Can it be more worse??

I think by this time you all know that most of my posts about Hyderabad is about its traffic and also its my favourite topic. I can write volumes about Traffic in Hyderabad as traffic is never the same and most unpredictable. As I spend my 1/8 of my day i.e., 3 hours in traffic every day(on a 2 wheeler) I think I have the qualification and eligibility to write and talk about it.

In the past I have talked about Traffic, Attitude of the people who are driving, Traffic when it rains, People voilating traffic rules, People crossing the roads, Unpredictable traffic, How one breakdown can halt traffic for hours. If you are guessing what is left to write about traffic? Here we go.......

Yesterday I left work early, i.e., at 6 PM as I got to fix my PC at home as it was getting postponed everyday. It rained heavily in the afternoon and it was drizzling when I started. Traffic was a bit smooth till Begumpet(Lifestyle) Flyover, which surprised me a little bit. I ignored that surprise as it was just 6 PM and the evening traffic would have not started yet.

From here the struggle started. From Lifestyle to Nagarjuna circle, its around 3 or 4 Kms, the complete strech was jammed and the traffic was stand still. After 20 minute wait in the traffic I could see 5 Tata Safaris escorted with a dozen police vehicles zooming in the opposite direction. If you are not familiar with this, its our dear Chief Minister zooming with his escort putting public in such plight.

With much difficulty I crossed Nagarjuna Circle and again at Hitec city there was a huge traffic jam(which is normal) but yesterday even at green the vehicles were moving at snail pace. When I moved ahead I could see broke down cab in the middle of the road all this for one cab. So I cooled myself down as I will reach my home in another 20 minutes or so and at last at 7.40 Pm I reached home.

So at sweet home, at home I realized that there was no power due to rain and heavy winds. So much for thinking to reach home early!!

Let me sum up everything now! Roads flooded due to rain, most of the road occupied by construction equipment for the construction of fly overs, Roads dug out by water/telephone department, Traffic stopped for VIP, Vehicle brake down in the middle of the road and not to mention the worst condition of the roads with pot and man holes. Also, no power at home!! Can it be more worse? Can I ask for more?

On the street....

Yesterday I was in some strange incident. This happened when one of my friend came to meet me when I was at work yesterday. I took a break and went down for Tea, he took tea and we both were chatting standing near the tea stall.

I noticed that one beggar - a not so old lady was coming our way. I quickly searched my pockets for some change and got only one 50 paisa coin. Usually I do not encourage begging, I give to beggars only by quickest judgment I take in a fraction of a second by seeing at their age, condition and face. If the beggar is handicapped or too old only I give something.

But somehow when I saw this beggar I felt that I have to give something. So, when she gave near me I gave her the 50 paisa coin I had with me. Immediately her expression changed and she was still standing in front of us and asking for some more. I told her that I do not have any change to give her and when she looked at my friend asking for something, he said "we already gave so move on". Her reply was "Aatana ki emi vastundi?"(What we will get for 50 paisa).

I was shocked and my reply was "If you don’t get anything, gimme the 50 Paisa back". At that moment I think she was shocked and she moved on. I understand that 50 paisa is not of much value these days but....it that so bad?

Now a days, what I have observed that if you give anything less than 2 rupees, the beggars are not satisfied. I guess begging should be renamed as "Demanding". I see people without any physical problems, middle aged people and women carrying infants begging on streets. I feel that they are just in for easy money.

The worst part is small children begging on the streets. I am strongly against children in begging profession and I never encourage it. If any child is begging and is after me, if that guy convinces me that he is really hungry, I will buy him some food but never give money. I know that even if we are generous and give some money to these children, most part of it would go to their operator or leader. I will talk about Street children at length sometime later, but if you have any ideas or suggestions on improving their life please do send me an email @ bharani.surineni@gmail.com

The current Government recently launched a drive to irradiate beggars on the street and give them some livelihood. But as far as I know it was a one day show and no one knows what happened to that program, it was just left to hoardings and paper advertisements. Even if the government really want to do something to the beggars, I guess it will not succeed unless the beggars are interested in it.

I am not sure how other countries are managing this problem but I feel that the government should take some strict initiatives to ban begging and give some alternate work to those people. If that happens, it will be a great help to the country and the people.

You are Indian if...

