Copying the originals and being lost in translation

 “Beijing's Peking University has now launched an ambitious program to train more than 60 Chinese students in Sanskrit, with the hope of creating a team of researchers to help translate hundreds of manuscripts containing scriptures that were found in Tibet and other centers of Buddhism, such as Hangzhou in China's east.”

Recently read this article in Hindu about an ambitious project that Chinese government is undertaking to translate scriptures in Tibetan and Chinese back to Sanskrit.

Background


Let’s spend some time on the background and the link between India and China. Buddhism is the thread which binds the two countries and the language that traveled alongside it was Sanskrit. Sanskrit is an historical Indo-Aryan language and has been the language of Hinduism and Buddhism and it is believed that the first grammar of the language is dated to be written around 4 century BC.

Gautam Buddha was born in India as Siddhartha, a wealthy prince and the movement or religion called Buddhism started in India. Slowly the movement crossed the Himalayas and Buddhism and Sanskrit which was the language of the elite Brahmins (priests) moved along with it across the border to Tibet (which is now Chinese territory) and then to China and even Japan. A lot of Tibetan texts and manuscripts were written in Sanskrit and was later translated to other languages.

Let’s talk about the project now.

I guess there is much more going on here – I have a feeling that this is a political process which has been known since the time of Akbar. If one writes his own version of history all one needs to worry about is that in future, there is no other version which can refute it. The future can be tomorrow, two years or may be generations and there are known catalysts to the whole process. This has been deployed over and over again and works better than most other forms of control and comes across as education rather than propaganda.

What forms the basis of this thought – I guess a recent history of Tibet and the way China handles religion – the way Dalai Lama has been treated. Art and culture are in a way reflection of society but they reflect back and can be easily exploited as a means to deliberately fabricate consent and opinions. Recreating these sacred texts and manuscripts might be an attempt to do so and I guess Chinese government will strongly refute it if any one raises this question and no one else will ever know what the real motive is.

For the sake of discussion I presume there is no hidden agenda and ulterior motive here. We need to understand the subtle differences when we talk about languages and translation here. Sanskrit has been around for a long time now. As we all know languages grow with time – this probably explains why more and more words are added to dictionary every year.  For example, today “googling” is a verb, one can chair a meeting – these things were unknown to English as we know it even ten years back.

Consider on the other hand existing idioms and expressions – they evolve and their intensity fluctuates over time and sometimes even the context changes altogether. I will quote two words that I know –boob and Gay which changed over the years.

"Boob" is a 1950's shortening of "booby", which in the 1930's came from "bubby". Linguists aren't sure, but "bubby" may derive from the German "Bübbi" which means 'teat'. In 1347, when the bubonic plaque ravaged Europe, one of the symptoms of the plaque was called bubos or boobos which was a swelling of the lymph nodes, hence swelling of the chest can be referred to as boobs. From the novel The History of Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding,(1762) the Lady of the house( Lady Booby) attempts to seduce the hero and the first thing she does is reveal her breasts, and for convoluted reasons it was also mistake not to have "taken up the offer".

 “Gay” is even more interesting. It was during the Gay Nineties it became synonymous with homosexuals and the usage became popular in 1940s. Back in 14 century however it simply meant some one full of joy, merry, light-hearted person. In 1890s the promiscuity crept into the word when the gay house started to mean a brothel.

There must be hundreds more and idioms will be more complicated.

Add to that new idioms and expressions are coined every day like “war on terror”, “Prague spring” or even “Arab uprising” by media and writers around the world. These are powerful concepts in a language which describe situations perfectly but were not available to the creators of the original manuscript.

And top that with complicated research which says that language changes in sudden leaps. I am not into languages but I guess I will leave the theoretical and academic interests outside. I insist this is a layman’s view onto translation and my limited understanding no way meant to undermine the efforts of the translators. I respect them a lot.

I guess translators are smart people and look into the development of language and everything including the time and space when they translate but there is one last point which I want to bring up.

I am going to use an example – Urdu to English in the context of Sufism. There are two words in Urdu to describe love – “Ishq” and “Mohabbat“

“Muhabbat” is the ordinary love and is an emotion, a sentiment, superficial and even transient. Someone can love a person today but the feeling may be gone soon. It is usually short lived and non-permanent though it can span over years and life time. They say there is no depth.

“Ishq” in essence described the passionate love for God and is not mortal love. It is the center of the being and comes from within – it possesses people. There is no turning back and is like an elated state one can never leave once reached. The “Ishq” cannot be reached without “Mohabbat”. One loses all control and is like drunk and mad.

If translated in English – the only corresponding match is “LOVE”.

Conclusion

Imagine working with ancient translations of Sanskrit texts - the translation itself was done hundreds of years ago and now Chinese want to translate it back into Originals. What will we gain back an original or a new version or the remaining in the ancient scripture will be “Lost in Translation” from Chinese/Tibetan to Sanskrit.

Idries Shah said west has limited understanding of Sufism as the interpretation is based on Sufi texts in English which were translated from Persian which was itself a translation of ….

Copy of a copy is again a copy and wouldn't translation of translation always be a translation?

References:

For more information on Sanskrit check out the Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit

Check here for Buddhism -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddhism

The link to the Hindi Article http://www.hindu.com/2011/05/18/stories/2011051864340600.htm

History of “Boob” http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_origin_of_the_word_boob#ixzz1MjOZBAg8

History of “Gay”: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=gay

Tribute to Nusrat Saheb - Part I

In these times most people think of Pakistan as the training ground for the terrorists but it is a mixed picture for me. For me Pakistan is the home of brothers and sisters which were sent across killed and forced (or may be some by choice) by the cunningness and shrewdness of politicians both British, Indians and Pakistani's alike.

Somethings from Pakistan however are as close to heart as from back home in India. My days in Singapore knowing Nabeel (my colleague from Pakistan ) and the stark amount of similarity in our food habits oour culture and in general life was a humble reminder that partition did cut through the veins and there was indeed blood on both sides. And on that note how can i forget countless meals at Usman (a small shop in Little India) always made me feel home !

The most surprising thing however was the ease with which I could always connect with Pakistan's music scene. The whole world could connect to Nusrat Saheb's magic but even Rahat is easy to follow. How can we forget the Noor Jehan, Begum Akhtar, Faiz sahab, Gulam Ali, Mehdi Hasan and so on.

As a tribute to all these musicians and as a catalog I thought why not share the best of these artists and especially Nusrat Sahab. I have been listening to him for 16 years now and I still remember when I first heard the more pop and new sounding "Dum Mast Qalandar". Over the period of years Nusrat Saheb moved from the traditional qawaali's to the modern ones, Bollywood film music (with legendary Lata Manageshkar), Eddie Veddar (oh I love Pearl Jam), Micheal Brooks, Peter Gabriel, Rahman and so many more. One thing I must admit is even after all these years he surprises every now and then with his range and my personal favorites are from the period when he was not that popular in West and he wan't experimenting with the pop to create fusion music. Having said that those were the tunes which allured me into his world.

As part of this series what I will try to do is put up songs, may be lyrics and put what I love about the song. And if you are a Nusrat fan or in general like music I guess you will love these too.

It is always tricky to pick the first one but I will make it simple, I will pick the track am listening to now and here it goes.

Mere Dil Mein Teri Yaadon Ke Saaye

Hawa Jaise Khandar Mein Sarsaraaye

Humine Sab ke Ghum Ko Apna Jaana

Humine Sab Ke Haatho Zakhm Khaye

Mere Dil Mein Teri Yaadon Ke Saaye

Dil-e-Betab Ki Mussat Toh Dekho

Zamane Bhar Ke Is Mein Ghum Samaaye

Mere Dil Mein Teri Yaadon Ke Saaye

Kisi Ne PyaarSe Jab Bhi Pukara

Toh Palko Par Sitare Jhil Milaye

Mere Dil Mein Teri Yaadon Ke Saaye

Shab-e-Furkat Har Ek Aahat Pe Mujhko

Yehi Dhoko Hua Shayad Woh Aaye

Mere Dil Mein Teri Yaadon Ke Saaye

Khushi Bhi Hai Jamane Bhar Ko Imdad

AmbarKe Umra Bhar Aanso Bahaye

Mere Dil Mein Teri Yaadon Ke Saaye

Hawa Jaise Khandar Mein Sarsaraye

And in case this was interesting there will be many more to come.
Relax and enjoy the voice from heaven.

