Kothligad Trek

Am back from Kothligad, another trekking spot struck off the list. The previous being
Harishchandragad
Mahuli (Not complete)
Rajmachi
Karnala

Too many still to go :P . We planned to meet at 6 at Ghatkopar railway station to catch the Karjat local scheduled at 06:15AM. We had two ticket counters brimmed to the full with people waiting for tickets. :( Needless to say by the time we got tickets (actually we finally got coupons and stamped them) the 615 local eluded us.

We were struck by the brilliant idea of having tea at the railway stall and then catch a local to Kalyan, hoping that we might get another train to Karjat. The Tea faced problems like over sweetening, lack of tea flavor, density issues and some other unexplainable phenomena, which made us literally throw it away. Disappointed by the start of the day we hoped for a better ending.

We caught a local to Kalyan and waited for the a local to Karjat scheduled at 07:51AM. Arriving at Karjat, we had a quick snack of the famous Karjat VadaPav and made our way out of the station. Nikhil especially had a penchant for those Vada Pavs and coudnt resist having one after the other.

The trek to Kothligad is from Ambivali Village which is around 25kms from Karjat. There are lots of options to get there.
ST Bus from Karjat to Ambivali
Tumtum (8 seater rickshaws) which might ply from the station to the village.
Tumtum from Karjat-Kadau,Kadau-Kashele, Kashele-Ambivali
or A rickshaw directly to Ambivali

Being already late by schedule we opted for a direct rickshaw and with my limited bargaining skills got the fare down from Rs.300 to Rs.225 (A good bargainer might be able to go sub Rs.200)

The ride to Ambivali takes around 45mins - 1 hr. After we reached the village we stopped for a quick refreshing tea. You can pick up things to eat and drink from this village. From there we headed for Peth (Base village for Kothligad).

The journey to Peth is more of a walk on an inclined path rather than a trek. And it takes a long time around an hour and a half. Its a kuchha road of mud but pretty wide such that bullock carts bikes etc ply on it. While climbing we noticed that they were laying stones on the road. Once it gets laid it will be even more strenuous to walk on it :( During this walk you can get a lot of pretty landscape shots. While walking we noticed a significant difference in temperature while walking in the sun compared to the parts where it was shaded. It was a phenomena to be experienced :)

Once in the village, we had some cool Nimbu Paani and then head for the Kothligad fort. The trek hence forth was a good one, though not that tough. The path is visible pretty well and theres wasnt much scope of getting lost. (Tip: If you are not confident of finding your way, kids from the village can be asked to accompany you)Even then we found an alternate path through which we climbed up. This was on one side of the fort away from the main entrance.

The trek to the top takes around an hour. At the top the weather was much more pleasant.Once at the top we scoured through the fort, had a look at one of the canons on the fort, and paid our respects to the deity in the temple. We had the whole fort to ourselves so we found a convenient shaded spot and had our lunch.
(Tip: The Cave temple has enough space if you want to stay for the night. The temperature though would be really cold.)

Soon after lunch we decided to climb down, as we were informed that the last bus leaving the village would be at 5:30PM after which the auto rickshaws would charge Rs: 400 - 500 to get back to Karjat. We started our downward trek through the main entrance path and steadily made our way.

The descent was much more quicker and on the way we saw a pack of Himalayan Langur, which were pretty different from the normal Monkeys that we see. White in color, Black tail and a yellow posterior end, all this made up for a very attractive appearance. Varun and I chased the pack for a while to get some good shots of them, finally managing to chase them away into the jungle. Varun, for his cameras 12X zoom had much more success as would be seen here (Varuns Picasa coming here soon).

Half an hour and we were back to Peth. We desperately needed to rehydrate ourselves as we had depleted our source of water. We again had the same Nimbu paani, waited for a while and started downhill again.

The descent was a bit boring without much to do, so it felt longer than the ascent. But actually we reached Ambivali within an hour.

