TERRACE OF FLOWERS

Capturing flowers in my Cam has always been interesting. It became more delightful when i captured the beautiful flowers in my  terrace garden. Thanks to my Mom's hardwork; we have a lot of colorful flowers on our terrace garden this year. Here are some specially for my Blog's collection.

First BOUQUET..... First SALARY

OMG!!! I had forgotten to call up the florist.

I wanted to surprise her  early in the morning.

14th Sept 2011; a date i had been waiting since long.

I wanted to buy her something special with my 'Own Salary'

It was her B'day and i had to make it really special.

'HER'......A special person in everybody's life.

' MOTHER' - The best 6 letter word for everyone of us!!!

While all these thoughts were flashing across my mind;Just dial came to my rescue.I quickly dialed the numbers of some of the florists mentioned in their SMS.Alas! nobody picked up my call. I started browsing various sites to be able to place an order online.Even before i could finish selecting the gift that i wanted to give Mom;i got a call from one of the popular florists in the city.Without wasting any further time;i placed an order with them with a promise of having the gift delivered before lunch.This gift was as special to me as my Mom's B'day. The reason was simple.I had plans of celebrating her B'day with my first salary and i could see it coming true.At around 1.00P.M; i was informed that the Bouquet had been delivered.Later that evening;the delivery boy came to my office for the payment and i was totally impressed with their service.Needless to say,the first thing i did after reaching home was to capture the beautiful bouquet in my iPhone.Incidentally;it happened to be the first Pic shot with my iPhone too. It was a  day full of too many 'FIRSTS' and  certainly made sense to have it on my blog.

ADVENTURE...HERE I COME..YET AGAIN !!!

It was the month of May and I was getting terribly bored of waiting for my joining date of an IT company. Having come from Pune a month back; I was missing all my activities there that kept me on my toes all day long. Little did I know that Hyderabad; the city of opportunities had a lot to offer on weekends as well. While browsing through various clubs in the city; I came across GHAC; a not for profit organization that kept me engaged from the very first click on their site.

 The concept of Meetups seemed very interesting and different. In fact, some of the places mentioned there sounded exciting as I was hearing them for the first time. After scrolling through all the Meetups, I decided to join in for a trek at Ammuguda on 5^th June 2011.My name went up in the waiting list for this meetup as I was a little late in my confirmation. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make it to the confirmed list or not. It was the morning of June 3^rd and the first mail in my inbox read ‘Your status has been moved to confirmed.’ WOW….The day had indeed begun well and I was certainly not complaining. 

On the morning of the trek, I woke up very early and made my way to the venue right on time. Ammuguda being close to my house seemed convenient for a first time trek in Hyderabad. Minutes after my reaching the trek spot, the other trekkers started coming in. After a brief round of introductions, I began my much awaited trek .From rock climbing to chimney climbing to sliding down the rocks; I had started loving the rocks. Never ever had I experienced so many techniques of adventure with the rocks. It was certainly a worthwhile experience. The enthusiastic shutterbugs ensured not to miss on any moment and kept their cameras ready throughout.

 After 2 hours of trekking, it was time to go back but with a promise to stay in touch and attend more meetups .I had met all these people for the first time yet it didn’t take any time to build a rapport with them. Together we all had spent our Sunday morning in something that each one of us was passionate about. The one word that had bonded all of us was ‘Adventure’. ‘Meetup, was started in USA on the 9^th September 2001.Today on the same date, I feel very proud to be associated with all such organizations which are definitely making their presence in the city. I wait for the weekends not because I’ll get to sleep more but for a new adventure waiting for me. There is excitement in some experiences and GHAC ensures you carry back home a lot of it whenever you go in for their Meetup. In short,

Live the life you love.

Love the life you live.

ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA

Have you ever screamed your lungs out  while in mid air?

Have you ever experienced the thrill of Bungee Junmping?

How about Paragliding or River Rafting?

Try them atleast once in your lifetime.

Kyonki......'ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA'.

I have always loved the word adventure..,,from reading about it in Newspapers and magazines to hearing it from others to experiencing it myself. There's some risk,some fear and some hesitation but the sheer joy of having experienced it is beyond words.For some activities like Bungee Jumping and Sky Diving, its always advisable to try them abroad.Until the trip is planned,how about indulging in some adventures back home. I  read an interesting article last week on the adventure sports available in India. Although the list is short,i was happy to have tried some of them.Here are some 'To-do's' for all you adventurers.

