Yeh hai Pune meri jaan....

It’s a city where traffic sense is a wholly unfamiliar term...... People have never heard of it... they wonder why these lights are put up.
they never let you overtake from right side.... the PMT(theses busses looks like that they have survived a nuclear bomb blast - they are never washed at all )busses stop at the middle of the road, the space designated for the bus to stop is occupied by waiting commuters... there is no concept of footpaths
And the fact that Pune has the highest density of vehicles per square kilometer in the country.....
Auto rikshaws here are a pests waiting to pounce on a passenger and suck away his hard away money especially if yoy are taking an Auto form Swargate or Railwaystation.
In the city with maximum number of two wheelers in the country there are a least number of Traffic cops..

the Trek to Kenjalgad



This fort lies on the same ridge that joins up with RAIRESHWAR. There is a huge tunnel-cum-cave near the top with an excellent view. The top is bounded by a cliff 60 meters high.
my treks in thin year's monsoon was quiet very late compared to last year.....

I came to know about this trek in the yahoo group Pune Trekkers... later i had mailed my interest to join the trek to Hemanth.... and we decided that we all are meeting at the Hotel Natraj in the Bangalore Highway

I got up early at 5:00 and it was raining heavily... i was still in a dilemma - Shall I go or not.... I got ready by 6:00 and by then the rain had stopped...

I left home by 6:15 and reached the hotel by 6:45 and gave a call to Hemanth. Then had my breakfast in the hotel... and came out to the parking lot and was sitting on the bike...

then came two guys on a unicorn... and I asked them if they were for Kenjalgad and yes they were for kenjalgad... Rahul and Pradunya.

Hemanth was already ther at the hotel but we hadnt yet met... then met Hemanth and Deepa... formal Introduction n stuff... for my surprise these two were Kannidgas..

I was so happy so that I can talk to someone in Kannada after a pretty longtime.... the I was introduced to Pritesh and Priya.... then were waiting for other two guys who were bringing the pole for the flag hoisting

started off our journey from there... went on straight in Bangalore highway till suroor Phata.... It was quiet windy which complled meto slow down as I didnt have a good grip without a Pillion

then we took the Mahabaleshwar road till Vai... I looked trough the door of Vai Ganapathi temple and sauht his blessings.... from Vai took the towards Jambhulwadi / Korle.... unfortunately Pradunya's bike got Punctured at Dhom and they had to take a ST till the destination


Finally reached Kenjal, It was heavily raining and tough to start the Trek... I was the first to start the trek and the last to finish...

the place was so beautiful and calm.... its just greeeeeen till the end... I noticed a very good thing about this place is that I could never find a single

Piece of paper or any bottles etc throughout my trek... even we took extreme care of following it... in contrast many other forts have become venue for drink parties and stuff...

on the way trekking up we discussed about the history and Shivaji maharaj etc.... almost 30% done and I slipped on a rock to slide down a few feet... then I

started loosing energy... It was so unfortunate that it was so heavily raining that I couldnt click much snaps... then somehow managed till 50% and my body gave up every consequtive step was so heavy and painful

stopped for soem tiem add had some Date's and glucose and started of... the whole of the group were giving me enthu.. finally reached 75% here we all rested for some time.. in the meantime Hemanth and Rahul went on to the village to get some villagers to the fort to experience the flag hoisting occasion

we were sitting here for 30 mins getting to know each other and then Swapnil joined us... he had earlier missed out to join us coz he was not on time..

and again started out trek to the fort at the top... There is not much to see on the fort. One can see the Wai side from the top and the backwaters of Dhom dam. One can see Kamalgad and Navra-Navri of Kamalgad on the other side of Walki river from the top. There was too much of rain and too much of wind, although managed a couple of snaps. then we did a lot of effort to Put up the flag.. we sang Vande mataram and National Anthem along with the native villagers...

I started getting cramps in my legs... this was my first experience of a severe cramp. it was so painful... I was shouting and and was in tears...
i was feeling like my muscles are now going to tear off..... then my friends gave a massage and it came for a great relief....


went around the fort and then started hunting for a shaded place where we can have our snacks... then finally found a see trough cave where we were not able to stand errect and also it was driping... we had our snacks there and rested for 30 mins... by now i had got my josh back...

then we trekked down slowly... this was the most wonderful time coz the rain had stopped and we could see the beautiful Sahyadri's all around...

reached down by 6:40 and then proceeded to Pune

Yes the countdown has begun.... 15 days

The taught itself is so exciting and brightens up my day....

Doing all the final shopping and planning the luggage to carry back....

Working Late.....

Working late is quiet a difficult job here than in India especially for someone on a short term like me who cannot drive..... hmmm I have to work late today... Yes life is very tough without a car here.... but i have no option to opt out of this........

Tornado... Friday the 13th.

Yess.... today we got a tornado warning at 6:00 PM in Dallas...

This is a very tricky situtation for me.... do not know what to do except write this blog

There are a few roof offs and damage and Power failures in many areas....

They are predicting that they are coming toward the area which I am living....

Its so scary out here and have nothing to do except see the news and peep out of my window.....

The storm is now at 70Miles/Hr...

I hear a very intense thunders here.... I m really not getting any words to jot it down....

Im just trying to keep myself busy by typing this blog....

The roads are getting very busy... now they look like indian roads.... Praying and hoping evrything will beso that I can continue my blog..... man My brain is not working... my spellings are going wrong......

i donot know what to do if they say that u r under tornado warning.....

There is Tornado + Rain + Thunder + Lightning.....