From there we again headed back to Karjat to find lots of people waiting for the train to CST. We saw another group of trekkers who had been to Rajmachi, which is a much more eventful trekking spot - tougher and more to climb than Kothligad.

And it was back to Mumbai after we boarded the train.

6 Bikes, 12 Guys and Destination Kashid!!

Sorry Varun for the super delayed posting!!!
For a change I (Varun) am writing a blog.

This trip had a nice build up. TRI (my new company) trip supposed to be on 23rd getting cancelled and the guys still rearing to go came up with the idea of a bike trip.
Well, the idea caught on. What started with 2 bikes and 4 people; Saurabh and Anand being the riders and me (Varun) and Mohit the pillions; ended up with 6 bikes and 12 guys.


Fahad and Saad – HH Karizma 225 cc
Saurabh and Mohit – Bajaj Pular 150 cc
Subhash and Harish – Bajaj Platina 100 cc
Vimal and Vaibhav(birthday boy) – Bajaj Platina 100 cc
Vijay and Soumil – TVS Apache RTR 160cc
Anand and Varun – TVS Apache 150cc


We had planned to start at 6 from Mumbai so as to reach Kashid; which is 160 kms from Mumbai; by 10.


Most of us got up on time and things were looking good for us to leave Mumbai by 6:30.
Then one by one, things got delayed. Vimal seth calls up and says that his bike is with his friend at Powai and will have to go there and get it. Mohit and Vaibhav were waiting at Gandhi Nagar signal for Saurabh to turn up. After all were set to go, we had the worst moment of the day and the trip had’nt started yet.


Anand and I skidded near Ghatkopar bus depot with Andy suffering a number of injuries and bruises. I got away with few cuts on the fingers and a small bruise on the shoulder. Andy tore his jeans, got a bruised on the elbow, knee and knuckles. From here the next obvious question on our mind was that should we go ahead with the trip?


Well since I am writing this it was obvious we did not allow anything to pull us down. We went to a 24 hour medical shop got some anti-septic, gauze and tape. Patched up the wounds and got on the way.This turn of incidents delayed us by an hour and we all finally met up at Vashi.
After a few pics and explanation to others as to what had happened with us we were on our way.


The engines roared and all the six bikes set off. The morning ride was really pleasant with not much traffic and cool breeze. We took the Mumbai-Goa highway (NH 17) and reached Panvel via Palm Beach Road (easily the best road in Mumbai to drive with no potholes and well leveled surface).


Our first pit stop came at Panvel. Vada pav, poha, tea were on the menu. Once everyone was refreshed we were back on the road. Post Panvel we went through a string of small villages. We ran into a bit of traffic there which slowed us down a bit. After that came Karnala and the drive here was an absolute pleasure. Beautiful roads, awesome tarmac, trees on both sides, no irregularities on the road – just a breath taking drive for 10-12 km. The bikes breezed through this section. Pappu (Saurabh Palan) especially went berserk and was going at 100 kmph. This road is a must drive for any road trip enthusiast.


Then we reached the place called Revdanda from where we took a right towards Murud. The road from herein was just 2 lane and also patchy. The shock absorbers really took the brunt when we weaved our way through a number of villages with narrow cement roads and coconut trees all around. The pillions really started feeling the bumps on the road. The guys sitting at the back already had sore a@#es and had to go through this torture as well.


Well, after that we reached the stretch where we could see the sea. We knew that our destination was close now. The ride here too was great. Water on one side of the road and trees on the other. The view was simply great. We rode through Alibaug all the way to Kashid.


Kashid is a superb place. The ride was tiring and the numb backsides got a much deserved break. We parked our bikes and headed put to the white sands of Kashid’s beach. Everyone got into the water except for Subhash; who did the babysitting for the bags. The place wasn’t as crowded and the majority of it were couples trying to get some privacy [:P].


