on there are 2 routes to Udaipur. One is along NH8 via Ajmer and the other is via Nasirabad-Bhilwara-Chittorgarh, NH 79. Based on inputs from blogs we decided to take NH 79 and it was the best possible decision. The Kishangarh-Udaipur stretch was the best highway i have driven in India(obviously the Mumbai-Pune expressway comes close, but not anything like this). This is a nice 6 lane highway lined with hotels, small and medium restaurants and scattered petrol pumps. Check the pic for a preview.

Kishangarh-Udaipur - NH 79

Birds eyeview of Udaipur from Karnimata Temple

Lunch was at 1425 hrs at Hotel Sahyog, a small nondescript place about 440 Km from Delhi. A quick bite later we were off at 1450 hrs. I wanted to reach Udaipur before sunset, hate to drive on Indian roads in the night. We stayed at Grand Sita bang in the middle of Udaipur, would give it a 2.5 on 5. Its an average stay over hotel, that i booked thru Make my trip. Was clean and nice.Being winter i had estimated sunset at 1730 hrs, so i had about 2 1/2 hrs to cover more than 200 Km, which seems like a stretch, but the roads were fab and we reached our hotel by 1730 sharp. That was some drive almost 11 hours in the car with an exclusion of 1 hour for lunch, 10 straight hours oif driving time. Hopefully once Jaipur roads come up the Delhi Jaipur stretch would come down below 3 hours, so Delhi -Udaipur can be done in 8 to 9 hours, with an hour stopping time.The plan was to spend 25 and 26th night at Udaipur and see around the place. Very wifey plan but decided to play on. a days break was nice after the long drive. Udaipur according to me is a very hyped up city. One has better places to go in India. Hired a cab for the day, did a 1045 to 4 pm scene. Udaipur has lots of boating and a ropeway to the Karnimata temple. Got late for lunch and our taxi guys takes us to this ramshackled place. The Rajasthani thali was good and also topped it up with Dal bhaati and choorma(i understand thats a Rajasthani delicacy).The next day was supposed to be a relatively easy drive compared to the one Udaipur, so decided to sleep late. We planned to leave the next day by 8 or so.

27 Dec 2010, Monday: Udaipur to Ahmedabad - 256 Km
Stay at Ahmedabad: Afternoon 27 Dec 10 to morning 28 Dec 10

After a 600 km drive, 256 km seemed like childs play, so we started the next morning at 0835 hrs from Udaipur. The road leading from the hotel led us straight to Udaipur bypass on to NH8 for our onward drive to Ahmedabad.The route is via Shamalji-Himmatnagar-Gandhinagar to Ahmedabad.Unlike the Kishangarh-Udaipur stretch this road is well maintained but winding which cuts the speed.The Rajasthan border is 117 km from Udaipur, with a simple fort like structure. Its Gujarat after that , green and beautiful. The roads continue to remain nice but winding as before. Lunch was at a Punjabi joint called Hotel Nilgiri, owner by a Sardarji. He got us nice hot parathas and tea.Quite a decent and clean place. Started after a 30 min stop and reached Ahmedabad by about 1130 hrs. We checked into Hotel Comfort Inn, Sunset , very close to the airport. This was a nice hotel, i would give it a 3.5 on 5. Very spacious with nice clean washrooms and a nice view of the road below.Post lunch we visited the Gandhi Ashram in the day. It was quite a humbling experience. Think about a frail man who spent all his life to the service of the nation, his requirements were bare his physical appearance was frail but he had the strength to move a nation the size of India that too on the principle of non-violence. Very impressive.Rest of the evening was spent in the room.

28 Dec 2010, Tuesday: Ahmedabad to Diu- 525 Km
Stay at Diu: Evening 28 Dec 10 to afternoon 29 Dec 10

I did not find too many blogs writing about travelling from Ahmedabad to Diu. There are 2 routes that you can take. One via NH 8E via Bhavnagar-Una-Diu and the other via NH 8B till Rajkot-Jethpur and after Jetpur split off to NH8D which splits off to Junagarh-Veraval-Somnath and thereafter NH8E to Una-Diu. I had no precedence nor any write up hence took this the latter route via Rajkot based on an advise by the reception guy at my hotel.But my advise to readers of this blog would be to try the Bhavnagar route also, as apparently all the state buses take that route and may be 150 km odd shorter(or so my hotel receptionist told me at the Diu hotel), however i understand that is a 2 lane route all the way from Ahmedabad to Diu so your driving might be much slower that route remains unproven till date.We started from Ahmedabad at 0812 hrs on 28 Dec.The road is almost straight forward, we simply caught NH8B, we reached Rajkot, at 237.5 Km from Ahmedabad at 1130 hrs(was a 3 hr 15 min drive) and stuck on NH8B till Jethpur. The road thereafter goes on to Porbandar. Here is the terrible part. There are no roadsigns to mark the exit from Jetpur to NH8D to Junagarh. So at a particular point you split off from the Porbandar route and enter Jetpur town and exiting the town takes about 20 odd min and lo and behold you are on NH8D. No signboards at all for a long time, but asking people helps. The road upto Jetpur is 4 lane and is a beautiful drive. After Jetpur, NH8D is 2 lane with no median on the road.

The condition of the road is ok till Jamnagar, i mean not too great but you can do decent speeds. We were desperate to eat Gujarati food and in Ahmedabad all we got was a load of Punjabi food. I wonder why they dont serve authentic Gujarati food in many restaurants in Gujarat. Why copy others when your cuisine is so great. Take the bypass around Jamnagar and at the south gate of Jamnagar, we finally caught a small lunch home serving authentic Gujarati food. The thali was nice, loved the sweet dal the most. Would have loved to take a nap, but we needed to go on. The road after Junagarh started deteriorating gradually. I was wondering that 2 main attractions of Gujarat are Somnath and Gir forest and a visit to Diu, but unfortunately the road from Junagarh right till Diu (the road is 2 lane) is pathetic. You cant drive fast as you may hit a pothole and damage your car. 100 km short of Diu the road is in terrible condition and your speed reduces to about 30 kmph. The road is an absolute disaster. Mr. Chief Minister, please do something about it, if you really want tourists to reach Somnath and carry great memories of reaching that place.The view however is fab, green fields on both sides with coconut trees. The road is lined with huge trees which give nice shade to the entire road. You need to reach Una, before you see a broken sign showing a right turn off NH8E to Diu. From this point Diu is 16 Km. We reached Diu by 1700 hrs and checked into Hotel Cidade de Diu, the hotel is in Diu town. After dumping our luggage , we walked down to the town to catch some tea and watching the sunset. It was nice to see the sea after ages. Being in Delhi, had almost forgotten the look of the sea. After a quick shower we headed towards Nagoa beach , about 8 Km from the town. Diu also has a little airport. It was a nice scenic drive. The best hotel at Nagoa beach is Radhika Resort. There are others like Hoka Resort, Rasal beach resort and Suzlon beach resort are also near the beach. You would get the best view of the beach from Hoka and Suzlon beach resorts. If i was asked to rate by looks, it would be Radhika, Suzlon and Hoka in that order. Beer at Rs. 100 with loads of sea food at Radhika resort was welcome. Dinner at Radhika is highly recommended. The next morning after breakfast we visited Diu fort, i remember visiting the fort in 1993 and feels great to be back after 17 years. The view from Diu fort is fab.We drove thru the lanes of Diu and the feeling was very very antique. We loved it. We headed back to Nagoa beach and had beer and lunch, more sea food, prawns and pomfret.


29 Dec 2010, Wednesday: Diu to Somnath- 87 Km

Stay at Somnath: Evening 29 Dec 10 to morning of 30 Dec 10
After lunch at 1400 hrs we started from Nagoa beach for Somnath. As mentioned above the road is in pathetic shape. On the way we came across this antique ford, being used as a taxi. Probably the owner was not aware of its worth and decided to use it as a taxi.The drive took me 2 hours, something that we could have covered in about an hour and some more.Since this trip was planned in almost 4 days, all hotels at Somnath were full. There are about 3 odd good hotels at the Somnath bypass about one km out of Somnath. The ones within Somnath are small ones including 2 hostels run by the Somnath trust. Its recommended that those planning to stay at Somnath should do hotel bookings well in advance. The evening aarti starts at 7 pm, lasts for 30 min, followed by a light and sound show that starts at 745 and goes on for about an hour.Now here is the catch. There is an extremely strict dress code to enter the temple premises. Also do not carry anything with you. The following are banned. Any type of footwear(obviously), there is a place to keep your shoes but that was full when we got there, so better to go bare feet from your hotel, else keep your shoes whereever and expect to find it at your own risk, no leather including purses, belts and leather watch straps, no ladies purses, no car keys; in fact enter only with your clothes on and nothing else. There is a dress code for women too, no skirts or anything that shows your legs. Good rules, but not allowing us to carry my car key is where i was stumped and could not go inside. Wife and son had good darshan and then we went for a nice happy dinner. Great end to a lovely day. Our hostel was quite bare with no facilities except an attached bath. Had to get tea the next morning in a glass from a local tea shop. But what the hell, for a traveller these things hardly matter, the fun is to keep the travel on. The next morning we were supposed to go to Gir for a safari. I was speaking to a family while having dinner. They were staying at Gir and had come down for dinner. Apparently earlier you could phone and book and the safari, now the person booking the safari has to personally buy tickets which means standing in a line for up to 3 to 4 hours and followed by a 2 hr safari. I decided on a change of plan and decided to skip Gir forest and instead head to my next destination. This is what makes you feel like a traveller and not a tourist. For a traveller its the journey and not destinations that is more important.