State for the few or Few for the state ? The Jaitapur Story

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country”
~ John F. Kennedy.

We have heard these words so many times and I have never doubted the belief that the country is above self. Even though I have never been able to relate to the National pride people associate with sports and similar stuff but for me it is nothing but National Pride for what the armed personnel are surviving for in Siachen the world’s highest battlefield while I type these words in a comfortable room.  There are no words to describe the courage and the valor of these guys and I will not even attempt that. For them I will just say “respect”.

At the same time I must say I am paranoid about my dwindling trust for the political agendas, propaganda and the nexus between them and media. I strongly agree with Noam Chomsky’s description that the public opinions are to be fabricated (in literal sense – manufactured) even in so called democracies of the world. We have seen this happening numerous times in the recent past - Germany before the Second World War, all of the world’s dictators and even in democracies like United States of America ( WMD in Iraq , War on terror and what not).  Keeping in view the two opposing sides of the thoughts associated with the “National Pride” sometimes I am really confused and can’t see the line between genuineness and the propaganda.

A recent development in Japan and the proposed nuclear power plant in India have made me even more confused. Let’s look at the specifics in Indian perspective and the events that are happening as of now like the ongoing protests against the proposed nuclear reactor in Maharashtra. In the light of the current nuclear accident and situation in Japan’s Fukashima nuclear power plant, there have been protests as expected around the World and countries like Germany have put the nuclear plans on hold. The world is currently divided at the cost of a nuclear power plant and the implications in case of an accident.

For a country like India still developing; where we don’t have enough fossil fuels to satisfy for the power demand we have limited options. Power cuts are frequent in almost all over the country and sometimes the situation is so bad that peak months of summer and winter there is a scheduled power cut almost every day. For a nation of billion plus people we have tried building so many hydro electric projects, we have tried thermal power plants and we also have nuclear power plants operating in the country.Our cities are teeming with millions and the need for power is increasing.

The question is what is the cost of a Nuclear power plant and more importantly can the state force a nuclear power plant in my backyard. In the light of the facts – no nuclear power plant or technology is safe enough. We can’t say a bomb inside a shell is safe – it is still a BIG bomb. The radioactive fallout of plutonium can survive for more than 20,000 years; we still are counting the health hazards of disasters in past and even today we don’t know what the safe limit for radiation exposure on humans is.

With this nuclear power plant proposed in Jaitapur, Maharashtra (9900 KW) there are several big risks associated – the area is prone to earthquakes (it is in a seismic zone), closer to the sea (probable tsunamis) let alone any accidents of possible fallouts because of human error. Areava is supposed to build the power plant, France will supply fuel for 25 years and the state has already ordered compulsory land acquisition. The cost of generating electricity will be much cheaper. There will be huge investment in terms of building the plant and the French company is surely going to make a good deal of money.

What for the people of Jaitpur and nearby region? They will be forced to lose out on their land. We have seen the issues with Narmada and with Tehri dam; the rehabilitation efforts have been questionable leave alone the agony of being forced to move and the emotional impact. It was a heart wrenching moment for people in Tehri to see the land drowning under the water when the dam filled up – for few they had spent all their lives in that landscape. The nearby areas of twenty to thirty kilometers will be the high impact area that needs to be evacuated in case of any nuclear threat. These people fear the worst could happen to them because this will be unplanned, sudden life threatening and possibly much worst.

The question is what is the real cost of development? What sacrifices can the state really ask for and what is the moral limit? If there is a nuclear power plant in my background that State intends to build – there is a potential risk (however minimal) that the whole area may become a ghost town and even death and several long term emotional, physical and financial implications. This is not an exaggeration but a reality of Chernobyl accident. When the question comes down to life and death, existence and everything, do we still need to support the cause?  Is the state for the good of few at the cost of others?

When we have the right to weed out plants which destroy our crops from our fields shouldn’t we have bigger rights to decide if a Nuclear power plant needs to come up in our region? Especially when the power that is going to be generated is going to be supplied to the national grid and going to light up the industries and being consumed more in the cities. Isn’t it like saying that ship breaking industry is safe because it is being done in Bangladesh or recycling being done in China.  The poor are paying for the sins – lives are cheaper in China and Bangladesh then in US or West from where the waste originates.

I am going to make another stark comparison and a bold statement.  What I described above sounds like a lesson from the history book and describes what was the reality in pre independent India. We were all forced by British to do things like growing Indigo which had long term implications on land and livelihood for the benefit of people in England.

Sometimes it looks like the same thing the people in rest of India are directly or indirectly offering to the people of Jaitapur. There are riots going on – police is trying to keep the situation under control, the memorandum of understanding has been signed the state is gearing up, people are fighting for it but I can’t decide what is right and what is wrong?

I still know the soldiers know and fight for the National Pride. They even lay down their lives for the cause of it and it is easy to comment. If everyone steps back how will the country move forward? Can someone enlighten me?

References:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaitapur_Nuclear_Power_Project
http://www.hindustantimes.com/tabloid-news/mumbai/14-held-for-2-month-old-rioting-case-in-Jaitapur/Article1-668432.aspx
http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article1501268.ece

Image credit:  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Nuclear_power_plant.svg/446px-Nuclear_power_plant.svg.png

Token award for the heroes of Rajdhani Fire Accident - Shame for the Nation of Billion

Recently there was a fire few days back in one of the most prestigious trains called Rajdhani Express. Four coaches were gutted including the pantry cars and thank fully no one was hurt. The news was covered by almost all the media in detail. The train was running between Delhi and Mumbai.

Today the railways announced a prize for the pantry staffers who helped to contain the scale of the tragedy and helped the passengers escape the accident. There was not even a single casualty which is usually a rarity with railway accidents in India. No minister had to resign no blames and no politics was required. There was a commission set up to investigate the incident as it usually is in all such cases and I guess it will be the first or last time we hear about it or it’s recommendations.

There were 30 staffers in pantry at the time of the accident and 9 of them are said to have displayed heroics beyond the call of duty.  The blaze broke out at 2:20 AM. They pulled the chain – a mechanism to stop the train, alerted the passengers and helped them evacuate. They even delinked the burning coaches from the rest of the train to prevent a major disaster. In simple words, the cost of the disaster in terms of just loss to railways would have run into thousands of dollars easily let alone the shame and disgrace for the biggest rail traffic carrier. It is a different story that railways is so used to this that it doesn’t even bother any more with accidents which don't kill people.

These railway staffers are most probably the employees of catering service and am not even sure if they are on Railway payrolls. They were honored today and a princely sum of Rs. 3000 was collectively given as a token amount to 9 of them.  That is approximately INR 333.33 – what else could be more derogatory? Compare it to the 212 passengers were paid about INR 5000 each as compensation for the gutted luggage. That that USD 8 per person but it is just a token of appreciation.

Let’s step back few days our glorious cricketers won the world cup. Millions of rupees were showered on them and these are boys who already have millions in the bank. Most of them are sitting on pile of it and some even have net worth almost more than the cost of the whole train and they for sure did a good job lifting the World Cup.

Haven’t we lost our sanity? 

I am sure we have.  It was not only the government but the corporate showering money on these cricketers. They all wanted a share of the pie and world cup euphoria but these 9 people they played with their lives to save more than 1000 passengers on that night. The death toll would have been more than the number of players in the cricket match including the commentators, extras and even the officials.

