There are moments that makes your heart cry out in despair. One of the subjects that I spotted was this traveler (he had a travel bag with him) who was sleeping at the footsteps of a closed shop. I took a couple of standing shots but did not quite feel the essence of the shot. And then to explore the subject further, I bent down and sat, and tried a different composition. My camera focused on his feet.

I saw something interesting.
I started counting.
1,2,3, …..9.
I stopped there.
Stood there dumbfounded.
Without a word to speak out.
Without any thought in my head.
Simple point blank.

Could I just shout out loud?

Ecstatic I felt mostly but also there was a doubt lurking somewhere at the back of my mind about our descent the same day. When it rains it pours and so it did! Mist covered everything around and visibility reduced badly.  Somewhere on our way down the peak, we missed the trail (as in there is no trail as such just missed the direction) and ended up groping in the mist for the right direction down the waterfall. This was some experience, being blinded by mist!

Without sleeping bags, tent, food, dry clothes (we had nothing on us since our plan was to camp at Bhatta’s place) we set out to spend the night atop coz it sounded much better than getting down the slippery rock in the mist and rain. The super friendly trekkers offered us a tent and thank goodness for that! Shivering like crazy, the tent offered us temporary respite from the lashing wind and rain but it didn’t last long. We were soaking wet and starving all night long! For 13 hrs we were holed up in that tent. Only god knows what we all went through. It was funny in ways I didn’t imagine. Water flowing below the tent was giving an extra cooling effect. Only leeches were missing from the scene..or were they? From god knows where, leeches were entering the tent. Not miserable enough? Okay we’ve got more. We were literally sleeping in puddles. Water was seeping into the tent from one corner.

That’s Neelima recounting her rain-soaked wonderful experience of a trekking trip to Kumara Parvatha. And yes, if you don’t like reading, visit the blog for awesome photos.

The ‘Curious’ kind is much interested on how their neighbors do it. Try to peek from the wall and enjoys the way you do it. You might feel shy and would try to hide yourself from his uninvited stares. He would then try to steal back his stare to find someone over the other side. Do not always mistake them to be homosexuals, these are rather among the curious breed of Pee-ers. Rare enough! :)

Confused, kiddish, desperate…. he has very clearly defined the categories as well. A fun read.

बिल्ली मौसी चलीं बनारस, लेकर झोला–डंडा। गंगा–तट पर मिला उन्हें तब मोटा चूहा पंडा। चूहा बोला– बिल्ली मौसी, चलो करा दूं पूजा। मुझ–सा पंडा, यहाँ घाट पर, नहीं मिलेगा दूजा।

Read on.

In the recent past there has been a flurry of articles (press releases?) in various sections of the media, hailing J.N. Tata’s gift to India on its centennial year, and the high quality of academic research being performed by the faculty here, and all of this is indeed true. But, does faculty research alone make an institution great? Unfortunately no.
……..

MIT is known for its high quality of research in physics, engineering, economics, and a variety of other subjects. But, its students are better known for their annual April Fools pranks that have an astonishing degree of innovation in them. Recently, some students hacked into the Institute’s website and posted the headline that Disney would acquire MIT for a few billion dollars.
Now, not only would an IISc student ever be capable of such a prank, they would probably be expelled if they did execute it. MIT officials, on the other hand consider it a sporting challenge to thwart such attacks, and publicly share a laugh with the community when such a thing is perpetrated.

Waking up early for me is a way to view the world differently, a way to gather my thought, a way to spend some quiet time. I have been waking up early on all of my recent vacations, not entirely for a walk, but more to explore the surroundings, to take in the fresh air, and to get a better feel of the place.

I loved stopping at a different bench everyday on my way back, to stop and listen to the stillness, to try and remember the moment so that I could pull it out when I need it most, and to notice all the little things around me. Often I got to notice more than I wanted, like the guys from the military camp who stopped to pee on the roadside while on their morning jog. They sure were very surprised to see me!

On 29 June 1998 we got our SSC mark sheet and there after I guess many of us never turned back to school…..

Soon we got to make comments how much one has changed. School and class room stories were in full swing. We walked inside school. Playground was first we entered and all were happy to take a swing at kho-kho pole. School had not changed much then what we had seen earlier in our schooling days. We had small garden where we used to have our gardening lessons. We walked in to Auditorium. Place where we used to have various cultural functions.

jaage hain deir tak,humein kuch der soney do,
thodi si raat aur hai,subah to hone do.
aadhe adhoore khwaab, jo poore na ho sake,
ek baar fir se neend mein,wo khwaab bone do

The above four lines are of a song from movie Guru. Sandeip thought the song was incomplete, and tried to give it a more fruitful, meaningful end.

….mil kar chalein,chalo,sabhi tanhayiyon se duur,
palkon ki neeli jheel mein,aansoo dubone do.
bikhri huyi si hasratein,parwaan fir chadhe,
khushiyon se dil hai bhar chuka,ab gham sanjone do.

Read rest of it on his blog.

I am short of words explaining the beauty and grandeur with which river Sharavati, which is overflowing, falls from a distant height. It splits it self into different regimes which has been aptly named Raja, Roarer, Rocket and Lady. The water which appears like a white blanket covering the hill is simply brilliant. Though the entire area is often covered with the clouds making the visibility at times poor. You need to wait, sometimes for hours, before you can get a good view of the water falls. But it has its own glamour – for you see the real beauty only when you reveal it for a short period of time.

The guide handed me a torch and we walked down some wooden steps spying a couple of rock wallabies on the way. The tubes were wide. We walked about 50 yards inside one before we came to what looked like the end. In actual fact, the tube continued on but downwards. The lava probably flowed over an old waterfall and the bottom of the cave has now filled out with mud.

That’s Babli taking us to Undara Lava tubes in Australia.

A boy playing El Choclo on Violin, before the museum Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, Italy, where the statue of Michelangelo’s David is kept. El Choclo is a popular song/tango written by Angel G. Villoldo, an Argentine musician.

Violin Boy

Dark night. Wet, eerie, lonely. Rains lashing. Rains have always scared me.
They wash away with uncaring force- earth, shelter, lives.
I’m indoors, safe. Doors shut. Windows too.
What’s in remains in. What’s out, out.

What followed is hazy, but I remember a game of pool, I remember two of the boys stealing a ring and a bracelet for me from one of the unattended stalls and I definitely remember beer. After the match ended, we went to one of the bigger bars on the main-road, and while standing around for a table, I was approached by four different people, telling me they noticed me today, wandering about smoking furiously and wanted to talk to me but thought I looked like I wanted to be left alone. I was so overcome with affection for all these new friends that I bought a round of shots for everyone.