30 Dec 2010, Thursday: Somnath to Jamnagar (via Rajkot) - 275 Km
Stay at Jamnagar: Evening 30 Dec 10 to morning of 01 Jan 11

Since the distance was manageable, we decided to have breakfast at Somnath (the same restaurant where we had dinner, Hotel Sukh Sagar, for those wanting to stay this is a decent hotel). Finally we left Somnath at 0957 hrs for Jamnagar. The route was via Junagarh-Jetpur-Rajkot and Jamnagar.Rajkot is 185 Km from Somnath, you take NH8D to Jetpur then NH8 from Jetpur to Rajkot. Though our map showed a couple of routes to reach Jamnagar, we finally landed up in Rajkot city (which seemed the only way we could find). There are no sineages on the way to Rajkot indicating any turns for Jamnagar.The only way is to leave NH8 at Rajkot and enter the city , travel within the city for 8 km before you reach the state highway which takes you to Jamnagar via Dhrol.This entire stretch of 85 km is 2 lane without a median which significantly slows down the speed. Surprisingly after turning left from Rajkot we saw a ChokiDhani on our left there was no time to visit so we let it pass. An interested traveller who has missed the same in Jaipur can visit the same. Aquick lunch later we were on our way, and by 1700 hrs we were at Jamnagar. Our destination was an isolated Naval station in Jamnagar , INS Valsura, where we were to meet and stay with a good friend of ours. Valsura is a quaint and quiet place along the sea, very peaceful . 31st afternoon was nice with some great Gujarati thali at Hotel Aaram, which apparently serves the best gujarati thali in town. And it was well worth it, the best thali till date, highly recommended to all those visiting Jamnagar.We had a nice 31st evening, got into bed by 0030 hrs and was awake again at 0500 for the next days trip. .
01 Jan 11, Saturday: Jamnagar to Chittorgarh (via Rajkot-Ahmedabad-Udaipur) - 670 Km

Stay at Chittorgarh : Evening 01 Jan 11 to morning of 02 Jan 11

We had a long long drive ahead and i was really looking forward to it. I needed to cross the entire state of Gujarat and move as much north as possible, this was a tight target considering that i had had just about 4 hours of sleep. The best part was we had not decided where we would stop, but it was estimated to be some place after Udaipur. Also luckily we had not calculated the distance so the enormity of the task did not hit us as we begun our journey. We started from Jamnagar at 0658 hrs, it was dark, the road from Valsura to Jamnagar was in bad shape, so we made a very slow exit. The road from Jamnagar to Rajkot was more or less clear, but again being 2 lane the progress was slow. The first target ws Ahmedabad, 302 Km away from Jamnagar. We reached the Ahmedabad bypass all fine, and got on to the ring road. The ring road brought lots of confusion with it, at times we would see boards mentioning Himmatnagar and then suddenly they shifted and started showing Vadodara. It was a ring and had i taken a wrong exit i would be heading south instead of north and with 470 km more to go before sundown that was no joke. We managed to find an exit (not sure of that was the right one but a good 10 km away we finally got on to the 6 lane highway leading to Udaipur. Ahmedabad to Udaipur is 256 Km and that was an ok target.We stopped at Himmatnagar for lunch , was quite a nice hotel but stuck to roti and dal to keep it simple and had Pepsi to drive the sleep away,which it did very effectively. We finally crossed Udaipur bypass at about 1600 hrs and we were very sure of reaching Chittorgarh by 5. That's when we encountered this horrific jam just outside Udaipur. Luckily some locals helped us take a village route and before we realized we were on NH76 heading towards Chittorgarh. But the Jam had costed us about 40 odd min and we were low on fuel and cash. Luckily we found a pump that accepts cards and tanked up.1645 hrs we were off from Udaipur and we had 113 Km to cover before sunset which apparently happens around 1730 hrs. seemed almost impossible, i was bracing up for a bit of night drive something that i hate to do in India. NH76 is a drivers paradise and there was almost nil traffic on the road and we managed to reach Chittorgarh by 1800 hrs, 113 km in 1 hour and 15 min was not bad at all. With an hours break for breakfast and lunch , we had driven for 10 hours, felt nice.Could not see much of Chittorgarh as it was already dark. Some enquiries later we finally found a decent place to stay, Hotel Nandan Palace. Very clean and welcome after a real long drive. I would give it 3 on 5. I had clocked about 700 km on 01 Jan, and from a travellers point of view i felt nice to be on the road the complete day, may be that's what i expect to do this year, quite a welcome thought. Be on the road as much as possible. The next day was also not expected to be that easy, we were about 600 km odd off Delhi and was to be a long drive. I felt ok after driving the day not tired at all. That's what happens when you doing things which you love to do.

02 Jan 11, Sunday: Chittorgarh to Delhi (via Jaipur) - 567 Km

Delhi, Vasant Kunj : Evening 02 Jan 11 and end of journey

The next morning we were up early with a plan to be on the road by 7 am, but by the time we finally made it , it was 0737 hrs. We got on to the same highway from where we exited to Chittorgarh without fully checking the google map that i was carrying(unluckily did not get a Rajasthan map before we started, so were relying on google maps). The highway in fact was NH76, which goes to Kota. After driving about 25 odd km i realized that we were on the wrong highway. Asked locals and got into the nearest village and 5 km of bumpy roads later we were back on NH79. NH 76 comes in from Udaipur to Chittorgarh and proceeds to Kota. While to go to Jaipur you got to change over to NH79 just before Chittorgarh, somehow we missed that turn and that costed us about 45 odd min. quite an expense when you got to do about 600 km that day. But issues behind us we were on NH79 on our way to Jaipur via Kishangarh. The road up to Kishangarh was fab and so was the road up to Jaipur. But i found that the quality of traffic was bad from Kishangarh to Jaipur (too many trucks and all over the place). We crossed Jaipur at 1200 hrs, which was good time and we expected to be in Delhi by 1600 hrs.But our horror was just about to start. Six laning of the highway was in progress and we encountered massive jams at 5 to 6 place (basically whenever the highway touches a village).Finally after struggling for about 6 hours we reached Delhi and parked my car at 1800 hrs. Was quite a trip, great memories, safe driving and almost no near misses too.In all we had covered 3120 km, spent about 9 days on the move and that exceeded my last driving trip Delhi-Bikaner-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Jaipur-Delhi which was about 2000 km in 10 days. At finish my milometer read 21402 km.

The journey was over, or should i say this journey was over, many roads and many destinations becon, who knows when the calling is but the traveller waits and when the calling comes he just moves. My soul tells me to be ready and am all set to move...to see another distant sunset..Au Revoir.....

It’s raining in Delhi. Has global warming caught up?

2010-08-25T13:12:00.000+05:30

It’s finally raining in Delhi. After being here for almost 10 years one of the few things I liked about Delhi was its lack of rains. Not to get me wrong it’s not that I hate rains on the contrary being a long time Mumbaikar I actually love the rains. But staying 10 years in a city where rain is a novelty has actually reset my expectations from the rain gods. I found a renewed sense of freedom to be able to move around the city almost year-long without the horrors that heavy rains almost always brought about in Mumbai. Whilst June to August spells monsoons south of Maharashtra, the same period in Delhi used to be warm and sunny. Slowly I started getting used to the freedom that was long denied to me by rain gods in Pune and Mumbai. These dry spells lasted for almost 6 years; however the weather has significantly changed over the last 4 years.

The rains made their entry into Delhi in 2006 and slowly over a period of time the so called ‘occasional shower season’ has matured to a full fledged ‘rainy season’ in Delhi. The human mind is intrinsically averse to change, as I got accustomed to a very dry Delhi, the heavens open up and its raining everywhere. Apparently Aug 10, has been the wettest August in 15 years and there have been only 7 such spells in the last 110 years in Delhi. That’s some statistics now.