Well we played in the water for a good one and a half hour and then headed out to lie on the hammocks next to the beach. The hammocks were extremely relaxing. After all the water sports (read kick boxing vimal) all were starving so we ordered some snacks from a beachside stall and enjoyed it on the hammocks.


But this just proved to be the appetizer, with all our stomachs still grumbling, we rode till Murud which was another 10kms from Kashid for a proper lunch.
After a sumptuous lunch which was served with the pace of a tortoise, we were ready to drop ourselves in the hammocks for another 40 winks, but with time not being on our side we decided to continue our journey back to Mumbai.


A few all charged up raced the other till kashid and enjoyed another , if not 40 definitely 20 winks on the hammocks. As soon as everyone reached, the early birds to Kashid were kicked and woken up, and we resumed our journey.


The daylight soon started receding, and everyone in a bid to reach quickly to their respective homes, got scattered. I stuck to Vimal as a wingman who was pretty un enthusiastic to get bag, majorly due to the continuous riding and a the lack of another beer. The return journey was not without its own events, of wrong turns, overshot corners, cooling down breaks etc.

We rendezvoused at Vashi to celebrate Deshpandes birthday with a nice chocolate cake. Deshpande was already in a foul mood because of (yes you guessed it) Vimal and hopefully our cake soothed his flared up senses.


Finally we headed back to our homes as the another fantastic trip neared its end.

Rajmachi Trek (2nd March '08)

A much needed break was in the offing when we decided to make the weekend an adventurous one. The plan was to encompass as many people as possible, but.......
We zeroed in on Rajmachi, due to its proximity from Mumbai so that we can make it to and fro the same day.
Rajmachi:
Rajmachi is a village on the hills around 13 kms from Karjat. There are two forts around 1/2hr uphill from Rajmachi, Shrivardhan and Manoranjan.
The Group: Varun, Bhupendra, Ninad and me

Getting to Rajmachi was pretty easy. Day as usual started early, as it was not a normal working day, but a holiday :P. We took the 0613 hrs local to Karjat from Thane station. From Karjat its around a 1/2 hr ride till Kondivde or 5 mins more to Kondavne. The rick to Kondane cost us around Rs.120.

Rajmachi can also be reached from Lonavla. Its approximately 20kms from there. And the trek from Lonavala is supposedly more easier than the trek from Karjat.

The rickshaw fella left us at Kondane with the task at hand to reach Rajmachi. After an half hour walk, we reached a village at the base of mountain. Enquiring a bit, gave us the right directions to climb the mountain... and we started the trek.

Well, March isnt exactly the time one should go for a trek, but its not as bad as april or later. But there was something that you could see only in March. With the autumn in its twilight, the ground was the perfect canvas for the nature to show its colors. Shades of brown, red, yellow, pink, green and what not covered covered the earth. The crackle of the leaves falling, the songs of the birds, the whistling winds made us aware of our proximity to the natural world. We couldnt believe that just two and a half hrs away was a world so different, so man made.

The climb started. The slopes became steeper, mud gave way to rocks, climbing with only legs mutated into climbing with all fours and the vegetation started growing dense. Our pitstops started getting more frequent :P. Well all a part of a good trek.

All the way we were guided by arrows made by previous trekkers up the hill. We had lots of good locations to click pictures - landscapes, animals, insects, self shots and what not.

After a lot of climbing, we reached Rajmachi village. Its a small village, with around 20 houses. There are hotels up there if you need to eat or drink, and we were surprised to find lodging up there too. We were looking around when we saw motorbikes there. How did they get there???? Well.... Rajmachi is connected to Lonavala via a kuccha road.Hmmm...

After a quick break we started our journey to the apex. The final stint of the climb is completely on a rocky terrain, remnants of the old fort. On on side is the wall of the fort and on the other is a free drop, straight down. It was one of the most magnificent and breath taking part of the entire trek. Being at that height gives you a self of achievement and the opportunity to breath in as many moments of life you want.