Hilarious Stuff, but so true....(atleast most of it)

You are Indian if...

1. Everything you eat is savored In garlic, onion and tomatoes.
2. You try and reuse gift wrappers, gift boxes, and of course aluminum foil.
3. You try to eject food particles from between your teeth by pressing your tongue against them and making a peculiar noise like, tshick,tshick, tschick, tschick.
4. You are standing next to the two largest size suitcases at the Airport.
5. You arrive one or two hours late to a party - and think its normal.
6. You peel the stamps off letters that the Postal Service missed to mark up.
7. You recycle Wedding Gifts.
8. You name your children in rhythms (example, Honey & Money, Sita & Gita, Ram & Shyam.
9. All your children have pet names, which sound nowhere close to their real names.
10. You take Indian snacks anywhere it says "No Food Allowed"
11. You talk for an hour at the front door when leaving someone's house.
12. You load up the family car with as many people as possible.
13. You use plastic to cover anything new in your house whether it's the remote control, VCR, carpet or new couch.
14. Your parents tell you to not care what your friends think but they won't let you do certain things because of what the other "Uncles and Aunties" will think.
15. You buy and display crockery, which is for special occasions, which never happen.
16. You have a vinyl tablecloth on your kitchen table.
17. You use grocery bags to hold garbage.
18. You keep leftover food in your fridge in as many numbers of bowls as possible.
19. Your kitchen shelf is full of jam jars, varieties of bowls and plastic utensils (got free with some household items).
20. You carry a stash of your own food whenever you travel (and travel means any car ride longer than 15 minutes).
21. You own a rice cooker or a pressure cooker.
22. You fight over who pays the dinner bill.
23. You majored in engineering, medicine or law and now........are after Software and only Software no matter which field you belong to
24. You live with your parents and you are 40 years old. (And they prefer it that way).
25. You don't use measuring cups when cooking.
26. You feel like you've gotten a good deal if you didn't pay tax.
27. You never learnt how to stand in a queue.
28. You can only travel if there are 5 persons at least to see you off or receive you whether you are traveling by bus, train or plane.
29. If she is NOT your daughter, you always take interest in knowing whose daughter has run with whose son and feel proud to spread it at the velocity of more than the speed of light.
30. You only make long distance calls after 11p.m.
31. If you don't live at home, when your parents call, they ask if you've eaten, even if it's midnight.
32. You call an older person you never met before "uncle."
33. When your parents meet strangers and talk for a few minutes, you discover you're talking to a distant cousin.
34. Your parents don't realise phone connections to foreign countries have improved in the last two decades, and still scream at the top of their lungs when making foreign calls.
35. You have bed sheets on your sofas so as to keep them away from getting dirty.
36. When dining out, you think Rs 10 is enough of a tip.
37. It's embarrassing if your wedding has less than 600 people.
38. You list your daughter as "fair and slim" in the matrimonial no matter what she looks like. 39. You treat the NRI persons (especially from America) as if they are the only persons living in this world (including YOU).
40. You've seen the ground while inside the lavatory of a train.
41. All your tupperware is stained with food color.
42. You have drinking glasses made of steel.
43. You have mastered the art of bargaining in shopping.
44. You have really enjoyed reading this post and refer this to as many Indians as possible

Grrr...rrrr....Anger......Anger Management!

You people may wonder if I am starting a course in Anger Management or I am about to lecture on it...Anta Scene ledu lendi! I know that I am not the right person to preach about that. People who generally know me never believe that I sometimes get real angry and people who know me from many years, they know how bad it is. Its because I maintain my cool most of the times, even if there is a volcano inside me I look normal ...Volcano anaka apudapudu peltundi kada andi....very rarely Volcano's burst right, its the same with me.

Anger in one thing that I am sure everyone of us get..Manishi anaka epudo oka sari kopam vastundi kadandi, uppu karam tuntamu kada! Kopam raka potey manamu manushalamu ela avutamu? Mahatmulu avutamu kani :-) The key thing is how we control it. I guess many people show their anger in many ways, when it comes to me(which it rarely comes) I also show it in my way and it has a logic.

I believe that people are more important than anything else! when I say anything, its absolutely anything. I show my anger on things around or with me. 'cause I believe that things can always be got or bought back. But people once gone rarely come back. This is the moral I learnt from innumerable past experiences.