The few questions that come to my mind are, what has caused this change? For once are the proponents of global warming right. Is the weather really taking a drastic turn, not sure if its for the good or worse. This article on the NASA site (http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/global_warming_worldbook.html) reports that over the past 100 and next 100 years together, the overall temperature of earth would have gone up by about 10.4 degrees ! Now that’s a scary thought, the only comforting factor is that I won’t live a 100 years to see that temperature rise. When we look back the winter of 2009-10 in Delhi was more severe than the years before, the summer was equally unbearable and now the excessive rains. Is this nature’s way of warning us that ‘all is not well’. But frankly are any of us listening or seeing these obvious changes. The Delhi government had done its bit a couple of years back by being the only state in India to implement CNG for 100% commercial vehicles like state busses, taxis and autos. Polluting industries have been asked to move out of Delhi to its outskirts. The quality of air has improved marginally but frankly like a friend mentioned a few days back after her trip to New York. You wake up with a much clearer head in New York as compared to Delhi. How many of us have woken u to realize that you do not feel as fresh commensurate to the number of hours you have clocked in the bed.

A few years back I used to wonder how someone retiring from his or her job can decide to settle in the faraway hills or a remote beach location. I had decided I would stay in the hustle and bustle of the city and be in the middle of all the action. But 10 years of stay in Delhi and I have concluded, no more cities for me as and when I retire. It’s going to be an idyllic location, where the air is pure, the sky is clear and there is no smog between me and nature. This brings back memories of ‘Jamaica Farewell’ by Harry Belafonte;

‘Down the bay where the nights are gay,
And the sun shines daily on the mountain top
I took a trip on a sailing ship
And when I reached Jamaica I made a stop’

It’s a race against time. First we were all in villages, then we created cities and then moved to cities for better jobs, now the cities get polluted and we are rushing back to villages. Its only a matter of time before the construction industry extends its claws to every village in sight. I sadly wonder would there be any Jamaica left on earth for any of us to stop?

Choose to Live Life in Sheer Bliss

2010-04-07T06:55:00.000+05:30

Consider the image of any regular person living this planet. Their life is their family, their work, their dreams, and above all their worries. One sees people proudly proclaiming, that they have a thinking mind, which is generating thoughts by the second. But the question you need to ask yourself is, are you generating these thoughts or is your mind generating them. Many of us fail to distinguish the subtle difference between who “you” are and who “your mind” is. The first sign of caution is when you fail to carry out this distinction.

Do you identify with any of the following?
• My mind always generates a variety of thoughts.
• Most of these thoughts are involuntary and beyond my control.
• Some of them are good and some bad both generated due to the environment external to me.
• While I enjoy and nurture the good thoughts, the bad thoughts bog me down and I am unable to do anything about it until they get resolved or die down themselves.

If the answer to majority of the above is a yes, then “you” are a slave of your thoughts or better said your thoughts have complete control over you and has the capability to govern your mood. Remember incoherent collection of thoughts in your mind is not a symbol of a thinking mind. It’s a symbol of an uncontrolled mind. Let’s take an example of your hand. It does not continue moving when you have finished bowling a cricket ball or when you finish waving goodbye to your friend where as your hand stops moving once these activities complete. The brain controls this activity. But who controls the activities of the mind. Who would stop the mind from uncontrolled thinking? That’s what we are trying to achieve here.
So the question remains how do I free myself from this rut of uncontrolled thinking?

Here are some three simple tips that worked for me.

1. The first step is to be aware that you are separate from your mind. The best way to do this is to constantly put yourself into a habit of watching what your mind is doing. Initially it may sound a bit weird and even foolish. We have many occasions that can be used to build this habit, our most hated moments, when we are driving alone, driving and stuck in traffic jams, waiting for a friend or acquaintance, waiting at airports, bus stands or railway stations, long winding travels, the possibilities are enormous. In case these locales are too disturbing sit in a quiet room and watch your mind.

2. Once you are aware what the mind is doing, the next step is to pay attention to the contents of what the mind is processing. This step is distinct from the first step which just concentrates on watching the actions of the mind. Be aware of each thought as they come in, watch as they linger on and multiply, watch them as they die down or surge. At every stage of this step you should be aware of all the thoughts that are crossing your mind

3. Now that you are aware of all these thoughts, start off by segregating the good and bad thoughts. The interesting part is that there are no good or bad thoughts. It’s our reaction to each thought that makes it good or bad. For a human mind if the reaction to a particular thought makes us happy then it’s a good thought and if it makes us sad then it’s a bad thought. For the ease of writing and understanding, let’s still call these as good or bad thoughts. We obviously don’t want to remove good thoughts from our mind, as for the bad thoughts there are 2 ways to work around them.

a. One way is to watch the thought that invokes a sad reaction within you. Be aware of that thought, identify with it, watch it grow and fall. The power of this process is that the moment you become aware of a thought that makes you sad, and watch its rise and ebb, it starts getting weak. If you are able to do this replace this thought with a good thought, now that’s your key to bliss.

b. The second way and one that worked for me, is to write down that thought which invokes a bad reaction within you. The act of simply writing down this thought makes it weak. The good part of the writing process is that you need not replace the bad thought with a good one. The moment you write the precise thought, it vanishes. In short the moment you associate with a bad thought either by watching it intensely or by writing it , the thought dies off.

By consistently practicing these 3 steps you can rid yourself of what we call “persistent worrying” and so called uncontrolled thinking of the mind. With time we would be able to gain mastery over our minds and eventually replace the uncontrolled thinking of the mind with a free thinking mind. A free thinking mind, constantly searches for thoughts that depress us, and replaces such thoughts with nice and pleasant thoughts , leading to a an enriched life of sheer bliss.

Transformation from Human to Nerd - Is the Internet robbing us of our Social Life?

2010-02-21T09:46:00.000+05:30

In the days of the yore we used to proudly display a letter from our loved ones. The greatest moment was to receive the letter and the next best to read it. The advent of the internet opened immense possibilities and a whole new generation of entrepreneurs emerged who made their millions from the internet. I restrict my discussion on this article to the social change brought about by internet.
From the simple e-mail to instant messaging to social networking sites to use of all these on mobile platforms, the social internet threatens to rob us of our real life social fabric. A typical teenager of today is suave about handling his or her email accounts, manages multiple social networking sites, measures their success by the number of friends they have online , buy movies and songs online and end up spending more and more time online. Slowly this “virus” has crept on from the youth to all age groups and now the intrusion is almost complete. The use of the word “crept” is deliberate, as it’s just a period of time when you transform from being a normal human to a nerd typing away vigorously at your keyboard. I’m reminded of the 1986 Hollywood flick "The Fly" starring Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. He is an eccentric scientist working on 'teleporting', a means of transporting objects through space. Geena Davis, a magazine writer decides find out more about his work. They start an affair, but Jeff believes she is still seeing her former lover. In a fit of rage he tries to transport himself, and his genes get caught up with a fly that gets into the machine. Slowly Jeff takes on the features of an insect, resulting in him slowly transforming into a huge fly.
You know you are transforming from a human to a nerd when, your personal letters already replaced by emails have now been replaced by social networking posts. Its cooler to hang out with friends on Twitter or FaceBook than to meet and chat up over cups of coffee, it’s easier to catch your favorite movie online rather than watch it with friends at a movie theatre. You’d play online games rather than a game of rugby or cricket with your friends. You rather would post a happy birthday post on FaceBook than post a card, would rather SMS a Christmas or New Year greeting than send a card. The good old photo albums have been replaced with Flickr or Picasa. Would you rather prefer a video conference with friends on Skype than meet them over an evening drink. Is the internet stealing a major portion of your family time? You claim to be spending quality time with your family, while in reality you are at home surfing away on the internet, assuming that mere presence at home spells quality. Do your spouse and you wish each other happy birthdays and anniversaries on Twitter or FaceBook? Whether you like it or not the internet is pushing deep into our lives, ripping apart every social norm as it penetrates deeper and its beyond our control. Well the transformation has begun for many and almost complete for the rest.
The latest internet usage statistics of world internet users show that almost 26% of the world population is on the internet of which North America has a 75% penetration, closely followed by Australia with 60% and India with just 7% penetration with a 380% growth to those figures over the past 10 years. At this rate we should be inching very close to the 100% mark over the next decade. So is that a sign to be happy or should it set alarm bells ringing for the social fabric of the world?
One of my mentors once told me about office etiquettes, if possible meet the person, next try to call him/her, next drop an SMS and if nothing works e-mail them. You’ll build great relationships and your work gets done smoothly. The same applies to your social life too. Spend time with your families, void of electronic media, take your son for a walk or go sporting with him, catch up with your daughters dancing classes, meet your friends over a drink or go cycling / trekking with them. Meet your dad/mom often (if you stay away), or talk to them often. Be around for their birthdays and anniversaries. We’ve all heard it’s a fast paced life and we got to catch up. Internet may be a means but not the end. We got to stop by and admire the flowers and if possible smell them too. The save trees campaign is in the right direction but the point is we need to use our online tools in moderation to strengthen our social footprint. Use the internet to boost your relationships, but remember nothing should encroach and replace “the real thing” not in the least by the “virtual”. Ironically the word “virtual” comes from the Latin word “Virtus Virtue” meaning : Possessed of certain physical virtues or capabilities. The real life is that which can be seen, felt, breathed, spoken to and heard and virtual is nothing but that, ”virtual” which Encarta dictionary defines as “hypothetical”.
So my friends go get a life………

Healing and Health Benefits of Solo Travel

2010-02-18T21:03:00.000+05:30

Indians as a rule are used to travelling with their families; hence the idea of a solo traveler seems quite extreme to say the least. While the rest of the world has been enjoying the benefits of travelling solo, Indians are yet to come to terms with why someone would want to undertake a solo travel. Granted that we as a nation are obsessed with an intense affinity towards our families and this does trickle into our travel plans which is great, a happy family holiday leads to great bonding. But it is good for the mind and soul for one to travel alone at least occasionally.