We moved around the fort a bit and discovered a water cistern, inhabited by algae and small fishes. The water was crystal clear and chilling. We filled up our water bottles and freshened up. Then we had lunch at one of the best locales possible. On the steps of the watch tower around 3000ft above sea level, 2 feet away from a free fall, BRILLIANT....

After the long climb and satiating meal, our bodies deserved a bit of rest, and rest we did in mother nature's arms.

Half an hour later, we were ready to get back down. Climbing down seemed to be more of a task than we thought. Not because its tough, because you keep looking down to search for footing and what you notice is the height at which you are :P

We took a short break at Rajmachi village and climbed down. By the time we reached Kondavne it was 1855 hrs. We asked some villagers the nearest Rickshaw stand and they said it was 3 kms ahead and also added that rickshaws are available only till 1900hrs :P

Adding to our woes was the fact that 3kms walking isnt much fun after all the treking :( By a stroke of luck we managed to hitch a ride from a nearby village in a Omni till Dahivali village which is just a km away from Karjat station. God bless those two gentlemen :)

Dahivali to Karjat was a short rickshaw ride, and soon enough we found ourselves on a fast local back to Mumbai.

The DREAM Run!!

Circa December '07 , when my dear friend Varun gave me the big idea of registering for the Marathon and I did.
With much gusto I resolved that I would start training for it, start running for atleast 20 mins a day. Well well, start I did, but like many of the ambitious ventures, this venture soon lost steam :P . For various reasons, ranging from common cold to reduced inclination to get out of the blanket in the chilly winter mornings, left me almost no practice for it.

Finally the D day arrived... Day of the Mumbai marathon 2008 , 20th Jan. I decided that whatever happens its just 6kms... I definitely can walk that distance :P.
The day started early, with reporting starting at 0815 hrs, I got up at 630. Having done my daily chores, I had a mug of BOOST (it is the secret of my energy :P) and made my way towards the railway station ready to take on the road. I just hoped that waking up at 630 on a sunday wouldnt make it a Dreamy run ;)
I didnt have much idea about the magnitude of the event. It just struck me when I was standing on the platform waiting for the train to CST. I saw around 10 ppl in a 5 meter radius, with marathon bibs, bags etc raring to go. The compartment itself was filled, 1/3 by the marathoners.
Hmmm... so it is big huh?!

The rendezvous point at CST station was near the exit where we united with our fellow marathoners, Ram, Dg and Sneha. Then the walk started, from CST to Azad maidan gate 3. This too was a decent walk around 500 meters. We finally reached the holding area, where like us thousands of marathoners were waiting for the run to start.

The wait was agonizing and complaints like, "Maine aaj college bunk kiya yahan aake khade rehne ke liye!!! " , "Royally screwing up a sunday morning" the run up to the starting point started.

We had John Abraham and Bips at the starting point to cheer us up (that was one of the high points ..bips i mean :P ). Fully enthused we looked for the crowd to start running ... but very few people seemed to share our excitement :( We started carving our way through the crowd just like water, poured in a jar of pebbles. But unfortunately the jar seemed to be a bit to big for us :P
From start till the finish, it was more of a find your way, rather than a run.

The run was more of a corporate promotion, every company from TCS to Barclays was there. And they contributed the most to the slow speed of the run. It was a more civilised or a commercialised Morcha. Nothing more than that. Agreed that such things are essential for raising funds, but the experience was not pleasing. May be next time they should consider having a separate shorter run and a Dream Run or maybe I will consider running the half marathon next time :P So next time the preparation would be important ;)

All in all it was a decent bit of fun. There were all kinds of people, uncle-aunties, munna-munnies, and the peer group all in great numbers. Nice to see so many people coming together with a single aim in mind - cover 6kms :) . Hopefully even for more important matters and tasks at hand we will have such participation, thats what such events should be aimed at.