As I mentioned earlier, things that are eaten by my anger can be absolutely anything. The most common thing that always breaks is my mobile, it the only thing which is with me always.

My recent victim was my Nokia 9300i Communicator. Damn, I miss it a lot. It was my access to Internet, my organiser to remind me of the tasks to do, birthdays, anniversary's and stuff, My data bank and information store.

My poor Nokia 9300i Communicator till last week:

My Nokia 9300i Communicator Now and Forever:

Hydera'BAD' Times.........

I am sure all of us know what went on with Hyderabad City on the evening of 25'Th August 2007, 2 bomb blasts rocked the city. These blasts occurred in such places where people come to spend their time during the weekends. Woman, Children, Youngsters gather at these places to spend their weekend happily and shed their stress accumulated during the weekdays. I cant imagine how barbaric, the people who executed these blasts can be - targeting common man and killing innocent people.

I was born and living in Hyderabad for past 27 years and never in the past that I felt so bad for my city. I never saw Hyderabad as a city. For me, its a feeling, its a culture and a taste to savor. Hyderabad is known for the friendly natured people, mixture of all religions/cultures, work hard and party hard mind sets(I have questions on work hard but with party hard, no questions asked) and not to forget Hyderabadi Biryani. I know that acts like these may slow us down a bit but cannot stop us.

I was in Warangal on this weekend for a friends marriage and when I entered the city yesterday evening, I was shocked to see Hyderabad so dull and silent on a weekend. The sight of Necklace road and NTR marg almost made my eyes wet. There was nothing compared to a normal weekend in Hyderabad. Normally you do not get a place to park your vehicle, a seat to sit in eat street, every square inch of the lawns are filled with people enjoying their weekend and the roads are set on fire by the bikes and cars(with loud music). Without all these, somehow I felt like I was somewhere else.

I know one thing is for sure, Incidents like these may shake the foundations of physical structures but I am sure they cannot touch our strong culture and bonding. Lets be strong, face the reality and keep our city safe.

Saala Ek Machar......

"Saala Ek Machar, Admi ko Hijra banadeta hai" if one of the famous dilouge of Nana Patekar in a Hindi movie. In english it traslates to "One Mosquito can make a man Eunuch". You might be wondering why the hell I am mentioning it right now? read on.......

Yesterday, I finished my work at 7 PM and as my Mom was going out of station and I got to drop her at the Bus Stand I "thought" I will rush back home. Once I was on the road, I came to know that this "thought" .....ha ha....."thought"...remained just as a "thought".

The traffic was literally bumper to bumper, saying bumper sticking to bumper is also not exaggerating. So, I got into the band wagon of vehicles with endless wait time. From my work to Begumpet Flyover(Lifestyle), it took around 40 minutes. For those who are not familiar with the distance, it took me 40 minutes to creep a distance of 1 Km.

With my mouth filled with bad words and curses, I moved inch by inch and when I came on to the Begumpet Flyover, I saw that there was a broke down Maruti Zen in the middle of the road - All this chaos of one small car. That's the situation of the roads in Hyderabad, one small discord on the road can stop the traffic for hours and anyone cant do anything about it!

So, that's what I call, Saala Ek Machar, Admi ko Hijra banadeta hai!

It took me solid 1 hour 45 minutes to reach home that's a distance of 17 Kms. After this, I could not drive my bike as my head was 100 times heavier and I felt like there were 100 ,000 bells ringing inside. So, I took my Mom to the bus Stand in an Auto, gave her send off and it was 10.45 PM by then.

Another problem starts if you are on Hyderabad roads after 10.30(nearing 11 pm) and you are looking for an auto. The auto Drivers get authoritative and demand a certain fare with will be much grater than the normal fare. For me ,no one was at least stopping to talk about the fare.

I lingered around for few minutes and and there comes my saviour, a big huge, black color, three wheeled steering auto, in common terms 7-seater auto which will stop for you any where on the road at your slightest indication with any part of your body. So this was my life's first ride in a 7-seater auto , though bumpy and rough it took me to my destination.

It was a tiresome day and after a hot bath at 11.30 pm did not even care to have dinner - I just hit the bed.

My 3 sets of new buddies!!