1. SKIING IN GULMARG

  

• Gulmarg ,considered to be Asia's best destination for skiing.
• Boasts of world's highest ski lift at 3979 mts.

         I tried my hands at skiing almost 5 years back. The experience still lingers fresh in my mind.

       

Ready to Ski....

                                          

 2. PARAGLIDING AT KARLA,MAHARASHTRA

•   Having stayed close to this place for 2 years, i came to know about this only a month back.
•   The real enjoyment is when you are experienced enough to fly solo.
•   This place does offer tandem joyrides with the instructor costing about Rs 2000.

  

                                       

3. PARASAILING IN  GOA

• Parasailing is an activity in which a person is attached to a boat and glides through the air behind it. It is sometimes referred to as parascending as well.
• Goa has a host of water sports and although you are in air for a very short time,trying this would still be recommended.       

PARASAILING AT GOA

PARASAILING AT ALIBAUG

                                               

                                           

4 . SCUBA DIVING IN GOA

• Self Contained Uunderwater Breathing Apparatus is 'SCUBA'
• Scuba divers carry their own source of breathing gas.
• Imagine the excitement of coming face to face with all varieties of underwater marine life.
• If are lucky u might just spot a Dolphin.

                                         

5. SNORKELING IN ANDAMAN

• Snorkeling is where you wear the little mask with a hose that sticks out of the water so you can breathe.
• The Andaman Islands are surrounded by rich, unspoiled coral reefs with fascination underwater marine life, and snorkeling is an easy way to see them.

                                                  

                                              

6.YAK SKIING IN MANALI

• Recommended by TIME magazine,this is a dangerous yet crazy sport.
• A rope connects the skier waiting downhill to the yak waiting uphill through a pulley.The skier shakes a bucket of nuts at full speed and must put it down immediately,as the Yak charges towards the nuts at full speed,pulling the skier uphill amidst shouts of joy from both the yak and the skier.
• An experience would make certainly make the above understanding clear.

                                       

7. WHITE WATER RAFTING AT DEVPRAYAG

• The river Ganges offers the best rafting routes in the country.
• The initial stage from Devprayag to Kaudiyala is serene where you can click pictures and enjoy an almost unnatural calm.
• Strap your seat belts tight after this for an experience of a kind that makes you feel like you are in a huge,pretty nature's toilet bowl being flushed down gently.

                                          

8.GLIDING AT PUNE

• Gliding is the simplest form of flying and yet exceptionally different when compared to any other.
• Gliding involves flying in small fixed wing aircrafts called 'gliders' or 'glider planes', which are also known as 'sailplanes' in some parts of the world. Gliders fly without the power of engines. All you can hear inside the aircraft cockpit is the sound of the wind.
• Once launched (with the aid of a winch), pilots fly using warm upgoing air currents called 'thermals' to rise to greater heights. This process of gaining height using thermals is known as 'soaring'. Once gliders gain height, they can travel or glide to a location away from the take-off location.
• I was lucky enough to have experienced this in April this year. Seeing my excitement,the pilot ensured that i stayed in the air for extra 5 mins when compared to the regular 7-8 mins ride.
• If you are in or arnd  Pune,this one's a try for sure. 

                                     

Time  for Take off

                                 


These are major attractions that i could dig into as of now. Nevertheless,will keep my blog updated with more of any such exciting and must try adventures in India soon.

 Guys...start planning .Its now time for some  'THRILLS' and 'SHRILLS' of life.

DISCLAIMER...Some of the information and pics  has been sourced from Google as well as a magazine.

                                

BACHPAN

While arranging my room today,i found a poem that i had written in class 2 on the occasion of  Republic Day.It was displayed in the classroom the next day.As a child small gestures like this made you feel very proud.For Sometime atleast,u would be the center of every teacher's appreciation.
 Whether it is  finding an old letter from a friend or fitting into your class 10th Jeans,the excitement is beyond explanation.Here's my poem that i had kept carefully for so long.

THE VIRTUAL YOU

I remember checking my mails just once a day when Facebook, Twitter and Youtube were not launched. Today I can’t resist myself from checking my FB updates atleast thrice a day. The social Networking fever seems to have gripped us all tightly. I read about Orkut in a newspaper 5 years back and decided to try it out. It seemed fun initially but little did anyone know that a 25 year old guy would bring in a huge virtual revolution as its competitor. Mark Zuckerberg certainly deserved to  be  ‘Time ‘Magazine’s “Person of the year’ for introducing the world to a whole new and fun way of Networking.