Having personally undertaken 2 backpacking trips in India, I am a firm believer that one solo trip in a year is healing and can earn you rich health benefits. The standard benefits associated with solo travel are a great sense of freedom, ability to meet new people (which you would not like to do during a family outing), decide your own schedule, (decide what you would see and for how long), spend as much money as you feel like, the list is endless. There are numerous cons associated with solo travel. The loneliness can get to you, causing you to put your entire journey at risk by deciding to terminate it before you complete your route. You are responsible for your own safety so need to be extra cautious, can’t think of telling someone to watch your back. You need to plan your baggage and travel light, its you after all who has to manage and carry your baggage. Safety of your baggage is your responsibility, so letting it down for even a few moments may turn out to be disastrous. Despite all the cons the health and soul healing benefits of solo travel does not stop to intrigue the human mind. Many creative personalities like painters, poets, writers etc have known to take off to a solitary location where they found their creative juices flowing better.

One of the greatest gains from solo travel is your ability to absorb and retain what you see and hear. This is important, because travelling with a partner can cause you to spend time talking or more correctly acknowledging his/her presence around. Another key healer is it allows you to introspect on your life, on what has happened till date, what were the hits and misses in life. Some of the greatest ideas have occurred to me when I was alone, away travelling (on work mostly). Like Jim Morison of Doors said in one of his songs “People are strange when you’re a stranger, Faces look ugly when you’re alone”. When alone mind concocts strange ideas and some of them so oblique bordering on madness. But many of these ideas can be converted to reality and can bring huge benefits to our lives, be it work, business ideas or our relationships with friends, family, colleagues etc. Strangely these ideas only crop up when the mind is left alone and best when you’re travelling alone. Also a solo travel helps purge ones thoughts , helps better mind control and acts as a great de-stresser.

Human beings are social animals but in todays stressful times, it is important to take time off for yourself and to spend it alone so as to commence a journey of self-discovery. The best way to do this is to undertake a solo travel to an unknown destination for an unknown period.

Au revior ………

Shah Rukh Khan and Shiv Sena - Does Indian Politics and “Anything” Go Together

2010-02-15T20:23:00.000+05:30

Actor Shah Rukh Khan’s comments on Pakistani players in IPL brings out a key issue that may have been spoken innumerable times but is reaching no where as far as a solution is concerned. The question “Can we mix politics with anything at all” be it sports, films, education etc. No answers yet. But one thing for sure, while it would be perfectly legal and acceptable for politicians to step into external domains like sports, films, education etc. the converse has time and again proved detrimental for the concerned people.

Maharashtra is abound with stories where film directors had to change acts/dialogues in films or had to apologize to the political lords of that locality to keep them appeased and more than anything to get their films to release/run in that city. Karan Johar had to apologize to Shiv Sena for referring to Mumbai as Bombay in “Wake up Sid”. Post Shah Rukh’s statement on Pakistani players for IPL, Uddhav Thackeray of Shiv Sena even went to the extent of telling him to “Stick to his profession and not dabble in other issues”. Shah Rukh reportedly apologized to Karan Johar and Kajol for ruining the prospects of MNIK, but he refused to apologize to the Shiv Sena, right or wrong? Not sure. First he makes statements which do not help anyone, definitely did not help get more Pakistani players into IPL and second it was made much after the auction so seemed more like a lip service and more a publicity stunt gone bad than anything else. He would definitely have made a difference had he spoken and more important acted much before the auction. Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar did a similar act when he innocently spoke of being an Indian first and then a Maharashtrian. Mukesh Ambani of Reliance spoke about Mumbai belonging to all of India, which again did not go well with the Maratha sons-of-the-soil.

While one could take the risk of mentioning that what the Shiv Sena is doing is incorrect, it would be perfectly in order to question the stars (read actors, sports personalities etc) of today as to what is the need for them to make politicized statements which may seem to come straight from their heart but has more damaging repercussions for the public in general. For example does Shah Rukh think making such statements would change anything? Does he have the wherewith all for bringing about the relevant change. Does Sachin think he can stop the political parties of Maharashtra from politicizing any and every issue? Don’t think so. These statements are issued by the stars in the wake of various questions from journalists who are on the lookout for spicy answers, so that they can gain publicity out of such quotes.

The political parties on the other hand are always on the look out for issues which can bring them back to public memory, which is fickle and volatile. Such statements help in keeping the party publicity machines alive and get a work hungry party worker to deliver on party goals. Internally the political parties would be gleefully lapping up such comments which give them moments of fleeting publicity. Politics is a wicked game of rising to the fore at the cost of another and by issuing dramatic statements our stars are just fueling this need. However much one hates to say this, but can’t but agree more with Uddhav Thackeray’s advise that one should stick to ones profession and not dabble in “other” issues. Do so only if you feel you have the power to make a change.

As for MNIK it turned out to be the number five movie worldwide with a $14. 2 million weekend gross.

Regards

Pradeep Eledath

Backpacking travel thru Kerala Sojourn 10 Dec to 16 Dec 2007

2009-09-28T20:31:00.002+05:30

As some writer had said the more you write the more profilic your thoughts get.So ive decided to get down to writing the most memorable incidents in my life oir "LIfe changing incidents" as i call them. Who knows may be it will help me read up in my old age to know ive done so much in life and that it was defineltly not a life whiled away.

This is the story of my first ever solo backpacking trip deep down south of India, in gods own country Kerala in Dec 07. Its almost 2 years back but the memory of that trip still lingers on and the caling to write about it is strong. This will need a lot of research to get my facts right as memory starts to fade, but cant avoid. So here goes..

This story starts from Trissur railway station and ends and Trissur.

1. Trissur to Trivandrum (10 - 11 Dec 07): I took the 6344 Down Amritha Express from Trissur(11:50 pm) to Trivandrum (6:05 am) on 11 Dec 07. The weather was perfect. My legs and body were sore after an ardous trip to Sabarimala but the o0timism to go on this trip, my first ever backpacking trip was just unbelivable.Slept thru the journey , was quite peaceful and relaxed. Got up to a fine morning at Trivandrum Central railway station.Time was 6:05 in the morning of 11 Dec 07, the crisp air of the morning hit my face as i picked my backpack and headed for the Thambanoor bus stand. the bus stand is 5 min walk from the railway station.Searched around for a direct bus to Kanyakumari, which apparently had already left, could not afford to wait till afternoon so took a local bus to Nagercoil (located in the southern part of in Tamilnadu, 19 km away from Kanyakumari), thats most of the journey done.Quick breakfast in Nagercoild bus stand and looked for another state bu for Kanyakumari. They were dime a dozen. Reached Kanyakumari quickly and found myself on the lone road there. The smell of the sea and the beginning of the jouurney signalled a lot of positive energy.

2. Kanyakumari 11-13 Dec 07: Kanyakumari is the confluence of the three sea's ,Bay of Bengal , Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean The challenge was to find a good but reasonable place to stay. I thought using my malayalam will get me lots of good places to stay.But infact worked quite the opposite. Apparently lots of misguided malayalee youth had taken up rooms in Kanyakumari just to commit suicide !!! and they believed i was one of them. Six attempts later, I had to get a shady looking "agent" who told me to drop my malayalam and use my chaste hindi to get a decent room , which i did in my second attempt with him.Strange, had to abandon my Mallu identity to get a room. But you got to be practical right!!It was an average room , but what the hell, it worked for me.Had lunch at a local restaurant, relaxed for a while and was out on trhe street for a stroll. Kanyakumari is just 2 to 3 short roads. The view of the sea was tremendous.2 roads of small shops. Bought a cap, the sun was beating down.The sunset from Mahatma Gandhi Memorial was brilaint. It was soothing and calming.Got back to the hotel after a long walk, and ordered dinner at the hotel, watched a boring Thai war movie and that put me to bed earlier than planned.