Is there even a comparison between the two and if there is on any day the bravery and presence of mind of these pantry boys is worth much more than any currency and maybe that’s why the “token” amount.

Indian’s usually aren’t concerned with the other fellow countrymen. We don’t report crimes. We hide information. We cuddle back in our houses when someone needs help because we know that no one will help us. God forbid one of these guys would have been disabled or burnt during the accident. He would have been in the limelight of channels – his grieving widow and mom on TV for TRP and then what?

We have already forgotten the heroes of the Delhi bomb blast – what about all the commandos fighting in the Taj in Mumbai. You know why we call them Heroes? I guess because it is a generic term and easy to remember than the individual names.Let's talk about one of them. Kuldeep Singh (32) who lost both his eyes while he was evacuating the people from his bus. He was evacuating people when some one alerted him about the bomb. He saved lives of 60 people and hadn't even received the full compensation until Apr 2006. The blasts occurred on 30th Oct,2005.  Read more about him here.

When interviewed Kuldeep said "if you were in my position, you would have done the same thing" .If you were to step into the shoes of Kuldeep would you lift that bomb - he was sure about what it was and loose your both eyes, cripple your career your life. I am a shamed to admit I would have run away. Isn't is easy to think why we don't give way to ambulances. Why people don't stop to  help on highways. There are no rewards for these things not morally, not emotionally and there are eternal complications police, lawyers, court cases.

We can say the case has always been the case of the humble souls like Kuldeep fight for the rights and security of the riches and even state and today am not only ashamed but sorry for being an Indian. But I guess who cares IPL is on, we have lifted the WC - Sachin and Dhoni are batting. I will also crib about it and then even I don't know what to do.

References:

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/rajdhani-staff-got-us-out-spread-blankets-on-field-till-help-came/777980/

Credits for the photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kalyan/455432870/

Information or Propaganda - whom should we trust?

There is no such thing as free and fair reporting. Humans are incapable of it and if you don't support that bold statement think about this - we perceive something through our senses, process it and then reproduce/report it. Let's imagine it as a three step process.

Imagine standing in front of a beautiful flower that has bloomed for the first time in the world and you are the first one to spot it and as part of your job you are supposed to report it.

The first task is to identify and take a call if it is a "beautiful flower". This decision is based on the prior knowledge conscious and sub-conscious, the prior norms, documented facts about the beautiful flowers which the reporter had access to previously. This is the first step and has already been biased a lot in the selection of what is important and needs to be reported.

Our senses process hundreds of TB of information daily. The beautiful lady in the silk dress, the red ferrari, the bird which just started chirpring, the smooth sweet taste of weiss beer, the bitterness of cheese and hundreds of things like that. This is the step one which I referred as "perceive". The flower was noticed - the eye saw it. Our mind simultaneously is "processing" information. This is where the real bias comes in and we decide if the perception was valuable or just ordinary.

A child is interested in the criss cross tiles in the big haul but as grown ups mom and dad are not at all interested in it. In his preachings Buddha describes as an ultimate state where by an individual is able to detach from the present and become just an observer. Difficult for most mere mortals I guess.

And the third step is to report it in an amicable manner. It's so interesting to note here that the emphasis is on amicable more than on the reporting.


And this is why am so concerned when I look around the world.


For example today I walked around Berlin. I have seen and read hundred of videos or books about the Berlin's days during the cold war. I guess all of us know that the Berlin wall was erected by East Germany to prevent people from the East i.e. communist to defecting into the west. I am not here to justify what why where. I have very limited understanding of the world history but I want to share something I always thought about but never found answers to.

Check out this video on the Berlin Wall. It will put things into perspective.

Many people died escaping the Berlin wall. About 120 people are known to have escaped. Hundreds others were caught shot and executed.  There are hundreds of documented videos with the same footage. The Westerns helped the East Germans escape. They were very vocal and it was clearly evident in the video above as well with the fireman holding cloth to provide cushion to the people jumping out of the windows. It represented a picture that East Germany was very repressed and West was the way to go.

Let me ask a question here. Have you ever seen a video which showed what happened to the people who took the risk of crossing the wall. I haven't seen any information or documentary of there lives. And if that question is not enough think about hundreds who lost their lives doing so. Was it worth doing it. No one knows and we all have been fed to belief the life in West was good compared to East. And I guess over the period of so many years we have all soaked the information.

This is what media reporting does. No one feels the importance of reporting what is not happening in Tunisia. The reporting process that i discussed in the start still has to go through a filter of vested interest and propaganda be it economical or whatever. This is the thin red line where by revolutionary fighters like Azad before 1947 were referred to as "terrorists" in India and after that they have been acknowledged as "freedom fighters".

So the question is what is the real story of Libya? Why are the people willing to die in Chattisgarh? Who are these Maowadi - who are Naxalites. And we will never know because the media is allegedly in control of people like Barkha Dutta and Vir Sanghvi who have been tainted in the Radia Tapes.

So the question is whom do we trust and what to we make out of the news beaming into our living rooms. Information or propaganda and if you think you know - are you sure?

And the answer probably lies with in you and the question itself. Decide for yourself can we trust others?

The culture of gift vouchers

Literally speaking and as per dictionary.com “gift” is a noun meaning “ something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance; present” or “something bestowed or acquired without any particular effort by the recipient or without its being earned” . In the context of this note, I will abstain from other meanings like a special ability or something.

What is the reason behind giving someone a gift certificate? 

From a strategic and tactical perspective for retailers it works wonders. Just before Christmas when the retailers are struggling to cope up with demand the gift vouchers are available in abundance and when they are redeemed after new year – retailer are more than happy to see the lift in the sales. They shifted the demand from high period to low demand period in order to utilize their resources better.

We hardly know people enough these days. Hence buying a gift for someone is a real pain but I guess it is worth a try and effort.  Especially when you want to buy you a gift as a real gesture (not for the sake of formality like Boss's birthday) and I guess an effort needs to be put to understand the recipient as a person. A gift was never about the gift alone. It was always about the care and time spent in choosing something for someone you care and love. 

Do you like a gift vouchers? 

Personally speaking I don’t. I hate them it is like a short cut and means buying some gift for the sake of it. Well in my opinion a currency note would have been better at least every one will redeem it unlike vouchers at any place they choose with fewer terms and conditions. If that sounds rude what about a wire transfer – a gift certificate is socially acceptable way of doing the same thing. The difference is more like sipping single malt vs. country liquor and irrespective of where it comes from alcohol is injurious to health. 

Over the period of years I have come across situations when people asked “what do you want for your birthday”. This used to be more frequent in my younger years. Months before the occasion the wish list used to be ready. Some time it was as trivial as the new set of sketching pens, some time it was a watch sometimes more trivial things as well. As the count of years steadily increased (does it sound like am very old – am just 30 and you know what they say about it – 30 is the new 15) the number of people who asked this question suddenly decreased and I have started receiving vouchers. There is no fun to receive a voucher.

I guess we need to step back and preserve this beautiful thing called gift. I know it is complicated to ask someone or choose something on behalf of someone but knowing someone better was the idea of a gift. It’s a tricky line – we all don’t want to sound greedy but a voucher culture is not a substitute. 

Just for the sake of doing it, let’s go out and ask people what they want as a gift. A “Wish List” is a good idea to have – a lot of websites allow that. Or at least when someone pops up the let’s be frank share the information about the budget or at least give some options. A lot of people are afraid of dealing with this but I am sure this is not difficult compared to hundreds of complicated decisions you make every day. If you don’t like flowers please go out and tell people. If you want something special we can put it up on our desks.

Let’s preserve the personal touch of the gift and save it forever. And if you are looking for something to buy for me – please let me know. I will ask you the same question soon if I can’t make the decision on your behalf but please don’t send me a gift voucher.

