Days of my life update.
After lot of thought I have decided to scrap the days of my life project. Instead, a new project with a diverse wiki based platform will be up soon. It will be similar to what days of my life was going to be i.e my own space but the space will be shared among different people instead. Cannot tell more before i have a brainstorming session with my partner in crime. Will update once we get the skeleton ready.
Adios
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Coming Soon...Days of my life...
Since I am feeling ultra lazy actually getting the write up, here are a few pointers to keep you occupied if you actually want to indulge in randomness.!....!.
Days of my life will be a small wiki which will contain a hard part(which can be edited by me only) and a wiki which can be edited by anyone I allow*. I want to do something of this sort because i do not feel comfortable blogging. I just have a rough idea going on for now. I will keep updating the progress if any as and when something happens.
*Conditions apply!
Mcloedganj
Lohagad
Gorakhgadh
Still to be uploaded...
Farewell BVCOE
20-twenty world cup victory
Peth
Lohagadh(monsoons)
Salher
college days
Kaizen
School
ICICI
Mumbai
Since I am feeling ultra lazy actually getting the write up, here are a few pointers to keep you occupied if you actually want to indulge in randomness.!....!.
Days of my life will be a small wiki which will contain a hard part(which can be edited by me only) and a wiki which can be edited by anyone I allow*. I want to do something of this sort because i do not feel comfortable blogging. I just have a rough idea going on for now. I will keep updating the progress if any as and when something happens.
*Conditions apply!
Mcloedganj
 |
| A nation in a city...[se |
Lohagad
 |
| Lohagadh Trek(Winte |
Gorakhgadh
 |
| Gorakhgad Trek |
Still to be uploaded...
Farewell BVCOE
20-twenty world cup victory
Peth
Lohagadh(monsoons)
Salher
college days
Kaizen
School
ICICI
Mumbai
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
GOA
Link - http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Goa+India&ie=UTF8&cd=1&ll=15.417939,73.948975&spn=0.992891,1.2854&t=h&z=10&om=1
December 30th 2004
Everyone wants a piece of the Sun, Sand, Seas and of course the Sights that are waiting for you, calling you out, that voice, light as a breeze , even when you are battling with the questions on FCS, writing code in Java, trying to convince yourselves that OP-AMP is just a small electronic device and not a one eyed ogre... Yes somehow during all those exams I was always thinking of my upcoming trip to Goa. I had been to Goa in 1998, thanks to a school trip. I don't remember much of it but the part I do remember is that though we had a lot of fun, the teachers always kept us away from the Sun, Sand, Sea and the Sights. That was the day that I decided that I need to come back and experience all the fun instead of just felling it from a distance.
So, exams ended and I am off to Pune... uhh sorry i forgot to mention that I was going to Goa via Pune as I had some work there. Anyways, flight lands in Pune, work gets done and we reach the Station to get into that train that was going to take us to Goa. We were so disgusted. Confused? Hmmm... actually our tickets were in waiting...124 and 125...the train was supposed to arrive at the station at 1530hrs. At 1500 hrs the waiting was 1 and 2. We really were hoping that we would get a confirmed seat but it was not to be. So we talked to the TT and we were lucky to get sleeper seats instantly! Well Abhinav was not too happy with it(guess he was not used to travel in sleeper class) but there was no other option, so we boarded the train.
Well!! it was damn cold in the night. The train was cruising past the ghats and we did not have blankets or sheets to cover us. Ultimately we had to put our bags on us and sleep. The morning was amazing. The train entered the sleepy towns of Goa. At 0600 hrs we are at Madgaon. The scent of the sea had already filed our lungs. The train moved along slowly giving picturesque views of the beaches along the coast. Vasco arrived and that was the beginning of 8 days of pure fun.
Our guest house was cheap but amazing. Located adjacent to Aldei De Goa (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Goa+India&ie=UTF8&cd=1&ll=15.453639,73.844647&spn=0.031023,0.040169&t=h&z=15&om=1), the two rooms, a bathroom and a small hall for 30 bucks a day flat!! Our breakfast was typical local food costing just about the same. By the end of the trip we had spent a total of 500 bucks on accommodation and breakfast! All thanx to my mom whose office had a guest house there! The location was on a hill facing the sea with the quiet Bambolim beach a 5 minutes walk downhill.