After a quick breakfast by 10 am decided to move to the Vivekananda rock and Thituvallur statue both built on small islands in the sea probably about 20 mtrs away from the kanyakumari coastline.There are boats available at the jetty which ferry you to the 2 islands at a nominal cost of 20 INR.These boats run up and down and keep circling till evening.The view of the 133 feet Thiruvallur statue and the calming view of vivekanda rock from the jetty was quite overrpowering.check out the view. The fact that some one built these 2 fabulous structuctures in the middle of the ocean is quite mesmerising.The 5 min boat ride takes you to the Vivekanda rock.This is the place where Vivekanda is supposed to have swam and medidated and attained samadhi on the rock.The Rock has two halls; one belonging to Swami Vivekananda and the other belonging to a Holy Foot. The Holy Foot is a foot shaped carving found on the rock and is believed to be a foot print of Goddess Kumari who stood on this rock on one leg and performed the meditation. Landing on the rock gives one a soothing feeling. There is a feeling of calm everywhere. There is a meditation room in the Vivekananda Memorial , with light music where you can meditate. I did the same for abot 15 min and it was quite soothing. I admire Vivekananda for swimming up to the rock and meditating there. It takes guts, especially considering that the waters there are quite dangerous.The view of Thiruvalluer statue from the Vivekananda rock is great. The ferry drops you at Vivekanda rock , moves on to Thiruvallur rock and then winds its back to Kanyakumari shores. Took the boat to Thiruvallur rock. The statue in huge and its commendable the way they have been been able to put this structure together. You can walk arount the structure to gain an insight into the construction . You can even climb up to the top of the base layer and enjoy the beauty of kanyakumari and vivekananda rock from here. Its wonderous to think that yo are standing at the bottom of India and looking up towards the entire country. I got a fabulous pic of Vivekananda rock from Thiruvallur rock.Got back to Rameshwaram by boat, spent the rest of the day lazing around town. Nothing much to see , but its just the atmosphere being at the tip of India. Got out for a long walk in the evening. The roads that lead out of the city are nice and clean, the walk by the sea was enjoyable. Watched the sunset from Mahatma Gandhi memorial, it was mesmerising.

Did not take my camera, as someone said , we tend to miss the best thingsin life visually because we are taking the best photos, its ironic!! The next morning at 6 am i was back at the beach to view the sunrise. There was a deluge of people on the beach with lots of expectations.

The weather gods were playing truant, the sky was cloudy and the whole thing was a damp squid. Did not let that bother me, paid up the hotel and reached the bus stop at 8 to catch a direct state bus to Trivandrum Thampanoor railway station. Its about 87 Km and takes 1 hour 30 min by road, my bus was a regular one took 2 hrs. was sitting on the last seat with my leg rested on the bar next to the door. The bus went over a pot hole and i went about 1 feet up in the air and my leg came banging down on this rod. Had a bad swelling a noticable limp. But nothing would stop me from completing my journey. reached Trivandrum 10:30. Quick breakfast later searched for a bus to Kovalam beach which is about 10 to 12 Km from Trivandrum bus junction. A local bus would do.,It was crowded , but enjoyed the malayalee experience of being squashed in a locaal bus. The bus dropped me about 1 km away from the beach on a highway from where i took an auto to the beach. The first view of the beach was kind of disappointing. There ar emany more fabulous beached in India, but i guess the aura around Kovalam has spread the world and i too was here as part of the large diaspora.

3 Kovalam Beach 13-14 Dec 07:The first job was to get to a decent low cost hotel room. Hotel rooms were dime a dozen and i was in no mood to spend hugely. I fixed my budget at 500 INR per day and lo and behold as soon i mention that rooms start surfacing. I got a decent clean room with a bed large enough for 4 to sleep all fort 500 INR per day.Plonked my backpack at the hotel and had a great walk by the beach. Just sitting by the beach and listening to the waves was quite soothing.Kovalam has got 2 seperate beaches, one the main beach (the first photo) and the second one next to Leele (just round the hill), the secondf photo. Fixed up for an Auirvedic massage for evening in my paying guest acco and went by about 3 to explore the place. The was was quite refreshing and it was great to be out there exploring my state on my own. While on my walk i met this guy an Indian origin person based in UK travelling the world on his own, dont quite recollect his name i think Hitesh Chauhan. Cool guy.

We chatted for a while on his plan took photos and left. The masseg in the evening was great. But with due regards to keralites, i find a "UP" bhaiyya massage or a Thai massage more relaxing. But the guty was good and he worked hard on my damaged leg and i had some solace. Hitesh and me caught up for dinner. Racism was evident in the shacks. They were rude at a particular restaurant and we had to leave to another more hospitable one. The next morning, 14 Dec 07, i was up and about at 6 and went off to the Leela side of the beach. Leela hotesl has a fabulous resort therewith a beach in front, very calm and composed. I loved the aura of the beach. Check it out...Followed the previous evenings massage with another one this morning. It was quite soothing and my leg felt much better.

Packed up and moved to the nearest bus stop up the hill to catch a bus to Trivandrum bus depot. Direct busses are available from Kovalam to Thampanoor bus depot.Another one of those crowded busses, at 5 INR you are at Trivandrum bus depot. Quick breakfast and im in search of a bus to Varkala beach resort. Aparently i will have to change 2 buses as very few direct busses go to Varkala.I got a Kollam passenger bus, got down at Kallambalam junction. Turned left, took another bus to Varkala beach.Got down at varkala bus stop near the Sivagiri Mutt (founded by Sree Narayana guru).Walked up about 20 min to reach the beach.

4. Varkala Beach 14-15 Dec 07 : It was late morning of 14 Dec, the smell , the sound of the sea were wonderful and i was eager to hit the beach at the earliest.

The first big job, to find a place to stay. Asked the local auto drivers and specified a budget of 500 INR.Found a place just overlooking the beach, a small neat place with a cute room. Varkala also consits of 2 beaches, one called Odayam (also known as Black Beach-first pic) and the other below the Varkala cliff(2nd cliff), The cliff is the reacl hub of action at varkala. But for me , i needed anquiet place from where i can venture to the action packed locations but have the capability to get back to my peace when i need to.Dumped my luggage and trecked up the beach to the cliff and up the cliff to the shacks. It was a different Kerala altogether totally customised to the foreign tourists. It seemed like a different world outside of the cliff. Hung out for a soup, malayalee parota and chicken , just loved the flavour and headed back to my room for a nap.Went for a long walk, treked up the cliff again, walked down the road from the cliff and realised that the roa winds down from the cliff right to where i was staying and busses do go right up to the cliff. So for all readers, you can take a bus from Kallambalam junction directly to Varkala cliff for a nominal fare of about 5 INR.Had 2 cups of hot tea

and "payam pori", baked bananas, it was absolute bliss and watched the sun down down the sea.Sat there till it was late evening. Changed and treked up to the cliff for a quiet evening alone. Treking up the cliff inthe night was a pain, should have carried a mini torch. The atmosphere in the shacks onthe cliff was electric. I took this pic of the beach just below the cliff from the cliff, it looks beautiful. Had a couple of beers and quiet dinner overlooking the dark sea. The silent lights of fishing boats retuirning back from fishing was a sight to see. Treked down another safe route that many more like me were taking and reached safey back. The next morning 15 Dec, was up at 6 and decided to trek again, this time the opp direction. It was a nice long walk. The small hotel where i stayed was playing beautiful hymns from Bhagwat Gita. The entire effect was soothing. I asked the owner to see me the CD, and he actually gifted me a CD asking me to live by the gita and to spread the word of Gita around. I moved the contents of the CD to my mobile and stil;l listen to it when im feeling low. It never fails to up my mood.Walked up to the bus stop and took the next bus to Kallambalam junction from where i got a bus to Kollam, my next destination. Did not have too many positive vibes about Kollam but it was my kick off point for the backwater ride from Kollam to Alleppey.This is a 3 hour bus ride, not the best of comforts in a local bus, but what the hell it gets you there cheap and as fast as the Kerala drivers can drive, and that is very very fast.Got down at the Kollam town bus depot. Kollam seemed like a busy commercial town like any others and i hated it the moment i landed there. I would recomed a miss to this place in case anyone wishing to stay.