What do you say. Do let me know :)

Democracy survives on Memento Man - you and me

Democracy survives on our short term memories not only in the world's biggest democracy but around the world. This is the whole premise which explains how the leaders even the ones with strong question marks on their deeds, character or whatever get re-elected. In some countries it is very obvious and in some it is very subtle but the point is our short memory snaps allow the culprits and tyrants to survive.

India is a big democracy and when the world big is used here it refers to a billion strong people with a complex system of governance. The question is how we forget all these so easily. To bring into perspective let's work on simple facts.

Let's go into the recent accolades, medals and appreciation for Congress (the current part in power) in India. Dr. Manmohan Singh with his cabinet and with the support of the allies like DMK and blessings of Mrs. Sonia Gandhi. How many big scandals or allegations can you remember? 

One of the colleague asked the question and here is the list we compiled together. It took us some time to recall. Here is the quick list.

a) Nuclear Deal special plan for MP's - money for vote
b) Common Wealth Games
c) 2G Scam
d) CVC Appointment
e) Adarsh Society
f) IPL - Tharoor resigned
g) Mumbai Blasts
h) Datewada Massacre
i) Kashmir Roits
i) Clemency plea filed by Ghulam Nabhi Azad for Afzal guru
j) Radia Taps

Probably Congress is setting new standards in terms of what it costs to the Indian ex-chequer and may give tough competition to any other corrupt government. Each of these was worth hours of prime time media coverage and kilometers in terms of print coverage.

And the last one on the list probably explains a part of how we forget so easily. Media plays an important part in making share the information is carefully screened and then propaganda fed to the voters. Even setting up especial envoys in media like Barkha Dutta and Veer Sanghvi ( as per 'Radia Tapes') to the extent of setting up questions for key interviews.

It is still a long time for elections and hence clean up but I guess we got to remember before we VOTE !

होली की शुभकामनाये

"होली की गुजिया रंगों के फुहार 

दही बड़े ठंडाई और दोपहर भर का खुमार 

कभी कभी धड़कन रुक सी जाती है,

कभी कभी पुराने दिनों की याद आते है"

२०११ एक और होली चली गयी - सुबह शाम की मेहनत में. 

ऑफिस से होटल और होटल से ऑफिस - हजारों मीटिंग और न जाने क्या क्या. जिन्दगी तेज़ रफ़्तार हो चली है और हम हजारों मील दूर चले आये है -  उन गलियों से जहा हम ने अपना बचपन गुज़ारा लेकिन फिर भी कभी कभी अनायास ही ऐसा लगता है कि कल ही कि तो बात थी.

No fly zone in Libya - What about Ivory Coast?

We as an International community alienate ourself from Ivory coast so easily and have been sympathizing with Jamsine in Libya. Look at the coverage of Ivory Coast in news. The condition is slowly moving to a civil war there. The helicopter gunships apparently sold by Belarus, armored vehicles are exchanging fire on the roads killing thousands everyday. For few days the media was interested but that was more in Belarus then in Ivory Coast. The UN is indeed present there but the scale of response there is minuscule compared to what we are agreed to do in Libya. Are the allies trying a regime change from "back door" - decide for yourself.


What we need is another Iraq or Afghanistan but looks like we have one in the making here. May be enough Iraqis or Afghanis were not enough we want Libyans added to that list. I pray that we don't have to see this happen.


For a second, let's step back and recollect all the words west has been associating with Middle East recently - democracy, freedom of speech, peaceful protests. West has even agreed to enforce a no-fly zone after the security council was convinced. Arabs, France, Britain and United States have been stepping up efforts to protect the people of Libya. They want to remove Gaddafi and are supporting the fight for basic human rights.


Let's step back and look at Ivory Coast.


Ivory Coast had an election recently. The whole world witnessed and declared the elections free and fair. Alassane Ouattara won the elections but Laurent Gbagbo never left power and today the democratically elected leader has been pushed into the corner. UN peacekeepers are helping him survive by providing day and night security while the government operates from a heavily fortified hotel. 
Ouattara recently broke three months of silence on the gunmen fighting to defend his claim to the presidency and said he officially recognized the former rebels as the legitimate army. So called incumbent Laurent Gbagbo was supposed to go out of office but refused and the situation today is  somewhere between a conflict and a civil war. Heavy fights are going on in the city of Abidjan.


Ivory Coast is the world's leading producer of Cocoa but I guess the impact on the world economy of the conflict is not enough. May be if they were the top producer of oil the condition would have been totally different. It's not just a coincidence that Libyan rebels have got so much of effort especially from the countries to which Libya exports energy to.


if Ivory Coast's cocoa was a replacement for Black Gold - would the security council allow external intervention there? Is the civilian life also measured in terms of world wide oil their country contributes. Isn't this vested interest?


Dirty economics and with Yen going up in the wake of the Japanese disaster -  are we all corrupt people trying to make a quick buck off the needy. No one wants to miss a chance on the possibility of Yen demand because Japan needs it to rebuild it's economy. We all say we are with Japan but I guess we don't care as long as the Tsunami or the earthquake didn't hit me or my loved ones - the point is we don't care !

Missed another birthday ...not anymore !

Are you good at remembering dates and occasions especially the birthdays and anniversaries?

This one is starting with a question and how you answer that question together with the fact that statistically speaking (obviously in my humble opinion and made up like most other statistical interpretations are biased by statistician’s perceptions) if you are “he” - the probability is higher that your answer will be affirmative. I guess Mother Nature programmed the fairer sex with the universal ability to remember these occasions. I accept it. I am so terribly bad at it that I once wished my parents one month before their anniversary. My moment of enlightenment and at the very moment of embarrassment I realized that I needed a solution and no number of reminders or whatever can help me.

Frankly speaking the whole ruckus around birthdays and anniversary has always been beyond comprehension for me. It’s just a bloody date or may be on the other extreme it’s kind of a personal new year. Approximately put there are about 3-4 million people being born in the world every day and every year going forward there will be an addition of about 3-4 million people who will share their birthday with me or with your girl friend or whatever ! Somehow for a King or a Queen it was a great sense of being in the center of the world but really speaking somehow I feel we are imitating Kim Jong II in some way. Flattery and pampering at its best but yes the whole world is doing many things that way and hence it is kind of in sync.

Anyways the embarrassment was painful. Necessity they say is the mother of invention and I wanted a fool proof way. We are not talking about any technique or gadget or anything at that level. I decided to simplify the whole process itself. Lots of thoughts and then I decided to reengineer the process itself. So on my birthday two years back I called up my buddies instead of waiting for their calls or accusing some of them for not calling. Some of them were overwhelmed and I am not talking about just friends these guys are the inner circle – sorry if you didn’t receive this call but I guess it was about 90% coverage and I indeed asked for a gift.  Please call me on your birthday.

I guess there are few things in life which work this way. I have been receiving calls throughout the year. I would have felt guilty about missing almost all of these birthdays but now I don’t have to. Sometimes the call is very simple. One of my friends just whispered “today is the day” – sometimes all you need is to be reminded because we are not absent minded folks. The gang here all remembers much more complicated stuff on top of their head but it’s just that we miss few things!

So I don’t know if you need a watch to know the day of week and date or may be your eyes move towards the nearest calendar but if it does and you are struggling too - try this one out and don’t forget to tell me J I will be eagerly waiting.

Quick Newbie Tip: Remote Desktop - Copy Paste Issue - Clipboard problem

If you work with windows remote desktop you probably know one of the top irritants :) All of a sudden the Cntrl-C between the local machine and the Cntrl -V on remote desktop will stop working. Irritating especially if file transfers between the boxes are restricted.

Easiest option is to log off and login again but that means closing everything on the remote session and then starting all over again too much for a lazy guy for me !

And then I try recollection there was something I need to kill and restart - something something. Yes if you are an old timer you know the issue is rdpclip.exe. Open task manager kill rdpclip.exe and start it again.