Goa is an explorers paradise. Except snow(oh come on!...You never get everything in one place!) you'll get to experience everything and anything here. The lifestyle is very laid back, people are very helpful and the calmness on their face gives you the sign that YES this place is 365 days on a holiday.
If you want to explore entire Goa then you should stay in or around Panjim. The accommodation in Panjim varies from low cost rooms to luxury hotels. Its best to reach there and ask the cab guy or a local for the cheapest options available. Panjim is a small city and as such does not have much to see. First thing you should do when you reach Goa is hire a vehicle. Two wheelers are preferred due to their high mileage and they are available cheap. Rent for two wheelers vary from 150 per day for a bike like splendor to 350 per day for a semi cruiser. We took a pulsar that cost us 250 per day.
The first spot we hit was the Dona Paula Viewpoint
(http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Goa+India&ie=UTF8&cd=1&ll=15.451829,73.802333&spn=0.007756,0.010042&t=h&z=17&om=1). The story goes that two lovers with the same names committed suicide here. This place is like your regular tourist place where the package tour organizers will take you. We went there because the friendly guest house caretaker told us that this place had a decent eating place. Well the place was decent. We had a small stint with the Goan cuisine and we were satisfied. Dish Of the Day: Chicken 65!
The Dona Paula spot gives amazing views of the Arabian Sea and has few water sports, but just for namesake only. What caught my eye was this small house towards the east of the spot. On inquiring about it I found out that its an abandoned house belonging to a fisherman.
The path to that house was not known. Still that fellow gave me a slight idea and I was off. The path lay in between the Prianah hotel and a small house. As i followed it, I reached this amazing place. It was on red porous stone. Small hut with nets lying here and there carelessly and a boat kept tied along the shore. Small crabs played around here and there. The place just gives you the feeling that you are away from the world, that everyday you head out to the sea and return to watch the Sun set. My day was made even more wonder full when the same path took a turn and opened up to Dias Beach. Dias Beach is just behind the Prianah hotel. It is the worlds smallest beach but again the view, especially of the night sky is amazing. The most amazing place where you can sit with some beer looking at the stars and sleep on the sand.
Next was Miramar beach. I dint like it very much personally cause of the crowds and the sand burining my feet but it was on the way so... So what I did discover from my miramar trip was that this was the Goa Univ area. And every university has its hangout joint. The hangout joint here was the Campus/US Pizza restaurant. You get to enjoy a decent beer with amazing pizzas. Yes the fact that a pizza joint is worth mentioning is that apart from the regular pizzas, you can feast on Fisherman's wharf and seafood extravaganza pizza here. What are they? I wont tell you... You have to have one! Another place worth mentioning is a small local eatery which served seafood at dirt cheap rates. Their Crab curry is worth the 60 bucks! We licked our fingers clean!
Just a few 100 mts from this joint is the jetty from where you can go to the floating Casino or take a 30mins cruise with goan cultural events on board. And if you are lucky then you can go for a dolphin cruise. Just inquire at the jetty and you get all the details. From Panaji you can also head out to Old goa if you want to experience the ways of the Portuguese. Homes, churches and streets reflecting the Portuguese raj.
North Goa spurs up just one word in my mind - PARTY .... And yes it lived up to all my expectations. North Goa has a number of good beaches lined up right from the less known Coco beach near Panjim to Padlos beach in the extreme north, bordering Maharashtra. Fort Aguada is the best place to start your North Goa experience. The Best part for me was the FOOD!
Imagine sitting on a raised platform made of wood with cold beer on the table going through a menu with items like oysters in black pepper, squid in oyster sauce, grilled lobster and so on as the sun goes down. Yes this was the exact scene at Anjuna Beach. We decided to give our lunch a skip at Baga because it was too crowded. Instead we went all the way to Chapora Fort, also popular as Dil Chahta Hai Point. For all those who are not satisfied with all the same boring shacks across goa, Anjuna has something different to offer. Curley's a shack with a difference!!
I won't make your job easy...just go to Anjuna and find out where Curley's is!
No maps, no directions...just the sense of direction took us to Palolem. A small village in south goa whose residents are people who have given up the hustle bustle of the city life. A unique place again, which you will have to experience on your own. Along the way there were many beaches to be visited. Majorda, colva etc are long beaches with clean sand and clear water where you can laze around. As expected, being in south goa these beaches were not crowded at all.