    ‘Are u there on FB’? Cool, I’ll add u then, were the common sentences one can hear these days. From college canteens to movie halls to Parties, it was all there. For some it was just another social networking site which helped them to connect to their old friends.For most  others FB became an addiction. Status updates atleast twice a day became very common. Girls changing their profile pictures just to grab attention became the order of the day. There were people who wanted to go the extra edge and decided to become very open about their personal lives. All this  seemed fine initially as most of them wanted to increase their virtual popularity. Thanks to FB’s weird applications like….’Friends matrix’ and ‘who screwed my exams’? , It’s become irritating to log onto  it these days.How would u feel if a 25-26 year  old person uses this application, tags a lot of friends and expects them to comment  or at least ‘like it’. I get surprised to see people thanking each other for having included their name in some silly application generated photograph. If one person tries out such meaningless applications, then the others necessarily have to do it. They cannot see themselves lagging in any way. Perhaps the word, ‘Herd Mentality’ fits in better. Youngsters these days are more concerned about making their virtual impression strong. The Virtual self is losing out to the ‘real self’.

 During my graduation days (3 years back), the craze of  updating every little detail of one's  life was very less.The scene is totally reversed now. These days, from passing an exam to getting a driving license;  joining a gym to shopping; joining a company to training ; first salary to even resignation, it’s there for everybody. Most of the people I know get their pics clicked only to be uploaded in FB later. Their status updates are only for others reactions. In short, they are living only for FB.

Personally, I am not too much of a FB fan but love seeing seeing some pages on photography,Books and craft. To me it’s also  a medium to showcase snapshots of my hobbies. It’s a place where I can connect to almost anyone (both personally and professionally).Its a place where i like to be...only for few minutes a day.

       There is a very thin line between a habit and addiction.Stop pampering the Virtual self so much.

                

THE BLISS OF NATURE

Thanks to my exams and packing and travelling to Kolkata and Hyderabad , i wasn't able to come online too frequently.Once u start blogging actively,it somehow becomes a part of  your daily routine.'Therez never a wrong time to do the right thing' and now i hope to make this blog of mine active than ever before.I promise you loadz of pictures,some handmade craft creations, my holiday experiences and a lot more...right here..on this blog.

I had always been interested in photography..( posing for pictures kinds) but its only in the last 2 years that my interest to capture everything from' nature' to' people' to' just about anything 'increased.

Here's a glimpse of some of my  captured delights.

 

KOLKATA'S SCIENCE CITY

Having made a list of places to be visited last night,i thought i had things in place. There wasn't any particular plan made for the day.So mom and i decided to go to 'Science City' as a lot of other places were closed today.(Monday being a holiday for them).
I wasn't too sure of the interest factor for adults in the science city but still wanted to go.Well,there is no age to enjoy the marvels of science.Just as we were entering,i saw some irritated teachers trying hard to control the kids and making them stand in a line.For a moment i got reminded of my school picnic days when each student was assigned a picnic partner and asked to hold their hand. 'Both of you have to be together everywhere and don't leave each other's hands',is what the teacher instructed us loud and clear.

We first made our way to a museum kind called 'Evolution of life'.This museum had figures of dinosaurs,early man,wild animals etc. The special effects and sound is what made it really interesting and scary at times too.

Next on the list was 'Dynamotion'.This is a really fun place where a lot of science concepts like reflection of light,Visualization of sound etc are all depicted practically through some device setup.Its indeed a very good place for the students to learn and take more interest in the magic of science. We were running short of time and decided to go to one amongst the three major attractions here.The must see's of this place are 'Space Theatre' ;'3D show' and 'Time Machine'. I had seen a lot of posters all along the way depicting the movie to be screened here and hence was really excited to experience this first.There is no screen in the theatre,rather it is made in such a way that it appears as though we are watching a movie in space.Like a 3D film, some of the movements in the movie make you feel as though you are with them.
'Mystery of the Blue Nile ' , the epic story of the first expedition down the world's greatest and deadliest river.

“The Nile is the most magnificent river in the world. No other river can compare. And no other river in the world is as closely associated with a particular culture and society as is the Nile. Without the Nile there would be no Egypt, no pharaohs, no pyramids.”