My Fish Bowl full of life again*

Yesterday I got myself 3 sets of new pals. A pair if tiger fish, a pair of Goldie's and a pair of sharks(that's what the shop guy called them). Fish's are not new to me, this time its like a new fish in an old bowl :-).

I had pet fishes earlier. There are few problems when having fishes as pets. They are very delicate and any small negligence like putting some extra food or not cleaning the bowl for long time and sometimes even hot temperatures can kill them. So, When my last sucker fish died last summer, I thought I will not buy more fish till the climate gets cooler.

Last month, I asked my mom to take out the fish bowl, clean it and keep it ready, but did not get time to go to an aquarium to get fishes. Yesterday, While I was talking to one of my colleague regarding pets, I thought that I have to get fish today at any cost and I got them.

I have been having fishes right from my school days, of course not continuously. Back then I used to pester my mom to buy big jars of complan and other items so that after the stuff in it got over, I get to keep my fishes in it.

So, have to see how long this episode goes. I will try my Best to maintain the fishes and pray for their long life!!

* The above shot, I have to click many pictures to get all the fishes in on shot.

Tata's 1 Lakh car!

Here is the quick preview of the the most awaited car for next year, Tata's One Lakh car:

*Click on the pictures to enlarge and read the text.

For the people or far from people?

Former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln defined democracy in terms of government of the people, by the people, for the people in his most famous speech of Gettysburg. But what today's government is doing? read on....

Yesterday when I was on my daily route to work which is bound to have many obstacles - Traffic Jams, at Somajiguda circle I sensed that the traffic and the number of vehicles which were bumper to bumper are considerably more than they usually should be. Having nothing to to do, I also got linked into the vehicular chain which was moving at snail pace.

Seeing security at the either sides of the road and couple of cop vehicles I though that, the Chief Minister whose house is very near might be on his way to work and for that reason cops might have stopped the normal traffic.

When I reached the circle just few meters from where I was stuck in traffic in 20 minutes, I found that what I thought was wrong. Actually the Chief Minister was sitting on a dais made in the circle and someone was speaking to the crowd.

After quick scan of the posters, banners and vehicles in the surrounding area, I came to know that yesterday was Rajiv Gandhi's Birth anniversary or something. One thing I hate here is political groups take normal people's time and effort for granted and just block the roads without any prior notice or information. At least they can't even put a sign for diversion that the road ahead is blocked. I have to go to the place where the action is happening and take a route back and go through a different route.

A small diversion board would have saved the time of thousands of people. Amidst the traffic while I was moving slowly, the speech from the loud speakers was faintly getting registered in my mind. I sensed that there is something wrong with the speech and I realized that the speech was going on in English...yes in English by some local politician. I did not get to turn and see who it was but I was sure that he was just reading a speech which was already prepared.

Admiring the courage and initiative taken by politician I was struggling my way through the traffic. I felt something else is not right in the scene I am seeing in front of me. I was awestruck by seeing the audience to whom the speech was being addressed to. Just by seeing, we can clearly notice that they are mobs of people who come to the city for such political activities from the surrounding villages for sake for 100/200 rupees with food supplied.

All this drama for nothing. Cant they organize such meetings in some grounds rather putting them in the middle of the road interrupting/disturbing thousands of people and wasting their time?

I know, I do not have an answer for this question! 'cause the only time the government comes to people and listens to them is only during the elections and I will give my strong answer at that time only!!

More encounters with class reptelia!!!

After many weeks I got time to our weekend photography expeditions. This time the gang was big- Sajjad, Afra & Saif(Sajjads daughter and son), Vivek, Shyam, Veeru, Sai and me. When we started we decided that we will go past BHEL to some village and fields. After crossing BHEL en route to Lahari resorts an old, abandoned distillery factory caught our eye. So we parked our vehicles on the road and started walking into the fields to the abandoned plant. Due to the rain the earth was loose and the drizzle from the top added much excitement.

The factory looked like it was abandoned for 30 years or so. we were just examining the plant roaming around and clicking our way through. We saw a small monitor lizard in one of the oil tank. by its behavior that it might have slipped into the tank and it was stuck in there as the walls of the tank were very oily and the the water also had much amount of oil.