A word of advice for those who sunbathe with nothing except the tanning lotion on: If you do not like being gawked at by kids and families or for that matter anybody else! Please avoid North Goa!
Of course, if you are the adventurous types then you can sunbathe anywhere in Goa!
I think I ll stop here cause this post is turning out to be a bit confusing for me. I started writing with something else in mind. All this info and more can be searched up on the net.
To end i would say, that any day i feel that NEED to slow down, Goa is just a night's ride away.
Link - http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Goa+India&ie=UTF8&cd=1&ll=15.417939,73.948975&spn=0.992891,1.2854&t=h&z=10&om=1
 |
| Goa 2004 |
Everyone wants a piece of the Sun, Sand, Seas and of course the Sights that are waiting for you, calling you out, that voice, light as a breeze , even when you are battling with the questions on FCS, writing code in Java, trying to convince yourselves that OP-AMP is just a small electronic device and not a one eyed ogre... Yes somehow during all those exams I was always thinking of my upcoming trip to Goa. I had been to Goa in 1998, thanks to a school trip. I don't remember much of it but the part I do remember is that though we had a lot of fun, the teachers always kept us away from the Sun, Sand, Sea and the Sights. That was the day that I decided that I need to come back and experience all the fun instead of just felling it from a distance.
So, exams ended and I am off to Pune... uhh sorry i forgot to mention that I was going to Goa via Pune as I had some work there. Anyways, flight lands in Pune, work gets done and we reach the Station to get into that train that was going to take us to Goa. We were so disgusted. Confused? Hmmm... actually our tickets were in waiting...124 and 125...the train was supposed to arrive at the station at 1530hrs. At 1500 hrs the waiting was 1 and 2. We really were hoping that we would get a confirmed seat but it was not to be. So we talked to the TT and we were lucky to get sleeper seats instantly! Well Abhinav was not too happy with it(guess he was not used to travel in sleeper class) but there was no other option, so we boarded the train.
Well!! it was damn cold in the night. The train was cruising past the ghats and we did not have blankets or sheets to cover us. Ultimately we had to put our bags on us and sleep. The morning was amazing. The train entered the sleepy towns of Goa. At 0600 hrs we are at Madgaon. The scent of the sea had already filed our lungs. The train moved along slowly giving picturesque views of the beaches along the coast. Vasco arrived and that was the beginning of 8 days of pure fun.
Our guest house was cheap but amazing. Located adjacent to Aldei De Goa (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Goa+India&ie=UTF8&cd=1&ll=15.453639,73.844647&spn=0.031023,0.040169&t=h&z=15&om=1), the two rooms, a bathroom and a small hall for 30 bucks a day flat!! Our breakfast was typical local food costing just about the same. By the end of the trip we had spent a total of 500 bucks on accommodation and breakfast! All thanx to my mom whose office had a guest house there! The location was on a hill facing the sea with the quiet Bambolim beach a 5 minutes walk downhill.
Goa is an explorers paradise. Except snow(oh come on!...You never get everything in one place!) you'll get to experience everything and anything here. The lifestyle is very laid back, people are very helpful and the calmness on their face gives you the sign that YES this place is 365 days on a holiday.
If you want to explore entire Goa then you should stay in or around Panjim. The accommodation in Panjim varies from low cost rooms to luxury hotels. Its best to reach there and ask the cab guy or a local for the cheapest options available. Panjim is a small city and as such does not have much to see. First thing you should do when you reach Goa is hire a vehicle. Two wheelers are preferred due to their high mileage and they are available cheap. Rent for two wheelers vary from 150 per day for a bike like splendor to 350 per day for a semi cruiser. We took a pulsar that cost us 250 per day.
The first spot we hit was the Dona Paula Viewpoint
(http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Goa+India&ie=UTF8&cd=1&ll=15.451829,73.802333&spn=0.007756,0.010042&t=h&z=17&om=1). The story goes that two lovers with the same names committed suicide here. This place is like your regular tourist place where the package tour organizers will take you. We went there because the friendly guest house caretaker told us that this place had a decent eating place. Well the place was decent. We had a small stint with the Goan cuisine and we were satisfied. Dish Of the Day: Chicken 65!