--Pasquale Scaturro, Expedition leader

The story revolves around two intrepid explorers who set out to conquer all 3260 miles of the world's greatest river in a single descent from its source in the Ethiopian Highlands to the  Mediterranean Sea.
For 114 days, the explorers and their crew faced nearly in-surmountable challenges as they made their way down the Blue Nile and Nile river in two rafts and a kayak, traversing three countries in some of the world’s remotest regions. Deadly crocodiles and hippos, the world’s most dangerous rapids, armed bandits, AK-47-toting militia, blinding sandstorms, exposure to malaria, and the relentless heat of the fierce desert sun are just some of the obstacles they faced. 
MYSTERY OF THE NILE brings the expedition’s bold voyage to life with unmistakable realism.It is a movie you'd be happy of having watched it. If all this excitement is on one side,then a feeling of giddiness and nausea are on the other side.If you are little weak hearted kinds(which i am at certain times),then u just wanna go home and hit the bed. Well,we decided to do just that thinking we'd cover the remaining some other time.I love technology and the marvels it has done to the human kind are amazing.Going to science City has been a different experience in itself. I loved and enjoyed every bit of what i saw.
I spent the rest of the afternoon at home watching movies and reading some old magazines.
With only 6 days of my stay left here,and a lot of places yet to be covered, its gonna be a yet another eventful day tomorrow.
[My head is still spinning after the 'Space Theatre' show.]


Time to hit the bed now.
SHUBH RATRI !!!

KOLKATA TRAVEL SERIES

How does it feel when you wake up to the golden rays of the sun falling over your face and trying to tell you to get up and get going? I experienced just that this beautiful Sunday morning. There was no agenda in terms of sight seeing set for the day.Since dad had to go to a Golf Tournament,mom and me decided to go shopping.Having heard so much about New market, we decided to go there. This market is the closest to Fort William. Today being Sunday, a lot of shops were closed and we had to feast our eyes and mouth (read bargaining) to some  street shopping.

 Jute bags have always fascinated me and i was happy to have spotted them as soon as i got down from the car.That was it.I had to go and buy one.To begin with,i selected only one bag and without much bargaining,bought it too.The next shop was 'Shree Leathers',another popular name i had heard from many of my bengali friends. For once,mom was on a shopping spree ( and i was really happy).She bought a handbag and 2 pairs of footware. The 2 things that caught my attention on the road were the colorful accessories and leather bags. I decided to buy them later.

While coming back home i  saw some hand drawn carts.This is perhaps the only city in India which still uses these  as mode of transportation.Sad but these cart pullers have no other go or maybe i were wrong.When asked they said they liked what they did.The smile on their face is retained even after a hard day's work.Some of life's greatest lessons are drawn from everyday simple people like the cart pullers.As luck would have it,i spotted the trams not once but thrice.Having read about these in school,there was some kind of thrill in seeing them.

Bibliophile is the word i always use to describe dad and me. To reinforce this,dad and i went shopping again in the evening,this time only for books.I thought people used trolleys only in supermarkets like Spencers and Big Bazaar but this city certainly has some pleasant surprises cropping up every now and then. For the first time ever,i saw people buying a trolley full of books.These fully loaded trolleys were certainly a treat to my eyes this evening.I was impressed yet again with the people here.

While returning we went for a drive on the newly constructed Vidya sagar Setu.Constructed by Gammon India,this bridge i was told was built to ease the traffic off the Hooghly bridge.It is also the largest cable stayed brigde in India and resembles 'The Golden Gate' bridge of San Fransisco.Well to me it seemed perfect for those long drives.

We came back home rathet early as dad had an important call to attend.I got time to catch up on my reading and read more about Kolkata. My list of places to be visited is ready for the week.

P.S : Apart from the trams,Kolkata also a 'Buggy ride' to offer.With cool breeze blowing over your faces,it is indeed delightful to experience this and i still need to.

The 'Maidan' ,a very famous landmark in Kolkata is right opposite Fort William. I have never seen so many different gropus of people playing cricket on a single yet very huge ground as much as i have seen here.

I have always associated Hyderabad with the never ending traffic woes.In places where the rider himself doesn't wear a helmet,it was rather surprising to see even the pillion rider with a helmet here.Well,i am impressed yet again.

I end the day with a lot of things in mind.Have a lot of places to visit,shopping to be done,a live cricket match to be watched and loadz of pics to be clicked(My Camera has been lazing around for too long now) and more but only in a week's time.I am sure i'll have a lot of memories to carry back home.With this,i sign off for the day!!!