The lizard caught in oil tank

We were thinking ways to get that lizard out of the tank, Veeru brought along broken branch of a tree to help save the lizard. Sajjad and Shyam after playing around much and coaxing the lizard, they were able to bring out the lizard with the help of the branch.

Shyam and Sajjad, bringing the lizard out of the oil tank.

Being a reptile freak, I was waiting for the lizard to be brought up so that I can have some close encounters. Also, its been a while I did not get close to any reptiles after the adventure with a snake few months back. The lizard was very weak and not that much agile. So, we were able to garb it easily. We cleaned up its body which had an oil coat, clicked some photographs, examined the animal and left it in to the bushes. one more reason to leave it quickly is Snoopy, the pretty dash hound which was getting freaked out seeing the lizard.

Me and a Monitor Lizard :-)

Few clicks before setting the lizard free

After this amazing experience we were strolling in the field and saw few of the slowest guys on the field. I never seen Snails these big and so co-operative, they were not hiding in the shell even after me picking up those and examining them.

Snail - I had to put this guy in my lap to get some good close ups.

One another colourful creature we saw in the fields was a millipede. Its beautiful color, thousands of legs, dexterity amazed us.

Millipede

I have seen this blood sucker on TV but never seen it up close fore real. this time I got to see the blood sucker of the animal world the "Leech". For my wonder its upper skin was rough, not smooth.

Leech - Dracula of animal world.

We strolled more in the green fields admiring the fresh air and beautiful climate for couple of hours and called it a day.

The gang(L to R) Afra, Shyam, Vivek, Sajjad, Veeru, Sai, Saif

We all went to home with some of the beautiful and amazing memories to cherish.

I will post the complete pictures of the trip once I get some time to edit and upload them.

B's back......!!!!

I aaaaammmmmmmm Baaaaaaaaaaaaccckkkkkkkkk.

Back from Shiridi trip with family, it was a long and tiresome trip. Got off the train, freshened up and got to work. Its my second trip to Shiridi in past 30 days

I have lots of views, news and photographs to share. I will post the details once I get some time off work.

D.R.E.A.M...?

More glimpses from "The day I lived again"..

Last weekend as I described it as "The day I lived again" and my friend Pavan described it as "Meeting with God postponed" was an unforgettable experience in my life. Before you go ahead and see the pictures below just, just read my post about this adventure, so that you have an idea of what you are seeing. If you have already read it..go ahead...(All these pictures are from Ashok's camera clicked by rest of the gang.)

The below photo is at the back of the dhaba. I was taking the picture of a Centipede here:

The below picture is at Pochara water falls. JaiRam looks on while I am busy composing the shot:

On top of the world(Pavan and me):

I was composing the shot where Pavan jumps from one rock to another in the below picture:

I was clicking the Gang here:

Anything for a perfect shot:

L'Oreal Studio to Local Barber, I have seen it all ;-):

Examining the trek before we start of:

In the middle of action(thanks to Canon s3 is 48x zoom). One wrong step at this point, no more posts on this blog ;-) :

Another one:

Just to give you the idea of the height. The red circle in the below picture is where we stand half way down and the red line shows the path we have taken to trek down. From here the slippery part starts.....

Kuntala, the complete picture:

On the slippery part, it was difficult for me to get grip at most of the places and at one point I slipped. I slipped for 3 or 4 feet down and in a fraction of a second, my fingers found a small crack in the rock to which I hung on. The thought which came to my mind at this point is of Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 2 with the background score in my head.(I know its too much but that’s what I felt). From this point I thought I will slide down on my bum slowly with my hands and legs getting grip on the rocks. One slip here will send us crashing down the fall....

Celebration of being alive:

Pondering on the trek:

My new hobby!...will it grow to be my passion?

When I think back on how my hobbies change or come in, one logical pattern I get is that I have a new hobby every season. In summer this year my hobby was photography, it turned into my passion later on. So, once a hobby becomes passion it is forever, I will never loose interest on it.

Lately I have been playing Carroms at my friends place every weekend. We were so much addicted to it that couple of weeks back we were awake whole night till 4.30 am playing Carroms, it was a new hobby.