The Dona Paula spot gives amazing views of the Arabian Sea and has few water sports, but just for namesake only. What caught my eye was this small house towards the east of the spot. On inquiring about it I found out that its an abandoned house belonging to a fisherman.
The path to that house was not known. Still that fellow gave me a slight idea and I was off. The path lay in between the Prianah hotel and a small house. As i followed it, I reached this amazing place. It was on red porous stone. Small hut with nets lying here and there carelessly and a boat kept tied along the shore. Small crabs played around here and there. The place just gives you the feeling that you are away from the world, that everyday you head out to the sea and return to watch the Sun set. My day was made even more wonder full when the same path took a turn and opened up to Dias Beach. Dias Beach is just behind the Prianah hotel. It is the worlds smallest beach but again the view, especially of the night sky is amazing. The most amazing place where you can sit with some beer looking at the stars and sleep on the sand.
Next was Miramar beach. I dint like it very much personally cause of the crowds and the sand burining my feet but it was on the way so... So what I did discover from my miramar trip was that this was the Goa Univ area. And every university has its hangout joint. The hangout joint here was the Campus/US Pizza restaurant. You get to enjoy a decent beer with amazing pizzas. Yes the fact that a pizza joint is worth mentioning is that apart from the regular pizzas, you can feast on Fisherman's wharf and seafood extravaganza pizza here. What are they? I wont tell you... You have to have one! Another place worth mentioning is a small local eatery which served seafood at dirt cheap rates. Their Crab curry is worth the 60 bucks! We licked our fingers clean!
Just a few 100 mts from this joint is the jetty from where you can go to the floating Casino or take a 30mins cruise with goan cultural events on board. And if you are lucky then you can go for a dolphin cruise. Just inquire at the jetty and you get all the details. From Panaji you can also head out to Old goa if you want to experience the ways of the Portuguese. Homes, churches and streets reflecting the Portuguese raj.
North Goa spurs up just one word in my mind - PARTY .... And yes it lived up to all my expectations. North Goa has a number of good beaches lined up right from the less known Coco beach near Panjim to Padlos beach in the extreme north, bordering Maharashtra. Fort Aguada is the best place to start your North Goa experience. The Best part for me was the FOOD!
Imagine sitting on a raised platform made of wood with cold beer on the table going through a menu with items like oysters in black pepper, squid in oyster sauce, grilled lobster and so on as the sun goes down. Yes this was the exact scene at Anjuna Beach. We decided to give our lunch a skip at Baga because it was too crowded. Instead we went all the way to Chapora Fort, also popular as Dil Chahta Hai Point. For all those who are not satisfied with all the same boring shacks across goa, Anjuna has something different to offer. Curley's a shack with a difference!!
I won't make your job easy...just go to Anjuna and find out where Curley's is!
No maps, no directions...just the sense of direction took us to Palolem. A small village in south goa whose residents are people who have given up the hustle bustle of the city life. A unique place again, which you will have to experience on your own. Along the way there were many beaches to be visited. Majorda, colva etc are long beaches with clean sand and clear water where you can laze around. As expected, being in south goa these beaches were not crowded at all.
A word of advice for those who sunbathe with nothing except the tanning lotion on: If you do not like being gawked at by kids and families or for that matter anybody else! Please avoid North Goa!
Of course, if you are the adventurous types then you can sunbathe anywhere in Goa!
I think I ll stop here cause this post is turning out to be a bit confusing for me. I started writing with something else in mind. All this info and more can be searched up on the net.
To end i would say, that any day i feel that NEED to slow down, Goa is just a night's ride away.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Goa Express
Though I was born 1500 km. away from this amazing state, there was something inside(andar ki awaaz!) me always longing to visit Maharashtra. A longing that is on the verge of transforming into a mania. Every time ( i visited almost every summer) I would begin that 2 day train journey from Delhi in the 3 tier sleeper compartment of the ‘oh so boring Goa express’ there would be a sense of excitement. My parents hated this part of the journey because it used to be hot with ‘loo’ blowing during that season(May) in the states the train went through, the toilets were shit holes(yes they were..really!) and 2 days on the clumsy births was just too much for them. Come on! they were on vacation they need to travel in luxury…vacation is like that 2 weeks you save from work…savings which come at the cost of going to office during sickness…. But anyways they were willing to bear all this because we could not afford to travel in aeroplanes or Air Conditioned trains. BUT hey I was a kid so toodles to all troubles, what are the parents for!!