I wish MS could fix this irritant may be they already have but we are still on XP and 2003 R2 Servers -our company doesn't support a lot of heavy weight software on the flashy new windows yet.

Caged canary - Marilyn Buck

We are free.

We take it for granted - we might have complaints and constraints but still we are free to the extent to be called FREE. At least I always believed freedom was something so basic that it was free.

Then I read about a person Marilyn Buck.  When Marilyn Buck died last August 3, she had lived outside prison, on parole, for only twenty days. At age sixty-two, she had spent her last twenty-five years in various maximum security prisons. Before that, she lived years underground, supporting and taking part in actions with the Black Panther Party and later, the Black Liberation Army. Marilyn was a white woman who carried a great deal of pain, most of which came from her unflinching acknowledgement of the centuries of untold inequities suffered by African Americans and other people of color at the hands of “freedom-loving” white America.

I can't judge if it was right or wrong or I am not taking sides. Am not preaching here anything not even a point of view but for a second think this - a person spent almost whole of her life behind the bars and for what ? Some crimes - I let people decide what were the crimes and how much they mattered.

Let's not judge some one for a second. Can we at least grant her this freedom? An accomplished poet and translator this is probably her best poem. [This poem is read on the CD by Marilyn Buck. ]

Wild Poppies

I remember red poppies, wild behind the school house
I didn’t want to be there, but I loved to watch the poppies

I used to sit in the window of my room, sketching charcoal trees
what happened to those magnolia trees, to that girl?

I went off to college, escaped my father’s thunderstorms
Berkeley. Rebellion. Exhilaration!

the Vietnam war, Black Power, Che took me to Chicago
midnight lights under Wacker Dr. Uptown. South Side. Slapped
by self-determination for taking Freedom Wall photos
      without asking

on to California, driving at 3:00 in the morning in the mountains,
I got it: what self-determination means
A daunting task for a young white woman, I was humbled
      practice is concrete … harder than crystal-dream concepts

San Francisco, on the front steps at Fulton St.
smoking reefer, drinking “bitterdog” with Black Panthers and white
hippie radicals, talking about when the revolution comes

the revolution did not come. Fred Bennett was missing
we learned he’d been found: ashes, bones, a wedding ring
but later there was Assata’s freedom smile

then I was captured, locked into a cell of sewer water
spirit deflated. I survived, carried on, glad to be
like a weed, a wild red poppy,
rooted in life

Read more about her here : http://www.marilynbuck.com/

Recovering Permanently Deleted Files Windows XP for FREE

How many times instead of just pressing DEL, we actually press SHIFT + DEL and then immediately realize that we have permanently deleted an important file or folder of what ever. It could be as simple as a movie which you wanted to move from one folder to another in the wee hours of morning and accidentally deleted or your wedding pictures or probably the RAW file of your much loved photograph.

Whatever it is the ending problem statement is pretty straight forward how to recover the file.
Smart people [ah nothing to do with the practical smart people but those who know the power of Google and whose life rather job depend on it] try googling and the results are usually varied.

On several occasions in last so many years I have come around tools which have so many restrictions but in the end want you to pay some money before you can recover your file. And the file in essence was never so important for me to pay $50 or may be 100 or may be even more to pay for it.

So this morning I was just trying to move a file and accidentally deleted it (my bad but am not really a morning person) and then recovered it with in 10 minutes. It is pretty straight forward so I thought for my fellow newbies I will just lay out the procedure.

The moment you know you have deleted a file stop copying deleting any more things from the hard drive. If you have two partitions like C: and D: please identify the drive or folder where the file was deleted from. In bold letters so that it sinks in faster - STOP ADDING or REMOVING FILES FROM THE HARD DRIVE IMMEDIATELY

[I don't know why but I never really bothered to know - something to do with how files are managed by the file system but I presume even you are not interested to know else you won't be reading this blog :)]

Download and Install a software called "Pandora Recovery". The same can be downloaded from here. Installation is pretty straight forward and all you need to do is confirm the directory where you want to install this software.

Start Pandora.  Please select the drive from which the file was deleted. I deleted it from my D: drive and hence selected D: and the scan starts. Wait for the scan to finish and try to identify from where the file was deleted. It will usually appear with a small red cross in the folder where it was deleted from.

Here are the snapshots to help just in case (Click on any Image for larger size)

Pandora scanning identified drive:

Displays the drive contents after scan finishes:

Displaying the deleted file in the folder with red cross

Right click on the file and select the Recover option. Please suggest the drive where you want to recover. Please recover on an alternate drive with a similar file system. USB and External Hard Drives are better options. (In this example I was recovering to C: drive a file which was deleted from D: drive)

Following screen displays recovery in progress

Confirms recovery is complete.

That's it ! It is that simple. A great tool isn't it.

Please donate to the guys behind the team by visiting there website for providing such a great tool for free at there website http://www.pandorarecovery.com/

Other useful information:

a) Recover Archived, Hidden, Encrypted, Compressed files
b) Recover Alternate Data Streams (ADS)
c) Recover Images, Documents, Movies, or any other type of files
d) Recovery success estimate
e) Review File properties and Drive properties
f) Recover to Local Hard Drive, Network Drive, or Flash Drive
g) Recognizes NTFS, NTFS5 and NTFS/EFS
h) Compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2003 and Windows 2000
i) Wizards, hints and context-sensitive help

Tip: Launch the "Surface Scan" and try to identify your file if normal scan cannot find it.

Deutchland's First Snow Shower !

White is pure and so is snow.It was a two days wait before the snow shower actually happened. Just after the morning call with India team as I moved the curtains I was greeted by a beautiful snow shower.

Just pulled out my mobile camera and this is how the view looks like.

First Few Days in Munich: Another Issue with power adapter !

Wooooooooohooooo  (can't you hear me screaming..) 2011 is here ! Happy New Year 2011.

I finally landed in Europe. 

Endless movies that I watched, millions of times I drooled and dreamed of being here and finally the 2010's last surprise was this trip to Munich on 30th Dec 2010.

Just as checked into the room I realized that my travel adapter is not compatible with the Indian power chord. I bought this one in Singapore and alas this is useless here in Europe as I can't use it with my Indian laptop. I borrowed the adapter from Monnappa (my Saviour in Deutschland) but the problem persisted. Usually the solution of the problem is to walk down to the hotel reception and request them but there was some Indian fellow who very rudely said "No".

We tried going to the Saturn store but it was closed due to new year's eve. Today we realised it was a Saturday and a public holiday. Interestingly almost whole of the city will be closed even tomorrow ! We again checked at the reception and this time the German Lady helped with a hundreds of chargers but alas there was nothing that could have been useful.

So I started processing all the resources I had. With a long walk to the Marienplatz I was making up my mind to prepare an ad-hoc connector. With a little bit of insulating material and a European power point compatible cable I would be able to provide power to my laptop adapter.

And this is what we have.

Pulled out an old PSP cable and chopped off the other end. I have a Nikon Charger which shares the cable and I will use the same to power the connector for PSP. I pulled out the wires using the Kitchen Knife and rolled it out on the switch. Now I needed something to insulate it as there as no insulating tape available and I slit open and old polythene bag rolled it into thin sheet and then rolled it and tied it on the corners. So for until I find a shop which has a power adapter that can convert an Indian Adapter to fit into a European power plug I have an ad-hoc converter. 

Road Trip : Bangalore - Kabini (Rajiv Gandhi National Park) - Bangalore

Just completed another beautiful and interesting bike ride to Rajiv Gandhi National Park and back. The plan started with an email from Murali which I received while I was in Bhopal attending Avinash's marriage.
This was probably the simplest email with clear communication and a pleasure to receive.
___________________________________________________________

Let's go bike ride on 5th and 6th to Kabini (250km from BLR).

I checked with jungle lodge today. Tented accommodation  is available for 5th. 