5. Kollam city 15-16 Dec 07 : It was the morning of 15 Dec, after moving around for almost 30 min i sighted a place close to the jetty from where i could get a boat easily the next day for a day ride in the backwaters to Alleppey.The room was just average, so paying 1500 INR did really pinch me, but did not have the vigor to search for anything else.Reached Kollam at about 11 am and was finding it hard to spend time. Went and booked my place in the boat ride for the 10 am trip from Kollam to Alleppey. For 300 INR it was a steal.A quick lunch and a short nap later, believe it or not went for a malayalam movie in one of the neighbourhood cinemas. It was called "Chocolate", a film starring a local hero called Prithviraj. I like the guy though, he has tough looks. quite unlike the standard malayalayee heroes.The movie got over by evening, changed into my shorts and headed for Kollam beach which is about 5 Km from Kollam town. I loved the brisk walk and once again i was welcomed by the sight of the sea and the beach. I loved it and was wondering why i dint stay at the beach. Aparently the beach is quite dangerous due to dangerous undercurrents. So was almost untouched by external civilaisation. Its a long beach as long as the eye could reach. I saw the locals doing yoga and working out on the beach, very peaceful indeed, probably the only saving grace for Kollam.Sat there at the beach , listening to the roar of the waves and watched the sunset. It was a lovely sight indeed to be on an almost virgin beach and watch the sun go down on me.The evening went uneventful with peaceful dinner in the room.got up in the morning to a short walk, was up and went to the jetty to catch the 10 am boat to Alleppey.

6. Kollam to Alleppey by boat 16 Dec 07 :As usual i was in my non-malayalee self, taking pains to explain that i was a student travelling from Delhi wanting to visit Kerala. And not to mention too much , i got great treatment.The lessons from Kanyakumari stayed on.The boat was nothing too great it is a KSRTC (Kerala State government) boat, witch has got seating on the roof and in the basement.I decided to take up the vantage view on the top of the boat. I was verty upbeat about this boat ride.It was supposed to start at 10 am from Kollam and reach Alleppey at 6.30 pm. Apparently there is a boat starting every day at the same time from Kollam and Alleppey, meet half way and reach the Opp side at 6.30 respectively. So you can choose to go either way.The ride started smoothly, the move out of Kollam was fabulous. It is mind blowing to do this trip. I recommed this as one of the things to do before you die.Took some fabulous pictures along the way.Some lovely sights i saw was the traditional fishing boats which move around these waters, the chinese fishing nets in use probably at the only place in India.There was also the sight of luxury boats which have got up to 3 bedrooms,

with a private cook and steward, luxurious sit out area, where you can have lots of prioivate time for yourself. But not for the liberated like me who likes to be in a free environment with the ability to choose what i want at any time. But its a great option for a quiet family time, highly recommended, for the die hard family and romantic types.Another marvellous sight was this island in the middle of the backwaters, with winds sweeping the coconut treesand a lone house in the midst of the island. True bliss to live on such an island with your own speedboat to move around, is it not!!This picture shows the congruence of 3 rivulets. Somewhere at this point the boat stopped for a traditional Kerala lunch on a banana leaf with traditional fare. I just loved the meal. it was a fabulous sight to see a coconut tree reach out into one of the lanes, as if to say take me with you or may be "Im the guardian of this place". The boat got to Alleppey dot 6.30 pm.

7. Alleppey to Trissur 16 Dec 07 : By now i wanted to get back home as soon as possible. Here is where my respect for the backpackers rose hundred fold. To think that many of them spend up to six months circumnavigating the globe is a wonderous thing. Just 6 days into my trip and i was at my wits end. I wnted to get back to Trissur , where my dad awaited me with dinner. Took a bus from Alleppey to Ernakulam a distance of about 63 Km. It took me about 1 1/2 hrs if my memory is right. Ernakulam to Chalakudy another local bus and from there took a taxi to home in Irinjalakuda in Trissur Dist. Reached home at bout 1030 in the night and was happy to have a warm dinner and a proper bed at home ... finally

End of one journey and looking at the road for the next calling......

Signing off

Regards

Pradeep Eledath

Delhi, Vasant Kunj, 2031 IST

Mumbai-Lonavla-Pune - A Bus ride to Remember 12 Jul 09

2009-07-18T19:41:00.006+05:30

Was in Mumbai between 11 July and 14 jul 09. I had the occasion to travel to pune by bus. Took the bus run by the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation called "Shivneri" or called "Volvo bus" in the local parlour. The bus starts from the "Asiad bus depot" at Dadar and has stops at Chembur (Maitri Appartments) and Vashi.Now doing a bus between Mumbai and Pune was nothing new , but its the way i looked at things that caused me to write this blog. It was the morning of 12 Jul 09 , got up to a very cloudy and overcast sky at Mumbai. I had used some of my Self assuarnce techniques where i asked for the "Universe" for it not to rain till i complete my job at pune.and to fast foraward 3 days , it didnt till i was to leave mumbai on the 14th.
The drive was beautiful and at 225 INR , a 3 hour bus journey in the comforts of an air conditioned bus is a pleasure. There was intermittetant rains on that way. The most enchanting sight was the 40 minutes odd stretch just before and just after Lonavala (approx. 120 Km from Mumbai) . Lonavla is a wonderful town , Mumbai-Pune's very own personal hill station. Having stayed there for 4 years i had fallen in love with this place. Dream of owning a cottage in Lonavla so that i can have the best of the country and be in the hills , have the cake and eat it too.
I remember travelling this stretch numerous times right from 1991 till date and the journey always was enchanting. What was different was my outlook on this journey. Its different when you travel as a passenger or just as a driver of your car and ways different when you travel as a "Traveller". A traveller soaks in the environment and enjoys the journey , while a passenger just travels to a destination.
While i always loved to travel , I travelled this journey for the first time as a "Traveller" and just loved it. The sights of Khandala town peeping through the clouds as we climbed into Lonavla was mesmerising. There was a light drizzle , the road snakes through long well lit tunnels and its a wonderful sight to see the rain soaked mountains, lush green from the rains rising through the clouds. As you cross an underpass just before Lonavla , is a wonderful sight of 3 parallel waterfalls. The recent rains ensured a constant supply of water and it was a magnificient sight to see the water gushing down the hills.
The bus has one stop at a small motel. This place has great maharashtrian food like sabudana khichdi , sabudana vada , vada pao etc. and the tea is the strong maharashtrian tea. Its a place i would always look forward to. Post this brunch , i slowly drifted off to sleep , truely an occasion to remember.
The bus takes 3 hours from Chembur to Pune bus depor near the railways station and i cant wait to do this again , this time by car or a bike or a cycle or walk or may be just run!! who knows whats the next calling

So long till my next post. Thanks for all the encouragement im getting from friends on my blog

Regards

Pradeep Eledath

Control of the mind leads to positive thinking and soul searching

2009-07-04T13:34:00.004+05:30

The soul searching exercise continues to deliver more and more results. The means of soul searching changes , it moves in the direction you let it. If you force, it moves no where because your mind is in control and tells you only what is real and logical. Its the sub-concious or as i call the "you" , which is the real you which should help you do the soul searching exercise.This led me to my back packing trip , meeting new teachers (some very surprising discoveries) etc. Here we come to the point on what is the real you. Well , my own soul searching exercise made me believe that the human body consists of 3 parts
a. The physical body
b. The mind which controls the body and
c. The "You" which is an unconcious instintinctive force that resides (in my belief) at the end of your diaphragm right in the centre , near that "V" shaped bone.
Traditionally its the mind that drives the body , the mind convolutes a series of thoughts and what eminates is what we call feelings.These are based on wither past or current circumstances and we have no control on what the mind think. Previous to this revelation i was of the opinion that a constantly thinking mind is a sign of a thinker , someone who is constantly seeking something and i was under the impression that more the thoughts more you are better off. Now i realise that i was no longer in control oif those thoughts , they just used to flow and i was a mute bystander to these thoughts.
Well , now going back to how i came out of this so called "normal" thinking human tendency. Here are some steps to better and happy living
Step 1 - Get control over your Mind: When the "You" tries to control the mind , you find the mind revolting. Say "you" tell the mind "Have zero thoughts for the next 15 min" do you think the mind would do it? no it wont , it will protest , bring in all kind of wonky thoughts and you would have to fight it out ot get the mind in control of the "you".
Step 2 - Get the mind to think Positive: Lets say you achive Step 1. Go on to Step 2. The "You" is now in control of the mind. the next step is to say i would allow only positive thoughts to come to the mind. Its easy is it not. For any thing think positive. Think bright.Instead of thinking this is not what i want , think this is what i want. The "You" would make the mind think this way. Eventually, when ever you encounter a negative thought , just push it out of your mind.Also when you hear someone telling you negative thoughts just block them . And who will help you do this , the "You". You are doing great....
Step 3 - Stay in the "NOW": Now we have the mind in control , we think positive and block negative thoughts from our mind and others. Ok.. great... tell the mind to enjoy every moment of "now". Its this momenet we live in but its the future or the past that our mind lives in. LIke "I have to go for this party tonight , what should i wear" , "this guy was bad to me yesterday" , "i had a bad day today". Think ":Now". Like..... What about "the lunch you are having at this moment" , "the time you are spending with your family at his second" , "the air you are breathing during your run" , "the drive you are enjoying to your office now". Stay in the "NOW" and use the "You" to ask your mind to do that every second.
This is what i have encountered till now. More as nature reveals...