My grandma used to say that - ‘ sagla diwas nachat rahto…eka zagah war basat yet nai ka?!’ ( You keep on moving here and there all day long..can’t you be sit stable at one place?!). And she knew that i was a nomad…a traveler…why wouldn’t she? She raised me till i was 5. Anyways, this probably was the reason that the 2 day journey never bothered me. Every kilometer the diesel engine chugged through, brought me closer to this mystique land. And the wait for the promised land is not void of fillers! There are vendors selling all sorts of stuff. From chilled water to noodles to slush in a long plastic tube which was the Kiddies favorite!
The route that this particular train used to take is also pretty interesting. You pass through numerous rusty, rickety, log, short, metallic, cemented bridges, cruising past Rajasthan the hot loo making it unbearable to sit without the usual conversations of the treachery of the summer heat. Then there is the rugged chambal ghat with its quota of fear. Many dacoits are still known to rule these areas(the last one was arrested years before i was born..but what the heck! it makes the journey more adventurous!!). Then two huge bridges back to back, one of Narmada and the other of Tapi. Both shaking slightly as the train went from one end to other. After this was the Maharashtra border. The electric locomotive is replaced by a diesel one at Manmad. It is here where you get a taste the of he geographical wonders of Maharashtra. Just as your train is entering the Manmad junction, on your left you can see a small mountain with a thumb on the top. I always used to feel that whoever built that huge thumb up there(actually it was just the wind eroding the mountain top away to create this thumbs up sign) was trying to say - Good luck mate...you just entered Maharashtra!. Any ways, after this is the Daund junction with the amazing mangoes. There are mango shake shops all around the platform. People are going crazy over mangoes! Its like you don't get mangoes anywhere in the world!!!
After Daund the last and the best part of the train journey begins. The train is meandering through the ghats(mountain range)! The track is in mid air, connecting one mountain after another. The train going slow as if wanting you to feast your sights. The rugged beaten down mountains standing still holding with them the track made by something like a snake. Eroded by the wind over thousands of years, witnesses to battles between Shivaji Maharaj, the Mughals and the British. Of all the people we met on the train, I liked the Gujratis a lot. Maybe because of the fact that they were gastronomically more well equipped than us. They always carried their food(for at least 90% of the time), their meal was a full 3 course meal with starters, main course, desert and tongue tingling digestive stuff! And the best part was that they always prepared more than what was required because they somehow just knew that I was gonna travel with them on the adjacent birth!
As the train moves on, night falls and our destination arrives. Miraj, a small sleepy town near our destination Sangli. We take our luggage, get down on the small platform and bid the train goodbye. And as i see the train leave, I keep telling myself that I have to go to Goa in this train someday(yes i did...later on that!). With this we took an auto(rick) at 1 in the night and headed to our destination.
Yeah….’again’ cause someone hacked my last blog and wrote crap in it or maybe I am just trying to cover up for some screwed up shit I wrote on (when I say this particular word always prefix ‘the almighty’)..(o.k now!) Internet. But again we(all of us), even if some of us don’t lie, would sometimes, tell half truth. So, basically nothing I say or tell might be completely true. Its all probability and assumptions that might make you to believe what I write here. But again why do we blog( I don’t know?!). To show off our writing skills, to show off our latest pictures, to publicize our work, hobbies, culture…whatever.
the reason might be…I am taking out time from my lazy time to write these words( i suck at spellings as you’ll come to know) just because some people(you suckers what are you smiling about?!! this is my blog and I wont mention your name here…Heee) told me that I have too a many wild, weird, black and white, blue, cold, abstract thoughts and experiences that they need to know about on a timely basis.
So basically this is the space where you are going to read stuff that I write and see pictures that I want you to see. Comments, criticism etc. are hole heartedly welcome(i can always delete them man so no worries!). And yes I am not being sarcastic by writing all these words in the brackets but that is me being as honest as i can be on Internet(you forgot to say the almighty…k now say it again!).
And for the ones who really matter…. come on guys and get a life! Get off your bum and move from that chair you have been sitting(and pressing the refresh button again and again and again just to see whether that scrap count of yours has gone up or not) on for so long (that it has got your ass print on it now!) and do something productive.
Finally, Enjoy people.
\/ Peace
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