One reason for thinking to go for a Carrom Board is the thought that my passion for Computer Games is putting me and most of my free time in virtual world. So I thought I need some change and wanted to get back to traditional games.(Also the power fluctuations at my home which my PC cannot not handle is also one of the reason :-))


My new board
I do not know if it will turn to passion or not but I am kind of a person who seeks for the best in what I do. So, I thought I will gift myself with a Carrom Board and start playing at home. Last weekend due to the trip, I did not get time to buy a Carrom board. Yesterday when my friend Vivek called and told that he is on leave the idea struck. I asked him to come to my work place and from there we both went to a sports store.

Once we were there, the sales man showed us different models and obviously my mind got fixed on the best one available in the store. The sales man said this is the one which is used for international tournaments and he was asking me for the purpose I was buying the board, if was tournaments for of an MNC. My answer was for "personal home use". He was a bit shocked but I told him my motive that when I take something I want to go for the best so that it will stand the test of time and I will have a feeling that I got the best one.

I bought the board for Rs.3000, which I felt that it worth the money after seeing the local boards. Now the toughest part is to have the board transported to my home which is 22 Kms away from the store and the traffic. The board was very heavy, I bet is is easily more than 14 kilograms. My friend drove the bike and I sat at the back holding the board and without much effort we reached home.

Everyone at home were pleased with the board but a bit unhappy about the price, I convinced them..he he he like I always do. I and my brother played few boards at the night till 12 midnight and I hit the bed.

I think it will take some time to answer the question if Carroms became my Passion or not. For now its a hobby. :-)

After effects!!

Last weekend's trip to Kuntala and Pochara waterfalls was an amazing and unforgettable experience to me. The trip cut into our sleep time and I did not catch up sleep for 2 days.

Saturday night I had slept for couple of hours and complete Sunday, I was on the road from morning 10 to night 1 due to some or the other work. I think due to lack of sleep or something my body was tired and when I was in one of my friends home my nose caught a weired smell of haldi in the air and it got irritated.

From evening 5 to night 1, I guess I would have sneezed at least 500+ times. My body was getting more tired of this continuous sneezing. I came home Sunday night drenched, thanks to the rain which added much to the plight.

Yesterday I thought of bunking office but there was nothing for me to do and I thought instead of sitting in front of the computer at home., I would do the same at work. At least there will be someone to talk and time will pass doing something or the other.

By evening my head grew 100 timer heavier and it was like 1000 hammers banging from inside.

So, lesson learnt. When ever we go for a trip or outing, take sufficient rest before you start of with regular chores.

The day I lived again!

When I say this I mean it and I am sure when you all read this post you will agree with me. This is going to be a long one to read so, I appreciate your patience in this regard in advance ;-).

From long time we we planning for a trip to Nandi hills(Chickballapur) 50 Kms from Banglore but due to some or the other reasons it was getting postponed. So this time we all thought that if not Banglore we will plan a 1 day trip nearby. So the idea of Kuntala and Pochara water falls came up. These water falls are in a small small village named Bodh (it comes up 60 Kms before Adilabad town) in Adilabad district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.

We finalized to start at friday night from office after Ashok's and Pavan's shift and the trip started..read on....

Date: 3'rd August 2007, Friday.
Time: Past 11.30 pm
Gang: Jairam, Pavan, Ashok and me
Transportation: Santro Xing
Fuel: 30 liters petrol, Beer, Vodca
Distance: App. 250 Kms(one way)
Other Equipment: Canon S3 is(Ashok), Nikon L7(Pavan), Sony H2 & tripod(me)

Started off from office, JaiRam pushing the peddle on the high way for the first time. Halted at A1 Dabha in medchal, fueled up and started again. being monsoon the climate was awesome all the way with lots of wing and showers here and there. We stopped on the highway couple of times for enjoying the cool breeze and of course nature calls.

Date: 4'th July 2007, Saturday.
Time: Past 05.00 am

We reached the ghat road in between and enjoyed the view. It was green...green..green.. everywhere. The clouds touching the forest of the hill, cool breeze and monsoon forest, it felt like we can stay there forever.

Above: Ghat road, Forest and the clouds

Above:The Gang (left to right) - Ashok, Jairam, me and pavan.

Reached dabha at Bodh at around 6.30 am. gave the dhaba vala breakfast order and checked out the surroundings clicking and having fun talk.

We spent hour and a half there admiring the scenic views and enjoying the freshness in the air. Not to forget clicking around some snaps.