Sachin / Clinton - pl call Jungle lodge, MG Road office and book before 10:30am tomorrow (I am in HYD for next 2 days).

Plan:

Sunday -

- Start home at 5:45am, meet at corporation circle at 6:00am

- Reach Mysore by 9:00 (BF break in between)

- Reach Kabini by 11:00am

 Sun 11:00am to Mon 11:00 am at Kabini (follow resorts schedule)

 Monday:

 - 11:00am start from Kabini

- 1:00pm Mysore, till 3:00pm at Ranganatittu bird sanctuary.

- start from Ranganatittu 3:00pm and reach BLR by 6:00pm.

  

Let's lock the plan?

_____________________________________________________

And as expected, Clinton and Sachin confirmed with "Sure" and "Doubly Done" and my reply was "Let's Ride". I reached Bangalore on Wednesday at 2 PM and my Avenger was at the service bay the next day.


Sunday, 4:45 AM, Bangalore

Clinton Called up to make sure everyone was ready and no one was late. We met at 5:30 AM near Diamond District and from there Clinton, Sachin, Divya and Sukesh rode on 'The Bull", Sachin's Pulsar and 1972 Royal Enfield 350cc of Sukesh to meet Murali at 5:45 AM at town hall. The morning was unusually cold or not I can;t say because it was first time in many months that I was up this early and there was no flight to catch.

I was literally shivering as I had a bad cold and fever and was on medication as well.

We rode with virtually no traffic into Mysore road and stopped for breakfast and for the first time in all these months didn't stop at McDonalds for breakfast. I did stop because I was feeling drowsy thanks to Cetrizine which somehow makes me sleepy. I was scared because I was falling asleep on the bike and almost dozed off three times ! I washed my face atl east three times and finally asked Sachin to ride behind me and to honk to make sure I don't doze off.

Lesson I : No medication of any sort before the bike ride even if it is on the previous afternoon or evening.

We crossed Mysore and headed to HD Kote and moved from SH17 to SH33. The road turned from four/six lanes of Bangalore Mysore Road (SH33) to a normal road with no dividers.


Sunday 10 AM, 17 Kms Past Mysore
Road trips always have surprised and Sukesh and Divya had an accident which involved a village biker who road into the state highway without too fast without really checking the traffic on the main road. As if this was not enough a truck was also passing and Sukesh didn't have another option but to ram the bullet into the truck and save the other rider.

Thank God no one was badly hurt but the front fork of the bullet was bent and though the engine fired up on first kick but no way any one could ride the bike. We again had to hire an APE Auto for INR 400 and sent the bike to Mysore to one of his relatives and after a break of about an hour continued our journey towards Kabini River Lodge,

We rode into HD Kote looking for a doctor and then continued on the road until we reached the resort. Interestingly this was the same route we took on our way back from Wayanad when we crossed the Kabini river on a manual row boat with our bikes on the boats ;)

Suday 1:30 PM, Kabini River Lodge
Checked into the lodge parked our bikes and we were ready. The rooms were beautifully done in english style and reminded me of FRI, Dehradun houses where I stayed almost all my school years before moving out of Dehradun. High deodar ceiling, fans hanging via long rods just above the bed, long verandas fireplace..in all timeless, beautiful and graceful without the pomp and show of today's architecture.

Straightaway headed for lunch and then I dozed off for half an hour. I was still feeling drowsy !

Sunday 4 PM, Jeep Safari
As the sun was setting we were escorted by our driver and safari co-coordinator towards the National Park. Ironically this was the time Murali started his journey back to Bangalore because of some emergency at home. Sad but that's how life is - things keep happening.

We were welcomed into the jungle by a beautiful tusker quitely enjoying his evening stroll. We moved into the forest and were greeted by a group of spotted deers every 5 minutes or so. Few things in this world as as beautiful as the way a deer walks. Malabar giant squirrels, serpent eagle, langurs kept meeting us every few yards until we were greeted by monkey sounds and our guide was quick to indicate that it is predator.

Between a group of wild boars they kept on scanning the jungle with binoculars until we saw a beautiful python. This was the first time I saw a Indian Rock Python.We saw a crocodile, few more deer herds, a brown fish owl before it was too dark. The last sigting of the day was sambhar and a mama elephant with a baby close to her.

Good fun and we returned to the resort which is actually just outside the reserve. We saw a herd of beautiful elephants just next to the road but some idiot driver honked and flashed the lights of a truck to push them back into the forest and we missed the chance of watching few more elephants.

Sunday 7 PM, John Wake Field Bar
One good thing about the resort was the British influence. The bar was one of the things. We sat in the Verandah poured us a glass and had a discussion recalling the incidences of the day. We continued the discussion around the dinner and bonfire.

The food was another interesting and we returned to the rooms.

Monday 6 AM, Boat Safari
We had opted for boat safari for the morning and I really loved the first look outside the door. There was a dense fog all around as and we boarded our safari boat. The reservoir looked even more beautiful rather like a painting.

We spotted a few mongoose, lots of kingfishers, Whitebellied Woodpecker, Osprey, two tuskers, corocodile, serpent eagle, falcon, wild boars, painted storks, I guess over 50 Indian cormorants some of them on the nests attending the young ones.


We returned back to the lodge around 9:30 and headed for buffet breakfast. The overall food was really nice.


We resumed our journey to Bangalore at around 11:00 AM and thankfully there were no incidences on our way back. Like all goods things in life the trip ended !


Summary




View Larger Map


Distance: 450 KMS
Roads: Above Average- Beware of Cows and Villagers on SH33. Try to avoid Sunday evening traffic returning to Bangalore.


Overall Recommendation: This is one place to visit again and again and may be once again !
Charges: INR 9000 per day for a double room including everything on the resort and meals.

Cost of an Indian Passport

We might have helped a lot of countries implement better systems for homeland secutiry, VISA, passports, biometrics or whatever but when it comes to serving Indians the state of the government machinery is still pathetic !

I was born in a government hospital on May 15, 1980. A birth certificate was never issued to me. It was not mandatory and no one asked for it. In India it is perfectly legitimate to use the school certificate as a birth certificate. This was Dehradun which apparently itself moved from being a small district head quarter in Uttar Pradesh to being a State Capital in the last few years. 1980 to 1998 I was a full time resident of Dehradun living with my parents.

Years passed by and I moved from Dehradun to my engineering school which was 350 KMS away. I have a degree with honors and almost all the proof from the university that I was a student there.  Between 1998 to 2002 I was just a student trying to complete my Bachelor in Engineering.

2002 I moved for graduate studies to IIT Kanpur and in the Apr of 2014 while I was a student there, I enrolled for a passport. I didn't have any address proof, no document or anything to state where I resided except a letter from the Dean of Student Welfare and a copy of my Identity Card issues by IIT. Getting a passport was as easy as 1-2-3.

I moved to Bangalore in 2004 and from Bangalore moved to Singapore and then moved back to Bangalore. During my stays in Bangalore I stayed with my sister and her family or with friends. All these years I kept on submitting my Income Taxes with a PAN Card which was again issued by Government of India and I have been paying at least a couple of hundred thousand Indian Rupees.

I have perfect legitimate bank accounts, credit cards, a car, a motorbike and countless other things on which I keep paying the state taxes and they never question where I stay and how. But today when I have run out of pages on my passport the whole world has come to a grinding halt !


Just because I work in Bangalore and I am single who doesn't have enough money to buy a house, nor has a bank account with a Nationalized bank nor do I know some one high up in the ranks of the government who can certify my identity, because I work for a company which is not public limited [publicly owned and listed in Indian stock markets] and because I stay at my sister's place - it is very difficult for me to get a passport !

Is it a crime to stay with your family? When government has no problem accepting my income tax returns in my native town, why is my address so important - what is the real threat?

When I compare it with the respect and processes, that I came across in Singapore when I took my Permanent Residence it was so simple and straightforward. When will the government really make it simple. When will it be my right to get a passport rather than a privilege?