Early morning Visitor

Early today morning when I woke up and had a look outside my partially closed window, i was surprised to find a cherubic little birdy on my window, specifically speaking it was one of the love bird pairs. Sadly he/she was alone.

Anyone who has read Paul Coelho's Alchemist might be tempted to say that this was an omen of things to come. May be the entrance of a loved one in my life, or may be as the loneliness of the single bird - it might be the exit.
But as my blog title says, I prefer to look at the Silver Lining ;)

Omen or no omen... it was the birdy was a welcome sight to our neighborhood. Also it reminded me of my childhood friend Sunny's mini bird sanctuary at his home :) ...Who still has the same bondage to birds even today.

Thats the end to this post, ciao.

Kerala - God's Own Country

Am back after a small hiatus, blogging about my NOT so recent trip to God's Own Country - Kerala.
Why does KTDC (Kerala Tourism Development Corporation) brand it as "God's Own Country" ; well the probable answer might be that, whichever place you visit in Kerala, has a unique history attached to one of its temples. This particular observation came to me through this visit, which my dad proudly claims as a tourism cum pilgrimage trip, given the fact that the number of trips to temples far outnumbered the number of different places we visited. But frankly speaking the temples of Kerala do have a really sanctimonious air around them. Even a atheist might be drawn to the pure sanctity of the places of worship. Though some of these temples have been highly commercialised, others still seem to have the mystic air surrounding them.

The second possibility for the nomenclature, a much more widely accepted one would be to say that the state is so beautiful that it definitely is home to God. Zaroor bade fursat se Kerala ko banaya hoga. Whatever be the reason, it is unerringly called so. For proof of the same, do visit my album (the link is given on the right side)
Our journey started from Perumpavoor, home to my paternal uncle. The team this time consisted of my dad, my mom and me :) . Our choice of travel mode , a Tata Indica, with Manu at the helm.Theres another thing about Kerala that has always baffled me. My body clock automatically advances an hour. The days spent there seem unusually untiring. So it is pretty much feasible to start a journey as soon as 6 in the morning, that amounts to waking up at 5.

The three day trip planned to take us to Kanyakumari (India's southernmost tip), Trivandrum (Kerala's capital), and Kumarakom (Famous backwaters).

En route Kanyakumari we were scheduled to visit a few temples (Kidangoor, and Ettamanoor)
After our scheduled pitstops at these locations we set forth on a long journey of approximately 270kms. The drive through the serpentine roadways of Kerala, kept introducing unending stretches of exotic locales. The most prominent among them being the backwaters at Allapuzha. The road trip alone proved to be much more exciting than anything else. Picturesque scenery, a good camera, lots of enthusiasm and a good photographer make the perfect recipe for a great album and it was. 3 days and 500 shots later, I realised what a trip this was.

We got to Kanyakumari at the perfect time for sunset. But the clouds played spoilsport and we were unable to see the sunset. Nonetheless the atmosphere was pretty close to perfect, the warm wafts of air feeling your skin, the waves lashing on the rocks, and the smell of the sea gratified the senses. Next on the itinerary was a visit to the Temple of Goddess Kumari.

We retired to a fundoo seafacing room, all set to wake up the next morning and hopefully witness an unmarred sun rise.

The next morning I woke up, completely enthused for watching the sun rise. Armed with a cup of coffee and my Canon S3 IS camera, I was waiting to capture the shades of orange emanating from the horizon. The colors changed from, dark blue to pink and then to orange. As the industrious fishermen cast their nets for the day, the streaks of golden sunlight broke the surface of the Indian ocean. The sun in its entirety rising out of the water, the scene couldnt be more scenic. What a beginning to the day it was!!!!

Having performed all the daily chores, we were all set to visit the Vivekananda Rock and the gigantic Thiruvalluvar (great Tamil poet) statue out in the sea. We climbed aboard a ferry which took us to both of them and back. Nothing specific to mention about either of these, except that both of them are a historians delight.