Regards

Pradeep
04 Jul 2009 , 1424 IST

BackPacking Travel to Uttarakhand (Delhi – Kausani – Ranikhet – Jageshwar – Kasar Devi ) 05 Jun to 10 Jun 09

2009-06-10T17:41:00.040+05:30

The desire to move adrift with my backpack has been bugging me for quite some time now. The last trip i undertook was in lerala when i travelled from Kanyakumari to Trissur in central kerala in Dec 07 , which i unfortunately could not cronicle (was not much of a blogger then) . So here goes an account of the Uttarakhand trip.

This blog in intended to be of use to a traveler who intends taking a similar trip as I took. Its written more out of reasons to help fellow travelers and to chronicle my travel , hence may not be intensely descriptive , but would be informative to the reader.
Destination Description : Delhi – Kausani – Ranikhet – Jageshwar – Kasar Devi – Delhi
Some common rules that I learnt the hard way:
a. Avoid busses in Uttarakhand and only use shared cabs , they cost nearly the same and the benefits in cabs are much more
b. Look for Paying Guest accommodations , rather than go for small hotels , they are much cleaner , give home cooked food at minimal rates
c. Unless you are very comfortable driving in the hills , I would recommend driving on an empty stomach (to avoid vomiting due to the zillions of turns) and always sipping water irrespective of the weather (to avoid dehydration , the cold saps you of moisture and before you realize you are dehydrated and your holiday goes , zup!!)
d. Always carry some money with you when you trek , you never know where you get to have some well deserved tea break
Dates : 04 Jun to 10 Jun 09
1. Leg 1 : Delhi to Kausani ; 04 Jun – 05 Jun 09a. 04 Jun 09, 1815 Hrs: Left home at Vasant Kunj for Anand Vihar bus depot , by a rickety local taxi , did not estimate that the distance would turn out to be 2 hours , I was positively sick by the end of the journey , cost 350 INR.. Now Anand Vihar is the bus station from where all busses to the Kumaon region in Uttarakhand leave. If any of you have a choice, try catching the Ranikhet Express that leaves Delhi for Katgodham. As the train was fully booked , I decided to take the bus. There are 3 Air conditioned busses 2030 , 2130 and 2300 that leave Anand Vihar depot for Haldwani depot , run by Uttaranchal Tourism. There are no advance bookings, so you got to reach the place 90 minutes before any of these busses leave so as to get a booking on that bus. For example, I reached the depot at 1945 hrs , but was not able to get a seat on the 2030 bus. I booked for the 2130 and got a seat comfortably. The busses are comfortable , the air conditioning was good. Some word of caution, the bus would stop for “Dinner” about 3 hours after it starts , so you may like to have dinner before you start the journey , You could use the stop to grab a tea or some water. The journey from Anand Vihar to Haldwani took about 7 hours and 15 min, including the dinner stop . cost 805 INR (dinner cost not included) . I reached Haldwani (which is at the foothills of Uttaranchal hills) at 0445 hrs on 05 Jun 09.
b. 05 Jun , 0500 hrs : From Haldwani , I made the biggest mistake of taking a bus ,its one of these rickety busses , which is crowded with people , goes at a slower speed and is just about a few rupees or so cheaper than taking a shared taxi. I sat in this bus at 0500 hrs and 2 stops of 30 min each later I reached Kausani at 1100 hrs , a total of back breaking 6 hours , cost 120 INR. The route was Haldwani – Katgodham – Bimtal – Bhowali – Kanchi – Kherna – Almora – Kosi – Kausani . I would suggest to all readers , avoid all busses as a rule and just use shared taxis. In case you looking to save money , the fare difference is so minimal , and the trouble you go thru in the busses does not make them worth it , they are rickety, overfull , slower , charge almost 80 % of what a shared cab charges. The shared cabs are much faster and more comfortable , though at times you find them overstuffed , but that’s a very small pain comparatively. For instance you could have taken a shared cab up from Haldwani to Almora and taken another cab from Almora to Kausani that would save you about 2 hours of rickety drive.
c. 05 Jun , 1100 hrs : Reached Kausani , view of the hills was mesmerising. Stayed at this resort called Suman Resorts. I must say the place was expensive at Rs. 3000 per night , but I stayed there as I had a couple of friends from Delhi who were staying there and I wanted to spend time with them. The room and quality of service was not too good for that cost , but I had no choice. Their rooms have a very fine view of the Himalayas (Check out the photo) , but they ruin it with poor service and room maintenance. However I saw a lot of paying guest accommodations , which I guess would be much cheaper , I would urge readers to go there and explore this option. Kausani has lots of trekking routes , I took the one going down from my hotel , down 2 hills and up from the market end. Was a 2 hour trek and very refreshing. Sunset at Kausani was fabulous (see photo) , how i wish the himalayan view would have been clear , but clouds masked most of the himalayas. But the sun offered a magnificent view.Spent the evening with my friends. Wanted to go to Binsar , but the KMVN (Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam) guest house was booked for the next 3 months. The number listed on the pamphlets available at the tourism office (this office is in the market and closes at 5 pm ) at Kausani goes unanswered I spoke to a taxi driver who had been there a day back and he gave me this information. I decided to have a change of plan , and man ! Was I not happy, I decided to go to Ranikhet.
2. Leg 2 : Kausani to Ranikhet ; 06 Jun – 07 Jun 09
a. 06 Jun 0900 hrs : I was at Kausani main market at sharp 9 am. Being a Saturday , I found very less crowd and even less shared taxis / busses there. Had to wait till 0945 hrs before a shared taxi decided to move. I took this taxi to a place called Someshwar , just down the hill from Kausani. This is a 20 min downwards drive , cost 25 INR. At Someshwar the road splits into 2 , one goes to Almora and another to Ranikhet. After a 30 min wait got a shared Taxi that took me to Ranikhet to 65 INR and a 1 hour 45 min drive. Reached Ranikhet at 1200 hrs
b. 06 Jun , 1200 Hrs : The so called mall road in Ranikhet is unlike the others you all must have seen at Mussourie or Shimla. This one runs for about 3 km with just pine trees on both sides before you hit the main Ranikhet market. This is a crowded locality , just one road consisting about a Km of shops on both sides. I was looking for a cheap place to stay. I saw 4 hotels in the market , rejected some due to cost or cleanliness concerns. Finally landed up at Tribhuvan Guest house at the fag end of the market, a hotel with budget rooms . Their rates are 300 to 500 INR in off season and 800 to 900 in season , unfortunately this was the season and I had to shell our 900 INR for a night. The room was ok , not very clean , they have a good view from the room’s corridor. Again by this time I was not aware of the paying guest concept , so did not look for them . I would suggest you walk a bit down from the market and you would find good paying guest accommodation , they have great views , are clean and give home cooked food.
c. Trek Route 1 , 06 Jun 1600 Hrs : Ranikhet Market to Jhula Devi temple. This is a good 1 hour 15 min trek. You need to find steps that go vertically up from the market towards Rani Jheel (Ranikhet pond). From this pond the road winds up towards Jhula Devi temple. The route though on the road is very scenic and is worth a trek (photos). This entire stretch is owned by the Indian army and is beautifully maintained , you could hear the wind in the trees and the crickets in the forests if you stop for a sec. Jhula Devi is an ancient temple and has a Ram temple also along with it. From there if you have time you could go on to Chaubatia , which is famous for its fruit gardens run by the Government. The sunset at Ranikhet was fabulous. The market has got a viewing location from where you can enjoy the sunset.Also saw this beautiful tree in the Army area , next to its holiday homes , its struck me as a wonder of nature , beautiful
d. Trek Route 2 , 07 Jan 0600 hrs: Walk down from the Tribhuvan hotel end , keeping it on your right. You will reach a point where you see a life size metal map of India , a broad road going and another small one winding down the hill. I trekked that one , took the road for some time , but a lot of road walk the previous day had made me more adventurous and I decided to take the paths vertically down the hill , the descent was very easy , though quite slippery , die to the dry leaves of the conifer trees. The mountains in these parts are lines with conifer trees , which give it a very English country look. The walk down was for about 45 min. Meditated in the Spartan hill side for about 30 min , felt very refreshed. The climb up was tough not because of the height , but the slippery surface made it all the more difficult. 2 hours later I was back in the market. They make some great tea at some shops.Sipping tea with the fresh morning air was fun.
3. Leg 3 : Ranikhet to Jageshwar ; 07 Jun – 08 Jun 09