Pavan on the Hutch tower at the Dhaba

Got info from the dhaba guy that it will take another hour for preparing the order and we thought we will first cover Pochara water fall which is the smaller one and come back for breakfast and then head for Kuntala.

At Pochara we walked around for a while clicking, talking and exploring the place. we all freshed up with the wered thootpaste Ashok got, its called Meswak. Pavan did not take any chance with Meswak, instead he used his left over Kingfisher to fresh up.

Freshing up in the morning

Jairam @ Pochara waterfalls

Came back to dhaba from Pochara. All were hungry and we all pounced on the paratas, tomato curry, egg burghi and dal fry he made for us. After having a hearty breakfast, it was a time to relax. So was saw a local barber shop(shop..??) right beside the dhaba and all except JaiRam had an oil massage. I also had my hair trimmed. ha ha ha...from L’Oreal studio to Local, I covered it all.....LOL. Breakfast getting ready at the dhaba.

Ashok enjoying his massage

After the massage, we all started to Kuntala. I had no idea of what I am about to see. We reached Kuntala at around 10 am and the drive was awesome with greenery on both sides, small villages and things we never see in our busy city lives.

We were welcomed at Kuntala by a board which describes its history and astonishingly with the list of people who died here accordantly and how they died.


Board at Kuntala, we can see the list of people who died here at the bottom.

I forgot to mention that just 2 days before we were here, 4 JNTU students were washed off here, and were found dead later. What makes this place dangerous is the huge crack at the bottom of the falls where whirlpools form due to the force of the water falling from the top and people who slip in, go straight into the whirlpools and there ends the story.

When we reached Kuntala we were the first group for the day. Ashok and JaiRam decided to take the steps down and Pavan and me fixed upon to trek downwards. Just look at the picture below which I took later, to see the path we took to trekked down the hill and see the height of the rock.


The path we took to climb down the hill

Once we started to climb down the hill there wes no looking back. There was not a bit of fear in me, I was testing my courage and confidence. And with Pavan by my side encouraging me always it was a ride of my life.

At two points on our down climb, one zillionth of fear creped in was when I was having my both hands on two cliffs stretched and my left foot on a small ledge and my eyes searching for a place to put my right foot. Any wrong step at this point would send us crashing down the rocks and a sure ride to hell/heaven. Got a hand from Pavan and pulled myself up and got a place for my right foot.

By this time we were half way down the hill and when we were there we realized that the toughest part is still in front of us. Till here the rocks were dry but from here downwards the rocks were wet, and with green algae forming here and there our chances of slipping were more. I and Pavan sat there for a while enjoying the breeze and the water of the powerful falls getting sprayed on us. We were reluctant to move from there but the camera in my hand and all our mobiles and wallets in the bag Pavan was carrying made us move.

Pavan @ half way down, rocks get wet and slippary from here

It was difficult for me to get grip at most of the places and at one point I slipped. I slipped for 3 or 4 feet down and in a fraction of a second, my fingers found a small crack in the rock to which I hung on. The thought which came to my mind at this point is of Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 2(I know its too much but that’s what I felt). Again with the help of Pavan I got my grip on the rock and from here I thought I will slide down on my bum slowly with my hands and legs getting grip on the rocks.

And we were down, it was a moment of triumph. The moment I trashed my fear to death and adrenalin was on full pressure in my blood.

Moment of triumph...the day I proved once again that I control my fear, not the other way.

Natures fury

We met Ashok and JaiRam downstairs and we all squatted on the rocks talking. My eyes just looked the rock in front of me and I tried to trace the patch we took down. The feeling itself sent shivers down my spine. Now people started pouring in and we thought we will call it a day at Kuntala and move on.

We were back to Dhaba, ate Natu kodi(Country Chiken), roti and with liquid fuel.

Celebration for being alive

We were back to our office at 10.30 pm 4'th August 2007. While coming we had lots of fun listening to Iliyaraja's old songs, stopping here and there for tea and stuff.

So the trip came to an end and we all had a time of our lives. I am ending this post wishing that more adventures come my way in future.

More pictures from the trip can be found at Picassa and Flickr.

Anaconda - Synonym for sheer power!