Next we proceeded towards Trivandrum, with some pitstops scheduled at local temples and a worthy place of visit 30kms from Kanyakumari - the Padmanabhapuram Palace. Unassuming as it may seem at the first look, this palace captured my interest the moment I entered it. The highly ornate wooden carvings, works of art and antiques were the things that added to the grandeur of the palace. Most of the interiors were made of wood, adroitly carved to please the king.

The next stop was Trivandrum, where we were scheduled to halt for the night. The capital has nothing much to be spoken about, except for the traffic woes, and of course Padmanabha Swamy temple. This is one of the temples which still is under the rule of a local king. Most of the temples in Kerala are otherwise managed by the temple Trusts. The temple is home to Lord Vishnu in the Ananthasayanam (sleeping) posture.

Waking up the next morning we headed for the backwater land - Kumarakom. One of the most beautiful places (refer to album) Kumarakom was a treat to our eyes. a 2 hour boat ride took us through the backwaters, bird sanctuary (sans the birds) and Pathiramanal - an island in between the backwaters. The recommended best time to visit is November to March. Though I would have loved to stay over in a house boats that night, but our strict schedule didnt allow us the luxury. The luxurious house boats are available from 3k to more than 20k per night. It has all the amenities one can think of. From a personal chef, to a plasma TV, you name it and you have it :)

And since its 00:00hrs now, its time to bed but before that just the all important climax ;)

After the boat ride we were again home bound, back to Perumpavoor, with lots of memories and a strong desire to go places :D. A lot of Kerala is still left unexplored, hope to cover more in the time to come. Will have to do with the memories till then :)

Toys go Hi Tech

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czHKEXwHOoI

Get a cool programmable robot for $996 . Is it cool or uncool?






A next gen artificial life form!!









One of the best humanoids on the planet!!!



















A robot friend? Can talk, sense, think (only a bit) on its
own!!! All for 383$

Gone are the days of GI Joe and He-Man figures. Enter the realm of robot toys.
These are not just TOYs. They are companions, teachers and entertainers.

How would like a dinosaur as a companion ?The Ugobe's Pleo for example, they brand it not as a toy or a robot, but as an artificial life form. Even the OS which runs inside it is called the LifeOS. It needs food, it needs sleep and it needs caring. It learns as it grows (not in size). It expresses happiness when it is pet, it shows indifference when ignored, looks tired when hungry and above all doesnt dirty the house like a biological pet :P

Consider the Robonova how do you teach it different moves?? Just connect it to your PC, run the support software and start twisting and turning its limbs (not so much that they come off, remember it costs 999$) . All the actions are recorded and fed back to its controller and voila it repeats everything verbatim... Use it to teach, mechanics , control systems and biology as well!!

What is it that is so special about these toys?
Is it because they are mobile , is it their resemblance to human form or is it something else?
What I vote for is the interactive experience that is shared between the child and the product. These so called "Toys" aim to develop an affinity to technology. They plan to Excite, Educate and Entertain.

And obviously who doesnt like to be in control. Be it a RC car or your life, everyone loves to be in control. Imagine imparting, life or intelligence to an otherwise stationary thing. The chance to create something always opens up your think tank.

Do these seem expensive ?? Would you trust a kid to use these?? Not waiting for an answer here... theres another consumer that the companies are looking at. It is the techie hobbyist, a techie father or the geek who finds it egotistically fulfilling to CONTROL something.

A look abroad and you'll see the kind of potential this market holds. The average age of a robot hobbyist or a roboteer in Japan is in the mid thirties. No wonder Japanese markets are flooded with robot toys. Robots have always been a crux of Japanese Innovation, primarily driven by the low workforce present in Japan.

Whether it would be a hit in India or not is a question that remains to be answered, but for now I would be more than happy if someone gifts me one of these ;)