a. 07 Jun , 0830 hrs: You have to go via Almora to reach Jageshwar .Took the unfortunate decision to take a local bus from Ranikhet market to Almora. Again I would recommend take shared cabs. The bus left Ranikhet at 9 am took about 2 hours to reach Almora (50 Km from Ranikhet), cost 45 INR. In Almora , there ask for the shared Taxi stand. Now Jageshwar is not too much on the route at this time of the year. Jageshwar is considered as one of the 12 Jyotirlingas and lies on the route back from Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.It consists of a group of 125 temples of various shapes and sizes , ranging from between 7th century to 18th century AD. In addition Jageshwar is a trekkers delight. From Almora it was extremely difficult to get a direct shared taxi to Jageshwar. So took a can to Panuanoala (30 Km from Almora) , from there another one to Artola. From there the road splits and you can reach Jageshwar(3 Km) .I had to book a private taxi and pay him 80 INR for this 3 km ride. In Jageshwar , found a nice paying guest accommodation , Jagnath Tourist Guest House , Phone : 05962-253212 , Mobile - +91-9411794456 , Contact person Harishwar . I got a nice room with double bed and clean washrooms, complete with TV , for 500 INR. They gave me lunch and dinner and some tea/ soft drinks that day , the bill for that 200 INR. I managed to reach Jageshwar by 1300 Hrs , almost 4 hours after leaving Ranikhet/
b. Trek Route 1, 07 Jan , 1600 Hrs : Jageshwar to Jhankar Saim Temple. The climb starts from right outside the guest house. The first house you sight is after 45 min of trek. The road is quite remote and scary at times , you wonder how you would react if you were to sight wild animals , but the adventurous mind tells you to go on and the trek right up to the temple via a very thin mud road with lots of climbs and scenic locations was fabulous. It took me about 1 hour 20 min to reach the temple. The priest told me that this Shiv temple is about 200 years old , though I suspect its much older (not intending to research the internet before putting up stuff here). The trek back was much easier I was back in about 45 min. It was absolutely scenic and beautiful , worth every penny.
c. Trek Route 2 , 08 Jan , 0600 hrs : Jageshwar to Vridh Jageshwar temple(3 KM) . Start climbing the road keeping Jageshwar temples on your right . Just after the village gets over and the road starts to climb you would find a small mud path going up the mountain. This was the toughest trek I encountered during my trip. The climb is very punishing. The locals claim to do it in 45 min , so took that as a challenge , as this local told me I would take about 1 hour 30 min. Finally made iit in about 50 min. Believe me it was tough. The view from here is marvelous. The Vridh Jageshwar (or Old Jageshwar in English) consists of 2 houses , 2 shops and a temple. This is also a 6th century AD temple. The strange part is that the priests here are from a particular village from a village in the plains. The entire village is nominated to come up here and stay as priests for 15 days. The list of volunteers has grown so much that a priest has to only come up once a year. So you would find the same priest in the temple at a particular part of the year. From here you get a 360 degree view of the Himalayan ranges , Gangaotri , Yamunotri etc. But being summers lots of forest fires go on in the hills and there was a hue of smoke in the air and that robbed me of the view. The place is serene and wonderful , worth the trek. The total permanent inhabitants are 2 shop keepers and 1 priest. OPne shop keeper treks up 1 hour every day , the other 2 stay there. They claim that his village has no human inhabitation for 3 km and that 3 km is only down hill !! Took me about 30 min to run down. Man , was I refreshed!
4. Leg 4 : Jageshwar to Kasar Devi ; 08 Jun – 09 Jun 09
a. 08 Jun , 0830 Hrs: Left Jageshwar by a taxi (privately booked) for 50 INR till Artola. From Artola , I got a shared taxi to a place called NTD (Narayan Tiwari Deewar) , even the locals have no idea what this name is all about , it’s a small circle between Almora and Pithoragarh. From here Kasar Devi is 8 Km uphill. Got a shared taxi to Kasar Devi for 10 INR (cheap Ha!) Don’t expect Kasar Devi to be a destination. In fact its perched on top of a hill , ideally speaking it’s a road , starting with the Kasar Devi temple and then the road just goes on. I had to ask the taxi driver to tell me to stop , assuming its reached. Mohan’s restaurant is a very cool place to hand out . Its got a good view and good terrace to sit out. He has staying places also , but it was full , so had to wak down to Ashok tourist guest hous , found the room a bit stuffy , but was on the mail road , touching Mohan’s café and 150 INR only!! The couple told me that they would make a simple lunch and dinner for me. I decided to explore some more paying guest accommodations. Finally landed at this place called Ashu’s Lodge. They own a beautiful cottage on the hill side , just 5 min walk down from the road. It is clean , is isolated , has its own kitchen , a beautiful sit out at the edge of the hills (the photo says it all) with a 200 degrees view of the hills all for 400 INR per day. I was thrilled to bits. The catch is they don’t cater for food , not even tea or water. You got to lug all that from the road , anything for a place like this to stay. Contact person Deepak Rayal , Mobile +91-9877007446
b. Trek1 , 08 Jun , 1600 hrs: Kasar Devi (my cottage) to the Kasar Devi temple.By road this walk is just 15 min. I decided to be a bit adventurous. I walked down the hill to the village (check out the walh way in the photo) and had to climb 2 hills and walk upwards and hit the road at the other end of the hill to reach Kasar Devi temple. The temple is the most significant goddess Durga temple in Almora. The name Kasar is due to “Kasar” hill. This temple finds a mention in Hindu scriptures “Skand Puran” and is believed to be 2000 years old pilgrimage site. There is a Shiva temple also there built in 6th century. Was contemplating if I should walk the 15 min back home by road or go down hill for about 45 min , decided on the latter. It was a fun return. Got back to Mohan’s for tea and watched the sunset from across the road. Had the smoke not engulfed the horizon , I would have been able to see the sun set over the Himalayas. But nevertheless the sunset was fabulous.
c. 09 Jun , 0700 hrs : By now was too exhausted by all the travel and extensive treks. Spent the morning , lazing the morning sun , had some tea and biscuits and decided to leave for Delhi
5. Leg 4 : Kasar Devi to Delhi ; 09 Jun 09
a. 09 Jun , 0900 hrs: Waited for almost 1 ½ hours on the road to take a shared taxi , but strangely none would stop. This is a phenomenon I had not noticed during my entire trip. The local shop keepers told me , that the traffic police had started a patrol for that day and till the police are around they behave and only take a specified number of people in the vehicle , which is safe , but these guys are known to stuff up to 24 people in a Mahindra Bolero jeep!! I myself saw 14 people (including me squashed in ) in a jeep , and all adults. Kids if any are not counted as they have to sit in the laps of their parents. Its strange. Here I met a Swede , “Leo the Lion” as he called himself. He has been staying in the Himalayas for the past 10 years. He and me chatted for ages , may be that’s why I dint realize how time flew. We spke on various aspects , life , needs , desires etc. He has gained control over the biggest controlling factor in our body after the mind , the stomach – hunger. He has not eated a proper meal as in meal in the last 6 years. Its so right hunger controls what we do most of the time and it controls our mind. Its even said “An army marches on its stomach !”. Finally after walking for 3 km , got a bus to Almora , cost 10 INR. Took a shared taxi from Almora to Haldwani , it got there in 2 hours flat , cost 150 INR. Got to Haldwani at 1300 hrs. The worst part was , I wanted to take an air conditioned bus back , but unfortunately the lady at the enquiry counter had no clue of the timings and gave me a wrong advise ,She said the air conditioned busses run only in the night. But that’s not true. Later after about 4 hours when we stopped for tea , I saw an A/c bus that had come down from Nainital and left Haldwani at 1300 hrs (the same time that I left in the normal bus). The bus ride was terrible , had to suffer the hot air blast for 7 hours. Reached Anand Vihar bus depot at 9 pm. Took an autorikshaw to Vasant Kunj and reached home in 45 min flat , was home by 2200 hrs.
That marks the end of the journey , end of one journey , waiting for the next caling , the next destination abd the next unknown road…….Regards

Pradeep Eledath
14 Jun 09 , 2103 hrs , Vasant Kunj , Delhi

http://www.artdezire.com/

Pradeep Eledath opening Blog

2009-05-23T09:50:00.001+05:30

Its been ages since i opened this blog but never got an opportunity to start writing in. The calling of the mind has come and now i feel its opportune to start writing in. I hope this is a long association and my blog grows to depict my true self and gives me an oppportunity to write to the whole beautiful audience thats the world.

My initial thoughts are to start writing on travel, health, relationships, opinions on current news and lifestyle

Adieu

Regards

Pradeep Eledath
www.artdezire.com