Anaconda lifting the full grown Kangaroo(I guess) from water on to the ledge, holding with its jaw. Click on the above picture to see details.

I think I have mentioned earlier that I have an unknown interest and liking towards snakes. I can watch hours and hours of documentaries and programs about snakes on TV. Getting close to a live wild snake(though it was a small one) couple of months back was my dream come true.

Of all the snakes the Anacondas are the ones which intrigue me the most. Their size, power, patience and dexterity knocks me off my feet.

Anacondas are four species of aquatic boa inhabiting the swamps and rivers of the dense forests of tropical South America. The Yellow Anaconda can be found as far south as Argentina.

Anacondas in the wild spend most of their time in rivers hunting for their food. They are solitary creatures that are thought to be somewhat shy and not many of them are easily seen. They are very well camouflaged in the swamps and bogs in which they thrive. There are some historical reports of early European explorers of the South American jungles seeing giant anacondas up to 110 feet long and some of the native peoples of the South American jungle have reported seeing anacondas up to 50 feet long, although there has been no recorded evidence of anacondas of those sizes having been caught. It is important to note that when a dead anaconda's hide or skin is laid out it can be stretched very easily, expanding to much longer lengths than the snake exhibited when alive. Reports of outsize anacondas that cannot be verified are often due to distortions in perception, or a snake skin being disproportionately stretched and inaccurately measured.

It should be noted that the Wildlife Conservation Society has, since the early 20Th century, offered a large cash reward (now grown to $50,000 USD) for live delivery of any snake of 30 feet or more in length. The prize has never been claimed. Also, in a study of 1000 wild anacondas in Brazil, the largest captured was 17 feet long.

International Standard Serial Number - ISSN

I think we all know that most of the published books have a ISBN (International Standard Book Numbering) number, there is also a numbering system for online publications.

This is managed by ISSN (International Standard Serial Number), it is eight digit number which identifies periodic publications. This also can be used for printed publications, CD ROMs or floppy disks.

ISSN are assigned since the 1970s and universally accepted within the print publishing world as a means of identifying the serials.

Note that ISSN assignment is free of charge !

How to get an ISSN number? Click here.

More information can be found at http://www.issn.org/

I had to fall, to loose it all...But in the end, it doesn't even matter...

I am sure we all have been in such situations before. What ever you do, things will not fall in place or how much ever hard work you put in, it has no results. I relate Such situations to the song In The End by Linkin Park.

The song talks about time, commitment, patience and its a perfect blend of lyrics, composition and pain. If you listen to the song with the lyrics in front, I bet you will relate it to many incidents that had happened in your life.

Also, the video of this song is awesome - simple yet complicated with amazing graphics. I have added the Video of the song below...Enjoy!

In The End by Linkin Park:

It starts with
One thing, I don't know why
It doesn't even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind
I designed this rhyme
To explain due time

All I know,
Time is a valuable thing
Watch it fly by as the pendulum swings
Watch it count down till the end of the day
Clock ticks life away

Its so unreal
You didn't look out below,
Watch the time go right out the window
Tryn to hold on
Didn't even know,
I wasted it all
Just to watch you go
I kept everything inside
And even though I tried
It all fell apart

What its meant to be
Will, eventually be,
A memory of a time,
When I tried so hard and got so far
But in the end, it doesn't even matter...
I had to fall, to loose it all...
But in the end, it doesn't even matter...

One thing, I don't know why
It doesn't even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mindI designed this rhyme
To remind myself
How I tried so hard...

Despite the way you were mocking me
Acting like I was part of your property
Remembering all the times you fought with me
I'm surprised it got so far

Things aren't the way they were before
You wouldn't even recognize me anymore
Not that you knew me back then
But it all comes back to me
In the end...

You kept everything inside
And even though I tried it all fell apart
What it meant to be, will
Eventually, be a memory of a time
When I tried so hard,
And got so far,
But in the end, it doesn't even matter
I had to fall, to loose it all
But in the end, it doesn't even matter

Ive put my trust in you
Pushed as far, as I can go
For all this
Theres only one thing you should know

Ive put my trust, in you
Pushed as far as I can go
For all this
Theres only one thing you should know...
I tried so hard,
And got so far,But in the end, it doesn't even matter
I had to fall, to loose it all,
But in the end, it doesn't even matter