'CITY OF JOY'............. TRAVEL DIARY

Travelling and packing go hand in hand but i enjoy only the former.The latter is unavoidable though. Always remember, when you don't like something ,you end up doing that most of the time is what i had heard from many people.Infact i ve seen  it coming true ;thanks to the my travelling in Dec and Jan.

All of us looked forward to the summer vacations in school but college life never gave us a chance to experience relaxation in summer and plan vacations.Well,the last leg of my college life had something else in store.Starting December 2010,i got a chance to live my hobby again...the way i like it( minus the packing part).

Months : Dec '10 and Jan '11

Places Visited : Amravati, Sangamner, Nashik, Aurangabad and Hyderabad

Come March and i was sure of some real fun in store. This time i had decided to experience and explore the 'City of Joy'.Little did i know that my journey would start on a different note. Ok...so here goes the list.

1. The accelerator of the cab in which we (read mom and me) were travelling broke as soon as we came on to the main road.

2. I have always loved the crispy dosas at the Hyd airport but thanks to our cab repair; we managed to reach just in time.So no time for dosas or even  a quick glance at Landmark.

3.I tried my hands at the soft drink vending machine and ended up waiting there for  help as the note i had inserted  got stuck badly.

If all this was not enough.......

4. I was very hungry and decided to eat 'Potato sticks' being offered in the Indigo menu but to my luck it was only thing that not available with them.

5.Since i wasn't feeling sleepy.i decided to buy a magazine but they were also not available( and only today ) as i was told.

The only option left now was to sleep which i did try but to no use.:(

The saving grace was the pilot who announced that we'd be reaching kolkata 20 mins beforethe scheduled arrival  as the 'Tail wind' was very strong today. Thankgod!!!.....things were going  good  atleast somewhere.

This is my second visit to kolkata ...the first being when i was 3 years old. Yellow taxis were the first ones to have caught my attention .People had good traffic sense when compared to the unruly ones of Hyd.In the entire drive of 40 mins,i loved and enjoyed  the calmness of the city.

We are staying at Fort William which is really beautiful.Victoria Memorial and Eden Garden are at a stone's throw from this place. I do plan to watch atleast one match live in the coming few days. :)

The actual sight seeing would start from tomorrow and then i'd have a lot of pics to put up and describe the city in  a better way.

Till then................Its Goodnite.

Sweet dreamzzzzz........

Yawn......Zzzzzzzzzz

Romba Nandri------ Vidhya, Sonika

Do we really need an occasion to celebrate?The answer is loud and clear.Its a big 'NO'. True to it, we started our  get together series starting today. Let me first introduce our hosts for the evening who really ensured that we went home contended and craving for more.

Vidhya aka our Host 1

Sonika aka Host 2

The time for 'Lets all cook together' was decided as 6pm but i couldn't make it on time and managed to reach there only arnd 7.45pm. There was already a lot of activity going on in the kitchen.From cutting vegetables to stirring the dal for sambhar to creating the perfect playlist for the evening,everyone seemed involved. Well, u must be wondering what i had been doing then? I just kept asking Vidhya to give me work but i was successful only after 20 mins when she handed me some veggies to be chopped. 

The menu was decided. Two chutneys along with sambhar and as many dosas as we could eat.The entire preparation of the dinner looked very temtpting and it became difficult to control our hunger.

Time : 9pm

Status : Chutneys -Ready

              Sambhar-Ready

              Dosas - work in progress

Finally after 2 hrs of resisting our taste buds, the moment came for which we had been waiting  hrs.Hot,crispy dosas were served to us  by another lovely host,Sonika-who ensured that our plates were never empty. Tasty food along with some really good music made me love the moment even more. There was only one thing missing and my friends know it very well...(right Gunjan,Bhawna and Rini???)

After ensuring that we were full,Our hosts had a dosa eating competition  and like India-England match,this also resulted in a tie with both of them having tried really hard to have the last few bites.That was some good work btw,Vidhya and Sonika. How can any dinner be complete without the dessert? Round,delicious gulabjamuns made their way onto our bowls next and we couldn't have asked for more.

Dear Vidhya and Sonika,

Thankyou for the delicious dinner.We lovingly enjoyed it.Had a wonderful time at your place.You guys were  indeed the perfect hostesses for the evening and we look forward to more of such ones.