I do not understand these Radards....

Bye Bye guys... i do not know what to write.... My senses are not working properly.....

Now my Cable TV also shut off... probably they have some problem in their studio.....

the rain is becoming heavier.... the thunder is roaring stronger.....

..................... he now there is Ice fall... TT ball sized Ice crystals are shovering over my roof and around... will try to get a snap for u guys.....

7:00 PM Now my roof is dripping.... oh god this house is full of carpet.... how do I protect it.... Arre yar mujhe India bhejo bhai.... I am fine there.... Siren bhi bhaj raha hai....

7:23PM Now I hear that there is another tornado forming up......

&:28 now this wind has moving away from our Area giving some relief but still I m a bit worried...

Apprisal Time!!!

Yess!! it's apprisal season now.... yes the same season wen ull be assessed of your quality of work for the whole year.... yes it is the same time we the IT professionals hop jobs like a game... if they do not get a proper appr....

I read an article about IT Professional hopping jobs.... around 70% of the people are less than 2 years with any company.... The average pay of junior level is 4.5 LPA ........... oh ho!!! Im far below the average line.....

Unfortunately I have not yet mastered this art of Hopping Jobs.... I should get some fast track coaching and start looking out for options I guess...

Yes Yes I had my one 2 one today with my manger.... Hope Ill get a good result....

SNORRR.... GOD PLEASSSSS SAVE ME


Hmmm its 2:30 AM.... U should all be wondering what this crazy guy is doing in this odd time writing in his blog here.... yess I have gone crazy!!! I have been woken up i the middle of my slepp for 4 times since 4 hrs i,e 11:30 pm last night.... Yess !!! guys my roomie's elephant trumpet like snores has woken me up for so many times.... I m pissed off he does not wakw up for Push and Slaps also!!! yes this Snorring is driving me insane and attacking my sleep cycle.... day by day Im deprieved of my sleep.......... GOD PLEASE SAVE ME.... I ve tried using my ear plug's also but they do not serve the purpose..... Im afraid we are shifting into a smaller appt from 2 moro... I will not even have a other room with a couch where I can get frustated and write a blog and squeez myself in to try get some sleep for the rest of the night.....

Guys I hear the roar has gone a little down.... let me utilize this opportunity to get some sleep.....

The Indian Lunch.....

Guys, One of my good friends Pradeep Invited us on the Lunch @ his residence.... I was quiet reluctant to accept the offer at once as Dev told him its okie we would join yo some other time... but Praddep bhai persuaded us to join.... Finally we made up our minds to go to the Lunch....

As I entered his residence I was delighted to see the range of Items which were lined up on the table.... Yes!! I was amazed to see so many dishes which spanned from across India..... Bangalore Idli and Coconut Cutney, Tamil nadu's Authentic Sambar, North India's Choley, Mini Puri's, Andra'a Appadam, A range of Pickle's.... thats not all we even had Vegetable Pulav and a wonderful Boondi Raita combi....

Then we had a typical South Indian tounge tickling combination of Gulab Jamun and Ice Cream.... - Man I love this....

I have heard from so many guys who come from US and say they faced a lot of problems with food and especially the veggies complain a lot.... Its my luck I guess.... In Dallas we never faced such problem.... we have a lot of options from Punjabi style to Chettinadu style food.... and believe me I am here since 1 month and have had burger only once - that tooo was in a hurry of watching India - Bangledesh hence had to pack burger....

I have always been a Rasik in eating food... I eat , I relish.... I never felt that I am having some prblem with my food habits after coming here.... we literally get everything which is available in India.....

I see more and more Indian people where ever I go.... lots of beautiful Indian babes when I go out to Indian resturants.... a bunch of confused Indians ( these were not Americans but always try to behave Like one of them and they either do not want to be Indians also.... ) when I went to one of the Desi Pub/Party....

Calling Cards.....

It is one of the toughest thing is to choose a calling card to call ur home back when u r in Videsh.... yes I do have tried a couple of bougas calling cards..... I tried to get a Reliance card... but the website refuses to accept my Desk number as someone has already used it....

Then I tried to use Airtel.... But I read very bad reviews abt their service.....

Then have to buy Avantel.... it was quiet reliable I took a 10$ currency and I could speak for around 80 mins against which it promised 120 mins.....

Then I took some Dragon card of 10$ which boasted of 165 mins.... and I tried calling after 10 days and I see I have only 2$ remaining and I could speak only around 15 mins in those 2$..... they charge a kind of Daily rental.....

Then I taught of getting some locally available STI Bonito cards of 2$ denomination.... which gives around 30 mins...

Hmm at last I did 2 days of research on the net and finalised on Skype or Yahoo Voice.....

Yahoo Voice gave me 50% savings compared to Skype... I have purchased a currency of $10 for Yahoo Voice.... will surely update this post after I use it..........

The Lazy Day....

..... Its a very lazy day.... have nothing to do from morning.... but have to be present here in the office..... I literally did nothin form the time I came to office in the morning... just browsing and checking mails.... and now even mails have exhausted hence Blogging here.....

HATTRICK....

Hmmm had been to hattrick today at Fun Asia.... never mind It was an OC Ticket for me.... yes had won it in a contest on a desi Radio channel 700AM, Was a kind of different experience of watching a desi movie in Videsh.... it was good to watch a few beautiful Indian Babes..... Believe me Dallas has a quiet a number of beautiful desi babes.... yes I saw these species of ABCD what they call.... American Born Confused Desi's last week when I had been to Saffron House for the Bollywood Lounge......