Until how many years this sarkari way of work continue ..and how many years will people like me suffer :(

Drive Back in Time: Hampi

Have you ever driven back in time?

That too without jumping in a hole in the time continuum like in a Hollywood movie or using a time machine but simply by walking. Last night I returned back from one such trip and the place is no wonder a UNESCO world heritage site in northern Karnataka's Bellary district known well over the world as Hampi.

Thursday, Office@JDA

The bike trip for the long weekend was canceled due to whatever reasons not worth mentioning here and hence presented an opportunity to plan another one. Avinash jumped in and we were exploring options like Chikamangalur, Hampi, Wayanad and decided on Hampi.Some how the ruins had been calling us and it was just a matter of time when we would answer the call.

Friday 23:00 hrs

Hampi was decided upon and we decided to leave Bangalore at 0600hrs and follow NH4 (that is Tumkur - Chitradurga) and then NH13 to Hospet and then proceed to Hampi which is a small village. The original name was Hampa which is the alternate name for the Tung Bhadra river.


Saturday Morning: 0800 hrs: Day I

Avi: Are we going today morning or tomorrow?
Answer: Shit! We are late.

Nothing unusual.
It was 1000 hrs before we put our bags in the car and started driving towards Tumkur and it in order to keep us in good driving mood and avoid the hassles of crazy Bangalore traffic we diverted towards Electronic City via the elevated expressway and then took NECE road all the way to Tumkur road. We paid almost 110 INR extra but I was still very fresh when I hit the NH4.

We had stopped for breakfast at Electronic City as well and it was 10:30 when we started from EC near the Infosys campus despite of the fact that we live near Marathalli ! So you must be knowing by know how scared I am of the Bangalore traffic.


This was the plan for the trip based on whatever information we could gather on the internet.


View Original Hampi Plan in a larger map

Our first stoppage was before Chitradurga near the windmills and here are few pictures we clicked before we resumed towards Chitradurga.





The joy of the NH4 drive was short lived and soon we had to deviate to NH13. The board it self said "Go Slow". The start of the NH13 was not very exciting and soon it turned into something much more interesting. In the last three hours we had covered some 200 kilometers and Hospet was still 150.

The road soon deteriorated as much as it could. There was hardly any road for miles and the pot holes or rather craters were so bad that I was scared that the car will get stuck. Add to that the mining traffic and long trailers and rains which started to pour. I was just hoping to reach Hospet somehow but the clock on the dashboard was moving faster than the odometer it took us scary four hours to complete 150 kilometers.

The last stretch of Ghat road was so bad that I was literally scared to drive. Somehow we reached Hospet by 1800 hrs and headed to Hampi and straight to the KSTDC Hotel Mayura in Hampi. We couldn't find accommodation in Hampi and settled for dinner to get a hold of the treacherous drive and I handed over the car to Avinash to drive.

At around 2000 hrs we headed back to Hospet to find hotel and the KSTDC guys referred there sister concern near the Dam which was just 5 kms from Hospet and we decided to check it out.

This was the biggest mistake of our life. It took us almost 2.5 hrs to cover that last 5 kilometers as there was a huge traffic pile up and worst road plus rains. We were the only car on the road surrounded by mining trucks and it was really scary.

I could use my phone and use Google to find out Mallige hotel and they offered a double room at INR 2900. At this point of time I was willing to pay anything ! We checked in at around 2230 hrs and luckily got room for standard room for 1650 INR.

Finally something went right after almost 8 hrs of freaking scary drive.

Sunday Morning: 0800 hrs: Day II

I started the day with a tweet on facebook  at 0908 hrs "Irony of indian roads 120kmphr and 1kmphr in the same day...NH4 vs. NH13."

Originally until last night the plan was to get up at 0700 hrs and head for Hampi but as usual we woke up and by the time we finished the complimentary breakfast it was 1000 hrs.

We reached Hampi and thus began an interesting day of long walks, boat ride and what not.











And I gave my heart once more..Hampi conquered it!

Monday Morning: 1000 hrs: Day III

For the last two days we were gathering intelligence on the route back to Bangalore. We talked to almost every driver on the road and based on our experience reached on the consensus that what ever happens we are not going to take the same NH13 route.

We decided to drive to Bellary which was 60 kilometers away on NH63 and then either drive to Anantpur and follow NH7 or take the SH19 and head on to Hiriyur and NH4 back to Tumkur and Bangalore.

Avi was on the driving seat and I wanted to relax. The road to Bellary was again not good and it took us two hours to reach and then then we were not sure what is going to come up ! Based on the Google Maps, I made the decision that let's check out the SH19 and head to Hiriyur instead of NH7 plan.

And when we reached SH19 it was a real shocker ! We were greeted by beautiful roads. We changes driving seats and stopped on the way in Sunflower fields. All the bad roads were gone before and the landscape was amazingly serene and calm.



Soon we merged into NH4 at Hiriyur and after that the next stoppage was Dhaba after tumkur near the CCD. Another ladnmark is that there are two Kamat on both sides of the road. For INR 204 we had sumptuous dinner awesome dal makhani, roti in a trademark way of North Indian Dhabas, tea, lassi and again Avi stepped in to drive.

Soon we were on the NECE road and reached Bangalore at 2130hrs.
And like all the things this too passed away.


Suggestions and Recommendations

Total Distance: 840 KM


View Bangalore Hampi Bangalore in a larger map

Stay: Malligi Hotel - Value for Money but it is in Hospet. If possible book at KSTDC Mayura Guest house in Hampi (Kamlapur)

Must Eat at Tumkur Dhaba. Look out for Kamat on both sides of the road after crossing Tumkur on the way back. This is a small dhaba but don't get deceived by the looks. The place serves authentic dhabha food and is actually run by Dhillon family.

Must do in Hampi:
a) Boat Ride in Tung Bhadra : INR 450 for 1 hours (We didn't bargain)

Must Avoid : Don't drive in NH13 between Chitradurga and Hospet. If possible take a train to Hospet.

To close, I remember what I posted on Facebook

and when the roads start calling..I respond ..go out n meet them..they r b'ful like you n me n experiences r always awesome.

The First Four Digit Ride: Bangalore - Goa- Bangalore

The Prelude

It all started with the look at the office calendar and the holiday on October 7, 2010 which was interestingly a Thursday. I always had Goa as a destination on my mind and the four days were good enough to ride thousand plus kilometers.

The trip was dicey till the last minute. Clinton’s bike was with the service center until Wed evening and they only confirmed at 6 PM that it was ready for pickup. It’s a different story that the service was horribly bad and Clinton struggled all the time.

On the night before the ride incessant rains engulfed Bangalore and Clinton (who rides his Enfield aka the bull) and Sachin were stuck up due to a team outing and dinner. Until 2 am it was not clear if we will go or not as they were stuck in the rains and our plan to leave out at 4 AM was impossible. Too many logistics issues and a difficult ride considering none of us had done more than 350 KM in a day.

The Trip 

Day I

6:00 AM, Bangalore: Sachin calls up to check if the trip been canceled since I didn’t call him at 5 AM as planned. My bad but am not used to three hours sleep!

7:30 AM, Wind Tunnel Road, Bangalore: Morning coffee and Clinton and I waited for Sachin to join. We rolled off on the trip officially and next task at hand was to skim through the Bangalore morning traffic, reach Tumkur and follow the NH4 except for one glitch Sachin needed the asthma inhaler and none of the shops were open.

The planned route was to take NH4 all the way till Hubli and then follow the Hubli Karwar and then reach South Goa and take the NH406 on return via Shimoga and reach Tumkur and then Bangalore. Here is the Original Plan based on a trip itinerary picked from internet here.

9 AM, Tumkur Road: We reached the highway NH4 around 9 AM. The road was good four lanes and the traffic was less being a weekday. We took a detour into Tumkur city for the meds and immediately joined back.

2 PM, Kamadoda, Rannibennur (Rural): Except for a bad patch of about 60 KMS road were good and it was so much of heat that I was feeling sleepy. We stopped for twenty minutes somewhere after Chitradurga. The NH4 bypass were amazing and we were about 300 KMS away from Bangalore.

The windmills near Chitradurga look amazing though I was lazy not to pull out the camera thinking the light was too harsh.Again my bad :(.

We pulled out at Kamat Upachar, Reliance Petroleum Unit in Kamadoda District about 9 KMS before Rannebennur and about 115 KMS before Hubli. The three South Indian meals were charged only INR 225 and we were back on the road at 2:30 PM.

Rains welcomed us at Haveri by pass and it was so heavy that we thought we have to stop. We were blinded by the rains and the bikes were moving sideways on the flyover because of heavy wind. Totally drenched we couldn’t find a safe place and it stopped pouring in 15 minutes or so; the sun came out as we approached Hubli. I loved my new Cramster riding pants :) they were a pleasure to ride in.

5:15 PM, Hubli: Standing at the bypass we were not sure if we should ride into Karwar in the night. But it was too early to stop. We filled up the tanks and Sachin said let’s go to Belgaum and that Goa was only 30 KMS. We filled the tanks in Hubli and followed NH4 to Belgaum riding in the twilight.

First Deviation from the plan, we were in Belgaum which was not at all planned but the road was good and the ride was fun. NH4 brought back the memories of the drive to Nashik that I did couple of months back.

7:00 PM, Belgaum: Checked into Adarsh Palace on College Road. They charged us INR 1650 for room with room big enough for three people.

We had running HOT water – a boy ran into the evening when we requested for HOT water :) but believe me it was not bad experience.

We headed to the attached bar and restaurant for dinner. Smirnoff with Sprite and a beer and a couple of butter nan with some chicken and I was all set to hit the bed.


Day II

We left Belgaum at about 9:00 AM and realized that we were on a wrong route. Panaji was about 160 KMS and we accidentally went on a route which was about 30 KMS longer. This was an extension of NH4A. Sachin got lost and we wasted half an hour before we located him.

Probably one of the bad patches until we realized the road sucked. We rolled into Goa and crossed the border. The last stretch of the Ghats was beautiful and the moment we crossed the border we ran into mining area with lots of red dust and lots of trucks.

If rains yesterday were a problem this was worst until we rode into Panjim and headed to Calangute.

After lots of Ooh, Aah and Ouch we somehow completed the ordeal.

2:00 PM, Calangute:We checked into MIRA Hotel and they charged us INR 1500 for a double room about 10 minutes walk from the beach itself and freshened up with HOT bath. Those ten minutes in hot shower felt like heaven but it had just begun :)

3:30 PM, Infanteria, Calangute: Awesome lunch and couple of beers to relax.Amazing food slow service and relaxed open air atmosphere. After a happy meal and a little tingling we headed back to the room to pick up our bikes and head to the fort Augoda.

We realized Sachin’s Pulsar rear wheel was flat and it was a perfect place to have a flat. We got it fixed in an hour while we enjoyed a good cappuccino and resumed to Fort.

The fun continued all the way in the night. We had second round of beers and snacks on the Calangute beach itself sitting facing the sea and then walked back into hotel around mid-night.



Day III

7:30 AM, Baga Beach: Had a leisurely stroll on the beach in the morning and decided to head back; freshen up in the hotel and head to Infantria for breakfast.At 9:30 AM we were back on the road. We also met a rider from Mumbai who had come all alone to Goa.

9:30 AM, Augoda Fort and Light House: Strolled around but the sun was very strong and I was sweating like a pig. Sachin and Clinton were also not doing much better so we decided to roll out into Old Goa.

We had Fresh Lime and waited for thirty minutes to get the life back into ourself.

11:30 AM, Old Goa: Visited the Old Goa ruins my favorite from the trip before visiting the Bob Jesus Basilica and then we resumed our journey to Karwar. We were hit by heavy downpour after just before leaving Goa before we crossed the border.

We usually ride at 60 Km/hr in rains but this one was like a real surprise. It was so heavy that we had to stop for almost an hour.

After the rains I tried running the bike but it was not revving properly. I was scared that the engine will die. I guess the water had it effects on the bike and I just kept riding into Karwar.

3:16 PM, Karwar: We reached Karwar and after crossing into the town we stopped by the road just before the bridge. The confluence of the river and sea was beautiful and the place is very quiet. We decided to roll into Gokarna.

5:15 PM, Gokarna: We had our first view of the OM beach. It was hot and humid and we had no option but to check into the Namaste Guest House and there were no air-conditioned rooms available. After about 45 minutes of hike and drive I decided to check in and we called it a night stay.

We walked into the beach after changing and then into the beach shacks on the remote corner and ordered beer and snacks. Soon it was pitch dark, hardly ten people and there were no lights and water was coming up the beach and we soon had to start rushing back the guest house and it was a scary one hour because of the rocks and the water :) but may it was of too much of being safe approach that kicked in.

Second blunder  I didn't shoot long exposures of the beautiful beach and rocks !

We continued to party in the Namaste Guest house and it was a relaxing evening all the way into the night all the way past 11 PM. I liked the place, a perfect get away for the busy life and to do probably nothing! I will visit this place again for sure.



Day IV

7:00 AM, Gokarna Temple: A quick visit to the temple and we were back on the road riding on to the NH206 this time in the direction on Udupi. I loved the temple it is built out of the black rock in the same style probably as the Nashik’s Triyambak temple but I am not an expert in this field ;)

8:45 AM, Honavar: Stopped for breakfast and were back on the road in thirty minutes.

11:36 AM, Jog Falls: After two near misses, loads of bad roads, cows and terrible back ache and jerks we reached JOG falls. This was probably the worst patch until now and the NH4A was nothing when compared to this stretch of NH206.

Lots of Ghats but the good thing is that there were lots of Ghats and mighty JOG as the reward. We left JOG at about 1 PM and targeted to reach Shimoga by 2 PM.

2:30 PM, Shimoga: Pathetic roads. There was a kilometer stretch which looked as if it didn’t have any road laid on it ever. We were not even able to maintain 60 Km per hour and decided we will have to do the next three hours at a faster pace so that we can reach Tumkur in day light.

It was an overcast sky and some stretches of road were excellent while others had too many potholes. We stopped for two breaks at 4:15 PM and 5:30 PM each to stretch. It started to rain about 20 KMS before Tumkur.

6:58 PM, Tumkur: With Bangalore still 73 kilometers and it was already dark with drizzle going on I had to ask Clinton to ride in front of me so that I can follow him. The spectacles and the helmet visor make it difficult with everyone riding/driving on HIGH BEAM and my skills get crippled to almost zero.

Sachin disappeared and we wasted about half an hour locating him before we resumed into NH4 (finally) and left NH206. We kept looking for a place to eat but couldn’t find something interesting. We ran into evening traffic into Bangalore city and rains continued.

9 PM, Empire, Church Street Bangalore: We had dinner at Empire eating the famous shawarma rolls while the rain stopped about half an hour ago. I probably had braked more time in the last one hour then in the last four days.


The Conclusion

After 1500 KMS and four days we felt like we had been riding but were not sure where or when. The whole idea of the trip was riding and with just one puncture and thanks to reliability of our lovely bikes we had lots of it.  And one more surprising thing is there is not even a single penny of toll that we have to pay if you are riding. All those roads are for free!

Finally we ended up doing this route instead of the planned one but still it was an interesting ride worth all the four days !

Actual Trip Map (Click for Larger Map)

And to conclude I will quote Clinton

‎”7 cities, 6 meals, 5* tanks of fuel, 4 days, 3 bikes, 2 close shaves, 1 hell of a 1500 km adventure!”

*Avenger required 4 and Pulsar 150 had 3.5 tanks fills